Chapter 41: The Sacrifice
On the morning of the Shangyuan Festival, five miles south of Chang'an City, Shanglin Garden, the entrance of the Royal Hunting Park. It was a barren place, with no tall trees, only low, whose leaves had fallen off the dry branches of the bushes, shivering in the cold north wind.
The ground is covered with snow, and when you look around, there is a vast white expanse, and the majestic palace group at the end of the white end in the distance is faintly visible. Although it is called Tongbai Pavilion here, there is no pavilion, and there are no tung trees and cypress trees, it is a local pavilion when the land was requisitioned, and then it continued to be called before.
A bare dirt bag in the snow was exposed, without any markings around it. This is the mausoleum of Wei Zifu, the Empress of the Han Dynasty. It was not that there was no snow on the grave, but Liu Ling and Liu Chang opened it with their hands, and now, Liu Ling and Liu Chang's aunt and nephew were standing in front of the grave, standing silently, without flowers or offerings, in the place where they thought it was the head of the grave, Liu Chang placed a large square stone, and a small pile of soil was placed on the stone.
The tomb of her mother, Shi Liangdi, is no longer found, and it is said that when the army stormed the imperial city, she died in the chaos. Liu Chang didn't have a deep impression of his grandmother, after all, he was not even five years old when he left the palace, and it has been almost five years now, and all memories have been hazy. When he saw his aunt kneeling, he just followed him, and when his aunt got up, he got up with him.
Liu Ling is different, she is the eldest princess, she has been loved by her parents since she was a child, and she has been living by her parents' side until she left the palace.
Although she slowly learned about the witch Gu incident that happened after she left, and the great damage caused by the witch Gu incident, she couldn't judge right and wrong, and she couldn't even resent it, because the promoter of the witch Gu incident was her father, His Majesty the Emperor of the Han Dynasty. Her father's love for her is no less than that of her mother, and even more so, she was born to be the eldest princess across levels, and gave her the best fiefdom, and her father gave her everything he could.
Mother is now lying alone here, and she can only watch. Although she has this ability now, he can't do anything because whatever she does will hurt another of his loved ones.
Thinking of her father, Liu Ling's heart began to ache faintly again, that kind father is almost seventy this year. People are rare after seventy years, and my father will soon be in his old age, I don't know what his current situation is, and whether he wants to be a god anymore.
Thinking of this, Liu Ling's heart felt a trace of relief, thinking of a stubborn old man, tossing and turning all day long, just wanting to see the fairy, but in the end the fairy didn't see it, and he hurt himself, but he was still happy, and he was funny and sad.
Father, are you okay? Tears that had just stopped flowed down her cheeks again.
After noon, the two of them came to Guangming Yuan outside the Xuanping Gate, where Liu Jin and his wife Wang Wengxu were buried. Wang Wengxu had just given birth to Liu Ai at that time, and when he was in the county prison, Bing Ji believed that the prince was innocent, and was very sympathetic to the plight of the prince's family, so he agreed to one of the prince's housekeepers at that time to replace Wang Weng Xu with his wife, so that Wang Weng Xu secretly survived, but in the end, although the illness had been rescued and escaped by Bing Ji, she still died. Whether it is the sister-in-law next to his brother or the impostor sister-in-law, Liu Chang doesn't know. Whether it's a real sister-in-law or a fake sister-in-law, they all deserve their own respect. Although he asked the county order to bury his father and Mrs. Wang at that time, because there were too many joints involved, the people below might not dare to report it truthfully, and the prince died and lived again; Madame Wang is dead, and she is alive again. The emperor knew, but he didn't know how many people would die, and it was another bloody storm.
In the southeast of Guangming Garden, about a mile away from Guangming Garden, there is a small hill, not high, only a few zhang high, there is a pavilion to rest. When I saw the two people, one big and one small, walking towards this side, gradually approaching the pavilion, the man in the pavilion picked up a child on his back and got up to leave, which is also very normal, Liu Chang and his aunt and nephew were dressed in silk and luxurious, while the man and the child were dressed in linen. Making way for nobles is the basic consciousness of inferior people.
"Lord Bingji, why did you leave in a hurry when you saw me?" Liu Chang spoke first.
The man named Bing Ji was obviously stunned, and it was not good news that someone recognized him. Although the child was a little familiar, he didn't dare to gamble now, and he didn't dare to look directly at the two nobles who had already walked in front of him.
"The noble man recognized the wrong person, and the villain is not Bingji." Hurriedly bowed down to answer, his eyes asked his nose, his nose asked his heart, and he tried his best to control the strong desire to escape, because as soon as he ran, he was completely finished.
Although he was a child, Bing Ji did not dare to despise it. Just kidding, there are parents next to him, and if there is any trouble, his trouble is even greater. But the aunt walked to Bing Ji's side and looked at the child in Bing Ji's arms seriously, this child was about four or five years old, although the clothes were coarse and coarse, and his complexion was quite normal. The aunt nodded with satisfaction, yes, this nephew didn't suffer much, and Bing Ji is quite reliable.
"Alright, Lord Bing, look up, who am I?"
"The villain doesn't dare"
"If you look at it, you can see it, what adults, villains, why are they so verbose, you won't laugh at me for not being long-winded, right?" Liu Chang stepped forward, got under Bing Ji's nose, and broke Bing Ji's face, and Liu Chang's face and Bing Ji's face were face to face.
Liu Chang is also very depressed now, it has been five years, and his size doesn't seem to have changed, when he was ten years old and five years old, there seemed to be no difference. Bing Ji looked at the face in front of him, very familiar, almost too familiar. It's the same as the face I saw more than two years ago, it's not right, it's about the same height as two years ago, why doesn't a child grow up in two years? Doubts are doubts, Bing Ji didn't dare to speak, he is a prison guard in the Imperial Prison, where do you not know the truth that if you talk too much, you will lose.
The aunt was not polite at this time, and snatched the child from Bing Ji's back, the child was trying to perform his howling Dafa, but after all, he was more than four years old, and he was sensible, and he was a little embarrassed to cry, not that he could cry at once, and he didn't hold back a tear for a long time, so he had to keep twisting his body and refuse this unreasonable woman.
"Don't move, call uncle!" This sentence calmed both of them.
Bing Ji was suppressed because he was too familiar with this sentence, in the past, when they were uncles and nephews, it was the obscenity of the little uncle.
The child was suppressed, and this sentence seemed familiar and intimidating.
"You're really... The villain greeted His Royal Highness the Prince of the World" to confirm the identity of the visitor, Bing Ji did not hesitate to bow down.
"Okay, okay, you finally recognize me, I'm still me, it's not the same, it's amazing. Get up, don't bow, I feel like I'm being looked down upon by you. Liu Chang didn't pay attention to Bing Ji, but came to his aunt's side, looked up at his nephew in his aunt's arms, it was too unreasonable, and his nephew was about the same height as himself. Bing Ji stood up and stood to the side, not knowing the identity of this woman, and not daring to speak rashly.
"Call Grandma Grandma, Grandma Grandma will give you something delicious." Liu Ling is also like no one now, and there is nothing in her eyes except for this little thing. Although Xiao Budian looked dazed, he was stunned by a "call uncle", and he didn't dare to move, just staring at Bing Ji with his eyes.
"Auntie? You're the eldest princess?!" Bing Ji was shocked.
"I'm sick, call it, call my aunt and grandma!"
"Auntie... Grandmother... Seeing Bing Ji speak, he finally called out timidly.
This cry like a kitten cost Liu Ling's life, and she was already kissing and gnawing while she was sick, and her tears were loud again.
She and Cao Xiang also have a son named Cao Zong. In the second year of Zhenghe, Cao Zong was implicated in the incident of Prince Wei and was executed, and then the whereabouts of his grandson Cao Xi are unknown.
Seeing that there was no hope of listening to his nephew call him uncle for the time being, Liu Chang gave up and turned around and pulled Bingji to sit down on the side.
"How long have you been here? When I arrived, I found you here. ”
"We came before dawn, and we didn't dare to come, because I wanted to wait for it to get dark, and I had kowtowed to my father when I was sick."
Liu Chang wanted to ask where Mrs. Wang's burial was, but he gave up. Where is the burial, he can't bury his brother and sister-in-law together, and now the heroine of the funeral is also affectionate and righteous, so let her accompany her brother, and when the illness has come out in the future, he will arrange the grave of his parents.
"It's hard enough for you." Liu Chang only said his hard work simply, he knew that Bing Ji was not able to express his gratitude in words for his father's lineage. I am so grateful that I am hypocritical, and I am not grateful!
"Where do you live now, the surrounding area is hundreds of miles within the range of Shanglin Garden."
"Shanglinyuan is not as strict as it was in previous years, and some farmers are allowed to farm in the village. It turned out that there was an old husband and wife, and both sons were killed in battle. I used some of the money given by my son to settle them, and I lived in their house with my sick family. The search outside is strict, but the inspection in Shanglin Yuan is not strict, and there is no pavilion here. "This is the truth of darkness under the lamp, Liu Chang understands.
"And," Bing Ji continued, "it seems that this search is not very strict, and so far, neither I nor I are wanted. Otherwise, I wouldn't dare to come out sick. I heard that there were ghosts and gods in Chang'an City, and the trouble was very fierce, and the entire northern army was killed, I don't know if it's true. ”
"You don't live far from home?" Liu Chang didn't answer Bing Ji's words.
"It's a long way, it's two days away"
The illness finally got rid of the clutches of the woman called Grandma and came to Bingji's side, standing in a proper manner.
"Remember me?"
The illness shook his head and didn't speak, just looked at this "little uncle". But he was not afraid.
"It's been almost two years, when you left, he was just over a year old, and now he is more than three years old, how can you remember" Bing Ji sighed with some emotion. Liu Chang has not shown up since the beggar gang conference.
"It's almost time to catch up with your uncompetitive uncle. Call Uncle again, and in a few years, you will be embarrassed to call. ”
The illness has looked at Bing Ji, and he can't make up his mind.
"Call, he's your real uncle."
"Uncle" still listened to Bing Ji's words very much, and saw that Bing Ji did not object, although he was very reluctant, he still called out generously.
Liu Chang wanted to say a few words of relaxation and tease his only nephew for a while, but his heart was always sour, and his eyes were a little moist. When he was four or five years old and a child, he was running around for his life, and now, his nephew, who is about the same age as himself, is also running for his life in Tibet;
"Let's go into town." My fate was changed by my aunt, so the fate of my nephew should be changed by me, who is an uncle. My life is up to me!
"Into the city?" Bing Ji suspected that he had misheard, and it was too dangerous to enter the city now.
"It's not a matter of you hiding like this, you can't always wait for God's mercy. Since I'm here, I'm going to change my life. ”
"Everything is up to the prince" Hearing Liu Chang's words, he also had great trust in Liu Chang, and Bing Ji agreed.
"Let's go, I'm sick, follow Uncle, let's go into the city," Liu Chang said firmly.
After discussing it, the group set off.
Bing Ji has to carry the illness on his back, and Liu Ling has to hold the illness. In the end, the illness had chosen to hold hands with Liu Chang and go by himself.