【Wedges】

Outside the city of Luoyang.

The candles in the immortal hall of Shangyang Palace are swaying, and the goddess of the palace who shuttles back and forth is solemn, and she can only hear the rustling sound of Qiluo rubbing around her body when walking, but she does not hear a human voice.

Only an old female voice, empty echoing in the silent hall,

"Is the sun out?"

"Back to the Holy Heavens, not yet. It's winter, and the sun is coming out late. ”

The answer to her was also a woman, not very loud, but very calm.

"Wan'er, I've told you many times, I've abdicated, and you still call me a saint in private, which is not in line with etiquette."

"Wan'er knows etiquette, and knows her heart better. In my heart, you are the best emperor of the Tang Dynasty. ”

"Alas, silly boy, don't say anything more about that in the future.

I've let go of all the old things, why haven't you let go of them? ”

"Yes, Holy Lord, one day, I will learn to be as generous as you."

"After I die, you remember to bury me in Qianling and bury me with the first emperor."

"Yes, Holy."

"Also, don't write a word on my tombstone."

"Don't write? Isn't the stele empty? ”

"yes, just leave it empty. Knowing that I sin against me, it is only spring and autumn. ”

“...... Yes, Holy One. ”

"Wan'er, do you know that the emperors and queens of the Han Dynasty were not buried together, but Queen Gao Lu Pheasant was finally buried with Gaozu Liu Bang."

"Why is the saint interested in discussing the etiquette system with his ministers today?"

"When people get old, that's probably what happened, always thinking back to what happened when they were younger.

It's funny to say, since I was in my thirties, I have been charged with the crime of Si Chen, and I am often scolded as the second after Lu. Later, when I really became the emperor, they didn't dare to say it to their faces, and they probably continued to scold behind my back.

Unexpectedly, in the matter of joint burial, I followed in the footsteps of Queen Lu again.

Tell me, why did Empress Lu be buried with Gaozu? ”

"Perhaps, Empress Lu is willing to do this in her heart.

After all, she's just like you, a strange woman. ”

"Strange woman, haha. When you reach my age, you will know that many times, strange women are forced out by the helplessness of fate. ”

By the way, what about Taiping? Where's my peace? ”

"The princess of Zhenguo is on her way here, you close your eyes for a while, and when the day dawns, the princess will arrive."

"Oh. When the sun comes out, remember to wake me up......"

In the winter of the first year of Shenlong, in November Renyin, the Great Sage Empress Wu Zetian collapsed in Luoyang at the age of eighty-three;

When he died, only Shangguan Wan'er, a member of the inner house, accompanied him.

***

Wu Zetian felt that he hadn't been so relaxed for a long time.

She heard the palace maids constantly mourning and calling the "Queen Mother", which was also mixed with Shangguan Wan'er's obsessive voice of "Holy Lord", she heard the heart-rending cry of her daughter Princess Taiping, and also heard the relieved sigh of her belated son, Zhongzong Li Xian.

However, these voices no longer stopped her, and her soul fluttered upwards into the void of heaven.

Her body was wrapped in a warm haze, which contained a familiar familiarity, reminding her of the babbling stream in the late spring of her hometown.

An indistinguishable mysterious voice came from above his head, "Wu Zetian, this is the end of your life." ”

"Yes, I know."

"What else do you want?"

"I don't have any regrets.

But I want to know, in the future, in all directions of the world, have you ever had peace? ”

"All corners of the world? Are you asking about Li Tang's world, or your Wu Zhou's world? ”

"It's all the same, I already understand at this moment, the world is the world after all."

"In the eighth year after your death, Princess Taiping was given death.

Fiftieth year after your death, the feudal town rose, Li Tang fell apart, and since then it has been in a slump. ”

"My peace...... My world...... Is it only 50 years? ”

"Yes, it's only been 50 years. It's a pity that the good foundation you laid with half your life's effort was ruined. ”

"It's a pity that they actually sit back and watch the end of the feudal town and swallow up the foundation of Qianqiu.

This time, it won't be blamed on me as a woman, will it? ”

"I don't blame you, this time, they blame a noble concubine named Yang Yuhuan."

“...... Is it the woman's fault again? ”

"It's always the woman's fault."

Wu Zetian suddenly laughed,

"I want to retract the answer I just made.

Now, I have regrets again. ”

***

When she woke up again, Wu Zetian found that she was in a speeding car, and the violent bumps made her have a headache, and her internal organs seemed to be in the wrong position.

was about to bow her head and vomit, but she was suddenly stunned-

He was wearing a half-new upper and lower skirt, all of which were not made by the Tang Dynasty, but looked like the Qin and Han costumes in the painting.

When he saw his hands, Wu Zetian was even more surprised.

The texture of these hands is rough, and it can be seen that they have been engaged in farming all the year round, and they are definitely not the condensed and soft wattles in the literati's mouth, but they are full and full of vitality, and they definitely do not belong to the dying and old Empress Dowager of the Tang Dynasty.

She felt a chill in her vest and stroked her face with her slightly trembling hands.

The thick and hard cocoon of her palm swept across her skin, bringing a solid sense of security, and she pressed her face hard, no wrinkles were touched, and the tentacles were only vigorous and elastic, proving that this was the face of a young woman.

Wu Zetian believes in Buddhism, and once asked Fa Ming and other Tang monks to write the "Great Cloud Sutra" for her, calling her the reincarnation of Maitreya Buddha, so she is no stranger to reincarnation.

She secretly guessed that her current self was also reincarnated.

Could it be that this is God's compensation for the regrets in her chest?

Let her become a peasant woman from an ordinary family in the Qin and Han dynasties, and live a dull and happy life? ?

***

With this thought in mind, she turned her face away and secretly looked at the other companion in the trunk.

It was an old man with a cramped manners, dressed more luxuriously than hers, but it was difficult to hide the knife-like wind and frost brought by the years on his face.

Catching up with her gaze, the old man said a little nervously, "Ejiao, we're probably almost there." ”

Before Wu Zetian could answer, the tall young man who was in charge of driving the horse in the front public opinion did not look back and said,

"It's very close, and there are still five miles to Guangwu City."

The old man twitched the corners of his mouth and laughed,

"I've been to this place in Guangwu City.

Our Han army and the Chu army have been facing each other here for ten months.

Last time, Xiang Yu escorted me to the city wall of Guangwu, supported a cauldron, and threatened to boil me to death. ”

"Mrs. Liu, don't talk about it, it's really terrifying.

I wonder if Xiang Yu will have any tricks this time? ”

The young man driving accosted.

"It's okay, little brother of the judge.

I heard that Ji Er's army is now strong and united, and Xiang Yu has been unable to attack it for a long time, so he proposed to use the chasm as the boundary and divide the world into two.

He is now in a hurry to send our group of hostages back, so as to show his sincerity in negotiating peace. ”

The old lady chattered, and in a blink of an eye, she glanced at Wu Zetian, who was stunned on the side, and asked,

"Ejiao, I'm about to see your husband, are you happy?"

Rao is Wu Zetian is decisive decision, she is used to seeing all the famous scenes in the world, and she is still engulfed by a huge shock.

She has been well-educated since she was a child, and she is involved in literature and history, and then she has been on the front line of government affairs year after year, and from the few words of dialogue, she has roughly inferred her identity and situation-

She, the wise and martial Wu Zetian, the Wu Zetian of "Ji Si Chen", and Wu Zetian, who was scolded as the second of Lu Hou, actually became Lu Pheasant himself in this life.

Right now, she is sitting in the same carriage with her husband Liu Ji's father, Liu Taigong, running from the Chu State camp to the Han army camp, ending her two-year hostage career.

And the "little brother who judged the family" who drove the car, if nothing else, was the secret lover of Lu Pheasant who was conclusive in the history books, and the old fellow tasted him.

***

"Huan...... Rejoice. ”

Under the gaze of Liu Taigong's earnest gaze, Wu Zetian was in a trance for a while.

In fact, she was so happy that she wanted to look up to the sky and laugh, and she wanted to thank the gods and Buddhas:

The conversation with Shangguan Wan'er before her death is still in her ears, and she really wants to be a strange woman again than a dull life.

This time, she firmly believes that she can do better, not only to make up for the regrets in her chest, but also for Shangguan Wan'er, for Princess Taiping, for the concubine Yang who has never met, and for thousands of women in the world.

***

The car drove from the rear camp of the Chu army to the city of Guangwu and stopped at the front line of the confrontation between the two armies.

Wu Zetian looked out of the car window and saw Liu Ji standing in front of the army.

He is over half a hundred years old, and he has not changed his name to Liu Bang at this time, but he has already given birth to an imperial momentum, indifferent and calm, and is no longer the middle-aged official in Surabaya Pavilion who has a vague face and loves to drink everywhere.

However, she could see that under the forced calm, Liu Ji was still a little irrepressibly excited.

Is this excitement due to the return of hostages such as father, brother and wife, or from the status of equal peace talks with the overlord of Western Chu?

I'm afraid only Liu Ji himself knows.

Next to Liu Ji, there were two childish figures, one tall and one short, who were stretching their necks and looking anxiously at the direction where the carriage was coming.

Wu Zetian knew that the tall boy was Liu Fei, the eldest son of Liu Ji and the neighboring Cao woman, and the short boy was Liu Ying, the second son born to him and Lu Pheasant.

"Lu Pheasant and Liu Ji should also have a daughter, named Princess Lu Yuan, who must still be in the rear city, and it is inconvenient to go out to meet her." Wu Zetian was dark.

It is said that when he suffered the defeat of Pengcheng, Liu Ji was anxious to flee by car, and repeatedly kicked Liu Ying and Lu Yuan, the two unlucky children, out of the car.

"Even if they are really caught by Xiang Yu, what can they do?" Wu Zetian pursed the corners of his lips, and slandered in his heart,

"It's nothing more than giving Liu Ji two bowls of meat soup outside Guangwu City.

In the end, historians will only say that the heroic spirit of the Han King has no benevolence of a woman, and those who achieve great things should be like this. ”

"That's right", she reminded herself in time in her heart, "You are Lu Pheasant in your thirties at the moment, but you are not a martial emperor who leans towards the government and the opposition." ”

The current Lu Pheasant is just the queen of King Han, a transparent person.