Chongzhen Sunset Song

?one

"You live here. Pack up your things, and then go to the back of the hall to sweep the dust off the railings. The tools are stored next door, so I'll be leaving first. If you need anything, go find me in the first wing in the northeast corner."

"Eunuch Hu, go slowly."

Xi Zhao bowed and watched Eunuch Hu turn and leave.

As soon as he arrived at the gray wall courtyard this morning, a face-to-face eunuch was already waiting beside Ma Gonggong.Looking at that face suddenly, one can see that there is a very wide mouth on the narrow cheeks. When smiling, the corners of the mouth seem to be able to grin to the root of the ears.If you have seen this appearance, you will never forget it.Sunset thought to himself.Introduced by Eunuch Ma, this person is Eunuch Hu, the sweeper of the Qianqing Palace.He led Xizhao to a wing room on the side of Qianqing Palace, which was Xizhao's new residence.The inside of the wing room looks much newer than that of the Southeast Library, probably only recently painted, and there is still a faint smell of lacquer in the air.The furnishings in the room are simple, with four wooden cabinets, four wooden chairs, and three sets of quilts have been neatly laid out on the Datong bunk.It turns out that people here are going to live with others, Xi Zhao thought, but I don't know if the three people living together can get along well?But no matter what, it's best to be careless and don't discover my secret.Xizhao put her luggage at the place closest to the inner wall, and hid the silver under the bed, went to the next door to get a broom and rag, and walked to the rear of the palace assigned by Eunuch Hu.

It really is the residence of the emperor.Walking by the towering hall wall, Xi Zhao sighed sincerely while looking around with wide eyes.It is the first time to appreciate the delicate and bright colorful paintings on the roof and eaves of the corridor so closely, and to touch the ingenious white marble carved dragon on the railings as white as snow.I don't know what the emperor who lives in such a palace looks like, and when will I have the chance to meet him?Xizhao thought silently while carefully wiping the dust off the carved dragon.According to what Zhou Xi said, at this time, the emperor should have returned from the morning court and returned to the main hall.Perhaps he was on the other side of the temple wall?Xizhao's heart suddenly thumped and became tense.If the emperor walks out of the palace at any time, he must take a closer look at it.

But until the end of work in the evening, even the shadow of the emperor did not appear.Xi Zhao returned to the tool room disappointed, put the broom in, looked at the Qianqing palace wall shrouded in the setting sun, turned and walked to the next door.

Pushing open the door, there were three eunuchs who were wearing the same gray collar shirt as Xi Zhao, chatting in the room.Seeing Xizhao come in, the three of them stopped talking and looked at him together.

"Hello, three big brothers." Xi Zhao hurriedly greeted obediently, and bowed again.

"New here?" A fat eunuch spoke first.

"Yes, my younger brother has just been transferred to the Qianqing Palace, so I'm not familiar with it yet, so please give me some pointers." Xi Zhao said humbly with a smiling face.

The fat eunuch nodded, ignored Xi Zhao, turned his head and continued the chat with the other two.Xi Zhao walked to her bed, spread out the quilt, sat on the head of the bed and listened to their conversation.

"By the way, Erfu, you got scolded again today?" The fat eunuch said, knocking on the melon seeds, pursing his lips.

"Hey, that rotten mouth used to be scolding, but it happened that he bumped into it again today." The eunuch called Er Fu said dejectedly.

"what happened?"

"Isn't it just that the emperor has gone to court, and the work in the palace hasn't been finished yet. What a big deal, but once it came out of his mouth, even my ancestors were brought in. Bah!" Er Fu spat out his melon seeds bitterly Skin.

"Hey. Brother Fu calm down," the thinnest eunuch next to him interjected, "It's not a day or two since Hu has a big mouth and no morals. Brother Fu can't afford to get angry with him."

"That's right," the fat eunuch said angrily, "Our brothers caught him, and whenever we grab his pigtails, we'll make him look good!"

"Brother Xiong is right, come, Brother Fu, have some tea." The little eunuch greeted hurriedly, and poured tea for Er Fu.

Xizhao listened to it, thinking about finding some free time to add a few words.There was a pause in the room, Xi Zhao hurriedly moved the chair over and said with a smile:

"Dare to ask the three elder brothers, what rules do we have when we do things here? I also tell my younger brother, so that when I can't do it wrong, I will be scolded by me."

"Why, didn't Hu Dazui tell you?" The fat eunuch called Brother Xiong raised his eyebrows, squinted at the sunset, and kept mouthing melon seeds.

"No, he led me here, told me that the tools were next door, and left."

"Hmph, don't teach people anything, just scold you when you do something wrong, that's what Hu Dazui is like." Brother Xiong threw away the melon seeds in his hand and dusted his hands, "Actually, it's nothing to us The general rule is that the emperor sweeps the inner hall when he goes to court, and cleans the outer hall and yard after the emperor comes back. Needless to say, when cleaning the inner hall, you can't stay at the emperor's table for too long, your majesty You are not allowed to look through the memorial files on the table. Seeing the emperor, no matter what work you are doing, you have to stop, bow your head and kneel, and you can’t raise your head to aim at random. The emperor and his entourage can only get up when they are far away. right?"

Brother Xiong looked at the other two, and the other two thought about it, but couldn't think of anything else.Xizhao moved a little closer and asked cautiously:

"Dare to ask my brother, when will my younger brother see the emperor?"

"Yo, that's not certain. If it's your turn to sweep the front of the hall, you can see the emperor once a day when you go to court, and you may not see the emperor for a whole day when you sweep the back of the hall. The emperor rarely comes out when he enters the hall. Daily memorial It was piled up like a hill, and sometimes the emperor didn't go to bed until the third watch, so he didn't have time to hang out."

"Oh..." Xi Zhao nodded thoughtfully, "Then... when will it be my turn to sweep the hall?"

"Why, do you want to see the emperor?" Brother Xiong joked with a half-smile, "Don't worry, the rotation takes place every ten days, sooner or later it will be your turn."

two

One day, two days... In a flash, it was already the tenth day of working in Qianqing Palace.After cleaning the inner hall, Xi Zhao took the broom and came to the back of the main hall, the place where she worked when she was transferred on the first day.

In the past two days, Xizhao has gradually gotten used to the splendor of gold and jade here.When he entered the inner hall for the first time, if it wasn't for the thin eunuch named Qi Xiaobao who dragged him, Xi Zhao would almost be so overwhelmed by the scene that he forgot to walk.Inside the main hall, it is deeper and wider than imagined. As soon as you enter the door, you will be dazzled by the shining golden scene in the center of the sunset.Looking closely, it turned out to be a golden platform carved with dragons, about two feet high and nine feet wide. In the middle of the golden platform is a dragon table covered with bright yellow brocade, and a large dragon chair with countless auspicious dragons entrenched .Behind the dragon chair stands a pair of relief screens, which can't be seen clearly from the depths of the hall, but the gully is full of gold and color, which is extremely exquisite.Four thick red lacquered pillars stand at the four corners of the golden platform and soar to the sky, like a king kong god, guarding a golden holy place in the middle.Looking up, the roof is covered with gorgeous colorful pictures, circling around, as if about to fly into the clouds; looking down, the black-blue stone bricks are as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the objects and scenes in the hall and gradually blurring, as if It is necessary to attract the golden platform and red pillars, carved dragons and painted phoenixes in this world to that other world deep in the heart of the earth.

"It's the same as the first time I came in." Glancing at Xi Zhao's dumbfounded look, Brother Xiong and the others laughed.

In the past few days, Xi Zhao has been assigned to clean the South study.This south study seems to be the place where the emperor manages his daily affairs.In the center of the room is a large red sandalwood dragon case, on which are neatly displayed pens, inks, papers and inkstones, and memorials are stacked neatly on the side.On both sides of the room, there are high and low hollow carved cabinets, on which are scattered several jade or celadon ornaments, and a gilt incense burner engraved with Ganoderma lucidum patterns.There are several sets of calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall, among which the big couplet after the case of Shulong is the most eye-catching.This couplet is about six feet high, with [-] characters inscribed on it - "Hua Fa Nan Zhi Xin Dong Yu, Ting Sheng Rui Gui Zhuang Fei Hui", beside the Gui characters, there is a square red seal of "Chongzhen Imperial Brush".The brush strokes are so vigorous and vigorous, and the emperor's personal writing is indeed extraordinary.Every time she saw this handwriting, Xi Zhao would suddenly feel admiration in her heart, and she wanted to see the general grace of the emperor who wrote such a good handwriting sooner.

The same is true today.After cleaning the tables and chairs, sweeping the ground, and burning sandalwood in the censer, the work in the inner hall was finished. Xi Zhao walked towards the corridor at the back of the hall while counting the days.Yes, today is the long-awaited tenth day.

"Where should I go to work tomorrow?" After returning to the wing room at night, Xi Zhao couldn't help asking Brother Xiong.

"Don't worry, Hu Dazui will come over later to distribute."

Xi Zhao nodded and sat back on her bed.Since there are four people going around, with a ten-day rotation, then at least it will be tomorrow, and at most it will be another [-] days before it will be the turn to clean the front of the hall, and the emperor will see the appearance of the emperor when he comes back from court.Thinking about it, Xizhao was overjoyed.Regardless of the length of time, there is finally something to look forward to.Although when he saw the emperor, he always bowed his head and knelt, and didn't look very carefully, but Xi Zhao thought, as long as he could see him, even if it was just the hem of the trousers, it was enough.

three

It snowed all night last night.Waking up early in the morning, the sky is bright and clear, and the outside of Qianqing Palace is a vast expanse of white, against which the red walls and yellow tiles are as bright as flames.

After ten days of cleaning the back of the hall, Hu Dazui arranged the sunset on the west side of the hall, outside Xinuang Pavilion.Probably because she was mentally prepared to wait another [-] days, Xi Zhao was not too disappointed.

Cleared away the snow on the road and piled it up in the corner beside the stone steps little by little. It was evening when the work was finished.Xi Zhao rubbed her frozen red hands, breathed a sigh of relief, and was about to pack up her tools and go back when she suddenly heard a voice not far away:

"Dexiu—"

Xizhao looked back and saw that the person waving at him was Zhou Xi?After a happy evening, he hurriedly walked over to meet Zhou Xi.

"Why are you here?" Xizhao asked.

"Today, Eunuch Li sent me to pick up the memorial. I came to see you by the way. After searching around, it turns out that you are in this corner."

Looking at the smiling Zhou Xi, Xi Zhao somehow felt very kind. He wiped the stone steps with his sleeve, and the two sat down side by side.

"How do you feel about working here? How are other people treating you?" Zhou Xi was very concerned about Xi Zhao.

"It's all pretty good. It's much more lively than Southeast Library, but I haven't seen the emperor yet."

"It's okay. I'm working in Qianqing Palace. It's not a matter of time before I see the emperor. If you need any help, just come to me." Zhou Xi patted his chest.

His physique looks fragile, and he looks like a big brother.Xizhao smiled and nodded to Zhou Xi.

"But I think you should find a backer. It will be easier to get promoted in the future." After a few gossips, Zhou Xi looked at the sunset and said seriously, "You can't just sweep the floor here for the rest of your life."

"Hmm...um." When this topic was mentioned suddenly, Xi Zhao was vague and perfunctory, not knowing how to answer for a moment.

"If you don't like Eunuch Li, you can also search for other people. Hey, why don't you come to the Supervisor of Rites to look for me more in the future when you have time, so that you can be more or less familiar, and I will help you pay attention. If there is a good opportunity, I will definitely recommend you.”

After being separated for a long time, Zhou Xi is still Zhou Xi.Xizhao nodded in agreement, but avoided Zhou Xi's gaze.Zhou Xi was kind, but hearing these words in his heart, he always felt that it was not so smooth.

I was speechless for a moment.After a while, Zhou Xi seemed to remember something.

"By the way. You know Yuan Chonghuan Yuan Dushi..."

"What's wrong?" After breaking the silence with great difficulty, Xi Zhao suddenly regained her spirits as if she had heard something closely related to her.

"Director Yuan was arrested and imprisoned just two days ago."

"Is this really true?" Xi Zhao was startled, "Doctor Yuan is really guilty?" Could it be that the rumors of collaborating with the enemy that I heard in the Jin Army camp were true?

"Since you have been sent to prison, you are guilty. The crime of collaborating with the enemy will lead to death without a whole body." Zhou Xi shook his head, with regret in his eyes, "Hey...not long ago, this Governor Yuan was still majestic. Sitting in the east of Liaodong, defending against Jin soldiers, eliminating internal traitors, and being praised as anti-gold heroes, what a sight it is. Now it has ended up like this. It is really an impermanent world."

Things are impermanent.The two sat on the stone steps and sighed for a while, then Zhou Xi went back.The evening sun gradually reflected on this majestic palace, with yellow tiles and glass, high red sand walls, and white jade railings. Everywhere, it was shrouded in gorgeous thick gold.Xizhao looked at this extremely beautiful and even somewhat coquettish scene, and couldn't help but think of Uncle Ghost's song:

The prosperity is just right, but it is the sunset...

Flowers bloom impermanently, and the moon is impermanently round. This is nothing more than a natural thing.But the elegy is often played quietly at such a beautiful time, unintentionally, the eyes are full of bleakness, and the night is heavy.The same is true of Governor Yuan, and the same is true of father, both of them agreed to this sentence, the prosperity is just right, but it is the sunset.

How can it not be embarrassing?

"You are so young, why are you so pessimistic?"

Suddenly, a strange voice rang in my ear.Xi Zhao was startled, and turned her head quickly, and at some point behind her, a tall and elegant man appeared.He looked at the sunset quietly, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised, as if he was smiling, but there was a majesty that could not be ignored between his brows.Xizhao took a closer look, and saw that this person was wearing a black gauze winged crown, and a bright yellow brocade robe with a collar. The robe was embroidered with golden silk patterns of dragons and auspicious clouds...

Xi Zhao was stunned for a moment, her eyes widened.

Could it be... Could it be that this person is...! !