Chongzhen Sunset Song

?one

The first year of Chongzhen.

"Little thief, stop running!"

A figure suddenly rushed out of the alley, startled pedestrians staggered, and almost knocked over the incense stand on the side of the road.The incense peddler muttered a few words in dissatisfaction, and was about to lean forward to set up the incense candles, when several people shouted and rushed out of the alley, which made the peddler shrink his hands to avoid it.

"Stop the thief! Return the money!!"

Running in front was a young man with delicate eyebrows and eyes.He glanced back, and saw a few big men at a distance of 50 meters behind him, holding sticks, chasing him viciously.The boy was startled, he took a deep breath, his feet felt windy, and he turned into the alley next to him.

Those big men followed closely behind, also scrambling to chase into the alley.However, the alleys were narrow and overgrown with branches, and the young man disappeared without a trace.

"Where did you go!" a big man said out of breath.

"This little thief dares to steal Mr. Liu's money. He doesn't want to hang out in the capital!"

"Brother, are we still going after him?"

"Hmph! Chase! I want to see if he can escape this Beijing city!"

The yelling and cursing of the big men became farther and farther away, and within the time of a cup of tea, they were drowned in the distant noise.

From the cabbage shed deep in the alley, a small head poked out, looking forward and back.

It should have gone far.

The boy carefully crawled out from behind the cabbage pile, patted the dirt on his body, breathed a sigh of relief, unloaded the small burden on his back, and weighed it in his hands.

If I had known it was the money from that bully Liu Tutou's family, let alone 50 taels, I wouldn't have the guts to think about it even if it was five cents.The boy sighed.How good this is, if you don't take this money, you can live anyway, but if you take this money, how can the capital survive.

Thinking about it, the boy couldn't help shivering, looked around, turned around and went back to the cabbage shed.

It's daylight now, it's always dangerous, wait until night for now, and then think of a way.

two

"Master. It's dawn, it's time to get up."

The boy opened his eyes in a daze, only to see the maid busy back and forth in the bedroom.The sunshine outside the window is soft and soft, accompanied by a few clear birdsong, passing through the window lattice carved with crabapple branches, brushing over the celadon teacup on the pear table, and sprinkled on the fragrant and warm brocade quilt.There was a half-read idle book by the bedside, and on the desk under the window were pine branch inkstones with dried ink and an unfinished small script copybook.

Dreaming of home again... The young man took a deep breath, looked around with nostalgia at everything in front of him, some nostalgia welled up in his heart, no more, no less, just enough to moisten his eye sockets.

Just in a daze, the bedroom turned into a hall. A middle-aged man with a kind face and a beautiful and gentle woman sat in the middle. They smiled slightly and waved to the boy:

Come, Xizhao, come...

Father, mother, have you come to see the child again?The boy walked forward step by step, trying to hold his mother's hand, when suddenly he shouted loudly from behind:

Xu Xizhao!So you are here!Humph, come here, take all the valuables in this house for me!

No!

The young man stretched out his hand to stop it, but he couldn't move at all. He could only look at the overturned tables and chairs, the smashed porcelain, the crushed flower branches, and the crying mother lying aside.The Eight Immortals chair that my father was sitting on just now seemed to be in front of my eyes, within reach, but my father was nowhere to be found.In the past five years, I don't know how many times I have dreamed of the same scene.The boy held his breath and quietly closed his eyes.It's just a dream, it doesn't matter, wait a minute, it will pass after a while... Just thinking about it like this, the chaotic voices became more and more blurred, and there was only a burst of chaotic footsteps, but they gradually became clearer.

Woke up with a start.The boy regained his composure and found himself still curled up in the cabbage shed.There were bursts of chill all over the body, and looking through the gaps in the cabbage pile, it was almost dusk.The sound of footsteps rang in my ears, and there were people passing by all around, making it very noisy.

"My lord, I missed that kid here today!"

Snapped! "Ouch!"

"You fast catchers, you can't even catch a brat! It's too light to give you a slap. If you can't get him before tomorrow, you four will pack up and get out!"

"Yes... Hurry up! Go over there and look for it!"

The sound of hurried footsteps seemed to be going towards the entrance of the alley.From a distance, I heard Liu Butou shouting angrily:

"Find out this kid's name and where he lives! If the bottom of Beijing is broken, I have to find him!"

"Yes!"

The boy suddenly woke up, and squatted in the cabbage shed, not daring to vent his breath.He was so tense for about half an hour, until he couldn't hear any movement around him, then the young man heaved a sigh of relief, leaned against the pile of cabbage, and still held the 50 taels of silver tightly in his arms.

three

It has been five years since that accident.Petty theft, petty deception, no matter good or bad, Xu Xizhao has finally lived to this day.However, the pain of family ruin and death has gradually calmed down with the passage of time, staying peacefully in a corner of memory, except for occasional reflections in dreams, and does not often disturb Xi Zhao's thoughts.Five years, neither short nor long, has made Xizhao accept the unfair arrangement of God, as if the 12 years of the rich young master's life were really a dream, wake up from the dream, smile lightly, wave your hands and don't care too much; Or this kind of life without food and clothing is too realistic, so realistic that even the slightest emotion immersed in sorrow will appear so extravagant.

In any case, everything is a thing of the past.And the problem before him now made Xi Zhao not in the mood to recall the old things in the dream just now.

Not long after nightfall, the moonlight was dim, and there still seemed to be the noise of the policemen in the distance, intermittent and inaudible.It's so easy to get a lot of money, but who knows that I have violated Tai Sui. It seems that they will not stop until they catch me tonight.Xi Zhao shook her head, took out the warm cloth bag in her arms, and untied it.The five ingots of silver glowed with a soft silver light, which looked very beautiful under the moonlight.Xizhao picked up one ingot and looked at it carefully, and picked up another ingot to weigh it, and suddenly found that there seemed to be a letter under the silver ingot.Xizhao opened the letter by moonlight, and saw the following lines written on it:

"Master Yang has to worry about changing the sentence. A little courtesy is not a respect, so please accept it with a smile. Liu Dahu."

No wonder Catcher Liu is so nervous about this little money, because he is afraid that his little deeds will be known by others.Sunset sneered disdainfully.In today's world, the country is not peaceful and the people are uneasy, and it is not easy to have enough to eat, so how can you have the leisure to care about your many things.Xi Zhao didn't take a second look, and directly threw the letter aside, then neatly arranged the silver taels, wrapped them carefully with cloth, and put them back in his bosom.

But...if Liu Dahu thinks that the matter will be exposed, even if I don't care about it, he will still come to find me.As for the so-called "change of sentence", if it's a trivial matter, it's fine. If it's an important matter and the crime is serious, wouldn't it be silenced by Liu Dahu if he was arrested?While carrying the money, Xi Zhao was thinking wildly, and a trace of fear arose in her heart—spreading this letter, the problem is no longer a problem that can be solved by returning the money... How about changing into a woman's dress and going out of the city overnight?But at this hour and a half, where can I find aoqun, not to mention that it is difficult to get out of the city, even if I go out of the city, where can I find a place to live...

I don't know how long it took, the night was deep, and the surroundings finally began to be quiet.After not eating for a day, Xizhao's stomach was already rumbling with hunger, but she still couldn't come up with any good ideas.Several times I wanted to climb out of the shed to find out the wind, but I was scared back by the voices of people who were approaching and far away.what to do?There is no way in and no way out, so I can't hide in this small shed forever.Just when Xizhao mustered up his courage and wanted to go out to explore the road again, suddenly there was another sound of footsteps approaching in the distance.Xizhao was startled, and quickly retracted into the shed to hide, and looked out from the gap in the cabbage pile.I saw a group of people walking rustlingly from the direction of the entrance of the alley. The person walking in front was holding a lantern. The light was dim, and only the figures of these people could be roughly reflected.They walked very fast and their footsteps were very light. Xizhao planned to distinguish them carefully when they passed the cabbage shed, but she still couldn't distinguish them clearly. She just felt that these people were acting in a low-key and secretive manner, unlike Liu Butou's men. It's quite different.

Not far from the cabbage shed, the team stopped for some reason.As soon as the rustling sound disappeared, the alley seemed extraordinarily quiet.The lantern at the beginning turned in a direction, and the light just reflected on the gorgeous and complicated pattern of a person's robe.

"The palace gate is in front of you. Do you remember what our family taught you?"

The man spoke falteringly, his voice was a bit shrill, and there was a kind of condescending arrogance in his words.

"Remember, these children understand the truth. Eunuch Zhao, don't worry." The lantern bearer bowed and said obsequiously.

It turned out to be the eunuch.Xizhao felt at ease.Nowadays, eunuchs are very powerful. They work for the emperor in the palace, not to mention the rich clothes and fine food. Standing in the crowd, they seem to be a head taller than others.The people in front of me are just examples.

"Well——" that Eunuch Zhao's voice sounded again, "I've already done the cleansing for you, and after that, our family won't be able to control you much anymore. When the time comes, the six of you... huh?" The father-in-law tilted his head and asked the lantern bearer, "How many people are these?"

"Hey? One, two, three, four, five... why are there five people? Wang Chunsheng... Li Xiang... Wu Haocai, Zhou... What Zhou, Zhao Fucheng... Hey? There is another person named Zhang Dexiu? Who is there? Did you see him?"

The young men in the back looked at each other without saying a word.

"No one came! Huh?" Facing these young people, the waist holding the lantern straightened, and his voice became brighter, "This palace can be entered if you want to! Without Eunuch Zhao's hard work and effort, you guys You can get in! Huh? If you can’t say it, you won’t come! Don’t take our father-in-law seriously..."

The more he talked about lighting the lantern, the more vigorous he was, but it made Xi Zhao, who was hiding behind the pile of cabbage, move his mind.That's right, the imperial palace, where the emperor lives, is inaccessible to ordinary people, let alone Liu Dahu and those policemen... Isn't the red wall the best hiding place!I don’t have to worry about Liu Dahu picking me out, I don’t have to leave Beijing to wander around without a fixed place, and I don’t have to sneak around. I can eat, have clothes, and hide for as long as I want. Wouldn’t it be a good thing?

Anyway, there is no way out, so I just pretend to be a eunuch and go to the palace!

This idea is really crazy, but this madness is to teach Xizhao that the dark clouds dissipate and the sun shines in his heart.Don't think about whether your identity will be exposed, don't think about what kind of world is inside the red wall, don't think about what kind of life is waiting for you, Xizhao hurriedly climbed out of it without thinking about anything. The cabbage shed, like the instinct to find the light when lost, and the fate of moths to the flame, suddenly got up, messed up the hair, covered the face, and went straight to the dim light ahead.

"Zhang Dexiu is here!"

It was December, the first year of Chongzhen. ?