Chongzhen Sunset Song

?one

"Your Majesty, the clothes you ordered are ready." Two months later, the eunuch, the supervisor of Shangyi, came to the South Study Room of Qianqing Palace and presented the newly made dragon robes for Chongzhen to have a look.

"Huh?" Chongzhen, who was buried in the memorial, raised his head subconsciously, and suddenly felt his eyes were full of gold, only then did he realize that a brand-new tuanlonggun uniform was being held up by two eunuchs and spread out in front of the dragon case.If it is the clothes of the emperor, the bright yellow brocade is smooth and delicate, with a bright and dazzling luster like gold leaf; there are twelve multicolored dragons embroidered with extremely fine silk threads, and the statues are lifelike, just like heavenly craftsmanship.Exquisite and high-quality textures, complicated and gorgeous patterns, and details everywhere reveal the ultimate royal majesty.

But Chongzhen frowned when he saw this, and went inside if he didn't know. "Dragon robe? Who told you to make it?"

The eunuch in charge was startled when he heard the words, and quickly looked at Xi Zhao who was standing aside.

"Go back to the emperor, Dexiu ordered." Xi Zhao bowed to the emperor, then waved to the eunuch in charge, "Send it to Xinuang Pavilion first."

"I've already said I won't do it, so what do you mean?" Chongzhen put down the memorial, staring at the sunset with sullen expression on his face.

"Your Majesty, calm down." Xi Zhao went around to the Dragon Case, flicked his skirt, and knelt down on his knees: "This dragon robe was made by Dexiu, and I asked Shang Yijian to buy it. Dexiu made a good idea and never asked the emperor's consent." , and ask the emperor to forgive me." After finishing speaking, Xi Zhao fell on the ground and kowtowed.

"You..." Chongzhen frowned slightly, a little surprised, "Where did you get the money?"

"It's Dexiu's private money." Xizhao replied, "In short, this dragon robe has not used a single cent of the national treasury. Please rest assured, Your Majesty."

"..."

Chongzhen lost his words for a moment, so he simply closed his mouth, pursed his thin lips, and leaned back on the chair.The king of a country wants others to buy clothes for him. Faced with Xizhao's kindness, Chongzhen has mixed feelings in his heart, and it is not easy.Although the friendship of thinking about oneself is heart-warming, the real feeling that the majestic king of Ming Dynasty has fallen into such a state is even more heart-wrenching.Seeing that Chongzhen was silent for a long time, Xizhao also panicked.At the beginning when I saw the emperor's old clothes, I felt sad, so I put this set of clothes without thinking too much; now, seeing the solemn expression on the emperor's face, I must not have done something bad with good intentions.

"This...is not in compliance with the rules." After a long while, Chongzhen opened his mouth.

The emperor finally reacted, Xizhao hurriedly lowered her body, and said anxiously: "Dexiu is guilty, please punish me."

"Hey...get up." Chongzhen sighed softly.Thinking about it carefully, Da Ming's situation did not happen in a day or two.Today is the same as usual, only more sad.Chongzhen thought about it, and at least he felt relieved: "It's rare that you have such sincerity, how can I punish you."

After hearing this, Xi Zhao finally swallowed her peace of mind.It's good not to anger the emperor.Xi Zhao stood up according to her words, but saw Chong Zhen smiled slightly, changed from the seriousness just now, and his eyes were actually softer than before.

"Thank you."

two

In the supervisor of ceremonies, the small-eyed eunuch squatted beside Wang Chengen and whispered, as if reporting some confidential matter.

"This little bastard, you can really do it." After the small-eyed eunuch finished speaking, Wang Chengen rolled his eyes with a displeased expression. "It's only been a few days since I entered the palace, and you dare to be so presumptuous. Is this trying to challenge our family?"

"Eunuch, calm down. The little boy has only a short time to enter the palace, and he doesn't know the rules. Eunuch just beat and beat him. Don't get angry."

A fair-skinned eunuch next to him comforted him with warm words.I saw that this person was about 30 years old, although his facial features were not handsome, they were clean and neat.As he spoke, he smiled gracefully, but the smile only lingered on the corners of his mouth and cheeks, but his eyes were bottomless, revealing a hint of imperceptible indifference.

This person is none other than Li Quan, Eunuch Li, who Xizhao had met once when Xi Zhao first entered the palace, and who was transferred to the Supervisor of Rituals with Zhou Xi.

"Knocking, it depends on whether our family is in the mood." Wang Chengen curled his mouth, his face full of clouds, "It's really not as good as the sky, I hate that Liang Yi died a few years later, and let this brat get in , It’s useless to raise him as a substitute for a few years. While he is still young and fledgling, he can simply get rid of his work, so as not to be a disaster if he doesn’t pay attention in the future.”

"I heard that this person is quite upright and has a good reputation in the palace, and now he is favored by the emperor. I'm afraid it will take a lot of work to get rid of him." Li Quan said.

"Being upright?" Wang Chengen smiled sinisterly, and there was something in his words, "That's not necessarily the case."

Li Quan was a little surprised when he heard the words, moved closer, and asked in a low voice: "Elder-in-law said so, but you already have the pigtails in your hands?"

"Hmph." Wang Chengen's mouth twitched slightly, and he snorted a laugh, "Don't worry, it's almost time. This Zhang Dexiu won't be around for long."

Bang!Hearing a sound outside the window, the three people in the room were startled and looked towards the window.

"Go, see who it is." Wang Chengen pushed the small-eyed eunuch, and the small-eyed eunuch responded immediately, and went out to check.After a while, he entered the house again to report: "Elder-in-law, there is no one outside the house."

"It's probably cats and dogs, father-in-law don't need to worry about it." Li Quan said casually, and signaled the small-eyed eunuch to close the door.

"Whether it's a human or a dog, if he wants to ruin my business, it depends on how courageous he has developed." Wang Chengen sneered, loosened his body, and leaned back.

"That's right, I don't want to mess with my father-in-law in this palace!" The small-eyed eunuch on the side also stepped forward, flattering me with a charming smile.But Wang Chengen felt even more annoyed when he heard it, so he glanced at it and ignored it.The small-eyed eunuch was bored, so he had to stand behind in embarrassment, watching Wang Gonggong and Li Quan continue talking.The house was still as calm as before, and no one noticed it. Just a few feet away from the house, Zhou Xi, who was still in shock, was panting heavily, recalling the conversation he overheard just now, and his heart rose in his throat.

three

"Zhou Xi?"

Xi Zhao was preparing to go to bed in the room when suddenly a figure flashed in.Xizhao was startled, but after a closer look, it turned out to be Zhou Xi.

"It's late at night, brother Zhou Xi is busy?" Looking at the flustered look on that side, Xi Zhao felt that something was a little unusual.

"Hush—" Zhou Xi closed the door and turned around, made a gesture with his mouth, then walked quickly to the side of Xizhao, and lowered his voice, "Dexiu, have you offended the prince?"

"Prince and Eunuch, Supervisor of Rituals?" Xi Zhao thought for a while, "It should not have happened."

"Then what shortcomings do you have for the prince to know?" Zhou Xi asked again.

"Uh..." Xi Zhao didn't know how to answer, let alone why Zhou Xi asked such a question, and was a little dazed for a while.

"Hey." Seeing that Xizhao didn't answer, Zhou Xi sighed and sat down on the chair.

"What's wrong? Brother Zhou Xi?" Xi Zhao also sat down and asked suspiciously.

"I passed by the prince's house today, but I heard something terrible." Zhou Xi frowned, with a serious face, "Prince Wang Chengen, it seems that he is trying to harm you."

"He wants to harm me?" Xi Zhao has never seen Zhou Xi who is usually joking and laughing so solemnly, it seems that what he said is true, "Why is it against me?"

"It seems that you did something that didn't go his way. After a while, he will take action. But his words were cryptic. I don't know why after a while." Zhou Xi recalled what he had said Hearing every word and every sentence, his expression became more dignified, "You also know how powerful the prince is in the palace, Dexiu, you have to be careful."

After hearing Zhou Xi's words, Xi Zhao was confused and lost her words.Although Zhou Xi was kind enough to remind himself, he didn't know why Wang Gonggong held a grudge, and he didn't know how he would deal with him. He said to be careful, so how careful is this.

"Okay, I've told you everything I know." Zhou Xi said again, "I was accidentally discovered by Wang Gonggong and the others when I was eavesdropping today. Although I didn't see who I am, it's still not suitable for you to stay here for a long time." After that, he stood up and said goodbye, "You have to take care of yourself and be careful."

"Okay, thank you Brother Zhou Xi for your letter." Xi Zhao also stood up, and thanked him with cupped hands, "Brother Zhou Xi will definitely repay you in the future."

"Hey, they are all brothers in the same period, so it's too serious to repay." Zhou Xi pressed down Xizhao's hand, "Then I'm leaving."

"Okay, be careful on the road."

After Zhou Xi left, Xizhao sat on the head of the bed, calmed down, and thought carefully about what she had done during this period.Before the prison, Wang Gonggong didn't know me, let alone offended me.After entering the Duzhi Prison, he followed Eunuch Liang to serve the emperor, and it was quite standard all the time, that is, accompanied him out of the palace, and gave him a dragon robe. He really didn't do anything that could hinder Eunuch Wang.After thinking about it, Xizhao pondered for a while, and finally came up with a hypothesis—since he didn't do anything to offend others, is the prince jealous of his rising status around the emperor?Other than that, there seems to be no other reason. ... Is that really the case?I never dreamed that I would be favored by the emperor before, even to the point of making the prince jealous. Now I am in this situation, I really don't know what kind of good luck I have.Although it is said that a big tree will attract the wind, but since it has the emperor's favor, what is there to be afraid of?

Thinking of this, Xi Zhao was happy, and lay back on the bed, his tense nerves suddenly relaxed.

four

As the fortune teller said, after the rebellion in August last year, Yang He was punished, Hong Chengchou was appointed, and Zu Dashou was forgiven. In the past year, although there was Kong Youde's rebellion, neither the Peasant Army nor the Jin Army were too big. movement.And in August, there will be another big happy event in the palace - Empress Zhou has added a little prince to the emperor.

"Sure enough, when the rain finally stops, does the sky finally have a sunny day..." Chongzhen looked at the clear sky outside the window, his eyes were full of joy.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty, everything is going smoothly now, and from now on, the Ming Dynasty will surely make the country safe and peaceful, and the country will last forever." Xi Zhao looked at the long-lost joy on the Emperor's face, and felt indescribably happy in his heart.

"Report to the emperor, Wang Cheng'en begs to see you." As he was speaking, he only listened to the order eunuch said.

"pass."

"Your Majesty, this is a congratulatory gift from Mr. Cifu and Mr. Shangshu of the Ministry of War. Please take a look at it." Wang Chengen entered the hall in response and presented two gift lists.

Chongzhen took the gift list and glanced at it, then handed it to Xizhao.Xizhao put these two copies in the bookcase drawer together with other gift lists she had received.

"Everyone in charge of the affairs of the state works very hard every day. Let the jewels and cloths over there be distributed among the chief inspectors." Chongzhen pointed to several boxes piled up on one side of the main hall, and said to Wang Cheng'en.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness." Wang Chengen bowed to thank him.

"Dexiu, take a few people and move the box over there to the Supervisor of Rites." Chongzhen ordered.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Xi Zhao took the order, greeted several eunuchs who were waiting nearby, each of them carried several boxes out of the main hall, and moved a small box by himself, and went to the Prison of Rites together.

Arriving at the courtyard of the Supervisor of Rituals and putting things away, Xizhao was about to leave when he saw Wang Chengen walking into the courtyard.

"Wang Gonggong." When they met on a narrow road, Xizhao had nowhere to hide, so he had to bow his hands, which was regarded as a greeting.

Wang Cheng'en of that chamber saw Xi Zhao, but he didn't return the courtesy, walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, walked to Xi Zhao's side, looked him up and down, and twitched his mouth.

"How is Eunuch Zhang doing recently?"

In normal times, these words would not be very unusual, but what Xizhao said in his heart was hidden in Zhou Xi's heart, it sounded like an extra layer of meaning.It's already hated, it's better to keep a low profile.So Xi Zhao said humbly:

"It's not good or bad, it's just to be careful and live with caution."

"Oh, Mr. Zhang, don't be so modest. I heard that you can even afford the emperor's dragon robe. It seems that life is going well." Needle.

Regardless of the speaker's intentions, the listener has a heart.Xizhao was startled when she heard the words, and the wind was blowing... Could it be alluding to the matter of collecting money?But apart from myself and Mr. Zhou, there should be no third person who knew about that matter.Xi Zhao couldn't figure it out, but her face remained calm, she just lowered her head slightly: "I made my father-in-law laugh."

Wang Chengen stared at the sunset, staring at it, but for some reason he started laughing.Just when Xi Zhao blinked and was confused, this person suddenly stopped laughing and patted Xi Zhao on the shoulder. "Proceed with caution, as long as you understand these four words." After finishing speaking, Wang Chengen brushed off his clothes, put his hands behind his back, turned around and walked away.