Chongzhen Sunset Song

?one

"and then?"

Zhou Xi was in Xizhao's room, listening to Xizhao talk about the terrifying scene in the South Study Room today.

"Then, half an hour later, several people arrived. When Mr. Zhou first arrived, he did not know why he summoned him. After Mr. Chen told the matter, Mr. Yao and the others confirmed that it was indeed the case, Mr. Zhou suddenly Paralyzed, speechless, with cold sweat on his face, unable to move at all." Xi Zhao said happily while nibbling melon seeds.

"Did the emperor order to punish him at that time?" Zhou Xi asked again.

"That's not true." Xi Zhao said, putting a melon seed into his mouth, "The emperor didn't say anything, so they all retreated. But it can be seen that the emperor was really angry this time, Mr. Zhou seems It's bad luck."

"Tsk tsk, this is really a reward for the world." Zhou Xi smacked his lips and shook his head.

"What do you mean?" Xi Zhao was puzzled.

"Hearing what you said, the situation is exactly the same as when Master Zhou reported on Governor Yuan." Zhou Xi also picked up the melon seeds and started nibbling.

"Hey? Informant? What do you mean?" Xi Zhao asked hastily as his heart moved.Maybe it was because the punishment of Ling Chi was too shocking, maybe it was because the impact of the five-day confinement was really profound, the first major event involved in this palace always held a special place in Xi Zhao's heart.

"You don't know?" Zhou Xi blinked, a little surprised, "Do you know why the emperor gave Governor Yuan a heavy sentence overnight after hesitating for so long?"

Indeed, at that time, between the emperor's hesitation and decision, Xi Zhao always felt that something was missing, and she still hasn't found the answer. "Why exactly?" he asked.

"Yeah." Zhou Xi threw down the melon seeds in his hand, shook his hands and said, "That's almost a replica of what happened today. Mr. Zhou and Mr. Xu Yuqing and Mr. Xu came to the South Study Room and reported to the emperor. An astonishing sentence that Yuan Dushi said. At that time, the platform was right, and Yuan Dushi boasted that he had been in Haikou for five years to pacify the Liao Dynasty. Four words..."

"Which four words?" Xi Zhao hurriedly asked.

"Hmph." Zhou Xi curled his lips in a serious manner, "Talk to comfort me."

I see.The doubts from many years ago finally had an explanation, Xi Zhao raised her eyebrows, and suddenly felt a bright light in her chest.Xi Zhao knew how the emperor treated Yuan Dushi.Cutting to pieces by a thousand knives is indeed cruel, but to the emperor, these four words are probably as painful as stabbing a knife in his heart.

"Hey, the emperor used to trust Governor Yuan so much, and Mr. Zhou so much, but these two people repayed the emperor with such an unbearable attitude. Not to mention the emperor who is high above the sky, even me, a humble man, will definitely hurt me. Through my heart."

Zhou Xi sighed and said.

two

A few days later, Zhou Yanru went to Shushu to resign.Chongzhen only approved a word of approval, and did not make any retention.

According to the order, Wen Tiren, who had been a secondary assistant for several years, finally got his wish and took the position of chief assistant.Everyone knows who is behind the scenes of this turmoil, but no one can insist on exactly which juncture the behind-the-scenes black hand has made a move.Everything was speculation, until the moment Mr. Wen officially became the chief minister of the cabinet, his net worth was still as clean as a piece of white paper.

"Congratulations, father-in-law, congratulations to father-in-law!" As soon as Li Quangang entered the door, he crossed his hands and congratulated Wang Chengen.

"Hey~ Our family is so happy." Wang Chengen smiled calmly and waved his hands, "It is Mr. Wen who should celebrate, our family just helped a little."

"Oh? So, the father-in-law didn't expect Mr. Zhou to step down?" Li Quan narrowed his eyes and joked with a half-smile.

"Hmph, you kid. I want to show that you are smart." Wang Chengen glanced at him, the corner of his mouth twitched, but a fierce light flashed in his eyes, "Now the matter is almost cleaned up, the only thing that needs to be done is the finishing touches. gone."

At this time, Xizhao was sighing in his heart.As the first and assistant minister deeply trusted by the emperor, Zhou Yanru, who was once extremely glorious, became a commoner in just a few years.However, Wen Tiren, who was still unknown in the early days, stepped on the ladder and somersaulted three times. In a few years, he jumped to the position of the first courtier.In a few days, Xizhao witnessed a group of officials' new and old crimes being pulled out, or transferred, dismissed, or assigned, all in a gloomy cloud; Jue, reward and salary, everyone is proud of the spring breeze, with a red face.Xi Zhao watched all this, and suddenly felt a deep sense of fear coming from behind, from the nape of the neck to the waist, everywhere the hairs stood on end.It turns out that I have been standing on the shore of such an abyss, and the surface of the water is usually just a slow wave of waves. It was only when things changed and people changed that I suddenly realized that what was hidden under the once slow current was a raging dark wave. .

Is this the imperial court...Father, is this the imperial court that you have served your whole life and expect your son to continue to devote himself to?From this point of view, the decline of the family may not be a bad thing at all, at least this abyss is definitely not a place where the son wants to set foot.

Xizhao was sighing to herself when she suddenly heard someone knocking on the door.After opening the door, I saw the eunuch of the Qianqing Palace standing outside the door, bowing his body humbly, but his eyes were raised upwards, with a slightly strange look, directly hitting Xi Zhao's face.

"Eunuch Zhang, the emperor invites you."

three

"Eunuch Zhang is here."

The messenger eunuch gave a report, and hurriedly withdrew. "Greetings to the emperor." Xi Zhao saluted and stood up, but saw Chong Zhen only lowered his head to approve the memorial, without looking at himself.The maids and eunuchs in the room held their breaths, and the atmosphere was a bit weird.

"How do you feel about Zhou Yanru's resignation?" After a while, Chongzhen asked.

"Uh..." The emperor asked about this right away, and with the indescribable atmosphere in the room, Xi Zhao couldn't find a suitable answer for a while.So he thought for a while, and replied: "Uh... Although Mr. Zhou is a pillar of the country, the crime of disrespect cannot be forgiven lightly. Even a capable minister should be severely punished."

"Hmph." Chongzhen sneered, and Zhijiao Xizhao's heart trembled.I saw Chongzhen raised his head slightly, every inch of skin on his face was taut, without a trace of expression. "He said that I am His Majesty Xi Huang. In fact, your thoughts are no different from his."

Xizhao gasped, and said cautiously, "Why did the emperor say that?"

"Why did you say that? Ha, you must be extremely proud of being so easily deceived into my trust." Chongzhen looked at the sunset before the case lightly, but the words in his mouth were not easy. "I used to think that you were different from others. You said you could trust you, and I really regarded you as a confidant, but I didn't know that I was so blind that I mistrusted the gang of traitors!"

As Chongzhen spoke, his tone suddenly became sharp like a sharp knife.He raised his head violently, his sword eyebrows stood horizontally, his starry eyes widened, and he threw the vermilion writing brush on the ground with a flick of his hand, the pen holder cracked in response, splashing a little vermilion on the bluestone bricks.

Xi Zhao was shocked, his face turned pale instantly, he knelt on the ground with a plop and said: "Who did the emperor listen to, Dexiu was wronged!"

"Injustice?" Chongzhen narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath, "You have a very close relationship with Zhou Yanru, and you have accepted bribes from Zhou Yanru many times to help him secretly understand palace affairs, seize memorials, make false statements to disrupt the government, and turn things upside down. There are witnesses to everything, so you still have something to say!"

After hearing this, Xizhao's heart suddenly sank.No matter who said it, the emperor finally knew it.And it's not hard to guess who it is - most likely what Zhou Xi said came true.Xi Zhao opened her mouth and suddenly didn't know how to defend herself. Although these accusations were exaggerated, they were all true. People wanted to argue, but found it almost impossible to refute.Thinking about it, it was all well-prepared, and even these things that no third person could know had become "everything has witnesses", so how could it be possible for me to easily refute my innocence... ...Xi Zhao had no choice but to kneel silently, desperately thinking about how to calm down the emperor's anger.quibble?deny?Shirk responsibility?Apart from these dying tricks, Xi Zhao couldn't think of any meaningful methods.

——Besides, the emperor is angry that I lied to him, how can I use deception to justify myself...

Seeing that Xizhao did not speak, Chongzhen frowned, and a smear of cold gray flashed in his eyes. "Can you plead guilty?" Chongzhen asked again, but his voice became dull.

What should come will come.Whether it's Wang Chengen's jealousy or his own sins.Sure enough, Old Jiang is vicious, at this juncture, how can he escape this catastrophe by adding this new enmity to the old enmity against Shoufu.Xi Zhao's heart was getting colder, and she fell on the ground resignedly, with her forehead pressed against the ground.

"The villain pleaded guilty. I beg the emperor to give you a lighter sentence."

Unexpectedly... didn't deny it.

Chongzhen's brows twitched, looking down at the sunset lying low on the ground, he finally let out a long sigh and closed his eyes.

"Pull Zhang Dexiu out, beat him twenty big boards, and demote him back to Zhidian Supervisor." Chongzhen turned his head away, and said coldly, "Go back where you came from."

The eunuch who was waiting next to him led the order, and each of them set up the sunset and dragged it outside the door.Demoted back to Zhidian supervisor, demoted back to Zhidian supervisor... Xi Zhao lowered his eyes weakly, letting them drag him along, feeling remorse, fear, and sadness in his heart.What I regret is that greed and ignorance turned out to be a bitter fruit; what I fear is that I will fall into the situation of eternal doom; what I regret is this short-lived master-servant relationship that ended sloppily and is difficult to continue.This may be the last time, I can see the emperor so clearly.Thinking of this in Xizhao's heart, Youyou raised her eyes to look, but saw that the eyes of the opposite emperor were also full of sadness.

four

It was clearly noon, but the sky was as hazy as the sunset.Gusts of gloomy wind were blowing the moisture, it should be the approaching rainstorm.

I always thought that I was just standing by the pool, but before I knew it, my clothes were already soaked.From the impeachment of Zhou Yanru, to Wang Zhidao's counterattack, from Zhou Shoufu's resignation, to his own catastrophe, at what point did the calculation begin?He couldn't figure it out, but for the first time now, Xizhao felt that he seemed to understand some of Liang Yi's teachings back then.But overnight, everything was turned upside down, the previous position, the trust of the emperor, everything disappeared like a cloud, even if he understood, it was too late after all.The eyes of the eunuchs passing by were either irrelevant or gloating, but none of them showed even a little bit of sympathy to Xi Zhao.The palace is too complicated, and I am too naive, maybe I shouldn't be too nostalgic for this palace; the time limit for leaving has passed long ago, maybe this is the retribution for my lucky stay.Xi Zhao was pushed down on the bench by someone, and closed her eyes sadly, as if this could isolate the red walls and yellow tiles in the palace, everyone, everything and everything in the past few years from her heart, and never miss her again. .

Snapped!As soon as he stepped down, the burning pain in his butt pierced his chest and went straight to his head. Xizhao's head buzzed, and his breath was choked in his throat, almost blocking his breathing.It was very easy to let the breath go, but it came suddenly, and it was another sharp pain.Xi Zhao's face was covered with cold sweat in an instant, he gritted his teeth, and clutched the legs of the stool with both hands, leaving a few deep nail marks on the rough wood.

Tolerate.Tolerate.After enduring it, he left the palace and ended it all.

I don't know how many times it went on, Xi Zhao was so painful that she almost fainted, and her consciousness began to blur.In a trance, I suddenly heard someone shouting next to me.

"Don't hit me, don't hit me! The emperor said no more!"

"What about that person?"

"The emperor said, wherever you go back and forth, let him carry it to the southeast library!"