Chongzhen Sunset Song

?one

The autumn rain lasted for several days, and it didn't stop until midnight yesterday.It was almost noon, the sun peeked out from among the clouds, and the floor tiles on the west road were one deep and one shallow, and there was a damp and cool air in them.Xizhao carried a box of memorials and walked along the west road to the Supervisor of Rituals.There were few people in the palace on the west road, Xi Zhao greeted a passing eunuch, turned around and found a thin figure walking towards her at the corner ahead.Xi Zhao paused, her breath was suffocated, and her heart rose to her throat.Living together and eating together like that, facing each other day and night, this figure is very familiar, but at this moment, Xi Zhao subconsciously wants to avoid it.Ever since he was transferred to the Metropolitan Prison, he has become increasingly estranged from him, and what happened when his leg was injured made Xizhao feel even more inexplicable and unexplainable embarrassment when he thought of that person in these years.Counting it has been more than four years, the two of them have not seen each other very much, and they have never said a word, but even though the relationship with him is always knotted in my heart, I have also muddled through it in a daze. For a long time, I haven't made any effort to resolve it.Now they meet unexpectedly on a narrow road, and seeing that person approaching step by step, they can't get in, they can't retreat, they can't avoid it, and they don't know how to greet each other after four years of blankness.Xi Zhao had no choice but to bite the bullet, and walked forward slowly, but unexpectedly heard the other party come from a long way away and greeted loudly:

"Isn't this Brother Zhang! Don't come here unharmed!"

"Ah, Brother Zhou Xi." Xi Zhao was taken aback for a moment, then looked intently, and saw that Zhou Xi was also holding a stack of memorials in his hand, waving to him excitedly, just like every time we met four years ago.that's all?The estrangement of four years was unclear, but just such a greeting was ignored as if nothing had happened?Xizhao was a little dazed for a while, not knowing whether to confuse Zhou Xi's calmness, or to reflect on his own narrowness, but he didn't have time to distinguish and think about it, so he cupped his hands and responded to him with a polite smile: "Long time no see, long time no see , How is brother Zhou Xi?"

"Little brother is naturally good. The last few times I saw Brother Zhang, the emperor was present, and I didn't have time to say a few more words with Brother Zhang. I feel very regretful in my heart. I don't want to meet here by chance today." Zhou Xi also returned the gift. , with a smile on his face, "Brother Zhang, where are you going?"

"Oh, it has been raining for several days now, and Eunuch Jia suffered from leg and foot problems again, so I ran errands for him and sent the papers approved by the emperor to the Supervisor of Rituals." Xi Zhao lifted the memorial box on the handle. , turned to look at Zhou Xi's hand, and asked: "Brother Zhou Xi is going to give the emperor a booklet?"

"Exactly. The prince is getting old and can't bear the burden, so the younger brother will do his best to run a few more times for the old man."

"Sending a memorial to the emperor for the prince, not everyone can do this job. With the prince being so important, Brother Zhou Xi has a bright future." Xi Zhao said politely.

"Hey, the prince's respect can't be compared to the emperor's." Zhou Xi raised his eyebrows, and his smile became more exaggerated, "No one in this palace knows that the emperor treats Brother Zhang very differently, Brother Zhang is really the one The future is boundless."

"Where is that, Brother Zhou Xi was joking. I am just the emperor's servant, and I don't care about anything." Xi Zhao said, waving her hands.

"Hey, there is no one in this palace who is not the emperor's servant, but he can really talk to the emperor. I am afraid that only the prince and brother Zhang are you." Zhou Xi frowned and smiled. , "When I was in the southeast library, my younger brother felt that Brother Zhang was definitely not a thing in the pool. Now it can be seen that it is as it should be."

The words were ordinary compliments, and the person was polite, but Xi Zhao felt a chill inexplicably from the familiar eyebrows and eyes.Maybe it was because the smile in the eyes was so strong that people couldn't detect the depth, or maybe the enthusiasm came too abruptly, so people couldn't figure out the reason. In short, facing Zhou Xi who had been dating for a long time, Xi Zhao still couldn't ignore the deep feeling in his heart. Faint uneasiness. "I can't compare the prestige and seniority of the prince in the palace. Brother Zhou Xi praises me too much." Xi Zhao smiled humbly, picking up innocuous words to cover up her thoughts, not wanting to entangle Zhou Xi any more .And Zhou Xi didn't seem to think too much about reminiscing about the past, he grinned at the corner of his mouth and continued with a smile:

"How can you say it's flattery, brother Zhang is too modest. Oh, it's getting late. It stands to reason that my younger brother should have served Brother Zhang and brought the zhezi back to the Supervisor of Rituals by the way, but I have to go to Yuma after delivering the zhangzi As for the work of the supervisor, the memorial is an important thing, and there is no delay, so I have to trouble Brother Zhang to go there in person."

"Hey, brother Zhou Xi, why are you being so polite? It's not my job. I won't delay you when brother Zhou Xi is busy." Xi Zhao took the opportunity to say goodbye.

"Okay, little brother, let's take a step first." Zhou Xi cupped his hands to Xi Zhao, and was about to leave.

"Ah, Brother Zhou Xi..." Suddenly a thought flashed through his mind, and Xi Zhao quickly stopped Zhou Xi again.

"Brother Zhang, what's the matter?" Zhou Xi turned around.

"Uh..." Xi Zhao swallowed, with some hesitation in her words, "Bitao... is she okay?"

For a moment, the expression on Zhou Xi's face froze obviously, but soon his expression returned to normal.

"She's fine. Brother Zhang, don't worry."

"That's good, Brother Zhou Xi can go."

"Good to go, good to go."

The two said goodbye to each other, one went to Wuying Hall, the other went to the Supervisor of Rituals, and walked in opposite directions.Although it is so easy to talk and laugh, you are humble, but in the bottom of my heart, I am already a stranger... Xi Zhao sighed softly, quickened his pace, and walked all the way to the north.

——It’s no wonder that the past can’t be recovered, my mind is no longer green and innocent, and his smiling face is no longer bright and pure; the years have changed me and him, even if the past is good in every way, let’s keep it in memory.

two

"Your Majesty, this is today's excerpt."

In the Hall of Martial Heroes, Zhou Xi put the memorial in his hand in a corner of the dragon case.Chongzhen crouched at his desk to approve the memorial, and he hummed casually as a response.

Seeing that the emperor was busy, Zhou Xi hesitated for a moment, then took out a brochure with a khaki cover from his bosom, and raised his hands in front of his forehead. "This is the strategy book for suppressing bandits submitted by Mr. Yang, Minister of the Ministry of War. The prince specifically instructed that it should be handed over to the emperor alone."

"Oh? Okay." Chongzhen raised his eyebrows, took the memorial from Zhou Xi, opened it and looked at it roughly, and saw that it was signed on the left side, and it turned out to be the name of the new minister of the Ministry of War, Yang Sichang.

"I know, I'll read it in a while." Chongzhen put the earthy-yellow copy by himself, and continued to approve the memorial as he said it.

"If the emperor is fine, the villain will leave."

"Wait a minute." Zhou Xi just turned to leave, when he suddenly heard Chongzhen calling from behind.

"What is the emperor's order?"

"Wang Chengen...how is his health? I see you here recently, is he seriously ill?" Chongzhen stopped writing and asked with concern.

"Ah, thank the emperor for your concern." Zhou Xi stood still, and An An bowed, "The prince is getting older, and his body is not as strong as in previous years. There will always be some discomfort when the seasons change, but the doctor said it doesn't matter. If you take care of it carefully, it will be fine."

"Oh...that's good. You greet him on my behalf, and say that I don't need to worry about things on my side, just teach him to take care of him." Chongzhen nodded and said.

"Follow the order." Zhou Xi bowed again.

"En." Chongzhen lowered his head, and was about to start writing again when he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, by the way, do you have a position in the Supervisor of Rituals?"

"The villain is now a listener, helping the prince with some chores every day." Zhou Xi reported truthfully.

"Okay, I see that you are diligent and reasonable, and you have been running hard these days, so I will promote you to the book. From now on, assist Wang Chengen well, take care of his body, and don't make him work too hard." Chongzhen smiled slightly, slightly Turning his head, he ordered, "Dexiu, pass on my message to the Supervisor of Rituals..." Halfway through speaking, I realized that there was no one beside me.

"Grandpa Zhang must have been ordered to deliver paperwork to the Rites Supervisor. I met a villain on the way here just now." Zhou Xi leaned forward, his eyes showing no emotion.

Chongzhen patted his forehead, smiled and shook his head. "That's right, that's right, I got used to screaming and forgot." After speaking, he turned to Zhou Xi and said, "You step back first, I will send someone else to deliver the decree later."

"Thank you, Majesty Ron."

three

At night, Chongzhen was tired of approving the memorials, and while thinking in the warm pavilion, he paced back and forth.Xizhao's eyes followed Chongzhen's footsteps, but he didn't know what the emperor was thinking about, after watching it for a while, he felt tired and bored.So Xi Zhao looked around quietly, then reached out to explore the teacup on the Tanlong case, picked up the cup and prepared to walk out of the room.

"Huh?" Xizhao's action interrupted Chongzhen's thoughts, he stopped and looked at the teacup in Xizhao's hand.

"Oh, Your Majesty's tea is cold, I'm going to get another cup of hot one." Xi Zhao leaned forward and said.

"Just teach the maids to do these things. Hongxing." After speaking, Chongzhen made a gesture to the maid at the side, and the maid gave a blessing, and stepped forward to take the teacup from Xizhao.

"It's the same for villains." Xi Zhao looked at the back of the maid walking towards the waiter, then turned around and said with a smile.

"Let's teach Hongxing, I have something to ask you."

"Yes. Your Majesty may ask."

"Hmm..." Chongzhen put his hands behind his back, thought for a moment, and said, "Shangshu Yang Sichang of the Ministry of War submitted a strategy for suppressing bandits a few days ago, called Sizheng, Liuyu, and Shimianwang. Take Shaanxi, Henan, Huguang and Jiangbei are the four Zhengs, and the four governors divide and suppress them and specialize in defense; with Yansui, Shanxi, Shandong, Jiangnan, Jiangxi, and Sichuan as the six corners, the six governors divide the defenses and cooperate to suppress them. With this ten-sided net, the rogues are surrounded In a certain area, it is impossible to advance or retreat, and it is difficult to supply reinforcements, so we can only wait for death." Then, Chongzhen turned to Xizhao, his eyes were inquiring, "What do you think of this strategy?"

"Your Majesty... are you asking about a villain?" Xi Zhao was taken aback.

"Exactly."

"This..." Xi Zhao smiled awkwardly, and replied, "How can a villain understand such important national affairs, why doesn't the emperor discuss it with Chief Assistant Zhang?"

"It's been discussed, he just echoed, and didn't make any special suggestions." Chongzhen paused, and said, "It's Sun Chuanting from Shaanxi who said that the encirclement strategy needs to be won with a large number of troops and material resources. On the front line, the troops are insufficient, and after years of campaigns, the soldiers are exhausted and the people are exhausted. This strategy of suppressing bandits is not a strategy that does not reflect the national conditions. But how to do it can be effective in the national conditions, but in the end it is not a matter of consideration. So I want to ask you, how do you think this matter should be decided?"

Chongzhen's eyes were burning, he looked directly into Xizhao's eyes and waited for his answer, but this Xiangxizhao was thinking about it and didn't know how to answer.If it was before, Xi Zhao would immediately express her opinion directly based on her intuition without much scruples.There are thousands of advisers in the imperial court, and Xi Zhao never needs to worry that her opinions will affect the emperor's decision too much.The emperor asked the question on a whim, and he answered it seriously and purely. No matter the answer was yes or no, right or wrong, the emperor always smiled slightly, never praised it much, and never blamed it.

But how can the world stop at a certain moment and never change.At this moment, it is not what it used to be...

"The villain is just an internal official, how can he have such a high vision. The emperor really doesn't know how to answer the question. The emperor should ask the courtiers more."

Xizhao smiled faintly, lowered her head and replied respectfully, not noticing Chongzhen's tightening brows.Chongzhen pursed his lips, walked slowly again, and stopped again after a while.

"I always feel that you... are different. I've thought about it these days..." His eyes fell on Xi Zhao's face, and he said in a low voice, "Could it be that you still mind what I said at that time?"

Xizhao was startled, and immediately understood what the emperor was referring to.Because the emperor probably guessed right.Even though he had burned the token to leave the palace at that time and was determined not to leave again, the things that happened and the frozen heart still left indelible traces after all.The emperor is the emperor, and the slave is the slave. When I think about the emperor's warm words, I am moved more eagerly. Every time it cools down, the boundary mark as deep as a moat becomes more obvious and dazzling, making it impossible to overstep even half a step. "What kind of words does your majesty say? A villain dare not." Even though the majesty had caught his attention, Xi Zhao's response was still denial.It's not that the emperor said something wrong for a while, but that he has been unable to distinguish clearly, how can he be said to care about etiquette and reason.After burning the token to leave the palace, Xizhao never had any regrets, nor did she have any change in her heart to accompany the emperor, but since then, Xizhao no longer calls herself "Dexiu" in front of the emperor.

"Don't you dare..." Chongzhen smiled helplessly, as if he had seen through Xizhao's thoughts, but kept silent and refused to expose them.There was a sound of footsteps outside the door, and the maid Hong Xing walked into the room and gently put the brewed hot tea on the dragon table.Outside the door, two eunuchs hurried past the Nuan Pavilion with neatly folded bedding and clothes in their hands; the guard guarding the door stood with a sword, tall and straight like a pine tree, and as quiet as a stone sculpture; It was placed in front of him, probably because he was tired during the day and secretly dozed off.

"You are different from them after all." Chongzhen's eyes were as dark as ink, he looked at the sunset lightly, and when he spoke, there was no more anger on his face.

"To have the emperor's words, the villain has no extravagance." Xi Zhao showed a clean smile as usual, and bowed deeply to Chongzhen.