Mo Dongyang

The news in the palace always spread quickly, and I learned the ins and outs of the latest assassination operation from A Xing in the evening of the next day.

It is said that the assassin is the eldest son of a rebel leader who was suppressed a month ago. He has been hunted down by the government since he survived the massacre by the court, but no one thought that he could bribe the palace guards and enter the palace smoothly. The assassination had penetrated into the heart of the imperial palace. Although the Zhengyang Palace where the incident took place was somewhat far from the emperor's bedroom, and although the assassination ended in failure, it was enough to collapse the strict military system of the imperial palace. An assassin can easily pass through the palace's triple defense level, which is said to prevent even a fly from entering.

This incident not only swept away the majesty of the royal family, but also let the world see how unbearable the defense of the imperial city is.For this reason, in today's morning court, the emperor Longyan was furious, and several commanders of the imperial army were immediately pulled out of the Meridian Gate to be executed, and even Zhang Wenying, an old eunuch who had always been favored by the emperor, was kicked down the four steps beside the dragon chair by the Holy Majesty , and after the young assassin was executed by Ling Chi, there was another terrifying skeleton on the wall of the East City Gate.I don't know how those passers-by will react when the warm blood drips on the bodies of the passers-by at the East City Gate. The palace ended up like this, so what about escaping from the palace privately?

Thinking about it, I can't help but feel shuddering.

On the third day after the failed assassination attempt, the imperial palace guards were thoroughly purged. The soldiers were carefully selected from the Northwest Army, and each of them was fierce and tough. Supervision and inspection.Considering that the increase of soldiers would cause inconvenience to the women in the harem, the Supervision and Inspection Office was located on the west side of Xinzheku, away from the harem.Not only that, the guard patrols of the Imperial Army at night became more frequent. After that, the concubines in the harem kept complaining behind their backs that in the dead of night, they would always be disturbed by the sound of heavy footsteps outside the palace and the noise produced by the friction of swords and armor. Wake up, can't sleep well.But what can be done about this, the emperor was bitten by a snake once, and was afraid of the well rope for ten years, but this made all the palace people suffer.

In mid-October, the turmoil in the palace finally calmed down gradually. Except for the more stringent security at night, everything in the palace returned to normal. People in the palace believed that the following days would still be the same as usual, as long as Without fault, they can live and eat in the palace with peace of mind, but they don't know that this riot is not the end, but the real beginning.

At the end of October, the northern border was in a hurry. The Hu people tore up the ten-year non-aggression treaty signed by the two sides. They united with the two nomadic tribes of Tuzhu and Weiqi, and marched southward, attacking cities and looting ponds. In less than half a month, ten cities on the border have fallen into the hands of the enemy.In addition, Zheng and Chen, the neighbors of the country, also gathered heavy troops and stationed on the border of the two countries. They practiced and drilled every day. It seems that the annual tribute and indemnity of the country, the treaty of preferential trade, loss of power and humiliation of the country have not satisfied them at all. Some officials in the court have advised that the planning of Zheng and Chen should have been planned for a long time, and now they are only watching for the sake of Taking advantage of the bad relationship between the country and the ethnic minorities in the north, both of them will lose, and take advantage of the opportunity to enter, so as to reap the benefits of the fisherman.Therefore, defeating the northern nomads and consolidating the northwest border has become an urgent task now, otherwise the whole country will fall into the crisis of subjugation and family destruction.

But it is not easy to defeat the northern enemy in a short time and regain the lost ground.Although the Kingdom of Xing is known as the first ruler of the Central Plains, the country is rich and the people are strong, and the soldiers are strong and the horses are strong.However, after several generations of court failures, rampant eunuchs, corrupt generals, sluggish military affairs, tyrannical taxes and other criticisms, the internal organs of the country have basically been emptied, and what is left is only a dilapidated and useless body.Today's Guoguo is like a camel that is about to die of illness, dying and struggling for the last time.But the so-called skinny camel is bigger than a horse. In this arduous war with the tough nomadic tribes in the north, the country tried its best to barely occupy the top peak, and this arduous northern battle lasted almost two years.During this period, there were fewer victories and more defeats, and the people were in dire straits.

The farmer violence and chaos in the summer of Jiahe's 11th year may have become an important watershed in the history of the country. After that, disasters continued in the country until the country was subjugated, but these are all later.

The wars in the north are bothering, large and small battles continue, and the fierce and fierce nomads on the prairie cross the border from time to time, raiding nearby villages and counties, burning, killing, looting, raping, prostitution, and all kinds of crimes.Soldiers have long been unable to cope with large-scale battles on the front line every day.They have no time to take into account other movements of the enemy that do not pose a threat. They even think that the nomads in the north are just uncivilized species, cruel and savage. In comparison, victory in the war is only a matter of time.Even so, the confrontation between the two sides continues indefinitely. On the battlefield every day, soldiers will die in an astonishing number. The sand on the battlefield has been washed by continuous blood and weathered for a long time. Dyed dark purple.And the matter of the enemy's going south to disturb the people was put on hold and left alone.

So far, the northern enemy's invasion of the country's territory has intensified.

At the beginning of October, since the emergency on the frontier, a large number of northern residents moved south to flee, but the sergeants who were conscripted for military service across the country were sent to the northwest battlefield by car every month.Wherever the war was involved, there were barren grass, dilapidated buildings, thick smoke, and corpses everywhere. The northwest border area has become a purgatory on earth, full of resentment, and spiritual animals are hard to find.

Compared with this place of Shura, Bianjing, the imperial capital, is now a scene of singing and dancing, prosperity and prosperity.The Empress Dowager's [-]th birthday is approaching, and lanterns and festoons must be decorated everywhere to celebrate together.

The Empress Dowager's birthday is still one month away, and the palace is already a busy scene, with lanterns and festoons everywhere, discarding the old and ushering in the new, rare treasures from all over the place, famous theater troupes, and eminent monks gathered in temples The imperial city is only used for the birthday of the palace in [-] days, and even had to force the Ministry of Internal Affairs to borrow people everywhere in the palace due to the lack of manpower in the palace. Temple work.

Therefore, the grand scale and unprecedented grandeur of this birthday banquet can be guessed.

On October 29th, the birthday banquet was held on the huge high platform in front of the Hall of Renshou. All the concubines in the palace had to attend the banquet to celebrate the Empress Dowager's birthday.On this day, apart from the birthday celebrations and sacrifices and worship in high halls, the Holy Majesty accompanied the Empress Dowager to listen to operas in the Lixiang Garden. It was not until nightfall that the luxurious and magnificent birthday celebration really began.After the red sun went down, the front of Renshou Hall was already brightly lit, and it was a bustling scene.The entire high platform is decorated with colorful flags and Zhulian, paved with flowers and red carpets, and nearly a thousand banquets are neatly arranged on the east and west sides of the high platform.The night sky is adorned with countless fireworks and colorful colors. In the palace, Yingyingyanyanyan is dressed in brocade clothes, heavy makeup, and civil and military officials are sitting on the east and west sides of the high platform, either full of laughter, or talking high-spirited, very lively.The palace servants shuttled back and forth among the grand banquet with delicious food and wine in their hands, walking in a hurry.

Zhilan Hall and several other palaces are arranged for the banquet in the southwest corner of Renshou Hall, far away from the high platform of the celebration. With the dignity of the empress dowager.Li Shu'an sat quietly on the seat, chatting with the neighbors from time to time, more often she would look at the blurred Yingge Yanwu in the distance in a trance.

Standing behind Lishu, holding a wine jug, I looked at a table full of chatting and laughing women with heavy make-up, and then looked at Lishu next to me. People have a feeling of staying out of things. Although they wear brocade clothes, they don’t wear too much gold and silver jewelry like other people. They just apply a little powder makeup, no cumbersome buns, and the head ornaments are just a few jade hairpins. It’s fresh and refined. But without losing the proper dignity, I couldn't help raising the corners of my mouth and thinking, Li Shu is really different, but just like that, it compares with the people around her, but they don't know it yet.

In the middle of the banquet, the long celebration was still going on, and the people in this area had lost their interest, but they couldn't leave the banquet at will, so they had to walk around to pass the time.At the end of October, it was already late autumn, and the night was very cold. The dishes on the banquet were covered with a thin layer of oil. Many concubines sent their servants back to the palace to get some warm cloaks, and I was no exception. Li Shu and I After explaining a few words, I returned to Zhilan Palace alone.

The hustle and bustle of the Hall of Renshou gradually got farther and farther away from me. I carried the lantern, walked through several corridors and stone bridges, and walked on the quiet bluestone road in the palace. The autumn wind blew out at night and blew out the candles in the lantern. , I had no choice but to rush to Zhilan Hall in the dark.

Finally back to the bedroom, I didn't light the lamp, but with a candle in the cabinet, I tossed out two cloaks, poured a few cups of tea on the coffee table and swallowed them, and hurried out the door. At the door of the bedroom, I heard intermittent groaning, although it was very subtle, I could still hear it vaguely. At first I thought it was a hallucination, but after walking a few steps, I still recognized it was a woman the sound made.

But at this time, the whole Zhilan Hall was almost completely dark except for the faint light from the two red lanterns in front of the gate and a few stone lamps beside the road.

Everyone is going to the birthday celebration. There should be no one here. I turned around and walked towards the backyard in confusion, looking for the source of the sound.