Mo Dongyang

I used the only four copper coins left in the sack to pray to an old woman harvesting vegetables in the dry land by the roadside to let me go to her house to wash up.Of course, the skinny old woman took the copper coins with pleasure, and pointed at the small wooden house next to the field with a trembling hand, gesturing to let me in and out.I couldn't wait to wash away the filth and dust of these days, and I also threw away the stinky sackcloth, and changed into the clean clothes when I escaped marriage.After thanking the old lady, I set off for the foot of the capital.

When I came to the grand bluestone city gate, there was a lot of noise and vitality in front of me.There is a lot of traffic, hawkers, patrolling guards, bustling and bustling, so lively.I can't connect it with the dilapidated and displaced scenes on the road these days. The huge contrast made me lose my mind, and I suddenly followed the crowds into the city gate and entered the imperial capital.

Three months ago, Mr. Zhang, who trafficked medicinal materials, told me a lot about the country. He said that the capital of the country was built on the vast Qiuze Plain in the north, and the steep mountains and cliffs in the north were natural barriers against the enemy. , the east side faces the sea, so the country's port trade is developed, and more than a thousand sailboats shuttle back and forth every day, transporting medicinal materials, commodities, logging, sea and land food, and rare treasures from all over the world.To the west is a vast prairie, where nomadic industry is flourishing, and every year military war horses are directly transported here to the battlefield in the northwest frontier.In the south are hills, plains, and high mountains criss-crossing, and the terrain is rugged, but it is also the most affluent place in the whole country, and there are many ethnic minorities.Because of its superior geographical location, the country was once strong and prosperous for a while, but in recent years, the king has been corrupt, eunuchs are in power, the national power is weak, the treasury is empty, and the borders are not guarded.The nomads on the northwest border and the four surrounding countries took the opportunity to provoke troubles. The northern war continued. In order to enjoy a temporary peace, the current king signed some humiliating treaties with the surrounding countries. However, these did not stop the invasion of foreign enemies. The territory of the country continued to be eroded , internal and external troubles, and fell into a precarious situation of national ruin and family destruction.

At that time, Mr. Zhang looked at the low-singing solitary birds flying under the blood-red clouds in the sky, and told me in a sad tone that today's imperial capital is full of singing and dancing, and the prosperous and prosperous scene is whitewashed by impetuous noise. Taiping, the subjugation of the country is a matter of time.

As a 14-year-old me, I didn't have much imagination and comprehension about the abstract concept of subjugation and family destruction. In the words of the manager, I just knew ignorantly that this country would disappear one day just like my mother. I can't see you, but even though my mother is gone, I still live a good life. I don't understand why the director is so sad and sighing.

Everything in the world fades away, nothing special.This is what my mother told me.

I have no way of knowing when the Kingdom of Yi will perish, but no matter whether it perishes or not, I will always make a living in this world.

Next to the wide bluestone avenue, there are two or three storeys of black brick and red tile shops lined up in row after row, with a grand atmosphere, and the luxurious cars around are driving towards the splendid palace ahead.From time to time, circus troupes can be seen showing off at the corner of the market. Applause and screams overflow from the bustling crowd and resound throughout the market.Qinxiao and drum playing, Yingge Yanyan mixed with rough and wild Menglang's laughter came out of the feasting and feasting flower building, which made people think about it.

On the flagstone street, traffic is busy, crowds are surging, small merchants and peddlers are yelling and selling, princes and nobles are leisurely drinking tea and walking birds, ladies and gentlemen hang around in the gorgeous silk and satin shops, and the children of rich families squander their money on gambling without hesitation. In the brothel, they covered their noses in disgust and walked around the foul-smelling beggars on the street corner, complaining about the endless increase of refugees in this city, but they didn't know that in a few years, they would also become mighty One of the members of the begging escape team.

At the bulletin board in a corner of the market, everyone gathered around and sighed.I squeezed through the crowded wall with difficulty and rushed into the front row.On the mottled high wall was a freshly pasted imperial list, the content of which was probably to recruit palace maids and internal eunuchs in case the palace urgently needed it.The people around were talking in low voices. I learned from them the reason for this expansion of enrollment. It turned out that a few days ago, smallpox was prevalent in the palace, and many palace maids and eunuchs died. In a hurry, the conditions for selection have also been relaxed a lot.I even heard from the old man next to me that the number of palace servants who died of smallpox infection this year was huge, and the palace could only transport the corpses by trucks to the mass graves in the eastern suburbs of the city, where they were thrown into the wild.Today, perhaps those unrecognizable corpses have been gnawed away by wild beasts or carnivorous crows.

The expansion of the number of palace servants is good news for me. I don't care about smallpox infection. Now I just want to find a job that can fill my stomach to maintain my life.I asked others about the location of the palace, and hurried to the final destination.

There were not many people who came to the palace to sign up, because no one wanted to be infected with smallpox and die without a place to bury him.I was interviewed by an old eunuch, but his severely aging appearance made me think that this eunuch could have been buried in the ground long ago. The sagging face was densely distributed with interlaced wrinkles, and all the fine hair between the eyebrows had fallen out. After glancing at the official status I handed in with my cloudy eyes, I waved my hand, as old as withered wood, to indicate that I can enter the next room.

It was an extremely dark room, and the old one made me inexplicably disgusted and fearful. The room was filled with a sickening musty smell because it had not been ventilated for a long time. An old maid used her The rough hands kept pinching my body back and forth, which made me think of the old lady who sold me to Da Lang. I struggled to take a few steps back in horror, and the old maid asked me expressionlessly. He took off his underpants and sat on a chair behind a screen with his legs spread apart.Reluctantly, I took off my trousers and sat on the stained wooden bench, suppressing the embarrassment and nausea in my heart, tensing my body, watching the wet hand of the old palace maid slowly stretching towards my groin with a distorted expression. My body, body, privates, and places were ravaged and ravaged by rough and hard foreign objects indiscriminately, which made me almost scream out of pain.

Finally, the old maid stopped the movement of her hands, took a dirty rag that had been placed for an unknown period of time, wiped her hands carelessly and told me that I passed.

Together with other new maids, I live in a small courtyard in Yangxing Pavilion. This is a small and dilapidated place where low-ranking maids live, and we will stay here for a full month, following the management. My aunts, after learning all the palace rules and etiquette titles, can be assigned to their respective palace rooms that need to be served.

The majestic palace is like a confusing city, with waterside pavilions, forest gardens, stone pavilions, long corridors and high pavilions, thousands of palaces, and thousands of mansions. They are divided into pieces of four-shaped squares by high or low red brick walls Scattered vertically and horizontally, uneven distribution, exquisite workmanship, dazzling.Yangxin Pavilion is just a corner in the northwest of Miyagi dotted with stars, inconspicuous.The number of female relatives in the palace is astonishingly large. The harem where the concubines gather is the largest part of the palace city, and there are countless beauties who are nominated for the palace every year. The number of beauties in the harem increases every year, but the emperor cannot Junzhan naturally gave birth to many dissatisfied wives, harem melee fighting for power and favor, and various anecdotes and anecdotes emerged endlessly.Of course, Yangxing Pavilion is the closest to the harem. A large number of palace servants go back and forth between various palaces here every day, responsible for sending all kinds of meals, clothing, and rewards to the residences of the young masters, and taking care of all the daily life of the beauties.

I didn't have a deep relationship with those new ladies in the palace. Most of them were born in poverty, and they entered the palace just to make a living. Numb and embarrassing, with drooping eyebrows and empty eyes, like a marionette, stiff and cold.

Although my purpose of entering the palace is the same as theirs, I don't like their demeanor of dying. I don't understand why they become weak and sick like dying old people at such a young age. angry.Most of the time, I stay far away from them. When night falls, I lie on the corner of the decayed and dilapidated window sill, look up at the stars in the sky, or hide in a deserted corner and repeatedly read the mother and the salesman. A few battered books left to me by the pharmacist until curfew.

Because of the shortage of palace servants, we didn't actually stay in that small courtyard for a full month before we were hastily assigned to work in the corresponding palace.It's just that my situation is a bit special. I still stayed in Yangxin Pavilion, and was not sent to the harem to serve the young master like other court ladies. Perhaps it was my unsatisfactory performance during this period. The aunt in charge asked me to To take care of the daily life of an old court lady who is over eighty years old, in a palace in Changshi Lane, south of Yangxing Pavilion.

Changshi Lane is one of the boundaries between the harem and Yangxin Pavilion. It is a small alley cut by two high walls. It takes more time to walk from here to reach the huge harem. The year was cold and humid, and almost no court ladies were willing to walk this alley.Therefore, this place has also become a place where those maids who are disabled due to illness, old age, or disabled live.The old maid I need to serve heard that she used to be the nanny of the former emperor, and also raised the current emperor, and now the emperor has given her a palace with great grace, so that she can live here for the rest of her life.

It was only when I searched for the palace lady's residence with my few bags on my back that I realized that this palace called Yitian Palace was just a simple and small courtyard, and it seemed that there had been no one in the courtyard for a long time. Taking care of it is full of depression.Under the bare old locust tree, there are corpses of dead branches and leaves. A thick layer covers the original bluestone floor without any gaps. Most of the dark blue sedges on the steps have long since decayed. It is also overgrown with weeds, and the damp and rotten branches and leaves exude a rotten and cold atmosphere, which complements the chilling and gray winter, and is very suitable for the scene.

This place is probably an abandoned palace that has been abandoned for a long time. If someone hadn't told me, I would not have believed that there was an old man over eighty years old living in this dilapidated courtyard.

I seem to be able to imagine what a desolate and sad old age scene is in the decayed old wooden house less than ten steps away from me.