Mo Dongyang

Time flies, now it is late autumn, the lush summer scene in the courtyard has long since disappeared, it is full of chill and coldness, and the dry dead branches and leaves covered in the dry soil cannot withstand the blowing of the autumn wind Swirling, flying around in the hazy sky along the ground, I hate the sound of those withered branches and leaves being dragged and rubbed against the ground by the wind. Sigh and panic.

Cleaning up the backyard is a huge project. Although A Xing, Fu Lu and I clean it every day, the next morning, the clean ground will always be covered by the scraped branches and leaves of the trees and the debris of potted plants in the corridor. Buried by dry grass and loose mud, the whole courtyard was in a state of disarray and dilapidation. Yan Guiren was very disgusted with such a barren courtyard, and the palace servants could only get up early every day to clean up the courtyard that had become bad overnight.A Xing and Fu Lu complained a lot about this, and they always tried their best to take some errands. In the end, I almost took care of the whole courtyard. Every day before dawn, I would always appear in the courtyard while rubbing cold Stamping his feet with his hands, he worked blindly until the last dead leaf fell from the branch, and this huge project was not over.

It's winter, and this year, an inexplicable plague suddenly spread in the Great Palace without warning. The source of the plague seems to be the Lenggong, a dead corner in the north of Miyagi.

It is said that as soon as winter came, the concubines in the cold palace died one after another inexplicably. At first, because the dead died of high fever, everyone thought it was just a simple typhoid fever and didn't care, but the palace attendant who finally came into contact with the dead died overnight He died violently from the same disease, and the plague followed one after another. It spread from the West Palace to the East Palace, and the concubines and servants in the harem were soon infected and fell ill.The imperial physicians were at a loss and could not find any cure. In less than a month, many concubines and servants also died.However, not long ago, the guards salvaged a few rotten and smelly corpses from the well in the cold palace, and the imperial doctors knew that the water quality in the palace was polluted, and people in the palace would only get sick after drinking the poisonous well water. At that time, everyone in Miyagi was in danger, because everyone drank the poisonous water for soaking corpses, and no one knew whether they would get sick or not.The surrounding area of ​​the Leng Palace has long been a forbidden area. Palace people who die every day are piled up on trucks, waiting to be pushed out of Xuanwumen to be cremated. Those palace people who are infected can only be isolated and lie dying. On the bed, life and death are at the mercy of fate.

After the early winter, the plague spread to the Zhilan Hall, and the nobleman Yan was also unfortunately infected. He was sick all day long, and the Zhilan Hall was isolated because of this. There are too many people here, and the imperial doctors can't take care of themselves. For those concubines who are outdated, they will just prescribe some herbal medicines and let them fend for themselves, but I decided to stay. With such an unexplainable death, I will try my best to take care of her until she wakes up.

In the lifeless palace, only me and the dying Yan Guiren were left. Yan Guiren on the sickbed was unconscious all day long due to fever, his pale cheeks were sickly red, and his breath was as weak as silk, barely there.I can only use the prescriptions I learned from Zhang Zhang, who sells medicines, and run between Zhilan Temple and the Imperial Hospital every day, just to pray to the medicine officer to prepare more herbs for healing.

There are skullcaps floating in Zhilan Temple all day long, the bitter taste from dried kudzu is mixed with the pungent sour smell from the steamed garlic soup for disinfection, which makes people dizzy and bloated. I don’t know if these folk remedies work or not , I could only keep praying in my heart that God would not just bring the young Yan noble into the gate of hell.

Although the relationship between me and Yan Guiren is purely master-servant, although Yan Guiren is always indifferent on weekdays, making people difficult to get close to, even though my relationship with her is not close at all, when I think that Yan Guiren may be in the near future In the future, I will pass away due to illness, and I just feel pity and discomfort inexplicably. The feeling is like a sharp knife piercing my heart. I don’t know why I am like this, but I know that I will try my best. , just to use my meager strength to drag Yan Guiren out of the gate of hell bit by bit.

But even though I poured decoctions, wiped my body with salt water, and fed carefully every day, Mr. Yan was still getting weaker and thinner day by day. In the end, I even became suspicious and stayed by the side of the sick bed all the time. Watching her faint breath every hour, or reaching out and carefully touching her hot hands, I am afraid that nobleman Yan will pass away without warning.

A Xing from the dining room once advised me to give up earlier, because I might also be infected, but then my end would only be worse, and the guards would just throw me unconscious along with the others The infected palace servants were randomly thrown into the mass graves in the west of the city, wrapped in straw mats, and buried on the spot.

Although this ending makes people shudder, I still don't want to leave. I don't know why I am so unwilling to give up, guarding a half-dead patient.But it is precisely because of my persistence that I spend the whole day in fear and anxiety. I don’t know if Lord Yan is still there when the sun rises the next day. I don’t know when I will get sick, and I don’t even know my Will he end up with no bones left like those palace servants who fell ill?What is the fate of Yan Guiren, and what is my fate? Will not.

At the end of December, the new year is approaching, and auspiciousness is coming one after another, because the year finally drove away the terrible plague that had shrouded Miyagi for a month. Scattered on the cold and damp ground, the slightest warmth came, and the bad mood of the past few days also improved a lot. This is a good sign. I am in a good mood. I opened all the windows in the bedroom and lay on the window sill. Looking at the abandoned bird's nests on the bare tree branches beside the stone hill in the distance, the old paper lanterns swaying in the wind, and the chaotic paths in the garden that have not been taken care of for a long time, let the faint sunshine in the afternoon follow the wind. Sneak into the room and dispel the unpleasant smell of soup and medicine in the room.

Gentleman Yan, the New Year in the Kingdom of Yu is coming soon, will you wake up earlier?I turned my head to look at the thin figure on the bed not far away, praying silently in my heart.

In the first three days of New Year's Day, the palace was full of festivities, decorated with lanterns and streamers, and the death and gloom that had shrouded the palace city before was completely washed away, and there was hardly any trace left by the plague. Afflicted by the plague for a month, the people in the palace are all happy, actively and cheerfully busy with various matters of welcoming the new year in the palace. Although they are physically and mentally exhausted, they are still looking forward to the arrival of New Year's Day with joy, looking forward to the new beginning. Bring them good luck for the coming year.

Compared with the bustling and festive scenes in the palace, the Zhilan Hall is too deserted. No one wants to set foot in the Zhilan Hall during this festival because the nobleman Yan is still sick, because they are afraid Therefore, it brings ominous and bad luck.

Although the Zhilan Hall also received some New Year rewards from the palace, it is a pity that there is no festive atmosphere in the bleak hall, the windows are closed, and the room is desolate.

The inside of the hall and the outside of the hall have almost become two worlds, and I lie beside Yan Guiren's sick bed all day long, taking care of Yan Guiren who has been unconscious all the time.

Finally, three days before New Year's Day, nobleman Yan woke up.