Xizhou, the bitter cold land of Yingchao, with strong wind and sand, strong sunshine, cold in the morning and evening, but at noon it is so hot that people want to take off their clothes.
A few years ago, the people of Xizhou were still hungry, and their clothes were too cold. Since the establishment of the new dynasty and Cheng Andi's accession to the throne, their life has gradually improved, at least they can eat enough, and the local officials are also a lot more honest, not honest It is said that they were all arrested in the capital and beheaded.
In the hearts of the common people, even if some people say that His Majesty the Emperor has three heads and six arms, they will ignorantly believe it.
In the fourth year of Cheng'an, it was said that the capital wanted to select some women into the palace as female officials. The number of places was very limited and the requirements were strict. When the news reached Xizhou, it was already many days late, but even so, many people were moved.
That is the palace, if it can be selected into it, it will be a matter of honoring the ancestors.
Ordinary people didn't even have the chance to learn the news. They only saw some girls from outside the staff or from the scholar's family, frequently running to the county magistrate's house.
In the prefectural government of Xizhou, Xie Qilin circled a few well-informed and innocent women, and said to the servants around him: "Post it according to this list."
"My lord, Miss Zhang's family is knowledgeable, and she has an astute temperament, why didn't you choose her?" The servant accepted the benefits of Zhang's family, and inevitably asked a few questions.
"In the harem... You don't need a well-informed and astute maid," Xie Qilin said lightly, "Go down."
"Yes." Seeing that his face was not very good, the servant did not dare to ask any more questions, and walked out with the list in hand.
After the list was posted, the selected girls were both apprehensive and happy. They were happy that they finally had the opportunity to enter Beijing, and they could even go to the palace as errands. The worry was that the mountains and roads in the capital were far away, and they didn’t know what the future would be like.
There are people around the post list who are watching the lively people. Some people say that this girl looks ordinary, why can she be selected? The other said, that girl has a dull personality, how could she be worthy to serve His Majesty and the Empress
Shi Feixian stood in the corner, listening to the people's conjectures and yearning for the harem, with a slightly ironic smile on her face. These people think that if they enter the palace and become a palace maid, they will be able to rise to the top, and the whole family will be honored
Are there still few palace maids who died silently in the harem
"What are you looking at?" A woman wearing the same cloth skirt as she came out and whispered in her ear, "Don't even think about running away, there have been people who have been given out like you before. The woman who came ran away, and was finally found outside, and there was not a piece of good meat on her body, all of which were eaten by the wild wolves."
Shi Feixian smiled bitterly: "Don't worry, I won't have such thoughts."
"You are also a smart person, you mustn't be stupid," the woman nodded. "Alas, it's a pity that the new emperor did not grant amnesty to the world when he ascended the throne. Otherwise, someone like you can be exempted from guilt."
Hearing this, the smile on Shi Feixian's face became even more bitter. She looked away and turned to see a man wearing an official robe and riding a horse in the distance.
"Let's go, it's time for us to go back." The woman pulled her and was about to drag her to a dirty and broken donkey cart. The driver was two scruffy veterans with thick calluses on their hands. Half-squinted eyes, as if they had never been fully opened.
Shi Feixian grabbed the woman's hand and looked at the man in front of him in disbelief. How could he be here
Xie Qilin... why are you here
"Little Lady Shi, please don't collide with the nobles, come with me." The woman saw Shi Feixian staring at Xie Qilin and didn't let go, thinking that she wanted to seduce Lord Zhizhou because of her beauty, so she quickly persuaded, "Let's They are all guilty people, these high-ranking bigwigs are not something we can climb on."
"Big sister, let me go," Shi Feixian anxiously pushed the woman away and ran a few steps forward, "Xie Qilin, Xie Qilin."
For five years, she had to endure hardships in Xizhou for five years. Her originally delicate and smooth skin was roughened by the wind and sand, and her complexion was like that of the locals. aged woman.
When the news of Rong Xia's ascension to the throne came, she was happy, because then there would be an amnesty order.
However, her expectations soon came to nothing. Rong Xia did not pardon anyone at all. He only reduced or exempted the tax of the victims. As a place of bitter cold, Xizhou was also exempted from tax for a year after the ceremony.
After the news came, the people of the whole Xizhou were overjoyed. Everyone thought of the goodness of the Empress and wished to erect a monument of longevity for her.
Shi Feixian thought that she would not be able to survive for a day, but she did not expect that her desire to survive was so strong, that she was bullied, laughed at, and excluded from others. When Xie Qilin appeared, it was like a straw after her drowning.
He is an official of the Ying Dynasty, and he will definitely be able to eliminate her guilt and save her.
The astonished eyes of everyone and the vigilant attitude of the guards could not stop Shi Feixian's excitement. She felt that she had never run so fast before, and she had never been nervous like she is now.
However, just as she was about to approach, two yamen with knives stopped her...
"Auntie, if you have any grievances, you can tell us first, and we will convey it for you."
"Auntie?" Shi Feixian looked at the talking yamen as if struck by lightning. The yamen had a round face and looked only seventeen or eighteen years old. She touched her face, and she was actually the age of being called auntie.
She looked up again and found that Xie Qilin was going further and further, so she had to hurriedly say: "I am an old acquaintance of your adults, please let the two messengers let me meet with Xie Lord."
"Old acquaintance?" The yamen looked at Shi Feixian suspiciously. This woman was dressed in coarse clothes, like a sinner who was serving hard labor. How could such a person be an old acquaintance with their adults
Seeing that the yamen did not believe her words, Shi Feixian said anxiously, "I'm really an old acquaintance of your family. If you don't believe me, go ask him, do you know Shi Feixian?"
A noble woman's name is generally not told to a lowly man, but now that she has ended up like this, how can she care about her name
Seeing Shi Feixian's sworn appearance, the yamen nodded reluctantly, "You wait here now, wait for me to ask."
"Thank you, thank you." Shi Feixian thanked her repeatedly, she wiped the tears from her face, and the rough palms rubbed her eyes.
Xie Qilin planned to go to the suburbs to see the growth of this year's crops. Hearing the yacha stop him, he stopped the horse and looked down at the yamen standing in front of him, "What's wrong?"
"My lord, there is a woman who claims to be your old acquaintance and wants to meet you."
"Old acquaintance?" Xie Qilin frowned, turned his head and forgot to look behind him, and saw the woman in gray who was being stopped by the yamen from afar. He didn't remember knowing such a person, so he shook his head and said, "I didn't know him in Xizhou. 's ancestor."
The yamen was about to retire when he heard the words, but thinking of the woman's pleading eyes, he couldn't help but say one more sentence: "She said her name is Shi Feixian, you must know her."
Shi Feixian? !
This name, buried deep in memory and not seen for a long time, was spoken by a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old yamen at this time, which made Xie Qilin feel absurd. He looked back at the woman and was silent for a moment: "Bring her here."
The woman in gray gradually approached, Xie Qilin looked at her vicissitudes of life, and was silent for a long time: "Miss Shi."
Shi Feixian looked at Xie Qilin who was sitting upright on the horse, and squeezed the hem of the grey cloth skirt a little embarrassedly.
"I have seen Mr. Xie." She was blessed. Although she had not paid attention to these etiquettes for many years, the elegance carved into her bones was not so easy to wash away.
The yamen who passed the word looked at the two in surprise. It turned out that they were really old acquaintances. This woman did not know what her identity was, and the way she saluted was different from that of other women.
"How has Miss Shi been over the years?" Xie Qilin did not expect that the noble lady who had made great strides back then had become like this. He glanced at the people around him, "This is not the place to talk, please ask Miss Shi to go to the teahouse to talk."
Shi Feixian nodded silently.
The two entered the restaurant, and Xie Qilin chose a seat by the window.
Shi Feixian suddenly thought that she also liked to sit by the window back then. Every time Xie Qilin discussed poetry with her, she would also choose a private room with a good view and spacious windows, waiting for her arrival.
Soon it was almost on the table, Xie Qilin poured a cup of tea for Shi Feixian, "There is no good tea in Xizhou, I hope Miss Shi will not care."
"I am very grateful now that I can drink a sip of clean water, how can I be picky about the quality of the tea." Shi Feixian reached out to serve the tea, and a pair of rough hands were exposed in front of Xie Qilin.
He looked away and turned his head to look out the window. In the distance, there was a long loess wall and the wind and sand all over the sky.
"I didn't expect... you would be here." Shi Feixian noticed Xie Qilin's indifferent attitude, and smiled crampedly, "My brother and sister, okay?" She heard that the former crown prince was given to Rong Xia, in this case , Rong Xia must not kill the waste prince, her sister is the wife of the waste prince, even if she loses her freedom, life will be better than she is now.
Xie Qilin turned to look at her, and said after a while, "Sir Shi is very good. Now he has taken up the post of Taichang Temple Secretary. Although he is not very prominent, he is quite respected."
"Then... is he married?"
Xie Qilin shook his head: "Sorry, I didn't hear the news of Master Shi getting married."
"Yes, yes," Shi Feixian was a little confused. She took a sip of tea and pursed her dry lips, "What about my sister?"
Xie Qilin was silent for a moment, then turned his head to avoid seeing Shi Feixian's expression: "Sister Ling sent someone to assassinate the Queen, Your Majesty was furious with Prince He, and was abandoned by Prince He. Later, because of Lord Shi's intercession, the Queen spared her life, but Sister Ling and Prince He spared her life. After my brother returned, he committed suicide."
"Suicide..." Shi Feixian was stunned for a long time, wiping the tears from her face, "She is more courageous than me."
She suddenly didn't want to ask Xie Qilin to save her anymore. Now, what if she was freed of her guilt? Could it be that her old grievances with those people in the capital could be written off
Could those people in the capital forget that she had a feud with the queen of the dynasty? Even if Ban Hua doesn't care about this, those who are eager to please Ban Hua will jump out impatiently and make fun of her bullying. Plainly implicated his brother, adding trouble to his career.
She stayed in the capital for so many years, how could she not understand the thoughts of those people in the capital. Because even she herself, who is also such a person, has done such a thing.
"What happened back then was because I was sorry for you," she squeezed the teacup tightly, which made her more confident. "There were too many people who didn't want you to marry Ban Hua, and I followed suit and hurt your family. I'm sorry."
Xie Qilin closed his eyes and concealed the emotions in his heart: "It's just me, vain and proud, if..."
If he is as firm as Rong Xia, no matter what others say, he can maintain a firm attitude, and his engagement with Ban Hua will not end in such an embarrassing way.
He thought he was arrogant and looked down on Ban Hua, but it was because of the unease and inferiority in his heart. He was afraid that he would not be able to catch Ban Hua, and that he was not worthy of her, so he couldn't wait to show his self-esteem, and he wanted to let the world go. Everyone knew that it wasn't that Xie Qilin couldn't catch Ban Xiangjun, but that he despised her and didn't want to marry her.
He likes talented and gentle women, all of which Ban Hua does not have.
After a long time, even he himself almost believed that he only likes talented women, and refuses to think about Ban Hua's good, and refuses to accept that when he and Ban Hua are together, he has nowhere to rest his heart, and he always doesn't know what to do. Posing hands.
At that time, he was too young to know that this was his heart sprouting, and he didn't know that this was the shyness of facing someone he liked.
By the time he finally understood, it was too late.
"When I came to Xizhou, I didn't have a change of clothes, I didn't have any silver coins to please the yamen, and I didn't even have a grain of dry food." Shi Feixian drank the bitter tea. A package was sent down, and the past grievances and grievances were written off."
"Although she didn't say who she was, the guard's words and deeds still reminded me of someone." Shi Feixian sneered, "It's Ban Hua."
Xie Qilin unconsciously looked at Shi Feixian, wanting to hear more about Ban Hua from her mouth.
Noticing his look, Shi Feixian smiled wryly: "You don't have to look at me like this, she and I have been disliked since we were young. More than ten years ago, I even arranged for the little palace maid to lead her to the frozen lotus pond, wanting her Die under the ice."
Xie Qilin's expression changed slightly. How old was Shi Feixian at that time, ten years old? Eleven years old
"Why, I didn't expect that I was such a woman?" Shi Feixian chuckled, she no longer had to maintain the illusion of being gentle, and she felt very happy. If Ban Hua died at that time, would there be so many things in the future? provoked
"Everything has already been planned, but suddenly there is a flaw," Shi Feixian laughed at himself, "I can't do anything with the person I arranged. Do you think it's fate? The flaw that has always been well-behaved will actually be there. You left at the palace banquet and just met Ban Hua?"
"Why?" Xie Qilin looked at Shi Feixian, "She was not yet ten years old at that time, why did you hate her so much?"
"You actually believe it?" Shi Feixian sneered, "It seems that in your heart, I am such a woman."
Xie Qilin had no words.
"Let me tell you the truth, it's not me who wants to kill Ban Hua, but Rong Xia's biological mother Lin," Shi Feixian sneered, "Lin's hatred for the eldest eldest princess De Ning is unforgettable, and she even hates Ban Hua. Yes. I just discovered the truth by accident."
The Lin family hates the Ban family, but her son married the granddaughter of the eldest princess, and treats it like a treasure.
Xie Qilin did not expect that there would be such a life-and-death crisis back then. If Rongxia hadn't appeared at that time, Ban Hua... would have died in the cold water
"Miss Shi..." His throat was a little dry, "I'm going back to Beijing to resume my post next month. Do you have any letters that I need to bring back?"
"Letters..." Shi Feixian was silent for a while, then shook his head slowly, "The Shi family has already been destroyed, my brother is not easy in Beijing, let him think that I am dead, so it's good for him and me."
The table was quiet, and after a long time, Xie Qilin nodded: "I see."
"Thank you very much for your hospitality, I should also go back." Shi Feixian stood up and blessed Xie Qilin, "Farewell."
"Miss Shi," Xie Qilin called to Shi Feixian, "Miss Yun, did you arrange to come and approach me?"
Shi Feixian paused, "She's not mine, but I arranged for someone to guide you, so that you think that you can only show your integrity by running away with Yunniang."
In the past, the elegant time of talking about poetry and ci rhetoric, tearing apart the elegance on the outside, and full of calculations on the inside, so embarrassing that Xie Qilin once again realized how stupid he was.
"Thank you, do you still have any questions?"
Xie Qilin shook his head: "Walk slowly."
That night, Shi Feixian received a transfer order, saying that she had performed very well in the past two years, and that she had been given an easy job.
With the envious eyes of everyone around, Shi Feixian packed up and went to work in the city.
She didn't tell Xie Qilin that after learning about Lin's conspiracy, she helped Lin to lure away several palace maids, because she also wanted Ban Huan to die. However, all this is no longer important, because it is she who is living a difficult life now, and the woman she has hated has become the mother of all peoples.
The past grievances and hatreds were all a joke.
She is the worst actor in this joke, thinking that she can win the applause, but the attention of the spectators is no longer on her.
It took nearly two months to travel from Xizhou to the capital, half by road and half by water, before Xie Qilin returned to the place he had left for three years.
The city gate is still the same city gate, but the guards guarding the city gate do not know how many changes have been made. When Xie Qilin handed the document and waist badge to the guard, he found that many people were beaming and asked: "I don't know what happened in the capital. What's up?"
"Your Excellency has returned to Beijing to renew his post from other places. It's not surprising that you don't know about the happy events that happened in the capital." The guard returned the document and waist badge to Xie Qilin, and bowed to him, "A few days ago, the Empress gave birth to a son, and Your Majesty is overjoyed. I personally hung a bow on the main wall of the Dayue Palace. It is strange to say that there has been no rain in our capital for more than half a month. On the day when His Royal Highness was born, it rained a little or a little. You said Is this a gift from God to us?"
Xie Qilin's hand holding the document trembled slightly, "So... is it actually the birth of Long Zi?"
"Exactly," the guard smiled. "Your Excellency, you are also lucky. You encountered such a happy event as soon as you returned to Beijing. It is possible that your official fortune will be prosperous and prosperous from now on."
"Yes," Xie Qilin nodded, "borrow your auspicious words, brother."
The guard didn't even dare.
Xie Qilin lowered the curtain of the carriage and said to the groom who was driving the carriage, "Let's go."
The carriage slowly entered Beijing. The place where he had lived for twenty years seemed to be more lively and unfamiliar than before. The people here dress more cleanly than the people in Xizhou, eat more carefully than the people in Xizhou, and even their skin is fairer than the people in Xizhou who have suffered from wind and frost. Maybe it was because he worked as a parent official in Xizhou for three years, and felt that the people of Xizhou were just as lovely even if they were not more particular than the people of the capital.
After he bathed and changed his clothes at the residence where he received officials from other places in the capital, he went to the palace to ask to see His Majesty.
According to the big win rule, Zhizhou returned to Beijing to renew his post every three years, and then waited for His Majesty's edict to decide whether he would continue to serve in the same place or be promoted.
Entering the palace from the Suzaku Gate, he waited outside the imperial study for about half an hour, and finally a eunuch wearing a dark blue robe led him in.
Walking into the door with his head lowered, Xie Qilin didn't dare to sit on the top of the black-clothed man, he raised his robe and gave a big gift: "Wei Chen Xie Qilin has seen His Majesty, long live Your Majesty, long live, long live."
"Get up."
The voice was still familiar, just a little more majestic than it was three years ago.
He stood up and glanced at Rong Xia, still as handsome and noble, only the momentum around him was stronger than before, more like an emperor than an elegant noble boy.
"I haven't seen you for a few years, and you are a lot calmer than before," Rong Xia put down the pen in his hand and said to Xie Qilin, "I have read all the excerpts from Xizhou, and you have done a good job."
"Thank Your Majesty for the praise, Wei Chen is ashamed to take it." Xie Qilin did not expect Rong Xia's attitude to be so calm.
"Doing well is good," Rong Xia put his hands behind his back, "No need to humble yourself. Tell me about the situation in Xizhou, whether it is good or bad."
"Yes." Xie Qilin handed over his hands and began to tell in detail what he had seen and heard in Xizhou.
About half an hour later, he saw a eunuch hurried in and said something in His Majesty's ear. The voice of the other party was very low, and he could only hear the empress, Tang and the like.
Then he saw His Majesty's distressed expression, and subconsciously felt that he should not look at this time, Xie Qilin hurriedly lowered his head.
"Master Xie, you go back to rest first, I will call you in a few days," Rong Xia raised her hand, "Go back."
"Yes." Xie Qilin led the order to retire. Not long after he walked out, he turned around and saw His Majesty hurried out of the imperial study and walked towards the harem.
Did something happen to the harem? He frowned.
"Thank you sir."
Xie Qilin raised his head and met Shi Jin's eyes.
"Xiaguan has seen Master Shi."
"Master Xie is very kind," Shi Jin stopped, "Master Xie just returned to Beijing?"
"Yeah, I'll leave in a few days." Xie Qilin saw that Shi Jin was hesitant to speak, "I don't know what happened to Master Shi?"
"I don't know... Has Master Xie ever met her sister in Xizhou?"
"No, I've never seen it before." Xie Qilin's voice was calm.
"If Master Xie sees her sister, please write a letter to Master Xie and let me know, I will be grateful." Shi Jin gave Xie Qilin a deep bow.
Xie Qilin pushed away half a step and avoided the ceremony: "Master Shi, don't be polite, if I meet you, I will definitely tell you."
"Farewell."
"Farewell."
Xie Qilin and Shi Jin passed by, Shi Jin didn't see it, and Xie Qilin didn't have the slightest emotion in his eyes.
As long as he thought that the little girl back then might be buried in the ice water, he didn't want to speak any more. He spared Shi Feixian another hard labor, but he never thought of letting her return to the capital to be a comfortable eldest lady.
Since he is a heartless person, it is better to do a few more heartless things.
This is enough.