In the entire Shangjing City, the most proud person today is Xie's mother, Shen.
She was originally a country woman. Although her husband was well-read and knowledgeable, his family fell into poverty and he had no chance of becoming an official. He ended up being only a postmaster. She lived a tight life for more than ten years and unfortunately became a widow. She then lived in fear for several years. But she was blessed in the future, and her son was promising. Today, more than ten years later, he is not only crowned a king and a general, but is also going to marry the niece of the current queen mother.
A few months ago, when Xie Changgeng was fighting the King of Zhao, Xie's mother learned that the current Queen Mother was interested in a marriage. She was very surprised and immediately sent someone to send messages to her son who was away three times, urging him to agree. A few days ago, she learned the good news that the marriage was going to be completed, so she urged her son to take her to the capital.
Everything finally came true. Today, Eunuch Yang, who was beside Empress Liu, came to take Mother Xie into the palace, saying that the Empress Dowager wanted to discuss the marriage with the old lady.
On such a festive day, Xie's mother could not help but think of the princess of Changsha who was divorced by her son. She tried hard to persuade her to come back, but she refused. Whenever Xie's mother thought of this, she felt upset. Until today, she finally felt proud.
Such a marriage is truly worthy of her son who is a rare talent.
The attitude of the eunuch Yang who came to pick her up could be described as servile.
The popular figures around the current empress dowager were so humble in front of her. At this moment, Xie's mother's vanity was infinitely satisfied.
She also finally let go of some of the disappointment and resentment she had felt because of her son's unfilial behavior of not bringing her grandson back.
Xie Changgeng escorted her to the palace gate and said respectfully, "Mother, please go into the palace and discuss things with the Queen Mother slowly. When your son is done, come back to pick you up from the palace later."
Eunuch Yang smiled and flattered: "I have heard that the King of Qin is a filial son. Today I know that the rumors are true. The old lady is so lucky. How many people in the world can be like her?"
Mother Xie was becoming more and more proud. She glanced at her son and whispered, "Geng'er, don't blame me for pushing you so hard this time. You are really not young anymore, and it's not decent to leave the room alone. Besides, I kept asking you to bring the child back, but you didn't listen! I am worried, for your own good!"
Xie Changgeng smiled and said, "Mother is doing this for your own good, I know." As he spoke, he suddenly squatted down. Eunuch Yang looked at him from the side. It turned out that he was removing a piece of grass that had accidentally stained his mother's shoes. He blew away the dust on the edge, then stood up and said, "Eunuch Yang, my mother has never seen much of the world. If she is rude in front of the Queen Mother, please bear with me. When I am done, I will come to pick her up, and I will apologize to the Queen Mother on my mother's behalf."
Eunuch Yang waved his hands repeatedly, "The Queen Mother has been looking forward to meeting the old lady. Today, she finally got her wish. It can be said that it is a double happiness. I can't express my joy enough. The King of Qin is worrying too much!"
A moment later, an eye hidden in the dark secretly conveyed the message to Empress Liu, thanking Chang Geng for standing outside the palace gate and watching his mother being escorted inside by the crowd. He did not leave until everyone disappeared.
He is indeed a filial son.
Empress Liu looked at Mother Xie, who seemed a little restrained, and talked to her. At this moment, she felt nervous and excited.
He really fell into the trap when their mother was used as a topic.
He was at the end of his rope, so he might as well take a risk instead of waiting for death. Now that he had made up his mind, he should act quickly. Even if he had been alert, he would never have thought that the first day his mother came to Shangjing to discuss the marriage would be the day of his death.
Empress Liu once received news that three years ago, the King of Qi's men captured Xie's mother faster than herself. When the news of her death was announced, he even sneaked into the Eastern Capital to collect the body.
A filial son like him would never send his mother into the palace and put her in danger if he sensed a trick.
Her plan was extremely thorough. As long as he died, the remaining Zhao Xitai would not be a threat. At least, he would definitely not be more difficult to deal with than Xie Changgeng.
Empress Liu had a smile on her face and asked about Xie's mother's health. She also called her niece to come and pay her respects.
Mother Xie only knew that her son was crowned a king, rose rapidly in rank, and was a senior official in the court, a favorite of the Queen Mother. She had no idea of his hidden ambitions, and was completely unaware of the murderous intent behind the smiling face of the Queen Liu. She had long been looking forward to settling in Beijing, and today she was finally taken to the capital by her son. The Queen Mother respected her as an elder, and her son was going to marry a noble lady from the royal family. She sat in this magnificent palace, enjoying the treatment of being the center of attention. She felt extremely satisfied to have lived to this point in her life.
Empress Liu smiled and said, "Although there is nothing special in this palace, there are still some nice sights. This is your first time entering the palace. After we have discussed the marriage, I will personally take you there for a walk."
Naturally, Xie's mother agreed to everything Empress Liu said. She said with tears of gratitude, "My son's marriage to a royal princess is a blessing from his previous life. When he comes to pick me up, I will ask him to kowtow to the Empress Dowager and be more loyal to her in the future, working for the Emperor and the Empress Dowager to repay their kindness!"
In the evening, Xie Changgeng entered the palace to pick up his mother, but was told that his mother was in Qiongxie and was asked to go there to pick her up.
The pavilion is surrounded by water on three sides and connected to the shore by a corridor, just like a magnificent ship floating on the Imperial Pond. Going there in this season, the cool breeze is refreshing.
Eunuch Yang was waiting at the end of the long corridor leading to the Qiong Pavilion. He saw Xie Changgeng walking alone from afar and hurried to meet him. While leading the way for him, he said with a smile, "The Queen Mother discussed the marriage with the old lady, so she accompanied the old lady to visit the Imperial Garden. She was in high spirits and had a few glasses of wine here. The Queen Mother has been accompanying her all the time and is still inside. Please follow me, King Qin."
In the pavilion at the end of the corridor, the faint sound of Xie's mother's laughter could be heard in the wind.
Xie Changgeng walked up the corridor and entered the waterside pavilion. He saw Empress Liu and his mother sitting at the same table. The table was filled with delicacies, and palace maids were walking around, serving them wholeheartedly.
Xie Changgeng bowed to Empress Liu and thanked her, saying that he had come to take his mother out of the palace. Empress Liu smiled and asked him to stand up.
Mother Xie's face was full of rosy light, and she said happily: "Geng'er, you are here. The marriage has been discussed. In the future, you must be more loyal to her, so as not to let down the Queen Mother's love for you..."
As she spoke, she stood up and was about to walk towards her son, but was suddenly blocked by a eunuch behind her.
Empress Liu said, "Don't worry, old lady. Just sit for a while. It won't hurt to leave the palace later."
Xie's mother was stunned and glanced at her son.
Xie Changgeng said: "I dare not disturb the Queen Mother any more. I will take my mother out of the palace right away."
Empress Liu stared at him, the smile on her face gradually disappearing. Eunuch Yang had already left and ordered the gates to be closed. Dozens of guards who had been ambushed under the water around the water pavilion as assassins instantly broke through the water and poured in through the doors and windows, swords drawn, surrounding them on all sides, and in the slanting sunset, a bloody light flashed.
Mother Xie opened her mouth slightly until the eunuch pulled out a knife and put it on her neck. Then she reacted. The redness on her face faded, and her face turned pale. She called Geng'er for help.
Xie Changgeng said calmly: "What is the Queen Mother doing? This is the first time my mother came to Beijing and entered the palace, and she put on such a scene."
Empress Liu gnashed her teeth and said, "Thank you, thief! You were a bandit from the past. If I hadn't promoted you, would you have such a future today? Not only did you not think about repaying my kindness, but you even wanted to usurp the throne and rebel. How could I tolerate you! Today is the day you die!"
She ordered someone to hold Xie's mother hostage and retreat with her, and then she shot Xie Changgeng to death.
Xie's mother screamed and called out to the Queen Mother for mercy, then her eyes rolled back and she fainted. Dozens of bows surrounded Xie Changgeng and all loaded their arrows.
At this moment, there was a sudden noisy sound behind him, as if thousands of troops were pouring into the garden.
"Empress Dowager! Something bad has happened!" Eunuch Yang rushed in with a trembling voice.
"Xie Changgeng's men are coming in!"
Empress Liu's expression changed, and she shouted sternly: "Capture this traitor alive! Catch him, and severely..."
Her voice suddenly broke off.
In a corner of the waterside pavilion, a young eunuch with an ordinary face came out silently. He held a dagger in his hand and put it on her neck just like he had put it on Xie's mother's neck just now. He slashed without hesitation, and a long, thin cut like a thread appeared on Empress Liu's neck. Blood flowed out of the cut, and at first it only oozed out a little bit. The cut suddenly seemed to become a huge mouth that was opened, and scarlet blood spurted out.
Empress Liu fell to the ground. She opened her eyes wide, uttered muffled curses, and tried to get up, but her futile struggle only caused more blood to flow out of the cut on her neck.
She finally stopped moving and fell in a pool of blood, motionless, with only her mouth open, like the lips of a dying fish in a dry pond, still slowly opening and closing, but the sound it made could no longer be heard.
Empress Liu, who had been in charge of government for more than ten years in the name of the young emperor, failed to kill anyone today and suffered backlash, and fell down just like that.
Cao Jin said loudly: "Empress Liu is unjust. She used the mother of the King of Qin as a hostage and killed loyal people. This is infuriating to both humans and gods! The King of Qin is trying to protect himself! If you surrender to the King of Qin, you can live. Anyone who dares to act rashly will die!"
Empress Liu's mouth, which had been opening and closing in vain, finally stopped. There was a dead silence all around, and the guards holding weapons stared at each other. After a moment, someone took the lead and rushed forward, hacking Eunuch Yang to death when he tried to escape, and then threw away his weapons. With the sound of swords falling to the ground, everyone knelt down in front of Xie Changgeng: "We are willing to testify for the King of Qin!"
His men quickly occupied the palace. To prevent the news from leaking out, Empress Liu did not reveal the plan to anyone except those around her, not even her closest confidants.
The soldiers, like wolves and tigers, broke open the closed gate, and arrested or killed people related to Empress Liu. The people were panicked, not knowing what big thing had happened in the palace, and the ordinary court officials were even more worried, fearing that the next door to be broken open would be their own.
That night, Beijing was under martial law and curfew. Except for the light from soldiers holding torches walking through the streets and controlling the four gates, the whole city was plunged into darkness.
Xie Changgeng left the palace early, leaving the blood and massacre behind.
He had been licking blood on the blade since he was fourteen years old. He had experienced countless more cruel plots and killings than this. Today, such scenes were commonplace and no longer caused him any unnecessary emotion. Life and death, four words, it was that simple.
It was late at night. On the tall gate tower of Shangjing, he stood facing the wind, gazing at the night sky in the distance.
The city behind him, with a population of nearly one million, had already returned to peace from the turmoil. Countless people must have been unable to sleep at night, anxiously waiting for the arrival of dawn.
His long-cherished wish was about to come true. As long as he nodded, at dawn, he would be embraced and given the throne with all kinds of grand and honorable reasons. He should be extremely excited.
But this night, this moment, he found that his excitement was not as much as he had imagined when he was young. In fact, it was far less exciting than the night when he was nineteen years old, when he took a small boat and sailed through the dangerous rapids of the river to Changsha to seek marriage.
Looking back now, from the time he was fourteen years old to now, it has been thirteen years. During all these years, he was just like stepping onto a boat. Once on board, he thought what he should think, did what he should do, and moved forward towards his set destination without distraction.
He was feeling somewhat emotional and confused.
Under the tower, Liang Tuan and several other guards, still immersed in the aftermath of the excitement, looked up at the back of the man standing alone on the highest peak of the city, waiting quietly. After a long time, he seemed to remember something, came down from the tower, ordered people to open the city gate, and then jumped on the horse and headed out. He hurriedly followed him. After walking for a while, he saw that it was the direction of the West Mountain, and finally understood that he was going to the Huguo Temple.
The mountains are empty and the forests are quiet. The majestic gate of Huguo Temple stands still under the deep blue night sky. From a distance, it merges with the mountains behind it, just like Pangu creating the world.
Xie Changgeng ordered his men to wait at the foot of the mountain while he climbed up the steps. He knocked on the temple door, revealed his identity to the monk who opened the door, and asked about Elder Huiji. As soon as he finished speaking, he realized how abrupt he was. He came to disturb him on a whim so late at night.
He said, "If it is inconvenient for you, Elder, I will wait here at the mountain gate and visit you again when it gets light."
The monk glanced at him, then folded his hands and invited him in.
There was silence in his ears, only his own footsteps and the faint sounds of wooden fish and chanting from the corners. Xie Changgeng walked through the Zen temples in the middle of the night. When he came to the pagoda forest on the back mountain, he looked at the silent pagodas in the night, and suddenly a sense of déjà vu arose in his heart.
It seemed like a long time ago, he had wandered in this Tallinn in the middle of the night. But he quickly rejected the idea.
This was his first time to come to the pagoda forest on the back hill of the Huguo Temple on this extremely special night with extremely complicated emotions.
He was led to a Zen temple at the end of the pagoda forest, where the monks bowed to him and left.
This was a simple square Zen temple, standing quietly in front of him. He stood outside the door for a moment, then stepped inside.
He saw an oil lamp lit in the room, and an old monk sitting cross-legged on a cloud bed. He went up to him respectfully, bowed, and apologized for his presumptuous visit in the middle of the night, saying, "Xi'er asked me to come and say hello to the elder."
After he finished speaking, he saw that the old monk did not react and was still meditating with his eyes closed. After hesitating for a moment, he finally asked about something that had been weighing on his mind for the past three years and something he had never completely forgotten.
"Elder, what is the relationship between this child and the woman who took him away from you?"
"She once told me that she just happened to meet the child and asked the elder to raise him. But I always felt that she was hiding something from me. She has always been like this. No matter what the matter is, she will never tell me clearly!"
He paused, then continued, completely unaware of the hint of resentment in his tone.
The elder remained silent, as if in a trance.
After Xie Changgeng finished speaking, he realized that he seemed to have said too much. But at the moment he said it, he felt much happier.
Perhaps tonight, he came here just to find someone to talk to. He didn't really expect this old monk to answer his questions or respond.
He didn't really need anyone's response.
He simply sat down and sat opposite the old monk.
"Elder, that woman is ridiculously unreasonable. Do you know that three years ago I chased her to Junshan Mountain, but couldn't find a ferry? I risked drowning and becoming her ghost in Dongting Lake. I swam across the river overnight. I wanted to ask her to change her mind. Elder, do you know how she responded to me? She actually asked me to choose between the country and her!"
He said, "How can there be such a woman in the world! Do you really think she is a goddess from the Ninth Heaven who has descended to earth? Even if she is a goddess, I'm afraid she wouldn't dare to speak in such a tone as hers."
The oil in the lamp gradually burned out, and the flame went out. The Zen room fell into darkness.
"Why did she treat me like this? Why... I don't believe a word she said to me. She just wanted to drive me away... She is so cruel... How can there be such a cruel woman in the world..."
In the darkness, Xie Changgeng was still talking to the old monk opposite him. Gradually, his tone of indignation and sarcasm changed to frustration. Finally, he seemed to feel tired. After a long silence, he laughed: "Elder, I have accomplished a great thing tonight. I got what I wanted. I am very happy! From now on, for the sake of the child, I will not embarrass her, but I, Xie Changgeng, will not look at her again! Elder, please be a witness for me. If I can't do it again, I will..."
He stopped and lay on his back in the dim Zen room.
He couldn't remember when he had said so many words in one breath. He suddenly felt stupid and tired.
He slowly closed his eyes, and when he was about to fall asleep, he seemed to see the kerosene lamp in the corner of the room, which had been extinguished, slowly rekindled.
He opened his eyes and found himself on the river bank under the moonlight again, seeing the familiar scene from that night. On the river bank, the turbid waves rolled, and in the distance, a black boat sailed all night, heading towards Dongting Lake. He originally thought it was the boat people he had seen that night, but when he got closer, he could see clearly that the young man in blue standing on the bow was himself when he was 19 years old.
Xie Changgeng was extremely shocked. He chased after him and called out to him, but the young man seemed to be lost in some kind of meditation. He was unaware of what was happening and walked away without even turning his head.
The young man went to ask for marriage with ambition and got what he wanted. Half a year after the wedding, he returned home and finally saw the appearance of the daughter of the King of Changsha whom he asked to marry. She was not only extremely beautiful, but also had a body that he liked. After the marriage was consummated that night, he loved her very much. When he heard her shyly tell him that they had met under the old cypress tree in Junshan Mountain before, and he had helped her rescue a bird that fell off the cliff, he suddenly remembered it, but he just smiled and didn't care, thinking that this was just a little cute thought of the little girl.
After a few days, he was about to leave. His mother wanted him to marry Lingfeng. Although he was reluctant to tell her this so soon, he still mentioned it. He thought that if she was willing, it would be the best. If not, he would find a way to refuse in front of his mother.
She agreed, and he was a little surprised, but also pleased with her thoughtfulness, so he married Qi. He knew that she was not liked by her mother and had been wronged, but she had never complained to him, so he loved her more and more. In those years, except for dealing with his mother's questioning, he basically didn't get close to Qi Lingfeng.
Later, she gave birth to Xier, and they were still apart from each other. Every time she came back in a hurry, she would leave again after a few days. When he left home, he knew that she and her son were reluctant to leave. But he couldn't stop. He thought that he would make it up to her later.
Before his compensation came, she was gone.
Due to a sudden accident, he had breakfast early. When he was transferring her and her son, he was captured by the King of Qi's men. The King of Qi asked him to exchange an important city, but he couldn't agree. He captured the King of Qi's only son and wanted to exchange it, but he didn't expect that the King of Qi had another son who was raised outside, so things kept dragging on. He was fighting somewhere else at the time and was held up by the war. Later, Zhao Xitai died of illness, which was an accident. He had to rescue his mother and son as soon as possible, and decided to attack Pucheng. He contacted Yuan Handing, who had always wanted to rescue her, and asked him to work with an insider in the city who was bribed by Cao Jin to rescue people, and he dispatched his own army to attack Pucheng. But the rescue went wrong, and the pursuers came up. In order not to drag him down, she sent her son away and committed suicide.
Her body was hung on the top of the city wall by his enemies for three days before she was buried after he broke through the city. At that time, he couldn't bear it, and he didn't dare to look at her remains in detail. He knew in his heart that if he could have been more attentive to her during the time she was still alive, and the preparations for the attack on Pucheng were not so hasty, perhaps the result would not have been necessary at all.
After he became the emperor, he knew that she must hate him for not being able to do her best. It was then that he realized that he, Xie Changgeng, was actually a coward. He renovated the Mingtang Pagoda for her, and made her funeral extremely glorious, but he never dared to step into her mourning hall to face her. He hesitated outside for several times, but finally gave up. He was not only a coward, but also an extremely hypocritical person, who was just seeking inner peace and deceiving himself.
When their child came back, he was silent and lost the ability to speak. He felt that he loved this eldest son. He later had another son, but the one he loved most was still the eldest son left by his first wife.
He knew that the child hated him, just like his mother. In the first few years, he tried to repair their relationship, but the child seemed unwilling to give him this opportunity. He had too many things to do, and he did not dare to face the child's eyes that were so similar to hers, so the days dragged on like this year after year. He always comforted himself that one day, he would definitely make it up to the child. He did not expect that because of Qi's matter, such a tragic change would occur.
He also learned the truth a few years ago. He was furious at the time, but his mother had suffered a stroke and was a little confused. She didn't recognize anyone but Qi, and she had to see her every day. It would only take a few years at most. After thinking it over again and again, he finally didn't kill her immediately.
He knew that his eldest son hated him, but he never expected that over the past ten years, his silent and calm Xier actually hated him to such an extent that he committed suicide in front of him, saying that he did not want to be a father and son anymore.
At that moment, in that dark shrine, as he held the young man in white whose body temperature was gradually cooling down, his remorse was indescribable.
It was also at that moment that he completely saw himself and what kind of person he really was.
In the eyes of his subordinates, he was a wise superior, in the eyes of the world, he was a wise monarch, in the praises of moralists, the emperor practiced filial piety and was a filial son who could serve as a model for the world. She was the only woman he had ever loved in his life, but from the first day he married her, the darkest hypocrisy, coldness, selfishness, cowardice and ruthlessness in his nature were all imposed on her, to the fullest.
He deeply regretted it, but it was too late.
And his heart-wrenching pain had actually just begun at this time.
After that, he never summoned his harem again. After a few years, he was in his forties and in his prime, but due to the exhaustion of state affairs and the torture of old injuries, his health began to fail. While he was in physical pain, his two remaining sons killed each other and conspired to force the emperor to abdicate in order to seize the throne. The last one died and one was deposed by him. He extinguished the forces behind them and, after the bloody storm, made one of his nephews the crown prince.
When he was dying in loneliness, he recalled his life, as if he had gained everything, but in the end, it seemed as if he had nothing left. At that time, he often thought of his wife who died young, her bright smile when he first met her under the old cypress in Junshan, and his child who was reluctant to let him go and held his legs tightly but didn't dare to cry, and who, even though he hated him so much, in the end he just cut his hair to sever the father-son relationship and let his eldest son go.
Xie Changgeng, the founding emperor of the Ohara Dynasty, spent the last days of his life in the Mingtang of Huguo Temple, which he had built for the Empress.
It is said that before he passed away, he held in his hand a leaf of a thousand-year-old cypress sent from the distant Junshan Mountain. The emperor's last words were not to disturb the soul of the empress who had passed away early, and to bury the emperor and empress separately, and to bury himself with this cypress leaf. The new emperor and his ministers did not understand the will, but they all followed it. Only a few people who knew a little about the past suspected that the emperor was worried that the empress still hated him, so he did not dare to sleep in the same tomb with her. Later, there was a rumor that before the emperor died, he ordered the monks of the Huguo Temple to perform a ritual for him, wishing him reincarnation in the next life. He was willing to pay any price to renew his relationship with the empress to make up for the disappointment in this life. The official history and biographies would not include such nonsense, but the unofficial histories talked about it with great relish, lamenting that the heroic and iron-blooded founding emperor was also a natural lover, but it was a pity that he had a deep relationship with the empress but had a short relationship, which made people sigh.
"It's dawn, why haven't you woken up yet, donor?" A voice suddenly came into my ears.
Xie Changgeng suddenly opened his eyes and found that it was already bright outside the window. He met the eyes of the old monk opposite him, who was looking at him, but he seemed to be still immersed in the extreme pain brought by the double torture of body and soul before death.
His face was pale, and he was covered in cold sweat. He stared at the old monk opposite him, as if his soul had not yet returned to his body. After a while, he seemed to finally understand something, and said in a trembling voice: "Elder, what are those..."
The elder came down from the place where he had been meditating last night and said with a smile: "What you think about during the day, you will dream about at night. This is to help you solve your doubts." After he finished speaking, he left the meditation room.
Xie Changgeng froze as if struck by lightning.
He finally understood. She came from another place where he, she and their son lived. Those things, his regret and heartache, were bloody and painful to her that continued to this day!
All the past events flashed before his eyes again.
He experienced the life of another person with the same name as him. That person was not him, but he was real. That was another life he had. As scenes flashed through his mind, he recalled this life again, his first encounter with Junshan, her leaving without saying goodbye and avoiding him, her disgust for the Qingyun Sword, her retreat and hesitation when they were in love, the abyss-like despair in her eyes when Xi'er got lost and she stabbed herself, and the words she said to him when they last met in Junshan three years ago...
Xie Changgeng's eyes turned red, and he suddenly felt a dull pain in his chest and a sweet and fishy taste in his throat.
He slowly swallowed back the blood that had reached his throat. His body curled up stiffly, his face pale, as if he was dead, and he didn't move.
The author has something to say: Dear friends, I have an event today (the 5th), so I will take a day off and continue updating on the 6th.