It was the middle of winter, and there was only a heavy snowfall.
The goose feather-like snow has been drifting for several days, and the people in the capital are worried that there may be a snow disaster, but the sky is actually clear.
The yellow glazed tiles in the Forbidden City are still covered with a layer of white, but the snow on the palace roads and corridors has long been cleared away. As the saying goes, the snow does not turn the snow into coldness. It is obviously a cold day, but the maids and eunuchs are all smiling and come and go in a hurry.
Today is the birthday of Empress Dowager Yi'an.
Although the empress dowager said that the late emperor's funeral was only a year old, so it was not appropriate to do it big, but the emperor was benevolent and filial, and ordered the empress to celebrate the empress dowager's birthday. The Queen Mother celebrates her birthday.
In the Compassionate Ning Palace, the usual tranquility was changed.
The listening theater building in the back garden is bustling with gongs and drums. The Queen Mother actually doesn’t like this kind of noisy drama, but the maids around her said that this is the case when there are old people in the folk family celebrating their birthdays. This is the heart of the emperor and the empress. The queen mother also knew that the emperor and queen wanted to make her happy, so she said, let's put it on.
After a busy day, the queen mother was tired when listening to the opera in the afternoon, so she went back to the bedroom to rest first.
Empress Dowager Yi'an was wearing a robe with gold embroidered dragons and phoenixes on a yellow background. The phoenix crown and jewelry on her head were all removed. She was so tired that she leaned on the soft pillow on the imperial concubine's couch with her eyes closed.
The palace maid knelt in front of the couch, gently beating her legs, and when she saw that there was no movement above, she looked up cautiously.
Just looking at the Empress Dowager at this time, who would have thought that her grandsons are already in the age of dancing spoons, the Empress Dowager has a good face, and the late emperor was already very old when he was buried, but the Empress Dowager is still favored by time. The first emperor was ten years younger, but he and the empress were like sisters.
Probably only such a woman can be deeply favored by the emperor and crowned the sixth palace. In the end, not only her son became the emperor, but she herself became the most honorable woman in the world.
The faint movement of the theater building can still be heard, and Tsing Yi's libretto is melodious—
It turns out that the colorful flowers are blooming everywhere, and it seems that they are all ruined,
What a beautiful day on a good day, who's house is a place to enjoy.
Flying in the morning and rolling in the evening, Yunxia Cuixuan,
Rain and wind, smoke and waves draw boats,
People in Jinping look at this cheap time.
…
The Queen Mother suddenly remembered when she was young.
At that time, she was only in her prime, immature and innocent, like an immature green plum. In the misty Jiangnan, the future of an ignorant girl is uncertain. Who would have thought that she would be so blessed in the future.
She was originally just a skinny horse raised by a family in Yangzhou, but due to a coincidence, she was bought by the son-in-law of the Chen family and sent to Beijing, and then sent to the East Palace, where she was firmly favored by the crown princess from the Chen family.
Not to mention the ups and downs during the period, no matter how weak and naive she was, she was forced into a scheming woman by this man-eating harem.
The first half of her life was quiet in the late emperor's harem, except for the birth of the third prince, she was really inconspicuous in this colorful palace. It was not until nearly forty years that he risked everything to fight for his children and grandchildren and himself.
Fortunately, she became the biggest winner in the end. The late emperor died, and the remaining concubines were all moved into the Shoukang Palace. She was the only concubine who took the position of the Empress Dowager, and stayed in the Compassionate Ning Palace, where she was cared for by the people of the world. You can also be buried with the late emperor.
No one said she was blessed, even the Empress Dowager Yi'an felt that she was lucky.
luck
But in this palace, the most contemptible thing is luck.
If you are lucky, you can have luck for a while, but you can't live forever.
Everyone thinks that she must be happy to be the empress dowager, and she also thinks that she should be happy, but she always thinks of the scene when the late emperor passed away—
He is ten years older than himself, and she has a good face, but he doesn't say anything, but always secretly seeks out the way to keep in good health from the imperial physician.
Even so, he still walked ahead of her.
Before leaving, he held her hand, although he didn't say anything, his eyes were full of sighs.
"I'll be waiting for you at the Imperial Tomb..."
She buried her head in his hands, tears wet his palms, but her heart was full of bewilderment. For a woman in this deep palace, acting has become instinctive, and she can no longer tell why the tears are shedding.
After she knew that she was dead, she would definitely be buried with him. Even the former empress did not have this honor. He had already told her that the seat beside him was only for her.
After he passed away, she couldn't eat well or sleep well for two full months, and then she thought it was good? She finally didn't have to go out of her way to curry favor with him, and she didn't have to worry about the unpredictability of the emperor's mind, and she didn't have to worry about another prince's pressure on her son's head one day.
She is not greedy for the position, but after so many years of fighting, she must win, otherwise she and her children and grandchildren will die.
So you can only win, not lose.
She won, she became the empress dowager above tens of millions of people, she should be happy.
…
She is happy!
…
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager..."
Empress Dowager Yi'an opened her eyes, and what came into her eyes was the face of her confidant, Nanny Qian.
"What's wrong? How long has Ai's family been sleeping?"
Mother Qian said in a low voice: "Your Majesty hasn't slept for a long time, it's the servant who has something to report."
The Empress Dowager frowned slightly, she knew that Nanny Qian was not an aimless character, something must have happened, but it was unavoidable that a good dream was interrupted.
"The eunuch guarding the cold palace came to report that the common man Chen has died."
"Dead?" The Empress Dowager was stunned for a moment, and then regained her composure, "If she dies, she will die. She is not too young, so she can really survive."
The queen mother sighed.
Mother Qian looked at the expression on her face, and echoed: "It's not that I can endure it. The late Emperor said he couldn't do it when he was buried, and kept hanging like this. It's also your kindness. The rare medicinal materials flowed into the cold palace as if they didn't need money. You said you had bad intentions, but if you hadn't interceded, she would have died with the rebel king long ago, and she has been stealing her life for so many years."
"Death is like a lamp going out, so you don't want to exclude her. Order her to be buried according to the regulations of the imperial concubine, which can be regarded as a full share of the friendship of the past."
friendship
The Empress Dowager chewed silently, a little sarcastic but also a little melancholy in her heart. As for Mother Qian's promise, she didn't listen to it at all.
Look, her biggest enemy is also dead, she should be happy.
The queen mother fell asleep again, and there was still an opera singing in the dream—
The most tantalizing spring is this year,
What is less, low is high to paint the wall,
It turns out that Chunxin is flying everywhere.
It's Sleeping Tumi grabbing the thread of her skirt,
It's just that flowers are like people's hearts leading to benefits.
Pan'er'came out of the pavilion'.
It was sold for 1,800 taels of silver.
You must know that in Yangzhou Shoumali, the best thin horses only sell for more than one thousand taels. One thousand eight hundred taels is undoubtedly a high price. For a few days, my mother was all smiles, and the mother at home was also very happy.
No wonder they are so happy, Yangzhou has always had this kind of 'rule', there are those poor families who can't afford to raise their daughters, so they send them to other people's homes for 'foster care'.
Usually it's both money and goods. On the surface it's adoption, but in fact it's saving each other's face.
But Pan'er's situation is different from that of ordinary people. Her biological parents and the family who raised the skinny horse are close relatives. Pan'er's mother didn't really want to sell her daughter at the beginning. He will send his daughter here for a few taels of silver.
It is said that when you have money, you will come to redeem it, but who knows that you can't make up any money, so Pan'er has been kept here. Follow the sisters who are fostered here to learn the rules, learn piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, but they can learn it well. A few days ago, a rich man came to pick a thin horse, but the sisters who were carefully trained by the "mother" were not selected, but Pan'er, who became a monk halfway through.
'Mother' knew that Pan'er was good-looking, otherwise she wouldn't have kept Pan'er at home. Knowing that her cousin was a difficult one, she didn't know if this would work, so she simply charged a high price.
One thousand eight hundred taels.
Unexpectedly, the other party agreed.
This time the 'mother' fainted, and the mother in the family also fainted. After some discussion, she simply sold her daughter, and the two families divided the money equally.
Of course it won't be equal.
No, there was a lot of commotion at home in the past two days, Pan'er's mother came to the door frequently, and quarreled with the "mother" at home several times, but when facing Pan'er, they always looked happy.
Later, I don’t know how the two reached an agreement. The mother of the family came to Pan’er and told her not to complain. Many, famine is caused every year.
He also said that the rich man bought her as a concubine, and compared to marrying a poor family as a wife, it would be like falling into a nest of blessings. He talked about the hype, and promised to give Pan'er fifty taels of silver as the bottom of the box. He hugged her and cried for a long time, and Pan'er finally nodded.
The next day, the mother of the family happily took the silver and left, stuffing a plate of fifty taels of silver before leaving.
In fact, Pan'er knew that what her mother said was all lies, and if she really valued her, she could keep her here and not take her back. Is it because I want to sell her money, but I am also afraid of being known and ruining my reputation.
With those hundreds of taels of silver in hand, presumably this reputation can be abandoned.
But even if she knows, what can she do? It’s better than being sold into a brothel one day. The elder sister in the ‘family’ has passed the age and was not picked away, and was finally sold into the brothel. According to other sisters, then It's all over.
So if you are a concubine, just be a concubine, even though the rich man looks fatter.
Pan'er left Suzhou just like that, and sailed all the way to the capital by boat.
The salt merchant along the road treated her well, he was neither short of food nor clothing, and even sent two little maids to wait on her, but the way she looked at her was a bit strange. Pan'er is timid, and I can't describe it. Anyway, he was quite frightened, and he usually stays in the cabin as long as he can.
I don't know if she was frightened, or what, Pan'er, a woman who grew up in a water town, became seasick and vomited so faintly that she became so weak that she could only lie in bed within a few days.
"Girl, this servant will serve you to drink your medicine."
A thin girl came in with a medicine bowl. She was wearing a green bijia, with a yellow and thin face, and the clothes seemed to be a little out of shape, and they were loosely worn on her body. Standing in front of the bed was a girl who was as thin as her, but she had a small face. This girl was quite thin, but she had a small round face, big and round eyes, and looked a little innocent.
The two girls were only twelve or thirteen years old, and they didn't have much strength, so they could only help Pan'er up together, and then one supported her and the other served her to drink the medicine.
It can be seen that the two are novices in serving people, so let them feed like this, half of the bowl of medicine dripped down the corners of their mouths, fortunately a veil was placed in front of the plate to prevent it from getting all over the body.
Pan'er coughed and said, "Alas... I'll just drink it myself."
It was also fortunate that the two girls were ignorant, Pan'er woke up for a few days, but she didn't notice any difference at all. If it was just another shrewd girl, she would have learned the truth from Pan'er's words after waking up.
Yes, the meat of the plate has been changed.
Although Pan'er was still Pan'er at this time, she was also Empress Dowager Yi'an.
It's just that Pan'er at this time is just a skinny horse bought by someone. She hasn't arrived at the Chen family, nor has she been sent to the East Palace by the Chen family. She did not give birth to the third prince and the sixteenth prince, and later she became the concubine Lihuang who favored the harem until her son ascended the throne, and she became the empress dowager again.
A moment ago, Empress Dowager Yi'an slept in the Palace of Compassion and Ning, today is her birthday, the emperor is benevolent and filial, and presents rare treasures from all over the world to celebrate her birthday.
Seeing the loving son and daughter-in-law, the deep brotherly love, and the peace and tranquility of the palace, the Empress Dowager Yi'an was satisfied, and felt that her merits and virtues had been fulfilled in this life. If I asked if I had any regrets, I really didn't.
Who would have thought that when she opened her eyes, she would go back to the road she was sent to the Chen family in the capital when she was fifteen years old.
The author has something to say: ①The opera words come from Peony Pavilion.