Chapter 79

In the entire Shangjing, the most proud person today is Xie’s mother, Shen Shi.

She is a woman from the countryside. Although her husband is full of reading the scriptures and full of financial resources, it is a pity that her family is down and she has no official luck. In the end, she only became a postman. She followed her for more than ten years, and unfortunately became a widow, and then she was frightened for several years. But after she Fu Da, her son is very promising. Today, more than ten years later, not only is he a king and a general, but he is also going to marry the niece of the current empress dowager as his wife.

A few months ago, when Xie Changgeng was beating King Zhao, Mother Xie was very pleasantly surprised when she learned that the current queen mother wanted to marry, and immediately asked someone to send letters to her son outside three times, urging him to agree. A few days ago, she learned the good news that the marriage was about to happen, so she urged her son to take her to Beijing.

Everything finally got what it wanted. Today, the **** Yang next to Empress Liu came to take Xie’s mother into the palace, and the empress dowager wanted to discuss marriage with the old lady.

On such a festive day, Mother Xie inevitably thought of the Weng Master of Changsha who was divorced by her son for the first time. Thinking back then, I tried hard to persuade her to come back, but she didn’t agree. Xie’s mother felt uneasy every time she thought about this later, until today, she finally felt proud.

Such a marriage is truly worthy of her son of the dragon and phoenix. As for

The attitude of Eunuch Yang who came to pick her up could be described as servile.

The popular people around the Queen Mother today are also so humble in front of him, and Xie mother’s vanity, at this moment, has been infinitely satisfied.

She also finally let go of the disappointment and sullenness that her son had previously caused her because of her son’s unfilial behavior of not bringing back her grandson.

Xie Changgeng escorted her to the outside of the palace and said respectfully, “Mother, you enter the palace and discuss things with the queen mother slowly. After your son’s affairs are over, come back later to pick up your mother out of the palace.”

Eunuch Yang smiled and complimented: “I have heard that King Qin is a dutiful son for a long time, but today I know that the rumor is true. The old lady is so lucky, how many people in the world can match it?”

Xie mother became more and more complacent. She glanced at her son and said in a low voice, “Geng’er, don’t blame your mother for pressing you so hard this time. It’s true that you are not too young, and there is no one in the room, so what kind of decency are you? Not to mention that child, I have been calling you all the time. You take it back, but you don’t listen! Mother is in a hurry, for your own good!”

Xie Changgeng smiled and said, “Mother is good for her son, my son knows.” He said, and suddenly squatted down. Eunuch Yang squinted and saw that he had accidentally removed a blade of grass on the top of the shoe for his mother. He blew again and blew off a little dust on the side, then got up and said: “Eunuch Yang, my mother has never seen anything in the world. If you are rude in front of the Queen Mother, I hope you can take care of me, and I will pick you up when I am done. Apologize to the Queen Mother on behalf of my mother again.”

Eunuch Yang waved his hands again and again, “The queen mother has always been looking forward to meeting the old lady, and today she finally got what she wanted. It can be said to be a double happiness, and it’s too late to be happy. King Qin is worrying too much!”

After a while, there were eyes hidden in the dark that secretly passed the words to Liu Hou, thanking Chang Geng for standing outside the palace gate just now, watching his mother surrounded by people, and then leaving until the people disappeared.

Truly a great dude.

Empress Liu looked at Xie’s mother, who seemed to be somewhat restrained, sitting in front of her, and spoke with her. Her heart, at this moment, was both nervous and excited.

Using his mother to make a fuss, he really fell into the trap.

Already at the end of the road, instead of sitting still, it is better to take the risk. Once you’ve made up your mind, make a quick decision. Even if he was vigilant, he would never have thought that on the first day his mother came to Shangjing and entered the palace to discuss the marriage, it would be his death.

Empress Liu had received news that three years ago, King Qi’s people caught Xie mother one step faster than him. When the news of her death came out, he even sneaked to Dongdu to collect the corpse.

If a dutiful son like him is aware of the fraud, he will never send his mother into the palace and put her in danger.

Her plans are extremely well laid out. As long as he died, the remaining Zhao Xitai would not be afraid. At least, it will definitely not be harder to deal with than Xie Changgeng.

With a smile on Empress Liu’s face, she greeted Mother Xie and called out her niece to meet her.

Mother Xie only knew that her son was crowned king, soaring through the ranks, rising step by step, and he was an important official in the current court. The celebrity in front of the queen mother didn’t even know the huge ambition he was hiding. Murder below. She had long been looking forward to being able to settle in Beijing, and today she was finally brought to the capital by her son. The queen mother respected her like an elder, and her son was going to marry a noble daughter of the heavenly family. She sat in this splendid palace and enjoyed the treatment of the stars holding the moon. She felt extremely satisfied that she could live to this point in her life.

Empress Liu said with a smile: “Although there is nothing unusual in this palace, there are a few scenic spots that are good. The old lady entered the palace for the first time. After discussing the marriage, I will personally take the old lady for a walk.”

What Queen Liu said, Mother Xie naturally agreed. She said gratefully: “My son can marry the royal golden branches and jade leaves, which is a blessing he has cultivated in his previous life. When he comes to pick me up, I will ask him to kowtow a few more times to the queen mother, and double allegiance in the future, to do things for the emperor and the queen mother, Repay your kindness!”

In the evening, Xie Changgeng entered the palace to pick up his mother, and was told that her mother was in Qiongxie, and asked him to pick him up there.

Qiongxie is surrounded by water on three sides, and one corridor connects the shore, like a gorgeous giant ship floating on the imperial pond. This season, the cool breeze is refreshing and refreshing.

Eunuch Yang was waiting at the end of the long corridor leading to Qiongxie, when he saw Xie Changgeng walking alone from a distance, he hurried up to meet him, guiding him while laughing: “The queen mother and the old lady discussed marriage, Accompanying the old lady to visit the imperial garden, I am very excited, and I have a few glasses of wine here. The queen mother has been accompanying me, and everyone is still inside. King Qin, please come with me. ”

In the Qiongxie at the end of the promenade, there was a faint laughter from Mother Xie, which burst into my ears with the wind.

Xie Changgeng walked up the long corridor and entered the waterside pavilion. He saw Empress Liu and his mother sitting at the same seat.

Xie Changgeng thanked Empress Liu and said that he had come to pick up his mother from the palace. Empress Liu called him flat with a smile.

Mother Xie’s face was red and she said happily, “Geng’er, you are here. The marriage has already been negotiated. In the future, you must double your allegiance to live up to the Queen Mother’s love for you…”

As she said, she got up to walk towards her son, but was blocked by a **** behind her.

Empress Liu said, “Don’t be in a hurry, old lady. It’s okay to sit down and leave the palace later.”

Mother Xie was taken aback and glanced at her son.

Xie Changgeng said: “I don’t dare to disturb the queen mother again, this minister will take my mother out of the palace.”

Empress Liu stared at him, the smile on her face gradually disappearing. That **** Yang had already retreated and ordered the gate to be closed. Dozens of guards who had been ambushed under the surface of the water around the water pavilion and acted as killers burst out in an instant, pouring in from the doors and windows, surrounded by swords and spears, and shone with blood-colored rays of light in the slanting sunset.

Mother Xie opened her mouth slightly, until the **** pulled out a knife and put it on her neck, and then she reacted, the red light on her face faded, her face turned pale, and she called Geng’er for help.

Xie Changgeng said indifferently: “What is the Queen Mother doing? My mother first came to Beijing and entered the palace, so she put on such a scene.”

Liu Hou gritted his teeth: “Thank you thief! You are a pirate from Jiangyang, if I hadn’t promoted you and reused you, you would have a future today? You don’t want to repay your kindness, but you are still delusional about tyranny and rebellion. How can I tolerate you? Today you are dead!”

She asked someone to hold Xie’s mother back with her, and immediately shot Xie Changgeng.

Mother Xie screamed and yelled for the Queen Mother to spare her life, then rolled her eyes and fainted. Dozens of bows surrounded Xie Changgeng in the middle, and they all shot arrows.

At this moment, there was a sudden noise behind him, as if there were thousands of troops pouring into the garden.

“The Queen Mother! Not good!” Eunuch Yang rushed in with a trembling voice.

“Xie Changgeng’s people came in!”

Liu Hou’s expression changed, and then he shouted sharply: “Catch this traitor alive! Catch him, there are many…”

Her voice stopped suddenly.

In a corner of the water pavilion, an ordinary-looking young **** came out silently. He held a dagger in his hand, as if it had just been placed on the neck of Mother Xie, without any trace. With a hesitant swipe, there was a long thin line-like slit on Empress Liu’s neck. Blood came out of that opening, oozing only a little at first. The opening suddenly seemed to have turned into a huge mouth that was washed open, and scarlet blood spurted out.

Empress Liu fell to the ground. She widened her eyes, swearing vaguely in her mouth, trying to get up, but this futile struggle only caused more blood to flow out of the opening of her neck.

She finally stopped moving and fell in a pool of blood, motionless, with only one mouth, like the lips of a dying fish in the dry swamp, still slowly opening one by one, but the sound that was made can no longer be heard. .

Empress Liu, who has been in charge of the government for more than ten years in the name of the young emperor, failed to kill today, and was attacked by backlash, so he fell like this.

Cao Jin said loudly: “Liu Empress has no way, using Qin Wang’s mother as coercion, killing Zhongliang, people and gods are angry! Qin Wang is protecting himself! If you vote for Qin Wang, you can survive, whoever dares to act rashly will die!”

Empress Liu’s vainly closed mouth finally stopped. There was a dead silence all around, and the guards with weapons looked at each other. After a while, no one was leading the head, swarming up, hacking to death Eunuch Yang, who wanted to escape when the situation was bad, and then threw his weapons. With the sound of the sword falling to the ground, everyone knelt down towards Xie Changgeng: “I am willing to testify for King Qin!”

His men soon occupied the palace. In order to prevent information from being leaked, Empress Liu did not disclose this plan except for the people around her, not even her cronies.

The wolf-like soldiers broke open the gate of the confinement, and the people of Liu Hou’s family were caught and killed. The people were panicked and didn’t know what was going on in the palace, and the common courtiers were all in danger, lest the next door to be broken would be their own door.

That night, Shangjing was under martial law and a curfew. Except for the soldiers holding torches walking through the street to control the lights of the four gates, the whole city fell into darkness.

Xie Changgeng left the palace early, leaving the blood and slaughter behind him.

Since the age of fourteen, he has been licking blood from the head of a knife, and he has no idea how many times he has experienced more cruel conspiracies and killings. Today, such scenes are commonplace, and he can no longer elicit any superfluous feelings in his heart. Life and death, four words, it’s that simple.

It was late at night, and above the high gate tower in Shangjing, he stood against the wind, looking at the night sky in the distance.

The city behind it, with a population of nearly one million, has recovered from the riots. Countless people should stay up at night, waiting anxiously for the dawn.

His long-cherished wish will come true. As long as he nods, at dawn, he can be embraced and sent to that throne for all kinds of dignified reasons. He should be very excited.

But this night, this moment, he found that his excitement was not as much as he imagined when he was young. Even, far less than that night when he was nineteen years old, he was excited when he took a small boat and went to Changsha to ask for marriage in the dangerous shoal of Jiangyue.

Thinking back at this moment, it has been thirteen years since the age of fourteen, so many years, he actually just stepped on a boat, and when he went up, he just thought what he should think, do what he should do, and move toward the established The destination, keep moving forward, without distractions.

His mood was somewhat emotional and somewhat chaotic.

Under the tower, Liang Tuan and several other guards, who were still immersed in the aftermath of excitement, looked up at the back of the tower standing alone in the city above and waited quietly. After a long time, when he saw that he seemed to have remembered something, he went down from the tower and ordered someone to open the city gate. Then he got on the horse’s back and went out, and hurriedly followed the horse. After walking for a while, seeing the direction of Xishan, he finally understood that he was going to Huguo Temple.

The empty mountains are like washing, the quiet forest is quiet. The majestic mountain gate of Huguo Temple stands still under the dark blue night sky, and when viewed from a distance, it is integrated with the mountains behind it, just like Pangu opening the sky.

Xie Changgeng ordered people to wait at the foot of the mountain, and walked up the steps by himself. He patted the temple door open, showed his identity to the monk who opened the door, and asked Elder Huiji. When the voice fell, Fang felt that he was abrupt. In such a late night, he came to disturb him on a whim.

He said: “If the elder is inconvenient, I will wait here at the mountain gate, and wait until dawn before visiting.”

The monk glanced at him, but clasped his hands and invited him in.

There was silence in my ears, only my own footsteps and the faint sound of wooden fish and chanting chanting from the night cultivator from nowhere. Xie Changgeng was walking between the Zen courtyards in the middle of the night. When he came to the Tallinn in the back mountain, he looked at the silent shadow of the tower in the night, and he was in a trance, and a feeling of deja vu suddenly appeared in his heart.

It seems that a long time ago, he also wandered between this Tallinn in such a late night. But soon, he rejected the idea.

This is the first time he has come to the Pagoda Forest in the Back Mountain of the Huguo Temple, on this extremely special and complicated day tonight.

Before he was led to a monastery at the end of Tallinn, the monks folded their hands and left.

This is a simple Sifang Temple, standing quietly in front of him. He stood for a moment outside the door, stepped, and walked in.

He saw an oil lamp lit in the house, and an old monk sat cross-legged on a cloud bed. He respectfully went up to pay homage, apologized for his presumptuous visit in the middle of the night, and said, “Xi’er asked me to come and say hello to the elders.”

After he finished speaking, seeing that the old monk didn’t respond, he still closed his eyes and meditated, hesitated for a while, and finally asked something that had been pressing in his heart for the past three years, and he had never completely forgotten.

“Elder, what is the relationship between this child and the woman who took him away from you back then?”

“She once told me that the child was just a chance encounter and she begged the elders to keep her by her side. But I always felt that she was lying to me. She has always been like this, no matter what happens, she will never be happy. Tell me clearly!”

He paused and said again, unaware of the trace of resentment in his tone.

The elder remained silent, as if he had entered into meditation.

After Xie Changgeng finished speaking, Fang was startled to realize that he seemed to be talking too much. But the moment he said it, he felt a lot more happy in his heart.

Maybe tonight, when he came here, he just wanted to find someone who could talk and just say a few words. He didn’t really expect this old monk to explain his doubts or respond to him.

He didn’t really need anyone’s response at all.

He simply sat down and sat opposite the old monk.

“Elder, that woman is ridiculously unreasonable. You know, I chased her to Junshan three years ago, but couldn’t find a ferry. I risked drowning to be her Dongting water ghost, swimming overnight, crossing the In the past, I wanted to beg her to change her mind again, elder, do you know how she responded to me? She actually asked me to choose between Jiangshan and her!”

He said, “How can there be such a woman in the world! I really think she is a goddess from the Nine Heavens! Even a goddess, I’m afraid I don’t dare to speak like her.”

The lamp oil gradually dried and the flame went out. The meditation room was plunged into darkness.

“Why does she treat me like this, why… I don’t believe a word of what she said to me. It’s just that she wants to drive me away… She’s really cruel… How can there be such a cruel woman in the world…”

In the darkness, Xie Changgeng was still chatting with the old monk opposite, and gradually, his tone of sarcasm turned into frustration. Finally, he seemed to be tired, he was silent for a long time, he laughed: “Elder, tonight I accomplished a great thing, I got what I wanted, I am very happy! From now on, look at the child’s For the sake of it, I will not embarrass her, but I thank Changgeng, I will not look at her again! Please, elder, be a witness for me, if I can’t do it, I will…”

He stopped and lay on his back in this dimly lit Zen room.

He couldn’t remember when he had said so much in one breath. Suddenly he felt stupid and tired.

He slowly closed his eyes, and when he was about to fall asleep, he seemed to see the lamp that had been extinguished in the corner of the room slowly rekindle.

He opened his eyes and found that he was on the bank of the Moon River again, and saw a scene that seemed familiar that night. Above Jiangzhu, the turbid waves were rolling, and in the distance, a black boat sailed overnight, heading for the direction of Dongting. He originally thought it was the boatman he saw that night, but when he got closer, he realized that the young man in green standing on the bow was actually the nineteen-year-old himself.

Xie Changgeng was taken aback, chased after him and called him, but the young man seemed to have fallen into some kind of meditation, unaware, without turning his head, chasing the waves.

The young man went to ask for marriage with ambition, and he got what he wanted. After more than half a year of marriage, he returned home and finally saw the appearance of the Changsha king and daughter he was seeking to marry. Not only was she extremely beautiful, but he also liked her body. After the night was consummated, he loved her very much. When he heard her shyly tell him that they had met under the old cypress tree in Junshan before, he also helped her rescue her. A bird that fell off a cliff, he suddenly remembered, but he just smiled and didn’t care, thinking that it was a little girl’s cute little thought.

After a few days, he was going to leave. His mother wanted him to accept Qi Lingfeng. Although he couldn’t bear to tell her this so quickly, he still went to mention it. If she wanted to, it would be better, but if she didn’t want to. , No matter how I think of a way to go to my mother, I will shirk the past.

She agreed, but he was a little surprised and pleased for her thoughtfulness, so he accepted Qi. He knew that she was not favored by his mother and suffered grievances, but he never complained in front of him, and he loved her more and more. In those few years, except to cope with his mother’s questioning, he basically didn’t get close to Qi Lingfeng.

Later, when she gave birth to Xi’er, they still got together less often, and each time they came back in a hurry, they would leave again in a few days. When he left home, he knew that her mother and son were very reluctant. But his footsteps could not stop. He thought that he would make up for it later.

Before his compensation came, she was gone.

Due to a sudden accident, he had breakfast early. When transferring her mother and son, she was caught by the people of King Qi. King Qi asked him to exchange for an important city, but he couldn’t agree. He caught King Qi’s only son and wanted to exchange it for it. He didn’t want King Qi to have another son who was raised outside, and the matter kept dragging on. He was fighting elsewhere and was held up by the fighting. Later, Zhao Xitai died of illness, which was an accident. He had to save his mother and son as soon as possible, and decided to storm Pucheng. He got in touch with Yuan Handing, who had always wanted to save her, and asked him to work with a man in the city who was bought by Cao Jin to save people, and dispatched his own troops to attack Pucheng. But the accident was rescued, and the chasing soldiers came up. In order not to drag him down, she sent her son away and committed suicide.

Her body was suspended by his enemy at the head of the city for three days, and then she was buried in the ground after he broke the city. At that time, he couldn’t bear it, and he didn’t dare to take a close look at her remains. He knew in his heart that during the period when she was still alive, if he could be more dedicated to her and prepare for the attack on Pucheng, it would not have been so hasty, and perhaps it would have been completely useless.

After he became emperor, he knew that she must have hated him so much that he failed to do his best to her. It was only then that he knew that Xie Changgeng was actually a coward. He repaired the Mingtang Pagoda for her, and he was extremely proud of what happened behind him, but he never dared to step into her mourning hall to face her directly. Several times, he wandered outside, and finally gave up. He is not only cowardly, but also a hypocritical person, who is just using this to seek inner peace and deceive himself.

When their children came back, they were silent and lost the ability to speak. He felt that he loved the eldest son. He later had a son, but what he loved most was the eldest son left by his hair-bearing wife.

He knew that the child hated himself, just like his mother. In the first few years, he also tried to repair their relationship as much as possible, but the child seemed reluctant to give him this opportunity. He had too many things to do, and he didn’t dare to face the child’s eyes that were exactly like hers, so the days dragged on like this year after year. He always comforts himself, and one day, he will make up for this child. He did not expect that such a tragic change would occur because of Qi’s affairs.

He also learned the truth a few years ago. At that time, he was extremely angry, but his mother had already had a stroke at that time, and her mind was a little confused. At least in a few years. After thinking it over and over again, he finally didn’t kill her right away.

He knew that his eldest son hated him, but he never imagined that, in the past ten years, his silent and calm Xi’er hated him so much that he killed himself in front of him and said no I would like to be a father and son again.

At that moment, in that dark spiritual hall, when he was holding the boy in white whose body temperature was getting colder, his remorse was indescribable.

It was also at that moment that he completely saw himself, what kind of person he really was.

In the eyes of his subordinates, he is a wise superior, in the eyes of the world, he is a wise monarch, in the praises of Taoists, the emperor acts filial piety and is a filial son who is enough to be an example to the world. She is the only woman he has ever loved in his life, but from the first day he married her, the darkest hypocrisy, coldness, selfishness, cowardice and ruthlessness in his nature have been imposed on her, incisively and vividly. .

He was deeply sorry, but it was too late.

And the pain in his heart had only just begun at this time.

After that, he never called the harem again. After a few years, he was in his forties, and he was strong, but due to the exhaustion of state affairs and the torture of old injuries, his body began to fail. At the same time as his body was suffering, his two remaining sons killed each other and conspired to force the palace in order to seize the throne. The last one died and the other was deposed by him. One of his nephews is the 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 nothing was left. At that time, he often thought of his hair-bearing wife Xiangxiaoyu who died when he was young, of her radiant smile when he first met her under the old cypress in Junshan, and how he was reluctant to let him go when he was young, holding his leg in his arms. Let go, but endure the child who dare not cry, even though he hates him so much, in the end, he just cuts off his father-son relationship and lets go of his eldest son.

Xie Changgeng, the founding emperor of the Great Yuan Dynasty, spent the last days of his life in the Huguo Temple, where he used to spend in the Mingtang built for the Empress Yuan.

It is said that before his death, what he held in his hand was a leaf of a thousand-year-old cypress sent from the distant Junshan. The emperor’s last words were not to disturb the soul of the Yuan queen who had gone to immortality in the early years. The emperor and queen were buried separately and buried themselves with this cypress leaf. The new emperor and his ministers were puzzled by their orders, but they all followed suit. Only a very small number of people who knew a little about the old things, suspected the emperor or worried that the empress Yuan would hate him, didn’t dare to sleep with her. Later, there were rumors that before the emperor was dying, he had ordered the eminent monk of Huguo Temple to do the same for him, wishing for a reincarnation in the next life. The biography of the official history will not include such nonsense, but the unofficial history of the barnyard family relishes it, lamenting that the heroic heroes are like the founding emperors, and they were also born in love. sigh.

“It’s dawn, and the donor still hasn’t woken up!” A voice suddenly sounded in his ear.

Xie Changgeng suddenly opened his eyes, and was shocked to find that it was white outside the window. He met the eyes of the old monk who was looking at him, but the whole person seemed to be immersed in the extreme pain caused by the double torture of the body and the soul before death.

His face was pale and covered in cold sweat, and 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 got down from where he was meditating last night, smiled and said, “Thinking about it in the day, dreaming at night. The donor asks, this is to solve the confusion.” After he finished speaking, he left the meditation room.

Xie Changgeng froze like five thunders struck the top.

He finally understood. She came from that other place with him and her and their son. Those things, the remorse and heartbreak he once felt, for her, are the **** pains that continue to this day!

All kinds of past events flashed before his eyes again.

He lived the life of another man with the same name, who wasn’t him, but really was himself. It was another life he once had. As the scenes flashed, he thought again of this life, the first encounter between him and her Junshan, how she left without saying goodbye, shy away from himself, her disgust for the Qingyun sword, and how her love was when they were lingering. She flinched and swayed, thinking of the abyss-like despair in her eyes when Xier was lost, and when she stabbed herself, thinking of the last words she said to him three years ago when Junshan was last…

Xie Changgeng’s eyes were red, and he suddenly felt a pain in his chest and a sweet smell in his throat.

He slowly swallowed the blood that had reached his throat, curled up stiffly, his face pale, as if dead, and motionless.