box of hearts

Chapter 281 Sha Tail: Reunion Forever (1)
Begonias, camellias, rhododendrons, chrysanthemums, plums, oleanders... the flowers of the four seasons all gathered on February [-] at the Flower Market of Dalongfu Temple in the east of Beijing.The trellises filled with flowers are row upon row, bustling with flower growers and flower buyers, and occasionally there are those who sell candied haws, steamed cakes, soju, and tea soup... , laughter loudly.The huge square is a large scroll of peaceful and prosperous times unfolding continuously. As for some dense inscriptions in the blank spaces of the painting, they are blurred and faded due to the long time.

It's like nothing happened 17 years ago.

The regent Qi She, who was in charge of the country, died in Gubeikou due to an accidental fire on the night of Chongyang on September [-]. His son and nephew Qi Hong came to the court and regained power.When the whole world was waiting to see the puppet emperor who had been imprisoned in Nantai for several years to carry out a thorough liquidation of his uncle, setting off a big storm of confiscating his family, expelling his family, opening his coffin and whipping his corpse, something shocking happened. .An imperial decree proclaimed to the whole country to honor his uncle and regent Qi She as emperor, with the temple name "Shizu" and posthumous title "Ren".The perverse behavior has caused all kinds of gossip, and there are only a few people who know the inside story, and now the one who is gradually approaching from the crowd is one of them.

It seems that this is just an elderly lady whose youth has passed away but her charm is still there, accompanied by a few maids and servants, who are leisurely watching the flowers.None of the pedestrians passing by her knew that this was Zhan Xihe, the birth mother of the emperor and the current empress dowager.With a pleasant smile on Xihe's face, she admired these red or purple, blue or green flowers one by one, petal by petal——

Just out of loneliness.

His son, Qi Hong, was already a mature middle-aged man. He was arbitrary in the court and full of beauties in the harem. Apart from his overflowing filial piety, he no longer needed this mother for anything.Xihe's last use for her son is Gubeikou; she eradicates for him a serious problem that he will never be able to ruthlessly eradicate.After returning to the palace, she then executed Wu Yi and his army who escorted her all the way back, and the real history was wiped out.And when the sad news of Qi She's death in the fire reached Qi Hong's ears—contrary to what was spread among the people afterwards—Qi Hong didn't jump straight to the dragon bed in joy, on the contrary, he was in a daze for a long time, and then he cried , just under Xihe's eyelids, shed a lot of tears.He said that before leaving, his uncle had come to see him and told him a lot, many very strange things.Qi Hong firmly believed that Qi She had set himself on fire, but Xi He didn't say a word.

After that, she got seriously ill, and when she recovered, she didn't care about the world anymore. She spent every day in worshiping Buddha, praying mantras, knocking on fish and chanting scriptures. Surrounded by herself, the queen, and concubines—a group of A concubine who is duplicity and scheming.Xihe has been tired of this for a long time, all she wishes is to have a quiet afternoon and chat with a few old friends.But she doesn't have any friends.Yuming left the palace a long time ago, and not long after, a typhoid fever killed Quanfu, and the Eastern Empress Dowager Wang also passed away in the winter four years ago.Even Xihe herself couldn't believe that she and Wang Shi would become such good friends later on, they could talk about the key to the palace door and still be reluctant to leave, they could hold hands and cry at each other.The ups and downs of right and wrong are all like a big dream. When you wake up, you can't remember clearly.The only midnight dream was him: he was holding a dagger that pierced his chest in one hand, his eyes were half-opened, convulsing in the sea of ​​blood all over the place.None of the maids sitting in the watch didn't know, but just behind the closed tent of the Compassionate Ning Palace, a saltwater lake under the moonlight would rise every night.But Hee Ho never regrets doing that, she never regrets anything, she's just lonely.Even in such a crowded temple fair, people who pass by pass by, no one can touch her, she is surrounded by ghosts of old people, and only the eternal silent eyes from the other side are watching her. One of them was a pair—

Xihe was taken aback.

Loud noises of thunder vibrated in her ears, her mouth was bitter and her throat was bitter, and she looked away with a steady mind, only to see that the owner of those eyes had turned her head, and the tall figure disappeared into the crowd in an instant.Xi He stood in a daze for a moment, then stumbled and chased in that direction.She vaguely felt who was pulling her, and heard someone keep calling: "Mrs. Madam, where are you going, Madam?" She ignored her and just walked and searched.On the long winding road, countless faces are like flower buds blooming on a branch [1], rushing toward each other and leaving behind ears, the branches point to an ethereal and clear blue sky.

Xihe slowed down, stopped, and stood at the corner.The east wind blew past, directly penetrating her emaciated body.She laughed self-deprecatingly, shook her head, turned around, but was slammed by a huge force, and fell backwards on the wrong foot—it was a reckless passerby who walked in a hurry and accidentally bumped into her shoulder.The maids hurriedly supported her, and the plainclothes imperial guards hidden in the crowd appeared one after another. The leaders shouted, and at the same time they pulled out their knives, they clasped their hands.Unexpectedly, the passer-by flicked left and right, dodged very nimbly, and then showed a short and curved knife with a "swish", and held a pot of flowers firmly in the other hand.And another group of people suddenly appeared from all directions, drawing out a scimitar to guard the person's body.The Ouchi guards jumped forward, seeing that a fierce street battle had already begun, but they heard a voice—"Slow down!"

Xi He put her arms in front of her body, stopped the entire guard, but couldn't stop the trembling of her palms.A few steps away, she fixed her eyes on the young man who almost fell over her: at most seventeen or eighteen years old, with sword-like eyebrows and straight nose, with a dignified bearing, a black face, broad shoulders and a thick back, a hand full of The Mongolian knife inlaid with gold, jade and precious stones looks more like a Mobei nobleman from outside the Great Wall than a member of a family.He looked back at her unscrupulously, with one eyebrow raised slantingly high, and there was a witty smile in Xinglang's eyes.The smile became more and more obvious, he retracted the knife that was already on the neck of a guard, and shouted something, and the men with fierce faces around him also retreated a little bit.The young man stood there, a few famous peonies were in full bloom in the flowerpot in his palm, he picked one off with a wave of his hand, and threw it towards Xihe.Then he nodded to her with a smile, pointed his lips and whistled.A dozen or so fine horses gathered at the side of the square, and the young man put on the saddle and put on the reins, holding the flowerpot in his hand all the time. His beautiful riding skills attracted rounds of applause from the onlookers.All the men under him still raised their knives at the officers and soldiers vigilantly, and retreated for a while before getting on their horses.In the blink of an eye, the cavalry team had already sped away like lightning.

Until then, Xihe's tears fell.She knew it was not an illusion, he really came back, flesh and blood, with 17-year-old eyebrows and eyes, just like the age when she first saw him.But at that time, his beautiful eyes were filled with coldness and hatred, staring at the murderer who killed his wife and children.Today, the same pair of eyes smiled at her brightly, as if they were just friendly strangers who had never met.Xihe stared blankly at the disappearing trace of the boy for a long time, looking at the person who disappeared in his mind.

This person, she once loved him and hated him.

There is a red peony in the hand that still has lingering warmth, explaining the infinite hatred of the spring breeze [2].Xi He lightly held it in front of her nose, sniffed it, and smiled slowly.

Dozens of horseshoes are flying up and down, and the red dust is flying up and down. The leader is a pure horse, without a single hair in its body, and it is white and shiny.Ma Chi went to Qipan Street not far from the imperial city, and stopped in front of the Suzhou Guild Hall.The young man holding the flower got off his horse, said a few words in Mongolian to the left and right, and walked through the courtyard alone to the second floor of the guild hall.There were also four strong and strong men guarding the entrance of the building. When they saw him, they raised their chests respectfully to say hello.The boy nodded to them, walked quickly around the corridor, and pushed open the door of a guest room in the middle.

Face to face, it is——experiencing the deformation of age, people recognize it slowly, but they can always be recognized, especially the faint scars on the two cheeks, which cannot be mistaken, this is——Zhou Dun.The skill is equally swift, but there is no longer a bright flash in the eyes, but a lot of worry has settled down.

"Oh my little master, where have you been all this time, but this old slave is dying of anxiety." As he said, he lovingly dusted off the boy's clothes.

The young man hecked twice, like a mountain wind blowing through the pastures and blowing through the downtown area. With a thick and moving voice, he showed a beautiful Beijing accent: "I didn't go anywhere, what's the hurry? Such an adult can't lose it." Ai, ai, Aunt Yingzhi—”

It was Ying Zhi who walked into the room holding a tea tray, her eyes were as big as apricots when she was young, but now she has bags under her eyes, which are full of love.She glanced at the flowers that the boy was still holding and refused to let go, and praised with a smile: "Oh, what a beautiful peony! There was no one in the early morning, so I went to get this."

The boy proudly held the flowers in his hands, "Is my mother up yet?"

"Get up." The embroidered curtain in the room was lifted, and Qing Tian came out, wearing a plain satin gown with a cold blue border, a white silk skirt, a tight bun, and a few plain silverware alone, which was clean The clothes of the widow; the eyebrows and eyes have been stained with wind and frost, the youth is old in an instant, and the beauty is late.But the strange thing is that her late beauty does not arouse people's bitter sighs, but it will make people wonder how stunning this woman was when she was young, and what kind of legends are there?
Legends were scattered in the world, Qingtian sat down at the desk and called out: "Qi family——"

"Hey." The boy answered his name, quickly put the flower pot on the table, and looked up at his mother secretly.

(End of this chapter)