Eunuch's Declaration of Loyalty

Chapter 87

In the 15th year of Yuanning, when the city of Yujing was full of sweet-scented osmanthus, Xiao Huaixu died.

Before that, Liu Qingtang hadn't visited him for a long, long time, or in other words, she hadn't been to Chang'an Palace since she had someone give him medicine so that he could only lie in bed waiting to die.

After such a long time, she would suddenly think of going to see him, because this year was the autumn of Yuanning's 15th year, when she passed away after being given a glass of poisoned wine in her previous life.

Osmanthus was fragrant, and Qin Shu in Ci'an Palace specially transplanted many laurel trees for Liu Qingtang, so Liu Qingtang walked among them every day, and his whole body was soaked with the fragrance of sweet-scented osmanthus.

Before going to Chang'an Palace, Liu Qingtang broke off a branch of laurel that bloomed just right.She walked into Chang'an Palace, the emperor's bedroom with the curtains hanging down, and the strong smell of medicine inside was immediately washed away by the fragrance of sweet-scented osmanthus.

Pinning the sweet-scented osmanthus on the bed, Liu Qingtang took a step back and sat on the chair brought by the palace man in front of the bed.

"You all go out." Liu Qingtang said indifferently as she shuffled her long sleeves.

Xiao Huaixu on the bed was unable to walk on the ground, and was tortured by the pain in his body. He was very thin, with sunken cheeks and thin wrists.Even if Qin Shu ordered someone to give him the best medicine to hang his life, he looked almost exhausted.

Xiao Huaixu didn't open his eyes all this time, but when he heard Liu Qingtang's voice, he suddenly opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her with difficulty.

After watching for a while, he suddenly showed an excited and ferocious expression, as if he wanted to reach out to grab Liu Qingtang, but his hand was lifted to a point and then fell weakly, and nothing came out of his mouth except hoarse shouting.

Liu Qingtang just watched him struggle in vain for a while, and finally gave up and lay there slumped.Liu Qingtang seemed to be looking at him, but she didn't seem to, she just looked at a distant place through him.

"Anyuan 20 years, after I entered the palace, I saw you for the first time in Fengxian Hall." Liu Qingtang turned to look at the sweet-scented osmanthus on the bedside, her tone was very calm, she didn't care whether Xiao Huaixu was listening or not, she said to herself He said, "I actually don't like you, and I hate your father too much. At that time, I just thought, I want to see, what kind of person is it that my sister, who I treat as a mother, is willing to give up my father, brother and father?" I insist on entering the palace."

"When I was very young, I always expected my sister to come back. However, I waited for many years. Not only did she not come back, she didn't even bring back a single message. Even when I wanted to go to the palace to see her, I was told that it was her. I didn’t want to see the Liu family. At that time, I was full of incomprehension and anger, and I swore that I would never have this sister again, even if she died, I would never shed a tear. Then, one day, she suddenly died.”

"I remember things very early, and I still clearly remember how gentle my sister is. My mother passed away not long after I was born, and my father was so sad and decadent that he didn't care about me. My brother was still young. Only my sister, she At first, she took me to bed like a mother and taught me to walk and talk. I heard from the servants that at that time, my elder sister was only eleven or twelve years old, and she had already learned how to be a housekeeper. She was gentle and intelligent, and all the servants of the Liu family liked her. "

"I also like her very much. I am always obedient and obedient in front of her. I hope she can always be with me. But she met your father and wanted to enter the palace for him. The night before entering the palace, she I knelt in front of the study all night, and my father hugged me and my brother and sat in the study all night without sleep. Then I ran out and used a knife to cut the wedding dress she made by myself, trying to stop her, but of course If she couldn't stop her, she wore a wedding dress sent by the palace and went out."

"I took her wedding dress that was torn by me and yelled at her. I told her not to come back in the future. It would be best to die. So, that was the last time I saw her. I actually regretted telling her After saying this, I regretted and wanted to see her, but she refused to see me, I thought, she must be angry with me, and she doesn't like me as a sister anymore."

"But I'm just afraid. My father said that the emperor wants to marry the daughter of the Liu family. Maybe it's because he doesn't want to make the Liu family stronger. He doesn't really like my sister and wants to marry her. I'm afraid that my sister will be bullied if she enters the harem without us. It's not just that she doesn't want her." Leave this cause."

"The scene of her crying and leaving home, and the scene of me entering the palace after many years but only seeing the tablet with her name written on it in Fengxian Hall, many years have passed, and two lifetimes have passed, I still can't forget it." Liu Qingtang laughed suddenly, she looked at Xiao Huaixu with puzzled eyes and said, "Are you wondering why two lives?"

"That's also because I'm a reborn ghost." Liu Qingtang smiled more and more: "Do you want to know why I am a ghost? Because you killed me once, I died, but I came back to life, so I seek revenge from you .”

"I can tell by the look in your eyes that you definitely don't believe me, but I don't need you to believe me either. Why bother trying to convince a dying person." Some things have been buried in my heart for a long time, and I always have to find someone Let's talk, Xiao Huaixu is going to die soon, and he can't say anything, isn't he the best listener.Liu Qingtang ignored Xiao Huaixu's current appearance, and only thought about what this person was like, gradually eroding the last bit of her unbearable warmth towards him.

"Actually, my father didn't want me to enter the palace at the beginning, but he couldn't disobey the emperor's order, and I chose to enter the palace myself. Because for so many years, 'entering the palace to take care of you' is the only request my sister has made to me. How could I bear to let her Dead and disappointed."

"In my last life, I thought this way, and I didn't realize that I was wrong until I died, and then I hated my sister again. But not long ago, Qin Shu asked Fu Gonggong, the old eunuch who served by your side. One thing. He said that the decree for me to enter the palace to succeed the queen was not made by the first queen at all, but fabricated by the first emperor in her name. Even my sister died of illness in the end because of your father. captivity."

"It was hard for me to cruelly forget that you have my sister's blood in your body. I wanted to torture you to death. But now I have discovered such a secret. My sister never gave up on us. I am very happy." Glad, the knot between the two lifetimes is finally untied."

"I'm so happy, how can I have the heart for my nephew to continue to suffer here like a living dead. So I came to see you today, so that you can end this pain too." After Liu Qingtang finished speaking, Xiao Huaixu seemed to understand something again Excited, he didn't want to die like this.

Liu Qingtang didn't look at him, and sighed with a smile on her own, "Today is a very special day for me, and it's also appropriate for you to die today, so just be buried with me in my previous life." , he got up and stopped looking at him.

"He..." Xiao Huaixu raised his head and finally fell on the pillow again, watching Liu Qingtang turn his head away without hesitation, his heart was full of unwillingness and resentment.No matter what Liu Qingtang said to him, he still felt that it was their fault that he fell to this point.

It was the fault of Liu Qingtang who fell in love with a dirty eunuch and was reluctant to bear power, it was the fault of his pathetic and hateful useless father who only knew jealousy, it was the fault of his gentle and cowardly mind who only thought of the Liu family's mother and queen, it was the fault of those two... It was the fault of a useless chief assistant, the fault of the rebellious ministers who were the masters of the whole court, and the fault of the Liu family... They were all wrong, only him, who did nothing wrong at all!
However, no matter how unwilling, Xiao Huaixu was still dead.In the end, what stays in his opened eyes is only the osmanthus that Liu Qingtang put there on the bedside.

In the 15th year of Yuanning, Emperor Xiao Huaixu passed away, and the Empress Dowager Liu respected Xiao Le'an, the son of the pure prince, as the young emperor, and changed the name of the country to Pingqing.

Emperor Huo has no sons, Xiao Le'an is the only [-]-year-old son who can ascend to the throne of God.The Liu family has no intention of establishing itself as an empress, and there is no dispute among the officials.

In the first year of Pingqing, just when everyone thought that Empress Dowager Liu would treat the new emperor in the same way as she supported Huodi 15 years ago, and the same age as Huodi when he ascended the throne, she suddenly proposed that the two chief assistants Liu Qingrong, Feng Yunxu, and three other counselors established Sidu together to help the emperor handle political affairs before he was 16 years old.

Afterwards, the queen mother who had arranged everything took a group of palace people from Ci'an Palace to live in Yushui Villa.All the rights to manage the palace for many years have been handed over to the officials below, and the way they left was extremely chic.

Liu Qingtang didn't care about the hot discussion caused by her behavior among the officials of Yujing. She only met her friends and relatives before leaving Yujing, and had a deep talk with her father and elder brother all night.

"From now on, I won't take care of the affairs of the court. Brother, you are in the position of chief assistant, so you have to control the advance and retreat."

"Of course, Qingtang can just do what he wants to do. Father's intentional silence and your rapid retreat are all to protect the Liu family. Now that I am alone, I will leave these things to my brother. Besides, I believe Su The child taught by you and Qin Shu will be a sensible and good emperor."

After Liu Qingrong finished speaking, she looked at her sister expectantly, waiting for her to explain some things, such as caring about her brother.But Liu Qingtang heard him finished, nodded dispensably, then sighed and looked towards the study with her chin on her hands, "I don't know what father and Qin Shu are talking about, they haven't finished talking for so long."

"Qingtang." Liu Qingrong cleared her throat and shouted.

Liu Qingtang raised her eyebrows and gave an impatient look, then ignored him and continued to stare at the door of the study.Fortunately, Liu Qingrong was very used to her sister's duplicity just like her father's, so she immediately smiled and said, "Sister, you don't know when you will come back from this trip, so you don't have anything else to say to brother?"

"You are such an adult, why don't you know what you want me to say?" Liu Qingtang leaned on the chair and looked up and down at her brother critically, "What do you mean I don't know when I will come back, and Yushui Villa is not very far away. , I’ll be back after half a day, how did you say I’m not coming back, you really hope that your sister won’t come home?”

"Of course not. I'm afraid that after you go, you will be so happy that you will forget that there are poor father and brother waiting for you at home. I just remind you to remember to go home and visit us often." Liu Qingrong immediately became serious when she heard her younger sister's tone of wanting to find fault. the way. "Also, Qingtang, even though you're out of the palace, it's too inappropriate for you to put your feet up. You have to know that you haven't acted like this since you entered the palace."

"I'm out of the palace and I don't care so much. What's wrong with you? Qin Shu doesn't mind." Liu Qingtang patted the table, "It's you, why haven't you brought your sister-in-law home? What's wrong with you, look See how old you are, 35, my sister-in-law is the same age as Qin Shu, and she is 28 now, as a man, you should take the initiative, when this continues, when will I have little nephews and nieces?!"

Liu Qingtang got angry when he mentioned this, and when he wanted to continue talking, his future sister-in-law Xi Lan walked in in men's clothing.Even though she has shown her identity as a woman, she still likes to dress up like a man, so that she looks like a handsome and cold man. It is said that when she went out with Liu Qingrong at the Huayuan Festival, the girl threw a handkerchief and flowers.

"younger sister."

"It's sister-in-law, have you come back from the military camp?"

"Ah."

Seeing the younger sister who had a fierce face towards her, she turned around and showed her love to her sister-in-law. The sister-in-law seemed to have a good relationship, and Liu Qingrong, who was always being bullied, didn't know which side of the jealousy was better.

"Your brother is stupid, sentimental and likes to hurt the spring and the autumn. It's just terrible."

"That's right, that's right. Although he pretended to be good since he was a child, the ministers in the court now think that he is mature and smooth. In fact, he is a terrible and mean-spirited man in front of us."

Hey, my sister and my sweetheart suddenly spoke ill of him together, what's going on?Seeing the two of them talking as if no one else was there, Liu Qingrong looked sad.

"However, he is so bad, and I like him too. From now on, he will be my man. Sister, don't always talk about him."

"I understand, it's yours to marry you, and only you can bully him in the future."

Whether he is married or not, the younger sister can't fight for a little bit of welfare for the older brother.Liu Qingrong wanted to refute but didn't dare to refute, and suddenly thought, could it be that his sweetheart is defending him?The more I thought about it, the more I felt that this was not the case, and immediately Liu Qingrong became very happy.

While talking with Xi Lan, Liu Qingtang and Xi Lan looked at his happy and inextricably stupid look, and there were some smiles in their eyes.

"Sister-in-law, when will you get married, I will come back to attend then."

"One month later, you must come."

"I'll leave my silly brother to you, sister-in-law."

"Don't worry, I will treat him well."

Liu Qingrong: "..." I don't know why I always have a strange feeling listening to the conversation between my sister and my sweetheart. Is he... marrying a wife?
After a short farewell to their relatives and friends, Qin Shu and Liu Qingtang got into the carriage and went to Yushui Villa in a mighty way, starting their 40-year-long, free and reclusive life.

In spring, dig bamboo shoots in the bamboo grove and listen to the waves, in summer, you can take a nap in the gazebo to appreciate the lotus, in autumn, you can climb the cold mountains and pick fruits, and in winter, you can sweep snow and make tea in the courtyard.

Qin Shu would often take Liu Qingtang to climb mountains, or play in the surrounding manors, and would go back to Yujing with her to parade the streets from time to time.Stayed in the Liu Mansion for a while, chatted with Yang Sushu in the Yang Mansion, and visited the godson of an emperor who was busy studying medicine.

When the days are free, Liu Qingtang will always do all kinds of things.For example, when she became obsessed with fishing, she took Qin Shu to go fishing at the foot of the mountain in the scorching summer, and her face peeled off from the sun. The distressed Qin Shu didn't dare to apply medicine to her.In the end, she was impatient and didn't learn to fish, but Qin Shu could sit still and catch half of the basket every time. After that, Qin Shu became a hobby of fishing when he had nothing to do.

Even on the balcony of the villa, two booms were specially placed so that Qin Shu could sit directly on the balcony and fish.Liu Qingtang became an accompanying guest. In the end, every time Qin Shu sat still fishing, Liu Qingtang would read the script next to him or harass Qin Shu while fishing, scaring away the fish that were about to take the bait.

Liu Qingtang didn't know what to see, and wanted to learn how to cook.Qin Shu was still with her, and in the end it was still Liu Qingtang who cooked the kitchen, and Qin Shu learned how to cook.

Another time, Liu Qingtang wanted to make Qin Shu's close-fitting clothes with her own hands, but not only did she not learn how, but she poked a dozen small pinholes with her hands.Qin Shu sighed, and silently learned how to make clothes. Afterwards, he made all the small clothes that Liu Qingtang wore next to her body.The boudoir fun of taking measurements and trying on clothes is hardly humane.

One year, two years, ten years, 20 years... 40 years.When the two get old, they are still the most loving old couple, staying together to live leisurely.As calm as the lake, as leisurely as the flowing clouds, and finally ushered in death together.

In the 40th year of Pingqing, the Queen Mother died, at the age of seventy, and was buried in Dongling.

On the same day, Qin Shu, the 68-year-old former chief eunuch of Ci'an Palace, hanged himself to death.

Few people know that after Qin Shu's death, Emperor Xiao Le'an personally ordered his body to be burned to ashes, sealed in a porcelain altar, and buried together in the Queen Mother's coffin.

The Empress Dowager Liu Qingtang, in the history books of the Southern Dynasties, is a remarkable woman.She entered the palace to succeed the queen at the age of 15, and the emperor passed away in the same year. She supported the eight-year-old prince Xiao Huaixu on the throne, and respected her as the queen mother. Fifteen years later, after the death of the confused emperor Xiao Huaixu, Xiao Le'an, the son of the pure prince, was supported as the emperor. After that, he retired to live in Yushui Villa and left the power center of Yujing.

During the more than ten years of ruling the government, she loved the people like a child, punished corrupt officials, promoted poor scholars by knowing people, reduced and exempted taxes several times, established schools for women, appointed female generals, and improved the status of women throughout the Southern Dynasties.

Another theory is that she was tough and vicious. She personally killed the former prince, forced ministers to death, and imprisoned the emperor.He also bloodbathed the central palace, disobeyed advice, acted recklessly, and made countless palace officials and courtiers dare not speak out.All in all, there have been mixed reviews of her.

However, in folk unofficial stories, the most widely circulated rumors and speculations about this noble woman who lived a prosperous life are the various rumors and speculations that she was single until she was old, and her excellent calligraphy and painting.It is said that she created countless picture albums, picture scrolls and calligraphy collections during the decades of her retirement. Most of them were buried in Dongling together with her body, and a few of them were handed down to the world, and all of them were praised by all literati.

Regardless of whether in history books or in folk unofficial history stories, when Liu Qingtang was mentioned, Qin Shu's name never appeared.

With the passage of time, those who had witnessed the love between the two passed away one after another, and no one knew that the lonely Empress Dowager Liu once fell in love with an eunuch and stayed with him for many years until they grew old together.

(End of this chapter)