Chapter 23 Chapter 23

The production process is so difficult.Shen Zhenzhu felt that she had been separated from all external things, only the pain in the muscles and bones of her body, endless pain, the pain was as deep as every moment, Su Ci kept wiping her sweat with a handkerchief, her face was full of anxiety, The wet handkerchiefs were thrown one by one into the paint tray.The midwives were no less sweaty than she was, panting and calling in their ears: "Princess, work hard, keep working hard, the first child is more difficult, and the child's hair has already been seen!" But Shen Zhenzhu felt that the strength in her body was about to be used up, her eyes were gray, whether she opened her eyes or closed her eyes, the world was always dark, occasionally a few golden stars would pass by, and Li Chu's face appeared again, like jade Ci, she stretched out her arms and grabbed it upwards indiscriminately, shouting heart-piercingly: "Chu, Chu, come quickly, save me, save me!" However, every grasp was empty and lost.

Across the screen, the Crown Princess and Li Yu were anxiously pacing back and forth. Gao Lishi sent by His Majesty persuaded the Crown Princess, "Don't be impatient, my lady. Women have to go through this life and death test. Concubine Shen is born with great blessings." , will be able to give birth to a little son, this old servant can wait to report the good news to His Majesty!" The crown princess sighed: "This child is really pitiful. She is suffering so much now. Father-in-law doesn't know, but I see Pearl as my own daughter. I wish I could suffer for her at this time. I only hope that she can give birth to a child soon." Said After that, put your hands together and sing "Amitabha" several times.

Gao Lishi just laughed, "Your Majesty is pregnant, and she has worked tirelessly to take care of Concubine Shen. King Guangping will be grateful for knowing it." "Ah—" Shen Zhenzhu let out another long scream from inside the screen.A midwife ran out staggeringly, and the princess asked sharply: "How is it?" Gao Lishi coughed slowly, and said: "You have to be careful, if something goes wrong, His Majesty will just chop off your heads." After a pause, he continued: "His Royal Highness King Guangping will kill you and wait for the whole family. "

The midwife trembled, she didn't dare to look directly at the Crown Princess and Gao Lishi, and turned back to the screen. Li Ruo stepped forward and rushed in.The crown princess shouted from behind: "My son, what are you doing!" Shen Zhenzhu was moaning unconsciously, her strength and spirit were about to collapse, Li Yu stepped forward and grabbed Shen Zhenzhu's hand violently, shouting: "Sister-in-law, hold on for a while, Tongguan defeated the rebels, brother Wang is already in On the way back to Chang'an, in a few more hours, we'll be there, we'll be there!"

Her words reached Shen Zhenzhu's ears, although they sounded like mosquitoes, she still opened her eyes in astonishment and asked: "Really?" Li Ruo said loudly: "Of course it's true, I will never coax you into lying to you. Otherwise, listen to me and swear—by heaven, if I, Li Ruo, deceive Shen Zhenzhu this time and teach me to marry a foreign race in the future, I will never marry you again." Return to your homeland!" Shen Zhenzhu smiled weakly, gasped lightly and said: "Silly, silly sister, how could...how could you swear like this." Before she finished speaking, there was another convulsion in her stomach, but she finally regained her strength and pressed The instructions of the midwife were like fighting for life. I don’t know how long it took, and my consciousness was almost completely blurred. Suddenly, I felt my body relax, and I heard the clear cry of the baby, "Wow--", her body vibrated, and the midwife’s voice changed because of surprise. : "It's born, it's born! It's Xiao Shizi, Xiao Shizi!" She softly stretched out her right hand, her voice was low and inaudible: "Quick, come and show me!"

Several midwives quickly washed off the blood on the child, wrapped it in swaddling clothes, and the princess personally hugged it and handed it to her.Shen Zhenzhu stared sideways at her child, her and his child - what a round and lovely child this is!Shen Zhenzhu had seen the newborn babies of other concubines and ministers' wives before, so she knew that no baby could compare with her own.His forehead is plump and moist, just like himself; his eyebrows are thin and thick, his nose is straight and straight, showing the appearance of Li Chu; his lips are rosy, and his skin is rosy and rosy, making people want to take a bite; the most strange thing is his eyes, which are as black and shiny as gemstones Turning around, looked at Shen Zhenzhu, then turned to look at the Crown Princess and Li Ruo, there was neither surprise nor fear in his eyes.Li Ruo said to the crown princess in surprise: "Mother, look, these eyes seem to understand the world. It seems that we have known each other for a long time, and now we are only reunited after a long absence."

Shen Zhenzhu was overjoyed in her heart, and thought: "This child has accompanied me through the most difficult time, and he is destined to mature earlier than other children." While thinking about it, he stroked the child's face, his body throbbed again, and something in his body was pouring down , the midwife realized that the situation was not right, lifted the thin quilt to take a look, and shouted: "No, the princess is bleeding!" The concubine panicked, Shen Zhenzhu's head was as heavy as a mountain, she was in a daze and didn't know where she was, her body was just cold, and it was not so cold that year on the Huihe Snow Mountain.I just wondered, am I going to die, am I going to die?However, she is unwilling, life and love, husband and son, which one can be given up?Thinking like this, the person fell into the darkness and gloom step by step.

After an unknown amount of time, she seemed to see a faint light on the top of her head. She managed to open her eyes to look at it, but the light seemed bright and dim, flickering faintly. She subconsciously called "Chu", but heard the chair beside her There was a loud noise, and someone cheered, "Wake up, wake up!" A blurry figure swayed in front of her eyes, and it took her a long time to see clearly that it was Su Ci, and she said joyfully, "Miss, you have been in a coma for three days and three nights, but you scared me to death." Only then did Shen Zhenzhu remember her postpartum hemorrhage, at this moment her whole body was sore, she thought it was because she had slept for a long time, so she had to sit up.Su Ci hurriedly pressed her down: "Miss, don't move! Just tell me what you need to do. You know that the blood collapse that day was really scary. I thought you were going to pass. Fortunately, an imperial doctor gave you an injection to stop it." Bleeding. The imperial doctor has told you that you must stay in bed for half a month, and you must not move around at will, otherwise the gods will not be able to save you!"

It turned out that this is the case, Shen Zhenzhu had to lie down, turned her head and did not see the baby next to her, and said towards the cradle in the room: "Hurry up and show me the baby." Su Ci laughed and said: "The child is not here. His Majesty was very happy when he heard that Miss gave birth to a young son. He specially ordered the wet nurse to carry him into the palace, and gave the young son a suitable name." "Appropriate", Shen Zhenzhu muttered to herself and asked, "How long has it been since you were carried into the palace?" Su Ci said: "I carried it in yesterday." Seeing Shen Zhenzhu's displeasure, she comforted her and said: "Your Majesty loves the little prince so much that no one else can ask for it."

Shen Zhenzhu suddenly remembered Li Ruo's oath, and asked, "Where is Your Highness? Has Your Highness not come back?" Su Ci lowered her head, making Shen Zhenzhu feel that something was wrong, and asked urgently, "What's going on?" Su Ci said: "Miss, don't worry, Your Highness has indeed returned from Tongguan." Shen Zhenzhu breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Then where is he now?" Su Ci whispered: "He was imprisoned in the palace by His Majesty, and he was not allowed to return to the palace." "Why?" Su Ci's voice was even softer: "Tongguan has fallen on the seventh day of the first day, and His Highness was protected by guards. He desperately fought a bloody road before returning to Chang'an. I heard that Deputy Marshal Ge Shuhan has been captured and surrendered to the enemy. His Majesty vented his anger on His Highness. -"

Shen Zhenzhu closed her eyes, her thoughts were a little confused.Shi'er was born on the seventh day of the lunar month, and Piantongguan was lost, and Li Chu was extremely dangerous. It was God's will, such a coincidence.He asked Su Ci again: "Do you know if His Highness is injured?" Su Ci said: "I heard that there is a little skin trauma, but it's not a serious problem, otherwise, how could His Majesty be willing to imprison him." Su Ci's words are indeed reasonable. After all, Li Chu was only acting on behalf of his father. Although he was imprisoned by Xuanzong, Xuanzong was in a momentary mood, and it was difficult to punish him with a comprehensive name. There was insufficient evidence to let him go, let alone Li Chu this time.Thinking about it this way, I feel relieved.Finally returned safely, with him here, even though he has not returned to the palace, the whole world is full and vast, without any fear.Now, one is worried that Tongguan has been broken, and where the court will go; the other is worried that Li Chu has never been so frustrated, and his family and country are in danger, whether he can bear such a blow. Seeing that Shen Zhenzhu's expression softened, Su Ci hurriedly passed the message to the maidservant, and served the prepared nourishing soup and meals.Shen Zhenzhu's appetite is poor, and there are many taboos for pregnant women, the food she eats is less salty and tasteless, but she wholeheartedly wants to get better soon, so she ate half a bowl of rice and drank more than half a cup of soup, making Su Ci jump up with joy. Fang leaned on the pillow to rest, he heard the rear window sash "chi chi" slightly closed, Su Ci lifted the window screen, and after a while came back with something in his hand, it was a folded letter paper.Shen Zhenzhu managed to gain some strength in her hand, she let Su Ci unfold the letterhead, and she supported it herself, it was Li Chu's handwriting, even though it was written in a hurry, it still did not lose the thinness and precipitousness of the past. "The pavilion on the distant mountain, the bright stars among the clouds, the distant view makes the heart cherish, who knows that the river is vast." Su Ci glanced at it and said with a smile: "Your Highness asked Feng Shengyi to send this poem to express his deep love for Miss. Now you can rest assured!" Shen Zhenzhu slowly chewed on the deep meaning in the poem.In the face of this national crisis, if Li Chu still only thinks about the word "love", then he is not the usual Li Chu.This poem seems to be thinking about people, but it is actually expressing ambition. "Tingting on the distant mountain" and "stars among the bright clouds" not only refer to her Shen Zhenzhu, but also Li Chu's long-standing ambition. If she does not understand Shen Zhenzhu, who can understand it?Thinking that he was trapped in the palace at this time, he could not help manage state affairs, and he could not see himself. It would be extremely distressing, worrying and angry for others, but he was still calm and composed, neither happy with things nor sad with himself, more than half a year The tempering of the army in the past has made him more mature and refined.However, since ancient times, there has been a king who has both a country and a beauty. Li Chu can still rank the country with her today. After a moment of meditation, Chen Zhenzhu signaled Su Ci to open the cupboard, and took out a sachet from the top shelf.The sachet was embroidered by Shen Zhenzhu when she was pregnant, regardless of the maid's dissuasion. It was embroidered with the pattern of lotus flowers with two stalks, and then tied with five-color silk thread to form a rope.He took the scissors again, half panting, groped through Mo Yu's fragrant hair, cut off a strand, and put it in the kit, after doing this, it seemed that he had exhausted all his mind.Seeing Su Ci handing the brocade bag to Feng Shengyi outside the window, thinking that he and Li Chu have been married for more than three years, and there has never been a token exchange between the two, and now it is a wish fulfilled, leaning on the pillow and slowly falling asleep. After waking up and sleeping like this, in the afternoon when Li Shi was brought back from the palace, Shen Zhenzhu was overjoyed, the lack of entanglement made her cooperate with the imperial physician's treatment, and her body improved day by day. On June 13th, Li Shi cried and cried for half the night, but the nanny coaxed him to no avail. Only Shen Zhenzhu supported herself, patted his son's back and whispered, and the child gradually stopped crying and lay down. He fell asleep next to his mother. Shen Zhenzhu was extremely exhausted, just laying down to sleep, when she suddenly heard the sound of busy footsteps coming from the end of the corridor, interspersed with the clanging sound of weapons and armor, which was especially clear in the silent night, she suddenly sat up from the bed , Bisque also quickly lit a candle. The sound of footsteps stopped outside the pavilion, and the torches of the nebula suddenly swayed back and forth in the dark night.The night maid yelled in a low voice: "Who is here! The concubine just rested, so don't disturb her." A man said loudly: "Please tell the princess that Nei Feilong's deputy envoy, Cheng Yuanzhen, has something to see!" The maid seemed at a loss as to what to do, Yan Ming who was beside Cheng Yuanzhen had already sternly said: "Don't pass it on quickly!" Su Ci put on a coat for Shen Zhenzhu, and Cheng Yuanzhen and Yan Ming went straight into the inner room one after the other. Cheng Yuanzhen was fully armored, stepped forward and clasped his fists and said: "Cheng Yuanzhen, the deputy envoy of Nei Feilong, came to visit the princess. I received the emperor's order to meet the princess and the young lady." The prince will leave the city immediately." After speaking, he took out a gleaming golden belt badge from his waist, which was the special belt badge used by Inner Dragon Envoys. Shen Zhenzhu already knew this heroic Cheng Yuanzhen, but now she was more certain.I was just astonished. Could it be that there was a sudden change in the imperial court before Mao arrived? Could it be that the soldiers and horses of Anlu Mountain were approaching the city?Asked: "Why is this?" Cheng Yuanzhen replied: "Your Majesty has decided to set off for Xingshu today, and specially summons the concubine and the prince to accompany you!" It turned out that he was going to escape, so did His Majesty leave Chang'an City and the Tang Dynasty behind?Even Su Ci understood the meaning, her complexion was pale: "Wangfei can't be jolted by horses and horses, it's not good at all." Shen Zhenzhu asked sternly: "Where is His Royal Highness King Guangping?" Cheng Yuanzhen replied: "Your Highness is accompanying you, escorted by three thousand guards, has left the city from Yanqiu Gate, and is waiting for the concubine and her party at the temporary bridge forty miles away." Shen Zhenzhu said to Su Ci: "Quickly call the wet nurse." After a while, the wet nurse didn't have time to dress up and enter the room to obey orders.Shen Zhenzhu hugged Li Shi beside her, and saw him curled up in her arms, the corners of his mouth twitching, sleeping very soundly, unaware that his family and country had undergone tremendous changes, and he was displaced at a young age.She took out a jade pendant under the pillow, put it in the child's arms, couldn't help but kiss his little face, stared at him again and again, although her heart was pierced by a knife, she couldn't help but let go, and raised her arms, He had handed the child into Su Ci's hands, and said, "Su Ci, Yun Niang, take your son and follow Master Cheng quickly." "No!" Su Ci hugged Li Shi and knelt down, "Miss won't leave, and neither will I!" Shen Zhenzhu casually picked up a teacup on the table beside him, threw it on the ground, and shouted: "The situation is critical, you dare to talk to me! I have my own plan, you guys go!" Cheng Yuanzhen lifted the armor in front of his knees and half knelt On the ground, holding the hilt of the sword tightly with his left hand, he said in a concentrated voice: "Cheng has been ordered to take care of the princess and the son. The princess and the son must not be missing. I beg the princess to go with me!" Shen Zhenzhu seemed to smile, and the light in her eyes narrowed, she was determined not to be violated, "General Cheng, as long as the son is safe to meet with His Majesty and Your Highness, I will protect you. As for my princess, General Yan, please tell Your Highness for me. , please don't think about it, I have my own way to get out of trouble." Yan Ming had a look of embarrassment on his face, but he also knew that Shen Zhenzhu would suffer from hemorrhage after childbirth. If he forced to go west with the team, and the horses and horses would work hard, it would be difficult to save his life. He immediately said: "Yan is willing to protect the princess until she is safe with her. Your Highness will meet." Shen Zhenzhu said: "No need! General Yan, I want you to lead all the guards of the palace to follow His Highness immediately." Yan Ming was tongue-tied: "Here, isn't there no soldier in the palace, the princess is in danger—" Shen Zhenzhu laughed it off: "If the imperial army can't resist the security thieves, the guards of the palace will also die. Why let these good men die in vain." Yan Ming wanted to argue again, but Shen Zhenzhu had already said: "In the current situation, from the point of view of the two generals, is the safety of the son or the concubine more important? Is it important for your majesty to reorganize the rivers and mountains, or my life? Although Shen Zhenzhu You can't contribute to the country, and you definitely can't be a burden to His Highness. This is a bit of pride for this concubine, and I hope the two generals will make it happen." Cheng Yuanzhen and Yan Ming were shocked when they heard the words, Cheng Yuanzhen sighed: "The princess is really the husband of a woman, so... I hope the princess will cherish herself." Shen Zhenzhu said with a smile: "You can also rest assured that this princess will not act recklessly, and when she recovers, she will find a way to escape from Chang'an... If God's will is true, please rest assured, Your Highness, I will never be humiliated in front of others, and the royal family will be disgraced shame." Su Ci was already choked up, she transferred Li Shi to her nurse Yunniang, put her head in Shen Zhenzhu's arms, and cried: "Miss, Su Ci beg you - Su Ci never begged you - please let me Staying here to serve you, you look like this, how can no one take care of you." After finishing speaking, she knelt down and kowtowed again and again, the fragments of the teacup pierced into her palm, and blood oozes out. Shen Zhenzhu couldn't help but feel sad, Yan Ming also said: "The princess should keep the Suci girl, if there is no one to serve her, His Highness will feel even more uneasy after knowing about it." Shen Zhenzhu finally nodded.Cheng Yuanzhen and Yan Ming prostrated themselves on the ground as farewell, Yan Ming took Li Shi who was sleeping soundly in the nurse's arms with his own hands, and said to Shen Zhenzhu word by word: "Princess, don't worry, as long as Yan Ming has breath, he will ensure the safety of your son! "After finishing speaking, he wrapped his robe and sleeves, and Cheng Yuan shook his head and went out with the wet nurse. Cheng Yuanzhen, Yan Ming and his entourage took Li Shi away from the mansion for a long time, but there were still movements and disturbances in the palace.Since the fall of Tongguan, the people of Chang'an City no longer know where to go. The east and west cities have been on strike for a long time, and rumors are everywhere in the streets and alleys.Those who had a little savings all moved out of Chang'an with their families.Although the servants and servants don't know the details of what happened in the palace today, they all know that something big has happened, and they are anxious, doubtful, afraid, and have all kinds of thoughts.Fortunately, they don't have to be anxious for too long, they will see the outcome soon. Shen Zhenzhu just lay down and fell asleep, and when the dawn came, she called Zhang Deyu and asked him to settle the accounts with the accountant, distribute all the coins in the mansion to the servants and servants, and dismiss them all.