Chapter 23 Twenty-third return journey

When the trip to Changbai Mountain scheduled by the Empress Dowager was canceled by the two officials of the Qin Tianjian, a strange hallucination was added to our inspiration, and the result of this hallucination was terrible. How calm and unruffled a person is, now he is gradually showing a restless and restless state; he even has the same timidity and timidity as the guilty person suffers from.From morning to evening, everyone was crawling in trembling, hoping to return to Beijing one day soon; it seemed that if we didn't go back immediately, some great disaster would happen to us.Where did this doubt come from?No one can tell that!If it is a neuropathy, it does not mean that everyone's nerves will have this abnormality, and it must be considered as a psychological effect.

Under the same psychological effect, we couldn't help but use the same tone to discuss with each other secretly without telling the Queen Mother; what we talked about was nothing more than a lot of idle speculation and self-intimidating nonsense.Finally, someone whispered, "Is it possible that within a few days, there will be some big disturbances in the capital; maybe the gate of Shanhaiguan has been closed so that we can't go in again. Those who are forced to stay in Fengtian forever!" Fengtian, before our future, what a wonderful place it is to remind people of!But now?We are no longer interested in it!It would be the most unfortunate thing to be forced to stay here forever!So we couldn't help shivering when we heard what the man said.

On this day, the Empress Dowager unexpectedly delivered the following passage to us: "On the first day after tomorrow, we have to set off to return to Beijing, because the day is approaching, and the emperor must rush back before the grand ceremony of offering sacrifices to the Taimiao; other matters can be delayed as much as possible. But this matter cannot be missed! So you must hurry up and prepare to leave. ——Besides, the spring silkworms we raise are about to spin silk, so we naturally have to go back and take care of them!" Yi Yi's decree is like pointing out a clear path for us. After hearing this, we immediately felt a lot of relief in our hearts. At least to a certain extent, we already know the date of returning to Beijing.But goodness!Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, the interval is only thirty or forty hours, and these thirty or forty hours seem to be as long as thirty or forty days!The ominous feeling that we all have the same ominous fear of some disaster is becoming more and more obvious. We seem to be running away from that ideal bad luck. I don't know if it will happen within these two days. Just catch up.In other words, after two days, if we escape again, will it be too late?Once this horrible hallucination got into the brain nerves, of course it can no longer make us calm down like usual!As for the queen mother, she is generally irritable and irritable as if she has been stimulated by something, so the two days of work feel particularly long!

"On our way back this time, we must let the train go as fast as possible!" The queen mother said to us anxiously: "No matter where we pass, we will never stop. They may come to the station to pick them up, we just don't want to stop." Seeing the same, we must not delay any longer for them!" From what Yi said, it can be seen that Yi himself is extremely anxious to go back.After staying here for a few days, Yi probably felt that her mind was not very peaceful, as if she had been frightened. There is no one who does not speculate like I do.In short, the scenes in these ancient palaces in Fengtian are indeed too bleak and gloomy. No matter who lives in them, they will feel uneasy.

All right!These two days are finally over!We set off for Beijing on the morning of this day.Of course, although the Empress Dowager was already anxious to go back and had no intention of accepting her welcome, she didn't know about it, and even if she knew, she had to act as usual.So that day, the station was still crowded with a group of officials of all sizes from Fengtian, and they all came to see the Queen Mother off sincerely.But the Empress Dowager got out of the sedan chair, but she didn't stop, she held our shoulders and hurriedly walked on to the car; as if there were some pursuers coming from behind, she was afraid of escaping too slowly.As soon as she got into the car, Yi didn't have time to check whether everything in the car was ready, so she hurriedly asked someone to order to drive.Recalling that when I came from Beijing to Fengtian, I got on the train at first, how leisurely I was, but now I am in such a hurry, how ridiculous, unless the officials of Fengtian saw through our embarrassing escape In this case, it is inevitable to secretly laugh.

I was in a hurry to return home more than anyone else. Even though I had already boarded the car, I was still holding a cold sweat, fearing that something unexpected would happen in the last few minutes and we would still be unable to leave.But people's psychology is often very contradictory: Although I was so worried and anxious, I leaned firmly on the car window and looked back, hoping that something would happen. "Hey! De Ling! The train is about to leave! You can't look behind again! It's very unlucky!" The queen mother saw that I was too absorbed in watching, and she became unhappy, so she exclaimed sternly scold me.Of course I didn't dare to ask Yi why it was unlucky to look back, so I immediately turned my head and stood upright.

It was still the same as when we came, without blowing the whistle or sounding the alarm bell, our royal train moved quietly.Two or three hours before it started rolling, all other trains were prohibited from moving along the entire Jingfeng Road; local officials everywhere had also sent people to guard carefully on both sides of the track; The situation is the same as when we came.The only difference is the speed of the car.When it came, the queen mother desperately ordered it to walk slowly, as if the slower the better; now it is the other way around and tells it to walk as fast as possible.However, despite the old man Yi's instructions, the driver's people never dared to drive at full speed; because when we set off, we had already warned them very strictly that there must be no violent vibrations when the car is driving, and the train must be moving. If the speed is fast, the vibration is absolutely unavoidable, so the driver wanted to take the best of both worlds, so he had to drive the train faster than when it came, and slower than ordinary passenger cars, so that it was fast and the vibration would not be too severe. up!We watched the trees and fields recede like a revolving lantern outside the train window, and we knew that our train was indeed moving much faster than before.

The queen mother's attitude is completely different from when she came!Yi just sat silently, seldom speaking, and forbade each of us to poke our heads out and look behind, which is the so-called unlucky reason; of course, Yi herself was very strict.Even in the compartment, Yi was very careful not to turn her face to the rear.But I couldn't help secretly wondering, could it be that Yi could restrain Yi's own thoughts and generally stop thinking about Fengtian's situation later?This is probably impossible! What is Fengtian's situation now?According to my recollection, of course, the situation before the Queen Mother was still restored.Those well-dressed officials had to disperse one after another, returning to their offices, busy with everyone's daily private affairs; and those relics of Qianlong, Xianfeng, and Tongzhi will continue to lie in the glass windows. The inside of the box was sealed off by people, and it disappeared within a certain period of time like the gloomy and lonely ancient palace.Even if the queen mother thinks of them, she will never see them again!

The wheels keep rolling, and the scenery outside the window keeps receding. Although we don't know where we have arrived at the moment, and where we passed later; I was shocked by the shadow of the moving Great Wall!Gradually, the yellow train drove through the gap in the Great Wall.The closed door was obviously never closed, and the senseless fear we had previously had disappeared immediately, and everyone put down a big stone in their hearts without realizing it.I firmly believe that once this critical pass is passed, it will not be impossible to return to the capital.When I came here, although the queen mother happily visited here for a long time, but now she came back all the way, didn't Yi have ordered that no matter what stop she came across, she didn't stop?So we passed through the station immediately, without even slowing down the speed of the train, galloping like an angry horse, but the platforms on both sides were already packed with many officials kneeling in darkness, and the train was passing by them. When they passed in front of them, they all fell down together, almost touching their heads to the ground, to show their respect; but what about our queen mother?Yi Xin didn't know that there were so many people outside, bowing their heads to pay respects to Yi, but Yi was so happy to take care of them!Yi didn't even bother to look at them.

Just like this, we were on our way without stopping, and even when we were eating, everyone felt very rushed, as if we didn't have time to take care of anything except for wanting to go back.It's really ridiculous to say that in normal times, we only think that the Forbidden City in Beijing is rigid and vicious, and everyone is eager to get out of this circle to relax; but now, it seems that those lonely Beautiful palaces and quiet palaces are really indispensable for us to live and live.I'm afraid that after we have been away for more than ten days, some big disturbances have occurred here, so that we can no longer live the same life as before, so everyone is anxious to find out what happened.

I remember that when we went to Fengtian, we were almost all energetic, full of great interest, and full of vigor that travelers usually have; but now there is not a trace left!Let’s just talk about myself. When I went, I was of course very happy. I always said that this trip must have a good harvest. I know that I only saw a lot of weird corner lights, and I smelled it for a few days and nights. Doesn't the stench of sickly lilacs fill one with despair? Suddenly, Li Lianying hurried from his own car to the Empress Dowager's car. "Report to Lafayette! In just a few minutes, the car will arrive in Tianjin!" He kowtowed and played in a low voice, with a coquettish and shameless smile on his face as usual. "There seems to be a pause for a while, and let the ministers give the briefest salute." The Empress Dowager refused to listen to him today, and immediately replied very simply: "The car is not allowed to stop no matter what! There is only a middle way, that is, when our car enters the station, you will pay attention to me first, and you will return to me when you get to the closest place. " After a while, the outline of Tianjin was gradually revealed; the Empress Dowager got ready because she knew that a group of officials led by Yuan Shikai would kneel on the platform to watch us pass by soon.While arranging Yi's own clothes, he also taught us not to move around and stand extra neatly.At the same time, the driver also got a hint, and the speed of the busy traffic slowed down a lot.In fact, with the respect of the Empress Dowager, it is considered a very special treatment to accept their salute by teaching the car to slow down like this; but the Empress Dowager really attaches great importance to Yuan Shikai, and I think it is not enough to slow down the car. In order to repay his kindness, there was a further expression. "Are they all on the other side of the car?" Yi asked Li Lianying. "All on the left! Queen Mother!" Li replied. The car had entered the station, and the speed had been reduced to the lowest level. The Empress Dowager slowly got off Yi's throne, leaned against the car window of the defenders on the left, and stood facing the outside, while the rest of the people stayed in their positions. Come on, don't dare to act rashly.At this time, Guangxu was still in his own car; the Queen Mother specially taught me to stand behind Yi, which should have belonged to Guangxu. ——Of course I am very happy and happy that I happen to be taller than Yi, so I can see everything outside clearly through Yi's shoulder.This situation is exactly the same as what we saw when we came here: many officials, soldiers of the brigade, and the lights on the platform have not changed; identity of the leader.The Empress Dowager couldn't help smiling when she saw the moving scene slowly moving in front of Yi; but those officials were lowering their heads to the ground and saluting Yi respectfully, so naturally they had never seen Yi's smile .Although I was standing behind Yi's shoulder, I could still see it from the corner of Yi's mouth; the smile was indeed unusually gentle and loving, but it also revealed Yi's exhaustion and tiredness in no way.The scene I felt for Yi's smile was indeed very profound, and it is still left in my brain nerves. Didn’t it be said in the twenty-fourth chapters of this book that Yuan Shikai had a western band, which was brought to Fengtian by the Queen Mother?At that time, it was said that it was a temporary loan, so the people in charge of Qingshan had thought of it a long time ago, so they ordered the western band to get off in Tianjin.They were not originally on the yellow train with us, they were loaded on the second train behind with the soldiers. The Queen Mother was very interested in them at first, but after hearing it a few times, she got tired of it; At that time, I couldn't even remember the troop behind, and their group.So when Li Lianying came to explain this matter to Yi Zuo, Yi nodded very vaguely and said nothing. After passing the long line of prostrate officials, the platform was over—they fully kneeled and filled the entire platform. ——At that time, Tianjin was not very lively, and a little farther away from the station, all you could see on both sides were those graves in the shape of buns and boundless fields.The Empress Dowager was not happy to lean on the window to look around, and returned to Yi's throne.At this time, the speed of the car gradually increased again; I inferred from the degree of vibration of these cars that Yubi was probably going faster now than before he arrived in Tianjin.In fact, we were all looking forward to this, and even the queen mother never expressed dissatisfaction with the intensified vibration of the vehicle; rather, it seemed that there was something evil behind us chasing us, making us want to escape before it was too late.When we came that day, none of the scenery along the way seemed to make us unhappy; now that we came back, the scenery was still the same as ten days ago, and when we saw it, we felt a little scared. Our royal train soon arrived at Fengtai again. Although many officials were kneeling here to receive the holy driver, the Queen Mother would not pay attention to them. Of course, Li Lianying would not come to tell the Queen Mother again; I crossed it, but once I passed Fengtai, Beijing was approaching, and the speed of the train finally gradually decreased, allowing it to slowly drive towards Yongdingmen.That's where the Empress Dowager got on the train when she left Beijing. The news of the Empress Dowager's return had already spread throughout Beijing, so before our train passed Fengtai, a large group of officials had already gathered at the station here.From the relatives of the emperor, down to the maids and eunuchs who stayed in the palace, whoever has some chances to get up, that one is not willing to come and pick up the Queen Mother.Even those stubborn ministers, before the Empress Dowager set off, although they desperately wrote the memorial and kept saying that they wanted to prevent Yi from taking the train to Fengtian, they are all rushing here at this moment; The queen mother and I were all able to return to Beijing safely. We must always be a little surprised, or we may regard it as a miracle caused by the queen mother's great fortune.Seeing so many people who sincerely came to welcome Yi, the queen mother didn't show much excitement, she just glanced at them briefly, and it counted.Yi had been used to this kind of ostentation for more than forty years, so she no longer had any special feeling.If Yi's personality wasn't that of joyful dominance and contempt for the rest of her life, she must have gotten tired of this kind of vanity and bustling scene long ago!I often privately reckon, if by an unexpected opportunity, I can break free from all shackles and become another person again, will I be willing to put away all the things I am used to? Behavior changed?This is something that can be studied.Now, although Yi's life is full of superhuman powers, there is no element of happiness! After getting out of the car, we all got on the shoulders together, and the little eunuchs who carried the sedan chair seemed to run much faster than usual, although they still carried it carefully.I looked down through the gap in the car curtain, and saw the yellow sand on the ground receding quickly, which also showed how fast our sedan chair was moving.It reminded me of how excited we were when we came out of the palace and went to the station on this yellow sand road more than ten days ago!It seems like it was yesterday!Not long after, we had entered the imperial city, and the city gates were opened on both sides, welcoming us in without hesitation. However, this is not the final point of our journey!The queen mother will never stay here.Although this is indeed the center of the imperial city, the depths of the inner garden, the so-called central place, the Queen Mother has always disliked this place! "How old and shabby this place is!" Once, Yi had clearly expressed her dissatisfaction with the palace.Yi said: "Except for many unsuitably large houses, Jianjin is empty and empty! As long as we make some very slight sounds, there will be huge echoes; make us listen, Immediately, the hair will be terrified. Even the imperial garden has no decorations; it is full of tall and gloomy old trees, and there are neither bright flowers nor warm breeze. This place is almost full of cold Dead breath, no interest in life at all!" For this reason, more than seven-tenths of Yi Munian's life was spent in the Summer Palace.But I just came back from Fengtian today, so logically speaking, I had to go to the palace first; if I didn't have this kind of customary restraint, I would go directly to the Summer Palace after leaving the station. When it was time for dinner, Ea said to us: "This is not a problem at all! Because after the emperor returns to Beijing, there is no major matter for him to handle." This is a lie!In fact, it means that Yi himself has no major matters to deal with at present. "Fortunately, the day to pay homage to the Taimiao is still four days away! So we can go to rest quietly for a few more days. Tomorrow morning, everyone will prepare together, and we will go to the garden early in the morning." The Empress Dowager was used to getting up early, but at the same time there was another reason that she always liked to leave early in the morning when she went from the palace to the Summer Palace; this reason was also a kind of superstition.Because one day, Yi was chatting with a prince who was in charge of the affairs of the Qin Tianjian, and accidentally asked when is the most auspicious hour every day?The prince replied that it is most auspicious when the sun rises early in the morning.So the queen mother firmly believed that every time she left the palace, she always insisted that the sooner the better, she unconsciously developed a very hygienic habit. In the early morning of the next day, just as the sun was rising, our group, including Guangxu, was led by the Empress Dowager, and we boarded the palanquin and left the palace with the same urgent expression as yesterday. , Filed to the Summer Palace. As soon as we entered the garden, we realized that it was really worth getting up early in the morning! I remember that when we left Beijing to go to Fengtian, the last time we came to the Summer Palace, we still hadn’t seen such a splendid spring; because at that time, the winter was over and most of the flowers and trees hadn’t fully bloomed, and what we saw was nothing but fresh growth. Green leaves, and some budding buds.Now only fourteen days have passed, but the almighty nature has already performed an astonishing miracle!The entire Summer Palace is decorated with colorful colors everywhere, just like a beautiful world. Flowers of all kinds of bright colors are blooming in full bloom as if they are fighting for victory. Peonies, this is the most favorite flower of the Empress Dowager, so there are many kinds of flowers in this garden, it can be said that there are everywhere; when the spring breeze blows, those big flowers will follow. It swayed on its back, as if nodding to the queen mother, expressing welcome.Most of the general eunuchs who did not accompany them to Fengtian were sent by Li Lianying to take care of everything in the garden. They were very happy to see Lafayette come back surrounded by us, and they came up to kowtow one after another, with a few smiles on their faces. Very happy look.Below the Longevity Hill, surrounded by many palaces and courtyards is Kunming Lake.The water in the lake is as clear as a mirror, lying quietly in the sun, shining like silver. From time to time, there are many small fish in the lake, jumping out of the water very lively, and occasionally there are some that jump two or three inches above the water. , but they always fall down immediately; because they are constantly moving, you can see circles of ripples on the water surface, from small to large, expanding like a spiral. The queen mother was in this state, and her eyes suddenly felt much brighter. "Here, look, how cute it is?" Yi Dui praised softly with a very gentle smile. "Really! What is shown here is a peaceful and peaceful scene. Old ancestor." I added a sentence in the same tone as Yi.But this is not a casual echo for fun, but a sincere truth.But even I don't quite understand why, not so long ago, I had a vague dislike for this place, wishing I could never see it again, and now I regard it as a comfortable place to rest my mind. "Not only that! Even the inside of the room has good air. If we like it, we can sit or talk and laugh in that room. It will never make us afraid!" As Yi said, she slowly turned her head to the east, and stared intently for a while.To the east is Fengtian, which we just escaped from! "So, I'm afraid that here is our hometown now. What about there? Now it seems that it is another country, and it is very alien to us. Although we have only returned to Beijing since yesterday Ten or twenty hours have passed, but there seems to be a feeling in our hearts, as if we have just woken up from a big dream; I would like to tell the truth, I really wish to share the scene of the ten days I went to Fengtian this time. , as an annoying dream. No matter how deeply the land in the three eastern provinces was related to us Manchurians in the past, it is no longer ours after all! That place will no longer be of any benefit to us! We will never go back!" Or it can be said that this is also the queen mother's blessing. Fortunately, God did not give Yi a kind of prophetic skill, otherwise, if she knew in advance that ten years later, there would be Puyi, a worthless thing, who would be taken to the three eastern provinces by the Japanese to sing. For such a shameless trick, Yi must have died of anger long ago.In fact, at that time, Puyi hadn't even been born yet. Hugh said the Empress Dowager would not have thought that he would be a puppet of the Japanese; even the title of Emperor Xuantong in those three years, Yi hadn't expected it yet! After entering the Summer Palace, all the historical and sad smells are cut off from Yi, because this garden is newly built, and there has not been any trace of sadness left behind!And all kinds of flowers that Yi loves are blooming in the garden, which is enough to eliminate all kinds of melancholy in Yi's chest.Coupled with the warm breeze blowing down from the west mountain, it walks all over the garden, making people feel particularly comfortable and happy.Yes, this is Yi's hometown; it is also Yi's retreat.In Yi's twilight years, it is lucky to have such a good place for Yi Yi to raise, otherwise it would be the life that Yi lived, let alone any joy!What is most beneficial to Yi is that the garden is full of three unique scenes all year round: one is gorgeous, the other is calm, and the third is contentment.If Yi could see through everything and return all the power to Guangxu, Yihe would have these three kinds of happy scenes in his life; unfortunately, Yi couldn't, so Yi had to come to the garden when government affairs were relatively leisurely. Appreciate the scene of temporary peace and contentment for a while.But when it comes to the gorgeousness, it is all taken up by Yi; originally, is there anything that is not gorgeous that is going to be placed in front of the Empress Dowager? After the queen mother entered the garden, she was so happy, and although we could not enjoy the same happiness as Yi, we no longer saw the strange-shaped horn lamps in our eyes, and we no longer smelled the very uncomfortable purple lilac in our noses. The smell of flowers is gone, after all, it is much more comfortable.We are all very willing to forget everything about Fengtian, especially the gloomy and mysterious aura contained in those ancient palaces that have lived for a long time, which is not something I dare to recall easily. Before we returned to Beijing, the Empress Dowager was already very fond of remembering the spring silkworms that Yi kept. As soon as Yi entered the garden, she wished she could teach these little white animals to spin silk and make cocoons, because Yi was not very interested in this matter. There is also a lot of fun.