Chapter 35 Thirty-fifth Omen

The late autumn of this year is indeed a special season that people will never forget.After September, the sundial gradually became shorter, and the leaves on various trees began to fall off; we, who have lived in the palace for a long time, did not pay much attention to the change of seasons, but this time we did not. A strange feeling occurred.Although no one could clearly say what the reason was, everyone did feel that way, especially the Queen Mother herself.Maybe it can be said: In late autumn, when the weather is getting colder, people will naturally have a different feeling on their skin, so they also have a considerable reaction in their hearts; It's the first time I've been born, so why did the past years have no effect, but this year I suddenly have this feeling?Moreover, the stimulation of this feeling is so sharp that it makes us feel apprehensive all day long, as if great tribulation and great terror are about to come soon.However, everyone was only secretly worried, and no one dared to express it verbally.

Until this happened, we didn't know that our heart palpitations were the most effective omens! How did this show start?I only recalled it after the fact. Among the flowers and trees in the upper garden, magnolia (Magnolia magnolia) is not a strange and famous species, but there are dozens of them in cultivation. Every early summer, many flowers always bloom; characteristics, so we also pay attention to it.In the late autumn, we will not easily glance at them; but after thinking about it, we have to play back and forth in the garden for a long time every day. Since there are such miracles, why can no one see them? Woolen cloth?To be honest: If it weren't for the habit of "reporting everything to the Queen Mother" in the palace, we might never know about it!It turns out that there is a habit in the palace, no matter how trivial things seem to be obviously worthless, they are all inspired by the Queen Mother; because the Queen Mother seems to have a different mind from others, and she often puts an occasional incident into consideration. The very smallest things are very important.

It was late autumn, and suddenly a flower bloomed on a certain magnolia tree. We didn't notice it, but it was discovered first by a eunuch who was a gardener; he knew it was something to report. However, at the same time, he was sweating a lot, almost too scared to report it.Because their status as eunuchs is low and their knowledge is low, how could they have predicted what impact this news would have on themselves? He committed a serious crime, but in fact he himself was not at fault; it was too late to wake up after serving the queen mother.But although the benefits and risks are hard to predict, this matter has to be announced no matter what. (I didn't know what happened until later.) After hesitating for a long time, the gardener decided to tell Li Lianying, the chief eunuch, about the anomaly.

"I don't know if Lafayette is happy today?" He asked Li Lianying first. "Why do you ask this? Let me tell you: Elder Yi is the most unhappy person today!" Li Lianying said arrogantly: "If you have something to play, there is no guarantee that Yi will not be upset. " "What you said is right. I don't know whether I will be beaten or scolded after I go to report this matter, but I dare not not to report it!" Go to Zuoming, and let Yi's hometown find out tomorrow, so can I still keep my head!" "Hmph! It's really you! But after you go back to the Ming Dynasty, maybe you will annoy Old Man Yi, so your head will inevitably be cut off!" Li Liangong sneered as if he was very proud.This person was originally the most vicious and inhuman thing, relying on the Queen Mother's favor, how could he treat these little eunuchs as human beings.Every time when some eunuch or court lady offended the Queen Mother and was ordered by the Queen Mother to be dragged out to be tortured, Li Lianying always showed a look of joy in his heart; if the Queen Mother wanted someone to be beheaded, he would be very happy up. "Now tell me first, what are you going to explain?"

At that time, the gardener was so frightened that his face turned pale. Hearing that Li Lianying's tone was wrong, he really wanted to keep his mouth shut and stop talking; but he also knew that he had already said too much, so there was absolutely no need to shrink back. .Even if he really kept his mouth shut, Li Lianying would definitely torture him by lynching to force him to tell the truth. So the gardener bit the bullet, and in a state of extreme panic, he said tremblingly: "There is... a... branch of magnolia... orchid... it's blooming!" "Will magnolia still bloom in this late autumn when winter is about to come?" Even Li Lianying was surprised. "Where did this come from? Didn't all the magnolia flowers wither away a few months ago? How did they bloom again?"

"This... this... this is true! Sure enough... there is a tree... magnolia... in bloom!" What is the reason for this? "It's very weird! It can be said to be an anecdote that I have never heard in my life!" "It's really... very...surprised! And...and...and...it's an ominous... ominous omen!" "I don't understand what you said again! How is it ominous?" "Because...for, for...for...a few...months ago, the flowers they bloomed...are the flowers that should bloom in the name...name...the location is It blooms...a lot; but now, there is only...one tree that blooms on...and only one flower. You...you...do you understand, old man? A tree that has been blooming for many days...on the tree, it blooms repeatedly...and alone...a flower blooms, which inevitably, unavoidably brings some...demon...demon...demon...atmosphere Already!"

Speaking of the word demon, the gardener's voice was so hoarse that he could hardly hear it clearly. When Li Lianying found out the reason for this matter, she immediately felt hesitant. He silently thought: because he already believed that the gardener was right. In late autumn, it is true that a magnolia flower bloomed alone. It is a kind of ominous monster; but he also knows that the Queen Mother is a person with the deepest superstition, and she usually pays so much attention to choosing auspicious dates. This obviously ominous news was passed on to Yi, how much trouble it would cause Yi!So it was Li Lianying's turn to play the pipa by himself; however, he was a cunning and crafty man after all, and after a little hesitation, he was ready.

"Since there is such a miracle, of course I will play Lafayette for you!" He said to the gardener: "It's nothing for you now, go back and wait carefully! The Queen Mother wants to ask you, I will send you another It’s time for someone to summon you!” It's still eight or nine o'clock in the morning!The Empress Dowager was still dressing and changing, and was about to go out to court, and I was accompanying her, when suddenly Li Lianying came in hurriedly, and many of us turned our heads to focus our eyes on his face; His gloomy and sinister grimace was really disgusting, and it remained unchanged throughout the year. He never showed any expression of joy or anger, so that people could not see his inner thoughts.Only when others blamed or tortured by the Queen Mother, or even exiled, hanged, or beheaded, did he have a smile on his face. It turned out that he was the first thing in the world to gloat, and it seemed that there was nothing else in the world. One was enough to move his heart.So there was never any expression on his face.But this day, after all, he was also stimulated by the magnolia flower, and he clearly showed a look of surprise and panic on his face, which made everyone feel surprised.

The Empress Dowager naturally also saw Li Lianying's embarrassing appearance, and Yi also knew that something was wrong, so she changed her color accordingly; this morning, Elder Yi's mind was not very quiet, and her behavior was very irritable. I guessed that there must have been some hallucinations that were disturbing Yi's collection, and when Yi saw Li Lianying's expression, he immediately went numb like an electric shock, fearing that the disaster that Yi was worried about would really come true. Li Lianying still tried her best to remain calm, knelt down on her knees slowly, and kowtowed to the Empress Dowager as usual; because I always knew that he was the most favored person of the Empress Dowager, and he was so powerful that no one could surpass him, so I also I can't help but fear him a little, just like we fear poisonous snakes and scorpions. At this moment, I am looking at him with all my attention.As soon as I saw that smirk on his face, the Empress Dowager couldn't see it because his head was lowered. ——I knew that he was going to perform his old trick again, which was to try his best to pretend to be sincere.

"Lafayette! The slave has something to do." He deliberately said in the most gentle tone. "What's the matter again?" From Yi's voice, we know that the old man Yi is already anxious and flustered. On the one hand, it is too late to know what news Li Lianying brought, and on the other hand, he is afraid of leaving Hearing of some unfortunate incident, she wished to teach Li Lianying not to talk about it. "What I want to announce is good news of great auspiciousness!" Li Lianying was twitching again, but she just said, "It's really an auspicious omen. According to my servant, there will be a big happy event soon. Already!"

"Tell the truth quickly, who is patient to listen to your nonsense?" The Queen Mother really couldn't bear it anymore. "Teach Lafayette to be happy! The magnolia tree in our garden is blooming again today." I was standing close to the Empress Dowager at that time, and I could clearly see Yi's shoulders shrugging suddenly after hearing Li Lianying's words, as if she was about to jump up from her seat, I couldn't help being surprised; Because although I know that late autumn is not the season for magnolias to bloom, I don't know what is an auspicious omen and what is a bad omen. I am a little baffled by the shock of the empress dowager.So I held my breath and listened attentively. "What? Are those magnolia trees blooming again?" The queen mother asked in an unusually flustered manner: "Quickly tell me the details! I see that you have never been so hesitant. Tell me the truth! Tell me now! Tell me!" "Back to the Queen Mother! How dare this slave not tell the truth! It's all true! Just now a gardener said that there is indeed a magnolia flower that has bloomed there..." "Is it just one flower?" "Yes! Lafayette! It is said that it is the oldest magnolia tree in this garden, and a very complete flower is in full bloom today. The slave is babbling, and no one can know that it is auspicious and auspicious!" Li Lianying yelled "auspicious" and "auspicious" all over her mouth, but our queen mother was already stunned; Yi's face turned pale in an instant, and she seemed to want to say something in her heart, but only Yi's lips were moving. Zhang He, who couldn't stay there, didn't hear any sound for a long time.In these four or five minutes, Yi's age suddenly increased by ten or so years like a watch of cold and heat.We can also clearly see that the five fingers of Yi Na's hand on his chest are trembling due to excessive fright. No one in our group of staff who waited on Yi, except Li Lianying, knew what it was. For some reason, and I don't know how to persuade Yi, so I can only let Yi silently worry about the imminent catastrophe of Yi's ideals. "Nonsense!" After a while, Yi Cai said in the nursery: "No nonsense! This is clearly a bad omen, who are you trying to hide? You know it is an omen, why do you have to turn it upside down? Words? Do you think I don’t know? Hmph! Only a three-year-old kid will think it’s a good omen!” Although the queen mother said these few words very low, her tone was very angry and fierce. After finishing speaking, she waved her right hand violently, which meant to teach Li Lianying to go out immediately.Li Lianying also wished for this, so that she could avoid a few needless beatings, so she hurriedly licked her head and walked out. Then the Queen Mother turned her head and said to me: "If you don't laugh at us, we have no guts! This flower is really blooming with a bit of a monster, maybe some disaster is going to happen to us, or to our country!" Yi said in a whisper-like voice, Said to me; the attitude is still very solemn, and the two eyebrows are almost tied into a knot. At that time, I listened to Yi's soft words, and I gradually believed them.I myself never believed in good or bad omens, and Yi's words could not change my belief, because I have followed Yi for so many days, and I have already deeply experienced how powerful Yi is. Since Yi has such great power and is so deeply superstitious about good omens and bad omens, is it impossible for Yi to create a disaster for that magnolia flower?So the Empress Dowager is worried about the imminent disaster because of her superstitious belief in omens, but I am afraid that there will be some disaster because of my superstitious belief in the power of the old man Yi. Although the same worry, but the psychology is different. "Do you remember one thing? A few years ago," the queen mother continued to tell me in order to strengthen my confidence and explain that Yi's own worries were by no means unnecessary: ​​"Suddenly one evening, A layer of blood-like red cloud appeared in the sky, covering almost hundreds of miles around the capital. At that time, everyone felt very panic. Didn’t they discover a comet in the sky later? People were extremely flustered and went everywhere. Many rumors can be heard, because the common saying is that the comet is called the broom star, which is the most ominous astrology. In addition, there are red clouds all over the sky, which is even more unlucky. Naturally, we are also very worried, lest something will happen Misfortune happened. However, if you are cautious in everything and do not act rashly in government, that year finally taught us that Japan suffered a big defeat. After all, the omen has come true. Now this magnolia flower that should not bloom, I really don’t know how to play tricks on us again!” When Yi said it, he had a very sincere attitude. As long as one saw Yi's attitude, he couldn't help but not believe it.But the person with the deepest superstition is Mr. Yi himself.After Yi Cong received Li Lianying's report, she saw Yi standing up suddenly, walking towards the window, sighing, and stomping her feet. She almost lost the patience to put on her clothes and prepare to go to court; Fortunately, Yi could still try her best to control herself, and finally put on a full set of costumes like every day. "Tighten it up, don't wait any longer!" Finally, Yifan urged us upside down. "No matter how unfavorable the omen is, we must go out now! I think something will happen this morning, at least it is bad news. Maybe at this moment, the old man Qingshun (that is, Prince Qing, Minister of Military Aircraft) is on the sleeve Here, there is already a memorial hidden that is very unfavorable to us." Yi's extremely arbitrary prediction was unreasonable, and I dared to believe it at the time, but what happened later turned out to be exactly as expected. It's really a coincidence!Now let me go on slowly, and it is up to the reader to believe it or not. The queen mother goes out to watch the court every day, and as usual, we have to take a group of us out, and this day is also the same; I watched carefully behind Yi's back, and saw that Yi walked much faster than usual today, but although she was fast He is fast, but his steps are very flustered, and he tends to lean from time to time. He is far less stable than usual, but instead fully expresses all the walking postures of ordinary old women.From this point of view, the suddenly blooming magnolia flower in the garden has indeed threatened the Queen Mother to her old age! When we walked into the main hall, the empress dowager's ministers were already waiting for her. When they saw the empress dowager coming, they knelt down together without hesitation as usual, kowtowed respectfully, and signed up to pay their respects one by one; this is a set There is no need to elaborate on the old routine that I am tired of seeing. After all the attendants paid their respects, Prince Na Qing was still kneeling on the ground, waiting for the special order from the Lafayette to allow him to speak.This kind of situation is also very common, because Prince Qing is the leader of the military aircraft department, so he is often the first person to do something; but when we saw the look on his face that day, it was really strange, although we cannot say It's so strange, but in our eyes, it's exactly the same as when Li Lianying entered the palace to report the magnolia blossoms just now. Of course Lafayette saw it very clearly, Yi's lips immediately turned gray. Yi knew that the predicted disaster had really come! "What do you want to say?" Yi asked urgently, her voice was very unnatural. At that time, although other officials were standing on both sides, the Queen Mother seemed not to see them, and kept her eyes on her. Prince Qing, don't turn around for a while. "Go back to the Queen Mother! This servant just got a piece of news." Prince Qing was still showing his usual ministerial demeanor, playing on a low note. "What is the news? You should have played it a long time ago!" The queen mother was so anxious that she couldn't help telling Yi's own thoughts: "This morning, we expected that there must be What bad news came, and now you really brought it with you!" Although Prince Qing heard what the Queen Mother said, and knew that the news he wanted to announce was indeed ball news, how could he deliberately deceive him?Then he mustered up his courage and replied: "Japan has declared war on Russia!" This news was really beyond our expectation, and the Queen Mother had a strange feeling, she wished she could ask the details of this matter right away. "Then who is right and wrong between Japan and Russia? Is it a formal international war when they start fighting so suddenly? I really don't understand why these foreigners always like to fight! There are many things that are wrong. It can be settled peacefully, so why bother to actually fight and kill each other? I think they are simply like this. Now let’s ignore these things and just ask how Japan and Russia are fighting now?" "Because the Japanese attacked Lushunkou first." "Did you mean Lushunkou? That's really strange! Lushunkou is our Haikou!" "Yes! Queen Mother." "This is a very surprising thing! Since they want to fight, why don't they go to Japan to fight, or go to Siberia to fight? I see that these two countries have very bad intentions towards us!" "But, Empress Dowager, this war really has nothing to do with us!" "Do you dare to say that? Since this war has nothing to do with us, why did they start a war at Lushunkou?" The empress dowager's sharp rhetorical question really made the useless Prince Qing helpless.In fact, he can't tell the difference between these simple interests, and he also knows that the result of the battle between Japan and Russia at Lushunkou will definitely be harmful to China; but those ministers are used to not saying anything To tell the truth, what can be coaxed, he tried his best to coax Yi, so Prince Qing also deliberately uttered such unreasonable lies. The Empress Dowager didn't embarrass him too much, she just lowered her head and began to think silently. Prince Qing and others were all waiting in the ground very seriously, and everyone tried their best to put on a face of patriotism and loyalty to show that they were just like the Empress Dowager. On the mind.After being silent for about ten minutes, the Queen Mother said in a high-pitched voice: "The ancients said well, 'A soldier is raised for a day, and he is used for a dynasty'. Don't our soldiers generally have food and clothing on weekdays, and when the country has something to do, can't we use them all at once? It’s okay, we all have to be prepared! Let the military department quickly mobilize a few troops, even if they are enough to fight a battle, they must be used!" These few words of the queen mother are very thorny, I know that Yi really felt it when I heard it; Prince Qing also understands it, even the other ministers who are silent and silent Everyone understands, because the Chinese army at that time was really terrible.However, although the queen mother knew that Yi's army was useless, she still insisted that considerable preparations should be made within the possible range; even if Prince Qing said that the war between Japan and Russia had nothing to do with China, it was true, but it had to be done a little bit. Things arranged, just in case. Then Yi went on to say: "We must pay attention: every time a war breaks out within or near our borders, whether it is a fight between Chinese and foreigners, or between foreigners and foreigners, the result of the fight will always be against our China. A large amount of land is given to others; who can guarantee that such a thing will never happen again! I believe that Japan and Russia, the two countries, are at war this time because both sides want to annex our east It’s just an initial gladiatorial battle in the three provinces. But we have to think about it, we have already lost a lot of land, are we willing to give the three eastern provinces to others?” The Queen Mother's words were so passionate and generous, Prince Guan tried his best to calm Yi down, and hurriedly replied: "I beg the queen mother to calm down and listen to this slave! According to this slave, although the intentions of Japan and Russia are terrible, but their generosity this time may not have any deep meaning. As long as we strictly maintain neutrality, it is decisive." Nothing bad will happen to us!" "That being said," the queen mother seemed to disapprove of Prince Qing's words, but she was unwilling to refute him, so she continued to follow Yi's own wishes, "You must hurry up and tell the neighbors over there Civil and military officials from all over the world: Teach them to be careful and try their best to avoid conflicts with others; but at the same time, they also learned that they should deploy a considerable force according to their preparations. If the enemy provokes us unreasonably and intends to rob us The land should be guarded as best as possible, and we are not allowed to back down. In short, for now, we should be patient, and don't say a word or do something that can cause people to misunderstand; but in case people really want to find us! Then you have to make up your mind to do it hard!" Readers, don't be fooled by Yi!Although Yi said these few words in court, she didn't teach Prince Qing to act accordingly, Yi just said so verbally.Because as soon as Yi heard that Japan and Russia opened fire, he knew that things were going to be very difficult. How could Yi be so reckless?Yi Yuan is a very cunning person, of course he knows that what Yi himself said to Prince Qing just now is very serious, if it is really published in writing, it will be known to the whole world in less than a day, then Japan and Russia put down their face just like that, and made a big fuss in the three northeastern provinces.So I believe that the Queen Mother understood the status of China at that time from the beginning to the end. Since China is so poor and weak, and is isolated and helpless, how can it rashly start a war with others?The result of the war may completely overthrow the throne of Yi's own empress dowager, let alone anything else! Yi couldn't bear to sit any longer in the palace, so she hurriedly announced her retreat and returned to the palace surrounded by us. Usually, when the queen mother returns to the palace, she always has to look around all the way; Just blindly walked forward and went straight back to the bedroom.The flowers that bloom in various places in Wannei are loved by the old man Yi very much. Although there are several kinds of splendid seasonal flowers today, they don't have much affection for Yi anymore; Kowtowing to Yi as usual, he can no longer win Yi's attention. Usually, Yi's body was a little stooped, but today it stood very straight, like a very brave young monarch; Yi seemed to want to put her own body on the body of Yidi's enemy, and pressed down hard He didn't give him a chance to stand up and defeat Yi.Now Yi felt the weight of the responsibility on Yi's shoulders! I couldn't help secretly suspecting: perhaps this incident was the practice of the omen that everyone felt panicked and urgent when we came back from Fengtian! After the queen mother returned to the bedroom, she couldn't wait to order all the people to leave together, leaving only two female officials for Yi Cheng, and I was one of the two.Although the poor Guangxu is still a "current" emperor in name, he never allows him to hear about any major accidents in the country. (It's not his turn to comment even on trivial matters) At this moment, naturally, the queen mother has already sent it.Even Concubine Longyujin was ordered to withdraw at the same time; the other palace ladies and eunuchs were all driven out by the Queen Mother without hesitation. So the old man Yi didn't say a word, just sat still, his eyes looked forward, but he didn't focus on anything; although we know that he is thinking hard, but we don't know what he is thinking about. what.Because Yi never said a word, Yi's hands were resting on his knees without moving, and his face was tensed. But Yi is indeed getting older. Compared with yesterday or the day before yesterday, there is at least a ten-year difference. I can't help but feel pity for Yi from the bottom of my heart, but I dare not say anything to persuade Yi!I saw a very old lady sitting in front of me. Under her seat was a very comfortable yellow satin brocade pier. Bearing a heavy burden related to the safety of the whole country.Yi was pressed so hard!However, Yi is not afraid. Yi knows that at present, at least Yi still has the means to deal with everything. What will happen in the future is unknown, so Yi can't help being very worried.But in any case, the people of the whole of China are waiting for the news of Yi, and sooner or later Yi will have to express some appropriate attitude on behalf of China. The hour passed by minute by minute, but the queen mother still sat silently. I stood by Yi's side, and unconsciously accompanied her to think: what I was thinking was whether old man Yi wanted to take back a part of his youth that was suddenly lost today.Of course I couldn't guess this; but at night, I got a factual proof, because Yi suddenly called me to her close, took my hands, and caressed me lovingly. ——This kind of behavior was only when I first entered the palace, Elder Yi felt very happy because he saw that I was born with a little foreign style, so he stroked my hands like this once. "How soft and tender these are! Only young people have such hands!" While stroking, Yi exclaimed, "Who wouldn't be happy to have such hands? But people like us who have the responsibility to rule the people People, but they must have a pair of veterans who are rich in experience and can restrain everything!" "Yes! Queen Mother." I really couldn't think of any suitable words to say to this old lady who was overburdened and suddenly looked haggard.Yihu raised Yi's gaze again, staring at me helplessly. "Ah, youth!" Yi said very gently: "This is the most precious gift of talent and man, so one must cherish it with all his strength and try to save it; even when he is old, he must do so. !" The profound meaning of the queen mother's words did not move me very much at the beginning. It is not until now, after I have experienced so many years in my life, that I realize that Yi's thoughts are indeed very reasonable. Before noon, Yi hastily issued a very strange and meaningless order: Yi ordered him, Lianying, to personally supervise the eunuchs who acted as gardeners, and blow down the magnolia flower that suddenly bloomed. They were broken into pieces and buried in the mud; and they were also strictly ordered to bury them in the most secluded place, where no one could step on it, let alone receive any sunlight or rain, lest it be buried. Come back to life again. After finishing what Yi thought was the most important matter, Yi's complexion became a little better.Then she said to me again: "A man who is burdened with too great a responsibility had better be able to forget his responsibility at any time, otherwise his responsibility will feel extraordinarily great, and will even frighten him into weakness. Now let us forget our responsibility Didn’t you say that you can sing Li Taibai’s "Qingping Diao"? Very good, just sing it for me once!" At that time, although Yi's worries seemed to have been relieved a lot, there was still no smile on her face. She just told Li Lianying to go out quickly and call two musicians, one flute player and the other flute player, to bring their instruments into the palace. Come and serve.The technique of these two people is very good, and the ensemble is very beautiful. I also forced a smile, raised my voice, and sang Li Bai's "Qingping Tune". The many wrinkles on her face have gradually loosened, and a more energetic light flashed in her two eyes, and Yi actually got the comfort she needed.I hope Yi can calm down from now on. My "Qing Ping Diao" was sung soon, and the clear and melodious sound of the flute and flute also disappeared, and the two musicians kowtowed their heads and went out. When the tall palace was about to be immersed in the dark sky, our surroundings were once again shrouded in a peaceful, peaceful, and clean atmosphere!