Chapter 40 Chapter Thirty-Six

In the early dynasty, after Emperor Wu listened to the reports of the ministers in the palace, the deacon of the court announced: "Sima moved into the palace." Sima Qian slowly entered the hall, and the civil and military officers on both sides saw him, their eyes widened and their mouths opened wide... After Sima Qian knelt and kowtowed, he came to preach: Sima Qian knelt still, Ren An touched him, and Sima Qian said slowly: "Thank you, Lord Long En." After the censor left, he returned to the hall, and Sima Qian said, "I won't go." Ren An persuaded: "Zhong Shu Ling is a courtier by the emperor's side. It is very beneficial for you to write history if you can work by the emperor's side. How can you not go if you have such good conditions for writing history!" Ren An said again: " Zichang, you have already been humiliated for writing history, so bear the humiliation."

Sima Qian nodded. Ren An said: "Okay, son-in-law, I'm going back, take care of yourself." After Sima Qian sent Ren An away, he went to his late father's spirit tablet, knelt down and said silently: the ancestors of the father and mother are above, the son is not filial, he has suffered such a punishment, and has insulted the gods of his parents, the son will not forget his father In his will, he must bear the burden of humiliation, fulfill his late father's long-cherished wish, and finish writing the history books. Qing'er was very touched when she came in and knelt down.

Wen Zhen came in and saw the situation, cried and knelt down... In the early dynasty, after Emperor Wu listened to the reports of the ministers in the palace, the deacon of the court announced: "Sima moved into the palace." Sima Qian entered the hall slowly, and the civil and military officers on both sides saw him, their eyes widened and their mouths opened wide... "My humble minister pays respects to the emperor." The shrill voice caused laughter in the hall, and Sima Qian lowered his head and endured it.Hearing the laughter, Emperor Wu looked up and saw that Sima Qian standing below had no beard on his face and drooping eyelids. He was completely different from the original heroic Sima Qian. But he also thought that he dared to disobey the holy will, which is a great rebellion. Since ancient times, kings have always followed me, prospered, and those who disobeyed me will perish. This time, he punished him as a lesson for all civil and military officials. Thinking of this, Emperor Wu's face regained his majesty.

"Sima Qian, from today onwards, you are the order of Zhongshu. You will be responsible for conveying my will to the Shangshufang, and handing over the official documents of the Shangshufang to me." "Minister Sima Qian obeys the order." Sima Qian's shrill voice caused many people to laugh again. "Scatter the court." The court deacon announced. Usually everyone would leave early, but today they all stayed behind, wanting to see Sima Qian's expression after being sentenced to the palace. Sima Qian walked forward with his head down and tears in his eyes, and all the civil and military people on both sides stared at him...

All kinds of comments came from Sima Qian's ears: "Ah, the beard is gone." "Neither male nor female." "It's amazing that he survived the inhuman punishment." "If I would rather die than castration." "It was a blessing in disguise, but I was promoted." After walking out of the palace gate, there were still voices of discussion. Sima Qian was so hot-headed that he wished he could get under the ground, so he quickened his pace and walked towards the palace gate resentfully. Sima Qian returned home with tears in his eyes, buried his head on the table, tears gushed out like spring water...

His wife Wenzhen came over with concern. "Husband...don't go if you feel really sad." The couple hugged each other again and cried. Qing'er came back from the National History Museum and came to persuade him: "It's fine if the teacher doesn't want to go, you can write a good book at home, and I'll leave it to Qing'er to check the materials. Qing'er works in the National History Museum. can be found for the teacher." Qiong'er brought the food and came over to persuade him, "Father, let's eat." Sima Qian raised his head and sighed: "Life is better than death, life is better than death!"

Wen Zhen turned her back and wiped her tears. Seeing that the whole family was mourning for him, Sima Qian wiped away their tears and said, "Come, come, let's eat." After eating, Sima Qian immersed himself in writing again... During the day, Sima Qian accompanied Emperor Wu to read the memorials, recorded history, drafted edicts, conveyed the will of Emperor Wu to the Shang study, and then handed over the official documents for Emperor Wu's review to Emperor Wu from the Shang study, and then helped Emperor Wu sort out the memorials. In the evening, I light up the lamp to write history until late at night.

When walking in the palace and on the street, he would bow his head and pass by acquaintances, never taking the initiative to greet people.At this time, Sima Qian seemed to live in this world only for the book "Historical Records". He often heard people who knew him pointing and pointing behind him, but Sima Qian never looked back, just walked past. Sima Qian just immersed himself in writing history books, and after serving Emperor Wu, he consulted archives and materials. He was Zhongshu Ling, equivalent to the emperor's first secretary. He had the power to consult all court archives, which created an extremely superior situation for him to write history books. This is the only spiritual support for Sima Qian to continue living in this world.