Chapter 4 Suspicion

Zuo Zongtang only slept for two hours, and when he had just delivered his son, his old servant Zuo Gui woke him up and told him, "Master Xu has an urgent letter from the military aircraft." As he spoke, he helped Zuo Zongtang up, and another servant held a candlestick and looked at the letter according to him. On the envelope was written in thick ink: "Flying to Zuo Jue for a blind date Junqi", and took out the letterhead. There were only eight letters on it. Word: "Honorable guest in the east court, please enter the palace quickly." It turned out that the military plane Zhang Jing was changing shifts that day, and Xu Yongyi was on duty at night, so the news came quickly.Zuo Zongtang was the most calm when he encountered such an unexpected change. When he got out of bed and saw the red candle, he pointed to it and said, "Tomorrow we have to change to a white one."

"Master," Zuo Gui has served Zuo Zongtang for many years, and the title has not changed. He is afraid that he heard it wrong, so he asks, "Change to white wax?" "That's right. Don't ask too many questions! Pass the sedan chair, and I will enter the palace right away." When they entered the palace, they were ugly and upright, and the gate of Qianqing was not opened, so they all gathered in the court room of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Zuo Zongtang saw that the closest relatives were Prince Dun, Prince Chun, and Prince Hui, and the former imperial ministers were Boyan Nemo, In Yikuang, there are Baojun, Li Hongzao, and Wang Wenshao as ministers of military aircraft, and there are also six ministers, the master of "Walking in Yuqing Palace", and Nanshufang Hanlin.

For national affairs, the power rests with the military aircraft, and Zuo Zongtang should take the lead when Prince Gong, the foreman of the military aircraft, is not around.At this moment, he realizes that he has a special status. It is his first time to be an official in Beijing, and he is at a loss to understand the allusions in the imperial court, and he encounters an unexpected situation. Although he is good at responding, he is also at a loss and extremely embarrassed. Just as he was about to open his mouth to ask, Xu Yongyi rushed forward, taking the opportunity of supporting him, and said close to him, "Listen to Bao Zhongtang."

Zuo Zongtang, who was so competitive and strong, had to back down a step here. After greeting the three kings briefly, he bowed his hands to Baojun and said, "This is the first time I have a great funeral. Please ask Pei Weng to preside over everything in the military plane." "It's a matter of duty." Before finishing a word, someone came to report, and the gate of Qianqing was opened.So King Dun took the lead and went to the "Neizuo Office" first when entering the Qianqing Gate--the cashier of Zhang Zuo, all passed through here. watch. There are five prescriptions in total, and the last one is marked "You Ke", which was prescribed by Zuo Zongtang after he left the palace, saying that "the six channels will be removed, and the medicine cannot be given."

"What time is Bintian?" King Dun asked. "Xu time." Xu time is eight o'clock in the evening.Zuo Zongtang was thinking in his heart that it was eleven o'clock when he received Xu Yongyi's letter, and he calculated that he would know the news no earlier than ten o'clock, two hours apart. What situation. "My lord!" Xu Yongyi took his sleeve and said, "Please go to the South Study Room." It is customary in the palace that whenever there is a big funeral, the South Study Room on the west side of the Qianqing Gate is used as the "funeral office".Once there, the first thing to do is to take off the crown and the red tassels on the official hats, and then each finds a suitable seat to sit down according to the size of the title and rank.

"It's really unexpected!" King Chun asked Baojun, "We must quickly chase Master Liu back." "Six Lord" refers to Prince Gong, "I have sent someone there." Bao Yun replied, "I will probably be back tomorrow afternoon." "It's better to find someone to ask." King Dun said, "For example, do you have any last words?" "There won't be." Hui Wang said, "Fang Zi at noon has already said 'unclear consciousness', and I can't open my teeth from now on, how can I speak?" Dun Wang was silent, the whole audience was silent, but everyone had a question in their hearts, what is the disease?

"I want to ask what kind of illness is there, but there is really no illness." Xu Yongyi looked around, all the servants were on the corridor, and there was no one else in the living room except Hu Xueyan's personal attendant, Fang Shi whispered, "It was poisoned." As soon as these words came out, Hu Xueyan and Gu Yingchun exchanged glances.It turned out that because Hu Xueyan founded the Huqingyutang medicine name, he was naturally not a layman in medicine and medicine. After reading the five prescriptions copied from the internal affairs office, and inquiring about the situation of the Empress Dowager Ci'an's imperial court the day before, he asked Gu Ying Chun said that the only possible cause of death was poisoning.At this moment, it is confirmed, but I just don't know how to be poisoned.

"The poison is put in the heart of the snacks." Xu Yongyi said, "The Eastern Empress Dowager has the habit of taking a nap. After waking up, she often eats desserts. The Panpine Nut Mincemeat Honey Cake, freshly steamed, is fragrant and sweet, and the Empress Dowager Dong ate three pieces in a row, and within half an hour, she became ill." Hu Xueyan was shocked, "Is it the Queen Mother's poison?" He asked, "Why?" "That's a long story—" The Empress Dowager Cixi has always been brooding about something she can't explain herself, which is why she should be inferior to the Empress Dowager Ci'an, and this rank is no small matter-the queen's mother is all over the world, and her birthday is called "Qianqiu". He was congratulated by the officials outside the palace gate.The imperial concubine who is the first class under the empress not only has this honor, but even her surname is not known to the officials.

The east and west palaces - Ci'an and Cixi are entered by "draft girls". Their family backgrounds are the same.Although the identities were the same at first, when Wen Zongyuan's empress collapsed and became the second empress, Ci'an was chosen, which made Cixi, who was titled "Yi Guifei" at that time, very angry, because Ci'an had no children and she had a son. , and the only prince, if not for her belly, the imperial line of the Qing Dynasty will die from Xianfeng.It can be seen from this that she is a person who has made great contributions to the clan society, and those who have made great achievements are derogated, how can she swallow this tone?

But Wen Zong had another idea, just because she gave birth to a prince, she ruined her hope of being made a queen.It turns out that Cixi's character of being shrewd and capable, striving for power, Wenzong has seen very clearly. He knows that his life is limited. Once he dies, the young master will succeed and the empress will become the empress dowager. Even so, there are still hidden worries, because mothers are more valuable than children, and they will still become queen mothers in the future, and the two palaces will be respected together, while Ci'an is loyal and loyal, and will definitely be bullied.Occasionally, he confides this important matter with his favorite minister Sushun, and Su Shun persuades Wen Zongxing to "Mrs. Gouyi" by the way.

"Madame Gouyi" is the concubine of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.When he was sixty-three years old, Mrs. Gouyi gave birth to a son for him, named Fuling, he was strong and smart, and he was very fond of him.Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was sick in his later years, and his older sons seemed to be of little success. After several considerations, he decided to pass on the throne to his youngest son, Fuling. The situation in the early years of Qin Shihuang should be used as a lesson.Therefore, Mrs. Gouyi was cruelly executed to avoid future troubles. Wenzong also felt that Sushun's suggestion was good, but he lacked the hard heart of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.When he became terminally ill and was about to die, he specially wrote a secret letter with a red pen and handed it over to Ci'an, to the effect that "the West Palace has to respect the queen mother for the sake of helping the mother, but she is definitely not reliable. Believers, even if there is nothing wrong, you should make a decision. If he is safe and has no faults, he should always be full of grace. If his failure is obvious, you can call a group of ministers to declare my words, and immediately die. Avoid future troubles." Not only Zhu Yu, but also verbal instructions, if it is necessary to use this secret decree, how to call a group of officials, how to declare it, and how to be able to have someone intercede for the West Palace, but it must not be moved slightly, it must be decisive and rooted out.Ci'an listened to it with tears in his eyes, and kept Zhu Yu's treasure secret, but never thought in his heart that one day he would get it usefully. Twenty years later, Empress Dowager Cixi was already forty-six years old. At the beginning of February in the sixth year of Guangxu, she suddenly became seriously ill. The cause of the disease was vaguely described in the pulse record, and the prescription prescribed was for prenatal and postpartum treatment. All the ministers were puzzled by the "Siwu Decoction" for various diseases.According to imperial doctors Zhuang Shouhe and Li Deli, it was said to be "blood collapse", but the medicine used for blood collapse was not right for the symptoms. So he issued an order to seek medical treatment.The governor of Zhili recommended Xue Fuchen, Taiwu, Lindao, Wuxi, Shandong, and Zeng Guoquan, the governor of Shanxi, recommended Wang Shouzheng, the magistrate of Yangqu County, Taiyuan Prefecture, Hangzhou. Both of them are descendants of aristocratic families. Ask for the pulse, everyone knows the root of the disease, and they all said that the Empress Dowager Cixi was suffering from "bone steaming", which was actually "labor labor", and she lost too much blood after childbirth, which became the so-called "dried blood tuberculosis" as the saying goes. With the law of peace, the disease is getting better day by day.By the end of the year, there is no danger, just waiting for recuperation. The benevolent Empress Dowager Ci'an is naturally grateful for it.One day—just a few days ago, in the Zhongcui Palace where she lived, she invited Cixi to have a meal and drank wine. According to the news from the court lady who was peeping in private, it is said that Ci'an was really emotional. First of all, he recounted the sufferings of Wenzong's escape to Rehe. Work together to punish powerful officials and turn the crisis into peace.Then he talked about the turbulent winds and waves experienced during the thirteen years of Tongzhi, all kinds of joys and sorrows, to the point of sadness, the two "sisters" shed tears and wiped each other's tears. It seems that Cixi was also moved. So Ci'an said with great emotion: "Our sisters are also old, and the day when we will serve the late emperor again will not be too far away. We have been together for more than 20 years, and we have never had any serious disputes. Of course, we will live peacefully in the future. There is something left by the late emperor. I always thought that I would never need it, but I am afraid that after my death, if someone picks up such a thing, they will suspect that our sisters are reconciled on the surface, but it is not the case in the dark, so not only you I will feel that it is a great hatred, and the late emperor will regret it too much. Such a thing, why not end it today!" After finishing speaking, he took out an envelope from his bosom and handed it to Cixi. When he opened it, Cixi's face changed drastically. "Since it's useless, let's burn it." Ci'an retrieved the original document, lit it on a candle and burned it.Cixi made an expression of weeping with great emotion, and Ci'an had to comfort her in many ways before she could stop her tears. But from then on, as soon as Cixi saw Ci'an, she felt like a thorn in her back, and she was always careful, as if she was afraid that she would not be able to please Ci'an.On this day—three days ago, on the ninth day of March, the Empress Dowager Ci’an finally died on a plate of honey cake with pine nuts and minced fruits.