Chapter 8 Section VII

My life as a commoner began in this sweltering summer.The air in the capital was stagnant, and the passers-by on the streets smelled of sweat along the way under the scorching sun, while the dogs raised by the officials and officials slept peacefully under the eaves, occasionally raising their heads and sticking out their scarlet tongues at strangers.The shops and restaurants were deserted and deserted. Some rebels in black with the number of "Northwest" printed on them passed by from the street corner. I saw Wang Zhaoyang of the Northwest on the jujube horse, and saw the powerful five tiger generals surrounded by his tent. Zhaoyang and his double-ringed black flag.Northwest Wang Zhaoyang has white hair and silver beard, and piercing eyes. He rides his horse through the streets of the capital with a confident and calm expression, as if everything has come true.I know that these people teamed up with Duanwen to overthrow Daxie Palace, but I don't know how they will divide up my Black Panther Dragon Crown, how they will divide up my rich land and rich property.Now Yan Lang and I are dressed in commoner clothes. I am riding on the back of a donkey, looking up at the sky full of white light, and looking around at the scene of war.Yan Lang walks ahead with a purse on his shoulder and a donkey leading him. I follow this loyal servant bestowed by God. He will take me to his hometown in Caishi County. I have no other choice.We left the city through the north gate of the capital, and the area around the gate was heavily guarded, and passers-by were severely questioned and searched by the Northwest soldiers.I saw Yan Lang wrapped two ingots of silver with a piece of silk and stuffed it in the arms of a sergeant, and then the donkey passed through the city gate smoothly.No one recognized my face, who would have thought of a young merchant riding a donkey and using a bamboo hat to hide from the scorching sun, he was the exiled King Xie.On the soil slope five miles north of the capital, I looked back at the Daxie Palace. The splendid and magnificent palace of the emperor has become a yellow outline, everything has become blurred, and everything is drifting away. Mine are just fantastic memories.Walking towards Caishi County means heading towards the southeast of Xie Kingdom. This is exactly the opposite of the route I traveled to the west when I left the palace. The endless plains and dense crowds in the southeast are strange and full of people. Exotic.There are as many fertile fields as there are lands, and as many huts as there are men farming and women weaving. The vast countryside is like a yellow and green curtain on my escape road. I am often separated from the secular folk life. Along a canal, a dirt road or a few miscellaneous trees, they are so close to me, the threshing farmer beats the mature rice on the stone mortar, and at the same time looks at the passers-by on the official road with indifferent and cloudy eyes, The peasant women squatting by the river pond washing yarn wear soap-colored cloth shirts, and their heads are tied up with red cloth strips casually. They crowd on the stone port in groups of three and four, guessing your name in a quick and vulgar way. Identity and whereabouts, sometimes the water splashed from under the mallet splashed on my face.He is a salt merchant.said a woman.

Nonsense, the salt merchants are followed by horses carrying salt, I think he looks like a scholar who failed the exam.said the second woman. Who cares who he is, you put your clothes on, let him drive his way.After the third woman finished speaking, she added, what are you all talking about, I think he must be a sixth-rank official who was dismissed by the court.I have received countless similar judgments on the way to escape, and gradually the discomfort of thorns on my back has disappeared.Sometimes I respond to their unnecessary comments across the river, and I say loudly, I am your king.The peasant women who washed the yarn laughed together, and a sharp voice warned me, be careful that the government will come and chop off your dog's head.Yan Lang and I looked at each other and smiled, and hurriedly patted the donkey and passed by. God knows whether the teasing between me and the peasant woman was a vent of happiness or sadness.

The long journey made me constantly rub shoulders with the secular life. I hated the yellow dusty dirt road leading to Caishi County, hated the dung vats crawling with maggots and flies beside the road, and what I hated more was that I had to Instead of spending the night in filthy inns, bitten by mosquitoes and flies, and eating rough and tasteless meals.On the bamboo mat of a roadside wild shop, I saw three fleas jump out from the cracks in the bamboo mat, and a huge mouse screamed wildly in the hole in the wall. They boldly climbed onto my body, Fearless in beating and intimidating people.

There were many nameless lumps on my limbs, and it was unbearably itchy.Yan Lang used plantain juice to smear the affected area for me every day.This is God's arrangement, and now even the fleas have come to bully me.I laughed at myself bitterly.Yan Lang remained silent, he carefully applied the concoction on my body with a piece of cloth, his movements were gentle and skillful.In fact, you can also bully me now, I grabbed Yan Lang's hand, and asked him with my eyes, I said, why don't you bully me?Yan Lang remained silent, his eyes lit up for a moment, and then became moist. I heard him sigh deeply, it will be fine when he gets home, and His Majesty will not be bullied by these beasts when he gets home.It is hard to forget those nights in the country inn. The tired and exhausted travelers slept soundly on the bamboo mats, the moonlight floated on the countryside outside the wooden window, the summer insects in the grass were chirping, and the frogs in the ditches and rice fields kept making noises. .The summer heat in the eastern part of Xie Kingdom is unstoppable. Even at midnight, the inn built of thatch and mud is still as hot as a steamer. Home, buy land, build a house.Going back to his hometown in Caishi County is undoubtedly Yan Lang's long-cherished wish, so now I am just a package being carried home.Everything is cruelly arranged by God, and now I feel that everyone in the country inn is happier than me, even though I was once the supreme emperor of this country.The location where the trail was cut was thirty miles south of Caishi County.It was getting late at that time, Yan Lang led the donkey to the ditch to drink water, and I sat on the stone by the roadside to rest for a while.On the other side of the ditch is an unfathomably deep oak forest. I suddenly saw a flock of birds and crows flying in the forest, and the sound of horseshoes rolling in from a distance. Where the leaves swayed, I could see five fast horses and Five masked drivers rushed towards Yan Lang and the gray donkey carrying the luggage like lightning.Your Majesty, run quickly, you have encountered a road bandit.I heard Yan Lang screaming in panic. He desperately pushed the donkey to the palace road, but it was too late, and five masked trail cutters had already surrounded him and the donkey.The robbery happened in a short moment. I saw a masked man pick the bag off the donkey's back with the tip of a knife and throw it at another unsaddled companion, because he was facing two weak passers-by , the whole process seems so simple and easy.Immediately afterwards, the masked man approached Yan Lang, and after interrogating Yan Lang in a few words, he tore off Yan Lang's shirt. I heard Yan Lang pleading with them in a desperate and stern voice, but the masked man pulled his clothes from his belt involuntarily. I cut that money purse from the top and my mind went blank and I'm still sitting on the curb and the only reality I know is that they took all my money and now we're penniless up.The five robbers quickly patted their horses and ran into the oak forest, and soon disappeared into the evening mist on the plain.Yan Lang crouched by the ditch and did not move for a long time. I saw his body twitch violently and he was crying.The frightened gray donkey ran aside to pull a pool of loose dung, whining lowly.I pulled Yan Lang up from the mud, Yan Lang's face was mixed with mud and tears, looking devastated.

How can I have the face to go home without money?Yan Lang suddenly raised his palm and slapped himself left and right. He said, I really deserve to die. I thought Your Majesty was still His Majesty. I thought I was still some kind of eunuch in charge. How could I carry all my money with me?How can you bring it if you don’t have it on your body?There is only one donkey, only one luggage, and only a few commoner shirts.I looked back and looked around the plain. Before, I only knew that there were many bandits in the dangerous mountains and rivers. I had never heard that there were people on the official roads in the plain who were engaged in the business of killing people and stealing goods.I know that Xie people are poor and hungry, and people who are poor and crazy can do things like killing people and stealing goods, but why didn't I guard against them, why did I just watch my life savings flow into the hands of robbers?Yan Lang covered his face and wept bitterly. He staggered and ran towards the donkey, stroking the empty back of the donkey with his hands. There was nothing left. He said, what should I use to honor my parents, what should I use to buy a house and land, and what should I use to serve His Majesty ?The blow of being robbed was just worse for me, but it was a fatal blow for Yan Lang.I didn't know how to comfort him. In a trance, I saw the donkey's hoof stepping on a volume of books. The pages of the book were scattered, and some parts were stained with dark green donkey dung.It was hurriedly collected before leaving the Daxie Palace. It seems that it was thrown out of the gold, silver and jewelry by the robbers. Now it is the only property I survived.I slowly picked up that volume, knowing that it would be of no practical value to my future life as a commoner, but I knew it was another kind of providence, and I had to carry it with me to continue my exile.In the evening, the sky was gloomy, with dark clouds hanging over the low and dense residential buildings in Caishi County. The heavy rain was about to fall, and some hawkers with baskets of vegetables and fruits on their shoulders were rushing here and there in the market.We returned to Yanlang’s hometown with nothing to wash, covered in ashes, and someone recognized Yanlang near Baitie City. A woman with a rice bowl was looking at the donkey’s back under the eaves of the door, pointing at Yanlang with wooden chopsticks, Mixed with some low-pitched discussion.what are they talking about youI asked Yan Lang, who was leading the donkey, and Yan Lang replied with an embarrassed face. They said why the donkey's back was empty, and why they brought a white-faced boy home. They didn't seem to know what happened in the capital.Yan Lang's home is actually a noisy and crowded iron workshop.A few naked blacksmiths were busy by the fire, sweating profusely, and the heat from the workshop made people cringe.Yan Lang went straight to a hunchbacked old blacksmith who was busy with tempering, and knelt down. The old blacksmith was deeply at a loss. He obviously didn't recognize his son who had been away from home for many years. The tongs in the middle helped Yan Lang up, and he said, does the guest officer want to use a sharp sword?

Dad, it's Yan Lang, the boy, it's Yan Lang who has come home.I heard Yan Lang choking, everyone in the iron workshop put down their work and rushed to Yan Lang's side.The curtains in the back room were violently rolled up, and a woman came out with her breasts half open, holding a breastfeeding baby in her arms, shouting ecstatically, did Yan Lang come home?Is my son Yanlang coming home?You are not Yan Lang, my son Yan Lang served the emperor in the Daxie Palace, and now he has flourished, eating rare birds and delicacies, and wearing silk and satin.The old blacksmith looked at Yan Lang at his feet, with a disdainful smile on his face, he said, guest officer, don’t lie to me, you are dressed in rags and have a bad face, how could you be my son Yan Lang?Dad, I'm really Yan Lang, if you don't believe me, look at the red birthmark on my belly.Yan Lang lifted the cloth shirt, turned to his mother and kowtowed, he said, mother, you should know this red birthmark, I am really your child Yan Lang.

No, there are many people with red birthmarks on their bellies.The old blacksmith still shook his head stubbornly. I don't believe you are Yan Lang. If you want to use a hidden weapon to kill people, I will agree. But I can't let you fake my son's reputation. You'd better go away as soon as possible. .As the old blacksmith spoke, he picked up a broad axe. He kicked Yan Lang and roared angrily, "Go away, don't let me end your dog's life with an axe." I stood at the door of the opposite shop, watching an unexpected scene in the iron workshop across the street.Yan Lang knelt on the ground and wept uncontrollably. I saw him suddenly take off his trousers and shouted frantically, "Father, look at this. You eunuched me with a hot knife. Now you should believe that I am Yan Lang."

Immediately afterwards, there was a desolate moment when the blacksmith couple and Yan Lang hugged each other and wept bitterly. The sound of forging iron in those iron workshops in Baitie City stopped abruptly. Every detail of the reunion.The father of the blacksmith wept, looked up to the sky and sighed, saying that you would return home with rich clothes, buy land and build a house, build graves and temples, who would have thought that you would come back empty-handed.The old blacksmith wiped his cloudy and red eyes and walked back to the big anvil. While picking up the interrupted work, he said, what should we do in the future?A useless person who can't carry it on his shoulders or lift it with his hands can only rely on his father to support you in the future.No one noticed my existence. When I stood outside the door waiting for Yan Lang to call, the rain finally poured down. A cloud of muddy-smelling dust rose from the yellow mud road in Baitie City, and fine rain rang on the iron farm tools piled up in the open air. Voice.The raindrops hit my face and the cloth shirt, and I ran from one eave to the other, bringing an umbrella, quickly bringing an umbrella.I habitually yelled at the crowd around me, and those people looked at me with curious and inexplicable astonishment. They probably thought I was a lunatic.In the end, it was still Yan Lang who helped me cross the street in the rain. Yan Lang’s house didn’t have an umbrella, so he brought a large black pot lid in a hurry, so I walked into the ironware with the pot lid on my head. workshop.The craftsmen in the workshop all call me Mr. Liu.All the people in Baitie City, including Yan Lang's parents, had a lot of speculation and discussions about my origin, but they all followed Yan Lang and called me Mr. Liu.I don't think people will believe Yan Lang's statement that I came here to escape the marriage contract, but my real identity is beyond the imagination of these ordinary people.Every morning when I wake up to the sound of wrought iron, I don’t know where I am. Sometimes I can vaguely see the five furnace windows of Qingxiu Hall, and sometimes I feel that I am still walking eastward on the back of a donkey. Old and new iron farm implements.Only then did I know that the rope of fate has drawn me to this poor and busy common people's family.Through the wooden window, Yan Lang could be seen squatting by the well platform in the backyard to wash clothes, and the tub was full of sweat-soaked clothes and pants.In the first few days when I arrived at the ironware workshop, Yan Lang's mother washed the clothes, but later she threw my clothes out of the tub, and the woman's sharp voice of pointing and cursing made me feel like I was sitting on pins and needles.What am I still doing here?I looked at Yan Lang desperately and angrily and said, you brought me all the way to your house just to let me be insulted by a woman with a poisonous tongue?It's all my fault for giving the money to the robbers. If the money hadn't been lost, my mother wouldn't have been so rude to His Majesty.Yan Lang still beat his chest and feet when he mentioned the robbery. He always believed that it was the root of our embarrassing situation.Yan Lang's fair and plump face has become thin and yellow after a difficult journey. The blank and helpless expression reminds me of the eight-year-old eunuch who first entered Xie Palace many years ago.Yan Lang comforted me with kind words, he said, Your Majesty, for my sake, don't bother with my mother.She worked from morning till night, taking care of my younger siblings, she was expecting me to make a fortune in the palace and return home with a fine clothes, but she didn't expect that I would go home penniless and bring back a mouth to eat.She has resentment, she should have resentment.Yan Lang was holding a bowl of millet porridge, his face twitched in pain, I saw his body and hands shaking suddenly, the porridge bowl knocked over with a bang, God, what should I do now?Yan Lang covered his face and wept, don't you know that I'm just an eunuch, just an incompetent, winking, unmasculine eunuch, I will do my best when His Majesty is in power, and I will still accompany you when His Majesty is unlucky, old man God, what else can I do?

Yan Lang's words and deeds are beyond my expectation, and I am indeed used to using him as a tool.I almost forgot that his loyalty to me was based on a habit or an instinct, and I forgot that Yan Lang was an intelligent child from the common people.I looked at Yan Lang with complicated compassion, thinking of the unspeakable affection I had formed with him over the years, it was like a variegated ribbon, full of mutual trust, mutual use, mutual alliance, and perhaps mutual The color of admiration, which once bound an emperor and a eunuch together.Now I am soberly aware that this ribbon is on the verge of snapping.My heart felt like being stabbed by a sharp weapon.It's hard for you, Yan Lang.Now I am like you, a commoner with no hope of future.You don't need to follow me and take care of me like you used to.Maybe it's time for me to learn to be a commoner, and it's time for me to get on the road again.Where does His Majesty want to go?How did you forget to go to the juggling troupe, to learn from a teacher?No, that was just a joke, how could the majestic body of the Son of Heaven be mixed in with the troupe of entertainers?If your Majesty must go on the road, go to Tianzhou to join the Nanfan King, or go to Mrs. Meng's brother Meng Guojiu's house.

It is God's will that I have no face to go back to the prince's and noble's house. God told me to take off my dragon robe and walk the rope.From the moment I left the palace wall, I decided that the sideshow troupe would be my final destination.But we haven't seen any juggling troupe along the way, and the whereabouts of the entertainers are erratic. Where can His Majesty find them? Going south, or southwest perhaps, I could always find them if I followed my fate.It seems that I can no longer keep His Majesty, so I can only follow His Majesty on the road again.Yan Lang sighed, turned around and went to the corner of the house to pack things. He said, it’s time to pack our bags now, and we have to borrow money for the road; I think we should go to Uncle Meng’s house to borrow money. The richest account in the world.Nothing is needed.Don't go to the Meng Mansion to borrow money, and don't want you to follow me anymore, let me go on the road alone, let me live the life of a real commoner, and I will survive.Your Majesty, you want me to stay at home?Yan Lang looked at me with a panicked look, Your Majesty, are you blaming me for not taking good care of me?Yan Lang whimpered again, and I saw him kneeling down limply, his palms beating a piece of metal, but how could I stay at home for a long time?If I were a real man, I could marry a wife, have children, start a family, and start a business. If I had a lot of money, I could buy land, build a house and use my servants. I could stay at home, but I have nothing now. Yan Lang walked over and hugged my knees , He raised his tearful face and said, Your Majesty, I don't want to stay at home and rely on my parents to support me, and I don't want to go to the road to suffer from the evil ways of the world, but I want to be by Your Majesty's side forever, and I hope that one day His Majesty will regain his glory , since this thought has come to naught, then Yan Lang has no choice but to die.

I saw Yan Lang staggering out of the bedroom, running through the busy steaming iron workshop to the market.Yan Lang's father shouted from behind, why are you running?Are you rushing to the underworld?Yan Lang said while running, that's where I should go, I should go there.I ran out of the workshop with the blacksmiths and chased Yan Lang until we reached the river.Yan Lang jumped into the water from the heads of a group of laundry women, the water splashed high, and the crowd on the shore screamed wildly.I saw the scene of Yan Lang struggling and howling in the water. The blacksmiths jumped into the water one after another, fished him into a laundry tub like a fish, and then silently pushed the wooden tub ashore. Yan Lang's blacksmith father held his drowning son in his arms, his old purple face steeped in grief.Poor child, is it all my fault?The old blacksmith muttered to himself, he turned Yan Lang over his shoulders, pushed away the onlookers and walked towards the workshop, he said, what are you looking at?You want to see my son's ××, right?If you want to see it, you can take a look at his pants, it's nothing rare.The old blacksmith slapped Yan Lang's back with his fist as he walked, and a stream of water dripped from Yan Lang's mouth, dripping along the road. Someone next to him said that the little eunuch had come back to life.The old blacksmith still used his method to slap his son and walked home. When he came to me, he stopped, and he stared at me with a hostile look. Who are you?The old blacksmith said, is my son your woman?The thing about the two of you really sickens me.I don't know how to think about Yan Lang's woman-like pursuit of death and life. Sometimes I also feel that the relationship between us has a disgusting side. It conforms to the logic of Daxie Palace, but it is in Baitie City in Caishi County. It is inappropriate and even contemptible. I don't know how to explain the cause and effect of the matter to the blacksmiths. I just hope that Yan Lang will not die just like this.Yan Lang has been lying on the straw mat since then, and his mother covered his shame with a baby's red bib. I watched Yan Lang vomit the accumulated water in his stomach and slowly wake up. His first words when he woke up were: Yes, I'm so pitiful, I'm so humble, what the hell am I?Taking advantage of the chaotic atmosphere of the iron workshop, I quietly climbed out through the rear window.Outside the window is a dead-end alley in Baitie City, full of firewood and rusty agricultural tools. In the pile of agricultural tools, I saw a sharp small awl knife. I don’t know who hid it here or was discarded by the workshop. I took it out. The small awl knife was stuck in the waistband of his trousers, and when he walked to the market, Yan Lang's voice of complaining was still echoing in his ears, what the hell am I?Yan Lang seems to be born with pitifulness and lowliness, so what am I compared with Yan Lang?Perhaps only the academicians of the Imperial Academy can make it clear.I was wandering in the streets of Caishi County looking for a pawnshop. The character tester on the street told me that there was no pawnshop in this county. He asked me what kind of treasure I was going to pawn. The one eye of Jianren* lit up in an instant, he grabbed my hand and said, where did the young master's rare gem come from?family tradition.My grandfather passed it on to my father, and my father passed it on to me. I asked calmly, do you want to buy this precious jade? Most of the beautiful leopard-shaped jades come from the royal palace in the capital, probably the young master stole it from the palace, right?Mr. Alphabet still held my hand tightly, testing my reaction with one eye.Stolen?I laughed helplessly, probably it was stolen, and the stolen thing can be sold to you cheaply, do you want to buy this piece of precious jade? How much do you want to sell it for?Not much, just enough for my expenses all the way. Where does the son want to go?I don't know, I'll have to go and see, I'm looking for a juggling troupe from the south.Have you ever seen them pass by? Sideshow troupe?Is the young master a showman?Mr. Jizi let go of my hand, walked around me, and said suspiciously, you are not a busker, why do I see an imperial air in you? That was my previous life, can't you see that I am eager to sell this piece of precious jade in exchange for money on the road?I looked down at Mr. Cezi's cash box. There was not much money in the box, but it was probably enough for me to use on the road for a few days, so I took off the Xie Palace treasure that I had been wearing since I was a child, and put it in a pile of hexagrams. sign on.Sell ​​it to you, I said to the word tester, I only need this much money. Mr. Alphabet helped me pour the silver from the box into the empty purse. When I hurriedly left the stall with the purse on my back, I heard Mr. Alphabet’s shocking voice from behind, I know who you are, he said , You are the deposed King Xie.I was taken aback by the miraculous identification ability of Mr. Tester. As the folk saying goes, there are many strange people who quarry stones since ancient times.I have to believe that this place in Caishi County is indeed different. Among the Caishi people, there are not only the mother and queen Mrs. Meng who have the right to spend a while, but also the concubines who gather in Danchi, and there is also such a master who predicts things like a god. .I realized it wasn't good news for me and I had to get out of this dangerous place as soon as possible. On that day, the streets of Caishi County were filled with an abnormal atmosphere of turmoil. People in the market were in a panic, and horses and horses were rushing here and there. A group of purple-clothed soldiers poured out of the county government office like a tide, and went straight to Shizi Street in the northeast corner of the county.At first I subconsciously hid by the side of the road, lest the actions of the soldiers were aimed at me, lest Mr. Zizi would bring me to death.After the soldiers passed by, I heard someone yelling in an ecstatic voice, go to Uncle Meng's house, the whole house will be ransacked and beheaded.I was finally relieved and a little ashamed at the same time.I think there is nothing to be afraid of a king who lives in a different place and sells jade by pawn.I put on a bamboo hat and walked under the scorching sun in the afternoon, when I suddenly remembered that Uncle Meng Guo, who was about to suffer a catastrophe, was actually my direct relative.I know that the Meng Mansion in Caishi County was once prominent under the protection of Mrs. Meng. There are many Xie Palace treasures hidden in the Meng Mansion, which were smuggled by Mrs. Meng in three large ships.When I first arrived at the quarry, I was ashamed to visit Uncle Meng Guo, but now a strange and gloomy mood forces me to follow behind the group of purple-clothed soldiers, and I want to see how Duanwen and Xiwang Zhaoming move forward Xingshi asked the crime.The gates of the Meng Mansion were heavily fortified, and soldiers blocked the exits on both sides of the street. I could only stand in front of the teahouse at the intersection of Shizijie, among a group of men drinking afternoon tea, and look towards the Meng Mansion.The shrill cries of women in the high-walled courtyard could be heard from a distance, and some people were being pushed out of the Zhumen Qingshi one after another, and they were already in wooden shackles.Among the tea guests crowded in front of the teahouse, some clapped their hands and shouted repeatedly, this time the hatred is relieved, this time the quarry boundary is peaceful.I was surprised by the tea guest's gloating words and deeds, and I asked him, why do you hate Uncle Meng Guo so much?The tea guest was also surprised by my question. He said, the young master asked a strange question. Uncle Meng Guo used the brains of babies to nourish his body every winter in Yurou Township. Who knows who in Caishi County and who doesn’t hate it?I was silent for a while and then asked the tea guest, will the quarrying world really be peaceful after killing Uncle Meng Guo?The tea guest said, so who knows?After driving away the tigers, there will be evil wolves again, but the common people can't control much, this is the way of the world, the rich hope that the poor will die poor, the poor have no choice but to count on the rich to die violently.I was speechless, and in order not to let the tea guests find out my embarrassment, I turned my gaze to the team of the Meng family who was rushing to the execution ground in a state of embarrassment.That was the second time in my life that I saw my uncle Meng Degui. The first time was at my wedding celebration with Mrs. Peng. It turned out to be such a situation when we met again before, and I couldn't help feeling sad, and quietly slipped behind the window of the teahouse to watch Meng Degui pass by.There was a white light of despair and anger in his eyes, and his complexion was haggard and dull, except for his fat figure, which was reminiscent of a baby's brain.Someone spit on Meng Degui's body, and Meng Degui's face was soon covered with everyone's saliva. I saw his head turning in vain in the wooden shackle, trying to find those who spit. Hearing his last scream of helplessness, don't make trouble, I can't die, and no one who spits can escape.You wait for me to come back and suck your brains dry. The commotion on the cross street gradually subsided, and the tea drinkers returned to the teahouse one after another, and the waiter refilled the pot with freshly boiled hot water.I am still standing at the window, reflecting on the nightmare reality that has just passed away.Poor, poor ups and downs of life and death.Half of my emotions point to the Meng family who went to the execution ground, and the other half is undoubtedly the expression of my heart.The heat in the teahouse merged with the sweat of the tea drinkers, and a female cat sneaked away from my feet with a dead mouse in its mouth.In such a noisy and murderous street teahouse, on such a hot and bloody summer afternoon, I was eager to leave the teahouse and the resentful customers inside, but suddenly my legs couldn’t move, and my whole body and mind were floating feebly like a ball of cotton In the stale air of the teahouse, I suspected that my fever was about to strike again, so I sat down on the low stool beside me and prayed to the Holy Spirit of the late emperor to protect my body and prevent me from falling ill on the way to escape .The little dwarf-like fellow ran up to me and brought an oily teapot.I shook my head at him. On such a hot day, I couldn't swallow the greasy tea into my stomach like the local tea drinkers.The short guy looked at my face and put his hand on my forehead. The young master is having a fever. He said, it’s a coincidence that the hot tea from Mei’s teahouse is specially used to cure convulsions and fever. The young master drank three pots of Mei’s tea. Tea keeps you safe from illness.I couldn't be bothered to talk to the smooth-tongued chap, so I nodded again, thinking I just needed a break, so I'd have to pay a dime in my purse for a pot of tea.I have never had the experience of dealing with secular people before, but I know that they will gather around me like flies in the future. Row?This is also a problem for me, because I have left my loyal servant Yan Lang in the iron workshop.I fell asleep on the white wooden square table by the window.I hate that group of men who drink hot tea in the hot summer.I hope they don't tell those infidelity stories anymore, don't laugh out loud, don't mock the doomed Meng family with vicious words, and don't smell of sweat and feet, but I know it's not in the old days of Daxie Palace , I have to live with everything.Later, I vaguely heard some foreign visitors talking about the turbulent political situation in the capital. They mentioned the names of Duanwen and Zhaoyang, and talked about the recent firefight in Daxie Palace.I was very surprised to hear the news that Xi Wang Zhaoyang was executed. The old can't fight the young, so Duanwen chopped off Zhaoyang's head in front of the Fanxin Hall, and he proclaimed his enthronement the same day.said a tea drinker. Duanwen has tried his best for many years for the black leopard dragon crown, and now the bridge will be demolished when he crosses the river. He will not wear the same crown with Zhaoyang. This move is not what I expected.Another tea guest said, in my opinion, Zhaoyang is old-fashioned and foolish, his fame was ruined in one life, and he died with a big black pot that could not be washed away. I straightened up and looked at the faces of the tea guests who were beaming or worried about the country and the people, judging the authenticity of the news in my heart, and then I heard them mention me, how is King Xie now?asked the little fellow.What can I do?The businessman from the capital said.He was also decapitated, died, died in Yuhe.The merchant stood up and wiped his neck with the back of his hand, making a gesture of falling his head. I was taken aback again, the symptoms of the fever suddenly disappeared at this moment, I grabbed the bag on the ground and rushed out of the Meijia teahouse, and ran all the way to the gate of the county seat in the distance.I feel that the scorching sun above my head is shining white, and the passers-by in the market are flying away like birds. This world no longer belongs to me, and what it has vacated for me is a scorching white road to escape. In July, I wore a pair of tattered straw sandals and traveled through the hinterland of Xie Kingdom. I passed through the four counties of Bai, Yun, Mo, Zhu, Lian, Xiang, and Lotus.In fact, I chose this escape route to enjoy the scenery of Xiezhong, which is constantly praised by literati. In those nights, I spread ink and recited poems under the soybean oil lamp in the inn, leaving more than ten poems behind. A sentimental and sad work, the final collection is "Sorrowful Journey Notes".I think this kind of poetic interest seems ridiculous and unreasonable, but apart from a tattered volume, there are only tears and poems to pass the night of the journey.At the edge of a clear pond in the countryside of Lian County, I saw my face fluctuate, sway, and deform on the water. I couldn't believe my dark farmer-like complexion and the solemn expression of a passer-by. real commoners.I tried to smile at the pond, the face on the water looked weird and ugly, and then I approached the water with a mournful face, that face became extremely ugly in an instant, I closed my eyes subconsciously, and walked away from the mirror like pond. On the road, people kept asking, where is the guest officer going? Go to Pinzhou.I say.Are you going to sell silk in Pinzhou?Not selling silk, but selling people, I said, selling myself.From the plains in the east to the hills in the west, you can meet disaster victims who have left their homes and homes everywhere on the way to Pinzhou.They escaped from the flood in the southwest, or blindly moved south from the arid northern mountainous area, looking for new places to live along the way. , the children frantically snatched the sweet potatoes from their mothers, and the skinny old men were lying on the muddy floor, some snoring like thunder, while others were cursing their relatives loudly.I saw a strong man dump the basket on his shoulders on the road, it was a pile of wet withered yellow cotton, and he spread the wet cotton evenly with a wooden branch, probably trying to dry the cotton in the scorching sun.What is the use of these cottons in such a hot day?I skipped over the cotton pad and accidentally asked the man, is the flood in your Yu County really terrible?All were washed away by the flood, and after a year of hard work, only this basket of cotton was picked up.The man flipped through the wet cotton numbly, he glanced at me, and suddenly grabbed a bunch of cotton and presented it to me, what a good cotton, what a nice cotton if it dries, he forced the bunch of cotton into my hand Here, I yelled at me, buy this basket of cotton, just give me a copper coin, no, just give my child a few pieces of dry food, please buy this basket of cotton. What do I need these cotton for?I pushed away the strong man's hand with a wry smile, and said, I am fleeing just like you. The strong man still stopped me, he looked towards the woods not far away, and then made another amazing request, the guest officer wants to buy a child, he said, I have five children, three boys and two girls, you spend You can pick one out of eight copper coins, other people's children want nine copper coins, I only want you eight. No, I don't want kids, I want to sell myself to a juggling class, how can I buy your kids?I clutched the purse on my shoulders and ran away, and I heard the man's disappointed and rude yelling for a long way.For me, this is almost an adventure. Someone actually sells a son and a daughter for eight steel plates. I feel that the entire Xie Kingdom has fallen into a crazy situation.The man's desperate and frenzied thin face has been etched in my memory ever since.香县小城在燮国历史上一直是著名的声色犬马之地。即使是动荡的灾难年月，小城的妓寮歌楼里仍然红灯高挂，弦乐笙箫此起彼伏。走在狭窄的挤满行人车马的石板路上，可以闻见闷热的空气里弥漫着脂粉气息，浓妆艳抹的风尘女子就靠在临街的楼栏上，吟唱民间小调或者嘻嘻傻笑，向楼下每一个东张西望的男子卖弄风情。傍晚的香县街巷里充满了纵情狂欢的气氛，拉皮条的男子在路口守候着富户子弟，在空闲的时候他们跑回来，驱赶那些睡在妓楼门前的乞丐和逃荒的灾民。你们可真会挑地方睡。他们的声音听上去是快乐而滑稽的。有人从车马上下来，挑挑拣拣地摘走某只写有人名的灯笼，然后提着灯笼往楼上走，然后在一片轻歌曼舞中响起鸨母夸张的喜悦的喊声，宝花儿，来客啦。我知道我不应该绕道十里来这儿投宿，到香县的低等青楼来重温燮宫艳梦是可笑而可悲的，也是不合时宜的。但我的脚步却急迫地在香县街头踯躅，希望寻觅一个廉价而柔美的梦床。假如我知道会有这段令人伤心的邂逅巧遇，我决不会绕道十里投宿香县，但我恰恰来了，恰恰走进了凤娇楼。我想这是上苍对我最严厉的嘲弄和惩罚。 我听见一扇房门在身后吱呀呀地打开了，一个歌妓探出美艳的涂满胭脂的脸，眼睛直直地盯着我看，她说，陛下认不出我了吗？来吧，到房里来，你好好看看我是谁。我记得我大叫了一声，我想朝楼下跑，但我的钱褡被她从后面拽住了，别跑陛下，我不是鬼，她说，你来吧，我会像在大燮宫一样伺候你，不要你一文钱的。 她是蕙妃，她真的是我魂牵梦萦的蕙妃。你在楼下转悠那会儿我就认出你了，我只是不敢相信，我想你如果上楼来，你就是我的陛下，如果你走了，就只是一个貌似陛下的过路客，可是你真的上楼了，我相信我昨天做的梦应验了。陛下真的到凤娇楼来了。 这不是真的，是一场恶梦。我抱住沦为娼妓的蕙妃大声呜咽起来，我想说什么喉咙却被一种巨大的悲哀堵住了，无法用语言述说，蕙妃用丝帕不停地擦拭我脸上的泪水，她没有哭，嘴角上浮现的若有若无的微笑令我惶惑。我知道你为什么哭。蕙妃说，当初彭后把我逼出大燮宫，现在端文把你赶出了大燮宫，我离宫时眼泪早已流干，陛下现在不该再惹我伤心了。 我止住哭泣，于泪眼朦胧中打量着怀中的女子，这样鬼使神差的相遇，这样天摇地动的巧合，我仍然怀疑身处恶梦之中。我拉开蕙妃的水绿色小褂，找到了后背上那颗熟悉的红痣，这时候我突然想起一个令人不解的问题，你应该在连州的尼姑庵里颂佛修行，我用双掌托起蕙妃的脸部，朝左边晃了晃，又朝右边晃了晃，大声问道，你怎么会在这里卖笑卖身呢？我在庵堂里睡了七天，到第八天怎么也睡不着，睡不着就跑出来了。Why run?为什么要跑到这种地方来呢？到这里来等陛下再度宠幸。蕙妃突然猛力甩开了我的手，现在她的脸上出现了一种讥嘲的冷笑。都说燮王正往彭国逃亡，都说燮王要去彭国求兵返宫，谁会想到一个亡国之君还有这分雅兴到妓馆青楼来寻欢？蕙妃走到梳妆台前，对着铜镜往脸上扑打粉霜，她说，我是个不知羞耻的女子，可是看遍宫里宫外世上男女，又有谁知道羞耻呢？ 我的双手茫然地滞留在半空，感到一种致命的虚弱。蕙妃的反诘使我哑口无言。在难耐的沉默中，我听见门外有人活动，一只盛满热水的木盆被谁从门缝里推了进来。九姑娘，天快黑啦，要掌灯啦。外面大概是鸨母在喊。她在对谁说话？我问蕙妃。 我，我就是九姑娘。蕙妃懒懒地站起来走到门边。我看见她朝门外探出半个身子。不着急，蕙妃说，挑起蓝灯笼吧，客人要在这里过夜。 两年后问世的《燮宫秘史》对我和蕙妃相遇凤娇楼的事件作了诸多夸张和失实的描写，书中记载的痴男怨女悲欢离情只是无聊文人的想像和虚构，事实上我们劫后相遇时很快变得非常冷静，互相之间有一种隐隐的敌意，正是这种敌意导致我后来不告而别，悄然离开了沦为娼妓的蕙妃和乌烟瘴气的凤娇楼。我在凤娇楼羁留的三天，楼前始终挂着谢绝来客的蓝灯笼。鸨母明显不知道蕙妃从前的身分，更不知道我是一个流亡的帝王，她从蕙妃手上接过了数量可观的包金，于是对我的富商身分坚信不疑。我知道蕙妃用了青楼中最忌讳的倒补方法，才得以使我在这一掷千金的地方洗去路上的风尘。问题最终出在我的身上，一番云雨缱绻过后我对身旁的这个丰腴而白皙的肉体半信半疑，我总是能在蕙妃身上发现别的男子留下的气味和阴影。它几乎让我痛苦得发狂。而且蕙妃的作爱方式较之宫中也发生了根本的变化，我想是那些粗俗下流的嫖客改变了这个温情似水的品州女孩，曾经在御河边仿鸟飞奔的美丽动人的女孩，如今真的像飞鸟似的一去不返，留下的只是一具沦落的隐隐发臭的躯壳。记得第三个夜晚月光皎洁，窗外青楼密集的街巷已经阒寂无声，绣床上的蕙妃也进入了梦乡。我轻轻抽掉了蕙妃手中的红罗帕，就在香县夏夜的月光下，就在那块红罗帕上，我为蕙妃写下了最后一首赠别诗，留在她的枕边。我记不清这一生写了多少秾词艳诗，但这也许是最为伤感的一阕悲音，也许将是我一生最后一次舞文弄墨了。 《燮宫秘史》把我描绘成一个倚靠弃妃卖笑钱度日的无能废君，而事实上我只是在香县停留了三天，事实上我是去品州城寻找一家杂耍班子的。 旅途上总是可见飞鸟野禽，它们在我的头顶上盘旋，在路边的水田里啄食尚未成熟的稻谷，甚至有一只黄雀大胆地栖落在我的行囊上，从容不迫留下了一粒灰白的粪便。我少年时代迷恋蟋蟀，青年时代最喜爱的生灵就是这些自由驰骋于天空的飞鸟。我可以叫出二十余种鸟类的名字，可以鉴别和模仿它们各自的啼鸣之声，寂寞长旅中我遇见过无数跟我一样独自行路的学子商贾，我从不与他们交谈，但我经常在空寂的尘道上尝试与鸟类的通灵和谈话。 亡......亡。我朝着空中的飞鸟呐喊。 亡......亡......亡。鸟群的回应很快覆盖了我的声音。对于鸟类的观察使我追寻杂耍班子的欲望更加强烈，我发现自己崇尚鸟类而鄙视天空下的芸芸众生，在我看来最接近于飞鸟的生活方式莫过于神奇的走索绝艺了，一条棕绳横亘于高空之中，一个人像云朵一样升起来，像云朵一样行走于棕绳之上，我想一个走索艺人就是一只真正的自由的飞鸟。临近品州城郊，我察觉到周围的村庄笼罩看一种异样的气氛，白色的丧幡随处可见，吹鼓手们弄出的杂乱尖锐的音乐远远地传到官道上，昔日车水马龙的品州官道行人寥寥，这也加深了我的疑虑。我所想到的第一个灾祸是战争，也许是新登基的端文和西王昭阳的旧属所进行的反戈之战。但是出现在我视线尽头的品州城毫无战争迹象，落日余辉下城池宁静肃然，青灰色的民居、土黄色的寺庙和高耸入云的九层宝塔仍然在夏日蒸腾神秘的氤氲之气。 有一个少年举着长长的竹竿围着几棵老树转悠，我看见他将竹竿举高了对准树上的鸟巢，人疯狂地跳起来，嘴里骂着脏话，一只用草枝垒成的鸟巢纷纷扬扬地坠落下来，紧接着少年又捣下了一只，他开始用竹竿把巢里的东西挑起来，我看见一堆破碎的鸟蛋落在土路上，更远的地方则是一只羽毛脱落肚腹鼓胀的死鸟。少年的古怪的举动引起了我的注意，我跳过沟壕朝他跑过去，我发现少年停止了动作，他睁大惊恐的眼睛注视我，手里的竹竿调转方向朝我瞄准。别过来，你身上有瘟疫吗？少年向我喊叫着。什么瘟疫？我茫然不解地站住，朝身上看了看，我说，我怎么会有瘟疫？我是想问你这里到底发生了什么事？你为什么平白无故地去捣毁鸟巢？难道你不认为鸟是最伟大的生灵吗？我恨这些鸟。少年继续用竹竿挑鸟巢里剩余的东西，是一摊风干的碎肉和一截发黑的不知是哪种牲畜的肠子，少年边挑边说，就是它们传播了品州城里的瘟疫，我娘说就是这些鸟把瘟疫带到村里，害了爹和二哥的性命。直到此时我才知道品州城的灾难是一场特大的瘟疫。我怔然站立在少年面前久久无言，回首再望远处的品州城，似乎隐约看见了无数丧幡的白影，现在我意识到城池上空神秘的氤氲其实是一片灾难之光。