Chapter 2: The Northern Old Man Knows His Ambush 2. Purification
Ten years ago, when Wang Liang replaced Ouyang Xu as the governor of Henan, he saw that the Luoshui River was silted up and shallow, making it inconvenient for boats to travel, so he dug a canal to divert water to Luoyang City. However, after the canal was dug, the water did not flow in. After the canal failed, Wang Liang was impeached in the seventh year of Jianwu. At that time, Liu Xiu, remembering his past merits, released him to Jinan as a governor.
In the 13th year of Jianwu, meritorious officials were rewarded with additional fiefs, and Wang Liang was on the list. He was granted the title of Marquis of Fucheng, but just one year later, he died in office.
Today, the Luo River still flows, but the old friends are no longer around.
No wonder Liu Xiu sighed with emotion, because too many of his old friends and companions had left. Life is unpredictable. In recent years, Liu Xiu has been busy with government affairs and often can't sleep at night. When he was young, he relied on his good health to fight on the battlefield. Now, as he gets older, his physical condition has declined particularly severely. The imperial physician also explained some ways to keep healthy to him, but I understand that Liu Xiu can't calm down no matter what.
He is kind-hearted, but that doesn't mean he is not scheming. At this critical juncture, the things he thinks about all day are probably more exhausting than before.
After Wang Liang died last year, the angina pectoris that had not occurred for many years suddenly struck again. I was thinking about the past and couldn't help feeling depressed. So Liu Xiu recruited Chen Jun, Zang Gong, Zhu Hu and others back to the capital in the name of "receiving court orders".
After Zhu Hu returned to Beijing, Liu Xiu gave him a stone of white honey, recalling the past when they were students at the Imperial College in Chang'an and made honey to make medicine. The next day, Zhu Hu handed over the seal of the general.
“Mother—mother—come and play too!”
The Luo River is vast. Liu Jing, barefoot, plays in the water with Liu Yang, Liu Cang, Hong Fu and others.
I came back to my senses, smiled faintly, and waved at them.
The annual Shangsi Festival coincided with the reunion of old friends. Liu Xiu was in high spirits and brought all the civil and military officials, dukes and marquises to the Luo River for purification. This late spring purification caused an unprecedented sensation, and almost all the nobles in the capital came out. On the banks of the Luo River, red curtains were connected, shining in the fields and reflecting the clouds. This feast was no less spectacular than the one two years ago when the military power was revoked.
"What are you thinking about?" The umbrella blocked out the sun, I looked up, and his smile under the canopy was filled with an undisguised haggardness.
He sat down next to me. As there were eunuchs beside me, I stood up according to etiquette but was held down by him.
"Sit still." He didn't let me get up. He waved his hand and sent the group of servants back ten feet away.
The river water was clear and I could smell a fresh and familiar fragrance. I couldn't help but giggle.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Xiu'er, don't you think you are more suitable to be a businessman?"
"Hmm?" He narrowed his eyes.
"A stone of white honey in exchange for a general's seal..."
He suddenly stood up and left. I saw him walk to a willow tree and start peeling willow branches.
I didn't move, still sitting quietly in the same place. After a while, I was looking down in a daze, and suddenly I felt a chill on my forehead. Liu Xiu smiled and put the willow ring on my head, bent down and looked at me, the warm breeze blew across his face, I couldn't help but reach out my hand, put my hand on his cheek, and stroked it carefully.
"Does this look good on me?"
"It looks good." He replied with a smile, his eyes as gentle as water.
I smiled and took off the willow wreath from my head. He handed me a bunch of wild daisies. I smiled and felt warm in my heart. He knelt in front of me and carefully inserted the daisies into the gaps between the willow vines.
"Actually..." I held the wreath, smiled, and whispered, "I like it very much. I have always liked it."
He laughed, his laughter shook his chest, and in the sunlight, his temples reflected a silver light.
My heart suddenly felt swollen and painful.
I kept smiling stiffly, but my heart was sour and bitter, I couldn't tell what it felt like. I held his face and looked at him greedily: "Xiu'er, promise me one thing."
He was startled, then slowly put away his smile: "I already owe you something, but it's too early now. Wait a little longer..."
"It's not that." I moved closer to him, snuggled into his broad arms, and absorbed his unique scent. I hooked his fingers and made a pinky promise with him. Although I tried my best to stay calm, my voice still choked up, "You have to promise me that you will live longer than me."
My chest was shaking. After a while, he put his arms around my waist and held me tightly: "Fool, I'm nine years older than you..."
"I don't care. I want you to live well and leave me as many children as you want. No matter how much they look like you, they are still not you." I choked, thinking of those departed friends, I felt inexplicably sad. "So , you can't care about your body anymore. You are mine... Caring for yourself is the real way to care for me..."
I wrapped my arms around my waist tighter. He is my Xiu'er, how could he not understand what I mean.
"Don't do anything stupid."
"I have always been silly and act impulsively, you know that. If you don't live as long as me, how can you control me from doing stupid things?" I threatened willfully, although I knew that this threat was unreasonable.
He took a breath, and after a moment, he promised in a hoarse voice: "I promise you."
I put the wreath on my head, put aside my sadness, and said with a smile: "You have such clever hands. I'll make a few more toys for the children to play with."
He nodded in agreement, picked a kind of broad-leaved tough grass from the bushes outside the mat, and began to weave a small thing with fine detail.
I pointed and speculated without waiting for the straw fabric to take shape: "What is this? A locust?"
Liu Xiu didn't answer. He quickly made a grass dragonfly. With a flick of his wrist, the grass dragonfly flew into my collar.
"Ah!" I exclaimed in a low voice, and hurriedly put my hand into my arms, but ended up wrinkling my collar.
Glancing back and seeing his smile with ulterior motives, I couldn't help but get angry: "You did it on purpose."
He chuckled, and I threw myself on his back. We were having a great time when suddenly a cry came from behind us.
Liu Xiu and I turned around nervously, only to see Liu Heng looking at us with tears in his eyes, screaming and jumping around with his chubby body.
"Heng'er!" I whispered and hugged him hurriedly, "What's wrong?"
Liu Heng glared at us angrily and stopped crying. Liu Xiu and I looked at each other, not understanding what was going on. After a long while, Liu Xiu reached out his hand, pretended to pinch my neck, and shook me gently.
Sure enough, Liu Heng immediately screamed and slapped his father's arm with his little hands.
I came to my senses and couldn't help laughing. I gave Liu Heng a kiss on the face: "My baby, don't cry, look what fun things Daddy has made for you."
I waved the dragonfly in front of him, and he really calmed down. He puffed up his cheeks, clapped his hands and laughed, "Bug! Bug! Bug, fly - fly, fly..."
He couldn't wait to grab the dragonfly. I rubbed the top of his head and said with emotion: "This child still speaks incoherently."
"It's okay. Boys who speak late are smart."
"Really?" I was skeptical. "But Yang'er and Cang'er started talking very early. Could it be that Yang'er and the others are not smart enough?"
Liu Xiu was speechless after being asked by me. He touched his nose and smiled awkwardly: "Then... Heng'er is like me. He will be smarter than them in the future."
"Tsk." I rolled my eyes, and suddenly said to Liu Heng, "Heng'er! Daddy is bullying Mom, can you help Mom beat him up?"
Liu Heng's big black eyes flashed, and suddenly he grinned. Liu Xiu's face changed, and he turned and walked away. I hugged Liu Heng and chased after him. Liu Heng giggled and laughed, dancing with excitement.
Liu Xiu was not running fast, and he let me catch up after a few steps. Then I held Liu Heng with my hands and rode on Liu Xiu's neck. Liu Xiu stretched out his hands to hold his legs, and I held his back from behind. Liu Heng grinned, holding the dragonfly in one hand and tightly grasping the hair crown on his father's head with the other hand.
Liu Xiu carried Liu Heng and ran along the bank of Luo River, laughing all the way and attracting countless horrified glances.
After running back and forth for several times, I was worried that if the quarrel continued, it would cause unnecessary trouble, so I spoke up to stop it. Liu Xiu stopped, panting, lifted Liu Heng off his shoulders, and smiled, "It's a lot heavier now."
"Daddy, come again! Come again...Daddy, come again..." Since Liu Heng could speak, he could only call "Daddy" and not "Emperor Father". No matter how he was taught, it was useless. Liu Xiu did not deliberately ask his son to change his way of speaking. Over time, he got used to it.
"No!" Liu Xiu put him down with a smile, "Daddy is old and can't carry Heng'er anymore."
"Daddy, come again... play, hug me... come again..."
"Be good." I squatted down and coaxed him, "Play later. Heng'er, do you want to eat? Are you hungry?"
He pouted unhappily and pulled the dragonfly in his hand: "I want a hug, not to eat."
"Look at you kid, how did you tear the dragonfly's wings off?"
Seeing him tear the dragonfly apart out of spite, I scolded him, but Liu Xiu stopped me immediately: "It's just a toy, just tear it apart. It's not worth getting angry with the child. I made it for him to play with."
I curled my lips and said, "Just protect him. It's not good for a child to be spoiled too much."
Liu Xiu smiled gently, slowly squatted down, and stroked Liu Heng's little face: "He is still young." As he spoke, his eyes gradually became blurred, "In fact, I want to give them more..."
He turned his head to look at me, and I looked straight at him. We both understood each other and couldn't help but smile at each other.
"Wu Han has submitted many memorials in the past two years. How many times have you rejected them?"
"Hmm." He smiled deeply, turned his head to look at Liu Heng, thought for a moment, and said softly, "It took two years. I think it's still slower than expected."
"It's already pretty fast. You even taught Yang'er that haste makes waste. Why do you get so impatient when it comes to yourself?" I tried to comfort him, "Your health is important. Don't work too hard. A few years won't make a difference. We... we have a long way to go. Don't forget, your life belongs to me."
"There is a long way to go..." He repeated my words, and his eyes towards little Liu Heng became softer.
Liu Heng smiled sweetly at him , suddenly threw away the dragonfly he had torn apart, stretched out his little fat arms like lotus roots, and grabbed Liu Xiu's beard under his chin.
"Oh..." Liu Xiu exclaimed, and quickly held Liu Heng's little hand, saying softly, "No, you can't pull this."
I fell to the side laughing and said with held breath, "Stop! It's just a little thing, just pull it, it's not worth getting angry with the child... Pull it, baby, pull it hard, hahahaha..."
