Chapter 4 When Will We Cut the Candle in the West Window Together? 3. The truth
On June 29th of the 17th year of Jianwu, Duke Linhuai Liu Heng passed away and was given the posthumous title "Huai".
According to the explanation of posthumous titles in the Book of Zhou , "Huai means thinking, and a person who is kind and benevolent but short-lived is called Huai". The Book of Shang records that "the life span is 120 years, and the shorter one is half of that, which is less than 60 years; half of that is 30 years", but my Heng'er only lived one tenth of 30 years.
I cried all day long, and when I lay down at night, I felt like I was always awake, and when I was awake during the day, I felt like I was dreaming. In the first few days, I couldn't even recognize the people around me. I seemed to see Liu Xiu, Liu Yang, King Yi and other children standing in front of me. Those children hugged me and either cried or shouted, but I couldn't remember what they said.
According to custom, children who died in infancy were placed in urn coffins, not in adult tombs, but only in a place among the family tombs. Liu Xiu's ancestors were all buried in Zhangling, his hometown, so not only did Taichang and Zongzheng agree to move Liu Heng's urn coffin to Zhangling, but even the queen said that it would be better to move the burial as soon as possible during the hot summer.
When I regained consciousness and managed to cheer myself up with the comfort of everyone, Liu Heng's funeral arrangements had been arranged. Because it was a child who died, even if he was the Duke of Linhuai, it was not worth a big fuss. The funeral was held in a very low-key manner, and some people were sent to take the child's urn coffin to Zhangling for burial, and the matter was forgotten.
The whole summer, I stayed in the quiet West Palace without stepping out of the door. Every day, I was thinking foolishly that the so-called funeral had never happened, so my Heng'er might still be playing hide-and-seek with me somewhere in the palace, waiting for me to find him... When I find him, he will pull my arm like before and say to me in that slurred tone: "Mom, let's play again! Let's play again... Can you come to me again?"
During this period, Wancheng was captured by the rebel Li Guang, and Liu Xiu had to withdraw and dispatched Ma Yuan, the General of the Tiger Guards, and Duan Zhi, the General of the Cavalry, to lead troops to attack. The battle dragged on until September, when Wancheng was finally captured and Li Guang was killed.
Liu Heng's death only caused a small ripple inside and outside the court, but in accordance with the brotherly etiquette, the crown prince's coming-of-age ceremony, which had been put on the agenda, was postponed. One hundred days after Liu Heng's death, everyone in the palace stopped mourning, and the small ripple finally spread and faded, and the court returned to normal.
After I finished mourning, it was Shannan who reminded me that I should take this opportunity to arrange Chen Min's marriage, after all, it had been delayed for several months. I also knew that Shannan was kind-hearted and hoped that I could find something to do to distract myself from missing my son, so that I wouldn't stay in the palace every day and think about it.
I readily agreed, so the Li family paid a betrothal gift of 100,000 yuan, and the wedding date was set on the third day of October. But when that day came, Liu Yang suddenly came to tell me that Chen Min was missing.
According to Liu Yang, no one had seen Chen Min since the day before yesterday. She usually served me. Except for going in and out of the dressing room, she followed my instructions and stayed by Liu Yang's side. Although Liu Yang felt strange after Chen Min disappeared, he did not alarm outsiders. After waiting for a day without seeing her, he sent people to my palace to ask Shan Nan. However, they secretly searched the palace and could not find any trace of Chen Min.
As the sun was about to rise, I never expected that the wedding would end with the bride running away. I couldn't help but feel angry and anxious: "What is she doing?
Shanan hurriedly held me down and said, "She is not a woman who loves to make trouble. You should trust her."
Although I recovered from my illness, I was still weak. I was furious and felt a tightness in my chest. I was still very angry: "Send the order to ward off evil spirits. If she cannot be found in the palace, search the whole city, even if we have to dig three feet into the ground, we must dig her out for me!"
I said it in a fit of anger. At that time, I was only thinking that the wedding could not be held as scheduled and I could not give an explanation to the Li family, so I was particularly annoyed. But what I said came true. The next day, a shadowman reported that he had found Chen Min's whereabouts. Shanan left the West Palace in a hurry early in the morning and was busy until noon before returning.
"Where are the people?"
Shanan's face didn't look good. She stood at the door for a long time without saying a word.
I couldn't help but get angry: "Why? She doesn't dare to come to see me? Since she can do it, why would she be afraid of my scolding? If she didn't want to marry Li Zhen, she could have just..."
"She's dead."
I was stunned, and all the words I was about to say were stuck in my throat.
Shanan clenched her fists, raised her head and repeated it again, every word clear: "Chen Min is dead!"
“What?” I gasped, unable to believe my ears. “Dead…? How…what happened?”
"After the order to ward off evil spirits was issued, all the shadow warriors in the city searched for her, and finally found her in a well near Guangyang Gate..."
I was shocked again: "Well?"
"Yes! The well water comes from the Luo River. The well mouth is narrow and the well belly is deep. If Chen Min had not known some martial arts and nailed a knife into the well wall before dying, hanging herself in the well, once her body sank to the bottom of the well, no matter how powerful the shadow warriors were, as long as the water level of the Luo River did not recede, they would never be able to find it. But by the time the water level of the well drops, I'm afraid her body would have turned into bones long ago."
I suddenly felt that Shannan was telling a bizarre story, not describing Chen Min's tragic experience. Although Shannan's face was pale, every word she spoke was extremely clear, without any personal feelings. At this time, Yuchi Shannan looked so strange, with that stoic and indifferent expression, she was no longer an ordinary palace maid, but had transformed into a dead soldier.
I suddenly realized the seriousness of the matter. For Shanan to behave like this, it must be a matter of great importance. Chen Min's death was strange, and this matter was definitely not that simple.
"Go on! What have you found out?" I stood up and my voice began to tremble involuntarily.
Perhaps, Chen Min’s death is just a prelude, which will lead to a long series of shocking inside stories.
"After Chen Min disappeared, we found some signs of a fight outside the palace of Duke Donghai. We followed the tiny traces of blood and chased her out of the palace. Finally, the hounds led us to Guangyang Gate. Chen Min had orders to stay by Duke Donghai's side, so it was impossible for her to rashly chase the enemy out of the palace. The well was located near Guangyang Gate. It was in a remote area, but it was not an abandoned well with no one taking water. She was obviously still alive before she fell into the well, and it was impossible for her to jump into the well to commit suicide. Therefore, after analyzing the situation with my father and the uncles, they believed that the most likely possibility was that the other party failed to kidnap Chen Min out of the city and finally pushed her into the well to kill her."
I pursed my lips and said nothing. Shanan glanced at me quickly and continued, "The real cause of her death was excessive blood loss...but the posture of the body was very strange. She was holding a dagger in one hand and a sewing needle in the other hand. In addition, some needles were found in her hair, and the needle tips had penetrated her brain..."
I was struck by lightning, and it took me a long time to squeeze out a cold sentence from between my teeth: "What do you want to tell me?"
Shanan suddenly knelt down and kowtowed, choking: "It's not that this servant wants to tell you something, but Chen Min is desperately trying to tell you something!"
She stretched out her hand, and the dozen or so shining embroidery needles in her palm stung my eyes. I took a step , staring at the needles, only to feel that the snow-white color was jumping up from her palm like a bite and piercing into my heart.
For the next ten minutes or so, I was in a state of trance. Shanan kept her hands raised high, neither flinching nor dodging. After a long, long time, I finally heard my own heartbeat again, very slow and heavy: "Where is your majesty now?"
"Yuntai Guangde Hall."
I took the needles from her hands. These sewing needles made of fine iron can be found everywhere. Normally, they are just sewing tools for sewing clothes, but now, they have become a murder weapon.
When I stepped out of the door, I cried. If the tears I shed in the past three months represented remembrance and longing, then this tear had turned into strong hatred.
On the morning of the fourth day of the tenth month, Liu Xiu ordered Yin Song, the envoy, to go to Zhangling with a special envoy to celebrate the fourth birthday of Linhuai Huaigong. At the same time, martial law was imposed inside and outside Luoyang City. Liyang Camp dispatched 2,000 cavalry and Yong Camp dispatched 5,000 infantry to Luoyang, and they were stationed 20 miles north and south of the city.
The Weiwei increased the number of soldiers and guards, and the four brothers Liang Song were stationed to guard the gates of various palaces inside and outside the West Palace. Liu Yang, Duke of Donghai, claimed to be ill and no longer went out to attend court, and stayed in the West Palace to recuperate.
In this tense and strange atmosphere, I watched over my eight children and spent eight days and nights in agony. Finally, on October 12, Yin Song and his party returned to Luoyang.
I dare to imagine the truth behind some things, but that doesn't mean I dare to face it. So, when I mustered up the courage to take the lacquer box from Liu Xiu, opened it tremblingly, and saw the iron needle quietly placed on the snow-white silk inside the box, I was so shocked that I couldn't utter a word.
The needle was about one finger long, the tip and tail of the needle were rusty, and the middle part was tightly wrapped by a small ball of flesh and blood.
I stared at it, stared at it intently.
"Lihua!" Liu Xiu hugged me.
I didn't cry, make a fuss, yell, or shout. I didn't even breathe. I just stared at the bloody rusty needle with my whole body stiff .
"Cry!" He patted my cheek and held my face anxiously, "Cry..."
I picked up the needle from the box, held it close to his eyes, and asked dully, "This is what killed my son, isn't it?"
Liu Xiu's eyes were gloomy. He raised his head and took a breath, then sighed heavily. He suddenly pulled me into his arms and hugged me with all his strength.
My eyes were dry and I looked at the needle in my hand in silence.
I remember Cheng Yu once said when he was explaining acupuncture: "If a child is under eight years old, needles should not be used because the fontanelle has not closed. If needles are used, it may unfortunately cause premature death..."
My Heng'er was the most unfortunate of all! The epilepsy that caused his early death was not caused by his weak body, which caused a sudden convulsion and led to his death. It was a tragic tragedy carefully planned by some people with ulterior motives!
The needle disappeared from the space between his fingers. The 14-year-old Liu Yang stood in front of me with an expressionless face, tightly holding the needle in his hand. His eyes were strange, and his pupils were bloodshot, as if they were about to shed tears of blood. In a moment, he carefully wrapped the needle with a handkerchief, put it in his arms, silently kowtowed to me and Liu Xiu, and then stood up and left.
Watching that thin figure gradually going away, the corners of my mouth twitched as I smiled coldly: "I won't cry. Tears of hatred should not be left for my Heng'er, but... someone will remember, forever... forever... remember the blood and tears earned by this closest flesh and blood!"
Liu Xiu said nothing, and after a while he shouted in a low voice: "Dai Ang!"
"Yes." There was a panicked response from outside the door.
"Order the Three Dukes and the Chief of the Imperial Clan to the Guangde Hall."
"Yes, sir."
There were hurried footsteps outside the door, and it was obvious that Dai Ang was not walking, but running.
I fell on the bed in despair. The result of my painstaking planning and countless years of waiting was about to come, but I didn't feel a bit of joy. Life is like a play, and a play is like life. This is really true. No one can guess the ending of this play on this big stage until the end.
But... why, the price of finally enabling us to achieve our wish was to take our Heng'er away forever?
Why?
Why it came out like this?
