Chapter 5: Staying for spiritual practice and forgetting to return 5. Golden Cave
On the eighth day of the sixth lunar month, everyone said that the emperor was dying. They even prepared the coffin privately. Someone also reported to the emperor to choose a place to build his mausoleum. They were busy as hell. Liu Qiang, the King of Donghai, also came in with his brothers to pay their respects, but they were blocked outside the bedroom. They could only kowtow to their father through the bamboo curtain in the outer room. I didn't distinguish between them. Even the crown prince was driven out and not allowed to serve him.
After I heard that the coffin had been prepared outside, I started a hunger strike and ignored anyone's advice. The Crown Prince, the King of Donghai and ten other princes knelt outside the palace and begged, but I only asked Shannan to say six words: "Sleeping together in life and being buried together in death!"
As soon as I said this, there was a sound of sobbing outside the hall. I sat there holding Liu Xiu for the whole day. Shanan brought the eunuchs to bring in meals. I only took out the rice porridge and fed it to Liu Xiu carefully, without touching anything else.
After two days, I was so hungry that I couldn't even lift my arms. Finally, I had to lie down beside Liu Xiu. At first, I could still look at him with my head tilted. I held on for another two days, but my mind gradually became confused. I had the same dream over and over again. In the dream, I vaguely saw that Liu Xiu was actually cured, and the jaundice and heat toxins in his body had subsided. He began to receive some rice porridge from the eunuchs, and the imperial physician congratulated him. The room was full of people kneeling.
I also felt very happy, with tears streaming down my face but unable to utter a word. I really wanted to hug Liu Xiu and cry loudly, but I was so weak that I didn't even have the energy to cry. I could only shed tears silently, but my heart was filled with infinite joy.
But I also know that this is just a dream after all!
Is the immortality of the soul that the Han people believe in true or false? If this belief is true, then death does not mean the end. Maybe if I die, I can be with Liu Xiu forever. Not only that, those brothers who once went through life and death together can be reunited again... Whenever I think of this, I feel a sense of ease and joy surrounding me.
Xiu'er, we...will be together forever!
"Xiu'er...we must be together forever..."
"Okay, let's be together forever!" In the dream, he hugged me tightly, his voice choked with sobs, unable to control his emotions.
All the children gathered in the hall and knelt on the ground. Everyone was crying, but also seemed to be filled with an indescribable joy.
"Finally he's awake." The imperial physician sighed and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
I lay on Liu Xiu's shoulder and looked around. Shanan knelt down and climbed onto the bed with a bowl in her hand: "Your Majesty, please have some soup. It will be just right for moistening the stomach when it is boiled into a thin liquid." With tears in her eyes, she scooped some soup with a wooden spoon and handed it to my mouth.
I subconsciously backed away, moaning feebly: "Take it away..."
Shanan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Liu Zhuang came over and said, "Let me do it." After taking the wooden bowl, he knelt down, climbed onto the bed and crawled towards me.
I felt stars racing before my eyes and was filled with confusion. I used all my strength to push Liu Xiu away and stared at him carefully. Although he looked haggard, his eyes were clear.
"What... is going on?" I managed to say these six words, and my chest suddenly felt stuffy and I almost couldn't recover.
Liu Xiu hushed softly and soothed him, "Don't talk, have a good rest."
Liu Zhuang scooped a spoon and handed it to my lips, trembling with tears, and said: "Mom, it's okay, father is fine and has woken up, you can eat something."
I was surprised and happy. I turned to look at Liu Xiu in confusion. He was leaning on a soft pillow. Although he was exhausted, he was looking at me and smiling. I still didn't believe it. I reached out and touched his face. I was speechless: "I am not dreaming, am I?"
Someone nearby chuckled, but then burst into tears with a thick nasal voice: "Mother, this is true. Father woke up yesterday. You have to get better soon too!"
I looked away from Prince Yi and looked at Zhongli, Hongfu, Liu Cang... I looked at them one by one, and everyone's eyes were red, with tears and joy in their eyes. I breathed a sigh of relief, and my body softened, and I fell backwards . Fortunately, Shanan caught me quickly, and at the same time, Liu Xiu also nervously stretched out his hand.
I took the hand Liu Xiu offered me, tears streaming down my face before I could say anything. When we held hands, Liu Xiu understood my feelings and whispered three words: "I can't bear to let you go..."
With his strong willpower, Liu Xiu's condition improved day by day. As for me, because I fainted due to physical exhaustion, once I resumed eating, my body naturally recovered much faster than him. On June 14, Liu Xiu, who was still ill, appointed Guanghan County Governor Cai Mao as the Grand Tutor and Grand Coachman Zhu Fu as the Grand Minister of Works. On June 16, Liu Long, who rushed back from the front line of Jiaozhi, made up for his mistakes with his merits and was named General of Cavalry and Acting Grand Marshal. Liu Xiu originally intended to leave this position to Yin Xing, but he humbly but firmly declined it in the name of no merit and no virtue.
After returning from a near-death experience, Liu Xiu and I both felt more grateful and appreciative. Looking back on the past twenty years, we have experienced many ups and downs.
During this period, an official reported that since the eldest son of the emperor, the Prince of Donghai, had reached adulthood, he should be allowed to live in his fiefdom, Donghai, and should not stay in the capital, but in the Prince of Donghai's mansion in the North Palace of Luoyang. After this, the court was restless, and many people who wanted to abolish the prince demanded that Liu Qiang return to the throne. Liu Xiu discussed this matter with me.
Judging from the current situation, in order to consolidate the position of the crown prince and prevent trouble before it happens, the best way is to uproot the power of the deposed empress and the deposed crown prince, wipe them out, and eliminate the trouble forever - which deposed empress in the past dynasties did not eventually disappear with the collapse of political power? But Liu Xiu would never do such an inhumane thing as killing his sons and grandsons. He is not Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, who can disregard family affection and cruelly kill Wei Zifu and the entire family of the crown prince. In this case, if we want to keep Liu Zhuang's position, we must use our brains.
My idea is actually very simple. Since I cannot kill him, I can only imprison him. The fiefdom is so far away that once I let him go and leave Luoyang, no one can predict what the princes and vassal kings will do behind his back.
"Since we can't let them go...then we should just be gentle and give them generous rewards." I sighed and expressed my opinion, "I also hope that they can have some self-awareness and learn to restrain themselves."
As long as they don't push too hard, bully others too much, and keep a low profile, I am not without tolerance . As long as they behave themselves and don't always think about things they shouldn't think about...
"In addition to the reward, I also want to... promote Guo Kuang to the rank of Nine Ministers..."
I frowned, and a hint of dissatisfaction instantly appeared in my emotions, but then I saw Liu Xiu lying on the bed opposite me smiling calmly, and a light flashed in my mind, and I understood it, and I couldn't help but laugh: "You are so imaginative."
Seeing that I had no objection, Liu Xiu smiled and called Dai Ang over, drafted an edict, and explained everything one by one.
On June 19, Emperor Jianwu issued an edict to change Liu Fu's fiefdom from King of Zhongshan to King of Pei, and to release him from the palace to live in the North Palace with his mother Guo Shengtong, who was renamed "Queen Mother Pei". At the same time, Guo Kuang was greatly rewarded and given the title of Grand Herald.
The position of Dahonglu was one of the Nine Ministers, with an official rank of Zhong 2,000 stones. The title did sound good, but he was actually in charge of the princes and the barbarians who had surrendered to the capital. All matters related to the princes and vassal kings were under the jurisdiction of Dahonglu. In addition, he was also in charge of the envoys from the barbarians who came to pay tribute and the princes' children who served as hostages in the capital.
Guo Shengtong's five princes were both vassal kings and hostages, so it was best for Guo Kuang to be the Grand Herald to look after his nephews. This was a reminder and a warning to the princes who had been granted fiefs but could not return to their kingdoms for the time being, so that they would be aware that if the vassal kings made mistakes in Beijing, the Grand Herald would be the first to bear the brunt of the responsibility.
Guo Kuang was promoted to one of the Nine Ministers. Outsiders felt that the emperor was mindful of their old friendship - although Guo Shengtong was deposed, the Guo family was still exceptionally favored. After recovering from a serious illness, the emperor visited Guo Kuang's mansion several times and rewarded them with gold and silk, which was so generous that the people gave Guo Kuang's family a resounding nickname - Golden Cave!
With such royal favor, the people of the capital all praise the emperor for his affectionate and righteous character and for being a generous and benevolent monarch!
