Chapter 6: The End of Eternity 5. Shouling
"What was the result?"
Shanan looked at me with difficulty.
I said coldly, "Don't tell a single lie in front of me! I know the importance of things by myself, and you don't have to decide what should be done and what shouldn't be done! If you lie to me on purpose, don't blame me for being ruthless."
Shanan then took out a black wooden box and handed it to me: "Jiaozhi is full of miasma. The south produces coix seeds, which can make you feel light and restrain your desires after eating, and suppress the miasma. Ma Yuan and his soldiers often used coix seeds as their staple food in the army. Because the coix seeds in the south are large, when he returned to the court, he specially brought back a cart of coix seeds seeds, hoping to sow and cultivate them near the capital. The coix seeds that Ma Yuan brought back were not given to the dignitaries in the court. Outsiders did not know coix seeds, so they guessed that they were rare treasures..."
I gritted my teeth and sneered, "So this is the so-called pearl and rhino horn, a rare treasure. Humph, a bunch of ignorant, blind people! As the saying goes, three people make a tiger, and now it is really true!" I picked up the wooden box and smashed it on the ground, "Investigate! I want to thoroughly investigate what is going on behind this! Who are the people who are so smart that they dare to treat the emperor and empress as fools!"
The wooden box was broken, and Shanan realized that I was really angry. I was so angry that I would not give up until I got to the bottom of Ma Yuan's matter.
After years of development, the Yin family's shadow warriors have spread their tentacles all over the country. If Yin Shi hadn't repeatedly warned me not to develop without restraint, I might have let this intelligence force penetrate directly into the heartland of the Xiongnu, Wuhuan and other countries in the Western Regions.
Nowadays, the efficiency of the filmmakers is unimaginable. In just a few days, the rolls of bamboo and silk were tied up and placed on the table in my study. It was really better not to look at it. The more I looked at it, the angrier I got. Even though I was mentally prepared and knew that Liang Song had been criticized by Liu Xiu because of Ma Yuan, Ma Yuan was his father's peer, so he was dissatisfied but could do nothing about it. After all, respecting elders is a virtue of etiquette.
Liang Song is my son-in-law, or half-son. No matter what selfish motives he had in this matter, I always favor my own child. But I never expected that Liang Song's actions were not just gloating over the misfortune of others or taking advantage of their misfortune. In fact, Ma Yuan had already died of summer heat when he was sent to Wuling as a military supervisor. The so-called evidence of guilt was conclusive, and Ma Yuan finally committed suicide out of shame, which was completely false.
Zhu Bo said it well, when one person says someone is a bad person, it is not credible, but when three people say someone is a bad person together, it will be convincing. Liu Xiu and I are not saints. When we cannot know the truth, we are naturally more likely to accept some opinions around us, not to mention that the people who provide these opinions are the closest and most trusted old ministers and the two most trusted sons-in-law.
"The Ma family originally had a marriage relationship with the Dou family, but recently Ma Yan has asked Madam Lin to ask the Dou family to cancel the engagement!"
I nodded. Ma Yuan was wronged and Dou Gu was also involved. Ma Yan's behavior was considered to be courageous.
But thinking about it carefully, the reason why Ma Yuan ended up like this was not necessarily because of his inherent arrogance, which eventually led to such bitter consequences. Ma Yuan was indeed talented, both in literature and martial arts, but he was too aloof and arrogant, which made so many people in the court unable to bear his glory. When he was in trouble, not many dignitaries lent a hand to him and his family, but instead rushed to add insult to injury.
How unpopular he was! If Ma Yuan were still alive, would he feel something when he saw his widow and orphans, who had nowhere to turn to and were in such a state of desolation?
"Liang Song is temporarily supervising the army in Hutou. How is the morale of the soldiers there now?"
"I'm still not very clear about the details, but I know the barbarians are besieging us and advancing step by step. More and more soldiers are falling ill due to the heat..."
"It seems that a quick battle can be won quickly!" I pondered for a moment and asked, "Are there any trustworthy people there?"
Shanan replied, "Yes. The former military supervisor Zong Jun is from Nanyang, so he can be trusted."
"In that case, follow my plan..."
After Liang Song finished investigating the Ma Yuan incident, Huotou in Wuling County had become a death place, with more than half of the soldiers killed or wounded. Prince Yi missed her husband and begged his father to order Liang Song to return to the capital to report, and Liu Xiu agreed.
As soon as Liang Song left Hutou, Zong Jun discussed with the remaining generals that if the war continued, they would prepare to forge an imperial edict to recruit the barbarians. Geng Shu, Ma Wu and others fell to the ground and dared not say a word. Zong Jun, with the argument that a general in a foreign country is not subject to the orders of the emperor, forged an imperial edict and promoted Lü Zhong, the Sima of the Fubo Army, to the acting county magistrate of Yuanling County. He then sent Lü Zhong to the barbarian camp with a forged imperial edict.
While openly trying to recruit the enemy, the army secretly followed quietly to prevent any accidents.
In October, news reached the capital that the barbarian tribes had killed their own commander and surrendered to the Han army.
Zong Jun personally went to the barbarian land, dispersed the rioters, sent them back to their hometowns, and then appointed local officials to take office. Only after doing all this did he return to the capital.
On the day when Zong Jun left Wuling for his expedition, I dressed in my best clothes and knelt in the main hall of the West Palace. I confessed to Liu Xiu that I had instigated Zong Jun to forge the imperial edict, but I deliberately concealed the slanderous tactics against Ma Yuan by Liang Song, Dou Gu and others.
In the empty hall, Liu Xiu squatted down and held my arm, his eyes full of pity. He and I looked at each other, knowing me as well as he knew me, and we were connected, and there was no need for further explanation.
Before Zong Jun arrived in Beijing, a memorial impeaching him for the crime of falsifying the imperial edict had already been delivered. The emperor not only did not blame him, but instead praised his contribution, sent people out of the city to welcome him, rewarded him with gold and silk, and specially allowed him not to return to Beijing to report, but to return home in glory to pay homage to his ancestors' graves.
After Ma Wu returned to Beijing, I sent someone to deliver a Job's tears stalk to his house. Three days later, at the imperial court, Ma Wu personally handed over the seal and ribbon in the Quefei Palace, took off his armor and left.
"My mother is too arrogant this time. Only my father would let her make her own decision on such a big matter!"
Facing Liu Zhuang's worries, I didn't know what words to use to explain the details to him. The child has now grown up and become a father. Under Liu Xiu's guidance, he has gradually become familiar with the affairs of the court. The truth that Zong Jun forged the imperial edict and rewarded him instead of punishing him could be hidden from the ministers, but not from him completely. So Liu Xiu explained to him that because of his health, he instructed me to handle it with full authority.
The book "Taishigong" clearly records the examples of women from the harem participating in politics in various dynasties. Whether it was Empress Gao, Lü Zhi, or Empress Wen, Dou Ji, they were not liked by historians in the end. Naturally, they would not be liked by the new emperor, even if... the new emperor was his son or grandson.
I suddenly understood Yin Shi's long-standing good intentions. Although I was still unwilling to admit that this was actually a very common and realistic thing in the imperial family, I felt a sense of inexplicable melancholy in my heart.
At the end of the 25th year of Jianwu, something happened that made my husband and I sad - my cousin, Deng Chen, Marquis of Xihua, passed away.
When Liu Yuan died tragically in Xiao Chang'an, Liu Xiu became emperor and posthumously named her the Princess of Xinye Jieyi, and built a temple in the west of Xinye. After Deng Chen died, Liu Xiu sent a special envoy to take care of the funeral and summon Liu Yuan's soul so that the couple could be buried together in Mangshan.
On the day of the funeral, Liu Xiu and I carried the coffin up the mountain together. I witnessed with my own eyes the closing of the underground tomb passage and the final covering of the tomb with thick earth. I felt indescribably sad when I thought that the person who had been so close to me in the past was finally resting in peace underground.
That day, Liu Xiu stood on the top of the hill, reluctant to leave. When I held his hand, I found that his eyes were red and his face was surprisingly pale. What I worried about most in recent years was his health. I was most afraid that he would be too tired, too happy or sad, and his mood would fluctuate too much, causing his old illness of dizziness. So when I saw him like this, I hurriedly comforted him: "Don't be sad, second sister has waited for cousin for so many years, and now the couple is finally reunited..."
My original intention was to comfort him, but looking at the desolate, towering, heavy mound in front of me, my heart suddenly felt empty. When I said this, my voice choked up, and I lowered my head and didn't know how to continue.
The wind was strong on the mountain. Except for the newly rammed earth, which exposed the yellow soil, the surroundings were all covered with white snow. Liu Xiu exhaled, and the white mist drifted around his lips, and along with his ethereal voice, it drifted coldly in the icy air.
"Lihua, if one day..."
I covered his mouth with my hands, my eyes widened in fear, and my mind went blank.
He just lowered his head, looking at me with soft eyes, with a look of deep reluctance on his face.
My hands began to tremble uncontrollably, and he held my hand and let it go.
The wind blew on my face, and it hurt like a knife. His palm brushed across my cheek and his thumb gently pressed the corner of my eye. Only then did I realize that I had already shed tears without realizing it.
"Don't be like this." He suddenly laughed, his eyes were wrinkled, but his smile was still so gentle and invincible, and his eyes were still as mellow as honey wine. His smile seemed to melt the past few decades in the blink of an eye, "This is a matter of time, instead of avoiding it, it's better to face it calmly."
I bit my lips hard and murmured stubbornly: "I won't..."
He stroked my cheek , his face full of pity: "If that day really comes, I hope... you can be strong. Because you are not only my wife, but also the mother of our children!"
I lowered my head, and my sobs slowly turned into sobs, and then the sound became louder and louder. Finally, he exerted a little force with both hands, brought me into his arms, and strangled my waist fiercely: "Don't cry... Just remember , I will not leave you. Even if we are separated by life and death in the future, I will stay here and wait for you..."
Snow began to fall from the sky.
The fluffy snowflakes kept spinning and dancing in the wind, gradually blurring my eyes.
In the first month of the 26th year of Jianwu, Emperor Jianwu selected a site for the construction of his Shouling Mausoleum.
Birth, aging, sickness and death are the laws of life. After listening to Liu Xiu's words in front of Deng Chen's tomb that day, I also knew that this is inevitable. This is the final destination of a person and it is impossible to live forever.
From the perspective of Feng Shui, Mangshan is the most imposing and the best location for the imperial mausoleum. However, I shudder whenever I think of the imperial mausoleums of the Western Han Dynasty. No matter how magnificent and luxurious the mausoleums were, they could not escape the robbery of the Red Eyebrow Army. Not to mention that there would be no remains, the most terrifying thing is that they would end up like Lu Zhi in the future and be humiliated by the lunatics a hundred years later.
I told Liu Xiu what I meant, and he agreed. So I made my attitude clear to Dou Rong, who was in charge of building the imperial mausoleum. He said that the specifications of the Shou Mausoleum did not require grandeur. He was originally a white-robed emperor and lived a frugal life. If there were any burial objects in the tomb after his death, they would only need to be some pottery figures, earthenware, wooden carts, and thatched horses. These things are easy to rot, and it would be best if future generations could not find the location of the imperial mausoleum and there would be no disturbance from tomb robbers.
In the end, the mausoleum site was abandoned at Mangshan Mountain and chosen to be located at the foot of Mangshan Mountain, on the bank of the Yellow River, with the existing terrain as the river and the mountain. The court officials were surprised, but the emperor and empress unanimously decided to return to the mausoleum for the rest of the century, so they had no choice but to shut up.
I also told Dou Rong that the construction style of the imperial tombs of the former Han Dynasty was to bury the emperor and empress separately, or in different tombs in the same tomb, but although this dynasty is also called Han, its customs cannot be the same as those of the previous dynasty. Dou Rong understood what I meant and went to supervise the construction without mentioning it.
But I was still worried, and from time to time I would find Liu Zhuang and talk about the mausoleum in front of him. However, Liu Zhuang was very reluctant to listen to me talking about what would happen after death. He always found excuses to change the subject, and seemed not very patient. This happened several times, and it really drove me crazy. One time, I grabbed him and refused to let go, and shouted: "You evil son, do you want me to die with my eyes open?"
"Mother..." I didn't expect that such an urgent word would force this eldest son, who has always been filial, to kneel down in front of me with tears in his eyes. "Can you please stop thinking about what will happen a hundred years later? Do you know that every time you describe in vivid detail in front of me, you will have free time a hundred years later, and you can climb Mount Mang with father to watch the sunrise, walk hand in hand along the Yellow River, live in the imperial tomb at sunset, and live a quiet life like ordinary couples... Mother, your son doesn't want you to leave. I haven't served you well yet. Every time you say this, your son feels very painful in his heart..." When he was moved, he hugged my legs and cried like a seven or eight-year-old child, with no image at all.
I stared at him blankly, feeling like my heart was about to be broken by his crying.
It was also from then on that I never mentioned the word death in front of any of my children.
