Chapter 27 The Strange Maid
The court lady Tong Qing'e stayed in Dongnuange to serve the emperor, and quickly spread out the bedding and helped the emperor change into the little clothes he wore for sleeping.
Han Ruzi has long been used to being manipulated by waiters, and he cooperated dumbly, thinking wildly in his head. The Queen Mother, King of the East China Sea, Meng E, Yang Feng and others appeared on stage in turn, not giving him any free time, so that it took him a while to realize that Tong Qing'e was still standing by the bed , but he has already changed into his little clothes, and he just waits to lie down and sleep, so he doesn't need others to serve him.
"Is there anything else?" Han Ruzi asked politely, but he thought in his heart that there must be many court ladies with "e" in their names, and Meng E and Meng Che might all be pseudonyms.
Tong Qing'e blushed inexplicably, and said softly: "This servant will serve His Majesty to bed."
Han Ruzi had never seen a court lady as shy as her, and said with a smile, "You have served before."
"Yeah." Tong Qing'e didn't move.
"Is this the first time for you to serve others?" Han Ruzi was very willing to chat with people. Before, he couldn't ask for it. Those eunuchs and maids ran faster and faster, and no one wanted to stay with the emperor. The first time someone refused to leave after finishing their work.
Tong Qing'e nodded and shook her head again, "This is the servant... the first time... to serve His Majesty."
"I don't have any special requirements, so that's fine. Other waiters usually sleep on the couch over there. If you think it's too small, you can sleep in another room. I sleep deeply at night and never call anyone." Han Ruzi wished that there were no outsiders in his bedroom.
Tong Qing'e's face turned redder, and her voice became lower, "I can... can... sleep on Your Majesty's bed."
Han Ruzi turned his head and took a look at his own bed. It was a very wide canopy bed, which could almost be used as a small room, but it seemed a little too much for a court lady to make such a request. Han Ruzi thought for a while, and asked : "Are you not used to the couch?"
Tong Qing'e bowed her head and remained silent.
"That's right, that couch is very small, I have to curl up when I lie on it, and it's even smaller when you sleep."
Tong Qing'e was five or six years older than the thirteen-year-old emperor, half a head taller, slightly plump, and indeed took up more of the bed.
"Okay, you sleep on my bed." Han Ruzi agreed. He has never bossed around any servants since he was a child, and he won't do it after entering the palace. "But don't tell others, you know, the palace is strictly controlled. If you are found to be unruly, you will likely be punished."
Han Ruzi still remembered the two eunuchs who were severely beaten just because they didn't see the emperor secretly writing a letter.
Tong Qing'e nodded slightly, and slowly sat beside the emperor, so close that she could almost hear each other's breathing.
"Then rest and sleep well." Han Ruzi stood up, smiled at Tong Qing'e, walked to the table, blew out the candles, went to the chair in the dark, and lay down on it, where the maid had already prepared A good little pillow and thin quilt, the weather is not too cold, and the cover is just right.
"Your Majesty..." Tong Qing'e's surprised and confused voice came from the big bed.
"You sleep on my bed and I sleep on the couch. It's okay. The bed I used to sleep on was not much bigger than the couch. I'm not used to sleeping on a big bed. Oh, remember to wake me up early tomorrow so that we can change it so that we don't get caught People found out." Han Ruzi rolled over and fell asleep, thinking that this is really a weird court lady, but it is a good thing to be willing to speak and even dare to ask the emperor.
Soon, he began to think about other things again, whether to "retire after success" or "retire after success"? Is there any precedent for using the reign title of the former emperor? After thinking about it a lot, he always felt that the word "gongcheng" seemed a little ominous.
Then he fell asleep. He thought he would be woken up by Meng E in the middle of the night, but he fell asleep until the early morning of the next day. Maid Tong Qing'e woke up the emperor, helped him to dress, and then notified the little eunuch outside, and the little eunuch called more eunuchs and maids who had been waiting outside the house, began to groom the emperor, and prepared to greet the queen mother.
Han Ruzi found a strange thing, Tong Qing'e seemed a little depressed, not only not grateful for the emperor's act of giving up the bed, but also seemed very disappointed.
There were too many people around, so Han Ruzi couldn't ask, but he felt that this court lady was even weirder and harder to please than Meng E. If it wasn't for fear of hurting her, he should really ask Yang Feng what was going on.
Yang Feng didn't show up at all today. Normally, he would escort the emperor to greet the queen mother first, and sometimes send the emperor to Lingyun Pavilion to attend lectures, and then go to other things. Today he disappeared, completely leaving the emperor to Shangguan Crown Princess.
When heading to Lingyun Pavilion after breakfast, Yang Feng still didn't show up. In the imperial garden, the number of honorable attendants who joined the emperor suddenly increased from fifteen or sixteen to nearly fifty, and they lined up in several rows. Under the guidance, bow respectfully to the emperor.
The emperor has as many as four to five hundred honorable attendants, and most of them can't see the emperor himself. Before, the empress dowager chose fifteen or sixteen teenagers who were about the same age as the emperor to enter the imperial garden. This time, the number has been increased to three times. In the next year, several of them had their noses augmented and their eyes deep, much like princes from a distant kingdom.
The strange feeling was getting deeper and deeper in Han Ruzi's heart. He could clearly feel that these attendants were more awed than usual. Although there were many people, they were silent when they knelt down.
Correspondingly, the eunuchs and bodyguards escorting the emperor also increased to more than a hundred people, and the corridors of the imperial garden were somewhat congested.
"Where did Yang Gong go?" Han Ruzi couldn't help asking Zuo Ji beside him.
Zuo Ji didn't always smile like usual, and replied in a low voice: "Mr. Yang has been entrusted with a heavy responsibility by the Queen Mother and has left Beijing."
Han Ruzi was taken aback and stopped, and the long line behind him also stopped hurriedly. The people behind couldn't catch up and bumped into each other. Fortunately, no one fell down.
"Out of Beijing? Where did you go?" Han Ruzi felt as if he had been abandoned. Without Yang Feng, he was at a loss.
Zuo Ji was also taken aback, and regretted that he had talked too much, but he could not take back what he said, so he could only say: "The Empress Dowager recruited envoys to go to the vassal states in the Kanto region to deliver the imperial decree, Duke Yang responded to the edict, and Lord Shi Shen, the right inspector, set off last night. "
Han Ruzi was even more surprised, turned around and glanced at the King of the East China Sea, and found that he was just as surprised as himself. Yang Feng's departure from Beijing was obviously decided late yesterday, and it is unclear whether he volunteered or was forced to accept the order.
"What decree?" Han Ruzi asked.
Zuo Ji became more and more embarrassing, the emperor didn't know the decree he promulgated, which was a little out of place, so he could only say in a lower voice: "Your Majesty got angry in the Palace of Qinzheng and made the prince of Qi bow his head to beg for mercy, Your Majesty Send a decree to the world, ordering all the vassal states to send troops immediately to attack the rebellious Qi..."
"I see." Han Ruzi stepped forward, he had done the Queen Mother a great favor, if he could defeat the King of Qi, the advantages would outweigh the disadvantages, but he really hoped that Yang Feng would be by his side at this moment and give some advice.
Luo Huanzhang was giving the lecture today, and even he seemed a little more polite, but he didn't ask the emperor to ask a question, and started the lecture directly: "The Kanto War is not over yet, Cao Min, please tell your majesty about the last time the princes rebelled."
When Han Ruzi's great-grandfather, Emperor Wu's grandfather, and Emperor Lie were in power, there was a vassal rebellion in Dachu, which was even bigger than this time, involving seventeen counties in five vassal states.
Emperor Lie was terrified for a time, and even made plans to move his capital to the south, but the war only lasted less than four months. The seemingly aggressive allied forces of the princes were blocked outside Hangu Pass, and only fought a few close matches. After a battle, the armies of the princes fell apart. The Chu army took advantage of the situation to launch a decisive battle and won in one fell swoop.
After the war, Emperor Lie took the opportunity to cut down the feudal vassals, and the territory of the vassal states has shrunk since then. Today's Qi State is only half of its original size.
Han Ruzi calmed down his thoughts, listened carefully, and asked, "Is it because the princes and kings do not follow the way of benevolence and righteousness that they were defeated in one blow?"
The King of the East China Sea snickered, Luo Huanzhang gave him a stern look, and the King of the East China Sea immediately lowered his head and concentrated on reading.
"At that time, the five princes, kings and corporals, reduced people's rent and taxes, and respected the elderly and cared for the young, which can be regarded as the way of benevolence and righteousness."
"Then why is there nowhere to escape after the defeat?"
"For example, there is a sword. A strong man wields it to fight ten against one. A child wields a sword and hurts himself. Benevolence and righteousness are the sharpest weapons in the world. If an ordinary man practices it, it will benefit the village. If a prince practices it, it will benefit a country. The benevolence and righteousness of the five princes are not as good as that of the fierce emperor, and defeat and death are inevitable. Your Majesty occupies the supreme position, and benevolence and righteousness are to your majesty, just like a sharp sword is to a martyr, and a good saddle is to a BMW. They complement each other, and the benefits are indescribable. "
Han Ruzi felt that Luo Huanzhang was a bit pedantic, and suddenly felt a sharp gaze, and turned his head to see that the King of the East China Sea had already lowered his head. Han Ruzi understood something, and looked at the two eunuchs at the door. They didn't understand anything, and they were standing there in a daze.
Luo Huanzhang was the first foreign minister who took the initiative to contact the emperor. Although the words were rather cryptic, Han Ruzi still understood.
He didn't know how to respond.
Luo Huanzhang didn't make any further explorations, and the rest of the story was all about Emperor Lie's extermination of the five kings.
The class in the morning was shorter than usual, and there was more than half an hour before noon, Zuo Ji came in and asked the emperor to move.
Han Ruzi came to the Palace of Qinzheng again. From this day on, he would spare time every morning to sit in the Palace of Qinzheng and watch the ministers handle government affairs. He knew his status, and the abnormally large number of eunuchs around him reminded him of this all the time, so he never talked too much, just watched and listened.
At least this is much better than being trapped in the palace without knowing anything. He can learn a little about the progress of the war in Kanto, the deployment of troops across the country, and the customs of the counties.
But this day he failed to figure out where Yang Feng was going and when he would be able to come back.
The martial arts in the afternoon was as usual, and Meng Che became more and more old-fashioned. He said more than he did, and occasionally punched and struck a sword, which was enough to surprise the emperor and his attendants.
It was the first time that Han Ruzi felt that the emperor's life was busy, but it was a pity that this busyness was only an illusion, and he gained very little from it. Until this evening, there was only one thing that he needed to do by himself, and he could not let outsiders do it for him.
At that time, he was already very tired. After washing and changing his clothes, he just wanted to go to bed quickly. As for whether it was a bed or a couch, he didn't care.
The maid serving him was still Tong Qing'e, her face was still red, but her smile was not the same as last night, and what she said was even more unbelievable, "Your Majesty is about to get married, aren't you interested in the way of husband and wife?"
Han Ruzi's first thought was to think of Luo Huanzhang's "way of benevolence and righteousness".
(seeking collection and recommendation)