Chang'an ancient meaning

In the dark bedroom, only a lamp was lit at a place far away from the emperor's imperial couch. Shangguan Wan'er sat in front of the desk, staring at the shadow in the mirror.The beauty in the mirror combed her hair in a high bun, fluttering in the wind like a frightened bird taking off, her clean and pure face was not covered with makeup, except for a bright red plum blossom between her eyebrows, which adorned her entire face delicately and beautifully.She pondered for a while, raised her hand, and stroked the plum blossom. The slightly uneven touch recalled the piercing pain in her memory.This cinnabar tattoo is just like her whole life. Under the beauty displayed in front of others, what is hidden is a pool of dirty blood, endless pain, and scars that will never heal.

She silently put the mirror on the table, not knowing when His Majesty would wake up, the sick emperor looked haggard, in order to prevent her from being unhappy, the maids were careful not to let her see the mirror.Shangguan Wan'er stood up and went to the window to add incense to the gold-plated incense beast. She took out an incense ball first, and suddenly thought that she didn't know what she, and even the emperor, would look like after tonight, so she simply put All the incense balls in the silk sac were thrown into it.She pulled out the golden hairpin on her head and pushed the incense ash away, a few sparks floated out, flashed and disappeared in the air, and then a pungent scent of phoenix marrow rose into the air.She stared indifferently at the incense ball illuminated by the flames, and didn't even notice that the scorching aroma diffuser cover was burning her hands. She was burning incense like a shipwreck. She had done it once before, and that was in the Magistrate's Court.Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, the fragrance is still sweet, and the people I saw that day, no matter whether I hated or loved them, are gone.

She carefully opened the window slightly, a gust of cold wind like a knife came straight in, and the flying snowflakes rushed into her eyes.She hurriedly closed the windows again. The heavy snow continued intermittently from last year to January this year, and the entire capital was still covered by thick snow.She listened quietly for a while, and the sound of the new wind outside the window shaking the window lattice, humming like a Turkic beard blowing, made people think of relatives who had not returned from far away.She smiled softly, since she can remember, she has no relatives to miss.She has experienced so many men, Xue Shao, Li Xian, Wu Sansi, Zhang Yizhi, Zhang Changzong, Cui Shi, they were either amazingly talented, or high in power, loved her and been loved by her, but none of them could It made her feel warm when she thought about it.She thought of her poems when she was a teenager, "Thinking of you thousands of miles away", and she seemed to miss a person thousands of miles away all her life.

Now, the Habayashi athletes of Xuanwumen, are they stepping on the snow and facing the new wind, rushing here?Their excited gasps were hidden in the howling north wind, and their neat footprints were covered with snow. When it was dawn, the people of Luoyang City took to the streets, and what they saw was still a clean world of Qiongyao, but this world, But I don't know whose hands it belongs to.Shangguan Wan'er thought about that scene, for some reason, a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.

From the time when Zhang Jianzhi entered Beijing as Prime Minister in the autumn of the fourth year of Chang'an, to Yao Chong's return to Shendu in the first month of the first year of Shenlong in the second year, this coup was quietly planned for four months under the cover of the vast snow in Shendu City.In the end, there were five planners who came forward, Prime Minister Zhang Jianzhi, Prosecutor Prince You Shuzi Cui Xuanwei, Prime Minister's Sima Yuan Shuji, Zhongtai Youcheng Jinghui, and Sixing Shaoqing Huan Yanfan. supporters, and also relieved the worries of those who participated.Shangguan Wan'er felt it was funny in her heart, she was expecting the emperor's state of mind when he met his three sons and daughters.No one can remain invincible forever, and the strength that cannot be defeated by thousands of troops is often lightly crushed by the invisible time.

"Changzong..." the emperor on the couch softly called out in his dream.

Shangguan Wan'er hurriedly returned to the couch, and said in a low voice: "The two Master Zhang are praying for the house in Yingxian Palace." The emperor didn't seem to wake up, and continued to sleep with his neck on his side slightly.Shangguan Wan'er breathed a sigh of relief, and lightly tucked the quilt for the emperor. Her hand touched the emperor's hand, and she couldn't help being stunned. The hand was like dead wood, with vertical and horizontal wrinkles folded on the loose skin, and patches of dark colors were printed on it. The freckles, set off by his own white hands, looked terrible.

She remembered that day when a bright woman stretched out her hand to herself with a smile.That hand was plump and white, with a hint of pink, and four or five gold bracelets on the wrist were tied with an exquisite sachet, and the edges of the wide and drooping sleeves were drawn with glittering gold threads.This hand is different from the hands she saw in Yeting, those haggard and labored women. The slightly raised fingertips contain temptation, as if the Buddha pointed at an orchid, leading her to the golden shop. Western Paradise of flowers.

As if it was just yesterday, it turns out that one day, this hand will be so skinny and ugly.Shangguan Wan'er recalled Taiping's casual words, "The beauty is withered, it's only a moment."She looked at her hand, and felt a sense of sadness in her heart. Will there be a day when she looks at her hand, fearing that time will never come again?

The emperor suddenly woke up from his dream. She looked at the tears on Shangguan Wan'er's face in a daze, and asked in surprise, "What's going on?" His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince..." The chaotic footsteps shattered the tranquility of the bedroom, Wan'er's heart skipped a beat, she turned around, the curtain was suddenly lifted, and a gust of bloody cold wind rushed into the palace.When a few generals in full armor came in first, Wan'er stood up and saw behind them, the prince's son-in-law Wang Tongzhen, supporting his father-in-law who was sloppy on his feet.Wan'er subconsciously searched for the source of the bloody smell, and she finally saw two bloody heads in the hands of General Yulin Li Duozuo.

Li Duozuo galloped all his life on the battlefield and killed countless people. He held up the hair of the two heads so casually, and the messy hair and blood covered the faces of the heads, so that Shangguan Wan'er couldn't tell who was Goro and who was Liulang.However, she clearly remembered the different feelings when they had skin-to-skin contact. Goro was strong and Liulang was submissive. No matter how dirty and sinful the soul contained under the skin, the skin was as smooth as silk satin, bringing her As happy as ascending to a fairy, her tired and busy soul can only rest temporarily in this kind of happiness.The beauty that shines with the sun and the moon, but can't resist the casual knife of the barbarian general, this is impermanence.

Shangguan Wan'er pressed her chest in half disgust and half fear, and slumped on the couch. She subconsciously went to support the emperor on the couch. For more than 20 years, this woman was her only support.The emperor woke up in a flash, and she forced herself up. Although she didn't put on makeup, her majestic phoenix eyes were still as cold as ice, and the ministers and soldiers who broke in from the wind and snow couldn't help but sigh. Shiver.

The emperor sneered slightly with contempt: "Who wants to rebel?" Zhang Jianzhi glanced at the blue-faced Li Xian, took a deep breath, stepped forward and bowed: "Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong rebelled, and I will punish you under the order of the prince." , Calling the military ban, the crime deserves ten thousand deaths!" The emperor's eyes stopped on Li Duozuo's hands, she stared at the two heads, her lips trembled slightly, her expression could not be said to be shocked or sad, and then she Slowly raised his head and looked at his son hidden behind the crowd.

Wang Tongzhen clearly felt that when the emperor's eyes caught him, the prince's body flashed back obviously, as if he wanted to take the road to escape. Wang Tongzhen had no choice but to support the prince with all his strength, almost dragging him, to the emperor's couch forward.The emperor nodded slightly, with a gentle tone in his tone, really like a mother's earnest exhortation to her son: "So it's you. Xian, you're promising..." Li Xian tremblingly said: "Son... Your servant... ...No, it's their... son..." He spoke incomprehensible words like a dream.

The emperor slowly lay back on the pillow, and said lightly: "Since the boy is punished, you can go back to the East Palace." Li Xian subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, and replied: "Yes." He lifted his foot and was about to leave, and the officials were shocked. Fan stopped Li Xian and shouted: "The crown prince is safe to return! In the past, the emperor entrusted his majesty with his beloved son. This year, his teeth have grown, and he has lived in the East Palace for a long time. God's will is in the hearts of the people, and he has thought about Li for a long time. All the ministers will not forget the virtues of Taizong and the emperor, so I honor him The crown prince punishes the traitor ministers. May your majesty pass on the crown prince, so as to obey the wishes of heaven and man!" The officials supported Li Xian, knelt down together, and said in unison: "Please pass on the crown prince, Your Majesty!"

The emperor looked at her son who was about to cry with mocking eyes. At this moment, she remembered so many old things. The swollen faces of Emperor Taizong and her husband Gaozong before they left were deeply imprinted in her mind. Is his prince actually their descendant?When the empress lost everything, she felt a burst of pleasure in revenge. You Zi was like this, and I don't know whether it was the heaven who took revenge on her, or she took revenge on those two men.

The emperor looked at the ministers playfully again. She slowly pointed at one person with her skinny fingers, and said, "Li Zhan, you are also the general of Changzong who punished Yi? I am not inferior to your father and son, and I am today." Li Zhan is The son of Li Yifu, the most trusted prime minister of the emperor, was bestowed the title of General Zuo Qianniuwei by the emperor in the first year of Chang'an.The young general still had the fear of the emperor in his heart, his face turned red, and before he could figure out how to answer, the emperor turned his gaze away again and said to Cui Xuanwei: "All the ministers are recommended by the prime minister, but you are promoted by me personally. Is it here too?" Cui Xuanwei was more experienced than Li Zhan after all, so he said bravely, "I am here to repay Your Majesty's great virtue!"

The emperor nodded thoughtfully, Wan'er saw the puzzled expression on Li Xian's face, and thought with pity in her heart, this Li Zhan and Cui Xuanwei are finished.Even though the emperor was so weak, powerless, and betrayed by all, the people crouching at her feet at this moment were still the fish in her case. She picked out one or two people at random, pointed out their bleak fate, and let them know that they should not be insulted.If she wants to kill, she doesn't need fake weapons at all.

The emperor stared at the officials for a while, and then slowly closed his eyes. Wan'er gently let go of her hands drenched in cold sweat, and gave Li Xian a wink. Wang Tongzhen hurriedly helped the distraught Li Xian to resign.

Three days later, the crown prince Li Xian was once again located in Tongtian Palace, and made his younger brother Li Dan the Prime Minister of Anguo and his younger sister Taiping Princess Taiping of Zhenguo.The empress was revered as Zetian Dasheng Emperor and became the Supreme Emperor, and Wan'er moved to Shangyang Palace with her.Although she was not allowed to watch Li Xian's enthronement ceremony in person, Wan'er did not feel regretful. Every word in the edict was written by her, just like 15 years ago, she drafted the enthronement edict for the empress. Lonely, in her pen, wandering word by word.

The Shangyang Palace became more and more silent, and the revived Tang Dynasty was busily regrouping, favoring some people and killing others who were favored in the past.Xian made a routine greeting every ten days, and only kowtowed outside the hall, but he didn't dare to come in to face his mother.It is rare for Wan'er to be free. Apart from serving the queen to take medicine every day, she just sits by the window reading and listening to the rain.After leaving the elixir of the Zhang brothers, the empress turned white as snow for several days and nights. Apart from sleeping, she was also silent when she woke up, her haggard face was calm and solemn.Wan'er knew that Li Xian had told her several times that he wanted to take her back to Luoyang Palace, and Li Xian had promised her the title of Jieyu.The generosity shows that he doesn't care about his past with Wu Sansi, the Zhang brothers, and Cui Shi. He hopes that his mood will remain as innocent as ever after 25 years.

She asked Xian to wait.Perhaps it is because she knows that the imperial concubine's favor will be her own sooner or later, perhaps it is the 25 years of master-servant relationship that makes her unable to bear to abandon the empress at this time.Looking at the face of the emperor in his sleep, Wan'er was even afraid, fearing that she would never wake up from this sleep. For 25 years, she has been hiding behind the empress, exuding evasive brilliance, and now she is finally about to get rid of this person, but she is sincerely afraid, who is Shangguan Wan'er who has left the empress?

That day when the queen woke up in the afternoon, she called softly: "Wan'er." Shangguan Wan'er was a little surprised that she hadn't heard her calling her like this for several months, and turned her head to see the queen looking at her with soft eyes.She hurriedly walked to the side of the couch and knelt down, and said, "Your Majesty, what do you want?" The empress stretched her withered hand forward, Wan'er resisted the discomfort, and put her hand in.

The queen said: "Wan'er, is it here?" Wan'er felt a little sour in her heart, and said: "Your Majesty will come to settle the province in ten days, and he will come tomorrow." The queen said: "Does he want to accept your concubine?" Shangguan Wan'er Surprised, she couldn't remember when Li Xian mentioned it to the queen, so she could only say: "I don't know." The queen smiled slightly: "He wants to take you away, do you want to?" When she raised her head with tears in her eyes, she said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, Wan'er was taken out of Yeting by you when she was 14 years old, and she drafted an imperial decree for you for 25 years. These hands can no longer do anything else."

The queen looked at Shangguan Wan'er, Wan'er's breathing became disordered, the queen smiled slightly, nodded and said: "When tomorrow comes, ask him to come in, I will hand you over to him, it will be considered a marriage." Sore, tears slowly lay down, the queen raised her hand, wiped away the tears for her, and gently stroked the plum blossoms between her eyebrows, sighed: "You have suffered a lot with me." Shangguan Wan'er gently Shaking her head: "This is nothing." The queen suddenly sighed: "Yeah, compared to the hatred of destroying the family, what is this... I have forgotten that you are the granddaughter of Shangguanyi. It's..." The queen closed her eyes again.

The next day Li Xian came to greet him, and kowtowed outside the hall as usual, but was surprised to hear his mother's weak voice from inside: "Are you Xian? Come in." When she was the empress, Wan'er herself was taken aback. The emperor was struggling to get up from the couch, her snow-white long hair was messed up on the pillow, and her hands were stretched forward eagerly and pitifully, following the desire of the world. There is no difference between the ordinary mother of the son.Shangguan Wan'er was stunned. Just by turning around, the queen changed. It wasn't that the clothes on the queen changed, nor that her hair became a little whiter, but the spirit, which the queen has maintained for several months. The sharp dignity, like the banner of Da Zhou, collapsed in the blink of an eye.Such a change surprised Wan'er more than the Queen's majesty. She had followed this woman for more than twenty years, and she saw a dark sneer hidden in the Queen's sad expression.

Li Xian was obviously also taken aback by his mother's weakness and aging. He usually looked up at his mother's carefully decorated face in the court hall, and it seemed that he was only about 50 years old. At this moment, his mother seemed to be 30 years old suddenly.Li Xian called out in horror: "Mother...you, why..." I don't know whether it was out of long-term fear or the mother-child nature that has never been extinguished in my heart, Li Xian eagerly took two steps on his knees and held the mother with both hands. Mother's dry hand.The Empress smiled sadly, with muddy tears streaming down her face, she sobbed: "Xian, are you so anxious to let Grandma die?" He pulled his arm into his arms and cried: "Xian, if my mother is unwilling to give you the world, what are you doing to bring you back from Fangling!" Said: "Mum! My son deserves to die. My son deserves to die. I'm shocked! My son's death..." The queen hugged Li Xian and said in tears, "Mum doesn't blame you, it's the five thieves who did it for greed. I made you responsible for killing your mother. My mother is afraid that you will be deceived by these idiots..." Li Xian just kept repeating "the son's death penalty".

Shangguan Wan'er stood aside, watching the scene of mother and child embracing and crying with cold eyes, she finally understood that before dying, the empress used such a light method to avenge herself.Perhaps after the Queen's death, those people will understand the price they will pay for betraying this woman.The queen cried for a while, then beckoned Shangguan Wan'er to come forward, put her hand into Li Xian's, and said softly: "Wan'er has been with me for so many years, just like my daughter, you have to treat her well .” Li Xian was crying so hard that he couldn’t speak, he just kowtowed on the edge of the bed.The empress who had cried seemed exhausted, and slowly lay down on the pillow again, weakly saying: "Mother's time is running out, let Taiping come and see me. You guys, go, go..."

Li Xian took Shangguan Wan'er's hand, and left the bedroom with sobs, Shangguan Wan'er hesitated when she walked to the door, did she just go?The queen let her go so easily?She turned her head subconsciously, and saw the queen on the pillow who seemed to be falling asleep, but there was a faint smile on the corner of her aging mouth. This smile vaguely reminded her of the queen's radiant beauty in the past.That was the last image of Wan'er left by the empress, which became Shangguan Wan'er's lingering palpitations.

On November 26th, the first year of Shenlong, a generation of queens passed away quietly in the Xianju Hall of Shangyang Palace.In the first month of the second year, Emperor Li Xian helped his mother's coffin back to Chang'an, where she was buried in Qianling with Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi.After Li Xian arrived in Chang'an, he immediately demoted and killed the son-in-law Wang Tongzhen, as well as Zhang Jianzhi, Cui Xuanwei, Yuan Shuji, Jing Hui, and Yan Yanfan who were canonized as kings because of the Shenlong Revolution.Shangguan Wan'er suddenly remembered the Queen's last smile, until then, she hadn't really comprehended the full meaning of that smile.

The woman no one can forget.