Chapter 142 The Emperor’s Soul Returns, Yuan Rong Yu Falls 【Part 1】
At the beginning of the Qinglong Year, after the winter war between the Wei Dynasty and Xianbei, tens of thousands more dead bones were added to the northern battlefield. Although it was winter and there were not many rotting corpses on the battlefield, an epidemic still broke out in the capital city of Luoyang. disease.
Almost at the same time, on the Gengyin day of March in the early spring of the second year of Qinglong, another bad news spread that did not make the people of Luoyang much sad - the last emperor of the previous dynasty, Liu Xie, the Duke of Shanyang, passed away.
[Note 1: "Three Kingdoms·Volume 3·Wei Shu Ming Emperor 3": "... In the third month of Gengyin, Duke Shanyang passed away. The emperor mourned in plain clothes and sent envoys to guard the funeral. Jiyou , General amnesty. In April of summer, there was a great epidemic. A disaster occurred in Chonghua Palace. In Bingyin, an edict was issued to the minister to report Tailuo to the Wendi Temple. He was posthumously named Shanyang Gong as the Emperor of Han Xiaoxian, and was buried with Han rites."]
Emperor Wen of this dynasty was able to inherit the great treasure after receiving the abdication of Shanyang Gong Liu Xie. Therefore, according to etiquette, Emperor Cao Rui personally mourned in plain clothes to preside over the funeral ceremony of Shanyang Gong. Not only that, Cao Rui also died too often. In harmony with the situation, the two capable ministers, Da Sinong and Cui Lin, went to the Shanyang Palace in person to preside over the condolence ceremony and supervise the funeral rites.
One month later, on Bingyin Day, Emperor Cao Rui issued another edict, ordering the chief minister of the Imperial Ancestral Temple to offer sacrifices to Emperor Wen with the Tailao ceremony. He posthumously named Liu Xie, Duke of Shanyang, as the filial emperor of the Han Dynasty, and buried him with the imperial rites of the Han Dynasty.
What Emperor Cao Rui and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty did not expect was that after they had been busy for a while, the small epidemic that they had no time to take care of before would spread unknowingly.
In the blink of an eye, summer has arrived. As soon as the spring weather warms up, the plague that has been brewing in the spring has actually infected many people in Luoyang. The officials and people are in panic, and many people want to avoid the epidemic. , and even chose to take his family with him, the old and the young, and temporarily leave Luoyang to avoid the plague.
In order to control the spread of this disaster, Cao Rui not only issued an edict to send dozens of imperial doctors out of the palace to fight the plague, but also ordered famous doctors from all over the country to come to Beijing with medicines, hoping to work together with Beijing's traditional Chinese medicine practitioners to restore Luoyang to its past as soon as possible. of prosperity.
As for the matter of controlling the plague, the emperor left it to Guanqiu Jian, who was serving as a dianong in Luoyang, and He Zeng, his former official in the East Palace, Sanqi Changshi.
The originally prosperous and vibrant Wei Dynasty suddenly became like a Shura field, and many people died of illness every day.
The shouts of vendors that originally filled every street and market disappeared, replaced by heart-wrenching cries and heart-wrenching sighs of despair.
Not only that, many people and officials even choose to "hang talismans to hate them" in an attempt to use the power of ghosts and gods to eliminate disasters.
Guan Qiu Jian, who was in charge of all matters, saw a lost scholar riding a skinny donkey on the street of Pingchangmen that day, mumbling something. Guan Qiu Jian listened carefully and then he heard clearly. , it turned out that the man was reciting "Seven Sorrow Poems" by Wang Can, a famous scholar from the previous dynasty:
"When I go out, I see nothing. The plain is covered with white bones. There is a hungry woman on the road, her arms abandoned in the grass. When I hear the howl and cry, I shed my tears and refuse to return. 'How can we be complete if we don't know where we will die?' Drive the horse and abandon it. Go, I can’t bear to hear this..."
When Guanqiu Jian heard this, he felt very uncomfortable as he looked at the thin and lonely figure of a man and a donkey gradually walking away.
Since the end of the Han Dynasty, due to frequent wars and corpses everywhere in the world, plague has become the norm for years and people are in dire straits. At this time, even the pampered scholar-bureaucrats were not immune to the plague. He is as famous as Wang Can. , Xu Qian, Chen Lin, Ying Jue, Liu Zhen and other celebrities who were close friends of Emperor Cao Pi of this dynasty and praised by the world as the "Seven Sons of Jian'an" also died during the Jian'an period of the previous dynasty, and their tragic situation is evident.
Like the palaces of various princes and ministers in Luoyang City, Boshan incense burners were also placed everywhere in the Changling Marquis Mansion, burning mugwort day and night in an attempt to drive away the terrible plague.
The head of the family, Changling Marquis Xia Houxuan, was not at home at this time. Not long after he reunited with his wife and mother, he went to the north again.
And this time, Li Huigu didn't know why her husband went north. She only knew that he was ordered by His Majesty to carry out a secret mission.
Less than a month after Xia Houxuan left Luoyang, this terrible epidemic broke out in the capital city of Luoyang.
This made Mrs. Cao Jue and Mrs. Li Huigu, who were very worried about Xiahou Xuan's safety not long ago, become less worried.
―――
Wuyanghou Mansion, inside Sima's residence.
Since there were epidemics everywhere in the city, Master Sima was not worried about letting his wife and children live alone in the mansion, so he planned to stay in the mansion peacefully for the next few days and stay with Xia Houhui and his children under five years old.
On this day, the head of the family, General Wuyang Hou Sima Yi, also took a sick leave and hid in his house before going to court. With nothing to do, he wanted to come and inspect the knowledge of his sons. So early in the morning, Sima Shi and Sima Zhao
The legitimate sons, Sima Qian, Sima Liang, Sima Nian and other concubines went to the main hall of their home early to wait for their father.
Like every morning in the past, the young lady Xia Houhui still personally cleaned the study room of Ma Yi and her husband Sima Shi of the company.
When Xia Houhui once again inadvertently touched the "Yin Fu Jing" on Sima Yi's sandalwood bookshelf, she couldn't help but think of what her brother Xia Houxuan said to her that evening after Qixi Festival many years ago.
"Yuanrong, although the Sima family is not involved in collaborating with the enemy, I suspect that the death of Wang Li, the governor of Hanoi, is probably related to the Sima family. I don't know the specific details of this matter. According to my speculation, there may be someone behind the scenes.
The purpose is to protect an old friend of the DPRK who was involved in this matter. I also know that Uncle Sima and Ziyuan will not be treacherous people who collaborate with the enemy and treason, but Yuanrong, I really need your help this time."
Although many years later, this matter did not come to light as her brother thought, but since she accidentally knocked over the medicine bottle on the bookshelf a few years ago, she understood that what her brother said was actually true.
That's right, it's just that I have been deceiving myself.
Today, this thought popped up in her mind involuntarily, which made her feel a little mixed for a moment.
Xia Houhui was like this, dazed, while casually walking towards the "forbidden area" behind the bookshelf.
There was obviously nothing in the dark corner, but Xia Houhui seemed to hear a whisper.
She thought she had heard it wrong, but when she walked closer to the dark wall, she realized that someone was actually saying something!
That voice is behind this wall!
Xia Houhui hurriedly covered his mouth, held his breath, and carefully put his ear against the wooden wall.
"Grandma Yu, you see, there is an epidemic in this capital, and the place where we keep the hostages is so gloomy and gloomy. You may catch the disease one day. If you let me take care of those people there again,
People who are half-dead should stop doing this."
After hearing this, Xia Houhui couldn't help but be filled with surprise and doubt. Could it be that the person this person was imprisoning was related to the family of the late county governor Wang Li who was involved in the horse theft case six years ago?
"Don't worry, I have already told Mr. Hou that Mr. Jiang Ji and Mr. Jiang have been in the same boat with Mr. Hou for a long time. There is no use in keeping these people. You can find time in the next two days to
Deal with them, then quietly pull the bodies out of the secret passage in the mansion and bury them!"
Sure enough!
When Xia Houhui heard that the familiar voice turned out to be Granny Yu, she felt sad and surprised at the same time. She was so confused that she couldn't help but exclaimed and accidentally bumped into the wooden partition wall!
"Shh!" Granny Yu in the secret room hurriedly gestured to the man not to say anything more.
"What should I do?" That person was originally timid and fearful, but now that he realized someone was eavesdropping, he naturally became even more nervous.
"Why are you panicking?" Granny Yu sneered and glanced at the partition wall with a sinister look. Even if she didn't see the person behind the partition wall, she could still guess who was eavesdropping.
After all, who else has been cleaning the study by himself for five or six years?
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A few days later, the epidemic in Beijing and central China finally eased due to the concerted efforts of doctors from both the government and the private sector.
However, everyone understands that at this time, we cannot take it lightly, because the epidemic will rebound at any time before it is completely eliminated.
In the Wuyang Hou Mansion, everyone was busy with the birthday party of the young master Sima Shi.
However, due to the epidemic, the mansion did not invite outsiders, nor did they go out to buy anything. They just tried to arrange it as simply as possible. Therefore, this birthday banquet was very different from previous years, and became a family banquet.
The head of the family, Sima Yi, sat in the main hall, accompanied by Sima Shi and Sima Zhao facing east, and Sima Qian, Sima Liang, and Sima Min facing west.
After three rounds of drinking, the head of the family, Sima Yi, seemed to be in a good mood and wanted to ask his daughter-in-law Xia Houhui to play a song to cheer him up.
Master Sima saw that his father was rarely interested in this, so he did not refuse. He smiled and encouraged his wife: "Since my father wants to hear Yuanrong play the piano, then Yuanrong can play a song to cheer up his father."
Xia Houhui smiled and nodded, while the servants standing aside in the hall brought up the "Green Qi" guqin that had been prepared.
Xia Houhui took the guqin and couldn't help but trembled slightly in his heart.
Seeing this guqin, it's like going back to nearly ten years ago and seeing the heroic young man who came to Xiahou Mansion to celebrate his birthday with this guqin in his arms.
She couldn't help but raise her head and smile at her husband.
Master Sima also smiled warmly at his beloved wife.
Ten years have passed by in a hurry, but fortunately, he and he still respect and love each other so much.
"Zheng..." I saw Xia Houhui's left hand stroking the silk strings, and his right hand stroking the strings. The strings began to vibrate, and the guqin made a nice clear sound.
She was still playing the old song from back then.
After a few light hooks, Xia Houhui suddenly turned her fingers. The sound of the piano, which was like the sound of jade jade striking each other at first, suddenly became much lighter, just like clear spring water, gurgling over the stone. At this time, only her two fingers were visible.
Soft yet strong, although her piano skills are no longer as proficient as they used to be, her skill is still evident in every touch.
Soon, the clear springs merged into the rivers, and then rushed into the sea. The tune suddenly became like a big tide, and the palace merchants were excited.
At this moment, Xia Houhui inadvertently looked up at her husband. His eyes were still as gentle as when they first met...
"Zheng!"
At this moment, the string broke and the fingers broke!
The seventh string, which was originally as white as snow, also had a hint of red!
Master Sima was startled and hurriedly stepped forward to help his pale wife.
"Yuanrong, what's wrong with you!" Master Sima suddenly became extremely nervous when he saw Xia Houhui's expression was not good.
"It's okay, husband." Xia Houhui smiled warmly: "I was just scared, don't be afraid."
"That's good, that's good." Master Sima gently helped Xia Houhui up, then bowed to his father at the table and said, "Father, Yuanrong is feeling unwell. My child asks to go back early, and I hope my father will agree."
Sima Yi's face was expressionless at the moment and he just said "Huh".
Master Sima ignored any etiquette at this moment, picked up his wife, and ran towards his courtyard.