For other officials, leaving the palace and returning home is nothing worth talking about. It is normal and should be taken for granted. But for Chen Chong, the meaning of returning home is a bit complicated. Because he actually has two families, one
One is more happy, the other is more unfortunate, but they are all his own choices. So every time he leaves the palace, he needs to think a little about where he will stop that night.
This seems simple, but it is actually complicated. After all, life is not like picking up shells on the beach at low tide. When you pick up this one, the remaining shells will be waiting for you in the same place. Instead, it is like picking up shells in the strong wind.
For many kites, when you retract one line, the other line will drift away in the wind unknowingly. So people often either let go and only hold on to one or two lines, or they keep retracting all the lines that are drifting further and further away.
.
When it comes to returning home, Chen Chong knows that if he chooses to settle down in one place, people in the other place will be miserable. So can the two be combined into one place? It’s not that Chen Chong has never thought about it this way, but he
But he knows that this is not allowed by human dignity, and he is not someone who takes pleasure in trampling on the dignity of others.
Although Chen Chong hesitated briefly when he mounted his horse and took a stroll, the answer was already determined: Abai understood him, but the princess did not. So he could only go to the more unfortunate side, although he would also feel sad for it.
Painful, but he bears a deeper responsibility after all.
But Chen Chong inevitably had a bit of luck. While looking at the rising moon in the east mountain, he imagined that nearly nine months had passed. Ten thousand years should be taken lightly! Back then, the first emperor fell to death and killed his mother Zhao Ji's two children.
As an illegitimate son, Zheng Zhuanggong drove away Gongshu Duan, his mother Wu Jiang's favorite brother. They once said that they would never see each other again, but didn't they get back together in the end? When they met, Zheng Zhuanggong once said: "In the big tunnel
, it’s fun and harmonious.” How great it would be if you and the princess could do the same!
But thinking of this, Chen Chong quickly shook his head and smiled bitterly. He knew that he was fantasizing. How could such a good thing happen? No matter how people change, memories will only fade, but will not be erased, just like a broken mirror, even if it can be repaired
, but the cracks will not disappear, it’s just that people are often riddled with holes and will become accustomed to cracks.
Just thinking about it, I unknowingly arrived at the mansion. Although it was called the Prime Minister's Mansion, because Zhuge Liang wanted to move the capital after he took office as Sili Xiaowei, he moved the new mansion directly to Luoyang, the eastern capital. Therefore, Chen Chong
It has not been moved, but the former Sili Mansion has been replaced with a plaque, and the layout is the same as before.
At this time, due to the night ban and the New Year's Eve, most of the official offices were closed, and only a few servants were guarding the treasury. Chen Chong did not want to disturb him, so he led his guards into the mansion through the side door and directly entered his courtyard. When he first entered the hospital, Chen Chong wanted to say hello to the guard at the door. Unexpectedly, when he met him at first glance, he found that he didn't recognize him. This surprised him. When he asked, he learned that it was because it was Chen Zhang who had just entered the hospital.
Yes. There are a total of seventeen guards in Chen Chong's courtyard and four servants responsible for chores. They are all villagers selected by Chen Qun from the clan. They have been with Chen Chong for more than ten years. When Cai Yan was still alive, he would go there in person every month.
After Cai Yan died, Chen Chong was responsible for allocating salaries to them, so they were all familiar with Chen Chong. However, when Chen Zhang came of age in the past two years, Chen Chong handed over the matter to him. Unexpectedly, he recruited another employee this year.
Got some people.
Chen Chong then asked some more about the current situation at home, but the guard only said that everything was as usual, and he was not sure. He asked about Chen Zhang's whereabouts again, and replied that Chen Zhang had been living in Dongguan Pavilion these days and did not return home often. This made him
Chen Chongsheng was a little dissatisfied, but seeing that the guard looked embarrassed, he didn't get angry, he just smiled and passed away.
It was already late at night, and Chen Chong saw that the lights in his wife's bedroom seemed to have been turned off, so he was not in a hurry to meet him. Instead, he asked the guards to rest first, while he cleared a wing and moved all the bedding in.
I plan to make do inside tonight.
But Chen Chong was not sleepy yet. The winter chill was biting, and his brow bones, wrists and shoulder blades all ached. So he lit a lamp in the side room, lit a brazier, and planned to read for a while. But for some reason, Chen Chong
He felt upset for no reason, but could not read it for a long time. So he put down the "Yin Fu Jing" in his hand, put on a fur coat, and walked by Xiaozhu Lake to relax.
The plum blossoms by the lake were also in bloom at this time, and when he got closer, there was a quiet fragrance, which made Chen Chong feel empty. It was like the wind was blowing on him, and what he saw through was nothingness. Although there were many worries in the nothingness, but
At this time, it gradually turned into a feeling of melancholy, and even the dull pain seemed to disappear. Chen Chong felt a pleasant loneliness at this time, as if he had lit a glass of strong wine and evaporated himself.
Then Chen Chong walked step by step by the lake, without purpose or thinking, and he seemed to become hazy in the hazy night. The stars and moonlight on the sky looked at him, making him remember the illusion of his youth, as if in a flash.
The time was broken. He remembered what Liu Jia said at the banquet: "You still haven't changed!", and then unconsciously approached the water and looked at his reflection on the calm lake, but he couldn't see clearly at night.
I vaguely feel that my back thirty years ago overlaps with that of now, and it seems that there is really no change.
But how could there be no changes? At least the memories of many people who accompanied him back then have become blurred, and he is not sure whether the faces in his imagination are real. Not long ago, Xuande's youngest son called himself "Ah
Where is "Weng"!
Chen Chong then patted the shadows on the lake away and looked at the cold sparkling waves. He suddenly and bizarrely remembered a poem he wrote in the third year of Chuping, and he naturally read it again:
"The troubles of the world have gone south together, and the Qing Dynasty has returned to the north. White hair grows in foreign lands, and green mountains can be seen in the old capital. The full moon passes over the remnants, and the stars are in the old pass. Cold birds and decaying grass fly together to Duanchou Bay."
At that time, I thought I understood the pain of separation very well, but now that I think about it, my writing was still too light, too light. Chen Chong fell into silence for a moment, and the surrounding night scene seemed to quiet down with Chen Chong's old poems.
At this moment, a sound suddenly broke the tranquility of the night. Chen Chong thought it was an illusion at first, but soon he realized something was wrong. The sound gradually became stronger from weak to strong. It seemed like a woman's very painful moan, which made him feel familiar and familiar.
Strange. Chen Chong followed the voice and looked over, and was shocked to find that it was the princess's bedroom.
Chen Chong hurried there, thinking as he walked, could it be that the princess had a nightmare? No, she must be sick! The closer he got to the door, the more clearly he could hear the princess's painful moans inside, and he was extremely worried for a moment.
.Just when he walked to the threshold and wanted to open the door by himself, unexpectedly, with a squeak, the door opened by itself.
Chen Chong wanted to go in directly, but unexpectedly bumped into an old woman. The old woman didn't see clearly who was coming, so she opened her mouth and said: "What are you doing here? Madam is in pain again, hurry up and bring her a basin of hot water, don't rush."
"Unexpectedly, the man in front of her didn't move at all, which made her very angry. She cursed and lit the candle and wanted to continue scolding, only to find that the person who came was actually Chen Chong. This made her tremble with fright, and then she quickly knelt down.
Neither the earth nor the atmosphere dared to make a sound.
Chen Chong didn't know this old woman, but he guessed that she was newly hired by Chen Zhang. But he didn't care so much at the moment. His eyes were deeply imprinted on his wife who was tossing and turning on the bed and moaning beside him. He was even more attracted by it.
It was tightly locked on her waist. The flat belly in the past has now become tall and bulging, and a foreign object can be vaguely seen moving under the belly.
It was obvious that the princess was pregnant. Chen Chong, who had many experiences, could tell at a glance that his wife was probably nine months pregnant and would probably give birth soon. And the painful moans she made just now were obviously
It’s the labor pain before childbirth.
But at the moment when his wife turned sideways, Chen Chong met her eyes. He saw with his own eyes how her eyes turned from pain to shock, and then from shock to a hint of pride, and then he recognized that this was her revenge on him. She
The child you are carrying will definitely not be your own child.
However, what made Wan Nian at a loss was that Chen Chong did not show a gloomy or even angry look. Instead, a smile of relief bloomed on his face as if he was relieved. He nodded to Wan Nian with this smile and turned around.
He said to the serving old woman: "Wait a moment, I will get the hot water later." Then he strode out of the door.
The old woman looked at the hostess blankly at this. Although Wan Nian didn't know Chen Chong's intentions, he also knew that this was a private matter between the two of them and was not easy to share with outsiders. In fact, everyone in the house thought that the princess was the prime minister he was pregnant with.
The heirs didn't understand the twists and turns. Therefore, they reluctantly pondered for a while and let the old woman go out to rest.
Not long after, Chen Chong boiled a basin of hot water and came in. After testing the water temperature with his hand, he dipped it in with a towel, and then asked Wan Nian, "Does it still hurt? Before A Yansheng gave birth to her baby, she often complained of pain.
Just rub it with warm water and it will be fine."
Having said that, Chen Chong, not wanting to refuse, had already started wiping. Probably because of his rich experience, he pressed just right, and soon made his wife's moans subside. He also wiped her back and neck. Such treatment made her feel happy.
Wannian felt an increasingly unreal feeling. She had been mentally preparing for this day for nearly a year. She had imagined various scenarios in her mind, but she did not expect that it would develop like this. And she faced her up close again.
When facing Chen Chong, she couldn't help but sadly discovered that her strength was so weak that she was about to lose her armor in an instant.
She asked almost in sleep: "You don't hate me?"
Chen Chong shook his head slowly, then took his wife's hand and said in a sighing tone: "Wannian, if you don't hate me, I will be satisfied. If I can make you feel at ease and happy in the future, I will only be happy for you, best wishes."
You have found your beloved.”
However, what Chen Chong never expected was that after he finished saying this, Wan Nian's face turned as white as ice and snow. She sneered and said, "Okay, okay, so that's what you thought." She shook Chen Chong's hand away.
On the side, he lay on his side on the couch with his back to Chen Chong, without saying a word.