Xiao Letian saw the Cixi woman very clearly. Cixi's inner nature has not changed at all, whether in the past or present life, that is, she is extremely selfish!
What she loves most is always herself, and then her son. She must first ensure her own prosperity, wealth and rights, and then she will give some thought to her son.
Anyway, she has already figured it out in her mind that the Qing Dynasty will fall sooner or later. Cixi knows this better than anyone else, but what this woman needs is that this dynasty cannot fall in her own hands.
Anyone who doesn't let her live comfortably is her enemy, even her two brothers-in-law and princes!
Faced with the aggressiveness of Guiziliu, Cixi decided to go to Ci'an to complain. No matter what, she had to find an ally. After understanding this, Cixi immediately drove to Beiyuan to ask for a meeting with the Empress Dowager Dong.
After leaving the Shenwu Gate, you pass through the main gate of Beiyuan, which is the Beishan Gate, and enter the huge Beiyuan. In front of you is the towering Jingshan Mountain, with lush tigers and dragons coiled in the north of the Forbidden City.
The spiers of pavilions and pavilions are faintly exposed among the towering ancient trees. Many craftsmen are busy setting up timber and laying tiles. The Beiyuan project has not stopped since the beginning.
Cixi felt so sad. She looked at the golden nanmu, rosewood and red sandalwood piled up on the roadside, as well as the gold bricks sent from the south and the glazed tiles made in the west of Beijing. She looked at the groups of craftsmen kneeling on the ground. There is nowhere to spread the evil fire.
Every time she came to Beiyuan, she was always angry. Li Lianying knew that her master was sour again. She did not dare to speak and could only urge the sedan chair to leave as quickly as possible.
"Why? Why should the Ai family live in the dilapidated Chuxiu Palace, while Ci'an can overhaul Beiyuan? All the money from the court was looted by her..."
"Shameless vixen, with the money he earned from selling meat in Fuqing, the palace he built will collapse sooner or later... Bah!"
She was so jealous that Cixi really wanted to own this palace, and it would be great if such a beautiful Beiyuan belonged to her!
The general area of Beiyuan is equivalent to that of Jingshan Park and Beihai Park in later generations, plus Dashizuo Hutong, and then all the way to Di'anmen in the north.
This large area is already Cian's Beiyuan, with tall walls connected together, and some of the original alley residents have also been moved away.
Cixi's sedan chair did not go up to Jingshan Mountain but to the other side. After passing the Dagao Hall and entering the Sheshan Gate, she saw the stone arch bridge entering Qionghua Island.
On the top of the high arch bridge, Zhou Daoying, the eunuch in charge next to Ci'an, was waiting respectfully. When he saw Cixi's sedan coming, he quickly ran down the Sheshan Bridge in three steps at a time.
"Greetings to the Queen Mother... My master has asked me to wait for you. The weather is nice today and the wind is sunny. It would be great for the Queen Mother to come out and relax..."
Li Lianying opened the sedan curtain and nodded to Zhou Daoying, "Well... where is sister?"
"Back to the Queen Mother...my master is walking on the promenade at the North Pier to enjoy the scenery...ask me to come and wait for you..."
"Let's go... I'll go pay my respects to my sister!"
"Hey... get up the sedan..." Two eunuchs in charge, one on the left and one on the right, surrounded Cixi and walked along the waterside road of Qionghua Island towards the north pier.
Just after passing the inscription on Chunyin in Qiongdao, Cixi exclaimed in surprise, "Zhou Daoying..."
"The slave is here..."
"Why is the water level in Beihaizi so low today? Is there a severe drought in Xishan? The Ai family has never heard of it..."
When Li Lianying saw it, it was true. The north coast was made up of bluestones. The original water level was clearly printed on the stones. Moss and duckweed debris formed a standard water level line.
But today, the water level actually dropped more than two feet from the highest level!
Zhou Daoying quickly smiled and said, "It's not that Xishan is short of water, but that the sluice gate to the north of the Silkworm Palace has been closed in the past two days. The water from Shichahai cannot come in, so the water level has naturally dropped..."
During the Qing Dynasty, the water system in the capital city relied on the Xishan Mountain. The water from the Xishan Mountain entered Jishuitan through Deshengmen, then into the Shicha Sea, and finally into the Beihai and the city moat.
The sluice between Shichahai and Beihai is right behind Qincan Palace. Once this gate is closed, the water level of the entire Beihai system will naturally drop.
"What are you thinking, sister? Why are you closing the sluice properly? Are you clearing out the silt?"
"No... Queen Mother, you can see it just by going around this bend. The Prime Minister's Office invited Prussian engineers to build a large fountain with endless life for the Queen Mother in Beihai. If the water level drops, wouldn't it be easier to install iron pipes... …”
Hey... Cixi was so angry, 'Bah... shameless, you actually have the money to install a large fountain with endless longevity? The engineer hired by the Prime Minister's Yamen is not your mistress Fu Qing...'
Just as she was cursing in her mind, the sedan went around the old willow tree next to Yiqing Building, and she could see the North Pier and the promenade.
As expected, Ci'an was overlooking the North Sea from the promenade. Cixi saw that her nose was hanging up and she was out of breath. Sure enough, there was a large hall more than 300 steps away from the pier, covering an area of 700 to 800 square meters. , three engineering ships are busy unloading iron pipes.
From a distance, it seemed that several foreign-looking engineers were leading the craftsmen from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to install the pipes covered with anti-rust paint on the racks in the water according to the drawings. There was not much space between the pipes. There is a brass water nozzle in the distance.
The sedan fell in front of Ci'an. Cixi came out and quickly knelt down to say hello to her sister. "My sister is so happy! Say hello to my sister!"
"Ouch! My sister is very free today... What a coincidence. Today happens to be a fountain test. I asked them to arrange a luncheon upstairs in Bizhao. Let them try the fountain while drinking. See if it’s fun or not…”
"If my sister likes it, my sister will definitely like it too... But my sister has something else to do today that she wants to trouble her with!"
"Let's go... let's talk about other things later. Let's go upstairs and have a cup of tea..."
Bizhao Tower is right next to the promenade, overlooking a large area of water. In the distance, the construction boats have finished their work, and two of them have begun to return.
"Sister..." As soon as Cixi sat down, she immediately became dramatic, her eyes turned red and she was about to cry.
She choked and said, "My sister didn't come today. My sister was bullied to death by Yixin and Yixuan... You have to make the decision for me!"
While sobbing, Cixi amplified everything that happened that morning. Of course, she greatly vilified the two princes and downplayed the responsibilities of Zai Chun and herself.
"What's the matter! Even if Long Live Lord doesn't have personal power, he doesn't even have the right to set up an expedition team, right?"
"What do they mean? They say that Long Live Lord should not reward the army privately, especially the Han army... Isn't this nonsense? Then Zuo Zongtang is not an official of the imperial court? Isn't he a minister of Long Live Lord?"
"As for Gordon, he is also a military general who has contributed to our Qing Dynasty! Even if he comes back, can he be driven out?"
