In the Changling Marquis Mansion, in the Hemingxuan in the east hall study, the head of the family Xia Houxuan is still sitting in front of the sandalwood table he has used since he was a child. On the table is placed the table used by his master Yu Gui in his early years. A celadon Boshan incense burner. This was a gift given to him by Yu Huan on his 23rd birthday three years ago. At this moment, Xia Houxuan was holding a precious wolf-hair brush and slowly writing and editing his "Xiahouzi" on the bamboo slips.
Li Huigu was pregnant a few months ago, so she was quite sleepy these days. After Xia Houxuan took care of Huigu to sleep, she went to the study and got busy.
Xia Houxuan had a sudden inspiration at this moment, and his soul was blessed, so he wrote a full two thousand words in one breath. As soon as he typed, he realized that the ink on the wolf hair had been dried, and he moved his pen to place a green inkstone on the table. When I dipped it in ink, I couldn't help but think of something again.
This inkstone was made of Qianzhao Lianzijing, whom I met at Yanmenguan in Bingzhou. When I went to Longxi County that year, I personally dived into the Taoshui River in Didao County and fished out the bluestone from the river bottom. This inkstone has a green color, is elegant and rare, is hard and fine in quality, crystal clear like jade, and has a silent click. Not only that, this inkstone can produce water droplets when pressed, can produce ink quickly without damaging it, and can store ink for a long time without drying out. It is said to be a rare treasure, so Xia Houxuan loves it very much, and even can't put it down.
[Note 1: Tao Inkstone has a history of at least 1,300 years. The ancient Tao Inkstone was first discovered in Taoyan Township, Zhuoni County, Gannan Prefecture, Gansu Province. It has always been a treasure of the elegant rooms of the palace, a treasure of literati, a good gift for relatives and friends, and a rare item in the antique inventory. Literati, scholars, calligraphers and painters of all ages have marveled at the inscriptions and poems on Tao Inkstone. The most popular era of Tao Inkstone was from the Tang Dynasty and subsequent dynasties. The fiction in this article is only the bottom stone of the Taoshui River, not the mature Tao inkstone produced in a systematic and large-scale manner. 】
But at this moment, Xia Houxuan's eyes were filled with sadness.
As early as four years ago, his eldest brother Qianzhao had already died of illness while serving as the governor of Yanmen County. Fortunately, Brother Qianzhao had fulfilled his wish before his death.
Xia Houxuan still remembers the scene in the early Huang Dynasty, when he was still a teenager and drank and talked with Qianzhao on top of Yanmen Pass.
"A good man should fight on the battlefield and make contributions to the country. However, Zhao not only wants to establish martial arts, but also has an ambition to benefit the people!..."
Xia Houxuan will never forget the heroic demeanor of Qianzhao, who was full of energy and drank with bold words and ambitions.
Today, Yanmen County, the old city of Xingbei, and the new city of Shangguan have all been renovated and renovated, and the Hu people from far and near are already convinced of the Wei Dynasty.
Those homeless refugees on the border have long been registered by the Wei Dynasty and have become common people of the Wei Dynasty. The water canal that connects the inside and outside of Yanmen's northern city has also been repaired long ago. The people on the border no longer have to drink the bitter and salty water from Tujing.
Not only that, nowadays in Yanmen in the north, academies are flourishing. Talented people from the Hu and Han Dynasties in the border area are able to enter Taixue every year to repay the country's favor. The academic style is very popular.
Brother Qianzhao's long-cherished wish over the years has basically come true.
In Yanmen County, he served as a school captain for a total of twelve years until he became the prefect of Yanmen. During these twelve years, he not only gained great prestige, but his achievements in border management were second only to Tian Yu. That's all. That year, the people of Yanmen built monuments one after another in memory of their elder brother Qianzhao.
When Xia Houxuan thought about this, he thought: He was famous all over the world during his lifetime, and left a famous name forever after his death. This is what a man should do in life!
At this moment, the butler Gu Ting, who was already slightly aging, came to the study. When he saw that the master stopped writing, he spoke:
"Master Marquis, I heard that the Colonel passed away this morning at the Zhen Mansion!"
When Xia Houxuan heard this, he was not surprised at all.
As the emperor's uncle, Lieutenant Shesheng Zhen Xiang has been suffering from wheezing and coughing for almost a year. During this year, although the emperor also ordered the imperial doctor to visit Zhen Xiang's house from time to time, Zhen Xiang's illness was inherently Stubborn and evil, combined with age, he has become seriously ill and has long been beyond the reach of any medicine. Given his condition, it is extremely difficult for him to survive until now. If the emperor hadn't given him many rare medicinal materials from time to time, he would have always been with the late empress.
A few days ago, Zhen Xiang saw with his own eyes the compass car and the water-turning Baixi opera created by Dr. Ma Jun and Ma Deheng. At that time, he was very emotional. Later, he accompanied the emperor to watch the tiger cut off its claws in the Xuanwu Field, and even more It was a shock. Not only that, Cao Rui's sometimes surly and sometimes sober attitude when dealing with the cases of Liu Gui and Xie Hong also made Zhen Xiang experience great joys and great sorrows. These incidents all aggravated his condition.
Therefore, not long after he returned to the mansion, he started to cough up blood crazily. The people in the mansion immediately went to the palace to invite the imperial doctor. Before the imperial doctor arrived at Zhen's mansion, Zhen Xiang had already died.
The servants in the mansion only saw Zhen Xiang pointing to the beams of his house when he was dying, with a worried look on his face. As for the hidden meaning of his pointing to the beams, it was difficult for the family to guess.
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On this day, the emperor felt slightly unwell, so he did not go to court, but rested in Jiafu Hall all morning.
Cao Rui had a very long dream. In the past, he could not remember most of the scenes in his dreams. But the emperor's dream today was unusual, because he could clearly see even the fine lines on the mother's face caused by laughter in the dream.
In the dream, he seemed to be a child again.
In the emperor's dream, he was a happy child in the arms of his grandfather Zhen Yi, surrounded by his mother Queen Zhen, uncle Zhen Yan, and Zhen Xiang.
It was not until the afternoon, after the emperor woke up from his sleep, that the chamberlain Han Yong, who personally served the emperor outside the palace, came in to report the death of Colonel Shesheng Zhenxiang.
When the emperor heard that Zhen Xiang was still pointing his finger to the beam when he was dying, he knew in his heart that before his death, his uncle still did not forget to advise him not to be too extravagant and not to build too many palaces that wasted people and money. !
After the emperor listened to Han Yong's words, there was no expression on his face at first. After half a moment, Han Yong saw two traces of tears on the usually cold emperor's face, which shocked Han Yong even more. What's more, the emperor spit out a mouthful of blood and fainted!
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In the Yongshou Palace, the Queen Mother Guo, who was already graying on her temples, was shocked when she heard what the maid Qingluan said.
In the years since the emperor had not yet practiced Zuo until now, Queen Guo has always understood in her heart that although Cao Rui was extremely filial to her on the surface, in fact, this child had never regarded her as a true relative.
Perhaps as the Holy Emperor, he might have understood in his heart that the death of Queen Wen Zhaozhen was not directly caused by himself as Emperor Wen's favorite concubine. But no matter what, the existence of this noble concubine who was like a counselor, gentle and generous, more or less made the late emperor's dislike of Empress Zhen, who was easily jealous and occasionally complained, a little more.
The worried Queen Guo frowned, firstly because she was childless and had deep feelings for Cao Rui, the child she had taken care of since childhood, and secondly because she understood that the Liaodong Gongsun family had been eyeing the land of Youbin in recent years, and Cao Rui His two adopted sons, Qi Wangfang and Qin Wangxun, are still too young. At this moment, the country still faces great hidden dangers, both internally and externally.
The emperor must not fall down at this moment!
"Qingluan, please quickly prepare a simple chariot. The Ai family is going to visit His Majesty in Jiafu Hall!"
"Yes, Her Majesty the Queen Mother!"
Qingluan didn't dare to delay, and had everything ready in less than half an hour.
When Queen Guo arrived at the Jiafu Hall, the imperial physician was taking the emperor's pulse, while the emperor's wives, concubines, and concubines, such as Queen Mao and Guo, stood beside the emperor with worried faces.
Queen Guo waited for the imperial physician to check her pulse, and then asked the imperial physician in a low voice:
"Imperial Physician, I wonder how your Majesty is ill?"
The imperial doctor didn't look panicked, and he calmly said to the Queen Mother:
"I would like to inform Her Majesty the Queen Mother that your Majesty is fine. Firstly, Your Majesty has been too indulged in wine and sex in recent years, and has neglected his martial arts, bowing and horsemanship, and his body is not as good as before. Secondly, the commander of the shooting team passed away this time. I think it is out of pure filial piety that Your Majesty misses you so much. Empress Wen Zhaozhen became pregnant, so she fell into a coma out of great sorrow. However, the decoction prescribed by me is slow to take effect, and your Majesty may need to rest for several months."
Queen Guo frowned when she heard this. She thought, now that the country is suffering from internal and external troubles, the two parties are not at peace, and the prince has not yet been decided, the country cannot live without a king for a day, and how can it be done if the emperor has been cultivating for several months?
"Imperial doctor, isn't there any other way?"
The imperial doctor shook his head helplessly and said:
"Queen Mother, it's not that you are unwilling to take care of yourself, it's just that Your Majesty has been ill for a long time. If you don't have a good rest, I'm afraid there will be hidden dangers..."
After hearing this, Queen Guo let out a long sigh. She had no idea for a moment. She couldn't help but sigh:
"It would be great if Hua Tuo was still alive..."
After hearing the words "Hua Tuo is alive" from Queen Guo, a glimmer of light flashed in the eyes of the imperial doctor:
"Queen Mother Qi, it is impossible to say that Hua Tuo is still alive, but Li, the wife of Changling Marquis Xiahou Taichu, happens to be the female disciple of Hua Tuo's second disciples Wu Pu and Fan A, if we can let him Mrs. Xiahou performed the acupuncture herself and prescribed a new prescription, maybe your majesty will recover faster, who knows?"
When Queen Guo heard this, her eyebrows finally relaxed.
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Soon, the Queen Mother sent Han Yong, the emperor's chamberlain, to personally come to the Changling Marquis' mansion to invite Huigu.
Before Han Yong left the palace, Xia Houxuan was entertaining several friends at home.
Zhuge Dan, who had been dismissed from office many years ago due to the "Extreme Case", would come to Xiahou Xuanqing to talk about drinking when he had nothing to do these years. Today, Zhuge Dan specially called in Li Feng, Li Anguo, Deng Yang and Deng Xuanmao, who were also unemployed.
As for Li Feng, Xia Houxuan had already become a close friend with him. However, Deng Yang, who came here today, was talented, proficient in Lao and Zhuang studies, and was quite in tune with Xia Houxuan. Deng Xuanmao". Therefore, he did not want to have a deep friendship with this descendant of Deng Yu, the Marquis of Gaomi in the Han Dynasty. Therefore, he only had no heart-to-heart talk with Deng Yangxu.
But Xia Houxuan had a calm face and was quite enthusiastic when talking to Deng Yang, so Deng Yang thought that he had successfully made friends with Xia Houxuan, a famous person.
Xia Houxuan was currently teasing Li Feng's seven-year-old eldest son, Li Tao. Xia Houxuan liked the child very much when he saw that he was smart and cute, so he joked with Li Feng:
"If Zhuojing gives birth to a daughter this time, she will be paired with Qilin'er of Anguo. What do you think?"
