Li Zicheng in Yao Xue's Book II, Chapter 40 Chapter 1

Li Xin made a slight maneuver in the living room with the elders who were waiting for him in the near room, so he entered the second door, asked the chief housekeeper and several stewards of the servants, made some instructions, and then met with the grandmother in the back house. Li Nong's wife was weeping with her sister-in-law, when she overheard the maids say that the uncle had come in, and quickly got up to avoid it.

Lady Tang was forced to rebel for the Li Xin brothers, and she could not swallow all day. But she was a strong person, and she had always been the governor of the Li Mansion, so no matter how worried she was, even with desperate and light thoughts, there were many things she had to struggle to make decisions and give orders to the housekeepers and male and female slaves. Hearing that Li Xin had come in, she stood up and walked to the curtain to greet him, and according to the usual rules, let him sit down on the Taishi chair covered with red seat felt on the left side of the Eight Immortals table in the middle, and sat on the right side herself, and swallowed sadly. Li Xin saw that his wife's eyes were red and swollen, her beard was not neat, her face was haggard, and her heart felt miserable, but he reluctantly smiled and said:

"Didn't I come back?" What else is sad? You women and Taoists have so many tears! ”

Madame Tang sobbed a few more times, breathed deeply, wiped out tears, and choked up: "Thank you Emperor God for your blessing, we can see each other again!" ”

Lady Tang's personal servant ring was called Caiyun's, and she made a look at the servants and servants standing in the room, and everyone quickly and quietly withdrew. She withdrew herself. Li Xin looked at his wife and said:

"I know you broke your heart for me. The enemy family and the corrupt officials did not kill me, our husband and wife are fortunate and reunited, you should be happy. At the moment, I need your help to take care of some things. If you can't think about it, cry and cry, but disturb my square inches. You have always understood things well, and you should know in your heart that I and Deqi have no other way but to rebel. In the book, you exhort us to stop the horse from the precipice, and return to the car in a wrong way, all empty words. By now, it is difficult to ride a tiger. ”

Madame Tang said, "Although the Red Lady broke the city to save you, robbed the prison, and killed the imperial court officials, you and the second elder have committed serious crimes, but I don't think you have fallen into a desperate situation." As long as your brother dies and does not rebel, and if he dies far away, he will not be considered a betrayal of the imperial court, and his sin is still forgivable. Run away, run away! Your brothers flew away, and I fought for my life at home. Raiding homes, going to jail, I'm not afraid. Desperately to zhang Luo to relatives, spend 180,000 silver in the capital and province, open up joints, and buy a big thing. Your brother is out there, hiding his name, or finding a place to hide, or floating around and looking at the door (1). The sky is wide and the earth is wide, and the world is full of lakes..."

(1) Looking at the door to stop - fleeing for their lives everywhere, seeing people's homes and asking for accommodation. This sentence originally came from the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Zhang Jian's Biography".

Li Xin took advantage of the fact that she couldn't swallow hard enough to say, and gently sighed and said, "You are so confused! ”

"I suppose," Mrs. Tang went on, "that your brother has done nothing wrong, but has been blessed by the gods." The end of the world, you can hide everywhere. After waiting for three years and five years, the right and wrongs will come out of nowhere, and the injustice will be revealed, and then you will return home safely, even if you have ruined your family, you can be an innocent and good citizen who keeps to yourself, and after this life, it is as if you follow the Red Lady to become a thief, fall into a great rebellion, disloyalty and filial piety. You must know that you are the prince of Li Fu, and you are also a person who raises people and shows talents, and you are not the same as the people! ”

Li Xin said indignantly: "You don't see that today's events are pressing, you can only lead the starving people to revolt together with the Red Lady, break the cauldron, and have no retreat, before you can survive in death." If you are afraid of rebellion, if you look ahead and look back, you will be trapped in the words "loyalty and filial piety" in the books, and you will surely be caught. This truth is so simple and clear that the onlookers are clear, but you are confused! Nowadays, the government is dim, the officials and gentry are rampant, and the people have no day, and right and wrong are reversed. In such a world, we have been wronged, and there is really no way out. If you want to wait until the water is out, you can wait, wait until the Yellow River is clear, and the sun comes out from the west! You also didn't think about it, since you broke the county town and killed the imperial court's life palace, the imperial court will inevitably issue sea hunting documents, paint pictures, and offer a reward for arresting me and my second brother. After my brother escaped, it was inevitable that he would not show his signs, and it would be easy to fall into the hands of others. You are hoping that my brothers will flee for their lives, but you are really trying to persuade us to die as soon as possible. Alas, what a mess! ”

When Li Nong returned in the afternoon, she also persuaded Lady Tang that she could only survive by rebelling with the Red Lady now, but she did not listen. Because she was in the position of the eldest sister-in-law, Li Yu did not dare to criticize her confused thoughts. She knew that Li Zuo had always listened to her brother's words, so she had always looked forward to meeting her husband and persuading him to make a quick decision and flee with Li Zuo. Now, after hearing her husband say the truth that she could not flee, and saying that she was confused, she woke up like a dream, thinking that the Li Xin brothers were justified in opposing the flight, and at the same time feeling very desperate. After a moment of silence, she sighed and said:

"But the Great Festival of Loyalty and Filial Piety..."

Li Xin truncated: "If they all follow the foolish views of shusheng and die to speak a 'loyal' character; then since ancient times, there will be no change of dynasty, and today it will still be the descendants of King Xia Jie sitting in jiangshan, there will be no Shang Tang and Zhou Wu, and there will be no first-class entrepreneurs from Han Liu Bang to Zhu Hongwu, and the world will always be the world with one surname." Hanging people to cut down sins is the cause of standing up to the heavens and the earth, what a big festival is a loss! If there is no other right and wrong in the hearts of the common people, the people of Qixian County will not respond to everyone, help the Red Lady break the city and kill the officials, and save me from prison. If the people's hearts were not another right and wrong, they would not join the army one after another and would be willing to revolt with me. Don't be confused and mess with us. I have decided to rebel, and you don't have to say anything else. The Red Lady rescued me from prison, she is also the lord of the army, I hope that you will treat her well, the etiquette should be solemn, do not be sloppy. ”

Madame Tang said helplessly, "Since I am your wife, misfortune and happiness are one, and there is no difference between life and death." Now, I don't mess with your square inches anymore. As for the Red Lady, she saved you out of prison, and I can't thank you enough. However, in the past two years, if you have too many contacts with her and are looked at by others, you will not be accused of conspiring with the Red Lady to rebel, and there are all kinds of ugly words. I often hear you say how the Red Lady is not a general female streamer, knowing today, regretting not being in the beginning..."

"How was it?"

"I regret that I shouldn't have persuaded you to take her as a concubine earlier, and saved others from talking nonsense." Everyone, who doesn't have three wives and four concubines? Besides, I myself have always been sick and have not had children and daughters for you! ”

Li Xin pressed an uncomfortable feeling and said with a bitter smile: "I know that your mind is confused, and you should say something that should not be said." Tonight I have a lot of important things to wait for, and some of them we will talk about later. At this moment, I hope that you will solemnly entertain the Red Lady, and you must not slightly despise her because she is from a humble background. ”

Lady Tang replied, "Since I married into your family, I am a Tsukasa woman (1), and I have never been disrespectful to my relatives and female relatives. Besides, I am the lord of Li Mansion today, and the Red Lady is the savior of Li Mansion, let alone an ordinary female guest, even if I am confused, I will not neglect her. You're relieved. Because her husband got up to leave, she looked at him affectionately and said softly, "You should also comb your hair, you must have lice in the classroom." I'll call a to make a castor head for you, shall I? ”

(1) Tsukasa woman - the eldest daughter-in-law. According to feudal etiquette, Tsukasa women could manage household chores, preside over sacrifices, and receive female guests.

(2) Great Sima Di - meaning Bingbu Shangshufu. Sima Da was the official in charge of the military in the ancient central government. The Ming Dynasty scholar dafu liked to imitate the ancients, calling the Bingbu Shangshu "Great Sima "Great Sima ".

"There's no spare time at the moment!"

After Li Xin left, Madame Tang summoned the male and female butlers to the front and instructed them to prepare to greet the red marshal with the etiquette of welcoming the distinguished guests. But she said to herself in her heart:

"I can't imagine the misfortune of the family door, so that my famous housewife bends down to meet a rope prostitute who sells art in the jianghu!"

Two servant women of The Li Mansion walked in front of them, wearing two old white gauze lanterns with the four characters of the Song Dynasty Zhushu: "Great Sima Di" (2). The Red Lady's four young women dressed in military uniforms followed behind, branded with white gauze lanterns without words. As soon as they approached the gate of The Li Mansion, the servants who were standing in front of the stone lions on both sides waiting in front of them shouted to the courtyard according to the old rules of greeting vips: "The red marshal has arrived!" The servants waiting at the second door shouted again inside. Inside were several women's voices followed by loud voices. The Red Lady looked up and looked inward, only to see the large open door, two rows of brilliant lights, and the weather was forested. On the two armies, the Red Lady rode on a war horse, swung her sword to kill, blood stained her sleeves, and did not even blink her eyes, but now she couldn't help but feel that her breathing was a little short, her heart was pounding, and even she herself did not understand why she was so nervous. Li Xin and Li Zuo greeted her at the second gate and accompanied her into the inner mansion. As soon as they entered the third courtyard door, the Li Xin brothers bowed their hands to the Red Lady and withdrew. The Red Lady continued to be led forward by Caiyun and the housekeeper, the more prominent servants in the Li Mansion.

The eldest grandmother, Mrs. Tang, and the second grandmother, Liu Shi, were already waiting at the bottom of the steps of the hall, surrounded by a large group of servants and servants. Madame Tang, with a deep class prejudice, secretly looked at this "jianghu woman" (this is the name of the red lady in her heart since last night) from a long distance to see if there was a frivolous demeanor and a habitual look. Dozens of servants and servants stood quietly at the top of the steps of the east and west compartments, all trying to see clearly what this female Haojie who could command the army to fight was really like. Among them, some thought that this female Haojie who dared to wield a sword to kill people must be a mother night fork with a wide waist and a round waist and black bulendun (1), and some of them heard that the red lady was not ugly, but thought that it must be the kind of dress of the mountain king on the stage, with a pair of pheasant feathers inserted in her head. In the glory of the candle, The eyes of Mrs. Tang and everyone suddenly lit up, and all the conjecture images ran out.

(1) Black BuLen Dun - Henan dialect, fine black face thick face.

They saw that the hero was tall, wearing a taupe tight short jacket on her upper body (no one thought she was wearing cotton armor inside), a goose and yellow silk ribbon, a sword tied around her waist, a purple lambskin scarlet cloak, a purple and red satin hood, a jade prefix, a black velvet double beam cloud head foundation riding boots on her feet, a dignified face, a heroic eyebrow, a generous demeanor, and a healthy walk, which was very different from the characters originally imagined by Lady Tang and Ya Huan and the servants. The four healthy women who followed the Red Lady all changed into new silk arrow sleeves and short jackets, tightly bound war belts, short swords inserted in the waist, and treasure swords inserted in the back, all of which were red silk wrapped in heads, male and full of spirits, just like heroic male soldiers. Madame Tang and all the concubines and servants felt very fresh and surprised, and some people in the two compartments unconsciously made a soft spurt sound, and no one did not secretly solemnly respect in their hearts.

According to the general rules of society at that time, a prostitute who saw the grandmother of a eunuch like Madame Tang should kneel down and prostrate her head, which was enough to be polite. However, when the Red Lady came, she had already thought that she was no longer a lowly person today, but a rebel leader, and she could no longer perform such rituals and self-deprecating her identity. Out of her usual respect for Li Xin, and the first time she met Lady Tang, she deeply blessed Lady Tang as an equal.

Madame Tang quickly returned the gift and said, "Red Shuai is the savior of my family." It is only because my body is sick that I have not been able to go far, and I want to forgive my sins. She no longer despised the other party as a lowly prostitute, and continued with sincere feelings: "If you don't hate me as a useless person, we will treat each other as sisters." Come, please sister Xian, accept my worship, to thank Sister Xian for saving her life. ”

The Red Lady even said "don't dare to be", and hurriedly returned the courtesy. Mrs. Tang also introduced:

"This is my second grandmother, and you should also pray to me."

When the Red Lady and Li Zuo's wife were facing each other, Lady Tang looked her up and down again, and couldn't help but praise in her heart: "There are not many women who look so handsome, but I have never seen such a handsome person in the female stream!" She pulled one of the Red Lady's hands into the upper room, and suddenly thought that the hands of herself and a few of the servants who were close to her were small, tender, and slender, and although the Red Lady's hands were not particularly large, they made her feel very strong and powerful, and seemed to have cocoon skin, and she couldn't help but say in her heart: "In the end, it is a female general who is pulling a bow and dancing sword on a horse, and her hands are different!" ”

She let the Red Lady into the upper room, bowed to each other again, and sat down separately. Li Zuo's wife sat down next to her. She ordered the four women who had come with the Red Lady to come in and show her. They bowed their heads to Mrs. Tang and the second grandmother, and stood side by side with their hands bowed, waiting for questioning. They were all tall figures, with wide shoulders and thin waists, very strong and sharp, and handsome, without the slightest hesitation of young women standing in front of the living. Madame Tang then asked a few questions, knowing that they were all from poor and lowly backgrounds, some were rough slaves of large families, and some were peasant daughters, who had been tortured since childhood. She looked at their costumes and smiled at the Red Lady and asked:

"Can they be proficient in martial arts?"

The Red Lady replied, "They all learned a little martial arts after following my uprising, and now they continue to practice every day when they are not in the army." ”

Lady Tang was amazed and told Yahuan Caiyun to quickly take out four horses of high-grade silk and four or two pieces of silver to reward them, and then ordered twenty-two pieces of silver to reward the men and women who did not follow. The four healthy women bowed their heads in thanks and withdrew from the upper room. Madame Tang took the Red Lady's hand again and invited the distinguished guest into the first room on the left, which was the boudoir where she usually rested, slept, read and did some needlework. The second grandmother also came in. Caiyun offered three cups of tea and stood by to serve.

Before meeting the Red Lady, she had hoped to persuade her husband to leave the Red Lady's rebel army, and fled to a distant place with Li Nong, and after a few years things eased up and returned safely. Even the two loyal and reliable slaves that the Li Xin brothers should take with them when they went out, she had thought about it. I didn't expect Li Xin not to listen to her "advice", but said that she was confused. She then pinned her last glimmer of hope on the Red Lady, and prepared for her arrival. She looked at the Red Lady and sighed, and said with tears in her eyes:

"Sister Xian, although it is the first time we have met, I am like a sister to you." Besides, we in the Li family are all grateful to you for saving the Grand Duke from prison, and I am certainly more grateful than others. Just now, Sister Chengxian gave me a few heavy gifts with my second grandmother, but we were not ashamed, so we had to accept them. I also prepared some small gifts with the second grandmother to give to the virtuous sister, one was to return the generous gift of the virtuous sister, and the other was to express gratitude for the saving grace of the virtuous sister. In addition, I also temporarily prepared a few glasses of light wine to relieve my sister's fatigue, and tomorrow I will clean up the dust at the wine feast. As for some confidants, after drinking, talk to Xian Mei about Caiyun and go to get the prepared gifts. ”

Caiyun had just gone out, and in the blink of an eye, he retreated lightly, but his hands were empty. Both the eldest grandmother and the second grandmother looked at her with questioning eyes. She walked over to the Red Lady and whispered:

"A sister came from the old camp and said she had an important military intelligence report."

The Red Lady asked, "Do the Grand Duke and the Second Duke know everything?" ”

Caiyun said, "The eldest and second masters already know." The second master inspected the outside of the village; the eldest master was discussing things with the grandfathers of the Clan and asked her to come in and report that the red marshal knew. ”