Chapter 68 Rewarded for Empress Dowager Cixi

In 1900, when the Eight-Power Allied Forces reached the Bali Bridge in Tongzhou, the capital was already in a tight spot.The ministers, civil and military officials of the court and the central government all panicked and became frightened birds. They wanted to escape but did not dare to be ahead of Cixi and Guangxu. They were all very anxious, so they had to hide their valuable treasures first, and at the same time waited for the order of the Empress Dowager Cixi. , ready to slip away at any time. Although Li Lianying was usually obedient to the Empress Dowager Cixi, when life and death were at stake, she just wanted to save her life and also wanted to escape. She asked the Empress Dowager Cixi for leave, saying that there was an urgent matter in her hometown and she wanted to go back to her hometown.Although the Empress Dowager Cixi was also frightened and restless at this time, she still knew Li Lianying well, and she saw through his tricks at a glance, and she had always been inseparable from Li Lianying who could solve her own problems, so she said to Li Lianying: How could I If you don't want to go, if you want to go, let's go together, so as not to be bullied by foreigners.The hesitant Empress Dowager Cixi finally made up her mind to flee, so she secretly ordered Li Lianying to deal with the treasures in the palace and prepare to escape.

The accumulation of treasures in the palace has long been difficult to calculate, and it cannot be dealt with in a short time.Therefore, Cixi didn't care about those ordinary treasures anymore, and just asked Li Lianying to find a place to hide them.There are only two rare treasures handed down from the ancestors by the Empress Dowager, one is Zhuluo, and the other is Bergamot, which is the favorite thing of Empress Dowager Cixi.She originally planned to take them with her and leave Beijing together.After thinking about it, I felt that something was wrong. In the midst of a catastrophe, there would be many inconveniences on the road. If it is bumped or lost, it would be better not to take it with me. I quickly asked Li Lianying to find another hidden place to hide it. The things are still there, and Li Lianying's reward is indispensable.

Li Lianying knew that these two treasures were the most important treasures of the Empress Dowager Cixi, so she carefully put the two treasures in a jar and sealed it with wax. Where should I hide it?He racked his brains, hiding it with other things would not work, firstly, it would be easily exposed, and secondly, it would inevitably be stolen by the little eunuch who stayed behind in the palace. After thinking about it, I always feel that it is inappropriate. No matter how hidden it is, once it is discovered, it will inevitably be stolen. At that time, Cixi will still blame herself for not being reliable.Even if it is not found, if someone goes to hide alone and accidentally encounters an accident on the road, not only foreigners will not be able to find it, but also our own people will not be able to know its exact location. It is best to find someone to go with it.Now I made up my mind to carefully choose someone to hide the treasure with myself.

That same night, sporadic cannon and gunshots began outside Dongzhimen, and then quickly became deafening.At this moment, Li Lianying felt that it was really difficult to stay in the capital, and the Empress Dowager Cixi might order to leave the capital at some point.The matter was urgent and I couldn't wait any longer, so I called the second manager, Cui Yugui, in the middle of the night, and told him that there was something that was the lifeblood of Lafayette, and it was best for us to hide him together.If one of you and I was killed by a foreigner's gun, there would always be someone who knew where it was.

Cui Yugui secretly admired Li Lianying for being so considerate in such an urgent situation, no wonder she was so valued by Cixi.Before Li Lianying could finish speaking, Cui Yugui nodded in agreement.So, the two quietly opened the gate of Chuxiu Palace, dug up the steps of the East Side Hall, hid the things underneath, and then rebuilt the steps to restore them to their original state.In order to confuse foreigners and prevent them from seeing the flaws, a lot of water was put in the yard, creating a messy scene. When the Empress Dowager Cixi went to Xi'an, she always held these two treasures in her heart, fearing that they would be stolen by foreigners, so she often asked about them.In July of the following year, Li Hongzhang and Prince Qing Yikuang reached a peace agreement with the Eight-Power Allied Forces.Empress Dowager Cixi sent Cui Yugui back to Beijing first to find out the real situation, see if the foreigners had withdrawn, and whether the capital was peaceful, and then set a time to return to Luan.

Before Cui Yugui left, the Empress Dowager Cixi repeatedly asked not to forget to see if the two treasures were still there. If they were not stolen by foreigners, they would be rewarded heavily when they returned to the capital.When Cui Yugui returned to Beijing, the first thing he did was to go to Chuxiu Palace. As soon as he entered the gate, he saw that the courtyard was in a mess. He felt a false alarm, then went to the steps of the East Side Hall and squatted down. Scratching the soil in the crevices of the steps, he stood up and pursed his lips, smiling that the baby was still there.

When Cui Yugui returned to Xi'an, he hurriedly reported to Lafayette that the foreigners had withdrawn and the city had returned to calm. Although the palace was robbed, the two handed down treasures were still there. After hearing this, Cixi hurriedly asked: "Where is the thing now?"Cui Yugui hurriedly said: The things are still buried in the ground.After hearing this, Cixi asked suspiciously: You didn't see anything, how can you prove that you didn't lose it? Lafayette, please rest assured, when Mr. Li and I buried it, we stuck a bamboo stick in the crack of the brick.This time I went back and checked, and the bamboo sticks were still there, which proved that they hadn’t been moved, and the things were still there.

Whose idea is this?Ci Xi glanced at Li Lianying and Cui Yugui as she spoke.Li Lianying hurriedly knelt down and replied, "It's the slave's idea."The Empress Dowager Cixi looked at the two slaves standing in front of her with joyful eyes, and said, "Each one will be rewarded with one thousand taels of silver."Li Lianying and Cui Yugui knelt down in response and shouted at the same time: Kowtow to Lafayette to thank you. Although Li Lianying hid the treasures for Empress Dowager Cixi's self-interest, at least she preserved two treasures handed down from generation to generation for us, which can be said to be a good deed.