"I don't know, which of your sons is he?"

After saying this, I held my breath and looked at Pei Ji, although I knew that he was not the kind of tyrant who was moody and would suddenly kill people, but the sentence I just said, after all, was revealed by the royal family, and it was a secret that he had hidden for many years, and I was not talking to an ordinary person.

He has a gentle temperament, but that doesn't mean hesitant as an emperor.

Sure enough, at this moment, Pei Ji's gaze suddenly became sharper, and he looked at me, as if there was an invisible blade in his eyes, which was already approaching my throat.

He said, "You seem to know a lot." ”

“……”

"And it can't be that someone sues you, no one knows about these things. ”

“……”

"The third child, he can't either. ”

“……”

"How the hell do you know?"

I looked at him calmly, and then said slowly: "After the Emperor Taishang woke up, he probably had asked a lot of things to Gonggong Yu, and asked a lot of people, but there was only one person, you seem, never asked. ”

He looked at me with a twinkle in his eyes: "......"

"Queen Mother. ”

“……”

"You haven't asked about her. ”

At this moment, the light in his eyes dimmed, and he was silent for a long time before he said softly: "Yes, I forgot to ask her." She has been cultivating in the Linshui Pagoda, and she has refused to see Lone for so many years, nor does she want to see anyone, and sometimes, Lone is about to forget her. ”

As he spoke, he looked at me, "She's now—"

I interrupted him and said calmly, "She's also gone." ”

“……”

Pei Ji's eyes widened all of a sudden, and he looked at me in amazement: "She, she's also-"

After all, he has been asleep for more than ten years, and when he opened his eyes again, even the ruler of the dynasty had changed, not to mention others? Those who had accompanied him, had feelings with him, and had the same joys, sorrows, and sorrows, all gone.

An unconcealable grief appeared on his face: "How is she—"

Taifu Shen Gong formed a party for personal gain, plotted a rebellion, and took advantage of the emperor's spring hunt in the Juma River Valley to raise troops and force the emperor to abdicate. The Queen Mother, in order to protect His Majesty the Emperor, committed suicide by poisoning and died for the country. ”

Pei Ji took a deep breath, and his eyes suddenly turned red.

He trembled and said, "She, she's still—"

I said, "Yes, what she protected before she died was the 'son' given to her by the Emperor Taishang. ”

"......" Pei Ji trembled, was silent for a long time, and finally sighed: "It's lonely, I lost her." ”

He slowly closed his eyes, as if it was difficult to face what he had done before, and it was difficult to face that person, I looked at him and asked, "Why does the Emperor want to bear her?"

After a while, he opened his eyes and looked at me, and there seemed to be a helpless look in his eyes, and he said softly: "Although she is not Lonely's sweetheart, but after entering the palace, her reckless and naïve nature and vitality also make Lone like it very much, and even, after she became pregnant, Lone ...... I want to treat her well, too. ”

I squinted slightly.

This sentence obviously has a deep meaning.

Feeling my gaze, Pei Ji glanced at me, as if giving up concealment and disguise, smiled faintly, and then said: "Since you came to hold grievances for her, of course you are familiar with her, and you will not know her identity." She was from the grassland, and the people of Katsukyo were very happy when they found out that she was pregnant. ”

I suddenly understood: "They must hope that the Queen Mother can get a man in one fell swoop, and it is the eldest man, right?"

Pei Ji nodded lightly.

"But you don't want to, do you?"

He looked up at me.

I knew that he still had some scruples about me, so he said to himself: "Shengjing's penetration into the imperial court has been very deep, and their hands have even reached the south of the Yangtze River. ”

Pei Ji's eyes flickered.

At first, he must have simply regarded me as "Huaiyin's daughter" and "the princess's mother", but after saying these words, his gaze became different.

He looked at me for a moment and said softly, "You're right. ”

I said, "What did you do then?"

He took a deep breath and said slowly: "Actually, there were many ways and many choices at that time, no matter how you choose, you can deal with this matter quietly without alarming anyone, and it won't make her so sad." ”

"But it doesn't seem to turn out the way you say it is?"

"Yes, because back then, there was a little accident. ”

"What accident?"

"Katsura Palace fire. ”

My heart pounded.

I thought about asking him a lot, and I thought about a lot of doubts for him to solve, but I didn't expect things to come so quickly, just thought that yesterday I told him that my mother had passed away, and he talked about the past that had become taboo in the deep palace.

The fire that summoned Empress Xiang Xiaoyu to die!

My voice trembled a little, "How-"

Before I finished my words, he took over the conversation with some indifference, and continued: "Wait until the fire in the Gui Palace is extinguished, wait until ...... When the dust settled, and when Lone announced that the queen had died of illness, no one came to tell Sù Lone, Concubine Xian and her, were about to give birth. ”

Although he said this with a cold expression, I could feel that his heart was very painful, and even after saying this long list of words, he stopped himself, gasping violently, as if something in his chest was constantly pounding against his heart, so that he could not even get a moment of peace.

The Great Fire of Katsura Palace.

The Queen of Summoning Spirit, who died in the fire.

And also...... That kid.

This qiē, after decades of evasion unintentionally or unintentionally, is finally in front of him again.

Even I am throbbing unspeakably at the moment, and my heart is beating like thunder. I took another step forward, my leg had touched the edge of the bed, and seeing his eyes slowly become bloodshot and red, I said nervously, "Concubine Xian...... That is, your later queen and queen mother, both of them are in labor, so what did you do?"

He suddenly raised his head to look at me, gasping slightly: "You ask Gu these, how much do you know, and what do you want to do after you know?"

I said, "Minnu, you won't do anything. ”

“……”

"It's just that at the beginning, it was the Emperor Taishang who said that secret word to the people's daughters - under the frost overnight, you guided the people's daughters to find the holy decree and the jade seal, but on the holy decree, there was no name of the prince you ordained, nor did you have the name of any of your sons, but an unfamiliar name, which was written on it by you and could inherit the unification. ”

“……”

"Shouldn't the Emperor himself make an explanation?"

“……”

He took a deep breath, as if he couldn't laugh or cry: "What Gu didn't expect was that the little palace maid who followed the third child would be Huaiyin's daughter......" He said, and raised his head to look at me: "Is this Huaiyin's spirit in the sky, protecting Gu, and Gu's son?"

I said lightly: "It's too serious to say blessing." ”

He glanced at me, didn't say anything, only lowered his eyelids, and after a while, he said slowly: "At that time, Lone had no intention of asking about the harem again, but, after all, it was the two of them who were about to give birth, and Lone was still in the imperial study, waiting for news." ”

"So, what news are you waiting for?"

“……”

He suddenly trembled, as if he had been hit by a great shock, and his whole body trembled slightly.

Then, in a hoarse voice, he said, "Gu's first son has been born." ”

My breath tightened.

The first son, the eldest son of the emperor, that is, the name I saw on the decree back then—

"Your first son, that is, the emperor's eldest son, Pei Yuanchen, right?!"

He nodded slightly.

"Yes, who is it?"

I'm a little incoherent, who gave birth to the emperor's eldest son? Of course it's not Empress Yin, Pei Yuanxiu is her son, and the queen mother, if it's her, that's not right.

Just when my mind was in a mess, Pei Ji slowly raised his head to look at me, and said calmly: "When the emperor's eldest son was born, no one guarded it, no one delivered the baby, and no one even knew. ”

“…… How do you know?"

"Because, someone heard the child's cry. ”

“……”

"In that deserted place, Lone has made people close off there. ”

“……”

"However, because of the fire, it was useless to close it. Several of her personal palace maids secretly went there without telling people, guarded her coffin, and secretly burned incense and prayed for her, and then they heard the cry. ”

“……”

"From the coffin, the cry of a child. ”

I only felt that my heart was beating, and I couldn't continue breathing, and there seemed to be that scene in front of me, a barren ruin, a heavy and lonely coffin stopped in the center, and several palace maids heard the cry and rushed up in a panic.

I choked up and said, "So, what's going on?"

Pei Ji said: "Then, they were bold and opened the coffin. ”

“……”

"They saw their master, who was dead, but still the same as when she was alive, except that she would never open her eyes again. ”

“……”

And beside her, there was a newborn baby, just born, biting her fingers in his mouth, biting and crying as he cried. ”

“……”

"That's the son of Lone, the eldest son of the emperor. ”

“……”

At this moment, I only felt that the world was spinning in front of me, as if everything had become chaotic.

There was only one voice, which came from the ashes of time with great clarity, and sounded in my ears.

Coffin!