The wind gradually subsided, and the moon came out from behind the clouds again.

She quietly surveyed the surroundings by the moonlight.

This should be near the Hanshui Hall - the Hanshui Hall was originally a place for Empress Shen to fast and worship the Buddha, and since the death of the Empress, there has been no one else to live there, and it has long been in disrepair. Although the outer courtyard wall is intact, it is said that the walls of the inner side halls have collapsed. She had thought that there should be no guards here, but the guards and patrols were tighter than the others.

There's even a kitchen nearby.

Since the fall of Taicheng, Ruyi has never seen the Son of Heaven again.

She had heard a lot of rumors—some that the Son of Heaven had been killed, and some that he had been imprisoned, but Ruyi felt that the more credible version was that the Son of Heaven was under house arrest in a palace in Taicheng.

Seeing the garrison of the Hanshui Palace, she vaguely felt that this was probably the place.

Ruyi doesn't know what kind of mind is driving it.

Her escape this time was clearly a life of nine deaths, but it was just because Li Hu would not kill her - he seemed to be planning to marry her as a reward to one of his "heroes" - so he tried his best. There is very little chance of escaping, let alone saving the Son of Heaven?

But after perceiving the gap in the guard, she immediately took the opportunity to climb over the wall and sneak into the courtyard.

The courtyard was even smaller than she had imagined, with only a side hall and a main hall.

Sure enough, the side hall had collapsed, and weeds grew on the walls and houses, and some of the fallen pillars were broken under the steps. The moonlight fell like hoarfrost, and the blackened marks of burning could be seen on the collapsed walls and pillars—as if there had been a fire in the past, but fortunately it was extinguished in time and did not spread to the main hall.

I think this is also the reason why this palace was abandoned.

The place is barren and lonely, and there is no popularity. The smell of dust and mildew floated in the air, and it didn't look like a place to live.

Ruyi felt that she might have made a mistake.

But just as she was about to leave, she heard a faint and low cry for help from inside.

In the cold and silent night, the cry for help was ghostly, making Ruyi feel a chill in the back of her neck - too many people had indeed been unjustly killed in the palace these days, and even if something unclean really grew, she would never be surprised. But she still couldn't help but think, what if it was really a living person calling for help?

She steadied herself and cautiously followed the sound forward.

When we got around the side hall, the sound was gone.

Under the frost-white moonlight, the door of the main hall was ajar, and a withered hand was clearly sticking out of the door.

Ruyi's eyes suddenly soured--under the moonlight, the five-colored Chinese insect coat of arms on the cuffs was clearly visible--the man was wearing the Son of Heaven gown.

Ruyi stepped forward and helped the Son of Heaven up.

His clothes were as cold as ice, and there were a few stains on them, but he couldn't tell if it was water or blood.

Ruyi wanted to lift his sleeve to check, but the Son of Heaven held her hand, shook his head, and said, "Water." He raised his hand to reveal a small section of his wrist, which was thin and covered with only a layer of skin around the bone.

The tears in Ruyi's eyes immediately rolled down.

She hurriedly pulled out her skin and brought it to the lips of the Son of Heaven, and the old man who had been noble and elegant in the past tilted his head like a hungry ghost to chase a sip of water. Ruyi took out the package and steamed it and fed it to him. The Son of Heaven devoured it all, closed his eyes for a moment, and finally slowly regained some strength.

He said, "There's a smoker over there, take it closer and light it...... I froze and it hurt. ”

Ruyi went to move the smoker cage, and saw that there was only some charcoal ash left, so he swept a few books on the shelf and threw them in to ignite.

The Son of Heaven choked and coughed.

Ruyi hurriedly handed him water, but the Son of Heaven shook his head.

He only closed his eyes and asked slowly, "Why are you here?" ”

Ruyi can't answer. The Son of Heaven raised his eyelids and glanced at her, then closed them again, and said, "...... Do you want to escape? Didn't your aunt tell me about your life experience? You were—"

Ruyi interrupted him with difficulty, and said, "Ah Niang gave birth to me, His Majesty raised me, and I don't have a father and mother next to me." ”

The Son of Heaven couldn't help but be moved, and said for a while, "...... How are you Auntie? ”

Ruyi's voice was hoarse and she couldn't answer. She only forked the words and said, "Erlang has escaped, and when he comes back, he will be fine." ”

The Son of Heaven sighed.

Ruyi unwrapped the package, took out all the steamed cakes and rice balls that Xu Sibao gave her and left them for the Son of Heaven, and said, "I'm also going out of the city to find Erlang--Your Majesty, what do you have to say to take out?" ”

The Son of Heaven asked, "How are you going to escape?" ”

Ruyi said, "...... Someone will pick me up. ”

The Son of Heaven couldn't help but sneer, "...... Ridiculous. ”

Miyagi's garrison seems to be lax, but in extraordinary times, the control of access will only become tighter. It's just a matter of going in and down, and anyone who leaves the palace is bound to be strictly checked. And Ruyi, like Xu Si, was born with a beautiful appearance and a moon-like appearance, and is extremely eye-catching wherever he goes, and he must not be fooled out lightly. What's more, now the war is in chaos, the law and discipline are lax, and it is difficult to survive. The most ferocious and selfish side of human nature has come out like a tiger, and there is no restraint anymore. These bandits under Li Hu are even more criminal. Once Ruyi is checked, I don't know what situation it will fall into......

But the Son of Heaven still raised his finger with difficulty and pointed to the placket of his clothes, and said, "There is an edict in it, sewn in the mezzanine." ”

Ruyi was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly understood.

She confessed her guilt, cut the lining of her clothes with a dagger, and took out the edict.

The Son of Heaven said, "Remember to hand it over to Erlang......" Ruyi received the order, knelt down and kowtowed to the Son of Heaven, the Son of Heaven only raised his finger to the food she left behind, and said, "Take it all out." The sky is high and the road is long, how can it be done without food? ”

Ruyi turned over the pot and showed it to the Son of Heaven and said, "I brought something to eat." Dad...... Your Majesty also has to take care of your body, Erlang will definitely come back. You're—"

Tianzi Fu closed his eyes again. After a while, Fang stretched out his hand and said, "You come here." ”

Ruyi stepped forward on her knees, and the Son of Heaven raised her hand with difficulty, rubbed her head heavily, and said, "...... Take good care of your brother. ”

At some point, it started to snow outside.

The snow grains crackled down in the wind. The soldiers guarding the gate stamped their feet and cursed occasionally, and soon disappeared into the alley.

Ruyi turned out of the water-bearing hall, braved the wind and snow, and quickly went to the direction of Beihuanmen.

Beihuanmen.

Erlang An's two inner □□ were drunk with a few soldiers who were supposed to change guards at this hour, and came out for them - but there were more than a dozen soldiers guarding the gate, and there were twenty or thirty city guards guarding the tower, and two or three of them mixed in, and it was really difficult to make any noise. Although these people also shrank their necks and cursed the sky, and secretly drank spirits with them to keep warm, they did not dare to be too slack in guarding the door.

At one moment, someone handed a sign up, and Li Dui asked, "Who came to make trouble in the middle of the night?" ”

The lieutenant said, "The son of a 'doctor' from Raushzi, he changed his son to a doorman official by writing a sour essay for Da Sima." It's not cold, and the top arranges for him to send charcoal. At this time, hand over the sign to say hello, so that no one will open the door for him at any time. ”

Li Dui went up to serve him wine, and the lieutenant mentioned, "When the time comes, check it strictly." These sons of the family are fat and not scared, so they scrape him a little more oil and water. ”

As he was talking, he suddenly saw a fire in the east. The group was busy going to the city wall to check.

I saw that in the direction of the East Water Temple, crimson flames and smoke rose up, illuminating most of the sky red. Someone from below shouted, "There's a fire!" ”

In winter, the grass is withered and the wood is dead, and the Taicheng palace is also mostly wooden, and it is on fire. At the same time, there is a shortage of people in the palace at this moment, where can I have time to put out the fire? The wind fueled the fire, and it only burned vigorously. After a few moments, it spread.

The lieutenant replied first, "It can't burn us here for a while, and there is no order for horizontal and vertical, so don't worry about it." ”

However, a moment later, red smoke suddenly rose from the southwest—it was the direction of the Ciqiu Hall and the Chengxiang Hall where the princesses and concubines lived.

The captain's face changed a little, and he muttered, "It's a disaster, I'm afraid someone is plotting to make trouble!" "Busy said," Quickly pass the order, everyone stick to their posts, and must not be unauthorized-" Before he finished speaking, he heard someone shouting, "Go to the water!" The city gate tower is out of the water! ”

That's when the smoke billowed up.

Beihuanmen also caught fire.

Ruyi looked back in the direction of the water hall, and tears kept pouring up.

She knew that it must be the Son of Heaven himself who set the fire, who made fun of her hasty and ridiculous escape, but entrusted her with the heavy responsibility. Presumably at that time, he had already made plans to use a vigorous fire to add some chances of success to her escape.

She raised her hand to wipe away her tears and took a deep breath.

Li Dui finally met her as promised, and said, "Don't be in charge, this way-"