In May, the capital is getting hotter again, now it is a thrifty person, Concubine Chen Niangniang is more than that, in order to save money to support the war, Qiwen ordered that in addition to the Ciqing Palace, the setting of the ice basin has been postponed.

This kind of temple with deep caisson wells and wide eaves is warm in winter and cool in summer, and it is indeed not too hot without ice. And in the afternoon of this day, when the emperor came back from the front court, he saw Qiwen lying on the kang napping with fine sweat droplets on her forehead.

He sat down on the edge of the couch, took the bamboo leaf fan from Qin'er's hand, retreated from the palace, and fanned Qiwen a few times with his own hands.

Qiwen woke up with a slight shock, looked at him in a daze, and suddenly her face changed greatly, and she shrank back in horror, as if she had seen a demon and a monster at first glance.

The emperor was stunned for a moment, and then realized in an instant: "Did you have a nightmare?" No wonder I sweat so much. Don't be afraid, you're awake. ”

He comforted her gently, and stepped forward to wipe her sweat. Qiwen had already shrunk into the corner, and at this time she calmed down a little, but turned her fear into annoyance, pushed his hand away, frowned and turned to the side.

The Emperor naturally understood why she was so startled. A few days ago, a frontal battle had already started outside the Beijing Gate, and the rebels were firmly occupied by the passive form, and they were soon completely defeated. But these people cover three religions and nine streams, and they have some strange tricks that the regular army does not have and cannot guard against.

Seeing that the defeat on the frontal battlefield was decided, they actually sent some people from the snitch family into the capital, and yesterday they bloomed in all directions, and at the same time stabbed the important officials of the imperial court on the way down to the court in several places, and two high-ranking officials were stabbed to death, four were stabbed, and although an old man like Liu Zhengming was not injured by the nursing home in time, he fell ill immediately due to excessive fright. This is much stricter than the last time the Sanskrit Yin Sect made chaos and accidentally stabbed Qian Yuanhe.

In addition, the Dachang Emperor repeatedly claimed that he would never let them have a good time, and for a while, the people were panicked, and the atmosphere in the capital suddenly became tense. Compared with the last time the chaotic people broke into the palace without warning, this time it may not be so unexpected, but it is more nervous and worrying. Qiwen: This is ten years afraid of the well rope.

The emperor persuaded him: "We have already learned from the past, and this time we will not allow them to enter the palace again." ”

"You know I'm not afraid of some rebels, you know!" Qiwen couldn't help crying when she opened her mouth, "You know who I want to guard against the most!" ”

The emperor was even more helpless: "I am still on defense against him." ”

"But you believed him!" Qiwen whimpered, "And you believe in him more and more, if you continue to be wary of him, you will only become more and more relaxed, and one day you will give him a chance to fight backhand." Do you know what I dreamed about? I dreamed that he took over the world, prison. Forbidden you and Yu'er, threaten me with your lives, so that I will not kill myself, and I must obey ......him."

As if she had gone back to a dream, her face pale and her expression glazed with fear, "He took my hand, leaned in front of me, and smiled at me, saying, 'I said that I would get you until I died.'" You see, didn't I do what I said? ’”

She also learned the demeanor and tone of the King of Tan, which was vivid, like the possession of the King of Tan, and looked very weird.

The emperor was heartbroken when he saw it, he had such an experience, could he blame her for refusing to let down her guard against Yuan Ying? What reason did she have to believe that Yuan Ying could change her ways?

Recently, due to the snitch rebellion, the five city soldiers and horses and the Jinyi guard and other yamen with security responsibilities have been fully mobilized, and the nominal commander of the Yulin Guard, the king of Tan, is not easy to hide, and began to personally inspect the gates of the palace. It was this incident that gave her even more psychological pressure.

Originally, King Tan was asked to lead Yulinwei in order to capture the old man, but seeing that these days passed, the emperor really trusted him more and more day by day, and Qiwen's sense of security became lower and lower. If this continues, how can you be sure that when King Tan really goes to his original form, he will be able to react in time?

Qiwen pushed away his outstretched arm to soothe him again, and said with tears in her eyes: "You yourself understand, even if what he said that day was true? Even if the queen harms me, what if he saves me? Isn't it just as possible that he will continue to come to grab the throne and to rob me? Now I don't beg you to kill him, or even to put him in jail. Forbidden, even if you send him out of Beijing to become a vassal! You are reluctant to do this, aren't you really worried that one day he will backhand me and see me at his mercy? You are determined to be Mr. Dongguo, if you are really eaten by a hungry wolf in the future, won't you regret it for the rest of your life? ”

The emperor was speechless. Not long ago, I received a report from Yulin Wei stationed in the palace, and that day Yuan Ying found a way to break them away and left quietly, so anxious that a group of people waited for the group. And before they could organize the search with great fanfare, Yuan Ying came back on her own, looking in good spirits, and laughing at them casually for making a fuss.

But the rest of the people clearly saw that his collar was stained with blood, and there was a scar on his neck. He himself didn't say anything, as if he didn't realize it.

The emperor really can't let go of his heart to send him to the domain, who knows if he will get worse if he is separated from his relatives, so that a farewell is an eternal secret? He also did not feel at ease to put it in prison. Forbidden, now Yuan Ying is a sick child in his eyes, and he needs to be carefully cared for in order to live. Letting him take the title of the commander of the Yulin Guard was just a means to make him happy.

From this point of view, it is not wrong to say that he is soft-hearted and credulous, and he is Mr. Dongguo. If this continues, if Yuan Ying really still has different intentions, he will indeed be able to wait for the day when he will completely take it lightly and relax his vigilance.

But letting his wife and children suffer is a lifetime of regret, and why not let his brother have an accident? Perhaps most emperors are ruthless to their brothers, but he was not born to be one of them.

Qiwen cried and cried and stopped crying, sobbing softly and facing to the side in a daze.

The emperor was silent for a long time before he said earnestly: "I am afraid it will be difficult to win your trust when I say this, I am not merciful to him for no reason, just because I know that Yuan Ying is ...... Not a person of bad nature. ”

He turned his gaze to the side, and his tone was full of melancholy, "I have lived in the same house with him since I was a child, and we get along day and night, and we know each other's temperament very well. For so many years, I have actually been very harmonious with him, and I am not pretending to be harmonious, but really harmonious. I knew very well that he might have deliberately done better than me in front of others, but he really didn't deliberately rob me of anything. Therefore, although I was dissatisfied with my parents' partiality, I never got angry with him, and I always cared for him, and he was really kind to me. There was once a eunuch who praised him in front of him and said bad things about me, so he severely punished the eunuch, and did not hesitate to contradict his mother, counting that she should not comment in public about me and him who is good and who is bad, and connived at the lack of rules. ”

Because he didn't like to make friends, this was the first time he said this, but unfortunately it was difficult for Qiwen to convince and accept it at this time.

Qiwen said indifferently: "So you believe that after a battle with you for the storage position, after so many knots, he is still expected to recover his true nature and turn back into your good brother?" ”

The emperor slowly breathed a sigh of relief: "Actually, I'm not sure why Yuan Ying became like this. When my eldest brother passed away, Yuan Ying and I were already twelve or thirteen years old, and as the heirs of the Heavenly Family, we already knew everything at that time, and knew how much difference there was between having a storage place and not having a storage place. My father has never appointed a crown prince, and it is clear that he is vacillating between me and Yuan Ying, but even at that time, Yuan Ying and I have never had the slightest disagreement. He's not such a power-hungry person by nature, I know very well. ”

Looking back on the past, his eyes were clouded with a layer of confusion, "When I think about it, his attitude towards me seems to have changed slightly when I went to the domain. I've ever wondered, is it because of Yin'er? But why can I ruin my brotherhood with him for fifteen years? Not to mention after I come back from Guanzhong and Yuji, Yuan Ying is already like a different person, and the former brother can no longer be found. ”

Qiwen wanted to say "I can't find it now", but she couldn't bear it. She had calmed down and gotten out of her nightmare and frightened. She can understand his feelings, who doesn't look forward to his flesh and blood relatives and harmony and happiness, but he should always recognize the reality.

She has thought about framing the blame more than once, at least let the news out, even if he doesn't believe it, he will inevitably be forced to take some measures under external pressure, and he can't let King Tan continue to swagger around the capital. In the end, she is also soft-hearted and doesn't want him to be embarrassed.

Thinking about it like this, she also has no mental strength.

Qiwen sighed silently: "It's always your fault for being soft-hearted, how can I be considered a hard-hearted person?" If you really want to change places, if it were my brother, I might not be tougher than you. Wait until today is ......"

"When the matter is done today," the emperor took her up, "I will send him out of Beijing to join the vassal in the name of recuperation." ”

Their so-called "today's business is over" is ostensibly to say that tonight is scheduled to be a net collection of the remnants of the rebels outside the city, and he will personally go to the city gate tower to supervise the battle, which is a decisive battle for the rebels. In fact, both of them knew that they were both referring to something else.

Qiwen is ruthless to plant blame, and her most extreme method is only to lay out a trick to lure the snake out of the hole. Taking advantage of the fact that he went to supervise the battle tonight, she deliberately left a vacancy for King Tan, who was guarding the periphery of the palace, to lead him to make a move.

King Tan didn't realize that this was a ploy, but it didn't matter, he used Dongchang to build momentum in advance, so that he understood that this was a rare opportunity, if he really still hated them and still coveted the throne, he might seize this opportunity and take a risk.

Like the last time the rebels broke into the palace, if they took this opportunity to assassinate Qiwen, they could still put the blame on the rebels and the rebels. And without Qiwen, the emperor will be self-defeating, and the throne will still be his. After this counterinsurgency, the Great Yan Dynasty is likely to be calm for many years, so this is indeed an extremely rare opportunity.

However, if you want to deceive such a shrewd opponent as him, you can't weave the net too tightly and can't make the game too thorough, so this time for Qiwen, it is a desperate move.

This is like deliberately opening your arms, exposing your key points to the other party, leading the other party to attack and then defend and counterattack, and if you can't react in time, you will be the victim.

When Qiwen mobilized the East Factory for this layout, she deliberately explained that Qian Yuanhe only needed to contact herself, and did not need to inform the emperor, so Qian Yuanhe had been worried, in fact, Qiwen understood that the emperor should have noticed it a long time ago.

They just tacitly took it to heart. This is a tacit understanding, but also a kind of passive avoidance.

They all want to be peaceful, but they all understand that this is not the way to go, and they all want to make a decision as soon as possible. So she wanted to let go and give King Tan this opportunity, and he also let go of giving her this opportunity.

Qiwen knew very well that if this night was spent peacefully and nothing happened, it did not mean that King Tan had really changed for the better and was no threat, but it would make the emperor trust him even more. In the future, she wants to restrict King Tan, and it will be even more difficult to get his support.

She was also fed up with the disagreement with him for the matter of the king of Tan for a while, and originally had the intention to give in, and said to him, "When the matter is finished today, I will believe in him with you, no matter what the future holds, whether it is life or death, good or bad, I will follow you." ”

Unexpectedly, the emperor took the lead in promising that he would send King Tan to the domain.

He finally gave in, looking at Yuan Ying's mental state, taking the risk that he might not see each other again after a farewell, he still gave in. After all, nothing is more important to him than Qiwen.

Qiwen was silent for a moment, but she couldn't help but say anything more. If she really sent the king of Tan away and led their brothers to separate yin and yang, it would inevitably leave him with lifelong regrets, but she weighed the pros and cons, and she didn't want to let her children continue to take risks for this. For the sake of the child, she can't be a kind person.

"Be careful." Those were his last words before leaving in the evening.

When he walked out of the room without her, it was hard to describe what kind of state of mind he had. The reason why he decided to send Yuan Ying away did not cancel the plan to lure the snake out of the hole this time, he was also for that purpose, taking this last opportunity to test and come to a conclusion for the rift between him and her.

What Zhi Ning thought at that time could no longer be verified, and if he wanted to draw conclusions, he could only start with Yuan Ying. And if it is safe and sound this time, it can only be an additional proof of his judgment, but it is still difficult to confirm that Yuan Ying is telling the truth.

So in order to completely end the knot and let Qiwen be able to untie the knot and restore his heart to him, should he look forward to the accident tonight and Yuan Ying to do it? The human heart is unpredictable, the world is unpredictable, and I really don't know what to do.

In any case, what he sincerely hoped for most was that their mother and son would be safe and sound.

When he came out of Longxi Pavilion and looked at the starry sky, he silently comforted himself: Since she is so confident, she must be fine.

……

Reliable information has been received that the Dachang Emperor will lead the remnants of his troops to carry out a "sneak attack" on the capital Guang'anmen this evening to make a last-ditch effort. The emperor is going there today to personally supervise the battle, in order to wipe out the remnants of the Chang bandits in one go.

At nightfall, everyone was ready according to the plan.

The idle people in the apse of Longxi Pavilion have been retired, and there are only a few lamps and candles in the room, and the light is dim. Qiwen was served by Qin'er and had changed into a palace maid's costume.

Qin'er said with a smile: "As soon as Niangniang changed this dress, it seemed to go back to the past, and it was the same as then." ”

Qiwen smiled bitterly: "Look at what you said, it's only been more than a year, should I look old?" ”

"But after all, you gave birth to a child, look at your waist, it's still so thin, it's rare to be tight." Qin'er complimented her mouth, thinking that the wide sleeves were in the way, so she pulled them up, and then continued to tie the belt for Qiwen.

Qiwen looked at Qin'er, who was wearing a concubine's costume, and was not worried: "Qin'er, in fact, you really don't need to take this risk. ”

Qin'er blinked at her and smiled again, "Why are you here again?" As I said, I'm just trying to get dressed and have a good time. Didn't you say that the layout has been laid out and nothing will go wrong? ”

Qiwen secretly muttered, Yu'er sent it to the Queen Mother, and she and Qin'er switched clothes, these arrangements are only known to the most reliable people, but if it is said that tonight is foolproof, she is still not sure. After all, she couldn't say what kind of trick the opponent's treacherous cunning had reached.

"Qi Yu Niangniang, our manpower is in place. So far, no suspicious people have been found to sneak into the palace, and the third prince is guarding Chengtianmen at the moment, and there is only one Zhong Zheng beside him who is not our person, and there is no change in sight. ”

"Got it, keep staring."

Sent away the eunuchs from Dongchang to report the news, Qiwen couldn't help but wonder, she had vaguely discovered that Tanwangfu had raised some special subordinates similar to killers, who could not be lurked on weekdays, and it was difficult to find a trace of ghosts, so she thought that he would send this group of people tonight to pretend to be chaotic people and sneak into the palace to assassinate.

The imperial city outside the palace city was guarded by the Yulin guards led by the king of Tan, and it was not difficult for him to guard the thieves and send people to break through the palace city. Qiwen deliberately did not strictly guard the doors of the inner court, and only secretly monitored the movements, in order to catch turtles in the urn.

Now that it has been confirmed that no outsiders have infiltrated the inner court, and he himself has stayed in Chengtianmen honestly, could it be said that he really has no plans to make any changes today?

Qiwen was inexplicably restless, and couldn't bear it in Longxi Pavilion, so she simply walked out of the dormitory, quietly passed through the back corner door, and blended into the palace people who passed by from time to time outside, pondering as she walked.

Tonight, in the name of preventing chaos in people's livelihood, we can be flexible and vigilant, and the rescue is rapid, and it has been ordered that all palace gates will not be given the key for the time being. At this time, the night is getting darker, and the palace people walking outside are already very scarce. Qiwen walked in the dim corridor with her neck straight and her eyelids hanging her eyes, and unconsciously turned to the direction of Ciqing Palace.

It looked like nothing was going to happen, and she wanted to hug her son. When you can't wait for the emperor, holding your son and talking to the queen mother is the best way to find some security.

When he turned the last corner outside Ciqing Gate, he suddenly saw a eunuch wearing dark ochre-colored flowers, which frightened Qiwen. She quickly settled down, hastily gave a salute according to the rules of the palace maid, and bypassed the man to leave.

After taking two steps, she realized that something was wrong, the eunuch who wore this kind of trolling was at least the rank of the young eunuch, and she was familiar with the young eunuchs in the palace, why didn't she remember one with such a physical appearance? Because most of the eunuchs are clean before adulthood, it is difficult for them to grow into a completely normal body shape, and there will always be a little bit of a hunched waist and back, how have you ever seen such a tall and straight person?

Qiwen turned back in confusion. The man didn't move at all, just stood there and looked at her, the dim light of the floor-to-ceiling stone palace lamp reflected on his face, depicting the delicate facial features that seemed to be smiling but not smiling, and slightly decadent.

Qiwen's scalp was numb, and she was about to exit with a shout between retreating suddenly, but he pounced on him and mercilessly pinched her throat and pushed it against the powder wall behind her. The back of her head hit the hard wall along with her shoulders and back, and Qiwen almost fainted.

His voice rang in his ears, still so gentle as if he were in love: "Look, you play the palace maid and I play the eunuch, it can be seen that the two of us have a heart." ”

Once upon a time, at the same corner, he was also waiting for her here, and that day she was also dressed in palace maid clothes, but he was wearing a snow-white fox fur, his eyes were clear and sharp, and he was like a fairy, and the decadence at this time was like two people.

If she didn't see it with her own eyes, Qiwen really couldn't imagine that he who used to be so sharp-eyed would really become so cloudy and depressed that people could hardly recognize him at a glance.

At this moment, he no longer had the need to pretend in front of her, which showed that this was his true state. He was really delirious.

King Tan also put his index finger in front of his lips as before, and warned her not to make a sound, but the smile on his face was as blurry as a drunken eight immortals, no matter how he looked, he was not the same person as the one who broke into Longxi Pavilion at night. Seeing that Qiwen gave up resisting, he slowly let go of his hand.

"You...... How did it get in? Qiwen endured the pain in her throat and asked cautiously. Even if he changed into a eunuch costume and came out of the shell of the golden cicada of Chengtianmen, how could he break through the several checkpoints she had set up in the inner court all the way to this place without alarming others?

"What's so hard? It's already a familiar road. Oh, you mean a couple of night watchmen? With my ability, is it difficult to kill them before they speak out? ”

He slightly lifted the corners of his lips, showing a little childlike pride, "The last person I met was the second head of your Dongchang, who confessed before he died and told him about your plan." When I heard that you put your son in Ciqing Palace, I thought you might come here...... But don't worry, I won't touch him, I'm the only one I'm looking for. ”

He raised his hand and lazily glanced at the briber crown, and Qiwen saw that he was holding a short sword about two feet long in his right hand, which was vaguely stained. At the same time, he felt that there was a feeling of wetness and stickiness between the neck that had just been pinched by him, and when he raised his hand to wipe it, it was actually bloodstains.

A chill suddenly hung all over his body. Qiwen's eyes widened unconsciously, he, a prince, actually rushed into the palace single-handedly and killed all the way? What's wrong with him?

Originally, I thought that no matter whether his deranged appearance was true or not, whether his so-called love for her was true or false, as long as he still had an antipathy and still intended to deal with her and the emperor, he would carefully plan a plan as before, which could not only achieve the goal, but also not give anyone a handle, especially the least likely to hurt himself.

Who would have thought that one day he would no longer be the person with careful plans and ambitions in the world, but would leave no way out, reckless of the consequences, and run to the palace desperately.

So much so that those layout defenses that treat him as a normal person to guard against have become useless. It's like she was originally laid out to deal with people, but now she is a beast, and she can't guard against it.

He is clearly not afraid of being discovered, because all he seeks is to achieve his goal before he is discovered. To this end, he has risked his life and is reckless.

But what is the purpose?

Could it be the so-called deep hatred of love, because I love her and become obsessed, so I want to destroy her if I can't get it? Looking at the man in front of her, Qiwen couldn't imagine that he "loved" her.

But if it's not love, what else can drain his soul and make him, who was once so rational and shrewd, become like this at one time?

After looking at her for a while, he said lazily again: "Let's go, do you go by yourself or I tie you up and carry you away, it's not difficult to choose, right?" ”

“…… Where to go? ”