Knock Knock –

The sky is like a curtain, the sea of lights is like a tide, one hundred and eight twilight drums resound throughout Chang'an, between the palace pavilions and corridors of the majestic imperial city, the palace maids and eunuchs walk through in an orderly manner, peaceful and solemn, and there is no 'Yingge Yan Dance, Wine Pond Meat Forest' as imagined by the people in the market, and the palaces even have the sound of the piano is rare.

When Song Ji, the son of the dynasty, inherited the unification, he devoted himself to the government, and the lights in the imperial study were lit until late at night all year round, and sometimes even the little eunuch who accompanied him couldn't stay up, and he had to wait for the shift.

It is naturally a good thing for the monarch to be re-employed, but it has suffered the concubines in the harem, and he can't see the emperor a few times a year, and there is no need to mention the palace struggle, no one is favored at all. When the queen was there, Song Ji would go to the harem for a walk, and after the queen died a few years ago, Song Ji rarely went to the palace of the concubines to sleep.

Even many concubines are suffering from the sorrow of 'no one sees the flowers every year', not to mention the queen mother who is alone in Changle Palace.

After the death of the first emperor, according to the 'palace person system' left at the founding of the country, the palace people with low status were given silver two to find their husbands, and the concubines with higher status went to the imperial tomb to serve the tomb for three years, and then they could remarry, but the queen was not among them, unless it was a change of national ancestry, otherwise it was impossible for the queen to marry a second man. As for the queen mother, it is estimated that no one dares to be the emperor's stepfather if she dares to marry, after all, no one wants to see the bullying of the emperor during the day and at night......

The queen mother has no heirs, and it is impossible to be taken to her son's fief to enjoy the blessings of the Qing Dynasty like the concubine who gave birth to the prince, so she can only live alone in Changle Palace, and she will live for ten years. Although Song Ji often comes over to ask An to call 'Queen Mother', they are not related to each other, and they are just going through the motions.

The Queen Mother does not have the power qualifications to intervene in politics, and the road ahead is basically seen at a glance - about forty or fifty years old depressed and finally buried in the imperial mausoleum, recorded in the history books and turned over.

The sky gradually got dark, the palace lights were lit up at the corner of the eaves, and the few palace maids walked through the Changle Palace, bringing plates of exquisite meals to the living room.

There is a stove in the house, and the queen mother, dressed in gorgeous palace clothes, lies on her side on the soft collapse, her left hand supports her cheek, and she plays chess with the palace maid, and her skirt is placed on the soft couch, like a peacock opening the screen, revealing a pair of small palace boots and delicate ankles.

Maybe I've been waiting for a long time and I'm a little sleepy, and occasionally I cover my lips and yawn.

It's not that the Queen Mother is sleepy, but staying in Changle Palace to 'recuperate', there is nothing to do at all, and she usually sleeps when it's dark, and it has become a habit over the years.

After calculating the time, the Queen Mother glanced outside the hall: "Qiao'e, why hasn't Xu Buling come here yet?" ”

Qiao'e knelt next to the soft couch, and after landing on the chessboard, she said softly: "Actually...... The Queen Mother shouldn't have asked Xu Shizi to enter the palace. ”

"Huh?"

The Queen Mother raised her eyes and looked at Qiao'e a few times, slightly puzzled.

Qiao'e is the queen mother's personal maid, grew up in Huainan, and the teaching she received since she was a child was to help her young lady compete for favor in the princely and palace back house to give advice, not to mention the ability to analyze the situation.

Qiao'e pondered for a moment before she spoke: "It is rumored that 'there is a vassal king plotting for unification', as for which vassal king is not clearly stated, but King Su has the heaviest military power, and it is self-evident who he refers to. And some people in the court said, 'The saint wants to cut the domain', although the saint has never expressed this thought, but the rumors will not rise without wind. ”

The Queen Mother let out a slightly lazy "um~" and motioned for Qiao'e to continue.

Qiao'e thought about it carefully: "These two rumors are both stirring up the relationship between the saint and the vassal king, and I can't tell what kind of servants are hidden behind them, but they must not be trivial...... My Xiao family spans three dynasties and generations, and the position is very special, the queen mother is close to Xu Buling, if the courtiers guess that my Xiao family deliberately wooed King Su......"

Qiao'e is obviously reminding the Queen Mother not to stand in line casually, in case she stands in the wrong line, it will be troublesome.

But the Queen Mother had long lost the mind to get involved in the court, sighed quietly, and threw the chess pieces into the chess basket: "The Xiao family is in charge of my second brother and third sister, and the palace married into the palace ten years ago and was a member of the Song family. ”

Qiao'e hesitated: "There are ...... My Xiao family is very involved, Xu Shizi was ambushed in the Wei River, and he was also hit by the extinct Lock Dragon Gu, and the forces behind it must be not small......"

The Queen Mother's expression was slightly condensed, her elbows propped up the soft couch and raised her upper body, frowning and thinking:

"You mean the poison is from my Xiao family?"

Qiao'e staggered, quickly raised her hand and shook it, and said anxiously: "Queen Mother, don't say this, it will be troublesome to be heard...... My Xiao family is not a pawn, I have never planned and then acted, how could I do such a down-to-earth thing. ”

The Queen Mother blinked, and lay on her side on the soft couch again, a little helpless: "That's not it, this palace has its own measure......"

Between the chats, footsteps sounded outside the palace, and the palace maid walked outside the hall and said softly:

"Queen Mother, Xu Shizi has arrived."

The Queen Mother lifted her spirits, got up and prepared to go out to greet her, stopped halfway through, picked up the bronze mirror from the soft couch and looked at it a few times.

Qiao'e hurriedly walked to the front, tidied up the little mess of the bun, and flattened the palace skirt, and then went out with the queen mother......

————

In the afternoon, on the back street of Daye Fang, merchants and pawns came and went, and the gambling house was just about to open.

Zhu Manzhi wandered around the street alone, sometimes running to take a look near Qingshi Lane, but unfortunately Xu Shizi never came back in the past two days.

The sixteen-year-old girl's family didn't have any heart, so Zhu Manzhi naturally thought too much, thinking that it was because she didn't say goodbye the day before yesterday, which made Xu Shizi angry.

She is just a small catcher born in the market, she is not even a person from the rivers and lakes, her status is very different from that of the prince of the domain, she should be careful when she meets and speaks, how can she play a little temper with Xu Shizi......

But Xu Shizi is not such a stingy person, how could he come to her because of this little thing......

Zhu Manzhi's big round eyes were obviously a little lost, and after turning around the street twice, he walked to the eaves of a corner of the street, squatted on the steps, and folded a small branch to draw circles on the ground.

Although he is not very cheerful, Zhu Manzhi is not stupid, and after waiting for two days for Xu Buling not to come, his mood became more and more depressed.

Looking back on the bits and pieces of these days - first drawing a sword to help in the back street, then heroically saving the beauty in the alley, going to White Horse Village to kill, and entering the case library......

Everything seemed to be a coincidence, but there was clearly an invisible thread threading together.

From the moment we met in front of the restaurant, everything happened around the purpose of 'entering the library'......

Xu Shizi...... Could it be that they are taking advantage of me......

Thinking of this, Zhu Manzhi's heart trembled violently, and the small branch in his hand was broken, making a soft sound of "pop".

No, no, no......

Zhu Manzhi shook his head and laughed, feeling a little whimsical. Xu Shizi is such a good person, how could he take advantage of her.

But if you laugh and laugh, you can't laugh.

She...... It seems useless......

This thought appeared in his heart, Zhu Manzhi didn't know why, his nose was sour, his mouth was pursed tightly, and his slightly immature cheeks looked at the end of the back street.

After looking at it for a long time, there was an afterimage of people coming and going on the street, and the handsome boy in white still did not appear.

Zhu Manzhi bit his lower lip, snorted faintly, picked up the small branch on the ground, and continued to draw circles.

Not long after the painting, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly stopped in front of him.

Zhu Manzhi shook slightly, and raised his head suddenly.

It's a pity that the surprised eyes quickly dimmed again.

Liu Hou'er and Wang Dazhuang led the three horses, looked down at Zhu Manzhi squatting under the eaves, and were slightly puzzled: "Manzhi, why are you crying?" ”

"Didn't cry...... Eyes in the sand...... What are you here to do? ”

Liu Hou'er spread out her hands, slightly inexplicable: "Today I went to the post station outside the city to investigate the case, and the brothers waited outside the yamen for a long time and you didn't come, and you were scolded by the commander if you didn't go again." ”

Zhu Manzhi remembered this stubble, stood up and patted the clothes on his body, then turned over on the horse with his head stuffy, and did not speak, and after looking back at the end of the street again, he "drove~" and galloped towards the outside of the city.

Liu Hou'er and Wang Dazhuang couldn't figure out the little girl's thoughts, so they followed closely behind and walked out of the city.

Next to the tea stall in the back street, two Jianghu guests with hats glanced at each other, and after the figure of the horse was about to disappear, they threw a few copper plates on the table, and got up successively to untie the reins on the horse's stake......

Next to another tea stall, a man who was drinking tea with his head bored, after the figures of the two Jianghu guests were about to disappear, threw a few copper plates on the table, got up and untied the reins on the horse-tied stake......