In the imperial garden, Cai Ling sat on the white jade bench in a daze, with mixed tastes in her heart.

The Queen Mother left her to stay, she didn't dare to disobey, and Shen Muchi didn't mean to speak for her, she held her slender jade hand, and disappeared into the Ziwei Palace without looking back, and it had been five days since she counted.

Yesterday, after playing a few games of chess with the Queen Mother, picking up a few pots of flowers and plants, and even reading a few classics, I finally sought the grace of visiting my aunt in Showa Palace. At this time, the former middle palace has been reduced to a forbidden palace, and my aunt and two palace maids live in an empty palace, and they are not allowed to leave Showa all day long. At this time, my aunt was also stripped of the title of queen, and the palace people called her Showa Niangniang or the queen of the abolition.

I heard that my aunt was able to stay in Showa and also showed the grace of the queen mother, if she really entered the cold palace, her aunt's pampered temperament would have been depressed since she was a child, and she was afraid that the three-foot white silk was already on the beam.

I heard that the emperor did not allow anyone to visit her aunt, but he just opened an opening for her. Thinking about the reason carefully, it must be related to Shen Muchi.

Even though he had been mentally prepared under Aunt Chun's instructions before entering Showa, when he pushed the door in, he still felt cold and tingling in his heart. That flower bed, which used to be planted with moon and phalaenopsis, is now empty of withered yellow weeds. The white jade water tank used to be full of clean well water, purple water lilies floated on the water surface under the carp game lotus leaves, and my aunt liked to stand in front of the tank and break the rice cakes to feed the fish, but now there is only a water tank full of muddy stains. She stared straight ahead and strode into the main hall, not wanting to take a second look at the scene in the court.

My aunt knew that she was coming, so she only sat quietly on the main seat of the main hall, not surprised or displeased. She also walked to the chair she loved to sit on in the past and sat down obediently. My aunt said: "This palace knows that you love to drink Mengshan nectar, and now although there is this tea here in this palace, there is no palace person who makes tea, so you will settle." ”

"Does my aunt know that Ling'er will come?" She asked.

"Hongu guessed. Shen Yan asked you to come so that you could see what this palace looks like now, he just wanted to remind you that there are some people who our Jiang family can climb. My aunt called the emperor's name and said angrily, "This palace knows Shen Yan when he is young, your grandfather assisted the emperor to lay down the country, and this palace has entered the Showa with the respect of the middle palace, and has been married for decades, but this palace has never seen through Shen Yan's calculations, not to mention the weakening of my Jiang family's power, and it is a deep love affair with the slut of Cuiwei Palace!" Over the years, he has gone to Cuiwei Palace very few times, and the palace has relaxed its vigilance against the slut, these years, the palace has won Chen Guifei and Cui Jieyu, poisoned Mei Concubine and Lan Meiren, but I didn't expect it to be planted in the hands of that slut! ”

Cai Ling didn't say anything, and Showa Niangniang suddenly stood up and accused: "Go to the Japanese Palace three times and twice to remind your mother and ask her to take care of you!" Shen Muchi is not a good type, he is ruthless, and he is not weaker than his father and emperor, you desperately want to drill into him, but in the end you are just bruised all over your body. Not to mention that he is ruthless to you, if he really has half a pity, it is only a temporary use. People like them can only tolerate the country in their eyes. Besides, now that he left you in the capital, he was just as a proton and broke off your father's idea of rebellion. ”

The Jiang family's declining aunt may have been preoccupied with Gong Dou and never understood, but she saw it clearly. If she hadn't sent a lot of silver tickets to Shuzhong, how the family would settle down would still be a problem, where would they have the energy and ability to rebel? Although Cai Ling still didn't know Shen Muchi's purpose for keeping her in Chang'an City, she didn't agree with her aunt's opinion.

But after all, my aunt knows the Shen family, and it is not wrong that Shen Muchi is not a good type. Cai Ling doesn't want to be used one day after giving wholeheartedly, and finally die in this cold and deserted world.

My aunt continued: "In the past, I heard that you used your father's money to do business in Beijing, and you did a good job. You don't have to keep too much silver on your body as a girl, remember to send more silver to Shuzhong, your father and a few brothers will be ambitious when they want to make a comeback and have money. ”

Cai Ling didn't say anything, and listened to them one by one. Later, my aunt told me a lot, but she didn't refute it, but all the topics revolved around how the Jiang family regrouped, she was tired of listening, her father and brother had the courage to come here, if you can stay in Shu with peace of mind, you will have no worries for the rest of your life, why do you have to enter the temple again?

In the end, she only said to her aunt: "The prince has a safe journey, please don't worry about it." ”

She didn't know if her aunt could hear the news outside the palace in this closed Showa, but she didn't even ask a word about the prince during the whole process, she was a little disappointed, but after thinking about it carefully, this is the style of their Jiang family, and her father can also let her live in Dongxi Building for three whole years.

The aunt stopped talking, and only looked out the window faintly, and she regretted that she should not have brought up the prince to hurt her again. Frustration and grief brought her to tears, which had been wiped away by the time she stepped out of the hall. There were two palace maids sitting lazily at the entrance of the hall, and when they saw that she was coming, they only called the four girls, and sat in the same place.

She took off the jade bracelet given by the Queen Mother in the morning on her wrist and the golden step on her head, and stuffed them into the hands of the two young palace maids, "The days seem to be endless, but they are only five years long, if the head of the palace can't get it, this girl will make up for you, Yaozhi, your hometown is in Shandong, Ping'er, your hometown is in Jinling, if you are in Showa for a day, this girl will send someone to your hometown every year to send silver, provided that you maintain this Showa as it used to be, this girl will hear the birds and smell the flowers." Niangniang loves to drink Mengshan nectar, so you have to boil water to make tea. You may not know the eyes and ears of this girl in this palace, don't think that this Showa has become a forbidden palace wall, and the walls are impermeable. If you don't do your best, this girl can support your parents and do other things. ”

Miss Xie Si took care of it. The slaves and maids must do their best to live up to the girl's trust. Yaozhi thanked her, and Ping'er knelt down. Since the queen was demoted, the slightly more powerful palace maids in the family have sent silver to the Internal Affairs Yuan in order to switch to other palaces, leaving only her two impoverished palace maids in the family with no way to ask for help, and finally were left in this forbidden land. I thought that life was better than death and I couldn't see the future, but I lived like a walking corpse, but now I can ignite hope, and I can't help but be grateful.

Cai Ling was walking with her head held high at that time, and now she is sitting alone in the fragrant garden of flowers, and she can't help but feel sad from it, only to feel that her aunt is pitiful, she has seen countless beautiful scenery of this good day in the past, and once upon a time thought that she would become a prisoner? Things in the world are unpredictable, and if you want to be alone, you must be wary of others, and you must not be obsessed with them.

"Jiang Shao?" Someone called out to him from afar.

Looking up, two brocade-clothed boys strode in the golden leaves of the ginkgo biloba. She raised her hand to wipe away her tears, and smiled calmly on her transparent face, "Tao Tao." ”

"It's a good idea to spend a few days in this palace." Tao Tao took three steps and two steps, bowed his head slightly and reached out to remove the fallen leaves from her bun.

"Hmm. The same old way. It's just that you're not bored. She didn't understand why she said "you", which misunderstood Shen Muchi, who was striding over, at this time, he was looking at her with blazing eyes, seeing that she was a little uncomfortable, he stretched out his hand to comb the wind-blown hair in front of his forehead, "Your Royal Highness King Qin, don't misunderstand. If His Highness is in the palace, I should be even more unaccustomed to it. ”

As soon as this remark came out, she regretted it, where did she need to make up for this sentence, Shen Mu had been so late, and she didn't even have a word of hush and warmth, how she was doing in the palace, it had nothing to do with him.

"Jiang Shao. I entered the palace with His Royal Highness III to ask the Queen Mother for someone this time. Tao Tao smiled and took her hand, caught a glimpse of the knife-like gaze beside her, and hurriedly threw it away.

"I'm not leaving." She didn't know which tendon was wrong, "If I can't go back to the Prime Minister's Mansion, what's the difference between staying in the palace and being trapped in the Qin Palace?" At least there are no people here who bore me, and life is boring but not annoying at all. ”

"Jiang Shao!" Tao Tao was very anxious and reached out to hold her sleeve.

"This king bores you?" Shen Muchi asked coldly.

Although this nerd likes Biluo's appearance, it looks very annoying, but it is not boring to talk about, and the lotus cake incident has saved her life, and she is also a benefactor, but I don't understand why he has such a misunderstanding. was about to explain one or two, but Shen Muchi thought she had acquiesced, and turned around and left.

"Jiang Shao, what are you doing in the palace? After the matter settles down, are you still afraid that you will not be able to walk freely in Chang'an City in the future? Tao Tao said urgently.

This kid is right, she didn't want to stay in the palace for a decade or two, so she immediately changed her face, trotted to keep up with Shen Muchi's steps, and whispered behind him: "Your Highness has misunderstood." Cai Ling was just burned out of her brain by jealousy. Your Highness is my life-saver, and I am grateful that I dare to get bored before I have time to do so. If you want to say that you are bored, it's just your new love. ”

Shen Muchi stopped at this time, turned around, and stared at her, only to notice her face crying because of tears, but now although she was smiling, her eyes were still filled with tears. In the past, this girl was not serious, she was messing around all day long, and he had never seen her like this. Unconsciously, he stretched out his hand, but the fingertip just fell on her cheek, and he immediately withdrew it, and only said lightly: "If you think about it, this king will tell the imperial grandmother." ”

"Think about it, think about it!" Cai Ling said repeatedly. Just now, he was just a quick mouth, and the person in front of him was angry, angry that he left her in the palace without saying a word that day, so that she had to accompany the queen mother carefully on the one hand, and on the other hand, she had to deal with Princess Jinghe, who came to provoke every day, which was really physically and mentally exhausting.

The light smile between Shen Muchi's lips quickly disappeared, but Cai Ling saw it in her eyes, and a smile appeared on her face.

When the Queen Mother heard that Shen Mu was late to ask for someone, she didn't keep much, only told a few words, and told her to move around the palace more in the future, so she arranged a carriage to send it.

The carriage stopped outside the Ande Gate, and the two of them walked one after the other on the spacious palace road. Shen Muchi slowed down, and when the two were side by side, she had nothing to say, "I didn't expect Tao Tao to be the head of the imperial guard now, and he said that he would be on duty when he said that he would be on duty, so he had something to do." ”

The corners of his lips hooked, and after a few steps, he suddenly asked, "How long have you known him?" It seems to be very emotional. ”

"Am I with Tao Tao?" She laughed, "We're married on the belly." ”

Shen Mu stopped his pace suddenly, Cai Ling walked very close to him, one accidentally bumped into his strong arm, just about to complain a few words, met the pair of cold eyes, and didn't dare to bury half a cent, only continued the words just now: "It's a pity that the two of us are like brothers and sisters, there is no love between men and women, and the parents of both sides are not on the same line in the court, so no one cares about us, and the family affairs are over." Now General Yang is afraid that I will pester his precious son, and also, your precious sister-Princess Jinghe, is devoted to Taotao, do you know? It's weird, why does she always think of me as an imaginary enemy? Tao Tao is so romantic outside, and it is better to treat the singers of the Baique Tower than to be gentle. ”

When it comes to the singer of Baique Tower, it is inevitable that I will think of Biluo, and I feel sad in my heart. She suddenly thought of something, "There's something I've been thinking about for a long time, and I want to tell you after all." ”

"Hmm." He stared at her with a gentle gaze.

"His Royal Highness King Qin, Wan'an." A palace maid suddenly came and knelt on both sides of the palace road. Some of them were bold, and they even looked at it secretly, and their eyes were full of coveting the beauty of King Qin.

Cai Ling unconsciously pulled on King Qin's clothes, and when the two of them walked to no one's place, she noticed it, covered her shame, and said in a low voice: "The citrine bracelet that Biluo dedicated to the Queen Mother, there is an identical one in the Dusk Xuan." ”

Shen Muchi listened, and was not half surprised, and only asked her, "So what?" ”

"Do you have any doubts about Biluo's background?" She asked.

"Suspect what? The person this king likes is her, not her background. His smile suddenly appeared, sly like a fox, and the more she was in a hurry, the more he laughed.

She finally came to her senses and exclaimed, "You always knew that right? Who is Biluo? What is her purpose in approaching you? ”

He smiled deeply, didn't answer her series of questions, and only said, "Jiang Cailing, you are really not stupid." ”

"It's okay if you don't tell me. Just be careful. She got a little carried away, thinking that she naturally had a way to find out.

The two of them walked for another time with a stick of incense, and it was his turn to find something to say, "If you are really not stupid, can you guess why this king wants to keep you in the capital?" ”

Her cunning eyes rolled, leaving her in the capital is nothing more than worrying about the *** faction, and now everyone in the Prime Minister's Mansion lives on her funding, and keeping her by her side is to install the best eyes and ears in this group of people, which she can still guess through. The words came out, but it was, "It's nothing more than Tao Tao pleading more in front of you, that guy has a share in my restaurant and cake shop, and I don't want to see that after I leave the city, no one will take care of everything, and I will end up losing money and closing the store." Right? ”

She smiled confidently. Shen Muchi looked at her and smiled. She suddenly said, "After I entered the palace, did that guy come to you again to plead, or how would you find time to come to the palace to ask for someone?" However, His Royal Highness is really untrustworthy, since he promised Tao Tao, the Queen Mother wanted to keep me, you shouldn't have agreed, and now you have to go to the palace, isn't it troublesome? ”

"What did the king tell you before entering the palace, do you remember?" He strode forward with his head held high, and asked lukewarmly.

"Your Highness said that if you don't like the Queen Mother's request, you can refuse." She recalled.

"Have you refused?" Shen Muchi asked.

"I refused." She refused to be his side concubine. As soon as the words came out, she noticed his rapidly cooling face, and her heart was shocked, "So you said that you refused to stay in the palace?" ”

Shen Mu didn't answer, his pace quickened, and he disappeared from the corner. She followed closely as she raised her voice: "His Royal Highness King Qin, Your Highness." Went the wrong way. Andergate should turn right. ”

The gilded plaque of Cuiwei Palace hangs at the entrance of the palace. Shen Muchi didn't take the wrong path, he came to visit his mother.

Shen Muchi stepped into the palace gate surrounded by the palace people who came to greet him, but Cai Ling hesitated.

"What are you doing in the yard?" He stopped in front of the door and turned impatiently.

"I'm not going in today. In the future, there will be opportunities to come to the door and apologize. "The sound of picking coria is like a gnat. Who is Xuan Jieyu? It's someone else's mother who she has liked since she was a child. For so many palace banquets, although Xuan Jieyu only sat in an inconspicuous position, her shy appearance, beautiful figure and cold temperament between her eyebrows could always firmly grasp Cai Ling's sight. Cai Ling will always remember Xuan Jieyu's eyes when she looked at Shen Muchi, and her tenderness was full of motherly care. She glanced down at herself, dressed ordinary, not beaded, the key is empty-handed, it is really not suitable to see nobles.

"What did you say?" Shen Muchi approached and asked.

"Did you mean to?" She asked, "It's just this time to say hello." ”

"My mother is sick and wants to see you." Shen Muchi said frankly.

"See me?" Cai Ling was a little cramped, and when she thought about Xuan Jieyu, she couldn't help but feel a lot of anxiety, "How is it sick?" Has the Imperial Doctor come to see? What is the disease? ”

Shen Mu didn't expect her to react like this, and with gratitude in his heart, he took her hand and dragged her into the hall, "You will know when you go in yourself." ”

The noble lady sitting on the warm floor in the hall saw the two of them, and slowly got up, and the palace maid was busy going to help, she only raised her hand and said with a smile, "The palace is fine." ”

How can it be fine, but after two steps, I have coughed a few times. Shen Muchi stepped up and held Xuan Jieyu steadily, "I obviously said that I wanted to rest in bed, why did I get up again?" ”

"After lying down for a few days, it was really boring, and I wanted to go to the pavilion depending on the weather...... Ahem...... Sit, sit. Xuan Jieyu's eyes turned and she noticed Cai Ling who was standing a few steps behind Shen Muchi, "Could this be the fourth girl of the Jiang family?" ”

"The folk girl Jiang Cailing visited Xuan Niangniang. Mother's Grace. Cai Ling hurriedly knelt down and saluted.

"Hurry up, please." Xuan Jieyu actually let go of Shen Muchi's hand and personally bent down to help. Cai Ling stood up and hurriedly supported her. Xuan Jieyu looked at her with a smile, "The last time I saw you was at the Mid-Autumn Festival Night Banquet last year. A platform was set up on the Jingting Mountain, and the girls showed their talents, what is the name of the dance you danced...... Ahem, ahem. ”

"Mother don't say anything." Shen Muchi frowned.

"It's okay for my mother." Xuan Jieyu waved her hand.

Cai Ling helped her to the couch and said with a smile: "Let Xuan Niangniang smile." Cai Ling didn't know that the sky was high and she danced a "Chang'e to the moon", and later saw the girls from various provinces competing for beauty in the audience, only to know that she was clumsy, but she didn't expect to be remembered by Xuan Niangniang. ”

"How can you have clumsy skills, this palace thinks you can dance well. Ahem...... Not only the palace, but also people ......" Xuan Jieyu glanced at Shen Muchi. The latter hurriedly interrupted, "You rest more and talk less." ”

"Are you having a cold?" Cai Ling opened a window in the distance, and the warm sunlight outside the window poured in, and there was a faint fragrance of flowers and plants in the air, "It's windy outside, it seems that you can't go out." Opening the windows from time to time may make you feel better. ”

"Miss Jiang is considerate." Xuan Jieyu smiled with satisfaction and glanced at Shen Muchi, who was sitting on the other side of the warm couch eating tea, and he couldn't see his expression clearly.

"Xuan Niangniang, don't see outside, just call Ling'er, the people's daughter." She suddenly moved a small stool over and intimately hammered Xuan Jieyu's legs. Shen Muchi almost squirted out a sip of tea, and in embarrassment, he buckled the tea bowl heavily on the small table, and the tea spilled out, and a palace maid hurriedly came to clean it up.

In such a leisurely afternoon, the three of them gossiped for a long time, Xuan Jieyu wanted to keep them for dinner, but Shen Muchi refused. Cai Ling was thick-skinned, pulled Shen Muchi aside and asked in a low voice: "Your mother is sick, don't you refuse to agree to this little request?" Are you too anxious to go back and see that person? ”

"It doesn't matter if the king is here." He sneered, "Father, he eats in Cuiwei Palace for three meals a day? Will you have supper with him? The king is happy to accompany him. ”

"Xuan Niangniang, Ling'er won't disturb you to recuperate. I came in too much hurry today, I didn't prepare anything, and the next time I enter the palace, Ling'er will definitely bring the best pastries from the Mumu Cake Shop to accompany the mother to enjoy the flowers in the imperial garden, okay? Cai Ling walked back quickly and said obediently.

"Hmm. Good...... Hongu must be looking forward to your return. Xuan Jieyu smiled.

After Cai Ling politely withdrew from the hall, she quickly walked out of Cuiwei Palace as a refuge, and walked on the palace road like a thief, and even Shen Muchi was left behind by her.

"Hey! You wait. He shouted.

"Wait, wait! Can you hurry up. Dinner time is approaching, do I want my life? She looked back impatiently.

"What are you afraid of?" He stepped forward quickly, "You have to be so loved by Xuan Niangniang, what else do you have to fear?" ”

"That's right. Hahaha......" She suddenly laughed, and the picture of the Ninety-Five Supreme Kneeling in front of Xuan Jieyu flashed in her mind, and Xuan Niangniang loved her and was really invincible, what were you afraid of? Shen Muchi didn't know why she reacted so much, and was about to interrogate her, but she said happily: "I don't know why your mother likes me." I'm not gentle and have no family background, and if I want to talk about my appearance, it seems that I'm just a little better than that one. I heard that there is a saying called love house and black, is it because you are interested in me, so your mother naturally looks at me twice? ”

He didn't say anything for a moment, just looked at her with a smile. The big eyes like water blinked, and suddenly bent into two rounds of Xuanyue, "Just kidding, His Royal Highness King Qin doesn't have to be scared like this!" How can I not know what His Highness is doing to me. In the past, I was frivolous, but in the future, it would be great if I could be friends with His Highness like Tao Tao. If you can't, that's fine, maybe there's a chance to be a godbrother and sister, right? ”

Before she finished speaking, she had already seen the anger in his eyes, she laughed very wantonly, it was so fun to tease him, she didn't think that she had found the joy of life now, it should have been like this a long time ago!