"Sister, this is a newly made pastry in the imperial dining room, which was given to me by the concubine, but it is delicious, you can taste it." Ling'er excitedly spread out a bag of pine nut cakes in front of me.

I was not in a hurry to taste the pastries, but took a pen and wrote a few words aimlessly on the paper, and occasionally looked up and said, "Ling'er, I heard that Zhong Shunu is having a bad time in the prison cell, let's take a time to see her." ”

The smile on Ling'er's face froze, "Sister, I won't go." ”

I finished writing the remaining words, put down the pen, and said, "You also think she is the murderer?" ”

Ling Er took it for granted and said: "Who else can there be besides her, didn't the murdered palace maid identify her before she died, and to the north, doesn't it mean Zhong Shunu who lives in the north?" ”

I disagreed: "But she was beaten so badly, she still insisted on her innocence, she was very backbone, not like the kind of person who would kill." ”

Ling'er pondered with a side face, and a touch of sky light by the window reflected on her face, revealing a sense of innocence and brightness, "Sister, she may be pretending, don't be deceived by her illusion." ”

"I think she was wronged, and the murderer is someone else. Zhong Shunu is really pitiful, she is obviously innocent, but she has suffered so much in prison and suffered so many crimes, how can the murderer's conscience be safe. ”

I asked Ling'er seriously, "Ling'er, who do you say, who will be the murderer?" ”

Ling Er tilted her head and affirmed: "The murderer is Zhong Yu." Sister, people's hearts are unpredictable, and her horror is not something you and I can imagine. She's pretending to be pitiful to win the sympathy of others, don't be deceived by her. ”

"Yes, people's hearts are unpredictable." I aimed at Ling'er with a pair of bright eyes, "Ling'er, your heart is also unpredictable." ”

When Ling Erfu heard this, her eyes were a little confused, "Sister, what do you mean by this?" ”

"The person who really pretends to deceive is not Zhong Yu." My eyes brightened, and my voice suddenly turned cold, "It's you, Ling'er, you've been deceiving me all along." ”

Ling'er panicked, "Sister, what are you talking nonsense, how can I deceive you, do you have any misunderstanding about me?" ”

"Enough, stop pretending!" Seeing her like this, I became more and more chilled, "The terrible person is you, not Zhong Yu!" It's terrible to see her go to prison because of you, and still be able to sit here so casually and in peace. ”

Seeing my cold face, Ling'er hesitated: "Sister, you won't suspect that I am ......"

"Yes, that's you. It was you who bought the maid of the Flower Palace, Lu Ming, and asked her to pour tung oil on the road that Yuwen Xiaobo had to pass, designed to make Yuwen Xiaobo slip, and then took advantage of his slipping and not paying attention, and secretly changed the picture of Xiangfei. Afterwards, you exchange pictures next to the agreed rockery, and you are afraid that Green Tea will leak the matter, so you take advantage of her unpreparedness and kill her from behind with a poisonous needle. "I said what I had been afraid of.

Ling Er still looked confused and said, "Sister, why do you think of me so much?" You forget, the murderer is in the north, I live in the south, the murderer is Zhong Yu, how can it be me! ”

"Yes, Midori used her remaining consciousness to leave us clues about the murderer, but how could the murderer let her identify him without moving the body to change his position? Midori sees the bead flower you inadvertently dropped, so she takes her last breath and points north, making the killer think that she is pointing in the wrong direction in a delirious state. The murderer thought that this would not only get rid of his own suspicion, but also blame others, so he did not move the body, but he didn't expect that Green Tea did it on purpose, in order to prevent the murderer from destroying the corpse and leaving real clues. ”

"In the theory of the five elements, the five elements correspond to the five seasons, the five constants, the five directions, and the five senses. Pointing to the north, it is not necessarily the north of the five directions, but it may also be the water of the five elements, the winter of the five seasons, the wisdom of the five constants, and the ears of the five senses. ”

"And the five directions correspond to the five elements, which are east, west, north, south, and middle corresponding to wood, gold, fire, water, and earth."

I unfolded the paper full of words in front of her, and all the mysteries suddenly came to mind:

East - Wood (Xiao Qingqiang)

West - Kim (Zhong Yu)

South - Fire (Ji Wanqiu)

North - Water (Feng Ling'er)

Looking at her gradually pale face, I threw the paper heavily on the table, "So, pointing to the north, not referring to Zhong Yu in the north." It refers to the water of the five elements, and it is you, Feng Ling'er! ”

Ling Er still didn't admit it, and said: "Sister, you also said just now, pointing to the north, not necessarily the north of the five directions, it may also be others." Then it doesn't necessarily refer to the water of the five elements, how can you assume that it is me based on speculation alone. ”

My eyes lit up and I said, "Of course I won't rely on this alone, so I went to see Yu Wenxian." ”

Ling Er's face unexpectedly flashed a trace of panic when I said the three words Yu Wenxian.

"Yuwen Xiaobo and Yuwen Xian are like brothers, only Yu Wenxian knows that Yuwen Xiaobo wants to send Concubine Xiang to His Majesty, Yuwen Xiaobo can't leak the news himself, so the leak can only be Yuwenxian. You used Yu Wenxian to love you, got the news out of his mouth, prepared a fake picture of Concubine Xiang in advance, and then designed to replace the real picture of Concubine Xiang, that's all. ”

"I asked Yuwen Xian, and he said that Yuwen Xiaobo wanted to send Concubine Xiang to the picture, and he only revealed it to you inadvertently. Only you can set up such a game in advance. I looked straight at her, "Are you going to deny it again!" ”

Ling Er forced her pale face and said, "Even if it's like what my sister said, then what am I doing all this for, stealing pictures and killing people, there must be a motive." ”

"Because you are the meticulous work arranged by Yuwen Hu in the palace! You deliberately approached me to spy on me. That day, Your Majesty was furious because of the matter of calligraphy and painting, and you overheard what Ji Nushi said to me at the door, which gave rise to suspicions, and you suspected that Your Majesty and Yuwen Xiaobo secretly communicated with Yuwen Xiaobo through calligraphy and painting. So you designed the steal painting to verify your suspicions. "I said it step by step, but my heart was cold because of Ling'er's terrible scheming.

"Ling'er, you hide so deeply. You pretend to be naïve, pretend to be innocent, pretend to be my good sister. Everything is fake! I finally couldn't hold it back, and the disappointment, pain, and anger in my heart exploded instantly.

"No, sister!" Ling'er finally messed up and grabbed my hand eagerly, "I'm true to you, I didn't tell Otsuka Jae about the secret communication between His Majesty and Yuwen Xiaobo, because I know that you are Your Majesty's person, so I hid the matter, and I won't hurt my sister." ”

"Enough, stop pretending, I won't trust you anymore, you let me go!" The thought of her deception and exploitation for so long made me feel like I was falling into a pool of ice, and I felt chills all over.

Ling'er grabbed my hand tightly and pleaded, "Sister, what I said is true. Trust me, I will never hurt you. ”

It's all a lie, and I don't want to and don't want to hear a word from her. I pushed her away, but she was holding on to it, and I had to push hard, hard.

With a "clang", with the sound of the wooden bench falling down, Ling'er was pushed to the ground. A line of tears fell from her clear eyes, and she looked at me with sad eyes, "Sister! ”

That gaze pierced my heart, and I almost reached out to help her, but when I thought of her deception, those bright and warm smiles, clean and pure eyes, and always sounded like a bell in the wind...... Everything is a disguise, a hypocrisy.

I restrained the hand I was about to stretch out, closed my eyes and opened them again, and said ruthlessly: "You go, from now on, you are no longer my sister, and I will break off with you!" After speaking, somehow, tears slipped uncontrollably from the bottom of his eyes.

Ling Er's face was pale, the last glimmer of light in her eyes went out, and she smiled with tears, "My sister is really the smartest, and you guessed everything." I knew that I would always be a loser in front of my sister. ”

"My sister doesn't want to see me anymore, so I won't appear in front of my sister again, annoying my sister, and my sister won't have to see me again." Ling'er seemed to be trying her best to hide something, her shoulders trembled, and tears fell again.

"Bang", the door was pushed open, I raised my hazy teary eyes to look, but it was Yuwen Yong standing at the door with an iron face, and behind him were He Quan and Yuwen Xiaobo, who also looked cold.

Yu Wenyong stared coldly at Ling'er who fell to the ground, and only coldly spit out a few words.

"He Quan, take her away!"

Ling'er was secretly detained, and in order to hide her from others, she only announced it to the public, saying that she had contracted a sudden illness and needed to be isolated for a while, and no one knew where she was sent.

I walked alone on the palace road, looking at the red walls and green tiles in the palace, the green trees and flowers were dyed orange and red by the sunset, as if they were made up with rouge, and the clouds in the western sky burned half of the sky like fire, a red and bright gorgeous, but I looked at the red sky and felt a sense of powerlessness and heaviness, and my heart was unprovoked and cold.

Is it because the girl who always smiled like a sunflower is gone?

Walking with an empty heart, suddenly a strong force pulled me, and actually pulled me between the overlapping and hidden rockeries.

Seeing the person who pulled me in, I was annoyed, "What is General Shenju doing?" ”

"I have something important to talk to Xiao Shangshu alone, the matter is urgent, if you are offended, I hope Lord Xiao will forgive me." Yuwen God raised his fists and apologized to me.

"What are you looking for me?" I asked him.

There was an anxious look on Yuwen Shenju's face, "Follow me to see Feng Ling'er." ”

"Do you know where Feng Ling'er is being held?" I wondered.

Yuwen Shen said: "She is locked up in a dungeon secretly set up by His Majesty, and now she is seriously injured, you have to go and see her." "As he spoke, he was going to pull me away.

I hesitated for a moment, but suddenly understood in my heart, and said, "You are Your Majesty's person, and Yu Yi is just a disguise." His Majesty deliberately approached him, so that Yuwen was on guard, and Yu Yi was transferred away from His Majesty's side, and you were to succeed him as the commander of the Su Guard, but in fact, you fell into Your Majesty's trap. ”

Yuwen Shenju said dissatisfiedly: "You're not in a hurry at all, aren't you worried about Feng Ling'er at all?" Do you know how badly she was wounded in the dungeon, she wouldn't say anything but that she had to see you. When she was unconscious, she kept shouting: Sister Qingqiang. But you don't care about her at all, and it's in vain that she misses you so much. ”

When I heard him, I was touched and said, "Where is she now?" ”

Exegesis:

(1) The title comes from Han Hong's "Sending Guests to the Upper Valley" in the Tang Dynasty: "The wind and lotus flowers are broken, and the frost is ready to bloom." ”