In the middle of the night, the Queen Mother's dormitory.

A thin palace man hurriedly walked in with a tray, and just crossed the palace gate, but was dragged out of the door by the royal guards who were ambushed at the door.

After a cup of tea, there was a coughing sound from the dormitory, and not long after, the door of the dormitory was opened, and the queen mother walked out with her cloak.

The soft soul incense in her has long been cured, but Feng Han has not been better, her face is very poor, very white, and her eye sockets are sunken, and they are blue and black.

She coughed low and looked in the direction of the palace gate, as if waiting for someone.

The day's snow finally stopped at this time, but the cold wind was still blowing, blowing into the house, making a whining sound, like a dead soul whimpering and crying, quite penetrating.

The Queen Mother stood for a while and then re-entered the house, the charcoal was burning in the house, and when the door was closed, the cold was blocked.

The hour was not early, and the room was warm and suitable for sleeping, but the Queen Mother was not sleepy at all.

She grabbed her cloak and walked in the house step by step, her wrinkled face was solemn and a little dazed, and her heart was very unsettled.

She thought back to the rights and wrongs of her life, and thought about whether there was anything wrong with what she had done recently, but in the end, she only felt lonely, she was the only one left in this huge dormitory, and the son she had worked so hard to give birth to had not come to see her for a long time, and even the concubines in the harem had never come to see her.

She, the queen mother, is really boring.

The son is not filial, but she still has the emperor and grandson to rely on.

Thinking of this, the Queen Mother became happy again, the corners of her lips hooked, walked back to her bedroom, and pulled out a pair of tiger-headed shoes from the wardrobe.

The shoes are very exquisitely made, with a bright red tribute silk upper, three pearls of excellent color on the toes, and a cute unicorn embroidered on the back, which is carefully prepared at a glance.

She prepared these shoes three years ago, but she couldn't give them away, but now it's okay, her grandson is back, she can put on these shoes for her grandson with her own hands, help her grandson to ascend to the throne, and then listen to the government herself.

The Hu people just want a few cities, so give them to them!

When her imperial grandson grows up, she will take it back, Hongyi is not filial, and she is bewitched by outsiders to put her under house arrest, so she doesn't need to detour with him so much!

The Queen Mother touched the little shoes lovingly, but the expression on her face gradually became ruthless.

I don't know how long it took, the palace door was knocked, the Queen Mother put down her shoes, straightened her back, and before she could open the door, she could only hear the people outside shouting: "The Queen Mother, Your Majesty personally led the Imperial Forest Army Yuwei out of the palace half an hour ago, Your Majesty said that it is cold today, please take care of your body and rest early, if he does not return tomorrow, there can only be the Empress Dowager Lao to preside over the overall situation for His Majesty." ”

The man spoke with a lot of energy, not an ordinary palace person, more like a powerful Imperial Forest Army.

The Queen Mother was shocked, and rushed to the door of the palace to open it, but she could only open a crack, and then there was the sound of iron chains rattling.

They locked the door!

"You are so bold, you dare to lock the dormitory of the mourning family, the mourning family is the queen mother, believe it or not, the mourning family went out and cut off your head!" The Queen Mother was shocked and angry, grabbing the door frame and roaring.

Chu Lingzhao had already disgraced her by imprisoning her so much, and now locking her in the house again, wouldn't he treat her like a prisoner?

"Queen Mother, Your Majesty's dictation has another sentence."

"What did he say?"

The Queen Mother asked, and there was already a bad premonition in her heart, and the people outside paused, and said in a more righteous and awe-inspiring tone: "Your Majesty said that if he returns tomorrow, please also ask the Queen Mother to give a reasonable explanation for the unauthorized collection of grain from the remnants of the An family!" ”

The Queen Mother's strength seemed to have been drained away, and she sat on the ground softly.

The charcoal fire in the house was very strong, but the floor tiles were still very cold, and the cold invaded her body, and she shivered.

She tried to think about what went wrong with her plan, and the resentment in her heart deepened, feeling that she had raised a ruthless son, but after a while, a crazy and cruel smile appeared on her face, she smiled and whispered: "Hongyi, you can't win, you can't win!" ”

The whispers gradually turned into laughter, like madness, but no one paid any more attention......

At the same time, in front of the old mansion of the An family, the young emperor led the royal forest army to surround the An family.

Time is urgent, he did not order the Ministry of Internal Affairs to carefully make the majestic armor, only wore the bright yellow clothes on weekdays, he is not like the first emperor is easy to gain weight, even if he often deals with the government and rarely exercises, the body still retains the vitality of his youth.

He rode on a tall red and brown horse, his back straight, his body as long as the sharpest sword, and his eyes looked ahead like a knife wrapped in thunder.

The cold wind was blowing, he was not affected by the half-point, and the Hu warriors guarding the door were taken aback by this battle, and he did not beat around the bush, but only ordered in a deep voice: "Please come out and see your king!" ”

The Hu warrior wanted to pretend not to understand, but when he saw Chu Lingzhao draw out a sword full of cold light, he led his troops to attack directly if he didn't go in to report it.

The Hu warrior's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly ran inside.

This time, it took a long time, but Chu Lingzhao waited patiently with the sword.

I don't know how long it took, but the snow fell again, the heavy winter coat was wet with snow, and the snow soon piled up on the top and shoulders of the head, and the horse under him sneezed and shook his head, and moved restlessly.

"Your Majesty......"

Someone whispered, Chu Lingzhao didn't answer, and after a while, it was too late, he was wearing very thick clothes, wrapped in a tiger skin coat on the outside, and wearing a brightly colored hanging ornament around his neck, the whole person looked radiant, obviously after some careful dressing.

"This king has already fallen asleep, and His Majesty suddenly visited late at night, so it is not good to meet His Majesty casually, it seems abrupt and rude, and it has been delayed for some time, please forgive Your Majesty."

Suddenly, he said forgiveness on his lips, but he didn't mean to make amends at all, but there was a hint of pride in his eyes, as if it was a matter of pride to be able to hang this young emperor out of the door for so long.

"It's okay, I want to ask the king for help because I have something, and I should wait for the king." Chu Lingzhao said softly.

Obviously, he personally said that he wanted Kutar to help him, but he was still sitting on the horse and not moving, his posture was very high, and he did not have the slightest intention of asking someone to help and whisper to flatter.

Suddenly, he squinted his eyes and swept around behind Chu Lingzhao, and at a glance, Chu Lingzhao had brought at least three or four hundred people.

"Your Majesty has brought so many people here, it doesn't look like you're asking for help, it's like you're going to encircle and suppress the king's envoys!"

Ku Tatar was right, Chu Lingzhao did have such thoughts, but he would not do it unless he had to.

In case the attack is true, Lu Ji is defeated, and Chu Huai'an will not have time to lead troops to reinforce in the future, in order to avoid more people from being harassed by the war, he must leave Kutar as the bottom line of peace talks.

"The king misunderstood, I am the king of a country, and I am not allowed to leave the palace at will, and I usually have to bring so many people when I leave the palace." Chu Lingzhao's face did not change his explanation, and after speaking, he returned to the topic: "Something happened in Jingzhong just now, and I want to borrow the king's warriors to save someone." ”

He only said to borrow, but he didn't ask Ku Tatar if he agreed, and his words were very tough, and he didn't give Ku Tatar a chance to refuse at all.

"I don't know what kind of big thing happened, but it provoked His Majesty to personally lead his troops out of the palace?" Suddenly asked suspiciously, as if he really didn't know what was going on, Chu Lingzhao had a fire in his heart, burning everywhere, but there was a smile on his face: "There is a villain who does not know the height of the sky and the thickness of the earth, and he has kidnapped my Dali Temple Shaoqing, I rely on this Shaoqing very much, so I have to personally take him back safely!" ”

This was said to Kutar, but the matter was done for the ministers of the court.

The people in the DPRK are not aligned, Zhao Hanzhuo is now the person Chu Lingzhao relies on the most, if something happens to Zhao Hanzhuo, this court is only afraid that the people's hearts will be scattered into a plate of scattered sand, and then there is no need for the Hu people to make any more conspiracies, they will kill themselves!

Chu Lingzhao's move was to convince people's hearts, he knew very well that it was very risky, but he had to do it at this critical juncture.

"Is there such a thing? What a daredevil! ”

Kutar was first surprised, then indignant, and even learned to use idioms!

Chu Lingzhao sneered in his heart and began to depreciate himself: "It's also that I have no control on weekdays, and I actually let the gangsters sneak into the imperial city and make trouble under my nose, since the king came with the purpose of making peace, I don't take the king as an outsider, so I pulled down my face and came here late at night to borrow people from the king." ”

Chu Lingzhao's show of weakness was very ironing in his heart, he was still dissatisfied with Lu Ji's killing of his two warriors before, but now he calmed down a little, looked at Chu Lingzhao and said: "Your Majesty doesn't have to blame yourself, this king and Yuan Zhao are allies, now Your Majesty has a request, you can't help but agree, how many people does Your Majesty want to borrow?" ”

"Except for the king, I want to make all the people of the courtiers!"

Kutar: "......"

The king seems to hear you making the king laugh!

"Your Majesty, these people are all cronies of this king, and they are here to protect ......"

"Since the king's people who I am leaving, they will naturally send troops to protect the king, is the king not at ease with me, or is he not at ease with the alliance between Yuan Zhao and the king?"

Chu Lingzhao asked seriously, his tone was very serious, whether he didn't believe it or not, he was very indecent.

Suddenly looking at Chu Lingzhao, his mood was a little complicated, he didn't expect that Chu Lingzhao would make such a move with him when he was forced to be in a hurry, directly transfer the people around him, and take care of him under a very perfect excuse.

"Your Majesty, do you really want to save people, or do you want to use this as an excuse to attack this king?" Hu Tartar asked rhetorically, and also used very malicious speculation about Chu Lingzhao's intentions.

Chu Lingzhao didn't feel the slightest panic or embarrassment that was exposed, he even nodded in agreement: "Frankly speaking, I suspect that the king has a grudge because of the loss of two generals in the previous life and death situation, so I deliberately let people hold me hostage Shaoqing deliberately retaliated, and I came to borrow people from the king, and I also indirectly wanted to prove the king's innocence!" ”

“……”

Kutar suddenly believed that Chu Lingzhao and Chu Huai'an were brothers who were related by blood, and in terms of cheekiness, the two of them were just the same!

How did Hu Tartar know that Chu Lingzhao often played with Chu Huai'an when he was young, and imperceptibly, he had already learned four or five percent of the ruffians on Chu Huai'an's body.

"Shaoqing's life and death are uncertain now, and the time is urgent, so please ask the king to lend someone to me earlier."

Chu Lingzhao urged faintly, holding the sword in his hand, he deftly pulled a sword flower behind his backhand, and did not have the slightest intention of retracting the scabbard.

Kutar's face turned blue, but he didn't hesitate too much, and after a while, he said in a muffled voice: "Since Your Majesty is so urgent, then borrow it from Your Majesty!" ”

After speaking, he glanced at the Hu warriors beside him, and after a while, the entire envoy group gathered outside.

The commander of the Yu Guard behind Chu Lingzhao counted the number of people, leaned into his ear and whispered, "Your Majesty, everyone has arrived." ”

"Let's go!"

Chu Lingzhao gave an order, and galloped with the horse's belly, and the others immediately followed, leaving dozens of people at the end, standing on the horse and silently looking at the Hu warriors, those Hu warriors looked at each other, and finally suddenly gritted their teeth and gave the order, and these people ran along.

In the end, ten of the Yu guards brought by Chu Lingzhao stayed, they turned over and dismounted and walked to the door in a line, and saluted to Hu Tartar: "Your Majesty, we will be responsible for your safety next!" ”

“……”

I believe in your demons!

Suddenly Tartar sneered in his heart, flicked his sleeves and turned back to the house, and the ten feather guards followed suit.

Chu Lingzhao led people to search the city with great fanfare, going door to door, every inn, every room, any place where there might be hiding people, he would not let people go.

The envoy group was taken away by him, and An's house was also empty and convenient to investigate, he didn't believe that such a big living person as Zhao Hanzhuo would disappear in vain!

At the ugly moment, An Ruolan had a nightmare, and immediately sat up, she was covered in a cold sweat, and her heart was beating wildly because of the scene in the dream.

"Mama!"

An Ruolan held her forehead and called, her tone was a little soft, with the dependence and trust she had cultivated since childhood.

Jingle bells.

There was a crisp bell sound in her ears, she frowned slightly, vaguely feeling that something was wrong, and the next moment, a cup of hot tea was stuffed into her hand, and the warmth spread from her palm to her limbs, her brows loosened, and she lowered her head and took a sip.

The fragrant fragrance of tea spreads in the lips and teeth, it is a very sweet fruit tea, which is a good way to soothe the panic and anxiety caused by nightmares, and it is a taste that only exists in memory, but she has just woken up and has not woken up safely, so she didn't notice anything wrong, only rubbed her eyebrows and whispered: "Mama, light the lamp, I have a nightmare and can't sleep, I want to talk to you." ”

The words fell, the scarlet fire fold was blown alight, and then the candle lamp was lit, and the dim light poured down, illuminating the whole room, and the last bit of palpitations was finally dispelled, An Ruolan hugged the quilt, drank the whole cup of tea and handed the quilt to Mama, Mama had not turned around, she had already talked about the dream she had just talked about.

"Mama, I just dreamed of the eldest sister, she was giving birth to a child, she was fine, but the midwife suddenly changed her face halfway, and asked her to hold the child back, not allowing her to give birth, she cried and begged the midwife to let her child go, but no one listened to her."

An Ruolan said softly, thinking of An Ruosheng's screams and helpless crying in her dream, she was still very uncomfortable: "I asked Your Majesty, Your Majesty said that he never harmed the eldest sister, I guess it should be what the elder brother did from it, but now that the elder brother is dead, why does the eldest sister still give me a dream?" ”

An Ruolan asked in confusion, her hands were a little sore, and she finally found that Mama had not answered her words, nor had she reached out to take the cup, and her heart was full of strangeness, she immediately twisted her eyebrows and reprimanded: "Who are you?" ”

As he spoke, he smashed the cup out of his hand, and the cup was very thick, smashed on Mama's back, and then fell to the ground and rolled to the door.

"It's me."

'Mama' spoke softly, and her voice was very soft, which was completely different from the usual aging and cold voice.

Just two simple words made An Ruolan like a lightning strike, her eyes widened in shock, her back was cold for a while, and she only felt that the wind was gusting in the room, and she unconsciously shrank to the corner of the bed.

"You...... You ......"

Her voice trembled violently, obviously frightened, 'Mama' hurriedly turned around and grabbed her hand: "Lan'er, it's me, I'm not dead!" ”

The hand holding her was warm and soft, and after facing her, 'Mama' revealed a veiled face, which covered most of her face, revealing only a pair of light and beautiful eyes.

The eyes were like apricots, the eyes were like stars, filled with water, refracting a fine halo, breathtaking, just like the appearance in her memory.

"Long ...... Eldest sister?? ”

Spit out these two words with great difficulty, An Ruolan still didn't come back to her senses, she didn't even know if she was dreaming.

Although she didn't see An Ruosheng's body with her own eyes, she saw An Ruoshang being carried and buried in the imperial mausoleum.

How could someone who was already dead still appear in front of her eyes?

"Don't be afraid." An Ruoshang took a handkerchief and gently wiped the cold sweat on her forehead, and then grabbed her hand and pinched her cheek through the veil: "Look, I'm alive." ”

"You ......"

An Ruolan subconsciously grabbed the veil and wanted to take it off, but was stopped by An Ruosheng: "I...... I'm not the same as I used to be, you don't recognize me. ”

An Ruosheng's tone was a little cramped and uneasy, quite similar to when she was with An Ruolan before, An Ruolan let go, in fact, she had already believed most of it just by her voice and these eyes.

"What's going on? ...... year"

"It was my brother who helped me cheat to death back then."

"And the child in your womb?" An Ruolan asked, with a faint bad conjecture in her heart, An Ruoshang nodded: "The child is still alive." ”

An Ruolan's eyebrows jumped, and the next moment An Ruoshang took out a pill from her sleeve pocket and handed it to An Ruolan, smelling the familiar smell of medicine, An Ruolan swallowed it immediately, and then heard An Ruoshang say: "Your Majesty just went out of the palace, and the guards in the palace are not so strict, so I found a chance to come to my sister, who has suffered these days." ”

An Ruolan shook her head, she had been eating the pills sent to the palace regularly, and the toxicity was restrained, but she had never suffered much, but she was still a little unacceptable, and it was An Ruoshang who came to connect with her.

"Where did my sister hide Lord Zhao? Your Majesty has now gone out of the palace to search for people, and the king is afraid that it will not be safe, so let me ask my sister so that Lord Zhao can be transferred elsewhere. ”

An Ruolan finally understood Hu Ren's plan, she was given a soft soul incense, subject to Hu Ren, originally thought that Hu Ren hijacked Zhao Hanzhuo because he destroyed Hu Ren's dense eyeliner in the palace and wanted to retaliate, but now I know that these Hu people actually hold such an important hole card in their hands.

An Ruolan opened her mouth and was about to speak, but she realized that something was wrong.

The person who contacted her before had always been her dowry maid Guan Wu, why didn't Guan Wu come tonight? And there was no hint before that An Ruoshang was still alive.

has come to this point, An Ruolan's defensive heart cannot be dissolved by An Ruoshang in a few words, she swallowed the words that almost came out, and asked instead: "Sister cheated to death voluntarily back then?" ”

An Ruolan also entered the palace to see her before An Ruoshang gave birth, at that time she looked soft, full of maternal brilliance, and only looked forward to the birth of the child, and she didn't see any thoughts of cheating death.

An Ruoshang lowered her eyes, and her eyes dimmed: "My sister should know that Your Majesty never likes me, nor does he like the child in my womb, and it makes no sense for me to stay in this palace." ”

"Then why did my sister come back when she left? Even if Your Majesty doesn't like your sister, with your sister's temperament, you shouldn't hold a grudge against Your Majesty because of this, right? An Ruolan asked, and the doubts in her heart became bigger and bigger.

"I don't fight, but for the sake of the child in my womb is the orthodox bloodline, I have to do something for him." An Ruoshang whispered, and looked at An Ruolan suspiciously: "Where is Lan'er?" Do you hate Your Majesty? Do you want to regret it now? ”

An Ruoshang was suspicious, An Ruolan's doubts were reduced, and she was poked by An Ruosheng's question, her eyes shook slightly, and she was a little confused.

She actually didn't love anyone, when she entered the palace, it was when Su Bangyue was in the limelight, she watched and listened to how much Chu Lingzhao loved Su Bangyue every day, and occasionally felt Chu Lingzhao's prejudice against the An family.

She didn't understand why An Wuwu hated the royal family so much, but then she slowly understood a little, and then An Wuwu died, and she was controlled by the Hu people to help the Hu people do things, as if this was already a matter of course, and there was no room for her to be or willing.

"Didn't my sister say at the beginning, you and I are just a chess piece, how can a chess piece have the right to speak above the chess game?"

An Ruolan said self-deprecatingly, her attitude was very pessimistic, half of her doubts were dispelled, and she took An Ruosheng's hand and said: "Sister, don't worry, Lord Zhao is hiding in Zhao'an Building, which has long been sealed and is very safe, no one will think of it." ”

"Your Majesty personally led someone to search, it may not be very safe, I'd better go out of the palace and have a look." An Ruoshang frowned and said uncomfortably and got up and wanted to leave, but was pulled by An Ruolan.

After hesitating for a moment, An Ruolan spoke: "The tunnel under Zhao'an Downstairs was dug two years ago to connect to Lanyue Pavilion, if they Zhao'an Building, it will be transferred to Lanyue Pavilion." ”

She told An Ruoshang the last bit of hole cards, and her eyes flashed with complex and obscure emotions, as if she had noticed something from them.

An Ruosheng's figure stagnated, and she turned back and hugged An Ruolan: "Good sister, the county lord of Renxian has developed an antidote to soft soul incense, you have never seen me today, Lord Zhao was held hostage, it has nothing to do with you at all, don't have anything to do with Hu Ren in the future, remember?" ”

An Ruoshang finished saying that she was leaving, but was hugged by An Ruolan.

She has a special fragrance on her body, her body is so thin that she doesn't look like it, she hasn't seen her for three years, and she hasn't even shown her face, but An Ruolan feels the warmth she hasn't seen for a long time from her.

"Eldest sister, do you still love Your Majesty?"

“……”

In response to her, there was a long silence, her chest was sore, and she asked a different question: "Eldest sister, do you regret falling in love with Your Majesty?" ”

"Repent, now I don't regret it!"