Before Li Longji, Shangyang Palace was an important palace in the eastern capital of the Tang Dynasty, Gaozong and Empress Wu had lived here for a long time, and it was Li Longji himself who would also come here during his eastern tour.

It's just that as Li Longji grew old and tired of traveling, this place became deserted.

Concubine Mei moved in, which caused a lot of commotion in Shangyang Palace, some of whom sympathized with each other, and some who felt happy because Concubine Mei had been favored.

However, because the will to send Concubine Mei here clearly included the words to let her manage the affairs of Shangyang Palace, on the surface, neither the eunuch nor the palace maid dared to be too lazy. It's just that this Concubine Mei was about to be reluctant to give up the grace in Xingqing Palace in Chang'an City, so she got out of the car and drove, and people saw that her eyes were red and swollen, obviously crying all the way.

"From Chang'an crying to Luoyang, there is really a lot of water." There are whispers with malice.

"Shhh, although this lady has been demoted, she is in charge of our power of life and death, and I heard that she was very favored in the past, and local state and county officials rushed to send fast horses to send plum blossoms to her."

"No matter how it was before, it's over now, how can Yang Ni let the tiger return to the mountain, so that she will have a time to get close to Tianyan again

These discussions didn't seem to affect Concubine Mei, she just looked sad, and refused the accommodation arranged for her by the eunuch here, but asked for a courtyard in the southwesternmost part of Shangyang Palace, there was a building in that courtyard, but she could climb on it, look at Gushui in the west, and look at Luoshui in the south.

Concubine Mei looked south upstairs, and suddenly wept again, calling someone to bring a pen and paper, as if she wanted to write something, but after all, she didn't move a word.

When there was nothing to say at night, Concubine Mei didn't eat or drink the next day, just looked at the railing, and the day was sad and sad, and the palace ladies and eunuchs around her were sad. It was only in the evening that she had a bowl of porridge and rested early.

Seeing her sleeping, Gong E wanted to extinguish the candle, but Concubine Mei said: "Hugh wants to extinguish the candle, I'm afraid of the dark." ”

Gong E retreated according to her words, but she didn't know what to do, and in the middle of the night, Concubine Mei quietly got up.

She climbed the small building alone, and looked around, everywhere was hazy, and the half moon hung in the sky, shining on the gray earth. She looked at Luoshui to the south, and there were a few fishing fires on Luoshui, which were still not extinguished.

Standing until the second half of the night, sighing silently, Concubine Mei made up her mind. She went downstairs and slowly came to the side of the ditch.

Outside the ditch, there is a sandwich wall, and there are guards on duty in the wall, but because of the long period of peace, the number of guards is not much, and the night patrol is also small.

Concubine Mei slowly walked into the water.

April was already early summer, so the water temperature was not too cold, but she shivered a little.

"There is a waterway in the ditch to pass through the water, if the mother can come out of the ditch, you can avoid the obstruction, as long as the mother is fully prepared in advance, leaving all kinds of traces, when they find that the mother is gone, they will only think that the mother has committed suicide by diving." Ye Chang's words echoed in her ears again, and she seemed to be in Xin'an again: "The only thing that Niangniang needs to worry about is that there must be an iron fence in the ditch, but the iron fence has been soaked in water for many years, and it has been 70 years now, and it has long been rusty. ”

As soon as she gritted her teeth, Concubine Mei went out along the royal ditch.

This ditch is formed by dividing the valley water into the Shangyang Palace, and the water is not deep, only reaching the waist. Concubine Mei is a native of Fujian, she grew up in the watery countryside since she was a child, but she has two watery natures, and she is extremely careful, and the sound of the water stirred up is not loud.

Through the faint moonlight, she saw the iron bar, and her body couldn't help but tremble slightly.

Will Ye Chang keep his promise?

The piece of paper she used to blackmail Ye Chang had already been returned to Ye Chang, if Ye Chang betrayed her trust, she would be completely helpless now.

In the dark water gate, nothing could be seen, and Concubine Mei thought again with some despair: he would keep his promise

She didn't know that during the day, when Ye Chang was explaining matters to everyone in the Grand View Garden of Luoyang City, she was also thinking about the same question in her heart: whether to keep his promise.

Now Concubine Mei has nothing to blackmail him, if she doesn't help Concubine Mei, she won't lose anything to Ye Chang at all, Concubine Mei will tell the appointment between the two, and someone has to believe it.

Ye Chang's temper has always been that he doesn't like others to coerce him, when Bian Lingcheng wanted to coerce him, Ye Chang held a grudge, and later designed to kill Bian Lingcheng and blamed Huangfu Weiming. This time, Concubine Mei wanted to blackmail him even more, and according to his temper, he had to take revenge on Concubine Mei once.

But Concubine Mei's eyes always flashed in front of his eyes when she returned the paper.

It's not that he has any feelings for Concubine Mei, it's just that this unfortunate woman in the deep palace, her desire for freedom and her insistence on her dignity at any cost impressed him.

He asked himself if he could do what she did, and if he were to take her place, he would be able to do better than her

"Ye Sima is a little unrelenting today, is he worried about the situation in Liaodong?" His absent-mindedness fell into Zhang Hao's eyes, and Zhang Hao smiled: "Didn't Brother Jia just say that there was news from Liaodong?" ”

The news from Jili Prefecture was not as fast as An Lushan, but at this time, it also arrived in Luoyang, Jia Mao'er was in charge of affairs in Luoyang, and the news came to his hands, and Ye Chang came to Luoyang and got the news. The situation was not as bad as that played on An Lushan, and only one Khitan really entered Andong, but there were about 20,000 people in the Diera Division, and now it is far from Jili Prefecture.

"I'm not worried about this......" Ye Chang shook his head.

"So what's there to worry about?"

Everyone asked, Ye Chang laughed and didn't say it. Concubine Mei's matter is too bizarre, and after she says it, it confuses people's ears.

He thought about it, got up to change his clothes, but when he came out, he saw Luo Shouyi. This old Taoist came out of the Medicine King Guan to Luoyang at the invitation of Ye Changzhi, and Ye Chang asked him to go to Liaodong to spread medical skills. Thinking that this old Taoist was quite a bit of Taoism, Ye Chang asked: "Senior brother, I have a confusion in my heart, please give me advice." ”

"It's rare that you also have doubts, junior brother." Luo Shouyi smiled slightly: "Just say it." ”

"Someone asked me to do something, but this person has calculated me, and I don't know whether to do it for someone else."

As soon as Luo Shou heard Ye Chang ask, the smile on his face was retracted and became solemn.

He has been paying attention to this nominal little junior brother, just as Shanzhi hopes to prosper the Shijia, Luo Shouyi also hopes to prosper the Daomen, in his opinion, Ye Chang is the key to the prosperity of the Daomen in the next forty years.

It's just that there are some things in Ye Chang's personality, Luo Shouyi feels a little extreme, for example, when he treats people who offend him, he chases and beats him at every opportunity, and he doesn't care about hurting others at all.

Although sometimes Ye Chang was forced to do this out of helplessness, Luo Shouyi felt that in addition to helplessness, it was better to retain a little more forgiveness.

"Why do you need to ask me?" After thinking for a while, Luo Shouyi: "When you were outside Luoyang City, didn't you resettle the victims for someone to calculate?" If it's right, someone calculates it, and you do it, and if it's wrong, no one calculates, and you don't do it. Brother, you have always acted like this, haven't you always done so? ”

"Just ask right and wrong, not who it is...... I understand. Ye Chang waved to Luo Shouyi: "Thank you, senior brother"

"Why thank me, it's your heart." Luo Shou smiled: "I have heard of your name for a long time, and the junior brother does not arrange for someone to guide you as a brother?" ”

Ye Chang smiled and summoned someone to hang out with him, pondered for a while, and then summoned someone: "Bian Ping, there is one thing, I need you to do it"

Bian Ping was one of the few entourages who followed Ye Chang, and everyone else thought it was very strange, this person had neither literary nor courage, and he couldn't beat the most ordinary guards around Ye Chang in a fight, but Ye Chang seemed to value him very much.

"The lord just commands," Bian Ping responded.

"You're very watery, I want you to help me ......"

The task given to Bian Ping was to sneak into the water gate of Shangyang Palace from the valley water after nightfall, and sawed open the fence above the water gate.

"There may be two fences, you remember, the southwesternmost water gate, just cut one and you can get in and out." Ye Chang looked at Bian Ping: "Are you willing to do this?" ”

"Yes." Bian Ping's answer was very succinct.

He knew Ye Chang's expectations of him, and he also had a very clear self-positioning. Following Ye Chang's side, there are some things that others can't do, he can do, just like when he was hiding by the side of Wu Dahai's brothers for more than half a year.

"It's exposed, but it's the crime of robbing the house and killing the head."

"I can't expose it." Bian Ping grinned, his expression was a little excited, just like when Ye Chang asked him to ambush Wu Dahai.

"Hmm."

Ye Chang didn't say much about the rest, so he sent Bian Ping to do this. As a precaution, he had to speed up his journey, so he confessed that the ship that had been waiting in Luoyang for a long time was ready to leave in the early hours of the next morning

In the middle of the night, he only took a few people to the west of Luoyang City. Let everyone stand by the side, and he himself quietly followed the royal ditch to the outside of Shangyang Palace.

This matter is very important, the fewer people who know the Tao, the better, and when he arrives here, the only one who is with him is Bian Pingyi

"I'm going to do something." Bian Pingdao.

"Go ahead." Ye Chang nodded in response.

If you think about it from a rational point of view, he shouldn't have come at all, what does Concubine Mei's matter have to do with him, and now Concubine Mei has no handle to threaten him. But where can a person be sane forever in one life, and in another life, he has hardly done anything crazy in this life...... Let's try it this time.

As he expected, the iron fence in the water gate was rotten, and it only took half an hour for Bian Ping to appear in front of Ye Chang again, and after Ye Chang waved his hand, he left silently through the night.

Ye Chang was still waiting there.

He will create conditions for Concubine Mei to escape, but he will not go to Shangyang Palace to bring Concubine Mei out, that is not crazy but stupid. Whether to leave or not, to fly freely or continue to be this caged bird, it is up to Concubine Mei to choose

In Shangyang Palace, there was no sound, Ye Chang sat on the edge of the ditch, waiting quietly.

Gradually a little drowsy, and never heard any sound in the water, Ye Chang frowned, made an appointment in advance, it was the water gate in the southwest corner, could it be that Concubine Mei went to the wrong place, or did she change her mind?

Whether it's or not, a manly man, what he promised, just do it. Wait here for her until dawn, and never betray a woman.

When Ye Chang was half-asleep and half-awake, in Shangyang Palace, Concubine Mei touched the iron fence of the water gate, and her heart was full of despair

Ye Chang told her that this iron fence was the only obstacle to the water gate, and he would think of ways to leave an entry and exit in the iron fence, as long as she found the opening, she could get out of this huge cage. But no matter how much she fumbled on the iron fence, she couldn't find any openings for her to get in or out.

That man, sure enough...... It's still a broken promise. When he had nothing to threaten him, he still broke his promise

In his life, he believed in the promises of two men, one is now in Chang'an, perhaps with his new love, and the sea oath in the hall before Huazhi has long since disappeared.

Now, the second man he believed in was the same again, he might have been on the river, going straight down the river to the place where there was no cage, and laughing at himself as a woman in the boat, and since he had done something shameless, he shrank back halfway.

Tears rolled down and dripped down the water. The water in the ditch didn't smell good, and although it was early summer, Concubine Mei still felt cold. She gritted her teeth: she was blind and saw the wrong person, no wonder she was deceived by others, she could only blame herself for being stupid. Since there is no hope of freedom in this life, it is better to die here

She gave up struggling and began to shrink into the water.

The water took her and gently hit the iron fence, and then Concubine Mei suddenly remembered that she had not checked the bottom part of the iron fence

She held her breath and reached for her beneath it, and then, ecstasy, came to her face: sure enough, there was a gap

The gap is not big, and if you are not careful, you will not be able to find it at all, and it is closest to the ground

Concubine Mei surfaced, took a deep breath, and then dived into the water again, through the fence, to the water gate.

At that moment, she heard faint footsteps, soldiers on night patrol, walking this way. She didn't dare to delay, and quietly went down the river to the second fence.

Like the first water gate, there is also a gap. Concubine Mei had now calmed down, and she dived into the water again, and the second fence was soon left behind her.

Poking her head out of the water, she tried to calm herself, but she couldn't help but gasp violently, and then a hand put on her shoulder, grabbed her arm, and pulled her up from the water.

"I'll promise you, I'm halfway there." Ye Chang's voice sounded in her ears, a piece of Yu's clothes was draped over her body, she tried to open her eyes, trying to see the person who pulled herself up clearly, but she didn't know whether it was tears or water, which covered her eyes, so that she couldn't see anything.

The happiness of freedom crashed against her like a wave, and she fainted as soon as her knees went limp. Before she fell to the ground, she felt a pair of strong hands hold her, then a faint "trouble" sound, and then, she was picked up by those hands.