An hour later, I saw Mrs. Yang again. She was lying on the couch in her pavilion, staring blankly at the beams of the house, and when she heard me come in, she turned her head to look at me, her dry teary eyes red as if they were about to drip blood.

I noticed that her hair was much whiter than it had been a year ago, like gray and withered grass, without any luster at all, and her eyes were poised and wrinkled.

Li Wei beside her stood in front of the couch with her head down, like a plant after frost and snow, completely unvibrant, and when she saw me entering, she only raised her head sideways and glanced at me lightly, and then silently cast her retracted gaze on the ground under her feet.

This year, it seems that everyone lives in winter. I lowered my eyes and stepped forward to greet Mrs. Yang.

After dressing the wound, I came to her maid to inquire about her, and when she came to her senses, for some reason, I was summoned to see her.

"What are you doing here?" She stared at me fiercely and asked aggressively, "Are you here to see when I'm going to breathe?" ”

I have not given any explanation. After a long silence, it was Li Wei who opened his mouth and whispered to his mother: "Mom, if he wanted you to have anything wrong, he wouldn't have gone upstairs just now......

Mrs. Yang crossed her eyebrows and reprimanded: "Could it be that he was kind enough to save me?" Then he looked sideways at me and said sharply, "Are you afraid that the officials and ministers will not let you go if I die?" If it weren't for that, you would hate me so much, I'm afraid that I would be burned to the bones, so that you and the princess could be happy and happy! ”

I bowed my head and said, "No, I don't hate Madame, and I don't hate anyone...... I can't say why I went upstairs just now, but I think that whoever was upstairs and didn't come down at that time, I would have gone up, whether that person was Mrs. Guo's uncle or not. ”

Mrs. Yang was stunned for a moment, and then showed a sarcastic smile: "The good people in the world have let you Mr. Liang do it alone, you are kind-hearted and have a bodhisattva heart, but I am cruel and vicious, not only do I not know how to fulfill you, but I am still pressing step by step, and I have done enough to be a wicked person, will you not hate me?" ”

I shook my head again, and replied, "I am indeed guilty of unforgiving, and if I am fortunate enough to have a son and a daughter, and encounter such a thing as this, I will also hate that courtier who does not know the height of the sky...... Madame has reasons to hate me, but I don't have the qualifications to hate Madame, let alone ......" I paused, looked at the tea cup on the side of the table, and then said, "When I first gave a gift to Uncle Guo's house, I still remember the taste of the tea that Uncle Guo invited me to drink. ”

Mrs. Yang was speechless, and after examining me for a long time, she suddenly choked up again, and the sharp edge she erected when facing me gradually faded, her intermittent crying was less angry, and all that remained was endless sadness and resentment: "Good and decent, who would want to be a wicked person with a straight face?" …… Now you all say that I have a bad temper and treat people viciously, but if I hadn't been a little more vicious, Uncle Guo would have been bullied to death by the gang of paper money bosses and street scoundrels in Tokyo City back then...... The boss of the Chinese New Year did not pay him, so I ran to the door of the boss's house in the middle of the night, pointed at the boss's nose and scolded, and helped him get his salary back. Later, he set up his own door, and finally saved a sum of money, ready to send it to my house as a dowry, but was robbed by the scoundrel, and I carried a kitchen knife to find the scoundrel desperately, so I took the money back......"

Pointing at Li Wei, she cried again: "This child is as honest as his father, he is obedient, and he will not make a noise when he suffers a loss, he really knocks out his teeth and swallows blood, I am really anxious to see it...... I know he can't speak, it's the same as a wooden man, and the princess doesn't like it, okay, I'll put up with it, it's a big deal to offer the princess like a fairy. But after all, the princess has entered my house, and everyone in the world knows that she is my daughter-in-law. You can hide in the house all day long, but the pony has to go out to see people often! He never argues with others, lives in a proper manner, and has been a good man for half his life, but why should he suffer such humiliation and such a sin......"

The more she spoke, the more agitated she became, and at last she let out a cry of grief and hid her face, while I kept listening with my eyes down and not saying much. She cried for a while, then suddenly sat up and said to me, "Mr. Liang, I know you're not the kind of person with a bad heart. When I first met you, I really liked you as a child, good-looking, sensible, and knowledgeable. The affair with the princess is not all your fault, perhaps, just a moment of confusion...... Can you tell the princess that you will be more distant in the future, don't do anything again, and let our family live in peace? ”

I didn't know what to do with her expectant gaze, and frowned, feeling that the situation in front of me was like a dead knot, and I couldn't find a thread to pull it out.

And Mrs. Yang understood my silence as a refusal, and immediately began to cry again, and turned to me head-on, knelt down on the couch, shook her gray hair, and kowtowed to me desperately, crying and saying: "Please, Mr. Liang, promise me, don't provoke the princess again, otherwise, how will you let my son live......"

Li Wei and I and the maids around me were all shocked and hurriedly stepped forward to stop them, while Mrs. Yang struggled and insisted on kowtowing, crying and pleading intertwined, listening to the desolation of people's hearts, and feeling the taste of despair spreading from the bottom of her heart.

After leaving her bedroom for a long time, her hoarse cry still lingered in her ears. I guarded the sleeping princess for a long time, and then Jiaqingzi came from outside and told me Mrs. Yang's new order: "Uncle and Mrs. Guo just summoned the servants and maids in the house, and said that they were not allowed to reveal the matter of Mr. coming to the house today, and whoever dared to chew the root of his tongue more to outsiders would cut off his tongue." ”

I thought about it again and again, stood up and dressed, and then walked out quickly, wanting to return to the palace before the princess woke up, but at the door of the house, I met Li Wei, who was dressed in official clothes and was leading the horse out, ready to enter the palace to meet the driver.

"Sir should stay in the house," he said, seeing my intentions, "and if the princess wakes up and does not see him, I am afraid she will be sad again." ”

I was a little surprised that he was so blunt, and he didn't show much emotion, just turned his head slowly under my gaze.

"I'll explain the matter in the house to the official." He said.

I went back to the princess and kept watch over her until she opened her eyes.

She looked at me for a long time, then touched my brow with her hand before she dared to confirm my existence.

"Waiji, it's really you." She sighed joyfully, "I thought it was just a dream." ”

She did not rush to ask me what was going on, but chatted with me about the most homely topics as usual, as if the separation of that year did not exist at all, and she behaved normally, without the madness and confusion of last night, except for the occasional trance in her thoughts.

"Where's my bamboo lotus oil?" When Yun Guoer combed her hair, she found that hair oil was not commonly used, so she asked.

Yun Guo'er pursed her lips and smiled, and said bluntly: "The princess spilled herself last night, but now she doesn't remember?" ”

The princess was stunned, and then, as if she remembered something, lowered her eyelashes, and looked quite ashamed.

"I didn't mean to set the fire," she told me quietly, later when there was no one around, "I woke up in the middle of the night, the candle was out, and I couldn't see my fingers." I got out of bed and stumbled to get out, but I was dizzy, I felt that there were walls on all sides, and I couldn't find the door. I was afraid that I would be locked up here, so I took out the incense burner from the tent, set aside the incense cake to make a fire and light the candle, but the candle could not be lit, so I went to blow the incense cake, but the spark was blown on the veil and burned...... For some reason, I was so happy to see the fire burning bigger and bigger...... Burn all these walls, and I will be able to see you? ”

I smiled astringently, and did not discuss the topic with her directly: "The princess's daughter's body should be cherished by herself, and you should not touch the fire lightly in the future." ”

She didn't hear it, and said to herself: "Later, they all came to pull me, I didn't want to leave, I thought that it would be good to be burned to death like this, get rid of this shell, and my soul can float to see you......"

The corners of my eyes were moist, and I didn't dare to look directly into her eyes, but I turned my head to look at the makeup building that was smoking, but I heard her sigh faintly: "I just want to see you." ”

In the afternoon, Li Wei came back from the palace, accompanied by Wang Wuzi and Concubine Miao Xian. As soon as Concubine Miao Xian saw the princess, she hugged her, looked left and right, called "my son", and cried so much that the princess also cried, and the mother and daughter cried together. Li Wei stood on one side and watched blankly, while Wang Wuzi pulled me to the side room and whispered to me that at Li Wei's request, I was allowed to stay in the princess's house temporarily and accompany the princess.

This was supposed to be good news, but I didn't have any pleasant reaction when I heard it, I just nodded, as if to show that I had received the order, and passively accepted the arrangement.

Wang Wuzi was a little surprised, but he didn't explore the reason, and continued: "In addition, the horse made another request to the official. ”

"What?" I asked.

"Take a concubine." Wang Wuzi replied, "He asked the official family to allow him to take a concubine in the near future." ”