I thought I would hear her cry, but she didn't, she behind me was more silent than the ripples in the pool, all I could feel was her persistent gaze, which kept following me. Before turning into a bend in the waterway, I couldn't help but look back and see that she was still facing me in a daze, but her eyes looked like incense burning, and there was only a dark and cold ember.

I hid in a hidden corner, and did not come out until the palace gates were closed and night fell, and went to Deng Duzhi's house to find him, and asked the princess how she was doing today.

Deng Duke: "After the boat came back, the princess didn't cry, but she didn't speak for a long time, and only asked the official family before bidding farewell to the official family and returning to the house: 'Is it that Daddy doesn't allow Huaiji to go back with me?' The official was silent and did not answer, so the queen persuaded her with kind words beside her, and said that it is inconvenient for you to go back to the princess's mansion now, and the princess did not refute, and went back to the palace very quietly. Miao Niangzi was not at ease, so she asked Wang Wuzi, the promoter who watched the princess grow up, to go back with the princess, and then comfort the princess. Now that they have been out of the palace for a long time, they will be fine if they want to come, and when they come back, you can ask him again. ”

Wang Wuzi came back much earlier than I expected. He must have rushed in the moment the palace door opened, and the hurried rush set off a hectic atmosphere in the palace, and a noise arose from the long-dormant harem, pouring into my closed window.

I had been sleepless all night, and when I heard the commotion outside, I got up and opened the door to look, and I bumped into Wang Wuzi, who was hurrying from the direction of Funing Palace.

"The official told you to go to the princess's mansion quickly," he grabbed me, gasping for breath, "quick! Princess, the princess is setting fire to the house, looking crazy, no one can stop it! ”

I immediately galloped outward, jumped on the horse prepared by the little yellow gate in front of the palace gate, and galloped towards the princess's mansion after a long absence.

Before he got closer, he saw thick smoke billowing from the direction of the princess's house, and the flames were soaring into the sky. I spurred my horse and galloped to the princess's dressing room, which was already full of servants and maidservants, some of whom were carrying water, and who were pouring large vat and small basins on the flaming floor, and others who were running upstairs, and who had been there before, trying to get close to the princess who was standing in the middle of the trunk.

Seeing that the fire should have lasted for a long time, the side of the dressing room had been burned for most of it, and the princess was standing on the edge of the firelight, with a black hair scattered, holding an agarwood tail that was originally used to tease cats and dogs, and the end of the tail was originally tied with a peacock feather, but now it has disappeared, replaced by an orange-red flame that jumps on the agarwood branch.

I dismounted, took three steps and went upstairs in two, and saw the princess waving an agarwood branch at those who tried to approach her.

"Give me back Huaiji!" She said word by word, to everyone. The raging light of the fire gilded her pale face with a layer of rouge, and her long flowing hair and silky garment tended to touch the flames, and she ignored them, facing the crowd, but her eyes were glazed and blind, knowing only that she knew to use the burning agarwood branches as a weapon to rely on, pointing at all imaginary enemies in front of her, and stubbornly repeating her only request: "Give me back my Huaiji!" ”

As soon as someone moved forward slightly, she waved the agarwood branch, causing the flame to bloom more brilliantly, and frighteningly, there was an oil stain on the left side of the large-sleeved dress she was wearing, exuding the fragrance of plants, which should be the bamboo lotus oil she deliberately sprinkled. As soon as a spark fell on that oil stain, she would be engulfed in flames. This is the reason why everyone hesitated, and it was difficult to subdue her.

I struggled to cut through the crowd and get myself in front of her.

"Princess." I tried to smile and keep a calm expression on my face, so that I could be as familiar as she was most familiar.

She couldn't help but be stunned, and turned to look at me, but her eyes looked a little glazed, as if she had never recognized me.

"Princess......" I continued to chuckle as I slowly walked forward, tentatively extending my hand to her.

She frowned, as if thinking about whether I was real or not, and the hand holding the agarwood branch hung down unconsciously.

I quickly stepped forward, grabbed her hand, snatched the agarwood stick, and left it away. She was startled and subconsciously began to struggle and slap me indiscriminately.

I hugged her in my arms and whispered in her ear, "It's me, it's me, princess, I'm Huaiji......"

She quieted down and began to look at me again, "Waiji? "She muttered my name, still uncertain," Waiji ...... You're back? ”

"Yes," I replied in the affirmative, "I'm back." ”

"Are you still leaving?" She suddenly grabbed my arms, looked at me warmly, and asked pitifully, "Will you ignore me?" ”

I hesitated, but eventually bowed my head: "No." I will always be with you. ”

She smiled relievedly, wrapped her arms around my waist and buried her head in my chest, looking for peace in my embrace as she had done before. I picked her up, walked down the stairs, and led her to a pavilion far away from the fire.

In my arms, she was as well-behaved as a baby, enjoying my warmth peacefully, and when she came to the pavilion, she refused to let her go down, and had a few conversations with me with a little unclear thought, and then fell into a deep sleep of exhaustion.

"The princess was lit after the third watch." When I put down the princess, I told Jiaqingzi, who had come to take care of her, "We were all asleep at that time, and when we smelled the smoke, the fire was already not small." We hurried to pull the princess out of the burning room, but she threw oil on herself, saying that she would not go downstairs or anyone except see you. Seeing that the situation was not good, Mr. Wang immediately entered the palace to report the news...... Fortunately, the official family let Mr. Liang come back, otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable. ”

I smiled slightly wryly and didn't respond. After a while, I suddenly remembered Li Wei: "Where is the horse?" Where was he when the fire started? ”

Jiaqingzi said: "He was in the Horse Pavilion, and when he heard that there was a fire, he rushed here, and he was also upstairs just now to persuade the princess to come down, didn't Mr. see?" ”

I was stunned. Thinking back to the scene, my attention was all on the princess, and I didn't notice Li Wei present.

Then, I left with the princess in my arms, and he saw it with his own eyes. I looked out the window in silence, recalling for no reason the scroll of ink and bamboo that he had torn apart.

I didn't speak, and Jiaqingzi was speechless. The long silence was a little embarrassing, so I looked for another topic: "Mrs. Guo's ......"

I wanted to ask Mrs. Yang about her reaction to this, but before Jia Qingzi could speak, Yun Guoer ran from outside, bringing news from the Yang family.

"Just now, Mrs. Guo suddenly ran up to the princess's dressing room and entered a burning room, but she refused to come down!" Yun Guo'er said with a frightened face.

I was also startled, so I immediately went out, turned back to the still burning building, walked quickly, and then asked Yun Guo'er, who came up, "Why did Mrs. Guo go up?" Didn't the colt stop her? ”

Yun Guoer said: "She was originally downstairs to watch, when she saw Mr. come in, her face was wrong, and then Mr. took the princess away, she was even more unhappy, at first she just wiped her tears with hatred, probably the more she thought about it, the more angry she became, so she simply ran upstairs, and it was to ** posture." The horse hurried over to stop her, pull her and plead with her, but the uncle and lady were so determined that they wouldn't come down......"

When I got back to the building, it was crumbling and could collapse at any moment. When many people saw me coming, they all came to stop me: "It's dangerous upstairs, don't go upstairs, sir, just wait here, we already have someone ...... above."

I looked up and saw that the figures inside were shaking, but there were only a few slaves coming in and out, and the horse and Mrs. Yang were still indoors, and they had not yet appeared.

I didn't wait any longer, pushed away the person in front of me, or quickly went upstairs and rushed into the room where Li Wei's mother and son were.

The room was a mess, full of fallen debris. A large vase was smashed to pieces, and Madame Yang was holding a sharp porcelain shard, not allowing anyone to approach like the princess just now.

Several slaves at the scene had blood marks on their hands and bodies, thinking that they were caused by pulling with Mrs. Yang, so they no longer approached her now, and only retreated to the door to wait.

Li Wei had nothing to do, knelt down in front of his mother, kowtowed his head with a "knock", and persuaded with tears in his eyes: "Mom, get out quickly, get out quickly......"

Mrs. Yang didn't listen to his persuasion at all, grabbed the screen pillar with one hand, pinched the fragment of the vase with the other hand and pointed at her son, coughing in the thicker and thicker smoke, but she couldn't stop scolding: "You unfortunate thing, I don't know what the old lady did in her previous life, and gave birth to you, a long-cherished debt collector...... The old lady has your heart for most of your life, but you still can't support the wall in the mud, you can't even be a husband, and you live like a grandson in front of the bride...... What else is the old lady going out for? Continue to watch your bride make a fuss? See you as aggrieved as a green-haired turtle? …… Today, the old lady will die here, out of sight and out of mind, so she can make a fuss...... When I turned around and drank Meng Po soup, I forgot that I had a son like you and a daughter-in-law like her, but I was really happy......"

In the last sentence, she said so sadly that tears slid down her eyes and she couldn't help whimpering, but when she saw me sideways, she immediately became angry and scolded me: "You things that are neither male nor female, have been cut with a knife and can't be quiet, like a thief and a bald donkey in the temple, thinking about stealing people's wives!" I can't fight to death, I can't drive away, and now I run back, do you want to demonstrate to the old lady, or do you want to see the old lady's jokes? …… Okay, the old lady will fulfill your wish today, die here, and the ghost will haunt you again, see how long you can get away! ”

After speaking, she raised her hand and waved it, and she wanted to cut the veins with the porcelain piece. Li Wei seemed to be stunned, and did not react for a while. I snatched it and pulled Madame Yang's hard hand away as soon as her porcelain piece touched her wrist.

Yang grew angrier, broke free from my grasp, and slashed at me with a porcelain slice. I didn't back down, I just turned sideways, letting her weapon fall on my left arm and back.

The porcelain shards cut through the layers of my garment, and the skin underneath them cracked one by one, and blood gushed out, smearing a blinding red on my plain sleeves.

Mrs. Yang looked at it, stunned for a moment, and the crazy attack also stopped temporarily.

I took the opportunity to turn around and hold her shoulder with one hand, bent her elbow with the other, and slammed her temple with lightning speed, causing her to faint before she could come back to her senses.

Li Wei shouted "mother" and came forward to hug his mother, and looked at me with a little anger, frowning, and said, "You, you ......"

"Captain, now, you can take Uncle Guo's wife out." I held down the bleeding wound on my left arm and said to him.