The noisy world immediately quieted down, Li Wei lowered his hand, and the princess only slowly covered the side of the cheek that was beaten, and did not move again, Yang stopped crying and scolding, and the onlookers did not dare to come out.

From birth to the present, the princess has never received any corporal punishment, even her father, the supreme emperor of the Great Song Dynasty, when he was most annoyed, he only scolded her slightly, and was never willing to beat her. For her, she must have never thought about such a thing as being criticized for her cheeks, so she was completely stunned, and she couldn't find a suitable expression to deal with this shame for a while.

Suddenly, Yang's dry laughter rang out, "Okay, good son......" she said as she laughed.

Li Wei was not pleased by his mother's praise, and after the initial momentary anger subsided, his eyes gazed at the princess with some trepidation, intertwined with some anxiety and sadness, and his lips trembled, as if he wanted to explain something, but finally he couldn't say it.

The princess, with a pale face, turned to face me, and called me softly as before: "Waiji." ”

The vicious attacks and harsh curses that had come before could not make my heart ache like this call. I no longer ignored everyone's eyes, stepped forward, pulled her into my arms, stroked her back, and whispered, "It's okay...... I'll take you back ......."

I kept my expression mild, but in my heart I wanted to cry out loud, and I was so resentful that I had put her in such an embarrassing situation, and that I could bear this unprecedented humiliation and pain on my behalf, and all I could do at this time was to give her this little comfort.

"Where are you going?" She asked calmly.

"The Princess's Bedchamber."

She raised her head, stared into my eyes, and clearly expressed her wishes: "I want to go home." ”

"Home?" Surprised, I wasn't sure what she meant.

She bowed her head and continued to point: "I want to go back to the palace." ”

Go back to the palace now? I frowned at the drowning night outside, and said to her, "Princess, now the gates of the palace are closed. ”

"I'm going back to the palace." My words, she did not hear, and repeated them categorically.

Just as we were answering, the sky flashed with lightning, and in an instant, a muffled thunder rolled over, and a layer of cold rain began to fall heavily.

"Princess, it's raining, it's better to wait until tomorrow dawn to ......," I advised her. But before she could finish speaking, she pushed me away with one hand, turned around and ran into the rain.

I was so shocked that I immediately ripped off a coat hanger and chased him out. When I caught her in the court, she couldn't cry, I grabbed her wrist and led her to turn around, the scattered electric light reflected her without makeup, but I saw that there were water marks on it, and I couldn't tell which ones were rain and which ones were tears.

"Take me out!" She grabbed me by the arm, bathed in the night rain and wind, and said to me in a sad voice, "Huaiji, I want to go out, I want to go home, I don't want to be trapped here!" ”

She wept bitterly in front of me, so sad that she couldn't see tomorrow. And this word "sleepy" is a secret spell, in my many years of court career, I have often heard people mention, at this moment the princess said it with such a desperate look, which aroused a wave of throbbing in my heart more and more.

What little sanity I had left could not bear the weight of her teardrops. What are the house rules? What about the law? All of a sudden it all seemed inconsequential, and I could leave them behind with my life, if only I could give her a little room to breathe.

"Okay, princess, let's go back to the palace." I said to her, unfold the outer sheath, drape it over her, wrap her as tightly as I can, and then put my arm around her shoulders, let her hide under my shelter, shelter her from half the wind and rain, and then take her and hurry to the palace car parking.

When our palace car drove out of the house, Li Wei staggered after him in the rain.

"Princess, princess......" he ran, holding out his hand in the direction of the car, calling out in despair.

Was he scared and wanted to persuade the princess to enter the palace? I looked back and hesitated to slow down.

"Let's go!" The princess cried and urged, refusing to pay a little attention to Li Wei, and her tearful eyes did not weaken her stubborn expression, "Stay for a moment longer, I will die here!" ”

I immediately whipped the calf cart away from Li Wei. Seeing that it was difficult for him to catch up, his knees weakened, and he fell to his knees on the waterlogged ground, and even wailed and wept bitterly like a child.

"Why is this happening?" He looked at the two rolls of water stirred up by the wheels and cried, "I tried my best, why don't you want to take a look?" ”

In front of Xihua's gate, I explained her identity to the guards guarding the door: "Princess Yanguo." ”

They were amazed, and could not believe that this "madwoman" who was slamming the palace gate could be the beloved daughter of the famous emperor, and their hesitant eyes roamed our faces, and finally they told us to wait here, and then returned to the city gate, and told the envoy of the gate on the city tower about the situation.

The envoy of the prison gate, who was a lieutenant of the Inner Chamberlain, looked at us carefully from a distance for a moment, and finally made sure that what I said was true, and gave a salute upstairs to the princess, and then quickly entered the palace and reported to the present day.

A few moments later, I saw a strange sight that I had never seen in my life—the palace gate was open at night.

The golden nail vermilion lacquered imperial city palace door opened heavily and slowly from the inside, pulling out a few staggered fan-shaped lights and shadows inside and outside the gate, the guards in front of the door held high the torch and lined up in two rows, and the ministers behind the door carried the palace lamp, and everyone held their breath, making the rattling sound of the door shaft particularly clear.

After the palace door was opened, the princess slowly stepped inside. This is the first time that the princess has stepped on the shadow of the fire lamp in and out of the palace.

The envoys of the gate, holding a row of gilded bronze keys behind the door, immediately led the crowd to bow to the princess, and those ministers who came in a hurry seemed to be still in a dream, and the rhythm of the salute was not neat—it was the first time for them to welcome the princess into the palace at night in such a simple and hasty form.

Xihua Gate was chosen because it was the closest palace gate to the forbidden city. But to arrive at the Funing Palace, where it is today, there are still several palace gates and pavilions to pass through: flat arches, imperial gates, vertical arches, and vertical arch halls...... In front of all the palace gates, there was such a prison envoy who came to open the door in a hurry, and when they saw the princess who had entered the palace at an irregular time, and there were no fish charms and no ink, they could hardly hide the surprised look on their faces.

The princess ignored them, and walked briskly through the palace gates. As we passed, the palace doors quickly closed behind us, and there was a clattering of locks. This slightly frightened voice reminded me of the education I received when I first entered the palace when I was a child: if the prison envoys did not let people in and out according to the rules, the lighter ones would be in vain, and the heavier ones would be hanged......

When the princess entered the Funing Palace, the clouds had ceased tonight, but I had no optimistic premonition that the forbidden door might lead to a rainy season full of wind and thunder.