Changxi Palace is the dormitory of the queens of Qi in the past dynasties. After the Song Kingdom entered the White Jade Palace, King Wu of Song did not establish a queen, and the new Song King Liu Ying did not establish a queen, so Changxi Palace has been unattended, and everything is like yesterday.

Xiao Yi couldn't help but burst into tears when he saw that the furnishings in his memory hadn't even moved their positions, just the dust that had fallen for ten years. She stood silently in her mother's bedroom, not daring to touch anything, for fear that if she moved something, her memory would be destroyed. The tea set used by the queen mother is still on the table, and there are still a few strands of green silk on the comb in front of the bed, which seems to have the taste of the mother here.

Liu Ying looked at Xiao Yi's slightly trembling back without saying a word. Looking at her thin waist and long hair, his heart was also aching slightly. If he had married her back then, wouldn't she have been displaced for ten years? Although his father must destroy the Qi Kingdom, he can at least accompany her through those difficult and sad days and nights.

Xiao Yi walked into his bedroom in silence again. At the head of the bed was the peach wood piano given to her by her father, which was her birthday present when she was three years old, and it was her favorite plaything. The queen mother invited the best luthier in Qi to teach her to play the piano, and she liked it very much and learned quickly. There was a state banquet, her father asked her to play a song, so there was a story of the five-year-old princess of Qi who was good at the qin, famous in Kyushu. That year, she was sent to her aunt's house to play, and she was so hurried that she forgot to bring the piano with her. I thought that it would be impossible to reunite with this qin in my life, and I thought that this qin had been burned by the Song army in the war, but I didn't expect that it would wait for her here for ten years.

Liu Ying said: "Princess Yi, whatever you want in Changxi Palace, you can take whatever you want." ”

Xiao Yi came back to his senses and sighed lightly: "I want to take away the peach wood piano that my father gave me, as well as the set of Qi white jade tea set used by the queen mother." Others, too many to take away. ”

Liu Ying said: "I wrote it down. As you go, your harp and your mother's tea set will be in the carriage that will take you away. ”

Xiao Yi wanted to thank him, but when the words came to his mouth, he swallowed again. Thank you for what? Thank you for your father forcing my parents to death? Thank you for destroying our Qi Kingdom? Or thank you for giving me back what is rightfully mine?

She turned around and left, and went to see the bedroom where her brother lived, which was also in Changxi Palace, everything was the same, but there were no people.

On such a day, Xiao Yi silently went to various palaces to inspect, and Liu Ying walked side by side with her without saying a word. There was a light rain in the afternoon, and Xiao Yi and Liu Ying enjoyed the rain on the Yueyue Tower. The palace people sent some refreshments, and Xiao Yi ate while looking at the hazy White Jade Palace in the rain. After a cup of tea, the rain stopped, and there was a thin rainbow in the sky, as far away as childhood.

Xiao Yi asked: "Are the flowers in Yiren Garden blooming well?" ”

Liu Ying said: "Very good. ”

"I'd like to check it out."

"Okay."

There are many kinds of flowers in Ikejinen, and there are flower species introduced from various parts of Kyushu. Xiao Yi saw the flowers in front of him, and his mood was a little more relaxed, and he said: "It is rumored that my grandfather, King Qi Xiao, liked flowers and plants very much, so he repaired the Yiren Garden and invited florists from all over the world to come here to plant flowers. The queen mother likes to paint, and comes to Yiren Garden to paint flowers and birds at this time of year. ”

Liu Ying said: "I also like it here, the flowers continue to bloom all year round. In spring, there are lilacs that strike people for seven miles, in summer there are lotus flowers with leaves in the sky, in autumn there are chrysanthemums under the moon, and in winter there are warm wine and plum blossoms in the snow. I come here often, and every time I linger, I just feel that this pleasant garden of life is enough. ”

Xiao Yi suddenly pointed to a few dead branches and said, "This is a snow lotus, blooming in winter, have you seen it?" ”

Liu Ying said: "I've seen it, crystal clear, immortal in the world." I specifically instructed the gardener not to hurt these dead branches in the summer. ”

Xiao Yi said in his words: "Snow Lotus is a precious medicinal material in the Xiling Mountains of Shu Kingdom, which can cure all kinds of poisons, but it can't solve only one poison. ”

Liu Ying said curiously: "What kind of poison?" ”

"Acacia Gu."

Liu Ying smiled lightly and said: "I have heard of Acacia Gu, which is the most vicious and incondolent poison in Kyushu, and after poisoning, it varies from person to person, some people die of poison in three or five days, and some people die slowly after one or two years, the only common point is that the poisoned person will die." ”

Xiao Yi didn't dare to look directly into Liu Ying's eyes, she looked down at the flowers.

Liu Ying asked, "Do you still want to go to Yongtai Hall to have a look?" While it is still dark, there is still a long way to go from here to Yongtai Palace. ”

Xiao Yi smiled bitterly: "That is my father's bedroom, your father and you have lived there, everything will not be the same, just don't look at it." ”

Liu Ying said: "After walking for a day, I am also tired, so it is better to rest in this garden until dinner." ”

At dinner time, an elderly palace man rowed a small boat from the lotus lake with leaves in the sky. The palace man said, "King, girl, please come on board for dinner." ”

Xiao Yi looked at the delicately arranged table of delicacies on the boat in amazement, and a rickety red candle, but it was not as red as the sunset at the end of the lotus. Liu Ying stepped on the boat and said to Xiao Yi, who was still standing still on the shore: "Princess Yi, you have been in the Song Kingdom for so many days, but you have never eaten a serious Song national dish. Today, I invite you to eat a home-cooked meal of Song style, you won't refuse, right? ”

Xiao Yi looked at him sadly and stepped onto the boat.

The palace people rowed the boat to the center of the lake, and the lotus flowers in all directions were pure and immaculate, and they were breathtakingly beautiful in the sunset in the clear sky after the rain. The boy in Tsing Yi on the ship is gentle and elegant. He looked at her calmly, with guilt-filled tolerance and heart-warming admiration in his eyes. She suddenly realized that this King of Song, who had behaved quite majestically in front of the envoys of various countries, had actually accompanied her on foot in the White Jade Palace for a day. She dodged his gaze, but couldn't help but look at his clear side face as he looked at the lotus flowers in the distance.

Liu Ying seemed to know that she was looking at him, smiled slightly, and said, "I'll accompany you for a day, and accompany me to the star platform in the evening." ”

Xiao Yi did not refuse. The palace people rowed the boat to the end of the lotus lake, where there was an isolated white jade platform, and the ninety-nine layers of Qi white jade steps surrounded and scattered, and the dust was clean.

Liu Ying and Xiao Yi climbed step by step, and when they reached the top of the stage, it was already full of stars.

Xiao Yi said: "I didn't expect to climb to the top of the stage so easily. When I was a kid, my brother and I could crawl here all day. ”

Liu Ying said: "It is the first time for me to look at the stars on this roof. ”

Xiao Yi said: "There are still many interesting places in the White Jade Palace, but unfortunately today is too short, I can't ...... it" I wanted to say "I can't take you to see all the interesting places", but I feel that this White Jade Palace is now the palace of the King of Song, and it is not my own, how can I say that I will take him to see it?

Liu Ying said: "I grew up in the palace of the old capital of the Song Kingdom when I was a child, and moved to a fief when I was a teenager, and I actually lived in this White Jade Palace for less than a year. The White Jade Palace is very large, I am busy with government affairs, and I really don't know too much interesting place, and I ask Princess Yi for advice. ”

Xiao Yi shook his head and said, "The fun places I talked about are just places for children to play." ”

The two looked at the starry sky and were silent. Xiao Yi suddenly asked, "The story that King Song told last time has not been finished yet. You said that you were poisoned, and you knew that your life would not be long, and as the Jianghu rangers traveled around the country, but their health became worse and worse, they returned to the fiefdom. And then? ”

Liu Ying said eloquently: "Later, I was ready to wait for death in the fiefdom, but Huo Yunxia, who defended the country, did not agree, and insisted on pulling me to go with him to Shu to find a miracle doctor. This miracle doctor's name is Xue Jiuming, he is the head of the medicine king mountain of Shu Kingdom, he is talented, he has a talent that he never forgets, he is not a few years older than me, but he is the most famous master of poison and detoxification in Shu. When we arrived at Yaowang Mountain, he saw that I was dying and had a strange poison in my body, so he became interested, so he spent three months in retreat to study the poison in my body, and actually solved it. So I returned to the fiefdom alive, and then I lived alive again to ascend the throne. ”

Xiao Yi couldn't bear to look at his gentle and casual smile anymore, and his heart was entangled, and finally said frankly: "King Song, you may have to live up to the hard work of that Divine Doctor Xue. ”

"What do you mean by that?"

Xiao Yi said: "I pierced your arm. The jade hairpin is ...... I smeared Acacia Gu. ”

Liu Ying paused for a moment and laughed loudly. The laughter is not as warm and easy-going as usual, but renders the night more bleak. "Alas, the kings of Kyushu, I am afraid that it will be difficult to find a king as miserable as me, who is always poisoned by his dearest and loved ones, and they are all poisoned to death."

When Xiao Yi heard the word "dearest and beloved", his heart trembled in vain.

Liu Ying said: "Back then, my father poisoned me in order to consolidate my half-brother's position as the crown prince, I think my mother may have known about it from the beginning, but for the glory of the Qiao family, she didn't stop it, but let me go to the rivers and lakes to fend for myself." Later, when I came back alive, my mother saw that I was reborn in a desperate situation, and she was so guilty that she was paranoid, and she secretly sent someone to kill my brother. How did she know that although my brother and I were half-brothers, we were close brothers to the world. My brother did not harm me for the sake of his throne, but informed me of the poisoning in time, but my mother let the people kill him. I didn't do anything for my brother because I didn't know what my mother had done to him, and I didn't find out the truth until I ascended the throne. Princess Yi, although your country is ruined, when you have a family, you are happy. I, the unlucky King of Song, have been living in the palace battle. Death is a relief for me. Living is just to be loyal and filial piety and take on a responsibility. ”

Xiao Yi stared at Liu Ying's side face. She never knew that the King of Song she was going to assassinate was such a man. She didn't inquire, because she had always been determined to kill, and she didn't need to find out what kind of person her prey was. She only heard Chen Guoguo's son-in-law mention a few words: "The new Song King is not as good as his brother, he has never been on the battlefield, and there are few rumors about him, I am afraid he is just a weak and incompetent puppet." But fortunately, he is the son-in-law of the old Song King, and his brother died, so he naturally succeeded to the throne justifiably, otherwise there would be a battle for the throne in the Song Kingdom, which would affect the country. It has only been ten years since the Song State annexed the Wei State and the Qi State, and if the country is moved at this time, it will be very unfavorable to the Song State. He's a puppet that's still important. How could she have thought that this King of Song was not the rumored weakness and incompetence, but the light breeze after seeing through life and death, it turned out that his experience was so pitiful, and he lived for loyalty and filial piety, but the people who made him loyal and filial piety came to harm him one by one.

Liu Ying turned around and looked at Xiao Yi with four eyes, her eyes were full of sadness and pity, and his eyes were clear and waveless. Liu Ying said: "Xiao Yi, you are the first person I have ever seen who dares to blatantly kill me, I appreciate it." Not only blatantly, but also in front of the envoys of all countries and in front of the people of the world. ”

Xiao Yi said: "Acacia Gu poison is an incurable poison in the world. Rather than listen to you say so much, it is better to die with you on the same day. ”

Liu Ying smiled and said: "If you can't beat me, we can't die together." ”

"You can still laugh!" For some reason, seeing him smiling lightly, Xiao Yi suddenly became in pain.

Liu Ying smiled and asked seriously, "If I die, will you live faster?" ”

Xiao Yi was silent. Just a few days ago, she would say "yes" without thinking, but these days, she listened to Liu Ying's story and felt his tolerance for everyone, his gentleness and delicacy, and his forbearance and strength...... Now she is sad and heartbroken because she knows that he has been poisoned by lovesickness. There is one less man in the world, and from now on, the blue sky and green water will be missing a touch of color. What's more, she killed him, but he gave her a way out. Although she killed this King Song for the sake of loyalty and filial piety, she will always live in apology, not to King Song, but to the man in front of her who made her heart pound.

Seeing that she didn't answer, Liu Ying said softly: "Princess Yi, in fact, since you told me that there is a snow lotus in the Yiren Garden that can cure a hundred poisons but can't cure the lovesick Gu poison, you can't bear to kill me, right?" Xiao Yi was seen through by him, and lowered his head shyly. Liu Ying said: "You have been looking at me sadly all day, at first, I thought it was because you revisited the old place, so I felt sad, but you ask yourself, is there no trace of sadness because I am dying?" ”

Xiao Yi pursed his lips and didn't answer. Liu Ying moved half a step towards her and stared at her with clear eyes. He asked in a low voice: "There are just two of you and me here, there is no monarch of the Song Kingdom, no princess of the Qi Kingdom, only a dying man and an assassin who poisoned him, only a poor man who admires a woman for half his life and a sad woman who wants to assassinate him for half his life." At the time of parting, the poor man just wanted to hear a sincere word from the woman he admired for half his life. ”

Xiao Yi trembled and took a step back, almost sliding off the top of the stage. Liu Ying took a step forward and half-hugged her waist, so she didn't fall. Her heart was like a deer, and her voice was like a mosquito fly: "What...... Speech? ”

Liu Ying said: "If I die tomorrow, will you be happy? ”

Xiao Yi still didn't answer, but a tear slipped from the corner of his eye, crystal like a star in the sky.

Liu Ying's heart rippled, and she suddenly kissed the teardrop. Xiao Yi closed her eyes, and more tears slipped down. Why was she able to fall in love with someone she had vowed to kill in just a few days? Why is he like this?

It seems that ten years have passed, Liu Ying's kiss is mixed with Xiao Yi's tears, wet and glutinous, from the cheeks to the corners of the mouth, he is reluctant to give up, and she does not move. He stopped abruptly and looked at her quietly. She opened her eyes, her eyelashes trembling, but she didn't dare to look at him.

He whispered, "Xiao Yi, don't let hatred corrupt your heart anymore. Take a step back, life is still very long and beautiful, in two days, some elderly palace people will return to their hometowns, and you will go out of the palace with them, and it will not attract attention. Tai'an will personally escort you out of the city, all the way south, and after arriving in the Chu country, make wine, play the piano, and marry a wishful husband, and your father and mother will be happy. ”

Xiao Yi asked, "What about you?" ”

Liu Ying leaned into her ear and whispered: "I fell for your lovesickness Gu poison, and I will end up in the White Jade Palace, and I will be incurable for the rest of my life." ”

Xiao Yi's heart ached, half guilty, half unbearable, and the slightest wisp of sweetness and bitterness.