There was a palace maid in a coarse linen shirt standing in the main hall, Meng Jiao thought it was the palace person who cleaned the palace, but after a closer look, she found that this palace person was wearing a fine brocade, and the one on her head seemed to be a jade worth a thousand gold.

"I am Meng Jiao, the third order, and I am here to take a look at the order of the Queen Mother."

"Meng Jiao? Whose daughter are you? ”

"The daughter of the squire Meng Zhongting, born to Xue Wan, the princess of Xue Guo's family."

As soon as Xue Wan's name was spoken, the broom in the palace man's hand fell to the ground unconsciously, and his eyes were in disbelief.

After a while, he sighed faintly: "Sure enough, it's Miss Xue's daughter, and her voice and appearance are all godlike..."

"My mother-in-law has also seen my mother?"

The palace man nodded, and Meng Jiao confirmed her conjecture, Xue Wan and this palace really had an unknown past, and the elderly palace man in front of him was probably a former witness.

"I've seen it, twenty years ago, when Miss Xue was a girl the same size as you, she was invited by the Queen Mother to live in the palace by chance, and I was waiting by her side, so I should have been the slave maid on the Queen Mother's side."

Meng Jiao frowned, it sounds like this, Xue Wan should be very favored by the Queen Mother, why is the Queen Mother so targeted to the Xue family, especially Xue Wan, today?

"Mother and Queen Mother..."

"Don't you even know? Miss Xue can also be regarded as the Queen Mother's cousin, and it is common for the Queen Mother to invite her relatives to live in the palace. ”

This palace person said this, Meng Jiao was even more confused, if Xue Wan and the Queen Mother still have such a layer of in-law relationship, then according to common sense, the Queen Mother should be closer to her, and she should be very partial to the Xue family, it is impossible to be today's attitude.

This palace person saw the doubts in Meng Jiao's heart, and slowly walked into the inner hall, and after a while, took a small box out of it, and at her signal, Meng Jiao opened this quaint little box, there was no gold and silver jewelry here, some were just stacks of picture scrolls, and the paper was already yellowed.

"Can you tell who the person in the painting is?"

"I can't see it, and I ask my grandmother for advice."

"What is there to advise about this, you have never seen it, naturally people can't come out, the young people in this painting are still or moving, running or jumping, all of them are our emperors."

At this point, most of the doubts in Meng Jiao's heart have been eliminated, Xue Wan and the emperor really have a past, according to the calculation of about twenty years, the time when the two of them have known each other, I am afraid that it is earlier than the time when An Guifei entered the palace, so it is no wonder that An Guifei did not mention this matter.

The emperor on the painting is only fifteen or sixteen years old, about the time when the spring breeze is proud after sitting on the throne of the prince, Xue Wan uses very delicate brushstrokes to draw the emperor's youthful spirit of complacency.

"Mother and Emperor, but there is a story?"

"You might as well ask me directly, if Miss Xue and the emperor have a marriage."

This grandma is too straightforward, and directly broke what Meng Jiao really wanted to ask, Meng Jiao was a little shy, but the grandma didn't really care, turned around and sat on the threshold of the main hall, Meng Jiao looked at it, and sat down like her.

"Miss Xue was already very beautiful at that time, at the age of twelve or thirteen, with a flower-like appearance, it was a landscape that could not be ignored in this deep palace, the emperor was young and vigorous at that time, and the two of them often met, and it was inevitable that they would have feelings for each other."

Xue Wan was in love at that time, and the emperor did not have a concubine, and the friendship of youth was always the simplest, he took her to pick peach blossoms, to listen to the water and watch the fish, or she took him to sneak out of the palace and see the customs and customs, and slowly, feelings were born.

"These paintings were all painted by Miss Xue for the emperor, one stroke at a time, the emperor secretly hid these paintings, but there is really some taste of talent and beauty, it's a pity..."

"What a pity?"

"It's a pity that the ruthless emperor's family."

This grandmother said, the most ruthless imperial family, although Xue Wan was born noble, but Xue Guogong had no actual power after all, at that time, it was time for the Queen Mother and Concubine Nankang to fight against each other, His Royal Highness the Prince wanted to marry a wife, and he must marry a woman who could greatly benefit his position, Xue Wan, not qualified.

"What kind of woman is Miss Xue, she only wants a hearted person, and she is absolutely unwilling to serve a husband with the woman next to her, on the day when the emperor and the niece of the queen mother's inner relatives got married, she cut the kite that the emperor made for her and broke off this friendship."

fell in love at a young age, but after all, it couldn't withstand the change of imperial power, the young man married a new wife, and the girl withdrew from that relationship and fell in love with another person.

"Then these paintings, the emperor has always kept them? And this palace, I heard, was set up by the emperor himself? ”

"The emperor is also a long-term affection, this palace was built early in the morning without the knowledge of Miss Xue, it was originally intended to be given to Miss Xue at the time of the wedding, but I didn't expect that by mistake, the marriage became someone else, and this palace was so dusty, as for those paintings, the only thing that Miss Xue left in the palace, the emperor treasured."

Meng Jiao nodded, but she didn't know what it was like in her heart, if she was really in love, how could she abandon her friendship and marry another woman, but if she hadn't left this relationship, he might not have been able to inherit the unification so smoothly.

Meng Jiao chatted with this grandmother for a long time, and from her mouth, she knew another Xue Wan that no one knew, a Xue Wan who was not famous for her talents, but only knew the little daughter's family.

"It's not too early, when will you enter the palace again, remember to come here to see, Miss Xue is gone, I will still think of her from time to time, oh yes, isn't it the winter solstice today? I heard that the Queen Mother is holding a banquet, it should be about to start at this time, why are you still spending it here? ”

Hearing this, Meng Jiao suddenly realized that she had been delayed here for too long, and then she naturally found that Mama Hu, who had said that she was going to call her to the big banquet at the right time, was no longer waiting at the gate of the palace.

Meng Jiao hooked her lips and sneered, it turned out that the real purpose of the Queen Mother letting her come here was not to let her know the past of Xue Wan and the emperor, but to let her stumble here, so that she would be late at the banquet, so that she could take the opportunity to get down.

"Thank you Mama for reminding me, I almost missed a big incident, don't pass by, and when I enter the palace next time, I will definitely come to Mama."

With that, Meng Jiao got up and left.

In the twilight, there are already thousands of lights in the palace, but the more this is the case, the more Meng Jiao has no direction, she is a little anxious, if she can't get to Ci'an Hall as soon as possible, the Queen Mother will definitely make a big fuss about this matter, and it will be a little difficult to deal with it at that time.

But I don't know if it was ordered by the Queen Mother or a coincidence, Meng Jiao walked for almost a quarter of an hour, and she didn't meet a single palace maid and eunuch.

After walking for another quarter of an hour, Meng Jiao pursed her lips, in the winter, she had walked out of a thin sweat, she really couldn't walk, she stood in front of this unknown palace, looking at the bright lights in the distance, and suddenly remembered the past ten years, every winter solstice, she stood at the door of Zhuangzi, looking at the lights of thousands of homes in the distance, she was indeed alone.

Endless confusion grew like vines in her heart, and when Meng Jiao was immersed in this emotion, someone suddenly hugged her from behind, and a warm and lively big coat was gently draped on her shoulders.

Meng Jiao turned around, and between the flickering lights and dimming, it was Shen Yunxiao's face with a gentle smile.

He hugged the little girl into his arms with a smile, and whispered in Meng Jiao's ear: "It doesn't matter if you can't find your way, I'll take you away." ”