Duanmu Fei left, and followed the secret guard to disappear at some point, leaving only Anping alone, and after glancing in the direction of Ronghua Palace, he turned around and walked into the Hall of Shock. ◢ with * dream ◢ small *.lā

With a "squeak", the door to the Hall of Surprise closed.

The courtyard outside was quiet, until Duanmu's petite back disappeared at the end of the path, and a blue-blue figure sneakily walked out of a hibiscus forest outside the courtyard, and it was a fourteen or fifteen-year-old little palace maid.

The little palace maid probed her head and looked in the direction where Duanmu Fei had left, and was sure that she would not turn back, so she walked towards the side of the Stunned Hall with confidence. Seeing that the door of the palace was closed tightly, the little palace maid finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Soon, the little palace maid turned around and walked away quickly, completely unaware that there was a pair of eyes in a corner that were watching her leave with a smile on her face.

Halfway through the sunset, the sky is dark, a sign that night is coming.

The little palace maid walked through the hunting palace familiarly, and after a while, she came to the Ronghua Palace in the northeast of the main hall, and came to the east room.

She took a deep breath and cautiously opened the curtain and entered.

Several octagonal palace lamps have been lit inside, illuminating the house as bright as day.

Changqing was lazily leaning on the beauty couch, she had already changed into a new dress, the milky white mandarin duck playing in the water embroidered belly pocket, the outside was draped in a fiery red gauze dress, the exquisite curve was looming, the front of the gauze was half open, revealing a large piece of snow-white and delicate skin on her chest, as well as a deep furrow under the belly pocket...... Charming.

Next to the beauty couch, a handsome young man in blue was carefully compressing Changqing's left face with a handkerchief soaked in ice water.

The little palace maid hurriedly said respectfully: "Your Highness, the eldest princess of Anping has already entered the palace with Grandpa An. ”

Changqing put aside the hand of the blue-clothed young man, the corners of his mouth hooked slightly, and ordered: "You continue to guard, and if there is any news, you will come and go." ”

After the little palace maid responded, she quickly stepped back again.

Changqing casually picked up a fan-sized dragon and phoenix pattern ribbed bronze mirror on the side of the couch and looked into the mirror.

After applying the cold compress for most of the day, her left cheek was almost swollen, but the five finger marks on her face were still clearly visible.

Staring at himself in the bronze mirror, Changqing squinted, his eyes showed resentment, and he muttered in his mouth: "Anping, you dare to treat this palace like this, this palace will definitely make you ruined, life is better than death!" ”

This purple fragrance is a good thing, let her good royal sister "enjoy" it!

Tonight, the emperor will lead the courtiers to entertain a few Northern Yan envoys in the stunning hall, and after a while, they will see Anping's unbearable appearance with their own eyes, and at that time, Anping's reputation will inevitably be ruined, and there will be no shame again!

After receiving this lesson, An Ping must be able to "deeply" understand what it means to be different from the past, now is not the time of the puppet emperor, she should also wake up from the beautiful dreams of the past and see her own identity clearly!

Thinking about it, Changqing felt a burst of happiness and anticipation in his heart, and a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Soon, the curtain will start on this well-planned show, and she will wait to see the excitement!

Changqing's heart jumped with excitement, and he made a gesture casually in his hand, and another handsome young man in green clothes came over with a wine cup.

"Your Highness, let me serve you." The young man in green clothes smiled slightly, and his beautiful face was attentive and seductive.

"Oh......" Changqing casually dragged the end note, and the red and gorgeous cherry lips were upturned, like blood and fire, revealing a dangerous and bewitching beauty.

The young man in Cuiyi knew his intentions, took a sip of wine, and bowed his head to Changqing's mouth.

Their lips and tongues were intertwined intimately, and occasionally a coquettish moan escaped from between her lips and teeth, and the other people waiting on the side lowered their eyebrows as if they had seen nothing.

Changqing and the young man in Cuiyi had been grinding their ears and temples for a while, and after about another pillar of incense, the little palace maid just now came back again, and it was difficult to hide a trace of apprehension in her expression.

"Your Royal Highness, after the eldest princess of Anping entered the palace of shock, she only stayed for a pillar of incense, and then came out of it......" The little palace maid's face was lowered, trembling, and she didn't dare to look directly at Changqing at all.

In other words, Anping is fine, nothing happened!

Changqing was just waiting to listen to Anping's jokes and have fun for a while, but he didn't expect to usher in this result.

Changqing's face changed instantly, and he sat up from the beauty couch all of a sudden, and hit the prismal bronze mirror on the side with one hand.

"What do you say?! You repeat! Changqing looked at the little palace maid angrily, raised his voice and said sharply, "What about Gongren An?" Let him come to Hongu quickly! "Something must have gone wrong with Grandpa An, and he didn't get things done!

"Yes, Your Highness." The little palace maid resignedly agreed and retreated again.

However, the little palace maid has not returned for a long time, and in the blink of an eye, another stick of incense has passed, and there is still no figure of Father-in-law An, and the breath around Changqing's body is even more gloomy and cold, and everyone in the room is silent, and they don't even dare to breathe.

Seeing that the time for the palace banquet was approaching, a grandmother boldly reminded: "Your Highness, it's not too early, but do you want to prepare to freshen up?" ”

Although Changqing was irritable in his heart, he also knew the importance of the matter, today the emperor held a banquet to entertain the envoys of Beiyan, on the one hand, it was also to talk about the matter of harmony, how could she be there.

"Dress up for Hongu!"

Changqing's words fell, and a group of palace people stepped forward to serve, bathing and changing clothes, dressing up, and being busy for more than half an hour, she finished dressing and changed into a real red bird Chaofeng carved silk gown, which was a pink small vertical collar middle coat, a silver-gray horse-faced skirt below, and the gorgeous and dazzling red gold full of pond Jiao was distracted by the sideburns, and the color gems like stars in the sky were shining, lining her peerless beauty and charming.

The five fingerprints on her face were covered by a thick layer of fat powder, and at first glance, her skin was smooth and flawless.

Changqing took pity on himself and was quite satisfied, so he stood up, left Ronghua Palace surrounded by palace people, and went in the direction of the Surprise Palace.

When she came to the outside of the Surprise Palace, the sunset had almost completely set, the sky was overcast, only the last red of the western sky remained, and hazy palace lamps were lit one after another around the Hunting Palace.

Changqing walked to the stone steps outside the palace gate, and was about to go up the stone steps, when he heard a burst of laughter from the other side, and several palace people surrounded a familiar tall figure and walked towards this side.

Changqing subconsciously stopped and looked up at the other party.

This is really a narrow road!

An Ping also carefully dressed up, and changed into a new light gold embroidered flying phoenix peony palace dress, under the glow of the palace lamp, her fair skin was shining like jade.

She has a thick green silk tied up a fallen horse bun, wearing a red gold dotted emerald nine-tailed phoenix hairpin, the phoenix mouth holds a crystal clear east pearl hanging on the forehead, the red gold dotted emerald nine-tailed like a peacock open the screen stretched out, luxurious and dazzling.

Changqing's eyes stared at the red gold dotted green nine-tailed phoenix hairpin, and his fists couldn't help clenching in his sleeves.

This phoenix hairpin was painted by his father's own hands, and then it was customized and sent to the queen of the Yuan. After the death of Yuan Houxian, Feng Hai was not buried with the imperial mausoleum, and his father gave Anping to Anping when he was fifteen years old, and also named her the princess of Zhengyipin Anguo.

The past is vivid, Changqing seems to have been lit a cluster of flames in his heart, the fire of jealousy is getting stronger and stronger, and he can't help but mock An Ping who is two or three steps away: "Sister Emperor, why are you still wearing such old jewelry?!" If the eldest sister is strapped for money now, talk to the palace, and the palace will send some jewelry that the palace does not use to the palace! ”

An Ping and Changqing looked at each other, both of them were smiling, but where their eyes collided, there were sparks.

A trace of disdain flashed in An Ping's eyes, and she, the imperial sister, couldn't use this trick on the table.

"No need. The royal sister kept it for her own use. An Ping said calmly, "This palace has a heart!" This palace will definitely repay the royal sister's 'heart'! ”

Her tone was meaningful, and a cold light like a sharp blade shot out of her eyes.

Changqing sighed in his heart when he heard this, and was shocked and surprised: What does Anping mean by this?! Could it be that she knows something?

Thinking of Gonggong An, who had not yet seen a human figure, Changqing was a little uneasy for a moment, but then pouted disdainfully.

Hmph, what if Anping knows?

Today's Anping looks like the eldest princess of Dasheng, but to put it bluntly, she is just a woman who has no support for her mother's family and her husband's family is unreliable, what can she do with herself? !

Even if An Ping goes to the emperor to denounce himself, the emperor will look at himself, not her!

It's just that tonight the emperor wants to feast the envoys of the Northern Yan, if she tears up with Anping here, causing the emperor to lose face in front of the envoys of the Northern Yan, the emperor is afraid that he will be annoyed for a while.

There is a saying: porcelain does not touch rotten tiles. She will let Anping be free again!

"It's good that the eldest sister knows the heart of this palace." Changqing said casually, he didn't plan to continue to entangle with Anping, and when he lifted his skirt, he planned to step up the stone steps, but was stopped by Anping.

An Ping's right palm gently patted Changqing's left shoulder, and reminded with a smile: "Imperial sister, eldest sister is like a mother." Between sisters, fighting and fighting, there should still be dignity, but you can't be unruly in front of outsiders and make people laugh. ”

The implication is that Changqing is walking in front of the eldest sister, what is the reason?!

Changqing gritted his teeth in anger, and secretly hated in his heart: When Anping slapped himself in the face in the morning, why didn't he see her talk about decency and rules?!

Changqing hesitated slightly, An Ping had already withdrawn his hand, and strode towards the stone steps, holding his head high and heroic.

Duanmufei, who followed behind An Ping like an invisible person, hurriedly followed with his skirt, and unceremoniously borrowed An Ping's light and walked in front of Changqing.

In the stunning hall, a piece of gold is splendid, carved beams and painted buildings, the air is filled with a faint fragrance of the moon, as far as the eye can see, a crowd of people, lively and extraordinary.

Except for the emperor and a few envoys from the Northern Yan, most of the guests had already arrived, taking their seats in their respective seats, talking in groups.

Under the guidance of a palace maid, An Ping entered the hall and sat down, and said to Duanmu Fei with a smile: "Fei'er, you don't have to accompany the palace here, go and play with Wuyang and Hanxing." With so many pairs of eyes staring at this stunned hall, Anping was also worried that Duanmu Fei would have a lot of gossip if he stayed by his side.

Duanmu Fei smiled slightly, she knew Anping's intentions, and she was blessed with kindness, so she walked towards Wuyang, Hanxing and Yunhua in front of her.

"Sister Scarlet!" Wuyang smiled and beckoned to Duanmu Fei, "Come and try this tiger eye socket silk candy, it's fragrant and sweet, this sugar silk is extremely fine......"

"The tiger's eye socket silk candy is too sweet, cousin Scarlet, you should try this golden silk date."

"These two are sweet, Wuyang, Hanxing, you two are really not a family, don't enter the door!" Yun Hua teased on the side.

The girls got together and talked endlessly around plays, jewelry, sachets, etc.

After another cup of tea, there was a sound of laughter and noise in the direction of the entrance of the hall.

The people in the hall followed the sound and saw that the emperor had come with Yeluchen, Yeluchen and several envoys from the Northern Yan.

Everyone stood up to greet them, and when the emperor was seated on the throne at the front, they saluted the emperor in unison, shouting in unison, almost toppling the roof.

The emperor said "no courtesy", and everyone sat down again, and then, a melodious and pleasant music sounded, and the palace people were well-trained to serve wine and dishes to the guests, shuttling back and forth, neatly and neatly.

Soon, the hall was full of laughter and laughter.

Duanmu Fei drank tea and ate vegetables slowly, occasionally saying a few words to Wuyang and them, but he also left half of his mind on another person.

After taking another sip of tea, Duanmu Fei looked at Changqing again with the cover of the tea cup, the corners of his lips curled slightly, and secretly said in his heart: The time should be about the same!

Changqing, who was sitting at the bottom right of the throne, raised his hand to pick up the pastel wine cup, but the wine cup was only brought to his lips, but he suddenly felt a feeling of dizziness hit him, and his eyes were even more blurred......

Her right hand trembled, and the wine cup almost came out, and a little wine spilled from the cup, wetting the mahogany table.

The palace maid who served on the side was quick to wipe the desk with a handkerchief.

Changqing frowned, put down the wine cup in his hand, raised his hand lightly, rubbed his eyebrows, felt warm all over, his consciousness was a little confused, and then looked around, as if his eyes were covered with a thin veil, and the things around him were hazy.

She rubbed her eyebrows again, and said in her heart: Could it be that she is drunk?

Although she only had three or four glasses, she drank them on an empty stomach, and they all said that it was easy to get drunk when drinking on an empty stomach, which turned out to be true......

In the midst of his thoughts, Changqing felt that his body was hotter and his head was heavier.

She stood up with her forehead and said, "Help the palace to go out and sober up......

"Yes, Your Highness."

The palace maid responded respectfully, carefully supported Changqing's left arm, and walked outside the hall.

Changqing's cheeks were slightly red from the smell of wine, and he was delicate and dripping like a pink peach blooming in spring, and his breathing gradually became heavier.

She walked forward slowly, and suddenly, a tall back like a bamboo was reflected in her vision.

The young man sat straight and sat behind the desk, a green beard wrapped around his ape-backed bee waist, heroic and strong, his black hair was erected with a rough bronze hoop, revealing a slender neck, and under the lamplight, the wheat-colored skin shone with amber......

"Turn......

She couldn't help but pause, and a soft voice overflowed from her lips and teeth, as if calling someone's name, and as if moaning.

Yelu turned his head when he heard the sound, his facial features were deep, and his brown eyes shone brightly in the light of the palace lamp, like the brightest stars in the night sky.

"Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess." Yelu smiled at her, raised his eyebrows, and there was a hint of ambiguity and evil in his smile.

Changqing's heart suddenly burned hot, and he looked at Yelu infatuatedly, his consciousness flew away, and his mind flashed the scene of their ears and temples grinding, lingering and warm, skin to skin, lips and tongue intertwined......

For a moment, Changqing didn't remember where he was at all, and he could only see Yelu in his eyes.

"...... Lang"

Her feet went limp, and her body seemed to lose her strength in an instant, and she fell towards Yelu like a milk swallow returning to its nest......

Seeing her delicate body fall down, Huo Di stood up, raised his right arm, easily wrapped around her slender waist, and then turned around and unloaded his strength.

Changqing just lay on his back in his strong arms and warm chest, his right hand grabbed his bee waist, only to feel that she was surrounded by the man's masculinity, looking at the spring love in Yelu's eyes, sparkling.

Yelu's eyes looked at An Ping not far away, raised his eyebrows, and made a meaningful smile at An Ping, his narrow eyes were as charming and provocative as a fox when they were half-narrowed, as if he was showing off his charm.

In the next moment, Yelu's big arm was retracted, and Changqing's delicate body was easily straightened, but his arm was still on her slender waist, and he bowed his head to Changqing and said seriously: "Your Highness, although this king and you have had a good time, but now it is over, there is a sentence among you: good gathering, good ...... disperse"

"Rou Lang!" Changqing took another half step closer, his plump chest almost stuck to Yelu's chest, and his eyes were glued to his handsome face stupidly, "We are so beautiful together, have you forgotten?" Speaking of which, Changqing's voice was almost murmuring, as if there was only Yelu in his eyes, and there was no one else.

The two of them were so close that they seemed to grind their ears and temples.

There was an uproar in the audience, and those ministers and ladies were dumbfounded, with different expressions.

They knew that Changqing was amorous, but they never thought that Changqing would be so shameless, and he would throw his arms to the second prince of Beiyan in front of the public, treating everyone as nothing! This is simply immoral!

Many people secretly exchanged glances, and they all guessed in their hearts: Could it be that the eldest princess of Changqing is because of this Yelu Lu who is bent on marrying the eldest princess of Anping, so that she is jealous, so that she will lose her temper after drinking, and even pretend to be crazy with wine? !

With the usual style of this eldest princess, it seems that it is not impossible!

Aunt Changqing still has no shame at all! What a shame! Wuyang and Hanxing both sank like water, feeling that the faces of their Mu family girls were about to be lost by Aunt Changqing.

Duanmu Fei, who was beside Wuyang, slightly hooked the corners of his mouth, and quietly glanced in the direction of Anping, who was holding the teacup with a smile, looking careless.

The two looked at each other, and Anping's right hand holding the teacup gently hooked his tail finger.

Duanmu smiled, casually twisted a candied fruit from a plate of candied fruit, and his tail finger was also cocked, as if he hooked his finger with An Ping from afar.

After the candied fruit was entered, the sweet and sour taste permeated the mouth, and Duanmu Fei's smile deepened, and he continued to watch the excitement with a smile.

"Hongu is so hot......"

Changqing's eyes were misty, his red lips pursed slightly, and he muttered, his delicate body was leaning weakly and bonelessly on Yelu's chest, but his right hand pulled his neckline, once, twice...... Her neckline was pulled loose, revealing a seductive collarbone at her snow-white neck......

Everyone in the hall was dumbfounded, this public embracement was enough to break customs, but I didn't expect Changqing to want to untie his clothes in public.

"Still stunned what to do!" Jiuhua was the first to react, dodged his feet, and screamed at the palace maid beside Changqing, "Mother is drunk, don't hurry up and help her down to rest!" Jiuhua's little face was blue and white for a while.

The palace maid came back to her senses and hurriedly helped Changqing, trying to take her away, but Changqing didn't follow, and muttered: "Go away, no one wants to separate the palace and the ......."

She wrapped her arms tightly around Yelu's waist, buried her cheeks in his broad chest, and murmured, "Don't go, ...... Lang."

Yelu's face couldn't hide the stiffness, and he wanted to push Changqing away, but he had always boasted of being romantic, and he didn't act rough with women, so he had to say softly: "Okay, Your Highness, you're drunk, why don't you let someone help you to take a rest?" ”

"Bengu is not drunk, Bengu is not going!" Where is Changqing willing to follow, but like an octopus, he wrapped Yelu's rein tighter, and he was still smiling in his mouth.

"Your Highness." Another palace maid also ran to help Changqing, and the four of them were torn into a ball like a small person in the market, only to hear the sound of "hissing", and the azure blue beard on Yelu's body was torn open by Anqing, revealing Yelulu's wheat-colored strong chest, and his muscles bulged slightly......

The ladies in the hall were so shocked that their eyes almost didn't fall, and after a low snort, they looked away.

The tearing sound of the clothes and the uproar around her seemed to be poured cold water on Changqing's head, she was excited, her originally dizzy head suddenly sobered up a lot, and she looked at the clothes in her hands in a daze, and couldn't believe that this was her own doing...... Her mind was in turmoil, and she could barely think.

The emperor on the throne in front of him naturally took the scene just now into his eyes, and the emperor was already stunned.

This hunting palace is not big or small, and there is no way to hide it from anyone, and the emperor has also heard about some of the affairs of Changqing and Yelu from the inner servants intermittently, but Changqing has always been romantic, and the emperor also thought that this was just her greed for freshness, and now it seems that this time it seems to be a little different.

Thinking about it, the emperor's eyes couldn't help but turn to Anping.

Changqing's thoughts about Anping, as the emperor's younger brother, he can't understand it anymore, I'm afraid Changqing has four or five points of sincerity towards Yelu, but the other half is because Yelulu is bent on marrying Anping......

Hey—

The emperor sighed faintly in his heart, no matter what, Changqing is his sister, and he has to be the master for her, so he can't watch her ask for it, and he has a demon in his heart.

The Emperor cleared his throat, immediately attracting the attention of the rest of the hall.

"Second Imperial Sister," the emperor raised his eyes to look at Changqing and Yelu, hesitated for a moment, and said gently, "Second Prince Yelu, if you are interested in each other, I can issue an order to give you a marriage......" Anyway, Changqing's concubine has been dead for five years, and even if Changqing remarries, the Fang family and others have nothing to say.

Listening to the emperor's tone, it seems that he has completely forgotten what Yelu said to Changqing just now, "It's good to gather and disperse".

Now that Dasheng and Beiyan are making peace, everything is to be decided, and now the emperor has taken the initiative to make decisions for Changqing, so how should Yelu choose it? !

Hearing this, Yelu's face was cloudy and uncertain, and he did not speak for a long time.

The expressions of everyone in the hall were even more weird, dumbfounded, and said in their hearts: Speaking of which, the eldest princess of Changqing and the second prince of Yelu are also what kind of pot and what kind of lid!

As for Jiuhua, her face seemed to be dyed with ink, and her face was as black as charcoal, so she almost didn't blurt out an objection, but she also knew that the other party was the emperor, even if the emperor had always loved herself, she would not condone herself to slap his face in front of so many people!

Jiuhua secretly clenched his fists, his nails sinking deep into his palms.

Everyone's eyes focused on Changqing and Yelu again, Changqing's face became more and more flushed, and the water in his eyes flowed, wanting to welcome and refuse......

"Imperial ......" her cherry lips opened slightly, and she was about to say something, when suddenly her eyes rolled and she fell softly......

"Your Highness!"

"Mother!"

"Changqing!"

The nervous exclamation sounded almost at the same time, and Yelu Lu, who was closest to Changqing, picked up Changqing by the waist, and then there was chaos in the hall, some people surrounded to check Changqing's condition, some people hurriedly ran to call the imperial doctor, and some people led Yelu Lu to carry Changqing to the left room next door......

The people who left this hall look at each other, what the hell is going on?!

After that, the dinner continued, but it was no longer as lively as before, whether it was Changqing or Yelu, they never came back, and even the emperor didn't have the heart to mention the matter of harmony.

Half an hour later, the dinner ended in an awkward atmosphere, the sky outside was already dark, the moon and stars were sparse, and the gongs of the first watch came from afar, and the guests dispersed......

The night is deep, and the people are quiet, only the stars in the night sky are twinkling, looking down on the world.

That night, some rumors gradually spread in the hunting palace.

Many people said conclusively that the eldest princess of Changqing was infatuated with the second prince of Yelu of Beiyan, and she had no choice but to fall into the flowers and deliberately flow ruthlessly. Changqing was drunk and lost his temper last night because he couldn't get a response from his infatuation.

I heard that after several doctors from the Tai Hospital diagnosed Changqing's pulse, they found out that Changqing's liver was depressed and turned into fire, the gentleman was hot, and the liver wind was easy to move, but he had nymphosis, which was mostly caused by the woman's unfulfilled wish or the man who lost his love, which was commonly known as disease.

Someone quietly went to check the medicine that the hospital gave Changqing to catch, and found that the prescription was gentian laxative liver soup, which has the effect of clearing the heat of the viscera and clearing the liver and gallbladder and fire.

This is also equivalent to verifying the speculation that Changqing suffered from from the side, and the hunting palace was in an uproar again for a while.

All kinds of rumors spread around, and there were more people and mouths of the scriptures, and some rumors became exaggerated, and some people even swore that Changqing was in the hall of surprise to Yelu on the spot to untie his clothes, half-revealing his chest.

is also friendly with Fanbang, and some people inevitably think of the Xinle County Lord who was close to Puguo seven years ago.

The puppet emperor's wife, Xu, whose father was the governor of Liangguang, was in charge of military affairs, food and salaries and governor's affairs in Liangguang and other places, and was a generation of feudal officials. The county lord of Xinle is Xu's sibling and younger sister, named Xu Jingsi.

Seven years ago, Pu sent troops to Dasheng and finally captured Longzhou and Xizhou. In exchange for the two states, Dasheng agreed to a series of conditions put forward by Pu Guo, including sending the princess and relatives.

However, the princesses of today are young, Wuyang was not yet seven years old at that time, several princesses of the first emperor have been married, at the beginning of the present is to choose a clan girl to be the princess and the country of Pu, but there are few candidates of the right age, and the only one of the appropriate age of the clan is the daughter of the prince of Li's house, Prince Li is the second brother of the first emperor, and he has meritorious service to the support of the present, the prince of Li bluntly said to the present that he does not want to baby the girl and the pro-fan state, and the present naturally can not be forced.

At that time, when he was in a dilemma, Xu Jingsi took the initiative to propose that he was willing to make peace with his relatives, in exchange for the Xu family returning to his hometown and not getting involved in government politics again.

Today, Xu Jingsi was specially named the lord of Xinle County, and the country of Pu, and the two countries have since become good marriages.

Seven years have passed in the blink of an eye.

In the past seven years, Dasheng and Pu Guo have been at peace, Pu Guo has never harassed the northwest border of Dasheng again, and the people on the border are grateful for the merits and kindness of the county lord of Xinle.

In contrast, the ugly incident between Changqing and Yelu was seen by everyone, and the Dasheng royal family simply lost face.