It was a really good night's sleep.

When I opened my eyes, Wanqiu and Sarong were gone, and I put on my clothes and walked out of the cabinet, only to see Aunt Hua standing by a large table of food, quietly waiting for me to get up.

"Ling'er!"

The golden light on Aunt Hua's bun flashed, and when she got up, she grabbed my hand and greeted me affectionately. I hadn't seen her for a long time, and I noticed that the corners of her well-made eyes seemed to add a few subtle folds. And Aunt Hua didn't realize it, but still smiled with satisfaction.

I can't help but think back to the time when I left Duan Ming to go to Lingguang Mountain, and after coming back, I sneaked into the Prince's Mansion on my own. I never imagined how worried this aunt who was waiting for me in the Taopin Building would be every day.

Thinking like this, I couldn't bear to hide it anymore, so I simply told her all these things one by one. The more Aunt Hua listened, the deeper the wrinkles in her eyebrows became, until I finished speaking, she pondered for a long time, and said to me slowly, "So, you just want to find out the whereabouts of your friend, and you don't mean to get involved in the heart-to-heart dispute, right, Ling'er?" ”

"This is natural, otherwise what can I do with that palace?" I took Aunt Hua's hand and whispered comfortingly, "Auntie, don't worry, as long as I find Shui Qing, I will pull out immediately, you believe me!" ”

"With your ability, my aunt is relieved." Aunt Hua patted the back of my hand, "Now there is Sarong to help me." That girl, I said that she has a background, but I didn't expect it to be so big. I knew that she was also a flag owner, and I still worked hard to find out what she did, but how to check it was not all trivial! ”

I saw Aunt Hua laughing self-deprecatingly, so I seized the opportunity and asked carefully, "Then Aunt Hua, how did you check her before?" ”

"What?"

"I once accidentally bumped into you and a few girls in the building having a secret meeting at night..."I looked at Aunt Hua carefully, "Is Sarong's matter also inquired into by your people?" ”

"-You... You saw ......" Aunt Hua showed a cramped look that rarely appeared on her face, "With such a big business as Taopinlou, you should pay attention to the news of the imperial court, black and white, this is no harm......"

Aunt Hua's expression dodged, and I understood more and more in my heart that Taopinlou was indeed full of her intelligence network, and she was not willing to tell me the real purpose of cultivating these people. Seeing that she was embarrassed by my question, I had no choice but to say, "It's okay, I'm just curious." Aunt Hua, I brought back a seriously injured friend last night, I'll go see her first. ”

"Miss Zhuo? Wanqiu has already told me..."Aunt Hua saw me change the subject, so she hurriedly went down the steps, "It's just that you haven't eaten yet-"

"No need, let's talk about it later!"

I took a big sip of the abalone porridge, laughed and ran downstairs. Pushing open the door of my room, there was a burst of medicinal gas, and when I walked into the cabinet, I saw Wanqiu holding Zhuo Ying's head, feeding the decoction one by one.

"Zhuo Ying!"

"Return to Hotaru!"

This familiar voice seemed to have never been heard in a lifetime, and when I heard it, it forced me to tears again. I knelt in front of the bed, looking at Zhuo Ying, who was also in tears like me, and even though I had a thousand words in my heart, I didn't know where to start for a while.

"It was a drowsy night, and I always thought it was a dream." Tears slid across the wound on her face, and Zhuo Ying pouted slightly, "Now holding your hand, I believe that all this is true!" ”

"Look at you, you made the patient cry as soon as you came." Wanqiu snorted at me, "When you old friends reunite, you must have a lot to say, I'll go out first, and if there's anything to call me." ”

Wanqiu said that, put down the medicine cup in his hand, and left alone.

"She has already told me about Chu He." Zhuo Ying carefully wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, "He is the best and strongest one among us, I really can't accept it, he actually ......"

"Each person's life counts, and he can't force it. Chu He was able to get to know Wanqiu in his last days, and I believe that he would also be comforted in the spirit of heaven. My heart suddenly sank, and I looked straight at Zhuo Ying, "But, didn't you come down with us in the first place?" Zhuo Ying, why are you still in this world? ”

"Oh... This is a long story," Zhuo Ying blinked tiredly, propped himself up and sat up, "I went out that day, and I ran for a long time and couldn't find help, I was so scared, I simply turned back to the cave and jumped with you......"

"You're confused! That... What about Mo Yunxia? ”

"What... Oh," Zhuo Ying was slightly stunned, as if he hadn't heard the name Mo Yunxia for a long time, "I don't know, Gui Ying, he was no longer there when I went back." ”

"What when you go back... After I jumped down with Chu He, didn't you go out of the cave together? ”

"No... I'm sorry, but Hotaru. After you and Chu He jumped down that day, I pulled Mo Yunxia to leave, but he stood next to the strange lake like he had lost his mind and gone crazy, and he refused to leave after I persuaded him for a long time. In the end, I had no choice but to come out first. ”

"He didn't go..."

My head was buzzing and aching, and the angular face of Mo Yunxia appeared in my mind. It's strange that I only saw him for the first time on the day of the accident. But his appearance was so deeply etched in my mind that it never dissipated.

"Isn't he... Isn't it very likely that he will come here too? ”

"No, with his character, he shouldn't risk his life easily." Zhuo Ying saw that I was stunned, and I couldn't listen to her words at all, and I couldn't help but feel guilty, "I'm sorry, Gui Ying." After all, I didn't take him away, and if I had resolutely pulled him out, I wouldn't have had that possibility. ”

"It's not your fault. He is such a stubborn person, how can you persuade him? I wiped tears from my eyes, "Oh yes... Zhuo Ying, what's the matter with you, how did you end up in the palace, how did you become a maidservant in the palace? ”

"I don't know, when I wake up from here, I will be the palace maid in the palace." Zhuo Ying frowned and said, "I don't understand the rules of this era, I don't know how to serve people, and I don't know how to get along with those people, so I am excluded and bullied everywhere......"

I can understand that a scholar like Zhuo Ying, who only knows how to read and research, is not good at being a smooth way of dealing with the world. And this is the most important thing in the filthy palace. It is conceivable that Mu Ne is stubborn, and Zhuo Ying, who came from the world of equal rights, has been bullied and tortured by those palace maids and eunuchs who live as human beings these days.

"It's hard for you." I stroked the back of her bruised hand distressedly, "From now on, you can stay here, Aunt Hua and Wanqiu will take care of you." ”

"Who is Aunt Hua?"

"She's my aunt, specifically, my body—"

"—your host." Zhuo Ying pointed to herself, "That's what I call this little sister. ”

When I heard the word little sister, I wanted to laugh. Among the few of us, Zhuo Ying is the second oldest after Shui Qing. Coupled with her mature and steady personality and meticulousness, no one has ever treated her as a sister.

However, looking at Zhuo Ying's current "host", her skin is as delicate as Wanqiu, as white as Sarong, and her eyes are smart and beautiful, which is very different from Zhuo Ying, who originally wore heavy glasses. is as beautiful as Wen Ling, and he is only three points inferior to the person in front of him.

"You're a lot younger now, and you look fifteen or sixteen." I laughed, "The host of this person is really unreasonable, and it is not too far from our own age." ”

"Yes, I'm also studying this, what is the relationship between the host and each of us, and the return cycle of that meteorite."

"—regression cycle?" I was pleasantly surprised, "Are you actually studying this!" ”

"Otherwise, stay here and die?" Zhuo Ying said weakly, "If it weren't for thinking about this every day, I wouldn't have been ineffective in the palace and caught by those people." But I have no choice, since I am trapped in the palace and can't get out, as long as they don't beat me to death for a day, I will study it for a day! ”

I don't know when my collar was wet with tears again. I looked at the familiar serious eyes of my lost old friend, Zhuo Ying, and her immature face now, which made people feel even more distressed.

"It's hard for you." I helped her wipe away the tears that had seeped into the wound, "I'm not idle these days. In addition to meeting Chu He's widow, I also found out Shui Qing's whereabouts! Zhuo Ying, according to reliable sources, Shui Qing's host is the crown princess who has not passed through the door before the prince! ”

"-Is it the crown princess who ran away from marriage on the night of the wedding? Is it Shuiqing! Zhuo Ying was so shocked that she coughed again and again, "This matter has been rumored in the palace, is that woman Shui Qing!" ”

"Yes, it's a pity that I knew it too late, she was caught by the third prince a year ago." I said worriedly, "Later, I scared the snake, and the palace curtain hid Shui Qing. In order to find out the news of Shui Qing from the root, I joined the prince's mansion and became the prince's new concubine. ”

"New concubine? Are you crazy! That prince—"

"-Don't worry, my host is the banner master of the Tail Sect Gangfeng Banner, and his skills are high, and the palace can't move me." I hurriedly reassured, "But Zhuo Ying, I still have something to do right now, and I can't get through this catastrophe, I'm afraid that I won't be able to stay in the Prince's Mansion." ”

I succinctly told Zhuo Ying about the changes in the palace last night. Hearing this, she frowned and trembled.

"You still say it's okay, it's so dangerous before the wedding..."Zhuo Ying said in a trembling voice, "You go now... Aren't you afraid of being guarded by the palace? ”

"Probably not, it's just that I'm afraid that the princes will take action, and the emperor enclosed them all in the palace last night." I also had some palpitations, and I couldn't help but think of the ambush at the old market that day. "But even if there is an ambush, I will go, if I can't get the craftsman's family, the palace curtain will definitely be-"

"Go ahead."

“… What the? ”

"I'll help you tell your friends here, you can go with confidence." Zhuo Ying's gaze was firm, "Maybe Miss Wanqiu will dissuade you, but I won't." Gui Hotaru, I believe in you. ”

I had no other words, and the blood in my heart welled up. At this moment, I saw in Zhuo Ying's gaze the tacit understanding that I had not seen for a long time, the kind of tacit understanding that only a few of us have, and unconditionally trusted each other.