The night was late, the moon was bright, and there were only sparse stars in the sky.

There was silence in Yongle Palace, and the palace maids had all fallen asleep, only Yunu and Xiaoru were making her bed. Zi Ling saw them yawning frequently, so he told them to go to sleep first.

As a "modern person", she is used to the night. Now, in such a long night in ancient times, it was really painful for her to go to bed as soon as it was dark.

Seeing that the moonlight was just right, she walked to the small garden to admire the moon.

Suddenly, she saw a dark shadow on the other side of the lotus pond. In this kind of deep palace compound, there are many unjust souls who are not blinding......

Courageously, she asked softly, "Who is there?" ”

The black shadow on the opposite side spoke, and a cold voice came: "It's a humble position." ”

Listening to the voice, Zi Ling finally breathed a sigh of relief: "It's Brother Zhan." Haven't you rested yet? It just so happens that I can't sleep either, so let's go to the Lake Pavilion and enjoy the moon with wine. ”

"I don't dare to do it, but I am performing my duties to protect my mother's safety. I don't dare to enjoy the moon with my mother. ”

"Alright then, you can be a cow for a while and listen to me play the piano."

So, Zi Ling "played the piano to the cow" in the lake pavilion.

Zhan Zhan stood still, he looked at Xiao Ziling's thin figure, infinite pity in his eyes.

He knew that she really didn't know him anymore. Otherwise, she wouldn't have looked at him with curious eyes, and she wouldn't have called him "Brother Zhan". In the past, she always called him "Brother Zhan", followed him and asked curious questions, and occasionally coquettishly lost her temper.

And in front of her, she is no longer the quirky little girl, but the gentle and elegant and talented "Xiao Guifei". After being rescued by throwing herself into the lake, she seems to have really lost all her memories, judging as if she were two, but these "two" have exactly the same body.

When she was twelve years old, she said that she would be her brother's bride when she grew up. If he hadn't wanted to achieve a career and make himself afford her happiness, he would have proposed to Prime Minister Xiao Cheng a long time ago.

And now, she has entered the palace and become the emperor's concubine!

She wouldn't know that he had already made up his mind to go to the Xiao family to propose, but unfortunately it was so late; She wouldn't have known that when he heard that the emperor didn't like her, he lay in bed and giggled all night; She wouldn't even know that when he heard that the emperor was going to make her a concubine, his heart hurt like a thousand arrows piercing his heart.

Now, it was too late, and he didn't want to wake up her memories, and he didn't want her to be more painful to be reminded of their past.

He wanted her to live as carefree as she is now, and he would watch her from afar by her side and protect her well for the rest of her life.

Perhaps, she should be glad that God made her lose her memory, otherwise, how painful she would have been when they met every day like this! Since this life is destined to be staggered by fate, it may be better to let her forget him, isn't it?

After the song, he was still immersed in the good memories about her. It wasn't until Zi Ling walked up to him and called softly a few times that he came back to his senses.

Quickly hiding the tenderness on his face, in an instant he turned into a royal guard who was as cold as ice.

In the bright moonlight, she still saw the gentleness he inadvertently revealed, and she found that he looked good when he smiled, and his spirit was flying.

Zi Ling suddenly got into play, wanting to play tricks on the "ice cube" in front of him. So, she smiled and said to him: "I have heard that Lord Zhan's 'dancing skills' are strong, I wonder if Lord Zhan can dance for the palace?" ”

"Back to my mother, I can't dance." His tepid voice could not hear the slightest emotion.

Zi Ling said: "Then why don't I play the piano and Zhan Daren come to dance the sword?" ”

She stood in front of him and looked into his eyes with a look of eagerness and longing. He finally nodded.

She happily sat down in front of the guzheng and played a song "Ambush on All Sides" (1).

In the sound of the piano, he danced his sword passionately. In the moonlight, the blade of the sword refracted a cold light, and his long hair fluttered in the night wind.

Although he didn't know when Zi Ling learned such a good piano, he knew that at this moment, he was the happiest. He danced his sword to his heart's content, so devoted.

After the song, they were all stunned. He was so happy because of it, and she was impressed by his superb swordsmanship. They were silent, not knowing how to speak for a long time.

Suddenly, there was a burst of applause: "What wonderful swordsmanship, such superb piano skills." I was an eye-opener today. ”

Zhan Zhan looked frightened, and hurriedly knelt down and saluted: "I knocked on the emperor for my humble position, I didn't know that the emperor was here, and my humble position was offended, please forgive the emperor." ”

He was afraid that the emperor would misunderstand, and he knew what kind of reverie the sound of the piano and the sword dance in the middle of the night would cause. He didn't want his spirit to be harmed in any way!

Xiao Ziling also blessed his body and asked for peace: "Ziling has seen the emperor, but I didn't know that the emperor arrived late at night." Zi Ling didn't go to greet him, and asked the emperor to forgive him. ”

Her tone sounded like there was no trace of self-blame, as if she was blaming the emperor for "trespassing" Yongle Palace without notification.

Meng Hongyu was attracted by the sound of the piano.

He was about to go to bed in Concubine Shu's Yongye Palace, when he suddenly heard a beautiful sound of the piano. Following the sound of the piano, he came to Yongle Palace. He was really surprised to see that this beautiful sound of the piano was actually from Xiao Ziling's hand!

Unexpectedly, this ordinary-looking woman could play the piano well, almost comparable to those musicians who were carefully selected to enter the palace. So he stood at the entrance and listened, and of course, he also saw her teasing Zhan Zhan and her exquisite sword dance.

To be honest, seeing his woman and another man cooperate tacitly - one is skilled in swordsmanship, the other is pleasant in the piano - his heart is really not good. Even if he didn't like her, she was the concubine he married from the palace gate with great fanfare.

However, he suppressed the slightest hint of displeasure and did not interrupt them. Because he can't compete with a royal guard for the sake of a "saltless woman".

Meng Hongyu paced into the Huxin Pavilion and said to Ziling: "I can't imagine that Concubine Xiao can play the piano well, can you play another song for me?" ”

So, Zi Ling played a song "Liang Zhu" (2), the tune was sad and tactful.

After the song, he was silent, and she bowed her head and said nothing.

She didn't know what to say, although it had been more than four months since she "married" him, but including tonight, they had only met two or three times in total, and he was a complete stranger to her.

"It's late at night, let's get off early." After the silence, he spoke in astonishment.

"Huh??" She was startled, and looked at the handsome man in front of her fixedly, not knowing whether to be sad or happy.

She was at a loss for what to do.

.

Concentrate:

(1) Ambush on all sides: one of the top ten traditional ancient songs, also known as "Huaiyin Pingchu".

(2) Liang Zhu: In 1958, composers He Zhanhao and Chen Gang co-composed the violin concerto "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai", which was well-known all over the world and was later adapted into a guzheng song.