At that time, Cao Gongling and I had just walked out of the arch of Zaoyan Palace, and when we heard the bell ringing, she cried violently, and said in a dejected voice-"The concubine is dead." ”

After finishing the sentence, Cao Gongling collapsed to the ground.

I opened my mouth slightly, stunned for a long time, and my hands kept shaking.

I don't know what the last thing she wanted to say to me, or why she wanted to see me. She died, and these questions could no longer be solved.

I still went to Qingle Palace, Nandi was not there, only a few palace concubines stayed to take care of the funeral for Tao Guifei, and the leader was Tingsheng. Now, she should be called Ling Guifei.

I looked around, but I couldn't see Tao Guifei's coffin, and all I saw was the newly hung white flags.

After being silent for a long time, I greeted with a blessing: "Ling Niang Wan Fu."

Seeing me, Tingsheng showed a clear smile, I couldn't laugh at the moment, indifferent, just looked at her. I don't know her well, she naturally doesn't have much to say to me, just explain simply, Tao Guifei has been buried, the front foot has just been sent to the imperial mausoleum, I arrived on the back foot, and I just missed it when I went out and went in.

I wondered why all this was done so vulgarly, as if waiting for a moment longer would not be allowed. Fortunately, relying on the kindness of the banquet ministers, Tao Guifei can still be buried in the imperial mausoleum, which is already a supreme honor for her, after all, the Tao family's crime is too big.

I followed behind Tingsheng and asked softly, "When Tao Niangzi left, who was there around?" Is it Tao Liulang, or Sister Tao? ”

Tingsheng shook his head and said: "Your Majesty saw that Tao Niangzi was seriously ill, regardless of the previous suspicions, Tekaien allowed her relatives to come to visit, but Tao Niangzi was stubborn, and she didn't see anyone, only shouting to see Princess Jing." It's a pity that Princess Jing, you came a step too late and couldn't do what she wanted. When Tao Niangzi left, His Majesty and the palace were not there, and Tao Niangzi walked coldly. ”

I was secretly surprised, hesitated for a moment, and then said: "That lady knows, when Tao Niangzi was dying, she deliberately announced that I entered the palace, she, but she left an explanation for me, do you still want me to convey something to whom on her behalf?"

Before Tao Guifei came, I was afraid that she was thinking of Princess Yanchen, but unfortunately Yanchen married Lu Guo far away, separated by thousands of mountains and rivers, and her flesh and blood were separated, and she would never see her again.

Tingsheng was stunned, and suddenly smiled: "I don't know, after all, this palace and Tao Niangzi don't have much affection, and they are not familiar enough to give me their last words, what does she want to say to you, how can she tell this palace." As for why she called the princess, you should be able to figure it out better than I do. ”

Yes, how could Tao Guifei say anything to Tingsheng's last words, and think about things that can be understood with her nose, why am I confused.

She'd want to see me, but it's not hard to explain. She'd said before that she treated me like a daughter. This time, she was critically ill, and her own daughter was not by her side, so she summoned me on her deathbed, probably to comfort the regrets in her heart. Although I couldn't see the last face, I really tried my best to get here, and it was worthy of the last trace of friendship between me and Tao Guifei. In any case, the deceased is gone, and there is no need to mention the past.

The room was deserted, plain and scorching, and I only felt a chill in my heart when I stayed here, and I didn't want to stay here for a moment.

I excused myself from Tingsheng and said, "Since everything is in order, it is useless to stay here without a deficiency, so I will not stay." Tao Niangzi's future affairs, I hope that Niangniang will work harder. ”

I want to go, listen to the sheng call me.

She whispered behind me, "You don't want to know what she has left for you."

I turned around and looked at her, "Didn't Ling Niangniang say that you weren't there when Tao Niangzi died, why did you know that she left an object?" ”

She smiled, bright and moving, and opened her teeth lightly: "You believe everything I say?"

What do you mean? I was puzzled.

She said calmly: "Your Majesty has allowed her to move to Qingle Palace to recuperate, and he must have come to see her. His Majesty gave her the last dignity, not because he still had affection and kindness for her, but because he did this, he was just acting for outsiders, so as not to tell the truth. When Tao Guifei left, His Majesty was there, and I was also there, but His Majesty refused to come in for fear of staying in the middle hall for bad luck, but I was there. ”

As soon as she finished speaking, she walked slowly to the candlestick, picked up scissors to cut off the long lamp, and said slowly: "At that time, it was only me and her in the whole room, and she hated me so much, naturally she refused to talk to me more." Tsk, she's dying, and she's still disgusted with me, refusing to open her eyes to me. I just want to find someone who can explain my last words, and it's pitiful to think about it. ”

But when I heard her, I only felt that she was hiding words in her words, and she didn't say what she was going to say. After standing for a long time, her legs were inevitably sore, so she found a random chair to sit down, and then asked someone to bring something covered in black cloth.

She glanced at me, gently twisted the cloth buckle with her slender hand, and slowly withdrew the cloth cover, and I saw the contents of the cloth cover, which turned out to be a pipa.

I recognized it as Tao Guifei's, and she said it was a birthday gift from Dong Jia.

Listening to Sheng's embrace of the pipa, he gently plucked the strings, his red lips moved, and he smiled: "Do you know, Tao Guifei was not actually sent to the imperial mausoleum, but smuggled to the Tao family cemetery, dug a pit at random and buried it." When she closed her eyes, she still begged His Majesty to let her be buried in the imperial mausoleum. It's ridiculous, His Majesty is disgusted with her, and he doesn't want her to dirty the place of Qingle Palace, let alone the imperial tomb. No matter how much she cried and prayed, His Majesty did not even look at her. In order to whitewash the façade, the person died, but I still asked me to preside over the funeral for her. Isn't it funny that Your Majesty actually made me, the most disdainful and hated Tao Guifei during her lifetime, a woman from Hualou to preside over the funeral arrangements for the high-ranking Tao Guifei? It's really ridiculous and ridiculous. It was me, watching her take her last breath, and it was also me, who listened to her last words. Do you want to know what she said? ”

I sneered, and I wanted to tell her out loud that I didn't want to know at all, it had nothing to do with me, I didn't have much friendship with Tao Guifei, and I went to visit her in the cold palace, just as a junior who had been rewarded by her in the past, and as a foreign proton who had been sincerely treated by her. Other than that, there is no more emotion. So what Tao Guifei said in the end, I don't have to know. And I'm not the one most qualified to know. I wasn't going to ask, but the deceased is the greatest, maybe Concubine Tao really has something to ask me to do. After thinking about it, I still opened my mouth and asked her: "What did Tao Niangzi say, was it for me or to whom did I pass it on?"

Tingsheng hooked his lips and smiled: "I thought you didn't want to know." But if you ask me, then I will answer you. It's also strange to say that Tao Guifei was arrogant and noble before her death, and no one looked down on her, but she looked at you differently. When she was dying, she did leave something for you. She said, I hope you will save it for her, and when you see Dongjia in the future, you will return this pipa to her. She also said that there will really be red snow in the world, and you can see it when you die. ”

I shuddered, what a creepy last word.

I condensed coldly and slowly stretched out my hand, "Since this pipa was given to me by Tao Niangzi, please leave it to me for safekeeping." ”

She didn't give it to me immediately, the smile gradually disappeared, and she looked down at the pipa, still reciting the words on it: "Seek kindness and be benevolent, and be obedient." Very sincere greetings, but unfortunately, none of them came true. ”

After the words fell, he handed me the pipa casually, and did not say a word to me again.

I've always thought Tingsheng was very special, but I couldn't tell what was so special about her, she rarely smiled, rarely spoke, always showed indifference, every time I saw her, her expression was very depressed. Especially when I saw Changji, I always revealed her sadness intentionally or unintentionally, I thought she liked Changji, but I had no evidence, and I also thought she liked Meng Jie, but I still had no evidence. At this moment, her eyes were as melancholy as ever, or rather sad.

I have wanted to ask her countless times how she entered the palace and became the concubine of the Southern Emperor, after all...... After all, she was once the smash hit Oiran of the Drunken Life Temple. In such an capacity, it is really incredible to enter the royal family. However, I don't have time to worry about other people's affairs at the moment.

I stood there with my lute, and this time she turned her back to me. Her clear voice was particularly ethereal in the large and spacious room. Before leaving, she said something that puzzled me: "If this lute is broken, what secret will it hide inside?"

I hugged the pipa tightly, and followed the waiter in the palm lamp with a restless heart, the four scenes were too dark, and the sky was particularly dark and gloomy. A cat suddenly jumped down from behind the rockery and pounced on me who was in a trance.

"Princess, be careful......"

I was horrified, so I subconsciously raised my hand to block it. Unexpectedly, I shook off the lute in my arms with too much force, and I fell to the ground with my foot down. The lute hit the rockery and fell to the ground, breaking two strings in an instant.

The chamberlain who held the lamp drove away the wild cats and rushed to help me in a panic, and I stroked my hand to signal that I didn't need to, and slowly got up to pick up the lute. As soon as I took a step, there was a paining pain in my ankle, and I endured the pain and bent down to reach the lute, and the clever little chamberlain picked it up first, wiped it with his sleeve before handing it back to me.

I was worried that the pipa would be too damaging, so I quickly asked the little chamberlain to bring the lamp closer and check it through the light. This time I checked, it was really broken, and cracks broke out on the edges of the pipa.

I stared at the cracks that had broken and felt something was wrong. Looking through the cracks, it seemed that there was something hidden in the lute.

"I have my father-in-law to guide me, and I am familiar with the rest of the road, so I don't have to bother my father-in-law anymore. Please come back first. ”

I immediately became vigilant, quickly covered the crack with my hand, and dismissed the chamberlain.

"The minion is gone."

……

When the chamberlain was far away, I couldn't wait to visit the pipa.

There seemed to be two pieces of paper hidden in the pipa, and I hesitated for a moment, but carefully extracted the paper. I hung the lantern near the treetops and opened the first scroll of paper by the light. It seems to be a map, which depicts the mountains and rivers of Nanzhan, and in the upper right corner is written "Nanzhan Kanyu". Could it be that this is the map of mountains and rivers that Tao Han secretly expanded. Mostly, yes.

The second sheet of paper opens to reveal a portrait of a beauty. The person painted on it is familiar to me no matter how I look at it, and I leaned close to the lantern to distinguish the eyebrows and eyes, this person looks like Wen'er.

No, how could Wen'er's portrait be collected by Tao Guifei. Moreover, the paper is yellowed, and at first glance it is very old, and Wen Er is about the same age as me, so he cannot be the person in the painting.

But if not Win, who would it be......