After the war began from outside the city, life in the palace became extremely difficult.

The three broken palace gates need to be guarded at all times, and Chu Jingchuan transferred most of the manpower in the palace, so many people outside the city have to squeeze in regardless of the danger and fight for their lives.

As the lord of the Six Palaces, Meng Xilan didn't want to watch the guards hurt the people, let alone make a mess in the palace.

As a last resort, Meng Xilan had no choice but to retreat and give up all the palaces in the outer imperial city, and everyone retreated to the inner palace palace, and they were all concentrated near the East Palace here.

For some reason, the people of the city thought that the palace was safer than the outside, and they flocked to it, and when they found a place, they hid themselves, even in dark and damp corners.

In just two days, nearly 200 people poured into the capital.

Day and night, smoke can be seen rising in the distance.

It was the fire where the people kept warm, the firewood they brought from outside the palace, and even coal.

They lived in the palace, completely ignoring the rules of the palace.

Every time Xiao Chunzi followed the guards to receive supplies, she looked at the people walking back and forth in the palace, and she was angry.

It's a palace, but now it's a vegetable market.

Chu Jingchuan was dedicated to preparing for the war, but he did not forget Meng Xilan, he arranged for manpower to send things over every three days, and he tried his best to meet all her requirements.

Relying on this example, the days in the palace can still go on. There are not many concubines in the harem, and those who have been fortunate can only accept their fate now and follow the queen mother for a day. And those who have not yet been lucky, many people want to escape, but they can't.

Now there is no master and slave in this palace. A bowl of white porridge and a little greens, this is already the best food in the palace.

Meng Xilan instructed Baozhu to calculate the food carefully and not to waste it. At times like these, wasting food is killing people.

Meng Xilan's current situation is quite safe, the people in the palace dare not offend him, and the people outside the palace dare not touch her, because there is Chu Jingchuan behind her.

After all, she is the emperor's woman and Chu Jingchuan's woman.

Xiao Haruko watched the carriage come back all the way, and heard the sound of everyone's discussion from time to time.

"When is this, the demon queen still dares to live a pampered life! Iniquity, iniquity! ”

"Humph! What is she afraid of, she has Chu Jingchuan as her backer, and she doesn't even care about the emperor, she is simply not afraid of heaven and earth. ”

"The demon queen is the demon queen, and this age still has the ability......"

Xiao Chunzi heard them calling the queen mother one by one, and she was angry.

He couldn't help but stand on his heels, and glared at everyone angrily: "Who is the demon queen?" Without the queen mother's protection for you, you would have died long ago, and you would have died! ”

The others were stunned by his roar, and they all retreated to dodge, and then scolded in their hearts: "Hmph! Gelding, fox fake tiger mighty thing! ”

Xiao Chunzi held his stomach and returned to Cining Palace, he didn't want to show anything in front of his master, but how could he hide it from Meng Xilan's eyes.

"Something happened out there again?"

Koharuko shook her head: "It's okay, nothing." ”

Meng Xilan said lightly: "Did you hear any bad news?" ”

Xiao Chunzi waved her hand again and again: "No, there is no news outside the palace." ”

Now that the jewel has also been trained, his heart is as careful as a hair, so he reproached softly: "Don't hide something from your master, so as not to delay the big thing." ”

Xiao Chunzi was helpless, so she had to tell the truth: "The slave just heard that the people outside were disrespectful to the queen, so he was a little breathless!" ”

Meng Xilan had actually guessed seven or eight points in her heart.

The capital is in chaos with this virtue, everyone is in danger, and the hearts of the common people are hateful and resentful, and they always have to find someone to scold to relieve their anger.

"These people don't know how to be grateful!" Koharuko couldn't help but curse again.

Meng Xilan glanced at him and said lightly: "Thanksgiving? What have we done to be grateful to them? ”

Xiao Chunzi was stunned when she heard this, and she was speechless for a while.

Meng Xilan took a deep breath and said: "Today's Beiyan, the country is not a country, and the family is not a family, and it is natural that they hate me very much in their hearts. ”

Baozhu sighed softly: "The slaves also feel that they hate the wrong person. The rebel is a general. ”

The corners of Meng Xilan's mouth pursed an arc that seemed to be nothing.

"Not so long ago, he was a hero that everyone feared. And now he's still ...... It's just that I was fascinated by my demon queen for a while, and I committed such a big crime! ”

"Mother......" Baozhu couldn't bear to hear such words from her mouth.

Meng Xilan had a calm face: "This is the reality." Everybody made a good excuse for them, and when a woman gets into trouble, she deserves it. ”

From the moment Zhou Youchen ascended the throne, she was called the "Demon Queen", it is never wrong for men to love the right to stack, but women must not be ambitious, otherwise, it is a great crime.

This is true of the human heart, and so is the way of the world.

Meng Xilan looked out the window, her eyes were slightly dim, but she could actually see everything clearly.

Song Qing'er now lives with Meng Xilan, and she works with her, only hoping that her daughter can be safe.

"Niangniang, I'm really worried now, if things change, will Chu Jingchuan take my sister as a hostage?"

It's not appropriate to stay in the palace, but staying in the Chu family may not be really safe.

Meng Xilan only smiled lightly when she heard this. "Chu Jingchuan wouldn't do that."

"Niangniang......" Song Qinger had something to say, but she wanted to say it and stopped.

"He has a better choice in his hands, and I am the best hostage."

Meng Xilan dispelled Song Qing'er's uneasiness with one sentence.

For the emperor, Meng Xilan is the most important.

…

After another three days, Chu Jingchuan and Zhou Youchen fought again, this time the two sides still fought hard for three days and three nights, Chu Jingchuan once again had the upper hand, but the emperor suffered heavy losses.

Two thousand were killed and hundreds wounded, and the two sides again ceased fighting.

I heard that there is a wailing at the gate of the city every day, those are the relatives and friends of the dead soldiers, and there are dead people outside every day, but they don't know that their relatives are still there?

This kind of crying does not stop during the day and at night.

The situation in the city is getting worse and worse, there is a shortage of supplies, and people are uneasy.

Chu Jingchuan's victory seemed to have come to no avail, because no one would cheer for his victory.

The people were starving and cold, so that the epidemic disease was on the rise again.

Jiao Changqing had to go out of the palace to administer medicine, and he sent people to set up tents on both sides of the street, and there were people who specialized in boiling decoction and medicine, so that the whole street was filled with a strong smell of traditional Chinese medicine.

Chu Jingchuan won a victory for himself, but no one congratulated him.

The chaos in the city gave him even more headaches.

He led his troops down the street, and all he saw along the way were panicked faces, either yellow and thin, or blank eyes.

When he returned to Beijing, everyone regarded him as a "great hero", an invincible god of war, but now they look at him with fear in their eyes and regard him as a plague god.

Chu Jingchuan frowned slightly, and came to the palace gate with a gloomy face.

The scene of defeat in the palace was even more unexpected to him. It seems that Wei Feng didn't completely tell him the truth, and the situation here is not much better than outside.

Before Chu Jingchuan came to see Meng Xilan, he had only one thought in his heart.

He wanted to see her, no matter what she said. There was a big gap in his heart that only she could fill for herself.

When Chu Jingchuan came to Cining Palace, Meng Xilan was copying Buddhist scriptures.

Chu Jingchuan came slowly, with a cold air.

Meng Xilan didn't have to look back, she knew that he was here.

The people in the palace are not as heavy and heavy as the footsteps.

"You still believe in Buddhism?" Chu Jingchuan asked in a low voice.

Meng Xilan paused in her hand, hesitated for a moment, and then put down the brush.

"No, if you don't find something to do now, this palace will drive people crazy."

After she said this, she turned to face Chu Jingchuan.

The moment the two looked at each other, their eyes sank, as if they were slightly surprised.

Chu Jingchuan's face was full of murderous aura, a distorted expression that could only be seen on the battlefield.

Meng Xilan's eyebrows moved, and she lowered her eyes and asked, "Why did the general enter the palace?" ”

Chu Jingchuan took a deep breath, stretched out his hand and said, "I'll come to see you." ”

Meng Xilan stretched out her hand without hesitation and shook it lightly with him.

One is soft, the other is rough, but it is the same cold and cold.

"You've suffered these days." Chu Jingchuan said lightly.

Meng Xilan looked out the window: "Right now, there are more people outside who work harder than me, so don't mention it." ”

"The prince is ......" Chu Jingchuan deliberately mentioned the prince, deliberately halfway through the conversation, waiting for her reaction.

Meng Xilan knew that he would question this matter, so she said bluntly: "I don't know where he is." ”

Chu Jingchuan let go of her hand when he heard this, then held her shoulder, and said in a serious tone: "Is it worth it?" You have destroyed this palace for his sake. ”

Where did that fire come from, he never traced it to the end, and the matter seemed to be over.

Meng Xilan didn't speak, just looked at him quietly.

Any words would become explanations, and he didn't need her explanations.

"That's it, don't mention it." Chu Jingchuan sighed and took a long breath.

His eyes deepened, and he looked at her fixedly, and then said half-loudly: "There is no news of the prince in the city, which means that he is still fine." ”

No news is good news.

Meng Xilan nodded slightly, still silent. When she saw that he was still wearing heavy armor, she stretched out her hand and said, "It's rare for you to come here, so it's better to wear it lightly." ”

Chu Jingchuan seemed a little wary and shook her hand.

Meng Xilan said lightly: "Everyone in this palace is in danger, and no one is your opponent." ”

Meng Xilan took him to the side hall to rest, which surprised him a little.

"Why not the main hall?"

Meng Xilan pondered for a moment before saying, "Because Zhulu's ashes are there." ”

Chu Jingchuan paused, raised his eyes to look at her, and looked a little helpless.

"I didn't expect Wei Feng to be so heavy!"

I don't know...... Without his permission, how could Wei Feng dare to touch her people easily.

Hearing this, Meng Xilan took a step forward and staggered slightly with him: "No matter what, Zhulu is already dead." No one can get her life back. ”

Chu Jingchuan looked at her back and silently removed his armor and the sword at his waist.

"Wei Feng hates me so much, you know?"

Meng Xilan heard the movement behind her, so she turned her head again and continued: "And the reason why he hates me is because of you. ”

Chu Jingchuan frowned slightly, as if he was puzzled.

"His admiration for you is above all else." Meng Xilan didn't say it too clearly.

"He's just loyal."

Meng Xilan glanced at him quietly, only to feel that he didn't understand at all.

Chu Jingchuan didn't want to talk about other people's business, he reached out to hug her in his arms, reached out to caress her back, and said in a deep voice: "You know what? I've won this battle! ”

His tone rose slightly, with irrepressible excitement. That's the excitement of being a winner.

Meng Xilan was motionless when she heard this, her heart sank little by little, and she was about to speak, but she heard Chu Jingchuan say again: "If one day, I come to see you with Zhou Youchen's head, will you hate me?" ”

Meng Xilan's whole body froze, her eyes were silent, and she took the initiative to avoid this question.

Chu Jingchuan hugged her arms and secretly tightened, and asked again: "You won't choose the weak." Whoever wins in the end deserves it all, so you don't hate me, do you? ”

Meng Xilan was a little out of breath, and slowly spoke: "I won't hate you...... I'll resign myself to my fate. ”

Life...... The word, coming out of her mouth, sounded so incredible.

Chu Jingchuan let go of her suddenly, stared at her eyes, looked at her for a long time, and then asked, "If I win is fate, what if Zhou Youchen wins?" ”

Meng Xilan looked at the stubbornness and uneasiness in his eyes, and sighed secretly, no matter who wins or loses, it is fate for her, she can only accept it, and then let it be, isn't it?

"If you lose, it's my doom! Shizukawa, how can I lose you again? ”

This may be the most affectionate thing she has ever said to him in her life. He will definitely be moved, but what he doesn't know is that this is a lie, a lie with poison in every word.

Chu Jingchuan was really moved, and he hugged her into his arms again, extremely gentle, as if she was a fragile baby.

Meng Xilan was docile and cooperative, and even when he lifted her face and looked at her, tears slowly fell from her eyes.

This night, Chu Jingchuan stayed.

He seemed desperate to prove something, or maybe he just needed her obedience to give himself confidence.

Before dawn, Chu Jingchuan left, he walked in a hurry, as if something military was happening.

Meng Xilan had been pretending to be asleep, and only opened her eyes when there was no sound behind her.

She sat up quietly, instructed the jewel to prepare hot water, and continued to copy the scriptures as if nothing had happened.

As she wrote, her cuffs accidentally got ink on them, staining the half-copied paper.

Baozhu snorted softly: "It's a pity ......"

Meng Xilan frowned, and only threw the brush down: "If it's dirty, it's dirty, there's nothing to be sorry for." You can take it and throw it away. ”