The queen had struggled, and she even thought about running away with the pothos, even if Xiliang didn't exist yet. But looking at the layers of heavy soldiers inside and outside the palace, she was desperate, she knew that he would not let her return to Xiliang in his life. Although she was unwilling, she had already accepted that the desolate palace would eventually trap her in a cage, and that ruthless person would eventually become her shackle, this was her mission, and it was the fate that the princess could not escape.

We originally planned to go to Chongyang City, but someone spread the word that His Majesty Zixu was seriously ill, and now his life is dying and dying, so please ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to return to the palace, maybe it will be the last time.

The prince kept saying that he hated His Majesty, but when he heard that His Majesty was dying, his expressionless face gradually appeared worried and uneasy. Who's to say it's not, after all, blood is thicker than water, and this is a fact that no one can change.

Mama told me that once I went this time, the prince was afraid that he would not come back. I asked her why, Mama said that if this time to return to heaven then the crown prince will definitely inherit the throne, if God opens his eyes to let His Majesty get through, then the prince will never be able to get out of his body again, His Majesty is already old, his health is not as good as before, and the affairs of the court and China are becoming more and more heavy, and the prince will stay in the palace with a soft heart.

The night before he went back, the prince was no longer in the mood to stroke the qin, and the person holding the qin with both hands was replaced by me, the teacup was replaced by a wine glass, and the plum tea was replaced by warm wine. The moonlight is bright, the stars are dotted, and from time to time a cool breeze drives away a little bit of heat on people, and the full moon should have been spent tonight, but people's mood is not good.

Every sound of the piano is a mouthful of turbid wine roaring, and when the sound of the piano ends, the wine jug bottoms out.

The rest of the moonlight hit the man's face, and the handsome side face was anxious and sad that could not be hidden, and I would not persuade anyone to sit on the side. He lifted his glass and drank it down, placing it heavily on the table, looking up at me with bloodshot eyes, "How about a meeting with me?" ”

He said something that should have been taken for granted, but he said it was a bit far-fetched, and I should have gone back with him, but it was only because many things were delayed to this day.

"If it weren't for His Majesty's serious illness, His Highness would also return to Zixu?"

"Yes!" He said it lightly without hesitation at all, but it gave a sense of seriousness.

"If I return to Zixu, how does Your Highness plan to hide my identity?" I asked him through the jade qin.

"As long as you go back with me, you don't have to worry about it."

So, we embarked on the road of returning to Zixu. The topography of the Zixu boundary is very different from that of Tianyue, and the green hills here stretch for thousands of miles, one after another, with green trees, and there is an indescribable void in the look.

When he was about to reach Zixu, the prince lifted the curtain of the carriage and pointed to the black dense forest in the distance, and said to me that it was called the Resentful Forest, which was a labyrinth that swallowed people, and legend has it that it was full of wild ghosts and wolves, and no one who entered it could come out alive. A long time ago, there was a bold strong man who was not afraid of death, and led dozens of people with bows and arrows on his back, and carried a big knife and rushed inside.

"And then?" I listened attentively, and felt a chill run through my back, but I still wanted to hear it.

"And then?" He raised an eyebrow, "And then the strong man is gone." ”

"Then the government doesn't care?" I pressed on.

"No matter how powerful the government is, it's just an ordinary man, how can ordinary people fight these cows, ghosts, snakes, and gods, whoever they want will want their life."

Wouldn't he be able to take His Majesty's life? It turns out that there are people in this world who are more powerful than Your Majesty.

I gently pulled open the curtain and looked at the frightening woods, there was really not a single crevice, what was hidden in it, was it the hearts of the people or was there something else inside? Looking at the dense forest that was gradually moving away from me, I couldn't help but feel a little timid, thinking that if I got lost in it, I really wouldn't be able to come back. In fact, the grievance forest is like a palace, it is a dark palace that devours people, and once it falls in, it will no longer be able to escape.

Along the way, the prince was urging the coachman to speed up the horsewhip, and we arrived in the evening of the previous day, which had been a two-day journey. I pulled the curtain and looked at everything here, it was really the same as the rumors, the streets were very lively, there would be a red lantern hanging at every intersection, there were vendors selling food everywhere calling, the folk customs were very simple, the adults led the children, the children led the elderly, the kind steamed bun shop owner would give the leftover steamed buns to the beggars, and the beggars smiled and thanked them.

Everything seemed to be so happy, the carriage drove through the East Street, the curtains of the carriage were unintentionally blown by the wind, how could the back of the man with his hair tied and his dark blue clothes on the side of the road look so much like him? The figures and movements were so similar that by the time I tried to open the curtain to see clearly, the man was long gone, and I looked around, but there was no one I wanted to see among the people who came and went. After losing his mind, he slowly lowered the curtain, and couldn't help but laugh at himself a little, how could he be here, how could he come to me, we had already made it clear when I left, we had ended a long, long time ago.

"See an acquaintance?"

"No, I read it wrong."

Is he doing well in Tianyue now, maybe he has forgotten me, maybe he will marry soon.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince settled me in the East Palace and entered the palace alone to meet His Majesty, the East Palace is very large and there are many houses, but there are very few people, in addition to Mama, there are two maids, plus me and Mo'er, a total of five people. I thought that the crown prince would stay in the palace for one night, but I didn't expect to come back in less than a quarter of an hour, saying that His Majesty's health was not as serious as the father-in-law who sent the message said, but the recurrence of the old disease was not life-threatening. When he said this, he was not angry at all, but he couldn't help but want to laugh, the king of a country is not omnipotent, and sometimes there is a lot of helplessness, even if he wants to see his son, he has to use lies.

When the prince returned, he was followed by many retinues, and they did not enter the East Palace or stayed outside the main hall. As the sky gradually darkened, we had dinner together in the East Palace, and the prince said that Zixu's night was particularly beautiful, and the street was very lively, and that he knew the owner of the piano shop and could choose a good guqin for me.

At night, the red lanterns at the corner of the street are lit up, and from a distance they look like red persimmons in our sky, although they are not very bright, but they can illuminate everyone's way home.

After we came out of the East Palace, the guards followed us all the time, and they followed us wherever we went, even when we bought some small things. I don't know what the prince thinks in his heart, but others look at me and feel very uncomfortable, hiding his hand in his sleeve and keeping his head down and kicking the stone under his feet.

Halfway through, the crown prince finally couldn't bear it anymore, suddenly stopped, turned around and said impatiently, "Don't follow this prince anymore!"

Several guards knelt on one knee, their long swords standing on the ground, "Your Royal Highness the Prince, we are protecting you by His Majesty's will!" ”

The prince looked like he couldn't kill him, but he was always gentle and elegant, but now he had anger in his eyes, as if as long as the guards dared to take a step forward, he would bother to break his bones, raised his slender and bony fingers and pointed fiercely at the group of people kneeling on the ground, "I don't want to touch the people in the palace, get out of my acquaintance!" ”

It turns out that the milder the life, the more frightening it is.

"If you don't protect Your Highness, you will die, and now you will die if you go back to your life, and it is better for Your Highness to have a small life now!"

"You, such a loyal man, if you want to follow, follow it!" The fingers were retracted fiercely, and with a wave of his sleeve, he turned his head and walked away without hesitation.

I walked slowly behind the prince, the guards on both sides were really uncomfortable in the middle, and there were people calling for candy sellers on the street, and I looked at the tricks more than Tianyue, but I didn't know what it tasted like.

"Yun Ning!" I was stunned for a few moments and didn't keep up with the pace, the prince turned around and called me, he called me many times before I reacted, and I realized that my name was Yun Ning.

I walked over quickly, and the prince leaned over to me and asked, "What were you doing there just now?" ”

"It's okay, I just feel a little curious that I haven't been here."

He leaned over and whispered into my ear, "Do you want to run away?"

I was indeed taken aback, he was originally calm and turned out to be a child who had not grown up in his bones, "Run away? Does Your Highness mean to get rid of those guards? ”

"Hmm."

"Good!"

"In this way, I count to three, and we will run together, and we will not look back!"

He touched me with his arm, didn't dare to speak, signaled with his eyes that I was going to act, his lips opened slightly, and he counted weakly, "One, two, three, run!" ”

"Your Highness has run away, chase after you!"

We were like wild horses unleashed, like unsheathed bows and arrows, and suddenly disappeared, and we really didn't care about anything and ran out of control.

The guards were not fuel-efficient lamps, and chased and shouted with swords, and chased us through several alleys, and then we escaped by hiding in the inner room of the piano shop.

"They're gone, come out quickly!"

The boss of the piano shop is a slightly chubby middle-aged man, as soon as we go he catches up with a smiling face, the prince seems to have a good relationship with the boss, and the boss seems to know the identity of the prince, but there is no barrier between the two at all, and the relationship is like a friend for many years.

The boss looked me up and down, then shifted his gaze to the prince: "Childe hasn't been here for a long time!" ”

The prince smiled lightly: "It's been a while. ”

"Who is this?"

"Oh, a friend!"

I nodded politely to my boss, and he responded respectfully to me.

"It's been so long, it's time for Childe to find someone to talk to!"

It seems that the boss knows a lot about the prince's affairs, but a few simple words reveal a sense of vicissitudes, as if there is a story hidden behind every sentence.

The prince seemed to deliberately avoid the boss's question, and poked his head out to look at the guqin placed on the piano stand behind him, "How about the new qin?"

The boss led us over, and there were all kinds of guqins on the piano stand, each of which was engraved with large and small patterns, but they were all exquisite. The prince chose the best piano in the piano shop, which was made of the finest sandalwood, and the strings were more than tenacious, and each string was crossed with pure silver, which looked extraordinarily luxurious. Originally, I just wanted to buy a handful at will, but the prince said that the boss was an acquaintance, and the silver could be reduced, so the cheapness was not taken advantage of.

The water of the Li River is transparent and bright, the lanterns are reflected in the water and sparkling, the boatman is leisurely paddling at the stern, and the singer at the bow is singing a song I have never heard, although I don't understand it, I think it is very good.

We stood at the bow of the ship and looked at the prosperity of this world. After the prince stroked the qin, he said meaningfully, "Zixu is still the same as before." Suddenly, he turned his head and asked me, "What do you think of Zixu?" ”

"It's beautiful, it's brightly lit and busy!"

There are thousands of lights here, the people are simple, the neighbors settle down, there is no disobedience, even the palace is a place of right and wrong, there is no dispute, this is not the more the sky is not the more impossible to have.