The bean bamboo lamp swayed gently, reflecting Yujing's cheeks becoming more and more pale. Today, some plum blossom cakes were made in the Lantai Palace, and the palace maids and eunuchs could get a copy, so everyone gathered outside the small kitchen to wait in line, and only Yujing sat here alone.

She* used a small silver hairpin to pluck the candle flame in front of her, as if it was not a flame, but a living life, a life that could be decided by her.

Occasionally, she would poke the flame until it was faint, and then the dying flame would come back to life.

Yu Jing held her face with one hand and stared blankly at the light in front of her.

There was silence around her, but her heart was turbulent, outside the Qixiang Gate during the day, every word Chu Ping said to her was still vivid, and Chu Ping's face was still jumping in front of her eyes. The candle flame was so bright, just like Chu Ping's eyes, he stared at her, and kept yelling at her: "Yujing, I love you, I love you!" ”

Yu Jing covered her face in pain, her hand shook, and the silver hairpin suddenly fell to the ground. The flame of the bean bamboo lamp was extinguished, and it turned into a wisp of white smoke and dust.

She bent down to pick up the hairpin, the door suddenly opened, she raised her head, and saw Shen Yunzhen walking in.

Yu Jing hurriedly stood up and saluted her respectfully: "Slave Yu Jing see Concubine Chen." ”

Shen Yunzhen was holding a plate of hot plum blossom cake in her hand, and the freshly cooked pastry was full of refreshing sweet fragrance. The five-petal flower cake is decorated with candied coconut shreds, like a golden stamen in the heart of the flower.

"Everyone went to get the pastries, why didn't you go?" Shen Yunzhen put the pastry on the table and sat down.

Yu Jing shrank her hand and stood aside without speaking, and Shen Yunzhen smiled at her again: "You sit down." ”

Yu Jing responded, and sat beside Shen Yunzhen obediently, Shen Yunzhen pushed the plate of plum blossom cake in front of her, and said to her softly: "Listen to Qingluo, you have refused to eat since you came back from Qixiangmen, and the palace specially brought a snack, you can taste it, is it the chef of the Xu Mansion who did a good job, or the imperial chef in the palace who did a good job." ”

"Yes," Xu Yu replied quietly, twisting a piece of pastry to eat.

This pastry is soft, the rice is ground into rice milk, mixed with some glutinous rice flour and then steamed in the basket, so it has this soft and chewy taste. There was a sweet and sour cherry filling in the middle, and she bit hard, chewing wax with every bite.

"Yujing, how are you talking today?" Shen Yunzhen asked suddenly.

Xu Yujing was stunned for a moment, slowly put the dim sum on the small green plate, she lowered her head, and refused to speak for a long time.

"Did he embarrass you?" Shen Yunzhen asked her again.

Yu Jing shook her head at first, and then nodded again. Maybe Chu Ping's words were more terrible than difficult for Xu Yujing, but her way of wanting to speak and stopping really made Shen Yun really unable to figure it out.

After a while, Xu Yujing looked up at her in a daze: "Niangniang, save Yujing." ”

"How?" Shen Yunzhen's eyebrows trembled slightly, and she was a little stunned: "How do you want this palace to save you?" ”

"Let Yujing go back to Qingxi Village, back to the place where Yujing lived when she was a child." She looked at Shen Yunzhen, her eyes almost pleading sincerely.

"What the hell is going on? What did Chu Ping tell you? Did he beat you or scold you, or did he threaten you? Shen Yunzhen stroked Yu Jing's hand, and couldn't help comforting her: "You don't have to be afraid, there is this palace, and this palace will make decisions for you." ”

"Yes......" Yu Jing hesitated for a while, after all, it was difficult to speak.

Chu Ping's words really shocked her, she was so flustered, she was dizzy, and she didn't know where to go.

She really couldn't speak, and finally shook her head heavily: "Niangniang, don't ask the slave maid, the slave begs you." ”

Shen Yunzhen frowned slightly, Chu Ping had asked Nan Jingpei about Yu Jing's situation, and there was a lot of pity and admiration in his words, thinking that Chu Ping would not be embarrassed to see Yu Jing.

"Mother, will you forgive someone who almost killed you?" Xu Yujing looked at her sadly.

Shen Yun really stared at her for a while, and finally shook her head. Xu Yujing sneered: "Look, you won't choose to forgive, this is human nature, and slaves and maids won't choose to forgive." ”

Shen Yun really sighed shallowly, stroked Yu Jing's shoulder and said, "This palace doesn't want you to forgive him, this palace just wants to teach you how to love yourself and how to face yourself." ”

Xu Yujing stared at Shen Yunzhen, and heard her say again: "Love and hatred are all a person's most instinctive emotions, and there is no right or wrong. So you can't be controlled by others all your life, you have to have your own choices, your own attitude, you know? ”

"I don't understand, do you mean I didn't do anything wrong?" Xu Yujing looked at Shen Yunzhen blankly, her eyes were even clearer than clear water.

Shen Yunzhen suddenly felt that she was a little pitiful, she was already at the age when she should get married, but she had to be like a child who had started to learn to be a person again.

"This palace is saying that if you hate him for bullying you, you should cheer up and get back what you have lost from him, and if you don't hate him, or even have some liking for him, you can also choose to be with him and let him do everything he can to make it up to you. Love or hate, or disregard, all of these should be decided by you. You must come out with an attitude, and you must not be ambiguous to pass the level, otherwise you will be crushed by the chariots of various forces. ”

She gently stroked Xu Yujing's cheek: "This is the Qi Palace, the center of power and interests of Great Qi, everyone has a clear goal, maybe the means are not clever enough, but they will not lose themselves." If you want to survive in such an environment, you must first know what you want. ”

Xu Yujing nodded as if she didn't understand, her eyes fell on the plate of plum blossom cakes that had been placed a little cold, and Chu Ping's face appeared in front of her again.

"Can Yujing choose to go back to Qingxi Village?"

"You want to choose to escape?" Shen Yunzhen shook his head: "You are the second lady of the Xu family, and now you are on the chariot of the Xu family's struggle for power, the wheels are rolling, and there is no room for you to jump out of the car and escape." ”

Maybe Shen Yunzhen is right, Mrs. Xu hates her to the core, and Xu Yongchang has high expectations for her. Xu Yongchang will not allow her to escape, and Mrs. Xu will not allow her to be better.

Xu Yujing was silent for a long time, and then muttered to Shen Yunzhen: "The slave doesn't know her own heart, why don't you choose one for me?" ”

This time it was Shen Yunzhen's turn to be silent, where could someone else make the decision for her in this kind of thing?

Xu Yujing propped her head again, staring blankly at the bean bamboo lamp that had been extinguished.

Poor girl, Shen Yunzhen sighed and stood up and walked out the door: "You think about it slowly, tell Bengong when you think about it, and Bengong will do its best to help you." ”

Shen Yunzhen walked out of Yujing's room, and saw Liu Eryue hurriedly walking into the Lantai Palace, and when she saw Shen Yunzhen standing under the corridor in the courtyard, she greeted her.

"Master, the emperor has something to do tonight, so I can't tell Donglai to spread the word, so tell the master to rest early."

Shen Yunzhen looked out the door, Donglai had already left, she hummed indifferently, and asked Liu Eryue again: "Do you know what is going on?" ”

Liu February: "It seems that there was a word from Guan Yi, saying that the envoy of Lu State was beaten on the street. ”

"What?" Shen Yunzhen raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Well, I was beaten, I heard that the beating was quite serious, and my nose and face were swollen and I broke two ribs." Liu February's words changed sharply, and he said: "Their people called the officers and soldiers, but I heard that the officers and soldiers did not arrest a single murderer, and the people in the entire wine shop dispersed in a hurry. ”

"The envoys of the State of Lu now insist that someone is planning to beat him, and the emperor has sent a few imperial doctors to visit, but he refuses to cooperate with the diagnosis and treatment." Liu Eryue shook his head helplessly: "Niangniang, do you say that this envoy of the Lu State is crazy, he obviously knows that this is an emergency, how can he insist that it has been planned for a long time?" ”

Liu Eryue frowned, in her opinion, this envoy of Lu State is simply sacrificing the big and taking the small, Lu Guo declared war on Daqi, standing at a moral disadvantage, and he himself took the opportunity of being beaten to play the weak victim, in a vain attempt to create a little public opinion.

Shen Yunzhen was silent for a long time: "Then what did the emperor say?" ”

"Your Majesty?" Liu February's shook his head: "The slave forgot to ask, Donglai looked very anxious, so the slave let him go first." ”

Shen Yun nodded and turned to see Xu Yujing standing at the door not far away, looking at them.

"Let's go to the imperial study and have a look." Shen Yunzhen said, and instructed Liu Eryue to take hot refreshments from the small teahouse, put them in a small food box and hold them, and a master and a servant went to the imperial study to eavesdrop on them under the pretext of sending refreshments.

Shen Yunzhen changed into the clothes of a palace maid, without fat powder, without makeup. She asked Liu February, standing outside the hall to wait, and she pushed the door and walked in.

Nan Jingpei was in a stalemate with several deputy envoys from Lu Guolai, and when he saw Shen Yunzhen coming in, he suddenly became a little distracted.

Shen Yun was really blessed and said to him: "Your Majesty, Concubine Chen asked the slave maid to bring you some refreshments." ”

Nan Jingpei came back to his senses and looked at several deputy envoys of Lu Guo in the hall, Shen Yunzhen did not go out, and stood beside Nan Jingpei by himself.

The deputy envoy of the State of Lü continued: "Although the State of Lü has severed diplomatic relations with the Great Qi, the envoys of the State of Lu are still in the territory of the Great Qi, and even in the capital of the Great Qi State were beaten so badly, is it a coincidence? Would ordinary people have such courage? Didn't the officer who sat idly by deliberately cover up? Shouldn't the Emperor of Great Qi give me a reasonable explanation for the envoys of the Lu State? ”

He said four times in a row, as if it were all ridiculous.

Nan Jingpei looked at them indifferently, and said slowly: "I have already sent someone to investigate, this brawl is an accidental drunken dispute, this is one; Ordinary people don't know the identity of the envoys of Lu State, so they dare to add their fists and feet, which is two; After the brawl broke up, who could be sure who was the murderer, and since the envoys didn't know who the murderer was, how could they talk about covering up? It's three; As for the explanation, Daqi has broken off diplomatic relations with the Lu State, and I, Daqi, no longer have the obligation to protect the envoys of the Lu State, and I have no obligation to give you any explanation. ”

Deputy Envoy Lu's face suddenly turned red, and he glared at Nan Jingpei: "You! ”