Chapter 3: Reunion after a long absence

On November 19, Ni Tingxuan, the son of King Yan, returned to Beijing and entered the city to meet him.

On November 24, Concubine Lian Su Mi, who had escaped outside, also returned to the palace.

For the legend of this lotus concubine, everyone in the capital talks about it.

It is said that the palace where Concubine Lian lives is exactly a remote place closest to the cold palace in the harem, when the Liao army broke the city, the servants around her served in front, and got the news in time, this Concubine Lian is also a bold and decisive person, and immediately ran to the low wall in the east of the cold palace, and with the help of several loyal slaves, he climbed over the low palace wall, so as to escape from the palace and escape from the clutches of the Liao people.

This legend immediately became the most enthusiastic conversation among the people of the capital after dinner.

Everyone talked about it, and some people praised Concubine Lian for her alertness and quick opportunity. Some people also praised her simple and simple life, if it weren't for the fact that she was still not arrogant or impatient as the emperor's favorite concubine, living in a remote and simple palace, how could she escape in time at the last moment. Of course, there are also many people who talk about the palace concubines leaving the palace rashly, which hinders the etiquette and law, and they believe that the real chaste concubine should be like the queen, choosing to die in the whole festival, rather than escaping from the palace...... Such a discussion will immediately meet a more powerful refutation, if Concubine Lian was unhappy at that time, then what should His Royal Highness the prince do? So the masters, who were shouting the rites of chastity, were speechless.

At that time, the Liao army came too fast, and the vast majority of the palace people didn't even have time to react. It fell into the hands of the Liao. There are very few people who can escape from the palace, and the palace maids, internal eunuchs, and rough servants add up to less than a hundred, and Concubine Lian is the only concubine among these people. The rest of the concubines were either forced to commit suicide in the palace in order to preserve their chastity, or they stooped to serve the enemy and became the concubines of the Liao people.

The most commendable thing about Concubine Lian is not only her timely escape, but that she fled at the same time. The only royal lifeline in the Great Qi Palace, the only prince in the current emperor, was secretly taken out of the court. Only then did the precious royal bloodline of Daqi be preserved.

After Concubine Lian escaped from the court, she hid in the home of Liu Quan, the richest man in the capital, with her personal maid.

Liu Quan had a very close relationship with Concubine Lian because of his daughter Liu Concubine, so he risked his life to hide Concubine Lian and the palace people.

Finally, when the Great Qi was restored and the holy driver returned to Beijing, Liu Quan secretly reported the matter to the emperor, and it is said that Qi Long learned the news that his favorite concubine and the prince were fine. Dragon's face is happy. hurriedly ordered to prepare the car to drive, and welcomed Concubine Lian back to the palace with the etiquette of a noble concubine.

Liu Quan spared no effort to flatter the Liao army when it entered Beijing, and was originally despised by the scholars of the capital, but after playing a decisive role in the decisive battle of the recovery of the capital, all his previous acts of treason against the enemy became a kind of forbearance and humiliation. And this great merit is even more talked about by the people of Daqi.

And Liu Quan himself, because of this continuous credit. Not only did he have to be named the county uncle of Changwen County, and he was given the household department to walk, but even his wife was promoted to the second grade of Changjun County, and he was full of honor.

Because of the invasion of the Liao, the powerful and wealthy families withered away, and the Liu family rose rapidly. Since then, he has been among the first-class wealthy nobles.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

On the Xiangluan phoenix car with seven treasure glass beads, the breeze blows from time to time to lift the vermilion curtain into a slight gap, and the golden bell under the hem of the curtain makes a pleasant sound, and under the beautiful and loud background, the cold weather seems to have become cheerful.

The cold wind could not penetrate the thick satin curtain on the car, but only made it ripple slightly, and the morning light sprinkled on it was like flowing water, rippling with light. The palace car is still as luxurious and bright as in the past, but it is just a proclamation of the people and the people who drive the car. The one who stands. It's no longer familiar.

The palace gate is still as heavy and far-reaching as it was two years ago. It's just that there are mottled marks on it, like arrow thorns. It's like a knife cut, witnessing the wounds left by the war that has just passed.

Several craftsmen are busy in front of the palace gate, repainting the palace gate and carving the gold and jade beast decorations.

Those scars are not only engraved on the palace gate, but also deeply engraved on the hearts of the palace people, engraved on the people of the capital, I don't know how long it will be diluted and smoothed by the passage of time and daily busyness. It was as if several craftsmen in front of him were using tools to erase these scars one by one.

Su Mi recalled what she had just seen on the road.

Sitting in the car, she lifted the corner of the layers of palace satin, and through the bright light, she saw the crowd of people around her with strange faces, all of them standing around the official road, pointing and talking about the driver.

The capital of Daqi has always been a city full of prosperity and vitality, although it has suffered all kinds of pain in the two years since it fell into the flames of war, but it has begun to regain its vitality in less than two months after returning to its master.

The pedestrians and shops on the street are far less crowded than they were before the city was breached. But everyone's face began to be full of hope and expectation, and there was vitality in their demeanor.

No matter how the situation in the court and the world will change, as long as they have obtained peaceful days, as long as the war has been far away from their lives, they are satisfied.

She believed that with the passage of time, for this vibrant city, for this cold and indifferent palace, the wounds of war would eventually heal one day.

The palace gate is open, and the light car enters.

The harem of Daqi is still carved and jade, with red walls and vermilion eaves.

The car stopped at the Panlong Gate on the east side of the Qianqing Palace, and the new-faced eunuch stepped forward, respectfully beating a thousand, and then lifted the curtain of the car that had fallen into the glass pearl interval.

Mi Qing stretched out her hand, and Su Mi helped her wrist out of the car.

She looked up. I remember looking up at Liu Quan's mansion at noon. It's still a rare blue sky, deep and empty. But after driving all the way, when I arrived at the palace, the weather was gloomy again.

The white marble carved bricks under his feet have been cleaned to the ground white and crystalline, even during the New Year celebration in the palace, they have never been so clean. How many times did the palace people wash and clean up the traces of blood and fire for two whole years?

The heavy snow outside the palace has long since dissipated in the hot activities of the people in the capital. But the snow in the palace showed no sign of melting. Although the snow on the road was swept away, it was on the branches and eaves. Layers of snow still covered it, and countless Longtai Phoenix Pavilions were all laid with a layer of white. The pavilions and pavilions connected by these layers are as clean and quiet as the fairyland of Yaochi.

Seeing Su Mi's eyes fall on the snow in the distance, the clever eunuch hurriedly said: "Now there is a shortage of manpower in the palace, so the snow in the past few days has not been cleaned up so far, and the servants immediately urged them to ......"

"Don't be in a hurry," Su Mi looked at the sky and smiled faintly. "Looking at the weather, it's snowing again, so why bother cleaning now? It's a lot of work. ”

The snow was really cleaned, but what's underneath? Instead, it might as well be left in such a white place, as if no blood had ever flowed through this place.

"Yes, you are still thoughtful, considerate of our current ......"

"I don't know if my father-in-law is ......," Su Mi interrupted his flattery and asked.

"The small one is the newly appointed Du Danshun, who has just been valued by the emperor. Promoted to the head of the palace, the master, you call the slave Xiaoshunzi. Hearing Su Midi's question, the little eunuch replied smartly: "In the past, the slave was serving in the Heart Cultivation Palace, and I have seen you several times. Later, the barbarians who killed a thousand knives entered the palace, and the slaves were sent to the miscellaneous room to transport coal and go to work as coolies. Now I finally look forward to the emperor returning to the capital. Because there were no competent people around the emperor to serve, he transferred a few of us who had worked as errands in the Qianqing Palace before. ”

"Well," Su Mi nodded, it was indeed a little familiar, he must have seen it a few times before when he was serving in the Qianqing Palace.

"What about the former manager?" Su Mi asked nonchalantly.

"You mean Mr. Gao, he used to be able to eat well in the Liao people, but unfortunately, the Liao people didn't know what was wrong later, and they were crazy and gave a lot of palace people to ......" The little eunuch immediately cautiously lowered his voice. Said: "Speaking of which. It was when Ni Guifei had an accident. At that time, there was really a river of blood in the palace. Many of the palace maids in the inner prison ...... "When it comes to the situation at that time, the little eunuch still has palpitations, and his voice trembles a little unconcealedly.

Su Mi nodded and didn't speak, she knew that it was when the Liao people and Ni Yuan turned their faces, in order to completely eliminate the forces of Ni Yuan in the palace, it must have been another bloody purge that affected the whole city.

In this purge, how much of it relied on the information provided by Liu Quan and Mr. Ge secretly?

With the help of the hands of the Liao, Ni Yuan swept away the aristocratic forces of the Great Qi Gate Lords who were enemies of him, and cleared a smooth and clean road for his ambitions, while the same people used the hands of the Liaons to get rid of the dark line he arranged in the capital, which caused his broad road to deviate.

She remembered the day the city was broken, and remembered the terrible shouts, begging for them. How many days like this have you experienced in the past two years?

After all this, the palace is still as gorgeous as it used to be. Perhaps, no matter what kind of suffering, it has nothing to do with these glory and wealth, gold and silver treasures. Those who wept and hated all disappeared with the passage of time.

While speaking, Su Mi was already led by the inner supervisor and entered the gate of the Qianqing Palace.

She has already walked through countless roads and corridors, and she can walk down familiarly with her eyes closed almost at every turn, but now she has a strange feeling out of thin air, Su Mi even doubts that if she is alone on this road at this time, she will lose her way and find the right way forward.

The jade inlaid with the tip of the embroidered shoes and the dark blue bricks under the feet hit each other from time to time, making a light and crisp "clanging" sound, which seemed particularly remote under this quiet and gloomy corridor.

"Niangniang, the emperor is driving this time...... It's really hard, and since I returned to the palace, I have been in poor health. A few days ago, my body improved slightly, but after hearing the news that you were safe and sound the day before yesterday, I was happy for a while, so I went outside to take a break for a while, but I didn't expect to fall ill again when I came back......" Du Danshun beside him explained in a low voice all the way.

Sick? Is it because of the toil of the war? Or is it because of the irrepressible loss and pain in the heart? When a man full of self-confidence and pride is about to achieve what he thinks is the noblest goal, he finds that under his feet is a crumbling empty shelf, which cannot withstand the slightest touch.

That two levels of loss and blow......

Approaching the palace gate, a strong medicinal fragrance came out of the main hall. Su Mi's footsteps paused, and the inner supervisor beside him had already sung loudly: "Concubine Lian Niangniang has arrived!" ”

With this familiar voice, Su Mi stepped on the threshold of gold casting and walked into the dormitory of Qianqing Palace, which he had not seen for a long time.

The dormitory is still the appearance in the memory, the gold bricks in the hall are as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the floating life in the hall, the silk curtains on both sides fall idly on the ground, between opening and closing, faintly see the golden hook rippling and flickering in it. On the tables on either side, the candles on the carved gilt candlesticks still burn during the day. The silk and gold feather curtain behind him was half-rolled up, revealing the dressing mirror of the bronze carved phoenix, but because the light in the hall was too dim, the figures inside could not be seen clearly.

When the palace attendants saw Su Mi coming in, they hurriedly knelt down and saluted obediently, and their movements were swift and silent, silent and supple. Su Mi glanced at the faces below, most of them were newcomers, occasionally mixed with a few slightly familiar ones.

There were not only palace maids and eunuchs kneeling, but also a few white-bearded imperial doctors, and some of them were holding medicine boxes that they didn't have time to put down.

"Flatten. Su Mi said.

The palace people got up according to their words, and their actions were all cautious and without the slightest sound.

When did the originally magnificent and arrogant Qianqing Palace become so low-browed, quiet and introverted?

The hall, which should have been glorious, became gloomy and dull, as if it were a gloomy weather outside.

Maybe it's because the windows on both sides are tightly closed? Su Mi's gaze cast to the sides, where the windows were tightly sealed.

"Niangniang, the emperor's condition is not easy to blow ......the wind," the little eunuch next to him whispered.

Su Mi's gaze retracted and walked towards the inner hall.

"Is it Mi'er?" Qi Long's soft voice came from inside, "Come in." ”

The voice was familiar and unfamiliar, and there was something that even Su Mi couldn't grasp.

She walked through the layers of silk curtains and approached the dragon couch.

Between the opening and closing of the bucket tent of the golden thread red luo, Qi Long's face was revealed. It was a miserable white face, and Su Mi instantly suspected that what he saw in front of him was not the high-spirited young emperor, but an old man who was about to die.

This is the husband and emperor she hasn't seen for two years.

She settled down and walked to the bed.

Qi Long was lying on the bed in a single coat of white ayazi, his face was as pale as paper, and the white silk on his body almost became the same color, there was no difference, his lips were dry, the corners of his lips were chapped, only his eyes still had a little brilliance, but with a kind of lonely desolation and deep fog.

is still the handsome face that the beauties of the six palaces admire, but the arrogance and determination in it are gone, and only the paleness and confusion that cannot be concealed remain, making him look more like an empty ghost.

For no reason, Su Mi reflected another face in her heart, it was Wei Qing'er's face, the same coldness and loss, the same silence like flying ashes, the same withering like despair. It's like a flower that has been bookmarked, and although it is still colorful, it lacks the moisturizing moisture and fresh soul in it.

She was amazed at how similar these two faces were。.。

For more hand-typed full-text chapters, please go to [Shen-Ma] [-Net] to read, address: