Chapter 55: Prison Together
Chinese The cold cell was roasted by the brazier, which not only brightened up, but also warmed up a lot.
Looking at Lou Yue, who appeared in the cell in the middle of the night, Su Liuying thought that she was dazzled, and rubbed her eyes for a while, until she was coldly glared at by him, and she came back to her senses.
never thought that the first person to come to see him would be him. After the prison officer retreated, Lou Yue had no intention of leaving, his eyes turned slightly in the cell, and finally landed on Su Liuying, who was curled up in the corner, and his brows were almost inaudiblely tightened.
Encountering his gaze, Su Liuying stammered for a moment, and finally said softly
"Thank you for coming to see the slave maid......"
"Li Xiu has agreed to give marriage. Spring...... will marry Rong Qing......" Lou Yue turned sideways and said casually, but Yu Guang looked at the look on Su Liuying's face, and there was a stake in his heart, and the unspeakable taste made him hesitate to speak.
Even though she had already expected this result, Su Liuying's heart was still torn and painful - even if she knew that she had no chance with Li Xiu in this life, but now that she heard that he was finally going to marry another woman, her dead heart was still torn apart...... Seeing the dead silence in her eyes, Lou Yue felt a pain in her heart and blurted out
"He agreed to this business for you!" As soon as the words came out, Su Liuying looked up at him in a daze-he, was he comforting himself?
Looked at by her inquiring gaze, Lou Yue seemed to be spied on by her, and couldn't help but blush, but his expression became more and more cold and detached.
Su Liuying's tears finally flowed, she didn't want Lou Yue to see her cowardly appearance, so she lowered her head and choked up
"Thank you, Lord Shizi, for informing me. It's late at night, please go back! In fact, according to Lou Yue's identity, there is no need for him to come to such a place in person.
She only needs to ask Nanshan to come to the cell once, and she can help her take care of everything. But he just wanted to look at her, to see if she was okay?
But now that he saw her, he should have left with confidence, but when he was stepping, he saw her alone in this cold cell, and he couldn't move his steps.
Not only did he not leave, he took two steps closer, and when he saw the wound on her palm that was pierced by sharp scissors, his eyes sank, and the next moment, he lifted his robe and squatted in front of her, stretched out his hand and said coldly
"Give it to me!" Su Liuying didn't understand what he was going to do, but she still stretched out her hand. Lou Yue took out the handkerchief on her body and helped her bandage her wounds without blinking.
Su Liuying saw his handkerchief, and hurriedly withdrew his hand and said in fear
"The prince's veil is too valuable, just use the slave's own veil." After speaking, she hurriedly took out her handkerchief from her arms, and was stunned when she handed it to the air.
The handkerchief she was wearing was the one she had tricked Lou Yue into throwing before! This handkerchief has been kept by her and has not been used again, probably because she is worried about Li Xiu's condition in the past few days, and she is restless, so she actually brought this one to her body when she took the change of handkerchief.
was caught on the spot, Su Liuying's pale face turned red, and she wanted to silently take back the 'incriminating evidence', but was caught by Lou Yue.
"How should you be punished for the crime of deception?" Lou Yue said coldly while methodically helping her bandage her wounds.
The light of the fire in the brazier shone on his half-drooping face. I don't know if it's the warmth of the lights or Su Liuying's illusion, she actually feels that Lou Yue at this moment, although her words are cold, her face is extremely warm.
He still took his own handkerchief to bandage her wounds, but Su Liuying's handkerchief was taken away by him and put it away in his arms.
"Lord Shizi...... The slave's handkerchief ......" Su Liuying thought that the handkerchief was already old, and she could make another one for him, so she should make amends.
However, before she could speak, Lou Yue said coldly
"This is evidence that you deceived this son of the world - confiscated!" His palm was warm and generous, and when he held her hand, a warmth spread from her fingertips all over her body, shaking her cold heart, her nose was sore, and tears were about to flow again.
Everything that happened tonight, not only did Daddy be wronged and Li Xiu's marriage made her feel sad, but also her heart was pierced when she saw Emperor Huicheng and Queen Lou's care for Princess Rongqing.
The moment she was locked in the cell, she thought sadly that when she was most sad and desperate, no one in this world would come to her side to accompany her, comfort her, and give her the courage to live.
She was alone in this terrible abyss, with no hope in sight...... I didn't expect Lou Yue to come! He brought her a brazier and a quilt, helped her bandage her wounds, and comforted her...... No one understands Su Liuying, who is desperate and helpless, when someone suddenly appears to be kind to her, even the simplest trace of warmth hits her heart...... She looked at the man in front of her in a daze, thinking about her resolute rejection of him four years ago, and her eyes couldn't help but fall drop by drop.
Seeing her crying suddenly, Lou Yue thought she was scared and couldn't help but say
"Since Li Xiu has agreed to marry Rong Qing, he will release you from prison when the emperor's anger subsides." Su Liuying didn't want him to worry about himself anymore, so she responded softly, wiped away her tears and said softly
"It's late, the prince should go home...... I'm fine. Lou Yue untied the sachet on his waist, took out two small pieces of spices from it and threw them into the brazier, but turned around and sat down with her on the wall, leaning his head against the wall, closing his eyes and saying with a little tiredness
"When I returned home, it was estimated that it was dawn, and I was tired of this life, so I would rest here for one night." Looking at the tiredness on his face, Su Liuying urged him to go again, and after being stunned for a moment, she gently moved the quilt on her body to him and covered his body for him.
What Lou Yue put into the brazier was a good tranquilizing incense, and after a while, Su Liuying, who was physically and mentally exhausted, also fell asleep against the wall...... Hearing the sound of long breathing around her, Lou Yue opened her eyes, looked at Su Liuying's frowning brows in her sleep, felt a pain in her heart, reached out and gently smoothed her brows, but her brows were tightly wrinkled, and she secretly said in her heart, you insist on washing away your father's grievances.
Do you know what kind of forces you will face? Today's unjustified disaster is enough to destroy you, not to mention the impossible thing as letting the emperor overturn the case for your father...... Su Liuying woke up when the prison officials came in to change the charcoal basin.
Lou Yue's figure was long gone, and when she touched the place where he had sit, it was already cold. If it weren't for looking at the cloak he was wearing on his body, Su Liuying would have thought that everything last night was a dream of his own.
She asked the prison officer, when did Lou Shizi leave? After Lou Yue's visit last night, the prison officer's attitude towards her was much better, and said
"I'm going to leave at the end of the day." Su Liuying nodded and thanked the prison officer, got up and folded Lou Yue's cloak neatly.
When she turned around, Mama Lan, who she hadn't seen for a long time, was standing at the door of the cell and watching her quietly.
Since the last time Mama Lan gave her a bowl of hawthorn cinnamon branch brown sugar soup, Mama Lan seemed to have disappeared from the palace overnight, Su Liuying went to the attic by the Huaqing Pond to look for her several times, but no one was seen.
Ask the other palace people, but they don't know where she is. However, unexpectedly, early in the morning after she was imprisoned, she suddenly appeared at the door of the cell.
At that time, the wind and snow outside were wanton, and Mama Lan's navy blue cloak was covered with snowflakes, Su Liuying didn't expect that she would brave such a big wind and snow to see her.
"Mama, why are you here?" Su Liuying was stunned for a moment before asking in surprise. Mama Lan didn't let the jailer open the lock and come in.
She stood outside, looked at her through the prison pillar, smiled indifferently, and said slowly
"When I passed by here, I heard that you were locked up, so I came by to take a look." She said it casually, but Su Liuying knew that on such a snowy day, everyone didn't go out if they had nothing to do, and it was impossible for Mama to come to the cell by the way...... With a warm heart, she stepped forward and saluted Mama Lan respectfully across the prison pillar
"It's really touching that my grandmother braved the snow to visit me. Xiaoman thanked Mama for her love. Lama ran across her delicate little face and landed on the cloak that lay on the quilt behind her.
With a slight twist of her brows, Mama Lan stared at the men's cloak and sighed
"It seems that the old woman has done this too much. There are already nobles to take care of for you, and I have nothing to worry about, so I left. Mama Lan turned around and walked outside, and Su Liuying hurriedly called her.
Hearing the sound and turning around, Mama Lan looked at her with clear eyes and said slowly
"Don't worry, the emperor just locked you in in a moment of anger, and when he comes back to his senses, he will understand that there are some things that you can't control alone, and he will naturally release you from prison."
"Mama, by now, I'm afraid you already know my true identity. So, do you know about my father's case four years ago? Su Liuying went to the attic of Huaqing Pool several times to find Mama Lan before, in addition to thanking her for the kindness of a bowl of sugar water that day, she also thought that she was an old man next to Emperor Huicheng, so, did she know about her father's case four years ago?
Mama Lan didn't expect her to be in prison, and she was still thinking about her father's case at this time. Could it be that she entered the palace to investigate the case of the year?
Mama Lan, who saw through her thoughts, changed her face slightly, looked at her with deep eyes, and said in a deep voice
"As a slave, you have no right to ask about the affairs of your master, let alone the government affairs of the previous dynasty. Where will an old lady of my harem know?! After listening to Mama's words, Su Liuying realized that she was too rash - such a big thing, even if Mama knew, she was afraid that she would not say it casually.
It's only been one or two friendships, but she thinks too simply. Seeing her look gloomy, Mama Lan turned around and took two steps closer, let out a long sigh, and said earnestly
"Little girl, mother-in-law knows what you think and plan in your heart. But Mama wants to persuade you, some things, the past is over, what resentment, hatred, rather than holding grudges and making yourself miserable, it is better to let go of it as soon as possible and live your own life. This may be what your deceased loved ones want to see the most. In this way, someone once persuaded her like this.
However, when she thought of Daddy's tragic death, as well as Auntie and Nurse, Su Liuying couldn't let go. She is convinced that Daddy will never do anything to collaborate with the enemy and commit treason, and she wants to find out the truth, quell the rebellion for Daddy, and let those who have accused Daddy of betraying the unrighteous people be condemned by conscience...... She restrained the lust in her eyebrows, lowered her head and whispered to Mama Lan
"Thank you, Mama, for your enlightenment." Mama Lan looked at her face, she didn't understand what she was thinking, and she knew that she couldn't untie the knot in her heart all of a sudden, so she sighed softly
"Sometimes the truth is the most hurtful!" Dropping this sentence, Mama Lan finally turned around and left. Silence returned to the cell.
Su Liuying put the last words of Mama in her heart and thought about it carefully, and the more she thought about it, the more she thought about it, there was a trace of fear in her heart - could it be that there were other hidden secrets about Daddy?
Think about it, Daddy has been guarding the border for decades, he is a real man who has been sharpened in the wind and sand, he can bend and stretch, why didn't he wait for the case to be tried to vindicate himself, but he committed suicide by hitting the wall less than three days after being imprisoned?
And when Daddy first entered Beijing, in addition to bringing her back to congratulate her cousin's wedding, he was also ordered to return to Beijing to receive the reward, how could he receive the reward well and finally become a disaster?
The more she thought about it, the more she had too many doubts, and Su Liuying's body shrunk in the corner of the wall trembled. Intuition told her that Mama Lan must know the inside story of Daddy's case back then, and the inside story of Daddy's case was even more complicated and sinister than she expected...... In the blink of an eye, in the evening, the sky darkened little by little, Su Liuying looked at the cell door, and thought, I wonder if Lou Yue will come again today?
Last night, the reason why she was able to sleep peacefully in this prison was not only because of Lou Yue's tranquility, but more importantly, because of him, she felt a lot less lonely and scared, and more comfort...... Just as she was thinking, there was a sound of footsteps coming from outside the cell, coming towards her.
Her heart was slightly stunned, her eyes were fixed on the outside of the prison door, and her hand unconsciously stroked the cloak on the side. Sure enough, the footsteps stopped at her door.
Looking at the people who followed the prison officer, Su Liuying was both disappointed and surprised! Qing Xing stood in front of her with a set of high-class palace maid clothes, although she was smiling, her tone could not hide the sourness,
"The princess begged the emperor for one day and asked him to promise to let you go. Now, not only are you fine, but you have also become a first-class palace maid next to our princess, and you don't have to stay in a place like the bureau to do hard work every day. It's also a blessing in disguise. Qingxing was jealous of Princess Rongqing's importance to Su Liuying, and promoted her to be a palace maid on an equal footing with herself, even more afraid that Su Liuying would rob her of her status in the future, and win Rongqing's trust and favor.
However, Su Liuying did not have the slightest joy in her heart, and she had mixed tastes - she knew that Rongqing must have felt ashamed of her in her heart by doing this, so she silently compensated her in this way and let her suffer less in the palace.
However, as an errand in Xianyin Palace, looking at Rongqing every day, and watching her happily prepare the dowry, she will only be more heartbroken...... She didn't listen to Qing Xing's words and changed into the dress of the big palace maid, still wearing the old inferior palace maid's clothes, holding Lou Yue's cloak in her arms and following Qing Xing out of the cell.
Although she only stayed in the cell for one day, and with Lou Yue's care, she didn't suffer much, but when she walked on the long corridor again, Su Liuying still had a feeling of being reborn after the catastrophe.
Before she arrived at Xianyin Palace, she looked at a group of people waiting at the gate of the palace from a distance, and when she got closer, it was Rongqing who personally greeted her at the door.
As soon as he saw her, Rong Qing's tears fell, his face was full of guilt, and he choked up
"Liuying, I ......" Su Liuying knew what she was going to say, and grinned comfortingly at her. The next moment, she knelt in front of Rong Qing and said sincerely
"Slave Xiaoman, knock to see the princess." Rong Qing didn't wait for her to kneel down and pulled her up, glanced at her with a wry smile, and said sadly
"I hurt you. I wanted to go to the prison to pick you up in person, but the grandmothers stopped me, saying that it was unreasonable...... You don't blame me. After speaking, her eyes fell on the blue-gray coarse cloth palace robe on Su Liuying's body, her brows furrowed, and she turned to Qingxing and said dissatisfied
"Didn't you bring the palace maid's new clothes to Liuying?" Qingxing was about to kneel down and plead guilty, when Su Liuying had already rushed in front of her
"Princess, don't blame Qingxing, it's the slave who doesn't want to." After that, she knelt in front of Princess Rongqing again and said sincerely
"The slave and maid thank the princess for her kindness, but the slave and maid have long been accustomed to doing rough work over the years, and the slave and maid can't do too meticulous work. also asked the princess to take back her order and let the slave continue to go back to the bureau to set up an errand. Looking at the determination on Su Liuying's face, Rong Qing's heart trembled.
She didn't speak for a long time, and finally waved her hand to let the palace people behind her retreat, and helped Su Liuying to feel guilty
"You're blaming me...... Blame me for robbing your husband...... Liuying, although I am a princess, I also have to listen to my father's arrangement, and the marriage of our royal children has never been something that I can do...... So, please forgive me, don't blame me......" As he spoke, Rong Qing burst into tears again, his pointed nose was red, making people unbearable.
Seeing her so sad and sad, Su Liuying held back the suffocating pain in her heart and persuaded softly
"The princess misunderstood, I never blamed the princess, on the contrary, I sincerely bless you and Master Li from the bottom of my heart." Hearing this, Rong Qing looked at her with wide eyes in disbelief, and his hands trembled with excitement,
"Really...... Really, you don't blame me for hating me?! ”
"It's not to blame, and it's not hateful." Putting away the last trace of reluctance in her heart, Su Liuying smiled bitterly and said lightly
"The princess also knows that four years ago, after my father's accident, the Li family proposed to dissolve the marriage contract...... It's just that at that time, Daddy and Auntie passed away one after another, and no elders in the family came forward, so the marriage contract was delayed...... Then, there was a sudden fire in the house, and Lord Shangshu thought that I was dead, so maybe I didn't talk to Master Li about the divorce, so I had a misunderstanding later......"
"Therefore, the princess is not wrong to like Lord Li, and she doesn't have to feel indebted to me." Looking at the tears in Su Liuying's eyes, Princess Rongqing said distressedly
"Since you didn't die in the fire, why didn't you let everyone know? Where have you been all these years? But you have suffered a lot? With a grin, Su Liuying restrained the pain in her heart and shook her head and smiled
"The four seas are home, not enough!" At her insistence, Rongqing finally let her go back to the division to set up an errand.
As soon as she entered the bureau, everyone was surprised to see her come in. The housekeeper's aunt said strangely
"You are not asked to go to Xianyin Palace on an errand, or the big palace maid next to Princess Rongqing. How do you return to the Division? "In the past two days, it has been rumored in the palace that Su Liuying was invited by Princess Rongqing to go out of the palace to see Da Sima, and then angered the emperor and was put in a prison cell.
Everyone thought that she was going to die in prison this time, but they didn't expect to be released in a blink of an eye, and she was promoted to the great palace maid of Xianyin Palace.
While everyone was surprised, they also gradually noticed that she was unusual, and they couldn't help but look at her curiously.
Ignoring the gazes around her, Su Liuying lowered her eyes and said
"Slaves and maids are used to being errand workers in the bureau, and they can't do delicate work." Going to the princess's side to be a big palace maid is an easy and face-saving job, which other palace maids can't ask for, but she didn't expect to be rejected by Su Liuying.
As soon as he entered the house, Sui'er closed the door and pointed to the two large packages on the kang, airway
"I heard that you were transferred to serve the princess, I was so happy, you see that the packages have been packed for you, and I was about to send them to you, but I didn't expect ......" After so many ups and downs in the past two days, seeing Sui'er again, Su Liuying felt a trace of kindness and warmth in her heart for no reason, and couldn't help laughing
"You just don't want to see me." Sui'er snorted angrily, lay down on the kang, and said angrily
"Everyone else has sharpened their heads and drilled into the master's nobles, and Princess Rongqing is the most rare good-tempered master in this harem, and she is also the eldest daughter of the emperor and queen's favorite. Alas, I haven't seen anyone more stupid than you. Su Liuying silently listened to her complaining, and took out the contents of the package again, when her hand touched the soft white fox cloak in the package, her heart was slightly stunned, her eyes fell on the cloak on the side, regardless of her exhaustion, she got up and picked up the basin and went to the yard to wash the cloak carefully...... Su Liuying got up before dawn every day as usual to go to the palace road with a group of palace people to clear the snow, the days seemed to go back to the past, she was still the unknown little palace maid, and all the twists and turns of the past had nothing to do with her.
Several times in a row waited for him at the gate of the palace with Lou Yue's cloak, thinking about returning the cloak to him and thanking him again.
But since he stayed with him in his cell that night, he seemed to have disappeared suddenly, and Su Liuying never saw him in the palace again...... In a blink of an eye, it was the eighth day of the lunar month.
Queen Lou early in the morning let the palace people boil Laba porridge and all kinds of exquisite snacks, the masters of each palace and the palace, as well as the women outside the palace, the royal family and nobles will enter the palace to ask for peace, gather the queen's Yongkun Palace to celebrate the Laba Festival together.
Not only did the masters celebrate the festival, but the palace maids and eunuchs also each got a bowl of laba porridge for the festival, and the entire palace was immersed in joy.
After finishing their errand early, Su Liuying and Sui'er shrank in the room, rubbing their hands and drinking warm laba porridge.
Sui'er even licked the bottom of the bowl clean, and sighed with satisfaction
"Alas, it would be nice if we had Laba Festival every day, so that not only could you take half a day off, but also drink delicious Laba porridge." Su Liuying smiled and took her bowl outside to wash it together.
Snowflakes fluttered in the quiet little courtyard. Su Liuying came to the well with a bowl, and was about to put down the bucket to draw water, when out of the corner of her eye, she saw a figure standing around the corner.
The courtyard where she is located is the most remote west courtyard of the Division, and few people usually come over. Su Liuying was about to turn around and take a closer look at the figure, but she heard a soft voice sound hesitantly-
"Yes...... Fireflies? The moment she heard the voice, Su Liuying's whole body was shocked, she couldn't care about the bowl on the ground, she turned around and was about to turn around and run into the house, but the person was already in front of her...... Cat flutter Chinese