After Xiangche's funeral, Yuehua began to close the door, and the three of them were like leaves knocked off by frost, unable to get angry. The whole courtyard was silent, and there was a gloomy mist.

In the end, it was Mama Wei who barely cheered up and was diligent inside and out.

She cautiously asked Yuehua about entering the palace two days later, Yuehua muttered gloomily for a long time, and then smiled bitterly: "Do I have any other choice?" ”

Yuehua's answer is tantamount to acquiescing to the arrangement of the Empress Dowager, for Mama Wei, who has always been looking forward to the glory and wealth of her master, raising her eyebrows, it is inevitable that she will be happy in her heart, and she will not dare to be happy in front of Yuehua, whisper a few words of comfort, and then carefully arrange her clothes, busy like a spinning top.

Xiang Shen had the same sad face as Yuehua, and she was still immersed in the shadow of Xiang Che's death, wilting, unable to lift a little spirit, she occasionally forgot, and would inadvertently call out Xiang Che's name, which caused Yuehua to be unspeakably silent and sad.

Xiang Shen looked at Yuehua several times and stopped talking.

"Miss, are you really going to enter the palace?"

She finally couldn't help it, and asked while Mama Wei was busy in the yard.

Yuehua sat in front of the window blankly, looking at the swirling fallen leaves in the courtyard. Hearing this, he turned his head, and his face was already calm: "Whether you want to or not, some things can't be escaped and reversed." ”

Xiang Shen bit her lower lip and calmed down: "Miss, are you angry with Shao Gongzi?" Or is it for the sake of Xiang Che? ”

Yuehua shook her head indifferently, the pain in the past few days made her more and more haggard, and she sat there quietly, like a thin plum: "At the beginning, I was indeed a little arrogant, but now I am not, just to survive." ”

Tears suddenly overflowed in Xiangshen's eyes: "We have finally survived to this day and are able to be self-reliant." ”

Yuehua sighed faintly: "In such a world, we women are like catkins and wanderers, how difficult is it to take root and gain a foothold?" These days of tranquility are not even a flash in the pan, but they are just a mirage built by Shao Gongzi. Without his help, we would still be drowning in the mire. What is self-reliant? I overestimate myself too much, we have no power and no power, we are not even as good as ants, ants still have a gap to survive, we don't even have a foothold. ”

Xiangshen is more and more ownerless, she knows the temperament of her own young lady, the arrogance in her bones, and the proud blood of the Chu family, she is categorically unwilling to beg a few uncles and grandmothers for help, let alone accept Shao Ziqing's charity in a low voice after being frustrated. Without the power to rely on, the world is eyeing each other, the Hou Mansion is always looking for provocations, and when there is a lot of suffering, they will not be so lucky to turn it around.

Therefore, she is planning to succumb to the arrangement of the Empress Dowager and be content to be the most noble queen of the Chang'an Dynasty above ten thousand people under one person.

Xiang Shen had no reason to refute it, and was silent for a while.

Yuehua knew what was on her mind, and smiled shallowly: "I know you don't want to enter the palace, and I won't force you, but fortunately, there is still Uncle Shen to entrust, and you yourself will not be helpless." ”

Xiang Shen was shocked in his heart, and shook his head categorically: "No, Miss Daen, the maid said that she will follow Miss for the rest of her life, and wherever you go, the maid will go." ”

Yuehua didn't break her heart, but only said euphemistically: "As soon as you enter the palace gate, it is as deep as the sea, and Xiao Lang is a passerby from now on." You must know that when you enter the palace with me, not only is it not glorious and rich, but even the people you want to see are separated from each other. ”

Xiang Shen's face darkened, and he laughed at himself: "The servant is lonely, and she doesn't even have any relatives, where is there anything worth getting involved in this world except for the young lady?" What's more, Xiangshen is self-aware. ”

Yuehua was about to persuade when she heard a knock on the door outside the courtyard, interrupting what she was about to say.

Mama Wei in the courtyard had already stood up, wiped the water stains on her hands with her apron, and went over to open the door while answering.

"Who?" She asked in a loud voice as she looked out through the crack in the door.

"It's me."

The sound outside the door was clear and warm, warm and smoky.

Mama Wei just wanted to open the door, glanced at the window, and lowered her voice: "Lord Shao? Is there anything you can do? ”

Shao Ziqing, who was outside the door, coughed lightly: "Mama Wei, I want to find your young lady, I have something to say." ”

Mama Wei turned around to look at the room again, Yuehua and Xiangshen had already pushed open the window and looked outside.

She opened the door a crack, slipped out like a loach, then turned around and closed the courtyard door, and bowed to Shao Ziqing: "It's really unfortunate, Lord Shao Xiang, my master has just gone out." ”

Shao Ziqing couldn't hide his disappointment: "So unfortunate? When will I be back? ”

Mama Wei shook her head: "This is not good, my young lady is about to enter the palace, and the things in the store always have to be explained." There are a lot of trivial matters, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to come back for a while. Otherwise, Master Shao Xiang will tell the old slave if there is something, and the old slave will tell the young lady when she comes back. ”

Shao Ziqing hesitated slightly: "Your young lady is going to enter the palace tomorrow?" ”

Mama Wei nodded happily: "It's not, she is helpless, she has suffered so much, and finally the bitterness is over." ”

Shao Ziqing's face darkened, and he glanced at Mama Wei: "Then can you bother Mama to get a pen and paper, and I will leave two sentences for your master?" ”

Mama Wei smiled and was extraordinarily courteous: "Naturally, Childe waits." ”

After that, he turned around and entered the courtyard, closed the courtyard door again, turned Shao Ziqing out, took a deep breath, and then hurriedly entered the house.

Xiang Shen couldn't help but poke his head out of the back room and asked curiously, "Who is knocking on the door?" ”

"Relatives and friends next door don't come to visit, and they want to borrow a pen and paper to leave a letter for their neighbors. Because he is a man, it is inconvenient to let him into the yard. ”

After that, he raised the pen and paper in his hand, lifted the curtain, re-exited the courtyard door, and handed the pen and paper to Shao Ziqing, who was waiting outside the door.

Shao Ziqing took the pen and paper, took the knee as the case, groaned slightly, dried the ink stains with a few pens, carefully folded it neatly, and resubmitted it to Mama Wei, and told him uneasily: "If there is Mama Wei, be sure to hand it over to your master." ”

Mama Wei nodded: "That's natural, Shao Gongzi, please rest assured, it will definitely live up to the trust." ”

Shao Ziqing hesitated slightly, and thanked him: "Then I won't bother again." ”

He glanced at the courtyard reluctantly, turned around and got into the carriage outside the door, and the carriage rolled away.

Mama Wei waited for the carriage and horses to travel far, so she crumpled the letter in her hand, stuffed it into her arms, and replied casually, without saying a word.

The ninth day of September is the birthday of the Empress Dowager, Yuehua entered the palace one day in advance, and the Empress Dowager sent a sedan chair to pick it up.

The palace, which she had been to a few times when she was a child, was not a stranger. As the protector general of the Chang'an Dynasty, his father was in charge of the military power of Chang'an, and whenever there was a feast in the palace, he would bring Yuehua and his mother into the palace. Every time, my mother does not rely on the power of her husband and aunt to be pampered, she is always quiet, gentle and polite, and generous. And she, when she was young, was so tempting, and she also escaped her mother's restraint and wandered around the palace.

It's just that I was young at that time, and now my memory is mottled, and I can't piece together a complete image.

The food in the palace banquet doesn't seem to be delicious, few and little taste, just like this Forbidden City, it looks gorgeous on the outside, and the food is as boring as the homework taught by the master, and the taste is like chewing wax.

At that time, the emperor was just a prince who was not favored, mixed in a bunch of high-spirited dragons and phoenixes, and did not leave a single image for Yuehua. I can't remember what the first emperor looked like. In Yuehua's impression, now there are only those harem concubines who are surrounded by vermilions and green.

They are surrounded by the emperor of the old dragon bell, sitting high on the high platform, graceful, fresh and beautiful, like a tender bud with morning dew, reflecting the emperor in a dazzling dragon robe, like a withered leaf among the flowers, the chicken-skin-like withered hand on their willow waist, or on the fragrant shoulder, white and tender soft pancreas, like a gray-brown dry bark, lifeless.

Yuehua was thinking at that time, how did such a weeping and old dead tree nourish the spring color in the red wall?

She now understands that, in fact, these flowers have long since withered, but they are using fat powder to cover up their decadence, in order to survive, in the competition for beauty, they have to pretend to be thriving, and only then do they bloom into a prosperous tree.

Yuehua under the leadership of the palace people, all the way through the long corridor, the golden and brilliant corridor, pavilions, she remembers, along the koi pond that the living water through the imperial garden, there is a rugged rockery, there is a green grass between the mountains and rocks, she used to do a very childish thing there when she was a child, and it is still fresh in her memory, every time she thinks of it, she laughs and laughs.

I just don't know, what happened to him now?