On the 11th day of March 13th of Qianlong, Empress Fuchalang died in Dezhou at the age of 37 in Chinese New Year's Eve.

On the night of the Empress's death, the Emperor sat quietly in his dragon boat, and the deep silence seemed as if a huge mountain ridge had crushed the Emperor into a heavy and silent manner. When Ruyi heard the news, she had already changed into a plain clothes, only plain silver hairpins and white silk hairpins. The emperor's handsome face was weakly pale in the dim light of the candlelight. I think he hadn't slept for a long time, his eyes were slightly swollen, and dark red blood covered the blue-white fundus, like a criss-crossing blood web.

Ruyi was beside the emperor, and the shadows of the two people overlapped together, as if there was only one. It is relatively lonely. The night breeze stirred up the surging waves of water, lapping on the hull of the ship, making a dull and long sound, and the cry from afar, slowly and heavily clapping on the heart.

The emperor looked at Ruyi fixedly, and only after a long time did he sigh faintly: "The queen is dead, but she doesn't recognize it until she dies." ”

Ruyi held his hand, cold and cold fingers, like her own, resisting and intertwining with each other, but they could not warm up. Her expression was extremely calm, and she said slowly: "If you don't admit it to death, you have already done it." ”

The emperor reclined on the chair, it was obviously a warm and cool spring night, and his long sigh was like a sigh, but it was the cold of the early autumn color: "The queen swore by the glory and well-being of the Fucha clan for a hundred years, and she admitted what she had done, but the fire in the cold palace, the loss of the son of Concubine Mei and Concubine Yi, she did not admit it until death." ”

Ruyi's body trembled slightly, and a sound of surprise escaped from the clenching of her teeth. She raised her face and asked, "The glory and well-being of the Fucha clan for a hundred years?" Did she really swear by this? Even she knows that being in the phoenix position of the stars and the moon, thinking about the birth of the prince, and the woman who is firmly in the back position, what she cares about most is the glory of the Fucha clan. However, her expression immediately turned cold: "It's just an oath, and the concubine doesn't believe in the oath." She pondered for a moment, "Your Majesty, Su Xin and Lianxin are the queen's henchmen, if we have any doubts about many things, now that the queen has passed away, we may be able to find out a little from their mouths." ”

The emperor was silent for a moment, and called Li Yu in a deep voice, but it was Jin Zhong who entered, and he kowtowed: "Gonggong Li has just gone out, and the slave is waiting." ”

The emperor didn't pay attention to it, but said, "It's the same if you're here, go and pass on Suxin and Lianxin." ”

Jin Zhong was about to turn around and go out, when he suddenly saw a shadow move outside, and a figure flashed in. Standing aside with his head bowed respectfully, he said, "Slave Li Yu greets the emperor." He knelt on the ground, glanced at Jin Zhong, and said in a deep voice, "The emperor doesn't have to summon Su Xin, the slave went out just now, but he heard that Su Xin touched the pillar and died, martyring the queen." ”

The emperor and Ruyi glanced at each other, and read a trace of shock in each other's eyes, and couldn't help but look at each other and lose their voices: "Suxin martyr? ”

Li Yu bowed his head and said, "Yes." The queen mother passed away, and there were many things to be done on the green finch boat. Who knew that there was chaos in the busyness, and Lianxin couldn't find Su Xin, so she had to inform the slaves to look for her together. Who knew that there was an archway on the shore, and when the slave was looking for Suoxin, she had been killed on the stone pillar of the archway. ”

Ruyi looked at the emperor and read a clear trace of suspicion in his flickering expression. The suspicion is clearly in the bottom of his heart, like a thin burr, faintly touching the subtle pain and itch: "Your Majesty, martyrdom is a fair and righteous thing, why should Su Xin quietly carry people?" ”

The emperor stared for a moment and asked, "Li Yu, you go and tell Yuhu, she is old and steady, let her take a look at Su Xin's body, and discuss how to deal with it." On the other hand, where is the lotus heart? ”

Li Yu agreed, and hurriedly replied: "Lianxin is uneasy, she has come with the slave and is waiting outside." ”

Without thinking, the emperor immediately said, "Let her in." ”

Because she is the palace maid who has a face in front of the queen, Lianxin has changed into a snow-white filial piety dress, covered with light silver elastic silk embroidered dark blue lotus flowers, black hair is tied with silver thread, and hairpins are full of white frost and frost flowers. Her long face was extremely indifferent, her thin eyebrows and eyes were lowered, and although there were tears in her eyes, there was no overly sad color. When Lianxin came in and saluted, she knelt on the ground and did not get up, as if she knew she had something to answer.

Ruyi saw Lianxin like this, so he didn't bother to speak, and said straightforwardly: "The queen's illness is not a day or two, you and Su Xin are in the same place, does Su Xin already have the intention of martyrdom?" ”

Lian Xin knelt on the ground with her head down, and said lightly: "Since the slave maid left Wang Qin and returned to serve the queen mother, although she is still the queen mother's personal maid, it is not as good as in the past. What's the matter, the queen mother and Su Xin also avoided the slaves and maids, and only asked the slaves and maids to serve outside the palace. However, after the queen mother fell ill this time, Su Xin still had something to say to the slave maid. Her eyes lit up, she lowered her eyebrows a little, and said word by word, "Su Xin was very worried about the queen's illness, and she also mentioned that there are still sick and weak old mothers at home, and I hope that I can go out of the palace to serve in the future." She sighed lightly, "Su Xin is really a filial person, no more helpless and homeless than a slave or maid." ”

How the emperor and Ruyi didn't understand, it was Li Yuyi who exclaimed: "Su Xin is concerned about her family, how could she suddenly be martyred, I think she knows a lot of things, and it makes sense to judge herself for fear of being convicted." ”

Lianxin knelt on the ground, her plain white filial piety clothes covered her extremely delicate posture, but her words were so loud and sonorous: "Gonggong Li is confused. Su Xin is the queen's slave, if she is guilty, what has become of the queen. If you want to cut yourself, you don't have to worry about your family. ”

Li Yu has always been favored in front of the emperor, and he is used to being sleek, and he is also a little sneering when he hears it.

Ruyi saw that the emperor was silent, just supporting his forehead, his eyes seemed to be closed, as if he was just listening, as if he was just tired of sleeping. She didn't know what was at stake, so she motioned for Li Yu to go out at the moment, and then asked: "Whether Su Xin is guilty or not, what has become of the queen mother, the palace and the emperor don't know very well." It's just that you have been by the queen's side for many years, and you should always know a little bit about many things. ”

Lianxin's gaze is like an abyss, dark and blue, and there is no bottom when you look deep. She leaned over and kowtowed, and said solemnly: "Xian Guifei Niangniang, the slave maid has already said that since returning to the queen's side to serve, many things the slave and maid have not been able to get close, so they don't know anything. But the slave has served the queen for many years, and she knows the queen's heart. Although she inevitably has selfish intentions to do something inappropriate. But there are many things that the slave and maid feel that she can't do, and there is no need to do them. ”

Ruyi's eyes were shocked, and she felt that the five flavors in her chest were mixed, and the sour, astringent, bitter and spicy were forced up together, only surging in her throat. Her eyes briefly met with Lianxin, and she couldn't help but slowly shake her head, and Lianxin silently endured it with a clear and quiet in her eyes. The candlelight flickered slightly, with a bit of involuntary gloom, reflecting her fair face, but it failed to dye a thin blush. After a long time, Ruyi just sighed lightly: "It's hard for you to say such a thing." ”

Lian Xin smiled slightly: "The slave maid knows that the concubine may not believe it, and even the slave and maid themselves don't believe it." In the past few years that the slave and maid have survived, as long as someone mentions Wang Qin, the slave and maid's heart will drip blood. Even in dreams, slaves and maids would dream of those unbearable days and wake up in the middle of the night. But as the slave maid said, the queen mother will act inappropriately because of selfishness, but she has no need to do murder and arson, and she is even more afraid that doing it will implicate the glory of the Fucha clan, which she values the most, and the prince of her son that she looks forward to day and night. ”

These words, like thunder rolling through Ruyi's heart, a heart was so frightened that it almost turned over, after enduring it for so many years, hating for so many years, in the end, if it wasn't the person he hated, who would it be? Feelings and hatreds turn around, but this layer of taste cannot be fully described in words. Ruyi's face was as pale as the first snow, and it was a feeling of vulnerability, as if she had become a thin, brittle dead leaf that was about to drift away with the wind in the blink of an eye. Believing or not believing, all the sufferings that she had endured in her body and heart, and the pain of death, had left an indelible mark on her body. What the passage of time left her with was the body and mind that remained scarred after the blurred flesh and blood and the impeccable smile that was becoming more and more perfect.

And who these sufferings come from, she always thought that she could not be clearer. But now, he is also confused to the extreme.

Seeing Ruyi's expression in a trance, the emperor couldn't bear it in his heart, so he hurriedly stretched out his hand to support her and said, "It's late at night, and if you stay up again, you'll be miserable, hurry up and go back to rest." After that, he ordered Li Yu, and Yin Yin sent Ruyi out.

Ruyi walked to the tail of the emperor's dragon boat, but saw that in the middle of the night, a delicate woman wearing a lotus blue ruyi cloud pattern cloak stood at the tail of the boat, looking at herself from afar, with a smile on her white face.

Ruyi was extremely tired, and when she saw her smiling and looking at herself, she didn't feel a warm heart, so she stepped forward and held her hand and said, "Hailan, it's cold at night, why are you still coming here at this time?" ”

Because in the night, Hailan only used a mutton fat white jade inlaid tourmaline lotus flat square pine to hold the cloud bun, and a few bixuan bead flowers on the dovetail were embellished, making it more and more elegant and simple. Hailan lowered her head and said: "I haven't spoken to my sister since lunch today, and I always have a lot of things in my heart, and I really can't sleep, so I came here to wait for my sister." ”

Ruyi tightened the draped dark purple ribbon on Hailan's cloak, revealing a trace of Wu Mian's light blue and purple beaded dark flower brocade robe around her neck, and said angrily: "Since giving birth to Yongqi, I have been afraid of the cold and wind, and I am not careful. She glanced around, "If you don't bother, stay with me tonight, and let's talk." ”

Hailan rolled her eyes and said in a straight voice: "That's as it should be." The queen mother passed away, and my sister was afraid that there were many things to take care of, so I only accompanied my sister and took care of some trivial matters. The pure concubine has long been guarding the green bird boat of Queen Daxing. She suddenly stared, reached out for Ruyi to take the snow green silk pin gold thread bead handkerchief tied on the gilt flower bud button under her arm, dipped the beads of sweat on her forehead, and teased, "What's wrong with my sister?" It's going to be cold in the middle of the night, and you actually break out in a cold sweat? ”

Ruyi walked away with her hand in arm, only to feel her teeth tighten for a while, and said in a dumb voice: "She desperately denies that she wants to kill us, she said that she didn't do it......"

Hailan suddenly stopped her steps and turned around to stare at Ruyi. After a moment, her lips opened slightly, and the words she spit out were bright, and she interrupted: "Even if it wasn't for her to do it, all the suffering we have suffered over the years has nothing to do with her!" So, even if she didn't do it, everyone died, so what if it was counted on her head! She sneered, "Could it be that she has become a ghost, and she still has to come to us to tell the story!" I hope that her soul will return and make it clear to me! ”

The heart is like being tightly wrapped by the transparent silk strands one by one, round and round, almost breathless. Ruyi muttered, "Hailan, I don't know if I should believe it or not. If she didn't do what hurt us, who would it be? She's dead, Gao Xiyue is dead, but I don't know who else to fight, and where is that person hiding? We live here, but what is the difference between us and the reckless beasts, fighting night and day, fighting life and death, but never knowing when the next opponent will appear, when it will bite our throat. ”

"It's all ayaluo, but it's also a trapped beast that enjoys glory, and it's no different from them." Hailan smiled, revealing her thin white teeth, "Sister, love, if you can support people to live better, then hate, for us, she has no time to regret it, we can't regret it." She looked at each other with a clear gaze, a light smile on the corner of her lips, and pointed with a slender finger, "Sister, we are dying one by one, and it is our turn." ”

Ruyi just smiled in a trance, her eyes hiding the ups and downs of her heart, and she didn't know where to look. In such a cold night, there is a faint cry of spring birds mixed with crying, facing the willow smoke and pear blossom moon, which makes people sad for no reason.

Hailan stepped forward and shook her hand tightly: "Sister, you should be happy." ”

Suddenly, Ruyi's upward raised lips barely outlined a laugh line, but it was so cold that it made people feel desolate: "Hailan...... I've hated her for so long, and now she's dead, and I'm not happy. Dead Ah Ji, dead Gao Xiyue, dead Fucha, I hate them, calculate them, and fight with each other for so many years, but who will be next? Why am I happy? It's always as if the days like this are endless, and they will never end. ”

Hailan's eyebrows were pure and introverted, but her tone was as cold as ice: "The lives of others can be simplified and stable." But as soon as we stepped into the Forbidden City, this life is the day of repeating yesterday today, and there will be no end. Sister, you can not hate, you can be unhappy, but you have to understand that if we don't work hard to live, it is ourselves who are lying there today and being cried by others. ”

The wind and dew are blowing, and Ruyi is independent of the moonlight, and there is not much joy or sadness, but there is a faint tiredness and coldness.

The dragon boat hall was surprisingly quiet, and Lianxin knelt in the shadows, and the atmosphere did not dare to come out. The emperor stood alone, staring down and silent. Lianxin's body leaned lower and lower, almost prostrate on the edge of the dragon boots, the light golden boots, the yellow velvet boots were covered with gold threads with rice beads and coral grains, dense turns. After staring at it for a long time, I only felt that I had become a fine grain on the top of the boot, and if I was not careful, it would roll down and become powder.

I don't know how long it took before the emperor said lightly: "You are a smart person, and you should understand many things." ”

Lian Xin said respectfully: "The slave and maid naturally understand that no matter who the slave and maid are out of Wang Qin's clutches, but in the final analysis, there is only the emperor in this world who can allow the slave and the maid to escape and let the slave and maid live." Without the emperor's permission, everything is vanity. ”

The emperor bowed his head: "Lotus Heart, this is where you are smarter than others." But you are also loyal to the queen, and after returning to her, you will not say a word if it is unfavorable to her; You don't do anything that is bad for her. ”

Lianxin's face was as calm as water: "After all, the slave is the slave of the queen's mother, although she has caused the slave to suffer for life, but the slave and the maid can't do the things of betraying the master." When the queen mother was alive, the slave and maid could not speak a bad word. Now behind him, the emperor asked, and the slave and maid knew everything and said everything. ”

The emperor groaned slightly: "Then, Ah Zhen once told me that the people who instructed her to harm Concubine Xian and my children were the Empress and Emperor Huixian. He began slowly, recounting Ah Zhen's past words one by one.

Lianxin frowned and thought for a moment, then raised her eyebrows and said, "Doesn't the emperor think that in these words that Ah Ji said, Su Xin was repeatedly mentioned, but he never mentioned that she was the queen's mother?" ”

The emperor lightly sunned, looked up at the intricate gold stacked colors on the top of the pavilion, and the delicate gold dust was filled in the bright vermilion lacquer, dazzling almost dazzling: "Su Xin is more of the queen's henchman than you, isn't what she did the queen's order?" ”

Lotus Heart was speechless for a while, her snow-white satin long jacket, the skirt embroidered with light green and fragrant entwined branches, like a lifeless vine, standing straight between the walls. After a while, she shook her head, bit her lip and said, "The slave doesn't know, and she can't answer." The emperor mentioned that the queen used cold things to poison the Xian Guifei in the cold palace, and the slave maid had also heard a little about it. But the slave maid thought about it carefully, the queen didn't pay much attention to her diet, and a few days before her death, the imperial doctor also saw Su Xin bring barley soup to her mother. The soup lady has been drinking for a few days, but the doctor said that barley clears heat and water, but it is quite cold and not suitable for the mother to drink. Thinking like this, Niangniang is actually ignorant, and the slave maid is also wondering, why does Niangniang understand Xian Guifei so much? ”

The emperor's eyes were slightly cold: "You mean, in addition to Su Xin and the queen, I'm afraid that there are still people involved?" Su Ri and the queen corresponded, who else was there besides Emperor Huixian's concubine? ”

Lianxin thought carefully for a long time: "Concubine Chun, Concubine Jia and Wan Chang often come and go. The queen likes the fourth elder brother and is slightly closer to Concubine Jia. It's just that Concubine Jia has always been in harmony with Emperor Huixian, and she doesn't take others very seriously, and is only closer to Concubine Chun. The queen has always taken care of each other's faces, so if Emperor Huixian came alone, she would not call Concubine Jia together. ”

The emperor's eyes shone with a dark light, and he immediately shook his head, and said with relief: "Concubine Jia has always been open-mouthed, and she is not careful when she offends people, and she has nothing to say to me. A person with a straight intestine like her shouldn't be her. ”

Lian Xin was silent for a moment, as if she wanted to say something, but after thinking about it, there was no real doubt, so she was speechless.

The emperor's expression was gloomy and he waved his hand: "It's okay." Lianxin, your affairs in the palace are over, I will let you out of the palace and settle down, so let's live a good life. ”

Lianxin was stunned, and suddenly tears slipped down, solemnly bowed three times, and thanked him to leave. Yuhu came in immediately, took a cup of tea, walked to the emperor's side quietly, and called softly: "Your Majesty." ”

Emperor Mu Ran stood and said lightly: "I don't need anyone to serve, let's go down." ”

Yuhu bowed down and replied, but did not retreat. He paused, took out a burnt blue golden bee dotted emerald hydrangea bead flower from his sleeve, spread out his right hand, and stretched it out in front of the emperor.

On the bead flower, there is clearly a trace of blood!

The emperor's body shook slightly, and his originally empty gaze suddenly shrank into a sharp silver needle, which could almost pierce Yuhu's hunched back body. His voice was hoarse and low, grinding astringently like a rusty piece of iron: "This is my reward for the pure concubine!" Where did it come from? ”

Yuhu was old in the end, and he was used to seeing the wind and thunder in front of the emperor, so he said: "The slave maid went to see Su Xin's body and wanted to deal with the aftermath, but she found this in the palm of Su Xin's arched hand. She glanced at the emperor's expression and said quietly, "Su Xin shook it tightly in her hand until death, thinking that it was something important, and the slave didn't dare to make a mistake, nor did she dare to alarm others, so she quietly took it out." ”

The emperor's expression seemed to be frosty: "You have done an excellent job." He turned his face sideways, Yuhu understood, and put the pearl flower on the long table of Huanghuali behind the emperor. She was about to leave, and the emperor said coldly: "You also recognize the things of the pure concubine, don't you?" ”

Yuhu said: "Last year's Qixi Festival, the emperor specially made it for the lords of each palace, saying that it was not only the favorite flowers of the lords, but also the other ones. The queen mother uses bergamot flowers, Xian Guifei is roses, pure concubines are hydrangeas, Jia Fei is gardenias, Yu Fei is roses, Shu concubines are true pearl orchids, each person has six pairs, all of them are inlaid with southern pearls with burnt blue golden bees for hairpins and sideburns. Before the slave maid came to see the emperor, she specially asked the people of the Internal Affairs Office to inquire about it, and there were no mistakes or omissions. She hesitated slightly, but still said, "In addition, the slave maid has not found anything, but she can't do anything with just a beaded flower." ”

"A pearl flower! It's really hard to count! The emperor's tone was extremely light, "Where is the pure concubine right now?" ”

Yuhu replied obediently: "The slave maid came from the queen's green bird boat, and saw that Concubine Chun and Concubine Jia were busy arranging funeral matters. ”

The emperor's eyes flashed: "Concubine Jia is also there?" ”

Yuhu said: "Yes." Concubine Jia couldn't help anything, so she should be at the disposal of Concubine Chun's arrangement. ”

The emperor's voice was rustling, as if he was grinding some iron tool: "Concubine Jia listens to Concubine Chun's arrangement?" Concubine Chun is very powerful, I haven't commanded yet, so she rushed to settle the funeral of Queen Daxing by herself! Even Concubine Jia has to listen to her, it's not easy! ”

Yuhu Nuonuo responded, and said with a smile: "Concubine Chun is older, and there are three ahs, Concubine Jia is usually higher-eyed, and she also prioritizes." ”

The emperor suddenly pursed his lips, as if he was desperately suppressing some kind of surging emotion, and said coldly: "Pure concubine, I am raising my eldest brother, third elder brother and sixth elder brother!" ”

Where did Yuhu dare to accept such words, so he had to bend his knees and say: "The slave and maid are speechless, and the slave and maid have no intention of slandering the pure concubine." ”

The emperor waved his hand and said kindly: "Yuhu, you were with me in the past......" He seemed to realize that something was wrong, and immediately changed his words, "You entered the palace with Concubine Li to serve, you have been stable for a long time, how can you lose your words?" ”

Yuhu agreed, and when he saw that the emperor had spoken, he pondered for a long time without saying a word, and then he also retired. The emperor only stared at the blood-stained pearl flower, and a cluster of flames ignited under his eyes, which gradually burned into a burning heart fire cave, as if to burn the pearl flower and burn it to ashes.

I don't know how long it took, but the moonlight slowly moved down the silk clouds that covered the golden silk window lattice. The hazy flow of light reflected the emperor's sad and tired face. He got up slowly, walked to the side of the bed, and fell down: "Queen, if I suspect that you are wrong......" He murmured, his tone was difficult, "Don't blame me, don't blame ......" He silently stroked a pair of empty bright yellow cloud satin pillows on the couch, slightly on one side, there were clear water marks slipping down...