At the end of the ugly time, Wu Qi hurriedly entered the palace, and then the news that King Ning was diagnosed with smallpox spread in the palace. Zhang Shichang, who had been waiting for news in Yongchun Palace, announced the emperor's decree at that time, closing Yongchun Palace immediately, and anyone who had contact with King Ning was not allowed to step out of Yongchun Palace.

When Chu Yanzhi arrived at Yongchun Palace, the palace gate of Yongchun Palace had been locked. Xiao Xi stood in front of the closed gate of Yongchun Palace with a slight cloak, her eyes were red and swollen in the cold wind, and her originally clear and translucent eyes had completely lost their vitality at this moment, like a lifeless puppet. And the purple smoke and blue clouds beside her, one was pale, and the other wiped tears.

"Wei'er......" Chu Yan stepped forward and called her in a low voice.

For a long time, the people in front of me did not move at all.

Chu Yanzhi frowned, reached out and untied his cloak and draped it on her, "Don't worry, Wu Qi once helped Uncle Lu Wang cure smallpox, and this palace believes that he will also help Ye'er get through this pass this time." ”

Finally, those glazed eyes moved.

Xiao Xi raised his head slowly, his originally dull eyes suddenly swelled out of a terrifying haze, and his voice was cold as if it came from hell, but there was a faint hint of crying, "Will Your Highness really let Ye'er get through this hurdle?" ”

Chu Yan's eyes sank suddenly, and he didn't feel the strength of Xiao Xiwei's hand, he stared at Xiao Xiwei for a long time, and the cold voice popped out of his lips word by word, "What do you mean?" Are you suspicious of Hongu? ”

Tears suddenly poured out like a flood that had burst its banks.

Chu Yanzhi could feel the constant trembling of the person in front of him and the horror and despair in his eyes that could not be hidden. Suddenly, his palms sank, and he saw Xiao Xi in front of him kneeling down in front of him suddenly.

"Your Highness, I beg you...... You let Ye'er go, he's just a child who has just completed his month...... He doesn't understand anything, he can't threaten you anything, I beg you, you can let him go......" Xiao Xiwei said, suddenly leaning over and kowtowing to Chu Yanzhi.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

There was a dull sound on the cold bluestone slab.

Biyun and Ziyan also hurriedly knelt down.

Chu Yanzhi's eyebrows twisted, he reached out and fished out, and pulled Xiao Xi up slightly.

The originally smooth forehead had broken skin at the moment, and the bright red blood slowly slid down the cheeks, making it more and more white to seep through the face.

When Chu Yanzhi's originally angry face touched the bright red, the anger in his eyes finally subsided, he took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and pressed the wound on Xiao Xiwei's forehead, and then said in a deep voice, "It's not me." ”

"I don't care if it's you or not, I just want Ye'er to live now." Xiao Xiwei knocked Chu Yanzhi's hand away, she reached out and pulled her hair hard, her big eyes kept rolling down, and the whole person was almost collapsed, "I just want Ye'er to live well!" I don't want anything, I just want my children to live well! ”

Wisps of green silk were pulled off by her like this, Ziyan was distressed and worried, she hurriedly ran over and hugged Xiao Xiwei's hand, knelt in front of her and cried and begged, "Princess, don't be like this, the little prince is blessed with a great life, he will be fine!" He's going to be fine......"

"My Ye'er...... My Ye'er ......" Xiao Xi fell into Ziyan's arms slightly and cried heartbreakingly.

"Princess......" Biyun also ran over and hugged Xiao Xiwei.

The three of them cried together for a while.

Not far away, Chu Yanzhi looked at all this with a condensed face, and after a while, he squatted down and stared at Xiao Xiwei with a solemn face, "Isn't it, no matter what I say, you think that I did it." ”

He used 'I' instead of Hongu.

Xiao Xi gritted his teeth slightly, and his body trembled uncontrollably.

She didn't answer Chu Yanzhi's words.

Chu Yan's eyes were a little gloomy, and he sneered, "Actually, it's completely superfluous for me to ask this, how could you ever believe me?" Since he was born, everything he wears has been done by the most trusted person around you, even if Hongu really wants to attack him, how can he find a chance? ”

The corners of Xiao Xi's lips moved, but he still didn't speak.

"Since you suspect that this is the hand and foot of this palace, then you can go and investigate, if you find evidence, you might as well take it to Chongde Palace, it just so happens that he has been quite suspicious of this palace recently." Chu Yanzhi said, the corners of his lips hooked coldly, and then turned around and left without looking back.

The cold wind of the winter night blew through again and again, blowing tears from the corners of the eyes, and I don't know where they fell.

The eighth day of December in the 37th year of Yuanwu, commonly known as the Laba Festival.

In addition to worshiping ancestors and worshiping gods, Laba also has a saying that Layue beats drums to drive away epidemics. In previous years, the emperor would send a prince to worship his ancestors and gods at the temple instead of him, but this year, because King Ning suddenly contracted smallpox, the emperor decided to go to the temple himself.

At the time of the fifth watch, many people had gathered in front of the temple.

As soon as Xiao Xiwei came in, he instantly attracted the attention of many people.

King Ning had just been promoted to the seal and suddenly spread the news of flowering in the streets and alleys of the capital in recent days, not to mention that King Ning was just a baby who had just been full moon, and more importantly, Princess Yan was born prematurely when she gave birth to King Ning, and she was finally saved at this time, but there was smallpox again, and the woman was quietly talking about King Ning this time, but she was afraid that she would not be able to live this time.

"Imperial sister-in-law." Seeing Xiao Xiwei coming in, Chu Muzhi hurriedly walked over and shouted at her in a low voice.

Xiao Xi glanced at him and nodded slightly.

At this time, Xiao Xiwei, even if she had a layer of fat powder on her face, she couldn't hide the haggard and pale on her face.

Chu Muzhi looked at Xiao Xiwei like this, and opened his mouth several times, but he couldn't say anything.

"His Royal Highness the Prince." At this time, the crowd suddenly became lively.

Chu Muzhi turned his face and saw Chu Yanzhi wearing a bright yellow embroidered five-clawed golden dragon court dress walking in expressionlessly, and the surrounding ministers stepped forward to salute him. Chu Yanzhi responded casually and walked over to Chu Muzhi and Xiao Tong.

"Brother Huang came really early." Chu Muzhi smiled faintly at Chu Yanzhi and said.

Chu Yanzhi slightly hooked the corners of his lips, and looked at Chu Muzhi meaningfully, "Is it early?" Compared with the eighth brother, the palace is still late. ”

"Brother Chen, don't dare to compare with you, Brother Huang." Chu Muzhi raised his hand and replied with a smile.

"Really?" Chu Yanzhi raised his eyebrows, then smiled, and suddenly, as if he remembered something, he opened his mouth and said to Chu Muzhi, "By the way, what did the eighth brother say to Wei'er just now?" ”

When Chu Muzhi heard this, his brows suddenly furrowed, "Brother Huang, it's not appropriate for you to call the name of the Seventh Emperor's sister-in-law so bluntly, right?" ”

Chu Yanzhi still raised his eyebrows, as if he didn't understand the meaning of Chu Muzhi's words, and said with a smile, "Oh, what's wrong?" ”

Chu Muzhi frowned, staring at Chu Yandao with a gloomy face, "Brother Huang really doesn't understand, or is he pretending not to understand?" It's okay if you're not afraid of criticism from others, but don't affect the reputation of the imperial sister-in-law. ”

Chu Muzhi said this not lightly, and in addition, even if these people stood together separately, it was a striking intersection, not to mention that they were still together now. Therefore, as soon as his voice fell, the people around him suddenly had different expressions, and Xiao Xiwei's eyes became more and more weird.

Looking at Chu Muzhi, suddenly, a faint smile appeared on the corner of Chu Yanzhi's lips, "Are you saying this for Xiwei?" Or is it for yourself? ”

Chu Muzhi's face sank, "Brother Huang, what do you mean by this?" ”

Chu Yanzhi hooked the corners of his lips obliquely, and he suddenly accentuated his voice, "What do you mean?" I, Da Yue, have never advocated the so-called martyrdom, and Emperor Gaozu's concubine Wang Guifei is remarried. The eighth brother's words, do you want Xiwei to keep the festival for the seventh brother for the rest of his life? Speaking of this, Chu Yanzhi smiled again, "Even if you really want to keep the festival, these words shouldn't come out of your mouth, eighth brother." ”

In fact, some anecdotes about the prince and Princess Yan have also been secretly spread in the capital, but because of the special identity of the prince and Princess Yan, everyone thinks that this thing is unlikely to happen, so everyone only dares to discuss in private, but they didn't expect that on such an important festival today, the prince would say such a thing.

Could it be that the prince really wants to accept Princess Yan?

However, then again, if the prince really has thoughts about Princess Yan, then what did King Qin do when he got involved at this time? No, he also has a crush on Princess Yan, right?

Chu Muzhi's face was as black as the bottom of a pot, he never expected Chu Yanzhi to say such a thing in front of so many royal relatives and civil and military officials, at that moment, he had to turn his gaze to Xiao Xiwei, "Imperial sister-in-law, what do you say?" He thought about it and felt that there was still something wrong, so he added, "Imperial sister-in-law, don't forget that Tianye is still locked up in Yongchun Palace, and his life and death are uncertain." ”

Hearing him mention Chu Tianye, Xiao Xi raised her head slightly, and the phoenix hairpin that was holding beads shook violently, drawing a sharp arc in her ears, she stared at Chu Muzhi, countless undercurrents surging in her dark eyes.

Looking at Xiao Xiwei's expression, the corners of Chu Yanzhi's lips inadvertently crossed a sneer that was not easy to detect.

"Imperial sister-in-law, I don't mean anything else?" Sensing that Xiao Xiwei's expression was wrong, Chu Muzhi was a little panicked, the more panicked he was, the deeper Xiao Xiwei's eyes became.

"The emperor has arrived."

At this moment, a shrill voice broke the silence of the room.

I saw the emperor wearing a bright yellow dragon robe walking in step by step, followed by the highest-ranking concubine in the harem.

The royal relatives and nobles, civil and military officials, and the ladies of each province all stood according to their grades and bowed their heads to greet the emperor. The Emperor climbed the stairs and did not turn around until he reached the top.

Below, all the officials and concubines knelt down and saluted, "The ministers (concubines) see the emperor, long live my emperor, long live long live." ”

The voice of the mountain shouting long live suddenly sounded in front of the empty temple.

"Flat." The emperor's deep but majestic voice sounded in front of the temple.

The crowd rose one after another.

Immediately after, everyone still followed the emperor into the temple.

The emperor walked to the tablet of the emperor of the Dayue Dynasty with the incense in his hand and knelt down, and then the attendant of the Ministry of Rites recited the sacrifice of the ancestors.

Xiao Xi followed everyone with a blank face, first worshipping the emperor, and then going to the altar behind the temple to worship the gods. Then, out of nowhere, some masked witch zhu ran out of nowhere and danced while beating drums, not knowing what they were singing......

Chu Yanzhi has been secretly looking at Xiao Xiwei from the corner of his eyes, only looking at her from beginning to end, except for worry, only Mu Ran is left in his eyes.

It seems that Gu An really did what he said.

At this time, I suddenly heard a sharp voice from the priest, "Licheng ......"

Everyone got up one after another, Xiao Xi also came back to her senses in a trance, she was about to get up, at this time, a little eunuch hurriedly ran in and attached to Zhang Shichang's ear and said a few words, only to see Zhang Shichang's face changed greatly, he walked to the emperor's voice, and said with a stiff face, "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness King Ning...... Dead. ”