I looked at the side of her face, her expression was still very indifferent, not the slightest change, but under the smoke, I seemed to see a broken ripple in those eyes that were originally as calm as a mirror lake.

She was silent for a moment and said, "Really? ”

"Yes."

"That's—it's a pity."

"yes."

While speaking, I have helped her into the house, this is the first time I have been to her room, the layout here is also very simple and plain, a wooden bed, a half-old cabinet, a table and two stools, as pure as an ascetic abode, no one can believe that the person who lives here is the queen mother.

I helped her to the side of the bed, and when I looked up, I saw that there were several peace charms hanging inside the bedside tent, some of which seemed to have been hanging for a long time, and some were damaged.

It's strange that the Queen Mother recites the scriptures and reiterates the Buddha like this, and she doesn't have to ask for peace charms.

But I didn't ask too much, carefully helped her to sit on the head of the bed, and gently rubbed her knees.

"Girl, don't bother."

"It's okay, just sit down." I shook my head, still gently rubbed her, but my fingering was very dexterous, and soon the Queen Mother's face showed a relaxed and soothing expression, and said with a smile: "You can even do this." ”

"......" I smiled.

Under my gentle rubbing, the Queen Mother slowly leaned on the head of the bed and half-squinted her eyes, but she still had a tired expression on her face, especially the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, which were much more than when I left here, and even the center of her eyebrows had a few deep marks.

can remove these traces of old age, and her beautiful face in the past can still be seen.

It's just that I don't know what kind of heroic appearance her brother, the iron-masked king who once galloped across the grassland and had a posture more dazzling than the sun.

Perhaps, seeing Huang Tianba, he can vaguely imagine it.

In the past, General Batu said that Huang Tianba was very similar to the Iron Mask King, and I just listened to it, but now that I think about it, it seems that I really shouldn't just listen to it - the painting in the Luo Shi studio surprised the Iron Arrow King at a glance, and Chang Qing's painting made the Queen Mother so out of shape, Huang Tianba is similar to the Queen Mother and the Iron Mask King, this is definitely not a coincidence!

But, if that's the case, then—

I only thought about it in my heart, and suddenly felt that my back was faintly numb, which would be a shocking event!

The Queen Mother's indifferent attitude towards the Emperor Taishang, the sentence "Devil Yaksha"; There is also Yao Lao, he is a member of the former queen's clan, and he is commensurate with Huang Tianba's master and apprentice, what role does he play in this? When Empress Zhaolie was killed in the fire, how many people and how many things were involved?

I only felt that my heart was beating suddenly, almost bursting out of my chest, I looked down and thought for a long time, and finally suppressed my feelings and said softly: "But fortunately, the person on the painting should not be angry." ”

The Queen Mother trembled slightly, opened her eyes and looked at me.

"Do you know the person in the painting?"

"Yes, Qingying and him are friends."

The Queen Mother's lips trembled slightly, and after a long while, she slowly spoke, and her voice had a suppressed calmness: "He, who is he?" ”

"His name is Huang Tianba, he is a southerner, I don't know if the Queen Mother knows that the seventy-two water and land chiefs of the three southern provinces are very famous in the south of the Yangtze River, and even the emperor is courteous when he sees him."

"The Emperor has seen him?"

"Well, I saw it when I went south a few years ago, and later, he also went to the capital."

The Queen Mother's eyes flickered, and her face showed a complicated expression that she didn't know whether it was sad or happy, and after a long time, she looked up at me and said slowly: "Then he, how is his conduct?" ”

I thought about it seriously and said: "Character is like an orchid, resolute as a pine, not afraid of violence, not bound by the world." ”

"......" The Queen Mother was slightly shocked, and there was a look of relief in her eyes: "He, is he a good boy......?" ”

"Hmm. The people of Shengjing have seen him, and they also praise him for being brave and resolute, not floating on the skin, quite the style of the Iron Mask King back then, and Qingying knows tens of millions of people, and he can't speak the same language with him. ”

But by the end, my voice was a little choked.

Indeed, Huang Tianba is the most outstanding person I have ever seen, such a person, should enjoy the glory of the world, happy and hateful, but he can't join hands with the person he loves the most, and now he is trapped thousands of miles away in Shengjing, living in the most despicable way in the world, why does a person like him suffer such a fate?

I looked up at the Queen Mother, but a smile flashed on her face, like a mother who heard the relief and relief of her son's maturity, grabbed my hand and said, "Then he is now-"

She didn't finish her sentence, but she stopped herself.

I looked up at her, only to see the Queen Mother's face slowly darken, slowly recovering her former indifference, leaning back to the bedside and closing her eyes.

I said softly: "Queen Mother, don't ask where he is?" ”

“…… Mourning home, I don't want to ask. ”

Don't want to ask?

I was wondering, when I heard Mama Gui coming over in a hurry outside, standing at the door and saying, "Queen Mother, the emperor is here." ”

The Queen Mother and I were both shocked, and she immediately opened her eyes, but after being silent for a while, she said: "Go and tell the emperor, the mourning family is resting, let him go back." ”

"Yes."

Mama Gui nodded and turned around and went out, but after a while she came back and said, "Queen Mother, the emperor said - the emperor said that he would not disturb the Queen Mother's rest, just wait outside, and wait for the Queen Mother to see her, goodbye." ”

This time, the Queen Mother frowned.

I also subconsciously glanced outside, although it was only early summer, but the weather was still slowly getting hotter, so that the emperor was standing outside, no one could say anything. The Queen Mother sighed lightly and stretched out her hand to me: "Help the mourning family go out." ”

I hurriedly helped her stand up, she was still a little staggered when she walked, and she barely walked outside, and as soon as she pushed open the door, she saw Pei Yuanhao standing at the door, saluting respectfully: "My son visits the queen mother." ”

"What is the Emperor doing here?"

Pei Yuanhao said: "My son has been away from the palace for a few days and has not come to ask the Queen Mother for peace, so I came to see the Queen Mother today." ”

"......" The Queen Mother looked at him and said lightly: "The emperor's filial piety, the mourning family knows." ”

"These days, there are a lot of things going on in the court and the harem, and my son can't always take care of the pagoda, this time I went to the Taimiao, and I specially asked the protector for a peace charm and presented it to the Queen Mother."

After speaking, he took out the peace charm from his sleeve, but the Queen Mother looked silently, and only reached out to take it after a while.

Peace charms? As soon as I heard it, I subconsciously looked at his hand, it was a very delicate peace charm, hanging with red tassels and wearing gold beads, the queen mother put it in her hand and looked at it, as if she remembered something, and said with a faint smile: "The peace charm you sent is almost out of order." ”

Pei Yuanhao said: "My son knows. ”

"You say you know every time." The Queen Mother looked at him, wanted to speak and stopped, but after all, she just sighed and said, "Forget it, you can go back." ”

"Yes, my son has retired."

Pei Yuanhao didn't leave immediately after speaking, but glanced at me, and the Queen Mother also saw it, so she said: "The mourning family heard that the emperor asked her to stay with the eldest prince, so it's okay, there is someone around Nian Shen who knows, and the mourning family is also relieved." But in the past few days, the mourning family wants to keep her here as a companion, there are so many things in the harem, and the emperor has dealt with it, let's talk about it. ”

Pei Yuanhao's face sank, but he still said respectfully: "My son knows." ”

After speaking, I turned around and left, I also helped the Queen Mother back to her room, as soon as I walked to the bedside, the Queen Mother silently hung the peace charm to the head of the bed, I stood aside, looked at the forest of more than a dozen peace charms, and didn't say anything.

At this time, I also somewhat understood why the Queen Mother said that she didn't want to ask.

It's not that I don't want to ask, but I can't ask, I can't bear to ask.

The Queen Mother hung up the peace charm, looked at it silently for a while, looked back and saw my distracted appearance, and said, "Girl." ”

"What does the Queen Mother command?"

"These days, you don't go out much, especially the area of the West Sixth Palace."

The area of the West Sixth Palace is where Concubine Li and Concubine Guifei live, and I immediately understood that now that Nangong Lizhu has had a miscarriage, all the eyes in the entire palace are staring at Shen Rou's belly, of course I have to stay as far away from her as possible.

So I nodded: "Qingying understands." ”

The Queen Mother looked back at the peace charm that was still a little dangling, and said helplessly: "In this palace, I don't know what is going to happen." ”

In the palace, there will be no shortage of accidents.

I almost stayed in the waterfront pagoda for the rest of the time, but the Queen Mother didn't ask about Huang Tianba again, but I know that she didn't forget, she knelt in front of the Buddha shrine for seven or eight hours every day, she was very old, and the kind of torment that others couldn't see was the most abrasive.

It's like every night, I dream of my departure.

And during this period of time, the talented Yuan Yueming still comes to the Linshui Pagoda from time to time, looking at her pious and slender appearance, even Mama Gui can't bear to shut her out.

After another two months, Zhaoyi Liu Li was promoted to concubine, and Ye Yunshuang, a woman, was canonized as a beauty.

The women of the harem are blocked by the high wall, and the only thing they can see is the nine-fold three halls, and what they are looking forward to is nothing more than the promotion of glory, but no matter how they are promoted, the limelight is not as good as the current Shen Rou, and she has been six or seven months old.

In contrast, Concubine Li, who was exclusively favored before, seems a little lonely these days.

These days, Shui Xiu came back from time to time to send me something, and always pulled me to mutter, one moment said that Concubine Li cried in the Yuhua Hall every day, and even her eyes were about to cry, and then said that the emperor went to see her and was locked out, and the supplements sent by the concubine were thrown out, and every time Shui Xiu said it, she secretly laughed.

However, I don't have the heart to listen to the rumors of the West Sixth Palace, these days I have been counting the days with my fingers, from the post sent out shortly after the emperor returned to the palace, to now, Fu Badai should have received it.