The door opened from the inside.

As soon as I looked up, I saw a somewhat familiar person standing in the doorway, and when he saw me, he seemed to be taken aback: "Ahhh ”

I was also shocked, and when I looked at it, it was actually the talented Yuan Yueming standing in front of me!

"Yuan Cairen?"

She was also taken aback, holding the door with both hands and looking at me in a daze, and it took a while to come back to her senses: "Yue-Lord Yue?" ”

I was a little stunned for a while, I didn't expect her to be in the Queen Mother's living room, but I remembered that Mama Gui had told me once before that she often came to see the Queen Mother, and it was not surprising, so I saluted her in a proper manner: "The lower official has seen a talented person." ”

Yuan Yueming smiled and said, "It's been a long time." You, who came to visit the Queen Mother? ”

"Yes."

"Lord Yue is really filial to the Queen Mother, no wonder the Queen Mother has always remembered the Queen Mother."

I heard her words a little nondescript, I couldn't tell what it meant, and when I was about to raise my head to see her expression, she had already walked out and said, "The Queen Mother was still a little feverish just now, and she was resting, so you can go in." I'm going back too. ”

After saying that, I walked outside, I looked back at her figure, and saw that she was walking out in a hurry, she didn't even care about Mama Gui saluting her, and walked out in a hurry after opening the door, without even looking back.

I stood at the door, frowning slightly, and Mama Gui closed the door outside, and then walked back.

I lowered my voice and said, "Mama, has she been here a lot lately?" ”

"Hmm." Mama Gui nodded: "Especially during the days when the Queen Mother is sick, she comes over every day." The slave maid was originally worried about what she was going to do, but after looking at it coldly for a few days, she didn't find anything, but the queen mother-"

"What's wrong with the Queen Mother?"

"The Queen Mother sometimes has a fever, and people are a little confused, looking at her, she thinks you're here."

"Ah......h

As soon as I heard this, the sourness in my heart suddenly welled up, and my eyes were a little hot, and I didn't have time to ask anything, so I turned around and walked into the queen mother's room.

Here, it looks like a patient's room, the windows are hidden on all sides, the dim light makes the whole room have a dull feeling, and the air is filled with a strong smell of medicine in addition to sandalwood; The curtains on the bed were half-hung down, and the brocade quilt could be vaguely seen, and a somewhat thin figure was lying on the bed, with one hand still exposed outside the quilt.

When I saw this, I hurried forward and lifted the veil.

The Queen Mother lying on the bed was still asleep, she had really lost a lot of weight, her cheeks were slightly sunken, and her skin had lost its former luster, revealing some bleak yellow; Even when she fell asleep, her brows furrowed slightly, as if there was some unsolvable pain in a dream, which made her unable to calm down.

Looking down at the hand placed outside the quilt, the joints were so thin that the joints were protruding, and the posture seemed to be grasping something, as soon as I saw it, some hot tears suddenly welled up, and I tried my best to suppress myself, carefully squatting down to hold her hand, and gently put it back into the quilt.

But at this moment, she seemed to feel something, and suddenly grabbed me with her backhand.

"Child-child-"

I was startled for a moment, and hurriedly looked up, only to see that she had not woken up, but only frowned and muttered a dream: "Child-my child, don't--don't take my child!" ”

"The Queen Mother's ......"

She grabbed my hand harder and harder, her nails almost digging into my skin, as if she was really grasping something important to her that someone would snatch her away if she let go. Looking at her face that was also painful in her dreams, my heart ached, and I reached out to brush the sweaty hair on her face, and she became more and more panicked, and kept pulling my fingers: "Don't, don't snatch my child...... My baby! ”

Hearing her unconscious dreams, my heart sank.

Her children...... The child who was snatched away......

Mama Gui, who had been standing behind her, heard her dream words, and immediately panicked, and hurriedly walked to the bedside: "Queen Mother, Queen Mother, wake up, Queen Mother ......"

The Queen Mother opened her eyes suddenly: "Ahhh ”

She had just woken up from her dream, she was still a little at a loss, her face was covered with cold sweat, Mama Gui hurriedly took out a handkerchief to gently wipe it for her, and said, "Queen Mother, are you okay?" ”

"......" The Queen Mother was still a little dazed, and it took a while to come back to her senses, look at her, and look at me again: "Qingying? ”

I hurriedly said, "Queen Mother." ”

"Is it really you?"

"It's me, Queen Mother." As I spoke, my voice was also a little choked: "It's Qingying who is not good, the Queen Mother has been sick for so long, and Qingying hasn't come to see you." ”

"Heh......" She didn't blame me, but smiled lovingly, as if she saw me, and the horror in the dream also subsided, and said, "It's okay." You're good, you're fine. ”

It was just the simplest sentence, but it made me cry.

She has always taken care of me, and many frictions between me and Pei Yuanhao also rely on her in the middle, even if I can get out of the cold palace this time, it all depends on her. She's done so much for me, and she doesn't ask for anything in return, and I don't even stay by her side when she's sick, and I'm - I really shouldn't have it!

Holding her hand, I was so choked that I couldn't speak, but it was Mama Gui, who had been carefully waiting beside her, with some uncertain expressions on her face, and said: "The Queen Mother had a nightmare just now, and said a lot of strange things, but it's okay, it's just a dream in a dream." ”

When the Queen Mother heard her say this, her face was slightly solemn.

I also felt something in my heart, but I didn't say anything, I just smiled at her briefly, but the Queen Mother said: "Speaking of which, the mourning family is a little hungry, have you eaten Qingying?" If not, let's have a meal with the mourning family. ”

I nodded, Mama Gui was still a little worried, glanced at us, then turned around and walked out to prepare for the meal, I saw that the Queen Mother wanted to get up, and hurriedly helped her to sit on the head of the bed carefully.

The Queen Mother still squeezed my hand, as if she was reluctant to let go, looked me up and down for a while, and said, "The mourning family heard something. ”

"......" I looked at her carefully.

"I heard that the concubine's child is an idiot?"

"Yes."

"Hey, how can this be?"

“……”

"Emperor, he must be sad, right?"

"......" This is inevitable, no matter how jealous he is of the Shen family, after all, it is his own flesh and blood, and no matter who will be sad when he encounters such a thing.

The Queen Mother let out a long sigh: "This kid ...... Ay. ”

No matter who else or anything, when it comes to children, the Queen Mother will always be extraordinarily soft-hearted, it seems that she has always had a special feeling for children, like an unfillable gap in her heart, recalling the words she said in her dream just now, I only feel that the gap is becoming more and more obvious, and it seems that the truth buried in it is revealed to me little by little.

"Queen Mother, you-"

I wanted to ask her, but I stopped as soon as I opened my mouth - I was afraid that I couldn't ask about this kind of thing, and I didn't dare to ask, otherwise Mama Gui wouldn't have been so careful to divert the topic just now.

The Queen Mother didn't feel what I was thinking in my heart at all, just sat there and was distracted, I followed her gaze to look over, but found that she had been looking at the amulets hanging in the curtains, and the indescribable contradictions in her eyes were entangled, as if these things had been tormenting her, so that even if she escaped from the world and meditated every day, she still couldn't fill the gap in her heart.

After a long while, she slowly turned her head to look at me and said, "Now, how is the situation in the palace?" ”

I didn't know what she meant for a moment, I just looked at her.

"Isn't it, not so good?"

“……”

Hearing these words, I understood, and after thinking for a while, I said softly: "The Queen Mother relaxes." ”

“……”

"No matter where it is, the emperor will definitely make the waterfront pagoda safe."

When she heard this, a bitter smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and she shook her head: "You, don't coax me." ”

“……”

"The mourning family has been in this palace for decades, what haven't you seen? In this palace, where will there be a peaceful place, a peaceful person? ”

"The Queen Mother's ......"

I said sadly, and she only smiled wearily at me and slowly closed her eyes.

She sat at the head of the bed, her face was more and more yellow set off by the white curtains, and her forehead was densely covered with a layer of cold sweat, which had just come out of a nightmare, I took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped it for her, the Queen Mother only let me move like this, and didn't say anything, but I thought about it, and then cautiously said: "The Queen Mother...... Did you have some bad dreams? ”

"......," she opened her eyes and looked at me.

"I heard that the nightmare is a demon in the heart."

"Demon ......?" The Queen Mother chewed these two words slowly, as if she had a bitter taste, and a bitter smile appeared on her face: "If you are entangled by demons for a lifetime, you will soon become a demon." ”

"Queen Mother!"

I was startled and hurriedly clenched her hand, but she just smiled faintly and said: "Mourning family, maybe the time of the big departure is not far away, these days I always think of many things in the past, good and bad thoughts, love and hate are not forgotten, after reciting the scriptures for so many years, it turned out to be in vain." ”

My tears welled up all of a sudden: "Don't say that, Queen Mother. ”

I also know that when people get old, they are going down little by little, and the way she is now, although she is extremely rich, she can't stop such a footstep, but she still can't accept it emotionally.

What's more, if there is really a gap in her heart and she leaves like this, how painful will that kind of torment be for her?

Seeing that my tears were raining down, she smiled and stretched out her other emaciated hand to wipe the tears on my face, and said with a smile: "In fact, on this day, anyone will have it, if it really comes, you don't have to be like this." It's just that you're still young, and there's still something to think about. ”

“……”

"When I mourn my family, I often think of when I was young."

“……”

"At that time, the mourning family was still riding horses on the grassland, not to mention the iron knight king, and the eagles he raised couldn't catch up with me."

“……”

"On the grassland, there are still wolves, and every spring we will fight with iron bows on our backs, and the more we fight, the better, otherwise in winter, it will be a disaster."

Hearing that she seemed to be reminiscing about the past, I didn't want to ask more, so I just said softly: "Why?" ”

"When the wolves don't have food in the winter, they take risks and sneak into the city, or in some tribes to pick up their children," she said. ”

“……”

"Many people on the grassland have been victimized."

“……”

"Either that, or drive a few cattle and sheep to the grassland and shoot them for the wolves to eat. As long as they can feed themselves, they won't come to the city to hurt people. ”

When I heard this, my heart chuckled and I looked at the Queen Mother with wide eyes.

The Queen Mother smiled indifferently: "At this time, if you don't feed the wolves something and force them to a dead end, I'm afraid something will happen." ”

……

She wasn't talking about wolves, but-

I looked at the Queen Mother with some shock.

My shock is not only what she said, nor because the Queen Mother, who has always ignored the mundane affairs of the outside world, will also care about the government and politics, what shocks me is that even she will use the words "something big is going to happen" when she talks about the current situation! The Queen Mother has been up and down in the palace for decades, and she has seen many more winds and waves than me, and even she said so, that is, the current situation is really dangerous, if you don't deal with it properly, something will really happen!

At this time, I thought about it for a while, and it suddenly became a little enlightened.

I didn't care too much about the power of the Shen family in the past, but now that I think about it, Shen Gong is in power and leans towards the government and the opposition, and there are civil ministers inside and military generals outside.

But the reason why he didn't is because the price will be great, but the odds of winning are not great; Moreover, Shen Rou is pregnant and gives birth, if she can justifiably ascend to the throne in the future, a smooth transition of power is naturally a better choice than doing something risky.

But now, this child is an idiot, and they have cut off this path.

At this time, what will the Shen family think?

Is it to wait for the birth of a child, and then to dispute the canonization of the crown prince with the courtiers of Fu Badai's lineage, who may have matured by then? Fei Jiu's efforts to put the child on the throne? Or is it another direct way to gain more power?

When I think about this, my scalp is a little numb.

The Empress Dowager sighed and said, "If you have the opportunity, go and sue Emperor Sù, now you must appease the Shen family." ”

"The Queen Mother's ......"

"Otherwise—"

"Don't say it Queen Mother." I grabbed her hand, and my palms were covered in cold sweat.

After all, the Queen Mother is the Queen Mother, she sees things more thoroughly than me and the Queen, and thinks more deeply, Chang Qing and I haven't thought about things until now, but she has already understood everything, and said: "Don't be afraid, things are not impossible to turn around." If the emperor is willing to do this, then it must be foolproof, otherwise the slightest mistake will cause a catastrophe. ”

I knelt in front of the bed, held her hand, and said, "Queen Mother, why don't you tell the emperor this in person?" ”

She looked at me, shook her head a little tiredly, and closed her eyes with a smile.

I thought of Chang Qing in a trance, who was indifferent and cold, and it seemed that she had always looked like this in front of Nian Shen.

When I wanted to say something more, Mama Gui had already brought in the meal with the little palace maid, so I didn't ask again. The Queen Mother's diet has always been vegetarian and light, and now she is sick and does not see meat, and the people in the imperial dining room can only work the medicinal diet, and I heard Gui Mama say that she didn't eat much in the past, but today I saw me coming, and my spirit is better, and my appetite is better.

So, although I didn't have much appetite, I still tried my best to eat more with her.

After finishing the meal, her spirit was not very good, I served her with Gui Mama to sleep, I said goodbye and prepared to go out, just walked to the door, and remembered the scene when I opened the door before, stopped and asked Gui Mama, "Mama, that Yuan Cairen she-"

"Huh?"

I hesitated, and although it was difficult to speak, I still said, "In the future, let's let her come less." ”

Mama Gui suddenly became a little nervous: "Is she—"

I hurriedly waved my hand: "I'm just worried in vain." The current situation is not good, and the Queen Mother's body is weak, so don't let her be so distracted every day. Mama will be worried about some in the future. ”

Mama Gui listened and nodded cautiously: "The slave knows." ”

I smiled at her, turned and walked out.

Mama Gui sent me to the gate, only to close the door gently, I walked on the water corridor, looked back, the surrounding mist seemed to be flowing with the wind, and there was a feeling of turmoil in a trance.

Even the waterfront pagoda does not have absolute calm......

I walked back all the way with a solemn heart, just turned a palace wall, and saw a sedan chair parked in front of Jingren Palace, it seemed that someone had sat on it, I didn't have time to get closer, I saw Nian Shen was also led on the sedan chair, Shui Xiu followed alongside, and after putting down the curtain, a few little eunuchs carried the sedan chair away steadily.

Whose sedan chair is that?

I was puzzled, and hurriedly walked over, but I still didn't have time, but the apricot inside was about to go back, turned around and saw me at the gate, and hurriedly walked out: "Lord Yue, you are back." ”

"Hmm." I nodded and asked, "Xing'er, who was that sedan chair just now?" What are you here for? ”

"Oh, it's Concubine Li."

"Concubine Li? Why did her sedan chair stop here? ”

"Concubine Li came to talk to the queen for a while, and said that she had sent some fresh things from her house to take Her Royal Highness over to play for a while."

"What?"

I was shocked, I didn't expect Nangong Lizhu to come to Jingren Palace to talk to the queen, and the queen also asked her to pick up Nianshen.

I haven't forgotten that the emperor and queen left the palace for ten days before, how she stared at Nian Shen and me, and harmed her several times, although the current situation is very different from when she was pregnant before, in her situation, harming Nian Shen is only beneficial to herself; Besides, her current goal is Shen Rou, and it is the best choice to connect with Jingren Palace's side, but her sudden 180-degree transformation still makes me a little unable to come back to my senses.

said that she came to talk to the queen for a while, what did she say?

Thinking of this, I hurriedly turned around and walked towards Jingren Palace.

Chang Qing's living room still had refreshments after the hospitality, and while tidying up, she was talking about something, and when she heard the sound of me entering the door, she looked back and immediately said happily: "Lord Yue is back." ”

Chang Qing was still sitting at the table, and people seemed to be distracted, and when they heard that I was back, they were refreshed and looked up at me: "You're back." ”

"The Queen."

I walked over and saluted, she raised her hand slightly, and said to the button, "Okay, get two cups of tea." ”

"Yes."

Kou Er quickly made two cups of tea, and the pastries on the table didn't seem to have been touched, Chang Qing said, "Can you eat a little?" ”

I shook my head: "Xia Guan just spent his fast with the Queen Mother at the Linshui Pagoda. ”

"Oh......" Chang Qing heard this, and his eyes sank for a moment: "Bengong, maybe I haven't been to the Queen Mother for a long time." ”

She and I were originally all the way, so naturally we also understood, and the Queen Mother didn't want us to be distracted by the past, so she decided not to talk about the Queen Mother's illness for the time being, and said: "Queen Mother, just now, the lower official saw Concubine Li's sedan chair." ”

"Well, she came over and talked to Hongu for a while."

"She, what did she say?"

Chang Qing glanced at me: "It's just some old sayings." ”

When I heard this, my heart sank.

Of course, I know what she said in the old words.

The current situation is very clear, the court, the harem, and several forces are staring at the Shen family, Nangong Lizhu may not have such a big vision, what she wants is just to avenge herself, for this, she can do everything, and even beg the emperor to re-admit me as a concubine in the harem, just to increase the help of this side.

I hurriedly said, "Queen Mother, you didn't promise her, did you?" ”

Chang Qing looked at me and smiled a little tiredly: "Don't worry. ”

“……”

"Your heart, this palace knows."

This sentence immediately put me at ease, I may not believe other people, but Chang Qing can understand this mood the most, as long as she understands, she will definitely not force me to do what I don't want to do.

But now it seems that Nangong Lizhu is really shrewd, Pei Nianyun just had an accident, and she immediately came over to show her goodwill to Nianshen.

She is already an infertile body, in fact, there are many childless concubines in the harem, and the best way out for such concubines has always been to succeed a prince to pave the way for her future. Now that Pei Nianyun is found to be an idiot, the value of Nianshen, the eldest prince, is immediately different.

And-

remembered that she had attacked Chang Qing several times, and now she may not give up this idea, when the current matter is over, one day she will become a big thing, Nian Shen must have other concubines to take care of, if it is her, then her status is already secure.

She really took one step, looked at ten steps, and even made such a plan.

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but sneer, Chang Qing looked at me and smiled too.

There was an indescribable sneer in the smile.

I accompanied Chang Qing to drink tea, the two of them tasted the sweetness and bitterness of the tea, and they also had their own tastes in their hearts, she was silent for a while, then turned to me and said, "By the way, you just went to ask the Queen Mother to say goodbye, is the Queen Mother okay?" ”

I thought about it, but I still avoided mentioning some things, and only said: "Queen Mother, the Queen Mother has some words, and I bother to ask the Queen Mother to bring them to the emperor." ”

Although it was the Queen Mother who asked me to sue Pei Yuanhao, I really didn't want to have any more contact with him, so I simply made it clear to Chang Qing, which could be regarded as a reminder to her.

"Oh? What words? ”

"yes, what's that?"

An abrupt voice suddenly sounded in the room, Chang Qing's faces and I changed, my heart sank, and I slowly turned my head, and I saw Pei Yuanhao walking in from outside with his hands behind his back.