Outside, it seemed to be snowing again.

The snowflakes fell on the roof, as if someone was whispering in my ear, and these sounds were so clear in my ears, but they seemed far, far away, and there was an indescribable strange feeling.

I don't know how long later, I raised my head to look at Yan Wuxi, only to feel that under the candlelight, under the snow-white hair, the young face looked extremely bewitching, as if it was a monster made of ice and snow, and I was talking completely untrustworthy words.

Looking at my eyes, he smiled calmly: "You don't believe it. ”

I kept my mouth shut and didn't speak.

I can't say I don't believe it, since I started to look for the truth about my mother, there are too many people and things that point to this imperial city, from the time I found this jade plate in Tiejia Qianzhuang, I have been faintly aware that as the mother of the Xichuan Yan family, she has an inextricable connection with the royal family.

It's just that when this character was confirmed, I was in a trance.

Emperor Taishang, Pei Ji?

The one who has been unconscious and wasted his years in the deep palace, the former Ninety-Five Supreme.

I suddenly realized that I really didn't know much about this person, although I had a hundred and thousands of connections with his sons, and I had also served him by his side when he was poisoned and unconscious, and when it was the most difficult, I really didn't think to understand him at all, this emperor who was always pale and thin, and cultivated and alchemized in the deep palace all the year round.

He, with my mother......

Looking at my pale face, Yan Wuxian smiled calmly again: "You can't believe it, can you?" ”

I was silent for a long time, and finally regained a little of my senses, and looked up at him, always a little uncertain: "Why? ”

"Why?"

Yan Wuxian also seemed a little apprehensive about this question, pondered for a while, and then looked at me with a smile: "If you want to say why, Poor Dao has never really asked about it. However, from a secular point of view, it is probably difficult for a man to protect a woman, and to protect her from his father. ”

“……”

I fell silent.

It turned out that what I had guessed before was that the exonerated jade plaque issued by Emperor Gao protected my mother, which was actually wrong, and it was Pei Ji who really wanted to protect her, and the reason why he wanted to protect her was because Emperor Gao wanted, or could hurt my mother.

It was completely unexpected.

I was silent for a long time, with a little disbelief, and said with a smile: "The Emperor - ...... to my mother?" ”

How could these two people, who were thousands of miles apart, even be completely in the hostile camp, be-

The snow seems to be falling more urgently.

Perhaps, it was not that the snow fell urgently, but that my heartbeat and breathing were all disordered at this moment, which made me a little overwhelmed, I don't know how long I was silent, I raised my head to look at the flickering flame on the candlestick in front of me, looked at the other side of the flame, Yan Wuxi's smiling, bottomless eyes, and said solemnly: "So, who is the Taoist?" ”

He raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at me.

"The Taoist doesn't know who my mother is, but what about the Taoist himself?"

“……”

"You have always had a relationship with Emperor Taishang, you can mention to Emperor Gao to cast a jade plaque of exoneration, and you have been by the side of Emperor Taishang all these years, who are you?"

Yan Wuxian looked at my focused eyes, smiled and said, "It seems that if Poor Dao doesn't give Miss Yan an explanation today, I'm afraid that this matter will be difficult." ”

I also smiled: "It's also the Taoist who came to me for tea." ”

He smiled and nodded, picked up the teacup and took a sip, and then said, "If you want to talk about poor Taoism, you are just a Taoist priest." ”

My brow furrowed.

"It's just that," he said, "it just so happened that back then, the Emperor Taishang was interested in entering the Tao, and it just so happened that he chose the poor Tao." ”

"The Emperor intends to enter the Tao? Does he want to become a monk? ”

"Exactly."

"Why?"

Yan Wuxian thought about it, but he didn't answer me directly, but said slowly: "If someone in this world wants to escape the great pain in his heart, there are three ways, one is to wipe his neck with a knife, and the other is to escape, and he also hopes for the next life, or even rebirth. ”

Hearing this, I sneered.

If you can't even grasp the present life, how can you hope for the next life, or even rebirth?

People's character and means determine the fate of this life, if you can live well, why wait for the next life to be good; Changing one's life is just changing one's own ignorance, so that one can continue to suffer unfinished in this life.

Yan Wuxian looked at me: "It seems that Miss Yan does not agree with this approach. ”

I nodded faintly.

He smiled: "The second is to endure the pain in your heart and change your present life. ”

This time, I didn't speak.

After just a moment of silence, I said, "The third is to become a monk?" ”

"Not bad."

"So, when the Emperor Taishang wanted to enter the Dao, it was because he had great pain in his heart?"

Yan Wuxian nodded: "In the eyes of Poor Dao, this is indeed the case. ”

"What makes him so miserable?"

"The slaughtering knife of the imperial court, the blood of Yangzhou is flowing like a river."

I froze.

It turned out to be for the sake of the great massacre of the imperial court in Yangzhou, and the Emperor Taishang was so painful that he wanted to become a monk and enter the Tao?

Isn't he Emperor Gao's own son? At that time, he also followed Emperor Gao from the grassland to fight in the south and north, entered the Central Plains, and was finally canonized as the crown prince and ascended the throne as the emperor.

Looking at the doubts and even disbelief in my eyes, Yan Wuxian smiled faintly: "It seems that Miss Yan's cultivation is nothing more than that." In this world, saints are beasts, but there is a difference in skin, not to mention, the great Confucian has not always been educated, the human heart has four ends, and everyone has compassion, why can't the emperor have compassion for the corpses of Yangzhou City? ”

I was slightly stunned, and I met his eyes, a little ashamed for a moment.

"It seems that I am narrow-minded."

Speechless smiled faintly.

Speaking of which, when Pei Ji was the emperor, although he was not diligent in government, he was indeed very gentle, and his political achievements were very few, compared to Emperor Gao's southern and northern wars and his son Pei Yuanhao's drastic reform and new policy, he seemed so smooth and supple, and even had a feeling of being almost ignored.

This has something to do with the fact that he has been cultivating in the deep palace.

Yan Wuxian continued: "But at that time, Emperor Gao ascended the throne, and he was immediately canonized as the crown prince, how could Emperor Gao allow his son, the crown prince of the dynasty, to become a monk? ”

I sighed softly.

Once, I also complained about the heavens, even if I was the eldest lady of the Yan family, I couldn't control my own life, but it seems that compared to the emperor, my inability to be independent is too worthless, as the crown prince and the prince of the country, he also can't control his own life.

Yan Wuxian said: "Although he failed to become a monk, he has always devoted himself to cultivation, and the poor Tao has always followed the side of the emperor." ”

I looked at his calm eyes, and I was a little emotional for a while.

He refused to say where he came from, nor did he reveal what his identity was back then, which made me feel guilty, but from his practice and the ability to practice the method of continuing his life, it can be seen that he must have been a virtuous and Taoist priest back then, otherwise he would not have been favored by Pei Ji, who was the crown prince, and would have followed him to become a monk.

Moreover, now that I think about it, I also understand a little bit why Pei Ji didn't seem to be very diligent when he was the emperor.

He is a cultivator, believe in Huang Lao, pay attention to inaction, when Emperor Gao entered the Central Plains to conquer the north and south, almost the entire Central Plains fell into dire straits, after the war, all industries withered, the people's livelihood withered, and even appeared thousands of miles of uninhabited tragic scenes, the people changed their children and eat, in that case, the implementation of inaction and governance, can indeed allow the people to recuperate, recuperate.

It's just -- pity Jiangnan.

I was silent for a while, and then said, "Then, the Taoist chief proposed to cast this exonerated jade plaque for my mother, so what about that exonerated gold medal?" ”

Yan Wuyi glanced at me.

I was a little inexplicable at that glance, because his eyes were a little inexplicable, and I couldn't help but feel moved: "What's wrong?" ”

Am I asking something wrong?

Yan Wuxian smiled: "Miss Yan, Poor Dao only said that this jade medal of exoneration was proposed by Poor Dao, but that gold medal has nothing to do with Poor Dao." ”

"What?"

He smiled faintly and said: "The exoneration jade plaque was indeed issued by Emperor Gao, but in the end of Emperor Gao's life, only this exoneration jade plaque was given." The gold medal of exculpation was forged by the Emperor Taishang many years later. ”

"Huh?" I was shocked to learn that the two identical-looking exoneration cards weren't made by the same person

(l~1`x*>+``+