Listening to the footsteps outside the house, Sheng Shi, who was hiding not far behind the window, moved vainly, walked to the window, opened the window slightly, and Shen Qiyan's back was about to disappear from view.

I could only see her hazy figure through the starry moonlight.

Today, he heard Su Qin worrying that Shen Qiyan didn't eat, saying that he was very worried, but there was no way.

I don't know why, after Sheng Shiyu heard these words, his heart was in turmoil, and after wandering for a long time, he still couldn't help but go to the kitchen, at first Sheng Shiyu just wanted to see if he had anything to do.

After going to the kitchen, Sheng Shiyu found that he seemed to have no knowledge of this aspect, and he would use it with the utensils.

A few dishes also came to mind, as if they had been made for someone before.

Sheng Shiyu made those dishes.

When the first dish came out of the pot, the chef tasted some of the remaining dishes in the pot and was shocked, "Your cooking is delicious, and it is not much worse than that of Prince Chi." ”

"Prince Chi knows how to cook? Have you eaten? ”

The chef nodded, "Yes, Prince Chi cooks a must, it is very delicious, and my cooking skills are also taught by him, I was originally a waiter in Prince Chi's mansion, and Prince Chi has nothing to do, saying that he wants to teach us to cook, and if we are interested, I will learn from him." ”

"There is no salary for this, and it is a waste of time, and the ingredients are rare, and some people are afraid that they will be scolded by the prince if they burn the ingredients, so there are only seven people who go to study later."

"I'm the best of the seven."

"Prince Chi and the empress have a good relationship, so Prince Chi asked me to come to the empress's palace and let me cook for the empress."

Hearing this, Sheng Shiyu nodded, "It's really a good relationship." ”

The chef looked at Sheng Shiyu and was very easy to get along with, and he was also happy, "It's better for you to get along better, no wonder the empress likes you and doesn't like those beautiful men in the courtyard." ”

Sheng Shi continued to cook for a while.

Look at the chef.

"Sideways?"

"Those?"

"Beautiful man...... Guys? ”

The chef didn't feel anything wrong, and continued to say, "Yes, it's still your fate, you are favored by the empress, and you can live next to the empress, otherwise the beautiful men who serve the empress will all live in the side courtyard." ”

"It is estimated that at this time, all the beautiful men in the side courtyard know that you are coming, and the news in the palace can't be hidden at all, it's too fast, and they must all be envious and jealous of you."

The corners of his lips were pursed silently, and a depression rose in his heart.

continued to ask in a voice that was not light or heavy: "Before I came, did the empress already raise a lot of beautiful men?" ”

Chef: "That's natural, when has the empress ever lacked men, they are all good-looking and have a prominent family background." ”

"But......" The chef lowered his voice and said in front of Sheng Shiyu: "You should also know, your face is good, like the person the empress has been looking for, those in the side courtyard, more or less, are all somewhat similar to the facial features, but you are the most similar one." ”

"Who the empress has been looking for? Who is it? ”

The cook shook his head, "How do we know this, we only know that the empress has been contributing to the country in other places with the previous empress in the past, and she only came back a few years ago, it is rumored that it is a man that the empress met elsewhere, and since the empress ascended the throne, she has been posting lists everywhere in Huacheng to find men on the portrait." ”

"There are a lot of beautiful men sent from all over Huacheng because of this, but those people and empresses all said no, and they didn't want it."

"But later the side courtyard was expanded, and the empress selected many people from a group of beautiful men to enter the side courtyard, saying that when the painter painted a portrait of each person, she found that the facial features were similar to the person that the empress found."

"So, later, some people went to pay for painters to paint them like that man, and many people went to learn makeup, just to be like that man."

"I've been here for a long time, and I've seen some beautiful men who want to come to the empress to be courteous, and they do have a little imagination, but when I saw you, I was really surprised, and I was most like you."

"But if you look closely, there are some parts that are not quite alike, but they are already the most similar people I have ever seen, hey, I really envy you, this kind of thing is a thing that is born to bring, you can get the gift of the empress just by relying on a similar face, we have worked hard all our lives, and we can't compare to you."

……

Sheng Shiyu finally left the kitchen almost with a cold face.

He didn't know what was wrong with him, obviously what the chef said was right, it was already a gift to be treated like this by the empress, but he was extremely uncomfortable.

Especially when I think of those people in the side courtyard, thinking that before herself, she may have treated others like herself, and she felt unspeakably uncomfortable.

Zhang Dandan taught him the rules, and Sheng Shiyu also heard the high praise of most of the attendants in the palace.

Everyone is talking.

"The Empress is so kind to you."

"I've never seen the empress do this to a beautiful man."

"The Empress is very used to you."

In the past, he just felt suspicious, and he didn't know why Shen Qiyan was so good to him as soon as they met.

I don't know why Shen Qiyan always gives him a familiar feeling, and I don't know why Shen Qiyan speaks as if he knows him very well.

But now, his heart felt like it was empty.

He felt uncomfortable, as if he had lost something, but he couldn't tell him the details.

Is he just a replacement?

……

Sleepless nights.

Sheng Shi was lying on the bed and couldn't help but think.

Shen Qiyan could come to him at night, did he do this to that man before?

She took the initiative to kiss him, did she kiss that man like this before?

In all of this, Sheng Shiyu couldn't help but want to connect with the rumored man.

Following.

Sheng Shiyu almost didn't sleep much and got up early in the morning.

He wanted to go out and relax.

I heard that there is a teahouse with the story of the empress and the man.

Sheng Shi went to the teahouse in vain.

It's a pity that he went too early, and the teahouse stage was still empty, and there was no one.

After tasting several cups of tea in vain, things were put on the table one after another.

There are also a lot of people sitting around him one after another.

The sound of chatter penetrated into Sheng Shi's ears.

"Yesterday, I heard the story of the empress surging in my heart, and I wanted to know the follow-up all night, and I came here today at the right time!"

"It's not, so am I, I'm still discussing the follow-up plot with a few friends, and I don't know what it's like."

"That man is really happy, what man doesn't want to be a man who is remembered by the empress."

Sheng Shiyu kept pricking up his ears and eavesdropping, and the more he listened, the more itchy his heart became, wondering what he said yesterday.

Take the initiative to ask: "Hello, I just came to this teahouse today, I heard you tell me about the story of the empress yesterday, I am also very curious, what is it?" Can you tell me about it? ”

Sheng Shiyu was still a little worried that these people were unwilling to tell him, but he didn't expect that one was more enthusiastic than the other.

"You haven't even heard of it, I'll tell you!"

"Oops, oops, I'm coming, I'm coming! You've talked to so many people, and you've told you all about it, let me say it! ”

"I haven't told anyone yet! Let me say it again, I also want to see the envious and shocked look of men when they first hear this story. ”

The three of them quarreled for a long time, and finally selected a man through rock-paper-scissors.

The man smiled with satisfaction, coughed lightly, and began to behave.

"Let's take the empress, from the day of birth, that is a natural auspicious person, a hundred flowers are in full bloom, and all the flowers in the flower city celebrate her arrival."

"The previous empress has only one child, and she is the current empress, so it is conceivable that she must have learned all the wisdom of the previous empress."

"But ah, a few years after the previous empress ascended the throne, she disappeared into Huacheng, and no one saw her, so her sister took her place to manage Huacheng."

"I heard that it was the high priest who calculated that there was a great calamity in Huacheng, and it would take nine hundred and eighty-one difficulties to eliminate this calamity."

"So, the previous empress chose to go through the calamity alone and bear all this for all the people of Huacheng."

"After many years abroad, the previous empress inevitably met some men and gave birth to children."

"The current empress is out with the previous empress to survive the calamity for the people of Huacheng."

"Nearly a hundred years have passed!"

"Finally! At the end of the eighty-first tribulation, the empress encountered an unprecedented crisis in the eighty-first tribulation. ”

"The empress was struck by lightning and fell off a cliff."

"The previous empress was heartbroken, and she searched for a long time in the place where the empress was killed, and she couldn't find the empress on and off the cliff, and finally she could only endure the sadness and return to Huacheng, and continue to let Huacheng live a life of peace and security."

"The previous empress thought that the empress had unfortunately passed away after falling off the cliff, but in fact, the empress did not die, but fell into a small mountain village under the cliff and was rescued by a handsome villager."

"The empress lost her memory because of a lightning strike, and spent a few years of good time with a handsome young man in the mountain village, but later, the empress unexpectedly regained her memory."

"The empress wanted the young man to return to Huacheng with her, but the young man only thought that the empress had deceived him about his identity for many years, and he was very angry and unwilling to leave with the empress."

"Even let the empress choose one of the two, if the empress returns to Huacheng, she will have to cut off relations with her from now on."

Sheng Shi was listening carefully, but the man who spoke suddenly listened, and Sheng Shi asked in vain: "Then what?" ”

The man clapped his hands, "I also want to know what then, isn't it that you haven't talked about it yet, you're lucky, you'll hear the follow-up later, we've been suffering all night." ”

Another man chimed in: "That's right, I didn't sleep well all night last night, tossing and turning, and woke up my wife, and scolded me severely, alas." ”

Another man said: "Actually, we all know the follow-up of the story, the empress returned to Huacheng, but I am curious, I don't know if there was a moment of hesitation in the middle, while sighing at the empress's patriotism and ignoring her own feelings, and on the other hand, feeling sorry for the man who has accompanied the empress for many years." ”

Sheng Shi said softly: "What if...... After the empress really found a man who looked similar to the young man in Huacheng, she doted on the man very much, and liked it very much? Is she in love with that man, or has she betrayed him? ”

"Naturally, I like it." The men spoke in unison.

"For the empress, so all the men are hers, and it is the greatest blessing for her to miss one or two, so there is no betrayal."

"Huacheng has always been polyandry, even if there is no such man, there are other men, and the empress can find someone who looks similar, which means that she is still concerned."

Sheng Shi was vain, but he was silent.

He seems to really be the same as what Shen Qiyan said, he doesn't belong here, and he can't accept the concepts of everyone here.

He always felt that this was not the case, but he couldn't say anything to refute it.

……

"It's coming, it's coming!"

"Wow, Mr. Su, you're here!"

"It's finally time for you, let's go up and talk about it!"

"Mr. Su, tell me quickly, I still have to go home to cook."

With a commotion, the storyteller, Mr. Su, sat in the center of the stage.

There was a table in front of him, sitting upright on a chair, and then his arms resting on the table.

After tasting tea and briefly reviewing yesterday's content, he continued to speak with emotion.

"The empress finally chose Huacheng and left the youth."

"The young man has no face to live in the mountain village, the young man and the empress have lived together for many years, everyone in the mountain village knows that they are a harmonious couple, and now that the empress is gone, the young man is no longer innocent."

"The young man went to the cliff where the empress used to fall and jumped down."

"Later, the empress regretted it, she returned to the mountain village before she returned to Huacheng, and she made up her mind to live with the youth for the rest of her life."

"But...... When the empress returned to the mountain village, she received the news that the young man had died. ”

"The empress carved her name on the young man's tombstone with her own hands, telling everyone that he was her husband."

"The young man is dead, the empress has no worries anymore and has returned to the flower city."

"But as the days passed, the empress couldn't let go of her youth at all, and her thoughts were even worse, haunting the empress's heart day and night."

"The empress has not recruited beautiful men in the harem for many years, but has posted portraits all over the city, trying to find a similar appearance to the young man to relieve her longing."

"But later, many people with similar appearances entered the palace, and the empress just glanced at him and said, 'You are not him.'" After meeting countless people, the empress died of this heart, and she told herself to stop deceiving herself, the young man is dead, even if she finds someone who looks like him again, it will not be him. ”

"Even if it looks like it on the outside, it's completely different on the inside."

"Later, the empress was in her throne, and she had to spread out for the future of the country and give birth to the next generation of empresses, and under the pressure of courtiers and the previous empress, the empress could only hold a draft event."

"But despite this, the people who stayed in the palace of the empress were somewhat similar to the young man."

"But for many years, the empress did not favor them! Nor did she give birth to offspring, because she was firm in her heart! She just wants to be with young people for the rest of her life! A pair! ”

Hearing this, most of the people present wiped their tears.

The storyteller suddenly changed his words and said, "But a few days ago! One person took down the painting on the bulletin board and rushed to the palace without stopping. ”

"That man looked so much like the young man in the painting! Even the empress, who has never left a self-recommender, actually left the man behind this time! ”

"You must know that the beautiful men of the empress have a special place to live, they all live in a side courtyard, and they do not live with the empress, and only the empress can serve if she takes the initiative to summon her."

"For thousands of years, the rules of the palace have always been like this."

"But! The empress made an exception for this person, and the empress directly let this person live in her palace! And they gave him all that was good, and let him serve him that night. ”

So is this man the same young man he was from? Did the young man die in the first place? If this person is not a young man, why is the empress so special to him? But if this man is a young man, how can he come back to life? ”

"If you want to know the follow-up, at the same time tomorrow, I will reveal it to you here!"

As soon as Mr. Su's words came out, the audience's eyes changed when they were crying with tears.

They are complaining~

"Mr. Su, don't be appetizing! Say it! ”

"yes, you're like this, I've been remembering it for another day."

"Mr. Su, I'll give you money, can you tell me about it?"

“……”

Mr. Su was surrounded by people on the inner and outer three floors.

Sheng Shi left in vain but disappointed.

Because he knows the end, the youth is dead, and the empress's new favorite is not a young man.

But from Mr. Su's words that were favored that night, Sheng Shiyu also knew that these were not true, probably mixed truths.

But when I think of the story of the empress and the young man, I can't get past that hurdle in the prime of life.

Which of those passages are true?

Which ones are false?

(End of chapter)