It was past noon.

Xiao Yuehuai and Su Ying accompanied Emperor Zhou and Empress Zhou to have lunch together, and after coming out of the Changqing Palace, they walked slowly to the imperial garden. On the way, she broke away from Su Ying, took Ah Lu around the Qisi Gate, and then walked from the Qisi Gate to the frost listening platform, and as her footsteps deepened, she came to the covered bridge behind the Feige Lianque, and squeezed into a corridor.

"Princess, what are we doing here?"

Ah Lu looked around, only to feel horrified: "How can there be such a passage behind the frost listening platform?" ”

Xiao Yuehuai suddenly turned her head, made a silent gesture at her, and walked inside on tiptoe. Ah Lu didn't dare to make another sound, opened his eyes, and cautiously followed behind her.

They followed the narrow corridor and found a small, dark room at the end. Xiao Yuehuai stood tiptoeing by the door, stretched out her hand and tentatively pushed the wooden door of the room, and a squeak followed, along with a few whimpering.

Ah Lu listened in horror, and seeing that Xiao Yuehuai was about to go in, he hurriedly grabbed her sleeve and lowered his voice: "Princess! Don't go! ”

Xiao Yuehuai didn't look back, just slapped her clenched fist with her backhand, and without saying a word, she stuck to the wall, crossed the threshold, and entered the room. Ah Lu stubbornly followed, originally with his eyes closed, not daring to look at the situation in the room, but he still couldn't help his curiosity and narrowed a slit slightly. This look suddenly frightened her to stay in place.

In this dark room, on the damp and muddy floor, lay a little lady who was firmly bound with a rope and gagged with a sackcloth, her eyes soaked with tears of fear and despair.

"Eleven princess?" Ah Lu screamed tremblingly, unable to believe his eyes.

Xiao Yuehuai squatted down, reached out and pulled the knots tied to the girl's body and hands, removed the cloth ball from her mouth, hugged her into her arms and said, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, with me, it will be fine." ”

The little girl who was tied up was Xiao Yuehuai's eleventh sister - Xiao Manxin.

Alu was so confused that he didn't know what was going on. It wasn't until Xiao Yuehuai helped Xiao Manxin up from the ground that she came back to her senses and hurriedly stepped forward to take a hand.

The two of them walked out of this dark and narrow corridor with Xiao Manxin, who was trembling, and just walked to the covered bridge of the frost listening platform, they heard a whisper coming from the palace road on the side:

"Hurry up!"

"What are you urging? What's the hurry, she's hidden there, and she's tied to a rope, what else can she struggle? ”

"It's better to hurry up, the master has explained, and she must be sent out of the palace tonight." Get this done as soon as possible, and you and I don't have to hang our hearts all the time. ”

“...”

Immediately afterward, there was a rush of footsteps under the verandah next to the frost listening platform.

When Xiao Yuehuai heard the movement, she immediately squatted down and picked up Xiao Manxin, who was already paralyzed, and ran down the covered bridge. Ah Lu didn't dare to delay, for fear of making a mistake, so he followed without a single step.

The three of them hid in the wisteria garden and sneaked through the tree-lined path to the exit on the other side, only to turn the corner.

Ah Lu took a breath and asked, "Princess... What's going on? ”

Xiao Yuehuai didn't have the heart to answer, her attention was focused on Xiao Manxin, looking at her sallow face, she was heartbroken: "Send the eleventh sister back to the Fuya Palace first, and then I'll talk to you." ”

Ah Lu nodded, and the three of them walked together towards the east side of the wisteria garden.

Tossed for a long time.

Xiao Manxin slowly calmed down.

In the Ukiya Palace, the two sisters sat cross-legged on the couch facing each other, and Alu waited on the side. After Xiao Manxin eased up, Xiao Yuehuai asked step by step: "Sister Manman, the people who tied you up... Do you know each other? ”

Xiao Manxin took a long breath, shook his head helplessly, and said, "It's a few faces, I don't know them." ”

Xiao Yuehuai asked again: "Then do you know why they tied you up and what they want to do to you?" ”

Xiao Manxin paused and shook his head again.

Seeing this, Xiao Yuehuai couldn't help frowning, and after hesitating, she said, "Sister, but I accidentally broke someone's secret?" What caused this disaster? ”

As soon as these words came out, Xiao Manxin's pale lips trembled unconsciously, and he lowered his eyes and was silent.

Xiao Yuehuai saw that she didn't want to say, so she didn't continue to ask: "Sister, rest first." ”

She patted Xiao Manxin on the shoulder and was about to get up to leave, but the corner of her clothes was gently pulled. Looking back, Xiao Manxin was looking at her helplessly, his eyes full of panic.

Xiao Yuehuai held her cold hand and comforted her softly: "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, I'm just guarding you in the outer hall." ”

Hearing her say this, Xiao Manxin was willing to let go of his hand and let her go.

Ukiya was silent without a single sound.

Concubine Song, the mother of the eleventh princess, received the holy will, and returned to the province in the past two days, and was not in the harem for the time being. So in the huge hall, only Xiao Manxin was left alone, so that the thieves took advantage of the loophole.

Xiao Yuehuai sat outside the hall, rubbing her eyebrows with her hands, bowing her head and thinking about the whole thing, and gradually came to her senses.

Ah Lu checked the doors and windows, opened the door of the inner room a crack, and made sure that Xiao Manxin was in their line of sight, before moving to Xiao Yuehuai's side, lowering his voice and asking, "Can the princess tell the slave and maid what happened now?" ”

The lady on the table was immersed in her own thoughts, not paying attention to the movement next to her. Ah Lu urged twice, and she woke up like a dream, and looked at her with a stunned look: "This matter is complicated, I only know... Someone wants to hurt my sister. ”

Ah Lu glared, and then came closer and asked, "Who dares to harm the eleventh princess?" ”

Xiao Yuehuai took a breath, stared at her, and said a name that made her almost jump in fright: "Lu Qiaoyu." ”

Alu restrained, but still couldn't help but exclaim: "Xiang, Xiang, concubine??? ”

"But... Why? ”

Xiao Yuehuai shook his head: "I don't know the specific reason yet, but my sister must know something, which made Concubine Xiang ruthless." It's just that my sister doesn't want to say..."

Ah Luyu was shocked, slowly tasted it, and said in surprise: "Princess? How exactly do you know this? How did you know that Princess Eleven was hidden in the secret chamber behind the Frost Listening Table? ”

Xiao Yuehuai lowered her eyes and recalled the past:

On the fifth day of October, the eleventh princess Xiao Manxin disappeared. When the eunuch in front of the emperor told Emperor Zhou, she had disappeared for a day and a night. The palace searched everywhere, but for two days to no avail.

Later, it was the children of the Shi clan who found her in the willow alleys of the capital. At that time, Xiao Manxin was disheveled and dilapidated, and had been forcibly raped and humiliated by the thieves who kidnapped her, tarnishing her innocence.

The news soon spread, and the royal family saw her as a disgrace and were unwilling to investigate the case from the beginning, leaving her alone to fend for herself in the foul language of the world.

It wasn't until Ma Boweng, the eldest son of the Qing Hip Ma clan and the grandson of Ma Hui, the prince of Yueguo, asked Emperor Zhou to marry Xiao Manxin, that the rumors gradually subsided. But it didn't take long for the wind in Jinling City to change from harsh Xiao Manxin to mocking Ma Boweng.

The people of the world all regarded their husbands and wives as after-dinner conversations, and they always laughed at them when they chatted.

In the end, Xiao Manxin failed to resist these rumors, set himself on fire, and died in the princess's mansion, leaving not even the corpse left. Ma Bo Weng lost his love, and even cut his wrists and died.