Emperor Wan supported his head with one hand and played with the puppet with the other, and he didn't say anything for a long time. After a while, he smiled at the corner of his mouth, but said lightly: Why did the queen come to report to me? Isn't it always up to you to decide everything in the palace?

Empress Huo Ran raised her head, her eyes were like ripples, and her lips pursed: The concubine is His Majesty's wife.

You are my wife, Emperor Huan's hand stopped, and after a while, the corners of his mouth were still smiling, but his tone was cold, and I was angry for the virtuous queen, and Jiang Wei--

Cane to death.

Four

The harem is finally quiet.

In the twilight, the queen withdrew from the palace, alone behind the heavy curtains, buried her face deep in the pillow and did not move.

Endless emptiness and tiredness like the tide of a moonlit night drowned her silently. She hadn't dreamed for a long time, but now she was dreaming, looking at the thin moon in the sky through the thin mist.

When was that? It seems that nine years ago, on the eve of her marriage to the emperor's wife.

She also withdrew from others and walked back and forth in the backyard of the Prime Minister's Mansion alone. On a small table, the warm wine is cold. The wind was blowing slowly, and it was cool and piercing.

Syllable! Something hit her on the head.

She hurriedly turned to look, but there was no one on the wall. She picked up the thing that had fallen to the ground, and it was nothing more than a ball of paper. Unfolded, in the moonlight, she could clearly see the word "head up" written on the iron and silver hooks.

What's that?

But she did it anyway. So she saw that in the direction where she had just looked, a thin moon was hanging low, and on the wall under the thin moon, the young man who appeared at some point sat on his knees, raised his eyebrows at her, but smiled silently.

It was clearly the husband she was going to marry, the emperor who had only succeeded to the throne not long ago. Now he has changed his usual majesty, sitting on the courtyard wall, swaying his long legs, and greeting her.

She tilted her head in the moonlight: Why are you here?

Suddenly, I wanted to come and have a look. He seemed to be really looking at her carefully, and then look at you.

She smiled: Can you see clearly from such a distance?

He sighed: Then I'll come down.

He was about to leap down, but she hurried to stop him. ordered him to stay on the wall and not move, she said helplessly: Forget it, I'll go up! Then, as expected, she climbed an old elm tree beside her, and neatly climbed to the courtyard wall to sit side by side with him.

She was never a pampered girl, and she was cool in temperament. He knew, so he didn't say much, just turned sideways and held her face, and suddenly there was a sad look in his eyes: You are too much like your father, I am really afraid that you will marry, and one day you will treat me like him, like that.

By the way, since the first emperor, the prime minister has firmly controlled the government, and the ministers who competed with the prime minister have all been destroyed. Emperor Wan succeeded to the throne, and every move must obey the orders of the prime minister.

She let him hold her face, her eyes staring at him calmly: I won't.

As soon as he had a smile on his lips, someone suddenly spoke in the courtyard, Miss, it's late at night! Then he and she both heard a string of footsteps.

He frowned, and before he could say I'm gone, he slid down the wall along the road.

But what he didn't say at the time, she finally listened to it all.

On the night of her wedding to him, he leaned on top of her drunkenly. She thought he was really drunk, and turned her head sideways, but met him with a pair of extremely clear eyes. His lips rested on her ear, and he whispered, "Well, neither will I."

will not turn your back on you. Won't want you. You will be my wife, and you will be married to me forever.

In the dream, she should have smiled sheepishly. However, outside the dream, she only felt full of astringency. She thought it was time for the dream to come to an end, and she forced herself to wake up from it.

Touching her dry eyes, she just got up when she heard a maid come to report: The prime minister invited the lady back to the house, and there was something important to discuss.

Five

The important thing that the prime minister said was a force that quietly arose among the people to specialize in assassinating important members of the imperial court. The officials who were assassinated were all his confidants. Even Lin Jian, the commander of the Yulin Army, was found dead on the couch one day. The henchman was killed, and for a while, the prime minister was unable to cultivate capable people, so he could only hastily promote a few officials to fill the vacancy.

The court that had been controlled by him was uneasy, and the situation was suddenly tense.

You've been looking at Your Majesty a little more lately. Prime Minister said.

The queen opened her mouth, as if she wanted to defend Emperor Huan, but after all, she said yes.

But for a few days, Emperor Huan continued to hold his puppet and act in his plays, without any changes.

One day he casually asked about the situation when the queen returned to the prime minister's mansion before, and the queen sat on the edge of the bed next to Emperor Huan, and said softly: Father doesn't have to worry about calling concubines, concubines just need to serve His Majesty well.

Emperor Huan had already thrown his robe and boots all over the ground, put his hands behind his head, and lay on the bed on stilts with only his middle coat on. Hearing this, he turned his head to the queen, bent his eyes with a smile, but did not speak.

The queen pulled his sleeve: Your Majesty often writes your own plays, I don't know how many plays Your Majesty is willing to perform for your concubine?

Emperor Wan smiled and said: The queen has served me for a long time, but I don't know what kind of drama I wrote? His eyes flashed, and his voice suddenly lowered, I had already heard about the court. The queen asked the prime minister to rest assured, even if I did something in the play, no one could get out of the palace, let alone instruct someone to carry out the assassination.

The smile on the queen's face froze, and she bit her lower lip and was silent for a long time, but she still didn't turn her head and said: Your Majesty refuses to act?

Emperor Wan laughed, jumped up from the bed, stepped on the ground barefoot, and lifted the screen in front of the bed: Someone! Put me on the stage!

The play was played out until the evening. With colorful sleeves and silver threads flying, Emperor Huan controls the emperor in the play, almost playing the affection of a monarch. Every time he shouted for the puppet, the eyes of the princess were sent to the queen out of the corner of his eyes, causing all the attendants to laugh and cheer.

At the end of the play, Emperor Huan pushed the puppet in his hand into the queen's arms, took her by the way, and led her to the depths of the curtain.

It is the harmony of the night and the phoenix, and the infinite love. Just woke up from a deep sleep, the queen touched the side of the pillow, but the figure of Emperor Wan was gone.

She got up in her clothes, without shoes, and walked through the screen curtain to the place where the puppet show was playing during the day.

Emperor Huan, he is here alone.

The queen hid herself behind a heavy curtain, and she could only see his silhouette. He looked down and gently stroked something, and on closer inspection, it was nothing more than a puppet. The puppet looked like a woman, dressed in plain clothes, with a smile on her face.

It's really commonplace.

The queen was stunned. There was a low singing voice in her ears, floating like steam, and she suddenly came back to her senses.

Emperor Huan lowered his eyebrows and controlled the puppet, his lips moved, and he sang a song that she didn't understand. And the bitter longing and sorrow in his eyes, she could see it clearly.

It was nearly ten years together, and he had never given her a look.

She couldn't help but wonder: In the past ten years, has he been alone every night, singing a song Su Bai, and being in love with someone she doesn't know?

That person wears plain clothes and understands Su Bai; Unlike her, she is always colorful and colorful, and she can only speak Beijing Mandarin. She was so different from that person that she realized that he was thinking about that person.

It's just that when did his heart, which was obviously resting with her before, go missing quietly?

When did he and her begin to look at each other, and the feud greeted?

She quietly retreated, and tossed and turned in bed to the sound of singing all night.

Six

It's getting colder. On the night when the first snow fell on the imperial city, Emperor Wan ordered someone to burn a charcoal basin in the water pavilion for him to play and watch the snow.

The pavilion faces a large lake dug out, and most of the densely planted reeds in the lake have withered. But the snow was falling layer by layer, and when I looked at it in the moonlight, it looked like a reed blooming all over the place.

The queen came uninvited, and the reed mats on all sides of the water pavilion were lowered on three sides, and only the one facing the lake was rolled up. If you look at it from a distance, only the emperor and queen pour wine and drink each other in the water pavilion, and a wisp of warm smoke curls next to it, which is really harmonious and beautiful.

The queen was a little drunk, and her face turned red. She supported her hands with her hands, and suddenly said as if she had no intention: A few days ago, the concubine heard what seemed to be Su Bai's singing at night, and it was His Majesty singing. Can Your Majesty sing it again for your concubine?

was playing with the hand of the wine glass, and Emperor Wan said lightly: The queen heard it wrong.

Even if the concubine heard it wrong, the autumn waves turned slowly, but couldn't Your Majesty sing a song Su Bai for the concubine?

Emperor Wan glanced at her lightly: It's just a country tune, how can it be in the ears of the queen.

The queen smiled slightly, and got up lazily, as if she was leaving. With one hand already on the reed mat, she suddenly turned around and said in a faint voice: Your Majesty, this is the first time you have refused a concubine. Is it worth it for a song Su Bai?

Emperor Huan took a sip of his wine glass, and then smiled: Is it the first time? Also, I used to be obedient to the queen. As soon as the conversation turned, he sneered, but what did I get? If I am not mistaken, Queen, you have used the power I have given you to imprison me in this palace at the behest of your father and daughter.

The blush faded in an instant, the queen's face turned pale, and her hands trembled uncontrollably.

Tonight's Emperor Wan is different from the past, but she can't care about much. He still had a smile on his face, very bright and ironic, and it made her dare not look at him directly, just as she had when she had first turned her back on him, listened to her father, removed his attendants, and put him under house arrest in the palace.

I still remember that time, he turned his face slightly, and he couldn't see anything unusual in his eyes, but he said to her with a smile: I didn't know that the queen's memory was so bad, and what she said not long ago was forgotten in a blink of an eye.

In fact, she never forgot it. It's just that how to tell him that since she was a child, she has acted with her father since she was a child, and she is so like her father after all, believing that she must firmly control the things she cares about, so that she can keep what she doesn't want to lose by her side. And her life is so long and so extensive, how can just this one thing fill those ever-expanding desires?

She didn't know how to answer then, and it was the same now. She could only hurriedly avoid turning her head and lifting the curtain to leave.

Emperor Wan was the only one left in the water pavilion, and he smiled suddenly, raising his eyebrows and sighing lightly.

Tonight, he did get a little restless.

But, after all, it's almost the appointed time.

As if to confirm what he thought, under the dense reeds, the lake water that was almost frozen into ice rippled slightly, and suddenly the water splashed, revealing half of a person's body!

In the snowy moonlight, this person floated on the water, as if he didn't feel cold. And his face was clearly Jiang Wei, the puppet troupe leader who was killed by the cane.

He didn't die!

He swam closer to the water pavilion, and did not go up, and when Emperor Huan leaned over and pretended to break the reeds, he whispered: All undertakings are ready, just wait for His Majesty's order.

Emperor Wan lowered his voice: Control the harem. And there was no more to say.

When Emperor Wan took a reed, the person who was floating on the water just now had quietly dived back to the bottom of the water.

Emperor Huan knew that Jiang Wei would quietly go to places in the palace where neither he nor the queen would go. No one knew who he was anymore, because Jiang Wei had been killed with a cane. How could a dead man remain alive in the palace, in the shadow of few people?

At the beginning, Jiang Wei was taught to deliberately violate the palace rules and cheat to the death, in order to pass on the message through Jiang Wei and implement the plan that had been drawn up step by step. No matter how much the queen and prime minister investigated, they couldn't imagine that it would be a dead person organizing everything.

The reeds in his hand were suddenly broken, and Emperor Wan let go of his hand.

The wind is getting tighter, and the reeds are rustling in a lake.

His heart fluctuated, and he suddenly couldn't wait.

Seven

The New Year is approaching, although the official assassination is still clueless, and the situation between the DPRK and China is gradually changing, the prime minister has to hold a smiling face and enter the palace to congratulate him on the New Year's Day.

In the early morning of the New Year's Day, the heavy snow stopped. Emperor Wan changed his uniform and was about to go to court, when the queen called him suddenly. When he stopped, she leaned on the smoke cage and said behind him: After begging Your Majesty so many times, do you really refuse to sing that song Su Bai for your concubine?

Emperor Wan was stunned, did not look back, and left without a word.

In the court, all the ministers lined up and bowed their heads.

Emperor Huan repeated the old words that he had to say at this time of year, but his eyes fluttered towards the palace door. There, a little chill appeared, but it quickly disappeared behind the door.

He knew what it was.

So after a flat sentence, Emperor Huan said to the prime minister: The prime minister has worked hard for the state every year, and I am very relieved. In the years to come, I still look at the prime minister - when he speaks, his color is sharp, his voice is steep, and he keeps to himself!

As if an order, dozens of Yulin generals suddenly poured in from the gate of the palace, holding the prime minister in the center with a spear. The courtiers were silent, buried their heads and stood aside, and they didn't dare to come out.

Waiting for today, he waited for today. Countless times of forbearance, nothing more than to keep the light up, so that Jiang Wei secretly contacted the courtiers who were still loyal to the royal family to organize assassination, so that the prime minister's henchmen would vacate the position, and give him the opportunity to fill in the people he trusted, such as the death of Lin Jian, the former commander of the Yulin Army, and finally exchanged for his confidant. Now there should be most courtiers in the court to listen to his orders, and as for the harem, I am afraid that it has been controlled by Jiang Wei who suddenly attacked at this moment.

After years of planning, it has come true.

Emperor Wan raised his eyebrows and laughed.

At this moment, the commander of the Yulin Army bowed his head and said in a loud voice: "It's too late!"

The smile is stiff!

Emperor Huan's expression changed greatly, and he lost his voice: You

Your Majesty. The words that were not spoken were truncated by the prime minister, and the prime minister stood in the center of the Yulin Army, but he was not frightened at all. He laughed loudly, and his tone was full of resentment towards the juniors: Is Your Majesty going to put on a good show for the old minister again? As soon as the words fell, those spears pointed at him turned around and turned to Emperor Huan!

His Majesty is smart and will design to let the old minister's new opera troupe enter the palace. Who is mixed in this troupe, but the old minister can't find out. His Majesty taught Jiang Wei to deliberately seek death, but only let him cheat to death, and spread what His Majesty wanted to ask people to do outside the palace. The prime minister smiled, but unfortunately someone had reminded the old minister that it was the old minister who went to check the corpse thrown out of the palace, and counted it, but there was always one missing. The old minister is not talented, he will only think about the holy will, and if he thinks about it carefully, he will probably know where the corpse is going and His Majesty's plan.

After that, he secretly sent people to investigate, and finally found a rat hole in an inconspicuous corner of the palace wall and waited by the hole, and caught a mouse that ran from the palace to the outside of the palace through this hole, and had a roll of silk wrapped around its tail.

He took out the silk silk from his bosom: His Majesty's deployment and the names of the people to be killed were on it. The ministers took precautions before they happened, and finally saved the pillars of the country from being slaughtered, and also learned from His Majesty's law and taught them to cheat to death. As for those courtiers who killed people for His Majesty with Jiang Wei, they have been disposed of for His Majesty.

As if to support his words, in an instant, the ministers who hung their heads raised their heads in unison. Several people who were rumored to be dead were standing in the court at this time, including Lin Jian, the commander of the Yulin Army who was drugged to death. And none of the cronies that Emperor Huan cultivated in private were present at the moment, and they must have all been killed by the prime minister.

The civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty all listened to the orders of the prime minister.

His fingertips trembled slightly, his fists clenched hard, and he slowly let go. Emperor Wan got up calmly and said with a smile like a child's play in the past: Alas, after several years of planning, it has become a cake. In the end, it is the prime minister's old plan.

In fact, when he heard that the voice of the commander of the Yulin Army was like Lin Jian, he knew that the general trend had gone. He lost completely.

He looked up at the outside of the temple gate, and the snow that had obviously stopped was falling again.

He laughed slowly and said softly: It's snowing. I've always been afraid of the cold, so let's retreat!

Eight

Step by step back to the harem, step by step step on the jade steps leading to the queen's palace. Each step of the jade ladder was stained with blood, and the limbs of the dead were piled up.

Emperor Wan recognized that on the last jade step, Jiang Wei's head was cut off. The last bit of blood of the Zhongliang Jiang family, which competed with the prime minister, was buried.

It's his fault.

But he still smiled slightly, smoothed out every wrinkle on his clothes, and pushed open the door of the Queen's Palace.

In the temple, hot wine had already been prepared for him.

He sat upright, ordered a group of palace guards to retreat, and saw the queen come with a wine bottle in her hand, kneeling in front of him: After drinking this wine, Your Majesty will no longer be afraid of the cold.

He lowered his eyebrows and looked at her deeply: The queen is really the virtuous queen of me, the good daughter of the prime minister.

Of course. The queen raised her head and smiled perfectly, and her eyes met him, the concubine's father had a good daughter, and she told her father that the puppet did not have his own fate, so that her father would not be calculated by His Majesty. After Her Majesty goes, she will be the future Queen Mother. She has lived a life of wealth and glory, and there is no other place in the world.

The corners of his mouth raised: Sooner or later, she was the Queen Mother who stopped for a moment, her voice low and hoarse, why?

Why?

The queen smiled for a moment, but in an instant, she laughed even more heartily: originally she just wanted to take away a little bit of His Majesty's power, thinking that in this way, she could keep Her Majesty by her side forever. Who knew that she took a little, but she couldn't stop. Later, she found that she couldn't keep His Majesty more and more, so why didn't she do it thoroughly and get everything she could with her father?

So, how about I give her another grace? When the crown prince ascends the throne, she can take her surname. Thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, a hundred years of foundation, I give it all to her! He burst out laughing, utterly mad. Almost snatching the wine bottle, he didn't say much, and drank it all with his head up.

The queen knelt on the ground, kowtowed and smiled: Thank you, Your Majesty.

The snow is getting heavier and heavier. The palace room was extremely quiet, but there was a crackle in the charcoal basin, which was clearly audible.

The wine bottle and a few cases lightly knocked, and after a while, he slowly spoke: I gave you everything, and in return, you should follow my words.

Be.

In my mausoleum, I don't need to use treasures, only those puppets are placed in the tomb. Especially a plain-clothed puppet, he paused, and wanted to put it in the coffin, the closest place to me.

After a long silence, he thought she would not agree, but she said yes softly.

He smiled very gently, and reached out as if to caress the top of her head. But he didn't know what he thought, his eyes closed, and he finally stopped.

Although you have forgotten what I said to you at the wedding, I have not forgotten.

It was snowing heavily, and there was no sound in the palace.

It didn't take long for the crackling sound in the charcoal basin to become quieter, and the last bit of spark was extinguished.

The queen didn't know how long she knelt down, and when her legs were numb from the cold, she finally sobbed, raised her tear-stained face, and cried out to Emperor Huan: I want to be married to you forever! But Your Majesty, now your heart is not with me!

Where has your heart gone?

Syllable. A tiny, unnoticed sound.

It was the sound of a poisonous needle between Emperor Huan's fingers that could not bear to pierce the flesh and blood, and it fell to the ground.

Nine

In the twenty-ninth year of Ming He, his father collapsed in the early spring of that year.

Not wanting to see the faces of those who were obviously ecstatic but wanted to cry like mourning, he sneaked into his father's mausoleum and wanted to sleep peacefully on his father's coffin.

I didn't expect there to be someone in the tomb, and it turned out to be --

The prime minister's only daughter.

He knew about her. has a cool temperament and is so flamboyant that she only wears the most colorful clothes on weekdays, and at this time, because it is a national funeral, she finally wears a vegetarian dress. I don't know how I got into the tomb, but she said to him quietly in front of his father's coffin: Your Highness, you shouldn't hide here.

Because of the prime minister, he didn't like her at all, so he was not polite to her: What about you? You shouldn't be here either.

But as soon as she raised her eyebrows, she smiled: I'll catch you back.

As he spoke, the open door of the tomb somehow suddenly fell. He couldn't run with her, and was locked up in the tomb alive. He kicked the tomb door hard and scolded her for being a broom star.

She did not panic, but comforted him in turn: I told my father that I was going to come here to find you. We don't go back, my father will bring someone over.

He ignored her, sat down on his knees against the tomb door, buried his head in his lap, and closed his eyes to sleep.

In the silence, he suddenly heard her humming. It's a strange tune, like a folk tune, and it's not all. Looking up, she smiled at him in confusion: I sang it casually. Sure enough, to attract your attention, you still have to rely on this means of singing and dancing.

He turned his head away and continued to ignore her.

She smiled even more, leaned in a little bit, tugged at his sleeve, and coaxed him to turn his head in every possible way.

He has a stubborn temper, and it is rare that she has been soft-spoken. So gradually he talked to her, and when she slept soundly against him, he did not push her away.

In the cold tomb that seemed to be forgotten, he slept next to her. When she woke up, he had been silently watching her sleeping face for a long time.

She blushed a little for the first time: Hasn't my father come yet?

It's okay if you don't come. And he said, Llease, come now to me, and go out, and one day thou shalt come with thy father to kill me.

She looked at him for a moment, then burst into laughter. With a flip of her palm, she handed something to him: Originally, my father said that you were not a thing in the pool, and he did ask me to kill you. But I give you this poisonous needle now, and if one day I want to kill you, you can use it and drag me to hell with you.

Before he could react, she looked away from herself, as if to say to him, and as if she said to herself: I like someone, I want to be with him forever.

At that time, he blushed and did not dare to answer. But the needle was put away by him, and he thought he would never use it. He wrote down the tune she sang casually, and filled in his heart in his mother's vernacular, Su Bai. He remembered her clean appearance and treasured her smile alone.

At that time, I was still young, and I didn't know that people's hearts were fickle. He thought that he and her could really be united forever and grow old together.

Dumb Emperor Wen/Su Yu

One

Ye Ling's harem has too many beauties with different personalities.

There are those who are blessed, those who are scheming, those who are playful and cute, those who are intelligent and clever, or those who pretend to be indifferent in another way. And when they faced Ye Ling, their eyes were all blazing but with a degree of enthusiasm.

Only Liyang is an exception.

On that day, he sat high on the top of the Luan Palace, and the concubines gathered in the lower seat, and he looked casually, and saw the warm and lively gaze from the corner at a glance. Ye Ling was only stunned for a moment, and then retracted his gaze pretending to be calm.

He spoke in a lazy and indifferent tone as usual, and he alone knew that the ten fingers hidden under the wide robe were trembling, and together with his heartbeat, which had been disrupted in a flash, meant a bittersweet reunion after a long absence.

Two

Li Yang's marriage to Ye Ling as a concubine did not go well.

When she was sixteen years old, the court chose a concubine between princes and generals, and Li Yang took it upon himself to hand over the eight characters of her birthday to the palace, but was then mercilessly beaten back, only saying that she was not suitable.

Li Yang was bored in the room and lost for many days, but there was good news from his cousin's side. It is said that the emperor appointed his cousin Shu Yu to enter the palace, and the whole family was excited for a while, but Li Yang was the only one who widened his eyes and was full of unconvinced.

She hugged the hen that Ye Ling gave her every day when she was still in the capital, the hen was already old and decrepit, and even the eggs no longer lay eggs, except for eating and drinking, she was lying in the sun and resting. Li Yang hugged it, said something like Ye Ling, could it be that he forgot me, and looked at the courtyard porch dejectedly and festively decorated with bright red.

Just when the family thought that Li Yang had given up, Shu You was found fainting in the room on the day he entered the palace, and Li Yang held his beloved hen and knocked his cousin unconscious, and jumped into the chariot in the palace to welcome his relatives.

Along the way, I was nervous and excited, thinking about how to speak when I saw Ye Ling, what to say to recall the friendship of my youth, and how to tell him that since I didn't say goodbye back then, I haven't thought about him for a day. I wonder if he really caught Ninety-Nine, and if he misses himself as much as he does.

Originally, it was just a child's desire for playmates, but as Li Yang grew up, some things sprouted as a matter of course. She even hid in the theater to listen to those glamorous songs that made her ears blush, and what she was thinking about in her heart was Ye Ling.

It's just that it's not as Li Yang thought, and after she really replaced Shu Yu and entered the palace for half a month, Ye Ling didn't show up to see her. At first, she was still holding the shy nature of her daughter's family, but then she couldn't help but ask the palace people about the location of Ye Ling's palace, but the first time she went out and bumped into the queen, and the second time she saw that the road was uneven and pulled out a knife to help a palace maid who couldn't think of it.

I really saw Ye Ling, who had been absent for five years, at the banquet where the Western Expeditionary Army returned to the emperor and feasted on the ministers a month later. She was in a low position, sitting in the corner, her warm and happy eyes always locked on Ye Ling on the seat.

Ye Ling, a bad boy, was so stubborn when he was a child, but he became stable when he grew up. Li Yang kept rubbing his fingers excitedly, both happy at the change of Ye Ling, the king of a country, but also disappointed that he had not been able to participate in his growth.

And Li Yang was naturally optimistic, and he was sure that Ye Ling would definitely remember her, so that warm gaze always followed the young emperor on the seat, it was too clear and too direct, but Ye Ling just couldn't notice it, and in the three-hour banquet, he didn't stop his eyes here for half a moment except for glancing here at the beginning.

After getting off the table, Li Yang hung his head and walked out with the palace people, but not in the direction where he lived. The moon and stars are sparse in the night, and Li Yang is easily hidden behind the boulders in the courtyard by the shadows of the trees.

After waiting for a long time, I heard the sound of rustling moving out of the temple. She heard Ye Ling's deep voice tell the attendant beside her: Don't follow too closely, the widow wants to walk alone.

Li Yang secretly looked out, under the cool moon, Ye Ling's figure walked towards the bamboo forest. She didn't think much about it, so she bent her waist and cautiously trotted to follow, and after making sure that there were no palace people or guards around, she boldly rushed over, and hugged Ye Ling tightly.

The body under the dark robe suddenly stiffened, and Li Yang's long-lost voice of panting came through these separated seasons again, time did not seem to have left a mark on her growth, she was still so willful and wanton.

Ye Ling, I watched you all night, didn't you even notice it? She looked up, her eyes were shining, not alienated at all, or did you forget me? How can you forget me?

The girl in this world who dares to hug him like this and not let go, there is probably only one Li Yang!

Ye Ling was stunned for a long time, and only after all his emotions returned to calm down did he signal Li Yang to let go: I obviously appointed your cousin, why did you enter the palace? The tone was indifferent, without a hint of surprise or joy.

Li Yang didn't let go, only a pair of eyes dyed with anxiety: Do you like Shu You?

Ye Ling didn't answer, just took Li Yang's hands away from his waist, and his voice was a little tired and helpless: You shouldn't come here.

Li Yang looked at him quietly, and the panic swept over a little bit, she didn't know what to do, but she just blindly emphasized: I am Li Yang, we said that we would grow up together in the future, I came to find you, Ye Ling.

And Ye Ling had already turned around, holding Li Yang's trembling fingers and whispered coldly: I will give you three days, go out of the palace and go home, and change back to Shu Yu while no one finds out. Otherwise, I'll send you back personally.

Three

The next day, someone from the palace came, saying that they had received a secret decree from the emperor to assist Liyang in packing up and returning to Kezhou.

Li Yang's petite stature stopped in front of the door and refused to let them in, intimidating and screaming, but the resistance was ineffective, and she was still carried to the courtyard by the guards sent.

She sat on the ground baked hot by the midday sun and stared without saying a word, tears falling from her eyes and quickly wiping them away, until the disturbing cicada chirping from the pomegranate tree behind her woke her.

Li Yang jumped up after being slightly stunned, and climbed the tree by himself despite the strange-looking palace people on the side, and only asked someone to bring a large porcelain vase. She was catching and knowing, one by one, big or small, and she carefully stuffed it into a porcelain vase, and wrote down the number for each one that was put in. The afternoon sun was blazing, coupled with mosquito bites, Li Yang's entire exposed arm was red and swollen, and she ignored the obstruction of the palace people, just caught them one by one, and if there was no more on this tree, she would change another tree.

Nineteen, twenty she counted one by one.

She didn't sleep that night, and the next morning she was so tired and exhausted that she just drank a pot of tea, and then it was another day of fighting. The wind came in the night, but Li Yang's brain began to drowsy, and his arms were stretched out by inertia, and he couldn't remember how many he had caught. She hugged the porcelain vase, leaned on the branch and looked at the fine stars in the sky, telling herself to rest for a while.

Then I looked down and saw the black shadow standing on the wall.

Li Yang blinked, only to realize that it was not his delusion. There was really a long, thin figure standing there, wearing a cloak and a hat. The whole person stood there like a sculpture, looking at her, or the bright moon?

It's not raining, what are you doing in your robe? Li Yang was not afraid at all, she even lifted her spirits slightly because of the appearance of the man in black. She used to hear the storytelling, and most of them were these heroes who haunted the night.

robbing the rich and helping the poor, like the wind coming and going, makes her envious.

He didn't speak, just moved and turned his face to look at her, his face was covered by the hat and couldn't see clearly, and he could only vaguely feel that the person had a pair of cold eyes, quietly falling on the corners of her eyes and eyebrows.

Li Yang carefully climbed down the tree, trotted over and looked up at him under the wall: Are you a thief who came to steal something?

The man remained silent.

You can't speak?

The man remained silent.

It turned out to be a mute! Li Yang judged that this person was a mute, and he couldn't help but feel a little pity, but he asked curiously, are you very martial arts? Can you help me find out? I want to show it to someone I like.

The man turned around and made a gesture to leave.

Li Yang stopped him again and again: Don't go, don't go, you help me catch it, I won't tell others that you came to the palace to steal things at night, how about it? Otherwise, I'll call the guards, and you'll be unable to fly."

The man stopped, looking at Shang Liyang with a smug but expectant look. After thinking for a moment, he jumped down, and hurriedly avoided Li Yang without waiting for him to get close, but pulled out his long sword with his left hand and jumped up the tree, which made Li Yang dazzled in the sword light and sword shadow. However, a moment later, he jumped down with a sword full of blades, and silently placed it in front of the stunned Li Yang.

Li Yang exclaimed, thinking of the dead of night at this moment, he lowered his voice and snickered, raised his head and sincerely praised the person who was a foot away from her: Dumb, you are really amazing. If only I had you as powerful, if Ye Ling didn't like me, I would threaten him.

Four

The three-day period passed suddenly, but Li Yang still held the porcelain vase and refused to come down from the tree.

Whenever the palace guards approached, she would shout endlessly, until the whole courtyard of the roosting crows flew away, and everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

It was so that it was spent until the evening, and Ye Ling came.

He looked at Li Yang, who was hiding in the canopy of the tree, and twisted his eyebrows to signal the guards behind him to drag her down. Li Yang saw that he didn't say a word and was in a hurry to drive her away, and he panicked for a while, and only shouted at him: Ye Ling, I don't want to go.

Ye Ling looked sideways and looked at her coldly: Ye Ling is not something you can call. After saying that, he turned around and let the guards go up to the tree to forcibly pull down Li Yang, who was hiding in Tibet. Li Yang didn't understand where the smiling young man she knew had gone, and why Ye Ling in front of her was so indifferent at the moment. She pushed away the guard beside her, but still didn't give up and grabbed his arm, and showed him the knowledge in the porcelain bottle, and her voice was already seven points of grievance and three points of persistence: Don't drive me away. I've caught ninety-nine for you, can you take a look? You've caught me these things before

Ye Ling's side face was still indifferent, he suddenly turned around and snatched the porcelain bottle from Li Yang's hand, and then threw it aside impatiently. The sound of the porcelain pieces shattering made Li Yang's unfinished words suddenly freeze, and he looked over in a daze.

The porcelain vase had shattered, and the ninety-nine that had taken her three days were thrown on the stone slab. The sun was so strong that she couldn't open her eyes, but she didn't know if it was because of tears or the dazzling sunlight.

Ye Ling waved away the hand she was still holding him, and shattered her unrealistic expectations: Yes, I caught ninety-nine for you, and even missed the original time of enthronement in order to catch you. I also agreed with you that I would be together for the rest of my life, but when I agreed with you, I was sixteen years old, and Ye Ling, who said those things to you at the age of sixteen, has disappeared, do you know? Do you want to be so persistent for the rest of my life because I was a joke when I was young?

Li Yang listened to it in his ears, and the courage in his heart that could be unscrupulous with memories disappeared little by little. She squatted down in front of Ye Ling in a dejected manner, covering her face and shaking her head desperately, unable to believe it.

But, but you said it after all? How can you not admit what you have said?

Ye Ling turned her face ruthlessly, lowered her eyes and walked away, but she was caught by Li Yang, she still didn't give up, even if she was rejected to this point, she still didn't give up: I don't want to go

Every word she said was soft, as if crying and sadness had taken all her strength. Ye Ling couldn't help but look back, and when she looked at her pupils that still had light and danced, she quickly turned her head as if she had been pricked by a needle.

The fingertips under the wide robe pinched the tiger's mouth, and the pain was so painful that he had to grieve to face this clear cruelty.

You can not leave, but in this life, the widow will not set foot in here again.

Five

The entire palace knew where Liyang was in just one day.

Replacing his cousin Shu Yu into the palace, he provoked the wrath of the saint, and was beaten into the cold palace without favor, and ordered that no one should approach.

Even flowers and trees within a radius of several miles have been transplanted, and the place where Li Yang lives has completely become a secluded and cold palace.

Ye Ling's attitude is clear, he will not accept her, if she has not given up, then she will stay in this square inch, even if she waits for her eyes to turn white, he will not respond to her even a little bit of enthusiasm and love.

The so-called memory, the past is the past, she clings to it, and he has long since abandoned it.

Fortunately, Li Yang still has the dying hen, and the mute will occasionally come to listen to her talk about her heart, although they will not respond to her, nor will they tell her what to do, but Li Yang is not alone.

She can hold on. She wanted Ye Ling to see that even if she was at the end of the road, she would not give up.

The harem was chaotic, and just when everyone quickly left Li Yang behind, a third person who was not afraid of death came to Li Yang's depressed courtyard. It was the elder brother of the palace maid she rescued by the lotus pond that day, the Jinke Zhuangyuanlang who was hand-picked by the saint, with a face like a crown of jade and a smile like a spring breeze, but he was shy, and he would blush involuntarily when he said a sentence or two.

Yan Huai would look for an opportunity to appear in front of her door or in the backyard every day, patting the grass that fell down and rubbed when she jumped in, and talked to her with a red face: I brought you a picture book today to relieve your boredom.

Li Yang is very grateful for his presence, because he can always bring her something she needs, sometimes it is a fun object, sometimes it is a delicious snack. Although it was to thank her for saving her sister's life that day, he did more, and it was precisely because of what he did that Li Yang had less time to think about Ye Ling, and his smile increased.

Aren't you afraid of being discovered and displeasing the emperor? Li Yang couldn't put it down and touched the delicately bound picture book, no matter what, I am also an abandoned concubine, you are too risky to come so every day.

Yan Huai shook his head again and again, and he stammered as soon as he spoke nervously: No. Recently, the emperor has been busy building the southern water conservancy, and the harem is taken care of by the queen, and they have no time to pay attention to you, really.

Li Yang looked at his clumsy appearance, and he was soft-hearted for no reason, so he no longer refused his kindness. When the mute came back late at night, she changed her sad and misty appearance, and spoke to him with great gratitude, and took the picture book to him with great interest, but was quickly avoided by the mute.

The mute couldn't speak, and he never approached her, and he was afraid of Li Yang's touch. Often he would stand under the porch and talk to Li Yang through the window. It's not that it's a conversation, it's always Li Yang who says to himself, and he listens silently without saying a word.

But he would do things that he could not do, such as cutting down dead branches in the courtyard for her to make a fire for her, repairing her kitchen that leaked on rainy days, and bringing her some novel candlesticks to shine all over her bedroom.

Dumb, though the people I like don't like me. But thanks to you, my father said that you must know how to be content, and I feel quite content at the moment. Stay by Ye Ling's side, even if you can't see him, there are such good friends as you and Yanhuai, well, and hens. By the way, have you seen my hens? You wait for me for a while, and I'll pick it up and show you.

The hens have been getting more and more sleepy lately, and their feathers have lost their bright color as before, and their heads are hanging down to look worrying. Li Yang picked it up from the nest and shook it gently, but the hen that used to open her eyes and look at her still didn't move. Li Yang shook again, but it was still indifferent.

Li Yang panicked, picked up the hen and ran wildly to find the mute. However, there was no dumb figure outside the window, and Li Yang did not stop, and began to run out with the hen in his arms. She didn't know what to do, she just wanted to find Ye Ling.

He can dislike himself, he can hate himself, but please, please help save her hen.

If even her hen was gone, she didn't know what else she could rely on to support that memory.

Six

Ye Ling had already rested.

The palace man who was guarding the door of the emperor's bedroom with a palace lamp told her this, and the attendant glanced at her: You better go back, while the emperor doesn't know that you ran out of the cold palace. Besides, the emperor will not see you.

She was stopped at the door, the guard covered her mouth to prevent her from screaming, and the hen fell from her arms to the ground as she struggled, and the sound of the fall was so quiet that there was no trace of struggle or pain.

Li Yang was blindsided, and his eyes widened as he looked at the hen that didn't move at all.

The chamberlain looked at her pitiful, and couldn't help but remind her: the hen was about dead, and the feathers were falling off.

Li Yang suddenly struggled violently when she heard this, and the guards did not dare to draw their swords against her, she took advantage of this to bite the hand of the guards who were blocking her, and squatted down to pick up the silent hen at the moment when they let go of their hands. Before everyone came to their senses, they strode over and pounded the door that they couldn't see.

The palace people behind her quickly dragged her and covered her mouth to prevent her from letting out a heart-rending cry. However, within a moment, the lights in the dormitory suddenly turned on, and Li Yang opened his eyes wide and stared intently at the door.

Ye Ling saw her in the end, his black hair was untied, his lazy posture was unobstructed, and his eyes didn't seem to be so sharp and cold. Li Yang was about to blurt out the request, but he choked in his throat when he looked at the queen who was following behind him.

He asked the palace people who were keeping vigil outside what had happened, and the palace people looked at Li Yang, who was embarrassed not far away, and said in a low voice: She came to ask Your Majesty to save the hen.

Ye Ling's gaze fell on the hen, and there was a moment of confusion and breathlessness in the face of the old time and memories that made him feel confused and hold his breath for a moment, he looked back at Li Yang with red eyes, his breath was suffocated, and his footsteps were about to move forward.

But he still stopped, stopped next to the hen and asked Li Yang, who was pale and bit his lower lip, for a long time: Do you want someone to save this chicken? The words are full of ridicule and sarcasm.

Seeing Li Yang's response, he waved his hand: Go and call the imperial doctor to see if this chicken is still saved?

The guard let go of the hand that restrained Li Yang, and let Li Yang sit on the ground in a daze. The royal doctor came later, and although it was absurd to treat a hen, he still replied honestly: this chicken should still be saved.

Li Yang's eyelashes trembled slightly, and he suddenly looked up at Ye Ling, his eyes were full of moist pleading.

Ye Ling avoided his gaze and fell elsewhere, and after a short silence, he said narrowly: Since there is still salvation, then the widow will not be saved when he sees death! Do you hear that? No one is allowed to save the chicken.

Li Yang glared at him in disbelief.

Ye Ling turned around and put his arm around the queen's shoulder, and the door with light spilled out closed little by little in front of Li Yang's eyes. And the light in Li Yang's eyes gradually faded, and the closed door seemed to be in her heart, and when it closed, it hit those soft and precious things hard, and the land collapsed and shattered.

She didn't cry, but sat there dejectedly, looking at the hen with sad eyes but softly, and she couldn't do anything about it. She can't do anything about the memories of the past, she can't do anything about this fateful admiration, and she can't do anything about herself.

She regarded it as a treasure like that, Ye Ling didn't care.

Li Yang suddenly cried, in the long silent night, there were few falling stars in the sky echoing her, Ye Ling suddenly stiffened in the dead and silent dormitory, when was the last time he heard Li Yang's such a presumptuous and desperate cry?

At that time, he was still a young man with light in his eyes, holding the face of young Li Yang and clumsily comforting her not to cry. Li Yang cried heartily to himself, but after crying, he smiled and told him: It's okay, forget everything if you're unhappy after crying.

And at this moment, even if Ye Ling was mentally prepared, he still couldn't resist those pervasive panic and sorrow swept over like a wave, covering his breathing, and only heard the angry cries of Liyang outside.

She said: Ye Ling, you bad boy who doesn't keep your promises, when I finish crying, I can completely forget you.

When he was in a trance, the queen held his cold fingers and put them on her abdomen, and said softly: Your Majesty, who do you think this child will be like when he is born in the future?

Ye Ling was slightly stunned, and then suddenly became angry, pointing out the door and telling her to get out.