Gu Qingci

Liu Yueying almost slid off the dragon chair, holding on to the armrest with her elbows, maintaining her body that was beginning to sway.

The soldier who reported the letter waited for a long time, and finally said: "Your Majesty, the eldest son of General Nangong was ambushed by the remnants of the Nanman army. The fifty thousand troops were trapped in the valley and could not get out. The fifty thousand troops, the general was so worried all night. The military adviser said She had a way to save her, but she was too desperate, and the general refused to agree. Who would have thought that at dusk on the 22nd, the army division secretly led 100 people along the path to attack the base camp of the remnants of the Nanman army. As a result, when the army division passed by the upper valley on the return journey... those barbarians set fire The mountain was burned for more than two days and two nights... The wizard did not know what method he used, but the dark clouds above the valley were still unable to condense, and not a single drop of rain fell. When the fire was exhausted, the general sent people to search the valley above, and every inch of land was searched. Now, everywhere...is ashes!"

The soldier choked up as he said that, he wiped his eyes again, and continued with restraint: "Later, we found the Lord's belongings in the crack, and this is it—" The soldier tremblingly took out a jade pendant from his bosom , the jade was blackened by the smoke, only one corner was shining, and it could be vaguely seen that it was once white and flawless.On the front of the jade pendant are hovering dragons and auspicious clouds, and on the back are engraved some characters.

"Traces of war horses and... the military advisor can be found around the jade pendant. I was ordered to report urgently and came back in five days. Three horses ran to death. The lord and the relics are already on the way, and I will arrive in the capital in about seven days." ..." The soldier fell on the ground and continued to sob, whimpering and suppressed crying circling around the hall.

There was a long silence in the hall.

The ministers who can go to court are all close ministers of the emperor. There is no impenetrable wall in the world. I have heard of some private affairs between the emperor and Lord Yang.Some sighed secretly, some shook their heads frequently, and some had red eyes.

An unbearable silence stopped on the Golden Luan Hall.Liu Yueying clenched her teeth tightly and did not dare to let go, her soul seemed to be separated from her body, her mind was full of chaos—how could this happen?

After an unknown amount of time, the great silence was broken by the left minister Xu Wei.

He knelt down with a plop, and said with great distress: "Master Yang's death in battle has caused my Daxing Dynasty to lose a capable minister and an admonishing minister. Please mourn, Your Majesty."

With him taking the lead, all the officials of the Golden Luan Hall knelt together: "My condolences, Your Majesty."

"Please mourn, Your Majesty."

My mind went blank for a moment, and it took a long time before I knew what I was going to do.She stood up slowly, her voice neither sad nor happy: "Retire."

When Chang Shi supported the emperor, he realized that she was not as indifferent as she appeared.Liu Yueying's whole body was shaking slightly, the blood on her face faded, and her entire face became pale.She was supported by the attendant on the dragon, and she closed her eyes, covered by tassels around her, so she couldn't see her expression clearly.

When they arrived at the bedroom, Liu Yueying was helped down by the attendant, and she couldn't even stand on her flimsy footsteps.

All the maids and regular servants were kicked out by the emperor, and she locked herself inside alone, and the door of the palace was closed tightly.

It was noon when the eldest princess arrived.The emperor's lunch was delayed, and some appetizers made by the small kitchen were turned away.At the beginning, there was the sound of porcelain breaking in the hall, but then gradually there was no movement, and there was no sound at all.

The palace people were at a loss outside the hall in fear, Liu Yuehua bravely entered the inner hall, and the ground was in a mess.She hurriedly looked for Liu Yueying, and found the emperor curled up on the couch alone.

All the furnishings of the Chaofeng Palace are exactly the same as before the capital was moved, because the emperor liked the old ones, so all the furniture and objects were moved over as they were.This couch is where Yang Li sat when he entered Chaofeng Palace for the first time.She once drank with the emperor here, and then slept in each other's arms.

Liu Yuehua approached cautiously, and called softly: "Sister Huang?"

The emperor's eyes were red and swollen, her brows were tightly furrowed, her eyes were closed and she didn't respond, her long black hair spread out like a waterfall, and all kinds of elegant and luxurious hair accessories on her head were scattered all over the floor.Yuehua bent forward and put her hand on the emperor's forehead, which was surprisingly hot. "Sister Huang!" The eldest princess hugged the curled up emperor by the waist, and called her vigorously.

"...What are you doing here, go out." The emperor raised his eyelids slightly, his tone cold.

"Sister Huang, I am very worried about you. Everyone is worried about your dragon body."

"Shut up and get out."

"Eat something at least, let the imperial doctor come in and have a look."

"No, if you say anything else, get out."

The princess looked at the stubborn emperor and sighed in her heart.

"Sister Huang, I know you're feeling uncomfortable—who can feel better. Just don't hold back, okay? Yuehua is here, and Yuehua is with you." Liu Yuehua patted the emperor carefully. Back: "Talk to Yuehua, please."

A line of tears flowed from her closed eyes, Liu Yueying took a deep breath, and said in a hoarse voice, "Who would have thought that she would go to Nanban... I never thought of letting her die, and never had such an idea from the beginning to the end." ...I just, just want to sharpen her temper, let her see herself clearly after calming down..." The suppressed crying made people feel distressed.

"She came to question that day. She must have been very angry. I didn't like to explain, even if I explained how she could listen to her when she was angry..." Liu Yueying thumped the couch in pain, "It's all my fault, my fault. Tell her clearly, and drive her to Nanban, I killed her, it was me..."

"No, Sister Huang, don't think so, Yang Li is for the son of General Nangong, for the lives of our [-] Daxing troops, she deserves to die."

"Presumptuous!" The emperor propped himself up excitedly and sat up, panting twice: "What a worthy death, she belongs to me, isn't her life more important than those ants?!" Liu Yueying patted the couch angrily, fiercely Cough.

"Sister Huang, don't get excited, I was wrong, Yuehua said wrong, I'm sorry." The eldest princess followed the emperor's anger in a panic, annoyed at herself for saying the wrong thing.

Liu Yueying touched her chest for a while, and murmured with a choked voice: "If you know that before driving her to Nanman, it will be the last time. I shouldn't be so indifferent to her. She must hate me for being heartless..." Liu Yuehua hugged her The emperor's arms tightened suddenly.

"Tomorrow is catching up with Xiu Mu, so don't bother me these two days, and tell other ministers not to come, do you hear me?"

"Yes."

"Now you can go out." Liu Yueying lay down again and closed her eyes.

"But you have a fever now, let the imperial doctor come in and take a look."

"Get out!" The emperor casually grabbed a golden hairpin and smashed it to the ground.

Originally wanted to hand over the jade pendant left by Yang Li to Huang Jie, but she was so emotionally out of control now that she didn't know what would happen when she saw the jade pendant, so find another time.Liu Yuehua sighed and left.

==

Seven days later, the black box containing the ray of sunlight returned to Beijing on time, and the emperor went to the city gate to wait in person, accompanied by the eldest princess.

Liu Yueying hardly ate anything these few days, and her body weakened visibly with the naked eye.

It was too early, the morning sun had not yet appeared, and the sun had already dyed the sky blood red.

A few years ago, Yang Li had also waited for Liu Yueying's guard of honor.That day in the palace, she watched the sun rise inch by inch from the horizon, the white jade railings were dyed bright red, and the majestic towers and pavilions gradually became clear. Liu Yueying.

While waiting for the army to return, Feng San quietly gave the eldest princess a hand, and the two turned their backs and whispered, "Princess, the emperor's spirit is really bad today, what's wrong?"

Feng San's elm bump is so obvious to Huang Jie and Yang Li, he still can't see it.

"I don't know much about it, the imperial sister doesn't allow anyone to enter the bedroom these few days." Liu Yuehua paused, "Yesterday, I went to Wenyuan Pavilion to steal the living note. The imperial sister has been ill for several days."

"No wonder I was stopped when I entered the palace to report my work a few days ago." The leader lowered his eyes.

"But what important news?"

"It's all routine. Speaking of which, after Prime Minister Yang went to the south, the emperor asked me if I had sent someone to look for Mr. Yan, who was in the former cabinet. Is there any connection between these two things?" Feng San asked. Having harbored doubts in her heart for a long time, Liu Yuehua was stunned for a moment, suddenly there was movement in the crowd, and a huge soul-calling banner began to appear in the distance.

The two stopped whispering, and the eldest princess hurried back to Liu Yueying's side, only to see that her back was straight.

Not only that, Liu Yueying's whole body was stretched very straight, like a fully drawn bow, as if something would break if picked lightly.

Today's empress is dressed up more gorgeously than in the last court, and the dragon crown jewels on her head are shining brightly, reflecting the dazzling light under the newly rising sun.But the heavy makeup still couldn't cover the tired look, the fundus of the eyes was black and swollen around the eyes.The eldest princess stood beside her worriedly and held her arm.

The contiguous soul-calling banners are getting bigger and bigger, and the matrix of soldiers below is getting clearer and clearer.In the center of the matrix, eight soldiers carried a very long stone slab, and only a small black box was placed on top of the wide slate.

As he got closer, he could clearly hear the mourning and music played by the army.The matrix moved forward slowly but rhythmically, barely stopping three feet away from the gate of the city.At this time the sky is bright.

Liu Yueying stared at the small black lacquered box, feeling incredible no matter how she looked at it.Are you dreaming?The nightmare was too long and too real.

Seeing that the queen did not respond for a long time, the eldest princess raised her hand to signal, and the army's mourning came to an abrupt end.The lieutenant general who led the team walked up to the imperial driver, knelt down on one knee and said, "Your Majesty, the last general is ordered to send Master Yang back to Beijing."

After a while, the queen said softly, "Understood."

"Master Yang left a note on the day she left the army with her troops, which was later found on her desk when she was packing up." The deputy general took out a piece of paper folded in half and held it in both hands.

There are only fourteen characters on the crumpled paper, and the ink has long since dried up:

"Go up to the poor and fall down to the underworld, no matter whether you are dead or alive." Xiaoli hates me so much that she doesn't want to see me again...?

Liu Yueying grabbed the princess's arm tightly, shaking uncontrollably all over.If it wasn't for being supported and supported by others, this trembling body might fall down at any time.

"Get up, general, go back to the palace first." Liu Yuehua felt that the queen was going to be unable to hold on any longer, so she spoke quickly, and then helped her into the carriage with the female officer.

==

The sun is over, the bright moon is in the sky, and the clear light is everywhere.

Liu Yueying was in a daze in the bedroom holding the small black box.The morning attire is still there, but the bright red dragon robe and the bright headgear have long since been scattered.She shed more tears in the past seven days than in the previous 30 years combined.

Xiaoli, I didn't cry during the day, there were too many people there, people everywhere, I felt dizzy... Am I useless?When I want to cry for you, I have to hide and hide from others...

This study is the last place we were together. You are here to kill me and make me angry... Now, it’s fine if you kill me again, as long as you appear in front of me, let me feel your body temperature and see your appearance, Smelling your clean breath, no matter how fierce you are, I will be fine...

I will definitely not be angry, and I will not be so ruthless to you. I don't want you to be the magistrate of Nanjun, I just ask you to come back...

Yang Li, I'm so sorry—how could you come back in this way!I haven't had time to find a reason to recall you from there, why did you come back by yourself...

Is this what it feels like to be abandoned?How can you not want me!How can I see neither dead nor alive!You clearly said, let me wait for you for five years, but you broke your promise first.

Liar, big liar!

——In my whole life, I have nothing to do with you.

Because of your command, General Nangong has wiped out all the remnants of the Nanman, and Daxing is unified. This is what you have always wanted to see, right?

Xiaoli, I have never been able to figure out why you worship me like that... I am not perfect at all, my life is like stagnant water, I am cruel, I can never be honest... The historian is too kind to me, I'm not as good as they say...

Xiaoli, I can't see you, what should I do in my lonely, lonely life without light...

The corner of Liu Yueying's mouth was a little scarlet.