The bright moon sits on the ground

The sweet and greasy incense is slowly cruising.

There was a sound behind the bed curtain, and the curtains woven by Mingzhu collided with each other, making a series of irregular noises.

Afterwards, there was a burst of forced low coughing, intermittently, and you could even hear the pain of finally catching your breath.

For a long time, there were only deep and shallow gasps in the room, as if he had lost his voice, and he couldn't speak a word for a long time.

The bedroom door rang a few times, and the maid outside the door asked in a low voice, "Are you awake? That Mr. Meng...has been waiting for a long time."

The nightmare dream was completely shattered by these words. The person on the bed settled down, breathed out slowly, sat up, stretched out his hand to push away the beads, and said in a hoarse voice like when he just woke up, "He Since you choose to come at this time, you should expect how long you will wait."

The maid seemed to have said something again, but there was no response from inside the door, only the slow and lingering sound of rubbing while changing clothes.

That pair of jade hands pinched the butterfly ring button on the skirt, buttoned it repeatedly, the eyes were dark, and the hands shook violently, couldn't button it no matter what, my mind seemed to be crushed several times by something ,? There is still a bit of indescribable tingling feeling faintly.

pat, pat, pat.

A bloody smell gradually rose in her throat, it was fishy and sweet, like an omen, and she couldn't breathe.

pat, pat, pat.

The brick-paved ground began to tremble, and the walls on all sides were squeezed in the middle. She couldn't stand still, so she had to sit on the edge of the bed.

The butterfly was scratched by her Kodan-painted nails, and with a snap, the wings were torn off completely, and then the head.

Her chest began to ache, and she sat there for a while, feeling the scalding heat, only to find that her face was covered with tears.

A muffled sob came from her throat uncontrollably, she bent down and covered her cheek, feeling suddenly at a loss.

Another dream like that, she thought, another star palace, another star king, another martial arts song, and those illusory things again.

There were too many, really too many, from the moment she could dream, she never escaped from the nightmare.

If there was a time when the dream didn't make her feel pain, it was probably when she was still beside Tan Rongchong.

The knock on the door became more and more urgent, dense like a torrential rain, showing a hint of urging, the old bustard outside the door shouted: "Yuehua?"

"That's Meng Qiuze, Mr. Meng, the emperor's confidant, the current big celebrity, who came all the way from the imperial city. I originally wanted other girls to receive him, but he insisted on seeing you." It was a deliberately low voice, With a little concern, "I know you slept late last night, but he has been waiting outside for a long time... You have to get up quickly and tidy up, don't neglect."

The commotion outside the door lasted for a while, and there was no movement inside, so, soon, another voice sounded.

It was a somewhat familiar, masculine voice, calm, calm, gentle, calling her: "Tian Wanyan?"

Tian Wanyan woke up suddenly, she didn't even realize when she fell asleep, half lying on the edge of the bed, still holding the torn piece of butterfly embroidery tightly in her hand - did she do it?She searched for memories, but couldn't remember anything.

She sat there, looking at the fragment in her hand, silent for a while, and said: "Master Meng, please wait a moment."

There was another commotion outside, the door latch rang helplessly a few times, Meng Qiuze's voice was a little cold, and he rejected the persuasive advice of others, such as "Your Majesty Meng can't do it", or "This is really rude" Like that, he pushed open the door, turned around, shut out all the noisy sounds, and put the latch back on.Speaking of which, how did he get rid of the solid latch?

Tian Wanyan didn't panic, and there was no wave on his face. He raised his eyes to look at the man in front of him, suppressed the drowsy discomfort, and said, "Master Meng is very elegant, and he has the leisure time to enjoy the spring before the cock crows. Do you listen to me playing the piano and singing?"

This Mr. Meng has been here many times. He came to look for her a few years ago, and then came several times intermittently.

Tian Wanyan doesn't think that he really has a good impression of him, nor does he think that he is picking a woman to enter the harem for Qi Qianyuan. After all, if you want to pick, you won't come to the brothel to pick, and the newly appointed emperor doesn't seem to be a big deal. Those who pity the fragrance and cherish the jade.

A long time ago, she had politely rejected Meng Qiuze and told him that she had someone she liked, but he didn't respond.

Meng Qiuze's complexion was not very good, his face was full of frost, which Tian Wanyan had never seen before, those eyes with different pupil colors looked straight at her, looked up and down, and was illuminated by the misty sunlight , looks very similar to that kind of exotic cat, but Tian Wanyan has indeed heard that he is not from the Central Plains, so he has deep eyebrows and eyes, a straight nose bridge, and a not so obvious mole under his lip.

He looked at it for a while, and before Tian Wanyan frowned, he looked back in time, straightened his clothes, and sat on the chair.

"Long time no see." Meng Qiuze's pacing was appropriate when he spoke. Tian Wanyan always felt that he was just like himself. He had put in painstaking efforts and researched carefully, so it sounded so pleasant. "I heard that you Seems like you've been having nightmares lately?"

Tian Wanyan took the wooden comb and combed her hair slowly. Hearing this, she replied: "It's an old problem, it doesn't happen every day or two."

Meng Qiuze took out a delicately crafted silver sachet from his sleeve and handed it to her, "It might be better to use this."

She paused for a moment with the hand holding the wooden comb, but didn't answer it. With a complicated look in her eyes, she asked, "I've wanted to ask Mr. Meng for a long time. Your status in the past is not as good as it is now. Your Majesty has ascended the throne. You can be said to have made a fortune. There are not many beautiful, intelligent, and understanding girls in the world, why did you come all the way to Xiayan City, just to sit opposite me in the Shangchun Tower?"

Tian Wanyan never believed that there would be people who would like to be courteous without doing anything, especially this very high-ranking emperor's valet.

Meng Qiuze smiled, but sighed: "I said we have known each other for a long time, do you believe it?"

Tian Wanyan said: "This is the most old-fashioned way to strike up a conversation. My ears are calloused. You can change it."

Meng Qiuze said, "Look, you always don't believe what I say."

Tian Wanyan said: "This kind of words is appropriate to deceive those little girls."

The emperor's valet pressed his forehead, and there was a trace of distress on his handsome face. For some unknown reason, Tian Wanyan always felt that his expressions were fake, and he couldn't believe it, so he remained indifferent. Meng Qiuze thought for a while, and said: " When I came last time, you told me that you already have someone you like, and you will not reward Chunlou in the future. Are you disappointed in him now?"

"No." Tian Wanyan suddenly felt depression in his chest, and smirked from the corner of his mouth, "Master Meng can really talk."

She lost the interest in chatting, and her manners were not considered decent, so she wanted to chase away the guests, "If Mr. Meng is not in a hurry, you can wait for a while, after I have sorted out my manners, whether it is chatting, playing the piano, or singing, my lord Whatever you want."

Meng Qiuze got up, Tian Wanyan thought he was going out and was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but saw him suddenly leaning very close.

Then, he rubbed his thumb against her cheek, turned it over, and let her see, "Do you know that you have blood on your face?"

Tian Wanyan looked at the bright red on Meng Qiuze's hand, her mind went blank, she stood up, walked to the bronze mirror in two steps, and at a glance, the person in the mirror looked haggard, not even like her, with blood and tears all over her face Suddenly, she felt that it was difficult to breathe, her lips were scorched and her mouth was dry, and her chest seemed to be burned by a prairie fire.

Her fingers tightly gripped the hem of the dress, crumpling the fabric until there were a few traces, and she felt dizzy all of a sudden.

That's right, those seniors of Tian's family all died inexplicably like this, Tian Wanyan thought, she still couldn't escape.

As if stripping her naked and putting her on the market for ridicule, Tian Wanyan felt ashamed, but he had no strength, so he managed to stand still while leaning against the table, gritted his teeth, He paused and said, "Master Meng, please go back."

However, Meng Qiuze became hard-hearted, turned around and walked to the window, opened the window, and swept away the stuffy air in the room, the sky outside was hazy, and he couldn't see anything clearly. He put his hands on his chest, Turning his back to the light, he looked at the slightly embarrassed girl in front of him again, but still straightened his back, lowered his voice, and asked, "Is the long memory overwhelming you?"

Tian Wanyan didn't understand how sincere his words were, nor did he understand what he wanted to do.

Meng Qiuze rarely showed regret, and said, "I should have taken you out of here earlier."

"I think you may have admitted the wrong person." Tian Wanyan wiped the blood and tears on his face with a handkerchief, and with all his strength, his face was flushed with a faint red, which was almost torn off by her. But without knowing it, "I won't go with you."

Meng Qiuze looked at her, the almost hypocritical gentle look on his face faded, and there seemed to be a storm brewing between his brows and eyes.

"Do you regret it?" he asked, "falling into the world, soaked in the world of mortals, feeling the joys and sorrows, liking someone who will never get a response, wanting to escape fate, but no matter what, you can't escape... Doing such a big life Meng, have you ever regretted it?"

Looking at Meng Qiuze's cold, almost indifferent expression, Tian Wanyan felt an inexplicable familiarity in his heart.

"Should I regret it?" She looked away and said, "I won't be able to answer until the moment the coffin is closed."

"Your body can no longer support you." Meng Qiuze came over to hold her shoulders. Tian Wanyan was forced to look at him. She still doesn't understand why Meng Qiuze did these things, and she doesn't understand herself either. Why did you answer him just now, "Your soul is too heavy, this body can't bear it, maybe a few days, maybe a few weeks, it may collapse at any time."

Tian Wanyan vaguely realized that the person in front of him was right, and he came here specially for this matter.

"So, what is Master Meng trying to do by telling me all this?" Tian Wanyan smiled reluctantly, "To remind me that all my struggles and escapes in my life are useless? Fate is inevitable, no matter what I do You can't change that, can you?"

"You have always disapproved of them coming to you to clarify their doubts before." Meng Qiuze said slowly, "You think that knowing the answer is meaningless, you don't like expected things, and you don't like unexpected things, so you also Never look at whether the path you walk is good or bad—you have always been like this, so even if you realize that the answer belonging to Baixuan will change the fate of everyone, you have no choice to look, Instead, when Xu Lang came to fetch it for Bai Xuan, he gave it away."

"I thought, if you think it all makes sense, I can't understand it, but maybe it makes sense."

Meng Qiuze said these words, as if he really knew her very well.

Tian Wanyan closed her eyes, feeling dizzy and unable to continue thinking. She really wanted to ask why Meng Qiuze seemed to know everything. She couldn't understand what he said, but she still had to answer unconsciously. , just like years of habit.

She had so many things she wanted to ask, but when they reached her lips, they all turned into one sentence: "What was our relationship?"

Meng Qiuze sighed slightly, stared at her, and said, "From the moment the Star Palace was completed, you have been my lieutenant general."