wake up from dream

"Well, how could you recognize me at a glance?" Zi Qing looked at Lian'er's expression, so she changed the subject.

"Geng Juzhong told me...don't worry, I won't say anything about it, not even about my empress." Lian Er said with a slightly surprised expression on Zi Qing's face.

"I'm not worried about you saying it, I think you must be trustworthy, and Geng Juzhong will tell you this."

Lian Er smiled frankly, "Because he trusts me, I will keep this secret for him even more."

"Well, from what you've said, Geng Juzhong isn't having a good time... isn't he?"

"Now dazed has become the thing he does the most. He always holds a red silk thread and just stares blankly like that. Once he fell asleep watching it, and I put it away for him. He didn't see the red line when he woke up, and he looked around frantically. At that time, I walked away for a while, and when I came back, I saw him. He really didn't look like the Geng Juzhong I knew... He was always steady before, He has never looked for things in a panic, even if something is missing, he can still hold his breath, but now..."

"Silk thread?" Zi Qing then remembered that it was the red silk thread that Geng Juzhong used to tie her feet. "I heard you say that the former Geng Juzhong was a completely different man from now, right?"

"Yes, I very much hope to see the former Geng Juzhong again, at least it won't be like this... half dead..." Lian Er said with red eyes.

"Is he really that bad?" Zi Qing frowned.

"He is much better now than when you left. At least he eats and sleeps on time. Although he drank occasionally, he didn't drink so much... That day when you got married, he locked himself in the room after returning Here, I drank all night, no one tried to persuade me, I was afraid that he would sink like this, but I didn't expect him to get up early the next day, and then seemed to forget everything, what should I do? How are you going to live..."

"Well, finally... how about you, Lian'er? How are you?"

"I'm very satisfied, at least I can be with the person I love, and I'm willing to accompany him to old age like this..." Lian Er said with a smile, but there was no shyness on her face, just a faint smile.

"Lian'er, you love him so much, sooner or later he will find out how good you are."

"Aren't you angry with me?" Lian Er stared at Zi Qing's eyes, as if she wanted to get some information from those eyes.

"I'm mad at you?" Zi Qing was stunned for a while, and then remembered that Lian Er was referring to the letter to Nalan Hui Er.

"Maybe everything is God's will... Now that I think about it, there is nothing to pursue."

"Your Majesty loves Chengde very much." Lian Er suddenly said this.

"You... mean Concubine Hui?"

"Yes, they were once in love."

"They used to be in love?" Ziqing was shocked by these words like a thunderclap, Rong Ruo denied their relationship, and even said that there is no cousin in the palace, what is going on?

"Don't worry." Seeing Ziqing's anxious look, Lian'er held Ziqing's hand on the table, and said again: "Actually, Rongruo has lost his memory, he forgot about Concubine Hui... Forget it all..."

"Amnesia? How could this happen?" Zi Qing never thought that Rong Ruo still had such a past.

"Let me start from the beginning. Rong Ruo and Concubine Hui met for the first time when Rong Ruo was 15 years old. At that time, Concubine Hui was going to be drafted in the palace a year later, so she arrived first. Learning the rules in the Ming Mansion, Concubine Hui is one year older than Rong Ruo. She was supposed to go to the draft three years ago at that time, but she didn't come because she was ill when she was 13 years old. And, I didn't expect that due to a coincidence, when my mother met Rong Ruo at the age of 16, she once told me that Rong Ruo was the only man she loved in her life, and there would never be another man..."

"Did they fall in love in that year? When Rong Ruo was 15 years old..."

"Yes, at that time, the empress didn't expect that she would be selected at all, she thought it was just a formality, but, I didn't expect that later...Rong Ruo became seriously ill because of the empress being selected, and later, in order to see the empress, she returned Pretending to be a lama, sneaked into the palace..."

"Then has he seen the empress?"

"How can it be that easy? The palace is full of eyes and ears from all sides. Even if you see it, you can't talk to it. You can only watch your empress standing next to the emperor..."

"Then?"

"After the ceremony was over, Rong Ruo also left the palace. It happened to be raining heavily at that time, and he was completely wet. After returning to the mansion, he lay in bed for two months. Only later did the empress know that he was in the palace. After that ceremony, Rong Ruo's cold illness relapsed again, and when she woke up, she forgot everything about the year she spent with her mother..." Lian Er was helpless and regretful, maybe she knew that It's impolite for Ziqing to show regret in front of her, but because she has seen Concubine Hui's tears with her own eyes, she can't help but sigh this change in interpersonal relationships...

"I thought... Rong Ruo didn't have a cousin... I thought I was his first love... But it doesn't matter..." Zi Qing suddenly became incoherent. I asked Rong Ruo before, and I asked him if he There is a cousin in the palace, and he firmly told me no, so wouldn't he know that there is a Nalan Huier in his family in the palace?

Ziqing feels that all these are like unsolved puzzles. The truth is not so simple. It's not that she doesn't believe in Rong Ruo, but because all these things can't be connected together to form a complete story.

"It's true that Rong Ruo doesn't remember, but later he found out that there is a cousin in the palace, and he only found out after the incident where your letter was taken away by me."

"Why are you so clear? You are not by Rong Ruo's side, and Concubine Hui is not by Rong Ruo's side, why do you know so much about him?"

"Some things are not difficult to know." Lian Er looked at Zi Qing and smiled meaningfully. Zi Qing remembered that Rong Ruo also said this sentence. It was Zi Qing who asked Rong Ruo to look for Mo Ju when falling...

"Rong Ruo also said this." Zi Qing lowered her head, remembering Rong Ruo at that time.

"Yes, I heard this sentence too, but I heard it from Rongruo's mouth." Lian'er narrated lightly, seeing the shocked expression on Zi Qing's face again, and said with a smile: "It's you When talking about Bai Ling and Mo Ju with Rong Ruo... he said that there are no secrets in the palace... I think you should believe the truth of this sentence now?"

"I didn't suspect it, but I didn't expect you to be there at that time. I heard from Bai Ling that the maid who exchanged letters knows martial arts..."

"Yes, I do know martial arts. In fact, I have practiced martial arts with Geng Juzhong and the others since I was a child." Lian Er nodded.

"You and Geng Juzhong... are childhood sweethearts?"

"We can also be said to be childhood sweethearts."

"Geng Juzhong didn't know that you liked him?" Zi Qing thought that Geng Juzhong was not the kind of person who didn't realize it after all. Lian Er liked him for so long, how could he not know?

"Maybe he knows? I just don't want to admit it, because he only loves Princess Heshuo. I've known since he went back to the capital." Lian Er pursed her lips and smiled, Zi Qing knew it was a forced smile.

"That time you went back to Beijing?"

"When he was ten years old, he went to Beijing with his Ama. When he came back, I often found that he would unconsciously raise the corners of his mouth when he was alone in a daze. I have never seen that kind of appearance. I have never The smile I've seen... Later, I heard that he was married by the emperor, and that woman is Princess Heshuo." Lian Er smiled wryly, and then said: "I thought I could tell him when I grow up. I want to marry him, because I found out that he doesn't hate me..." Lian Er laughed at herself: "Yes, I don't hate me, so I thought I had a chance to make him like me, but everything about me All illusions... were shattered in that year, that year, the year he went to Beijing for the first time."

"Lian'er..." Zi Qing held Lian'er's hand instead, expressing her comfort. At that time, Lian'er must have been in pain. A long-awaited dream was broken by an imperial decree...

"I'm fine. Now I've seen it all. Princess Heshuo is gone. You...you who look exactly like the princess have also found your own home..." Lian Er said with a relieved smile.

"Before Geng Juzhong met the princess, didn't he treat you..." A little bit special?

"Hehe... Before he met the princess, he was like a lump of wood. There was almost nothing that could affect his mood. That's why I said, it was the first time I saw him smile so brightly when he came back." Lian Er said, the smile on her face deepened, maybe no one knew Geng Juzhong's childhood better than Lian Er?

"Wood bumps? Not so much?" Zi Qing couldn't believe it.

"Geng Juzhong's Er Niang left early, and because she was not a legitimate son, she didn't receive much attention when she was a child, so her temperament has always been calm and she doesn't talk much."

"I know that his mother-in-law passed away when he was very young, but I didn't expect this incident to have such a profound impact on him. He never mentioned these incidents at all before." When he was in the Princess Mansion, Geng Juzhong never Speaking of his past events, the news that his mother had passed away was only learned from Geng Juzhong because Ziqing mentioned that she wanted to see his mother.

"He was hurt once because of Princess Heshuo, so his temperament changed in the next year, and he was naturally unwilling to mention the past... But, I know, he was very happy when you were by his side at that time, and he didn't regard you as a princess , but...you are you, I know, I can see that although he is a little worried, he is still very happy...just..." But the relationship ended without a problem...

"I really hope that Geng Juzhong can find out how kind you are to him. I am thinking that there may never be anyone in this world who understands him better than you." Zi Qing sincerely believes that Lian Er will be Geng Juzhong. Happiness.

"It's just that he doesn't know me well. He has never been in the mood to understand things other than schoolwork. On the contrary, I, because I like him, gradually know a lot about him. I observed it secretly..." At this point, Lian'er laughed at herself, and then continued: "But he never...even if he glanced at me, he just looked at me tenderly...nor, he never just Treat me as his sister, that's all."

"We seem to have dragged the topic far away." Lian'er suddenly said, "I didn't expect that I would talk to you about these things... I thought that we would never be able to sit down and talk like this, after all, I did that thing once. matter……"

"Okay, I don't blame you, I'm just angry, the matter is over, you have already left the palace... I hope to hear good news about you and Geng Juzhong one day!"

"Well, thank you!" Lian'er looked at Zi Qing gratefully, getting Zi Qing's forgiveness was a kind of relief for Lian'er, Geng Juzhong was also angry with Lian'er because of this incident, but finally let go It's just that Lian'er hopes to hear Zi Qing's "I don't blame you" with her own ears.

"Actually, Concubine Hui didn't do it on purpose. In the final analysis, it was because she loved Rong Ruo too much and couldn't stand Rong Ruo falling in love with another woman. If Rong Ruo's amnesia has already hurt Concubine Hui to the bone, then listen When Rong Ruo falls in love with other women, I think, Empress's heart will never be complete again, right?"

"I understand, love... sometimes makes people crazy... I understand." Yes, Ziqing understands, if it were herself, the one she loves would not only forget herself, but also fall in love with another woman, Can she stand it?

"The empress is also a woman with a hard life, that year, because the emperor was in a bad mood, but the empress..." Lian Er said that tears fell down her face.

"what happened?"

"Although your Majesty has spoiled your empress, I know... the next day, your empress... has scars on her body..."

"There are scars? How could it be...the emperor abused the empress?" Zi Qing carefully expressed her speculation.

"I don't know." Lian'er shook her head, "I asked the empress, but she refused to say no matter what... No one knows what happened to the empress and the emperor. At that time, the empress began to hate the emperor, so we are not allowed Speaking of the emperor..."

"I remember, the empress refused to even call the emperor, what happened to them?"

"The empress never told me about her relationship with the emperor. She doesn't like the emperor. Every time she is favored by the emperor, she never mentions anything about the emperor."

"Does Rong Ruo know about these things?" Suddenly remembered that Rong Ruo would be very distressed if he knew about Concubine Hui, right?

"How did Rong Ruo know about these things? Only me and the other maid who waited on the empress knew about the scars on the empress. The empress won't let us mention it, so naturally we won't tell it. The servants don't know about this, they just think that the empress is favored, and they are very happy."

"Alas! How many women in the palace are happy? I think there are almost none. Even if they can be happy, it will only be for a period of time. There are countless women in the palace. What kind of women do you want? "

"Well, yes! But once you enter, you only have the idea of ​​dying in it. The empress once said that she envied me very much. I can leave the palace as soon as the time comes, and she has no hope in this life... ..."

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