Huaibi

The Supreme Emperor failed to wait for the spring of the second year of Yanshou.

It was the last ten days of the twelfth lunar month, and no one in the palace dared to put up lanterns and festivities to welcome the new year, but outside the palace, there were already overwhelming blessings.

The Taishanghuang went to fashion in the dark night, and the winter moon climbed high, clearly hanging among the clouds.

The candles in the Palace of Heshou were flickering and extinguishing, and the inside and outside of the palace were extremely oppressive. Ping Huaizhen held his old palm tightly, listening to him call several people's names one after another when he was in a state of confusion. The empress dowager who accompanied him through all kinds of wind and rain, and even called the former sixth prince, chewed on the word "hang 姳" over and over again, refusing to stop.

Until a certain moment, the sound stopped and all was silent.

Ping Huaizhen slowly let go of his hand, and "Hang 姳" echoed in his ears.

He knew that this was the name of the princess, but he didn't know that the woman outside the palace was waking up from a dream, covered in cold sweat in winter.

The death knell in Yejing suddenly rang, waking up the ordinary people in the city. The men in charge hurriedly wrapped up their cotton-padded jackets and went out. Throw it into the fire.The young child felt a little frightened, grinned and cried, and was covered by his mother's panic, but the women were stunned for a moment, as if it was time to cry this day, and let go of their hands again...

The capital was not stable all night.

Jiang often took advantage of the chaos to go out of the palace to go to Prince Yu's mansion. By then, the concubine Yu Wang had all dressed up and was sitting in the empty courtyard as if not aware of the cold.He was a little hesitant, but only for a moment, he still bravely stepped forward to pay respects, and raised his hands to honor the emperor's order to send the secret object.

The palm was tightly clenched into a fist at first, fearing that things would be lost on the way, but now it was under the eyes of the princess before it was loosened inch by inch, revealing it with some sweat.

The moon is shining brightly, and the object in his hand is an old wood carving, which is engraved with Yueran facing the carp.

The concubine's static face was shattered, and she burst into tears in an instant.

"Mother, Moai, it hurts my body very much," Jiang Chang intentionally did not include the word "Princess" in front of the title, and whispered according to the emperor's words, "When the emperor left, he missed you the most. With this fish..."

At the end of the words, I heard a slight choke, and it took a long time for her to calm down a little, before closing her eyes and sending him: "Go back..."

Jiang Chang bowed his head in response to "嗻", but the things in his hands were still in place and had not been taken away.The hands in Wang Hao's sleeves trembled uncontrollably, and she didn't even have the strength to raise her arms.

In the end, it was Pingxiya who picked it up, the back was rough and uneven when he touched it with his fingertips, and he turned it over to see the slender Chinese characters carved: Xinyue and Jun are like fish in water.

Everyone feels mixed flavors.

Coming out of the courtyard, Jiang Changli's legs went limp for a moment, and he almost fell to his knees.He leaned against the wall to remain calm, his heart beating non-stop, as if he wanted to shatter the entire courtyard wall around him.Sweat was dripping from his scalp, and the scenes of the palace flashed like a shadow play in the back of his mind, and the inhuman things he had witnessed over the years were being staged.

Today, he finally knew the life experience of the emperor, and it was the emperor who finally allowed him to become an insider at this juncture.

It's absurd to say that an eunuch with a light life and a thin soul, how on earth did he endure all these palace secrets as heavy as Cangshan Mountains.

Jiang Chang seemed to be crying and laughing, sweat slipped from the corners of his eyes, piercing his eyes sorely, and the foreground of his eyes became blurred.He gritted his teeth and raised his hand to wipe it, and when he opened his eyes again, there was a pair of bright white embroidered shoes in his lowered vision.

He suddenly raised his head to see the person coming, and took two steps back in shock, hiding his complicated thoughts for a while, and then greeted: "Miss Xuan Yu."

Su Xueyuan wanted to go forward to help him, but when she heard the surname, she stopped in her footsteps, gave up with a wry smile, and greeted him with Yingying: "Eunuch Jiang."

The sound was as cool as the winter moon, Jiang Chang calmed down, thinking that he lost his composure just now and was bumped into by her, perhaps frightened her, and said: "Tonight is a big funeral, please don't take a stroll in the palace, the slave will send you to the palace." You go back to the hospital and rest."

Suxue said nothing, nodded, turned around and walked in front, all the way to the dormitory, she thanked him softly, thanked him without waiting for him to leave, and asked abruptly: "Eunuch, the emperor passed away, I don't know how much the emperor's filial piety will be?"

Jiang Chang heard the deep meaning in the words, surprised her boldly, felt sorry for her even more, thought about it and didn't know how to appease her, so he had no choice but to answer: "This slave has said it, but I can't do it... Miss, don't think too much, it's cold today. The most important thing in the freezing season is to take good care of your body, eat well and sleep well." He took the Jade Buddha hanging from a red string from his neck, mocked himself and held it to her with a low smile, "Everyone said 'male wear Avalokitesvara wears a Buddha', but this Buddha has been worn on my eunuch who is neither male nor female for many years, it is time to protect other families. The slave is rude, the girl will keep this Buddha, no matter what happened in the past , you will never suffer from it in the days to come, so you can rest assured."

Su Xue was stunned when she heard that, her watery eyes fixed on the clear Jade Buddha.

Jiang Chang was still waiting with his hands in his hands, his fingertips were slightly red from the cold, and she felt a dull pain in her heart for no reason, so she took it gently with her hand.

"Thank you, Eunuch Jiang."

Jiang Chang bowed his head so that she could not see his sad expression, and said "serious words" and bid her farewell.

There is really no need to say thank you.Where he is, and the secrets he knows, there is no need to pray for the protection of gods and Buddhas, it is better to give them to those in need.As for the others, this body, this life, do whatever you want...

It is time for the sky to sink like a curtain.

Afterwards, it was sunny all day in Beijing, and the sun was so warm and pleasant that it was not suitable for a funeral.

Ping Huaizhen hadn't closed his eyes much since the first night, and when he was busy, he occasionally lost his mind, silently looking at the dazzling golden sun, thinking that the sky was very different when the Queen Mother went, it was velvet and silver snow... Thinking, regaining consciousness again To close his eyes, he raised his hand and rubbed the throbbing forehead.

Busy and tired, Ping Huaizhen was already tired and weak, but she couldn't sleep.The end of the year is a lot of things, and this change made him less and less able to take leisure time to rest, and he also felt that he had no desire to rest.

The shape of the case reflected the lonely silhouette through the window. Jiang Chang looked at it worryingly from outside, fearing that if he persisted like this, he would wear down the emperor's body.

When he was anxious, a guard stepped forward and whispered a few words to him.Jiang Chang's eyes lit up when he heard this, and secretly sighed that a great savior had arrived, and hurriedly set out to meet Li Qingjue. After walking a few steps, he belatedly looked at the falling moonlight, thinking that the palace had already been banned at this time, and Li Qingjue was also here this time. Regardless of the rules and decency.

He was not the only one who had this idea, even Ping Huaizhen felt that it was not true when he saw the person coming, and he suddenly thought that his mind was chaotic, and invited Li Qingjue into a dream.

Until Li Qingjue approached him, he touched his dry lips with his fingers, and the slightly cool fingertips wiped away the sleepiness and fatigue.

"Has your majesty not drank water all day?"

At that moment, Ping Huaizhen couldn't bear it anymore, and hugged him tightly around her waist.

Li Qingjue said shamelessly: "The office is busy, I can't get out during the day, and I'm afraid that it's not appropriate to enter the palace at dusk..."

"But you're still here," Ping Huai buried her head in his waist in a humming voice, and there was joy hidden in her words, even though many thoughts couldn't be expressed, she still murmured contentedly, "It's good to be here, it's good to be here... ..."

Li Qingjue was helpless and sorrowful, he understood that he had nothing to say, and even more understood that his own problems were difficult to solve, it would be better to avoid him than forcefully forgive him, so he only called him gently, and replied: "Ping Huaizhen, it's all over."

it's already over.

Birth, old age, sickness and death are the common sense of the world; resentment and hatred will follow the sun and the moon.

No matter how much injustice you feel in your heart, no matter how hard it is to drive away after a hundred years, the feet under your body will only move forward.

Ping Huaizhen's grief did not diminish for the time being, but she felt somewhat relieved.

Li Qingjue noticed that his arms were loosened behind him, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Sit down, I'll pour tea."

The words were intimate, Ping Huaizhen listened steadily, he nodded and let him go to the table, leaving him alone behind the desk to rest in a chair.

The tea cools down quickly in winter, even though the palace servants come to change the tea frequently, the pot at hand is still cold.Li Qingjue went to call people outside the corridor, Jiang Chang listened to his orders, and thought that it would be good if Mr. Li came. During the day, the palace people came in and out, and the pots brought out were always full, but there was no one there. Dare to persuade, it can be regarded as making the emperor drink hot water for a while.

Jiang Chang couldn't wait for the maidservant, whose footsteps were fine, to run up nimbly with the pot in hand.The winter wind was blowing slightly on the face, making people sober. Li Qingjue just opened the door of the palace and waited on the porch, not caring whether it would fall into anyone's eyes or mouth.

He is really not without rejoicing, fortunately Ping Huaizhen's harem is still empty, even if someone with a heart says "I don't follow the rules", they will definitely not slander him as a "dirty palace".

Can go further...

Li Qingjue's eyes were far away in the direction of Fengyi Hall.

In the future, I'm afraid there will be no such luck.

The Supreme Emperor passed away, and the world was in ruins. Ping Huaizhen was supposed to observe mourning for three months, and there was nothing to delay the wedding after that. At that time...

Footsteps in the corridor break up the daydream.

Jiang Chang came to serve tea, and a few rolls of warm mist curled up from the spout of the pot.

Li Qingjue received it in his hand, and set off to return to the warm room, the door of the palace was closed behind him.He walked to the table and put the pot down, and there was a light knock on the bottom of the pot, which didn't disturb the person behind the desk.

Li Qingjue poured tea from a cup, brought it to his mouth and blew, guessing that he could drink it, then walked around to the back of the case slowly, wondering if Ping Huaizhen had really fallen asleep, so he called out in a very low breath.

Ping Huaizhen opened his eyes instantly.

"Assuming you're fast asleep," Li Qingjue handed him the tea, "it's better if you're fast asleep, just drink the hot tea and wash up and go to bed."

The tea was still a little hot, Ping Huaizhen drank slowly, and had no time to answer, and then he continued to read as if he suddenly remembered something: "Has the emperor eaten today?"

"Qingjue," Ping Huaizhen drank the tea with great difficulty, put down the porcelain cup and held his knuckles, and asked without answering, "Are you going out of the palace tonight?"

Li Qingjue hesitated slightly, after thinking for a moment, he still nodded and said: "When the emperor falls asleep, the subject will leave the palace."

A little disappointment flashed in Ping Huai's eyes, he was sure that his current status would not be able to keep him, so he just tightened his fingers, and simply did not delay, so as not to miss him leaving the palace.Thinking of getting up and going to the inner room, unwilling to wash and wash, she lay down on the dragon couch in the imperial study nearby, and slept with her clothes on.

Seeing this, Li Qingjue stopped trying to persuade him to eat, worried that he would get cold in his dream, so he brought a brocade quilt to cover him.

"Let Qingjue go back."

"Your Majesty, let's go to bed." Li Qingjue sat quietly beside the couch before leaving, covering the only dim candlelight.

There is no more light and shadow under the eyelids, drowsiness strikes wildly, Ping Huaizhen feels drowsy in the blink of an eye, and falls into a deep sleep after a while.

Li Qingjue reached out to caress the outline of his cheek, leaned over and kissed the corner of his lips lightly, and left the palace.

But after such a short while, the moon climbed half a foot higher outside the palace, Li Qingjue went out of the corridor and raised his head to look quietly, thinking that now the palace and the palace are covered with white, who knows how festive red will be after March.

For the country and the people, isn't it a good thing.

He laughed at himself and walked alone, but he had no way of knowing at that time that on the day when the filial piety expired in March, what the officials and people were waiting for was not the long-awaited new master of the harem, but an oracle that shocked the government and the public:

Xuanyu Xuerou is the hostess, her filial piety moves the heavens, and Feng Chengjing is the princess.