"Your Highness?"
After a brief silence, the crowd became noisy.
"When did she come back?"
"How do you know this? There is no news at all?"
"She... is actually still alive."
Song Zhi sighed. The hands in his sleeves kept shaking, and it was no longer possible to hide his fear and uneasiness.
Ning Xiaoling was stunned for a while, then suddenly said: "Could it be her?"
Ning Jiujiu asked: "Who?"
Ning Xiaoling immediately explained: "It is said that in the imperial palace, the person who can be identified by simply saying "Your Highness" is not the prince or a princess, but... the adopted daughter of a queen."
Ning Changjiu became more and more confused: "Adopted daughter?"
Ning Xiaoling nodded: "It is said that more than ten years ago, the late emperor returned from the expedition and met a fairy-like woman on the city tower. He took the woman back to the palace, built a hall for her, and regarded her as the son of god. Next to the woman, it is said that there is a little girl of four or five years old. Some people say that it is the illegitimate daughter of her and the emperor. Some people say that it is the orphan child she adopted. In short, they are raised together in the palace. For more than ten years, forward… "
Ning Xiaoling's voice was lowered: "More than ten years ago, when the palace was just completed, the emperor who was supposed to be in his prime fell seriously ill and eventually died."
There was a lot of noise around her. As she spoke, Ning Xiaoling looked around carefully and breathed a sigh of relief after making sure no one was paying attention to her.
Ning Jiujiu figured out a lot of things: "It turns out that it was the empress who died twenty days ago."
Ning Xiaoling's eyes widened and she was stunned for a moment before she understood what he said.
There are many speculations among the people about the empress who has lived in the palace for a long time. Although many people say that she is the witch who brought harm to Zhao Guo and Zuo, and the sudden death of the late emperor must be related to her, but in more than ten years, who dared to really touch her
Although this empress has never appeared, she has left many stories in Zhao State, such as the sword flying thousands of miles to slay demons in the Qianyu Palace, and the blue dragon coming to court from beyond the sky...
In the State of Zhao, the empress was a legendary figure, whether she was a god or a demon.
So she didn't think about it in that direction.
At this moment, Ning Jiujiu said something to wake her up, and she suddenly understood. If it was really the empress who died, then as her daughter, how could His Highness give up? And everyone in the hall had different expressions, most of them were frightened and frightened. They thought that they had something to do with the death of the empress.
No wonder I'm so scared...
Ning Jiujiu said: "Even so, why are they afraid? If you dare to kill the empress, why don't you kill your daughter too?"
Ning Xiaoling quickly tugged on his sleeve to signal him to stop talking.
Fortunately, no one paid attention to him, because there was a vague figure walking over through the rain curtain outside, and the crowd gradually became quiet.
Ning stood in the shadow behind the door for a long time and looked over.
The autumn rain is cold and the fallen trees are rustling. In the green and yellow yard, a girl in a snow-white dress and a slender waist is walking slowly, holding an old red umbrella.
She walked through the stone steps and closed her umbrella under the eaves. The girl held the umbrella at her waist like a sword. Water droplets dripped from the pointed umbrella head, and the sound was clearly audible.
She looked around at everyone in the hall, and finally landed on Song Zhi. The girl pursed her lips and smiled slightly:
"Everyone... are you okay?"
Just as she was speaking, the clouds parted, and a beam of skylight leaked out, falling on her across the vast autumn rain.
She was standing under the eaves, half in light and half in shadow.
Only then did everyone react one by one, salute one after another, and say respectfully to meet His Highness.
In fact, except for that day three years ago, few people have seen her since then. When I saw her today, I realized that the wild girl who stood in front of the steps of Qianyu Highness three years ago has now grown up like this. .
Ning Xiaoling stared at her blankly for a while, then quickly retracted her gaze, lowered her head, and her heart was beating fast.
Ning glanced at her for a long time, also slightly absent-minded.
The girl was extremely beautiful. She had no makeup but her features were picturesque, and her plain clothes and white skirt were stunning.
Ning looked at her for a long time, as if looking at a black and white flower, slender and blooming on the cliff, so everything lost its luster, leaving only pure black and white.
The girl met Ning Chang's gaze.
Ning looked at her calmly for a long time, but his eyes did not dodge or avoid at all.
The autumn rain continued and the cold wind entered the temple, but the officials still bowed their heads. The charred corpse in front of the statue was mixed with the unpleasant smell of rot and burning. In the strange silence, their eyes met like this.
Ning Jiujiu felt that she was a little familiar and looked back on his memory, but he couldn't remember when he had seen her.
Maybe it was just that the girl was so beautiful that it caused ripples in his Taoist heart. Now that he is an ordinary person after all, he cannot escape the emotions and desires of the world.
Ning Xiaoling looked at them uneasily, plucked up the courage to take a step forward, and saluted: "Your Highness, my senior brother and I came with the master to conquer the demons. Unfortunately, the master died. Senior brother has been thinking a little weird recently. I hope your highness will not do anything." Blame.”
Ning Jiujiu came back to his senses for a moment, remembered the etiquette of these secular dynasties, and bowed awkwardly: "I have met His Highness."
The girl smiled slightly, and her cold and cold voice was still a bit childish: "Since you are here to slay demons in the palace, you are also a guest. I don't like these red tapes, so how can I blame you?"
Ning Xiaoling retreated to Ning Jiujiu's side and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Everyone sees me..." The girl narrowed her eyes slightly and laughed softly: "Why do you look so sad?"
Everyone came to their senses and quickly knelt down, saying they didn't dare.
The girl raised her hand to signal them to stand up: "I just said, I don't like these red tapes."
Some people stood up, but found that others were still kneeling, so they knelt down again.
The girl's eyes slowly scanned the surroundings. She sighed, but her voice became colder: "You don't want to get up, but you have something wrong with you?"
Everyone's eyes met secretly, but no one responded.
Among these people, Song Fang had the highest official position, and the investigation of Que Gui was mainly investigated by him.
He sighed softly, stood up first, looked at the girl in front of him with her white skirt swaying slightly and her dark hair shawl, and said: "It's a good thing that His Highness is back safely. We are... overjoyed."
"Ah… "
The girl laughed. Her lips were very pale, thin and slightly raised. At this moment, they were slightly raised, and her eyebrows were also vivid. She took two steps forward, and then she seemed to step out of the scroll and came to the crowd.
"Twenty days ago, when the cavalry surrounded the palace, Mr. Song, who had sworn allegiance to my mother in front of the palace, where was he at that time?"
Song Zi was dripping with cold sweat: "That day... that day was too chaotic. The whole city was filled with fire and blood. I don't know what to do."
"I don't know what to do?" The girl had a soft face, but her expression became increasingly cold.
Song Xi closed his eyes and did not dare to answer.
The girl stared at him, her tone suddenly showing an edge: "Besieging the palace, setting fire to it, killing people, riding cavalry on the palace... You have been planning for so long, and now it's like you don't know what to do? You guys are really... so audacious."
Song Side said sadly: "The situation is like this, what can Song do with his meager power?"
The girl looked at him indifferently, remained silent for a while, and asked, "Why?"
Song Zhi bowed deeply, then straightened his body little by little, tried his best to look into her eyes, and said: "If the empress did not stay in the palace for a long time, if she could look at the suffering in the world, listen to Listen to the petitions of all the people, why does all this lead to this?”
The girl said: "Mother is always watching Zhao Guo."
Song Zi said sadly: "But the common people don't know, and I don't know either..."
The girl said: "Do you know, mother doesn't care."
Song stared at the girl's childishly beautiful face and asked, "What about Your Highness? Does Your Highness care?"
The girl didn't answer, she looked at him calmly, waiting for him to continue speaking.
Song Xiang sighed, his eyes becoming firmer: "The fortunes of the Zhao State have declined to this point. In the past, they fought against the Guo State, and their armies were retreating steadily. Later, the Rongguo State looked at it with eager eyes, and there was no hope of ceding the country. Now the signs of the country's subjugation have appeared. Guo You said that again and again. Your Highness has been living in the palace for a long time. I don’t know how much suffering we and others have endured day and night! Now that things have come to this, Song has no regrets and only wants to die. I hope Your Highness can stop... "
"Stop?" The girl frowned, then pointed at the charred corpse on the ground and said with a smile, "Do you think I killed them?"
Song Xi lowered his head and said nothing.
The girl calmly said: "When will I return to the palace and where was I last night? With Master Song's eyes and ears, it is not difficult to know, right?"
Song Zi was silent for a while, nodded, and said solemnly: "I know... His Highness knelt in front of the Qianyu Palace all night last night."
This is something that many people know, but besides her, who else could be the murderer? Is it really that ethereal sparrow ghost? It's just that she knelt in front of the Qianyu Palace all night, how could she kill someone
The girl said no more and said bluntly: "Where is my mother's body?"
Song Zi replied: "I have never found it."
"Huh?" The girl raised her eyebrows slightly.
Song Side sighed: "But I am sure that no one escaped from the Qianyu Palace that day."
The fire cavalry bow and arrow formation, coupled with the action of the god, made it impossible to escape.
The girl stopped talking and slowly raised her hand. The slender and white fingers poked out from the wide sleeves, looking increasingly slender.
The hands were placed on Song Xi's shoulders.
Song Tie's whole body was stiff, dripping with cold sweat but he didn't dare to move.
When everyone saw this scene, they couldn't help but think of the petite girl in front of the Qianyu Palace three years ago, who was covered in blood but had no expression on her face.
Song Xi closed his eyes, already determined to die.
But the girl just smiled, straightened his clothes, and said with a smile: "Master Song, please cherish this hard-earned official uniform."
Song Zi was stunned. Before he could realize that he had walked away from the gate of hell, his body was still tense.
The girl stopped looking at him and looked at the rest of the people. She smiled and said: "I am in the Imperial Preceptor's Mansion. If you have anything to discuss, just come and find me."
"National Master's Mansion?" Song Bi's eyes looked slightly strange.
The girl turned around and walked out.
The autumn rain outside the eaves had not stopped yet, so she put up the umbrella again, and her cold voice came through the rain curtain:
"My husband is seriously ill and dying. As students, you should serve him wholeheartedly."
There was a gentle breeze, and a small yellow flower swayed in the wind on the skirt on the side of her arm.
…
…
"The Imperial Preceptor's Mansion? Why did she go to the Imperial Preceptor's Mansion?"
"The Imperial Preceptor is her husband, and he is now her only relative. However, during the siege twenty days ago, the Imperial Preceptor chose to stand by and watch..."
"Could she still not know that her teacher is standing opposite her?"
"It's possible."
"By the way, where are those assassins? Where were the assassins sent by the country of Jin to intercept her? Why did she come back?"
"Could it be that he missed it... How could it be possible? It is said that the third-ranked assassin in the country of Jin has taken action. How could he return without success?"
"It seems that we can only look at the National Master and the Master of Witches. It is rare for two people with different personalities to agree. Unless the little girl has extraordinary abilities, she will end up like her mother!"
Everyone was talking a lot, and they were probably thinking on the bright side, but a voice suddenly sounded.
"Do you really not understand? Didn't that girl's words make it clear that she has held the Imperial Master hostage?"
Everyone followed the words and saw a young man in Taoist robes looking at them doubtfully, as if looking at a group of fools.
Many people recalled what the girl had just said, and their hearts suddenly dawned, but they were already extremely aggrieved, and now they were exposed by a young man, with angry looks on their faces.
Song Zhi couldn't bear it anymore and shouted sternly: "What on earth do you want to do? We don't need you here. Get out of the city. If you dare to talk any more, you won't be given a cent of your master's burial expenses!"
Ning looked at him helplessly for a long time, thinking that it was clearly his kind reminder, but why was this person so ungrateful
Is this the secular world under the mountain
Ning Xiaoling tugged on his sleeve and almost begged: "Brother, let's go..."
Song Zi was in a very bad mood at the moment. No matter how lazy he was, he waved his hand and signaled the guards to escort them out.
"Wait a minute!"
Suddenly someone walked out from the crowd.
Song glanced sideways at the man and said displeasedly: "Zhao Shisong, why are you here to cause trouble?"
The man named Zhao Shisong bowed his hand as if begging for mercy, then looked at the pair of young girls and asked tentatively: "I wonder what the Taoism is like?"
Ning Jiujiu said: "It's acceptable."
Zhao Shisong thought for a while and said: "To be honest, my wife at home has also been infected with evil spirits recently. Famous doctors and Taoist priests have been called in, but they are unable to do anything. I wonder if you are willing to give it a try?"
Obviously, he is trying to become a living doctor.
Just as Song Zhi was about to scold him, Ning Jiujiu spoke first: "Okay."
Ning Xiaoling was helpless and could only pretend to be confident and nodded.
Song glanced at them sideways, stopped trying to dissuade them, and left with a puff of sleeves, his eyes becoming more indifferent.