Xie Wangzhi's hand trembled, and the empty basin fell to the ground with a dull sound.
"… What? It's still the first month of the year." She was so confused that she didn't dare to look at Lou Hanyue. She bent her knees and squatted down while picking up the basin. She lowered her head to look at the basin and said slowly, "Don't talk nonsense."
"I didn't say anything nonsense." Lou Hanyue knew she was trying to evade him, so she raised her hand to wipe away her tears. "It's true. Someone from Hanxiang Palace said that the imperial concubine gave her thirty taels of silver as a token of sympathy for her work at Hanxiang Palace."
"… Really?" Who would joke about such a thing? Xie Wangzhi had to believe it no matter how much she didn't want to. After all, they had lived together for several years. Last time, she even asked her to exchange her jewelry for money to send back home. Now, a living person could only hear the death news from someone else's mouth in the blink of an eye. She couldn't recover for a while, and her eyes went dark.
Seeing this, Lou Hanyue couldn't see Xie Wangzhi's face clearly. She felt uncomfortable too, so she couldn't say a word. She wiped her face twice, sniffed, and said nothing.
Xie Wangzhi squatted for a while, and then stood up holding the basin. His eyelashes trembled and his voice was shaking: "Did they say anything about Yu Pan...what happened to her?"
"He did." Lou Hanyue understood what she wanted to ask and nodded, "He said he committed suicide by hanging himself in his room."
"… impossible."
"W-what?"
"... I said, it's impossible." Xie Wangzhi swallowed and looked at Lou Hanyue steadily, "The last time I saw Yu Pan, she asked me to send money home, saying that she had several brothers and sisters, and she couldn't let her sister enter the palace to be a maid. The last time was during the Chinese New Year, just a few days ago... She still had such thoughts, and palace maids were not allowed to commit suicide. She was timid, how could she commit suicide?"
Lou Hanyue was shocked: "You mean..."
"I guess..." Xie Wangzhi said, "She was murdered."
"Forget it..."
"Either someone did something to force her into this situation; or... someone killed her and used the excuse of suicide to cover up the truth." Xie Wangzhi gritted his teeth, put the basin aside, and walked out blankly.
"Where are you going?" Lou Hanyue quickly grabbed her.
"I'll go see if there's any way to get to the Hanxiang Temple. I have to..."
"What are you doing in Hanxiang Palace?" Lou Hanyue grabbed Xie Wangzhi tightly, and her tone became serious, "Who is Concubine Xiao? We... If you really say that, Yu Pan's matter is not over yet, and you go to Hanxiang Palace..."
Because she was hesitant, she couldn't say the word "seeking death". She gritted her teeth and stared at Xie Wangzhi.
Xie Wangzhi refused to admit defeat and tried to pull his arm out: "Even if Yu Pan is really depressed, I have to know why she is depressed. We have lived in the same room for so long, I can't let her die in vain."
"Don't go." This is the truth. Lou Hanyue didn't believe that Yao Yupan would commit suicide. She had a lot of thoughts in her mind, but she couldn't speak. She could only pull Xie Wangzhi and repeat with a blank look, "Don't go. Wangzhi, listen to me... Really don't go."
Xie Wangzhi ignored her and pulled his hand away. Lou Hanyue grabbed her elbow tightly, and the joints turned a grim blue-white.
After a stalemate, Xie Wangzhi was determined to go. Lou Hanyue collapsed and shook her arm, crying: "Then you go! What can you do if you go? What can we do?!"
Xie Wangzhi was stunned, looking at Lou Hanyue's red eyes, unable to speak.
"... I also know that Yu Pan's matter is strange, but she is a palace maid, and so are we... She can't do anything, so what can we do?" Lou Hanyue knew that she had gone too far after yelling so loudly before. Her mouth was bitter, but her eyes were sore, her vision was blurry, and tears fell down, "Wangzhi, we really can't do anything. How can it be so easy to go to Hanxiang Palace? Yu Pan is gone, and if you go again... If something goes wrong, what do you want me to do?"
These words were like a basin of cold water poured over him from head to toe. Xie Wangzhi shuddered and suddenly realized that Lou Hanyue was right.
The name of Daming Palace comes from the Book of Songs, which means bright and beautiful. However, there are too many things hidden inside. If you are not careful, you will be doomed. Not to mention the maids, even if it is a legitimate daughter of a noble family, once she enters the palace, if something really happens and a body is returned home, who in her family would dare to say anything to her face
"… You're right." Xie Wangzhi said softly, "We really can't do anything."
Lou Hanyue's voice trembled: "Wangzhi, I just..."
"It's okay." Xie Wangzhi understood that she wanted to apologize, and shook his head, feeling more and more confused. "I'm not feeling well right now either. I was impulsive just now and made you sad. After all, there's really nothing we can do."
She wiped her face and ignored her empty stomach. "I'm going to go for a walk outside and then go to the big kitchen later."
Lou Hanyue did not stop him, and Xie Wangzhi walked out without knowing where he was going. After wandering around for a while, he finally arrived at a secluded corner next to a cluster of dry bushes, which was the place where he had met Changsheng.
At this time, Xie Wangzhi didn't have the heart to think about immortality. She squatted down slowly against the wall. There was not much sun in winter, and it didn't warm her body. There was a lot of wind in the corridor, which made her feel cold all over.
Xie Wangzhi exhaled a breath of white steam, his eyelashes trembled, and finally he slowly lowered his head and buried his face in his knees.
After hiding for a while, a hand was placed on her head, touching it very gently. The person who touched her head spoke in a relaxed tone, almost jokingly: "Why, do you come here to catch up on some sleep in the cold wind?"
The voice sounded very familiar. Xie Wang was startled. He didn't care about the remaining tears on his face and slowly raised his head.
The figure of the young man was reflected in her eyes inch by inch. Changsheng no longer wore the eunuch's green clothes, but an indigo winter coat, with a belt that showed off his thin waist. His long hair was the same as before, still draped, with a few thin braids hanging down in front of his shoulders. He was facing the light, so Xie Wangzhi couldn't see Changsheng's face clearly, but felt that he was completely wrapped in the light, and for a moment he looked like a god descending from the sky in the mural.
However, Changsheng was not as cold-hearted as the gods and Buddhas. He squatted down in front of Xie Wangzhi and reached out to wipe her face.
"Why are you crying?" This sentence has a hint of disdain, but his hands are gentle, pressing his fingertips on her face, slowly applying force, wiping away the tears under Xie Wangzhi's eyes bit by bit, and then speaking again is quite gentle, "Who made you sad?"
People are like this. If no one asks, maybe they can just keep it to themselves. But once someone asks, all their thoughts will go away. Xie Wangzhi's nose felt sore and tears came out again. She took a breath and said in a trembling voice: "Changsheng... This place really eats people. This time it's Yu Pan... Yu Pan is gone."
Changsheng had heard Xie Wangzhi mention his roommate, and he probably associated Yao Yupan with the little palace maid who was always a little timid. After all, he had seen her several times. He didn't have much sympathy, but his heart was not that hard either. He sighed slowly.
"Then cry for a while. I can't see or hear you anyway." He put one hand on Xie Wangzhi's shoulder, pressed his whole body over, and hugged the girl directly in his arms. With his other hand, he gently patted her back, "Cry. We'll talk after you've cried."
Since he was a child, there were not many people who hugged him tightly. Xie Wangzhi froze instinctively, but after a moment he stretched out his arms to wrap around Changsheng's waist and hugged him back as much as possible. It was too cold outside, and the cold wind blew past him, but Changsheng's arms were warm, and there was a faint scent of incense on his collar.
Xie Wangzhi felt sad, her lips trembled, and she could not say a word. She could only hug the boy tightly and bury her face in his chest. She felt like there was a piece of ice in her heart, which was fine if the cold wind blew away. But when she was in Changsheng's arms, that thing melted and turned into tears, flowing out of her eyes.
"Changsheng, Changsheng..." Xie Wangzhi heard his own soft voice, with a crying tone, "I am so sad, I am really sad..."
"I understand." Changsheng didn't mind letting her cry in his arms for a while longer, and didn't say any more useless words, "Cry. Just pretend that I'm blind and can't see."
Xie Wangzhi hummed and buried himself deeper.
The boy and the girl hugged each other at the foot of the wall, both of them squatting. This posture was really uncomfortable, especially Changsheng, whose whole body was tense, just like being tortured. But Xie Wangzhi cried so hard that Changsheng endured the discomfort in his waist, back and legs, hugged her loosely, stroking her back from time to time, and patiently waited for her to finish crying.
Xie Wangzhi cried for a while, his throat became hoarse and his head ached. He sniffed and stepped out of Changsheng's arms: "... Thank you. I shouldn't have cried."
He hugged her tightly when she was crying, but pushed her away as soon as she stopped crying. Changsheng finally understood what it meant to be heartless. But when he met Xie Wangzhi's red eyes, what else could he do? He could only move his stiff shoulders: "It will be better if you cry."
"… Um."
"Don't be too sad. The dead cannot be resurrected, and crying is useless." Changsheng said, "Isn't that how it is in the palace?"
Xie Wangzhi responded, wiped his face, and said softly: "But I always feel that she was harmed by someone."
"What do you mean?"
Xie Wangzhi had just said it casually, and even Lou Hanyue didn't want to listen, let alone expect Changsheng to believe it. When he really threw the question back, Xie Wangzhi was stunned for a moment before he stammered and repeated what he had said to Lou Hanyue before.
"… It's not impossible." Changsheng listened patiently and frowned, "I said last time, don't go out if you can, don't think about others, always take care of yourself."
He thought for a moment and said, "I'll help you find out about Hanxiang Palace. I'll be able to find out something."
"No!" Xie Wangzhi was anxious. "Even if you are in the music school, it must be inconvenient to go there. What if... What if..."
She didn't dare to say "what if", but Changsheng understood. It was just Concubine Xiao. Even if it was Li Chengjing, he had nothing to be afraid of. But he couldn't say it out loud, so he could only touch Xie Wangzhi's head and said, "I won't go there myself, I'll just ask someone to ask."
“… If you can’t find out the answer, forget it.” Xie Wangzhi couldn’t stop him and nodded.
I had been running for quite some time and crying for a while, and suddenly the pressure on my heart was relieved a little. My stomach, which I had neglected for a long time, finally responded, and I felt uncomfortable with its emptiness.
Xie Wangzhi touched his stomach and was about to tell Changsheng that he wanted to go back for dinner, but the place under his palm refused to give him any respect and kept squirming, making a gurgling sound that was particularly noticeable in the empty corridor.
The author has something to say: Changsheng: Puchi.jpg
The social death of oblivion (…)
After reading the comments, I felt that you were all so zqsg yesterday... The palace is like this. If the emperor is not virtuous, it will be a great pain for people. No one can escape, including Changsheng (spitting smoke). However, it is impossible to get rid of the current emperor immediately for the time being. Be patient and bear with it. Maybe he will suddenly die one day (nonsense
In addition, this story actually has a side story, which is the real Chang'an Enmity Record (the real moon landing fraud x (the Earl: