The moon moved westward for a few more minutes, and the green shirt lightly brushed over the dusty jade steps like floating clouds. Chu Qiao watched him gradually move away, but her heart became cold inch by inch.
King Luo
King Luo...
When she returned to the palace, Qiu Sui was waiting for her with her eyelids closed, obviously this girl knew when Li Ce came over.
"Girl, you're back!" Seeing Chu Qiao, the little girl was overjoyed, she jumped up and said, "I have prepared lotus seed soup, girl, drink a bowl before going to bed."
Holding the warm white jade soup bowl in her hand, Chu Qiao suddenly lost interest in tasting delicious food, she raised her head and asked, "Qiu Sui, do you know King Luo?"
Qiusui was taken aback, frowned slightly, and said, "Miss, why do you ask this?"
"It's nothing, just asking casually, don't say anything inconvenient."
"Oh, it's not inconvenient, but..." There was no one in the palace, but the little girl still glanced around, and then whispered in Chu Qiao's ear, "This is a scandal in the palace, and everyone generally dare not discuss it. of."
Chu Qiao raised her eyebrows, "A scandal?"
"Yes, Lord Luo's father, King Lushan, is the emperor's uncle. When the emperor ascended the throne, the king of Lushan fell ill and died for some unknown reason. It is said that when the emperor was young, he was even more mischievous than the current prince. Regardless of the dissuasion of the civil and military courts of the Manchu Dynasty, he risked the disapproval of the world and forcibly married his aunt. Two years later, the princess gave birth to a son for the emperor, who is the current prince. On the day of the Empress, eight veteran ministers in the court died together in admonishment and crashed to death on the Fengming Terrace, but the Emperor didn't change his mind. People can be shaken."
"That is to say..."
"That is to say, King Luo is not only the prince's uncle, but also the prince's half-brother. The king of Lushan died early. When the queen married, Luo Wang had just turned 100 days, and he followed the queen into the palace. , before the age of twenty, he grew up with the crown prince in the palace."
"Oh my God!" Chu Qiao lowered her head and sighed softly, thinking of that plainly dressed lady, she couldn't help but sigh.
"Did the prince and King Luo grow up together in this palace?"
"Not really," Qiu Sui bit her lower lip slightly, and said, "The Prince and King Luo lived with the Empress in Qianhua Palace at the beginning, and this Mihe Residence is the bedroom of Princess Fu."
Chu Qiao raised her eyebrows lightly, "Princess Fu?"
"Well, Princess Fu is not a real princess, she is the granddaughter of Old General Murong, Duke of Zhen. The Murong family is a large military family in our country. Old General Murong served the country all his life, and all four of his sons gave their lives on the battlefield. Old General Murong was also bloody on the battlefield during the last Northern Expedition. At that time, the traitors rebelled, Daxia’s army broke through Baizhi Pass, and Mengtian, the leader of Daxia’s army, ordered to kill 30,000 of our country’s surrendered troops, in order to protect the whole city’s elders Mrs. Murong, who was already in her 60s, brought four daughters-in-law and led the Murong clan's army to fight against the enemy, delaying time, and finally waited for the reinforcements from the border town, but the Murong clan was wiped out in this battle. The family's soldiers were protecting The young masters of eleven families fled, and when they saw the gate of the imperial capital, only the four-year-old Princess Fu was left. The emperor praised the loyalty and bravery of the Murong family, and posthumously named the old general Murong the Duke of Zhen. She is the first-class Mrs. Huarong, and her sons were all enshrined as marquises, and Princess Fu was also enshrined as Princess Zhangyi, raised in the palace, and enjoyed the same offerings as the crown prince and King Luo."
This passage was short, but Chu Qiao was secretly startled when she heard it. This Murong clan can also be said to be the contemporary Yang family of the Great Song Dynasty. She was fascinated by it, and asked, "Then what happened next?"
"Later..." Qiusui bit her lower lip, meditated for a while, and then whispered, "Later Princess Fu died."
Chu Qiao was startled, "Dead?"
"Princess Fu and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince are in the same age, and they have played together since they were young. The Emperor and Empress intended to bestow honor on the Murong clan, regardless of her family's decline, so when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Princess Fu were seventeen years old, they personally married them. Princess Fengfu is the crown princess, and the family enshrines the imperial ancestral temple."
Chu Qiao listened quietly, but she didn't take it seriously. The Murong family is loyal and brave. Although the whole family has declined, it has irreplaceable influence and appeal in the army. Princess Fu's marriage to the royal family can be regarded as a consolidation of the royal family.
"But later, on the wedding day, Princess Fu hanged herself."
"What?" Chu Qiao's expression changed immediately, and she frowned and asked, "Suicide?"
"That's right," Qiusui said in a low voice with a pale face, "the royal decree states that Princess Fu died of illness, but Qiusui grew up in the palace and witnessed everything. The carriage used by the prince to greet his bride He had already arrived at Mi He Residence. His Highness the Crown Prince was wearing a red brocade robe, holding a rose ball in his hand, happily followed behind the ceremony officer, and entered the bedroom, but he didn't see Princess Fu. Everyone panicked and searched everywhere. In the end, His Royal Highness was the first to find Princess Fu, and everyone ran to the apse, and saw Princess Fu in a wedding dress with a three-foot white silk hanging from the sycamore tree outside the window."
The night wind blows, icy cold.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince yelled loudly and passed out. I followed my mother back then, and I was the little flower girl in the wedding party. My mother and other aunts from the palace rushed to put Princess Fu down. I stepped back in fear and took a moment." He stumbled over a stone, fell to the ground, and cried out, but at a glance, he saw under the pomegranate tree at the foot of the stone steps, Luo Wang was wearing a cyan-purple robe, his face was as white as a ghost, standing quietly behind the crowd , looking at the sycamore tree with red eyes, without saying a word, clenched his fists tightly, as if about to squeeze out water." Qiusui's eyes were red, and he sniffed lightly, "Later, all the members of the welcoming team The ceremonial officials, maids, and aunts were all secretly executed, because I was not yet nine years old at the time, so I was spared. After my mother died, I have been serving in the palace, but since then, I have not seen King Luo, He only returns to the palace once a year when the Empress is born, and rarely goes out. I heard people say that he was sent to Meishan to guard the mausoleum on behalf of the emperor, and in a blink of an eye, it has been more than six years."
Chu Qiao nodded her head slowly, feeling a burst of depression in her heart, and it was another secret history of the palace, she had seen too much.
"Actually, His Royal Highness was not like this before. It was only after the death of Princess Fu that he gradually became depressed. The girl has never seen Princess Fu. She is really a fairy. , among us young ladies in the palace, none of us have received her favor. I just never thought that such a gentle person would have the courage to take such a path in the end."
Chu Qiao shook her head lightly, "How can such a loyal and famous family be as gentle as water? I'm afraid the blood flowing in her bones is boiling hot. She is a person who would rather be broken than broken. It's a pity that she didn't protect herself back then. ability, and has not entrusted herself to someone capable of protecting her."
Qiusui seemed to understand but half understood.
Chu Qiao patted her on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Qiu Sui, do you like the imperial palace?"
The little maid was confused for a moment, and murmured: "I don't know either. My mother was a female official in the palace. She was pointed out by the Queen Mother to the father of Guanzheng in the Museum of Literature and History, and later gave birth to me. I was born here and never I have been out, and I am used to seeing the concubines and wives in various palaces vying for favor and cheating. I have seen two masters who are different from them in my life, that is, the girl and the wife. The slaves can’t say whether they like it or not, but whether they like it or not, life is not the same. Do you have to live like this?"
Chu Qiao was taken aback for a moment, then smiled lightly and said, "You're right, whether you accept it or not, you have to live like this. Since I haven't seen it before, I can only choose to be content with the status quo."
She lowered her head, stroked the little girl's head, and said, "Qiu Sui, the outside is different from here, you can talk loudly, you can walk in big strides, you can go wherever you want, as long as you work, you can get You can live the life you want, outside, even the wind is free.”
The little maid was a little confused, and asked in a murmur, "Then... I don't want to get up in the morning, and I want to sleep late, so no one cares?"
Chu Qiao laughed, "Of course, but you will be deducted wages."
"Wow!" Qiusui suddenly became excited, grabbed Chu Qiao's hand, and asked, "Girl, is Yanbei like this? Is it?"
Chu Qiao looked at her with distant eyes, far away from a seventeen-year-old girl. Through the autumn ears, she seemed to see far away, the green pastures in Yanbei, the pure white sheep, and the holy snow mountain...
"I don't know if it's like that now, because I haven't been there, but I promise you, one day, everything will become true, so you have to live well."
Chu Qiao stood up, looked at the sycamore tree with dense branches and leaves in front of the window, and thought of the lonely man in the blue shirt.
"Tonghua Wanli Road, even the Korean language is endless. In the next life, don't be born in the emperor's house." Early the next morning, the sound of the carriage rolling shattered the good dream in the morning. Chu Qiao didn't disturb anyone, and cleaned up With simple luggage, I boarded the carriage.
Tie You smiled at Chu Qiao and said, "Miss Chu, it's getting cold and there is dry food in the carriage, you haven't eaten yet."
Chu Qiao nodded, "Thank you very much."
Tie You obviously knew her real identity, smiled honestly, and said: "The battles that Miss Chu fought in Daxia have become a model for the classes in the Martial Arts Hall. My son likes you very much and talks about you all day long."
Chu Qiao looked at the man, was slightly taken aback, and asked, "Your son? How old are you this year?"
Tie You smiled and said, "I am twenty-five years old, my son is twelve, I got married at the age of thirteen, and just got another daughter."
Chu Qiao was speechless secretly, thirteen years old...
What Li Luo said was right, the wind here is really strong. Chu Qiao wore a hood and opened the curtain of the carriage, only to feel the wind howling, like a windmill. The morning sun was shining with golden warmth in the entire Jinwu Palace, and the towers, water pavilions, and majestic palaces in the distance gradually faded away like a prosperous dream. Floating clouds, shallow and shallow, the garden is full of crimson willows and green, embracing a pool of clear water. The marble square was quiet, except for this carriage, moving slowly in the morning light, revealing mottled shadows.
Chu Qiao raised her head and looked up at the floating clouds in the sky. Thinking of Li Ce's eyes and eyebrows leaning under the crabapple tree, her eyes gradually blurred.
"Happily walking in the daytime, facing the east and returning to the west at dusk, I hope you can really do this."
The carriage gradually moved away, and finally disappeared among the palaces. Li Ce, who couldn't get up early, was standing on a rockery in Lanque Palace at the moment. The rockery is extremely high, with green bamboos planted all over it, and it moves slowly when the breeze blows. There is a bamboo pavilion on the mountain, which is very ingenious and exquisite. Li Ce was dressed in a turquoise robe, with a golden crown on his head, and held a purple flute by his mouth. He wanted to play it several times, but he couldn't make it.