The sun was glaring, and the palms felt like they were burning, as if there were words deeply engraved on them.
Blood filled her eyes, thousands of mountains and rivers collapsed in front of her eyes, barren weeds grew in her memory, huge gaps opened in the earth, and sea water gushed out. Abandoned alone, she stood in the wilderness blazing with fire, watching the avalanche in the sky and the raging seawater rushing in from the east, and buried her entirely in it.
She was exhausted, closed her eyes, and sank little by little towards the dark and silent cemetery.
When Chu Qiao woke up, the drizzle had just stopped, and the moonlight pierced through the clouds, and softly sprinkled the blue-white light on Mi Heju's bedroom. The autumn was fading, and the dew dripped on the broad and thick sycamore leaves, giving off a crisp sound. sound.
The hall was empty and cold, and for a moment, it seemed that everything in this world had died and only she was left. She sat up slowly, the wind blew, and the dry coldness seemed to penetrate the dead body, making her realize with unprecedented clarity that she was still alive.
There was a hustle and bustle of silk and bamboo in the Roufu Palace. It was Li Ce's concubine banquet at night. Every night at this time, there will be grand songs and dances embellishing this colorful palace.
When Chu Qiao was first rescued, the entire government and the public were full of impeachments, and all civil and military officials cried and remonstrated all day long, remonstrating to death and remonstrating, hanging and admonishing, endlessly. Li Ce stared and quarreled with them for more than ten days and finally got annoyed. He kicked the throne in the morning and shouted angrily that he would no longer be the emperor, whoever loves it will do it.
The officials were so frightened that they knelt outside the Changxin Palace for two full days before they invited the emperor who had gone on strike seventy or eighty times within a few years of his ascension to the throne. From then on, no one dared to mention Chu Qiao again.
Fortunately, Li Ce's performance after the incident really made everyone put their hearts back in their stomachs. Except for the fact that he was extra careful during the diagnosis a few days ago, he looked like a big shopkeeper after the incident, and he returned to his suave, suave and promiscuous manner Make pie. There was a small banquet in two days and a large banquet in three days. The officials finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seems that this harmful Yanbei vixen is not very attractive. The emperor's rescue of her may be just as whim as before.
When Li Ce came in, Chu Qiao didn't make a sound, he thought she was still sleeping, and deliberately acted lightly like a thief, causing the little maids outside to cover their mouths and snigger, clutching their bellies, But dare not laugh out loud.
Lifting the bead curtain, Li Ce was taken aback when he saw Chu Qiao sitting on the couch, and then walked in with a smile, holding a delicate basket, and said like offering a treasure: "Someone sent a pomegranate, do you want to eat it?" ?”
Chu Qiao didn't speak, her eyes were a little dazed, as if she hadn't woken up from her sleep.
Li Ce sat beside her, looked at her still pale and thin face, frowned slightly and then relaxed slowly. He took out a pomegranate, broke it open with his own hands, revealing the bright red pearls inside, leaned his head to look at Chu Qiao, brought it to Chu Qiao's mouth with a smile, opened his mouth, made a gesture of eating, and said : "Jojo, open your mouth, like me, ah—"
"Li Ce, my illness is cured." Her voice was as clear as water, very calm.
When Li Ce looked at her, he often had such hallucinations, as if everything was still three years ago, she was injured and lived in the Jinwu Palace, and nothing had changed. But soon he discovered that it was actually different. She would never talk to herself about her ideals and aspirations with confidence, never talk about that man with hope, and never talk about the future again. Full of hope and longing, even those eyes no longer have the splendor of the past, as if shrouded in a thick fog, dim.
"Well, it's almost ready."
"I wanna go."
Li Ce was not surprised that she would say this. He smiled with interest and asked, "Then where do you want to go?"
Chu Qiao shook her head blankly, and said honestly: "I don't know yet, but the world is so big, there is always a place for me to go. If it really doesn't work, I'll go outside the pass."
"Is there any difference between you going outside the pass and staying here?"
"Li Ce, Great Xia will not let me go. If you keep me here, sooner or later you will bring disaster to you. I killed countless Xia soldiers, made their Northern Expedition come back twice, and even killed the third prince with my own hands." Zhao Qi. Da Xia is not at war with Bian Tang at present, you will be in trouble when they free up their hands and feet."
Li Ce didn't answer, but looked at her quietly, the cynicism in his eyes gradually receded, becoming peaceful, calm, and as calm as water. After a long time, he said in a low voice: "You are enmity with the Zhuge family because of the children of the Jing family, and in order to repay Yan Xun's kindness, you followed Yan Xun as a slave for eight years and struggled to survive in the Shengjin Palace. The people in the north have gone through life and death, you turned against Yan Xun because of the Southwest town government envoy, you escaped from the world for two years because of Zhuge Yue, you completely broke with Yan Xun because of the Great Fellowship, now, do you still want to go far outside the Great Wall in order not to implicate me? "The man's voice was deep and cold, with a bit of unconcealable exhaustion, he said quietly, "Qiao Qiao, when will you think about yourself in your life?"
Chu Qiao was just so stunned, the night wind passed through the hall, blowing on her temple hair and clothes. Li Ce gently embraced her shoulders, pressed her head with his hands, and surrounded her so naturally, without a trace of lust.
He breathed a sigh of relief and said softly: "Qiaoqiao, there are many ways to live in this world. You can live in poverty, you can live in wealth, you can live in mediocrity, and you can live in meritorious deeds. How about choosing the most difficult way to live? You are not as easy as ordinary people living in the city like this."
Li Ce's voice came slowly and entered his ears. Chu Qiao leaned in his arms, her thoughts were frozen and stiff. She thought, why not? If it were really ordinary people in the market, they would not have such a heavy karma, would not have such a deep bond, even if there would be betrayal and betrayal, deceit and abandonment, they would not be as heart-piercing as they are now , dripping with blood.
The moonlight came in quietly and sprinkled on his and her shoulders. Chu Qiao suddenly felt very tired. But Li Ce, I spent eleven years climbing a mountain. Someone told me that there was a snow lotus on the mountain, but when I tried my best to climb up, I found that the top of the mountain was bare and there was nothing. The mountain is so high, and I climbed up with a narrow escape. After being disappointed, how should I get down
"Qiao Qiao, hope is in your hands. If you don't let yourself go, no one can save you."
The days passed day by day, and the cold winter came, but Bian Tang did not have a hint of winter. Chu Qiao finally settled down in the Jinwu Palace. Although she is nameless, the most indispensable thing in this palace is an unknown woman. Coupled with her past reputation, no one would dare to provoke her .
Daxia's persecution and revenge did not come as they imagined, as if they also believed that Chu Qiao was already a useless person, all previous grievances and grievances were written off, and they did not even send a questioning messenger.
Chu Qiao thought, this is very abnormal. Her current status is almost equivalent to that of a Japanese prisoner of war back then. With the current angry anti-war sentiment in Daxia, why would she give up this opportunity so easily to beat the dog in the water
She went to ask Mei Xiang, and Mei Xiang said boldly: "If they dare to come, let Commander He break off their heads one by one."
Mei Xiang was her maid on Huihui Mountain. Her parents and relatives died in the war, and she was also a slave for sale before meeting her. After she came to Biantang, this girl came from Yanbei alone on a horse to look for her.
Qiu Sui, the little maid sent by Li Ce, put down a bowl of chilled pears with a smile, and said triumphantly, "Sister Mei Xiang is right. Besides, Your Majesty is so kind to the girl, who dares to come and yell without knowing it?" ?”
Chu Qiao shook her head, feeling a little worried. It shouldn't be that simple. Could it be that Li Ce was forced to agree to Da Xia's conditions
Chan'er said timidly: "But I heard that it was Daxia's big Sima who wanted to make peace with us Bian Tang, so Daxia didn't come to trouble the girl."
Da Sima? Chu Qiao frowned slightly. Da Sima is the chief elder of the Presbyterian Church. Could it be that Wei Guang let her go
She hadn't inquired about outside affairs for a long time, and she was in a daze all day long. She didn't see outsiders in this Mihe residence, and she really became what Li Ce said, "doing nothing is a job".
She has been tied to Yan Xun for half of her life, through the darkness and silence, through the bloody wind, through the shadows of swords and swords, and now she has finally come to the end of the road, to the end of the mountain, and can no longer go on.
Later she asked Li Ce Daxia why he didn't come to trouble her. Li Ce was showing her a picture of a lady in this year's draft with great interest. He said with a smile, "Maybe Emperor Xia still has fantasies about me."
Even if the current state of mind is not suitable, Chu Qiao couldn't help chuckling, and accompanied him to look through the scrolls of beauties more than three feet high, looking at the graceful eyes of the girls who were about her age, just It feels like those gazes are from another world.
Before leaving, Li Ce stood at the door and suddenly turned around and said with a smile: "Qiao Qiao, think about it carefully, who else in this world will treat you so well? Willingly give up many things for you, go through life and death for you , to spend all your wealth for you, to throw away everything for you, to save you from life and death, but not to tell you. There are not many people like this, you have to think about it, tell me after you think about it, and I will give you Buy a dowry, and then marry you off in a grand manner."
Outside the window, the sycamore trees are red and yellow, covering the sky and the sun, and the sky shines in through the gaps in the leaves, shining golden and ecstasy.
She stood in the quiet hall, thinking about Li Ce's words before leaving, carefully thinking about the last battle in Yanbei, when to attack, when to fortify, where to retreat, who to cover, how many armies to attack , Several armies intercepted, who can deliver the information in time, who can appear in the territory like thunder, and what Li Ce said, who will be so kind to her
The dusty thoughts came out bit by bit, like a vine, entangled her body. The moon rises, the moon is westward, the moon hangs crookedly on the treetops, the moon sets, the sun rises, and there is another gorgeous sky.
She has been standing like this for a whole night, repeatedly pondering and proving her amazing idea. Her eyes gradually glowed with excitement, and there were crystal tears falling on her chest, rolling out in big drops, but there was no trace of sadness or sadness. She was caught by surprise and hope, and her body was trembling uncontrollably.
At that moment, golden sunlight shone in through the window lattice and sprinkled on her pale face. She smiled like a carefree child, laughing with tears streaming down her cheeks.
On the day when Chu Qiao left the palace, it was still raining. She didn't say hello to him, but just took a simple bag and rode out of Zhengyangmen. The drizzle fell on her shoulders, but she looked so lively.
Li Ce is still the emperor who does his own way. He is sitting on the top of the Imperial Palace at the moment, wearing a dark red long gown with gauze, sitting on the high cornice. His Royal Highness was kneeling with a group of ministers who were worried, crying and roaring, but he didn't seem to see it. The fragrant wind blew on the corner of his clothes, raising the pattern of arrow sleeves inside. He looked at the Qiangwei Royal Road in the distance, the girl was dressed in light yellow cloth, sitting on a white horse, with continuous plane trees on both sides, the eye-catching colors were like a gorgeous painting and calligraphy.