The door slammed with a bang and the door hinges creaked, like mournful groans.
The curtains in the room were drawn low, and there was no sound from the wind. Although it was a hot summer day, the golden bricks underfoot gave off a slight chill.
The afternoon sun shone through the mullioned windows onto the bed, and dust particles floated in the beam of light.
Everything here was exactly as he remembered it, just like the morning he had left many years ago.
"Lu Sui Sui." He called out through the heavy curtains, his hoarse voice trembling slightly.
No answer.
He lifted up layer of curtains, one after another, some were sky blue, some were light cherry blue, some were sea and sky blue, some were tangled crabapple patterns, some were crabapple flower patterns… It was like crossing over layers of mountains and rivers. Beside him were tables and cupboards with crabapple patterns, dressing tables, bronze mirrors, boxes and vases with crabapple patterns… He finally walked to the screen with a crabapple tree painted on it. The crabapples in the yard had faded long ago, but the crabapples on the bed would never fade. No matter it was hot summer or cold winter, she would see them as long as she opened her eyes.
In what mood did she look at the crabapple flowers in this room and yard? In what mood did she wear the clothes and jewelry that another person liked, dress up as another person, and act as another person's shadow
He had always known it in his heart, but because she was submissive and never complained, he felt at ease treating her as a fake and a substitute, and even felt that those things were good enough for her.
Huan Xuan's heart suddenly sank, he pushed the Begonia screen to the ground with all his might, the rosewood frame cracked, the colored glass shattered, he walked to the bedside stepping on the broken colored glass all over the floor.
He pulled the coral-colored brocade curtain with a crabapple pattern and lifted the light gauze curtain with a mud-silver crabapple pattern.
A quilt made of Begonia silk was placed on the ivory mat with Begonia pattern, and there was an ebony box with Begonia flowers in gold and silver on the pillow.
Even the chessboard and chess box beside the couch are inlaid with mother-of-pearl in the shape of crabapple flowers.
"Sui Sui, Lu Sui Sui..." Huan Xuan turned around and searched among the crabapple trees in the room. He opened all the cupboards and boxes and turned out all the clothes with crabapple patterns in light red, pink, light blue and light purple, as if those places might be the hiding places of Lu Sui Sui.
He searched the bedroom, the bathhouse, and the side rooms, but his Lu Sui Sui was nowhere to be found. Only the overwhelming crabapple flowers and crabapple patterns, each of which looked like a mocking smiling eye, densely linked together to form a web, entangled him tightly in it, almost suffocating him.
Gao Mai chased him in, stumbling behind him, watching him searching desperately, wiping away tears and advising him: "Your Highness, please accept my condolences. Lady Lu passed away in August last year, and it has been almost a year..."
Huan Xuan pretended not to hear anything. His mind was blank with only one thought left - his Sui Sui was missing and he had to find her back.
Cicadas chirped in the branches of the trees in the garden, and he suddenly remembered that it was still hot in early autumn.
During the hot summer and early autumn of that year, they moved to the balcony and pavilion in the back garden, so it was natural that she was not in Qixia Pavilion.
Perhaps she had been annoyed by the crabapple flowers in the yard, so she moved to the garden. That must be the case.
Huan Xuan ran towards the back garden, with a huge hope suddenly arising in his heart, which almost burst his chest.
It was early autumn in the garden. Only a few withered lotus leaves were left on the calm surface of the pond. Occasionally, a fish would swim by, causing ripples. The pavilion and waterside terrace were empty, and the balcony was covered with fallen leaves.
They had played chess here, lying side by side and gazing at the starry sky. The pleasure boat for cruising the lake was stranded beside the table. The paintwork on it had peeled off a little, but the pattern of the crabapple tree could still be made out. Huan Xuan's eyes seemed to be burned.
He searched the entire garden, the bamboo forest, the training ground, and the hillside, but there was no trace of Lu Suisui anywhere.
Walking back to the gate of Tangli Courtyard, the sun was already setting in the west. The afterglow of the setting sun was pouring in from the roof, illuminating the delicate crabapple flowers on the eaves tiles.
Huan Xuan raised his head and glanced at the black-and-gold lacquered plaque on the door. The three characters "Tangliyuan" written by him were dancing in the sunset, as if winking at him. He remembered that this small courtyard was originally called Qixia Pavilion. Deep in the frosty forest, where the clouds and mist were reflected, there lived a girl as bright and beautiful as the sunset glow.
He took off the plaque and smashed it heavily on the ground.
Grandma Gao walked up slowly with heavy steps, choking with sobs, "Your Highness, Madam Lu is really gone..."
As she spoke, she tremblingly took something out from her sleeve. It turned out to be a white jade hairpin that had been burnt into pieces.
"My wife was kidnapped by the gangsters and died in the fire. This is the only thing on her body that was not burned..."
Huan Xuan lowered his head and looked at the hairpin. On the cracked tip of the hairpin was a crabapple flower. The flower was like a smiling eye, looking at him mockingly.
He also found himself funny and couldn't help but laugh along.
This smile was more painful than crying bitterly. It seemed as if Grandma Gao's heart was broken. She said in a trembling voice: "Your Highness, if you are sad, just cry. Cry as much as you can..."
Huan Xuan raised his eyes, his eyes slightly red: "No matter where she goes, I will find her back."
Grandma Gao was startled. She saw that he looked unhappy and was extremely anxious. She covered her mouth and choked with sobs, then looked at Gao Mai helplessly.
Gao stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, Madam Lu is really gone..."
He paused, and said in one breath: "This old slave is guilty of a capital crime. I have been hiding this from Your Highness. The things about Lady Lu in the letters I sent to Huaixi over the past year were all fabricated by this old slave... The items attached to the letters were all old things left by Lady Lu..."
He deeply believed that a short pain is worse than a long one, so he had to make it clear at this time so that he could accept the fact as soon as possible.
Huan Xuan was silent for a while, then he squeezed out three words from between his teeth: "I don't believe it."
Gao Mai and Grandma Gao exchanged a glance and said helplessly, "Your Highness, it is true. One year ago, this old servant personally watched her coffin being buried in the ground..."
Huan Xuan's dull eyes suddenly seemed to light up with a fire: "Where is it?"
Gao Mai was stunned.
"Where is the coffin?" Huan Xuan asked.
Gao Mai said: "Mrs. Lu's coffin is buried at the northern foot of Xishan Mountain..."
"Take me there." Huan Xuan said.
Gao Mai was shocked: "The prince has just returned to the capital, and the emperor in the palace must have heard the news. I'm afraid the palace will come soon..."
The Prince of Qi should have come to the palace to meet the emperor when he returned to the capital. It was against the rules for him to come to Shanchiyuan first. He delayed entering the palace for so long, even if the emperor did not punish him, he would be unhappy. Moreover, he had just won a great victory, and he might be reported by the censor for taking advantage of his achievements and being favored. The courtiers and eunuchs who disliked him would make many complaints about this.
Huan Xuan seemed not to hear his words, and just repeated with a sullen expression: "Take me there."
Before he finished speaking, a eunuch came over quickly and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, a eunuch from the palace has come to deliver a message..."
Gao Mai's forehead veins jumped, and what he feared was really what happened. He hurriedly advised: "Your Highness..."
Huan Xuan walked straight out.
The eunuch was waiting at the door. When he saw the King of Qi coming out, every wrinkle on his face was filled with smiles: "I congratulate the King of Qi on his triumphant return."
He paused and said, "Your Majesty heard that you were going back to Beijing, so he specially held a banquet in Anfu Palace to welcome you..."
Huan Xuan interrupted him and said, "Your Majesty, please tell me that something happened in my family. I am sorry that I cannot attend the banquet. I will go to the palace to apologize to Your Majesty tomorrow."
The eunuch was startled, but after calming himself down, he smiled and said, "Your Highness has been away from Beijing for a long time and finally came back. What can be better than a family reunion..."
Huan Xuan still refused to give in.
The eunuch also saw the embarrassment and said in embarrassment: "Please show your face in the palace, otherwise I will not be able to explain to your Majesty..."
Huan Xuan took something off his waist and handed it to him: "With this, I think you can explain it."
When the eunuch took it and took a look, he was so frightened that his soul almost left his body. It turned out that the King of Qi gave him the tiger talisman of the Divine Wing Army.
He fell to his knees with a plop: "Your Highness, isn't this making it difficult for me as a slave..."
Huan Xuan ignored him and said, his face pale with fear: "Prepare the horses, take me to see her."
After saying that, he walked out without looking back.
Gao Mai didn't dare to say much. He could only whisper a few words to a young eunuch beside him, bowed to the eunuch, said "excuse me", and quickly followed his own palace.
The eunuch bowed to the eunuch who came from the palace and explained in a low voice: "Your Majesty has asked the nobles to help mediate. Your Majesty has been traveling for days and has not rested well. He is a little distracted..."
As he spoke, he stuffed a golden cake into the eunuch's hand.
The eunuch declined, saying, "I will do my best, but my words are of little weight and may be of little use. You should persuade your prince to come to the palace as soon as possible to report the situation to His Majesty."
The eunuch respectfully escorted him out of the door, and immediately asked him to bring a horse, and hurried to the eldest princess's mansion to report the news.
…
Huan Xuan and his entourage rode out of the city on horseback and headed straight for the northern foot of the Western Hills.
Lu Suisui held a special position in the heart of the King of Qi, but she had no official status after all, not even a concubine, so she could not enter the royal mausoleum. Gao Mai didn't know where to bury her, and he couldn't ask Huan Xuan for instructions. After much deliberation, he decided to bury her in the West Mountain on his own.
There is a manor owned by the King of Qi in the West Mountain. The mountain here is beautiful and the water is gurgling. There are thousands of crabapple trees planted on the back mountain. Gao Mai said that the King of Qi loved crabapple trees so much that even the Qixia Pavilion where Lady Lu lived was changed into the Tangli Courtyard. Now that she is gone, it is only natural that she be buried in the crabapple forest.
When we arrived at the mountain, night had already fallen. The bright moon was hanging in the sky, and birds returning to their nests occasionally chirped among the branches and leaves.
Huan Xuan looked around, and all he could see were crabapple trees of different heights. They were all precious crabapple trees that he had found from all over the country for Ruan Yuewei. The night wind made the branches and leaves rustle, as if they were whispering in mockery.
He walked to the small tombstone and saw "Tomb of the Qinzhou Lu Family" engraved on the stone tablet. This was all they knew about this orphan.
Huan Xuan stared at the line of words for a long time. He knew every word, but when they were put together they made no sense.
After a long while, he finally gave up and stopped trying to understand the meaning of the words. His thin lips moved, and the voice that came out of his throat was dry and unfamiliar: "Dig out the coffin."
Gao Mai was horrified and knelt down and said, "Your Highness, Madam Lu has been buried..."
The guards also knelt on the ground.
Huan Xuan unconsciously tried to untie his sword, but found nothing. Then he remembered that his sword had been replaced with a jade pendant. He said to Guan Liulang, the leader of the guards behind him, "Give me your sword."
Guan Liulang choked up and said, "Your Highness, let Lady Lu rest in peace..."
Huan Xuan just glanced at him expressionlessly, the moonlight reflecting his bloodless face, which was as lifeless and pale as the tombstone.
"Give me the knife." Huan Xuan said.
Guan Liulang had no choice but to take off his sword and present it with both hands.
Huan Xuan drew his sword and chopped a crabapple tree beside the tomb in half.
The King of Qi insisted on having his own way, and Gao Mai and his guards had no choice but to dig up the tomb and carry out the coffins of Lu Suisui and Chun Tiao from the tomb.
The bright moon had risen to the zenith of the sky. Even the night owls had stopped singing. All was silent in the mountains.
Huan Xuan used a knife to pry off the copper nails on the coffin lid one by one.
The last nail was pried up, and he tried to push the coffin lid, but it seemed as if all his strength was suddenly drained away.
He stared at the coffin carved with a crabapple pattern for a long while, and finally said, "Come on." His voice was so hoarse that it seemed like it was forced out from his heart.
Guan Liu and Song Jiu worked together to push the coffin lid up.
Huan Xuan took the torch from the guard and slowly walked to the coffin.
The torches illuminated the contents of the coffin, which could no longer be called contents. It was just a pile of bones hidden in a brocade with a crabapple pattern.
Huan Xuan quietly looked at the corpse in front of him. Gao Mai and the guards did not dare to breathe. Only the burning pine torches made a slight "crackling" sound.
"It's not her." Huan Xuan said, this is not her Lu Sui Sui.
Even if he saw it with his own eyes, he would still continue to deceive himself. Gao Mai expected that he would do so, and said sadly: "Your Highness, the coroner has examined it, and even the arrow wounds can be confirmed..."
Huan Xuan interrupted him: "It's not her."
He didn't know why he was so sure. He just knew that the pile of charred bones in the coffin was definitely not his Sui Sui. His Sui Sui must still be waiting somewhere for him to find her.
"I'll go find her." He no longer paid any attention to the heavy coffin. He turned around and walked quickly out of the woods.
She is still waiting for him, and he must get her back as soon as possible.
When he reached the edge of the woods, he saw a little fire moving towards him along the mountain path.
But he didn't care at all, and didn't even bother to care what was coming.
The one who came to him was his elder sister, Princess Qinghe. She jumped off her horse and stamped her feet anxiously, "Sanlang, are you crazy?"
Huan Xuan seemed not to see her and walked straight past her.
The eldest princess chased after him and stopped him with her arm across her body: "Come back to the palace with me."
Huan Xuan then raised his head to look at her, his eyes were fiery and empty, as if there was nothing in them except a sea of fire.
"I'm not crazy," he said quietly, "I want to go find her, don't stop me."
"She is already dead, lying in the coffin," the eldest princess said coldly, "you must have seen it."
"That's not her." Huan Xuan said firmly, as stubborn as a child.
The eldest princess couldn't help but raise the whip.
Huan Xuan did not dodge or evade, but still stood straight with a calm expression.
The eldest princess had already pulled out the whip, and it was too late to retract it. The whip lashed Huan Xuan's face with a whistling force. The eldest princess listened to the sound and whipped harder, feeling a pang of pain in her heart.
A long bloodstain suddenly appeared on Huan Xuan's left cheek, and it swelled up instantly.
But his expression remained wooden, as if the whip had not hit him.
The eldest princess looked at her brother who was like a walking corpse, and wished she could whip him a few more times to wake him up, but her arms seemed to weigh a thousand pounds and she couldn't lift them.
She raised the tip of the whip and hit a crabapple tree next to him hard a few times, causing its branches and leaves to fly everywhere.
"Are you going to die with her too?" The eldest princess threw her whip to the ground, took out a tiger talisman from her sleeve, and threw it at her brother's chest, "Take your things back!"
She paused, gritted her teeth and said, "Don't you want to avenge her?"
Huan Xuan's eyes finally moved, like a ripple in an ancient well, and he squeezed out a word from between his teeth: "Who is it?"