After returning to Wuji Palace, Zong Zixiao went to many places in his memory. Zhengji Hall, Baihua Hall, Martial Arts Field, Houshan Cave Mansion, Orchid Garden, Qinghui Pavilion, each place can bring back too many memories of the past. This is the place where he was born and raised. Before the age of fourteen, here It is his home, and for the next ten years, it will be a nightmare from which he cannot wake up.
There is only one place that he dare not set foot on for a long time, and that is Bailu Pavilion.
Ever since he was a child, he felt that Bailu Pavilion was the most beautiful and the best-sounding bedroom of all the concubines in the harem, and it was also the favorite place of his father. When he read "The Book of Songs" when he was young, he thought he had discovered the source and asked his mother to reward him, but his mother told him that this Bailu was not that Bailu, and that Bailu was written in Jianjia as a sentimental love, which is hypocritical. Empty city, white dew dripping with drops of autumn moon".
It wasn't until the end that he realized that all of this was a cover-up, all because the egret was the family emblem of the Lu family.
He hated Lu Zhaofeng very much, because the person his mother really loved was just using her under the guise of love.
Lu Zhaofeng obviously had countless chances to take their mother and son away, but he didn't. He chose to risk his wife and children to stay with the enemy, step by step to spread his revenge plan for the camp. He didn't want a family reunion, and he was not in a hurry to save his beloved woman Out of the sea of suffering, he wants Zong's family even more.
Looking at the word "Bailu" on the lintel now, Zong Zixiao only felt suffocated in his chest, even a little sick. He took a deep breath and walked in.
In the courtyard, there are palace people sweeping the fallen leaves on the ground, bamboo branches scraping the ground, rustling, an old woman sitting under the tree, raising her hands and looking up, threading the needles with the bright autumn sun, this picture is leisurely and peaceful, It seems that the bloody storm outside has nothing to do with this autumn.
Seeing Zong Zixiao, everyone in the courtyard was stunned.
Zong Zixiao was also stunned, his eyes swept across the courtyard and pavilions, and found that there was no major change in the scene or thing here. The Bailu Pavilion he imagined was ruined and dilapidated, with overgrown grass and smoke, dusty soil and cobweb nodules, but it clearly looked like it was often cleaned.
The old woman stood up, rubbed her loose eyelids, and asked tremblingly, "Ninth, His Highness Ninth?"
Zong Zixiao recognized her, she was Nanny Chen who used to serve their mother and son.
"My God, my God." Nanny Chen slapped her thigh with a conflicted expression of surprise and fear on her face. The eldest son Xiao, who she personally delivered back then, had spent half her life in Bailu Pavilion, but the tall and vicious man in front of her was too Combined with the rumors in the palace, she couldn't help being afraid.
"Mother Chen... are you still alive?" Zong Zixiao hadn't recovered from his surprise. As his mother's personal servant, Zong Minghe didn't kill her
Nanny Chen burst into tears: "It was the emperor who saved us."
Monarch? Zong Ziheng
Zong Zixiao panicked in his heart: "Why are you still here?"
"Most of the people who served the empress back then were dismissed by the emperor. We are two old and don't want to go out of the palace, so the emperor asked us to stay here and take care of Bailu Pavilion." Mother Chen wiped her tears. , we clean it every day, and it is still the same as when you left, Your Highness."
Hearing this, Zong Zixiao's heart trembled. Is it Zongziheng who wants them to keep Bailu Pavilion as it is? Why
He raised his legs and walked forward, gently pushing the door open.
A beam of light shone into the house, adding a layer of soft color to the bright and clean Bailu Pavilion. The furnishings in the house were almost the same as in memory. He seemed to see himself laughing and having fun with his mother when he was young.
He held on to the door frame, his eyes were sore, and his heart felt a dull pain.
Mother, I'm back, but I won't see you anywhere anymore.
He stepped over the threshold and walked in. His tall figure staggered slightly. He took out a scroll from the Qiankun bag and spread it out carefully.
For ten years, he was afraid that he would forget his mother's appearance, so he drew one portrait after another based on his memory.
Grandma Chen stood aside, wiping her tears and said, "It's true, there is no woman more beautiful than Empress in the world."
Zong Zixiao carefully traced the mother in the painting with his eyes until his eyes were blurred. He turned his face away and handed the painting to Nanny Chen. His voice was cold, without revealing the ups and downs in his heart: "Hang it up."
"yes."
Zong Zixiao walked through the Bailu Pavilion to make sure that it was indeed maintained by someone for a long time. If it was just for show, it would be impossible to repair it so well in just a few days without leaving any traces.
He asked Nanny Chen: "Did the emperor ask you to keep this place as it is?"
"yes."
"...did he say anything?"
"The emperor said that His Highness Ninth Prince will definitely come back one day."
Zong Zixiao clenched his fists violently.
Why did Zong Ziheng do this? Ashamed
"The emperor will come here from time to time." Chen Momo sighed, "About..." She felt a slip of the tongue when she said this, and secretly glanced at Zong Zixiao, not daring to continue.
"About what?!" Zong Zixiao said sharply.
Nanny Chen was even more frightened, trembling and afraid to speak.
Zong Zixiao suddenly didn't want to ask anymore. Wouldn't it be a joke if he had to say "seeing things and thinking about people"? Zong Ziheng caused his family to be ruined, but he turned his head and did these superficial tricks to show his deep affection, it was extremely hypocritical—
When Zong Zixiao returned to Qingning Hall, the imperial residence, he heard a burst of children's laughter coming from inside.
I saw Zong Ziheng sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard, holding Zong Zhongming on his lap, teasing the children with the villain drawn by the yellow talisman.
When he appeared, the faint smile on Zong Ziheng's face disappeared instantly, and it was too late for him to remain in his eyes for a moment.
How long has he not seen his eldest brother smile
Back then, the eldest son Heng was young and promising, he treated people with a personable manner, gentle and friendly, everyone said that the eldest prince "stands like a orchid and a jade tree, smiles like a bright moon in his arms", he is really a good son of his generation. He likes the elder brother's smile the most, it is gentle and elegant, and it is so beautiful. But he hadn't seen him for so long that he almost forgot how this person smiled.
Zong Zhongming tightly grabbed his father's skirt, pursed his lips, and stared at Zong Zixiao warily.
Zong Ziheng put the child on the ground: "Eunuch Cai, take him back."
Zong Zixiao walked over and stood in front of the two of them.
The child tried to raise his neck and looked at him, as if looking at a pine tree.
"Respect, Your Majesty." Cai Chengyi smiled apologetically.
"What are you doing?" Zong Ziheng stood up.
Zong Zhongming wrinkled his little nose and made a fierce look.
Zong Zixiao looked at the child condescendingly. He recalled the scene he saw just now. When he was a child, did he sit on his elder brother's lap like this, and did his elder brother use all kinds of gadgets to amuse himself? Thinking of this, he was even more jealous of this little brat. He pressed Zong Zhongming's head with five fingers, shaking it from side to side, as if he was picking a melon.
Zong Zhongming pushed his hand and screamed, "What are you doing!"
"It's ugly." Zong Zixiao said with disgust, "Have you ever looked in the mirror, do you look like him?"
"You, you are ugly, you are the ugliest!" Zong Zhongming blushed with anger.
Zong Zixiao pushed the child aside: "Go away."
After Cai Chengyi carried away the screaming child, Zong Ziheng looked relieved.
"Who allowed him to come." Zong Zixiao glared at Zong Ziheng.
Zong Ziheng turned around and walked into the house.
Zong Zixiao followed in: "In the future, without my permission, you are not allowed to see him."
Zong Ziheng said angrily: "I want to see my son, and I still need your consent?"
"Is he your son? He should know that he is just a dog you picked up from a dilapidated house."
"Don't tell him." Zong Ziheng said in a deep voice, "He's just a child, you should be a bit more generous."
"So what?"
"you… "
Zong Zixiao pulled Zong Ziheng into his arms, ran his fingertips across the white jade cheek, and finally landed on his lips. He looked at it for a while, and pushed up the corners of his lips with his fingers, which looked stiff and weird.
"Smile." Zong Zixiao said.
Zong Ziheng looked at him with a frown.
"I want you to smile at me."
"Why are you crazy?" Zong Ziheng wanted to push him away.
Zong Zixiao pinched his chin and ordered in an uncompromising tone: "Laugh."
Zong Ziheng held back his anger, and reluctantly curled the corners of his mouth. Unfortunately, just the twitching of muscles cannot be called a smile. A smile is the light of joy flowing from the bottom of his eyes.
Zong Zixiao pushed the person in his arms away, he suddenly felt extremely disappointed and uncomfortable, he didn't know how to relieve the pain at this moment, but he would make the person who made him suffer even more pain, he looked at Zong Ziheng coldly : "I just came back from Bailu Pavilion."
"..."
"You keep the original appearance of Bailu Pavilion, who will show your pretense?"
The eldest son Heng is like a stick in his throat. In the past ten years, the eldest son Xiao has not heard from him, but he knows, he firmly believes that his Xiao Jiu must still be alive, and he hopes that the two brothers will meet again in their lifetime, and one day Xiao Jiu will have a home to return to.
Even though he knew that Xiao Jiu hated him, and even if he came back, he might be seeking revenge, but he always had a little thought in his heart, hoping that there was a ten-thousandth chance that the two of them could return to the past.
But Xiao Jiu will not come back, the one who will come back is Mozun.
The sorrowful look on the eldest brother's face did not make Zong Zixiao feel better as he wished, on the contrary, his heart ached even more unbearably. He gritted his teeth and said, "You also know that I will come back. At the beginning, I sent people to hunt and kill me, but they returned without success every time." , must be very disappointed."
"I didn't send anyone to chase you down." Zong Ziheng's tone was extremely calm, as if he didn't care whether the explanation could be believed or not, and he didn't intend to convince anyone.
"Even if they are members of Zong Minghe's sect, they are all thanks to you!"
Zong Ziheng looked at the front numbly.
"You've done all the evil things to realize your guilt?" Zong Zixiao felt the pain and hatred rampaging in his heart like a beast, which broke his heart, "Zong Ziheng, I'm really curious, you have raised me for fourteen years, fourteen years ! Could it be that in your heart, I am really just a pawn that can be sacrificed at any time!"
Zong Ziheng turned his pale face, his eyes sparkled, and there were faint tears: "Zong Zixiao, what else do you want me to say."
If you don't listen to explanations, if you don't believe in affection, there is no room for change between you and me.
"You have tried your best to save me, and you have cared for me, but for the sake of the throne, you can also mercilessly kill me and my mother." Zong Zixiao's eyes turned red, "Why are you like this? people!"