Under the same full moon in
Chang’an, Chou Wen was standing at the gate of the Xiwu Palace wearing a white cloak. When the envoy of the Shangshe Bureau saw Chou Wen stopping at the Xiwu Palace, he told Chou Wen with great insight, The slave heard a few days ago that Your Majesty was going to welcome the Empress Chen back, and specially sent someone to sweep the Xiwu Palace. They put up the things that the empress likes.
Chou Wen usually talks very little, but when he heard this, he couldn’t help laughing: “Oh?”? Do you know what she likes? “When the empress lived here, the slave observed that the empress liked the ancient swords and the Jiuqu red plums in Yuhang..”
he said cautiously.
Chou Wen shakes her head slightly: “She doesn’t like swords, she likes to draw them in Jianghu and live with abandon. She doesn’t like to drink tea, either. It’s just that here, only the new tea from Yuhang can keep her in mind of the taste of her hometown.”
When the envoy saw Chou Wen saying this, he was so frightened that he knelt on the ground and kowtowed: “If a slave tries to figure out his master, the slave will die.”
Chou Wen waved him back, and then said softly to the Xiwu Palace, “I won’t come here any more. Let’s seal it up.”
I have long heard that your majesty arrested people everywhere, always waiting for the empress to come back, the first time to court, but did not expect that Zhou Wen would say so today.
Sealed, these two words, have too many meanings, it can be abandoned here, can also be carefully cared for every day, as the empress is still there. Not being sure
, he steeled himself and asked Chou Wen again, “Your Majesty, I dare to ask, is the empress not coming back?”
When Chou Wen heard this, he smiled, and his smile was filled with bitterness: “If all goes well..” I think so.
Zhou Wen said, finally took a look at the moonlight in the wash Wu Palace, then went to the Imperial Study to approve the memorial, leaving a person in place, he could not help but touch the attendant’s maid.
“If it goes well, won’t it be caught?”? Why can’t you come back smoothly? Did Your Majesty misspeak?
The maid didn’t understand. “Perhaps your Majesty is too tired,” she whispered. “What did you say?”
He nodded his head and said helplessly, “Do you still want to clean temple every day?”
The two men were running out of ideas when they happened to meet General Chen Zilong, who was reporting to the palace. In recent days, the matter of Zhou Wen’s arrest has been entrusted to General Chen. Without thinking about it, he went to get close to him and tried to get some accurate information out of his mouth.
Unexpectedly, Chen Zilong was also confused about this and was very upset. Within
Imperial Study, Chou Wen had been waiting for Chen Tzu-lung for a while. When he saw Chen Tzu-lung coming, he did not give him a good look. “General Chen has a big row of noodles. He asked me to wait for you here for a long time to burn incense.”
Chen Zilong glanced at the thread incense in front of Zhou Wen, well, it was only half burned. Although he is a rough man, but the heart also knows, Zhou Wen once because a woman knelt down him, the heart is naturally not smooth to come to gas, not to mention, that woman also followed others to run. When
Chen Zilong thought of this, he felt a little sorry for Zhou Wen. He groveled and said, “I met Zhu Gai, the envoy of the Shangshe Bureau. He asked me a question, but I couldn’t answer it.”
Chou Wen heard something in his words and nodded. “Come on, I’ll listen.”
Chen Tzu-lung took a deep breath and said slowly, “He asked me if Your Majesty really wanted Empress Chen to come back.”
Chou Wen smiled and touched a scar on his neck. “She hurt me in public, and I threatened to arrest her. Do you need to ask me about this?”
Chen Tzu-lung lowered his eyes, and his voice softened a little. “At first I was sure, but then..” I can’t see it clearly. After your majesty was hurt, he was not as furious as he was at that time. Looking at the scar on his neck, he breathed a sigh of relief. I suddenly remembered that there was such a scar on the neck of the empress. I heard that it was left for your majesty in his early years. I couldn’t help wondering if your majesty had known that the empress would stab your majesty on that day.
Zhou Wen did not admit or deny it.
“Why do you think so?”
Chen Zilong tightened his brows and said, “I didn’t know until later that when Your Majesty left the city that day, there were many people guarding him in the dark, but when you dealt with the parrot, you didn’t call all the people out, and..” That night Your Majesty’s men caught up with the Empress and the three of them, but instead of ordering their arrest, you called the doctor out in the middle of the night and secretly gave him a bottle of good medicine to save the Empress’s friend.
Chou Wen still did not respond to Chen Tzu-lung’s question: “These are not things you should be in charge of. You should do well what I have told you to do.”
Chen Tzu-lung was so stubborn that he insisted on breaking the casserole and asked, “I don’t understand. I didn’t understand a long time ago.”. Before Taifu left, he had told me two sentences. One was that Miss Ling Dang was your Majesty’s weakness and must be removed. The other was that Miss Ling Dang was Taifu’s daughter and must be protected. I’m a boor, and I don’t understand Taifu’s riddles. But no matter how I ask, Taifu only wants me to do one thing at a time, and I won’t say anything more.
When Chou Wen heard this, he was a little sad: At the beginning, I insisted on having my own way and was determined to retire from the throne. When Gu Taifu found out, he told me that he was my teacher. No matter what kind of situation I broke out in, he would clean up for me, even if he risked his life. But he asked me to answer his question. As a superior, he was diligent in governing and loving the people. I’ve already done that, but what exactly is love for the people?
Chou Wen looked at the window, as if he had thought of the scene at that time. He said slowly, “I didn’t want to argue with the Taifu at that time. I casually answered the words in the book to prevaricate him, but the Taifu was still a better move after all. In the Beiting Frontier Command, when you wanted to insult the bell in front of me, I understood the answer the Taifu wanted.” There was a trace of sadness
in Chou Wen’s eyes. Facing the moonlight, he stood erect and said in a loud voice: To love the people is not simply to guard them. True love is to save the world and let the people live the life they want in my territory. If you want everyone to be the people they don’t want to be and do the things they don’t want to do for me, That is not to love the people, but to harm them, just as on that day the bell laid down its life for me. At this point
, Chou Wen laughed at himself and sighed: “Taifu, you deserve to be my teacher. Before you left, you still taught me a precious lesson. I am unworthy of his teachings and I have failed to live up to his cultivation.”
When Chen Zilong heard Zhou Wen say this, he couldn’t help but think of Zhou Wen kneeling on the ground in Beiting Frontier Command, crying his shoulders trembling like a child who hadn’t grown up. At that time, he thought Zhou Wen couldn’t stand the humiliation of kneeling courtiers, and he looked down on Zhou Wen in his heart. But now he wants to think about it, from that moment on, Zhou Wen understood what Gu Taifu wanted to say to him, so decided to let go of the bell?
If this is true, it is too ridiculous, because of Zhou Wen’s kneeling, the bell is determined to die with him in the palace, but because of this kneeling, Zhou Wen is determined to set her free.
He loved her so much, but she never knew.
Chen Zilong thought of here, a lot of things suddenly see the light, when the attack on the palace, the bell was called by the parrot to meet outside the city, your majesty knew, but did not delve into, Chen Zilong at first thought that your majesty may not like the bell, now think carefully, the parrot and the bell meet, the bell sent thirteen prince out of the city, witnessed the death of thirteen prince, Had estrangement with your majesty, and even later, your majesty was so angry that he wanted to kill the parrot, and the bell stabbed your majesty for the sake of his friend. Every one of these things would not have happened if His Majesty had not raised his hand.
He was so careful to play a planned scene to send his favorite girl away from his side.
At this point, Chen Tzu-lung finally had some admiration for Chou Wen. He knelt down in front of Chou Wen, and there was a lot in his tone that he could not bear: Your Majesty, I don’t understand the love affair between my children, and I shouldn’t have been involved in it. Now I just dare to ask, Your Majesty wants me to send someone to follow them and surround them all the way without attacking them. Aren’t you afraid that Miss Bell will notice? If she finds out, she’ll have to turn back. Won’t your Majesty’s efforts be in vain? “Yes, sometimes I don’t understand myself,
” Chou Wen said with a rare gentle smile. “I hope she will never find out and fly away, but I hope she will find out the clues and throw herself into my arms again and stay with me forever.”
“That..” Chen Zilong is a little embarrassed.
Chou Wen drank a mouthful of red plum blossoms and relaxed. “I’m just kidding. I’m not that indecisive. Wait a minute. When they pass through Yuhang, I’ll owe her the last few things. When they’re done, your mission will be over.”
Zhou Wen’s tone is so light, but Chen Zilong understands that your majesty is not joking, he sincerely thinks so, also sincerely so entangled, but the reason tells him, cannot have that kind of extravagant hope. Therefore, he was cruel to cut off the last trace of expectation.
Chou Wen could not help laughing and teasing him: “If you have time, you might as well worry about yourself. I’m a vindictive person. Your case is not so easy to end.”
“Your Majesty..”
“All right, I’ve learned to give up since I was a child, and I’m used to it.” If you
give up many times, it will not be so painful. At first, he was a favorite Dragon-Li, later, his mother and respected teacher, and finally, his only weakness in this life.
Habit, Yu Zhouwen is a terrible word, at this moment, he has begun to get used to being a loner.
Near March, Chang’an is still trapped in a cold spring, but the south of the Yangtze River is already colorful. On the way to
escape, the parrot broke off one of the most beautiful peach blossoms and pinned it on her lapel, causing the princess to mock her: “I can’t tell. You silly bird is still pretty.”
The parrot glanced at her and said, “What’s the matter?”? Isn’t he beautiful? I
couldn’t help choking. “Stop it,” I said. “Have you noticed that there are a lot of things wrong with us on our way down?”
I pointed to the sentry boxes around the town. The east gate, the west gate and the north gate were all heavily guarded, but the south gate was lax. This city was like this, and the last city seemed to be like this. It seemed that someone was deliberately trying to lead us somewhere.
The parrot glanced at the map and nodded. “It looks like that’s the case, but when you think about it, it doesn’t seem to be. If they really have the ability to lead us anywhere, why bother? Wouldn’t it be more convenient to just grab and tie us up?”
Parrot’s words are very reasonable, the princess also very much agreed, but I looked at the map, the heart has a kind of indescribable taste. The other roads on the
map are guarded, but this one is very smooth. If you follow this road, it will be Yuhang. Yuhang is the place where Zhou Wen and I first met.
Perhaps because of a woman’s sixth sense, perhaps because the recent escape has been a string, parrot and I proposed to be divided into two groups.
He took the princess, and I walked out of Yuhang, and then we found a place to meet.
The parrot was obviously dissatisfied with my arrangement. “Girl, do you feel something is wrong?”? If so, I will follow you and let her go. When
the princess saw him say this, she did not show weakness. “That’s right. I’m not willing to follow him.” Shaking my head,
I tricked them into saying, “Don’t worry. Yuhang is my hometown. I just want to take another look at the boat where my mother and I used to live. The goal of three people is too big. I can’t drag you down.”
The parrot had no doubt about what I said. He nodded: “At the present pace, we will be able to arrive at Yuhang tomorrow afternoon. We will wait for you at the city gate early the next morning. Don’t be late.”
I gave a “hum” and finally hugged the parrot. The parrot’s face turned slightly red. He raised his eyebrows and looked at me with a smile. “What’s wrong?”? Are you beginning to be reluctant to part with your brother?
I nodded, and the parrot laughed and patted me on the head. “Don’t be afraid, just go where you want to go. If anything happens, just put out a smoke signal. My brother will come to save you.” After
the parrot and the princess left, I began to tidy up the daggers and hidden weapons around me. I pinned them one by one in the depths of my skirt. With the movement, my fingertips began to tremble slightly.
In fact, I am afraid of meeting Zhou Wen again in Yuhang, but at this moment, I have guessed that it is probably Zhou Wen’s decision to lead us to Yuhang. What does
he want?
Let me beg him to take me back to the palace as I did when I first met him? Or is there any other new way to make me willing to give up the life I want?
I thought about it all night, but I couldn’t figure it out. When I got up in the morning, I made up my mind that no matter what Zhou Wen wanted to do, he and I needed to break up. In
this way, I returned to my hometown with a perturbed mood. I thought that there would be a dragnet laid by Zhou Wen. Unexpectedly, there was no solemn atmosphere in the city as I imagined. Instead, it was lively and noisy.
Walking outside the teahouse, I asked for a bowl of Jiuqu red plum. As soon as I drank two mouthfuls, several people dressed up as singers came to greet me.
I fixed my eyes on them and found that they were old friends. When the old emperor visited the south of the Yangtze River, he called Yuhang singers to perform local songs and dances. They had performed with me on the same stage. When they met me again
here, they were probably a little incredulous, pulling me back and forth to see: “My sister was not given to the then eldest grandson by the old emperor, but now the emperor, why did she suddenly come back?”
I nodded and looked at their expressions. “Maybe I was not fit to stay in the palace, and then I escaped.”. Now the emperor is looking for me everywhere. If you touch me, I’m afraid you’ll be in trouble. The
singers looked at each other, somewhat embarrassed: “Don’t worry, sister. We won’t tell anyone where you are. Since we’ve known each other for a while, why don’t we send you out of town?”
I raised the corners of my mouth and did not refuse them.
Soon, the singers helped me change into a dance dress and let me mingle with them. In the name of the banquet, I took the boat out of the city. There was a faint sweet fragrance in the boat. I smelled it for a moment and knew it was the spice that made me fall asleep.
When I woke up again, the singers were no longer with me. I was lying on the Rouge bed, and in front of my eyes stood the figure of a man in a green shirt. Before he could turn around, I pursed my lips and said in a loud voice, “How are you, Your Majesty?”
“Do you know they were sent by me to bring you together?” Zhou Wen did not turn around, and his voice was cold.
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you run away when you could have?” The bell can never stop Your Majesty from doing what he
wants to do, so why struggle any more? If you want me to see you, I will see you.
Chou Wen smiled when he heard this. Glancing at my sleeve and skirt, he nodded and said, “Yes, you’ve already prepared it. You have all the daggers and poisons..” It’s hard for you, too. Am I so terrible in your eyes?
I shook my head. “These things are not for Your Majesty, but for myself.”
When Chou Wen heard me say this, there was a slight surprise in his eyes. I said lightly, “Your Majesty is so proud that he certainly won’t force a woman. In the past, when I ran away, Your Majesty would rather force himself to forget me than arrest me. So I guess this time Your Majesty’s action must not be to catch me back.”
Chou Wen seemed a little surprised that I knew him so well. He slightly raised the corners of his mouth. “Tell me, what am I going to do when I see you this time?”
I was silent for a moment and said slowly, “Perhaps Your Majesty intends to end it for me personally, or perhaps Your Majesty wants me to pay the price for my escape..” I don’t know. Chou Wen, all these years, I have never seen through you.
Zhou Wen smiled sadly and turned to me. Only then did I see clearly that he was wearing the robe he had worn when he was the eldest grandson of the emperor. His whole costume was exactly what I looked like when I first saw him.
He looked up at me with a smile that was no longer the same. “Do you think I came to Yuhang to kill you myself?”
I looked up at him and said, “Your Majesty is busy every day. The south of the Yangtze River is thousands of miles away from Chang’an. If it were not for this purpose, I don’t know why Your Majesty would be here.”
Chou Wen smiled and did not retort, “So you separated from those two men early in the hope that I would finish you and not pursue them?”
I nodded my head.
“The princess is Xiao Shisan’s widow and your majesty’s sister-in-law, and the parrot is an idle Jianghu pawn. If it weren’t for me, your majesty would have no reason to embarrass them.” Then
I took out a cup of wine from my sleeve and poured it for myself. I smiled at Chou Wen and said, “I broke my promise first, and then I stabbed Your Majesty. This cup of wine is my apology to Your Majesty.”
Chou Wen smiled coldly and knocked over the wine in my hand. “Do you want to die as an apology?” He suddenly got a little angry and grabbed my wrist. “What makes you think you can take care of all the trouble as soon as you die?”? Or do you still feel that I will suffer because of your death and have no time to think about anything else?
Chou Wen shook his head. “You’re wrong.” He tore open his collar to reveal the scar on his neck. “After this knife, you are no longer special here.” Then
Zhou Wen clapped his hands. Soon, the people below carried the princess up. I was shocked to see the princess tied up.
Chou Wen, however, smiled coldly. “You’ve never been a match for me in terms of resourcefulness. In the past, I used to be patient because I put you in my heart. Now, I want you to know that you’re no longer there.”
Say, Zhou Wen pulled out my dagger, than in the princess’s chest, he looked at me, did not hesitate for a moment, straight to stab down.
The princess fell to the ground, bleeding profusely.
Chou Wen gave me a cruel smile. “This is my first gift to you.”. Do you like bells?
I was stunned by the scene in front of me, and before I could rush to the princess, her body was dragged away.
“Chou Wen, you’re crazy.” My tears spread uncontrollably all over my face. But Chou Wen still smiled and said, “Your parrot brother is a wise man. When he saw that you were determined to divide your forces, he realized something was wrong. But he still indulged you, listened to you, and took the princess one step ahead.”. In Yuhang, he let the princess go ahead and stay in the city to meet you. That’s why I haven’t been able to catch him yet.
“What do you have against me? They are all innocent.” I have no words for Zhou Wen, but there is no other way but to continue to beg him.
Chou Wen raised my chin and looked at me carefully. Once upon a time, you always said that I liked acting, and people couldn’t tell the difference between true and false. In fact, you should be glad that I was willing to act for you at that time. Now I’m tired, and I can do whatever I want. If you think that their fate is because of you, you won’t feel that they are innocent.
I can’t believe how Zhou Wen can become like this in a short month, but reason has forbade me to be indecisive to him, now, I can’t save the princess, at least, I can try to save the parrot.
Thinking of this, I held the dagger in my sleeve and tried to control Zhou Wen, but unexpectedly, as soon as I touched the hilt of the dagger, Zhou Wen noticed my intention.
He caught me with his backhand and held me down on the bed.
“You have hurt me twice, Ling Dang. This time, you have no chance.”
With these words, Zhou Wen took off the sharp weapon on my body and put his hand on my belt. I noticed his intention and began to fight hard.
Chou Wen chuckled, “I won’t do anything to you at this time.”. That’s not interesting. When your parrot brother arrives, the show will really begin.
I looked at Zhou Wen absently, not believing that he would be so mean, but Zhou Wen’s next words challenged my bottom line again.
“You went to the camp of the Eight Kings to save me at the Battle of Xiaoqueling. I’m afraid it’s the worst memory of your life to make false promises to him in bed.” Chou Wen picked up my chin and said in a frivolous tone, “It’s a pity that this tragic scene may have to be repeated for the sake of your parrot brother.”
Zhou Wen’s words, word by word, left blood stains on my heart. At the beginning, I went to the camp of the Eight Kings with my wholehearted love for him, and let myself be abused by the Eight Kings like cattle.
Until today, I have never regretted my efforts in those years, until this moment, the person I loved wholeheartedly made my most painful memories into a knife, poking holes in my heart one after another.
At this moment, I don’t know what the pain is. At this moment, Zhou Wen and all my memorable past collapsed in my mind.
I used to think that even if I left Zhou Wen, at least I would treasure this love in my heart, as a memory of my youth, but now, he is no longer the person who once held hands with me, never again. As
I looked at Chou Wen, tears flowed uncontrollably, but the corners of my mouth held up a brilliant smile. I said to him, “Your Majesty knows Ling Dang, and most of the time he has a proud body. If you can let Your Majesty see my humble appearance, it will not be in vain for Your Majesty to know me.”
I think, at that moment my expression must be crazy and silly, so that Zhou Wen dare not look directly at me like this.
Moments later, he turned away from my face, tied my hands, threw me on the couch, and turned to go out. In the cell inside the
boat, the princess fell in front of the couch covered with blood. She thought Zhou Wen’s knife had killed her, but unexpectedly, she woke up soon.
The princess looked at the wound, only to find that the wound was not as serious as she had imagined. The dog emperor was really good at acting. When she saw the strength of his knife, she thought she would die. While
the princess was in a trance, Zhou Wen quietly came to her bed and said slowly, “If that knife goes down, my enmity with you and the Tubo will be over. In the future, as long as your father keeps his place, I won’t kill you all.”
The princess seemed incredulous: “Dog emperor, if you want to kill him, kill him. Don’t play tricks here.”
Chou Wen sighed, “Don’t scold me today. I feel sad.” As soon as
the princess heard this, she was delighted. It seemed that Chou Wen had never said such soft words to her in her life: “What is the purpose of deliberately performing such a scene in front of the bell?”? I’m telling you, without you in this scene, the bell and the parrot could still be lovers and concubines. Don’t pretend to be a lover and move yourself. Maybe they don’t care about you at all!
“Yeah, you’re right.” Chou Wen smiled. “But what I want to do is not just what you think. She once loved the light on my body, so I scraped it and made an oil lamp to send her away, and then gave it to the person who could accompany her away.”
The princess obviously did not understand the profound meaning of Chou Wen’s words. She frowned and said, “Dog emperor, don’t play charades with me.”
Chou Wen pursed her lips and said, There is a folk legend about a fox fairy. The story says that the fox fairy fell in love with a man outside the yuan, and they had a deep love for each other. Later, the fox fairy was robbed by a thunderbolt and had to leave outside the yuan. So she gave up her appearance and gave it to a girl who was engaged to outside the yuan. When I first heard this story, I thought the fox fairy was stupid enough, but now that I think about it, I’ve made the same choice.
Chou Wen raised her eyes to look at the moon, and her voice was loud and somewhat melancholy: When she first fell in love with the eldest grandson, it was because the eldest grandson of the emperor in the play was willing to give up the whole world for her. Now, I have made a game to let her see a parrot brother who is really willing to do everything for her. In this way, the past is truly over for her, and she can completely open her heart and love new people.
Chou Wen tilted his head to look at the princess. “Am I very considerate?”
“Pervert!”! People like you are sick. Have you ever thought that people might want to remember you? People may feel that memories of the past are very precious, and they want to hide them in their hearts! The princess still scolded Zhou Wen, but the momentum was obviously weaker.
Chou Wen smiled and said, “If you had to choose, would you rather be Little Thirteen who died, or be Princess Hushuo who remains in the world with memories?”
The princess was dumbfounded by Chou Wen’s question. Chou Wen sighed: “Those who are trapped by memories are too unfortunate. Fortunately, from now on, I am the only one who is trapped.”
The princess was silent for a moment. Suddenly she felt a little sorry for Chou Wen, but she wouldn’t forgive him. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell the bell and make your plan come to nothing?”
Chou Wen-guan smiled. “You won’t. You’re the one who wants me to be unlucky most in the world, aren’t you?” When
the princess heard this, she smiled and said, “Yes, I wish the bell would always think you are a big bastard with a black heart and a ruthless hand!”! She and her parrot brother are happily wandering around the world!
“That’s very good.” Zhou Wen glanced at the bright moon and said lightly. In the
middle of the night, the princess was picked up by a boat sent by Zhou Wen and quietly sent to Tubo. Lying on the couch, I was thinking about the princess spitting blood when she died.
I don’t understand why Zhou Wen killed the princess. She was the widow of Xiao Shisan, and she loved the princess so much before her death. Can it be said that Zhou Wen had no brotherly feelings for Xiao Shisan?
I failed to come up with a result, only the chill in my heart, when Zhou Wen slowly approached my bed and looked at me at close range.
I could not understand the look in his eyes, but I knew that at this time my eyes must be full of disgust, Zhou Wen may have been frightened by my appearance, reached out to touch my heart’s hand, frozen in the air.
“You hate me?”
I shook my head and said, “I didn’t hate the Eight Kings when I was in their camp.”. Irrelevant people are just annoying at best.
Zhou Wen probably had a serious illness recently, and his body was a little weak. When he heard me say this, he nodded and smiled gently, and a trace of blood oozed from his nose.
Zhou Wen touched the blood, seemed a little embarrassed, he looked at me, I did not show any abnormalities, as if he was bleeding to death at the moment, and I have nothing to do.
At this point, Zhou Wen is even more embarrassed, to be honest, I do not know why we can come to this step, but the matter has come to this point, I do not want to think too much.
So I closed my eyes and stopped looking at him in a mess. Zhou Wen silently wiped the blood from his nose and lay flat beside me. The
room was eerily quiet, and none of us spoke, as if we were two dead men.
It was not until a quarter past two that a call came from the bodyguard outside the boat, saying that he had caught the parrot. Finally, Chou Wen gently sat up beside me and smiled at me: “Get up, the show is about to begin.” On the deck of the
boat, the parrot was tied up in the center with five big flowers, and the beautiful peach blossom was pinned to his lapel. When he saw Chou Wen coming, he smiled faintly: “I thought Your Majesty disdained to do such a thing, but I didn’t expect that in the end he would be a grandson.”
The parrot’s words stirred up the guards around Chou Wen. Seeing that the guards were about to tap the parrot’s mouth, Chou Wen stopped them and slightly pursed the corners of his mouth: “You took the bell, you should have thought of today.”
With that, Zhou Wen waved his hand and asked the bodyguard to present two dishes, one with two wooden signs and the other with a cup of poisonous wine. “Only one of these two tablets is marked,”
said Chou Wen Lang Lang. “Whoever draws the wooden tablet with the plum blossom, I will give him this cup of poisoned wine and let the other go.” Then he smiled. “Now we can begin.”
I knew that Zhou Wen had the intention to make things difficult, and did not want to be fooled by him according to his rules, but I did not expect that the parrot’s movements were faster than mine. He went straight to open two wooden cards, revealing the mark of plum blossom, without giving me any chance to gamble on my life. After
digging out the wooden sign, the parrot took off the peach blossom pinned to his chest and stuck it between my temples. His tone was full of laughter: I’m not afraid of your jokes when I say it. When I was young, my brother also thought about what I would look like when I got married in the future. At that time, I thought that with my arrogant personality, the wife I married would be the most beautiful girl in Youzhou City. But I didn’t expect that the family would suffer later, and when I wanted to get married, I couldn’t even give you the simplest phoenix crown. When I went to town, my brother picked out the most beautiful peach blossom among the flowers. Originally, he wanted to give it to you to wear when you got married. He has been taking care of it carefully these days, but he didn’t expect that it would be given to you in this scene. “Then I am your wife now,”
I said, choking with sobs.
The parrot chuckled and waved his hand. “Don’t make trouble. It’s meaningless now. In the future, you’ll find someone ten thousand times better than me in Jianghu. As for the silly things my brother used to say..” You’ve forgotten all about it!
Then, without a moment’s hesitation, the parrot drank the poisonous wine in the cup, and the corners of his mouth began to ooze blood. The poisoned wine didn’t kill the parrot right away, it just put him into a coma. Chou Wen couldn’t help smiling coldly when he saw that I was lucky enough to snort the parrot. “What’s the point of seeing blood seal your throat?”? I want you to watch him lose his life bit by bit and wither away, just like the peach blossom he planted for you.
At the moment when I was about to lose the parrot, I finally began to realize his weight in my life. For a moment, I didn’t know whether I was crazy or stupid. I rushed to Zhou Wen directly with a knife and forced him to give me the antidote.
At that moment, my head was not clear, probably thinking that even if Zhou Wen’s bodyguard killed me, I would just go to the afterlife with the parrot to be a pair of ghosts.
But what I didn’t expect was that God, who had never cared for me, helped me at this moment. After Zhou Wen came to Hangzhou, he accidentally attracted an assassin in the court. When
the assassin boarded the ship, the whole situation was in a mess.
Zhou Wen seemed to be afraid that the assassin would hurt me, so he asked the bodyguard to escort me to go with him. While they were distracted to resist the assassin, I didn’t want to take Zhou Wen into the cabin and locked the door.
Moments later, I gave him an order: “You send them to get the antidote.”
Chou Wen smiled meaningfully: “If I say this medicine, there is no antidote.”. Do you believe it?
I didn’t have time to make a detour with him, so I pulled out my knife directly at him. Without dodging, Chou Wen held me in his arms: “He’s dead. Isn’t it good for you to stay with me?”
I couldn’t believe that he had the face to say and do such a thing at such a time. I pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest, but accidentally touched a hard object in the chest. I touched it and found that it was a medicine bottle with the same pattern as a poisonous wine bottle.
“What is this?” The embarrassment on
Zhou Wen’s face has told me that this is the antidote. There has been no dialogue between us for a long time. In this long silence, many things in the past suddenly emerged in my mind.
That year, in the emperor’s mansion, Zhou Wen and Gu Taifu Xuebingshu came back and told me that we must not kill with one blow, so that the other side has the power to fight back.
All along, his style of doing things is like this, even for his favorite brother, Xiao Shisan, there is no second way out.
But now, in the matter of parrots, Zhou Wen is full of loopholes, not to mention that the poisonous wine he prepared did not kill immediately, not to mention the assassin who killed the boat, how coincidental, that is, the antidote, with Zhou Wen’s character of never doing superfluous things, why would he take the antidote with him?
Unless. Unless he’s ready from the start and wants to wait for me to take him hostage, take the antidote, and save the parrot’s life?
This guess is so scary that it makes me sweat.
I deliberately pretended not to see the antidote in the bottle and continued to press Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen sighed imperceptibly and pretended to remind him casually. His actions directly confirmed my guess that Zhou Wen wanted to let us go.
Why? Why is that? Thinking of all kinds of events before and after, many specious things before are becoming clearer and clearer. If my guess is right, from a long time ago, Zhou Wen wanted to let me go. This time, he killed the princess first and then the parrot. He played the last scene of his life to me, which was to destroy all the good memories of him in my heart.
At this moment, facing Zhou Wen’s face, I think of our past too much, think of the first meeting on the Yuhang boat, think of the reunion in the Chang’an Inn, think of his kneeling in the Zhenbei Frontier Command, think of me asking him if he would regret it if we had nothing to wander in Jianghu? At that time he said to me with a smile, “No matter how hard the days are, as long as I think of having you by my side, even if I go to chop firewood, I will be very happy.”
Originally, I loved Zhou Wen, in fact, has not changed, because I fell in love with his disguise, with the greatest efforts, he turned himself into the emperor’s eldest grandson I like.
He never lied to me, nor did he deceive me. Between us, I was the one who had changed. I was no longer the silly girl who was willing to die for the person I loved when I was seventeen years old.
I also want to have my life, I also hope that the rest of my life can be happy, betray us that person, the original is me.
Thinking of this, I couldn’t stop my tears. When Chou Wen saw my expression like this, there was a trace of panic in his eyes, as if he was afraid that I would see through everything about him. He said a beautiful irony and urged me to act: “Don’t hurt me. I’ll let you take the antidote away.”
I hid my sobs, nodded, took the antidote from him, and was about to leave.
Chou Wen finally couldn’t help saying, “You wore that dance dress when we first met. Why don’t you leave it to me as a souvenir?”
I met his eyes, took off the dance clothes, but did not hand over to his hand, but directly lit a fire, I saw Zhou Wen’s eyes a little red, lips pale, even a little trembling.
Seeing such Zhou Wen, I almost couldn’t help wanting to say something to appease him, but I knew that I couldn’t, not all feelings in the world had results. Since he has worked so hard to get to this point, I hope I can help him and myself.
Finally, I looked him in the eye and said, “Your Majesty is decisive. He has no superfluous feelings in his heart. Why bother to keep a skirt and pretend to be affectionate?”
Perhaps it was because I didn’t act very often that a tear fell from my eye.
Chou Wen was stunned. After a moment, he smiled at me and said, “You’re right. The owner of the dress wishes I could die early. What’s the use of keeping it?”
At that moment, we all said hurtful words to each other, but there was a gentle expression on our faces. I think Zhou Wen must know that I understood his pains and chose to respect his decision.
We used the last tacit understanding to play a tacit play to save each other from the difficult life.
From now on, Zhou Wen doesn’t have to sway in love and court, and I don’t have to struggle in freedom and love.
I think this is about the last thing we do for each other. In the best time of
my life, I loved Zhou Wen, and Zhou Wen also loved me, but this love has experienced many twists and turns, and now it can only end here.
When I took the parrot to the boat and left, the assassin of the boat had been settled, or Zhou Wen’s play had come to an end.
He sat at the bow of the boat and looked at me with a faint smile, just like the gentle and shy eldest grandson of the emperor when he first saw the boat in Yuhang.
I realized that this was probably the last time I saw Zhou Wen in my life. I tried to open the corners of my mouth and showed the best smile I could make. However, the boat was far away, and Zhou Wen would never see that smile.
Half a month later, the parrot recovered, and we went to Runzhou to settle down. I made up my mind to put Zhou Wen’s affairs in my heart and turn them into a secret forever. After settling down, I urged the parrot to get married. When
the parrot heard this, he showed a rare bitter expression: “Brother is not a big fool. If Chou Wen really wants to kill me, he won’t give you a chance to take me away. Brother knows that this time he let go.” Then the parrot sighed and changed the subject. “It’s really depressing to think like this. We dumped him originally, but now it looks like he dumped you?”? Are you angry or not?
Originally, I was still a little sad, but when I heard him say this, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing: “What are you thinking about every day?”? Can this kind of thing be calculated? Seeing that I smiled,
the parrot took my hand and rubbed it in the palm of his hand: Elder brother knows that you are anxious to worship the temple, not necessarily because you really think that way, but because you want to use the worship of the temple to calm my heart. But you don’t know that sometimes, the feeling of stability is not given by the other half, but by yourself. I like you. I also know that I will continue to like it for the rest of my life, so it doesn’t matter when the ceremony is held.
I was silent for a moment and couldn’t help biting my lip. “It’s not just what you think. Don’t you mind that my youngest and most beautiful time was with Chou Wen?”? Don’t you want to take me as your own so that I won’t waver from side to side?
The parrot smiled and said, “My brother is not a saint. At the earliest time, I also regretted it. But later, my brother figured it out. In the first half of your life, you went through ups and downs and got scars all over your body. My brother survived on the border and lived like a ghost. Our best time is not in the past, but in the future.”. There is still a long way to go in the future. How can Zhou Wen disrupt the rhythm? At this time you don’t really feel what it’s like to marry happily. If I wronged you just for my own selfish desires, that’s not my brother’s style.
Seeing my silence, the parrot took me by the hand and smiled: “Silly girl, the road of life is so beautiful. My brother wants to walk slowly with you. Don’t miss any scenery.”
The parrot’s words made me feel relieved. Looking at the parrot’s smile, I began to believe that we would have such a day. Perhaps in Runzhou, perhaps in Yuhang, one day, I will laugh and scold with the parrot, live a lively life, by then, all the past has dissipated, all as the parrot said, we have experienced ups and downs, the best time is not in the past, but in the future.
At this moment, I have begun to look forward to a new future. In the fifth year after
Zhou Wen ascended the throne in the south of the Yangtze River, the imperial harem was depressed, like a pool of stagnant water. The empress Dowager could not bear to see it, so she had to unite with the courtiers to exert pressure. Finally, around the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhou Wen approved the memorial to the throne of the concubine Naji, and the officials felt relieved.
It was probably because there had not been a wedding in the imperial city for a long time, and the chamberlains were all bored. As soon as they heard that they were going to choose a concubine, they rushed around happily. At this time, everyone in the palace expected Zhou Wen to choose a powerful girl to enter the palace and stir up the stagnant water of the harem again.
Unfortunately, this idea is extremely ridiculous in Zhou Wen’s eyes. Everyone clearly knew that what he wanted to choose was never a lover holding hands, but a political victim, but naively expected him to play a couple’s love drama with those politicians.
In the past, he might have been able to cooperate, but since the bell left, he gradually felt physically and mentally exhausted, and was unwilling to waste any emotion on irrelevant people.
Chou Wen’s state of mind continued until the roster of concubines was presented. He never thought that he would see the words “Gu Siyou” on the list.
That year, when the bell first went to the border, Zhou Wen specially arranged Gu Taifu to make a household registration booklet for her in order to give her convenience. The generation
from Gu Jia to Ling Dang was the Si generation. At that time, they argued for a long time about the new name of Ling Dang. Finally, Zhou Wen decided on the name. What was ridiculous was that the name chosen by the 95 Zun and the Taifu of the Dynasty was returned by a little girl as it was. Embarrassment was left on Zhou Wen’s face.
Now, the name reappeared in his life, can not help but let Zhou Wen imagine.
Just for a moment, there were thousands of possibilities in his mind. Maybe the bell was unhappy outside and came back to him? Or maybe the bell can’t let him go all the time and is willing to stay in the palace for him? No, such a stubborn girl as the bell, once she chooses the way she wants to go, will not return, how can she come back?
These may clearly not withstand scrutiny, Zhou Wen pinched his forehead, drank strong tea, really can not think of a reason, this is the first time in so many years, he lost his usual calm self-restraint, can not wait to choose the day of the imperial concubine as soon as possible.
In Zhou Wen’s sweet expectation, the day finally came. Early
he asked the Chamberlain to prepare a set of regular clothes, style, color in the premise of not violating the system, as far as possible to imitate the emperor’s eldest grandson’s robe. On the day of choosing the imperial concubine, the empress Dowager reminded Zhou Wen that the clothes were not dignified enough, and asked him to think about it again. Zhou Wen also made a rare return.
“Majesty, if I only rely on my robes, can I not be the emperor if I take off my clothes?”? “Mother, you don’t mean that, do you?”
The empress Dowager was choked by Zhou Wen, and felt that Zhou Wen was really abnormal. On weekdays, even if they had a big contradiction, this fellow was a pair of filial piety and obedient, secretly calculating. Today, she was just a kind reminder, and he was on the top of the line.
For this reason, the empress Dowager can only temporarily avoid the edge, said his recent cold headache, words are lost, to rest earlier. After
the empress Dowager left, Zhou Wen breathed a sigh of relief. Mother didn’t know that the careful machine on her clothes was a gift he gave to Ling Dang. Perhaps he was afraid that they hadn’t seen each other for a long time, and Ling Dang felt strange to him now. Or perhaps, he understood that things had changed over the years, so he urgently wanted to leave the original feeling.
Whatever the purpose, Zhou Wen finally wore this carefully prepared dress and came to the girls. He waited and waited until Gu Siyou came forward to see him. The moment he
saw her, Zhou Wen smiled.
This smile, there are too many meanings, his heart did not come back after all, with the name of Gu Siyou to see his girl, is the daughter of Gu Taifu, Gu Siyin.
She looked up at Zhou Wen, and did not have a trace of fear of deceiving the king, but said something unexpected to Zhou Wen.
“When my father was alive, he strictly forbade his daughters to do talent shows. Your Majesty was a student of my father’s, and would certainly respect his wishes and not allow Siyin to enter the palace. Therefore, Siyin dared to use her sister’s name, and only then did she see Your Majesty.”
“Sister?” Chou Wen grinned, as if she were upset with Ling Dang. “When she was here, no one thought of her as a sister. Now that she’s gone, you won’t even let go of her name.” When she
heard Chou Wen’s anger, Ku Ssu-yin fell to her knees and said, “When my father was alive, he did his best for Your Majesty. Now my father has committed suicide, and the family has lost its former glory. Countless villains are eyeing him covetously, and they want to harm the family. Siyin wants to enter the palace, but she has no choice.”
Zhou Wen looked at the girl in front of him. She was raised by Gu Taifu in the palm of her hand when she was young. After that, Gu Taifu decided to look at Song Zhen, the son of the assistant minister of the Ministry of the Interior. Zhou Wen never thought that this soft and weak girl would dare to do such a perverse thing.
He sighed, “Who told you that being a concubine would keep your family safe?”? Don’t you know that if you have no favor or support, you may die sooner in the palace than outside?
Gu Siyin raised her eyes to look at Zhou Wen, but there was a trace of firmness in her eyes: “My father is your majesty’s teacher. Your majesty surely won’t see Siyin being bullied. Besides..” Siyin and Your Majesty’s sweetheart are both born of the same father. There must be some resemblance. Siyin doesn’t mind being her stand-in.
Zhou Wen heard this sentence, suddenly some glad that the bell did not stay in this palace, perhaps, this place is only suitable for those who are full of desire, in order to satisfy their desires, they can even abandon their dignity and become another person.
Finally, Chou Wen sighed, “You took the risk of deceiving the emperor and went to the palace alone, relying on your dead father, my teacher, and thinking that I would certainly sell you face..” Perhaps you still think that if you can stay in the palace, you can use the name of the bell to go all the way up and steal my nostalgia for her onto yourself, right?
“Your Majesty’s anger..”
When Chou Wen was tired, he waved his hand and said, “Your calculation is wrong. Only a weak and incompetent person can do such a thing as using another person as a substitute. I will not deceive myself and others like that.”
He looked at Ku Siyin and said slowly, “I remember your father once said that he hoped his daughter would only learn piano, chess, calligraphy and painting all her life and grow up white and flawless. It seems that he really doesn’t know you very well.” When
Gu Siyin heard him say this, he was a little worried: “Your Majesty doesn’t know..” It was for the sake of her father that Siyin wanted to go to the palace.
“Oh?”
Ku Ssu-yin sighed: My father was busy in court all his life, and his only hobby was collecting paintings and calligraphy. For these things, he went to many antique stalls, comparing and calculating back and forth, and only then did he buy many authentic works. After my father died, the clansmen urged me to marry, so I wanted to take my father’s calligraphy and paintings as a dowry, but at this time, his brothers suddenly jumped out and said that these antique calligraphy and paintings were the heirlooms of Gu’s family and should be passed on to the men of the family.. I know that they want to bully us when they see that their father has no successor, but my daughter, who cares about her family, is not a soft persimmon that can be pinched by others. I can’t keep my father anymore, if I lose the last bit of his heart, Siyin. Siyin really had no face to go to see his father in his grave, so even though I knew I was cheating the king, I still came to see your majesty.
“Do you think if you become an imperial concubine, they won’t dare to bully you?”
Gu Siyin nodded his head.
Chou Wen pursed her lips. “Maybe, but you’ve got one thing wrong.”
“Your Majesty, please make it clear.”
Chou Wen sighed lightly, “The last thing in Taifu’s heart is not those antiques, but you.” Gu Siyin, if he were alive and heard you say you wanted to be someone else’s stand-in, I’m afraid he would be so angry that he would vomit blood on the spot. For so many years, he has nurtured you into a lady of a good family with piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. How can he have the heart to see you put aside your dignity and fight with those women in the harem?
When she heard Chou Wen say this, the force that Ku Siyin had been holding back was finally deflated. She cried out in the hall: I’m scared, too, but I can’t help it. Dad put up with all kinds of hardships to bring me up, and I always have to do something for him. I can’t watch his collection being plundered with a good conscience and live my own life. I can’t..
Chou Wen nodded his head. “I know about this. Don’t worry. There’s not a single thing left in the Taifu’s collection. As for what happened today, I’ll pretend it never happened. The marriage of the assistant minister of the Ministry of the Interior was very good. From now on, I’ll be your mother’s family.”
Gu Siyin did not expect Zhou Wen to let her go so easily. She looked up at Zhou Wen and said, “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“Stand down.”
After Siyin retired, he left the palace without looking back, which made Zhou Wen feel a little funny. Look, even these people who had no choice but to seek power did not want to stay here, let alone the bells that liked freedom. The matter of
calligraphy and painting, is the family affairs of the Gu family, even the emperor is not good to intervene rashly, after Zhou Wen went back, allocated a sum of money, sent Qiaozhuang to become an imperial merchant, bought the collection of Gu Taifu from the descendants of the Gu family at a high price, and later, as a wedding gift to Gu Siyin.
In this way, although there was no admonition on the surface, the Gu family knew in their hearts that the emperor was supporting Gu Taifu’s daughter behind his back. When they learned about it, they were bound to be full of fear and trepidation. The probability was that they would try to return the money from the sale of paintings to Gu Siyin and let her go to the emperor to intercede.
Calculate to calculate, fat water did not flow outside the field, Zhou Wen felt that he was not too bad. After finishing
these things, it was very late, but Zhou Wen could not rest, because of the election of the imperial concubine, he deliberately set aside a day not to approve the memorial, but now it seems that this day off is not necessary.
So, he went to the study in the middle of the night, opened the thick fold again, the frontier minister sent an urgent report, there are several small forces in the border rebellion, the minister suspected that they colluded with the people in the court. The result of the case of selling illegal salt in the south of the Yangtze River was found out, and the whole family committed suicide, but the supervisor found out that the family and the relatives of the Empress Dowager’s family had private affairs, and did not know whether to continue to pursue.. And recently, the scientific examination is about to begin. Many people recommend a person who had secretly followed Xiao Shisan to be the chief judge. Whether this recommendation is an unintentional act or a clique for personal gain, he needs to distinguish carefully. After
reviewing all the memorials to the throne, it was close to the third watch, and it was going to be early morning. Zhou Wen looked at the bright sky and could not help sighing. The emperor’s days were too difficult. The conspiracy of the day by day could not see the end. Sometimes he even hoped that he was a fatuous monarch. In this way, when the bell was about to go, He can also leave with her regardless.
However, these thoughts, but also a flash, he can not go, only he left, the bell to the world is safe and beautiful.
There were no wars, no hungry people and robbers, there were wine and poetry, and even regular song festivals among the neighbors. Everything there was created by him for her. In this way, Zhou Wen felt that his stay was meaningful. Thinking
like this, Zhou Wen fell asleep against his desk. In his sleep, he grew a white beard and became very old. He was wearing civilian clothes and did not know where he was.
At this time, someone called him, he turned around and found that it was the same white-haired bell, which seemed to have opened a wine shop and was selling wine. This is
Your Majesty’s seventh visit to the south of the Yangtze River. Why do you still like to walk around alone, with no one around you?
He looked at her, unable to speak for a moment. When
Ling Dang saw that he was acting foolishly, he invited him into the room and said, “The drizzling rain in the south of the Yangtze River hurts your health. Your Majesty, drink a cup of Tu Su wine to warm yourself up.”
Zhou Wen took the wine from the bell and looked carefully at the place where she lived. It was very good, and there was no shadow of other men. He couldn’t imagine that he was still thinking about it at such an old age, and when he realized it, he couldn’t help feeling ashamed of himself.
The bell saw Zhou Wen’s eyes and smiled at him.
“My brother Parrot and I tried to get together, but unfortunately we got separated. Later he got over it, married a cousin introduced by the princess, and went to Tubo to become an official. Now he has a lot of children and grandchildren, and lives a very good life. A few days ago, he wrote me a letter.”
The bell was happy to get the letter, but Chou Wen grabbed it and said, “I don’t like to read what he writes.” Sit down and talk to me.
The bell smiled, full of indulgence. “What does Your Majesty want to say?”
Chou Wen thought for a moment: “After all these years, do you regret leaving?”
The bell was silent for a moment and shook his head. “I’m leaving. Your Majesty has no weakness, and there are no hidden dangers in the harem. This is good for everyone, isn’t it?”
Chou Wen smiled. “After you left, the concubines in the harem investigated the witchcraft case twice in order to compete for favor. If you were here, you would probably have been framed. I’m afraid I really can’t deal with it.”
The bell smiled, “How have you been these years?”
Chou Wen nodded his head. “After all these years, I have finally cleaned out the remaining evils in the court, put down the war at the border, and trained a qualified crown prince. I have set my mind at rest and given him the world. Now that I am old, I don’t want to go back to Forbidden City any more. It would be better to stay in the south of the Yangtze River and live with you.”
Bell and so on this sentence seems to have waited for a long time, her eyes red, took Zhou Wen’s hand to a room that had already been tidied up, the style inside is mostly according to Zhou Wen’s preferences.
She looked at Chou Wen, her eyes full of affection: “I’ve been waiting for Your Majesty here for decades, and I thought I couldn’t wait for you in my life.”
Chou Wen looked at everything in front of him, and his heart was full of emotion. He couldn’t help but want to hug the bell, but at the moment of hugging her, the voice of the Chamberlain rang in his ear: “Your Majesty, it’s time to go to the morning court.”
The dream woke up without warning.
The Chamberlain saw that Zhou Wen was still wearing the custom-made clothes for the bell, reminding him that it was time to change the dragon robe. Zhou Wen did not resist. Perhaps the dream was not fully awake. He watched the Chamberlain take the clothes off him little by little. Tears finally flowed down.
The Chamberlain was frightened by Zhou Wen and immediately knelt down, not knowing what he had done wrong. Realizing that he was out of control,
Zhou Wen immediately wiped away his tears and ordered his Chamberlain to get up and let him put on his dragon robe.
The Chamberlain probably guessed what was on Chou Wen’s mind and mentioned it cautiously: Not long ago, the slave sent someone to inquire about the recent situation of the Empress Chen Fei. The man wrote a letter and wanted to present it to Your Majesty. If Your Majesty wants to see it, the slave will go and get it.
Zhou Wen thought about it carefully and finally let someone burn the letter.
In his heart, there is already the best ending, perhaps one day, the dream of that scene will really happen, or perhaps, he will wait for that day to come in the process, gradually put down this relationship.
In any case, a new day has begun, civil and military officials have been waiting outside the hall, he can not stay in the dream, more can not stay in place, he can only move forward.
As Zhou Wen moved forward, the resplendent door of the hall was pushed open by the Chamberlain. Zhou Wen stepped over the steps and walked slowly up to the Dragon Chair. On the
cold Dragon Chair, the voice of “Long live our emperor” rang in my ears.
Zhou Wen raised his eyes and looked at the court officials, knowing in his heart that perhaps this was the world that belonged to him, and that the misty rain in the south of the Yangtze River would no longer have anything to do with him.
