The courtyard was bare in winter, and there was really no place to hide. Before Ruizhu arrived, Liang Huan turned around and ran back, and hid in a small alley.
She leaned her back against the wall for a while, then leaned out a little to look outside, not wanting Ruizhu to follow her.
Liang Huan gritted his teeth.
It can be seen that Ruizhu is much more familiar with Leng Gong than she is.
Liang Huan glanced at the people who were getting closer, and then looked at the end of the unknown alleyway.
There is no other choice now but to continue walking deeper.
While hiding from Ruizhu, who was not far behind him, Liang Huan was wary of people who might suddenly appear in front of him, and at the same time, he had to remember the path under his feet.
It is not an easy task to do three things at once.
As a result, she successfully avoided people, but she also got lost.
The high palace walls blocked the orange-red color on the horizon, and the biting cold wind in the passages made it a bit colder.
Liang Huan looked at the narrow but similar alley, tightened his clothes, and chose a direction to keep walking.
Finally, at dusk, I saw a small dog hole under the mottled palace wall, half-covered by dry weeds.
She pushed aside the hay, squatted down and tried it, and she almost got stuck.
Before he could stand up, Liang Huan frowned.
Outside the palace wall is not the Hualin Garden as expected, but a vast field of grass. Withered hay seems to be spreading out from the wall. It seems that this should be behind Fengdu Garden.
The setting sun almost hung on the ground in the distance, bringing no warmth at all.
Liang Han rubbed his hands, which were stiff from the cold, and walked south along the palace wall towards Fengdu Garden.
Gradually, a faint cold fragrance seemed to float in the air, and the fragrance became stronger as we walked forward.
Until the end of the grassy field, a large dense forest jumps out in front of you. The stretched brown branches are densely covered with small waxy flowers.
Liang Huan was surprised.
She didn't know there was such a place in the palace.
Even if I visit the garden on weekdays to enjoy the scenery, the farthest I can reach is Fengdu Garden and then stop going any further.
Liang Huan took a closer look again and vaguely saw a path paved with bluestone slabs in the dense forest. She didn’t know where it started or where it led.
The sky was darkening little by little, and it was almost dark. Liang Huan shivered from the cold wind.
She hesitated for a moment, but decided to walk on the path, hoping to get out of the forest soon. However, contrary to expectations, at the end of the path was a courtyard surrounded by a fence.
The writing on the door: Chaoyun.
Liang Huan stared at the two words blankly.
In the past, a goddess said goodbye to the King of Chu in a dream, saying: 'I am in the sun of Wushan Mountain, blocked by high hills, with clouds in the morning and rain in the evening. Morning and evening, under the balcony. ’ The King of Chu looked at him once and for all, as he said. Therefore, a temple was built and named "Chaoyun".
Suddenly, she narrowed her eyes and smiled.
The laughter was low and abrupt.
She thought of the night she died in her previous life, in the ice and snow, with only a torn mat wrapped around her body...
Liang Huan pushed open the small fence door, walked into the yard, and stepped up the steps of the wooden house.
The cabin is a little dark.
Liang Huan found a lamp on the table, and after lighting it with a fire stick, she picked up the oil lamp and looked at each room.
Although the house is small, it has all the necessary features. It not only has a tea room, a bedroom, but also a study room.
Not only are the furnishings not old, they are even new and look clean and elegant.
A five-string pipa is hung on the wall opposite the bookshelf, a lyre is placed on the long table below, and a wooden picture box is placed on the wooden shelf next to it.
Liang Huan put the oil lamp aside and opened the lid of the wooden box under the warm yellow light.
There are not many paintings, only two.
The painting on top is of a woman in coarse linen clothes, standing alone in front of the door, with a shadow falling at her feet.
Liang Huan vaguely remembered that in Leng Palace, Cao Ruomi said that he had seen a portrait on the desk of Tai Chi Hall.
Liang Huan stiffly picked up another one. Under the corridor next to the Poinciana tree, a little girl and a boy were sitting side by side on the stone steps. The girl tilted her head and smiled, not knowing what she was saying to the boy...< br>
Liang Han put down the painting in his hand and fell into silence facing the lampstand.
On New Year's Eve, she coaxed Gao Qian out of the palace. On the carriage, she deliberately asked him where he had dumped her body in his previous life, and she planned to go see it together someday.
Rapid footsteps sounded outside the house, and before Liang Han could stand up, someone strode into the house.
Under the dim light, Liang Han could see his face clearly.
It’s Xia Houzhao.
"The Queen Mother."
Seeing Liang Han, he breathed a sigh of relief and saluted to Liang Han.
“Gong Yangjing sent someone to tell me that you are missing...”
"I just lost my direction for a moment."
Liang Huan put the wooden box back into place, picked up the oil lamp and stepped forward.
"Don't you tell me what's going on with this wooden house?"
"This..." Xia Houzhao raised his eyes to look at her, then lowered his head, as if he was embarrassed and didn't know what to do. How to say it.
Liang Han waited patiently.
Xia Houzhao sighed helplessly and said: "This Chao Yunguan was built by the late emperor when he was still alive. The craftsmen who built it were selected from the workers who built the imperial mausoleum."
Liang Huan frowned. She raised her eyebrows, even though this house was exquisitely built, it was not necessary to use it——
She paused, maybe to deceive others.
Xia Houzhao added: "The late emperor once left an oral message. If one day the Queen Mother does not want to live in Renshou Palace, but cannot leave the palace, I will ask you to tell me that you can move here..."
Liang Han stared at the light in his hand.
Xia Houzhao said: "What I didn't expect is that before I could tell you, you had already discovered it yourself -"
Liang Huan glanced at him.
Actually, Xia Houzhao wanted to say that he didn't know whether she, the Queen Mother, was still willing to live in Hanzhang Hall.
So, he never told her.
“Let’s go, I’m afraid the secret will be exposed if it’s too late.”
"Yes." Xia Houzhao lowered his head and did not get out of the way. He only said: "When I came, Hanzhang Hall had already noticed that you were missing. Now Taiji Hall must also know about it."
Liang Huan lowered his eyebrows. , I’m afraid it’s not just Tai Chi Hall.
She had already thought about it when she got lost. How could she still hide it after being out for so long? If Gongyang Jing and Gu Ya could handle it, they would not risk being discovered and alert Xia Houzhao. .
Liang Huan thought about it, and since it couldn’t be solved, then the trouble would be more serious.
Just as she was about to walk out of the house, Xia Houzhao said again: "Gu Ya carried someone on his back and handed your brocade robe to me. I was afraid of attracting attention, so I only brought one bodyguard with me."
< br>
He turned around and left the house, and when he came back in a moment later, he was holding a cloth bag in his hand.
......
Liang Huan left the palace maid's clothes in the wooden house, then blew out the lamp and walked out.
*
The Queen Mother was found in the Imperial Garden.
When she found the person, she passed out under a plum tree, her eyes closed tightly, and she was unconscious, like a corpse.
According to the imperial physician, if it were any later, the person might freeze to death.
However, what is puzzling is, how could the Queen Mother go from the bedroom to the Imperial Garden? And how to avoid the eyes of all the palace servants?
After interrogating the people on duty, they found out that it was the Queen Mother who ran out on her own while they were sleeping and taking a nap.
There is no doubt that the people on duty in Hanzhang Palace were punished by the emperor from top to bottom.
The people in the palace murmured secretly, maybe the Queen Mother was driven a little crazy by evil spirits.
At noon the next day, when Liang Huan was taking the decoction, she heard some palace servants gathering together and talking mysteriously. Liang Huan called the chamberlain to ask, and the chamberlain replied that last night, news came from the Leng Palace that Wei Shi, a common man, was dead. It seemed that he was poisoned by eating something unclean.
Some say it was suicide, some say it was murder.
Gongyang Jing personally reported the matter to the emperor. After hearing this, the emperor frowned. After a moment of silence, he sent an eunuch to have his body examined.
*
In Yaohua Hall, Lu Wanying stood in front of the bronze mirror.
There were palace servants standing in a row with bows, and on the Yao plate in their hands were placed new winter clothes just sent by the Secretary of Clothes.
Lu Wanying took a look in the mirror. Since she became pregnant, she has become thinner instead of fat. After the pregnancy, she looked even more haggard. After so many days, she finally regained some of her former complexion.
Ruizhu squatted on the ground, helping the person in front of the mirror adjust the skirt.
Lu Wanying took off the mismatched gold hairpin on his head and threw it aside with a smile: "Are you sure the person is dead?"
"Yes." Ruizhu stood up, "The Lord sent the people who were waiting in front of him. Identification in the cold palace..."
Lu Wanying smoothed the folds on his sleeves and looked at her with a half-smile: "How can I bury him?"
Ruizhu lowered her eyes: "Wechsler is. She was so guilty that the Lord was merciful and spared her death because of the Queen's plea. Now she dares to commit suicide in the cold palace without repenting or thanking the Emperor. It is really unlucky and hateful. The Lord is willing to keep her. The whole corpse is already kind, so how can you have any other extravagant hopes?"
Lu Wanying nodded: "That's right."
Then, he turned around in front of the mirror again, taking pictures from left to right, all of which showed dissatisfaction.
She took off her outer garment and threw it on the ground, then glanced at the row of Yao dishes, but there was no one that she liked.
Lu Wanying said a little irritably: "The people from Si Yisi are always trying to deal with me, so go and find your Fang Pheasant for me!"
There is someone from Si Yisi. The palace man came forward.
Lu Wanying said with a dark face: "Go, take all these back."
The palace man lowered his head timidly.
Lu Wan raised her eyebrows slightly, "By the way, please tell Fang Zhi clearly that I also want a coat embroidered with kingfisher blue silk thread."
Ruizhu to the palace With a wink, the palace man led everyone out of the palace.
Looking back, Lu Wanying sat in front of the mirror with only her underwear on, expressionlessly picking up the pearl on her earlobe.
“You say she is really crazy?”
Ruizhu took the pearl from her hand and said: "The imperial doctor has said that it should not be faked."
Lu Wanying didn't raise her eyelids: "I don't believe she will be crazy. She wants to pretend to be sick to gain some money." I still believe in his pity."
Ruizhu thought about her words, and something flashed in her mind. "Yesterday, I saw a person in the cold palace. His back looked like the Queen Mother."
When Lu Wanying heard this, he immediately turned around and said, "Are you sure it's Liang Huan?"
Ruizhu shook her head. : "No, she was too far away. I didn't see her face clearly. I just passed by her back."
She added: "I just feel that the back figures are somewhat similar. After all, the Queen Mother must have been in the Imperial Garden at that time. I think it must be the palace servant who poisoned Wei Shi."
Yesterday, she turned out to be They went to take Wei's life, but when they arrived at Wei's residence, Wei had already vomited black blood and fell to the ground.
Obviously, someone took advantage of her.
Wechsler would never commit suicide.
She didn't dare to stay long for fear of running into the murderer who had returned, so she took a quick look and left.
"This slave will pay attention to Zhaoyang Palace."
Hearing what she said, Lu Wanying couldn't help shaking her head and laughing. She faced the mirror again and said coolly: "If it is really the Yuan family that did it, I think you will too. I have no chance to see that palace man again.”
Ruizhu was startled and said nothing, silently taking the other pearl that Lu Wanying took off.
Lu Wanying said again: "Actually, no matter who did it, as long as Wei Shi is dead."
She sighed in annoyance: "It would be better to chant sutras in the palace. When will this Yuanshi recite enough to restore my peace?”
Today, she had to take a leave of absence because of illness.
Ruizhu put the pearl away and frowned: "The Queen Mother is so ill. As soon as she wakes up, she screams to go to the Lecture Hall, and even the palace servants can't stop her..."
Lu Wanying snorted coldly: "She wants to go, she can go, but I don't want to go."
At this moment, someone walked in with his head lowered, bowed respectfully, and said: "There is something wrong in the Lecture Hall. ”
“What’s the matter”
The chamberlain replied: "The Queen Mother smashed the Lecture Hall and alerted the Lord."
Lu Wanying was slightly surprised: "Why?"
Ruizhu also raised her eyes.
The chamberlain said timidly: "I only heard that... halfway through the master's speech, the Queen Mother got mad out of nowhere, rushed forward in two steps, overturned the master's desk, and then hit the person who blocked him. She scolded him again, and her words and deeds were like...like the dead Webster."
He paused and then said: "After the Lord came up, she even dragged the Lord to cry and cry out for injustice. As soon as I rolled my eyes——"
"Okay, stop talking and go down." Lu Wanying interrupted with a frown.
The waiter stopped talking, lowered his head and left.
Ruizhu looked at the people sitting in silence in front of her, and then thought of Wei's death, a chill ran down her spine, and she hesitated: "The Queen Mother is acting like this all of a sudden, could it be... that she was really possessed by something?"
Lu Wan gave her a cold look. "Nonsense."
Ruizhu knelt down on the ground.
"This slave made a mistake."
*
In the dormitory of Hanzhang Palace.
Gu Ya stood guard in front of the bed wiping her tears.
The emperor sat sullenly behind the desk a certain distance away from the bed. He glanced at the bed and then back to the face of the imperial physician who was kneeling in front of him.
The imperial doctor hesitated for a long time, but did not explain clearly what the Queen Mother's illness was.
"...I gave the Queen Mother a few soothing decoctions, but——"
There was a bang, and the cup broke in front of my eyes.
“What a waste.”
Jin Zhi and others were startled and shrank their necks. The Queen Mother’s behavior was getting more and more evil, but the imperial doctor could not diagnose her well. , so you can’t blame the Lord for being angry.
The emperor lowered his voice: "Come here, drag this quack doctor down -"
"Queen Mother, are you awake?" Gu Ya sobbed.
The person on the bed opened his eyes leisurely, raised his arms, and whispered: "Gu, Ya... my whole body hurts..."
As soon as everyone saw that the Queen Mother returned to normal , slightly relieved, they were really afraid of seeing that 'Wechsler' again.
The emperor stood up and came closer: "The queen mother still remembers what happened?"
Seeing Gao Hao, Liang Huan wanted to sit up, but he couldn't do it at all.
Gu Ya helped Liang Han sit up carefully.
Liang Huan slowly looked around and shook his head blankly: "I...amn't I in the Lecture Hall? Why...why am I back? What's going on?"
Gao Hao stood there without speaking.
Liang Huan suddenly became short of breath and groped around on the couch in a panic. He shouted anxiously: "Gu Ya, where is the scripture? Where is my scripture? Did one of you steal it?" ? Give it back to me quickly! ”
Gu Ya hurriedly took the scripture from the side of her pillow and sent it to Liang Han.
"Queen Mother, the scriptures are always there."
Liang Huan snatched it away, held it tightly in his arms, and murmured in his mouth.
There were footsteps outside the door.
“Your Majesty, I have invited the master here.”
Before Yuan Yun'e could stand still, someone with disheveled hair came up to her and passed her.
"Master, please accept me as your disciple!" (End of this chapter)