Chapter 18 18. Shui Pei Fengshang
That afternoon, news came from the palace.Because of the death of her cousin, Empress Wang became sick with grief and was transferred to Tai Chi Palace to recuperate.Palace affairs are handled by Concubine Zhao and Concubine Guo Shu.
"Since Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu moved to Daming Palace, the Taiji Palace has been idle, and only a few old concubines live in it. Now the queen is sent to the Taiji Palace to live alone. It is said that Wang Ruo's death is not good, so the queen was sent to the Taiji Palace. Sending the emperor away is actually equivalent to moving to the cold palace."
Lu Yunzhong, the little eunuch of Lu Yunzhong in King Kui's mansion, is still full of interest in the secrets of the palace.When the eunuchs in the palace had dinner together, they commented on the situation in the world with great interest.
"There is no such thing as a queen living in another palace in the world!"
"Hey, don't tell me, aren't Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and Chen Ajiao a ready-made precedent?"
"In my opinion, this time the Wang family is really in trouble!"
Huang Zixia calmly packed the dishes, stood up and sent them to the kitchen.
"Hey, Chonggu, didn't you follow the prince to pay homage to the girl Wang Ruo at the Wang's house that day? Tell me quickly, it is said that the queen cried so much that her temples were messed up and her face was pale. Is it true?"
Huang Zixia let out an "ah" and said slowly, "Yes, Queen Wang is very sad."
"I heard that you even wore a bracelet for the female corpse in the mourning hall? Ouch... you really admire us!"
"Well," she turned a blind eye to everyone's awe-inspiring eyes, nodded indifferently, and suddenly remembered something, "Did the servants of the Wang family say anything else? What did the legend of the capital say?"
"It's nothing, isn't this the case you exposed? The two girls next to Miss Wang colluded with Pang Xun's remnants, and then killed Miss Wang's family—hey, tell us the details!"
"...That's about it, there's nothing more to say." She quickly turned around and left with the bowl in hand.What a joke, she is not a fairy, how could she make up a story about Xianyun Ranyun killing Wang Ruo in a short period of time?
She sent the bowls and chopsticks to the kitchen, and was called by the porter just as she came out.
Now the great eunuch Chang Qing who just moved to Tai Chi Palace with Queen Wang came.
Although he has been reduced to the Taiji Palace, Changqing seems to have hidden worries between his brows, but he still has the air of one of the top eunuchs in the palace. He slightly raises his chin and looks at people with his nostrils: "Eunuch Yang, Your Royal Highness summoned you, saying that someone wants I want to talk to you."
Someone... The person from the Queen's side who wants to meet her should naturally be Wang Ruo——no, it should be said that it is Xiao Shi.
Although she and Xiao Shi didn't spend much time together, they had a very good relationship with each other, and she also happened to have something to ask her, so as to make up for what she didn't know about the case.
"Eunuch, wait a moment." Huang Zixia didn't dare to neglect, and went back to her room to change her clothes.
When she was halfway there, she stopped to think about it, and finally turned a corner, and decided to talk to Li Shubai first.
The summer is getting hotter, Li Shubai is now often in the pillow pavilion near the lake.
When Huang Zixia passed by, he was looking at the small lake in front of him with his hands behind his back.On the surface of the lake in early summer, the high and low lotus leaves stretch above the water waves. Under the light of the palace lanterns that have just been lit, the lotus leaves are covered with a layer of crystal silver light, as if a thin layer of snow or light smoke has accumulated, hazy remote.
She stood opposite, looking at him from a distance, still wondering if she should go over and say something, but found that he had turned his head and looked at her.
So she saluted him across the small lake, and was about to leave, but found that he slightly raised his right hand and made a gesture of coming.
Huang Zixia hesitated for a moment, but after thinking about it, he still had to rely on him for salary, so he hurried over.
"It's getting late, where are you going?"
"The empress sent Chang Qing to summon me, saying that someone wanted to see me."
"Oh." He responded flatly, and waved her to leave.But just when she turned around and was about to leave, she suddenly felt kicked on the back of her knee, and her right foot was numb and crooked. She couldn't control her center of gravity, and with a plop, she fell headlong into the lotus pond.
Fortunately, the lotus pond was not deep, and Huang Zixia was familiar with the nature of water. She struggled to get up, stood among the piles of lotus leaves and looked up at Li Shubai above, and asked depressedly, "Why?"
He didn't answer, just stood on the shore with his hands behind his back, looking at her without saying a word.
Huang Zixia stroked her muddy face resentfully, stepped on the Taihu Lake stone by the lotus pond, climbed ashore, twisted her sleeves that were dripping water, and said, "My lord, what do you mean? Now I have to I have to take a shower and change clothes before I can enter the palace, how long will I have to wait..."
Before she finished speaking, she saw Li Shubai's clothes move again from the corner of her eye.She immediately jumped a step to the side, ready to avoid his kick, but Li Shubai's kick swept over her, she couldn't dodge it at all, and was immediately kicked into the lotus pond again.
The lake was full of turmoil, and the water splashes aroused by her falling body poured onto the surrounding lotus leaves, and the lotus leaves swayed beside her with the water droplets on them. Huang Zixia's eyes were filled with brilliance.
In the fluctuating light, she saw Li Shubai standing on the shore, with a faint smile on his lips, and the evening breeze slightly lifted his light robe with sky and blue water, that kind of elegant and noble temperament was simply fascinating.
But Huang Zixia only felt that this person was extremely sinister.Standing on the damaged lotus leaves and the muddy water, she even forgot to take off the waterweed waterweed sticking to her head and face, and walked a few steps to the shore without climbing up, just raised her head and stared at him and asked: "why?"
Li Shubai bent down to look at her, as if she was in a state of embarrassment and made him feel very happy, and there was even a rare smile in the corner of his eyes: "Why why?"
"Is it fun to kick me into the water again and again?"
"It's fun," Li Shubai nodded without shame, "Now that the mystery that has been rare for many days is solved today, I naturally want to find something to have fun."
Huang Zixia really felt that she was going to explode with anger: "My lord's happiness is watching me fall into the water twice and make me embarrassed?"
Li Shubai restrained his smile and said, "Of course not."
He hooked his fingers, motioning for her to climb up.Huang Zixia angrily climbed onto the Taihu Stone, climbed to the shore again, and before she could speak, she didn't even stand still, when the wind rang in her ears, she felt the scene in front of her turn upside down for a moment, and her whole body froze suddenly. There was the sound of splashing into the water and the splashing of water, as well as her subconscious low cry—she knew that she had fallen into the water again.
"It's best to complete three times."
Huang Zixia was so out of breath, she barely stood up holding the lotus leaf, raised her muddy sleeve and wiped the mud on her face, only glanced at him, but said nothing, and trudged towards the other side of the lotus pond.
She stepped on the mud, staggering with one foot deep and one shallow foot, walked to the shore with difficulty, and then climbed up the steps.
The weather in the early summer was still slightly cold, so she shivered, thinking that she should take a hot bath quickly, otherwise she would definitely catch a cold.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Li Shubai walking towards her along the lotus pond, but at this moment, she was filled with anger and resentment, she just pretended she didn't see it, turned around and quickened her pace to leave.
Li Shubai's voice was heard in his ears, and it came slowly: "Xian Yun and Ran Yun are dead."
She stopped in her footsteps and was stunned for a moment before turning her head to look at him abruptly.
Li Shubai stood behind her, the smile on his lips had disappeared, and he was as calm as usual.
"So, even if a little eunuch like you disappears in the Taiji Palace tonight, it will be just a speck of dust, and he will pass away with a breath."
Huang Zixia stood stiffly in front of the lotus pond, and the wind was blowing slowly, she felt a chill all over her body.But she didn't look back at him again, she just lowered her head, looking at the tall and low Cui Gai in the lotus pond, motionless.
"Jing Yu." Li Shubai raised his voice and called out.
Jing Yu came in from outside the moon gate and saw Huang Zixia's body dripping with mud and water, and couldn't help but glance at him in surprise: "My lord."
"Go and tell Changqing that Yang Chonggu slipped and fell into the water. It's getting late today. I'm afraid it's too late after I pack up my grooming, so I don't want to disturb the queen."
Jing Yu agreed, and immediately walked out quickly.
Huang Zixia bit her lower lip and asked, "What about tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow? You fell into the water, won't you catch the cold? Can you still enter the palace to infect the queen?" Li Shubai said lightly, "It should be a month or two after you recover, and the emperor and queen will also be sick by then." I will know that you are a tight-lipped person, and I will probably lose my heart."
Huang Zixia murmured for a long time, then said coyly, "Thank you, my lord."
After she finished speaking, her heart was filled with desolation again—what kind of world, the bastard who kicked herself into the water three times, she had to thank him well.
Li Shubai turned back to look at her, and seeing her in a mess covered in water, he couldn't help but call out: "You..."
She looked up at him, waiting for his order.
But he stopped for a moment, then turned his head to look at the lotus leaf in the pool, and raised his hand to signal her to go down.
Feeling relieved, Huang Zixia hurriedly bowed and retreated.
Covered in muddy water, she went to the kitchen to fetch two large buckets of hot water, washed herself completely, then half-dried her freshly washed hair indiscriminately, and then fell on the bed. During this period of time, she was really exhausted from running around worrying about this case.So as soon as she lay down and touched the pillow, she began to fall into lethargy. She didn't know how long she had slept, when she heard the door knocking lightly, and there was a slight knock on the door. The vigilance she had cultivated over the past few months made her quickly open her eyes, half-sit up and scanned the room, and found a solid darkness, and the night was already deep. She put on her clothes and got up, opened the door and saw Li Shubai standing at the door, holding a small lamp in her left hand and a small food box in her right.The light from the small lamp was a kind of warm orange, shining on his face that was usually perfectly lined like a jade carving but made people feel cool, cast a layer of softness for no reason. Seeing her in a daze, he didn't pay any attention to her, he just put the food box in his hand on the table and said, "That's fine, I don't need to call you." Although he was startled, it was just a subconscious body reaction. Huang Zixia was still unconscious. She stared at him in a daze, grabbed her messy and tangled hair, looked at the dark sky outside, and asked : "What time is it?" "At midnight," he opened the food box, took out a dark brown thing from inside and handed it to her, "Ginger soup, drink it." She frowned at him for a long time with barely sober eyes, and finally caught something wrong in her consciousness: "Prince Kui, in the middle of the night, you came to me in person... just to bring me ginger soup?" "Of course not," he said, turned around and walked out, closing the door behind him, "After drinking, change clothes, there are guests visiting."
The one who can make Prince Kui call Huang Zixia in person in the middle of the night is naturally not an ordinary person. The beauty under the lamp is as gorgeous as peaches and plums. A girl dressed in ordinary palace maid costumes stood in front of them.It's a pity that the peach and plum flowers have been eroded by sorrow and sorrow, and they are already haggard and withered.She looked up at them, and the leaf-veined dew hairpin on her temples was dimly glowing under the light. Wang Ruo—or, Xiao Shi. Huang Zixia was stunned for a moment.But Xiao Shi silently bowed down and bowed to them. Her soft skirt brushed the ground silently, like a flower falling without wind. "Xiao Shi thanked Prince Kui for saving his life." Li Shubai nodded slightly, but did not speak. Xiao Shi was kneeling all the time, only looking at him with a pair of calm and sad eyes, it seemed that there were thousands of thoughts surging in those eyes, but he couldn't express them at all. After a long time, she said in a hoarse voice: "I have been staying in the Taiji Palace...it has been abandoned, almost no one passes by, and no one knows who I am...until today the Queen came to me and said, if If it wasn't for me, Xuese might not die." Xiao Shi spoke quietly, bowed his head and knelt on the ground, as silent as if he didn't even breathe. Huang Zixia couldn't bear it, and comforted her, saying: "Everything was a mistake, Xuese's death...you are not the murderer." On Xiao Shi's plain white face, the embellishment of rouge was lost, and there was a layer of icy paleness.She looked at her with lifeless dying eyes, and said in a low voice: "But I think Her Royal Highness is right, without me, Xuese wouldn't have died..." Huang Zixia said: "But without you, Xuese would have been gone three years ago." Xiao Shi didn't feel relieved, her head lowered lower and lower, and finally almost fell on the ground.She rested her forehead on the back of her hand that was close to the ground, her voice was choked and blurred: "If there was no snow color, I would not be in this world anymore... We were dependent on each other in the chaos, and we went to Yangzhou and Puzhou together... ...Aunt Lauder treats us as her own, and I also learn piano and dance from her like Xuese. Although I didn't learn very well, we lived a very good life in the past three years. If... If not If Feng Niang appeared in front of us, we are still so good until now..." Li Shubai watched coldly and did not speak. "The queen scolded me angrily, saying that because I was greedy for vanity, I pretended to be Xuese, so that I made a big mistake now... But in fact, Xuese and I don't know her current identity, so even Feng who came to pick us up Mother, she doesn't know..." Xiao Shi covered her face and said in a trembling voice, tears trickled down between her fingers, trickling down, unstoppable. "At that time, Aunt Lauder and Uncle went to Ganzhou together due to an urgent matter... Xue Se heard from the concierge that her mother had sent someone to pick her up for marriage in Beijing, so she discussed with me and said that she has no intention of getting married now. What's more, when her mother abandoned their father and daughter, her father became sick with grief and anger, and died young in his early thirties... So, she didn't want to see her mother! But I persuaded her, we are now in Lauder On Aunt's side, although she is also eager to help us, finding a spouse is not easy given our background. If her mother can really find a good home for her, it wouldn't be a bad thing... "But Xuese grabbed my hand and said, how about this, anyway, my mother abandoned me when I was five years old, and Feng Niang only saw us in Yangzhou when we were 13 or 14 years old. Who knows what I am now? What does it look like? Just say that you are me and follow Niang Feng to Beijing. If there is a good one, you are also lucky to marry a good man. Then...then... "Then she took out the silver ingot that Prince Kui asked us to take away from her side, gave me half of it, and said, using this as proof, I hope you can help me inquire about that person in the capital, and have a look. Where is he now? It's been three years, why didn't he come to me with a hairpin? Even if he went to Yangzhou, the people in Yunshaoyuan would tell him that Aunt Lauder is in Puzhou... "I really wanted to tell her that her leaf vein hairpin was thrown away by the other party when she turned around. I secretly helped her hide it for three years and wanted to return it to her when she got married. But I knew that, Xue It will definitely be very embarrassing, so I thought, don't tell her, just take it to the capital and return it to her mother." When Xiao Shi said this, he was stunned for a long time, then bit his lower lip, and said: "However, when I came to Wang's house and saw Wang and Queen at a glance, I knew that Xuese and I might have been forged. Big mistake. We didn't know that her mother is now a person in the Nine Heavens, we thought... thought she was just married to a rich businessman or a small official... However, I dare not speak! After knowing After knowing the identity of Xuese's mother and knowing this important secret of the palace, if I say that I am just a fake, wouldn't it be tantamount to asking for death? I sent the leaf vein hairpin to Queen Wang, and she has no doubts about my identity. Without a doubt, she ordered someone to destroy the silver hairpin because she felt that it was not considered rich in the palace, and made an identical gold hairpin for me out of gold, and told me that King Kui was about to choose a concubine, and there is currently no outstanding one in the royal family. Girl, let me go to the selection as a girl in the fourth room. At that time, I still had fantasies. If I became a princess, it would be nice to be rich and wealthy, but I would definitely be able to find our benefactor and Xuese's sweetheart with the help of the power of the palace. However, when I was led to the apse and saw Prince Kui standing in front of me..." Her lips trembled violently, her throat was choked, and she was unable to speak for a long time.After a long time, she covered her face and sobbed: "I know, God's will tricks people, everything is over. Me, and Xuese, are all over..." It was very difficult for her voice to come out of her throat. In such a quiet night, it sounded doubly shrill.The night wind was suddenly strong, and the light from the palace lantern swayed sharply, fading layer by layer on her face, causing her face to show a strange twist, which was shocking. "I can't tell the secret I'm carrying. I have nightmares every night. I dream that I will die when I snatch Xuese's sweetheart away... But I can't help but imagine in my heart with guilt that once I fly to the branch and become The concubine Kui that everyone admires..." She knelt on the ground, her fingernails were pinched on the green brick floor and broke, but she didn't seem to feel it. The meeting with King Kui is... I must find her the best and best man in the world..." Huang Zixia looked at Li Shubai, but saw that he was just looking at the palace lantern spinning in the wind in the corridor, without any expression on his face. She couldn't help thinking in her heart, is there any point in wasting such suffering and nostalgia on a man who doesn't have any feelings for you? Just like the lights far and near in the garden at this time, no matter how brilliant and brilliant, who would know which beautiful flower that bloomed late at night it once shone on? "I couldn't sleep or eat at that time, and finally revealed the secret in my sleep. I don't know if Feng Niang really noticed it, but she must have become suspicious. And I know that once this matter is leaked, my life... will definitely end here. She died in Chang'an. At this time, Empress Wang asked me in private if Feng Niang seemed reliable. I...I don't know why I shook my head in a strange way..." "Then, Queen Wang ordered someone to poison Feng Yiniang to death, and then disposed of the body?" Xiao Shi cried so much that she almost fainted. She couldn't speak, so she could only nod reluctantly. Sure enough, it was Queen Wang who sent someone to poison Feng Yiniang, who killed Feng Yiniang, and then threw it among the refugees in Youzhou, pretending to die of an epidemic. Huang Zixia and Li Shubai looked at each other, thinking, in fact, when Queen Wang let Feng Yiniang go to Beijing, she had already regarded Feng Yiniang as the one who must be discarded, so what does it matter what Xiao Shi said? But Huang Zixia only sighed secretly in his heart, stepped forward to pull up Xiao Shi who was crying on the ground, and said in a low voice: "Get up, it is your great fortune that Your Highness the Queen spared your life." And Li Shubai finally asked Xiao Shi: "How will she let you deal with yourself in the future?" Xiao Shi opened the package next to him, and took out a small jar with trembling hands.She hugged the jar in her arms and stroked it gently for a long time before she looked up at them and said, "This is the ashes of Xuese. I want to take her back to Liuzhou and bury her beside her father. From now on , I will stay in front of her tomb for the rest of my life, until my death, and the sun will shine, and I will never be separated." Standing in front of her, Huang Zixia saw the loose sideburns beside her cheeks trembling slightly in the night wind that leaked in from the window at this moment, like weeds without roots, with no way back and no way out. Li Shubai took out the two silver ingots from the drawer beside her, put them in front of her, and said, "Take them back." Xiao Shi looked at the two silver ingots of about the same size, and said in a low voice: "Actually, Xuese also knows that maybe you will never come, but she has decided to wait forever. She often tells me that if one day, If I can see you again, she will take out this silver ingot when you take out the leaf vein dew hairpin. There is no way to be with you, even Xue Se...I guess there will be no way. So I left it there, thinking, if you really remember us and saw us, maybe you can still be in your heart , leaving a faint imprint..." Huang Zixia sighed, picked up the other half, and said: "And this half is the woman who came to the foreign teacher workshop, which is the evidence of Xue Se. Maybe she was attacked in a hurry in that room and left me. When I rushed over, it was only a moment, but I missed it." "All of this is fate," Xiao Shi murmured while holding the silver ingot, "My fate and her fate were preordained twelve years ago." Because a woman tampered with her own destiny, the life trajectory she deviated from then on changed the destiny of many people.
After seeing Xiao Shi off, Huang Zixia watched the palace chariot head for the outside of Chang'an City in the quiet night after the curfew, towards an unknown future. She turned around and walked to the gate of the mansion, only to find that Yongji and Changqing, who had followed Xiao Shi, were standing at the gate and gestured to her to get on the bus: "Eunuch Yang, the queen said, no matter how late, no matter what your situation is, , regardless of whether you fell into the water and got a cold or not, I will summon you." It's coming, it's an omen to strike. Queen Wang knew that Xiao Shi, the key person in this case, came to ask for an interview, and she would definitely meet her, so she waited here! With a bitter face, she subconsciously looked at Li Shubai. Li Shubai nodded calmly, motioning for her to follow. She opened her eyes slightly, looked at him speechlessly, and signaled to him with her eyes—the queen is going to make me disappear in this world! He only returned her a "quiet, calm" look, leaving Huang Zixia speechless and helpless.Life is unfortunate, the world is cold, and he just helped him solve the difficult case of the princess. Why is this person crossing the river and demolishing the bridge now, and actually wants to watch the queen attack him? Yongji and Changqing were still staring at her.She could only bite the bullet and walk out. The moment she passed Li Shubai's side, she heard Li Shubai's lowered voice, saying: "The real body." ah? She thought she had heard wrong, and looked sideways at him, but he was still indifferent, and he didn't even look at her anymore, only uttered an understatement sentence: "The dew is heavy at night, be careful of catching a cold."
real body. What's the meaning? Huang Zixia followed a group of people out of the palace, and sat in the palace carriage with Yongji and Changqing to the Taiji Palace, thinking hard all the way. In Chang'an under curfew, the sound of horseshoes and wheels echoed on the broad road, and almost echoed in Huang Zixia's chest. She tossed and thought about the meaning of those two words, but after thinking about it, she felt that Li Shubai might just let her give up on herself and let her die—this cold-faced and heartless person, at the critical moment, really didn't intend to save himself at all? When she was about to cry while clutching the wall of the car, Yongji pulled out a voice and said, "Eunuch Yang, we have arrived at Taiji Palace, get out of the car." Her scalp was numb, but there was nothing she could do, so she could only follow him out of the car. The Taiji Palace, which had been vacant for a hundred years, was incomparably deserted, just like the Leng Palace in the mouths of all living beings outside. In the long night, looking from a distance, the harem was sunk in darkness, only a few palace lanterns were lit in front of the Lizheng Hall, illuminating the vermilion gate, wall and pillars. Huang Zixia followed Yongji and Changqing into the Lizheng Hall step by step. The fluffy green grass drilled out of the green brick floor, the longest one even has no ankles, and when the foot steps on it, it feels unstable and erratic because of its softness.The stone lanterns at the entrance of the hall have become smooth and mottled in the wind and rain, and the light shines through, allowing people to clearly see the green moss marks on them. The stone lotus hanging from the eaves and the peeling vermilion lacquer on the pillars all make people feel clearly that they are in a palace that has not been carefully maintained for a long time.No matter how magnificent and gorgeous it is, it is still a place that few people pass by and is forgotten. The people around Queen Wang are all very capable. The Queen just moved into the Tai Chi Palace in the afternoon, and now the Lizheng Palace has been cleaned up, and everything is comfortable and appropriate. It was early in the morning, but Queen Wang hadn't rested yet. She was sitting on the couch at the back of the palace, perhaps waiting for her.The ladies in the palace brought the cooked sorbet porridge with four delicate side dishes.Queen Wang ate slowly, calmly, gracefully and slowly, as if she had completely forgotten that there was a little eunuch summoned from the palace standing below, waiting tremblingly for her punishment. When the supper was over and several cases were dismissed, Queen Wang rinsed her mouth, drank a cup of Gu Zhu Zisun, and finally asked slowly: "Eunuch Yang, do you think that the long night in the Tai Chi Palace seems too deserted?" ?” Huang Zixia could only bite the bullet and say, "If there is excitement in the heart, there will be busy streets everywhere. If the heart is deserted, perhaps there will be deserted places everywhere." Queen Wang raised her eyelids and glanced at her, her voice was gentle and soft: "Eunuch Yang, I am now moving to Taiji Palace, it is all thanks to you; I am lonely now, and it is all because of you. I don't know How should I repay my father-in-law so that I can live up to the many favors that my father-in-law bestowed on me?" Hearing what she said, Huang Zixia felt a flame burning in his chest, and the sweat on his back quickly seeped out.She desperately thought about the meaning of "true body" in her heart, and said: "The empress moved to the new palace today, even if it is for the sake of auspiciousness, she should treat her servants kindly and show tolerance..." "Tolerance?" Queen Wang raised the corners of her lips slightly, but there was a cold light in her eyes, "When you were talking nonsense in the Wang family, did you ever think about being tolerant to me?" what about you?When getting rid of one after another old people, relatives and lovers in the past, that kind of cold-blooded viciousness, why have you ever thought about today? Huang Zixia thought so in his heart, but couldn't say it out, he could only stand there with his head down, watching a drop of sweat from his forehead fall on the green brick floor at his feet, it couldn't seep in for a long time, leaving a conspicuous cyan trace. Queen Wang looked around again, as if talking to herself, and said, "What's more, how can there be good luck in this palace? When Empress Changsun died in this Lizheng Palace, no matter how beautiful and gorgeous this palace is, How could no one have died?" Huang Zixia stared at a drop of sweat that was slowly dripping away from his feet, and reluctantly said: "Empress Changsun is a generation of virtuous empresses, who have been loved and loved by Emperor Taizong I, and the empress will surely be like her, and be blessed forever." "Hmph...it's too late to say anything now, Eunuch Yang. If you were half as smart as you are now, you should know that there are certain things that decide what you should say and what you shouldn't say, and your life is decided!" What should be said, what should not be said... a life. This sentence sounded in her ears, like a thunderbolt, which made her suddenly startled.Real body, real body, damn Li Shubai, that's what he meant! In an instant, she understood, she knelt down on the ground, kowtowed heavily to the queen in front of her, and said: "I beg your highness to listen to this servant, just one sentence. After finishing speaking, this servant will die today." Here, I am also willing!" Queen Wang sneered and asked slowly, "What?" She looked around without saying a word. Queen Wang slowly raised her hand, signaling to everyone around her to go down and wait outside, then she looked at her coldly without saying a word. Huang Zixia bowed deeply to her again, then raised her head, and said, "Your Highness, I know that I am mortal, so it doesn't make any difference when and where I die? I just don't know what crime Your Highness will accuse me of? " "Do you need to be charged?" Queen Wang looked at her coldly, as if looking down on an ant with contempt, "You know the biggest secret of this palace, is it a capital crime?" "Of course it's a death penalty," Huang Zixia said respectfully, looking up at her, "but now this servant has something to tell Her Highness the Queen, maybe after you hear it, you will feel that there is still room for change in this matter." "Say." Huang Zixia heard her heart beating hard, she knew that her life depended on this sentence, she hoped that what Li Shubai told her would be useful. She took a deep breath and said softly: "I still remember that three years ago, when I was fourteen years old, I was summoned by your queen for the first time. At that time, you told me that if I had a daughter, she might be as old as you. As cute as you." Empress Wang's gaze was fixed on her, her complexion fluctuating under the light at this time.After a long silence, she finally asked slowly, "You...are the one from three years ago..." She bent down and knelt down in front of the queen: "Sinful girl Huang Zixia, I greet Her Royal Highness the queen." Queen Wang asked coldly: "You know that I hate you and want you to die, why do you show yourself short to me?" "His Royal Highness's secret has already been forgiven by the emperor. This servant believes that the emperor and the queen have a deep relationship, and the return of love is just around the corner. But the secret of this servant is a major matter that really concerns the life and death of this servant. The servant is willing to hand over her life In the hands of Her Majesty the Empress, if Her Majesty the Empress is worried that I will be unfavorable to you in the future, all you need to do is to say a word, and the servant will be sentenced to ten thousand deaths, and you don't need to do it yourself." Queen Wang remained silent, staring at her dignified face for a long time, then slowly stood up, walked to the window, and stared at the faint lights outside.Her side profile is gracefully curved, her complexion is pale at this time, and her posture is like a white peony blooming quietly in the dark night. Huang Zixia looked at her sideways, guessing in her heart the probability of her falling out.The sweat on her back hadn't dried yet, and the coldness penetrated into her skin, making her shiver involuntarily. I don't know how long it took before she heard Queen Wang's calm and gentle voice, which was still the same kind of graceful and deep voice, resounding in the hall: "Did you think that you sent your life to me?" In my hands, I will think that you have something to use, so I will wipe away all the things you have offended me before?" "Zi Xia dare not!" She looked up at the Queen and said earnestly, "But Zi Xia thinks that Her Royal Highness must know the past between Emperor Taizong and Wei Zheng, and the relationship between Empress Wu and Shangguan Wan'er. The world is changing, and it is okay to hate the country and the family." Changes, as long as Zi Xia can be used by you, what does the past matter?" Empress Wang walked up to her slowly, looked down at her kneeling on the ground, her eyes slid inch by inch from her head, shoulders, and waist.After a long time, this woman who had always been domineering suddenly let out an inaudible sigh, and said, "In this case, I hold your life in my hands first. If you can't be my motivator from now on, I won't take it later." "Thank you, Your Royal Highness, for your kindness!" Huang Zixia bowed her head, feeling the cold sweat all over her body had pierced into all the pores of her body.But she didn't dare to wipe it, so she could only bow her head and answer without moving. Queen Wang ignored her, and stood in front of her for a long time before saying in a low voice, "Huang Zixia, Huang Zixia... you have done me a favor." Huang Zixia didn't know why, so she looked at her with wide eyes. "Without you, perhaps I would never have known about Xuese's death in my whole life, let alone that she... died at my hands," she clenched her teeth, and finally squeezed out those words with difficulty. He let out a long breath, "If you hadn't revealed it, maybe I would not know how sinful I am until I meet her underground after I die... At that time, I really don't know what face I will use to meet her... " Huang Zixia was speechless, thinking in her heart, but what face do you want to go underground to meet Jinnu who has always respected you like the sky and love you like a mother, and to meet the Jinnu who traveled thousands of miles to escort your old friend's daughter to Beijing in order to repay your kindness back then? Feng Yiniang? "Forget it, I even killed my daughter. Today... I don't want to kill any more for the time being." Queen Wang turned around and sat down on the couch, pulled a brocade cushion and leaned against the window, looking up at Geng Geng Xinghan outside the window. The light of the palace lanterns has been exhausted, the Milky Way hangs upside down across the Tai Chi Palace, and the stars are like the tiniest dust, pouring into the sky. "Lenggong...what's the point?" Huang Zixia heard her voice, as if squeezed out word by word from her heart and lungs, and said firmly and coldly: "Since I can climb to the highest place of Daming Palace from the music workshop, Then there will be a day when I can return to Daming Palace again from the cold palace! In this Tang Dynasty, in this world, the person who can defeat me has not yet been born!" Huang Zixia knelt in front of her, feeling mixed and speechless for a while. And this tough woman, in the midst of the half-disabled palace lanterns, in the desolate and silent ancient palace, lay down and looked at the galaxy outside the window. Things, obliterated in the palm of my hand. The palace leaks bit by bit, no matter how long the night is, it will eventually pass, and the starry sky is already dawning outside the window. Huang Zixia silently kowtowed to her, and when she was about to stand up and exit, she suddenly heard Queen Wang's low voice, which came slowly: "Huang Zixia, in your life, you have ever encountered a desperate situation that made you feel worse than death. ?" Huang Zixia replied: "Yes... when all my parents and family members died, I was accused of being the murderer and arrested everywhere. But I didn't want to die. Even if I die, I don't want to die with the crime of poisoning the whole family!" "But I really had... the moment when I wanted to die." She lay quietly on the brocade couch, and the densely woven and colorful embroidered gauze covered her body.She was submerged in the embrace of silk and brocade, and her black hair, which was as soft as a waterfall, snaked around her body.Her plain face was full of exhaustion and haggardness. "Have you... ever seen Xue Se? Does she really look like me?" Huang Zixia shook her head and said, "Unfortunately, I passed her by in the foreign teaching workshop, but I haven't seen her before." "Well... I will never have the chance to see my daughter again," she sighed, and said in a low voice, "the last time I saw Xue Shi, she had just passed her fifth birthday. At that time我二十三岁，原本一直对我说，不介意我乐伎出身的敬修——程敬修，就是我那时候的丈夫，他说，在这种地方长大，对女儿毕竟不好，要我跟他离开。” 黄梓瑕不知她为什么忽然要对自己说这些。在这样冷清的宫廷中，周围一片死寂，长夜漫漫，看不到前路又看不到去路。她望着面前的王皇后，不觉恻隐，便静听她说下去。 “其实云韶苑虽然是歌舞乐坊，但绝非青楼。我们一众姐妹都是以艺养身，自敬自爱。可我与敬修争执几次之后，也只能无奈答应了他，带着女儿随他一路北上，到京城碰运气。因他认为自己一手画技绝伦，泱泱长安定然会有人赏识。 “可惜一路上并不太平，兵匪作乱，我多年的积蓄散佚无几。到长安时我们已经囊中羞涩，只能租赁了一间小厢房住下。敬修一开始也出去碰运气，然而他无门无路，谁会帮他引荐？很快他便因处处遭受白眼冷遇，再也不想出门了，只坐在房中唉声叹气。 “在扬州时，敬修风流倜傥，每日只需作画自娱，对我又温柔，所以我们感情是很好的。然而一旦到了长安，贫贱夫妻百事哀，我突然发现，原来我所找的男人，竟然连生存下去的能力都没有。而那时雪色又生了病，在阴湿寒冷的小厢房中，连敬修给我定情的那支叶脉凝露簪都当掉了。我们饥寒交迫，衣食无着，更别提给女儿治病了……我抱着雪色跑遍了医馆，可因为没有钱，就算跪在医馆门口痛哭哀求，也依然无人理会。敬修赶来拉我回去，骂我丢脸，我只能整夜地抱着女儿，给她擦身子，睁着眼睛担惊受怕地听她的呼吸，看着窗外的天色渐渐亮起来……那时，也是这样的长夜，也是这样，似乎一闭上眼，就要留不住眼前一切的绝望……” 即使是十二年前的旧事，她此时说来，依旧是绝望而凛冽，轻易便割开了她的心口最深处。她伏在枕上，睁着一双茫然没有焦距的眼睛，口中的话飘忽而混乱，仿佛不是讲给面前的她听。 “雪色命大，终于熬了下来，可敬修又因为心情阴郁而病倒了。眼看因为交不起房租，我们一家即将被丢出那间破旧厢房，我只能瞒着敬修，一个人到西市找机会。 “我记得非常清楚，那时是寒冬时节，西市的街边，槐树的枯叶一片片落下。有个年纪有五六十岁的女人，披着破烂的褐色麻衣，坐在西市的街口乞讨。她抱着一把断漆斑驳的旧琵琶，唱着荒腔走板的一曲《长相守》，嗓音嘶哑。又脏又乱的头发蓬乱地堆在肩上，衬着她肮脏褶皱的一张脸，就像风化的石块上堆满干枯苔藓。可是没办法……她身上的破衣根本遮不住刀子般的寒风，她的手已经冻裂出血口，嘴唇也是干裂乌紫，而那把琵琶的音轴也久已未调，枯弦歪准，哪里还能真的弹出一曲琵琶呢？” 王皇后那双愣怔的眼中，终于缓缓滑落下两行眼泪。她捂着自己的脸，哽咽道：“你不会明白……那时我心里的绝望。那一日，我在那个女人面前站了很久很久。寒冷欲雨的下午，西市寥落无人。我看着她，仿佛看见了三十年后的自己。我从一枝灼灼其华的花朵，活成了一团裹着破衣乱絮的污黑糟粕……无依无靠，贫病交加，最后麻木而苍凉地死在街头，无声无息地朽烂了尸骨，没有人知道我曾拥有万人争睹的容貌与才情……” 她长长地、颤抖地深深呼吸着，艰难地说：“就是那一个下午，我抛弃了我所有的天真，明白了所谓的爱情，其实在现实面前，不堪一击。我真正需要的，不是和敬修相依为命，而是——我要活下去，而且我还要活得好好的，永远不要有抱着琵琶在西市乞讨的那一天！” 黄梓瑕默然看着她，并不说话。 “就在那个时候，我遇见了当初和我一起学艺的一个姐妹。她本是那么笨拙的人，长得不好看，琵琶技艺也不精，学了三个多月都没有学会一首曲子——可她嫁了一个茶叶商，穿着簇新的锦衣，鬓边大朵的金花，七八支步摇插在头上，一种田舍翁陡富的土气，却比我光鲜一百倍。她坐在马车上叫住在街边独行的我，用同情与炫耀的神情，问我怎么沦落成这样了，又问我是不是需要帮忙，给我找个教授琵琶的活儿。 “当时她连车都没有下，居高临下地看着我笑，而我依然觉得这是自己的幸运。因为我真的已经到了山穷水尽的地步，若没有她，我不知道我接下来会走向哪一步。我跟着她去了琅邪王家，只说自己是她的远房亲戚，因为父母双亡所以沦落京城。我的琵琶技艺让众人都叹服，于是就留了下来。我回去收拾了几件衣服，把那个姐妹接济的一点钱交给敬修，说，等发了月银，再送过来，”她的声音幽幽的，轻若不闻，“那个时候，我甚至没有告诉他我要去的是哪里。雪色抱着我的腿大哭，她从小性子就那么倔，我知道她哭起来，如果不好好哄的话，她会一直哭到晕厥也不肯停歇。但那时我……我也只能咬牙把她抱起来，交到敬修的怀中，而他只沉默地看着我。我走出了院门，他依然一声不响。我忍不住回头，看一看自己的丈夫和女儿，却只看见敬修抱着大哭的雪色坐在床上，夕阳的余光照在他的眼睛上，他那双空洞洞的眼睛一直盯着我，一直盯着我，直到现在，还在我的面前……” 她的声音，终于越来越轻，几若不闻。但她眼中，跳动着一种疯狂的暗火，令人心颤。 黄梓瑕也沉默了许久，才轻轻开口说：“想必您离开雪色的时候，也是十分不舍的。” “是，但我得活下去，我顾不上她了，”王皇后的目光看向她，泪痕未干，脸颊上却已带上冷冷的笑意，“我在王家教授琵琶不久，郓王来访，我抱着琵琶出去时，一瞬间看见他的眼睛中，有种东西亮起来。在扬州的时候，很多人这样看我，我都置之不顾，而那一刻我却忽然不知为什么，一瞬间……只犹豫了一瞬间，我抱着琵琶对他微微而笑，用敬修最喜欢的、温柔仰望的姿态。果然王麟不久便来找我商议，说郓王将我误认成王家女儿了，让我将错就错进王府。他对于王家的衰败有心无力，真是病急乱投医，他既不知道我是乐籍出身，更不知道我有夫有女，就敢找我商议。而我听着王麟的话，眼前就像做梦一样，闪过西市那个年老的琵琶女，那污黑的一张脸、一副唇、一双手……我立即便答应了！那时我便对自己说，就像飞蛾扑火，就算死，我也必定要死在辉煌璀璨的地方！” 她气息急促，狠戾偏激的言语，却让黄梓瑕感觉到一种无言的绝望与悲凉。 “世事就是这么荒唐，这十二年来，我在宫里如鱼得水，活得比谁都好。我神不知鬼不觉除掉了当初举荐我进王家的那个姐妹，斗败了郭淑妃，从一个王府媵走到皇后，王芙的儿子俨儿由我一手抚养，并力排众议立为太子，我的晔儿是皇上最疼爱的孩子——我知道自己的人生，最适合的就是宫廷！我站在天下最高处，接受万民朝拜，就算我没有了自己的爱人与女儿，那又怎么样？我活得锦绣繁华，天下人人艳羡！” 黄梓瑕在心里叹息摇头，低声说道：“可您的女儿都不愿进京与您相见，您就算得了全天下，可手上却沾满了亲人和姐妹徒儿的血腥，难道心里就不会有愧疚悲哀？” “愧疚？悲哀？”王皇后冷硬的眸子中，闪过一痕几乎不可见的黯淡。但随即，她扬起下巴，用冷笑的神情瞥着她：“十二年前，我也曾经如你一般天真浪漫，以为身边有夫有女，就算贫病交加，依然是幸福美满。可惜……可惜人会变，心会老，只有日子，一天天得挨过去！当你面临生死无着的绝境时，你就什么都懂了！” 黄梓瑕默然许久，又问：“所以，您后来，再也没有见过程敬修与雪色吗？” “没有。自决定进郓王府之后，我就托那位姐妹将我当掉的那只叶脉凝露簪赎了出来，连盘缠一起交给她，让她对他们说，梅挽致已经死了，他们不用找她了。” 黄梓瑕还在静静等着她下面的话，但王皇后似乎已经没有再想说下去的欲望了，她呆呆地侧卧在榻上，在满殿锦绣之中，怔怔地沉浸在往昔之中，良久，良久。之后她垂下眼，凄凉一笑：“是啊，那一日起，梅挽致就死了，她自此后，对琵琶又怕又恨，再也没有碰过。小施带回来的叶脉银簪上，有一朵程敬修亲手刻的梅花，也被化掉了……这世上只剩一个王芍，活得比谁都好，安居深宫，锦绣繁华。就算死，王芍也要死在高堂华屋之中，锦绣绮罗之内。这一世，韶华极盛，求仁得仁。” 这么凄凉的语调，却掩不去其中的入骨倔强。 她再也不想说什么，轻微地挥了挥手，示意黄梓瑕退下。 只是就在黄梓瑕起身离去的这一瞬间，她听到王皇后在她的身后，低低地说：“三年前，那一句话，我说的，是真的。” 她愕然转头，看向这个冷硬而决绝的女人。 而王皇后卧在宫殿的那一端，静静地说：“那时我看见十四岁的你，在春日艳阳中，穿着一身银红色的衣衫袅袅走来，如同风中初发的一枝豆蔻。那时我忽然在心里想，如果雪色在我身边的话，她一定……也是这般美好模样。”
太极宫的夜，静谧而冷清。 黄梓瑕顺着来时路，一步步走出这座冷落的宫殿。 头顶的星空缓缓转移，一路上宫灯都已熄灭。鸣虫的声音，繁密地在这样的静夜中回响着。 黄梓瑕仰头望着天空，看着密密繁星。 若说每个人的命运是一颗星辰的话，在这一刻，仿佛所有人的命运都只是微不足道的一点闪烁。人活于世，如同草芥，就算星落如雨，遍坠于野，也不过是流光转瞬，唯余万千年后令人微微一叹而已。 她走到太极宫门口，走出缓缓开启的偏门。 星空之下，暗夜之中，站着一个颀长挺拔的人。他在寂静的星月背景下，望着走出来的她，神情平静。而他眼中的星月倒影，在看见她身影的一刹那，仿佛被水光搅动，微微波动起来。 黄梓瑕站在宫门口，一时迷惘。 他向她走来，声音依然是那么冷淡疏离：“愣着干什么？走吧。” “王爷……”黄梓瑕无措地喊了他一声，抬头仰望着他在星月之光中显得幽微的面容轮廓，低声问，“你一直在等我吗？” 他没有回答，把自己的脸转向一边：“顺路经过。” 黄梓瑕望着此时宵禁的寂夜长安，不由自主地露出一丝笑容。 李舒白不再理她，转身向着马车走去。 黄梓瑕赶紧跟着他，想了想，忍不住还是问：“万一……我是说万一呀，我要是没有领会你的意思，真的被杀了，那你不是白等了？” 李舒白头也不回，说：“第一，王皇后此时失势幽居冷宫之中，她怎么会在这个时候动手杀你这个揭穿了她身份的人？这要她在皇上面前怎么交代？” 她在心里暗想，自己又没混过宫廷和朝廷，当然不知道会是这样。再说了，如果真的肯定没事的话，你又何必三次把我踢下水，何必彻夜站在这里等呢？ “那……第二呢？” “第二，她连小施都放过了，我想她必定疲倦了。” "What about the third?" “第三。”李舒白终于回头斜了她一眼，静夜之中，长风从他们身边流过，悄无声息。 “如果你连我那样的暗示都听不懂，你就不是黄梓瑕。” 黄梓瑕不由自主地微微笑出来。 大难得脱，夜色温柔。她与李舒白一起坐在马车上，向着夔王府行去。 马车的金铃声轻轻摇晃，车内悬挂的琉璃瓶中，红色的小鱼安静地睡在瓶底，如同一朵沉寂在水中的花。 车窗外，长安的街灯缓缓透进来，又缓缓流过去。 明明暗暗的光，深深浅浅的影，寂静无声的流年。 光影游弋在他们两人之间那相隔两尺的空间里，恍若凝固。
此时此刻，长安城门口，怀抱着雪色骨灰的小施，抬头望着浩瀚银河。她用力抱紧了怀中的雪色，抱着她在这世上唯一仅存的灰烬，恸哭失声。 百里之外，仓促逃出京城的陈念娘，在长风呼啸的荒原之上跋涉。她抬头望向茫茫前路，长空星汉繁盛，自此后她在世上仅有孤身，唯一可以握紧的，只有手中那一对小小的玉坠。 九州万里，星月之下，静夜埋葬了一切声息。
Covered in muddy water, she went to the kitchen to fetch two large buckets of hot water, washed herself completely, then half-dried her freshly washed hair indiscriminately, and then fell on the bed. During this period of time, she was really exhausted from running around worrying about this case.So as soon as she lay down and touched the pillow, she began to fall into lethargy. She didn't know how long she had slept, when she heard the door knocking lightly, and there was a slight knock on the door. The vigilance she had cultivated over the past few months made her quickly open her eyes, half-sit up and scanned the room, and found a solid darkness, and the night was already deep. She put on her clothes and got up, opened the door and saw Li Shubai standing at the door, holding a small lamp in her left hand and a small food box in her right.The light from the small lamp was a kind of warm orange, shining on his face that was usually perfectly lined like a jade carving but made people feel cool, cast a layer of softness for no reason. Seeing her in a daze, he didn't pay any attention to her, he just put the food box in his hand on the table and said, "That's fine, I don't need to call you." Although he was startled, it was just a subconscious body reaction. Huang Zixia was still unconscious. She stared at him in a daze, grabbed her messy and tangled hair, looked at the dark sky outside, and asked : "What time is it?" "At midnight," he opened the food box, took out a dark brown thing from inside and handed it to her, "Ginger soup, drink it." She frowned at him for a long time with barely sober eyes, and finally caught something wrong in her consciousness: "Prince Kui, in the middle of the night, you came to me in person... just to bring me ginger soup?" "Of course not," he said, turned around and walked out, closing the door behind him, "After drinking, change clothes, there are guests visiting."
The one who can make Prince Kui call Huang Zixia in person in the middle of the night is naturally not an ordinary person. The beauty under the lamp is as gorgeous as peaches and plums. A girl dressed in ordinary palace maid costumes stood in front of them.It's a pity that the peach and plum flowers have been eroded by sorrow and sorrow, and they are already haggard and withered.She looked up at them, and the leaf-veined dew hairpin on her temples was dimly glowing under the light. Wang Ruo—or, Xiao Shi. Huang Zixia was stunned for a moment.But Xiao Shi silently bowed down and bowed to them. Her soft skirt brushed the ground silently, like a flower falling without wind. "Xiao Shi thanked Prince Kui for saving his life." Li Shubai nodded slightly, but did not speak. Xiao Shi was kneeling all the time, only looking at him with a pair of calm and sad eyes, it seemed that there were thousands of thoughts surging in those eyes, but he couldn't express them at all. After a long time, she said in a hoarse voice: "I have been staying in the Taiji Palace...it has been abandoned, almost no one passes by, and no one knows who I am...until today the Queen came to me and said, if If it wasn't for me, Xuese might not die." Xiao Shi spoke quietly, bowed his head and knelt on the ground, as silent as if he didn't even breathe. Huang Zixia couldn't bear it, and comforted her, saying: "Everything was a mistake, Xuese's death...you are not the murderer." On Xiao Shi's plain white face, the embellishment of rouge was lost, and there was a layer of icy paleness.She looked at her with lifeless dying eyes, and said in a low voice: "But I think Her Royal Highness is right, without me, Xuese wouldn't have died..." Huang Zixia said: "But without you, Xuese would have been gone three years ago." Xiao Shi didn't feel relieved, her head lowered lower and lower, and finally almost fell on the ground.She rested her forehead on the back of her hand that was close to the ground, her voice was choked and blurred: "If there was no snow color, I would not be in this world anymore... We were dependent on each other in the chaos, and we went to Yangzhou and Puzhou together... ...Aunt Lauder treats us as her own, and I also learn piano and dance from her like Xuese. Although I didn't learn very well, we lived a very good life in the past three years. If... If not If Feng Niang appeared in front of us, we are still so good until now..." Li Shubai watched coldly and did not speak. "The queen scolded me angrily, saying that because I was greedy for vanity, I pretended to be Xuese, so that I made a big mistake now... But in fact, Xuese and I don't know her current identity, so even Feng who came to pick us up Mother, she doesn't know..." Xiao Shi covered her face and said in a trembling voice, tears trickled down between her fingers, trickling down, unstoppable. "At that time, Aunt Lauder and Uncle went to Ganzhou together due to an urgent matter... Xue Se heard from the concierge that her mother had sent someone to pick her up for marriage in Beijing, so she discussed with me and said that she has no intention of getting married now. What's more, when her mother abandoned their father and daughter, her father became sick with grief and anger, and died young in his early thirties... So, she didn't want to see her mother! But I persuaded her, we are now in Lauder On Aunt's side, although she is also eager to help us, finding a spouse is not easy given our background. If her mother can really find a good home for her, it wouldn't be a bad thing... "But Xuese grabbed my hand and said, how about this, anyway, my mother abandoned me when I was five years old, and Feng Niang only saw us in Yangzhou when we were 13 or 14 years old. Who knows what I am now? What does it look like? Just say that you are me and follow Niang Feng to Beijing. If there is a good one, you are also lucky to marry a good man. Then...then... "Then she took out the silver ingot that Prince Kui asked us to take away from her side, gave me half of it, and said, using this as proof, I hope you can help me inquire about that person in the capital, and have a look. Where is he now? It's been three years, why didn't he come to me with a hairpin? Even if he went to Yangzhou, the people in Yunshaoyuan would tell him that Aunt Lauder is in Puzhou... "I really wanted to tell her that her leaf vein hairpin was thrown away by the other party when she turned around. I secretly helped her hide it for three years and wanted to return it to her when she got married. But I knew that, Xue It will definitely be very embarrassing, so I thought, don't tell her, just take it to the capital and return it to her mother." When Xiao Shi said this, he was stunned for a long time, then bit his lower lip, and said: "However, when I came to Wang's house and saw Wang and Queen at a glance, I knew that Xuese and I might have been forged. Big mistake. We didn't know that her mother is now a person in the Nine Heavens, we thought... thought she was just married to a rich businessman or a small official... However, I dare not speak! After knowing After knowing the identity of Xuese's mother and knowing this important secret of the palace, if I say that I am just a fake, wouldn't it be tantamount to asking for death? I sent the leaf vein hairpin to Queen Wang, and she has no doubts about my identity. Without a doubt, she ordered someone to destroy the silver hairpin because she felt that it was not considered rich in the palace, and made an identical gold hairpin for me out of gold, and told me that King Kui was about to choose a concubine, and there is currently no outstanding one in the royal family. Girl, let me go to the selection as a girl in the fourth room. At that time, I still had fantasies. If I became a princess, it would be nice to be rich and wealthy, but I would definitely be able to find our benefactor and Xuese's sweetheart with the help of the power of the palace. However, when I was led to the apse and saw Prince Kui standing in front of me..." Her lips trembled violently, her throat was choked, and she was unable to speak for a long time.After a long time, she covered her face and sobbed: "I know, God's will tricks people, everything is over. Me, and Xuese, are all over..." It was very difficult for her voice to come out of her throat. In such a quiet night, it sounded doubly shrill.The night wind was suddenly strong, and the light from the palace lantern swayed sharply, fading layer by layer on her face, causing her face to show a strange twist, which was shocking. "I can't tell the secret I'm carrying. I have nightmares every night. I dream that I will die when I snatch Xuese's sweetheart away... But I can't help but imagine in my heart with guilt that once I fly to the branch and become The concubine Kui that everyone admires..." She knelt on the ground, her fingernails were pinched on the green brick floor and broke, but she didn't seem to feel it. The meeting with King Kui is... I must find her the best and best man in the world..." Huang Zixia looked at Li Shubai, but saw that he was just looking at the palace lantern spinning in the wind in the corridor, without any expression on his face. She couldn't help thinking in her heart, is there any point in wasting such suffering and nostalgia on a man who doesn't have any feelings for you? Just like the lights far and near in the garden at this time, no matter how brilliant and brilliant, who would know which beautiful flower that bloomed late at night it once shone on? "I couldn't sleep or eat at that time, and finally revealed the secret in my sleep. I don't know if Feng Niang really noticed it, but she must have become suspicious. And I know that once this matter is leaked, my life... will definitely end here. She died in Chang'an. At this time, Empress Wang asked me in private if Feng Niang seemed reliable. I...I don't know why I shook my head in a strange way..." "Then, Queen Wang ordered someone to poison Feng Yiniang to death, and then disposed of the body?" Xiao Shi cried so much that she almost fainted. She couldn't speak, so she could only nod reluctantly. Sure enough, it was Queen Wang who sent someone to poison Feng Yiniang, who killed Feng Yiniang, and then threw it among the refugees in Youzhou, pretending to die of an epidemic. Huang Zixia and Li Shubai looked at each other, thinking, in fact, when Queen Wang let Feng Yiniang go to Beijing, she had already regarded Feng Yiniang as the one who must be discarded, so what does it matter what Xiao Shi said? But Huang Zixia only sighed secretly in his heart, stepped forward to pull up Xiao Shi who was crying on the ground, and said in a low voice: "Get up, it is your great fortune that Your Highness the Queen spared your life." And Li Shubai finally asked Xiao Shi: "How will she let you deal with yourself in the future?" Xiao Shi opened the package next to him, and took out a small jar with trembling hands.She hugged the jar in her arms and stroked it gently for a long time before she looked up at them and said, "This is the ashes of Xuese. I want to take her back to Liuzhou and bury her beside her father. From now on , I will stay in front of her tomb for the rest of my life, until my death, and the sun will shine, and I will never be separated." Standing in front of her, Huang Zixia saw the loose sideburns beside her cheeks trembling slightly in the night wind that leaked in from the window at this moment, like weeds without roots, with no way back and no way out. Li Shubai took out the two silver ingots from the drawer beside her, put them in front of her, and said, "Take them back." Xiao Shi looked at the two silver ingots of about the same size, and said in a low voice: "Actually, Xuese also knows that maybe you will never come, but she has decided to wait forever. She often tells me that if one day, If I can see you again, she will take out this silver ingot when you take out the leaf vein dew hairpin. There is no way to be with you, even Xue Se...I guess there will be no way. So I left it there, thinking, if you really remember us and saw us, maybe you can still be in your heart , leaving a faint imprint..." Huang Zixia sighed, picked up the other half, and said: "And this half is the woman who came to the foreign teacher workshop, which is the evidence of Xue Se. Maybe she was attacked in a hurry in that room and left me. When I rushed over, it was only a moment, but I missed it." "All of this is fate," Xiao Shi murmured while holding the silver ingot, "My fate and her fate were preordained twelve years ago." Because a woman tampered with her own destiny, the life trajectory she deviated from then on changed the destiny of many people.
After seeing Xiao Shi off, Huang Zixia watched the palace chariot head for the outside of Chang'an City in the quiet night after the curfew, towards an unknown future. She turned around and walked to the gate of the mansion, only to find that Yongji and Changqing, who had followed Xiao Shi, were standing at the gate and gestured to her to get on the bus: "Eunuch Yang, the queen said, no matter how late, no matter what your situation is, , regardless of whether you fell into the water and got a cold or not, I will summon you." It's coming, it's an omen to strike. Queen Wang knew that Xiao Shi, the key person in this case, came to ask for an interview, and she would definitely meet her, so she waited here! With a bitter face, she subconsciously looked at Li Shubai. Li Shubai nodded calmly, motioning for her to follow. She opened her eyes slightly, looked at him speechlessly, and signaled to him with her eyes—the queen is going to make me disappear in this world! He only returned her a "quiet, calm" look, leaving Huang Zixia speechless and helpless.Life is unfortunate, the world is cold, and he just helped him solve the difficult case of the princess. Why is this person crossing the river and demolishing the bridge now, and actually wants to watch the queen attack him? Yongji and Changqing were still staring at her.She could only bite the bullet and walk out. The moment she passed Li Shubai's side, she heard Li Shubai's lowered voice, saying: "The real body." ah? She thought she had heard wrong, and looked sideways at him, but he was still indifferent, and he didn't even look at her anymore, only uttered an understatement sentence: "The dew is heavy at night, be careful of catching a cold."
real body. What's the meaning? Huang Zixia followed a group of people out of the palace, and sat in the palace carriage with Yongji and Changqing to the Taiji Palace, thinking hard all the way. In Chang'an under curfew, the sound of horseshoes and wheels echoed on the broad road, and almost echoed in Huang Zixia's chest. She tossed and thought about the meaning of those two words, but after thinking about it, she felt that Li Shubai might just let her give up on herself and let her die—this cold-faced and heartless person, at the critical moment, really didn't intend to save himself at all? When she was about to cry while clutching the wall of the car, Yongji pulled out a voice and said, "Eunuch Yang, we have arrived at Taiji Palace, get out of the car." Her scalp was numb, but there was nothing she could do, so she could only follow him out of the car. The Taiji Palace, which had been vacant for a hundred years, was incomparably deserted, just like the Leng Palace in the mouths of all living beings outside. In the long night, looking from a distance, the harem was sunk in darkness, only a few palace lanterns were lit in front of the Lizheng Hall, illuminating the vermilion gate, wall and pillars. Huang Zixia followed Yongji and Changqing into the Lizheng Hall step by step. The fluffy green grass drilled out of the green brick floor, the longest one even has no ankles, and when the foot steps on it, it feels unstable and erratic because of its softness.The stone lanterns at the entrance of the hall have become smooth and mottled in the wind and rain, and the light shines through, allowing people to clearly see the green moss marks on them. The stone lotus hanging from the eaves and the peeling vermilion lacquer on the pillars all make people feel clearly that they are in a palace that has not been carefully maintained for a long time.No matter how magnificent and gorgeous it is, it is still a place that few people pass by and is forgotten. The people around Queen Wang are all very capable. The Queen just moved into the Tai Chi Palace in the afternoon, and now the Lizheng Palace has been cleaned up, and everything is comfortable and appropriate. It was early in the morning, but Queen Wang hadn't rested yet. She was sitting on the couch at the back of the palace, perhaps waiting for her.The ladies in the palace brought the cooked sorbet porridge with four delicate side dishes.Queen Wang ate slowly, calmly, gracefully and slowly, as if she had completely forgotten that there was a little eunuch summoned from the palace standing below, waiting tremblingly for her punishment. When the supper was over and several cases were dismissed, Queen Wang rinsed her mouth, drank a cup of Gu Zhu Zisun, and finally asked slowly: "Eunuch Yang, do you think that the long night in the Tai Chi Palace seems too deserted?" ?” Huang Zixia could only bite the bullet and say, "If there is excitement in the heart, there will be busy streets everywhere. If the heart is deserted, perhaps there will be deserted places everywhere." Queen Wang raised her eyelids and glanced at her, her voice was gentle and soft: "Eunuch Yang, I am now moving to Taiji Palace, it is all thanks to you; I am lonely now, and it is all because of you. I don't know How should I repay my father-in-law so that I can live up to the many favors that my father-in-law bestowed on me?" Hearing what she said, Huang Zixia felt a flame burning in his chest, and the sweat on his back quickly seeped out.She desperately thought about the meaning of "true body" in her heart, and said: "The empress moved to the new palace today, even if it is for the sake of auspiciousness, she should treat her servants kindly and show tolerance..." "Tolerance?" Queen Wang raised the corners of her lips slightly, but there was a cold light in her eyes, "When you were talking nonsense in the Wang family, did you ever think about being tolerant to me?" what about you?When getting rid of one after another old people, relatives and lovers in the past, that kind of cold-blooded viciousness, why have you ever thought about today? Huang Zixia thought so in his heart, but couldn't say it out, he could only stand there with his head down, watching a drop of sweat from his forehead fall on the green brick floor at his feet, it couldn't seep in for a long time, leaving a conspicuous cyan trace. Queen Wang looked around again, as if talking to herself, and said, "What's more, how can there be good luck in this palace? When Empress Changsun died in this Lizheng Palace, no matter how beautiful and gorgeous this palace is, How could no one have died?" Huang Zixia stared at a drop of sweat that was slowly dripping away from his feet, and reluctantly said: "Empress Changsun is a generation of virtuous empresses, who have been loved and loved by Emperor Taizong I, and the empress will surely be like her, and be blessed forever." "Hmph...it's too late to say anything now, Eunuch Yang. If you were half as smart as you are now, you should know that there are certain things that decide what you should say and what you shouldn't say, and your life is decided!" What should be said, what should not be said... a life. This sentence sounded in her ears, like a thunderbolt, which made her suddenly startled.Real body, real body, damn Li Shubai, that's what he meant! In an instant, she understood, she knelt down on the ground, kowtowed heavily to the queen in front of her, and said: "I beg your highness to listen to this servant, just one sentence. After finishing speaking, this servant will die today." Here, I am also willing!" Queen Wang sneered and asked slowly, "What?" She looked around without saying a word. Queen Wang slowly raised her hand, signaling to everyone around her to go down and wait outside, then she looked at her coldly without saying a word. Huang Zixia bowed deeply to her again, then raised her head, and said, "Your Highness, I know that I am mortal, so it doesn't make any difference when and where I die? I just don't know what crime Your Highness will accuse me of? " "Do you need to be charged?" Queen Wang looked at her coldly, as if looking down on an ant with contempt, "You know the biggest secret of this palace, is it a capital crime?" "Of course it's a death penalty," Huang Zixia said respectfully, looking up at her, "but now this servant has something to tell Her Highness the Queen, maybe after you hear it, you will feel that there is still room for change in this matter." "Say." Huang Zixia heard her heart beating hard, she knew that her life depended on this sentence, she hoped that what Li Shubai told her would be useful. She took a deep breath and said softly: "I still remember that three years ago, when I was fourteen years old, I was summoned by your queen for the first time. At that time, you told me that if I had a daughter, she might be as old as you. As cute as you." Empress Wang's gaze was fixed on her, her complexion fluctuating under the light at this time.After a long silence, she finally asked slowly, "You...are the one from three years ago..." She bent down and knelt down in front of the queen: "Sinful girl Huang Zixia, I greet Her Royal Highness the queen." Queen Wang asked coldly: "You know that I hate you and want you to die, why do you show yourself short to me?" "His Royal Highness's secret has already been forgiven by the emperor. This servant believes that the emperor and the queen have a deep relationship, and the return of love is just around the corner. But the secret of this servant is a major matter that really concerns the life and death of this servant. The servant is willing to hand over her life In the hands of Her Majesty the Empress, if Her Majesty the Empress is worried that I will be unfavorable to you in the future, all you need to do is to say a word, and the servant will be sentenced to ten thousand deaths, and you don't need to do it yourself." Queen Wang remained silent, staring at her dignified face for a long time, then slowly stood up, walked to the window, and stared at the faint lights outside.Her side profile is gracefully curved, her complexion is pale at this time, and her posture is like a white peony blooming quietly in the dark night. Huang Zixia looked at her sideways, guessing in her heart the probability of her falling out.The sweat on her back hadn't dried yet, and the coldness penetrated into her skin, making her shiver involuntarily. I don't know how long it took before she heard Queen Wang's calm and gentle voice, which was still the same kind of graceful and deep voice, resounding in the hall: "Did you think that you sent your life to me?" In my hands, I will think that you have something to use, so I will wipe away all the things you have offended me before?" "Zi Xia dare not!" She looked up at the Queen and said earnestly, "But Zi Xia thinks that Her Royal Highness must know the past between Emperor Taizong and Wei Zheng, and the relationship between Empress Wu and Shangguan Wan'er. The world is changing, and it is okay to hate the country and the family." Changes, as long as Zi Xia can be used by you, what does the past matter?" Empress Wang walked up to her slowly, looked down at her kneeling on the ground, her eyes slid inch by inch from her head, shoulders, and waist.After a long time, this woman who had always been domineering suddenly let out an inaudible sigh, and said, "In this case, I hold your life in my hands first. If you can't be my motivator from now on, I won't take it later." "Thank you, Your Royal Highness, for your kindness!" Huang Zixia bowed her head, feeling the cold sweat all over her body had pierced into all the pores of her body.But she didn't dare to wipe it, so she could only bow her head and answer without moving. Queen Wang ignored her, and stood in front of her for a long time before saying in a low voice, "Huang Zixia, Huang Zixia... you have done me a favor." Huang Zixia didn't know why, so she looked at her with wide eyes. "Without you, perhaps I would never have known about Xuese's death in my whole life, let alone that she... died at my hands," she clenched her teeth, and finally squeezed out those words with difficulty. He let out a long breath, "If you hadn't revealed it, maybe I would not know how sinful I am until I meet her underground after I die... At that time, I really don't know what face I will use to meet her... " Huang Zixia was speechless, thinking in her heart, but what face do you want to go underground to meet Jinnu who has always respected you like the sky and love you like a mother, and to meet the Jinnu who traveled thousands of miles to escort your old friend's daughter to Beijing in order to repay your kindness back then? Feng Yiniang? "Forget it, I even killed my daughter. Today... I don't want to kill any more for the time being." Queen Wang turned around and sat down on the couch, pulled a brocade cushion and leaned against the window, looking up at Geng Geng Xinghan outside the window. The light of the palace lanterns has been exhausted, the Milky Way hangs upside down across the Tai Chi Palace, and the stars are like the tiniest dust, pouring into the sky. "Lenggong...what's the point?" Huang Zixia heard her voice, as if squeezed out word by word from her heart and lungs, and said firmly and coldly: "Since I can climb to the highest place of Daming Palace from the music workshop, Then there will be a day when I can return to Daming Palace again from the cold palace! In this Tang Dynasty, in this world, the person who can defeat me has not yet been born!" Huang Zixia knelt in front of her, feeling mixed and speechless for a while. And this tough woman, in the midst of the half-disabled palace lanterns, in the desolate and silent ancient palace, lay down and looked at the galaxy outside the window. Things, obliterated in the palm of my hand. The palace leaks bit by bit, no matter how long the night is, it will eventually pass, and the starry sky is already dawning outside the window. Huang Zixia silently kowtowed to her, and when she was about to stand up and exit, she suddenly heard Queen Wang's low voice, which came slowly: "Huang Zixia, in your life, you have ever encountered a desperate situation that made you feel worse than death. ?" Huang Zixia replied: "Yes... when all my parents and family members died, I was accused of being the murderer and arrested everywhere. But I didn't want to die. Even if I die, I don't want to die with the crime of poisoning the whole family!" "But I really had... the moment when I wanted to die." She lay quietly on the brocade couch, and the densely woven and colorful embroidered gauze covered her body.She was submerged in the embrace of silk and brocade, and her black hair, which was as soft as a waterfall, snaked around her body.Her plain face was full of exhaustion and haggardness. "Have you... ever seen Xue Se? Does she really look like me?" Huang Zixia shook her head and said, "Unfortunately, I passed her by in the foreign teaching workshop, but I haven't seen her before." "Well... I will never have the chance to see my daughter again," she sighed, and said in a low voice, "the last time I saw Xue Shi, she had just passed her fifth birthday. At that time我二十三岁，原本一直对我说，不介意我乐伎出身的敬修——程敬修，就是我那时候的丈夫，他说，在这种地方长大，对女儿毕竟不好，要我跟他离开。” 黄梓瑕不知她为什么忽然要对自己说这些。在这样冷清的宫廷中，周围一片死寂，长夜漫漫，看不到前路又看不到去路。她望着面前的王皇后，不觉恻隐，便静听她说下去。 “其实云韶苑虽然是歌舞乐坊，但绝非青楼。我们一众姐妹都是以艺养身，自敬自爱。可我与敬修争执几次之后，也只能无奈答应了他，带着女儿随他一路北上，到京城碰运气。因他认为自己一手画技绝伦，泱泱长安定然会有人赏识。 “可惜一路上并不太平，兵匪作乱，我多年的积蓄散佚无几。到长安时我们已经囊中羞涩，只能租赁了一间小厢房住下。敬修一开始也出去碰运气，然而他无门无路，谁会帮他引荐？很快他便因处处遭受白眼冷遇，再也不想出门了，只坐在房中唉声叹气。 “在扬州时，敬修风流倜傥，每日只需作画自娱，对我又温柔，所以我们感情是很好的。然而一旦到了长安，贫贱夫妻百事哀，我突然发现，原来我所找的男人，竟然连生存下去的能力都没有。而那时雪色又生了病，在阴湿寒冷的小厢房中，连敬修给我定情的那支叶脉凝露簪都当掉了。我们饥寒交迫，衣食无着，更别提给女儿治病了……我抱着雪色跑遍了医馆，可因为没有钱，就算跪在医馆门口痛哭哀求，也依然无人理会。敬修赶来拉我回去，骂我丢脸，我只能整夜地抱着女儿，给她擦身子，睁着眼睛担惊受怕地听她的呼吸，看着窗外的天色渐渐亮起来……那时，也是这样的长夜，也是这样，似乎一闭上眼，就要留不住眼前一切的绝望……” 即使是十二年前的旧事，她此时说来，依旧是绝望而凛冽，轻易便割开了她的心口最深处。她伏在枕上，睁着一双茫然没有焦距的眼睛，口中的话飘忽而混乱，仿佛不是讲给面前的她听。 “雪色命大，终于熬了下来，可敬修又因为心情阴郁而病倒了。眼看因为交不起房租，我们一家即将被丢出那间破旧厢房，我只能瞒着敬修，一个人到西市找机会。 “我记得非常清楚，那时是寒冬时节，西市的街边，槐树的枯叶一片片落下。有个年纪有五六十岁的女人，披着破烂的褐色麻衣，坐在西市的街口乞讨。她抱着一把断漆斑驳的旧琵琶，唱着荒腔走板的一曲《长相守》，嗓音嘶哑。又脏又乱的头发蓬乱地堆在肩上，衬着她肮脏褶皱的一张脸，就像风化的石块上堆满干枯苔藓。可是没办法……她身上的破衣根本遮不住刀子般的寒风，她的手已经冻裂出血口，嘴唇也是干裂乌紫，而那把琵琶的音轴也久已未调，枯弦歪准，哪里还能真的弹出一曲琵琶呢？” 王皇后那双愣怔的眼中，终于缓缓滑落下两行眼泪。她捂着自己的脸，哽咽道：“你不会明白……那时我心里的绝望。那一日，我在那个女人面前站了很久很久。寒冷欲雨的下午，西市寥落无人。我看着她，仿佛看见了三十年后的自己。我从一枝灼灼其华的花朵，活成了一团裹着破衣乱絮的污黑糟粕……无依无靠，贫病交加，最后麻木而苍凉地死在街头，无声无息地朽烂了尸骨，没有人知道我曾拥有万人争睹的容貌与才情……” 她长长地、颤抖地深深呼吸着，艰难地说：“就是那一个下午，我抛弃了我所有的天真，明白了所谓的爱情，其实在现实面前，不堪一击。我真正需要的，不是和敬修相依为命，而是——我要活下去，而且我还要活得好好的，永远不要有抱着琵琶在西市乞讨的那一天！” 黄梓瑕默然看着她，并不说话。 “就在那个时候，我遇见了当初和我一起学艺的一个姐妹。她本是那么笨拙的人，长得不好看，琵琶技艺也不精，学了三个多月都没有学会一首曲子——可她嫁了一个茶叶商，穿着簇新的锦衣，鬓边大朵的金花，七八支步摇插在头上，一种田舍翁陡富的土气，却比我光鲜一百倍。她坐在马车上叫住在街边独行的我，用同情与炫耀的神情，问我怎么沦落成这样了，又问我是不是需要帮忙，给我找个教授琵琶的活儿。 “当时她连车都没有下，居高临下地看着我笑，而我依然觉得这是自己的幸运。因为我真的已经到了山穷水尽的地步，若没有她，我不知道我接下来会走向哪一步。我跟着她去了琅邪王家，只说自己是她的远房亲戚，因为父母双亡所以沦落京城。我的琵琶技艺让众人都叹服，于是就留了下来。我回去收拾了几件衣服，把那个姐妹接济的一点钱交给敬修，说，等发了月银，再送过来，”她的声音幽幽的，轻若不闻，“那个时候，我甚至没有告诉他我要去的是哪里。雪色抱着我的腿大哭，她从小性子就那么倔，我知道她哭起来，如果不好好哄的话，她会一直哭到晕厥也不肯停歇。但那时我……我也只能咬牙把她抱起来，交到敬修的怀中，而他只沉默地看着我。我走出了院门，他依然一声不响。我忍不住回头，看一看自己的丈夫和女儿，却只看见敬修抱着大哭的雪色坐在床上，夕阳的余光照在他的眼睛上，他那双空洞洞的眼睛一直盯着我，一直盯着我，直到现在，还在我的面前……” 她的声音，终于越来越轻，几若不闻。但她眼中，跳动着一种疯狂的暗火，令人心颤。 黄梓瑕也沉默了许久，才轻轻开口说：“想必您离开雪色的时候，也是十分不舍的。” “是，但我得活下去，我顾不上她了，”王皇后的目光看向她，泪痕未干，脸颊上却已带上冷冷的笑意，“我在王家教授琵琶不久，郓王来访，我抱着琵琶出去时，一瞬间看见他的眼睛中，有种东西亮起来。在扬州的时候，很多人这样看我，我都置之不顾，而那一刻我却忽然不知为什么，一瞬间……只犹豫了一瞬间，我抱着琵琶对他微微而笑，用敬修最喜欢的、温柔仰望的姿态。果然王麟不久便来找我商议，说郓王将我误认成王家女儿了，让我将错就错进王府。他对于王家的衰败有心无力，真是病急乱投医，他既不知道我是乐籍出身，更不知道我有夫有女，就敢找我商议。而我听着王麟的话，眼前就像做梦一样，闪过西市那个年老的琵琶女，那污黑的一张脸、一副唇、一双手……我立即便答应了！那时我便对自己说，就像飞蛾扑火，就算死，我也必定要死在辉煌璀璨的地方！” 她气息急促，狠戾偏激的言语，却让黄梓瑕感觉到一种无言的绝望与悲凉。 “世事就是这么荒唐，这十二年来，我在宫里如鱼得水，活得比谁都好。我神不知鬼不觉除掉了当初举荐我进王家的那个姐妹，斗败了郭淑妃，从一个王府媵走到皇后，王芙的儿子俨儿由我一手抚养，并力排众议立为太子，我的晔儿是皇上最疼爱的孩子——我知道自己的人生，最适合的就是宫廷！我站在天下最高处，接受万民朝拜，就算我没有了自己的爱人与女儿，那又怎么样？我活得锦绣繁华，天下人人艳羡！” 黄梓瑕在心里叹息摇头，低声说道：“可您的女儿都不愿进京与您相见，您就算得了全天下，可手上却沾满了亲人和姐妹徒儿的血腥，难道心里就不会有愧疚悲哀？” “愧疚？悲哀？”王皇后冷硬的眸子中，闪过一痕几乎不可见的黯淡。但随即，她扬起下巴，用冷笑的神情瞥着她：“十二年前，我也曾经如你一般天真浪漫，以为身边有夫有女，就算贫病交加，依然是幸福美满。可惜……可惜人会变，心会老，只有日子，一天天得挨过去！当你面临生死无着的绝境时，你就什么都懂了！” 黄梓瑕默然许久，又问：“所以，您后来，再也没有见过程敬修与雪色吗？” “没有。自决定进郓王府之后，我就托那位姐妹将我当掉的那只叶脉凝露簪赎了出来，连盘缠一起交给她，让她对他们说，梅挽致已经死了，他们不用找她了。” 黄梓瑕还在静静等着她下面的话，但王皇后似乎已经没有再想说下去的欲望了，她呆呆地侧卧在榻上，在满殿锦绣之中，怔怔地沉浸在往昔之中，良久，良久。之后她垂下眼，凄凉一笑：“是啊，那一日起，梅挽致就死了，她自此后，对琵琶又怕又恨，再也没有碰过。小施带回来的叶脉银簪上，有一朵程敬修亲手刻的梅花，也被化掉了……这世上只剩一个王芍，活得比谁都好，安居深宫，锦绣繁华。就算死，王芍也要死在高堂华屋之中，锦绣绮罗之内。这一世，韶华极盛，求仁得仁。” 这么凄凉的语调，却掩不去其中的入骨倔强。 她再也不想说什么，轻微地挥了挥手，示意黄梓瑕退下。 只是就在黄梓瑕起身离去的这一瞬间，她听到王皇后在她的身后，低低地说：“三年前，那一句话，我说的，是真的。” 她愕然转头，看向这个冷硬而决绝的女人。 而王皇后卧在宫殿的那一端，静静地说：“那时我看见十四岁的你，在春日艳阳中，穿着一身银红色的衣衫袅袅走来，如同风中初发的一枝豆蔻。那时我忽然在心里想，如果雪色在我身边的话，她一定……也是这般美好模样。”
太极宫的夜，静谧而冷清。 黄梓瑕顺着来时路，一步步走出这座冷落的宫殿。 头顶的星空缓缓转移，一路上宫灯都已熄灭。鸣虫的声音，繁密地在这样的静夜中回响着。 黄梓瑕仰头望着天空，看着密密繁星。 若说每个人的命运是一颗星辰的话，在这一刻，仿佛所有人的命运都只是微不足道的一点闪烁。人活于世，如同草芥，就算星落如雨，遍坠于野，也不过是流光转瞬，唯余万千年后令人微微一叹而已。 她走到太极宫门口，走出缓缓开启的偏门。 星空之下，暗夜之中，站着一个颀长挺拔的人。他在寂静的星月背景下，望着走出来的她，神情平静。而他眼中的星月倒影，在看见她身影的一刹那，仿佛被水光搅动，微微波动起来。 黄梓瑕站在宫门口，一时迷惘。 他向她走来，声音依然是那么冷淡疏离：“愣着干什么？走吧。” “王爷……”黄梓瑕无措地喊了他一声，抬头仰望着他在星月之光中显得幽微的面容轮廓，低声问，“你一直在等我吗？” 他没有回答，把自己的脸转向一边：“顺路经过。” 黄梓瑕望着此时宵禁的寂夜长安，不由自主地露出一丝笑容。 李舒白不再理她，转身向着马车走去。 黄梓瑕赶紧跟着他，想了想，忍不住还是问：“万一……我是说万一呀，我要是没有领会你的意思，真的被杀了，那你不是白等了？” 李舒白头也不回，说：“第一，王皇后此时失势幽居冷宫之中，她怎么会在这个时候动手杀你这个揭穿了她身份的人？这要她在皇上面前怎么交代？” 她在心里暗想，自己又没混过宫廷和朝廷，当然不知道会是这样。再说了，如果真的肯定没事的话，你又何必三次把我踢下水，何必彻夜站在这里等呢？ “那……第二呢？” “第二，她连小施都放过了，我想她必定疲倦了。” "What about the third?" “第三。”李舒白终于回头斜了她一眼，静夜之中，长风从他们身边流过，悄无声息。 “如果你连我那样的暗示都听不懂，你就不是黄梓瑕。” 黄梓瑕不由自主地微微笑出来。 大难得脱，夜色温柔。她与李舒白一起坐在马车上，向着夔王府行去。 马车的金铃声轻轻摇晃，车内悬挂的琉璃瓶中，红色的小鱼安静地睡在瓶底，如同一朵沉寂在水中的花。 车窗外，长安的街灯缓缓透进来，又缓缓流过去。 明明暗暗的光，深深浅浅的影，寂静无声的流年。 光影游弋在他们两人之间那相隔两尺的空间里，恍若凝固。
此时此刻，长安城门口，怀抱着雪色骨灰的小施，抬头望着浩瀚银河。她用力抱紧了怀中的雪色，抱着她在这世上唯一仅存的灰烬，恸哭失声。 百里之外，仓促逃出京城的陈念娘，在长风呼啸的荒原之上跋涉。她抬头望向茫茫前路，长空星汉繁盛，自此后她在世上仅有孤身，唯一可以握紧的，只有手中那一对小小的玉坠。 九州万里，星月之下，静夜埋葬了一切声息。