Chapter 16 Chapter Sixteen

Shang Jie stood motionless on the cliff, watching the spray of the waterfall turn into mist in the wind. Seeing his ashen face during the day, he hurriedly asked: "I have ordered the people down the mountain to immediately block the river to look for Concubine Sheng De, what does your majesty think?" He nodded slightly and waved him down.The hand touched the wound on his shoulder, and the blood flowed out again.He dumbly lowered his head to look at his wound, there was only a golden hairpin stabbed there, and it was in the socket of the shoulder, it didn't hurt the vitals. His confidants were all against her. She could have taken her own life, but she only hurt here.

What she was thinking, he never understood. What is even more incomprehensible is why the heavens used a heavy rain to let him meet her, and why it took ten steps away to decide all the fates. What would it be like now if there was no heavy rain, no encounter between him and her? Sheng Yan, Shang Xun, Xing Ren, Jun Rongfei and Jun Rongyu, what will happen to this court, this world? But who knows?Maybe everything is still the same, but that heavy rain has found the reason for them to make up their minds. The sound of the waterfall hit his eardrums and invaded, just like the sound of that heavy rain.

He stood in front of the waterfall, and felt a moment of grief from it, which could not be stopped. The waterfall was turbulent, and the water flowing under the pool was extremely fast. Although a large number of people followed the water to look for it, after a day and a night, there was no trace of Sheng Yan and Jun Rongyu. There was no chance of finding Sheng Yan here. When Shang Jie left Yuncheng Palace, he called Diao Zhu over and said, "You can go back to the palace with you. Sheng Yan once asked me to betroth you to Tie Fei. fulfill her wish." Diao Kui and Tie Fei quickly knelt down and kowtowed to him.

When Tie Fei was about to go out with the eagle mushrooms, she turned to look at Shang Jie, hesitated for a moment, and finally couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty has lived with her mother for many years, no matter how much you try to make up for it, it won't help. Don't even think about her." Shang Jie sneered slightly and asked, "What's going on? Who is her mother?" Diao Zhu was taken aback, knelt down quickly, and said: "It was before...the emperor was captured by the late emperor, and after he had to escape, he sent people to sneak into the capital and killed the empress's mother..."

Shang Jie frowned and asked, "Send someone to sneak into the capital? Why didn't I know?" Diao Ku opened his eyes wide, and said in surprise: "But...the emperor told the empress himself, and the news was not released. He only told the empress, and she was ill for a long time because of it..." Tie Fei interjected in astonishment: "After I escaped with the emperor, I went directly to the north. How could I have time to think of killing her mother in order to avenge her?" "Besides, I don't even know who her mother is, nor am I interested in it." Shang Jie said coldly.

Diao Kuo's eyes widened in shock, and he asked in a trembling voice, "So..." A strange and terrifying thought came to her mind, but this thought made her scalp numb, her whole body trembled, and she dared not speak any more. Knowing that she would understand, Shang Jie asked again: "But why did Shang Xun kill her mother? Didn't they join forces to harm me at that time?" "No, the empress is the same as me. She didn't know that...that day...that would happen." Diao Ku looked up at him eagerly and said, "When the emperor ordered me to fetch the flute, it was Jingtai who was beside the emperor. He came over suddenly and handed me the other two flutes, saying that they are the ones the emperor usually uses, so I took them out together."

"Didn't they discuss it in advance?" His face was still calm, but he was holding the armrest of the chair tightly with his fingers, and even his joints turned white because of too much force. She said, that was all my idea, the plan was planned by me, the ambush soldiers and horses were designated by me, even the murder weapon... was also prepared by me. It turned out that even what she said herself was a lie. Diaoyu shook his head vigorously: "No, during that time, the first emperor suddenly sent the empress to Yuncheng Palace, and called her back because her life was dying, so at that time, the two of them seemed to have a knot in their hearts, and they were often a little embarrassed when they met. It wasn't until the empress's mother passed away that the empress was very ill. The emperor took good care of her during her illness, and they reunited. Your majesty, think about it, how should they discuss such an important matter and their situation at that time? ?”

She said, Shang Xun is so weak and has been relying on you all the time, how could he deal with you cruelly? She defended Shang Xun with all her strength, and even took everything on herself, but she didn't know how many shady schemes that person had spent in order to get her. Shang Jie was silent, and he said after a long time: "So... no wonder she would rather die than stay by my side." He waved his hand to let Diao Kuo go down, and when Diao Kuo saluted and was about to exit, he looked up to see his suddenly dejected look in the empty hall, and felt a strange emotion welling up in his heart.She took Tie Fei's hand, looked at Shang Jie who was sitting alone on the highest place, hesitated, and said timidly: "Your Majesty, I... I want to tell you one more thing, although it's just in my heart." Guess."

Shang Jie didn't look at her, but just said: "Tell me." "Perhaps... after the empress came back from Yuncheng Palace, she knew that Tie Fei was someone close to you, because...she was afraid to avoid the queen mother, but that time she suddenly took us to Xihua Palace and told us the queen mother Later, when Tie Fei rescued you and went to the north, I was still thinking how could Tie Fei be so smooth if she didn't explain it in such detail, and even she She personally took us to Xihua Palace to see where the queen mother's phoenix talisman is kept. Why is it so rare for her to say a few more words to help Tie Fei? Moreover, she even asked Tie Fei to check the seal of Tianzhang Pavilion, but now Come to think of it..." She wrung her fingers and said hesitantly, "It seems that she sent Tie Fei on purpose..."

Shang Jie listened, and suddenly smiled faintly, Tie Fei and Bai Tian looked at his sudden smile and looked at each other, but he waved his hand to signal them to go down without saying a word. Everyone retreated, and he was the only one left in the hall, smiling and thinking, now he is really satisfied. He is already the ruler of the current dynasty, with all the people kneeling down in the nine states and all over the world; he is in his prime, and the four directions are peaceful, and all the neighboring countries are in fear; he can choose the most beautiful woman in the world at will, gorgeous, elegant, charming and clear, no matter which one, he will be happy. Be gentle and obedient to him.

Even that person, the only woman he had ever loved, didn't hate him that much in the first place, and even, as long as God gave him a little more chance, they could be together.Even, it is not impossible for them to love each other deeply. He was really, really good at everything. There was the sound of fluttering wings outside the window, and he slowly turned his head to look. The early winter sky was as clear as water. In the distance, pairs of white birds flitted across the sky and gradually disappeared into the distance. He watched, thinking about the lottery she drew for him when they first met, and she said that she would like to fly high as a pair of swans. Until now, vividly. Three days after Sheng Yan disappeared, no one was alive or dead. On the sixth day of November, the day after the original appointment has arrived.Shang Jie woke up very early, stood outside the hall and saw the night was thick, the wind was blowing the shadows of the trees outside the window, the sound was shrill.Until the moon gradually slanted to the west, the east was faintly pale. After sunrise, the imperial edicts in the palace had also been delivered, and the ceremonial guards welcoming the empress were like brocade clouds covering the sun, reflecting a brilliant glow in front of the palace gate.The Minister of the Ministry of Rites came to him with the festival book and said: "The ministers are ordered to leave for Zhao's residence soon." Shang Jie looked at the festival book and said calmly: "You don't need to go to the Zhao Mansion, the guard of honor will be reduced by half, and any of the young ladies who were presented before will be randomly selected as noble concubines and brought into the palace." The Minister of Rites did not expect him to say this, so he turned pale with fright, and knelt on the ground with a plop and said, "But, the whole world knows that today is the Empress Ceremony, and it is already written in the brochure that she is Zhao Mian's daughter..." Shang Jie said calmly and without any expression: "Today, I don't want to be a queen." Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites felt that he almost fainted and didn't understand what was going on now.He scrambled out of the palace gate, and saw his old friend, Guozijian Jijiu, who had also sent his granddaughter's birthday horoscope.Minister of Rites rushed over tremblingly, grabbed him and said, "It's your granddaughter!" The granddaughter of Guozijian Jijiu who hastily married into the palace because of the grace of heaven, was born in a famous family and has a gentle personality.She was really lucky. Although she was not conferred the title of empress, Shang Jie was busy with state affairs, had a cold personality, and had little interest in concubines in the palace. After she was conferred the title of noble concubine, she was already the lord of the palace. For this girl who was completely lucky, there was a lot of rumors in the capital, and everyone envied her.Even in the outskirts of the capital, there are people talking about her. "Hey, Miss Yin, do you think this concubine Liu Gui is very lucky? The emperor actually gave up the concubine he wanted to have in the end and found her here!" Hearing the neighbor girl's question, Miss Yin who was sitting under the pomegranate tree embroidering raised her head, smiled, and said, "Yes, she is really lucky." Even among the bamboo fences and in the mountains, she was still a very beautiful woman in coarse clothes and old skirts, just like a peony flower planted in a broken earthenware pot, this dazzling beauty was out of place with the surroundings. The only shortcoming is that although her fingers are slender, they are not too slender, which seems to be caused by hard work when she was young. The girl next door looked at the painting she was embroidering and asked, "What are you embroidering today? Why is it so big?" She was in front of the embroidery frame, picking up the embroidered silk thread with a needle, and looked up at her with a smile: "This is embroidered for the Temple of Flowers, and the new temple Zhu asked the embroidery shop to help them embroider a nave where the goddess scattered flowers. " She stood by and watched Miss Yin finely adjust the reflection of the silk thread, picking out the embroidered eyes stitch by stitch.A little confused, she asked, "Then, haven't her eyes been embroidered already? Why do you have to choose like this?" "When the silk thread is embroidered, the stitches are different, and the eyes will look loose, so you need to adjust the reflection, so that it will look bright." She said, then put down her hand, stood up and looked at the embroidery carefully, one inch After looking at it one inch, and after confirming that there is no problem, he turned his head and called into the room: "Brother!" The eyes of the girl next door suddenly brightened, she looked at the handsome young man who came out of the house, and quickly called him: "Brother Yin!" He smiled at her, then looked down at the embroidery. "It's finished, please send it to the embroidery shop for me." Miss Yin folded it up, wrapped it in green cloth, and handed it to him. He took it over, looked at her hazy eyes, and said in a low voice, "I'm the one who dragged you down..." She raised her head and smiled at him, and said softly: "How can there be such a thing, it's because you refused to leave me, so you can't move an inch...I'm sorry for you." "Don't dare..." He said quickly. "You're welcome, I'm your younger sister now." She smiled and waved to him, "Go and come back, brother." Jun Rongyu nodded, and when she was about to go out, she whispered to her: "Don't go out... Also, go into the house, the courtyard wall is so low, be careful not to be seen." "Understood." She replied, and after sending him out, she closed the door tightly, stood alone under the pomegranate tree in the yard, stretched her shoulders and neck, and then reached out to wash her hands in the small pool in the yard. It was already February, and when she looked up, she saw that in the long, unattainable blue sky, peach blossoms all over the city were in full bloom under the bright sun, and the colors were bright, like a dream. The entire world is shrouded in indistinct, dream-like colors. For some reason, she stopped in a daze in this calm spring weather, staring blankly at the sky for a long, long time. "This year's peach blossoms are blooming really well." Everyone in the palace said so.Perhaps confused by these bright colors, Shang Jie, the dedicated emperor who never cared about Huayue, finally raised his head and looked at the few peach blossoms in the imperial garden. The chaotic peach blossoms are blooming in the spring breeze, and they are swaying gently. It makes people doubt whether there will be spring in this world without peach blossoms. This year, the peach blossoms are in full bloom, and the peach blossoms all over the city are in full bloom, covering the entire capital like brilliant red clouds. Just like last year and the year before, Bai Tian accompanied him on outings in the outskirts of the city as usual, but this year Tie Fei and Diao Ku were also added.They went upstream along the clear and shallow river. Looking around, the peach blossom forest on the opposite bank extended far to the foot of the mountain. The sun shone on the peach blossoms. The bright pink color was like the color of clouds, and it was as charming as rouge. The long-abandoned Flower God Temple has a temple blessing, and it has been renovated, and it is even a little incense. Shang Xun got off his horse and walked to the eaves. When he looked up, he saw the plantains covering the window, which were shaded and green, and it was cool. The green plantain shadows were reflected on the Sansheng Pond next to the temple, fluttering gently with the breeze and waves. Once there was a person, here, who caught the rainwater dripping from the plantain.At that time, her clear face was not stained with dust.There was once a person who stood side by side with him on the Sansheng Pond, looked at the uncertain shadows in the water, hugged and kissed each other. Thinking about the old things, he actually felt soft in his heart, leaving only a touch of nostalgia. He went to the temple to look at the flower god. After the dust on the statue was dusted off, the wooden statue put on new clothes, and he could vaguely see the graceful demeanor of the clothes fluttering. Seeing him coming in, Miao Zhu rushed up to meet him and asked, "Would you like to burn incense or tell a fortune?" He said lightly: "I have everything I need, and I have nothing to worry about." Miao Zhu turned to ask Bai Tian and Tie Fei again, and Bai Tian, ​​who had no wife yet, hurriedly said, "I want a marriage." Miao Zhu dug out the signing box and signing book from the cabinet next to him, and handed them to him. Some of the tags had been rotted by worms, and they would break with a slight shake. During the day, I didn't dare to shake them too hard, so I shook them slowly in my hand, and those broken tags also danced inside.So after a long time, only one fell out. Tie Fei picked it up to look at it, and said, "The one hundred and tenth lottery." Shang Jie heard it, smiled, and said casually: "What a coincidence, it's the same as what I asked for before. I wish to be a pair of swans, soaring high." Miao Zhu, who was flipping through the papers, shook his head and said, "No, the one hundred and tenth lottery will ruin your life, and it only takes a few evenings. Oh, my little brother, your love life is worrying..." Shang Jie was slightly taken aback, reached out and took the worn-out signed document, looked at the one hundred and ten signed verdict for a long time, and then slowly smiled. Seeing his strange expression, Bai Tian hurriedly asked, "My lord, what... is it?" "No, it's nothing, I just think that women are so strange, I don't understand what she's thinking." He smiled, stared outside for a long time, and then said slowly, "It's just the first time we met, she lied to me ...Why did she lie to me?" Tie Fei and Bai Tian couldn't understand at all, they could only look at each other in blank dismay. He looked up at the small temple again, and found the large embroidery hanging on the wall. He stood below and looked at it for a long time, looking at the fairies' thin blush and smudged lips. There is such an emotional demeanor. "Don't you think the fairy in this painting looks familiar?" Seeing him staring at the painting, Tie Fei also felt a little strange, so she couldn't help asking Diao Ku in a low voice. Diaogu thought for a long time before saying: "It's a bit like the "Seventy-Eight Immortals" embroidered by Concubine De before. I have never seen such immortals on other embroidery, and the eyes are very vivid. I remember that after the girl embroidered the eyeballs, she would adjust the silk thread repeatedly, saying that if the luster of the silk thread is messed up, her vision will not work well." "It can be seen that people who embroider well need to work hard." Tie Fei always regarded his wife's words as orders. Shang Jie looked at the fairy above, with his clothes like the wind, wanting to go back in the rain of flowers, he looked at the bright flowers above, almost fascinated by the flowers. The three of them left the Flower God Temple, and when they were about to get on their horses and leave, Shang Jie looked back at the small temple again. At this moment, he looked at the peach blossom forest and those few green plantains, and felt an extremely strange feeling welling up in his heart.He turned his head and told Bai Tian: "Go to the embroidery shop and find out who the person who embroidered this embroidery is and where he lives." With a bitter face during the day, he felt that this fact was hopeless: "But Your Majesty, aren't all the embroidered products the same? And the embroidered ones are all immortals, so it's only natural that they look a bit like..." Shang Jie said flatly: "Even so, after all, I still don't give up." "I feel that if she is still alive, she must have left the capital long ago and hid in the mountains..." Bai Tian muttered in a low voice. Tie Fei echoed: "Besides, the imperial court is monitoring all her relatives who are far away, but there is no news... Your Majesty, why don't you just let it go." Shang Jie ignored him and did not speak. Diao Kui was on the horse, and kicked him secretly, signaling him not to speak. Tie Fei was most afraid of his wife, so she quickly shut up.Seeing that there is no helper, Bai Tian has no choice but to submit to unreasonable orders—after all, he has a salary, so he has to obey orders! He steered his horse back to inquire about the temple by himself, and after inquiring about the embroidery village, he got on his horse and left in dismay. Tie Fei and Diao Zhu looked at his back with sympathetic gazes, thinking, how miserable it is to have a master who is in a hurry to go to the doctor, to even try such a remote thing, it's like drowning What is the difference between someone grasping at straws? "But, I'm really envious of Empress Defei..." Diao Kuo and Tie Fei rode together and went back slowly. She looked at Shang Jie's figure that was gradually disappearing in front of her, and said, "It's been so long, He must also know that she will never appear again." "It's really strange. The emperor I know has never been so stupid since he was a child..." Not in front of Shang Jie, Tie Fei talked privately with his wife, and didn't care if it was treason or not. Diao Zhu kicked him hard again: "Hmph, if I suddenly disappeared, would you be so stupid to look for me?" Tie Fei thought about it for a long time before he said dully, "That's right..." "What does that mean?" Diao Ku gave him a stern look. "Because, if it were me, even if I knew you were gone, I would definitely search for it stubbornly, otherwise I wouldn't know why I was alive... Besides, Concubine De is still alive and dead." Diao Zhu nodded triumphantly, leaned into his arms, and said in a low voice: "Yes... no matter who it is, falling in love with someone is the same." It was a hot spring afternoon, and it seemed that it was going to rain. After returning to the palace, Shang Jie sat in the palace and read the memorial, the weather was still stuffy and the rain still hadn't started. He took a book and sat on the couch to read it. Unknowingly, because of boredom, he threw the book away, stood up and walked out.In a trance, he came to the Flower Temple that he had just been to, and saw the embroidery of the celestial girl scattering flowers just now. The pair of eyes on it were crystal clear and extremely familiar—they were when they first met, and Sheng Yan's eyes, in the rain, were clearer and brighter than the raindrops at that time. He watched intently for a long time, then turned around and saw that the back door of the temple was open again.He and Sheng Yan once sat there, and the mountain behind surrounded the temple, like a small, isolated world. He heard a slight walking sound from behind, slightly slow, it should be a woman's footsteps.He didn't want to waste time and wanted to turn around and leave, but looking at the bright green grass and peach blossoms behind him, a strange emotion suddenly appeared in his heart—— It was as if, in that small world, there was an incomparably strange silk thread that was invisible to the naked eye, crawling out of it, tightly holding a certain blood in his heart. Involuntarily, he walked to the back door and stood there, looking at the world behind him. The blue sky shrouded the small valley like the bottom of the basin, and the peach blossoms bloomed brilliantly underneath. The ones on the trees were in full bloom, and the ground was already covered with a layer of fallen flowers like rouge, the color of which was the most delicate pink. The sky, peach blossoms, green grass, bright sky blue under the sun, delicate pink, and soft green are intertwined, and the strong colors are so brilliant that his eyes can hardly bear it. However, the most brilliant one was a figure under the flowers. She stood there and heard his voice, so she turned to look at him. Just at this glance, all the bright colors under the sun, sky blue, pink and tender green, all faded to gray and white. Only her face, more eye-catching than chaotic peach blossoms, bloomed in his field of vision, occupying all of his world. Just like the shy face when you first meet in the heavy rain. Just like the peach blossom tree, the radiance that makes people look up. A glance, a moment, a trance, a lifetime. When Shang Jie woke up, the spring rain outside had finally started pattering down, beating lightly on the window lattice, dripping, dripping, as if nothing could be heard. He leaned on the couch, thinking about his dream, about his reunion with Sheng Yan. Outside, there was the sound of daytime footsteps, he knocked lightly on the door, and in a voice trembling with nervousness and excitement, he called him softly: "Your Majesty, I have some news for you." He responded, looking at the spring rain, peach blossoms, and slight wind outside. The whole world is like being shrouded in a dream, complete and wishful.