Chapter 40 first quarter

Du Qiuniang was woken up by the "noise" of ambergris.This fragrance was mellow and overbearing, breaking through all the shady scenes lingering in her mind at once. When Du Qiuniang opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the curling cigarettes rising from the Boshan incense burner, changing into indescribable shapes above her head, silently shuttling through layers of luxurious curtains. where am i She stood up and looked around, but the golden curtain was hanging down to the ground, only the candlelight came in dimly from outside the curtain, as if there were still figures shaking.

She stretched out a trembling hand and lifted a corner of the curtain. Du Qiuniang was surprised to see that there was a blue jade plate on the sandalwood round table next to the couch, filled with a puddle of clear water, which remained motionless.In the center of the bottom of the plate, a frog crouching on a lotus leaf is lifelike.She was a little curious, so she stuck out a jade finger into the water. Oh, it's freezing cold! "What are u doing?" Du Qiuniang trembled in fright. She was too familiar with this voice, so she didn't even have the courage to look up at the speaker, so she shrank on the couch and trembled.The man lifted the curtain and entered, and sat down beside her naturally.

"What are you doing?" he asked again, his tone gentle. Du Qiuniang replied hesitantly: "I, I want to see if there are... fishes in it." "Fish?" he said jokingly, "Where did you get the fish? The water in this dish is melted from ice, not for raising fish." "Ice?" She asked again out of breath, "Why put ice in front of the bed? Is it because the weather is too hot? But the hall is very cool..." no answer.The people around her were silent, and the silence oppressed her almost suffocating.Du Qiuniang finally raised her head unbearably.

She saw it - "Mr. Li". The emperor, who had changed into casual clothes, returned to the appearance Du Qiuniang remembered, looking at her silently.Seeing Du Qiuniang looking towards him, he smiled slightly and said, "You haven't changed at all." For some reason, Du Qiuniang was so excited that tears filled her eyes.She quickly lowered her head, not wanting him to see it. "What about me? Do you think I have changed?" "No, no change..." Her chin was gently lifted by one hand. "I haven't even looked at it carefully, so how do I know it won't change? It's nonsense."

Du Qiuniang had no choice but to widen her eyes, but the emperor's facial features were too beautiful, the closer they got, the more distorted they became, and his close breath made her dizzy and unable to hold herself. "Tell me, why do you want to come back?" the emperor asked suddenly. "I, I think..." "What are you thinking?" On Du Qiuniang's lips, there were not only the well-prepared answers along the way, but also the sincere words that suddenly came to my heart at this moment.It was unbelievable that the two were exactly the same, but she just couldn't tell.

"Is this question difficult to answer?" the emperor said jokingly, "then change the question—what is this?" A cold light flashed across the shadowy curtain, which immediately awakened Du Qiuniang from the state of wandering spirit. She stared at the pure hook in the emperor's hand in horror. "This was found from the pipa case in your arms. How could you have such a thing? You still hid it in the temple?" The emperor's expression and tone were very calm, but Du Qiuniang trembled with fear: "I..." She couldn't speak. "You want to kill me?" From the moment he changed his name, all tenderness and sweetness disappeared, and the reality was just like his words, full of murderous intentions.

"No!" Du Qiuniang cried out instinctively, "It's not me! Yes, it's Nie Yinniang!" "Nie Yinniang?" "Yes, she forced me!" Du Qiuniang argued redly, "She forced me to hide the dagger in the pipa case. Because she said that everyone will be searched when I go to the palace, only me, I will be a exception……" "Are you an exception?" Du Qiuniang raised her tearful eyes and looked at the emperor pleadingly: "I don't want to, she will kill me. I really have no choice... Please believe me, what I said is true." "Understood." The emperor nodded slightly, "You mean that the person who wants to kill me is Nie Yinniang."

"yes." "And she also coerced you, and took advantage of your special status to bring the murder weapon to the Hall of Linde." "Yes...she said that within ten steps, taking someone's head is like picking something out of a bag." "So that's how it is." The emperor pondered, "But, I had a conversation with Nie Yinniang in the hall. At that time, I was standing in front of Nie Yinniang, only one step away from her. Why didn't she make a move?" "……I have no idea." The emperor stared at Du Qiuniang: "Or are you lying? It's not that Nie Yinniang asked you to hide the murder weapon. The person who wants to kill me is you."

"I didn't!" Du Qiuniang was anxious and frightened, and tears welled up in her eyes. "Speak! Where did the dagger come from?" Du Qiuniang cried and replied: "I told you, Nie Yinniang really gave it to me..." "Nonsense! How could she have such a precious blade!" "I don't know! I really don't know!" The fear in her heart rose to the peak, and Du Qiuniang finally realized how dangerous her situation was, and it was literally life and death.Everyone in the world knew that the emperor was cruel and suspicious, but in her past impressions, although he was shrewd and arrogant, he also had a gentle and delicate side.Could it be that she was wrong?Could it be that she has never seen his true face...

"I'll give you another chance." Du Qiuniang heard the emperor say, "Why do you want to come back?" She raised her face full of tears, through the mist, his facial features looked much softer, and seemed to have a bit of affection.Du Qiuniang said with tears: "I came back because... I miss Mr. Li." After a long time, the emperor said: "Oh? Then why did you leave in the first place?" Du Qiuniang suddenly calmed down again. It's no big deal if he just died anyway. Didn't he die once?Since I never see myself as an ordinary woman, why do I have to be insincere?In her whole life, Du Qiuniang just wanted to be herself frankly, to die or to live, it depends.

She blurted out: "Actually, at the beginning, I just wanted to scare you." The emperor raised his eyebrows inquiringly, "Oh?" "I just want to see if Mr. Li will be sad if I die?" Seeing the emperor's incredulous expression, Du Qiuniang's eyes flicked on his face, "At first I thought it was Mr. Li who wanted I was heartbroken and afraid, so I decided to use the plank to kill me... I was also worried that Mr. Li could see through my tricks, but you actually believed me. I found out later that I was the one who blamed Li. Son..." After a while, the emperor said: "It's just nonsense." Du Qiuniang heard that his tone was calm, so she bravely said: "So what? Otherwise, I will never know whether Mr. Li is sincere to me!" "You risked your life and committed the crime of deceiving the emperor just to know this?" "Of course I want to know." Du Qiuniang simply resorted to her best trick - acting coquettishly, "Mr. Li is a different person, all the women in the world can only wait for your attention and favor, but I don't dare to hope for your sincerity. But I, Du Qiuniang, just don't want to be reconciled." Now that the matter has come to an end, she has given up all her efforts, and instead she is fluent in answering. "Have you got the answer?" "No." She bowed her head dejectedly. "Why are you doing this?" There was unexpected tenderness in his voice. Du Qiuniang couldn't help raising her eyes, glanced at him, and quickly lowered her head charmingly. "Do you think I'm that easy to deceive?" Du Qiuniang's heart trembled again. "On the day of the Zhonghe Festival in the eleventh year of Yuanhe, you left the city from Chunming Gate in a carriage. It was Nie Yinniang who was walking with you at that time, right?" Du Qiuniang stared at the emperor in astonishment: "You?" "I know everything." "what!" His hand brushed her cheek lightly: "I have been watching you leave at Qinglong Temple. I didn't have a very happy time on that Zhonghe Festival. To be precise, it was quite sad." His movements and tone were very Gentle, but still with a sober and aloof demeanor. Du Qiuniang's heart beat wildly, everything that fascinated her in Pingkangfang, in today's Daming Palace, conquered her again effortlessly.She asked in a low voice, "Why didn't you stop me? Why did you let me go?" "Because..." the emperor murmured, "As you said just now, women all over the world can only wait for my favor and favor, but you are evading me by cheating your death. How can this make me face?" He smiled, "That's right, I can easily stop you, and I can even more easily bring you into the palace, but my harem is full of such women, and there is no shortage of you. So at that time, I I thought, let her go. Since she hates me so much, it's pointless to keep her by my side." Du Qiuniang hurriedly said: "I don't hate Mr. Li, oh no, it's His Majesty..." It was time to change her mouth, but she couldn't open it. "Actually, in the palace, you should not call me Your Majesty, but everyone." "Everyone?" Du Qiuniang called out, feeling weird, and couldn't help but chuckle. "What's so ridiculous." He said angrily. "Yes, everyone." Du Qiuniang's smile finally bloomed like a spring flower, and the dazzling brilliance illuminated the entire curtain. "Now can we tell the truth? Why did you come here?" Du Qiuniang said seriously: "What I'm telling is the truth. Nie Yinniang forced me to hide weapons and enter the palace. If I don't obey, I will only die. But she also said that the assassination may not be possible. So I hugged Wan By chance, I followed her into the Daming Palace. Because I always feel that the crime of regicide is the most difficult decision even for an assassin like Nie Yinniang. Although she can ignore life and death, but the turmoil in the world caused by it , How can she sit idly by when the country is in danger? Nie Yinniang is not a madman after all. Besides, all the feudal towns in the world have surrendered, this is the general trend, and it is impossible for her to overthrow it by herself. So I firmly believe that she will not be able to stab this knife. The reason why she forced me to go through this is just to give herself an explanation." "Your words are quite insightful." The emperor looked at her with a half-smile, "However, you haven't answered my question yet." Du Qiuniang's face flushed red, she pursed her lips and said nothing. "Since you're talking about Nie Yinniang, you can tell the whole story." Du Qiuniang was not surprised that he still had doubts about her after all.She regained her composure and said, "After I cheated my life back, I had to try to get out of Chang'an City. Mr. Cui Miao asked Nie Yinniang to help. They seem to have known each other when they were in the town. On the day of the Zhonghe Festival in the eleventh year of Yuanhe, Nie Yinniang sent me out of Chang'an, and accompanied me all the way to Luoyang. There I broke up with her. From then on, I wandered the world alone and hid in Tibet for two full years. Life without relatives and friends is really boring. In the end, when I arrived in Chengdu, I found Master Xue Tao by the Huanhua River, and wanted to ask her to be my teacher to practice Taoism and jump out of the world of mortals, but she refused to accept me as an apprentice." Speaking of this , she glanced at the emperor quietly, seeing that he was listening very attentively, there was no displeasure on his face, and there was even a touch of pity on his face. I rented a small courtyard by the Huaxi River to live in, and finally lived in peace for a few days. Who would have imagined that one day ten months ago, Nie Yinniang broke into my house suddenly, and tied me out without any explanation. After going on the road, she Tell me, Tian Hongzheng was summoned to the capital by the emperor for his military exploits during the Wei Bo Festival. Although she was born in Wei Bo, she has never done anything for Wei Bo, so this time she wants to use me to add icing on the cake and let Tian Hongzheng Dedicate me to the emperor, so as to win more favor from the emperor. Along the way, I cried and quarreled, and tried to escape. Alas! But I fell into the hands of Nie Yinniang, and I really couldn’t fly without wings Ah, I had to accept my fate in the end. Besides..." She stopped, and once again cast an affectionate look at the emperor, "Besides, I have experienced the hardships of wandering in the past three years, so I understand that a bosom friend can be met but not sought after. I think that when I, Du Qiuniang, was the most beautiful, I was surrounded by high-ranking officials and nobles, as well as romantic and talented people, but in the end, the only real bosom friends..." After a moment of silence, Du Qiuniang said again: "Nie Yinniang didn't reveal her assassination plan until today before entering the palace. I was so frightened that I almost fainted, but I had no choice but to do as she said. But as I said just now, I I still don't believe that Nie Yinniang can really make a move, and the facts are as I expected." "What if she makes a move?" the emperor asked coldly. "If..." Du Qiuniang looked directly at the emperor, "If she really makes a move, I will have no way out. So I will try my best not to let her get the dagger in the pipa case. I thought, even if I can delay it in the hall A moment is enough." "I understand." After a long time, the emperor said, "It's not that Nie Yinniang used you, but you used Nie Yinniang—to return to my side." Du Qiuniang lowered her eyes and let out a soft breath—he finally believed it. The emperor stretched out his arms to embrace him, and she leaned into his arms, closing her eyes intoxicated. "I am very glad that you are back at this time." The emperor said softly. Du Qiuniang didn't understand why he emphasized this time, but since he said he was very happy, she was also very happy. "Will you regret it?" he asked again. Du Qiuniang shook her head. She used to regret it, but not now.She only had one little regret—she had cheated him after all.Fortunately, there is very little deception.In that long confession, she only concealed the part related to Cui Miao and Pei Xuanjing, and everything else was true.Besides, she firmly believed that these extremely limited lies would never hurt him.Otherwise, how could he have deceived such a shrewd emperor? Only her sincere daughter-in-law can convince him of his imperial heart. "Do you know why I like you?" the emperor asked softly in her ear. Du Qiuniang shook her head. "Because you are very courageous. Once you understand what you want in your heart, you will seek it at all costs. You are not a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death, and you are far different from those vulgar fans." Du Qiuniang was delighted by the praise, but said deliberately: "I know, I like me because I am stupid and don't know how to cherish life." "I like you because you are the same person as me." Du Qiuniang was speechless. "I'm done talking." The emperor patted the back of her hand, "Play a pipa for me. I've been thinking about it for a long time." "Yes." Du Qiuniang said hurriedly, "where's my pipa?" "You don't need that pipa, I'll give you another good one." The emperor pointed to the shelf beside the couch. Du Qiuniang smiled at him and slipped down to the bed.She stepped on the silk carpet with bare feet, and the soles of her feet felt delicate and smooth like never before, and her whole body became light and light, wishing she could dance immediately.There was a red sandalwood five-string pipa on the shelf, and Du Qiuniang picked it up curiously. The red sandalwood body of the qin shines with distant brilliance, and the strings can be seen to be old at a glance, but the pieces of mother-of-pearl inlaid on the pipa are as gorgeous as new ones, and they are too beautiful to behold. She plucked the string lightly, and a piano sound more exquisite than pearls and jade, clearer than moonlight, sounded in the curtain. Du Qiuniang was both surprised and delighted: "This pipa is..." "you guess." "Could it be... the one used by Concubine Yang Gui?" The emperor smiled and nodded. Du Qiuniang was overjoyed and returned to the couch with the pipa in her arms. Just as she was about to play, she stopped again. The emperor asked, "Why don't you play?" Du Qiuniang looked at him with piercing eyes: "When I was in Chengdu, I heard sister Xue Tao talk about a pipa. I wonder if it is this one?" "Oh? What did she say?" "She said that there used to be a singing girl with the same fate as me who also owned a pipa of Concubine Yang Guifei. That singing girl was as lucky as me and got a real bosom friend. He gave her a pipa and spent time with her Finally, when he found that he could no longer give her shelter, he reluctantly let her go and let her live a new life in freedom." Du Qiuniang was too involved and excited, completely ignoring the fact that the emperor Yue His face became more and more ugly. She was infinitely fascinated and said emotionally: "It is precisely because of the story that Master Xue Lian told me that I can see clearly that the relationship between me and Mr. Li is precious. Today I know again, and I have been reluctantly let go , it can be seen that I have obtained the truest sincerity..." "Enough!" An angry shout stunned Du Qiuniang. The emperor jumped up against the crime, and his face was distorted and deformed by his rage, which was enough to make people frightened.With a flying kick, he kicked over the table beside the couch containing the jade plate, and the clear water in the plate splashed on the velvet carpet, and the water droplets glistened like pearls. "Everyone!" Du Qiuniang saw in astonishment that many palace maids and servants suddenly came out of nowhere, knelt down on the ground, all trembling as if the end was coming. The emperor screamed: "Ice! Ice!" "Here we come! We're here!" A young servant rushed in quickly, leading the crowd to carry a large wooden bucket filled with ice, and frantically picked up a jade plate and filled it with ice. The emperor took a big step forward, accidentally stepped on the water on the ground, slipped, and fell straight down.