In the winter of the 26th year of Daqi, November [-]th, the East Palace.

It was midnight, and the emperor's bedroom was still lit.

Eunuch Li, who was guarding the door of the bedroom, yawned, but he was muttering inwardly.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the emperor's body is getting worse every day, and today he can't even hold on to the court.The elixir master specially invited from the Western Regions was also sent back today by the emperor. It seems that even the emperor himself...

The prince who was born to the emperor and his wife died early. For so many years, the emperor has never made it clear what he meant to be the crown prince.The ministers have been speculating about the next crown prince for many years, and the voice of supporting the third prince has gradually overshadowed everyone else.However, in recent years, with the rise of the Nine Princesses in civil power, some people have boldly speculated whether the emperor will grant the throne to his daughter instead of his son.

It is not without precedent for a woman to be an emperor, although it is a bit shocking.In the Chu Dynasty before the Zhou Dynasty, Empress Liang killed the king and proclaimed herself emperor, and during her reign, the Chu Dynasty flourished. Her achievements are still recorded in the annals of history and praised by future generations.

But he didn't think the emperor would pass on the nine princesses.

Others don't know, but he has served the emperor personally for more than 20 years, but he understands it very well in his heart.Ten years ago, he witnessed Princess Ninth having a big fight with the emperor and then walked away. Since then, the emperor has not loved this princess as much as before. , has long been in harmony with God.

On the contrary, the number of times the emperor summoned the third prince Qi Heng privately became more and more frequent.

Therefore, he believed that it was a certainty that the third prince would sit on the throne.

But the holy will is unpredictable, and he only dared to think about it in his heart.Someone came to him secretly to inquire about the news, but he didn't dare to reveal too much.

After all, once you stand on the wrong team, it will be a big deal to lose your head...

There were several coughing sounds in the hall, and he couldn't help feeling a little worried.

The emperor seemed to know that his time was approaching, and he stayed up all night for several days with very little sleep, how could his body cope with it...

Could it be that he is planning something behind him?

He was secretly speculating, but an unexpected guest came in front of the palace.

The visitor's face was pale and his facial features were soft, his expression was a little tired, and he was dressed in blue with a dusty aura.

Eunuch Lin thought that this person looked familiar, but it seemed that he hadn't seen him for many days, so he couldn't remember who it was at the moment, and said sharply:

"The emperor's bedroom does not allow anyone to bother you, anyone who comes, please step back quickly!"

The emperor's old voice came from the palace:

"It's okay. Li Lian, I summoned him, let him in."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Li Lian replied, stepping out of the way.Seeing the doubts on the face of the man in blue, he seemed to be a little surprised and wary of being secretly summoned here by the emperor in the middle of the night. Although he was puzzled in his heart, he respectfully said, "My lord, please come in. The old servant has offended me just now. Please forgive me."

The other party answered "no problem" and pushed the door open.

However, Eunuch Li Lian, who suddenly remembered who the other party was after hearing the other party's distinctive voice, was stunned at the moment when he realized the other party's identity.

This person belongs to that master!

Could it be that the emperor...

He muttered to himself:

I'm afraid it's not peaceful in this palace...

******

Ordinary people don't care about the undercurrents in the palace, they just care about how noisy they are to finish today's festival.

Today is the last traditional festival of Daqi every year - the Mid-Autumn Festival.

For ordinary people, the importance of the Mid-Autumn Festival is second only to the Spring Festival, which welcomes the new year.

If I had to use one word to describe this festival, it would be "noisy".

When the sky was getting dark, people began to set off firecrackers one after another; shops on the street put up notices of "[-]% off today", and even Fengyue Pavilion, the largest brothel in Qidu, also lowered the ticket price for matinee performances for an unprecedented time; The number of stalls on both sides has increased by [-]%, and the bosses are yelling hard from morning till night...

It was like a grand celebration for the princess who had regained her sight.

Unlike Shen Qiaohuan, who was preoccupied because she had figured out something, the princess, who was woken up by the sound of firecrackers early in the morning, found that her eyes were healed and her legs didn't hurt anymore. Her joy was almost beyond words.

What would the expressive joy of a princess who has always been unhappy look like?

Please see--

The two are ready to go out.Because I asked my younger brother to buy casual clothes before, and the straight man's aesthetics are really horrible.So the two of them unanimously decided to go to the Jinxiufang downstairs to buy two nice clothes before going to the market.

Yan Xin, who is tall, long-legged and plump, has never had the trouble of picking out clothes. She is neatly dressed like a nobleman, and she sees Shen Qiaohuan still struggling with herself, so she simply sits down and asks for a pot of tea, curls her lips, and looks at Miss Shen. A one-man dressing show.

Shen Qiaohuan didn't care much about her attire at first, but when she looked at Yan Xin, who was as beautiful as a banished fairy, she thought that she was the woman who wanted to stand with this fairy, and she couldn't be compared too much, so she took the trouble to choose carefully. , after going in and out of the fitting screen and trying no less than twenty sets of clothes, I finally selected four that looked pretty good.

As a woman, she wanted to buy all four sets of clothes back.But she peeked at her purse...

These two days have cost a lot of money, and now that she is very cash-strapped, the money in her purse will only be enough to buy one.

No matter which one you choose, it will hurt your heart!

Shen Qiaohuan couldn't make such a difficult decision, so she ran to ask Yan Xin for advice.

"Tell me, among these four pieces, which one do I look better in?"

Yan Xin took a sip of tea, smiled lightly and said:

"It's all pretty."

Hey, Yan Xin seems to be in a good mood today.Shouldn't she seize the opportunity to complain about her body defects?Although this kind of concise compliment made Shen Qiaohuan very useful, but...

Saying it is the same as not saying it!

If she had the money to buy them all, why did she ask Yan Xin which one looked good?

But seeing Yan Xin still smiling lightly, she turned her head towards the smiling boss of Jinxiu Workshop, and said softly:

"Wrap me up these four suits, no, all the clothes this girl has just tried on."

"..."

Shen Qiaohuan's heart was hit by this touching love words at this moment, and she was so moved that she couldn't say a word.

She retracted her previous thoughts.Yan Xin's mood today is not in a good mood, but in a good mood.

And the good mood of the princess, which has been rare for more than 20 years, is still continuing——

"Little Joe, come and see this."

Shen Qiaohuan was thinking about something on her mind when she was suddenly stopped by Yan Xin. When she looked back, Yan Xin was standing in front of a trap stall and waving at her.

Shen Qiaohuan: "..." Is this kind of trick that she didn't like to play more than ten years ago, the princess is also interested?

Of course, she didn't dare to speak out what was in her heart.

Shen Qiaohuan approached and found that Yan Xin was watching others throwing bamboo rings and watching intently.Seeing Shen Qiaohuan approaching, she turned her head and said:

"I think there is something strange about this bamboo ring. Even if it is caught in the trap, it will bounce after throwing it. It is not easy to catch it."

As he spoke, he pointed to a certain book placed farthest away and said, "That book is an orphan. I have been begging for it for a long time and have not asked for it. I really want to keep it for myself, so I called Xiao Qiao to try it."

Shen Qiaohuan had long been used to Yan Xin's demanding but still proud tone, so she didn't care.She took a closer look, it's simple!To set the bamboo ring, you need to use ingenuity, and you have to find the right angle, taking into account the bounce of the bamboo ring.Shen Qiaohuan patted her chest, "Leave it to me", took the bamboo ring and stared at it for a while, and threw it obliquely. The bamboo ring happened to cover the surface of the book obediently.

Having lost his beloved book, the stall owner's face was pale, but he still forced a smile:

"This girl is so accurate. This lonely book that I have treasured for many years belongs to you."

After getting the book, Yan Xin seemed to want to try it out for herself.Standing in front of the throwing line, she turned to look at Shen Qiaohuan, and asked brightly:

"What does Xiao Qiao want? Let me give it to you."

can you?Shen Qiaohuan secretly sweated for her, and pointed to the thickest hard flowerpot closest to her:

"That's it."

As a result, Yan Xin raised and lowered his hands, and when the bamboo ring with internal strength hit the flowerpot, the flowerpot also shattered into slag from the center.After hitting the flowerpot, the bamboo circle still kept on speeding, and it slammed into the ground like a circle-shaped missile, smashing all the porcelain products into pieces.

This is the veritable so-called "smashing the field".

The whole place was silent.

Shen Qiaohuan was unable to support her forehead—she really is a princess who is born with supernatural power.

The stall owner turned pale with shock: "This girl, you you you..."

Yan Xin had no expression on her face. After throwing down a piece of gold leaf, she pulled Shen Qiaohuan away: "It will break if you touch it lightly, this ring is really boring. Xiao Qiao, let's go and see something else."

The two worlds have lived together for nearly 40 years. This is the first time that Shen Qiaohuan has met this kind of person who can go shopping together and can smash a whole street from the beginning to the end; or in other words, someone who "buys" a street:

Want to eat candied haws?Buy buy buy.

Want a sugar man?Buy buy buy.

Want to see a show?Chartered place.

Look at that cricket fight.What?The hand is too strong, and the cricket was accidentally killed by her?It doesn't matter, just drop the money and pay, and they continue to rush to the next battlefield.

……

By evening, most of the stalls on the entire street had been removed.Shen Qiaohuan was dragged by the princess who was still full of interest to shuttle between the remaining stalls, her heart was half terrified and half epiphany:

No wonder Yan Xin has been a house girl since she was a child and doesn't like to come out to play!The whole thing is the queen of the scene!If the lethality is so great, it would be fine if it was released from an early age!During the festival, all the stalls have been wiped out, and ordinary people who are called out to look for excitement, how can they go shopping well!

Even though she got into trouble, she still pretended to be calm, uncompromising and still so self-willed. Why did she feel a little cute instead?

Looking back at the deserted street, Shen Qiaohuan took the hands of the people around her, looked at her and said:

"Xin'er, let's go to the Qing'an River."

There are many differences between the time and space here and modern times.One of the biggest differences is that the lotus here only blooms in winter and is very cold-resistant.

There is a myth that has been circulating for thousands of years: Thousands of years ago, there lived a river god in Qing'an River, who was vicious and evil.Every year on November [-]th, people living by the river have to float two boys and girls down the river in a small lotus boat for him to eat, otherwise he will control the river to accumulate power and flood the river. Kill all villagers who live by the river.After several years of this, a clever scholar finally proposed to fill the boat with kindling, wait until the boat floated to the side of the river god, light the kindling and throw it at the river god to burn him to death.After that, there was no more river god in the world, but the brave scholar on the boat never came back.Therefore, in order to commemorate him, on November [-] every year, people will spontaneously light a lotus lantern made of lotus leaves by the Qing'an River and float down the river.

But it has been passed down to this day, and there are not many people who still remember to put lotus lanterns on this day.

It will take some time to walk from where the two of them are to the Qing'an River.The two walked slowly along the street holding hands, chatting with each other, Shen Qiaohuan somehow remembered someone whom he hadn't seen for a long time:

"Speaking of which, it seems that I haven't seen Eunuch He Quan for a long time."

"Why did you suddenly think of him?" Yan Xin was a little surprised, and frowned when he remembered what this person had said and done: "He Quan made a mistake and was sent by me to the border town to deal with the accumulated affairs. If I remember correctly, he You can go back to the city in two days."

Shen Qiaohuan asked curiously: "I think He Quan has always been loyal to you, and he doesn't seem like someone who would make any big mistakes. What did he do? Why don't I know?"

Yan Xin glanced at her and said coolly, "He Quan felt that you were hindering me. A few months ago, he came to ask me if he could get rid of you."

"Ah?" Shen Qiaohuan was startled, and said angrily, "Damn Mr. He Quan, it's useless for me to think of him, and he actually wants to kill me."

"He has always been loyal to me, and he won't act without my orders." Yan Xin shook his head, signaling to Shen Qiaohuan not to worry too much, "His temperament is too cautious, and every person around me with unknown origins, he will secretly speculate about it." Will people be against me?"

Shen Qiao hesitated for a moment, then suddenly said softly:

"...If so, will I really hinder you?"

The voice was as soft as a gnat, but Yan Xin didn't hear it clearly, so she frowned and asked:

"what?"

"It's nothing." Shen Qiaohuan shook her head, squeezed Yan Xin tightly, and blinked her eyes, "Didn't you ask me why I suddenly thought of He Quan? Look to the left and back, there is a camphor tree. When Mr. He Quan was watching me, I like hiding on the branches of camphor trees the most.”

Yan Xin followed, and there was a tall camphor tree behind him.There seems to be a breeze blowing, and the leaves on the high place are trembling gently.

Yan Xin raised her eyebrows and looked away.

Turning his head again, the Qing'an River is close in front of him.

There is an old man selling lotus lanterns on the river bank, his hair is already gray.His business seems to be in a downturn, and he is sitting lazily on the bank of the river smoking a pipe.Seeing two beautiful girls walking towards him, he hurriedly threw a pipe to meet him: "Are the girls here to release lotus lanterns?"

Yan Xin nodded, "Exactly."

Looking around, only a few people can be seen in the distance, two or three people are also lighting lotus lanterns and going down the river; but the river surface in this area is dim.

The old man handed the two of them two small lotus lanterns, looked at the silver in their hands, shook his head and refused, and there was indescribable sadness in his old voice:

"Now that the dynasty has changed for hundreds of years, people only say that firecrackers and dumplings should be set off to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. Every year, fewer and fewer people set off lotus lanterns. The two girls still remember my ancestors in their hearts, and I am very grateful."

It turns out that the legend is true.The old man in front of him who comes here every year to distribute lotus lanterns is actually a descendant of the scholar.

The old man said: "My lotus lantern also has the ability to fulfill wishes. As long as the person who puts the lantern is sincere and kind, most of the wishes made will come true. Please come down here with me, two girls."

The two followed them down to the river, where only one person was allowed to stand where the lamp was placed.The two looked at each other, and Shen Qiaohuan looked at the excitement in each other's eyes, and said, "You come first."

Yan Xin held the lotus lantern in his hand, and lightly polished the wick with a flint.The green lotus leaves are folded into a very delicate square packet, only a hole the size of a coin eye is left in the middle for the wick to burn.

Shen Qiaohuan quietly looked at Yan Xin not far away.The faint light of the fire illuminated Yan Xin's face, which seemed to be piously making a wish, making her look a little unreal.

At the same time, Shen Qiaohuan heard the familiar sound of flapping wings.

The white carrier pigeon that seemed to come from hell found her again without fail.

This time it was not a letter that was handed to her.

It was Zhao Ya's hairband.

There are two words written on the hair band——

Return soon.

Shen Qiaohuan's expression was complicated, and the hand holding the hairband gradually tightened.She looked up at Yan Xin whose back was turned to her, hesitating to say something.The other party didn't look back, but happened to speak before her, and said very slowly:

"Shen Xiaoqiao. If you want to leave, please don't let me find out."

Yan Xin's back was straightened.

Even if she gave up, her pride remained the same as before.

Shen Qiaohuan was speechless for a moment.After a long time, he only said softly:

"I left you a letter. It's on the table in the bedroom of the inn. You must read it."

Yan Xin still didn't look back, but Shen Qiaohuan knew she heard it.

"Then... take care."

There seemed to be a breeze blowing behind him.

But Yan Xin knew that it was the voice of Shen Qiaohuan leaving.

The camphor tree behind him was shaken by the wind, and the leaves began to rustle.

Suddenly a person flew down from the tree, and after only three or two steps, he prostrated himself lightly behind her without making a sound.

She closed her eyes slowly, and when she opened them again, her eyes had returned to normal clarity:

"He Quan, go back to the inn first, and then come back to the palace with me!"

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