Emperor Que Shaohua

Luo Pingyuan still remembered the day when the palace changed.It was a gloomy and snowy winter day. As usual, he, Luo Junping and Luo Linpian were studying with the Taifu in Wentao Palace. Wen Xiao said that he occasionally felt a cold and asked for leave for the future.

Luo Linpian and Luo Junping had always been at loggerheads. Although Luo Junping was two years older, he usually couldn't get any advantage in front of this fourth brother. Luo Wenxiao, who could ease the atmosphere, didn't come, so the class that day was slower than usual Also get bored.When it was finally over, Luo Linpian, with her usual arrogance, packed up her books and left with her companion.Luo Junping stretched his waist, and said to Luo Pingyuan, "Are you going to the Royal Garden?"

Luo Pingyuan nodded, he was looking forward to this time every day, the imperial brother Luo Shenhua would go to the Royal Garden to stay with him for a while after the court, listen to him talk, and sometimes play with him for a while.Since last night, it has been snowing like rubbing cotton and wadding. Luo Shenhua promised early on that he would build a snowman with him and Luo Xuening.He didn't want to take Luo Junping with him.Fortunately, Luo Junping didn't mean that, he just said casually: "I passed by the Taiye Pond today, and the snow scene is pretty good."

The Fifth Prince arrived at the Imperial Garden, and the seven-year-old Xue Ning had just arrived, and the little girl carved in pink and jade ran towards him, wearing a big red cloak, like a ball of fire.She was very happy to be able to build a snowman with the two imperial brothers, but also a little anxious: "Qiuyan went to inquire about it, and the court has not left yet. When will the elder brother arrive? Should we build it first?"

Luo Pingyuan, on the other hand, wanted to wait for Brother Huang to come over, and felt that he was only happy when he was there, so he said with a smile: "It's rare for such heavy snow, let's go to Taiye Pool to see the snow scene."

The two children were in the snow, but they were not in the mood to enjoy the scenery, they were mainly playing.There is a vast expanse of white on the Taiye Pool, and the flat ground is full of new snow that no one has stepped on. There are still small pieces of snowflakes floating in the sky. The willows and green pine trees beside the pool are covered with silver. Looking at the rows of icicles, Luo Pingyuan has sent a servant to find out if the Zichen Palace has been dispersed. He only heard that Shao'an on the northern border was recently invaded by the Northern Liao Dynasty. , Brother Huang will be late.

At that time, Luo Xuening was chubby and a girl doll like a snow ball. After playing in the snow for a while, the two of them got down to the Taiye Pool and stood on the snow-covered ice.

Luo Pingyuan only saw Xue Ning running farther and farther on the surface of the pool, and was about to turn into a red spot. At that moment, he suddenly felt a little cold, turned around and looked, and the maids and servants who followed them disappeared at some point, and the surroundings were silent silent.He instinctively felt that something was wrong, and raised his voice and shouted: "Sister, Xue Ning, the ice is dangerous, come back quickly, let's go up!"

However, at this moment, he heard a crack on the ice from a distance, Luo Xuening's body visibly tilted, her happy laughter turned into an exclamation, and disappeared from the ice in a blink of an eye.

He immediately realized that the ice must have cracked, and the snow had fallen into the ice water.He only remembered that while running forward, he shouted for someone to come, but no one answered.He didn't have time to think about it, he only saw the ice surface in front of him shattered, revealing a pool of water, and there was a faint red shadow, which should be the struggling Xue Ning.The next moment, he rushed into the ice water with his whole body.

The ice in the pool was bitterly cold, Luo Pingyuan was impermeable to the water, and immediately sank, his whole body seemed to be stabbed by ice needles, he struggled desperately to catch Xue Ning, and wanted to call for help, but within a few strokes, the cold water flowed from his mouth I poured it into my nose and choked several times.At that time, he had already started to practice internal strength, and his mind was still calm.After catching the red shadow, try to get to the surface of the water.The center of the Taiye Pond was as deep as Zhang Xu, and he couldn't reach the bottom of the pool at all. Several times he managed to take a breath of air, and sank again in a blink of an eye.Luo Xuening's body seemed to be extremely heavy, and she was about to sink him to seek justice.Luo Pingyuan was still thinking at first, if he had to find a way to climb up the ice, he would insist on waiting for someone to rescue him, and the emperor would come to find them when he went down to court.Gradually, his consciousness became drowsy, his limbs became weaker and weaker, and his chest seemed to explode due to suffocation.He couldn't hear the sound on the shore, where did the servants go, and the last thing he thought was that he and Xue Ning were going to die in this pool of Taiye.

Many years later, Luo Pingyuan still remembered the pain of being helpless and falling towards justice in the cold, which made him wake up from nightmares countless times.

When he was in a daze that day, he felt someone lift himself out of the pool, and another voice called him in a low voice: "Pingyuan, wake up." He spat a few times with the slap on his back, and saw Luo The only thought in Shenhua's Xuanyi's mind is: It's safe.

But he was completely numb from the cold, unable to move, and then there were bursts of clashing swords and shouts in his ears.Brother Huang said in a low voice: "There are assassins, don't be afraid, just hold on, I'll find someone to send you and Xue Ning back."

Luo Pingyuan felt that the emperor's brother had placed himself on the snow, surrounded by the unconscious Xue Ning.He thought, how could there be assassins and guards in the palace?Where is the father?Trying to open his eyes wide, he saw Luo Shenhua standing in front of them, surrounded by men in masked clothes, at least a dozen of them, and several corpses were already lying on the ground, there were assassins and palace servants in their costumes , he recognized one of the faces, isn't that Guan He, the attendant next to Brother Huang?

His mind was chaotic for a while, and he was awake for a while. He only heard the sound of weapons and palm wind, a few crossbow arrows shot at him and Xue Ning, and warm blood splashed on his body.Only brother Huang was the one who fought with the assassin, he thought, why didn't he see Ah Su?Then I remembered that Qin Su was temporarily sent out by the empress to handle errands two days ago, so he was not in the palace.

The wind was so cold that the wet clothes stuck to me like armor made of ice.He struggled to hold Luo Xuening in his arms to protect her, and passed out not long after.

After sleeping for an unknown amount of time, Luo Pingyuan only felt that there was a fire burning in his body, and when he woke up, he was already lying in his bedroom in Fengyi Palace, with Qingluan sitting beside him with an anxious expression.He moved, feeling weak all over, and asked, "Qingluan, where's the emperor brother? Where's the assassin?"

Qingluan's eyes were filled with surprise and worry, and she held him down and lay still: "Your Highness, you have been burning for a day and a night, and finally woke up. How did you go to Taiye Pond, and you met assassins, and you caught the cold? To be frightened again, to be so ill."

"Where's Brother Huang and Xue Ning?" Luo Pingyuan asked again.

"The princess has been sent back to Lanting Palace, and she is also ill. I heard that His Highness was besieged, injured, and was hit by a crossbow. She is still awake, and the Empress is very worried!"

Although Luo Pingyuan felt weak, but after hearing this, he couldn't stay any longer.After Luo Shenhua was 14 years old, he no longer lived in Fengyi Palace, but lived in Changning Palace on the east side of the palace city. He knew that he would not be allowed to go there at this moment, so he wanted Qingluan to inquire about the people around the queen.Qingluan looked outside, and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty just came back from Changning Palace, she seemed to be in a hurry, Wei Wuze followed closely, slave... slave waited for him to leave before going to Madam to ask, but good?"

Wei Wuze is a member of Langhuan. Luo Shenhua once told him that one of the twelve orders of Langhuan is called Youming, which is good at disguise. The person in charge is Wei Wuze, and Qin Su is from Xuanshuang.

Luo Pingyuan met Wei Wuze a few times. He was nearly thirty years old, and he was pretty handsome. For some reason, he fell in love with Qingluan. Qingluan was brought into the palace by the queen, and Wei Wuze often used excuses to come to the palace.But Qingluan was very afraid of him, she said in private: "Wei Wuze's eyes are gloomy, I get scared when I see them."

Now that Wei Wuze is in Fengyi Palace, of course Qingluan dare not show his face, so Luo Pingyuan said to her: "Aluan, is there any medicine?"

Qingluan quickly said: "I just told you that it's over, and I'm going to see if I'm done."

As soon as she left the door, Luo Pingyuan propped himself up and got out of the bed. Relying on his good background, he put on a coat and ran towards the queen's main hall.

Turning around the corridor, it was strange that he didn't meet the maid, and then he heard Queen Langhuan talking in the hall from a distance. Luo Pingyuan was familiar with the voice of the empress, but at this moment it felt strange. rebuke.Then he heard Rupin answering, but the voice was not like the Rupin he was familiar with, it was strangely excited and sharp.In his astonishment, he forgot the fainting of the high fever, and ran over following the sound.

Fang stepped into the main hall, and saw an unforgettable scene head-on: Rupin knelt on the ground with her back to herself, the queen stood in front of her, and was bending over to pull out the blood-stained long sword from her chest, Rupin knelt Li's body shook accordingly, and fell sideways on the ground, with half of his face facing up, and there was a clear palm print on his bloodless cheek.

He stood blankly not far from them, and there was only blood in front of his eyes for a while, and his eyes were gradually turning dull and lifeless, which seemed to be filled with disbelief.She was lying on the ground, with Luo Pingyuan reflected in her eyes, as if she had regained her strength suddenly, she raised a hand towards him, grabbed it in the air: "Ping Yuan, Ping Yuan." Then she His hands fell back to the ground, his eyes were completely distracted, but they were still wide open unwillingly.

Later, Luo Pingyuan always blamed himself. At that time, he should have hugged Rupin, but at that moment in front of her lifeless body, his reaction was to step back a few steps, and he did not scream, but just watched silently. .

At this time, someone pressed his shoulder, Luo Pingyuan turned his head in shock, Concubine Han was standing behind him at some point.She leaned down and whispered in his ear: "Your Highness, watch carefully, remember what you saw, and don't forget who killed your mother and concubine. Don't worry, every drop of her blood has blood. I won't let Rubi die in vain."

Han Guifei's voice was very gentle, but Luo Pingyuan felt creepy.He couldn't remember whether he passed out because of illness or was beaten unconscious.

If the previous fever didn't matter, he was really sick afterwards.He was in a daze, sometimes like being in a furnace, sometimes like falling into the icy water again, constantly struggling in nightmares, he always wanted to cry out, wanted to cry out the pain he experienced, but he didn't know what he was doing. what is it call.

When she woke up, she was lying in a strange palace room, only the haggard Qingluan was beside her.

"Your Highness Fifth, you have been burning for five whole days, and your slaves are dying of anxiety." Qingluan's eyes were swollen from crying, "This is the Lanting Palace of Concubine Rong, Your Majesty ordered you to be moved here so that you can be with the princess. take care of."

Luo Pingyuan asked her drowsily, "Where's the emperor brother? Where's the concubine and the queen?"

Qingluan burst into tears and said: "An accident happened in Fengyi Palace, Empress Empress, she is dead. Don't ask your highness, you are still sick, let's talk about it later."

Luo Pingyuan was still sick and weak, but how could he calm down and recuperate, he hadn't recovered from the collapse, he ignored the porridge that Qingluan brought, just asked what happened, and didn't have the energy to listen more, spent two God, only intermittently figured out the general idea.

On that day, Chonghua Palace was attacked. Dozens of assassins broke into the palace city with swords. Emperor Tianyi had just come down to court. On the way to the harem, he was attacked by a group of assassins. Fortunately, he was not injured. The assassins were divided into two groups. The other group sneaked in from the royal garden of the harem, trying to outflank them, but happened to meet Luo Pingyuan and Luo Xuening who fell into the water, and the eldest son of the emperor, Luo Shenhua, who came to look for them.The reason why no guards came to help at that time should be because they were all protecting Emperor Tianyi.

The prince was seriously injured, Emperor Tianyi was extremely furious, and even Li Pinglan, who had always been relied on, was punished.Several of the assassins escaped, and the rest did not survive, either being killed by the guards, or committing suicide when they saw that they could not escape.But judging from the appearance, most of them are sturdy and rough-faced. It is obvious at a glance that they are not Han Chinese, and they speak Beiliao dialect with each other. Reminiscent of the Battle of Shao'an, it should be speculated that they were sent by Beiliao.Emperor Tianyi said: "If you are so arrogant, there should be internal responses in the palace." Then he ordered a thorough investigation.

However, just one day after the incident, the aftermath was not over, and another accident occurred.Concubine Ru concubine died under the sword of the queen in Fengyi Palace. Concubine Han asked to see Emperor Tianyi and presented a last letter, saying that concubine Ru concubine accidentally found out that the concubine had liaison with Northern Liao and betrayed Yu and Zhou.Because the matter is of great importance and has far-reaching influence on the fate of the country, as a concubine, she has received the favor of the emperor, so even though she has been in love with Empress Langhuan for many years, she has no choice but to bear the pain and report it.She was determined to go to Fengyi Palace to report to the queen, and persuade her to confess her crimes. Thinking of how bad things would be, she left this letter and entrusted Concubine Han to forward it to the emperor. Found in Fengyi Palace.

Qingluan said: "Your Majesty only knows that His Majesty drove to Changning Palace immediately after reading the letter from Empress Rubi. His Highness was still unconscious at that time, and His Majesty stayed in Changning Palace for an hour before going to Fengyi Palace , and only spoke a few words to Empress Langhuan, and then issued an order to seal the palace, and the palace servants and servants are not allowed to go out, only that the queen is seriously ill and cannot see anyone."

Luo Pingyuan was a little stunned when he heard that, and asked, "Is the emperor awake? Why did the queen die?"

Qingluan bit her lips: "Your Highness, two days before you woke up, the border sent an urgent battle report of [-] miles, and it was spread all over the palace, saying that Langhuan originally sent hundreds of children to help defend the city, but During the battle, a new rebel general from our side came out from the Beiliao camp. He was the deputy general of Shao'an. He took out the Langhuan order under the city, saying that the suzerain had orders, and all the people in Langhuan immediately turned to help Beiliao , Open the gate of Shao'an city, don't worry, the suzerain has already arranged in the palace, and will cooperate."

Hearing this, the ten-year-old little prince suddenly sat up from the couch: "How could it be possible for the people in Langhuan to open the city gate to Beiliao, and... moreover, how could the empress let the Langhuan order fall into the hands of the traitor? Then, what happened next?"

Qingluan said in a low voice: "Your maidservants can only find out very little. I only heard that there was a great chaos at that time. The disciples of Langhuan were at a loss when they saw the order. Our army's morale was greatly frustrated, and Beiliao took the opportunity to attack the city. I don't know who was in the city in the chaos. Calling to surrender, another traitor opened the city gate in disorder, the guards were caught off guard, Shao'an... Shao'an was lost. On the night when the battle report came, the empress passed away. Fallen. Everyone is discussing whether Langhuan is treason and why the queen did this. I heard that the court is also arguing fiercely about this matter. Fifth Highness, take care of your illness, don't think too much about it, and don't talk about it with others thing."

Luo Pingyuan felt a little unbelievable, more grief and confusion. His originally peaceful world suddenly collapsed, and he murmured: "Yes, why did the queen treason? If she asked the assassins from Beiliao to assassinate, then How could Brother Huang be attacked and seriously injured. Where is Brother Huang, is he awake now?"

Qingluan looked at his dazed little face, with a worried look on his face: "I heard that His Royal Highness has escaped from danger, but he is still very weak. His Majesty sent guards to guard outside Changning Palace. The gates there have been closed for the past few days. The slaves don't know what his situation is like. It is said that the courtiers think that no matter whether Lang Huan rebelled or not, His Highness must not know about it, but there are also people who say that collaborating with the enemy and conspiring against him is no small matter, and we need to find out the truth. Interrogate Your Highness."

When Luo Pingyuan asked again, Qingluan couldn't say anything more.As a court lady, she did her best to know that's all.

At that time, for the fifth prince, what happened at the distant border and the pain of the loss of the country were not so clear based on Qingluan's messy narration.But the assassin's attack and the scene where the queen kills the concubine are all his own experiences. Then the queen also died, Fengyi Palace could never go back, and his imperial brother was never heard from again. The blows were too many for him to face.

Luo Pingyuan didn't speak any more, and passed like a wooden man for a few days.At first, except Concubine Rong and Xue Ning, no one paid attention to him, everyone in the palace seemed to be very busy.It wasn't until Emperor Tianyi took the time to visit him once that people came to visit him one after another. Several concubines in the palace, the second and third brothers, and even Luo Linpian came later, but they still didn't see each other. To elder brother Luo Shenhua.

He had heard all kinds of rumors, different opinions, all in pieces; lying in bed every day, trying to piece together what happened.

There are rumors that the evidence provided by the concubine is a letter written by Empress Langhuan to Beiliao. From the content, it can be seen that this is not the first time that they have communicated. It is discussed that Shao'an will be exchanged for Beiliao to send martial arts masters into the palace. To assassinate the Holy Majesty, so that the eldest prince can ascend to the throne of God as soon as possible.There are so many masters in Langhuan, the reason why the Beiliao assassins are used is to avoid the suspicion of Langhuan's regicide.

When Luo Junping came, he said to him: "What are you afraid of? These things have nothing to do with you. Lady Han cares about you very much. Maybe she will take you to Yunxiu Palace, and Second Brother will take care of you."

Luo Pingyuan didn't say a word, he heard that Emperor Tianyi didn't show the letter as evidence to others, but ordered that he should be buried like a concubine, and had relegated many courtiers who were close to the elder brother and spoke for him.He also thought that the queen even sent Qin Su out before the incident, as if there was a sign, and the emperor seemed to be very preoccupied a few days before the incident, and he could see what he was worried about.He had seen the Langhuan Token once, it was a token used by Empress Jiang Biyao to order the heroes, it was neither gold nor jade, and it was absolutely difficult to imitate, unless there was something important, it would not be passed lightly, how could it suddenly appear at the border.So could it be said that everything is true, even if he doesn't want to believe it anymore, Rupin's death is real, he doesn't have a mother anymore.

After a few more days, when the illness was almost healed, Luo Pingyuan avoided Qingluan, slipped out of Lanting Palace, and ran towards Changning Palace.Along the way, he felt that the harem had become much sparser, perhaps because of the Queen's death.

The gate of Changning Palace was closed tightly, and there were guards standing outside. He ignored no one, ran to the gate of the palace and beat the door with his fist desperately, shouting loudly: "Brother Huang, I am Ping Yuan, I want to talk to you!"

He also doesn't know what is the use of looking for the big emperor brother, what the emperor brother who has always taken care of and loved him can do to reverse all this, it's just that all along, when encountering sad and frightening things, he will instinctively look for it, Luo Shenhua also Never let him down.

However, that day, he yelled and yelled, his palms slapped painfully, and his voice gradually became crying.The guards guarding the palace did not dare to rush at the fifth prince, and pushed him away while persuading him.

Until being dragged away, the palace door was still tightly closed, and the inside was silent, as if there was no one there.

Luo Pingyuan has done this thing of running and smashing the door three times. The last time, the palace door actually opened, but the person who came out was Wei Wuze.He raised Luo Pingyuan's chin with a half-smile: "Little poor, your brother is too busy to take care of himself now, and he has long since abandoned you. What are you doing with the son who killed his mother and enemy, have you really become his little slave?"

"What are you doing here? Aren't you a subordinate of Langhuan, how can you still enter the palace?" Luo Pingyuan asked vigilantly.

"I'm just here to tell Luo Shenhua that Youming will no longer be subordinate to Langhuan from now on," Wei Wuze let out a long laugh, "I want to vote for someone else, against him, what can he do to me? Fifth prince, don't care who I serve I just asked you, how is Qingluan? I ask you to tell her something. I have been very busy recently. I will visit her when I am free. Tell her to be honest and stop hiding. Now there is no master who can protect her!"

As if confirming Wei Wuze's words, a few days later, a palace official brought a piece of Luo Shenhua's handwriting through Qingluan, and there were only eight words on it: Seeing without words, cherishing oneself.

This is the only news that Brother Huang gave him.Knowing that Luo Shenhua could not protect himself and was in a difficult situation, he was still stung. The ten-year-old little prince was not used to being with Zeng day and night, thinking about everything that his imperial brother would leave him alone, and even meant to draw a line. .