The north wind is howling and the snow is flying.
The entire eastern capital of Luoyang seemed to have fallen into an atmosphere of chaos and chaos. The faces of the people were numb from being frozen by the wind and snow. Even their emotions and actions were numb. When they watched the emperor's chariot go away, Crossing the market and heading towards the city gate, they even forgot to kowtow and salute.
At the right time, the emperor was surrounded by the Imperial Guards, sat on the dragon chariot, and left the Eastern Capital that he had run for many years with great dignity, heading south to the Jiangdu where he dreamed of magnolias sculls and green birds singing in spring. .
Four hundred thousand troops set out from the four city gates and walked for a full day before they completely left the Eastern Capital.
When the last group of people walked out of the city gate and disappeared into the wind and snow, Queen Jiang, who was standing on the city tower to see each other off, was already cold all over, but she didn't seem to feel cold at all. Her gentle and affectionate eyes remained unchanged in the wind and snow. He was not frozen, and even had a lingering warmth, looking at the person who had walked away in the snow.
At this time, the Crescent Moon Princess’s soft voice sounded behind her——
"Mother, my father has gone far, let's go back."
"..."
Queen Jiang remained motionless. The thick fox fur on her body had been stained with a lot of snow foam, and even her eyebrows were covered with a little frost.
A pair of slender jade hands held her arm, and Queen Jiang came to her senses. Looking back, she saw Princess Crescent Moon wearing goose-yellow clothes, with a ring of white fluffy fox fur on the collar and cuffs. Her cheeks were as plump as the moon, and her skin was as white as snow. When she stood in the wind and snow, it seemed that even the wind and snow had stopped because of her.
She whispered with concern: "Mother, your health is urgent."
"..."
"You have been standing here for most of the day. If the wind blows like this, your illness will get worse again."
"..."
"Don't you want your mother to recover from her illness earlier and go to Jiangdu to find your father earlier?"
Hearing what she said, Queen Jiang's face finally showed a look of relief, and she nodded silently: "Let's go."
Princess Crescent Moon, Eunuch Lu beside her, and several palace maids who were accompanying her breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. She hurriedly supported Queen Jiang and walked slowly to the stairs. When they came down the tower again, Queen Jiang still held back. He couldn't help but look up again.
This time, what she saw was not only the vast snowy scene outside the city, but also the desolate scene inside the city.
Then, he sighed softly and walked down the tower with his daughter's support.
As soon as they reached the bottom, the soldiers guarding the city immediately came forward to salute. The deputy general guarding the city among them said respectfully: "Queen, do you need to close the city gate?"
Empress Jiang said: "Usually, don't we always close the city gate at three o'clock in the morning? It's not yet yet."
The city guard lieutenant said: "No, it's just——"
He looked around hesitantly.
Queen Jiang also looked up at the open city gate. Although 400,000 people had walked through the city gate today, the city gate was not quiet. On the contrary, there were more people walking out in a steady stream. They were either driving horses, or carrying burdens on their backs. Carrying large and small packages, one could tell at a glance that they were moving away from Luoyang.
These people had planned to leave for a long time, but were worried about encountering rebel bandits on the road, so they stayed until today to leave with the Holy Driver. At least, the rogue rebels did not dare to disturb such a large group of people at will.
….
Seeing these people walking hard, Queen Jiang sighed softly.
"What's wrong with the people?"
She said: "There is no need to close the city gate in advance, just wait until the time comes."
"yes."
Queen Jiang took Princess Xin Yue and got into the sedan chair. Soon, the surrounding palace maids and guards gathered together to escort her to Ziwei Palace.
But at the gate of the city where the snow was flying, several tall and strong men went against the flow of people and came into the city. They made eye contact with the people who had been waiting for a long time in the city, and they all dispersed. After a while, they He disappeared into the chaotic and turbulent crowd in Dongdu City.
When she returned to the East Palace, Queen Jiang's face was paler than before.
Princess Crescent Moon helped her until she walked to the couch in the inner hall and lay down, and then ordered the imperial kitchen to bring ginger soup. She drank it steamingly, which finally dispelled the chill all over her body, and her pale and thin cheeks became rosy.
Princess Crescent Moon said softly: "The queen can no longer ignore her body like this."
Seeing her daughter's caring look, Queen Jiang smiled slightly, her face full of tenderness and relief.
Just as the Crescent Princess was tucking the blanket over her body more tightly, she accidentally saw a few bundles on the other side of the couch, and several large boxes in the corner, which seemed to be packed luggage. He kept asking, "Mother, what are you packing your luggage for?"
Queen Jiang glanced at her but said nothing.
Princess Crescent Moon said: "Do you want to go to Jiangdu Palace with your father? But didn't your father say that you will wait for your mother to recover well before leaving? There is no rush."
"..."
Queen Jiang looked at her again, but this time, she hesitated to speak.
This daughter of mine is smart, charming, and lovely. She has been cared for since she was a child, and she is the sweet daughter of heaven. Probably because she understands the heavy and hard work of shouldering responsibilities, she always protects her daughter very well and does not allow her to participate in any affairs of the imperial harem since she was a child. Chu Yang, on the other hand, treats this daughter even more It's a lot of love. That's why when she was sixteen years old, she was still so innocent and innocent, without a trace of wariness or defensiveness against the world's sophistication.
Even more nonsense, those treacherous conspiracies and traps.
But now, she regrets it.
There is nothing eternal in the world. If she can't always protect the peach blossom garden around her, then she shouldn't be allowed to live only in the peach blossom garden in the first place...
Now, she really regrets it.
Feeling that the tenderness in her mother's eyes was gradually tinged with sadness, Princess Crescent Moon asked doubtfully: "Queen Mother, what's wrong with you?"
"..."
Empress Jiang looked at her deeply, and after a long time, she finally said softly: "Not only the Queen Mother's own luggage, but also your and Fei'er's luggage, the Queen Mother has also asked people to pack it for you."
"us?"
Princess Crescent Moon opened her bright almond-shaped eyes and said doubtfully: "Mother, we have just sent Father off, and your health is not good yet, so we don't have to rush on our way."
"No, you have to get on your way."
"But Queen Mother, you——"
"We are not walking the same path."
….
"……What?"
Princess Crescent Moon looked at her mother's face that gradually turned pale again in surprise. Although she still didn't understand what her words meant, her sensitive heart immediately felt a little uneasy, even ominous.
She whispered: "Mother, do you want to separate from us?"
"..."
"Where are you going?"
Empress Jiang stretched out her hand and gently held her trembling hand, and said: "The Empress is the empress, and the empress naturally has to accompany the emperor. Therefore, the empress will follow your father and go south to Jiangdu Palace."
Princess Xinyue's mind became even more confused, and she said softly: "But, shouldn't we go together? Didn't the Queen Mother say before that if you are ill, Xinyue and her brother will stay with you in Dongdu until you are well? , let’s—”
"No,"
Queen Jiang interrupted her words and shook her head gently: "You, don't follow me."
Princess Crescent Moon's breath was suffocated and she whispered, "Then, where does the queen want us to go?"
"..."
"Why should we separate?"
"..."
"Mother, what on earth do you want to do?"
The uneasy and ominous feeling became deeper and deeper, as if a huge stone was pressing on her heart. The more Princess Crescent spoke, the more difficult she felt to breathe and heartbeat. She gasped slightly and grabbed Queen Jiang's hand, but she His hands began to tremble uncontrollably.
Look at my daughter like this
Son, my regrets are overwhelming at this moment.
But, it's too late to regret.
Empress Jiang smiled lightly, and then said softly: "Xinyue, do you still remember what your mother once told you, people all have selfish motives."
Crescent Princess nodded stiffly.
Empress Jiang said: "As a queen, my mother is also selfish in her heart, and this selfishness is - she is always tolerant to her relatives, too tolerant."
"..."
"If he makes small mistakes, he can be tolerated; if he makes big mistakes, he can be forgiven."
Princess Crescent Moon said: "Because relatives are special and can be cherished selfishly."
Queen Jiang nodded slightly, but then continued: "But, what if he makes a huge mistake?"
"..."
Crescent Princess was stunned.
This issue was something that neither the queen nor the teachers in the study had ever taught her in the past. In her beautiful and innocent world, she had made small and big mistakes, but she never thought that there would be "big mistakes." existence, I didn’t know how to deal with it for a while.
After a while, she looked at her mother and said in a daze, "Xinyue doesn't know."
"..."
"Can a huge mistake... be tolerated? Or forgiven?"
The smile on Queen Jiang's face gradually faded, replaced by an almost cold solemnity. She said: "It's a huge mistake, it's a huge mistake that cannot be tolerated and cannot be forgiven."
Princess Crescent's heart sank heavily, as if the stone she had just pressed on her had become countless times heavier in an instant, weighing her down so much that she could hardly breathe.
She asked with some difficulty: "Why?"
Empress Jiang said word by word: "Because people can have selfish motives, but people should also be able to distinguish right from wrong."
Princess Crescent Moon suddenly felt a shiver, as if there was some chill coming from the deepest part of her heart. It spread all over her limbs and body in an instant, and it was so cold that the blood all over her body seemed to solidify at this moment.
She suddenly spoke, her voice trembling: "Mother, who are you talking about?"
"..."
"Who made a huge mistake that cannot be tolerated or forgiven?"
At this point, her eyes suddenly filled with tears, and her voice became choked with sobs: "What the Queen Mother said is -"
Leng Qingshan
