Xie Hengwu's voice was gentle, drifting into Xiao Yanzhou's heart like snowflakes.
He followed her line of sight and saw the two people overlapping each other.
Xiao Yanzhou's lips curled up, and he handed his hand to Xie Hengwu and waved it.
Xie Hengwu didn't know why and looked up at him in confusion.
"Since they are all similar, why not just do it like this?" Xiao Yanzhou's words were taken for granted, and he was unconsciously convincing.
She paused for a moment and put her hand in his palm.
Xiao Yanzhou frowned and said disgustedly: "Why is it so cold?"
As he said this, his hand tightened.
Xiao Yanzhou's palm was covered with a thin layer of callus. When he held her hand, it felt warm and rough, which was inexplicably reassuring.
Completely opposite to his appearance.
Xie Hengwu was held by his hand, so naturally he couldn't stay far away. Instead, she kept moving closer to him, bumping into him a few times with a slight stumble.
Xiao Yanzhou finally realized something was wrong and slowly slowed down his steps.
"What, you can't walk anymore?"
The cold voice made the sarcasm more intense. Xie Hengwu moved his held hand and whispered: "Your Majesty is walking too fast, I can't keep up."
She still remembered how he roughly pulled her in the last time she went to Bieyuan.
Xiao Yanzhou frowned when he heard this, impatience appearing on his handsome face.
"so troublesome."
But his walking speed slowed down significantly.
Xie Hengwu was finally no longer being dragged away. She walked slowly beside Xiao Yanzhou, still looking up in distraction.
I don't know when there were more gauze-like clouds in the sky. At this time, the stars filled the sky and the clouds covered the moon. It was another scene.
The palace buildings overlapped on all sides, and occasionally a few palace servants came to do business. When they saw Xiao Yanzhou here, they all turned around to avoid it and saluted. Soon, there were no more palace people passing by on the palace road.
Probably someone went to report the letter, and no one wanted to bump into Xiao Yanzhou's giant Buddha at night.
As a result, this section of the road became completely quiet, and Xie Hengwu allowed Xiao Yanzhou to lead him to a completely unfamiliar place without asking a single question.
Although there was no one along the way, Xie Hengwu intuitively felt that this place was much deserted.
It seemed like no one had been here for a long time.
She quietly glanced sideways and saw that Xiao Yanzhou's expression was as usual, his profile lines were clear in the moonlight, and he was extremely handsome.
When passing a palace, Xiao Yanzhou stopped. Xie Hengwu looked up and saw "Changning Palace" written on the faded paint plaque.
The name of this palace can be a blessing or a curse.
Xiao Yanzhou's voice sounded nearby at the right time.
"This is where Gu used to live."
That was the residence where Queen Mother Cui lived when she was still a concubine.
Xie Hengwu recalled the path he had taken. Changning Palace was not far from Zichen Palace. I guess the name of the palace was not a curse.
She probably also knew the Cui family's status in Beijiang, and thought that when Empress Dowager Cui became the concubine, her status was not low.
However, Xie Hengwu didn't know why Xiao Yanzhou brought him here.
She could see that Xiao Yanzhou and Empress Dowager Cui didn't get along.
"Do you know why I brought you here?" Xiao Yanzhou said, already pulling her inside.
Xie Hengwu took a step behind him and shook his head subconsciously. He suddenly realized that Xiao Yanzhou couldn't see her shaking her head.
But as if he had eyes on the back of his head, he continued: "Of course you wouldn't know."
Xie Hengwu:......
"Ms. Cui doesn't like this place. This is the place arranged for her by Empress Chen. Before her, a concubine just died in Changning Palace."
Xiao Yanzhou's deep voice flowed by like water, as calm as if he was talking about an insignificant matter.
Xie Hengwu raised his eyebrows.
It still seems to be a curse.
"Ms. Cui..." Xiao Yanzhou chuckled sarcastically, "Why are you talking to me about this?"
Xie Hengwu:...?
What's wrong with him?
Probably because he heard that Xie Hengwu was summoned by Queen Mother Cui, Xiao Yanzhou remembered a lot of things from the past that day. And after dragging her here, he regretted it.
She shouldn't know about these old things.
But as soon as he mentioned it, all these things buried in his heart came out one after another.
It's just that he suppressed the rising desire forcefully.
Under the dim moonlight, Xie Hengwu saw Xiao Yanzhou's eyes were reddish, showing a sinister and sick look.
For a moment, she saw his eyes falling on her while looking into the void.
"Has she ever made things difficult for you?"
Xie Hengwu smiled, his smile was gentle, and there was nothing inappropriate at all: "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother has never made things difficult for me."
She didn't lie, Queen Mother Cui did not make things difficult for her.
At most, it was just...a few words of intimidation to her.
Xiao Yanzhou stared at her closely, as if judging whether she was lying.
Xie Hengwu looked back calmly, feeling that the force on her hand seemed to be getting stronger.
"Really do not have?"
Xie Hengwu nodded.
Xiao Yanzhou slowly looked away, seeming a little disappointed.
She pursed her lips and smiled: "Your Majesty, don't you really want me to be embarrassed?"
Xiao Yanzhou's long eyelashes drooped slightly, covering half of his lacquered eyes, making him more and more elusive.
He could not imagine that Xie Hengwu would be embarrassed by Cui and cry.
After all, although she was always weak in front of him... she was still thoughtful.
They are different from those idiots before.
It’s also different from my former self.
After thinking about it this way, Xiao Yanzhou put down this conjecture.
His body was lightly bumped, and something filled his arms.
He lowered his eyes and saw Xie Hengwu hugging him, who was looking up with a worried look in his eyes.
"Your Majesty is unhappy because of the Queen Mother?"
Xiao Yanzhou's face was indifferent, but his hand pinched her face very honestly.
"Do not ask."
That's it.
But everything was fine, how could Xiao Yanzhou think of the Queen Mother?
Even though he was summoned by the Queen Mother, this was extremely common in the harem, not to mention that nothing happened. He just cooperated with the Queen Mother in tears.
Judging from Xiao Yanzhou's reaction, he probably didn't know what was going on in the palace.
Xie Hengwu stayed silent and lowered his head close to Xiao Yanzhou's chest, rubbing his cheek gently.
Through the thick fabric, Xiao Yanzhou seemed to be able to clearly feel the feeling of being lightly rubbed.
It was like being nudged by a little fox with its fluffy head.
The gloom in his heart dissipated a little, and with Xie Hengwu taking the initiative to approach, he took a deep breath of the fragrance.
Well, it seems Zhou Qi didn't lie to him.
Indeed, it is stronger than before.
Xiao Yanzhou looked at this most familiar place, and for the first time he felt that it was not so disgusting.
--
The next day, when Zhao Quan deduced from the few words of other palace residents that Xiao Yanzhou had gone to Changning Palace, he was so frightened that he and his wife trembled.
That was all. When he heard that Xiao Yanzhou was taking Xie Hengwu, his first thought was that it was over.
Could it be that Xie Meiren is dead?
Your Majesty will have an attack every time you go to Changning Palace!
Zhao Quanzhan served Xiao Yanzhou cautiously all morning, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Xie Hengwu who had been summoned during lunch.
Okay, okay... Xie Meiren is fine.
But...why is it okay?
Zhao Quan, who realized something, did not take away his shocked gaze for a moment, and successfully attracted Xie Hengwu's inquisitive gaze.
He quickly lowered his head and retreated as usual.
Xie Hengwu was confused and wondered why Zhao Quan looked at him that way.
She asked Xiao Yanzhou about this, but the latter only raised his eyelids and looked at her.
"That's the way he is. He's always startled."
Zhao Quan, who was standing outside, sneezed, and immediately a young eunuch came forward and handed him a hand stove as if to please.
The hall was quiet, as usual.
Xiao Yanzhou didn't know why he took Xie Hengwu there.
Originally I just wanted to take her for a walk and chat with her. But while walking, we went to Changning Palace.
Fortunately, she was by his side. Xiao Yanzhou had a headache for a few moments, but he soon calmed down.
So Xiao Yanzhou made an excuse for this.
He was going to test the medicine.
Yes, just give it a try to see how far her fragrance can go.
He swallowed a mouthful of food, ignoring his immediate desire to tell her more.
Xie Hengwu sat next to him and felt that Xiao Yanzhou was particularly silent today.
Although he usually didn't speak, today he gave her the feeling that he was deliberately suppressing something.
Xie Hengwu looked at him secretly and looked away.
That's all, she cares so much about what he does.
She should obviously...should try hard to make Xiao Yanzhou ignore her, and then take the opportunity to escape from the palace.
Oh, she hasn't solved the spy planted by Nanliang yet, so she can't leave yet.
Xie Hengwu also swallowed a mouthful of food expressionlessly and found an excuse for himself.
The two of them finished their lunch with different thoughts.
It was almost the first day of the year, and everyone inside and outside the palace was busy. Xiao Yanzhou didn't stay long and hurried back to the imperial study.
Xie Hengwu didn't leave immediately, thinking silently.
It's been almost a month since she came here...
--
The days before Yuan Day were extremely peaceful. In addition to dealing with Xiao Yanzhou, Xie Hengwu also dealt with Empress Dowager Cui from time to time.
During this time, people from Nanliang secretly stuffed something into her, which was said to be a poison that could make people unconscious without being noticed.
Xie Hengwu scattered them randomly in an inconspicuous corner of the imperial garden, and then asked Li Luo to bring back some flour to use as poison.
In winter, the flowers in the imperial garden are withered, and even if some plants die due to the medicine, no one will notice anything unusual.
Queen Mother Cui summoned her several times, each time lasting less than half an hour. He just took her to drink tea, and seemed to accidentally mention the women who died in vain in the palace in the past to scare her.
Xie Hengwu cooperated and was "scared" to tears every time.
Queen Mother Cui was obviously very pleased with her reaction.
As for Xiao Yanzhou, after more than ten days of interrogation by Huo Heng, He An finally vomited something out.
Unfortunately not many.
At the time of the poison poisoning incident, He An was just a minor figure in the Imperial Hospital, following his father around to do some dirty work.
He only knew that Cui Zhaoyi had summoned his father before the incident, and his father stayed there for two hours before returning to the Royal Hospital.
For an imperial doctor, this period of visiting time is too long.
At that time, Xiao Yanzhou was being loaned to Fengyi Palace by Empress Chen on the grounds that the eldest prince needed to accompany him to study.
In fact, when the prince is studying with him, there is no need for another prince. Empress Chen was just trying to find a way to humiliate Cui Zhaoyi.
Not long after the incident, when He An came back from fetching medicinal materials for his father, he overheard his father talking to someone.
The two people's voices were intermittent, and He An never heard them clearly. But he roughly judged that the poison was not caused by Queen Chen.
He An was afraid that he would be discovered, so he hung out for a long time before slowly going back, pretending that he had not discovered anything.
After the death of He Yuanshi, He An discovered the papers in the palace while sorting out his belongings. The handwriting on it was blurred, but based on the patterns on the paper, He An judged that it was from the palace.
In order to survive, He An lied that he had key evidence and sought the blessing of King Qin.
When Huo Heng reported the results to Xiao Yanzhou, he saw with his own eyes that Xiao Yanzhou's face became increasingly gloomy, and finally he broke the penholder in his hand with a snap.
Huo Heng sighed in his heart.
--
Soon it was the day of the Yuanri Palace Banquet.
Hundreds of officials attended the banquet, and the whole world celebrated together.
Of course, it was impossible for Xie Hengwu to handle such a palace banquet, but Xiao Yanzhou often asked her to observe the process of handling the palace banquet.
Xie Hengwu did not refuse and guessed a bit of Xiao Yanzhou's intentions.
As the only concubine, she naturally had to attend the palace banquet.
Heng Shu also obtained the list of people attending the palace banquet.
Among the numerous names, only Cui's name seemed slightly familiar to her.
Her eyes paused and stopped at the name of one of them.
"Cui Luyi..." Xie Hengwu muttered softly.
