After a long time, the bells rang again in the imperial city.
At that time, Chen Chao and Xie Nandu had not left the palace yet. After hearing the bell, they both stopped leaving the palace and turned to look at the palace they had visited before.
Chen Chao remembered the time when the bell rang at the Wanliu Club, and he lost his aunt. Now that it rang again, he knew that his sister was gone too.
Chen Chao stood there, silent.
Xie Nandu looked at the loneliness and sadness that could not be hidden on the face of the young man in front of him. After thinking about it, he took the initiative to take the young man's hand and comforted: "No one can escape this day, and we may be like this in the future." respectively."
Chen Chao was startled, then smiled bitterly and said, "If you don't know how to comfort people, don't force yourself."
Xie Nandu smiled faintly. She was indeed not very good at comforting people, but only the young man in front of her could listen to her clumsy comfort.
For others, don’t even think about it.
After being led by Xie Nandu for a while, he said softly: "In the past ten years, I have felt that I am alone, with no relatives or friends. I don't have much affection for the world, and there are not many people who can trust me. , especially for my uncle, I was even more afraid, but then I came to Shendu, met many people, encountered many things, and then I I found that things were not as bad as I thought. Maybe my uncle really didn’t want to kill me, and my sister definitely regarded me as her younger brother. But if the result of the encounter was just to separate, then should we still meet?"
Chen Chao rarely called His Majesty the Emperor his uncle. It was probably only in front of Xie Nandu that he would appear more casual.
Xie Nandu glanced at Chen Chao and said calmly: "It is stupid to give up a beautiful process because you are afraid of bad results."
Chen Chao smiled bitterly and said: "At first, I even thought that my sister had ulterior motives. I felt that they were all taking advantage of me. I can't see it for the time being, but it must be there."
Xie Nandu squeezed Chen Chao's hand gently and said with a smile: "You can always trust me, I will never take advantage of you."
Chen Chao asked curiously: "That time in Qingxian County?"
Xie Nandu's face was expressionless, "You're not very good at talking either."
Chen Chao smiled and comforted himself: "Probably we are taking advantage of each other and getting what we need?"
Xie Nandu smiled and shook his head, "You only know what you were thinking at the time. You say you are ruthless all the time. How can you be so ruthless?"
Chen Chao did not refute, just felt the warmth in his palms and looked forward.
"I don't have a sister anymore."
…
…
Li Heng was walking in the imperial city. At this moment, the imperial city was completely deserted.
Many maids and chamberlains have deep feelings for this princess of the Liang Dynasty. She, like the late empress, was very good to the maids and chamberlains in the palace. Therefore, she was crying non-stop at this moment, and most of them were sincere. .
Listening to those cries, Li Heng naturally remembered the death of the Queen. As Her Royal Highness the Princess said, she had regarded Li Heng as an uncle since she was a child. How could Li Heng not regard her as his descendant, but a master and a servant? No, Li Heng was very restrained most of the time.
Thinking of those years in the palace, Li Heng's eyes were full of sadness. Of course there were separations in life, but he never thought that he would watch the Queen and Her Royal Highness leave first.
At this moment, Li Heng suddenly felt that he was much older.
But he knew that His Majesty the Emperor was probably the saddest person at the moment.
So he quickly came to the palace.
His Majesty the Emperor is sitting on the threshold, wearing imperial robes that sweep the floor. At this moment, he is no longer a majestic human emperor. He is clearly a father who has just experienced the pain of losing his daughter.
The emperor's robe was already too wide and didn't fit very well.
Li Heng said softly: "Your Majesty, my condolences."
Emperor Liang didn't look at him, he just kept looking into the distance with lonely eyes.
"The three princes all want to enter the palace. The third prince even started crying in front of the palace gate. Should they be allowed to enter the palace?"
Li Heng looked at His Majesty the Emperor, whose temples were now whiter, and spoke in a low voice.
No one in the world can say that a younger brother wants to see his older sister.
"Let the third child come in. As for the other two, let them go back to the mansion."
Emperor Liang's face was expressionless.
Li Heng nodded and then asked: "Your Majesty, where is the scholar?"
Emperor Liang shook his head and said nothing.
Li Heng shut his mouth and turned around to do his work.
But as soon as Li Heng walked away, clouds began to gather on his back. The first autumn rain of the year came unexpectedly.
His Majesty the Emperor did not stand up, and his imperial robes were quickly soaked by the rain.
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This worldly rich emperor sat lonely on the threshold, letting the rain wet him. Then he slowly stood up and walked slowly in the rain.
He walked very slowly, even slower and slower.
Time will not let anyone go, everyone will be defeated by time, no matter who he is.
…
…
In the palace.
Princess Anping lay quietly on the bed, her eyes closed tightly, and a faint smile on her face. Apparently, the scholar and the paper kite she saw at the last moment had made her feel less regretful.
But some regrets have actually been carried out throughout her life.
The always careless man stood beside the bed, looked at the lifeless woman in front of him, and smiled, "You are still so good-looking. What's the matter? After all these years, you haven't aged yet?"
Even though the woman was destined not to hear everything he said, the man still kept talking, "You don't look like a princess. When we first met back then, if you said you were a princess, I would ignore you. Isn’t this good? You might be able to meet a man who can really marry him in your life, and then live a good life, and you won’t be as unhappy every day as you are now.”
"It's not a good thing that we are born in this world and you are born in the royal family. But it is like this. If we don't work hard to make those who come after us live in a better world, what else can we do?"
The man smiled and spoke, but tears had already burst out of his eyes. He didn't cry when he left the academy, and he didn't cry when everyone in his family died except him, but at this time, his tears But he couldn't stop it no matter what.
"I'm sorry for you, but you have to choose. I can't make any other choice, so I can only feel sorry for you."
The man wanted to reach out and touch Princess Anping's face, but after thinking about it, he took it back. He said softly: "Miss Chen... I like you very much. I have liked you for a long, long time."
"But... I think about it again and again. In fact, there is nothing I can do but apologize to you. It's just that I can't live with it and let you down. It's all my fault after all. It's also my fault that you have to live like this all your life. I'm really sorry. .”
The man couldn't hold back his tears, and his voice gradually became hoarse, "This is it for this life. We don't want to be big shots in the next life. I will always guard you, guard you for the rest of my life..."
After saying this, the man turned around and left, and his figure disappeared.
…
…
The three princes were guarding outside the palace gate. The eldest prince's bloated body looked like a hill. Only his coughs from time to time reminded people that it was not a hill.
The second prince's face was ugly, and his eyes were filled with sadness.
Only the third prince had tears streaming down his face and his voice had long been hoarse from crying.
"Third brother, please be polite. Why are you crying all the time?!"
The eldest prince glanced at the third prince, somewhat dissatisfied.
It's just that the third prince is just a young man. Now that he knows that his closest sister has passed away, he can't suppress the emotions in his heart.
The second prince opened his mouth, and just as he was about to speak, Li Heng's figure appeared in the distance.
"Eunuch Li, can we enter the palace?"
The second prince's face was full of hope, "Gu Ye wants to see the emperor's sister for the last time."
Li Heng looked at the three princes, bowed and saluted, and shook his head, "Your Majesty has decreed that only the third prince will be allowed to enter the palace. Your two highnesses, please come back."
The eldest prince said in a deep voice: "Eunuch Li, did your father really say that?"
The second prince couldn't hold back his anger, "When my mother passed away, my father wouldn't let us see our mother for the last time. Now my sister is gone too. Is this also the case? Is there any reason in the world why a younger brother should not be allowed to visit his elder sister?!"
Li Heng looked at the second prince, the chamberlain who was deeply trusted by His Majesty the Emperor, and just shook his head, "That's what His Majesty's will is, and that's also true whether His Highness listens to it or not."
The third prince did not hesitate and ran towards the imperial city. As for the eldest prince and the second prince, they looked at each other. The eldest prince sighed and said, "Father has his principles, what else can I say."
The second prince wanted to say something else, so Li Heng shook his head and said, "Your Highness, be careful what you say."
The second prince was suddenly startled, suppressed his anger and remained silent.
…
…
The third prince ran all the way in the heavy rain, even losing one of his boots, and then he panted and ran to the princess's palace.
But when he got here, the third prince stopped inexplicably and did not dare to go forward. He held on to the door frame and looked inside. Tears and rain were all on his face, and he could not tell the difference.
He was young, and his mother had to worry about everything in the palace after he was born. Therefore, he could be said to have been raised by his imperial sister since he was a child. The two had a deep relationship that most people would not know. But as he grew older, he He has his own homework to do every day, and his sister has not been in a high mood these years. In fact, they have not met as frequently as they did when they were children. In the past few days, his sister took the initiative to meet him several times. The third prince just thought that his sister might have figured it out. Things were going well when he learned that his sister had passed away today. This left him with no other thoughts except to see his sister for the last time.
But he had been blocked outside the palace gate for a long time before. At that time, he even felt a lot of dissatisfaction with his father.
But now that I could really see my sister for the last time, I didn't dare to walk in for a while.
If you don't see your sister, your sister will still be there, but if you really want to see your sister, your sister will really be gone.
The third prince closed his eyes in pain.
Half a quarter of an hour later, he slowly walked into the palace.
"sister."
The third prince looked at the dressing table and shouted softly.
No one answered.
The third prince took a few steps forward.
He saw Princess Anping sleeping quietly on the bed, with a paper kite in her hand.
