Shen Dingzhu was forced to put on a thick purple cloak, with white fox velvet wrapped around her neck. Xiao Langyan put his arms around her waist and left the palace along the long snowy night.
Sitting on the carriage, Shen Dingzhu asked curiously: "Your Majesty, where are we going?"
Xiao Langyan saw that her pretty palm-sized face was pale, so he put the heater in his hand into her arms.
Then, with dark eyes, he deliberately let it slip: "You'll know when you get there."
If he didn't say anything, Shen Dingzhu would see for herself. She opened the curtain, and the cold winter breath mixed with the sulfurous gas from the firecrackers entered her mouth and nose.
Shen Dingzhu didn't hate this smell. In her memory, every time she smelled this smell, it was a good day for family reunion.
At this time in previous years, she had already fallen asleep in A Niang's fragrant arms.
Before she could immerse herself in the memories of the past, Xiao Langyan had already reached out and forcibly pulled down the curtain.
"I'm not well, why is the cold wind blowing?" He said in a cold tone, but looked at Shen Dingzhu with concern.
It was almost the second watch at this time, and the night was already very quiet. Like the tide, every household faded away from the excitement on the street and returned home again.
The carriage ran over and there was a "pang" sound. Shen Dingzhu was so frightened that he fell directly into Xiao Langyan's arms.
She was most afraid that this sudden explosion would remind her of the thumping sound of the imperial guards pounding on the door fiercely on the day her home was ransacked.
Shen Dingzhu looked pale and leaned tightly in Xiao Langyan's arms.
Xiao Langyan lowered his eyes and saw that she was so timid and completely lost her previous delicate and arrogant look. He couldn't help but chuckle.
"That's all you have the courage to do?"
Shen Dingzhu didn't argue with him at this time. Instead, she turned around and buried her face in his arms, and stretched out her hands to wrap around his neck.
A soft and muffled voice came: "I'm afraid."
Xiao Langyan's eyes were as dark as splashed ink. He was slightly startled, his crow-feather eyelashes lowered, feeling the soft and warm body in his arms.
A part of his heart softened, and he couldn't help but pinch Shen Dingzhu's lower back.
"What are you afraid of? I am here." Xiao Langyan's voice was hoarse.
After a while, the carriage stopped. Shen Dingzhu listened carefully and heard Chen Heng talking to someone. The person checked the token and the carriage's emblem as usual before letting him go.
As the carriage moved forward, the curtain swayed slightly for a moment. Shen Dingzhu glanced sideways and saw bright fire outside, and the guards were wearing silver armor of the Forbidden Army.
So he was going to the palace?
However, there is a time to release the key in the palace. If you are late, you will not be able to enter.
The carriage drove all the way to the back door of the inner palace, and Shen Dingzhu walked out holding Xiao Langyan's arm in the dark night above his head.
The night was getting colder and colder, and the stove in her arms was half warm. Xiao Langyan simply asked her to throw the stove on the carriage, and then tightened the cloak for her.
He must have been drunk, his eyes were dark but shining.
Shen Dingzhu walked close to him, while Chen Heng led the way. The light from the stone corner palace lanterns around him was dim and swayed slightly with the wind, making the shadows of the three of them look like ghosts.
They stopped in front of an abandoned court that looked like a cold palace.
Chen Heng opened the door and Shen Dingzhu saw a deserted palace front yard.
Her pupils tightened, and she immediately looked up and saw the plaque that read: Yuheng Palace.
Why are you here!
Shen Dingzhu was hugged forward by Xiao Langyan. Shen Dingzhu slowly looked at this familiar palace, and the memories of his past life surged in like sea water.
When she first entered the palace, Xiao Langyan arranged to live here.
Chen Heng has already lit the palace lanterns on both sides of the gravel road. The place is overgrown but not messy. It looks like it has just been cleaned up.
When Shen Dingzhu spoke, he realized that his voice was trembling: "This looks like a forbidden palace, can I come in?"
Xiao Langyan's smile was as cold and ethereal as the cold mist on this snowy night.
"It used to be true, but it's not true since yesterday. My father gave me a favor so that the place where my mother and concubine lived before she was alive can see the sun again."
Shen Dingzhu was surprised to find out that this was the place where Xiao Langyan's biological mother, Concubine Liu, lived before her death.
But when she was arranged to be here in her previous life, she didn't know about it, and the palace people around her never mentioned it.
I think this place was Xiao Langyan's sad place, so no one dared to mention it, but why did he arrange for her to live here alone at that time?
Shen Dingzhu was led into the inner room by Xiao Langyan, while Chen Heng stayed outside.
Xiao Langyan pointed to the dusty bed in the inner room: "My mother-in-law once sat there and recited poems."
He ignored the dust again, knelt on the footrest, and felt for something from under the bed.
Shen Dingzhu stepped forward with his hand in hand, his pretty white face dyed rosy by the candlelight.
She asked softly: "What is the prince looking for? Can I help you?"
The next second, Xiao Langyan said: "No need, I have found it."
He pulled out a wooden box stained with dust. The lock of the box had long gone. He gently opened it, and the dust came to his face, carrying memories of the past.
Shen Dingzhu waved away the dust in the air and saw that there was a nine-link ring in the box.
She hesitated again.
In her previous life, Xiao Langyan gave her many treasures to play with, including one like this. He even asked her specifically if she liked it.
At this time, Xiao Langyan said in a deep voice: "This is not valuable, so fortunately it was not taken away by the people in the inner palace. This Nine Links was once my only playmate."
Shen Dingzhu was silent.
She knew that when Xiao Langyan was young, he stayed with Concubine Liu who was getting seriously ill and was often scolded by the emperor for trivial matters.
He was often kept in solitary confinement, and it was common for the people in the palace to act according to the prevailing circumstances and not give food to the mother and son.
Otherwise, Fu Yunqiu would not have been able to find an opportunity to deliver food to him every day and form a relationship.
Shen Dingzhu stepped forward and gently held Xiao Langyan's hand.
"My lord, there is no need to be sad. It is good for people to have memories. For Concubine Liu, death may not be a relief. Now when you recall Concubine Liu, you will feel that she was always at her most beautiful."
Xiao Langyan's eyes darkened as a cold wind drifted in from the broken window.
He smiled and said calmly: "Maybe. Do you like it here?"
Shen Dingzhu's smile paused: "I like it. The house where Concubine Liu lived is warm and peaceful, how could I not like it?"
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Xiao Langyan actually said: "Well, after spring, I will have people clean this place up, and you can move in."
The color in Shen Dingzhu's watery eyes flashed, and she looked at him hurriedly: "Concubine, move in here?"
Her tone was a little surprised, and Xiao Langyan explained calmly: "My father wants me to live in the palace and handle government affairs."
To put it bluntly, although the emperor had given power to Xiao Langyan, he still did not believe in his son.
Therefore, the emperor wanted to restrict his freedom to the greatest extent.
Shen Dingzhu was surprised. She didn't want to refuse to live here, but her heart ached when she thought of the pain she suffered when she had a miscarriage here in her previous life.
Here, she holds many unhappy memories.
Although in the eyes of outsiders at that time, she was the favored Concubine Shen, only Shen Dingzhu knew it.
In the short four months she lived here, she heard the news that her former relatives had passed away one after another, and that Xiao Langyan's favor was based on her well-behaved condition.
She carefully strives for favors and favors in order to get a little sweetness in life.
Shen Dingzhu lowered his eyes, hiding his slightly red eyes.
"Then I can't live in the palace. If word spreads, will someone say I'm not obedient?"
"You are my king's son. Since my father has promised, how can anyone else dare to object?"
Xiao Langyan saw the resistance deep in her eyes and raised his eyebrows: "You don't want to?"
