Death Princess

On the other side, Xueming Valley, in the room that has been baked by the stove to feel like the summer solstice, Chao Lu and Leng Tong are still sitting in front of the chessboard, but the bird on Chao Lu's shoulders and the spiritual figure beside him have already walked away with interest. Far.

A white mist shrouded the chessboard, and the center of the white mist was like a colorless, rust-free, and impurity-free bronze mirror, projecting clear and sound pictures one after another.The picture is presented from someone's perspective, and there is only one person in the picture from the beginning to the end, but the two voices come from the person in the picture and the owner of the perspective respectively.

Leng Tong has never seen the place in the picture, let alone the person in the picture, but she knows that it is the imperial palace, the owner of the angle of view is He Yi, the princess of the dynasty, and the middle-aged woman with the phoenix pattern on the corner of her clothes , is the queen of the current dynasty, His Majesty's married wife.

And now, she will even be...

"If this is the case, I will definitely wear the best clothes for her, cook her the best food, and stay by her side every day, growing up with her, so as not to hurt her in the slightest. Treat her When Jiji grows up and grows up, I will find a good family for her, a good family who truly loves her and cares about her; The little bastard gave me a word of advice. If he makes my daughter unhappy, I'll..."

Before the woman finished speaking, the picture stopped abruptly.The white mist dissipated, and in the eyes of the two people sitting opposite each other in the room, only the other's face was left.

There was a long silence, so quiet that you could even hear the snow falling outside the window.

Leng Tong felt that her throat was very dry, she reached for the teacup on the desk, but just as she picked up the cup, her hands trembled uncontrollably.

The teacup slid down, and it was about to fall on Leng Tong with the hot tea.

A touch of black metal powder that has not been settled on the case for a long time quickly caught the teacup and placed it in front of Leng Tong.Leng Tong took a deep breath, picked it up, and drank it all in one gulp.Putting the teacup back on the table, Leng Tong opened his mouth, but lost his voice.

At this moment, Chao Lu, who had been silent for a long time, said, "Six Fingers." She took out the single-bone whistle that both of them were familiar with from her bosom, and placed it on the Tian Yuan on the chessboard, "on the lute bone cone-shaped birthmark, and a wordless..."

"Wordless Scarlet Jade Pendant." Leng Tong said these words softly.

Zhao Lu was taken aback for a moment, and then she propped her forehead against the desk with her arms, sighed and looked out the window, "I don't know if I should tell you something, I'm afraid to tell you, but sometimes I hope You can know... I have conflicts in my heart. When I do things, I often leave some clues and flaws intentionally or unintentionally. I hope you can find out and wait for you to ask. But sometimes I feel that it is not appropriate to do so, so I take action Destroy the things I left behind, for fear that once some things are known, and once some things start, it will be impossible to turn back."

"Then why are you..."

"Because I've been taught a lesson, and I've learned a lot from it. Besides, the current situation doesn't allow me to hide from you anymore. You have the right to know, and it's time to know. I always I hope that the days like the twelfth lunar month can be longer, carefree, free from grievances and enmity, and I can be happy with you in this Xueming Valley every day. But there are some things that cannot be avoided, escape is escape However, if it is later and let those who are interested take advantage of the opportunity, the situation will no longer be controlled by you and me. It's time, it's time to face it. "

"Don't worry," Zhao Lu stretched out her hand to stop Leng Tong's urge to speak, "I know, these days, you have already guessed the story thoroughly. But let me tell you what I know first. I have explained all the details, after hearing what my family said, believe it or not, whether to go or stay, you can make a decision. At that time, I will never interfere and never interfere, okay?"

Leng Tong bit her lip and nodded.

"The story begins more than 20 years ago. At that time, the late emperor was still alive. His concubine elder brother King Sui had not committed any rebellion. The eldest son He Kunpalm and the third son He Kunjin were still princes. Although His Majesty has been He was crowned prince, but was suppressed by his elder brother and uncle Wang everywhere. For some unknown reason, the first emperor suddenly reused the third son, King Ji, who had not returned to the court for a few months. Although His Majesty has the title of prince, that position is really important. Not at ease."

"Moreover, bad things never come alone. At that time, King Sui's knees were full of descendants, but none of the three sons of the late emperor had any. As the crown prince, His Majesty did not have concubines who were pregnant with dragon heirs, but for some reason, all of them were stillborn. A stillborn child died prematurely. A crown prince without heirs, surrounded by his uncle and brothers who were eyeing him... He was already worried about the matter of heirs, but the late emperor, who couldn't bear to see this matter, was worried about him. Added fuel to the flames, and directly issued an imperial decree to adopt the infant King Ping under his name."

"He desperately needs a son, a son who at least has his blood in the eyes of others, not the son of the clan."

"It was just spring at that time, and the current empress of the Crown Princess was pregnant. It was a happy event, but the imperial doctor said that there was a fetus in the womb..." He glanced at Leng Tong, "In short, it just makes the Crown Prince feel uneasy. Come on. It was a coincidence that there was a guard surnamed Jiao among the prince's personal guards, and something happened between him and the princess's personal maid, which made the maid accidentally conceive a child."

"The maid's surname is... Leng." Zhao Lu lowered her head, not daring to look at Leng Tong's expression, "I can embroider lotus flowers very well."

"Originally, this incident happened in the East Palace, not to mention the fetus in the womb, even the guards and maids... But the crown prince suppressed the matter. Not only did he not deal with the two of them, but he even made Leng Shi It is quietly raised with good wine and good food."

"Later, it was also a snowy New Year's Eve. It was a coincidence that the Crown Princess and Leng Shi gave birth at the same time. Leng Shi gave birth to a white and fat boy, while the Crown Princess gave birth to a... ..." Zhao Lu picked up the bone whistle from the chessboard Tianyuan, and held it tightly in her hand, "A slap-sized dry baby girl with a prismatic birthmark on the baby's luteal bone, behind the little finger of both hands, there is... a sixth finger. And the fortune-teller who was full and supported once said that Liuzhi...is unknown."

"The next thing...the civet cat is replaced by the crown prince. But it's not all smooth sailing." Zhao Lu squeezed her joints white, "Your Majesty thinks that she is doing all these things without anyone noticing, but she doesn't know that Empress Liu has long been aware of it." And he had a calculation in mind. The guard surnamed Jiao was from a famous martial arts family, and his elder sister was a famous knight in the Jianghu at that time. Empress Liu managed to contact the heroine Jiao, and made a deal with her and the Leng family. Use Guard Jiao's life and the baby boy's lifetime wealth in exchange for... my daughter's lifetime safety."

"Your Majesty may be aware of Empress Liu's private actions. He knew, but he turned a blind eye, because the baby girl is his only flesh and blood after all, so..." Chao Lu paused. Under the cover of Xia Xia, Leng successfully escaped with the baby girl, but Guard Jiao died at the hands of Da Nei Fengyuwei who was ordered to hunt him down, and Xia Xia Jiao herself is also missing."

There was a moment of silence, and there was no expression on Leng Tong's face.

"Speaking of which, you should probably ask why I know these things." After saying the hardest part, Zhao Lu breathed a sigh of relief, "How much do you... know about my father and mother?" She raised her head and asked Cold eyes.

"……not much."

"My father..." Zhao Lu hesitated, "Let's talk about my mother, do you know her name?"

Leng Tong didn't know why Zhao Lu suddenly asked this question, but she still answered: "... Xue Yan?"

"Xueyan, the owner of Xueming Valley, is a name used in the rivers and lakes." Zhao Lu waved his hand, and the white mist gushing out of his sleeves formed two faces. One was her own aunt, and the other was Empress Liu whom I had just seen in the picture.At first glance, there is an indescribable similarity between the two.

"This matter can be regarded as a secret related to the lives of our family, but I'm not worried about anything." With the cuffs closed, the white mist faded, "Liu Xiang, who is over seventy years old, has three sons and a daughter under his knees. The Empress Dowager Liu was that daughter, and Empress Liu was the eldest daughter of the eldest son. Among Liu Xiang's three sons, the eldest and the second were already in high positions, but the third... had the heart of a knight-errant. He fell in love with Xueqin, the former owner of Xueming Valley, and after running away from home, he had a daughter. And that only daughter is my aunt, surnamed Liu, named Yanxue."

"So, my aunt and Empress Liu are actually cousins." He paused again, as if waiting for Leng Tong to digest the complicated blood relationship, "Aniang grew up in Liu Xiang's mansion when she was young. The relationship between cousins ​​and sisters is average, except for Empress Liu, who is still able to play well, so Empress Liu is the one who has the best relationship with the third house among the juniors in the eldest house and the second house. Many things happened later. In the eyes of everyone, My aunt was killed in the turmoil 20 years ago, and my grandfather, who was the third son of Liu Xiang, had a complete falling out with the Liu family because of this, and left the capital with his grandmother, and has since disappeared."

"Grandfather and the Liu family have always been at odds, so it is not surprising that all this has developed in the entire Liu family and even the royal family, but Empress Liu, who had become a princess at that time, felt that there was something strange about it, so she looked around for the whereabouts of her grandfather and grandmother. She has searched here and there for these years, and she really found some clues. Fortunately, she didn't say anything about it, but hid it from everyone, including His Majesty. She was looking for my grandparents, but not for that. Uncle and nephew, sisterhood, in order to..."find you.

"The Jiao family and the Leng family disappeared from the world after that. Empress Liu didn't know where her daughter went, or even if she was still alive. It was a dead knot in her heart. Your Majesty can't help her, let alone the Liu family. Her. So, the only hope falls on the grandparents."

"She didn't know about the relationship between Jianzong Xueminggu and her grandmother, but she knew that her grandfather opened a medical clinic. It happened that your majesty had been ill for a long time, so she took this opportunity to search all over the world's medical clinics. Regarding the matter of the medical clinic, she has been tossing and tossing over and over again, so we have to show up. After all, the sisters are together, and Empress Liu is sincere, and it is not good for A Niang to ignore her. It is inconvenient for her father and mother to show up, so He handed it over to me."

"The identity of 'Liu Lu' is not to fool you, but actually exists in the genealogy of the Liu family in the capital. He is the eldest son of the third house of the Liu family. In other words, he is the son of my grandfather and the younger brother of my mother. , you also understand, if it is really based on blood relationship, I should be of the same generation as my father and mother, so... Ah Hui inherited our biological father's family business, which is the Qin family in the capital, so the identity of this 'Liu Lu' is natural It's up to me."

"Five years ago, Empress Liu sneaked out of the palace while Her Majesty was on a tour to the south and was drunk after a banquet, and met her young cousin who had never met, who had never set foot in the capital, who used illusion to disguise herself as a man. I met once, and she hoped that I could help her find her daughter."

Zhao Lu paused again, sighed and said: "The capital city is dangerous, and the royal family is an untouchable vortex. What happened to Uncle Palm, that is, Yier's family, was enough to make my parents regret it. I didn't want us to wade into such troubled waters again, and I thought so too at the time. But Empress Liu...she actually knelt down to me, a junior...with the dignity of a queen."

"She said that she is willing to pay any price, as long as she can find her only daughter, who will see her life and death, even if the price is her glory, wealth, and her life."

The author has something to say:

Zhao Lu: So, you actually have to call me "Little Uncle".

Leng Tong: ... Get lost.