The palace lanterns were lit again in Xianyang Hall. After Gao Zhen was dressed neatly, he came to the desk.
Luo Qingzhi stood up straight, without saluting or speaking.
Gao Yan was very patient and asked: "Aluo, what happened?"
"..."
Luo Qingzhi solemnly performed the full ceremony. Gao Yan frowned, a little confused, but did not stop him.
After Luo Qingzhi finished kowtowing, she looked at Gao Yan and asked word for word: "Second brother, how did my father die?"
Gao Yan also stared into her eyes and asked tentatively: "Why did you suddenly remember and ask about this matter?"
"How did my father die?" Luo Qingzhi raised her voice, but still kept her tone steady and did not show any strange emotions.
"..."
Gao Yan stood up, turned his back to her, and said, "To protect me, someone stabbed me in the chest from behind."
Seeing Gao Yan avoiding her eyes like this, Luo Qingzhi felt angry and uneasy.
"...Who?" Luo Qingzhi continued to ask.
Gao Yan paused and said: "This little pawn was already punished by me back then."
Luo Qingzhi said: "Second brother, is what you said true?"
Gao Yan turned around, nodded, and said, "Of course."
Luo Qingzhi kowtowed again and said, "I ask your Majesty to punish the humble minister who broke into the palace gate without permission."
"Aluo." Gao Yan took her arm and tried to pull her up.
Luo Qingzhi raised her head and met his gaze. Gao Yan immediately avoided it. Luo Qingzhi smiled. This was the first time she smiled like this at Gao Yan since she returned to Jinling.
But Gao Yan was probing and asked: "Aluo, have you met someone?"
Luo Qingzhi asked: "Who do you think I should meet, Your Majesty?"
Gao Yan didn't answer, but Huang Si pushed the door open and entered.
"Your Majesty, the Queen is asking you to come."
Luo Qingzhi smiled and said: "Since the queen has something to ask you for again, I will leave."
"......good."
Luo Qingzhi was somewhat convinced of Li Chu's words. In the past, Gao Yan would not let her back down even if the queen came to see her. Tonight, he was obviously no longer willing to talk to her.
Luo Qingzhi turned around and retreated, walked to the palace door, turned back, and said softly: "Second brother, do you need me to accompany you to find the queen?"
"..."
The sound of raindrops became louder and louder. Luo Qingzhi saw that Gao Yan opened his mouth, but did not make a sound. The two looked at each other for a long time. Gao Yan took a few steps closer, took off his cloak, and prepared to tie it for Luo Qingzhi.
"It's late at night and very cold. Go back home quickly."
Luo Qingzhi pinched the white jade at her waist, and before the cloak was tied tightly, she turned around resolutely, and the untied clothing fell to the ground. After the person had walked far away, Gao Yan was ready to bend down to pick it up.
Huang Si quickly stopped him and said, "Your Majesty, please come here."
Gao Yan said "Yeah" and walked towards the palace gate. Luo Qingzhi walked very fast. In fact, he couldn't see anything clearly. However, he still stepped out of the threshold and stood in the corridor, not knowing who he was talking to.
"She... is going to start hating me."
Huang Si put on Gao Yan's coat and comforted him, saying, "Your Majesty, actually, if you tell the princess the truth, she may or may not understand."
Gao Yan shook his head and said: "She just called me "Second Brother" three times, which meant she gave me three chances..."
Huang Si sighed and said, "Your Majesty..."
Gao Yan said: "Aluo, she never cares who becomes the emperor. What she wants is freedom... However, I am not going to die soon. I can't let her go back to Yuzhou. This world, this world,
I need her to support me."
Huang Si said: "But the princess, the princess will not be the empress."
Gao Yan said: "...tell Jin Ziji to proceed as planned."
"......yes."
Luo Qingzhi left the palace city. It was almost midnight. There was no curfew in Jinling. Even though it was midnight, there were still shops open on the streets and pedestrians walking around.
She did not ride a horse, but walked on Zhuque Main Street, looking for memories. She walked along the main street, walked behind the moat, walked left, went up from the turret, went up to the city tower, turned around, and looked at the lights of thousands of houses. She remembered,
When she went up to the tower for the first time, she saw such bright lights, what Luo Huaiyi said to her.
"Aluo, do you know why your mother named you Zhi?"
Luo Qingzhi answered in a sweet voice, "Huh? In order to end the war with war."
Luo Huaiyi touched her head and said, "How smart, A Luo. You have to remember that our Luo family is fighting for the lights of the Wan family in front of us..."
At a young age, Luo Qingzhi was lying on the city wall, leaning on her toes with difficulty, looking downstairs, where the lights were bright and the people were bustling.
"Yes, Arlo remembers."
Now, Luo Qingzhi, who has grown up, can see the stars in front of her eyes without stepping on her feet, but she is alone.
After the palace coup ten years ago, Gao Yan also brought her to the tower and asked her why the Luo family fought to this day.
Just because of this sentence, she returned to Yuzhou and saw the Beifu Army changed to the Pingbei Army. She saw the veteran generals leaving one by one and guarding the border alone, leaving Luo Qingrou imprisoned in the palace city at a young age.
....
On the city wall, the howling wind blew against her face and dispersed her tears. However, after one drop was blown away, two or three more fell. She did not scream, she just cried silently.
Fan Li was summoned by Luo Chen and looked at Luo Qingzhi standing in the wind, frowning but did not step forward immediately.
Luo Chen was puzzled and asked: "Sir, why don't you go up and see the master? It's very windy here and the master will get sick if he doesn't wear a big cloak."
Fan Li said: "I have been teaching her since she was five years old. I have never...never seen her cry in front of me. She never did this even ten years ago..."
Luo Chen himself was wearing a thick coat and was trembling slightly. Seeing that Fan Li was reluctant to step forward, he couldn't hold it in anymore and was ready to step forward.
Fan Li grabbed him and said, "You're not allowed to go."
"gentlemen?"
Fan Li continued: "Let's go back to the house and ask the servants to prepare hot soup and ginger tea. She needs to calm down now."
Luo Chen looked at it and said, "...Yes."
The sky started to rain again, and Luo Qingzhi just stood in the rain. Drenched, suffering...
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps came from behind. The steps were heavy. He was not a martial artist, and he had no killing intent at all.
The umbrella fell on Luo Qingzhi's head. She turned her head, wearing a single coat and holding the umbrella in her right hand, with a worried expression.
"Arlo, it's raining."
This was the first time the two met since Gao Zhen said she wanted to "marry him" that day. Luo Qingzhi wanted to ignore him, but the guy kept shaking beside her, even the umbrella handle was shaking slightly.
"...Let's go back home."
There was only one horse left in the tree downstairs. The horse that Luo Qingzhi rode earlier had gone.
She turned around and asked: "There's only one left, so we have to make do with it."
Gao Zhen smiled and said, "I can't ask for it."
Luo Qingzhi was not in the mood to answer such teasing. After getting on the horse, she stretched out her right hand to pull Gao Zhen onto the horse. He sat behind him and tightly wrapped his hands around Luo Qingzhi's waist.
The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and Luo Qingzhi returned to the Princess's Mansion as quickly as possible.
After dismounting, Gao Zhen's face turned pale and his body was shaking badly. Luo Qingzhi immediately said: "Hurry and prepare hot soup and ginger tea."
"Your Highness, everything is ready and in your room."
"My room?" Luo Qingzhi was a little surprised.
The subordinate replied: "Mr. Fan gave the order earlier, saying that the princess was caught in the rain, so we should be prepared."
"Okay." Luo Qingzhi didn't want to move around anymore, so she helped Gao Zhen to her room.
Gao Zhen was taking a bath in the room, while Luo Qingzhi was waiting outside.
Fan Lide came to report, and when he knew Luo Qingzhi was back, he hurriedly came to find her. Seeing Luo Qingzhi standing wet at the door, he was a little angry and said: "I have prepared hot soup for you, go in and take a bath.
"
Luo Qingzhi said softly: "It doesn't matter, Mr. Luo is inside."
"What?"
Luo Qingzhi's head was a little dizzy and she said: "Sir, I don't want to say anything tonight, so don't ask anything. I will go find you tomorrow."
Fan Li sighed and said, "If you don't want to tell me, I won't ask you. If you get caught in the rain, you will catch a cold. Go to Zhi Xin's room quickly. I'll prepare hot soup for others."
"Well, okay."
By the time the servants prepared hot soup in Zhi Xin's room and Luo Qingzhi took off her clothes and got into the water, half an hour had passed. When her cold body entered the warm water soup, she actually felt pain, but
My eyelids were heavy and I no longer had the energy to feel the pain.
She closed her eyes, her head drooped on the edge of the tub, and sneered a few times, recalling the curses the outside world had given her over the years.
"Climbing up on the bones of father and brother..."
"The dog that the Gao family kept in Yuzhou..."
Luo Qingzhi smiled and said: "It seems that people in this world see it very clearly, but I don't know it myself..."
The closed doors and windows, the radiating heat, made Luo Qingzhi's head more and more dizzy. She slowly closed her eyes, and after sliding into the water, although she felt suffocated, she did not struggle at all.
"It shouldn't be, the one who survives shouldn't be mine..."
"Arlo, Arlo? Arlo?"
Knocks on the door, shouts, wind, and rain all came to Luo Qingzhi's ears. She emerged from the water, and her voice became louder and louder.
"Arlo! Arlo?"
Luo Qing walked out of the tub, took off the clothes hanging on the screen, put them on simply, put on her coat, and opened the door.
Gao Zhen was holding ginger soup with an anxious expression.
"Arlo, are you okay?"
Luo Qingzhi shook her head and wanted to take back the ginger tea. As soon as her fingers touched the bowl, she felt dizzy, her feet went weak, and she fell down.
"Arlo!"
Gao Zhen carried her back to the room and covered her with a thick quilt. When he turned around, Luo Qingzhi took his hand.
"What do you want?"
Gao Zhen was stunned and did not answer.
Luo Qingzhi looked at him with eager eyes and continued to ask: "Do you want the throne?"
Gao Zhen frowned, lowered his head, and remained silent.
Luo Qingzhi lost her strength, let go of his hand, and closed her eyes.
Gao Zhen left the room and called for the doctor.
After some inspection, I just said that I was depressed and had been exposed to the rain. I could just drink some decoction and medicine for a few days and it would be fine.
Everyone was relieved and Fan Li began to give instructions.
"The news that the princess is ill must not be leaked. No one is allowed to disturb her in the past few days and let her rest well."
"yes."
Gao Zhen stood on the outermost side and looked at the figure behind the screen, his eyes full of worry.
He asked Fan Li, "Sir, can I stay and take care of A Luo?"
Fan Li was silent for a while, then shook his head and said, "It's inappropriate to differentiate between men and women. Just let the female envoy below take care of you."
Gao Zhen said "Okay" softly and did not continue to fight.
Fan Li continued to give instructions to Luo Chen and Qin Shu, saying: "You two, keep this mansion under guard for me."