Golden branches and jade leaves

Chapter 34
The banquet in the hall was still going on, and Su Mi had already walked out. The crisis just now made her flustered, so she resigned on the excuse of lack of physical strength and difficulty in drinking alcohol.

When the lights come on, the moonlight shines on the green stone road with the lights.

Su Mi walked forward along the gentle path.

Time flies too fast. I remember that when I came here last time, there were still dead branches and leaves, but now the surrounding branches have begun to stretch out soft greenness, and the young buds on the ground have also poked their heads out.It's just that under this still cold moonlit night, instead of the vibrancy and greenness of the day, it shrouded in a dark and mysterious artistic conception.

She wandered all the way, and she didn't know which direction she was heading. Anyway, no matter which direction she walked, whether she walked fast or slow, whether she walked for a long time or a short time, she couldn't get out of this palace, this cage.

Now she just wants to go on, hoping that the road ahead will never end, so that she doesn't have to think about anything, just go on like this...

Unknowingly, I have approached a strange palace. A gust of wind blows by. The wind in early spring is still cool, which makes people feel a chill from the bottom of my heart. With the breeze, a few withered petals are flying. Getting up, floating past Su Mi's eyes, surrounded by cool and damp air.

Su Mi stepped on the fresh soil under her feet, and she also stepped on the fallen petals under her feet. These gorgeous flowers, which were still delicate and fresh yesterday, have now become the soil under her feet.The fragrance around them is as if there is nothing, corrupt and seductive, full of a luxurious and deadly atmosphere, as if telling the aftertaste of their glory after their fall, is your own life also withered and turned into mud in this place?

Su Mi walked into a dilapidated corridor and sat down quietly. She recalled what Zen Master Kuye said to her
……

"Since the benefactor wants revenge, it is better to end this troubled world, let the people live and work in peace, and let the tragedy not repeat itself."

"Master, it is too serious. Su Mi is just a little concubine, wandering around the palace day and night, how could she have the ambition to end the troubled times and save the world."

"The benefactor will be so precious in the future, how can he be confined to a small palace?" Withered Leaf sighed and said, "I just hope that the benefactor will have kindness in his heart, and don't be obsessed with hatred."

……

Kindness?Even if I still have a bit of kindness in my heart, after the experience in the deep palace, I have already fed all of them to the dogs.

Even if I thought about giving up, would they let me go?Su Mi sneered, her frosty laughter was extraordinarily cold in this quiet space.Now the first thing she needs to think about is how to survive in this court. Her hand is tightly grasping a vine, and her tender skin is almost bleeding from the rough branches of the tree.

She wants to survive in this palace first, she doesn't want to die!
What happened today was an unprecedented crisis for her, and she did not allow the slightest hesitation.She was thinking about how to contact Ge Chengming who was outside the palace. As long as she could delay for a while, she could cover herself by forging a tomb.It's just that Chen Lie was left in the mountains by her, and the communication with the outside of the palace became a lot more troublesome...

I don't know how long it took, and a hesitant whisper broke the quiet surroundings: "Your Majesty...?"

While thinking, Su Mi was taken aback, and suddenly looked up, a figure appeared beside the lush bushes, with a clear face under the moonlight, it was Ni Tingxuan.

His expression was somewhat startled, apparently he never expected to see Su Mi here, looking at Su Mi's looming figure, a trace of distress flashed in his eyes.

Su Mi was startled, why is he here?Seeing the color of Ni Tingxuan's clothes clearly, he immediately understood that there is a banquet being held in the Compassionate Ning Palace, so naturally there must be guards guarding him.

Ni Tingxuan took a step forward, but felt something was wrong again, so he stopped and backed away.

Su Mi suddenly remembered the rumor she just heard today, and was startled in her heart, she quickly stood up and looked around.

There is silence all around, only the sound of "rustling" from the twigs occasionally blown by the breeze.

Isn't it a conspiracy trap?Su Mi's mood calmed down. It was just an unintentional choice to go to this place by herself. It is expected that no one would arrange it so carefully and predictably.

Su Mi regained her composure and turned her head to look. Ni Tingxuan was looking at her with a little infatuation. It was this guy who put him in such an embarrassing and dangerous situation.An unknown annoyance popped up in my heart with a bang.

She glared at Ni Tingxuan fiercely, Ni Tingxuan was taken aback by the unreasonable anger, and immediately took a step back at a loss.

Just as Su Mi was about to say something, she suddenly heard a faint sound coming from a distance, someone is coming? !She thought to herself, there are eyes and ears everywhere in this palace, even if it is not a trap for a while, she might become a trap after staying here for a long time.Cursing secretly how her reaction became sluggish, she immediately stood up quickly.

"Stay here and don't move." She ordered in a low voice, then skipped the corridor and walked through the bushes briskly, but just after turning a corner, she saw Yurui beside the queen leading some little girls away When she came over, Su Mi was startled, could it be that the queen sent someone to follow her?

When they met each other, Su Mi yelled inwardly, but it was unavoidable.At this time, several people had already seen Su Mi, and hurriedly bowed to salute.They saw Ni Tingxuan's figure behind Su Mi from a distance, and they all showed puzzled expressions on their faces.

Su Mi's heart sank, how should she tell the difference?She couldn't speak about this kind of thing at all, she could only describe the situation getting darker and darker.

A smug look flashed across Yurui's face imperceptibly, and she immediately bowed and said, "Ms. Jieyu, why did you come here?" She deliberately raised her head to look at the dilapidated palaces around: "There are always few people here, In case there is any wrongdoer, you are worth a thousand dollars..."

Hearing Yu Rui's words, the doubts on the faces of the surrounding girls became more serious.

Su Mi smiled and said: "There is no need to be too polite, I..." Before he finished speaking, a soft and elegant voice came from beside him: "Lian Jieyu is watching the moon with Ai's family."

A tall and graceful figure flashed leisurely from the side of the corridor. It was Concubine Miaoyi.

Yurui and the others were taken aback, and hurriedly saluted to say hello.

Miaoyi smiled and raised her hand: "Just now I saw the soft and moving moonlight, Aijia stopped by to sober up the drink, just came out and met Lian Jieyu, just in time to get excited, so we came together." She looked back The dilapidated palace room said with some surprise: "Speaking of which, Ai's family hasn't noticed yet, what kind of place is this?"

"This is the abandoned garden on the west side. The servants disturbed the two masters. They really deserve death." Yu Rui replied respectfully.

"Today is a great day for the Empress Dowager. How can you say that you are not dead, you are not guilty? Speaking of it, thanks to your reminder, Aijia and Lian Jieyu have gone farther and farther, and they have come here without noticing." Concubine Miaoyi smiled softly: "You little girls, why did you come here?"

"Reporting to the concubine, the servants who were ordered to collect fresh flowers to decorate the banquet passed by here."

"Well, since that's the case, let's go to work first, and don't make the masters at the table wait too long."

"Yes." Yurui led a few people and retreated obediently.

On the lonely and dilapidated corridor, only the figures of Su Mi and Miao Yi remained.Su Mi wanted to turn her head to take a look, but Zhenshou only turned halfway and then stopped.She turned her head, instead of looking at the figure behind her, she turned to face the concubine, and bowed sincerely.

"Thank you, Su Mi, for your help."

"Thank you," Concubine Miaoyi smiled gently, "Lian Jieyu just watched the moonlight with my old lady for a while, it's my old lady's honor to have Jieyu's company."

As she spoke, she walked forward.Su Mi followed behind her, she could tell that Miaoyi had something to say to her tonight.Neither of them paid any attention to the other person standing behind them.

Turning a corner, the two walked into the main entrance of this palace.Su Mi looked around, and then she realized that she just unknowingly walked to the abandoned palace where Concubine Miaoyi talked to her last time.Miaoyi paused in front of the palace gate, and finally reached out and pushed open the two dilapidated doors.

The entire palace was already dilapidated and dirty, most of the vermilion paint on the two gates had fallen off, and it looked dotted, so ridiculous.Su Mi was even worried that Miao Yi's seemingly gentle push would cause the two crumbling doors in front of her to collapse directly.

"Squeaking..." There was an ear-piercing and thin sound, and the door swung open. Accompanied by the sharp sound of opening the door, the palace that had been silent for an unknown amount of time seemed to be awakened suddenly.First of all, several clusters of continuous dust "rusted" down, welcoming the sudden intruder, Su Mi couldn't help but sneezed.

After entering the room, Su Mi could see the furnishings clearly. There was very little furniture in the main hall, and the front was a row of carved pear wood chairs, accompanied by small tables and footrests made of nanmu.On both sides are exquisite antique racks, on which there are a few scattered antique decorations that have not been put away by the palace people, all of which are too old to be seen.Behind it is an eight-sided folding screen, carved from hardwood in the shape of a magpie climbing a plum blossom.No matter how you look at it, it is an ordinary palace.

There are quite a few palaces in today's harem that are uninhabited, and they are all decorated like this.Like the Caiwei Palace, which just lost its owner, after Zheng Guibin left, the most basic furnishings were restored.Only after waiting for the new owner to move in, will they gradually show different tastes and hobbies according to the habits of each master.However, those palaces are all cleaned by special personnel, unlike the place in front of them, which is so messy and messy.

Palace people dare not neglect their duties like this. Looking at the scene in front of them, this place should be in disrepair for a long time, and it is scheduled to be demolished.There should be several other gardens like this in the west, but the reason why the construction has not started is because of the memorial about thrift presented by the Empress Dowager.

Su Mi walked across the floor, and the blue tiles on the floor made a "creaking" sound under the embroidered shoes, which made the scalp tingle.

Miaoyi, however, showed no scruples at all, she casually waved away the half-colored curtain that was hanging down, and Su Mi followed her into the inner room.

The situation in the back room is slightly better, because it has been closed and airtight for many years, there is not so much dust, but there is a breath that makes people difficult to breathe and nauseating.

The window is made of mahogany, the upper part is carved with the pattern of auspicious clouds, and the lower part is the pattern of bats, which means to achieve prosperity and equal heaven.Miaoyi walked to the window and pushed it open, fresh and slightly cold air flowed in, sweeping away the dull feeling, and Su Mi immediately felt refreshed.

Miao Yi had already sat down on the bed in the room, she motioned to Su Mi, Su Mi walked over and sat down beside her.

Miaoyi looked at the crystal moonlight outside the window, as if she was thinking about how to speak.

Su Mi looked up at her side face, the originally old and haggard face was covered with a layer of silver brilliance under the hazy moonlight.It looks sacred and solemn, not profane.

Today's Miaoyi gave her a feeling of determination and sadness, which made Su Mi hesitate and bewildered, not knowing how to deal with it, last time she could pretend to be stupid and prevaricate, but this time, facing such Su Mi didn't want to be perfunctory in such a clear show of favor. Although she only met twice, she felt that the person in front of her could make her unreservedly trust and get close.What's more, what else is there for people to conspire about?Now she is like a duck that has been driven onto the rack, waiting to be roasted and served with more fire underneath.

"Is this the first time you have seen Lian Jieyu in such a dilapidated palace?" Miaoyi finally asked.

Su Mi considered her words for a while, and said truthfully, "That's true. If you talk about palaces and pavilions, such dilapidation is rare."

"It used to be the most luxurious place in the entire Daqi Palace, and the place with the most sacred family." Miaoyi smiled and said, "The beautiful days only lasted for a short year, and no one lived there anymore. It has been empty and lonely for 20 years, until it looks like this today.”

The concubine here was once a concubine who was favored by the late emperor, and this kind of favor only lasted for a short year. Su Mi recalled the meaning of her words and was not surprised.Emperor Qi Wu had countless concubines in his harem, and more than a dozen favorite concubines embellished his harem history, and Miaoyi in front of him was one of them.

But is this concubine 20 years ago any different?

(End of this chapter)