Holding a large bag of things, Wu Jie quickly walked through the muddy corridor and ran back to the Changqiu Pavilion.

Panting quickly, Wu Jie felt like a little mouse, sneaking through the dense and barren forest, and then arriving at the warehouse, rummaging through boxes and cabinets, looking for some edible and usable items, and then sneaking back to the lair.

Soon Wu Jie felt that this kind of idea was ridiculous, but thinking that even the Capital City of Great Wei was captured and turned into a wasteland full of corpses, this whimsy of hers is not out of the ordinary.

Her journey was smoother than expected, and she didn't even see the corpses. It was obvious that someone had cleaned them up. It seems that the information left by Chen Jiao was correct. The officers and soldiers had recovered the palace, but they were short of manpower. Clean up to a remote place like Changqiu Pavilion.

On the road near the Imperial Hospital, there are occasional palace rooms with light shining through. The few palace residents who escaped the catastrophe have returned to their residences one after another. Wu Jie was careful not to disturb anyone, and arrived at the destination without any danger.

The Tai Hospital was also flooded, but it was cleaner than Wu Jie imagined, and there were even some lights on in the East Hospital.

Wu Jie rummaged through the empty room for a while, and was pleasantly surprised to find more than a dozen boxes of medicinal herbs and prepared elixir. Because the packaging was tight, none of them were soaked in water.

She picked out the suitable ones and a jar of medicinal wine, and returned to Changqiu Pavilion.

First, he put the medicinal herbs in a small tea stove and boiled them. Then he chose two pills of golden sore medicine, dissolved them in medicinal wine, spread them evenly on the silk cloth, and then bandaged his wounds.

As soon as she touched his wound, Yuan Jing woke up suddenly, and her five fingers clasped her wrist tightly.

Wu Jie was in pain from being caught by him. Looking down, he was short of breath, his eyes were fierce like a trapped beast, as if he wanted to choose someone to devour, and it landed on Wu Jie's face...

Wu Jie anxiously wanted to break his hand away, but unexpectedly, the fingers that had been tightly grasped obediently followed her force and let go.

His gaze gradually turned from ferocious to confused, as if he was looking at another person through Wu Jie. Even gradually becoming more dependent, his lips moved slightly, as if he was saying something.

The sound is weak, but it can still be heard clearly in the silent room,

"Mother, I must be good, don't be angry..."

His expression was soft and obedient, with a little childishness that he had never seen before.

Wu Jie was in a daze, this person was really confused, he actually regarded herself as Concubine Jing.

After hesitating for a moment, she stepped forward and began to bandage his wound neatly. This time, Yuan Jing did not resist. Between movements, it seemed that he felt the coolness and pain in his waist, and shivered slightly. He opened his eyes and quickly closed them again.

After bandaging the wound, Wu Jie tried the temperature of his forehead again.

It was still very hot. remembered that it was said in the book that rubbing the body with medicinal wine can lower the body temperature better than using water.

Seemingly because of the coolness of her palm, Yuan Jing groaned subconsciously, then rubbed against her hand, obedient as a cat.

Wu Jie was so frightened that she quickly withdrew her hand.

Losing that bit of coolness, Yuan Jing hummed uncomfortably.

Wu Jie sighed, carried the medicinal wine to the bedside, and resignedly wiped his body to cool down.

A strong smell of alcohol came to his face. Her eyes were dazzled by the fumes. Thinking about it carefully, she hadn't slept all night, and she had traveled several times, so tired!

After I regained favor in my previous life, I have never worked so hard to please him carefully.

Looking at the white morning light outside the window, Wu Jie thought sadly.

Rubbing the body with alcohol was really effective, or it was because of Yuan Jing's own good foundation.

As the night passed, his body temperature gradually dropped. After sleeping for a long time, Wu Jie came in to check on him, and found that he had opened his eyes.

The spirit is poor, but the eyes are still clear.

"You saved me." He said in a hoarse voice.

Wu Jie nodded, "How does the emperor feel?"

"Fair." Yuan Jing replied briefly.

The rosyness caused by the high fever has faded, and his face is very pale at this time, even the color of his lips is extremely thin. This state is still a little far from "fair". Wu Jie complained silently, got a cup of hot tea from the table, helped Yuan Jing sit up, and brought it to his lips.

After taking a small sip of water, Yuan Jing couldn't help asking: "Are you alone here?"

His voice recovered a little, and although his spirit was sluggish, it could be seen that he had escaped from the most dangerous moment.

Wu Jie nodded. In fact, Chi Rui was still there, but she couldn't find it yesterday. The girl Chi Rui has always been timid, without her permission, it is absolutely impossible to run out without her permission. The only explanation is that someone came into Changqiu Pavilion and took her away.

If it was the Forbidden Army, it is impossible for Chi Rui not to come back for two consecutive days. So Wu Jie was very suspicious, it was Chen Jiao's people who attacked.

Yuan Jing looked at Wu Jie with brand new eyes.

Knowing what he was wondering about, Wu Jie explained: "The concubine heard that there was a big flood into the palace before, thinking that running to a higher place is the way to escape. The northern part of the palace is located higher, so I ran here."

He added, "When I was in Xinshao City in the early years, I also experienced several floods, so I have some experience."

Yuan Jing was noncommittal, and lowered her gaze.

In fact, Wu Jie really wanted to ask, why did he appear here, and why did he come back from a distant western territory, but after thinking about it, he decided to forget it.

Yuan Jing was still weak, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

When he woke up again, he smelled a sweet scent of osmanthus.

Wu Jie came in with a bowl of porridge.

It is said to be rice porridge, but it is actually just dim sum soaked in water. Fortunately, the dim sum in Yushanfang is well-made, and it is also a bowl of sweet rice paste when melted in boiling water.

Wu Jie fed Yuan Jing the rice porridge with a spoon.

The spoon was delivered to her eyes, Yuan Jing frowned and looked at the lump of soft and sticky stuff.

This guy doesn't like sweets, his taste is very tricky, and he has a cleanliness habit, so he has to pay attention to every meal. Wu Jie knew it well, but pretended not to know. It's freezing cold, who has the time to find something else for him to eat. It's the most benevolent thing to be able to find medicine for him at risk, okay?

Knowing her physical condition, Yuan Jing finally opened her mouth obediently, and drank the bowl of sweet and greasy rice porridge.

After eating, he stared at her and said sincerely, "Thank you for the past two days."

Finally, I know how to be grateful. Wu Jie lowered her head and said, "It's just a matter of my duties."

Hearing this sentence, Yuan Jing couldn't help showing a smile, which was quite ironic.

Wu Jie looked puzzled, what was he laughing at? It's his job, ha, he's not thinking about his harem wives or concubines, one or two, either cuckolding him or trying to kill him. It's all because your character is too bad!

Wu Jie thought for a while and asked, "What is the emperor going to do next?"

"My trip to the north was due to someone's tricks. The Gao clan had ulterior motives and colluded with the barbarians..." Yuan Jing said flatly.

Wu Jie listened quietly and quickly analyzed the current situation.

Although the Gao family occupied Capital City in one fell swoop, there are still some factions in the ruling and opposition parties. Not to mention the civil service forces left by the Hong family before, Yuan Zhe, the king of Zi, went to the east of the city to prepare the government soldiers, and he also had tens of thousands of elites in his hands. Coupled with the soldiers and horses on the southern front...

If Gao Tanyu wants to fully control the power, he has to figure it out slowly. And the premise of this slow picture is that Yuan Jing is dead. So Yuan Jing's most important task now is to stay alive.

Yuan Jing spoke halfway, looking at Wu Jie's overly quiet face with some surprise.

Anyone who hears the news of Gao's rebellion will be shocked and terrified, but the woman in front of him has a calm face?

Concerned about Yuan Jing's doubts, Wu Jie smiled wryly: "Actually, there is one thing that my concubine wanted to tell the emperor a long time ago. Two days before the flood, my concubine once went to Phoenix Rite Palace to meet the empress..."

Wu Jie told her to go to the Phoenix Rite Palace to see the palace, and told the enemy that they might use the method of flooding the Jing River to attack the city. But Empress Gao didn't move after that, and after the flood, she gave an order to let the concubines in the palace go to the Jade Garden to gather and leave the palace together for refuge.

"These days, the courtiers and concubines are in a dilemma, Qiu Ge, thinking about it, he has already vaguely guessed about Gao's treason."

Yuan Jing's eyes brightened, he smiled and said, "I never thought you would think of these things, and even know the old affairs of the former Qi State."

The flooding of Qi State was during the midsummer flood season, and there was a lot of water, which directly submerged the entire Capital City, and the people suffered heavy casualties. Then another plague swept across the north. In order to emphasize that they belonged to the destiny, the Western Jin Dynasty recorded in the annals of history that the monarch of the Northern Qi Dynasty did not practice the kingly way, did not care about the people, and the dam fell into disrepair for a long time, which led to this disaster. There are very few books that record the truth of that war.

Wu Jie's heart trembled. In fact, she still saw these books in the Nianhua Building at the north end of Xiangyuan. Back then, she lived in Changqiu Pavilion. She was bored every day, so she would go there to read books all day long. .

"There are also some secret collections of historical books in the Dongyue Imperial Palace." Wu Jie laughed.

Yuan Jing didn't care too much, and said with a smile: "Even so, you can think of this step, it's enough to be smart."

That's not the point. Wu Jie reminded, "These days, the ministers and concubines are in a deep panic, for fear of being feared by the empress..."

She chose to work so hard to save Yuan Jing's life because she considered that she was very likely to face the persecution of Phoenix Rite Palace next. Maybe they won't notice this little shrimp of their own, but more likely, they want to kill them all and leave no future troubles. After all, once the truth of the Jing River's embankment burst is known to the common people, it will be a huge blow to the reputation of the tall general Wei Guangzheng.

Don't depend your life on the kindness of your enemies.

"Don't worry," Yuan Jing smiled, "With me here, I will definitely protect you."

These words were full of confidence and indifference, he really had another card in his hole, Wu Jie felt relieved.

Chen Jiao's way of retreat is hopeless, and the tunnel is useless, so she has no choice, now she can only rely on Yuan Jing.

"How does the emperor plan to lurk?" Wu Jie asked.

These things must be clarified before she can proceed with her next plan.

Yuan Jing pondered for a moment: "It's just a matter of temporarily hiding for a few days, I have a way to leave."

"The barbarians in the palace have been wiped out, and now they are organizing manpower to clean up. I'm afraid they will be here in Changqiu Pavilion in two days."

Yuan Jing hesitated for a moment, then decided: "Are there any young eunuchs beside you?"

Yuan Jing's appearance could not be concealed by pretending to be a eunuch. Wu Jie thought about it, and finally said, "There is no eunuch with the same stature as the emperor, but there is a maid named Gui Po, who is quite tall..."

Yuan Jing: ...

The winter of the third year of Tianzhao in the Great Wei Dynasty.

The remnants of the Yelan Country colluded with the Di tribe in the north, gathered tens of thousands of elite soldiers, passed through a secret canyon, crossed the Xueyin Mountains, and went south to the Central Plains. Following the example of the ancient battlefield, they diverted the Jing River to burst its embankment, and captured Capital City in one fell swoop.

At that time, the emperor led his army to the north to pursue the remnants of the Yelan Kingdom, but was led into the depths of the desert, and fell into an ambush by mistake, losing contact with the main force in the western desert.

At the end of November, the leader of the Yelan National Bandit Party claimed to have killed the emperor in the desert and hung his head in a demonstration.

The emperor who had been on the throne for only three years died suddenly, and the majestic Capital City was captured by barbarians...

The world was shocked by a series of changes, and the Wei court was caught off guard. Fortunately, the government and the people were united. Yin Changqing, the commander of the Donglin Guard, led his army to guard the west of the city, protecting Empress Gao and the only little prince. Another general, Gao Tanyu, led his army southward, and cooperated with the soldiers and horses in Capital City to drive out the invading barbarian soldiers and horses.

This battle lasted for several months. Among them, it took only seven or eight days for Capital City to recover from its fall, but it left painful scars.

The barbarians who entered the city plundered gold, pearls and soft goods, and plundered and slaughtered several squares and cities in the east of the city where nobles gathered.

Most of these rich and noble families have a long history, and have vast lands and tribes outside the city, but this gang of thieves came too suddenly, and they had no time to escape and call for rescue, so they suffered misfortune.

What was more serious than this was the flood in the north of the city. After rushing into the city, it submerged the palace. The concubines and palace people in the palace heard that there were barbarians entering the palace gate, and they fled to the west one after another. They wanted to escape from the west gate, but because the flood came too fast Soon, nearly a thousand people were drowned in the area of ​​the Emerald Garden, which was extremely tragic. Even the queen mother was drowned in the palace because she had no time to escape.

Several squares and cities in the north of the city were also ravaged by floods, and thousands of houses were submerged. Only a few people escaped by clinging to logs, and tens of thousands of people died. It can be said that the number of people who drowned far exceeds the number who were hacked to death by those barbarians.

In a catastrophe, the entire Capital City was devastated, tens of thousands of people died, and even the emperor and queen mother were gone.

The Wei court is in danger.

A country cannot live without a king for a day.

On December 27th, when Qin Tianjian made a fortune telling, General Gao Da and Zuo Prime Minister Gongsun Liang went to the Tai Temple together to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth, and supported the little prince who was only four months old to ascend the throne.

At the same time, General Gao entered the court to assist the government.

He was originally a first-class hereditary prince, general of the Northwest, and Prime Minister of the Right, with unparalleled prestige in the army and court, because this time he was able to turn the tide and protect the sky, and he was promoted to the king of Yu.

In Phoenix Rite Palace, Empress Gao sits in front of the bedroom window.

Looking at the bright sunshine outside the window, his face without makeup was full of bewilderment.

After an autumn, she is now Empress Dowager Gao, a twenty-three-year-old empress dowager of a country.

The furnishings in the Phoenix Rite Palace are as good as ever, even after being washed, they are more and more new and brilliant. But the shadow in my heart is lingering.

Mother Qiu came in from outside the hall and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the prefect of Liangzhou has brought six sets of chessboards as a tribute, one of which is black jade and white jade chess pieces, which are quite impressive, and my servant ordered them to bring them to your empress."

Queen Gao likes to play chess in her spare time. She also likes to collect all kinds of chess sets, which is one of her few hobbies.

Only then did Empress Gao come to her senses, but instead of paying attention to the chessboard, she asked, "What happened to the Emerald Garden incident that I asked the mother to investigate?"

Mother Qiu's smile remained unchanged: "The slave servant ordered people to question the surviving palace servants carefully, and they all said that the palace servants misrepresented the news, and the barbarians rushed over, everyone fled in all directions, and there were many followers. In the end, alas... "

"The servant girl has ordered people to invite the master of Chongsheng Temple to do things for these poor people, and also told the inner palace to restrain them and bury them."

Regarding the Emerald Garden, Mother Qiu did not intend to explain it to Empress Gao.

She watched Empress Gao grow up since she was a child, and she knew that her temperament would not agree with such methods. That's fine, my lady is always so clean and noble, and naturally she will take the place of those filthy things. solve.

Empress Gao was silent for a moment, then suddenly sneered: "Actually, why should you hide it from me?"

Mother Qiu was taken aback, feeling flustered. Empress Gao continued with a wry smile and said, "Although I occupy the position of empress, I also know a truth. Everyone in the world is a husband, and the father is just one, and Hu Kebi is also."

"Father is plotting against the world. As a daughter, do I know about it in advance, and will I still go to expose it?"

Only then did Mother Qiu feel relieved, and she put on a smile to comfort her and said, "It's really a crime of death for a servant to hide your mother. It's just that this matter is confidential, and the success or failure is unknown. The general is also afraid that the mother will worry, so let us hide it. Both side and General Yin’s side are kept secret.”

"The barbarian's offensive is also under the control of the general, and I will never let the empress fall into the enemy's hands..."

Mother Qiu was afraid that Empress Gao would have a problem with her father, so she comforted her in every possible way.

Empress Gao's expression slowly relaxed.

What she said before was not false. She has always been a rational person, and the choice in the world is so helpless, her father is determined to seek rebellion. If the emperor finds out, he will have no way out as a traitor. And if his father succeeds, he still has a way to survive.

Although feel sorry for Yuan Jing for making such a choice, the relationship between the two of them is only mediocre.

Seeing her expression, Mother Qiu gradually felt relieved, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty's age is just right, and there will be a great time to look forward to in the future. I met General Yin in the West Garden just now. Speaking of which, General Yin He is still unmarried, but the Duke of the State intended to match him up with the young lady of the Lin family, who is the most famous family in the Northwest, and that young lady is also a beautiful woman with both talents and looks, but General Yin refused. He said that he couldn't start a career, so why bother to start a family. "

"According to the old slave, General Yin must have feelings for you, miss. It's just because you are concerned about your status as a princess..."

Empress Gao's face darkened, and she interrupted Mother Qiu's words: "There is no need to mention these old things."

A trip to the palace seems to have been through half a lifetime. The emotions that sprouted when she was a girl, before she had time to say anything, were quickly killed by a will from the sky, everything was invisible.

Now that she is in the position of empress dowager, she is a model of women's morality in the world, how could she miss those things.

It's just a faint sadness in my heart...

Wu Jie stood in front of Bixiao Palace.

In just over a month, the imperial palace has been tidied up and looked brand new. The traces of the previous floods have been ignored. The white stones on the ground and the pillars in the corridors have been cleaned up. The broken bricks and stones have also been repaired,

If there is any difference, it may be that the flowers and trees everywhere in the palace, except for a few who survived the flood with hard roots, the rest have been shoveled away. The garden was bare.

After all, it was winter now, and the steward of the inner palace reported that they would wait until the spring of next year, and then follow the orders of the master of the palace to transplant fresh flowers and trees.

Without those flowers and trees, the palace would inevitably look deserted. Fortunately, it snowed last night.

The ground is covered with white velvet, and the entire palace is clean and beautiful, just like a fairy palace.

The newly-baked concubine Wu Jie was wearing a thick silver fox fur cloak, standing on the porch looking at the swaying snowflakes.

He looked complicated.

After entering the palace for more than a year, she turned from a noble concubine to a concubine.

The life unfolded by God is truly unpredictable! Who can predict what will happen tomorrow.

It was like no one in the palace would have thought that His Majesty the emperor who had passed away was now hiding in his warm pavilion.

After the flood, Wu Jie and Yuan Jing didn't stay in Changqiu Pavilion for a long time.

After Yuan Jing woke up, she recovered faster than Wu Jie imagined. After another day, was able to walk around on the ground. Although the footsteps are still a little staggering.

His recovery was just right because it was the same day. The hermit life in Changqiu Pavilion is over.

Since the recovery of Capital City, the imperial court has organized manpower to clean up the palace. The imperial court urgently conscripted civilian husbands from the south of the city, and cooperated with the forbidden army. In just a few days, the palace was cleaned up, the mud was swept out, and the corpses were identified and collected for burial.

Wu Jie who was hiding in Changqiu Pavilion was naturally discovered.

Hearing that this is an empress, the palace people who cleaned up did not dare to neglect, so they hurriedly invited the person out respectfully and passed the news on.

Thus, Wu Jie was sent back to Qingbixiao Palace.

Only then did she realize that in the harem, only herself, Empress Gao, Concubine Lijin, these three concubines were left, and the others all died in the flood.

No one should know what Empress Gao did from it.

Even if these concubines were to be killed, those palace people were so innocent, thousands of lives were drowned in a flood, and those people who had no time to escape.

Gao Tanyu conspired to rebel and usurp the throne, and he used such means to portray himself as a hero who saved Capital City. Such a feat is embarrassing.

A bell sounded in the distance, solemn and solemn.

That was the bell for the new emperor's enthronement.

After saving Capital City, Gao Tanyu did not usurp the throne directly, but chose to support the new emperor to succeed him.

A baby who is only four months old is not just a puppet in the hands of the powerful.

Empress Gao became the empress dowager, and Concubine Lijin was made a concubine, and became a concubine herself.

On the bright side, the future life will be a long and dull widowhood.

If you don't consider the thoughts of the one hiding in the Snapper.

The wind and snow were getting colder and colder, Wu Jie rolled up her collar, turned around and went back to the inner hall.

When he entered the room, he saw Yuan Jing sitting on the edge of the table, pulling his clothes, with a troubled expression on his face.