On the second day, the matter of the assassins gradually subsided, and Concubine Wu Gui went to the Small Buddha Hall to pay homage to the Buddha.

The Small Buddha Hall is built on the island in the center of the lake, surrounded by a very spacious lake, which is the running water introduced from the Jing River outside the palace. That is to say, you can swim out of the palace along the waterway behind the Small Buddha Hall.

In this trip, Wu Jie only brought one maid.

Most of the day was spent in the temple. It is estimated that Gao Zimo has already traveled far. Wu Jie packed her things and came out of the Buddhist hall.

It was already dusk when we returned to Qingfeng Temple.

Wu Jie entered the apse, but saw a familiar figure.

Yuan Jing was sitting on the porch, looking as if she had been waiting for her for a long time, looking boredly at the pond full of lotus flowers.

Wu Jie's eyes turned cold. If she had softened her attitude towards Yuan Jing in the past few days, then at this moment, there was nothing left. The grievances and pain of the two lifetimes washed away all the soft emotions.

Yuan Jing didn't notice her emotion, and asked with a smile: "I'm back, the small Buddhist hall is very lonely, if you want to worship the Buddha in the hall, why go so far?"

"I remembered what happened in the past, so I went over to have a look. The emperor is concerned." Wu Jie didn't face him, and turned her eyes to the distant sky.

"I'm just worried about you, what if I encounter poisonous snakes and insects again?"

"Didn't your majesty say before that the entire palace has been carefully cleaned up? What's more, this palace is full of dark places. Could it be that there are no poisonous insects or snakes hiding in other palaces?"

Yuan Jing finally noticed that she was not in the right mood, he stood up without saying anything, and changed the topic: "It's getting late, let's finish our meal first."

Wu Jie said coldly: "The emperor is busy with government affairs, why should he come to my place for dinner."

Yuan Jing didn't speak, stared at her for a while, and then said seriously: "Who made the fish on your side, Aifei, so delicious and strong?"

Wu Jie was taken aback by the rambling words.

Yuan Jing strolled to the edge of the pool, the smooth surface of the water reflected the golden red afterglow of the setting sun, as luxurious as if sprinkled with gold.

Pointing to the traces under the window sill, he said plainly: "If it wasn't for a huge and strong fish, how could it jump so high and leave water stains and traces under the window sill?"

Wu Jie followed the direction of his finger and looked far away. Sure enough, under the window, there were water stains on the white wall, and there were a little traces of trampling on it.

Her heart trembled, it should be left by Gao Zimo. In her haste that night, she only had time to tidy up the traces on the window sill, but she didn't expect that there were clues outside the wall.

Now that she had been discovered, Wu Jie simply despaired. The resentment of the past two days surged up, and she already felt as if she was about to explode.

Yuan Jing was still thinking about it: "I don't know what kind of fish can make such a big splash."

"Maybe it's not a big fish. You should know that even a small fish will always fight hard when it's dying."

Yuan Jing's face darkened, and she stared at her: "You brought a maid with you when you went out today, where is she?"

"I stayed in the Buddhist hall to copy scriptures." Wu Jie said coldly.

"When the lights are dark, it's not appropriate to let the woman stay alone in the Buddhist hall. It's better to arrange someone to pick her up."

"The emperor is considerate, there is no need, maybe when the emperor passed by, he was already gone."

"Where did you go?"

"Who knows, maybe he turned into a bird and flew back to his hometown, maybe he turned into a fish and swam back home. In short, there is no need to be bound in this cold place. Waiting for the butcher's knife to fall at some point." Wu Jie As he spoke every sentence, anger surged up, and he became a little incoherent.

Yuan Jing was silent for a moment, then slowed down his tone: "I know, you have been on good terms with him before. It's just that you left in such a hurry, I'm afraid the road to the north will not be smooth sailing."

Wu Jie turned her face away, "It's better than staying here and waiting to die."

"I never thought of killing him."

"Yeah, it's not time to think about this issue yet," Wu Jie's tone was full of sarcasm, "The emperor is busy day and night now, how does he gather the soldiers and talents left by the Gao family?"

"I never thought of killing him. As long as he keeps himself safe and never raises troops, I can protect his prosperity and wealth for the rest of his life." Yuan Jing said word by word, this is his sincerity, he is not someone who will kill everything.

But Wu Jie refused to appreciate it, "What does it mean to be safe and secure? Are you imprisoned in the mansion for the rest of your life? The Gao clan has fought on the battlefield for many years, and they have worked hard for generations. Then, in return, you will lose your children and grandchildren?"

While speaking, she quickly entered the room.

Yuan Jing felt that she was unreasonable, and followed her footsteps. "Why are you so filled with righteous indignation? If I remember well, Gao Zimo's elder brother led the army to conquer your East Vietnam, right?"

It happened more than ten years ago, Dongyue was a vassal state of South Chen, and the Gao family, as the generals of the Northern Wei Dynasty, also fought on the southern front.

"It's common sense for each other to fight against each other." Wu Jie gritted her teeth. One of the reasons she was willing to let go of the hatred she had for the Northern Wei Dynasty in her previous life was because she thought that the two countries had enmity before, but now she knows that some of them were not enmity, but planting. and slander.

After sending Gao Zimo away, she thought about whether she should be hypocritical and allow herself to survive three years in exchange for freedom, but when she really saw Yuan Jing's face, she found that she couldn't suppress her anger at all.

She didn't want to be patient anymore, and she didn't want to pretend anymore.

Even if she knew, this matter should not be Yuan Jing's intention, but Yuan Zhe's own idea.

Because he learned about Gao Tanyu's injury from Master Guangxin, it was impossible to have any heirs, and the time difference between when he decided to assassinate Gao Zimo was too late to pass the news back, so he asked Yuan Jing for instructions.

But she still feels resentful beyond words. In her previous life, how many people in East Vietnam suffered tragic killings and hatred...

Yuan Jing could see the almost crazy hatred in her eyes, full of pain and puzzlement, obviously a day ago, the two of them were peaceful and happy, how could they just help Gao Zimo once, and they became what they are today.

Before coming here, he had even decided to endure this matter, but he was angered by Wu Jie's hateful gaze.

"You like Gao Zimo?" After thinking about it, he could only think of this possibility.

The lover she was talking about in Dongyue, her childhood sweetheart, ha, the two met and met in Dongyue, and they met when they were teenagers, so it is not a lie to say that they are lovers in Dongyue.

"I should have known earlier. It started when I saw you two in the cave on the Ghost Festival last year." This realization made Yuan Jing's eyes turn red, and he quickly stepped forward and grabbed Wu Jie's wrist.

There was a sharp pain on her wrist, she knew that he had misunderstood, but she had no strength to defend herself at all, only resentment surged up, and she shouted like she collapsed.

"Even if I fell in love with him, I wouldn't fall in love with you! You mean fellow."

Yuan Jing's eyes flashed red, and he couldn't help tightening his strength. He pulled her closer, "He's just so nice..."

Wu Jie was imprisoned by the wall and his arms. Looking up to meet the extremely cold eyes, he shivered suddenly.

It seems that there is something crazy that can't wait to break through the ice and rush out.

The two were so close that his messy breathing got into her ears.

"One or two of you will only deceive me and give up on me, no matter how I try to please..." Yuan Jing's words were full of pain.

Wu Jie instinctively sensed the danger, and she kicked his legs fiercely, trying to break free from this restraint.

But Yuan Jing's strength was not something she could resist. Struggling in every possible way, she couldn't break free. During the movement, her hand propped on the small table next to her suddenly touched something.

It was a fruit-peeling dagger in the fruit bowl. As soon as her mind became hot, Wu Jie grabbed the dagger and stabbed him without thinking.

I thought Yuan Jing would dodge, but he was like a nightmare, neither dodging nor dodging, until Wu Jie watched the sharp blade stab into his chest. He suddenly raised his hand and grabbed the blade of the dagger.

Seeing the red blood flowing out, Wu Jie froze.

Maybe it was because the fear in her eyes was too obvious. Yuan Jing quickly woke up from the short-term hysteria. He stared at the excited Wu Jie, suppressed his disordered emotions, took two steps back, and let go of the restraint on her.

As soon as the hand holding the blade was strong, the dagger was pulled out and thrown on the ground.

Actually Wu Jie's piercing was not too deep, but the blood splattered on Xia Ri's thin clothes, like a crimson flower in full bloom. There are bloodstains from severed fingers.

Yuan Jing's face was pale, and he took a deep look at her, then turned and left.

"Where are you going?" Wu Jie asked reflexively, her voice trembling.

"Of course I led troops to chase and kill your beloved." Yuan Jing's eyes were as cold as ice and snow, "Didn't you say that I wanted to kill him? If that's the case, I should obey the imperial concubine's golden words."

"You..." Under Wu Jie's shocked and angry eyes, Yuan Jing clutched her chest and walked away.

If he continued to stay here, he was afraid that he would do something that he would regret.

Wu Jie staggered back two steps and fell to sit on the corridor.

In the days that followed, Wu Jie lived in a muddle.

Yuan Jing didn't come back, and there was no news of Gao Zimo's capture.

Summer turns to autumn, and the weather quickly becomes cooler.

After living in the summer palace for a month, she returned to the palace. The days of Changqiu Pavilion continued to be as plain as water.

Wu Jie was originally prepared to be dealt with by him, after all, she actually stabbed the sword into his chest that night.

No matter how many martial arts assassins could not do the feat, he was able to accomplish it by himself. As long as he went a few inches deeper, maybe this person would not be able to survive.

When she dreamed back in the middle of the night, she would also wake up in horror, wondering whether her impulsive actions would hurt her family and Dongyue. Like fear.

From the intermittent conversations from the maid, Wu Jie knew that Yuan Jing didn't show any signs of abnormality, he handled government affairs as usual, summoned his officials, and was busy day and night. If it wasn't for the shocking sight of the blood splattering clearly, Wu Jie would have doubted that the sword attack had never happened.

He completely suppressed the matter.

As the weather got colder, Yuan Jing never showed up.

Wu Jie simply let go of her mind, as if she had returned to the life of confinement in her previous life.

That's fine, if he waited until his patience with her was exhausted, and ordered to dispose of herself, or completely put it aside and ignored it, she resigned to her fate.

Autumn passed and winter came, and on a snowy day, she sat on the porch, raising her hand to catch the first snowflakes of the year.

A cat crawled out from under the porch and huddled up to the hem of her skirt. It's Little White Claw.

These days, because Yuan Jing hasn't seen anyone for a long time, Little White Claw can only take the next best thing, accepting the touch and feeding of Wu Jie, the secondary master.

Especially as the weather gets colder, it needs more warmth.

Lying on Wu Jie's lap in a ball, Little White Claw meowed twice and buried his head in his paw.

"Are you thinking about that guy? Stop thinking about it."

"If I like it so much, I might as well send you to Qian'an Palace. Maybe it's warmer there, but there are not so many younger brothers and sisters for you to dominate." Of course, there are no wild cats near Qian'an Palace.

Under her touch, Little White Claw raised his head suddenly, meowing non-stop.

Wu Jie followed its line of sight and froze immediately. It was Yuan Jing who appeared at the back door at some point, leaning against the edge of the door frame, wrapping his arms around, staring at this side.

Wu Jie lowered her head, wanting to get up and leave, but the bastard Little White Claw stuck to her leg like a cowhide plaster, preventing her from getting up.

"This season in Dongyue should still be very warm, right?" Yuan Jing walked in slowly.

Wu Jie tensed up, counting the days, she hadn't seen Yuan Jing for almost three months.

Fortunately, he didn't get too close, and stopped in front of the corridor. Yuan Jing stared at her, and calmly ordered: "Pack up your things, and I'll take you back to Dongyue."

Wu Jie could barely react to what he said.

It's just that after going from summer to winter, Yuan Jing was willing to let her go.

She stood up and stared at him: "what you said is true."

"It seems that I don't even have any credibility on your side." Yuan Jing smiled self-deprecatingly.

"I'm just here to let you know. If you believe me, pack up your things quickly and leave tomorrow."

Yuan Jing's expression was obviously not joking, and it was impossible for him to joke about this kind of thing. He was willing to let himself go. Wu Jie felt a burst of joy, and then a burst of inexplicable loss.

"Thank you very much." She lowered her head and said stiffly.

"You don't need to be grateful, I unilaterally asked you to enter the palace, and I didn't care about your feelings." Yuan Jing took two steps forward and sat down on the corridor.

There is a distance between the two.

Little White Claw finally woke up from his sleepy sleep. Seeing Yuan Jing, he excitedly jumped off Wu Jie's lap, and then onto Yuan Jing's lap.

Wu Jie looked at him, Yuan Jing was still so handsome, but there was a layer of black and blue eyes, and there were tiny bloodshot eyes.

This is what he looks like when he is extremely busy and exhausted.

He lowered his head and stroked the smooth back of Little White Claw. Moment raised his head, "Take this little thing away too, didn't you say that the fish in Dongyue are more delicious."

"Maybe it prefers to stay here." Wu Jie looked at the little white claw lying on Yuan Jing's lap and squinting her eyes comfortably,

"I live a busy life, I'm afraid I may not be in the mood to take care of it." Yuan Jing said sadly.

After a while, I looked up at her again, "I have always had a doubt, the princess is willing to answer."

"what?"

"Since entering the palace, the princess has been avoiding me like a poisonous snake and beast. Is I so disgusting?"

In his anger, he thought that the person Wu Jie liked was Gao Zimo, but after returning home, he calmed down and thought about it carefully, but he felt wrong. Her dealings with Gao Zimo had been noticed by him a few times, and that was not the attitude towards someone he admired.

Why, Wu Jie thought for a while, looked at the snowflakes falling in the courtyard, and said quietly, "Do you want to hear a story?"

"what story?"

"Once upon a time, there was a country that was small and weak, and could only struggle to survive among the powerful..." Wu Jie slowly opened her mouth, telling about that unforgettable memory. From being favored in the palace by herself, to being assassinated by the maid beside her, she suddenly fell out of favor.

Her face was pale, but her eyes were surprisingly bright.

Yuan Jing listened carefully. At first, she thought Wu Jie was talking about herself, but she was surprised when she heard that after entering the palace, she was favored and then fell out of favor. This was not her experience.

But staring at Wu Jie's face, he felt something was wrong again. This sympathetic expression of pain, as if she was the one who was let down, deceived and abandoned in that story.

The biting wind blew through the branches, making rustling noises, making the whole courtyard more and more quiet. In such an environment, her voice was exceptionally clear, and even the uncontrollable sadness and resentment in her tone were exceptionally clear.

Finally, the story is over.

There was silence in the hall. Yuan Jing asked in a low voice after a while, "Where did you hear this story?"

"Maybe I saw it in a book, maybe I experienced it in a dream. Who knows." Wu Jie smiled and stared at Yuan Jing.

"Put yourself in the emperor's shoes. As the protagonist of this story, are you willing to forgive the person who harmed their country, planted the blame on them, and even massacred the city and family afterwards?"

"Such a deep enmity, of course I can't give up. If I have experienced this, I will plan in every possible way and use my own way to deal with my own body. One day I will have revenge." Yuan Jing said calmly.

Wu Jie couldn't help but want to laugh, probably with Yuan Jing's character, putting herself in the situation, she must take the most difficult and impossible path, but she doesn't have such a resolute character and methods.

Wu Jie laughed lowly at herself, "Maybe that woman is too weak..." Even if she escaped, she didn't have the intention of revenge, or rather, she didn't have the courage. She chose a smoother path to protect her family.

"The world is difficult, but it depends on human effort." Yuan Jing said calmly.

Pausing for a moment, he added, "The choice of revenge is not because of being betrayed by love, but because the emperor in this story is too cruel. He has already captured a small country and captured its royal family. This is enough. Why do you want to massacre the city?"

Wu Jie was taken aback, this incident was also where the hatred in her heart lay. The grievances and resentments between her and Yuan Jing in her previous life were ultimately between two people. The annihilation of Xinshao City and the killing of her parents was a pain she would never let go of.

Yuan Jing stared at him with burning eyes, "Such a tyrannical king cannot last long..."

Wu Jie's body trembled, she suddenly realized something.

In the previous life, Yuan Jing fought in the battlefield for many years, conquering from south to north, but in fact, there was never a massacre of a city. There are two kinds of wars and massacres in the world. One is that the wear and tear is too great during the battle. In order to appease the morale of the soldiers, the massacres let the soldiers vent. The two originally had deep hatred. For example, Cao Cao slaughtered Xuzhou at the end of the Han Dynasty because of his father's funeral. Back then when the Wei army went to Xinshao, it was easy to break through within ten days without much loss, so Wu Jie has always subconsciously believed that the massacre of the city was due to hatred. For example, the enmity of Gao Zimo, or the enmity of Dongyue's betrayal and turning to South Chen.

But now knowing that Gao Zimo was originally killed by Yuan Zhe, where is there any hatred? Even taking a step back, even if Gao Zimo died because of the collusion between Dongyue and South Chen, Gao's original intention was to rebel, and it was Yuan Jing's backstab at all, so in his previous life, he deliberately showed his dislike to Gao. His favor and trust actually needs to be severely discounted.

For this hypocritical feeling, for Gao Zimo, to massacre the city? is it possible?

Two months before his death, the southern front was in dire straits, and Yuan Jing was about to go south for a personal conquest. He personally promised that he would treat the people of East Vietnam and the clan well. Then suddenly backtracked. At that time, Xinshao City had been broken for many days. Why didn't they massacre when the city was broken, but massacred the city to vent their anger when they settled down?

At that time, she was shocked by a series of bad news, and her spirit was on the verge of collapse, so she didn't have time to think about it. Especially the death of his parents, and the tragic death of his sister who witnessed it with his own eyes.

By the way, of all the tragedies, the only thing I witnessed was the death of my sister.

And the death of my sister was because of Queen Gao's order...

She has no foundation in the Great Wei harem, all she can hear and see is what others want her to hear and see.

The massacre of Dongyue, the death of parents, and the series of tragedies, are they really true?

Wu Jie let go of her mind, the more she thought about it, the more frightened she became.

Perhaps, only the few words I heard that day when I accidentally returned to Phoenix Rite Palace in order to purse, are true.

At that time, Empress Gao and Mother Qiu were talking about something.

It seems to be about Mrs. Yuheng...Chen Jiao?

Wu Jie only felt that her mind was disturbed, everything was messy and entangled constantly, which filled her with resentment and almost wanted to vomit blood.

But even though there were all sorts of doubts in her heart, it was impossible for her to go back in time and go back to her previous life to ask questions and see with her own eyes. These doubts might always be just doubts.

On that day, Yuan Jing didn't stay for long and left soon.

Wu Jie returned to the dormitory to pack her things, and a dozen maids were busy in a hurry. There are many utensils in the bedroom that she brought from Dongyue, all of which she has been used to since she was a child, and it is very cumbersome to arrange them one by one.

I'm leaving tomorrow, time is running out. After tossing for a while, finally sorted things out.

Wu Jie breathed a sigh of relief, and she came outside the door. In the middle of the night, the stars above the sky shone brightly.

Just as she was watching intently, she suddenly heard a small voice coming from the corner. Wu Jie turned her head and looked, and there were two little maids whispering under the shadow at the end of the eaves.

"The empress is going back to Dongyue, do you want to follow?"

"Follow the south and come back later, what's the point?"

Wu Jie couldn't help laughing, the maids around her were all dispatched after the flood. Considering that they are both natives of Great Wei, before packing their luggage, Wu Jie explained that this trip to the south, those who are willing to go with her can go together, and those who are not willing to stay in the palace, these two little maids must be discussing whether to stay or not.

However, the words that followed were not quite right.

"Even nobles like the empress have to go south to take refuge, I'm afraid the previous news is true."

"I also heard that Hangu Pass was broken. Several cities in the north were slaughtered by barbarians."

"I heard that there are hundreds of thousands of barbarians who went south this time, covering the sky like locusts, leaving no dogs or dogs in their path."

"It's not that you don't know the behavior of those barbarians. I heard that the people in the city who were lucky enough to escape the massacre were taken into slavery and driven to the north to graze cattle and sheep."

"Isn't Yaoer's hometown in Lingxiu Palace Bocheng in the north? I heard that she cried a few times a few days ago."

"Do you think these savages will come to Capital City? They broke the city last year."

"I'd rather die than be thrown beyond the Great Wall to live that kind of life."

The barbarians broke through Hangu Pass?

Wu Jie's head groaned and her mind was shaken.

Holding on to the railing, she asked sharply, "Come here, you two!"

When the two little maids found Wu Jie, they were shocked, and moved slowly to the corridor, kneeling on the ground.

Wu Jie asked in a trembling voice, "What do you mean when you said that the north broke through?"

Seeing that Wu Jie didn't intend to inquire about the crime, the more courageous young lady summoned up her courage and told the story one by one.

"Just a month ago, the Hangu Pass in the north was broken, and the reason why the pass was broken was because there were soldiers and horses who cooperated with the outside, and the soldiers and horses who responded inside were the remnants of the Gao clan hidden in the northwest."

The little palace lady doesn't know much about the situation, most of it is plausible news,

"It's just that, before the imperial governor, Wan Boss handed down an oral order, saying that this matter should not be discussed in the palace, and the empress should not be upset."

Wu Jie's body trembled uncontrollably. Is it all because of Gao Zimo?