Hello Chang’an

Chapter 173 Can we still be friends?

Chang Suining raised his eyes and looked forward.

In addition to the two common monks outside the pagoda courtyard, there was now another column of forbidden troops guarding the area.

Looking further into the courtyard, I saw the Holy Emperor in regalia standing in front of the three-legged bronze incense burner in front of the tower, holding green incense and worshiping the gods of heaven and earth. After three worships, he slowly inserted the green incense into the bronze incense burner. .

Cui Jing and Wujue accompanied him.

Cui Jing had turned her head to look, and Chang Suining met that line of sight. Seeing that he was there at the moment, it was impossible to say that she didn't have the slightest guess.

She never knew who Cui Jing was loyal to. It was said among the nobles that he was a minion of the Empress. Although she disagreed, she was not sure of his true thoughts and stance.

But what she can be sure of at this moment is that if there is indeed a secret in the Tiannv Tower, then Cui Jing must be the insider who shares the secret with the Ming Dynasty.

And if her intuition at this time is right - if the secret in the Heavenly Girl Tower is related to Li Shang, there is a possibility of hostility between her and Cui Jing without being sure which one is related.

Cui Jing has helped her a lot, and she has truly regarded him as a trustworthy friend along the way, but it is Chang Suining who is friends with Cui Jing.

If the other party knew that she was Li Shang, would she still be able to become a friend?

The answer to this question cannot be answered based on any emotion, but needs to be decided by the truth.

Now, she will try to get into the truth.

After seeing the light, he turned around and slowly looked towards himself. Chang Sui Ning raised his feet and stepped into the formation.

At this moment, Chang Suining seemed to hear the sound of this side of the world using the wind as a blade to pierce through her body in her mind.

Her eyelashes trembled silently, but there was no change on her face.

The girl stepped on the painted floor with her embroidered shoes and walked forward.

Mingluo looked at the ground painting that had been stepped on by the girl and felt it was ironic. He really had no sense of awe. How could such a person be Princess Chongyue?

The wind blew the golden bell hanging from the eaves of the tower, making a crisp sound.

The Holy Book Emperor looked intently at the girl wearing a sandalwood cloak walking towards him, and suddenly many old scenes flashed before his eyes.

The girl came to her and bowed her head in salute: "My lord, I see you, Your Majesty."

At the same time, another voice sounded in the mind of the Holy Emperor - the son and his ministers visited their mother and queen.

The face of the girl in front of her had no resemblance to the girl in her memory, but perhaps due to her guess, at this moment she actually felt that the two faces overlapped.

There was a wave of confusion in the eyes of the Holy Book Emperor.

Withered bamboo leaves fell, and the light smoke that was rising slowly in the bronze furnace suddenly changed direction and dispersed under the influence of the wind.

After a moment, the Holy Emperor said slowly: "No need to be polite."

The voice sounded hazy and far away in Chang Sui Ning's ears, but there was no abnormality on her face, she just straightened up as usual.

It was not appropriate to look around in front of the emperor, so she stood quietly with her eyes lowered.

But even if her consciousness diminished, Chang Suining could still detect that the imperial gaze that fell on her had a strong sense of inquiry, just like the invisible sharp blades around her at this moment, which seemed to pierce through her and make her return to her true form. Bilu.

The Holy Emperor could not see any strange reaction from the girl for a moment, so he said: "Follow me in."

"yes."

When the Holy Emperor turned around, a servant came quickly to see him outside the tower courtyard.

After receiving the permission, the attendant went into the hospital to salute the Holy Emperor.

"...Your Majesty, there are many refugees outside the temple, as many as a hundred people. They gathered outside the temple and cried out to see the saint. They just said that they had not eaten for a long time and begged the saint to save their lives..."

The waiter looked very uneasy, for fear of violating some taboo.

When praying for blessings, a group of refugees with sallow complexions and skinny skin came to gather around and beg the emperor for help. After all, it was unlucky.

"Where did the refugees come from?" Emperor Shengzhi frowned slightly and asked, "Daozhou?"

"Your Majesty, it's exactly..."

Chang Sui Ning has also heard about the severe drought in Daozhou since spring. The drought affected a very wide area. Not only did the entire Daozhou have no harvest, but all the wells and springs dried up, making it difficult for the people to continue drinking water.

Even though there were disaster relief measures, they had little effect. The victims had no food or water, so they crossed the Huaihe River and headed north to save themselves. As a result, there were even chaos between refugees and soldiers in various states along the way...

These refugees who were able to make it to the capital alive had to endure many hardships and obstacles.

There was a trace of compassion in the tone of Emperor Shengce: "It's not easy for them to come here from Daozhou. Cui Qing, for the time being, you can help me resettle these people."

As the emperor, it is impossible for her to meet these refugees in person. These people who can travel long distances to the capital alive are probably extraordinary and kind people. If they are said to be disaster victims, they are probably no different from the bandits. Only by the Xuance Army's intervention can they be calmed and suppressed. Let them give up the idea of ​​making trouble.

Cui Jing agreed, looked at Chang Sui Ning before leaving, and nodded lightly to her.

Chang Sui Ning also nodded in response to him, as usual.

But she could detect the unusual look in Cui Jing's eyes, although she couldn't tell what it meant.

Cui Jing left the pagoda courtyard, and Yuan Xiang, who was not far away, came to greet him.

Cui Jing turned around and took one last look at the girl who was walking into the tower.

Master Wujue's finger ring and the slightly changed formation objects could only slightly relieve her pain, and she must have endured it very hard at this time.

He couldn't even imagine what she was going through right now.

"Grand Governor, those victims..."

"Follow the original plan."

Cui Jing strode away, took off the sword from his waist and held it in his hand.

The moment Chang Suining walked into the tower, he realized that the feeling outside the tower just now was not worth mentioning.

Her internal organs seemed to be pulled by invisible forces, as if her soul was about to leave her body at the next moment, but there seemed to be another force tightly trapping her soul.

And this pain became more severe with every step she took. There seemed to be invisible resistance in front of her, blocking her from moving forward. There were countless voices in her body telling her to stop.

The girl's expression did not change and she continued to move forward.

Wujue secretly squeezed his sweat, worried in his heart.

This is all he can do now, and His Highness doesn't know how long he can last. He just hopes that everything goes well next...

Chang Sui Ning entered the tower and silently paid attention to the layout of the tower.

This formation was far more complex than she had imagined, and was different from any military formation she had ever seen before. In accordance with the principle of "never changing without departing from its origin", she wrote down the layout of the formations everywhere. As she analyzed them along the way, she slowly noticed something strange.

Although these array objects are complicated, if you look closely, there are some shortcomings. The objects and positions of the array are also divided into primary and secondary. If we use primary and secondary terms, what you see at this time is secondary. The real main array objects Instead, I didn’t see it.

The object of this main formation is the eye of a burst. The eye of the formation is related to the rise and fall of a burst and is the most critical existence.

Is this necessary for the formation, or is it to prevent the formation from being easily destroyed, so the formation eyes are placed in a hidden and dark place?

While Chang Sui Ning was thinking about it, he followed Emperor Shengce to the edge of the Jade Pond.

The illusory voice of the Holy Emperor sounded in Chang Sui Ning's ears.

"Mrs. Chang, do you know why I summoned you to Dayun Temple?"

"This is to pray for the rebellious soldiers and my father." Even Chang Sui Ning's own voice sounded very weak.

Her tactile and auditory senses have been reduced by most, and she needs to pay special attention to listen carefully in order to distinguish what the Holy Book Emperor is saying.

"Yes, but not entirely." The Holy Book Emperor turned his head slightly and looked at the girl: "Actually, I have something that I don't understand, and I want to ask Mrs. Chang."

Chang Sui Ning said calmly: "I don't know what your Majesty is referring to."

"Ms. Chang is quite extraordinary. I had previously intended to offer you the position of female official serving on the case, but you did not accept the offer." There was no pressure in Emperor Shengce's tone, but the words he spoke made people unable to relax.

"After that, both Li Lu and Cui Qing wanted to marry each other, but you rejected them all - so I am very curious. You don't want the official position I gave you, nor do you want a good marriage or a good son that ordinary women value. What you really want, What will it be?"

These are clearly things that her Ashang can do. Ordinary women are eager to get what they want, but her Ashang will not see it.

Mingluo's eyes never left Chang Suining for a moment.

At this moment, there was still no strangeness on the girl's face, and there was no trace of uneasiness or hesitation under the temptation.

"I know that my heart is undecided, and I am afraid of causing trouble in the palace, so I dare not accept the position of a female official. As for marriage, in my opinion, the distinction between good and bad requires that the two people are happy, and only mutual feelings Only when they are connected can it be considered a good marriage.”

After a pause, the girl continued: "If you ask me what I want to do, I just want to be my father's daughter, stay in the Chang Mansion, and live with my father and brother who love me. That's enough."

The Holy Emperor smiled slightly when he heard this: "To have such an idea, you probably haven't grown up yet."

The girl heard the words and said: "My father said that I don't need to grow up. I can stay by his side all my life and do what I like."

These innocent and straightforward words seemed to make the Holy Book Emperor a little distracted.

"It's a blessing not to have to grow up." The Holy Book Emperor said: "My child has grown up at a very young age."

"This is also my failure as a mother. I gave birth to them, but failed to give them a stable life..." The Holy Book Emperor looked at the statue of the goddess: "And when I finally have the ability to make up for it, my children But he’s gone, maybe this is God’s retribution for me.”

Chang Suining lowered his eyes and did not answer.

Her body, which was originally torn by pain, even felt numb for a moment when she heard these words.

She didn't know whether the guilt in Minghou's words was true or not, or maybe she felt a little guilty after getting everything in her old age, or maybe it was just a way to test her. After all, she had experienced this kind of method once.

In her eyes, her mother was calm, cold, and unscrupulous. She never showed any kindness to her, and she never had any gentle words.

She thought her mother was used to this, until her mother grabbed her hand before the wedding, and her words were so loving that they even included a request: "Ah Shang, please help my mother one last time."

Her mother even touched her cheek tremblingly, with tears of guilt in her eyes that she had never seen before, and said that she would definitely take her home.

Only then did she realize that her mother could treat her with kindness.

She stared blankly for a while, realizing that the love didn't even seem to be fake, it was true to the extreme, and this extreme true love never left any room for her to refuse.

At that time, she suddenly wanted to ask, did Aniang know what she would experience after marrying to Beidi?

But she didn't ask after all.

Her mother-in-law is not an ordinary woman, nor is she an innocent concubine who is ignorant of the affairs of the country. She would not know what this marriage means.

It was precisely because of knowing that he called her "A-Niang" and felt guilty, but this guilt did not affect her A-Niang's begging her to go to that purgatory.

The reason why she knelt down was not because she felt that her mother had done something wrong. On the contrary, even if her mother did not come to beg her, she had already made the decision to agree to the marriage.

At that time, Da Sheng was unable to fight anymore, his troops and horses were exhausted, and his country was extremely weak. Suing for peace was the only way to survive.

What Dasheng needed at that time was no longer generals to go to the battlefield, but princesses to marry.

Then let her go.

She could go, she should go, she just felt that a mother might not treat her child like this.

However, since she could remember, her loving and ambitious mother had only given her endless demands and demands. She had been repaying the gift of childbirth, but she seemed to be unable to repay it. Let's use this thing that she was going to do to end it. It would be considered opportunistic.

From then on, she felt relieved when she thought of "mother", because she no longer had to bear the threat of the gift of childbirth.

Ever since she followed Ming Hou's arrangements and pretended to be Axiao, along the way, she had risked her life to break away from the cage of family love. After paying such a price, she would never be trapped back to the maternal love that made her unable to breathe. In a female relationship.

What's more, she still has an unsolved mystery. She hasn't found out who the person who wanted to kill her in her previous life was. Even if she wanted to save her life, she couldn't let herself be exposed to the public right now.

As for whether Minghou's guilt at this time was true or false, she had no way of exploring it, and she didn't care.

"Ms. Chang, have you read the Great Cloud Sutra? Have you ever heard of the legend of a goddess who saves the world?" Emperor Shengzhi asked.

"My daughter has heard it."

"The one who also sacrificed his own body to save the world is my Chong Yue..." The Holy Book Emperor said: "Mrs. Chang must have heard Chong Yue's experiences and deeds many times. According to Mrs. Chang, Chong Yue and this statue of the goddess of heaven, Are there any similarities?"

Chang Suining subconsciously looked up at the white jade statue.

The moment she looked over, the tips of her fingers under her cloak trembled.

This statue of the goddess…

Her eyes fell on the lifelike face of the statue and the eye-catching crack on the neck...

So, the one "enshrined" in this Heavenly Lady Tower was never the Heavenly Lady in the Dayun Sutra, but her? !

When Chang Sui Ning "looked" into the eyes of the jade statue, he felt that all his limbs and bones were captured, and he was filled with confusion.

Sensing that Empress Ming's eyes were moving towards her, Chang Sui Ning instantly concealed the look of shock in her eyes and said: "My lord has never seen the eldest princess Chongyue with her own eyes, so she has no way to compare whether the eldest princess is similar to the statue of the goddess of heaven, so she dare not False answer."

The Holy Book Emperor said nothing, but looked at Chang Sui Ning quietly, as if he was determined to find the answer he wanted from the girl.

Chang Sui Ning stood there with his eyes lowered, trying his best to control every part of his body so as not to look strange at all.

I don't know how much time passed before the Holy Book Emperor spoke again.

Good night everyone, see you tomorrow~

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(End of chapter)