The Golden Hairpin

Changan. The waning moon has fallen, and the stars are in the sky.

In the early spring, the night wind was very harsh, and the 72 squares were completely silent.

The knock on the door that sounded in the middle of the night caused the concierges of King Kui's Mansion to wake up suddenly and panic. I don't know how the prince finally came back, how could anyone knock on the house in the middle of the night.

With a sense of anxiety, they opened the little door and looked at the people outside.

The figure in the cloak under the stars is slender and slender. The light of the palace lantern under the eaves was faint, shining on her face, reflecting her pale cheeks and clear eyes, causing the concierges to scream in horror: "Gong Yang...Miss Huang? Why did you end the night?"

"I'm here to see the prince." She whispered, took off her cape and hat, and walked inside.

Someone looked at the sky in embarrassment, but swiftly ran back and passed inside: "Miss Huang, please see the prince!"

Today, Jing Yutang was on the night of Jing Yi. Hearing the voice, he immediately got up, packed his clothes and ran out, trying his best to suppress the surprise voice: "Miss Huang!"

Huang Zixia nodded to him, and asked softly: "The prince rested?"

"Well, what time is it now? And there was news from the palace before, and your Majesty called the prince to enter the palace tomorrow morning."

Huang Zixia walked to the door and tapped on the doors and windows. Jing Yi looked outside, and cleverly pulled the others to make tea together.

Only Huang Zixia was standing in front of the door, and when he was still thinking about whether to scream, the door was already open. Li Shubai stood inside the door and looked at her quietly. He only wore pure white deep clothes, without any ornamentation, and even his hair fell over his shoulders, without being combed. The lights hanging in front of the door were bright, and the lights flowed on him, making him seem to be covered with a faint fluorescent light, which was particularly conspicuous.

Xu Shi just woke up from a dream, and the night breeze came slowly, and the palace lanterns hanging under the corridor shook slightly. He stared at her under the water-like light, and slowly rippling, the water gleaming.

Huang Zixian bowed to him outside the door, and whispered: "If you visit late at night, please forgive Zixian for presumptuousness."

He nodded, but didn't answer. He only looked at her for a long time before reaching out to grab her arm.

Across the sleeves, he felt her soft skin, slightly warm, before he smiled, and laughed at himself: "Really, I thought I was still in a dream."

Huang Zixia only felt a heartbeat, and a strange warmth instantly filled her chest. She held his hand backhand and said softly, "If this is a dream, it's not bad."

Li Shubai smiled slightly and walked inward holding her hand.

Huang Zixia followed him in, and the two sat down on the couch. He took a hairpin and pulled up his hair, and asked, "What's wrong, what's going on in the palace?"

Huang Zixia nodded, stood up and took the hairpin in his hand, then opened the drawer to take the comb, and combed his hair in front of the mirror.

Li Shubai raised his hand to hold her wrist and looked up at her.

She withdrew her hand nonchalantly, continued to comb his hair, slowly pulled it into a bun, and said, "The prince forgot? I was in Shudi before. When you were injured, I combed your hair."

Li Shubai stared at her from the mirror. The bright bronze mirror reflected her drooping face, like a lotus flower drooping in the dusk. And those eyes, half-hidden and half-hidden by eyelashes, are the clearest dewdrops on the petals.

He couldn't help himself, and said in a low voice: "At that time, you and I were in a state of embarrassment, but now I want to come, but it is the most rare good time in my life."

Huang Zixian's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she raised her head to look at him in the mirror.

Their eyes met in the bronze mirror, as if they were looking at each other's lifelong destiny, unable to move away for a long time.

After a long time, Huang Zixian lowered his head to help him tie his hair, inserted the hosta, and said softly: "Tomorrow morning, the prince should not go to the palace."

"why?"

"Wang Yun came to inform me today that we can't set off to Shu land tomorrow." Huang Zixia lowered his hands, stood behind him, and said slowly, "The reason is that tomorrow he will send the Buddha bone relics out of the palace to provide offerings in various temples. Then I will be too busy to get out."

"Your itinerary for the land of Shu tomorrow has been set, and the Buddha bone relics will be handed over to the temples in the capital tomorrow. How could it be possible that you can't get out of it all of a sudden?" Li Shubai refused to speak through a mirror and turned around. , Looked at her directly and said.

Huang Zixia nodded lightly and said: "The Holy Master is already very ill. If there is no improvement in the blessing of the Buddha bone this time, I am afraid that he will start as soon as possible..."

Li Shubai looked at her with a smile and asked, "Could it be that he ignored the encirclement of Zhenwu Army?"

"The prince naturally knows better than me. Shatuo has always been in the north for many years. Every winter, they lack clothing and food and go south to looting. But since they were defeated by the prince the last time, they have not been as good as before, and now it is extremely difficult to threaten the court. , It’s just a few stragglers in the frontier, who are brave enough to fight—but now the imperial court has to face the whole world. The entrustment of the throne was only overnight. ."

Li Shubai looked at her in silence, she looked at his eyes, full of worry and fear. Knowing that it was all because of himself, he stood up with a smile, patted her shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I don't think the situation is so terrible."

"Is the prince too confident in himself, or too confident in the sage?" Huang Zixia couldn't help but asked anxiously, "Don't you believe in brothers smashing walls and fratricide? I don't believe you are so naive!"

He slowly shook his head and smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's not as naive as you think, and it's not as scary as you think."

Huang Zi Xia was speechless for a while, and even his breath rushed for three points. She lowered her eyelashes, wanted to turn around and left, but still held back her abruptly.

"Master, please believe me this time..." She walked up to him, knelt down and looked up at him, "After all, this matter is of great importance. I don't want to... I don't want the king to be in danger, but I am more afraid of myself. My negligence did not help you. If you encounter anything because of me, in this life and this life, I will leave regrets and cannot forgive myself!"

Li Shubai leaned down and looked at her who was kneeling on the ground, with a shallow arc showing the corners of her lips, and asked softly, "So, what do you think I should do?"

Huang Zixia raised his hand and grabbed his arms, looked up at him, and said eagerly: "Wang Ye Tianzong Wizard, he will definitely be able to arrange the best path for himself, as long as... as long as you don't risk it!"

"I said, you are too naive." He stared at her deeply and saw that her arms were still unconsciously holding his elbows, he smiled, stretched his arms to hug her, and held it sideways. In the arms, it is as light as holding a cloud.

Huang Zixian was stunned, his cheeks flushed immediately, and struggling to say: "His Royal Highness, what I said to you is all business..."

"I'll also talk to you about business." He said, putting her on the couch and sitting next to her, "First of all, I don't like the appearance of you pleading in front of me. You didn't tell me before. Ever? You are willing to be a catalpa tree, stand beside me, and help you shelter from the wind and rain together."

Huang Zixia leaned on the couch, raised her elbows to block her eyes, and gave a soft "um".

"Secondly, I really deserved the crime. No wonder your Majesty wanted to get rid of it soon." Li Shubai stroked her hair and said softly, "You know that the Zhenwu Army is expanding privately, but you also know that the other towns have their own ambassadors. Is there something to do?"

Huang Zixian stared at him in shock: "So..."

"Yes, since the Pangxun Rebellion began four years ago, my people have gradually infiltrated the army of the towns by taking advantage of the opportunity of the joint Jiedu to counter the rebellion. And I enlisted soldiers and horses from the towns to enter the capital, and established the Shenwu and Shenwei Army , And rebuilt the Nanya Sixteen Guards according to the old system. Your Majesty was aware of it, and of course he had already regretted his legacy of raising tigers. When we were assassinated in Shu County, I also knew that he could no longer tolerate me. Du Shi has been more or less controlled by me, and there are elites I control in Beijing. Isn’t it a wise decision for your Majesty to get rid of me for the sake of the world?"

Huang Zixia was relieved when he heard him say this, and asked softly: "Did the prince arrange it?"

"It's their own choice." Li Shubai said lightly, "I just put a scoop of oil on the pyre just exposed to sparks."

Huang Zixia didn't know whether it was happiness or worry, she lowered her voice, and her lips moved slightly: "Isn't the prince afraid that he won't be able to control the situation?"

Seeing her with such an expression, Li Shubai raised his hand and flicked her eyebrows and said, "Don't worry, if I can ignite this fire, I can suppress it."

"Since the prince has made arrangements, now I am worrying too much." Seeing that he was so sure, Huang Zixia breathed a sigh of relief and said in a low voice, "Yes...In any case, when the situation is urgent, there are some extraordinary methods, and they are not allowed. Need not."

"The situation has indeed reached the time when it has to happen, and tomorrow Wang Yun will indeed be very busy. Because today's unitary time, the Imperial Forest Army guarding the palace was stranded in the palace during the change of defense, and it is estimated that it is for tomorrow's use. When His Majesty was praying in the Buddhist hall this afternoon, he suddenly called Wang Zongshi to see him. Guess, what is the big thing that made him interrupt his prayers in front of the Buddha's bones, and he would use the leader of the army of the gods?"

Huang Zixian murmured: "How many divine strategy troops can be mobilized in Beijing?"

"At least five thousand to eight thousand people. Actually, it's not necessarily enough. If the imperial forest army in the palace adds the people who changed guards twice, it won't be less than a thousand people. By then, it will be more than enough to deal with me and a few soldiers. "

Huang Zixia nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "Then, I would like to go with you."

Li Shubai raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at her in surprise.

"Before I came here, I had packed my things and everything was ready." She raised her hand and pointed to the package she had placed behind the door, and said softly, "I think if the situation has really reached an irreversible point, then At least the power that the prince has laid down in Beijing over the years can be used to escape the capital at the last moment. And I, I am willing to be there for you and never be separated."

He stared at her and asked softly, "Where is Wang Yun?"

She bit her lower lip, and whispered: "I...I'm sorry. But at the beginning we had an agreement. I would return his dissolution of marriage and he would help you out. But now, he hasn't kept the agreement. Instead, it has become our opposite, and this agreement is no longer valid."

Seeing the firm expression on her face, Li Shubai couldn't help but sighed and said, "Zixia, you are so cruel."

Huang Zixia was startled, and her voice could not help but weaken: "Yes... But if I am not cruel to him, he will be cruel to you. Now that I have come this far, I am destined to be unable to take care of both ends, and I can only choose the one I want to follow. One side..."

"No, I mean, you are too cruel to yourself." Li Shubai's hand gently slid down her back, then tightened his arms to hug her into his arms and hugged tightly, "You will What should you do? You can pay yourself to Wang Yun for me, and you can leave everything behind and run away with me. Don’t you know that you are such a smart woman, if you follow me like this, you will get nothing in the future. There is a desperate world left. If something happens to me, or I abandon you, you will have nothing to think of?"

"I won't let you abandon me." She said softly in his ear, her voice in a trance, but inexplicably firm.

He listened to her whispering in his ear and couldn't help smiling. He didn't seem to be able to control himself either. The scorching heat of his body made his throat a little dry and hoarse, and he said in a low voice, "You really have confidence in yourself."