My face was hit to one side, and my cheek suddenly started to hurt.

"You actually - you actually -"

Xu Cairen's face was pale, his eyes were red, and his whole body was trembling. He pointed at me and gritted his teeth and said: "If I hadn't recommended you, would you have been favored by the emperor? Now, you are here to harm me and my children!"

”

"..."

"You ungrateful bitch!"

Shui Xiu, who was standing outside, was shocked when she saw this scene. She immediately rushed in to help me. When she saw that my face was red and swollen, she became anxious. She stepped forward and said, "Xu Cairen,

How can you say that? Our talented family is not just for——"

Before she finished speaking, I gently raised my hand to stop her.

My cheeks were burning and my ears were buzzing. She was really not polite with this slap. I slowly turned my head to look at her and said lightly: "If I were you, I would never stay here again."

Here. I will definitely find a safe place and someone to protect myself."

"You don't need to tell me, of course I know!"

Xu Cairen looked at me fiercely. I know that any weak woman will turn into a bloodthirsty she-wolf for the sake of her child, even the little woman in front of her who can't even protect herself. Her eyes are red.

He looked at me and said: "I don't want to live with a bad woman like you, get out of here!"

I wanted to smile, but my face was so beaten that it twitched and I couldn't laugh, so I nodded to her, turned around and walked out.

When we were far away, Shuixiu kept following me. Her eyes were red with anger and she was about to cry. She grabbed my arm and said, "Cairen, what are you doing this for?"

I stopped, looked at her, and then turned to look at the room.

No matter what Xu Cairen thinks of me now, or how she used tricks to invite Holy Grace a few days ago, I know that when she was in Chonghua Hall and when she first arrived at Fangcaotang, she was

She really regarded me as a sister, and everything she did was really planned for me. Although such feelings dissipated too easily in the harem, she was real at that time.

Therefore, my promise at that time was still valid!

Early the next morning, Xu Cairen went to Jingren Palace to pay his respects to the Queen. I don’t know what the two talked about. In the afternoon of that day, Xu Cairen moved into a courtyard behind Jingren Palace.
p>

When I heard the news, Shuixiu was taking a towel and dipping it in cold well water to apply on my face. Xiaoyu was lying on the window watching the people coming and going outside. It was much livelier than when I moved in, and there were many

The other maids in the palace also came to watch the fun, pointing at me and talking about it.

Listening to the rumors outside, Xiaoyu's mouth was pouting, and Shuixiu was angry, so she applied a little too much force to my face, and I immediately cried out in pain: "Easy, do you think you're just kneading the dough?"

”

"Talent, how can you bear such a tone!"

"..."

I was silent for a while, then raised my head and looked at the room in front of me. It was elegant and exquisite with carved railings and jade walls. In the eyes of the world, it might be a place where only gods can live. So I just smiled faintly: "This is not what I endure.

Tone."

Having said that, when it came to dinner, I had no appetite at all for the exquisite dishes on the table. They tried to persuade me for a long time before I managed to drink half a bowl of soup. Shuixiu was cleaning up and said, "You still say you're not angry."

"You look so angry that you can't even eat." I was immediately so angry that I couldn't even laugh or cry.

It was a quiet night, so I washed up early and went to bed, but I didn't fall asleep immediately. Instead, I leaned on the bedside and read a book.

Unknowingly, it was very late, the candlelight was swaying, and even the words on the page were a little blurry. Xiaoyu yawned again and walked in: "Cairen, you should go to bed. The doors outside are closed. You are so late."

Reading hurts your eyes."

"Oh? The doors are closed."

I sat in silence for a while, then obediently handed the book to her, and then slowly lay down. Xiaoyu came over and tucked the quilt tightly for me, put out a few candles, and went to sleep outside.<

/p>

Sleeping alone in this big, empty house, my dreams became a little confusing.

One moment I saw Xu Cairen gently trying to be my sister, and the next moment I was slapped hard by her. Although the redness and swelling on my cheeks had recovered, the burning feeling was still there, which made me a little uneasy.<

/p>

In the haze, I felt a cool feeling on my cheeks.

I turned my head in a daze, and saw a familiar face coming into view under the dim light. Although he had no expression, he stretched out a hand and caressed my cheek with the back of his hand.

It still makes me feel a lot more comfortable.

Is this also a dream?

I never knew that there could be a cool feeling in dreams, and even the feeling of skin touching each other is so real.

I feel very tired, very tired, and my whole mind seems to be falling into a deep sleep at any time, but I always open my confused eyes and look at this person.

The quiet look at each other at this moment made me believe that this was all just a dream.

I still can't bear to get rid of him. I know clearly that if I get rid of him, I will get rid of all this. It seems that I can have a good rest if I close my eyes at this moment, but I still can't bear to not see his eyes.

After all, I can't get rid of it...

When I woke up the next morning, I stared blankly at the bed curtain above my head without saying a word. Aunt Wu and Xiaoyu carefully opened the door and entered. Seeing my eyes wide open, they came over:

"Cai Ren, it turns out you've woken up."

I smiled, turned over and sat on the edge of the bed. Xiaoyu looked at my red eyes and said, "Cairen, are you okay if you didn't sleep last night?"

"No."

"The emperor came here last night, did he wake you up?"

"What?" I was shocked and turned to look at her: "Did the emperor come last night?"

"Yes." She nodded and said, "I was keeping vigil outside last night. I originally wanted to come in to wake up Cai Ren, but the emperor said no, so he only came in, sat and looked at you for a while, and then left."<

/p>

Pei Yuanhao has been here. So, last night I saw him sitting by the bed and caressing my cheek gently with his hands. Were these not dreams?

I was silent for a while, then got up and washed up without saying anything. When Xiaoyu sat in front of the bronze mirror and started combing my hair, I looked around and said, "Where is Shuixiu? Why didn't you see it so early in the morning?

Her?"

"I just saw her outside, talking to Xiao Fuzi. The two of them were mumbling and didn't know what to say."

Xiao Fuzi? The little eunuch who does chores in Jingren Palace?

I was just wondering when I saw Shui Xiu running in happily from outside. As soon as Xiaoyu saw her, she smiled and said: "Miss, you are here. I have been waiting for you this early in the morning."
p>

"Go, go!" Shuixiu pushed her aside, took the comb and combed my hair. I looked at her in the bronze mirror and said with a smile, "What are you doing?"

"Cairen, I asked Xiao Fuzi from Jingren Palace to help inquire. Yesterday after Xu Cairen moved there, the emperor went to see her and asked her why she didn't stay in Fangcaotang. I heard that Xu Cairen refused to do anything.

She said that she shed tears when she was asked an urgent question, but the emperor had no choice but to hold her and coax her for a while and said nothing."

"Really?" I lowered my head gently.

Shui Xiu said: "You are a talented person, I think the emperor still believes in you."

"Yes," Xiaoyu nodded beside her: "otherwise, the emperor wouldn't have come to see you last night."

I looked at them both and smiled lightly in my heart.

If it were in the past, Pei Yuanhao might have believed me, but now, after what happened with Liu Ningyan, he also knows my methods. For a woman like me who already has a life in her hands, he will never do it.

I will believe it as fully as I did in the past.

Shuixiu quickly tied up my long hair. I stood up, changed my clothes, and said, "Follow me to Jingren Palace to pay my respects to the Queen."

"Talent, didn't the Empress exempt you from paying greetings every day?"

I smiled and said, "When Xu Cairen arrives at Jingren Palace, I might as well go over and have a look."

Shuixiu nodded, then ordered someone to bring the wicker chair, and walked all the way to the outside of Jingren Palace. As soon as I entered the gate, I heard the singing of warblers inside, which was so moving. But as soon as I walked in, this place

The singing of birds and swallows suddenly stopped.

I looked up and saw Chang Qing sitting directly above her. The first person on the lower left of her was the imperial concubine Shen Rou. There was no expression on her soft face, but there was a needle hidden in the gleaming autumn water in her eyes, looking at the person opposite her.

A woman with a pale face and a dazed expression——Xu Cairen.

As soon as I walked in, all the singing and dancing inside stopped, and everyone looked at me.

I slowly walked to the center of the room and knelt down to the Queen: "I pay my respects to the Queen."

"Pingsheng." The queen raised her hand hurriedly and said, "Isn't it unnecessary for you to come here every day to say hello? Why do you come all the way here again and don't pay attention to yourself?"

"Concubine——"

Before I finished speaking, Xu Cairen had already stood up and said to the queen: "Queen, my concubine is feeling a little uncomfortable and would like to leave first."

The Queen glanced at her, then at me, and said calmly: "That's fine, you can go back and rest first."

"Thank you, Queen."
To be continued...