The night has fallen, and the sky is like a curtain, with a few cold stars appearing and disappearing. Most of the lights in the palace halls are turned off, with only a few palace lanterns swaying in the wind.
It was getting cold and it had just fallen into the night. The wind that blew over was already chilly. The palace maid shivered with excitement. She frowned and hurriedly lowered the curtains when she heard a sound.
"Empress?" Xiao Jing, the palace maid serving the queen, suddenly heard the voice. When she looked, she found that the queen who was already on the bed had actually gotten up.
The queen always goes to bed on time, what happened today?
Xiao Jing hurried over, put a big cloak on her, and asked, "What are your orders?"
"I am walking around the palace by myself, you don't have to follow me." The queen said calmly with her long hair hanging down, because this kind of thing happened in the past. Even noble people need to be alone and think about things quietly.
The maids responded.
The queen, wearing inner clothes and with her hair disheveled, came out of the palace and walked slowly around the palace like a wandering spirit.
The palace lanterns were dimly lit in the hall, there was wind outside, and the moonlight was shining in. She walked by herself to the door of the hall, looking at the sky outside, wondering what she was thinking.
Just stand quietly for a while, then turn around and go back. Even if you are relaxing, you can't catch a cold. In this era, it is really dangerous.
The secret room was in the side hall, and only she and a few confidants knew about the secret.
He pressed his fingers lightly on the mechanism and twisted it a few times left and right. With a slight clicking sound, a door appeared on the wall in front of him. He opened it left and right, revealing a small secret room inside.
The queen stepped in and the secret room was closed.
The secret room is not big, and this is not the first secret room she has found someone to repair in the palace.
Although this palace is her territory, she will change places from time to time.
After all, there are treasures in the secret room that are more precious than those in her private vault.
It was pitch dark inside, and this secret room didn't even have a window.
But there is a small table near the door, with candles and fire folding items on it.
She groped over and made a snap in the darkness. The fire from the fire broke out, illuminating her pale face like a ghost.
Her expression was also very cold, and after the candle was lit, the flames that sprang up were warmer than her eyes.
Compared to the gentle and dignified queen during the day, this woman shrouded in coldness may be more real.
After the candle was lit, the queen took it in her hand.
She slowly walked towards the end of the secret room, where there was an offering table with a memorial tablet and fruits and snacks in front of the memorial tablet.
There was a cabinet next to the altar table. The queen opened the cabinet door with one hand and took out a scroll of pictures from inside.
She then placed the candle on the cabinet and carefully unfolded the scroll.
Although there are candles, the bean-like candle flames emit a faint green light, which makes it look a bit eerie. However, under the candlelight, you can still clearly see the yellowing marks on it, which shows that this scroll has been around for many years.
The person in the picture is not an adult, but a tiny little person wrapped in swaddling clothes, with a round face, big eyes, and a toothless and innocent smile.
"Fu'er..." The queen gently stroked the child with her fingers, calling softly.
This is actually a portrait that was painted by the palace painter when the prince was one month old. The painting is very lifelike and lifelike, unlike landscape paintings that emphasize artistic conception.
It is said that the painting technique prescribed by Wei Shizu at that time was to be so lifelike that even the color of the skin can be seen.
So many years have passed, and the children of that year have grown up and passed away. Only the portraits of the past remain, preserved in this secret room that cannot be seen from the light of day.
The queen's fine-lined eyebrows were filled with tenderness. She touched them gently with her fingers and looked carefully. But this time, besides maternal tenderness, there was something else in her eyes.
It's different from before, it's not just sadness, this time it's sadness with a hint of joy.
"Mother!"
A ray of light seemed to appear in the darkness. On the other side of the light was the grown-up prince, dressed in robes and clothes, walking forward with his back to her. At this moment, he seemed to feel something. He looked back at her and called out.
At the same time as the sound, there was also the prince's voice calling her at different times in her youth and childhood.
The adult prince also gradually shrank after turning around, and gradually turned into a little man no different from the one in the portrait.
"Wow! Wow!" The infant child was picked up.
The queen opened her eyes slightly, only to find that it was Princess Dai who was holding the child?
"Fu'er, Fu'er..."
In front of her eyes, the crown prince seemed to gradually overlap with her Fu'er.
"Is that you? Fu'er?"
"It's been twenty years, have you been reincarnated into the royal family again?"
The faint laughter seemed to come from the darkness, and it seemed that it was just her auditory hallucination.
The queen opened her eyes wide, and what she saw was a small room. There was no blessing, only a scroll of portraits.
When she came back to her senses, her tears were already flowing down her face.
Afraid of dripping on the portrait, the queen hurriedly wiped away her tears and lowered her head again to look at the painting carefully and with nostalgia.
Originally, she was still hesitant, thinking that it had been too long and she missed Fu'er too much, so she saw Prince Dai as Fu'er after seeing him.
But now, after seeing the portrait, she was suddenly enlightened and convinced.
This is Fu'er!
Over the years, the queen has been suffering because the emperor had more than one son, but for her, when she lost the prince, she lost everything.
Even if she takes back the acting king, it will only make up for a small part of her broken heart.
No matter how good her grandson is, how can he compare to her son who was born in ten months of pregnancy?
That is her only child, the child she raised in a small family!
But now, Fu'er seems to be back.
He is still her great-grandson, still her bloodline, and still her child!
This world will eventually return to Fu'er's hands!
Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you listened to the monster and killed Fu'er back then. Now don't even think about harming my Fu'er again!
The queen thought blankly.
It was quiet outside the secret room, except for the occasional night watchman holding a lantern and walking by from one side.
He seemed to hear a sound coming from somewhere, so he walked towards the corner. At this moment, a big eunuch came out slowly and glanced lightly.
"Father!" Without saying anything, the man hurriedly ran away with his head lowered.
The great eunuch stood for a moment, and when he saw no one was around, he disappeared into the darkness again.
After a long time, the door of the secret room was gently opened, and the queen, whose face was no longer strange, came out.
The secret room was closed again, and the queen walked to the side hall and sat on a chair.
Although it is a side hall, because it is the queen's palace, it is spacious inside, supports red lacquered gold-plated wooden pillars, and is paved with gold bricks on the ground, making it appear dark and gloomy.
The queen sat in the darkness, looking at the hazy moonlight outside and the silhouettes of people patrolling the night with lanterns in the distance from time to time, her face expressionless.
"Yu Han." The queen suddenly called to the empty hall.
In an instant, the eunuch just now came out from the corner and saluted the queen.
"The old slave is here."
"Restart all the previous secrets." The queen said calmly.