The dragon bed in the inner hall of the Qianqing Palace was originally a small-leaf red sandalwood dragon bed, with three hollow rosewood wooden bed surrounds placed outside. The dragon bed was simple and grand, just like a small cabin.

After Emperor Yuan Zhao ascended the throne, he demolished the dragon bed that had been passed down for many years in the Qianqing Palace, and ordered the carpenters in the palace to make a new Babu bed.

The bed is carved with auspicious clouds and auspicious animals, and is covered with a green curtain of pomegranate flowers. It is luxurious but lacks a little bit of sediment, and is incompatible with all the furnishings in the Qianqing Palace.

This is the bed where a saint would sleep. Who dares to comment?

As for the dozen-month-old pillows placed on the Babu bed and the ink jade altar on the jade pillow, it is even more difficult for people to even take a look at it.

Emperor Yuan Zhao didn't let anyone touch the things in the bed, and he didn't let anyone keep watch in the inner hall when he went to bed at night.

From time to time, the chamberlains who were keeping vigil in the corridor would hear one or two voices coming from inside. The voices were gentle, gentle, and affectionate.

Tonight, Yingying Zhuozuo's voice came from inside again, but the voice was different from the usual gentleness and peace, with a bit of desolation and sadness.

The people guarding the corridor today are Wang Dehai, the chief steward of the Qianqing Palace, and two newly transferred chamberlains.

The emperor was clearly the only one in the room, so how could there be any sound?

The two of them were panic-stricken and quietly looked up at Wang Dehai, wanting to ask for some advice.

Wang Dehai, on the other hand, remained motionless and did not even raise his eyelids. As if aware of the gaze from the other side, he lifted his fly whisk and continued to stand outside the hall with his head bowed like an old monk in trance.

Seeing that Superintendent Wang remained motionless, the servants gradually felt relieved.

Early the next morning, Wang Dehai went into the palace to help Gu Changjin wash up. He was startled when he saw him holding the ink jade altar in Babu's bed in his hands.

"When Madam Shen comes, you directly invite her into the palace and ask her to take away the ink jade altar." Gu Changjin gently stroked the glorious outer wall of the jade altar and said, "Tell Madam Shen, after five years, I will send someone to pick her up. "

Not even Wang Dehai can touch this black jade altar. He dare not touch it.

He understood that this was for Shen Yizhen to come and get it in person.

Wang Dehai lowered his eyes and turned away the strange look on his face, and responded: "Yes."

Containing Shu's ashes was a palm-sized black jade altar, which was plated with a layer of gilt and felt heavy in his hand.

Shen Yizhen left the palace with Rong Shu's ashes.

Lu Shiyi was waiting outside the Meridian Gate. He had been a head hunter for half his life. He had seen so many dead people and had been stained with so much blood that he had developed a cold heart.

But Zhao Zhao... is different.

Lu Shiyi still remembers the scene fifteen years ago when he found the little girl carved in pink and jade in the kidnapper's den. The children next to her were all crying, but she was the only one who opened her bright eyes and looked around calmly.

She was accompanied by Lu Shiyi and Guo Jiuniang for seven of the nine years she was in Yangzhou. The little girl drank her first drink secretly in Ciying Lane.

There was a lot of alcohol hidden in his house, and the little girl was already drunk after just one glass of wine.

Lu Shiyi was furious.

But she was holding a wine jar and said drunkenly: "Uncle Shiyi, don't talk about Zhaozhao, okay? Zhaozhao will be a lady when she goes to Beijing. I'm afraid it won't be easy even if she wants to drink."

Lu Shiyi is so generous. The free and easy man suddenly made her say something sad.

He had no choice but to let her have another glass of wine.

She was even more dizzy. She tilted her head and asked him: "Uncle Shiyi, can you be Zhaozhao's father?"

All the past events were still vivid in her mind.

Thinking of the expectation and longing in the little girl's eyes when she asked him this, Lu Shiyi's throat tightened, and his eyes became wet again.

Seeing Shen Yizhen's figure, Lu Shiyi turned his head, wiped the corners of his eyes with the hem of his sleeve, sniffed again, stepped forward quickly and said, "How is it? Your Majesty..."

Shen Yizhen shook his head and said "Five years later, he will send someone to bring Zhao Zhao back."

Lu Shiyi saw her frowning and said with relief: "Five years is not long or short. Maybe by then, he will I've given up on Zhao Zhao."

As he said this, Lu Shiyi knew in his heart that these words were just lies.

He has never let go of Shen Yizhen for so many years.

Five years later, the emperor...may not really be able to let go.

Shen Yizhen let out a long sigh, looked back at the majestic palace bathed in the sunlight, and said, "Let's go."

As he walked, he glanced at Lu Shiyi again, "Are you serious about not going back to Yangzhou? I am now with Rong Rong. Xun Heli is free, but you still have a job in the Yamen—"

"I have already resigned from the Yamen." Lu Shiyi interrupted her and said with a smile, "Don't you know that when Zhao Zhao left Yangzhou, She once asked me if I could be her father. Now, in the name of Zhaozhao's adopted father, I will accompany her to see the lonely smoke in the desert in the north and the mountains in the south. "

Only in the name of Zhaozhao's adopted father ." His identity is only for Zhao Zhao.

Shen Yizhen's steps slowed down when she heard this, but soon she quickened her steps and walked towards the carriage, saying, "In that case, let's go together." When

the news came that she and Lu Shiyi were leaving the city, Gu Changjin left In the morning, Hengping came to report to him.

Gu Changjin nodded lightly: "Have you arranged the secret guards?"

Hengping is now the commander of the Imperial Guards, in charge of the security of the Imperial Guards and the entire imperial city. When Shen Yizhen left the palace, he had already sent someone to follow her.

"Everything has been arranged."

Gu Changjin looked at the clear sky and said, "Where is the Taoist priest Liu Yuan captured yesterday?"

Hengping said, "My subordinates imprisoned him in the Imperial Guard. In the check-in room, Zhui Yun was chatting with him. "

Gu Changjin said "Huh", his eyes turned slightly and fell on Hengping.

Since the death of Tsunegichi, Hengping has become more and more silent, and even the idle Shiiun is becoming more drunk than before.

A person's pain will only gradually weaken over time. At this moment, no matter how much words are said, it is useless.

"Ask Zhuiyun to send the Taoist priest to Qianqing Palace," Gu Changjin walked towards Yuhu, "You go back to rest, sleep for two days and then come back to the palace for duty."

Qingmiao Taoist is the only one in the Qingheng sect in the world . descendants.

The Qingheng sect established its sect with mysterious and mysterious techniques, and was obsessed with the technique of defying nature and changing fate.

There are very few disciples of this sect, and the disciples who can be selected by the head of the Qingheng sect are all talented people with extraordinary attainments in formations.

The demon Taoist Taoist Qingping, whom Prince Qiyuan had great faith in at the beginning, came from the Qingheng sect.

The formation set up by Taoist Qingping used the blood of countless boys and girls. As a result, Prince Qiyuan committed countless murders, angered the people, and gave the vassal kings an excuse to send troops northward.

The Qingheng Sect has since become a cult in the minds of the people.

The Qingmiao Taoists naturally did not dare to use the name Qingheng Jiao to continue to establish a sect, so they named it Qingyan Temple.

Jinyiwei has great supernatural powers and actually found the Qingyan Temple on Longyin Mountain.

Seeing that the formation could not be broken, he deceived Baoshan out of the Taoist temple and forced him to show up.

Taoist Qingmiao only has one disciple in Baoshan. This child was raised by him and he is also the only Miao Miao in their Qingheng sect. How could he not save him even though he was about to die?

He had no choice but to obediently trade himself for Baoshan's life.

Taoist Qingmiao originally thought that when he arrived in Beijing, the Jin Yiwei men would cut off his head and hang his head on the city gate just like they did to their junior brother.

Unexpectedly, after two days in Beijing, his guards entertained him with good food and good food, and they did not torture him too much.

They come, the security.

Taoist Qingmiao was eating well and sleeping well in the prison cell, looking like he had nothing to worry about.

At this moment, when he learned that he was going to the Qianqing Palace to meet the emperor, he was also very kind and even had the courage to stare at Gu Changjin's face for a long time.

It wasn't until Wang Dehai scolded him lightly: "How can you not be polite when you see the emperor?"

Taoist Qingmiao knelt down and saluted.

Gu Changjin waved his hand, and after Wang Dehai had gone out, he looked at the old Taoist priest below and said, "Taoist priest, please get up."

Then he pointed to the sandalwood chair on the side and said, "Sit down."

Qingmiao Taoist priests have lived in the mountains for a long time, but We have also heard about Gu Changjin's deeds. We know that he was once a good official, and now he is also a good emperor.

But the former Prince Qiyuan was also a good prince and a good prince, but in the end, didn’t he care about human life?

Taoist Qingmiao looked at Gu Changjin's face carefully.

This person has a broad heaven and a sense of righteousness between his brows, which makes him look like a wise king.

"I heard that Qingheng Sect has been established for hundreds of years and has been obsessed with studying the method of time retrieval." Gu Changjin said lightly.

"Exactly, the Qingheng Sect is a major sect of magic. The old Taoist dare to say that for the demonic method of time retrieval, no other Taoist sect in the world except the Qingheng Sect has dabbled in this method." There was no wind with two white eyebrows. Automatically, Taoist Master Qingmiao looked at Gu Changjin with deep eyes and said, "Your Majesty, do you want an experienced Taoist to help you?"

Gu Changjin raised his eyes and looked at Taoist Qingmiao and said, "How can Taoist Master Qingmiao help me?"

Taoist Master Qingmiao said . He stroked his long eyebrows and responded: "People want to look back in time because they have regrets in the past. Your Majesty is the lord of the world, rich in the world, and worshiped by all people. I dare to guess, your Majesty is looking back in time to save people? What if? Your Majesty wants to save people and change their lives, so the skills learned by the Taoist can certainly come in handy."

Gu Changjin did not comment, but looked at the old Taoist quietly and motioned for him to continue.

"It's just that any heaven-defying technique has to pay a price. For example, the deposed prince once captured boys and girls on a large scale just to use the blood of these children to activate the formation." The corners of Taoist Qingmiao's lips slowly raised, and that His eyes seemed to be able to see through people's hearts, with a hint of ridicule, "The deposed prince killed so many innocent children, but at the last step, he was afraid. Where is your majesty? How far can your majesty do it?"

If Wang Dehai were here. , probably another slight scolding of "presumptuous".

Gu Changjin's expression did not waver at all.

He looked at Taoist Qingmiao and said calmly: "Don't worry, Taoist Priest, I will not use the lives of innocent people to satisfy my selfish desires."

Hearing this, Taoist Priest Qingmiao was stunned at first, and then raised his eyebrows.

It is true that the emperor in front of him wanted to use the blood of a young child to activate the formation, and Qing Miao would not comply even if he died.

A century ago, the Qingheng sect was jointly strangled by various Taoist sects. The method studied by the Qingheng sect was a demonic method that devastated people's hearts and was not the true Tao.

The master used his own body to create a formation, tearing a way out for the two brothers.

Junior brother Qingping's temperament has changed drastically since then. When studying martial arts, he also loves swords and takes eccentric directions. He does not distinguish between good and evil, and only pursues utilitarian results. The two senior brothers supported each other for decades, but eventually they went their separate ways.

Qingping first helped several nobles in Beijing improve their fortunes, and then used these nobles to go to the East Palace to preach to Prince Qiyuan, and gradually became the most trusted person of Prince Qiyuan.

Qing Miao knew what his junior brother wanted to do. He wanted to revive the Qingheng Sect and let all Taoist sects see clearly that what their Qingheng Sect was pursuing was also the Great Way.

The great road is fifty and the days are forty-nine.

Why did they believe that the way to go back in time was not a great way, but a demonic method?

Qingmiao knew that his junior brother wanted to use Prince Qiyuan to achieve enlightenment, but his path went astray.

"If you want to do something against heaven, how can you not pay the price?" Taoist Qingmiao said with a smile: "Your Majesty doesn't use the lives of others, how about your own life?"

Lord Qingmiao shook the cattail leaf fan in his hand, "Although Your Majesty You are the master of the world and have a noble destiny, but your Majesty's life is not enough."

Gu Changjin said quietly: "In the path pursued by Taoist Master, what else can a person exchange for except his life . Something?"

Taoist Qingmiao paused slightly as he shook the cattail leaf fan. "Your Majesty, are you really willing to exchange for anything?"

Gu Changjin said, "I can exchange it for anything I have."

Taoist Qingmiao put down the cattail leaf fan in his hand. .

The man in front of him has clear and resolute features and clear eyes. They all say that you are not joking, but he meant what he said just now.

The old Taoist priest had a rare curiosity. With such a supreme being, what else could he be dissatisfied with?

"Your Majesty, have you thought clearly?" Taoist Qingmiao slowly straightened his face: "You are a wise king. As long as you establish great achievements for a long time, based on the merits you have accumulated in this life, you will still become the most noble person in the world in the next life. You will have a smooth life and a happy wife and children. If you really want to do that evil thing, you probably won’t even have the chance to be reincarnated. "

It is simply a fool’s errand to try to reverse time and space by just one person.

Unless that person has great merit and is willing to exchange his life for it.

Even so, it may not be possible to exchange for it.

Gu Changjin doesn't care about the next life.

If someone asked him, do you believe in the afterlife? Do you believe that people can be resurrected from the dead? Do you believe you can go back in time?

The former Gu Changjin would have said he didn't believe it.

He has always been a rational person and does not believe in gods, Buddhas, or cause and effect.

But the words of the man in front of him finally gave him a glimmer of hope.

This hope is because of her.

Because of her, it seemed that he was willing to believe all the unbelievable things.

Like coming back from the dead.

For example, looking back in time.

He knew he was crazy.

But what he needs now is such an illusory hope.

If there really is an afterlife, and he becomes the most noble person in the world, he will no longer be Gu Yunzhi, and she will not be Rong Zhaozhao.

What is the use of such an afterlife?

He only wanted this life, the life of Gu Yunzhi and Rong Zhaozhao.

"What should I do?"

Taoist Qingmiao was silent for a few breaths.

"In the past, Prince Qiyuan was only one step away from completing the formation." Taoist Qingmiao slowly raised his eyes, "If the formation is to be completed, it is necessary to use dragon energy as the formation eye. Your Majesty, does your Majesty know where the strongest dragon energy is in the world?"

"It's your flesh and blood, Your Majesty."

Qingping asked Prince Qiyuan to use the only breath of Emperor Jiande as his opponent. Prince Qiyuan dared to kill innocent children, but he did not dare to kill his father.

At the last moment, he got timid.

The old Taoist priest with white beard and hair lowered his eyes and looked at the cattail leaf fan in his hand.

This cattail leaf fan is a token of the leader of Qingheng Cult.

The secret cannot be revealed.

If the successive masters could get a glimpse of the way of heaven, this cattail leaf fan would crack a crack to block the wrath of heaven.

If this formation can really be accomplished, then the great path that their Qingheng Sect has been pursuing for hundreds of years will exist.

I think there will be another crack on this cattail leaf fan.

Taoist Qingmiao's hand holding the handle of the fan trembled slightly.

Why doesn't he want to attain enlightenment like Qingping?

At this moment, the man sitting behind the dragon case responded calmly -

"Okay."

He could give up on the illusory afterlife.

He can give up the merit of building great achievements for a long time.

He could also give up his life and his flesh and blood.

Whatever Gu Changjin had, he could give it up.

Except for Gu Changjin and Taoist Qingmiao, no one in the world knows about this conversation in the inner hall of Qianqing Palace.

Taoist Qingmiao was sent back to Longyin Mountain and back to the shabby Qingyan Temple. Outside Qingyan Temple, a group of secret guards from the Imperial City were guarding the dense forest day and night.

For many years to come, Qingmiao Taoists often heard others praise Emperor Yuan Zhao.

It is said that he worked hard to govern and pursued military strategies.

It is said that he loves his people like his son, his roof is like the sky, and his appearance is like the earth.

It is said that he is the wisest king since the founding of Dayin Dynasty.

Under his rule, the country was stable and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment.

Every time the emperor passed away, the common people would spontaneously burn incense and pray for him in their houses. Eternal lanterns and longevity lanterns were enshrined in countless temples.

Forty years later, the dilapidated wooden door of Qingyan Temple was pushed open.

The emperor with a stern face and a growing power came from a layman holding a black jade altar.

"Taoist Master."

Taoist Qingmiao was both surprised and not surprised by his arrival.

Forty years ago, Emperor Yuan Zhao lost his beloved when he was about to succeed to the throne. At that time, the young emperor found him and asked him to help him perform the heaven-defying method.

Taoist Qingmiao agreed and left him only one sentence when leaving the palace.

"Your Majesty will be a man of great merit and virtue. When your Majesty's merits and virtues are completed, it will be the day when the old Taoist will help your Majesty set up the formation."

The Qingmiao Taoist initially thought that after three years and five years, the young emperor would probably give up. That persistence in my heart.

He is an emperor, what kind of woman does he want?

After tasting the dragon chair and the supreme power, is he still willing to give up everything? Just for an illusory expectation that even he, the head of the Qingheng Sect, cannot be sure of?

Mostly unwilling.

However, he also heard that Emperor Yuan Zhao had only had one queen in recent years, and this only queen was his first wife who died before he ascended the throne.

Qing Miao Taoists gradually understood that Emperor Yuan Zhao was obsessed with political affairs day and night, almost masochistically, not only for the sake of the country and the people, but also for his "great merits."

The old Taoist priest held a cattail leaf fan in his hand and bowed solemnly to the man with frost-stained temples: "The old Taoist has seen your majesty."

After the bow, he asked again: "Is your majesty ready?"

Gu Changjin said "yes".

His body was almost exhausted, and he couldn't wait any longer.

He wants to see her.

Taoist Qingmiao smiled, looked back at Qingyan Temple, and said, "Your Majesty, please follow me. This Longyin Mountain is where the dragon veins of the Xiao family are located. There is an underground palace under the mountain. It is just right there."

Gu Changjin As Taoist Qingmiao passed through layers of confusion formations, he came to a dark and cramped tunnel.

The damp, cold wind rolled up a corner of his dragon robe.

Somehow, he always felt that he had been to this place before.

A simple and mysterious Tai Chi Bagua array is drawn in the underground palace, and the cinnabar is dazzlingly red in the bright lights.

"Your Majesty, please sit down." Taoist Taoist Qingmiao pointed his cattail leaf fan at the Yangyu fish eye in the Tai Chi formation. "Old Taoist, we will start the formation right now."

After saying that, he patted his chest three times in succession. The force was obviously not heavy, but it was powerful. After three mouthfuls of painstaking efforts.

The Qingmiao Taoist's face was as golden as paper, and he also aged many years in an instant.

The blood sprayed in the air did not fall, but floated in the air. Following Qingmiao Taoist's cattail leaf fan, a talisman array was slowly drawn in mid-air.

Gu Changjin fixedly stared at the sky.

I don’t know how long it took, but suddenly there was a gust of cold wind in the corridor.

With a thought in his mind, Gu Changjin looked towards the corridor through the twelve crowns, but he couldn't see anything.

He only vaguely felt that someone was coming.

The man was looking at him.

Gu Changjin raised his eyes and at that moment, the fishy eyes opposite him suddenly lit up.

The next moment, Qingmiao Taoist's tongue exploded with spring thunder, and shouted: "The formation is up!"

As his words fell, the dragon robe on Gu Changjin suddenly lit up with fire, and the fire spread from his body along the lines of the Tai Chi Bagua formation. Cinnabar, burn to the opposite side of the fish eye.

In just a few breaths, the sky was filled with red light, strong winds were blowing, and the two fish eyes of yin and yang seemed to have suction, slowly, bit by bit, approaching and merging.

The fire was blazing.

Amid the intense heat and pain, the fire gradually faded away, and the figure of Qingmiao Taoist gradually disappeared.

Gu Changjin felt his ears were extremely quiet.

It was a kind of hazy tenderness and loneliness, just like every night in the past forty years.

The tenderness she brought in the memories and the loneliness of losing her over a long period of time were intertwined with him walking with him for forty years.

Others say that he is cold-blooded and has few desires. He only cares about the country and the country.

No one knew that this emperor who was self-denial and extremely harsh on himself had been waiting for a vague expectation.

This expectation is the desire to see her again.

This kind of desire never recedes slowly as time goes by.

He thought of her often.

I often think, if he had arrived at Sishiyuan half a day earlier that day, what would she be doing at this moment?

Was he leaning on the railing and looking back, letting those eyes filled with tiny stars slowly reflect on his face?

Or, leaning against the kang, warming a bowl of porridge for him?

Or even raised his hand and grabbed his cheek angrily, and said angrily: Gu Yunzhi.

No matter what.

As long as she is here, everything is fine. he thinks.

Last night, he dreamed that she was crying again.

It had been a long time since he had dreamed of her crying.

The moment he raised his hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes, an overwhelming loneliness swept over her.

I really want to see her.

I want to tell her that Gu Yunzhi really misses Rong Zhaozhao.

In the firelight, the white frost on his temples was peeling off bit by bit, and the fine lines at the corners of his eyes were disappearing inch by inch.

Suddenly, the man raised his head and looked at a point in the void.

There, countless images emerged.

——It was Mrs. Shen who returned to Shangjing, handed him the ink jade altar in her hand, and said to him with tears in her eyes: "Yunzhi, I'm sending Zhaozhao back to be with you."

——In the sound of the pattering autumn rain, he held her in his arms and said to her: "We Zhaozhao, it doesn't hurt anymore."

——In the swaying carriage, he wrote and wrote: My wife Zhaozhao.

The past is like storms and clouds, and like the pages of a book passing by.

He gradually lost strength, and the fingers holding Mo Yutan trembled slightly.

The picture of water flowing backward in front of me slowly faded away.

Finally, it was frozen in a fiery red candlelight.

The bright red wedding candle burned quietly, and the stern-faced groom held the white jade handle in his hand and slowly lifted her wedding candle.

In the bright candlelight, the girl was wearing a bright red wedding dress, a phoenix crown and a halo, and she smiled at him.

Gu Changjin's eyes gradually became stained with a layer of red rust.

"Save her!"

"Gu Changjin, save her!"

The deafening voice broke through the fire in the sky and echoed in the underground palace for a long time.

After the sound, Gu Changjin suddenly looked at his palm. There was nothing there, and the ink jade altar containing her ashes was gone.

She went back.

Forty years passed without her.

Separated by thousands of layers of mist and rain, thousands of mountains and rivers, separated by the yin and yang that sometimes run out of human power.

Now, there is only a moment to open his eyes before he can see her again.

Gu Changjin smiled and closed his eyes.

Rong Zhaozhao, Gu Yun has come to see you.