Chapter 55 Planting Willows with Heart

In the Pearl Palace, the light was full of shadows, and a dark shadow saw no one around and quickly slipped into the inner bed, while the Empress Dowager Li still unconsciously fell into a coma.

The shadow tested the breath of the Empress Dowager Li with his hand, then took out a few packets of powder from his arms, poured the powder into a small bowl, and mixed the water and evenly. However, the sound of the spoon and bowls of the medicine was not like ordinary medicine, but with a rapid irregular collision. It seemed that the people were too nervous with the medicine, and constantly Trembling.

The medicine was finally adjusted, turning into a brown thick, and a strange and unpleasant smell. The dark shadow trembling walked to the Empress Dowager Li on the couch. First, she put the small bowl aside and put the pillow on the head of Empress Li a little higher. Then she picked up the small bowl again, stirred it with a spoon, and scooped up a spoon and sent it to the Empress Dowager Li who was tightly closed. Black lips, because of trembling, the medicine in the spoon dripped several drops on the Empress Dowager Li's skirt. The black shadow could not take care of much. He bravely pried the Empress Dowager Li's teeth with a spoon and sent the remaining medicine into the throat of the Empress Dowager Li.

The patient could not swallow it on his own, so after the medicine was sent in, it overflowed a lot from the corners of his lips. The shadow had to put the small bowl on his knee, and then scooped up the second spoonful. This time, the shadow held the throat of the Empress Dowager Li with one hand. While sending the second spoonful of the juice, he squeezed the throat of the Empress Dowager Li and forced the patient to swallow. When feeding the fourth spoon in this way, the Empress Dowager Li seemed to have some signs of consciousness. There was a strange sound in her throat. The shadow stopped, let go of her hand, and quietly looked at how the Empress Dowager Li would react.

Sure enough, Empress Dowager Li immediately coughed and didn't cough twice. Empress Dowager Li suddenly opened her eyes and sat up angrily. One arm was raised straight and pointed straight ahead. She was stunned for a second or two. Then, Empress Dowager Li took a mouth, and a big mouth of blood spewed out, which was not only soaked in her clothes. Even the black shadow's shoulder was splashed a lot. This mouthful of blood sprayed too suddenly. Before the shadow could realize what was going on, Empress Dowager Li's eyes turned white and fell straight down, with her head tilted to the pillow.

"Bang!" The medicine bowl on the black shadow's knee fell to the ground. The sound was particularly sharp and harsh in the dead and strange bedroom. The rest of the medicine was sprinkled on the ground, overflowing into a strange shape and slowly penetrated into the cracks in the floor.

The black shadow wood stood up in a daze and left the couch. After stopping for a moment, he slowly knelt down on the couch and kowtowed one after another. Every time it touched the hard floor. His forehead quickly oozed blood, and the floor that kowtowed was also bloody. "It's all the maidservant who hurt you, too After that, the maidservant will go with you. You don't have to worry that there is no one there!"

It turned out that the shadow was Jiaolan who came back from looking for medicine. Unfortunately, she put all her hopes on the medicine she found, which not only did not bring the Empress Dowager back to life, but also immediately killed the already weak Empress Dowager Li.

Jiaolan seemed to have no pain. She smashed her forehead, and her hair was scattered because of too much force. If the Empress Dowager Li on the couch was a dead person, Jiaolan was like a living female ghost, but Jiaolan didn't realize it. She slowly stood up and slowly pulled out a pair of her. Bai Ling, who had already prepared, stepped on the stool and wanted to put Bai Ling on the beam.

Bai Ling was very light. Jiao Lan tried several times before reluctantly getting on it. She was so tired that she was out of breath. She took a rest. She pulled both ends of Bai Ling together, tied a dead knot, tried to test the strength, and then hung her neck up. "Empress dowager, empress dowager, the maidservant is coming!"

Jiaolan cried, and as soon as she closed her eyes, she was about to kick off the stool under her feet. Unexpectedly, a voice came from behind her, "Jiaolan, what are you going to do!"

Jiaolan was stunned and stared with horror. There was nothing more weird and frightening than this sound in the Pearl Palace all night, because Jiaolan heard that it was the voice of Empress Dowager Li, but obviously, didn't she see that the Empress Dowager Li pass?

"I'm sorry to ask you! You, what are you doing with Bai Ling!" The voice of the Empress Dowager Li sounded again, even more real than the first time, with the severity and reproach that Jiaolan was familiar with.

Jiaolan finally recovered a little. She slowly left Bai Ling, slowly turned around on the stool, and looked at the couch with panic. The Empress Dowager Li on the couch was also half staring at her. Jiaolan was a little at a loss. She asked tremblingly, "Tai, Empress Dowager, are you awake, or..."

"Or something!" The Empress Dowager Li gasped weakly and turned back and lay down. "Bold slave maidservant, do you think you want to go with the mourning family? It's not so easy for the mourning family to pass! Why don't you pour a glass of water for your family?"

"Yes, yes, the maidservant is going now!" Jiao Lan was so surprised that she couldn't believe her eyes. If anyone had experienced such a thrilling sadness and joy in just a few hours, I'm afraid he couldn't stand it.

After a cup of warm hot water, Empress Dowager Li's spirit seemed to have improved greatly. After coldly handing the cup to Jiaolan, she looked at the blood stains on her bedding and the bleeding forehead of Jiaolan. Seeing this, Jiaolan hurriedly said, "I will change these filths for the empress dowager."

The Empress Dowager Li snorted, but said again, "Do you think that if you go with the mourning family, the mourning family will feel your loyalty? Have you forgotten what the mourning family told you?"

Jiaolan thought for a moment and wondered, "Did the empress dowager let the maidservant take care of the emperor, or did she dispose of the concubine Shuang?"

"Since you know, why don't you keep your promise to your family? Do you think you can die? By the way, what kind of medicine did you take for the Ai family? The Empress Dowager Li finally found the remnants of the medicine bowl and juice underground.

Jiao Lan did not dare to hide it and said truthfully, "It's the prescription prescribed by the imperial doctors. I caught it according to the prescription, but the imperial doctors are afraid of being involved, so I have to..."

"Yes!" Although the Empress Dowager Li's tone is cold, she is rarely gentle. "It's related to her life. No matter who hides far away, only you, Jiaolan, only you dare to lose your life and don't hesitate to kill!"

"The maidservant is alone, and my family has passed away a long time ago, so I'm ready to die early in the morning, but I'm really lucky!" Jiaolan said and couldn't help sobbing, "It's not that I don't want to keep my promise, but that I know that if you really can't wake up, they will never let go."

"Okay, okay, pack up quickly. Let's see what you look like, but it's just a dead person. It's a big deal. It's a waste of my years of painstaking efforts to teach you!" The Empress Dowager Li blamed, but every word was full of love in Jiaolan.

"And!" Before the Empress Dowager Li closed her eyes, she called Jiaolan, who was about to leave. "After cleaning up, go to the imperial dining room to stew some chicken soup for Ai's family. It should be hot, hot, and don't put any tonics. Ai's family wants to drink pure and thick."

"Ouch, Empress Dowager, do you want to eat? Great, I'm going now!" Jiaolan's eyes were shining. The Empress Dowager Li had not eaten for many days. She relied on the soup to maintain her life. Unexpectedly, the doctor's dose of wolf and tiger medicine went down, and there was a miracle, which made the Empress Dowager Li wake up from a state of fainting and actually had the desire to eat.

Jiaolan's feet were windy and she ran fast. She didn't know whether the empress dowager was really good or back. But anyway, she is crying with joy now. She can't wait to make trouble with the palace people in the whole Zhuque Palace and help together, but Jiaolan still resisted it after all. Before she was cleaned up, if it was known that she stole it. Stealing the empress dowager with wolf and tiger medicine, even if the empress dowager does not investigate, someone will investigate and will punish her death in the name of her plotting to poison the empress dowager. The empress dowager knows this better than anyone else, so she asked her to clean up quickly.

A thrilling night passed. Watching the Empress Dowager drink more than half a bowl of chicken soup, Jiaolan's heart was completely put into her stomach. After the fifth watch, the palace people got up one after another to sweep. They were surprised to find that Jiaolan's forehead was injured, and the Empress Dowager Li, who had been diagnosed as hopeless by the imperial doctors at night, but The new decree is to order the ministers to hand over the urgent work to Jiaolan and send it to the Zhuque Palace during her recuperation.

Huan Ying looked at the robe in Lu Zisong's hand and asked, "Since it is General Lu's portable clothes, why has General Lu never worn it?"

In the moonlight, Lu Zisong smiled embarrassedly, "The robe was sewn by my mother in front of the army. I took it with me. I saw it from time to time, as if I saw my mother, but my family was originally poor. It was not easy for my mother to sew this cotton-padded robe stitch by one by one. How could I be willing to wear it?"

Huanxuan sighed, "Isn't it a pity that General Lu is reluctant to wear it himself, but he brings it to protect us from the cold?"

"It's not a pity that I don't want to give up, because I feel my mother's kindness to nurture me, and I usually have clothes and armor from the army, and I can't wear it. But I can give it to my wife and the little porcelain girl to keep out the cold, which is to make the best use of it. If it were my mother, I will definitely do the same."

After looking at Lu Zisong for a while, he finally nodded and took the robe and said, "General Lu's beauty, if I refuse, it is disrespectful to the general. In this way, we will borrow this robe for the time being, and we will definitely return it after using it. After all, it is sewn by the general's mother's own hands. How can we be beautiful? In the future, when the general returns to his hometown, he can tell his mother that her robe warms more than the general!"

Lu Zisang smiled and said, "How can it be so exaggerated? I don't know when I will return to my hometown. How can I talk about illustriousness? However, my mother listened to my wife's words. I'm afraid I'll wake up with a smile in a dream!"

"Ha ha", Huan Ying and Lu Zi Song laughed at the same time. At this time, holding the cotton robe, Huan Ying did not feel too cold.

Back to the tent, Xiaoci was sitting on her knees, and she didn't know what she was thinking in the dark. Huanxuan asked, "Can't you sleep either? Why don't you come out?"

Xiaoci shook her head, "It's cold enough to huddle in the tent. Isn't it colder outside? I don't want to go out!"

"Well, I know you're afraid of the cold," Huanxuan said, putting the cotton-padded robe in his hand on Xiaoci and wrapped her tightly. "What's better now?"

"Where did the clothes come from?" Xiaoci sucked her nose and said, "It's like new clothes, but there is no new clothes with the smell of cloth and cotton."

"What's wrong with your dog's nose? Do you still sniff around?" Huanxuan pushed Xiaoci, "Don't worry, it's a new dress, but it's just been carried in the package for several years."

"Who is it? Is there such a person?" Xiaoci straightened up and said, "Isn't it good for me to wear it?"

"You think it's beautiful. It's just a temporary loan to you. When it's used up, clean it up, dry it during the day, and then return it to others?" Huanying smiled silently in the dark. The reason why she accepted Lu Zisong's clothes was actually that she wanted to use it as a medium to tie a thread for Xiaoci. Lu Zisong was young, handsome and strong in ability. He would be able to make contributions every day. In addition, his character was also good. If Xiaoci could follow him, he would be happy, but Xiaoci's nature would be better. Stubborn, they must be unable to turn around for a while, and they can only match slowly. If they are predestined, they will have a natural day.

"What about you?" Xiaoci was at a loss and didn't know Huanxuan's plan, and asked foolishly, "Madam, aren't you very cold? It's better for you to put it on, madam," and then he took it off.

"No, don't!" Huanxuan stretched out his hand to stop Xiaoci, "Let me make it clear to you. It was General Lu who asked me to bring it to you. Since it was for you, what's wrong with wearing it on me?"

General Lu's clothes? Why did he bring it to me? If you want to protect yourself from the cold, you have to take care of Mrs. Gu first!" Xiaoci is confused.

"Just now I went out to blow the wind. It happened that General Lu's tent was too crowded and he couldn't sleep to go out for a walk, so he chatted a few words. General Lu asked, 'I didn't see the little porcelain girl. Did you sleep well?" I said, 'What's good? I woke up early, but I'm afraid of the cold and nesting in the tent. As a result, General Lu immediately took this cotton robe and asked me to pass it on to you. Ha ha, General Lu's good intentions, you can't shirk it!" Huan Ying deliberately learned Lu Zishuang's tone and told Xiaoci vividly.

Xiaoci stared at Huan Ying in the dark, "This Lu Zisong is really, and he doesn't think much about it. Madam went out because she couldn't sleep because of the cold. Why did he want to give me the cotton robe?"

"I'm cold, but I'm in good spirits and can go out for a walk. General Lu's heart is more meticulous than anyone else. He is worried that you are more likely to get sick. Do you understand?" Huanxuan patted Xiao Ci on the shoulder, "Well, since it's warm, let's sleep a little longer. It's still early before dawn!"

"This cotton robe is very big. It's not as good as my wife's wrapping it in. We can squeeze together and make it much warmer!" Xiaoci smiled and insisted on wearing the cotton-padded robe on Huanxuan's body. Huanxuan couldn't escape, so she had to take the cotton-padded robe as a quilt, and the two squeezed into a place to sleep together.

"Xiao Ci, can I discuss something with you?" Before the lingering sleepiness came up, he whispered in Xiaoci's ear.

"Madam, if there is anything, it's up to you!"

"The military tent is really not enough. We occupy one and think it's a waste. It's better to ask General Lu and several major generals to live in tomorrow. They sleep outside, and we want to separate a curtain in the middle, so that we can relieve it."

"Why didn't you tell General Lu today?" Xiaoci asked quietly.

"I'm afraid that you think it's inconvenient for you. You, a big girl, squeeze a tent with a stinky man. It's not good to spread out. In case you can't get married because of this in the future, I'm guilty!" Huanxuan is half a joke and half serious.

"I never said I wanted to get married. Madam, you didn't..." Xiaoci raised her head in the dark, "Isn't it the same perfect body as me? You're not afraid of. What am I afraid of?"

"Shh!" Huanxuan raised a finger and touched Xiaoci's lips. "Don't tell King Wei. Well, that's it. I believe these soldiers."

On the second day, it was another whole day of Mercedes-Benz. Due to Lu Zisang's reasonable arrangement, although the road was long, everyone's physical strength felt that it was okay and not tired. However, because there was almost no way to go, it took some time just to find the way. In this semi-sand zone, even if there were some people left. The traces of walking will also be covered by the fine wind and sand in a few days. Lu Zis Song has to get off the horse from time to time, squat down, and carefully identify whether there are traces of people who have passed in the grass and under the sand.

No wonder Lu Zisong will say that they can't find the source of water after dark. Even if there are stars in the sky, they can only identify the southeast and northwest. However, it is even more difficult to find a definite location in the vast dark area than climbing to the sky.

Fortunately, before it was completely dark, the water source was finally found for them. According to Lu Zisang, it is not so much a water source as a small oasis in the desert. Although the area is not large, there are trees, at least half-height water plants and wormwood plants over the knees. It is dark. The windlight was on, and everyone was once again busy setting up a tent. Because there were trees, they picked up a slightly dry branch to warm up the bonfire at night.

However, Lu Zisang strictly prohibits people from approaching the watershed area where water grass grows. On the surface, it looks like a calm watershed, and you can even feel the slow flow of water. But in fact, the mud under the water grass is unfathomable. Once people sink into it, they will sink deeper and deeper in the mud until they are completely swallowed and suffocate to death, and The place to fetch water is a very old well. I don't know when someone knocked it. The well water taken out is not sweet. It is comparable to what they drink the day before. The water with a strange astringent mouth is already the best.

The branches picked up were not dry enough. It took a lot of effort to light them, and they were still bubbling smoke. However, everyone was still happy. They didn't expect that there would be such a place on the edge of the desert. For them, tonight will definitely be better than the first night.

She was still on duty. Huanying touched the two dry and hard steamed buns left in the bag, but she had no appetite. It's one thing to have no appetite. It's another thing to be hungry. Now she is obviously hungry.

Seeing that everyone outside was very interested, Huanxuan couldn't help but go over and join them. One person said, "Oh, I don't know if there are any wild animals here. It would be good if I could play one or two to relieve my buns!"

Another person said, "It's beautiful. Where birds don't shit, what wild animals can be? Warm up quickly. Eat something and go to bed. I have to leave early tomorrow morning."

She smiled happily. It seems that everyone is like her. They are obviously very hungry, but they don't have the energy to eat steamed buns. They can only hope that they can successfully cross the death hills tomorrow and arrive at the Mingsha camp, so that everyone can have a good meal.

Several soldiers saw Huanxuan coming to the bonfire and hurriedly gave her a place. After two days of getting along with each other, Huanxuan and they had become familiar with a lot, and the distance between them was also quietly narrowing.