Chapter 3

The Jingbei Palace in Zhaojing is located at the foot of Fushan Mountain in the north of the city. It is unexpectedly large, covering an area of ​​hundreds of acres, with carved beams and painted buildings, Luowei embroidery, green tiles and red roofs, and is extremely luxurious. It is said that the Great Yan Emperor spent two years building it specifically for the third prince to be crowned king. The servants of Jingbei Palace are always very proud that their prince is so favored by the emperor, but only a few people know that it is actually a cage.

Mei Lin lives in Shuanglin Courtyard, and there are two other women in the same house. One is named Jiangtu and the other is named Lianxiu, both of whom are women from Murong Jinghe. On the contrary, A'Dai, who came with her, did not live together with them.

The day she moved in, Jiangtu was sitting in front of her own window working as a prostitute. When she looked up and saw her, she was startled at first, then lowered her head expressionlessly and continued doing her own thing. After everything settled down, she pulled Lianxiu over. Their attitude was surprisingly friendly, Lianxiu even took out her newly cut autumn clothes when she learned that Mei Lin had nothing to change.

"The people in these nearby courtyards are not as good as the middle-class maids beside the prince, so there is nothing to argue with." Jiang Tu said this.

Murong Jinghe had many women, and every once in a while, the palace would reward him with a few beauties. Other officials would also send him some stunning beauties from time to time, plus the money he got from hunting for beauties in the Qin Tower and Chu Pavilion. All in all, the number of beauties in the Jingbei Prince's Palace would be as large as that of the emperor's harem. No wonder he always looked like he was drinking too much.

So Mei Lin knew that she was far away from Murong Jinghe, so far away that she might stay here for the rest of her life and never see him again. This possibility made her feel relieved but also a little troubled. If she couldn't get close to him, the information she could collect would be very limited. Fortunately, she didn't take this matter too seriously and quickly put it aside.

The two women left after not staying for long, and Mei Lin walked around the room. She was extremely satisfied with the bright and large room, which was divided into two parts, the inside and outside, and was fully equipped with all the utensils. This was the first time she had a room of her own, with plenty of light.

Outside the bedroom window stretched out several old branches with sparse and half-dead leaves. She couldn't identify what kind of tree they were, but maybe there would be delicate flower buds growing on them next spring.

Thinking of this possibility, Mei Lin couldn't help but feel happy in her heart, so she walked over carefully and closed the door, turned around and threw herself on the bed, rolled a few times on the soft mattress, then lay on her side with her arms as pillow and a smile. Admiring the red branches and brown branches, imagining the scene of branches full of flowers, she feel that everything is extremely beautiful.

There is the dry smell of sunshine on the bedding, which seems to wrap people up in it, and gradually sleepiness emerges.

In a hazy state, she returned to the damp and cold prison. The darkness invaded like a nightmare. The surrounding area was filled with stench and suppressed moans, as well as obscene curses and laughter...

"A'Mei, you are having a nightmare." She was shaken slightly roughly, and there were words of concern.

Mei Lin opened her eyes and saw a young and beautiful woman standing in front of the bed with frowning eyebrows and curled lips. She was in a daze and couldn't remember where she was or who was in front of her.

"Get up, wash your face and eat." The woman ignored her, turned around and walked to the window. As she closed the window, she said to herself: "It's hard to get used to a new place. Don't sleep with the windows open. This is a peach tree. It's easy to attract nightmares."

Listening to her ramble, Mei Lin's pounding heart slowly calmed down, and then she remembered that it was Jiang Tu.

"It turns out to be a peach tree..." She sat up and murmured, feeling cold and wet on her back.

That place, she thought, now that she came out, she would never go back.

Life in the Jingbei Prince's Palace was very leisurely, and there was no shortage of food and clothing. It is said that the palace would allocate a large amount of silver every year for the Jingbei Prince to spend. Thinking of Emperor Yan's expression when he saw Murong Jinghe that day, and comparing it with the treatment he received, Mei Lin was really confused.

But it was not her turn to worry about any of this. On the first night when she came here, she used the method instructed in the kit to filter and summarize the various information she had obtained and then passed it on. The antidote she received did not start to take effect until a full day after the toxicity in the body occurred.

The best antidote is one that takes effect as soon as the toxicity occurs, making people feel no pain at all. The next best antidote is one that takes effect in two hours, and the worst is four hours, eight hours, and one day. This proves that her brain-consuming stuff is worthless. That day, she was afraid of scaring others, so she had to find an excuse to lock herself in the house until the toxicity subsided. However, after eating a full stomach the next day, she became lively again, showing no regrets for her perfunctory behavior.

It's not that she has a good impression of Murong Jinghe or that she's too scared to take advantage of him, but she feels that the pain can be tolerated and there's no need to take too many risks. Probably because she has a strong ability to tolerate pain, she became an outlier among the dead soldiers who were not allowed to have their own thoughts.

Mei Lin thought that she would continue to hang around like this until the mission was over, or the organization would not tolerate it. But reality is often unsatisfactory. No matter how well she behaves and keeps her breath, she is still remembered after all.

The person who was thinking about her was none other than Muye Luomei, who had a close relationship with her.

It turned out that the two had not seen each other since that day, and Muye Luomei had forgotten about her. Unexpectedly, she met Murong Xuanlie at a banquet after returning to Beijing. Murong Xuanlie had no intention of mentioning what happened that day. Only then did she realize that the woman who had no power to tie a chicken actually walked out of the forest unscathed. Piqued her interest, so she found an opportunity to borrow someone while Murong Jinghe was courting her. Of course for Murong Jinghe, as an insignificant person, he had no reason not to agree, so he immediately sent Qingyan to look for her.

To be honest, Murong Jinghe couldn't remember who Muye Luomei wanted, but Qingyan remembered it clearly, otherwise it would have taken a lot of effort.

Qingyan was Murong Jinghe's most trusted servant, and few people in the palace didn't know him. When he walked into Shuanglin Courtyard, there was an obvious commotion in several nearby courtyards, and everyone was speculating on the purpose of his visit.

Mei Lin was hiding in her room, flipping through a shabby medical book she got from somewhere. She couldn't leave the palace, and she didn't have the extra money to find someone to detoxify her body. Besides, the poison in the organization was not something ordinary people could detoxify, so she had to rely on herself. Of course she knew that this was basically impossible for people who knew nothing about medical skills, but since the result would not be worse, she might as well give it a try.

She heard Qingyan cough twice while standing by the door. She looked up and saw the fair and elegant young man. His brows furrowed imperceptibly, and then he smiled and stood up to salute.

"We've met again eunuch Yan" She actually has a good impression of this mean-spirited eunuch who always sounds arrogant, but having a good impression doesn't mean she likes to see him appear. After all, he was following Murong Jinghe and the people around him, and he would not come to see a woman of no status in the backyard for no reason.

It has to be said that Mei Lin has been trained as a death warrior for so many years, and her sense of the things happening around her is indeed unusually sharp.

Qing Yan glanced at the book in her hand, then looked at the simple and clean room, and then said slowly; "You clean up, and come with me now."

Mei Lin was startled, and wanted to ask, but she stopped when she saw him lowering his eyes and not intending to say anything. She went back indoors, packed her two changes of clothes, and put her books in. She glanced at the peach branches outside the window with nostalgia, then resolutely turned away and walked out.

"Eunuch Yan, where are you taking A'Mei to?" Jiangtu and Lianxiu were waiting outside. Seeing Mei Lin holding the bundle, they couldn't help but ask.

Qing Yan raised his chin high, without even glancing at the two of them from the corner of his eyes, and said calmly; "Did no one taught you when you entered the house, it's best not to ask questions that you shouldn't ask." As he spoke, he had already reached the courtyard gate.

The two women were choked and could only look at Mei Lin helplessly. Mei Lin shook her head slightly, saying that she didn't know either. Qing Yan had already started urging her, so she had to take two steps to keep up.

The entire journey was silent. Just as they were approaching the place, Qing Yan finally spoke, "No matter what happens, don't forget your duty as a slave."

The duty of a slave...

Mei Lin was startled for a moment, and then immediately realized that he was trying to remind herself, so she was respectful and grateful to him in her heart. I couldn't help but add two more points.

In fact, the person who is close to the ink is the darkest. Qing Yan can be the closest person to Murong Jinghe, and of course he is not a good person. He can say such a thing to a woman of low status, which is considered an exception. The abnormal sensitivity developed from the deep inferiority complex caused by his flaws has never been able to detect the contempt that ordinary people hide beneath awe from Mei Lin. If it were anyone else, he wouldn't probably even bother to say a word.

Qing Yan led the people to the north third floor of Danyue Pavilion. After reporting, he went to do other things. Mei Lin walked in alone.

Danyue Pavilion looks like a simple and heavy three-story wooden building from the outside. Once inside, you realize that it is composed of four wooden buildings connected to each other, with a medium-sized patio enclosed in the middle. Only the north building has three floors, and the southeast and west buildings have two floors. The entire second floor of the south building is paved with red tassels and golden tassels, which turns out to be a stage. In this way, you don't have to guess what the other three sides are used for.

At this time, an unknown play was being performed in the South Tower. A man in green waving his sleeves sang babblingly, making people drowsy in the afternoon autumn sun.

The third floor of the North Building is also an entire floor, covered with thick and colorful tapestry carpets. There is no furniture, and only layers of lake green tulle embroidered wefts create a hazy sense of space. Some soft cushions are scattered randomly on the ground, the autumn chrysanthemums in the vase are looming behind the yarn weft, and the incense of the stove is curling up, steaming the cool autumn air.

Murong Jinghe leaned on the soft cushions, with one hand on the carved wooden railing and a glass of wine in the other hand. His eyes crossed the roof of the south building and landed on the blue lake not far away. The lake was rippling, the mountains were covered with green, and the blue sky was vast. He narrowed his eyes slightly intoxicated. The sun shone on his body without any obstruction, and the warm temperature made his face look better. Beside him, A'Dai sat with her legs crossed, holding a small fiery red mink in her arms. Some distance away from them, Muye Luomei was standing with a folding fan in her hand, dressed in blue clothes and a square scarf on her head, leaning on the railing with her hands behind her back.

Mei Lin hesitated for a moment, then took off her shoes and stepped onto the brocade carpet, her skirt hanging down, covering her plain socks.

"This servant, greets Your Majesty." She saluted from a distance but did not go inside.

Her voice immediately attracted the attention of three people. Muye Luomei unconsciously knocked the folding fan in her hand on the railing in front of her, her beautiful eyes shining with interest. Although the movement was slight, it was still caught by Murong Jinghe. The corners of his lips curled up slightly, forming an unknown smile, and then he turned to Mei Lin.

"Come this way," he ordered.

Mei Lin was very reluctant. Maybe A'Dai wouldn't do any harm, but just the other two people were enough to make her feel danger. She has not forgotten what happened last time. If she had been another person, she would have been reincarnated into another reincarnation by now. However, this level of understanding did not make her refuse the order of King Jingbei.

Suppressing her helpless emotions, she walked in slowly with her head lowered, and when she raised her face again, there was a gentle smile on it.

Murong Jinghe looked at her carefully and felt that she looked familiar, but he couldn't remember her any more. So he looked at Muye Luomei and said, "She's here, just tell her whatever you want her to do."

Mei Lin was slightly stunned, looking blankly at Muye Luomei who was wearing men's makeup but looking even more delicate, wondering what she wanted from her.

She saw Muye Luomei's lips curled up slightly, and she suddenly used her fan as a knife to slash at Mei Lin's neck. She was extremely fast and struck suddenly without giving anyone any chance to think. If it were Mei Lin in the past, she would have relied on the instinct of a martial artist to dodge or directly attack, but now until she withdrew her fan, Mei Lin was still standing there in confusion, unaware that she was walking through the gate of hell.

In fact, Mei Lin didn't know that her martial arts skills were gone, but her eyesight was still there, but her skills were too slow, and the opponent had stopped before she could make any move, so she had to pretend to be stupid. However, she felt greatly uneasy, worried that her identity might be suspected.

Just when she was feeling anxious, Muye Luomei opened her fan and walked out while shaking it.

"I will take her away." This was said to Murong Jinghe, but the person who spoke did not even look at him.

Mei Lin hesitated, not knowing whether to follow or not. She even said that she still didn't understand what was going on.

"Why are you in a daze? Follow me quickly!" When she noticed that the person was not following, Muye Luomei turned around and called to her in displeased.

Mei Lin felt cold sweat starting to flow down her back, and couldn't help but look at Murong Jinghe, hoping that he could give her a clear instruction.

Fortunately, this time Murong Jinghe did not fall into deep thought for a long time like usual. When he received Mei Lin's questioning look, he couldn't help but smile, and suddenly reached out to hold one of her ankles hidden under her skirt, and put it into his arms pulling her away. Mei Lin was unsteady on her feet, staggered a few times and was about to fall, but he caught her.

"I can't let you take her away." He finally said, the hand still holding the wine glass went around the back of Mei Lin's neck, and poured the remaining half of the glass of wine into his mouth.

When he raised his head after doing this, he met Muye Luomei's beautiful eyes burning with dangerous anger.

"You'd better give me a reasonable explanation!" Obviously, she felt that she was being played.

Murong Jinghe knew her very well and was not intimidated by such anger. Instead, he lowered his head and kissed the corner of the woman's eyebrows. Then he suddenly discovered that there was a small vermilion mole on the corner of her eyebrows. The hair on the inner temples of her arms slid down and was completely exposed, looking extremely cute under the sunlight. He was momentarily distracted by this discovery, and couldn't help but stick out his tongue and lick it lovingly.

"Murong Jinghe!" Muye Luomei's gnashing voice sounded on the empty third floor, and seemed unusually stiff and angry against the soft and charming Tsing Yi's singing voice coming from the opposite side.

Murong Jinghe came back to his senses, looked at the woman in his arms for a moment, then raised his eyes and said with a smile, "Jing would not dare to give the things given by his father to others, unless..."He didn't say it, but the meaning was very clear. Naturally, unless she was a member of his family, she couldn't be counted as someone else.

Hearing the meaning of his words, Muye Luomei felt angry, but she also knew that what he said was the truth. She couldn't help but glared at the man who had not concealed his intentions, and said bitterly; "You are dreaming."

Murong Jinghe smiled and was not annoyed, his thumb unconsciously rubbed the small red mole on the corner of Mei Lin's eyebrows, and said slowly; "I've had this dream for a long time, how long do you want me to dream about it?"

Mei Lin's body stiffened uncontrollably. She wanted to push his hand away. She didn't know what was happening at the corner of her eyebrows, but it was really strange to be kissed and touched like this, it was a bit, too intimate. When she heard what he said as if he was leaning into her ear, even though she knew he was not talking to her, she still couldn't help but tremble in her heart and subconsciously turned her head away.

Murong Jinghe frowned slightly when he felt his finger slipping away from the small mole, but his attention was quickly diverted by Muye Luomei.

She don't know whether it was those words that touched her heart, or some memories were evoked. Muye Luomei's eyes softened for a moment, but then were filled with coldness. Avoiding the question, she turned around and walked out while putting down her words.

"It's fine if you don't want to borrow her. I'll go hunting in Zhongshan in the west of the city the day after tomorrow and take her with me." As she spoke, the figure behind her became increasingly blurred by layers of gauze curtains.

Murong Jinghe watched the wind blowing the green gauze around, leaving only the unique fragrance of the woman in the air. A hint of melancholy appeared in his expression, and he murmured; "Then continue dreaming." After saying that, he suddenly turned over, he pressed the woman that is still in his arms against his body and reached out to brush her slightly messy hair.

"Let me see how you aroused her interest..." He joked erratically, all emotions gone, he was the drunken and dissolute prince again.

Mei Lin accidentally met those lustful, half-lidded eyes, but what she didn't want to see was two beams of cold and dim light, heartless and emotionless.

Of course Murong Jinghe couldn't see what made Muye Luomei attracted to Mei Lin, but he kept her in his courtyard and kept her by his side for two consecutive nights. When she fell asleep, his fingers were still pressed against her eyebrows, as if he was suddenly obsessed with her.

During the day, Mei Lin found an opportunity to look in the mirror, and then she realized that she had a cinnabar-colored flat mole as big as a grain of rice between her eyebrows and her temples. She had never noticed it before, of course that's not the point. The point is, it's too childish for him to be so obsessed with a small mole.

Then, she noticed that his sleep was not good, and she had to struggle until he was exhausted every night before falling asleep. At first, she thought he was interested in love affairs between men and women. It was not until she accidentally saw his calm eyes during a certain process that she noticed that he had never been involved in the relationship from beginning to end. It seemed that he did those things just to fall asleep. After falling asleep, even a slight change in breathing rate can easily wake him up.

Mei Lin suddenly felt that this man was very pitiful.

She used to do this often, just because maybe once she was careless, she might never wake up again. Since she lost her martial arts skills, she suddenly no longer had such worries and was finally able to sleep peacefully until dawn. Murong Jinghe looked bright and indulgent on the surface, but he didn't expect that he was so cautious in private, even worse than a commoner.

Of course, this kind of sympathy is only for a moment, Mei Lin will not forget that her life is still in the hands of others. It can be seen that Muye Luomei has doubts about her. This is the risk she must take when she chooses to return to Murong Jinghe in the mountains and forests. But she had to come back. Even if the antidote she got worked slowly, it was still an antidote. Without an antidote, she would die an ugly death. Countless seniors had proven this to her.

Looking at the corner of the brightly lit room, Mei Lin thought about the temptation she might face the next day, and suddenly felt that she was really not lucky. Obviously they were brought back by him at the same time, why didn't A'Dai have so much trouble as her?

Isn't it possible to be too obedient? She was confused in her heart, but her body lying on her side did not dare to move.

The man's chest was pressed against her back, and his breathing was steady and long. He must have been fast asleep. Some rough fingertips pressed persistently on the corners of her eyebrows. Because of this posture, nearly half of her face was covered by his warm palms. It's not very comfortable, but it's not unbearable either. It was just that the candlelight that stayed on all night made her uncomfortable and unable to fall asleep.

She can't turn off the lights, sleep face to face with him, lie behind him, turn over. The man has many quirks, so many that sleeping with him is undoubtedly a torture. It also proves that men are very wary.

After understanding this, Mei Lin had to admit how naive her idea of ​​mixing the antidote here was.

The next morning, when Murong Jinghe and Mei Lin arrived at the place agreed with Muye Luomei, they saw the chilling scene of the flag hunting armored Senhan.

Murong Jinghe raised his eyebrows, tightened his arms around the waist of the woman in his arms, rested his chin on her shoulder, and said to himself in a weird voice; "What kind of trick are you trying to do?"

He had different interests with his doubts, and a strong ominous feeling surged in Mei Lin's heart. She really wanted to run away like this, instead of just letting the horse's hooves slowly watch them getting closer and closer to the soldiers who were practicing.

Muye Luomei was wearing jet-black soft armor and a light blue war robe, riding on horseback, followed by an entourage holding a silver war armor. Farther away, the unexpected figure Murong Xuanlie appeared here, while his attendants were tightening the ties of his shirt, and he waved to their side with a smile as a greeting.

"Today I'll let Luomei see if the war king who was once so powerful among the barbarians is still as graceful as ever." Coming closer, Muye Luomei said calmly, signaling her servants to bring the armor to Murong Jinghe's horse. Although her posture was cold, arrogant and indifferent, the expectation in her eyes was difficult to conceal.

Unexpectedly, Murong Jinghe didn't even look at the armor, pulled the reins, bypassed the two of them and continued forward.

"The past is over. Now that I have my beautiful lady in my arms, with fine wine and golden bottles, it is not as happy as the days when I was waiting for death. General Mei will never let me relive the old dream." This was the first time that Mei Lin heard him use such distant words. Talking to Muye Luomei in a tone of voice, she was a little surprised.

She never expected that he who seemed to be drained by wine and sex, would actually gallop on the battlefield and give orders to the three armies.

Apparently Muye Luomei had never been humiliated like this before. She stood there with her face turning red and white. After a while, she turned around and chased after him. She said angrily, "Jinghe, are you going to stay depressed and degenerate like this?"

Murong Jinghe's body slightly stiffened, he turned around and saw her face filled with sadness. He couldn't help but show a careless smile, hooked his arm around Mei Lin's neck, and took a bite of her fair face with nostalgic eyes and he sighed, "You haven't been called by this name for a long time. Since you want it, then I will wear it. If my father will punish me, I will have to say to him that I am henpecked."

If it weren't for the pain and numbness of her face being bitten, plus her identity, Mei Lin might just laugh out loud.

"If you want to wear it, wear it quickly. Why saying all these nonsense." Muye Luomei said angrily, but she was not angry because she was taken advantage of verbally. She was obviously in a good mood because of his compromise.

"Jinghe doesn't need to worry about father, General Mei has already asked for instructions." Murong Xuanlie had already put on his battle robe and walked over while adjusting the sword on his waist.

Murong Jinghe had no choice but to jump off the horse with Mei Lin in his arms, and let Mei Lin see the armour first before he asked; "Why is the eldest brother here too?"

Murong Xuanlie smiled and personally stepped forward to take the armour from the waiter's hand. Shaking out the armour, she helped him put it on, and said with a smile; "General Mei is going to play a very interesting game, how can I miss it, brother."

The game, Mei Lin who had been quietly staying aside and trying to minimize her presence, heard this. These two words made her shudder, and she felt that her role in this game was indispensable.

Murong Jinghe looked at her and said in displeased; "What are you doing there stupidly, why don't you come over here and change my clothes!"

Murong Xuanlie still smiled lightly, stepped away slightly, and gave up his position.

"Without His Majesty's advice, how could His Majesty agree to hand over all the prisoners of war to the ministers?" Muye Luomei said.

Following her words, Mei Lin noticed that in addition to the neatly dressed soldiers, there was another group of people in ragged clothes and panic-looking expressions. Their hands and feet were tied together and they were circled in the open space. It was so densely packed that there always seemed to be three or four hundred people.

Murong Jinghe glanced over there, frowned and asked, "What kind of game is this that deserves your compliments?" The sourness in his words made it known that he was in a bad mood. Only Mei Lin, who replaced Murong Jinghe in tying his belt, noticed that there was no emotion in the half-downcast eyes.

Seeing that he was almost fully dressed, Muye Luomei couldn't help but look at him carefully, trying to find any trace of his past in his military uniform. However, Murong Jinghe was in low spirits and looked bad. The shining silver armor concealed his handsomeness, making him look even more mediocre and insignificant.

There was deep disappointment in her beautiful eyes. She turned away and said calmly; "Rather than keep prisoners of war to waste food, it is better to use them to train the army." After saying this, she could not hold back the resentment in her heart and reproached; "Drinking and sex have worn away your ambition!"

After saying this, she whipped the horse's buttocks as if to vent her anger, and swept it towards the neatly arranged ranks of soldiers like the wind.

Murong Xuanlie shook his head, "General Mei is so fierce. If you want to embrace this beauty, Jing you must work harder." After saying this, he walked over there leisurely.

Murong Jinghe raised his head and squinted at the woman who was lecturing the soldiers. The morning sun shone across the green mountain forest on her body, making her so dazzling that her whole body was glowing.

He smiled self-deprecatingly, suddenly hugged Mei Lin, who was still standing in front of him, and kissed her hard on the lips, with an aggrieved look on his face; "I am despised, what should I do, what should I do." He buried his head as he spoke. He rubbed and arched her neck, taking full advantage.

Mei Lin had to work hard to stand firm, knowing that he didn't need her own response, so she looked over his shoulder in silence at the woods not far away in a daze.