Half in the river wind, half in the clouds

Jiang Feng's illness this time was severe, with old poisons and new injuries breaking out at the same time. He was confused every day due to fever, and was tortured by various pains when he was awake for a few hours. He really couldn't live or die.

It was not until Princess Taiping sent her personal imperial physician to serve her that she gradually got better after taking several prescriptions of medicine. By the time she was finally able to get out of bed and walk, it was already the twelfth lunar month.

When she was bedridden, she was already disappointed that Shen Guxing did not come to visit her. However, when she heard the news that Shen Guxing had quickly engaged to the Princess of Ji'an, her heart still ached for a while.

You Ran comforted her: "Girl, if you feel bad, just cry."

Jiang Feng was speechless for a long time. The sky outside was very suitable for the scene. It was overcast and snowing. Jiang Feng held the hand warmer and murmured, "I shouldn't have expected anything from a man like him. It's really uncomfortable to have this entanglement for nothing."

If she had refused him again cruelly in the warm carriage that afternoon, would she not have been so sad?

You Ran was indignant, "I just don't understand, Mr. Shen... Shen Guxing obviously likes me so much, even the eldest son was moved by him, how could he change so suddenly!"

You Ran didn’t know, and neither did the whole family. Only Jiang Feng knew it clearly. Perhaps he came here for the imperial seal.

Jiang Feng smiled helplessly: "Silly girl, what's so hard about this? Some of those who got married got divorced or even divorced their wives and remarried. We were just a couple. They met someone with better conditions and prettier looks, and they were in love with each other, so they naturally got together."

You Ran felt sad. She used to take the love between Jiang Shen as an example, but now in this situation, she didn't dare to believe in love anymore.

"Girl, don't you blame him?"

Jiang Feng turned his eyes away from the window, his face expressionless, as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him: "I told you you were stupid, and you said even more stupid things. Why should I blame him? If I blame him, I would be resentful. But what's the use of resentment! They will still live happily together, and will not stop their happy marriage just because of my resentment and blame. At that time, I will be the only one who cannot have peace, which is the worst thing. It would be better to forget about him completely and live happily and quietly in the future, isn't it?"

I seem to understand but not quite. If love, hate, anger and infatuation were all up to people, how could there be so many infatuated men and resentful women in the world?

Before she could ask, she heard a man's voice saying, "My little sister is free and easy in life. Such a carefree and clear mind is hard to find in the world. Shen Guxing, that kid, traded the casket for the pearl. He is also a foolish man with no luck."

It was Guan Shanyun coming on the snow.

That night, Guan Shanyun rode his horse all the way and finally arrived in Chang'an. However, when he passed Fengxi Tower, he saw Li Longye coming out in a rage.

Although they had met once before, they did not greet each other hastily. But when they were about to leave, they saw Jiang Feng fainted inside.

At that time, her clothes were disheveled and covered with wounds. She knew someone was hugging her and thought it was Shen Guxing, so she struggled and said that she would forget him forever.

Judging from the situation today, what Ah Feng said that day was true. She must completely eliminate that person from her life.

Jiang Feng still feels guilty when facing Guan Shanyun.

He originally entrusted her with a beautiful sweetheart, but she was unable to bear the responsibility and ended up cuckolding him.

Chu Yan married Li Longye in less than half a month after Jiang Fei. Although the time was short and the ceremony was not as grand as Jiang Fei's, it was said that the King of Zhongshan demoted a concubine's rank for her in the name of jealousy, so Chu Yan was able to enter the palace as a concubine.

King Zhongshan was worried that Chu Yan's identity as an orphan would be criticized, so he asked Old Lady Jiang to recognize Chu Yan as his granddaughter.

This makes it even more obvious that the Jiang family was an accomplice of Chu Yan in abandoning Guan Shanyun.

Jiang Feng also sincerely apologized to Guan Shanyun. Guan Shanyun felt sorry for her because she was also cheated on, and could not bear to blame her. He just stroked her head and comforted her by saying, "Everyone has their own aspirations," "It has nothing to do with you," and "With your support, I am not the worst off," and so on.

Jiang Feng was indeed more miserable. Everything changed overnight: her fiancé ran away, her best friend stabbed her in the back, and she went from being the object of "envy, jealousy and hatred" in the boudoir to being the laughing stock of the whole city of Chang'an.

During the time when Jiang Feng was seriously ill, Mrs. Shen visited her many times and rushed to adopt her as her adopted daughter. She made up a lot of high-sounding words to shield the sensational little romance between Shen and Jiang, which was short-lived like a summer flower and faded like a fallen leaf. After all, Shen Guxing was going to marry the county lady easily, and Jiang Feng also had to get married, right?

However, these superficial articles are just to deceive fools. Anyone who is smart enough will know that Jiang Feng was dumped.

Chu Yan, on the other hand, was even more chilling. Jiang Feng didn't know whether Li Longye's discovery of the imperial seal had anything to do with her, but she followed Li Longye without saying a word, putting her in an awkward situation, and until now she hadn't even said "I'm sorry".

When she was ill and confused, I vaguely heard her arguing with Guan Shanyun in front of her bed. She still used the tone of "I'm the most pitiful", which was really disgusting.

In short, after this incident, any family with a little status would no longer think of marrying Jiang Feng.

Since Jiang Feng traveled through time six years ago, her first path to becoming independent and self-reliant has been quietly blocked due to her own limitations and Yuan Ying's previous experience.

Now she has reached a dead end in the road of getting married.

There is only one person in the world who has traveled through time and space to a place like Jiang Feng.

"What are your plans next?" Guan Shanyun asked.

"Just live a good life. You won't be stupid enough to commit suicide for love." Jiang Feng smiled bitterly.

There was another silence. Jiang Feng looked down at the red coral bracelet on her wrist. The bright color made her eyes sore. She looked up and said to Guan Shanyun, "Brother, take me to the Salesian Church."

The Salesian Church was located in Guiyifang, Chang'an City, and was very remote, so the two of them rode on separate horses. Because it was snowing heavily, Guan Shanyun did not dare to let Jiang Feng ride too fast, so it took them more than half an hour to arrive.

Even in a prosperous and powerful Tang Dynasty, there were still people at the bottom of society struggling on the line between life and death. Jiang Feng was shocked by the scene in the Charity Church. Those children were crowded in a dilapidated house, and there was no heating in the house in the cold winter. They huddled together, half-dressed, with runny noses, and chilblains on their hands, some of which had already ulcerated.

She looked at Guan Shanyun in astonishment, totally unprepared for such a tragic scene. When she was in college, she went to the welfare home to volunteer once a month. The children there had a clean environment, no worries about food and clothing, older children could attend classes, younger children had toys, and infants had special nannies, and diapers and milk powder were all available.

Jiang Feng looked at the greasy-faced women and the frail-faced male guards at the Charity Church and felt both angry and helpless. She had originally planned to donate all the items given by Shen Guxing, but now she felt that if she did so, it would be like throwing meat at a dog, and these parasites would definitely pocket the money.

Guan Shanyun also noticed her hesitation, so he whispered a few words in her ear. Without saying anything, the two of them turned around and galloped away. They found the nearest pawnshop, and Guan Shanyun threw the bag to the shopkeeper. The shrewd man opened it and found a bunch of small things. Although they were exquisitely made, they were all ordinary materials. He barely exchanged them for about 10 taels of silver. Jiang Feng took off the red coral bracelet without hesitation, and this time the shopkeeper's eyes lit up. Jiang Feng thought about it, then took off a pearl hairpin and two earrings on his head and handed them over. Then he turned around and smiled at Guan Shanyun. Guan Shanyun's heart was moved, and he said, "I only have this piece of jade on me. It is a relic of my deceased mother. I can't pawn it."

He thought for a moment and said, "But don't worry, I can pay you directly."

Jiang Feng was satisfied.

After the two came out of the pawnshop, they rushed to the West Market with their heavy bags of money. They bought quilts, cotton-padded clothes, cotton shoes, charcoal, frostbite medicine and food. Jiang Feng wanted to buy the best quality products, but Guan Shanyun stopped him and bought only inferior goods. The charcoal was the lowest quality black charcoal; the cotton-padded clothes and quilts were second-hand cotton mixed with straw; the rice was mixed with fine sand... Jiang Feng was very angry, pouting his lips and puffing his cheeks in anger, but Guan Shanyun ignored him.

When the Salesian Church staff saw the two men coming back with two large carts of supplies, they came to help, thinking that they could make some money. But when they opened the clothes, they were dumbfounded. Even they disdained to use these things. Not only were the cotton clothes made of poor quality, but they were also dark in color. They couldn't bear to let their children wear such inferior goods.

Jiang Feng gave Guan Shanyun a five-star rating. If she had bought a good one, how could these poor children have gotten it? She couldn't remember which economist had said a point that was criticized by netizens: "In order to protect the rights of the poor, low-rent housing should not be equipped with independent toilets." Don't the poor deserve dignity and a comfortable living environment?

Bloody facts have proved that in an environment of lack of supervision, only the rationing of the grassroots people, which is disdained by the vested interests, can truly benefit those in need.

At that moment, she ignored the maids and personally changed the children's bedding and clothes with Guan Shanyun, and then watched the kitchen cook a full pot of pork. Seeing the children wolfing down the food, Jiang Feng felt a little bitter in his heart.

It is true that the world's sorrows and joys are not connected. When you are hungry, you will definitely not have those love worries.

Don’t be angry, don’t be greedy, and you will be free!

It was getting dark, the snow was falling heavier, and the north wind was blowing. Guan Shanyun was worried about Jiang Feng riding alone, so he carried Jiang Feng over like a chicken and rode together.

The next day, Jiang Feng didn't get up until 9:00 p.m. When You Ran helped him wash up, she saw that Jiang Feng's eyes were red and swollen like walnuts. She didn't ask anything, but just applied hot compresses and carefully put on makeup and powder. Jiang Feng didn't like to put on these powders, but today he obediently let You Ran put them on.

She had to endure the pitying looks of the whole family every day. Everyone felt sorry for her being abandoned and was cautious in everything they did, for fear of making her sad. Even Old Mrs. Jiang was a little gentler to her.

Only Guan Shanyun deserves to be ridiculed and scolded, and she actually enjoys it.

Guan Shanyun is an avant-garde non-marriageist who is unrestrained and plays with the world. His father is a pillar of the Liangzhou army, with a high status and rich family wealth. But Guan Shanyun neither studies nor joins the army, but indulges in mountains and rivers, and has fun with prostitutes. General Guan was in charge, and he used the methods of beating and closing the ancestral hall. But he had no choice but to teach him a lesson, and he would run away from home for a longer time. When he was sixteen, he ran away for three years because of a whip from General Guan. Before leaving home, his second brother Guan Shanfeng had not married yet. After returning, his two nephews were already able to make soy sauce. After that, General Guan no longer dared to be ruthless, but changed his strategy and began to find a marriage for him more intensively in an attempt to cage him. But Guan Shanyun made a cruel statement that if a girl married in, she would be a widow. He was determined to be in the mountains and rivers, and would never be fettered by marriage and women to travel far away.

Jiang Feng looked at Guan Shanyun who was drawing seriously, thought of the past, and suddenly felt pity for this playboy who was still single in his twenties.

Happy people are healed by their childhood throughout their lives, while unfortunate people spend their entire lives healing their childhood.

"What are you thinking about?" Guan Shanyun slapped Jiang Feng on the forehead. The girl came back to her senses, covered her forehead and grinned, "Brother, you have been traveling for more than a year. Where did you go this time? Why did you go to Chang'an?"

"Ezhou."

Ezhou. Uh, Hubei.

"Tell me more about it." Jiang Feng begged.

"Every time I think about telling you about my experiences on the way like doing homework, I want to come back a few months later. There is no other girl in Liangzhou as clingy as you. Not only do I have to learn about local customs and habits, but I even want to learn a few words of the dialect for you." Guan Shanyun complained as he gently pushed the drawings aside.

Jiang Feng didn't care about his chattering, he had already assumed the most comfortable posture, pretending to listen. Guan Shanyun had no choice but to slowly say: "I was originally staying in the Wu and Chu area this time, and then I met a friend, and we agreed to go to Xisai Mountain. It is located at the end of Wu and the end of Chu, on the bank of the Yangtze River, with mists crossing the autumn barrier and mountains blocking the torrent. Xisai Mountain connects to Taihu Lake in the north and Bugan Mountain in the south. It has beautiful scenery and steep terrain. Many battles were fought there in the past, and there are cliff carvings on the steep cliffs. I have to mention that the mandarin fish there is extremely delicious, but it's a pity that you can't go there in person to taste it..."

Although Guan Shanyun was not very good at studying, he was very interesting when telling stories. His voice was pleasant to listen to, and with the ups and downs in it, it seemed as if those scenes were witnessed in person.

When he teased the fisherman who forgot to go home and was scolded by his wife, it seemed as if he really saw the scene of the elderly couple laughing and scolding each other; when he described the boating on the river, when he found out that neither of them knew how to row in the middle of the river, the river wind seemed to see the boat spinning in the middle of the river...

Jiang Feng loved listening to it. Sometimes he listened quietly, sometimes he laughed out loud. Guan Shanyun became more and more excited as he talked, not noticing that the sun was setting.

Guan Shanyun had an illusion that the morning and evening along the way seemed to be stained with her shadow. Her figure was reflected in the river, her smile was on the moon, the breeze had the faint fragrance of a young girl, the wine on the journey was filled with her thoughts, and the heavy rain was her tears... What would it be like if she was with him on this journey?

While he was still daydreaming, Jiang Feng said listlessly, "Brother finally found a sweetheart, but she was snatched away by that playboy Li Longye."

Guan Shanyun pursed his lips and was about to speak, but he heard the girl tilt her head and say seriously: "I thought that big brother liked men, that's why he hasn't married for so many years, who..."

Before Jiang Feng could finish his words, Guan Shanyun slapped him on the head!

You like men, your whole family likes men!

Li Longye promised that he would never implicate the Jiang family because of the imperial seal, and he really kept his word.

Jiang Feng concluded that the Shouchun Palace must have known that the jade seal was in her hands, otherwise Shen Guxing would never have said that. And the Shouchun Prince had not come to the door yet, so he must have known that the jade seal had been given to Li Longye.

As for how the dispute over the imperial seal between Prince Shouchun and Li Longye was resolved, or whether they were a team, Jiang Feng didn't know, and she was too lazy to know.

Just a few days later, rumors spread about Longqingfang, where the fifth son of Prince Xiang lived. It was said that the Longqing Pond in Longqingfang was filled with mist and auspicious clouds, and that dragon energy was growing stronger day by day.

On the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian visited Longqing Lake. He set up a colorful tent by the lake and held a banquet for his ministers in the cold north wind. He also invited monks and Taoists to perform rituals. He also led white elephants around the lake for several weeks to trample on them.

The decorated boats and giant elephants circling the lake are certainly not for beauty or excitement, but a talisman formation. Li Xian is here to suppress the dragon energy here.

At the same time, Emperor Zhongzong wanted to make Li Dan the crown prince, but Li Dan resolutely declined. To show his determination not to covet the throne, Li Dan resigned from the positions of Grand Commandant and Minister of State Affairs. Emperor Zhongzong agreed "with difficulty", but still exiled all five brothers of Li Longye.

The officialdom was not peaceful either, with frequent promotions and changes, and the Jiang family was also affected. Jiang Zuo was fined half a year's salary for a trivial matter, and someone else took the position of mayor of the city that Jiang's father had obtained. Jiang Zuo was fine, and he was able to take it calmly, but Jiang's father sighed every day and kept urging Jiang's mother to go to Jiang Fei to inquire about the news.

To make matters worse, Jiang Zuo's future father-in-law, Zhang Shuo, the Minister of Works, was demoted and exiled outside the mountains!

While the Zhang family hasn't gotten into any trouble yet, the Jiang family is already in chaos. Old Mrs. Jiang even thinks of canceling the engagement. Jiang's mother doesn't agree, and Jiang Zuo disagrees. In the end, they both turn their attention to Jiang's father.

Jiang Feng stayed out of the matter and deeply felt the truth that "the dust of history is a mountain on everyone's head". If they knew that Li Longji would eventually return as a king and Zhang Shuo would be a famous prime minister shining during the Kaiyuan period, would they still be so panicked?

In the end, Jiang's father was still rational and was not led astray by Old Lady Jiang. After discussing with the Zhang family, they finally decided to move the wedding date forward to February of the following year, before Zhang Shuo took office.