Between the vast sea of ​​clouds

I didn't hear the birdsong in the morning, but I heard crisp bells coming from the green shade, and then the sunlight came in along the window eaves, and it only stopped at the side of the flower cabinet, and refused to move forward any more.Since then, although the room is bright and majestic, it is not hot and dry. The wind blows into the window from time to time, mixed with the smell of salty sea water.

Standing by the stairs, Qingping saw that the shopkeeper was instructing people to wash the ground with clean water. The water flowed out along the wide aisle beside the door. After a while, the ground was almost dry, and the courtyard became refreshed again. Qingping walked down. .The shopkeeper greeted her when he saw her, and said, "How is your rest? It's not hot outside today, and it's very windy. You can go for a walk, but beware of the rain."

Qingping thanked her after answering, walked out of the inn slowly, walked out from a forest, and stopped by a river, when a boatman came, she got on the boat directly, paid a few copper coins and got off the boat in another river , Walk up the steps, and you will see a very lively long street.Qingping had breakfast at a store first, and then started shopping on the street.

Minzhou really lived up to its reputation. There are many kinds of goods on this street, and the sound of hawking can be heard all the time. Qingping walked all the way down, and there are many shops, exotic goods, and a dazzling array of things that have never been seen before.This long street is in the shape of a ring, surrounded by layers, but it is divided into roads so that cars and horses can enter.The center of the ring is the place where the Minzhou Chamber of Commerce is located. The imperial court has set up Zhanbo Division here to facilitate its jurisdiction. It has been more than [-] years.

It was noon when Qingping only walked half way around, so he went to a teahouse for lunch.She sat by the window on the third floor as usual, and she could see a piece of blue in the distance, where the sea and the sky met, and occasionally birds flew by.

Today is a bit different, the teahouse is very quiet, even the waiter who just served food has disappeared, Qingping carelessly fiddled with the tea leaves, a figure landed on the table, she raised her head slightly, and the man sat in front of her self-consciously. Next, I squeezed a red fruit from the fruit plate to play with.

Qing Ping nodded and said, "Young Master Shao."

Minzhou has an open atmosphere, and it is not uncommon for many men to be business owners.Their costumes are also very similar to those of Zhongzhou, with their wrists exposed and their skirts not reaching their feet; when men go out, they don’t wear veils and caps, and they don’t take sedan chairs, and they often see young masters sitting on long bamboo chairs, passing through the streets of the busy city without any shelter. , for Fujian people, this is the norm.

Shao Ming was dressed gorgeously, wearing a gem-studded Huakai on his head, which was extremely dazzling in the sun, and he wore rings of various jewels on his hands, knocking on the table one by one.Compared with him, Qingping seemed extraordinarily casual, with no particularity in his attire, Shao Ming raised his eyes and said: "My sister has caused some trouble for you in Chang'an, I have already told her about it."

Thinking of Shao Cong's appearance, Qing Ping felt a little funny, and said, "It's not really a trouble."

Shao Ming replied: "She is a trouble in itself, if there were no troubles at home, I would not have made such a bad plan to send her to Chang'an with a caravan going north."

"If you were talking about the marriage letter," Qingping said after taking a sip of tea, "it doesn't matter to me."

Shao Ming looked at her thoughtfully and said, "You have changed a lot."

The corner of Qingping's mouth twitched: "Just as the world changes, people will always change."

The two were speechless for a moment, each had their own thoughts, and after a while Shao Ming said: "There is such a big commotion in Chenzhou, everyone thinks that you are in Zhaoye and will not leave lightly. But you came to Minzhou, What the hell is this for?"

As if knowing what he hadn't said, Qingping made a gesture and said: "The imperial court doesn't have the strength to take action against Minzhou, and Chenzhou alone will take a lot of time, so you don't have to worry. The Shao family is an imperial merchant , if he hadn't made a big mistake, the imperial court would not have taken back his name."

Shao Wei heaved a sigh of relief, put down the vermilion fruit in his hand and threw it into the plate, and said, "You won't come here for nothing, please tell me."

"I do have one thing. Because the letter might be intercepted, I want to take this opportunity to come to Chenzhou to ask you face to face." Qingping pushed the teacup away, looked at him and said lightly: "I was in Yunzhou back then. , you advised me to leave Yunzhou as soon as possible. At that time, you seemed to know something. It didn’t take long for the Shao’s caravan to sell their property at a low price and leave Yunzhou one after another. I want to ask you, is it what happened in Yunzhou later? , you already know it.”

Shao Ming's face remained unchanged, but his heart was in a trance.He still remembered seeing her behind the stage that day, and it was still fresh after so many years. In the dim firelight, she lowered her eyebrows and looked down, with an indescribable tenderness. He twirled the ring on his thumb and said in a low voice : "Do you believe in ghosts and gods in this world? When I was young, I used to paint on a painting..."

He stopped awkwardly, it seemed extremely difficult to speak, Qing Ping asked with a thought, "Have you ever seen... a person similar to me in a painting?"

Shao Ming was startled, his brows were tangled and he said: "How do you know?"

Qingping slowly said: "This matter has nothing to do with ghosts and gods, nor is it caused by God's will. The so-called destiny, if you believe it, there will be, if you don't believe it, there will be no."

Shao Ming held a bead in his hand, looked at her with a complicated expression, and said, "I don't believe in fate, nor do I believe in any gods. It's because of the weirdness in that painting. Compared with the appearance of ordinary people, you can always find one or two. same place."

Qingping asked back: "But I look very similar, right?"

Shao Ming nodded, Qingping turned his head to look out of the window, and said with a light smile, "If I really have this kind of ability, it's no problem to call the wind and rain, do you think I look like me?" She stretched out her hand and waved it, the outside is still sunny Sunny, nothing changes.

Withdrawing his hand, Qingping said with a calm expression: "Is this painting from the Xie family? I find it strange that your Shao family is far away in Fujian Province, how can you have a relationship with the Xie family in Hezhou?"

Shao Ming's eyes flickered, he was quite vigilant, and he slowed down a lot, saying: "The Shao family is a businessman, and their business spreads all over the world. It is not unusual to meet people from other states, and we can also catch up with people in Yunzhou, which is farther away. A way to make money, let alone Hezhou?"

"Really?" Hearing the deep defense in his words, Qing Ping didn't think it was strange, but said: "Then I would like to ask, what exactly does this Bahuang do?"

There was a kind of coldness in her eyes, and the movement of raising her hand was extremely decisive. Shao Ming gasped for breath, and suddenly realized that he had just said something wrong, avoiding her gaze and whispered: "I don't know."

After a long silence, Qingping said, "You don't need to say anything, but sooner or later the truth will come to light. How will the Shao family deal with themselves then?"

Shao Ming looked at her familiar but indifferent face, and the resentment that had been suppressed for a long time boiled up again, he suddenly laughed lowly, looked at Qingping mockingly and said: "If I really say it, would you dare to listen? "

A man came upstairs to refill the tea, the conversation between the two was temporarily interrupted, Shao Ming took a deep breath, and couldn't help stroking the string of beads on his wrist. The string of beads was extremely old, probably some kind of ancient object, and it was completely different from the precious ring in his hand. The opposite contrast.When the guy left, Qing Ping turned up his palms, which meant for his own convenience, and now, no matter how bizarre things were, she probably wouldn't be too surprised.

Shao Ming's expression softened a little, and he looked at her strangely and said: "When I was in Yunzhou, I did get some news that the imperial court was going to use troops against Xi Rong, and since there was a war, merchants should avoid it, Lord Li should understand this truth. "

Mr. Li said these three words with a taste of sarcasm. Qingping didn't take it seriously. He lowered his head and lifted the lid of the cup, and gently blew away the heat: "The imperial court wants to use troops. How can the Yunzhou government do this? I don't know."

Shao Ming said coldly: "This is a matter of the government, how can I wait for the little people to know?"

Qingping changed the topic: "Although Xiaomin is small, he can see the opportunity first; I'm afraid even you yourself don't believe what Young Master said."

Shao Ming squeezed a bead heavily, and his eyes gradually closed: "I can say some things, but adults may not be able to listen to them. I am deceiving myself and others. But you have to muddle along. Don't you understand that adults have been in the officialdom for many years?"

Qing Ping paused in his hands, and said: "Dare to ask my lord, what are these eight wildernesses?"

Shao Ming suddenly opened his eyes, his eyes were sharp, his face suddenly relaxed, and he said with a smile: "It turns out that my lord came to question the Shao family."

Qingping asked: "What is the crime?"

Shao Ming said: "If you want to commit a crime, there is no reason to worry about it."

"Master Zhong Yuan, servant of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, is currently investigating the crime of collaborating with the Xie family in Hezhou. After several months of secret searches, he can naturally find out people who have frequent contacts with the Xie family." Qingping wiped his hands with a damp cloth and said: "The Shao family is impressively case, there is no need to say too much about prevarication, my lord."

The sky outside the window suddenly turned cloudy, and the wind became stronger and surged in, but after a while, heavy raindrops fell, and the heavy rain fell suddenly among lightning and thunder.Dense water flows down the tile eaves, like a crystal curtain hanging down, instantly the world is enveloped in misty rain, and the distance and distance are all blurred.The wind carried water vapor into the window, and the clothes of the two were getting wet, but no one reached out to close the window, allowing the rain to intrude.Amidst the rolling thunder, snow-white lightning flashed across, instantly illuminating each other's faces, revealing the suspicion and fear in their eyes, and clearly distinguishing their respective positions.

After the thunder had passed, Shao Ming said: "The Xie family will not fall because of this, there is no need to ask more questions, Sir, get out as soon as possible, so as not to end up in the mud."

Seeing that he still refused to tell, Qing Ping felt a little disappointed. The information Yuan Sui collected about Ba Huang was too little. She intuitively felt that those were just a corner of this giant. Could it be true that Ba Huang could have such a powerful position? It's so simple, relying on the Xie family's secret communication with the golden tent far away in the grassland, can they achieve today's power? Qingping doesn't believe it at all.After a moment of silence, she asked, "Why?"

Shao Ming lowered his head to look at the rain-stained hands, and replied: "I am no different from you, I am in a situation where I can't help myself, now that you have asked so many questions, you just want to know who the Patriarch of Bahuang is, Right?"

Qingping clenched her hands tightly, with a premonition in her heart, she even hoped that Shao Ming would stop talking, but she would rather face the embarrassing truth directly than fall into the maze of self-deception forever.

The rain came and went quickly, Shao Ming turned his head to look at the sky that was about to clear up, the scene when the clouds broke through the sky, made him feel as if he was in a late waking dream, vanishing into thin air in the absurdity, He turned his head to look at Qingping and said, "The Patriarch of Bahuang is His Majesty today."

He thought he would see Qingping's frightened or surprised face, but he didn't expect her to lean on the back of the chair with relief, and murmured with expected disappointment: "It really is so..."