sunset fever

A letter from Chaojian, a close relative has died

I heard that the rain fell late and my wife did not return

-

The weather was still not cool, and it was even hotter than in previous years. Xiao Tanqing was wearing a lotus root shirt and a light gray dress. She entered through the main entrance of Yan Mansion, and closed the door again to block out the deep yellow sunlight in the alleyway.

It seems that there is only one endless summer left in Fushan Prefecture.

In the courtyard, there are cold water flowers planted in black pottery jars with fruit hanging. It is getting dark but not yet dark, which is the most magical and beautiful time of the day.

Xiao Tanqing was carrying a bamboo basket filled with vegetables, melons and mushrooms. She covered the basket with a light blue silk handkerchief, stretched out her hand and pushed the door of the main room; she called softly, "Second Young Master."

There was only a tangy smell of alcohol coming out of the room, Xiao Tanqing entered the door and said, "Second Young Master, I'll tidy up this place."

Yan You was facing upwards, at this moment, sleeping in a pile of scattered medical books, wearing a dark crimson thin robe and a pair of white silk underpants, he drank wine, and there were wine jars rolling down everywhere.

Light slipped a few inches from the door and fell on the dark floor of the house.

"I've been studying with you for a while, we can reopen the Nanpu Hall in the future, and at that time, the young master may come back," Xiao Tanqing knelt down beside Yan Xiu's head, stroked his shoulder bones, and said again, "What happened to you today?"

The lamp was not turned on, so Yan You's whole face was buried in darkness, he could only see clearly the two eyes shining through the water, he gritted his teeth and said, "The magistrate sent a letter this morning."

"The magistrate..."

"A dozen or so days ago, my elder brother poisoned someone outside, and then fled to Reao, where he was captured and executed."

"Why kill?"

"I don't know."

"He won't..." Xiao Tanqing held Yan You's shoulders tightly with one hand, and both of them seemed to be frozen by the cold.

Xiao Tanqing's face wrinkled slightly, she raised her hand to cover her mouth and nose, and then sobbed.

Yan You still had half a jar of wine in his hand, he took another sip and sprinkled a few mouthfuls on his face, he coughed violently, and then said: "There is no hope, everything I encountered in half my life was a disaster, and now a relative is also Gone."

Xiao Tanqing crawled forward, and shook Yan You's hand very vigorously.

She said: "After we arrived in Fushan, we never provoked anyone. I don't believe that the young master wants to kill someone."

"Someone messed with him."

"He won't. If he wanted to seek revenge, he must have gone to learn martial arts earlier. This time he walked with others, and he probably encountered some unavoidable circumstances."

Xiao Tanqing got up, she didn't take away the basket containing things, but just stood in front of the yard without saying a word.

It's late autumn in Fushan, and the night wind is cold through the skin and penetrates into the cracks in the bones.

The sky was getting dark, Yan You and Xiao Tanqing were sitting on the steps in front of the house, Yan You was drinking, while Xiao Tanqing buried her face and wept, her thin shoulders were trembling, and one hand rubbed the cloth on her chest. Wrinkled.

Yan You said, "I'm going to provoke Ao Chazheng about my elder brother."

"If you go, I'm really the only one left." Xiao Tanqing replied to him.

"Go and cook a bowl of soup for me..." Before Yan You finished speaking, he suddenly vomited with his hands in his hands. He drank too much and didn't eat anything.

Xiao Tanqing obeyed and left. She went back to the kitchen, lit the candle lamp, and lit the fire under the stove. When the water in the pot boiled, she added another bowl of rice.

"Gongmi from Huatian, porridge is the best," Xiao Tanqing said to himself, "Don't drink soup, let's have porridge."

She then took out the crumpled letter pinned to her lapel from the magistrate, and looked at the flamboyant characters on it. Before she knew it, tears started to fall again. On the flames, it didn't move.

She suddenly cried again and wrinkled her nose, turning her face away, as if she was about to escape, but the sadness and pain gripped her tightly, so she was so helpless.

Xiao Tanqing had already thought of a way to kill herself. She bought the poison on the black market and hid it in an old jar in the kitchen. She had thought about Yan Xiu's accident, so she naturally wanted to follow him.

The porridge in the pot was not yet cooked, the mist buried her, Xiao Tanqing felt hot, she went outside and sat on the threshold to rest, the small yard was still as tidy as usual, she mistakenly thought that Yan Xiu was still at home at this time.

Xiao Tanqing took a bowl of water from the bucket and put it by the door. Trembling, she opened the thick paper bag, leaned over to smell the white, soft poison, and then licked it.

Xiao Tanqing swallowed the medicine powder and water, she lowered her head, and saw Yan You striding over.He reached out and snatched the bowl of water, pinched Xiao Tanqing's neck again, and fed the water into her mouth. Xiao Tanqing struggled free, half of the whites of her eyes rolled out from the choking.

Yan You said: "Are you going to die? I'll just help you, why bother."

"No," Xiao Tanqing spit out half of her saliva suddenly, and looked up at Yan You. Her entire face and chest were soaked, as were her eyes and chin. Regret seemed to be a split-second decision, or maybe it was a decision. Inevitably, she said, "I have to listen to the young master and take good care of you."

Yan You was born handsome and romantic, but at this moment he is like a slumped old tree. His tears slipped from his eyes and fell on the tip of Xiao Tanqing's nose. Xiao Tanqing opened his eyes wide and looked at him, calling weakly again: Young master, drink porridge."

Qu Yao read some Buddhist scriptures all day long, and the next day she accompanied Chen Bizhen, who came to Huaiqing Palace, for dinner. She washed and washed diligently, so the hair on her cheeks was always clean and soft. A room lights up.

Princess Jinglan, who came to play, left after noon. There were many kinds of dishes in the evening. Qu Yao only drank the sweet porridge in a shallow bowl, and asked her in the room: "Your Highness, why don't you eat some fried mutton liver? How often do you eat?" Favorite."

"I've got a stuffy stomach."

"My servant, please send someone to invite Master Yan to come."

"No need," Qu Yao stood up, she hurried to the bedroom and said, "Put on some thick clothes for me, I have to go out for a while."

Yishi immediately complied, without asking any further questions, she sent away all the maids inside, Qu Yao wore a blue silk fox velvet cloak, and naturally left alone, carrying a lantern, she ran to the maple forest along the path .

Winter is indeed coming, Qu Yao stood in front of the room, shivering a little from the cold.Seeing that the door opened, a servant with his head bowed came out and went to the backyard with a lantern.

There are fallen red leaves all over the ground.

There was a dark yellow and reddish candlelight in the room, and there were whispers from someone, some men and some women, but the thin voice was gasping for breath, calling: "My lord...slow down, lord..."

Qu Yao bumped into Chen Zhangqin's affair with a maid.

After a while, Chen Zhangqin opened the door and came out. He was wearing red silk pajamas, and the maid behind him, with loose hair and obscene pants, was standing at the table pouring tea; He put on his coat and left.

"Queen, you've been neglected." Chen Zhangqin was smiling, and welcomed Qu Yao in. The smell there was really unpleasant, but Qu Yao was cold and couldn't care less. She warmed her hands in front of the dying brazier.

Said: "My lord is very interested."

"You should have knocked on the door earlier. I just sent her away. I left you cold outside. Your Majesty will feel sorry for you."

Qu Yao stood up straight, holding hot tea, said: "Of course you can see that I don't want to stay, why bother to say mocking words."

"Calm your anger." Chen Zhangqin immediately bowed to Qu Yao, with a sullen face, he went inside to put on his clothes again.

Qu Yao asked him: "Where is your princess?"

"Whoever is willing to sleep on this bed is my princess."

He was wearing a white silk cloak embroidered with dark red stitches, his hair was pulled freely, and the rest was hanging on his forehead and shoulders. He said: "I'm going to the city tonight, you want to stay or stay with me?" go together?"

"I can't leave Chongcheng."

"Why?"

"The rules are inaccurate, and I can't change them." Xu laughed at himself, while Qu Yao said compromised and struggling words.

Chen Zhangqin suddenly smiled lightly, he stretched out his hand to wrap around Qu Yao's slender waist, causing her to exclaim in surprise, "Then this queen, it doesn't matter if you don't do it."

Qu Yao glared at him, but saw that the man looked pitiful even when he was silent, she sighed: "It's good that you are a woman."

"how?"

"Sister with me."

Qu Yao hadn't smiled like this for a long time, today she really wanted to believe that Chen Zhangqin was a fox, she thought that she was just like the late emperor, who was fooled by the goblin.

The city is often noisy, and it is still the same at night. It is cold, but the lights hanging under the eaves of the street are bright.

Yan Xiu walked with Shan Yin, when he turned around, he saw a dim sum shop with the name "Shang Shan" on the signboard, Shan Yin said: "Sir, do you want to eat dim sum from your hometown?"

"I'm going somewhere else, another day." Yan Xiu replied to him, and then turned his head slightly, even though the hidden guards were wearing civilian clothes, Yan Xiu recognized them all at a glance.

Arriving in front of a red building with lights on, Yan Xiu stopped, and saw many well-dressed princes and dignitaries gathered around him, and they all went to the building, and there were some accompanying guards beside him, crowded Unsteady.

"When I am serving elsewhere, the master often comes here." Shan Yin said.

Yan Xiu took a few steps forward, then turned around to look, and said, "You wait outside, I'll go and have a look."

"Yes."

Shan Yin waited there, seeing the dark guards sitting down at a nearby tea stall, looking at each other indifferently, and drinking and eating at ease.

Zexiangyuan is the most unrestrained spring building in Yangjing. There are enchanting and beautiful women, and there are sometimes hot singing and dancing.The fragrance in the room is thick and dense, like a woman's soft hand, trying to entangle people's souls.

"My lord, let's go to the dance, Xikong's dance."

That fragrant and hot body fell into Yan Xiu's arms, the woman's cheeks were pink, she called out again: "My lord."

"Are you in the upstairs room?" Yan Xiu took the wine cup from her hand and stuck it to ask.

The woman felt that a handsome and anxious nobleman was coming, so she rubbed her red mouth to repair the loose hair on her chest. She looked up and said, "This floor is only two steps away."

Yan Xiu followed her into the room, it was tidy and smelled a different fragrance from the outside hall, Yan Xiu went to the wall and opened the window when he entered the room.

To the outside is a dark and unlit alleyway. The woman who took off her coat behind her stepped forward and dissuaded: "Don't open it, there are strange things in the alley."

Yan Xiu didn't say a word, turned over and went out of the window. He stepped on the uneven sandy road under his feet, and ran to the distance cautiously. He could still hear the woman's shrill voice to persuade her to stay behind.

Yangjing is no longer cold, it seems that near Fushan, people are only comfortable and warm.

Yan Xiu had prepared some silver on his body earlier, and he had also read the direction of the route back to Fushan. He had sent someone to buy a fast horse and tied it nearby. He didn't bring any clothes, and he didn't even bring a half-worn compass that had been used for several years. Did not bring.

Only the soaked embroidered pouch was left hanging on Yan Xiu's waist.

There were noisy hawking and haggling on the street, and Yangjing was remembered by Yan Xiu. He wore blue, so he was not conspicuous at night. When passing by the side of the road, Yan Xiu caught a glimpse of a familiar figure.

The queen was not a queen at all this time, she held up a pair of impermanent faces, bent over with a smile, and behind her was the handsome prince in white and red.

Only then did Yan Xiu let himself think of Chen Bizhen, he looked at the two passing by from a distance, as if he was watching the last scene in Yangjing that belonged to him alone, he walked blankly, Qu Yao and Chen Zhangqin also did the same Didn't notice him.

Yan Xiu took two wrapped beads from his sleeve, red, as red as new blood, and glowing in the night.

He turned around and knelt down to greet a blind old man who sold toys and old books, and then put a pair of chicken blood pearls into the blackened silver tray in front of the stall.

[This round is not finished]