Rui Hegui

The autumn night is cool, dark and moonless.

Zhao Liangyue came out of the Xuefang Courtyard, feeling the coldness desperately penetrating into his bones, everyone hurriedly boarded the carriage and left, Zhao Liangyue did not leave in a hurry, but put his hands into his sleeves, deliberately stopped at the gate of the courtyard .

But after waiting for a while, he found that no one came out from the courtyard, so he couldn't help frowning.

The teacher and Xiao Rong tried every means to lure him to Beijing, and today's invitation must not be as simple as listening to a play.

Could it be that all the words are in the play, on and off the stage?

Zhao Liangyue thought about it for a while, then looked back at the gate of the courtyard, planning to go back first.

All of a sudden, there was a sound of thunder, and the torrential rain poured down. All the chill accumulated in the air was forced to the eaves. Zhao Liangyue couldn't help but retreated to the inside, shivering.

It's really bad weather, and it doesn't look like it will be able to stop for a while. It will take a quarter of an hour for Youbai to come and pick him up. I don't know if he can go back before the curfew.

"My lord, take this umbrella."

A hoarse and deep voice came, as if a blunt knife was cutting something. It was creepy and instinctively uncomfortable. It was mixed with the sound of the rainstorm and the dark night, as if someone crawled out of hell to greet him.

Zhao Liangyue turned his head and saw an old man who was nearly seventy years old. His beard and hair were completely white, his back was severely hunchbacked, his bones were thinner than ordinary people, and his left cheek had a large area of ​​hideous burns. But his kind eyes and the umbrella in his hand, It is enough to make people feel that he is a kind old man.

"Thank you, old man." Zhao Liangyue took the umbrella with both hands, then went to help the old man, caught a glimpse of the long Xiao on his waist, and asked, "Are you the musician who played the flute on the stage just now?"

"It's the old man, the song of ridicule, I'm laughing at it."

"The old man is too modest. Among all the musicians on stage, Xiao is the only one who deserves the performance of "Looking for Spirits"."

The old man smiled and said: "This play is so good, I need you to savor it carefully."

"Does the old gentleman have any advice?"

"A vulgar person, it's just a matter of exchanging a few taels of silver for dinner, how can you understand the mystery?" The old man looked up at the wind and rain, and said, "It's getting late, son, go back quickly."

Zhao Liangyue cupped his hands as a salute, and said, "Thank you for borrowing the umbrella, old man. I don't know the name of the old man? Where will the late student return the umbrella tomorrow?"

"My surname is Miao. People in the capital jokingly call me Miao Lao. She is covered by an umbrella. If I have to thank you," the old man tremblingly raised his hand and pointed towards an alleyway. Zhao Liangyue looked along. Seeing a group of white shadows, the old man said, "Let's take it back, give it a small place to live, and it's safe."

Zhao Liangyue took a closer look, the little thing shrunk itself into an autumn in the cold rain, only a long tail was exposed, presumably it was a cat.

Zhao Liangyue turned his head again and found that the old man had already walked towards the courtyard, so he took an umbrella and ran to the alleyway, only to find that it was indeed a little white cat.

The little white cat's fur was wet with muddy water, shivering from the cold, and kept making a weak meowing sound, which was hidden in the sound of rain, and could only be heard when it was very close.

Zhao Liangyue bent down to hug the little white cat. When the kitten sensed the person coming, it screamed in panic and struggled to run, but probably because it hadn't had anything to eat for a long time, it was very weak, and its movements were very labored and slow.

"I won't hurt you." Zhao Liangyue carefully picked up the little white cat and hugged it in his arms. Regardless of the muddy water on its body, he covered it with his thick and wide sleeves to keep it warm. The kitten was still struggling at first, But maybe the arms of the person holding him were too warm, so he gave up struggling.

"Follow me from now on, I'll share the delicious pomelo with you."

The little white cat didn't respond, Zhao Liangyue laughed to himself while talking.

"What did I say to your cat, you can't understand."

Zhao Liangyue walked into the rain with the cat in his arms, and an umbrella separated a small shelter from the wind and rain.

"Young master, this way!"

On the way, Zhao Liangyue saw Youbai who was rushing over to pick him up, holding a lantern in his hand.

"It's raining too much, and there's no sign of it in the afternoon, or I'd bring an umbrella." Youbai couldn't help complaining, and when he ran closer, he found that Zhao Liangyue seemed to be holding something, a small bag bulged under his sleeve, still moving slightly.

Zhao Liangyue said: "I picked up a white kitten."

Youbai's eyes lit up, and she happily reached out to unbutton Zhao Liangyue's sleeve, but Zhao Liangyue dodged it.

"It's too cold outside, you can watch it when you go back."

"Okay, I want to live in the same room with it!"

Zhao Liangyue glanced at Youbai, and said with a smile: "I see you are amused, if you don't know, you might think that your young master picked up some rare things along the way."

"Oh, of course I'm happy. You're either reading books or saying things you don't understand or doing things I don't understand all day long. Apart from practicing martial arts in the yard, I'm just in a daze and suffocated to death."

"Why are you bored, have you read the military book that I asked you to read a few days ago?"

"Aiya!" Youbai began to stride forward, "My lord, let's go back soon, curfew is coming soon."

Zhao Liangyue shook his head: "When it comes to reading, he runs faster than a rabbit."

The two hurried back, and just arrived at the gate of the courtyard, the curfew gong sounded through the sound of rain.

After changing the soaked clothes, the two of them tidied up, and Uncle Song had already cleaned up the kitten.

Uncle Song said with a smile: "Young master was still very embarrassed when he took the cat back. After cleaning it like this, it looks very good. It's still a lion cat."

"Is it a lion cat?!" Youbai came over and picked up the clean little white cat to take a look. It has blue and yellow eyes and fur as white as snow. It really looks good. The more you look at it, the more you like it. .

The little white cat was sleepy, but insisted on squinting its eyes halfway, and was held by Youbai without moving, only occasionally giving a low glance, a little trembling, obviously afraid of being in a strange environment.

"It's really a lion cat, and it's still a snow lion. I don't know how it ended up wandering outside." Zhao Liangyue walked over, and the little white cat reacted immediately, meowing at him, and Zhao Liangyue reached out to touch the little white cat The little guy obediently rubbed his fluffy head against his palm.

"So you're starting to recognize the Lord?" Youbai tried to hand the little guy to Zhao Liangyue, and as soon as he was in Zhao Liangyue's arms, the little guy nestled comfortably and slept with his eyes closed.

Youbai was stunned for a while, facing the little guy's completely different attitude towards Zhao Liangyue and himself, he could only sigh: "Oh, it seems that it will take a while to establish a relationship with it... By the way, son, tomorrow There is a lantern festival in the west of the city, let's go see it together!"

Zhao Liangyue frowned, and said, "Festival lanterns, aren't girls like it?"

"It's different!" Youbai said excitedly, "The scenery in Kyoto is no better than our Maozhou side. I heard from Uncle Song that the Lantern Festival is held in Heng'en Temple. Men, women and children will go there. There are also many new things and various kinds of food. "

Zhao Liangyue raised his head when he heard the words, and said, "It seems to be very lively."

Youbai knew that his young master didn't like an environment that was too noisy, so he changed his tune and said, "It's not particularly lively."

Zhao Liangyue glanced at Youbai, and said, "I'll go if it's lively."

"what?"

Zhao Liang laughed more: "There are so many people, I can tell my fortune when there are many people."

"Young master, why do you still want to tell your fortune? Not only can you not earn any money back, but you also paid back the money last time."

Zhao Liangyue gave Youbai a sharp eye, and asked, "Why can't I go?"

The little guy in his arms also meowed, Zhao Liangyue touched its head with a smile, and said, "You support me too, right?" , looking at Yubai who rolled his eyes, he is a bit cute.

"Or call it a dogleg." Youbai smacked his lips and said, "It's only the first day I saw this little thing, and I just sang along with you."

"What's your name like? Such a cute cat." Zhao Liangyue stroked the soft fur, thought for a while and said, "Let's call it Abai."

"Ah Bai? Why do you sound like a brother to me?" You Bai pouted.

"Abai, Abai." Zhao Liangyue ignored Youbai's resistance, raised the little guy and called a few times, and the little guy meowed over and over again, apparently accepting the name.

Youbai looked at it and shook his head, sighed: "This cat is definitely smart, and he knows who to listen to most in this yard."

Zhao Liang laughed more: "This is called a man who understands current affairs is a hero."

Youbai rolled his eyes again, knowing that there was nothing to do with this matter, he could only accept it with a forced face and a smile, but he still quietly went to make a nest for Ah Bai.

The rainstorm came and went in a hurry. After a night of torrential autumn rain, the sun came out the next day. In this winter season, it was rare to be warm. Youbai forcibly carried Ah Bai to the roof early in the morning. Basking in the sun, he didn't come down until Uncle Song called for dinner.

Zhao Liangyue put down the scroll, rubbed his neck, walked out from the study, and said, "It smells so good, Uncle Song, do you make such a rich meal in the morning?"

Uncle Song said with a smile, "Young master said yesterday that you and Youbai will be away all day today and will come back very late. I thought that although there are many kinds of food at the Lantern Festival, I didn't make it myself to nourish my stomach, so I suffered from it." Some porridge and chicken soup to dispel the cold and nourish the stomach."

Youbai leaned over to the table and sniffed it vigorously, and quickly helped to serve the meal and start eating.

Zhao Liangyue was drinking the chicken soup when suddenly something bumped into his calf, it was soft and didn't hurt, he looked down and saw that it was Ah Bai who was balled up, meowing at him.

"I guess I'm hungry, and Ah Bai has a share." Uncle Song came to pick up Ah Bai, and walked to the pillar in front of the hall, where there was a porcelain bowl with some chopped chicken inside.

Unexpectedly, just as Uncle Song put A Bai down, A Bai turned around and ran towards Zhao Liangyue again.

Seeing this, Youbai clicked his tongue: "So clingy? Is it possible that the young master will have to take it with him when he goes up in the future?"

"Forget it." Zhao Liangyue put down his chopsticks, bent down and hugged A Bai to the stool next to him, Uncle Song took the porcelain bowl knowingly and put it in front of A Bai, and A Bai really started to gobble it up immediately.

"Squeamish!" Youbai said, taking a mouthful of half a bowl of chicken soup.

After eating, Zhao Liangyue went to change into the tattered fortune-telling clothes again, Youbai didn't want to see him make money-losing business again, and had already left for the Lantern Festival ahead of time.

Zhao Liangyue went out of the room, saw Bai Tuanzi guarding the door, and smiled: "Ah Bai, do you still recognize me?"

A Bai tilted his head and meowed, and sent Zhao Liangyue all the way to the gate of the courtyard.

"Go back." Zhao Liangyue drove Ah Bai into the yard, and Uncle Song came to hug him back.

A Bai kept yelling at the figure outside the door, and Uncle Song kept touching its head to comfort it, like coaxing a child, saying: "Don't make trouble, don't make trouble, uncle will accompany you."

Ah Bai still refused, struggling to jump out of Uncle Song's arms, Uncle Song could only quickly close the door with his foot to prevent it from running out.

At lunch time, Zhao Liangyue and Youbai were not there, so Uncle Song ate some food and cut dried fish for Abai to soften.

Seeing that Ah Bai fell asleep after eating too much, Uncle Song got up and went back to his room, rubbed the ink and wrote a code word on a small piece of paper, then opened the window and whistled, a pigeon flew to his hand .

The pigeon is different from ordinary pigeons, it has a faint blue color on its tail feathers, which can't be noticed unless you look carefully, especially if it's hidden in the woods.

Uncle Song rolled up the paper and put it in a bamboo tube tied to the pigeon's leg, touched some food to feed the pigeon, and then raised his hand to let it fly.

After finishing all this, Uncle Song returned to the kitchen to prepare some refreshments. There was a knock on the door outside the courtyard, and Ah Bai woke up quickly, pricking up his ears and looking out the door.

Who will come here at this time?

Uncle Song tidied up his clothes, walked out and opened the door, and saw a first-class servant in a brocade shirt, probably sent by some aristocratic family.

"I am from the Prince's Mansion in the East of the City. I am here to send an invitation card for the second son of my family. I also hope that Mr. Zhao of your mansion will attend the banquet in Feixia Tower five days later, as a gift of the host, and to continue the friendship of the world."

The man said and handed the invitation to Uncle Song, Uncle Song took it, saluted with fists together, and then watched him leave.

Uncle Song thought for a while before realizing that the man's so-called family friendship refers to ten years ago, when the Zhao family in Xuanshan was still famous, the two surnames became friends and their children married.But later, the Zhao family in Xuanshan did not fall behind, and the two surnames lost contact.

Why did you send someone to invite you today?

Uncle Song thought about it and felt that something was wrong.