The red lady with a smile

Xichuan is adjacent to Haikou in the east, and has the largest port wharf in Qiyi. Huge ships are docked on the coast. You can smell the fresh sea water just by walking in the city. And through the convenient waterway, merchants and fishermen from all over the world There is an endless stream of people, and the market in the city has three times a day, and each time there are different goods to buy and sell, it is quite lively.

Xuan Qing has never seen such a lively market. Every time he goes to the street, there are new and novel things in his eyes. When he met A Luo, he was patient and waited for him to look at everything. No matter how long it took, he never complained, or should I say Even if there is, I can't say it.

This day was free again, A Luo first took him to a tea room to drink tea and eat some snacks, and then the two went to the largest cloth shop in the street.

Xuan Qingzheng wondered why A Luo brought him to this place that his daughter loves to visit. Before he could ask the question, the sharp-eyed guy in the cloth workshop caught his eye, and the man hurriedly went to inform the shopkeeper. He hurried to Arlo with a slightly larger brocade box in his arms.

Xuan Qing was still wondering, so the shopkeeper said to A Luo: "Master Wei, the things ordered earlier have been delivered, please take a look at them." He said, and opened the brocade box in his hand in front of everyone.

It’s okay if you don’t look at it, but it’s amazing to see it!

"Wow..." Xuan Qing couldn't help admiring.

The fabric inside the brocade box seems to be silk but it is not. It is light pink and faintly purple. The color alone is excellent, and the embroidery on it is also a lot of work. It's not too cumbersome to be together, on the contrary, it is eye-catching, and the pattern...

"What kind of flower is that?" Xuan Qing couldn't help asking, "It's so beautiful."

A Luo glanced at him, but didn't make a sound. Fortunately, the shopkeeper heard it and replied, "This is Epiphyllum, and the hand embroidery is all from the famous "Splendid Pavilion" in the imperial city..."

"Ah, could this be the one in the rumors!"

When it comes to the words "Jinxiu Pavilion" and "Epiphyllum" in the imperial city, everyone in Qi Yi knows that, and as a young lady, Xuan Qing is not completely ignorant of clothing. Before, he didn't know that this pattern was Epiphyllum. Now that I know it, I also understand the origin of this fabric.It is the most delicate and beautiful brocade in the rumors. I heard that Jinxiu Pavilion only embroiders epiphyllum on this brocade, and there are all kinds of brocades. Each piece of cloth is different. Everyone named it—— "Tan spinning".

The shopkeeper thought that although the customer had little knowledge, he was still a good person, so he couldn't help but nodded and said: "This is exactly "Tanfang". "

Xuan Qing was very excited when he heard it, since this is something he has always yearned for but is the last thing he can get, no matter how you say it, he should see enough of it!

But not long after he got excited, A Luo took the brocade box and locked it up so that he wouldn't be able to read it again. Then he handed the silver ticket and the brocade box to the shopkeeper, and motioned for him to wrap it up so that he could take it away with him. .

This move made Xuan Qing slightly dissatisfied, he curled his lips and complained in a low voice: "Tsk, you're stingy, you can't even look at it."

Arlo frowned when he heard what he said, and said nothing.

This is just the beginning. After seeing "Tan Fang", A Luo took Xuan Qing to various shops, searching for and buying rare things, such as Yu Lingchai, Fengming Pei...all of them are Xuan Qing. Things that Qing would never dare to think about on weekdays, now that he has seen them all, he is really satisfied.

After buying the last item of six shochu, it was already dusk, Xuan Qing volunteered to help A Luo carry the big and small bags, and the two returned to the other courtyard together.

That night, A Luo stayed in the other courtyard for meals and lodging, and the first thing he said was to comfort Xuan Qing, because none of those things could be given to Xuan Qing, these were all gifts for the Wei family.

"I'm sorry, Xuan Qing, there are a lot of people in Wei's house, and there are quite a few birthdays in summer. These are all for them, so I can't give them to you."

Seeing that he was clasping his hands together and begging for mercy, Xuan Qing was surprised and couldn't help but chuckled and said: "Why do you apologize to me, I never thought of asking for these, just looking at it is good."

"what?"

Without waiting for A Luo to ask, Xuan Qing was always self-aware to compare those things, and then pointed to himself, "Any one of them is more expensive than me, I still understand this common sense."

As the saying goes, "Swords are given to heroes, and red powder is given to beauties". Rich people are very particular about gifts. Xuan Qing knows how much he weighs, and he is almost at the level of cloth picked by others. Tanfang and the like are simply out of his turn.

As he said that, Xuan Qing patted A Luo on the shoulder generously, and immediately laughed loudly: "It's all right, so you don't have to mind me at all."

Compared with his open-mindedness, A Luo looked down at Xuan Qing with a sympathetic face, as if he had made some huge mistake. After a while, he held Xuan Qing's hand and answered half-truths and half-false : "Xuanqing, I will treat you well, tell me whatever you want from now on, no matter what I will try my best to get it for you."

The child's words were reassuring, and Xuan Qing was delighted to hear them. Of course, he didn't forget A Luo's bad habit of talking nonsense at night, so he just heard it and didn't take it to heart.

"But if it's a summer birthday, is it necessary to prepare gifts now?" Xuan Qing looked at the pile of gifts suspiciously, purely for curiosity.

At this point, A Luo suddenly paused, and after a moment of silence, he slowly said: "Well, Xuan Qing, there is something I haven't mentioned to you, in fact, the whole summer is March... no, it will probably be longer , I’m afraid we won’t be able to see each other for a while.”

"Ah!?" The sudden words caught Xuan Qing off guard, and he hurriedly asked, "Why? Did something happen?"

"Hmm...it's not a big deal, it's my own fault..."

A Luo's words were very vague, going around and saying that they couldn't meet each other, but he couldn't tell the specific reason.

They deliberately concealed it, and Xuan Qing was not aggressive, so he could only sigh helplessly, and honestly agreed.

◇ ◆ ◇

In the middle of the night, Xuanqing’s room was lit with a faint candle, and A Luo still took the silver needle and sat by the bed to prick Xuanqing’s back. In the dimness, there were five red needles around the heart on Xuanqing’s back. small point.

After the needle application, the sixth red dots appeared, and A Luo stretched out his hand to caress them one by one, with an intriguing smile on his lips, innocent but cruel.

"It will be done soon... This time, you will definitely..."

Xuan Qing in her sleep was disturbed and did not wake up, she frowned, whimpered a few times, and fell back into a deep sleep.

A Luo looked at him, his expression returned to normal, he lowered his head and kissed the corner of Xuan Qing's mouth, and said hypnotically: "So you must fall in love with me..."

◇ ◆ ◇

"I said son, you really don't know the fun, it's really strange, you can come and ask me!"

Xiao Xia listened to Xuan Qing repeating the content of A Luo's conversation last night, sighed and stomped his feet repeatedly, "Young Master always goes to other places to escape the summer heat, and Young Master Han who left home this year will also come back to accompany him, so naturally there is no way Come to our other courtyard."

"That's right, but I don't know..." Xuan Qing didn't mean to break the casserole and ask the end, it's just curiosity, "But Ah Luo is really, it's not a bad thing to meet and get along with a lover, there is nothing to be ashamed of of."

To this day, he still remembers the way Aluo hesitated and hawed last night, and it was really fun to think about it.

Xuan Qing couldn't help smiling, but Xiao Xia saw this scene as particularly ambiguous, which made him feel teased, "Tsk tsk, I said son, have you fallen in love with Master Luo?"

"Of course I like it. Your young master is kind-hearted, why don't I like it?" Xuan Qing also admitted quickly, "But if you like it, you won't be the kind of lover. You can rest assured."

Xiao Xia giggled when he heard the words, he just liked Xuan Qing's frank temper, not hypocritical, not pretentious, even if he had a bad status, he was much easier to serve than those proud and arrogant young masters and ladies.

"By the way, Xiao Xia, do you know when Mr. Han will come back?"

"I haven't heard of the specifics, but don't worry, my lord, if Mr. Han comes back, the news must spread quickly, and we're not afraid we won't know about it."

This is really good. Two days later, Xuan Qing heard the news of Han Mingruo's return to the Wei Mansion in the other courtyard, and it was A Luo himself who brought the news.

A Luo didn't come here in person, but wrote a letter and sent it to Xuan Qing. The few numbers on it simply stated that Han Mingruo had returned to the Wei Mansion, and he didn't forget to add a note to explain that it will start in the future and continue until the end of summer. , he will never come to Xuanqing again, and ask him to take care of himself.

Xuan Qing received the letter, a little relieved and a little emotional.

Putting the envelope away, lying on the table in front of the window, watching the willows swaying in the wind outside, Xuan Qing suddenly felt that he was not much different from this wicker. Branches can be attached, but you are always alone.

◇ ◆ ◇

Compared with the deserted other courtyard, the Wei Mansion is warm and welcoming, and the wine and banquets are all for Han Mingruo to catch the wind.

It should be said that Han Mingruo has a lot of connections with A Luo.

Han Mingruo's mother's natal family was originally a distant relative of the Wei family. When Han Mingruo's father died early, he followed his mother to join the Wei family.He and A Luo have known each other since they were young, and they can be described as half childhood sweethearts. A Luo especially likes to be by his side and treats him very well.Later, due to a chance meeting, A Luo's master met Han Mingruo, and felt that the child was quite talented in learning medicine, and made an exception and accepted another apprentice, which brought the relationship between the two closer.

Seeing that A Luo always followed Han Mingruo, the old lady of the Wei family decided that her youngest son liked him, and as she grew older, Han Mingruo was born beautiful and worthy of being a dragon and phoenix. The family discussed making an engagement for the two of them, but for some reason, the engagement was not made.

In this way, a few years ago, the old lady of the Wei family passed away, and then Han Mingruo’s mother also passed away. The pressure from the older generation was no longer there, and Han Mingruo asked for his order to leave Wei’s mansion, not for anything else, but for A Luo’s "hidden illness" Find a good prescription, and promise to return to Wei Mansion before the arrival of next summer.

Now that he has done what he said, the Wei family is very satisfied. Although the marriage has not been agreed, this person at least knows how to repay his kindness and has not given up on A Luo.

The dinner was not delayed for a long time. Everyone knew that after a long absence, A Luo must have a lot to say to Han Mingruo, so in the evening, everyone withdrew one by one in a very sensible manner, and finally Han Mingruo and A Luo were kept. The two looked at each other dumbfounded. In the end, Ah Luo spoke first: "Brother Han, I'll take you back to your room."

Walking on the road was very quiet, looking at the unchanging scenery of Wei Mansion, and seeing A Luo walking in front, a ripple appeared in Han Mingruo's eyes.

"Alo seems to be in a good mood, but has something good happened recently?"

Hearing the sound, Ah Luo turned his head, and smiled without hiding it, "It's a good thing, soon... I can get what I want."

"Oh..." Han Mingruo raised his eyebrows and asked again, "But it has something to do with the male concubine who lives in another courtyard?"

"The news spreads really fast, but..." Arlo shrugged innocently, "What everyone is saying is not the truth."

"Then what is the truth?"

"What do you say?"

Without directly answering his words, Ah Luo took out the Fengming Pei he bought earlier from his arms and handed it to Han Mingruo.

"This is?"

A Luo squinted his eyes and smiled, a little sincere and a little joking, "Brother Han, A Luo has something to ask..."

◇ ◆ ◇

Since A Luo stopped stepping into the other courtyard, Xuan Qing could hear all kinds of news from the Wei Mansion almost every day, about A Luo and about Han Mingruo.

Today, Mr. Han accompanied A Luo for a leisurely trip up the mountain. A few days later, A Luo took Mr. Han to another county by boat.

In this envy and longing, the weather gradually became hotter, and spring was unknowingly far away. When Xuan Qing realized it, the weather had already entered summer.

Since the beginning of summer, I haven't heard much about A Luo and Han Mingruo. Xuan Qing guessed that they went out of the city together to escape the summer heat.But even so, it has nothing to do with Xuan Qing, he just needs to live peacefully in the other courtyard.

I thought that such days would last until the end of summer, but I didn't expect that one evening after the plum blossom, all the peace was suddenly broken...

This is the first time Xuanqing saw the legendary "Han Mingruo". Even though it was under the faint candlelight on a rainy night, the appearance of a banished fairy is really impressive. Xuanqing stared at it intently, At that moment, he could understand the reason why Arlo had a soft spot for him.

But without waiting for him to take a few more glances, Han Mingruo, who came suddenly on a rainy night, said coldly: "Pack up your bags and go to Wei Mansion with me!"

"Aha?"

Then Xuan Qing rolled up the baggage inexplicably and stuffed it into the carriage, bumping all the way, and sent it to Wei Mansion like an item.

When they arrived at the Wei Mansion, a large family had already gathered in the hall, including men and women, long and young. When they saw Han Mingruo leading Xuan Qing to the entrance, everyone's eyes focused on Xuan Qing.

Xuanqing's eyes are very familiar, and they are generally contemptuous and disdainful.Xuan Qing didn't care about these things, he was just curious, why did he have to bring him here?And... what about the Alo people?

Han Mingruo entered the room and walked among the group of people first. He walked up to an elder who seemed to be the oldest, and then whispered something in his ear. Xuan Qing has a little more deterrence.Xuan Qing, who was stared at inexplicably, looked innocent, and was just about to ask something, but suddenly heard someone from the other party speak first.

"Don't hesitate, Luo Er's life is really more important now!"

It was a woman among those people who spoke, Xuan Qing saw that her eyebrows were somewhat similar to A Luo's, and she was not as young as Wei Tianyao, about thirty or so, with a woman's hair bun, with a dignified appearance , Guess it is Alona's only sister, Wei Chengzhen, and the woman's address for the elder should also confirm what Xuan Qing thought.

"Brother, it's not that you don't know Luo Er's temper. It's strange when he agrees to it!"

agree to what?What are they talking about?

"But..." The elder, A Luo's eldest brother Wei Chenghong frowned, as if there was something hard to say.

But before he could say the rest, Han Mingruo stepped forward and whispered something in his ear, then Wei Chenghong frowned and thought deeply, and finally waved his hand, just like that, Xuan Qing was taken out by Han Mingruo again.

This time, they didn't take a carriage, and Han Mingruo took him to a long corridor in the backyard of the Wei Mansion. He carried a lantern and walked in front, followed by Xuan Qing. The heavy rain outside the corridor never stopped. The silence made Xuan Qing feel extremely awkward, after thinking about it again and again, he still couldn't help but speak.

"Ming... Mr. Han, may I ask where are you taking me?"

"Go to see Aluo." Han Mingruo's tone was not gentle, but it was not as angry as Xuan Qing imagined.

"Ah? But Arlo, isn't he..."

Aren't you going to escape the heat? ?

Han Mingruo didn't understand what he was thinking, but said: "A Luo is in the Wei Mansion, and now he is inconvenient and needs your care."

take care of?he?

"You are his male concubine, and since you are a concubine, you must share your worries with him."

That's right, but isn't that what Arlo likes?

Xuan Qing really wanted to ask, but because of some taboos, he didn't say it in the end, so he had to follow Han Mingruo.

"So the young master called me this time to...serve Ah Luo?"

If Han Ming didn't answer, Xuan Qing thought he had committed a taboo, so he stopped asking questions.

The two walked all the way, passed through the corridor, crossed two pavilions, and then stopped outside a relatively remote big house in the backyard. There was no light in the house, but with the lantern in Han Mingruo's hand, Xuan Qing could still see the situation clearly. The general appearance of the house.

How should I put it, Xuan Qing felt that this house was not commensurate with the whole Wei Mansion, it didn't have a gorgeous and exquisite appearance, and it didn't feel popular, as if it was isolated, which made people feel weird.

"right here."

"what?"

"This summer, you must live here. Every day the servants will bring you meals and ice cubes to relieve the heat." As he spoke, Ming Ruo pointed to a small attached room next to the big house, "There is well water outside the house, wait until tomorrow After the rain stops, you can see in the daytime that there is nothing missing in the house, and all you have to do is to take good care of A Luo, that is your responsibility and obligation.”

I don't know if the last sentence is Xuan Qing's hallucination, Han Mingruo's tone seems to be insincere, and there is some helplessness.

"I live here, then Arlo..."

"He's inside, at this moment...he must be asleep." Han Mingruo sighed.

"what!?"

Even if Xuan Qing was beaten to death, A Luo would actually live in this house. Judging from the tone of the elders of the Wei family just now, they love A Luo, but why let him live here..." broken house?

Perhaps because he knew what he was surprised about, Han Mingruo thought for a while and finally explained: "This is also because of physical problems, he can only live here wronged in Xia Tian."

Hearing what he said, Xuan Qing instinctively felt that something was wrong, but Han Mingruo didn't say any more afterward, and directly opened the door to send Xuan Qing in, and then locked the door from the outside, as if to prevent Xuan Qing from escaping.

Xuan Qing who was overwhelmed by the sudden incident hadn't figured out what was going on, Han Mingruo's leaving footsteps came from outside the house, before he left, he still shouted outside the house: "I will come to see you every evening Ah Luo, you must take good care of me!"

what on earth is it! ?

Xuan Qing still doesn't understand, but he can't help asking questions, everything has slowly unfolded in front of him...

"Alo? Alo? Are you asleep?"

Being suddenly thrown into an unfamiliar dark room, Xuan Qing instinctively felt terrified. There was constant rain outside, and this room gave people a creepy feeling, with an unusually strange atmosphere.

No one answered, Xuan Qing swallowed, and said to the darkness again: "I, I'm going to light the lamp... Ah, Ah Luo, don't... mind."

There was still no response from the room, which made Xuan Qing boldly move forward, because there was no light, he could only rely on groping and walking slowly, and finally found the candles and fire folders on the stage, Xuan Qing lit it up Candlelight made the room a little brighter.

With the light, at least you can see the general outline of the house. Compared with the appearance, the items in the house are all available, and there is nothing missing. It is even more luxurious than the houses in other courtyards. However, although the house is large and luxurious, it is always Can't hold back that kind of sincere loneliness.

Xuan Qing looked around, and finally found A Luo's figure on the big bed. The other party was lying on the big bed with his back to him, but after spending so many days together, Xuan Qing could still recognize him.

Seeing him made Xuanqing heave a sigh of relief, and half of his previously hanging heart was relieved. After all, this place is unfamiliar, and it is not an exaggeration for Aluo to say that it is his only reliance, but he is still a little worried about the current situation... …

"Going to bed so early...do you have some kind of fever?"

Suspicious, Xuan Qing stretched out his hand slowly, and lightly touched A Luo's left hand...

It’s so cold!

The icy cold feeling from his hand is not like the body temperature that a living person should have at all. If he hadn't felt the pulse just now, Xuan Qing would have thought that what he touched was a dead object.

"why is it like this!?"

Xuan Qing was terrified, he had never seen anything in the world, and he didn't know what's wrong with A Luo. His first reaction was to wake A Luo up, fearing that he would fall asleep and die.

"Alo, Alo, wake up, wake up... don't sleep, don't..."

Xuan Qing pushed A Luo's body while shouting, and the other party seemed to feel strange and turned over, but the moment his eyes touched A Luo, Xuan Qing took a breath, and then couldn't help screaming stand up.