Qi Huang

Xie Xuan didn't really forget to bring Qingzhu's closed air bag.

Because if you want others to think that Xie Xuan is "missing" or "dead", you must first make the people around you sure that this is true.

Qingzhu is the pair of eyes that see the "truth" and is also the witness of Xie Xuan's disappearance.

It's a pity that Qingzhu didn't want to understand, but Xiao Ling was the first to understand Xie Xuan's intention after listening to it.It's just that if you care about it, you will be confused. You obviously feel that Xie Xuan will not let yourself be in a situation where there is no way out, but you still follow.

In the middle of the night, Xiao Ling was sitting on one side, with Xie Xuan half leaning on his shoulder.

Both have other things in their minds, but their bodies are honest.Beyond the wilderness and mountains, their figures leaned together, and even their shadows were almost lingering.

In the summer night, insects chirped continuously, occasionally accompanied by a few abrupt birdsong.It seemed to be a cuckoo, and it seemed to be a novel bird that had never been heard before.In the silence of the wind, a faint long cry pierced through the air.

The light and shadow flickered, and someone opened his eyes first.

Xiao Ling slept deeply, and the brows that were often frowned on weekdays were now relaxed, and most of the warm clothes on his body covered Xie Xuan's body.

Out of sight, Xie Xuan's hand was vainly held in his palm, and he withdrew with a single movement.The remaining half of the little finger was more stubborn, hooked up with Xiao Ling's, Xie Xuan lowered his head to look, and saw a scar on Xiao Ling's tiger's mouth.

In the silence, Xie Xuan's eyes became darker.

He stood up, didn't avoid Xiao Ling on purpose, he just covered him with his clothes, and strode out of the ruined temple.

As soon as the footsteps left, Xiao Ling woke up in the dim yellow light of the fire, his eyes were clear.

Without the light of the fire, the dilapidation outside the temple is even more obvious.Xie Xuan followed the direction of the moonlight and turned into a winding path, where someone was already waiting.

It looks like he should be a young man, but he is so white that his figure only reaches Xie Xuan's chest, and his whole body has a low eyebrow and a pleasing appearance.Seeing Xie Xuan approaching, she hurriedly came up to flatter her and said, "Your Highness."

The voice is also squeezed, rough but sharp, neither male nor female, just like a little eunuch.

Xie Xuan: "Who are you?"

The little eunuch was taken aback for a moment, but after being stared at by Xie Xuan, he seemed to start to doubt himself: "...Didn't you secretly send a letter to Master, asking Master to help you return to Beijing?"

"Your master?" Xie Xuan looked at him coldly, "Who is your master?"

Now the little eunuch was completely dumbfounded.He frantically tried to find something on his body to prove his identity, but the more he messed up, the more he made mistakes. Just as he took out a sachet from his pocket, he slipped his hand and "slapped" it and fell into the grass.

Xie Xuan lowered her head, bent down to pick up the sachet, put it on the tip of her nose and smelled it.

"The smell of sandalwood." Xie Xuan raised his eyes, "From Banruo Temple?"

"Yes yes yes!" The eunuch nodded again and again, "The servant's master is Zhao Xian, does your Highness remember?"

"Zhao Xian." Xie Xuan paused every word, with a sullen face as if chewing on the name.

This made the little eunuch even more frightened.

He was very upset.I thought to myself, could it be that something went wrong in the middle of the journey, which caused Xie Xuan not to recognize her identity; or if this matter was discovered, he should be pushed as a middleman to block the knife?No matter what the situation was, the little eunuch felt that his life was in danger.

He is clever, but timid!

When he was hesitating whether to take the opportunity to slip away to save his life, Xie Xuan suddenly smiled brightly.

"I remember, Zhao Xian." Xie Xuan's eyes were gentle, and changed from the coldness just now, "I'm sorry, too many things happened in recent days, I almost forgot."

The little eunuch breathed a sigh of relief, wiped off his sweat and smiled with lingering fear: "Your Highness has killed your servant."

He didn't dare to look at Xie Xuan, so naturally he didn't see the glint in Xie Xuan's eyes.Walking on a narrow road, it is natural to be careful and test everywhere.Otherwise, once he goes on the wrong path, what awaits him will be eternal disaster.

Xie Xuan's thoughts changed a lot, but she still had a smile on her face: "Then let's discuss going back to Beijing?"

Xiao Ling put on his clothes again, and after buttoning them neatly, Feng Jiuyuan just walked in from outside the ruined temple.

The clothes are still worn when the boat is launched in the morning, but after all, people have been in the water, even if they have been dried by internal force, they still look a little embarrassed on the outside.But his steps are steady, and when he walks slowly, his whole body is also elegant, which makes this embarrassment not so glaring.

Xiao Ling saw him, and acted as if he hadn't seen him, raised his hand to add a handful of firewood to the fire.The dry dead branches were thrown into the fire, and sparks half a person's height were splashed with a crackling sound.

There was still a paved vacant seat beside the fire, Feng Jiuyuan glanced at it, and sat down with a flick of his robe.

No one spoke first.

Both of them are the best among people, if they don't care about their positions, regardless of their identities, no matter whether their fate is permanent or impermanent, maybe they can still be best friends.

But now, the two of them are sitting together, and the others can only sigh the word seductive.

Xiao Ling didn't sleep well, and couldn't fall back asleep after being awakened by Xie Xuan, let alone Feng Jiuyuan now.He stood up with his hands behind his back, pressed the dagger in his sleeve, and prepared to leave the ruined temple.

Feng Jiuyuan suddenly spoke.

"Where is Li Jin?"

Xiao Ling paused.

But just for a moment, he walked out as if he didn't hear this sentence.However, someone was already guarding outside the house, Xuan Qi's tall figure blocked the door, even Xiao Ling had to look up.

"What does Lord Nine mean?" Xiao Ling didn't want to use force, and looked sideways at Feng Jiuyuan.

Feng Jiuyuan got up slowly, this time his waist was clean, he didn't wear many complicated accessories like before, it seemed that his steps were lighter.

He asked again: "Where is Li Jin?"

Xiao Ling looked at him and suddenly smiled.

The short blade in the sleeve is his self-defense tool, it has no name, and it is not a well-known weapon, but it is easy to use.With a flash of cold light, the short blade flew out from the sleeve, like a slash of lightning, striking towards Xuan Qi with the power of thunder!

Xuan Qi had been on guard for a long time, but Feng Jiuyuan didn't tell him in advance how to deal with Xiao Ling, whether to fight or kill, or to detour to keep him, under the sway of the mouse, the posture of the shot was three points short.

The sharp weapon and the wind of the palm blasted away the last support window lattice around, and the poor dilapidated temple became more and more crumbling visible to the naked eye.

Feng Jiuyuan stood calmly in it with his hands behind his hands, his eyes were calm, without any fluctuations.

However, in the sky, a black shadow flew from nowhere, upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a folding fan.The bright red is still conspicuous in the night.

The folding fan didn't want to take the life of either party, but it was like a loud thunder in the dark clouds, shaking the two of them back to their senses in an instant.

At the gate of the ruined temple, a leisurely figure slowly approached.

His clothes were wet, the front and back hems must have been half-dried by the wind during the march, but the rest of the clothes hadn't had time to return to their original shape after being soaked in water.

The pile of firewood in the middle of the ruined temple is exceptionally strong, no matter how strong the wind blows outside the house, it still shines brightly on one side as always.

Qin Ting approached quickly, reaching out to touch the warmth, and only raised his eyes slightly after the wet sticky feeling on his body was no longer unavoidable.

He seemed to have just seen two groups of people in the room who were at war with each other, his eyes fell on Feng Jiuyuan, and he asked him, "Aren't you coming to have a roast?"

When Xie Xuan came back, what he saw was such a scene.

Feng Jiuyuan, Qin Ting, and Xiao Ling sat on one side, like three Buddha statues who closed their eyes and didn't care about worldly affairs.The fire is almost extinguished, only the strongest dead branch is lingering, burning with its last strength.

Xie Xuan watched at the door for a while, then turned and left.When he reappeared in the ruined temple, he already had a pile of fresh and flammable dead branches in his arms.

In fact, anyone who saw this scene felt paradoxical.

From the point of view of interests, when the royal family is on top of their heads, the family is a grasshopper on a rope.However, as the saying goes, both left and right hands fight each other, let alone people who are not related.

The aristocratic family is not monolithic. When the previous generation was around, it still maintained a superficial stability.Even when a family is in trouble, they can lend a helping hand.After the previous generation passed away, the old entanglements of interests disappeared with the wind, and new ones emerged.

The Xiao family is not considered an aristocratic family, their three generations of ancestors were all generals who were crowned marquises and crowned, and what bleed on their bodies was not blood, but the wind and sand from the southwest.Unlike the Li and Qin families who relied on lip service and gold leaves to gain a foothold in the imperial court, the Feng family, who was born noble and related to the emperor, was even more at odds with each other.

They sat together with different positions and different purposes, and even in some cases, they were almost standing on their backs, naturally silent like a piece of stagnant water.

click.

Xie Xuan put down the dead branch and made a soft sound.

Feng Jiuyuan was the first to react. He walked over the fire to Xie Xuan, trying to take the heavy object in his hand, but Xie Xuan avoided me slightly and put the dead branch into the fire: "I want to go back to Beijing. You all know that, right?"

Feng Jiuyuan paused.

Qin Ting still looked like he had nothing to do with himself, as if he was just an outsider who passed by the ruined temple and borrowed fire to keep warm.

Xiao Ling was silent for a while, as if he had compromised: "This is indeed an opportunity for you. However, if you make a dangerous move, you must be prepared to lose everything."

Feng Jiuyuan was also one of the members who prevented him from returning to the capital, and pointed out: "Maybe Wang Jinse is waiting for you."

Xie Xuan: "I have checked all the consequences in my mind one by one, and every branch that arises during it is something I can bear."

He looked at Feng Jiuyuan: "It's just... Brother Jiu, you belong to the Empress Dowager, right?"

Feng Jiuyuan remained silent.

"In terms of stubbornness, you, Feng Jiuyuan, are number two. No one dares to call yourself number one. Of course, I don't want to frame you because of it." Xie Xuan said, "I'm even pleased with you, even in the face of personal relationships, you can still stick to yourself heart of."

After the new dead branches were added to the fire, it finally looked like it was no longer dying.

In the middle of the night, the slight warmth can almost drive away the coldness in everyone's heart.

Xie Xuan stood up, took a few steps back, and wanted to laugh a little self-deprecatingly: "It's a pity that Li Zheng is not here, I have to say this again in the future."

The eyes of the three fell on Xie Xuan like a ray of light.

"I'm not a good person. For my own purpose, I will use all means. However, I probably have a little bit of conscience hidden in my heart, and I don't want to take advantage of people who make me fall in love without any scruples."

"You are all dragons and phoenixes among people. If you are not confined to the pool, you may be the ones who can leave your name in history. But..." Xie Xuan paused, "I also have selfish intentions."

"What selfishness is, I don't need to talk about it... I don't ask for much in my life, and I don't have many desires. God favored me and let me grasp what I want step by step. So, when I return to Beijing today, I also To get what I want."

He smiled: "Today's situation may not be tomorrow's situation. The opportunity is just right. If you want to go your own way, go ahead and don't worry about me. Tomorrow will be enemies or friends, strangers or friends." ..." Xie Xuan paused for a moment when she said this, and then slowly continued: "Let's leave it to fate."

When people are faced with sudden choices, their initial reaction is to be at a loss.

But these three are not very human.As soon as Xie Xuan opened his mouth, they already understood that what this His Highness who claimed to be "a bit conscientious" was doing was a decisive thing that would not allow anyone to retreat.

Xie Xuan was telling them that after tonight, it would be either a true love or a stranger's enemy.

However, the word love, how can it be so easy to give up?

This weighty decision seemed like a few light words, but in fact it weighed heavily on Xie Xuan's heart.

Those who get lost at the intersection can't get rid of the fog in front of them, not to mention that this cloud of fog has already condensed in their hearts, turning into the names they read out thousands of times in their dreams.

Only silence, only silence.

There is no one to add new firewood to the fire, and it will naturally be tossed around by the merciless wind, almost dissipating.Tiny flames reflected in everyone's eyes.

Suddenly, one hand picked up the dead branches scattered on the side, and added a fire to it.

The owner of the hand has a delicate face, and under the firelight, it still looks beautiful and brilliant.

"How do you plan to return to Beijing?"

Xie Xuan bowed her head and saw Qin Ting took out a piece of roasted sweet potato out of nowhere, the skin was peeled off, and the red flesh was filled with steaming heat.

He took a bite elegantly, let out a hot breath, and continued: "Although you fell into the water and disappeared in full view, you can only hide it from the eyeliner on the bright side. It is impossible for anyone who is a little suspicious not to suspect that you have other plans." .If people in the capital know the news, it is impossible to let you go back to Beijing."

Xie Xuan: "What if they have to let me go back to Beijing?"

"Rebellion? War? Or seizing the heir?" Qin Ting said slowly, "It's certainly a good idea, but the battle line is too long, not to mention fear of accidents, things that are originally in your hands are easy to lose control. The later you return to Beijing , the less initiative you have, you must have thought of this when you chose to leave at the time when the South Canal was opened."

Xie Xuan knew that Qin Tinggang was crowned, but also knew that the position of Patriarch was not so easy to take.

At some point, he even felt that Qin Ting's love for teasing was actually to cover up or drive away the darkness in his heart.

People always have to expect something, so as not to be swallowed by darkness.

Qin Ting didn't wait for Xie Xuan's questioning, but only waited for a complicated look.He chuckled lightly, and hooked Xie Xuan's little finger in front of other people: "Don't you ask me?"

Xie Xuan thought it was funny: "Huh? Then what's your opinion, Mr. Qin?"

"I do have a plan." Qin Ting said, "As soon as the Mid-Autumn Festival is over, it will be the Double Ninth Festival, and the palace will need new servants. Your Highness may take this opportunity to enter the palace."

Xie Xuan smiled, and suddenly had a bad premonition.

Qin Ting looked Xie Xuan up and down: "Your Highness is tall and has an extraordinary bearing, but most of the eunuchs are hunchbacked and cowardly. If they pretend to be eunuchs, they may not be able to pass the test of the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

Xie Xuan: "..."

He got it.

"The feng shui of Bianliang City is good, and it is common for girls to be tall. If His Highness pretends to be a newly appointed court lady, she may be able to enter the palace without anyone noticing."

I don't know if it was Xie Xuan's illusion, just as Qin Ting finished speaking, the eyes of the other two suddenly became hot.

Xie Xuan: "..."