Denghuaxiao

Chapter 209 Confused

The streets are crowded with people.

 When he came down from Qiqiao Building, Lu Zhen was silent all the way.

There seemed to be something unusual in her heart, so that when Pei Yunying walked beside her, she would always glance at this person out of the corner of her eye.

The long street was brightly lit, and the alleys and intersections were crowded with each other. The two of them were walking side by side. Suddenly, a colorful silk ribbon flew from the side, like a magpie spreading its wings, and flew into Pei Yunying's arms without any mistakes.

 The two of them looked at each other at the same time.

The person throwing the silk ribbon was a young girl. When she saw Pei Yunying, instead of hiding, she boldly smiled, turned around, and disappeared into the crowd.

 Lu Zong is clear.

She heard from Yin Zheng that on the Chinese Valentine's Day in Shengjing, if a young girl has someone she likes, she often knits a silk ribbon with her own hands and gives it to him. There is no need to be reserved and restrained on this day. The Weaver Girl will protect every girl who boldly expresses her love.

Du Changqing collected four or five items during the day.

Pei Yunying's outstanding performance attracted the attention of girls in the imperial city, and the same was true outside the imperial city. Sure enough, in the next short street, he was thrown seven or eight colorful silk ribbons, and he saw that there were more and more trends.

Lu Zhen remembered the handful of colorful silk ribbons Duan Xiaoyan was holding in his arms.

“I’ll hold it for him. There’s a mountain at the gate of the Palace Commander’s Mansion.”

 A mountain…

 She sneered in her heart, this man was quite popular.

Pei Yunying was thrown a lot of silk ribbons in vain, but he didn't want to take them. Seeing that there was an incense bridge gathering on the side, he tied the colorful ribbons hanging all over his body on the railings of the incense bridge. He just wanted to burn the incense bridge and say to the owner of the colorful ribbons. It is also considered a kind of prayer and blessing.

Lu Zhen watched his movements coldly and suddenly said: "Why don't you accept it?"

Pei Yunying was confused: "Why should I accept it?"

Lu Yan walked forward and said in a calm tone: "It's all other people's wishes, why should you live up to them?"

There is some inexplicable irony in the words.

His eyebrows moved slightly, but his expression became happy, and he curled his lips and said: "But there are too many intentions, and it is difficult to refuse the kindness. I am destined to live up to it."

These words made Lu Zhuo more and more displeased, and he replied firmly: "Yes, after all, the commander-in-chief is the commander-in-chief of the palace commander. If he fails to live up to his wishes, the palace commander's face will be lost."

 He sneered: "Are you jealous?"

Lu Zhen's heart tightened: "Why are you jealous?"

"Jealous..." He stared at Lu Yan and said slowly, "I have got so many colorful ribbons, but you don't have any."

The hanging heart suddenly dropped, and Lu Zhuo said coldly: "The commander-in-chief is worried, I can fight it myself."

“Oh?” He caught up and nodded: “It’s so powerful, then you can give me one.”

 Send it to him?

 Think beautifully.

Lu Zhuo stopped and asked, "Why should I send you off?" He glanced at the Xiangqiao Club, which was already behind him, and his tone became more sarcastic, "The Commander-in-Chief doesn't think that your face can confuse me, right?"

She rarely said these words on weekdays, but today she suddenly became angry. Pei Yunying turned her head away and suppressed laughter.

He coughed lightly and said lazily: "I didn't say I would give it to you today. It will be my birthday in a month. It shouldn't be too much to ask you for a birthday gift."

Without waiting for Lu Yan to speak, he spoke again: "When you are in your birthday, I can send you a pair of golden butterflies."

 “The golden butterfly has returned the orb.”

 “Then I’ll give you something else.”

 Lu Zhen was speechless.

 This man can always find a reason.

She continued to walk forward and reminded: "Did the Commander-in-Chief forget one thing? My embroidery skills are poor and I am not popular."

"It doesn't matter," Pei Yunying smiled nonchalantly, "It shouldn't be worse than before."

 Lu Huan: “…”

"Then I'll wait for Dr. Lu's birthday gift." This man made the final decision.

Lu Zong pursed his lips and was about to speak when he saw someone's voice coming from under the colorful tent selling Chinese Valentine's Day begging items.

 “These cut sheep heads of yours are no longer fresh! They don’t smell good.” He was a diner buying snacks.

The person he was accusing bent over and nodded repeatedly: "Nonsense, it's just too hot, I can't hold it any longer. I only cut the mutton in the evening. Forget it, it's Chinese Valentine's Day, no quarrel, I'll give you a piece of plum and ginger. Take it, I wish you the best." You make a fortune!"

The voice was familiar. Lu Zhuo stared at it and couldn't help but be slightly startled.

 “Lord Shen?”

The busy man in the colorful tent was rearranging the mutton in the warming bucket. When he heard the movement, he raised his head and was also stunned: "Master Pei, Medical Officer Lu?"

 This man actually responded.

Lu Zhuo looked at Shen Fengying. He was not wearing official uniform as before. He was only wearing a cross-collared taupe short shirt tied around his waist, white trousers with cuffs, a soap towel on his head, cloth shoes on his feet, and a Deputy trader dressed up.

"Why didn't Mr. Shen patrol?" Lu Zhu looked around and saw no other patrol shops in the patrol shop house.

Shen Fengying scratched his head and said, "I'm no longer working in the patrol house now."

Lu Tong was startled: "Why..."

She remembered that Mr. Shen was full of ambitions for officialdom and loved to please everyone, which was quite inconsistent with the image he was busy at a market stall at the moment.

Shen Fengying rubbed his hands, walked to the colorful tent in front of his stall, asked Lu Shun and Pei Yunying to sit down at the small table, poured a tube of mung bean water for each of them, grabbed a handful of braised peanuts, and sat in the small table Sit down on the stool.

"Well, you should know what happened in Fengle Tower earlier," Shen Fengying threw a peanut into his mouth, "There was a fire in Fengle Tower, and something happened to the Grand Master's son. To be honest, I was the first to find out. "

Lu Zhen and Pei Yunying looked at each other.

Shen Fengying didn't notice it, he just patted his chest and sounded proud, but because of this, he was ashamed at the moment, and his pride was also pitiful.

"I was the first to discover it, and also the first to be unlucky. Someone had to be put in charge of the military patrol shop. Since I have no identity and no background, I naturally became the one who took the blame."

Lu Zhen frowned: "You found the Qi family master and saved his life. You should be meritorious."

"Medical Officer Lu, you don't understand officialdom at first glance!" Shen Fengying slapped the table, "Life is a small matter, but the shame of the Taishi Mansion is a big matter. People have to express their anger, right?"

After saying that, he slapped himself again, "Why am I so mean? If I didn't mind my business..." He choked for a moment, then pondered, "If I didn't mind my business, Mr. Qi would have If there are three long and two short, I may not be able to sell the mutton now. "

This is a bit sad to say.

Lu Zhen was silent for a moment and said, "I'm sorry."

Shen Fengying looked at her inexplicably: "What do you want to apologize to me for?"

 He sighed.

"Actually, I stayed in the shop patrol house for more than ten years, and in the end I just did a small job. If they want me to flatter them, I will flatter them, and if they want me to flatter them, I will flatter them. In the end, hahahahahahaha, okay!"

He laughed a few times and said, "Over the years, I have spent a lot of money on my filial piety, and I have been making cakes to satisfy my hunger all day long. It's really outrageous that I have ended up in this situation. In the early years, my mother told me my fortune, and she said that there was no sign of me in my destiny. I still don’t believe it, but now it seems that people still have to believe in fate.”

"Forget it, I'm too lazy to bother," he waved his hand, wondering if he was pretending to be free and easy, "If I knew all the money I spent on filial piety over the years was wasted and nothing was left, I might as well go home early and sell meat. I This face might be sold as mutton panan or something like that."

He was joking to himself when a diner behind him shouted: "Boss, cut two taels of mutton!"

Shen Feng said "Hey" in response, and while agreeing, he got up in a hurry and went to the warming barrel to fish out and cut the mutton. Lu Tong sat and watched him hand the cut mutton to the diners with a welcoming smile, feeling very uncomfortable.

The fire at Fengle Tower started because of her. In the final analysis, Shen Fengying also lost his official position because of her.

  She drank the mung bean water, left tea money on the small table, and left secretly without saying hello to the busy Shen Fengying.

 The market was bustling with people. Pei Yunying walked beside her and glanced at her: "Are you feeling guilty?"

“I was the reason why he lost his post,” Lu Huan replied, “I didn’t expect that the Taishi Mansion would move the Wrath Patrol House.”

  After all, it was Shen Fengying who rescued Qi Yutai from the fire.

 But it is ridiculous for a little person to seek "fairness" in this absurd world.

"The Qi family will not deal with a patrol shop specially, but the patrol shop will try to figure out the boss's feelings. This is the case in officialdom." Pei Yunying said.

 Lu Zhuo stopped for a moment.

 “Can the palace commander allow him to return to the patrol house again?” Lu Yan asked.

Pei Yunying is the commander in chief of the palace. Now she has gradually seen clearly the officialdom of Shengjing. Selling an official position and getting a title is just a fig leaf.

 “It’s not difficult. But it’s better not to.”

 Lu Zong looked at him: "Why?"

“Do you really think it’s a good opportunity for him to return to the patrol house now?”

Pei Yunying said calmly: "He has no background and no identity, and the friendship he gained only by flattery is not strong. There is no opportunity for him to display his ambitions in Shengjing's officialdom. If something else happens next time, he will still be the first one." Push it out.”

“People who reach high places in the officialdom are either smart or cruel. An honest person cannot survive here. He is not suitable, at least not now.”

　　Lu Zhen asked: “What about you?”

 He was startled, then smiled: "I am also a cruel person."

 Lu Zhen was silent.

  She understood that what Pei Yunying said was reasonable, but she still felt disappointed in her heart. "Don't worry too much," Pei Yunying said, "After a while, I will think of a way to find another job for him. Military inspection of the bunkhouse may not be suitable for him."

"real?"

"real."

He glanced at Lu Huan, and the corners of his lips curved, "But it also depends on whether the colorful ribbon given by Doctor Lu is to your liking."

 Lu Huan: “…”

 …

 The Qiqiao Market is full of people, and I heard that the lights stay on all night long.

Lu Zhen and Pei Yunying walked around for a long time, until they walked down the long street under Pan Downstairs, and finally saw Pei Yunshu and others in front of a vendor.

Freshly picked banana leaves are soaked in medicinal liquid, and the craftsmen inscribed poems and paintings on them, which is very elegant. Pei Yunshu was lowering his head to carefully select. Xiao Zhufeng was standing behind him, protecting her from a distance or not far away. When he saw the two of them, Duan Xiaoyan waved his hand: "Brother, Medical Officer Lu—"

Pei Yunshu turned around and said with a smile: "Aying, Miss Lu."

Duan Xiaoyan rushed forward excitedly and showed the two people the large and small bags hanging on his arms.

“I originally wanted to wait for you downstairs at Qiqiao. Sister Pei said that we wanted to watch a puppet show, so we followed him for a while. We were worried that you wouldn’t find us and went back on our own. Fortunately, we waited.”

Fangzi said: "There is a street just downstairs from Qiqiao. It is easy to find it."

Pei Yunshu looked at Lu Huan and said, "Miss Lu, how was your skill in the night fight just now? Did you have any luck?"

Lu Zhen took out the peony wood grain comb and said, "I won a comb."

"It's a comb." Pei Yunshu was surprised. "It looks good." He asked Lu Zhu again, "We didn't go in just now. How did Lan Ye fight with skill? What did you do in there?"

Thinking of the meeting in the Qiqiao Building, Lu Zhu pursed his lips and said nothing. Pei Yunying glanced at her and said to Pei Yunshu: "We can wait until we return home to talk. It's getting late. I think it's better to send Dr. Lu back to West Street first."

Pei Yunshu suddenly understood, and then smiled sheepishly at Lu Huan: "I was negligent. I haven't gone out for a long time, and I forget the time when I go out. Miss Lu has to see a doctor in the hospital on weekdays, so it is really not good to rest too late."

“It’s dangerous for you, a girl, to come home late, so we’ll take you back to the hospital first.”

 Lu Zhuo nodded but did not refuse.

Pei Yunshu and his party sent Lu Zhuo back to the hospital first, and then said goodbye to Duan Xiaoyan and Xiao Zhufeng.

After returning to Pei Mansion, Pei Yunying saw Pei Yunshu enter the house and was about to leave when he was stopped by Pei Yunshu: "Ah Ying."

"how?"

 “Don’t leave yet, I have something to tell you.”

Pei Yunshu asked him to come into the house.

Baozhu had been coaxed to sleep by Qiong Ying. Pei Yunshu lit the lamp and asked Pei Yunying to sit in the hall. She entered the back room first, and not long after, she came out with a silver box in her arms.

She sat down next to Pei Yunying and opened the silver box. The silver box was wrapped in a pile of red cloth. The red cloth was wrapped layer by layer. Pei Yunshu opened it one by one. Finally, the last layer was opened, and there was a sapphire carved flat bracelet lying in it.

Pei Yunying was startled: "This is..."

 “The jade bracelet left by my mother.”

The jade bracelet was as warm and moist as an emerald lake under the light. Pei Yunshu looked at it with a sigh in her tone.

“My grandmother gave my mother a sapphire carved flat bracelet as a dowry. When I was a child, my mother gave me this sapphire bracelet.”

“Originally I had a pair, and I kept one as a gift to the orb, but now I’m giving the other one to you.”

Pei Yunying stared at the sapphire bracelet and did not reach out to pick it up. He only said, "What are you giving me?"

"Ah Ying," Pei Yunshu lowered her head and stroked the jade bracelet, "do you still remember that after my mother passed away, I cried every day, suffered from heart problems that were difficult to treat, became seriously ill, and refused to eat. You learned what your mother did. The little wontons coaxed me to eat, making me happy every day, and I gradually got better."

She lowered her head and spoke after a while: "Actually, now that I think about it, you were younger than me at that time, and as my sister, I still needed you to take care of me."

Pei Yunying smiled: "Why mention the past?"

Pei Yunshu shook his head.

"You left Beijing later, and when you came back, you didn't tell me anything like before. Aying, I don't know what you have been doing these years. As you grow up, I sometimes worry that as a sister, I Is it dereliction of duty?”

 “Why do you think so?”

Pei Yunshu looked at him: "Ah Ying, Doctor Lu is a good girl."

Pei Yun paused.

"You are my brother. Although you hide it, I can tell that she treats you differently from others." Pei Yunshu said warmly, "I am an outsider and cannot interfere in matters of love, but I have something to tell you. , if you like someone, don’t let yourself regret it.”

 She took Pei Yunying's hand and stuffed the sapphire bracelet into Pei Yunying's palm.

Pei Yunying looked down at the jade bracelet and remained silent.

“Keep this jade bracelet. If you find someone you want to spend your life with, give this bracelet to her. This is not the Pei family’s bracelet, this is my mother’s bracelet.”

“I hope you will find someone you like and spend the rest of your life with, this is the hope that my mother and I have for you.”

 …

 When I returned to the study, it was completely dark outside.

After Pei Yunshu gave the bracelet to her, she went back to her house to sleep. She had been busy begging and walking around for a long time today, and she was tired.

Pei Yunying closed the door, walked to the small table, sat down, and put the jade bracelet wrapped in red cloth on the table.

Under the copper lamp, the small table was covered with scattered wooden blocks. The wooden blocks that had been knocked down by Lu Zhu were scattered in a mess, covering the entire table.

He stretched out his hand and brushed the scattered pieces of wood aside to create an open space.

 Then, pick up the wooden blocks and build the tower one by one.

Over the past many years, whenever he had something troublesome or encountered a difficult problem, he would always sit in front of the small table and slowly move up the table.

　When a person concentrates on something, his heart will become extremely peaceful.

It was always difficult at first. Gradually, the wooden tower got taller and taller. He spent less and less time whittling wood. Nothing in the world bothered him anymore. The wooden tower stood quietly in the corner of the study, cold and hard, like an abandoned building. Falling, silent shadow.

 Actually, before Lu Zhen knocked down the wooden tower, he had not put another wooden block on it for a long, long time.

 Hence, after being torn down, I never thought of rebuilding it again.

It just so happened that tonight, during the New Autumn Magpie Bridge, when people were begging for cleverness, he was sitting here, quietly stacking the grains one by one.

Pei Yunying piled up very slowly.

The rounded wooden blocks were carefully placed upward little by little, layer by layer, neatly and meticulously. The carefully calculated angles made the wooden tower look solid and strict.

 He spent a long time building it, and only the last piece was left.

 The wooden block was picked up and placed at the top of the tower.

But at the last moment, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the jade bracelet on the red cloth on the table.

The jade bracelet is green in color, like the lotus leaves made of colored paper in the Qiqiao Tower, full of emerald green.

 Suddenly, a woman's question rang in my ears.

 “The commander-in-chief can also be bound by love?”

The fingertips trembled, like a butterfly flying across the flowers, and there was a sudden "clatter" sound—

 The young man came to his senses.

 The neat wooden tower suddenly collapsed again.

 The army was defeated.

 …

 The night is dark, and the banquet in the red building is far away.

The small courtyard on West Street is quiet and quiet. Lu Zhuo lights up the lantern and closes the door.

Yin Zheng didn't feel relieved until she came back. After washing herself, she went to sleep next door. Lu Chen walked to the table, took off the hairpin on his head, let his long hair fall around his shoulders, and combed it with a comb.

After combing it a few times, I remembered something else. I stood up, took my purse, and took out a small comb.

 It is the winning prize of today's "Lanye Dou Qiao" in the Qiqiao Tower.

The comb grate is made of ordinary materials, with delicate peony patterns carved on it. Although it is not as luxurious as jewelry, it is still exquisite.

Lu Zong held the wooden comb and his eyes fell on the half-made colorful ribbon on the table.

Du Changqing studied medicine and made "Yuanyang Tea". The style of straw-woven bamboo baskets hung with colorful ribbons looks better. She was not as skillful as Yin Zheng. She was slow to tie the tape, and her appearance was also very rough. She couldn't hold it out, so she simply hid it in the house.

Lu Zong picked up the colorful ribbon.

For some reason, the laughter of the woman in colorful clothes in the Qiqiao Tower suddenly came to my mind.

　　"Spread out thousands of strands of love and write a new record of love. Dear girls and gentlemen, if you fall in love, the two of you will get married in the future, love each other for a lifetime, and grow old together. This is a good sign."

The two people entangled and pulled by the red thread, the amplified breathing in the darkness, the gentleness and sharpness in his eyes, the smile that is always tolerant...

There were autumn crickets singing lowly in the grass, frightening the birds to fly. Lu Zhu lowered his head and was suddenly startled.

The colorful ribbons that were half knitted by my hands became twisted into a ball at some point, and I couldn’t sort them out clearly.

  Tangled up in a knot.