Ning Gu

As the sun rises, the filth in the night is buried with the alternation of day and night.

Lu Qi was awakened by the morning light through the bamboo curtain. He rubbed his sleepy eyes, but saw himself lying on the couch in the bamboo house. He immediately sat up in shock and touched his whole body. Pei disappeared.

His eyes suddenly cleared up a little, and his subordinates were still rummaging through it. He was sure that it was gone, and his brows were all frowned. It was obvious that the ring pendant was an object he cared about very much.

He remembered that last night he was guarding the small table in the courtyard, looking at Xie Ling who was kneeling outside the fence.I don't know when I closed my eyes and fell into a dream.

He immediately rolled over and got out of bed, thinking that he might have accidentally dropped it, so he prepared to follow the path and walk into the courtyard.In the middle of the journey, I saw that on the table beside him, the mountain man fell asleep on the table.There seemed to be a smile on the corner of his mouth, maybe he was having a sweet dream.

For a while, Lu Qi couldn't bear to wake up this person to ask about Huanpei, for fear of disturbing this person's dream.He tiptoed outside the house, muttering: "I don't know what kind of dream it is?"

And the dream that Xie Ling had in this bamboo house was probably the most beautiful dream he had during the days of being haunted.

In the dream it was Zhaoxing's guest house, and all the monks went to the main hall for morning classes.He carried the piano to the resting pavilion by himself, and practiced the new tune he had learned with Miaofa Zhenren not long ago.

The peach blossom tree in the inn was just blooming, and it was shining brightly. He was wearing a gray shirt and a blue ribbon in his hair, and he sat on the piano table in the pavilion beside the tree.The beauty that should have been snatched by the peach blossom fairy, but because of this person's peach blossom eyes and full of resignation, he coaxed the amorous feelings of spring into him.

The melodious voice, the rustling qin language, in this place of chanting sutras and listening to Zen, is not as incompatible as imagined.The sound of the piano and the sound of the bell were gradually swept away by the east wind, attracting the prince and grandson in black robes and jade crowns.

The flowers and trees in the meditation room are deep, but the sound of the piano is long.

Xie Ling plucked the strings lightly with his fingers, and twirled them slowly, the eaves birds were courteous, the spring was still good, he thought wholeheartedly, it would be good to grow old with this spring.

I ignored the person who stood quietly listening to the piano at the door.It was also this qin listener that made Xie Wuling at that time want to let go of the spring and grow old with him.

The breeze just picked up, and he brushed his hair and the robes of the people outside the door. Xie Ling followed the trajectory of the butterflies among the flowers in spring, and caught a glimpse of the robes that were lifted by the breeze.

He calmed the strings with his palms flat, the sound of the piano ended, the lingering rhyme continued, he wanted to laugh and ask "who is it", but before he could say it, he saw the person pushing the door and taking steps.

He looked that person up and down, but he was so familiar, with black clothes and jade crown, phoenix head and dragon posture.But the man's face in this dream was blurred, he opened his eyes and stared desperately, and subconsciously called out: "Zhao Zuo."

But after he called out to him, the person turned and left. He got up and wanted to keep him, but he couldn't move. The background that is getting far away is exactly the same as the back that I saw when I looked back on the straight bridge of Qingxu Xuanguan that day, and the soreness in my heart at that time is also like this dream.

Lu Qi walked around the courtyard for a few times but still couldn't find the ring pendant. Just as he was about to raise his hand to call the hidden guards out to help find it, he heard a sound coming from the bamboo house, and he returned to the inner hall of the bamboo house in three steps at a time. , listening to the person at the desk muttering constantly, all he was saying was His Majesty's name.After a while, he closed the door, fearing that the sound would spread and cause disaster.

After all, people's words are terrifying, he still remembers that everyone said his father was a sycophant, they all wrote a note to ask His Majesty to dismiss him, and finally they forced his father to die in the Xie Mansion.

He approached, and seeing Xie Ling's brows tightened, he unconsciously raised his hand, wanting to raise his father's brows like when he was a child, and just touching the tip of his brow with his hand, the man woke up.Startled, Lu Qi quickly retracted his hand and handed over the cup of cold tea, pretending nothing had happened: "Shanren, are you awake? Have a sip of tea?"

"Are you awake?" Xie Ling took the teacup from him and put it by his hand.

"Yes, speaking of it... Can the mountain man see my jade pendant?"

"Jade pendant?"

"It's on Lu Qi's waist, and it's extremely important to Lu Qi."

Hearing the sound, Xie Ling frowned, his eyes dimmed a bit, and he asked after a long time, "What are the characteristics?"

As Xie Ling asked, he subconsciously gathered up his sleeves and the ring pendant hidden in the sleeves.

Last night, Xie Ling recovered from his chaotic memories, just got up, and walked towards the bamboo house with some difficulty with his weak feet.

When he pushed open the courtyard door, he saw that the man had already fallen asleep on the desk in the courtyard and fell into the dark.It is said that Wuyi is a scholar, Xie Ling stood alone in the courtyard, trying to drag this young man into the house without disturbing Lu Qi, I am afraid it will be impossible.He just wanted to imitate Lu Qi calling the hidden guards in the courtyard, so he wanted to get his ring pendant, but when he saw it at the foot of the table, he bent down to pick it up with some effort.

Holding the ring pendant in his hand, he looked at the somewhat old tassels on the palace sash, and felt strange in his heart, like a gust of breeze greeted the surface of a lake that had been calm for a long time, causing ripples.

He rubbed the fine lines of the ring with his fingertips, and the spring water in his heart was like being hit by the jade on the surface of the lake, splashing and creating waves.There is a word "Qi" engraved on it, and the whole piece of jade looks very gentle, if it is not the same word as the person in front of you, I am afraid that others will think it is an old thing from the previous generation, handed down.

Xie Ling didn't know why, so he wanted to keep it by his side. He felt that it should be kept under his sleeve, like a promise made by someone to him.

"Engraved Lu Qi's name."

"Is it a very important item?" Xie Ling looked at Lu Qi's gloomy appearance and asked aloud.

"It was left to me by my father before he passed away, but now it's lost, maybe it's fate." Lu Qi sighed guiltily, he didn't know how to explain his guilt to the person in front of him, he lowered his head and said Like a kid who made a mistake and got punished.

Xie Ling took out the jade pendant under his sleeve and gave it to Lu Qi, and said: "It will be safe to keep it in the future."

After seeing Lu Qi take it, he glanced away and let out a long sigh.I don't know who's fate is this bamboo house, this ring pendant, and the scenes that may be experienced next.

"Where's Suizhu?" Xie Ling said casually, looking at the slanting bamboo shadows outside the window.

"She went to the palace to make tea. Speaking of which, the aunt told me that there is a mechanism in the bamboo house, which can open the secret room."

"I know." Said Xie Ling got up, his steps were a little slow, but he tried his best to keep his feet steady, and walked towards the window of the bamboo house.

He stretched out his hand to grab the wind chime that was exactly the same as that on the porch of Qingxu Xuanguan, and then he climbed up along the bell wire, and found a piece of bamboo that was different from other places with ease, and took down that piece of bamboo, and pulled it. When the wind chime was pulled, a gap was formed in the book storage cabinet at the other end of the bamboo house, and it opened wide after a while.

"There is a similar mechanism in Qingxuguan." He explained in a few words under Lu Qi's adoring expression.

He walked up to the secret door, pushed it, and looked at the stairs extending into the darkness after the secret door opened. After a long silence, he asked again: "Do you want to go down?"

It seemed to be asking Lu Qi, but it was more like asking himself, but the answer was obvious.

Lu Qi gave the answer for himself and his hesitant father: "Since we are here, let's go and have a look."

"Let's go." Xie Ling turned around and took the candlestick from the table, borrowed the fire from the ever-burning lamp in the secret door, lit the candle, and wanted to lead Lu Qi down.

It's just that his steps are extremely slow, and every step has the illusion of trembling.Lu Qi also raised the candlestick, borrowed the fire from him, and stood in front of him one step ahead of him, saying: "I will lead the way, my father's knees are not very good, when I was young, he came in winter, and when I came home with him at night , I held the lamp for him."

Hearing this, Xie Ling put his hand on Lu Qi's shoulder, and patted him lightly twice.The words came out of his mouth naturally: "Good boy."

He was really taken aback by what he said, raised his eyes silently, and met Shang Lu Qi's gaze, which contained a thousand words, like a child lost in a crowded alley. When they were parents, they seemed to have support, and they no longer had to walk blindly in this world alone.

Xie Ling was stunned for a while, then hurriedly glanced away, pretending not to understand.

"Let's go, lest I go back on my word."

"You will not."

"Why?"

"No reason. It's just..." It is a son's determination of his father's temperament.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, nothing."

"..."