[Xianze] Danbo Bookstore Jiangnan Branch

On a summer afternoon in August, the chirping of cicadas on the sycamore trees spread densely throughout the entire palace like an annoying net.Under the scorching white sun, a few pairs of eunuchs and maids were scrambling to catch Xia Chan with bamboo poles under the tree. Everyone's clothes were wet and sweaty.Salty sweat fell into the eyes, and the heat was suffocating.

Concubine Shu's palace is still quiet and refreshing.After giving birth to the second prince, she was promoted to a noble concubine, but she refused all the precious gifts and only accepted a few rare books.In the clean study room, few outsiders entered. A personal nurse of a noble concubine hurriedly opened the door of the study room with a dish of moistened grapes.

She walked through the rows of wooden shelves where all kinds of books were neatly placed, looking around, and finally found the target of her trip on the floor in front of the penultimate row of bookshelves.She stomped her feet angrily.

"Oh, Second Highness. Why are you lying on the ground reading a book again—you're going to catch a cold in your stomach!"

The boy lying on the cold ground turned his head.He looked about six or seven years old, but he gave the impression of being too precocious, with a pair of sly eyes restrained from looking at Mammy's face.His bare feet were dangling back and forth in the air, he was still chewing on half a piece of mung bean cake, and several old books of Concubine Shu's beloved past were spread out on the floor.

The Second Highness didn't apologize, just stretched out his hand towards Nanny, his five fingers opened and closed like cat's claws: "Grapes."

"My little ancestor," the nanny complained, but in the end she brought the grapes in front of him, and asked, "Why don't you listen to the persuasion and still read here? When the time comes, His Majesty will blame you, and the one who will be punished will not be the imperial concubine or empress."

"The mother concubine doesn't care how many palace points are fined, as long as her books are not burned."

"Second Highness, you are still too young. Whether your mother can live a good life in the future depends entirely on your ability...you have to live up to it."

The second prince's hand froze when he threw away the grape seeds, then he sucked off the remaining grape juice on his hand, and said lightly: "I know."

The two were arguing, but they heard another court lady rushing into the study, shouting: "Nurse Wang! That man is here, take the Second Highness there!"

The nanny patted her head, and with an ouch, she simply dragged Li Chengze out of the study and sent him into the front hall.

Concubine Shu sat in front of the case and buried herself in reading, with a boy no older than 16 standing beside her.He was neatly dressed, with a tight mouth, and a long sword in his arms.

Wang Momo saluted and shouted: "Your Majesty, the Second Highness is here!"

The second prince dragged his shoes and stepped into the gate, still chewing on a grape.He skillfully sat down cross-legged opposite Concubine Shu, picked up the apple on the table and started to chew.After a while, he raised his eyebrows and asked, "Who?"

"Your bodyguard." Concubine Shu replied without raising her head.

Li Chengze gnawed on an apple while looking at the young man, the young man saluted in an overly standard way, and introduced himself: "I'm Xie Bi'an, from the sword, I will swear to the death to protect His Highness from now on."

"Yeah, yum!" Li Chengze gave him a sweet smile, but he turned his head and looked at his concubine mother with a gloomy face, his face changed extremely quickly, "What background? Are you really reliable? You won't betray?"

Concubine Shu turned a page of the book, but did not answer.

Xie Bi'an clenched the sword in his hand and raised his eyebrows to the second prince. Although his face was still cold, he promised word by word: "This sword is not broken, no one can touch His Highness for a moment; Bi'an is not dead, no one can take His Highness's life." .”

Li Chengze blinked, changed to a more comfortable sitting position, and smiled again, revealing two immature canine teeth, as if he had believed Xie Bi'an's promise.But the tone he replied was still guarded:

"Okay."

The years go by, the sun and the moon alternate.Li Chengze was sitting in front of the desk in the same posture, holding a collection of Fan Xian's poems in his hand, he was breathing unsteadily and looking at the full moon outside the window, cold sweat fell on the pages of the book.

The empty bottle once full of poisonous wine was placed on a side of a plate of round purple grapes. Li Chengze slowly turned a page of poetry with his trembling fingers, and a bitter smell of blood welled up in his throat.He smiled self-deprecatingly.

"Unexpectedly... I broke my promise first."

he said softly.

Fan Xian was awakened by a rush of shouts from the next room.

He and Li Chengze hurried to the capital in three days, settled in a post station on the outskirts of the city, and will be able to enter the city smoothly tomorrow afternoon.They lived in neighboring rooms, and the wooden houses were not soundproof, but now this strange noise came from Li Chengze's room.

Not many people know the news that Li Chengze is still alive, but after all, there may be enemies looking for him.Fan Xian put on his coat, quickly rolled over from the outer window, and picked the window lock of Li Chengze's room.

When his feet landed on the ground, Fan Xian heard Li Chengze yelling again, his tone was terrified and urgent, and there were a few unintelligible ravings mixed in with the yelling.Fan Xian first looked around and didn't feel that there was a third person present, so he rushed to the inner room.

The candles in the inner room were extinguished, and there was no one in the room. Fan Xian pulled open the bed curtain neatly, and saw Li Chengze curled up in a ball and trembling beside the bed.He twisted the quilt with his hands, his eyes were closed tightly, and his head was covered with cold sweat, obviously falling into a nightmare.

"Wake up."

Immediately, Fan Xian slapped Li Chengze's cheek with the back of his hand, forcing him to wake up from the nightmare.However, Li Chengze just shrank back, still talking nonsense with his eyes closed.

Fan Xian had no choice but to lean over again and wanted to shake Li Chengze's shoulder, but just as his hand touched Li Chengze's shoulder, he suddenly felt a chill on his neck, and an unsheathed short blade had stopped on his shoulder.

Li Chengze's arm holding the dagger trembled slightly, his eyes fixed on the figure of the visitor in the dark room.He might have woken up when Fan Xian called for the first time, yet he was more than capable of arranging a counterattack.

Fan Xian was not annoyed, he pinched the blade with two fingers and moved the dagger away.Li Chengze finally saw the person clearly by the moonlight, his body relaxed, and his hands dropped to the side of the bed, panting heavily in shock.

Half of his soul was still immersed in the nightmare, and he asked in a daze, "Where's Bi'an?"

Fan Xian thought it was funny, it turned out that Li Chengze had lost his mind rarely at this time, and thought he was still living in the second prince's mansion, guarded by Xie Bian.He said: "Your Bian kidnapped my brother-in-law, why don't we go to be negotiators to find him?"

Li Chengze finally woke up completely. He covered his forehead with his hands, took a few deep breaths, and said apologetically, "I had a nightmare. People can control their words and expressions when they wake up, but in a dream... there is nothing they can do. "

Fan Xian nodded in understanding, and then walked outside the house.Li Chengze was lowering his head to straighten his loose skirts, when he looked up and saw Fan Xian was about to step out of the room, he subconsciously let out an "eh".

"What's wrong?" Fan Xian asked back.

"You... are leaving?" It was rare for Li Chengze to say something that he couldn't hold back.

"Otherwise?" Fan Xian replied as a matter of course, then closed the door and walked away.

"..."

Li Chengze leaned back, thinking to himself, that's true.He woke him up to make sure he was okay, then it was time to go back and rest... Otherwise?After all, they were just blood ties, and they were once sworn enemies.Now that Fan Xian has rescued him, he has discovered some hidden secrets deep in Fan Xian's heart...but that's all.

Feeling an indescribable loss heavy in his heart, Li Chengze was about to turn over and lie down and try to fall asleep when he heard footsteps coming from the door again.Fan Xian came again with a basin of hot water.

"Wipe, how can you sleep with cold sweat and sticky." He handed Li Chengze a clean towel, took it back halfway, soaked it in hot water and wrung it dry before throwing it over again, and teased: "It's a crime!" Die, I forgot that His Royal Highness is so noble, maybe he can't even wring a towel."

Li Chengze's eyelids twitched. Although he knew that Fan Xian was trying to help him recover from the palpitations of the nightmare, he still couldn't help but replied, "I don't know how to twist towels, but I almost cut off your head just now."

"Oh, that's terrible. Just for your attack just now, I had to cooperate with the performance with kindness, or I almost took your arm off."

Li Chengze rolled his eyes and wiped his cheeks and neck with a warm towel.Fan Xian is straightforward, but his gentleness is subtle, as long as he is willing, he can always convince the other party without losing face.

Fan Xian sat down on the bench beside the bed and found that Li Chengze's hair was still loose. Although it was a bit disheveled, it showed a bit of stubborn fragility under the moonlight.Like the soft belly of a hedgehog, the nightmare later falls short of the other side of the fortification.

"What did you dream about?"

"Hmm...my deadly enemy, gentlemen." Li Chengze answered truthfully.

Fan Xian scratched his head: "I'm sorry, I'll just sleep in the room next to you, and you're still dreaming about my 108 transformation forms, guys."

Li Chengze pursed his lips and didn't bother to pay attention to him, threw away the towel, and lay down comfortably again without any politeness.He stared at the top of the bed for a while, Fan Xian sat silently, he knew he was waiting for him to speak.

"...I dreamed about my childhood. I was pushed down the pond in the imperial garden in winter. At that time, I didn't have the strength to struggle. My feet were soaked in the water and I couldn't move. I could only push myself up. I called for help, but every time I drank more cold water, I could only see the faces of others looking forward to my death... I will never forget that expression."

When Li Chengze said this, he suddenly turned his back on Fan Xian, as if to hide his sudden fear.

"I was nine years old at that time, and then I understood two things. First, there are many people in this palace who want me to die; Die laughing."

Fan Xian asked, "Who saved you?"

Li Chengze smiled, turned around and asked curiously: "Normal people always ask first, 'Who pushed you'."

Fan Xian said: "You said that you dreamed about your mortal enemies, so no matter who really killed you that day, from now on in your nightmare, your mortal enemies must take turns to push you into the river... Makes me think Think, Crown Prince, Eldest Princess, Emperor Qing...even, me."

Li Chengze acquiesced, and then replied: "Bian saved me. At that time, he only came to my side for two or three years. After I fell into the water, I became seriously ill. When I woke up, I heard that I had slept for a few days. Kneel for a few days outside the hall to plead guilty."

"From then on, I completely trusted him and let him be my personal bodyguard. If he didn't belong to me, I'm afraid he would be a sword fanatic, practicing swords all day long, seeking masters from all over the world. But he listened to me, so he did it for me. I kill, block the sword for me...and die for me."

Fan Xian stopped talking, and fell into deep thought in the dark.Li Chengze knew that he thought of another person.

The death of Teng Zijing was a backlash that Fan Xian did not allow others to touch until now. Now that he is far away in the south of the Yangtze River, he still regularly asks people to quietly bring some practical things for the Teng family's wife and children. Accepted, they are still safe.

Li Chengze was one of the masterminds behind the assassination on Niulan Street, and it was also the beginning of the relationship between him and Fan Xian.At that time, he was scheming and playing with people's hearts, but he couldn't understand why Fan Xian was so extreme about the death of a guard since he survived.Later, he visited the procuratorate unannounced at night and saw the inscriptions that had long since been neglected. When he stroked the handwriting recessed into the stone slab one by one, he suddenly understood that he probably could not be friends with Fan Xian in this life, let alone a close friendship.

Unexpectedly, after several twists and turns, Fan Xian moved him to the south of the Yangtze River while he was still alive. Although he never mentioned Teng Zijing in front of him, Li Chengze knew that this would always be an unhealed grievance among them.

At this time, Fan Xian was sitting beside his bed with his head bowed, and the water basin beside him was still emitting the last trace of heat.

Although Li Chengze has been experienced in the emperor's house and has been deeply experienced in the city, he is still a temperament that he has to work hard to win when he has a goal. , Teng Zijing, I know you will not let go, I just ask if you want to take revenge."

Fan Xian raised his head. In the dim light, his gaze was secretive, and his whole body exuded a strong sense of oppression that could not tolerate doubts.He walked to Li Chengze's bed in one step, and stretched out his hand.

At that moment, Li Chengze almost thought that Fan Xian would strangle him.He subconsciously wanted to get up, but Fan Xian's hand pressed his shoulder, and the hot palm forced him to lie back.Fan Xian looked down at him from above, and spoke slowly.

"Yu Gong, I will prevent the second prince from vying for the throne, because his life is worthless, not only to Teng Zijing. Yu privately, 'Li Chengze' is indeed dead, and I have avenged that fool. But in my heart..."

Speaking of this, Fan Xian moved his hand to Li Chengze's chest, and Li Chengze felt as if a heavy stone was pressing on him, making it difficult for him to breathe.However, Fan Xian quickly moved his hand down, grabbed the corner of the slid quilt, and covered Li Chengze.

"In my heart, I hope you can remember Teng Zijing. I told you a lot about 'Fairyland' in bits and pieces that day on the lake, but in the final analysis, I can't expect you to understand everything, after all, you have learned the rules from childhood. Absolutely not. Like everyone told me 'the one who died was just a bodyguard'...to the people of this world, he is just a bodyguard."

Having said that, Fan Xian sighed lightly, and was about to turn around and leave when a cool hand grabbed his wrist.

He turned his head and saw Li Chengze still lying on his back, but the light in his eyes was something he had never seen before.Maybe it's because of his fragility tonight, maybe it's the moonlight, maybe... it's because they're all changing.

"Fan Xian," Li Chengze said bluntly, "don't expect too much, but I will try to think and understand you. But I must tell you the truth: this has nothing to do with confessing what I have done.

I don't regret what I have done - even if I am in the eyes of the world, I am heinous in your eyes.Because for me, being born in this world, other people's life, my life is not that important to me. "

After hearing this harsh and bold villain's declaration, Fan Xian smiled instead.He grabbed Li Chengze's hands back, and the two pairs of hands were similar in size, but one was hot and the other was cold.

After breakfast the next day, just as the waiter put away the bowls and chopsticks in Li Chengze's room, Fan Xian entered the room with a plum on his back.

"It's very sweet." Fan Xian threw a purple plum to Li Chengze, who was sitting cross-legged on the couch with his eyes closed. Crowded together, quickly drank three mouthfuls of tea.

"Is it fun?" Li Chengze glanced at Fan Xian with a half-smile.

The two tacitly acted as if yesterday's episode never happened, tacitly paying attention to the matter in front of them.

Fan Xian knew that he was very similar to himself, and he could keep all the grudges from his previous life firmly in his heart, waiting for revenge.But at least he got Li Chengze back from his thousands of thoughts, Fan Xian accepted it as soon as he saw it, and his tone returned to seriousness: "Wang Qinian sent a letter and said a lot of information."

Li Chengze knocked on the table with his knuckles to signal him to sit down.Fan Xian also said: "After his investigation, although the kidnappers are difficult to approach and are careful everywhere, they still need to solve the problem of food. Qi Nian squatted in the backyard and found that every three days an old man would put them in the abandoned bamboo baskets in the backyard. some food.

At first I thought it was an accomplice of the robbers, but later I told the old man that he was just a vegetable farmer. About half a year ago, he took money from a masked man and asked him to come over every few days to deliver vegetables.Since then, the silver bills have often been placed in front of his window, and he has been delivering food for half a year. "

"Half a year..." Li Chengze thought for a moment, "Wang Qinian didn't make a fuss about the dishes?"

"I taught him how to take laxatives, but it's a pity that no one has touched the bamboo basket in the backyard since the day he questioned the old man. It can be seen that the kidnapper has a very strong anti-reconnaissance awareness." Speaking of this, Fan Xian hesitated for a moment whether to explain this. The meaning of the term "Fairyland", but Li Chengze nodded slightly, obviously as the name suggests, he roughly understood what Fan Xian wanted to express.

"Then how does he solve the food problem?"

"It is said that he used some innovative airdrop method that Qi Nian admired. He said that one day he saw a stone flying out of it and dropped a fat pigeon in the courtyard. Later, the Hsinchu in other courtyards also lost a few... "

Li Chengze smacked his mouth, "The days are getting colder, and it's time to drink bamboo shoot and pigeon soup."

Fan Xian looked at him inexplicably, Li Chengze cleared his throat and asked, "What else did Wang Qinian say?"

"The robbers didn't choose the most comfortable and spacious master bedroom to occupy. Instead, they lived in a small room connected to the master bedroom. But Qi Nian still hasn't seen his real face, so he can't be sure if it's really Xie Bi'an."

Li Chengze looked at the half-bitten sour plum in his hand, and said, "There's no need to check, that's Xie Bi'an."

"Why so sure?"

Li Chengze sighed and said: "He has lived in that hut by my side since he was 15 years old. I wanted to change the house for him in the future, but he never agreed. Besides, Wang Qinian said that the old farmer started delivering food to him half a year ago. It coincides with the time of his disappearance in the Dadongshan incident."

"What's more," Li Chengze said in a slow tone, "After the 'death' of the second prince who tried to kill his father, most people avoided my affairs, and only this fool would stay in the dead house." Here, I want to protect a ray of soul."

Having said that, Li Chengze let out a long sigh, and leaned against the wall behind him, lost in thought.Fan Xian didn't bother much, took out two sweet and ripe dark purple plums from his arms and placed them on the table in front of him, then left.

As the departure time approached, Li Chengze was packing in the stable, and Fan Xian found a black gauze hat and handed it to him.

"You can take it with you when you enter the capital. Thank you for the stinky trouble of the second prince who cleared the venue. The common people are rarely lucky enough to see your real face, but it is inevitable that they will encounter the old officials by chance, just in case."

Li Chengze patted the horse clippings on his hands, took the hat and got on the horse.He raised his whip, and suddenly remembered something, and asked Fan Xian who got on his horse at the same time behind him, "Hey, have you ever heard of Malayanism?"

"Horse...? What the hell."

"Mara madness is a rare fodder. I also saw it in my concubine's library. I heard that horses eat this grass and look ordinary, but once they hear the harsh sound of a horsewhip, they will go into heat and go crazy. It usually takes half a day to stop. ..."

At the moment when Fan Xian seemed to understand something and was about to jump off while holding the saddle, Li Chengze quickly danced a firecracker in the air, slapped the horse's butt loudly and cheerfully, and winked at Fan Xian with his right eye. : "See you in Kyoto."

Amidst the panic in the barn behind him mixed with Fan Xian's roar of "Fan Yu, you stingy vengeful!!", Li Chengze succeeded in grinning and galloped away, leaving only a cloud of dust. .

Putting a bowl of fragrant bamboo shoot and pigeon soup in front of Li Hongcheng, the swordsman first loosened the hemp rope that bound Li Hongcheng's hands, and then pointed to the soup with a cold face: "Eat it."

Li Hongcheng stretched his muscles and bones, and seemed to be quite used to his life of being kidnapped these days. He lowered his head and drank a big mouthful of pigeon soup, sighing: "Sweet, chopped green onion is wonderful."

Xie Bi'an's face darkened, he clenched the long sword in his hand, and said: "The Second Highness said. The soup is weak, but the green onions can be saved."

Speaking of His Royal Highness, Li Hongcheng put down the bowl and chopsticks in his hands for the hundredth time, Xie Bi'an immediately raised the scabbard in warning, Li Hongcheng made a gesture that he would not act rashly, and said earnestly for the hundred and first time: "My There are several letters written by His Highness the Second Highness in the inner pocket of the outer robe, which were entrusted to me to deliver. One is for the Empress Dowager Shugui, and the other is for you. Just go and have a look. "

Xie Bi'an said coldly, "Letters can be forged."

"It's a letter written by His Highness the Second Highness."

"Handwriting can also be imitated."

Li Hongcheng explained the story for the [-]rd time: "The Second Highness apparently committed suicide, but he was saved by Fan Xian."

"Because it's Fan Xian, I don't believe it."

"..."

"You are now half of his relatives, and Fan Xian will not sit idly by when you are kidnapped. I will wait for him to come. Before that, no matter how many troops stop you, if he doesn't come, you can't go out."

Li Hongcheng sighed, and asked, "Why do you distrust Fan Xian so much?"

Xie Bi'an didn't answer for a long time, and became an iceberg that refused to eat.He took away the bowls and chopsticks that Li Hongcheng had finished eating, tied his hands again, and left without saying a word.

Xie Bi'an was seriously injured by Fan Xian on Dadong Mountain, and almost died when he rolled down the mountain, but was rescued by a hunter who lived in seclusion in the mountains.Fan Xian's zhenqi was profound, and it grew more than when they first met in Prince Jing's mansion. Xie Bi'an lay on the bed and experienced a narrow escape, and barely opened his eyes half a month later, but the sky had changed.

Orion said that some time ago there were thieves trying to usurp the throne in Dadongshan, but fortunately they were put down by Emperor Qing.As for those royal relatives and nobles who tried to murder Emperor Qing's life, they all committed suicide in fear of crime.

It was late winter two months later when Xie Bi'an recuperated enough to be able to walk. He said goodbye to Orion and limped into the Xiaoshouyuan on a snowy morning. posterity.The ground was covered with frost that day, the morning sun was white and cold, and the tomb guard was still sleeping peacefully in the warm inner hall. Xie Bi'an's footsteps fell on the snow, one deep and one shallow, and finally knelt down in front of one of the stone tablets.

This stele is quiet, and there are no tributes and candlesticks placed in front of the tomb.Concubine Shu comes from a scholarly family, and her family values ​​reputation and dignity more than life, so naturally she doesn't want to waste money for a sinful prince.A circle of withered and yellow weeds appeared beside the stele. Xie Bi'an cleaned up the surrounding area and wiped off the snow on the stele.

He didn't say a word from the beginning to the end, and limped away on the footsteps of when he came, still holding a long sword in his chest.When he walked out of the Xiaoshouyuan, Fang raised his head to look at the morning sky that was snowing again, and suddenly heard a dull and long bell ringing in the distance, buzzing and shaking the whole land of Nanqing.When Xie Bi'an heard the unique ringing of the bell, a smile suddenly appeared on his lips, and he moved into the deserted Second Prince's Mansion to guard the tomb for him.

The mausoleum guard of the Xiaoshouyuan heard the bell and woke up from his dream. He was so frightened that he hurriedly dressed and put on a hat, pushed his wife who was still sleeping beside him, and shouted, "Can you hear the bell?"

The wife wakes up dimly and asks, "What?"

The mausoleum guard wore a hair crown, began to wear a belt again, and stomped at his wife.

"The bell! Your Majesty the Emperor, you are dead—!"

He and his wife rushed out of the inner hall and ran towards the courtyard of Xiaoshou, but on the road they saw a series of footprints of different shades, stretching from the front of the courtyard to the new grave of Li Chengze, who was buried only February.The grave has been swept clean, and there is only a thin layer of fresh snow on top of the stele, and a bunch of fresh green purple grapes is placed in front of the stele.

As the sun was setting, a horse and a man ran towards the sealed second prince's mansion in the distance.The steward of Prince Jing's Mansion, who was guarding the door, finally had a smile on his face. He strode forward to greet him. He was about to kneel down and beg Mr. Fan to rescue his son, but he saw that Fan Xian's hair was disheveled and his expression was exhausted. He was also panting tiredly.

"Master Fan, what's wrong with you?!" The butler asked in a low voice, not daring to attract attention.

"It's nothing," Fan Xian said with a sneer, "It's just a one-man (just in case) shock. It's very exciting, so it doesn't matter."

He jumped off the horse, helped up the people in Prince Jing's mansion who were about to kneel down and begged for help, and waved his hand: "I have basically understood the specific situation. I will go in to rescue at midnight at midnight. You guys leave first and wait for news from me at Prince Jing's mansion."

Amid everyone's low-pitched thanks, Fan Xian turned his head and saw a thin man in a black veil sitting in the corner. He put his hand into the black veil, as if he was munching some fruit.

"Plums are so sweet." The man in black gauze sighed.

"Ma Zhencao's revenge, I have remembered Ha Li Chengze." Fan Xian said with a smile.

Li Chengze also nodded with a smile, meaning just let the horse come over.

Of course he wouldn't have expected it at this time—Fan Xian hadn't expected that this revenge would be temporarily buried in the soil like this, and would be suddenly dug up by Fan Xian in the future, and he would successfully avenge him, causing Li Chengze to do so. Paid double.

Double double, makes sense.

TBC