Clouds and Waters

Yun Chenxiao and Xiaoer ran to the school on the mountainside out of breath, but saw that the small school was filled with people in different outfits inside and out, some of them were in coarse clothes and linen. Farmers, some of them were silk and satin officials, some of them looked like yamen servants. They came and went in various shapes and forms, but they were all within a few feet of the school. Everyone stared at the school with bright eyes.

Yun Chenxiao wondered: "What happened today is really strange. Apart from a few old masters and students, how could so many people come to this small school? Could it be because Pinheng Academy recruits scholars? With doubts, she strolled into the study hall. As soon as she stepped in, she felt countless pairs of scorching eyes shooting at herself. Among them, the aura of killing Xiao Ran became more and more serious. Her eyes were like arrows, and she wanted to shoot herself through as a target. Same.Yun Chenxiao didn't feel the thorns on his back, looked sideways, and saw a rough-looking man dressed as a farmer, with a slight murderous look in his light, his left hand propped his waist, and his right hand pressed tightly, Yun Chenxiao's sharp eyes could clearly see his waist What is hidden is a black iron treasure knife, which has already been pulled out, facing the sun, shining brightly, and Yun Chenxiao hastily squinted his eyes under the light.Next to the man was a thin old man. The old man pressed the man's shoulder with a dignified expression, slightly frowned, and shook his head slightly, as if signaling him not to do anything for the time being.After a long time, he heard a faint sound of "Kang Dang", the man put the saber into the sheath, but his eyes were not far from Yun Chenxiao.Yun Chenxiao's heart was also startled when his treasured sword was put into its sheath, and he shivered suddenly, the chill in his heart became heavier, he didn't dare to stay for a moment, and walked into the study hall in a hurry.

Inside the study hall, it was still as usual, with trees covering the sky, birds singing and flowers fragrant.The cobblestone path twists and turns, and seems to lead to an unknown area.The green haze and the breeze in the mountains, the dew in the morning and the sunset glow, everything is natural, quiet and elegant, and you can faintly hear the sound of gurgling springs and bursts of pines. It is a good place to study deep in the mountains.

Yun Chenxiao heaved a sigh of relief, calmed down, touched the test paper in his arms, and asked Xiaoer softly, "Where is the test?"

Xiao Er didn't say anything, and led Yun Chenxiao to turn left and turn right.Yun Chenxiao occasionally came to this school to listen to lectures and practice essays. Although she was not familiar with it, she was definitely not unfamiliar.But at this moment, following behind Xiao Er, it was like falling smoke, and he felt that the surrounding scenery was strange, and he had never been there before.Ordinarily, when Pinheng Academy came to Jingzhou to pick up scholars, it was supposed to be held in the main hall of this academy. How could it be held in such an inaccessible small side room?It's really hugely counterintuitive.Yun Chenxiao couldn't help but think of the gloomy scene outside the study hall, felt something was wrong, and suddenly grabbed Xiao Er's skirt and said, "Wait! Xiao Er, where did you bring me to? Why have you never been here before? "

Xiaoer turned around and smiled and said, "I'm confused too. They recruited the most famous scholars in Jingzhou City for this exam, and they were in a very secret side room. Luckily, I know you well." One of the scholars, Xiaoyi brother and I, used all our strengths, used both soft and hard methods, and...hehe, don't blame me if you say it, and threaten him with the authority of the master, so he reluctantly agreed to let us Pretend to be a school boy, write the papers for us and cast them out. That's why the papers you see are all crumpled, miss."

Xiao Er knows that Yun Chenxiao hates others to bully others on weekdays.The ancestor of the Yun family used to fight with Gao Zu in the south and north, and made illustrious military exploits. He is a high-ranking founding father of the country.Passed down to Yun Zhengting's generation, the family background has gradually declined, and the glory of the ancestors has not been restored. Even so, he is still the second-rank general soldier in the official residence, guarding the gate of Jingzhou.Jingzhou is an important military town with a dangerous location, and now the emperor sent Yunzheng Pavilion to guard it, which shows his high status.It is precisely because of this that the servants of the Yun family, relying on their master's snobbery, are inevitably arrogant, and Yun Chenxiao hates this most, so when Xiaoer talked about it, he begged for mercy first.

Yun Chenxiao didn't have time to investigate carefully at this time, she still felt a lot of doubts in her heart, but it seemed that she couldn't break through the window paper, like looking at flowers in the fog, she couldn't figure it out, so she gave up, honestly He followed Xiao Er, made several turns, and passed row after row of houses with blue bricks and red tiles, before stopping in front of an old house.

Xiao Er pointed to the house and said, "Miss, this is it!"

Weeds grow here, reaching the height of people's knees, and the branches and branches of trees stretch out in disorder, like monsters with teeth and claws dancing their claws. The house wall bricks are missing, the mud tiles are incomplete, and they are in disrepair. It seems that a gust of wind will blow them down. like.The walls were washed pale by the rain, which looked a bit harsh.In the distance, there are still a few uneven and uneven grave mounds. There are a few crows lying on the mounds, melons and melons screaming, shrouded in a few wisps of green smoke. of.

In the middle of summer, this place actually showed a desolate and lonely scene. Yun Chenxiao couldn't help frowning when she saw it. She just took a step forward when her toes seemed to touch a foreign object. It's a plaque.Yun Chenxiao became curious, knelt down and stretched out his hand to touch it. Wherever he went, the paint was peeling off, the wood was soft and rotten, and he didn't know how many years had passed. Looking at the words on the plaque, it was the same. It is vague, but still recognizable, but the word "library" is good.Yun Chenxiao thought: "Could this be the library of this elementary school? It is true that although the sparrow is small, it has all the internal organs. I don't think there is a library in this small place? But seeing the dilapidated scene here, I am afraid that no one will come gone."

Yun Chenxiao looked at the plaque in a daze, but suddenly saw that there seemed to be a line of small characters in the lower left corner of the plaque.Looking carefully, Yun Chenxiao seems to be signing the name of the writer.The character is small in nature, and the wind and the sun make it blurry and difficult to read. Yun Chenxiao recognized it for a long time before she managed to recognize one of the characters, which seemed to be the character "Lin", but it didn't quite look like it. handwriting.Yun Chenxiao didn't want to bother to guess, and looked down again, but this time she could see clearly that it was written in "Yongkang Three Years Book in Jingshan".Yun Chen Xiaoxin said: "Yongkang is the reign name of my emperor Gaozu. Yongkang is three years old. It seems to have a history of more than a hundred years. No wonder it is so mottled. I don't know who is here. It seems that this small school is still big. Someone with a background..."

"Miss, what are you doing?" Xiaoer asked from a distance, Yun Chenxiao looked up, but saw him lying on the window sill, greeting her side.

Yun Chenxiao suddenly remembered what he was doing this time, let go of his thoughts, and ran quickly, looked through the gap in the window, and saw about twenty people sitting scattered in this room, and the ones sitting below were Confucian scholars Scholars, each frowning in deep thought, some held a pen and kept licking the inkstone, but did not write a word on the paper.Yun Chenxiao smiled inwardly and said, "Haha, don't these Confucian scholars have figured out this arithmetic problem?" Thinking of this, she felt extremely proud.

Looking at the chief invigilator again, there was a man in the middle who was dressed in gorgeous clothes, sitting upright.Although it is a hot day, they still wear thick-soled black boots, high crown and long wear, but they do not give people a sense of redundancy and procrastination, on the contrary, they feel elegant.The man had sword eyebrows and starry eyes, his face was like a crown of jade, he was respectful but not arrogant, noble but not vulgar, his whole body exuded an extraordinary demeanor, his majestic dignity without anger made people dare not look directly at him.Holding a mountain and water folding fan in his hand, he kept shaking it, slightly blowing the beautiful beard under his chin, elegant and agile, as bright as a jade tree facing the wind.His movements are elegant and unrestrained, he doesn't seem to be trying to drive away the heat, but he is waving his hands casually. In the leisurely mood, he is slightly calm and rigorous, and he has a natural elegance and general style in his gestures.

Yun Chenxiao's heart fluttered when he saw it, and he pondered foolishly: "When this man was young, he must have been a suave and elegant person, and I don't know how many loveless women will go up to the west building alone, looking through the autumn water." I don't know. Why, she thought of this all of a sudden, but she is Yunying's unmarried boudoir lady after all. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but blushed, silently lowered her head, never looked at the man again, even Even the people around the man couldn't see clearly.Or maybe this man's demeanor is as eye-catching, like the sun and the moon, covering up the meager starlight of the two people beside him.

Xiao Er didn't see Yun Chenxiao's weird expression, but looked into the room and whispered: "Miss, I don't know where these people come from, the two people next to them seem to respect the old man in the middle, those old masters, when they saw him He bowed and knelt again."

Yun Chenxiao came back to her senses in a daze and said, "Really?" As she spoke, she couldn't help but look into the room.

At some point, the bearded man got up, walked around the room, and looked at the test papers of the Confucian scholars one by one, while the two people next to him followed him closely.As he got closer, Yun Chenxiao wanted to take a closer look at that handsome man, but was blocked by the man next to him. Feeling very upset, he glared at the man with hatred.Inadvertently, he saw that the man seemed to know that someone was staring at him, and looked towards the window astutely.Yun Chenxiao hastily turned around to hide, leaning her back against the mottled wall, her heart pounding.

After a while, there was a sudden burst of laughter in the room, and then someone said: "Mr. Zheng, the Jingzhou Prefecture is full of outstanding people, rich in resources, and full of talents, but there is no one who has done the last math problem?" ?”

The voice was thick and deep, presumably it came from that handsome man.Only then did Yun Chenxiao peek at it again, the person who answered was named Zheng Mingyuan, he was the master of this school, but Yun Chenxiao recognized him, only to hear that Zheng Yuan replied: "Back...well, back to my lord, my lord, you Wise and wise, how can these scholars be able to do it? It is normal for them to not be able to do it."

The beautiful bearded man smiled slightly and said: "Really? I just don't believe it. In such a big Jingzhou Prefecture, no one can solve this arithmetic problem. Mr. Zheng, go and make a list. Whoever solves this problem will be rewarded heavily!" "

Zheng Yuan was taken aback, his sparse eyebrows frowned, and said, "My lord, don't wait any longer, they..."

"Mr. Zheng, there is no need to wait. I have already solved this problem before!"

Zheng Yuan was surprised, and looked at the person who spoke at the door, and saw her in a brocade robe and jade belt, with delicate features, standing in front of the door, with a smile in the spring breeze, shining brightly on the whole room, she just walked in lightly, followed by her A boy.

Zheng Yuan stared at the visitor for a while, and felt familiar, but couldn't figure it out for a while, until the person approached, then he cried out "ah", and said in a trembling voice: "Yun... Yun Xiao... "

Yun Chenxiao's bright eyes flashed, and she hurriedly interrupted him: "Nine days away from the sky, six dragons will return to the sun. Mr. Zheng, is that what you mean?"

Zheng Yuan faltered and was about to speak, when the beautiful bearded man shook his head and waved his hands, he had already greeted him and said, "What's the name of this young master?"

Seeing the man approaching her, Yun Chenxiao took a closer look at him. He was indeed handsome and detached. She couldn't help but her heart beat faster, and said, "I... I am Chen Xiao."

The handsome bearded man closed the folding fan, nodded and said, "Just now Mr. Chen said that you have solved the last problem?"

Yun Chenxiao collected herself and said, "That's right, this question is not too difficult to say."

The bearded man was stunned for a moment, Yun Chenxiao stretched his hand into his arms, and said with a smile: "Here is the test paper, this gentleman please take a look at it. This..."

In the middle of her speech, she stopped abruptly, a red light appeared on her face, and she said in a hurry: "No, no, I took it by mistake...it's not this..." As she spoke, she hurriedly removed the white veil Tucked into the bosom.

It turned out that when Yun Chenxiao was taking the test paper, she flipped through it casually and took out the veil of the woman in white who was riding a horse.When the bearded man saw the veil, he said "Huh", but his brows frowned and his face changed slightly.The man behind him saw it, his eyes flashed, and he said in a deep voice: "Master, that veil belongs to that woman, this..."

The bearded man turned his head to look at him, and said softly: "Don't make any mistakes!" The man had to shut his mouth embarrassingly when he yelled at him.

The man with a beautiful beard immediately said to Zheng Yuan: "Mr. Zheng, tell all the students to come back. The list of candidates of Pinheng Academy will be posted in a few days."

As soon as he issued this order, Zheng Yuan hurriedly drove away the crowd, only a few people remained in a dilapidated old house.

The face of the bearded man returned to the original tranquility and detachment in an instant, and he said with a smile: "Mr. Chen, where did you get this veil from? Can you tell me something?"

After Yun Chenxiao's embarrassment passed, she settled her mind and said, "Xiao Ke is here to solve the problem today. The matter of the veil is also a personal matter, so don't worry about it."

The handsome bearded man immediately laughed heartily, and said, "Okay, since it's your private matter, I don't need to ask any more questions. Mr. Murong, take a look at this Mr. Chen's test paper."

At this time, another scholar dressed as a Confucian scholar behind the handsome man answered "Yes" respectfully, stepped forward to catch the test paper in Yun Chenxiao's hand, and read it carefully.

Only now did Yun Chenxiao sized up the scholar a few times, but saw that his body under a light blue robe looked like a dead tree, shriveled and thin, with deep wrinkles on his face, deep-set eyes, dull and lifeless.She thought to herself: "I don't know who this man is. The people around him, both civil and military, seem to be inscrutable."

After a while, Mr. Murong collected the paper and said with a blank expression: "Okay. The solution is simple and clear, and it is clear at a glance. It is the method recorded in the "Siyuan Yujian" by Mr. Zhu Songting of Yanshan Mountain." Although he was boasting , but the tone was flat, without ups and downs, and his lips seemed to have not moved. He just said these few words mechanically, then fell silent again, standing straight behind the beautiful bearded man, really like an old tree.

The man with a beautiful beard took a look at the paper and said with a smile: "Well, yes, young people have read a lot of books, right? Nowadays, there are not many people who study arithmetic. Also, this handwriting is smart and elegant, with a strong character, quite You have the style of two kings, young man, you have learned a lot!"

After hearing this, Yun Chenxiao felt itchy in her heart, fluttering and swollen, full of joy and excitement.Yun Chenxiao's mother died young, and she followed her father Yun Zhengting since she was a child.As long as she could remember, Yun Zhengting was either busy with military affairs or practicing martial arts and guns.Every time I see her, she always has a straight face and is very strict.When Yun Chenxiao made a slight mistake, he couldn't help but yell at him loudly.Yun Chenxiao respected and feared her father.There is an ancestral rule in the Yun family, that is, the children of the Yun family, regardless of gender, are only allowed to practice martial arts and are not allowed to study.But Yun Chenxiao was strictly controlled by Yun Zhengting, and she was rebellious by nature, didn't she not let her study?She chose to work against it and read books behind her back.At the beginning, it was just for a moment of pleasure, but unexpectedly, the more I read it, the more vigorous I became.It was also Yun Chenxiao who was gifted and intelligent. He learned everything by himself without a teacher, and gradually became a Taoist.Fortunately, Yun Zhengting was busy with military affairs, and he had no intention of caring about family affairs.But she still reads and writes secretly, no one knows about her except her close servant girl, and naturally no one praises her.It was the first time in my life to be praised so much today. Naturally, I was ecstatic, but I didn't know how to be modest. I smiled and said: "You are right. When I practiced calligraphy, I wrote according to Wang Youjun's post."

That Zheng Yuan already knew Yun Chenxiao's identity, but he also knew the noble status of the bearded man, how could he speak freely in front of him?Accidentally, the head falls to the ground.Immediately, he couldn't help shouting: "Presumptuous, my lord praises, why don't you hurry up and thank you?"

Yun Chenxiao was startled suddenly.The bearded man smiled and said: "It doesn't matter. This is not a mansion. Why do you need so many rules? It's better to be more comfortable."

Zheng Yuan hurriedly nodded in agreement.Suddenly, a hoarse voice came from outside the door and said: "Xiaguan Yunzheng Pavilion, I have ordered you to come to see the prince."

The bearded man frowned, and said joyfully, "General Soldier Yun is here? Please!"

Yun Chenxiao was terrified at the moment, his heart was beating wildly, his limbs were all cold, and he stretched out his hand tremblingly to pull Xiao Er.But that Xiao Er was also very frightened, his face changed, livid and livid.Yun Chenxiao knew that she could not count on him, so she took small steps back.At the same time, Yun Zhengting also entered the room. He was burly and heroic, walked into the room step by step, without looking sideways, knelt down on one knee and bowed, and said in a deep voice: "Jingzhou General Soldier Yun Zhengting, Kowtow to His Royal Highness King Ning."

The man with a beautiful beard hurriedly helped him up, but he still didn't let go of his hand. He supported Yun Zhengting and said with a smile, "Yun Shuai, why are you being polite to me? Come, sit here!" An old friend I haven't seen in years.

But Yun Zhengting didn't sit down, he stood up respectfully and said, "My lord's words are serious, how dare I be an official? I'd like to invite my lord to sit down."

The smile on King Ning's face remained undiminished and he said: "Shuai Yun, you don't seem to be straightforward and heroic during the war. Could it be that after serving as a Taiping officer for a long time, your arrogance has also worn away? This king always misses that period of war. . Yun Shuai..."

Yun Zhengting was startled, lowered his eyebrows and sighed softly, and replied: "My lord, it's all in the past. It's okay not to mention it. But I don't know why the lord called the officials here?"

King Ning pretended to be surprised, and said, "What? Yun Shuai doesn't know? Impossible? Even if you forget me, you shouldn't forget this school! Without this school, your Yun family still doesn't know what to do now. where!"

Yun Zhengting's whole body was shocked suddenly, and he took a step back unconsciously, and his breathing gradually became heavier.

Yun Chenxiao didn't care about so much, and had already retreated to the corner step by step.King Ning seemed to have heard her movement suddenly, and said loudly: "Young Master Chen, why are you standing so far away? Come on, this is Yun Zhengting, the commander-in-chief of Jingzhou, you should know him, right?"

Yun Chenxiao lowered his head and remained silent, King Ning asked in confusion, "Mr. Chen?"

Yun Chenxiao's heart twitched, and he said: "Rather than just sit and wait for death, it's better... 36 is the best way to escape!" At the moment, regardless of 21 [-], he ran to the door with his head buried in a breeze and said, "Xiao Ke has other important things to do. Farewell, farewell!" Before she finished her sentence, she suddenly felt a black shadow under her feet crossing her eyes, but she was running too fast, relying on her inertia, she couldn't stop for a while, and bumped into the black shadow.It was like bumping into a copper wall and an iron wall, and suddenly there were stars in his eyes, and he couldn't look at it.The man laughed foolishly, and said: "No one can leave without the order of the prince! Go in!"

Yun Chenxiao was dizzy and completely unconscious, almost being dragged in by that man.

Hearing the voice, Yun Zhengting thought it sounded familiar. When he saw someone coming in, he was shocked and angry, his tongue burst into thunder, and he shouted: "Xiao'er! Why are you? You are messing around!"

Yun Chenxiao called out "Daddy" in a trembling voice, touched her forehead that was hurt by the bump, and didn't dare to move any more.

King Ning was also surprised when he saw this scene. He waved his folding fan and laughed loudly: "Shuai Yun, this "Mr. Chen" is actually your daughter? Haha, interesting, interesting!"

Yun Chenxiao wanted to cry but couldn't help crying, secretly complaining endlessly: "It's over now, it's no wonder you didn't get beaten to death by daddy..."