【Xianze】Difficult to recite

The light rain in the evening in Kyoto was continuous, pattering down the eaves, and dripping down the rubble without haste. Along the boundary line, the ground to the north was dry and gray, and the land to the south had been covered by The rain was soaked in a dark color.

They made the last batch of customers for the day before Suxinxuan closed. Suxinxuan is no more than a stone house. It is not a big restaurant, not even a lobby. It only has a shop with a few square meters and a canopy at the door. It is about to close today. There was no one there, and even the awning was taken away, so the two of them each moved a small bench and sat under the storefront to hide from the rain.

"Where are the paintings?" Li Chengze began to ask for it, and from the corner of his eye, he kept glancing at the master who was kneading the dough diagonally behind him.

"It won't be any faster if you look at it again." Fan Xian said, "What painting?"

Li Chengze's face darkened upon hearing this.

Fearing that the teasing would really piss people off, Fan Xian dawdled for a while, and said, "I'm already here, and you're still thinking about Wang Qinian, isn't that plausible!"

"..." Li Chengze smiled in disbelief, "You're good at fighting back and forth, and you're willing to bow down."

Fan Xian spoke eloquently: "I left His Majesty, the most honorable emperor of the Qing Kingdom, in the palace and ignored me to accompany you to eat pineapple cakes!"

The hand behind kneading the dough slipped and there was a bang.The two turned their heads in unison, and the kneading master's cold sweat fell.

...Did I hear something incredible!

Li Chengze frowned, "You scare people."

"I don't, I'm so amiable." Fan Xian grinned behind the counter, and he smiled brightly, just like Fan Sizhe, harmless to humans and animals.

"You and Fan Sizhe are really not brothers?"

"What's the matter, doubt His Majesty's ability?"

"That's not true. I wouldn't be surprised if another brother emerges from any corner."

Boom—this time the rolling pin fell off.

Fan Xian didn't change his face: "A person like Fan, will His Highness meet another one in his lifetime?"

Taking off his shoes and squatting on the wooden stool, Li Chengze scooped up a bowl of frozen milk soup, and delivered it to his mouth with small sips from the wooden spoon. The milk fragrance was wanton, and he was very satisfied.Holding the bowl in his hand, he said, "You will never meet another person like me."

Fan Xian was originally leaning on the wooden counter behind him, but he suddenly arched forward. He tilted his head slightly, saying that His Highness is really confident.

Li Chengze refused to accept this, and asked, "Why did Chen Pingping kill you?"

"He didn't want to kill me, but to make His Majesty the Emperor think he was going to kill me."

"He wants to break up with you?" Li Chengze was pondering, he kept talking, and the bowl had already run out, "To protect you, why is this? He intends to..." He guessed, would it be for a reason with the Qin family? , but he shook his head, "Chen Pingping has always been loyal to her father, just for a woman?"

"Just for one woman." Fan Xian stretched out his hand, waiting for him to give him the bottomless wooden bowl, "The emperor can have many, but there is only one woman in the world who is like my mother."

"Then why wait for so many years, people who know what happened back then are almost dead."

"The old cripple also wants to believe in his lord. It was just an unfounded guess at the beginning. You know that doubts are rising and growing. The more clues you have in front of you, the more you can't deny it. Your own doubts That's right."

"He will die." Li Chengze said.

The emperor will not tolerate the betrayal of his closest and most trusted people.

Fan Xian took the wooden bowl and put it on the counter, someone will clean it up.He looked up at the dripping eaves, covering half of the gray sky, and a flash of lightning flew in the distance, splitting the sky into fragments at that moment, and the black cracks spread to the endless sky, sinking into the sea in an invisible distance .He leaned his back against the plank behind him again, relaxed his body, stretched his legs, and the tops of his feet were in the rain.

"He won't die. I will go to the palace to ask for an order tonight. It's time for the Inspection Institute to change hands. I can give him the answer he wants, and I will let him go to a safe place to retire."

Hearing what Fan Xian said, Li Chengze hummed, and he also looked at the sky. The dusk was heavy and the sky was wide. After a long time, he seemed to let out a shallow laugh.

"Fan Xian, you really haven't changed."

Fan Wujiu on the roof held an umbrella and thought that the rain would never stop. He didn't like rain. The salty wetness of the rain was like blood, which made people lose their sense of smell, and the hidden crisis was hidden deeper.

He sat for a long time, so long that there was no intermittent conversation below, and the rain did not stop. It was completely dark, and the lights on the street were lit up one after another, and the aroma of rice, oil and salt began to permeate.

He held the umbrella in one hand and his chin in the other. It was hard to explain why His Highness had changed since he returned to Beijing. Now that he thought about it, it might be Mr. Fan. The two of them were too in sync.

He was thinking about this, and suddenly, Fan Xian grabbed the eaves and used his strength to climb up the roof and walked towards him step by step. Fan Wujiu stood up and collapsed his body, entering a defensive state.

Fan Xian covered his head with one hand to avoid the rain, and held the shortbread wrapped in oil paper, which was still steaming hot.

"It's just out of the oven." Fan Xian approached and handed it to him, "Your master only eats good food, try it?"

"Oh..." Fan Wujiu was in a daze, and wiped his hands on the lapel of his clothes before going to pick them up. The master handed the subordinates food, which he had never seen before.

"Why are you so cautious?" Fan Xian slapped him on the shoulder, and confessed, "I'll take your highness back to the mansion later, the carriage should go slowly, I won't be able to digest it if I eat too much, and shaking it will make me feel uncomfortable."

"Okay." Fan Wujiu nodded, the shortbread in his hand conveyed a warmth that cannot be ignored, and Fan Xian ordered that the cold ones are delicious, and they went back the same way.

He squatted on the roof and took a bite while it was hot. It was crispy and soft, and it melted in the mouth. No wonder His Highness rushed to take the last bite even in the rain. It was indeed delicious and extraordinary.

Waiting for him to smack his lips, the Second Highness had already called him downstairs, Fan Wujiu jumped off the roof nimbly, and took advantage of the opportunity to hold the umbrella on top of Li Chengze's head.Another wooden stool, he noticed, was empty.

"Your Highness, are you going back home?"

Li Chengze nodded, turned around again, ordered two more fresh meat mooncakes, and wrapped them together, Fan Wujiu hurriedly took out his pocket and handed over the money.

"Go to the other courtyard and go back." Li Chengze carried a bundle of shortbread and slowly walked back to the place where the carriage stopped. Because the street is narrow, the carriage can only stop at the intersection and cannot get in. It is not a short distance , It also happens to take a walk to eliminate food.

Fan Wujiu thought it was an extra treat His Highness had prepared for him, but when he heard that he was going to another courtyard, he understood that it was to visit Princess Chen.

Ever since Prime Minister Lin Ruofu resigned and returned to old age, Princess Chen has returned to her own courtyard. With Fei Jie's treatment, her health has improved a lot, but the residual poison is still not cleared, and it will take time.The Empress Dowager hoped that this granddaughter could live in the palace to accompany her. After the empress passed away and the eldest princess left the palace, there were fewer and fewer people in the palace who could talk to her, and only Concubine Shu still had a heart.Princess Chen didn't like the rules in the palace, so she only went to the palace to stay for a few days to accompany the queen mother, and most of the time, she stayed in another courtyard.

His Highness the Second Highness and Princess Chen are not blood relatives, and the relationship is so good probably because of their congenial temperament.Fan Wujiu thought about it, saw the carriage parked at the intersection, remembered Fan Xian's instructions, looked at the sky again, and said, "Your Highness, it's getting late, why don't you go tomorrow."

"No help," Li Chengze boarded the carriage, jokingly said, "Bian would want to cry if he knew that you had been bought by Fan Xian for a piece of pineapple cake."

A red lantern was lit at the gate of the Royal Courtyard.

When Li Chengze lifted the curtain of the car, he saw a woman wearing a red dress with a lantern at the door, knocking on the door, but no one answered after knocking a few times. She walked back and forth at the door, put down the lantern, and went around Beside the fence, he was gearing up, looking like he was about to force his way in.

How could it be such a coincidence?

Li Chengze thought, Ye Linger hasn't changed, it's him who has changed.

Fan Wujiu watched his master watch the woman climb the wall, showing a look of nostalgia, he coughed, not too big or too small, just enough to be noticed by those who were doing some sneaky business.

Ye Ling'er was frightened by the movement, her hands slipped, and she fell to the ground from the middle, her posture was hard to say beautiful.

Li Chengze laughed out loud at first, but felt bad, turned his head and glared at Fan Wujiu, then got off the carriage, Ye Linger rubbed his waist and struggled to get up from the ground, climbing the wall was his own fault, so he wasn't too tough, After seeing the person coming, he was even more silent.

"You didn't fall, did you?"

"Ah...no! How could such a little height hurt this girl!"

"That's good." Li Chengze looked at her with a smile, "Miss Ling'er also came to visit Wan'er?"

"Yeah, Wan'er usually doesn't go out, what's going on today..." Speaking of this, Ye Linger looked at the door again. While talking, the door was loose. Let him see, "So someone is here!"

The old butler opened the door with an oil lamp, and saw a big red lantern at the door. He thought it was Miss Ye family who had arrived. Looking left and right, he was surprised to find that the second prince was also there. There is nothing strange about it.

Ye Ling'er strode to the door, picked up her own lantern, walked in eagerly, and complained: "Lin Bo, why is the door opening so slowly today, where is Wan'er? I brought her some good things!"

Li Chengze also followed slowly at this time, and nodded at the old housekeeper, who was left behind by Lin Ruofu.

The old butler bowed to both of them with neither humility nor condescension.

"Second Highness, Miss Ye, the princess has gone to the palace today, and will return to the mansion tomorrow."

"The empress dowager asked Wan'er to enter the palace again?" Ye Linger was a little unhappy when she knew that she had run for nothing, but if it was the empress dowager's intention, there was no other way.

"It's Your Majesty, ask the Princess to play chess with you." The old butler replied.

"Wan'er's chess skills were taught by Lin Bo's father, even if it is His Majesty, she may not be able to win a few hands." Ye Linger said proudly, subconsciously looking for approval, "Second Highness, do you think... is it? "

Just now he was still full of smiles, but when he turned his face away, his face was so gloomy that it could drip water.