bodyguard

It is said that a long time ago, Zhongnan Mountain was a complete mountain.Later, there was a ghost who practiced on Zhongnan Mountain for thousands of years and was about to become a fairy. After the last thunder disaster, the fairy envoy was supposed to lead him to the upper realm.Unexpectedly, the fairy envoy told him that there is no vacancy in the fairy world, and the matter of becoming a fairy will be discussed in the future.

The ghost has practiced hard for thousands of years, but unexpectedly, a light sentence from the fairy world knocked him back to his original shape.In despair, Jingguai slashed Zhongnan Mountain, where he had practiced for thousands of years, with his sword.

Since then, Zhongnan Mountain has been broken into two parts from the middle, and the sword used by the ghost has turned into a waterfall flowing down from the broken cliff.

At this moment, I hold a jar in my arms and stand in front of this waterfall.

Inside the jar are the ashes of my master.

Seven months ago, the third senior sister sent a letter to Taijing saying that Master Tao was no longer able to do so, and asked me to go back to the mountain to see Master for the last time.

It was a month's journey from Taijing to Zhongnanshan, and I thought I would not be able to make it in time to pay my respects to my master's remains.Unexpectedly, when I hurried back to the mountains, it took another half a year for Master to pass away.

When the master was dying, he told the third senior sister that when he died, he must be burned to ashes, stood on the cliff and sprinkled into the waterfall of Zhongnan Mountain.

The third senior sister is a sentimental person, and she couldn't bear to see Master's ashes, so this matter fell on me.

The third senior sister said, I am a heartless and ungrateful person, and I am the most suitable for this kind of thing.

In fact, I am not ungrateful. The third senior sister said this mainly to find a reason for herself.

Unlike our disciples who are not in Zhongnan Mountain all year round, Third Senior Sister rarely goes down the mountain because of raising exotic animals.Therefore, she stayed with Master the longest, and she was the saddest when Master died.

But in fact, I can't do much.

I buried the columbarium under the pear tree on the cliff.

After I finished burying the jar, I told my senior sister that I had scattered the ashes and threw the jar down together.

The senior sister hugged the snow leopard and said, Master's funeral is over, now that the senior brothers have left Zhongnan Mountain, you should go back to Beijing and continue to be the little prince's bodyguard.

I asked the senior sister, what is the future of the senior sister?

The senior sister heard the words, caressed the leopard, swept her eyes around in vain, and said, I want to guard this Zhongnan Mountain to raise animals, and I don't want to feast you like I want to suffer in the world of mortals.

I saw that the senior sister was sour again, knowing that she was fine, so I wanted to pack my things, when I was about to leave, the senior sister said again: "Oh, by the way, take your sword."

I raise my eyebrows.

The senior sister continued: "Three months ago, the fifth child made a hexagram. In three to five years, the world will be in chaos. You should bring a knife to defend yourself."

Five senior brothers didn't mention this matter to me when they were on the mountain three months ago, but I thought my senior sister wouldn't be so bored as to make up such a lie to lie to me, so I took the knife.

But I forgot to ask my senior sister, what kind of chaos is this world.

It will be a month later when I return to the guard room where I live in the palace.

Yes, although I sleep in the Prince's Hall every day, there is still a small room in the palace for me to put some change of clothes.

The house is not conspicuous in a bunch of guard rooms, but fortunately, I live alone and don't need to sleep in a big bunk.

I haven't been back for a long time, and the room is not as dusty as I imagined, but clean as new.

I took off only a sackcloth around my waist to cover my body, and went to the courtyard to draw well water to wash my body.

The hot water in the palace is limited, and if you don't call in advance, you can't take a hot bath, so the guards in the palace often take water in the courtyard to take a bath.

It was already November at this time, and it was already the season of snow in Taijing. Fortunately, there was no one in the courtyard, and no one watched me take a cold bath in winter.

Suddenly a shadow appeared on the ground.

I turned around, and the prince was standing behind me, his shadow stretched out by the winter sun.I haven't seen him for eight months, he has grown a lot taller, and the man's edges and corners are starting to stand out on his face, I almost don't know him anymore.

"Don't feast, I didn't scare you." The prince said, the slight white steam dissipated in front of his face.

His voice had also changed, becoming thicker than before.

I bowed and saluted: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has never frightened the minister. The minister's appearance is disheveled, and the minister is going to put on some clothes. The place is pickled, the prince should go back first."

I retreated back to the room to change clothes, and then took out the linen. With a "squeak" behind me, the prince stepped into the door with one foot.

I am stunned.

The prince looked at me and said with a smile: "Don't change the guards, I'll wait for you here alone."

My ears were burning slightly, and there was nowhere to hide in the house, so I hurriedly pulled a piece of clothes to block it and said, "It's better to go out first, His Royal Highness, the minister's body is unsightly, I'm afraid it will dirty the prince's eyes."

The prince didn't move: "Don't guard the coquettish and unrestrained bodyguard, it's too late to see the guard alone and happy, how can you feel dirty eyes?"

Just as I was about to argue, the prince said again: "Don't guards are still undressed, do you want Gu to look at you a few more times?"

I had to turn around and get dressed.

The prince has changed so much this time, and he doesn't know who he learned from.

After a few breaths, I turned around and said, "I'm ready."

He took a few steps forward, reaching out to smooth out the creases at my belt.

The Prince had never done such a thing before.

I stepped back slightly: "Thanks to the crown prince's love, it's just such a trivial matter, let me do it myself."

The prince put down his hands, and said displeasedly: "I don't know how many times the guards have done such trivial things for Gu, what's wrong with doing it once for the guards?"

I lowered my eyes: "The crown prince has a body of ten thousand gold, I can't afford it, I'm afraid that my life will be shortened."

The prince frowned.

His eyebrows are much thicker than before, raised sharply, very heroic.

He looked at me for a while, then turned and left.

I put the knife on my back and followed behind him.

After entering the Chongwen Hall, the prince suddenly turned around: "Don't guard the guards outside the hall."

I bowed: "What His Royal Highness said is true."

I turned around and walked out, and there were two guards at the entrance of the hall, staring at me eye to eye.

There was no place for me to stand outside the hall, so I had to find a pillar and rely on Brother Zhu.

The prince is angry.When he came back this time, the Prince's temper was much stronger.

The Golden Crow is falling to the west, and the Jade Rabbit is rising. I had dinner with two guards who were changing shifts, and when I returned to the Chongwen Hall, the prince was no longer there.

I still know the new guard at the gate. He told me that the crown prince has gone to Yichun Palace.

I had no choice but to go outside Yichun Palace again, and stay with brother Zhu in Yichun Palace.

The new wind is frenzied, mixed with snowflakes whistling past my ears.

The lights of the palace in the distance gradually went out, and the two guards guarding the gate of Yichun Palace also left, only the patrolling guards passed by from time to time.

The lights in Yichun Palace were still on.

A shadow appeared behind me again.

"Come in." It was the prince's voice.

The prince should have calmed down.

I went in, and the prince washed his face with the remaining water, and a palace maid found a blanket for me, and went out with water.

The prince was already lying on the couch.

I turned off the light and lay down on the ground wrapped in a blanket.

When I came, the prince was eight years old and six months old. When he returned to Zhongnanshan, the prince was 15 years old and three months old. On the third day of the next month, the prince will be sixteen.

After the sixteenth crown ceremony, he is an adult.

At the beginning, what the master and the emperor said was to keep the prince until he became an adult.

I'm leaving Taikyung soon.

"Don't feast."

The prince's voice broke my thoughts.

"The minister is here."

I turned my head, and the moonlight was like water, dripping on the screen, reflecting the bare branches of magnolia outside the window.

There was silence over there, the air seemed to turn into substance, and it was so oppressive that it was uncomfortable.

After a long time, he continued to speak.

"You have been away for the past few months, and I miss you so much."

"When Gu woke up that day, you were gone."

"I'm so scared."

"Gu knew you were back, so I went to look for you immediately."

"Farewell to the banquet, one goodbye to August, you haven't changed at all, but Gu has changed."

"Guben wanted to bear it any longer, but couldn't help it."

"Don't feast, Gu really doesn't understand what you think. You are doing things beyond the boundaries, but you ask Gu to be self-sufficient."

"How can you be so self-sufficient?"

"Don't worry, what do you think about Gu?"

I heard the sound of cloth rubbing, and I knew that the prince was looking at me through the screen.

The wind howled outside the palace.

I looked at the moonlight on the screen and didn't know how to answer him for a moment.

In fact, I already had a premonition, the prince's pretended casual intimacy, probing eyes, and reddish cheeks all told me: "This person likes you."

But I didn't expect that he would say it.

I thought he would stay in the temptation forever, so as long as I keep ignoring him until I leave, then this kind of thing will never happen tonight.And the relationship between us will always stay in this ambiguous stage.

But the prince is a young man, and young people usually change, but the prince changed too fast, so fast that I was caught off guard, so fast that I had no time to make up a decent reason.

I had to barely speak.

"What the prince said, I am very frightened."

"However, I am a humble person. The prince is the grandson of the emperor's dragon, and I dare not climb high. Besides, the goodness of Longyang will hurt His Highness's reputation if it is spread. Please also cherish the feathers."

There was a rustling sound from behind the screen.

"What you said is all lies." The prince said firmly, "You have never felt that you are a humble person, and you have never been afraid of my identity. Don't worry, you have been with me for so many years, don't I know What are you thinking?"

He walked around the screen and stood in front of me. The bright moonlight hit his face. It was a handsome young man's face.

"Look," he leaned over and put his hand on my heart.

Something soft was on my lips, and there was a hot breath between the nose and lips.

At that moment, my heart beat like a drum.

I seem to see thousands of pear blossoms blooming together in Zhongnan Mountain.

He got up: "Your heart is beating so hard, do you like mine too?"

I was silent.

After a long time, I took away his warm hand: "If I have nothing to worry about, I will be born like an ordinary person. Even if the crown prince asks me to die right now, I will have no regrets. However, since I was born, I will be responsible for my sins. This debt has not been paid, and I am afraid that I will not be able to repay the prince's affection for my minister."

I looked up at him.

He said in a trembling voice, "What debt do you owe? Gu can help you pay it off."

"I owe a life debt," I said softly, "if I want to repay this debt, I can't always be by the prince's side. I have a brother who is good at Zhouyi. He once pushed a divination for me. Because of this debt, I can't live for 35 years." .”

He touched my face, the moonlight reflected on his face, and something clear came out of his eyes.

"The minister is more than 28 years old this year, at most seven years, but the prince is still alive. I think, if you can't be with me forever, it's better not to be with me." I held his hand: "On the third day of next month, after the prince's coronation ceremony, the minister Then he will leave and return to the mountains and forests, and when he breaks through the mysterious realm, I will go to pay the life debt."

Despair finally appeared in his eyes.

The night was dark, and the wind and snow were howling.