withered prosperity

As soon as the fifth watch is over, the drums are played first in the palace, with a total of [-] sounds. Hundreds of officials enter the court from the palace gates, and there are drum towers in the four cities of Shangjing.

Since the establishment of the current dynasty, every morning in Shangjing has started from then on.

Prince Cheng's Mansion is not far from the palace city, and the sound of the drums in the inner palace can also be faintly heard. When the drums were played in the four cities, Yan Hai had already washed up and sat in front of the window with his coat on.

When the drums stopped, it was already daylight.

At this time, there is mist, and the scenery of Ningshuang Lake shrouded in smoke and water is particularly beautiful.

"Actually, I came to Shangjing many years ago, but I only stayed for a while and left. I didn't have the chance to enter the city, and I didn't hear the sound of the drum." Yan Hai said: "My mother told me before, even after many years , Every morning and evening, she could faintly hear the sound of drums, as if she had never left this place."

The next door window was half open.

"My mother said that when she was young, she always wanted to save some money, find an honest man to marry, have a small courtyard in Shangjing, do a small business in West Market, and listen to the sound of drums every day. Live a stable life." He smiled softly: "I have heard a lot, and I just think that one day, I will take my mother to live in Shangjing, marry her a beautiful daughter-in-law, and start a small business. People live a peaceful and beautiful life.”

The other half of the windows was also open.

"This is a simple wish, but it was extremely difficult for me and my mother at that time." Yan Hai lowered his head and looked at his hands: "After my mother died, I made an oath , One day I will come across the sea, travel all over the mountains and rivers, see all the beautiful scenery in this world, and finally go to Beijing to live happily ever after.”

His ten fingers are long and slender, and his nails are round and beautiful. These hands are the only part of his body that most resembles his mother.

"Is one of your ten sentences true?"

Yan Hai's hands trembled slightly.

Xiao stood in front of the open window, his voice was not loud, but it reached Yan Hai's ears clearly.

"I don't even know if your name is Yan Hai." His voice was a little cold, not because he was annoyed, but because he was really angry. "How dare I believe what you said casually?"

Yan Hai thought, when did he use this voice to talk to me?

Yes, that year...

That year, Yin Chilian was sent to Shangge, and Jingchan came with her. She felt that the girl looked a little like her mother, so she often went there to look for her. Later, Jingchan would be wrong and asked someone to come over to raise her. As for the marriage, he asked himself if he was willing, how could he be willing... Later, he made a fuss in front of him and was sent to the lower court to fend for himself.

At that time, he said a lot of things that made him sad, to the effect that he said: You are not even qualified to be my servant, you must never say such things again, I will never like you for the rest of my life!

If you just said you didn't like me, maybe I wouldn't be so gaffe, because you wouldn't admit it even if you did.

But you said forever...

A lifetime is very short...

"My mother calls me Xiaohai, and Yan is her surname." Yan Hai answered him: "In the place where I grew up, they called me Yue Cuiwei, the 'moon' of Yuehua, and Cuiwei is the green peaks and emerald green. Also the word 'Cuiwei'."

There has been no conversation for a long time. At this time, the sky is cloudy and golden, and the sun has risen.

"There are many things you haven't told me."

Yan Hai turned around.

The sunlight came in from the window and shone on the man.

The man took off the mask, revealing the beautiful face that haunted him in his dreams.

"Yun Ji." Yan Hai smiled at him: "We haven't 'seen' for a long time."

"You have another identity and origin, but you have pretended to be a servant by my side for so many years, how can you let me not care?" He didn't bother to pay attention to these boring jokes, and asked directly: "Who are you? You And why have you kept it from me for so many years? What do you want from Chaomu Pavilion? Shouldn't you answer these questions for me?"

"The Chaomu Pavilion is nothing to me, but it's just..." Yan Hai felt that he was being too rude when he said it, so he softened his tone and explained: "I was plotted against by someone seeking revenge, and my meridians I lost all my damaged martial arts, so I had no choice but to hide my identity and enter Chaomu Pavilion."

"So, you know martial arts?"

"It used to be." Yan Hai answered him frankly: "But I was injured so badly back then that my martial arts were completely useless."

"Who hurt you?"

"Barely can be regarded as... junior sister!" Yan Hai leaned against the window and propped his chin, as if recalling the past: "We all grew up together, with Yue as our surname, and the ages are not much different. After four or five years old Then they will start to practice martial arts, and only those who have learned the best will be kept, and when the youngest one reaches the age of twenty, they will have to fight one by one, and only the winner can pass on the mantle of the master."

Yun Ji never thought that he would say such a thing, instead of the stupid words of "I'm doing this for you" as he thought.

He froze for a moment before continuing to ask: "What is a one-on-one duel?"

"Fight to the death." Yan Hai said nonchalantly, "Will never die."

Yun Ji moved his lips, but didn't know whether to continue asking.

When he started questioning, he thought that this person would change the topic again or make himself angry on purpose, but he didn't expect that he would answer all the questions.

And what he said is too much beyond the scope of "I'm all for you"...

"You think this is absurd! But to us, it's perfectly normal." Yan Hai saw that he hesitated, but in fact, he planned to tell him about these things: "My martial arts are not the best. Well, I don't want to risk my life for this kind of meaningless competition, so I tried my best to escape, but my junior sister didn't care, she just wanted to put me to death. Later we were in a place not far from Shangjing When we met, she plotted against me and seriously injured me, I fled all the way to the vicinity of Qianqiu Mountain, and had to hide my name and enter Chaomu Pavilion to take refuge temporarily."

After he finished speaking, he turned his head and smiled, lowered his voice and continued, "I saw you later and decided to stay there."

Yun Ji didn't speak for a long time.

He was actually not speechless.

Why don't you tell me these things?Why hide it from me?You suddenly said these things, who knows if it is true or false?Don't think that I don't know, you are used to talking nonsense without changing your face when meeting each other!

More than ten years ago, he must have asked these words, so he wouldn't think too much about them.

But now he doesn't.

Being able to sit firmly in the position of the Chaomu Pavilion master, command the huge Chaomu Pavilion, and make those old foxes bow down to him, is impossible to do just by relying on martial arts.

Although he really wanted to slap this big talker who made him feel impatient, his remaining rationality told him that these words were very likely to be true, at least partly true.

Just like when Yan Hai first entered Chaomu Pavilion and came to Zhaoming Garden, he did have many unreasonable actions.It's just that I was emotionally unstable at the time and didn't care about things outside of me, so I ignored the strangeness.

Therefore, it is not impossible for him to enter Chaomu Pavilion to avoid being hunted down.

Of course, on the contrary, these words may not all be true.

All this is too much of a coincidence!

Moreover, I always feel...he must have something to hide from me!

Thinking of this, Yun Ji's face darkened.

"We'll talk about that later." He put the mask back on his face.

After a while, there was a knock on the door.

"Young Master Yan." The servant girl said outside the door: "My lord is in the flower hall downstairs at the moment, please go downstairs and meet me."