Tang riddles

"San Niang, the tremella red date soup is cooked in the kitchen, and it's given to each room, you can use some. Recently, the sun is dry and nourishing." Wu Ya walked into Zhang Ruohan's boudoir with a food box and said.

"Leave it alone, I'll use it later." Zhang Ruohan replied, looking a little absent-minded.She was sitting in front of the vanity mirror, loosening the peach red ribbon for her hair, and combing her jet-black hair carefully with a comb.

At this time, even though it was getting warmer, the night was still slightly cold, so Wu Ya warmed the soup with boiling water.Zhang Ruohan put down the grate and asked her:

"Is Second Uncle still drinking with Daoji Shibo?"

"That's right, Mr. Zhang is very happy. I haven't seen Mr. Erlang for a long time, so I have to drink to my heart's content, especially with Mr. Li, who is known as the Jiuxian." Mentioning this matter, Wu Ya He seemed to be very happy, and said in a cheerful tone.

"You have to look at Uncle Daoji, his body is not strong anymore, it's not good to drink too much."

"Don't worry Sanniang, the second wife is here, they don't drink much." Wu Ya said.

Zhang Ruohan thought about it again, yes, her second aunt is famous for being good at housekeeping.To put it more bluntly, she is stingy, and there is a good wine hidden in the house, so she must be reluctant to let people drink more.The second aunt always said that the good wine at home would be reserved for her wedding banquet in the future. Zhang Ruohan always couldn't laugh or cry when she heard it.

But now it's all right, her wedding is not far away.Mr. Zhang was so happy that his family probably knew about her and Chishi.Regarding the wedding date, Shen Sui discussed it with Zhang Shuo and Zhang Ruohan on the way.After returning to Luoyang, there will be an interval of three days. During these three days, Shen Sui will use it to handle and arrange some affairs.The morning court meeting on the third day coincided with Wangri's great court meeting. Zhang said that he and Shen Sui would directly propose marriage to the sage, and begged the sage to grant him a marriage.

As for why he asked a sage to give him a marriage, Shen Sui had many considerations.The most important thing is because of the unclear relationship between Li Jinyue and Zhang Ruohan, which more or less involved the face of the royal family and the saint.More than four years ago, when the mirror grinding scandal between Li Jinyue and Zhang Ruohan broke out, the sage's attitude was quite disgusting and repulsive. At that time, he severely reprimanded Li Jinyue and punished Zhang Ruohan with a three-month ban.Therefore, now that Zhang Ruohan's marriage has to be seen by the sage, he may be able to rest assured of Li Jinyue and Qujiang Zhang.At the same time, asking the saint to grant the marriage is also to put the greatest pressure on Li Jinyue and make her give up thinking about Zhang Ruohan.

But this sounds too cruel, so every time Zhang Ruohan thinks about marriage, after instinctively looking forward to it with joy, he will be shrouded in more intense sorrow and anxiety.Today, I don't know if Chishi went to find Maomao, if he did, how did the talk go?Ever since she and Shen Sui separated at the door of the house, she has been restless and restless, until now.

When she just returned home, she had already showered and changed clothes, and now she had dinner and was fine.After traveling for a long time, it stands to reason that she should be exhausted, and she should have rested earlier, but she didn't feel sleepy either.Walking to the bookshelf, he randomly picked out a volume of Taoist scriptures, and then sat under the lamp, casually reading.

But Wu Ya was really tired, sitting by the charcoal stove, watching the bowl of white fungus and red dates soup, his eyes gradually narrowed, and his head nodded.

Zhang Ruohan noticed it, patted her lightly, and said:

"Go to sleep, I'm fine, you don't have to watch over."

Wu Ya was stunned for a moment, then yawned, and said:

"Sanniang, remember to eat the soup."

"I can save it." Zhang Ruohan said with a smile.

Wu Ya was about to leave the room, but before going out, Zhang Ruohan asked her:

"Where's Qianhe? Why didn't she see her when I came back?"

"Oh, she said she was going to see a friend, and she will stay at that friend's house tonight." Wu Ya replied.

friend?She is a wanderer from the East, alone in the Tang Dynasty, with no relatives and no reason, how can she have friends in Luoyang?Zhang Ruohan was a little surprised, but thinking about it carefully, she had been wandering in the two capitals for a long time, and it was not surprising that she had a few friends in the rivers and lakes, so she didn't care much.Nodding his head to show that he understood, Wu Ya left.

Zhang Ruohan sat alone in the room, the lights were like beans, she propped her head on her arms, and slowly turned the pages of the book.Seeing the sentence "Heaven and earth unite, so that nectar will fall." [Note 1], but my thoughts suddenly diverged.Soon, her picturesque eyebrows slowly drooped, and a sense of confusion surged up.It's not sleepy, it's just that I can't help but fall into a strong fantasy, imagining the scene of her and Chishi's big wedding, they were dressed in wedding clothes, but they fanned each other in the green hut, eating together on the same plate, Drinking together [Note 2], how psychedelic that scene must be, it was something she had never dared to imagine in the past ten years.

It wasn't until there was a "snap" that there was a crisp sound from the west window of her boudoir, that she regained her senses in shock.

"Who?" she asked, frowning.

"Lotus maid, it's me." Someone outside the window called out in a low voice.

It's Akashi's voice!

Zhang Ruohan hurriedly stood up, walked quickly to the west window, unfastened the catch, and opened the window.Then under the clear moon, Shen Sui was still wearing the green robe when they parted, standing quietly by the window, and as soon as she faced her, she smiled at herself, smiling with crooked brows and eyes, slender and handsome, very cute .

So Zhang Ruohan was in a gloomy state of mind just now, and suddenly the hole opened up, like the hazy moon coming out of the clouds, the clear light diffused, and the soft waves overflowed.

"Why... are you here at this time? Come in quickly." Zhang Ruohan said softly, her voice trembling slightly, revealing the turmoil in her mood at the moment.The irresistible arc of joy at the corners of her lips made her look softer and calmer.

"No, my boots are dirty, don't spoil the banquet in your room. I'll just say a few words to you, and I'll leave soon."

"Then wait, I'll make you a cup of tea, you drink it first. Look at you, your lips are peeling, you're so thirsty." Zhang Ruohan couldn't help but reached out and caressed her lips, Shen Sui shook her hand. He took her hand and kissed her lightly.

Zhang Ruohan broke away from her hand, pursed her lips and turned around, tried her best to suppress the sweet smile on her face, walked quickly to the table, took a pot to make tea, but saw the white fungus and red dates soup warming on the charcoal stove.Then he took the tray and put the teacup and soup on it.I was in a hurry to get it, and I didn't pay attention to the hot hands for a while, and almost spilled the soup.She "hissed", and pinched her earlobe with her burned fingers, secretly thinking that she would be so frizzy.Laughing at himself, he picked up the tray and turned back to the west window.

"Drink the tea first, and then eat the white fungus and red date soup." She put the tray on the window sill, first picked up the tea cup and handed it to Shen Sui.Then he stirred the soup with a spoon and leaned over to cool it down.

But unexpectedly, her burned left hand was caught by the man.Shen Sui put down the drained teacup, held Zhang Ruohan's hand in both hands, and placed Yuheng tied around his waist on her hot red skin. The Yuheng was cool and comfortable, and relieved Zhang Ruohan's hand. The faint tingling.

Shen Sui sighed softly:

"If I don't see you for a while, it's like three days. If I don't see you for a day, it's like three autumns. Sigh... Lotus maidservant, when will I welcome you in?"

Zhang Ruohan paused, and said with a little worry:

"What's wrong? The talk didn't go well?"

Shen Sui raised his eyes to look at her calm eyebrows, and saw the insight in those eyes.She smiled, lowered her eyes again, and said:

"I can't hide anything from you, yes, I went to find her, but the talk didn't go well."

Zhang Ruohan's face became serious, and said:

"Is she very opposed to our marriage?"

Shen Sui shook his head slightly, and said:

"It's worse than that, she... is deceiving herself. She seems to think that I'm asking you to marry me to test her tolerance. She doesn't think it's true, because she firmly believes that you won't like it." Anyone but Akashi."

"Ha, she was right." Zhang Ruohan said with a mocking smile.

Shen Sui pursed his lips and looked at her, then raised his eyebrows with a smile.Zhang Ruohan blushed, squeezed her hand, and signaled her to talk about business.

Shen Sui restrained her charming thoughts, frowned and said: "So, obviously she is very repulsive to me now. You are her reverse scale, and as a counselor who wants to assist her, I touched the first time I came to the door. She won't tolerate me, even if she barely tolerates me, she will always be suspicious."

She paused and continued:

"And when I formally go to the palace to propose marriage in two days, and the news is known to her, the consequences may be very serious."

"Then, on the day you enter the palace, I will go look for her." Zhang Ruohan said.

"Lotus maid?" Shen Sui looked at her in surprise.She originally wanted to handle this matter entirely by herself, and she didn't intend to let the maidservant of the lotus show up.Although the lotus maid once mentioned to her that she would come forward to talk to Li Jinyue, Shen Sui actually didn't care much about it.In Shen Sui's expectation, this matter could only be resolved if he had a direct conflict with Li Jinyue.But I didn't expect that Zhang Ruohan's attitude was so firm when he mentioned this matter again today.

"I won't let her stop you from entering the palace. No matter what, you have to ask for the marriage gift from the saint. This is the trump card we most need to hold in our hands. Otherwise, the next thing will not go ahead." Zhang Ruohan said calmly.

Shen Sui was silent for a moment, she murmured a bit in her throat, and then said:

"Lotus maid, you are really cruel to her."

Shen Sui felt that Zhang Ruohan's body was slightly stiff, and suddenly realized that he had slipped his words, and hurriedly said:

"I'm sorry, Lotus Maid, I'm not criticizing you, I just said something wrong."

Zhang Ruohan frowned, stretched out his hand to touch Shen Sui's cheek, and said:

"Chishi, I don't feel heartbroken, but I have no choice. I was her companion when I was seven years old, and I stayed with her throughout my childhood. I know her too well. But, I don't actually know her. Ever since... an accident happened in your family, she has changed. She was 13 years old that year, and I haven't seen me for a whole year. Over the years, she became a princess and went out with the army. After that, she went out, marching and fighting , married and married, for 11 years, I have never met her, and there are few letters and insincere words. I don’t know what she has experienced in the process, and what changes in her mentality. Five years ago, she finally came back, The reason was because her husband Xiao Balang died in battle, and her mother died of depression. She lost two relatives, and I couldn't bear it, so I went to see her. But she... looked at me very strangely."

Shen Sui nodded, took her hand on his cheek, and stroked it lightly.

Zhang Ruohan lowered her head and said, "I understand your feelings. In fact, you and her still maintain the sincere innocence that you had when you were a child. It is reasonable for you to think that I am too cruel and unfeeling to her. But The relationship between me and her has changed a long time ago, and we can’t go back to the past. She is no longer my princess Mao Mao, and I am not her companion lotus maid. From the moment she fell in love with me, we We have become strangers. Between her and me, there shouldn’t be that kind of emotion. It’s a destructive feeling. It won’t perfect anyone, it will only destroy everything. For her good, and for the good of all of us, she Love must be cut."

Her voice was so painful, at the end of her speech, Shen Sui clearly saw a drop of tears dripping into the bowl of white fungus and red date soup.Shen Sui's angina was so unbearable that he couldn't breathe.

"Well, I understand, I understand everything. I'm sorry, Lotus Maid, I'm sorry." Shen Sui kissed away the tears that slid down her cheek through the window.

"Don't say I'm sorry, you always say I'm sorry." Zhang Ruohan's voice was weak, but his hands clenched Shen Sui's skirt.

"Okay, I won't say." Shen Sui pulled a little distance away from her, stroked her thin cheek, and slid his fingertips across her flushed eye sockets.

"Shall we face it together? Don't always think about carrying it alone." Zhang Ruohan looked at her dark pupils and said.

"Okay." Shen Sui nodded.

"This is the business of the three of us, without anyone else. I don't want the vow we made back then to be just a child's word. I really hope it can be realized." Zhang Ruohan said softly but firmly.

Shen Sui pursed her lips, and said: "It will come true." She picked up the bowl of white fungus and red date soup, took a sip along the side of the bowl, then picked up the spoon, and fed it to Zhang Ruohan.

Zhang Ruohan refused to open his mouth at first, Shen Sui said: "Open your mouth, or I will feed you mouth to mouth. I will be leaving soon, and I won't be here for a few days, so just obey me once."

"You..." Zhang Ruohan glared at her angrily, but opened his mouth obediently, and drank the spoonful.

The two of them are like this, you take a spoonful and I take a bite, and eat up this bowl of white fungus and red dates soup.

Shen Sui wiped the corner of his mouth with his cuff, then took advantage of Zhang Ruohan's inattention, quickly kissed her on the cheek, and said:

"I am leaving."

Then quickly turned around and left without looking back, and quickly disappeared into the night.

The author has something to say: It's a little late, but it's still posted, and I'll catch bugs later.

[Note 1] From Chapter 32 of "Tao Te Ching", here the lotus maid is associated with the union of lovers.

【Note 2】He 卺jǐn wine, Xinfang Jiaobei wine, also known as He 卺.There is an old saying "combining the gourd and brewing", and the meaning of the gourd is that one gourd is divided into two gourds: "One gourd is divided into two gourds, which is called a gourd, and the son-in-law and the wife each hold a piece of the gourd. After the man finishes drinking, he takes the cup Reversed, take the meaning of yin and yang harmony. Otherwise, you will be bullied by your wife in this life.

But the fan, in ancient times, brides often used fans to cover their faces, and they had to go after paying homage.It's called "the fan".

The bun, also known as "hair tie", symbolizes the harmony between husband and wife, and they will be united forever.