catch the rabbit

In this dream, there was neither Wan'an Street nor Lianxin Lake. He just stood in the deserted palace, facing the gloomy gate.

"Brother Jiang, is that you?"

Xiao An, who was dressed as a court lady, was sitting at the door, and jumped up happily when she saw him coming.

The last time Jiang Tiaotiao saw her was in Chengju's appearance, she didn't expect that she could recognize him.

"Are you here to play with me?"

Jiang Tiaotiao apologized, "I don't have time."

Xiao An showed disappointment: "I haven't seen you for a long time. The brother wearing the mask never came again, and the cat and the fish didn't accompany me either."

Jiang Tiaotiao touched the top of her hair, and said softly, "Xiao An, how long have you been here?"

Xiao An said: "How long? I can't remember."

"Brother wants to open that door, do you have a way?"

Xiao An's eyes widened when he heard the words: "No, no, you can't go to the door, cats and fish will eat you!"

Jiang jumped and said, "I'm not afraid of them."

Xiaoan stretched out her hand and gestured desperately: "I'm not teasing you. When the cat gets angry, it will become so tall and so big that even the mountain will collapse if it roars. You can't fight it!"

Jiang Tiaotiao bent down and smiled at her: "It's okay."

When he raised his head, the stone wall had already started to vibrate, and the giant lion actually walked down from the wall, shaking the ground and mountains with every step.

Jiang Tiaotiao still stood where he was, the sparks from the lion almost splashed on him, but he didn't move.

The giant lion raised its head to the sky and roared angrily, spewing out huge balls of flames from its mouth, and its sharp claws shone coldly, and they were about to slash down on his face.

Instead of retreating, Jiang Tiaotiao walked straight forward.

Xiao An's scream came from behind him, but he turned a deaf ear to it.

The dancing flame barely brushed against the corner of his clothes, but he turned a blind eye.

He walked through a fire-breathing lion like a fog.

The big snake on the right wall poked out its letter and let out a human laugh: "Little cat, your tricks won't work against him."

The giant lion turned around and glared at the big snake angrily, and turned into smoke and returned to the wall.

"You are not the only magician who wants to open this door, and there are not many who can pass the kitten's level." Big Snake said, "You know, if you waver just a little bit, the flames and sharp claws will become Really, tear you to pieces?"

Jiang Tiaotiao said indifferently: "I know this is just a dream."

"I hope so." After the big snake finished speaking, everything around him suddenly disappeared.

Jiang Tiaotiao found himself standing in a strange place.

He stepped on a night pearl the size of a longan. Glittering gemstones can be seen everywhere, emeralds are like flowing river water, and the dust everywhere is gold and silver.

Even for the most extravagant king and the most greedy and daring gambler, this treasure is enough for him to enjoy ten lifetimes, but Jiang Tiaotiao sighed, untied the hairband on his head and turned into a broom.

A voice in the air asked him, "What are you doing?"

Jiang Tiaotiao replied: "These things block my way, I want to sweep them away."

The voice laughed loudly, all the gold, silver and jewels disappeared in an instant, and flowers and gurgling springs appeared all around.

What is more fascinating than this scenery is the beauty among the flowers.

They all have bright eyes and white teeth, icy skin and snow skin, and their exposed shoulders and arms are as white as lotus root joints.

A few beauties were lying beside Jiang Tiaotiao, their jade hands were already caressing his cheeks, smiling alluringly and charmingly.

"Why don't you look at me?" A beautiful woman wearing a pearl on her head sighed in his ear, "Aren't I beautiful?"

Jiang jumped and said, "It's not beautiful."

The hair band in his hand changed again, and turned into a dazed obese woman with a bald head and a crooked nose, showing crooked teeth when she smiled.

"In my opinion, none of you are as beautiful as her."

The beauties showed anger, and some even pointed at his nose and said, "How can such an ugly girl be more beautiful than us? Are you blind?"

Jiang Tiaotiao said: "Every flower is in everyone's eyes. Since you girls think I don't know beauty and ugliness, why don't you go find someone else."

The beauty wearing the pearl sneered when she heard the words, her originally pretty face gradually elongated and thinned, revealing a pair of snake eyes, her white shoulders were decayed and cracked, with spikes and scales growing out.

In this way, Jiang Tiaotiao's slut is really beautiful.

The woman covered in scales spat out pus, and said with a smile, "Is it still in your eyes now?"

Jiang jumped and said, "Very good."

He sat down on the spot and closed his eyes for a nap.

Those horrible women walked around him, spitting out disgusting juice, and the sharp nails scratched the wind in his ears.

Jiang Tiaotiao seemed to be really asleep.

The ground cracked under his feet, falling down piece by piece, invisible hands pushed and pushed behind him, and the strong wind that could only be found on the edge of a cliff made his hair rattle.

He seems to have lost all his intuition and doesn't open his eyes no matter what.

The surrounding environment kept changing, and after an unknown amount of time, a voice sighed: "You won."

Everything around him dispersed again, and Jiang Tiaotiao returned to the stone wall.

The big snake on the wall said: "You are very powerful."

Jiang Tiaotiao said: "Dreams happen to be what I'm good at. Because I know all this is just a dream."

The big snake said: "I have seen many people who entered this dream, but they couldn't pass the first few levels. In fact, I have other tricks, but I guess they are useless to you."

Jiang Tiaotiao smiled slightly: "Thank you. Can I open this door?"

Big Snake said: "No. You still need to ask and answer a question. This is left by the person who set up this door. As long as you can really answer it, you can walk through it."

Jiang Tiaotiao said: "I would like to hear the details."

Big snake said: "What do you want most in your heart?"

Jiang Tiaotiao was startled, but couldn't answer for a while.

If he changed it before, he would definitely say "Chengxian", but just when he was about to say it, a voice said to him: Is this really what you want?

No.

What do you want most?

Jiang Tiaotiao was speechless.

Every time he fell into a dream, his mind was peaceful, and it was the first time he felt so uneasy.

The color of the dream line on his wrist is gradually fading, and his time is running out.

Big Snake sighed: "You can't answer it?"

Jiang Tiaotiao murmured: "No...I..."

He took a deep breath and said slowly:

"What I want most is to become an ordinary person and live a lifetime with the person I like."

The moment he finished speaking the last word, the stone wall suddenly exploded, and the giant lion and the big snake disappeared without a trace.

Only the door remains.

Xiao An stood in front of the door and smiled at him.

"Brother Jiang, I will never see you again. Will you miss me?"

Jiang jumped and said, "Yes, I will always remember you."

Xiao An smiled and closed her eyes, and it turned into a key, which fell gently in his palm.

Jiang Tiaotiao inserted the key into the lock, and a dazzling light burst out from the crack of the door.

The door opened slowly, and he finally saw the memory that belonged to Princess Shuxian that had been sealed away by Xu Yao for many years.

***

The world behind the door, even in Jiang Tiaotiao's view, is colorful.

He saw the majestic and magnificent palace, the court ladies coming and going, and Concubine Rong who had just entered the palace at that time.

At that time, Concubine Rong was not a noble concubine, but just a young girl with immature eyebrows and eyes.As soon as she entered the palace, she was deeply favored by the emperor, and everyone said that she would be canonized soon, but the prosperity of the palace in this dream was not for her, but for the birthday of the sixth princess.

The sixth princess is Shuxian. In this memory, Concubine Rong was preparing a congratulatory gift for her. During the process, she said a lot of complaints, mostly about Shuxian.

"It's just a little girl's birthday, and the pomp is so big."

After she finished speaking, she picked up a treasure box from the dressing table, took out a jade bracelet from it and put it on her wrist.

This bracelet is exactly the one that Cheng Ju and Xi Baiqing used when they were guessing. There is no blood at this time, and Bing Xuening is generally flawless.

"Bah, temptress!"

Outside the window, there was a little girl dressed in sloppy clothes, lying on the wall and looking into the room.

Beside her is a girl dressed as a court lady, about ten years old, thin and thin, and her clothes look extremely loose on her body.

"Princess, have you seen it?"

"Hurry up, hurry up, I have to see where the temptress puts the precious bracelet."

The little girl continued to stretch her neck to look around, with a strange expression on her face. Jiang Tiaotiao took a long time to recognize that this scruffy-dressed little girl was actually Shuxian.

She was only eleven or twelve years old at that time, and she looked nothing like now except for the pair of dimples.

She hid by the wall and peeked at Concubine Rong, and after she finished watching, she wanted to take the little girl to the imperial dining room to steal something to eat.

When they slipped away quietly, Jiang Tiaotiao heard her calling the girl "sister".

Jiang Tiaotiao looked at their backs as they ran and flicked their sleeves, and couldn't help being angry and funny.

This little princess has been so self-willed since she was a child. She ignored her birthday banquet and went to steal food with a little palace maid. She was naughty and unreasonable, and she loved to play and make trouble like any child on the street.

Everything in front of him gradually blurred, and when it became clear again, Jiang Tiaotiao saw a peach tree.

"Sister, I won't do it again, teach me again."

Su Xian was wearing a snow-white dress, sitting under a peach tree and weaving grasshoppers out of grass leaves.

The "sister" beside her was still thin and weak, she smiled and made it up slowly for her to read.

Her hands are very dexterous, the grass blades shuttled into knots between her fingers, and a grasshopper came to life after a while.

"So lovely!"

Shuxian clapped his hands and laughed, took the grasshopper and looked at it again and again, and finally said: "Send it to me!"

The girl nodded.

Shu Xian lifted the grasshopper high, and through the sunlight, the fresh grass leaves showed a kind of translucent green.

She looked at it, and tears suddenly flowed from her eyes.

"Sister, I'm sorry..."

The girl wiped her tears with her sleeve, shaking her head.

"Why did they cut off your tongue, you obviously didn't steal the bracelet!" Shu Xian cried more and more fiercely, "It's all my fault, if I knew earlier... I would definitely be able to save you..."

The girl just shook her head, she wanted to open her mouth to speak, but could only whimper.

"That temptress!" Shu Xian wiped his eyes fiercely, with a gloomy expression on his face that did not match his age, "Don't worry, I will ask Master Xu Yao to punish her. If she cuts your tongue, I must She returned a hundred times and a thousand times!"

The little maid's pale face turned red, and she desperately tugged on her sleeve.

"You don't have to worry, I'm a princess, no one will dare to touch me if something big happens."

The little maid let go of her hand, and scratched two words on the ground with a branch.

not worth.

Seeing her writing, Su Xian burst into tears again, "You are always like this, those little maids used to bully you, you didn't let me stand in your place, I gave you delicious and fun food, but in a blink of an eye they were all snatched away. If you don’t say anything, they won’t remember you! That seductress wronged you for stealing from her, and who dares to speak up for you? Good sister, can you let me vent your anger for you once!”

The little maid lowered her head and wrote the word "servant" on the ground. Before she could finish writing, Shu Xian knocked off the branch on which the writing was written.

"How many times have I told you that you are not a slave." Suxian turned sideways and hugged her, "You are my sister, and you are also a princess."

With the wind blowing, the beautiful peach blossom petals fell one after another, and landed on their heads and clothes, as if they were about to shed all the flowers of Kazuki.

Jiang Tiaotiao watched them quietly, not even daring to breathe. Although he knew it was just a memory, he still couldn't bear to disturb them.

The scene of the peach blossoms falling gradually became blurred, and what appeared in front of my eyes again was the cold imperial palace.

But this time, the little maid was dead.

There was a deep knife wound on her body, and in front of her was the sandalwood box wrapped with silver horns that Cheng Ju and Xi Baiqing had when they competed. Concubine Rong's jade bracelet was lying in the box, spattered with her blood.

Only then did Jiang Tiaotiao realize that the monster in the box was actually the result of the maid's resentment.

Concubine Rong, with her hair loose in a bun, was supported by two court ladies, she pointed at the corpse on the ground with trembling fingers, and kept crying.

The maids and eunuchs on the side were too frightened to breathe, and some guards stepped forward and dragged away the bloody girl.

Jiang Tiaotiao felt his heart palpitate, and couldn't help looking away.

Concubine Rong disappeared in vain, and Dexiu Palace appeared before his eyes.

Su Xian was kneeling in front of the emperor and crying.

"She is innocent! She found Concubine Rong's jade bracelet and wanted to give it back to her! That temptress must say that she stole it indiscriminately. She can't speak without her tongue, and she can't even defend herself! Father, Shuxian begs you to punish the murderer severely!"

The emperor stood in front of her and sighed for a long time: "Shu Xian, forget it, she is just a slave."

Shuxian cried heartbreakingly, his almond eyes were swollen like walnuts: "She is my sister, not some slave! I just watched my sister die once, do I want to see her die for me a second time!"

"Nonsense!" The emperor finally got angry, "You are a princess, how can you die and live for a lowly little court lady? This is the end of the matter, and anyone who mentions it again will be severely punished!"

Su Xian clutched the grasshopper and passed out crying.

Jiang Tiaotiao also felt sad, but what was even more sad was that he was helpless.

At the end of this memory, he saw the towering Observation Tower, and Xu Yao, the number one magician who was still in the palace at that time.

On the stargazing platform, the pale and thin Shu Xian raised his head and asked the person wearing the magician's robe in front of him: "Master Xu Yao, am I wrong?"

Xu Yao said: "Concubine Rong killed your friend by mistake. It was her fault, but you shouldn't have made her have nightmares every night and almost lost her life."

"But I hate her. She snatched my mother's position and killed my sister. She should pay for her life." Su Xian choked up and said, "I caused her to be haunted by nightmares, but Master Xu Yao, after my sister left , I also dream about her every night, dreaming that she is covered in blood, asking me to avenge her."

Xu Yao said: "Is she such a person?"

Seohyun cried and shook his head.

"She won't be happy to see you like this."

"But I can't help but think of her. If I don't forget her, I won't be able to forgive Concubine Rong."

"In that case, just forget about it."

After Xu Yao finished speaking, the dream line in Jiang Tiaotiao's hand disappeared, and everything in front of him turned into crystal dust. When it dissipated, he returned to reality.

Shuxian in front of him had already wet his shirt with tears.

She picked up the withered grasshopper and wept uncontrollably.

Jiang Tiaotiao sighed and said, "Are you regretting it?"

Shuxian's eyes were clouded with tears: "I don't regret it."

She lowered her head and stroked the grasshopper.

"I used to have an older sister. She treated me well and we did everything together, but when I was two years old, we fell into a lake together trying to pick up a colored ball. I survived, but my sister died. .”

She smiled wryly at Jiang Tiaotiao.

"Actually, it was my sister who was rescued first. Everyone in the palace said that my fate was hard, so my sister left and I was able to live alone. How would they know that if there was only one living, I would definitely choose my sister."

Jiang Tiaotiao remained silent.

"Six years after my sister passed away, I met her—her name is Luo Cen. The first time I saw her, I thought she was my sister. They looked so much alike, even the moles on their faces were exactly the same. I When I asked her birthday, it turned out that it was not long after my sister left. From then on, I believed that she was my sister."

"I told my father, my nurse, and everyone around me, but they didn't believe it. In such a big palace, only I can recognize my sister, and only I can treat her well, but I still can't protect her well after all. .”

She wiped away her tears, and then asked: "Luo Cen's resentment has condensed into a demon, does this mean that she is also unwilling? Is it right or wrong for me to use the magic technique I learned to make Concubine Rong take revenge for her? "

Jiang Tiaotiao thought for a moment, and said: "She died with a grievance, but after so many years, the monster born of resentment has not yet turned into a human form, which shows that she does not have much hatred."

"My sister has always been kind..." Shu Xian lowered his head again, stroking the grasshopper.

"You'd better let go of this matter." Jiang Tiaotiao persuaded.

Shu Xian showed a bitter smile: "I am no longer a child, so naturally I will not mess around again. When Concubine Rong entered the palace, I felt that she took the position of queen mother, so I have always disliked her. Nightmare almost died of madness, but she didn't make things difficult for me, and she treats me very well now. I... won't do those stupid things anymore. But, I still feel sorry for Luo Cen."

As she spoke, she stood up and put the grasshopper back into the box and put it away.

"Mr. Jiang, I'm going back. Thank you today. If there is anything I can help in the future, please feel free to ask."

Jiang Tiaotiao watched her leave, looking through the window, Shuxian's thin back gradually disappeared into the crowd.

He sighed for a long time, although he knew that this memory would be very heavy, but he didn't expect it to end like this.

Jiang Tiaotiao couldn't help thinking, if it was him, would he rather forget about it, or remember it for a lifetime?

As the sun sets, the afterglow of the setting sun pours on the still bustling Wan'an Street.

The burnt incense was scattered into ashes, and the remaining fragrance lingered for a long time.