Shanglin Night Snow

The courtyard is clear and empty, and the pavilions and corridors wind back.

The lower curved corridor runs through the paths among the peony bushes, with thick shade above the head to avoid the sun, and the fruits are piled up. At first glance, they look like clusters of flowers in spring.

Going to go through the January Cave Gate, the laughter in Guo Kai's ears became clearer and clearer - the voice of a woman, refreshing and pleasant.She raised her head happily, and there was a touch of light yellow among the branches of the apricot tree in front, which was a skirt for a woman.

"Qing Xing has picked half of the basket, it's enough to drink, come down." Jia Wang's voice seemed to be coaxing.

With a movement of the skirt between the branches and leaves, a face that can't be called bright, but is also delicate and pleasing appears.Guo Kai felt familiar at the first sight.

The woman supported the tree trunk and threw a few green apricots into the basket on the ground, giggling: "This tree bears too much fruit, and when it grows up, it will be small and astringent. It's better to pick some off." To the newcomer: "You were the one who bumped into me in the alley that day!"

"Brother Guo is here?" King Jia turned around in surprise.

Guo Kai came forward to salute and apologize to the woman.

Jumping off the tree, the woman took two steps forward and stared at him curiously: "I heard that you are the general of the imperial army. You ran into me that day because you were chasing a villain. I don't blame you." , "Look, the injuries on the arms and knees have healed long ago, and there are no scars left, because..."

"Mingxia!" King Jia's tone was a little heavy, obviously displeased.

The woman put down her sleeves angrily.

"You go back to your room first, I have something to discuss with General Guo." Wang Jia eased his tone.

"Follow your order!" The woman drew her voice, turned around and walked by and smiled at Guo Kai: "When I finish making this apricot wine, I hope the general will come and taste it together!"

Seeing that King Jia's complexion had turned dark again, Guo Kai sighed bitterly, so he lowered his eyes and cupped his hands as an answer.

The pale yellow figure quickly disappeared outside the white wall.The two people in the garden walked towards the flower pavilion one after the other.

"Brother Guo, what are you thinking?"

Guo Kai raised his head, only to find that King Jia had stepped up the steps of the Huating Pavilion, looking down at him now, with a smile on his face: "If you are curious why Mingxia is here, it is because I accidentally learned that she is lonely, has no money, but knows a lot about writing and ink." , You are very familiar with Buddhist scriptures, and I needed a copyist by my side, so I brought her back."

"That's how it is." Guo Kaiyi pondered: "But..."

"Brother Guo, if you want to persuade me to send Mingxia away, you don't have to." The person who entered the pavilion knew his thoughts and explained his doubts frankly: "I have already reported Mingxia to the officials and asked to keep her. In my house. The Imperial City Secretary has thoroughly investigated her life experience and found that both her parents died. She grew up in a nunnery in the Dengzhou Mountains, and then went out to make a living. She worked as a maid in many families. She entered Beijing half a year ago. , so the Lord has promised me what I asked for."

Guo Kai narrowed his eyebrows: "However, this does not prove that she has nothing to do with the person we pursued that day! Besides, Your Highness still remembers Qin Liuzhi? He was also found to be innocent at the beginning, but unexpectedly he pretended to be someone else's name." .”

Those who heard it didn't pay attention: "Mingxia lives alone, there is no one else at home, and the neighbors have never seen anyone similar to the person who escaped that day appearing nearby. It seems that it is really just a coincidence." Yi Yan turned his eyes. : "Besides, Brother Guo had to see Mingxia's temperament just a little while ago, so how can you expect her to hide any secrets?"

This... it is.

While he was in a daze, King Jia turned the topic around: "Brother Guo came today, is it because of God's favor?"

Guo Kai hurriedly responded: "Guo was ordered to come here to thoroughly investigate the case of His Highness being assassinated by the lake that day."

Jia Wang said in embarrassment: "Sure enough... It's been a long time, and I don't know why my cousin and the officials are so obsessed with this..."

"Shao Dianshuai?" Guo Kai was a little surprised, "Your Highness means that Shao Dianshuai also knows about this matter?"

King Jia nodded, showing his helplessness: "I had no choice but to disclose the robbery to my cousin, and I didn't want him to report this to the superior, and suggested that the chief of the palace should take over the post of guard in my mansion. I declined repeatedly, but my cousin I struggled so hard that I had no choice but to tell the truth, because that day I only led the two yellow gates out to teach the gangsters to succeed. Therefore, it is no wonder that the guards were negligent in their duties, but I was careless to cause trouble. Because of this, my cousin gave in, and the officials then Let Brother Guo thoroughly investigate the previous case."

He forced a smile, but Guo Kai sighed bitterly: Don't say that this case has been difficult to track down for a long time, just say that the strange things here make people feel chills when they think about it, it is really hard to study...

It was still early when I left the Jia Palace.Distracted along the way, when he got home, the clouds were all together, he wanted to come or took a detour unintentionally but didn't know it, Guo Kai was helpless and full of melancholy.

Pushing the door open with the front foot and entering the room, someone hurriedly followed behind, and stretched out his hand: "Where's my apricot flower crisp candy ice cream and candied peaches?"

Looking into those eyes full of hope, Guo Kai remembered what he had to do in the morning, and revealed his shame: "Today, I was distracted by other things, and I really forgot, so let the boy go for a walk."

"Forget it, I know it's like this..." He stopped him, and someone came to the table and put down the basket in his hand, "I heard that you were going to the Jiawang Mansion to inquire about the case, so I knew it would be late, so I went to buy pastries by myself. Cooked lamb and grilled crab will be eaten together when you come back."

Guo Kai's face became even hotter, but then he thought again and felt that something was wrong: "Why do you spend money for no reason? Could it be that you taught my mother to persuade you to go to the card table again?" Frowning, "I have repeatedly told you that you can do anything in my house, but only If there is such a thing as gambling with my mother, avoid it if you can!"

"When did I say it was won by betting with your mother?" Xun Miao was also annoyed by this accusation, "Because of my merits in compiling the tabloid, the superior summoned me today to reward me."

Guo Kai was taken aback.

The man was so angry that he took out an oiled paper bag from the basket and opened it. He called out "Xifu" and quickly picked up a tiny piece of meat and threw it out with his hands. The black dog that appeared in front of the door jumped up and stood still. He caught it firmly, swallowed it whole, and cast his straight gaze again.

Desires are hard to fill!He cursed inwardly, but he had to lower his head and continue to rummage in the bag, comparing: this one is not the smallest... that one is small, but it is all lean meat... the one with skin is also good... well, just the bone stop!However... there is meat on it! !

After finally finding a bone with only a few shavings of meat on it, he shook his hand violently, and the cracking sound of the bone shattering behind him could be heard clearly: every bite of that beast seemed to be biting at the tip of his heart!

He raised his sleeve to wipe off the thin sweat on his forehead caused by too much force, knowing that the meat would not be given any more, so he shook his hands to unwrap the paper bag of the crab, thinking: eat the meat yourself, and if there is yellow in the shell, you can eat it yourself. Eat, crab legs...a crab with eight legs can pick out half a bowl of meat after a long time!Then... there seems to be nothing left...

"There is no meat on the toes of the crab!" Fortunately, a word in his ear relieved him in time.

His eyes lit up: yes!However……

"It's just hard to break." It was right in the same sentence again.

Xun Miao was scratching his head without thinking, when out of the corner of his eye he suddenly saw something leaning towards him - a pair of scissors!

Yes, you can't break it, but you can cut it!Feeling overjoyed, he hurried to pick it up, but hovered halfway through his hand, his eyes moved up to touch the calm face, his whole body trembled, his shame and indignation were indescribable.

"No?" The man said with a pure tone, put the scissors on the table, sat down and picked up a piece of mutton and put it in the mouth: "Then I will eat first, and the crab shell bones and Xifu are left, so you don't have to waste effort to pick and choose carefully." .”

"I bought it, you don't eat it!" Recovering his senses, Xun Miao made a gesture to snatch the paper bag, but in the end he just touched the greased paper with his fingertips.

Seeing this, the man picked up a piece of fat and lean meat and handed it over: "It's my fault for accusing you without knowing the truth. Tomorrow I will buy back Yuxianlou's drunken smoked fish and Chen Ji's peach blossom cake to make amends." Guo Huan, his tone turned positive: "I'm really afraid that you will annoy my mother again, after all, the future is long, don't accuse her now, it will be easier to talk about it in the future."

Those who bowed their heads to eat meat did not know whether they heard his words clearly, they were noncommittal, and then smacked their lips after eating: "I also want goose and duck steaks with steamed lychee kidneys, frozen fish heads and plum blossom buns..." Tilted his head, "There are also red silk crystal noodles. , and bring two bowls of Lactose Zhenxue (1)!" After thinking carefully and confirming that there are no omissions, he picked up a grilled crab and peeled it, seemingly casually: "Speaking of your mother, she often told me recently that you are about to marry The princess came back. You are so bold that you dare to make up such a lie, but you never thought about how it would end?"

Bite a mouthful of apricot blossom crisps, Guo Kai resentfully said, "She pushed me too hard, so I had to make it up. Anyway, I haven't decided when to get married. Now I just play by ear, day by day."

"Let's just pass by?" Lifting off the crab cover, Xun Miao shook his head in disappointment when he remembered that there was nothing at hand to dig up the ointment: "But this is not the way after all."

Wiping his hands and holding the teacup, Guo Kai thought for a moment, then suddenly said: "Didn't you ask for a foreign job? I was with you at that time."

Startled, the ice cream that Xun Miao had just swallowed almost spewed out.Putting down the bowl and pretending to play with the crab claws on the table: "I... haven't planned yet... let's talk about the tabloids..."

"That's right, then we'll talk about it later." The man didn't see his discomfort, so he just said it, and let it go.

After dinner, while the servants were cleaning up the mess, the two played a game of chess, and Xun Miao left early and went back to the house.

The night air was refreshing, and Guo Kai didn't feel sleepy yet.

A cup of tea, sitting in front of the porch.The night wind blows, the grass and trees rustle, and the fragrance of flowers refreshes the spleen.Amidst the melodious chirping of insects, Guo Kai closed his eyes comfortably and seemed to be in meditation.

"Woof - woof woof!" However, it only took a moment, and the silence was broken by the barking of a dog that was close at hand.

Guo Kai opened his eyes, and what he saw was a half-length figure that had already entered the window.

"Idiot, I teach you not to bite my trousers anymore, this is the last pair of unpatched trousers!" The man kicked his legs and turned around to scold.

With a secret sigh, Guo Kai took a piece of dried meat from his hand and threw it out, and then helped the person who had stepped into the window with one leg down, with a helpless expression on his face: "Are you sure you want to go back like this?"

Patting the dust on the clothes, the man rolled his eyes: "I was more cautious, but I was wrong? It's late now, but in case someone with something interesting is watching from the dark and sees me entering your room openly in the middle of the night and staying in your room all night, How can you not be overwhelmed by passing it into the ears of the eldest lady?"

Then you won't be suspicious if you open the window and enter the house?Guo Kai swallowed the words that were on his lips with a wry smile, and carried him up: "It's getting late, let's rest."

"I want to sleep outside!" Two steps ahead, the man turned his head and threw a surly look.

The moon sets, the wind is quiet, and the night is peaceful.

Struggling for half a night in the dream of humans and dogs fighting fiercely, Guo Kai woke up early in the morning, hearing the sound of knocking on the door.

The person beside him opened his dim sleepy eyes to look at him with disgust on his face, pulled the quilt over his head and became silent again.

Getting up and shaking his drowsy head, Guo Kai carefully stepped over the man and got off the bed, and went to answer the door.

The person who came was a servant in his courtyard, followed by the guards of Prince Jia's Mansion, saying that there was an emergency in the mansion, please go quickly.Guo Kai was startled, hurriedly changed his clothes and went out.

Just before the main hall of the palace, there was a clear cracking sound, and the veins on Guo Kai's forehead twitched, and he quickly stepped inside.

King Jia stood upright with his fists clenched, his chest heaving and falling, his eyes that were always calm were already stained red with anger.The guard standing opposite bowed his head and clasped his fists. There was a puddle of water in front of his feet, and beside him was a broken teacup.

Frowning, Guo Kai stepped forward and bowed anxiously: "Your Highness, please calm down, I don't know what happened to the guards, please speak bluntly, and I will punish them severely!"

King Jia flicked his sleeves, his anger intensified compared to before: "The person who eats vegetarian meals in this mummy should be punished a little! He..." glanced at the guard, and waved his hand in disgust: "You step back first. !"

He took the order to go.

"Mingxia, I'm missing!" Looking straight at the person who came, Jia Wang paused every word.

Guo Kai was startled, and several thoughts flashed through his mind: "Did the gangsters take you into captivity?"

Shaking his head, Mu Yinche turned his back: "She left by herself." Hearing the sound, he was three points disappointed and seven points resentful.