Xijing Chronicle

Before waiting for the reply letter from the little miracle doctor Yu Wuyan, the appointment with the virtuous king He Huan arrived first.

The setting sun gradually faded into the sky, and when the star rose, it seemed that a painter swiped a brush and painted an ambiguous bright red on the deserted and quiet street, and in an instant, a vivid firework willow was created. lane.

The Fireworks Lane at night is different from the desertedness of the day, with lanterns fluttering, flower flags swaying, BMW cars parked all the way, the sound of silk and bamboo, the fragrance of clothes, the chatter and laughter, and the solemnity of the Wuxiang Temple across the river. In stark contrast, if an innocent passer-by accidentally goes the wrong way, they may think they have strayed into another world.

He Huan staggered into the room with his arms around Ye Jia'er's waist. He smelled of alcohol, his eyes were drunk, and his anxious look made the young masters who came with him laugh secretly.

Ye Jia'er was giggling as she closed the door, listening to the young masters gradually leaving, He Huan let go of her waist, straightened her sleeves, and saw that his eyes were clear, and he was not even half drunk. .

"Offended," He Huan smiled habitually, but his eyes were guarded, "Where's your master?"

"My lord has already arrived, and I'm waiting for His Highness inside." Ye Jia'er also put away her frivolous expression, she knew that the matter that Mr. Gu wanted to discuss today was extremely important, so her demeanor was somewhat solemn, yet generous and neat.It is said that good deeds work well, and sometimes the master's habits can be seen from the words and deeds of the servants. She can't spoil Mr. Gu's important affairs, and she must first make a good impression on He Huan.

Affected by Ye Jiaer's attitude, He Huan's expression became a little more cautious. He walked past Ye Jiaer who was smiling and bowing his head, and stretched out his hand to open the bead curtain of the partition.

Sitting leisurely behind the curtain was a young man of unknown age.

Why do you say he can't tell his age?Because from the appearance alone, this person is very young, and his facial features are not very good-looking, but they only make people feel very comfortable together.But his whole body reveals the vicissitudes of life that should not have appeared at this age. It is a thorough insight that can only be obtained after experiencing the world. It seems that the prosperity is gone and he does not pay attention to it. Calmly, he sat there, like an old man who had settled down, calm and quiet, far away from the hustle and bustle of the room.

It seems that this young body is stuffed with a dying soul, if it is not a rejuvenated god, it is a long-suffering layman.

With just one glance at He Huan, he made a conclusion in his heart.

Hearing the sound, Gu Huaisheng slightly raised his eyelids and looked over. The old man was reunited, and things were different. When he saw the person who came, it was because he had practiced for a long time, and there was still a flash of thoughts in his eyes, but he suppressed him in just an instant. Going down, He Huan didn't notice.

When he left, He Huan was still the child who was only up to his waist, and would hold the child he couldn't bear to let go. He was as clean as a piece of white paper, but after years of seeing each other again, the mask worn by the young man in front of him, even he couldn't see it. Not too transparent.

He stared at He Huan with his unfathomable eyes that seemed to be able to break people's hearts. He stared at He Huan with hairs on his back and wanted to run away, so he said leisurely: "Your Highness, please sit down."

Of course, He Huan didn't pay attention to the strangeness in his eyes at that moment. To be honest, just now when Gu Huaisheng looked at him so motionlessly, he had the illusion of being caught by the second brother for doing something wrong when he was a child. It was only when he made a sound that he came back to his senses.

Walking carefully step by step to the present, I don't know how long it has been since he was in a daze like that, which made him faintly annoyed, but he didn't show the slightest bit, and sat down on the empty chair opposite Gu Huaisheng.

"My surname is Gu, my first name is Huaisheng, there is no word," Gu Huaisheng spoke first before He Huan could speak.While talking, he lifted the teapot on the table and poured a cup of tea for each of them. The familiar fragrance of tea wafted, He Huan raised his eyebrows slightly, the smile on his lips deepened, and the look of defense in his eyes became more intense.

His favorite tea is Fangshan Luya, which is produced in the South of the Five Ridges, and the Fujian region pays only a small amount of tribute every year, which is very rare.

With this as a starting point, He Huan easily noticed other things: his favorite snacks were placed on the table, the incense in the room was also his favorite green and light green, and the furniture was his favorite purple nanmu... It was the screen. All embroidered are his favorite orchids.

You have to know that as a prince, he has been able to live without incident until now. I don’t know how many open and dark arrows he has escaped. How could he not be startled by someone who had dug it up and down? !

It's just that he can live up to now, he is not Yi Yu's generation after all, the scrutiny just now only took a few breaths, He Huan did not show the slightest difference, and in a blink of an eye he refocused on the person opposite, the person opposite After pouring the tea, I didn't touch the teacup all the time, so He Huan didn't dare to touch it, just smiled and said: "I heard that you have news about my king's second brother, so my king was invited to come here. You might as well speak directly. , the weather is sweltering now, so it is better for my guards outside to go back and have a rest."

When he said this, firstly, he wanted to regain momentum, and secondly, he wanted to warn Gu Huaisheng that if they made a move, the guards he brought would break into the door at any time.

Gu Huaisheng naturally understood what he meant, and he was not angry, but he said very straightforwardly: "Does Your Highness know this thing?"

As he spoke, he gently put half of the white jade on the table. It was the half of the jade pendant with the inscription made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs that he left in his hand. As soon as He Huan saw the jade pendant, his complexion changed drastically, and he didn't care about it. She lost her composure, and snatched the jade pendant from his hand in a loss of manner, pinched it in his hand and looked at it over and over again.

Finally confirmed the authenticity of the jade pendant, the smile on his lips had long since disappeared, and he stared at Gu Huaisheng coldly: "Where did this jade pendant come from? Where did the other half go?"

Gu Huaisheng had a panoramic view of his expression, and said, "This jade pendant was given to me by Huaiyu."

He Huan frowned slightly, hearing Gu Huaisheng's familiar address, he seemed to be the old friend of the second brother, but...

"Empty mouth and white teeth, with only one dead thing, how can this king trust you?"

Gu Huaisheng looked at him with deep eyes, which seemed to hide countless unspeakable emotions, and seemed to be pure pity and regret.At the end he sighed softly: "Huaiyu's guess was right, he told me when he was dying, his Xiaoqi lost his mother when he was young, and he didn't like his father and brother, if he left, he might experience the cold and warm prematurely." Yanliang, if he can be blessed by the heavens and grow up safely, he will no longer trust others, so he specially wrote a letter, in order to let me win your trust."

His words made He Huan's heart groan, his throat was slightly congested, and after a long time, he managed to utter two words: "Where's the letter?"

Gu Huaisheng carefully took out a sealed letter from his arms, and He Huan eagerly took it from his hand. The envelope was yellowed, as if it had been old, but the seal was intact. When he turned it over, it was written "little girl" on it. The four characters "Qi Qin Qi" are gentle and handsome, with a hidden edge, just like the second brother in the past...

It's just that when he saw these four words, most of his eyes were already red. Fortunately, thinking of the presence of outsiders here, he barely suppressed the rolling emotions.He was quick and eager when he snatched the letter, but when he opened the envelope, his movements slowed down, like a timid wanderer close to his hometown, his fingers trembling slightly, and he couldn't open it no matter what.

Gu Huaisheng looked at him quietly and patiently, waiting for him. At the moment he didn't notice, there was a little guilt and compassion in his eyes.

After the initial mourning, He Huan gradually calmed down, and he was no longer in a hurry to open the envelope. Instead, he hid it in his sleeve and tidied up his expression. When he looked up again, his eyes were still slightly red , I can no longer see the gaffe just now.

"My second brother...Second brother, why did you ask me to come to me? And why didn't you come to me until now?"

"Because the timing was wrong in the past." Tribulations make people grow. He has long been optimistic about He Huan. He managed to find a way out of the conspiracy, and after watching the lively and innocent child under his wings get bruised all over his body, he finally grew into a prince who could protect himself well.

The look in Gu Huaisheng's eyes was cold and restrained, but the words he said were cruel and crazy: "I came to you to help you—" He swallowed the rest of the words, but when he said these words, he watched with deep meaning. Looking at the east side, the meaning is self-evident.

He Huan was silent for a long time, and then asked austerely: "Is this also... the meaning of Brother Second Emperor?"

Gu Huaisheng looked at him deeply, nodded and said, "Yes."

As the night darkened, Jin Xuenian didn't feel sleepy at all.

He walked under the tree in the courtyard and glanced at the main house which was still unlit.There is no wind tonight, and the air is filled with dry heat, which makes people feel unreasonably irritable.

Jin Xuenian stood blankly for a while, remembering the day before when Gu Huaisheng asked him if he wanted to continue practicing martial arts, his heart moved, and when he came back to his senses, he was already holding a broken branch in his hand.

He raised the branch jerkyly, recalling the marksmanship taught by his father when he was a child, and slowly danced.

"...My Jin family's marksmanship is more expensive than being concise and concise. I don't need those flashy ostentations. Your 'tat' movement range should be a little smaller. You see, this way you can spend less effort..."

When I was young, my father taught me how to shoot. Among all the brothers and sisters, the eldest brother, You, has been with his father for the longest time, and his marksmanship is also the best. When I was just old enough to touch a gun, my eldest brother had already achieved some success and could be alone.

My father is very proud of the eldest brother, and his eyes are always on the eldest brother, and there are very few other brothers and sisters, let alone myself who has just started.My father seldom praises others, and even the few compliments are all my elder brother's. When it's my turn, I can only criticize and blame.

At that time, when I was young, I only knew that I was not doing well enough, so I practiced harder, but I didn't know that it hurt my muscles and bones, and my progress slowed down.But he didn't know it at that time, and he didn't dare to tell others. Instead, he thought it was what others said. He had no talent in martial arts, and he could only work harder when he was sad and disappointed.

Life is so strange, sometimes the more you try to accomplish something, the more you can't do it.

Once at night, he practiced sore hands and feet again, and he couldn't control his strength when he took off. When he landed, he sprained his foot. , he was still young and couldn't help crying while hugging his ankle.

He thought that no one would come in the middle of the night, but at a young age, the more he cried, the more he devoted himself to it, and the more he cried, the more sad he became. He suddenly heard someone asking "what's the matter", and then realized that someone was coming.

He wiped his eyes, and found that the person who came was actually the second prince who was invited by his elder brother to stay overnight in the mansion. He was shocked, and a little embarrassed, he yelled: "His Royal Highness, Your Highness..."

His Highness is not as lofty as he imagined, but more gentle and amiable than everyone he has ever seen. He just smiled at him, knelt down beside him, and put one hand on his sprained ankle, speaking in a gentle and casual manner : "There are a lot of mosquitoes in the house, so I come out when I can't sleep."

He widened his eyes: "Did the servants forget to smoke away the mosquitoes..."

His Highness blinked, put his index finger on his lips, and made a gesture of silence: "It's just a small matter, let's not tell others, tomorrow you can go to that careless maid and remind her quietly, okay? "

The second prince's status is noble, although it is a trivial matter, if someone finds out, he will be severely punished.At that time, Jin Xuenian didn't know much about it, so he said seriously: "But if you do something wrong, you should be punished, so that you won't dare to do it again next time."

His Highness was stunned for a moment, and then laughed: "My good boy, you are right, you must be punished if you make a mistake. But servants are also human, and human beings will make mistakes. If they make mistakes, they must be given a chance to correct them." Okay, the servant girl made a small mistake, and if she suffers a serious crime because of it, it would be unfair." After a pause, His Highness laughed again, "So, tomorrow you can punish her to clean the yard for an extra month?"

It was fair to clean the yard for a month if he forgot to fumigate mosquitoes once. He did the math and felt that there was nothing wrong, so he nodded solemnly.

The second prince couldn't help pinching his cheek, and said with a smile: "Okay, stand up and walk."

Only then did he realize that the ankle he sprained just now was no longer painful. He stood up and took two steps. His eyes lit up, and he couldn't help raising his head to look at His Highness who also stood up. He held back what he wanted to say.

His Highness probably thought his hesitant appearance was very funny, so he laughed again, and explained: "I followed the imperial physician to learn some bone-setting techniques. This is the first time I used it. Fortunately, nothing went wrong."

He thanked him in a low voice, His Highness smiled lightly and shook his head, hesitated for a moment, then stretched out his hand to rub his hair, and said gently: "The ruler is short, and the inch is long. If you are not good at martial arts, you don't need to worry about it all the way." , no matter from civil or military, they can become the pillars of the country."

After a pause, His Highness told him again in a low voice: "A man does not shed tears lightly, so don't cry easily in the future. This is a sign of weakness, and it can only be kept in one's heart, and cannot be seen by others."

The hand above the head seemed to have magical powers, and the heavy grievances that had been accumulated in my heart for a long time miraculously disappeared without a trace.He raised his head and looked at His Highness the Second Prince who was already a young man.

He no longer remembered whether there was a moon that night, but he remembered that the young man was standing with his hands behind his back, his gentle and handsome cheeks seemed to glow slightly in the night, like a bright moon.

For many years later, he was mired in the mud, in the chaos and darkness, only the light of this bright moon guided him in the direction he insisted on.

The moon rose at some point, and the starlight suddenly dimmed. Like the most selfless and compassionate mother, the bright moonlight gently shone into every corner.No matter whether it is a magnificent palace or a simple and dilapidated hut, no matter whether it is a high-ranking nobleman or a lowly and dirty pariah, she treats them equally and gives them the most equal treatment.

Jin Xuenian held up the branch to make a final closing gesture, her chest rose and fell, and she was panting lightly.

"You have a good memory. There are no problems with many movements, but they are empty and empty, but..."

Suddenly a man's deep voice came from behind, Jin Xuenian's heart skipped a beat, she turned her head subconsciously, and saw Gu Huaisheng standing outside the courtyard with his hands folded, his body covered with moonlight, as if covered with a layer of frost. How long has that been standing.

Gu Huaisheng wanted to give some pointers on the marksmanship he used just now, but after he turned around, he stopped talking, and after a pause, he frowned slightly: "Are you crying?"

Jin Xuenian was startled, and subconsciously touched his cheek, but his hand was wet. He looked at his palm blankly, not knowing when and why he cried.

He gritted his teeth and endured the despair for more than ten years without shedding a single tear. Now that he is out of such an environment, he just cried after thinking about the past, which is really strange.

"Maybe I was blinded by the sand." Jin Xuenian wiped his face with his sleeve indiscriminately. Only then did he notice that when Gu Huaisheng was here, he could smell the familiar smell of alcohol and powder. For some reason, he lost interest all of a sudden. When he got up, he casually found a reason to prevaricate.

Gu Huaisheng frowned, he had noticed Jin Xuenian's emotional changes, but even though he had been tempered for a long time, he had already cultivated a pair of piercing eyes, and it was difficult to understand the reason at this moment.He thought for a while, and only thought that Jin Xuenian was frustrated because his skills were not as good as before, so he comforted him: "Don't worry, I will send you to the Valley of Miraculous Doctors to take good care of you when your dementia is cured. recovered."

"Thank you, my lord." Jin Xuenian couldn't see any expression on his face, "I will definitely practice martial arts as soon as possible to repay my lord for saving my life."

His indifferent and calm appearance is exactly the self-enclosed appearance that Gu Huaisheng is familiar with. After getting along with him a few days ago, Gu Huaisheng could feel that the lock on the wall of his heart was about to be pried by himself. Closed up?

After all, Jin Xuenian is still too sensitive nowadays, could it be that he hurt him by some unintentional actions?Gu Huaisheng was puzzled, and he didn't dare to continue provoking him, so he could only say: "You take good care of him first, if I need you, I will naturally not be polite to you." After a pause, he said softly, "After all, I It is to clear the grievances of your Jin family, so you must be there."

Jin Xuenian pursed his lips, probably because people are always more willing to indulge themselves under the cover of the night. There were many complicated emotions in his eyes, even if Gu Huaisheng caught them, it was difficult to interpret them. Soon, these emotions disappeared After being taken back by Jin Xuenian, he lowered his head and thanked in a low voice again: "Thank you."