A glance at the spring breeze

The cave was empty and silent, surrounded by moist mist from the pouring rain.The roof of the cave was cracked with several narrow stone cracks, and it seemed that the low-lying rainwater accumulated on it had completely disappeared.

And in those stone crevices, a few inches of magnificent and dazzling sunlight leaked out.

The delicate, soft, and warm sunlight, overlapping with the misty water vapor, flowed over Ruan Lan's bound left arm.

He lowered his head slightly and closed his eyes silently.The crescent-moon eyebrows with slightly peaked eyebrows present a light and gentle shadow between the slightly sunken eye sockets.

It seemed quiet and stable.

Just then, a loud whistle broke the silence.

Ruan Lan heard the sound and opened her eyes.

He first heard a bird song that was not loud, and then he heard the sound of the bird flapping its wings—although the sound seemed to be very soft, but the closed and wide cave made them keep turning around Ruan Lan's ears and expanding...

It turned out that a bird with black wings and white body flew up from nowhere, circled and flew in the air, then folded its wings, uttered a low cry, and landed on Zhang Yushen's arms.

Zhang Yu lowered her two dark eyes, and gently stroked the thick and straight black feathers on the bird's wings with her other hand.

"Lord Ruan, don't think that His Majesty can rescue you." Zhang Yu sighed deeply and shook his head, but his tone revealed a trace of self-confidence, "I have set up layers of traps outside, if someone wants to break in If you enter, you must pay a heavy price."

He blew on the top of the bird's head, and the bird fluttered its wings and gave a cry.

It seemed to be saying something to him.

Zhang Yushen turned his head. Although Ruan Lan couldn't see the expression on his face, he felt the soft flesh around Zhang Yushen's mouth move.

——You must be laughing.

Zhang Yushen continued: "Those who forcibly barge in...will either die or be disabled."

The voice was clear and indifferent, but there was a faint sense of pleasure brought about by killing.

After a long time, the protruding part of Ruan Lan's throat rolled slightly, and he made a quiet and hoarse voice, mixed with suppressed sadness.

"Mother...Mother, she was shot through the heart with an arrow, and it must have been your murderous hand, Mr. Zhang."

The bird on Zhang Yushen's arm suddenly opened its beak and looked towards Ruan Lan.

Ruan Lan vaguely saw a light pink petal in the bird's beak.

Zhang Yu nodded deeply: "Yes, I made an oath a long time ago that all the sharp arrows that pierced my Zhang family will be stabbed back into your chests. And I killed... definitely not only Lingtang."

Ruan Lan frowned, and her bound body suddenly leaned forward, the sunlight scattered from the cracks in the stone shone on his face, and her pupils shrank suddenly——

"What do you mean?"

"My lord, do you still remember that just before your father passed away, he left the Ruan Mansion alone, and after returning, he became ill, his eyes were crooked, his mouth was slanted, he was unconscious, and he often foamed at the mouth?"

Ruan Lan's gaze instantly became sharp and cold.

——It's like the coldest moonlight in the lonely night.

"Father's strange disease is actually you...?!"

Zhang Yushen answered lightly: "Well, yes, not only that, I also took away the spring wind scroll from the Ruan family."

Ruan Lan recalled what happened at that time, which is still vivid in her mind.At that time, after my father left for three or two days with Chunfengjuan, his body collapsed inexplicably, and the family heirlooms on him were also lost.Ruan Lan sent people to look for the lost Chunfeng Juan, and at the same time visited famous doctors in Beijing.However--

Chunfengjuan couldn't be found, and even the prince lost power due to witchcraft, and his father went away soon after.

The prince's lineage fell apart, and he also became Yin Jian's prisoner.

Zhang Yushen's voice pierced through his memory: "I want to send the Spring Wind Scroll to Yasukuni in the north. Combined with the secret letter I wrote with my left hand, which accused Ruan Shangshu of colluding with foreign countries, it is enough to provoke the relationship between the two countries and cause a war. Great chaos... Who would have thought that the ruler of Yasukuni at that time was ignorant and cowardly. He was afraid that what he received was a fake, and he was also afraid of the suspicion of China, so he didn't dare to accept the Spring Wind Scroll that I worked so hard to get. Oh, what a coward."

Ruan Lan wandered in the memory of the past in a daze, and sighed: "You are really afraid that the world will not be chaotic."

Zhang Yushen's emotions suddenly became agitated. He bit his words and shouted: "That's natural! My purpose is to shake the Yin family's country, and drag you royal relatives, dignitaries and dignitaries with bloody hands into the [-]th century. A layer of hell, let you never stand up! Without you! Without you fighting for power... How happy I would be in this life... Cen Kong and I would meet again after being separated for more than ten years when we were young... Then, And be together forever..."

Probably because of Zhang Yushen's drastic emotional changes, the bird on his arm flapped its wings in fright, and then jumped onto his shoulder.

"You are wrong. Even if there is no Yin family, there will still be Li family, Zhang family, and Wang family." Ruan Lan paused, and then slowly turned her gaze to Zhang Yushen's extremely terrifying face.Ruan Lan's pair of dark brown eyes contained two bright sunlight, illuminating the whole pair of eyes brightly and transparently.He moved his parched lips, and said, "The rich and powerful cannot be killed."

"No! Kill everything... kill everything!" Zhang Yushen yelled, and the bird also let out a mournful cry.He said loudly: "Fortunately, fortunately this time, the new king of Jingguo accepted the Spring Wind Scroll and presented it to Yin Jian as a gift for the birthday of the dragon... Hahaha, Yin Jian must be very angry, right? The treasures that were lost in the capital were handed down to the ambitious foreigners. Hehe, it’s just such a good opportunity, the king was afraid to send troops, so I put down the barrier to temporarily block the main road between Yasukuni and the capital. ;I ordered the people who were lurking in the Linzhou army to wait for the opportunity to kill the generals stationed at the border, and lied that they saw the murderous hands of the three generals of Yasukuni. In this way, the relationship between the two countries will deteriorate rapidly, and I just need to wait a little longer. Push it harder and you’re done.”

After Zhang Yushen finished speaking, he felt extremely satisfied, as if all his ideas had come true.

"You are wrong again." Ruan Lan retorted, "Your Majesty, he has long guessed that there is something wrong with it, so the army sent this time is not for the crusade against Yasukuni, but for a thorough investigation of the truth. After all, the two countries are fighting. Your Majesty will never order an attack on a neighboring country so hastily because of the disaster that consumes people's resources and material resources."

"Shut up!" Zhang Yushen roared.

There was a silence after that, and even the intermittent chirping of birds ceased.

Zhang Yushen lowered his voice a little, and said, "Even if I really fail this time, I still have other ways - don't forget, His Majesty is on this island at this time... He is already a turtle in a urn, and he cannot escape."

Ruan Lan was extremely disgusted with Zhang Yushen's cruel and vicious methods, so she looked away contemptuously.

Seeing that Ruan Lan ignored him, Zhang Yushen put the bird on his shoulder into a cage three or four feet high, and then sat down facing Ruan Lan.

There was a gap in the bumpy face.

It was rare for him to use a less weird tone, and said calmly to Ruan Lan: "You know what? I haven't seen Cen Kong for more than [-] years. When he was young, he went to the Western Regions to learn martial arts from a teacher. We said goodbye It's been ten years, but we have been exchanging letters. Even though the distance is far away, we have never lost contact. Although, although, I can't remember his appearance now, but I have kept the letters he wrote to me until now. "

Zhang Yushen took out a stack of thick letter paper from his pocket, and the corners were already curled up—it seemed that he had read it many times over the years.

"In this letter, he told me that because he was too tired from practicing martial arts, his stomach kept screaming at night, so he went to the kitchen to steal eggs. In the end, he was beaten by the master and couldn't get out of bed to practice for three days."

He took out another piece of paper: "And this one, he told me that he has learned a set of dismounting boxing, which is used in conjunction with swordsmanship...but the swordsmanship has not yet been learned..."

"In this letter, he told me that although his martial arts attainments are far from his master's, he has achieved a lot. He said that he is about to return from his studies, and he will come back to see me immediately. Worry about him."

……

"This letter was written by me."

"I didn't say anything, it was very brief, I just said one thing to ask him to come and congratulate my Zhang family's housewarming in person."

"And this one... I haven't been able to send it yet."

That day, in the burning fire, these letters were pressed tightly under his body.

The fire burned his face.

But all the letters are still intact.

The one he placed at the bottom was this one.

"I'm not afraid that he won't recognize me. I have a red birthmark on my arm. As long as he sees this birthmark, he will know that it is me—if he is still alive, he will definitely recognize me."

Zhang Yushen rolled up his sleeves, and Ruan Lan really saw a dark red birthmark on his right forearm.

The skin on the arms was smooth and fair, in stark contrast to that hideous face.

He quickly rolled down his sleeves again.

Ruan Lan's eyeballs swept back and forth twice, her eyelashes trembling.

He tried to persuade Zhang Yushen: "I know, losing your sweetheart makes you very sad, but—"

"Don't talk about it, don't you want to change my mind - ever since I knew that Yin Cheng would not let go of our side branch Cen's family, I have made up my mind - I want to cleanse this world that is blinded by power, And those of you who hold great power—must die!"

The irregular flesh on Zhang Yushen's face shook violently, which was enough to see the anger in his heart.

Ruan Lan knew in her heart that she couldn't undo the resentment in Zhang Yushen's heart, so she fell silent again.

"Huh...huh..."

At this moment, the two heard a heavy panting sound together.

Ruan Lan looked towards where the voice came from.An unrecognizable man walked in staggeringly, his entire face was covered with gurgling blood, the arm that was not holding the sword was broken, and there seemed to be several wounds on his leg, bleeding down .

As for the eunuch's uniform that was half-stained with blood, Zhang Yushen certainly remembered who wore it before.

He narrowed his black eyes, as if he was very satisfied with the bloody scene in front of him.

He smiled lightly, and said, "Oh...isn't this Director Zhang?"

Ruan Lan didn't expect that when she saw Manager Zhang again, it would be like this.

How could Manager Zhang, who has always been rigorous, stable, and unhurried, turn into such a mangled appearance.

It was only then that Ruan Lan remembered that Zhang Yushen had just said that he had set up layers of traps around him, and those who forced their way in - either died or were disabled.

"It turned out that it was only Yin Jian's dog."

Zhang Yushen walked up to Mr. Zhang with slow steps.

Behind Manager Zhang was a pool of sticky blood, and the blood on his body was still dripping down.

He seemed to be about to lose his balance, his body trembling, and it took all the force of his body to sink down to insert the long sword in his hand into the ground.

In this way, he was able to half kneel on the ground, supporting a trembling body.

He was about to speak, but the blood gushing from his throat choked into his chest and lungs, and as soon as he made a sound, he coughed violently.

——Coughed up more blood, and it flowed all over the ground in an instant.

"Don't try to struggle anymore, you can no longer get out alive."

Zhang Yu snorted deeply, bent the soft flesh at the corner of his mouth, and kicked the long sword standing on the ground.

Mr. Zhang's body slanted in this way.

"Looks like life is pretty tough."

Zhang Yushen's eyes froze, with a cruel look: "Then I will... give you a ride."

He wanted to pull out the iron sword stuck on the ground, but it took a lot of effort to pull out the blade.

Then, the hilt of the sword turned over and pierced into Mr. Zhang's chest in an instant.

The long sword was pierced through the chest, and the bright and dazzling blade crossed the back. After that, the blade was covered with a layer of blood.

Another mouthful of blood gushed from his throat.

It seemed that he could no longer speak a single unnecessary word.

Strangely, Manager Zhang, without the long sword to rely on, did not immediately fall down in a pool of blood as Zhang Yushen expected.

Manager Zhang first held the hilt of the sword that had pierced his chest, and then grabbed the opponent's hand holding the hilt.

The blue veins wrinkled his head abruptly, and he opened his eyes with pupils that were slowly dilated...

It seems to be trying to find some clues.

With trembling fingers stained with blood, he suddenly lifted Zhang Yushen's cuff.

— exhausted the last bit of strength.

Zhang Zongguan's fingertips are rough, covered with calluses from years of martial arts practice.These old cocoons slipped across Zhang Yushen's smooth and delicate arms, with a few drops of sticky blood stains on them.

On Zhang Yushen's arm, there was a dark red birthmark.

He seemed to be relieved in an instant, the hand holding Zhang Yushen's cuff suddenly let go, his body swayed, and he pursed his lips, as if he was about to say something.

"Uh woo—"

Manager Zhang let out a cry, like a wailing from his chest.

Afterwards, Mr. Zhang, who was covered in bruises, fell down suddenly.

And the only pair of bright eyes on that bloody face turned dim in an instant.

Looking at the scene in front of her, Ruan Lan suddenly remembered that Zhang Yushen had just said to him: "As long as he sees this birthmark, he will know that it is me—if he is still alive, he will definitely recognize me."

If he is still alive...

Ruo Cenkong never died——

A desperately sweet smell pervades the wide cave.

The bird with white body and black wings was screaming in the cage.

A piece of paper whirled down from nowhere, crumpled and fell at Ruan Lan's feet.

Ruan Lan didn't know that this piece of paper had been held in the palm of Mr. Zhang's hand all along.

But he saw it clearly—it was a letter signed by Zhang Yushen, and the date of the ninth year of Zhenming was written on it.

But Ruan Lan had seen the handwriting on it somewhere.

By the way, he remembered - "Mingxuan 19th year."

On that day, he came to the residence of Manager Zhang in the palace, and accidentally found that Manager Zhang was reading a letter.

He, Ruan Lan, only sneaked a glance at the few five words on the letter - Mingxuan 19 years.

It is the year when the first emperor reigned.

Thinking about it now, the word "nine years" in "Mingxuan 19th Year" and "Zhenming Nine Years" are too similar.

It looks like it was written by one person.

If it was normal, he would not be so impressed by a handwriting that he only glanced at twice.

But Mr. Zhang at that time was still fresh in his memory, and he even remembered these five words in his heart.

Director Zhang did not appear to be introverted and calm in his usual state, but looked down at the letter in his hand, with a rare smile on the corner of his mouth.

That smile was as gentle and sweet as the breeze in warm spring.

Ruan Lan guessed... At that time, Manager Zhang probably remembered the calm promise he made many years ago.

——Yu Shen, when I finish my studies and come back from my studies, I will visit you, okay?

The author has something to say:

From Anaqi Yu's personal statement.