Twilight War

06

Chang'an, Xiangzi Temple.

Compared with the famous temples and ancient temples everywhere in Chang'an City, there are only a few Taoist temples in Chang'an, hidden in [-] squares.

And this Xiangzi Temple is located at the south gate of the city wall. The gymnasium is not big, so it can be regarded as a quiet place in the middle of the noise.

There is an old locust tree planted in the temple, which is dedicated to Lord Xiangzi, and a Taoist priest recites the treasure of Xiangzu.

Zichen sat at a low table drinking Phoenix Dancong.

"You knew I would come to Chang'an." Zichen asked.

"Where else can you go besides Chang'an?" Si Tianming finished drinking the tea in his cup, and played with the cracked ice cup with his slender fingers.

"Jiangnan," Zichen said.

"You won't go back to Jiangnan. If you go back to Jiangnan, you will be the overlord of Chu who returned to Jiangdong. But even the overlord of Chu hasn't returned, and you won't go back." Si Tianming said.

"What can you do when you go back to Jiangnan, drag the entire Huangxuan family to the battlefield with you, fight the court, and push the entire Donghuang into war. You will not do this."

"You will only go to the battlefield alone, and Chang'an is your battlefield."

Nine sons win the heir, the emperor will be the prime minister.

This Chang'an is the battlefield where Donghuang fights the most.

"But if I came to Chang'an just because I was greedy for life and afraid of death, I came to befriend Emperor Changgeng." Zichen asked while holding a teacup.

"If you are greedy for life and afraid of death, you will not come back, but die in that peach blossom forest. Those in power always have something to give up. Your father should have told you this sentence a long time ago, but you chose it in the end." Always abandon yourself." Si Tianming looked at Zichen and said.

"Then don't stop me." Zichen asked.

"A straw dog is also a dog knotted with grass. In the past, people were reluctant to sacrifice cattle and sheep, so they used grass to look like a dog for sacrifice. Before the sacrifice, everyone respected the straw dog, and after the sacrifice, they discarded it like a pair of clogs." Si Tianming twisted a piece of wet Fenghuang Dancong tea with his hands, "You have long regarded yourself as a sacrifice, how can I stop you?"

"I'm afraid..." Si Tianming sighed slowly.

"What are you afraid of?"

"I'm afraid you're not greedy enough for life and afraid of death."

The Taoist priests outside were still reciting Xiangzu Baogao.

——Over 500 years of unfinished catastrophe, the law is in harmony with heaven and man, hundreds of millions of countless beings, with the same heart.

"Prepare two birthday presents for me." Zichen said while drinking tea.

"It will be Li Xiangfu's birthday in a few days. Is Young Master Jin going to celebrate Li Xiangfu's birthday?" Si Tianming asked, "Who is there another birthday gift for?"

"Fifth Prince Long Chengyu, his birthday coincides with Li Xiangfu's, so I've prepared a copy for him too," Zichen said.

"The fifth prince is an idiot. Do you have to celebrate the birthday of a foolish prince when the nine princes seize the throne?"

"It doesn't matter to me that the nine sons seize the heir, I just want to let the whole Chang'an know that I, Huangxuanjin, have returned." Zichen said.

Si Tianming nodded.

"Okay, I'll go back and prepare for the congratulatory gift."

"Also, I want to see Princess Yingluo." Zichen said.

"Do you need me to arrange it?" Si Tianming asked.

Zichen shook his head, "No, I just want to meet her."

07

August [-]th, the fifth prince's birthday.

Long Yingluo sat behind the curtain a little bored.

She, the fifth elder brother, was born stupid, and her mother and concubine died because of childbirth.Therefore, he never received any favor from Emperor Chang Geng.

And for her fifth brother's birthday today, only a few people came here.

The fifth prince's birthday came together with Li Xiangfu's. Now that her father is seriously ill and the court is in turmoil, everyone is rushing to Li Xiangfu's birthday. Who would come to celebrate a fool's birthday?

Long Yingluo looked at her fifth brother.

Long Chengyu was still sitting on his seat with a foolish smile, and there was a plate of rewards beside him, and when he saw something he liked, he randomly grabbed it and threw it on the stage.

He loves movies and juggling, and he often starts throwing money on the stage as soon as he speaks loudly.

It's also fortunate that he is a fool, even if he is not favored, he is still a rich and powerful family, and he doesn't understand that it is a good thing to be left out.

The jugglers retreated, and Long Chengyu sat on his seat as if losing his temper when he saw the artists retreating, while the eunuch next to him persuaded him.

Long Yingluo lowered her head and was not in the mood to watch the next part of the sacrificial dance.

Behind her stood a row of Huben soldiers wearing ferocious bronze masks, as majestic as a forest of chimes.

The girl knelt on the mat in light clothes.

The long-sleeved actor in white wears a white mask, looking like he is obsessed.

The floating world is blurred, and chaos is born.

Raising their legs and leaning over, those actors seemed to be tied with ropes, their long sleeves fell down and fell down again.

Born in this world, living a decadent life, lonely and unbreakable.

Long Chengyu had no interest in this kind of thing, he was lying on the table as if he was about to fall asleep.

Long Yingluo just raised her eyes and glanced at it lacking in interest.

Those actors suddenly bent down like puppets with broken strings, and shook their heads numbly.

Long Yingluo frowned as she watched the actors slowly raise their arms and take off their white masks.

The actors behind the masks are all painted red under their eyes.

A tail of red was wiped out like blood.

Life is life, death is life, death is life.

The actors all lowered their eyes and danced with white masks in their hands.

Sitting and forgetting and turning into a butterfly, its dream knows who it is.

The performers, who took off their masks, went crazy, singing with their drums drumming, their sleeves shaking.

The red at the end of the eyes is almost shocking.

Heaven and earth interest me to death.

And I die to live.

Chao Jun Hui Shuo, Cricket Spring and Autumn.

Everyone dances and sings.

Long Yingluo suddenly got up from the seat and stood up.

She looked at the actors who turned into butterflies and danced like they couldn't believe it.

But before she got off the table, she saw the actors put on white masks again.

Nan Ke woke up from a dream, and Zhuang Sheng who had turned into a butterfly woke up as a mortal.

Step into this chaotic and impenetrable person again.

So the masked actors danced like Yanshi puppets again.

Everything is white.

All the players stood with their long sleeves down.

Long Yingluo slowly stepped down from the mat, stepped on the red-brocade steps to the stage, the eunuchs stood up to stop her, she looked up at the eunuchs, and the eunuchs had no choice but to retreat respectfully.

The girl walked up to an actor.

A few years ago was also such a white.

Snow covered the mountains.

The young princess Yingluo went to Jinling with her mother, and when she went, the young master of Huangxuan's family had already gone to Weichen Temple to chant Buddhist scriptures.

So when the girl returned to Jinling in a beautiful body, Zichen was catching fish and rabbits on the mountain without knowing anything.

And that day it was snowed heavily.

The abbot suddenly led all the monks to wait respectfully in front of Sanshan Gate.

Hundreds of tigers in armor will come from the mountain, and all the monks are whispering.

And those tiger ben generals in ferocious armor immediately retreated respectfully, revealing the little princess in white fur.

The girl is like a white porcelain doll in the heavy snow, obedient and lovable.

The girl walked up to him and asked him, "You are Zichen."

He was stunned, and after a long time, he nodded hastily.

The girl suddenly laughed, and she said, "That's great."

Then she turned around and left, and a hundred tigers would follow behind her.

The heavy snow falls in the mountains.

After that day all the brothers came to him and asked who the girl was.

The girl is so good-looking, like spring water falling suddenly in the silent temple, so good-looking that people can eat two more big white steamed buns.

But he held the big white steamed bun and thought about it for a long time, but he didn't know who the girl was.

And now this girl was standing right in front of him.

"Who are you?" the girl asked, her voice trembling.She seemed to be looking into the boy's eyes and her long wait through the white mask.

Zichen said hoarsely behind the mask, "I'm far apart."

"If you are separated, then I am Nanbo Ziqi." The girl said with a light smile.

"How could your Highness be Nanbo Ziqi? Your Highness must be a god on Gushe Mountain." Zichen lowered his head and said softly.

——The mountain of Miaogushe is home to gods and men.The skin is like ice and snow, and she is as graceful as a virgin.

The girl looked at him, as if waking up from a long-lasting dream, there was mist in those autumn-like eyes.

After Zichen finished speaking, he saluted slowly, and then retreated.

On the other side, Long Chengyu had been sleepy for a long time and was already dizzy. Hearing that the actor had retreated, he straightened up from his chair, and then grabbed a handful of money from the plate, "Reward too! Reward too!"

But before the reward money was spilled, the deacon outside the door suddenly shouted: "The young master of the Huangxuan family congratulates the fifth prince on his birthday!"

Long Yingluo hurriedly looked towards the door, but saw Si Tianming entering the palace with his legs up and swaying his green clothes, "In Xia Si Tianming's request, I will congratulate the Fifth Prince on his birthday, and I will send you a small gift. I hope you can get it." The Fifth Prince is pleased."

Holding a handful of bounty money, Long Chengyu asked with a puzzled expression: "Young Master Huangxuan? Who is he...he..."

And the rest of the people were panicking.

"Young Master Huangxuan, he, hasn't he betrayed Donghuang long ago?"

"Is he not dead yet?"

"What's going on? Has he returned to Chang'an?"

The actor in white raised his clothes with his back to the crowd and stepped back slowly.

08

The next day, everyone in Chang'an knew that Young Master Huangxuan had sent Li Xiangfu and the Fifth Prince a congratulatory gift on their birthdays.

No one knew what the young master Huangxuan's sudden return was up to.

But everyone understands that Donghuang is going to be in chaos.

Xiangzi view.

Zichen was wearing a cool shirt and was burning a pot of herbs on the ground.

Seeing that the herbs were almost cooked, he took a bowl and poured the sauce-colored liquid into the bowl.

Then he sat crookedly on the ground and drank the medicine.

He remembered that when he was in the peach blossom grove, Lu Shen Xinyi brought up the fried herbal medicine for the first time, and Wihipel took it, and then blew it cool a little, trying to feed him the medicine.

And he straightened his neck and pursed his mouth for a long time, but he didn't intend to drink.

His refusal was so obvious that even Wisipel was a little bit embarrassed, and kept looking at him with a spoon, his blue eyes were like lake water.

In the end, he couldn't take it anymore, took the bowl and poured it directly.

Then he picked up the candied fruit and threw it into his mouth, then lay down straight.

He drank too much medicine, and he knew that drinking medicine should be fast, precise and ruthless.If you want to break it, you must break it clearly and cleanly.

Swallow it together with the root of the medicine.

And that girl is obedient, maybe she is a good candied fruit.

Zichen drank the liquid medicine in the bowl one mouthful at a time, but this time he didn't drink it all at once, like tasting tea and wine.

In fact, he did not suffer much from Vichypel in his last days.

When the food didn't quite fit his mouth, he only put down his chopsticks after a few pauses. When Vesper asked him what, he just answered with a hum.

Even if Vehippel dangled in front of him all day long, he had the right to not see it.

When a person likes you, you have all kinds of ways to torture him.

And doing nothing is the cruelest kind.

"Young master, you still remember me." Suddenly came a rather old-fashioned but not weak voice from behind.

Zichen turned his head and saw an old man in a blue Taoist robe.

"I don't remember." Zichen said, resting the arm holding the medicine bowl lightly on his knee.

"I'm a Taoist." The old man said.

Zichen remembered that his uncle had told him that the owner of this Taoist temple was Taoist Pingxu, a banished immortal who could stand shoulder to shoulder with the old man Xuanhu.

"I'm at Huangxuan Zichen, and pay my respects to the Taoist priest."

Zichen saluted and said.

"I once made a fortune teller for the young master when he was 12 years old, young master, do you remember?" The old man twisted his beard and said mysteriously.

Zichen frowned, and thought for a long time before he remembered that when he was 12 years old and living in the rivers and lakes, he was so hungry that the aunt next to him couldn't stand it and gave him a steamed stuffed bun.

But before he ate, an old Taoist with a goatee and a circle of legs suddenly appeared next to him, and told him that he wanted to tell him a fortune teller.

Then he grabbed his hand, winked for a long time, then shook his head suddenly and said: "Little official, you are the ghost star of life."

He subconsciously wanted to withdraw his hand, but the Taoist firmly grasped his hand, "The ghost star is fierce and unpredictable. What you can't get for the rest of your life will eventually be lost, and what you get will be lost."

At that time, he was frightened, but before he could say anything, the Taoist suddenly changed into a smiling expression, "But thanks to the little official who met me, I am a banished immortal from the sky, to cultivate my life and change the will of God .If the petty official wants to change his fate, all he needs to do is give me the bun in his hand."

After listening to the words of the sheep-beard Taoist priest, he concluded that the Taoist priest was bluffing people, and shouted angrily, "Don't try to bluff me!"

The Taoist priest just got up and pouted and said, "Is it true that the petty official will not change?"

"Shouldn't!"

"It's okay, we'll meet again in the future." After finishing speaking, the Taoist picked up the fortune-telling flag that said life and death are in the sky, and ran away with his bowed legs.

The 12-year-old Zichen was left with a bun in his hand.

And now the Taoist priest with a goatee was standing in front of him again, without a flag in his hand, but he was still smiling as always.

Zichen shook the medicine bowl in his hand, shook the root of the medicine, and swallowed the remaining medicine in one gulp.

Putting down the wine bowl, Zichen walked to the cabinet and took out a jug of wine.

"Does the Daoist want to make a fortune for me?"

"There is no need to calculate." The goatee priest Pingxu said: "It is enough to calculate the young master's fate once, and it cannot be changed."

Zichen poured himself a bowl of wine, which he secretly asked the servant to buy, and hid it behind Si Tianming's back.

Not a good wine.

"What you can't get will never be gained, and what you get will be lost." Zichen held the wine and said, "Is this the fate you have reckoned for me?"

"Young master thinks it's not right?" Ping Xu asked.

"Absolutely." Zichen said, "Absolutely accurate."

"But at least I still have a bowl of wine to drink." Zichen smiled and said, "Just treat me as if I was born rich, no matter how many things I don't have, I can't live a nourishing life."

"Young master, I said that we will meet again in the future." Taoist priest Pingxu said.

"Well, then what?"

"My promise to change the young master's name is still valid."

"Then do you want me to go out and buy you a bun again?"

"Young master, do you know the string of copper coins tied around the waist of the young master of the Si family?" Ping Xu asked.

"I know, I guess I'm afraid that I won't have money to buy buns when I go out that day, so I'll be cheated like you," Zichen said.

"Master Si's string is five emperors' baht. It is made of ancient coins minted by the five emperors, Cangwu, Qingming, Gouchen, Liuhuo, and Kaiyang. The human spirit of the people who have used these coins is the most able to restrain the evil spirits."

After finishing speaking, Taoist Master Ping Xu took out a copper coin from his waist, "And my copper coin is no worse than the Five Emperor's Baht."

"When did you cast this one? During the previous dynasty?"

"The year before last." Ping Xu said after straightening his beard.

"Master Dao, can you afford buns again?" Zichen asked.

"Young master's life, isn't it the current emperor?" Daoist said with a smile.

"You are right, then give me this copper coin." Zichen stretched out his hand.

"It can't be given for nothing." Daoist Ping Xu said, "I want the jug of wine in your hand."

Zichen thought for a while, got up with the jug in hand, and walked towards the Taoist priest.

Daoist priest was just about to take the jug, but Zichen suddenly withdrew his hand and took the jug back, "I suddenly don't want to change it. A pot of wine costs ten cents, and you exchange it with me for a copper coin, and I'm at a loss."

After speaking, he turned sideways and walked past the Taoist priest.

"The young master really won't change his fate."

"Don't change it." The young man said: "If you are really an exiled immortal in the world, remember to tell Tianjun when you return to heaven, that my fate, Huangxuanjin, is in my own hands."

Zichen pushed the door and walked out of the room, Si Tianming was waiting outside.

"Emperor Changgeng issued an order to let you see him tomorrow and do it as a pilgrimage."

"En." Zichen nodded