The Eight Winds of Rebirth

Although this reunion dinner is a vegetarian feast, the dishes are really good. Vegetarian goose, vegetarian stew, vegetarian dumplings... even a person like Zhao Ze, who is used to eating good things in the palace, will be satisfied The chef's craftsmanship is full of praise.

"Well...it's really delicious, third brother, when did you invite such a powerful expert to stay in your mansion, can you lend me back to enjoy it for two days? I will definitely borrow and pay back."

Hou Bingchen paused slightly, turned his head and said to the boy beside him, "Please come and use Miss Qiu."

The young man thought he had expected him to say this, so he replied neatly: "Young lady said that adults don't need to worry about it, she has already used it, if the general has anything to order, just call her again."

There was a trace of regret on Hou Bingchen's face, but he didn't force it. He raised his hand and held the cup in front of him, stood up and said to Gu Xiangtan: "Hou uses tea instead of wine. This cup is for you by Hou Bingchen. The Lingfo treats me six times." Brother Ende, Hou will never forget it."

Gu Xiangtan glanced at Zhao Yuan hurriedly, saw that he was looking at him with deep eyes, and hurriedly stood up and said, "General, don't be so polite, I... how can I bear it..." If it wasn't for his own inability to think Zhou, it won't make these twists and turns later, it's too late for Gu Xiangtan to blame himself.

But Hou Bingchen shook his head: "Lingfo understands the great righteousness and self-sacrifice to others, which is really a great blessing. Although Hou is no longer talented, if one day Lingfo needs to use Hou, he will go through fire and water."

Gu Xiangtan was taken aback. Hou Bingchen treated him with courtesy before, half of which was because of his status as a spiritual Buddha, but these words were aimed directly at Gu Xiangtan himself. Dan Qiuguo He didn't help much, and sleeping with Zhao Yuan every day is not too exhausting, so why did General Hou make such a sudden change?

Gu Xiangtan couldn't figure it out, but he didn't dare to think deeply, he just nodded and drank the clear water in the cup, and said, "Don't dare." Then Zhao Yuan pulled him to sit down.

There was a crackling sound outside the door, even though it was far away, it could still be heard clearly.

Hou Bingchen said with a smile: "I don't understand those civilized etiquettes. In Chenzhou every new year's day, we would put this up from house to house. It looks lively. It's rare to go back to the mansion, and we are also happy together."

Gu Xiangtan listened to the sound of firecrackers, which was occasionally mixed with the laughter and slapstick of servant girls, and then looked at the bright and festive smiling faces in front of him, against the table full of delicacies, he held his chopsticks in a daze for a while. When he froze, he felt that this was like an extremely beautiful dream, so beautiful that it was so unreal. In the past years when he was in Luli, what he wanted every day was just such a short time, to have relatives by his side, and to feel like home.

Suddenly a vegetarian bag flashed in front of her eyes, Zhao Yuan picked it up, put it in her own bowl, and carefully peeled off the outer layer of fried golden skin with chopsticks, and then put it in Gu Xiangtan's bowl.

Seeing Gu Xiangtan staring at it stupidly, he explained: "The outer skin is greasy, you can't eat it."

Gu Xiangtan slowly picked up a chopsticks of vegetarian stuffing and put it in his mouth, chewed and swallowed it, then ate the whole one together, looked at the other meal on the plate in the distance for a moment and said: "That white jade jelly fruit is like It's not bad, but there are a lot of onions and garlic..."

As soon as the words were finished, Zhao Yuan picked up the jelly fruit and neatly removed the onion and garlic, then put it aside in clean water to pass the spicy, and then pushed it in front of Gu Xiangtan.

The corner of Gu Xiangtan's mouth couldn't help mentioning it, and obediently ate up that thing.

In this way, one was busy and one was eating, and the laughter and laughter at the banquet used up the reunion dinner. Because Hou Bingchen cared about the soldiers in the military camp outside the city, and many brothers left their homes, the commander of the first army could not be alone during the festive season. Chang Huai, so the banquet didn't last long, and it ended early at the next hour.

Gu Xiangtan and Zhao Yuan took each other out of the main hall and went to the side courtyard where Zhao Yuan was.

The moonlight is clear tonight, and the bright silver light covers the corridors of the garden. Plum trees are planted outside the corridors. After being watered by the winter snow in the twelfth lunar month, the flower bones are slightly blooming, and the plum fragrance is faint and elegant.

The snow was half melted, and Zhao Yuan pulled Gu Xiangtan while walking, fearing that his feet would slip and fall, but Gu Xiangtan looked at the plum trees in the distance and suddenly read softly: "You come from your hometown, so you should know the things about your hometown. In front of the Qi window, is the winter plum blossoming?"

On New Year's Eve, when the family is reunited, at least Zhao Yuan still has close relatives by his side, but in the whole world, there is no one who is related to Gu Xiangtan by blood.

When Zhao Yuan heard this poem, her heart couldn't help but her heart tightened, and the hand holding Gu Xiangtan also tightened.

The two arrived at the small courtyard, but Zhao Yuan did not enter the house in a hurry, but called Bi Fu to come out.

Gu Xiangtan watched Bi Fu approach, and then looked at the things in his hand, a stove, a brazier, and a bundle of paper money.

After finishing the talisman, Zhao Yuan squatted down, took a piece of yellow paper and threw it into the basin, the jumping flames lit up his face, and his eyes were extraordinarily bright, shining like stars.

Gu Xiangtan stood still for a while, and squatted beside Zhao Yuan. Zhao Yuan handed over a piece of yellow paper. Gu Xiangtan took it and slowly put it in the fire, watching it being swallowed up by the bright crimson curls.

The two of them did not say a word, they just paid homage silently for a long time, the next moment Bi Fu took another brazier and put it aside, Gu Xiangtan looked at Zhao Yuan suspiciously.

Zhao Yuan also threw a few pieces of yellow paper into the basin, and said for a moment: "I once had a nanny, seven years ago today, she died tragically at the hands of thieves in order to protect my life."

Gu Xiangtan was taken aback for a moment, he rarely heard Zhao Yuan mention his childhood, whether it was in the palace when he was young, or was exiled by Emperor Zongzheng, Zhao Yuan kept silent about it, never said anything about suffering Difficult, but no matter how silent he is about it, Gu Xiangtan still remembers what Mou Fei said when Zhao Yuan was poisoned that year when he rescued him, that the young master of their family was wandering in front of the gate of hell like this Back and forth, I don't know how much I have experienced before this.

Zhao Yuan left Beijing at the age of eight, with only two bodyguards and two people who took care of him, traveled thousands of miles to the north, stayed for less than two years, was hunted down to Luli, and finally committed herself to the countryside in desperation. In the midst of a crisis, outsiders can guess all the hardships he endured. Although he only said a few words at the moment, Zhao Yuan would not let it go, but as long as Gu Xiangtan thinks of the rampant black hands behind him, plus Now that Zhao Yuan returned to Beijing, she was still being persecuted, and Gu Xiangtan couldn't help the blood in his chest.

Zhao Yuan turned her head and saw that Gu Xiangtan's eyes were gloomy, and the yellow paper in his hand was wrinkled. He raised his fingertips and wiped lightly on Gu Xiangtan's tightly bitten lower lip, and waited. When the other party looked over, he said softly: "Don't bite, it's bleeding..."

Gu Xiangtan's heart trembled, he quickly opened his eyes, stuck out his tongue and licked it, and sure enough, he tasted a little fishy sweet, but his lips were still slightly numb, as if the cold touch of his fingertips still remained on it.

Zhao Yuan withdrew her hand lightly, but her eyes still fell on the tip of Gu Xiangtan's light red tongue, watching it pass across her lips, she shrank back tremblingly.

Gu Xiangtan was a little uncomfortable being seen, so he took two more pieces of yellow paper from Zhao Yuan's hand and said, "Then burn more, if the nanny knows, seeing how you look today, I will be grateful and gratified .”

After all the paper money was burnt, Gu Xiangtan's legs were already numb. Thanks to Zhao Yuan, he helped him into the house with half help.

Before going to bed, Gu Xiangtan vaguely remembered: "I'm going to Shimen Temple tomorrow."

He originally meant to ask Zhao Yuan if he was free to go with him, but Xu has been at ease for a long time recently, as long as he sleeps on the same bed with Zhao Yuan, Gu Xiangtan always sleeps very well, Before the second half of the sentence was asked, he couldn't help but fell asleep.

Zhao Yuan looked at the sleeping face of the person beside her, but couldn't help but skip all kinds of past events in her mind.

I saw with my own eyes the scorched corpse of the father and king in the coffin, the heartbroken and disheartened mother and concubine before she died, and the nurse who ran away in the middle of the night holding her in the deserted streets, and was stabbed several times in her body. These pictures once accompanied him to sleep almost every night, entangled in nightmares.But I don't know when, Zhao Yuan has not been able to sleep because of it for a long time. Thinking about it carefully, it seems that it was over when she was 11 years old, after being detoxified.

That year he experienced life and death, and that year he was reborn from death.

In that year, Zhao Yuan met the greatest redemption in his life, so this ray of light is worth exchanging for, because it is unparalleled and precious.

Thinking of this, Zhao Yuan lightly brushed Gu Xiangtan's cheek, tucked the quilt for him, put her arms around him and fell asleep together...

-

On the first day of the first lunar month, Maitreya Buddha’s Christmas, Daye, headed by Xiangguo Temple, has 88 large temples under its seat, and each is divided into 88 small temples, to celebrate Christmas and hold the Thousand Buddha Dharma Assembly.

Juetian Mausoleum also holds water and land rituals. Emperor Zongzheng personally participated in the ceremony, praying for the prosperity of the country and good weather.

Gu Xiangtan didn't show up, but went to Shimen Temple. As the largest Buddhist temple in central Beijing, it was crowded with people during the New Year's Eve. The people who burned incense and celebrated the ceremony crowded this temple so much that there was nowhere to go.

When Gu Xiangtan woke up early in the morning, Zhao Yuan had prepared all the offerings for prayers. After breakfast, Bi Fu and Yanfang brought the carriage, and Zhao Yuan took Gu Xiangtan to sit on it.

Gu Xiangtan just finished sighing how much Zhao Yuan took care of him, then thought for a while, and said: "I'm going here to meet the Buddha first, and secondly, I want to meet someone alone."

However, Zhao Yuan didn't ask any more questions, and just nodded lightly.

Gu Xiangtan was slightly surprised: "You know?"

Then it dawned on her that although Zhao Yuan wasn't as tricky and deep-minded as he was, her thinking was not much narrower than her own. Therefore, Zhao Yuan also saw the reason why that person did so clearly in that matter. It is not surprising to have expected it.

So Gu Xiangtan didn't go into details, and said with a smile: "But I don't know if she will come, let's try my luck."

Zhao Yuan said, "Yes."

"Why?"

Zhao Yuan said, "Because she knew you would come."