then Li Sao

There is a bamboo grove behind the Fudong Hall, through the bamboo grove is the Leng Palace, where Zhou Tang's mother used to live.

Zhou Tang had a strong hatred for the woman who gave birth to him. That woman took him as a shame and gave him a cursed fate with her own death. How could he not hate that.So he never got near that palace before.

But recently he often went to play in the bamboo forest, almost every evening, and didn't come back until very late.

The servants of Fudong Palace were deeply disturbed by his behavior, but no one stopped him, because they were all afraid of it.

Once there was a little eunuch with unclean hands and feet, who stole some empress' jewelry and wanted to bury it in this bamboo forest, but was found dead in it after a few days, and the death was terrible——

The jewels were scattered all over the floor, the body was bent into an unbelievable angle, there were large patches of black and purple on the body, and black blood flowed out of the mouth, exuding a strong stench.

Because it was so ugly, the eunuch was hastily buried.After that, few people would approach that area. People in the palace said that it must be the resentful spirit of the Seventh Prince's mother.

Zhou Tang didn't believe this. Although he had read many ghost stories, he always felt that people were more terrifying than ghosts.So he recently picked that piece of bamboo forest, where he practiced martial arts and archery.

Taking out the "Picture of Little Man Practicing Martial Arts" drawn in Chaoyang Palace, he practiced one move after another according to the above, cutting a piece of bamboo to use as a sword, and slowly he was able to perform a complete set of martial arts techniques.

He also practiced all the bows and arrows that Luo Ping gave him here. At the beginning, his arrows always flew out lightly. After practicing for a while, he was able to shoot powerfully at the target, although the accuracy was still lacking. .

That day he was practicing archery in the bamboo forest, when he suddenly heard a rustling sound behind him, he immediately looked back vigilantly, but saw nothing.

Is someone here?

Who will come here?

Just as he was thinking, another rustling sound came from beside him, Zhou Tang turned around abruptly, but still saw nothing.After all, he was a child, so he was inevitably a little scared, and the palms of his hands were sweating.

At this moment, he clearly heard the voice directly above him, and when he raised his head, he saw a big snake with a thick bowl mouth hanging down from above, spitting a message at him.

The snake hissed, and the blood-red letter barely brushed against his ear, and Zhou Tang backed away in shock.But the snake obviously didn't intend to let him go, and twisted and approached him.

Zhou Tang thought to himself, it seems that the tragic death of the little eunuch was not a rumor. Judging by the size of this snake, whether it was bitten or twisted, as long as it is entangled, it will definitely die!

At this time, Zhou Tang said that Tian Tian should not be called ineffective, and he could only rely on himself.

He went all out, no longer backed down, and drew his own bowstring, wanting to fight to the death with that big snake!

Inside Fudong Hall.

Rue Xiang prepared the meals and waited for her master to come back.

In the past month, the little master spent less and less time in Fudong Palace. He ran out early in the morning, played with the eldest grandson in Chaoyang Palace at noon, and went to the bamboo forest in the afternoon. He will only come back after dinner, but today is too unusual, the food is cold, and he is still nowhere to be seen.

Yun Xiang was the most conscientious person in the entire Fudong Palace, seeing that the little master did not return after the time limit, she wondered if she should report to the emperor.After all, it is a prince, if something happened in the bamboo forest, they can't afford to pay for it.

After waiting for another stick of incense, Yun Xiang couldn't hold back any longer, got up and left the hall, just happened to bump into the little master at the entrance of the hall.At first glance, she screamed out in fright: "Your Highness, Your Highness! What's wrong with you!"

I saw that Zhou Tang was covered in blood, his clothes were full of tears, his hair was in a mess, his face was filthy, and the murderous look in his eyes did not retreat, he looked like an evil spirit who had just stepped out of hell.

"Your Highness, are you injured? This servant is going to call the imperial physician!"

When Zhou Tang saw her, he was startled for a while, as if he had just recovered, and then stopped her: "Don't go!"

"But……"

"Go into the house first, don't say anything!"

Swept by his eyes, Rue Xiang could not help but tremble.For some reason, she felt that the little master had changed a lot recently, and sometimes there was a majesty in every word and deed, which made people dare not disobey.

Entering the house, Rue Xiang prepared bath water and clean clothes, Zhou Tang refused to let her serve, and drove her out with a wave: "Take my waist card and go out of the palace, go to Master Luo Pingluo's mansion, and ask him to come here , don't disturb the others."

"Your servant obeys." Yunxiang bowed and retreated.

Lord Luo...it must be the young man who came to Fudong Palace last time.

Why does His Highness want to see that lord?

And what happened to the blood on His Highness' body?

Could it be...killing someone?

Full of doubts, Rue Xiang went to Luo Ping's residence.

Luo Ping was very surprised to see her, and after hearing what she said, his face turned pale, he rushed over in a hurry, pushed the door into the inner hall without even saying hello.

As soon as he entered, he smelled a bloody smell, and saw a bucket full of blood, he felt a thump in his heart, and felt a little weak under his feet.

After seeing that Zhou Tang's chest was still rising and falling on the bed, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He sat by the bed, saw Zhou Tang frowned and closed his eyes, patted his chest lightly, and asked softly, "What's wrong? How did you make yourself like this?"

Hearing his voice, Zhou Tang opened his eyes suddenly. Just as he was about to speak, he saw that Yun Xiang was still in the room, and said in a low voice, "Yu Xiang, you go out first. I'm fine, and I didn't kill anyone. Don't think about anything, what are you doing?" Don't talk about it, I will reward you later."

"Yes, this servant will leave." Yunxiang closed the door for them.

After the little girl went out, she couldn't help being curious, so she glanced at the door a few times.

She saw that her little master changed his stern look just now, threw himself into Master Luo's arms, and muttered something about Master, with indescribable grievances in his voice.

And Master Luo gently patted his back and said, "It's all right, don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I'm here."

Rue Xiang didn't continue to listen, she cleaned up the blood left in the yard and left, and she didn't say anything when asked by other servants.

She only realized today that her little master is actually a child who needs to be taken care of very much. She doesn't know how Master Luo got involved with the little master, but she can see that outsiders can't get involved between the two of them.

"Your Highness, it seems that you have learned how to use people. I think that girl Yunxiang will take good care of you in the future." Luo Ping calmed him down, did not rush to ask questions, and praised him first.

"Hmph, I won't tame her. If you hook her up one day, I won't have anyone to wait on."

Luo Ping smiled: "Why do I snatch your maid for nothing? Well, tell me, what happened?"

Zhou Tang rubbed against him: "I was in the bamboo forest today, and I met a big and thick snake. It wanted to eat me and drink my blood. It clung to me, so I fought it, and it... ...Shot and killed, a lot of blood spurted out, it was still hot..."【Note 1】

Luo Ping continued to pat him: "Your Highness, you have done a good job, you are very brave and powerful."

"Little master, I told you, don't treat me like a child."

"I didn't coax you. You protected yourself, which is really good. Let me see, is there any injury?"

"It didn't bite me, it just threw me a few times and scratched me a bit."

"Well, do you still have the golden sore medicine from last time?"

"Yes." Zhou Tang took out the small box, "Wipe it for me."

"The slave obeys."

Luo Ping imitated Ruxiang's tone of teasing him, causing Zhou Tang to roll his eyes.

Lifting Zhou Tang's underwear, Luo Ping saw many red marks and bruises. He rubbed the bruises on his body, applied medicine to the wound, and finally covered him with a quilt and said, "Your Highness, sleep well!" Once you wake up, you'll be fine tomorrow."

"Will you sleep with me today?"

Luo Ping was stunned, and wanted to refuse, after all, staying here is not in compliance with the rules, he was impatient just now, and threatened the guards at the West Palace Gate, I'm afraid it will be a bit troublesome.But seeing Zhou Tang's pitiful eyes, his heart softened:

"Okay, I won't go, you can sleep peacefully."

Zhou Tang then closed his eyes.

He also specially leaned against the inner side of the bed to make room for Luo Ping.

Luo Ping reached out and stroked the folds of the mattress, which was still warm.

He sat by the bed for a long time, staring blankly at Zhou Tang for a long time, until the candle was completely extinguished.Finally, with a complicated mood and clothes, she slept beside Zhou Tang.

He is still a child, Luo Ping thought, he is not the Holy One back then.

Maybe, I can still be a little greedy for such a peaceful time, don't have to worry about it, don't have to care about gossip in court, don't have to cut my heart open for him to appreciate.

After falling asleep, the child soon snuggled up.

His small arms and legs are wrapped around him, and his breath is filled with innocent dependence...

Luo Ping almost stayed up all night.

When it was just dawn, he was about to get up, but he couldn't get up all of a sudden. He turned his head and saw that his sleeves were pressed under Zhou Tang's body.

He suddenly felt helpless and at the same time amused.

Did this kid do it on purpose or something, do you have to let him break his sleeves?

The next day, when Zhou Tang opened his eyes, he felt dizzy and dry, and his body was uncomfortable.

Remembering that the little master stayed behind last night, he subconsciously touched the side, but only touched a piece of fabric, and did not feel human body temperature.

He sat up, dazzled by the sunlight, and saw the man sitting by the window.

Looking at the fabric in his hand, it turned out to be half of the sleeve that was being pressed by him.

Zhou Tang grinned, jumped out of bed and ran to Luo Ping's side: "Little master, what are you doing?"

Luo Ping put down his pen: "I have nothing to do, just write something casually."

Zhou Tang took the piece of paper and saw a few lines of clear and meaningful words written on it——

When you first met, the white horse and Qingqiu caught up with the hall.

Who is humane, no one is frivolous and wastes a young man.

Some people envy, some hate, and some pity.

Fuck you son of a bitch!

Zhou Tang was puzzled: "Little master, what does this last sentence mean?"

Luo Ping smiled and said, "It's nothing interesting, that's just what I'm going to do today."

Zhou Tang was in a daze, and didn't know what Luo Ping meant, and felt that his body was cold, so he leaned against him.

Luo Ping was taken aback by his heat: "Your Highness, do you have a fever? Go back to bed and have a good rest. I'll ask Rue Xiang to call the imperial physician for you."

"I don't want a doctor, just stay with me for two more days." Zhou Tang pretended to be sick.

"No, I have something to do when I go out, and I'll come back to see you when I'm done."

"Well, then you must come over."

"Okay, I will definitely come."

Zhou Tang was so feverish that he crawled back onto the bed clutching half of his sleeve and fell into a deep sleep.

Note 1:

Seeing that a child raised the question that snakes are cold-blooded animals, the man will explain here.

To be precise, snakes are temperature-changing animals.

The blood of reptiles changes with temperature. In fact, they are not always cold. They like to bask in the sun to increase their blood temperature.When it's very cold, they sleep (hibernate) and stop moving around.

So the snake that attacked Zhou Tang must have just been exposed to the sun?

PS. The man drank a bowl of fresh snake blood when he was a child, which caused him to have psychological shadows now. I vividly remember the temperature and taste...