return to peace

Ever since Chu Lingshang entered the palace to look for the King of Xiliang, the King of Xiliang did not summon Ji Fan again.But Chu Lingshang didn't see Ji Fan again, he wasn't ready yet, and really didn't know how to tell Ji Fan about this matter.Ji Fan visited before, but was turned away by Lin Feng.Ji Fan was puzzled, and wanted to sneak into the National Teacher's Mansion to ask for clarification, but Lin Feng bumped into him and invited him out respectfully.

I avoided seeing him for three days in a row.For such a good-tempered person as Ji Fan, he couldn't help being a little angry.He thought, he had to find some way to lure Chen Lingshang out.

Chu Lingshang would listen to Lin Feng's report on Ji Fan's itinerary every day, but for several days, Lin Feng's report was:

"My lord, General Ji didn't leave the royal station today."

"My lord, General Ji didn't go out today either."

On the third day, Lin Feng also hesitated when reporting: "My lord, today..."

"He hasn't come out yet?" Chu Lingshang put down his pen and asked.

Lin Feng shook his head.Chu Lingshang couldn't sit still.

Early the next morning, Chu Lingshang prepared his car and went to the Royal Inn.The subordinates reported that General Ji had not risen yet.Chu Lingshang didn't care, went all the way to Ji Fan's room, pushed the door open, and suddenly a strong smell of alcohol came over his face.

"You stay outside." Chu Lingshang ordered, and walked in alone, Lin Feng immediately closed the door and stood by the door.

Chen Lingshang frowned, kicked away the wine bottles all over the floor, opened the bed curtain, and saw Ji Fan who was drunk on the bed.Chu Lingshang was inexplicably angry, he leaned over, trying to pull Ji Fan up.Just as he was about to make a move, Ji Fan's eyes suddenly opened.

"You..." Chu Lingshang was startled, and before he could ask, Ji Fan pulled him over, turned him over, and put him under him.

Seeing Ji Fan's triumphant smile, Chu Lingshang was surprised: "You didn't drink?"

Ji Fan grinned cheerfully: "If I didn't do this, would you come to see me?"

Chu Lingshang was so blocked that he couldn't speak.He pushed Ji Fan who was on his body, frowned and said, "Get up!"

"I don't." Ji Fan put his hands under his chin, and lay on Chu Lingshang's body like this: "Unless you tell me why you avoid me."

Chu Lingshang was speechless for a while, he didn't want to lie to him, but now is really not a good time to speak.Seeing that he didn't know what he was thinking and didn't speak, Ji Fan said, "You don't say it? If you don't say it, I will punish you!" As he spoke, his hand slipped to Chu Lingshang's waist.He knew that Chu Lingshang was the most ticklish here.

Sure enough, some things are born and cannot be changed. "Don't, don't, don't!" Chu Lingshang struggled: "Ji Fan!" He seemed to be a little angry, so Ji Fan accepted it.Chu Lingshang was a little out of breath, her temple hair and clothes were a little messy, maybe it was because of the tightness of the pain just now, and her eyes were a little watery.

Ji Fan suddenly felt a throbbing in his heart, and his body became slightly hot.He turned over quickly, feeling terrible that he wanted to kiss her just now.

Chu Lingshang didn't notice his gaffe, he sat up slowly, calmed down, straightened his clothes and said, "It's not that I don't want to see you, I just don't know how to see you."

Hearing this, Ji Fan turned his head and asked, "Did something happen?"

Chu Lingshang avoided his probing eyes, wanted to say something but didn't know where to start, and stopped for a long time before saying, "You come to my house tonight, I have something to tell you."

"Can't you tell now?"

"It's hard to say now."

"That's good." Ji Fan didn't get to the bottom of it, he knew that if Chu Lingshang didn't want to say it, no one could force him to say it.

"By the way, the king has been recruiting you into the palace before, hasn't he?"

Ji Fan honestly replied: "Yes."

Chu Lingshang thought for a while, but still warned: "If you can push it away in the future, push it away."

Ji Fan is a smart person, and he understood it as soon as he heard it. He immediately felt happy, smiled, and got tired of it: "Are you worried about me?"

Chu Lingshang pushed him over.Ji Fan smiled, not taking it seriously, and said: "Actually, I know that the King of Xiliang did it on purpose. He wanted King Chen to doubt me."

"Then you still go obediently?"

"Oh, he summoned me forcibly, why not go? Besides, I also want to see what kind of tricks he wants to play."

Although Chu Lingshang felt that it was inappropriate for him to say that about the King of Xiliang in front of him, he didn't say anything. He knew that Ji Fan was smart, so he just reminded him just in case.

The two of them sat side by side on the edge of the bed, the sunlight came in through the window, and there were flying dust in front of them.After a moment of silence, Chu Lingshang stood up, "I'm going back, remember to come to me at night."

Ji Fan looked up at him and said with a smile, "Okay."

When he reached the door, Ji Fan suddenly stopped him, "Ling Shang!"

"Ok?"

"You can tell me if you have something to do in the future, don't avoid me anymore."

"Brother, don't abandon me again." The little child overlapped with the handsome young man in front of him, and Chu Lingshang felt sore.

"it is good."

He opened the door, the sun was shining and the sky was clear.

In the evening, the sky became overcast, and at night it began to rain.Chen Lingshang was making tea in the pavilion, and outside the pavilion was surrounded by rain curtains, as if isolating him in another world.Lin Feng brought Ji Fan to the garden and turned to leave, but Ji Fan did not go there immediately, but stood in the rain holding an umbrella, quietly looking at Chen Lingshang who was not far away.

Chu Lingshang looked up, and the eyes of the two met through the heavy rain, hiding the past ten years in one glance.Ji Fan suddenly had a premonition that maybe today, Chu Lingshang was going to confess to himself.He walked towards him on a somewhat muddy path, step by step, from 15 years ago to 15 years later, he stood by his side again.

"You came?"

"I am coming."

For a long time, both of them were silent, one continued to make tea, and the other watched him make tea.The sound of the rain was getting louder, and the inside of the pavilion became more and more silent.The tea was boiled, and Chu Lingshang poured a cup for Ji Fan, the dense heat blurred the distance between the two sides.

"I want to tell you something." Chu Lingshang said.

"You said."

Chu Lingshang poured himself a cup of tea, held the cup, and looked at Ji Fan with the vicissitudes of 15 years in his eyes.Ji Fan suddenly felt that it would be cruel to let him speak out.So he decided to reveal himself.

"You want to say, you are my brother, you are Wen Lin." He said softly, as if he was afraid of scaring Chu Lingshang.

Chu Lingshang suddenly opened his eyes wide, in disbelief: "When did you know?"

Ji Fan took a sip of tea, the fragrance of the tea was lingering. "That time you had a fever, and you were confused. When you woke up, it was me, and you called me by my nickname."

Chu Lingshang was stunned for a moment, he thought that he was dreaming that time, and he tried to test Ji Fan when he woke up.It turned out that he knew it from then on.

"Then why...don't you recognize me?"

"Since you are keeping it from me, you definitely don't want me to know, so why should I expose it?"

"..."

Ji Fan was right, if there hadn't been this accident, he might never have admitted that he was Wen Lin.During this period of time, he saw Wen Ruyu's regret and Ji Fan's remorse, but he still watched with cold eyes. He couldn't get out of the hurdle in his heart, and felt that he was unfilial and unrighteous.

"sorry."

Ji Fan felt a pain in his heart, and held his hand: "Don't say sorry, you didn't do anything wrong. It was us who were not by your side when you went through so much suffering."

Chu Lingshang felt that he was strong enough, but when he heard Ji Fan say this, those days of tossing and turning in the hospital bed, when he was in pain, came back before his eyes. He was in a foreign land, lonely, and couldn't sleep all night. During that time, he hated Yes, he was wronged.Later, he forced himself to be strong, forced himself to support himself with a thin body, and forced himself to enjoy loneliness.But in fact, he is so afraid of being alone.

Chu Lingshang looked at Ji Fan in front of him, unable to speak, his eyes turned red as he watched.Ji Fan panicked, he hugged Chen Lingshang tightly, and comforted softly: "It's okay, it's okay, I will always be by your side in the future, live together in life, die together in death, and never be separated again."

Chu Lingshang closed his eyes and suppressed the sadness in his heart. After a while, he gently pushed Ji Fan away and said, "One more thing." He lowered his eyes and said slowly, "I want you to say goodbye to your father. official."

"You want the Wen family to no longer have a foothold in Chen Guochaotang?"

"This is one. The foster father and master rescued me and raised me, and single-handedly brought me to the position of the Xiliang State Teacher. I must repay their kindness. The second is that the two countries are at odds, and the people are in dire straits. Now, King Chen Faintness, there is smog in the territory of Chen State, but Xiliang's reforms have achieved remarkable results, the king of Xiliang has great ambitions, and Xiliang's unification of the world is the general trend. Third, my identity is embarrassing. If someone with a heart knows and spreads it out, King Chen will definitely suspect you. At that time, it will not be easy to retreat completely.”

After the words, there was silence for a while.

After a long time, Ji Fan said: "I understand. But I can't persuade my father, I have to persuade you. He has always thought you are dead all these years, and there is a knot in his heart that only you can untie."

Chu Lingshang's eyelashes trembled slightly: "Okay."

"What about you? Will you resign?" Chu Lingshang looked up at him.

"I said, I won't leave you again. But give me another five years, okay? I promised a person to help him. Just five years, after five years, what happens to Da Chen has nothing to do with me. I only guard you, wherever you go, I will go."

"Is it the third prince?" Ji Fan and Chen Jingxuan had a good friendship, he knew it.

"Yes, I promised, I will help him sit on the crown prince."

"The third prince Chen is a person who can't rub his eyes. Once he knows our relationship, are you sure he will let you go?"

"We are life-long friends, and I trust him."

What Ji Fan said was swearing, and it was hard for Chu Lingshang to refute anything.

After thinking for a moment, he replied: "Okay, let's make a five-year agreement. After five years, if you break the agreement..."

"No." Before Chu Lingshang finished speaking, Ji Fan interrupted him.

"No, I found you after 15 years of searching. How could I break the contract?"

Chu Lingshang's heart softened, yes, no matter how much he doubted, he shouldn't doubt Ji Fan who had been by his side since he was a child.

"Okay, I believe you."

Hearing this, Ji Fan smiled lightly, then thought about it, and said, "I don't want you to be my brother anymore."

"You?" Chu Lingshang's heart skipped a beat, not understanding what Ji Fan meant.

Ji Fan added a cup of tea for himself and Chu Lingshang, and said, "Actually, we are not blood brothers. After 15 years, we started as friends, and I want to stand on an equal footing with you. I didn’t understand it, but when I understand it, I’ll tell you.”

Chu Lingshang felt relieved. "good."

Inside the pavilion, the tea was cold; outside the pavilion, the rain stopped.

The next day, Chu Lingshang went to the palace to meet the King of Xiliang, and made the agreement with Ji Fan clear.Although the King of Xiliang has a good impression of Ji Fan, he has been in the top position all year round and is used to betrayal.

"Ling Shang, people will change, not to mention five years, they may change in one year. If after five years, he is greedy for power and position, and refuses to go with you, then what will you do?"

Chu Lingshang had to admit that he had indeed thought about this question.

"If he breaks the contract, then I will break up with him. From now on, I don't care about his life or death. Let's make a bet."

"Okay, then it's up to you. I believe you have a measure."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your understanding!"

The reason why the King of Xiliang was willing to accept this treaty was also because, even if he retreated [-] steps, Ji Fan was really hostile to Xiliang in the end, and his relationship with Chu Lingshang could still stain him.Once the seeds of doubt are planted, they are very difficult to remove.Furthermore, Chu Lingshang was Si Ran's apprentice after all, his adopted son, and he didn't want to push him too far.

Thinking of Si Ran, his eyes softened: "Stay here for lunch, Zexi hasn't seen you for a long time."

Chu Lingshang should be.

Chu Zexi was recently imprisoned by the King of Xiliang to study state affairs. He hadn't seen Chu Lingshang for a long time, and he was full of resentment.Hearing that the king of Xiliang stayed with Chu Lingshang for a meal, he even treated his father very kindly.

Chu Lingshang listened patiently to Chu Zexi's ramblings, echoing them from time to time, and the rest of his thoughts had already gone to Ji Fan.I don't know what he did today, he thought.After the meal, he dealt with some affairs in the palace, and it was already evening when he left the palace.

The gorgeous sunset covered the entire sky, reflecting the magnificent palace, which was particularly shocking.The warm wind was blowing slowly in the evening, Chen Lingshang got out of the sedan chair, slowed down his pace, and walked leisurely.As soon as he left the palace gate, he saw that handsome figure waiting beside the carriage.

When Ji Fan turned his head, the two looked at each other and smiled, Xia Guang was just right.