she won't live to twenty

Late at night, the palace.

Tang Zhi stayed in the imperial study room, still suppressing his impatience, and kept browsing the documents.

There was no one else in the imperial study room except him, not even a eunuch who was supposed to be by the master's side at all times.At this time, there was a sound of heavy footsteps outside.

Tang Zhi rubbed his forehead, trying to make himself less irritable.

The sound of footsteps was getting closer and closer, and after a few breaths, Grandmaster Wang Tianba...or Li Xia, the dead man, walked up to him and knelt on one knee: "Your Highness has worked hard, there is no abnormal phenomenon in the palace tonight, Your Highness can rest earlier. "

Tang Zhi nodded: "Thanks for your hard work, Li Xia."

Wang Tianba said with a simple and honest smile: "How can I find it hard to work for His Highness?"

After a few words of pleasantries, Wang Tianba was about to leave when another black-clothed dark guard stepped forward quickly. It was Chun Lei, the dead man who was in charge of collecting information from various places in Changjing.

The four dead men of Tang Zhi could trust each other on the surface, so Chunlei did not hide it from Wang Tianba, and directly reported to Tang Zhihui: "Your Highness Six, today a guard noticed that His Highness Chang Ning and Miss Nan's family is out for an outing."

"Oh? Today...is the Flower Festival." Tang Zhi's eyes flashed with irritability, and his eyes were burning, "Did you see what they did?"

"This..." Chunlei just sorted and filed the collected information, and reported to Tang Zhi the things he was interested in according to Tang Zhi's request, and didn't do any follow-up work.So he only knew that Wuming and Nanyue went out for a spring outing in the city, but he didn't know the details.

Chunlei hesitated for a moment, and reported the truth: "I don't know, but I heard that the two behaved very intimately."

Tang Zhi crossed his hands and fingers, propped his chin, and his eyes flashed with a strange light.

"Your Highness likes Changning and Miss Nan?" Wang Tianba scratched his head with a mellow voice.

Tang Zhi moved his fingers slightly, neither denying nor admitting.

Seeing his acquiescence, Wang Tianba smiled and nodded: "Not bad, those two girls are worthy of your Highness, especially the girls from the Nan family... By the way, Your Highness, Miss Nan is not good at martial arts, and there are many villains in the capital. What if she is bullied before you marry her in? If I don't help you watch, who dares to bully her, I will beat him out of Changjing."

Tang Zhi's lips curled up into a faint smile: "Uncle Li Xia, is that why you like that girl Nanyue so much?"

"Yes." Wang Tianba smiled, "I have no children in my life, but for some reason, I feel that girl is like my daughter."

Tang Zhi: "Then I will trouble you."

Wang Tianba said "no trouble" several times, made a martial arts salute, turned around and backed away.

After Chunlei also left, Tang Zhi finally put away the smile on his face and became impatient again.

He exhaled irritably and rubbed his ribs subconsciously.

Although he was so drunk on New Year's Day that he couldn't remember what happened at all, but he is a lunatic, not a fool, how could he not guess what happened to him in the First Prince's Mansion?

Until now, his body still hurts.

Tang Zhi licked his lips bewitchingly, and suddenly lay down on the table, bursting into a strange laugh.

Chang Ning... Chang Ning hit him!Ha, this feeling is really wonderful... If he can't get away now, he can't wait to see Chang Ning... No, he will go now!

Tang Zhi stood up frantically, and staggered towards the door.

A gray figure appeared from nowhere and stopped in front of Tang Zhi.

Autumn Equinox's voice was extremely hoarse: "Your Highness...don't be distracted. The state affairs should be the most important thing now."

Tang Zhi stood there for a long time, until the figure of the autumn equinox disappeared, and then he gradually regained his clarity, and sat back in the seat just now.

……

The weather is getting warmer.

On another night in spring, Si Lian quietly returned to the capital.

Si Lian didn't go to the princess mansion first, but turned into the palace, walked around in the dark for a while, and finally sat in the lake pavilion and waited quietly.

Wuming and Second Master yawned and came from two different directions one after another.

"How is it, the investigation is clear?" Wuming looked at Si Lian carefully.

I haven't seen him for half a year, although Si Lian's appearance has not changed from before, his temperament has changed a lot.There was a trace of softness, and a trace of coolness. If she used to be like an enchanting peach blossom, now she is more like a plum blooming alone by Ling Han.

"Yes." Si Lian nodded and knelt down on one knee, "Thank you for your advice, miss."

When he first found the Furong Altar according to Wuming's instructions, Si Lian was still skeptical.But the deeper he went, Si Lian found that all kinds of clues could not be faked.

The real princess of the Northern Jin Dynasty has long since died, and she, Si Lian, is just an orphan who was used by the dead soldiers of the Northern Jin Dynasty.

What's even more ridiculous is that the master who raised her turned out to be her father-killing enemy.

The words that Master once said to her, such as the hatred of the country and the family, the living for revenge, the hardships and injuries she has suffered, everything has become a joke.

The second master came over, leaned against the pillar and asked, "Then Miss Si, do you still insist on taking revenge?"

Si Lian stared blankly for a moment, then shook his head slowly.

Si Lian doesn't hate Master, just because she raised her.But she doesn't want to bear Master's national hatred and family hatred anymore, just like Wuming said at the beginning, she wants to live soberly.

Si Lian said firmly: "From now on, I will only live for myself."

With that said, Si Lian took out a small hidden crossbow from his bosom and handed it to Wuming: "Miss Wuming, this is the hidden weapon I promised to give to Miss Nan. There are three crossbow arrows inside. If you need arrows in the future, you can Find craftsmen you can trust to build."

"Thank you." Wuming checked it carefully, and after confirming that there was nothing wrong with the dark crossbow, he temporarily buckled it on his wrist.

Wuming raised his wrist, looked at it appreciatively for a while, and then looked at Si Lian with a smile: "So Miss Si, what you said about living for yourself...how is it?"

Wuming has no interest in interfering with Si Lian's life, but the problem is...Si Lian likes Tang Chiyu, and her future plans are probably related to Tang Chiyu.

"I'll go back to the Princess Mansion." Si Lian's voice suddenly softened, and her eyes became focused. However, she was staring at the empty garden at this moment, and her focused eyes seemed a bit piercing. "No matter what the Seventh Highness treats me, Attitude, whether she likes me or not, I will return to her and be her handmaid willingly."

The second master suddenly chuckled seductively. He clapped his hands, said "good" a few times, and threw a black ball to Si Lian.

"You should still have an antidote on your body. With this one, half a year is enough. As for the mother Gu..." Second Master bit his words, and approached Si Lian's ear, "After half a year, if you behave well enough , I will hand over the mother Gu to you."

Si Lian's body froze for a moment, then immediately returned to normal: "Okay."

After the negotiations were over, Wuming and the second master went back to their rooms, and Si Lian also left the palace and lived in the inn temporarily.

However, half an hour later, Si Lian changed his clothes and appeared on the side street next to the palace again.

The second master's figure was like a ghost, without making a sound, he jumped in front of Si Lian, narrowing his fox eyes with a smile.

Just now when the second master approached Si Lian, he deliberately lowered his voice with internal force and told her to meet here in half an hour.

"Young Master Yuwen..." Facing this strange man alone, Si Lian's coldness subsided a lot, as if she had become the courtesan Si Lian in the drunken room again.

The second master interrupted her: "Miss Si, I asked you to meet alone. Naturally, I want to talk to you about the mother worm. I can give you the mother worm, but you want to do something for me, can you?"

"can."

Si Lian's eyes flickered: "As long as this matter is harmless to His Highness the Seventh Prince."

The second master raised his eyebrows: "Why do you think I will harm His Highness Qi? I deliberately met you behind Xiao Wuming's back, so it can't be that I want to harm Xiao Wuming? Or Tang Zhengze?"

Si Lian: "...Intuition."

The second master covered his mouth with a "puchi" chuckle, and said to himself: "This is the woman's intuition that Xiao Wuming said? Hahaha..."

"Miss Si, my request is indeed related to His Highness the Seventh Highness, but I don't want you to harm her." The second master gradually restrained his smile and said solemnly, "I want you to fully explain your identity and the purpose of your coming to the capital." Tell His Highness Seven."

"Why!" Si Lian's pupils dilated suddenly, and she took a step back, "Wu Ming said at the beginning that as long as I give up assassinating King Qin, I don't need to tell His Royal Highness the identity... I, I can keep it from her."

According to Tang Chiyu's temperament, if she knew that Si Lian had been lying to her, how sad would she be?How broken must it be?

And Si Lian herself, does she still have a chance to be with Tang Chiyu?

The second master picked a wild flower in the crack of the wall casually, and took a breath. When the wild flower was swaying slightly, he lightly said, "Hidden? Can you keep it hidden?"

"It's okay now, but what about later? Changjing is full of chaos, and even..." Second Master paused, concealed the word "Weibei", and changed his words, "Even the whole world may be in chaos. Can you survive? Your martial arts have already entered the first-rank realm, so is your martial arts useless? Are you willing to hide in the princess mansion and be protected by His Highness the Seventh Prince for the rest of your life? You don’t want to protect her?"

Si Lian was startled: "But..."

"No, but." Second Master said with a smile, "Your martial arts will be exposed at that time, and you can't hide it."

"What's more, you love her. Don't you want to blend in with her and make her fall in love with the real you? Are you willing to face her with a false mask forever?" He spoke quickly and aggressively.

"But...but..." Si Lian staggered back, "If I explain the truth to her, she will be sad."

"Sad?" Second Master sneered, "This heart will be hurt sooner or later. Compared to hurting her heart in troubled times, it is better to clarify the matter while everything is stable now. You still have a lot of time to recover her heart , even if your heart is broken, so what? You still have a lot of time to sew it up. But if you can't hide it later, and the Seventh Highness finds out the truth, the world will be so chaotic, you can't tell what happened, and your life is at stake. Maybe you can't keep it, how can you sew up her scarred heart?"

"Miss Si, although you love His Highness the Seventh Highness, you would never want to abandon her for love, see her hate you, and see her make a life-long relationship with others. Although you love her, your love will ultimately It's selfish, you don't want to sacrifice for His Royal Highness, don't you?"

Second Master tempted: "If you really love His Highness the Seventh Highness, if you really want to spend your life with her, then go and clarify to her. This is good for her and good for you."

"This is a hurdle between you, as long as you can get over it, there will be a flat road in the future."

Si Lian was silent for a long time, then asked tremblingly: "But you...why did you discuss this matter with me without telling Wuming?"

"Because Xiao Wuming...she is softer than me." The second master crushed the wild flowers in his hand, smiled and shook his head lightly.

Neither Wuming nor Tang Zhengze could do anything to force Tang Chiyu to grow up, but he could.

Let him push Tang Chiyu to open his eyes to see this terrible world full of lies, and then summon up courage to face the coming storm.

The second master laughed in a low voice.

"I, I... think about it." Si Lian retreated into the darkness in panic.

After Si Lian left, the second master looked up at the boundless night sky, and murmured softly to himself:

"Besides, I don't know how long I can stay with them. It's been ten years... I can't bear to be anonymous, I can't bear to be regular, but Changjing City is not my home after all."

"Even if I don't want to go back to Loulan, even if I hate my father, I will go back..."

"But at least when I'm still in Kyoto, let me do the things that are not visible."

"They... are guarded by me."

……

After Wuming returned to the house, he dismantled the dark crossbow and inspected it carefully, from the body of the crossbow to the soft leather case to the buckle, and took out a short arrow to play with in his hand.After Wuming confirmed that there was no problem with every part, he put it on his wrist again.

In the evening of the second day, Wuming went to the business house.

Li Zhao traveled around with the caravan for half a year, and didn't return to Beijing for the New Year's Eve. He didn't come back until the beginning of February.

"Boss!" Li Zhaoyuan saw Wuming, and immediately showed a bright smile on his face, "I got what you wanted for you."

Wuming reached out to take the two exquisite wooden boxes, opened them for a look, and narrowed his fox eyes happily: "Thank you, I have taken care of your house in the east of the city for you, and you can move in anytime. "

There are two beautiful jadeite hairpins in the wooden box, one gold and one silver, inlaid with two light pink jadeite peach blossoms, embellished with emerald green jadeites, very beautiful.It can be vaguely seen that there are very thin characters engraved on the handles of the two hairpins, one is "South Moon" and the other is "No Name".

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Wuming walked out of the firm, took out the hairpin with his name engraved on it, looked it over, and inserted it on his head casually.

Two years ago, when Wuming traveled with a caravan traveling across the country, he ran into an old couple who were selling hairpins.It is said that the couple have a pair of twin daughters, and the two sisters have a very good relationship. The couple are craftsmen, so they made a pair of beautiful hairpins for the two sisters.Later, the two sisters got married and left home. The husband and wife were reluctant to part with them, so they stopped making other accessories and devoted themselves to making hairpins in pairs.

The couple's craftsmanship is excellent, and the hairpins are exquisite in workmanship. Many wealthy families in the city who gave birth to sister flowers are willing to spend a lot of money to ask them for a pair of hairpins.

At that time, Wuming felt that the hairpin made by the couple was extremely beautiful, but it was a pity that she was not interested in dressing up, and she couldn't think of another hairpin for someone to wear, so she didn't buy it, but made a note of it.

It was mid-October when Li Zhao left Beijing with the caravan. At that time, Wuming asked him to buy a pair of hairpins.Wuming thought that the caravan would come back before the New Year's Eve, so she gave the hairpin to Nanyue as a New Year's gift. She didn't expect it to be delayed for some time, but now it happened to be sent together with Annu.

When Wuming sneaked into Nanyue's small courtyard, it was already dark.Looking through the half-transparent window, one can see Nanyue is lighting a fire pillar, holding a book and reading seriously.Wuming gently looked away, and knocked on the door: "It's me."

"Nameless?" Nanyue's eyes brightened slightly, overshadowing the panic in her eyes.She unobtrusively pressed the book she was reading under another book, got up and opened the door.

The weather was slightly warm, Nanyue had already taken off her outer shirt, she was wearing a thin inner garment, and only a thin cloak was casually draped over it.Perhaps it was because there were no outsiders in the small courtyard, Nanyue didn't tie up her hair, and the soft black hair was scattered behind her, which made her very docile.

Wuming stretched out his hand, inserted his fingers into her hair, and stroked it slowly from top to bottom: "You gave me a surprise in the New Year, so I have something to give you in return."

New Year's surprise...?

Nanyue recalled the superficial kiss two months ago, and a layer of mist immediately appeared in her eyes.

Wuming wants, wants to return that light kiss to her?

Wuming finally figured it out, did she actually have that kind of liking for her?

Nanyue's heart beat faster.

She opened her big watery eyes and rubbed them obediently, her voice was weak: "...C-Come in and sit down?"

The room was warm and fragrant.

Nameless shook his head: "No need."

She gently tapped Nanyue's head, took her into her arms, and took her a few steps into the yard.

Wuming took out the wooden box and said with a smile, "Here, a late New Year's gift."

Because Nanyue misunderstood Wuming's intention, she sobbed softly in embarrassment, hiding the little thoughts in her mind.

Wuming kept Nanyue's reaction in his eyes, and a doting smile appeared in his eyes: "Open it and have a look."

Nanyue obediently opened the wooden box, and when she saw the exquisite hairpin inside, a smile appeared on her cheeks, and she said, "Thank you Wuming, this is the first time someone gave me a New Year's gift, I like it very much. I... I will treasure it dearly."

Nanyue raised her head, just in time to see the hairpin on Wuming's bun, which was obviously a pair with the one in her hand, her eyes flashed in surprise, and her cheeks were also blushed a little.

Nanyue held the wooden box with both hands, and carefully sent it to Wuming.

Wuming blinked: "Want me to help you put it on?"

Nan Yue nodded slightly.

Wuming took out the hairpin, gently put a simple bun on Nanyue's head, and inserted the hairpin into it.

Nameless's movements were light.

Nanyue lowered her head obediently and quietly.

Obviously only a few breaths, but Wuming felt that time seemed to be frozen.

Finally, she withdrew her finger and put it on Nanyue's shoulder habitually: "Okay."

Nanyue raised her head and looked at Wuming quietly, her dark eyes reflected the candlelight in the courtyard, flickering erratically, and seemed to have hazy starlight.Wuming's eyes were distracted for a moment, and he lowered his head slightly in a strange way.

She vaguely felt that in such an atmosphere, it seemed that something should be done.

What should be done?

Nanyue closed her eyes, her long eyelashes trembling slightly.

Nameless bowed his head very slowly, but it was getting closer.The palm she put on Nanyue's shoulder tightened unknowingly.

Suddenly, there was a shrill "squeak" sound of mice in the distance.

Nanyue opened her eyes.

Wuming took a step back in a panic for no reason, and repeated what he said just now: "Okay."

"...Mmm." Nanyue's ears were so red that her voice was as thin as a mosquito.

The ambiguous atmosphere disappeared, and turned into inexplicable embarrassment.

The two stood quietly for a while, and Nanyue finally spoke weakly: "Wu Ming, are you... going back? Or come in and sit?"

Wuming shook his head: "I still have something for you."

She took off the dark crossbow on her arm.

"This is...?" Nanyue asked curiously.

"I asked Miss Si to help you build a self-defense dark crossbow." Wuming didn't hide it from Nanyue, "When I'm not around in the future, if you encounter danger, you can use it to defend yourself."

Nanyue nodded, and didn't ask why Si Lian made a hidden weapon, but asked obediently: "Sister Si Lian...is she back?"

"Yeah." Wuming said, "Stretch out your hand, I'll teach you to put it on."

Nanyue stretched out her right arm, and under Wuming's guidance, put the dark crossbow firmly.

"Is it still suitable? Will you start with it?"

Nanyue moved her arms: "Well...it's very suitable."

After a few words, the embarrassment just now finally dissipated.

"Try?" Wuming asked.

Nanyue nodded, following Wuming's instructions, she raised her arms and aimed at the bamboo forest.

Nanyue aimed at a bamboo and pulled the trigger strangely.

Hardly any sound.

If it weren't for the slight noise in the bamboo forest, Wuming would not have noticed the movement of the arrow.

Wuming raised his eyebrows appreciatively, and skimmed into the bamboo forest lightly, and soon saw the trace of the short arrow.The head of the arrow submerged into a bamboo plant, but due to lack of strength, the arrow body and arrow tail were still outside.

Sure enough, as Wuming had previously speculated, the power of this dark crossbow would be different in the hands of people with different internal strength.If it was Wuming just now, let alone this bamboo, even the surrounding wall behind it would collapse.

Wuming pulled out the short arrow from the bamboo, and the split bamboo immediately fell crookedly to the side.Although the dark crossbow in Nanyue's hands was not as powerful as Wuming or Si Lian, it was enough for self-defense.

And when the arrow was shot just now, there was no sound at all, and even the surrounding air flow was as calm as before.At close range, no one can escape such a secret arrow.

Si Lian's arrow that assassinated King Qin was extremely treacherous, but it was still full of murderous aura.But Nanyue's arrow, not to mention murderous, didn't even have airflow.

Is it because Nanyue's internal strength is too weak that there are no traces?Or is it because this is the mystery of the internal force of the Taiyin?

Or...

Wuming remembered that the second master once said that Nanyue has no murderous intent, so it is most suitable for the way of killing, and suddenly frowned tightly, and his eyes were shrouded in a haze.

Wuming walked out of the bamboo forest holding the arrow, and saw Nanyue standing there with her eyes wide open, curiously and nervously poking her head towards her, the haze in her eyes disappeared immediately.

"Here." Wuming helped Nanyue put the short arrow back on the dark crossbow, and said carefully, "Be careful not to hurt yourself."

"En!" Nanyue nodded obediently.

Wuming is now entangled with Nanyue almost every day. Since the dark crossbow has been sent out, she has no reason to stay in Nanyue courtyard. Does it really matter if she really wants to sit in Nanyue's room?So after a few words, Wuming got up and left.

Nanyue went back to her room and sat for a while, then suddenly she took a candlestick and walked into the bamboo grove just now, looking at the fallen bamboo, a layer of cold sweat broke out on Nanyue's back.

Just now... she made a huge mistake just now.

She was so accurate.

The location where the bamboo broke was exactly the same as the location she aimed at.

Fortunately... Wuming didn't notice it.