The third year after the death of the emperor

After that, Xie Wen was ready to solve the matter of Mr. Qu, thinking that trouble would come to her at any moment, but nothing happened until the eleventh guard of the dark guard appeared outside the screen on a certain night and told the emperor Master, he has settled everything.

The jade badge on his body is comparable to official seals, canonization, and thousands of words.To express his gratitude, Xie Wen invited him in for a cup of tea. The young man in black sat stiffly across from him. He had a mask with blue-faced fangs on his face. The mask covered most of his face, only his lips and chin were exposed.

Eleven drank a cup of tea in front of him.Xie Wen picked up the wick, drew fine-brush characters under the lamp, and said: "This place is no better than the imperial capital, and I am not the Xiao family. There is no danger of power struggle, nor cheating and lies. You don't need to hide from time to time in the Peony Pavilion. "

Eleven held the teacup and looked at the emperor under the warm light.His age was similar to that of His Majesty today, he was considered young among the hidden guards, and he was five or six years younger than Lord Xie. He couldn't keep his emotions tight, so he just nodded hastily, and then got up to leave.The dark guard who hides in the dark all day long is not used to appearing in front of people, and the figure of leaving almost seems to be fleeing.

After that day, Tongtong often saw him at the corner of the small building or above the eaves. The lightness skill of the Tian family's dark guards is better than martial arts. This is the original setting, although in the original work, all Xiao family The dark guards finally died in the war of subjugation. They committed suicide in Ziwei Palace and were reduced to ashes in the raging fire.

He only appeared in front of Xie Wen and Tong Tong, and he seemed to be more and more savoring the taste of appearing in front of others, and the relationship gradually became familiar.

A month later, there was a charcoal fire burning in the small building. Tongtong sat on the bamboo mat, looked at the fire lazily, and said boredly: "This is the last dose of medicine brought out by the palace. Even if you can follow the prescription Keep grabbing, it won't be better than something too hospital... How do you feel after eating? Is it much better?"

Xie Wen leaned against the window, and the window was covered with hazy fog veils that sometimes brightened and sometimes darkened.He sat in front of the small case and looked at the account book of the Peony House——Qing Niang couldn't trust the accountant outside, so she invited one after another, and after going around for a while, she still had to hand it to Xie Wen to read it again.

Xie Wen is a professional chess player. She entered the National Junior Team at the age of 14, but she tried the college entrance examination. It can only be said that the focus was on participation. She scored [-] in Chinese and [-] in English, but she failed the exam.He was specially recruited into colleges after his performance in the competition. He had planned to go to college this year after finishing the siege, but he had a car accident, and he was here as soon as he opened his eyes... Looking at the level of books, he actually learned a little after wearing books. , not at all.

But Mrs. Qing trusted him, so he helped to read it, but it was much more difficult to understand than the chess record. Xie Wen had a good memory for the game record, was sensitive to numbers, and his brain froze for English. God heard what Tongtong was asking, and responded casually: "It's okay."

"After drinking, let Xiaoshi get you some medicine." Tong Tong said, "By the way, did he say that he will mend the cracks in the wall today?"

Xie Wen withdrew her thoughts and said, "It seems to be today."

As soon as he finished speaking, the other window next to him was pushed open, and the body of Dark Guard Eleven was covered with fine pieces of snow. He opened it halfway, sneaked in nimbly, and then closed the window to pat off the snowflakes. In one go, he turned his head and greeted Xie Wen: "Master Emperor."

Xie Wen said: "Thank you, is it snowing outside?"

"Yes." Eleven said, "A lot of snow."

Afterwards, the hidden guard silently picked up the tools he brought over, squatted down to the crack without saying a word, wiped his hands and began to repair.The room was filled with the smell of charcoal fire. On the eleventh day, he was just learning to mend the house, and he wanted to repair Mr. Xie more meticulously, so even though the work was not heavy, he was still busy for a long time, sweating on his forehead, the moment he turned his head , suddenly felt a scent of pen, ink and book, combined with the bitter and slightly sweet taste of traditional Chinese medicine entangled, and the soft and smoke-like skirt of the emperor's teacher was close in front of him.

Eleven's mind was a little dumb, he froze, watched Xie Wen hand him a cup of tea, and took it slowly.Master Xie kept looking at the repaired cracks on the wall, and didn't notice his nervousness.

"I think it's already very good." Xie Wen said, "It's almost the twelfth lunar month, and the eldest lady is very busy. If it is still cold, I will ask Qingniang to find a craftsman. Don't be too busy."

Eleven took a sip of water sullenly, but his voice was still dry and hoarse: "Then, let's do this first. If you have anything to do, you can call me first."

"I'm not a man, so I can't do anything by myself?" Xie Wen joked gently, "You have helped too much, I thought Xiao Xuanqian sent me a coolie."

"Your Excellency is good at everything, and knows everything." Eleven said, "But your work is really..."

He was blunt, until the end of the click, Xie Wen showed embarrassment, knowing that she didn't have any skill points in this area, covered her lips and coughed lightly, and did not explain competitively, but admitted: "Well, thanks to have you."

In fact, without him, the young man named Xiao Jian would also help, or Mrs. Qing would not be willing to let Mr. Xie do it.Eleven thought so in his heart, but it didn't affect him being happy for Xie Wen's generous and gentle praise, but with a mask on, these expressions couldn't be expressed.

The young man in black gulped down two cups of tea, fell into a situation with nothing to do, and habitually wanted to hide in a place where no one would see him. Just as he got up to leave, he suddenly saw Xie Wen pouring tea At that time, the sleeves slipped off, revealing a white and slender wrist with old and hideous scars on it, like a piece of flawless jade, chiselled with heartbreaking cracks.

After Xie Wen returned to the Peony Pavilion, she no longer made any disguises, and did not shy away from showing her scars in front of others.

Eleven stared at his hand, as if he had been stabbed in the heart.His seniority is not enough to know the content of the seizure of the heirloom back then, but he subconsciously felt that the emperor's teacher would only suffer this kind of loss from His Majesty, so he blurted out and asked, "Did Your Majesty hurt you?"

When he asked so abruptly, Xie Wen was a little unresponsive. He just raised his head, but before he answered, the hidden guard in front of him was gone, only the window creaked and shook in mid-air, and a handful of wooden windows blew in. Catkin-like snowflakes.

Tongtong tiptoed to close the window to prevent the north wind from blowing out the charcoal, then turned his head and said with a strange expression: "My lord emperor, my host, my dear father, can you stop emitting that kind of... Extensive humanistic care, not to mention the pink hearts that show respect, care and love all the time without distinction... Do you know that in this era, many people can't resist this feeling?"

She continued: "Your temperament is inherently special, and the people in the Peony Pavilion don't treat you all based on your face, and part of the reason is because of this. If you continue like this, you will become a heartthrob. In other novels Being stuffed with soy sauce, being turned over and over and crying by many people... how terrible."

Xie Wen was silent for a while, and thought for a moment with a little puzzlement. He really didn't feel anything special about his attitude: "Do you need to change it?"

Tongtong raised her head and let out a sigh, and waved her hand: "If you knew how to change it, you would have changed it a long time ago. The problem is that you don't even realize that you don't belong to this world at all. And I guess Xiao Shiyi is only treating you purely now. I have a good impression...don't worry."

----

I can't worry at all.

It was snowing all over Luodu, covering the streets and alleys in white.The dark guard who had just left the Qingyu Building of the Peony Pavilion not long ago was in a very dark shadow at the moment. He was recalled by a letter and half-kneeled in a place out of the reach of the lamps and candles, his body almost blending into the darkness.

Under the candlelight, the emperor who visited Luodu in the south settled here in a hidden and simple place.Xiao Xuanqian pretended to go out casually, Guo Jin was the only one beside him at the moment.Eleven's eyes could only see the silver-blue lines on the corner of the emperor's clothes, and he heard the emperor's gloomy voice.

"Does the emperor live there?"

The biggest advantage of this simple cubicle is that as long as the window is opened, it will be facing the third floor of Qingyu Building, which is Xie Wen's residence.The red tiles are covered with snow, like a kiss on the fresh rouge, and the snowflakes are blowing in the direction of the wind, like smoke and mist.

The cold air flowed into the room, which was actually bone-chillingly cold.But Xiao Xuanqian didn't respond, he seemed to be able to breathe better in such a cold air, he looked at the building - it looked a bit old, neither bright nor luxurious, it really didn't match his Huaiyu.

It's just that the huge Ziwei Palace is not as good as the small building in front of Huaiyu that makes Huaiyu feel at ease.When Xiao Xuanqian passed by Luodu, he thought in his heart that he would be satisfied just by taking a look at where he lived from a distance, and that he could relieve the burning pain in his heart, but when he really saw it, he longed to be closer. His back... His spirit, which was tortured to the point where it was almost broken, and wandered between headaches and nightmares every day, seemed to be able to get up again and endure it.

People are always greedy.

Eleven Half knelt down and bowed his head, and replied: "Everything is fine, Mr. Xie, and his condition has also improved."

This was actually the answer he expected, Xiao Xuanqian closed his eyes, and took a long and silent breath, feeling that the hand holding his heart finally relaxed a little.

"Do you think..." Xiao Xuanqian asked, "Would he like to see me?"

Eleven stared at the flickering candle in front of him. He was not good at managing his expression. Under the mask, there was a trace of struggle and resistance to answer truthfully. He raised his head and said, "...I'm afraid, Your Majesty doesn't want to hear my minister's suggestion."

The wind with snowflakes blowing in the face suddenly extinguished the small candle lit on the table, leaving only the rustling coldness and the scorched lampstand on the table.

The hidden guard did not answer, but he had already told Xiao Xuanqian the answer.The emperor's expression became more and more solemn and depressing, and Guo Jin who was on the side looked terrified——Although His Majesty is outside, it is cloudy and sunny, but he can still be a sage who looks wise, but only the internal officials who serve him personally can. Knowing that his moodiness has reached an incomprehensible extreme, His Majesty has lost control at least three times in the past month, and his tendency to self-destruct is frighteningly obvious.

The day when His Majesty went in and out of Zhang's mansion and met the old doctor before his departure was the most peaceful day for him, but after that he seemed to be locked in a predicament. He had clearly been shown the way, but he couldn't do it... …The Ninth Prince, who was withdrawn and taciturn ten years ago, seemed to have completely disappeared in the rainy day when he cut off his finger. No matter how hard he searched, the memories other than the teacher were only incomplete fragments and deep sorrow.

Eleven was gradually forced to grit his teeth by the oppressive feeling spreading from Xiao Xuanqian's body. He even suspected that His Majesty would draw out the knife beside Guo Dajian in the next moment, and cut off his head with his backhand - just because he said His Majesty I don't like to listen to words, but after a long time, the pressure disappeared all of a sudden, the king tapped his fingers on the table, and said in a low voice, "Go back and protect him."

"Yes."

The dark guard who was allowed to disappear silently into the corner, such first-class lightness kung fu made Guo Jin, who is also a martial arts practitioner, squint his eyes, not knowing how the other party left.The eunuchs of the inner court, the Ziwei guards, the secret prison, and the secret guards of the Tianjia, these four institutions are not affiliated with each other, and have the responsibility of supervising and restraining each other, but the number of secret guards is too small, and they have not actually met with this part of the organization After a few days.

Guo Jin lowered his head at the right time, and said: "Your Majesty, everything is not over yet, the southern border..."

In fact, he was not in such a hurry, he was trying to find an excuse for His Majesty to leave.And Xiao Xuanqian's hand knocking on the table suddenly stopped, he stood up and walked to the window, the howling cold wind hurt his face, but no matter how persistently he stared at the past, the building was still so far away.

"His Majesty……"

"May I go?" he asked to himself, "just to have a look, and then come back."

Guo Jin didn't know whether he should answer, his breathing stopped for a few breaths, and then he sighed as if giving up, and said: "Luodu has the best wine, Dukang, and Peony House has the best old daughter's red wine." .”

Old daughter red.

He seems to have found a poor excuse, but he also seems to have found a straw to survive.

Xiao Xuanqian turned around, he raised his hands to cover his eyes which could not be blown by the wind, such a cold breath surrounded him, but his eyeballs seemed to be scorching hot, glowing abnormally hot.The emperor calmed down the heavy and terrifying gloom around him, he wanted to look like a normal and harmless person as much as possible.

Guo Jin accompanied His Majesty to approach the Peony Pavilion. Most of the officials and accompanying drivers on the southern tour were not here.

The Peony Pavilion is deserted during the day, but because the people who come and go here are either rich or expensive, although it is deserted, it is not lonely.When Xiao Xuanqian stepped into the threshold, the servants and maidservants who responded had already gone to prepare hot tea and fine wine. His boots stepped on the thick and dense snow, making a creaking sound. There were two eleven or twelve-year-old little girls on the porch. Chasing and slapstick.

Xiao Xuanqian didn't stop for it at first, until he heard a familiar address, he stopped abruptly.

"Yesterday, you didn't go to Mr.'s class, did you! I know, did you lose a bet with Tongtong and call her? Mr. Xie, if you can't answer the next test, give us the whole building." Shame on you, mom won't take your skin off."

Another little girl said angrily: "Let's just focus on Fengyue poetry and show off, sir, the exam is so difficult, just teach me some man's knowledge, so I am a slave, so I can't go out to take the exam to be a female officer, what to do?" The princess reads with me, what's the use of learning these things? Why don't you see him teaching your daughter, isn't Xie Tong old enough to read and practice calligraphy?"

The two quarreled too much, and the carved window next to it was suddenly opened, pushing away a wisp of snow on the window sill, and a shadowy charming woman said through the window: "I have a headache from the quarrel. If you don't go back to rest in the middle of the day, why don't you go back and rest?" Do you think it’s not enough? Mr. Xie’s daughter can be taught as she likes, if you have the skills, go to Qingyu Tower and ask.”

After finishing speaking, the window was closed, the little girls stuck out their tongues, and the noise turned into silence.

Xiao Xuanqian stood there, his hair was covered with snow, and even his eyelashes were covered with a few flakes of snow crystals. His handsome and stern face showed no expression, and he repeated in a low voice: "... …daughter?"

Among them, the little girl who was bickering didn't even notice that there was someone beside her, until a quarter of an hour later, a white-faced and beardless old servant in casual clothes stopped her, and the little girl was taken by Guo Jin to the private room on the second floor of the main hall, in a clean and tidy private room. The piano girl inside played music across a screen, and the girl could only stop outside the gauze curtain, faintly seeing the silhouette of a man.

She was still young, and when she was summoned suddenly, she knew that this person was either rich or noble, and she felt extremely nervous. However, the person had no dancers, singers, or courtiers to accompany her, but her tone was calm—it was almost inaudible. asked a question.

"Mr. Xie in the Peony Pavilion is the one who lives in the small red tile building...does he have a daughter?"

The author has something to say: Manuscript box: Yes, it’s me again today, the author Calvin has gone to rest.