A traitor

The moon is far away on the Xijiang River, and the lanterns are scattered for ten miles.

On the mirror-like surface of the river, the cool evening wind hits, and suddenly there are layers of waves, and golden lotus floats on the water, floating along the water to the distance.

On the small road paved with bluestone slabs by the river bank, there are young people coming and going, holding lanterns in their hands, laughing and playing with each other in small groups.

Su Qinglang and Mei Liusheng walked between them, seeing those people by the river who were setting up river lanterns, Su Qinglang said: "Has Lu Xun gone back now?"

Mei Liusheng was startled, nodded hesitantly, and replied, "It should be..."

Hearing this, Su Qinglang turned his head and continued to walk forward, saying: "Then let's go back too."

Mei Liusheng stretched out his hand to hold him, looked at the people by the river and said, "Since we are out for fun, why not go to the countryside and do as the Romans do, and go and light a river lantern."

Su Qinglang said: "There are river lanterns over there, if Brother Mei likes it, go buy one, I'll wait here."

Mei Liusheng followed his gaze and saw several stalls selling river lanterns on the street corner near the river bank. Even though the festive season had come to an end, the stalls were still crowded with people.

He withdrew his gaze and said slowly: "I don't care, but I thought that with your temperament, you would like such excitement."

Su Qinglang smiled lowly, he turned his head away, and stepped forward: "The first thing to put the river lanterns on is to pray for wishes, and the other is to express grief. I don't have any grief to pay homage to, and I don't think I have any wishes. I put them in the water to be buried It can be achieved with a few blows of the wind, life is really difficult, so things still have to be done by yourself.”

Mei Liusheng followed behind him, saw that he had stopped a carriage, turned to him and said, "This place is quite far from the government office, let's go back by carriage."

Mei Liusheng hummed, and the two of them got into the carriage back and forth. This carriage was very crude, not as spacious as the one in the official residence. Although the two of them were sitting, the space was still limited, although it wasn't crowded.

The inside of the car was pitch black, and only the even breathing of each other could be heard. Su Qinglang sat for a while, then turned sideways, opened the curtain and looked at the scenery outside.

I saw that the night was getting darker, and the people who came to celebrate the Lantern Festival had already returned home one after another. People held lanterns in their hands and walked on the road talking excitedly.

Not far from the side of the long street, the colorful lotus river lanterns float along the water, like a slender river of light, meeting the stars in the sky in the distance.

In fact, he used to like to put river lanterns...

Although the city of Chang'an is not as good as Yizhou, people in the city will celebrate the Hungry Ghost Festival with lanterns.

At that time, he and Xie Yu were still studying in the Imperial College, and they were young people who liked to join in the fun. Together with Xu Hanwen and Liu Jingzhi, they almost broke up half of the imperial city.

During the festive season, many girls who have not left the court will come out to play. In order to attract the attention of the girls, the young masters in the city dress up more and more coquettishly, and they are no exception.

And I will also participate in some activities of reciting poems and guessing riddles, showing that I am talented and know everything, and being surrounded by girls, I feel that it is a particularly showy thing.

I still remember one time, I forgot the time when I went crazy playing outside, and it was already the morning of the next day when I got home. When Erniang was chasing me down, I lied that I was spending the night at Xie Yu's house, but the four of them took turns to shirk it. The elders confessed to each other, and only then did they discover the clues, and took them home one by one to teach them a lesson again.

At that time, I folded a plum blossom and held it in my hand, pretending to be elegant and elegant, and propped a painting boat in the river of Chang'an. On the boat was hung a lantern as bright as glass, among thousands of lotus paper lanterns, along the The current was floating, the silk and bamboo orchestras on the bank were singing, and the bridge was full of spectators. Young and beautiful girls crowded into the attics on both sides, waving their handkerchiefs and watching their boats.

And they were standing on the bow of the boat, looking suave and suave. In fact, they didn't know how many times they even studied their standing posture and position secretly.

Later, the prosperity remained the same, but there were few people standing beside him. Since then, he never let He Deng go.

All the way back to the government office, just got off the carriage, and saw Lu Xun walking back from a distance.

Su Qinglang and Mei Liusheng stood still at the door, and when Lu Xun came to him, Su Qinglang waved his folding fan and said slowly, "I've been buying pastries until now, I thought Brother Lu was kidnapped."

Lu Xun kept his head down, not knowing what he was thinking, and he didn't even hear Su Qinglang's words. He was about to step into the mansion when he was woken up by Mei Liusheng. Su Qinglang and Mei Liusheng asked in a daze, "Brother Su, Brother Mei, why are you here?"

Before Mei Liusheng could answer, Su Qinglang answered first: "I ate too much in the middle of the night, so I came out to press the road and digest food."

Mei Liusheng gave him a slanted look, and explained calmly: "Brother Su and I were watching lanterns on the street just now, and we just came back now. I don't want Brother Lu to come back so late."

Lu Xun groaned, and said falteringly: "I... I also watched the lanterns on the road, and I forgot the time when I watched it..."

As he spoke, he hiccupped abruptly. He quickly covered his mouth, and looked tentatively at the expressions of Su Qinglang and Mei Liusheng.

Su Qinglang still hated him for embarrassing himself at the banquet, and for ignoring his own affairs just now. Hearing this, he looked at his hands, and said viciously: "Yeah, not only forgot the time, but also forgot the things. , asked you to go out to buy pastries, but the person came back, but there was no half of the pastries."

Lu Xun's expression changed, as if someone had discovered some secret, and he said with a guilty conscience: "I... I met a cat on the road, I saw that it was so hungry, so I gave it the pastry, and please brother Su Brother Mei, forgive me." As soon as he finished speaking, he hiccupped again, he frowned, and scratched his head in distress.

Lu Xun wasn't good at lying, and now he was squeezed by Su Qinglang like this, it was pitiful, so Mei Liusheng said indifferently: "It's okay, as long as Brother Lu comes back safely."

Seeing Mei Liusheng smooth things over for him, Lu Xun breathed a sigh of relief, bowed to the two of them, then turned and walked towards the government office.

After walking a few steps, he stopped again and asked hesitantly, "By the way, Brother Su, there is one thing I want to ask you... Border Town, about the Border Town, can I not go?"

Su Qinglang raised his eyebrows: "What do you mean?"

"At once……"

Just as Lu Xun was about to speak, he suddenly thought of something, quickly covered his mouth, hiccupped, and said vaguely: "I... suddenly remembered... there is something... in the imperial city, and I need to go back as soon as possible... ...deal with it, so I want to ask Brother Su for leave."

Seeing him talking so hard, Su Qinglang secretly laughed, but waved his folding fan again, feigning displeasure, and said with a straight face: "It is not up to me to decide this matter, since it is the emperor's will, you can go back if you say so." Go back, what do you think of the emperor, you are a bully, you might lose your head, what is more important than your own head?"

Lu Xun showed distress, and looked at Su Qinglang dryly, a little bit shocked.

Seeing this, Mei Liusheng said: "Actually, that's not always the case. If brother Lu has a legitimate reason to go back, I think the emperor won't blame you."

He paused, and then said: "At that time, you only need to report the situation in the booklet, and then Prime Minister Pei will intercede for you, and everything will be fine."

Hearing this, Lu Xun showed a bright smile and nodded: "Okay, I see."

He bowed his hands to Su Qinglang and Mei Liusheng, and said, "Thank you, Brother Su and Brother Mei, for reminding me." Then, he turned around and left happily.

Su Qinglang looked at his back, shook his head calmly, and the two of them also walked into the mansion, because Su Qinglang was concerned about his grandson Zhong's situation, and Mei Liusheng was afraid that it would be unsafe for him to walk alone in the mansion.

So he insisted on accompanying him to the West Chamber, and saw that Sun Zizhong had been sent back by his colleagues and fell asleep peacefully under the care of the servants in the mansion, so he was relieved. Before leaving, Su Qinglang ordered the servants accompanying him After a few words, he finally followed Mei Liusheng back.

The two were walking on the road, and when they were about to say goodbye, Mei Liusheng suddenly stopped him.

In the inner courtyard, the moon was harmonious, beautiful and quiet, only Mei Liusheng asked: "Are today's lanterns beautiful?"

Su Qinglang didn't know what he was going to do, so he nodded subconsciously, and then heard him say: "I think it looks good too."

Yue Mo felt that his words and deeds were a little strange, he lowered his head, clenched his fist and coughed lightly: "I just want to say, tonight...I am very happy."

Su Qinglang savored it for a while, but still couldn't figure it out, so he could only raise his lips and smile and said, "To be happy in life, you have to be happy to the fullest, as long as you are happy."

Mei Liusheng restrained his expression, but could not help showing a peaceful smile between his brows, he cupped his hands to Su Qinglang and said: "Then... rest early, and have a good night's sleep."

Su Qinglang sized him up a few times, nodded, and smiled again: "See you tomorrow..."

He turned and left, leaving Mei Liusheng staring at the direction he was leaving in a daze, for a long time, until Su Qinglang's figure disappeared at the end of the night, he murmured: "See you tomorrow..."

Back at the residence, Cheng Ying was waiting outside, Mei Liusheng glanced at him, without saying a word, walked into the house without saying a word, Cheng Ying followed behind him.

"Lu Xun met Miss Meng?"

Cheng Ying hummed, and said again: "My lord, is it really possible for them to overthrow Qin Jian?"

Mei Liusheng hummed lightly, as if making fun of his innocence: "Of course not."

"but……"

He changed the subject, and his tone was bitterly cold: "No matter how huge a mountain is, it is made up of pieces of rock. It is impossible to eradicate the mountain in one fell swoop. However, as long as you have patience and perseverance, Cut off the rocks on the mountain one by one, and one day, the mountain will collapse when it cannot hold on."

He thought for a moment, then pondered: "You are secretly escorting Lu Xun and the others back. I also have a letter that I want you to give to Pei Yan. When you go back, tell him that the bigger the trouble, the better, even if you can't pull Qin. Even if he goes into the water, he will have to cut off an arm, which can be regarded as a return gift from the king for the last incident."