[Seven Five] Sword Que Merry

In the afternoon, when the weather was at its heaviest, two birds parked on the roof lazily combed their feathers.

Nian Yi put away her umbrella in front of the Xiuzhuang gate, bowed her head and walked inside.

The girl who greeted them was the little girl who poured tea last time. She scanned around but didn't see any guests.

"Young lady, please come inside." The little girl greeted them graciously, and hurriedly served the hot tea that had just been brewed.

Zhan Zhao looked around, pretending to be casual and asked her, "It's very deserted in your store today...why don't you see the proprietress?"

"Oh, don't mention it. Isn't it rumored that there are ghosts catching young girls and women?" Probably seeing his handsome appearance, the little girl smiled and talked more, "Where are there any guests?" Come to discuss business? Originally, we were also going to close the store, but unfortunately Mrs. Bao came back, and the proprietress said to open it for another day... Oh, she went out to buy goods early this morning, maybe there are still a few days left Go back to the store. If you have any needs, you can tell me the same."

"We didn't come here on purpose to buy embroidery today." Nian Yi held a teacup and said calmly, "I happen to have something to ask you."

"Ask me?" The little girl became curious, "Okay, what do you want to ask?"

"You said, you once helped Miss Liu pass on the message?"

"Yes." She nodded, not hiding anything, "It's a letter sent by Mr. Xiao, because it's not easy to go directly to the proprietress, so he told me."

Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows, smiled at her and asked, "Really? What did the letter say?"

Seeing him smiling, the little girl became more and more in a good mood, and hurriedly replied: "It seems that Commander Li's wife's birthday is coming soon, and he wanted to give a pair of exquisite Suihan Sanyou to please her, so he came to Miss Liu embroidery."

Nian Yi bowed his head and drank his tea, "I see... Miss Liu has spent a lot of time embroidering this painting, right?"

"That's not true." She pouted her lips and felt annoyed, "It took four months, but the scholar didn't even say thank you in person."

"Huh?" Zhan Zhao was drinking tea, and he couldn't help but nod his head and asked her, "What's the matter? Didn't he thank you for taking the painting?"

"Oh, this young master is so busy. The paintings are all picked up by others." The little girl shook her head and sighed. "Later, I asked others to invite the girl out, without any sincerity. Why didn't he come by himself? That's it. Miss Liu still loves her to death, I'm not worth it for her."

"So, the letter and the painting are taken by others?" Nian Yi suddenly felt suspicious, "Aren't you afraid that that person will make trouble?"

The little girl lowered her head and bit her lower lip, "No way?"

She thought for a while, then raised her head, "The girl sent the painting over by herself. She only said that Mr. Xiao had gone out with the commanding officer and was not free, so she gave it to a friend he knew for safekeeping. Later, Mr. Xiao It is true that I came to look for the girl... but the girl happened to be away, so I passed the word on my behalf."

"What?"

"He wanted to ask the girl to meet under the locust tree at the entrance of Changfu Alley in five days' time." The little girl said, "But after hearing this, the girl said that she was not free that day, and asked me to help spread the word that she would go in three days."

Nian Yi frowned slightly: "And then?"

"Then I went, but it happened that Mr. Xiao was not at the house, so I left a message for Guanshi Wang."

Hearing this, Nian Yi couldn't help reaching out to press his forehead.

It's no surprise that this word has been passed around like this.

After coming out of the embroidery village, the two of them rushed to Commander Li's residence without any hesitation.

Because the man was just taken from the mansion in the morning, the atmosphere in Li's mansion is very stiff right now, and the servants won't let him in, so it's difficult to ask for clarification.

On the way back, Nianyi drooped his head and tugged at his belt, thinking hard to no avail.

"Xiao Shusheng asked someone to bring a letter to the girl first, Miss Liu handed over the embroidery to the person who delivered the letter, Xiao Shusheng personally left a message to the girl, but the invitation changed, and the girl left a message to the steward of Li's residence. "

As soon as she finished speaking, Zhan Zhao said, "There are four people related to this matter except Miss Liu, and probably the person who hindered him will not be able to escape from these four."

"Hey... I can't figure it out." She pulled her hair casually a few times, "It's better to catch a nearby ghost at night and ask about it, it's more convenient."

After hearing this, Zhan Zhao couldn't help laughing and said, "If private detectives and government investigations are as easy as you, then there must be more than half of the people in Song Dynasty who are at large."

"Don't make fun of me." Nianyi shook his head and smiled, "That's not really a skill... But you, if you can figure it out without relying on crooked methods like mine, that's the real skill."

Zhan Zhao smiled slightly, and looked away abruptly: "It's just a trick."

Since the common people heard that Bao Zheng had returned to the city, in just a few hours, all the shops and stalls on the street were back to normal, and there were many more businessmen, passers-by and diners.

Not far away, a jewelry shop had just hung up its signboard, and the waiter stood outside, crossed his waist and shouted:

"Everyone, take a look. The century-old shop in Taiyuan City sells not goods, but high-quality goods. What you make is not money, but reputation. I sell you to buy, and if you buy it, you can say it—seven days A refund is a lot of money, and it’s not a loss if you just take a look at such a good store!”

Seeing him yelling so loudly, passers-by stopped one after another, thinking that it was not a loss to just look at the flowers, so they walked into the shop one after another.Nian Yi also stopped for a while, looked up at the door of the store, and pulled his hair with his hands, finally sighed helplessly...

Hearing the sigh, Zhan Zhao quietly glanced sideways at her, feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Aren't you going to go in and have a look?"

"It's nothing to look at. I can't buy what I like, and I can't wear it even if I can afford it." She curled a strand of hair with her index finger and looked down, "Let's grow it slowly..."

"Speaking of which, I'm all blaming that brat." She retracted her fingers, almost gnashing her teeth, "I have to let him have a good taste tonight!"

It's rare to see her showing such an expression, Zhan Zhao was surprised but also remembered the words that Bai Yutang often whispered in his ear, and thought to himself:

It's scary when a woman gets angry...

After thinking about it, he made up his mind, and was about to leave with his umbrella, when he raised his eyes, he suddenly saw someone in the store holding an ancient sapphire hairpin, flipping it over for a closer look.The hairpin was green all over, with a delicate luster, and some words were vaguely engraved on it.

As the sun set, the light reflected from the jade stung her eyes, and her legs and feet were as heavy as lead, and she couldn't move for a long time.Seeing that the man put down the hairpin and went to look elsewhere, Nian turned around and hurried into the shop without hesitation.

"Boss!" She rushed to the counter and looked around, "Where's the jade hairpin just now?"

"Jade hairpin?" She suddenly asked this question, but the shop owner hadn't realized it yet, "What jade hairpin?"

"It's the one with the lotus flower engraved on the head and a pearl inlaid!" She looked flustered, and even her voice was trembling, "Could it be bought by someone?"

"Oh no no no..." The shop owner finally came back to his senses, pondered for a while, took a brocade box from the shelf behind him, and handed it to her, "Miss, is this one?"

Nian opened the box with a shake of her hands. The jade hairpin wrapped in yellow brocade seemed to be shrouded in brilliance, warm and delicate. She bit her lower lip, looked carefully over and over again, and stroked her fingers behind the hairpin. The bumpy "Gu" character under the sideburns rubbed her fingertips.

"Nian Yi?" Standing behind her, Zhan Zhao couldn't help asking, seeing her clearly terrified expression, "What's wrong with this hairpin?"

Nian squeezed the jade hairpin tightly, and after a long time, he said in a low voice:

"I know this hairpin."

He frowned slightly, vaguely heard some bad premonition from her tone, and waited silently for her to finish.

"My grandmother gave it to me."

After a pause, "On the day of the burial, I put it in the coffin myself, right next to her ear..."

She didn't go on.

The jade hairpin, which should have been buried deep in the soil, is now in this jewelry store. In this way, is it that even the ancestor's grave has been dug up?

Hearing this, the shopkeeper acted as if she thought she was the one who did the tomb robbery, and hurriedly explained: "Girl, our boss bought this hairpin from an antique dealer, it wasn't from grave digging, don't talk nonsense. "

"I know." Nian Yi bowed his head deeply. It's been such a long time, and he doesn't even know in which year this kind of thing happened, how can he vent his anger on others.She took a breath, spread her hands and put the jade hairpin back into the box.

"Girl, don't you plan to have it?" The shopkeeper couldn't help being surprised when he saw this.

Nian Yi shook her head silently, and was about to return the box when Zhan Zhao suddenly held her hand.

"How many?"

She was stunned for a moment, then quickly turned to look at him, "No!"

"Why?" Zhan Zhao was puzzled, "This is not you..."

"Don't buy it!" She bit her lower lip, her tone firm, "It is because of it that I can't buy it. If it is bought by others, I will always remember it in my heart."

"Remember my family has fallen to this point, remember this debt, this account. One day, I will find out the truth."

Zhan Zhao was speechless, his brows were furrowed, and he looked at her blankly, knowing that she must be feeling extremely uncomfortable at this moment, but even if he knew it, he couldn't empathize with it.

"Okay, then don't buy it."

He let go of his hand and returned the original brocade box to the shopkeeper.

"Excuse me."

"Oh, it's all right." The shopkeeper took the brocade box back, and still turned around and put it on the shelf.

When Zhan Zhao pulled Nianyi and was about to go out, from the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw an embroidered screen of pine, bamboo and plum behind the shelf. This screen was very delicate, and the delicate stitches were familiar.

"Master Ke?" Seeing him staring at his screen for a long time, the shop owner asked with a smile, "Do you like this screen?"

Zhan Zhao came back to his senses, looked down and saw Nian Yi's distraught appearance, he didn't want to ask any more, just shook his head.

"Nothing, just take a look."

After he finished speaking, he stretched out his hand to gently support her, and said softly, "Go back."

Nian beside him nodded absently.

Back at the inn, the sky was getting dark, and Nian Yi didn't eat much for dinner, because he said he had to wait for the ghost to appear at night, so Bai Yutang made preparations early.When Zhan Zhao came back from the street, she was nowhere to be seen in the main hall.

The moon is as bright as water, and the floating clouds are a bit silvery under the cool moonlight, and the sky is full of frost in the haze. No wonder the ancients would recite the poem "the moon falls, the crows cry and the sky is full of frost".

Nian Yi sat on the stone steps in front of the back door of the inn, leaning his head against a wooden pillar, and beside him was a small jar of open-sealed fine wine, the aroma of which was overflowing.

In the middle of the night, this place was extraordinarily dark and quiet, just sitting like this, as if she was the only one left in the world.

"Waiting here so early before you arrive?"

Someone was talking in front of him, Nian turned his head and looked, outside the moon cave door, someone dressed in night came slowly, the originally cold moonlight was also warmed by his soft eyebrows.

"Brother Zhan..."

Zhan Zhao sat down beside her, casually put the sword on the other side, and looked down at the jar of muddy wine.

"Didn't you say you don't drink? Why did you buy a wine jar?"

"I've always heard people say that wine can relieve sorrow, so I just want to try it."

Nian Yi casually took it over, hugged the jar and took a sip, the bitter taste made her frown immediately.

"It's really hard to drink..."

"Then don't drink it, it's not a good thing."

Nian Yi was unmoved, just looked at the wine and said: "Eat slowly, don't waste it."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhan Zhao snatched it from her hand, switched sides, raised his head, and finished drinking it not long after.

He raised his sleeve and gently brushed the wine from his mouth, returned the jar to her, and said flatly: "Okay, don't waste it."

"Have you finished drinking?" Nian Yi hugged the wine jar back in surprise, shook it, there was really not much left in it, she turned her head to look at him in disbelief, "You... are really amazing."

Zhan Zhao shook his head disapprovingly: "Drinking too much alcohol just makes people feel dizzy. When you wake up, you will still be worried. It doesn't make any difference. What people in the world call using alcohol to drown their sorrows are all self-deception."

"Is that so?" Nian Yi leaned over and hugged his knees, put his chin on the knees, and sighed quietly.

She said to herself: "When I was alive, I thought that as long as I died, I would be fine. But now that I am dead, I still feel sad and sad. If only I could be reincarnated, without the memory of this life, Even if I see things from the past and see people from the past, my heart won't be so painful..."

Seeing her frowning deeply, Zhan Zhao tried hard to find words to comfort her: "Don't always think like this."

"Even if you are a ghost right now, it is still a kind of living. Living in pain is living, and living happily is also living. If this is the case, why do you have to make yourself unhappy?" After thinking about it, he added, "You are so uncomfortable , Didn't it fall into the arms of those people?"

Nian Yi frowned gradually, and thought for a while, "What you said makes sense."

He smiled slightly, nodded and said, "It's good if you can figure it out."

While the two were talking, Bai Yutang happened to come from outside, stepped forward a few steps and sat down beside them.

"Hey, it's Haishi, how long do we have to wait?"

Nian Yi shook his head: "I don't know either. If it doesn't show up, I can't help it."

"Hey, how about..." In the blink of an eye, seeing her sad face, Bai Yutang froze, "What's wrong? Are you unhappy?"

Nian raised his eyebrows in a hurry: "No, I just..."

"Wait." He clapped his hands, and suddenly found a bunch of bright red candied haws from behind, "Here, take it."

"Uh?"

"What are you uh...you can take it if you tell me." He couldn't help but stuff it into her hand, while he picked up a stone and shook it for fun.

"Girls at your age, don't all those who are unhappy like to eat this?"

Nian bit it down one by one, and after hearing his words, I couldn't help thinking about my own age...

Zhan Zhao glanced at him indifferently: "From Brother Bai's tone, it seems like you've met quite a few girls?"

The latter laughed, "Don't try to trick me. I just know a little girl who is about her age." Speaking of this person, Bai Yutang sighed helplessly.

"Her ability to eat candy is really amazing..."

The lamps and candles in the rooms on the second and third floors of the inn had already been extinguished, and it was not too early. The clapper on the street outside the door knocked twice, and only shouted:

"Close doors and windows to prevent theft and theft."

"It's already the second watch." Bai Yutang was playing with stones in boredom, "It's a long night, how can we pass it?"

Nian looked at the stone in his hand, and seemed to think of something: "In the past, my father and I...uh, when we had nothing to do at home, we would use stones to pass the time."

"It's a waste of water? It's a good idea." Bai Yutang grabbed the stone and said with a smile, "But there's no water here."

"Then try and see who can throw it farther?" She tentatively suggested.

"Lighter than this?" Bai Yutang raised the corner of his mouth, and looked up to see the rows of red lanterns on the street, "You underestimate us too."

Nian Yi didn't quite understand, so he turned to look at Zhan Zhao, "Is this very simple?"

Zhan Zhao smiled without saying a word, just leaned over to pick up one in his hand, weighed it slightly, and then threw it with a whoosh. Suddenly, a dozen or so lanterns lined up along the street were extinguished.

"What is this?" Bai Yutang didn't want to lose the wind, so he quickly touched a piece, and with a bang, a dozen or so lanterns in the other row went out.

Nian was stunned when she saw it. Although she also knew some hidden weapon skills, she was not so powerful.

"Admiration?" Bai Yutang rubbed his hands together, "This is much more fun than playing with water."

She looked at it for a long time and asked curiously, "How did you do it?"

"It's very simple. It doesn't rely on internal strength, it relies on hand strength. Come on, I'll teach you." After speaking, Bai Yutang stretched out his arm and walked behind her, holding her wrist with one hand.

"Look at how hard I am, remember for yourself."

Nian Yi nodded after thinking, "Okay."

Throwing the stone out of her hand, Zhan Zhao inadvertently caught the action of the two of them with a sideways glance, was taken aback for a moment, then looked away unnaturally, still fiddled with the stone in his hand with his head down.