Let Me Pursue You

Chapter 26



Chapter 25 – Golden House Cangjiao

Timing, direction, location, everything was calculated just right.

But the wine Yuan Cixian drank was real, she really drank a little too much, so she was able to act so realistically with the intention of being slightly drunk, and because of this, the hand was soft and the force was weak. It’s a bit short. Lu Shiqing’s mask didn’t come off completely, but a corner was crooked.

But she still maintained a minimum of consciousness, and she seized the opportunity to look up while she was still in his arms.

He was surprised when he raised his eyes: on the small half of his cheek that was exposed, the skin was wrinkled, densely packed with light yellow, uneven strips of mottled matter, as if crawling with fly maggots, with a little white flakes on the edge.

With just one glance, Yuan Cixian screamed out in fright, broke free from his arms at once, her head was empty, and she staggered back a step subconsciously.

Then she saw the person on the opposite side straighten the mask slowly, as if nothing had happened, she nodded slightly to her and said: “I’m in a hurry, please forgive Xu’s offense, has the county magistrate ever been injured?”

His voice was low and flat, but Yuan Cixian paused for a few moments before saying: “I’m fine.”

“That’s good. Is the county magistrate sober?”

This question really made Yuan Cixian a little embarrassed. Because of the hostility hidden in her heart, she only felt that he was wearing a mask to cover up his true face, and she never guessed kindly that he might really have something to hide. But now, he probably knew that she was faking her drunkenness, but he still showed mercy.

She had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue acting, nodded: “I’m awake.” She lowered her eyelids and said, “I’m sorry, I…”

Lu Shiqing had never seen her look so deflated, but she didn’t feel refreshed in her heart, but became inexplicably anxious. He was silent for a while, still not revealing anything on his face: “It doesn’t matter.”

Yuan Cixian’s ears felt that he was hurt when he heard the word “no harm”. She felt more and more guilty, and hurriedly waved her hands to explain: “Sir, I didn’t mean to…”

She paused in the middle of speaking. It should be said that her temptation was intentional, but her exclamation was unintentional, and it was definitely not out of disgust for his unusual face. She was just taken aback.

Lu Shiqing said lightly: “Xu knows.”

She didn’t even have time to explain, what does he know? Yuan Cixian looked at him with a bitter face, and said bluntly for a while: “May I ask, sir, what’s the matter with your face?”

“The county magistrate really wants to know?”

She nodded, her eyes worried and sincere: “I don’t intend to expose your scars, but I know many capable people with excellent medical skills in southern Yunnan. If you tell me, maybe I can help you.”

Lu Shiqing seemed to smile, turned his back, and said with his hands behind his back: “Three years ago, Xu was invited by His Highness to come here to be his counselor. Unexpectedly, he encountered an assassin on the way to Beijing. All the entourages sent by His Highness to **** me died. , I was also seriously injured, but fortunately mountain doctors rescued me and saved my life, but the herbs used during the treatment left such marks on Xu’s face, which cannot be eradicated since then.”

Yuan Cixian frowned slightly: “The stubborn diseases that the mountain doctors can’t cure may not be able to be cured by others. Have you ever gone to seek medical treatment elsewhere?”

He shook his head: “Skins are meaningless, not to mention the person who wanted to kill Xu, now that Xu is dead, recovering his appearance may not be a blessing, the county master doesn’t have to plan for me.”

She was silent for a while, and said: “Mr. is righteous, I admire you. I apologize to you for losing my composure just now, and I will never be like this again in the future.” After finishing speaking, she lowered her head.

Lu Shiqing’s goal has been achieved, but he is really not used to her being so pleasing to the eye. He was wondering why she made such a gesture, and suddenly heard her say: “Actually, I kind of empathize with my husband’s feelings. I also have scars on my body that cannot be eradicated. For a long time, I felt unacceptable, and it took a long time to feel relieved.”

Lu Shiqing was slightly taken aback, and frowned.

He knew that Yuan Cixian was trying to test him recently, and he also got the news that he would choose branches to go south, so he had already expected tonight’s “Hongmen Banquet” and made full preparations in advance, trying to scare her and tell her to call it quits. The idea of a mask, once and for all. But never expected it to be like this.

In order to comfort him, this seemingly heartless girl actually exposed her shortcomings.

If it was Xu Shan, he would not ask too many questions right now, but he is Lu Shiqing after all, so he said: “Scar?”

Yuan Cixian nodded as if nothing had happened, and laughed: “Sir, I don’t know, but I am a heroine who has been on the battlefield!”

How can anyone praise himself as a hero? Hearing this, Lu Shiqing wanted to laugh, but his heart was filled with panic.

He remembered what she told him last time, about joining the army with his father, and asked: “It’s good that there are frequent wars in southern Yunnan, but it’s not enough to make your rich body charge into battle. Why did your father ask you to go to the battlefield?”

She calmed down and replied: “Nanzhao invaded the year before last. In the first World War, the situation was critical. Dad was besieged by the enemy in the mountains. The lieutenants who stayed behind were undecided. I was worried. Then…” She rubbed her nose, “Then led the army to charge It’s over.”

“…” What she said lightly, was she eating a bowl of wontons when she was hungry?

“But I didn’t make trouble, I rescued Father.” She said proudly.

Okay, okay, I know you are a hero.

Lu Shiqing looked at her with mixed feelings in his heart. Everyone in the world knows that Lancang County’s master is a disaster, but they don’t know that what happened back then was just a conspiracy by Nanzhao to separate the King of Southern Dian from the imperial court. But at that time, the little girl who was scolded **** and made senseless crimes was born and died for Da Zhou in a place where people could not see.

At that time, she was only fourteen years old.

Unexpectedly, he suddenly felt like a stick in his throat, and suddenly regretted making such a bad move tonight, but he could only say what Xu Shan should say, and said indifferently: “The heroism of the county magistrate makes Xu feel respectful, but the sword has no eyes, regardless of the situation. No matter how critical it is, you should love yourself.”

Yuan Cixian smiled: “If you were in southern Yunnan and witnessed the tragedy at that time, you would not stand by and watch.”

After she said these words, the spirit of wine slowly rose to her head, and when the wind blew her head, her head became more and more dizzy, and her whole body shook, and she couldn’t help pressing her sore temples.

Lu Shiqing moved his footsteps and almost wanted to help her, but he felt something wrong when he stretched his hand halfway, and cupped his hands instead: “The county master should rest earlier, Xu will leave.”

Yuan Cixian really didn’t have the energy to say polite words, so he asked someone to send him out of the house, and when he returned to his room, he fell down on the edge of the bed and sighed.

Elder Brother was really unreliable, causing her to drink too much wine for nothing, and even when she was drunk, she was moved for a moment, and she even spoke heart-to-heart words to Xu Shan.

That’s Zheng Zhuo’s man. What’s wrong with her.

Lu Shiqing returned to the Lu Mansion in silence all the way, and sat in the bedroom without saying a word until late at night, when Cao An came to remind him: “Mr. Lang, don’t you want to deal with your face?”

This face was made by him. When he wiped the dirty things, Mr. Lang was so disgusted that he didn’t even dare to take a look in the bronze mirror. Three layers of goose bumps appeared all over his body. Now that he was returned home, he didn’t rush to scrub it off. up.

He was really afraid that there would be some blemishes on Lang Jun’s face. This may be harmless to others, but it is a fatal blow to Yu Langjun.

After all, blemishes can be asymmetrical.

When Lu Shiqing heard the words, his spirit returned to his place, and he jumped up: “Why didn’t you say it earlier!” After that, he rushed straight to the clean room, “Prepare water!”

Cao An was really innocent, afraid that he would have something else to explain, so he waited outside until he came out of the shower and tidied up properly, and then asked, “Is everything going well tonight, sir?”

Lu Shiqing recovered his face, but his expression was indifferent, and he only let out an “um”.

He made such a sacrificial disguise, so it should go smoothly. Yuan Cixian was drunk and crazy, he was skeptical at first, but when she fell into his arms, he knew everything was false.

The moment she raised her elbow, he made a good calculation and tilted his head slightly. It was very dark at that time, and she could only see by the moonlight, even if the mask was completely removed, she might not be able to see the clues, let alone he only showed a small part of his cheek.

But he was not very happy.

He asked: “Cao An, are you not guilty when you lie and deceive people?”

Cao An immediately took back the “Congratulations, sir” that was on the verge of his lips, nodded and said solemnly: “By God, the villain is loyal to you, and there is absolutely no lie!”

“…” Lu Shiqing went around him, picked a chair and sat down, “play the piano to the cow.”

Cao An scratched his head in embarrassment, and heard him ask again: “The maid named Caizhi really went to Xunyang?”

“Back to your lord, the county lord’s maidservant is not a simple role. She avoided the eyes and ears of the saint all the way, and even lost most of our people. I can’t confirm her whereabouts at the moment, but I only know that she is heading south.”

Lu Shiqing nodded: “It should be Xunyang who is good. Since she is capable enough, there is no need to follow her, let them withdraw.”

After he finished speaking, he blinked slowly twice.

In fact, Yuan Cixian is indeed smart enough, but everyone has blind spots. He hid his face, and she naturally focused on behind his mask, ignoring his hands.

The day she came to Lu’s mansion to bandage his wound, it’s not that he didn’t worry about it, and after two visits to Yuan’s house, the scar was carefully treated. Fortunately, she only suspected that the identity of “Xu Shan” was false, but she never associated the two of them together. Otherwise, she would be around him all day long, and sooner or later she would see the clue, and then the mask and toga would not be able to cover him.

Therefore, under unnecessary circumstances, Lu Shiqing still didn’t want to get too close to her.

Thinking of this, he raised his head and ordered: “Pay attention to the defense of the mansion in the past few days, and add more manpower.”

Cao An was startled and asked: “Who is the gentleman trying to guard against?”

He sighed: “That girl said she wanted to dress up as a servant and sneak in.”

Which girl? Cao An understood in a daze, and hesitated: “Your Majesty, did you get the news from the Yuan Mansion tonight? I’m afraid it’s inappropriate. If you guard against death, won’t it make the county magistrate suspicious? It’s ‘Mr. Xu’ telling you Secret?”

Lu Shiqing choked. He might be drunk tonight without alcohol, and he might not think as clearly as others.

He raised his hand and pointed at his front lapel and said, “According to what you want, I have to deliberately let her go to prove my innocence?”

Cao An coughed and whispered, “It’s not impossible…”

“She thinks beautifully!”

That night, Cao An was kicked out by Lu Shiqing, and he came back to his study at dusk the next day, knocked on the door and said, “Lang Jun, you are here!”

Lu Shiqing happened to be by the door, so he moved the door with his own hands and said, “What’s here?”

After he asked, he suddenly understood and frowned: “Why is it at this hour?” He just asked someone to prepare water and wanted to take a bath.

Cao Anxin said that this was decided by Lancang county lord, how could he know, and asked face to face: “Will you let me go?”

“Don’t let go.”

After Lu Shiqing finished speaking, he walked straight towards the clean room, but Cao An’s voice came from behind him again: “Your Majesty, you really don’t want to let go?”

Is it over? He stopped and turned around and asked, “You want to let go so much?”

Cao An bowed his head and said, “Don’t dare”, and suddenly heard Lu Shiqing say “Yes”: “You have followed me for many years, and you have worked hard without any credit. I can’t completely ignore your proposal. I don’t want to let it go, but since you think it is necessary , then let it go.”

He didn’t seem to say that either.

Seeing the questioning look on Lang Jun’s face, Cao An hurriedly said: “Yes, the villain did propose you in this way. That… In order to avoid the county magistrate looking around and finding something, the villain deliberately gave her a chance to deliver tea Why don’t you just let her come to your study?”

That’s fine, after all, she’s interested in him, if she doesn’t show her a clear way, and makes her run amok like a headless chicken, and find the secret passage in the mansion instead, it will be even worse.

Lu Shiqing was very satisfied with his dexterity, nodded to signal him to go, turned around and packed up the important paperwork in the study, and no one came after it was over, so he spread a piece of rice paper on the case while doing nothing, picked out a pen, I drew a few orchids casually, and glanced towards the door after a few strokes.

Really, it would be a pain to give me some tea.

It was not until a bluegrass painting was finished that the door was finally knocked on. Lu Shiqing cleared his throat, and asked lightly, “Who?”

The people outside the door also seemed to clear their throats, and then said in a rough voice: “Mr. Lang, the old lady asked the villain to bring you tea.”

It was Yuan Cixian’s voice as soon as he heard it, but Lu Shiqing had to pretend not to know. He said “Enter” and lowered his eyes to think about how he should face her who was dressed as a servant—surprised or angry, dazed or indifferent?

Unexpectedly, before he could come up with the result of his thinking, Yuan Cixian revealed his true identity, approaching and smiling, “Lu Shilang!”

He quickly entered the scene, looked up, countless emotions flashed in his eyes for a moment, three points were surprised, three points were confused and three points were indifferent, and then asked with just one point of anger: “Why are you?”

After all this, he sighed inwardly. Since being entangled with this girl, he can’t do serious things every day, but his acting skills have improved day by day.

Yuan Cixian looked at him with a smile: “It’s me, Lu Shilang, are you surprised? Are you surprised?”

I surprise you with a hibiscus flower!

He squinted his long and narrow phoenix eyes, looked at the two black beards on her lips, and the short skirt of dark blue coarse cloth, and leaned against the back of the chair and said: “Master Lu, if you read it right, you are now You are breaking into a private house. According to the laws of Dazhou, Lu can report to the officials to arrest you.”

Yuan Cixian shook her head confidently: “No, you misunderstood.”

Lu Shiqing waited for her to explain.

“In a few days, it will be July and a half. At that time, the gate of ghosts will be wide open, and the atmosphere will be very cloudy. I am afraid that you will not live here and some ghosts and snakes will break into you. Therefore, I will take advantage of the sunset and risk my life to try your house. How is the defense on the ground?” She didn’t change her face and her heart beat, she said it as if it was true.

Lu Shiqing laughed and said, “I’m afraid there are no monsters and ghosts in the world, only you, the county lord.”

The person who was compared with the ghosts and ghosts was not angry at all, and said with a serious expression: “Lu Shilang, I am serious.” After she finished speaking, she glanced around, picked up a pen in his hand, and pulled a piece of rice paper, Bending over to paint and draw, in a blink of an eye, a simple map of the Lu Mansion appeared on the paper.

She pointed to the upper openings and said, “The side doors of yours that are not facing the street are too carelessly guarded, and I just walked in with my hands and feet.”

Lu Shiqing thought to himself, if he hadn’t made any omissions, how could she stand here and point out Jiangshan, and she said she realized it: “Oh, thank you county magistrate for pointing out, Lu will definitely reorganize these places in the future.”

Yuan Cixian straightened up and looked at him: “That won’t work, you have to leave a door for me.”

“You leave the door open, why do you have to go through the side door?”

“You mean, I’m welcome through the gate?”

Lu Shiqing choked, took out the pen from her hand, put it back on the pen holder, and said, “You are not welcome.” After speaking, he glanced at her face and frowned, “Your beard is crooked.”

“Oh.” She responded, tore off a few locks of hair in pain, carefully hid them in her sleeves, and then stood upright by the side.

Lu Shiqing put away the orchid sketch by himself, seeing her standing still, asked: “Do you have anything else to do?”

Yuan Cixian thumped his back: “Lu Shilang, I’m thinking about your safety. After working so hard all this time, don’t you invite me to sit down and have a sip of tea?”

He sighed: “Please do your own thing.” Seeing her running to pour tea, he added, “You are not allowed to touch the white porcelain tea set on the table.”

Yuan Cixian glanced back at him, secretly said “stingy”, changed to a set of celadon tea set, and when she had had enough, sat down opposite him very “comfortably”, looking around in his study .

Same as the outside, his study room is also neatly arranged, even the frames of the antique shelf beside it are symmetrical up and down, left and right, and there are no rare antique treasures in the box. After all, there are many valuable objects, and it is usually impossible to get two pairs.

Yuan Cixian curled her lips and sighed. What kind of Bogu rack is this, so it should be dismantled.

Lu Shiqing put away the painting and tied the ribbon. Seeing her sighing, he didn’t know why he was dissatisfied with his study, so he said coldly: “It’s getting late, if the county master feels unwell, it’s better to go back to the residence earlier.”

She quickly looked away, waved her hand to indicate that she was not uncomfortable, and then tried her best to find fault: “Actually, I’m here, and I have something important to tell you.”

“You say.”

“What is it…” She pondered for a while, and finally remembered something she could say, “Oh, I came out of the Hanliang Palace a few days ago, and I met the Sixth Highness going to teach the Thirteenth Highness martial arts, and my intuition was not right. What happened to Zhong Ke?”

Lu Shiqing hesitated slightly, raised his eyes and said, “You’re a girl, what do you care about?”

“Curiosity, I’m a very curious girl.”

“…”

Lu Shiqing didn’t want to talk to her about this at first, but remembering what she said to comfort him last night, and looking at her gray attire, her attitude couldn’t be tough anymore, so she gave a low “hmm”: “It’s a bit movement.”

Yuan Cixian’s curiosity was true, but she didn’t try to pry the news out of Lu Shiqing’s mouth, but she just had nothing to say, and she was surprised when she heard this, “Would you like to tell me?” Then she leaned closer to him and whispered, ” What is it?” She looked very much looking forward to him sharing a little secret with her.

He coughed and explained first: “It’s not a secret, everyone will know it in a few days.”

“I know the secret before the courtiers.” She smiled complacently, “But don’t worry, I will keep my mouth shut.”

She was right, even if she knew about it a moment earlier than the courtier, it was he who leaked the news. Lu Shiqing really felt that he should stay away from her, but now he couldn’t even hold his tongue firmly.

He hated for a moment, and said: “The Second Highness has committed a crime, the saint is going to imprison him in the mansion, and make him think about his mistakes behind closed doors. Not only the martial arts of the Thirteenth Highness, but also the Jinwu Guard, which was under his control, will be handed over to the Sixth Prince.” Your Highness.”

Yuan Cixian digested the news in his stomach, and suddenly asked: “The ‘criminal’ you mentioned is not related to what we found in the suburbs of Chang’an last time, right?”

Lu Shiqing glanced at her, seemed slightly surprised, and said, “Yes.”

Yuan Cixian’s lips parted slightly, and she said in amazement: “It’s amazing.” Then she asked, “But I told you last time that this might be a frame-up, have you ever gone back to ask for proof?”

“Lu has already done all the proofs that should be done, and the saint is also very clear about the whole story, so don’t bother the county magistrate.”

She said “oh”, looking a little disappointed.

Lu Shiqing raised his eyebrows: “The county lord seems to be very worried about the Second Highness.”

Yuan Cixian choked. This person is too cunning, to throw such a deadly note to her for no reason, if it is passed to the ears of the sage, it will be misunderstood that the Yuan family is on the team of the second prince.

She explained: “I can’t see people being wronged innocently. It’s easy to be convicted and difficult to escape. It should be handled with caution. But since you said that the sage has found out the truth and the second prince did commit a crime, I naturally have nothing to say, but It’s just that I’m worried about the future of Da Zhou after seeing that a candidate for the crown prince has been lost.”

Lu Shiqing smiled inexplicably: “The county lord is quite concerned about the country and the people.”

Yuan Cixian thought, that’s not right, just about to speak, suddenly heard the door was knocked, and Xuan’s voice came in: “Son, are you in the room?”

Both of them had a stiff neck.

Unable to hear the answer, Xuan continued: “Son, is Aunt coming in?”

Lu Shiqing and Yuan Cixian looked at each other, jumped up together, and almost bumped their heads together.

One of the two didn’t want to appear in front of the future mother-in-law in such a sneaky manner, and the other didn’t want his mother to misunderstand her, forcing him to go to the Yuan family to propose marriage.

Lu Shiqing hurriedly stopped her: “Aniang, wait a minute.” Then he looked around and pointed the direction for the flustered Yuan Cixian.

Yuan Cixian comprehended and hurried away. He hurried to the door, calmed down for a while, straightened his clothes, moved the door and said, “Aniang, what do you need from me?”

Xuan’s eyes swept in over his shoulder: “Is there anyone else in your room?”

Lu Shiqing definitely shook his head: “No.”

Xuanshi stepped into the room, and said worriedly: “Auntie heard that a servant was ordered by me to bring you tea, but Auntie never gave such an explanation, don’t let someone try to harm you…” She I looked around and asked, “Is there really no one here?”

Lu Shiqing was silent, and resolutely said: “No one has been here, there has been only one person, Madam, don’t worry.”

Xuan said “Oh”, looked at the old robe on his body, and said strangely: “Didn’t you ask someone to prepare water earlier, why haven’t you gone to take a bath, the water is going to be cold.” He said and looked in the direction of the clean room squinted.

Lu Shiqing couldn’t help but tense his back. He likes to be clean on weekdays, and there is even a clean room in his study. If he has unfinished business at night, he will take a bath here after dinner. Just now, Yuan Cixian was kicked out by her.

He hurriedly said: “Before my son left, I remembered that I hadn’t finished the initial task, so I was delayed.”

Xuan’s eyes were already stained with suspicion, but there was still a smile on the corner of his mouth, and he said: “Success, you are busy outside, I’ll go inside to see if the water is cold. It’s autumn, and it’s cold at night, so don’t be careless.” .”

When Lu Shiqing heard this, he hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop him: “Aniang, I have a sense of proportion, I won’t freeze myself, you go and rest.”

Xuan Shi was determined to go in, and pushed his hand away, still smiling very softly on his face: “What are you doing politely with A Niang? A Niang will come back after testing the water.”

I can’t stop it. Lu Shiqing didn’t want to really get rough with his mother, so he had to follow her into the room, and was about to hide his face with a headache, but saw that the clean room was empty, and there was no one.

He heaved a sigh of relief in doubt. Xuan’s steps also paused, and his eyes scanned back and forth inside.

The decoration of this clean room is simple, and it can be seen at a glance. Now that the screen is closed and the windows are fastened from the inside, it seems that there is nothing wrong with it. Suspicion in Xuan’s eyes gradually faded, he walked to a few wooden barrels in front of the door, bent over and touched the outer walls of the barrels, and said: “It’s still warm, hurry up and pour water to take a bath.”

As she spoke, she nuzzled her chin into a bathtub in the room. This effort is a meal.

Wait, this tub seems pretty big.

Lu Shiqing obviously realized something, seeing that she seemed to want to come forward, he picked up the wooden bucket first, and said: “Okay, I’ll take a bath now, mother, go back.”

As he spoke, he carried water and walked towards the tub, when he got to the tub and looked down, he couldn’t help frowning.

Yuan Cixian squatted inside with her arms folded like a mushroom, looking up at him pitifully.

It’s not that she doesn’t understand the reason for jumping out of the window, it’s because the window is locked, if she chooses to escape, there will be a noise, just now when she heard the movement outside, in a moment of desperation, she had no choice but to step into his bathtub.

Seeing that he didn’t pour water in, Xuan felt suspicious again and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Lu Shiqing turned around and said, “No, I just saw some dirt on the wall of the barrel, but it’s okay.”

After he finished speaking, he picked up the wooden barrel, tilted it in, and made a mouth-shape with Yuan Cixian: Get out of the way.

This bucket is only so big, where can she go? Yuan Cixian refused to obey, and shook her head desperately with a bitter face.

Lu Shiqing really had no choice but to pick an empty spot, avoid her and pour the water down, and then went to pick up a few other buckets and poured them in one bucket at a time.

Only then did Xuan believed him, told him a few words, and went out.

When she walked away completely, Yuan Cixian, who was soaked in the water, stood up suddenly, wiped the water stains on her face indiscriminately, and yelled at the person in the room who pretended to untie her belt: “Lu Shiqing, you are too much-!”

Lu Shiqing was stunned by her yelling, and didn’t even pay attention to her calling his name. Seeing her in a panic, he turned his head in embarrassment, and coughed: “I…”

He couldn’t speak, and when he saw the hand towel on the towel rack, he took it off and handed it to her without looking sideways: “Wipe it.”

Yuan Cixian was in the water, and he swung his slap violently in anger, and the water splashed everywhere. Fortunately, she was wearing a servant’s coarse clothes at the moment, and when it was wet, it was only close to the skin, so that the skin would not show through, otherwise she might want to gouge out Lu Shiqing’s eyes.

She said coldly: “I don’t wipe it. Are you the one who is obsessed with cleanliness? Are you the only one who likes to be clean? I don’t use your towel!”

Lu Shiqing frowned, turned his head, kept his gaze above her neck in a very gentlemanly manner, and explained: “It’s new.”

She choked, and still said angrily: “You can’t even use a new one, you can’t do it after touching it!”

Lu Shiqing took a deep breath. He has disliked others for so many years, this is really the first time he has been disliked by others.

He sighed and reminded: “Little ancestor, all of you are in my bathtub.” Why do you dislike his hand towel.

Mentioning this, Yuan Cixian became furious, but he couldn’t get off a tiger, so he couldn’t climb out in front of him, so he slapped the water again to vent his anger, until the water splashed all over his face, and said: “You Get out.” And took the towel from him.

What could Lu Shiqing do? Seeing that the sky was getting dark, he lit a candle for her, and then went outside in desperation. After a long while, he heard a sneezing sound coming from inside. He frowned, knocked on the fan to express his doubts, and as expected, he heard Yuan Cixian crying: “What am I wearing…?”

He coughed lowly: “The clothes on Mu Shi…are also new.” They are new, but he was planning to change them.

Yuan Cixian glanced at her, rubbed her nose and muttered: “No, I will wear your clothes back, my brother will break my legs, you have to get me a woman’s dress.”

Lu Shiqing finally asked Lu Shuangyu for help.

Yuan Cixian took over a brand new autumn clothes with her jaw almost dropped, put on and went back to the mansion aggrieved.

The next day, Lu Shuangyu reluctantly went to Yuan Mansion to visit her and asked her if she had caught the cold. Yuan Cixian was not so delicate, but because she saw that she was coming here at the order of her elder brother, she deliberately blew her nose and sneezed several times for her.

Sure enough, in the evening of that day, the Lu Mansion sent someone to deliver a bunch of medicine.

For several days in a row, Yuan Cixian didn’t go to Lu Shiqing again, preparing to pretend to be sick and make him apologize. It wasn’t until July and a half, when Emperor Huining presided over the Yulan Basin ceremony at Wangji Temple, and appointed the Yuan family brothers and sisters to attend, that she met him face to face.

According to Buddhist legend, the Obon Festival is a day to relieve the suffering of deceased relatives. The so-called “be cautious in the end and pursue the future, and the people’s morality will be thick”, in the Great Zhou Dynasty when Buddhism flourished, people from the common people to the royal family would set up fasts to worship monks on this day, go to temples to pray for salvation, and pray for repentance, and wish the living relatives a long life.

Wangji Temple is a royal temple dedicated to court ceremonies, located in Daning Square in the northeast of Chang’an City. Yuan Cixian got the holy order, dressed in black clothes, and drove with a group of royal children, walking on foot behind the emperor’s chariot, and saw the towering pagoda in the distance, and the golden light of the sunrise shone on the top of the pagoda, covering the whole world. The whole temple is majestic and solemn.

Yuan Cixian is a daughter of the clan, an unorthodox royal family, so she is at the back of the team. Of course, he was ahead of Lu Shiqing and other civil and military officials.

When they arrived at Wangji Temple, the saint’s chariot landed on the ground, and the Jinwu guards cleared the way, leading everyone to the dojo inside the temple. In front of them, there were seven huge banners with the names of the emperors of the Zhou Dynasty written on them.

There was silence all around, and even the sound of reciting sutras could be heard from far away.

When stepping over the threshold, Yuan Cixian saw that the steps of Emperor Huining in front of him paused for some reason, and when he stepped forward, he saw a dying autumn cicada lying on the ground, thinking that he was avoiding it just now.

It’s not that the saint really has such a benevolent heart, but that killing is a taboo against the ancestors in the current situation, and it will bring disaster to the Great Zhou. Such a small cicada, if a sage accidentally steps on it, it can still cover the sky with one hand, but if it is someone else, it may be charged with beheading.

Yuan Cixian tugged at Yuan Yu’s sleeve, signaling him to be careful.

The first ceremony of this Obon puja is to welcome the ancestors into the dojo.

The dojo in the temple is spaciously arranged, and offerings are neatly placed on an altar several feet long in the middle. There is a huge bronze sacrificial tripod in front of it, which is filled with incense ash. The famous Master Xuyuan, and several outstanding monk disciples under his name.

The golden bell rang, and there were three voiceless tones. The palace people held high the giant flag with seven faces and black characters on the red bottom, and entered. Emperor Huining followed closely, took three sticks of fine incense from the monks, and sacrificed it according to the eulogy in Master Xuyuan’s mouth. One day worships, and then it is the turn of the royal relatives in the rear, after one worship, one exits, and one enters.

There were many royal relatives, and after such a while, Yuan Cixian was bored with waiting, so she could only stare at the backs of the heads of the nobles in front of her in a daze. On the contrary, when Zheng Zhuo stepped forward, the monk delivering the incense shook his hand and accidentally scattered the incense ash on the back of his hand, causing her to return to her place of thought.

The fresh incense ash should be boiling hot, the monk was startled, and hurriedly apologized. Zheng Zhuo stopped him with a gesture, probably because he didn’t want to cause more trouble on such an occasion.

Yuan Cixian wondered why the rest of the people were doing well, and it was Zheng Zhuo’s turn that something went wrong.

She was suspicious and wanted to find a chance to check his injuries. When he exited the dojo and passed by her side, she took out a bottle of ointment from her sleeve and stopped him.

The reason why she carried the ointment with her was also because she was afraid of being burned by the incense ash, so she was prepared.

Zheng Zhuo was taken aback for a moment, and seeing Yuan Cixian pointing to the back of his hand, he mouthed to him: wipe.

He smiled, said “thank you” to her silently, then raised his hand to take the ointment, handed it back to her after applying it, and nodded to her to say goodbye.

Yuan Cixian glanced at the redness on the back of his hand calmly, nodded at him, turned her head to watch him leave, but suddenly met a cold light.

In the ranks of civil servants, Lu Shiqing in sacrificial attire was looking at her, his slanted phoenix eyes almost narrowed into a slit.


Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters.