In the long years since, Chu Changgeng and Shi Jiaheng have been like two parallel lines walking in the Yuanxin Palace, and they have never intersected again. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

The winter in Chang'an City is long and dry, and the New Year is approaching, and all parts of the palace are starting to get busy, and the brightly lit harem is a little less gloomy and resentful. The ladies happily cut new clothes and sewed new embroidered shoes. The masters are busy with the entertainment of their husbands and mothers' families, and they are not in the mood or have time to deal with the slaves, so there are fewer punishments and more rewards. Everyone was smiling, and the palaces and halls were peaceful.

Chu Changgeng slipped a big red palace lamp on the cloister on his head, and walked out of the Qiluo Hall quietly.

From today, the Hanlin Academy has begun to take annual leave, and most of the colleagues are preparing to return to their hometowns with their wives and children for the New Year. Xie Zhaorong has been in a good mood recently, and she has rewarded a lot of things, most of the rewards have been given away by Chu Changgeng as favors, he doesn't care about these things outside his body, and his simple and simple life makes him very satisfied.

After saying goodbye to his colleagues, he went to the Qiluo Hall to thank Xie Zhaorong and thank her for taking care of her in the past few months. I didn't bother to say a few more words, and the emperor's dictation arrived. Chu Changgeng had no choice but to say goodbye to Xie Zhaorong, who was about to go to the banquet, and set foot on the way home alone.

The shadow of the sun was slanting, and the sky was burning with a brilliant sunset, like a piece of red silk hanging from the tops of the plane trees on both sides of the street, and the dead branches of the leaves were like sharp spears in the hands of soldiers, reaching into the sky. The dust was forced by the divine might of the imperial capital, and it prostrated itself on the ground, making the streets look regular and clean. The citizens of Chang'an, who had been busy all day, returned home one after another, and there were few pedestrians on the street.

Chu Changgeng was in a trance, taking steps mechanically, looking up at the boundless sky, and unexpectedly gave birth to a little "thinking of heaven and earth, lonely and crying." "Feeling. Yes, everyone has gone home for the New Year, but what about themselves? Where is home, and where will I be? The sky and the earth are vast, and there is only one ear left.

He felt sorry in his heart, reached out and wiped the corners of his dry eyes, but did not squeeze out a single tear.

In front of a steaming wonton stall, the owner is happily soliciting customers. The boss is old, hunched over, wearing a small white hat and a neat and clean linen shirt, which is very pleasing. The face is wrinkled, I don't know if it is caused by the years of sorrow and worry, or if it is optimistic and fateful, and the smile keeps wrinkling the face all day long.

Seeing that Chu Changgeng didn't stop, the boss rushed to him, and stretched out his hand to invite him in with a smile: "Hey, son, come to a bowl of wontons, eat a bowl of our Cao Ji's wontons in the cold weather, your mouth is warm, and your heart is also warm." ”

Chu Changgeng was interesting when he heard his words, and saw that he was an amiable old man, and it was not easy to earn money and run for his life, so he couldn't bear to refuse: "Okay, let's have a bowl." ”

"Okay, a bowl of wontons, please." The boss led him to a square table, Chu Changgeng found a long wooden stool to sit down, picked up a pair of chopsticks from the chopstick cage at random, and waited for Hou wontons to be served.

Soon, a seven or eight-year-old yellow-skinned little boy staggered over with a large bowl of wontons. His little face was tense, for fear that the soup in the bowl would spill and be scolded by the guests. Looking at him, he should be the boss's grandchildren, and he followed his grandfather out to beg for a living at a young age, which is really pitiful.

Chu Changgeng took the coarse porcelain bowl from the child's hand, and held his little hand lovingly, the cold body temperature made him unable to distinguish whether it was his own or someone else's. The shy boy ran away as if frightened. He smiled awkwardly, wiped his chopsticks with the handkerchief he carried with him, reached into the bowl and sandwiched a piece of wonton into his mouth.

The wonton skin is thin and translucent, the filling is delicious and meaty, and it should be delicious to eat, but Chu Changgeng chewed out the bitterness that was difficult to swallow. He put down his chopsticks, closed his eyes in reverie, and rushed out: "Boss, do you have any wine here?" ”

The boss responded: "Yes, the new hot yellow vine wine, do you want it?" ”

The curtain shook up and down, and the boss understood that the guest was nodding in agreement.

Draw the knife and cut off the water, the water is more flowing, and the glass is more sorrowful.

A pot of wine went down his stomach, and his stomach was like swallowing a small stove, baking his internal organs. His steps were vague and his body swayed. The boss kindly helped him: "Childe, are you okay, have you drunk too much, do you want me to notify your family to pick you up?" ”

Chu Changgeng waved his hand, his tongue knotted: "No...... No, boss, I don't have any family. I...... I'll go back by myself, you're very drunk. ”

He dug left and right in his arms, touched a piece of silver, and without looking at it, he stuffed it into the boss's hand, shouting: "Don't look for it, I'm leaving." ”

The boss bit the silver in his hand with his teeth in disbelief, and when he came to his senses, he chased after Chu Changgeng's back and shouted, "Childe go slowly, Childe will come again." ”

Chu Changgeng, who was drinking and was light-headed, didn't know that he gave away a month's worth of money for nothing with a wave of his big hand.

Chu Changgeng, who arrived at the door of the house in a leisurely manner, couldn't match the tossing of the hot wine in his stomach, holding on to the door frame, retching painfully. Someone behind him stroked his back with a hand, and he was startled, and turned his head to see who it was, and his body was crooked, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

A blurry figure was in front of her, she propped up her eyelids, and the outline of the figure gradually became clear. Shi Jiaheng sat on the square stool in front of her bed, smiled, and raised the corners of her mouth like seven-colored neon after the rain in the mountains and fields in April. He looked at her gently, and there was no reproach or sadness in his eyes, but a faint joy.

Chu Yunxi raised the quilt and covered her head and face, she was embarrassed to see him, and she didn't want to recognize him. She just wanted to take it on her own, she didn't want to involve anyone, so she lied to him. In fact, she knew that Chu Changgeng's identity might be able to deceive others, but she would never be able to hide it from him. Whenever his warm gaze turned to hers, she always had a feeling of weakness in her heart that he had seen through.

Shi Jiaheng chuckled, revealing a row of teeth as white as pearls. He went to pull her quilt, and she grabbed the corner of the quilt tightly and didn't let go, and the two were in a stalemate for a while. When her hands ran out, he pulled the quilt to her chest. She stubbornly closed her eyes, like a child who made a mistake and gambled, and did not want to see anyone.

Shi Jiaheng smiled and shook his head, his voice was soft and quiet, as if in front of him was a rare piece of beautiful glass, which would shatter it if it was loud. He was almost talking to her in a coaxing tone: "This house is too basic. It's so cold, it's not okay to cover such a thin quilt. I wanted to make a brazier, but I was afraid of smoking you. He smashed his mouth, as if making a decision, "Well, I'll bring you a hand stove to hold for you to-morrow." Come, I'll test the temperature on your head. ”

Chu Yunxi listened to Shi Jiaheng say a lot of caring and considerate words beside her, and the facial features that were gathered together slowly relaxed, and her nervous face calmed down a lot. She pursed her lips and did not speak, as if everything in this world had nothing to do with her.

Shi Jiaheng reached out to her forehead, stretched halfway through, he changed his attention, and said to himself: "I forgot, I just washed my hands with cold water, and my hands are cold." ”

He asked, inquiringly, "If you don't mind, can I try it with my head?" ”

Chu Yunxi's eyes hidden under her eyelids rolled, her lips opened slightly, and she could clearly feel the warmth on Shi Jiaheng's forehead coming through her sensitive skin, and a shiver immediately stirred up on her skin. His slender eyelashes tickled her upper eyelids, and she blinked uneasily, her cheeks flushed with the unusual flush of illness.

"Well, it's still hot. By the way, I grabbed a few doses of medicine for you, and it's frying outside, and the medicine should be drunk while it's hot, so that the disease will get better quickly. And also...... You vomited so much just now, are you hungry now? There is a night curfew in Chang'an City at night, and the east and west markets are closed. But I know where to get good food, what do you want to eat? Shi Jiaheng leaned over and stroked her long hair spread on the pillow, and asked in her ear.

Chu Yunxi was sad in his heart, indescribable, don't turn his head, face the bed, force himself, pretending to be ruthless and said hard: "I said it, my business has nothing to do with you, don't worry about it." ”

Shi Jiaheng said emotionally: "Stupid words, I don't care who cares about you." ”

After more than two years of fear, sorrow, and sadness, I found an outlet in an instant, and it was like a flood that withered and decayed, and everywhere I went, it was a mess. She struggled so hard to convince herself to be strong, and just a few words from Shi Jiaheng turned into a bubble. She is so vulnerable, how can she fulfill the promise she made with herself.

Chu Yunxi turned his body over, curled up, from lying flat to lying on his side, grasping the quilt with both hands, his face twisted uncomfortably, and sobbing with his back to Shi Jiaheng: "I don't want to ...... You...... Good to me, I'm ...... I don't want to owe you a favor. (To be continued.) )