Autumn goes to winter, the north wind is cold, and the sky is full of snow. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

A few amorous red plums, envy the flying snow on the horizon, can't help but shake off the delicate beauty, the petals dancing with the wind are like dancing red blood, and occasionally a few pieces of howling cold wind fall on the curtain in the Qiluo Palace.

A cardamom girl in a thin pink shirt rubbed her hands together and opened the curtain from the outside with hot air in her mouth. The snowflakes in the courtyard poured frantically into the warm room like moths to the flames along the gaps in the curtains. The palace maid stood by the door and stomped her feet, shook off a few snow droplets stuck to her sideburns, and bowed forward to reply to her master: "Niangniang, Lord Chu of Hanlin Academy is asking to see you outside." ”

Xie Liuhong, who was leaning in front of the window and watching the snow, stretched his arms, gathered the fox white fur on his body, hugged the hand stove in his arms, raised his eyes to look at the palace maid's cheeks, which were as red as rouge, and yawned lazily and said, "Pass." ”

The palace maid retreated. Shaoqing, a young civil official dressed in an official uniform and wearing a black gauze hat walked in, and respectfully knelt down in front of her and said, "Weichen Chu Changgeng has seen Niangniang, may Niangniang be auspicious and prosperous." ”

In order to maintain the solemn appearance of the emperor's concubines, Xie Liuhong restrained her lazy posture, sat up straight, and straightened her appearance. Later, I saw that the person who came was dressed strangely, although she was a high-ranking master, but in the end she was a teenage girl, it was inevitable that she was childish, and she looked at the other party with interest: compared with ordinary men, this Lord Chu's figure is more thin, short and thin, and the official robe that has been changed to a smaller size does not seem to fit well on him, and the empty long sleeves are swayed left and right by his walking movements, which is quite a bit of the elegant style of Wei and Jin celebrities.

Xie Liuhong lightly opened his red lips and was polite: "Lord Chu is very polite, please get up quickly." Give a seat, look at the tea. Xiuzhi's voice did not quite match her pretended dignified and calm tone.

The palace ladies who were scattered in the room like decorations were instructed to bow their heads respectfully to receive orders, and several people automatically divided labor, poured tea, moved chairs, and served diligently. Chu Changgeng didn't get up and sit down, but hugged his fists and continued: "Thank you, Niangniang." Qi Niangniang, Weichen Chu Changgeng is now working in the Hanlin Academy Painting Institute, and Lord Ye of the Hanlin Academy assigned Weichen to Niangniang's Qiluo Palace, specifically waiting for Niangniang's dispatch. In the future, if Niangniang has any instructions, she can send someone to the Hanlin Academy at any time to summon Wechen, and Wechen will do his best. ”

Xie Liuhong let out an "oh", nodded and smiled: "This palace has just said that on such a cold snow day, the Chu painter has worked hard, and he rushed over from the Hanlin Academy in the snow. Just ......"

She frowned slightly, glanced at Chu Changgeng's hat with strange eyes, and asked, "Lord Chu, why don't you wear such a gauze hat instead of wearing an official hat instead of wearing an official hat like other painters in the palace?" ”

Chu Changgeng leaned forward, revealing an unmelted snow stain on the right shoulder of his shirt. Xie Liuhong keenly noticed that the color of the backs of his hands in the shape of fists was as white as the snow on his shoulders.

Xie Liuhong's eyes flowed, and his expression revealed a hint of good impression of this young civil official. She stared at each other curiously, and her pretty face was full of the innocence of a young girl.

Chu Changgeng adhered to the rules of the palace, and never dared to look up at Xie Liuhong, but deduced from her sweet voice and kind attitude that the person sitting opposite him should be a sweet and lovely, kind and simple beautiful girl.

He patiently replied to Xie Liuhong: "Back to my mother, when I was young, I was disfigured by a fire at home. Therefore, the ministers covered their faces with black veils to prevent their ugly appearance from frightening others. The minister did not want to give up on himself because of the catastrophe that fell from the sky, so he worked hard to practice his painting skills. When Weichen entered the palace, he had already explained the reason to the emperor. The saint is wise and benevolent, and does not despise the ministers because of their appearance. Instead, among the ten thousand people, he appointed the ministers to enter the Hanlin Academy. The minister is very grateful in his heart, and he should be grateful to Dade and live up to his grace. ”

Xie Liuhong listened to Chu Changgeng's unfortunate experience, felt sympathy, and at the same time admired the will of the disabled Zhijian revealed in his plain and quiet words, and said solemnly: "The words of the lord, this palace admires." It was the main palace that lost its words just now, don't blame it. ”

Chu Changgeng said in a panic: "Weichen doesn't dare, Niangniang's words are serious." ”

Xie Liuhong invited Chu Changgeng to sit down. Chu Changgeng sat down with his clothes, his eyes drooped to look at the ground, his hands on his knees, and said gently: "Niangniang, the emperor ordered the Hanlin Academy to make an amusement map yesterday, and all the nobles in the palace should be painted on it. Chen Bucai, responsible for painting the image of Niangniang. The minister must depict the mother's line, sitting, lying and other postures in order to strive for excellence, I don't know how many days the mother can be free? ”

Xie Liuhong owed a debt and said with a smile: "It's a coincidence that I'm free during the day these days." Come over when you have time, don't delay the emperor's orders. ”

Chu Changgeng left his seat and saluted, "Yes." ”

Xie Liuhong and Chu Changgeng hit it off at first sight, the two were of the same age, well-versed in poetry and books, speculated on topics, and chatted happily. Chu Changgeng heard that the palace people passed on this Xie Niangniang to be a god, after all, her encounter with the emperor was too legendary. He was also worried that Xie Zhaorong was born as a palace maid, and when he was young and deeply favored, he would become arrogant and domineering. Today, she is knowledgeable, gentle and humble, no wonder the emperor fell in love with her at first sight.

Wait for Xie Liuhong to finish asking about painting. Chu Changgeng left the table, got up to say goodbye to her, and returned to the Hanlin Academy to resume his life. He propped up the green bamboo umbrella leaning against the door, walked down the stone steps, and entered the boundless snow curtain under the farewell of several palace maids.

Out of the palace gate is a layer of towering yellow tiles and red walls, sandwiched between the dreary palace walls is a long road, the ground is covered with thick snow, and the steps on it creak. The road that runs through the north and the south, the east and the west, seems to be unremarkable, but they carry the most secret stories in the empire, blood, honor, struggle, and killing, they are weathered historical witnesses, and everyone who walks on them will inexplicably produce a sense of awe.

At the next turn in the palace wall, Chu Changgeng intervened with a young military attache wearing a military general's uniform. In order to prevent themselves from slipping, both of them stared intently at the ground, ignoring each other.

At the moment when the two of them missed, a cedar branch sticking out of the palace wall was overwhelmed, and the body bowed slightly, "snap", and a cloud of snow fell behind the military attaché. The military attache turned around when he heard this, and his eyes fell on Chu Changgeng's back. Chu Changgeng didn't hear it, he held a bamboo umbrella and walked quietly in the wind and snow, leaving a long series of straight footprints behind him, and his unhurried pace seemed to melt into a quiet and beautiful poem with the silent snow, flowing through the heart of the young military attaché.

"Déjà vu" the military attache thought in his heart, staring at Chu Changgeng's back with blazing eyes, the rapid change of facial expressions could hardly keep up with the rhythm of the frenzy in his heart, the doubts that he frowned tightly, the smile that stretched his face comfortably, and even the inextricable sorrow flashed from his handsome face one by one. The brisk pace stalled with the changing thoughts in his head, and he stood in the snow, forced between the predicaments he had imagined.

Several soldiers patrolling the palace passed by him, they stood the weapons in their hands beside them, stopped, clasped their fists and said in unison: "I've seen General Shi." Shi Jiaheng came to his senses, as if he had just woken up from a big dream, remembering that this was the palace, he was the general of the right guard, and now he was going to report to the general. He shook his head slightly, and let out a slightly blank "um" in his expression, and when he lifted his legs, he found that his feet were like lead, and it turned out that he had stood in the cold and snow for too long, and his feet were frozen.

Shi Jiaheng, who had completed a day's work, declined the invitation of his colleagues to a banquet. He neither went home on time to settle the province in the morning and dusk, nor did he go to the song and dance workshop outside the palace to look for flowers and willows like the children of the nobles in Chang'an City. He changed into civilian clothes, quietly left everyone's sight, and hid alone in the dead wood outside the Hanlin Courtyard, staying for an hour.

The heavy snow overshadowed the sky, and the screens of the palaces everywhere reflected large and small halos early in the morning. Soon, there was a commotion at the gate of the Hanlin Courtyard, and people kept coming out of it, and the little servants followed these adults with umbrellas. They said goodbye in twos and threes, waving goodbye.

After a long time, the crowd dispersed. The gate of the Hanlin Courtyard has been kept wide open when everyone left, and the faint candlelight shines through several antique buildings in the courtyard, all of which remind Shi Jiaheng that the people he and others did not leave with everyone. He patiently hid behind the trees, staring at the gate with eyes that did not dare to blink, as if he was ambushing the enemy on the grassland.

About a stick of incense had passed, the last candle in the courtyard was extinguished, and a man came out of the courtyard. He closed the door, locked it with a brass lock, and habitually pulled the lock before leaving.

The snow petals that fell to the ground were the size of shrunken grapes and only the pits remained, and the moon silently climbed into the sky. The scene in front of Shi Jiaheng's eyes was illuminated by the clear light of the moon, a civil official wearing a black hat stood in the moonlight, a cloud of white gas came out of his mouth behind the black curtain, he reached out to catch the snow particles falling from the sky, rubbed it in the palm of his hand, took out the bamboo umbrella in the cloth bag on his shoulder, and walked towards the direction of the palace gate. Shi Jiaheng was overjoyed in his heart, and sure enough, he met that person this afternoon.

Shi Jiaheng followed him all the way out of the Yuanxin Palace, and the two walked through the streets and alleys, bypassing several civilians' houses, and walked to a secluded alley in the southeast of the city.

Ordinary citizens of Chang'an, who could not enjoy the aristocrats all night, snuggled up to sleep soundly in warm quilts, with no lights in the houses and no pedestrians on the roads.

The two walked on the quiet road one after the other. The heavy snow that had fallen for a day was driven away from the sky above Chang'an City by the holy light of the moon. The snow stopped, and the person in front took the bamboo umbrella, lowered the cloth bag on his shoulder, and slowed down.

Ahead was like a huge black hole, absorbing all the light, leaving only endless darkness.

The man in front of him walked steadily, and when his feet left the area where the last ray of light could illuminate, he suddenly quickened his pace, and the whole person was drowned in the darkness and disappeared.

Shi Jiaheng also followed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, he was in a cloud of darkness. A series of slight footsteps slipped past his ears, and someone circled behind him from his left, his neck cold, and a cold sword ran across his shoulder. He reacted quickly and struck the assailant's throat with a thunderous strike, his right hand brushing the man's cold fingers gripping the hilt. The man took a large step back without a trace, half of his body exposed to the moonlight.

Shi Jiaheng's body stiffened, his hand stopped in mid-air, and he turned from surprise to joy: "Yunxi, I can find you." ”

Shi Jiaheng took two steps forward with joy, but who knew that the man's hand tightened, and he took a step back, and the whole person fell into his field of vision. As he stepped back, he flipped the blade of his sword, the sharp blade pressed against his throat.

"Don't move!" The man roared coldly, "Your Excellency has followed me all the way, I don't know what you are doing? ”

Shi Jiaheng's joy was frozen into ice by the other party's cold attitude, and he anxiously defended: "Yunxi, I'm Shi Jiaheng, you don't know me anymore." Where have you been these months? Do you see your uncle? I met you in the palace, and I guessed eight or nine points in my heart. I've been waiting for you outside the Hanlin Courtyard for several hours, and I'm finally seeing you. How are you? Why did you go to Hallym Temple? ”

The man tilted his head sideways, and by the moonlight, he saw that Shi Jiaheng's robe was wet from the snow, and his lips were purple from the cold. He couldn't bear it, put away his sword and stood behind him, his cold attitude unchanged: "Your Excellency must have recognized the wrong person." In Xia Chu Changgeng," he said with his sword and fists: "It's not a cloud tide." I don't know you before, so please go back. ”

The long sword was sheathed, Chu Changgeng returned to the dark without squinting, and on the left side of the alley, a door was pushed open, and it turned out that at the end of the alley was a small square house.

Shi Jiaheng was full of suspicions. Chu Changgeng didn't give him any chance to relieve his doubts, ignored him, walked quickly, flashed into the door, and closed the door reflexively. Shi Jiaheng was in a hurry, didn't think about it, squeezed sideways into the crack in the door, pulled Chu Changgeng's sleeve, his face was full of eagerness, and he opened his mouth to speak. He couldn't bear it anymore, drew his sword and slashed at Shi Jiaheng's wrist, Shi Jiaheng stood like a pine and cypress, standing still, intending to test the other party.

When the blade of the sword was attached to the back of his hand, he slid down and neatly cut off a piece of sleeve, and the broken sleeve fell like a silver butterfly with folded wings, and fell heavily and covered the top of Shi Jiaheng's boots.

Chu Changgeng raised his eyebrows and said, "Your Excellency, do you have to make it difficult for you?" If your Excellency is entangled, don't blame me for being ruthless under the sword. ”

With the dark luck of his left hand, he slammed towards Shi Jiaheng's chest. Shi Jiaheng staggered back a few steps and fell out of the door. Seeing the situation, Chu Changgeng closed the door, inserted the latch, and moved the gate of the courtyard against the gate, and the gap between the door side and the threshold below was tightly blocked by the half-sleeved sleeves that fell to the ground.

Shi Jiaheng was like falling into the fog for five miles. The person in the room was indeed Chu Yunxi, he took a look at her, although he didn't see his true face, he was confident that he would not admit his mistake. But why should the other party pretend not to know him? What is Yunxi's trouble, and can she finish the matter that she came to Chang'an to conclude? Why did she enter the palace and become the calligraphy and painting edict of the Hanlin Academy? He wanted to ask what was going on, but Chu Yunxi didn't give him half time, and hurriedly kicked him out of the door. Was she afraid that she would betray her, or was she deliberately hiding some secret? He was puzzled.

Since Chu Yunxi is hard-hearted, he is breaking the door, and it is in vain. He sighed helplessly, the excitement and joy of the reunion in the afternoon had been consumed. The cold wind suddenly rose, the ice and snow drifted in the sky, the moonlight was misty, he suddenly felt physically and mentally exhausted, and the cold was like sharp silver needles from all four limbs and hundreds of bones into his heart. (To be continued.) )