Outside the carriage, the coachman stopped. Duan Ling got up: "That's it." ”

Lan Zhi followed Duan Ling out of the carriage. The first thing that catches your eye is a large wooden door with heavy iron chains. This seems to be a large mansion, covering a wide area, but the vermilion of the wooden door has basically peeled off, the stone ladder stone pier outside the door is also old and dilapidated, and the walls on both sides are faintly black and gray, as if they have been subjected to a fire.

Lan Zhi turned her head to look around again. As far as the eye can see, there is a street at the end of the wall, but when it has passed, there are few pedestrians. According to the horse-drawn carriage's travel time, they should be outside the 30th Street of Haotian City by now, close to the outskirts of the city.

But there was the sound of chains falling to the ground, clanging, and in the quiet midnight, it was particularly striking clearly. Lan Zhi looked towards the sound and saw that the wooden door had been opened, and Duan Ling was standing by the dark doorway, quietly waiting for her to step forward.

The coachman didn't know when he had already driven away, Lan Zhi hesitated for a moment and walked to Duan Ling's side. The snow was still falling, and the man reached out and shook the snowflakes on Lan Zhi's cloak, and helped her remove the hood from her head, and then raised his feet and stepped into the gate first.

The cloak was put on by Duan Ling before he went out. Lan Zhi was wearing too long, and the hem was dragged to the ground. She followed Duan Ling into the door and asked softly, "Lord Duan, what kind of place is this?" ”

Duan Ling groped behind the door and found a lantern. The man's voice was particularly distant in the snowy night: "Hundreds of years ago, when □□ founded the country, there was once a Nalan clan as a king with a different surname. This place is the ancestral hall of the Nalan family. ”

Lan Zhi was a little surprised: she thought that such a large courtyard would be a mansion of a big family, but unexpectedly, it was just an ancestral hall.

In the darkness, a firelight flashed, and then the lantern was lit. Through the light, Lan Zhi could vaguely see the collapsed houses and the broken bluestone roads. The entire ancestral hall looks dilapidated and dead, except for the scattered fragments of glazed tiles, which vaguely show the prosperity of this place.

Lan Zhi was looking at the room when Duan Ling suddenly took her hand. He grabbed her with a gentle but irresistible force, and said softly, "Go this way." The road is slippery in snow, so be careful not to fall. ”

I have kung fu and won't fall, Lan Zhi replied sullenly in her heart. But perhaps her curiosity about her life overrode the others, and she didn't object. The midnight was silent, and only the rustling of the cloak sweeping through the snow could be heard, accompanied by the sound of feet stepping on the snow, squeak, squeak......

Duan Ling led Lan Zhi and walked silently for a while one after the other, and came to a lobby. The walls around the lobby were torn, and the wind blew in with snowflakes, making it even more chilly. There was a huge stone tablet erected in the middle of the hall, Duan Ling walked to the stone tablet and stopped, stood silently for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "15 years ago, the first emperor was afraid of the power of King Nalan, and found a name for Daxing Prison, and slaughtered nearly 1,000 people from Nalan's own family and more than 4,000 people from the side family. In the next three years, tens of thousands of families loyal to the king of Nalan were killed one after another. ”

Nearly 20,000 people died in prison...... Lan Zhi was slightly moved. In the dim light of the lantern, she could vaguely see that the stone tablet was empty underneath, but there were many names engraved on it, all of which were Nalan surnames. Lan Zhi looked up at Duan Ling: "I'm also from the Nalan family?" ”

Duan Ling raised the lantern a little higher, pointed to the last name in the stone tablet and said, "You are the daughter of the late King Nalan. ”

Lan Zhi looked at the name fixedly, and her heart was empty. The problem of life experience has been bothering her for a long time, but when the truth is clear, she is a little overwhelmed. She took another step forward, approached the stele, her fingers gently caressed the name, and it was only after a half-ring that she saw that the words were "Nalan Fiber".

Nalan fiber. Lan Zhi silently recited the name and said in a low voice: "Why does it seem to be a woman's name." ”

Duan Ling said behind her, "King Nalan has always been a woman. His voice was faint: "Legend has it that the Nalan clan has been favored by the gods and has a long history of thousands of years, but this favor has never been maintained only on women. Each generation of Nalan King will give birth to a daughter with Yin Luohua birthmark on her back, and this daughter will become the next generation of Nalan King. ”

Lan Zhi bowed her head in front of the stone tablet, her heart was complicated, and in her thoughts, she even had a bystander-like doubt about this legend. She stood silently for a long time, and finally put down her hand and turned her head to look at Duan Ling: "What about you?" Who are you? ”

When she had finished asking, she went to look at the stele again. Duan Ling let out a low laugh: "Don't look for it." My name and that of my family are not yet eligible to appear on the stele. ”

He paused for a moment: "The people on this stone tablet are all from the Nalan clan. And my family and I are Nalan's side family. He looked around the lobby: "The status of the next family is not as good as that of this family." It is necessary to be a valued family member to step into this place on the Shangyuan Festival every year and worship the ancestors together. ”

His tone was gentle, as if he was not upset because of this, Lan Zhi couldn't help but turn around and ask, "Even so, why do the other families still guard their own family?" ”

Duan Ling glanced at her and smiled lightly: "Since Yuyuan founded the country, the Nalan family has always been infinitely beautiful, even if it is a person from the Nalan family, it can get a lot of convenience, why not?" Not to mention...... The man from the next family still has a chance to marry King Nalan. The man pulled the corners of his mouth: "If you can become the husband of King Nalan, your status, power, and wealth are all at your fingertips, what's the harm?" ”

Lan Zhi was stunned: "The people from the other family ...... Isn't it also surnamed Nalan? How can they marry with the same family and surname? ”

Duan Ling smiled: "Don't marry with the same surname?" This is the rule of the Central Plains, and Lan Zhi knows it. But how could Yuyuan people have so much attention. In addition, the Nalan family has always claimed to be descendants of the Protoss, and they value pure blood, so they want to choose the best men in the next family to continue this dignity. ”

Lan Zhi was caught by him again, a little embarrassed, but no longer on guard. She stared at the ground, with a faint expectation in her heart, but also a little inexplicably awkward: "So...... Are we two blood relatives......

She didn't look up, she couldn't see Duan Ling's expression, she could only hear him say slowly: "We are the only remaining bloodline of the Nalan clan, and you ...... He is my king. ”

――……

Lan Zhi digested this sentence for a moment, and looked up at Duan Ling in a daze: Is he serious?

The lantern candle flame gilded Duan Ling's face with a soft light. Lan Zhi looked at him carefully, but she couldn't tell the truth of his words from his expression. There was silence in the lobby for a while, and only the wind could be heard blowing outside the hall with snowflakes. The silence continued, and the candle flame in the lantern did not know what it burned, and there was a soft "snap" and shook a few times.

Duan Ling laughed slowly at this subtle sound. He stretched out his hand and knocked on Lan Zhi's head: "Or, although the blood relationship is no longer examinable, I am 9 years older than you, and I can always be your brother." ”

Lan Zhi exhaled: This person is really teasing her again! She covered her head and took a step back, but Duan Ling took her hand again: "Come, I'll take you outside to have a look." ”

Perhaps knowing the relationship between the two, Lan Zhi no longer rejected Duan Ling's move. This road was not as difficult as before, and Duan Ling was no longer silent, but spoke softly in the wind and snow: "When I was 12 years old, I was allowed to enter this ancestral hall for the first time. At that time, I and ninety-nine other men and women of the same age swore allegiance to you in the lobby just now. Your blood is dripped into molten iron and then imprinted on our bodies. ”

As if recalling the scene of that year, he chuckled: "That scene was actually grand and solemn, but you were only 3 years old at that time, and you looked silly and silly, I knelt in the crowd, and I just felt that this ceremony was a joke." And I am also outstanding in my own family, I am arrogant, but my elders always mention my life, and I always teach again and again, if I don't work hard, and if I don't become the strongest man in the family, I am not qualified to marry King Nalan. The moment I was branded, I thought in my heart, this qiē...... It's stupid. ”

Speaking of this, Duan Ling looked at Lan Zhi. The woman was led by him, but she lost her previous guard and alienated appearance, and her light brown eyes did not look at him for a moment. Duan Ling unconsciously curled the corners of his mouth and stopped: "So, after the ceremony, I led more than ten other children, took advantage of the adults' unpreparedness, arrested you, and brought you to this place. ”

Lan Zhi stopped, looked around slowly, and saw a clearing. There are several stone pillars one person high in the clearing, which seem to be used for martial arts training.

She was still turning her head to look, but she felt that her waist was being hugged, and her body suddenly rose into the air! Lan Zhi instinctively wanted to kick her, but she restrained herself and let Duan Ling pick her up and put her on the stone pillar.

The diameter of the stone pillar was about half a meter, and Lan Zhi sat on it with her legs dangling, so she simply curled up and looked at Duan Ling quietly with her knees hugged. Duan Ling looked around: "This is the martial arts training ground. Every year after the Nalan family's sacrifice, a martial arts competition is held here. I was not happy at that time, and I was angry with you, but I did not dare to do anything to you, so I brought you here and threw you on this high pillar of stone, trying to frighten you. ”

He finally looked back at Lan Zhi, but met the woman's quiet gaze. Duan Ling suddenly smiled: "It's been more than ten years, but you haven't changed." You were like this at the time, sitting with your knees huddled and quietly watching us open your teeth and claws, which made me so frustrated. ”

The man held Lan Zhi's hand without a trace: "I wanted to ...... at that time" He squinted and smiled at Lan Zhi's eyes: "Looking for opportunities in the future, I will definitely ...... Bullying you into crying. ”