Since the last time he came, Chen Pu has not seen his sister Nanyang again.

As soon as they met today, she was first taken aback by Nanyang's appearance.

In just over a month, Nanyang has completely changed its appearance. The face that used to be plump is now sunken; His face was no longer shiny, and there was hardly any blood to be seen, and it was as pale as a piece of tribute paper; Even the lips are dull gray. Her eyes are no longer as bright and shining as they used to be, and there is no slightness in her eyes, just like a bonfire that burns out on the night of the Lantern Festival.

Now, Nanyang is sitting behind the table wearing a coat. This Qiu Yu was so wide that it seemed to be about to completely wrap her whole body, revealing only that sad and pitiful little face. She hooked her head, pursed her lips, and stared blankly at the large table with nothing but pen and ink inkstones. She was probably immersed in her inner world, completely unaware of Chen Pu's arrival......

Chen Pu hurriedly went over and touched her forehead, took her hand and asked anxiously, "What's wrong with you, sister?" Sick? ”

Nanyang only came to his senses at this time. She looked at her sister in surprise and said, "When did you come?" ”

"Have you asked the doctor to come and see you? What did the Imperial Doctor say? ”

"Nope." Nanyang said to his sister, "I'm not sick, please ask for a doctor." ”

Chen Pu reached out and touched Nanyang's forehead again. His forehead and hands are cold, and he says that he is not sick? She forgot her original intention of coming over, and took the idea for Nanyang and said, "If you are not sick, you are still talking nonsense? No way, no way, no way! You can't live here anymore, don't get sick. Wait, I'll get someone ready to drive, and I'll take you back to the city!" Chen Pu was a little flustered. She suddenly remembered that her sister was sick like this, where did all the maids and maids around Nanyang go? A surge of anger surged up. She complained to Nanyang and called people. "Where is your maid? They're all dead! Why don't you know to leave someone to take care of you? On such a cold day, should they let you stay alone in this cold study? It's a shame that you're so kind to them, and when you're sick, they can't even see a shadow. One by one! Only then did she realize that there was no brazier in the house, the cold air in the room, and a wave of anger in her chest suddenly jumped up, and she shook Nanyang's hand and was about to go out to clean up those ignorant maids.

Nanyang grabbed her and said, "It's really none of their business." It's that I don't teach them to burn a brazier in the house. Besides, I'm not sick......

Is it my sister who won't let me burn the brazier? Chen Pu stopped in surprise. She kind of believed Nanyang's words. If it weren't for Nanyang's speech, the maids would definitely burn the brazier before dawn to drive out the cold air in the study. She stared inquiringly at her sister, trying to discern if she was actually fooling herself.

"Are you really okay?"

Nanyang nodded affirmatively.

"Then why don't you let the brazier burn?"

Nanyang didn't know how to explain to Chen Pu. Yes, she didn't coax her sister, she really didn't get sick. But she still lied, and in fact she was sick. This seemingly contradictory statement is not difficult to understand at all, because she was born with a heart disease.

Her heart disease was contracted when Chen Pu came a month ago. But the root of the disease may have fallen a year ago......

Nanyang has been fond of calligraphy since he was a child. Her status is noble, when she was a child, she received a lot of careful guidance from calligraphers, and she had the opportunity to figure out and comprehend the works of famous masters of the previous dynasties collected by the Imperial Palace, plus her own talent is very high, so when she was a girl, she was quite famous for her calligraphy. Although there are many exaggerated elements in this fame, no one can deny that over time, she is likely to become a great calligrapher like Huang Bei, the "Jiangxia withering guest". However, there are two sides to everything, although she has already achieved success in calligraphy, but because of the limitations of age and experience, it is difficult for her to integrate her life experience with calligraphy skills; secondly, because she suffered a major blow in her life a few years ago, which delayed her further understanding of calligraphy; So in the past few years, she has made almost no progress in calligraphy. She can feel this herself. Especially when she first met with celebrities and scholars from all over the world, when others heard her name, they inadvertently revealed sympathy for her personal experience, regret that she no longer pursued the true meaning of calligraphy, and regret that she had no talent but gave up on herself; All of this made her extremely sad.

Calligraphy is her hobby, her career, and her life. In order to improve her skills, she has frantically collected all kinds of famous calligraphy stickers and handscrolls at any cost over the years, and almost filled all her belongings into this bottomless pit. Right now, except for two or three important places in the princess's mansion in the city, the rest are empty, and all the family has already been exchanged for money by her to buy books and paste scrolls. If it weren't for the princess's mansion, no one would dare to buy it, and she was afraid that even it would have to be sold for a discount. However, even though she has been reduced to the point of having to rely on secretly selling characters to support the superficial princess pomp, her calligraphy has not progressed. This continued until she first saw "63 Stickers" in Ouchi three years ago.

From the first time she saw the 91 simple and thick words of "63 Stickers", she fell madly in love with them. These words, with the characteristics of deep Han Li's penmanship, made a gap appear in front of her the door of calligraphy that had been closed for several years, and she could once again vaguely glimpse the path to the peak of calligraphy.

It's a pity that "63 Post" is just a hastily written note, some words overlap, some words are hurriedly scribbled, and some words are still lacking pen and less drawing, and there are not many really unique ones, although they are beneficial, but they can't really make her make new progress. Since then, she has been carefully studying the "63 Post", and at the same time asking people everywhere to inquire about the life and whereabouts of Mr. Yu Que, but she has never received any news. Obviously, this Mr. Yu Que is a high-ranking hermit who has no quarrel with the world, and it is very likely that he has already become an immortal. This result taught her to be very disappointed, and she was sad for a long time. It seems that this is the end of her achievements in calligraphy in this life...... It wasn't until October last year that she met Admiral Yanshan by chance in Chen Pu's mansion.

She knew that "63 Stickers" was originally circulated from Yanshanwei, and she also heard that there was such a young admiral as Shang Cheng in Yanshan, and she also knew that Shang Cheng and her sister were comrades-in-arms who fought side by side on the battlefield, but she never associated Mr. Yu Que with a general who fought on the battlefield. Therefore, when her companion provoked and angered Shang Cheng with words, she did not warn and stop her companion's reckless behavior, but watched with a sense of watching the excitement. After her companion was expelled by her sister, in order to save her face, she once wanted to find Shang Cheng.

After she "stole" the "Book with the General" from Chen Pu's study, and then found 57 characters in the Hanhuai Street Post House to frame the "Missing Post", she was extremely glad that she did not go to find Shang Cheng. At the same time, she felt very excited and excited, because she also "shared" a little secret with her husband that could not be told to outsiders. In addition to the two of them, who else in the world would know that Shang Yanshan is Mr. Yu Que, and Mr. Yu Que is Shang Yanshan?

On the day she got the "Book with the Great General" and "Collecting Stickers", she came to this small Zhuangzi that belonged to her outside the city, which was the only place where she could stay, and the other Zhuangzi were sold for money to buy books and paste, one by one, and since then she has closed the door to thank customers, and only seeks progress in calligraphy.

She knew that this time she would definitely be able to go further, because the fifty-seven characters in the "Pick-up Post" are all in the seal and grass line, of which the regular script is the most, with forty-three; Among the forty-three regular script characters, in addition to six were the kind of regular script changes she had already seen, and two were changes she had never seen or even dared to imagine. A kind of stroke is thin and straight, the horizontal hook and vertical painting are like a sword breaking through the air, and the hidden edge is stretched and elegant; A kind of stroke stiff and straight, the shape is square, the horizontal is thin, the horizontal and vertical are thick and straight, the pen is clear and meticulous, and the steel bar is powerful and delicate. It's just that these two words have the charm of "63 stickers", even if Mr. deliberately restricts the pen stroke, but the characteristics of "63 stickers" are always exposed, and it seems that Mr. himself has not been able to think about the latter two into a round operation. Even so, Mr. can change the regular script again and again, and the magic power is far from her being a calligraphy backward and dare to say something with a beak......

She likes the change of regular script like a sword the most, so she can't help but want to share her worries for her husband, hoping to integrate this change. Because Du Fu's "Li Chao's Eight-Minute Small Seal Song" in the previous dynasty has a sentence "The book is expensive, thin and hard, and the party is spiritual", so she called this change "thin and hard body". I also felt that this title was vulgar and unbearable, and it was difficult to match Mr. 's hermit style of "the universe is full of wind and clouds", so he called it "crane style" because of the change in the shape of the font. Thinking about "Baoyu is jealous", he finally named it "Crane Body". At the end of March and the beginning of April, the great calligrapher Huang Bei came to Beijing and once met with her, and she took out a small order written in the crane script that was not very familiar to Huang everyone to ask for advice. Later, Huang Bei said to people, "I can't go far", which is why it came. It's just that everyone, including Huang Bei, doesn't know that it is not himself who is not as good as him, but Mr. Yu Que, who is far away in the bitter cold of Yanshan.

Yes, in her eyes, Yanshan, which is less than a thousand miles away from Shangjing, is a bitter cold border stopper. She couldn't understand why her husband was in danger because of Puyu, and it was difficult to hide the weather. But that's what she admires most about him. "Southern History: Hide" said that the hermits "all use the universe to form their hearts, and borrow the wind and clouds to be the air", and Mr. in the mountains hides his strange seclusion, and as soon as he is born, the nine heavenly cranes shake the universe, and so on, isn't it the portrayal of the noble things of the hermits since the Wei and Jin dynasties? She even thought about telling her father about her husband at the right time. Because there is a saying in "Yi", "Heaven and earth are closed, and the sage is hidden", Mr. is undoubtedly a sage who runs through the ancient and modern times, since he is no longer hidden and was born, isn't it a clear proof that Da Zhao is now leveling the four seas and transpiring? Of course, she has such thoughts, and she also has her own little thoughts: when her husband returns to Beijing and occupies a high position again, she can also serve left and right and ask for advice from time to time. But she didn't dare to say it. She thought, if the husband does not tend to be powerful, does not attach to the wealthy, and does not seek the name of the rich in order to seek the name of the people, it seems that there is a deep meaning, if she takes the liberty to recommend it to her father, will it be self-defeating? So in the end, she decided not to bother Mr. for now.

However, she can not make a name for her husband, but she must do something for him. She needed to express her indescribable admiration, but also to make up for her previous disrespect for him, so she bought the Persian Pegasus, and by chance, she gave him the horse without incident. But who knows, in the future, it will be the bad news that Mr. fell from his horse......

From the moment she heard that Shang Cheng was seriously injured in a fall from a horse, she knew that she had once again created a catastrophe.

She gave the horse to her husband out of respect for him. However, now this respect has caused Mr. to suffer a heavy blow, and he has to stay in Fangzhou to recuperate. What makes her even more unforgivable is that because of a head injury, Mr. passed by the peerless exploits of the Great Destruction of Blackwater City, and the war he painstakingly planned was all fulfilled by others' prestige and prestige......

She simply couldn't forgive herself. In the past month, whether awake or asleep, she has always imagined over and over again, if she hadn't given the horse, if she hadn't insisted on inviting her husband to Soma, if she hadn't gone to enjoy autumn with her sister that day, would the nightmare never happen again? Maybe she shouldn't have stolen the letter, let alone gone to the post house to find some "pick-up stickers", and she shouldn't have had a conflict with her husband...... She even reflected on what she had done in the past. She had a feeling that if it weren't for that absurd indifference, then she would not have been so arrogant, she would not have been estranged from her sister, and she would not have neglected her sister's friends and comrades-in-arms...... Yes, all of this, it was her fault. It's all her fault!

For more than a month, as long as she was awake, she was always immersed in remorse and self-pity. Even in the dead of night, when she finally fell asleep, she would often be awakened by nightmares. She was completely mired in guilt and remorse, and she had reached the point where she was in a trance and couldn't think about it. She doesn't learn calligraphy anymore, and she doesn't want to figure out what words are pasted anymore, even if it's a husband's stickers, she doesn't want to see them. She even hated herself for falling in love with calligraphy. Alas, it would have been nice if she hadn't loved calligraphy, so that the husband wouldn't have fallen off his horse......

Now, my sister is asking why she didn't burn the brazier in the study. Why not burn the brazier? Because her heart was cold. If she burns a brazier in the house again, cold inside and hot outside, she will be seriously ill if she doesn't die. But she suddenly thought again, burn it, burn it, die it; It doesn't matter if she dies, the debt will be eliminated when she dies, so that she doesn't owe anything to her husband......

She rejoiced at the sudden thought. She immediately stood up and called out to the maids to bring two braziers into the house and burn them. No! Two is not enough, four are needed!

This time, Chen Pu disagreed. Nanyang's sudden rise from lifelessness to such excitement made her feel uneasy. She didn't know what Nanyang was thinking, but she knew that it would definitely not bode well. She asked the maids to move the brazier away, and instructed them to send some ginger soup to warm the stomach and heart, and she still wanted tea and soup, so she took Nanyang's hand and asked her to sit down. She looked at the two abnormal flushes on Nanyang's cheeks in confusion, and asked, "What happened?" ”

Nanyang patted the back of her hand and said, "Originally, there was still a little unhappy thing, but now it's okay, there is nothing left." "I'm not busy burning the brazier, and when my sister comes home or goes to the Gyeonggi camp, she has time. Well, her suffering was about to end, and she was so happy that she smiled and asked, "Why did you remember to come to me?" ”

Chen Pu felt that Nanyang's smile didn't seem to be fake, so he decided not to get to the bottom of it. Nanyang once ridiculed her, saying that she had a half-legged monk sweetheart, but how did she think that Nanyang's sad and miserable appearance just now seemed to be awkward with her sweetheart? So, if Nanyang refuses to say some things, she won't be busy asking them one by one, anyway, sooner or later, she will know. So she told her about the unpleasant things she had encountered at her mother's place in the morning.

Nanyang was silent for a while and asked, "Wang Yi is coming back?" ”

"I will arrive in Beijing around the New Year's Day."

"Is the news confirmed?"

"I heard about it in the military department earlier, and the order was issued in the middle of last month. This ten's Di Bao also mentioned a sentence. Chen Pu said. She also gave evidence again from a military point of view. "After the Christmas of my father, General Xiao will go to Jiazhou to take up his post. Wang Yi's duty is to maintain the grain route, and it is impossible to leave Beijing later than General Xiao. ”

Nanyang doesn't understand military affairs, so Chen Pu's words are purely superfluous. She didn't understand what it meant behind the complicated personnel changes and government decrees in the court, so she could only use some women's innate careful thinking and tricks to try to solve the problems Chen Pu faced. However, how can these careful tricks of ordinary life be compared with the court ministers whose every word, every gesture may contain far-reaching meanings? Like why the imperial court suddenly promoted Wang Yi, she, and Chen Pu, the two sisters had no way to understand the profound meaning behind it. What's more, the trick that Nanyang can make is at most to do something to disgrace the Heavenly Family, killing a thousand enemies and losing almost eight hundred, in fact, it is a defeat for both, what good way can she come up with? She frowned and thought for a long time, but finally felt that it was difficult to do it, so she had to say to Chen Pu: "I can't think of any good ideas until now." Or, when your father wants to get married, you will go cry again? If you can't do it, you will come out as if you are looking for death. Father loves you the most, and when you make a fuss, he will most likely retract what he said. ”

Chen Pu's mouth opened wide in surprise. Hunt for death and hang yourself, this is the idea that my sister gave her? She almost wanted to drop the teacup again. She worked hard for dozens of miles to listen to Nanyang give her these bad ideas? She couldn't help but look at the tea cup in her hand and snorted sullenly. It's so unlucky, what I have in my hand is still the fine porcelain of Changnan Town last time!

She said angrily, "Sister, can't you help me think of a way to do it?" ”

Nanyang shook his head. It's not that she doesn't want to help her sister, it's that she really can't think about it. The person in front of him who can help Chen Pu untie the dead knot is Mr., but Mr. is recuperating from his injuries in Fangzhou, and the fastest exchange of letters will take a month......

Chen Pu couldn't help but laugh when she heard her sister call Shang Cheng as a gentleman, and covered her mouth and said, "Where is he in Fangzhou, he has returned to Beijing early." ”

Nanyang raised his head sharply and hurriedly asked, "Mr. has returned to Beijing?" ”

Chen Pu laughed so hard that he felt his stomach hurt. She hurriedly put the fine porcelain tea cup on the table, forced a smile and said, "Early, early...... He's long since returned. People are now holding a banquet at home to celebrate the housewarming, and I am in a hurry to find you, so I gave a few gifts and did not eat at his house. ”

"Sir is back?" Nanyang muttered in the soft couch. "How did I not know?"

Chen Pu was once again happy to lean forward and back together. She clutched her stomach, swallowed and said, "People, people are back...... Do you have to tell you when they're back? Don't say you don't know, I also went to the military department for a meeting yesterday, and Jiao'er happened to meet him. Otherwise, I don't even know that he has been back in Beijing for several days. She finally stopped laughing and said to her sister in a show-off tone, "But I've heard that he has great ability, and he had a quarrel with Zhang Pu in the prime minister's mansion just before yesterday, and then he saw through General Xiao's strategy for the southern expedition, causing the old general to revise the draft overnight." It was our little soldiers who were unlucky, and yesterday we were dragged by the Ministry of War to discuss a new strategy. ”

Nanyang doesn't care about Xiao Jian's strategy at all, she cares about her husband. She asked again: "What is he arguing with Zhang Pu?" ”

Chen Pu didn't know why Shang Cheng and Zhang Pu were arguing. She can only be sure of one thing, it must be an extraordinary military event.

Nanyang said worriedly: "It's too reckless." Sir is too reckless. He didn't know anything about the dangers of the journey. That's Xiangguo, people want to clean him up, isn't it a matter of words? ”

Chen Pu didn't speak, just laughed.

"What are you laughing at? Am I wrong? ”

Chen Pu nodded vigorously and said, "It's wrong." It's not that he's afraid of Zhang Pu, but that Zhang Pu is a little jealous of him. I heard that when the imperial court discussed the reward of Yanshan's meritorious soldiers, the initial proposal was only to promote him to the rank of Shangzhu State and confer the title of county prince. But Zhang Pu resolutely objected, and in the end, he was awarded the fifth Ying County Uncle, and there was a seventy percent of the real seal. ”

Happiness came so fast, so fast that it made her dizzy and taught her to not believe. Who would have imagined that one moment she was still tossing and turning in a thousand-foot ice cave, and the next moment it was spring and sunny March, she couldn't adapt to it, let alone believe it. Again, she asked, "Are you telling the truth?" ”

"What's really fake?" Chen Pu was a little unhappy. Can she make a joke about that? "He is feasting guests today, that is, in the Ying County Bofu in Chongyifang, do you say it is true or false?"

Nanyang bit his lip and was silent for a long time, then suddenly stood up and said, "I don't believe you!" No, I'm going to see for myself. Come on, prepare the car, let's go back to the capital! ”

Chen Pu hurriedly dragged his sister, who seemed to be delusional. Don't look at what time this is, now take the carriage towards the capital, and it is also the third watch day, in the cold winter wax moon, the two princesses hurriedly jogged and walked the night road, in order to see the county uncle, if this matter spreads, where will the faces of the two of them be placed, and the reputation of the heavenly family will be wanted? She grabbed Nanyang's arm and forced her to press her into the soft couch. She couldn't say what she was thinking, so she asked, "What are you anxious about?" What do you want to do when you rush back? ”

"I, I...... I gave him a horse last time and threw him down, and I went to apologize to him. Nanyang Zhiwu argued.

This reason is so far-fetched that even Nanyang himself doesn't believe it. Chen Pu frowned and thought about it, and looked at her suspiciously. It just so happens that Nanyang is also looking at her; The two sisters met their eyes, and then each hurriedly dodged to the side.

Chen Pu smiled and said, "He has been relieved of his position as the governor of Yanshan, and he is currently recuperating in the capital, and it is unlikely that he will leave for three or five months." You want to apologize, and you have a chance to turn back. She stood up and took two steps, changed the subject, and said, "Sister, I just drank a bowl of gruel when I left home this morning. It's early and late, you can't watch your sister starve to death in your house, right? ”

“…… Oh. One by one, I will have someone prepare supper. ”