In the nineteenth year of Emperor Guangtong, winter, Langya Manor.

Even if it is an ancient tree with a thousand-year-old lifespan, even with the best maintenance, it is impossible to resist the power of heaven and earth, and when winter comes, the three ancient locust trees that are dozens of hugs thick and tall will be like all other ordinary trees, and they will lose all frost leaves, leaving only bare and cold branches with branches.

Sitting quietly under the tree, Wang Siqian was processing the documents submitted by his disciples, while behind him, in another courtyard, Li Lun was listening to the housekeepers' reports on the recent Wang family's income and expenses, and making arrangements for some ceremonial activities.

Earlier, when Wang Zhonggu was alive, he had already attached great importance to Li Lun and tried to cultivate her in the direction of "master mother", and after her death, Li Lun was the first to get up from grief, and almost semi-forcibly pushed Wang Siqian forward, telling him that he had to do something.

"You can hate me... Hate me for not having feelings, hate me for not grieving with you... You can, as long as Xiaoqian, you cheer up first and do what you should do. ”

"You have your responsibilities, you have responsibilities that you have to bear, and no one can replace them... For someone as 'important' as you, you don't have the right to let yourself fall into grief. ”

"People... You must take your own responsibility. ”

Li Lun's merciless persuasion made Wang Siqian quickly cheer up, and after that, he changed his attitude and gradually handed over the internal affairs of the Wang family to Li Lun to manage, although this initially made many people dissatisfied and questioned, but soon, Li Lun proved that she was indeed qualified to take on this responsibility with her achievements, and gradually established her own authority within the family. At the same time, Wang Siqian, who entrusted all the internal affairs to her, began to work hard to familiarize herself with the huge network that had been isolated in the center by Wang Zhong and reweaved it: or system, or friend, or attack, or alliance, and devoted herself to all this, Wang Siqian showed amazing talent, coupled with the "friendship" from the prince of the dynasty, in just one year, the prestige of the Wang family has returned to the highest peak when Wang Zhonggu was alive.

“… This is the arrangement that the lady has reviewed, please take a look at the head of the family. ”

Taking the one-foot-square note from the hand of the little boy in Tsing Yi, Wang Siqian saw that there were originally more than ten lines of words on it, but only three lines were painted, and a number of gifts were marked on the back, he pondered for a while, waved his hand and said, "Please come over, Madame." ”

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"The Pei family is a prestigious family with no qualifications below ours, and the Confucian Society once every ten years is indeed indispensable, but now at this time, go south to Yuanzhou..."

"But isn't that person your 'good friend'?"

Smiling, Li Lun insisted on her opinion: Shi Futu is regarded as a "good friend" by Wang Siqian, and he is now the most prestigious among the young generation of orthodox Buddhism, standing in Wang Siqian's position, it is completely necessary to take this trip.

With a wry smile, Wang Siqian couldn't say anything to refute Li Lun, because what Li Lun said was all right, and this was indeed the most important one of the dozen or so activities, but at this time, he was really unwilling to do this long trip that could only go back and forth for at least half a month.

"I know what you mean, you're afraid that Xiao Wu will come at such a time... It's been a year, right? ”

Nodding silently, Wang Siqian did not avoid this topic... Between them, it's not a taboo.

"It's okay... I think. Little None... If he can't find you, he probably won't do anything. ”

The smile was very sunny, and Li Lun insisted very seriously. In the end, Wang Siqian was finally persuaded by him, instructed his subordinates, equipped the gifts that had been selected by Li Lun, and set the day of the trip the next day.

"Futu... And Daohong, I really haven't seen them for a long time. ”

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On a winter morning, even the sun seems to have been chilled, and even if it is sunburned on the face, it can only make people feel a little warm.

waved his hand, sent Wang Siqian on the road, and then returned to his carriage, rubbed his hands vigorously, and warmed his hands on a small stove that was cleverly erected in the middle of the carriage.

"Every time the head of the house leaves, the lady will do this... Well, why do you have to let him go? ”

spoke very casually, because this maid had been with Li Lun for several years, had gained trust, and was regarded as a "friend" by Li Lun, so when he heard this strictly "rude" speech, Li Lun just smiled bitterly.

"Because, he can't help but go... Because that is his responsibility, the responsibility that he must bear as the 'head of the royal family'... It's like staying at home and waiting silently, and arranging everything before he notices... It is my responsibility, my responsibility as the wife of the lord of the royal family. ”

"People... You have to take responsibility..."

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It was late at night, but Li Lun did not go to sleep, wrapped in a thick cotton coat, she reclined on a large chaise longue, looking at the sky, looking at the stars that were always just twinkling indifferently.

… I don't know how long I watched it, until tears slipped out of the corners of her eyes.

Drying his face with a large, soft dry towel at hand, Li Lun sat up from his chair and did not call any of her subordinates—this was because she was still more accustomed to doing what she could do, and for another reason, because all the subordinates knew that when Madame was lying there alone counting the stars, it was best not to approach.

In the huge courtyard with a length and width of more than 100 steps, except for the three ancient locust trees with a history of more than 1,000 years, there is nothing else, standing alone in the center of the courtyard, Li Lun looks so lonely, although there are tens of thousands of residents in this Langya Manor, but, at this moment... For Li Lun, they were all as distant and meaningless as the people of the world.

Even more drummers, telling Li Lun that it was too late, and that he needed to rest immediately in order to be sober and accurate tomorrow morning to review next month's expenses.

Gently patting her mouth, Li Lun tried her best to suppress her yawning, and began to turn around with a very wooden step, and then, she was suddenly stunned, and the quilt that she was holding in her hand also slipped to the ground.

More than twenty steps away, under the tree, there was a tall and silent black shadow, I don't know how long he had been standing, and under the moonlight, the strange and fiery light of his eyes was even more visible.

"Little nothing... It's you?! ”

Nodding silently, the darkness did not speak.

Compared with a year ago, the darkness now seems even taller, he was about the same size as Wang Siqian, but now he is obviously taller than the former, and at the same time, some breaths on his body that will never appear before, some, cold and gloomy, and even seem to have a trace of bloody aura, which makes Li Lun feel extremely uncomfortable.

Trying to suppress the feeling of not allowing himself to show it, but unable to hide the feeling of darkness, he sighed softly, and took a few more steps back.

When the distance was extended to thirty steps away, the gloomy aura that seemed to be absent was really greatly reduced, and he felt that his breathing was much faster, but after frowning, Li Lun took the initiative to take a few steps forward.

"Thank you, Xiao Wu... But it doesn't matter. ”

"Because, I also want to know, how have you been doing for more than a year?"

His eyes flickered slightly, and the darkness seemed to sigh lowly, but he couldn't hear it.

"I... I've been killing people and killing a lot of people. ”

The voice is low and dry, and the dark speech seems more stiff than it was a year ago... It seems that it has been a long time since I was used to talking to people.

Tell Li Lun that since he fought with Wang Siqian last year, he has gone north to the border, hoping to temper himself in that harsh and ruthless environment.

"It's so cold there that it can freeze all the bones of a person... In that place, there are only continuous pine forests, almost no flowers and plants, and it is difficult to find anything to eat..."

In such an environment, the darkness exercised itself with an almost insane obsession, strengthened itself, and the tremendous external pressure, in him, turned into a powerful driving force that enabled him to rapidly strengthen.

"But I didn't just go there to train myself... The other purpose, as I told you, is that I'm killing people. ”

In addition to exercising his strength, the darkness will leave the mountains and forests from time to time to search for traces of life, as long as he finds it, whether it is Xiang Ren or Xia Ren, there is only one death.

"Every three to five days, I'm going to kill someone, kill everyone I see... The most was a whole caravan of more than fifty people. ”

Trembling slightly, and an angry look appeared on his face, although Li Lun had always cared about the darkness, he couldn't forgive this senseless killing.

"Because, I need to kill, I need to take someone's life... Only then will I be able to fall asleep and get a good night's sleep for a few days. ”

looked at Li Lun with a strange eye, there seemed to be indescribable pity in the middle, and it seemed to be a silent mockery, which made Li Lun feel even more uncomfortable.

"Kill... Can you only relax yourself by killing people? ”

I thought that this question was meaningless, but who would have thought that the darkness slowly shook his head.

"Hmm... There are other ways to calm me down. ”

Tell Li Lun that he was once disturbed by someone when he attacked a group of horse thieves, and that he was also a young man in his twenties, and with his myriad tricks, he fought against the darkness for a long time, and finally defeated them after using weapons.

"Interesting... If I didn't have to be unforgiving, maybe I would have to fight for another half a day to win against you... Would you like to join me in fighting the world? ”

Calling himself "lawless", the young man told the darkness that he was wandering the world, looking for a base from which to serve as a base and comrades to trust and rely on, but in the end, with something he wanted to accomplish first, the darkness turned him down.

When the two of them fought, the horse thieves had already fled, and in the fierce battle, his physical strength was exhausted, and the darkness had no intention of continuing to search farther away, so he returned to the mountains, and soon began to fall into nightmares.

"Actually, it's not that I can't sleep, but ...'I'm afraid to fall asleep.'"

As soon as he fell asleep, he would be haunted by all kinds of nightmares, and the final end would always be to wake up sweating, such darkness, he felt that he had an impulse, an urge to kill other lives, only in this way, he could calm himself and enjoy a few days of peace.

"And in the end... I was able to calm down... It's you, Lun. ”

His face was pale, but he still stood very straight, Li Lun seemed to have guessed the answer, and did not show too much surprise.

"That night, I finally realized that when I thought of you with all my heart, I could be saved from the nightmare, and I could be able to bring myself peace and tranquility..."

Lowering his head, no matter how strong he was, Li Lun couldn't calmly discuss such a topic with the darkness, but this action seemed to encourage the darkness, and he finally said the last sentence.

"So... Len, would you like to come back, come back to me? ”

Trembling, Li Lun raised his head and looked at the darkness in a daze.

"As long as you come back, I... I can let it all end and never duel with Brother Qian again... No, he won't be able to find me, I'm not going to kill again... We can go far and start over with another identity..."

"Nope."

Interrupting the dark speech very resolutely, Li Lun's body was still trembling slightly, but his expression was indescribably firm.

"Some words... It can hurt, but... It still needs to be made clear... Xiao Wu, I really like you... However, I still prefer Xiaoqian. ”

“… I'm sorry. ”

His face was blank, and the darkness had already known Li Lun's answer.

"I know... I know. ”

"But... Have you thought about his thoughts on you? ”

When he said the last half of the sentence, there was obvious anger in the dark voice, so he froze slightly, and then, Li Lun laughed instead.

"You... Isn't it been a long time since you came back, Xiao Wu? ”

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With a little reluctance, Darkness admitted that he had been back in Langya for more than a month, and he never appeared in front of Wang Siqian, he just hid in the darkness, quietly observing the lives of the two.

"I think... You are not happy. ”

Running around all day long, circling among various forces, even when staying in Langya Manor, Wang Siqian will have countless affairs to deal with, and in the same way, Li Lun is also entangled in all kinds of internal affairs, and the time when the two can sit together... Very little, actually.

After observing this for a long time, the darkness finally began to rage.

"You put Brother Qian in the heaviest place, but... What about him? In him, do you value the foundation of the Wang family or you... Haven't you ever thought about this question? ”

Looking at the dark and somewhat distorted face, Li Lun showed a happy smile.

"Thank you for your concern... Xiao Wu, however, there are some things that you may have misunderstood. ”

"I know very well and trust Xiaoqian's heart for me... It's just that you don't understand yet. ”

Smiling, Li Lun said that Wang Siqian, as the head of the Wang family, has a heavy responsibility on his shoulders, so of course, he can't be involved in the thrush case all day long.

"Everybody... He has his own responsibilities, which cannot be evaded, and must be taken up. ”

Telling the darkness that in fact, Wang Siqian was still running around all day long under his own push, Li Lun smiled even more proudly, thinking that with his help, Wang Siqian would definitely be able to go farther than Wang Zhonggu.

"And... I know that he cares about me the most, only me... I just know. Because he values me the most, that's why he left me alone. ”

It seemed like a strange statement, and the darkness couldn't accept it, but when Li Lun seriously told him the "reason", he was speechless.

"Because... We are husband and wife, two hearts and one mind, of course, there is no need to be polite to each other, because he also understands this, so he will be busy with other things first... Because he knows I won't care, because I know that what he cares about most is me... People will only be polite when facing 'outsiders'. ”

After a long silence, the darkness slowly said, "I see..."

"So, back then, you were very polite to me, but you were so domineering to Brother Qian... Because, you've liked him more than I have since then... Right? ”

Nodding slightly, Li Lun bowed and said, "I'm sorry, Xiao Wu." ”

Let out a dry laugh, the dark smile said, "I'm sorry... I've heard a lot of it, but... What's the use of that? ”

Straightening up, the aura of tranquility gushing out of the darkness suddenly increased, his eyes gradually became cold and hard, and his tone was no longer soft.

"But if this continues, maybe I'll be the one who says I'm sorry... Because, after living in hell for a year, I will only be stronger than Brother Qian now... I will kill him and destroy everything for him. ”

His face did not change, and Li Lun still only bowed slightly.

"It's possible ... Because Xiao Qian himself said that he didn't have the confidence to beat you. But even then, you don't have to be humble to me. ”

"Because, I'll catch up with Xiaoqian and go with him..."

I didn't expect Li Lun to react like this, the darkness was speechless for a while, and after that, he heard a gentle sigh behind him.

"Very well, Len... I can hear you confess like this... I knew I couldn't have made the right decision to come back. ”