The following year, the two state school students who had been guests at Feng Jing's house passed the examination held in the state capital and prepared to go to Beijing to participate in the provincial examination, that is, the lock examination of the Ministry of Rites and Gongyuan. Feng Jing invited them to his home again and set up a banquet for him.

During the banquet, Feng Jing wished the same house a successful and prosperous life, and the same house thanked him repeatedly, and after that, one of them looked at Feng Jing and sighed with emotion: "The talent in the world is far better than ours, if we participated in the test together, I am afraid that the title of Xie Yuan is also at your fingertips, and now the three of us are accompanied into Beijing, wouldn't it be happy!" ”

Feng Jing shook his head and said: "It's been a long time since I left the books in the dust. What's more, from the Sui and Tang dynasties to the national dynasties, there were regulations that industry and commerce were not allowed to enter the office, and Beijing did not dare to ask for extravagance. The two brothers have stood out in the examination, and the release of brown is in sight, and the purple waist gold will be dragged in the future, which is just around the corner, but they are not ashamed to make friends with industrial and commercial miscellaneous people, and they still drink together with Beijing, and Beijing has been deeply honored and grateful. ”

Hearing this, the fellow house hurriedly persuaded: "Why did the world say this? You and I have always been ordinary people, and although you have done one or two businesses, you don't have to classify yourself as a miscellaneous businessman. He was still young, and if he stopped doing business now and continued to study, it would not be too late to participate in the tribute ceremony next time. ”

Another fellow also agreed, saying: "The scholars of the national dynasty do not ask about their family background, although industry and commerce are not allowed to enter the office, but Emperor Taizong once issued an edict: 'If there are geniuses and outstanding people in the industrial and commercial miscellaneous people, they are also allowed to be released.'" 'When the World Bank's business days are very short and there are geniuses, even if someone forces you to be classified as a miscellaneous businessman, you can take advantage of this ordinance. You might as well return to the state school and devote yourself to studying for the next tribute. ”

Since he ascended the throne today, he has often only opened a course every four years, and the next session should be four years later. Feng Jing thought silently, four years is enough to happen and change many things...... Yuan Yuan should also have one or two more children, will she and the children be healthy, worry-free, safe and happy?

So, he raised his eyes and smiled faintly at his fellow housemate: "Jing'an is at peace with the status quo and has no intention of responding." ”

There is no word for each other, only sighing. After a while, one person said: "Now that the world is dressed in brocade clothes, food and jade, and there is a beautiful wife at home, have we forgotten the lofty ambition of guiding the country in the state school, discussing Tao strategy, and vowing to rule the country and level the world?" ”

Feng Jing put down the wine in the cup, calmly met the questioning gaze of his fellow housemate, and said, "If you can't even support your wife and children, how can you talk about governing the country and leveling the world?" ”

This time, Yuan Yuan accepted Feng Jing's suggestion and did not show up, but only prepared vegetables in the inner room with his mother-in-law and asked the maid to bring them out. During this time, Mrs. Feng walked behind the curtain several times and heard some conversations between Feng Jing and his roommates.

At night, Mrs. Feng summoned her son to the study, took out a copy of the "Poems" he read when he was a child, turned to the last page, and handed it to Feng Jing: "This line of writing was written by your father back then, do you remember?" ”

Feng Jing took it and saw his father's familiar handwriting: "General Shilang Shou General is a prisoner and sentenced Jingnan Military Government to borrow Feng Jing." ”

At that time, he couldn't understand this official title, so when he asked his father, his father patted him on the shoulder and smiled: "If my son wins the top prize in the examination in the future, the emperor will most likely give you this official job." ”

The words are still in my ears, and through these lines, it seems that I have touched my father's earnest gaze again. Feng Jing closed the page and lowered his eyes.

"Your father's biggest regret in this life is that he didn't get into the ranks." Mrs. Feng said slowly: "In his early years, he was also doing business like you now, and he was looked down upon, and later he made up for the false title of a petty official who was forbidden by the left because of his entry into the nano su, so he was finally out of the miscellaneous stream." Therefore, he has always asked you to study well, and in the future, you will be promoted to a jinshi and a champion, and you will be a big official in a dignified and upright manner, and you will be glorious. I don't want to go around and around now, and you're going back to the same path he did back then......"

Before she could finish her words, Mrs. Feng's voice was choked up, and she couldn't help herself.

Feng Jing knelt down towards his mother and said solemnly: "A son has failed the high expectations of his parents, which is really unfilial. But his father also taught his children that a good man should be trustworthy and responsible, and the sage also listed self-cultivation and family unity before governing the country and leveling the world. Now that his mother is getting old and Yuan Yuan's illness has not yet recovered, how can Jing abandon his mother and wife, only seek fame and fame, and not think about supporting his family? ”

Hearing him say this, Mrs. Feng was also difficult to refute, and finally sighed: "Although I am already a handful of years, fortunately, I am not sick or sick, and I don't have much money on weekdays, and I can live with you in poverty." However, Yuan Yuan is not in good health now, but he often needs to take supplements...... Or, let's let her take care of it now, and after a year and a half, when she is well, you will prepare for the move again? ”

Thinking about the long four years, Feng Jing did not agree, but only said: "The future will be talked about in the future." ”

Hearing this remark, Mrs. Feng was sad, and said with tears in her eyes: "If you marry a few years later, you will not be burdened by the family, trapped in the middle, and will not be able to succeed." ”

After pondering for a moment, Feng Jing spoke again and said to his mother: "What happened to Yuan Yuan is my fault. I was reckless back then, and I made this big mistake. But if you don't marry her, you will be even more unfortunate and moral, which is tantamount to adding mistakes to mistakes. Once the mistakes have been made, we must have the courage to take them. I hurt her at first, but now I am willing to allow her a stable life to make up for the mistakes she has committed. Therefore, I am willing to accept the result now. ”

After his mother left, Feng Jing remained in the study, sitting for a long time, and the night seemed to be extraordinarily long, and he chose a way to spend time: holding a wine in one hand and a pen in the other, drinking sake and writing hard.

Finally got drunk. Before falling asleep, he swept off the pile of paper with words in front of him. The papers fluttered and fluttered one after another, and the same verse was written on each sheet: "Han Xinqi Chi Xiang Yu is poor, and he drinks the autumn wind ......with a long sword in his hand."

When I woke up in the middle of the night, I saw that I was covered with a large coat of paper, and the papers scattered on the ground had been picked up and neatly stacked on the desk.

Did Yuan Yuan come here? He thought in a daze, but quickly dismissed the idea himself: if she came, she would wake him up with a chirp and urge him to go back to his room.

Perhaps, it was the handmaid who did it. He didn't bother to ask for any more information, and felt that the night was cold and his head ached, so he got up and dragged back to the bedroom with heavy steps.

Yuan Yuan was lying on the bed, turned sideways inward, looking like he was sleeping. He and Yi lay down beside her silently, not intending to alarm her.

She's quiet today. He had thought so before falling into a deep sleep.

After that, Yuan Yuan became quieter day by day, talking less and less, although he still had a smile on his face, but it was only a polite smile, and the kind of loud laughter that used to be became rarer.

Even the sound of the abacus was not as cheerful as before. Feng Jing was secretly surprised, and finally couldn't help but ask her, "Yuan Yuan, do you have something on your mind?" ”

She smiled, "No." ”

He looked at her: "You don't look very good. ”

She thought about it and said, "Maybe it's not all cured...... It's okay, it will be okay someday. ”

The last dystocia did leave her with a lot of sequelae, she has not recovered so far, often has abdominal pain and backache, and Kwai water is not normal. He continued to ask for medical advice for her, but with little success, and she was not very cooperative with the treatment, and one day, he found that she had quietly poured out the medicine she was taking.

He was angry and anxious, and went over to ask her why she didn't take the medicine, and she smiled at him and said softly, "The medicine is too bitter." ”

Later, she became more and more disgusted with taking the drug, and simply openly refused, even if she was forced to drink it, she would vomit quickly.

As a result, her illness became worse and worse, and finally she was bedridden.

One day, Feng Jing came to Yuanyuan's sickbed, and saw that she was thin and haggard in a coma, but her face was sickly red, like a hibiscus that was about to wither at night, and she couldn't help but feel sad and shed tears.

Yuan Yuan woke up at this moment, stretched out her hand to slowly wipe away his tears, she smiled lightly and said, "Jing, take me out for a walk." ”

He suggested waiting for her to get better before going out, but she insisted on leaving now, so he asked, "Where do you want to go?" ”

She said: "It's good to have mountains and water, anywhere." ”

He took her to the Yellow Crane Tower, carried her up to the top floor, and let her see the Hanyang trees in the Qingchuan calendar, and the grass and parrot island.

She was half lying and half sitting, snuggling up to him, smiling, watching the distant shadow of the lonely sail, the smoke and waves of the sunset, and from time to time looking up to tell him the similarities and differences between the scenery in front of her and her hometown, until the twilight was four and the moon was full of rivers.

She fell silent, staring at the moon, but her eyes were dull, and her limp body was extremely weak, as if the vitality she carried was being blown away by the night wind.

Feng Jing's heart was sour, he hugged her with one hand, and with the other hand, he hugged the big curtain covering her with the other, smiled and said in her ear: "Yuanyuan, it is said that on the moonlit night, you can see immortals on the Yellow Crane Tower. The moonlight is good tonight, if you take a closer look around, you may be able to see immortals too. ”

Yuan Yuan looked at him blankly: "Really? ”

He nodded and said, "It's true." It is said that an old soldier guarding the gate had seen it. The moonlight was also so good that night, illuminating the foreground of the Yellow Crane Tower. The old man was hungry in the middle of the night, unable to sleep, tossing and turning, suddenly heard someone talking and laughing outside, he got up to visit, and found that there were three people outside, wearing feather coats and clogs, walking on the stone road, and the crisp sound of clogs caused a burst of echoes in the surrounding mountains......"

Yuan Yuan flashed his eyes and asked, "Who are they?" ”

Feng Jing replied: "It's not a human, it's not a ghost, they're immortals." ”

"And then?" Yuan Yuan asked again.

Feng Jingdao: "Later, they walked to the side of the mountain, faced the stone wall, stretched out their hands and knocked three times, and then the stone wall suddenly opened like a door, and they flew into the door like a wisp of light smoke and disappeared into the mountain. ”

Yuan Yuan looked around at the green mountain in front of him and asked, "Which stone wall is it?" ”

Feng Jing smiled: "I don't know...... Keep an eye on it, and maybe the immortals will appear in front of the building again. ”

Yuan Yuan asked in confusion, "What should I do when I see an immortal?" ”

Feng Jing suggested, "You ask them to fulfill one of your wishes." ”

"Great idea!" Yuan Yuan's eyes lit up, and then he expressed the meaning of Long Wangshu: "But one wish is not enough...... Is three good? ”

Feng Jing pretended to groan, and then smiled: "It should be okay." There are three of them, and it shouldn't be too difficult for one person to help you fulfill a wish. ”

"And you," Yuan Yuan also smiled, "You also have to make three wishes and ask them to help you fulfill them." ”

Feng Jing raised his eyebrows and said, "Hmm...... Of course I don't have an opinion, but I don't know if other immortals find it troublesome. ”

"No trouble, no trouble!" Yuan Yuan immediately said, his face turned outward, as if he was saying to the immortal who was hidden in the mountains, "Of course, the immortal is the same to everyone, help people realize their wishes, never be partial, and those who see it have a share!" ”

Feng Jing couldn't help laughing: "Then what wish do you want to make?" ”

Yuan Yuan asked rhetorically: "Isn't it necessary to see immortals to speak?" ”

Feng Jing said: "If you talk so much, the immortals must be too scared to show up." But they must be hiding in the mountains watching you, and if you make a wish here, they will know about it. ”

Yuan Yuan seemed to believe it, held his hand, and said seriously: "Then we will close our eyes together now, make three wishes each, and ask the immortals to fulfill them for us." ”

Seeing that she was so interested, Feng Jing naturally wouldn't bother her, so he agreed. So the two closed their eyes at the same time and made a wish, and after a while, Feng Jing opened his eyes and saw that Yuan Yuan was also looking at him, so he looked at each other and smiled.

"Do any of your wishes have anything to do with me?" Yuan Yuan asked with concern.

"Yes," replied Feng Jing, "the first one is for you...... I hope you get better as soon as possible and live a healthy and happy life from now on. ”

Yuan Yuan smiled calmly, wrapped his arms around his waist, as if to further shorten the distance between him and him, and then whispered to him: "My first wish is: to live with you; Die, and be buried with you; I will always be with you in my life. ”

Feng Jing was quite moved, lowered his head and kissed her forehead, and said in a low voice: "Okay, the immortal heard it." ”

"What's your second wish?" Yuan Yuan asked again.

Feng Jing hesitated slightly, but still told her: "I think, if I have the opportunity in the future, I will do something for the country and the people." ”

"Then my second wish should come in handy." Yuan Yuan smiled and said her wish, "I hope you will become the champion in the future and become a big official...... In that case, you can do great things for the country and the people, right? ”

Feng Jing's eyes were slightly hot, and when the sour feeling in his nose dissipated, he said, "Thank you, Yuan Yuan." ”

Yuan Yuan then asked the final question: "What about the third wish?" ”

This time, Feng Jing looked at the sparkling water under the moon and was silent for a long time.

Yuan Yuan didn't ask, but still said with a smile: "Then we all keep the third wish, let's not talk about it for the time being, presumably the immortals already know and will help us realize it." ”

Then, she buried herself in Feng Jing's arms and closed her eyes tiredly.

Her good spirit when she made her wish was to return to the light. After returning home, he was in a state of illness, and the next day the doctor announced that there was no cure, and asked Feng Jing to prepare for the funeral.

When he was dying, Yuan Yuan stared at her husband who was standing in front of the sickbed and said to him in a weak voice: "When I made a wish, I still forgot to tell the immortals, when we meet again in the next life, don't let me be your mistake." ”

It turned out that she had heard. Feng Jing suddenly realized that this was the root of her lack of survival.

He silently clutched the futon beside her, and his heart ached beyond measure.

"Don't cry, Jing ......" She stretched out her hand weakly, trying to wipe away his tears, but she couldn't touch him.

Feng Jing wiped away the tears that came out of his eyes and grabbed Yuan Yuan's hand.

Her fingers moved slightly, touching the skin on the back of his hand, still smiling, and she added, "You might be better off without me...... We prayed to the immortals......"

She stopped, looked at him tenderly, and suddenly asked, "Can you guess what my third wish is?" ”

Before he could reply, she smiled a little and said intermittently, "You can't guess...... The third wish, I also want to make on your behalf, but I don't know what you want besides winning the champion...... Later, I came up with a solution...... I said to the immortals that my third wish was that Kyo would fulfill all his wishes. ”

Feng Jing mourned, speechless for a while, led her hand to her lips, kissed it, and tears slipped again.

"Am I smart?" Yuan Yuan said softly.

Feng Jing smiled reluctantly, and finally spoke: "The first wish I made is that I want you to get better...... That's right, it will happen. ”

Yuan Yuan bowed his head slightly and said, "When you made this wish, the immortal must have walked away and didn't hear it." But she soon smiled again, "However, the second and third must have heard it, and your wish will come true one day." ”

Feng Jing bowed her head and was silent, afraid that looking at her would make her infected with his sadness.

Her gaze moved to the Jin Chuan she was wearing on her wrist and made a request: "Can this Jin Chuan be buried with me?" ”

Feng Jing was stunned for a moment, hesitated for a moment, but still bowed his head and said, "This is originally yours, of course you can wear it all the time." ”

Yuan Yuan smiled lightly and pulled his hand back, took off Jin Chuan himself, and handed it to Feng Jing: "I was just teasing you, this is not my thing at all, I don't want it......"

Feng Jing was surprised, and didn't understand what she meant for the time being, and then, Yuan Yuan asked him a question: "Your third wish is related to this Jin Chuan?" ”

Feng Jing clenched the Jin Chuan that he had just received, and was speechless. And Yuan Yuan didn't want to wait for him to answer, turned her head inward, and said the last words of her life: "The master of Jin Chuan, is it on that boat?" ”

She still had a faint smile as she said this, but in the turn of the side, a tear slipped across the bridge of her nose and fell into the fibre of the pillow beneath her.