Everyone in the world is cloudy, and the drama sings absurdly, but this mundane thing is still excessive.

- Strange Stories of Spiritual Wine and Forgetting Worries (Notes)

One

The warm sun stirs the chill and blends in with a pleasant temperature.

At the foot of the imperial city, there is a lot of traffic, and the people make their own lives. The prosperity of Chang'an City has never been constrained by the seasons.

"Smack", the chess pieces are settled.

The black pieces on the battlefield have blocked all the way out, and the game on the chessboard is a foregone conclusion.

"Interlocking, offensive and defensive integration, the first to grab people, killing everywhere. Childe's chess strength is extraordinary, he is really terrifying, and he is old and teachable, admire! Admire! The defeated old man stroked his white beard and laughed heartily.

"The seniors praised it falsely, and the victory in the next was all a fluke, relying on the mercy of the seniors. I salute the seniors under a cup, please! Li Ruoxuan raised his glass to cover his face, raised his head and drank it all.

In the same alley, living with the leader, the old man lived a very widowed life, originally had an only son under his knees to depend on each other, when he went out with the army to fight chaos, there was no news, and he has not returned it so far, and he does not know whether he is alive or dead.

When the old man has nothing to do, he will invite Ruoxuan to play a few games, but in fact, he wants to rub some Ruoxuan's wine tasting appreciation. And for those who know how to taste wine, Ruoxuan never hesitates to share.

In the eyes of others, the two have become "year-old friends" in the mouth of mortals, but in fact, Ruoxuan has existed for a long time longer than the old man.

It's just that how could mortals have expected that the transcendent Saint Qing Immeasurable Heavenly Venerable in the Heavenly Realm was right in front of his eyes?

Li Ruoxuan put down his wine glass and looked at the door of Lu Yao Pavilion, only to see Lian Xi standing in front of the door and looking at him. It seems that there is something to let Ruoxuan return quickly. Ruoxuan understood and nodded.

"Forgive me, seniors, I have something to do today, and I will ask my seniors for advice another day, and play and drink together, how about it?"

"Okay, come back another day! Come back another day! Hehehehehe! The old man's cheeks were flushed, and he was already a little drunk.

"Thank you, senior, forgive me, I missed you." After speaking, he slowly looked at Lu Yao Pavilion and paced, his clothes fluttering.

Two

Above the inner hall, an old man in a beige jute robe turned his back to Ruoxuan, standing in front of the full paulownia wine rack, looking at the dazzling array of spirit wines and wines.

I saw that his head was full of gray hair, two bundles of white eyebrows hung from his forehead to his waist, his face was wrinkled by wind and frost, and his eyes were full of vicissitudes.

The halo of spirit wine casts psychedelic ripples, rippling slightly in the inner hall, accompanied by the rich aroma of wine, making people feel that they are in a colorful wine spring.

No matter how fragrant the wine is, it can't hide the strong demonic qi emanating from the old man's body. It's just that this magic qi is not pure, and it seems to be mixed with a little godhead aura.

"In Xia Liruoxuan, I don't know if Your Excellency has come to visit the house, what do you have to do?" Ruo Xuan was slightly vigilant in his heart, but he was still not rude.

"Don't dare, don't dare, the little demon is shallow, how dare he call himself a senior in front of the Holy Qing Venerable." The old man turned around and hurriedly returned the salute.

"Oh? Do you know my details? Why, then, do you dare to come here to look for me? Aren't you afraid that I'll subdue you? ”

"Hehe, His Holiness laughed. The Venerable is a god, and he is admired by all things in the Three Realms, so how can he be condescending to be noble, and he is like a little demon like us. ”

"Besides, I believe that with the dignity of the Venerable Shengqing, that is, the promise made by the mouth, it must be the words of Jiuding, and it must be fulfilled by trustworthiness."

"Oh? So, have you found out about the change in the 'Emperor's Terrace'? Ruoxuan's eyes lit up slightly, and he was suddenly interested. The clues about the "demon lord" finally have signs again.

"Today, the little demon came uninvited, bringing the news that the Venerable wanted to inquire about, and came to exchange for the Great Dao Spirit Wine promised by the Venerable. However, until then, I implore His Holiness to listen to the little demon tell a story, and by the way, he will have the cheekiness to ask for a few sips of fine wine. After the story is told, the little demon goes and stays, and it is all at the disposal of His Holiness. ”

"Okay, let's talk while we drink, please." ......

Three

"Poof", the pink shadow fell into the water, and when she stood up, she looked like a chicken in the soup.

"Aha! Zhi'er, you look as stupid as a pig! Aha! The young man in a cloth coat, holding the freshly caught green carp in his hand, pointed at the girl who fell into the water and leaned forward and backwards with a smile.

"Humph! Brother Xiao Yuan knew how to bully Zhi'er! Zhi'er ignores you! Hum! The girl playfully stuck out her tongue and grimaced, and then crossed her waist and pouted, looking very cute.

"Farewell! I'll tease you! Zhi'er is the smartest...... Ah! The boy was about to step forward to coax the girl, but the green carp in his hand suddenly shook his tail and struggled, and the fishtail slapped the boy a few times, and then ran away.

"Hahaha! Brother Xiao Yuan is stupid! Brother Xiao Yuan is a big fool! Hahaha! Seeing this, the girl was no longer anxious, and smiled with her eyebrows.

"Yes, yes, yes! I'm stupid! You're laughing back. It's not early, let's go back quickly, you see you're soaking wet, and you should be scolded by the master when you go back. The boy was suddenly saddened.

"Hmmm! Go home! Let's go! The girl jumped up and down in front, and the water splashed all the way.

"Huh! Zhi'er, wait for me! Zhi'er ......" The young man picked up a basket full of miscellaneous fish and hurriedly chased after him.

The two of them stood side by side, humming a small tune in the sunset, and pacing in the city.

Her name is Cheng Zhi'er, and his name is Xiao Yuan. That year, one was fifteen, one was eighteen, one was the daughter of the famous Cheng Mansion who was favored by thousands of people, and the other was a descendant who grew up in Cheng Mansion since childhood.

Four

Sneaking in from the side door of Chengfu, two little thief cats who had been wild outside for a long time tiptoed through the corridor of the gallery, in order to avoid people's eyes and ears. Otherwise, the servants will find out that the eldest lady has sneaked out to play again, and she is soaking wet, and neither of them has good fruit to eat.

Chengfu occupies a very wide area, the gallery aisles are long and short and arranged in an orderly manner, with pavilions and grass trees; Bedrooms and halls are all available. There is a backward garden behind the hall, several rockeries, flowers and plants, there is an octagonal pavilion in the center of the courtyard, there is nothing to do on weekdays, the lord of the house Cheng Cheng and the manager of the Cheng Mansion Xiao Yuan play a few times in the pavilion. At this moment, the two are fighting in a chess game.

Xiao Yuan and Zhi'er were about to sneak through the corridor on the side of the pavilion, but they were still noticed by the sharp-eyed Cheng Cheng.

"Yuan'er, let you go out of the city to catch some fish and come back to the lotus pond on the house, why did you come back so late?" Cheng Cheng took his hands down, looked at the chessboard intently, and asked slowly.

Xiao Yuan was stunned for a moment, froze in place, and hurriedly bowed and replied: "Back to the master, I just met a few playmates on the road, and I was delayed for some time." The villain knows his mistake, please punish the master. ”

Zhi'er was taken aback, and hurriedly shrank behind Xiao Yuan, not daring to take a bite, for fear of being discovered by her father.

"That's it, it's time for dinner, you can quickly put the fish in the lotus pond and go to the back kitchen to help."

"Yes, sir." Xiao Yuan picked up Zhi'er, covered it with a basket, hurriedly retreated, and slipped away in a few clicks.

"Hey, Zhi'er is always so ignorant, she has grown so big, she doesn't know anything about piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and she doesn't know anything about weaving women, if she goes on like this, which son dares to marry her." Cheng Cheng fell again, shook his head and sighed.

In fact, Cheng and Xiao had already seen the movements of the two little thief cats, but they were already used to it and were too lazy to scold.

"Old Xiao, how many years have you been in charge of my Cheng Mansion?" Cheng Cheng's words changed sharply.

"Back to the master, thanks to the master's care, the villain has been in charge of the house for more than ten years. When the villain first came to Chengfu, the eldest lady was only five years old. Xiao Yuan put down the chess pieces and was respectful.

In all fairness, in the past ten years, Cheng Cheng has treated Xiao Yuan's father and son very well, and all the big and small matters in the house have been taken care of by Xiao Yuan, and Xiao Yuan has also been called to use his name.

"Ten years, ten years, ten years have passed in the blink of an eye. Old, old! Cheng Chengluozi sighed.

Xiao Yuan didn't know the intention of Cheng Cheng's words, so he didn't dare to answer.

"Zhi'er is also so old, it's time to find a good family for her, so that my old bones can also enjoy a peaceful life. I only have Zhi'er as a daughter under my knees, and I am used to being rude on weekdays, and my temperament is not much better, unlike her mother, I don't worry about marrying her to outsiders. ”

"I see that Zhi'er and Yuan'er's two childhood sweethearts are in love, Yuan'er is sensible and capable, and takes care of Zhi'er in every way, in my opinion, it's better to fulfill the two of them, how about you and I become in-laws?"

The old man laughed. The dog is just a humble person, born dull and unqualified, how can he climb to the eldest lady's daughter. ”

"Hehe, let's talk about it later, let's finish the game of chess in front of us first."

"Yes, sir."

Xiao Yuan's shrewdness is extraordinary, otherwise he would not have been in the position of Cheng Mansion Steward for ten years. How could he not hear the meaning of Cheng Cheng's words.

First, Cheng Cheng is testing whether Xiao Yuan has ulterior motives; Second, it is to warn Xiao Yuan that Xiao Yuan and Zhi'er are too close.

The years and the world have already polished the two into two round mirrors, and the two of them tacitly agreed.

Five

Finally able to "get out", the two little thief cats hurriedly slipped into Zhi'er's boudoir.

The two closed the door and sat down against the door panel to gasp for air.

"Yikes! It really scared the hell out of me, I thought I was seen by my daddy! If my father sees me like this, maybe he will have something to eat tonight...... Woo...... Woo woo...... "Before Zhi'er's words fell, she couldn't go on, Xiao Yuan covered Zhi'er's mouth.

"Shh Xiao Yuan let go of his hand and pointed to the door.

"Zhi'er, who are you talking to inside?" A female voice sounded outside the door, it was Xue Yi's mother, Mrs. Cheng.

"Huh? No, no, I ...... I'm here, I'm talking to Rhubarb! ”

There was a paulownia bird cage hanging on the windowsill, and the golden feather bird in the cage was staring at him with an innocent face.

"Well, then you quickly pack up and get ready, it's time for dinner soon, you know your father's temperament!"

"Okay, mother, Zhi'er pack up and come out immediately."

The figure on the door left, and the two let out a long breath.

"Time waits for no one, go change your clothes! I'll be scolded again if I'm late! Xiao Yuan poked Zhi'er with his elbow.

"Of course I know that, but, but ......" Zhi'er's cheeks flushed, and she squirmed and stopped talking.

"But what? Let's go! Xiao Yuan couldn't help but be anxious.

"But this is my boudoir, Brother Xiao Yuan is here, how does Zhi'er change her clothes, people... But her daughter is ......" Zhi'er's voice lowered, buried her head, and her face flushed even deeper.

“！” , Xiao Yuan was stunned for a moment, his face was red and his head was full of smoke, he was really anxious and forgot everything. I don't know what to do for a while.

"I ...... I'll get out right away! Just about to reach out to open the door, he was dragged by Zhi'er.

"You're stupid! My mother and her maid are waiting outside! You went out of my boudoir like this, and they saw it, and you paid it back?! Zhi'er kept her voice down, for fear of hearing movement outside the door.

"That'..... How is that good? You can't just go to dinner soaking wet, can you?! Xiao Yuan ran out of ideas for a while, and was so anxious that he stomped his feet.

yes, what to do?

......