A little yellow finch with a round belly fluttered its wings and landed on the windowsill between the two, pecked for a while, then tilted its head, "chirped" twice at Bai Heng, and flew away in a simple manner.

Chu Sheng looked at the little yellow ball in a daze. The sky in autumn is high and far away.

When he returned to the side hall, he saw a little eunuch coming out of the house, and told him to go to the dining room to get lunch by himself, and then he walked away slowly. Chao Shi thought that this little eunuch had just placed it on the table for Chu Sheng. A bowl of white jade porridge with a lustrous color, a small plate of pickled radish, and a palm-sized pancake.

Chu Sheng took a bite of the radish strip first, and bit it between his teeth. Then I scooped a spoonful of white jade porridge, and the entrance carried the natural sweetness of rice, which was warm, swallowed, and the warm feeling flowed all the way into the stomach.

After drinking the porridge, he held the spoon and was stunned for a long time.

Finally he got his hands on it, and went to drink the second and third scoops...... He drank faster and faster, and finally picked up the small white porcelain bowl and devoured it.

He hunched over and shivered and choked as he ate, and the grievances and sourness that he had been suffering from were hooked out of the nest by this bowl of warm rice porridge for some reason.

He thought about the day he first met Wei Youling.

At that time, he was only seven or eight years old, and he was begging on the side of the road with a broken bowl. He was thin and small, and his voice was weak, and he could hardly attract the attention of passers-by in a prosperous area, and until noon, he could only ask for a pitiful two or three copper plates. He was dry and hungry, and was about to give up, when he thought about taking these copper plates first and begging the store to change the buns, a pedestrian stopped in front of him.

This person looked like a boy and a girl, his face was charming, he looked at Chu Sheng with a slight red cheek, as if he was drunk: "This little beggar looks good, come and ask me to take a look," he said and took Chu Sheng's hand, "Ten fingers are slender, and he is a good material for playing the piano." Do you want to learn drama? ”

Chu Sheng looked at him ignorantly, a little overwhelmed and wanted to retract his hand.

However, the man didn't let go, but instead pulled Chu Sheng forward: "Come with me, I'm a famous person in the city." Now it's almost ......," he paused suddenly, vaguely, "and there isn't even a disciple under his knees to inherit the mantle." Come with me. ”

The man was most likely drunk, and his mouth was slightly drunk. He pulled Chu Sheng and refused to let go, and said in his mouth: "Come with me, Master will take you to drink wine and eat meat, good man, come with me." Along the way, his footsteps faltered, and he took Chu Sheng into his house crookedly.

This house has a single room without a courtyard and a thatched roof, which is quite shabby, but it is much better than Chu Sheng's corner of the shack. There is a stove by the wall by the window in the room, and there is a long strip standing in the corner away from the stove, carefully wrapped in silk cloth. Chu Sheng guessed.

The man entered the house, pointed to the rice bag and said to Chu Sheng, "Cook some rice." He fell headlong on the bed, and in a blink of an eye he breathed evenly, and seemed to be asleep.

I slept until dusk.

When he finally got up from the bed lazily, he saw Chu Sheng sitting at the table in a daze, and there were two bowls of rice porridge on the table. When he touched it, the porridge was already cold.

"You didn't eat?"

Chu Sheng shook his head.

"Wait for me?"

Chu Sheng nodded hesitantly...... He shook his head again.

"You're a fool."

The man smiled and nodded Chu Sheng's head.

"Let's eat."

That bowl of porridge made Chu Sheng cook a little mushy, and it was heartwarmingly cold.

At noon, Chu Sheng remembered to go to the dining room, but when he went out, he didn't know where to go, so he went around slowly for a while, and finally an old lady passed by and led him away.

Not far from the dining room, he met the little eunuch who had helped him deliver food in the morning.

The little eunuch's face, ears and body were round, with a pair of thick eyebrows, he was not very old, and the whole person looked beaming. When he saw that it was Chu Sheng, he came forward with a smile and said, "Yo, it's you." Your name is Chu Sheng, right? I heard. My name is Tong De. ”

Chu Sheng let out a vague "um", his eyes dodging.

"Are you afraid of life?" Tong De's round face suddenly came over, startling Chu Sheng. "Hey, you're an interesting guy. Others say that I look funny, and when they see me, they are happy, why are you still afraid of me? Tong De looked at his panicked appearance and couldn't help but laugh.

The two walked side by side under the porch, Chu Sheng was awkwardly silent, Tong De didn't care, and muttered to himself: "The food in our palace is good, right?" There are few people here, mainly there are not so many palace maids, and the use is saved, so the master will call us to open meat. He smacked his lips and looked greedy.

"Why aren't there palace maids?" Chu Sheng suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Chu Sheng suddenly interjected, Tong De was a little uncomfortable for a while, "Oh, the master loves to be quiet, and he thinks that those palace maids are chattering all day long, and they are panicking." ”

This empty Yonghe Palace is indeed very quiet. As a prince, the master here seems to have been forgotten by this palace.

He ...... at the moment What are you doing?

Bai Heng's gentle smile flashed in Chu Sheng's mind.

Why the hell did he ......

"Hey, will you practice later?" Tong De suddenly touched Chu Sheng with his shoulder.

"How?"

"I heard that you are very popular with Princess Yuquan, and now even our Royal Highness has specially asked you to come, I am ...... Hehe, very curious. Tong De smirked and smiled.

"Practiced." Chu Sheng said lightly.

He sat on the floor, the only thing of value in the room in front of him.

A sycamore anchoviano.

It was already the depths of winter, and the simple wooden windows could not stop the howling wind and snow at all. Chu Sheng sat on a worn-out futon that he had picked up, wrapped in a scarred hemp jacket, shrunk in front of the brazier, and turned his head to look at Wei Youling.

He raised his hand and plucked the strings gently, and the sound sounded like a mournful sound.

"Don't be unclear for a day. I have to play the piano every day. Wei Youling's hand was on the strings, looking fascinated.

"Your hands are stiff." Chu Sheng said in a hoarse voice.

Wei Youling turned a deaf ear: "On the day of the New Year's Day, I will go to the nobleman's mansion for a banquet." The nobles love to listen to that tune, and I have a new word, and the nobles will like it. ”

Frozen and confused?

Chu Sheng hesitated for a moment, got up and went over to put the hemp wrapped around his body on Wei Youling, and hurriedly shrunk his neck and trotted two steps back in front of the brazier. Wei Youling said that the piper is very delicate and never allows the brazier and the piano to get close.

He reached out and rubbed his feet. After just two steps, the soles of his feet were already bitterly cold. He glanced at Wei Youling sitting on the ground again.

The man was sometimes sober, sometimes like a demon, and would talk nonsense. When he was sober, he taught Chu Sheng to play the qin, and when he was stunned, he often remembered the "nobleman".

Wei Youling suddenly coughed violently for a while, and spat out a large mouthful of dark red blood with a "wow".

Chu Sheng was startled, and was about to go over, but he didn't expect Wei Youling, who was panting, to catch a glimpse of a pool of blood on Qin's body, but suddenly screamed like crazy: "No——! No! Don't ruin my piano! Who is it? Who ruined my piano! ”

Chu Sheng seemed to be pinned by this hysterical scream, and froze in place.

"Is that you? Isn't it you? Wei Youling looked at Chu Sheng, "What did you throw on my piano?" You said! Are you provoking the relationship between the nobles and me! You're jealous of me! You're jealous that nobles like me! ”

He's ...... Crazy?

Chu Sheng trembled and took half a step back.

"The nobleman must have listened to your slander! Blinded by you! Otherwise, it won't kick me out - huh......? He froze, his expression dazed, his eyes glazed for a moment, and after a moment he muttered, "I've ...... Kicked out by nobles...... The noble man said...... Don't want to see me again...... Why? Two lines of tears were drawn on his pale cheeks, and he tilted his head to look at Chu Sheng, his face full of incomprehension and grievances, "Why...... Did I do anything bad......? ”

Chu Sheng saw that he was not too crazy anymore, so he swallowed his saliva, leaned over cautiously, and reached out to gently stroke his back: "It's okay, it's okay." It's fine, I'll just wipe it for you. It's okay. ”

It was easy to coax Wei Youling to bed and fall asleep, Chu Sheng went out to shave a pot of snow, warmed it by the brazier, dipped his sleeve in water, and wiped the piano all night.

The blood can't be wiped off.

Tong De supported his chin with both hands, and posed in an innocent and cute pose beside the desk, looking forward to it excitedly.

Chu Sheng's fingertips brushed over the strings and glanced at the dark red stain lightly. It has penetrated so deeply into the grain of the wood that it is almost invisible.

All this, sooner or later, will be washed away by time.

For Chu Sheng's sake, Bai Heng hadn't left the palace for several days. At this time, he was holding a scroll and leaning under a pear tree, and somehow remembered that on the day when the paper kite was released, Lu Zhaoling blushed under the tree and said "not as good as you", which made him laugh to himself.

I'll see Zhaoling again tomorrow.

I said I was going to catch crickets, but I haven't been there yet. It's autumn now, and I don't know if it's good or not.

Just as he was thinking, a little eunuch hurriedly ran over and kowtowed to him: "Your Highness, there is a musician outside the door, please see it, saying that it is the Yuefu side that Chu Sheng has passed over." ”

"I didn't tell it, just send it away."

"Back to His Royal Highness, Nale Gong is very arrogant, saying that it is a routine inspection of Yuefu, and it is not okay to have one less person, and he will take Chu Sheng away if he says anything."

"Okay or not, when will they decide?" Bai Heng sneered and got up, "I'll take a look." ”

Father-in-law Zhang has been entangled with this musician outside the door for a long time, and he is so annoyed that he can't do it. This person doesn't know where he got the confidence to dare to shout like this in front of the gate of Yonghe Palace. He had just asked Tong Shun to inform His Highness, but he didn't know how His Highness would respond.

Just thinking about it, the voice of the third prince came from behind: "Where is the subordinate so big-faced, I see that the pie is still above my Yonghe Palace." ”

Gonggong Zhang hurriedly bowed: "Your Highness, this person is-" As soon as someone wanted to speak, he was interrupted by the loud voice of the musician.

"I've seen His Royal Highness the Third Prince. Today's Yuefu routine inspection, the lower official was ordered to come to pass on, I don't know why this father-in-law stopped him. ”

"Are you on the orders of Yuefu? openly collided with the father-in-law in charge, and saw that the prince did not kneel, it seems that Yuefu does not take this Yonghe Palace in his eyes at all. Bai Heng said coldly.

Na Legong's face changed, and he hurriedly knelt down and bowed his head: "The lower official was in a hurry, and he rushed into His Highness, and asked His Highness for forgiveness." ”

"When you know your sin, you kneel outside the door for two hours."

"Huh?" Le Gong was stunned.

"Maybe I've been sick for a long time, and now anyone dares to come to my palace to spread wild." Bai Heng didn't look at Nale Gong, and brushed his sleeves away.

"Your Highness! His Royal Highness the Third Prince! Nalegong knelt outside the door and shouted in vain.

"Hey, stop shouting, it's so loud, it's noisy. His Highness is the most annoying and noisy person, and if he shouts again, he will be punished with a cane. Father-in-law Zhang glanced at him, and then poked him with the dust whisk in his hand, "Go, kneel to the side, don't get in the way." ”

This little episode outside the palace gate reached Chu Sheng's ears in a short time.

Tong De seemed to be very idle, as if he didn't need to be on duty at all, after listening to Chu Sheng's piano practice, he dragged him to the palace to wander around, saying that he was taking him to get acquainted with the familiar environment.

There are not many flowers and plants in Yonghe Palace, but there is a small medicine garden, Tong De took Chu Sheng to transfer here, and it happened that Tong Shun was serving astragalus, so he told the two of them about Fang Cai.

Tong De was very angry with the musician who did not know the height of the sky, and at the same time applauded the punishment given to him by His Royal Highness, saying that he was going to fall into the well, and went to the palace gate. Chu Sheng didn't follow, he was calm and indifferent, as if he had heard something that had nothing to do with him.

He naturally knew that His Royal Highness the Third Prince's move was not to make him angry, but just because Nale Gong was rude and committed a crime. Most of them were the young calf beside Guo Lezheng, who dared to play his temper and come to Yonghe Palace, and suffered by himself.

Thinking of this, Chu Sheng couldn't help but hook up a sarcastic sneer at the corner of his mouth.

This reckless musician is just a dog under Guo Le's hand, and the third prince doesn't bother to move his fingers when he deals with him, if he is in a bad mood, he can casually ask for his dog's life with a sentence of "cane death". He had the audacity to come forward for Guo Lezheng, but the master didn't even remind him of this basic rule, I'm afraid he was still waiting to see his jokes.

However, how much better can Chu Sheng's own situation be than him?

Now in this world, who is not a dog by the master's side. If you want to throw it, you can throw it away. Death is death.

Just like Wei Youling.

Chu Sheng didn't know why the third prince placed himself in this Yonghe Palace, but now it seems that he is kind. But it is not known how long this grace from the nobles will last. Don't have any expectations and illusions, this is the first thing he learned from Wei Youling.

"It's time for Shen." Tong Shun looked at the shadows of the trees in the courtyard and said for no reason.

Chu Sheng glanced at him and didn't say anything.

"I'm on duty. Don't hang around with Tong De, if the master passes you on later, you won't even be able to find anyone. Tong Shun seemed to be more reliable than Tong De, so he casually instructed Chu Sheng and left.

Chu Sheng was left alone, looking at this medicine garden with a little curiosity. He was not familiar with medicinal materials, and only vaguely identified astragalus, atractylodes and the like, which he remembered could be used to replenish qi. I heard that the third prince was sick and weak and kept closed all the year round, which seems to be true.

Why did you meet him in Yongan Lane that day? There is also the princess of the same light who has been seen twice.

Chu Sheng didn't know the whole thing, so he simply didn't think about it anymore. At least at this moment, there is peace in Yonghe Palace. The days of tranquility will pass for a while.

He returned to the side hall, took the sycamore phoenix tail piano and held it in his arms, and sat quietly facing the door.

For the rest of the day, no one came to bother him. Chu Sheng sat motionless, watching the shadows of the trees in the courtyard gradually lengthen inch by inch, until the sunset completely disappeared, and the swaying shadows disappeared. The ground gradually cooled from the warm orange afterglow, and finally covered with a layer of silver moon.

It's been a long time since I've had this kind of leisure.

Chu Sheng slowly got up, put the piano away, and hung it back on the wall. Clean your face, take off your shirt, and then slowly walk to the couch, and let out a long sigh of relief.

Outside the window, it is a cold autumn night, and you can smell the cool autumn breeze. Chu Sheng wrapped his body in a warm and soft brocade quilt, and his heart gradually calmed down. Tiredness was like a gentle trickle, silently wrapped in this bed of cotton wool, leading Chu Sheng to a sweet dream.