As he walked, Yu Wentai suddenly asked, "Ah Ying is almost fifteen, right?" When is my birthday? ”

Ran Ying was stunned for a moment, not knowing what it meant: "On the third day of the fifth month, the fifteenth birthday has passed." ”

"Ah, it's over." Yuwentai calculated, and they happened to be in Guangyang at that time. It's a pity that he asked late, and he secretly regretted it in his heart. How important a fifteenth birthday is to a girl, he has already prepared a high-quality white jade flute for her as a gift for adulthood, and even plans to personally carry out the gift for her.

It's a pity to miss it.

"But has anyone done the ritual for you?"

Ran Ying's eyes suddenly darkened when she looked at him, she shook her head, and her two hands were unconsciously twisted together, very cramped. She looked away and said in a low voice, "I'm the only one left in my house." No one is doing anything for me. ”

A gust of night wind blew, and a few fiery red flowers fell from the pomegranate tree behind him.

"That's a shame." Yu Wentai put his hands behind his back, looked at the slightly swaying moon shadow in the pond, and whispered: "I didn't expect Ah Ying's coming-of-age ceremony to be so deserted, and no one congratulated him." ”

He couldn't help but think of his 20-year-old crown ceremony, and because his father and brother were dead, there was no one to perform the ceremony, so he had to give up hastily. It's a big regret in life.

A wave of self-reproach welled up in his heart. She should have been asked earlier. He should have arranged these things for her early.

Hearing him say that, Ran Ying was also a little sad in her heart. She looked at the pomegranate flowers scattered on the ground, bent down to pick one up, held it between her fingers and looked at it silently for a while, and said, "I'm used to being cold." Anyway, since I was a child, no one in the family cared about me except my brother. Even if they're all still there, the only one who probably remembers my birthday is my brother. ”

"What about your mother?"

"She had a difficult birth when she gave birth to her younger brother and died a long time ago. But she rarely hugged me when she was alive. Everyone revolves around A-Ying, and I have been superfluous since I was a child. ”

The heart is empty. People who have never been taken seriously are burdened with everyone's last expectations. Since childhood, I have not been valued, and no one has ever cared about what I wanted, and I was not satisfied. Gradually, I won't make a wish to the moon like other women.

only thought about marrying Ziqing, but in the end ended up with him, and I don't know who failed whom.

Yuwentai saw that Ran Ying, who was always jumping around on weekdays and could make him angry to the point of liver pain, was so sad today, he couldn't help but reach out and stroke her slightly wet hair, and whispered: "Ah Ying, you are still so young, don't say such frustrating words." ”

Ran Ying lowered her head, her white hand gently stroked the pomegranate flower between her fingers, and said, "My family is the descendant of the Ran family, and I have a brother who is three years older than me, called A-Ying." Since he was a child, he has been cultivated as the guardian of the jade seal. And I have been his shadow since I was born. I will learn what he wants to learn, and I will learn what he wants to know. But he was valued and cared for by everyone, but I had nothing. I used to be puzzled, I was obviously a girl, why should I be like my brother? I'm a girl, but why am I deprived of all the joy of being a girl? Later, Gao Huan arrested my brother, and I realized that this is the meaning of my existence. They asked me to protect the secret of the jade seal on my brother's behalf in case something happened to him. ”

Yu Wentai listened quietly, feeling a slight pain in his heart.

Ran Ying raised her hand and gently wiped it under her eyes, leaned over and sat on the ground, reaching out to pick up the pomegranate flowers on the ground, her voice was still so calm and flat, as if she was telling someone else's story: "And what about myself?" No one ever asked me if I wanted to, no one asked me what I wanted to do, where I wanted to go, what kind of person I wanted to be. No one cares about what I like, what I hate, what I want, what I am afraid of. They only need me to be my brother's shadow, even if he is no longer there, as long as my shadow is still alive, it is equivalent to him still alive. ”

She never told anyone about it, her origins, her upbringing, her family, she never said a word. Therefore, Yuwentai never knew that the heart she had lived in the shadows since she was a child was so sensitive. It turns out that she seems to be strong, and she is very eager and eager for someone to accompany her.

No wonder she has excellent swordsmanship, no wonder she pretends to be a man so naturally and does not show traces, no wonder she can completely annihilate Gao Aocao's army in such a critical situation. It turned out that all this had already been arranged, and she was just a pawn that couldn't help herself.

He stood beside Ran Ying, lowered his head and silently looked at her kneeling on the ground, without saying a word.

Her snow-blue skirt spread out on the ground, and her long hair fell to the ground, like a wordless flower.

Ran Ying glanced up at Yuwentai and saw that he was tall and jade, and looked at her silently. She smiled lightly, turned her gaze to the calm and waveless lake, and continued: "Except for Ah Ying, no one accompanies me to celebrate Qixi Festival, no one celebrates my birthday, and even because I am a girl, I am not qualified to worship my ancestors during the New Year. Everyone's attention was on my brother, and even my mother didn't care much about me, as if I never existed. Only Ah Ying will hold me and comfort me when I cry, only he cares about me. ”

She looked up at the silent moon in the sky and said blankly, "Who expected me?" Why do we do these things? Is that jade seal that no one has ever seen really that important? I also want to be coquettish in my mother's arms, I also want my father to carry me around to play, and I also want to travel with those girls of the same clan during the Shangsi Festival and the Qixi Festival. I can't be A-Ying, and I don't even have the qualifications to be an ordinary person. I often wonder, why did my mother give birth to me? What's the point of making such a huge sacrifice? ”

No wonder she assumed the name Ying, which turned out to be to mourn her brother.

Yu Wentai's heart swelled with love, and the girl's sorrow aroused his desire to protect. He said softly: "Ah Ying, at least Lone has some expectations for you. Lone's previous proposal was serious, and you can consider it. Whatever you want, Lone can do his best to satisfy you. ”

Ran Ying listened and asked, "Is Mrs. Li the prime minister?" ”

Yuwentai was stunned for a moment, and said with a smile: "Isn't it good to be a lonely Mrs. Li?" ”

She pinned the pomegranate flower in her hand to her ear, raised her face and smiled at him: "I'd rather be a wife with a white coat than a concubine with the Son of Heaven." Cheng is still dead to Ah Ying. ”

The refusal was frank and clear.

I, Ran Ying, although my family has died and I am alone, not everyone can come to be cheap. A wife is a wife, three books and six ceremonies, and the Ming media is marrying, this is dignity, and no amount of love and rewards can be compared. What I want is to raise my eyebrows with a man and stay with him for the rest of my life. I will never be a concubine who can be bought and sold at will, I have no status or dignity, my only value is only to please, and I am not even qualified to dine at the same table with my husband - even if that man is the Ninety-Five Supreme!

Her little face was snow-white, her hair was black, her eyes were shining, there was a proud and cold smile at the corner of her mouth, and the pomegranate flowers on her sideburns reflected her young and beautiful face.

Yu Wentai looked at her silently, and his heart fluttered.