In such an atmosphere, Yue Tianyu took the lead in letting go, and then bowed his head slightly to Yue Yunchu and the old man Xu, and said to Yue Yu: "You come with me." Yue Yu nodded, turned around and handed the lamp to Yue Zheng, and followed Yue Tianyu, Yue Yunchu pinched her waist with both hands and sighed helplessly, while the old man who had been watching the excitement smiled lightly, and looked at them with interest while stroking his beard.

The two walked to the side, Yue Tianyu turned around and stood still, and said gently: "Although you and I are not compatriots of the same mother, but we have a very tacit understanding since childhood. ”

The night was already deep, and the afterglow of the torches around was a little farther away, leaving only the sparkling moonlight on the lake. ”

Yue Tianyu was stunned when he heard this, and heard him say again: "Although it is not a mother's compatriots, but the eldest brother and the younger brother, and Ah Zheng and the younger brother, are also close relatives, and there is no difference in the younger brother's heart, the eldest brother knows what the younger brother thinks in his heart, he should not push it, the younger brother is away all the year round, although he is far away from the court, but he also knows one or two, some time ago, I listened to the people chewing the root of the tongue, and learned that the eldest brother's maternal grandfather's family has some conditions, and the eldest brother invited his father to the fief and was rejected by the father for physical reasons, and the younger brother understands that the eldest brother is not in the court, so the younger brother feels that the eldest brother needs to ...... more."

"Ah Cao is pitying me?" Yue Tianyu interrupted him and asked in a flat voice.

Yue Xiao was startled, "No." Suddenly raised his eyes to look at Yue Tianyu, "Big brother, don't misunderstand." Seeing that Yue Tianyu was not as angry as he imagined, but looked at himself with a smile in his eyes, and then understood, "Big brother, how can you scare me." At this moment, Yue Xiao has long lost the resolute and brave coldness on the battlefield, and the tone of anger is more in line with the appearance of the lush young man at this time.

Yue Tianyu couldn't help but cover her lips and smile, "Ah Cao, don't blame, I just miss the appearance of Ah Cong when he was a child, since you were a child, you always called me 'imperial brother' in front of people, and called me 'big brother' later, but since you were twelve years old and went out with General Xiahou to fight in the border area, no one has called me 'big brother' in two years, it's really lonely."

It's just that A, you know that I care about the mountains and rivers as I know your ambition, my father has five sons, but he has always had high hopes for you, and you have lived up to expectations, and your conduct is excellent.

Now I heard that Beizhao frequently disturbed the border, the court dispute has never stopped, my father needs new strength support, among the brothers, you are the only one who is worthy of the responsibility, I expect that after returning to Beijing this time, my father will have other arrangements for you, so your future is more important than mine, at this time, I can get a word from the old man, maybe it can benefit the world in the future. As the words fell, one hand lifted Yuecao's shoulder heavily, and he felt a slight tremor under his palm.

For the first time, Yue Cao felt pressure, this feeling came from the trust of relatives or allies, and the same rivers and mountains they clinged to, his imperial brother was originally the most qualified successor, but he inexplicably gave up the position of the crown prince, as for him and Empress Wei's excuse for physical discomfort, Yue Cao never believed it anyway, but the other party's intention to have no intention of arguing with the prince has always been to implement it personally.

His imperial brother has been low-key since he was a child, treating people modestly, Wen Taowu is not inferior to others, but he has never been involved in politics, and even in order to avoid suspicion, in addition to occasional contacts with the Wei brothers and sisters after being sensible, his grandfather and maternal uncle have almost no private contacts, and his imperial brother has been in a self-exiled posture to get out of this royal cage, which is also an important reason for the change of direction of the court later.

At this moment, being able to say these words to himself shows that even though he is in love with the landscape, he does not forget the society, but those unknown reasons make him have to stay away, facing his warm and sincere eyes, Yue Cao's eyes suddenly pantothenic, nodded at Yue Tianyu, and said solemnly: "Well, the imperial brother's meaning is understood, and the younger brother will never live up to the imperial brother's expectations, and he will firmly protect my Nanyue rivers and mountains." ”

Seeing the two brothers come back together, Yue Tianyu stood next to Yue Zheng, Yue Cao walked towards Yue Yunchu, her expression was the same, and everyone was suddenly relieved, although they knew that nothing big would happen, but they didn't want to make the originally harmonious two people suspicious because of the words of the old man.

The old man's hand stroked his beard slightly, and then laughed, and walked behind the old banyan tree, everyone was inexplicable, only Yue Yunchu knew in his heart, this must be who he was optimistic about, so the corners of his lips hooked slightly, beckoned everyone to follow, and came to a clearing near the lake, by the faint firelight in the distance, it was only possible to see that ten seven-foot-high columns were evenly distributed around the clearing, and in the center of the column was a square platform about three feet high and seven feet wide, and eight small wooden sticks wrapped in oilcloth were distributed around the high platform, and there was a low pillar in the middle of the platform. There seems to be a four-legged square tripod on top of the low pillar.

At this time, the atmosphere was a little quiet and weird, several teenagers opened their eyes excitedly, while Wei Xueyan and Yan Baojing were nervously holding each other's hands.

Yue Yunchu stood in front of them, looked at a figure in the darkness with reverent eyes, slowly walked up to the high platform, a breeze blew, everyone was a little confused, and before they came back to their senses, they heard a gentle tone from the center of the high platform The sound of chanting with a long breath was like a song, like a song but not a song, and only to find that it was the same tune as the Xun sound that came out under the laurel tree before, the same long and deep.

It's just that the words and phrases of this chant are obscure, more like an ancient language, but they fill the hearts of those who hear them with peace and serenity, and even give birth to inexplicable piety.

The chanting time was not long, and before everyone could return to their senses, as the last word ended, the top of the ten pillars on the periphery lit flames one after another, the flame was not large, but it was enough to illuminate the clearing, and then the familiar sound of Xun sounded again, but it came from nowhere.

Everyone looked at it, only to find that at this moment standing in the center of the high platform is the old man, the posture is upright and imposing, wearing the moon-white wide-sleeved dress that I don't know when to change, the waist is red palace silk, the gorgeous hair is half tied and the top is half draped, the hands are folded and the thumbs are hung in front of the forehead, the eyes are closed and the expression is pious, and the occasional breeze gently brings up the wide sleeves, the palace is fluttering, and the silver threads are flying, this scene is like a fairy among the people.

Everyone couldn't help but be stunned, and Yue Zheng muttered to herself, "Sure enough, it really can't be fake, this appearance, the fortune-telling stand-in is really incomparable, and it is indeed clumsy." ”

Everyone: "Indeed. ”

After a while, the old man opened his eyes slightly, his hands were slowly lowered, his arms were staggered, his palms were upward, his body slowly bent parallel to the table, and he suddenly straightened his arms to the sky, and then turned around with a large flick of his sleeves, and then his arms were still staggered, and his palms were down, his head and hands were connected to his body and he knelt down and bowed his head until his arms were attached to the table, and at the same time, the eight wooden strips around the platform were lit up in turn, and the light was upgraded.

Silent for a moment, the old man slowly got up, turned to face the four-legged square tripod, waved the sleeve of his right hand, and then sprinkled a blue halo, slowly drifted into the tripod, with his movements, everyone looked carefully at the center of the platform, with nine dragons hovering to the top of the low pillar, is a large four-legged bronze square tripod, the belly of the tripod is on all sides of a high protruding ridge for the nose bridge of the relief horn-shaped staring, flaring toothy beast face encroachment, with a very detailed cloud pattern lining the ground, the top of the column foot is also decorated with a relief animal face, Such an exquisite and atmospheric bronze ancient artifact has never been seen, and when the cyan blue halo is all submerged into the ding, a mysterious cyan blue flame slowly ignites from the bottom.

At the same time as the flames rose, the old man had turned to face everyone, Yue Yunchu would gently bow to him, and then out of nowhere to touch a cloth bag, take out a few carbon strips and hand them to a few people in charge of the lamp, and told them to write the blessing content on the lamp body, a moment later, the old man walked down from the high platform, holding a wooden strip burning with a blue flame in his hand, and lit the "prayer lantern" in the hands of the boy and girl in turn, and then flicked his sleeves, the wooden strip flew out, and was firmly inserted back into the ding.

As the temperature climbs, the prayer lantern slowly expands until the heat fills the lamp arm, and several people in charge of the lamp raise their arms and slowly send the lamp to a high place, and a few sporadic lights flutter in the wind, sending them all the way to the sky with good expectations, until they are invisible to the naked eye.

When everyone was still immersed in the beautiful blessing ceremony, the wooden strip inserted in the tripod flew to the forest on the other side of the high platform with lightning speed, and after a while, a "prayer lantern" surrounded by colorful halos slowly flew into the sky from the forest.

After putting on the lights, it means that the "Lixia Festival" ceremony is officially over, and at this time, the moon sun standing in front of the old man is still waiting to accept his gift, although he has been trained on the battlefield but after all, he is only a fourteen-year-old boy, standing in front of such a mysterious predecessor as the old man, the moon still can't help but be a little nervous.

Seeing his uneasiness, the old man smiled in his eyes, and did not embarrass him much, and said lightly: "Boy, do you have anything to ask?" Yue Xiao thought about it, shook her head, the old man's eyes were slightly surprised, and asked, "Is it really not?" ”

Yue Cao Zhengse immediately replied: "The seniors asked, don't dare to hide it, the younger generations are young and talented, and there is no intention of arrogance, but the so-called 'avenue is invisible', if you ask each other, it is really not a matter of words to be able to explain, and please forgive the seniors." ”

"The boy is smart, understands the principle of a gentleman, the world is full of everything, and he can understand the way of the underworld, so that he can respond to all changes with the same, and the son can be taught, but he is afraid of being trapped in the situation behind closed doors and not knowing it. After today, it is the summer, the wind and clouds change for no reason, remember the perseverance of people, you can also think. From the constant is auspicious, and the back is fierce. Perseverance, words and deeds. ’”

"The younger generations thank the seniors for their teachings, and today I am grateful to have the proverbs of the seniors." When Yue Cao heard this, she felt that she was suddenly open, and took off the jade pendant she carried with her, and wanted to give it to the old man as a souvenir. "This jade has been worn by the side of the younger generation since childhood, and now it will be given to the seniors as a souvenir, if there is a need for the younger generations in the future, you can rely on this jade to find me in the capital of Nanyue." Hearing this, the old man's eyes rolled, and he returned to his previous casual appearance, took the jade pendant with a smile, and stuffed it into his sleeve unceremoniously.

When everything was over and it was close to Yin, Yue Yunchu took everyone to say goodbye to the old man, and then set off to return to the Yinshan Courtyard to pack up.

Yinshan Annex

Dismissed everyone, Yue Yunchu walked on the corridor back to the house, and near the courtyard, she saw a long silhouette standing with her hands behind her back in front of the bamboo forest, which looked slightly desolate in the still dim fourth watch.