Zhang Weizhao smiled slightly, stood in front of the box with fine sand, and said, "Playing with sand can calm your nerves." You give it a try. As he spoke, he grabbed a handful of sand with his hand, and then let the sand flow back into the box from his hand, forming a thin stream of sand.

Chen Youcong also wants to give it a try. He never seemed to have ever played with the sand. However, under the education of Confucian classics all the year round, he always pays attention to whether his words and deeds are in line with etiquette norms. He thought that when he came to retreat, he had to sit and recite the scriptures, copy the scriptures, and even memorize them. He has been mentally prepared, whether it is the Tao Te Ching or the Nanhua Sutra, tongue twister or not, long or short, he will copy and recite it with his heart, in order to make his cultivation diligent, and no longer so easy to be eroded by demons. But, now, Zhang Weizhao says he just needs to play with the sand. Does he really want to play?

Chen Youcong stood still and did not move.

Zhang Weizhao continued: "All the sand tools in here," she pointed to the dolls on the shelves on both sides, "You can take it to the sand and play with it, you can play with it however you want." ”

It turned out that those dolls were called sand tools, and Chen Youcong silently remembered them. He clasped his hands together, as if he wished they would restrain each other and not move the sand tools on their own. He still stood still.

"The sand in the box over here, keep it dry." Zhang Weizhao pointed to the box of sand in front of him. "The sand in the box over there can be added to play with water." As he spoke, he pointed to another box on the other side of the table. "There's water in the sink over there, you can use that gourd to get water and pour it into the sand." Then he pointed to a sink under the window against the wall and a round, silly gourd in the sink.

Chen Youcong took two steps forward, but stopped again, and looked back to see that the door of the room was closed.

Zhang Weizhao seemed to see his thoughts: "In this half an hour, no one will come." The attendants were waiting outside the courtyard. In other words, no one will see him playing in the sand during his retreat.

Chen Youcong lowered his head slightly and smiled. I don't know when he seems to have gradually begun to let down his guard. He walked over, sat down next to the desk, and as Zhang Weizhao did just now, he put his hand in the sand, held a large handful, and let the sand trickle out of his fingers.

He found that the soft chair he was sitting on, although it looked simple and unpretentious, made people feel very comfortable. Sitting in this soft chair, your arms are just enough to touch the sand in the box without much difficulty. The height of the case is also appropriate. Everything is just the right way.

The sand tentacles are unusually fine, slightly cool, and it begins to warm up after a little longer grasping. He repeatedly stirred the sand in various ways, and the sand took on various shapes under his hands.

There was a slight hint of joy that rose from the bottom of his heart, along the cracks left by the storm over this time, little by little, and gradually became striking and bright, and finally formed a big smile on his face.

He didn't know where that feeling came from. All he knew was that he hadn't laughed from the bottom of his heart in a long time. Playing with the sand would make him crack his mouth and smile like a fool, which he didn't expect. But the feeling is not bad.

The gloomy emotions are still there, the anger, the sorrow and the panic are still there. However, their overwhelming presence is now open to a rift.

Zhang Weizhao saw the changes in Chen Youcong's expression very clearly, he was very solemn when he worshiped the statue of Laojun, and when he entered the sand room, he was first surprised, then reserved, and then his expression began to soften, as if a mask gradually melted, revealing the innocence and curiosity unique to young people. From this time on, Chen Youcong was no longer the high-ranking imperial prince, but an adolescent boy with a childlike heart.

Chen Youcong fiddled with the sand for a while, then turned his head to look back and forth at the sand tools. "Where did all these sand tools come from?"

"Some of them were made by me, some of them were made by my master, and some of them were made by craftsmen." Zhang Weizhao did not use the self-proclaimed names of slaves and slaves and gossip when he spoke the truth.

Chen Youcong didn't mind, and he didn't use "Bengong" to call himself, "I know your master's name." It's the old Taoist who dares to remove people's legs and sew people's necks, right? ”

"Yes." Zhang Weizhao replied, thought about it for a while, and added: "I will also remove my legs and sew my neck." ”

"You?" Chen Youcong looked Zhang Weizhao up and down: "Well, I think you have the guts." The first time you met, you dared to ask me for a gratuity. He still seemed to think it was funny, and laughed.

Zhang Weizhao also smiled.

The laughter gradually stopped, and the melancholy background began to spread on Chen Youcong's face again. While rubbing the sand with his hand, he asked Zhang Weizhao:

"Why does playing with sand calm the nerves and ward off evil spirits? Is there any way to do this? ”

"There is a way for everything." Zhang Weizhao replied briefly.

"The Tao is drowning in urine, I will also say such a retreat. You're too lazy to answer. Chen Youcong was a studious teenager, and he was not satisfied with Zhang Weizhao's vague answer.

"Your Highness is right." Zhang Weizhao smiled: "Actually, playing with sand can bring us back to the state of childhood." If a person returns to the heart of a child, and is full of primordial spirits, he will not be easily eroded by evil spirits. ”

"I see." Chen Youcong nodded. He stopped plucking the sand and made a contemplative look, "But I don't remember if I ever played with sand before." ”

The time before the age of six was a mess for him. He knew that when he was nearly six years old, his biological mother died, and the Queen Mother took him over to raise him. The elderly eunuchs and court maids who were now with him also began to serve him from that time. The other princes and princesses had grandmothers, old people who had been serving since birth, and they could tell them interesting stories about their childhood, but no one had ever talked to him about what he was like before he was six years old, and he didn't bother to ask.

But that day, Cui's words were like a thunderbolt splitting chaos, and in an instant, he saw many fragments of time wrapped in it. But it was only fragments, and when he was determined to salvage them, those lights and shadows were like the sand he was holding in his hand now, and the harder he grasped them, the more quickly they flowed away.

Thinking of this, the stuffy pain in my chest returned, and my head suddenly started to hurt. He wanted to take a long breath, but he was afraid of losing his temper in front of Zhang Weizhao, so he stood up, walked to the shelves on both sides, and carefully examined the sand tools.

"Which ones did you do?" Chen Youcong asked.

Zhang Weizhao stood up, led Chen Youcong to a shelf, pointed to the sand tools on the shelf and said: "Some of these are carved by me, and some are painted and fired in a ceramic workshop." ”

Zhang Weizhao wanted to have his own studio a long time ago, and began to prepare sand tables and sand tools. When I have nothing to do at night, I follow my master Zhang Rongkun to learn carving with a carving knife.

Zhang Rongkun is very interested in all kinds of organs and instruments, and his skills are very good, although he is not specialized in carving, but it is not a problem to carve Lu Dongbin, He Xiangu or Lan Caihe.

Zhang Weizhao did not hold a carving knife in her previous life, but she has a foundation in painting. In addition, there are no entertainment facilities here, so I carve a little bit every night, and I have accumulated a lot of sand tools.

But this is not enough, after she knew that she was going to take over Chen Youcong's case some time ago, she specially drew a pattern and asked the master to find a craftsman with good craftsmanship to fire another batch.

Chen Youcong picked up a wooden doll, this doll has thick claws, a round belly, a tail dragging behind, huge wings, a long neck like a snake raised high, a face like a dragon but not a dragon, open mouth with fangs, nostrils open, as if spewing out. This dragon was carved by Zhang Weizhao himself.

Chen Youcong didn't know what this thing was, but he was attracted by its weird and vivid appearance, took it in his hand and looked at it repeatedly, and asked, "What is this?" ”

"It's a dragon." Zhang Weizhao replied.

"How is this a dragon? Obviously, this is the dragon. Chen Youcong pointed to the dragon embroidered on his chest.

"It's the dragon of the Atlantic states." Zhang Weizhao explained with a smile. At this time, people had already begun to understand Europe, and Europa, the Kingdom of God, Daqin, and the Atlantic Ocean were all names for Europe.

"This is what their dragon looks like. Wings like bats. ”

"It breathes fire or ice, and it makes a long roar." As he spoke, Zhang Weizhao took out a piece of paper and drew a dragon spewing fire, just like the dragon in the American drama "Game of Thrones", which Zhang Weizhao liked very much in his previous life. With a shake of his hand, he drew a stick figure dragon mother under the dragon.

"Who is this?" Obviously, Chen Youcong saw this kind of Western lady's style for the first time, and asked curiously.

"This is the queen who can resist dragons."

Chen Youcong suddenly turned his head and opened his eyes wide: "Their dragon will really appear in the royal court?" ”

Zhang Weizhao smiled: "It's in the story." ”

Chen Youcong turned his head, the roots of his ears were slightly red, and he seemed to be a little embarrassed about his fuss, so he simply put the dragon back and turned to look at other sand tools.

He was attracted by a white figure again, and held it up in the middle of his palm to look at it, "Who is this?" ”

"This is the Virgin of the Atlantic, and she is holding her baby in her arms. Legend has it that she was an unmarried parthenmite and pregnant, and this child was the Savior from heaven. When this child grows up, he will endure the suffering for the common people in the world and liberate the world. ”

I don't know why, this short story touched Chen Youcong very much. He took the image of the Virgin and looked at it repeatedly, and the Virgin looked at the baby in his arms with a serene and gentle face, her eyes lowered, and she looked at the baby in her arms with pity. And the baby in her arms was round and fat, and her arms were raised like lotus roots, as if she wanted to touch her mother's face with her hands.