It is rumored that Qionghua is a flower that grows in Yangzhou.

And it can only grow in Yangzhou.

Since ancient times, many literati and writers admired the whiteness and flawlessness of the Qionghua and intended to transplant it elsewhere, but this flower has a strange temperament and will die once it leaves Yangzhou, so this flower is often regarded as a symbol of chastity and is sought after by the world.

Although I am not sure whether this rumor is true or not, there is one thing worth paying attention to, this is in April, and now, it is nearly June, and the lotus flowers in the pond have already sprouted buds.

Moreover, I inquired with the residents around Jiangfu, and found that this vision had lasted for several years, and it was certain that it had nothing to do with the king's illness, but another evil cult at work, but according to what they said, although this Qionghua had a long flowering period in the past, it could only be delayed for more than ten days at most, and it had never been like now, and it had not withered for more than a month, so they also felt very strange.

Thinking of the ghost that disappeared in front of the gate of Jiangfu, I thought, in a few days, I may have to go to Jiangfu again.

When my brother came to me, I was sitting in the veranda drinking tea, opposite a few newly planted epiphyllum plants.

The florist who sold the flowers told me that it was very rare to be short-lived, but the epiphany he sold had already budded and could bloom after only buying it and raising it for a few days.

It's a pity that in the past few days, I have come to see it every day, but I only saw those buds, like eggplants beaten in autumn frost, hanging down one by one, as if there were signs of wilting.

Senior brother sat opposite me and said, "Scarlet, has the matter of Fahua Temple been dealt with?" ”

I didn't answer, still looking at those epiphany, the senior brother raised his hand, shook it in front of my eyes, and said angrily: "What are you thinking, didn't you hear me talking to you?" ”

I put the cup down in my hand, looked at him, and replied slowly, "I'm thinking, something about flowers." ”

"Flowers?"

The senior brother was very puzzled, and then looked at the epiphany, and said: "Now is not the season to plant flowers, besides, it is good that these flowers can be alive, but don't expect them to bloom." ”

I picked up the teapot, poured a cup of tea for my brother, held it up and said to him, "Not necessarily. ”

Senior brother stretched out his hand to take it, raised his eyebrows, and I said, "I have a story here, do you want to hear it." ”

The senior brother sat on his knees, put the tea on the low table, straightened his clothes, and put on an expression of 'I would like to hear it'.

I continued: "I heard that there was a warlock in ancient times, and the king at that time admired his talent very much, and ordered him to be invited into the imperial city, and wanted to give him an official position, but unfortunately the warlock was free in his heart, and although he held an official position, he always said that he was ill, and planted peonies with his disciples in his residence all day long. ”

"And then?" The senior brother picked up the tea and took a sip.

"And then ......"

I smiled and replied: "At that time, the imperial city, even in winter, can see the peony blossoms, the world thinks that the warlock cultivation is profound, enough to change the flowering period, but they don't know that the flowering period consumes human life, one day the king decreed, let the warlock enter the palace, for the foreign envoys to demonstrate, the warlock to those peonies, sighed a sentence 'time is also life', then vomited blood and died, until then, people understand, the so-called cold winter wax moon, peony blossoms, but the warlock is using his own life, for those peony flowers to continue life. ”

"Why is that?"

Senior brother frowned: "The length of the flowering period is determined by God, so to arbitrarily change the flowering period, it is inevitable that you don't cherish your life." ”

I curled my lips and said, "It's probably something like homesickness, I said earlier, feelings are a thing that transcends all reasonable existence in the world." ”

After listening to the story, the senior brother couldn't help sighing, and after a while, he asked, "You said this to me, don't you want to hint at me again?" ”

I was stunned, and then, realizing what I had done to him recently, I couldn't help but laugh: "It's just a moment of emotion, how can it be like this." ”

Senior brother glanced at me angrily, and muttered: "Anyway, I can't believe you more and more, you always like to hide from me if you have something, so you always feel that you are very smart, in fact, what I hate the most is that you are like this." ”

I pursed my lips when I heard his complaints and accusations, and I saw him take a wooden plate from his side and present it to me. Above, Princess Hanji's clothes were stacked neatly, and on top of the clothes, there was also a delicate porcelain vase.

The senior brother looked at them, a little gloomy, and a little pity, and said softly: "I brought what you wanted, what to do, you can do it yourself." ”

I paused, and after a moment, I reached out and took it and thanked him again.

But I heard my senior brother smile bitterly: "Between you and my senior brother, why should you be so polite, let alone ...... This is what I should do as a courtier, what are you doing here? ”

He picked up the hem of his clothes, sat down again, and said: "I always felt that you had a strange temperament, and you never had a real closeness to me and Master, even if you didn't pay attention to the king, but now I feel that maybe I don't know you well enough, at least in this matter of Princess Hanji, you are still quite enthusiastic." ”

"I don't know, I thought you had anything to do with Princess Hanji, you were a junior left by her."

Hearing the last sentence, I was stunned, and looked at my senior brother tentatively, but saw that he had a blank expression.

Only then did he smile awkwardly: "How could it be." ”

"It's just that I feel sorry for her."

"Anyway."

The senior brother leaned forward and said sincerely, "I'm glad to see that you care about others. ”

I was silent, but I heard my senior brother say, "Scarlet, you still have a question that you haven't answered me." ”

I looked at him and listened to him, "I asked you yesterday whether you had arranged for the baby in the king's bedchamber?" ”

I was silent for a moment and replied, "Yes." ”

"Why?"

The senior brother was very puzzled: "If you want to rescue Princess Hanji, you can go directly into the tower, why do you need to do so many things?" ”

"Because of you."

"Because of me?"

Hearing this, the senior brother was even more puzzled.

I snorted: "As I said before, the fierce spell in the Tenth Demon Tower is very dangerous, I need someone to watch me, this person can only be you, because here, I only believe in you." ”

"But you also know that these things are really incredible, if I tell you directly, you may not believe it, and you can only tell you in this way that what I have done is not a bad thing."

"But ......"

The senior brother looked displeased: "If you really tell me plainly, I saw the baby and the bones of Princess Hanji in the tower, what doubt do I have?" ”

Although I said it before, I understand that he is still obsessed with me hiding from him.

I stood up and looked at the epiphany not far away, and after a long time, I asked a question: "Senior brother, do you think that the nature of this world is good or evil?" ”

"Does this have anything to do with this?"

My brother sat behind me, even more suspicious.

"Of course it does."

The breeze blew, and the shadows of the trees under the corridor swayed, lifting my coat and the hair on my forehead.

I raised my hand and said lightly: "Otherwise, what do you think I released that baby for, pretending to be a ghost, and frightening the king?" ”

The senior brother thought for a while before replying: "Although there are occasional injustices in this world, I believe that people's state of mind is still towards the light in the end. ”

"Yes......" I muttered with a wry smile, "but for me, it wasn't always the case. ”

My hand drew a line in the air: "Look, this is a line, each divided into two sides, senior brother, you belong to the good side, but I stand in the middle, perhaps, a little bit more good, but this slight gap, but often because of all kinds of people, all kinds of things, up and down, hesitation, people in this world, whether they are good or evil, I thought for a long time, I want to know the answer." ”

The senior brother sighed, very helpless: "I really don't know, what have you been thinking about all day......"

I looked back at him and curled my lips: "You are not me, of course I don't understand what I'm thinking, the so-called putting yourself in the shoes and empathizing is simply impossible, just like you have been in the light, you won't understand why some people in this world have been in the dark, even I can't figure out how good in this world can be, and how evil can be." ”

"I wonder what Princess Hanji is in the king's heart, whether the baby's life is really so cheap, whether he has ever regretted it, even if it is only a momentary thought, even if it is only the slightest remorse, or whether it is only complete fear and hatred for them.

"Even now, when I hear that they may endanger themselves, I will still be the same as I was back then, without a little hesitation and without mercy, pushing my sister and nephew to death again."

“……”

The senior brother didn't speak, and it took a long time before he reacted: "Wait, you said nephew?" ”

He looked shocked: "Do you mean that the baby buried in the incense ashes is the heir of Princess Hanji and King Qin?" ”

I looked at him and said in a cold tone: "What do you say? ”

"That ......"

The senior brother stood up, walked up to me, and asked, "Could it be that the thief who was put to death...... Qin Wang Weiying? ”

I didn't speak, but I acquiesced in this matter, and the senior brother suddenly realized, and it was difficult to accept it for a while, and then he suppressed his expression and said, "Did the master tell you all these things?" ”

I nodded, and he asked again, "What else did Master tell you?" ”

"Master...... Tell me a story. ”

"Story?"

"Hmm."

"What's the story?"

"A story about a princess and a thief."

When the senior brother heard this, he looked at me with a cautious expression, after all, he was too familiar with this story.

I smiled and said, "Senior brother, the story I am telling may be different from what you have heard, in fact, I mentioned to you before, in the story you have heard, change the protagonist and position of the story, and you will be able to understand why the relationship between the king and Princess Hanji has fallen to this point." ”

Seeing that my senior brother didn't speak, I asked again: "Do you know that in the past, Qin was rich, the country was strong, and the morale of the Qin soldiers was even higher, but in the end, why did King Qin lose to the current king?" ”

The senior brother was puzzled and asked, "Why?" ”

I pulled my lips and said lightly: "Because in this world, it was originally stolen by the king from the hands of the king of Qin......"