In the spring of the fourth year of Yongchang, news came from the Shen Mansion in Lin'an that Shen Changqing, the eldest brother of Shen Changan, was seriously ill.

When Chang'an learned the news, he was drinking tea with Jiang Wanran in the hall. When the palace man handed a letter to Chang'an, she opened it with full joy, but after only two lines, the teacup in her hand fell to the ground and fell to pieces.

Shen Changqing had tuberculosis.

At first, he only occasionally felt a cold, and his family did not pay much attention to it. I just looked for a few doctors, but they didn't get better. In the autumn, he began to cough up blood, and it didn't take long for him to get out of bed. The family also invited a Taoist priest to do it, but it was useless. Chang An suddenly remembered that when Changqing came to see her that time, he also coughed so badly. If she insisted on inviting the imperial doctor to come now, she might not have come to this point. Now that she thinks about it, she feels extremely remorseful.

After the onset of Changqing, he has been living in the Shen Mansion before Chang'an left the cabinet. At the beginning, Shen's mother was worried about Chang'an and didn't tell her. But when it comes to this, I have to say it.

Since childhood, Shen Changqing has been Chang'an's best playmate. He was an elder brother and a good friend. Shen Changqing is Shen Tunan's eldest son and the only child left by his wife. Before Shen Tunan met Aunt Lan, Changqing was his father's favorite son. He is good at swordsmanship, good at riding horses, and is as bright as a jade tree in front of the wind. It was also because he saw that he looked extremely chic in a military uniform, and Shen Changan moved the idea of learning to ride and shoot.

In my impression, most of Chang'an's childhood was spent with her eldest brother. Changqing taught her to climb trees, taught her archery and horseback riding, and often took her out of private school to the suburbs to have fun. Once when Shen Changan was frolicking with him, he accidentally lost his father's token, which made her so anxious that she almost cried. But Changqing was willing to be punished on her behalf, kneeling in front of his father's house all night, Chang'an was upset, and quietly took food from the kitchen to him, Changqing was about to take it, but was discovered by his father. So that night, Shen Tunan took a stick and hit Shen Changqing's body one by one. Chang'an looked at the injured Shen Changqing, and was so anxious that he burst into tears. But Changqing kept grimacing, thinking of ways to make Chang'an happy.

Later, Aunt Lan entered the house. She soon gave birth to the Shen family's second son, Shen Changping. Since then, Changqing's position in Shen Tunan's heart has been insignificant.

Shen Changan's mother has always been quite cold to Shen Changqing, Shen Tunan likes her son, but she herself only gave birth to a daughter, so she is quite concerned about Changqing's existence.

Shen Changqing lost his mother since he was a child, and he couldn't be happy with his father and mother-in-law, and those days were really lonely and cold. Chang'an often saw his brother sitting alone in the house, silently weeping at his mother's relics. And Xiao Chang'an only stood in the distance, looking at him quietly like this, and he was also sad in his heart.

Sometimes, Chang'an feels that her brother is even more pitiful than her. At least, she still has her mother around.

After his younger brother Shen Changping was born, he has been raised by Shen Tunan's side, and with Aunt Lan being favored, Shen Changping is about to completely replace Changqing's position in his father's heart. What annoyed Chang'an the most was that the position of governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, which should have belonged to Shen Changqing, was deliberately left to his second son Shen Changping. So, Changqing had no choice but to be an official under his father, day after day, year after year, when Shen Changan saw Changqing again before leaving the cabinet, he was already like a man who was about to enter the age of establishment, and he did not have the youthful romance of the year at all.

When Shen Changan returned to Lin'an, Shen Changqing was already terminally ill.

The pavilion was quiet. The bitter smell of herbs was permeated all around, Chang'an had never wanted to see such a scene, and she seemed to be able to feel that the breath of death was approaching her brother little by little. Sister-in-law Gu knelt beside her brother's bed, crying, and her mother and Changle stood outside the door, also wiping their tears. The people in the house still affectionately called Chang'an "eldest lady", and when Gu saw Chang'an coming in, he hurriedly wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, and said in a low voice, "Concubine Xian Niangniang is here." ”

Chang An bowed slightly, walked to the couch, looked at Changqing's tightly closed eyes, and called softly, "Brother......" As soon as she spoke, her tears fell.

Gu Shi cried so much that both eyes were swollen, and when he saw Chang'an like this, he even covered his mouth with a handkerchief, crying silently," Doctor Fang Cai said...... I'm afraid he's not going to be able to do it......"

With that, she sobbed again.

Chang An tried his best to suppress the surging tide in his heart, clenched Changqing's hand, and said, "Brother, it's me who came......"

Changqing seemed to feel her movements, frowned slightly, and opened his eyes with difficulty, this simple action seemed to have exhausted all his strength, he looked at Chang'an, and reluctantly pulled out a smile, "Chang'an, are you here, ......" Before he finished speaking, he had already coughed a few times.

Gu Shi hurriedly stepped forward to wipe the blood that overflowed from his lips. Seeing this, Chang'an's whole heart ached as if it was about to tear.

She suddenly remembered the last time she had fun with Shen Changqing, when she was the concubine of King Lin'an. She and Changqing, Chu Luo, and the three of them raced together, and in the end, Changqing had to decide with Chu Luo to win or lose, and for a while, the three of them laughed and laughed. It was only at that time that Chang'an felt that he had really put aside all his troubles and trivial matters, and was back to the former Shen Changqing.

It's just that Chang'an didn't expect that it was the only time, but it was also the last.

At this moment, Changqing was lying in front of her eyes, already skinny, and she didn't even have the strength to say a word. From his face, he can no longer see the heroic spirit of the horse racing boy back then.

"Chang'an, are you okay......" Changqing coughed, looked back at Chang'an, and said softly.

Chang'an turned his face away and whimpered quietly.

Changqing saw Chang'an shed tears, and his eyes couldn't help but be covered with a layer of fog, he forced his eyes to widen, looked at Chang'an calmly, and said in a deep voice, "I don't want to ...... When you see me again...... It's like this......"

Chang'an listened to his words, the sourness in her heart rippled for a while, and she stretched out her hand to caress Changqing's thin cheeks.

He's so thin. Chang'an's hand froze, and two tears fell in a daze.

It was her brother, her only brother. In this world, apart from Chu Luo, she was the only person who could protect her. Now, he is leaving, and he has completely left Shen Changan. She couldn't accept such a harsh reality. Why did his mother have to tell her everything when he was dying? And why, she can only be by his side for a short moment.

Changqing looked at her and wanted to say something more, but just a slight movement of his seemed to be enduring great pain. Gu Shi watched from the sidelines and couldn't help crying again.

Chang'an leaned over and gently knelt down on his side, her tears fell on his brocade one by one, and she said quietly, "Brother, what do you have to say, you can tell me now......"

Changqing's voice was muffled, he couldn't hear what he said, he called "Chang'an" in a low voice, his eyes became more and more distracted, Chang'an felt his struggle, and hurriedly got up and raised his voice, "Doctor, doctor!" ”

Hearing Chang'an's call, the doctor waiting at the door hurriedly trotted in. He leaned against the side of the bed, picked Changqing's eyelids, touched his snort again, and finally shook his head to Chang'an and said, "Lord Shen...... Already went to ......"

This final announcement shows that her brother Shen Changqing will never return to the world.

The people in the mansion immediately howled and cried, Gu Qiuyi was even more frightened, and fainted, Changxing and Changxuan were close to their mother's back, and they couldn't stop shedding tears.

At this time, Changping had just returned from the private school, and he heard the crying in the house, so he threw down his schoolbag and rushed into the house. When he saw Changqing's pale face covered with a layer of cloth, he shouted and threw himself in front of Changqing's bed.

At this time, Shen Changan was stunned and confused for a moment.

She didn't believe what was happening in front of her. Her brother Shen Changqing left her like this, leaving his family and going like this.

When a few people came in and tried to carry Changqing out, several of Chang'an's younger brothers and sisters screamed and cried, Chang'an just silently shed tears, she looked up at the little guys, and said gloomily, "Let me talk to him a few more words." ”

Those people knew that she was the virtuous concubine of the emperor, and they didn't dare to say much, they looked at each other, and finally one of them stood up and said, "Niangniang, we are outside, you just call us." ”

Chang'an nodded silently, she moved her body slightly closer to Changqing's already cold body, looking at his emaciated but lifeless face, her heart was filled with incomprehensible sadness and heartache.

She brushed it in his ear and whispered, "Brother, haven't you always missed your mother?" I went back to her and said hello to me. And tell her, thank her for keeping you with us. ”

When Shen Changqing was carried out of the pavilion with a white cloth, Chang'an looked at his father who was standing not far away. He stood there with his hands in his hands, watching as several men slowly carried his son out of the room, and for a moment two lines of tears flowed from his sunken eyes. Chang'an walked over and stood beside her father. It turned out that before I knew it, my father was already so old. The flowing years had inexorably carved deep wrinkles into his purple face, the corners of his eyes were full of wrinkles, and his hair was almost white. Chang'an held her father's hand in silence, and was surprised to find that the back of her father's hand was rough like old pine bark, and several thick calluses had been worn out on her palms. But Shen Tunan just shook her hand tightly and gave her a firm and comforting look.

This pair of father and daughter, who are not close, gave each other a little warmth and strength in the face of the departure of their relatives.