Near noon, three handsome-looking young men stood side by side, standing outside the gate of the Zhenbei Palace. Standing in the center is naturally Zhang Linyi, the sixth son of the palace, wearing an ink-colored robe, standing with his hair tied up, extremely upright. On the left is Gu Nancheng, who was wearing a dark red wide robe, exuding a shawl. On the right is a woman who looks about fourteen or fifteen years old, with long black hair tied with red ropes, wearing a long purple dress, looking exceptionally quiet, with her head down and glancing at the son who doesn't look very good. Coincidentally, every time the girl looked over, the boy with a beautiful face would also look at her and glare at her very hard. Zhang Linyi in the center naturally knew the actions of the two, so he didn't bother to pay attention to it.

The porter of Zhenbei Wangfu had already gone in to report, and the old prince naturally wouldn't let his son wait outside the door for a long time, but when someone called them in, they were stopped by Zhang Linxuan, saying that he was going to pick up his brother by himself.

Zhang Linxuan was wearing a white robe, swaggered to the door, coughed a few times in a pretentious manner, his face was expressionless, his hands were behind his back, and he looked like he wanted to ask the teacher for his guilt, but the impatient sixth prince walked forward quickly and pressed his head against the doorpost, and scolded with a smile: "Stinky boy, now you dare to play music with your sixth brother? I haven't been beaten since I was a child, have you?!"

The sixth prince didn't wait for the young man to speak, and walked straight into the house, and when Gu Nancheng followed behind him and walked to the young man's side, he smiled softly: "It's really pitiful." The girl didn't know what to do, so she had to follow Zhang Linyi silently.

The young man jumped to his feet and scolded: "Okay, you Zhang Linyi, you wait for me!"

After meeting the prince and princess, several people sat around the table and had lunch together. Gu Nancheng, who had just arrived, was unrestrained, because the atmosphere on the table made this handsome Gu Gongzi like it very much. Different from the complicated etiquette in the homes of ordinary emperors and generals, this Zhenbei Palace, which needs to be closely watched by the entire Daxu Dynasty, lives on weekdays is no different from ordinary people's homes.

A bunch of people talked and laughed, occasionally discussed some things with the prince, and the handsome Gu Nancheng was also very measured when he spoke. The princess and he picked up the dishes, and he also put them in the bowl generously, not forgetting to thank his aunt, and by the way, he praised the old cook who was in charge of the palace's diet.

Gu Nancheng is already pleasing to the eye, and his speech is so pleasant, the princess naturally has a good impression of him, but the old prince has a little playful smile, and he doesn't know what he is thinking. After Gu Nancheng saw it, he stopped the dishes and chopsticks, smiled at the old prince, and said, "What is the prince's pleasure?"

The old prince smiled and shook his head: "I just thought of something and thought it was interesting." ”

Gu Nancheng wanted to ask again, but the old prince shook his head and said a secret.

Gu Nancheng, who was confused, continued to eat, and chatted with the princess and others about some dishes, in short, there was talk and laughter.

Zhang Linxuan admired this charming-looking man a little, and he didn't look like a first-time guest, but like a naughty child who often came to his uncle and aunt's house to eat.

Zhang Linxuan kept looking at the man's appearance, although he was also good-looking, he also knew that he was not as handsome as the man in front of him. The boy seems to think that the four words "red face and troubled water" may have been used to describe men at the earliest? On the other hand, the average-looking girl is a quiet character, and her eating movements are extremely quiet, more elegant than the average lady.

After lunch, Gu Nancheng planned to visit Mr. Han in the bamboo building in the backyard of the palace, so he said goodbye to everyone and followed a subordinate to Mr. Han's bamboo building. As for the Jiu'er girl, she temporarily went to the Mingyue Xuan, the only courtyard in the palace where the two sons lived. In addition to Zhang Linyi, the other person is Zhang Linmo, the fifth prince who also likes Mingyue, but for lunch today, it is rare for this weak-crowned son not to return to the house.

Zhang Linxuan and the two brothers followed the old prince to the study.

In the study, Zhang Linyi briefly said a few words about his schooling, and talked about the situation in Zhongzhou by the way, but seeing that his father didn't care much about the situation in Zhongzhou, he didn't continue.

However, Zhang Linxuan was quite interested in the words of the sixth prince, the Zhongzhou Aoki City. There are ten people on the rouge list, although the color armor is in the south, but half of the list is from Zhongzhou, except for the third person on the list who was written by Xu Rui as "Alluring the country and the city, and the red face is in trouble", the remaining four people are all in Aoki City.

It was rare that Zhang Linyi didn't make fun of his younger brother Huaxin, but talked about the situation of the four people very seriously. After all, that list is the avenue that Xu Rui got from the Ten Directions Pavilion, and it is the way that is recognized by the lord of the first floor of the Ten Directions Pavilion, so most people in the world will be more serious when they talk about it.

The whole world has such a saying from ancient times to the present: The Tao of the world comes out of the ten directions.

The monks of the world, whether it is the orthodox immortal master of the three sects and hundreds of schools, or the mountain and wild cultivators, all regard ascending the Ten Directions Pavilion and asking the Tao as an unsurpassed glory.

However, Xu Rui is not a genius monk, and he has not even broken the barrier of cultivation, but he met a Taoist priest when he traveled to Zhongzhou, and he got the qualification to enter the building after talking about some things, and he was given a fourteen-character comment by a scholar in the building who often tied an ancient book around his waist. Therefore, no matter what people's own cultivation is, the world should give some respect to this so-called "avenue".

"When I was studying with my husband, I had the honor to see that lady in Aoki City, and she looked no worse than Miss Song, and the top five were probably a matter of age; I had never seen the proprietress in the tavern in Aoki City; Miss Yuexi of Changping Palace heard that she was going to marry the lord of Zhongzhou; as for the singing girl Liu, Pingshui met and didn't say much. ”

Zhang Linxuan suddenly frowned: "The Lord of Zhongzhou?"

"Ten years ago, a scholar named Chen Hao came to the Jin Kingdom, and the lord of the Jin Kingdom worshiped him as a national teacher of a country. This person vigorously promoted the legal system and advocated reform of the law, and the national strength of the Jin State became stronger and stronger, and it continued to annex neighboring countries, and nearly two-thirds of the twenty-four states were regarded as the territory of the Jin State. In addition, the sages of the Confucian Confucian Temple seemed to have acquiesced and did not take measures to stop the expansion of the Jin state, so some small countries that had not yet perished surrendered directly and worshiped the lord of the Jin state as the lord of Zhongzhou. ”

The old prince thought for a while, and suddenly asked Zhang Linyi: "Sixth son, can you tell your father about the specific content of Chen Hao's reform method." ”

Zhang Linyi told the old prince what he knew.

Chen Hao's reform focused on military merit, land and official selection.

The old prince suddenly smiled and said: "It is rare in this world that there are real people who are prepared for danger in times of peace. But it is somewhat unrealistic to integrate Zhongzhou in less than fifty years. ”

Looking at the puzzled looks of his sons, the old prince explained with a smile: "The real significance of Chen Hao's change of law is to completely change the rule of man into the rule of law, and completely erase the sentence in the hearts of the world's hearts, 'There is nothing more than human affection' in the hearts of the world." What's more, if Chen Hao dares to think about it, then Zhongzhou will be able to completely become Zhongzhou of the world, rather than the world of one family and one surname. The reason why Confucianism stood by and allowed the Jin State to expand at will may not be without the meaning of watching the chaos and seeking survival. ”

The old prince stood up suddenly, took out a black wooden box from the bookshelf, handed it to the two brothers, and then said with a serious expression: "Sixth son, Xuan'er, you two brothers went to the east of the city to find an old house, there is a peach tree and a plum tree planted on the left and right outside the door of the house, the owner of the house is an elderly man, you help your father hand over this box to him." Don't say anything, don't do anything, turn around and go home as soon as the box arrives. ”

The two brothers nodded and exited the study together. The old prince stood alone in front of the many bookshelves, with a slight confusion in his eyes, and said to himself: "How difficult it is to survive in chaos, if you only seek variables, is there still a glimmer of life?" Zhongzhou Chen Hao, is this the reader you promised me Mr. Su?"

The two brothers who left their father's study, because of Zhang Linyi's impromptu intention, went back to their own yard before going out. It turned out that Zhang Linyi was worried that the Jiu'er girl, who had just arrived, was unfamiliar with the place, and was somewhat too boring to take in the house, so he thought that Zhang Linxuan would shout to beg Huang to take the little girl out to go out for a walk, and it would be more convenient for women to talk to each other.

In the willow preface of Fanghuai, the big girl Qiu Huang, who was taking care of the flowers and plants in red, listened to Zhang Linxuan's explanation, so she responded, planning to take the little girl to the street for a stroll, and help buy some new clothes by the way.

Zhang Linxuan nodded, this is the best, and he was about to go out, but found Qiu Huang lying on the table in the room, his chin resting on his hands, and blinking his eyes.

Zhang Linxuan was a little helpless, scratched his head, and said with an embarrassed expression: "You ...... the money first this time Will you help cushion first?" Seeing that Qiu Huang didn't speak, Zhang Linxuan, who was familiar with the thoughts of the woman in front of him, shook his head and smiled, and said, "Okay, when it's okay tomorrow, I'll take you shopping, and then we can buy whatever we want, okay?"

Qiu Huang got up and walked to the young man's side, grabbed one of the young man's arms, raised his head slightly, and smiled softly: "A gentleman's word." ”

Zhang Linxuan replied: "The horse is difficult to chase. ”

After the young man left his courtyard, he went directly to the gate of the palace and went to the east of the city with his brother to deliver things. Qiu Huang went to Mingyue Xuan, and after pushing the door into the house, he was about to call Jiu'er girl to go shopping together, when Qiu Huang smelled a fox smell. Qiu Huang's expression was solemn, his eyes were cold, he raised his head slightly, looked around, and a touch of incomparably pure gold gradually appeared in those eyes that were like peach.

The door slammed shut.

The old man Dong, who was washing vegetables in the kitchen, suddenly stopped, wiped his hands, and couldn't help but look to the southeast, and a thin old man who was sleeping soundly in the stable sat up very reluctantly, and looked at the same place as the one surnamed Dong.

In the bamboo building in the backyard, Gu Nancheng, who is in black, is indecisive, and Mr. Han, who is in white, is drinking coarse tea, and it is like two dragons fighting each other on the chessboard, and the fight is inseparable.

"Mr. Han is so domineering when he plays chess!" Gu Nancheng, who has always disliked bundling his hair, seemed to be a little sarcastic.

Mr. Han didn't care, and said with a smile: "It's just a matter of following the trend, it's Baizi who wants to fall like this, not because I did it on purpose." ”

"The chess pieces are in your hands, how can it not be your meaning, just chess pieces, how can you decide your own direction?!"

Mr. Han twisted the chess pieces and dropped them gently, as if he did it at will, but it was a decisive fairy hand, drank all the coarse tea, and said with a smile: "Thinking about it, it is always very difficult to make mistakes, but it does not mean that there must be no mistakes, the chess pieces have their own vitality, this is where you and I can't think about it." ”

Gu Nancheng sighed: "I lost." ”

"It's okay to cast silently, why bother about winning or losing for a while. ”

"A momentary victory or defeat is often forever. ”

"What does the grievances and grievances of the older generation have to do with you children who like to flip books, Mr. Xun still doesn't dare to speak, what are you children with your own culture foolish!"

But the facts are there. ”

"I don't know why I know it, so I'm blind. If you read too little and think too much, you must not measure the heavens, the earth and the world with only three points of knowledge. The old master still didn't dare to say the word absolute, how could a Confucian scholar of my generation try to decide the direction of the entire world with a family of knowledge? I'm afraid that even the Shifang Pavilion in the center of heaven and earth would not dare to be so arbitrary. ”

"Why can that Taoist family be the only one outside the canopy?! and everyone can do a getaway?!"

Mr. Han was rarely angry, slapped the case, and said sharply: "Gu Nancheng, my Confucian knowledge is the way to benefit the world. My Confucian disciples should find the way to enter the world, the strategy of leveling the world, and observe etiquette and integrity. Any line of knowledge should be implemented in the earth, for the benefit of the people, and must not have selfish thoughts. The dispute between Confucianism and learning should be a dispute between gentlemen, aiming to complement each other, meaning to benefit the world, and not to be jealous. ”

Gu Nancheng held the Confucian disciple ceremony, and said: "Students are taught!"

The two of them suddenly felt a sense in their hearts and looked together. Mr. Han took the lead in retracting his gaze and sat down again: "The grievances and grievances on the old yellow calendar have made future generations entangled. ”

"The student dared to ask, ...... the identities of the two old men" Gu Nancheng suddenly stopped talking, smiled apologetically, and said: "The student is just curious, and he has no intention of delving into it, and I hope that Mr. Han and the two seniors will forgive me." ”

"No matter how the world looks up to the Zhenbei Palace, it still looks down after all. Mr. Han picked up a chess piece, gently rested it in the chessboard, and muttered: "I hope Mr. Su will forgive me, but I am no longer able to hold the chess to end the game." ”

In the middle of the game, the chess player brushes his sleeves and leaves, and the descendants sit down and hold the son.

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There is a quiet alley in the east of the city, called Laoting.

Compared with the south and north of the city, the east of the city is less noisy. The houses were still the same as they were in the old days, without the slightest novelty, and there was a sense of twilight everywhere, as if the elderly people of the entire Shuofang City lived here.

The twilight is gloomy, and it is full of the feeling of the waning sun.

Zhang Linxuan searched for a long time before he found the old mansion in the mouth of the old prince. The tiles are broken, the red walls are dilapidated, and the weeds are barren. But there was no plum tree outside the door, only a half-dead peach tree.

Half of the peach is full of branches, and half of the dead leaves are bleak.

It's weird, too.

Zhang Linxuan looked at the peach branches, and suddenly frowned. The originally splendid peach blossoms were all destroyed in an instant, and the other half of the dead branches gradually grew young buds, and in the blink of an eye, they were full of greenery, and there were buds that were about to bloom one after another between the peach leaves.

Booms and busts alternate, only in a moment.

Zhang Linxuan turned his head to look at his brother, only to see Zhang Linyi's eyes staring closely at the dilapidated door of the mansion at the moment. Zhang Linxuan just wanted to speak, but was interrupted by Zhang Linyi raising his hand, "This door is weird." ”

Zhang Linxuan was puzzled: "What can a dilapidated wooden door be made of?"

"Locust wood has the ability to gather yin, and there are many dead people in the north since ancient times, so few people in the north will use locust wood as a door. Zhang Linyi said in a deep voice.

Suddenly, someone pushed open the wooden door from the inside, and an old man with a slender figure and a light blue cloth robe stood with his hands behind his back, looked at the two young people condescendingly, and said lightly: "This door is not open for people, only for ghosts." ”

The two brothers stepped forward together and greeted the old man.

But whenever Zhang Linxuan was about to give a salute, he was always held up by a gust of wind, and the young man was a little impatient, so he simply stood up straight and looked directly at this strange mansion.

"Since your heart does not want to worship, then you do not worship. Zhang Linxuan just looked at the old man, who only glanced at the young man, then withdrew his gaze and said lightly: "But that's it." The old man turned his head to look at Zhang Linyi, with a smile on his face: "It's quite a gentleman's style." ”

Zhang Linyi said respectfully: "The junior Zhang Linyi has seen the seniors. ”

The old man nodded and smiled, "Give me the things, and you can leave on your own." ”

Zhang Linyi walked up the stone steps and handed over the black wooden box with both hands. The old man took the box with his right hand, and lightly tapped his left index finger on the top of the box, and a wail suddenly sounded in the box, followed by the sound of gear biting.

Zhang Linyi remembered his father's entrustment, but he didn't dare to say much, walked down the stone steps, and prepared to leave with Zhang Linxuan. But who expected the young man to stand in place, tilting his head, and looking indifferently at the old man holding the wooden box on the stone steps.

The old man frowned and said, "Why don't you leave quickly?!"

Zhang Linxuan said lightly: "But that's it." ”

The old man was a little surprised and said, "Huh?!"

"A flower is a world, a leaf is the same. Three thousand worlds, the rise and fall of impermanence, in the blink of an eye, you can see the flowers falling and blooming, and you can also see the whole thing. Zhang Linxuan said with a smile: "The door is not opened, so there is no door, so there is no door for blessing and misfortune, but people call themselves." ”

"How can you tell?" asked the old man with a smile.

"The younger generation studied under Mr. Qi of Linlang Academy, and they have heard of the three teachings and hundreds of schools. The boy replied.

The old man's eyes closed and opened, shook his head, and said regretfully: "Wen uses Confucianism to mess with the law, and chivalry uses martial arts to violate the ban, which is really good." It's just that being born in this world is not beautiful after all. If this scholar surnamed Qi was born later, or if he was born earlier, I am afraid that he might really be able to make him shoulder the landscape. ”

The old man walked down the stone steps, folded a piece of peach blossom from the peach tree, then gently twisted it in his hand, and asked with a smile: "Originally, there was nothing, but the flowers made it." That's already the case, so do you know how to crack it?"

"Mr. Qi once said, 'The Buddha is in nature, don't seek outside the body'. ”

"Don't give in, don't ask for it, it's all self-discipline. The old man laughed heartily, "Self-imprisonment for many years, rare and fast." ”

There was a sudden sound of broken mirrors around Zhang Linxuan, and the brother who was standing still beside him suddenly scattered into countless glass fragments.

In front of him, the old house, the old man, the peach tree, and the street were all shattered and scattered.

Zhang Linxuan stood in place, his eyes slowly closed, and slowly opened his eyes after a while.

The old mansion was still visible, but the half-flourishing peach tree was gone, replaced by a lush plum tree with petals as white as frost and snow.

The old man was standing outside the door at the moment, holding the wooden box given by the old prince. After the old man took the box, he nodded at Zhang Linyi, signaling that he could leave on his own.

Zhang Linyi said goodbye, turned around and walked down the stone steps to prepare to return home with Zhang Linxuan. Before the young man left, his heart was full of doubts, and he couldn't help but look back, only to see the thin old man, standing outside the door, watching the two leave.

When Zhang Linxuan was about to stop and turn around and go back to ask what was going on, the old man suddenly made a joke.

After the old man got up, Zhang Linxuan was shocked.

Suddenly, the plum tree fell to the ground and perished.

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Inside the old mansion.

There is a crumbling stone pavilion in the courtyard of the barren grass, the old man sits alone in the pavilion with a pot of wine, and a jade chessboard is placed in front of him.

Outside the pavilion stood a phantus figure with his hands behind his back and his back to the old man.

The old man was the first to ask, "After so many years, has there been any improvement?"

The phantom stood still, silent.

"Self-grasping is the root of suffering. ”

"There is no thought in your heart, and you live to do nothing. The phantom said in a deep voice.

The old man shook his head and smiled: "Chickens and ducks talk about it, there is no need to argue." ”

The phantom apparently lost interest in speaking.

"Now that I'm free, what are I going to do in the future?" the old man asked.

"Wait for death. ”

"If you have the opportunity, go south, go to the Shifang Pavilion to ask for truth, or go to the outside world to be at ease. In short, don't think about dying, those who have died once, let's live well. ”

"What about you?"

"Guarding the gate. When you get old, you don't move your nest and take care of your home. Even if this life is not in vain. ”

The phantom suddenly lowered its head.

"There are always a few people in this world, who work hard for the same goal, and they know each other tacitly. Although they are separated, they can be connected before the end, creating an unprecedented trend. In this life, I have no regrets. ”

The old man took a sip of wine, then raised his arm high, pointed the wine jug to the sky, and laughed heartily: "In such a world, wouldn't it make people nostalgic." ”