Chapter 121

After Yuan Changqing and Shanniang retreated, Zhou Chong peeked at the Queen Mother, and saw that she was chatting with the old woman very engagedly, so he turned around on tiptoe and secretly ran over and patted Yuan Changqing on the shoulder. He had just said "I'm sorry" to Shanniang with an apologetic face, when he suddenly heard the Queen Mother's voice behind him.

"What about the little five? Why did you run away again?! ”

Zhou Chongyi shrank his neck, grimaced at Yuan Changqing, and hurriedly turned around and ran back. It wasn't until he left Yuan Changqing and Shanniang that he replied loudly: "I'm here." ”

The Queen Mother looked at him, still talking to the peasant woman, and at the same time glanced at Shanniang's back without a trace.

Shanniang didn't know anything about this look, she was following Yuan Changqing to prepare to put a lotus lantern by the release pool. When she saw him clasping his palms together and closing his eyes in prayer, she followed his example and lowered her eyes. When she raised her head, she saw Yuan Changqing bowing his head and smiling at her. He took her hand, and together they put the lamp into the release pool.

Seeing that the lamp and other lotus lanterns merge into a sea of lights, Yuan Changqing said in a low voice: "I don't remember their appearance at all, including my mother. ”

Shanniang's heart softened, and she quietly approached him, and the hand that had been held by him subconsciously shook him back.

Feeling the grip on his fingers, Yuan Changqing looked down at her, and then smiled gently. He already knew that Thirteen was a soft-hearted person, and he was always so duplicitous.

"The first time I saw you, I knew that you would never let anyone see your soft-hearted side." He said.

"What?" Shanniang didn't understand what he meant. After a pause, it was the "first time" he mentioned that he thought of him peeping on her, and suddenly pulled his hand, squinted at him and said, "Did you hide from the upstairs of the wood shop and peek at me at that time?" ”

Yuan Changqing would not admit it. He pulled her away from the pool, so that there was room for the people behind him to put on the lights, and said with a calm smile: "How can I be that kind of villain?" It's just that you don't know I'm upstairs. ”

"Sophistry!" Shanniang pursed her lips disdainfully, "Don't look at the gentleman's indecency." I didn't know you were upstairs, so you shouldn't be peeping on me! ”

"But what did I spy on you?" Yuan Changqing suddenly leaned over at her, tilted his head and smiled evilly, "What did you do at that time?" So afraid I'll see? ”

At that time, she was bullying her family with a few bear children who were less than ten years old...... Shanniang looked at him and opened her mouth, and suddenly became speechless. She couldn't admit it to him.

Yuan Changqing smiled proudly, protected her from the pilgrims coming and going, and said in a low voice: "You don't have to worry about the Queen Mother." ”

Shanniang was stunned. She was uneasy in her heart, but she deliberately concealed it, but she didn't want him to see it.

Yuan Changqing said again: "The Queen Mother is the queen mother, her temper has always been upright, you ......" He paused, as if he was afraid of scaring Shanniang, and temporarily changed the words to his mouth, and said: "The Queen Mother's mother is the world, the respect of all people, she will not speak tactfully, and sometimes it sounds very scary." But you don't have to be afraid, although the Queen Mother has a straight temperament, she is not the kind of person who does not distinguish between right and wrong, and what she can't look down on is the kind of person who is afraid of her head, the more timid you are in front of her, the more she wants to bully you, the more courageous you are, the more you dare to tell the truth in front of her, she can value you instead. ”

Shanniang looked up at Yuan Changqing, suddenly smiled bitterly, and said, "It turned out that it wasn't my illusion." I just felt that the Queen Mother looked at me wrongly. ”

Yuan Changqing was stunned. He only cared about comforting her and reassuring her, but he did not want to confirm her uneasiness on the other hand. He thought about it, shook her hand vigorously, and said, "The Queen Mother is just angry with you because of the previous rumors." Moreover, the Queen Mother doesn't know you, and there are misunderstandings about you. Don't worry, with what I know about her, as long as you show your true side, I assure you that she won't blame you. ”

"You mean that if she speaks ugly, I can turn my face against her?!" Shanniang sneered at him, pouted and said, "You said it easily! If I collide with that person, I don't need her old man to speak, see? She quietly pointed to the forbidden soldiers in the crowd, "Only they can send me to my parents-in-law." ”

Yuan Changqing frowned, pinched her fingers dissatisfiedly, and said, "You believe me." ”

Shanniang sighed, "It's not that I don't believe you, it's that I don't believe in the Queen Mother." "It is said that there must be a bear parent behind every bear child, and it is obvious that the five princes are used to being such people, and there is only the old queen mother.

Yuan Changqing was silent for a while, and suddenly gritted his teeth and said, "I have to teach the fifth child a lesson!" ”

"I have to teach him a lesson!" Shanniang immediately agreed. That bear child, hurt her so badly, she can't pass her own level without teaching him a lesson!

After a pause, she suddenly pulled Yuan Changqing's hand and asked her: "The Queen Mother calls you 'Da Lang', are you very familiar with the Queen Mother?" ”

Yuan Changqing was silent for a moment before he said, "The Queen Mother is kind to me." ”

But it turned out that the fourth master of Yuan and the old lady Yuan did something to get the title, and the queen mother did not agree, but she couldn't stand the fact that the saint had already made an order, and the queen mother could not refuse, so she could only pay attention to the young Yuan Changqing in private. Although others said that Mrs. Yuan and Fourth Master Yuan regarded Yuan Changqing as their own, the old lady did not trust Yuan Meng's family because she didn't like Meng Guifei's hypocrisy. Therefore, when the five princes reached the age when they should go to school, the queen mother specially ordered someone to bring Yuan Changqing over and asked him to be a companion to the five princes. That year, Zhou Chong was five years old and Yuan Changqing was six years old.

It's just that he only studied with Zhou Chong for half a year, and suddenly had a serious illness - it was at that time that his nurse also contracted the disease and died. Although he was saved from his life, he was unable to enter the palace to study because of his frailty. After that, Zhongsu Bo Fang Zhi took him outside the customs to recuperate for a few years, and when he returned to the capital again, he was already ten years old, and the fifth prince already had other companions under his name. Then, he found an opportunity to worship under Lin Zhonghai's door.

For the first time in two lives, Shanniang knew that he almost died of illness when he was a child. She bowed her head in silence. In her previous life, she always felt that she knew him very well, but in fact, now it seems that what she understands is only the part she intends to understand, which cannot be regarded as really understanding him - or, as described in the book, what she admired at that time was not the real Yuan Changqing, but the Yuan Changqing she imagined...... Otherwise, she wouldn't even be able to inquire about this matter.

At this time, Yuan Changqing had already taken her to the front of the Daxiong Treasure Hall. Stepping on the steps with one foot, Shanniang was suddenly stunned, and her feet slammed, and she almost tripped on the steps.

Yuan Changqing hugged her in time, "Be careful." ”

Shan Niang glanced up at him, and then quickly lowered her eyes—at that moment, she suddenly felt a little weak. If what she liked in the previous life was just an illusory shadow, then what was this Yuan Changqing in front of her?! Why do you still call her to have the feeling of her previous life?!

After finishing the incense, Yuan Changqing leaned into her ear and smiled: "Take you to a good place." ”

Shanniang hurriedly said: "Didn't the Queen Mother say ......?"

"You want to go?" Yuan Changqing looked at her.

Shanniang shook her head honestly.

Yuan Changqing smiled slightly, and then pulled her to the outside of the temple.

"At midnight, the bell on the temple tower will be struck one hundred and eight times." Yuan Changqing said, "However, if you are not a royal person, or a guest specially invited by the abbot of the temple, ordinary people are not allowed to go up to the tower to watch the bell ringing ceremony." But the people have the wisdom of the people. ”

As they spoke, they had already circled the temple wall and turned up the fork in the road to the opposite side of the gentle slope.

On the gentle slope, there were people standing everywhere. Yuan Changqing took Shanniang to the hillside, found a place with few people to stand, hugged her to his chest, pointed to the brightly lit Tianning Temple in the distance and said: "Look, standing here, you can see the bell tower and the release pond clearly." And there are mountain walls on the left and right, and when the bell comes here, it reverberates all around, and it sounds even more magnificent than the bell heard in the temple. ”

I don't know what time it is at this time, but the atmosphere of the New Year has gradually become stronger. At the foot of the mountain and on the slopes of the mountain, the mischievous children had already dismantled the small cannons from the hanging whips and came down to have fun. As a result, from time to time, there would be one or two firecrackers from far and near.

And it's not the bell, but the sound of firecrackers, through the echo, seems to be more ethereal than usual.

On the hillside, under a big tree, Yuan Changqing stood behind Shanniang to block the wind for her, and quietly hugged her waist by the night, hugging her to his chest. He wanted to rest his chin on the top of Shanniang's head, but he was poked by the jewelry on her head, and then he grunted dissatisfiedly and gave up the idea.

Shanniang chuckled. She used to have a sharp temperament, and the reason why she could be entangled was that she hadn't figured it out yet. Now that she found that she still had a good impression of him, she was only stunned for a moment, and accepted this fact smoothly - he in this life is not him in the previous life; She is not the same as in the previous life, this time, maybe they can have a good result.

Go with the flow. Thinking about it, she reached out from under the cloak, touched the back of Yuan Changqing's hand, looked up at him and asked with a smile, "Why are your hands still hot?" My hands are shrunk in my cloak, and I still hold my hand stove, but it's not as hot as yours. ”

For Yuan Changqing, he was used to her hot and cold attitude, but he never realized the change in her heart at the moment, so he only covered her hand with his backhand and said, "My master said that he will enter Beijing after the first lunar month, so ask him to show you when the time comes." If you don't sleep well and your hands and feet are cold, it should be a sign of weakness. ”

As he said this, he couldn't help but think of the farmer's family he had just met under the monument. Thinking of the daughter-in-law's bulging abdomen, thinking that Shanniang would also give birth to children for him in the future, his heart was warm, so he hugged her tighter, and the other hand subconsciously pressed on her abdomen.

It's a pity that she is still too young, and she is only sixteen this year. His master said that a woman's family should be born at least after the age of seventeen or eighteen so that it would not hurt anyone.

How could Shanniang know what he was thinking at the moment, if she did, she might have been so frightened that she would have pushed him down the hill. She was thinking about the old lady's words at this moment.

The Queen Mother said, "Come back and talk again." That is, they may be allowed to go late, but they are not allowed not to go. She is more willing to listen to the bell here, and she is afraid that she will not be able to escape this audience......

At this time, someone suddenly shouted, "It's almost zero." ”

Shanniang was about to look up and say to Yuan Changqing if she wanted to go to the Queen Mother to have a look, when she suddenly saw several soldiers in forbidden army clothes coming over to them.

Yuan Changqing also saw it, and immediately frowned.

So, while no one around was noticing them, Shanniang reached out and touched his face, and whispered, "Next year." Next year you'll bring me here again to listen to the bells. As he spoke, he pulled him towards the forbidden soldiers.

*·*·*

When she followed the forbidden soldiers back to the Forest of Merit, Shanniang suddenly saw that her nurse and maids were sitting on the railing of the corridor, and Yuan Changqing's little maids, Uncle Hua and Uncle Gui were clustered around them, as if they were persuading them.

Suddenly, the cool breeze was the sharpest, and when he saw them first, he pointed to them and said something to Mother Li and the others.

Mother Li hurriedly stood up and greeted Shanniang and them.

Shanniang couldn't help but feel guilty in her heart. She had forgotten them all......

She only had time to tell Mother Li that they were waiting for them in the same place, and the forbidden army politely and forcefully said "please" to her and Yuan Changqing again.

Seeing that it was the forbidden army accompanying them, Mother Li and the others didn't know what was going on, but Uncle Hua was an old man, and he hurriedly pulled people aside.

Shan Niang couldn't imagine that the Queen Mother actually asked her and Yuan Changqing to go up to the bell tower to accompany her to watch the clock ring at zero o'clock.

The Queen Mother believed in Buddhism, kneeling there and listening to the abbot master leading a team of monks to do Dharma work, and Shanniang and Yuan Changqing were busy at the back of the team and knelt down. At the end of the ceremony, just as the hourglass on the bell tower was at the moment, four monks with big shoulders and round waists came over and hugged the huge wooden bell. Behind the bell was a thick rope, and several thin colored ropes were knotted on the thick rope. The abbot personally held a colored rope and handed it to the queen mother, and a monk came to distribute the other colored ropes to the people on the bell tower one by one, even Shanniang and Yuan Changqing were assigned to one, and then only listened to the abbot there to announce a Buddha horn, a wave of dust, the four monks pushed the giant tree, and rang the bell......

One hundred and eight prayer bells rang, and Shanniang only felt a buzzing in her ears, and her mind went blank. When Yuan Changqing helped down the bell tower, her eyes had not yet been clear, and the old queen mother waved at her and shouted, "Come here." ”

Shanniang didn't feel Yuan Changqing clenching her hand, she only pushed him away and walked over obediently. In the past, when she followed behind the old lady of her family, she always liked to pretend to be a virtuous person, holding the old lady's arm, perhaps it was a matter of habit, looking at the white-haired old lady in front of her, Shanniang, whose head was not very clear, suddenly reached out to support the arm of the queen mother.

The Queen Mother looked at her in surprise.

This glance suddenly cleared Shanniang's mind, and she hurriedly withdrew her hand.

The old queen snorted coldly and said, "I'm not old enough to ask someone to help me!" With that, he took Shanniang into a meditation room.

Yuan Changqing originally wanted to follow, but he didn't want to, but he asked the forbidden army to block the way.

The Zen room was warm as spring. Although Shanniang was used to the winter in the north in her previous life, she was mentally accustomed to it in this life, but her body was still not used to it, so she couldn't help but quietly breathe a sigh of relief.

When she realized the silence in the room, she sneaked a glance around from under her eyebrows. Only then did she notice that there were only two people in the room, her and the Queen Mother.

"Look up." The Queen Mother said suddenly.

Shanniang was startled and quickly raised her head. Thinking of what Yuan Changqing said, she had the courage to make eye contact with the Queen Mother.

Sure enough, the Queen Mother did not scold her for her bold glance, only frowned and looked her up and down for a while, and then said, "You are ranked thirteenth at home?" ”

"Yes."

The Queen Mother was silent for a moment, and suddenly said: "Since you are married now, and you are still married to Yuan Da, you will guard your women's way well in the future, and avoid those rumors." ”

Shanniang was annoyed when she heard this. As soon as she was annoyed, a look appeared on her face.

So the Queen Mother stared at her and said, "What, are you dissatisfied?!" ”

Shanniang lowered her head and said, "Does the Queen Mother want to listen to the truth or lies?" ”

The Queen Mother didn't answer her words, only pursed her lips and sneered.

Shanniang didn't care whether she answered or not, and said: "If I am not afraid of death, I will naturally reply to you, 'I am dissatisfied', but I am afraid of death, and I dare not be bullied, so I can only keep my mouth shut and say nothing." ”

The Queen Mother narrowed her eyes and looked at her with a sneer, "No wonder you will be fascinated by Xiao Wu, you can really speak, and your courage is not small!" ”

Shanniang suddenly twisted her eyebrows and said: "I can admit my courage and ability to speak, but you say that I have fascinated the five princes into five gods and six ways, and I will not admit it even if I die." ”

"You don't admit that you hooked Xiao Wu?!" The Queen Mother said in a low voice.

Shanniang was immediately angry. Why is it that every time this kind of rumor comes out, people always blame the girls without thinking?!

So she said with a straight face: "There is no such thing!" ”

"Hmph," the Queen Mother snorted coldly again, "There is absolutely no such thing?!" If you hadn't hooked Xiao Wu, he would have stayed in Meishan Town and refused to come back?! ”

Shanniang said in her heart, and it wasn't that I didn't let him go, and replied: "The fifth prince stays in the town, and I don't often see him. ”

"Lie!" The Queen Mother snorted again, walked up to her, looked at her and said, "If people don't know, they can't do it unless they do." You used Da Lang's eagle to hook Xiao Wu to run to your house, is there no such thing?! ”

Shanniang held back her anger and said: "The eagle was indeed placed in my house by Yuan Changqing, and the five princes did come to my house under the pretext of watching the eagle, but I am a girl, and I stay in the inner house, and I will not go out to meet the five princes if I have nothing to do." ”

"It's hard-mouthed!" The Queen Mother said coldly, "If you introspect and love yourself, how can you be gossip like that?!" Because of you, Xiao Wu was attacked and ridiculed, and Da Lang was ridiculed, and you still pretended that it had nothing to do with you?! ”

Shanniang only felt a burst of anger. Her name statement was obviously burdened by the internal turmoil of the royal family, but in the eyes of the Queen Mother, she actually thought that she was the "bane", and even said that Yuan Changqing was also ridiculed because of her...... Shanniang only felt that all her internal organs were burning pain. Not only did he feel wronged, but he also felt sorry for Yuan Changqing. They are not like Zhou Chong, there is an elder guarding them. Under the anger, she forgot the identity of the person in front of her for a while, raised her head and said angrily:

"Who is spreading this kind of gossip, I don't think you know it in your heart. It's obvious that I was dragged down by the Five Princes, why did it become my misconduct here for you?! I'm a girl sitting innocently at home, it's his fifth prince who has to come here, what do you tell me to do? Kick him out of the house?! He's a prince, I'm a commoner, what are you going to drive him for?! Yes, he did tell me he liked me, but did I tell him to like me?! I made it clear to him at the time, no way, I am already engaged. It's just that I'm not engaged, and I don't like him! But now I am affected by him, and I almost lost the most precious innocent reputation of a woman's life, Yuan Changqing, he knows that it is not my fault, but you blame me for everything! ”

The more she spoke, the more angry she became, "Why do you get into trouble every time you encounter this kind of thing, it's clear that we girls are the victims, and you people don't blame the person who caused us trouble, but you have to say that we misbehaved and got into trouble?!" But what the hell have we done?! Did I tell him to like me?! Did I tell him to revolve around me? Don't say that flies don't hold seamless eggs, if they are flies, they love to fly around, regardless of whether the egg has a seam or not! Why don't you blame the flies one by one, but accuse us?! ”

With a burst of anger, Shanniang crackled and vented her long-accumulated resentment. But when the resentment was over, she was also stunned...... Only then did she remember that the person in front of her was not only Zhou Chong's bear child's bear parent, but also the most noble Queen Mother Lafayette in the world......

Shanniang bit her lip, and couldn't help but be a little angry with Yuan Changqing in her heart - it was him, encouraging her to say that she could be herself in front of the Queen Mother, otherwise she would not be so presumptuous......

She was flustered here to find a reason for herself, but she didn't find that the Queen Mother had been silent for a long time.

For a long time, until she felt something strange and looked up at the Queen Mother quietly, she saw that the Queen Mother was looking at her, but her eyes did not have the contempt she had at the beginning, but with a hint of caution.

"In terms of courage, he is worthy of Da Lang. It's just your impulsive and irritable nature that needs to be honed. The Queen Mother said, "From Ming'er onwards, you write a Heart Sutra for me every day, so as to calm your heart." Da Lang is a good boy, but you can't ruin his future because of your ignorant impulses! ”

After the Queen Mother reprimanded Shanniang, she lifted the curtain and went out.

When Yuan Changqing came in, Shanniang was still standing there in a daze, unable to come back to her senses.

"What's wrong?" Yuan Changqing grabbed her frightened cold hand and asked repeatedly.

Shanniang came back to her senses at this time, looked at him "ah", and said with a bitter face: "I seem to have contradicted the Queen Mother...... At this time, she asked her to repeat her angry words just now, and she didn't remember what she said......

"Don't be afraid." Yuan Changqing pulled her into his arms and said in a low voice: "The Queen Mother didn't speak loudly, so it can be seen that she is not really angry with you." ”

Holding his waist back, Shanniang felt that she was trembling slightly, and asked in a muffled voice, "What about the Queen Mother?" ”

"Go back to the palace."

When Uncle Hua saw the forbidden army retreating and came in with the curtain lifted, when he looked up, he saw the little couple hugging each other and keeping them warm, he hurriedly shrank his neck and retreated.