In the eighteenth year of Taihe of the Great Chu Dynasty, the twenty-sixth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar.

The weather is already in late autumn.

The door of the Lu Guogong Mansion is full of dead leaves, which is also in line with the saying that autumn will be known as soon as the leaves fall.

In the distance, a magnificent carriage drove up, the top covered by a canopy of four eaves of glaze, and the windows were carved in vermilion. The driver of the car waved his horsewhip and ran rampant on the avenue in the east of the city, but fortunately, there were not many ordinary people in the east of the city, only a few bits and pieces. The driver seemed to know this, so the road was smooth.

"Phew!"

The coachman of the gorgeous carriage grabbed the reins violently and stopped steadily between the two white marble lions in the Lu State Mansion.

After the coachman in the carriage stopped, he jumped out of the carriage and hurriedly lifted the curtain. Then I saw a noble man in a brocade robe open the curtain and calmly got out of the carriage.

"Does Li Mu know that I'm back?"

The noble son Li Xuanbai asked Zhou Hao, the border captain standing beside him.

Zhou Hao replied: "I know." ”

Zhou Hao's words fell. The two women in the carriage got out of the carriage one after another. Xiao Feiyu looked at the magnificent Zhuliang Red Gate more than a dozen steps away, and the two majestic and vivid white marble lions at the door. Dumbfounded, exclamations kept coming out of his mouth. It was an eye-opener today. She looked so big, but she had never seen such a big, luxurious mansion.

"Brother Xuanbai, is this your home?"

"It's your home too. Li Xuanbai replied with a smile, and then glanced at Zhou Hao.

Zhou Hao nodded, and went straight forward to knock the gilt shop on the door.

After a while, the door opened.

The one who opened the door was Li Fu, the chief butler of the Lu State Mansion. When he saw that it was Zhou Hao who knocked on the door, he knew that his young master was back, and hurriedly called his subordinates to open the middle door.

Li Xuanbai and the three of them were welcomed into the mansion by thousands of people.

The few small servants in the mansion who led the front were half-leaning and leading their young masters inside. Xiao Feiyu and Dan Fengyan looked at each other as they walked. All the way in, Dan Fengyan found that the corridor in the mansion of Lu Guogong was circuitous, and the path was twisting and turning. Pavilions and pavilions are located in it. The scenery is quite elegant.

The little non-fish was curious and looked around.

Li Xuanbai looked at the familiar and unfamiliar home that he hadn't stepped into for three years. I have mixed feelings in my heart.

I don't know how long I walked. The crowd reached the hall.

Li Xuanbai called his servants to arrange Feiyu and Danfengyan Qiuxiang to rest in the first-class wing, and then called Zhou Hao and the chief housekeeper Li Fu in.

The housekeeper Li Fu is in his fifties and has a very tough body. Since the old grandfather Li Hu was alive, he has been staying in the mansion. also watched Li Xuanbai grow up since he was a child.

Li Xuanbai sat on the precious pineapple wood Taishi chair, picked up the tea on the red sandalwood case and tasted it first, and found that it was not very hot, so he raised the celadon cup and poured it in one gulp. Li Fu, the housekeeper on the side, saw this scene and couldn't help but have some tears in his eyes. He watched the young master grow up, and he had never seen the young master drink tea like this after living in the mansion for so long. I think I must have suffered a lot outside. Li Fu couldn't help but feel distressed.

After Li Xuanbai put down the celadon teacup, he stretched out his right index finger and middle finger and knocked on the tall red sandalwood case. The pretty brow frowned slightly.

"Does the woman know I'm back?"

The housekeeper Li Fu replied: "The master should inform her." ”

Li Xuanbai sighed.

The housekeeper Li Fu saw the young master's brows stretched, so he boldly said, "Young master." It's been all these years. Do you still hold a grudge against the second lady?"

Li Xuanbai did not answer.

It was quiet in the hall, really quiet. It was so quiet that you could hear the needles falling to the ground.

The housekeepers Li Fu and Zhou Hao looked at the young master who was speechless, and they didn't dare to speak again. They all understood that there were some things in this young master's heart that could not be touched.

It seemed that Li Xuanbai couldn't bear the silence either, and said, "You guys go down first." I want to go to Loquat Temple alone. ”

The housekeepers Li Fu and Zhou Hao retreated.

The backyard of the Lu Guogong Mansion is still quite large, and there are dozens of rooms for the subordinates alone. The south side of the backyard is where the masters rest and play. In the southwest corner of the backyard, there is a separate courtyard, which is the forbidden place of the Lu State Mansion. Li Mu issued a ban, if anyone was not allowed to call in, he would break his leg. So generally people don't go there.

And there is the Loquat Temple.

Li Xuanbai walked through the corridor in the backyard alone, and the buildings he passed by were all carved beams and paintings, and they were magnificent. But when I walked to the gate of the loquat courtyard, it was very simple and simple.

It was a courtyard-style courtyard in Xishu.

Li Xuanbai stood at the entrance of the courtyard, stunned, and hesitated.

I don't know how long it took, but he pushed the door open.

What catches your eye is three loquat trees that are two feet tall. There are no spring white flowers on the branches, and they are very withered.

Li Xuanbai suddenly burst into tears.

"Xuanbai. ”

There seemed to be a gentle voice in my ears that I thought about day and night in my heart. The voice was familiar to the bone. Li Xuanbai suddenly fell asleep.

In the courtyard of the annex courtyard.

A woman dressed in white was holding the hand of a three-year-old child and planting the seeds of three loquat trees.

She said, "Xuanbai." When the tree grows up, the mother will be old. ”

The child's milk voice said, "Then Xuanbai will dig out the seed." Mother's mother won't get old. ”

The woman in white smiled happily and said, "Silly boy." If the mother is not there one day, Xuanbai is not allowed to cry his nose. ”

The child said, "Xuanbai is not stupid. Where the mother is, Xuanbai is. ”

The woman in white touched the child's little head affectionately, but her eyes were full of tears.

The child helped her wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes and said softly, "Mother." Don't cry. It's not beautiful to cry. My mother said that Xuanbai was stupid, Xuanbai was really not stupid. Xuanbai knew that someone was bullying his mother. Now Xuanbai is still young, and he can't beat them. Wait for Xuanbai to be older. Xuanbai protects his mother. ”

A gust of autumn wind hit, and the people and scenery in front of him disappeared.

Li Xuanbai was full of tears, his voice was hoarse, and he shouted heartbreakingly: "Mother......"

But there was no one in front of him, only the empty courtyard and the loquat trees that had grown vigorously in the courtyard.

Li Xuanbai choked back tears, step by step, step by step. Slowly, slowly.

In that door was my mother's room. It has never moved, and it is still the same as before my mother's death.

Li Xuanbai slowly opened the wooden door. Looking at the room that is familiar, deep in the mind.

For him, that's home.

A place where there is a mother is home.

Li Xuanbai stepped through the door and looked at the spotless room. He knew that Li Mu must have come over alone from time to time to clean up. In this luxurious Guogong Mansion, there is such a courtyard that can be said to be shabby. Maybe a lot of people don't understand.

But it doesn't matter. The important thing is that Li Xuanbai and Li Mu understand.

Li Xuanbai still remembers the scene when his mother 'left'.

The mother, who was pale and bleeding from the corners of her mouth, turned around vigorously, as if she wanted to hug the child Li Xuanbai into her arms. But she didn't have the strength anymore. Looking at Li Mu, who was sitting next to her, she smiled and said, "I'm leaving." Xuanbai will be taken care of by you in the future. ”

Her smile was so beautiful in Li Mu's eyes.

Li Mu gently wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and shook her head with tears in her eyes. But not a word was spoken.

The mother looked at Li Xuanbai with difficulty, and said with a kind face: "Xuanbai, my mother is really reluctant to ...... you."

The child Li Xuanbai kept choking up and shouting: "Mother......"

Li Mu looked at the lady who had returned to the light and gently hugged her into his arms.

The mother said the last sentence and left it to Li Mu.

"Li Mu, Song Qing'er has no regrets marrying you in this life. ”

This sentence is the parting proverb.

Mother-in-law Song Qing'er, gone.

Li Xuanbai looked at everything left by his mother, and just shook his head. In that moment, it was as if time was still fifteen years ago. only to suddenly find that he had grown up.

But the revenge of the mother has not been avenged.

Although Li Mu didn't say it, Li Xuanbai knew. His enemies are far away in Western Shu, the Shu Mountain that is respected by the world.

Li Xuanbai said to himself: "What about the sword god opening Shu with a sword." If you don't report your mother's revenge Li Mu, I, Li Xuanbai, will report it!"

Push open the window, there is a loquat tree in the courtyard, and the hand planted by the mother in the year of her death is also now.