At dusk, a remnant of the western sky wedged into the depths of the thin clouds, and in an instant, most of the sky was dyed red; At this moment, the twilight is heavy, and the sky is gradually covered with a pale orange-red halo, like a rain of apricot blossoms floating in the sky, gently sprinkling the earth.

As the sun sets, the clear outline of the earth gradually becomes hazy, faintly turning into countless haze, curling up, and then slowly dissipating, dazzling, showing unprecedented colorful colors; The summer dusk is silent, the place where heaven and earth meet, poetic and picturesque, like a dream, without a trace of ripples, and without a breath of whining, only the distant mountains are vast, and the tired birds return to fly, depicting a golden picture, teaching people to be fascinated.

Before nightfall, the afterglow of the setting sun is reflected on the gray and dreary city wall of the imperial capital, and in an instant, the huge capital city is rendered into a beautiful golden yellow, and the earth is also surrounded by gentle light, sprinkled to the sky, sprinkled to the wilderness...... Approaching the evening of the Great Zhou Shangjing, the city is silent, even the endless cicada chirping in the grass has gradually disappeared, replaced by the intertwined insect chirping and the cool breeze of the summer night, giving people a sense of tranquility and poignancy, as if forgetting the summer heat and manic depression, which is a kind of unprecedented comfort.

Nowadays, the remnant sun on the horizon is like blood, and the breeze blows, blowing the fragrance of flowers and plants.

At dusk on a summer night, the evening breeze is soft, the "Situ Mansion" located in the area of Wuyi Lane in the east of Shangjing City, with silver top and blue bricks and vermilion lacquer gates, is shrouded in endless splendor, as if it has been coated with rouge, bright and colorful, bathed in the golden sunset in the west.

This is Xie Mansion, which is a quaint and strange mansion; What's more important is that behind this ancient mansion, there is a century-old Xuanhe family - Chenjun Xie family!

Chenjun Xie's family, so far a total of 10 generations, famous all over the world. Since the time of the former dynasty in Beiyu, the Xie family has always been the leader of the family, with poetry, calligraphy and etiquette, and with a generous family style, therefore, this family, known as the "scholarly family", is very famous in the family; Moreover, throughout the Xie family, there have been many famous Confucian ministers in the past dynasties, such as Taifu Xie Heng, Taichangqing Xie Yao, Xuancheng Shi Xie Yi, Jiangzhou Thorn Shi Xie Chen, etc., all of whom are models of the children of the Xie family, leaving a good reputation that will be passed down to future generations, and are deeply admired and worshiped by scholars all over the world.

In fact, the prosperity of the family gate valve originated from the beginning of the founding of the North Chongqing country.

At that time, the foundation of the Gongsun clan was unstable, the royal family was weak, and the old royal families everywhere were eyeing each other and could fight back at any time; In such a context, out of the need to consolidate the country, the royal family of Beiyu began to spare no effort to support the various gate valves to balance the situation and deal with strong enemies from all sides; Soon, the power of the clan rose rapidly, from the Xie clan below, the Langya Wang clan, the Qinghe Cui clan, the Yingchuan Yu clan, the Lanling Wen clan, the four major clans were the mainstay, and the royal family concluded marriages for generations and took charge of the dynasty, making the power of the clan gate valve reach an unprecedented peak, and even sometimes, it can be on an equal footing with the royal family; The scenery of the family continued until the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

In the last years of Beiyu, the world fell apart, and in this chaotic world, the Xiao family father and son, who were in Ganyongliang, took advantage of the situation by virtue of the strong 100,000 iron horses and the awe-inspiring martial arts, and finally swept away Beiyu in one fell swoop and established the Great Zhou Dynasty; In the world-renowned Northern Zhou Dynasty founding war, the Cui, Yu, and Wen clans of the four major families, and nearly half of the elites of the clan, almost all of them died on the battlefield, and no life survived, and the blood and life were forever frozen in that cold soil.

Since then, the once incomparably glorious era of the world has finally been reduced to yesterday's yellow flower under the fierce killing of the Great Zhou Iron Cavalry and the sweep of the Zhou army's battle flag, and it will never return.

The national war is settled, the three major clans lose power, the clan relatives wither, and the children are not in charge, although there are still side branches of the relatives and enter the new dynasty, but their powerful position in the court is far less than when it was at its peak.

In the past, those family gate valves who called for wind and rain, covered the sky with one hand, and even once controlled the political pattern of the dynasty, after the years-long national war, basically disappeared, or weakened, or fell apart, and were destroyed under the proud force of the Great Zhou Empire; Nowadays, the only remaining family valves, only the Wang and Xie clans, have not declined because of the changes in the dynasty, but still stand on the temples of the Great Zhou, forming a situation where the two families of Wang and Xie are evenly matched.

Among them, the Xie clan of Chenjun is the most famous, with protégés and former officials all over the world, wide factions and well-dressed; As for the heir of Emperor Xuan, Xie Hao, who is the current head of the Xie family, is the eldest son of Taibao Xie Tan, and because Emperor Xuan was the prince of the East Palace, and he himself is a well-known leader of the literary world, the leader of Shilin, and soon his position in the court has soared. His younger brother Xie Yu is in charge of the provincial affairs, the official worships the minister, and also leads the secretary of the ministry. Therefore, the government and the opposition have always had a lot of complaints about this, and the Yushitai has also played many times to impeach the Xie brothers, thinking that Xie Hao and Xie You, "The elder brother is in power, the younger brother is in charge, and the power and responsibility are too heavy, which is not conducive to the society." ”

For a time, the Xie family was full of vermilion and purple, and it became a hot century-old family in Shangjing today......

The faint fragrance of magnolia flowers filled the square world of Situ Mansion, a familiar breath and sound, and then came to the face, which was gently blown by the evening breeze, and the wind chimes under the eaves tinkled and dingdong, making bursts of pleasant sounds, accompanied by pieces of scattered petals, integrated with the sunset.

This mansion, which has gone through hundreds of years of wind and rain, is hidden in a green tree and green bamboo, and the bricks and stones on the ground are quite strong, all of which are paved with bluestone bricks, with attics, corridors, and pavilions; The antique rockery, covered with a large area of verdant moss, planted under the mountain with a bush of green bamboo, the fragrant fragrance of bamboo leaves, with the tranquility of moss, permeated in the sky above the long corridor, floating in the empty back garden, has not dispersed for a long time.

Through the moss and bamboo, stepping through the rockery and flowers, you can clearly see a courtyard, to be precise, a small study,—— located in the Yunquan Water Pavilion West Garden's "Luomei Nunnery".

Here, it is the study of the head of the Xie family, and it is also the bedroom where Lord Situ lives.

I saw that outside the Luomei Nunnery, the sunset gradually dimmed, reflecting the mottled shadows of the trees, countless crystal clear mare's milk grapes, graceful and tactful, coiled on the wisteria trellis, set off the full grains of fruit, leisurely playing a thousand children, such as the slender waist of a beauty, graceful and graceful, all kinds of styles, just one glance will delay a lifetime.

At this moment, it is late, and the sunset of the sun, projected in the courtyard of Luomei Nunnery, illuminates a small pond in the courtyard, and the golden light is flashing; Although it is not yet night, the lights are already hanging outside the study, swaying with the evening breeze of the summer night.

The dim shadow of the lamp, deeply imprinted on the plain window flowers, danced and loomed, sometimes making a slight rustling sound.

Although the layout of this study called "Rakumeian" is not very large, it is full of a strong bookish atmosphere. But see, in the middle of the living room of the study, there is a wide huge plaque hanging, which is very eye-catching, with four gilded characters on the book, vigorous and powerful, and the pen is smooth, and it is from the famous pen at a glance - "poetry and book hairpin"; And the first hanging of the ink splash landscape picture, the pen and ink are concise and resolute, the style is majestic and timeless, there is quiet interest, the rhyme of sparseness, the artistic conception is secluded, and the fun is full of fun......

The spacious Luomei Nunnery, the windows are bright and clean, the smooth ground, there is no red felt, and there is no decoration around such luxurious things as veils, which can no longer be ordinary; The three rows of stacked bookshelves, in addition to books or books, look like a sea of smoke; In particular, the rosewood case in the middle is full of old thread-bound books, especially two large books, the most eye-catching: one "Xie's Family Motto" and one "Lin Toe Ge".

All in all, this simple study is full of ancient style.

At that time, the night was approaching, and there was silence in the Luomei Nunnery, no, to be precise, not that there was no sound at all; The rosewood bookcase, placed next to the window, is full of books, and on the jasper case next to it, a small red clay stove has already been set up, a full set of tea sets have been prepared, and a small silver octagonal teapot is set up on the stove, in which boiling water is boiling, and green smoke is filling.

"Gooo......"

Under the scorching fire, the teapot made of silver made a sharp whistle, which was the sound of the tea soup boiling; The water is the best clear spring water, the tea is the best dragon and phoenix group tea, the new water cooks the new tea, the tea is fragrant for a while, and the countless heat is steamed.

A small Luomei Nunnery, the fragrance of books is permeated, and the fragrance of tea is refreshing.

At this time, the sun was setting in the west, and although the setting sun outside the court stained the grape trellis, the room was already brightly lit, and a candle as thick as a baby's arm was lit, reflecting a quiet study, blooming with a large area of light, and pouring out the dull twilight outside.

In the study, the light is sluggish, a middle-aged man with a beautiful demeanor, holding a book in his hand, standing tall and jade, stepping on the smooth terrazzo bluestone ground of Luomei Nunnery, which is as smooth as a mirror, is slowly pacing back and forth, as if thoughtful, from time to time he also stops, bows his head and ponders, and has a long beard under his chin, flowing without wind, showing more and more his own gentleman's style of gentle jade.

This elegant middle-aged man is now the head of the Xie family of Chenjun, known for his outstanding literary talents, poetry style and famous in the world, and as the leader of the world, he is ranked as the third duke, and he is in charge of the generation, and is praised by Emperor Xuan of the Great Zhou Dynasty as "the prime minister of the dynasty" A generation of famous ministers - Zhongshuling, Wu Guogong, and Situ Xie Hao.

Thinking back then, this beautiful young man who was once known as the "Xie Family Jade" by the world, this talented man of the world who once supported His Majesty when he was young, has now entered middle age, although he is no longer the youthful spirit of the past, but his upright face and beautiful face still retain the polite style of Zhilan Yushu when he was young, the appearance is clear, Xiao Shuxuan is high, his eyes are clear, and his figure is also very good, the whole person is tall and thin, with the unique bookish atmosphere of the century-old family, and he is free and easy; At this time, he was wearing a set of half-worn household robes, a black cloth square scarf on his head, and a jade belt around his waist.

The handsome demeanor and clear expression evoke a dusty past that has been sealed for many years:

In the sixteenth year of Kaiping, the tripartite alliance of Southern Chu, Western Yan and Tubo attempted to invade the Zhou border and carve up the southwestern territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty; At that time, there was a huge disparity between the enemy and our forces, with 200,000 troops of the tripartite coalition, and the army camp stretched for dozens of miles, directly pressing Qiongzhou, and the front was in danger. On the occasion of this national crisis, a young prince Zuo concubine, holding the staff of the king's ceremony, alone, went deep into the enemy camp with an ink crown in his clothes, and had no fear of the axe, and the king of Tubo read his courage and was invited into the king's tent; Immediately, this person was on the big tent, facing the Tubo relatives and nobles, the tongue was like a sharp blade, the mouth spit lotus, between the snap of the fingers, with the three-inch incorruptible tongue, forced the Tubo to retreat, disintegrated the tripartite alliance, and then, the Northern Zhou army counterattacked, with less to win more, the first battle reversed the danger of Qiongzhou.

The envoy who was born in a hairpin family, talked and laughed freely, was incomparable, and single-handedly turned the tide of the storm, was no one else, it was the middle-aged man in front of him who was humble as jade, who had already been a very popular minister, and who was the commander of the hundreds-Situ Xie Hao!

Xie Hao held the scroll in his hand, lowered his eyes and lowered his head, sighed faintly, and chanted in his mouth, which was actually a beautiful seven-word poem:

Lonely River Han Bai Yuehui,

Chang'e resists the wind and goes down to the purple micro.

The emperor in the palace is sad,

The goddess sang a sad ......

When chanting "sorrow", Xie Hao's voice was slightly lowered, and his eyes were as bright as jade, faintly flashing a trace of compassion, and there was a little imperceptible sadness.

In the past, he was a bright moon boy; Now he is the pillar of the temple Xie Situ; For this unborn leader of the world, it is good to be ranked as the third prince, the Yongzhen court, and the lintel of the Xie family, but what makes him never forget, and what he always remembers is the turbulent years, those old friends who are as fresh as ever, and the support of His Majesty the Emperor at a young age......

He, as a son of the Xie family, although he is a famous man and a generation of Wenzong, he has also been young in black clothes, proud and enthusiastic, and has also been a marquis to worship the prime minister, vertical and horizontal, only looking forward to leaving a name in history, and entering the temple after a hundred years.

However, the world is impermanent, the years are like water, it seems that it is only a moment of brilliance, and it has been born early, and it is no longer the face of his youth, leaving a face that has been full of vicissitudes, erasing his former glory such as Xu Yingnian.

……

A breeze of summer dusk blew in from outside the high walls of Situ Mansion, gently poured into Xie's house, along the huge mansion, swept over the corridor, garden, and mirror lake in the mansion, extremely gently brushed away the summer heat, and floated into the study of Luomei Nunnery, adding a bit of coolness.

Suddenly, at this moment, a pair of soft wattles as bright as plain snow turned into an elegant frost veil, quietly blindfolded Xie Hao's eyes from behind, and the delicate jade fingers that were as tender as green onions, with the movements of the soft wattles, gently covered the slightly pale eyebrows of Lord Situ, the picture looked so beautiful, at first glance, it was a pair of girl's hands.

The originally clear line of sight was suddenly covered by a pair of girl's white jade hands, and a trace of doubt first appeared on Xie Hao's face, but soon, he immediately smiled; Because, along with the pair of girl's jade hands, there was an intoxicating faint fragrance, Xie Situ didn't need to open his eyes to know that his little daughter was coming, the reason was very simple, this faint fragrance was Su Hexiang from the little daughter.

This kind of Su Hexiang, produced in the Western Regions, is a gift from the palace, almost all the female relatives of the prince's mansion, especially prefer this spice, as the beloved daughter of Lord Situ, Xie Wanxin is no exception, and loves Su Hexiang alone.

Xie Hao smiled, gently patted his beloved daughter's soft twing, and said dotingly.

"Why, how old are you, why are you still like a child."

Seeing that Xie Wanxin, who was seen through by her father at a glance and standing behind her father, lost her beauty in an instant on her beautiful face, and added a bit of melancholy to her cheeks, outlining her incomparable beauty and beauty.

After a while, Xie Wanxin put down her hands and slowly moved away from her father, her face was immediately covered with scarlet, showing a kind of reserved and dignified children of the world.

"Daddy, how can you be so unhappy, can't you make your daughter happy for a while?"

"Okay, okay, don't make trouble, just like you are now, which husband will dare to ask you in the future."

At this time, Xie Hao finally turned around, and his clear gaze slowly shifted from the book in his hand to his little daughter; When the third prince turned around, he was surprised to find that his most beloved little daughter was very different today: her long hair like ink was combed high, and she was pulled into a flowing cloud bun, light pink and light compress, red lips were dotted, and she seemed to be dressed as an ordinary girl, and she did not deliberately hide her generosity as a woman, her eyes were clear, and her eyes were bright, just like the Dongzhu pendant on her ears, shining brightly, setting off the charm and charm of amorous beauty.

The afterglow of the setting sun will come in through the pane and sprinkle on the father and daughter, reflecting the two shadows standing side by side......

The father and daughter sat down by the window.

At this time, the tea had been cooked, Xie Wanxin smiled prettyly, gently picked up the silver kettle on the stove, surrounded the tea cup, poured a little water, brewed a cup of tea soup, and then slowly handed it to his father.

"Daddy, please have tea."

Xie Hao picked up the teacup, first took a deep breath, and saw that the tea was like jade, and the cup was like tea; The leader of Shilin, who has always been elegant, took a small sip of tea leisurely and felt refreshed.

At the same time, Xie Wanxin sat next to her father and massaged her father's arm very sensibly, and the faint fragrance on her body also wafted faintly, blending into the fragrance of tea and books, which was beautiful for a while.

Seeing that this little daughter suddenly changed her mind, Xie Hao twisted her long beard, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but smile, staring at her daughter's beautiful face, and slowly spoke.

"Where did you go yesterday, why did you come back so late?"

"I ......" Xie Wanxin continued to massage her father, but as soon as she heard this, the movements of her hands slowed down slightly, and her clear pupils flashed slightly; However, in just an instant, Miss Xie Si's expression was as calm as a windless lake, as if nothing unusual had happened just now.

"Oh, my daughter and Ah Yan went to the Ziwei Poetry Club in Sikong Mansion yesterday, so ,...... It's too late. ”

It can be heard that when Xie Wanxin said this, she was obviously lacking in confidence, her eyes flickered, and she avoided her father's gaze as much as possible; Xie Hao is such a smart person, he can see the clue of his daughter at a glance, and then put down the teacup and casually said "oh".

"Really?! How did my father hear that you seemed to have gone to Huanhuaxi last night, and you didn't go alone, it is said that you are a handsome Langjun who walks with you. ”

When Xie Wan heard this, she had to raise her head a little, her extremely beautiful eyes were like a pool of spring water, shining on her life. And in the depths of that spring, there is a group of innocence and a girlish atmosphere, it seems that my father already knows about myself and Erlang; She almost wanted to speak, but she didn't say it.

The Xie father and daughter at this moment are just like Emperor Xuan and Xiao Changling's father and son a few days ago.

The dazedness that I had never felt before, slowly seeped out from between Xie Wanxin's eyebrows, which had always been like a green mountain, like a few cracks that appeared before the glacier shattered; In the end, she still learned to speak in a delicate tone.

"You know it all."

"Silly boy, you are too underestimated as a father, when my father was fifteen years old, he began to take charge of the Xie family, if he doesn't even have this ability, how can he be worthy of being the head of the Xie family." Xie Hao lowered his eyes, and his voice was full of confidence and the majesty of the head of the family.

At this moment, Xie Wanxin took away the delicate state on her face, bit her lip lightly, and looked straight at her father's appearance of Zhilan Yushu, and her heart was full of mixed feelings for a while.

"Daddy, I heard that you have been quite close to King Qin recently."

Sure enough, my father still spoke up. Xie Wan knew that she couldn't continue to escape. But I saw that in her eyes, faintly, there was a trace of amber and jade light, but the smile on her cheeks was still as gentle as ever, like a hazy landscape.

"Daddy, you don't know Erlang, in his heart, he is a humble gentleman and a strange man in this world; What's more, Jiro and I are just ordinary interactions, and we can't talk about ......"

"Is that all?!" Xie Hao's calm gaze went straight to his beloved daughter, as if he could directly see through her heart.

Facing her father's fierce eyes, Xie Wan's delicate face faded a little snow, and the large blush on her cheeks was like a flying catkins in the sky, and like a little Feihong shadow, stepping on the snow to find plums.

"Well, Daddy, I like him too, I like him very much, I don't care what others say, my daughter just likes him, I can't help but be attracted to him, whether he is a prince or a commoner, as long as I can be with him, I will be satisfied."

Seeing that his daughter was so infatuated, Xie Hao's brows furrowed slightly.

"Ji, you have to think clearly, he is not an ordinary man, he is the son of His Majesty, the prince of the Great Zhou, and the commander of the Jingbei Army; Although, His Majesty has not yet canonized the crown prince, but our Great Zhou, all along, has always been a long-term heir, not to mention, the first emperor is the eldest son of Taizu, and His Majesty is also the eldest son of the first emperor, no matter how good King Qin is, but he is not the eldest son after all, King Qi is the eldest son of His Majesty, no matter how much His Majesty prefers King Qin, it is impossible to change the ancestral system for him. Qi Qi, you are so close to King Qin now, in the eyes of everyone, what do you make them think, they will think that our Xie family has clearly stood on the side of King Qin. I'm afraid that when the time comes, the entire Xie clan will be placed on the cusp. ”

As he was talking, Xie Hao squinted his eyes slightly, subconsciously picked up the tea cup on the desk, and took a sip casually, but he didn't know whether it was cold tea or hot tea.

"Remember, you used to be young, so there are some things that Daddy hasn't told you. Our Xie family, with the fragrance of books handed down from generation to generation, has produced three generations of emperors, two Zaifu, and five state pastors, and it is a well-deserved century-old family; However, what the world doesn't know is that when your grandfather was a child, the Xie family once declined, and there was no one in the court, in order to revitalize the family, he entered the first emperor's palace in the year of the weak crown, and relied on writing a song to take care of his family. It is not easy for Xie to be where he is today. However, our Xie family has never been attached to any party's forces, in the past, the family gatekeeper, and the royal family to enter into marriage, to maintain family ties, it was a common thing; But throughout the 100 years of the Xie family, we have never relied on the marriage of the imperial family, but the spiritual inheritance of the children of the Xie family from generation to generation. So, Daddy, I just hope you don't regret it in the future. ”

Xie Hao's voice was low, deep, and Ling Ran, full of his father's earnest teachings.

"Daddy......" Suddenly, Xie Wan looked straight at her father, and suddenly her eyes were full of mist, and her long eyelashes were full of crystal tears; But I saw that her whole person had thin lips like snow, her eyes were like mist, and her beautiful face was full of a little sad look, but after a while, she showed a firmness that she had never seen before.

"Daddy, I don't care about the status of Princess Qin, and I don't care what others say about me, I love Erlang, for him, I can sacrifice everything I have, even if it's my life, as long as he has me in his heart, that's enough."

Staring at his daughter's firm gaze, stubborn expression, and the touching fairy posture, Xie Hao finally stopped talking, just let out a long sigh, and muttered repeatedly.

"Grow up, grow up ......"

……

At night, everything is silent.

The long night, the eternal bright moon, poured out a thousand years of deep affection.