Xu Qing has been very troubled lately.

For some reason, the prodigal and demonic Xia Yunxian always appeared beside him.

On the morning of this day, Xia Yunxian actually carried a brocade box full of fruits and visited his home directly.

When the old mother saw such a beautiful girl with a charming smile, she was so happy that she took the girl's hand and refused to let go.

You know, this girl's hand has killed dozens of people...... Although he was annoyed in his heart, his face was calm, and he accompanied his mother to have lunch with Xia Yunxian, so he took Xia Yunxian out of the house under the pretext that he wanted to go to his uncle's side to run errands.

"Child, my mother sees that this girl is really worthy of you, she looks at you, my mother will never be mistaken, do you want to go to the matchmaker now to ask for a gossip?"

Xu Qing looked at Xia Yunxian who was walking in front, and knew that with the other party's internal cultivation, he would definitely listen to his mother's whispers in his ears. He said to his mother helplessly: "Don't be in a hurry at this moment, the matter on my uncle's side is very important, and my son will take care of the matter......"

He walked out, motioned to the old servant to close the door, and when he turned around, he saw Xia Yunxian smiling at him on the steps, his eyes full of spring.

"Miss Xia, don't make such jokes in the future. ”

"I'm not kidding, I've walked the rivers and lakes for so many years, Xu Qing, it's the first time I've liked someone like this. ”

"The future hostess of our family will not be a person in the rivers and lakes. ”

Xia Yunxian restrained her smile and looked at Xu Qing, this female devil who has always walked according to her heart in the rivers and lakes, free and unrestrained, may not have spoken so seriously for a long time, and she actually had a trace of panic: "I have long been tired of fighting in the rivers and lakes, as long as I marry you, I will definitely quit the rivers and lakes and teach my husband and children at home." ”

Xu Qing sneered and said, "I'm sorry, Miss Xia, I can't believe you. You were still in my uncle's bed the night ago, and today you told me that you will be a good wife at home in the future?"

Xia Yunxian was furious, and said in a suppressed voice: "Okay, you Xu Qing, dare to look down on me? I, Xia Yunxian, have passed through the sea of blood and swords, live according to my own heart, and want to be happy, why not? Since I promised, I won't lie to you, why don't you believe it? It's not that you regard yourself as a righteous gentleman and don't want to get close to me, yes, I'm a **slut, but if I quit the rivers and lakes and marry you, I won't go back to live the old days!"

"Please go back...... Don't come to my house in the future, if my mother knows that you are a Jianghu person who will take someone's life if you don't agree with each other, I'm afraid that I will be scared. ”

Originally, he was at Xu Qing's house and had a good conversation with his old mother, but Xia Yunxian actually wanted to enter his house and forgot about the rivers and lakes from then on. When Xu Qing said this, it was really like a knife stirring a few times in his heart, and it hurt his heart. She was angry and hurt, her whole body was trembling, and she said hoarsely: "Okay, I, Xia Yunxian, will not forget today's humiliation, you Xu Qing want to be a righteous gentleman, let's see...... Under Wei Xian, didn't you never do anything hurtful and unreasonable, and made yourself so clean that you didn't feel disgusting?"

She said and hid her face and left, leaving Xu Qing with a stunned face.

A father and daughter happened to come over, Xu Qing saw that the man holding the girl's hand turned out to be the opponent of the duel seven years ago, useless in the world Ye Yunsheng, he couldn't forget that duel, naturally he couldn't forget this man.

............

Every morning, as always, practice qi, leave two bowls of noodles for his wife and daughter, and then push the cart to the East Market, say hello to the old Wang of the restaurant, boil water, and stand behind the stove to watch the people on the street.

At noon, he casually dealt with a bowl of noodles, waited for his wife to bring his daughter, stayed to watch the noodle stall, he would take Ah Yu's hand and walk slowly across the streets of Chang'an. The snow in the east of the city has melted after two days, and the ground is a little muddy, and when he encounters a dirty place, he will lean over and carry Ah Yu over.

It's nice to walk into the city, it's clean like another world. He didn't meet Xu Qing again in the past two days, and when he entered the courtyard of Zhao Yu in Zhao Mansion, it was like walking into a quiet paradise. Without the noise and indifference on the street, without the boredom and loneliness at home, he felt good in his heart, and he had more expectations and reluctance to leave.

The apprentice Zhao Yu was very obedient, practiced the sword technique for three days, and endured it no matter how difficult it was every afternoon, not like the delicate sons and brothers who couldn't endure hardships in their imagination.

Until sunset.

He will hold Ah Yu's hand and walk under the glow of the sky, the sunset of Chang'an City, like a scenery given to the world by the Jade Emperor - to return to people.

Ah Yu's face is particularly innocent and lovely under the reflection of the sunset, like a layer of detached and unintentional rouge.

At this time, in his heart, he hopes that it will be like this in the future, and it is enough.

Teaching swords is not a difficult or troublesome task.

What the master taught himself before, he teaches his disciples now.

However, for Ah Yu, it is different in the end. After practicing the sword trick for three days, the child couldn't stand it anymore, and shouted to learn swordsmanship, not to pose in a pose, and to remain motionless - after all, it was a five-year-old child, and he couldn't stand the boredom.

He smiled and agreed.

also took a "sword" and taught Ah Yu what is a thorn, what is chopping, what is cutting, what is blocking, and what is piercing......

Zhao Yu looked and listened, and also said that he wanted to learn.

He ignored it, just shook the "sword" in his hand, and then looked like a girl's apprentice, honestly continued to pinch the sword trick, but stared at Ah Yu with a pitiful pair of eyes.

Originally, learning the sword like this was tolerable, but now the problem is like a child reading a book, reading well, but outside the window there is a child playing with paper kites, laughing loudly while playing...... That's a bit excessive.

Ye Yunsheng didn't care, and played with Ah Yu.

You stab it, I'll block it, I'll stab it, you block it.

He was smiling, but after repeating it several times, the smile on his face gradually froze.

One big and one small, one teaches, one learns, Zhao Yu watched from the side, and it felt like the opposite.

Ah Yu seems to be playing, and Master seems to be learning.

Does Master still want to learn swords?

Learn to use a sword so easily?

Just now, the master also said that this is only the basis of using a sword, and everyone who learns a sword must master it, and what cannot be forgotten is as natural as using chopsticks for eating.

When the evening came, when his wife and daughter were asleep, he jumped on the beam of the house and tried to take down his sword.

But there was nothing on the beams, and his old man was gone.

He fell back to the ground silently, closed the door gently, then took off his shoes, and lay down on the edge of the bed with his coat and fell asleep.

The next morning, he ate and kept two bowls of noodles, but he didn't push the cart out, just sat under the old locust tree in the courtyard, watching his wife and daughter wash their faces and eat with a bowl in their hands. When his wife saw that he did not go out, she did not ask anything.

He took the bowl from his wife's hand, put it in a wooden basin to wash, and when he saw Ah Yu go back to the house to play with the cloth tiger, he said to his wife, "Where did you take the sword from my house?"

She stirred the corners of her clothes with both hands, lowered her head and said, "The slave has not moved." ”

He didn't speak, just looked at her.

After a while, she raised her head, looking a little angry, "You went out with a sword a few nights, and when you came back, your clothes were stained with blood, and the next day I heard that five Jianghu people died on the street outside! ”

He smiled bitterly and said: "Ah Tan, it's not that I want to take care of the affairs of the rivers and lakes, it's that they came to the door and asked for the lives of your officials, I let them go, and they will bring more and more powerful people in the future, what should I do? You, and Ah Yu, can I let you be hurt? I went to kill people to protect you......

"The slave doesn't want you to kill, what if you get hurt? Ah Yu is still so young, and there are no other relatives in Chang'an City to help him, the slave is really afraid!"

Seeing his wife crying, his face was out of shape, and he couldn't tell whether it was anger or sadness, he didn't know what to say......

The wife took her daughter to the neighbor's house, and it is estimated that she was going to make clothes and teach Ah Yu to use needlework.

He only sat in the courtyard and didn't plan to go out today.

At noon, his wife brought Ah Yu back, and when she saw him like this, she made a few meat patties by herself, and he ate two cakes, and saw a middle-aged man and an old man standing outside the courtyard gate.

He greeted him. The middle-aged man is dressed in brocade and jade belt, with a red face, a long beard, and a samurai crown. The old man who followed behind was dressed as a businessman and was full of wealth, but he followed the middle-aged man, acting like a follower.

The wife brought her daughter into the house, and after a few more glances, she showed a surprised and panicked look, but Ye Yunsheng didn't care about it, and only saluted the guests.

The middle-aged man had a charlatan salute with him.

The wife peeked through the crack in the door, and endured the innocent ask of her daughter: "Mother, are you playing hide and seek with your father?"

She watched the middle-aged man talk to his official for a few words, and then the old man respectfully held the sword box that she had given to a pawnshop in the West Market a few days ago.

It was fifty taels of silver, and the silver was hidden in the bottom of the robe.

The official accepted the sword box, and did not return the silver, but only nodded, and the middle-aged man and the old man withdrew from the courtyard.

The middle-aged man's demeanor was naturally friendly, but the richly dressed old man was so humble, she had never seen such a posture in an acquaintance.

When they were far away, she pushed the door out, came to Ye Yunsheng's side and asked, "Who are those two?"

"I don't know the old one, and I say that I am the shopkeeper of the Ning family's pawnshop. Ye Yunsheng touched the texture on the sword box, glanced at his wife, and showed a bitter smile: "This sword, whether you lose it, take it, or give it away, as long as it is in Chang'an City, it will still return to my hands in the end." ”

The wife's eyes widened and she asked, "So, you've been waiting for it to come back?"

"I didn't know it would be so soon...... The other person is the third-room head of the Ning family, and the entire Chang'an, even the prefect, dare not offend him. ”

"Nonsense, where can the people of the rivers and lakes ask the prefect to let go?"

"Jianghu people are not only those who fight and kill, but also those who are implicated in the imperial court and the officials...... The third and second sister of their Ning family, that is, the younger sister of the head of the family, Ning Cangsheng, entered the door of the official family. Is he, the brother-in-law of the official family, worthy of the awe of the prefect?"

"How can a big man like him be so close to you?"

Ye Yunsheng sighed, didn't want to explain, only said: "It's all old things, there's no point in mentioning it." ”

He walked into the house, wrapped the sword box in a cloth, carried it on his back, took Ah Yu's hand, and walked out.

"Don't take Ah Yu to learn swords. ”

He stopped, hesitated, and said, "Just let her play, Zhao Mansion has a little sugar water, and the little boy is playing together when he is resting, don't worry." ”

"Let's go back to our hometown...... Ah Yu said, you are in Zhao Yuanwaifu, and you are also practicing swords. ”

He touched his daughter's head and didn't speak.

"I'm not worried about Ah Yu, I'm worried about you! Official, let's not stay in Chang'an City, I'm afraid...... There are too many people in the rivers and lakes here, what if there is trouble to find the door? That Fang Zimo and Zhang Qingzi, what if they come to you again?"

"Don't worry. ”

"How can I not be worried?" the usually obedient wife suddenly screamed.

Ye Yunsheng looked at her in a daze, and was a little confused.

"I've been scared all these years, if you have three long and two short, how can I live? How can I live? How can I live? How can I live if I am called Ah Yu? Fight and kill, how many will end well? You are now taking a sword out to practice at night, and you have to teach your disciples...... Didn't you just go back to the rivers and lakes? You also said that if you can't win against others with a sword, then don't practice it! The sword is used to hurt people, what are you still practicing it for? You can't bear to put this sword, just leave it away, and I won't lose it?"

He bit his mouth and didn't speak, Ah Yu leaned on his leg and looked at his mother and relatives in a daze, a little overwhelmed.

"You said that you quit the rivers and lakes, let's live a good life, and we won't compete with others in the future. You said it yourself......" She cried, her eyes red.

The wife's sad appearance, like an airtight cloth bag, suddenly covered his head.

"I want you to be good every day, happy and safe, I want to see you every day and be with you. I'm so scared, since you came back that day, there was blood on your clothes, I'm really scared, I'm afraid that if you can't come back, or your hands are gone, your legs are gone, official, I don't want you like this!"

He lowered his head, shook slightly, and said softly to her, "No." ”

He took his daughter's hand and walked out. He wanted to end the conversation, because he couldn't face his wife, who loved him deeply, and watched her show such a look of grievance, fear, and pleading.

"Ye Yunsheng, you come back for me!"

He looked at the sky, the afternoon sun shone on his face, extraordinarily warm and warm, and the clouds in the sky were soft and spreading, blue and white, like a picture scroll going thousands of miles.

Maybe when you get old, you can stay in this courtyard all day and watch the changing clouds...... But not right now.

There are two kinds of people whose lives are shorter than others.

One is a scholar, the other is a martial artist.

Scholars are afraid of old age, afraid of old eyes and dizziness, afraid of poor thinking, afraid of not having enough energy.

Wufu is afraid of old age, afraid of weakness of hands and feet, afraid of lack of qi and blood, afraid of brittle bones and fatigue.

Since ancient times, beauties sighed in the twilight, and heroes were not allowed to see white heads.

Why is he Ye Yunsheng not afraid?

"Ah Tan, do you know what the people on the rivers and lakes call me? They call me useless in the world. Your official is a useless person! I have studied swords for more than ten years, but in the end they are useless! I have been holding back in my heart for seven years, for seven whole years, living like a wooden man, with no heart and lungs...... How can anyone who has learned the sword for more than ten years and finally made noodles? God wants to spoil me, I can bear it, but I can't spoil myself. 'Tianxingjian, a gentleman is constantly striving for self-improvement. 'I'm not leaving home, I'm not going back to the rivers and lakes......"

He leaned against the wooden frame by the door, tears rolling in his eyes, and his whole face struggled upward.

"I have wandered in the rivers and lakes, and I have spent seven years of peace with you at home, it is said that after many years, my mind should be light, but I still have a fire in my chest...... I don't want to be useless in the world! I just want to seek peace of mind, in this life, whether it is suffering, decay, or sorrow, at least let me know what I can do, I have to give an explanation to myself!"

He didn't look back, he didn't look at his wife.

"Nothing else. Don't worry, I, our family, will be safe. ”

Once there is hope, life will not be long.

Ye Yunsheng didn't hide his sword on the beam anymore. He opened the cellar that had not been opened for seven years, this cellar built under his own yard, except for him, only Fang Zimo knew.

Seven years ago, when he was still walking around the rivers and lakes, Zimo gave him a suggestion, digging this cellar can be regarded as the last hidden place for the people of the rivers and lakes.

The entire space inside is one and a half people high, more than ten zhang square.

A bed, a two-fold cabinet, a table and chairs, and four large boxes stacked in the corner.

He took advantage of the dead of night to clean up, then opened the box again and looked at the contents inside.

One of the boxes is the sword book that was once collected, one box is the blood scatter of wounded medicine, and the other box is the previous clothes, and the white jade lotus crown that he bought with Zimo in Yangzhou is placed in this box. Zimo walks the rivers and lakes and likes Tsing Yi, Qingzi likes white clothes, but he loves red clothes alone.

I remember that when we first met, Haruko asked why she kept wearing such an eye-catching red dress.

He joked because he was afraid to see his own blood.

In fact, it was just a dream when he was young, he hoped to wear the brightest colors and be the most conspicuous swordsman - red clothes and black swords, nothing more.

Now that I see it, it seems more like a joke.

People who live in destitude are most afraid of seeing them once, seeing them once, and getting hurt once.