Xinghua Building.

"Yeye, are you okay?" Xiangxiang stood in front of the bed in the attic, holding the hand of the woman lying on the bed tightly.

Lying in bed every night, so thin that only skin and bones remain.

"Yeye?" Seeing that she didn't speak, Xiangxiang called softly again.

I opened my eyes as if I had just woken up from a dream. There was exhaustion in her eyes, but there was no point in fear or pain, even though she knew she was about to die.

"I'm fine, it's fine. She tried hard to squeeze out a smile, but her face seemed to be out of her control, and she could only be seen curling the corners of her mouth.

I don't speak every night, and I probably don't have the strength to speak. She looked at the bronze mirror on the table beside her stupidly, the attic was dim, the candle flame was trembling, and the face in the bronze mirror was clearly extinguished.

"I still haven't forgotten him. Ye Ye thought so and closed his eyes.

In the mountains and forests in the distance, a few jackdaws fluttered, flapped their wings a few times, and then fell back into the mountain forest.

......

Mabi is ugly, since he was a child. So he has always been unpopular, and even his biological father is not very willing to care about him.

It is said that the ancestor of the Ma family was once a robber on the rebellious side, and was later exterminated by Emperor Liangwu, who was still the crown prince, with his troops. Ma Bi's great-grandfather followed Emperor Liangwu, who was still the crown prince at the time, and the Ma family also settled in Lingbei and slowly became a famous local family.

Ma Bi's father never studied, and naturally he had no fame. Although there are some methods of cultivation handed down by their ancestors, almost all of them are incomplete. The Ma family has never produced any cultivation wizards, so naturally there are no monks.

However, as a prominent family in a large county, there is no fame and no immortal cultivator, and it is absolutely impossible to rely on the remnants of the ancestors alone.

Ma Bi's father had to spend a lot of silver and donate a member from the fifth grade, known as "Ma Yuanwai". But it is also often criticized. Therefore, although Ma Yuanwai didn't like this son very much, he still did not relax his education. Ma Bi, who came out of the house, was able to go to private school with his brothers.

Ma Bi's talent is neither high nor low, he is a very ordinary person. The fate that awaits him is nothing more than that he was lucky enough to gain some fame and become a petty official. Or if you were a little unlucky, you didn't get in, and you went back to your hometown to get a daughter-in-law who was okay, not beautiful or ugly, and spent her life ordinarily.

However, fate still takes good care of Ma Bi. He passed the hospital examination and the township examination in danger, and got the opportunity to enter the imperial capital to participate in the examination. But none of his brothers were willing to go with him.

On an early winter morning, Ma Bi packed his bags and set off alone.

He was reluctant to take the big road, because that would attract disgusting glances. As a result, Ma Bi, who was only a teenager at the time, could only walk alone on small roads, even mountain roads.

Maybe this is fate, Ma Bi met a monk in a mountain, and the monk was also going to the imperial capital, and he didn't dislike Ma Bi's appearance, so the two of them went together.

On the way, the monk found that Ma Bi's natural spiritual root was not bad, so he taught Ma Bi to cultivate. Ma Bi is indeed very talented, and when he arrived in the imperial capital, he had already successfully built the foundation.

Cultivation can improve people's temperament and appearance, so Ma Bi, who has experienced more than three months of cultivation, is very different from before at this time, although he is not a talent, but he is a little charming, with the unique temperament of a monk, he quickly integrated into the circle of candidates who came to the imperial capital to participate in the examination.

It takes 100 days to build a foundation, and during this period, Ma Bi did not review and prepare for the exam, so he naturally failed the exam.

Out of rejection of his family, Ma Bi stayed in the imperial capital.

......

Zheng Xiujie has a father who is a waiter, and his childhood and youth are still very happy, at least in the imperial capital, he can still eat very well. Later, his sister was elected to the palace, and was favored by Emperor Guangwu and became a high-status concubine in the harem.

However, "Uncle Zheng Guo" did not become arrogant because of this, but he became a prodigy who studied seriously and became famous at a young age. And the first time he participated in the temple exam, he was on the high school emperor list, and became the flower hand-picked by the saint.

The spring breeze is proud, and you can see all the imperial flowers in one day. As a new science and technology jinshi, a tanhualang hand-picked by the saint, Zheng Xiujie sat on horseback and shook his head, feeling that he was already on the road to the top - a great future was in front of him.

The roadside was full of pedestrians, and they all cast envious or admiring glances at him, although he had been accustomed to such gazes since childhood. The warm sunlight shone on his body, and he squinted comfortably.

"Da, da. "The sound of horses' hooves stepping on the wooden bridge is crisp and pleasant.

The ghost made the god stumble, Zheng Xiujie glanced to the right.

He saw the silhouette of a woman.

The long hair is like a black waterfall, hanging down to the waist. The sun falls on it like a ripple on the water. The side of the face is delicate, like a breeze caressing the cheeks.

Later, he learned that it was a woman in a green building, called Ye Ye.

"Grant Tan Hua Lang is the fifth grade of Hanlin Bachelor. Zheng Xiujie kowtowed to thank him, but he no longer had the joy of riding a horse and watching the flowers that day, but ...... The thorn called regret stung him all the time.

As a figure with a face in the imperial capital, his father naturally would not let him marry a Qinglou woman.

On the way home, Zheng Xiujie's head was groggy, and he unconsciously ran to the shore of Yingyue Lake.

The sky was dark, dark clouds were thick, and there were bursts of thunder behind the clouds. A short time later, a heavy rain fell.

"It's raining!" he ran to the eaves of the "Zuixiang Building" on the side of the road to take shelter from the rain. The shopkeeper of Zuixianglou was familiar with Zheng Xiujie, and when he saw this situation, he teased: "The spring breeze was proud to explore the flowers that day, how can you look like this now!" Zheng Xiujie laughed: "The saint is still afraid of thunder, what does it matter if the ordinary man is afraid of the rain?" The shopkeeper laughed: "Do you want to come in and have a drink?" ”

Someone has a treat, this cheap can't be taken advantage of, Zheng Xiujie entered the drunken fragrance building, and drank with the shopkeeper with a few side dishes.

Before the hour, there were not many tourists on the shore of Yingyue Lake, and there were only two people in the drunken fragrance building, Zheng Xiujie and the shopkeeper. He stared at the endless rain curtain in a daze.

"What's the matter?" asked the shopkeeper.

Zheng Xiujie came back to his senses, smiled and waved his hand: "How can there be, what can I have on my mind?"

Zheng Xiujie didn't want to say, and the shopkeeper naturally wouldn't ask, and the two of them sat and drank, and no one spoke.

The drizzle is densely woven obliquely, like an endless melancholy, the long street echoes with the sound of the breeze blowing the leaves, and the dingdong sound of the rainwater drops falling on the bluestone slab seems to be far and near, crisp and long. Inky clouds swirled in the sky.

Zheng Xiujie suddenly felt a tingling pain in his heart, and a figure slowly walked from the depths of his memory, from blurry to clear. It's her!

For some reason, he remembered the girl under this unclear sky. But the sea of people is vast, and passing by is already a great fate, so how can you ask for more?

Suddenly, in the depths of the gray-white rain curtain, a bright color came into the pupils. Zheng Xiujie's heartbeat stopped. "It's her!" he said with great anticipation. Closer, it was really her! as if she had come out of his memory. His heart beat suddenly, and his breathing became rapid. She ran under the eaves of the Zuixiang Building—also to hide from the rain.

Finally, I saw the haunting silhouette again. Zheng Xiujie suddenly became overjoyed. It's been a long time since I've had such a real euphoria. As a child from a wealthy background, Zheng Xiujie is very precocious, he has tried his best to suppress his desires since he was a child, and tried his best to pretend to be a prodigy who studies seriously, for the face of the Zheng family, he seems to have never been so happy.

The long waterfall-like hair hung quietly, and there were still a few droplets of water hanging on the long hair, like a few green snails on the surface of a calm lake. Willow frowned slightly, looking into the distance. The beautiful side face makes this vast rain curtain fade into a distant background.

His lips squirmed, but he didn't make a sound.

After all, the shopkeeper was old-hearted, got up and walked to the door, wanting to call her in to take shelter from the rain. For some reason, Zheng Xiujie was a little nervous, and his hand holding the chopsticks couldn't help but tremble slightly.

A flower suddenly bloomed in the rain. The sound of clogs tapping on the bluestone slab is pleasant to the ear. The flower was approaching in the rain, and the face under the flower was as warm as jade. Her frowning brow suddenly expanded, and the corners of her mouth curled gracefully. He took her into his arms.

The clogs tapped lightly on the bluestone slab, and Zheng Xiujie's heart burst out with the crisp voice. She snuggled up to him and drifted away, the rain curtaining the whole world, fading them into a distant background.

Good strong wine. Zheng Xiujie smiled and rubbed the corners of his eyes.

The shopkeeper also smiled: "That's Zhuangyuanlang." He paused again: "How handsome!"

I don't know who he's talking about.