In the depths of the mountains and forests, at the end of the river, the peach blossoms are everywhere, a little peach blossom is revealed in the green mountains, a small stream flows lightly through the peach forest, the breeze blows, the two peach blossoms sway with the wind and gently fall on the water surface, accompanied by the slowly flowing stream and disappear into the distance. A secluded path paved with stones along the stream, there is a different artistic conception, the secluded path is tortuous and long, through the peach forest, the stone road is hidden, the surrounding dense forest is a piece, a big banyan tree is particularly conspicuous, the green vines are around, the green leaves cover the body, the banyan tree waist hangs a peach wood card, and there are several beautiful words "Beauty Valley" written on it.

The flowers and plants in the valley are thick, the bamboo forest is lush, the small bridge is flowing water, the Xuanshe is dotted, the Qianmo is vertical and horizontal, staggered and meandering, and the layout of the residence is quite hidden. The Valley of Beauty is divided into five small valleys by a meandering stream, which are the East Valley, the West Valley, the South Valley, the North Valley, and the Middle Valley.

In the center of the middle valley, there is an open place, gathered a group of young girls, dressed simple but exquisite, with a white scarf on their faces, and an intoxicating fragrance overflowing all around, giving people an inexplicable sense of mellow joy. They were divided into five teams, led by five old women who were nearly forty years old, and it seemed that they should be the stewards of the five valleys.

After a while, with a slight cough, an old lady on crutches walked out of the house with a young and beautiful woman.

The old lady is the valley owner of the Beauty Valley, although she is incapacitated, her appearance is slightly younger, and she has a peach blossom carved with a cane in her hand, and the workmanship is very fine.

The two servants brought a wicker chair and placed it behind the old lady, who sat down slowly. Then he said in a tough tone to the girls outside the Xuan House:

"The first day of the next month is the five-year 'Talented and Beautiful Woman' Festival in the Beauty Valley, which is not only a grand event in the valley, but also a grand event in the whole world. ”

"Bi Yan," the old lady shouted.

"Bi Yan is here," replied Bi Yan, a woman in a pale green dress on the left.

The old lady instructed: "Recite the rules of the 'Talented and Beautiful Day' to everyone." ”

"Yes, Lord Valley. Bi Yan replied, took out a pale yellow cloth from the cuff, and read aloud to the words on it:

"According to the rules of the valley, the first item of the 'Talented and Beautiful Woman' Festival, 'Beauty', the girls in the valley compare their talents with each other, and select the best talent for the beauty of the Valley; ”

The old lady got up slowly and said, "The first exam will be arranged on the fifteenth day of this month, everyone hurry up and prepare well!"

The stewards of the valleys then led the maidens away in different directions, and the women walked gracefully when they left, and they were full of ladylike temperament.

There is a girl in a pure white dress in the middle valley team, her right hand is tightly holding the jade bracelet on her left wrist, and if you look closely, it is the bracelet that Zongzheng left for Xianjie, although the girl is veiled, her watery eyes are shining with a little soft light, and she can vaguely be recognized as Xianjie.

A month after Zongzheng left, Xianjie felt that a person was bored in the deep mountains, so she decided to come out to find Zongzheng, and it was a small town, and the people in the town were attracted by Xianjie's beauty, so she didn't envy others, Xianjie also noticed the little girl Zongzheng saw in the crowd, and saw that her life was pitiful, so she gave it to Huanxi bluestone, and then went to the south, and then was stared at by the outer line scattered by the Beauty Valley, and stunned Xianjie with food。

Although Xianjie has a mastery of martial arts, but the layout of the beauty valley is exquisite, and it is very difficult to go out, so she hides her martial arts and constantly explores the road out of the valley.

The valley stipulates that the women of each valley are not allowed to make friends with the women of other valleys, and they must wear a veil to show people before participating in the 'Talented and Beautiful Woman Festival', so in the past six months, Xianjie has been wearing a veil to show people, although the sisters in the valley get along day and night, but they have never seen each other's faces.

Xianjie returned to Zhonggu Luzhu Xuan with the team, and dozens of women stood in an orderly manner in the Xuan, and the steward held Juan Pa in his hand, and said with a solemn expression,

"Beauty Valley every year to select a batch of beautiful beauties outside, you through the beauty of the valley of care**, not only have a stunning appearance, but also have unparalleled talent and temperament, is the dream of many men beauty. The rules that Miss Bi Yan said are only part of it, and according to the rules of the valley, I can now inform you of the rest of the rules, and I think you have heard of them. ”

When all the girls heard the tone of the steward's words, their hearts were all uneasy, some with their heads bowed, and some with dull eyes.

The steward looked at all the women in front of him, walked up to one of them unhurriedly, and continued,

"Beauty Valley for decades of operation, relying on both official support, but also the support of the forces of the rivers and lakes, the beauty of the valley of the 'beauty', naturally can rely on their own way to find the best of luck, but the rest of the people are not so lucky, the primary election did not pass the people to stay in the beauty valley as slaves for five years, and then sent to the nobles for life as slaves, through the primary selection will be given to the officialdom one by one, good luck is loved, enjoy endless happiness;

The steward moved his body and slowly walked towards Xianjie, Xianjie was not afraid, but secretly happy in her heart, she knew that her opportunity to leave the Beauty Valley had come.

The steward continued: "I have made it clear what I should say, now there is still a period of time before the 'Talented and Beautiful Woman' Day, there will be no special person in these days, the first test on the fifteenth day of this month, you can do it yourself! Go back!"

The girls did not stop talking, but returned to their rooms unhurriedly.

It was night, starry, through the green bamboo window, Xianjie looked at the starry sky, stroking the jade bracelet on her left wrist, and her heart was filled with a trace of melancholy.

"The vast stars, the vast sky, I don't know where my brother is now?"

Looking back at everything in the room, the paintings on the bamboo wall, the dance skirt on the bedside table, and the guqin on the couch, it is true that she likes these things very much, but the situation in front of her makes her feel like a tool for fiddling with those objects, and she can't help but add a sense of sadness in addition to melancholy. Although I had heard such rumors before, I always felt that this day was not coming so soon, but when this day was getting closer and closer, there was an inexplicable feeling in my heart, Zhou Zi looked at the dim candlelight in the room, and felt quite sad.

After Zong Zheng got rid of the people of the Zongjian Sect, he continued to run south, inquiring about Xianjie's whereabouts all the way, but all the inquiries were in vain, and there seemed to be no trace of Xianjie.

Time passed day by day, affecting the hearts of the two lovers, and Zong Zheng went all the way south to the hinterland of the Southern Song Dynasty.

With the delivery of the invitation to the Beauty Valley, all the dignitaries and nobles, the knights of the rivers and lakes have received the invitation, for a while, between the rivers and lakes, the officialdom set off a wave of 'Talented and Beautiful Woman', the Southern Song Dynasty lord has always liked to dance and ink, which has contributed to the elegant atmosphere of the dignitaries and nobles, so the 'Talented and Beautiful Woman' is quite influential, but how can it not be with a very treacherous scheme!

On this day, Zong Zheng came to a post pavilion as usual to rest, outside the turbid sun was scorching, the heat was permeated, and Zong Zheng was sitting on the side of the pavilion.

Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves sounded, and a few young men came, followed by a large group of entourages, looking at the dress of several sons, it should be a high-ranking official and nobleman from Lin'an, and they tied a few horses outside the pavilion.

A few people swaggered into the pavilion, and the entourage could only dismount and stand on both sides of the pavilion pillars.

"Hey, don't you get to the side, don't you see that we are going to sit down in the pavilion?" said a noble prince loudly to Zongzheng with a fierce appearance, who seemed to be very uneducated, and quite arrogant and domineering of a wealthy and prominent family in the capital.

Zong Zheng didn't want to cause trouble, and he didn't want to entangle with such people, so he got up lightly and walked to the outside of the pavilion near the railing to rest.

After several noble sons saw Zong Zheng leaving, they sat down around the pavilion.

The princes shook the folding fan in their hands, behaved elegantly, and talked about the 'Talented and Beautiful People's Day', what they talked about was nothing more than how beautiful and talented the beauties in the Beauty Valley were, Zong Zheng had only Xianjie in his heart, in his eyes, Xianjie was the most beautiful and talented person in the world, so he didn't care at all.

Suddenly, a man dressed in light blue clothes said: "The beauties of this Beauty Valley are all personally selected by Beauty Valley outside, but if the beauty billets are favored by Beauty Valley, they will make some means to be stunned and quietly smuggled to the valley, and then after some **, it is naturally both talented and beautiful!"

After hearing this, Zong Zheng suddenly thought in his heart, could it be that Xianjie was also targeted by the people of the Beauty Valley and secretly brought to the Beauty Valley, thinking of this, his heart couldn't help but tremble, there was no trace of Xianjie all the way, plus Xianjie had just entered the world, and her heart was simple, so it was difficult to guarantee that she was not calculated by the Beauty Valley.

The son, who had just shouted at Zongzheng, took out the invitation from his arms and slapped it on the pavilion, and a 'pop' sound brought Zongzheng's eyes and thoughts back.

I only heard the boy say: "Since this son has got the invitation, he naturally has to take the invitation and go back with the beauty on his back." ”

The sons laughed for a while, and then mocked and bantered.

Zong Zheng made up his mind to go to the Valley of Beauty, so he ignored these people and wanted to leave quietly.