When the sound of the cave flute sounded, the darkness in Lu's mansion faded away together with the cold wind.
The frost mixed with blood melted away.
Doors, windows, walls, corridors, furniture... everything has been restored to its original appearance.
At this time, Gu Xu raised his head and found that the clouds blocking the sky had also disappeared, revealing the distant night sky and the bright stars.
Through the pale starlight, Gu Xu roughly saw the furnishings in the "Suxue Garden" room.
There is a desk next to the window. On the desk are pens, inks, paper and inkstones, the four treasures of the study. The bookshelves next to the wall are filled with old books.
Green gauze hangs on the window.
Through the gauze, one can vaguely see the pond and the Jiuqu Stone Bridge.
There is no magnificence, only a rustic, quiet and elegant atmosphere.
"It is indeed the residence of the 'Suxue Fairy'," Gu Xu commented in his mind, "If it were summer when the lotus flowers were in full bloom, this place would probably look like a fairyland."
However, he did not find the "Jinghong Pen" weapon spirit in this room.
"That little girl said she would wait for us at our destination," Gu Xu thought silently, "Is it possible that we need to meet certain conditions before she will show up?
"Or, what is hidden in this room is not the spirit of the weapon, but the body of the 'Jinghong Pen'?"
A bold guess came to his mind.
He then went into the house and began looking for clues.
His eyes first fell on a portrait on the wall - it was a gongbi painting with delicate lines and soft colors, depicting a woman in simple clothes and a gentle smile.
Because Gu Xu had already memorized all the information related to the Lu family in Qingzhou, he easily recognized that this woman was Lu Huan's concubine and Lu Shiyao's biological mother.
Gu Xu remembered that the information mentioned that Lu Shiyao had been quiet and depressed after her mother's death; and in this room, she hung her mother's portrait in such a prominent position.
"It seems that this Miss Lu's relationship with her mother is very deep!"
Then, Gu Xu walked to the wooden desk.
On this dusty table, there is a piece of yellowed rice paper, on which half of the song "Qing Ping Le" is written in delicate hairpin-flowered regular script.
Its content is as follows:
"The cold rain has begun to fall, and yellow flowers are scattered all over the ground.
"The beauty is gone in the remaining light, and it is no longer as charming as before."
There is only the upper palace, not the lower palace.
And the last few words were a bit sloppy - it seemed as if the author was forcibly interrupted in the middle of writing.
When Gu Xu finished reading this half of "Qing Ping Le", he felt a sense of sadness coming over his face, as if he had seen the scene when the Lu Family Building in Qingzhou collapsed.
If "tragedy" means tearing beauty into pieces for people to see, then this half of the poem is undoubtedly in line with the so-called tragic beauty, and also fits Lu Shiyao's persona of a "melancholic and graceful poet".
"Will the third test set by the spirit of the 'Jinghong Pen' be to ask me to complete this poem?" Gu Xu narrowed his eyes slightly and guessed, "According to the temperament of the literary youth of that pen, It is indeed possible to make such a request.”
However, although Gu Xu has countless excellent poems in his mind, it is not easy for him to complete other people's works.
"This is simply making things difficult for the copycat." He complained in his heart.
…………
Gu Xu was not in a hurry to write lyrics.
He planned to calm down and collect more clues.
So, he carefully opened the drawer of the desk and found that there were countless flower slips of different colors scattered inside, all with Juanxiu's handwriting on them.
He took out a piece of flower paper at random and read it carefully.
I saw it written above:
"The eighth day of February in the thirty-ninth year of Xingde. It was gloomy today and it was raining lightly. I found a kitten in the bushes next to the courtyard gate. It was injured on its leg, limping and meowing. It looked like it was crying. I thought it must be very painful.
"I went to the family pharmacy to get some herbs and gauze to bandage its wound. The little cat was very disobedient at first and kept moving around, but when I smoothed out its fur, it gradually calmed down. I hope its injury May you recover soon!
"However, that night, Aunt Zhou discovered that I stole some herbs from home. She reprimanded me severely and didn't allow me to finish my meal. My stomach is growling with hunger now. Alas, If I had known earlier, I would have secretly hidden some lunch in the house."
…
Gu Xu remembered that Lu Shiyao died in the eighth year of Tianxing at the age of eighteen - based on this calculation, she was only a nine-year-old girl in the thirty-ninth year of Xingde.
Her mother had just passed away at that time, which was the most difficult moment for her in the Lu family.
Gu Xu sighed softly and took out another flower note from the drawer.
…
"April 18th, the first year of Tianxing. In this family, dealing with people is really a very scary thing.
“Because I have never been able to remember faces and it takes me a long time to match faces with names, I often make a fool of myself in front of others and get scolded by my elders.
"Today, two of my father's colleagues came to visit the Lu Mansion. Because I accidentally recognized Mr. Zou, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, as Mr. Wei, the Minister of the Ministry of Hubu, which made my father very unhappy.
"In addition, Mr. Zou gave me a box of snacks before leaving, and I happily accepted it. After all, I have always liked snacks.
"However, my father said that I was 'very ignorant' and asked me to refuse again and again. This is in line with the etiquette of interpersonal communication.
"Hey, why are interactions between people so complicated? Wouldn't it be better to be simple and direct?"
…
After reading the content on this flower note, Gu Xu couldn't help but think to himself: I always thought that Miss Lu was a cold and arrogant talented woman, but I didn't expect that she was not only a social phobia, but also face-blind.
Then he took out the third flower note from the drawer.
…
"On the fourteenth day of the first month of the second year of Tianxing, today is the third anniversary of my mother's death. I am the only one in the Lu family who remembers this day. So I drew a portrait of my mother and hung it on the wall.
"Although my days are lonely, I believe that my mother is always watching me and protecting me in heaven."
…
"On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the fourth year of Tianxing's reign, I am still not qualified to participate in the Lu family's Lantern Festival this year. However, I am very happy to have a book and inkstone to accompany me, hanging lanterns and guessing lantern riddles in that remote courtyard.
“It’s much more fun to spend the holidays with a friend than to go through all kinds of complicated etiquette and say a bunch of boring polite words with a large group of people.”
…
"It's June 28th, the fourth year of Tianxing. Today, I found a dead butterfly in front of the window. Its wings were wet from the rain, and it looked very miserable. I buried it beside the rockery behind the house. It wrote a song "Yes" and then built a simple tombstone for it with branches.
"Shu Yan felt that I was too sentimental. I told her that this butterfly that died in obscurity reminded me of my mother and myself."
………
"On the third day of the twelfth lunar month in the fifth year of Tianxing. I successfully passed the test and became the owner of the 'Jinghong Pen'. My father held a banquet specially for me and invited guests from all walks of life to attend; Mrs. Lu, Aunt Luo, Aunt Zhou, Aunt Wu ... also came to congratulate me enthusiastically and gave me many snacks as gifts.
"But I'm not happy. Because the mother will never be able to see her daughter become successful."
…
"On the sixth day of the first lunar month in the sixth year of Tianxing. I successfully entered the third realm and gained the magical power 'Wisdom Eyes'. With this magical power, I can identify whether people around me are lying, and I can see whether everyone who contacts me is sincere. You can also see the good and bad deeds that everyone has done.
"Shu Yan thinks that my magical powers are useless and not of much help to my practice.
“But with the help of this magical power, I can see clearly this dirty and hypocritical world.
"For example, my father said 'you are my favorite person' in front of various concubines, but none of them was true; for another example, my father's student named Tang Hui, although he was a humble gentleman on the surface, Privately, he has a violent personality and often beats his wife and children..."
…
"On October 13th, the eighth year of Tianxing. My father was about to be executed by the nine tribes for committing treason. Everyone believed that he secretly colluded with the northwest barbarians and intended to rebel.
"But my father told me that the truth of the matter was not that - in fact, he accidentally discovered a secret of the emperor, which angered the emperor and made the emperor have to kill him.
"Using the 'Intelligent Eye' magical power, I deduced that he was not lying.
"As for what the emperor's secret is, he would not tell me even to death."
…
"On the eighteenth day of the first month of the ninth year of Tianxing. I never thought that after death, a person could have a second life in such a magical way.
"But I'm hungry. I want a snack.
“No, I want the soul.
"I want a human soul."
…
"On the sixth day of May in the eighteenth year of Tianxing. A Hong said that the young people of this generation are too bad. No one could pass the test she set.
"I told her, there is no need to worry. A gentleman's revenge is never too late."
…
"October 26th, the twenty-third year of Tianxing. Today, a young man named 'Mr. Changsheng' came to the Lu residence.
"Ah Hong said he was very handsome and handsome.
“But I have never been able to recognize a person’s face, and I don’t know if he looks good or not. I only know that his poems are very good.
"After the poetry meeting, I really wanted to talk to him about why he could write such passionate and heroic poems. Unfortunately, I never had the courage to say hello to a strange boy."
…
After reading this, Gu Xu took a deep breath and put the flower note back in the drawer.
At this moment, in the "Suxue Garden", the blue gauze cupboard was windless and automatic, as if there was someone there.
