[I'm really sorry, I haven't fully thought out the follow-up plot yet, and I'm still working hard to reorganize the outline, so I can't write the main text yet. QAQ But in order to prove that I don't have a eunuch, I just prepared the ones in the previous outline period that are no longer needed. Some materials are shared with you in the form of extras. 】
[This extra is free and has nothing to do with the main plot. It tells the story of "What if Gu Xu and Lu Shiyao were born in the same era". It is for entertainment only. If you don't like it, you can skip it. 】
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1. Spring trees
When Gu Xu first visited Lu Mansion in Qingzhou, spring was returning to the earth, and the grass was growing and orioles were flying.
Before that, he had heard from many people that this mansion occupies a large area and is magnificent. It can be described as "the mansion of the gods in Jinmen and Yuhu, the home of the concubines in Guidianlan Palace". It is different from the residences of ordinary officials and wealthy families. Same.
When I saw it today, it was indeed the case.
Carved couplets and jade ribbons, embroidered with clouds and lintels. The jade steps of the Jin Dynasty are bright and colorful. Decorated with Chinese cypresses and jade, the scenery shines through the sky. The bright moon shines on the bright wall, and the red pillars glow with lightning... (1)
It seems that no matter how beautiful the words are, how sophisticated the rhetoric is, they are not enough to describe its splendor and luxury.
Gu Xu's second impression of it was "strict rules and numerous etiquettes."
There is order between elders and younger ones, and there are distinctions between seniority and inferiority. Men and women are not allowed to sit at the same table, and concubines are not allowed to sit at the same table. Etiquette when meeting, seating arrangements when eating, clothing on different occasions, value specifications of gifts, and even the order of using chopsticks... are all very strict.
Because of this, although Gu Xu had a polite smile on his face and greeted everyone calmly, he was actually paying attention and caring at every step, not wanting to cause unnecessary trouble by admitting the wrong person or saying the wrong thing. .
As a time-traveler, and an orphan from a civilian background in this life, Gu Xu was used to being free, but now in such an environment, he undoubtedly felt a little depressed, feeling like a golden bird that accidentally got into Caged wild sparrow.
After lunch, Lu Huan, the chief minister of the Daqi Dynasty cabinet and the head of the Lu family, asked his eldest son Lu Bingde to take Gu Xu around the compound to get to know the young people of his generation.
After all, Gu Xu was considered the most dazzling genius among the younger generation of Da Qi Dynasty.
Lu Huan also hopes that his juniors can form friendship with him. When Gu Xu reaches his peak in the future, he will also be able to support the Lu family's descendants.
It would be even better if he could be recruited as his son-in-law.
"Master Gu, this is my sister Lu Wanru. She has been very talented since she was a child. She knows everything about music, chess, calligraphy and painting."
"Master Gu, this is my sister Lu Jingshu. She is a cultivation genius of the younger generation in our family. She is sixteen years old this year and has already broken through to the third level."
"Master Gu, this is my cousin Lu Huaixin. Although he is only six years old, he is already familiar with etiquette and knows how to humbly give pastries and fruits to his brothers and sisters."
"..."
Gu Xu followed Lu Bingde, walked through the winding corridors and beautifully decorated halls, and saw the children of the Lu family one after another.
Both men and women, young and old, are all dressed in embroidered clothes, with gold and silver hair ornaments on their heads, jade pendants and sachets hanging on their waists, looking like gods.
Standing in front of them, Gu Xu looked simple and plain in his dark official robe.
When they saw Gu Xu, these young people all saluted and greeted Gu Xu. The men bowed and the women bowed their knees. Some looked reserved and frightened, or they greeted him enthusiastically, or they pretended to ask for advice on spiritual practice, but in fact were beating around the bush. Flattery and attentive.
Gu Xu responded politely, but there was no smile in his eyes.
He just hoped that time would pass faster so that he could leave this suffocating mansion as soon as possible.
However, at this moment, his eyes caught a plain white silhouette under a crabapple tree in front of him.
It was a girl wearing a snow-white dress, her long hair was combed into a simple pony bun, she was not wearing any gold or silver jewelry, and she had no makeup but her eyes were picturesque.
Tall figure with slender waist.
Where she is, everything seems to fade away, leaving only pure black and white, like a plain ink painting.
At this time, she was standing on tiptoes on a small wooden chair, holding a pair of large scissors in her hand, staring blankly at the branches and leaves of the crabapple tree, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.
"Who is she?" Gu Xu asked Lu Bingde beside him.
"She is my half-sister Lu Shiyao," Lu Bingde replied. "She has always been eccentric and not very gregarious. She just likes to toy with the cats, dogs, flowers and plants in the yard alone. We usually have few Deal with her.”
Gu Xu did not respond.
He pondered for a moment, then took a few steps forward, walked to the girl in the white dress, and asked softly: "Do you need my help?"
The girl named "Lu Shiyao" turned her head and was stunned for a moment, as if she didn't expect that the distinguished guest visiting the Lu Mansion today would take the initiative to talk to her.
She shook her head, subconsciously wanting to refuse.
As a sensitive and introverted person, she has always had the mentality of "not wanting to trouble others" and is used to solving all problems by herself.
But when she once again caught a glimpse of the dark brown spots on the leaves of the crabapple, she hesitated for a while and chose to step down from the wooden chair. She bowed to Gu Xu nervously and said cautiously: "Young Master, this crabapple tree If it gets sick, if the dead branches and leaves are not cut off in time, it will become more seriously ill...but those branches and leaves are too high and I can't reach them..."
When she spoke, her eyes were a little moist, and it seemed that tears might roll out at any time. Judging from her anxious look, it seemed that the disease was not a plant, but a relative or friend of hers.
However, seeing that Gu Xu didn't respond for a while, Lu Shiyao thought that what he just said had offended the other person, and immediately lowered his head and said apologetically: "Sorry, young master, I'll do it myself-"
"——Give me the scissors." Gu Xu interrupted her with a slight smile.
He has already figured out that this crabapple tree should be suffering from "anthracnose" - in the early stage of the disease, small oval reddish-brown spots will appear on the leaves of the plant, and later they will expand into dark brown round spots. In severe cases, most of the leaves will turn black. die.
This requires timely pruning of diseased leaves, dead branches and dead leaves in green areas, and burning them to prevent expansion.
This is not difficult for him to accomplish.
So he took the big scissors from Lu Shiyao's hand, stepped on the small wooden chair, and quickly cut off the dead branches and leaves of the crabapple tree.
Then he moved the small wooden chair and cut off the dead leaves from another angle of the crabapple tree in three strokes.
Lu Shiyao was on the side to help him.
Help him hold the chair and hand him tools.
Gu Xu noticed that because the ground was uneven, every time she helped move a chair, she would always shake and push it first to make sure the chair was stable, then she would purse her lips, nod slightly, and agree with him. Step on it.
Soon, Gu Xu trimmed off all the spotted leaves.
Then he threw a talisman into the fallen leaves, and bright flames immediately appeared on the fallen leaves, turning into black ashes.
At this time, Lu Shiyao took out the handkerchief he carried with him, handed it to him, looked up at him, and said softly: "Master, you just sweated a little..."
Gu Xu looked at the clean handkerchief and her clear black and white, lively eyes, and raised the corner of his mouth and said, "Miss Lu, it's just our first meeting, and you're going to give me your personal handkerchief?"
Hearing his words, Lu Shiyao's face immediately blushed.
She put the handkerchief back and lowered her head, not daring to look into his eyes again.
At that moment, she saw the sweat beads on his face, and she just wanted to give him a handkerchief to wipe the sweat, but she forgot for a moment that in the traditional customs of the Daqi Dynasty, girls' personal handkerchiefs were often regarded as A token of love.
At this moment, she just wanted to find a hole in the ground to crawl into.
…………
After Gu Xu followed Lu Bingde and left, Lu Shiyao slowly raised his head, his eyes narrowed into two crescent moons, and a pure smile appeared on his beautiful and refined face.
She watched Gu Xu's back disappear from sight, then glanced at the crabapple tree beside her, patted its trunk gently, and said to it: "You must remember this young master, he will help you get rid of your illness." Where is my benefactor..."
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That night, Lu Shiyao returned to the house where he lived, opened the drawer, and took out a colorful flower note.
She has few friends in the Lu family.
As an introvert, she prefers to pay attention to her inner world than the noisy external environment.
She can quietly look into the distance all day long, feel happiness from the touch of the sun, or look at the pond after the rain and imagine the dialogue between dragonflies and lotus leaves in her mind.
In her eyes, everything in the world seems to be life with souls and thoughts. They can be happy, sad, laugh, and cry.
For example, today, when she saw the dark brown spots on the leaves of the crabapple, she seemed to feel its pain and heard its low sobbing.
She also likes to record her mood every day with flower paper in different colors, and then hides them quietly in her drawer.
It's like there is a close friend living in the drawer.
She can freely tell him what she sees, hears and feels.
But in addition to recording moods, these floral notes also have another purpose -
Because Lu Shiyao is face-blind, he often cannot distinguish other people's faces and cannot match other people's names and looks in a timely manner.
This is almost a nightmare in the Lu Mansion, which has a large number of people and complicated rules.
So she would promptly record the identity and physical characteristics of everyone she met on flower paper, and force herself to review and recite it over and over again, so as to avoid making a fool of herself and being punished by her elders for admitting the wrong person.
So at this moment, while she was trying to recall Gu Xu's appearance, she wrote on the paper in regular regular script with hairpin flowers:
"Gu Xu, the head of the Exorcism Department, is no taller than a weak crown, thin and tall, with a fair complexion, regular facial features, and thick eyebrows..."
Halfway through writing, she suddenly stopped writing.
Because she felt that it seemed difficult to summarize the young master's unique temperament using these too broad and too popular adjectives.
He deserves to be described in better, more thoughtful words.
So she thought for a while and wrote:
"Bright as a jade tree before the wind."
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2. Summer flowers
Gu Xu visited Lu Zhai for the second time. After receiving the invitation, he was invited to participate in the poetry meeting.
It was June, and the lotus flowers were in full bloom in the Lufu pond.
Among the green leaves, flowers of various colors stand gracefully, the white ones are as pure as jade, and the red ones are as bright as clouds. The tender stamens are condensed and dripping, and the fragrance is refreshing.
Under the convocation of Mrs. Lu, the young people of the Lu family gathered at the waterside pavilion in the pool. This place has windows on all sides, winding corridors on the left and right, and is connected to the shore by a bamboo bridge.
Through the window, you can see the panoramic view of the pond, just like being in a painting.
Since the ancestors of the Lu family in Qingzhou once entered Taoism and became immortals through poetry and painting, the Lu family has always focused on cultivating the poetry attainments of the younger generation. Everyone hopes to stand out in poetry gatherings and be praised by everyone and appreciated by their elders.
Because he was delayed for some time by the exorcism department's mission, when Gu Xu arrived at Shuixie, most of the poetry meeting had passed.
The young people of the Lu family and the invited guests were all sitting around a round table. On the table were pens, inks, paper and inkstones, as well as fruits and pastries.
There are two bamboo tables nearby, one with cups and chopsticks and wine sets, the other with tea spoons and tea sets. Each has a maid fanning a stove to make tea or scalding wine.
The theme this time is "Lotus".
Can compose poetry and lyrics.
According to the rules of the poetry meeting, participants need to write their works on Xuelang paper, and then tie them to the wall with a needle to receive comments from everyone.
In addition, each participant can also receive several lotus-shaped stickers - when they see the work they admire most, they can put the lotus sticker on it.
The author with the most lotus stickers at the end will become the leader of this poetry meeting.
"Master Gu, all that's left is your masterpiece." Mrs. Lu stood up and said to Gu Xu with a smile.
The maid next to him came forward and respectfully handed the brush and Xuelang paper into his hands.
Gu Xu politely thanked him.
At the same time, his eyes passed over the men and women in rich clothes beside the round table, and landed on a slender girl in the corner of the waterside pavilion.
She sat in the shadow of the room, lowered her head, and looked at her toes.
Everyone was wearing brightly colored silks and satins, and sparkling gold and silver jewelry. Only she was dressed in plain white, like a goddess in the moon palace or a fairy in the world, and was incompatible with the surrounding environment.
Gu Xu did not start composing poetry immediately.
He first glanced at the works of the Lu family's children on the wall.
He must admit that the Lu family is indeed a scholarly family. The works of these young people are basically neat in rhythm and gorgeous in rhetoric, and they praise the beauty of lotus flowers to the fullest.
Although it is not particularly stunning, it is still quite satisfactory and can be barely complimented with "literary talent".
However, if he compared these poems with the masterpieces he had read in his previous life, he would find that they were stiff, old-fashioned, and lacked a lot of emotion.
It's not like he was inspired.
It's more like "telling sorrow in order to compose new words".
In order to show off their skills, many young people even use many uncommon words and little-known allusions in their poems, which makes people confused.
Gu Xu did not speak to comment.
He glanced at the surrounding buildings with red and red inscriptions and carved inscriptions, and thought of the complicated and strict rules of the Lu family. He felt that in such an environment, it was normal for young people to write poems that were gorgeous but lacked soul.
Next to these works, there are more or less several lotus stickers.
As for the work that has received the most lotus stickers, it is Mrs. Lu's work "Ode to the Red Lotus" - in Gu Xu's opinion, this is also a work that cannot be faulted, but it is also mediocre and cannot be said to be excellent.
It received the most votes apparently because of the dignity of its authorship.
It's like "My District Chief Father" won the first prize in an essay competition.
Gu Xu suddenly felt a little bored.
…………
A few minutes later, his eyes fell on the song "Remembering the King and His Grandson".
The content is as follows:
"There is a small pond where cattails are hunted by the wind. After the rain, the lotus flowers fill the courtyard with fragrance. Plums and melons sink in the ice and the snow cools. On the square bamboo bed, I work on my needlework and have a long afternoon dream." (2)
After seeing this poem, Gu Xu had this picture in his mind——
After the rain, the water plants in the wind made a strong sound, and the fragrance of lotus filled the small courtyard. The young girl lay lazily on the bamboo square bed, enjoying the plums and melons that were put in the well and chilled with cold water. She just felt cool and comfortable. In this case, she no longer had the heart to do needlework and just wanted to take a nice nap.
It must be said that the language of this word is fresh and refined, simple and natural, and it outlines a vivid picture with just a few strokes. It is full of life interest and stands out among many works that are filled with gorgeous rhetoric.
And its signature is "Lu Shiyao".
"I didn't expect that in a place with strict rules like Lu Mansion, a girl with such a true temperament would be born," Gu Xu sighed silently in his heart, "It's really interesting."
While he was thinking, he glanced at the girl in the white dress in the corner again.
The girl noticed his eyes and turned her head nervously, pretending to stare at the dragonflies on the pond, not daring to look at him.
Gu Xu smiled.
He couldn't help but imagine how cute this girl, who was shy and shy in front of him, would look like while lying on the bamboo bed and eating iced plums in private.
But at this time, Gu Xu noticed that such a fresh and natural work failed to get even a lotus sticker.
It is unexpected and reasonable.
Who said Lu Shiyao was just a concubine with a low status?
In Lu Mansion, a place where status and bloodline are extremely important, it is difficult for her poetry to be truly appreciated by others, and it will only attract others' neglect and jealousy.
Gu Xu sighed softly, then sat down at the table and wrote quickly.
In an instant, a seven-character quatrain appeared on Xuelang's paper:
"There are many plain flowers that are deceived by others, but this flower is really suitable in Yaochi.
"Who knows that there is hatred when there is no ruthlessness? When the moon is clear and the wind is clear, it is about to fall." (3)
After writing, he handed the Xuelang note to the maid next to him, who then tied it on the wall.
The content of this poem naturally fell in Lu Shiyao's eyes.
She glanced at Gu Xu quietly, then quickly turned away.
At this moment, she only felt that her nose was sore, and two lines of clear tears poured out of her eyes disobediently, soaking her snow-white collar.
A ray of breeze ruffled her black hair, but she didn't notice it.
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Late that night, Lu Shiyao sat quietly at his desk as usual, writing his feelings on colorful flower paper.
She wrote every word slowly and carefully.
During this process, the corners of her mouth inadvertently raised slightly - Lu Shiyao rarely smiled and usually had little expression on her face. People said she was withdrawn and cold.
But when she really smiled, she looked sweet and pure, like an orchid blooming, refreshing the heart.
I saw her writing——
“This world shouldn’t make me so happy.
"But he showed up."
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Note:
(1) From Zhang Heng's "Xijing Fu" and Wang Yanshou's "Lu Lingguang Palace Fu" in the Han Dynasty;
(2) Song Dynasty·Li Chongyuan's "Recalling Wangsun·Xia Ci";
(3) "White Lotus" by Lu Guimeng in the Tang Dynasty; read ten thousand volumes
