Snowflakes were flying at night, but the moon-seeing plum tree in the elegant courtyard of Weijia Jianzhuang was still blooming.
Gongsun Yao stood under the tree and looked at the thin flakes of snow piled on the toes of his shoes. He scratched the bumps from bee stings a few days ago, and brushed off the snow flakes from the petals of some plum blossoms on the branches nearby.
A figure came lightly. When Gongsun Yao saw two big mandarin ducks painted on the oil-paper umbrella held by the figure, he knew it was Wei Zhongyun.
She carried the brocade bag and came to Gongsun Yao's side. The two looked at each other and smiled in perfect understanding, their smiles full of sweetness.
Wei Zhongyun handed the umbrella to Gongsun Yao and reached out to brush away the snow on his head, face and shoulders.
Then he opened the brocade bag in his hand, revealing a shiny black wooden box containing several small snacks.
Gongsun Yao took the wooden box, holding an umbrella in one hand, and only said: "Sister Zhongyun's hands are so skillful, what a beautiful dumpling."
"These are the dumplings I made..." Wei Zhongyun flattened his mouth and said, "You can eat it. It's been cold these days, and you have to go on a business trip, rush back to attend lectures, and meet a few classmates. It must be very hard to practice the tricks at the Divine Weapon Conference!"
Gongsun Yao brought the wooden box close to his mouth, picked up a dumpling in his mouth, and ate it wholeheartedly. The dumpling did not look very impressive, but the taste was not bad. He smiled slightly and said, "It's not hard at all."
When Wei Zhongyun heard what Gongsun Yao said, he didn't feel happy, but felt a little sad. She took the wooden box, gently picked up other snacks, and fed them to Gongsun Yao.
Gongsun looked at Wei Zhongyun's slender jade fingers from a distance. He was a little startled, but he still stuttered and couldn't help but blush. Seeing Wei Zhongyun pinch another snack, he said: "Sister Zhongyun, if... things go smoothly, I will invite my family members to come see Master Wei and Mrs. Wei. It is always not good for us to eat secretly under the tree every night."
Wei Zhongyun was silent at first, then sighed, blew out a cloud of white mist, smiled bitterly, stuffed the snack in his hand into Gongsun Yao's mouth, and said, "If it's not good, why are you still here?"
Gongsun Yao tilted his head and thought for a long time, but could not think of any other reason, so he had to tell the truth: "Because I really look forward to being alone like this with Sister Zhongyun. I think about it during the day and also think about it at night..."
Wei Zhongyun blushed, knocked Gongsun Yao on the head, and said with a smile: "When did you learn to say these sweet words? Who taught you?"
"No one taught me!" Gongsun Yao defended.
"You just said that if it goes well..." Wei Zhongyun picked off a small plum blossom, played with it in his hand, and said thoughtfully: "But what if it doesn't go well?"
Gongsun Yao closed his eyes and opened them again. His eyes were full of confusion and he couldn't answer.
Wei Zhongyun gently hugged Gongsun Yao and said in a trembling voice: "Can you give up your original plan? We can think about it again and come up with better ways."
"There is no better way..." Gongsun Yao gently pushed Wei Zhongyun away, his expression no longer confused, but resolute. His eyes were shining, and he spoke slowly, his voice was low, but his momentum shook the mountains.
"Sister Zhongyun, I have been practicing swordsmanship and studying in Xin County for many years, and rarely go out. When I came to Laihu, I just wanted to repay my old friend's kindness. I don't have many friends, and I don't understand the love between men and women. Only after I came to Jianzhuang did I believe that there is a world of love between men and women. In addition to the love of relatives and friends, there is also the love of men and women. You are the woman I love most in my life, but at this moment, I have more important things to do than this. It is not my business alone. ⋯⋯If I succeed, I will marry you and devote my whole life to taking care of you and loving you. If I fail, you will forget me..."
When Gongsun Yao said this, he hugged Wei Zhongyun tightly into his arms.
Wei Zhongyun was trembling and unable to make a sound. She felt the heat coming from Gongsun Yao's body due to excitement. She was still chewing on the fact that it was rare for this silly young man to say such a heartless confession, but the end of his words left her frightened and desperate. .
She closed her eyes and choked out: "I will never forget you...you must succeed..."
The snow was falling heavily, and the two chatted quietly for a while. Wei Zhongyun finished feeding the snacks in the box and was about to leave. Suddenly something occurred to her. She took out the pocket of her cotton-padded jacket and took out something. She handed it to Gongsun Yao and said quietly: "Tie it to your sword. When your heart is full of sorrow and hatred, look at it... Between us, it is not just your business. I will wait for you in this life..."
Gongsun Yao took it. It was an ornament. It was two golden flower leaves tied with a knot. One leaf was engraved with——
"Pray for heaven's protection"
Another golden flower and leaf adorns the head⋯⋯
Another one...
****************
"Zhongyun! Zhongyun!" Gongsun Yao shouted, his body writhed and he sat up, feeling pain like burning all over his body. Even though the surroundings are dark, you can still see things around you wherever you can.
Wei Jing squatted by the water pool ten steps away, with his pants down to his knees, looking at him with a crooked face. He was shocked when he saw him wake up with a cry. The two were silent for a long time, and then Gongsun Yao spoke.
"Brother Wei, you..."
“…I was shitting, you finally woke up!”
Gongsun Yao braced himself and forced himself to stand up, only to feel that he was teetering on the edge of collapse. The wounds all over his body were hurting, and it was almost impossible to tell where the pain was. He had only taken two steps before he fell.
Suddenly, something big came up from behind and pressed against him. It was warm and furry, and it was Qianli.
"Qianli..." Gongsun Yao was a little surprised, feeling sad in his heart, and hugged Qianli and rubbed his face.
"You passed out on the horse at that time. I rode the horse to hide underground and go to the lake. Your horse can't understand human language. I told it to go east and it turned to the west. It ran and ran underground, jumped here, and went up. I’m not going..." Wei Jing washed his buttocks with pool water, clapped his hands, and put on his pants.
Gongsun Yao nodded, staggered towards Wei Jing, looked around, and asked, "This is the underground lake you mentioned."
"Yes, this is the third floor underground... No, maybe three and a half floors. It looks like this, it's scary! You have to be careful about the monsters in the water, called 'crocodiles', which are more ferocious than lions and tigers!"
Gongsun Yao didn't know whether he heard it or not. He slowly squatted down and wanted to take a sip of water.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Wei Jing shouted.
"My mouth feels so dry..."
Wei Jing picked up Gongsun Yao and dragged him to the other end of the beach, saying, "That's the shitting area. You have to drink water at this end, otherwise you will drink my shit..."
Wei Jing saw that Gongsun Yao was not quite conscious yet, so he fetched water and gave him a few sips, and then told the story of how the two of them ended up in this underground pool.
"Oh, there's really nothing we can do now... You're injured, and I can't swim. What should I do if I'm stuck here..." Wei Jing helplessly jumped onto the boulder, hugging his knees and saying.
Seeing Gongsun Yao kneeling by the pool in a daze, and calling him twice but getting no response, he loudly said: "Don't be dazed by the water for nothing. Didn't I tell you that there are monsters in the water!"
When Wei Jing saw that Gongsun Yao still ignored him, he angrily jumped off the boulder and tried to pull Gongsun Yao away, but he saw tears streaming down his face, crying towards the pool, and murmuring: "Grandpa... Grandpa..."
Wei Jing had no choice but to know that the plan to assassinate Li Mi was leaked and Gongsun's family, young and old, were all killed. Gongsun Yao's grief at this time must have been even greater than that of his sister Yu Xue.
Wei Jing didn't know how to comfort him. He could only think about Wu Yufu, his father, and sister Yu Xue. He shed a few tears with Gongsun Yao. The two of them knelt and stood by the pool in a daze for a long time. .
Wei Jing seemed to have thought of something. He took out the golden flowers and leaves from his trouser pocket, handed them to Gongsun Yao, and said, "By the way, when I was looking for useless things on you, I found some money, lighters, and this thing. Son, this is what my cousin Zhongyun made for you, right?"
Gongsun Yao was originally dull and silent, but when he saw the golden flowers and leaves, his heart was shocked. He took it, stared at it in his hand for a long time, felt strange, and asked: "How do you know that Sister Zhongyun made it for me..."
"You've been in a coma all day, talking in your sleep. In addition to calling you grandpa, you also shouted to kill Li Mi. The third sentence was to call my sister Zhongyun's name... What's written on it is "Hope for peace in the distance" "Except for my cousin, could it be that my uncle made it for you?" Wei Jing spread his hands and said.
Gongsun Yao looked at the golden flowers and leaves intently for a while, then carefully put them back into his pocket.
The two of them stayed together on this small beach for a long time. It was early spring and the weather was still cold. The two of them slept next to Qianli's body, so they would not contract typhoid fever.
Gongsun Yao's injuries were good and bad. Fortunately, Wei Jing still carried the medicine that Taoist Wang gave them when he applied it to the two of them. Seeing that Gongsun Yao's face was ugly, he fed him some and applied it to some serious parts of Gongsun Yao's body. of injuries.
