Lu Xu stood there blankly for a long time.
"I think what she said makes sense." Lu Lanshan yawned, "Unless she is a lunatic, she will admire someone who is in tit-for-tat with her all day long."
"Shut up!" Lu Xu scolded.
Lu Lanshan raised her eyebrows and smiled: "You blame me? Lu Xi made it so clear in his words. Let me declare in advance that the reason I don't look at her well is because I annoy her. It's not like someone who likes her in her heart, but what she does is treat her badly. Push away a little bit.”
"...Why?" Lu Xu muttered to himself, "Why...does she hate me? She's obviously...always smiling..."
Ever since she was a child, no matter how much I ridiculed her or laughed at her, she would only curl her lips in annoyance. She was obviously angry, but she would smile again after a while. No matter how much I bullied her, I only saw her eyes red but not red. She cried, but not long after, she was smiling again, as if she was heartless.
"Because you are an 'outsider' to her, she will not show her timid side to outsiders." Lu Yuhao said lightly: "Except for... some special circumstances."
"Brother, you understand her again." Lu Lanshan rolled her eyes.
Lu Yuhao stood up and patted Lu Xu on the shoulder: "It's over, A Xu, don't pester her again."
Lu Xu lowered his head and recalled in a daze that when he was a child, he snatched the jade pendant from her waist and threw it around with a smile. She yelled and came to grab it. In the end, the jade pendant fell into the lake. She lay on the shore and watched with red eyes. For a long time, those big eyes were filled with tears, and even the eyelashes were soaked in a row, but they still refused to fall.
In an instant, he had inexplicable emotions. He liked to see her frowning in embarrassment, and wanted the tears in her eyes to fall because of him.
Only now, it's all over.
Lu Xu looked up and saw the cold wind blowing on his face. He had never felt that winter had been so cold before.
*
Qiong Yi did not stay in Yinyi Garden to eat, but went out to find Zhu Yunluo outside the garden. Seeing that Qiong Yi had come to spend the night with her, Zhu Yunluo immediately got up and went to heat food for her and put it on the small wooden table.
"A Luo is the best in the world!" Qiong Yi hugged Zhu Yunluo, sat at the small wooden table, picked up her chopsticks and started eating. Although it was leftovers, she ate them like delicacies.
"You." Zhu Yunluo held up her chin and saw her eating as usual, and chuckled: "Don't be in a hurry, eat slowly, no one will compete with you." Qiong Yi took the rice in his mouth, and suddenly thought of something, coming from behind He took out a candlestick from the package: "Aluo, this is for you. I heard that this candle will burn forever. You sometimes have to work as a female worker at night, so it happens to be useful."
Zhu Yunluo was doubtful: "Is it true?"
"Try it." Qiong Yi continued to eat, and after a while he cleared the dishes: "A Luo has to accompany me tonight. I'm going to wash the dishes." After hearing what she said, Zhu Yunluo got up and went to make the bed. When Qiong Yi returned, After the two washed up, they lay on the mattress together.
Qiong Yi lay down on his side: "It's been a long time since I spent the night with A-Luo." She held Zhu Yunluo's hand, "A-Luo, a lot of things happened today... I also met Lu Xu on the way here and had an argument with him. Got a fight."
Zhu Yunluo moved her body: "What's the noise?"
"It doesn't matter what the quarrel was. It's just that as we were talking, I remembered the unhappy things in the past..." Qiong Yi felt a faint pain in her heart, "I started to feel sad..."
"It's all over." Zhu Yunluo held her hand tightly, "It's all over."
"Um."
After being quiet for a while, Qiong Yi called her again: "Aluo, I still have five or six taels of silver in my package. I earned it by doing some idle work at the school. You can use it to pay off the debt."
"What should I do with your money?" Hearing what Zhu Yunluo said, Qiong Yi twisted and leaned on her side, "Take it, I don't have any daily expenses. If you don't accept it, I will throw it away."
"A lot of things happened during the study that I didn't write in the letter. I'll pick out the interesting ones and tell you about them." Qiong also told her about the interesting things that happened in Qingfeng Town. Finally, she said lightly: "I I also found some clues about my life experience, Ah Luo, I may be from the West Desert."
Zhu Yunluo looked at her purple eyes and nodded: "If you can find your parents, will you... stay with them?"
"They abandoned me cruelly. I will definitely come back and live with A Luo." She closed her eyes and vowed angrily.
Zhu Yunluo smiled and said: "You are no longer with Young Master Sheng? Is it possible that you still need to take me with you?"
"This..." Qiong also opened her eyes and suddenly asked her: "Aluo, where should you go after you pay off your debt?"
"I plan to wait for you to become a disciple, and we will go back to the house where grandpa lived before he was alive. I asked about the news about my uncle and grandpa, and it is true that the house is still reserved for me. It is not like I have nowhere to go. Now you have found a lover. , I will go back alone. But I will wait for you to marry into the Sheng family and settle down before quitting the fortification here. When I return to Grandpa’s hometown, I will regain my livelihood, so don’t worry about me."
Qiong Yi felt sad and lowered her eyes, "Aluo, what you said makes it sound like I'm going to leave you after Sheng Jin likes me."
"It should be like this." She replied: "Qiong Yi, if Sheng Xuanyuan really cares about you, he will consider your future path. You two have made a love. If he doesn't marry and refuses, then ...You kicked him."
"Huh?" Qiong also thought about it again: "Well, you are right, but relationships have to be done step by step. I really never thought about getting married. In the past, I always thought that Aluoding could find a good family. Yeah, I don’t want you to go far away now.”
"Qiong Yi, you have become a Taoist and detached from the secular world. You don't have to worry about the rules of the world and marrying with hairpins." Zhu Yunluo said lightly. She caressed Qiong Yi's cheek, "When you grow up, you have to consider everything carefully. I don't want you to agree with me." Same, working day and night for a living.”
"I don't want A Luo to be like this either!"
Zhu Yunluo smiled, "Well, most people are like this. Making more preparations will make you feel more at ease. Go to sleep." After that, she turned off the bedside lamp.
Qiong Yi closed her eyes lightly, still thinking about the future, and fell asleep after a while. Zhu Yunluo only heard her even and steady breathing, "Qiong Yi... Sometimes, I really envy you." Zhu Yunluo Touching her cheek, her slightly cold index finger touched down from the corner of her eye. The pink surface was soft. She rubbed it with her thumb for a while, then withdrew her hand and turned over to sleep.
Qiong Yi opened her eyes, and the figure behind Zhu Yunluo looked so thin and frail. She wanted to touch her, but couldn't reach out her hand.
*
Sheng Xuanyuan returned to Luoyao a few days later.
The Sheng family has been guarding the land and water of Luoyao since ancient times. Their mansion is located on Baifen Mountain. According to legend, this peak was created by the ancient ghosts of Yin and Yang to calm down, and the earth's ghosts were suppressed below to protect the peace of the central land. Baifen Mountain is the most steep peak in this continuous mountain range. It is hidden deep in the clouds and mist, making it difficult for ordinary people to find and reach. The mountain road is steep and there are ferocious animals on the way. Looking up from the foot of the ridge to the Baifen Mountain, I feel that it is so majestic and so deserted.
According to legend, when the sky is clear and the clouds and mists have cleared, you can still see the jade platform on the peak, Jiuyi Platform, from the bottom of the mountain. But these are just casual conversations among the people of Luoyao under the mountain after tea and dinner.
When Sheng Xuanyuan returned to his mansion, he heard the sound of drills coming from the school grounds in the distance. Before he entered his residence, a house called "Jingxuan", he saw his mother, the head of the Sheng clan, outside the courtyard. Madam, Shen Wei.
Shen Wei has a pair of phoenix eyes under her cool and cold crescent eyebrows, showing a bit of fierce aura. She has not applied any makeup on her cheeks, her lips are light in color, and she is wearing a neat and elegant gown that slims her figure, but she can't tell the slightest bit about her personality. Mother's grace and dignity return.
He bowed his head and called her lightly: "Mother."
"Why are you coming back so late? The disciples in the clan have been practicing for nearly seven or eight days and you just rushed back? You are not worried about missing the practice." Shen Wei said coldly, "Go back to Jingxuan Pavilion to purify yourself and drive away the dust on the way. , Shen Shi started practicing."
"Yes." Sheng Xuanyuan replied, and after saying that, he walked straight to the back of the courtyard. Shen Wei looked at him for a few times and stopped him, "Sheng Jing."
"What's the matter?" Sheng Xuanyuan only stopped and did not turn around.
"Why is your soul so mutilated?" Shen Wei walked to his side and wanted to explore his soul. Sheng Xuanyuan walked forward without saying a word. Shen Wei had long been used to his temper. , flicked his sleeves, turned around and walked away.
Sheng Xuanyuan returned to Jingxuan Pavilion and opened the wooden door that he had not returned for a long time. The interior of the house was decorated as usual. There was not a trace of dust on the floor, shelves, and bookcases. It must have been cleaned by servants every day.
He walked to the hanging sword platform where the swords were placed, put down the long bow and quiver on his back, and placed the Shadow Sword firmly on the empty orchid stand in the center. After placing the weapon, he took off his robe and wore only a single coat. As if he thought of something, he raised his hand to untie the indigo knot that bound his hair. His hair fell down on his shoulders. He played with it. Knot walked to the window sill. Outside the window was a sea of clouds and invisible mountains. Sheng Xuanyuan's eyes did not look into the distance, but fell on the edge of the window sill - there were some string wires nailed crookedly, and they had been worn and rusted. There are exactly seven strings, more or less. Could it be the seventh string on some piano? He raised his hand and plucked the rusty string. The string made a clanking sound. It was neither crisp nor pleasant, just a very ordinary vibrating sound. Sheng Xuanyuan withdrew his hand and folded the knots together. I found a pine box in the cabinet and put it in carefully. He held the wooden box and looked at it for a long time before placing it in the cabinet.
When he pushed the door open, the cold wind that hit him made his hands and feet cold. He let the wind blow and let his body gradually get used to the temperature. The pavilion was empty and deserted, not even a single figure or sound could be seen. This kind of silence was a little far away from him, which made Sheng Xuanyuan feel strange for no reason, but he would soon get used to it.
Stepping on wooden clogs, he walked towards the bathroom with a creaking step. He saw an old attendant guarding the door and saluted him: "Young master, you are back."
Sheng Xuanyuan waved his hand and said nothing.
"Go back, young master, the second young master is taking a bath. If you need to cleanse yourself, I will arrange for someone to boil water immediately."
"No need." Sheng Xuanyuan said in an indifferent voice, "I don't want to wash myself. If Madam asks, just tell me that I have been cleansed."
How could he think about taking a bath? He walked around the house and couldn't find the tail. Could it be that the junior brothers were raising it by themselves?
The old waiter cupped his hands and said, "Yes."
Just when Sheng Xuanyuan was about to leave, the door of the bathroom was opened. The person inside was wearing a thin coat and a thick robe. His black hair was still stained with water drops, and his voice was low and cold: " Are you back today?"
Sheng Xuanyuan looked back and saw his brother's expressionless face as always.
His second brother and second son, Sheng Zijing.
