I don’t know how much money was burned in Zixun Tower in one day. The secret rooms on several underground floors are brightly lit day and night, making it difficult to distinguish morning from dusk. Han Ling took care of Zheng Yu for several days, but because of the never-ending light, he could not have a moment of leisure.
Even if Wang Xun took care of the two of them, it was quite tiring.
About five days later, Han Ling went to the water room as usual to clean the cloth used to wipe Zheng Yu's sweat. But he was so exhausted for several days that when he arrived at the water room, he felt dizzy and fell straight down.
It's okay to fall down. Han Ling closed his eyes, hoping that the pain would wake him up.
Just go ahead and don't break the tub in his hand.
But he didn't fall to the ground for a long time, and the pain didn't come back for a long time. Han Ling struggled to open his eyes, and when his consciousness returned a little, he realized that someone was holding him back.
He quickly stood up and turned around——
Standing behind him was the little maid whom Wang Xun called "Qin Xin".
Qin Xin was wearing a washed blue short shirt, with a purple belt hanging from her lower hakama, and a cyan jade hanging in the middle of the belt. Over the past few days, Han Ling could see that Wang Xun valued the girl Qin Xin very much, so he hurriedly took a few steps back, put down the wooden basin and saluted, "Han is so offended."
Qin Xin didn't react at all, she just nodded and walked straight into the water room to get water.
Seeing that she didn't care much about it, Han Ling felt relieved, apologized again, and then stepped forward to scoop the water.
He scooped half a ladle of water into the basin, took out a soap locust from his front, and began to wash the cloth in the basin.
Qin Xin brought a small bench, so she didn't have to stand and wash like Han Ling. She also scooped a few ladles of water, and the clothes in the basin became fluffy and stained deeply.
She was much more skilled at washing clothes than Han Ling, and she washed them faster. Han Ling looked at it and couldn't help but feel a little dazed.
When Han Ling was in Mu Mansion, he only did some hard work of chopping firewood and making fires. This kind of work that tested carefulness was not very good. In addition, he hated Mu Yuntong deeply, and the manager of Mu Mansion was even more afraid to let him touch these jobs.
Fifteen-year-old Han Ling once sneaked into the laundry room to cut off Mu Yuntong's newly made robe. As soon as he stepped into the laundry room, he heard an honest voice: "Who is it?"
Han Ling looked around and saw no one, so he bravely said, "I am your father!"
A head was raised from behind a row of counters in the laundry room. A red-faced woman wiped the sweat from her face and said with a smile: "Are you my father? At your age, if I were you, you would still have more breasts."
Han Ling couldn't help but feel relieved when he saw that it was a woman in the room. He boldly stepped forward and hid the hand holding the scissors behind his back.
"Auntie, what do you do?"
The sturdy woman raised her head and glanced at him, and said cheerfully: "Look, what am I doing here?" As she said this, she picked up the clothes that smelled like soap locust in her hands from the basin. He scooped up a ladle of water and rinsed it clean, then held it tightly in his hand and twisted his hands in opposite directions to wring out the excess water from the clothes.
Han Ling glanced behind her - there were piles of dirty clothes like a hill, blue, green, pink, and purple, and he didn't know who had left them. He looked at the woman again, but she took out another piece of clothing from the basin as if she was not tired.
Han Ling couldn't bear it, so he knelt down and asked, "Madam, you are not living well here. Have you ever thought about leaving Mu's mansion?"
The woman wrung out a basin of clothes and hung them up, then poured a basin of dirty water. When she heard Han Ling's words, her red face burst into laughter again.
"Young man, why should I go out?"
Han Ling said without hesitation: "Mu Yuntong has given you so much work, how can one person do it all? How about..."
The woman shook her head and put a pair of warm hands on the top of Han Ling's hair.
"Young man, do you know that I have already washed this pile, and these are the remaining half. It is not worthwhile to give up such a well-paying job for these clothes."
Han Ling felt a little anxious and couldn't explain why. He took a step forward and said, "Mother, do you know that Mu Yuntong bullied men and women and framed Zhongliang?"
The woman's eyes are very gentle, like looking at an ignorant child or a losing temper puppy. Han Ling couldn't help but flinch a little at the look in her eyes.
"Son," the woman said, "I don't need to know these things. I just need to know that Mr. Mu is my employer and a good man who pays wages to my family."
Until he washed the towel, Han Ling never spoke to Qin Xin. Seeing that the clothes in her hands were gradually being washed, Han Ling felt a little regretful - regretful that he had never gotten a word out of Wang Xun's caring person.
He sighed inwardly, picked up the tub, and turned to leave.
To his surprise, Qin Xin called him from behind.
"Mr. Han," Qin Xin's voice was so soft that Han Ling thought it was his imagination for a moment until Qin Xin said again, "Mr. Lang hasn't slept a wink for many days."
Han Ling was secretly happy in his heart. He turned around quietly and sighed, "Thank you for your trouble, Miss."
Qin Xin shook her head: "Don't worry, it's just that my sister is afraid that something will happen to Mr. Lang."
Could this sister be referring to Louzhu Wang?
Han Ling had made an assessment in his heart, so he changed his attitude to be more respectful: "Han knew he was wrong, so he thought about how to make amends. It's just that he was ashamed of the girl and the host."
Qin Xin finished washing the last piece of clothing and was not in a hurry to wring it out. She just raised her head and looked at Han Ling:
"Mr. Han, you have too many things on your mind."
Han Ling was shocked - such a young girl had the courage to say such words. Zixunlou is really extraordinary. The heavier his heart became, the less he dared to show cowardice in this joint, so he raised his hands and saluted, "Han doesn't understand what the girl said. But if he offends the girl in any way, Han will definitely correct it."
Qin Xin took out a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped her hands with a distressed look on her face.
Han Ling did not dare to show any slightness, so he maintained his saluting posture and remained motionless.
When Qin Xin finally thought of something to say, he put down his hands.
"Mr. Han," Qin Xin said, "my sister has never treated you badly, right?"
Han Ling nodded: "Master Wang has saved my life. Han Ling has nothing to repay. He can only repay me by holding a ring of grass in his hand."
Qin Xin shook her head again: "I don't know if you are telling the truth, but when you are in the building, you always act like we have all wronged you."
Before Han Ling could deny it, he heard Qin Xin sigh heavily:
"Han Langjun, my sister really regards Miss Zheng as her own brother, so she was very sad to see her covered with injuries. But my sister knows everything, and Miss Zheng and you are very close, so how can she really make things difficult for you?"
"Even for Miss Zheng, you shouldn't torment yourself like this, right?"
Han Ling looked at the reproach in Qin Xin's eyes and knew that she was definitely not making a mountain out of a molehill. He did not dare to push away the relationship between himself and Zixunlou with distant politeness, so he took a few steps forward and squatted in front of Qin Xin:
"May I ask, girl, what day is it today?"
Qin Xin glanced at him and convinced him that he really didn't know, so she told him frankly: "May 28th."
It turned out that Han Ling had not slept for ten whole days!
Zheng Yu's injury gradually improved. After being bedridden for a month, she finally regained some energy and was able to roll her wheelchair upstairs and tell some jokes with the girls in Zixun Tower.
Many elderly people in Zixun Tower have heard of the reputation of "the second girl from Zhennan" and are older than her, so they care deeply about the gentle and well-behaved Zheng Yu; some who are familiar with Zheng Yu even wish they could She carried it with her for twelve hours. In particular, a girl named Wu from Zixunlou's accounting office even offered to show Zheng Yu the accounts of Zixunlou for three years in order to get close to the second girl. When Zheng Yu refused, he burst into tears laughing.
But after Zheng Yu recovered, he never met Wang Xun.
Since the argument that day, Zheng Yu and Wang Xun had never met each other. Han Ling learned from Qin Xin's news that since Zheng Yu regained his mobility, Wang Xun was often absent during the day "without reason". Whenever Zheng Yu went back to his room, she would come back quietly.
Zheng Yu probably knew about this, but she showed that she didn't care about it, so Han Ling couldn't ask.
In fact, Han Ling understood that there was always a "Zheng Chen" between the two people.
He could see that compared to Wang Xun, Zheng Yu was the one who hoped more - and even believed more - that Zheng Chen was still alive. From the moment she saw the sad black mist of the past and the future, she had little hope but unswerving belief.
When she escaped from Zhennan Mansion, the last thing she saw was her sister. A determined sister, a confident sister, a lively sister with a smile. From then on, her sister would always be a strong and cheerful person in her heart who risked her life to protect her. Such a person will never be defeated by fate or swallowed up by flames.
But Wang Xun's firm belief is more like a verbal prayer.
On the third day after the fire in Zhennan, the news reached Zixun Tower. At that time, she was looking at two similar purchase reports. After hearing the secret message, her frown relaxed and she laughed.
"Don't worry," Wang Xun said, "As long as Aji is here, nothing will happen to Zhennan Mansion."
She even tidied up an inn on the first floor for this purpose, showing her sincerity to welcome everyone in Zhennan.
Wang Xun waited for a month, two months, and nearly half a year. In the past six months, the desk she had carefully arranged for Zheng Chen had accumulated layers of dust, and Wang Xun took the trouble to wipe it again and again.
In the end, she only waited for a letter and a secret report.
The letter was written by Zheng Yu, and the words were filled with tears. It took an unknown amount of time on the road before it was delivered to her. Wang Xun read the letter many times before he understood Zheng Yu's words - "I have no home."
And the secret report contained the number of corpses found in the Zhennan fire:
Six mothers-in-law, six maids, two accountants, two stewards, eight servants, ten nurses... plus the Zheng clan of Zhennan Mansion, there are a total of forty-two people.
Zheng Chen's name was written on that secret report.
Zheng Yu couldn't see through it, so he still had hope. Wang Xun already knew the outcome of the matter and could not argue with fate.
Han Ling felt a little sad when he thought about this.
He once read a book, which mentioned a former king of Jinou, known as Jinshen Zhaodi in history.
When Emperor Shenzhao was twenty years old, he gave birth to his eldest daughter, Princess Rong. He loved this daughter immensely and taught her the knowledge of governing the country since she was a child. Princess Kerong does not like scriptures but prefers martial arts, preferring swords, guns and sticks. Emperor Shen Zhao had always doted on his daughter in every possible way, but he was very tough on the issue of learning martial arts and required the princess not to learn knowledge other than governing the country. The princess is also very stubborn and must practice martial arts. Because of this discord, the relationship between mother and daughter has become very tense.
When Emperor Shen Zhao was thirty-two years old, Beishou was assassinated, and the scene was chaotic. Princess Rong was the only one present who had learned riding and archery. She got on her horse and ordered everyone to retreat. Princess Rong fired five arrows in a row, hitting the leader of the rebellious officials and traitors, but Emperor Shenzhao was hit by a stray arrow and died.
After the death of Emperor Shenzhao, Princess Rong was in deep mourning and spent three years in mourning without succeeding to the throne. Three years later, the Kingdom of Jin'ou was destroyed and Princess Rong disappeared.
In unofficial history, some people say that they met Princess Rong in the fields. The princess looked like a fairy even before she was old. Some people also say that when the Kingdom of Jin'ou was broken, Princess Rong was still compiling the history of Jin'ou, and the history books were filled with the deeds of "Emperor Shenzhao" today.
Most of the memories in the world are like this.
That night, Zheng Yu went back to his room early to rest. Han Ling felt a little depressed, so he said goodbye to her and climbed to the top of Zixun Tower, leaning on the railing to look at the bright moon in the sky.
Recalling that two months ago, he was trapped in a small room with a broom and firewood. Who would have thought that now he could stand in Zixun Tower, with busy traffic and bright lights in front of his eyes, and the bright moon above his head, high and clean.
Tonight, July 17, the bright moon is at its fullest and waning phase. Han Ling gently stretched out his hand towards the bright moon in the night sky, as if holding the moon in his palm.
He clenched his fists and flattened his palms, letting the moon appear in his palms.
Suddenly, the bright moonlight became a little dim. Han Ling rubbed his eyes and saw a few elegant streamers appearing in the middle of the bright moon. Exactly:
As graceful as a startled giant, as graceful as a swimming dragon, with brilliant autumn chrysanthemums and gorgeous spring pine trees. It seems like the moon is covered by light clouds, and the fluttering snow is like the flowing wind. Looking at it from a distance, it is as bright as the sun rising as the morning glow; looking at it from a distance, it is as bright as a flower rising from Lubo. Just like a goddess coming out of the world, just like Chang'e falling into the world.
Han Ling took a closer look and saw that the graceful figure was none other than Wang Xun, the owner of Zixun Tower.
But Wang Xun knew that Zheng Yu had gone to bed, so he quickly ended the entertainment and rushed back to Zixun Tower. With her toes tapping lightly, the moonlight draped over her body like gauze, making her look like an immortal. She suddenly became interested, took out the soft sword coiled around her waist, spun lightly in the air, and danced "Under the Moon" accompanied by the moonlight.
After the dance ended, she took back her soft sword, turned around, and saw Han Ling on the top of the building.
It's past midnight and Han Ling hasn't gone to bed yet. Wang Xun was a little surprised, so he floated down on the roof of Zixun Tower, put away his shawl, and smiled softly: "Mr. Han, why don't you take a rest? Are you worried?"
Han Ling turned his head. Under the moonlight, two lines of tears suddenly rolled down his face.
Wang Xun's heart trembled for a moment. She raised a hand, gently wiped away the tears on Han Ling's face, and asked half jokingly, half seriously:
"Han Langjun, can you understand my dance?"
Han Ling stared at Wang Xun and saw that she was still smiling, but her whole body was like a wisteria flower trembling in the wind. He wiped away his tears and tried to smile, but it was uglier than crying.
"Master Wang, Han has known since he was a child, 'You can't admonish those who have gone by, but you can still pursue those who have come.' But in the host's dance, Han understood for the first time that not remembering the past does not mean that the past cannot be changed."
"Old friends are scattered, things have changed and people have changed. Looking back at the past, it is so sad."
After Wang Xun heard this, he looked at Han Ling for a while, covered his face and laughed.
"Han Ling, you and Xiao Yu are indeed a perfect match." She called Han Ling's name for the first time, "You have too many thoughts on your mind, but that's not a bad thing."
As she spoke, she picked up a small gray stone in her hand and motioned for Han Ling to look over.
Han Ling ignored his blush and stepped forward to stare at the stone. He saw the fragrance from Wang Xun's body gathering on the stone. As the fragrance gathered, the stone gradually turned purple and then became brighter and brighter. , emitting a dazzling purple light.
Wang Xun stood behind the purple light, his voice sounded far away, as if it came from the distant past.
"Han Ling, do you understand?"
