The branches and leaves in spring are gradually becoming denser, and the garden is full of green. Xie Queshan sat at the stone table deep in the bamboo forest, with the green shadow reflecting the faint candlelight shining on him.
He was waiting for her, and when he saw her coming, a faint smile appeared on his face.
With a white-faced jade crown, sword-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes, she looks like a slender bamboo.
Most of the time they got along seemed to be a life-and-death fight, and she rarely saw such a peaceful side of him. It was actually somewhat pleasing to the eye, which wonderfully soothed her nervous mood.
Nan Yi was mentally prepared. Along the way, she was thinking that maybe there was something wrong with what she said that night. She was also impulsive, wanting too much to hear from Xie Queshan Pass that he admitted that he was not a traitor.
But she didn't get the answer, and instead, things took a strange turn.
She should still take things slowly and get everything back on track. If she just made a mistake and guessed wrong, no matter what, she could still eavesdrop on some useful information for Bingzhusi from Xie Queshan.
Nan Yi bravely stepped forward and got straight to the point: "Did you misunderstand me?"
"What's the misunderstanding?" He looked up at her calmly.
"What I mean is, if you are really a traitor, I will fight with you. If you are not -" Facing Xie Queshan's calm and very confused and pure eyes, Nan Yi began to speak as he spoke I didn’t have enough confidence, and the whole plan I had laid out in my stomach collapsed, and my tongue was a little knotted. “Then we can... we can do it, and we can be good partners and good friends. "
He tilted his head to look at her for a while, admiring her incoherence.
Nan Yi thought he was listening to her carefully, and was still thinking about whether she had expressed herself well and how to have a good debate with him.
Unexpectedly, after she finished speaking, he replied calmly: "It's not up to you."
"Why are you so unreasonable!" Nan Yi was a little annoyed and wanted to jump in a hurry.
"Am I a reasonable person?" he asked funnyly.
He took action in the next second, and unexpectedly put his arm around her waist. With a clever move on his wrist, she fell onto his lap.
Just as she was about to say something, she felt his breath brushing her ears and said in a deep voice: "Shh——"
Light footsteps came from outside the bamboo forest, as if several female envoys were passing by. The lantern in his hand casts shadows through the bamboo leaves.
Her arrogance was blocked, and she became docile in an instant. She was afraid that she would not be able to sit still, so she subconsciously grabbed the lapel of his clothes.
Being so close, he slightly raised his head to look at her, his Adam's apple rolling down.
"I heard that the head of the family had a fight with the owner of the Return Hall at home."
"really?"
"Sister Xia, who was rooming with me, saw it with her own eyes... The beating was so brutal. The owner of the family beat the rich businessman until his face was bruised and swollen. He almost couldn't get up. The rich businessman even called people over and almost smashed the wall. The owner didn't ask for anything. When we are ready, we let him go."
As the rumors were spread with added fuel and jealousy, they took on another face.
Nan Yi frowned and looked at Xie Queshan with questioning eyes.
Xie Queshan's eyes were half-squinted, with a glimmer of light in his eyes, and his face was calm, as if he was listening to gossip that had nothing to do with him. The fragrance of her body filled his nose. He could sit here forever, and the sounds outside gradually became insignificant.
"Well, why are you fighting? Is it because the rich businessman wants to marry the young lady?"
"I heard that the owner of the Return Hall and the young lady were childhood sweethearts, but the master refused to let the young lady remarry, so the young lady never got married."
Nan Yi tried to struggle, but Xie Queshan never let go. The two were competing with each other, but they didn't dare to make too much noise.
"Hiss, could it be that the master of the house has some kind of intention towards the young madam?"
As soon as these words came out, there was silence for a moment. None of the female envoys dared to answer these words. It was too shocking.
Several people took a few steps forward, but a younger female envoy couldn't bear it anymore and said: "Speaking of which, the young lady and the eldest son are not married, and the head of the family has not been married for so many years..."
"No way, they are still uncle and sister-in-law after all... This is something that ignores human ethics!"
The older female envoy scolded: "How dare you all? If the master hears these discussions, he will have to sell you out!"
The more Nan Yi listened, the more he felt guilty, and his struggling movements gradually weakened. He didn't dare to move next to Xie Queshan, for fear of causing some noise and causing everyone to follow the sound and see their ambiguous posture...
She felt that all the dancing new leaves in the garden were looking at them, as if there were eyes from all directions. She was untouched after all, her face was as red as if it was dripping with blood.
The footsteps finally faded away.
Bamboo shadows fell all over the body, and the wind passed through the gaps in the forest.
It took Nan Yi a while to come to his senses and suddenly broke away from his arms.
This time the movement was too big, Nan Yi lost his balance and fell to the ground. Xie Queshan stretched out his hand to catch her, but she took a step back as if she had seen a ghost.
"You, don't come over."
Xie Queshan spread his hands innocently: "I didn't even move."
Nan Yi stared at Xie Queshan, the heat on his face had not gone away, and he felt ashamed and annoyed.
She knew that she had to face that he had feelings for her.
She has it too.
Every moment her skin touched, she felt like she was a snowflake floating in the air, and he was like a bonfire in the distance, exuding fatal warmth. She was afraid of the cold and would always get close to him unconsciously.
She also wanted to follow her body's instinct and melt in his hot embrace.
But she no longer believes in love in the world. This is the mark Zhang Yuehui left on her body. The mispayment of time was profound after all. She became wary of dangerous things and refused to fly into the flames.
Just like she thinks Zhang Yuehui is not a bad person, she thinks Xie Queshan should be a good person at heart, but this is two different things from discussing love. In Xie Queshan's long life, if she needed to give up something important one by one, at which step would she be abandoned?
Or maybe she wasn't even important, more like a brief companion when he was lonely.
She was close to him for the first time, and she was about to be swallowed up. No one would care about the disappearance of a snowflake, but she did.
Faintly, as if pleading: "Xie Queshan - what do you want to do?"
A gust of wind passed through, and the stretched bamboo shadows suddenly turned into sharp daggers, floating around the human body. They seemed to be surrounded by a trap full of knife points.
Xie Queshan smiled, and the coldness in his eyes came back a little bit: "Lidu Mansion, sooner or later there will be a victory or defeat. This is a pool of muddy water, let's just die here together. Whatever you want to do, as long as If Qi Ren doesn't arrest you, I won't care about you; you can't care about what I want to do."
Nan Yi was a little bit involved. Thinking about it carefully, didn't this still not tell you what you want to do? She knew that Xie Queshan couldn't play these word games, but she didn't want to be completely passive.
She was sitting on the ground in a state of embarrassment, but she simply sat up on the spot and stared stubbornly into Xie Queshan's eyes.
"Then we need to have a game rule."
Xie Queshan was slightly surprised: "Tell me and listen."
"This is not a negotiation. If you don't agree, I will turn all your plans upside down - you know I can do that."
After a moment of silence, he did not hesitate: "Okay, I agree."
"Between you and me, we can be silent, but there can be no lies."
The incense stick that was stuck in the snow finally burned out, and the last game was over. The position between them has subtly changed, and he is no longer the only one with the power to dominate the game.
It was he who had helped her to a position where she was evenly matched with him, and he had to bear the uncontrollability caused by her.
And he felt that she was incredibly beautiful at this moment. The world is mysterious, there must be an antidote to poison within ten steps, and she is his antidote secretly. She always has a way to pry open his heart. He was too lonely. He was obviously silent, but he told all the truth.
He slowly stretched out his hand towards her. She looked at him with clear eyes and put her hand in his. He pulled her up and hugged her.
This is also true.
He hoped that time would stay on this night forever, with them alone in the mountains and under the night sky.
——
Nan Yi was heartbroken and stayed in Wangxuewu.
The day finally came when it was time to send Xie Qin to Song Muchuan's class. Although the matter did not need to be kept secret, Nan Yi was still very cautious and tried to travel as low-key as possible so as not to attract the attention of all parties.
Bingzhusi secretly dug the "underground city" of Lidu Mansion to reach all the way to the west. There was a secret passage under Song Muchuan's house, which could lead to the small courtyard where Xu Keyue settled.
Nan Yi seemed to have entered the courtyard of Song Muchuan's home to study with Xie Qin, but in fact he was going to the secret passage.
Song Muchuan had to teach Xie Qin in the room and could not accompany Nan Yi. He only exchanged a few words with her and breathed a sigh of relief knowing that everything was fine in Wangxuewu.
Before sending her into the tunnel, Song Muchuan said to her: "Di Ji wants to see you very much."
Nan Yi's steps became faster unconsciously.
Xu Keyue lived with Liang Da and Jiuniang, taking on the original identity of Nan Yi, so that they could take care of each other. After hearing that she was freed, the first thing she did was to write out a copy of the book in silence day and night.
The Yu Dynasty valued literature, and the easiest way to destroy the literati was to burn their books. When the Qi people massacred the city, they burned many books, calligraphy and paintings. She barely managed to save some, but in the end she was still unscathed. Fortunately, some of the books were kept in her mind. Whenever she got the chance, she would rewrite the books and ask someone from Bingzhusi to take them to Jinling for collection.
Xu Keyue also knew that this was just a drop in the ocean. But she just wanted to try her best to do something, as if she could be worthy of these people who risked their lives for her.
Seeing Xu Keyue, Nan Yi solemnly saluted. Standing in this simple courtyard, Xu Keyue, wearing a cloth skirt and jade hairpin, accepted the gift uprightly.
Then she smiled and helped Nan Yi up and pulled her into the house.
His tone also became more relaxed: "One of them asked me how the edict was hidden, and I said they can't reveal it until you come."
Liang Da and Jiuniang echoed from the side: "Yes, Madam Nanyi, I have been looking forward to your arrival today. We are all very curious."
This small courtesy made Nan Yi feel happy.
In fact, at that time in Wanyan Mansion, Nan Yi had little communication with Xu Keyue, and she did not know how the edict was hidden. At that time, Xu Keyue was about to push a heavy gold pendant into her hand.
The golden pendant was an indispensable accessory for the ladies of the Yu Dynasty, but she didn't understand how it could hide the imperial edict.
Xu Keyue opened this exquisite gold pendant in front of several people. It was folded several times inside, and after unfolding it was a thin, small gold foil.
"This is the edict."
Nan Yi leaned over and took a closer look, and finally saw the densely packed characters engraved on the gold foil.
Xu Keyue explained slowly: "Wanyan brought me to Lidu Mansion, and he wanted me to dress up and wear the clothes of a married woman. Other jewelry may be thrown away, but this gold pendant will not. This It is a symbol of identity and status. It is made by the officials themselves. The characters on the gold foil are all chiseled by the officials themselves, and the seals of the jade seal are also rubbed on them. Gold chiseling has been passed down by the Han people for thousands of years. Foreigners will never understand their craftsmanship and wisdom.”
Nan Yi was shocked by this small object.
This is not just an imperial edict, but a heavy thing that has been passed down for thousands of years, pressed on this small gold foil.
It turns out that what we are united to defend is not only the land under our feet, the flesh and blood of our compatriots, but also the cultural heritage that has been infiltrated into the basic necessities of life. Foreigners came in batches and learned some superficial skills, but they could not learn the ingenuity of the Han people. In this way, generation after generation, reaching this point, the bloodline cannot be broken, nor can the inheritance.
