Since Luo Xu and Qi He arrived, Luo Qi, You Yan's legitimate son and protégé, had not shown up for a whole afternoon.
They were assisted by Wei Qingxuan, arranged a temporary residence, and repaired the house. It was not until the evening when the banquet started that they gathered together.
Originally, Chu Shou planned to hold a banquet at noon and return to the capital quickly.
Zhan Yingshao stopped Chu Shou and refused to let her hold a banquet at noon. He complained that it was against the rules and gave Chu Shou a few more cups of Qingzhou specialty tea. He pulled her and talked a lot about this adult and that adult.
.
Zhan Yingshao and Qi He were sworn enemies when they were young. They fought against each other many times for the sake of Ming Qi and You Yan. However, You Yan was a vassal state of Ming Qi. With the momentum of the country behind him, Zhan Yingshao often ridiculed him both inside and outside.
This old rival.
Chu Shou was tired of dealing with it and asked Zhan Yingshao why he was so nervous.
Zhan Yingshao nodded nonchalantly, pretending to be fine, thinking in his heart that he was indeed a little nervous to see this old friend.
Song Yanqing and others from the Metropolitan Procuratorate were not idle either, grabbing Wei Qingxuan to search for evidence of his crime.
Wei Qingxuan was miserable. Not only did he have to host a banquet to welcome envoy You Yan, he also had to cooperate with the Metropolitan Procuratorate to investigate him.
The banquet started with melodious music, which is unique to Qingzhou. It resembles the sound of insects and birds. It is as fresh and refined as being in a bright green mountain forest, which is refreshing.
Chu Shou couldn't help but quicken his pace as he listened to the music over there. She had been snoozing lately, and Zhan Yingshao, Master Zhan, kept talking about things, and she was tired of listening.
But it doesn't matter if you overslept. You Yan has been doing evil things in his own territory recently because of the copper mine. He is obviously doing evil things. His Majesty doesn't know how to think about it. He actually swallows it and says something about taking into account the interests of the two countries.
Friendship is just a vassal state. Did you think about this friendship when you accepted You Yan?
First the assassins in the palace, and then the Qingzhou Copper Mine. He tolerated both incidents. It was really not like His Majesty's style. He was afraid that he would be given some leverage, so he gave in so peacefully.
Chu Shou thought like this and walked slowly again. He listened to Zhan Yingshao chattering about etiquette all afternoon. As the princess of Mingqi, he arrived late. Well, it was really very etiquette...
Keep walking along the road and pass by a small pond, which is hard to see in autumn.
The pond is surrounded by lotus leaves and lotus flowers, one after another, covering the pond. Occasionally, the breeze passes by and ripples, lifting the coat of lotus flowers, letting the moon peek at the blue shadows in the pond before it is willing to give up.
It's really a beautiful scenery, but Chu Shou doesn't think so. When the wind blows, it smells so damn fragrant, it's like drinking a bottle of lotus lotus lotus lotus lotus for shampooing, filling the nasal cavity, screaming like crazy.
Just as I was turning a corner, I bumped into something.
"Yo?"
Chu Shou exhaled softly, covering his forehead with his hands, and when he looked up, he saw that very familiar face.
Song Yanqing looked different today than usual. It turned out that although her posture was a bit lazier, she was full of life, and her eyes had natural arrogance, as if she was describing a cold and aloof look in a storybook, looking down on all living beings.
But now... he is walking on the road with his head slightly lowered and nodding, his face is full of thoughts, inexplicably filled with sadness and helplessness, and his figure has also shrunk a bit.
He bumped into Chu Shou and turned his head sideways as if he was lost. He was about to pass by the side. Chu Shou had quick eyesight and raised his hand to stop him. He asked in confusion: "Where are you going? The banquet is about to begin.
Already."
Song Yanqing allowed her to stop him without saying another word. Chu Shou quietly raised his fingers and counted - August and a half.
It was the day when his brother was welcomed by the Wu clan, which was quite a coincidence.
Originally there was supposed to be only one Heavenly Official, but his elder brother died in his stead.
At that time, Song Yi was seventeen years old. The disaster that his younger brother could not avoid was the glory of the whole city.
He clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and swore that he would not let his younger brother suffer such a disaster in vain, so he made an agreement with his family to replace the Heavenly Official, and then went into exile.
Song Yi drank a glass of poisonous wine, and the Song family held a funeral.
Red damask was hung high all over the house, and spells with yellow paper and red characters were posted everywhere, large and small, attached to the walls, windows and doors. There was a copper basin the size of a palm in nine steps. The smoke slowly rose into the sky with the flames.
There are strings of black slender bells hanging on the left and right sides of the corridor, shaped like burnt finger segments. When the wind blows, they collide with each other and make a muffled sound. The sound of the bells follows the wind and surrounds the entire mansion.
The mourning hall has already been set up, with mourning flags hanging in layers, which looks particularly eye-catching in the red mansion. There is a coffin in front of the hall, but there is nothing inside except a jade pillow.
Almost everyone in the city came, and there were crowds of people inside and outside the house. Both men and women were all dressed in plain clothes, taking off their hairpins, holding red cloth strips in their hands, and kneeling with special piety.
The weather was gloomy, with dark clouds covering half of the sky. As the wizard in the mourning hall continued to chant intermittently, the wind and sand became stronger and stronger. No one dared to look up at the scene in the mourning hall. They only closed their eyes and clenched the red cloth in their hands, enduring it.
This is a time of joy and mourning, and it is also a day when God has endured all suffering and returned to heaven. No one dares to cry, just because they are afraid of staining the blessings given by God and making it impossible for them to be safe and smooth in the future.
The envoys of the Wu tribe had already chosen the blessings of the gods. Deep in the mountains and forests north of the city, they closed the coffin with a click. As if they had heard the oracle, everyone began to kowtow in unison, clasped their hands, and silently recited blessings to the gods in their hearts.
With blessings and his own expectations for the future, the messenger lit the funeral flag on fire, the flames jumped up, and the ashes flew behind the coffin, like a phoenix reborn from the fire, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.
At this time, everyone got up. They had to rush home before the fire burned out, tie the cloth strips in their hands to the highest point, close the doors and windows, and wait for the next day.
When the funeral flags are burned out, it is time to carry the coffin into the forest.
Song's father and Song's mother gave Yao'er the task of tying red cloth strips. Song Yanqing, who was fourteen years old at that time, stepped onto a pavilion built on a high rockery at home for the first time. There was a tree not far from the pavilion.
, the branches that grow wantonly spread to the side of the pavilion and take root towards the gap at the bottom of the pavilion, as if to support the entire pavilion.
The mourning flags burned out, dark clouds covered the sun, and the entire Cangjia City was shrouded in black air pressure, as silent as midnight.
Song's mother hurriedly went up to talk to Song Yanqing, but Song's father stopped her and said, "This child is stubborn, let him alone, he can bear it."
"I have never seen that kind of scene. It's as if someone has dug a hole in the sky north of the city, and the light is pouring down."
Song Yan leaned against the fence of the pavilion, stretched out his hand and gently touched the lotus pond beside him, and spoke as if there was no one around, as if he was really lost in memories.
"As soon as the light appeared over there, four or five black crows fell out of nowhere. They fell straight in front of me. I knelt down and couldn't get up or move. I just stared at the crows. I heard that as long as I hang up,
If you catch the red cloth, the heavenly official will bless hundreds of families. If a crow falls under the red cloth, it means the blessing is too deep to bear."
Chu Shou sat opposite, with one foot on the stool and on his knees, supporting his head with the back of his hand, tilting his head and listening to Wu Zhi whispering softly, "Why did you follow me?"
After hearing this, Wu Zhi lowered his eyes, withdrew his hand, slowly put it on the backrest, and raised the corners of his mouth.
"It's too clumsy. Although the workmanship is exquisite and lifelike, it is still not difficult to see that the crow is fake. The feathers are covered with extremely fine stitches. Haha... I should really thank myself for not knowing which rib I put on the wrong crow." Picked it up..."
"Thank you? If you couldn't discover it, wouldn't there be nothing like this? Sometimes the truth is much crueler."
"Yeah... Later, I secretly followed them to the north of the city and into the woods. They didn't bury the coffin in the ground at all, but carried it further north, all the way to Younan..."
As Wu Zhi spoke, he stared straight at Chu Shou. It was the first time that Chu Shou saw this young man who was suffering from minor illnesses and serious illnesses. There was some life in the eyes of the young man, not numb, although the eyes looking at him were not friendly. , even a little resentful, and even murderous...
He was like this sometimes. Perhaps even Song Yanqing himself didn't expect that his hatred for the Wu clan was far greater than he imagined.
Chu Shou thought about it carefully and found that this look was not unfamiliar. He had seen it for the first time two or three years ago. However, not only was he not killed, he was also knocked down by himself.
Song Yanqing was shocked, turned her eyes, and immediately regained her wilted look. She moved her eyes elsewhere, leaving behind a cold profile.
The moonlight slid down through the high raised eaves of the pavilion, illuminating the silhouette of the young man's face. Not far away, people were singing, dancing and playing the shengxiao. The sounds dispersed in the night sky, making them appear as lonely as light and shadow.
"Later, my brother was sacrificed to Concubine Rong, the goddess of the witch clan whose life was hanging by a thread in Kyoto. His blood was taken from him, but it was of no use. Only then did the witch clan realize that it was my brother who went there for you."
When they were in Hanyuan, the two of them had whispered about this matter, but it was just a detail, not so detailed. Chu Shou didn't know how to call Song Yi, so he followed Song Yan and called him brother.
Song Yanqing turned his head and raised his eyes. His dark eyes were like the stars in the sky, firm and eternal, and he said solemnly: "Then, the endless escape began..."
"If my brother is still alive, Azhi, what do you want to say to him?"
Chu Shou met Song Yanqing's eyes without hesitation and was extremely firm. Song Yanqing's eyes flickered, he smiled slightly, fell into deep thought, and then spoke:
"I want to ask him...why he lied to me and became a god for me."
Song Yanqing had a hard time opening her mouth. If he hadn't gone to Younan with him, he would have thought like the people in that city that his brother had become a god in heaven and would protect him from illness - at least that's what his brother promised him.
My brother is upright and open-minded. There is only one thing. He has righteousness in his heart. There is no doubt about this. He has been doing good deeds all year round and never cares about gains and losses. There is only one thing. He wants the people who have received aid to go. Chengnan Temple, pray for a peace charm for him who has been weak since childhood...
While my brother was still here, the spring was getting thicker, and there were many pilgrims visiting the temple in the south of the city. They all came to pray for the frail younger brother of the eldest son of the Song Dynasty.
At that time, Song Yanqing was lying in front of the window, watching Song Yi personally hang the peace charms on the branches one by one. The flowers had not yet bloomed, but the trees were ablaze. Song Yanqing was reluctantly happy, and felt happy in her heart. With the gods blessing me, I have the energy to drink the medicine.
The journey to Younan is difficult, even for a family of three, and even more difficult for the elder brother.
His brother often said that he was not a god, but Song Yanqing firmly believed it. At that time, Song Yanqing told himself to stay alive and take good care of his health every day. On such a long journey, their family never thought of giving up and shooting.
There was no way back, so I could only follow that group of people closely and peek at them every day.
but……
My brother is probably a god, otherwise how could he survive after drinking poisonous wine?
Every night in the middle of the night, the coffin that has been hastily parked on the ground always makes a thumping sound, like being kicked, or being scratched by nails, and even blood will seep from the gaps... from time to time, but silently during the day.
The noise was undoubtedly the loudest in the previous nights. The coffin bearers would put talisman paper on the bleeding area every night and suppress it secretly. During the second half of the journey to Younan, there was almost no sound from the coffin.
.
My brother is probably not a god, but he can die and live again, live and die again, and can save everyone but cannot save himself... Is he still called a god?
No, maybe not at all.
It was August and a half of another year. Song Yanqing looked up at the twinkling stars in the sky, wondering which one was his brother who protected and loved him wholeheartedly.
@
The banquet was about to begin, and everyone had something to do. So when Wei Qingxuan and Qi He, the official You Yanzhi, arrived, there was no serious person at the table.
In front of a dark corridor behind the banquet stood two people, one tall and one short, but they looked similar.
"My mother often misses my brother and sometimes can't sleep at night, so I came to ask about my brother's well-being."
Luo Qi smiled contemptuously, he was such a brother and brother, so why should he pretend to be a loving mother and a filial son?
She opened her thin lips slightly and asked casually: "Ankang, how is mother?"
Luo Xu lowered his eyes and smiled, and replied: "My mother occasionally has a headache, and I have my brother by my side. She will definitely care about my father and mother at all times. My brother is in a foreign land, so there is no need to worry."
Then the conversation changed:
"However... my father is very dissatisfied with my brother this time. I came here this time to ask my brother to take over my brother's secret spy network."
Luo Qi turned his eyes slightly and said coldly: "What? It's your turn to be You Yan's proton this year?"
Luo Xu paused, covered his mouth and stood up with a giggle, waving his hands.
"I was just joking, why did brother take it seriously? My father asked me to come here just to see who the big shot who is cooperating with brother is... to see if the chips we, You Yan, hold in our hands are enough, brother told me
Now, I can go back and recover."
Luo Qi stood up, stood facing him, and said solemnly: "He doesn't think that getting some copper mines can turn the world upside down, does he? Hehe, it's still early."
After that, he passed by Luo Xu and walked towards the back. Luo Xu turned around with a smile on his face, looked at his brother's back and said: "In addition to what is in the hands of my brother, isn't there my mother and
Brother you?"
Luo Qi paused, clenching his fists hidden in his robe tightly, his face became solemn, he raised his eyes to look at the hazy night ahead, calmed down, ignored the person behind him, and walked straight forward.