In the middle of the night, the waning moon rose, and the clear moonlight was blocked by the indoor lights outside the window lattice. Beside the small ebony table, a brazier with a square outside and a round inside emitted scorching heat. The black charcoal was crowded one by one, burning into darkness.
It is red, very much like the color of roses, and occasionally it makes a "peel" sound and makes a dry and cracking sound.
On the ebony desk, there are dozens of black and white chess pieces scattered on the torre wood chessboard. The two people sitting opposite each other spend less time watching the chess game and more time staring at each other in silence. They will be separated at dawn. There is really no leisure time in Go.
The desire to win.
Xie Daoyun rubbed his chin with his fingers and said, "I'm sorry." He untied the crown under his chin, placed the lacquer gauze crown beside the chess case, and said, "The autumn wind was strong on the road, and the belt was tied tightly, leaving a deep mark.
."
Chen Caozhi looked at Xie Daoyun's man bun with a smile. He had seen Xie Daoyun's long and lush hair in Cao'e Pavilion. At that time, the maid Liu Xu was changing her back to women's clothing. Chen Caozhi said: "Brother Yingtai can still dress up
How many times a man?"
Xie Daoyun lowered his voice and did not speak with the strong nasal Luoyang accent. His voice was as deep as a flute, and he said: "When you come to Jiankang, I will come to see you dressed as a man."
Chen Caozhi thought: "Jiankang Wuyi Lane, Wang and Xie families are adjacent to each other. If I go to visit Xie Xuan, will my cousin Zhu Yingtai show up?" He said: "I can't go to Jiankang for a while. My uncle and Xie Xuan are close to each other."
Brother Cong is in Jiankang, and I don’t know what happened to the naturalization matter?”
Xie Daoyun said: "Huan Da Sima's proposal for the Eighteen Provinces to jointly discuss the issue of the six poor families becoming scholars is probably the plan of Xi Jinjia. Xi Jinjia's eyes are higher than the top, so he can appreciate you so much and sincerely help you.
, Zizhong is really amazing, even though you can't go this time, people in the capital will be more curious and expectant of you, and the matter of Qian Tang and Chen's becoming a scholar is not necessarily hopeless."
Chen Cao said: "There is nothing we can do now, we can only wait."
Xie Daoyun sighed softly: "Originally, I, the Xie family, could help you, but now my fourth uncle has been defeated and dismissed. I don't know how to deal with it. The foundation of the Chenliu Xie family - Yuzhou must not be preserved. That Huan Da Sima is a bit of a help."
He wants to kill people with his sword, but Yuzhou will still fall into his hands."
Chen Cao said: "Since An Shigong has come out of the mountain, the Xie family will make a comeback. I respect An Shigong the most. He will be a great hermit in the mountain and a famous official in the world."
Xie Daoyun smiled and said: "Zizhong only met my third uncle once briefly, and only heard about it on weekdays. Why do you respect my third uncle so much?"
Chen Cao said: "Brothers Yingtai and Youdu are both great talents. The uncle who taught them is naturally someone who will admire them."
Xie Daoyun looked at Chen Caozhi seriously and said, "Zizhong, why do I feel that your words are flattering? I don't like it."
Chen Caozhi said calmly: "I only tell the truth. Does Brother Yingtai think that Mr. An Shi does not deserve this honor?"
Xie Daoyun said: "Deserved."
Chen Cao said: "That's not right."
Xie Daoyun smiled and suddenly asked: "Zizhong, do you know that Lu Na's son died of illness?"
Chen Cao said: "It's Changkang. I didn't know until the immortal people came here this time. I went to express my condolences from my brother Chen Shang."
Xie Daoyun hesitated for a moment and asked, "Did my brother Xie Xuan say anything to you this time?" When he asked this question, his expression was normal and his voice trembled slightly.
Chen Cao said: "After asking a few questions, I said that Brother Yingtai wants to be my lifelong friend and nothing else."
Xie Daoyun said "hmm", lowered his eyebrows, rubbed a shiny jade chess piece in his hand, raised his eyes for a while and asked: "Zizhong, I'm not some handsome brother, I'm still a woman after all, if I want to marry someone else, just marry someone else."
It’s impossible to be your lifelong friend. If I want to be your lifelong friend, I can’t marry someone else. It’s a dilemma.”
Chen Caozhi was speechless.
Xie Daoyun smiled sweetly: "I don't mean anything else, I just feel that as a woman, it is impossible to have a close friend, so I have liked to dress up as a man since I was a child."
Chen Cao said: "If possible, I will come to visit you. Now, let me play a piece of music for you."
Xie Daoyun said happily: "You have what you wish for."
Chen Caozhi, who always did things in an orderly manner, said: "This chess game can't be played anymore. I have no fighting spirit." He put away the chess pieces first.
Xie Daoyun smiled and came to help pack the chess pieces into the chess box. Her fingers touched the back of Chen Caozhi's hand. Chen Caozhi's hand was warm, while her fingers were as cold as jade chess pieces——
Chen Caozhi was unaware and said: "Let the moonlight enter the house." He blew out the wild goose lantern, stood up and walked to the window, opened the wooden window, and the cold moonlight immediately poured in and spread out in a diagonal pattern on the floor.
The slanted piece is like a piece of water cut from Mingsheng Lake in the distance, floating in the room without flowing.
Chen Caozhi took out the Keting flute and bathed in the moonlight. The green Keting flute exuded a soft luster. Chen Caozhi's hand holding the flute was also as white as jade. He flicked his fingers a few times and leaned forward slightly. It was wonderful.
The sound of the flute gurgled out like a trickle of clear spring——
The rose-red charcoal fire of the brazier bloomed silently in the darkness and moonlight on the four walls, burning one after another and in silence. Xie Daoyun sat by the brazier, guarding the warm charcoal fire, listening to the lingering sound of the flute, time stood still, or flowed backwards, everything
The lost beauty can come back again, and the fragrance of flowers, trees, grass and leaves can be smelled in the nose. At this moment, Xie Daoyun actually wants to sit like this until the end of the world——
When the flute sounded, the voices of debate and cheers outside fell silent for a while. Xie Xuan, Xu Miao, and Gu Kaizhi each sat upright and listened. They felt that fresh and pleasant breath was constantly emerging with the fingers of the flute player.
Hearing this kind of music on such a quiet night makes people feel that life is really beautiful. It seems that from now on, winter has passed directly and ushered in spring with lush flowers and trees. All kinds of emotions are so beautiful.
The sound of the flute stopped, and Gu Kaizhi outside was the first to praise: "Zizhong, this piece of music is wonderful. It doesn't have any of the sentimentality of the past. It's just fresh and pleasant. What's the name of this piece?"
Chen Caozhi placed the Keting flute in a small wooden box, looked at Xie Daoyun, and replied: "The title of the song is "Spring Is Always Here"."
Xie Daoyun said "hmm" and was very moved in his heart. Spring is always there, spring is always there. This is Chen Caozhi's heart -
Chen Caozhi got up and took the wild goose lantern and went outside to make a fire. Xie Daoyun took out the Ke Di Pavilion from the wooden box. The cool flute could no longer touch Chen Caozhi's warmth, but there were bright wet marks on the mouthpiece.
The spit marks left by Chen Caozhi when he played the flute have not been wiped clean.
The rest of the night was Gu Kaizhi's moment of pride. He had just listened to Chen Caozhi's music and was in high spirits. He kept chanting poems with his Gu Sheng.
Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun both went outside to cheer for Gu Kaizhi, and Xiaochan brought hot wine and sweet cakes to everyone.
Everyone gathered together happily, unaware that the east was white.
After breakfast, Xie Daoyun and Xie Xuan said goodbye to Chen's mother Li and set off for Jiankang. Chen's mother Li earnestly told her to come back to Chenjiawu when she had time in the future.
Before leaving, Xie Daoyun suddenly said: "There is one more thing I almost forgot to give to Zizhong." He took out two thin volumes of stele stickers from the carriage and handed them to Chen Caozhi: "Zizhong, this is the one in Cao E's ancestral hall.
This is the rubbing of Cao'e's stele written by Handan Chun. This is the rubbing of Cao'e's stele written by Wang Youjun. You once said that in autumn you would go with me to the Cao'e temple on the other side of the Yan River to make rubbings by yourself. Later I knew that you couldn't come, and I
I'm going to Jiankang, so I crossed the Shan River alone at the beginning of the month and drew two strips of water to bring to you."
Chen Caozhi, Xu Miao, and Gu Kaizhi sent Xie's sisters and brother through the small pine forest. Xie Daoyun said: "Zizhong, immortal people, Changkang, don't send them off again, just say goodbye."
Chen Caozhi knew that Xie Daoyun did not want Xu Miao and Gu Kaizhi to know her true identity. If she was sent to Fenglin Ferry and saw Xie's fleet entering Beijing with many people talking about it, she, Zhu Yingtai, would be exposed.
Gu Kaizhi said: "Today's farewell is not as melancholy as in the past, just because after listening to Zi Zhong's wonderful song "Spring Is Always Here", I feel that our generation is in its prime, and parting is for the sake of meeting again next time, so there is no need to be too sentimental."
Chen Caozhi smiled and said: "Changkang is right, there is no place in life where we don't meet."
Chen Caozhi and the others watched Xie Daoyun and Xie Xuan leave in a car. The three of them walked slowly back to Chenjiawu, but they saw Liu Shangzhi striding over and asked, "Where's Brother Yingtai?"
Gu Kaizhi shook his head and said with a smile: "Brother Shangzhi, I didn't come yesterday but only came today. Brother Yingtai has already gone far."
Liu Shangzhi said: "We can't go far, so I'll catch up and say goodbye."
Chen Cao said: "There is no need to say goodbye. We have gone far. Come, let's admire Wang Youjun's monument to Cao E." He thought to himself: "Xie Daoyun must be washing off the powder on his face in the car and combing his hair again.
Returning to female makeup, it’s worth rushing over to tell her how to meet her!”
…
That night, as usual, Chen Caozhi had a conversation with his mother and played music for her. Her mother had no deep feelings for "Spring Is Always Here" and only liked "Remembering Old Friends" and "Qinglian Song".
Chen Caozhi has been sleeping in the outer room of his mother's bedroom these days. At midnight, when he put on his clothes and went to the inner room to see if his mother was sleeping peacefully, he saw that his mother was awake——
Chen's mother, Mrs. Li, was awake most of the night. When her son came, she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep soundly. This time she opened her eyes and said, "Chou, take a hawthorn pill."
Chen's mother, Mrs. Li, slowly chewed the hawthorn pills, handed the heater to her son, and said, "Hold the heater, mother has something to say to you." Then she said that she wanted Xiao Chan to serve him.
Chen Caozhi shook his head in shock and said: "My son does not need Xiaochan to accompany him to bed. He is still young. If there is a good family, it is better to marry sister Xiaochan."
Chen's mother, Mrs. Li, said: "No excuses, this matter has been settled."
Chen Cao said anxiously: "Mom, your old man is in poor health right now. My son doesn't want to think about anything else but that my mother will be in better health!"
Chen's mother, Mrs. Li, said: "Okay, then you promise mother to treat Xiaochan well and keep her by your side - with Xiaochan taking care of you, mother will feel relieved."
Chen Caozhi had no choice but to say: "Okay, I'll listen to my mother, take a good rest and don't think too much about these things."