Xiao Lun smiled faintly: "Did you sneak out again this time?"
Zhao Pei frowned and looked at him, pretending to be angry: "This question is very worthless." Her face became more lively imperceptibly, and she realized that the most relaxed and happy time was actually when she was chatting with Xiao Lun. Seeing that Xiao Yi smiled but did not say anything, she said, "King Shaoling is warm and generous, he will not let us mother and mother sleep on the street, right?"
"How could that be?" As soon as she finished speaking, Xiao Lun answered firmly, "I'm so happy that you can come." He looked up at the time and sighed, "It's getting late. If I had known you were coming, I would have come back earlier. You must be very tired after the long journey and waiting for so long. You should rest first and talk about everything tomorrow."
Zhao Pei raised her eyebrows and thought to herself, this is exactly what I want.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Xiao Lun's mansion was indeed very luxurious. Zhao Pei and Han Zhen lived in a house with two entrances and two exits. It was very spacious. There was a study and a flower hall next to the living room. The furniture was made of fine yellow rosewood. The moonlight shone through the exquisite locked windows and cast shadows on the green lotus-colored gauze curtain, which was quiet and beautiful.
Zhao Pei couldn't help but sighed, "Even the guest rooms in your palace are so exquisite and luxurious." The pink-dressed maidservant who was serving beside her couldn't help but say, "Madam, this is not a guest room. It is the best room in the palace. The prince will take a rest here if he is in a good mood."
Zhao Pei was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "I understand. Please thank the prince for me. It's getting late. You can go down. I don't need you to follow me here."
After the maid left the room, Han Zhen stepped forward hesitantly and asked, "Mother, do you have a good relationship with Sixth Uncle?"
Zhao Pei nodded: "He is my best friend." But there was something unnatural in her voice.
Hanzhen made a gesture of sudden enlightenment and murmured, "No wonder, it feels like mother is even more intimate to him than to father." Only in front of Xiao Lun, her and Fang Deng would she show such a natural smile.
Zhao Pei knocked her head, pushed away Han Zhen who was leaning against her, and said angrily: "Go take a shower quickly, you stink."
Everything was ready here, and the second watch had already sounded. Hanzhen was extremely tired, and she hurriedly lay down on the bed before her hair was dry, and fell into a dream in an instant. Zhaopei sat beside her for a while, stroking her head lovingly. The moonlight was clear and bright, and Zhaopei was not sleepy at all at this time. After thinking for a while, she decided to go out for a walk.
She closed the door quietly and took a few steps before she saw a man standing like a jade tree in a pavilion not far away. He was wearing a slightly loose light moon-colored nightgown, with the front of his clothes slightly open, revealing his slender neck and jade-like collarbone and jade-like skin. His hair was pinned up with a hairpin, and the black and shiny hair scattered on his clothes, giving off a lazy and careless temperament. There was always a smile on the corner of his mouth, and his thoughtful eyes wandered around her.
Zhao Pei smiled and walked forward slowly. She stopped when she was a few steps away from him and asked, "Why aren't you sleeping so late?"
Xiao Lun stared at her for a long time, as if copying her in the moonlight. Just like a lotus in full bloom, beautiful and quiet. After a long time, he replied: "The moonlight is very good, I am not sleepy anymore. I just went out for a walk, and unexpectedly, I had the good fortune to meet the fairy under the moon."
Zhao Pei raised her eyebrows and smiled: "I didn't expect that Liu Zhen hasn't changed after so many years. You look like this, who would believe that you are already in your forties?" When she said this, her eyes were clearly full of smiles but also seemed empty.
Xiao Lun ignored her ridicule and asked with a smile: "How have you been these years?"
Zhao Pei stopped laughing and nodded gently: "It's okay. With Han Zhen and Fang Deng by my side, I don't have much to ask for."
"I... I'm talking about him. Is Seventh Brother good to you? I heard that he has many wives and children now." Xiao Lun's eyes were filled with worry and resentment. Zhao Pei smiled back, as if to comfort him: "He is very good to me. Besides, which man doesn't have three wives and four concubines nowadays? Sixth Zhen, you are one of them too. I heard that your Liufang Garden is full of beauties."
She was obviously trying to change the subject, and Xiao Lun had no way of dealing with her. He looked at her deeply, without saying a word. Zhao Pei's smile faded a little, and she smiled awkwardly, "What's wrong?"
He shook his head and smiled: "Nothing." But you are not happy.
Zhao Pei felt somewhat at a loss in such silence, especially with his deep gaze. Just as she was about to speak, she heard Xiao Lun ask, "Is his name Fang Deng?"
Zhao Pei was slightly stunned, but still nodded. However, Xiao Lun smiled bitterly: "Pepei... you still haven't forgotten someone, right?"
She understood who "someone" referred to. The smile on her face gradually froze, and even the light in her eyes dimmed. She lowered her eyes and looked at the moonlight pouring down at her feet. The cloud-shaped embroidered shoes suddenly became empty. "How can I forget so easily? Some things are a matter of a lifetime..." It seemed like she was talking to him, but it was more of a muttering to herself. Sorrow, helplessness, pain... fell from her mouth and hit Xiao Lun's heart hard.
He couldn't help but look at her. The woman was shrouded in the cold moonlight, and her milky white clothes made her look even colder. She lowered her eyes, and her thick eyelashes hid the expression in her eyes, but he could vaguely find some sadness on her face. That kind of sadness was something that time could not erase.
Xiao Lun suddenly realized whether the woman in front of him was Zhao Pei. Was she the Zhao Pei who was elegant in red and smiled like spring in March? Was she the Zhao Pei who had funny ideas from time to time and couldn't help sneaking out to play from time to time? Was she the Zhao Pei who always blushed and cried... But the answer was no.
The woman in front of me was silent, cold, introverted and forbearing. She was often lost in her own deep thoughts, and it was hard to tell whether she was happy or angry. It turned out that time was so long, but life was so short. Did the former Zhao Pei really disappear just like that
Xiao Lun's heart suddenly shrank, and he couldn't recover for a long time. But he slowly told himself that everything is changing, and everyone is changing. No one can escape the catastrophe and transformation given by time. The joys, sorrows, anger, and happiness of youth are destined to be untouchable. After all, they can only roll over and over in the world with the passage of time, and then grow old covered in dust.
I feel inexplicably scared.
Zhao Pei sighed softly: "Liu Zhen, I finally came here once. Don't be so boring..." As soon as she finished speaking, she fell into his warm embrace. He held her tightly, as if she would disappear as soon as he let go. Zhao Pei was stunned, with the extremely faint scent of osmanthus lingering around her, strange and familiar, but incomparably warm. Suddenly, she returned to the past.
They embraced each other quietly in the moonlight, silently reminiscing about the good times they once had. Hanzhen half leaned against the door, silently looking at the figures standing in the distance, biting her lip and saying nothing. (To be continued)