It was a hot summer day, and the lotuses in the pond were in full bloom. However, Xiao Gang had no intention of watching. He left the East Palace and went straight to the emperor's inner palace. The palace was very quiet, and only Xiao Yan was sitting on the high dragon throne, thinking. Someone reported to him at the door, but he was unaware of it, and still stared at the letter in his hand.
Xiao Gang approached and stood aside without saying anything. He looked at his father like that and suddenly realized that his father was old. After all, he was an 85-year-old man. No matter how heroic he was in the past, he was old and no longer heroic. What remained on him were only a pair of eyes that had seen the vicissitudes of life and a heart full of loneliness and suffering.
"I received a letter from the other side. I think... I should hand Hou Qing over." Xiao Yan finally sighed and said so.
Xiao Gang stood below him without answering. Xiao Yan's words were full of exhaustion and helplessness: "After all, they only want Hou Jing, there is no need to involve our Xiao family."
"Father, do you think... Will Hou Jing agree?" Xiao Gang frowned and asked calmly.
"The emperor's order cannot be disobeyed. He is just a surrendered foreigner. How can he compare to the royal family of the Xiao family?" Xiao Yan said, rubbing his temple and said tiredly: "Shizun, you go to draft. I'm tired... I want to have a good rest." The old man closed his eyes very tiredly. He said "I" instead of "I". At this time, Xiao Yan was just an old man who was working hard.
The words that Xiao Gang had choked on in his throat rolled over and over again, but he swallowed them down and just responded and walked away. He stepped out of the hall, and for some reason, a strange wind suddenly blew on the outer corridor. Xiao Gang paused, and the attendants beside him wanted to help him, but he waved his hand and walked slowly on the lonely outer corridor alone. The sky outside the corridor was blue and clear, without a trace of clouds. But he had a vague feeling that the sky in the distance had begun to boil. A bad omen gradually floated in his mind.
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"The lotus in the mansion is in full bloom, how about we go and see it together?" Xiao Lun suddenly said this to Zhao Pei after lunch. Zhao Pei was dazed for a moment, and forced herself to suppress the figure that appeared in her mind and shook her head decisively: "No, no need. I don't want to see it."
Xiao Lun was slightly embarrassed by such a quick and swift reply, and he smiled awkwardly and did not mention it again. They sat under a wooden frame entwined with ivy, the green shade shielding the hot sun, and her nose could smell the unique scent of the green.
In the distance, Hanzhen and Xiao Que were feeding fish and playing. Zhao Pei and Xiao Lun sat side by side, looking at the distance and couldn't help but smile. "It's like going back to the past." Xiao Lun smiled gently, "Looking at them, it's like us in the past." He never thought that there would be a day like this, they would be together looking at their children and thinking about the past.
Zhao Pei just smiled and said nothing. Then Xiao Lun asked her, "Is Han Zhen still unmarried?"
"Well. She hasn't found anyone she likes yet. This girl is extremely proud and doesn't like anyone. Sometimes she even acts maliciously to scare away people who come to propose marriage." Zhao Pei narrated with a smile, "I think Hanzhen has pretended to be crazy, stupid, sick and disabled countless times. She has completely ruined the reputation of the palace." She was not annoyed, but just helpless.
Xiao Lun smiled bitterly and said, "You are the only one who indulges her like this. If it were me, I would quickly find a good husband for her to marry off."
Zhao Pei looked at the girl in the distance, smiling brightly like spring. Her eyebrows and eyes were also filled with such a pure smile: "I just want her to be happy." Then she smiled happily at him, "As long as she is willing, I will do anything."
Xiao Lun was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized something and felt a palpitation again. Zhao Pei was a mother, her daughter inherited her past, and she didn't want her to continue to inherit her future.
"In fact, what father did was right. Zhao Pei was young and ignorant at that time. Now I feel that father's decision made sense." Zhao Pei murmured, not knowing whether she was talking to him or to herself. Xiao Lun did not say anything more. In fact, he should not say anything. He silently picked up the jade pendant that was placed on the table somewhere and put it in his palm, holding it tightly.
But to this day, he still cannot understand his father.
In the silent dense green, mottled light reflected on her face, and there seemed to be a kind of scattered peace and happiness. Unfortunately, such a short peace soon disappeared in the light call of the boat bridge. Hearing the cry of Xiao Lun's personal attendant, several people looked at him, only to see him running hurriedly, panting: "Prince, it's not good. Something happened in the capital... Hou Jing, he rebelled!" As soon as these words came out, the jade pendant in Xiao Lun's hand fell to the ground and shattered. (To be continued)