Seven months later.
In midsummer, the pond is full of lotus flowers in full bloom. The courtyard is shrouded in a faint ink-like smoke. The slightly red petals of the white lotus in the pond seem to be dyed with a dark purple. The water under the lotus leaves is deep blue, and the shadows of the flowers are vague.
A woman in red sat quietly by the pool, carelessly playing with the clear water and killing time.
Her long hair was casually tied up, and her beautiful face showed no trace of the passing of time. But there was emptiness between her lazy eyebrows.
Someone quietly approached her from behind and suddenly shouted, "Hey! Mom! What are you doing?"
The woman was startled, frowned, turned around and said angrily: "Zhen'er, you scared me to death."
Hanzhen smiled shyly, pulled her up and said, "Mom, Uncle Qiao and Uncle He are back from the city, and they brought a lot of things with them. Let's go and have a look." The woman's face lit up when she heard this: "They're back?"
As they were talking, the two of them trotted to the main hall. There were already quite a few people gathered in the hall. When the woman saw them, she greeted them in a strange way, "You are all here."
"I've been waiting for you." The cloth-clothed man leaning against the door holding a wine jug looked at her with a pair of peach blossom eyes. The woman remembered... His name was Ji Jiang.
"Zhao... Shenglian." Qiao Yu walked forward with a smile and handed her the package in his hand. "Here are some fabrics I bought for you. Pick out what you like and let Ruhua make it for you."
Sheng Lian laughed when she heard this: "Thank you so much for troubling you." Then she opened the bundle, her eyes lit up, and she reached out to touch the satin, which was soft and smooth to the touch. She couldn't help but say happily: "It's really good material."
Qiao Yu smiled and said, "We are all family, so it's no problem."
Sheng Lian smiled shyly after all. She looked at the people in the room with a familiar and warm smile on her face, but it seemed that something was hidden in this smile. It was strange to say that one day when she woke up, she knew nothing, didn't know who she was, didn't know where she was. She only saw the young woman crying and hugging her tightly, calling her "mother".
Later she found out that her name was Sheng Lian and she had a 22-year-old daughter named Zhen Er. She lived in the mountains with her sister Ru Hua's family and two of her brother-in-law's best friends. Once she fell off a low cliff and hit her head, losing her memory.
Sheng Lian was a little puzzled. If she had fallen and been injured, why didn't she have any scars on her body? However, this doubt was not the most important thing. When she looked in the mirror, she couldn't believe that this was the face of a 40-year-old woman.
She thought that if she said she was 25, people would probably believe her. Another doubt was that she had no husband, only two so-called brother-in-law's friends.
It's so strange! Zhen'er stammered that her father had died of illness a long time ago. In fact, He Hui and Ji Jiang were her father's friends, and she asked them to take care of them after her death. But Sheng Lian saw that it was their family who was taking care of them. Especially the one called Ji Jiang, except for his pair of peach blossom eyes that would float around, he couldn't lift anything with his hands or shoulders. He was just a vase kept at home for viewing.
Let's just live like this for now, Sheng Lian thought, it will always be lively when there are more people around.
They lived on an unknown mountain, which was said to be far away from the city. They only relied on Qiao Yu and He Huicheng to buy some things every month. On weekdays, they were happy and leisurely. Sheng Lian thought that Tao Yuanming's life was probably just like this. But... Who is Tao Yuanming
While they were discussing what clothes could be made from the fabrics, He Hui suddenly looked at Zhen'er with a serious expression: "Zhen'er, do you know who we met in the city?"
Zhen'er shuddered when she heard that, and asked nervously, "Who... were you recognized?" Qiao Yu nodded with a sad face, "Of course he was recognized. When that person saw He Hui, he grabbed him and wouldn't let him go."
Zhen'er was startled and said quickly, "Oh my God, how can we live like this? No, we have to move to another place! Come on, I'll go get ready."
He Hui and Qiao Yu smiled at each other. Qiao Yu grabbed Zhen'er's arm and said teasingly, "Don't change, he followed us up the mountain." Before Zhen'er could jump up and down, she saw a handsome man appear at the door. He looked inside hesitantly, saw Zhen'er, and grinned.
When Zhen'er saw who the person was, she was stunned at first, then her cheeks turned red, and then she stood up and angrily shouted: "Why are you here?" The person who came was Ye Feifan. Zhen'er stared at him and thought to herself: What is this Jin Ye Zi doing here
Ye Feifan walked in with a smile, saying as he walked, "I found you. So good." Zhen'er looked at the awkward looks of the crowd, and then she scolded with embarrassment, "Why did you look for me? Why don't you stay in Yangzhou and come here to join in the fun?"
Ye Feifan scratched his head and said awkwardly, "I am a refugee from the war. The world is very unstable. My father sold all the ancestral property and prepared to return home. I wanted to come and see you. By the way, my mother's things are still with you."
Zhen Er glared at him and said, "I've already seen it, when are you leaving?"
He Hui saw that the two people were flirting and talking insincerely, so he smiled and said, "Don't leave. Including you, there are seven of us. We can form a 'Seven Sages of the Wild Forest'." After saying that, everyone laughed.
Zhen'er's face was red, but she didn't refute. Ye Feifan was happy when he saw it, and he was even more overjoyed when he saw Zhen'er didn't say anything. He looked around and said with a smile: "The scenery here is nice, yes, it's really beautiful. What do you think about planting grapes at the door? Put up a rack, it will be quite cool in the summer..." Ye Feifan kept talking, and everyone laughed and said that they had started to plan it.
Zhen'er stamped her feet and went into the house with her bag, leaving the room full of teasing laughter. Sheng Lian was naturally very happy, but she was involuntarily attracted by a sentence he had said before. If you ask her why she took it to heart, she herself didn't know.
"Is there a war outside?" Zhao Pei asked without thinking.
"Yes, Madam, don't you know?" Ye Feifan approached and said attentively, "The late emperor was captured and killed by Wei a while ago, and now the late emperor's ninth son is the emperor. There are constant wars of all sizes on the border, and barbarians invade from time to time. How can the little emperor control it? Our Daliang is in some danger now..." He sighed heavily, "Dad said that in the current situation, wealth is false, and a big tree attracts the wind is true."
"Daliang?" Sheng Lian murmured, "I seem to have heard of it."
Zhen'er suddenly jumped up and shouted at Ye Feifan fiercely: "You are the only one who knows! You know everything! Why are you still talking nonsense here? We don't talk about state affairs here! Do you understand?!" Ye Feifan was frightened by her and nodded blankly.
Seeing Sheng Lian still thinking with his brows lowered, Ji Jiang winked at Ruhua nervously. Ruhua immediately understood and stepped forward to hold Sheng Lian's arm and said with a smile: "Why bother with those things? Let's go back to the room and discuss what kind of clothes to make. How about this blue one for a water skirt?"
Sheng Lian felt something was wrong, but couldn't put her finger on it, so she just let her lead and said, "Okay, okay."
》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》
As the sun sets, everything is covered with a light golden hue. Sheng Lian stands on the top of a mountain overlooking the mountains and rivers intoxicated by the sunset. The river is glittering, and the city is dark. In the distance are layers of dark green mountains, and the sky is purple, orange and red. Everything is so peaceful, as if in a dream, unreal and stable.
Someone slowly came over and stood shoulder to shoulder with her. Sheng Lian turned her head and saw He Hui's smiling face. She raised the corners of her lips slightly and heard him ask, "What are you thinking about?"
Sheng Lian refocused her gaze on the vast expanse before her and murmured, "I had a dream last night. I dreamed that there was a man in black standing on the top of a mountain with his hands behind his back, proudly looking down at the mountains and rivers below. It's a pity that I couldn't see what he looked like, but I guess he must be quite handsome. I don't know who he is, but I feel like I should know him. Haha." As she spoke, she started laughing.
He Hui was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "It's just a dream."
Sheng Lian nodded silently, watching the sunset gradually sink. The orange color of the sky coated the edges of the mountains and rivers with a final layer of gold, like the sacred Buddha's light.
She suddenly felt lost, as if something was missing, but she couldn't figure out what it was. She just felt empty inside, so empty that it hurt...
------end-------
Qu You Shuo: I wonder what you all feel after reading this... You can say whatever you feel. This is just a little encouragement and support for Qu~
My friend started reading the ending and was so angry that he jumped up and down. Qu had been a rat crossing the street for several days and everyone was shouting and beating him... My mother said she had an indescribable feeling after reading it. It's not a good ending, but it's not too bad. At least life goes on. But I feel very empty. So empty that it's uncomfortable. Other authors said it was difficult to breathe after reading it. They called me "stepmother" and "Queen Mother Qu..."
In fact, when I finished writing it, I was also very confused. Is Zhao Pei, who has lost her memory, still the original Zhao Pei? Xiao Yi was trapped in Yuwen Tai's hands. And what about He Hui and Ji Jiang
Many questions...have not been answered yet.
I watched it again a few days ago, and I don't dare to face such an ending. I'm also afraid of being drowned by saliva... So I made a decision. I'm going to write a sequel!!! If you are not satisfied with the ending, you can regard this as a pseudo-ending. The sequel is the very end of the story, and everything will change at that time. Maybe there will be people joining or leaving. I won't reveal it here for the time being~ It's considered a relatively happy ending... (Is this considered a candy after a stick...) Hehe. I will post it on the weekend~! Everyone support~!!
And I wish you all a happy Christmas. Happy New Year soon. (I may not be able to meet you in April by then...) I have to start studying... 5555. A thousand troops crossing a single-plank bridge... There will be eight examinations next semester... I... (To be continued)