The mountain road was difficult to walk on, and the carriage could not go forward halfway up the mountain. Xiao Gang did not care, and got off the carriage and walked to the houses near the mountain and the water.
There was a small river outside the house. He saw the man in light grey clothes sitting quietly by the river fishing from a distance. He was smiling and in a good mood. He walked towards him and said with a smile, "Brother!"
The man turned his head and looked at him, smiling faintly: "Third brother, how come you have time to come here recently?"
As he spoke, Xiao Gang had already sat down on the small stool beside him: "Brother, you are not waiting for me, right? Otherwise, why would you leave a seat unused?"
He smiled and said, "Okay, okay. Even if I'm waiting for you, how are you doing recently?" His eyes were not on Xiao Gang nor on the fishing rod but on the rippling water of the river, as if he was thinking about something.
"Not bad." Xiao Gang shrugged. "There's nothing going on in the court these days, so I've been bored. So I thought of this hermit immortal on Gu Mountain. He's living a comfortable life." Xiao Gang looked around. The green mountains and green trees were quiet and peaceful. The small houses under the dense green brought out a sense of transcendence. He laughed: "The scenery here is really good, with mountains, water and..." He was halfway through when he saw a beautiful woman coming over. He couldn't help but tease, "A beautiful woman is here to accompany you."
Qinglan came over with small steps, glanced at Xiao Gang who was sitting on a low stool, bowed with a smile, took out a letter from his bosom, handed it to Xiao Tong with both hands, pointed to the bottom of the mountain and said that someone had come to deliver it. Then he bowed to the two and left.
Xiao Gang suddenly realized that this stool was not left for her by Xiao Tong with foresight.
After Qinglan walked away, Xiao Tong said calmly: "Qinglan is my personal maid, so of course I have to take her with me."
Xiao Gang followed his words and asked, "Whose letter is it from?"
He put down his fishing rod and showed him the envelope. The words "Personally addressed to my eldest brother" were written in a graceful and elegant style. It was obvious that it was the handwriting of my sixth brother.
Xiao Tong opened the letter, his eyes wandering up and down, a deep smile on his face as he read. After reading, he handed the letter to Xiao Gang beside him. Xiao Gang read it quickly and smiled: "Sixth brother's life is quite comfortable, it seems that returning to Yangzhou is not a bad thing. Before he left, I saw his sad look and thought that his life would not be satisfactory. I was really worried about him."
"Sixth brother is the same wherever he goes." Xiao Tong said, put out the bait and set up the fishing rod. He was not fishing, he ignored the fish when they came and ate up his bait. No matter how you look at it, it looks like he is feeding the fish.
"Sixth brother said he got married." Xiao Gang read it again and then shook his head and laughed, "I never thought that this kid would want to live a stable life. It's really rare. By the way, big brother, how are big sister-in-law and Huan'er and Zhu'er doing recently?"
Xiao Tong said calmly, "Your sister-in-law will naturally take good care of them." His tone was a little gentler. Xiao Gang mentioned Huan'er, even Xiao Huan, Xiao Tong's eldest son. But for some reason, the brothers rarely mentioned the grown-up Xiao Huan, as if they really avoided this topic. Xiao Gang suddenly brought it up, and then he realized that he was rash. Seeing that Xiao Tong did not pursue it too much, he was relieved.
But it was inevitably a bit awkward, so I stopped talking.
Xiao Tong turned around and looked at him and laughed: "Why don't you bring your third sister with you this time? I remember that your third sister also likes the scenery of Gushan very much."
"Xiuchun." Xiao Gang smiled and shook his head when he heard this. "She entered the palace a long time ago, saying that she wanted to chat with Concubine Ruan. I don't know why, but she got along so well with Concubine Ruan."
He nodded: "Third sister and seventh sister are good friends, so it is normal for them to go to visit Concubine Ruan together."
Xiao Gang said, "Seventh sister didn't go, she stayed in the mansion." Xiao Tong looked at him with some doubt. Xiao Gang smiled, somewhat ambiguous, "Seventh sister and seventh brother are now in a relationship better than a newlywed. They are bored."
Xiao Tong lowered his eyes with a smile: "That's... very good."
What was left for Xiao Gang was his complicated profile, a mixture of relief and sadness that gave his face a somewhat lonely look. After a moment of inexplicable chest tightness, Xiao Gang sighed heavily and then laughed again: "Brother, I heard that you planted two red bean trees on the mountain, how about we go and see them together?"
Xiao Tong smiled back as a sign of agreement.
Xiao Gang stood up and followed him, suddenly feeling infinitely sad and heartbroken. "Brother, brother, once upon a time a woman turned her tears of longing into red beans, but who planted your red beans?" (To be continued)