The swaying figures and the close conversations in front of her. It seemed that someone was touching her wrist and forehead, and there was another whisper. She felt groggy and a little annoyed, and impatiently waved away the hands, which were slightly cold and rough on the palms.
A thought flashed through Zhao Pei's mind. Xiao Yi? Then she opened her eyes in surprise. The person in front of her was not Xiao Yi. She was relieved but seemed even more panicked. The hand she waved away belonged to the emperor!
Suddenly, she became clearer, and her hazy eyes suddenly opened. She stammered, "Father, what's wrong with you..." She barely managed to stand up, but she was still weak. Xiao Yan actually supported her shoulders himself, which surprised her. Thinking of her abnormal behavior in the past few days, she slowly asked, "Father, am I really sick?"
Xiao Yan took the medicine bowl from the attendant beside him and held it in his hand. He did not hand it to her, and said with a hint of resentment: "Xu's girl is really confused. She didn't even know she was pregnant, and she still went to soak in cold water." He complained.
Zhao Pei was stunned, staring at his moving mouth as if he had not woken up yet. Hesitantly, he stretched out his right hand and pinched the other hand. Was he dreaming
Seeing Xiao Yan looking at him with amusement, he asked cautiously: "You...what are you talking about?"
"I mean, you have the heir of our Xiao family." Xiao Yan smiled faintly, "Come, drink this first."
Offspring? Offspring!
Thunderbolt! She had never thought she would hear such news, let alone the emperor telling her the news at this time. Slowly moving her eyes to her abdomen, is she pregnant? Her hand gently stroked her flat abdomen, and her hand was shaking. She didn't know what she was thinking at this moment.
She knew that there was a life growing under her. It belonged to her, to her and that person. A trace of melancholy and an indescribable complexity passed through Zhao Pei's heart. She savored this emotion and suddenly became a little flustered. Why... did she feel a little happy
"I will send someone to take you down the mountain in a while. This is the seventh brother's first child, and he must not be neglected in the slightest." Xiao Yan said.
Zhao Pei sorted out her complicated feelings, knowing that at this moment, God had given her the best support. She looked up at Xiao Yan and said with a smile: "How can this be possible? Zhao Pei said that she would go down the mountain with my father. Only if my father goes down the mountain, Zhao Pei will go down the mountain."
Her words were firm.
"Girl, are you doing the same trick again?" Xiao Yan's brows were filled with anger but he tried to hide it, obviously because he had some concerns.
Zhao Pei looked up at him with a smile and stroked her belly. What if the old tricks were repeated? All is fair in war. What's more, she had a hostage in her belly.
She stared at Xiao Yan's slightly changing expression, and saw that he seemed to think for a long time before he angrily threw his sleeves and stood up, saying only, "Let me think about it." Zhao Pei heard the sound of footsteps gradually fading away, and smiled faintly. The chances of winning this time are very high.
When she was the only one left in the room, she fell into deep thought again.
____________________________________________
Zhao Pei kept waiting, from noon to the deep night and then to the lonely starlight. She didn't wait for the palace maid to take her down the mountain, nor did she wait for the emperor. She felt as if she had been forgotten.
She was not sleepy, so she simply put on her clothes and got off the bed. The moonlight in the courtyard was dim, and the shadows of the trees were reflected on the white walls. There was an indescribable tranquility. She walked out of the yard quietly. The night wind was a little cold, and she unconsciously put her hands around her lower abdomen.
After passing through several small courtyards, the emperor's bedroom was right in front of the door. Zhao Pei stopped in front of the bedroom door and looked up. The warm yellow light in the room gently shone out, casting a light green figure on the window frame.
Zhao Pei lingered at the door for a while when she suddenly heard someone inside the house say, "Xu's girl? Come in."
Zhao Pei was not surprised, she pushed the door and walked in: "Are you still awake?"
Xiao Yan was looking down at the paintings on the table, then he looked up and said, "Isn't it the same for the girl?"
Zhao Pei smiled faintly, walked a few steps closer to look at the paintings, and her face froze involuntarily.
He remembered something, and smiled as he held up the painting in his hand to show her: "I heard that you are good at painting, why don't you come and take a look?"
Zhao Pei did not push him away, but nodded and began to look at the painting carefully. It turned out to be a painting of the princes, with Xiao Lun at the top. He was dressed in a sapphire blue robe, and looked handsome. There was a smile on his lips, showing his romantic and suave manner.
Her heart warmed, and she smiled for a while and said, "Is this a painting by Master Zhang Sengyou?"
Xiao Yan nodded with a smile. Zhao Pei smiled again and said, "Master Zhang's paintings of characters are the most vivid and his technique is extremely delicate. These portraits of the princes really look like the real thing."
Xiao Yan then asked, "Girl, do you have any other opinions?"
Zhao Pei listened, looked at it for a while, and said thoughtfully: "Zhao Pei feels that there are still some areas that can be improved." Xiao Yan just smiled and said nothing, Zhao Pei said again: "This charm is not enough."
"Oh?" Xiao Yan raised his eyebrows and looked at her sideways, "Then you should change it, girl."
"Hmm?" Zhao Pei was slightly stunned. Seeing that he was looking at her seriously, she mustered up the courage to pick up the pen. She tried to recall Xiao Lun's appearance, thinking of how he was sometimes playful, sometimes serious, sometimes lonely, and sometimes meaningless. After a few turns of the pen, she put the pen back and looked up at Xiao Yan nervously. The man in the painting had bright eyes, a few touches of playfulness, a few touches of romance and a noble atmosphere.
Xiao Yan's eyes suddenly brightened, and he smiled with satisfaction: "Good! With just a few strokes, the elegance and artistic conception of this old man are fully revealed."
Zhao Pei smiled and changed a picture to put under her pen. The wolf howl that licked the ink paused, and what came into view was the elegant man in white clothes, bright eyes and a faint smile. Her chest stagnated, and she looked at Xiao Yan with a bitter smile, and slowly said: "Father, this is already very good, there is no need to change it."
Xiao Yan still said: "No. You try it."
Zhao Pei gritted her teeth and picked up the pen. The eyes that had been disturbing her mind all the time suddenly disappeared from her mind at this moment. She couldn't even pick up the pen to draw those eyes that seemed to have been filled with the moonlight for a lifetime.
The pen was raised for a long time, but finally put down again. Zhao Pei sighed: "Father, please forgive me, Zhao Pei really can't draw."
Xiao Yan stared at her silently, and did not force her. He lowered his head and looked at the painting carefully, and then chanted: "Girl, have you ever heard of a poem: 'I originally sought the heart, but the heart held itself. I sought the heart but could not wait for the heart to know. Buddha nature cannot be obtained from outside the heart. When the heart arises, sin arises."
Zhao Pei vaguely understood the meaning of these four sentences, but didn't know where to start.
I also heard Xiao Yan say: "I originally sought the mind, not the Buddha, knowing that the three realms are empty. If you want to seek the Buddha, just seek the mind. Only this mind is the Buddha."
Zhao Pei was confused and forced a smile: "Zhao Pei is dull and can't fully understand."
He shook his head again: "The girl must understand it in her heart."
Zhao Pei understood something when she heard this. Her face turned pale, but she still smiled and said, "Father, what do you want to say?"
"If the girl had honestly copied the Diamond Sutra today, she would have known what 'the mind cannot be found' means." Xiao Yan looked at him meaningfully, and the flickering halo made it difficult for her to see his expression. But Zhao Pei's face turned pale.
She seemed to fully understand what Xiao Yan meant. In fact, from the beginning, she had never thought that she could hide it from Xiao Yan. But now...
Zhao Pei opened her mouth slightly, wanting to say something but swallowing it back in the end. Xiao Yan took up the brush and drew a bamboo forest on the snow-white rice paper, and said slowly: "Girl, do you know why I promised you to the seventh brother?" (To be continued)