Zhao Xiang'er's dormitory is called Lingque Pavilion. The structure of the dormitory is classical and quiet. The furniture on display are all made of precious wood and ancient utensils. Among them, two colored paper lanterns are held by maids in palace clothes painted on the wall, giving off a faint light. , in the dark golden halo, the bead curtains and curtains hang quietly.
It's been a long night.
Ning Changjiu walked in the palace wearing a white robe, his eyes fell leisurely on the paintings on the wall, and was attracted by the framed letter. He looked at it for a while, couldn't help but laughed out loud: "You still have it. "
Zhao Xiang'er nodded and said, "Of course. This is one of your evidences. Don't try to erase it easily."
Ning looked at the letter for a long time, his eyes lingering on the words in the last row, "I hope you will live long, and I hope your Highness will live long."
"The writing is really childish." Ning Jiujiu commented.
Zhao Xiang'er smiled lightly and said, "I thought you were going to explain that I was not who I was yesterday."
Ning Changjiu said: "The me of yesterday is indeed not me, because..."
Zhao Xiang'er interrupted: "I'm too lazy to argue with you about this."
Ning Jiujiu recovered his thoughts. He passed through the round carved wooden door and walked to the wooden frame bed with hanging curtains. It was here that he woke up after experiencing the thunder disaster.
The bedding was neatly folded and everything was as before.
"What are you doing standing next to my bed? Do you want to go to bed and lie down?" Zhao Xianger turned around and asked with a smile.
The back of her white singlet was slightly transparent in the candlelight, glowing with a faint crimson color, like a veil of pure beauty.
Ning Changjiu said: "Don't worry, tonight is still very long."
Zhao Xiang'er said: "That's what I said when you woke up."
Ning Jiujiu said: "Yes, that was our first real meeting."
Zhao Xianger recalled: "It's only been more than three years."
"Three years..." Ning Changjiu said: "By the way, tomorrow... let's go to Baicheng."
Zhao Xiang'er's eyes narrowed slightly: "It's only been four days and you can't sit still?"
Ning Jiujiu said: "Don't you want to see her before you leave?"
"That's a good thought." A smile appeared on Zhao Xiang'er's lips: "When Lu Marian was at the edge of the abyss, she and I chatted quarrelsomely for a long time. At that time, I was in a similar realm to her, so I didn't refute anything. But now she is no match for me, I will see if she still dares to be arrogant when we meet again."
Ning Jiujiu walked behind Zhao Xiang'er, put his hand gently on her shoulder, and said with a smile: "Yes, Xiang'er is the most powerful, can I beg for mercy on behalf of my master?"
Zhao Xiang'er's expression became colder. She patted Ning Changjiu's hand away, her eyes as silk as silk: "Is it possible that you want to chat with me about other women all night long?"
Ning Jiujiu asked: "What should we do?"
Zhao Xiang'er said: "Of course I want to do something interesting."
…
…
Ning Jiujiu picked up a white piece and placed it on the chessboard. He raised his eyes and looked at Zhao Xiang'er and said, "I didn't expect you could play chess?"
Zhao Xiang'er dropped the black piece and said proudly: "I have been proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting since I was a child."
Ning Jiujiu smiled and said: "This is how the brothel girls introduce themselves."
Zhao Xiang'er was not annoyed at all, and her eyebrows were gentle: "You seem to be very experienced?"
Ning Jiujiu was stunned for a moment, and quickly explained: "It's just hearsay."
They alternated moves and chatted word by word.
Zhao Xiang'er said: "Actually, we haven't known each other for too long. The Imperial City has only lasted half a month, and Linhe City has only lasted a month. It has only been seven days now... The day we have been together is less than two months."
Ning Changjiu said: "Some people have been in bed with each other for decades and still feel guilty, while others fall in love at first sight. Time can't measure anything."
Zhao Xiang'er said: "If it weren't for this marriage letter, would we still know each other?"
Ning Jiujiu asked: "Are you still entangled in fate?"
Zhao Xiang'er nodded lightly and said: "How can we not be entangled? You see, we are outsiders now. We can place these chess pieces anywhere at will, and then the loser's chess pieces will be surrounded by the winner. Live and eat…”
The girl said this, holding a black chess piece between her index and middle fingers, and gently tapped it on the chessboard. Then she moved her fingertips slightly, lifted up a white piece surrounded by the middle, and placed it in the wooden chess box.
Ning Jiujiu smiled and said: "The chess pieces are dead objects, but we are alive and kicking."
Zhao Xiang'er whispered: "In the eyes of those supreme gods, what is the difference between us and chess pieces?"
Ning Jiujiu looked at the black and white pieces gradually filling the chessboard, and joked: "Then I can only hope that the person who holds my pieces is not a bad chess piece."
Zhao Xiang'er smiled and said, "I don't know how good your master's chess skills are, but your chess skills are indeed terrible."
Ning Jiujiu said disdainfully: "It's more than enough to win you."
Zhao Xiang'er looked at the situation unfolding on the board with a cold smile: "When are you going to change your stubbornness?"
Ning Jiujiu didn't take it seriously and said, "What if we win?"
Zhao Xiang'er could see his paper-like chess skills in this layout, and didn't believe he could reverse the defeat at all.
The girl held her cheek, her eyes slowly drifting away from the chessboard, and said: "If you can win, I will obey your words in the next few days. If I win, how about the other way around?"
Ning Jiujiu agreed.
He looked at the chessboard, and his originally relaxed spirit gradually became serious.
The two seemed to be chatting casually, but their spirits were extremely tense, calculating the complicated changes on the chessboard.
As the chess game reached the middle, Zhao Xianger's certain self-confidence faded away. She sat upright, holding her chin, twisting the round and round sunspots between her slender fingers, uncertain about the chess move.
Ning Jiujiu placed the white piece on the chessboard and pushed it straight with his fingers.
Zhao Xiang'er became even more nervous. She looked at the piece standing like a root on the chessboard, gritted her teeth slightly, and thought, why is this evil person hiding his clumsiness? Could it be that the shabby start before was deliberately shown to himself? This is the same person who was making brilliant moves at this time...
Ning Jiujiu didn't study much about chess, and he only knew how to play chess when he was bored in his previous life. He was able to turn the situation around because Zhao Xianger felt good about himself and was "proficient in everything."
But it's no wonder for her. Since ancient times, emperors have asked national players to play chess, but no national player dared to beat the emperor. Therefore, the emperor always had the illusion that his chess skills were unique in the world. He could even think of the scene when Zhao Xiang'er was a child and was given over to by the girls in the palace.
In the past, Zhao Xiang'er always felt that this was a trivial path. He had reached the pinnacle of chess in just a few days and was invincible in the Zhao country's chess world. Today, she finally saw the cruelty behind playing chess and the deception of the palace maids under Ning Jiujiu, a not so good chess player.
It was past the middle game, and she felt a little confused.
"Xian'er, don't be impatient, you can take your time and think about it." Ning Jiujiu folded his sleeves and smiled maliciously.
Zhao Xiang'er felt uneasy. If she lost, with the character of this evil person, he would definitely lead Lu Married to bully her. She didn't want to think about this scene...
Zhao Xianger said calmly: "Actually, I'm not thinking about this."
Ning Jiujiu asked: "Then what are you thinking about?"
Zhao Xianger said seriously: "Have you ever thought about what we are facing now?"
Ningjiu became interested and asked, "What do you think?"
Zhao Xiang'er said: "Do you still remember the spirit swallower?"
"of course I remember."
"Legend has it that there is a sea of ruins outside the world, and there are hundreds of soul swallowers floating there. Every soul swallower has been a great demon of at least five realms..."
Of course Ning Jiujiu thought that his answer was the only one. There was only one existence that could kill these five great demons, and that was the twelve Lords of the Kingdom of God.
Ning Jiujiu asked: "Are there only monsters in the Ruins Sea?"
Zhao Xiang'er pursed her thin lips and said after a moment, "I don't know."
Ning Jiujiu asked: "Then do you think the world has its own emotions?"
"mood?"
"Well..." Ning Jiujiu said: "There is folklore that the world was originally occupied by a huge, chaotic creature. Later, someone killed the huge creature with an axe, making light visible in the world."
Zhao Xianger said: "That's just a story. How could there be such a powerful existence in the world?"
Ning Jiujiu said: "I was just thinking, if the world is sentient, is it evil or good? What is the purpose of creating such a world and allowing hundreds of millions of creatures to thrive?"
Zhao Xianger said: "Your idea is terrible."
"Yes, just like these chess pieces, you never know who holds them." Ning stared at the chessboard for a long time.
Zhao Xiang'er shook his head slightly and said: "The world is not as simple as a chessboard. If we want to simply simulate this world..."
She pondered for a moment, grabbed a handful of chess pieces, and dropped them on the chessboard like beans.
The chess pieces did not fall, but scattered neatly and evenly, turning into a huge semi-arch covering the chessboard, like stars hanging in the sky.
"If this is the Ruins Sea..." Zhao Xiang'er looked at the world that was like a round sky and a square, and picked up twelve more chess pieces, floating around the world in a precise arrangement, glowing with a bright white light.
"This is the Kingdom of the Twelve Gods." Zhao Xianger said again.
Ning looked at this simple world construction for a long time and said: "Actually, I have always been strange, why are the twelve divine kingdoms coexisting in the world, but only one can be opened at the same time? It is better than the king imprisoning himself in the divine kingdom, and the thirteen kingdoms Is seeing the world once a year really the freedom they seek?"
Zhao Xiang'er looked at the twelve chess pieces floating outside the ruins sea. After being silent for a long time, he finally expressed a thought that had been hidden in his heart for a long time: "Since the beginning of history, there have never been such twelve chess pieces as these." Such powerful gods... They are no less powerful than the few Taichu True Gods who were born when the Hongmeng first opened and their spiritual power reached its peak. They are even more powerful than them. Is this really possible?"
Ning Jiujiu fell into deep thought.
"I understand what you mean." Ning Jiujiu said: "Only fertile places with water and grass can breed strong cattle and sheep. The world is now stable, and the speed at which spiritual energy is produced is almost the same as the speed at which the ascended person takes away spiritual energy. A delicate balance, except five hundred years ago, there has never been a scene where a large number of powerful practitioners emerged in any era."
Zhao Xianger nodded and said: "So what is the soil that gave birth to the Twelve God Lords? What are they doing when the Kingdom of God is closed? Or..."
Zhao Xiang'er hesitated for a long time, then picked up another white piece and carefully placed it above all the floating chess pieces: "In other words, in this world, there is a... master..."
Bai Zi is suspended in the center.
Ning looked at the black and white chess pieces for a long time.
The cold autumn wind blew in, and a chill suddenly arose in his heart. This inexplicable coldness made his hair stand on end, making his hair stand on end.
Suddenly it was snowy outside the palace gate.
The sky and the earth flashed.
After a moment, thunder rumbled over.
Zhao Xiang'er seemed a little afraid of thunder, and she shrank her fingers in fear.
Ning Changjiu looked slightly strange, thinking that this little girl was not afraid of anything, how could she be afraid of thunder? Soon, he understood the reason...
Following Zhao Xianger's frightened movements, the suspended black and white pieces fell on the chessboard like raindrops, messing up the chess game they played earlier.
"Well..." Ning looked at the destroyed chess game for a long time and fell into deep thought.
You and I have discussed so much, but at the end of the day you just want to overturn the chessboard
He raised his head and looked at Zhao Xianger, wanting an explanation.
Zhao Xiang'er looked at the continuous autumn rain outside the window, her pretty face was pale, her eyes were twinkling, and her fear seemed to have not faded away. She pressed her lips with her slender fingers, looking extremely delicate.
After a moment, she felt Ning Changjiu's gaze. After she regained consciousness, she looked at the messed up chess game, clenched her fist and tapped her head lightly, saying apologetically: "I... I just accidentally said I was scared, this chess piece..."
Ning looked at her expressionlessly for a long time.
Zhao Xiang'er frowned and said angrily: "You stinky chess piece, why are you looking at me like this? Could it be that I ruined the chess game? You should thank this Lei! Otherwise, you will definitely lose."
"Yes, yes... I don't know how to appreciate things." Ning rubbed his temples painfully for a long time.
He remembered that Ning Xiaoling and Lu Yuanjian had a similar bet. At that time, Ning Xiaoling almost won, but then Lerou and Yazhu ruined it, and Lu Yuanjian took advantage of the situation and defaulted on the bill...
Hey, there is really no reason to argue with these little girls and big girls.
Zhao Xiang'er listened to Ning Changjiu's words. She stretched out her hand to caress her chest, closed her eyes, her brows became calmer, and then she reached out and picked up the teacup placed beside her.
If there hadn't been this thunder just now, she would have pretended to knock over the teacup.
This tea set is also expensive, so I managed to save it.
Zhao Xiang'er took a sip and looked over the glazed edge of the tea cup. She watched Ning sighing for a long time and packing up the chess pieces. Her tense pretty face was slightly understanding. Finally, she couldn't hold it back anymore. She bent her waist, her chest trembled, and she laughed. out.
Ning was stunned for a long time, and when he raised his head, tea had already sprayed on his face.
Looking at his helpless look, Zhao Xiang'er felt even funnier. She pursed her lips, wiped away the water on her lips, twisted a handkerchief and handed it to him, saying, "Wipe it?"
Ning Jiu couldn't bear it any longer, so she grabbed the hand that handed her the kerchief, suddenly pulled it, then pressed her beautiful back, and directly pushed her down on the table full of chess pieces.
"What are you going to do? Don't hit me!"
"How can I bear to beat Xiao Xiang'er?"
"Then let me go..."
"Xian'er, which one do you prefer, black chess pieces or white chess pieces?"
"You... what are you going to do..."
…
…
The autumn rain outside the window gradually stopped.
After playing around, Zhao Xiang'er sat on the piano table by the window, pressed the strings with her bare hands, and played out a heartfelt music.
She only wore a thin silk dress, and her slender white thighs sat sideways, contrasting with the dark piano table.
Ning sat beside her for a long time, took a jade flute and played it gently, in harmony with her music.
The joy and laughter in the palace have faded away, and now the sound of the piano and flute has a slightly melancholy tone.
"Is this the last day to get married?"
After the music faded, Ning Jiujiu made the final confirmation.
"Well, let's call Sister Lu here when the time comes." Zhao Xianger said, "After the wedding banquet, let's go to Baicheng together. The ascension platform there is very interesting. I'll tell you about it. Maybe you can use it in the future."
Ning Jiujiu said: "Shouldn't there be flowers and candles in the bridal chamber after the wedding banquet?"
A few wisps of piano music escaped from Zhao Xiang'er's fingers: "I... haven't thought about it yet."
Ning Changjiu said: "Since it is your mother's destiny to return the jade to Zhao, you don't want to..."
Zhao Xiang'er said: "I am not a pedantic person. Just like this Zhao country, I was born here since I was a child. My mother asked me to regain the lost land so that the people can live and work in peace and contentment. Even if I know it is my fate, I am willing to do it. .”
Ning looked at her quietly for a long time, waiting for her to continue.
Zhao Xianger paused for a moment, then looked at him and said: "It's true that I hate my mother for controlling my life in every way, and it's also true that I want to see my mother... You should be able to understand my thoughts. What's more, , after all, the time we have known each other is too short, so it would be a bit hasty."
Ning Jiujiu smiled and said softly: "According to what you said, I am taking advantage of others' danger."
Zhao Xiang'er knelt down on the smooth floor, looked at Ning Changjiu faintly, and said: "Of course, there are still two days anyway. If you behave well in these two days, maybe I will change my mind."
Ning looked at her proud yet delicate look for a long time and wanted to bite her lips hard again.
"Well, I respect your decision no matter what." Ning Jiujiu said.
"What about you?" Zhao Xianger asked.
"I?"
"Well, if I leave in the future, where will you go to lie to the little girl?"
"I... I might go to Middle-earth."
"Oh... go and lie to your junior sister."
"... By the way, find another person named 'Evil'."
"Evil?" Zhao Xianger had never heard of it.
"Well, someone told me that he is a nearly omniscient person." Ning Jiujiu said.
"Impossible." Zhao Xiang'er denied: "Don't you know that omniscience works both ways?"
"Both directions?"
"For example, everyone in the world knows the existence of the Lord of the Kingdom of God, so the Lord of the Kingdom of God also knows everyone in the world." Zhao Xianger said: "This is also a special law."
The girl continued: "And no one knows about that evil. How can it be called omniscient? What's more, the Lord of the Kingdom of God will never allow such an existence to exist in the world."
Ning Changjiu said: "The Lord of the Kingdom of God is not omniscient."
Just like the sinful king does not know the death and identity of the headless god.
Zhao Xianger smiled self-deprecatingly and said, "In the final analysis, we are just their pawns and have no right to think about this."
Ning Changjiu nodded gently: "We don't want to think about anything else in the next two days. We will just spend two pure days that belong only to us."
Zhao Xiang'er asked: "Then how long have you and Lu Jianjian stayed alone and purely?"
Ning Jiujiu smiled and said: "Didn't you agree not to say anything else?"
Zhao Xiang'er looked at his stiff smile and hummed, "Beast."
After a brief silence, they all looked out the window.
A faint white light shone through the window.
Before I knew it, the night had passed, and the sky was getting brighter outside.
The light is so hazy after being filtered by curtains and gauze.
This is the fifth day of the week.
How short is seven days on the path of spiritual cultivation
The palace was so quiet that not a single sound could be heard, but no matter how quiet the world was, time was always passing by.
"I will always remember these days." Zhao Xianger broke the silence.
"It's not a separation of life and death, why are you talking about this?" Ning Jiujiu closed his eyes slightly.
"I'm still a little scared." Zhao Xiang'er said, "I never thought that fate is in one's hands and can be played with as naturally as the sun, the sun, and the sunset."
That sword appeared in Ning Jiujiu's mind involuntarily.
He said, "Yeah, it's like light."
Zhao Xiang'er stared at the curtain that was illuminated by the light, and had some thoughts of escaping: "Who can escape the consecration?"
They were silent for a while.
Ning Jiujiu suddenly stood up.
"But we can't hide in the shadows our whole lives."
He walked to the window and opened the curtain with a loud noise.
The dust-like darkness in the room instantly dissipated, and the clear light after the rain rushed in, illuminating Ning Changjiu's cheeks like snow.
Zhao Xiang'er knelt on the ground and looked at the back of Ning Changchun's fluttering white robe.
His back blocked the light from many windows.
By chance, she was sitting in his shadow.
…
…
In the early morning, in a teahouse, Lu Marian was wearing a white men's clothing and holding a folding fan in her hand. She was sitting by the window, listening to the storyteller telling stories on the stage.
The rain is new, the tea is new, and the stories are new.
She tapped her palms with her folding fan and looked leisurely at Baicheng outside the window.
Only today did she feel that it was not unreasonable to say that three days apart were like three autumns apart.
Today's storyteller tells the story of a couple of black sparrow heroes who broke into Thousand Buddha Mountain with single swords and killed the Hundred-faced Ghost together.
He vividly described the ferocity of the Hundred-Faced Ghost and the superb martial arts of the pair of heroes. That battle was an earth-shaking battle, and the situation was eclipsed. It lasted for three hundred rounds without stopping, and every move was perfectly explained.
"If you don't believe it, you can go to the Thousand Buddha Mountain and have a look. Now half of the Thousand Buddha Mountain has collapsed, and countless ghosts and ghosts have escaped. Remember to close the door when you sleep, and light a sacred incense stick by your bed..."
"This sacred incense is truly a sacred incense that is hard to come near to gods and ghosts. All the nobles in the Zhao Palace use this. It just so happens that we have it in our store..."
Lu Marian listened and chewed the word "Black Bird Heroes" silently. She smiled and said: "We have lived two lives. How come you still act like a child when you are with that little girl?" .”
Suddenly, there was a whole commotion outside the teahouse.
A piece of news came and suddenly exploded among the crowd.
When everyone heard this, they were all shocked and talked a lot, convinced that this was false news.
Lu Marry also frowned slightly.
The news was none other than that the empress of the Zhao Kingdom, Her Majesty Zhao Xianger, was getting married tomorrow.
Lu Marian put her fan on her palm and rubbed it gently: "What a heartless man..."
…
…
(Thank you to the alliance leader who rewarded the book friends nine times out of ten! Thank you very much, alliance leader. Congratulations to the Kingdom of God for having the fourteenth alliance leader. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!)
(Thanks to the alliance leader Zhu Xiaosan zxs and the hero Miao Crispy Corner for reading and rewarding the heroes!)
(Additional updates will be added next week...)