Joy of Life

Chapter 252: Throwing handkerchiefs along the Changting Ancient Road

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Fan Xian held the poem volume in his hand, and for a moment he didn't know what to say. The meeting with Zhuang Mohan the night before was unexpectedly the last one. Although Zhuang Mohan's spirit was found that night not as good as last year, he never expected that this generation of literary leaders would bid farewell to the world so abruptly.

Zhuang Mohan's last words were to hand over the results of his last work in this life to Fan Xian, and the hidden meaning was not simple.

At this time, the officials who were seeing him off outside the capital also gradually learned of this amazing news, and a sense of sorrow began to permeate the official road, and more Northern Qi officials turned their attention to Fan Xian. With vigilance, with resentment, with a trace of suspicion.

Fan Xian understood what the Northern Qi people were thinking. The only stain in Zhuang Mohan's life was stained by himself. But now that the man had passed away, he felt a little sad, and subconsciously remembered those expressions. All complicated eyes were filtered out.

While thinking about it, the carriage at the gate of the city finally drove over with great difficulty, and under the eyes of the officials, it came to the rear of the mission convoy. You know, there must be heavy things in the compartment. The servant who reported the news from the banker in front led Fan Xian to the carriage, and said in a trembling voice, "Master Fan, the master's order, please take this cart back to the south for safekeeping."

Everyone hadn't woken up from the news of Zhuang Mohan's death, so they looked at this scene, and they couldn't help being curious about what was going to be handed over to Fan Xian when Zhuang Mohan was dying.

It's the time when the sun is blinding. Fan Xian squinted his eyes and lifted the thick curtain of the carriage, but he still couldn't help being dazzled by the things inside.

The book has its own Yan Ruyu, the book has its own golden house, and the book has its own thousand bells.

Although there was no beauty jewelry in the carriage, Fan Xian was still a little surprised and moved. This is a whole carriage of books, presumably Zhuang Mohan's lifetime collection, and with the status of that old man, one can guess that they are rare and rare books without looking through them.

The banker Ding respectfully handed over a booklet and said, "Master Fan, this is the bibliography compiled by the master himself, and the notes on the preservation of books are on the back."

Fan Xian sighed, put down the curtain, picked up the book and carefully flipped through it. In today's era, although printing technology has made great progress, printing a book is still a great thing, let alone such a whole car. Thinking of the old man's gift of books, he couldn't help but feel a little moved. At this time, he heard the servant say sadly: "The master gave you books, and I hope you can keep them well."

Fan Xian knew that this family member said this on his own initiative, but he bowed his hands sincerely and said solemnly: "Please rest assured, brother. Even if I, Fan Xian, die, these books will continue to be kept in this place." passed on to the world.”

At this time, the surrounding Northern Qi officials had already gathered around, and they could clearly see that there were books piled up on the carriage. These officials are all people who came out of the examination room. How could they not know the preciousness of this cart full of books? None of the officials expected that when Mr. Zhuang was dying, he would hand over these precious books that he had studied all his life to Officials from the Southern Dynasties couldn't help being greatly surprised, but also slightly jealous.

The Taifu understood what his benefactor meant by this move, so he couldn't help but sighed softly.

The gift of books is just an appearance, and Zhuang Mohan used this act to show his attitude. This is not just a simple gift, but also a symbolic inheritance. No matter how proud the civil servants of the Northern Qi Dynasty are, from now on, it is impossible to ignore the existence of Fan Xian, and Fan Xian is in the hearts of scholars all over the world. status, and finally had some kind of ceremonial recognition.

Fan Xian turned his head to look at the Grand Tutor, and said sincerely, "Because of emotion and reason, I should go back to the city to pay my respects at this time so that I can feel at ease."

There was still unconcealable sadness in the Taifu's eyes. He was full of thoughts about going back to the city to kowtow, and he didn't have time to think about it. In addition, Fan Xian offered to go to worship, which also comforted him, so he agreed. Unexpectedly, Wei Hua, the Shaoqing of Honglu Temple, came to the two of them at this time, and after saluting, he said in a deep voice: "Mr. passed away, and the whole world mourns. It's just Mr. Tai Tuo, Mr. Fan, the schedule of the mission has been set, and the guard of honor Since then, it is absolutely impossible to return to the city.”

After a moment of silence, Fan Xian raised his eyes to look at the blue-gray outline of the upper capital, and seemed to be able to see some lavender light floating in the sky above it. He straightened his clothes, bowed deeply towards the direction of the city, bowed to the ground, and saluted as an outer disciple.

The Tai Fu was slightly startled, knowing that Fan Xian's salutation as a disciple was enough to put an end to the turmoil of last year, and set the monument of everyone in the village with an act of respect, feeling a little comforted in his heart, he returned the salute beside him.

The sound of the salute, but I don't know whether it's seeing off or summoning the soul, shredded papers are flying all over the sky, and the slightly pungent smell of smoke dissipates without a trace in a moment, just like the impermanence of this world.

The convoy of the mission moved slowly and headed west along the official road. The Northern Qi officials at the back of the convoy watched the Southern Dynasty's convoy leave and the heavy book cart also left, they couldn't help but sighed in unison, then straightened their clothes, returned home to change their clothes with sadness on their faces, and rushed to the Zhuang family. At the mansion, the Queen Mother and His Majesty had already arrived at this time, and no one dared to neglect, but the Grand Tutor and several bachelors taught by Zhuang Mohan were crying so much that they almost fainted.

The convoy continued on, and when the majestic city walls of the Shang capital gradually disappeared into the green mountains and dense forests, they arrived at the first post station outside the Shang capital. Settle down overnight and move on tomorrow. Fan Xian slowly dismounted from the horse and walked forward. When passing by the book carriage, he couldn't help turning his head to glance, but resisted the desire to go up.

He walked outside the gorgeous carriage painted with gold paint and painted red colors, bowed and saluted, and asked respectfully: "We have arrived at the post station. Please rest, Your Highness the Princess."

I don't know how long it took, a faint voice came from the carriage: "...Please do what you want, my lord, I want to sit alone for a while."

This was the first time Fan Xian heard the eldest princess's voice, and it was a little hoarse, so he couldn't help feeling a little strange. Then, seeing the curtain of the carriage lifted, a court lady came down with red eyes, walked to his side and said softly: "Your Highness is feeling a little uncomfortable, Mr. Fan, please wait a moment."

Fan Xian asked with concern: "Your Highness is a daughter, so it's hard to bear the long journey, so you should rest more."

The palace maid took a look at the handsome face of the Nanchao lord, somehow she had an inexplicable sense of trust in him, and said softly: "The princess was once educated by Master Zhuang, and she got the news today, so she is a little sad."

Only then did Fan Xian understand, and he looked at the carriage with a hint of sympathy. This princess doesn't seem to be a pampered person, and she can't stop crying when she is grateful for her teacher's kindness. It's just that Zhuang Mohan died in the city, and the princess was in the car, so she couldn't go to worship. Very sad thing.

He sighed, wondering if he had thought of his life experience, he asked the maid a few words, then called the key members of the Tiger Guard and the mission, arranged the current affairs, and then walked into the inn alone.

The post station knew that the sending-off team and missions would pass through here, so it had been kept extremely clean long ago, and all kinds of utensils were handled according to the rules of the palace. After a little inspection, Fan Xian passed through the main room, quietly exited the back door, and disappeared into the large sorghum field behind the inn, which was higher than the head of a man.

After a while, most of the people had already entered the station, and the officials sent by the Ministry of Rites were extremely busy, so naturally no one noticed Fan Xian's whereabouts.

But outside the post station, there were two carriages that did not get off, one was driven by the Eldest Princess. Everyone knew that His Highness was sad, so naturally they did not dare to disturb her. As for the Northern Qi officials, the handsome demon in the other carriage was even more ignored. Only the Tiger Guards and Overwatch Council officials specially left by Fan Xian guarded the two carriages vigilantly.

The curtain of the last carriage was lifted by a small corner, and a hand that looked extremely white and cold waved, and the Overwatch Council official beside the carriage immediately walked over, and asked in a low voice from the corner of the curtain: "Master Yan , do you have any orders?"

In the corner of the car curtain, Yan Bingyun's handsome but extraordinarily cold face appeared, and he said softly, "Where did your lord go?"

Fan Xian was the only one in the mission that could make him call him a lord. The Overwatch Council official glanced at him, and said in a deep voice, "This subordinate doesn't know."

Yan Bingyun frowned, as if he had something to say, after hesitating for a while, he finally said softly: "Is there a woman who likes to wear a light blue shirt to follow the convoy? She likes to ride a red horse Malaysia."

The Overwatch Council official shook his head, Yan Bingyun had no expression on his face, and lowered the curtain. After confirming that Miss Shen didn't take the risk to see her, she felt a little more relaxed, but for some reason, after she relaxed, she felt a little gloomy again.

Outside the sorghum field, there is a lonely pavilion. Beside the pavilion is an ancient road that has been abandoned for many years. There is a carriage parked on the ancient road, and two girls are standing in the pavilion.

A gust of wind blew by, and the sorghum field was slightly disturbed. Fan Xian walked out from inside, walked slowly into the pavilion, looked at the extremely plump girl's house with gentle eyes, and said softly: "I never thought that once I entered Shangjing, I would be able to really talk." By the time, it was already about to leave.”

Si Lili gave him a slight blessing, his voice trembling slightly: "I've met you, sir."

Fan Xian didn't continue talking, but just glanced at Haitang beside him. Haitang smiled, put her hands into her pockets, tiptoed her toes to touch the cracked ground under the pavilion, and she floated away, leaving the pavilion to this strange couple.

As soon as Haitang came out of the kiosk, the tenderness on Fan Xian's face immediately disappeared. He looked at Si Lili seriously and said, "After entering the palace, you must be more careful in everything. The Queen Mother is not a simple role. You want to hide it from her. It's not that easy."

Si Lili glanced at him, and gradually there was a hint of tenderness in his eyes, and he said softly, "You just want me to be careful, don't you have anything else to say?"

Fan Xian smiled, but did not go forward to hug her frail shoulders, and said, "Since you insist on staying in Beiqi, why do you want to soften my mind now? Could it be that you women are trying to tease us filthy things?" Are you happy?"

Si Lili smiled lightly, not as weak as he was in front of Haitang, and said, "Isn't that the case, my lord? Although the little girl insists on staying in Beiqi, but you said that first, are you afraid that I will ask you to take me back to the capital? "

A hint of teasing flashed in Fan Xian's eyes, and he said, "The girl might be the head of the Northern Qi harem in the future, so why bother with people like me?"

Si Lili also laughed: "It would be nice to have a place to live in the palace, how dare I expect so much."

Fan Xian shook his head, and suddenly said, "Lili, you are a little different from other women in this world."

Si Lili snorted, and immediately responded flatly: "Maybe it's because Lili has been traveling around the world since she was a child, and has been to many places. She is more presumptuous than those girls who just stay at home all day embroidering and composing poems."

Fan Xian remained silent, knowing that what she said was indeed reasonable. In today's world, ordinary women can only sit at home. Few people have the experience of Si Lili and the freedom of Haitang. He turned his head to look at the direction where Haitang disappeared, and said in a serious tone: "I believe in your ability, but I still want to warn you, don't underestimate those seemingly old and stupid people."

The atmosphere in the pavilion seemed a little stagnant. After a long time, Si Lili sighed deeply, lowered his head, his strands of blue hair danced in the wind, and said softly: "Maybe you don't believe me, but Lili really likes to talk with you together, just like when I came here." in a carriage."

Fan Xian looked at her, wondering how much of what this woman said was true and how much was false.

Si Lili smiled slightly, her beautiful face was extremely charming: "My lord, Lili is very grateful that you detoxified me on the way, this sentence... is true."

"I'm not Chen Pingping." Fan Xian said: "I believe that even the entanglement of interests can be resolved in a more gentle way, and I don't want the emperor of Northern Qi to be poisoned because of you... Of course, looking at it now Come on, Chen Pingping's strategy has no hope of success from the beginning."

Si Lili's cheeks flushed slightly, knowing that the man in front of him who was closest to him had already guessed something.

Fan Xian continued to speak softly: "The girl will live in the palace in the future, and her status is respected. No matter how long the Overwatch Council's hands and feet are, it will not be able to control you, so whether the agreement between you and me is valid depends on you and me. .”

Si Lili said seriously: "My lord, please rest assured."

Fan Xian looked at the beautiful girl's eyebrows, and suddenly felt a little dazed. After he collected his mind for a while, he said, "You are waiting for the news in the north, pay attention to safety, I guess it won't be long before someone will avenge your family's revenge." .”

Si Lili suddenly raised his head, looking at Fan Xian in disbelief. Fan Xian ignored the surprise in her eyes, took a note from his sleeve and gave it to her, and said, "Contact me through this person, remember it and destroy it."

Fan Xian suddenly smiled and said, "I can allow you to give up the agreement between us, but I won't accept you betraying me. This contact is one-way, and it's useless even if you sell him to Bei Qi, so you'd better not adventure."

Seeing this young adult's somewhat weird and sweet smile, Si Lili's heart trembled slightly, and he was a little scared for some reason, so he nodded quickly.

"Also, if..." Fan Xian was silent for a while, and then suddenly said: "If there is a day when you don't want to stay in the Northern Qi Palace, please let me know, and I will handle this matter."

"Thank you, my lord." Si Lili bowed her head weakly and thanked her. This thank you finally revealed a trace of sincerity and reluctance, because she knew that she was about to leave after this thank you. Once we say goodbye, we don’t know when we will see each other again, every time I think about it, I can’t help feeling heartbroken.”

After saying this, Si Lili resolutely turned around and left the pavilion, leaving behind Fan Xian who was frowning deeply, still thinking about the hidden meaning of the words "broken heart".

Watching the carriage gradually leave along the abandoned ancient road, Fan Xian had no expression on his face, but deep in his heart he sighed, and then he punched the pillar of the pavilion with a slap. The Li Pavilion had been in disrepair for a long time and was already on the verge of collapse. At this time, Fan Xian punched it, and it rattled even more.

A figure floated down from the pavilion, was it Haitang or who? Miss Haitang gently landed beside Fan Xian, and said with a wry smile, "Duoduo didn't overhear anything."

"If you're eavesdropping." Fan Xian said, "I'll become dumb."

Haitang smiled and said: "Master Fan will leave Daqi now, I don't know when we will meet again."

Fan Xian thought of his younger sister in the capital, and couldn't help but sighed, "I don't think it will be long... Where did your famous teacher go?" He suddenly changed the subject, "I came to Beiqi, but I didn't visit This great master is really a bit regretful."

After Haitang thought about it, she decided not to hide this matter, and said softly: "Three days before the Southern Dynasty mission entered the capital, the teacher received a piece of wood and left the capital. No one knows where he went, including the Queen Mother and me. Inside."

"In the past few days in Beijing, you have helped me hide many things." Fan Xian looked at the lonely tree in the wilderness at the end of the ancient road, "I really want to thank you, so... regarding the northbound cargo issue, I am currently I was talking to Marquis Changning and Zhong Zhong, if your Emperor needs to borrow money from me, you must settle Chong Chong, this man looks ordinary, but he is actually a very powerful person."

Haitang was silent for a while and said, "This is a secret between you and me."

Fan Xian looked into her extremely bright eyes, and said word by word: "In this world, apart from my uncle, I really rarely see pure fools. Do you think the secret between us can be kept secret?" How many people? Dodo, you helped me a lot during this trip to the Northern Qi Dynasty, don't think that your elder brother won't notice."

Haitang frowned: "What do you want to say?"

Fan Xian smiled and said: "What I want to say is that since you and the emperor are going to get out of the shadow of the queen mother, you can't just count on the battles in the palace, and you can't just count on how much money I, an outsider, will provide. For a big country, if you want to master it all, it will take a few years, and it will be impossible."

Haitang raised the corners of her lips and smiled: "I think Master Fan may have misunderstood something."

"Oh?" Fan Xian smiled, "What are you worried about?"

Haitang seemed to be talking about another topic: "I am a good student who respects teachers."

Fan Xian suddenly said, "Zhuang Mohan is dead."

Zhuang Mo's students are all over the world, and they are extremely respected by the world. Except for the incident last year, his moral writing is impeccable. Even Haitang respects this old man very much, but she has been waiting for the embassy in the suburbs of Beijing today , so I didn't know the news of the old man's death. Hearing the news at this time, I couldn't help showing a bit of shock and sadness on my face, and I didn't know what to say.

For a moment, there was a feeling of desolation in Liting out of thin air.

After a long time, it was Fan Xian who broke the silence: "Xiao En is dead, Zhuang Mohan is dead, the great people of those days will gradually grow old and die, even if you are a good student who respects teachers, but I think you You should be prepared for that day.”

Haitang stared into his eyes: "My lord seems to be implying something."

Fan Xian smiled and said, "I can quite understand young people's strong desire to be their own masters."

Haitang smiled, dispelling the gloom after first hearing the news of Mr. Zhuang's death: "Why do many heavy things seem so much easier when you say them? Why do many dark things, once you explain them , it will immediately become extremely bright?"

"Because the night gave us black eyes, but I use them to find the light."

Haitang tilted her head slightly, and said, "I remember you said that you want to use it to... roll your eyes at the world."

"This world?" Fan Xian said, "This world belongs to them as well as ours, but in the final analysis... it belongs to us."

Thick clouds in the sky floated over and completely covered the sun behind, but the sun was too strong, even so, it couldn't hide the bright red light coming out from the edge of the clouds, like a fairy with skillful hands Embroidered with a gold border. A gust of wind blew over from the plain, passing through the ancient road on the ground, the Li Pavilion.

Fan Xian looked at Haitang and said, "Duoduo, thank you for your help these days."

Haitang finally took her hands out of the big pockets of her coarse cloth clothes, and imitated the ordinary girl's family portrait a little jerky: "Your Majesty Fan is very polite."

Under the pavilion, Fan Xian took a step forward honestly, and hugged her in his arms. For some reason, with Haitang's extremely high cultivation, he couldn't escape his embrace. As soon as he hugged him, he showed a sincere smile: "To be honest, if you and I can really become friends, it would be a very good thing to think about."

Haitang lightly smoothed the blue hair on her forehead, her usual face was not at all embarrassed by the intimate hug before, and said with a smile: "To each other."

Haitang stood under the dilapidated Li Pavilion, by the side of the ancient road, watching Fan Xian's figure disappear into the distance, she couldn't help tilting her head slightly, recalling the days in Shangjing, a smile appeared on the corner of her lips, thinking of this Southern Dynasty His young master is indeed a very interesting and sharp-eyed person. After he returns to the Qing Kingdom, some subtle changes will take place in the southern world.

She sighed, and let go of the grief caused by Zhuang Mohan's death in her mind, and then she remembered that she still forgot one thing after all-does the Begonia Poetry Club in the Story of Stone have anything to do with her? Subconsciously, she reached out to fasten the floral scarf above her head, but found nothing. She immediately reacted, and couldn't help but feel a slight heat on her face, and then realized that even though she concealed it well, she was still a little nervous during the hug earlier, and she didn't even notice that the thief stole her flower headband.

Fan Xian was walking through the sorghum field that was taller than the top of his head, and occasionally a branch shattered against his face, and there was a trace of a happy and innocent smile on his face. The trip to the Northern Qi Dynasty finally had a relatively satisfactory result, and after his rebirth, he met some interesting characters, such as Yan Bingyun's piece of ice, such as Haitang, a seemingly tacky but bland flower. Conflicts and differences in ideas, he likes to talk with Haitang very much.

—The emperor also wants to have a son, Ku He also wants to eat meat, Chen Laizi also needs to go to the latrine, and Fan Xian also needs to have friends.

He put the piece of floral cloth in his arms into his arms, pushed away the plants in front of him, looked at the faint green smoke rising from the station in the distance, and hummed softly: "Throw away, throw away, throw away the handkerchief..."

(The end of the fourth volume "Northern Sea Fog")

Volume Five Jinghua Jiangnan