one
In the autumn of Jinluo, the fragrance of osmanthus fills the air.
Originally, Chu Qin said in the message that he would arrive home today, but he returned earlier than Xia Yue expected.
Xia Yue was about to go out to the street when she saw a young man in white pushing the door open eagerly.
The two people just looked at each other.
Chu Zhong ran into the yard breathlessly, and when he saw Zi Jin standing still in front of Xia Yue, he said, "Just now he was running back like he was putting out a fire, saying he was anxious to see the young lady, but why is he silent now that he's home?"
He was behind Zijin, so Zijin naturally didn't hear what he said, and he didn't mean to say it to Zijin anyway.
Xia Yue knew what Chu Zhong meant. They had been hot and cold these days. Zi Jin must have been depressed wherever he went after going out. The two brothers of the Chu family must be heartbroken seeing this.
After all, she was his elder sister, so she forgave him once again: "There is osmanthus cake on your table. If you are hungry, eat some first. Mother Chang hasn't started cooking dinner yet." Her tone was still stiff.
Zi Jin was stunned for a moment, nodded, and then smiled happily with his eyes curved. That smile was like the breeze blowing across the frozen river, and suddenly spring came and flowers bloomed.
The thing that Xia Yue cared about most ended with Zi Jin's rejection.
"The young master said at the time that he was disabled and had a weak will, and was unable to contribute to the King of Huai. A peaceful life was enough for him." Chu Qin sighed sadly.
Xia Yue knew that Chu Qin must be extremely disappointed. He had been looking forward to the right time day and night, but he didn't expect to receive such indifferent words from the young master.
Mr. Min did not comment.
He Xiang knocked on the door and brought tea, and everyone stopped talking.
Zi Jin has been keeping his eyes down since he sat down, perhaps he still feels guilty towards the two brothers of the Chu family. He gently stroked the ancient jade in his hand with his fingertips. When He Xiang was pouring tea, he saw Zi Jin's movements and suddenly remembered that morning when he also used this hand to stroke Xia Yue's lips. He was distracted and accidentally dropped the teacup, causing the water to spill out.
The water had just boiled and spilled onto the back of Zijin's hand, soaking his body. Although he also practiced martial arts, he was always not as fast as Chu Qin and Chu Zhong because of his hearing problems.
Chu Zhong beside him immediately jumped up and wanted to see Zi Jin's condition.
"Master, Master I..." He Xiang was so anxious that she wanted to cry.
Zi Jin quickly put his hands into his sleeves and smiled at He Xiang: "It's okay, the water is not hot." His eyebrows curved gently, an expression that made He Xiang feel relieved.
The door closed again.
He Xiang's uneasy heart was relieved a lot. When she thought of Zi Jin's clear and gentle eyes, she couldn't understand why he almost did something wrong to Xia Yue that day.
As soon as He Xiang's footsteps went away, Xia Yue stood up and walked over: "Show me your hand."
"It's okay." Zi Jin simply put his hands behind his back.
Xia Yue was slightly annoyed: "Yeah, it's not hot at all. Who are you trying to fool? Believe it or not, I'll pour some on my hands too." As she spoke, she was about to get the tea from Chu Zhong next to her.
"Yue'er—" Zi Jin had to reach out to stop her.
The hand that was holding Xia Yue's wrist emerged from her sleeve. Although there were no blisters, it was already swollen and red.
Xia Yue sighed: "Although it's good to do this, at least you should be kind to yourself." She dragged Zi Jin back to the room to apply medicine. When she came out, she faintly heard Master Min muttering: "It seems that Jinluo, we can't stay here for long."
Xia Yue was applying medicine to Zi Jin in the room, her eyes red.
"I'm not feeling sorry for you. I'm just angry that you didn't even tell me the truth." She was still annoyed.
He was stubborn since he was young. When he was young, he would bite his lips until they bled, but he would not say a word. Whenever Xia Yue found out, she would teach him a lesson: if you feel uncomfortable, you must tell your sister. But after she told him, even she felt helpless. Even if she knew, she could not share any pain for him. Even so, once she knew that he was hiding something from her, she could never let it go.
"Now let me ask you one more question, does it hurt?"
He still shook his head: "Not bad."
Xia Yue was really angry, so she grabbed his intact right hand and bit it. But he didn't dodge, and let her bite him, still not complaining. She became even angrier, and let go after a long time. Seeing the two rows of deep teeth marks, her tears suddenly rolled out of her eyes: "See if you can still be stubborn. Does it hurt?"
Zi Jin frowned and uttered one word: "It hurts."
Xia Yue panicked: "Did I bite too hard? Or was the burn medicine wrong..."
He pointed to his chest: "No, it hurts here when you cry."
Xia Yue burst into tears, pushed him away and said, "You're so jealous. Tell your wife about this later."
As the Mid-Autumn Festival approached, the weather in Jinluo was unusually good. Near dusk, the sun came out after not seeing it for many days. The setting sun was reflected on the low blue brick walls on the street, making people's faces appear orange-red.
When Xia Yue came out from the entrance of Minglun Street, she saw a large group of people watching the fun in the middle of the street.
A few little kids were shouting together with a man dressed in luxurious gentleman's clothes.
Those were the children who bullied Zhaohong at Shuiyue Bridge last spring and were punished by Xiayue.
The man in fancy clothes looked ruffian, Xia Yue recognized him, he was the son of the state official Wang Kui. Wang Kui had many wives and concubines, but only this one son, so he doted on Wang Gan very much, and let him act arrogantly in Jinzhou City.
I guess he did something outrageous again today.
She thought that she shouldn't meddle in other people's business when she went out alone. But Liu San'er and his children, although they often played tricks on the street, were still children who had not grown up. She couldn't help but stop and ask.
It turned out that Liu Saner and his friends were playing wildly on the street and accidentally bumped into Wang Gan, knocking the fan in Wang Gan's hand to the ground, which was stained with mud and water. The children were orphans who fled here from the west and were adopted by Uncle Liu, who worked in the iron shop in the west of the city. Among them was a little girl named Zijuan, who was coveted by Wang Gan for several days, but he could not find any excuse.
Now, Wang Gan looked at the mud-stained fan and saw Zijuan next to Liu Saner. He just happened to threaten that the fan was worth one hundred taels, and if he didn't have the money, he would bet on Zijuan to pay.
Zijuan was hiding behind Liu San'er with tears in her eyes, but she couldn't escape Wang Gan's lustful eyes. She was only a child of twelve or thirteen, with a baby face and a chest that hadn't grown yet. Two years ago, she was begging for food at the street corner, as thin as a bamboo pole, and her parents starved to death on the road. Later, she and San'er were taken to the iron shop by Uncle Liu, and this man took a fancy to her as soon as she looked a little pretty.
Wang Gan didn't care about his shame at all. He pushed Liu San'er away and tried to pull Zijuan's arm. Zijuan tried her best to back away. With a "swish" sound, the sleeve on her elbow was pulled down, and her slender arm was immediately exposed to everyone's sight.
Xia Yue couldn't stand seeing this kind of thing in her life. She got hot-headed and suddenly got angry. She stepped out of the crowd and said, "Stop!"
Wang Gan turned around when he heard the voice.
"My Lord," she said in a loud voice, "your fan is neither inlaid with gold nor plated with silver. If it's worth this much, it must have a provenance, right?"
Wang Gan and Xia Yue had met several times before. Seeing that she was the eldest daughter of the Min family, he pretended to be polite and said, "Once you tell me the origin, don't accuse me of scaring you common people." Then he cleared his throat and looked around, "You also know that my father is the brother of the current queen. Now the emperor and the queen are in harmony. For the queen's sake, the emperor even refused Princess Yanqing's request for marriage. The emperor loves the whole family, so he naturally dotes on my father. This fan was given by the emperor himself when he met the emperor last year. Don't you think it is a priceless treasure?"
When Wang Gan said this, everyone gasped in amazement.
Xia Yue saw that the fan was clearly white on both sides, and they said it was a gift from the emperor, which was obviously a deliberate attempt to blackmail her. She sneered in her heart, "My Lord, you didn't keep the gift from the emperor at home, bathed it, burned incense, and worshipped it, but actually let it be destroyed. How disrespectful."
Wang Gan was stunned. He had just wanted to bluff everyone by saying that some famous calligrapher had written an inscription on the fan. However, there was clearly no inscription on his fan, so he just made up a lie. When he heard what Xia Yue said, he felt something was wrong: "You..."
Xia Yue continued with a cold face: "Besides, the emperor is the true dragon emperor. Even gods and Buddhas would have to respect such things. How can Prince Wang just ask someone on the street to pay a hundred taels and be done with it? If the emperor knew that in Prince Wang's heart, the gift from him was only worth the price of a small beggar from Jinluo, I'm afraid he would be displeased."
Her voice was not loud, but clear, and she evaded the main point by tricking Wang Gan.
Wang Gan knew that he was in the wrong and that the matter would not be resolved if it got out of hand, so he pointed at Xia Yue with a sullen face and said "good" several times. Then he leaned over and whispered in her ear with gritted teeth, "Min Xia Yue, you have ruined my good deeds today, and one day I will make you pay back many times over." After saying that, he angrily took his men away.
Xia Yue was also a stubborn person. Since she had taken on the task, even though she was nervous, she still refused to give in and said, "Goodbye, I won't see you off."
The crowd dispersed.
two
Unexpectedly, Qi An would leave Jinluo before the Min family.
Qi An walked in a hurry and secretly.
Zi Jin and two other disciples that Qi An liked went to see him off outside the city. The other two disciples said goodbye to Qi An reluctantly, chattering, but Zi Jin remained silent, with an especially dim look in his eyes.
Qi An patted his shoulder and said, "Zi Jin, you are not the smartest or the most hardworking of all the disciples, so you have always learned as well as them. However, life will be easier if many things are left to nature."
"gentlemen… "
Qi An said: "Think more about yourself sometimes. Although selfishness is not a gentleman's behavior, it is the instinct of the world. Just like I am determined to leave now."
After a while, the boat docked and the boatman asked Qi An to get on board.
Qi An waved his hand and smiled: "Go back, there's no need to see you off."
After sending the people back to the Min Mansion, Zi Jin did not see Xia Yue. He asked everyone in the mansion but no one knew where she was.
He Xiang comforted him: "Master, don't panic, think carefully about whether the young lady said where she was going this morning."
Zi Jin was startled and immediately went out.
He gave her the key to the academy in the morning and said that Mr. Qi had handed the house over to them, the brother and sister, to manage, and it was up to them to decide whether to sell it, keep it, or use it for themselves.
The door of the academy was not locked and opened with a push. He turned a corner and saw Xia Yue at the desks where they studied when they were young. She heard footsteps and turned around to see that it was Zi Jin. She smiled and said, "I thought Mr. Qi owed someone money and ran away. The debt collectors came to collect the house."
He suddenly walked over impulsively and grabbed her arm.
Xia Yue was surprised: "What's wrong? Are you in such a hurry? Has the master left?"
He didn't say anything.
She thought Zijin didn't hear clearly, so she repeated, "What's wrong?" She also tried to look behind him and teased, "Is there a girl chasing you from behind? You're panting like this."
Zi Jin said: "I thought you and..." but couldn't finish the rest of the sentence.
Xia Yue thought of something and took Zi Jin's hand: "Come with me." Then she sat down at the most secluded table by the window, pointed at the blurry small words engraved on the table, and smiled: "I wrote this with a hairpin."
I don't remember how many years ago, but at that time, if someone talked for a long time, Zi Jin would not understand. She would ask her mother to accompany him. Whenever Qi An said something, she would write it down on paper and show it to Zi Jin.
But as time went on, she was born with a bad temper, and finally the two of them sat together, he listened to his, she played her own games. Sitting there was really boring, and because of Qi An's majesty, she didn't dare to walk out casually, so she took off the hairpin on her head and scratched on the wooden table.
I carve some of my favorite poems, and after a few days when the novelty wears off I carve something else.
Now it seems that only a few words on it are vaguely recognizable.
"You said Mr. Qi didn't even want the house anymore, so I came to take a look." Xia Yue touched the blurred marks again, "Hey, what was written at that time?"
Zi Jin looked in the direction of her finger and was slightly startled. There was a lot written, and he remembered it all. There was one sentence that he kept repeating in his mind -
It starts from when the hair is tied up and ends until the hair turns white.
three
This autumn, Jinluo's weather was different from previous years. It didn't rain, and the sun was always pale and cold. Master Min had always asked Chu Qin to prepare for the family to move west, but one day he accidentally fell down, and when he woke up, his left hand and left foot could not move, which was really a headache.
The doctor came to see him and said that Master Min's blood circulation was blocked and he might not survive for more than a few days. It happened too suddenly. If it weren't for Zi Jin, Chu Qin and Chu Zhong by her side, Xia Yue would definitely not be able to hold on.
So my mother said, "Daddy and mommy, can you give Yue'er a brother?"
She asked, "Why? If I have a younger brother, will my parents love me less?"
Mother smiled gently: "No, after having a brother, Yue'er will get more love, and she won't feel lonely even if she is alone in the future."
She asked: "Will my brother also like Yue'er and prevent Yue'er from being bullied by them?"
Mother nodded: "Yes. But until my brother grows up, Yue'er has to protect him."
She readily agreed: "Okay then."
Then Zi Jin appeared in front of her.
At that time she said to him: Your name is Zijin, I promised my mother that I would protect you.
"Cough-cough-" Dad's cough interrupted Xia Yue's memories. She hurriedly helped him sit up, put a cushion behind his back, and asked He Xiang to warm up the medicine and bring it over.
Master Min drank a spoonful of medicine and said with a smile, "I just dreamed about your mother."
"I was thinking about her, too." She wiped the remaining juice from her father's mouth with a handkerchief. Seeing that her father looked much better when he got up today, maybe the doctor made a mistake? Thinking this inwardly, she felt happy.
“Your mother’s greatest wish is for you to find an ordinary, good family and live a peaceful life.
"So, in fact, your mother has always been resentful of me for adopting Zijin. At first, she refused to agree, but later, when she saw Zijin with her own eyes, her attitude softened."
Xia Yue nodded. Anyone who saw a child like that would like him.
The first time she saw Zijin at home, he was standing behind his father, with bright eyes, white teeth and fair skin. At that time, she didn't know what terrible things such a young child had experienced. His eyes were filled with fear, and he looked around anxiously, holding his father's clothes tightly in his hands.
As soon as his mother saw him, she loved him very much. She gave him a name, treated his illness, taught him to speak, and sent him to school.
Only at this moment did she understand that despite her mother's attitude, she still had some resentment in her heart. She still believed that the child's background made him an unlucky person who would bring disaster to her daughter and the whole family.
"I'm relieved about Zijin's matter. He can make his own choice, and Dad is happy. We have no right to interfere with him. But Yue'er, you..." Father looked at her, "Dad can never let go! When your mother was alive, she thought Qi'an was a good man, and the engagement was already set, but you messed it up. You didn't like him at the time, but now that I see you and he have a good attitude, I told Zijin that maybe there is still room for easing the situation, but I didn't expect Qi'an to be gone."
"Dad told Zijin..." Xia Yue looked at his father in surprise, then burst into laughter. No wonder he came to look for Qi An in a hurry the day he left. It turned out that he was afraid that he would leave everyone behind, so he followed Qi An.
Early that morning, Mr. Min talked a lot, starting from Zi Jin and Xia Yue's childhood to the time when he and his wife first met on the street.
Later, Zi Jin bought some medicine and returned to the house. He had to let Xia Yue take a look at it, so he interrupted the conversation for a while.
When she and Zijin came back, they found that her father had fallen asleep again. Zijin turned around and closed the door to prevent the cold from entering the room. She walked to the bed quietly. Her father was sleeping very soundly, rarely seen so peacefully, without coughing. She smiled and tucked in the quilt for him.
When she touched her father's chin, she was stunned.
An ominous premonition crept into her heart, and she put her trembling hands to touch her father's nose, then sat down on the ground dejectedly.
With Zijin's support, Mr. Min's funeral was simple and decent. Xia Yue was always busy and had almost no time to feel sad.
After the seventh day, it was Zijin's birthday a few days later.
There was no banquet at home, but they just invited more than a dozen people in the mansion to eat together. After the meal, Madam Chang, who was standing next to them, invited Zijin to the side and said, "Master, I am afraid I have something to say."
"Mrs. Chang, what do you say?" Zi Jin asked curiously.