Izumi Shikibu's eyes fell on the collection of poems, and complex emotions rolled through his heart.
When he looked up, he saw the samurai leaving the pavilion. For some reason, Izumi Shikibu suddenly asked, "Who are you?"
This was quite a rude question, but Izumi Shikibu couldn't help but not ask.
Without it, with the literary quality and demeanor displayed by Yamada Shinichi, let alone the son of an ordinary samurai family, even the son of a Kuniji (Kunishou) with an official position in the imperial court would be far inferior.
Such a person looks more like the son of three ministers!
Pei Ziyun glanced at her, said nothing, smiled, and turned to leave.
This smile made Izumi Shikibu stunned. When Yamada was far away, he finally woke up, feeling a little disappointed.
"Master Yamada, do you need me to serve you?" As soon as he left the pavilion, a maid came over cautiously and asked.
Pei Ziyun knew that these people came together not so much because they listened to Izumi Shikibu's instructions, but because the arrival of the palace lady made his identity mysterious. Before, even when he asked people to prepare paper and ink, these The maids also looked like they were trying to avoid him, unlike now, with inquiry and flattery hidden in their eyes.
Pei Ziyun looked at the sky: "Is the room ready?"
"Master Yamada, please follow me. Your room has been tidied up." The maid led the way diligently.
Pei Ziyun's room is not far away. The house is not very big. You can't choose to stay in the guest rooms. Apart from the main house, there are only these guest rooms.
The next door was empty and uninhabited, separated from the main house by green plants, which suited Pei Ziyun's wishes. He opened the door and saw that it was quite clean inside, and he was quite satisfied.
"Master Yamada, this is the book you asked for." She had prepared paper and ink for Pei Ziyun before. Now the maid was more willing to serve and prepared the books very quickly. He asked for a few books and they were sent to him not long after.
It was delivered at the same time, along with some meals.
Pei Ziyun took one look at them and put them on the low table. When he saw that the maid retreated out of the room but did not leave immediately, he said, "I don't need you here anymore. I will call again if there is anything. Please step back."
"Yes, Lord Yamada." The maid responded, her footsteps getting closer and further away, then gradually moving away.
At this time, the sky was getting dark, the oil lamp in the house was lit, and the flames flickered, making Pei Ziyun's expression appear a bit more unpredictable.
He didn't touch the exquisite-looking food, let alone drink the tea brought by the maid. Instead, he read the book for a while. When the night got dark, he turned off the lights, put on his clothes and lay down, as if falling asleep. appearance.
In the gray sky, the waning moon poked its head out among the dark clouds, shedding some pale light, which was quickly blocked by the dark clouds.
In the room, the warrior with his eyes closed suddenly opened his eyes in a quiet atmosphere. His eyes were surprisingly bright in the dark night.
"Guo can't hold back his anger."
The ghost took the form of Izumi Shikibu and killed Yamazaki Ichiro, and plotted against the prince, and finally showed the form of Prajna on the princess. These are all demons that women are jealous of, and Pei Ziyun did not believe that the princess was innocent.
Living in Izumi Shikibu's house is not only to protect her, but also to attract snakes.
The princess hates the prince for falling in love with Izumi Shikibu. Today she is dead and will definitely be dispatched. This is why it is said that she will travel tonight.
Pei Ziyun stretched out his hand, and between his fingers, there were three strands of black hair forming a heart, which was vibrating and making a silent cry.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard he struggled, he still couldn't break free under the pinch of Pei Ziyun's fingers.
"ah!"
In the main room, Izumi Shikibu suddenly woke up from a nightmare. She gasped and stood up, instinctively looking at the window. She didn't know what was going on. She had closed the wooden window before going to bed, but now it was wide open, and gusts of cold wind blew in, making her feel uncomfortable. People feel very cold.
No wonder she seemed to have fallen into an ice cellar in her dream. It turned out to be a cold wind.
Izumi Shikibu struggled to get up, put on his coat, and walked to the window to close it. At a glance, he saw a thin mist filling the courtyard in the middle of the night.
"Is it foggy?" On a windy night, there was still fog, which surprised Izumi Shikibu.
She couldn't help but look outside for a while. The door could be seen directly from the window. When Izumi Shikibu stood here and looked out, she suddenly saw a figure appearing in the fog, and the door was open. An oxcart was parked dimly outside.
"Damn it, who is so careless?"
Although the distance was too far to see clearly, this scene still shocked Izumi Shikibu.
You know, in Heianjing, if the door is left open at night, it is easy to attract evil spirits.
She didn't know what happened, but she was supposed to call the maid, but she quickly walked out of the room alone.
At this time, she could see clearly the figure walking towards the door. Although it was just a back view, she could tell that it was Yamada Shinichi!
Did the other party really go to see the emperor at night
Izumi Shikibu suddenly realized and was even more surprised. This was completely inconsistent with etiquette.
"Mountain..." When she was about to shout, she saw the fog blocking her sight suddenly dissipated, and she could see clearly the bullock cart parked at the gate.
The woman driving the car had her back turned to her, but now she seemed to be aware of it and looked back.
This sight made Izumi Shikibu break into a cold sweat!
She was none other than the dead female officer of Prince Zun’s palace!
He saw that the other person's face was pale, his lips were as red as blood, and he looked like an evil ghost. No, he was an evil ghost himself!
Izumi Shikibu was panicking and wanted to scream but couldn't. He saw her getting closer.
"Broken!" At this moment, there was a muffled thunder and a sword light fell.
"No, don't!" A shrill cry came from Izumi Shikibu's room.
When the maid sleeping in the next room heard the sound, she didn't even bother to put on her coat and immediately came over in panic.
"Shikibu, are you okay?!" The maid opened the door and found Izumi Shikibu lying on the couch with a pale face. The maid breathed a sigh of relief and asked.
"...So it was just a nightmare?" Izumi Shikibu woke up from his dream again. He hesitated for a moment and then realized that he had just been in a dream within a dream.
Her gaze fell on the maid's face with a dull look, and she shook her head: "It's nothing, it's just a nightmare. Please step back."
"If you have anything, please call me at any time." The maid observed and thought that Shikibu was just having a nightmare, so she withdrew.
As soon as she left, Izumi Shikibu struggled to get up, and then suddenly felt something. He paused slightly and sniffed lightly around him.
"Burned smell..." Where did this burnt smell come from
Since she couldn't find anything, she had no choice but to give up. Piyi hesitantly opened the wooden window that could see the door again and took a look outside.
Fortunately, the scene in the nightmare did not reappear. There was no fog outside, the door was not wide open, and there was no dead female officer driving the bullock cart.
Izumi Shikibu breathed a sigh of relief, and when he was about to go back, his eyes fell on the house on one side.
Those were guest rooms, and Yamada Shinichi lived in one of them.
But at this time, the wooden door that should have been closed was open. It was dark inside and it was hard to see if anyone was there. But in this weather, it would be wrong to leave the door open if there were people sleeping inside.
Thinking of the nightmare, Izumi Shikibu felt suspicious, and finally decided to go out.
Arriving in the court, she hesitated for a while, then took small steps and cautiously walked towards the room.
For a woman of this era, going alone at night would be considered to be courting a man, which was a bit risky.
When he finally reached the door, he took a closer look and saw that there was no one in the house. Izumi Shikibu's heart skipped a beat, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.
For a moment, she even doubted whether the nightmare just now was really just a dream.
"Come here!" she shouted as she walked back into the court.
When the sleeping maids heard the noise, they put on their clothes and got up.
"Did any of you hear the sound of the bullock cart just now?" Izumi Shikibu asked.
This question is really strange and puzzling. The maids who were walking out one after another looked at each other in confusion after hearing this question. A female official with willow eyebrows came forward: "Shikibu, I haven't heard that."
"I'm sorry for disturbing you. You can go back and rest!" Izumi Shikibu, who looked ugly, waved them back and ignored the maid's gaze as he stood in deep thought.
Suddenly, her expression changed, and she quickly returned to her room at a speed that could be called rude. Regardless of other people's eyes, she knelt down on the tatami and opened the quilt.
A knife mark, although thin, appeared very clearly on the quilt. In addition, there were a few strands of burnt hair stuck to it, which made Izumi Shikibu's expression even worse.
"Shikibu, what's wrong with you? But what happened?" the maid asked bravely.
Izumi Shikibu stood up suddenly, without answering at all, and walked out of the room, heading towards the door. When she reached the door, her hand was already on the door. She trembled and hesitated again.
"If... if the dream just now is true..." She was afraid to look at the door, pushed it open, and saw what she didn't want to see. What would she do
But if she ignores it, this matter will definitely become a knot in her heart and she will not be able to let it go.
After thinking for a while, she heard the sound of chaotic footsteps behind her and knew that the maids were frightened by her strange behavior. She no longer hesitated and pushed the door open.
The quiet streets were deserted.
The night wind blows, and the snow on the ground has not melted away, and there are... traces of oxcarts.
Looking at the obviously fresh traces of the bullock cart, Izumi Shikibu was dumbfounded and his body couldn't help but tremble.
At this time, on the road to the palace, it was quiet and dark, and an ox cart was running with dim lights.
Following the lights, there will be rustling sounds from behind, and I don't know what is moving.
Pei Ziyun didn't seem to hear him at all and closed his eyes to rest.
I don't know how long it took before he opened his eyes.
"The palace has arrived." Although the nature was slightly different, Pei Ziyun would never admit it. In the next moment, the side of the bullock cart flew out with a "boom", and the person floated down. He returned with a knife and chanted: "Ten Kill one person with a single step and leave no trace for a thousand miles.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the sword fell, and there was a "pop" sound. Before the bullock cart and the demon driving it had time to react, a little white light started to burn.
As the flames spread, the closed palace door opened wide under the moonlight.
(End of chapter)