The seventh day of October in the seventeenth year of Jiasheng
On the second day of the Queen Mother's sixty-sixth birthday, the palace was full of joy and peace. The most famous opera troupes from all over Dali came to the capital to congratulate. The palace had been singing operas for half a month, and all the concubines and princes were there. Everyone in Cining Palace flattered the Queen Mother except Lu Zhishan, the lame and unlucky eldest prince.
The day before, he, a cripple, was made to kneel for an hour outside the royal study in the heavy snow. Later, he was unconscious for a full day and night. It was already dark, and he had just woken up.
The snow hadn't stopped yet, and it seemed to be falling even harder. He sat on the edge of the bed, enduring the burning pain in his knees, and his whole body was languid. He was lost in thought when he heard vague footsteps coming from outside. The sound, from far to near, the footsteps gradually became clearer. He had been on the battlefield for a long time, and his hearing was far beyond the reach of ordinary people. At this time, he could already tell who the person outside was, so he immediately frowned.
This ignorant girl dared to come to his house at this time without fear of being seen.
"I heard early in the morning that my cousin entered the palace last night. I was so anxious that I finally managed to stay up until dark. Now that I see my cousin well, I feel relieved." Sure enough, the ignorant girl hurriedly She opened the door curtain and walked in. Maybe she walked too quickly and was a little breathless from exhaustion. While putting down the baggage in her hand, she took the tea cup on the table and drank it without any courtesy.
He was about to remind him that it was Ku Ding, but before he could say anything, he saw the girl's eyebrows furrowed.
He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and his expression softened a little, but he still told the girl with a straight face: "It's dark and the roads are slippery, and it's snowing outside. If there's nothing important in the future, you don't have to go out in person."
"It's important to come and see my cousin. Besides, it's snowing outside and no one is going out, so I can come and see my cousin," the girl said with a smile, and put the tea cup to her mouth again, thinking for a moment. She was so busy that she put it down again, as if she was afraid that she would pick it up by mistake again, so she pushed it aside. Then she opened the bag and said to the man in a whisper, "It's the Queen Mother's birthday. My mother also sent people from Beidi to send birthday gifts. These It was an ointment for my cousin. I was thinking about the ointment I gave to my cousin last time. My cousin should have used up the ointment, so this time I wrote to my mother to send some more. This ointment is enough for my cousin to use for two days. It’s been three years.”
He glanced at the neatly arranged cow bone pots on the table, and then looked at the girl's dark eyes. His heart, no matter how hard it was, inevitably softened.
…
After the girl left, he struggled to get out of bed, limped to the table, sat down, and carefully packed away the exotic-looking ox bone jars one by one.
There are twelve cans in total, which, as the girl said, is enough for him to use for two or three years.
"Prince, I will give you some medicine." Song Fu came in with ointment. Even if Lu Zhishan was no longer favored, the hospital would still send ointment on time.
"No need," he waved his hand, asking Song Fu to step back, "I can do it myself."
Song Fu recognized the cow bone pot. A few years ago, there was a shortage of medicine in the house, so Lu Zhishan used this Beidi ointment. Song Fu was not sure about its efficacy, but it was obvious that Lu Zhishan liked the herbal fragrance very much. Exotic ointment.
"Yes, I'm resigning." Song Fu was so busy that he bowed and retreated. He thought to himself that whenever Mu Jun came, the prince would be in a particularly better mood. He was cold-faced just now, but now his tone was different. .
Lu Zhishan casually opened a can of beef stock, and the familiar fragrance of herbal medicine immediately came out, and his mood did not improve at all. He applied ointment bit by bit, more than three times more than usual, and his entire knee was covered with ointment. After applying a thick layer of ointment, he was about to get up and wash his hands, but at a glance he saw something round inside the ointment. He was startled, and then he pulled the thing out.
It seemed to be a pill, about the size of a quail egg.
He frowned and looked at the pill, then took out a handkerchief and wiped the pill clean. Inside was a copper ball sealed with wax and screwed tightly. He removed the layer of wax and unscrewed the copper ball. , and a piece of thin paper folded into a small ball was poured out.
Unfolding the piece of paper, it was a letter, written by Lu Minglan to him.
My nephew Zhishan:
A letter is like a meeting.
My son was born weak and physically handicapped, so he may not be able to have a good family. He is to be married to Zhongyuan Marquis Mansion. Although the lintel is high, my son has a hidden illness. My aunt is anxious day and night. I hope my nephew Zhishan can take care of him. I hope that my daughter will not be looked down upon by her husband's family. In the future, I will choose a virtuous person among the concubines to adopt and take care of my daughter, so as to comfort my daughter for half her life. When the time comes, I will also ask my nephew to be my guardian.
I cried and thanked you in Beidi.
…
He read it back and forth more than ten times over the hundreds of characters in small regular script.
"Crack!"
Suddenly, the lights exploded, and he suddenly came back to his senses. He looked at the drooping candle wick and the line of candle tears rolling down...
Gradually, the line of candle tears turned into the tears of that girl, that girl who always smiled with crooked eyes, that girl whose smile was sweeter than honey. Now she was crying, right in front of him, crying so sadly. , so pitiful, so desperate, crying until his heart throbbed with pain.
He took a deep breath, then threw the thin piece of paper in his hand into the brazier, and it immediately turned into ashes. Then he looked back at the open ox bone pot on the table, and his heart felt dull again. It was a dull pain. As soon as he raised his hand, the delicate ox bone jar was also thrown into the brazier, which immediately caused a "crackling" sound.
That night, he couldn't sleep. In the dark night, he thought about that letter and was obsessed with every word.
He felt sorry for that girl. He felt sorry for the little girl who held his heart-to-heart knot at the Zhuzhou Banquet. He felt sorry for those big black eyes. Those eyes looked so beautiful when they smiled, but when they cried... he felt so sad. Don't know what to do.
…
That night, he made up his mind to protect this girl for the rest of his life. She was his little girl. As long as he was here, no one could bully his little girl.