The young man in a soapy riding suit got the flag, flew off his horse, and landed on the ground. The smoothness was amazing.
The owner of the racecourse is not a stingy person. He only handed the purple jade whip into Xiao Jue's hand and praised: "Young master is very skilled. In the recent years of winning the wind, you are the fastest person to get the flag!"
Cui Yuezhi couldn't help but clasped his palms, "Huanqing, before you arrived, I heard that your adoptive father had once looked for Master Wu for you, but now it seems that Master Wu taught you with all his heart. Skills, even in Jiyang City, are rare."
Xiao Jue nodded and smiled: "Uncle won the prize."
He Yan thought to himself, Cui Yuezhi didn't know yet that Xiao Jue just kept it when he came out. If you really open up to fight, I'm afraid that everyone will be shocked and the identity will be exposed.
She was thinking that Xiao Jue had come over and threw the Ziyu whip into her arms.
He Yan was flattered: "Thank... Thank you."
I always feel that today's Xiao Jue is very different. It seems to be very easy to talk, and the heart is very good.
But he couldn't think of a name, so He Yan shook his head.
"Now I've got the purple jade whip." Aunt Wei smiled and said, "Why don't you go to the ceremony by the river to see it, it's very lively, and you can get the offerings rewarded by the water god, eat the offerings rewarded by the water god, and be treated by the water god. Take a bath, and throughout the coming year, you will be blessed by Fuze."
Cui Yueyi patted his head: "Yes, yes, I almost forgot about this one. Huanqing, Yuyan, all of you go, ask for a good omen! How can you not come to the Water God Festival when you come to the Water God Festival."
What is the ritual of the Water God? He Yan was at a loss, but he was too kind, so he followed the crowd to the other side of the canal. When I walked nearby, I saw that there was a large flat area near the canal, and a large round platform was built. There were many people wearing masks singing and dancing on it. It is probably a folk song from Jiyang, the tune is very cheerful, there are men, women and children, it is very lively.
Just standing still, I heard a woman's voice: "Master Cui."
When a few people looked over, they saw Ling Xiu, the young lady in the ceremonial mansion who came to Cui Mansion a few days ago and played the qin to everyone. Beside her, stood Yan Min'er, looking at her with a bad look.
Lingxiu is also dressed up today, wearing a long pink corset dress and small boots worn by Jiyang women, her long hair is also tied with a fine whip, and she is gentle and playful for a few days. She smiled and said, "It was such a coincidence that I met Mr. Cui as soon as I arrived here with Min'er. What a fate."
Cui Yuezhi also laughed: "Axiu, Min'er, where are your parents?"
"My father and mother are both on the boat. Min'er and I are walking here with the servants and guards. We want to see the sacrificial ceremony and bring some offerings back by the way." Her eyes fell on Xiao Jue, and Xiao Jue only looked at Li In the direction of the stage, without even glancing at him, Ling Xiu's heart flashed a trace of yin.
In fact, she and Yan Min'er saw Xiao Jue, not here. The young man's appearance is as full as the moon, and he is absolutely stunning. The way he grabs the flag and chuckles, it immediately reflects in people's hearts, and it is difficult to teach people to forget. However, such a man, being so showy in front of everyone, is just to win a whip that she likes for that woman.
Ling Xiu was extremely jealous.
She was born beautiful, talented and learned, and she is also a golden branch and jade leaf. Many young talents in Jiyang City admire her, but she doesn't look down on any of them. One day, such a person came and compared everyone in the city. Going down, it is a pity that he is a married man, and he is so kind to his seemingly ordinary wife. If it was just angry at Xiao Jue for ignoring her at first, after several times, Ling Xiu hated even He Yan.
If it weren't for that Wen Yuyan, if it was him who met Qiao Huanqing first... It wouldn't have ended like this at all. What's so good about that woman, Qiao Huanqing was really blinded by lard, so she mistook fish eyes for pearls.
He Yan was looking at the dancing and singing people on the stage with great interest, and asked Aunt Wei: "Why do they all wear masks?"
"A mask represents an identity. These are all legends and stories related to the water god. Dancing and singing at the ceremony is actually conveying the legend of the water god." Concubine Wei said with a smile: "If Miss Yuyan likes it, you can also come on stage together. Dance, play one of the roles, and when the end is about to end, the elders will dab the blessing water with wicker and sprinkle it on everyone's body. After bathing in the blessing water, it will be very peaceful."
He Yan had never heard of such a folk custom, so he said, "It's very interesting."
Ling Xiu stepped forward and said with a smile, "Does Madam Qiao also want to come on stage together?"
He Yan waved his hand: "I'm just talking."
"Min'er and I also want to dance on stage together. If Madam is willing to join us, it will be very lively." She stared at He Yan, smiling softly and considerately, but for some reason, He Yan instinctively resisted. In fact, she is not very proficient in the relationship and undercurrent between women, and even can be regarded as careless, but ordinary hostility and friendliness can probably still be distinguished.
Ling Xiu has an irresistible hostility towards her, why is this, He Yan thought about it, and did not offend this girl.
"You guys are about the same age," Cui Yuezhi said with a smile, "Yuyan, let's go up with us. Our Jiyang Water God ritual is very simple and not difficult. If there is something you don't understand, let Axiu and Min'er go together. teach you."
Cui Yuezhi had already said it, but if He Yan refused to continue, he seemed to disrespect Jiyang's folklore, and said, "That's fine. But I can't dance, so don't laugh at me."
"No." Ling Xiu said sweetly: "We will teach you." After that, she took Yan Min'er to Guangtai: "Let's go get the mask first."
He Yan bit her head and sighed, that's all, even though Ling Xiu and Yan Min'er were hostile to her, they were not good at martial arts, and they wouldn't do anything to her, they were nothing more than harmless little jokes. . Let yourself be smart, it's actually nothing.
She thought about it, and heard someone say, "Why not refuse?"
He Yan was surprised and turned his head to look. Xiao Jue's eyes fell on her face, but he couldn't see the expression. He laughed lightly, "You don't like it, why don't you reject it?"
"It's not good," He Yan hesitated, "If you refuse, Master Cui may not be happy."
He laughed, as if he disagreed with He Yan's approach, and said, "Reject if you don't like it. You have the ability to refuse, Miss He," he reminded, "You can't make everyone happy. "
That's true, but...
Trying to make everyone happy and complete seems to have become a habit.
On the other end, Yan Min'er pulled Ling Xiu aside and whispered, "What do you mean? Who wants to dance with her? It's too late for me to bother her! I'm not going!"
"Wait," Ling Xiu grabbed her, "Listen to me."
"say what?"
"I've heard people say it before in Xiuluofang."
When Yan Min'er heard this, her face immediately flushed red, she choked for a moment, and said, "How would you know!"
"Now, who doesn't know about it, it's already spread." Ling Xiu looked at her with a smile, "Don't be annoyed, of course I'm on your side. Besides, I don't like that Wen Yuyan either. , In this case, how could it be possible to make her feel better?"
"What do you want to do?" Yan Min'er said angrily.
"Isn't this a dance? I don't want her to be in the limelight. It's better if she makes a fool of yourself." Ling Xiu pointed at the mask on the side with a smile, "Let her ask for trouble, our Jiyang girls are not that easy to bully. "
…
"I've never seen Madam dancing before," Lin Shuanghe waved his fan and pointed, "To have such an opportunity to open your eyes today is really exciting."
He Yan thought to herself, she can't dance, at most she can dance a sword, but she is a foreigner, and even if she dances at a ceremony, others will not treat her too harshly, as long as she can't make a big mistake. It's just a fun picture together.
Just thinking about it, Ling Xiu and Yan Min'er had already come over, Yan Min'er was holding a few masks, and Ling Xiu was holding a wooden box. When she walked to He Yan, Ling Xiu had a look of embarrassment on her face, and said, "I just went to ask the chief priest. There are many people coming to worship today, and there are only a few masks left. I don't know how to distribute them. Why don't we draw lots? "
Isn't it just a mask? He Yan didn't care too much, and asked, "What's the difference?"
"Different masks represent different roles. In the myths and legends of Jiyang Water God, there are also some villains and buffoons..." Ling Xiu paused, then smiled again, "But it's not likely that Madam will draw buffoons, it should be Will not."
He Yan gave a "um" and said modestly, "You guys should smoke first."
"Madam is not from Jiyang, let's smoke first." Ling Xiu smiled.
There is no point in rejecting this kind of thing, so He Yan said, "Okay." Then, he put his hand into the wooden box Ling Xiu was holding, and pulled out a folded note.
She opened the note and looked at it, and saw "Liu" written on it.
"Liu... what do you mean?" she asked hesitantly.
Cui Yue was stunned, and Aunt Wei was also a little surprised, but Ling Xiu covered her mouth and exclaimed, "It's actually a liu, Madam today... It's really unfortunate."
"Is this bad?" He Yan was puzzled.
"As I said just now, in the myths and legends of Jiyang Water God, there are many villains, buffoons, and raccoon lies. This is a liar full of lies. He has done many evil things by the waters of the human world, and defrauded many people's wealth, even the old man. He has done the most shameless things in the world, and the gods in the sky couldn't stand it, so he sent a subordinate of the water god, a fairy to subdue him. This liar can be full of lies in front of others, but when he faces Immortals and immortals can only tell the truth. He told ten secrets about himself, and finally he was imprisoned by the immortals in the underwater water prison, and he could not go ashore for eternity."
He Yan listened, and unconsciously substituted himself into it. When he heard that Yongsheng could not go ashore, he couldn't help but say, "It's so miserable."
"It's very miserable." Yan Min'er said with a smile, "but since you have already drawn the paper lottery, you can only play a liar. If you have already decided on the sacrifice of the water god but regret it halfway through, you will be punished by the water god. of."
He Yan wanted to ask how the water god punished her, but then she thought about it, didn't she die in the water in her last life? I don't know if it was a coincidence.
She said, "The harlequin is a harlequin. In this world, someone has to play a harlequin, isn't it?"
Cui Yuezhi was still a little hesitant: "But Yuyan, that mask..."
"What happened to the mask?"
Ling Xiu took the mask from Yan Min'er and handed it to He Yan: "This is Li Li's mask."
He Yan saw the appearance of the mask, and only then did he understand why Cui Yuezhi had that expression. Tanuki's mask looks like a civet cat, or a very ugly civet cat. The painting is ferocious, but in the center of the eyes and nose, there is a large piece of white paint, which looks both treacherous and ugly. The girl must be I don't want to wear something like that on my face. What's more, this mask is still very heavy, and it is put on the head, which makes the head bigger.
He Yan weighed: "It's okay."
She has never cared much about these appearances. Aunt Wei's face is not very good-looking. She has been with He Yan these past few days. She only feels that He Yan has a gentle and cheerful disposition, and treats people with a hearty air. Others can't understand it. clear. This was clearly Ling Xiu's intentional stumbling block for He Yan.
Think about it, play a clown in front of your sweetheart, and perform all kinds of funny actions, not to mention what other people think, just a woman herself will feel ashamed and embarrassed. Which woman in the world doesn't want to be as stunning and attractive as Xishi Diaochan in the eyes of her lover
Concubine Wei said, "How can you let Miss Yuyan play the role of a clown, and she can't tell Sili?"
"Nothing." He Yan smiled and said, "Sacrifice is a matter of sincerity, and there is no need to worry about the details."
Cui Yuezhi didn't notice that the atmosphere was wrong. Seeing what He Yan said, he smiled and said, "Okay! Yuyan is really hearty!"
Lin Shuanghe and Xiao Jue on the other end frowned at the same time.
Lin Shuanghe covered his face with his fan, and whispered to Xiao Jue, "The culprit of Lanyan, you caused the trouble, but my sister He suffered."
Xiao Jue's face was slightly cold, she glanced at him, was silent, and suddenly said, "You said just now that Li Li's secret needs to be told to the immortal."
When Ling Xiu saw Xiao Jue taking the initiative to talk to her, she was overjoyed and said with a full smile, "Yes. After the madam walks up to the ceremony stage, I will share ten secrets of myself with the immortal." After a while , Ling Xiu continued with a smile: "And these ten secrets, all must be true secrets. Because in the legend, when Li Li, who was full of lies, faced the fairy, he was made by the fairy law and had to tell the truth. You have to tell ten secrets."
He Yan was speechless, suspecting that this fairy is actually a lunatic who likes to spy on other people's secrets.
"The immortals also have role-playing roles," Xiao Jue glanced over Ling Xiu with a clear gaze, "Since that's the case, I'll do it."
"What?" Ling Xiu was stunned.
He Yan was also stunned.
"I don't understand?" The man's eyes were as sharp as electricity. Although his tone was calm, his expression was indifferent, "I want to play the role of the listener."
He Yan was almost choked to death by his own spittle. What did Xiao Jue mean by saying that he wanted to dance together on the stage? Whether Xiao Jue is crazy or the world is crazy, He Yan can't understand. Second Young Master Xiao would do such a thing, no one in Shuojing would believe him!
Chiwu and Fei Nu couldn't believe their eyes either, suspecting that something was wrong with their ears and that they had heard it wrong.
Xiao Jue took the initiative to bring up this matter, but Ling Xiu didn't expect it. She didn't know what to do for a while, but the man's eyes were too cold, which made her a little scared, and subconsciously said: "Why... why?"
"Because," Xiao Jue said with a faint smile, "how can others know my wife's secret."
With just one sentence, Ling Xiu, who was still a little scared just now, turned blue with anger.
He Yan: "..."
She almost fainted, but she felt that Xiao Jue was really not like Xiao Jue today, she was inexplicable.
Xiao Jue didn't care what He Yan looked like, and only asked Ling Xiu, "Which mask is that?"
Ling Xiu pointed to the one in Yan Min'er's hand, Yan Min'er was a little afraid of Xiao Jue, and immediately handed it over. He Yan glanced at it, the immortal's mask was nothing special, it was just a black half-iron, and then placed a cloud pattern on the center of his forehead.
"How?" he asked.
Aunt Wei saw the doorway and smiled: "Actually, there are not so many rules for dancing on the sacrificial platform. If you are a local, you will naturally understand, but if you are a foreigner, as long as you are sincere and pray for the water god, what kind of dance will you dance? , it's all just a form. The water goddess is very tolerant, and doesn't care about trivial matters."
Xiao Jue: "Understood."
He glanced at He Yan and saw that He Yan was still clutching the mask and her wrist: "Come here."
After walking two steps towards the sacrificial altar, He Yan looked back and saw that Ling Xiu and Yan Min'er's eyes fell on him, and the hostility was more than before. She asked, "What's the matter with you? Governor, are you crazy?"
"You're crazy." Xiao Jue said displeasedly, "Why did you promise her?"
"Didn't I say it? I've come here. I'm afraid that Mr. Cui will not be happy. Besides, I just dance with a mask on, and I don't need to dance with a knife or stick. There are a lot of pieces of meat. What's the big deal."
He turned his head to stare at He Yan, and smiled sarcastically: "When you were with me, why didn't you see you being so obedient?"
He Yan: "...Am I not good enough?"
Xiao Jue is too difficult to serve!
"In the future, if you don't want to do this kind of thing, you can refuse." Xiao Jue's beautiful eyes narrowed slightly: "Don't let people think that you are compromising, it's ugly."
"I'm not compromising."
"You have." He lowered his eyes to look at He Yan, the corners of his mouth curled slightly, with a mockery, "You like to lie to others, do you even lie to yourself?"
He Yan was speechless, she instinctively wanted to refute, but faintly felt that Xiao Jue's words were right.
But in many cases, sacrificing one's own feelings and preferences has become a habit. There are more and more important things to consider. No one can tell her, you can refuse, you can be willful, you can be unhappy.
So gradually, these are gone.
Seeing He Yan's listless appearance, Xiao Jue paused, tapped her head, and said, "Quickly put it on." After speaking, she first picked up the mask in her hand and put it on her face.
The mask was made of iron, and it was very smooth, but it was still heavy. Xiao Jue put the mask on his face with one hand, and the other hand went behind his head to fasten the mechanism. When something went wrong, He Yan saw this and immediately Putting the "Liu Li" in his hand aside, he said, "I'll help you."
She walked behind Xiao Jue and said to Xiao Jue, "Put the mask on in a suitable position, and I will buckle it for you from behind."
Xiao Jue is tall, so she could only stand on tiptoe to buckle her head, and said as she buckled, "Have you never worn a mask before
Xiao Jue mocked: "Have you worn a lot?"
He Yan was startled and smiled, "I've never eaten pork before, but I've seen pigs run away." After helping Xiao Jue put it on, she also put the "raccoon lie" on her face.
Two people, one wearing a mask, looks more mysterious and noble, the other is ridiculous and treacherous, it seems, no matter how ridiculous.
Xiao Jue took her and went to the sacrificial altar together. Sili nodded lightly to them and pushed them towards the center of the platform.
Surrounded by people wearing masks singing and dancing, He Yan couldn't understand, and said to Xiao Jue, "Captain, how do you dance?"
Xiao Jue: "I don't know."
He Yan imitated the people around him to dance for a while, but after a while, he felt that it was too difficult and gave up. She took Xiao Jue to the corner of the ceremony platform, where no one noticed, and said, "Forget it, don't jump, do something else."
Xiao Jue was wearing a mask, so she couldn't see her expression clearly, but she also knew that her face under the mask was definitely full of impatience at the moment.
"Captain, if we are so perfunctory, we won't be blamed by the Water God?"
Xiao Jue said, "Afraid?"
"It's better to trust it than to trust it."
This person is very indifferent: "Then you continue to dance."
"I can't jump."
After a while, He Yan said, "The Governor... Just now that girl Ling said that Li Li needs to tell the immortal ten secrets. Since we have come up, we will play to the end. I will tell you my ten secrets. Even if it’s over, maybe the immortal sees how pious we are and doesn’t care about us not dancing.”
Xiao Jue smiled and said lazily, "Okay, you say."
The ten secrets must all be true. It's hard to say.
She snapped her fingers and said.
"I used to drink very well, but now it's worse."
"I can recite "Wu Zi's Art of War"."
"I am the number one guard in Liangzhou."
"I especially want to go to the Nine Banners Camp."
"Cheng Lisu's clothes buttons are all pulled by me, and they can be sold for money."
It's already five, Xiao Jue heard it, and felt quite speechless, only said: "boring."
He Yan was encouraged and continued to do so.
"The Governor is a very good person in my heart, and I am very grateful to the Governor."
Xiao Jue sneered: "I won't let you enter the Nine Banners Camp."
"Every time the Governor misunderstands me, I feel very sad!"
Xiao Jue: "Continue to lie."
"I have a destiny with the Governor in our last life!"
Xiao Jue didn't even bother to give her a look.
He Yan: "I was a female general in my previous life."
This is even more outrageous.
Only one last secret remains.
He Yan raised his head and looked at the person in front of him. His face was covered by a mask, and he stared straight at her, only showing a beautiful chin, with extremely beautiful lines, thin and bright lips, and hooked lazily, indicating a young man. ruthless and gentle.
Her own face is also covered by a mask, hidden in the dark, like in the dark night, with an infinite sense of security.
"The last secret," He Yan stepped on his feet, approached his chin, and said softly, "I like the moon."
"The moon doesn't know."