Zhao Jingyan looked down at her. The moonlight shone on her face, which looked like jade. It was indescribably moving. He smiled slightly, calmly raised his finger, lightly touched her lips, and nodded.
"I'm going, don't send it away."
Qingguan nodded with a smile. It wasn't until the bright yellow disappeared around the corner that the smile on her face faded.
Chen Ping came from the darkness and said in a deep voice: "Miss, the carriage and horses are ready."
Qingguan said calmly: "There's no rush, it won't be too late until Master Qi leaves."
late at night.
Ugly time.
A carriage entered from the back gate of Qingfu and headed straight to the north of the city. When the car entered the fourth archway, there was a man and a horse standing under the archway in front of it.
Seeing the car coming, the man's eyes lit up, he put his foot down hard, and the horse moved slowly.
When Chen Ping saw him, he drove up and followed him.
After half a cup of tea, the man reached the north city gate. The man got off his horse, took out his badge and showed it to the guard guarding the gate, and then the city gate slowly opened.
After leaving the city gate, the carriage and horses moved faster. After half an hour of rapid travel, they arrived at a dense forest.
The car passed through the forest and stopped deep in the dense forest beside a clear spring and steep rocks.
Gu Qingwan looked at a lonely grave not far away and slowly stepped forward, taking every step extremely slowly.
Under the shadow of the moon, the blue-white tombstone glowed with a dim light, without a single word, and Qing Wan shed tears.
Yang Fan stepped forward, looked at the woman beside him, and said hoarsely: "There were four words engraved on this monument - My Wife's Tomb. Later he left me a letter, saying that if he dies, please bury him here." , the words on the monument were erased. He said that he did not want others to disturb their purity."
Gu Qingguan squatted down, touched the monument with his hand, and explored it.
Perhaps, a long time ago, his hand happened to touch this monument, thinking about the people inside.
Yang Fan watched her movements, remained silent for a while, turned back, took down a bundle from his horse, and placed it in front of the tomb.
"This is something from his study. He ordered me to give it to you. The Su family refused at first, but then they agreed after spending some money. Yin Daimei went crazy. The child is not Ziyu's, but the Su family didn't know it. They just hoped The child was born so that he could inherit Ziyu’s title.”
Su Ziyu saved the future queen's life, and the emperor named him a righteous and brave marquis, which could be hereditary for three generations. Once the Su family was completely defeated, they relied on this title to preserve the prosperity and wealth of the Manchu family.
Gu Qingwan seemed not to have heard anything, and just explored the past inch by inch. There were two people sleeping inside, one was him and the other was herself.
They were separated for eight years and now they are reunited.
Su Ziyu, where are you now? Have you passed by the flowers on the other side and seen the Forgotten River? Does that old woman Meng Po still look that mysterious
Will you wait for me or drink Meng Po soup...
Qingguan burst into tears.
God played a joke on them,
He came and she walked, met and missed again.
Eight years later, they met again, but... they still missed it.
Ziyu, in the next life, you must find me. No matter life or death, you must hold my hand firmly and never let go.
In the next life, I won’t be our young lady, and you don’t want to be the son of an aristocratic family. We live in a village in the mountains, and we are neighbors separated by only one wall. I call you brother, and you call me sister.
After we turned sixteen, we got married. I will weave at home, raise chickens, feed pigs, and give birth to children for you; you can go hunting in the mountains and forests, farm in the fields, and make money to support your family...
A heartbreaking pain came from her chest. Qingguan could no longer think deeply and covered her mouth tightly for fear of waking up the sleeping couple in the tomb.
After a long time, she turned around and opened the knot on the baggage with her delicate hands, her eyes glazed over, as if struck by lightning.
Her hairpin, her veil... the leaves, purse, jade pendant she gave him... he held her handwritten words...
Gu Qingwan leaned weakly on the tombstone, looking at another world deep in the sky, letting tears flow.
Yang Fan looked at the sad woman, sighed softly, turned and left.
He felt that he wanted to drink a jar of strong wine at this moment, and then go to the bamboo forest in the back mountain of Shenji Camp, hold his friend's old sword, and dance happily.
At dawn, Qingguan returned to the house, looking calm.
She called Qian Fu and Yueniang, and the master and servant had a long talk behind closed doors.
No one knew what they talked about, but the attentive Chunni and Yinzhen noticed that when Qian Fu and Yueniang came out, their eyes were red, as if they had cried.
The next day, Chen Ping was ordered to send a letter to the army. As he came and went, it was already winter, and there was only four months left before the emperor and empress' wedding.
November 11th is Qingguan’s birthday.
Early in the morning, rewards came to the palace. Qingguan, wearing only plain clothes, went into the flower hall to thank the rewards.
After that, countless people came to Qingfu to wish them birthdays. Qingguan ordered Qianfu, Yueniang took care of it, and she went into the study.
In the evening, Mrs. Liu tried her best to prepare several banquets. Qing Guan ordered everyone from top to bottom of the Qing Mansion, regardless of high or low status, to come to the banquet and drink.
Sitting at the main table were Shi Lei and his wife, Song Yin, Jiang Hongwen, and Gu Qingzhi and his wife.
Qing Wan, the birthday girl, changed from his normal behavior and served everyone a glass of wine in turn. After a round, he became a little drunk and was helped into the back room by Yueniang. Everyone laughed at Qing Wan's wine.
After entering the inner room, Qingguan was completely drunk. She retreated from the maids and ordered Yueniang to tie her hair.
Yuenianang approached with a tray, loosened the young lady's hair, lightly combed her temples, picked thousands of fine silk threads, tied her temples into clouds, tied them with gold hairpins, embroidered them with wavy hairpins, and decorated them with makeup flowers. Light application of gouache, faint rouge...
For a moment, the girl in the mirror looked as divine as the moon shining over the cold river, and as beautiful as the clouds reflecting on the clear pond, she was astonished to the heavens and humans.
Yueniang looked at her absentmindedly, her lips moved a few times, and finally turned into a gentle sigh.
Qingguan took her hand, raised her eyes and smiled: "Go and get ready."
At two o'clock in the morning, there were familiar footsteps. Qingguan's eyes lit up, and she picked up her skirt and walked out of the yard.
The lights at the entrance of the courtyard were very dim, with only two lanterns burning. The girl stepped out of the light and shadow, dressed in red and looking stunning.
Zhao Jingyan stared blankly, eyes shining with light.
I originally thought that she was as cold as frost and snow, and that only light colors could match her, but I never thought that she would be so beautiful, that she would be truly stunning.
Qingguan smiled faintly, stepped forward to hold his hand, and walked towards the back room.
The man's hands were slender and white, with a deep warmth. After only taking a few steps, the owner of the hand seemed to wake up and wrapped her hand in his palm.
Entering the back room, the light suddenly brightened, red candles danced, and faint fragrance floated. On the small round table in the room, there was a banquet, several colored dishes, and a pot of sake.
Zhao Jingyan was in a daze, and with a push of her hand, Qingwan fell into his arms.
"Wan Wan, this room is a little different tonight.
Qingguan raised her eyes and smiled softly in his arms, "What about people? Are they different?"
Zhao Jingyan looked down at her, raised her hand and gently stroked her cheek with her fingertips, feeling a warm and sweet feeling in her heart, "You are still the same person in your heart."
Qingguan slowly hugged him, pressing her face against his chest as before, where his heartbeat was.
"Tinglin, I want to have a different birthday."
Zhao Jingyan's eyes lit up and her heart was beating restlessly, but she didn't dare to think about that. She asked carefully, "How is it different?"
Qingwan Yanran smiled cleverly, raised a slender hand, and slowly climbed up from her chest with her fingers, and finally landed on the man's lips, caressing them slowly along his beautiful lip shape.
"A wedding in the palace is for the world to see. Tonight, I want it for ourselves."
There was a buzzing sound, and Zhao Jingyan was stunned. He hugged her hard, his hands were a little out of control, and he almost rubbed her into his body.
"Wan... Wan... are you sure?"
Gu Qingwan's eyes were blurry, her lips parted slightly, she put her hands around his neck, and said with a tremor in her voice, "I'm sure."
Zhao Jingyan's eyes were filled with sparks, and she didn't speak any more, her lips already covering her slightly cold lips.
"Wait."
"Wan Wan, do you want to regret it?" Zhao Jingyan trembled and whispered in her ear.
Qingguan took him in hand, smiled lowly, pointed to the wine on the table, and said shyly: "I haven't had a cup of wine yet."
Zhao Jingyan raised her eyebrows, pulled Qing Guan to sit on his lap, picked up the wine cup and handed it to her hand, then picked up another cup and touched it with her hand.
"This cup will celebrate your birthday. I will be with you every birthday from now on."
Qingguan looked back, stared at him, and smiled mischievously, "Do you have a gift?"
Zhao Jingyan's eyes gradually warmed up and she called out: "Ali!"
Ah Li came in with his head lowered and put down a scroll.
"I'm not going back to the palace today, so you can make arrangements."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Ah Li hesitated, turned and left.
There were no outsiders in the room. Qingguan stood up and opened the scroll. The woman in the painting looked at the man beside her with beautiful features and pulsating eyes. The man was dressed in a green shirt, with a faint smile on his face, indulging in the woman's tenderness.
Zhao Jingyan hugged her from behind and buried her face in her shoulder, "It turns out that someone's hands were dirty on that painting, and I always wanted to paint a new one."
"Can you draw it just by imagination?" Qingguan was puzzled.
Zhao Jingyan reached out to put the painting down, turned her body over, took her hand and put it on his heart, "It's all here."
All the strength in Qingguan's body seemed to be drained away. She looked at the man in front of her dreamily, her eyes slightly moist.
In the past few months, no matter it was windy or rainy, no matter how busy he was, he would quietly walk into this courtyard at night, even if it was just enough time to take a look at her.
He said that all his happiness came from her, and he would not be able to fall asleep if he couldn't even see her.
Zhao Jingyan gently scraped her beautiful nose, "Why are you crying?"
Qingguan wiped her face and found tears falling, and said angrily: "You are the one who provoked me?"
"Okay, it's all my fault. Come on, lady, after we finish drinking this glass of wine, I will definitely give you a different birthday."
Qingguan was shy, her pink face flushed, but she took the initiative to pick up the wine cup and stared at him.
Half of his cheeks were cut extremely delicately by the dim light and shadow. She suddenly remembered that year when he left Beijing for the northwest and confided in her in the Nuan Pavilion. Her eyes had nowhere to rest and could only stare at his face. The more she looked at him, the greater the pain in her heart.
It turned out that she was moved at that time.
Zhao Jingyan saw the woman's longing eyes, and felt her heart soar. He stretched out his arms, passed through hers, slowly raised his head, but his eyes were still on her face, and he drank the wine in the glass.
After drinking, he smiled slightly and picked up Qing Guan.