The two characters on the stage disappeared, leaving only two well-crafted shadow puppets on the table. The child smiled and said: "Later, they got married, lived happily together, and had a lot of children. The boys are as handsome as the emperor, and the girls are as beautiful as the emperor. They are very happy , until their hair turned white and their teeth fell out. In the end, the gods in the sky found out and made them immortals, saying that they would be together forever and never separate."
Layers of grief rolled over her heart, like a curved countercurrent, her pulse was sliding, her eyes hurt sorely, her voice seemed not her own, and she asked, "I heard you tell it before, isn't it this story?"
"That theater troupe was bought by a prodigal son who often came to my house to eat noodles, and he asked them to sing this opera every day. The people nearby were tired of watching it, and no one watched it. The owner of the troupe, Granny Qin, was very sad. You are a foreigner and it is your first time to listen to an opera. Do you like it? Do you like this story? Would you like to go to Grandma Qin’s house to listen to it again, she will be very happy. "
Suddenly the wind blew up, Chu Qiao covered her face with her sleeves, and turned her head slightly, the child asked enthusiastically, "Have you lost your eyes?"
Chu Qiao didn't make a sound, the child thought she was really lost, and quickly said, "Wait, I'll get you vegetable oil." After saying that, she turned around, jumped down and ran away.
When she came back, there was no one in the seat, and there was a heavy bag of silver on the table.
The road was desolate, there were no pedestrians, no jugglers, no peddlers, no singers, the lake was peaceful, and there was not even a painting boat. On the empty street, she was the only one, walking lightly like a ghost.
When passing by a candy shop, she was stunned for a while, then went in and bought a lot of snacks, which Li Ce had bought for her, including honey cube sugar, jujube, osmanthus cake, chestnuts, packed in a bag , Eating while walking.
She chewed mechanically, recalling the story the child just told over and over again. Tears flowed down her mouth line by line, and she swallowed them together with the candies. The taste was bitter and not tasty at all.
Memories are like flying fragments, echoing in my mind piece by piece.
"Then you should really thank me. The kindness of saving my life is extraordinary, or you should not leave, and stay in Biantang as a promise." Once upon a time, he stood in front of her like this and smiled and said Yanyan to her. she said.
She was besieged by Zhao Yang, and he rushed over at a critical moment, covered with dust and hard armor, he held her in his arms with a frown, and said over and over again: It's okay, it's okay.
When she was in despair, he came late at night with a pomegranate and comforted her slowly: Qiao Qiao, why don't you let yourself go
In the cold night of the palace, he came drunk and embraced her in a distraught manner. In the end, he still laughed and said: Fu'er's figure is much better than yours.
…
She didn't know it all the time, it was like a forbidden zone in her heart, she never touched it, she didn't know if she really didn't notice it, or if she was just deceiving herself and didn't want to know.
The cold moon in the sky sprinkled a clear light, and the begonias on the roadside were still gorgeous, bright red like the finest rouge, where the wind passed by, it fell down rustlingly, sprinkled on Chu Qiao's clothes and hair.
"Li Huhu, have you ever liked anyone else?" Mi He lived in the courtyard under the bright sun, and they sat side by side under the crabapple tree that was moved from the street back to the palace. She frowned and looked at Li Ce, who was actively selecting the portraits of this year's show girls, and asked suspiciously.
"Of course!" Li Ce raised his eyebrows and said seriously, "I liked Yu'er from Ranli Palace very much last night. Her skin is like satin, especially her long legs, comparable to..."
"Shut up, shut up!" Chu Qiao interrupted him with a frown, "I mean, it's the kind of liking, like, like..."
Li Ce squinted at her, and said disdainfully, "Are you trying to say that the bastard Zhuge Si likes you?"
Chu Qiao blushed, and said angrily, "That's right! That's right! How is it?"
"What can I do to you?" Li Ce snorted, lowered his head and continued to pick the painting. After a while, he suddenly said "Hmm".
Chu Qiao was taken aback, and asked, "What are you humming?"
Li Ce said impatiently: "Didn't you ask me if I have ever liked someone like Zhuge Si? I'm answering you."
"Ah? You liked it, why didn't I know?"
Li Ce looked up to the sky and laughed, and said very brightly: "How can you see through my emperor's thoughts easily, if you see through easily, wouldn't this emperor lose face?"
Chu Qiao continued to ask, very gossip: "Then what kind of person do you like?"
"It's not that good." Li Ce said carelessly, "I'm average in stature, I don't have a good temper, and I like to play tricks. The most important thing is that she has someone else in her heart, and she doesn't like me."
"Ah?" Chu Qiao was slightly taken aback, and asked subconsciously, "Then why didn't you tell her?"
Li Ce smiled very chicly, "If you like someone, you have to keep it in your heart. Why do you say it? Besides..."
He changed his tone and hesitated slightly, the wind blew from the surface of Taiqing Lake, blowing a strand of his temple hair. He raised his head and looked at the distant lake, his eyes blurred for a moment.
"Besides, I may never have a chance to tell her in my life."
At that time, Chu Qiao looked at him quietly, as if she could see far, far away through his eyes. At that time, the first person she thought of was that Princess Fu who hanged on the plane tree, the one who died for King Luo. And Murong Fu'er who died on the day of Li Ce's wedding.
She thought, not without pity: If it hadn't been for that, the guy might have been a decent man.
Hot and humid liquid flowed down the cheeks from the corners of the eyes, and the wind blew over, so cold and so cold, the bright red begonia petals fell and scattered all over the sky, like a rain of flowers.
Feng Xiaoxiao passed through the city, and under the sky, raised the red blood like weeping blood all over the ground. The black curtains in the palace were replaced with white cotton gauze. In one night, the emperor passed away and the empress dowager died. For seventy-nine days in a row, the death bell in the palace rang and the world mourned.
On the day Li Ce was buried in the Imperial Mausoleum, Chu Qiao moved out of the Jinwu Palace. The autumn leaves were silent and vast, she was wearing a cotton white soft skirt, standing on the high tower of Xilan Gate, watching the long and winding funeral procession gradually disappear at the end of the post road.
The setting sun sprinkled the ground golden, and tall wormwood grew on the wilderness horse farm outside Tangjing, shaking back and forth with the bleak autumn wind, like a golden sea wave. The twilight merged, the birds flew south, and fiery clouds ignited in the sky. Her figure was dragged long and thin, and reflected in the century-old Tang capital tower.
Li Ce, forgive me for not being able to see you off, now go to Lu Yao, take care all the way.
The sun gradually set down the mountain, and a round of distant moon climbed to the top of the mountain. The cold moonlight sprinkled on her skirt, as silent as water, and a star climbed onto her pale cheeks. The air of the autumn night is as sharp as a thin blade when inhaled into the nostrils, a trace of sourness arises from the bottom of my heart, slowly climbs up the tip of my back, my heart is like a white snowfall, and the endless coldness spreads.
Mei Xiang stepped forward and said softly, "Miss, let's go."
She took one last look at the dusty post road, and finally turned around inch by inch. The shadow of the city tower is hideous, like a ferocious tiger and beast entrenched, opening its huge mouth to devour people, and is about to take away her remaining strength.
The dust fluttered gently under her feet, and a big bird in the sky spread its black wings. She walked down step by step like this, as if walking into a deep mire cave. Behind her, there is a barren wilderness, and further away, there are the majestic mountains of Biantang, the bustling market, and then the continuous border city, and at the other end is the land of Daxia.
The mountains and rivers are thousands of miles away, and her family and country are beautiful. After all, she can't escape the barriers of worldly affairs and drifts with the tide like a mayfly.
A carriage stopped quietly at the foot of the city, and Sun Di, dressed in a green shirt, was handsome and handsome, standing aside respectfully. Seeing her coming, she whispered, "Miss, please get in the car."
"I want to walk alone." Chu Qiao said quietly, her expression was very calm, and there was no sign of depression.
Mei Xiang was about to speak, but Sun Di handed a lantern to her, and said in a deep voice, "It's hard to travel at night, girl, go back earlier."
The best palace-made white paper wraps the lantern, emitting a miserable white light. Chu Qiao nodded lightly, turned around and left with the lantern in hand. Mei Xiang anxiously wanted to follow, but was grabbed by Sun Di, and the young man shook his head slightly. A full moon in the sky quietly shone on the body of the woman who was going away, as if a layer of smoke was wrapped around it, and it was about to melt into the night.
Li Ce went to the funeral today, there was no one on the road, only the begonias on both sides of the road swayed in the wind, and dropped a light petal from time to time.
"Jojo Jojo..."
Vaguely, she seemed to hear a series of calls again. The man raised his eyebrows, his eyes were like a sly fox, and he looked at her with a smile.
The water mirror is like an illusion, with sparkling light, and the man's eyebrows and eyes are covered with clouds and mist, gradually becoming pale and quiet. Finally, he leaned on the wicker chair and smiled weakly at her, stretched his arms and called softly:
"Jojo, let me hug you."
A drop of clear tears welled up from the woman's eyes, but she didn't wipe it away, just walked quietly. The pale light from the lantern was like the moon in the sky.
After more than ten years of life and death, and half of her life was ups and downs, she stumbled all the way like duckweed in the rain, and finally came to the end of today. In the past, she was trapped by love, how many fetters, passive and helpless, stubborn, fragile, and dejected, but now, that decadent and incompetent woman finally died along with this ill-fated fate.
"Living in this world is like being in the midst of thorns. If you don't move your heart, you don't move rashly. If you don't move, you won't be hurt. If your heart moves, you will move rashly, hurt your body, hurt your bones, and experience all kinds of pain in the world."
Zhuge Yue, you are right, but I have already thrown myself in a place of thorns like you. Then, instead of closing your heart, why not cut off the thorns of sashimi with a sword!
Tears fell into the lantern, a gust of wind blew, and the candle was extinguished with a puff, leaving only curls of green smoke circling upwards.
She took a deep breath, threw the lantern on the ground, straightened her back and walked forward.
She swears that this is the last tear in her life, and from now on, even if the last drop of blood is shed, she will never cry helplessly again.
The light in front suddenly became brighter, looking from a distance, a magnificent mansion is located among the red flowers and willows, the lights are brilliant, and it looks splendid.
Sun Di was standing in front of the door in a light robe, holding a palace lantern, waiting for her return.
"Miss, have you figured it out?"
Chu Qiao looked at him, the moonlight was pouring down like silver, and the ground was covered with silver, she nodded silently, and said in a deep voice, "It couldn't be more clear."
Sun Di smiled, handed over the lantern in his hand, and said with a smile, "It's hard to travel at night, so let this lantern illuminate the girl."
"Candles can be extinguished by the wind, but my heart can't." Chu Qiao passed him and walked straight into the majestic mansion, and said in a deep voice, "From now on, my eyes are my lanterns, and my heart is the candles in the lamp fire."
As soon as she stepped into Zhumen, the oncoming lights were so fierce that she almost burned her eyes in an instant. The main entrance and the front hall were connected by a white marble road, and the pools dug on both sides were as clear as mirrors. Colored, incense-coated walls, brocade mantles and bead curtains, warm jade pavement, gold-inlaid railings, the strong fragrance is like a March breeze, almost intoxicating when it hits you head-on.