When the car arrived at Shangshe, Fang Yun pushed the door open and found that no one was home.
Fang Yun stood silently in the yard, then walked towards Yang Yuhuan's room.
There were only a few rouge and powder on Yang Yuhuan's dressing table, but the table next to it was filled with papers.
On one side are stacked poems and essays written by Fang Yun, such as "Three Character Classic", "Hundred Family Names", "Thousand Character Classic", "Ode to the Humble House", "Arrow in the Stone", etc., which were used as copybooks by Yang Yuhuan. On the other side are the results of Yang Yuhuan's copying. Although she learned Fang Yun's "Liu style", her characters are thinner and more delicate, and the weak appearance is very similar to her own.
On the desk, there were a few pieces of paper with words on them that looked like dog crawling, and there were a few cute little paw prints.
Fang Yun smiled slightly, that must be Nunu's masterpiece.
Next to the desk, there was a zither stand with a zither placed on it, which was selected by the two of them together.
Since she knew that the zither and the harp can make a harmonious sound, Yang Yuhuan never touched the zither again and only practiced the harp. Yang Yuhuan had a musical talent that ordinary scholars could not reach. Now her harp skills had reached a level that would be enough to shock the whole country if it were spread.
Fang Yun slowly walked to Yang Yuhuan's bed. The quilt was neatly folded, there was not a single wrinkle on the sheets, and a faint fragrance wafted to his face.
At the head of the bed, there was an unfinished embroidery, and Fang Yun reached out and picked it up.
There are already two mandarin ducks on it, but there is no water.
Fang Yun's eyes flickered, and finally dimmed, and he slowly put it down. Fang Yun turned around and looked around Yang Yuhuan's room, and suddenly realized that this boudoir had more things that belonged to scholars, and very few things that belonged to young girls.
Fang Yun suddenly saw images of Yang Yuhuan, reading, writing, playing the zither, and looking at the study across the street...
“Sigh…” Fang Yun sighed softly, his eyes slightly moist.
"You. It must be hard for you to chase me..."
Fang Yun slowly walked out of Yang Yuhuan's bedroom, came to the hall, sat quietly, and watched carefully.
For other families, the main hall is the place to receive guests and should be very familiar, but Fang Yun feels it is very unfamiliar.
I have been staying at Shangshe for several months, and the number of times I have received guests here is very limited.
Fang Yun suddenly realized that he had sacrificed too much for studying, for the holy way, and for literary status.
Fang Yun felt a little sad, he felt so lonely.
Fang Yun didn't ask himself whether it was worth it.
"In the end, time will tell me the answer."
Fang Yun stood up silently, walked out of the main hall, and when he reached the door of the study, he looked back at the main hall.
"If I had a half-saint as my father, maybe I could spend more time in the main hall instead of the study."
Fang Yun entered the study and closed the door, as if he was isolated from the rest of the world.
Fang Yun glanced around the study. Whether it was the lines on the bookshelf or the position of each book, whether it was the shine from the rubbing of the chair armrests or the angle of the table, everything was extremely familiar.
At this moment, he is only three or four days away from death.
Fang Yun sat steadily on the chair, poured clean water into the inkstone, took out an ordinary ink stick and ground it slowly.
"At least, we must not let down the world of Qishu."
Fang Yun's mind calmed down in an instant.
Fang Yun looked out the window. As night fell, a few stars were faintly visible, but there was no moonlight in the sky at the end of the month.
"At least we can't let down the world of Qishu!"
Fang Yun recited it silently for the second time in his mind. He took out a book called "Explanation of the Classics for Jinshi" from the table, selected a question about the classics, thought for a moment, picked up the pen and started writing, neither too fast nor too slow.
After working on two passages on the interpretation of the classics, Fang Yun selected a few policy essay topics and answered them carefully.
At night, the sound of a carriage was heard outside the door. Fang Yun then gently washed his small calligraphy brush in the pen washer, placed it on the pen holder, and stood up to walk out.
Lanterns were brought in, and then the eunuch's voice was heard in a low voice: "Mrs. Fang, please be careful. It's dark and the lights in the room are not on yet. If you get hurt, Her Majesty the Queen Mother will break our legs."
"Going home?" Fang Yun looked at Yang Yuhuan, whose cheeks were slightly red under the light of the lantern, and suddenly felt something strange. He had known Yang Yuhuan for so long, but this was the first time he welcomed Yang Yuhuan home when she came back from outside.
"Yes, I'm back." Yang Yuhuan looked at Fang Yun under the starry sky and nodded gently. She seemed a little shy. She instinctively lowered her head and turned sideways, not wanting Fang Yun to see her slightly red and swollen eyes.
"Hmm..."
Nunu suddenly threw Yan Gui into the flower bed, threw herself into Fang Yun's arms, looked at Fang Yun with tears in her eyes, and rubbed her head against Fang Yun's chest.
"I'm fine." Fang Yun smiled and stroked the little fox.
"Finally I see you! Actually there's nothing special in the palace, it's much worse than my home!" The little yellow dragon flew to Fang Yun, still smiling playfully, but his eyes were more serious than usual.
Yang Yuhuan walked slowly and stood in front of Fang Yun. She looked up at the face she had been thinking about day and night and said softly, "You have lost weight."
"You too." Fang Yun reached out and touched Yang Yuhuan's cheek. Yang Yuhuan instinctively dodged, her face flushed, but then slowly returned and gently let her face touch Fang Yun's palm.
The inkstone turtle came out from the flower bed, looked around the yard furtively, and was about to leave when he noticed the little fox and glanced at it. Then he slowly and dejectedly crawled towards the study.
Yang Yuhuan reached out her hand, gently grabbed Fang Yun's shirt, and asked, "Are you going to take the imperial examination tomorrow?"
"Well. Did your trip to the palace go smoothly?" Fang Yun continued to stroke Yang Yuhuan's face.
Yang Yuhuan blushed and whispered, "Fortunately, those ladies all support me. They all say they back me up. Her Majesty the Queen Mother is very nice. She even held my hand and chatted with me about family matters. I like her very much."
"Oh!" The little fox nodded vigorously.
"Oh, by the way, the Queen Mother is so beautiful and very majestic. I have seen her in the palace before, but this time when I met her in the main hall of Changle Palace, I found that the Queen Mother is more like an emperor than the emperor in the play. Also, the Queen Mother is a very nice person."
"What did she say?" Fang Yun asked.
"The Queen Mother didn't talk much, but the ladies talked a lot, and Hongzhuang didn't say less either. I don't remember much about the details, my mind was very confused at the time. After I learned that you were released from prison, I didn't want to complain anymore, I just wanted to go home to see you. Let me think... Well, the Queen Mother said that since you are complaining about injustice, then we should investigate it thoroughly, and we will thoroughly investigate Yuan Su's matter tomorrow. Also, the Queen Mother told me to go home without worry, and wait... wait for the day of our wedding, she will come to congratulate in person..."
Yang Yuhuan's voice became weaker and weaker. By the end, it was barely audible.
"You've suffered a lot these days." Fang Yun looked at Yang Yuhuan quietly.
But Yang Yuhuan smiled calmly and said, "It's nothing."
Fang Yun was stunned and sighed: "Yes, compared with the days when you and I were in Ji County before, it is really nothing."
Yang Yuhuan handed the Yinjiangbei to Fang Yun.
Fang Yun put the Yinjiangbei back into Yang Yuhuan's hands and said, "Tomorrow is the first day of December. I have to go to the imperial examination. I will be in the examination room from the first to the third day of the month and will not be back until the fourth day. I will leave this Yinjiangbei with you for now."
"Xiao Yun. Are you... are you hiding something from me?" Yang Yuhuan looked at Fang Yun quietly. There was no panic in her eyes, but instead an unprecedented determination.
"It's okay." Fang Yun looked at Yang Yuhuan's clear eyes and felt a panic in his heart.
Yang Yuhuan smiled and said, "Our Xiaoyun is the worst at lying. Tell me what's wrong. When you were bullied in private school, didn't you cry to me? When you were in the most difficult time, I thought of everything. I could endure anything."
Fang Yun suddenly realized that perhaps the strongest person in the family was not himself, but the woman in front of him who blushed from time to time. Her face was red. Her body was soft, her heart was warm, but she was also the strongest person in the world.
No matter how hard it is for a man who survived on the battlefield, it is not as hard as a woman who has to support her younger brother and a family when she is a teenager. She has to make fire, cook, fetch water, wash clothes, embroider, weave, raise chickens, mend shoes, sweep the floor, clean the stove, mend clothes, etc. These things may be simpler than killing people, but killing people cannot last a lifetime. These things must be done for a lifetime, day after day, year after year.
Now, Yang Yuhuan still has to write, read, compose poetry, play the zither... She has to chase after her beloved and cannot be left far behind.
She is much stronger than any man!
Fang Yun had a warm smile on his face and said, "If someone kills me, I may not be able to come back."
"That's really a trouble. I can neither talk about it on paper nor speak eloquently. Well, I'll wait for you at home. I know you will come back." Yang Yuhuan clenched her hands tightly, her expression unusually calm.
"If I can't come back, Ao Huang will help you deal with the things in the Yinjiangbei. After I die, the Fang family will be the Xusheng family. With Ao Huang here, no one will dare to bully you. If you want to stay in the Fang family, you can stay. If you don't want to stay, take the Yinjiangbei and go wherever you want. I will write a suicide note."
"I'm not going anywhere. I'll wait for you at home." Yang Yuhuan's voice was firm.
"Sister Yuhuan, please stop acting like a child."
"I'll wait for you at home." Yang Yuhuan's voice became more determined. After she finished speaking, she ignored Fang Yun and walked straight into the house.
"I'll go prepare things for you for tomorrow's imperial examination." Yang Yuhuan's pace was much faster than usual.
Nunu looked at Fang Yun in confusion, then looked at Yang Yuhuan's back, then cried twice to Fang Yun and ran towards Yang Yuhuan.
Fang Yun opened his mouth but said nothing.
Ao Huang placed the dragon head on Fang Yun's shoulder and said, "Your wife... No, my sister-in-law is great. Don't worry, you are blessed with a long life, you will not die... Look at this dragon's mouth. By the way, my sister went to the West Sea Dragon Palace to borrow an ancient artifact to save you, but was rejected by the West Sea Dragon Saint. That old guy is really a piece of shit, he has always been on good terms with monsters and barbarians, and doesn't like humans."
"Why doesn't he like humans?" Fang Yun asked.
"Do you remember the half-saint of the snake clan who was chased away by King Wen at the end of the Shang Dynasty?"
"Remember."
"The half-saint of the snake clan was actually born by the Dragon Saint of the West Sea and a great demon king of the snake clan when they were playing in the demon world. The snake saint was extremely talented and spent more than a hundred years to be canonized. After escaping from King Wen, he got the help of the Dragon Saint of the West Sea and became a great saint. Of course, our dragon clan is only a little bit stronger than the demon barbarians. Even if the snake saint became a great saint, he was still not as good as the four immortal dragon saints of the four seas. You know what happened later. The snake saint was killed on the spot by Confucius and stewed into soup."
"It turns out that the hatred between the Western Sea Dragon Saint and our human race is so deep."
"Ao Min is a bad old man. I guess he can't have much affection for a snake son, but he wants to save face. At that time, he asked Confucius to show mercy from a distance of millions of miles, but Confucius ignored him. This is the main reason why he hates the human race." (To be continued...)