The door curtain was lifted heavily, and then fell heavily again. The cold wind brought the breath of ice and snow into the warm bedroom, causing the candle flame to tremble.
Sui Sui sat quietly on the couch until the sound of boots stepping on the snow faded away, and then he put the painting in his hand on the table.
She picked up the wine jug and poured wine into the cup, but there was not much wine left in the jug, only a shallow half cup, which she drank in one gulp.
Then she stood up, went to the bedside and fetched a plain white silk handkerchief, slowly and carefully wiping the blood off the blade, her hands still dry and steady.
The blade became bright again, shining like ice under the lamp. She stared at it for a while, then put the knife back into its sheath.
She suddenly felt a slight pain in her knuckles. She lowered her eyes and saw that the sword had tilted a little when it was sheathed, leaving a shallow cut on her knuckles.
Sui Sui was slightly stunned. She had been dealing with swords and knives since she was a child. She could draw and return the sword accurately with her eyes closed. However, she was cut by her own sword like a novice.
Perhaps because this is not her knife, the knife's temperament is as fierce as its owner, just as arrogant and willful.
She lowered her eyes to look at the blade and gently turned her wrist. The blade light flickered and was reflected in her eyes. Her eyes also flickered slightly, as if ripples were appearing on a calm lake.
After a while, she wiped the blood with a handkerchief, threw the blood-stained handkerchief into the brazier, turned off the light and lay back on the bed.
…
The river gradually recedes and the night is getting late.
When Huan Xuan returned to the palace, Gao Mai came out to greet him, rubbing his eyes: "Your Highness, why are you returning home at this time? Don't you have to enter the palace tomorrow..."
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly noticed the blood on his face and a gash about an inch long, and suddenly woke up with fright: "What happened to your highness? Did he get assassinated on the way back?"
Then he felt something was wrong. Which assassin would kill someone by slashing their face
Huan Xuan said, "I fell and was scratched by a sharp stone."
Gao Mai naturally didn't believe it. He was not blind, so how could he not tell the difference between sword wounds and stone scratches
He glanced at Guan Liulang standing behind Huan Xuan, and saw that the guard commander had a sullen face, his thick eyebrows knitted together, and his expression seemed a little embarrassed.
The master refused to speak, and the servants were not in a position to ask, so Gao Mai had to welcome him in first, saying, "The cuts from the rocks can be big or small. I will go get you some medicine. If you leave a scar, it will disfigure your appearance."
Huan Xuan cut his face just to disfigure it. He hated this face so much that he said, "No need."
After saying this, he walked straight forward. After taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped, turned around and said, "Come with me to Shanchiyuan tomorrow morning."
Gao Mai could not help but be shocked. When His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi came back from Youzhou, he locked the Shanchi Courtyard. Since then, not only no one had set foot there, no one dared to mention it either. Chang'an Fang and Shanchi Courtyard became taboos in the entire palace.
Why is it suddenly brought up again today
Huan Xuan added: "Bring a cart of tung oil."
Gao Mai was startled. What was he going to do? Seeing that his master looked unhappy, he did not dare to ask any more questions. He just said, "Yes, I will ask someone to prepare it right away."
After Huan Xuan returned to the courtyard, Gao Mai finally found an opportunity to ask Guan Liulang, "Your Highness, what happened? Didn't you go out of the city today to welcome the governor of the three towns? But what went wrong at the welcoming banquet?"
Guan Liulang was tongue-tied and didn't know how to start. He just sighed deeply and said to Song Jiu, "You go ahead."
Song Jiu lowered his voice and asked, "Eunuch Gao, who do you think that General Xiao Ling is?"
Gao Mai frowned and said, "Who else could it be, the governor of Heshuo?"
He suddenly remembered Xiao Ling's other identity: "She was engaged to the late crown prince, but that's a thing of the past. What does it have to do with Your Highness?"
"It's a big deal," Song Jiu said with a face as wrinkled as a bitter gourd, "That female killer looks exactly like the lady Lu in our mansion..."
Gao Mai's head popped up: "Could it be that Your Highness has set his sights on that person?"
Is she addicted to finding a stand-in? She replaces this one and then that one. But she is the female killer, can she just replace anyone she wants
Could it be that he, His Highness, was drunk and offended Xiao Ling, which is why she scratched his face
Guan Liulang saw that Eunuch Gao's expression was unpredictable and knew that he was overthinking. He patted Song Jiu on the back of his head and said, "Xiao Ling and Lady Lu are the same person."
Gao Mai was shocked: "Who is the same person as who?"
Guan Liulang said: "Mrs. Lu used a fake name and household registration. She is not dead. She just ran away during the chaos."
Gao Mai's eyebrows were twisted into a ball like Guan Liulang's. The governor of three towns wanted to let His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi be his concubine. What was he trying to achieve
After a while, he suddenly had a terrible thought. It was well known that their Highness looked 70% to 80% similar to the late Crown Prince...
"What's the matter with the wound on your face, Your Highness..." he asked hesitantly.
Guan Liulang said: "After the banquet, Your Highness went to the courtyard where General Xiao stayed. When he came out, half of his face was covered in blood."
Song Jiu put his hand on his cheek.
Gao Mai then realized that it was he who had drawn the line.
He understood something vaguely, but also seemed to not quite understand it. However, he did not dare to think about it any further.
He said to Guan Liulang and Song Jiu, "This matter must not be spread. If outsiders ask about it, just say that His Highness fell down after drinking and was accidentally scratched by a sharp stone. Commander Guan, please take care of the guards we took out today."
Guan Liulang said: "That's natural."
Gao Mai sent another eunuch to wake up Grandma Gao.
The nanny was old and inexperienced, so she came to the front yard soon. Gao Mai briefly explained the whole story and sighed, "Your Highness has been close to the nanny since he was a child. The nanny should go and persuade His Highness. Your body and hair are given by your parents, so how can you cut your own face..."
When Nanny Gao heard this, she immediately went to the Prince of Qi's courtyard.
The light in the east pavilion was on, and Grandma Gao went to the door and called out "Your Highness".
Huan Xuan said, "Madam, please come in."
When Nanny Gao came in through the curtain, Huan Xuan put down the book in his hand and said, "Why are you here, Nanny? Go warm yourself by the fire, or you'll catch a cold."
When Nanny came, she had been crying all the way, her eyes were swollen like walnuts. When she saw the knife wound on his face, tears started to fall again and she kept saying "evil".
She took out the medicine from her sleeve. It was a secret medicine from Shang Pharmacy. Although it couldn't guarantee that there would be no scars, it could at least make the wound heal faster and make the scars lighter.
"Let me apply medicine to His Highness," she choked, "Why is Your Highness trying to make things difficult for me..."
Huan Xuan wanted to refuse, but looking at Nanny Gao's swollen eyes, he didn't say anything and just pursed his lips.
Nanny came forward tremblingly, wiped her tears while opening the porcelain medicine box, and tremblingly took a clean silk cloth, dipped it in the ointment, and applied it thickly on his wound.
The wound was deep, as if Luanhai's blade was thin and sharp, just a thin line, and did not look ferocious.
After applying the medicine, Grandma Gao trembled as she put away the medicine box. She muttered to herself, "I used to wonder, even though that young lady was born in a low-class family, she was also born by her father and raised by her mother. How could she not have any temper at all? She smiled even when His Highness looked down upon her. His Highness asked her to learn from Ruan Sanniang and left her alone for a few months. She was a person with a temper, but she was like dough, letting anyone knead her into a round shape or flatten her..."
As she spoke, she took out a handkerchief and tucked her eyes: "How can anyone be like this? This is my fault. I should have realized something was wrong at that time..."
Huan Xuan didn't know for a moment whether Nanny came to comfort him or to stab him, so he just kept a sullen face and said nothing.
Grandma Gao's eyes were blurry, so she couldn't see his expression clearly. She said to herself, "It's good that you know now. Your Highness can stop thinking about her and stop tormenting yourself. Your Highness should forget about her as soon as possible."
Huan Xuan knew that what she said made sense, as he had planned to do the same. However, when Nanny said this, he felt inexplicably uncomfortable.
He said calmly, "I'm tired, Mammy, go to bed too."
Before Grandma Gao could say anything else, Huan Xuan had already stood up and walked towards the bathroom. She could only sigh secretly and said, "I'll take my leave, slave."
Huan Xuan called a eunuch and said, "Send Madam back to the backyard and be careful of the ice on the stone steps."
…
The next morning, Sui Sui got up early as usual to practice swordplay.
After changing her clothes and tying her hair into a bun, she suddenly remembered something and said to Tian Yuerong, "Bring me the pair of swords I got yesterday, and I'll practice with you."
Tian Yuerong blinked and said, "General, don't you feel bored training with your subordinates? I just got a few sword boys last night, why not ask them to give it a try?"
Sui Sui knew that she was teasing her again, but she was also curious about the skills of the Chen twin brothers - she saw them dancing with swords at the banquet yesterday, and it was obvious that they had some kung fu skills.
She nodded and said, "Go and call them over."
Soon, the young man arrived at the courtyard where Sui Sui was staying.
The two of them were still dressed in black and white, but Chen Qingshuang's white dress was no longer wide-sleeved and loose, but had the same tight-fitting finish as his brother.
The man stepped forward and saluted Sui Sui: "I greet General Xiao."
Sui Sui said "No need to be polite", looked at the man and his eyes fell on the face of the young man in black.
There was a look of arrogance between his brows, and even though he lowered his head, he looked like a dragon colt or a phoenix chick in distress.
Sui Sui asked with interest: "Can you cut with a knife?"
The young man in black saluted and said, "General, I know a thing or two."
Having said that, his tone was quite arrogant, and he was obviously proud of his swordsmanship.
Sui Sui smiled faintly: "Let's try it."
The young man in black looked at the sword on her waist and raised his chin: "Please lend me the general's sword for a moment."
A trace of uneasiness flashed across the eyes of the young man in white, and he winked at his brother.
Sui Sui smiled and said, "It's okay."
As she said this, she was about to untie the sword at her waist. When she touched the hilt, she realized that what she had picked up from the side of the couch was not her Jingsha, but Huan Xuan's Luanhai.
She took her hand back and said to Tian Yuerong, "Go to the room and get my Jingsha."
Tian Yuerong said yes, went to the room to get a knife, and handed it to Zidian: "Please."
The young man in black thanked him coldly and took the knife. He took a steady breath and drew the knife out of its sheath with a clang.
There was fine snow floating in the air. He moved in circles, advancing and retreating quickly like a flying arrow or a meteor. For a moment, he saw the flash of a knife reflecting the light of the snow. He also heard the sound of the knife mingling with the sound of the wind. The flying snow was rolled into a vortex by the wind around him.
After finishing a set of sword techniques, he exhaled a breath of white air and bowed, "Excuse me for showing off my skills."
Then he said provocatively: "I dare to ask the general for advice."
For an actor, this was naturally a huge overstepping of authority, and his brother couldn't help but exclaim, "Zi Dian! Don't be rude!"
Sui Sui didn't care and smiled faintly: "It's okay."
She untied the Luanhai from her waist, drew the sword from its sheath, but stuck the sword into the snow under the plum tree, holding the sheath in her hand: "I'll let you ten moves."
The young man in black frowned his long and beautiful eyebrows, pursed his thin lips into a line, saluted silently, and then raised his knife to attack Sui Sui.
His body movements and swordsmanship were dazzling. Every time he struck the sword, he aimed directly at Sui Sui's vital points, which made Chen Qingshuang's face turn pale. However, every time the blade was about to touch Sui Sui's body, she didn't try to dodge, but the blade always deviated by an inch and just slipped past her.
The young man in black was sweating on his forehead, but the more anxious he was, the more confused he became. After ten quick and powerful moves, his sword didn't even touch the corner of General Xiao's clothes.
Sui Sui chuckled and said, "It's my turn, little one."
Before he finished speaking, there was a clang sound, Zi Dian's wrist went numb, and the long sword in his hand fell to the snow.
Before he could come to his senses, the black scabbard was already against his throat.
He didn't even see clearly how General Xiao made his move from beginning to end.
The back of the young man in black was instantly soaked with cold sweat. He said with a pale face: "I lost."
Although he knew that what she held in her hand was a scabbard, at that moment he truly felt that he was on the verge of death.
Sui Sui retracted his hand: "Your swordsmanship is good, but there are too many fancy moves."
Zi Dian bowed and said, "Thank you for your guidance, General."
Sui Sui said to the others, "You guys please leave."
After the young man came out, Tian Yuerong leaned against the pillar with her arms folded and said with a smile: "Are you ashamed of the general bullying a child?"
Sui Sui smiled self-deprecatingly, with some disappointment and loneliness in his eyes.
She immediately said, "It's really meaningless to bully children. It's more interesting to bully you."
Tian Yuerong begged for mercy: "General, please spare me. Doesn't the General need to go to the palace to pay homage? It's getting late, so hurry up and take a bath and change clothes."
Sui Sui said: "If you spend less time talking and more time sharpening your sword, you won't have made no progress in all these years."
Tian Yuerong hurriedly said, "Yes, yes, the general is right."
He glanced at her and went back to his room.