Chu Yu's mind buzzed for a while, and he called out in a low voice, "Brother."
Chu Ming was trembling with anger, and he hadn't rested since he came back from the paddock. Originally, he thought that Meng Hanyi was really Qin Zheng's servant. Although he was annoyed by the discord between Qin Zheng and his younger brother, he never doubted that Qin Zheng would have the intention of killing the king.
Until Zhen'er was escorted to the East Palace by the maidservant of the Chu family, Chu Ming was still trying to save Qin Zheng's life. But when Chu Ming heard what happened in the Hou's mansion from the big maid Biyu, Chu Ming really wished that everyone in the Hou's mansion would die soon.
"Come home with me!" Chu Ming snapped with reddened eyes.
Chu Yu struggled for his wrist, but the remaining strength was not enough to break free, so he begged, "Brother... leave me alone..."
When Chu Ming heard this, she was furious, and raised her hand high. She was about to slap Chu Yu's face, but then she barely stopped. In the end, she just slapped Chu Yu away with a flick of her sleeve.
Chu Yu fell to the ground, and it took him a while to stand up, kneeling in front of Chu Ming, lowering his head, suppressing the sourness in his eyes.
"Don't care about you... It's just that I care too little about you..." Chu Ming staggered a few times, smiled wryly, and the corners of his eyes became redder, adding sadness to Ruyu's face: "If I could control you back then, you would You won't insist on marrying Qin Zheng at the filial age, ruining your own reputation. If I could control you back then, you wouldn't abandon your official career and go to the big dye vat of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, cutting off your chance to be in the cabinet. If I don't care about you right now, are you risking your life!"
Non-Jinshi does not enter the Hanlin, and non-Hanlin does not enter the cabinet. When Chu Yu was sixteen years old, she won the Huiyuan by taking the first place in the examination. A strategy question was astonishing all over the capital, and everyone scrambled to praise it. The paper was expensive overnight. Everyone thought that Chu Yu would be named on the gold list like his elder brother, the number one scholar and the first place.
Go to Qionglin Banquet in person, beat horses in front of Yujie, enter Hanlin, and enter the cabinet. It should be like this, it should be like this, but no one thought that at this juncture, Chu Yu got married in white clothes, the ceremony was broken, and the music was broken. Losing a clear reputation, it is impossible to think about the number one scholar and the first place, even if the emperor has a preference.
Chu Ming tried hard to persuade his younger brother countless times: "If you really love the eldest son of the Qin family, you don't have to ruin your future and rush for a while. You can make a long-term plan after you have passed the imperial examination."
But at that time, Chu Yu just said stubbornly: "If I can't stand by his side when he is most vulnerable, how can I say that I love him, even if I will be honored in the future, so what can I do? After all, I failed to protect him well. one time."
Later, it was Chu Yu who failed to enter the Imperial Academy, and since then there was no possibility of entering the cabinet again. In order to pave the way for Qin Zheng in the imperial court, he invited himself to the Ministry of Internal Affairs with a complicated network of relationships, even if he was a jester. .
People say that Master Chu, the bone scraping knife, has his heart and lungs blackened. He is flattering at the top and ruthless at the bottom, disturbing the situation in the court. But I don't know, it's just that I'm infatuated and unaware.
Chu Ming has only one younger brother. After his parents passed away, the eldest brother is like a father and a mother, doting and doting is unnecessary. Step by step, Chu Yu walked up to this day, full of resentment towards the Qin family and love for her younger brother. If Chu Yu was willing to bow his head and tell him a grievance today, he could make the Qin family pay back their debts without looking back.
But being trampled so far, Chu Yu still wants to kneel down in front of the palace for the Qin family and let others belittle him, how can Chu Ming not be annoyed, angry or hated!
"The centuries-old integrity of the Chu family cannot allow you to be so contemptuous and self-deprecating. If you are still a man of my Chu family, if you still recognize me as an elder brother, you should immediately go home with me now! Since then, the Qin family will have nothing to do with you." Relationship, life and death have their own destiny, you don't need to intervene!" Chu Ming looked at his younger brother in front of him, suppressed his distressed eyes, and said coldly.
Chu Yu clenched his teeth, feeling his elder brother's voice was coming and going, and his eyes turned black. He tried his best to pinch his palm, leaned over and kowtowed heavily, his forehead turned bloody. After a long while, I struggled to squeeze out a few words from between my teeth: "Chu Yu is ashamed of her face, her ancestors, her father and brother..."
The words are all here, and the meaning has been revealed.
Chu Ming was trembling all over, angry at him, mourning his misfortune, and said in a mournful voice, "I would rather bear the burden of the world than him. I don't have a younger brother like you, and the Chu family doesn't have descendants like you!"
Chu Yu's chest was churning with qi and blood, her throat was fishy, and she slowly closed her eyes without saying a word.
Chu Ming flicked her sleeves and left without looking back, but the frivolous staggering of her steps was not deceiving.
Chu Yu looked at his brother's back, swallowed a mouthful of blood, slowly straightened his body on his knees, and respectfully kowtowed in the direction he was leaving. The Qin family is condemned to death. Since he stands up for the Qin family, he is ready to be implicated together. It would be best if he could put aside his relationship with the Chu family and his elder brother, so as not to bring shame on the Chu family and his brother's reputation.
…
See the moon rise and the sun set, listen to the evening drum and the morning bell.
Chu Yu pressed the ginseng slices that Qiuyue secretly stuffed him under his tongue, and the bitter taste filled his mouth, except for this bit of bitterness, there was no other feeling. His body was no longer as numb as his own, first his knees, then his legs, and finally where he could move a little bit, there was probably only a pair of eyes, which occasionally closed lightly, and the long eyelashes trembled in the wind, covering his eyes. Gray eyes.
"Follow the heavens to carry the emperor, the imperial decree—"
The high-pitched voice of the palace maid seemed to come from far away in the clouds, from far to near, piercing the eardrums, falling into Chu Yu's heart word by word.
"The Marquis of Zhenbei, Qin Zheng, squinted his eyes and was blinded by the treacherous villain. Thinking of his meritorious service in saving his family, he couldn't bear to be tortured and killed. The Marquis was demoted to a commoner, and he was exiled for three thousand miles and sent to Liangzhou..."
"Announce it to the world, and the salty envoys will hear about it."
…
The sound was overheard, Chu Yu couldn't hear what the palace man said, but he vaguely understood that Qin Zheng would not die.
Will not die before him.
Chu Yu opened his lips slightly, wanting to thank you, but he couldn't make any sound. He bent down and kowtowed. His bones were like rotten wood. When the wind blew, all of them shattered, and his forehead hit the stone steps heavily. On it, a wet spread spread out, followed by the sweet smell of blood.
The sound of hurried footsteps, who called his name in panic, hugged him tightly in his arms, a ray of ink scent wrapped around his nose, dispelling the smell of blood. Chu Yu's eyes were sore, what kind of coolness slipped down her neck, and a few words were squeezed out with the tip of her bitter and numb tongue.
elder brother.
go home.
※
The world is full of fragrance in April.
A continuous drizzle silently blew down the thin peach blossoms in the yard. In the early morning, the maids came and went to and from the garden, and the embroidered shoes on their feet crushed the petals into dust.
It was warm a few days ago, Zhen'er took off her jacket early, and when she came out in the morning, she only wore a goose-yellow skirt that was cut this year, and it was a bit cooler after the clinker rained. It just so happened that I had an excuse to grope my way to my father's bedside, and slipped in.
Chu Yu patted the little girl in her arms, closed her eyes and said softly: "In two years, I will be a big girl, why are you still tired of Daddy, so shameless."
Zhen'er's little face covered in the soft quilt was slightly red, and a little unwilling, she argued in a low voice: "It's cold..."
Chu Yu chuckled, and wanted to say something, but coughed out for a while, so she could only frowned and pressed her lips intermittently.
"Father!" Zhen'er's small hand moved smoothly on Chu Yu's back in a manner, and then patted it lightly.
Chu Yu waved his hand, grabbed Zhen'er's cool little hand and held it in his palm: "It's okay...cough cough...cough..."
Qiuyue, who was waiting outside, hurried in when she heard the sound, holding the decoction that the maid handed over in her hand, a strong bitter smell instantly spread in the room.
"Second Master, be gentle, don't tear the wound." Qiuyue stepped forward, put the medicine urn aside, helped Chu Yu up, and carefully looked at the wound on his forehead.
A white bandage three fingers wide was wrapped around Chu Yu's forehead. It was knocked down in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony more than a month ago. The wound was extremely deep, and he injured his head again. He was in a coma for more than half a month. During that time, Chu Ming took care of his younger brother in almost undressed clothes, everyone in the imperial hospital was in panic, for fear that something would happen to Chu Yu, and the relationship with the crown princess was considered to be settled.
Fortunately, after half a month of drowsy sleep, Chu Yu, who was out of shape, woke up. In the first few days, she was still unbelievably weak, and it took another period of time before she regained her complexion. Dystocia hurt her vitality in the front, and she was exhausted in the back. Her legs were almost useless, and her body was completely ruined.
The most worrisome thing is that Chu Yu's mental state is not very good, and she becomes more and more silent, even if she is facing her elder brother, she refuses to speak, and just keeps silent or wakes up or sleeps. Chu Ming had no choice but to ask Zhen'er to stay with him more.
Poor Zhen'er faced such a father every day, swallowed his tears back to his stomach, took care of him carefully and accompanied him, so well-behaved that it made people feel distressed. That soft white and tender hand picked up the big medicine bowl, blew a spoonful of the medicine and brought it to daddy's mouth, then nestled in daddy's arms, wrung his fingers and told him all the stories he had heard, and hoped that daddy would come soon Get better.
As long as Daddy gets better soon, she doesn't want anything, not the silk dress, not the gold, silver and jade, not the sugar figurines on the street, not the round fan from the embroidery workshop, not even Daddy...
Little Zhen'er finally accompanied Chu Yu through the most difficult days.
The peach blossoms had just faded, and Chu Yu's mind gradually returned to normal, and he was no longer as gloomy as before. Apart from his poor health, his eyes gradually regained some of the old spirit. It's just that she never asked about the Qin family, never mentioned the Qin family.
It seemed that those years were nothing more than a big dream.
…
"The virtues are established, the appearance is upright. The sound is spread in the empty valley, and the empty hall is used to listen. The cause of misfortune is evil, and the good fortune is celebrated..." Zhen'er took out a thin book from his sleeve, dangling his little feet, and nestled on his father's body Read it word by word.
After Chu Yu finished drinking the medicine, he took two sips of tea and rubbed his daughter's soft head. He suddenly felt that he had been living for half a day, and it was really a blessing to be able to be so leisurely.
The maidservants at the side were cleaning the fine dust on the antique shelves. One of the maidservants was young, and her hands and feet were not yet agile. She accidentally knocked down a sandalwood brocade box, and only heard a bang, breaking the leisure of the room.
Qiuyue frowned, and said sharply, "What's going on?"
The servant girl was also taken aback, immediately knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly: "Second Lord, please forgive me, Miss Yue, please don't worry."
Qiuyue glanced at Chu Yu, and explained: "The new girl, who was transferred here to be a sweeping maid because she was supposed to be smart, who knew she was so sloppy. Don't blame the second master, send it back In other gardens, I will train them for two years first."
Chu Yu waved his hand: "No problem, just watch the arrangement."
Although the family style of the Duke's Mansion is strict, it will not criticize the servants for no reason.
Qiuyue responded, winked at the maid to let her go down, and bent down to pack it up by herself.
Chu Yu saw that the sandalwood box fell open, revealing a corner of the thing wrapped in black velvet brocade inside, the vermilion silk rope, the warm jade pendant, glowing with a faint luster...
The things that are forgotten intentionally or unintentionally are like scattered and fragmented classics that are pressed under the wall of the heart. With just a little wind, they will be blown all over the heart and eyes.
Qiuyue turned pale, and hurriedly wrapped the pendant and stuffed it back into the brocade box, flustered as if she was more reckless than the little maid just now, but she seemed more and more trying to hide it.
Just before the brocade box was about to be put back on the shelf, it was stopped by Chu Yu's pale and thin hand.
"Second Master..." Qiuyue turned pale.
Chu Yu nodded lightly, opened the sandalwood box with her fingertips, gently took out the Guanyin jade pendant, and put it in the palm of her hand.
It turned out that pretending to be relieved was nothing but self-deception. Only at this moment did Chu Yu realize that he owed himself a settlement.