Around the Gardenia Sandalwood
, the old friend sighed: When I was
sixteen years old, I knelt at the gate of Yu Wang Fu for three days and three nights in plain clothes. I fainted under the comments of the onlookers
in the street. When I
woke up, a man in white was sitting in front of my bed, surrounded by nobility.
I rolled and crawled on my knees in front of the bed and said, “The bright mirror is hanging high, and the women of the people dare to ask Your Highness to seek justice for me!”
The man replied, “I can’t give you justice, but I can give you a way out.”
King Yu is the only younger brother of King Mo Chao, and he is also the prince that every family here admires.
Rumor has it that both of them are brothers and brothers, and both of them like to wear white clothes.
The king is a dandy by nature and likes to linger in the flowers.
Iron-blooded control of the country, severe laws, do not allow a person to resist.
King Yu, on the other hand, was desolate. Contrary to the king, he built slums, opened folk schools, sprinkled water in summer and gave porridge in winter. He was famous for his kindness. My
name is An Ling, and I grew up in the field.
Dad used to be an official in the imperial court. Later, he retired from Jianghu and occasionally taught me to read and study.
That day I was picking water caltrops in the lotus pond, and because I was too fond of playing, it was already evening when I got home.
To my surprise, the yard was full of wolves. I pushed open the door with uneasiness, only to see my father and mother lying in a pool of blood, already without breath.
I’ll report it to the officer, but the officer doesn’t care.
Kneeling outside the Yamen to tell the people about the matter, he was beaten by the Yamen runner on the grounds of disturbing order, covered with scars, and recuperated at Uncle Xia’s house for half a month.
He had no choice but to beat the drum and was thrown into prison by the county magistrate for several months, and almost lost his innocence. Uncle
Xia was a close friend of my father, and he managed to rescue me. After I
got out of prison, I cried every day and even thought about suicide.
At night, Uncle Xia knocked on my door and stuffed a bag of silver and some dry food into my arms.
Ling’er, your father’s tragic death was not an accident, but a premeditated one. Your hope lies in the royal capital. Go to King Yu. So
I traveled day and night to the royal capital and was taken in by King Yu. From then on, I became a maid of King Yu’s mansion.
Yu Wang Xinshan allowed me to wear plain clothes for three years and wear filial piety for my father.
Yu Wangfu is not big, and there are not many servants. There is a back garden in the
mansion, which is full of Gardenia.
I often see King Yu, dressed in white, standing among the flowers, sometimes pruning the branches and leaves, sometimes smelling the fragrance and drinking tea.
I don’t understand why he didn’t help me, but I have a vague feeling that it’s not easy. He
tried to get close to him, but it always backfired and he couldn’t find the right opportunity every time.
I pawned the silver bracelet that Ah Niang had left me and arranged for the servants in the mansion. Only then did I know that he would go to sit in the back garden every afternoon.
I admit that I had the purpose of approaching him at first, but I don’t know when I wanted to see him every day except for this purpose.
So he had to sneak into the back garden and squat behind the rockery. When he
was free, he went to ask Mammy in the mansion and listened to the stories related to King Yu, from which he wanted to know his preferences.
He is like a light in my heart, but there is also a light in his heart, and I know it is not me.
Mammy said that King Yu once had a childhood sweetheart. The girl was innocent and lively. When she smiled, her eyes were like a crescent moon. People who had seen her loved her very much.
However, the fate of a beautiful woman is always the result that a woman can’t escape. Three years ago, she caught a cold and died in the arms of King Yu.
“Are those gardenias also because of her?” I asked.
Mammy hurried forward to cover my mouth and said, “Be quiet. It’s taboo to mention her in the house.”
Taboo? Because sad sad, then why keep the garden gardenia, not afraid of touching the scenery?
Mammy looked at me from side to side, then took my hand. “Well, you do look like that girl in spirit. Otherwise, the prince wouldn’t have taken in a person of unknown origin as a maid.”
I still sneak to the back garden every day to see him, to see his cold and sharp face, to see his tall and upright nose, to see his white clothes and black hair in the wind. There are thousands of words
in my heart that I want to say to him, and I want to ask him to find out the truth for myself, but I dare not come forward.
He is a man who loves quietness. Besides, he is a prince, and I am just a maid in the house. Comparing
the two, wishful thinking.
I saw him rubbing incense on the stone table, concentrating on it, showing only half of his face, making his facial features more delicate. As I smelled the
fragrance, I fell into a trance and unconsciously began to recite a line from a poem my father had taught me: “When you brush the white sandalwood handle, you can smell the fragrance every day.”
I closed my eyes and suddenly a piece of clothes brushed my cheek, bringing a little sandalwood fragrance.
The voice rang out again: “Is it Han Shan’s poem?”
I was shocked. What could be worse than being caught peeking at Wang Ye?
I got up and tried to escape, but my wrist was firmly grasped, so I had to withdraw my leg silently.
“Why are you running? Will I eat people?” He let go of my hand.
I slowly turned around, steeled myself, smiled and saluted him. “I’ve seen Wang Yeh.” “Can you read poetry?”
He chuckled.
“My father taught me to read some of them.”
“The white brush on the handle of the sandalwood gives a sweet fragrance that can be smelled every day.” He walked to the stone table and motioned for me to follow. “Do you know Tuoxiang?” I
lowered my head and whispered in a voice so low that only I could hear him: “Father taught me before, but after a long time, I’m afraid I’m rusty.”
He handed me a stove. “Try it.”
He waited patiently, and I was proud of my success in burning a burner of incense.
Looking up to meet his eyes, like water and bright, as if through me, I was looking at the gardenia in the garden bathed in sunlight.
“I haven’t asked your name yet.”
“My surname is Shen, and my given name is Anling.”
He suddenly stopped and stayed where he was, his eyes fixed on me, full of doubts.
After a while, he said, “Would you like to serve with me in the future?” I was so flattered
that I had tried every way to get close to him and failed, but now he wanted me to wait on him. This was a chance given to me by God.
I quickly knelt down and said, “I..” The maidservant is willing.
Sandalwood has a slight fragrance, which is sweet but not greasy, but refreshing.
I knelt down in front of him and saw that his white shoes were not stained with a speck of dust.
Since then, I have been with him for many years. I help him grind ink when
he writes, hold pruning tools for him in the garden, and wipe his sweat when he practices his sword.
He was a man of great literary talent, especially proficient in writing lyrics and poems, and then taught me to read them one by one, just like my father used to do.
He played the piano, and I sat beside him and listened.
Listen to the love in the music, listen to the memory in the piano.
“The maidservant remembered a story. Would you like to tell it to Wang Yeh?” I suddenly remembered a story I had read in a book, opened my eyes and said to him.
“I’d like to hear more about it.” He looked up at me, his eyes calm, and continued to play the piano.
This is a story about a bosom friend. Shu Yun Boya is good at playing the lute, and Zhong Ziqi is good at listening. Boya plays the lute and aims to climb the mountain. Zhong Ziqi said, “You are so good that you look like Mount Tai.”. The ambition is in the flowing water. Zhong Ziqi said, “Good, the ocean is like a river.”. Zhong Tzu-chi was sure to get what Bo Ya had read. I walked up and down in front of him
as I read.
“Later, it became a much-told story.” There was something of a smile in his words.
“No.” I stood up mysteriously and went to him and sat down gently.
“Later, when Chung Tzu-chi died, Bo-ya threw down the lute to thank his bosom friend. He died and died and never played the lute again.” There was a sudden loss in
his eyes, which was only for a moment, but it was still captured by me.
He knew that I loved cakes, and every day he would order the small kitchen to make cakes of different flavors, and then he would allow me to sit on the stone bench, and after that, he would accompany him to drink tea and eat cakes.
“What’s your favorite sweet osmanthus cake?” He asked.
“Yes, I’ve loved since I was a child.” I answered. So
he looked at me in a trance, and the wind blew his white sleeves. I knew he was recalling, and I thought to myself that maybe the girl before also liked osmanthus cake.
“What’s your favorite flower?” He asked again.
“Gardenia, in my dreams, I always dream of a place where a short gardenia is planted on a high courtyard wall. Someone will pin the flower on my head for me. He is dressed in white.” What
I said is true. I have had such a dream since I was a child.
So the first time I saw Yu Wang, I felt familiar, probably because of this.
I never mentioned it to anyone, but somehow I mentioned it all in front of him.
I looked up and saw his incredulous expression. Remembering that Mammy had said that nothing should be said about the girl in the house, I immediately kept silent to stop myself from going on.
He no longer spoke, should be thinking about something, perhaps I let him be touched by the scene, I got up to leave, he did not stop.
For several days he did not summon me to serve, nor did I see him. There was a rumor in the
mansion that I had offended King Yu, so I was left out in the cold.
Later, I learned that he had been sent by the king to deal with affairs for half a month. The boy came back and sent a message asking me to tidy up Wang Ye’s study. He would return to the house later.
I took the cleaning tools into the room, Wang Ye’s study was clean and tidy, with a faint fragrance, but some days no one came in, and some dust fell on the desk. There is a wooden box with a delicate Luban lock in the
corner.
If ordinary people do not know, but my father is good at wood work, I have seen him make locks since childhood.
The Luban lock is more difficult than average one. Maybe there are important things in it.
I knew I couldn’t open Wang Ye’s box without authorization, but my intuition told me that there would be something beneficial to me, so I opened it devilishly. The
box is not big, there are three secret letters inside, all signed: Yu Wang Qinqi.
I opened the first letter: “Pear Blossom Town, Shen Heng.”. Secret agent Qiu Tzu-cheng. The time marked
on it was three days after my parents were killed.
I still remember the feeling at that time, when I saw these big words, my legs suddenly went soft, my eyes were black, my hands could not stop trembling, and I could even hear the sound of tears falling to the ground.
Why? I don’t believe it.
I asked helplessly, but I couldn’t get an answer. Uncle
Xia clearly asked me to find Yu Wang, he said Yu Wang is my hope ah!
It turned out that the person who really killed my parents was Yu Wang?
I even fell in love with my father’s killer.
I continued to open the second envelope: “Lihua Town, Xia Ren, there is a change.”. Secret agent Qiu Tzu-cheng. The
date was three days before King Yu left the mansion.
Xia Ren, Uncle Xia.
King Yu wanted to kill Uncle Xia. In the open, the king sent him out to deal with his affairs, but in the dark he went out to kill people.
At this moment, Uncle Xia is afraid to be doomed. I
was about to open the third letter when I heard the horses neighing outside the mansion.
He’s back. Yu Wang is back. When
King Yu entered the mansion, he immediately summoned me to his room. Before
I could recover, my hands were shaking when I poured the tea, and I accidentally spilled the hot tea on him. Instead of being
angry, he asked me to change his clothes.
I lowered my head to untie the tie, and he hugged me.
“Ling, don’t move. Let me hold you.”
I did not struggle, and as time went by, his tears wet the clothes on my shoulders. I stood where I was
at a loss.
I should hate him, and even pierce his heart with the sword before I get up.
But I am sad, I covet the warmth in his arms, I have never been so warm.
Later, I spent a lot of money and asked someone to rush to Lihua Town to send a letter home to Uncle Xia.
I was so worried that I prayed to God to protect Uncle Xia from an accident.
A few days later, I received a reply from Uncle Xia, saying that he was robbed by thieves a few days ago and was saved by a young man in white. Now everything is fine. Let me not miss him. Childe
in white, is it Yu Wang?
But why do you want to kill him and save him?
Perhaps those letters are not Yu Wang’s, perhaps not Yu Wang’s order, perhaps I misunderstood. Again and again,
I overturned the speculation in my mind, and more uneasiness and suspicion rose.
I exculpated him in my heart. I told myself that he didn’t do it, but those unprovoked intuitions made me fall into doubt again and again.
I still wait by his side as before, after autumn and winter. The
white snow fell on the earth and covered the garden thickly, covering the gardenia in the garden overnight.
He woke up in the night and heard the wind and snow and knocked on my door in his underwear.
I quickly put on my cloak for him, and he laughed and pulled me to the back garden.
Look, it’s snowing. I thought you might like it. As
he spoke, he brushed the snow off the dwarf with his hands, his fingers red with cold, but his face was full of smiles.
I’ve never seen him so happy.
I really love snow, and this is the first time I have seen snow since I came to the Royal City three years ago.
We had snowball fights, made snowmen, and laughed away the cold.
I knelt on the ground and said, “An Ling asked Wang Yeh to help find out the truth and seek justice for me.” The snow under
my body melted slowly with my temperature, turning into ice water and soaking my knees.
He did not speak, so I continued to kneel. The
water soaks my clothes inch by inch, and the snow still falls slowly and stays in my hair.
The wind whistled past my ears, and in a trance I saw a picture in a dream. It was
also on such a snowy night that a young man in white, who could not see his face clearly, gently pushed open my door, put on his clothes for me, and pulled me to the big tree in the yard with a shovel.
“Yam porridge nourishes the stomach.” The boy brushed the snow off the table and chair and took out a food box from nowhere.
Yam porridge is tasteless, I like sweet, so I put sugar in that bowl of porridge.
He rummaged under the tree with a shovel and ran to me with a jar covered with mud.
He smiled as happily as Yu Wang, but I didn’t think he was Yu Wang.
“I’ve been cooking green plum wine for half a year. Taste it.” He opened the layers of seals, and the fragrance of green plum mixed with the mellow fragrance of wine came to his nostrils.
Thinking back to the present moment, I shook my head and tried to shake off these visions. It
should be an illusion, but why is it so real?
King Yu picked me up and said, “Is the truth really that important?”? I still say that I can only give you one way to live.
He still won’t help me, but it’s up to him to find out the truth.
Suddenly a plan came into my mind. If he owed me something, could he ask for a promise. The
winter night was bitterly cold, but his room was very warm. The best gold charcoal was burning in the
charcoal basin, and there was a strange fragrance in the room, and his curtain seemed a little ambiguous.
When he was asleep, I took off my coat, climbed into his bed in my undercoat, and lay down gently beside him. You don’t have to do
anything, just lie down for one night, let him misunderstand the next day, and then you can ask for a promise.
I told myself so.
Gradually, my mind became confused, and I seemed to see the young man in white in my dream, who put a gardenia on my head and turned into a red rose in a twinkling of an eye.
I feel the warmth, which is a metaphor for the warm warmth on the day when Wang hugged me.
I covet, covet to suffocate, then tightly embrace that warmth, reluctant to let go. When
I woke up, I found myself lying in his arms, and my mind was still confused, as if I were dreaming.
Remembering what happened last night, I gently lifted the corner of the quilt, and there was really no trace on my body. Only then did I realize that it was not a dream.
Seeing that he was still sleeping soundly on the bed, his face was cold and his eyebrows were slightly wrinkled, I hurried to the other side, trying to get up and get out of bed.
Unexpectedly, a big hand clasped his arms around his waist and said, “You came to this bed by yourself. Why do you want to run away now?”
I panicked and didn’t know what to do, so I closed my eyes quickly and pretended not to wake up.
He chuckled, and the hand on his waist suddenly swam over me, making me hot all over.
“Still pretending?”
I pressed his hand and said, “Forgive me, Wang Yeh. The maidservant really loves Wang Yeh. Last night I heard Wang Yeh call my name in his sleep. It’s really..” I can’t help myself.
“Oh?” His voice was as pleasant as ever, but it was a little more interesting. “Since I can’t help myself, how can I blame you?”
“Wang Yeh..”
“I said I would let you serve me, and you can go anywhere in this house, including my bed.” He shook my hand.
“Also, my name is not Yu Wang, but Mo Shuyue.”
“Besides, in order to make up for you, I made you a promise.”
I was completely at a loss and answered weakly, “Yes.”
Clearly just want to let him misunderstand, clearly have planned, which know actually fake play really do.
But I do not hate this feeling, even in my sleep, I want to be close to him, I covet the warmth of his arms, like the faint sandalwood on his body.
Besides, I got the promise.
I turned my head and saw the white shoes on the edge of the bed, white and flawless, without a speck of dust. I’m probably
in love with him, and I want to be with him all the time.
But I am also afraid, afraid that the final truth is too heavy, I am afraid I can not afford.
In those days, I suffered a lot every day.
I went to burn incense and pray to God. I went to kneel before the Buddha. I just wanted to ask for the truth of both sides and pray that things were not what I had guessed. After a
long time, a young monk came to tell me that the abbot invited me to the meditation room for tea.
“Almsgiver, do you know what crossing is?”
“Crossing over others, crossing over the heart, crossing over oneself.”
“Almsgiver, you have the root of wisdom. In this case, you should know that in the world there is a law of both sides, and gain and loss are fate. Why not be so calm?”. When I came out
of Qingquan Temple, I felt suddenly enlightened.
Cause and effect are determined by nature, and what should happen will happen. It is better to be drunk today than to be drunk today. As the abbot said, it is so calm.
I didn’t believe King Yu was the one who killed my parents from the beginning to the end, and I still do. What’s the harm in believing him once?
Mo Shuyue, he is really like the moon, warm and cold, white.
I am a frequent visitor to Qingquan Temple, and I usually go to help sweep when I have nothing to do. Most of the masters in the temple know me, and occasionally take me to chant sutras and let me eat fast. There is a marriage tree outside the
hall, and pilgrims are willing to hang a red belt on it to pray for the help of the old moon.
Some people say that every time the wind blows a red belt, it is a wish read to the gods, which is very effective.
I often enjoy the cool under the tree, watching the sunshine falling on the red belt, and reading out the wishes above gently, which may speed up the realization of the wishes.
“May she be well in the afterlife.” I was a little sad when I
read this. Most of the red belts are crazy men and women praying for love. Only these two people are separated by Yin and Yang.
“Girl.” I was startled by the sound of a voice, because there were few people wandering around the temple at noon.
It was a man dressed in white but unable to hide his luxury, with a folding fan in his hand, who seemed surprised to see me.
“Sir, what can I do for you?”
“I didn’t mean anything by it, but I saw that the girl looked familiar..” He came to his senses and gave me a bright smile.
The wind moved the shadows, and the light of noon fell on him through the leaves.
He looks familiar to me, and so do I.
I didn’t answer, but he took me with him and laughed.
The boy whispered to him, and he motioned to me and left.
Goodbye to this young man, it is already a month later.
I was chanting alone in the meditation room. He came in to look for the abbot, but the abbot was not there.
“Miss, where is the abbot?” He looked at me.
“The abbot has gone out and will return in a day.” I smiled at him.
He had no intention of leaving, but sat down and gulped down the tea. “What is a wise king?” He asked slowly. A tyrant can only be called a tyrant who
makes the people fear and feel insecure. A truly wise king, who is vigorous and resolute, who governs the country well, is praised by the whole world. I say.
“So you think the king has no way to rule the country?” He stood up and knocked over the fresh tea.
“No.”. In a high position, it is not easy to govern a large country. As long as the present king has his own policy for governing the country and does it firmly, whatever is good for the people is the right way. I gently picked up the teacup and put it aside.
“Is there, then, in your opinion, a mistake on the part of the king?” He continued to ask.
I also wondered why he would ask such a question, but the tragic death of my father and mother, the past of officials perverting the law came to my mind, I could not control my emotions, tears flowed unconsciously.
Today, though the king has an iron hand, he will also attend to one thing and neglect the other. Kyoto is infinitely prosperous, but how can everyone live and work in peace and contentment under the jurisdiction of the township? The king attaches great importance to the administration of officials, but after all, the mountains are high and the emperor is far away. When local officials give orders, many ghosts can only be buried innocently, and there is no way to appeal. I
suddenly realized that I would lose my head if I talked about the king in the royal city. “In my humble opinion, a villager in the countryside is quick to talk. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Do you mean that the local officials who were sent alone all handled cases in this way?” He stood up and held me tightly, his eyes full of anger.
Solitary? Is he the king? I was so hurt by
his pull that I began to hesitate to tell him what had happened before.
This is the best time to redress the grievances of my parents, but I have entrusted Shuyue.
I quickly knelt down and said, “Long live our emperor, long live our people..” There is no such intention. Before
he opened his mouth, I habitually looked up slightly and saw him wearing a pair of white shoes with gold embroidery, all the way dusty and stained with some water stains.
“If there is nothing else to do, the civilian women will leave first.”
He still did not answer, and I just thought he acquiesced and ran out of the meditation room in a hurry.
“Wait, can you come here often in the future?”
I just went out, pretended not to hear, and trotted all the way back to the palace. It was on a spring night
that Shuyue really told me everything.
He took me back to Pear Blossom.
My home had been tidied up in good order by the people sent by Shuyue, and the incense he had rubbed with his own hands was still burning, and everything was like before.
It’s just that there are a few more dwarf gardenia plants in the corner, with green leaves and green onions, which are not yet in bud.
“I was here a few years ago.” He pulled me to the wooden table and sat down. There was a plate of osmanthus cake on the table.
I did not speak, waiting for his follow-up.
I was afraid he would tell me that he did everything.
But I was late, and by the time I got here it was all over. I gave Uncle Xia sum of money so that he could bury Shen Taifu properly. He went on.
“Shen Taifu?” I suppressed my surprise and looked at him in puzzlement.
Yes, your father, Shen Heng, was my Taifu before he resigned. At that time, my father was seriously ill, and I should have been the crown prince. Taifu tried his best to help me, but the emperor’s brother changed the testamentary edict without authorization and usurped the throne. He said.
That’s why my father resigned and retired, and that’s why we’re here. That. And why did you come to save him? I asked.
Because his daughter is the one I love. You and I are young and green, and I know everything you love. It’s been ten years since the situation in the court was stabilized, and I’ve tried my best to find you. Later, the Taifu sent a woman who said she was Anling. He answered.
“I had my doubts, too, but she looked just like you and liked exactly the same things. I thought she was you, until..” I saw his tears running down his face.
“I didn’t know the truth until I showed up at Yu’s mansion and you sent people around to save Uncle Xia.” I say.
He was silent and came over and took me in his arms.
“Ah Ling, you are my real Ah Ling.”
“Yam porridge, green plum wine?” I asked.
You like it? I’ll send for it tomorrow.
He stroked my head, and the two objects I said were obviously not his memories.
So, who will this memory belong to?
“Have I seen the king before?” I asked.
He hesitated for a moment. “No.”
That.. Is he the murderer? I looked at Shuyue.
“I can’t help you for the time being.” He wiped the tears from my eyes and said, “But don’t worry, Ling. Taifu is very kind to me. Besides, with you by my side, one day I will surely wash the snow for the Shen family.”
I reached out and hugged him tightly, and my tears could not stop flowing, and I was almost out of breath.
I’m glad he’s not a murderer, but his heart is like a knife, for no reason.
Dad once gave me a pill, and I only remember that after I took it, I slowly forgot a lot of things.
Even the young man in white has become a dream. It is impossible to guard against the open and secret arrows in the
court. Father is like this. It is not easy for him. The seat above ten thousand people should belong to him.
Perhaps because of this, my father chose to let me forget everything and live a plain life.
He didn’t want me to be involved in the storm of the court, but the day failed. As
warm as ever, I lay on his chest and heard his steady and uniform heartbeat.
I know he is a very arrogant banished immortal, and he will not be willing to be subordinated to others.
“Shuyue, what would you do?” I asked.
Take back everything that belongs to me. Ling, I am glad that God has willed me to find you. You will be my queen.
My heart is very confused, will there be such a day?
Shuyue washes the snow for me, and I will be his queen?
It’s supposed to be fun, but why am I upset? It’s not what I want. After
returning to the palace, I trimmed the branches of Gardenia for him.
He hugged me from behind and handed me a bracelet that I had pawned when I first entered the house.
“I have redeemed your mother’s relics for you.” He said. “Thank you, Shuyue,”
I said happily. Between
you and me, there is no need to say thanks. I’ll give you whatever you want. Don’t do such a silly thing as pawning again.
I nodded gently.
At the beginning, it was a helpless move to pawn the bracelet. Later, he raised money to redeem it, but the boss said that it had already been taken away.
Now it is even more joyful to get it back.
“By the way, tomorrow is the anniversary of my sister’s death. I’m on official business and I can’t get away. Please go to the Chingchuen Temple.” He said.
Since that day, I have never been to Qingquan Temple again.
Since it is a sacrifice for Shuyue, why should I care so much.
The next morning, I took the incense to Qingquan Temple by carriage. A little tired after the
sacrifice, I happened to meet Zhang above, so I was invited to have a rest in the backyard.
Passing by the marriage tree, I turned my head and saw the king waving to me.
I steeled myself and stepped forward to salute, but he stopped me and pulled me to the backyard.
“Let me ask you, what’s your father’s name?” He was a little anxious and eager to know the answer.
“My father’s surname is Shen, and his given name is Heng.” I say.
And who are you? Ann. An Ling? He hugged me and I pushed him away.
“Don’t you remember me? You used to call me Ah Yang.”
Yang, which Yang is it? In
my fantasy, there was also a man who put sugar in my yam porridge, took me to climb trees and walls, and climbed the city gate to count the stars.
“It’s all right, Anling. It’s my greatest wish that you’re still alive.” Tears came from the corners of
his eyes. He looked like Shuyue, but he was trying not to touch me.
He may be afraid that I will push him away again. How did
you know it was me? In a trance, I found myself in tears, but I was even more confused about what had happened.
I happened to see a bracelet and recognized it as a relic of the teacher’s wife. I sent someone to keep an eye on the pawnshop and realized it was yours. I wanted to give it to you myself, but I couldn’t find it. He wiped away his tears.
The first emperor had only two princes and shared one Taifu.
My father often took me to the palace to attend classes, so maybe the three of us got to know each other.
I quietly took off the bracelet and hid it so that the Dragon Boat Festival would not see it. Until
I figure this thing out, it’s better to do less than more.
“An Ling, I will leave the palace and come here in ten days, and then I will tell you about the past.” He said. When
I went back, Shuyue was not in the house. Sleepy and tired,
I fell asleep in my chair. When I
woke up, I found myself lying on the bed, and the moon was lying on the head of the bed.
“Don’t move. You’ve caught a cold. Just lie down and rest.” He brought me the medicine.
I tried to drink it, and he handed me a plum.
Preserved plum relieves bitterness, but I don’t like sour.
“Do you have something to ask?” He said.
I nodded.
That was a long time ago. At that time, my mother concubine was the most favored concubine in the palace. Queen Xiao was the mother of the emperor’s brother. Because of jealousy, she poisoned my mother concubine in the meal. I was ten years old that year, and I watched my mother die in front of me, covered in blood.
His eyes were as cold as a sword at the border, and the cold light on his face made me feel cold all over.
Ling, where are the true brothers in this harem. Brothers and brothers are all gold and jade on the outside, but life and death are the truth on the inside. He held my hand.
“You know that’s not what I want to ask.” I say.
He got up, blew out the candle, changed his clothes, and went to bed. He lit incense to soothe nerves, and tucked me in. “It’s getting late,” he said. “You’re not feeling well. You should go to bed early.”
I drifted off to sleep, tossing and turning at night.
Shuyue put her arms around my waist and whispered in my ear, “Would you like to help me?”
The voice rang in my ears, but I was unable to answer.
Ten days later, the healer said that I had already recovered from the cold, but I did not know why I was still dazed and breathless, and I felt dizzy after walking two steps.
Thinking of the appointment with the Dragon Boat Festival, I arrived at Qingquan Temple without hindrance while Shuyue was not at home.
But I didn’t wait for the Dragon Boat Festival until sunset.
But when I met the abbot, I said a few words, and he mentioned the Dragon Boat Festival to me.
“He has been coming here every year for nine years now to pray for his old friend and donate incense to the Buddha statue.”
Old friend, is it me?
At that time, in order to protect me, my father told Queen Yu that I had been killed, so he sent a message to the outside world that I had been killed, so he came here every year on the Dragon Boat Festival and made a wish that “I only wish to be well.”.
“Just to pray?” I asked. The
girl is clever. He often chats with me, saying that he has done too many things wrong that cannot be undone, and asks me how I can atone for my sins.
“To atone for one’s sins is to atone for one’s heart. If one wants to make amends after one has done something wrong, it’s just to make oneself feel at ease.” I say. A
few days later, a boy came to deliver a letter, and I followed him to the temple
. Yang stood there, still in high spirits, but his body was much thinner.
“I will wait for you that day, and you will be in the future.” I say.
“I’m sorry, An-ling. I really couldn’t get away that day.”
He motioned for me to sit down, and there were several vegetarian dishes on the table.
I knew that the Dragon Boat Festival was busy every day, and I didn’t intend to blame him. I laughed and joked, but he looked uncharacteristically dignified.
“Are you really that obsessed with the past?”
I clenched my teacup and traveled thousands of miles to this royal city for a truth.
Looking at the appearance of the Dragon Boat Festival, I began to doubt whether I could afford everything.
“Yes.” I gritted my teeth and said the word.
“Is the truth that important?”
When Duanyang said this sentence, the voice of Shuyue also sounded in his ears, worthy of being a brother, and the words he said were so tacit.
Yang, Shuyue won’t let me know. Do you even want to hide it from me? It was my parents that I watched die.
I know his obsession. He doesn’t want to do anything like Shuyue.
Okay, I’ll tell you. When I was twelve, Mo Shuyue’s mother smothered my infant brother with a pillow while I was asleep and suffocated him to death. That’s why my mother took Li Fei’s life later. I hate him.
Do you think your father really died of a serious illness? Shuyue is good at making incense, which can contain poison. Shen Taifu knew that Mo Shuyue had killed his father.
“Then he sent someone to kill Uncle Hsia, and I saved him.”
My tears kept flowing, and Shuyue never told me this.
But the words of the Dragon Boat Festival are also different from what Shuyue said. Who should I believe.
“But you tampered with the testamentary edict and seized the throne of Shuyue.”
The Dragon Boat Festival stood in front of me, but now it seemed to be thousands of miles away from me. His eyes could not see any emotion, and his whole body was low and dark. It seems that the present Mo Duanyang is the king who really sits high in the court and kills mercilessly.
“It’s none of your business.”
Everything happens to me, but I don’t know anything about it. I live like a joke. I’ve been involved in the Dragon Boat Festival since I was a child. Do you think I can stay out of it?
“You can’t stay out of it.” He snorted, “Do you know Mo Shuyue doesn’t have any sisters?” With a shock in my
heart, I had to stand up holding the table.
“The one you came to pay your respects to a few days ago was Shen An-ling, who used to live in Yu Wang Fu.” “I knew she wasn’t you, so I threatened Mo Shuyue with her, but he was so cruel that he poisoned the girl.”
Just a few words, freezing cold. Suddenly
my body was so weak that I couldn’t hold it any longer, and there was only darkness in front of me.
The Dragon Boat Festival brought me back to the palace and placed me in the Luhua Hall.
Luhua Palace is elegant and rich, and it is the palace where the queens of the past Dynasties lived.
The Dragon Boat Festival is dandy outside, but in fact it is to deceive people. There are very few women in the harem, not even the queen.
You’re awake. The healer said it was a good thing to use a small amount of poison, otherwise there would be no way to save your life.
The Dragon Boat Festival, dressed in a dragon robe, was not angry and arrogant. He put down his crown as if he had just come down to court.
“Poisoned?” Shuyue is good at hiding poison in incense, and he often asks me to develop incense.
At this point, I suddenly realized that in the past, all these were the stratagems of the moon. He wanted the throne, and I became his pawn.
From the beginning, I was his one-step plan. Conspiring in the
dark of the moon, the Dragon Boat Festival is not necessarily a gentleman. It’s ridiculous. They are all the people I value most, but none of them can be trusted in the end.
Shuyue said that day that he wanted me to help him. How should
I choose?
The healer gave me a medicine to delay the poison, which will keep me safe for three days.
It was the first time I had entered the palace since I grew up. I was familiar and strange. The Dragon Boat Festival took me for a stroll.
Walking through the Imperial Garden to the moat, there are numerous palaces along the way, all with high walls and glazed tiles, which seem to have unlimited scenery.
In fact, living here is like a bird in a golden cage. People seem to be rich and glorious, but in fact they can never escape.
He flew to the tree and plucked the fruit for me. Are the
high walls and red bricks like thousands of mountains? Yang, you can’t even fly with such good flying skills. Why do countless people still yearn for this place? I took the fruit.
“I will be saved.” The
shadows of the trees caressed, and he smiled at me, smiling so brightly.
At night, he took me to the highest gate tower, climbed up the tiled eaves made of colored glaze, and counted the stars in the sky as he did when he was a child.
“He poisoned it, and the antidote is in his hands.”
Back in the Luhua Hall, he let me sleep and tucked me in the corner of the quilt.
A Yang.. I don’t want to go back to Yu Wang Fu. I
have a balance in my heart, no matter what the truth is, it is always biased towards the side of the moon.
“All right, I’ll go for you.”
The Dragon Boat Festival handed me a bowl of yam porridge, sweet and delicious, with more sugar.
Watch me drink it, pick up my sword and walk out the door.
In this merciless palace, there is only a life-and-death struggle, even brothers and sisters are no exception. Under the
light, the wind blows the clothes of the Dragon Boat Festival, the jade pendants collide and jingle, and the white cloud shoes are exposed under the body, inlaid with gold wire, magnificent, just because of the road, stained with a few stains.
No matter how many years have passed, the high-spirited imperial demeanor of the Dragon Boat Festival has remained in my mind for a long time, perhaps because of guilt, perhaps because this is the last time I see him.
Lost those memories I have been unable to find, the past play and laughter are like the passing water nowhere to be found.
I don’t know what love is, but I know that if I can let Shuyue live, I am willing to be the sword in his hand.
I sat on the bed and looked at the empty bowl of yam porridge beside me, with crystal sugar at the bottom of the bowl, which was too late to melt.
I helped Shuyue.
The curtains hung lightly, the candles danced, the birds chirped outside the window, and the fallen flowers floated in the room.
I heard the sound of tears falling into the river, following the ups and downs of the mountains into the sea, and the bed was a vast ocean.
Later, a lot of things happened. The
maid said that the king was the first to kill, and sent a large number of troops to surround Yu Wangfu in the middle of the night. There was a rumor that the king was doing this for a woman.
The common people spontaneously went to kneel outside the mansion and asked the king to forgive King Yu.
The Dragon Boat Festival has been in power for many years. It is violent and ferocious. It exterminates the people and makes them miserable.
Shuyue is kind-hearted, always appeases people’s hearts and observes the people’s feelings. He is a metaphor king praised by everyone in the royal city. Compared with
the two, it is more distinct.
To win the world, the most indispensable is the people’s hearts, this point, Shuyue has done. In the eyes of all the
people in the world, it was King Yu who made concessions step by step, but the king was so close that he had no choice but to rise up and attack the palace in one fell swoop. There
is nothing wrong with it. For more than
a decade, the Dragon Boat Festival has been suppressing the moon every day to prevent him from scheming.
Shu month is placed everywhere, step by step, secretly recruit, the palace spy for him to collect intelligence, the guards have been mostly turned.
Miyagi’s defense was vulnerable, and Shuyue, riding a tall horse, easily reached the king’s bedroom.
King Yu tied up his black hair high, dressed in silver shining armor, and pointed his sword at the king on the ground.
The defeated king did not bow his head at the last moment. He burst out laughing and said, “With her as a guide, you have made a good move.”
“The collapse of the human heart is only a moment. Mo Duanyang, you are defeated.” Then the
knife fell, and the palace wall was stained with blood. The gongs and trumpets of victory sounded in the
palace city, and the people played music and sang in the streets, cheering until dawn. Once
there is a mutiny, the drum and bugle will be replaced by a new king.
That night, the moon did not stay in the palace, but broke into the Luhua Palace at the first time of winning the victory, stuffed the antidote in my hand, and then took me back to the palace of Yu and hugged me tightly among the flowers.
“Ling, I won!”
I suddenly felt that the embrace lost the warmth of the past, replaced by cold and piercing armor, passionate words like cold needles, needles into my shaky heart.
The heart became as calm as water, because he never thought he would lose, so there was less joy.
I gently pushed him away, knelt on the ground, and made Mo Chao’s greatest salute: “See the king. Long live our emperor. Long live our emperor.” Gardenia is
also in full bloom, and the smell of blood in the air overlaps with the fragrance of flowers, which is unbearable.
At this moment, I saw his white shoes covered with mud and blood.
He quickly lifted me up and said, “You are my queen, and tomorrow you shall go with me to the palace, and all the people shall worship together.”
I understand the king’s heart, and the king’s kindness to me will be engraved in my heart from generation to generation. It’s just that in this case, Anling doesn’t want to. I say.
He froze in place, his half-stretched hand frozen in the air.
“What are you trying to say?” He asked.
“For so long, perhaps even you didn’t know that you were always looking at someone else through me.” I say.
He slowly withdrew his hand, his eyes evasive.
If there is no one else, can you tell who is the real Anling? Shuyue, you don’t know which Anling you love at all. You feel guilty, and you want to make up for it, so you make me one with her. I’ll go on.
“What you love, from the beginning to the end, is only the Anling who lives in your memory.”
“But she is now you.” He looked up with tears in his eyes.
“There has always been only one Anling in the world, and no one should be a substitute.”
I raised my hand and stroked his face, which was thin, handsome and angular.
Sparse moon, I have seen the place you yearn for, but for me it is the barrier of thousands of mountains, and there are no beautiful stars at night. I love you, but I can’t keep myself there because of you.
Mammy told me that Anling, who had entered the mansion before, was the one the king sent to take away. After resisting, she took poison and committed suicide.
Both sides have their own arguments, in short, this is one of the reasons why the moon hated the king. After
returning home, I received Uncle Xia’s farewell letter written in blood. He
said that he had secretly found out that there were two groups of people chasing him, one of whom had the brand of Yu Wangfu on his body.
While the moon was out, I went into his study again.
Open the wooden box and open the third letter. There is no time on it.
A blank.
I laughed out loud for a moment. What was the purpose of a blank letter. I have done a lot of things in secret
since I entered the palace. He can’t be unaware that I approached him with a purpose, but he has been acquiescing.
He did all these things to gain my trust, but what use was I to him?
Became a pawn in his quest for the throne. For more than
a decade, he has swallowed his pride and made progress step by step. He is waiting for the right time and needs a fair reason to seize power.
But he can’t do it first, so let the king know my existence and force him to do it.
In this way, Shuyue became the victim, and the victim fought back, which was beyond reproach. What about
the truth? After all, the father knew the truth of Shuyue’s patricide. In order to protect us, he took the whole family to live in the countryside incognito, but he traced the trace.
It was because his father supported King Yu at the time of seizing the throne and knew the reason for the testamentary edict that he offended the Dragon Boat Festival, which had become the king, that today’s disaster of extermination occurred.
Or both, so there are two teams of people to kill Uncle Xia. No one
in the world knows the truth except the two brothers who like white clothes. Once again
I found the abbot in the temple, and he told me, “Take back your hatred, avoid your coquettish anger, give up your love for the water that has passed away, turn back from the sea of suffering, and realize the cause of the orchid.”
I know that Shuyue is an arrogant person, and so am I, which is the biggest similarity between me and him. On the day of
his victory, I told him, “If you know too much, you don’t care. What’s the harm in being true or false?”. Shuyue, I really love you, and that’s enough. I don’t want to go to court, and I don’t want to get involved in the storm. Do you remember that you still owe me a promise?
He clenched his fists and shed tears on the cold iron armor. “Remember.”
“All right, Shuyue, let me go.” I say. The day before
I left the royal city, a little maid came to me at the risk of death, saying that she had been ordered by the former king to give me a pot of green plum wine that had been hoarded for many years. When you were a child, you
were partial to him in everything, and you don’t want to be the same now. An Ling, don’t feel guilty. I’m going to die calmly. The fragrance of
green plum and the strong wine are still the familiar taste, and the face in memory is gradually clear, coinciding with the Dragon Boat Festival. It is a pity that this person has passed away because of me.
I will recite the Buddha’s name every day and pray every year. May the Dragon Boat Festival enter the cycle of reincarnation as early as possible. May I be the son of an ordinary family in the next life. May I get what I want in the next month and sit in the court safely and smoothly.
I set foot on the return journey, Shu Yue did not come to see me off. I
only brought the clothes and the pot of wine I brought when I came, and I didn’t take anything from the palace.
I drew back the curtain of the carriage and looked at the busy street. When
I came here, I was hungry and cold, and I had no way out. It was not long after that, and those scenes were still vivid in my mind.
Mo Shuyue, he will be a good emperor, I have no doubt about this. The moment the
carriage drove out of the royal city, I faintly saw a piece of white clothes floating on the tall building of the city wall.
When the wind blows gently, it brings the fragrance of sandalwood and gardenia, which is sweet but not greasy and refreshing.
This is just a few years, but for me, it is a long time, as if I have gone through all the things I will experience in my life.
The royal city drifted away from me until it was out of sight.
But the mixed fragrance of sandalwood and gardenia lasts for a long time and accompanies all the way. Cross the same boat
with you, reach the shore and return separately.
Shuyue, you sit in your high hall, and I will be your subject. From now on, thousands of miles of rivers and mountains will meet on our behalf, so be sure to treasure them.
What Shuyue didn’t know was that I didn’t take the antidote.
I returned to the small courtyard of Lihua Town, lay safely on the bed, and began to dream in a daze. In the
dream, there was a young man dressed in white, whose feet were not stained with a speck of dust.
He stood in a garden full of white flowers, and the breeze blew the smell of gardenia and sandalwood.
I looked at his face, clean and angular. In the
forest, a beam of light passes through the mountains and meets the flowers and plants in the valley. This is the end of
my absurd life.
(End of full text)
Author: Wang Xigui
Record No.: YX01jj78jo5aZAk9R
Published on 2022-07-21 16:26. Forbidden to reprint
Tonight the moon is bright
, the old friend sighs: Do not ask the end of the song, people gather and disperse
, Li Yanli, etc
.
