C26

"Nine has left, what do you have to say for yourself?" Duke Huai's smile vanished, and his expression became slightly more serious.

Zhao Qingyan pulled on her cloak timidly and said, "If you're asking about Bao Zheng, I have nothing else to say."

"No matter what you think, I won't blame you. Just tell me, was Bao Zheng's death an accident, or did you do it on purpose?"

Zhao Qingyan closed her eyes and thought for a while. Then, she said softly, "Miserable case?" Her voice was cold.

Duke Huan looked at him deeply. "It really is this matter, right? He was the most important servant of the Ran Tong Pavilion. He was like a brother to the Ran Tong Pavilion, and he was like a father to both Ran Xingchen and Ran Hao. Since he was a baby, Ran Hao had been taken in by Ran Shu's eyes and treated him like a son. After his death, you left Ran Hao at the palace to be your page, a servant, and you did not treat him unfairly. Bao Zheng is the main culprit behind this grievance and death, it makes sense that you hate him. "

"I don't have any servants around me that I've mistreated before." "Thirteenth Uncle, you know me very well, so it's not strange that you could guess my thoughts. Now that you have guessed it, what else can you ask me? "

Duke Huan laughed bitterly, "You can refute this, but I will believe it."

Zhao Qingyan said, "Unfortunately, I never intended to hide it from the beginning."

Prince Huan asked, "Then are you prepared to bear the consequences as well?"

Zhao Qingyan suddenly laughed, "Would it be too shameful if I said that I did it because I had nothing to fear?"

Duke Huan could not help but smile bitterly, "I have nothing to be afraid of … It sounds like the truth. "

However, the smile on Zhao Qingyan's face slowly disappeared. "Thirteenth Uncle, I don't regret it."

Duke Huan nodded his head silently, "It's been so long already that I've troubled you."

Zhao Qingyan glanced at him, then she picked up a piece of dessert and crushed it in her palm before taking it to feed the fish. Her lowered eyelashes dyed her eyes in a dark grey haze.

"Thirteenth Uncle, these few days, I've had a dream. A very, very long dream."

"I dreamt that there was once a person wearing a light green robe standing under a tree with his hands behind his back. There was a warm smile on his face. He made me sit on his lap with the guqin in front of me, playing my favorite tune for me. His body carried the light fragrance of flowers and plants, and the fingers that landed on the zither strings were abnormally gentle. It was most likely the kind of gentleness that hurt the zither. I looked up and said to him, 'I want to be a gentleman. Is that what you are?' He smiled and said, "This is a very good idea. I must become a gentleman like Qingfeng, one that does not taint the mortal world, does not strive for the worldly affairs, and does not feel sleepy."

"After that, many times, I sat on the left, Hao sat on the right, and he told us stories about the breeze. He said that Qingfeng had taken him in and treated him like a brother. He would never be able to repay this kindness in his life. He said that all he can do is to do his best to answer to Qingfeng when he is still alive and after his death, do not leave Qingfeng any problems. "

The pastry fell into the clear lake water, was washed away, and was snatched by the fish before it could sink. The food was all taken away. The golden carp wagged its tail and scattered, leaving only ripples on the surface. There were no longer any traces of fish fighting over the food.

It was unknown whether it was because Zhao Qingyan's face had already turned pale, or because Prince Huan was hallucinating. Turning his head to look at the side of the pavilion's lake, other than an expression of unconcealable sorrow and exhaustion, there was also a few traces of lifeless paleness on Zhao Qingyan's face. If you want to use this word to describe …

Easy-to-break.

For some reason, this word had appeared in Prince Huan's heart. He seemed to want to redeem himself as he opened his mouth, but in the end, he could only silently be a listener.

He looked at the lake, and he seemed to be searching for something in the lake that he did not want to look back on. He also could not bear to forget the past, so his gaze seemed very far away, "All these years, I have had that dream many times."

"Teacher …" The person who was tall and slender but had never left me behind, yet despite my repeated tumbles, he got up with great difficulty to follow me. He shouted out with pain and grievance.

The back of his white clothes was stained with mud and splattered on the surface of the road. His straight back gave him a bit of a hurry.

When had he ever lost his composure in such a hurry?

"Teacher, can you wait for me?" I squatted on the ground and called out to her without any hope. I felt wronged and wanted to cry.

After a moment of silence, he heard several footsteps in the mud. A familiar hand was placed on his head. "I'm sorry." Compared to his usual calmness, there was something more in his voice.

Anxious? Blaming yourself?

Lifting his head, a look of hesitation appeared on Qingfeng's face: "Are you still going to follow me? Then … "Let's go."

Picking me up, he sped up even more.

The last place to arrive was probably the government, right? I was left outside and he walked in alone.

Worried, at a loss, and with great fear, I took advantage of the idle chatter to run in and look for the breeze.

I don't know if it was because I was too lucky, or if the heavens gave me another misfortune, I found Qingfeng.

He slowly knelt before Bao Zheng …. I beg of him to investigate the wrongdoings of my enemies, and you must listen to my words …]

I was crying outside the door, biting my sleeve, crying until I lost all ability to think. I forgot what Qingfeng was saying and what happened. I just cried until Qingfeng came out.

The moment he saw me, his face turned pale and drained of all color.

He was very arrogant, not because he was arrogant, but because he was proud. For many days, he hid from us the fact that he had left the inn time and time again. He did not know what he had done. But I know that this kind of concealment is his last bit of self-respect.

I don't know how much pain he was in. I might not even be able to feel what he was suffering for. The only thing I thought of was my identity, which was none other than my royal uncle.

Nothing better than the Son of Heaven? Royal Uncle dotes on me so much, he will definitely help me right?

Definitely! Definitely! I don't want Qingfeng to be in such pain! I want my teacher! Return it to me!

So, I asked Qingfeng in my dream, how about I go and ask for your uncle? Can you let the emperor release his pupils to listen?

He did not speak. The silence. I do not understand, but I am afraid, afraid that I can not help, afraid that the original breeze will not come back.

After a long time, he lifted me up again and said softly, "Let's go back."

Go back … Waiting for Hao. The eyes filled with anticipation slowly dimmed again?

Qingfeng hid his emotions in a place I couldn't see and took me away. When he left, a sneer came from the room behind him.

I could feel Qingfeng's body stiffen for a split-second. It was an excellent cover as he said in a soft voice: "I saw a bun on the way here. Shall we eat later?"

I desperately squeezed out a smile. "Great!" I like to eat steamed buns the most! "

That kind of thing, I've always found it hard to swallow. However, I know that the silver taels that Qingfeng brought with him and the property that belonged to the Light Wind Palace in this area have disappeared. Five cents a cage was enough for three people.

Qingfeng was startled for a moment before looking at me and smiling. His smile was filled with heartache, but there was more to blame. This smile was the same smile I had Haoyou accompany me two days later and gave him the jade pendant that my royal father had given me that was enough to exchange for several hundred taels of gold.

I also dreamed that I was in the prison, following behind the jailer. Qingfeng's footsteps paused, and a hint of hesitation flashed in his eyes. Clenching his fists tightly, he took a few steps forward to see Ran Shu's eyes. However, he had regained his usual calmness and calmness.

He was in a sorry state, and his tattered clothes were stained with blood and mud until his original color could not be seen. However, when he saw us, he gave a slight smile as usual. "Asgard Mistress has come? Young Marquis, you're here too? " She looked behind us, searching for something.

However, there was not the slightest doubt in his eyes, "Hao is still young, so you should always rest more. Young Marquis is the same as well. He's only eight years old, why did you bring him here? "

I remember telling him that I was not young, that I was months older than Hao.

When he heard this, Ran Tong laughed out loud and touched his wound, but he didn't care and said that it was fine, it was fine, there wasn't much time left anyway. Then, he said to me, "That's right, the young prince isn't young anymore. In the future, you're going to be a prince, and you're going to be even more powerful." He reached out and touched my hair, as he had done before, and then stopped abruptly as he was about to touch it.

I don't want Hao to come see you. Think of him as Hao. They are both about the same age.

Ran Tingxiao seemed to still be hesitating, but he was reluctant to take back his hand that was held in the air.

Ran's hand, which used to be beautiful, was now covered in mud and blood. His fingernails were broken — his hands were used for playing the zither, and his nails had always been neatly trimmed. It's so scary. My fingernails were broken and my flesh turned over. It hurt so much to look at it.

It must have smeared my face, right? He quickly wiped it with the back of his hand and kept apologizing. With guilt in his eyes, he tried to withdraw his hand.

I took his hand, wiped it clean with my sleeve, and smiled. "That's clean, isn't it?"

Ran Shu-Tong used all his strength to stretch out his arms and gently hold me as he looked at me carefully. I began to laugh and say that I looked like a china doll like Hao. I must have been a great beauty when I was growing up. I corrected him, saying that I wanted to be a gentleman like the breeze, and that I was extremely serious. He laughed even more happily, saying yes, Hao. He'll be the one who follows the breeze next to me.

I said, "Well, Hao and I will never separate. If anyone dares to bully Hao, I'll protect him. "

He laughed again, laughed and he cried, holding my hand especially hard, greedily looking at me.

I was so frightened by him that I couldn't pull away. I looked back at the breeze and saw that he was wiping his eyes with his back.

He … Did he cry?

Once again, I forgot everything. Everything froze in that moment.

In the end, Ran Tong fell to his knees and kowtowed to Qingfeng, using a lot of strength to kowtow. His forehead was full of blood, but he was desperately held back by Qingfeng.

I found it extremely strange. Although Qingfeng had a lot of strength, 'I can't lift my hand'. Why couldn't the gentle breeze draw his attention? I asked them, and they ignored me, talking about other things I didn't understand. All this time, all this time, I couldn't wait to finish what I had been saying all my life, until the guards forced us out.

When he reached the door, Qingfeng roared into the sky and punched the wall. There was a huge hole in the wall, and his fist was also covered in blood. His left hand clenched into a fist, his fingernails digging into the flesh, blood trickling down between his fingers.

What was going on? What had happened recently? What had happened? Why did I suddenly understand nothing? I think. Go back. I want to wake up. I think it must be a dream.

When you wake up, you can still listen to the zither while leaning on Ran Qingru's chest. Together, you can ride with Qingfeng and catch crickets with the stardust. He could even invite them to go back to the Qi King Manor to play … That's right! I promised to go with you, but I haven't.

I pulled on Qingfeng's sleeve and asked again and again, "This is a dream, right? We're going to wake up soon, aren't we? Uncle Shu Tong will be with us forever, right? "

Ask and ask until he suddenly falls to his knees, this time on his knees in front of me, his eyes the same as mine.

He squeezed my shoulder with both hands and apologized frantically, saying he didn't have the heart to let Hao see it and hurt me.

It was obviously just a dream, so why was it so real?

The pain from being grabbed on the shoulder caused him to raise his hand. The tears that fell on his palm felt cold... How could a dream be so real?

I was confused. Qingfeng slowly let go of my hands. He wanted to continue apologizing, but he felt that 'apologizing' was too pale.

"Teacher, I'm so tired. I want to sleep. Can you take me home?"

That was probably the last sentence in my dream, right?