Don't ask where people go

Chapter 1297 Closeness

"Awan, you are underestimating the young master. This little thing is not a problem for him." Fang Zilan's nonchalant look made Awan curl her lips, "Are you so confident in the young master?"

"Don't you trust the young master?" Fang Zilan asked instead of answering. A Wan was stunned for a moment, then shook her head, "Of course not, it's just..."

"What?" Fang Zilan asked quietly with curiosity. A Wan sighed and said, "I don't know where the young master and you get your confidence from. The young master never believes that there is anything you can't do, and you treat him the same way. I really don't know what to say to you two."

"Young Master, believe me. Does Awan really think so?" Fang Zilan stopped smiling and her expression became a little indifferent.

A Wan was a little surprised. "Of course. In the entire Ghost Gate, the person that Young Master trusts the most, besides Wu Qing, is you?"

"The master trusts Wu Qing because she has the same surname as him and is his only relative in this world." Fang Zilan paused and lowered her voice a few notches. "The master trusts me because I am the sharpest sword in his hand and he has no choice but to trust me. And it's the same for me. He is my only support. Even if I have to risk everything, I can only trust him."

"You, you're just being ungrateful after getting an advantage." Li Shengxuan looked helpless, but the smile in his eyes could not be concealed no matter what. "Is the New Year's community opera so good that you have to go?"

Fang Zilan said awkwardly: "I have already promised the prince, it is not right to give up halfway."

Li Shengxuan's eyes darkened, "Just because of this?"

Fang Zilan hummed, but then seemed to remember something and added, "Not entirely. I heard from Awan that the costumes of Yao Xie are gorgeous and beautiful, and the New Year's community opera is noisy and lively, so I want to watch it too."

"From what Awan said?" Li Shengxuan frowned slightly, "You haven't seen it?"

"No." Fang Zilan shook her head honestly. "I have rarely been out since I was a child. During festivals, I would just go to the temple with my mother to burn incense and pray for blessings. After my mother passed away, I no longer burn incense and pray for blessings. I can only take a look at the temple that my mother and I used to go to from afar when I have free time."

Her expression was full of longing and nostalgia, and there seemed to be tears in her eyes. "I remember when I was a child, I went to burn incense during the New Year. As luck would have it, there was a fire in the temple. My mother and I were separated. Everyone around us was trying to escape, but I was the only one who stupidly stayed where I was."

Li Shengxuan didn't say anything and just listened to her continue her story silently.

"Later, a little brother grabbed my sleeve and led me out. At that time, the little brother asked me why I didn't run away, and I said it was because..."

Almost at the same time, her voice overlapped with Li Shengxuan's, and they said in unison: "The fireworks are beautiful."

She stared at Li Shengxuan blankly, and in a trance, the person in front of her overlapped with the boy from many years ago.

The answer was so close that she couldn't help but want to confirm, "That little brother, is it His Majesty?"

Li Shengxuan did not answer her question, but simply said: "That year, the fireworks were set off carelessly, causing a fire in the back alley of Baiye Temple. The fire was not big and was quickly brought under control."

Baiye Temple? Fang Zilan's fragmented memories gradually pieced together.

Somehow, Baiye Temple was like an invisible thread, connecting her with the key people around her.

Thinking of this, her heart was suddenly shocked, and an inexplicable sense of urgency surged up uncontrollably, and an idea suddenly popped up in her mind: she wanted to go to Baiye Temple in person.

Seeing her standing there in a daze, Li Shengxuan called her name softly.

Fang Zilan came back to her senses, her expression somewhat bewildered. She asked in confusion, "What did your Majesty say?"

Li Shengxuan's face showed no expression, but his eyes hid a rare tenderness and tenderness. "I said that the fireworks that year were indeed very beautiful."

His voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible, but it still fell clearly into Fang Zilan's ears. She suddenly felt as if a bunch of fireworks exploded in her heart.

It turns out that they had met each other a long time ago.

Now that the past was recalled, it seemed like a fateful reunion, and she couldn't help but feel secretly happy in her heart, but she couldn't even tell what she was happy about.

If this happened during her sober days, she would definitely get to the bottom of it. However, at this moment, she was in a daze, and her mind was a mess.

She didn't even have time to think about whether it was the charcoal fire in the house that was too hot or the fever that made her whole body shaky, like a swaying kite.

Li Shengxuan's words that the fireworks were as beautiful as the clouds in the ninth heaven, she was immersed in them and wanted to get closer, but she was afraid of the storm hidden behind the clouds, which would shatter her to pieces in the next moment.

Her mouth was dry, and some words were on the tip of her lips, ready to come out. She almost couldn't hold them back, so she had to bite her lips tightly to try to force them back.

Li Shengxuan saw that she seemed to be hesitant to speak, and her expression was very similar to the one he saw in Baiye Temple that year.

In fact, he had seen her and her mother long before the fire. Rather than saying he had seen them, it would be more accurate to say that he had only seen them from afar in Baiye Temple, through the crowds of people and the incense mist.

When she was young, Fang Zilan looked extremely obedient and had a natural cleverness. She was a little girl that people couldn't help but take a second look at even if she was thrown among a group of children.

As for her mother, she always wore plain clothes with a veil covering her face, and was extremely low-key in every move. During festivals, she would take her to Baiye Temple to burn incense and pray for blessings, appearing very pious among the many pilgrims.

It is rumored that the lady in this mansion scratched her face because of competing for favor, so she has become much more obedient. She prays to God so devoutly just to live a safe life.

But he knew that the truth behind the rumors might not be so.

He once saw the mother and daughter lighting lanterns in the valley behind the Baiye Temple by chance.

The wordless gray-white lantern was licked away bit by bit by the flames, making it look particularly eerie in the daytime.

He knew that it was a ghost lamp, specially lit for the dead. He had also lit it for his brothers who were buried on the battlefield, but he had never seen any of the women in the backyard light it, as they all thought it was unlucky.

Perhaps out of curiosity, he followed the mother and daughter all the way that day. In the end, he saw them add oil to the eternal lamp in front of the Buddha and then leave.

After they left, he went forward to look at the Buddha amulet on the eternal lamp.

It is engraved on it: The mountains and rivers will remain forever stable.

As time goes by, he still remembers the shock he felt when he saw these four words, and he also remembers the stunning eyes of the little girl who said the fireworks were beautiful that night.

At that moment, he only felt that a lock in his heart clicked and opened.

But later he thought he had missed her, so he had to reshape the shackles with the goal of preserving the country forever and imprisoning himself in the prison of power.

However, at this moment, he looked intently at the people in front of him and realized that they had not missed each other.

(End of this chapter)