It is said that Qin Shihuang was controlled by a daughter

Chapter 562 [Mid-Autumn Festival Extra] Before the Flowers (Modern · 2 · Xu Zhi's Perspective)

(The story continues from the first side story under the moon, sweet and sour, happy holidays everyone. As for the timeline, you can temporarily imagine that Xu Zhi traveled to the Qin Dynasty but did not change history, and then returned to the modern timeline~~~ The ancient parts of the side stories I have written so far are consistent with history.)
I went home.

But not Xi'an, but Zhang Liang's home.

He said, "This is also my home."

Is that so?
I neither immediately refuted him nor agreed with him.

I think he was real, but I don't miss him.

But it seems that I've also experienced the same feelings as him.

I don't want to delve into the origins of the Hetu and Luoshu, nor do I want to ask how they crossed the river of time to appear before me.

All I know is that both he and I have lost our homes and our country.

Can two people who are enemies uncontrollably miss each other?
He told me a lot, such as that the Zhang Clan Ancestral Hall is still in its original location, but it has been completely renovated. Most people will come back to worship their ancestors during the Mid-Autumn Festival. They diligently renovated the old house and also donated money to the village to build an exhibition hall.

When I saw the row of car taillights ahead, I knew we were almost in town.

"Put me down quickly." I patted him on the shoulder.

Zhang Liang turned his head to the side, the moonlight bathing his handsome features. "I'm very worried about you sitting in that park in the middle of the night... Can't you even come to my house for a cup of tea?"

"...You don't have to carry me like this all the time. We're almost at your house. It would be really bad if your dad saw us like this."

"How could it be bad?"

……

He was silent for a moment, then said, "You just said you missed me. Ah Zhi, I miss you very much too."

I was taken aback. "How come I never noticed before that you could say such things?" I snorted. "But what you said sounds exactly like the imperial edict that Emperor Yongzheng gave to Nian Gengyao. Nian Gengyao died later."

"I don't want to say the same thing as the emperor."

"You even know about the Qing Dynasty?"

Zhang Liang smiled at me. He was very close to me, and his brows were relaxed more than ever before. "In order to find you, I read through some of the books here."

Later I learned that he hadn't just skimmed through it; he had actually studied it day and night, and his mind was certainly sharp. Before we met again, he said he had simply read through all the history books in two months.

No wonder Captain Chen told me that Zhang Liang had a lot of information. I wonder what kind of computer could have such a vast and prodigious memory as Zhang Liang.

Zhang Liang continued, "In Qing dynasty novels, there are stories of perfect marriages and tales of rekindled dreams. So, Xu Zhi, wouldn't our current situation be considered a continuation of our past love?"

Listening to his words, I realized that I was also a very vengeful person. I turned my head away and said, "You've been reading too many ghost stories, rehashing old ones. Do you think I'm a ghost or a monster? You've swallowed my soul and spirit."

He wasn't annoyed at all; instead, he smiled even more. "I won't."

He wouldn't let me down even though we were almost ten miles apart.

He was someone who had once practiced health preservation and immortality cultivation, and now he's back to his youth, with even better physical condition than before.

……

Click, click, bang.

I listened to his footsteps, his breathing, his heartbeat, and let the dappled moonlight dance on his face.

Before long, the impossible road was reached.

The moment my feet touched the ground, Zhang Ping came rushing towards me.

"Oh dear, what happened? What did you do? How did you make that girl cry?"

I paused.

Zhang Liang stepped forward and spoke to his father.

People differ in books from in reality, and experiences shape a person. Just like the moon in the sky will inevitably be unobstructed by the earth at a certain time of the year, revealing its true shape.

For example, I never knew that the deep and brooding South Korean Prime Minister Jang Pyeong could actually be so kind and approachable.

It turns out that stance and first impressions really do matter.

Many members of the Zhang family work in the education and culture industry. I have a lot in common with them, and we can talk about everything from the pre-Qin period to the Republic of China, and from Asia to North America.

In just half an hour, they even felt like we were old friends.

An aunt with a messy hairstyle pushed up her red-rimmed glasses, warmly shook my hand, and said with a smile, "She's well-educated, beautiful, and our Ah Liang is so lucky to have a girlfriend like Xiao Zhi."

I had considered many preconceived answers, but I never imagined they would use the word "well-educated and reasonable" to describe me.

girlfriend?
"I don't..."

"Auntie is right."

The aunt nodded, smiling broadly. "It's too late, I'm going to rest. You young people can enjoy the moon in this little courtyard."

Zhang Liang turned around and smiled slightly at me. His eyes shimmered with a gentle light, like moonlight falling on tea.

I didn't argue anymore, and took a bite of the mooncake in my hand. It was filled with red bean paste, and it was so sweet that it was almost cloying, sticking to my throat.

Seeing that he had taken a bite, I asked, "Don't you think mine tastes better?"

The hand holding the mooncake visibly paused for a moment.

He looked at me, smiling, but his gaze was so profound that it made me feel as if I were being swallowed up by the passage of time.

I thought he was going to say something, so my expression froze, and I instinctively sat up straight... But after a while, he said with great sadness, "I haven't eaten anything you made myself in a long time."

I was amused by his expression, leaned back in the wicker chair, and waved my hand, "I thought it was something serious. I'll just go to the market to buy some ingredients tomorrow."

The golden mooncakes, placed on a porcelain plate, are as round as the moon in the sky.

Then I handed him my phone. "Tell me what you want to eat." I remembered that the food people ate in the Han Dynasty was quite bizarre. "Don't write down animals that you can't find at all. This is modern society. Don't make me do anything illegal."

He grabbed the other side of my phone and wouldn't let me take it back.

"Ah Zhi was also afraid of breaking the law."

"?"

He leaned back in the wicker chair like me, gazing at the moon in the dark sky, and suddenly said, "There's something I can't forget."

We've both really messed with each other to the extreme.

Especially in the last period, I really considered sending an assassin to kill him.

"What is it?" I asked indifferently.

"When we first met in Xinzheng, I refused to go to Qin, so you tied me up, and then..."

"cough."

Then they dragged him through the streets.

I remembered. I didn't think much of it back then, but now I feel incredibly ashamed. I stood up abruptly and said, "...Your family is still here. If we keep talking about this, it will be going too far."

He smiled and lowered his head, writing quite earnestly on the screen.

He suddenly looked up, very seriously, "Ah Zhi. I didn't know why you treated me that way back then. But now I understand, I understand everything..."

He took my hand as he handed the phone back to me.

“Azhi,”

Just as he was about to say something.

I coughed twice.

His expression hardened, as if he were on edge.

"It's alright. I'm perfectly fine. I just sat by the stream for a while and caught a bit of a cold, but I'll be fine after drinking some hot water."

"Ah Zhi, wait for me a moment."

In the middle of the night, Zhang Liang went to buy cold medicine.

He went out with cash, and didn't even need navigation.

I told them it was really just a cold.

He insisted it was just a cold.

I said this was different from the colds of ancient times, and I went with him.

He said I was unfamiliar with the place.

As it turned out, he was the one who was completely unfamiliar with the place, even though he was from the Han Dynasty. "On National Day, very few small pharmacies are open, and the big hospitals are at least in town. You should take a taxi."

Now I know that he probably hasn't left the house much in the two months since he came back.

He didn't return until dawn the next day, and then he brought back a bunch of Chinese medicine.

Faced with this situation, the distant uncles and aunts all agreed that it was because the child had been living abroad or in the mountains for too long.

The native Zhang family members unanimously believe that Zhang family members returning from outside the village need to go to the ancestral hall to pay their respects.

The ceremony was simple, without the elaborate rituals of ancient times.

All you need to do is offer three sticks of incense to your ancestors.

They call this recognizing one's ancestors and returning to one's roots.

I am not clear about the origins of the Zhang family ancestors in other places, but in Chengfu, the name Zhang Liang must be in the ancestral hall.

I'm burning incense for myself...

This is too absurd.

Zhang Liang didn't think it mattered.

He gave me a deep look, then raised the incense above his head, knelt on the prayer mat, and kowtowed devoutly.

I don't know what he said, but I saw the incense burner in front of him gently swirl up some incense ash, like a butterfly, and drift down to me.

I don't know when, but my aunt arrived outside the ancestral hall. She called out to Zhang Liang, "Little Zhang."

The offering lamp was suddenly flickering on and off in the wind.

I took a deep breath. I thought it was probably okay to worship myself, but a solemn place like an ancestral hall was like a place where gods were present, and it was not allowed to be desecrated by others.

Years later, I finally understood that Zhang Liang's seclusion in Baiyun Mountain, his attainment of the Great Dao, and his ascension to immortality as "Lingxu Zhenren" were not mere rumors.

At this moment, my aunt talked to me for a long time, going around in circles, and I didn't understand much of what she said. Finally, she took something out of her stylish leather bag.

I stood there stunned for a long time.

An old item.

"Xiao Zhi, this was asked to me by Lao Zhang. He said it's a jade ring passed down in his Zhang family and it's time to hand it over to you."

The cool jade stone was in my hand, and I hadn't quite recovered yet.

Zhang Liang came out of the ancestral hall.

I took the jade ring out and put it back in his hand, saying to him, "Your family has been so good to me that I... am not quite used to it yet."

The Zhang clan members were eager to kill me before they were satisfied, resorting to assassinations and other efficient methods.

How could I not be still shaken?

"They should have been nice to you."

I hesitated for a moment.

He took my hand and, before I could say anything, pulled me into the Zhang Clan Ancestral Hall.

He gazed at the layers upon layers of memorial tablets and spoke softly yet forcefully.

"The innate fierce official god, whose might shakes the nine heavens. We only wish that the Three Pure Ones would bear witness, the sun and moon would be our witness, and the mountains and rivers would be our pledge."

The Three Pure Ones... Although I don't know much about them, I have read a lot of literature about them because of Zhang Liang.

One article states that once a Taoist oath is made, if it is broken, the person's soul will be scattered and they will suffer eternal torture.

"Zhang Liang!"

I tried to interrupt him.

Zhang Liang smiled and said in a hoarse voice, "My loyalty is sincere, and my vow was made yesterday, and it will continue for all eternity."

Those captivating eyes still make me dizzy when they smile.

He pulled me into his arms, stroked my hair, and called my name.

I finally let down my guard and, just like the first time I threw myself into his arms, clutched the clothes at his waist, buried my face in front of him, and poured out all the grievances and resentments I had held for so many years.

He bent down and gently wiped away my tears. "A-Zhi is still such a crybaby."

I bet very few people I've met before have ever seen me cry. I always thought my domineering attitude back then was an act, but it was actually my inherent arrogance.

"I never like to cry."

"Okay, no." He smiled, probably used to my rebuttal.

"I'm not crying, I'm happy."

"Okay. I'm happy." He smiled.

"You're the one who likes to cry."

"Yes. I like to cry." He looked at me seriously, but I always felt that there was something wrong with his meaningful gaze.

However, Zhang Liang remained calm, just like always. No matter how I tried to provoke him, he never blushed.

Now that I'm older, this is even more true.

"I always felt that you were a lot like the turtle in Kung Fu Panda."

He actually said quite seriously, "Turtles live long lives, so it's good that I'm like them."

"...Do you really think so?"

He had seen "Kung Fu Panda" before. "Of course."

It was that same calm and collected tone again. "Okay," I smiled and showed him a picture of Master Oogway.

Zhang Liang was stunned for a moment, then reached out and pinched my cheek, bringing me closer. "...A-Zhi, take another look. In my humble opinion, I'm not that old and decrepit yet."

"You sometimes talk just like him,"

He looked at me quietly. "When?"

"Hmm... now, and also when you taught me to read at Zhilan Palace before."

What is Kung Fu Panda?

He wanted to look again, but I quickly put my phone away and said, "Go search for it yourself."

“…Ah Zhi, you know perfectly well that I will not use this item.”

"Then beg me to teach you, Teacher Zhang."

He wrapped his long arm around me and grabbed me, but he didn't take the phone that was so easily within my grasp.

"...Teacher's words sound like you're referring to Xunzi and Han Fei. I still prefer the way Azhi called me when I was a student," he said.

I'm the kind of person who softens at times like this, and I've already been completely fooled by Zhang Liang. I'm also secretly making a mental note not to touch on his painful memories.

Wait until 9 PM.

I went with him to see the iron flower performance, and unexpectedly we met a researcher from the Pingdingshan Museum who was also attending the event. He seems to be a staff member of the program now.

"Teacher Xu?" "Is this yours?"

I obediently answered, "He is my husband."

“Oh. No wonder,” the researcher nodded in agreement. “So, Professor Xu had taken a wedding leave.”

"Happy wedding."

"Enjoy your shopping."

……

Before I could turn around, my waist tightened, and warm arms wrapped around me tightly. I could clearly feel the rise and fall of his chest and the steady rhythm of his heart beating in my chest.

“We used to take too long of a honeymoon leave.”

He grasped my wrist and gently turned me around, just as the sparks exploded in the air.

The warmth of his breath touched my lips; it was familiar, cool and gentle, pure like snow melting on a high mountain.

At this moment, the sky was filled with rosy clouds and dazzling light, like twinkling stars.

I heard him say, "Ah Zhi, let's go to the Civil Affairs Bureau after the holiday."