Golden branches and jade leaves

Chapter 109 Extra-text Zither Fifty Strings ([-])

Extra: Fifty Strings of Zither ([-])

On September [-], the moon was misty.

I walked through the high city wall and jumped up to the low eaves. The patrolling soldiers of the Liao people passed under my feet. My dancing shadow enveloped them. The vigilant soldiers raised their heads, but only saw a bright moon. , shining in the sky.

Even if they see my figure, in their eyes, they will only regard me as a bird flying across the sky.

I rushed to the easternmost part of the majestic and magnificent palace with the fastest speed, and the city wall here was as low as she had described.

I smiled lightly and jumped over the palace wall.

In my memory, I have stepped on the roof of the Daqi Palace more than once, but every time I feel different.

After climbing over the palace wall, I stood on the roof of a palace room and looked down.

The far-reaching nine-layered palace stretches endlessly under my feet, one after another, pavilions, halls and corridors, stretching continuously towards the distance, until at the end of my sight, intertwined with the layers of darkness, indistinguishable each other.

Under the quiet moonlight, it seems to have stood for thousands of years, and it seems to continue to stand for thousands of years.

In the heavy shadows, the grandeur and prosperity of the past are still outlined.It's just that the bead rings and emerald greens that once filled it, the Yinggeyanwu figures were replaced by rows of black armor.

The brilliance of a beauty is easy to fade, and it seems that the passage of time has also made this flashy place lose its most proud brilliance.

I stepped across an eaves and followed my childhood memories to that place.

This is the most solitary place in Daqi's harem, it is called Lenggong.The palace here is like a dull cage, with a feeling of suffocation almost like death.At this moment, it was as silent as a tomb.

In fact, this is a tomb, which buries the splendid years of countless women.

Those who were buried were not only those concubines who fell out of favor living in the cold palace, but also those who were worse than the concubines who fell out of favor.

The wind in September was already so gloomy and cold, maybe in this narrow and narrow palace passage, the wind would be particularly eager.

I walked forward casually.The dim moonlight wandered in front of my steps, casting a dim shadow.

On both sides of the long palace road are mottled and faded palace walls, and further ahead are low and dark small houses. Presumably the concubines who live in the magnificent and luxurious palace in the palace cannot imagine being here in this prosperous and luxurious palace. , In the palace inlaid with gold and jade, there will be such dilapidated palaces.

Separated by a wall, there is prosperity like a dream over there, and there are broken tiles and ruins here.

This is a part of the Hard Labor Department, including the servants who serve the concubines of the cold palace, and the inner eunuchs who transport and clean up the filth in the palace... The people who live here are the lowest-level servants in the entire Daqi harem, so they live in the most. humble house.

No one knows, this is also where I spent my whole childhood.

I haven't been back since I left here when I was seven years old.Although later, my martial arts have allowed me to easily climb over the low palace wall here, and I can come and go freely, but I never have the mood to come back here.

My steps stopped in front of a low house.This is still the appearance in memory, but after more than ten years of parting, it has become more dilapidated.In this world, apart from myself, I am afraid that no one knows that I have spent seven full years in this dilapidated room.

A gust of wind passed by, and the dilapidated door squeaked, pushed by the wind, and swayed open, as if welcoming the return of a long-lost guest.
Out of nowhere, I walked in.

The room is still the same as before, but a little more dilapidated.The light from the low windows spilled over the uneven ground.The furniture inside is only a dilapidated bed, which seems to have been unoccupied for a long time, and it has been piled up with old dirt and garbage so that its shape is almost invisible.

I still clearly remember that in countless cold sleepless nights, I hugged her tightly on this simple bed, trying to absorb the faint warmth, and the rough food that was too rough to swallow, every time I took her It seemed like a treasure in his hand.

Immediately, a burst of "fluttering clusters" came out, interrupting my thoughts. When I looked down, it was a thin and weak mouse sticking out its head from the corner of the wall.

I smiled knowingly, remembering that in those days, my only childhood pleasure was them.I lowered my body, but the little mouse was frightened by the shadow I was approaching. It squeaked twice in panic, turned around, and ran away.

I sighed, everything was really different.

After all, 18 years have passed.

I used to be the most honorable prince of Daliang, Caizhu told me this. In my short childhood, she repeated this sentence countless times in my ears, deeply engraved on my heart that I have not yet understood. young heart.

Caizhu is my mother's personal maid, the confidant maid of the peerless beauty Shen Lvyi who once made the world yearn for her stunning appearance.On the eve of Liang Guo's fall, in order to preserve the last royal blood, the palace secretly replaced me with a child of the same age, and then prepared to send me out of the palace.But the Qi army came too fast, and all actions failed before they had time to start.After that, the Qi army entered the city and entered the palace.In the chaotic situation, no one cared about me, a baby who was not yet a month old. Only Caizhu took me, changed into inconspicuous clothes, and tried to leave the palace in a daze, but fell into a trap halfway. In the hands of Qi Jun.

Afterwards, she had to claim that I was her son and that she herself was just a rough servant girl.

I don't know what kind of method she used, maybe it was the "prince" who was found from the palace and used as my substitute to dispel Qi Jun's doubts, maybe it was because she was too unobtrusive to dress up as a girl Well, anyway, they believed her words, and she was taken back to the capital of Daqi as an unusual captive.

Then, as the most inconspicuous of the trophies, they were filled into the palace as slaves and assigned to this most humble place.

How did she, a young woman, take my pre-term baby along with the Qi army for a long journey? When I was there, it was in this low, dilapidated little house, on this old and decaying bed.

I remember when I was a child, the longest time I spent was sitting on the bed, then looking up at the window that was extremely high for me at that time, the golden thread that came through the gap in the window was the brightest light that illuminated my childhood , I was so bored that I could only pass the time by counting the cracks and the number of golden circles on the ground.

Of course, in the cold winter, there will be cold wind pouring in from those gaps relentlessly, which makes me very distressed.It made my lips purple.At that time, I will look forward to the return of Caizhu with the greatest enthusiasm, and bring back the only warmth that belongs to my childhood.

Caizhu is responsible for washing the clothes of those servants who are higher than her. Every day, her hands will be pale and swollen with blisters, but those hands are the only source of warmth in my childhood, the most real guarantee of happiness.

From time to time, there will be mice passing by in the house. Whenever the figures of these small animals appear, it is a rare joy in my childhood. I am always as happy as eating the most delicious food.It's a pity they don't usually stay here very long because they can't find anything to eat and then move away.

Caizhu didn't like letting me leave this room, as if as long as I was exposed to the sun, my secret bloodline and identity would be exposed to everyone.Therefore, almost every day when she left early in the morning, she would lock the door tightly, and then come back tired after nightfall, and at the same time bring me back the next day's food.

When there is no one at night, she will also take me out of this low house, and walk on this long palace road that is empty, and walk under the silvery white moonlight.At that time, she would talk about the past in a dreamlike tone, about the Liang Kingdom that she would always call out in her dreams, about the carved railings and jade brickwork, with beautiful faces...

The days are so dull, like a stagnant and rotten wooden bed under your feet, flowing unconsciously.

When I was five years old, I began to be able to follow the accumulated chores indoors, climb to the window, and look out at the scenery outside through the cracks in the rotting wood.

The palace road under the sun is completely different from the palace road under the moonlight.It is the difference between loud and sharp and cold and quiet.

I saw people in gray and dirty clothes running around, like mice occasionally scurrying across the ground, and pale and haggard people passing by the door like thin shadows. They had beautiful faces, but Weirdly, it looks like a ghost in the story Caizhu told me.I can also see people in green robes from time to time. They have strange high-pitched voices, which make me uncomfortable to hear.

And sometimes, people with more beautiful and clean clothes will come over, and their expressions are full of contempt and disdain, and their eyes look like Caizhu looking at the mice in the house.They would call out to others in sharp voices, and speak words that I could not understand in a lecturing tone.Sometimes they would roll up the sleeves of their clothes with shiny patterns, and then waved them down...

This kind of life continued until I was seven years old.

One day after I turned seven, Caizhu got up early in the morning as usual, locked the door tightly, and left to wash the clothes that would never be finished.But on this day, she didn't know that the lock that had been used for an unknown number of years was broken, and the door could be opened with a slight push.

When I discovered this secret, I didn't tell Caizhu, but waited for the opportunity I had been waiting for for a long time.

Afterwards, I recalled countless times what happened that day, and then I asked myself, if I knew the result of going out this time, would I still be so firm, and walk out of that door with ecstasy and hope?

After thinking for a long time, I found that the answer is yes.I am so eager to get out of the rotten cage that has imprisoned me for seven long years. It isolates me in a cold corner. The longer I stay in such a corner, the more I yearn for the warm sunshine outside, longing for Fresh air outside, maddened with longing.

When I finally got the chance to leave the house where I was imprisoned for seven years, I immersed myself in the magical and fresh world illuminated by the outside sun, felt the sun shining all over my body, and felt the special warmth.

I ran forward along the long palace road. The feeling of running on the road made me happy and satisfied, and I had the same pleasure of flying.Even after my martial arts mastered, when I was really able to fly anywhere, I never felt such refreshing and direct happiness again.

I kept moving forward along the long road, and the more I walked, the more beautiful and novel the scenery that came into my eyes. My heart was filled with joy and surprise, and I forgot the time to go back.

When someone walks by, I will instinctively lower my body and bury myself deeply in the grass, behind the trees.Like a sensitive little beast, vigilantly watching the movement around it.

I just walked all the way, farther and farther.

My stomach started to get hungry, but I still didn't want to go back to that small house, and I didn't want to give up the beautiful scenery in front of me.When I was hesitating, I had already walked into a beautiful garden.

I have never seen such beauty and so many flowers.Clumps crowded every corner around me.

The beautiful sight made me temporarily forget my hunger and fatigue. I walked gradually into the depths of the garden, and then I saw him.

At that time, he was wearing a golden dress, and there were many places on it that shone with different lights, like little stars under the night.

I have never seen such a bright color, it is brighter than the sunlight coming in through the cracks in the window, so bright that my eyes can't help being dazed.

"Who are you?" He found my figure, and then he had a puzzled expression on his red apple-like face.He jumped off a log hanging in the air on one side and ran towards me.

He looked about my size, maybe even smaller than me.

He ran up to me and stared at me with interest.His white and tender face turned red from the short run, like the birthday cake that Caizhu would bring back to the house occasionally.

"I... I am..." Suddenly I didn't know how to answer, this was the first time I spoke to someone other than Caizhu.

"Ah, your body is so dirty." A look of surprise suddenly appeared on his face, "I've never seen a girl as dirty as you."

At that time, of course, I didn’t know exactly what a girl was. If I knew it at that time, I would probably jump on him and give him a hard lesson, letting him know that he is the kind of girl who is soft and immobile. crying guy.

At the time, I was just looking down at myself.Without the slightest dust, why did he say it was dirty?Colorful beads always wash my clothes clean, even though they are all worn out.

Then I looked up at him.Looking at the glamorous clothes on his body, perhaps, compared to such clothes, all the clothes in the world can only be regarded as dirty.

Suddenly, I was very angry and very angry.

His pink face has come closer, and with a surprised expression, he asked: "Which palace are you from? Your master must be very stingy. Tell me, I'll go..."

I didn't hear his nagging clearly, because I was so close to him, I suddenly saw clearly what I was holding in his arms.

It was a shiny ball-like object with complicated and indescribable patterns on it. The strangest thing was that it seemed to be covered by many balls, one layer inside another layer, and each layer seemed to be They are all shining with different brilliance, and there are long tassels hanging below them, shaking with his movements, making people want to reach out and touch them.My whole spirit was absorbed by it.

He saw my gaze and looked down, then he smiled proudly at me: "This is called the Jiuzhuan Linglong Ball, it was a tribute from a foreign country, and it was given to me by my mother. Are you envious? This is very rare. , It's very fun." He said while holding the ball in front of me.

I think there must have been a frantic gleam in my eyes, so that he was frightened by my eyes and took a step back, but after that, he couldn't back up anymore.

Because I had already grabbed the long tassel that was swaying and swaying in front of me, constantly tempting me.Then he pulled towards him fiercely.

But he held the ball tightly and didn't let go. As a result, he was dragged forward by me without warning, and almost fell down.

I just want this shiny orb, not you.

Seeing his body falling towards me with the ball, I raised my hand and pushed him, trying to push him far away.

He still stubbornly refused to let go.

Then I remembered all the things I saw through the gap in the window...

Naturally, I raised my hand and swung it down fiercely.

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Trembling and telling everyone,

the reality is cruel,

Wenxian Tongzi, he just...has...gloriously...died
This is his extra chapter, mainly to explain some things that happened to him in the past, including the first meeting between the two brothers.

Wiping off my sweat... slipping away quickly...
(End of this chapter)