cloud mud

Light snow is sporadic, smelling the fragrance of red-walled palace tile-cold plums.

The green glazed roof of the Wenhua Hall was covered with a thin layer of snow. A shadow guard was lazily leaning against the corner of the eaves, lying with his legs crossed and his hands on his hands. It lights rhythmically in the air, following the undulating sound of reading in the hall.

Nobody should be allowed to stay here, but Xiangxia is different.

——He climbed in along the big ginkgo tree in front of the temple gate.

After three hours, a team of guards and inner eunuchs surrounded the prince to leave school, and the university scholar sent him off in the hall respectfully. Xiangxia looked down boredly, and glanced at the prince who was shining with golden hair. Cursing his lips, he retracted again.

I always feel that the taste of the royal family is gaudy, which makes people lazy to take a second look.

When the prince was sent away, a young man in a green robe slowly walked out from the gate of the palace, quietly looking into the distance, his eyes scanned everywhere, but he couldn't find anyone anywhere, Chu Tan frowned slightly, not very happy.

Xiangxia sat on the eaves, resting her chin and quietly looking at the young man below, couldn't help but smile, watching him showing a slightly anxious look.

Looking at him dressed in a green bamboo leaf robe, his hair neatly tied up, his cheeks as clear as freshly fallen snow, his big eyes as clear as the cat that paid tribute from Persia, he was very pretty.

Look at the master of our Zhennan Prince's Mansion, he is different from the vulgar objects of the royal family, and being his shadow guard is a waste of time.

Xiangxia leaped lightly and turned over to the ground, kneeling on one knee at Chu Tan's feet, and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty is welcome back to the mansion."

This unbelievably young son is the real king of Zhennan.The late king returned west with his concubine, and his eldest son Chu Tan just turned sixteen this year, but in fact he has already become the master of the Zhennan Palace.

The Empress Dowager felt sorry for him when he was young and alone, and begged His Majesty to allow him to enter the palace every year to study with the princes, and also specially allowed him to listen to the lectures at the Wenhua Palace with the prince. Today is the day to leave the palace and return to the mansion. .

Chu Tan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his shadow guard, Xiang Xia got up and wrapped Chu Tan's fox fur tightly, Ruo Ruo Wu teased in his ear, "His Highness finished school? It took two hours My paper crane, you've worked so hard."

As soon as Chu Tan breathed a sigh of relief, he held back, bit his lip and blushed, threw the two paper cranes in his cuffs to Xiangxia, turned around and walked away with a flick of his sleeves.

"Go home."

"Yes."

Xiangxia likes to see his master blushing so cutely, so he often teases him.When the first king and the first concubine left, Chu Tan hadn't shown a smile for several years in a row. It took him several years to coax his master into laughing.Xiangxia picked up the two paper cranes and looked at them, licked his lips and put them into his clothes with a smile, and chased after Chu Tan.

Chu Tan said: "This king has already memorized the homework taught by the Grand Master." After that, he thought it was not enough, and added another sentence: "Today I practice archery, and this king is the first name."

"Horseback riding and archery? Didn't your subordinates teach you that?" Xiangxia chuckled softly, "You can teach them like the royal family, they are too bad."

Chu Tan raised his eyebrows and glared at him, warning in a low voice: "There are many spies in the palace, so don't implicate me if the misfortune comes out of your mouth."

"Spy." Xiangxia shook her head.It is understandable to say that the well-clothed secret agents, in terms of martial arts, can't compare with the rigorously trained shadow guards. Unfortunately, they have good hands and eyes, and civil servants and military generals have to look at them three-pointed.

Everyone in the palace said that Prince Chu's qualifications are mediocre and he doesn't need to study hard. He is only good at archery and riding horses. If he goes to the army to practice in the future, he may be able to become a general.Xiangxia knew that he didn't dare, didn't dare to stand out among the princes.

It's just that Chu Tan is always uncompromising in the art of archery, and will never lose to anyone.Xiangxia couldn't see Chu Tan's stubbornness, thinking that his master really wanted to be a general.

Chu Tan walked slowly through the corridors of the palace, received many concubines' courtesies along the way, and performed a lot of courtesies. After walking down, Chu Tan still walked in a regular manner, his words and deeds were polite, and he did not show a trace of fatigue and impatience. look.

In fact, he was already very tired, and his neck and ankles were sore.

Every time Xiangxia saw Chu Tan cautiously not taking a wrong step in the palace, Xiangxia always felt uncomfortable, he was still a child.When he just lost his parents, so young, he was tied up by the queen mother to take care of him. The king of Zhennan is a king with a different surname, and the blood shed was not from their Li family. He had to be sent to see him from time to time. if.

After leaving the palace gate, the carriage was waiting outside, Xiangxia helped Chu Tan come forward, brushed his sleeves and knelt at Chu Tan's feet, lowered his head and fell under the carriage, making steps, waiting respectfully for the little prince to get on the sedan chair .

Chu Tan lowered his eyebrows and quietly looked at the shadow guard at his feet. He was kneeling in the thin snow falling on the palace steps, his clothes were half wet, and suddenly remembered that he was wearing thin clothes and waiting in the freezing weather. Three hours by myself.

This is the shadow guard of Zhennan Wangfu. Since Chu Tan was young, he was picked up from the corner of the door and brought back to the mansion. The two have never been separated. brother.

Xiangxia turned her head to remind him softly: "My lord, come up. Follow the rules."

Chu Tan sighed softly, lightly stepped on Xiangxia's back, and got into the carriage.

Xiangxia shook her clothes and stood up, easily climbed onto the side of the carriage, pulled the reins, and the carriage started to run steadily, and after running for a while, Xiangxia turned around and asked, "Your Majesty, are you going home?"

Hearing the bustling surroundings, he must have already entered the market, Chu Tan raised the curtain of the car and smiled: "Wait, let's go to the market, um, to buy new year's goods."

"The girl in the family will buy it..." Xiangxia wanted to refuse, the majestic prince should not go into the place where fish and dragons are mixed, but she turned her head and saw the smile on Chu Tan's face.

The prince smiled, how rare.Money can't buy her master a smile, Xiangxia stared at Chu Tan's face in a daze, shook the reins: "It's over."

The carriage stopped quietly under the willow tree outside the alley, Chu Tan changed into the civilian attire bought by Xiangxia, and jumped out of the carriage briskly with his hands on the carriage.

"Wait, my lord." Xiangxia rubbed her hands, put the woolen cloak around Chu Tan, put on the hood, wrapped her arms around Chu Tan's neck, and adjusted the back collar for her son.

The little prince hadn't grown up yet, and he only reached Xiangxia's chin when he stood up straight, his pampered body was as soft as the glutinous rice balls sold in a nearby shop.While trimming the master's neckline, Xiangxia felt soft and warm air on her chest, and quietly lowered her head to take a look at Chu Tan, her slender eyelashes drooping down, and her fair face was glowing faintly red against the afterglow.

"Hello." Chu Tan looked up at him slightly, put his fingertips on Xiangxia's left chest, knocked on it, and raised his eyebrows displeasedly, "The dance here is so fast. Does the girl who just passed by look good?"

Xiangxia was startled, quickly withdrew her hand, and could only smile apologetically, "It's not good-looking." She didn't pay attention to where the girl was.

Chu Tan snorted, turned and left.

Xiangxia cheekily followed, leaned over and whispered in his ear: "After looking around for a long time, no one can match the beauty of our lord."

"Ah."

I've been bored in the palace for a long time, and it's interesting to see everything.Chu Tan walked around the whole street, and when he saw any novelty shop, he wanted to go in and take a look.

The days of the twelfth lunar month were exceptionally short, and it turned dark not long after dusk. Chu Tan left the last silver house, and still only had in his hand a New Year picture that he had bought on a whim.

A few hooligans muttered quietly outside the silver building.

"I guarantee that it must be the son of a noble family, and there is no one around."

"Then let's kidnap him? Ask his family to redeem him."

"You're stupid. Normally, you can dress as smartly as you can, and you are the kind of kid who dresses plainly and elegantly. They all belong to noble families."

"There must be something valuable on him, let's touch it."

"We can't afford it!"

"I can't bear to let the child not be caught by the wolf."

After chattering for a long time, the little boy came out and walked towards the deserted alley.

As soon as Chu Tan entered the alley, he was surrounded by a group of hooligans.

"Excuse me." Chu Tan didn't intend to stop at all, and reminded lightly, "Stay away from me, it's too dangerous."

The hooligans didn't understand, Chu Tan didn't look sideways, and didn't give way, he walked towards the person in front of him, and after two steps, he could reach his face.

There was a sound of breaking through the air, and a few pieces of gravel flew from the deep alley, and there was a wailing sound from the surroundings. The stones hit the knees of the group of people one after another, and their legs were numb all of a sudden. Pained, Qiqi knelt down, hugging his legs and screaming.

Chu Tan walked over silently, leaving a faint sentence: "Don't be too polite."

Entering the deep alley, Xiangxia lazily leaned against the carriage with a sword in his arms, a grass branch in his mouth, and a few pebbles in his hand.

"My lord, where are our New Year's goods?"

Chu Tan's expression was cold, and he sighed lightly: "I think about it, no one in the mansion celebrates the New Year together."

Too.In the huge palace, only Chu Tan was left alone.

Seeing the child's downcast appearance was particularly painful for Xiangxia, she wanted to rub his head.

And he really reached out and rubbed it.At the end, he gently pinched the prince's little face.

"Subordinates are not human. I didn't accompany you to spend those years."

Chu Tan brushed his hand away, and scolded him with red ears: "The next one is the next one."

"Your subordinate is guilty, please punish him." Xiangxia smiled, opened the curtain to ask the prince to get in the car, leaned over to kneel, Chu Tan stepped forward and grabbed his arm.

"Don't follow this weird rule." Chu Tan scolded him with a frown, then pulled his sleeves and pinched the thickness, "Wear more. What's the use of this thin layer?"

"..." Xiangxia looked at Chu Tan in surprise, and suddenly couldn't help laughing out loud.I am so happy that I can drink two glasses in the evening.

With joy in his heart, he helped Chu Tan into the carriage, holding his gentle and slender hand in his palm, secretly hoping to help the prince like this every day.

The carriage drove until midnight, and stopped to rest the horse.

Chu Tan insisted on not staying in the posthouse, the posthouse was crowded with people, afraid of meeting someone who was not clean, so he politely refused the escort assigned by the palace, and took a nap in the carriage every time.

After feeding the horses, Xiangxia opened the cotton curtain of the small window to watch Chu Tan quietly, under the light of the elegant moonlight, Chu Tan was wrapped in clothes and leaned against the wall of the car to sleep, with her pink lips slightly parted, gentle and quiet.

Xiangxia quietly reached in, picked up the fox fur that fell on Chu Tan's lap, wrapped him tightly, touched his face lightly, put down the cotton curtain, and leaned against the outside of the carriage.

The two leaned against each other across a car wall.

Tiangong throws snow and pear blossoms fall on his shoulders.

(Unfinished)