Between the vast sea of ​​clouds

In the signing room.

Sun Congshan looked solemn. The right side of the long table was full of blue-robed officials, all of whom were local officials from Anping County. The left side, which originally belonged to officials sent by the imperial court, was empty.

No one at the scene asked why those officials did not rush to the signing room. Qingping sat beside Sun Congshan, silently watching the seat opposite, where Wu Ying should have been sitting.

She looked at those seats, and heard Sun Congshan say quietly: "I have been in politics for several years. I was demoted from Hengzhou to Hezhou. After finishing my term, I returned to Beijing to report on my duties, but because of my inappropriate words and deeds, I offended the current adults. In the end, I didn't want to come." When I came to Anping to become a county magistrate, I thought that this was the end of my life, and I would only do this for the rest of my life.” She thought back to the time when she passed the imperial examination, it was a glorious moment, full of ambition and aspirations, and now...

Not everyone can understand the unfulfilled ambition. When the blood turns to coldness, the ambition is gone, and the enthusiasm for life is gradually lost in time, the most terrifying thing is not to die vigorously, but to face the aging of oneself in the cold reality The body, the rotten dream, but there is no room for redemption.

Qingping remembers that she once said that she is not a pillar of talent, nor is she capable of being a prime minister, but just a kind of firewood that is not easy to burn. It is deposited in the backyard and no one cares about it, but in this life, I always hope to burn it for something. once.

Her voice lowered, Xiao Suo's heavy tone made everyone present hang their heads and hold their breath.Sun Congshan's eyes were empty, as if she was recalling the past, then she took a deep breath and revived her spirit and said: "Now there is no need to say too much, I hope that all of you will work together to complete this century-old foundation and open a future for future generations." On the road of travel, for the sake of an official, for the livelihood of the people, and for the community, don't fall into this ambition of Qingyun!"

All the officials stood up, respected them, and said in unison: "I will obey your lord's order!"

"Signing the house is important, if you can't let it go without an order, please go back, my lord..."

There was a noise outside the door, the iron door was pushed open with a bang, Wu Ying stood outside the door, his face was blurred by the morning light, Hu Mo didn't expect that there would be someone who could get up under the baptism of strong alcohol, subconsciously went to see Zhou Yuan, and everyone didn't expect There will be a 'fish that slipped through the net', and they all froze in place, not knowing what to say.Qingping reacted very quickly, saluted Sun Congshan and said: "My lord, it's all my fault. Today I heard from the people in the hotel that you lords drank some wine last night and were a little uncomfortable, so I decided on my own that I don't need to disturb them. She turned around and bowed slightly to Wu Ying, saying: "I never thought that Mr. Wu would get out of bed and come to participate in this discussion. It is the negligence of the subordinate."

Wu Ying lowered her head and smiled mockingly.She entered the room, smiling, showing no sign of anger.Qing Ping felt inexplicably startled, she sat at the first place on the left, and she didn't salute Sun Congshan, which seemed rather unkind.Sun Congshan didn't seem to notice her disrespect, and said gently: "Master Wu has worked hard, and he is not feeling well, so there is no need to come here, the most important thing is to rest."

Wu Ying's complexion was really ugly. She glanced at the person opposite, and said: "They are all doing things for the court and following His Majesty's orders. How dare you say it's hard work? My lord got up early in the morning to discuss important matters. If the officials don't come , isn't it very dishonest?"

All the officials were in an uproar, Qingping raised his eyes to look at Wu Ying, but saw that she was staring at him with an extremely ugly expression.She was very confused, when did Wu Ying have such a big enmity with herself?She just hasn't replied to her letters a few times, so can she form such a grudge?

Hu Mo saw that the superior was contradicted, and he was very restless. Sun Congshan didn't take offense, and said: "Sincerity lies in how to do it. I can see the sincerity of Mr. Wu. Since everyone has come, why don't we talk about things, my lord. He is the leader of the team, but what advice do you have?"

Wu Ying looked away, clasped her hands, smiled suddenly, and said, "Of course the adults are the ones to make the decision. The lower officials have no objections, and everything is up to the adults."

Sun Congshan didn't seem to understand her. Everyone thought she was here to smash the scene, but they didn't expect her to talk like this.Wu Ying carefully looked at the confusion on the faces of everyone present with an admiring expression, and said, "Since your lord said it's okay, how can you object to it? It's just that all the lords are recuperating in the resort, and it's inconvenient to travel. I am the only one present at the meeting, so it is considered a record, and it will be reported to the court at that time, and it will be done according to the regulations. May I ask Mr. Sun, is this what the official said?"

Qingping looked at her in astonishment, never expecting that Wu Ying dared to threaten Sun Congshan in public with her power, Hu Mo couldn't hold back any longer, and said violently: "You dare to be so rude and despise the superior, it's simply extremely presumptuous !"

"My lord," Wu Ying looked at her contemptuously, as if snorting disdainfully, "Who are you?"

Sun Congshan stretched out his hand to hold Hu Mo, looked at Wu Ying, and said slowly, "I don't know what Master Wu is going to do?"

Wu Ying put her hands on the table, her eyes narrowed like sharp blades, and she said: "My lord, don't worry, just follow the rules."

Qingping glanced at her, thinking of the stubborn and timid child who used to be, no matter how difficult it is to match the current Wu Ying with the person in his memory, they are facing each other across the table, but they can't take another step forward as if they are separated by a natural moat.

In the spring of the third year of Taiqi, the military tents stationed in the front line of Yunzhou raised the blue flag, which meant that there was no war for a period of time.With the opening of the mutual market, the situation in the frontier gradually calmed down, and a rare period of peace appeared.In just one year, the business exchanges between the two countries have benefited greatly, and an invisible chain of interests has been formed.In the fifth year of Taiqi, Xirong sent envoys to submit the peace talks, and the imperial court also sent envoys to Yunzhou to discuss the peace talks.As soon as the news was released, the whole country echoed it. After all, no one wanted to continue fighting like this.Although there were dissents among the Xirong tribes, they were drowned in the harmony of the Lord.

Another spring, the grass grows and the warblers fly, the branches outside the window sprout buds, and the branches and leaves stretch out in the spring breeze. Qingping wrote with sore wrists, put down the pen in his hand, and looked up at the scenery outside the window.After resting for a while, she looked down at the thick stack of documents on the table, flipped through a few pages, felt very helpless, called her clerk and asked, "Master Wu asked you to bring these to me? "

The clerk was stunned for a moment, and said: "Master Wu sent someone to bring it early in the morning, and asked me to tell him that it is all urgent and should be dealt with as soon as possible."

Qingping gritted his teeth, picked up a few of them and threw them to her, saying: "Give these to the grown-ups."

Seeing that her expression was not good, the clerk hurriedly took the things and went down.Qing Ping sat at the table and calmed down a few times, feeling calm, so he took the remaining few books to look for Wu Ying.

Wu Ying was surrounded by a group of people to handle official business in the room, and there was another stack of urgent reports that she was required to sign and sign.Qingping waited in front of the window for a while, and kicked in the door when the crowd was almost gone. Wu Ying was discussing something with her subordinates, when she was startled suddenly, she said angrily, "Master Li, what do you mean by this?"

"It's not interesting." Qingping shook the document in his hand and said, "Ask Mr. Wu, you ask me to come up with an idea today for something that needs to be discussed by the two prisons, don't you think highly of me?"

The subordinate saw that things were not good, so he hurriedly took his things and left. As the saying goes, gods fight with little ghosts, and she doesn't want to vent their anger.There were only two people in the room, Qingping sat down by himself, slapped those few volumes of documents on the table, and looked at the bright sunshine outside the door as if nothing had happened.

Wu Ying was trembling with anger, pointed at her and said, "Li Qingping, you—?"

"What about me?" Qingping has partnered with her for nearly two years, and the last bit of guilt in his heart has been wiped away, and he is not afraid to fight her at all, "I just want to ask my lord, what is my Huo Mu going to do? when?"

Wu Ying glared at her, Qing Ping saw her chest rising and falling, took a few deep breaths, and said coldly: "The two prisons are just trash, what did they do? When will there be a result after their discussion?"

Qingping hehe said: "Then the adults think highly of me? I'm sorry, I can't come up with the rules for this matter."

Wu Ying slapped the table, and the teacup, pen and inkstone danced wildly. She frowned and said, "I'll tell you business!"

Qing Ping said: "Xiu Mu is my business."

Wu Ying looked at her incredulously, but was finally defeated in front of her, and said impatiently: "Let go after this matter is over!"

"Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?" Qingping asked.

Wu Ying was furious: "You are enough!"

Qingping smiled slightly and repeated: "Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?"

Wu Ying kicked the table and chair forcefully: "Li Qingping, don't push yourself!"

"Then I'll take my leave." Seeing this, Qingping got up and left. Just as he was about to step out the door, he heard Wu Ying's gnashing of teeth: "... the day after tomorrow!"

It would have been better to say no earlier, Qingping turned to look at her and said with a smile: "Tomorrow."

Wu Ying covered her face with her hands and pointed her fingers, feeling quite weak.

"The mutual market has been in operation for only two years. My lord knows that merchants from various prefectures are the most laborious. The imperial court later sent additional manpower to set up two prisons, but they didn't play the role they imagined. Instead, they often dragged their feet." Qing Ping picked up A blue book said, "If I want to say this kind of thing, I should hand it over to the chamber of commerce, and the government supervises the process. What can the mutual market supervision do? The rules have already been set, do we need them to talk nonsense? They just want to profit from it, But they couldn't find a chance to make a move, and they wanted to make a big deal out of it by setting up a fan farm."

Wu Ying said with a headache: "What you have in your hands is all submitted by the Mutual Market Supervisor. The whole article has even brought out the ancestral precepts. What can I do?"

To be an official is to pay attention to rules and regulations. It’s funny to say that things that don’t make any sense should be ruled out. It’s a headache to die, but this is the truth of being an official. Why can’t we explain the rules in a clear and clear way? I understand what the adults mean. It’s really annoying to talk about it. Since they want to talk about the rules, let’s show them the rules and let them take a good look.”

Wu Ying said: "It's the same as not saying it."

A sparrow landed outside the door, combed its wings in the spring sun, looked curiously at the two talking in the room, and flew away.

Qing Ping said calmly: "The Anping County is headed by County Chief Sun, and the mutual market is headed by you and me for the time being. Mr. Jiang has already said this at the state meeting this year. The two prisons need to be replaced. It's just a matter of time, so there is nothing to worry about."

Wu Ying was silent, and Qing Ping suddenly remembered that she was also from Beijing, and must be on the replacement list, and was a little embarrassed, why did he tell this.Wu Ying sat quietly and thought for a while before saying: "My tenure is three years, and I think it will come soon. After the assessment period is over, I will return to Beijing to report on my work. I hope Master Li will have a lot of good words."

Qingping moved his lips, trying to say that he didn't mean that, but in the end he didn't say it.Although the two have been together for nearly two years, it is only limited to official business, and there is no progress in other areas.It seems that there is a proper distance between each other by default, which is an appropriate benefit, and it will not be embarrassing or too close.To say it was the same as before, Qingping felt that it was no longer possible.However, it is a blessing to be able to maintain the status quo, and there is room for advancement and retreat. She said politely: "Your Excellency has made great contributions to the mutual market, and the Ministry of officials will naturally commend him. A promotion is in sight. Congratulations in advance."

Then, having nothing to say, Qingping saw the official standing outside looking for her, cupped his hands and said, "I am taking my leave."

Wu Ying frowned, she had been at war with heaven and man for a long time, and she could barely speak: "Tomorrow, where are you going to rest for—"

Qingping walked in a hurry, never heard this sentence, the officials waiting outside the door for the written instructions entered the room one by one, and those who knew her identity saluted her, she turned sideways to avoid it, and nodded as a signal.Wu Ying stared at the back of her leaving, and tightly squeezed the ink brush in her hand.

The subordinate said cautiously: "My lord?"

Wu Ying put down the ink pen expressionlessly, looked back, and said, "What's the matter."

Qingping rode through the Fanchang that was being built, and there were a few thorns with different looks who were setting up tents for their families to live in, and cast curious eyes on her.She slowed down her horse so as not to accidentally step on the chasing children.Fanfang is a residence built for foreign businessmen who come to trade in the mutual market, and it is also convenient for the government to manage them uniformly.Qingping passed by this open space, and many houses and buildings were still under construction. She could already imagine the prosperity of this area in the future.When this idea was first proposed to the state assembly, many people opposed it. Everyone’s initial idea was just to do business with the Xirong people. How could they divide their own land for foreigners to set up business houses?But in the end, I don’t know how Jiang Min reported it to the imperial court, and it was approved by the Ministry of Household Affairs. At the beginning of the year, the scope was finally delineated, and the foreign businessmen paid for the repairs, which also blocked the opposition.

She sighed and found a path through the weeds. The long grass almost covered her and the horse, walking like a human in the green ocean.She pushed aside the dense grass, and the horse chewed on a root, pulling out the grass roots with an earthy smell. Unknown wild flowers bloomed at her feet, hidden among the dense grass, and could only be seen carefully.

She grabbed the saddle, bent down to reach the flower, picked up a pink one between her fingers, tied the stem to the horse's head, and watched the petals tremble in the wind with amused enjoyment.I don't know how long it took, the sun slanted to the west, and the golden light scattered all over the ground.At dusk, she passed through this small grassland, came to the military tent, and stopped to have a look.

The military tents extend from the bottom of the mountain to the front, in a continuous manner.At this time, when the trumpet was blowing at dusk, the soldiers who had been training for a day returned to the camp. Qingping waited patiently for a while before dismounting and showing his badge to enter the barracks. She shuttled through the tents familiarly, and came to a In front of the military tent.It was getting dark quickly in early spring, and the army had already lit torches to start patrolling. The torches illuminated every area of ​​the camp one by one, gradually approaching her.The afterglow is gone, night covers the wilderness, and stars rise in the sky, shining with icy light.

In the twilight, the sound of the distant horns near the Juning Pass can be heard in the distance, and the night wind blows the blue flags above the camp tents, blending into the dark blue night sky.The horse was chewing something. Qingping felt that the atmosphere was very quiet. She leaned on the horse's back and unconsciously fell asleep. The sound of people walking by the soles of their boots rubbing against the sand and gravel kept coming to her ears. She listened carefully at first. It didn't take long before the head pecked and pecked, and suddenly the force was too strong, and the person fell to the ground before he had time to react.She fell into a warm embrace just when she thought she was going to hit the ground, leather wristbands brushing against her face, smelling gritty and dry.The silver armor reflected the cold light, and as the fire came, it illuminated the man's snow-white and deep face.

Chu Jun helped her to stand upright, and said, "Why did you come here suddenly?"

Qing Ping looked at her in silver armor and covered in dust, and said in surprise, "Is this going out again?"

Chu Jun nodded and opened the tent door to let her in.There was no light inside, it was pitch black, but it was very warm.Chu Jun lit the lamp, Qingping saw a charcoal basin on the ground, there was still a little red light in the embers, he put his hand on it to warm his hand by the remaining temperature.

Chu Jun took off the silver armor cloak, and the black dress outlined her perfect curves. She pulled out the silver hairpin, her long hair fell down, and then began to take off her coat.The belt was hung on the hanger casually, and she unfolded the clothes, revealing her white back and well-defined arms.The waistline is full of strength, the tail of her hair can cover her firm buttocks, her straight and even thighs are slightly separated, and she looks even whiter in the faint candlelight, and the shadow of the clothes hanger is just reflected between her legs. Sensational temptation.She seemed to feel that someone was watching, and she still changed her clothes in a leisurely manner.The last time the two met was half a year ago, since Chu Jun was sent to supervise the Fifth Army, Qingping hadn't seen her much.Often in a hurry, before leaving a few words.

She looked behind Chu Jun, her face was red, and she scolded herself for being useless in her heart, Chu Jun turned her head and said, "What's the matter?"

Qingping clapped her hands and said, "It's nothing." She lowered her head to hide her uneasiness just now, and coughed a few times, "I'll take a bath tomorrow, so I want to come and see."

Seeing her changing clothes, she asked, "Are you going out?"

Chu Jun quickly changed his riding clothes, tied his hair with a knot in his mouth, and said vaguely: "It just so happens that I'm free today, and I want to take you somewhere."

The river meanders like a silver belt, shining countless broken light and shadows in the moonlight.The night wind gently blows the grass, rising and falling like ocean waves; the river of stars hangs brightly in the night, under the brilliant starlight, Qingping sits on a big rock by the river, and is seriously weaving something with a piece of grass.The river slowly flows by her side, and there is a pile of clothes beside her. The reeds beside the water are swaying in the wind, and the shadows are reflected on the water, like a painting.Suddenly there was a splashing sound, and the water rippled in circles. Chu Jun swam over to look at her, water droplets fell from her hair, and slid over her long eyelashes, making her eyes cold and bright.She asked, "Aren't you really going to come down and try?"

Qing Ping shook his head, didn't even bother to move, he turned the grass in his hand back and forth and folded it in half.Chu Jun plunged into the water again, like a swimming fish, revealing his slender and white neck in the moonlight.She disappeared for a while, Qingping stretched out his hand to reach for a new one, Chu Jun stuck out of the water with a splash, splashing water all over her face.She stretched out her hand and handed her a bowl of white flowers. Water drops rolled from the petals. The petals were as clear as jade, but they were not soft to the touch.Qingping held it in his hand and looked at it for a long time. Chu Jun looked at her curiously, lying on the side of the stone, pointed to the other side of the river provocatively and said: "It's all over there, do you want to go and see?"

Qingping looked at her suspiciously, and returned the flowers to her, but Chu Jun refused to take them, and climbed up on the rocks to start dressing. She was dripping wet, and Qingping saw that she was about to put on clothes indiscriminately, so he quickly stopped her: "Wear like this Go back and catch the cold."

Chu Jun held her hand, smiled slightly, and said, "Really?"

She pulled hard, and before Qingping could react, she fell into the water with a plop, without even having time to struggle.She managed to poke her head out of the water, but was dragged into the water by Chu Jun's shoulders.

Chu Jun Shiran pulled her around, and finally took her to the rock on the shore when she was exhausted, Qingping wiped the water on her face, and her wet clothes stuck to her skin , Chu Jun looked at her with burning eyes, pinned the flower on his hand to her ear, Qingping whispered: "Are you crazy?"

Chu Jun wiped the water stains on her face, and said in a low voice, "I miss you very much."

Qingping's ears turned red all of a sudden, and he looked at her in bewilderment.Her eyes seemed to be full of endless moonlight, and the strength of stroking her side face was like touching delicate porcelain. At that moment, Qingping felt that all the sounds around her gradually faded away, and she only heard the sound of her heartbeat coming from her chest As well as Chu Jun's deep and gentle voice, the whole person fell into a slightly drunken trance as if he had drunk wine.

Chu Jun saw her snow-white face stained with a blush, and a few strands of black hair scattered in the water, she seemed to have some understanding in her eyes, staring at the sparkling water in confusion, sighed softly, and said: "... .Think about it when you wake up, think about it when you fall asleep, think about it all the time."

The author has something to say: I didn’t have time to write about the car behind me, I’ll write it when the time comes

Today is Riwan, but I'm a bit busy, and I still have a little bit of word count. Everyone is in a hurry. Can I post it twice? . . .