Between the vast sea of ​​clouds

On the 21st of the winter month, it was already snowing in Hengzhou.The carriage rolled over the snow, making a slight creaking sound, leaving two ruts, exposing the stone road under the snow.The snow wasn't too heavy, it was like icing sugar and spread between the roof tiles.The clothes on Qingping's body were a bit thin, his face was red from the cold, and he ordered the people outside the car: "Go to the east of the city."

The people outside said: "The higher-ups asked the little ones to send the adults back home."

Qingping is now a criminal. Now that he has returned to Beijing, he must follow the procedures, reflect at home, write a self-defense note, and wait for the news from the court.

"I didn't say I won't go back to the mansion." Qingping coughed a few times, "Whether you are going back to the mansion or not, you and I will go to the east of the city to see."

The people outside seemed to discuss for a while, and then replied: "The little ones will send the adults back to the house."

The carriage turned a corner at the entrance of the alley, and passed the door with the plaque of the Li Mansion, the wheels picked up a cloud of snow.

But after a while, the carriage stopped again, Qingping didn't wait for the people outside to answer, he got out of the carriage first.She stretched out in front of the old gate, pointed to the rusty iron lock and said, "Excuse me, can you open this for me, otherwise I won't be able to get in."

One person said: "I have offended you." He took a step forward, drew his knife and slashed at the iron lock, only to hear a bang, the door creaked open, but the lock was still hanging on the door.It turned out that the wooden door was in disrepair for a long time, and the inside was rotten. It was opened by the man, but the lock was not removed. From this point of view, the door needs to be replaced.

Qing Ping smiled and said: "Thank you very much, my family has arrived, you can take care of yourself." She stepped into the door on her own, leaving behind the few people who looked at each other in blank dismay.

The yard is still the same, and it looks a bit desolate because no one has lived there for a long time.The corners of the wall are overgrown with weeds, and the bricks and tiles are falling into pieces, like the teeth of an old lady. One piece is missing in the east and the other is missing in the west. Qingping can't help laughing. It's really like the house follows the owner. The current scene of the house is not exactly like her. Is it generally downcast?

The house was gray, not even a mouse.The room she used to live in was empty, most of the things had been moved away, only a thin quilt was placed in the cabinet, which also smelled musty, obviously she couldn't sleep.

Qingping didn't expect that there was nothing in the house, not even a place to sleep, so he immediately wanted to turn around and call the servants outside to help out, he went to the door to see that they had already left.Standing in a daze among the dead leaves and weeds, she sighed helplessly, only feeling that she had committed a crime.

A few women carrying goods passed by her door, perhaps they were curious about the miserable interior of the courtyard and stopped to take a look.Qingping had a flash of inspiration, and went out to say that he wanted to buy something, and the girls were naturally happy to see some business coming to their door.He carried the burden into the yard, seeing the dilapidated appearance, he couldn't help being surprised and said: "Guest, this is..."

Qingping bought some candles, flints and other odds and ends, and replied: "I haven't returned for a long time, I didn't expect it to be like this."

The shopkeeper said: "If you don't take care of this house, you can't live in it. Guests might as well go to the inn for one night."

Qing Ping said: "I won't be able to find anyone for a while, I will figure it out myself later, let's make do with it."

The ladies looked at each other, and one of them boldly said: "If it's just cleaning the house, we can do it. The mason who repairs the roof needs to be found elsewhere, but we also know people. If the guests are at ease, let us come, It can be done in half a day."

This was Qing Ping's idea, and he immediately said happily: "Yes, if you move more quickly, I will pay double the wages."

When these people heard that there was double wages, they put their burdens in the woodshed and went to call for help.After a while, two masons also came, and Qingping saw them busy in the yard, so he walked slowly along the path outside the small courtyard, with the courtyard walls of other houses on both sides, Qingping watched from the high and low eaves. In the gray sky, the snow fluttered and fell, and a piece of it was stained on her eyes. She reached out and rubbed it away, and walked forward for a while.There is a river at the exit of the narrow road. Before it freezes, the river is still flowing, and the snowflakes fall into the water and disappear suddenly.

She suddenly remembered the frozen Chang'an City she saw at Xuanquan Palace that day, and wondered if the long river shining with the color of ice was the one in front of her.The riverside was covered with snow, black water and white banks, like a long picture scroll, she looked at it for a long time, but she couldn't tell whether it was people moving or water flowing.

It was getting late, the surroundings suddenly darkened, Qingping returned along the original road, there were many halos on the side road, it was those people who hung up the lanterns.When she went back to the small courtyard, she saw that the tidying up was almost done, she paid the wages to the shopkeepers, and entrusted someone to buy some bedding and pillows.The shopkeeper said: "The guest's belongings are useless, they need to be replaced with new ones... and this door, how can it be done without a lock?"

Qingping looked at the lock on the door, and said: "It's okay, I'll call someone to fix it tomorrow, and I'm going to trouble everyone today." He took out a tael of silver and said to them, "I'm only here for a year, and I'm coming back to visit relatives and friends. That's all. When I leave in the future, this courtyard will be empty again, I hope you all will be more careful and take care of me when passing by, I am very grateful."

The girls agreed one after another, picked up the burden and left.

The appearance of the house has changed drastically. Qingping took a candlestick and went in to have a look. Not to mention, everything was clean, even the window paper had been replaced with new ones. There are also a few tea bowls on the table, I think I just boiled water to drink when I was tired from work.She picked out a small bowl from the cupboard and poured half a bowl of hot tea. She wanted to find a place to sit, but she wobbled the stool with her hand, but finally had to sit on the door rail, watching the sky turn dark, The snowflakes were falling one after another. The branches of the old tree in the yard were facing the sky, and there were a few shriveled dead leaves hanging on the branches. She was a little absorbed in watching, and she didn't know what she was thinking.

She thought in a daze, going around, she returned to the starting point, back to this courtyard, but Yan Jinghan would never come back again.No one will open the gate of the courtyard, and those who leave will not return.

During the days of running around, Qingping didn't feel very tired, but when he got here, he felt that his hands and feet were like a heavy burden, and it was a bit difficult to even get up.She walked towards the room where Yan Jinghan used to live, pushed open the door, the furnishings inside were still the same as before, she stumbled to the table, lit the candlestick, there were pens, inks, papers and inkstones in a mess on the table, Yan Jing Han never liked to tidy up things, and she was often blamed by her father for just putting things away like this.Qingping brushed the dust off the table with his hand, picked up a stack of paper and looked at it carefully, and saw a line of familiar handwriting, "I don't realize that spring has arrived in my dream, turn over and sleep with the sound of rain..." Such idle poems, Followed by the commentary written by Qingping himself: "It depends on people, it depends on words, it depends on things." Yan Jinghan refused to accept it, and added a new poem below.In fact, Yan Jinghan is not good at poetry, but prefers essays with sharp words and unique viewpoints.When the two of them were studying, they often bickered on paper like this. What they wrote was far more than these few sheets, but they didn't know where they ended up.

Thinking of this, Qingping's heart moved, he looked around, and finally found a box in the cabinet, opened it, a box full of papers, interspersed with some scraps of paper, it was the two of them who had fun when they were studying, and handed it to each other. Written stuff.She thought she had lost it, but Yan Jinghan put it away carefully.

Qingping looked over one by one, as if he had returned to those days, and the voice and appearance of the old man was still in his ears.It was obviously a pleasure to exchange witty words on the paper, but she only read half of it, but she knelt on the cold ground with her head against the box, tears streaming down her face, and she couldn't bear to read any more.

This night Qingping fell asleep in the cold wind howling outside the house, maybe she returned to the place where it all started, she had a rare good dream, nothing happened in the dream, nothing changed, the days continued like running water Looking at the plainness of the past, this kind of peace and tranquility is something she has never had for many years.

Those wanderings gradually faded away. The ancient trees in the courtyard sprouted in spring, and the shade was luxuriant in summer. She sat under the tree and listened to the rustling of the leaves by the wind. Gently brushed across the face.

Her frowning brows were slowly relaxed. In the dream, the wind was warm and the sun was warm, and outside the dream, a person sat by the bed and reached out to touch her face.

Seeing that she was sleeping deeply, Chu Jun put his hand on her forehead to try it out, then peeled off the quilt, and touched it along the single clothes with his hand, but he didn't feel any heat, so he carefully tucked in the corner of the quilt for her.

The cloak on Chu Jun's body was covered with snow powder, so she untied it and put it on the table. The table had four legs, three tall and one short, and her cloak was quite heavy. little movement.Chu Jun almost broke out in a cold sweat, and immediately looked at the bed. Even so, Qingping was also in a deep sleep, not even moving.She hugged the cloak in her bosom, but she couldn't find a place to put her things in the whole room, which made Chu Jun more worried than the court affairs. She sighed imperceptibly, so she had to put it at the end of the bed.

Seeing Qingping sleeping so soundly, she thought of the days when they slept together when they were young many years ago.In this life, it seems that only that time is self-willed, young and wanton, indulge in fast horses, travel all over thousands of miles of rivers and mountains.Because of this, it is exceptionally short-lived.Today, she can no longer be so presumptuous.

Chu Jun's face softened in the dimming candlelight, she lowered her head, closed her eyes slowly, and kissed the corner of Qingping's lips lightly.