Between the vast sea of ​​clouds

How can things in the world go as expected? In the past, she was at a disadvantage, and she only wanted her life not to be manipulated by others; now she is an official in the court, but it seems that she needs to do something to live up to this life.Where is the meaning of a person's life, what is the most important in the hometown?Where does this heart fall, so that you can feel at ease here, abandon all the messy things in the past and present, and seek a side of peace.

Unable to figure it out, Qingping simply went out to the street to buy a pair of red paper to write couplets on. The front of the Yan Mansion in the province was empty and deserted.

Walking in the bustling city, there is a lively atmosphere everywhere, she wrapped a roll of red paper from a paper shop, and saw the beautiful lanterns at the entrance of the store, so she decided to go to another street to buy lanterns.Passing by the Hezhou Guild Hall, she suddenly thought of Wu Yinglai. She hesitated whether to tell her the news of her transfer, but then she didn't know where Wu Ying lived at this time, and she couldn't rush to visit the Siwen Hall. After thinking about it, she decided to give up.

As a result, after walking a few steps, he was about to pass by the Hezhou Guild Hall. Seeing that it was still early, Qingping went to the Guild Hall to find out where Wu Ying lived.As soon as she stepped into the door of the guild hall, a waiter stepped forward and said with a smile: "What's the matter?"

Holding a pack of red papers, Qingping thought for a while and asked, "I would like to know where a Jinshi from your high school lived last year."

The clerk suppressed his smile and said: "The guest is looking for someone, so he should go directly to the person himself. This hotel cannot disclose private information."

Qing Ping said: "Her surname is Wu, and she claims to live in the guild hall, but I don't know if she still lives here."

Upon seeing this, a person in charge came over and greeted, "What's the matter with this guest?"

There are quite a lot of ways in this guild hall, and people are cautious in doing things, so Qingping directly stated his intentions: "I am looking for a person named Wu Ying, and I want to find out if she is still living in the guild hall. where."

The steward nodded and said, "Who is this guest, Wu Jinshi?"

Qingping was silent for a while, then said, "Friend."

This word covers too wide a range, so the steward asked suspiciously: "If it's a friend, why don't you know where she lives?"

Qingping didn't bother to explain to her, so he thought to Wu Ying next time.Turning around to leave, the steward hurriedly said: "If the guest is really a friend of Wu Jinshi, you might as well wait here. Tonight is the monthly banquet in the guild hall. If there is no accident, she will definitely come here. Then you will meet her face to face. Say, how about this?" He added: "It's not because you don't trust the guests, this matter is a personal matter, and the guild hall is also facing difficulties, so I hope the guests will be more tolerant."

Those who can be in charge in the Chang'an Guild Hall are naturally smarter than ordinary people. Seeing Qingping's plain clothes, but a fine white jade pendant hanging around his waist, he has seen countless people in charge, and has a vicious and sophisticated vision. Seeing that Qingping is neither humble nor overbearing, his appearance is elegant and elegant, Bufan also didn't want to offend people casually, so he came up with such a compromise.

Qing Ping nodded, the manager relaxed and hurriedly greeted the buddy to serve tea.

Originally, he just wanted to go out to buy red paper and go back to write couplets, but he sat in the guild hall drinking tea, Qingping looked at the fragments of tea leaves in the cup, dipped his hands in some water in boredom, used his hands as pens, and wrote on the table.

She was only halfway through writing, when she heard loud voices from downstairs, and crackling firecrackers were set off outside the door. As the manager said, today is the monthly gathering of the Hezhou Guild Hall, and the so-called monthly gathering is decided by each hall On the next day, on a certain day of the month, people from the same state who live near here and do business will come to the guild hall to gather.I don't know when this custom started. At first, it was just for the convenience of merchants from different states to exchange information. Later, it evolved into a gathering of people from the same state. Regardless of their status, they just wanted to have a place to meet in a foreign country.The function of the guild hall has also changed from simply providing accommodation to a platform to mediate conflicts and solve some difficulties for everyone. It can be said that with the expansion of power, the prestige of the guild hall has become higher and higher, and it has gradually evolved into a symbol of regional groups.

The Hezhou Guild Hall in Chang'an represents the face of Hezhou. The decoration of the hall is simple and elegant, and most of the furnishings in the hall are calligraphy and painting ornaments with Hezhou flavor.Yueju should also be as grand as a festival. Qingping swept over the porcelain bowls with strong Hezhou Lingnan style amidst the sound of firecrackers at Yueju, and for some reason remembered the days when he was studying in Lize Academy, and Lingnan dialect was everywhere. Classmate, thinking about it now, I found a sense of belonging inexplicably in this hall full of Lingnan and Lingbei dialects.

She rested her chin and looked at the snow-falling plum on the surface of the celadon. She remembered many things in Lize Academy. Speaking of the days of studying at that time, it was the happiest time in her life. Lying on the pile of books, desperately absorbing the wisdom of the predecessors, like a greedy bookworm, devouring words without restraint, trying to digest these profound truths in this simple, primitive and simple way.The shadow of the sun slowly moved from one bookshelf to another, and they also leaned back to back, gradually moving from the outermost bookshelf to the innermost bookshelf as the seasons changed.

Thinking like this, even the noise downstairs faded away from his ears with the deepening of memories, Qingping thought in a trance, and fell into the warm sunset of the old days, the window flower shadows were cast on the ground, and the sunrise and sunset every day Everything has been gained, and the time flows away like water, and it is only through studying hard day and night that she has become what she is today.

She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't even notice that someone was walking towards her.Wu Yingfang was notified by the waiter as soon as she entered the door, saying that someone was waiting for her in the cafe on the second floor.She thought about it for a while, and thought it was some classmate meeting. After walking in, she saw a young woman sitting at the innermost table of the teahouse on the second floor. Jumping wildly, he walked in cautiously and said, "Qingping?"

Qingping glanced at her, and Wu Ying in her memory when she was a teenager matched the face of the young woman in front of her, she couldn't help but looked up in a daze.Wu Ying lowered her head to look at her, and her eyes fell on her delicate curve extending from the bridge of the nose and the corner of the lips to the lower jaw. The arc of the raised neck had a strange beauty. There was a little orange candlelight in her eyes, which gave a little warmth to the brows , the whole person is as clear and beautiful as a jade tree Qiongzhi, Wu Ying's breathing was stagnant, and she almost lowered her head and leaned on it.

Fortunately, the uproarious voices in the lobby downstairs brought her back to her senses, she immediately turned around and sat opposite Qingping, poured a cup of tea for herself to cover up the strangeness just now, and asked in a deep voice: "Qingping, what do you want me to do?"

Qingping came back to his senses, nodded dully, and said: "Yes, I have something to ask you for."

Wu Ying lowered her eyes to hide the heat in her eyes, and said casually: "What's the matter, what happened?"

Qingping hesitated for a while, but still told about his transfer. Wu Ying's hands froze, and she held the teacup tightly, but she couldn't see anything on her face. She just smiled and said, "Transfer, aren't you here?" Do you work in Prince Xin's Mansion?"

Seeing that she was in a good mood, Qingping felt relieved, and smiled slightly: "When I went to work in the palace earlier, there was a report from the Ministry of Rites, and it will be a matter of time before I get transferred from the capital."

Wu Ying can't speak. She is no longer the stubborn girl she was back then. The world taught her to be patient and to accept what she couldn't accept. She knows that some things cannot be controlled by human power. There is no other way.

Some things have to be done slowly, the more urgent you are, the less you can get them.Wu Ying looked up at the person in front of her, and said, "Where are you going, there must be a place."

Qingping rested his chin with both hands, and said, "It should be Yunzhou."

In fact, this was a matter of internal decision. If Chu Jun asked to let her go to Yunzhou, it must be Yunzhou, and he would never change places halfway.Naturally, she couldn't tell Wu Ying, she could only pretend to guess it herself.

Wu Ying frowned slightly, and said somewhat disapprovingly: "The current situation in Yunzhou is too chaotic, I'm afraid it would be inappropriate to go there."

"It's not the same way to seek wealth and wealth." Qingping got up to pour tea for Wu Ying, and said: "It seems that places where singing and dancing are peaceful may not allow me to enter, but this kind of place is full of messes everywhere. Self-protection, where you can take care of other people's business, you can do things freely."

Wu Ying was speechless and said after a while, "Then when will you come back?"

She was born as a Jinshi, so she was afraid that she would stay in Beijing and start working in the cabinet.The direction of life of the two has completely changed. If Qingping is released and not recalled to Kyoto, then the day of meeting is really far away.Qingping was taken aback for a moment, she really hadn't thought about this question.Wu Ying frowned, opened and clenched her hands in her sleeves, and finally said as if she had made up her mind, "Qingping, don't go to Yunzhou, stay in Chang'an."

Qingping shook his head, put the stack of red paper in his arms on the table, and said gently: "The matter of releasing it outside was arranged by the household department, and I can't interfere."

Wu Ying almost blurted out 'As long as you want, I can let you stay', but before she could say this, the loud sound of firecrackers outside the door covered her voice.

Amidst the sound of firecrackers, the two could only see each other's mouth shapes. After struggling to identify the mouth shapes for a while, they decided to wait for the sound to pass before speaking.The scene was so funny that Qingping couldn't help laughing. Seeing her smile, Wu Ying felt hot and laughed too.

After the sound of firecrackers passed, the hall returned to a bit of cleanliness.The tea on their table was cold, Wu Yingben said to order another pot, Qingping said: "No need, I have to go back and write couplets."

Only then did Wu Ying see the red paper beside the table, and asked curiously, "Isn't it supposed to be pasted years ago?"

Qing Ping said: "At the end of the year and the beginning of the year, I was on duty at the palace, and I didn't go back." He looked at the sky outside, "I still need to buy a lamp, and I didn't prepare anything for the new year, so I made you laugh."

Wu Ying wished that she would be so "laughing" every day, as long as she was facing herself, it didn't matter.She tentatively said, "Why don't I go with you?"

Qingping was a little surprised, but he didn't think much about buying a lamp, so he nodded and said: "Okay."

"Across this street, there is a shop selling lamps in front of you, Qingping, what do you want to buy?"

Her formerly mature and stable side gradually faded away, and became lively again. Qingping thought about it for a while, and said: "Just look good."

It's just that the range is too large, Wu Ying thought for a while, and said, "I remember that there is a good store, let's go."

After the two bought lights from the store and came out, it was completely dark.Qingping held this lamp and stood beside the river with Wu Ying to light the lotus lanterns. Some small lotus lanterns floated down from the upper reaches one after another, and they stayed in front of them for a while before being carried away by the current.Wu Ying said seriously: "Write down your wish on paper and put it in the lamp. The farther you float, the more likely it will come true."

Qingping thought about it distressedly, and wrote a sentence on the note, folded it and stuffed it into the lotus lantern. There were too many things in her hand, Wu Ying took the pen and didn't know what to write, then put down the pen and said: "give me Come on, I'll let you go."

Qing Ping didn't doubt that he was there, so she gave her the lamp. Wu Ying touched the fire pocket and lit the wick for a long time before she lit the wick. She said embarrassingly, "You can put it on, you have to put it on yourself."

Her left hand was behind her back, as if she was holding something.Qing Ping leaned over to put the lotus lantern, watching it swirl in the river and was carried away by the river.Wu Ying also put up her own lotus lantern and watched it drift away.The two watched their lights disappear into the dark river together, as if it was an unforeseeable future, and there was nothing to say about how their fate would change.Qing Ping felt a little sad and relieved, and smiled at Wu Ying: "Thank you very much, I have to go back."

Wu Ying hid her hands in her wide sleeves, and said, "Okay, be careful on the road."

Qing Ping said: "It's not far, we'll be there in a while."

Wu Ying didn't say anything more, Qingping bowed slightly, and said goodbye to her by the dark river.

Unknown lotus lanterns floated from upstream, and some of them went out suddenly when they passed the river, and disappeared on the river surface. Xingzi disappeared around the corner ahead.

Wu Ying stood in the cold wind for a long time, slightly opened her left hand, revealing a crumpled piece of paper. She opened it tremblingly, and the flowing ink lines on it appeared in front of her eyes. She let out a breath slowly, turned and left.

[White clouds are all over the ground, the rivers and lakes are wide, let me walk freely. 】

The author has something to say: I read the interstellar article I wrote earlier today, and I was shocked. I actually wrote such an article. I was surprised, so surprised, it was really me who wrote it. . .It was as if it had been pierced by a soul, and I couldn't remember anything.