Between the vast sea of ​​clouds

At the end of January, Chang'an is already warming up. The ice and snow have melted and turned into gurgling water, covering the land again. The coldness of winter has dissipated, and only a little residual snow remains, clinging stubbornly to the corner of the corrugated eaves, like an unfinished painting. , adding blank space for people to imagine.

Hundreds of households in Dongfang have taken down the faded lanterns, but the lanterns in Yan Mansion are still brand new, the silk paper is still colorful, and the couplets are also bright red.Qing Ping stood outside and looked at the mansion courtyard. The sycamore trees in the courtyard grew tender yellow leaves. She felt a little pity in her heart, and she was afraid that she would not be able to see the luxuriant branches and leaves of this tree.It will take several months to go to Yunzhou. The household department has signed the document and is about to start to take office in early February. She looked around Dongfang, and the lantern was not taken down after all.

You still need to go back to the palace to hand over the matter, and then go to Chenghui Mansion to submit the papers, and then go to the Ministry of Rites to report.There are still a lot of things to do, time is tight, and her helplessness of hurting the spring and autumn cannot be tolerated, so she pushes people forward step by step.

When they returned to the palace, the officials of the Chang Shi Division had already arrived. Because of the vacancy of the Chang Shi position, everyone was eagerly waiting for her appearance, and they were sure that this low-key Master Dianyu would definitely take over the Chang Shi position. position, but never expected——

"Going out of Beijing? Is Master Li going to release it now?"

Qingping said calmly: "Yes, I came to the mansion to resign from the post of decree. The documents have arrived, and I have to leave in February."

Someone sighed and said: "It's also a good way to go outside. When the adults are on the rise in the future, don't forget us!"

The words were just to say politely, she was going to leave anyway, after all, she seemed to be in good spirits.A few people's eyes flickered, as if they were eager to try.Looking at their ambitious eyes, Qingping felt a little funny in his heart.

Would Chu Jun give the long history to just one person so easily?I'm afraid it's impossible.With He Zhoufang dead, she had an excuse to replace her with someone else, and the remaining little Xiami was just a tool she kept to test the attitude of the master behind the other party.Qingping said perfunctory polite words amidst the congratulatory voices with different opinions. It was obvious that everyone was not distracted, and each had their own thoughts and plans.

After delivering the things in her hand, she handed in the seal and the bronze medal together, and went to the mansion to pack up the things. She didn't know whether Chu Jun was in the study room or not. She was walking in the quiet backyard, and vaguely heard crisp birdsong. The snow on the top has been cleaned up, revealing the original and simple appearance.She thought about what the yard looked like in spring and summer. It must be full of flowers and lush vegetation. Thinking about it, she thought it was quite beautiful.It's just that good times don't leave people behind. Although she felt regretful in her heart, when she thought about going to Yunzhou in the future, it would be another scene, each with its own advantages.With a strange smile on her face, she glanced at these carved railings and painted buildings without hesitating, the clouds above were surging, and the phoenix was about to fly.Power is good, but you also need to have the life to bear it, otherwise you will just give your life in vain, and make charcoal for the fire with others.

Under the shadow of the eaves, Chu Jun looked at her back against the light, her brisk steps betrayed her master's happy mood, she squinted her eyes, presumably this person wanted to leave a long time ago, she really couldn't keep her heart.Chu Jun turned his face to the side, thought for a while, and suddenly raised the corners of his lips, and told Liu Zhen who was beside him, "Go and talk to her, after leaving this door, it will not be so easy to get in touch with her in the future."

Liu Zhen bowed his knees and saluted, his face was hidden in the shadows, and he could only answer: "Yes."

Walking to the door of the backyard, Qingping put the packed things in the package, which were only a few clothes, she sighed inwardly, but saw a person walking from the corridor, it was Liu Zhen.

Unexpectedly, I could see her again, Qingping suddenly felt very ashamed when she thought about her persuasion, she went up to meet her and said, "Liu Zhen, why are you here?"

Liu Zhen's face was a bit unhappy, and she smiled and said: "You are leaving, I must come to see you."

Qingping smiled embarrassedly, patted the package in his hand, and pulled her to sit on the stone bench. Liu Zhen's hands visibly trembled, and Qingping asked in surprise, "What's wrong?"

Liu Zhen looked at her side face, concealed the uneasiness in her heart, and let her sit on the stool.Qingping felt guilty towards her, always felt that what he said last time was too much, and wanted to make amends to her, but he never found the opportunity.Today the two of them sat side by side, vaguely looking like many years ago, Qingping pursed his lips, thinking about how to speak, but Liu Zhen said: "It's a long way to Yunzhou, so be careful."

What she said was the same as what the group of officials in the Changshi Division said today, but Qingping felt that it was very considerate, and hurriedly said: "Okay, I have a sense of proportion. Liu Zhen, I said something to you last time. If it sounds nice, don't worry about it..." Before she finished speaking, she blushed, Liu Zhen glanced at her, her eyes wandering, and then smiled: "What nonsense, our friendship for so many years, Can't I tell the good from the bad?"

"But Qingping, you are indeed right." She looked up at the cloud pillars on the corridor, her eyes traced the shadows to the highest point, "I do have that heart, and I have followed His Highness for many years because I want to be with her." Serving me well by my side, I also have a thought, I want to see if His Highness can..."

Qingping patted her shoulder tacitly, Liu Zhen's eyes were a little sad, but it was well hidden in his eyes, and she didn't tell her to see it.But they all knew what those unfinished words meant, and Chu Jun tried his best to follow every step, except for that position.It's just that this road is too difficult, and it needs to be paved with blood and tears to become rich and powerful, and to achieve incomparable power. Qingping only said: "I know."

She really couldn't be more clear. The so-called important things, the bottom line in her heart, just didn't meet the greater interests. Once it reaches a certain level, she must give up those things in order to have more power. Still care about those ridiculous thoughts?

It's just that this sentence can't be said. Qingping found that Liu Zhen was looking at the cloud pillar from the beginning to the end, not looking at himself at all. It was a little strange, but Liu Zhen turned his head, looked at her with complicated eyes and said with relief: " It’s really good that you can think about it, His Highness in the future...you will be a courtier after all—"

Qing Ping stared at her uneasy face, was silent for a while, then held her hand and said: "I understand what you say about being a minister and loyal to the emperor."

"That's good." Liu Zhen nodded as if relieved, looked at her bright eyebrows, and couldn't help but glance at the courtyard wall in the distance.

"What?" Qingping noticed the change in her gaze, and followed her to look there, but only saw overlapping tree shadows. She wondered if Chu Jun was staring in the dark, and looked around suspiciously.

Seeing this, Liu Zhen smiled, and said: "His Highness is not there, she should have left, but she asked me to see you off."

Qing Ping nodded without sincerity, and said, "Oh, it's a pity that I couldn't see His Highness."

Liu Zhen got up and said: "I've finished talking, Qingping, let's just say goodbye, take care of yourself, we will see you again in the future." Then he jokingly said: "It's just that I was afraid to call you Master Li, Li Butang gone."

"Eh?" Qing Ping waved his hand and said, "How can it be so fast, it depends on luck."

The two bid farewell, the shadow of the sun slanted across the courtyard, and the wind came from a distant place, gently blowing the light green on the treetops.A dead leaf fell gently from the old branch, making circles of ripples on the calm lake.

After chatting with Liu Zhen, Qingping felt in a good mood. The sunset glow and the setting sun complement each other like a gorgeous brocade.By the time she got home, the sky had gradually darkened, rendered into dreamy violets, reflecting blurred colors in the sky that had faded away from the afterglow.

Qingping leisurely prepared to open the door, but saw a person leaning in front of the door, the shadow happened to fall on her feet, the person was dressed in ordinary clothes, also very ordinary, he raised his head when he saw her coming and said: "Are you back?"

Qing Ping was startled, looked around, but did not see anyone passing by, and said in a low voice: "Your Highness, what are you doing here?"

Chu Jun glanced at her lazily, and stretched out his hand to brush the hair beside her ears. Only then did Qingping realize that she didn't even wear a crown, and only tied up her hair with a hairpin, which gave her a somewhat unrestrained feeling.She has always shown people with a dignified and calm appearance, and her clothes are neat and orderly on weekdays. She never thought that she could dress up like this, which can be called a novelty.Qingping looked her up and down, and said without manners: "Aren't you drunk?"

Chu Jun raised his eyelids, twitched the corners of his mouth, didn't bother to say anything, stepped forward and took the copper spoon from her waist, and opened the door.Qing Ping was dumbfounded watching from the sidelines, feeling that she had a very big problem today, her whole person changed completely from her temperament to her aura.She entered the door suspiciously, and Chu Jun sat on the bench by the tree, watching her close the door boredly.

Qingping put his things and came out of the house, saw her bowed her head, she didn't know what she was thinking, and didn't ask for her opinion, and sat directly on the other side of the bench, the two sat side by side, but there was a person in the middle, Qingping resigned to fate Said: "Your Highness, what are you doing?"

Chu Jun's face was mostly covered by the long hair hanging down, and he heard the words: "Let me take a look, can't I?"

Qingping bit her lower lip, thinking hard about the meaning of her words for a long time, feeling that she couldn't guess the point at all, it was more painful than writing a notebook.Chu Jun suddenly asked, "Do you hate me?"

Qingping was startled, subconsciously said: "No."

Chu Jun let out a groan, stretched his hands, slid over the smooth stool, leaned against her and asked, "Then why are you sitting so far away?"

Even this is wrong, Qingping couldn't help but said: "Your Highness, do you want to hire a doctor for you?"

Chu Jun let out a long sigh, hating her incomprehensible style so much, he simply leaned on her with all his weight, and even grabbed her hand and refused to let go.

Qingping still struggled when she grabbed her hand, but lost to Chu Jun's strength, the two of them tugged for a while, and finally her hand was clasped by Chu Jun, fingers intertwined, Chu Jun looked quite proudly He rolled her eyes and said lightly, "Say it again?"

Under her coercion, Qingping could only change his words: "It's nothing."

Chu Jun seemed to be smiling, and leaned his head on her shoulder. This posture was too warm for her, and it was a little low-key and small in it. It was inappropriate to the extreme.Qingping's body trembled, and he didn't even dare to look at her, for fear that when she came back to her senses, she would find out what she had done, and would have to settle accounts with herself again.

Chu Jun said quietly: "What are you thinking about?"

It looked like they were going to have a long talk all night, Qing Ping watched his heart and said: "I didn't think about anything."

Clenching his hands tightly, Chu Jun whispered, "Lies."

Her voice was low and deep, like strings vibrating lightly, which made Qingping's mind buzz.She blushed suddenly, she didn't know whether it was because of the voice or the word lie, and said, "It's the truth."

Chu Jun sat up straight, took her hand and stretched, and said, "Really? Then let me ask you, you don't seem to like me very much, why?"

Why, Qingping chewed on her question, looked at the outline of her side face, Chu Jun seemed to notice her gaze, turned his head, there was a very pale water color in the eyes, which turned into ink and gold in the dim light of the courtyard, until Looking into her eyes, as if looking into her heart.Her face was dyed with an ambiguous color in the light and shadow, softening her cold eyebrows and eyes. Qingping had never seen her so clearly, and could clearly see the changes in her expression.She was startled, feeling a little confused, she lowered her head and said, "Probably because of fear."

Chu Jun said: "What are you afraid of? When it comes to power, I don't have it. I don't even have power. I don't even have the title of prince. Those who are above the third rank in the court can't even be polite when they see me. Li Qingping, what are you afraid of?" ?”

Qingping thought for a while, and said: "If people only believe what they see with their own eyes, they will lose the meaning of exploration. When studying, Mr. often taught that people should not linger on the surface when looking at things. The appearance may be false. Just like the sea cannot see. If you look at the depth, a fool would think that everything is as deep as the beach, and this is a perfect metaphor for Your Highness."

After she finished speaking, she felt very presumptuous, but it seemed that this was something she had kept in her heart for a long time, and sooner or later she would spit it out.Chu Jun's eyes flashed, and he said, "You really dare to say it."

Qing Ping smiled slightly: "Your Highness asked first, didn't you?"

Chu Jun held her hand and raised it in front of her eyes, with a focused and serious expression, staring at her and said: "Since you are so smart, why don't you teach me, how can I make you—" She touched Qingping's forehead with her hand , "Like me a little more."

Qing Ping smiled, suddenly felt that she was a bit cute, teased: "Are you that highness who doesn't eat fireworks? Could it be someone pretending to be?"

Chu Jun kicked her feet, slowly let go of his hands, and said, "Will you tell me?"

Qing Ping felt that she was extremely awkward, but luckily she had a thick skin and couldn't see any embarrassment, so she could only say: "I don't know." She smiled self-deprecatingly, bit her lips and mumbled: "No one taught Me, how would I know."

Chu Jun looked at her in surprise, with the meaning of 'so you are such a person' in it.Qingping looked at her speechlessly, Chu Jun laughed and said: "Then you still talk to the young master of the Shao family clearly and logically, and I still think you are a natural lover. You have said a lot of truths, but you are just talking."

That was a few years ago. As soon as she mentioned Qingping, she remembered what she said that day, and gave her a look. It turned out that this man knew everything, and she said angrily: "Who is to blame? He kidnapped me in the middle of the night to talk about love." Speaking of love, it seems that if you don't agree, you will throw the corpse into the sea to destroy the traces, but you have wronged Your Highness, I don't know if I heard a play in that corner, the wind was strong that night, how did it not freeze you?"

Chu Jun laughed loudly, and the laughter shook a few jackdaws perched on the branches of the tree. She leaned against Qingping again, stretched out her hand to pinch her face and said, "You have a lot of eyes when you are young, and you are big when you are a kid. The truth is straightforward, one set of one set, who knows what is true and what is false?"

Qingping dodged her claws, and argued: "It's not just talking, it's still kind of sincere!"

Probably because the word "sincerity" was too distorted, which caused another round of ridicule by Chu Jun. Qingping was helplessly repeated by her from beginning to end, talking about how difficult it was for her to pull her up, and couldn't help but say: "It's still hard to get her up." Didn't you leave me in the study to fend for myself?"

Chu Jun was slightly stunned, and said in surprise: "Without my permission, you can still stay in the study? You really don't know good people, little white-eyed wolf."

Qingping argued sophistry: "Your Highness, have you ever seen what a white-eyed wolf looks like? There is no basis for what you say, so don't slander people!"

The people serving Chu Jun were always soft-spoken, but they were startled by her roar, and frowned, "I've gained a lot of courage, dare to talk to me like that."

Qing Ping glanced at her, probably because tonight was a bit special, and the etiquette norms in the past were no longer willing to carry on. To be honest, the two of them had seen each other in the most embarrassing state. It seemed too contrived to avoid politeness. So she asked back, "Why, can't it?"

Chu Jun never haggled with her on etiquette. Hearing this arrogant answer, he tapped her forehead with his finger and said, "Yes, try talking to me like this next time when there are many people. The excerpts will be sent to the Sixth Division the next day."

After finishing speaking, both of them were silent. They both understood that the next time was probably far away.

Chu Jun said softly: "Stay here."

Qingping shook her head, Chu Jun laughed at herself after she finished speaking, she got up slowly, took a deep look at her, and said, "Let's go."

She was dressed in moonlight, and the patterns embroidered on her robe reflected slightly under the moonlight, flashed through the door, and the long sleeves passed by like clouds and flowing water, and she left just like that.

Qingping sat in the middle of the courtyard with his eyes closed, as if he was thinking about something.The bright moon is far away, and the moonlight is a bit chilly, covering the whole yard in a icy frost.

The wind whizzed past, and there were still a few traces of ice and snow in Chang'an in the early spring, lingering in the withered yellow weeds that gave birth to new green.

Qingping raised his head and looked at the tall city gates. Perhaps because of the arrival of spring, some green had grown on those thick and ancient city walls, mixed in the black stone cracks and growing tenaciously.

The official roads extend in all directions, and the merchants who gather here and there are all heading towards this magnificent and ancient capital, but the officials transferred by them are walking against the flow of people.

The guard in charge of escorting her to the post turned her head and said, "My lord, it's time to go."

Qingping nodded, reined in his horse and turned around, suddenly felt that there was nothing wrong with this.

Perseverance is right and wrong, not everyone in this world can understand this truth, she stood in the bustling crowd, and rode away without looking back.

The escort team headed eastward, returning to the land in spring, they walked forward facing the warm sunlight, everywhere was full of vibrant green, Chang'an gradually turned into a black spot behind them, and finally disappeared on the distant horizon.

The author has something to say: I arrived home last night, and was taken away by my father to drink. When I came back, it was already useless, so I didn’t update the article. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Momoza, I wish you all a happy holiday, dear!