chasing autumn

"You mean... the son of the Zhongcheng Mansion..."

The next day, Yu Huolian went to the Kaifeng government office.In the room, there are only Qiuniang and Li Jing.

"Then... is he doing well?..."

"Fang Xu?... He is very good. Mr. Fang is a rare and good father. He taught the two children of the Fang family with knowledge and reason. Mrs. Fang even regarded Fang Xu as her own, and loved him very much..." Li Jing paused, looked at Qiuniang's expression, and said softly, "Sister Qiu, you decide what to do and what to choose...I won't tell Fang Xu without authorization..."

"What to choose,"

Sitting on the bed, Qiuniang slightly lowered her head and gently stroked the carved phoenix jade pendant in her hand, and said with a smile, "Huolian is my child, and will always be..."

"Then...then Fang Xu..."

"I'm not a god..." Qiuniang replied with a smile, and looked sideways at the green bamboo outside the window, "My arms have already been given to Huolian. In this life, I only have one child, Huolian, only one..."

"I understand……"

Just as Li Jing finished speaking, Du Fu suddenly barged in.

"Brother Li! I saw that person again in the back mountain just now. Would you like to go over and have a look..."

Du Fu seemed to be running all the way, panting slightly unevenly.While speaking hastily, she couldn't help but glance at Qiuniang. ——Qiu Niang's cheeks are a little thin, her eyebrows are thick, her eyes are bright and beautiful, and her eyes are full of tenderness and gentleness, like a warm sun, like a clear spring, but also hard to hide a trace of intelligence and agility, like autumn water, like cold stars.Looking into her eyes really made Du Fu a little distracted, Du Fu hurriedly lowered her head and said, "Auntie..."

"Your name is Dufu, isn't it? I heard from the little mirror just now,"

Qiu Niang laughed, "You still call me Auntie?... You should follow him and call me Sister!"

Du Fu immediately blushed, "I...why did I follow him..."

Li Jing also felt embarrassed, and hurriedly said, "Sister Qiu, we are not..."

"elder sister!"

Before Li Jing finished speaking, Du Fu reacted quickly. She deliberately smiled and glanced at Li Jing, and then said, "It's what it is. With the appearance of my sister, it doesn't look like that Yu Huolian's mother. Walking on the street, she must I thought it was siblings! Hehe!"

"What a sweet-mouthed girl, lovable!"

Li Jing also smiled in agreement, "Who did you say you saw just now?..."

"Oh, it's the one you almost got into a fight in front of the hotel last time..."

Before Du Fu finished speaking, Li Jing had already walked over and pulled her out of the room.

"That bastard, where is he?! Take me to him!"

********************

Back mountain woods.

"Who was that girl collecting herbs just now? I seem to have seen it somewhere, but I can't remember it,"

Leng Qing followed the footprints of Du Fu's departure, walked, and suddenly saw a white silk handkerchief on the grass in front of her, "Is it hers?..."

He picked it up casually, and saw that Sipari was still wrapped with a piece of drawing paper. He slowly unfolded the drawing paper, and froze in place for a moment.

"Xiao Fu, is that you?!..."

"When did you start to be interested in calligraphy and painting?"

When Leng Qing heard the words and looked back, he was shocked, "It's you!..." He put the painting in his arms, calmed down, and said coldly, "Haven't I been kicked out of Infernal Affairs by the suzerain? As for being so forgetful!"

"I see, it's not me who is forgetful, but you."

Zhan Hao smiled and said, "You are not a person of Infernal Affairs, but you want to trespass on the main altar, and even enter my study to steal...Lonely, I remember, you were not so reckless when you were young..."

"You forced me!" shouted coldly, "You set up a trap and made me take poison on purpose, just to control me! You want me to become a person who bows to you every half a month." A puppet?!"

Zhan Hao snorted in his heart, ignored his words, and continued: "I remember, you are only interested in killing people and bleeding, you like to control others, you like to rule the weak around you... But," Zhan Hao sighed, " I never gave you this chance!"

"you……"

Zhan Hao said: "If you want, I can help you... sit on the current crown prince!"

********************

Du Fu and Li Jing looked around for the deserted figure,

"Hey, where's the person? He was still there just now..."

Du Fu pondered secretly, touched the pocket of his clothes, and suddenly shouted, "Where is my painting?! My painting is gone!..."

Li Jing glanced at her helplessly, "What painting?"

"It's wrapped in a handkerchief. It's been with me for 12 years. My paintings..."

Du Fu burst into tears as she spoke, "My painting, I can't lose it..."

*************************

evening.

Yu Huolian stood by the bed.

Fingers lightly rest on her meridians.

"Mother, your body is much better, not as weak as before, it seems that this medicine is really effective, brother Li is really not easy!"

Yu Huolian helped her sit up, and sighed with a smile, "If only I had read more medical books since I was a child, I wouldn't let my mother suffer from illness for so many days..."

"Huo Lian, mother wants you to cherish your life! ... You risked to force me to poison me. If it wasn't for Li Jing and the others to meet by chance, the consequences would be unimaginable,"

Qiu Niang took his hand and said worriedly, "You are not allowed to do such a dangerous thing again, you understand?"

"I see,"

Yu Huolian's heart warmed, and she said with a smile, "Mom, have you forgotten? You have told me many times before!"

"How could I forget?"

Knowing that he was going to be perfunctory again, Qiuniang blamed him solemnly, "But you have never been obedient!"

"Hehe," Yu Huolian said with a smile, "As long as you don't get sick again, don't get poisoned, don't get hurt, and don't get involved in danger again, Huo Lian will listen to your mother! Okay?"

"You child!" Qiuniang stretched out her hand and brushed the hair on his forehead, and said with a smile, "Mother makes such a small request, do you have to make a deal..."

Yu Huolian suddenly thought of something, "By the way, where are Du Fu and the others? Why haven't they come back yet? Have you returned to the inn?"

Qiuniang shook her head and smiled, "Maybe, they went to the back mountain to look for someone during the day, and then they never came back... Huolian, mother wants to give you something..." Qiuniang gently took his hand, A jade pendant was stuffed in his hand.

Yu Huolian looked down and said in surprise, "This is..." He took out another jade pendant from his pocket, "Mother, look, are these a pair?..."

"How could this be here with you?..." Qiuniang took the jade pendant and wondered, "Did Zhan Hao give it to you?"

"To be exact, I didn't give it to you, I snatched it from you!"

Yu Huolian's eyes sparkled, and she said with a mischievous smile, "I like it, so I snatched it!"

Qiuniang flicked his forehead lightly, and said with a smile, "You are really capable of snatching something from his hands!"

Yu Huolian rubbed her forehead and recalled: "At that time I was only 7 or 8 years old. Once, the magpie came to return something. It was a big box. There were a lot of children's clothes in that box. I wanted to take it out for a look. But my father refused, and he lifted the box and put it on the top of the bookcase, so that I couldn't reach it. Before leaving, Magpie gave my father a jade pendant, saying that I can't have children and in-laws today, and it's useless to keep it. It only adds to the sadness, it is better to return..."

The more Qiuniang listened, the more confused she became, "Who is Magpie?..."

"It's the wife of Li Shi, father's former minister,"

Seeing Qiuniang nodding suddenly, Yu Huolian continued, "Then I said, since you all feel uncomfortable looking at it, why don't you give it to me. Dad didn't want it at first, but then I made a bet with him and he lost. No way, just give it to me."

"You snatched it right, it should have been yours."

Qiuniang smiled and said, "This is the jade pendant of father and mother back then, and it was also handed down from the previous generation of the Zhan family." Qiuniang put the two jade pendants together and read,

"With the sun and the moon towering in the sky and the earth, caress all beings on behalf of candles. This is the family motto of the Zhan family."

Only then did Yu Huolian realize that there was a line of small, shallow characters engraved on the side of the jade pendant, and she nodded solemnly after realizing it deeply.

"This pair of jade pendants, the one with the dragon carving is for the man, and the one with the phoenix carving is for the woman, implying a bond in this life and never leaving." Qiu Niang handed the jade pendant to Yu Huolian, "Huolian should keep the dragon carving and wait until the day of marriage , and give another one to the woman you like..." Qiuniang laughed, "I heard Li Jing said that you have already engaged in marriage, which girl is it? Mother would like to meet."

"I……"

Yu Huolian's cheeks were slightly red, and she thought about it, and suddenly said worriedly, "Mother is already awake... Do you want to tell Dad..."

"Don't mind him."

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