Seven bitter flowers

Chapter 18: The dusty past

Ding Xiu slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was the light blue ceiling, and there were tiny dust particles flying in the air.The light was too glaring, so she closed her eyes again, only then did she feel that her headache was about to burst, and her mind was rumbling, like an old machine that had been running for a long time, and every movement made her brain ache.Someone next to her ear asked her: "Axiu, are you awake?" The voice was very familiar, like Zhan Zhao.But, why did Zhan Zhao ask her this?

A lot of information flooded back into his mind, and Ding Xiu slowly woke up.That's right, just now Zhan Zhao told her that there are many missing children in Jiangning Mansion.How could it be such a coincidence?After exactly three months, many children disappeared... The uncontrollable fear grew bigger and bigger in his heart, Ding Xiu turned his head and asked in a hoarse voice: "What time is it in early October?" When she arrived, Ye Shengtian put his hand on her wrist beside the bed, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were beside her, Zhan Zhao bent down slightly, with a concerned look on his face.

Ye Shengtian withdrew his hand, stroked his beard, and hummed: "The tenth day of October, why, I'm so dizzy that I even forgot the day? This girl is fine, she is just anxious, just get some rest." Finally One sentence was spoken to the people behind him.After everyone took care of Ding Xiu for a few words, Ye Shengtian lowered his voice and said to Ding Xiu solemnly: "Lie down and rest well, don't think about those messy things and things you can't control, the old man advises you to put it away as soon as possible." Hand, there is only one little life, you have to weigh it yourself." After speaking, he gave Ding Xiu a look, got up and left, and the others gave some instructions and followed Ye Shengtian out.

Zhan Zhao didn't move, he looked down at Ding Xiu, Ding Xiu's complexion was fine, but a little listless, with heavy shadows under his eyes.In the past few days, Zhan Zhao occasionally went for a walk outside the house at night, no matter how late the night was, he could always see the lights in Ding Xiu's room on.Zhan Zhao wanted to knock on the door to ask her a few times, but stopped several times, thinking that even if he asked, Ding Xiu would just make jokes and prevaricate.In the few months since Ding Xiu lived in Kaifeng Mansion, although the two are not as guarded against each other as they were at the beginning, Zhan Zhao can feel that Ding Xiu is joking and joking on the surface, as if he gets along well with everyone, but he never lets go. She seems to have built a high wall around her, all his questions and concerns can only stop here, and she can't go any further.

After being silent for a while, Zhan Zhao told her: "Take a good rest, and stay in Xingkong Island for the next few days. I'll go and look at the Jiangning mansion's case first. When you recover, I'll let brother Bai send you back to Kaifeng mansion." After speaking, she was about to leave, but just as she turned around, her wrist tightened, and Ding Xiu pulled her tightly.

Ding Xiu didn't look at Zhan Zhao, and waited for the others to go far away before letting go of her hand, and said in a low voice, "Zhan Zhao, don't leave, I have something to tell you." After speaking, she propped herself up on the bed Sitting up, he hugged the quilt in his arms, looked at Zhan Zhao and smiled slightly: "Sit down first."

Zhan Zhao took a chair and sat on the edge of the bed. Seeing Ding Xiu's serious expression, he couldn't help but raise his heart. He stretched out his hand to lift the pillow up and put it on Ding Xiu's back, looked into Ding Xiu's eyes, and waited for her to speak.

Ding Xiu avoided Zhan Zhao's gaze, looked at the ceiling, and said slowly: "Zhan Zhao, I have been hiding many things from you, and I didn't mean to lie to you. The fewer people who know about this matter, the better." Okay. Your government," she said, taking a deep breath, her voice trembling, "Your government can't control this matter. At first, I just wanted to use you to find out some things, and... also in the name of Nanxia to protect myself, so I stayed in Kaifeng Mansion, waiting for the opportunity, and waited and watched. Zhan Zhao, you stayed me in Kaifeng Mansion because you wanted to understand this case through me, but, the whole story of this case, you come here Don't you know now?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head: "My lord said that this case has a lot to do with Qikuhua, but it's just speculation. We really don't know the truth."

Ding Xiu smiled slightly: "Then today, I will tell you all the truth you want." She let out a light breath, as if she had put down some heavy burden, with a relaxed expression on her face, and continued, " Let's start with Qikuhua, which is also a very, very long story.

"My ancestor, Shen Changqing, the 'Qinggu Medical Immortal', was a genius in heaven and was taught by an expert. His medical skills were superb at a young age, and his reputation spread far and wide. Friends in the world gave him the title of 'Immortal Medicine'. Jianghu In the days when I went to school, I was always rolling on the tip of the knife. With such a great medical expert, who would not want to curry favor? But my master has a weird temper and is not good at making friends, so he lives in seclusion in Qinggu, let alone making friends with ordinary people. , Even if you can't even see his face, as time goes by, there will be fewer people looking for him.

"But one day, a little girl broke into Qinggu. This person was my ancestor's mother. When my master saw her, she fell into a ravine and was dying. My master's kindness broke out. Rescued her. After the girl recovered, she stayed in Qinggu. She and my ancestor fell in love with each other for a long time. It didn't take long for them to become relatives.

"Later, my master accepted Murong Qing, Xu Buyao, and my teacher's wife Hu Wan as apprentices to teach medical skills. Among the three, Xu Buyao had the longest time with the master, and he was regarded as the one with the most profound medical skills. I once learned poison art from an expert in Miaojiang, and she has the most extensive knowledge. My teacher’s wife has the shortest time with her master, but her understanding is the highest, and she is also the most loved by my teacher. My teacher and my grandmother are very affectionate. Since I have no heirs, I treated the three of my teacher and wife as my own children. The few of us get along harmoniously, just like a family.

"But the good times didn't last long. About ten years later, my wife was only in her 20s. She was about to say goodbye to her master and leave the valley to see the world, but my grandmother fell ill. My wife stayed in Qinggu to take care of her grandmother. But Grandma's illness is so severe that my grandparents can't save her even though they have excellent medical skills. I can only watch grandparents lose weight day by day, and finally lie on the bed, even my grandparents don't recognize her.

"My ancestor was heartbroken. He rummaged through medical books and tried various methods, but he couldn't cure my grandmother's illness. Finally, he thought of an ancient flower recorded in an ancient book, the Sahara flower. , that is, the later seven bitter flowers. It is said in the ancient book that the Sahara flower is native to the Western Regions, and it was transplanted to the Middle Earth. Poison, flowers that change color when they bloom, have miraculous effects. Among them, the flowers that bloom in seven colors are the most precious. Such flowers have three effects. The dead are reborn.

"My master went crazy looking for Sahara flowers everywhere, and even went as far as the Western Regions, but found nothing. After he returned to Qinggu, he didn't take a single step, and vowed to grow Sahara flowers by himself. His retreat lasted for three full years.

"At that time, my teacher's wife and the others thought that Master was crazy, but no one dared to persuade him. My teacher's wife said that the way Master looked at Patriarch and Teacher's mother before retreating, until many years later, she still wanted to cry when she thought about it. But Murong Qing was the most opposed at that time, and tried to rush in several times to pull the master out, but was stopped by Xu Buyao and my wife. More than two years later, the grandmother finally passed away unfortunately.

"My mistress went to tell the master the news, but the master didn't seem to hear it at all. No matter how I told him, he didn't respond. He just looked at the white flowers in front of him and murmured Words: "Ling'er, you wait for me, I will definitely save you and turn around." My teacher's wife has no choice but to discuss it with a few senior brothers, so I can only wait for the master to recover a little bit before explaining clearly to him.

"My teacher's wife and the others always thought that the master's retreat was just for fear of facing his mother's death, and the cultivation of Sahara flowers was just for comfort. Who knows, in the third year, my master really planted the Sahara flowers.

"The ancestor was very happy that day. When he opened the door, he called my grandmother's name loudly, and ran into her room with a white flower in his hand. All the ancestor thought was to save my grandmother. Thinking that Yin and Yang are separated, he devoted himself to planting flowers without realizing that time has passed, and the tombstone of my grandmother's mother was arched early, that is, the flowers really have the effect of resurrecting the dead. My mother didn't know until she died, and when she died, Shizu didn't even know about it, and didn't even see her."

After Ding Xiu finished this long paragraph, he stopped to look at Zhan Zhao, and said with a smile, "Do you think my master is a lunatic?"

Zhan Zhao got up first and poured her a cup of tea, and when he handed it to Ding Xiu, he said, "Senior Shen Changqing can do this for the one he loves, Zhan Zhao can only admire him."

Ding Xiu took a sip of tea and smiled again: "But I think that my grand-grandmother knows it underground, so she may not appreciate his actions. Maybe she just wants the grand-mother to stay with her more before she dies." Around me, people's lifespans are exhausted sometimes, so how can there be good results if we insist on relying on manpower against the will of the heavens?" She looked at Zhan Zhao, and repeated slowly, "How can there be good results? What I just said, It's just the beginning, and what follows is the real retribution."

The author has something to say:

Sorry in advance, I haven't updated it for a few days. . .I've been a little busy recently, and my mood is not stable. I'm afraid that what I write will be out of shape, so I haven't dared to write for a long time.

Let me sigh to myself again: this chapter is quite enough.

Finally, I would like to sum up: the dusty past has finally been slowly lifted...