Mikago

After lunch, the northwest wind blows and blows, and the winter sky is overcast, as if snow is about to fall.Ye Zuolan had nowhere to go, so she hid in the wing room and talked to her sister.

Ye Zuolan's older sister's boudoir name is Yueshan, who was born slim and beautiful at the age of eleven.Ye family's first scholar, Yue Shanqin, chess, calligraphy and painting are all well-versed in everything. Although it is only four years before they can get the hairpin, there are already an endless stream of matchmakers.

However, no matter what the background of the other party is, Ye Kaiquan will not allow it. It seems that he has a better plan.

At this moment, Ye Zuolan was snuggling up on the warm couch and listening to her sister playing the piano. She had nothing else to do, so she took out a piece of emerald green bamboo tube from the armband.He put the bamboo pole to his ear and shook it a few times, then moved to his sister and asked her to spread her palm.

The cork at one end of the bamboo tube was pulled out, and a small light amber ball the size of a fingernail was poured out.Ye Yueshan put it into the mouth under the signal of her younger brother, and tasted it carefully.The shell seems to be covered with a layer of frozen brittle sugar, and after biting it, sweet and sour juice flows out.

"Grapes?!" Ye Yueshan opened her eyes wide: "How can there be fresh grapes in this season?"

Ye Zuolan said with a smile: "These are grapes from Weilin in the Western Regions. The climate there is hot and dry, and the grapes are ripe for more than a year. After picking, they will be frozen with ice from the snow-capped mountains and sent here by the fastest horses. There is also the outer layer. Sugar, called thorn honey, is the syrup congealed from the desert thorns, and those merchants in the Western Regions also call it nectar."

"Nectar?!" Ye Yueshan covered her mouth: "It's the kind of nectar that falls from the sky? It's not something ordinary people can get. Where did you get it?"

Ye Zuolan proudly said: "In the Imperial College, I have a friend named Tang Ruilang, who is Prince Anle's nephew. This is what he gave me."

"Is that the Prince An Le who passed away two years ago?"

Yueshan took a deep breath, but her eyes sparkled brightly: "Isn't your friend a relative of the emperor? What does he look like? How does he treat others? Is he always superior?"

Ye Zuolan wanted to tease her, so she jokingly said, "Swiss Lang is approachable and handsome, and he is the same age as you. Why don't I go to a matchmaker and marry you to him, I think Daddy will be satisfied."

Ye Yueshan blushed immediately, she said "hate" coquettishly, and was about to say something more, but when she heard a "squeak", the door was pushed open.

The siblings looked towards the door of the outer room at the same time, and found that their father was standing there with his back to the sky, unable to see his expression clearly for a moment.

"You said just now that you met a friend named Tang in the Imperial College?"

"Yes, it is!"

Realizing that her father was asking her, Ye Zuolan hurriedly sat up and nodded: "His name is Tang Ruilang, and he is the nephew of King Anle. Daddy, do you know him too?"

Ye Kaiquan didn't answer, but asked again: "That child, what do you think of him?"

The corner of Ye Zuolan's mouth immediately raised a smile; "I remember you said before that I hope I can find like-minded friends in Taixue. I think Swiss Franc should be my lifelong confidant."

Then, he recounted the details of getting along with Tang Ruilang in the past few days, and laughed silly when he talked about interesting things.However, it wasn't until Yueshan touched his arm that Ye Zuolan realized that her father had never said a word.

"Daddy..." He looked into his father's eyes timidly: "Did the child do something wrong?"

It seemed that after being quiet for a long time, Ye Kaiquan moved his lips slowly.

"No, there isn't. You're doing great."

Later that day, the snow still did not fall.

After dinner, Ye Zuolan went back to the Imperial College, but Ye Kaiquan didn't see him off again, and unexpectedly forgot to mention the repatriation of the servants.

After the precious ten-day vacation ended, a new round of lectures began in the Imperial College.Following the lectures in Weiheng Hall and the endless endorsement and re-lecturing in Liming Hall, Ye Zuolan was soon intoxicated by the sea of ​​books and literature.

At the same time, the friendship between Ye Zuolan and Tang Ruilang is still developing steadily.Although Ye Zuolan was perplexed by her father's reaction, it seemed to be nothing compared to the joy of meeting a bosom friend.

Before I knew it, winter went to spring, and several decades passed.

Every time Ye Zuolan came home during the ten-day vacation, his father would not only ask him about his homework and life, but also deliberately ask him about his relationship with Tang Ruilang.

At first Ye Zuolan told the truth, but his father's reaction was neither objection nor encouragement, but it gradually made him uneasy.

Until the Lantern Festival of the second year, the Imperial College will be closed for three days.On the evening of the third day, Ye Zuolan, who was about to return to Taixue, received a beautifully carved ebony box from his father.

"Father, this is?"

"You take it and give it to that young master of the Tang family. You have been taken care of so much by others, it's not polite to go to see him empty-handed."

Ye Zuolan carried the box back to the Imperial College.I hid in the cellar and opened it: the lining was purple velvet, and inside was an exquisite insect cage carved from jasper. Inside the cage was a cricket made of gold threads, gnawing on cherries made of red coral.

Ye Zuolan had never seen such an exquisite and precious thing before, she was stunned for a moment, and felt vaguely inappropriate.

Although Tang Ruilang often sent things on weekdays, they were all small things such as snacks and pens and paper.Now that father wants to give back such a precious thing, isn't it a bit too grand?

But Ye Zuolan thought again, Tang Ruilang was not an ordinary boy after all.It might appear frivolous and offensive to return an ordinary gift.

Hastily dispelling the worries in her heart, Ye Zuolan took the box to find Tang Ruilang.

It was already time to light the lamp, Tang Ruilang was sitting under the window reading, but he found an extra head at the door.

"What's the matter, you still want to come to me so late?"

"I just came from home, I have something for you." Ye Zuolan's eyes shone warmly with the candlelight.

"Oh?" Tang Ruilang put down the scroll, patted the low couch, and motioned for him to sit down.

Ye Zuolan carried the box to Tang Ruilang's side, broke off the gold buckle, and carefully took out the emerald green insect cage.

In front of the treasure, Tang Ruilang didn't reach out to pick it up, and didn't even show the slightest bit of joy.

Ye Zuolan's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly asked, "Don't you like it?"

Tang Ruilang looked at the worm cage, and asked in a low voice: "Such a valuable thing, you probably didn't prepare it?"

Knowing that lying was useless, Ye Zuolan simply nodded and told the origin of the insect cage.

"No, I can't accept this thing." Tang Ruilang immediately declined: "It's not so much that you gave it to me, it's better to say that it was your father who gave it to me."

What does it mean? !

Ye Zuolan was not stupid, and immediately realized the implication of Tang Ruilang's words.

"No... my dad is definitely not that kind of person."

He felt aggrieved, and couldn't help defending loudly: "He just wanted to thank you for taking care of me. Besides... Shouldn't the strange things you gave me be sent by others? Since others gave them, then Why didn't you accept what I gave you?"

"These are not the same as those."

Tang Ruilang's face froze, and he reluctantly said: "I don't care about others, but you are my friend. The friendship between gentlemen is as light as water, so why give such a heavy gift as if you are asking for it?"

When Ye Zuolan heard it, she felt more and more unable to argue: "My father really didn't mean that, I don't want to be treated as the son of that kind of corrupt officials..."

He was young and in a hurry, and suddenly he was speechless; his little face was flushed red with tears flickering.

"Speak well, why are you crying?"

Tang Ruilang looked at him helplessly, and changed his tone to discuss: "Since you sincerely want to give me a gift, why don't you let me choose the one I like, what do you think?"

Ye Zuolan didn't know what kind of medicine he was selling in the gourd, but after thinking about it, it didn't seem wrong, so she nodded happily.

"What do you want? As long as I have it, I can give it to you."

"I want this."

In the next moment, Tang Ruilang suddenly stretched out his hand and picked off the orchid from his sideburns.

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That exquisite cricket cage was not sent out in the end.Ye Zuolan didn't dare to tell her father about it, so she temporarily hid the cage in the dorm.

After that night, Ye Zuolan did not see Tang Ruilang again for several days.

On the evening of the fifth day, he finally couldn't hold back his anxiety, and asked the well-informed students in the prison, only to find out that the Tang family had something to do, so Tang Ruilang took a full [-]-day vacation.

This also reminded Ye Zuolan of an important thing - she never took the initiative to ask about Tang Ruilang's family, only knowing that he was a nobleman, but she didn't even know where his home was or where it was located.

After struggling for a while, he finally couldn't hold back his curiosity.And the result after inquiring about it surprised him even more.

It turned out that Tang Ruilang's grandfather was named Tang Heling. There were three siblings of the same generation.After the first emperor abdicated, Concubine Tang gave birth to Prince Anle Zhao Nanxing, which was considered a rare event back then.

Besides, Tang Heling's second sister is also a famous beauty in the capital.In the [-]th year, she married the eldest son of the famous Xiao family.Their daughter, Xiao Yourong, is the empress of the current emperor, Zhao Wei.

Tang Heling has only one son, named Tang Quan, who is the father of Tang Ruilang, and now he is the Minister of the Ministry of Officials.

Hearing this, Ye Zuolan was startled suddenly.

He vaguely remembered what he had seen and heard in the early morning of the day of enrollment——outside Suzaku's gate, that middle-aged official in a purple robe riding on a white horse turned out to be Rui Lang's father? !

He pressed his forehead with one hand, and what appeared in his mind was his father's seemingly indifferent voice.

"...the way is different, it's just that they don't conspire with each other."