set of flowers

Facing the sky as far as the eye can see, the incomplete white moon looks like the eyes of gods and Buddhas breaking through the night and peeking into the world.The bright moonlight whitened the night and covered up the surrounding stars, but the stars at the end of the night were dancing freely and shining brightly.

An Mingxi stood in the moonlight, let the breeze blow, let the crisp leaves rattle his ears, the striking darkness became white under his gaze, and the vague past reappeared in front of him...

"Don't cry." Luo Ling pressed his shoulders, tears were still rolling in her eyes, but she insisted on raising the corners of her mouth, pretending to be relaxed.

Luo Ling knelt down and gently wiped away his tears with a handkerchief.

"The concubine mother is just going to another place, even if she can't be by your side, the concubine mother will always be watching you from the sky...

"Sometimes I will look through the sun, and sometimes I will ask the moon, but don't stare at them when you miss me, especially Mr. Sun, he will be shy when he sees people looking at him all the time. If he is shy, don't look at them next time. Let me see you...lol what am I talking about...

She raised her hand and wiped her tears with her wrist, and said, "You want to live—you know?"

An Mingxi grabbed her sleeve: "I...Can't I go with you?"

Luo Ling shook his head, and continued: "What Xi'er has to do now is to live well. When the time comes, the concubine mother will come to pick you up, but if Xi'er acts recklessly by herself, the concubine mother will be very angry and won't see you anymore .”

An Mingxi sniffed and asked, "When is the time?"

Luo Ling swallowed his sorrow, trying to stabilize his trembling voice: "You will know when the time comes...you have to live a good life before then."

"But Xi'er has no concubine mother..."

"Good boy..." Luo Ling broke his voice, "Hao Xi'er, you still have a long life ahead, and there is someone more important than concubine mother waiting for you!"

"There won't be..." An Mingxi, who could no longer control his emotions, cried out, "There won't be! There won't be!"

"Hao Xi'er, Hao Xi'er," Luo Ling hugged him into his arms, arched his knuckles, and patted his back to comfort him, "There will be, there will be... Mother Concubine wants you to be happy Happy...will you promise to Concubine Mu?"

An Mingxi gritted his teeth and shook his head.

Luo Ling pressed his shoulders and pushed him out of his arms. Looking at the corners of his sunken mouth and the tear stains on his face, tears welled up in an instant.She raised her volume and said in a choked voice: "You are like this! How can you let Concubine Mu go away at ease... Please, it's the last... the last time, Xi'er is the most obedient..."

An Mingxi pushed her away, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed to the empress who was sitting in a high position. While kowtowing, he shouted: "Please! Please let mother concubine go! Please..."

The queen raised her hand and said with a cold face, "Come here—take him down."

"Yes!"

"Let me go! Let go!" An Mingxi, who was forcibly carried away, patted the back of the visitor desperately. Even if he was young, he could cause pain, but it would not have a big impact on the actions of adults.

Luo Ling, who was kneeling down, looked at An Mingxi who was carried away, and said, "Live well, don't resent..."

The flow of time seemed to slow down. An Mingxi looked at her mouth shape and understood every word she said. Her voice was amplified in his ears, and he heard every word clearly.

He was carried out of the door, the door gradually closed, and the angle of view gradually narrowed. An Mingxi suddenly shouted in his loudest voice: "I promise you! I promise you..." As if afraid that she would not hear, he kept repeating the same sentence if.

The moment before the door was closed, the corners of Luo Ling's lips still seemed to be pulled by an invisible fishhook. She stared at her red eyes, as if she had made up her mind to die generously, and also seemed to be resentful of what happened to her It's more like forcing An Mingxi to laugh until the last moment... An Mingxi has thousands of guesses about the last expression of his mother and concubine, but he has been separated from his mother and concubine. He can't get the most true The answer, the portrait sealed in the memory gradually faded...

He once tried to describe the appearance of the mother concubine, but he obviously did not have the talent for painting.

The dead are dead, and the living should be like this.The mother concubine told him not to resent, but how could he forgive the people who pushed her into Naraku?Among those people, he hated Hua Yaxi the most, but he became friends with Hua Yaxi's nephew...

He knew that being connected by blood did not mean that Hua Qianyu should bear his resentment towards Hua Yaxi, but if he really burned the flames of revenge on Hua Yaxi, Hua Qianyu...would hate him?

He was always hesitant about his mother's concubine's instructions.He thought that when a person dies, he will turn into soil, and there will be no future, but he also thought, what if there is really another world hidden behind the sky?Has his act of breaking the oath disappointed the concubine?

"Hee'er."

An Mingxi followed the sound and turned around, but the visitor took the opportunity to take a step forward, so the tips of their noses almost touched, An Mingxi noticed that this boy who was one year younger than him was actually even taller than him It's a bit taller—maybe it's grown up over time.

Hua Qianyu didn't wait for the reaction he wanted to see, the person in front of him just took a step back, showing no emotion on his face.

An Mingxi said, "Don't call me that."

"Why?"

"I do not like."

Hua Qianyu only thought that he was shy, and said with a smile: "Then Yu waits until brother likes it before calling him."

An Mingxi turned his back and rubbed shoulders with him.

Hua Qianyu turned around: "Yu has something to say to my brother."

He has imagined all the possible situations in his mind, and he is ready to deal with them. This time, nothing will go wrong——

"I don't want to hear it," An Mingxi still stopped, turned his back to him, and said, "I'm tired."

After finishing speaking, he continued to walk towards the door, leaving Hua Qianyu alone regretting that he had missed the best opportunity to confess during the day.

……

"The Suhu area has always been known as the 'Water Town Zeguo'. The yield of Shangtian is as high as five or six stones per mu, not to mention two crops per year. It is normal that the land tax is higher than other areas." An Mingxi and An Mingxi sat across the stone table, sitting Hua Qianyu on the stone bench turned and said to Longhuo and Liuhuo.

It seems that Zhang Huai is indeed difficult to deal with, even if they went to the south of the city to make unannounced visits, they couldn't find anyone who could accuse Zhang Huai.

Long Huo and Liu Huo looked at each other, suddenly knelt down at the same time, lowered their heads, and then Liu Huo said: "We are useless and unable to complete the task, please give us another chance, Young Master, Liu Huo and Long Huo will definitely not disappoint you. "

During the two days they were away, they almost couldn't stop talking, thinking that they had to complete the task as soon as possible and return to the two young masters they should protect. They visited during the day, and hurried on their way in the middle of the night, even at the risk of being arrested for violating the curfew.

Hua Qianyu said lightly, "No need, it's hard work, get up."

The two are still not moving.

"The two of you have not been seen for a long time, and you must have attracted their attention. You should not act rashly now."

"My lord, please punish me!" The two knocked their heads on the green brick floor at the same time.

Hua Qianyu was helpless.

An Mingxi asked aloud: "Can I ask the specific collection method of land tax?"

Long Huo replied, "Four buckets per mu."

The end of Hua Qianyu's eyebrows trembled unconsciously—an official dared to do something about the land tax?Commercial tax is not easy to check, but land tax is stable.

According to the tax law of Daning, the land tax is at most three buckets per mu.

"Get up, you've done a good job." An Mingxi said.

The two looked up at Hua Qianyu, obviously asking what he meant. Hua Qianyu suddenly felt ashamed, and under their gaze, he covered his forehead with his left hand and covered his eyes——

"Get up, I'm the one who made the decision, you guys are really doing a good job."

After the two stood up straight, An Mingxi asked again: "Why do the people seem to have no doubts about what you said?"

Long Huo replied: "Because...it was like this 23 years ago, and Zhang Huai was only transferred to Suzhou 16 years ago." If they couldn't find any other useful information, they could only search in the direction of the land tax, but the more they got The more I went deeper, the more I felt that this place was simply heavy taxation-but this was the only possible useful clue they found.

"23 years ago..." An Mingxi cast his gaze on Hua Qianyu.

Hua Qianyu met An Mingxi's eyes following the gaze that fell on her body, and said with a smile: "The tax law of Daning has not been revised since the first emperor ascended the throne, so...the corruption of the governor of Suzhou is due to the trend."

An Mingxi frowned because of his indecency, then cast his eyes on the two of them again, and asked, "Is there anything else?"

After Long Huo and Liu Huo looked at each other, they said in unison: "Nothing."

I tried to understand the situation of the previous governor, but ordinary people don't know much about the affairs of the government, let alone 16 years ago.

Hua Qianyu pondered on this clue: If it is to seek wealth, there should be a more secure way, how could it be... hoarding food, is it to plot rebellion?

If this is the case for the two state officials... there may be a bigger force behind it.

Hua Qianyu knew that if they continued to dig deeper, their situation would be even more dangerous.

It's like sneaking in a winding, long and dangerous cave. The deeper you go, the darker it becomes. I thought it would be the end ten miles ahead, but it's still dark in front of a hundred miles—do you want to turn back?Maybe ten steps forward, around the corner, you can see the light outside the cave, or maybe you can't see the end if you die with all your strength... The return journey is not without danger, but the forward journey is even more dangerous.

Hua Qianyu will be the one who insists on going to the end. He enjoys the excitement brought by the unknown and the glory that may be brought by reaching the end.

"Have you found out about the people who followed us?" Hua Qianyu asked.

Liu Huo responded: "Not sure, but there are doubtful candidates."

"Okay," Hua Qianyu got up, "Liu Huo will enter the city with me, and Long Huo will protect my brother."

An Mingxi, who understood the meaning of his words, stood up: "Why do you want me to stay?"

Hua Qianyu explained softly: "If you want to avoid eyeliner as much as possible, it is more appropriate to have fewer people." Besides, it is always safer in the village.

Reasonable, An Mingxi could not refute.

"Ah Jiu." Hua Qianyu called out to the person behind An Mingxi.

"Yes!" Ah Jiu took a step forward.

"...Forget it," Hua Qianyu waved his hand, "I'll go by myself."

He was just going to find Le Yang to go with him, and to have one more martial artist just in case - Le Yang, who was supposed to be on hand, was always accompanied by Le Liyou, and Hua Qianyu saw it as an eyesore, so he sent him to teach Le Li Worry about martial arts.

Hua Qianyu stepped through the moon cave, and said to Dong Taiyuan and Dong Qiming who were guarding both sides of the moon cave: "Look good."

"Yes!"

After walking a few steps, Hua Qianyu met Yu Chixiang who was coming with food.Yu Chixiang stopped in her tracks, bowed her waist and lowered her head, and only raised her head when he passed by her, and continued walking.After nodding to Dong Qiming and Dong Taiyuan as greetings, she stepped into the moon cave and walked towards An Mingxi.

"Son."

Yuchixiang saluted, put the wooden tray on the table, brought out the three dishes on the tray early, set them on the table, and then took down the wooden tray.

An Mingxi, who was watching her every move, said at this moment: "I'm not hungry."

Yuchixiang said softly, "You should eat something."

An Mingxi shook his head.

Yu Chixiang had no choice but to put the breakfast back on the wooden tray - but before she put it away, An Mingxi said: "You eat."

Yu Chixiang was taken aback.

"Have you eaten?" An Mingxi asked her.

Yu Chixiang wanted to nod, but finally shook her head.

"Sit down and eat."

Yu Chixiang looked at the other people present, both Ah Jiu and Liu Huo shook their heads, so she thanked, put the wooden plate on the stone table, sat down beside An Mingxi, and tasted breakfast gracefully.

An Mingxi raised his hand to signal Ah Jiu, and Ah Jiu brought the book and handed it to An Mingxi.So in this early morning, An Mingxi read a book quietly, and Yu Chixiang ate a meal quietly. The scene that was not harmonious at first seemed warm because of this tranquility.

There are only birds chirping and leaves ringing in my ears.

After a long time, Yu Chixiang took out the handkerchief from his sleeve, and gently pressed it on his lips, the water-colored handkerchief was stained red with lip balm.

She put away her handkerchief and thanked again.

She got up, put the wooden plate back in front of her, put the porcelain plates that were not empty one by one back into the wooden plate, then stood up, nodded to An Mingxi who looked up from the book, and then backed away.

After walking a few steps, the two masked men in black on the wall were so frightened that Yu Chixiang dropped her plate. She took two steps back and ran towards An Mingxi before the masked men jumped off the wall.

An Mingxi put down the book in his hand and stood up. Longhuo and Ah Jiuhu stood in front of An Mingxi. Dong Qiming and Dong Taiyuan ran towards An Mingxi, but they were entangled by masked men one after another. Had to fight.

Long Huo, who was also caught in a fierce fight, hurriedly shouted to Ah Jiu: "Go and call someone!"

Ajiu swallowed her saliva with fear in her heart, ran quickly after glancing at An Mingxi, and left the courtyard smoothly under the cover of three guards.

Appearing from everywhere... It seems that there are only these seven people—Long Huo raised his leg sideways, kicking away the attackers, thinking in his heart.

The seven people with clear goals did not change their goals because of Ah Jiu's movements, and they obviously came for An Mingxi.

Except for the two assassins who confronted Dong Qiming and Dong Taiyuan, the other assassins who appeared from all over the place did not take into account the disadvantaged companions, and came straight to An Mingxi—how could she guarantee that she was dealing with two enemies? An Mingxi's safety?

Dong Qiming and Dong Taiyuan slashed at the enemy in front of them with their big knives at the same time, kicked them away, stepped over their bodies and ran towards An Mingxi and Longhuo.

Long Huo also successfully killed an assassin, but three more came together, Long Huo could only tell An Mingxi to run away, so as to buy time for Dong Qiming and Dong Taiyuan to come - An Mingxi just took a step back, Then someone swung a long sword and stabbed him. He observed the movement of the person holding the sword and was ready to dodge, but Yu Chixiang suddenly appeared and pushed him away——An Mingxi who fell to the ground saw her stomach swell. The blood that came out covered the silver blade and dripped along the blade.

The assassin drew his sword, Yu Chixiang's blood splashed, one drop landed on the corner of An Mingxi's eyes, and then slid down his cheeks like tears.

At this moment, except for Yu Chixiang who was sitting paralyzed on the ground, everything around him was blurred, he couldn't see what the battle was like.He just picked up Yuchixiang and hurried to the bedroom.He kicked open the door, and his heart beat even louder after entering.

He placed Yu Chixiang on the bed, turned around to look for anything that could stop the bleeding, but Yu Chixiang grabbed his hand.She was crying, but she smiled: "No need, I'm going to die."

An Mingxi wanted to deny her, but even though his eyes were red with anxiety, he couldn't speak - the last appearance of the concubine mother overlapped with the current Yuchixiang, and he lost his voice.

"Just stay with me...will you sit down?"

An Mingxi sat down by the bed and helped Yu Chixiang who was about to stand up, but Yu Chixiang fell sideways and leaned on his shoulder.She raised her left hand and covered the bloody hole in her abdomen with her forearm.

She said, "You are so gentle.

"But you doubt me, don't you?"

Hearing this, An Mingxi looked down at her tearful smile, her heart skipped a beat.

"You think I'm going to kill you."

An Mingxi opened his mouth, but it was still difficult to speak.

Suddenly, a silver light appeared, and the sound of a sharp blade slipping through the scabbard suddenly sounded. Yu Chixiang held the dagger and stabbed at An Mingxi's heart——

"I do want to kill you."

……

Hua Qianyu pretended to meet by chance, and greeted the old man who was standing in front of the house holding a broom: "It's you, old man."

"Oh, so handsome..." the old lady couldn't help saying.She squinted at him and scanned his whole body, but still didn't recognize him, so she asked, "Are you..."

"The old man lost his way a while ago, and my friends and I sent you back here."

"Oh—" The broom leaned on the old lady, and the old lady raised her right hand and patted her left hand again, smiling kindly, "It's you!"

The old lady leaned the broom against the wall: "Come in for a cup of tea—come in!" She motioned for Le Yang and Liu Huo behind Hua Qianyu, then pushed Hua Qianyu's back and pushed him into the room. at home.

Ordinary dwellings are not crude compared to ordinary civilian houses.

The old lady let him sit on the wooden chair: "I have to thank you very much..."

She carried the kettle with hot water: "Son, are you a foreigner?"

"Yes."

"Brought by Luo Jingyi?" The old lady poured the steaming hot water from the kettle into the teacup.

"Yes."

She poured out the water in the teacup one by one as if she didn't know it was hot.Her smile was even brighter, and her kind wrinkles were squeezed together: "I am also from the capital, but my husband is from Suzhou... well, I can't go back."

The old man poured out the cold tea soup in the teapot, and then poured hot water: "Is there a place to live? Do you want to live in my house? There are still vacancies at home, and I have a granddaughter..."

Hua Qianyu listened to her long speech with a smile, and after she stopped, said: "No, I have a place to live."

"Where do you live? The inn is not clean."

The old man pushed the teacup towards him, and invited Le Yang and Liu Huo to drink tea together.

"Temporarily borrow Gu Fang Villa." Hua Qianyu held the teacup empty, and could feel the heat in the cup with just a finger of air.

"Oh, Gu Fang Villa... Does our lady still live there?"

Miss?Is there a girl from the brothel living in Gu Fang Villa? ——Le Yang was puzzled.

"Huh? Old man, your lady is..."

"Oh!" The old man suddenly realized, "It's already Madam."

"Oh?" It was a coincidence.

"I used to be the nanny of Mrs. Gufang Villa." Talking about the past, the old man was very happy, but suddenly changed his face, "No, alas, the master is dead, and the current owner is the young master... Alas, what a pity gone."

"It's a pity." Hua Qianyu agreed.

"Yes, ma'am, I was married back then, but I married a businessman... How can a businessman value love? If it weren't for his wife's status, the master might not treat her well... Not long after my mother's family left, my husband Just taking a concubine, it's really... well, but it's a pity to just go like that."

"The identity of the eldest lady?"

Speaking of this, the old man was full of pride: "Madam is the eldest daughter of the governor—oh, no, now she is the doctor of the imperial court! The lady of the official family does not marry an official, but a lowly businessman. Isn't it a pity!"

Hua Qianyu had an ominous premonition——

"Madam is the eldest daughter of the former governor of Suzhou?"

"Yes! Hey, kid, tea! Hey, why are you leaving in such a hurry..."