Lonely desert

Now that I frequently recall that year, it seems like a lifetime away.

Hundreds of thousands of years of time have quietly worn away the past hidden in the bottom of my heart. I don't know if it was restarted from the moment I met Yihuo, or if it is the end of seeing others separated by yin and yang now, the tide of reminiscence is slowly flowing In my heart, I once again glimpsed the reunion between me and Shan Peichaotang between the clear and the vague...

The palace examination finally ended on March [-]th, in late spring and early summer.The results of the palace examination were also announced at the gate of the embassy. Thanks to the emperor's appreciation, I was called into the imperial court under the name of Tanhua. Fortunately, I worked in the Ministry of Rites and assisted in negotiations with foreign vassals.

Since that day, I took a farewell tour on Chang'an Avenue, and I have never had the opportunity to meet him again.In the end, I couldn't figure out his identity, and I never wanted to meet him in the court hall after half a month's tenure.

He is the prince of the neighboring clan, and he traveled thousands of miles with his father and brother to worship the emperor.When I was still surprised at his appearance, he smiled at me calmly, as if he had foreseen the meeting here.

Above the court, I didn't have much communication with him, after all, the emperor has always cared about too much negotiation between internal and external ministers.If you are not careful, you will be accused of colluding with foreign vassals for intentional rebellion. Such precedents abound.

After all, I came to Chang'an for the first time, so I don't know the situation.Not long after Beidi surrendered to the Tian Dynasty, like other subordinate countries, he was unwilling to be the minister of the emperor, and was always ready to move around the border.Then, the emperor ordered all the vassals to go to Chang'an to enjoy the Lantern Festival together, and then naturally left the direct descendants of the vassals.

Shan Pei also stayed in Chang'an.

The heaven/chapo also said to the outside world that the princes and sons of the vassals were kind, and they gave them books in the court.

I have a idle job, and since the last time I left the son of the prince of the vassal, there may have been no orders from the heaven/chamber for a long time, so I was able to be idle, and thanks to the appreciation of the prince, I served as the prince's attendant.

Therefore, I had to meet Shan Pei in Shuxuanyuan.

The prince is kind and generous, and he is not very friendly to Shan Pei and others. He can often walk around the court and compete in papers and martial arts, just like his own brothers.

Dissertation, Shan Pei came from a foreign domain, how can he be compared with the prince.But compared to Wu, Beidi wolf son's wildness is not something that the prince can withstand with the power of talking about war on paper.

Seeing the prince fell to the ground by Shan Pei, I quickly stopped Shan Pei and went to help the prince up, but he pushed my hand, stood up stubbornly, and said, "Ci Chen, don't interfere."

"Your Highness, a competition is enough. In case of injury, I will not be able to explain to Your Majesty."

Shan Pei stretched out his hand to pull the prince up, and said with a smile: "Ci Chen, you don't have to worry, I know how I hurt His Highness."

"Yeah, Cichen, I have nothing to do. I'm not a fish under the sword. I can't do things to be slaughtered. If you have a sense of proportion, don't meddle in it anymore."

The prince stood up and patted the dust off his body, without admitting defeat, he said to Shan Pei: "Come again."

The competition between the two didn't stop until dusk deepened.

After the prince returned to the palace to clean up the bruises on his body, he suddenly thought of Shan Pei, and asked me to take some medicine for him on the way back to the palace.

Before the prince competed with Shan Pei, I hadn't seen the prince rewarding the medicine. The prince's current behavior really made me think that the prince hurt Shan Pei, so he took the medicine and hurried out of the palace.

Thinking that he must be exhausted from the competition with the prince today, when he arrived at Shan Pei's mansion, he didn't bother to ask the servant to inform him. The housekeeper knew that I had a good relationship with Shan Pei, so he took me directly to his bedroom.He brought me there, and he left. I saw that the door of Shan Pei's room was open and the light was still on. Looks like he's wounded.

Standing in the hall, I raised my voice and pretended to be joking: "The prince is so energetic, it seems that the prince is worrying too much after all."

"Chen?" He heard my voice and immediately sat up, hurriedly got out of bed to meet me, smiling like a child, "Why are you here?"

I stuffed the wound medicine into his arms, "By order of the crown prince, you brought some ointment for the son."

He took the medicine and dragged me into the house, "There is no one else, so don't call me your son."

The title of Shan Pei's son was granted by the emperor more than a month ago. Since the four tribes and other vassal states were willing to submit, they also granted them their homeland, and they were also granted the title of vassal king. For the son.

It was the first time I saw him with such a reluctant look, thinking that he alienated him because I called him that.

But after a long time, recalling those years, I gradually realized that maybe that was only one of the reasons, and the other reason was Shan Pei’s arrogance from Beidi. a shame.

After entering the back room, he picked up the medicine bottle and asked, "Why did Your Highness remember asking you to bring me medicine today?"

There is no one around, so those etiquettes are also avoided. Left and right Shan Pei is also a person who worries about etiquette in the Central Plains.

I sat down on my own, "Your Highness is stronger than Xingtou. You can check if there are any scratches or bruises."

He smiled and sat down, "Your Highness's kung fu can't hurt me." He swiped the ointment in his hand, regretting, "Your Highness's kindness was wasted."

I looked at his complacent look and thought it was funny, "Okay, since you are not injured, then I will go back and report to you." After saying that, I got up and pretended to leave.

"Huh? Ci Chen..." He hurriedly pulled me back, "It's getting late, what are you going to do in His Royal Highness's palace, are you doing a waiter or a waiter..." His voice trailed off, I didn't know Listen again.

"what?"

"No, it's nothing..." He rolled his eyes, and all his calculations were written on his face, "Well, I just suddenly felt a pain in my back, maybe I fell down, Ci Chen, please help me."

As he spoke, he moved closer to me, and then he was about to take off his clothes.

I teased: "Your Highness, that kung fu can't hurt you, can it?"

Shan Pei's movements froze, and then he denied what he said before, and twitched his mouth, "Who said that? Your Highness has improved a lot in martial arts in recent days, and in time, he will definitely surpass me!"

I didn't have any thoughts about his overly flattering words, I took the ointment from his hand and motioned him to take off his clothes.He happily jumped onto the bed, and after taking off his clothes, he lay obediently on his stomach.

No new bruises could even be seen on his back, but there were several scars, including knife marks and whip wounds, which were hideous on Shan Pei's back.I looked at his scab and didn't move.

Shan Pei seemed to be aware of my abnormality, turned his head to look at me, and explained: "My skin is rough, and bruises are not easy to show, but it really hurts, just this side..." He said and pointed at one place pretending.

I put down the ointment and said, "In my opinion, this is not a bruise on your body, but a relapse of an old injury."

He was stunned for a moment, and then reacted, turned over and sat cross-legged on the bed, "It's not an old injury, it's just a skin trauma, and it has healed a long time ago."

I said straightly, "Aren't you Prince Beidi?"

However, he laughed with me, and it was extremely bad.

When he asked me, I felt a little guilty, and I couldn't tell why, so I turned my face away and responded casually, "...just curious."

He changed into a more comfortable position, half lying down and said: "What's so strange about this? Our royal family of Beidi is not as pampered and pampered as your princes and princesses. Since I was 12 years old, I followed my elder brother to the barracks to practice with them , the first time I went to the battlefield was when I was fighting with the surrounding small tribes, when I was 14 years old."

He paused, raised his eyes to look at me, and continued: "However, this injury... also has my own reasons. The military law in the army is strict, and I am young and unruly and mischievous, relying on my eldest brother as the general. I made a lot of mistakes, and every time I made a mistake, I was whipped by my elder brother, and that’s how it was afterwards.”

I sighed and thought to myself: Yes.

Seeing his leisurely appearance, I also became playful and pretended to ask: "Does it still hurt?"

Shan Pei didn't know the trap yet, as if he didn't expect me to ask such a question, he sat cross-legged obediently, and quickly responded, "Huh? It doesn't hurt a long time ago. I said I have rough skin and thick flesh, and everything will be fine."

Seeing that he had already stepped into the trap with one foot, I knew he would be wrong, so I teased him and said, "Does it really hurt?"

He still smiled and said: "It really doesn't hurt, it's nothing serious, you don't have to worry about Cichen..."

I interrupted him, put the ointment on the bedside, got up and said, "Since you are fine, I'll go back first."

The smile on his face froze suddenly, he closed his eyes regretfully after realizing that he was being entangled in, put on his clothes and came to hold me.

"Cichen, I..."

I stood by the bed, staring back at him, wondering what else he could say.

"Although I'm not injured, I would like to ask you if I don't understand... Cichen, look, His Royal Highness has made great progress in martial arts recently, but I still can't understand the book taught by the master, Cichen..." He pulled his hands Holding my sleeves, innocent eyes glowed with pitiful water, and I blinked a few times from time to time, as if trying to shed tears.

Seeing him in such a state made it hard to refuse, I suddenly turned my head to look out the window, and quickly came up with an excuse, "Tomorrow, it's already getting late."

"It's getting late, you just rest here with me."

"You and I are... so wrong."

"What's wrong with this, Cichen, you are not a woman..."

"No matter what, you are also the son of Beidi King, a foreign minister, and now you are going to live in Chang'an for a long time. If I stay here tonight, those people who have already been eyeing you tomorrow may be able to charge you and me with some kind of treason. crimes."

Shan Pei said sullenly: "Now that I have come to Chang'an as a hostage, why do those people still stare at me like this? If my father and king have the intention of rebelling, I will not be in this situation now."

"The situation in the court is like this. Although the king of Beidi has surrendered, he has also taken the title and land in the heaven/chapo, and there are troops at his disposal. Even if your majesty is not on guard, it is difficult not to arouse the concern of those who are interested. .”

"Ci Chen, didn't you say that I am a foreign minister...you are really not afraid that I will pull you to plot against you when you say these things to me now?"

I thought he was joking, and replied nonchalantly, "I'm not afraid."

His expression froze on the spot, "Ci Chen..."

"Okay, let's go on, you have to be guilty if you are innocent, you can rest, I will go back first."