Dream Hua Embers Records

Seeing that Jin Lang sketched the birds so vividly with only a few strokes, Yan Yin couldn't help being surprised and delighted, "You can draw so well? Did you learn it when you were in Daliang? How have you practiced these years?"

"When I was young, both my father and my lady taught me a little bit, and my lady was also good at painting... Later, when I came here, it was difficult to touch the brush and ink, so I used twigs to draw on the sand. When the wind blew, the traces disappeared, and it was clean. .”

After hearing this, Yan Yin felt sore, "Do you want to work in the Book Art Bureau? I will introduce you, and then I will find a way to change your status and get out of slavery." Seeing that Jin Lang didn't answer, Yan Yin explained again, " Your Kang family, without the emperor's will, cannot be expelled. Until today, only a few emperors and concubines who gave birth to princes in the palace have been promoted as beauties. If I want to help you extricate yourself, I will only I can change your name."

Jin Lang shook his head.

"Why don't you go? You are in the Book Art Bureau, we can talk about calligraphy and painting all the time, and you also have pens, ink, paper and inkstones to use, so you can paint with peace of mind."

Jin Lang looked at the kingfisher in his hand, "It would rather die than fly, rather than live in a cage without worrying about food and clothing."

"However, your current identity is a slave, and you cannot fly freely even if you are in shackles."

"Compared with having my wings broken, I'd rather be in shackles; than be locked in a cage, I'd rather struggle in the mud." Jin Lang just shook his head.

Yan Yin was helpless, "You... how have you been all these years?"

"very good……"

"I want to hear the truth."

"It's the truth. On the northbound road, only two or three out of ten were left. It was a blessing to survive. Due to time constraints, everyone's slave marks were branded on them at that time. The two brothers who were the same age as me I couldn’t stop the pain and died. I also had a high fever and fell into a coma, but fortunately I didn’t die. When I arrived in Huining, because of my illness, I was not exiled with other older brothers to the bitter cold Wuguo City in the extreme north. As a slave, the errands are not tiring, the food and clothing are quite ample, and no one makes things difficult for me. Because I am young, everyone takes good care of me. This is already the best situation, what else can I complain about..."

"Then...are you happy?"

Jin Lang smiled bitterly, "How can a person like me dare to hope for happiness?" Jin Lang looked up at the geese flying south in the sky, "It's cold, and they can fly back to their hometown, that's happiness."

Yan Yin shook her head, "They will come back next spring, this is their hometown. They went to the south because it was too cold in their hometown, so they went to the south temporarily to escape." Speaking of this, Yan Yin couldn't help but think of the The home of Yanjing in the south.

"No, their home is in the south, and because they are afraid of the heat, they went to the north to escape the summer heat, so they lost so many feathers." Jin Lang refused to give up.

"You're still the same as you were when you were a child. You're just dumbfounded." Yan Yin said with a smile.

Seeing that Yan Yin stopped arguing with him and gave way to him like a brother, Jin Lang couldn't help but blush and smiled embarrassedly.

"Where do you live? Take me to identify the door. Next time I come, I can go find you."

"Don't...that's the place where the slaves live, it's weird, don't go. Besides...you go to my place, if someone sees it, there may be some rumors that are not good for you."

Yan Yin was right when he thought about it, but he was not afraid of harming himself, but he was afraid that it would bring trouble to Jin Lang, so he asked again, "Then how can I find you?"

Jin Lang took out a birch whistle from his pocket and said to Yan Yin, "You come to me and play this by the lake, I can hear it no matter where I am."

Yan Yin put the whistle to her mouth, and blew it lightly, and there was a shrill cry that made people's eardrums tingle.Yan Yin was taken aback, gathered herself together, and laughed at herself, "I didn't expect it to be so loud, it shocked me."

"It's only so loud that I can hear it." Jin Lang laughed.

"But this sound is too similar to Heji, can you tell it apart?"

"Of course! I made this whistle, and only I can tell the difference between it and Heji." Jin Lang's tone was a bit smug.

However, Yan Yin felt a little ominous: It is said that the crane whistled so sadly only when it was widowed, but this whistle was three points more exciting than the crane's chirping...

In this way, from winter to spring, the most noble prince and the most humble slave often meet by this empty lake, talking about paintings, birds, flowers, and beams...

Yan Yin brought Jin Lang the Four Treasures of the Study, but Jin Lang refused to draw a complete painting. He only liked to paint various birds, insects, grasses, and flowers scattered on a piece of paper, in various poses, and in various seasons. I gave it to Yan Yin as a reference for his painting.

Yan Yin also brought Zhao's food to Jin Lang, such as vegetarian gauze sugar, ice and snow cold rice dumplings, lychee paste, mustard melon... These exquisite snacks were also brought to the north by those Zhao's prisoners of war.

Jin Lang always ate in silence, with no joy or sorrow on his face, he couldn't say he liked it or disliked it, but he always ate a lot, as if swallowing his nostalgia one bite at a time.

The two lay side by side on the new grass on the slope of the lake embankment, looking at the sky.The angle of the slope is just right, and it is not difficult for people to lie on it, and they can see the entire water surface without raising their heads.

"They're back!" Yan Yin said, pointing to a line of wild geese in the sky.

"Yeah." Jin Lang didn't speak, just looked at them with squinted eyes until they stopped in Shuimei, and then said wistfully, "Most of them are not the ones that flew over last year... [-]% to [-]% of the [-]% are lost." After losing their lives, only [-] to [-]% of them can return, just like us back then...if it hadn't been for years of war, maybe...they would have survived more..."

Seeing that Jin Lang thought of the shame of being captured and moving north again, Yan Yin hurriedly changed the subject, "Can you tell each of them apart?"

"Yes, they are the same as humans. The patterns on their faces, the size and position of their eyes are different, and the color and distribution of their feathers are also different."

Yan Yin clicked her tongue in admiration, "You are really observant, I think they all look the same, I can't tell them apart at all."

"It's not that you can't tell the difference, but that you don't pay attention to it. They are like ants to you. If you don't care, of course you don't care. There are countless misunderstandings about birds in the world, and most of them are because they can't recognize them. because of his looks."

"Oh? Tell me, what misunderstandings are there?"

"For example, this crane, people say that they are monogamous, life and death will never change. If one dies, the other will never marry again. In fact, it is not entirely true. Monogamy is true, but it is not true that it will never marry again. Yes, some cranes will die alone after losing their mates, and some will find new loves. It's just that when one dies, the other will cry sadly, very sad, and will not leave the nest for several days. When people see it, I thought it would be steadfast. But this kind of sadness often fades after the new year... because people can't recognize the appearance of the crane last year, so they think it will remain virtuous for life..."

Yan Yin suddenly remembered that the courtyard where her mother lived was called Crane Garden, and her father often gave her mother some gifts with crane patterns. It must be that they had made oaths related to cranes, but now her father has remarried... Thinking of this, Yan Yin twitched the corner of her mouth, no matter how steadfast the oath is, it won't last for years, that's all...

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