Rong Xuan

At the age of 16, Cao Hui was ordered to marry Sima Xuancheng, the young upstart Jingling Hou.

At that time, not long after the most powerful tribe of the Huns had just replaced a new Dadanyu, and there was still some time before the autumn harvest, the war in the northern border became tight.

On the night of their wedding, Sima Xuan hurriedly left Chang'an and headed north.

The two people who had just met once in the newly married house had been separated for a whole year - even Cao Hui hadn't had time to see the person's appearance clearly.

Sima Xuan came back from the northern border again because he had to escort his father Sima Dezu back to Beijing to report on his duties at the end of the year.

At that time, Sima Xiu was still Du Qihou, and the Sima family was still living in Du Qihou's mansion. For the sake of the overall stability of the northern border, the news that their father and son were going home for the New Year had not been revealed before.

It wasn't even until Sima Xuan followed Sima Xiu back from the palace to Duqihou's Mansion that Cao Hui, who was in charge of the year-end affairs in Jinglinghou's Mansion, got the news, and rushed to Duqihou's Mansion with his aunt Sima Ying.

The front hall of the Hou Mansion was brightly lit, and the servants in the mansion were very busy coming and going. Cao Hui stepped into the front hall slowly after the servants had passed the report.

The etiquette education she received since she was a child made Cao Hui dare not look at the people in the hall presumptuously. She just followed her aunt Sima Ying's side, stepped forward, and respectfully gave Da Ma the golden sword sitting on the main hall. The purple-robed man kowtowed—this man was her father-in-law, Du Qihou Sima Dezu.

"Yingzi, Yuanrong, get up quickly." Sima Xiu got up and helped his eldest daughter Sima Ying with one hand.

Cao Hui got up slowly behind Sima Ying's side, but it was not her dowry maid Yun Yi who reached out to help her up next to her—this hand was quite big, and the back of the hand was a little tanned and rough, but the hand was quite With strength, he gently lifted her up steadily.

As if there was a sudden feeling in his heart, Cao Hui couldn't help but look down on this hand until he saw a purple cuff at the wrist of this hand and the white shirt exposed inside. .

The person who retreated from the court in the snow, Zhu Zi was the prince, and Cao Hui's face suddenly became hot-the person who stretched out his hand to help her turned out to be her husband, Jinglinghou, Sima Yuanchu.

This person... is the person she will secretly miss in her heart from time to time... Cao Hui's face turned pink uncontrollably.

"Yuanrong, I haven't seen you for over a year, why don't you look up at your husband?" Aunt Sima Ying teased her: "Are you afraid you won't recognize him?"

The bride has a thin skin, and even though she has been married into the Sima family for more than a year, Sima Ying's words still made Cao Hui's face blush up to the ears, and successfully made many relatives of the Sima family laugh in the hall.

Amid the harmonious chatter and laughter, the instigated Cao Hui finally slowly raised his eyes to look at the people around him——the youngest super-rank Liehou of Dachao Kingdom, her husband, Sima Xuan, Marquis of Jingling, and Sima Yuanchu. .

The shy young woman raised her eyes and saw that the person whose character she had fantasized about, and whose appearance she had secretly pictured in her heart from time to time, was really standing next to her at this moment, tall and tall.

Cao Hui's eyes fell on Sima Xuan's face, first he saw the tight jaw, his complexion was a little darker, but the lines were clear, and then he went up to the slightly thin lips, the corners of the mouth were slightly pursed, and the bridge of the nose was straight.At this moment, the man's long and narrow eyes were looking down at her slightly, the long eyelashes cast a thick shadow on the bottom of the eyes, and there was a thin scar on the left forehead - as rumored, this is A handsome young general.

For the first time in this life, the four eyes met at such a close distance. Cao Hui branded Sima Xuan's appearance in his eyes, but the young gentleman's eyes were too deep and dark, and she stood there for a while, not knowing what to do. .

The young man in front of her tilted her head, raised the corners of her mouth leisurely, revealing two white and playful canine teeth, and smiled softly at herself.

……

"What are you staring at me?" Sima Xuan couldn't help interrupting Cao Hui's thoughts. She touched her face, narrowed her long and narrow eyes, and teased in a hoarse voice, "Could it be my face?" Are there flowers growing on it?"

When Cao Hui came back to her senses, she turned her face away in embarrassment. After a while, she whispered in a voice that was almost a whisper: "This is the first time we have come out together."

This sentence was said very lightly, but it fell into Sima Xuan's right ear impartially in the swaying carriage.

Sima Xuan, who had no intention of teasing her at first, regained his spirits immediately, raised the corners of his slightly cold mouth, and leaned closer to Cao Hui: "You like to be with me, right? Even if you don't speak out, you still have to use the excuse of hating me to push me away."

Sima Xuanyi laughed when he was young, but he didn't like to talk like that. He had been away from the Northern Army for seven or eight years. Hui was speechless and didn't know how to respond, so he had to remain silent.

"...I won't tease you, don't be angry," Sima Xuan stretched out his hand and tugged at Cao Hui's sleeve, rather flatteringly, and said, "I specially asked cousin Shulun to help me book a table at Chunqiu Tower for us." A table of food and wine, Chunqiu Building is the leading restaurant in Yanyang, their chefs are very versatile, they are good at a rock sugar elbow, crispy and slightly sweet, crisp but not greasy, keep you wanting to eat again. "

The space in the carriage was relatively quiet, and the candle lights illuminated the car in a gentle orange-red color. Sima Xuan introduced Cao Hui's signature dishes of Chunqiu Building one by one in hoarse and delicate words, which made Cao Hui's heart tremble.

She felt a rush of warm blood suddenly pouring into her heart from all directions, and her heartbeat inevitably accelerated - she didn't know if it was because of the tempting signature dishes in Chunqiu Building, or because of the person who introduced them to her. .

Fortunately, Chunqiu Building arrived soon.

The carriage stopped steadily in front of the Chunqiu building, Sima Xuan jumped off the carriage first, and then instinctively reached out to help Cao Hui who came out.

"Jingling Lord, Jingling Lord?" A young man's voice came from the back of the carriage, interrupting Cao Hui's movement of reaching out to hold Sima Xuan.

But Sima Xuan didn't move, as if he didn't hear someone calling him, he just looked at Cao Hui with his dark and bright eyes without blinking, waiting for her to extend her hand to help her get out of the car.

"Someone is calling you." After getting off the carriage, Cao Hui's hand was held by Sima Xuan, and he reminded Sima Xuan softly, "There is someone calling you over there."

Only then did Sima Xuan turn his head, and looked to the left suspiciously——Cao Hui was careful, so far, she was completely sure that Sima Xuan had a hearing impairment in his left ear, but, this person was fine before, when did he wake up? Became what it is now?

"So it's Shubai." Sima Xuan took a careful look at the other person, and the corner of his mouth slightly curled up, the smile not reaching his eyes, "When did you come back to your hometown?"

"It's almost the same as Junhou." The young man called Shu Bai walked a few steps towards this side, and seemed to be close to Sima Xuan, "Junhou also came to Chunqiu Tower to eat wine— Huh? This is..."

Ji Shubai's attention suddenly shifted to Cao Hui.

Although there were not many people in Chang'an City who had seen Cao Hui's true face, there were a few. Unfortunately, this Ji Shubai was one of them.

"This is the daughter of Duke Xun's family," Sima Xuan intentionally or unintentionally blocked Cao Hui, "Thanks to Duke Xun's trust, I have allowed Gu to invite Miss Xun to play in Yanyang."

Surprised on Ji Shubai's face, he hurriedly folded his sleeves and cupped his hands to bow to Cao Hui: "It's Miss Xun herself, Ji Shubai at the lower Yushitai, who once made a living under your father's door, so it's very polite."

Cao Hui, who was wearing a veiled hat, didn't make a sound, but just bowed his knees and returned the gift to the other party.

Ji Shubai seemed to want to say something, but was interrupted by a waiter in Chunqiu Building who hurried over after receiving a wink from Liu Sheng.

"Fifth son, a few distinguished guests, but you want to move to our building?" The waiter, who is very good at observing words and expressions, respectfully bowed to the three people, and said earnestly to Sima Xuan: "The eldest son of your mansion ordered the villain to wait at the door. How long has it been!"

Liu Sheng on the side nodded secretly - this little waiter is a hooker.

"Then don't bother Junhou and Miss Xun," Ji Shubai smiled warmly and cupped his hands with the two of them, "Shubai also came out with relatives this time, so let's take a step ahead. Let's talk later and say goodbye."

Sima Xuan gave full play to his reputation as a "cold face", he didn't say goodbye, but nodded slightly to Ji Shubai as a response.

In Chao State, patriarchal power is paramount, and women have always been brought up in boudoirs and rarely show their faces, but Cao Hui is different. She was brought by her brother Cao Zheng, and almost ate all the restaurants in Chang'an City. She has a lot of knowledge, but when she enters After entering the Chunqiu Building, his eyes are still brightened by the decoration and layout of the Chunqiu Building.

The Spring and Autumn Building is quite a grand building, which looks like a circle on the outside and a square on the inside. Sima Cheng booked a separate private room for Sima Xuan, which is located on the fourth floor of the square building in the middle building.

"Even in Chang'an, it is rare to see a four-story restaurant building. This Spring and Autumn Building is so magnificent." After entering the door and taking a seat, Cao Hui said softly: "I have never heard of this name before. Maybe it is recently." Was it only a young age?"

"Exactly," Sima Xuan was happy to see any smile on Cao Hui's face, so he hurriedly motioned to Yuyan to ask the store to pass on the dishes, and said casually: "If you barely count this year, the Spring and Autumn Tower only existed five years ago." , I have never been here before, but Yuanzhi came here once four years ago. After returning home, he told me about the food here excitedly. I listened to it a few times, thinking that if I bring you here, you will definitely like it. .”

Cao Hui's heart was full of mixed feelings for a while-four years ago, in the 12th year of Jingchu, she was in the Luoxia Temple behind Wan'an Temple in Hezhou, chanting scriptures and worshiping Buddha all day long, but she couldn't understand the Dharma of Mahayana and Mahayana, and comforted her. The pain in my heart is tormenting.

At that time, the days fell into the mud. While she hated the person who killed her brother with her own hands, she was still remembered by that person.

In one thought, looking back thousands of miles, the old friend will never die.

Fortunately, the shop assistants quickly prepared the meals that had been ordered in advance, and they were all hot and fresh, especially the rock sugar elbow, which easily diverted most of Cao Hui's attention.

"Cousin Shulun sincerely does not deceive me..." Sima Xuan held a cup of hot wine in his hand, and squinted his eyes to watch Cao Hui eating on the opposite side, looking in a good mood.

Jade plate delicacies, raise a glass to throw chopsticks, one loves to eat, the other spoils, but after all, Cao Hui can't compare with that Sima Xuan who grew up drinking the burning knives and spirits in the north - the former doesn't want Sima Xuan to eat more Alcohol, and ended up getting drunk.

……

It was already sunny noon, and the person who had played with her brother at the Chengxi Temple Fair the day before was still lying in the bed tent, and Mr. Xixi, the partial student, was still waiting for her to go to class. Mammy came to wake her up.

In the end, I couldn't call her, and this talented girl made a lot of nonsense.

The mother was angry and laughed anxiously. She hung up the bed curtain and lifted her quilt: "Hui'er, Hui'er? Get up quickly!...Lazy girl, I can't afford it. When you get married, I see you dare I dare not sleep at my in-law's house until the sun rises..."

Huier, Huier.

Cao Hui woke up from a dream.

For many years, Cao Hui never saw the voice and smile of her parents when they called her "Hui'er" even if she dreamed back at midnight. During that time when the world collapsed, all she could recall was The imperial guards who suddenly rushed into the house to take people, and the scene where the elder brother Cao Zheng fell under the Wuhen knife.

Now he suddenly dreamed of his mother like this, but the voice of the person in the dream was faint and his figure was blurred.

She has always believed that as time goes by, as long as a person is still alive, no matter how big and deep the wound on the body is, it will heal one day, but she never imagined that the wound that was thought to have scabbed, but now it still hurts when touched lightly Get to the bone and marrow.

I don't know when, tears are streaming down my face.

The person who woke up after being drunk failed to touch the commonly used Supa from his sleeve, so he pulled up his sleeve and wiped his face indiscriminately, tried to sit up from the bed, and looked at the person next to him with red eyes.

It's just that in her misty eyes, drunkenness still permeates them.

"Fresh crowns and tassels, crimson robes, rich and purple princes, wealth and honor," Cao Hui seemed to be talking to himself, with a tone that wandered between sober and drunk, and said softly: "Zen has three realms. ——One is the fallen leaves all over the mountains looking for traces, the other is that the empty mountains fall into the flowing water, and the third is that the eternal sky has no form, but we are unwilling to understand. At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, I still do not want to believe it. I believe that you killed it yourself. My brother, even in front of my face."

As he spoke, Cao Hui raised his sleeve and wiped away the tears on his face, and sniffed very casually, "During these years in Hezhou, the first few years were not easy. My sisters-in-law bullied me, locked me in a small Buddhist hall, forced me to copy scriptures in Sanskrit, and only gave me one meal in two days... The house I lived in was also leaky, and my hair could be frozen in one winter. I had a high fever several times. Once, I felt like I was going to die because of the high fever... Even when I thought I could finally be freed, they just saved me again. The old saying that if you can't live in peace, you can't die well'..."

There were more and more tears on the face of the person in front of him, falling like broken beads, Sima Xuan suddenly felt a murderous tyranny in his heart.

The two hands on her knees could not help but clenched into fists, the veins on the back of her hands were bulging, and even the bottom of her eyes were covered with faint red bloodshots-it seemed that she was about to violently kill someone at any time, but in the end, Cao Hui gently Pulled the wrist firmly.

Shura in front of the mountain of corpses instantly dissipated all the cruelty. Sima Xuan lowered his eyelids and forcibly suppressed the choking in his throat, "I'm sorry..."

"I said this because I wanted to hear you say I'm sorry," Cao Hui closed his eyes and shook his head, slipped off the bed and hugged Sima Xuan.

Burying his face into Sima Xuan's right neck, he felt the beating of this man's blood carefully. After a while, Cao Hui kissed the scar left by Sima Xuan's neck through his collar, with a low voice. The weeping words reached Sima Xuan's ears word by word.

"Over the years, the person who was really helpless and became a lonely person turned out to be you, Yuanchu."

Compared with what you have suffered over the years, what I just said is nothing at all, but in the end, it turns out that you are trying to protect me, and I am trying to - to destroy your family.

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