Su Yan followed Zuo Qing all the way into the back mountain, and passed through the stone archway at the mountain pass. After many years of wind and rain, the archway has become mottled, and vines have covered the inscriptions along the stone wall. Amidst the fine snow in the sky
, the mountain forest is quiet, with only the dull sound of the snow bending the branches.
She stopped, and the word "forbidden area" was faintly revealed among the tangled vines. On the stone wall on the right, there was also a line of small words engraved: Strangers are not allowed to enter, and on the other side it read: Those who enter will be reborn.
The snow-white figure walked through the woods in the mountains and appeared on the edge of the cliff. He stood on the top of the mountain, with the wind and snow whistling past him. Looking from a distance, it was almost impossible to see where he was. Su Yang just raised his feet and suddenly remembered
Most of the rumors about the forbidden area of the Summer Resort were horrifying incidents, and she did not take them seriously. But at this moment, facing the warning on the archway, she had to be cautious.
Su Yan picked up her underskirt and ran quickly towards the mountain.
"Temporary replacement is not a trivial matter. Although Fo Zhen is a descendant of the royal family, she has never been in the limelight in Kyoto. How could His Majesty notice Fo Zhen and even think of letting her replace the princess?" Su Yan pulled Zuo Qing back to the edge of the cliff.
, questioned him, "I think it's you who is causing trouble, and you want to take this opportunity to ask for a reward from His Majesty!"
He turned around and frowned. After a long time, there was only an inaudible sigh: "Your Majesty has your Majesty's decision, and the Buddha has his destiny. How can you and I control it?"
"It's ridiculous! Fo Zhen's fate? When did you accept your fate? Or do you always think that other people's lives are insignificant to you, Zuo Qing?"
"Perhaps you don't know the consequences of resisting the decree. Let me tell you, it will implicate innocent people and cause more harm! No one can afford the consequences. Now it is a foregone conclusion. What we can do..."
"Standing back and watching?" Su Yan sneered, "Yes, you have always been smart, how could you do something that is not beneficial to you? Maybe everything is in your calculation. I should have understood from the beginning that since you can become Mo Fei
His adopted son cannot stand among the righteous!"
His knuckles were so pale in his sleeves that they were rustling in the wind, almost bleeding from pinching them: "It's not that you don't understand this truth when you scurry forward and backward, and I'm not afraid of death, nor do I seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.
It's just that His Majesty issued an order to the academy, and I can only obey it."
Su Yan was silenced and unable to refute, waiting for him to protest with an angry face.
He sighed: "This incident happened so suddenly that none of us expected it. The only thing we could do at that time was to choose the most conservative path, which would neither offend the powerful nor defy destiny. However, we definitely did not allow the unfavorable situation to spread.
Wait for an opportunity, wait for the opportunity to turn things around."
"opportunity?"
Zuo Qing looked at her meaningfully, and was about to explain to her when he suddenly noticed that Su Yan's face changed drastically, and she knelt on the ground with a bang. She lowered her head, and there were large beads of sweat on her forehead.
"You...what's wrong with you?!" Zuo Qing was frightened by the sudden change and was at a loss.
She coughed out a mouthful of blood, finally lost her support and collapsed to the ground. Only then did she find a black dart nailed on her back shoulder, causing blood to flow out.
The forbidden area of the summer resort, there is no return!
Zuo Qing hurriedly picked her up and climbed up another mountain.
There is a tiled house on the mountainside, standing alone in the heavy snow, but surrounded by green trees.
The person who opened the door was an old man wearing a bamboo hat and holding a hoe. Zuo Qing immediately rushed in.
"Elder Zeyuan, save her!"
As the sun sets in the west, the afterglow shines on the continuous mountain peaks, and the wild geese pass through the beam of light and disappear into the sky.
Su Yan was lying on the bed, tilting his head, staring at the snow-white sky through the window lattice. The pain on his shoulders had almost dissipated, but he was still depressed. Those who entered by mistake in the past were just thrown out.
, why is it his turn to die?
Her eyes accidentally fell on the bowl of brown medicinal soup on the desk, and she twitched her nose subconsciously. She had finished drinking the medicine, but she didn't feel bitter at all. Elder Zeyuan probably didn't have the leisure to put sugar for himself, and he only had left
Thank you.
She looked at him outside the door, standing in the sunset, so beautiful, but...
"If you can open your heart, maybe we can too." She smiled, buried her head in the pillow, and held back her tears. "It's a pity that you don't want to give us this opportunity."
The last light was gone, and only the candle on the window sill was still dimly lit in the room. The surroundings were dark, and she gradually fell asleep.
The night was crimson, and everything in the mountain seemed to be still. Only Zuo Qing stood on the hillside, sighing from time to time, and the sound of Ze Yuan stepping on the snow under his feet. He was holding a large cloak embroidered with landscapes in his hand, kneeling with a solemn expression.
At Zuo Qing's feet.
"Ze Yuan pays homage to the young master."
Zuo Qing looked at this great cloak and stretched out his hand to touch the brocade fabric. The silk thread made of twisted peacock feathers drew this northern landscape map. It was once a treasure of the King of Zhao's palace and was awarded to the marshal at that time. He went on several expeditions with him.
On the icy and snowy battlefield, I saved him time and time again.
Ze Yuan raised his trembling hands high: "Ze Yuan exhausted all his connections and finally found the young master...how to deal with it?"
Zuo Qing frowned, and the landscape map under his palm was distorted by his grasp.
"Young Master?" Zeyuan asked in a low voice. He knew that what he just said reminded the young master of the past, and he couldn't help but blame himself.
If the Xuan family is here, this treasure will definitely be the most dazzling among the six countries. Wearing it and walking on the streets of Zhao will definitely attract countless stops and envy, but...
Zuo Qing silently let go of his hand, smiled bitterly, and said: "It has disappeared for ten years. Now that it reappears, it will definitely cause a commotion. It is better to destroy it."
Zeyuan looked at him in shock: "This is something that the master regards as a treasure. You..."
"It shouldn't appear in Rong Guo, let alone next to me."
Zeyuan lowered his arm regretfully, but his hand still held it stubbornly, refusing to give up.
Zuo Qing has always been curious about this old steward of the Xuan family. What kind of gift can make a person with outstanding martial arts willing to be a steward in the Xuan family and be so loyal. What is his identity and purpose?
?
He never asked, and he never mentioned it.
Zuo Qing leaned down, patted his shoulder gently, and said comfortingly: "Elder Zeyuan, you are older than me, so you should be more open-minded than me."
Zeyuan stood up on his knees, nodded and said, "Zeyuan has crossed the line. Since the young master has given orders, Zeyuan will definitely obey!"
Zuo Qing looked at the stubborn old man in front of him, feeling extremely helpless.
Ze Yuan noticed something strange on his face and immediately knelt on the ground, "Ze Yuan said the wrong thing!" He almost cried, "Young master, please keep yourself safe and don't be affected by emotions!"
Zuo Qing smiled lightly and helped him up: "You don't have to be like this. I am not the young master now, and you are not the manager of the Xuan family."
Zeyuan realized that he had made a mistake and immediately corrected him, "Yes, yes, I am Zeyuan now, what are the young...master's plans now?"
"Tomorrow is the competition for marriage, and I have one more thing to trouble you with."
Zeyuan had the urge to kneel down again, but he suppressed it and replied respectfully: "My lord, just ask."
"Tomorrow in the arena, Xilou will be the last to go up. I need you to arrange someone with martial arts superior to him."
Zeyuan was confused when he heard this, "If you want Xilou to win, why do you still..."
"You can just find him."
Zeyuan quickly thought that he had made him angry, so he hurriedly knelt down. Zuo Qing held him down and said helplessly: "From now on, I have to change my habit of kneeling all the time."
Ze Yuan smiled awkwardly, "There are people with strong martial arts skills. I will inform my subordinates immediately so that I can catch up with tomorrow's competition."
"I'm sorry."
"My lord, please don't be polite to Ze Yuan! Ze Yuan can't bear it. By the way, Yan Sheng came here when your lord was unconscious. He left this letter and rushed back."
Zuo Qing took the letter and opened it doubtfully, and couldn't help but smile, "There is some new news from Madam Xu. God is really helping me. There will be a good show in the martial arts competition tomorrow."
Zeyuan glanced at the words on the letter curiously, but he couldn't see clearly and was still curious, so he had to bite the bullet and ask: "What did Mrs. Xu say?"
Zuo Qing simply showed him the letter. Zeyuan read it roughly and clenched his fists excitedly, "That old thief Mo Fei is going to get another pawn! Does your Excellency need me to do anything else?"
"I will handle this matter. You just need to make all-out preparations for the martial arts competition to recruit a bride. Time is running out, so please take action immediately, elders."
"Yes." After saying that, he hugged the things in his hands tightly and immediately went down the mountain.
Zuo Qing watched him go away and moved his gaze to the night sky. On his pale and weak face, there was no trace of life in the sunken eyes.
The night wind blew sharply past his ears, making him tremble slightly with the cold. Finally, unable to resist the cold, he got up and went back to his room.
When the first ray of morning light shone on Su Yan's face, it was already midnight. She stretched out lazily, turned her head to look out the window, and was stunned.
The majestic mountain peak stands among the floating cloud barriers, with thousands of walls standing like a barrier, isolating this place from the outside world. The scenery on the mountain is beautiful, and the sound of birdsong is endless.
Yesterday, due to pain, I did not carefully observe the scenery outside the window. When I noticed it, my heart suddenly became enlightened, and the loss of last night was also swept away.
"Are you awake?"
When Su Yan turned around, he had already walked over with two steaming bowls of wild vegetable porridge in his hands. He sat down at the dining table and waved to her.
Su Yan was in a daze. From Kuai Feng Town to now, Zuo Qing had never taken the initiative to care about him. She had always been the one to laugh with him and talk nonsense. The response he got was just a smile that couldn't be more bland.
Is he too unfeeling, or is he too enthusiastic? Su Yan didn't know, and didn't want to dwell on it anymore.
She grinned, knowing that she had never said those words or those thoughts to him.
"It smells so good! Did you make it?"
"The elders made it."
Su Yan didn't pay attention. He took the porridge and drank it all in one gulp. Then he returned the bowl to him and said, "I have to go find the Buddha. You can go back by yourself."
"You...don't want to hear about Fo Zhen?"
Su Yan's eyes lit up: "Do you have any idea?"
"Xi Lou also asked me if there was any way to save Fo Zhen. It's not that I don't want to save him. Yesterday, you were too anxious. Xi Lou and I couldn't talk to you in detail in that situation. I have already planned for Fo Zhen. Everything
, just wait for the competition to begin."
"What's the meaning?"
But he didn't want to go into details and just said: "It's almost time. If we rush after breakfast, we should still be able to catch up with the first ten games."
"So fast?"
"The inkstone student just came to report, and it was done in advance."
"Ahead of schedule? Then... what should we do with the Buddha?! Do we really let it go? Just send the Buddha into the tiger's mouth like this?"
Zuo Qing walked up to her slowly, "How are you sure it must be the tiger's mouth?"
Su Yan suddenly felt a glimmer of hope and said: "Yes, you just said yesterday that there is a way to reverse it, what is it?!"
Zuo Qing gave up and said, "Just watch the competition, I will take care of the rest."