Chapter 24 Chapter Two Sword Nine

The sound of crackling firecrackers came from the end of the long street, temporarily suppressing the cheers and laughter.The air is filled with the smell of burning bamboo knots, but it is not unpleasant, but there is a comfortable warmth in the severe winter weather.There were few people on the street, and the paper flowers scattered by the big families in front of their houses were floating all over the ground, blown away by the wind.Occasionally, luxuriously dressed men and women hugged each other on the carriage, oil lamps were lit in front of the carriage, and copper bells jingled. The light from the carriage shone through the pane, instantly illuminating the faces of the drinkers by the window.He sat alone at a small table, with a pair of bowls and chopsticks placed opposite him, but no one was sitting.

It was the night of the Spring Festival. The rich and rich who usually drink at midnight all huddled at home, roasting their meat, and waiting for the bells of the Confucian Temple to welcome the spring.The decent restaurant also closed the front early and hung up the happy flowers for the Spring Festival. On the contrary, the inside of this small restaurant is very lively. There is a simple wooden sign on its door, which says "Tanggu Pavilion" .It is a small shop that only sells the best baijiu for a penny and a pot, but the drinkers who come to drink don't care. The regular customers are all foreigners who left home to come to Nanhuai to do small business and crafts. I don't have a lot of spare money, but I like the simplicity and cleanliness of this one, all of which are white wood tables and chairs in primary colors.During the Spring Festival, I was still stranded in Nanhuai, mostly because I didn't make any money, so I had no face to go home to see my relatives, and just got together.

A few merchants at the largest table in the middle seemed to be a little rich, and they called a large group of people and ordered a jug of white wine for everyone in the restaurant.The scene suddenly boiled up, an old cobbler pulled up the harp that he carried with him, and the young silk seller took out the silk she carried with her, weaved a big red happy flower and hung it on the door, and the shopkeeper was also single and homeless. In the middle of the bustle, a big pot is set up to cook mutton and fish balls. The delicious and spicy taste stimulates everyone's alcoholism. The merchants seem to come from the distant Lanzhou Basong. When they are half drunk, they are so hot that they open their clothes. Patting his belly and singing the difficult Jinbei ballads, there was a great crowd of people.

Amidst the noise, a black-clothed drinker sat at a small table by the window, watching all this with a smile, relishing it.When he came in, he told the shopkeeper that he was waiting for a friend, but the opposite side was always empty. The cotton curtain at the door moved, and the cold wind came in with a dark fragrance.The scene turned slightly colder, and everyone looked at this luxurious woman in a high bun in palace clothes in surprise. The woman didn't speak, but just sat with her head bowed opposite the black-clothed drinker.No one was embarrassed to stare at it any longer, so they were joking and joking, playing the harp and playing the harp, and the excitement continued.

"Long time no see." "Long time no see." "You cleared up." "you too." "On New Year's Eve, it's very presumptuous to invite you out suddenly. You can only make do in such a small shop, but their baijiu is very good, you can try it." The woman smiled softly: "I know the general likes to drink in a small shop. It's nothing to do on New Year's Eve. With the grace of the king, most of the female officials whose families are in Nanhuai go home to stay temporarily. I'm alone in the palace, and it's nothing to worry about." Things to do."

"Is Youyin okay?" The woman hesitated for a moment: "...it's not like his father." She raised the wine glass in front of her, but was held down by Xi Yan. "The wine is cold, I'll change it for you." Xi Yan took her cup, rinsed it with the liquid, poured the cold wine into the sea of ​​porcelain on the table, lifted the tin jug warmed in hot water, and served her Refill. The shop is small, but the white porcelain cups are large and square, held in the woman's slender palm.She lowered her head and sniffed the wine, but didn't drink it.The aroma of the wine was evaporated by the heat, and diffused silently, mixed with the fragrance of flowers on the woman's body, slightly moist, like a light rain of wine on Zi Linqiu's flower garden.

The laughter and voices from the nearby tables still came, but they seemed to be separated by a curtain. "The flowers in the wind pond are all withered, and I have been planting them all autumn." "Those pots of Zi Linqiu are now in the Nuan Pavilion, but gradually they will no longer work." The woman said softly. There was silence between the two of them again, so quiet that it was a little astringent. After a long time, Xi Yan finally laughed: "I don't have anything to say now, just tell me why I came here." "Well," the woman nodded. "The night before yesterday, another seven people were killed in the south of the city and hanged from a tree. You won't tell me that none of this has anything to do with you?" Xi Yan lowered his voice

The woman nodded: "They want that sword." "Liang Qiusong, the Marquis of Huangchang County, is now the de facto master of the Chun State. With his character, he will go all out for what he wants. But this is the border of the Tang Dynasty after all, and he dare not be too arrogant. Are you too arrogant?" Too nervous? Liang Qiusong is still far away from that sword." "I'm not worried about Liang Qiusong, but that the news about this sword has finally spread. When only you and I knew about it, I thought about killing you, and then I took this secret to the grave and kept it. After a thousand years, no one will draw that sword," the woman raised her head slightly and looked at Xi Yan.

Xi Yan looked at her.Having said that, there is no murderous look in those beautiful eyes, and there seems to be a layer of water in the clear and bright eyes. "What can't be hidden can't be hidden after all. Do you know the name of that sword in Heluowen? Xiqiergen Duragon, the sword of the soul-devouring dragon of hell, it is a weapon forged by the technique of soul imprinting, Even if no one knows it is there, its own power will resonate with other weapons cast in the same furnace." Xi Yan stroked the ancient sword with a special shape on his waist. "All I can do is guard it for one more day. I know I can't keep this secret forever," the woman shook her head, "otherwise I might really kill you."

Xi Yan smiled bitterly: "In short, you have killed two groups of Chunguo scouts before and after. Although Liang Qiusong is not a warrior, he is not a weak person. New Fenghu will continue to come. I still say that, if they If they don’t find you, don’t provoke them. You will always anger Marquis Huangchang or the king, and no one will be able to help you then.” The woman was silent for a moment: "Thank you General, I see." "The last thing, there is a guest I didn't expect, the Cangming Eagle, who has arrived in Nanhuai. I think you should know why he came here. I can tolerate you, but the Cangming Eagle can't, then In the end, the sword is still the sacred object of Tianqi, and he will definitely get it back."

"Did you tell him about me?" "Not yet, I keep my promise to you," Xi Yan sighed softly, "I'm afraid that I won't be able to fulfill this promise soon." "That's fine, they took all my things away, so there's no need for me to stay in Nanhuai. The general knows that a person like me should be wandering around like a lonely soul, but I just walked away accidentally. into this prison." "Is it a cage?" "The cage... In fact, I have wanted to leave here for a long time, and I want to go back to the north..." She put the white porcelain cup between her hands and rubbed it gently, looked down at the clear wine in the cup, the warm wine cup warmed her hands, and she showed a faint smile.In just a short moment, her bright face showed a girlish look, as gentle as a bright yellow spring flower, as if many, many things surged in her heart in an instant. Xi Yan suddenly wanted to know what she was thinking, but couldn't ask. "No wonder the general likes to drink in this kind of small shop. I didn't expect this kind of baijiu to taste so good when it's warm." She said without looking up. She drank the wine at the bottom of the glass, her face turned slightly rosy. "Would you like another glass?" "No," she got up, "I'm leaving now, it's inconvenient to go in and out of the palace." "Shall I send you off?" "No need," she bowed her head and saluted. "If I have nothing else to do in the future, I'd better avoid meeting the general. A very thick dark cloud has already gathered over Nanhuai City. Once the dark cloud collapses, there is no need to involve the general." "It seems that this New Year's Eve has to be here for a few drinks. I thought it would be a long time, but I have a lot to say, so I didn't arrange anything else to do tonight," Xi Yan smiled and raised his glass. The woman stopped a step at the door, watching the people coming and going to the brightly lit Ziliang Street, smiled a little, and said casually: "Actually, this is the first time I have seen the New Year on the street since I came to Nanhuai. It is so lively. so good." "Is your injury healed? Don't use that medicine again." "It's a curse, forever." She lifted the hem of her skirt and went out. As soon as the curtain fell, those who were still chatting, those who patted and sang alone, and those who played the harp suddenly all came together, stretched their necks one by one, and looked at the woman's back through a gap in the curtain.Instead, Xi Yan was kept aside. "You're so beautiful, why don't you keep it?" The silk seller's face was already full of wine, and she patted Xi Yan's shoulder, "It's because she came to see you late at night because of intentions." "That's right, that's right," the old cobbler came closer, breathing alcohol, his goatee trembling, "A moment in the spring night...worth...worth..." Xi Yan was dumbfounded. "It's worth a thousand gold!" The boy who carved the stone said loudly. "Greedy!" Xi Yan laughed suddenly, turned around and pulled the vertical harp from the old cobbler's hand, and pulled out the cigarette stick from his waist with one hand.He turned around and sat on the old luthier's chair, crossed one leg, and erected a konghou on his knee.The sound of the harp is thick and thick, but there is a sense of dancing and flying when the tobacco rod is plucking the strings.The sound of the piano suddenly exploded in the night, as if the candles on the table were all suppressed. It was a small tune "Yuanzihua" in the countryside of Wanzhou, and everyone in Nanhuai city could sing it.People's minds were all attracted by the sound of the piano, but Xi Yan, dressed in the long clothes of a scribe, suddenly turned into a drunkard in a rural wild shop the moment he played the harp, his eyes were full of unruly flavor . He looked everywhere, and the women at the tables next to him all lowered their heads in embarrassment. Xi Yan laughed even more, the provocation of the tobacco rod was a little faster than the ring finger of the luthier old cobbler, as if thousands of copper tines fell on the stone ground, and it was like a sudden rainstorm in the countryside.People suddenly thought that they were not in the capital of the Lower Tang Dynasty, but by the ancestral hall in the countryside. After the spring festival ceremony, men and women sat together on a mat, patted each other's shoulders and cuddled together. booze. "Look, look!" The old cobbler pointed out the window excitedly. The silhouette of a person suddenly appeared on the window paper, which was originally covered with a layer of shimmering light.She stood there quietly, as if she was pasted on the window paper, but also seemed to be far away.The hairpin on the head trembled slightly amidst the sound of the piano. Everyone cheered in unison. Xi Yan didn't look at it, but just played the piano by himself. He suddenly chanted in a long and manly voice: "The temple is high, the flute and drum are old, Candle tears piled red, how many people sing? " The sound of the zither changed suddenly, returning from the countryside to the red palace with candle shadows, and the layers of softness unfolded gorgeously, like a golden flower with a thousand petals blooming layer by layer. "With a lifespan of a hundred years, who should die? When you are born, you will be drunk, and you will borrow the moon to shine on the garden. I don't see the heroes of all ages draw their swords, and the iron flute sings the dragon's night; I don't see thousands of years of rouge and tears, and the dragon's blood thrush red. ..." Xi Yan sang a long song, the sound shook the house, and there were thousands of urgent strings, all of which were his pride, his ambition, and his vertical and horizontal.It was just like the young Jinwu guard guarding in front of the Taiqing Palace in the imperial capital fifteen years ago. In the dead of night, he climbed high with spirits and looked far away, drew his sword and hit the pillar, and got drunk with his friends.At that time, there must have been red-sleeved singers clapping their hands along with these defiant young people, with love and obsession between their brows and eyes. The sound of the strings has been pulled to a very high level, with a "boom"!All the voices suddenly faded away, leaving only a broken lingering sound.Xi Yan was slightly stunned for a moment, then looked down, and saw that the strings of the harp had broken three at a time, and his tobacco rod was hanging in the air. "The string is broken... The weather is so dry, I don't know when it will rain." He put down the harp, staring blankly at the night outside the window, "Who else will listen to me playing the piano next time it rains?" There was no answer, and the silhouette on the window was no longer there.