Chapter 7 Section VII

Ji's mansion. It was already dusk, the mansion was decorated with lights and festoons, and the aroma of the kitchen's cooking was already wafting around.Both the maidservants and the servants received a reward of ten silver cents, and all of them were full of joy, running forward and back to make arrangements for the food.There is a large vat in the middle hall, which is full of clear oil, with only a thin wick floating on it, and the flame is lit.It is a custom in the Tang Dynasty that this is the so-called "Tianshou Lantern". It is lit on birthdays and sent to guard it. If it can be burned for ten days, it will add ten years to life, and if it can burn for twenty days, it will add twenty years to life, which means auspiciousness.

It was not Ji Qianzheng, the head of the Ji family, but Ji Changye, the second son of the Ji family, who celebrated his birthday.At this time, the Ji couple was playing with the second son with a turning lamp under the eaves. Poems were written on all eight sides of the lamp, but only one side was open and could be seen.Ji Changye flicked lightly, and the light spun quickly. A horse running on it seemed to move, and stopped for a moment. On the exposed side was a small poem: "Take the sword to the yellow sand, and the horse walks to the end of the world; Thirsty to drink clear springs, and stay overnight at wild people's homes. "

Mrs. Ji frowned slightly: "What kind of omen is this, it's not good!" It was a life-repelling lamp, a gadget used by the boy when he was fifteen years old, and Chang Yede's poetry did not seem to be a good omen. Ji Qianzheng didn't believe this, and just smiled: "It's not bad, although it's not a sign of wealth, but carrying a sword with yellow sand and riding a horse to the end of the world, thirsty to drink clear springs and stay overnight at other people's homes, is also a heroic spirit." "What's the use of being a hero?" Mrs. Ji said angrily, "What my son wants is a life of worry-free, safe and secure. Chang Ye, I don't count the one just now, let's look at it again."

Chang Ye was also well-behaved. With another flick of his finger, he had already changed a song when he stopped: "Zi Luo Zhu Yi worships the palace, Baiyue Qianshan court crown; Haibo Mountain destroys and frightens the evening sun, and borrows the dragon cloud to enter the long sky. " "Good!" Mrs. Ji clapped her hands, "This is good." Ji Qian smiled wryly: "The preface doesn't match the postscript, what's so good about it?" "Worshiping the palace, courting the emperor's crown, is always a sign of nobility..." When Mrs. Ji said this, she suddenly stopped, her joy faded, and her face gradually turned cold.The eldest son of the Ji family, Ji Ye, quietly stood at the bottom of the steps, looking coldly at the harmony between his parents and his younger brother.Ji Ye was not born to Mrs. Ji, although he was older than Chang Ye, he was the child of a concubine.The concubine passed away many years ago, and Mrs. Ji never liked this child.Even Ji Qianzheng didn't like his cold and stern character.

"You still know to come back?" Ji Qian waved his sleeves coldly.Ji Ye hadn't been home for half a month, and since he took up the command of the Qingying Guards in the Wudian, he seldom went home at all, and his monthly salary also disappeared.Ji Qianzheng didn't care about a few small money, but he was naturally dissatisfied with his son being so wild and showing no respect for filial piety. "I'll be leaving in a minute." "Hehe, you're so proud of yourself. As a father, it's rare for you to come back and see me, and leave immediately!" Ji Qian was holding Chang Ye and his wife's hand, and stepped into the room without looking back. Zhongtang sat at the table and did not greet the eldest son.

"I came back just to say something..." Ji Ye stepped up the steps. "Ouch!" He accidentally bumped into a maid who was serving dishes, and a porcelain plate full of dishes fell to pieces on the ground. "What are you hitting!" Mrs. Ji was furious, "Don't you know it's your brother's birthday?" It is a custom in the Tang Dynasty that breaking dishes on birthdays is an ominous omen. "Don't you know his temperament?" Ji Qianzheng didn't believe in this rustic style. He pressed his wife's shoulder and waved to the maid, "Go down and clean up."

The maid looked at the expressionless eldest son in fear, and hurried down to get the dustpan.Ji Qianzheng's heart was full of anger, and he didn't even look at Ji Ye anymore.The serving maids filed in and passed in front of Ji Ye one by one, no one spoke to him, and no one looked at him.He stood there quietly, as if he had nothing to do with everything in front of him. After a long time, he turned his head and fiddled with the revolving lamp, and the galloping horses on the lamp were spinning under his fingers, and he watched those life poems flashing one by one with blank eyes.He is already eighteen years old, and he has never played this kind of game of pushing fate.At that moment, he suddenly had a strong desire to know what his future holds.Turning the lights to a stop, it actually stopped between two poems. What Ji Ye saw was just a galloping horse.He stood there dazedly.

Ji Qian took a glance and saw the eldest son standing in front of the lamp in a daze.Suddenly, a burst of flames rose up and ignited the surrounding lanterns. The fire burned extremely fast, and the life lamp quickly turned into a mass of ashes.And Ji Ye never had any intention of reaching out to put out the fire from the beginning to the end. When the maidservants came up with water basins, they saw the eldest son suddenly turn around, lift the heavy spear and stride out. The door was locked tightly behind him, Ji Ye silently faced the setting sun.The only thing he wanted to say was that he was going to go to war in three days, and it was possible to make a contribution or die in battle, but he found that no one really cared about it.

Under the setting sun, there stood a figure of a young man riding a horse and carrying a knife, facing Himeno far away. Lu Guichen had just brought his horse out of the palace and arrived here, before he had time to ask the servants to inform him.Facing friends, Lu Guichen saw Ji Ye's eyes, and felt the desolation of Xiao Sha that gradually condensed.He didn't know what to say, so he stood there immediately, watching, as if watching a sword slowly turn its edge. "Just now the Ministry of Internal Affairs issued an order from the lord to allow me to go out with the army to watch the battle." After a long time, Lu Guichen said, "This time, the two of us are still together."

Ji Ye nodded: "Then do you still have money?" Lu Guichen was stunned for a moment.His monthly expenses are paid by the palace, and the two hundred gold baht on the gambling table has been confiscated by interest, and there is absolutely no possibility of getting it back.And even if it is the son of Beilu, he is detained in Nanhuai as a hostage after all, and he doesn't want to have money immediately. But he didn't stand still for long, smiled, and stretched out his right hand to Ji Ye: "There is always enough money for drinking. Let's go!" Ji Ye watched his friend's smile silently, and suddenly shook his hand, and leaped onto Lu Guichen's horse.

At dusk, when there were many pedestrians on the street, Lu Guichen pulled the reins violently, and with a whip, the Beilu steed he was sitting on gave a long hiss, startled the crowd, and rushed straight towards the bloody setting sun.The people on the street retreated, and the laughter of the young people broke through the noise. Ji Ye walked out the front foot, and the plate thrown by Mrs. Ji from behind shattered behind the door. "Ah!" Ji Qian was full of irritability, and went up to grab his wife's wrist, "Why did you also drop something? Today is Chang Ye's birthday, and breaking something is always a bad sign. You are a mother again. Could it be that you are with a woman?" The child is angry?" "I'm not his mother, who is his mother? His mother is that lowly maidservant! Does he see me? Does he see you? Does he see his brother Chang Ye? You are the one who protects him and is used to it." What's wrong with him! What is he doing here? He sincerely messed up my younger brother's birthday, and he burned the death lamp. His temperament is really poisonous! Isn't this going to curse Changye to death?" Mrs. Ji said , lying on the table and crying. Chang Ye was a well-behaved child, and hurriedly stuck to his mother's arm. Ji Qianzheng did not expect things to become so embarrassing, so he could only rub his hands and lowered his voice to comfort his wife: "Oh! It's all over, it's over, let the cook cook again, today is Chang Ye's birthday, we are a family of three , have a good time." "What did you do? What did you do? You can't do it!" Mrs. Ji cried more and more. "Ye'er didn't intend to burn that lamp on purpose. A candle doesn't have eyes, so he just held it in his hand and played with it, and it's just a toy. Why should he be so serious?" Ji Qian was grimacing. "You still protect him!" Mrs. Ji's hair was messed up, her voice became hoarse, and she yelled disregarding her manners, "Aren't you still thinking about that lewd woman? You are thinking about his beauty and coquettishness! You You can't forget her! You even favor her son! You can't forget her in your heart, and you men can't forget her!" She yelled so loudly, but she didn't notice the sudden change in her husband's face.Ji Qian's wry smile of relief froze there, and was gradually replaced by another expression. "Are you crazy? Don't mention her anymore!" Ji Qianzheng's growl was suppressed in his throat, and he rarely opened his eyes wide at his wife, as if frightened and uneasy, as if he wanted to swallow her whole So hideous, "That woman...she is a monster!" Madam Ji was so frightened that she stopped sobbing unknowingly, staring blankly at her husband who seemed to be a different man.