Denghuaxiao

 The Lantern Festival is not over yet, and the lanterns in Shangyuan will not be turned off until the eighteenth day of the first lunar month.

Lu Zong passed through the crowds of people, and a mountain of lanterns appeared in front of him.

It's not right to call it Dengshan. It turns out to be a whole small street. A long string is stretched above the head, and it is decorated with countless lanterns made of gauze and silk. Under each lantern hangs a small red strip, with black letters written on the red strip. If anyone guesses the lantern riddle correctly, he will take off the note and go to the old man sitting aside to exchange it for a piece of silk candy.

 It is for children.

Those gauze lanterns hung overhead, illuminating the whole street red and bright. Countless people walked by and it was very lively.

There were several children walking in front of Lu Huan. They were a pair of sisters. The elder sister was about twelve or thirteen years old, and the younger sister was only five or six years old. The little girl jumped to get the lantern above her head, but she couldn't reach it because she was too short. The older sister reached out to hold the lantern, lit the lantern, and carefully looked at the red note decorated under the lantern.

 “What is it written?” my sister asked anxiously.

 “The branches of half-opened sparse plum blossoms are in full bloom—” my sister read out the words above.

The little girl looked confused, but her sister smiled happily, tore off the red note and pinched the tip of her nose, "I know, this is the word 'sensitivity'!"

 “Let’s go, I’ll give you some candy!”

The two sisters happily squeezed into the crowd, and their figures gradually disappeared. Lu Zhu was looking a little lost when Pei Yunying's voice came from beside him, a bit casually: "Lu Min is your real name?"

She suddenly came back to her senses and said softly, "Yeah."

“Does it mean ‘sensitive to things but cautious in words’?”

"no."

Lu Tong calmly said: "It means 'smartness and agility can be relied on but not relied on'."

Pei Yun’s eyes moved slightly.

 Lu Xu lowered his eyes.

There are three children in the family, Lu Rou, named "Rou Er Li". Her father wanted her to be gentle and thoughtful.

Lu Qian was named "a modest person, the handle of virtue". His family hoped that he would be humble and polite and not blindly arrogant.

Since she is the youngest and the most pampered in the family, her temperament is unavoidable and she always likes to play tricks, so her father chooses her as smart. He wants her to be smart and quick, but not arrogant because of it, and to be down-to-earth.

When she was young, she actually didn't like the word "sensitivity" very much. She felt that there were so many nice-sounding and beautiful words in the world, and her father was very knowledgeable, but he chose to give his three children such mediocre and devoid of characteristics. Therefore, in the past, I would rather others call me by my nickname "戈戈".

　　曈, Yuanri, is different from others as soon as you hear it.

Later she followed Yun Niang to Luomei Peak. Yun Niang never asked her name before she died and only called her "Xiao Qi". When others asked her when she was going down the mountain, she only said her name was "Lu Huan", as if saying "Lu Min" meant she had failed her parents' expectations of her, just like the person who picked up corpses to test medicine on Luomei Peak. Lu Huan, who framed people for murder in Shengjing City, is not the same person as Miss Lu San from Changwu County, who loved to laugh and play, and was the daughter of her parents and Cheng Huan.

  Deceive oneself and others.

"I still prefer your current name." The person next to her spoke, interrupting her thoughts.

　　“戈戈,” he pondered for a moment, then said with a smile: “It feels like the beginning of a new era.”

 Lu Zhen's eyelashes trembled.

 He actually guessed it.

Same, his men and horses are well-informed. Since we know that her birthday is on the first day of the year, we can naturally guess the meaning of her nickname.

Lu Yun didn’t speak. Pei Yunying thought for a while and said, “Doctor Lu seems to have read a lot of books.”

Nowadays, both men and women have official schools, but only those nobles can afford them. In ordinary private schools, unless it is a wealthy family, such as the master who hired Wu Xiucai as his daughter's teacher, most ordinary people cannot study - studying is also very expensive.

Lu Huo slowly walked forward with the crowd: "My father is a teacher. He believes that girls should study more to avoid being deceived in the future. He personally taught me and my sister."

　　Father always let them study.

 It just so happened that Lu Zhen hated reading the most when he was young.

She doesn’t understand the use of studying. Reading can neither make money like doing business, nor can it be eaten as two steamed buns when hungry. Even in the scientific examination, very few people in Changwu County passed the examination. What's more, she can't become an official like Lu Qian.

The aunt next door smiled and teased her: "Three girls, you must listen to your father's words, study hard, and become a talented woman in the future. Your mother is only liked by your father because of her good poetry."

Lu Zhen looked suspiciously at his mother who was drying clothes in the distance, and flatly denied: "No, my father likes my mother not because she can write poems, but because my mother is good-looking!"

The neighbors laughed, but the mother blushed and came over with a wooden stick to beat her: "You **** girl is talking nonsense again!"

 “That’s what it is!”

At night, she hid under the quilt and watched her mother mending old clothes under the bedside lamp, and then asked: "Mom, why do you want to study? I don't like reading."

 The mother stopped her sewing, thought for a while, and replied: "Reading is like taking medicine. The more medicine you have, the more powerful it will be."

 “Read more, you can solve your doubts.”

 “Resolve the doubts?” The young Lu Shu curled his lips, “If I have any doubts, I can ask my father, my sister, or my second brother.”

“You,” my mother smiled and pointed at her forehead, “when they are not around you, if you have something you don’t understand, you can find the answer in the book.”

"Why aren't they with me?" Lu Yan was not satisfied with the answer. He turned over and muttered: "As long as my sister and brother are here, I don't need to study."

At that time, Lu Zhen thought so. She believed that for every problem in the world, her parents, brothers and sisters would find the answer for her. All her confusions would be solved. She didn’t have to do things she didn’t like, and she didn’t have to read books she didn’t like. .

 And her family will always be by her side.

 Until he and Yun Niang arrived at Luomei Peak.

For countless nights, she tossed and turned, the pain of being treated as a medicine man, the loneliness of living alone on the top of the mountain, Yun Niang's malicious laughter, and the longing for her family turned into countless thick and dark hazes, woven into knots. Net, covering her in it. I always feel that my sanity will fall apart at the next moment, and I always feel that I can’t survive the next moment.

 During these difficult days, she suddenly remembered her mother’s words.

“When they are not around you, if you don’t understand something, you can find the answer in the book.”

She picked up the book on days like the future that she could not see, and the confusion of not knowing when it would stop.

There are many books in Yun Niang’s house.

 Most of them are about poison classics and pharmacology, and a few are about book history and economics. She could read the words, but she didn't understand the meaning, so she could only read on. In this way, day after day, year after year, I gradually understood the meaning of the book.

She didn’t know whether reading could solve her doubts, but in those years, reading helped her pass a lot of time, making those days of panic and helplessness not so difficult.

Mother must have never imagined that the little girl who didn’t like to study the most in her family and would hide her homework and throw it into the pond and lie about it being stolen would later read so many books and learn so many principles on the mountain.

 The person beside him said: "Your Majesty is very insightful."

In the Liang Dynasty, most fathers of ordinary families believed that their daughters’ families did not need to study, and they could just do embroidery and make nvhong at home.

Lu Zhen smiled faintly: "It's a pity that it's of no use."

Pei Yunying paused slightly.

"My sister is much better at studying than I am," Lu said. "The articles she wrote were sent to my second brother's academy, and my husband also praised her. If she were a man who could do physical education, Changwu County would have been a long time ago." He got the top prize. But he was still cheated to the point of death."

“Our family is all scholars, but if you look at the ending, it’s still the same.”

Lu Chen smiled, with a hint of self-deprecation in his smile: "Studying can change your life. This is just a saying that poor people deceive themselves. The most useless people in the world are scholars."

 When she said this, her tone was calm, as if she was tired of seeing the world through, and perhaps a little bit resentful of her own powerlessness.

 Reading is like the numbing powder that a person drinks when he is tortured by illness. It can temporarily relieve the pain, but it cannot make the pain disappear.

 “I don’t think so.”

 Suddenly a young man's voice came from beside him.

“Sheng Jing seems to be the only one who can study the Laws of Liang Dynasty so thoroughly.”

As if being hit by something, Lu Zhu subconsciously raised his head.

The young man looked down at her with a smile. The soft light of the gauze lamp hanging above his head jumped into his eyes, giving a deep and shallow layer of warmth around his figure.

Even his eyes became softer.

“Not everyone can kill someone under my nose without being discovered.”

 He smiled and stared into Lu Yan's eyes: "Doctor Lu, you are very powerful."

 Very...awesome?

Lu Zhen was stunned.

 It is not a joke, nor is it sarcastic.

Pei Yunying's tone was serious.

People were coming and going around, and there were bright lights all around, and young people in black boots and bright clothes looked at her with a smile.

 Sincerity, without any hypocrisy.

After a moment of silence, Lu Chen was about to speak when he suddenly noticed that Pei Yunying's eyes were fixed on something behind her, with a strange look on his face.     What did he see?

Lu Zhen subconsciously wanted to turn around, but as soon as he moved, Pei Yunying held his shoulders down, without waiting for her to react. A shadow covered him, and Lu Zhen's cheek touched the cold skirt of the other party's clothes.

Pei Yunying stood in front of her.

 The crowds coming and going didn’t look at this side more than once. During the Lantern Festival, there were so many lovers walking at night.

Lu Zhen was almost wrapped in his shadow, with his head pressed against his chest. From such an extremely close distance, he seemed to be able to hear the soft but powerful heartbeat of the other person, beat after beat.

 Especially clear in the surging crowd.

I don’t know how much time passed, but the force on her hand became weaker.

 He let go of Lu Zhuo.

“Who did you see just now?” Lu Zhuo turned around and looked behind him. There were tourists on the Flower Street beside him. There was nothing suspicious about him.

Pei Yunying's sudden action was most likely due to seeing someone else. The moment he pulled Lu Huo in front of him, Lu Huo did not ignore the coldness in Pei Yunying's eyes.

"A person you don't want to see." Pei Yunying smiled nonchalantly.

  Did not answer Lu Zhuo’s question.

Lu Zong pursed his lips, not liking the feeling of being kept in the dark.

Perhaps sensing her concern, Pei Yunying took a step back, looked down at her, and suddenly said: "Doctor Lu."

"how?"

 “The Qi family is checking you.”

Lu Zhen's expression changed and he stared at him without saying a word.

"We only found Lu Rou, not to your level." His tone was very calm, like a casual reminder, "But in the long run, it may not be exposed."

 As soon as he said this, Lu Huo understood.

The people in Taishi's Mansion may be suspicious of the Lu family, or even of "Lu Min" who has not been heard from for many years, but they will not suspect her, Lu Yun, for the time being.

Just because in name, Lu Shen is just a common medical girl from out of town, the doctor of Renxin Medical Center, and has no relationship with the Lu family of Changwu County.

But if she wants revenge, once she gets close to Qi Yutai, her identity will be exposed sooner or later.

Pei Yunying was reminding her.

"I understand." Lu Yan said, "What else can the Qi family do?"

Pei Yunying raised his eyebrows and stared at her for a long time. Seeing her frank expression, he finally said with a smile and a smile: "You are not even pretending to be in front of me now, are you broken?"

You asked him for information so blatantly, without any concealment.

“Didn’t Mr. Pei say that we are in the same group?”

 “Not anymore.”

Lu Zhen laughed lightly in his heart.

　　When she didn’t know her identity, she was injured, bought and sold and left in the hospital. She was one of the “group”. Now that he knew she was here for revenge, he looked like he wanted to clear the relationship immediately to avoid getting into trouble.

 The son of a noble family is accustomed to weighing the pros and cons.

I was cursing in my heart when I heard a familiar voice from far away: "Girl! Girl!"

Lu Zhen turned around and saw that at the other end of the crowd, Yin Zheng was standing in the crowd in front of the theater and waving vigorously to her. When he saw her, he smiled and walked towards her through the crowd with his skirt in hand.

This is very close to the theater. I think Yin Zheng and the others found out they were separated from her, so they came to the theater specifically to wait for her.

“Your friend is here.” Pei Yunying also saw Yin Zheng.

Lu Zhen turned to look at him, it was time for him to leave.

His eyes paused on the toad lamp in Lu Chen's hand, then moved to Lu Chen's face, and finally said: "The spring examination in March, I wish Doctor Lu all the best."

 Lu Zhuo nodded: "Thank you for your good words."

Pei Yunying didn't say anything. She walked straight away and walked a few steps. Then she suddenly stopped and called Lu Huo.

 Lu Huan asked: "What else can you do, sir?"

 He was silent for a moment, and then said quietly: "There will be more dangers in the future."

“Doctor Lu,” he said, “be careful yourself.”

The man's figure disappeared into the crowd of people passing by. Lu Yan stood in the hanging lights until a voice rang in his ears, "Girl, I finally found you!"

Yin Zheng finally pushed through the crowd and squeezed to Lu Zhu's side. She patted her chest and sighed, "After Acheng bought the dumplings, he turned around and said you were gone, which shocked me. Shopkeeper Du said you would wait for me at the theater to return the favor." I don’t believe it, but luckily he’s right.” After saying that, he stared at the toad lamp in Lu Zhu’s hand in surprise, “Where did this lamp come from? Girl, you didn’t even bring any money...”

“It was a gift from someone else.” Lu Zhu lowered his head and touched the toad’s head. The green toad’s mouth was so wide that it looked ridiculous.

“Oh.” Yin Zheng nodded without doubting that he was there, and looked around again.

"What's wrong?"

“Maybe I was blinded,” Yin Zheng smiled sheepishly, “There were so many people just now, so I didn’t see clearly. I only saw someone standing next to the girl. I thought it was Mr. Pei!”

 …

 “I just... seemed to have seen Prince Pei.”

 The huagai carriage drove through the bustling crowd. Someone put down the curtain in his hand and spoke softly.

"Master Pei?" The maid handed the warm stove to the person next to her and said softly: "Miss, can you see clearly?"

 The woman sitting in the carriage shook her head slightly. Her jade-colored emerald leaf cloud pattern embroidered skirt was embroidered with extremely beautiful Luan bird embroidery. The light from the lantern in the carriage fell on her face, making her snow-white face even more charming. She was as elegant and charming as all the noble ladies from Shengjing.

This is the Qi Hua Ying of the Qi Dynasty in the Taishi Mansion today.

Currently, Grand Master Qi Qing has one wife and one concubine in his house, and his sons and daughters are all the children of his second wife. After the death of his second wife, Qi Qing did not renew their relationship. The eldest son Qi Yutai now has a sinecure in the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the youngest daughter Qi Huaying is only seventeen years old this year.

Because Qi Qingqing got a daughter in his old age, and he pitied his younger daughter for losing her mother when she was young, he treated Qi Huaying with special pampering. The official family of Shengjing often said that Grand Master Qi himself was frugal and diligent, but he was especially generous to his daughter. The utensils and clothes that Qi Huaying usually wears are extremely beautiful and beautiful, and the princess cannot compare with them.

At this moment, Qi Huaying wanted to take a car to visit Dengxi alone. Master Qi promised to comply with his daughter's wishes, but secretly ordered dozens of secret guards to follow the carriage to avoid accidents.

Qi Huaying clenched the heater in her hand, her beautiful eyes full of thoughts.

Just now the carriage passed the lamp shed, and she curiously opened the curtain to take a look. She saw a familiar shadow there, which seemed to be Pei Yunying. He was walking beside a strange woman, lowering his head and talking to her.

At that moment, Qi Huaying's breathing almost stopped, and a burst of joy hit her heart. But when she looked again, there were only people and lanterns coming and going in the distance, and there was no trace of the person just now.

 Is... you read it wrong?

Qi Huaying himself couldn't make up his mind, his joy quickly replaced by disappointment, and a deeper doubt came from his heart. If it was really him, then who was the woman next to him?

The maid seemed to have read her thoughts, and pursed her lips and smiled: "Master Pei is so busy every day, and the young master has sent so many messages but has not been answered. How can he have time to visit Dengxi? The young lady must have misunderstood. .”

Hearing this, Qi Huaying tightened his hand on the heater and sighed with some regret: "Yes."

 Ever since he was assassinated in Baoxiang Tower and rescued by the Crown Prince Zhaoning, the Qi family should express their gratitude to Pei Yunying in both public and private matters, as well as in matters of emotion and reason. My elder brother works in the Ministry of Household Affairs and is interested in getting closer to the Pei family. However, the post has been posted many times, and the commander of the front department has been unable to find any free time and has never been to the Taishi Mansion once.

Qi Huaying felt a little astringent.

“Why are you sighing, young master? Didn’t the young master say that the business affairs in front of the palace are complicated? If you really want to see me, you only need to talk to the master..."

"shut up!"

Qi Huaying suddenly interrupted the maid's words, and the person beside him immediately fell silent.

 “This is what you can say!” Qi Huaying scolded the servant sternly, looking away in embarrassment, but his face gradually turned red.

She was seventeen years old, and she was already old enough to choose a husband. It was true that her father had never told her about her marriage, but she interrupted him every time. It's really because none of the so-called young talents can catch her eye.

 Except...except that person.

 Qi Huaying's heart jumped.

There was silence in the carriage. The maid sat on the side with her head bowed, not daring to speak.

 Qi Huaying bit her lip.

Perhaps, as the maid said, she should take the initiative to talk to her father.