Lamp Flower Smile

The flying snow is like a jade-like flower, floating unevenly.

All the orange lights in front of the window were blown out by the north wind, and deeper into the courtyard at night, the branches of plum trees were covered with snow.

In this silence and darkness, a hand stretched out from the side, and the fire broke out to light a new lamp.

Someone lit a lamp and illuminated the night many years later.

The warm flames in the silver lamp suddenly brightened up, driving away the thick night fog just now. Everything in the room in front of the window gradually became clear. The young man sitting opposite was attracted by the color of the lamp. Looking closely, the warm color fell on him, clearly showing that it was winter. It was the twelfth lunar month, but because of the bright silver platform, there was actually a hint of spring.

Lu Zhuo looked at Pei Yunying blankly.

Where is he.

He was sitting in front of her, with a smile on his face and eyes, relaxed and relaxed. For a moment, he gradually overlapped with the shadow that played with the lanterns in the ruined temple in Sunan City many years ago and suddenly appeared in the execution ground in the wind and snow.

He is... that person.

Lu Zhen understood in an instant.

He was the man in black that he met in that heavy snow.

The wick of the newly lit lamp was bright and dim. Pei Yunying lowered his head and took a sip of the tea in front of him, not noticing the strange look on Lu Zhuo's expression.

Lu Chen felt a little dazed.

She remembered the heavy snowfall in Sunan City.

That day, she was forced to save a stranger whose identity was a mystery. It was her first time as a "doctor" and her first time sewing wounds on someone. It was a cold day, and it was very cold in Sunan City. Later, she fell asleep and woke up in the early morning.

There was no trace of the man in black in the ruined temple, and the lamp oil on the altar table had burned out. She stood up and found that she was covered with a torn blanket, and she still held the old silver ring tightly in her hand.

She got up from the ground, walked out with the medical kit in her arms, and opened the temple door. The sun was shining brightly outside and the heavy snow had stopped.

She never saw the man in black again.

Like the fleeting heavy snowfall in Sunan City, there is no trace left after waking up from the dream. If it weren't for that silver ring, she would have thought that everything was just a strange and thrilling old dream she had under the clay statue in the ruined temple. Everything was in a trance and hazy, but today, on the same cold and snowy night, the old dream came to a stop again.

The falling snow is like flying spring flowers, and the shadows of the window are passing by affectionately. The old lanterns are cold and turn to ashes, and the new silver vat is spitting out red flames. The past and present, time is strangely lingering, rubbing years ago and many years later into that touch Burning lamp shadow.

Actually, it's not many years, just four or five years.

Lu Chen stared at the person opposite.

Why wasn't it recognized?

His voice, his teasing tone, and his bright and dark eyes, in fact, if you look closely, they are very similar to those back then.

But there seemed to be subtle differences. His silver knife, the ferocity hidden under the gentle appearance, and the occasional harshness in his eyes seemed to be different from those in the ruined temple back then.

Besides, he didn't recognize her.

She didn't take it seriously when they met by chance, which was not a pleasant encounter. She accidentally escaped from the snowy passers-by under the same roof, but they had to go their separate ways after a short stay.

If it weren't for revenge, she wouldn't have come to Shengjing at all. The encounter many years ago had long been forgotten by her. In the huge sea of ​​people, who would have thought that we would meet again at this time.

Pei Yunying raised his eyes and met Lu Zhen's gaze staring at him.

He was stunned, looked down at himself, and said inexplicably: "Why are you looking at me like this?"

"I was just thinking," Lu Zhuo looked away: "She is retaliating against you like this, but you are not angry."

"She's just a little girl, and she's my savior. If she gets angry, wouldn't she be repaying kindness with enmity?"

Pei Yunying held her chin with one hand and looked at the tea cup in front of her: "We are both fallen people from the end of the world."

With the world people?

Lu Zhuo was slightly startled.

She didn't know what Pei Yunying had gone through in Sunan at that time, but under those circumstances, she didn't have much ill feelings toward the man in black. Probably because he thought that an assassin who would pay doctors for consultation could never be any worse, no matter how bad he was.

Pei Yunying raised her eyes, glanced at Lu Chen, and said thoughtfully, "Speaking of which, you and her are quite similar."

Lu Zhuo's heart skipped a beat and he subconsciously looked at him.

The young man smiled and said, "She is still a child. She was only eleven or twelve years old back then, and she was only here." He stretched out his hand and gestured, "She is probably a fledgling, and her medical skills are not as good as mine, but," Pei Yunying paused, " You are much more vicious than she is."

Lu Chen: "..."

She was still young when she met Pei Yunying in Southern Jiangsu. She had not yet really learned how to make poison, and her temperament had not yet changed drastically. The appearance of a dumpling has not completely faded away, and he is especially childish. In Pei Yunying's eyes at that time, he was probably just a child with weird behavior.

He didn't recognize himself, which was unusual.

Pei Yunying glanced sideways at the injury on his shoulder. He didn't know what he thought of, but he clicked his tongue and said in disgust: "The embroidery work is really bad."

Lu Chen: "..."

Looking along Pei Yunying's shoulder, the scar has faded over time and is no longer as ferocious as before, but the rough fact still cannot be changed. His new and old wounds all passed through her hands, like the same painting, painted at different times, from clumsy to delicate, and recorded.

Inexplicably, Lu Yan suddenly remembered what Pei Yunshu had said to her during the baby shower at Wenjun Prince's Palace.

Pei Yunshu asked: "Doctor Lu is from Southern Jiangsu, and Aying also went to Southern Jiangsu a few years ago. Did you meet in Southern Jiangsu?"

She subconsciously denied it at that time, but she never thought that, in a twist of fate, the passers-by who had taken shelter from the cold on the way would one day meet again somewhere else.

The silver lamps bear luxuriant flowers, like brilliant red millet. Lu Zhen looked at the lone lamp on the table in trance.

A hand waved in front of her.

Lu Zhuo raised his eyes.

Pei Yunying took back her hand and said with a smile: "Doctor Lu seems to have a lot on his mind."

Lu Zhuo retracted his thoughts: "If Mr. Pei could come less uninvited, I would have a lot less worries."

When she said this, although she was speaking sarcastically, her expression was much more relaxed than before, as if she was feeling at ease facing an old friend she had known for a long time.

This freedom was captured by Pei Yunying, and his expression became a little strange.

After a while, Pei Yunying's eyes flickered and he said thoughtfully: "I don't know why, but I always feel that this scene seems familiar."

Lu Chen pursed his lips.

The men in black in the temple never inquired into Lu Chen's personal affairs. Even though they teased her for stealing things from dead people at first, after Lu Chen explained that it was for medicine, the men in black didn't ask any more questions. .

He ignored her strange behavior and did not take off her veil in the end, as if she was just an ordinary girl who accidentally walked to the ruined temple and met him.

Perhaps because of this reason, when Lu Zhuo looked at Pei Yunying again, he could not help but look like an old friend.

Although they only met once.

The heavy snow fell to the ground silently, and the continuous snow fell on the window edge, quickly melting into a transparent water stain.

"The snow will stop soon." He looked out the window.

The moon was completely hidden behind the clouds, and in the dark snowy night, a subtle bird song sounded from the distant sky.

Pei Yunying's expression changed slightly.

After a moment, he drank the tea in front of him in one gulp, tied his collar and stood up.

"Doctor Lu," he lowered his eyebrows and looked at Lu Huan, his smile looking very gentle under the dim candlelight, "Thank you for your help tonight."

"You're welcome," Lu Yan said calmly, "Your Excellency has paid for the consultation."

Pei Yunying raised her eyebrows, the corners of her lips sparkling, "Then I'll come back next time to say thanks."

After saying that, he picked up the knife and left.

"Master Pei." Lu Zhu stopped him.

He looked back.

Lu Yan handed him the medicine bottle containing the medicine, "Fifty taels, don't forget it."

He was startled, then smiled, took it and said, "Thank you."

"Creak-" a sound.

After the door of the medical center rang softly, everything returned to silence. The wooden window was pushed further open by the north wind. Looking out through the wooden window, the garden was full of wind and snow.

Yin Zheng came over with a lantern and carefully looked outside: "He...he's gone?"

"gone."

Yin Zheng patted her chest with lingering fear: "I was scared to death just now. Girl, he didn't do anything to you, right?"

Lu Zhuo shook his head.

That bird song came suddenly in the snowy night... The person who responded to him must have arrived.

I wonder if it's because the cold snow days always make people put down their guard and know the past level, but now she looks at Pei Yunying differently from before. They are not really friends, and they may even meet each other at war in the future, but at this moment, it feels like meeting an old friend for the first time.

Lu Chen walked to the low table in the back room and opened the lid of the medical box.

In the medical box were some trivial medicine bottles, a silver jar, golden needles and a few yellowed old medical books. Lu Yan stretched out his hand and pressed the edge. With a "click", the lid of the most rim opened.

This grid is not big, only as long as a finger, and is square. It was originally used to hold mulberry white leather thread, but inside it is a white jade pendant and a blackened silver ring.

Lu Zhuo picked up the silver ring.

Too much time has passed, and the silver ring is not as warm as before. It is covered with rust, and the patterns on it cannot be seen clearly. When you hold it in your hand, you can feel the cold lines.

Yin Zheng looked over and said in surprise: "What is this?"

Lu Zhuo only took the golden needle medicine bottle from the medical box. This was the first time Yin Zheng saw the dark layer in the medical box.

Lu Chen replied: "A token."

At that time, Pei Yunying pledged this silver ring to her as medical money and asked her to use this silver ring to go to Shengjing to exchange for candied haws with him. Lu Chen didn't pay much attention to it, but in a way, this was the first medical check she received, so she kept it carefully for many years.

I never thought that I would actually come to Beijing many years later.

It's just that it's hard to say whether the joke was true or not. Perhaps Pei Yunying himself has forgotten this old incident. No one can tell what this silver ring can be exchanged for, whether it is silver, status, or something higher.

A token weighs more than a thousand catties to a person who makes a heavy promise, but is worthless to a person who makes a light promise.

But now Pei Yunying does not look like a gentleman.

Yin Zheng's sudden voice sounded beside him: "Could it be...that this is the keepsake left by that 'fiancé'?"

As if she had glimpsed the tip of the iceberg, Yin Zheng's eyes showed excitement.

When Du Changqing asked Lu Zhuo why he came to Beijing, Lu Zhuo only said that he came to Beijing to practice medicine in order to find a lover, who was rescued by Lu Zhuo on the road and gave him a token as a token.

At that time, Yin Zheng thought this was just Lu Zhu's perfunctory words to deal with Du Changqing, but now looking at the jade pendant and silver ring in the dark layer, she felt a little subtle.

Lu Chen looked at the silver ring in his hand, his eyes slightly absent-minded.

Now is not the time to recognize each other. Before that, this is just a dead thing at best.

Seeing that she was still silent, Yinzheng became more and more sure of his guess and looked at Lu Zhuo with wide eyes: "It turns out that you really have a lover in Shengjing!"

Lu Tong was startled.

Lover?

Being rescued on the road, leaving a token behind, and meeting again by accident many years later, if it is involved in some romance drama, it does sound very much like a destined love, a lover who fell from the sky.

only……

It's just that she is not her lover. Based on what she will do in the future, it will be fine if she doesn't fight to the death with Pei Yunying. It's hard to say whether this thing will become Pei Yunying's relic.

That's all, it's better to put it away.

She put the silver ring back into the box, closed the medical box, and shook her head slightly.

"Maybe they are enemies."

…

The winter is bitterly cold, and hundreds of thousands of households in the city have closed their homes and have red stoves, and the snow has not stopped at midnight.

On a snowy night in Shengjing, a man in black was walking in a dark alley.

The wind and snow covered him layer by layer, and the snowflakes fell on the man's shoulders, melting quickly, leaving a small icy water stain.

At the end of the quiet dark alley, a figure appeared silently under the wall covered with long snow.

"Master." Chi Jian whispered: "Deputy Envoy Xiao has just sent a message. There is chaos in the palace and the whole city is under martial law. His Majesty ordered all the troops in front of the palace to enter the palace and accompany him."

Pei Yunying nodded: "I understand."

"What are you..."

"I'm not supposed to be on duty in the palace today. Of course I have to change my clothes and go back to the palace to answer the imperial edict."

Chi Jian was silent and looked at the person in front of him.

The young man was wearing a pitch-black arrow jacket, and his expression was as usual. The areas where the clothing material on his shoulders were torn were wrapped in layers of white silk.

"Your injury..."

"It's okay," Pei Yunying said, "It's been dealt with, let's go."

Red Arrow remained silent.

The young man paused, turned his head, and looked at the tall guard beside him: "What else can you do?"

Chi Jian hesitated for a moment, and finally plucked up the courage to speak: "My master is staying at the Renxin Medical Center tonight. The female doctor Lu has probably guessed the truth after seeing my master's injuries. The matter is very important at this time. If her secret report is leaked, , I'm afraid it will cause a lot of trouble for the master..." He tightened his grip on the waist knife, and a murderous intention flashed in his eyes: "Do you want..."

It was hard for Chi Jian not to be wary of Lu Huo from Renxin Medical Center. Whether it was the previous tribute case or the subsequent frame-up of Wangchunshan's body, we could see that Lu Lu was more scheming than ordinary people. She was inseparable from the downfall of the Fan family, the official in charge of the trial court, and even the rumors about the Taishi Mansion may not have been without her contributing to them.

A mysterious woman whose past cannot be traced is difficult to tell from friend to foe. If she dares to stab others, she naturally dares to stab Pei Yunying.

"No need." Pei Yunying interrupted Chi Jian.

Chi Jian was startled.

Pei Yunying turned around and glanced at the bright lights of the distant streets.

Thousands of flying flowers are silent in the distance, the West Street is quiet, and the solitary lamp shines on the flying snow. It seemed that through the lonely plum tree in front of the door, one could see the plaque of the medical center hidden by the wind and snow, as well as the warm red brocade lantern under the eaves.

He said: "She won't tell anyone."

Chi Jian was puzzled: "Why?"

Lu Yun really didn't seem like a kind-hearted person who deserved such firm trust.

Pei Yunying looked away, lowered his head and smiled.

"Because," he said, "I paid for the consultation."