The Golden Hairpin

Huang Zixia returned to the Wang's house in Yongchangfang. The weather was so cold that everyone in the house stayed indoors, looking very deserted.

She passed the veranda alone, the setting sun shone in from outside the pillars, she passed through the shadows of the pillars, appeared under the sunlight, and soon was covered by the shadows of the pillars in the next step. She walked forward blankly, in the dim light, not knowing where to go or what she could do.

No clue, no way. In the suffering, she herself did not know how to survive one day after another.

It wasn't until the sound of the flute and flute came one day in the twilight that she suddenly realized that it was already the Shangyuan Festival. Tang Dynasty Shangyuan rested for three days, today is fourteen.

Huang Zixian was also wandering about, so she walked out of the palace and went outside of Yongjiafang.

The streets are full of gorgeous lanterns, like a long string of pearls in the night. The people carrying the lanterns and enjoying the fun were laughing lively, guessing the lantern riddles in front of each house, and also lifting their own lanterns to let others guess the riddles on it.

There are simple puzzles, and some are extremely difficult. Many people stand there racking their brains and can't figure it out. Huang Zixian walked step by step, his eyes slid on the lamp, never stopped in the slightest.

Suddenly, someone asked behind her: "Take Du Fu's poems, life is rare for seventy years. Type an idiom, roll the curtain."

Huang Zixia heard this familiar voice, only to feel that her heartbeat stopped suddenly. The hustle and bustle of this Lantern Festival suddenly seemed to retreat far away.

She slowly turned her head and saw Wang Yun who was standing behind her smiling at her under the lights of the street.

He was still in a pure and gentle appearance, looked down at her with a smile, and asked "Huh?"

Huang Zixia looked at him and said slowly: "Young and mature."

"Yes! That's it." Wang Yun suddenly realized, "I just saw this lantern riddle of a family. I thought about it all the way and didn't know it. I didn't expect you to guess it all at once."

Seeing him laughing at Yan Yan, Huang Zixia was speechless for a while, wondering if he had already met Wang Zongshi and talked about that matter.

And he looked at her with a smile, and said: "Look, I was just about to find you, so I met you coming here, you see, is this a kind of heart?"

She lowered her head, avoiding his eyes and his topic, and only asked: "Have you returned to Beijing so soon?"

"Well, I think you will spend the New Year alone in Beijing. I am afraid that you will be lonely and boring, so I will rush back right after the sacrifice is over." He stared at her under the warm orange light and said softly, "You seem to have lost weight recently. There are a lot of things to worry about, right?"

Huang Zixia nodded and said, "It's... King E's matter, you must have heard of it too, right?"

"On the way back to Beijing, people of all kinds are discussing this matter. It's hard not to hear it." He walked home with her and frowned, "How could it be possible? King Kui would never have committed this kind of thing." thing."

"Yes, the weirdness of this matter is beyond words." Huang Zixia frowned and sighed, thinking of all the extraordinary things that she couldn't explain.

Wang Yun turned his face to look at her, and asked softly: "I heard the Prince said that you were nearby at the time-then, in your opinion, did King Kui really kill King E?"

Huang Zixian shook his head and said firmly: "Why would King Kui do this?"

"Yeah, this thing is really weird and very strange. King Kui and King E have the best relationship, but why King E will publicly say that he is going to overthrow the world and mess up the dynasty; and why King Ku wants to kill King E? It is really impressive. It's elusive." Wang Yun saw her look firm and did not hesitate to ask again: "Do you understand this?"

Huang Zixian was silent for a moment before saying, "I believe there must be an inside story."

"Me too, I don't believe that King Kui will kill King E. Even if he could kill... he should have thousands of ways to make everyone unaware." He said, staring down at her, and said softly, "It's just that the case is now It’s even more confusing. If you want to investigate this case, it will be even harder."

Listening to his gentle tone, Huang Zixia finally couldn't bear it anymore, turned her back to him, and did not dare to face him again: "I confessed to the prince, I...I can't help you."

"I know that the prince and I also mentioned this matter. So you still have doubts about our reunification." Wang Yun's voice was slightly lowered, and he said indifferently, "It's nothing, after all, it's a lifelong event. It’s right to make a careful decision, isn’t it? Besides, I’ve done things I’m sorry for you. Didn’t I chase you down in the land of Shu before?”

At that time, he insisted on putting them to death. Now she is fighting against Li Shu Baihua again, but after all, she doesn't know whether his intentions are true or not. Who knows whether he and his care for her are indeed for the common benefit, or for the tiger's skin.

It's just that she raised her head and saw his sincere eyes, she couldn't doubt his intentions for a while, she could only feel deeply guilty.

"Actually, when you came to me and promised to reconsider our marriage, I was really happy..." He smiled and looked at the lantern swaying in the wind next to him, "Zixia, I know this life and this life, It is difficult to get your heart. But I heard that the reason is fixed by nature and man-made, so I still want to try my best."

Huang Zixian only felt his eyes hot, and something seemed to come out of her eyes.

She tried her best to endure, staring at the lights near and far without speaking.

Wang Yun said again: "I will try my best to help you, but now the prince still has doubts about you, I think maybe the Wang family will not help you too much."

Huang Zixian took a deep breath and said, "When King E died, the timing of the Duke's arrival was also very coincidental."

Wang Yunrou said, "Trust me, this matter has nothing to do with the Wang family."

Huang Zi Xia turned her head away, only nodded, but didn't speak.

"I went to the palace today to meet Her Royal Highness, and she asked me to tell you the same. For hundreds of years, the royal family, who knows the way to survive, can get involved in this kind of tricky political battle? I believe that you are as smart as you. I already know who the chief envoy is behind the scenes."

Huang Zixian nodded slowly, pondered for a moment, and then slowly shook his head: "No, I still don't know how everything hidden behind the scenes is connected together."

"With your ability, as long as you can let go of the investigation, you can solve it easily." Wang Yun sighed lightly, "Now you are just unable to reach the core clues."

"As for Li Shu, I can't enter Zongzheng Temple, and I can't even see King Kui. What clues can I talk about?" She stood in a low mood in the sea of ​​lights, but the street lights could not illuminate her drooping face. Only a faint shadow cast over her profile.

The lantern swaying slightly in the wind cast a wave of light, slowly flowing on her face. Wang Yun stared at her side, because the light seemed to shine on his heart, making his heart watery. Involuntarily, he said: "Tomorrow I will take you to see King Kui."

Huang Zixian looked back at him in amazement, but the surprise in her heart was more than joy. She didn't expect that he would help herself to see Wang Kui. After a long time, she muttered: "Now that so many eyes are staring at Wang Kui, you help me to see him, maybe you will get into trouble..."

"It's nothing. Tomorrow is the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Zongzheng Temple is not a prison. According to the law, even the relatives and relatives of the emperor who committed the crime can be visited on this day. Besides, King Kui Tianhuang will give him something during the festival. , What's the matter?" He looked relaxed, and his tone was not solemn, "And the officials of Zongzheng Temple who can talk now, I know a few, and I will say hello when that time comes. I promise that there is no problem."

Huang Zixia looked up, saw him smiling openly, bit her lower lip and nodded slowly, and said, "Yes... as long as it doesn't involve you."

Wang Yun thought for a while and said, "At the beginning of tomorrow, I will come to pick you up."

On the second day, the daylight was thin. Wang Yun took Huang Zixian to Qujiang Chi.

King Kui Li Shubai has a distinguished status, not to mention the fact that King E has no way of starting the case, so naturally he cannot be imprisoned in the yamen of Zongzheng Temple. Many yamen of the Tang Dynasty built their own pavilions on the side of Qujiang Pond for the gathering of the yamen. The pavilion of Zongzheng Temple is in Xiuzhengfang, where King Kui is currently living.

They crossed Chang'an City from north and south to Xiuzhengfang.

There were only a dozen guards at the entrance of Zongzheng Temple. When they saw them coming, they were about to stop the questioning, but someone behind them coughed slightly, and everyone immediately dispersed. It was a middle-aged man who greeted him and bowed his hand to Wang Yun. The two entered the door lightly talking about something insignificant, and Huang Zixian followed in.

After the front hall, there is a tributary of Qujiangchi, a small river with plum blossoms. At this time, it is when the plum blossoms are in bloom, with a faint fragrance and dense blooms, hiding a row of houses, very elegant.

Seeing that this is much more than what he had imagined, Huang Zixia was also a little relieved. After the middle-aged man took them inside, they disappeared. After only a few guards retreated from serving tea, the middle-aged man smiled and asked, "What's the source of Yunzhi?"

Wang Yun said: "Today in Shangyuan, my nephew brought some souvenirs from Langya, which he gave to his uncle to taste."

The man took the thing, said a few words politely, and his gaze fell on Huang Zixian again.

Wang Yun said again: "My nephew and King Kui also have the old friendship. In previous years, there was a gift to him as usual. Now I heard that he was here, so I brought it here too-Uncle Xue, please help me see first. My nephew is young and carefree. I don't know which of these two things is for King Zhao and which is for King Kui?"

He opened the two brocade boxes, and the uncle Xue tacitly agreed with him, so he looked down at the boxes, and saw that inside the brocade box that was one foot long, one placed a thumb and a small gourd, which was smooth and cute. It's great to have fun; the other box contains the Chengni inkstone with a large palm, which is light and faint, very elegant.

Both of these things are so small that nothing can be hidden in them. But Uncle Xue still picked it up and played a bit, and then put it back with a smile on his face, saying: "Wang Zhao's children are temperamental, naturally they love gourds, and it is also very suitable to send King Kui Yantai."

"Thank you for your uncle's advice." While thanking him, he handed the inkstone to Huang Zixia and said, "I will sit with uncle for a while, and you can send it for me."

"Yes." She replied, holding up the small brocade box containing the inkstone, and walking towards the rear.

Under the leadership of the guards, Huang Zixia walked through the blooming plum blossom forest and came to the corridor by the river. The guards stopped and motioned for her to pass alone.

The corridor was erected on the bank of the river, hollow below, her feet stepped on, and her voice echoed gently on the surface of the water. An incense was floating around her body, and the skirt fluttered across the petals on the corridor, making a slight rustling sound.

She walked through two or three houses and came to the door of the house in the middle. Before entering, she saw Li Shubai standing inside the door, staring at her.

He was dressed in a white robe without any ornamentation, and he was as pure and elegant as a blooming white plum in the outside, except for his dark eyes, as cold as a star in the middle of the night.

She smiled slightly at him and bowed to him Yingying: "Lord."

Li Shubai strode over, grabbed her wrist, pulled it into the house, and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Huang Zixia didn't answer, but smiled and asked, "You know it's me when you hear the footsteps, right?"

Li Shubai frowned, let go of her hand, and turned to avoid her smiling face: "Didn't you let Jing Yi and the others tell you, don't you act rashly?"

Huang Zixia put the brocade box on a few, then walked behind him and said softly, "Yes, I miss you."