The snow had not faded, and the cold wind was still blowing. It was not yet spring, but the streets of Chang 'an had begun to emit the fragrance of spring. More than a dozen young girls' voices were like silver bells, and their faces were as pretty as flowers. They looked at the streets and pointed at them, attracting the attention of many passers-by.
The girls wore light-colored cardigan dresses, with wide, long, and gorgeous belts tied high. Their style was very clear, and the well-informed people of Chang 'an quickly guessed that they were from the Great River Kingdom.
The Tang Empire and the Great River Kingdom had been on good terms for generations, and the people of the two countries had an innate sense of intimacy. However, due to the long distance between the two countries, the number of people from the Great River Kingdom in Chang 'an had gradually decreased. Today, suddenly seeing so many beautiful girls from the Great River Kingdom and looking at their dresses, the older Tangs could not help but sigh.
The old people began to recall the Queen of the Great River Kingdom who came to Chang 'an incognito to study in the Kaihua Period, and began to tell the young people around them about the bitter love between the Queen and the Tang Emperor.
The young Tangs were even more excited. They stood under the eaves of the street and waved to the girls from the Great River Kingdom, shouting that they were welcome to Chang 'an. Some of the bolder ones even directly caught up with the team, running beside the girls' horses and asking for their names and addresses.
Although the Great River Kingdom worshipped the Tang style, the girls in the country were known for their gentleness and chastity. After entering the city, the girls chattered about the Osmanthus Cake and the Wanyan Temple. When they came to their senses, they felt that they had forgotten themselves and their faces were hot. Now, being chased by the young Tangs and asked for their names, they were even more embarrassed and lowered their heads.
Cat Girl looked at the young man who was panting and running beside the horses and saw the undisguised love and excitement in his eyes. She shyly buried her little face in the fluffy collar and thought to herself, "I'm so young, why are you so anxious?"
Mo Shanshan, who was a little uneasy, smiled at the warm welcome of the Chang 'an people. She put down the curtain and began to close her eyes to rest. Her sparse and long eyelashes slightly blinked, as if the uneasiness in her heart had not completely disappeared. But why was she uneasy?
Ning Que came to her side, lifted the curtain and looked out.
Most of the Academy's students who were practicing at the frontier fortress returned to Chang 'an City with him. The rapid march over the past few days had really tired these students, especially Zhong Dajun who was at the back. His face was pale and he was much thinner than before. Looking at his absent-minded look, it seemed that he could fall off the horse at any time.
Ning Que knew very well why. Back then, when he had disguised himself as Zhong Da Jun and followed Mo Shanshan and the others into the Wilderness, he had ordered someone to imprison Zhong Da Jun. Later, when he revealed his true identity in the palace, he had forgotten about this matter. Therefore, Zhong Da Jun was not released until he left Tuyang City. He must have suffered a lot in the past six months.
Ning Que's conduct was definitely not good, but he had absolutely no sense of guilt for Zhong Dajun's absolutely bad conduct. He did not even bother to pay attention to him, and directly whistled to the front.
Hearing the whistle, Situ Yilan gently lifted the reins and came to the carriage. In the past six months, she had led her classmates and soldiers to fight with the grassland barbarians and the coalition forces in the Blue Water Battalion. She had made a great name for herself in the army. However, her delicate face had been ravaged by wind and frost, and her head and face were covered with dust after traveling for thousands of miles. She inevitably looked a little embarrassed.
Ning Que looked at her and said, "Come to my house later, I'll treat you to noodles."
"When can you be more generous?" Situ Yilan snapped at him, and then pointed to her dusty face and said, "Although I don't care about these things on the battlefield, now that we've returned to Chang 'an City, shouldn't you give me some time to freshen up? Don't forget that I'm a girl. "
Ning Que pretended to be surprised and said, "I thought a female general was not a girl."
Situ Yilan was about to punch him, which scared him so much that he hurriedly put down the curtain and hid behind Mo Shanshan.
Mo Shanshan opened her eyes and looked at him with a slight smile, without saying anything.
The imperial court naturally welcomed the practitioners of the Academy back to the capital, especially the girls from the Black Ink Garden of the Great River Kingdom. Several officials from the Ministry of Rites also came. Ning Que naturally did not have the patience to go through those procedures, so he asked for the opinions of Eldest Brother and Mo Shanshan. On the Vermilion Bird Avenue, the carriage separated from the main group and went directly to the Eastern City.
Not long after, they arrived at Lin 47th Street. Ning Que jumped off the carriage and looked at the familiar street scene, the grey walls, and the winter trees sticking out of the former Treasurer of the Ministry of Revenue's warehouse. He took a deep breath and felt very satisfied. Spring passed and winter returned. More than half a year had disappeared. He believed in the armchair, ink, well water, chicken soup, noodle slice soup, fried egg noodles, and the notes under the bed. Today, he could finally embrace all these again, and it felt so good.
Suddenly, he saw a black carriage parked at the side of the shop. Looking at the dense fine lines on the carriage, he could not help but be silent for a moment. Then he nodded to the carriage and walked up the stone steps to open the door of the Old Brush Pen Shop.
…
…
In the shop, Chen Pipi and Sangsang had finished three games of chess and were eating noodles.
Sangsang was not a person who liked playing chess and gambling. However, since someone insisted on giving her money, she could not refuse his kindness and reluctantly played a few games with him. With the new notes with the smell of ink in her hands, she gradually forgot the loneliness and sadness brought by the departure of the two elders and the frustration brought by the Grand Secretary and his wife. Her mood became much better, so she made an exception and cooked two bowls of noodles for Chen Pipi and herself.
At this moment, the door of the shop was pushed open, making a soft squeak. Sangsang held the bowl of noodles with her head down and sucked the noodles into her mouth. She thought that the bottom of the door hinge was a little deformed and she had to find time to repair it.
Suddenly, she felt that the footsteps of the person who came were a little strange and too familiar. She could not help but raise her head curiously.
Seeing that guy, how could Sangsang still remember to eat noodles? Su Rubai held the noodle beside her lips and smiled with her willowy eyes. She said with food in her mouth, "Ning Que …"
Ning Que looked at her with a smile. His eyes also squinted, like the crescent moon that did not exist in this world.
Sangsang suddenly found that there were other people behind Ning Que. There was a scholar and a girl in a white dress. The girl was very beautiful, especially her round face, which was very cute.
Sangsang suddenly woke up and knew that her mouth was full of noodles. Her face must be full, but it was not as beautiful as the girl in the white dress beside Ning Que. Therefore, she was a little flustered for no reason.
She hurriedly put down the bowl and stood up. With two slurping sounds, she quickly sucked the noodles hanging by her mouth into her stomach. However, she was almost choked by the noodles. She coughed and said in a low voice, "Young master, you are back?"
Then she looked down at the tips of her shoes and did not say anything.
Mo Shanshan stood quietly beside Ning Que, but a little behind him.
She was invited to Chang 'an by the Eldest Brother of the Academy. She was a little happy, a little expectant, and a little uneasy. However, these emotions could not be seen on her calm face. She knew very well what she was uneasy about. Sometimes she even wondered whether she was looking forward to Chang' an because of Ning Que or his little handmaiden.
She followed Ning Que into the Old Brush Pen Shop and saw the little handmaiden sitting on a small stool eating noodles. From the first time she saw her, she knew that it was the person she wanted to see. The little handmaiden was Sangsang.
The Sangsang at the beginning of the Chicken Soup Calligraphy.
The Sangsang that Ning Que always talked about.
Mo Shanshan had read the Chicken Soup Calligraphy countless times in the summer night by the Ink Lake. She knew better than anyone, even Ning Que himself, how much absolute trust and intimacy were hidden between the messy strokes of the handmaiden's name at the beginning of the Chicken Soup Calligraphy. Therefore, she had always wanted to know what kind of little handmaiden Sangsang was.
In the palace of the grassland, she said that she liked Ning Que's Big Black Horse. In the snowfield, she said that she liked Ning Que's calligraphy. At the moment when the Front Gate of the Devil's Doctrine was about to die, she finally calmly said that she liked Ning Que's horse and calligraphy, as well as Ning Que himself.
At that time, she thought she would die, so she said it according to her heart. However, she did not die, and she could not go back on her words. Therefore, she was sure that she liked Sangsang, so she wanted to see Sangsang even more.
Today, she finally saw Sangsang, but she was a little surprised. Because Sangsang was not a common pretty handmaiden in the world. She was just a dark-skinned, thin, and ordinary girl. She was still very young, and her eyebrows had not fully developed. Especially when she held a big bowl of noodles with the noodles in her mouth and eyes smiling, she could not have any other feelings except for pity.
Facing such a little handmaiden, Mo Shanshan felt that what she had guessed and imagined in the past, including the nervousness before they arrived in Chang 'an, were very excessive. Therefore, she felt a little ashamed. After staring at her for a moment, she silently lowered her head and looked at the toes of her shoes sticking out of her skirt, not saying a word.
Sangsang looked down at the shoes sticking out of her cotton skirt, and Shanshan looked down at the shoes sticking out of her white skirt. The scene was a little funny, and the atmosphere in the Old Brush Pen Shop became a little strange.
Ning Que was still immersed in the joy of seeing Sangsang again, and did not notice anything at all. As for Eldest Brother, he was looking at the furnishings in the shop with his hands clasped behind his back. It seemed that he did not notice anything, but in fact, he sighed softly in his heart.
Sangsang suddenly came to her senses and hurriedly said, "Guests have come. I'll go make some tea."
She bowed to everyone, and then picked up her bowl of noodles on the table. She snatched another bowl from Chen Pipi, who was also in a state of shock, and hurried back to the backyard.
Ning Que looked at her thin back disappearing behind the curtain, a little surprised. Although she looked as busy as usual after not seeing her for a long time, why didn't she come to hug him after such a long time?
…
…
Whether his mouth was stuffed with noodles or not, Chen Pipi's cheeks were very round and bulging, much rounder than Mo Shanshan's.
He came to his senses when the bowl in his hand was snatched away by Sangsang like a gust of wind. He looked at the scholar with his hands clasped behind his back, and hurriedly sucked the noodles into his stomach. He jumped behind the scholar, bowed deeply, and said respectfully, "Greetings, Eldest Brother."
Eldest Brother turned around and looked at him pretending to be serious. He could not help shaking his head with a smile and said slowly, "Pipi, now you are no longer the Youngest Brother in the Back Mountain. Your words and actions …"
Before he finished speaking, Chen Pipi opened his arms and held him in his arms. He said happily and indignantly, "Senior Brother, you are finally back. I don't know where the headmaster is playing. No one in the Back Mountain can control Second Brother. He is tyrannical in the mountain and forced us to learn some ancient etiquette. Senior Brothers and Sisters are angry, but dare not say anything. Eleventh Brother is almost driven crazy by him, and he stuffs flowers into his mouth. You have to help us!"
…
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(The next chapter may be a little later. I am a little tired. Thank you for your support.) (To be continued.) If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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