After Mu Hongjin finished speaking, her expression didn't change, as if she was talking about someone else's matter.
He Yan didn't feel good. She thought for a while and said, "Maybe … Householder Yun Lin didn't come that day because he had something to do. I also made an appointment with someone, but I was delayed by something urgent, so I missed the appointment. "
"There's nothing urgent, there's no misunderstanding." Mu Hongjin smiled and said, "He told me this himself."
He Yan didn't say anything else, but he felt that what Mu Hongjin said wasn't the whole truth. If Liu Buwang really had someone else in his heart, ever since He Yan met him, he had never seen any other woman. He had also never heard him mention anyone's name. Speaking of which, Mu Xiaolou was the one with the most different attitude, and Mu Xiaolou was Mu Hongjin's granddaughter.
"Young people always think that they're the unique one." Mu Hongjin smiled and said, "I was the same when I was young. But I don't know that being unique or not depends on who sees it. In that person's eyes, I'm just the one who doesn't catch his eye among thousands of people. "
"Your Highness, the person you're talking about is my master?" Xiao Jue asked.
"As Xiaolou said, I can't think of anyone else." Mu Hongjin said, "It's just that I didn't expect him to come to Jiyang …"
He Yan thought to himself, 'Princess Mengji guessed wrong.' According to the lady boss of the teahouse, Liu Buwang not only came to Jiyang this year, but also every year in the past … However, Liu Buwang didn't come to Jiyang for Mu Hongjin, right?
What's this? Is it better not to meet? '
Mu Xiaolou curled her lips and said, "That person really has no taste. Grandmother is the most beautiful and powerful person in the world, but he's actually willing to let her down? Is he blind? I think he shouldn't be called Householder Yun Lin, but Householder Who Has No Taste! "
"You." Mu Hongjin poked Mu Xiaolou's head and scolded with a smile, "You're so young, but you know what it means to let someone down?"
"He won Grandmother's favor, but not only is he not grateful, but he also doesn't take it seriously. If this isn't letting her down, then what is? Serves him right for not being able to marry Grandmother. I don't want my grandfather to be such a person. "Mu Xiaolou said angrily. She was a child and spoke without fear. It was probably because when she was born, Mu Hongjin's husband had already passed away. Since she had never met him, she didn't have any feelings for him. Thus, when she spoke of this matter, she didn't have any scruples.
"Sure." Mu Hongjin smiled and hugged Mu Xiaolou. "Then, our Xiaolou's future husband must cherish Xiaolou and never let her down."
"Of course!"
He Yan didn't feel good when he saw the happy and harmonious appearance of the grandfather and grandson. There were thousands of different kinds of people in the world, and the number of people who were destined to be together was like the grains of sand in the Ganges River, innumerable. However, if you were misunderstood and couldn't say it out loud, that would probably be the most regrettable kind.
Even the precious delicacies couldn't make her happy. After eating with a heavy heart, Xiao Jue and He Yan got up and said goodbye to Mu Hongjin.
Mu Hongjin nodded.
When she turned to leave, He Yan finally couldn't help but look at Mu Hongjin and ask, "Your Highness, since you already know that your old friend is now living in the Cui Mansion, why don't you ask about his current situation and his experiences over the years?"
From the beginning until now, ever since she knew that Liu Buwang was the person who saved Mu Xiaolou, Mu Hongjin had played down the past and never mentioned this person again, as if Liu Buwang had nothing to do with her.
Mu Hongjin was slightly startled, and then looked at He Yan and said lightly, "That's all in the past."
"As for now, he and I have nothing to do with each other."
After the meal, He Yan and Xiao Jue said goodbye to Mu Hongjin.
After leaving the mansion, He Yan couldn't help but look back at the vermilion gate of the mansion and said hesitantly, "Your Highness, do you really only treat my master as a stranger now?"
Xiao Jue said, "Love is deep and hate is deep. People who have really let go will not deliberately forget something."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean," he raised the corners of his mouth slightly, "Lady He really doesn't know how to observe people's expressions when it comes to love."
Was this a blow to her? He Yan thought, Besides, how could he blame her? In her previous life, she didn't have any occasion to carefully figure out other people's thoughts, except for the enemy generals. Besides, women's minds were delicate. If a woman really wanted to hide her feelings, she would definitely not let others see through her.
"You speak as if you know very well," she retorted.
"A little better than you."
He walked forward leisurely, and He Yan hurriedly followed.
In the empty hall, the woman in the red robe and golden crown slowly walked up the steps and sat down on the high seat.
After Mu Xiaolou finished her meal, she was taken back to her bedroom to rest by a maid. Mu Xiaolou had also received quite a shock yesterday. As a child, she was very tired and sleepy, so Mu Hongjin had someone send her some soup to calm her nerves. Fortunately, Mu Xiaolou was only frightened and not injured.
Jiyang was plagued by internal and external troubles. Uto was among them, and the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the city were in her hands. The current situation really couldn't be considered gratifying. This was originally a mess, but Mu Hongjin actually thought of another name in her heart.
Liu Buwang.
She really didn't expect that after so many years, she could still hear the name Liu Buwang from other people. She also didn't expect that Liu Buwang would dare to enter Jiyang City again.
If Mu Hongjin was young, she would definitely stand in front of him, look down at him condescendingly, and ask him to get out of her territory. But now, she didn't have such an impulse, and she didn't even want to see him.
On the small table next to the high seat, there was a carved bronze mirror. Cui Yuezhi had found it for her from a merchant. The mirror was extremely thin, and the carvings were extremely beautiful. There was an emerald green opal inlaid on the wooden handle at the bottom. She had always liked complicated and gorgeous things, so she kept it with her every day. Mu Xiaolou always said that this bronze mirror looked old-fashioned, but Mu Hongjin didn't think so. She held the bronze mirror in her hand and looked at the person in the mirror.
The woman in the mirror was extremely beautiful. She didn't know when even her makeup had to be as dignified and exquisite. There was a touch of light red at the corners of her eyes, which made her beauty look cold and gorgeous. Her lips were also red and slightly pursed, which made her look restrained and cold.
She reached out to stroke her hair. The maids all envied her for her long black hair. Even at this age, she didn't look old. But they didn't know that every morning, she would ask her personal maid to comb her hair carefully under the sunlight, find out the white in her hair, and pull them out one by one.
As long as she was still the princess, she would always be young, beautiful, noble, and powerful. She would trample all the restless and restless people under her feet and accept everyone's respectful and sincere gazes.
But …
She was old after all.
Mu Hongjin looked at herself in the mirror. Once upon a time, her face was clean and she never put on makeup. Her eyes didn't have the domineering and fierce look now. That girl's eyes were always curved, and when she smiled, she revealed her white teeth. She was brash, hearty, and carefree.
Her thoughts flew back to many years ago, so long that she couldn't remember which year it was. At that time, Mu Hongjin wasn't the red-robed and golden-crowned "princess". She was the only daughter of King Meng Ji, the apple of his eye, a seventeen-year-old girl.
The seventeen-year-old girl was full of imagination about love and the future. When she suddenly learned that her marriage was set and she was going to marry the son of an important court official, her first reaction was fierce resistance.
The old King Meng Ji, her father, looked at her with some guilt, but his tone was undeniably firm: "You must marry him to stabilize your position as princess."
"I don't want to be a princess at all," Mu Hongjin snorted, "I don't want to use my marriage to exchange for this position. I'd rather be an ordinary person!"
Her resistance wasn't taken seriously. Perhaps it was just a child's willful quarrel, or perhaps, King Meng Ji knew very well that even if she resisted, there would be no result. The position of a vassal king was unstable. If he wasn't careful, no one would be able to escape.
Mu Hongjin slipped out of the prince's residence late one night.
She had a strange temperament and had long yearned for the life of an ordinary person. She took a horse whip, changed her appearance, and left Jiyang City that night.
The Mu Hongjin of that year was older than the current Mu Xiaolou, and also more intelligent and shrewd. She didn't suffer any losses along the way. She went all the way to the foot of Qiyun Mountain.
Qiyun Mountain's mountain path was steep. Bystanders said that there was a barren mountain at the top. However, there was a lush peach forest at the foot of the mountain. It was spring, and the peach blossoms were bright and full of romance. Mu Hongjin was not far from the peach forest when she encountered a thief.
Generally speaking, if a girl who was alone didn't disguise herself, it was very easy to encounter a thief with bad intentions. If the girl was a beautiful girl, it was even more difficult to avoid. There were many stories of heroes saving beauties in dramas, and they all originated from this.
Mu Hongjin ran and ran, and when she ran under a peach tree, she accidentally sprained her ankle and had nowhere to hide.
The thieves grinned and came forward, like catching a turtle in a jar. If this was in a drama, at this time, the hero who saved the beauty would appear.
The hero who saved the beauty did indeed appear.
"Stop."
At this critical moment, someone's voice was heard. It was a clear male voice. Mu Hongjin looked back and saw a young man in white slowly walking over. His long hair was tied up in a bun with a white silk cloth, and he carried a zither on his back. He had delicate features and an otherworldly appearance, as if he didn't care about the secular world. He blocked in front of her.
The thieves were stunned at first, but then they laughed. They thought that this young man looked weak and was just trying to stand out, so they quickly told him to get lost. Mu Hongjin also felt some despair. He looked more like a zither player than a hero.
However, the young man just stood there calmly and didn't move.
The thieves flew into a rage out of humiliation and wanted to make the young man suffer a little. It wasn't until the young man pulled out the long sword at his waist that Mu Hongjin saw clearly that he actually had another sword.
The young man in white was indeed a hero, and he was also a kind hero. His swordsmanship was extremely high, but he didn't take those people's lives. He just stopped and beat them until they fled.
Only the two of them were left under the peach tree. In the crimson red, Mu Hongjin looked at the other party. The young man's eyes were calm and indifferent, and his robe was spotless. However, she knew that he was not a zither player, but a chivalrous hero. He jumped out of those thrilling dramas and appeared in front of her like a divine soldier descending from the sky. He was the young chivalrous hero who saved her.
The panic just now faded away, and she smiled with curved eyebrows and eyes. "Thank you for saving me. My name is Mu Hongjin. What's your name?"
The young chivalrous hero seemed to be a little surprised by her sudden cheerfulness. He paused and said, "Liu Buwang."
The girl from Jiyang was cheerful and bold, enthusiastic and forthright. Mu Hongjin looked at him with a distressed expression, but a trace of craftiness flashed through her eyes.
"Young Chivalrous Hero Liu, I sprained my ankle and can't walk anymore. Since you've saved me, I'll help you to the end. Carry me on your back!"
The person in the bronze mirror smiled slightly, and her gaze gradually became distant. When she recalled the peach blossoms that year, she would unconsciously smile.
She didn't hold the bronze mirror tightly and accidentally dropped it on the ground.
The sound alarmed the woman on the high seat. She bent down to pick up the bronze mirror and was slightly startled. There was a crack on the smooth surface of the bronze mirror because of the fall just now. It was very slight, and if one didn't look carefully, it wouldn't be discovered.
The smile on her lips faded. After a while, she put the mirror aside.
After all … it was difficult to repair a broken mirror.
When they returned to the Cui Residence, it was already evening, and Cui Yuezhi hadn't returned yet. He Yan was afraid that Liu Buwang would leave without saying goodbye, so the first thing she did was to look for Liu Buwang. When she found him, she found that Liu Buwang was playing chess with Lin Shuanghe. Both of them liked to wear white clothes. Lin Shuanghe looked like a fine young master in a chaotic world, while Liu Buwang looked like a noble and otherworldly swordsman.
Seeing that He Yan had returned, Lin Shuanghe said, "Young Master, Madam, you're back! Mr. Liu's chess skills are too good. I, Liu Buwang, have such high chess skills, but I can't even last ten moves against him. How many rounds has it been? Young Master, why don't you play chess with Mr. Liu and help me win a round? "
He Yan silently rolled her eyes in her heart. It wasn't that she was bragging about her master, but there was nothing that Liu Buwang wasn't good at. He was talented in both civil and martial arts. With Lin Shuanghe's mediocre skills, he could deceive girls in brothels, but compared with Liu Buwang, it was simply an insult to Liu Buwang.
She walked to Liu Buwang's side and said to Lin Shuanghe, "Since you've lost so many rounds, Brother Lin should go back and practice well before the next round. I still have something to talk to my master about. Let's talk about it later! "After saying that, she pulled Liu Buwang up and walked into the room.
Lin Shuanghe looked at He Yan's back, leaned close to Xiao Jue, and asked curiously, "Why are you in such a hurry? What's wrong with my Sister He?"
Xiao Jue said, "She went to listen to a story."
"What story?" Lin Shuanghe was puzzled, "Did you see the princess in the mansion? How was it? Did she make things difficult for you? "
Xiao Jue chuckled and didn't answer. She didn't make things difficult for him, but … He Yan's gaze fell on the door that was closed by He Yan. It was just that this trip was probably an accident for Mu Hongjin, Liu Buwang, and even He Yan.
Cui Jiao was about to go in with the tea, but was stopped by Xiao Jue. His gaze fell on the teapot on the tea tray, and he said, "Change a bowl of brown sugar water, hot."
Cui Jiao nodded. Xiao Jue turned around and saw Lin Shuanghe staring at him with a strange gaze. He frowned, "What are you looking at?"
"Xiao Huaijin," Lin Shuanghe looked at him seriously, waved his fan, and said, "You're finished."
"You're sick," he replied indifferently.
In the room, He Yan pressed Liu Buwang to sit down at the table, and he sat down as well.
She had a lot of questions, such as Liu Buwang's previous words about tracking down the Wutuo people, as well as Jiyang's current actions. However, the first thing she said was, "Master, I just came back from the mansion and met Her Highness."
Liu Buwang looked at her.
He Yan hesitated for a moment before saying, "Princess Meng Ji seems to be an old acquaintance of Master."
Liu Buwang said, "Yes."
He admitted it so quickly? She was stunned for a moment. Since he was so frank, did it mean that there was nothing between them? He Yan realized for the first time that he was so talkative that he even wanted to know about other people's private affairs. But if it was about Liu Buwang, she couldn't help but want to know what kind of past her god-like, seemingly emotionless master had.
Perhaps it was this past that made him seem more worldly and more like an ordinary person.
"Princess Meng Ji said that she once admired Master, but Master has another love in his heart." He Yan simply said it in one breath, "Back then, Princess Meng Ji wanted to escape from the marriage and made an appointment with Master, but Master didn't come, so she returned to Jiyang and got married."
Hearing this, Liu Buwang was still expressionless, and no one could tell what he was thinking.
He Yan said, "Master, is this true?"
She always felt that with Liu Buwang's chivalrous character, who would bury the corpses when he passed by, if Mu Hongjin really begged him, he would definitely take her away. If he didn't intend to take her away from the beginning, he wouldn't have made an agreement with Mu Hongjin at all.
Why did he have to do something unnecessary?
"It's true," Liu Buwang replied lightly.
He Yan was surprised. "Why?"
"This is the best choice for her." Liu Buwang said, "As Princess Meng Ji, she should bear her due responsibilities, and Jiyang is her responsibility."
"But …" He Yan was still unwilling to give up. "Is it because of this that Master didn't take her away, or is it because of other reasons? Does Master really have another love in his heart? "
For so many years, she had never seen Liu Buwang mention any woman or anyone he loved. To put it bluntly, if that "lover" was no longer alive, at least Zhongyuan would pay respects to her every year during the Qingming Festival. But no, there was nothing.
Liu Buwang didn't answer her and just looked at He Yan with a smile. "Is she … doing well?"
Was she doing well? He Yan couldn't answer this question. The current situation in Jiyang City was really not good. But from a certain point of view, Mu Hongjin was married and had a granddaughter. At least she wasn't as lonely as Liu Buwang.
She could only say, "Xiao Lou is her granddaughter."
Liu Buwang smiled and didn't say anything.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became silent and stagnant.
Outside, Cui Jiao knocked on the door and said, "Madam, the sweet soup with brown sugar balls is here."
"Why do you still like sweet things?" Liu Buwang came back to his senses and laughed. "Go out and drink the sweet soup. I want to be alone for a while."
He Yan hesitated for a moment, then stood up and said, "Master, I'll go out first."
She left the room, and the door was closed behind her.
The night in Jiyang was also warm, not as cold as the north. The wind blew in from the window, causing the shadows of the trees to sway slightly. It was like the fog on Qiyun Mountain.
Liu Buwang had no parents. He was the youngest disciple of Daoist Yunji on Qiyun Mountain. Daoist Yunji was extremely outstanding. He lived far away and adopted a group of orphans as his disciples. Liu Buwang was ranked seventh and was called Little Seven.
The teenagers practiced martial arts on the mountain. When they were 18 years old, they had to go down the mountain to gain experience. When Liu Buwang went down the mountain, his senior brothers all came to see him off. He was proud and simple, and his nature was pure and honest. Everyone was afraid that he would be deceived at the foot of the mountain. Before he left, they gave him a lot of advice, which made him impatient.
Every teenager felt that their future was bright, and that they could root out evil in the world and take care of injustice everywhere. There was nothing that could humiliate their temperament or defeat their persistence.
Liu Buwang was the same.
Who knew that as soon as he went down the mountain, he would see evil people bullying a weak woman in the peach blossom forest at the foot of the mountain? Liu Buwang stepped forward, drove away the evil people, and was about to leave, but the woman stuck to him like a dog-skin plaster. He couldn't get rid of her.
He still remembered the first time he saw Mu Hongjin. She was so beautiful and charming that one more look at her would make him blush. Her two braids hung in front of her chest. She blinked at him and said in an innocent voice, "Young Hero Liu, I sprained my ankle and can't walk. I'll help you to the end. Carry me on your back!"
He was shocked by her self-righteous words. He took a step back and said, "No."
"Why not?" Mu Hongjin said, "Aren't you a young hero? Young heroes all have to do this. "
Young heroes all have to do this? Liu Buwang didn't understand when he was a teenager. He had been living on the mountain and didn't know the ways of the world, so he didn't know whether what she said was true or not. But looking at her confident look, Liu Buwang thought that maybe … the people at the foot of the mountain were all like this. Was he making a fuss over nothing?
As he thought about it, he saw Mu Hongjin cry out with a bitter face, "Ouch, ouch, it hurts when I move."
He was displeased that she was so delicate. Even Taoist Yunji's daughter, his Junior Sister, wasn't so delicate. He had no choice but to bend down and say, "Come on up."
Mu Hongjin climbed up happily.
The girl's hands held his neck tightly. Her warm body was close to him, and he could smell the fragrance of her hair. Liu Buwang felt very uncomfortable. He wanted to refuse, but it was too late. He could only accept his fate and say, "Miss, where do you live? I'll take you back. "
"I don't have a home." The girl's voice was pitiful. "I was kidnapped here. My home is far, far away. I'll follow you from now on. I'll go wherever you go. "
Liu Buwang was so shocked that he almost threw her off his back. "What do you mean I'll go wherever you go? Why do you want to follow me? "
"Since you saved me, of course you have to be responsible for me to the end." Mu Hongjin said confidently, "Otherwise, you can take me back to my home. My home is in the Shuo Capital, which is far away from here. Can you take me there?"
Liu Buwang, "…"
He really didn't expect that he would save such a big trouble when he saved someone. Were all the people at the foot of the mountain like this, and all the women at the foot of the mountain like this? No wonder Eldest Senior Brother told him before he left, "The women at the foot of the mountain are tigers." Even tigers were scared away by a firecracker. Why couldn't he get rid of this woman?
As if reading his mind, the girl leaned close to his ear and said, "Don't be afraid. I don't eat much, and I won't cost you much money. If you take me with you, I won't be a trouble."
"I beg you, young hero."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
