Every ten years, she would come out of seclusion on time and sit alone on the rooftop of the Missing Moon Tower in the great snow plains. She would wear a purple robe and take out a jar of osmanthus wine from under the osmanthus tree, waiting for someone to fulfill their promise of ten years.
After the third time, it was the fourth time. That day, it was raining heavily, and he did not find her. She failed to fulfill her promise. There was only a jar of osmanthus wine on the rooftop, allowing the rain to beat against it.
Outside the window, the rain was heavy and the wind was strong. The woman in purple sat in front of the dressing table. The woman in the bronze mirror already had white hair. It was better not to see her.
Her skirt was tied in a small knot. Beside her feet was an umbrella that she had treasured for more than 40 years. She lay on the dressing table and fell asleep. She seemed to be having a beautiful dream. She was smiling.
There was an old man who didn't look old. He entered the house without knocking. He put away the wet oil-paper umbrella, stood at the door, and asked with a smile, "It's raining heavily outside. A lot of fish are going to drown. Do you want to go take a look?"
She slept and did not wake up.
…
Everyone in Great Peace City saw an absurd scene. The woman in purple had clearly crashed into Cao Changqing in West Chu and had clearly passed by him. However, Cao Changqing remained sitting in his original spot, while Xuanyuan Qingfeng stood in her original spot a few dozen feet to the south of Cao Changqing like an old monk in meditation.
Cao Changqing did not look sideways. He picked up a Go piece from the Go box and gently placed it down. He turned his head and smiled. "It's time to wake up."
Xuanyuan Qingfeng, who seemed to have been dreaming for 40 years, suddenly woke up. Her back was to the official in green. She did not know when, but tears had streamed down her face.
She did not turn around. She stretched and wiped her face with her hands. Smiling, she said, "It really was a good dream."
Hearing this, Cao Changqing smiled and said, "That's good."
Just as Xuanyuan Qingfeng was hesitating about whether to turn around and thank him, Cao Changqing slowly retracted his gaze and looked back at the Go board that already had more than 90 Go pieces. He smiled and said, "I'm fine. Just don't learn from me. The heavens and the earth were vast. Jiangnan's Guangling had the cool breeze, bright moon, and great river. Northwest Jiliang had the boundless yellow sand. Let's see everything first before deciding on life and death. Life and death were the most important things in life, especially when one was young. One shouldn't make careless decisions. Life wasn't easy, and death was simple. Between life and death, there is also fate. A person's life has to be more exciting than a plant's autumn. "
Xuanyuan Qingfeng nodded. "As long as I, Xuanyuan Qingfeng, am alive, I will try my best to reduce the number of deaths among West Chu survivors."
Cao Changqing dismissed it with a smile.
Xuanyuan Qingfeng flashed past.
At the end of that big dream, she clearly knew that she didn't wake up, or rather, she was already dead. However, she could see that bastard with the umbrella standing alone at the door. His lips moved slightly, but he couldn't say anything.
Xuanyuan Qingfeng suddenly threw his head back and laughed loudly. "Old bastard!"
The inexplicable abrupt departure of this purple robe did not delay Liu Yi from ordering the Ministry of Justice to go out of the city to kill the enemy.
Sixty-eight jianghu experts that the Ministry of Justice and Zhao Gou had gathered from all over Great Peace City left the city together.
They were like a flock of birds flying out of the branches.
This time, Cao Changqing placed a piece at the corner of the chessboard. Then, he pressed two fingers lightly on the piece and pushed it forward.
Therefore, between Cao Changqing and Great Peace City, between the north and the south, a turbulent energy like the Guangling River appeared.
Sixty-eight experts seemed to be crossing the Guangling River during flood season. It was difficult and slow. There were constantly people who used up their energy and fell to the ground.
Chai Qingshan held his sword and flashed out.
With one sword, he cut apart that great river of energy.
Cao Changqing's right hand picked up a piece and placed it on his left hand. He lightly swept it to the right.
Instantly, a wave of sword energy surged out from left to right.
Cao Changqing then placed a piece from top to bottom on the chessboard.
In the air, a particularly majestic and resplendent pillar of light fell straight down from top to bottom.
Between heaven and earth, one horizontal and one vertical, two waves of sword energy.
They attacked Chai Qingshan of the Eastern Yue Sword Pool and Wu Jian of the Wu Family Sword Tomb.
Cao Changqing was not in a hurry to pick up a piece. He stared at the chessboard and said to himself, "I, Cao Changqing, also have the Haoran Sword."
Chai Qingshan held half of the broken sword and landed twenty zhang to the north of Cao Changqing. There was a large pool of blood on his chest.
Wu Jian stood a hundred zhang in front of Chai Qingshan. The clothing at his shoulder was in tatters. The old man reached out with his right hand. There was a snow-white sword energy that seemed tangible in his hand. He said in a deep voice, "Cao Changqing, you will not hesitate to have your body and soul destroyed to finish this game?!"
Cao Changqing did not answer.
On the city wall, the Minister of War, Liu Yi You, pressed his hands against the city wall, his hands trembling.
As a poor scholar from the Guangling Taoism, he recognized Cao Changqing. He was not in West Chu, but in Liyang, an enemy state of West Chu. He was in this Tai 'an City.
However, before Cao Changqing and West Chu's Empress Jiang Si came to the capital in the first year of Xiangfu, Liu Yi You, who no one cared about in the Ministry of Justice's yamen, only knew a traveling Confucian scholar he met by chance, knew the scholar who would treat him to a meal of wine every time he entered the capital. Liu Yi You couldn't afford a residence, so he could only rent a small, remote courtyard in the capital's southeast. During those years, whenever he saw that smiling middle-aged man in front of his deserted door, Liu Yi You would always be pleasantly surprised and happy. In the officialdom, the taciturn Liu Yi You liked to complain to this elegant and cultured senior scholar, to this Mr. Cao who he only knew his surname. After he got drunk, he said that his teacher was that Grand Secretary great one who had students all over the world. He was clearly the top scorer in that year's examination, his essay not losing to the top three, yet in the end, he was only a Jinshi. He felt like it was Grand Secretary Zhang Julu who purposely looked down on Guangling's scholars, which was why everyone only knew that Bi Yan had students like Yin Maochun, Zhao Youling, Yuan Guo, and the others, not Liu Yi You You. Meanwhile, Grand Secretary Zhang Julu also never considered him his student, let alone the disciple he was proud of. Meanwhile, after that Mr. Cao heard his essay for the examination word for word, he laughed and said that this essay was exactly the same as Bi Yan 'er's when he was young, deeply understanding the essence of avoiding the high and dispersing, avoiding the empty and distant, a good essay. However, it was precisely because of this that Grand Secretary Zhang had you sit on a cold bench for many years like him, that you, Liu Yi You, must not be impatient. Afterwards, half of Liu Yi You felt relieved, half of it was because he had given up. He knew his place, kept his feet on the ground, burying his head in his work as a small official in the Ministry of Justice. However, what left him completely disheartened was that even when the Grand Secretary's reputation was in tatters, when he risked universal condemnation to pay him a visit, all for the sake of a teacher-student relationship, that Grand Secretary not only refused to meet him, he even had the gatekeeper pass him a message. "Who is Liu Yi You? I, Zhang Julu, have this type of disciple? I don't remember. "That evening, Liu Yi You returned to his simple and crude small courtyard, dead drunk.
However.
However, after that Grand Secretary died, after he was promoted to assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, Qi Yanglong found someone to give him an extremely ordinary scripture, only saying that it was something he accidentally flipped through in someone's house.
Liu Yi You You discovered that there were two old examination papers that were already turning yellow inside the book.
It was no more than a thousand words, but there were actually sixteen comments totaling more than five hundred words.
At the end was that sentence: "Good talent comes out of Guangling, can also become a pillar. I should carefully nurture him for the country. When I die, he will be of great use."
Liu Yi You You You You's eyes were moist. He did his best to keep them open, standing on the city wall, staring fixedly at that green-clothed man.
Mr. Cao, I was born in Da Chu, I do not dare forget my roots. Therefore, in the future, I will seek peace in the imperial court for the sake of all the West Chu survivors.
Mr. Cao, as Zhang Julu's student, I do not dare forget your kindness. Therefore, today, I have no choice but to stand here and take you as my enemy.
Cao Changqing suddenly turned his head to look at this Minister of Justice who was rapidly rising in Liyang's officialdom. He revealed a faint smile, only gratification in his eyes.
Nothing needed to be said.
Rather than die heroically for one's country and one's surname, it was better to live dishonorably for the common people of the world. Liu Yi You You You Scholar, don't learn from me, Cao Changqing.
Cao Changqing once again sat upright and still, facing the chessboard, unable to take his eyes off it.
Silent and motionless.
Heaven and earth resonated.
Heaven and man forgot.
— — —
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