Clouds and Waters

In the capital, prominent officials are all concentrated on a street in the east of the city.This street is paved with blue bricks and can accommodate four horse-drawn carriages. It is very wide, and the people in the capital call it "Wangfu Street".On Wangfu Street, the gates of the two official residences are majestic and close to each other. Even the carved brackets are exactly the same. The only difference is the plaque on the gates - one is Tang Mansion and the other is Chu Mansion.

People in the capital always love to inquire about secret histories of the imperial palace, anecdotes about senior officials and the like.And the owners of these two mansions - Tang Xiaohan and Chu Yuxi, are the two most trusted senior officials of the current emperor.Tang Xiaohan was the chief assistant of Luantai, drafted the edict, and uploaded it; Chu Yuxi was the official of the Ministry of Officials, in charge of six departments, and headed all the officials.It was widely rumored among the people in the capital that these two men had a lot of quarrels, they had been determined to compete against each other as early as when they were under General Yun Chenxiao's tent, after returning to Beijing they were even more disobedient, sometimes even in front of the imperial court they would not hold back.When Tang Mansion and Chu Mansion were built, they competed with each other. If you build one floor, I will build two pavilions. If you build one mu of garden, I will build two mu of land.In the end, it was the current emperor's decree that one place was repaired, and the scale was the same, regardless of the size, which meant harmony.

At this time, it was already dark, the gates of the two houses were closed, and everything seemed to be calm.A servant from the Tang Mansion poked his head out of the dog hole in the low wall in a ghostly manner. Gulu stared at it for a long time before he got up and slipped to the back door behind the dog hole. The mansion was left in Chu's house—it turned out that the two mansions were only separated by a wall, and there was a back door that could be accessed at any time.But they don't know what kind of shady activities are hidden behind the seemingly discord between these two adults.

The young servant of the Tang family came to Chu's mansion, walked around to the study in the backyard, and was about to knock on the door, when one of them shouted: "Amao is presumptuous! Master Chu is studying, don't disturb him!"

But Amao said anxiously: "It's important! There is a distinguished guest coming to Mr. Tang's residence, Mr. Tang wants me to come quickly and invite Mr. Chu to visit the mansion!"

After hearing this, the servant in Chu's mansion knew it was a big deal, so he hurriedly knocked on the door.Unexpectedly, no one answered after taking pictures for a long time.Amao was in a hurry, so he broke into the door directly, but saw that the house was brightly lit, but there was no one there.

***

At this time, Chu Yuxi was standing in the main hall of the Tang Mansion, and asked excitedly, "Your Majesty, General...why didn't you tell me in advance when you came back!"

The people on the seat are elegant and elegant, and the other is handsome, they are Yun Chenxiao and Shui Xinyou who have already retired.Shui Xinyou saw Chu Yuxi, and said with a smile: "I haven't seen you for a few years, and sister Yuxi has become more and more beautiful. Now that Yun'er and I have escaped from the world, you are still the same as before, call me sister..."

Chu Yuxi hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward to take Shui Xinyou's hand and said: "Sister, you make my sister miss you so much." Then she was annoyed: "You and the general returned to Beijing, why didn't you go to my place first, instead..." Said Glancing at Tang Xiaohan who was clinking cups and drinking tea, he lowered his voice and said, "But you came to Tang first?"

"Hey, hey, Chu Yuxi! I, Tang Xiaohan, asked myself, I haven't offended you, have I? Why are you always aggressive..." Tang Xiaohan put down the teacup, and was about to argue a few words, but when Chu Yuxi threw it at her like a knife, Tang Xiaohan could only hold back He sighed, and said in a casual way: "That's all, for the sake of the two sisters today, I don't care about you."

Yun Chenxiao pointed at the two of them, and said with a smile to Shui Xin: "Look, You'er, they are still the same. When they were marching, they always bickered, but when it came time to charge, they were unambiguous and brave. You Tell me, are these two lovers..."

Tang and Chu looked at each other in displeasure, and there was no more dialogue.Seeing that the atmosphere was quite embarrassing, Yun Chenxiao thought it was not too late, so she made it clear to the two of her intentions to borrow money.In her words, although she and Shui Xinyou had savings when they were in Luoyang, they slipped away in a hurry and didn't bring much with them.Now that he bought a house in the south of the Yangtze River, and had to support the two giant Buddhas, Shui Ling and Lin Qingying, money could only come in and out, so it was quite tight.

After Tang and Chu heard this, they persuaded each other: "Is it good for you to be hermits? You are destined to never touch the sun and spring water. How do you know the hardships of 'bringing the moon and hoeing home'? I advise you to cultivate a few acres of fertile land. , or start a small business, in short, you must have a foundation to live and live." He also said that his official salary was limited, and he had no spare money at the moment.

When Yun Chenxiao heard this, she immediately lowered her face, and slandered: "Now that Xue Shu is the emperor, is it deducted like this? Even officials' salaries are not paid more? Didn't they say that the weather is good and the treasury is full? Just now I didn't see them saying the same thing, now It’s like a nostril. They don’t want to borrow it, so we will go to someone else! Can’t we borrow money?” Immediately, Shui Xinyou was about to leave.

Seeing her furious, Tang Xiaohan hurriedly chased her out and said, "It's so late, you have nowhere to go. Why don't you stay at my house overnight, and it won't be too late to go to work tomorrow!"

Yun Chenxiao thought about it, she and Shui Xinyou went out at this time, and she had to spend money to stay in the hotel, which was another expense, and said: "Alright! Call Xiao Chu, the four of us will have a few drinks tonight! "

***

So the four of them set up a table under the moon.Yun Chenxiao was overwhelmed by alcohol, and was often drunk after drinking too little, she had already collapsed in Shui Xinyou's arms, and fell into a deep sleep.Afraid that she might catch a cold, Tang Xiaohan went indoors to pick up her clothes.While there was no one around, Chu Yuxi poured another glass of wine for Shui Xinyou and said, "Sister, do you still remember the first time you and I met when you went to Mount Emei?"

Shui Xinyou knew that she had something to say, so she took a drink from the glass and said with a smile: "Of course I remember. At that time we had a game, but sister Yuxi wanted to talk about this?"

Seeing her quick talk, Chu Yuxi said happily, "Sister is indeed wise! At that time, I entered into my sister's big gamble with the life of the Emei faction. Now it's time for my sister to fulfill her bet."

Shui Xin said with a smile: "But I am no longer the lord of the world." She looked at Yun Chenxiao who was sleeping soundly in her arms, and lightly stroked her temple hair and said: "You have also seen that Yun'er and I are stretched. I even have to borrow money from you. I really don’t know what else I can do to repay Sister Yuxi.”

"Sister..." Chu Yuxi got up abruptly, lifted her robe and kowtowed to Shui Xinyou, and said, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty is wise and decisive, swallowing mountains and rivers with anger. You are a generation of sages. Now you and the general are living in seclusion in the mountains, weeping in cow clothes. Is it really the life you want? I remember, at that time when I pointed out the country with His Majesty, His Majesty was full of vigor and looked down on the heroic appearance of the world! Tonight, I dare to ask: Is Your Majesty really willing? Do you not regret it?"

Reminiscing about the past, Shui Xinyou also felt a lot of emotion: "Yes, how high-spirited." She glanced at Chu Yuxi, smiled and said: "You are quite a bit of my shadow now."

"Your Majesty! Minister... minister... elder sister! You are the master of the world in my heart! Only you can bear me, Chu Yuxi kneeling!" Chu Yuxi had mixed feelings in his heart, and was exhausted for a while.

Shui Xinyou slowly helped her up, and said softly: "Yuxi, it's not a bad thing to be ambitious. I was the same as you back then. Power, struggle, schemes, the world... These are too tempting. If I choose Once, I will still chase and ask for it as I did back then.”

"So you...Your Majesty!" Chu Yuxi's eyes suddenly brightened and said: "Most of the ministers in the court are my friends with Xiaohan and me, and the forbidden army is also under my control. If your Majesty wants to reset, it will be as easy as turning the palm of your hand!"

"Yuxi, listen to me. You just asked me if I regret abdicating? I don't regret it! I don't regret it at all! Only after experiencing this can I know what is most precious. When I was young, I didn't understand why Master Zhilan I gave up the throne I got, and chose to travel with beauty, so that the evening scene was bleak. So I persevered, I must submit to the world, I must hold the highest power by myself, so as not to repeat the mistakes of my ancestors. However, the prosperity is gone, and the truth is seen. Power, country, throne, these are exciting, but they are fleeting and fleeting. Compared with her, they are nothing." At this time, Shui Xinyou's eyes were extremely gentle, like a pool of spring water, slowly leaking into Yun Chenxiao Between the eyebrows and heart.She caressed Yun Chenxiao's eyebrows, and said softly: "Yun'er and I wandered the rivers and lakes, spent half our lives as soldiers and horses, and experienced many bloody storms. Now that I think about it, my happiest moments are when I am with her. I You have more than Master Zhilan, so you cherish more. Now you want me to reset, want me to be involved in the vortex of power again? How can a small throne be compared with her?"

Chu Yuxi said anxiously: "I know that Your Majesty and the General are as deep as the sea. But when Your Majesty returns, you can still be with the General! General, she will definitely understand..."

Shui Xinyou smiled calmly: "Yes, she can understand. She can not only understand, but also support. Not to mention that it is easy for me to reset now, even if it is as difficult as climbing the sky, she will go through fire and water to help me. But, That was not her original intention. When I was young, I only cared about my own ideals and ambitions, and I had already made her pay too much for me and suffered too much. How can I force others to make things difficult for her and delay her leisure for the rest of her life? And... I think we are fine now Yes. Although poor, but happy."

Chu Yuxi wanted to persuade her again.Shui Xinyou "hush" said: "Don't wake Yun'er up...Sister Yuxi, I have no ability to honor the bet that day, so I have to use wine to make amends." .Chu Yuxi knew that her heart was like a rock, and it was useless to talk, so she drank the contents of the glass and said: "How can a glass of thin wine count for such a big bet? Let me think about it again, and I will ask my sister for it later."

Seeing that she was quite persistent, Shui Xinyou said helplessly, "Little sister, listen to me: if you are full of mountains and rivers, you might as well take pity on the person in front of you."

Just at this time, Tang Xiaohan came with a brocade quilt, one to cover Yun Chenxiao, one to Shui Xinyou, and one to Chu Yuxi, curling his lips and said, "Master Chu, don't catch a cold from drinking too much. Otherwise, I will ask the Holy Spirit tomorrow morning, I don't worry about it for you."

Chu Yuxi snorted coldly, drank another glass of wine and said, "You want to take care of it? There are too many things!"

Tang Xiaohan sat down and filled the jug, and said to Shui Xinyou, "This wine is my Tang Clan's secret recipe, Sister Shui, take it easy too! Yuxi drinks so much, I'm afraid she won't be able to go to court tomorrow."

"If you can't get in... then don't go! Ask Xue Shu for a leave... She, how dare she refuse?" Chu Yuxi was sobbing, it was already out of place, and she was staggering drunk.Tang Xiaohan had no choice but to help her up, forcefully swallowed a few sobering pills, then confessed to Shui Xinyou, and carried Chu Yuxi back into the house.

Shui Xinyou looked at the backs of the two going away, smiled, then lowered her head again, staring at the person in her arms stupidly.After a while, I felt the strength of the wine coming up, and fell asleep.

It's a pity that no one appreciates the clear light and bright moon in the courtyard.

The author has something to say:

Next chapter Wan'er's side story, then I'll consider the conclusion