many worries

With the loquat falling, the last firework of this year suddenly bloomed in the air, like a huge flame burning fiercely, bright and bright, and the entire silent palace was as bright as day.

After all, it was still winter, the wind was bitter, and the branches of the locust tree were even more freezing. Qiao Yu's hands were sluggish from the cold, and her mind was not clear.

He opened his mouth and shouted, "My loquat!" He had been thinking about it for a long time, and even now that his arm was injured, he didn't forget to stuff it into the sleeve of his new clothes.

No matter how beautiful the fireworks are, it is only a moment.The sweet loquat can make him remember for a long time!

Jing Yan was faster than his subconscious movements. He stretched out his long arms, grabbed Qiao Yu back, and trapped him firmly in his arms, preventing Qiao Yu from making any further movements.

This locust tree has grown for more than two hundred years, and its branches and leaves are luxuriant. Now it is winter and there are no green leaves.

Jing Yan squinted his eyes, his eyelids were raised slightly, and only a small half of his dark eyes were exposed. There was a sense of oppression, which was colder than the wind wrapped in ice crystals. He felt that Qiao Yu was like a struggling animal, in his arms Not being honest, he lowered his voice and asked, "What? If something falls, you have to jump down too?"

Qiao Yu was taken aback, even if the prince got angry, he wouldn't be like this.He didn't know how to describe the prince when he was angry.When he stayed in the Eastern Palace, once he was playing in the inner room, and the crown prince was dealing with things outside. The people below reported something, and the eunuch next to him scolded sharply. Looking through the screen.

The prince stood beside the bookshelf, his wide black sleeves were embroidered with intricate gold patterns, hanging down to the table.With a smile on his face, he took out a book unhurriedly. The man was tall and strong, but he half-kneeled in front of the prince with his head down, very respectful.Jing Yan didn't seem to take this matter seriously, and whispered an order, and when the man left, he waved to the screen, and Qiao Yu came out on short legs.

He was a little scared, secretly glanced at the prince's face, and said directly: "I heard voices outside, so I wanted to come out and have a look."

The prince smiled lightly, without changing his expression, and touched Qiao Yu's soft cheek, "I know, but eavesdropping is not a good habit, don't do it next time."

Then he turned his head and ordered the eunuch on the side to lead Qiao Yu out.

The eunuch was trembling with fright, and probably didn't understand why Qiao Yu was here, he couldn't move, and said to Qiao Yu: "Little ancestor, you are going to His Highness's room in the future, at least give some instructions, bring a few people with you, don't worry about it." Hide alone."

Qiao Yu nodded in a daze.At that time, he was already very liked by the crown prince, and he was very pampered, and the more others refused to let him do the more he had to do.For example, the study room where the crown prince works does not allow outsiders to come in and out at will. He has been entangled for a long time, and finally got permission, but he can only go in alone and play in the inner room separated by a screen.

There is nothing interesting here, but Qiao Yu just likes it, and feels that it is very close to Jing Yan.But after this time, he seldom went there, either because he was afraid or because he didn't want to make the prince angry again.

Qiao Yu pursed her lips tightly, lowered her head, almost frightened away from tears, and murmured: "I didn't, I just didn't think I was on the tree just now. No matter how much I like it, it won't kill me gone."

He just got used to it. In the past, he couldn't leave people by his side. He was always taken care of everywhere. He didn't think too much about things. It was better to be alone outside. When he was with Jing Yan, he didn't care about anything, as if he had given everything to the people around him. .

A paper lantern was hung on the branch. The red paper was dyed with cinnabar. The color was very poor and light. The same lantern was uneven in different places. It swayed with the breeze, and the light inside was not very transparent. Flickering.

Jing Yan raised the lamp, and he could barely see Qiao Yu's face in his arms. His skin was very fair, his lips were red, his hair was black, his eyelashes were trembling slightly, and there were still some tears hanging down his face. Was frightened, very pitiful appearance.

He smiled lightly, and patted Qiao Yu's back, "So you want to eat loquat? How can you forget things related to your life? Are you crying again?"

Qiao Yu raised his head, surrounded by darkness, only those faint lights reflected on his cheeks, tears rolled in his eyes, he was still extremely sad.

Qiao Yu touched the corner of his eyes secretly, "No, I didn't cry."

Jing Yan looked at him seriously for a while, then took out the loquat in his hand, peeled off the skin to reveal the orange flesh, and handed it to Qiao Yu's mouth.

Qiao Yu knew it wasn't his own, his big loquat had fallen under the tree and turned into a lump of mud, but he still wanted to eat it.In the end, Qiao Yu still couldn't resist the temptation, opened his mouth and took a small bite, squinted his eyes sweetly, chewed for a long time before swallowing it, reluctantly pushing towards Jing Yan.

Jing Yan had no interest in appetite, and his eyes fell on Qiao Yu, watching him unconsciously licking the juice on his lips, turning his head to one side, pretending not to care, his eyes still staring at the big half of the loquat of.

Very reluctant, but also have to give up.

Jing Yan followed Qiao Yu's bite mark, took a smaller bite, and said deliberately, "It's really sweet."

Qiao Yu swallowed, he was very tempted, but suddenly smiled, "Yes, even if it is very sweet and delicious, His Highness also thinks it, doesn't it? You seldom say something is delicious, if It’s fine if the big one doesn’t fall off.”

Having said this, he swallowed the last sentence again. What he wanted to say was that he could leave it to the prince.Qiao Yu doesn't have the temperament to share, but Jing Yan is different, as long as it is what he likes, Qiao Yu will give him what he has.

Jing Yan was startled, and stopped teasing him. He removed the loquat and stuffed the whole thing into Qiao Yu's mouth. Seeing that he was stunned, he couldn't even chew, so he pulled his loquat. Cheek, "But I don't like sweets, I'm too tired."

Qiao Yu was a little puzzled, and asked, "Your Highness didn't frighten me?"

Jing Yan flicked the juice flowing from his fingers casually, but left a trace, and touched the tip of Qiao Yu's nose, "What are you doing, do you have money? You used to eat so many dim sum fruits, how many did I eat?" Block? By the way, I just secretly wiped my tears, I must have cried."

Qiao Yu's mouth was stuffed with loquats, and he couldn't speak flexibly. He couldn't utter a complete sentence, and he had to argue, "Who cried? I didn't cry. After the New Year's Eve dinner, it's the beginning of the new year. If you cry It will be unlucky for the next year."

When he said the next words, he was obviously a little guilty, "Besides, the tears are still in the eyes, how can they be counted as tears? They can't be counted."

Jing Yan coaxed him, and said seriously: "Okay, it can't be counted."

Chewing slowly, after so long, a small loquat was swallowed into the stomach.Qiao Yu spat out the fruit core and carefully held it in his palm. Jing Yan asked him why, and he whispered: "If the seeds are planted, a loquat tree will grow, and when the time comes, it will bloom and bear fruit, and there will be a lot of loquats to eat." ?"

Jing Yan rubbed Qiao Yu's head, thinking he was too naive.He just wanted to eat more, thinking that if he planted it, he would reap the fruits, but he didn't expect why it was so precious, because the loquats in the north couldn't grow fruits.

There is no harm in being naive.

As long as, as long as it can be well protected.

Jing Yan put down the lantern and nodded.

After staying for a while, Qiao Yu clamored to go down to plant the seeds, saying that today is auspicious and the best day of the year.His hands were all on the wooden ladder, but suddenly he heard a faint meow of a kitten.

Qiao Yu's ears were very sharp, and following the soft and high-pitched voice, he found a cat shadow.It was a pitch-black kitten, it looked like it had just been weaned, and it wasn't too big. If it wasn't for the fact that the palace is full of lanterns today, it is like a nightless sky, so it must be hard to see clearly.But the four paws are snow-white, like dark clouds stepping on snow, majestic and beautiful.Flexibly and cunningly shuttle through the gaps between the iron needles on the palace wall, as if passing through the land of no one.

Qiao Yu couldn't move his eyes away for a moment, the kitten seemed to have noticed him, stopped where it was, bared its teeth, put on a show, and barked fiercely in this direction.

The kitten looked fierce, holding up its paws hesitantly, without even growing hard nails.Qiao Yu is even afraid of puppies who are not weaned, and has to hide behind Jing Yan whenever she sees them, but she likes cats very much.But the Taifu said that the prince should not indulge in these playthings, for fear of spoiling his character, so even though he liked them, Qiao Yu never wanted them.

Qiao Yu also gave a soft "meow" to the little milk cat.

Jing Yan thinks he meows much better than a real cat.

One person and one cat have meowed together for a long time, and the little milk cat seems a little confused, maybe it is too young to distinguish the difference between two-legged beasts and four-legged beasts, and always feels that they are the same kind with the same language, and they are a little close in their hearts, standing on tiptoe With footsteps, he jumped from the palace wall, onto the branch of the locust tree, and walked towards Qiao Yu cautiously.

When I got closer, I could see that it was different from other cats. Its hind legs were a little shorter, and it walked with a limp.It jumped over Jing Yan, walked straight to Qiao Yu, tilted its head, and meowed softly.

Qiao Yu stretched out his hand, wanting to touch it, but the kitten dodged it, stretched its hind legs, and jumped into Qiao Yu's arms.

Although it was a lame cat, it was chubby and cute, with a pair of emerald green round eyes staring innocently at Qiao Yu, stretching out its paws to touch his face.

This should be a plaything in the Royal Beast Garden, but it is lame and unattractive, probably can't be sent up to please the master, and the guard is not strict, so it escaped on New Year's Eve.

Qiao Yu was so happy that he couldn't bear to let go even a little bit. After holding back for a long time, he still couldn't hold back, "Your Highness, can I raise it!"

Jing Yan opened his mouth, his laughter was light and shallow, and quite cold, as if a gust of spring breeze was blowing, but when he saw Qiao Yu, he softened again, "A cat can always be kept alive."

Qiao Yu touched the kitten's head, checked its hind legs, struggled for a long time, and finally decided on a name, "The first name is New Year's Eve, the nickname is Niannian."

He couldn't put it down for Niannian, scratched its chin, and played around again, "Nianniannian, it's Chinese New Year!"

After a while, Jing Yan hugged Qiao Yu, and Qiao Yu hugged New Year's Eve, one by one, and finally got down from the locust tree.Qiao Yu wandered around the yard, and finally chose an open place with good sunlight. He dug the soil for a long time with a small wooden board, buried the fruit core carefully, and set up a mark next to it. When it reached the face, it became a little tabby cat.

He chased after Jing Yan and asked, "Will it bear fruit next year?"

Jing Yan answered him patiently, "Probably not."

Qiao Yu laughed again, not at all sad, "What about the next year?"

Jing Yan said: "Probably not."

Qiao Yu circled around the place where the fruit core was buried, "What about the next year, the next year, and the next year?"

He asked himself and answered, "It doesn't matter, one day my loquat tree will grow tall and full of yellow and orange loquats."

Jing Yan shook his head with a smile, drove him into the room to wash his face, and cleared away the dishes.Before entering the house, Jing Yan turned his head to look at the place where the small wooden sign stood, sighed, picked up the broken loquat core not far away, and buried it aside.That pit is much fuller and easier to root and sprout than the shriveled one.

You can't go to bed early on New Year's Eve, you have to watch the year until the child.When Jing Yan came in, Qiao Yu's body was still covered with dirt, and he and Nian Nian were rolling and playing on the ground.

As soon as Qiao Yu heard the movement from the door, she held up the kitten and said excitedly, "Come on, Niannian, perform a bow and kowtow for His Highness."

Probably because of the inexplicable similarity between the two of them, the wonderful fate, the ferocity that they met only after they passed away long ago on New Year's Eve, softened into a ball, as if they had no bones, listened to Qiao Yu's words very much, and Chao Jingyan meowed a few times.

It's a pity that Jing Yan doesn't like it. He teased Qiao Yu, "Xiaoyu meows and bows again. I have lucky money for you."

Qiao Yu looked at Jing Yan eagerly, as if trying to discern the truth from what he said. After all, he couldn't resist the temptation, and tilted his head together with New Year's Eve in his arms, "Meow, meow, meow?"

It's cute as hell.

Jing Yan sat on the side, propping his forehead, there was nothing he could do about it, he took out a red envelope from his cuff, the color was not dyed, but painted little by little, and it was full of auspicious paintings.

Qiao Yu took it, the inside was bulging, and there was a sentence written on the front of the red envelope.

"To my little friend - Xiaoyu".

While tearing it apart, Qiao Yu sweetly thought that he is His Highness's child.

Your Highness!kid!

I am His Highness's child!

I am Xiaoyu, His Highness!

As soon as he took it apart, a string of wooden beads rolled into his palm. It was so heavy that it almost fell, and several delicate and lovely gold and silver ingots fell down together.Qiao Yu hurriedly held it in front of her eyes with both hands, only to see clearly that it was a string of bracelets, strung together with thin and dense beads, and could smell a soothing fragrance. Qiao Yu remembered that fragrance was from the small Buddhist hall of her grandmother. The taste of that Buddha.

His grandmother told him that it was carved from sandalwood and was extremely precious. When he got married in the future, he would give it to his daughter-in-law to bless them both in safety and to have a son soon.

Qiao Yu was startled, and counted one by one, a total of one hundred and eight beads, round and smooth, but uneven to the touch, because each bead had a sentence engraved on it.He read it carefully for a long time, because the beads were too small and the characters were densely packed into a ball, he managed to recognize a few words that wished the children in the family good health, peace and happiness, and so on.One hundred and eight beads, one hundred and eight blessings, it is so hard to identify, let alone engraved by Jing Yan bit by bit.

He was holding the beads in a daze, and he didn't even care about being coquettish by his legs on New Year's Eve. His eyes were round and red, and after a long while, he stumbled and said, "You, how long have you been engraving?"

It was too much, and it was too tiring. Qiao Yu wanted the prince to value her and like herself, but she couldn't bear him to be tired and suffer.

Qiao Yu's words sounded slightly crying, "I don't want these..."

Jing Yan's half-closed eyes were dark and deep, his eyebrows suddenly tightened, and he gently brushed Qiao Yu's eyebrows. There were countless small wounds on his fingertips and fingertips, and he still wrote lightly: "I said I can't cry, right? ? Don’t cry, I gave you something to make you happy, so what’s sad? And it’s lucky money, and it needs to be expensive to live up to your age. I don’t have pearls, jades and gems, so I can only work hard. Don’t think too much Others," he paused, grabbed Qiao Yu's hand, and put the beads on his wrist, "Do you like it?"

Qiao Yu held back her breath and didn't dare to breathe hard, so her tears didn't fall. She looked at the Buddha beads carefully and nodded her head desperately.

He liked it so much that his heart ached.

Jing Yan then loosened his brows, "That would be the best."

He doesn't believe in gods and Buddhas, but at this moment he solemnly said: "I only hope that you will be blessed by the gods and Buddhas of the heavens, and be safe and complete."

Qiao Yu tossed and turned the string of Buddhist beads for a long time, clutching her chest preciously, not letting her touch it even on New Year's Eve, and tugged at Jingyan's sleeve.

Jing Yan turned his head and asked him, "What's wrong?"

Qiao Yu was a little shy, her cheeks used to be snow white, but now they were terribly red, like a glutinous rice dumpling filled with red bean paste, with an unconcealable redness in the white, she stumbled and said, "I, I have a gift too, no , is the New Year's money to be given to His Highness."

He is always looking forward to the New Year in his heart, not only because there are delicious and fun things during the New Year, but also the gifts given to him by the elders. Qiao Yu keeps them in his small cupboard by category, and remembers everything clearly.Before they get crowned and married, they are still children, and they should get the New Year's money.But in the East Palace, the crown prince was required to respect maturity and never received lucky money. In fact, he was only in his teens.

Qiao Yu wanted to give Jing Yan lucky money for a long time, but she never had the chance.On New Year's Eve, the crown prince did not return to the East Palace, but had to accompany Emperor Yuande and Empress Chen to watch the new year. For the next three days, he would accept courtiers' kneeling and offering sacrifices.When I return to the East Palace, the year has already passed, so why give me a red envelope?

But this year is different, only him and the prince, Qiao Yu has made up his mind, and wants to give Jing Yan a very precious gift.

The most precious thing he has.

It was after the new year, and the entire palace was busy. Qiao Yu secretly tore the covers of a few Buddhist scriptures, turned them over, dyed the snow-white side red, and cut them into suitable sizes. , and put together a red envelope, which was much simpler than the one Jing Yan gave him.

Qiao Yu got up, found a red envelope from the small cupboard, and handed it to Jing Yan, as if reluctant to part with it, "Your Highness, cherish it, this is my best thing."

And then to the best of you.

He is a child, he likes to wear brightly colored clothes, he likes to be beautiful and lively, but he also knows how to cherish other people's feelings and return them back.

Jing Yan looked up at him and promised, "I will definitely."

But until he actually took it apart, he didn't expect that it would be the jade pendant left by his grandmother to Qiao Yu.

It was indeed Qiao Yu's most cherished thing, and she never left her body. When she fell asleep at night, she would unconsciously touch the jade pendant on her chest.Once he fell ill, Jing Yan was afraid that the jade pendant would make him uncomfortable, so he took it off, but Qiao Yu didn't touch it when he fell asleep, and woke up crying in the middle of the night, walking around the house barefoot for half a circle. He came, and returned the jade pendant to him, but Qiao Yu still couldn't hold back, crying until dawn.

Qiao Yu thought that Jing Yan didn't like it because this piece of jade looked ordinary, so she anxiously explained: "It doesn't look very good, but my grandmother asked the Bodhisattva for this when I was born. I was in poor health when I was young. Well, I almost didn’t support myself. Later, I put on the jade pendant. They all said that it was the blessing of the Bodhisattva. Later, and later, our family went to offer incense. I didn’t want to worship the Bodhisattva. I fell down, broke a small piece, found a place to hide and secretly felt sad, and just happened to meet the host in the Xinghua Forest, and escaped unharmed."

Qiao Yu was rarely so serious. He stood on tiptoe, trying hard to look tall and credible, and said softly, "It has blessed me to grow up to this size safely, and I hope it can also protect His Highness like this in the future. , safe and sound."

The jade pendant seemed very heavy, so heavy that Jing Yan could barely hold it, and his palm trembled slightly.

Jing Yan smiled suddenly, pulled Qiao Yu into his arms with one hand, and said against his earlobe, "I know, I know Xiaoyu's heart. But I am already very old, and I don't need the blessing of the Bodhisattva. You send me I only hope that I can continue to protect you in the future, and Xiaoyu will fulfill my wish, right?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he tied the red string back around Qiao Yu's neck, and gently rubbed the surface of the jade pendant, making it round and smooth.

Qiao Yu was stunned, thinking, Ah Ci is too good at talking, he is so good at talking, he can't do anything about it.

He had no choice but to speak his truth, "I'm very serious, I don't want to be with my aunt, I don't want her, I just want Your Highness, to be with Ah Ci."

Jing Yan also nodded seriously, stroked Qiao Yu's soft long hair, and asked, "What is Xiaoyu's New Year's wish?"

Qiao Yu's eyes were filled with light, and he made a wish.

He thought: "Please let me grow up enough to protect everyone I care about, please let me be with Ah Ci forever and ever."

Qiao Yu spent many, many eternities, as if the Bodhisattva would hear his wish, understand his sincerity, and fulfill this wish for him.

After a while, the sound of firecrackers sounded again, and it was a new day and a new year.

today Tomorrow Day after Tomorrow.

This year, next year, the year after.

This is the fourth New Year's Eve that Qiao Yu Jing has spent.For the next six years, they stayed together every day and never separated.