The blue sky hung with a fireball-like sun, and the clouds were burned by the sun and disappeared without a trace. It was only halfway through Mengxia, the sun was constantly scorching the earth, and the willow trees in the shade on the Yinping Road seemed to be sick, and the leaves were rolled on the branches with layers of ash, listless. The grass and trees are hanging their heads and dying. Occasionally, birds stopped at the branches and let out broken shouts, like broken gongs and drums shouting to cheer for the scorching sun.
Xin Yi braved the hot sun and rode a small white horse on the Yin Ping Road, tirelessly running towards Ma PanSi Qingxi City. Such a big sun, ordinary people can't stand it for several hours in a row, not to mention the pampered big lady who is usually pampered. The rouge on Xin Yi's face had long been washed away by sweat, and the hair on his forehead was also wet with sweat, sticking to his forehead.
The horse stole Xin Yi's morning time. At noon, the sun is high in the sky, and the sun is hotter and hotter.
Along the way, smelling the faint fragrance of locust flowers, those childhood memories poured in like a sea of mountains, like monstrous waves hitting the tip of Xin Yi's heart. When he was a child, Xin Yi made ghosts off monkeys and mischievously mischievous. Although she is a girl, she often plays with her brothers in the family, and her courage is surprisingly big. During a play, Xin Yi had to rely on Wang Tan to dig a bird's nest on the tree, and the two brothers and sisters climbed a tall locust tree in the courtyard. Wang Tan has been fat since he was a child, and his movements are not very flexible, and he accidentally fell from a tree and fell to his nose and face. Instead of blaming Xin Yi, Wang Tan asked the third lady Tian Wenniang what was going on, in order not to let Xin Yi be scolded, Wang Tan took the initiative to take the responsibility on himself, saying that he was greedy and insisted on pulling up his little sister Xin Yi, which was the result of the fall. Wang Tan's love for Xin Yi made the young Xin Yi feel guilty. As he grew older, Xin Yi gradually became sensible. But now, Wang Tan, who was still an adult, suddenly died violently, without a trace of warning, and even before he could give a last word, he left the world in such a hurry, so how could Xin Yi not be sad?
Thinking about it, Xin Yi's tears blurred his vision. Under the scorching sun, the sweat that was constantly dripping from her forehead slid into her lustrous eyes, and the salt in the sweat soaked Xin Yi's eyes with pain, dissolving into tears flowing from her eyes. At this time, Xin Yi could not tell whether this was sweat or tears.
Xin Yi felt more and more physically weak, his eyes were blurred, and he was dizzy and wanted to vomit. In order to save the lives of Wang Fan and Wang Huan and stop following Wang Tan's mistakes, Xin Yi gritted his teeth and said that he must hold on to everything.
After a non-stop bump, Xin Yi saw a city in front of him, towering a tall wooden drum tower, horizontal and opposite, about four and a half meters high, two floors and one bottom, three-story cornices, glazed cylinder tiles, carved beams and paintings, and four square hanging plaques. The west hangs "Yin Ping Dao", the north is "Northern Lock Key", the east book "Purple Micro High Illumination", and the south hangs "Nanshan Juxiu".
"Great, finally arrived at Qingxi City!" Xin Yi wiped the rain-like sweat from his face and walked along the Tang Family River towards the approaching Qingxi City.
After passing through those green brick walls and inquiring all the way to the people in Qingxi City, Xin Yi finally arrived at the Li Tusi Mansion in Longzhou.
Near the red vermilion lacquer gate of Li Tusi Mansion, Xin Yi stepped on the stirrup and turned over and dismounted, tying the horse under a weeping willow nearby. The moment her feet landed on the ground, Xin Yi felt the sky spinning and her eyes were full of Venus, as if everything she had seen revolved around her. Xin Yi held his forehead with his hand and put all his strength on this hand, trying to support this body that was on the verge of collapse. Struggling to stand firmly, Xin Yi walked step by step to the gate of Li Tusi's mansion, gritted his teeth and knocked the brass ring on the door.
Hearing someone knocking on the door, Ding Xilai, the family of Li Tusifu, opened the door, and saw that the knocker was a wretched young girl who was about the same age as Yu, and felt very strange: "This young lady, what noble work do you have?" ”
Xin Yi said weakly with pale shelled lips, "I... I'm looking for...... plum...... Lee..."
Before the words could be heard, Xin Yi's eyes went black, his weak body fell violently with the hot sun, and the messy strands of black waterfall broke free of the snow-green depiction golden hairband and spread out on the ground, like a huge ink chrysanthemum that bloomed.
Looking at Xin Yi, who was unconscious, Xi Lai was so frightened that he was at a loss and hurriedly called out to the former housekeeper of Li Tusi's mansion.
"Looking at the dress, this girl should come from a large family." But looking at her awkward appearance, will she escape from somewhere? Zeng Butler looked at Xin Yi lying on the ground, puzzled, and repeatedly asked Xi Lai, "You really didn't hear who she was looking for?" ”
Xi Lai shook her head desperately: "Zeng Butler, this girl just fainted after saying a 'Li' word, God knows if she is looking for Lord Li Toast or Young Master Li?" ”
The housekeeper frowned, and secretly pondered in his heart: "Shouldn't the lady of a big family look at our young master again, and come to relieve the pain of lovesickness?" Or ask the young master to come and see it first, and then make a decision. In case it was the young master's troubled debt, let the old master know, the young master blamed me, I was embarrassed. ”
The former butler ordered Xi Lai to go and ask the young master Li Weilan to come over.
Li Weilan hurriedly came, and the strange girl in front of her, who was in a coma, was covered in a shawl, her face was pale, her lips were dry, and the rouge on her cheeks had been spent, but it did not affect the girl's original beautiful appearance, only to see that her skin was like gelatin, her qi was like a blue, and her eyelashes were like a lupine, and she had an ethereal aura. Xin Yi, who fell into a coma, is pitiful, like a miserable rendering of a broken moon for the night.
Li Weilan quickly ordered his subordinates: "I don't know this girl, it seems that she should be suffering from heat stroke, and if she doesn't get it, her life will be in danger." It is important to save people, quickly take her to the palace, and give her a perilla half summer drink! ”
The zeng butler stared at Li Weilan with a bad smile: "Young master, do you really not know this girl?" ”
Zeng Butler's words made Li Weilan look puzzled: "I really don't know her." Wait a minute...... Why do I have to know this girl? ”
"Nothing, nothing." The housekeeper smiled and instructed Xi to come and prepare a shiso half summer drink.
From the point of view of etiquette, men and women are not intimate, but now people's lives are at stake, and it is important to save people. Li Weilan couldn't take care of so much, so he picked up Xin Yi, who was unconscious, took three steps and made two steps, and hurried towards the West Wing room used to receive guests.
Li Weilan placed Xin Yi smoothly on the bed, called his personal maids Yue Feng and Yue Yu haosheng to take care of him, and urged Xi Lai to quickly bring a boiled shiso half summer drink.
Looking at this girl who didn't know where to come out, YueFeng and Yueyu felt strange, but since it was the only young master of the Li family, Li Weilan, they didn't dare to be sloppy in the slightest. Yue Feng held Xin Yi with both hands and let her sit half on the bed so that Yue Yu could feed the medicine spoon by spoon. Li Weilan paced back and forth anxiously on the side, secretly guessing the origin and purpose of this girl.
When people reach a certain scorching realm, they will feel cold, like walking in a glacial snowfield. Xin Yi seemed to have had a long dream, in which she repeatedly couldn't walk out of this vast snow, cold sweat, dry mouth, and wanted to drink water. She didn't even feel hot or cold anymore, as if she had entered a paradise where the four seasons were like spring.
After about two incense days, Xin Yi, who had experienced all kinds of difficulties and dangers in his dream, woke up in a dazzling ray of sunlight.
Xin Yi blinked his bright eyes, looked around, all strange environments and unfamiliar faces, and asked, "Please... Is this Lee Toast House? ”
Seeing Xin Yi who had woken up, Yue Yu shouted happily to Li Weilan: "Young master, young master, this young lady is awake!" ”
Li Weilan hurried to the bedside, looked at the girl who woke up, only to see her eyebrows fluttering, vaguely revealing a trace of worry, making her chuchu and moving face, adding a point of pity to me. The girl in front of her eyes cut the water with her eyes, gu pansy fluorescent, like a flood of clear water, has a noble and flexible movement, with a sense of pride, quite different from the posture of mortals, such as the whole world and its boundless, a thousand years and special birth.
Li Weilan looked at it obliviously, and for a moment he was speechless, and he quickly noticed that he was a little disrespectful, so he asked softly, "This young lady, please ask you what happened when you came to the contemptible mansion?" ”
Xin Yi opened his mouth and went straight to the subject: "May I ask Lord Li Toast to be in the palace now?" ”
Li Weilan's two thick eyebrows resembled the bright winding moon in the night sky, and the jade skin and jade bones set off the thin peach blossom lips, and smiled at Xin Yi slightly: "It turns out that this young lady is looking for her father, so when you are well recuperated, I will take you again." ”
"Thank you gongzi for your kindness, but I still have important things to do, and I want to see Lord Li Toast on the spot." Xin Yi got up and gave Li Weilan a salute, "Please ask Gongzi to lead the way, and cause trouble for Gongzi." ”
Looking at the weak Xin Yi, Li Weilan wanted to persuade her to rest for a while, but she insisted on seeing Li Fan, so it was inconvenient to stay. Li Weilan took Xin Yi to the study to find Li Fan. Along the way, Li Weilan wanted to take the initiative to speak several times, but looking at Xin Yi, whose eyes were full of worries, he had to stop talking.
Li Fan held a copy of the "Outline of the Golden Plateau" in his hand, watched his son Li Weilan lead a young girl of similar age into the room, put down the book in his hand, and asked: "Lan'er, who is this young lady?" ”
Li Weilan was thinking about how to introduce this girl whose surname even he didn't know whose surname was, and Xin Yi took the initiative to give Li Fan a salute and introduced himself: "The little girl Wu Lingxiao of Tongchuan Prefecture has seen Lord Li Toast. ”
Li Fan looked Xin Yi up and down, "I don't know what happened when Miss Wu came to Qingxi City in Longzhou Mapansi?" ”
Xin Yi took out fifty taels of silver from his carry-on baggage and offered it with both hands: "My mother was unfortunate to be in the poison of Lotus Hua's hesitation, and after seeing it, the famous Fu Langzhong of Tongchuan Prefecture said that only the antidote to the immortal bird could restrain the poison of Lotus Hua's hesitation." Fu Langzhong also said that the immortal bird is difficult to find in the world, and his colleague Zhang Langzhong of Longzhou Ningwusi had found the immortal bird in the Yunnan Burma area and had already sold it to Li Toast. Only the undead bird in your hand can save the life of the mother. Only then did the little woman dare to trek through the mountains and rivers, and was willing to plead with Lord Li Toast for fifty taels of silver to sell the undead bird to the little girl, so as to relieve the poison of the mother of the house and save the life of the mother. ”
Looking at the bright and shining silver, plus the Chinese clothes that Xin Yi was wearing, Li Fan and Li Weilan couldn't help but wonder in their hearts who the girl in front of them really was. Li Fan kept thinking back in his mind, this girl seems to have a good family, presumably either a powerful person or a rich businessman, Tongchuan Prefecture does not seem to have more than seven wu officials, could this girl come from the shangjia family?
"Hahaha..." Li Fan laughed, the laughter was elusive, "Miss Haosheng said laughing, these are all just rumors among the langzhong." The immortal bird is the king of detoxification in the hundred herbs, how can the palace have such a valuable medicinal material? ”
"But..." Li Weilan was about to speak when he was interrupted by Li Fan's cold eyes, and it was not good to continue speaking.
Xin Yi naturally understood Li Weilan's meaning, knowing that Li Fan had not eaten the immortal bird, and the undead bird was still in Li Mansion, and repeatedly requested: "Please Lord Li Toast must save the life of the mother, if fifty two silver is not enough, the little girl is willing to add two more silver." ”
Li Fan was still unmoved, and brushed his goatee: "This young lady, it's not that I Li Mouren doesn't want to help you, I really can't help it, and there have never been any undead birds in the house!" ”
Seeing that Li Fan insisted on not selling undead birds, and thinking of the two brothers whose lives were hanging in the balance in the family, Xin Yi was so anxious that tears fell down.
When Li Weilan saw Xin Yi's anxious tears, he felt a hint of pity and wanted to say a few good words for Xin Yi. But Li Fan glared at Li Weilan fiercely, and Li Weilan had to swallow back the words that hung on his lips.
What to do? Xin Yi was anxious, getting the immortal bird was the purpose of Xin Yi's trip, Xin Yi had already made up his mind that he would never go back if he did not reach the goal. Unconsciously, Xin Yi's right hand slowly slid and touched the small plum blossom dagger hidden around his waist. It was too late, it was fast, Xin Yi felt the plum blossom dagger, like a lightning bolt rushed to Li Fan's face, grabbed Li Fan's arm, and put the plum blossom dagger on Li Fan's neck!
Xin Yi's movements were too fast, Li Fan and Li Weilan father and son were caught off guard, and no one expected that such a weak girl in front of him would actually have such a frightening move.
Li Fan was about to shout loudly, when Xin Yi squeezed the blade even tighter: "Lord Li Tusi, I'm sorry!" The little girl did not intend to offend, only that you could sell the undead bird to the little girl to save her mother's life, and there was no other intention. ”
Seeing this scene, Li Weilan panicked, his face was first blue and white, then he rose to crimson, and he was busy shouting at Xin Yi: "This young lady, don't get excited first, don't hurt my father, everything is good to discuss!" ”
Perhaps accustomed to seeing the wind and waves, or pretending to be calm and laughing to cover up the panic in his heart, Li Fan laughed: "Hahaha... I didn't expect that the young lady and even the filial piety person could fight with their lives in order to save Lingtang's life, and the contempt was deeply admired. ”
Xin Yi clenched the plum blossom dagger in his hand, like a statue that had been weathered by wind and frost but could not fall: "Lord Li Toast, if it were not for the desperation, the little girl would never make this decision." I hope you do well, just do a good deed, and sell the undead bird to the little girl! ”
Li Weilan did not dare to move the pestle there, only to feel that a cold sweat was constantly emerging from his back. For the sake of Li Fan's safety, and for the scene to no longer be so out of control, Li Weilan held his breath for a long time, and finally plucked up the courage to say it: "Father, the immortal bird is precious, but if it does not play its role, what is the difference between it and a dry grass?" This young lady was bent on saving her mother, such a hot weather, a weak woman rushed from Tongchuan Prefecture alone, and also fainted at the door in the heat of the heat, begging you to sell the undead bird to her, and only then did she make this decision. Don't you always teach your children to repay their parents' nurturing grace like mu lian saving their mothers and lying on the ice and begging for carp? Why don't you take out the undead bird and sell it to this lady!" Saving a person's life is better than creating a seventh-level floating massacre, and their family will also be grateful for your good deeds. Moreover, fifty taels of silver for an immortal bird will not be lost. ”
Li Weilan's words seemed to touch the softest string in Li Fan's heart, and Li Fan fell into contemplation. In fact, Li Fan knew better than anyone that fifty taels of silver for an immortal bird did not lose at all, and he only spent eight or two silver to buy it from Zhang Langzhong. What Li Fan was worried about was that if he sold the undead bird to others, if in the future, the Li family had three long and two short, and when they needed to use the undead bird, they didn't have it, how could this be good?
Just as Li Fan hesitated, Li Weilan continued, "Do not do to others what you do not want. Father, compare your heart to your heart, if you or your mother are sick, and the child also goes to the doctor and asks for medicine, but the other party is unwilling to help, then what? Father, do you remember a strange thing that happened to your child when he went to Ma Mane Pass to dig kudzu for you a few years ago? ”
Li Weilan had a long river in his eyes, and he looked at Li Fan and continued: "At that time, it was the season of digging kudzu, and the people who went to Ma mane pass to dig kudzu were endless, and an old man dug up a giant kudzu root weighing more than sixty kilograms, and the child wanted to spend a lot of money to buy it, but this old man resolutely refused to accept the money and had to give it to me." The child was strange, this old man was obviously dressed in rags, and at first glance he was a poor man, but he wanted to give this strong kudzu root to the child without any money. It wasn't until the old man explained the reason that the child suddenly realized. It turned out that the old man was also a member of the Mapansi of Longzhou, and he had long heard that our Li family had always practiced twenty-four filial pieties, taking filial piety as a discipline, ruling the family with filial piety, and acting with filial piety, and was widely loved by the people of Mapansi in Longzhou. The old man said that if he asked me for money, his neighbors would poke him in the back, saying that he was disrespectful to a filial piety who knew how to repay his parents' nurturing kindness, and that this kind of wealth would be a long life. Father, is it not true that our cousin Li's toast is not even as good as an ordinary person? ”
After Li Weilan finished speaking, the muscles and flesh on Li Fan's face couldn't help but tremble a little, something burrowed into his skin and into his heart.