Xiang Changyuan climbed over the wall and left the house, and walked around the alley to go home.

The early morning wind was pervasive, and it blew on his back for bursts of pain. He supported the wall to relieve the pain, and sweated profusely. The eyelashes were wet and his eyes were dazzled by the sweat beads, and his consciousness began to slacken.

"Brother Xiang."

————

Xu Yuanqing could see the figure in the study from a distance, with a thin figure and a hunched back, showing the vicissitudes of time everywhere. After Uncle Xu opened the door for him, he stepped back.Ping Hou didn't urge him, just sat quietly and waited for him.

After a long time, the foggy sky rumbled a few times before Xu Yuanqing stepped into the door.

"Yun... Nannan." Xuan Pinghou smiled, and the already dense wrinkles on his face deepened.

Xu Yuanqing saluted, "Father."

"sit."

Father and son sat like last time, Uncle Xu brought tea, Xuan Pinghou took a sip before opening his mouth, Xu Yuanqing thought he was going to talk about tea like last time, but he did not expect that it was indeed yesterday.

"You are smart, you must have guessed what happened yesterday."

Without waiting for Xu Yuanqing to speak, he continued, "I didn't want to disturb you, but I didn't expect the third son of the Xiang family to be nervous about you."

Xu Yuanqing disliked Xiang Changyuan's tense expression, lowered his eyes slightly to hide the complicated expression in his eyes, raised his eyes and still looked at Xuan Pinghou indifferently, "When did father plan?"

Xuan Pinghou: "About the resolution made on New Year's Eve."

Xu Yuanqing was startled, understood the meaning of the words, planned that he had thought about it a long time ago, what happened on New Year's Eve fueled the flames, and made him make up his mind.

Xuan Pinghou's eyes were cloudy, not like the clarity of a young man, his voice was also full of vicissitudes, his hands trembled slightly, afraid that Xu Yuanqing would care, so he hid it in his sleeves, and asked him softly, "Now you see the situation clearly?"

Xu Yuanqing nodded, he always knew that there were many people who wanted him to die, and only a handful of people dared to touch him, the only one who was not counted was the emperor.

"I will help you with what you want to do." Xuan Pinghou said in a deep voice, turning his head to look at him with a firm expression, "The crown prince is fatuous, unworthy of the crown prince..."

"Father!" Xu Yuanqing stood up suddenly and stopped him from speaking later, even in Xu's residence, he was afraid that the walls would have ears, and besides, he never thought of implicating his family.

He looked down at the white-haired old man, he was overwhelmed with worries, he was plagued by various diseases, he was planning schemes for his children, he could give up his reputation and future, Xu Yuanqing's heart was tightly gripped, and he made a decision at this moment.

He lifted the hem of his clothes and knelt down. Seeing this, Xuan Pinghou was surprised and at a loss. The hand supporting him trembled even more, "Nan Nan, what are you doing! Get up quickly! If you have something to say, be obedient."

Xu Yuanqing raised his hand to hold his hand, and still felt that his hand was only covered by a thin layer of skin through the layers of flesh.On the robe, you don't need to look to know that the old man must have sad eyes and tears, he hangs his head and dare not look directly.

"Father, please resign."

The four families were silent, only the undulating breathing of the father and son.

"Boom!" There was a thunder outside, shaking the earth, the strong light tore the sky apart for a moment and then closed again, the capital was bright and dazzling for a moment, and dark for a moment.The sound came one after another.

There are no people in the streets and alleys, and the shopkeepers are all staring at them. There will be a heavy rain, and business will be difficult.

There was only one alley where there were two people standing opposite each other, with no intention of hiding from the heavy rain.

"Brother Xiang, are you injured?"

Xiang Changyuan looked at the person in front of him, knowing that he was not only indifferent to the injury but also blocking the way, he clenched the sword slightly, even if he knew that he was not the frail scholar he knew in Xiaocheng back then, he never thought of confronting him with sword.

Shen Yuze looked terrified, "Is Xu Shizi worthy of you?"

The wound on the back continued to intensify the pain, Xiang Changyuan turned pale, and continued to move forward despite the pain.

Xiang Changyuan has thought about it many times, what kind of scene it will be when they meet again in the capital, all kinds of encounters that want to stop at the gate of the prime minister's mansion, maybe he has never been what he thought.

Now, it's okay to miss it, at least there is still a trace of the past between each other.

Shen Yuze raised his hand to block his way, and reminded him earnestly, "Xiang Changyuan! The Xu family is in danger now, you were able to protect him last night, what about the future?"

Looking sideways to the long-term, his eyes are like a torch, "It will be the same in the future."

————

It rained heavily from the sky, and the sound of "squeaking" water flowed into the ears, and the rain fell from the eaves, soaking the capital city.

The wind in the rain became even colder, and it flowed like water along the ground. Xu Yuanqing coughed from the cold air, and just when he stopped coughing, he knelt straight again and repeated without saying a word, "Father, please resign."

Xuan Pinghou came back to his senses, looked down at his only son kneeling in front of his knees, for so many years, he turned a blind eye to the harm he suffered in order to protect the Xu family, he is an incompetent father, it took him so long to fight for himAs a result, his first consideration was not to use his power, but to worry about his reputation and safety.

He was so ashamed that he burst into tears, "If I resign from office, what should you do?"

Xu Yuanqing slowly raised his eyes to look at him, holding back the tears in his eyes, and said in a trembling voice, "Father must have known it a long time ago."

Xuan Pinghou broke down in tears, "I'm sorry for your father."

The shadow of four years ago was lingering in his mind, Xu Yuanqing trembled all over.

The rain washes away the mud and sand stains on the ground. The rain in Xu Yuanqing's yard is more mixed than other colors. It looks like blood when you look closely. The blood flows along the gullies and finally gathers in the low-lying places.

Shen Yuze looked at the blood flowing from Xiang Changyuan's body, his eyes were heavy, and he still blocked his way, "Do you know why Xu Yuanqing keeps fighting against the prince?"

Xiang Changyuan knew that he was born with a delicate heart and was used to playing tricks on people's hearts, so he decisively pushed his hand away and continued to move forward, not wanting to mess with him.

"In the past, Xu Yuanqing had frequent contacts with the prince, and he would go to the East Palace when he entered the palace." Shen Yuze chased him regardless of whether he listened or not, seeing that he was unmoved, he said sharply: "The prince is lustful!"

Hearing this, Xiang Changyuan suddenly stopped, and the blood pooled under his feet was shocking.

"If it was normal, the crown prince wouldn't dare, but he drank that day..." Shen Yuze paused on purpose, but still couldn't speak when he saw Xiang Changyuan's eyes showing murderous intentions, "Since then, Xu Yuanqing has never set foot in the East Palace again, and has never been with the crown prince again."Fire and water are incompatible,"

"Shut up!" Xiang Changyuan swiped his sword at his head, and he fell into the rain, in a state of embarrassment, the sword was unsheathed and reached his throat, "Do you want to die!"

"Boom!" There was another thunder, and the lightning was like a silver dragon winding on the gray screen.

The past is vivid in his memory. Xu Yuanqing once had great fantasies about this world. He naively wanted to protect himself without bloodshed, so he kept in touch with Shen Qiwen and constantly guided him to be a person.There will be no chance to bring him down, so many people will not die, and the plot can be completely changed.

He dragged his sick body to intersect with him, ignoring his past, and only begging him to change his ways.

Shen Qiwen was also very cooperative in front of him. There were many times when Xu Yuanqing thought that he had succeeded, but he didn't want to be deceiving himself.

That day was just like today, the rain started to fall in the early morning, the sky was dark, it was day but it seemed like dusk.

He was sick in bed, and someone sent a letter telling him that Shen Qiwen embezzled the military salary, killed the officer in charge of the military salary and blamed him. Xu Yuanqing was so angry that he entered the palace regardless of the obstruction. The gate of the East Palace was closed and he forced his way in.Laughing and laughing, Shen Qiwen is exchanging glasses with the singer, flirting and amusing, very happy.

He pushed back the diva and confronted her.

On the contrary, Shen Qiwen blamed him for ruining his elegant affairs, angrily scolded him, pointed at him with the strength of alcohol, spit out what he didn't dare to say normally, and became more and more excited after speaking, pressing him and forcing him to drink, tightlyThen he looked at his face.

"Women know their taste alone, but men don't know it yet." Shen Qiwen pinched his wrist with a strange expression.

At that time, Xu Yuanqing was weak and unable to break free. He panicked and had no effect on Shen Qiwen's grasping and beating. The people present watched the prince go crazy and turned a blind eye to his plea for help.

The clothes were taken off, Shen Qiwen asked someone to hold him down, poured wine all over his body, he was tightly imprisoned, no matter how hard he struggled, it was futile, like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, Shen Qiwen became more and more crazy.

Xu Yuanqing will never forget the despair at that moment.

Even though he saved himself and did not let Shen Qiwen succeed, the seeds of resentment were still deeply planted in his heart. Every rainy day, nightmares continued, and fear and hatred eroded his reason.Cut to pieces.

He escaped from the palace in a state of embarrassment and was ill for several months, but no one knew about it when he woke up. Shen Qiwen dealt with all the palace people who were present at that time, as if that incident had never happened, and even came to him shamelessly.To see him.

Xu Yuanqing asked himself that he was not a kind person, and Shen Qiwen's fate must not be better than the innocent people he had harmed.

With the past haunting her mind, Xu Yuanqing's red eyes and ghostly eyes strengthened her thoughts, "Father, please resign and take my mother away."

Today, he couldn't hold back anymore, and went all the way to the dark, but he didn't want to implicate those who cared about him.

Xuan Pinghou was so sad that he couldn't speak, he kept shaking his head.

Xu Yuanqing looked at him stubbornly, "Father promised me."

"Father please promise me."

"Father please promise me."

"..."

He begged again and again until Xuan Ping Hou's expression moved.

The wind blows rainwater into the room, dispersing the chill, the pages of books fluttering on the desk, and the smoke from the incense burner being blown away.

Xuan Pinghou helped Xu Yuanqing to sit him down, wiped his tears, calmed down and discussed the matter with him again, "I will take your mother away, and there will be no one to support you in this capital."

Xu Yuanqing: "Father resigned on his own initiative, Your Majesty will not touch the Xu family rashly if he is hesitant."

Xuan Pinghou: "The assassins who came last night are as skilled as those in the palace. I don't know if they are from His Majesty or from the Crown Prince. If you are alone in the capital, I am afraid that you will be murdered again."

Hearing this, Xu Yuanqing was startled, and when he woke up, Xiang Changyuan was surprised, the incense ash in the incense burner, and the pineapple tree in the yard, all things were connected together at once, "Drug?"

"I don't want to embarrass you. I asked Uncle Xu to ask Mr. Gu for an incense that is useful for you. I don't want Mr. Xiang to be there. He won't leave after lighting it for you." Xuan Pinghou paused, sighing inaudibly., "I underestimated them. If Mr. Xiang hadn't been here, I'm afraid I wouldn't see you again today."

Xu Yuanqing's expression changed suddenly, and he stood up abruptly. His heart seemed to be bitten by ants, and it hurt and itched.May have inadvertently revealed something.

"To the long run!"

Xu Yuanqing is sure that Xiang Changyuan will not take the big road if he is injured. He is afraid of hurting his family and other people's guesses about Xu Yuanqing's safety.There is only one they walked together.

He brushed aside the umbrella that Uncle Xu had sent him, and ran into the alley with his clothes in his hands, shouting anxiously, "To the cannon fodder!"

The white shoes stepped on the mud, and anxious cries echoed in the alley.

Xiang Changyuan sat on the ground leaning against the wall and looked at the sky. The rain had no intention of stopping. He could no longer feel the pain from the wound on his back.You need to add more charcoal fire in the house, and you need to wear an extra cloak when you go out.

It turns out that winter is really so cold.

Has his son survived the winter like this for so many years?

If he had returned to the capital earlier, he would not have been wronged.

It's a pity that he can't accompany him to take revenge.

In the past, when he was traveling in the rivers and lakes, there would be moments when he licked blood. When he was dying, he thought of his family members far away in northern Xinjiang, and the best friends he met along the way. Now he has a sweetheart.

Those pale peach blossom eyes, and the bright red mole under his eyes seemed to be right in front of him.

It's a pity that I didn't have time to tell him that I liked him.

"Xiang Changyuan!" Xu Yuanqing hugged the man in his arms and kept calling him, but no one answered as usual, the only answer to him was the rain curtain all over the sky, and his icy body.

Xu Yuanqing had never been so absent-minded before, standing in front of the bed in a daze, watching Gu Sanzhi slump down on the ground limp after he was busy, and murmured, "To the long-term."

It was the first time for Zuo Yue to see his elder son in such a state of distress. Seeing that Mr. Xiang was unconscious, he hurriedly helped Gu Sanzhi to save him.

After a long time, Gu Sanzhi said out of breath, "Okay."

As if Xu Yuanqing had come back from the dead, he coughed violently, his whole body ached, Zuo Yue poked his forehead, it was astonishingly hot, before he could cry out, he passed out.