Shanghai Embroidery Lady

Chapter 110
When Ye Zijin followed into the restaurant, there was no sign of Meng Haoxiang. She asked the waiter: "I was with the gentleman in the black windbreaker who came in just now. Where is he now?"

The waiter pointed to the upstairs, and said, "It seems to have gone to the elegant room of Yunshui Pavilion."

Ye Zijin knew that Yunshui Pavilion was a premium private room of the Royal Kitchen, and those who could book this private room were distinguished guests, Ye Zijin was a little curious about who Meng Haoxiang wanted to invite to dinner.When she walked to the door of Yunshui Pavilion, she heard no sound in the private room, she knocked lightly on the door, but there was no response from inside.Ye Zijin just thought it was strange that the waiter told her that Meng Haoxiang had gone to the private room in Yunshui Pavilion.Just when she was wondering, the door of Xuanyuan Pavilion next to Yunshui Pavilion was suddenly opened.

"Zijin? Why are you here?" A flash of surprise flashed in Meng Haoxiang's eyes, then it turned into a faint smile, and he stretched out his hand from his pocket to pull her in.

Ye Zijin was stunned for a moment, and said: "I should be the one to ask you. Didn't you tell me to go out and discuss business? Why are you talking about Yuchu?"

Meng Haoxiang said with a smile: "I told you yesterday that I wanted to invite a friend here for tea and dinner, but you must have forgotten it. I think your complexion is not very good. You didn't sleep well in the car last night."

Ye Zijin thought about it carefully, but couldn't remember whether he said it or not, so he said, "Is your friend inside? I'm afraid it's not convenient for me to go in."

Meng Haoxiang dragged her into Xuanyuan Pavilion, "My friend didn't come, but I met the person you wanted to see."

Just when Ye Zijin was puzzled, as soon as he entered the door, he saw Lu Bo sitting on the master's chair of carved mahogany.

Lu Bo squinted his eyes slightly, got up tremblingly and said: "Xiulong Gege, long time no see, how are you?"

Ye Zijin stepped forward to help Lu Bo sit down, Lu Bo's legs and feet are not as flexible as before, and he has already embraced a Tang lady in autumn.

"I'm fine. I came here to see you this time. I brought you a good ham." Ye Zijin put the paper bag on the table.

Lu Bo smiled and said: "It smells right, Gege, you must have picked the right one."

Ye Zijin glanced at Meng Haoxiang next to him, and asked Lu Bo, "Do you know him?"

Lu Bo laughed, his eyes flickering, "Everyone who comes to my place is a guest, if you meet you, you know him. Besides, Gege and Boss Meng came together a few years ago, how can I not remember him. Just now I met him by chance, so I bought him a cup of tea, and you followed me before I could say anything."

Ye Zijin blushed, and said in a low voice, "Look at what you said, it seems that I am clinging to others."

Lu Bo smiled kindly, saw her shyness in his eyes, looked at the two of them again, and said: "Since we are here today, we will stay for a meal. Since Gege came to Beiping this time to see me, we must Stay a few more days."

The three chatted for a while, and at noon, Lu Bo had already asked someone to serve up the prepared wine and food.

Lu Bo sighed while picking up vegetables for Ye Zijin: "Lu Bo is old now, and he can't even lift a spoon. He can't cook your favorite dishes, so Ge ​​Ge just makes do with my apprentice's cooking..."

Ye Zijin's heart felt sour, and said: "Now is the time for you to enjoy your blessings, if you still cook for me yourself, wouldn't it make me feel uneasy."

Lu Bo smiled and pushed a plate of kidney bean rolls in front of Ye Zijin, saying: "Gege, try this, there are no peanuts in it."

Ye Zijin picked up a snow-white kidney bean roll and put it in his mouth. It was soft and sweet, and he couldn't help but miss the kitchen in Dutong Mansion.

During the meeting, Lu Bo suddenly talked about the red leaves in Jingyi Garden, "The two of you came to Beiping just in time to see the red leaves. The red leaves in Jingyi Garden are really a must in autumn."

Meng Haoxiang said: "I'm planning to go enjoy the red leaves with Zijin after finishing my business."

Lu Bo smiled leisurely: "Okay, okay, I still remember a well-written poem called Acacia Maple Leaf Dan. Although I haven't read many books, I have many literary friends. They like to come to me at this time of year. Drinking and talking about poetry here, I have a poor memory, but I wrote down a sentence."

Meng Haoxiang respectfully said: "Uncle Lu is very elegant, I'm afraid I will climb one mountain and two mountains with Zijin today to enjoy the red leaves."

Ye Zijin felt a little surprised when he heard that Meng Haoxiang would have a poem with Lu Bo, and asked Meng Haoxiang, "Since when did you like reading poetry, and you know that there are two mountains in one mountain, the mountains are far away, the sky is high, the mist is cold, and the water is cold, and you miss Maple Leaf Dan?"

Lu Bo said slowly: "Ge Ge, you are belittling Boss Meng too much by saying this. Since it is a good poem, there must be many people who know it. Even an old man like me can remember a sentence, let alone Boss Meng, who is so talented."

Meng Haoxiang nodded in agreement, and smiled at Ye Zijin: "Isn't there a saying that Shibie will look at you with admiration for three days, why are you so superficial since you didn't sleep well?"

Ye Zijin glanced at it and ignored it.Lu Bo just looked at the two with a smile, his face full of kindness.

After eating, Lu Bo invited Ye Zijin to his tea room alone.I saw Lu Bo took out a letter from the drawer and handed it to Ye Zijin, saying: "Gege, this is a letter I received half a year ago. The person who sent the letter asked me to deliver it to you, and the person said that you must arrive Only Peking can give it to you, and the letter cannot be sent to Shanghai during this period, otherwise it will cause trouble for you, so I can only wait until today to give you this letter."

Ye Zijin asked in shock, "What does that person look like?"

Lu Bo thought for a while, then said with a deep voice, "He's a young man, tall, thin and energetic. In fact, I suspect he is Ning Xiang..."

It must be Zizheng!Zizheng is also in Beiping!Ye Zijin hurriedly opened the letter and took it out to read, only to see that there was only a short line written on the letter paper, "Everything is safe, please don't read it".

A stone hanging from Ye Zijin fell to the ground, as long as Zizheng is safe.She once mentioned Lu Bo to Zizheng. Lu Bo was a trustworthy person. It should be safest for Zizheng to ask Lu Bo to deliver the letter to her.

"If he still comes to you, please tell him that I will wait for him in Shanghai and tell him to be careful." As soon as Ye Zijin said it, she realized that she had leaked the fact that Zizheng was in danger. .

Lu Bo really asked her: "Master Ning Xiang, what happened to him?"

Ye Zijin hurriedly responded, "No...it's nothing. He came to Peking to visit friends at Yenching University. I was afraid that something would happen to him because he was young and playful."

Lu Bo didn't ask any more questions, and sent the two of them to the door. Before leaving, he gave them some guest coupons. With these coupons, they can enjoy the treatment of honored guests when they go to the restaurant.

Jingyi Garden is located in the western suburbs of Beiping. It is named Xiangshan because of the huge rocks in the mountain that are shaped like incense burners.Every autumn, the yellow trees all over the mountains and plains here are scorching like fire, and the forests are all dyed.When the autumn wind blows in the mountains, the autumn frost falls, and the red leaves rustle among them.

Meng Haoxiang took Ye Zijin up the mountain to enjoy the red leaves in the afternoon, and the two stopped and passed Xiangshan Temple along the way.The original Xiangshan Temple was a five-storey hall with red walls and green tiles and green pines and cypresses.There are stone squares, mountain gates, bell and drum towers and other buildings.However, after the two catastrophes of the British and French invasions and the eight-nation invasion, Xiangshan Temple has become a ruined wall, leaving only the stone screen in front of the main hall and the unburned stone steles and steps in the mountain gate.

Ye Zijin stepped forward and reached out to caress the stone screen that had been burned by fire, the scriptures on it were somewhat blurred.Looking at the desolation and desolation everywhere, she couldn't help feeling a little sad in her heart.

"Let's go, go to that pavilion and have a look." Meng Haoxiang took Ye Zijin's hand and went to the pavilion not far away.I saw a sword stone standing next to the pavilion, with the word "Langfeng" engraved on it.

Standing here and looking at the picturesque autumn scenery in the distance, Ye Zijin couldn't help but think of the phrase "Whoever gets drunk in the frost at dawn will always leave people in tears".

"Do you know the Sala tree?" Ye Zijin suddenly asked Meng Haoxiang beside him.

Meng Haoxiang scratched his hair, "What advice does Miss Gege have?"

Ye Zijin smiled and said: "Just now the stone tablet in Xiangshan Temple is engraved with the "Sutra of Sala Tree" written by Emperor Qianlong. One withered and one prosperous." Ye Zijin was punished by Dafu Jin to copy Buddhist scriptures when she was young, and she remembered some of them after copying too much, but she never understood why Dafujin, who believed in Buddhism, could punish her so hard to kneel in the snow for an hour .

Meng Haoxiang sighed: "It's really a tree of infatuation, one death is exchanged for a lifetime."

Ye Zijin shook his head and said: "Why do I think it's a sad tree? If you can only die for another life, it's not as joyful as life and death together. Rather than letting another tree survive alone in the world, it's better to burn it at the same time. "

Meng Haoxiang's eyes darkened, as if he was caught in some kind of thought, he paused for a while and said, "Zijin, if something happens to me in the future, you have to live well, I'd rather die in exchange for your life."

Ye Zijin looked at him in a trance, there was a kind of resolute firmness and reserved affection in his eyes, her heart skipped a beat suddenly, she pretended to laugh out loud, and said: "Where did you think, you said it so seriously, I am It’s just talking about trees. Alright, alright, let’s climb Senyu Wat, the pavilion there has a better view.”

The two went straight west along the Langfeng Pavilion, and after walking for a while, they saw a huge cliff, which was named Senyu Wat by Emperor Qianlong because it was shaped like a wat board. These three characters were engraved on the stone wall.

It's just that Ye Zijin is going to the octagonal scenic pavilion on the top of the cliff, and there are many stone steps to climb along the way.Ye Zijin walked halfway and couldn't move anymore, so she had to sit on the stone steps to rest.

Meng Haoxiang said with a bit of sarcasm: "Sure enough, he is spoiled and pampered. He is so tired after climbing a mountain. I think the sun should be setting by the corner of the pavilion."

Ye Zijin rubbed his legs and ignored him. Since he became an apprentice in a tailor shop, he didn't spend as much time selling newspapers as before. Today, he climbed the mountain for two hours, and his physical strength gradually became exhausted.

Meng Haoxiang saw that aggressive tactics were useless, he patted Ye Zijin lightly on the head, and sighed: "Forget it, I don't want to go down the mountain in the dark, I'll carry you on my back."

Ye Zijin hurriedly shook her head and said: "There is still a mountain road up here, I will be tired if you carry it on your back, I'd better go by myself..." Although she didn't wear a cheongsam today, she was wearing a light green jacket and a long skirt, There was also a set of underpants inside, but she still felt that being carried by a man would be a bit unrestrained.

Before Ye Zijin could finish speaking, Meng Haoxiang squatted in front of her with one leg, "I went to the pier to carry things when I was a teenager. I can still bear your weight. Didn't you say you want to watch the sunset? Hurry up." Come on, or you won't be able to catch up."

Ye Zijin hesitated for a moment, and finally slowly fell on his firm back.It's just because my legs are sore and I can't walk, and because of what Meng Haoxiang once said to her, at least he can rely on me when I'm tired...

Meng Haoxiang suddenly stood up, Ye Zijin was so startled that he put his hands around his neck and let out a low cry twice.Meng Haoxiang smiled, and deliberately walked up the stone steps, causing Ye Zijin to lie tightly on his back and dare not move casually.

When approaching the top of the mountain, Ye Zijin insisted on going down by herself. Seeing that Meng Haoxiang's forehead was covered with sweat, she took out a handkerchief and wiped it for him. Meng Haoxiang panted and laughed, "I didn't expect you to be really heavy. I moved it at the pier." Nothing is so tiring.”

Ye Zijin rolled her eyes at him, and she was a little bit sorry at first, but when Meng Haoxiang ridiculed her, she lost all thought of thanking him at all.

Standing on the octagonal scenic pavilion, leaning on the railing, you can see green pines and cypresses clustered on the mountainside, cotinus cotinus and red leaves densely covering the mountains, and the distant mountains and near slopes seem to be shrouded in fiery red clouds.As the sun sets, the migratory birds return to the forest, the mountain wind reverberates, and the bright red and green sway with the wind. The bright red, scarlet, and purple red are smudged layer by layer, like the gorgeous rosy clouds coming over the mountains, comparable to the magnificent momentum of the slanting bamboo. .

"It's so beautiful." Meng Haoxiang stared at the red sun in the distance, and then at Ye Zijin beside him.

Standing on the top of the mountain, Ye Zijin looked at the red leaves under the red clouds, and felt her heart widened. She suddenly remembered a sentence left by Zizheng in the letter, "This is a great and noble cause, just like Xiangshan Mountain. The maple leaves are as fiery red and magnificent..."

As majestic as a maple leaf, what is such a majestic cause...

"So good-looking? I've been looking at you for so long and you don't know?" Meng Haoxiang said dissatisfiedly as he cupped her face.

Ye Zijin lowered her eyes and smiled, and said, "Isn't this trip worthwhile?"

Meng Haoxiang embraced her by his shoulders, a relaxed smile floated on the corner of his lips, "Of course, the beauty and beauty are too beautiful to behold, but I also paid the price of sweating for it."

The sky was getting dark, and when the two walked halfway up the mountain, there was only a faint light in the sky, and the shadows of the trees became blurred.Meng Haoxiang took Ye Zijin's hand, and the two walked down the mountain one after the other.

"Can you see the road clearly?" Meng Haoxiang asked.

"I can't see clearly, so be careful." Ye Zijin stared at her feet, for fear that she would miss stepping on a stone step.

"Just follow me, and I will hold you firmly."

After walking a few steps, Meng Haoxiang suddenly stopped, Ye Zijin staggered twice without paying attention, almost fell down.Meng Haoxiang hurriedly grabbed her waist and hugged her in his arms, Ye Zijin was about to complain why he stopped, but when he raised his eyes, he was slightly stunned.It was as if starlight shone into his deep eyes, that heroic and well-defined face was not as calm as usual, at this moment there was a burning and gentle light in his eyes, Ye Zijin was fascinated by it for a moment.

At the foot of the mountain not far away, the lights of Wanjia in Beiping are lit up, converging into a sea of ​​lights, which is unreal when viewed from a distance, just like the colorful stars shining in the lake at night.The two looked at each other in silence, in the hazy night, Ye Zijin suddenly raised her head slowly, tiptoed to his lips, and kissed him lightly...

(End of this chapter)