Alternative Telling of Dream of Red Mansions: Cherishing Spring

Chapter 43
Xichun felt cold, the word "going place" touched her heart, she thought of Xuanzhen Guan, that place she never went back to when she married into Marquis Wuqing's residence, she didn't know how it is now.However, she did not tell Mother Feng about her unaccompanied dilemma, but nodded calmly.At this time, Feng's mother was full of thoughts, and she didn't have the heart to distinguish whether her words were true or false. Seeing this, she said: "In this case, I will go and ask someone to prepare. You wait here for a while." After speaking, she hurriedly went to up.Xichun watched Feng's mother leave.Like the turned soil, she was passively exposed to the cold moonlight again, exuding the breath of tossing and turning.

Summer has passed, and the bamboo leaves are still green.Like her dormant years, several months passed quietly.She came here in late spring and early summer, and now there are signs of autumn rain.Xichun suddenly felt very tired.Since she and him met at the age of 16, they spent five or six years leisurely, but the time they spent together was only a few months.

The reflection of the past is like a tide, vividly rushing to my heart.After the desolate turmoil in her heart, she finally calmed down—in fact, it was just a simple fate, and she couldn't blame good luck for tricking others.

Someone will come to pick her up soon.It wasn't Lai Yier who came here, but Mother Feng knew that Lai Yier was Feng Ziying's confidant, so she didn't dare ask him to send her off, for fear that Ziying would track down Xichun's whereabouts afterwards.The car quietly left Feng's residence, lurking like an insect in the dark night.Xichun opened the curtain of the car, and glanced at the majestic mansion behind him, the lights flickering inside the high walls seemed to be flickering with the eyes of countless people.She couldn't hear the crying, but she always felt like crying.This situation made her suddenly realize what it was like the night Qin Keqing passed away.She was too young at that time, and she didn't even know that Keqing left that night.Now she seemed to be able to feel the scene of the day.

When she was young, she used to weep unceasingly, but now her heart is not happy, and a little bit of sadness is also because she thinks more deeply.It's still quiet tonight, and the sadness is so calm that tomorrow will be full of gongs and drums, so that there will be prosperity behind.Everything yesterday is like death yesterday, and everything today is like being born today—but the world is unwilling to wake up from the illusion, but chooses to continue the illusion of life in various ways: holding a funeral, crying, burying, and even burying.But all this does not help the death that has come.Death is a process, it doesn't care whether you are handsome or ugly, beautifully dressed or ragged and alone.Thinking of Keqing from Yuchan, Xichun's heart sank, she put down the curtain and sat in the car, and told the driver to drive the car to Xuanzhen Temple.Although she wasn't sure if it was still the same, it was the only place she was familiar with and could stay in this huge city.So still have to go and have a look.

The coachman turned his horse's head and left the city, heading towards Xuanzhen Temple.The road is difficult to drive at night, and the car is especially bumpy when going up the mountain.Xichun suddenly had an unbearable abdominal pain, and at first she tried to hold back her silence, but gradually the pain became unbearable, she groaned, "Stop the car quickly." The driver stopped the car when he heard the sound, and when he got out of the car to look, Xichun was already pale with pain . "You...you..." The coachman panicked, but he didn't dare to come closer, and he didn't know what to do!

But while speaking, Xichun was already lying down from the car seat in pain, sweat dripping from his forehead like rain. "Go down the mountain and find... the doctor." The coachman was so anxious that he was at a loss.Because Feng's mother gave careful instructions before leaving, she did not dare to neglect Xichun, she said she wanted to leave, and after thinking about it, she stood still and said, "I'm afraid it's impossible to keep you here, and I'm too slow to walk."

Xichun nodded reluctantly, and said: "I can't move now, you unload the horse and leave the cart here, go and come back quickly." The coachman looked at her again, still hesitating.Firstly, he was worried about her safety alone, and secondly, he really didn't know where to find a doctor in the wilderness.

"Go quickly." Xichun panted.She put her heart down and decided to accept life and death, if she really encountered some robbers and robbers at this moment, she would not blame others, she just bit her tongue and committed suicide.Suddenly, he thought of another person, and hurriedly told the coachman, "Go to Andingmen to find Dr. Zhang, do you know where he lives?"

The sound of hooves disappeared.With trust in her heart, Xichun felt the pain a little less. Before the next wave of pain hit, she opened her eyes, the sky was full of stars and moon, and the very faint light came in through the gaps in the car curtains, and the cool wind was like water. Wave after wave slapped against the bushes, making a rushing sound.Although the voice was noisy, after listening to it for a long time, it was ignored because of its monotony.

Xichun's heart was so quiet that she could swallow all voices, she slowly stretched her hand under her body, and saw the dark red blood on her hand by the light from the car curtain.She didn't know how it happened, what it meant.In Marquis Wuqing's mansion, her elderly husband lay down on his back in unclothed clothes; Mrs. Chen Hou's house was always lit, and her sleepless figure was as strange and nimble as a bat, flashing past the window; the sound of rustling footsteps, It was the servant girl who came holding the medicine and lifted the curtain, saying "Auntie, please use it"; Feng Ziying grabbed her waist and said you stay...

Under the impact of the next more surging pain, her whole body lost a little bit of strength, and her thoughts gradually became lax.Those scenes, like fallen leaves on a stream, passed one by one.

When she woke up, it was still dark around her.The car was moving again, but it became much more stable. There was light in the car, and he saw a man sitting beside him in a haze, not knowing what he was thinking.Bending sideways, holding the horn lamp in one hand and cutting her pulse with the other, her clear face forced Xichun's eyes.Xichun recognizes Zhang Youshi.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

Xichun looked at him with a complicated expression and nodded.She felt that the heat from her lower body no longer surged outwards, and the blood should have stopped. "I..." She hesitated to speak, turned her face away, big tears rolled down from her eyes.

She may have lost her only child in this life.

Seeing that she had already guessed, Zhang Youshi frowned and sighed, "The medicine I prescribed for you actually worked. It's a pity...you're already two months pregnant."

Xichun was burned, how could she not guess?Ever since she came to Feng's house to be with Feng Ziying, she began to take the medicine formulated by Zhang Youshi.She had no heirs in the Chen residence for more than two years, because she drank the medicine. Mrs. Chen Hou didn't want her to have children, so after she had intercourse for the first time, she asked someone to bring the medicine soup. At that time, she had to rely on the help of Marquis Wuqing Power makes Baoyu return to the capital, so he must first establish a good relationship with his wife.Looking at the medicinal soup brought by the maid, she drank it without thinking.There was another reason for that decision, she didn't want that man to leave a mark on her body.She doesn't love him, even if she shares the same bed, she still treats him as a passerby.But Feng Ziying was different. When they embraced each other for the first night, when he hugged her waist and whispered in her ear, you stay and bear children for me, her withered heart suddenly revived. a feeling of.She told Feng Ziying the truth, but Feng Ziying refused to give up, saying that you were still young after all, so she insisted on asking Zhang Youshi to come and see her, and prescribed medicine to take.Although Xichun listened to what he said, she was just treating a dead horse as a living horse doctor, and didn't hold much hope.

It was almost unbelievable, so unexpectedly and suddenly, a small life was in her womb.God told her the existence of the child in this way. Although her child has not yet taken shape, as long as he exists, it is a great hope for her.But he suddenly left without saying goodbye, how could it make her feel so embarrassed?Xichun seemed to be standing at the ferry waiting for a boat, seeing the shadow of the boat from a distance, and before she had time to rejoice, she found that the boat turned around and left.

Gu Fan Yuanying was originally just a happy occasion, and her heart withered before it fully bloomed.Xichun cried for a while, gradually held back her tears, and pleaded: "Don't let him know." She already vaguely knew the direction of the river of fate. .

Zhang Youshi nodded and said, "Don't worry, I came out of someone else's home for consultation, and I haven't seen him." The two stopped talking.Zhang Youshi recalled the scene just now: Xichun fainted in the car, dripping blood under her body, her whole body was cold and weak, as if she was going to die soon, but her expression was stable, no trace of fear could be seen on her face.

Looking at her face, a tender feeling filled his heart, and he couldn't restrain it.The woman who remained in his memory and vanished into thin air, once again condensed and appeared.He believed that there was a reason for this—he, who seldom went to night clinics, went to the west of the city to practice medicine, and happened to be found by a coachman who went down the mountain to seek medical treatment, and came up the mountain.If it was a moment later, her life would be in danger.

When Xichun fainted, Zhang Youshi had already asked the coachman why he came to this remote place so late, and when he learned that something happened to Feng's residence, Feng's mother sent someone to send Xichun out of the residence. cold.So without waiting for Xichun to wake up to discuss, he ordered the driver to drive the car to his home.Seeing his gloomy face, the coachman dared not say a word.

Xichun lay down for a while, felt a little more awake, and managed to prop up her head, but unexpectedly she felt dizzy when she moved her body, her eyes went dark again, and she lay down again with an ouch.Seeing this, Zhang Youshi frowned and said: "Don't move around, Xuanzhen Temple has been deserted for many years, and now some beggars and idlers are resting in it. People like ghosts and snakes, it's your turn to live there."

When Xichun saw that his thoughts had been broken by him, she was taken aback, thinking that the world is so big but there is no place for her, her heart ached, but she couldn't shed tears.She closed her eyes and said, "Then where are we going now?"

"My family." Zhang Youshi replied with lowered eyelids.Xichun glanced at him again and stopped talking.

The car arrived at Andingmen at the second watch, walked through the streets and alleys, and arrived at the door of the back house of Zhang Youshi's house. Fortunately, the boy and the old servant woke up as soon as they called, and together they moved Xichun to the west wing and settled it. Zhang Youshi asked the boy to stay there. In the house, I stood in the yard and asked the old servant to bring a few coins and a bottle of wine, and gave them to the driver with my own hands.

The coachman didn't expect him to have a reward, so he laughed and said, "How can I take your old reward? I've broken the villain's fodder, right?" Zhang Youshi said with a half-smile, "I've been working on you for most of the night. Take this money to buy some tomorrow." Cigarettes should be smoked." Then he handed the wine to him and said, "Drink Yehanlu again to warm up your body."

"Then I will thank you." The coachman took the money with both hands, tied his leg, greeted him very skillfully, and said, "Do you have any other orders?" Zhang Youshi pretended to ask casually. He said: "If the old lady asks, you can just say that you will send the girl out of the city to Xuanzhen Temple. You don't need to say anything else, so as not to worry about her." The coachman looked towards the west chamber and said knowingly: " The villain has written it down. Not only the wife, but also the master will not know."

Zhang Youshi saw that he was clever, so he couldn't help but smiled a little and said, "Thank you." After speaking, he ordered the old servant to send him out.He turned around and went to the West Wing to see Xichun.

Zhang Youshi entered the house, bent down and wrote a prescription on the case for the boy. Fortunately, there were plenty of medicines at home, and the boy took the prescription and went to make the medicine without mentioning it.He looked at Xichun under the lamp and thought.Zhang Youshi is determined to hide his relationship with Xichun, he realizes that Xichun and Qin Keqing are two completely separated people.Xichun has a strong heart, she will not be as weak as Keqing, she will not seek life and death just because she left a man.Unknowingly, he knew a lot about her. He knew that she was always in turmoil, a kind of silent wandering. She was expelled from one place to another, but she never expressed her anger lightly.He has been observing Xichun since just now.He was secretly shocked by Xichun's calmness or indifference, few women can remain so calm after experiencing such a big change overnight.Just like just now, he could clearly feel the sadness lurking under Xichun's calm face, that sadness bit her heart like a poisonous snake, trying to make her painful and restless, but Xichun quickly contained it and refused to be let down by it. control.She returned to her usual indifference.

But Xichun is a weak woman after all, no matter how strong she is, there is a limit.Not long after, the little boy brought the medicine, and as soon as he touched Xichun, he called out: "Master, come quickly!" Zhang Youshi knew something was wrong, so he rushed over, and when he touched Xichun's forehead, his cheeks were already flushed red.Zhang Youshi looked at her face, as if it was expected, and sighed softly: "It's good to say it like this, but it's hard for you. If you are so exhausted physically and mentally, as an ordinary woman, I'm afraid I have died many times." Said After that, another prescription was changed and Xiao Tong was ordered to cook again, because he was afraid that Xichun's condition would change, so he just stayed by and didn't mention it.

At the fourth watch, someone from the palace called him, and Zhang Youshi hurriedly changed his clothes. When he arrived at the Tai Tai Hospital, he found out that it was the fourth master's side Fujin who was not feeling well, and ordered him to go to the hospital for auscultation.There was already a sedan chair waiting at the gate of the palace, and when the four saw him coming out, they immediately carried them away from the imperial city to Prince Yi's mansion.Zhang Youshi felt that something was wrong, he couldn't help but speculate carefully on the way, and worried that Xichun would not know what was going on at home, so he was very upset.When he arrived at the entrance of the palace, two or three servants had already lit lanterns and stood by the corner gate waiting for him. Seeing him coming, they hurriedly led him in in an orderly manner. Every time he entered, there was no sound other than the rustling of footsteps. .He is also a frequent visitor to this mansion, and knows the rules, so he is also used to walking at night, he is led in by his servants, walks through the veranda, and enters the side door, the servants who led him in before bowed out and closed it lightly corner door.After a while, someone came over with a lamp under the shadow of the tree. With the help of the pure moonlight, Zhang Youshi saw clearly that the person who came was Zhou Yongcheng, the confidant of the fourth master. .

When the two met each other, they didn't say much, just nodded their greetings.Zhou Yongcheng led Zhang Youshi across the arch bridge and went to the study beside the waterside pavilion.The light was on in the study room, and the fourth elder brother was writing notebooks with ink under the light. Seeing him coming, he hurriedly put down his pen and said, "Xuechen, you are here, and Yehan greets you. It really seems to disturb people's dreams."

Zhang Youshi took a step back, slapped his lower body and begged for peace, and said, "I've disturbed my master's thoughts, I deserve death." Zhou Yongcheng closed the door with his backhand behind him and went out. Seeing that Zhang Youshi was the only one left in the room, the fourth elder brother rushed forward He came to help Zhang Youshi and said, "I treat you with the courtesy of a teacher, but you are so out of touch, sir. Now there is no one else, please sit down and talk."

Zhang Youshi thanked you, sat down and said, "If you don't want to mention teacher etiquette again, I'm just a first-class poor scholar who has fallen into the rivers and lakes. Now I am living in the imperial hospital. It is a blessing in the world to be so valued by the fourth master. Why? Dare to call yourself a teacher." Even so, he was neither humble nor overbearing, and sat opposite the fourth elder brother in all his clothes.Apparently he has confessed so much, the fourth elder brother didn't think it was disobedient, still with a smile on his face, he took a sip of the milk on the side of the table, motioned him to use it, frowned and said: "Your Majesty, the old man was in a bad mood yesterday. At night, I took the first two side rooms of the mansion into the palace, and showed him the old man with qigong. It should be better now. The emperor ordered you not to go to court today, so I have time to invite you here." Zhang Youshi one by one Hearing this, he nodded and said: "Innate internal qigong, forced into the body of a dragon, can dispel evil spirits, straighten the body, relax the tendons and activate collaterals. I said that this is why the master is so free today."

The fourth elder brother glanced at him, turned around and went to the case to take the paperwork he just wrote and handed it to Zhang Youshi, "Take a look, this is the paperwork I just wrote, and ask someone to pass it in tomorrow." Zhang Youshi took it with both hands. However, after reading it from the beginning to the end, he pondered for a while and said, "What! Is the master going to join Feng Ziying? He has resigned from his post and he still needs to be punished."

"He deserves this punishment!" When Feng Ziying was mentioned, the originally kind face of the fourth elder brother darkened suddenly, and he said with a livid face, "For the sake of my son and daughter, I almost ruined my affairs, and gave him the job of Xishan Daying and Ruiqiying. So many people in the court are eagerly waiting for him, but he dared to come to me and say that he would resign from his job. Just because of a woman! How can I not be disappointed? The outsiders are very considerate, and I don’t want him to be the first to dismantle my platform.” The fourth elder brother said, turned to look at Zhang Youshi, saw that he didn’t respond, and continued, “Continuing to clean up the household department and track down the stolen money from the Yellow River I've offended a lot of people about this. Everyone can't wait to have a mouth out of their eyes to bite me. At this juncture, he doesn't want to save me trouble, but makes me some unsightly things. According to the news from Prince Lian, he is prepared to accuse him of crimes: lax management of the army is a lot of slack, not to mention my side, even the crime of betraying the grace of God is very serious. Not to mention keeping a fugitive concubine privately and forcing her to death Getting a wife, disregarding the laws of the country and the family! None of these are penetrating crimes, and I can't even protect him!"

Zhang Youshi saw the fourth elder brother's tone of voice, and seemed a little unable to restrain himself. Knowing that the seriousness of the situation was far beyond his imagination, he calmed down and listened to his confession, while pondering every word in the notebook in his heart.He was not surprised that the fourth elder brother knew everything that happened around Feng Ziying in an instant.The fourth elder brother had already started to kill Feng Ziying. He thought of "abandoning the car to protect the handsome man", but he was obviously impatient.He wanted to protect Feng Ziying, but also pointed out a clear path for the fourth elder brother, so he had to be careful.

"Fourth Master." He made up his mind before slowly opening his mouth, "In my opinion, this book is to be published, but it may not be the way to do so."

The fourth elder brother also knew that he had a good relationship with Feng Ziying, and wanted to hear how he came to excuse Feng Ziying. Hearing this, he sat up straight and said, "Oh? What do you mean? I would like to hear more about it."

Zhang Youshi glanced at him, put the booklet in his hand aside, bent his fingers and said: "First, no one in the court knows that Ziying is yours, and now you have abandoned him for fear of getting involved, not only Ziying Han Xin, those who follow you, fourth master, who can not be drumming in their hearts, doing so is tantamount to digging into the wall, and it will only make relatives and enemies happy, not to mention that they may not be able to get rid of the relationship. Moreover, those people The crime looks serious, but it is not uncommon to explain it carefully. The so-called delaying the military is actually because of his illness. This point can be proved by the hospital, and the fourth master sent medicine. Presumably, the old man also heard about it. What's more, this disease was caused when he followed Lao Tzu to conquer Qinghai a few years ago, and the Holy One has always been sympathetic to the heroes. He will not be unaware of it. At worst, he is incompetent, and he is asked to find someone else when there is a vacancy, but punishment is absolutely out of the question." Listen to the words. The fourth elder brother felt relieved a lot, because he smiled and said: "Mr. has insight into the world, enlighten me, a fool!"

(End of this chapter)