The sound of the night watch drips away the old moon, while the white cranes fly down to bring the new dawn.
Xu Jiang gathered her utensils and went to the backyard to draw water for washing. The cool, quiet water washed away the restlessness in her heart. She stood in the courtyard, gazing out at the blue sky. The clouds of red clouds stretched across the sky, a crimson half-sun rising from its crimson rim, casting a peaceful image across the sky.
Then the voices of people gradually moved, the sounds of chickens and dogs could be heard, Xu Jiang took a deep breath of the morning joy of the world, cast away the worries of yesterday, and a rainbow light appeared in her eyes.
Open the door!
She pushed open the door and suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves coming from the street. Looking up, she saw a familiar figure turning into the alley and running towards her quickly.
Lou Yunchun talked with the saint all night long, until the saint yawned and could not open his eyes, so he let him leave the palace.
He was worried about Xu Jiang, so after leaving the imperial city, he galloped all the way to the bookstore. Turning into Huailiu Lane, he saw the bookstore door was open, and saw Xu Jiang standing in front of the door in good health. His heart finally settled down.
The two looked at each other. Xu Jiang saw the anxiety and worry in his eyes, and somehow her nose felt sore.
Lou Yunchun dismounted and hurriedly pulled the person in front of him. Seeing that she looked aggrieved, he felt as if someone had pulled his heart hard, causing him unbearable pain.
"They've been here? Did they give you any trouble?"
"Yeah." Xu Jiang nodded, then shook his head and said, "But I didn't suffer any loss."
Although he looks fine, he feels guilty in his heart.
Seeing that her face was pale and she opened the door so early, Lou Yunchun knew that she had not slept all night either.
He rubbed the corners of her eyes and asked, "Where are they?"
"I've reported it to the authorities." Xu Jiang briefly recounted yesterday's events to him, and finally asked, "Liang Mo said you waited for me for a long time, but was it because of them?"
Lou Yunchun nodded, "It's a pity that I couldn't stop them after all, and let them come looking for me."
If he had been there yesterday, why would he have allowed them to be so rampant?
Xu Jiang noticed his self-blame and consoled him, "What's coming cannot be avoided. This old grudge will be settled sooner or later. The sooner it comes, the better."
Then she sighed and said, "It's a pity Xu Hao didn't show up, otherwise he would have been handed over to the authorities for investigation."
Now Xu Hao and Feng Miao are mixed together. One of them is greedy and the other is cunning and vicious. They both have grudges against her. It is hard to say what kind of trouble will arise.
The arrest warrant has been posted now. I just hope the government can arrest the two men as soon as possible so that I can feel at ease.
Lou Yunchun said, "I'll go to the government office later to inquire about the progress."
With him in charge, the government office dared not be negligent.
"Okay." Xu Jiang saw that his eyes were dark and asked, "Did you not sleep last night?"
"I stayed in the palace overnight, discussing important matters with the Sage and the Three Masters."
"While it's still early, go get some sleep."
"I won't sleep anymore. I'll keep you company. I'll go back to the Dali Temple to do my work later."
Xu Jiang noticed something unusual and asked, "What happened?"
Lou Yunchun shook his head and said, "I can't tell you." Then he paused and said to her, "I'm here. I have something else I want to discuss with you."
"What's up?"
Lou Yunchun tied the horse under a tree and pulled Xu Jiang into the house. "Let's talk inside."
After entering the room, I saw a painting on the wooden table beside me and was startled. "This is..."
Xu Jiang led him to the painting and introduced him, "This is my master, Xu Yuan."
"Meet the Master."
Lou Yunchun bowed three times to Xu Yuan before carefully appreciating it with a respectful heart.
This turned out to be Xu Jiang's master, the author of "Tracing the Origins of Cultural Traces." Lou Yunchun stared at Xu Yuan's face. Although it was their first meeting, he felt a sense of familiarity.
"You haven't slept all night, but you're restoring this painting?"
"Um."
Speaking of restoration, Xu Jiang thought of the signature. She brought a lamp, illuminating the place where the signature was, and pointed to Lou Yunchun, "Look here."
Lou Yunchun took a closer look and saw clearly the two very faint words.
"Mian Cun?"
"I've been copying this portrait since I was a child, but I only found out today that the artist wasn't my master."
When Xu Jiang first left home, she hugged the portrait and cried every day. The farther she went, the less she dared to look at it. Later, she sealed it in a bamboo tube and forgot about it intentionally or unintentionally.
It was not until last night when I dreamt of the painting scene that I turned out the portrait and discovered this signature.
When I was a child, I was ignorant and had no idea about the meaning and artistic conception of paintings. Although I copied them countless times, I didn’t find any clues. Now when I look at them again, they have a different meaning.
Lou Yunchun saw that the brushstrokes of this painting were soft and smooth, with a clear sense of lingering tenderness. Looking at the expressions of the characters, he saw a sense of intimacy in their leisure, which was difficult to describe unless he was close to them.
Ever since discovering this signature, Xu Jiang had a rather unsavory thought in her mind: "Perhaps this Mian Cun is one of Master's confidantes."
Lou Yunchun nodded in agreement.
A gust of wind blew by and extinguished the lamp.
Xu Jiang felt a chill down his spine, and gave a dry laugh to the figure in the painting, muttering to himself, "Master, don't blame me, Master, don't blame me."
Lou Yunchun also recited a few words, "Don't blame me, don't blame me."
Xu Jiang pulled Lou Yunchun aside and sat down. "Don't you have something to discuss with me? What is it?"
Lou Yunchun took the oil lamp from her hand and relit it with the help of the flame.
The firelight made his expression difficult to discern.
Xu Jiang suppressed her expression and asked seriously, "What exactly is going on?"
Lou Yunchun was silent for a moment, then he held her hand and said in a deep voice, "I want you to stay at my house temporarily. Are you willing?"
"Go back to the house? Why?" Was he scared by what happened yesterday?
"I'm leaving Beijing in a few days for work, and I'm worried about leaving you alone in the bookshop."
Xu Jiang was shocked when she heard this. "Leaving the capital? Where to?"
"Go to Liangzhou."
"So far?" Liangzhou is nearly two thousand miles away from the capital. Even if you take the Liangzhou North Road and ride at full speed without stopping, it will take at least two months to go back and forth.
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