Lamp Flower Smile

The floating lanterns fly leisurely into the distance, lighting up the night like stars.

Lu Chen looked up and looked up until the lamp vendor next to her called out to her.

"Girl, do you like floating lanterns? Do you want to take one with you?" The boss, who was wrapped in a sheepskin coat, smiled and said, "We have all kinds of styles, you can take your time and choose!"

Lu Zhen came to her senses and was about to refuse when a voice beside her suddenly spoke before her: "Okay."

Lu Zhen turned around and was met by a familiar figure.

Pei Yunying?

Today this man is wearing a deep red brocade robe with an eagle pattern. His figure is more and more like a pine tree, and his appearance is extraordinary. He is not as sharp as when he wears official uniforms, but more like those noble gentlemen who go out for a night out. His color is moving. .

Lu Zhuo took a step back and said, "Master Pei?"

There were various floating lanterns on the stall. Pei Yunying picked one up and said jokingly: "I didn't expect Doctor Lu to come to watch the lanterns. I thought you weren't interested in these."

"It's not as good as doing it once in a while when Mr. Pei has free time." Lu Zhen replied lukewarmly.

Seeing Pei Yunying's extraordinary clothes, the lamp seller smiled even more enthusiastically, and even changed his name to Lu Zhu: "Miss, let's join in the fun at the stall tonight during the Lantern Festival. Three arrows, if you hit that one -" He said Pointing to the opposite side: "I'll give you a lantern!"

Lu Tong looked in the direction he pointed.

This stall was originally a small colorful shed set up in the market. All kinds of lanterns were hung up and down inside and outside the shed. On the wall inside the shed, there was a picture with black characters on a red background, which read The round and huge "福" character. In her hand, there was a dark and shiny ox-horn bow, and the arrow feathers were decorated with large red ribbons. At a glance, she was beaming with joy.

"Ask for a good omen!"

The boss looked at Pei Yunying again: "Miss likes lanterns. This young man has extraordinary archery skills at first glance. Help Miss win one!"

Pei Yunying raised his eyebrows before taking the long bow from the opponent's hand. Unexpectedly, his hand was empty, and Lu Zhuo snatched the long bow away from him.

"I'll do it myself," she said.

Pei Yun was stunned.

Because of their outstanding appearance, they had already attracted a lot of people's attention just by staying here. I thought Pei Yunying would help Lu Zhu shoot arrows to win the lamp, but he didn't expect that Lu Zhu took the bow and arrows and wanted to use them himself. For a while, many people stopped to watch and watch Lu Zhuo's movements.

Lu Zhuo raised his bow and arrow.

The ox-horn bow was very heavy and large. When the thin woman picked it up, it looked strangely out of place. It almost made people worry that her slender arms would be crushed by the bow.

The movement of holding the bow seemed a little difficult, and the gesture of setting the arrow was not very skillful. Pei Yunying looked at it for a moment, then stepped forward and held her arm: "Don't shake it."

Lu Chen was stunned for a moment.

There was a crisp breath coming from the top of his head. He kept the distance very well and his movements were neither light nor heavy. He only supported her from behind and adjusted the posture of holding the arrow for her.

Lu Zhuo raised his head and could see the other person's beautiful chin. His arms stretched out from behind and wrapped around her shoulders, like a distant embrace.

Still too close.

Lu Zhuo frowned slightly and relaxed his hand on the bow.

"Whoosh——"

The arrow flew away from the string and hit the edge of the word "福" diagonally, and the ribbon fell beside it.

The lamentations of the crowd echoed from all sides: "Ouch, I missed the shot!"

"It still doesn't work."

Pei Yunying's eyes moved, and he looked at Lu Chen with some surprise.

Lu Zhen looked at the deflected arrow, with a trace of disappointment flashing in his eyes.

Missed.

Speaking of which, this was not her first time drawing a bow.

Back on Luomei Peak, Yun Niang needed corpses to make medicine, and Lu Zhu had to walk around the graveyard from time to time. Once there I saw a mutilated corpse that had been bitten to death by a wolf. It was probably a hunter who had gone into the mountains to hunt and was trapped in the snow. The body had been eaten away. There were animal traps scattered on the ground around it, and a cracked one. bow and arrow.

Lu Yan buried the body, took the bow and arrows back and tied them with thread. She thought that she could use the bow and arrows to hunt some foxes and rabbits to save for dry food, but she didn't hit them once - the animals in the mountains ran too fast, and she didn't have any archery skills. Where can I go?

But I practiced with bows and arrows every now and then, and I got some feel for it. However, the bow and arrow still broke after a few years, and no matter how many strings were used, it would not help, so Lu Zhuo put away the bow and arrow. Later, when Yun Niang was buried, they were buried together on Luomei Peak.

After a few years, I drew the bow again, and it turned out to be a skill.

There were men watching the excitement around, hooting: "Little lady, don't waste your arrows. Quickly give up your bows and arrows, and let your lover win one for you!"

"That's right!"

Pei Yunying paused slightly and gave the heckler a cold look.

Lu Zhuo didn't care, and raised his hand to pick up the second arrow.

This time she was much more skilled in holding the bow than the first time, and looked less jerky. Pei Yunying took a step back slightly, no longer holding her arm and pointing as before. Lu Zhuo stared at the word "福" in the distance and let go again.

"Whoosh——"

The arrow flew out.

"It's just a close call!" The crowd of onlookers beside them slapped their thighs, as if they were the ones who missed the target in annoyance, "It's so close, what a pity!"

Lu Zhuo's expression remained as usual.

The lamp vendor smiled and picked up the third arrow and handed it to Lu Huan: "Miss, don't be discouraged. It doesn't matter. We have one more. This time we have to shoot accurately!"

Pei Yunying leaned against the pillar with his arms crossed, watching with a smile as Lu Zhu placed the last arrow on the long bow.

The surroundings gradually became quiet, and the crowd watching the excitement couldn't help but hold their breath.

At first, seeing that this woman was frail and frail, I thought she couldn't even hold a bow and arrow, but unexpectedly, she shot twice, both of which were unexpected.

Lu Xun set up his bow and arrow. The word "福" hanging in the shed in front was bright red and beaming with joy. There was a vague excitement in the colorful lights around him.

She stared intently at the commotion and drew her bow suddenly——

The arrow decorated with red tassel is like a red magpie with a long tail, rushing towards the finish line with joy.

Hit the red heart exactly!

The crowd around suddenly burst into cheers!

Even the lamp seller was impressed by this seemingly fragile young girl: "She is good at archery!"

Lu Chen put down the bow and arrow in his hand, and Pei Yunying walked to her side, looked at her sideways, and said, "You are so strong, how did you practice?"

That ox-horn bow is not light and it takes a lot of strength for an ordinary man to pull the bow. There were many people watching the excitement just now, and now there are many people cheering. It is precisely because Lu Yan looks too weak, and no one believes that she can pull it.

But she just pulled it.

"I practice killing people and burying corpses." Lu Zhen replied seriously.

Pei Yunying: "..."

He looked at Lu Chen and didn't care about the nonsense she just said. He just asked: "You can hit it in three times. Have you been able to do it before?"

To say that Lu Zhen is a genius in rifle shooting and that he knows it at first sight is indeed a bit too much.

Lu Yan turned to look at him and smiled slightly: "I didn't say I couldn't do it either."

"..."

He rarely choked.

For some reason, seeing Pei Yunying's deflated appearance, Lu Zhuo's mood improved inexplicably.

It could be said that this person has her own eyes high, looks down on others, and feels that she cannot draw her bow, so she prefers to be a teacher and take the initiative to "guidance". But you have to know that although she is not a sharpshooter, she can still barely draw a bow and shoot an arrow. After all, the word "Fu" is on the wall, unlike the prey in the mountains that can run and jump.

Hunting dead animals is much easier than living animals.

"Miss, you hit the word "Fu", come and pick a lamp!" The voice of the vendor next to her interrupted Lu Zhen's thoughts, and she raised her eyes and looked forward.

There are all kinds of lanterns hanging inside and outside the stalls, including silk ones, dragon and phoenix ones, peony ones, white rabbit ones... They are extremely dazzling in the night. It’s dazzling to see.

Lu Zhuo's eyes fell on one place, then he took the bamboo pole from the stall owner's hand and picked it towards the lanterns hanging above.

The stall owner smiled as soon as he saw it: "Miss, you have good eyesight. This is the only butterfly lantern left, just for you to take home!"

The butterfly lamp hanging high is made in the shape of a pink butterfly, covered with a layer of gauze, and the gauze is painted with gold powder, which is particularly eye-catching.

The bamboo pole in Lu Yan's hand lightly crossed the butterfly's wings, but he picked up the lamp next to him.

The hawker was stunned.

Pei Yunying raised his eyebrows slightly.

After a long while, the stall owner looked at Lu Yan hesitantly: "Miss, did you pick the wrong one?"

Lu Zhuo took off the toad lantern hooked on the front end of the bamboo pole and held it in his hand, saying, "You're right, I like toads."

The toad lantern she held in her hand was all yellow and green. It was so lifelike and huge that even the wrinkles on the toad's skin were clearly visible. It really didn't look like a beauty.

The beautiful woman didn't mind it, and seemed particularly satisfied with the "ugly toad" in her hand.

The vendor looked at Lu Yun with difficulty, and after holding it in for a long time, he finally said: "Miss, you have a unique vision, which is really different from ordinary people."

Lu Zhuo held up the lamp, nodded to the stall owner, and was about to leave. The stall owner stretched out his hand to block Lu Zhuo's path and said, "Miss, you haven't paid yet!"

Lu Tong was startled, frowned and asked, "Didn't you say that if you hit the word "Fu", you will get a lamp?"

"Yes! This lamp is free, but archery is expensive!" The stall owner pointed to the shed.

Lu Tong looked in the direction he pointed.

On the big red quiver where arrows are placed in the lamp shed, there is indeed a line of small characters written on it, not much bigger than an ant. It is written in light pink ink: "One arrow and thirty coins -"

Lu Zhuo was speechless for a moment.

This word is written so covertly that only a ghost can see it clearly.

Someone seemed to chuckle beside him. Lu Zhuo turned his head and saw Pei Yunying turning away and shrugging his shoulders slightly.

Are you kidding her for being deceived?

Lu Chen was feeling depressed.

When she went out, all her money was on Yin Zheng, and she had no intention of buying anything. Who knew she would get into trouble here.

The paper-made ugly toad in his hand suddenly weighed more than a thousand pounds. Facing the still enthusiastic and eager look of the vendor, Lu Zhuo froze for a moment, then thrust the lantern into the hand of the person opposite him: "I don't want it anymore."

"Why?"

Just as the hawker was about to speak, he stretched out another hand and placed a piece of broken silver on the wooden table of the lamp shed. Pei Yunying smiled and said, "Give it to me."

This amount of money was far more than the price of a lamp. The vendor immediately smiled and handed the toad lamp to Pei Yunying: "Okay! Miss Young Master, take the lamp and light our lamp. May you be blessed with good luck and good luck in the coming year." !”

Lu Chen: "..."

After collecting the money, the stall owner turned around to greet other customers. Lu Yan stood in front of the lamp shed, neither staying nor leaving. Staring at the toad lantern in Pei Yunying's hand, he felt that the moment he stayed in front of the lamp shed tonight was really... Very inappropriate.

Pei Yunying looked at her ugly face and was a little amused: "Doctor Lu is so smart, why do you always get deceived in this kind of thing?"

The same thing happened last time at Luyuan Pawn Shop on Qinghe Street. A poor-quality hairpin was easily ripped off.

Lu Chen only felt that the man in front of him was holding back his laughter, so he said, "People from Shengjing are very good at doing business."

Turn around and leave.

It was clearly stated that the lamp would be free of charge, but who knew that archery would cost money? Writing the words in such small letters was clearly a scam. Sure enough, as the old saying goes, those who are greedy for small gains will suffer big losses. When people in Shengjing do business, one is more cunning than the other.

There was a chuckle from behind, and Pei Yunying caught up with her in a few steps and thrust the toad lamp into her hand.

Lu Zhuo frowned: "What can I do with the lamp that the palace commander paid for with money?"

"The Spring Examination is coming soon. I don't dare to ask for the omen of Toad Palace's victory." He said leisurely.

Win the title in Toad Palace? Spring test?

Lu Zhen's heart moved.

The toad lantern does have the connotation of "winning the toad palace". Pei Yunying thought that he chose the toad lantern because of the upcoming spring examination, and Lu Zhuo did not correct his misunderstanding.

The toad lantern he held in his hand gave off a faint green light in the night. Lu Yan was silent and said, "When I see Yin Zheng later, I will return the money for the lantern to the palace commander."

"You don't need to see anyone, consider it my Spring Examination gift to you in advance."

A congratulatory gift?

Pei Yunying's tone was so natural that Lu Yan couldn't help but look up at him.

The lanterns in the market were like daylight, and there were lights everywhere. Pei Yunying walked forward slowly with the flow of people, as if what he just said was just casually spoken and he didn't take it to heart.

But Lu Zhen couldn't help but think deeply.

That New Year's Eve, the two of them met in the medical clinic under fireworks. Pei Yunying already knew the purpose of her coming to Beijing. Maybe it was a moment of compassion, or maybe he had other motives. But one thing was very clear to Lu Zhen. What he had to deal with was the Grand Master's Mansion, or even someone with a higher status.

Pei Yunying might pity her, but he would never help her in this matter.

Then why is he doing this?

Because of pity?

The little bit of useless sympathy shown by people in high positions is like the occasional stop when people see poor stray cats and dogs on the roadside. People give food to stray cats and dogs, but they don’t care what the stray cats are thinking. Therefore, this pause will not make people feel happy, but will only make people more disgusted with this unequal and condescending gift.

"Master Pei," she said suddenly.

"how?"

"You should pay more attention to your behavior in the future. You are always like this and it will make me misunderstand."

He was confused: "What's the misunderstanding?"

"I misunderstood that the master wanted to help me."

Pei Yunying was startled.

He stopped, lowered his eyes, and met Lu Zhen's calm gaze.

The words are suggestive, soft, even flattering.

However, her eyes were full of sarcasm.

It seems that they are deliberately trying to expose the illusion of harmony, so that both parties have to face each other's hypocrisy and distance from each other.

The long lanterns on both streets cast colorful light and shadows on the ground from high places. Standing in the bright light, he was a talented and outstanding prince, while she stood in the shadows and was a humble ordinary person who used his heart and sword.

Light and shadow, clouds and mud, nobles and commoners.

He was the one who wanted to go to higher places, but she wanted only to drag those who were on high places down and trample them into the mud.

People who go against each other are never on the same page, and they are destined not to be friends.

The wind blew from the river bank, bringing with it the coldness of the night. Maybe they stayed here for a long time and attracted the attention of the surrounding vendors.

Several little girls in red shirts and skirts with their hair tied up pushed a bamboo stand out of the crowd. There were small plum red and gold lanterns hung on the front and back of the bamboo stand. The girls were beating drums and hawking: "Bodhi leaves, bees, snow willows, golden moths——"

Lu Chen came to his senses.

This is a tour bus selling women's headwear.

Shengjing lantern market often sells these headdresses, such as white silk plum blossoms, butterflies cut from black gold paper, paper snow willows, and bodhi leaves. Regardless of whether they are aristocrats or ordinary people, women always have to dress up delicately and beautifully on such a grand day.

The little girl in red pushed the cart to Lu Huan's side, looked up at her and said with a smile: "Sister, buy a moth!"

Those moths cut from black gold paper are tremblingly inserted on the bamboo shelf filled with flowers. Among the branches and leaves of the golden flowers, purple colors are swirling, which is particularly eye-catching.

Lu Chen shook his head and refused.

The little girl was a little disappointed and pushed the bamboo shelf away.

Pei Yunying lowered her head and glanced at the person beside her.

Lu Zhuo held the lantern and walked forward silently past the flowers. Perhaps it was the evening of the lanterns today, so her bun was more delicate than usual. Those tiny braids flowed down her long hair to her shoulders, with fluffy white flowers embellished in them, making the woman's complexion as clear as jade. The toad lamp in her hand emitted The green light is like the girls in those ancient temple murals.

Beautiful but lonely.

Pei Yunying's eyes lingered on the snow-white velvet flowers on the top of her hair for a moment, and then she suddenly said: "It's New Year, and it's unlucky to wear white."

Avoiding the conversation just now.

Lu Chen looked at him strangely, not understanding why he suddenly said this.

Pei Yunying said calmly: "I thought you would wear those golden butterflies."

She suddenly realized.

That's what it was for.

The pair of golden butterflies were still lying in the box in the drawer of the hospital. Lu Zhuo had not even opened them once since New Year's Eve. She had no intention of combing her hair and dressing up, not to mention that this was a gift from Pei Yunying.

Lu Zhuo nodded: "Thank you for your kindness, but the gold jewelry is not suitable for me. I will have someone return it to the Commander later."

There are some things that cannot be accepted. There is no free lunch in the world. This principle was taught to her by the vendor who just sold the toad lamp.

"No need," he turned away, "there is no reason to take back a gift given."

Lu Chen insisted: "I'm not used to receiving gifts from others." After a pause, he added: "It's like owing a debt."

"Then treat it as a debt." The young man smiled, "I am your creditor."

Lu Chen choked.

This person seemed completely unaware of her deliberate alienation and defensiveness, and was as casual and friendly as ever. Looking from the eyes of others, they might think that the commander in chief had an excessively good temper.

Lu Chen thought for a while and decided to give up. Anyway, Pei Yunshu's people would come to pick up Baozhu's medicine every once in a while. They are siblings, and it would be the same if Pei Yunying refused to accept them and just gave them to Pei Yunshu.

He borrowed debt to do business and sold his land to repay the debt. People from Shengjing are so good at doing business, so it's better not to owe any favors.

Especially Pei Yunying.