Chapter 209 Confusion

The streets were crowded with people.

When she came down from the Qiqiao Tower, Lu Tong was very silent all the way.

There seemed to be something different in her heart, so that when Pei Yunying walked beside her, she always glanced at him unconsciously.

The long street was brightly lit, and the alleys and intersections were crowded. The two walked side by side, and suddenly a colorful silk ribbon flew from the side, like a magpie with wings spread, and flew accurately into Pei Yunying's arms.

They looked at the same time.

The one who threw the silk ribbon was a young girl. When she saw Pei Yunying, she didn't hide, but smiled boldly, turned around, and disappeared in the crowd.

Lu Tong understood.

She heard from Yin Zheng that on the Qixi Festival in Shengjing, young girls who had a crush on someone often wove silk ribbons by hand and gave them to the other party. There was no need to be reserved on this day, and the Weaver Girl would protect every girl who dared to show her love.

Du Changqing received four or five ribbons during the day.

Pei Yunying was born with outstanding appearance, and was loved by girls in the imperial city and outside the imperial city. Sure enough, in the next short street, he was thrown seven or eight colorful silk ribbons, and there was a trend of more and more.

Lu Tong thought of the large bunch of colorful silk ribbons in Duan Xiaoyan's arms.

"I'll help him hold it. There is still a mountain at the entrance of the Palace Marshal's Mansion."

A mountain...

She sneered in her heart. This man is very popular.

Pei Yunying was thrown a large bunch of silk ribbons for no reason, but he didn't want to take it. Seeing that there was a Xiangqiao meeting on the side, he tied the colorful ribbons hanging on his body to the railing of the Xiangqiao, just waiting to burn the Xiangqiao, which was also a kind of blessing for the owner of the colorful ribbons.

Lu Tong looked at his movements coldly, and suddenly said: "Why don't you accept it?"

Pei Yunying was puzzled: "Why should I accept it?"

Lu Tong walked forward, with a flat tone: "It's all other people's kindness, why should I let it down."

There was some inexplicable irony in his words.

His eyebrows moved slightly, his expression became happy, and he curled his lips and said: "But there are too many intentions, and it is hard to refuse them. I am destined to disappoint them."

This made Lu Tong even more unhappy, and he replied stiffly: "That's right, after all, the Palace Marshal is the commander of the Palace Front Division. If he doesn't disappoint the hundreds of people, the face of the Palace Front Division will be lost."

He sneered: "Are you jealous?"

Lu Tong's heart tightened: "What are you jealous of?"

"Jealous..." He stared at Lu Tong and said slowly, "I got so many colorful ribbons, and you didn't get any."

The hanging heart suddenly fell, and Lu Tong said coldly: "The Palace Marshal is worrying too much, I can fight myself."

"Oh?" He chased forward and nodded: "You are so powerful, then give me one."

Give it to him?

Wishful thinking

Lu Tong stopped and said, "Why should I give you a gift?" She glanced at the Xiangqiao Club that had been left behind, and her tone became more sarcastic, "Does the Palace Marshal think that your face can deceive me?"

She rarely said these words on weekdays, but today she was suddenly angry, and Pei Yunying turned his head away to hold back his laughter.

He coughed lightly and said lazily, "I didn't say I would give it to you today. My birthday is in a month, and it shouldn't be too much to ask you for a birthday gift."

Without waiting for Lu Tong to speak, he said again, "I gave you a pair of golden butterflies on your birthday."

"The golden butterflies have been returned to Baozhu."

"Then I'll give you something else."

Lu Tong was speechless.

This man always finds a reason.

She continued to walk forward and reminded him, "Did you forget one thing, my embroidery is very poor and I am not good enough to be seen by others."

"It doesn't matter," Pei Yunying smiled indifferently, "It shouldn't be worse than before."

Lu Tong: "..."

"Then I'll wait for Doctor Lu's birthday gift." This person made the final decision.

Lu Tong pursed her lips and was about to speak when she heard a voice coming from under the colorful tent selling Qixi Festival items in front.

"Your batch of cut sheep heads are not fresh! They don't smell good." It was a diner who bought snacks.

The person he accused bent over and nodded repeatedly: "Nonsense, it's just that the weather is too hot and it can't be stored. I only cut this mutton in the evening. Forget it, today is Qixi Festival, no quarrel, I'll give you a portion of plum ginger, take it, I wish you good fortune!"

The voice was familiar, Lu Tong stared at it and was slightly startled.

"Sir Shen?"

The busy man in the colorful tent was rearranging the mutton in the warm bucket. Hearing the noise, he looked up and was also stunned: "Sir Pei, Doctor Lu?"

This man turned out to be Shen Fengying.

Lu Tong looked at Shen Fengying. He was not wearing official uniforms as before. He only wore a cross-collared gray-brown short shirt with the hem tied at the waist, white drawstring trousers, a soap towel wrapped around his head, and cloth shoes on his feet. He was dressed like a vendor.

"Why is Sir Shen not patrolling?" Lu Tong looked around and didn't see other patrol shops in the patrol shop.

Shen Fengying scratched his head: "I'm not working in the patrol shop now."

Lu Tong was stunned: "Why..."

She remembered that this Sir Shen was full of ambitions for the officialdom and loved to curry favor with people everywhere, which was quite inconsistent with the image of being busy at the street stall at the moment.

Shen Fengying rubbed his hands, walked to the colorful tent in front of his stall, asked Lu Tong and Pei Yunying to sit down at the small table, poured a tube of mung bean water for each of them, grabbed a handful of marinated peanuts, and sat down on the small stool.

"Well, you should know about the previous Fengle Building incident," Shen Fengying threw a peanut into his mouth, "Fengle Building was on fire, and the son of the Grand Tutor's family was in trouble. To be honest, I was the first to find out."

Lu Tong and Pei Yunying looked at each other.

Shen Fengying didn't notice it, he just patted his chest and said proudly, but at this moment he was dirty and his pride also revealed a sense of pity.

"I was the first to discover it, and also the first to be unlucky. Someone had to be put in charge of the military patrol shop. Since I have no identity and no background, I naturally took the blame."

Lu Zhen frowned: "You discovered the young master of the Qi family and saved his life. You should be worthy of merit."

"Medical Officer Lu, you don't understand officialdom at first glance!" Shen Fengying slapped the table, "Life is a small matter, but the shame of the Taishi Mansion is a big matter. If people are angry, they have to express it, right?"

After saying that, he slapped himself again, "Why am I so mean? If I don't mind my business..." He choked for a moment, then pondered, "If I don't mind my business, Mr. Qi If there are three shortcomings, I may not be able to sell the mutton now. "

This was said with a bit of sadness.

Lu Yan was silent for a moment and said, "I'm sorry."

Shen Fengying looked at her inexplicably: "What do you apologize to me for?"

He sighed.

"Actually, I stayed in the patrol house for more than ten years, and in the end I just did a small job. If they want me to flatter them, I will flatter them, and if they want me to flatter them, I will flatter them. In the end, hahahahahahaha, okay!"

He laughed a few times and said, "Over the years, I have spent a lot of money on my filial piety, and I have been making cakes to satisfy my hunger all day long. It's really outrageous that I have ended up in this situation. In the early years, my mother told me my fortune, and she said that there was no sign of me in my destiny. I still don’t believe it, but now it seems that people still have to believe in fate.”

"Forget it, I'm too lazy to bother," he waved his hand, wondering if he was pretending to be free and easy, "If I knew early on that all the money I spent on my filial piety over the years was wasted and nothing was left, I might as well go home early and sell meat. I This face might be sold as mutton panan or something like that."

He was joking to himself when a diner behind him shouted: "Boss, cut two taels of mutton!"

Shen Fengying said "Hey" and agreed while getting up in a hurry and going to the warming bucket to fish out and cut the mutton. Lu Zhuo sat and watched him hand the chopped mutton to the diners with a welcoming smile, feeling very uncomfortable in his heart.

The fire at Fengle Tower started because of her. In the final analysis, Shen Fengying also lost his official position because of her.

She drank the mung bean water, left tea money on the small table, and left secretly without saying hello to the busy Shen Fengying.

The market was bustling with people. Pei Yunying walked beside her and glanced at her: "Are you feeling guilty?"

"I was the reason why he lost his job," Lu Huo replied, "I didn't expect that the Taishi Mansion would move to the Wuxunbu House."

After all, it was Shen Fengying who rescued Qi Yutai from the fire.

But for a little person to seek "fairness" in this absurd world is simply ridiculous.

"The Qi family will not deal with a patrol shop specially, but the patrol shop will try to figure out the boss's feelings. This is how it is in officialdom." Pei Yunying said.

Lu Zhuo stopped.

"Can the palace commander allow him to return to the patrol house again?" Lu Yan asked.

Pei Yunying was the commander of the front office of the palace. Now she gradually saw clearly in the officialdom of Shengjing that selling an official position and getting a title was just a fig leaf.

"It's not difficult. But it's better not to."

Lu Yan looked at him: "Why?"

"Do you really think it's a good opportunity for him to return to the patrol house now?"

Pei Yunying said calmly: "He has no background and no identity, and the friendship he gained only by flattery is not strong. There is no opportunity for him to display his ambitions in the Shengjing officialdom. If something else happens next time, he will still be the first one. Push it out.”

"People who reach the top of the officialdom are either smart or cruel. An honest person cannot survive here. He is not suitable, at least not now."

Lu Yan asked: "What about you?"

He was startled, then smiled: "I am also a cruel person."

Lu Chen was silent.

She understood that what Pei Yunying said made sense, but she still felt disappointed.

"Don't worry too much," Pei Yunying said, "After a while, I will think of a way to find other jobs for him. The military patrol house may not be suitable for him."

"real?"

"real."

He glanced at Lu Chen and curved his lips, "However, it also depends on whether the colorful ribbon Doctor Lu gives you is to your liking."

Lu Chen: "..."

…

The Qiqiao Market is bustling with people, and I heard people say the lights stay on all night long.

Lu Yun and Pei Yunying walked around for a long time, until they walked down the long street below Pan's house, and finally saw Pei Yunshu and others in front of a vendor.

The freshly picked banana leaves are soaked in medicinal liquid, and the craftsmen inscribed poems and paintings on them, which is very elegant. Pei Yunshu was lowering his head to carefully select, while Xiao Zhufeng was standing behind him, protecting her from a distance and not too close. When he saw the two of them, Duan Xiaoyan waved his hand: "Brother, Medical Officer Lu——"

Pei Yunshu turned around and said with a smile: "Aying, Miss Lu."

Duan Xiaoyan rushed forward excitedly and showed the large and small bags hanging on his arms to the two of them.

"I originally wanted to wait for you downstairs at Qiqiao. Sister Pei said that we wanted to watch a puppet show, so we followed him for a while. We were worried that you wouldn't find us and went back on our own. Fortunately, we waited."

Fangzi said: "Qi Qiao is just down the street, so it's easy to find it."

Pei Yunshu looked at Lu Huan and said, "Miss Lu, how was your skill at Lan Ye just now? Did you get any luck?"

Lu Yan took out the peony wood grain comb: "I won a comb."

"It's a comb." Pei Yunshu was surprised, "It looks good." He asked Lu Zhu again, "We didn't go in just now. How did Lan Ye fight skillfully? What did you do in there?"

Thinking of the group in the Qiqiao Building, Lu Zhu pursed his lips and said nothing. Pei Yunying glanced at her and said to Pei Yunshu: "We can wait until we return home to talk. It's getting late. I think it's better to send Dr. Lu back to West Street first."

Pei Yunshu suddenly realized, and then smiled at Lu Tong embarrassedly: "I neglected it. I haven't been out for a long time, and I forgot the time when I went out. Miss Lu usually has to see a doctor in the clinic, and it's not good to stay up too late."

"It's dangerous for a girl like you to come back late, we will send you to the clinic first."

Lu Tong nodded, and did not refuse.

Pei Yunshu and his party sent Lu Tong back to the clinic first, and then said goodbye to Duan Xiaoyan and Xiao Zhufeng.

When he returned to Pei Mansion, Pei Yunying saw Pei Yunshu enter the house and was about to leave, but was stopped by Pei Yunshu: "Ah Ying."

"What?"

"Don't leave yet, I have something to tell you."

Pei Yunshu asked him to go in.

Baozhu had been coaxed to sleep by Qiongying. Pei Yunshu lit the lamp, asked Pei Yunying to sit in the hall, and went into the inner room first. Not long after, he came out holding a silver box.

She sat down beside Pei Yunying and opened the silver box, which was wrapped in a pile of red cloth. Pei Yunshu opened them one by one, and finally, when she opened the last layer, a flat jade bracelet with carved patterns lay inside.

Pei Yunying was startled: "This is..."

"The jade bracelet left by my mother."

The jade bracelet was as warm as an emerald lake under the light. Pei Yunshu looked at it and sighed.

"My grandmother gave mother a jade bracelet with carved flowers as a dowry. When I reached the age of 15, mother gave me this jade bracelet."

"Originally there was a pair. I kept one for Baozhu and now I give you the other one."

Pei Yunying stared at the jade bracelet and did not reach out to take it. He just said, "Why are you giving it to me?"

"Ah-Yi," Pei Yunshu lowered her head and stroked the jade bracelet, "Do you still remember that after mother passed away, I cried every day, my heart disease was difficult to cure, and I fell seriously ill and refused to eat. It was you who coaxed me to eat the wontons that mother made, and made me happy every day, and I gradually got better."

She lowered her head and spoke after a while: "Actually, when I think about it now, you were younger than me at that time, and I, as your sister, still needed you to take care of me."

Pei Yunying smiled: "Why mention the past."

Pei Yunshu shook her head.

"Then you left Beijing, and after you came back, you didn't tell me everything like before. Ah-Ying, I don't know what you've been doing these years. You've grown up, and sometimes I worry whether I, as a sister, have failed in my duties."

"Why do you think so?"

Pei Yun-Shu looked at him: "Ah-Ying, Doctor Lu is a good girl."

Pei Yun-Ying paused.

"You are my brother. Although you hide it, I can see that she treats you differently from others." Pei Yun-Shu said gently, "I am an outsider in love affairs, and it is not easy for me to interfere, but I have one thing to tell you. If you like someone, don't let yourself regret it."

She took Pei Yun-Ying's hand and put the green jade bracelet into Pei Yun-Ying's palm.

Pei Yun-Ying looked down at the jade bracelet and said nothing.

"Keep this jade bracelet. If you have someone you want to spend your life with, give it to her. This is not the Pei family's bracelet, but my mother's."

"I hope you have someone you like and spend your life with. This is my mother's and my hope for you."

...

When I returned to the study, it was already dark outside.

Pei Yunshu handed over the bracelet and went back to sleep. She was tired after being busy with the Qiqiao parade for half a day.

Pei Yunying closed the door, walked to the small table and sat down, and put the jade bracelet wrapped in red cloth on the table.

Under the copper lamp, the small table was full of scattered wood blocks. The wood blocks that Lu Tong had knocked over were scattered in a mess, covering the entire table.

He reached out and brushed the scattered wood blocks aside, clearing a piece of space.

Then, he picked up the wood blocks and built them up one by one.

In the past many years, whenever he had troubles or encountered difficult problems, he always sat in front of the small table and slowly built them up.

When people focus on something, their hearts will become extremely calm.

It was always difficult at the beginning. Gradually, the wooden tower was built higher and higher. He cut less and less wood. Nothing in the world bothered him. The wooden tower stood quietly in a corner of the study, cold and hard, like a silent shadow left behind.

In fact, before Lu Tong knocked down the wooden tower, he had not put another wooden block on it for a long time.

So after it was knocked down, he never thought of rebuilding it.

But tonight, in the new autumn, the Magpie Bridge, people prayed for wisdom, such a good time, he sat here, quietly stacking up one by one.

Pei Yunying stacked very slowly.

The round wooden blocks were carefully placed up little by little, layer by layer, neatly and meticulously, and the carefully calculated angles made the wooden tower look solid and strict.

He built it for a long time, and only the last piece was left.

The wooden block was captured and placed at the top of the tower,

but at the last moment, he caught a glimpse of the jade bracelet on the red cloth on the table.

The jade bracelet was as green as the lotus leaves made of colored paper in the Qiqiao Tower, full of green.

The woman's question suddenly rang in his ears.

"Will the general be bound by love?"

The fingertips trembled, like a butterfly flying through the flowers, and suddenly there was a crisp "crash" sound -

The young man came back to his senses.

The neat wooden tower collapsed again.

The army was defeated.

...

The night was dark, and the feast in the Red Mansion was far away.

The courtyard on West Street was quiet, Lu Tong held the lantern and closed the door.

Yin Zheng waited until she came back to rest, and after washing, she went to sleep next door. Lu Tong walked to the table, took off the hairpins on her head, let her long hair fall on her shoulders, and combed it with a comb.

After combing a few times, she remembered something else, got up and took the purse over, and took out a delicate comb from it.

It was the prize of "Lan Ye Dou Qiao" in the Qiqiao Tower today.

The comb is made of ordinary materials, with delicate peony patterns carved on it. Although it is not as luxurious as jewelry, it is also exquisite.

Lu Tong held the wooden comb and his eyes fell on the half-made colorful ribbon on the table.

Du Changqing studied medicine and made "Yuanyang Tea". The straw-woven bamboo basket with colorful ribbons looked better. She was not as skillful as Yin Zheng. Not only was she slow in making the ribbon, but it also looked rough. She couldn't show it off, so she simply hid it in the house.

Lu Tong picked up the colorful ribbon.

For some reason, the smile of the woman in flowery clothes in the Qiqiao Tower suddenly came to her ears.

"Spit out thousands of threads of love, write a new song of mandarin ducks. Ladies and gentlemen, those who have fallen in love, will be married in the future, love each other for a lifetime, and grow old together. This is a good omen."

The two people entangled and pulled by the red thread, the breath magnified in the darkness, the warmth and coldness in his eyes, the smile is always tolerant...

There are autumn crickets chirping in the grass, startling the birds, Lu Tong lowered his head and was startled.

The half-woven colorful ribbon under his hand was tangled into a ball at some point, and it was impossible to sort it out.

It was tangled into a knot.