They say it's sick

Chapter 21

It was completely dark, and the Huai'an Palace, which had been noisy all day, gradually returned to tranquility.

Li Yan rubbed his forehead, tossed and turned on the bed for a while, but still didn't feel sleepy at all, he just got up and poured a cup of cold tea, sat at the table and drank slowly.

Since he entered the Huai'an Palace, he rarely had such difficulty falling asleep.

During this period of time, he lived a very fulfilling life and had very little free time. Although he was nominally the official book of the palace and did a lot of clerical work, most of the time he was more like a student of King Huai'an.

At first Li Yan knew nothing about the situation in the capital, but after staying in the palace for a few days, he gradually came to a conclusion.

The rumors in the capital about Xiao Duo, King of Huai’an, are true or false, but one thing is absolutely true, regardless of whether Zhang and Emperor Yuan Jing are really obsessed with painting and calligraphy and ignore the government, Xiao Duo is indeed the real power in the court today .

It is precisely because of this that the big and small affairs in the court, including military newspapers from all over the country, will be sent to the Huai'an Palace first.

After Xiao Duo had a look at it, he sent it to the palace to pass Zhang Hedi's hands.In the past two or three months, Li Yan has read all the memorials, official documents and even military affairs that Xiao Duo has reviewed.

Li Yan was literate, but his conditions were limited when he was in the countryside. Although he tried his best to read some books, the content was extremely complicated. He had read four books and five classics, and local chronicles from various places. Most of them were legends mixed with pictures, and most of them were I groped to see it by myself, although I didn't understand many of them after reading it.

Xiao Duo was unexpectedly patient, letting Li Yan read and talk about his own views, and then reviewing in front of him, explaining one or two from time to time.

Li Yan didn't know Xiao Duo's intentions, just like he didn't know why Xiao Duo brought him back to the palace in the first place, and he didn't bother to waste time speculating on such things.

Many things will come to light sooner or later, no matter what Xiao Duo is for in the end, at least now Li Yan has benefited a lot.

And according to the understanding of Xiao Duo during this period of time, his various behaviors may be just a whim without reason.

There was a sound of footsteps outside the door, interrupting Li Yan's thoughts, the next moment there was a knock on the door, and a thin figure was reflected on the door.

Li Yan opened the door procrastinatingly, and let Xiao Luo, who was carrying a food box, into the room: "I heard that the back house was already gone, so I thought it was the prince's birthday, and the two of you planned to spend a good night together."

"Don't worry, I won't delay because of you..." Xiao Luo looked around the room, raised the food box in his hand, "Where do you put it?"

Li Yan followed and looked around.

He lived in this room for two or three months, and he bought a lot of things back and forth, most of which were utensils for daily life, and various books besides——

The Huai'an Prince's Mansion has a long history, and the mansion has accumulated several generations of Huai'an kings' collection of books for hundreds of years. On weekdays, few people pay attention to them. After Li Yan entered the mansion, he found his home.

But although Li Yan likes to read books, he never cleans them up, and he doesn't need help from others. All kinds of books are piled up on the desk in a disorderly manner, and there is not even a place to put a food box.

"Put it here..." Li Yan casually opened two books, cleared a small space, took the food box from Xiao Luo, and asked while opening the lid, "I've drunk all the medicines for today. What is this again?"

"Hangover soup..." Xiao Luo casually sat down beside the desk, "I know you won't be able to fall asleep after drinking."

"It's better for you to treat me well..." Li Yan carefully picked up the soup bowl and sniffed it lightly, "This is what my mother would do if she was alive."

"If you dare to call the prince father..." Xiao Luo chuckled, "I don't mind being your mother."

Li Yan was stunned, and then laughed: "You are really..."

When he first entered the mansion, he felt that the atmosphere between Xiao Duo and Xiao Luo was a bit subtle, but as time passed, he became more and more convinced.

The main reason is that although these two people have never made it clear, they never know how to avoid taboos when they get along with each other in daily life. The generals in the entire family are not surprised, even Li Yan is used to it.

Occasionally, however, she would still be shocked by Xiao Luo's frankness.

Xiao Luo leaned on the back of the chair, crossed her arms and raised her chin to Li Yan: "It's fine to laugh for a while, drink the soup first."

"to make!"

Li Yan held the soup bowl and took a sip. The slightly sour taste made him frown. His mind, which was still a bit chaotic, became much clearer.

"Master Zheng, have you sent someone back to your residence?" Xiao Luo asked suddenly.

Li Yan raised his head from the soup bowl: "Send it back home?"

"He looks like that, can he go back by himself?" Xiao Luo was also taken aback.

Li Yan shook his head: "Although I don't know martial arts, it's not uncommon to kill chickens and cattle in the village when I was a child. Those who have sense in their hands, don't look at the bloody bleeding, it's just a skin trauma, and it won't affect them when they go home. "

Xiao Luo smiled and shook her head: "When you and the prince were young, it was really..."

"Exactly the same?" Li Yan couldn't help asking.

"It's not the same at all..." Xiao Luo lowered her eyes, wondering what came to her mind, "The prince was born tall and big when he was young, and the thing he dislikes the most is reading. He doesn't know anything about poetry, books or collections. He is only interested in martial arts. , the biggest wish is to become a knight-errant and roam the rivers and lakes, and worried that no one can inherit the title of the palace, and persuaded the old prince and princess to give birth to a younger brother for him."

"I didn't expect the prince to be like this when he was young..." Li Yan laughed, "Then he..."

Before the words came out, he stopped again.

Although the time in the mansion is not too long, he has heard about the past of the Huai'an Palace.

Li Yan lowered his eyes and took another sip while holding the soup bowl.

Xiao Luo didn't speak, but looked past Li Yan and landed on the bed behind him.

Compared with the messy desk, the bed looked much neater, with a quilt, a pillow, a neatly folded fox fur, and the dagger that Li Yan usually carried with him.

Li Yan raised his head and followed Xiao Luo's line of sight: "The day we first met, you paid special attention to this dagger."

"This knife is different from the usual ones..." Xiao Luo replied, "I can't help but take a second look."

"It's quite rare."

Li Yan looked up at Xiao Luo's face, smiled, got up and took the dagger.

This knife is indeed different from the usual short knife. There are many martial arts practitioners in the palace, and there are also knives, guns, swords, halberds, axes, hooks and forks in the armory, but there is no one similar to this one.

This knife is only one palm long, and the handle is extremely short. It is not very comfortable to hold in the hand. The scabbard looks very delicate, but it does not fit well. After pulling it out, it reveals a pitch-black blade with incomprehensible patterns engraved on it. .

Many years ago, when my mother, who had always been gentle and ignorant of kung fu, accidentally found this knife under the pillow, the young Li Yan was very curious and asked all kinds of questions, but got no response.

The mother just gave him the knife solemnly, saying that it was the only thing his father left him, and she must keep it well.

At that time Li Yan was still the eldest son of the Li family with an embarrassing status, so he took it for granted that it was something Li Xuan gave to his mother before.

After that, his mother passed away suddenly, and he became an unidentified evil overnight. When he was almost strangled to death by Li Xuan, he was rescued by Mrs. Zheng, who was pregnant, and sent to the countryside.

When he left Li's mansion, he quietly packed this dagger in his crude luggage.

"I was also very curious when I was a child, why this knife looks like this..." Li Yan flicked the blade lightly, "Later, the blacksmith in the town told me that it was originally a mother-in-law knife."

Yin and Yang fly together, and the child and mother hide each other. It looks like one sword, but it is actually two swords.

As he spoke, he handed the handle of the knife back to Xiao Luo: "It's a pity that only this knife is left."

Xiao Luo looked at him for a while, lowered her eyes, then fell on the knife again, and finally reached out her hand to take the knife.

Li Yan picked up the soup bowl and drank it slowly.

Xiao Luo looked at the knife, and he looked at Xiao Luo until he saw a glimmer of light flashing in his usually calm eyes, then he put down the soup bowl and continued: "It's not rare to talk about mother-child knife. Although not many people use it, it’s not like no one has seen it. Otherwise, it’s not like a blacksmith in a small town can explain it to me. The most rare thing about this knife should be the decoration on it. You Have you seen it before?"

Xiao Luo raised her head and looked at Li Yan calmly, neither admitting nor denying it.

Li Yan seemed to have expected his reaction long ago, and he was not in a hurry. He shook his head and said to himself: "I asked about it when I was in Pingzhou, but unfortunately no one knew about it. After arriving in the capital, I I've also asked people, but nothing.

But he didn't expect that when he went to the army with the prince a few days ago, General Han saw this dagger and recognized the decorations on it as the special decorations of the Juba royal family who had already perished. "

Xiao Luo slowly caressed the pattern on the knife, then raised her eyes and looked at Li Yan: "And then?"

"Li Xuan has always been secretive about my mother's existence. When I mentioned it by accident, she only said that she was ungrateful and that I was a villain..." Li Yan shook his head, "I was too young when I lived in Li's mansion. I only remember the little room where my mother was dependent on each other for life, and I remember that she was gentle and loving, but depressed all day long.

I don't know her origin, and I have never heard her mention relatives from her mother's family, let alone her surname.

They don't even know whether she passed away suddenly due to a sudden illness as the Li family said, but now relying on this dagger, at least it is clear that she should be related to Juba Kingdom. "

"So you want to ask me about Juba?" Xiao Luo turned back and handed the dagger back to Li Yan, with a smile on his face, "I was not very old when Juba died, so you can ask me, Are you afraid you found the wrong person?"

"No..." Li Yan took the dagger, put it back into the sheath, and put it back next to the pillow again, "It's not that I just wanted to talk to someone after drinking today."

Xiao Luo watched his movements, and smiled lightly: "I think you and that young master Yun get along well, why don't you tell him?"

Li Yan didn't expect that the topic would suddenly turn to Yun Zhi, he was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and shook his head: "Young Master Yun and I...he has his mission, and I have my secret, why bother to spoil the fun by sharing these things. "

Xiao Luo raised her eyebrows: "So talking about it now spoils my interest?"

Li Yan tilted his head: "Then are you disappointed?"

"It's okay now, it's hard to talk about it any longer." Xiao Luo replied.

Li Yan leaned back on the bed: "It can make your mood fluctuate, and I can also gain something."

"Then let the prince reward you tomorrow..." Xiao Luo said, putting the empty bowl back into the food box, "Go to bed early, I'll go back and blow the pillow wind."