…

That night.

Ouyang Rong fell asleep in his clothes.

The autumn wind blew against the window. At a certain moment, he hugged the quilt in his arms on the bed, straightened up, and looked around in the darkness.

After a while, Ouyang Rong got dressed and went out.

He took advantage of the darkness and left the city overnight.

At five o'clock in the morning, Ouyang Rong came to the Xunyang Grottoes at the top of the twin peaks.

But I saw that the camp at the foot of the Buddha was still in full swing.

Workers are building a giant stone Buddha on a cliff.

There is already a process in Xunyang Grottoes, and Ouyang Rong does not need to keep an eye on it. However, there is no need to work in the middle of the night. It is usually rest, and it is not yet the morning to start construction.

Ouyang Rong happened to see a familiar figure among them.

Ouyang Rong stopped Huang Feihong and his fellow workers:

"Brother Huang, is the project urgent? Why aren't you allowed to go back to sleep so late at night?"

He frowned, ready to blame the foreman in charge tonight.

Huang Feihong waved his hands anxiously:

"Sir, we took the initiative to work overtime."

"Why?"

Huang Feihong's face was confused:

"Sir, we have heard in the past two days... I heard that the imperial court may cancel the construction of the Xunyang Grottoes. We are worried that the treatment given to us by the young master was too good before, and the imperial court is losing money, and we seem to have postponed it.

Come on, it won’t be completed as scheduled. If that’s the case, it’s no wonder that the court ministers have to change places every few years... We were wondering if we could work harder and build it sooner..."

Some workers around him lowered their heads.

Ouyang Rong was silent.

Huang Feihong seemed to notice something and asked cautiously:

"Sir, so these news are true, right?"

Ouyang Rong didn't say anything, walked up to them, gave them a hand, and together they worked hard to carry the stones.

Huang Feihong and others were flattered.

Seeing that he was silent and focused on helping, I didn't ask any more questions.

It was close to dawn. During the break, Ouyang Rong was about to say goodbye and leave the camp. Huang Feihong handed him a water bag.

Ouyang Rong took a sip of water and suddenly smiled and said:

"Actually, it's not a big deal to change the place to make the statue. How about we go there together? If there are some now, there will be some there too. There will be no shortage of them."

"Really?!"

Huang Feihong was surprised and asked: "Is the young master still in charge?"

"That's right."

"Really? Then..." Huang Feihong immediately asked curiously: "Then...where does the court want to change?"

Ouyang Rong looked away, looked up at the stone Buddha that was about to be abandoned by the court, pursed his lips and said:

"Maybe it's near Chengtian Temple in Xingzifang."

Huang Feihong's curious expression gradually turned into a frown of confusion:

"Why is it built in the city? I remember the young master told me at the dinner table that the Shuangfeng Peak, which can also control the water, was built in order not to affect the people's livelihood in Xunyang... Now it is built back to Xingzifang. It is so crowded, how can we pretend

Aren't you going to demolish the houses? Wait, no wonder I saw Mrs. Pei walking around Xingzifang with a smile yesterday...Does the young master know about this? "

"I……"

Before Ouyang Rong could speak, Huang Feihong's face showed a look of indignation, and his tone was unbearable:

"Of course the young master knows. How could the young master know it later than me? Does the young master not want to move and is forced to do so? However, he wants to continue to fight for benefits for us so that we will not be laid off and unemployed by the new chief?"

Ouyang Rong never expected that Huang Feihong was so rough and detailed. He didn't know how to answer a series of words.

"Sir, I can't be the master of others, but I won't go!"

Ouyang Rong saw that the bearded man in front of him, who only knew how to eat, sleep and do hard work, had a surprisingly serious face:

"Mr. Ouyang, do you know what Xiaoxuan said to me when we, father and daughter, were invited by Mrs. Pei to Xunyang Tower to toast you in public, but Xiaoxuan refused?"

"What did she say?" he asked blankly.

"Xiaoxuan said that our happiness cannot be based on the suffering of others. If I agree to Mrs. Pei's conditions, she will look down on me for the rest of my life. So we rejected the mansion given by Mrs. Pei, even if we did it again."

After saying this, Huang Feihong lowered his head and wiped the red corners of his eyes, and hurriedly took out a letter from his arms:

"This is what Xiaoxuan sent yesterday. It should be to sincerely ask you for some advice about studying... Young Master, Xiaoxuan admires you the most."

After Huang Feihong finished speaking, he turned and left.

Ouyang Rong was left holding the envelope in his hand, standing silently until a beam of golden light broke through the black curtain in the sky. He lowered his head and looked at Juanxiu's stubborn handwriting on the envelope...

early morning.

As the sky brightened, Ouyang Rong rode back to Xunyang City.

He found that today was a nice and crisp autumn weather.

The sky is blue.

"Erya Shi Niao" says: Qiu Hu steals the blue.

That is, the little bit of blue in the clear autumn sky is in sharp contrast with the gray and yellow land in late autumn, leaving no trace of green and bright colors. It instantly outlines the charm of the autumn sun and clear sky.

It is precisely because, when the earth fell into a state of darkness and desolation, this point of blue between the sky and the earth was so impressive and filled with emotion that it was recorded in "Erya" by the ancient sages.

Ouyang Rong was riding on his horse, looking away from the blue sky above his head. He returned to Huaiye Lane and prepared to change into his official uniform.

"Why did Tanlang come back just now? Where did he go last night?"

At the Huaiye Lane mansion, Li Dalang, who was waiting anxiously, shouted in surprise and immediately stepped forward, pulling him out to go to Xunyang Ferry.

"Tan Lang, the Luoyang envoy is coming soon. My father and the others have gone over first and asked Tan Lang to hurry up and greet him.

"I heard from Eunuch Hu that the one who went on the mission this time is a very senior eunuch, and he seems to have a bad temper. We'd better not be late. Many people are here today, so we don't dare to neglect..."

"Okay, wait a moment."

Ouyang Rong nodded and went back to the study first.

He took out a crumpled letter from a girl from his arms that he had never opened and read, and pressed it under the pillow.

Then he put on his neat crimson official uniform and turned around to go out.

As soon as he boarded the carriage, Ouyang Rong took the initiative and asked:

"Did your sister ask you to come here to persuade me not to be impulsive?"

Li Dalang scratched his head and said sheepishly: "My sister told me to tell Tan Lang to calm down..."

"I see."

Ouyang Rong nodded vigorously.

Now, early in the morning, he was out of his usual distracted state and took the initiative to talk to Li Dalang, which made Li Dalang happy. At least there was no weird calmness like the previous few days where he would not die in silence, but break out in silence.

At this time, Ouyang Rong reached out and patted Li Dalang on the shoulder:

"Stop following me, Da Lang. You can keep an eye on the prince when you go back later and don't let him do stupid things impulsively. Do you understand?"

Li Dalang was stunned: "Ah?"

He was very puzzled, and before he could ask any more questions, the carriage had already arrived.

Ouyang Rong and Li Dalang got off the carriage together and arrived at Xunyang Ferry, which was bustling with people.

King Lixian of Xunyang, Shi Rongzhen, the daughter of Caishang, Hu Fu, Xie Lingjiang, and Liulang of Yan;

There were also Lin Cheng, Wang Lengran, Wei Shaoqi's carriages, etc... all appeared at this bustling ferry.

Half an hour later, under a blue sky that is rare in autumn, in front of everyone at the ferry, Ouyang Rong finished reciting the empress's decree to Zheng Ao, lowered his eyelids and waited for him to kneel down to thank the grey-haired eunuch who accepted the decree.

explain:

"Thank you Lord for your kindness, I will refuse to obey the imperial edict until you die."

The entire Xunyang Ferry suddenly fell into a dead silence.
Chapter completed!