That night, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse. The shadows of the walnut trees in the courtyard and the cold moon in the sky reflected each other, presenting a special tranquility. The deep blue sky, like silk, was like the slightly rippled sea water before dawn, with a faint ink color.
Na Luo had been hungry since noon and had not had a drop of water. Qu Chi secretly gave her some food when no one was paying attention, but in order not to implicate him again, Na Luo refused to accept it. Anyway, she had experienced similar situations before. It was just a few meals of hunger. It didn't matter. She wouldn't die. Compared with twenty strokes of the cane, this degree of punishment was a blessing.
When Na Luo finished her work and walked to her residence, she suddenly felt a strong protest in her stomach. She was so hungry that she saw stars in front of her eyes. At this moment, a melodious and moving music came from not far away, like the ethereal sound of fairy music coming from the sky... But she was so hungry at the moment that she had no intention of appreciating any music, let alone knowing who was playing it. She just wanted to go back to sleep and forget the hateful hunger in her dream. Unexpectedly, her legs became weak before she took a few steps, so she had to lean against the tree to rest for a while. I don't know if it's because she hasn't been hungry for too long, her ability to resist hunger seems to have greatly weakened. She can't bear it after skipping two meals today.
The music sounded again after a short pause...
It's like the ding-dong of a cold spring, the dark sound of a jade pendant, and the light tearing of silk.
The slow and long music is mixed with the gorgeousness of beauty, and the secular charm is hidden in the quiet and graceful music.
Like mountains, deep and vast;
Like floating clouds, but with nowhere to stay...
This mysterious music is like an invisible hand, touching the listener's heartstrings, and even made Na Luo forget his hunger temporarily...When the last note disappeared in the air, it was like a mixture of flying flowers and fine snow, bright and dazzling.
At this moment, Na Luo suddenly had a wonderful illusion, as if she vaguely saw her own destiny.
It is impossible to describe the feeling that this music brought to her.
I want to cry in the tranquility, but I can get unprecedented tranquility in tears.
The moonlight slanted over and covered the boy lying against the tree in front. The wonderful light and dark shadows made him more elegant. He half-closed his eyes, and his slender and elegant fingers gently pressed on the sound holes of the instrument, as if he had some kind of Zen meditation like the Buddha picking flowers. The transparent white skin like ice and snow blended with the bright moonlight, reflecting a faint halo.
"Naro, what do you think of my playing?" He slowly put down the instrument in his hand, as if he had already noticed her presence.
Naro had no choice but to drag his feet to his front, showing a slightly flattering smile, "Prince, the music you play is very nice..." She pointed to the slender instrument in his hand, and asked curiously, "What is this?"
Istar smiled slightly and explained patiently, "This is a flute from Qiuci, which is mostly made of sheep bones and cow horns. Mine is made of wood, so the sound quality is also mellower."
"Such a small thing can actually make such a nice sound..." Naro's eyes showed some amazement.
"That depends on who is playing." Istar raised his beautiful eyebrows slightly, and a slightly mischievous smile appeared in his eyes.
Naro pursed his lips embarrassedly, and felt that the atmosphere around him seemed to become relaxed.
Even though the young man in front of him was a high and mighty prince, for some reason, being with him did not give him that oppressive feeling of restraint. On the contrary, it gave him a strange sense of peace and tranquility.
Come and try it too?" Ishtar suddenly handed the flute to her.
Na Luo was stunned for a moment, and quickly shook her head and waved her hands, "I don't know how to play it at all."
"Then," his smile was like dew on a green leaf, clear and transparent, "Na Luo, do you want to learn?"
She suddenly opened her eyes wide, obviously surprised.
"What? Is this prince not qualified to be your master?" He glanced at her sideways.
"Of course not!" Na Luo hurriedly, "It's just that you are the eldest prince of noble status, and I am just a little palace maid... I am afraid I don't have the talent in this area..."
"I don't know whether you have the talent or not, but just for your persistence in listening to the song even if you are hungry for a whole day..." Ishtar touched his chin thoughtfully, and said his judgment confidently, "You should be considered a talent that can be cultivated. "
Na Luo's mouth twitched, and he pulled out a dry smile. I can't tell the prince that I was so hungry that I couldn't walk, so I just listened to the music, right? Isn't this deliberately not giving the prince face?
"Are you still blaming me for not allowing you to eat?" He raised his thick eyelashes, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly.
"How could it be!" Na Luo hurriedly denied, "No matter how stupid I am, I know that the eldest prince was trying to help me at that time, so that I didn't suffer physical pain. I am not a person who doesn't know what's good for me."
Ishtar nodded comfortedly, "Fortunately, you reacted quickly at that time. Otherwise, I'm afraid you would have been punished with a cane."
Na Luo held his chin and sighed, "It's a pity that I didn't react quickly enough. If the maid said that what she was most afraid of was staying in the room alone, then she wouldn't have to starve or work. "
Isda laughed dumbly, "Then you might as well say that what you fear most is eating too much."
It would have been fine if she hadn't said this, but once she talked about this topic, Na Luo felt even hungrier, and her stomach was like a raging sea, and she protested again.
"By the way, I seem to have some fresh cheese. Well, if you have a new apprentice, then it shouldn't be a problem to treat her to something." He winked at her with a smile. This little temptation really hit Na Luo's weakness at the moment.
"Huh?" Her eyes lit up immediately, and she immediately started to make small calculations in her mind. The eldest prince was willing to be her master, which didn't sound bad. There was no benefit in offending him, and now she could learn the Flute and solve her stomach problem, so she was taking advantage of it anyway.
Thinking of this, she didn't object anymore.
"Then I'll take it as your agreement. "Seeing that she remained silent, Ishda smiled knowingly and said, "Come with me. "
After drinking three bowls of cheese at the eldest prince's place, Na Luo felt her stomach was much better, and she walked back to her residence contentedly. As soon as she walked to the door, Qu Chi came up to her with a worried look on his face, holding the goat milk that had just been heated, and ordered her to drink it no matter what. After the previous caning incident, Na Luo was already grateful to Qu Chi, and she was even more moved at this moment. She told him that the eldest prince had accepted her as a disciple. Qu Chi was also very happy for her, and left after giving her a few instructions.
Watching Qu Chi's figure disappear in front of her, Na Luo couldn't help but sighed. Life in the palace seemed to be much better than she had imagined. The queen was gentle and kind, the eldest prince was approachable, and Qu Chi and other palace people were also very good to her. Compared with the life at her uncle and aunt's house, it was simply heaven and earth. Although there were people like Apa, who were not easy to deal with, as long as she was more careful, there should be no problem.
Perhaps, agreeing to enter the palace with the Hu Hou at that time was the right choice.
In the following days, Na Luo began to learn to play the flute from Isda. As the eldest prince of Loulan, Isda had a lot of homework, so he could only teach her occasionally. Na Luo really felt that she had no talent for music, but Isda was still full of confidence in her.
In the eyes of the prince, a person who was still obsessed with music when hungry was a rare talent.
In the evening of this day, Qu Chi asked Na Luo to send something to the queen's bedroom. Recently, Khotan sent a batch of very precious gold glass beads. The queen specially asked Qu Chi to use the best gold thread to string ten of them into a bracelet, ready to be used as a gift for the second princess's marriage.
Na Luo naturally knew the value of this bracelet, so he held it carefully along the way, for fear of dropping it. Just as she passed by the pond in the imperial garden, she suddenly heard a boy's slightly childish voice coming from not far away, "You useless things, if you can't find Abao again, this prince will chop you all!"
In order to avoid getting into trouble, Na Luo immediately quickened her pace and wanted to leave this place of trouble as soon as possible. Who knows what you fear will come true, just at this moment someone behind her suddenly called her name loudly, "Wait, Na Luo!"
Na Luo wanted to pretend that she didn't hear it and continued to move forward. But the man chased up from behind in two steps, and stopped her enthusiastically, "Na Luo! Don't you remember me? I'm Mo Li! We met last time!"
Seeing that there was no way to hide, Na Luo had to make an expression of sudden enlightenment, smiled and said, "Oh...it turned out to be Sister Mo Li..."
"It's good that you are here." Mo Li's eyes flashed with excitement, as if she had found a life-saving straw. She suddenly raised her eyelashes and said happily behind Na Luo, "Third Prince, it was this little maid who helped me coax Abao back last time. Maybe she can help this time too!"
Na Luo's smile froze on her face. Isn't this Li Qiye too cunning? He threw the bag on her head easily with just one sentence.
"Really?" The third prince walked forward half-believingly, and the exquisite deerskin boots on his feet suddenly caught Na Luo's eyes. She felt that the voice seemed familiar, but due to the rules of the palace, she didn't dare to look up and take a closer look.
"In that case, you also go to help find Abao." The third prince sounded like an order.
Na Luo's heart tightened, and she quickly made excuses for herself, "Replying to the Third Prince, I want to send this gold glass bead bracelet to the Queen. If I go too late, I'm afraid the Queen will blame me...ah!" Before she finished her words, she felt a gust of cold wind coming towards her, and almost at the same time, she was whipped hard on the neck!
It hurts! Who is this person! Why did he start without asking questions? Na Luo felt a strong resentment rushing to her chest, and she couldn't help but look up and stare at him - but the moment she saw the other person's face clearly, she was completely dumbfounded, and then she gasped, shocked, angry, confused... All kinds of mixed emotions were tangled together like a mess, and her clenched hands trembled slightly unconsciously.
Na Luo will never forget this familiar and unfamiliar face.
This arrogant and arrogant look reminded her of the day she never wanted to recall again.
At that time, if Lord Quehu Hou had not appeared in time, she would have died under the wheels of the carriage.
How... did she meet the person she least wanted to see here?
The third prince obviously recognized her and blurted out in surprise, "It's you! How come you are here, you little kid?"
He was wearing a pointed felt hat common among the Loulan people today. He had an extraordinary handsome face and a noble aura. His big light brown eyes flickered like the morning stars in the night sky, more lively and beautiful than the golden glass beads in Na Luo's hand.
After a brief blank in his brain, Na Luo quickl....
After calming down, she tried her best to control her emotions and whispered, "Replying to the Third Prince, I am now in the eldest prince's palace." This simple sentence not only stated her current identity, but also used the eldest prince as a shield, hoping to make the other party restrain himself.
The Third Prince snorted twice, his confidence was obviously insufficient but he was still tough, "Even if it is the eldest brother's people, so what? What's the problem with this prince borrowing it for use!" He flew a fierce look at her, "Why don't you help find A Bao! Otherwise, this prince will beat you up too!"
He was about the same age as Na Luo, but he was only half a head taller than her. When he shouted at her arrogantly, Na Luo noticed that there was a faint horizontal scar in the middle of his nose. If I guessed correctly, it should be a souvenir left when she hit his nose with a stone last time.
"Look! Third Prince! A Bao is there!" Mo Li suddenly pointed at the top of Na Luo's head and shouted loudly. Na Luo looked up and saw a monkey head suddenly exposed among the rustling branches, baring its teeth and making faces at them. Before Na Luo could react, the monkey jumped down and ran into her arms with its teeth and claws bared! Na Luo subconsciously reached out and quickly caught A Bao to prevent it from falling to the ground. But the gold glass bracelet in her hand also flew out with a swish! The gold thread tied with the beads broke at once, and the glittering glass beads immediately fell to the ground, rolling in different directions... Na Luo was so scared that her face turned pale. She stuffed the trouble-making A Bao into Mo Li's arms and hurriedly picked up the glass beads that fell on the ground.
One, two, three... eight, nine... one more?
Na Luo looked around anxiously, and saw the last glass bead sliding slowly towards the pool. She hurriedly wanted to chase it. But she had just taken a step when someone pushed her hard from behind. She lost her balance and fell forward, falling heavily to the ground. At the moment when her nose hit the ground, she heard the third prince's unbridled laughter. No need to guess, it must have been him... This narrow-minded guy would not miss any opportunity for revenge. Na Luo didn't care about the pain, and tried to prop herself up desperately, but was kicked from behind by the other party... Seeing that the bead was about to slide into the pool... It was too late, and a pair of short-waisted sheepskin boots with dark patterns suddenly stretched out from the side, stopping the bead from moving forward in time. Before the person approached, a very special faint incense fragrance had quietly drifted over with the wind.
Then, the person bent down calmly and reached out to pick up the bead. His hands were very good-looking, with delicate skeletons rarely seen in men in the Western Regions, and his slender, white fingers seemed to be carefully carved out of white marble by skilled craftsmen.
"Do you want this?" His voice was so beautiful and pleasant, as soft and comfortable as spring water and summer breeze, as beautiful and warm as autumn moon and winter sun, and every word was like countless pearls rolling down a jasper plate, making a pleasant knocking sound. But this heavenly sound made Na Luo's heart suddenly tighten, as if a terrifying chill ran up her spine. Her body seemed to become as stiff as a corpse, and she couldn't even move her fingers. A familiar voice seemed to appear vaguely in her ears.
"Third brother, if we tie this annoying child to the back of the carriage and let her run with it until she dies, don't you think it would be more interesting?