A heavy snowfall came quietly last night, and this morning there was thick snow when I went out. Soon His Majesty the Emperor and the Empress were going to the Zhuang Mansion, so time was tight for clearing the snow and there was no room for slack, so the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, who was feared by all the palace people, took the lead in clearing the snow. He was dressed in a bright red robe. It's extremely dazzling in the snow.
Breakfast was served for four people as usual, but there was one less person and one more person. Gui Qi and Qin Fang sat in the main seats, Gui Qing and Hu Meizi sat on one side, and the two seats on the other side were all empty.
As soon as the soup was served, it was steaming. Qin Fang immediately scooped a small bowl for Guiqing and Hu Meizi, and said softly: "Drink while it's hot."
Hu Meizi blinked her watery eyes and hesitated to move the spoon because she saw the emerald-green celery floating in the soup, which was her least favorite food.
So she quietly tugged at the corner of Guiqing's clothes and cast a look for help.
"Little Humei, you can't be picky about food." Qin Fang said with a smile.
Gui Qi lowered his head to pick up the rice and said vaguely: "It's embarrassing to say that you and Gui Qing are pickier eaters than each other. If you don't eat this, you won't eat the other. In troubled times, you can only chew tree bark, and you two will be killed alive." starve."
Qin Fang glared at him immediately, "Can't you stop your mouth while eating?"
Gui Qi's face changed faster than turning the page in a book, and he immediately smiled and said: "Yes, yes."
Afterwards, no one said anything, and it was so quiet that one could even hear each other's breathing.
Hu Meizi has long been accustomed to this strange atmosphere, and it has been like this since she entered the palace. She held the hot soup in both hands, took a small sip, put it down, and subconsciously looked at the empty seat opposite.
Guiqing slowly raised her eyes and looked at the empty seat in front of her.
Qin Fang looked at them quietly.
Gui Qi had been immersed in eating, but suddenly put down his chopsticks and sighed heavily.
This undoubtedly brought the atmosphere of this breakfast to a freezing point.
"Come here, take these big meats away, I'm tired of looking at them." Gui Qi said in a deep voice.
Immediately, a group of palace maids came in and removed the meat from the table one by one. However, each of them had the same doubt in their mind. They must know that His Majesty likes big fish and meat the most on weekdays, and he really doesn't eat any vegetables. But what happened today? Is it possible that His Majesty is feeling unwell and has no appetite?
Then, Gui Qi rubbed his chin and said, "The taste of this meat is not as good as before."
Putting his hands on the table, Gui Qi said softly: "In the past, I had to hold my chopsticks tightly every time I ate. I have quick hands and a quick mouth. The big fish and meat have just been served. As long as I don't grab them, I can eat them in the blink of an eye." I'm sure I'll leave you with a bone that's been chewed. As a father, I'm already old, and it's not easy to fight for food with him. Several times I snatched good meat from under his chopsticks and hurriedly stuffed it in. The taste in my mouth was delicious. When he traveled far away from home, no one would compete with me for meat anymore. I thought to myself, wouldn’t this be my world? But the taste of the meat also changed. It’s greasy and not as tasty as before.”
Hu Meizi lowered her head quietly.
Gui Qing remained silent.
Qin Fang didn't say anything, but her eyes were red.
Gui Qi picked up the chopsticks, took a bite of the vegetables, and tugged at the corner of his mouth, "This dish is still as unpalatable as usual."
Putting down his chopsticks with a bang, Gui Qi stood up suddenly, pointed at the very familiar empty seat and yelled: "You little bastard! Did you agree to hang up the Spring Festival couplets together this year? It would be easier if you don't come back, just find a place Have a drink and find a place to lie down comfortably, but your father and I have to run all over the palace with a ladder! Tell the truth! Do you deliberately want to tire your own father to death? Unfilial! This is simply This is extremely unfilial!"
"Get back here quickly!!"
The sudden violent roar frightened Hu Meizi to the point of trembling.
Qin Fang was furious, "Okay! If you want to go crazy, go outside. Don't be embarrassed here! Look at the child you frightened."
"I'm not coming back! From today on, I'll be waiting at the city gate! If he doesn't come back, I won't come back!"
Geiqi waved his sleeves and strode out of the palace.
Facing that back figure, Qin Fang trembled with anger and said angrily: "It's better if you don't come back. Even if you die outside, no one will care about you! Without you this year, we mothers will still live the same life!"
Qin Fang stood there, holding her face with both hands. After a long time, she moved her hands away, exhaled loudly with red eyes, looked at Gui Qing and Hu Meizi, and said softly: "I'm fine, you go."
Then Qin Fang returned to Jiaofang Palace and called all the maids away.
At the moment when the hall was empty, she could no longer conceal her decline. She covered her heart with one hand and slowly lay down on the table, her whole body trembling slightly.
——
In an inn in Yongzhou, Guiliu and Wang Sizhi walked out of the room and happened to meet Zhang Gu coming out of the next room.
The three of them had breakfast together. Gui Liu went to the government office himself and asked Zhang Gu and Wang Sizhi to wait at the inn.
Previously, Zhang Gu had been hiding something in his heart for fear of arousing Gui Liu's suspicion. Now that he was alone with Wang Sizhi, he could finally ask it.
"Excuse Zhang Gu's presumption, but the Crown Princess is the daughter of the powerful Wang family?"
"It's me." Wang Sizhi lowered his head and stroked Snowball, and said softly: "But now there are no more powerful officials in the Wang family."
Zhang Gu stopped talking and looked into the distance outside the building, seeming to recall the game more than ten years ago.
The official was so generous that he handed over a stack of banknotes before he even sat down.
At that moment, Zhang Gu had already thought that such a big gambler would most likely have a big disaster in the future.
Because the court is not a place for gambling. Throughout the ages, among those who eventually reached the most important positions, whose official career was not shocking at every step?
As for the Wang family's residence being ransacked, even though he could not leave the alley, the moment he heard the commotion, he subconsciously thought not of the generous official, but of the little daughter who was following him.
She was born into a noble family, but after her family failed, she became like a rootless duckweed, battered by the wind and rain of the world, wandering in uncertainty.
She was so lucky to become the crown princess, and in the future she would be the empress of the world.
But not every woman in the world is so lucky.
For example, Zhang Gu’s younger sister, when the orthodoxy was established, her grandfather was the emperor’s teacher, and she was the daughter of a wealthy family. However, after the rebels came to power, when tens of thousands of refugees were "declared to be crossing north", she was rejected. He was pushed and fell into the water.
Zhang Gu was on another shipwrecked ship and watched his sister fall into the water, struggle, and then sink to the bottom.
The woman exhaled her last breath in the water. Zhang Gu couldn't hear what she said. He always thought they were her last words.
But a long, long time later, when Zhang Gu had fled from the Dafeng Dynasty to the Dajing Dynasty and had set up a chess stall in that dark alley, one day, he accidentally saw a little girl carved in pink and jade, playing against a The young man Jiao Didi shouted: "Brother."
At that moment, Zhang Gu burst into tears and ran away in a hurry, like a embarrassed old dog.
This is why Zhang Gu obviously won thousands of copper coins and still lived in poverty.
If his sister was still alive, he would work hard to make money! Let my sister marry a good family and not be bullied in the future.
But when the closest relatives in this world are gone and you are the only one left, what is the use of gold and silver?
Zhang Gu's eyes turned red unknowingly, and he smiled: "Zhang Gu asked a bad question, has the Crown Princess ever witnessed the death of a relative?"
Wang Sizhi was not annoyed and said softly: "I've seen him before. It was a long, long time ago."
How long is a long, long time?
Five hundred years ago during the Sui Dynasty, she watched helplessly as the figure in dragon robe faced the cavalry of sixteen dynasties alone.
Zhang Gu nodded and said no more.
On the other side, Giliu visited the government office but could not find a high-ranking official, so he came to Yongzhou Mansion, kicked open the heavy black door, and sat down on the threshold.
The servant who swept the court was also quite discerning. Seeing that the young man in front of him was dressed in an extraordinary way and did not look like a vicious villain, he quickly put down his broom and ran to inform the housekeeper.
After a while, the housekeeper came with someone.
"Call Li Chao right now. I only give you one minute. I'm in a hurry."
The steward twirled his beard and said with a smile: "May I ask who your lord is? This is the mansion of the governor of a state. It was given by His Majesty the Emperor himself in the past. Even princes and generals would not dare to be so rude as you."
Guiliu nodded, "Yes, princes, generals and ministers don't dare to trespass."
Suddenly, dozens of people present screamed in surprise and backed away in fear.
A pocket flying sword hung in front of the butler's brow.
Then, Guiliu grabbed his chin, slowly tore open a piece of dough, squinted his eyes and said with a smile, "You might as well guess who I am."
Suddenly, an angry voice sounded, "I want to see who dared to break into the governor's mansion without permission!"
Someone in the crowd said softly, "The master is here," and then, with the mentality of watching the fun, they stepped back to both sides to make way.
The old butler closed his eyes and laughed loudly: "Bad guy, you will be punished!"
"Old uncle, look clearly."
The old housekeeper opened his eyes in confusion, and for a moment, his pupils shrank sharply.
The servants, who were originally enjoying the fun and not taking it too seriously, all had their eyes widened with disbelief on their faces.
The "master" they were talking about knelt down with a plop, knocked his head heavily on the ground, and gritted his teeth with a trembling voice and said: "Li Chao, the governor of Yongzhou, pays homage to His Highness the Crown Prince!"
Prince?
Is it the most dandy prince in the world?
I don't know who knelt down first and shouted: "Greetings to His Highness the Crown Prince!", and then the crowd knelt down in unison.
Then one after another people hurriedly ran to the gate and fell to their knees on the ground with a thump.
Not long after, a huge courtyard was filled with people kneeling in darkness.
Gui Liu still sat high on the threshold, glanced at the governor Li Chao and the housekeeper, and said calmly: "Except for Li Chao and Xi Zhuan, everyone else can leave."
No one got up.
Guiliu didn't care and lightly kicked Li Chao's chin with his foot, "Li Chao, you have embezzled a lot of money over the years, right? Ten thousand taels or twenty thousand taels? You go and plead guilty now, and I can beg for mercy from my father." , not to implicate your tribe."
Li Chao burst into tears and raised his head suddenly, "Is your Highness serious about what he said?"
"You can only choose to believe me, can't you?" Guiliu said with a smile.
The middle-aged man was silent for a long time, said "Okay", then stood up, took off his official uniform, stepped through the gate of the mansion and walked out.
Guiliu suddenly shouted: "Did you see it? This is the governor you support!"
Immediately afterwards, Giliu stared at the old housekeeper and said something shocking, "Xi Zhuan, you don't think that if you let my mother go, I will let you go, right?"
The old man surnamed Xi was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing suddenly, pointing at Guiliu and almost going crazy, "The stillborn baby is here to take revenge, the stillborn baby is here to take revenge! Hahahahaha!"
After laughing, Xi Zhuan looked at the man with white hair like snow in front of him and sneered, "Even if I killed your mother back then, you stand in front of me today and you are still a useless piece of trash! I want to give your mother To avenge what happened twenty years ago? I think it’s better to let your mother cry in her grave on New Year’s Eve this year!”
But in the next second, he couldn't laugh anymore.
Because a white-haired man strangled his neck and said with a ferocious smile: "What did you say? I didn't hear you clearly. Say it again."
In an instant, Gei tore his neck into pieces.
Xi Zhuan may never understand until his death how the coward prince who hid behind a woman to avoid assassination suddenly became a martial arts master in an instant.
Guiliu took a deep breath, slowly stepped out of the gate of the governor's mansion, faced home, her eyes were red, and she softly shouted: "Mother"
There was once a man who was out of body and wandering in Fanke Mountain, and was blinded by the inner demons. Because of this, he saw his pregnant mother kneeling in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, with fear and begging in her eyes, and humbly faced the man. beg for mercy.
The man kicked Qin Fang hard in the stomach, then grabbed Qin Fang's head and smashed it against the huge red pillar.
When the man who was out of body and in a fugue saw this scene, he cried loudly and could not stand up straight for a long time. His heart was almost broken and it caused a catastrophe.
The man wore a mask, and even after so many years, the man's mother didn't know who that man was.
But the man whose eyes were covered by the inner demon saw the last scene. After he beat Qin Fang all over his body, he walked out of the empty Taihe Palace. He took off his mask and looked back.
It was during that brief moment when he looked back that the man remembered his appearance.
At Fanke Mountain, the man asked the old abbot if there was a magical method that could find a person based on his memory. The old abbot replied that there was indeed such a method, but it would be tantamount to revealing the secret, and the user would lose his life. .
The man then asked how many years his life would be shortened.
The exact answer given by the old abbot was, "At least five years of life will be lost."
Even so, the man was still determined to find that person.
That's why there was a man who locked himself in a thatched hut for days and nights. When he walked out of the thatched hut, he looked haggard and his face was even paler than any other person's.
Xi Zhuan thought he was perfect, so he accepted the luck gift from the great monk of the Yin-Yang family and successfully reached the sixth rank. He became a housekeeper incognito and lived leisurely for another hundred years.
While he was enjoying himself leisurely, a man left his hometown and was imprisoned in a sword cage by Zhao Bingnie. His body was covered in blood and his body was completely bruised. A man was almost stabbed to death by Xie She, and the wound was only half an inch away from his heart. There was a man whose meridians were severed and he was almost beaten to death by a drunkard. There was a man whose heart was filled with despair as he watched Wu Peixian's ancient sword support slowly fall. There was a man who was fighting against a white-clothed boxing fairy, and he almost missed the invincible punch with twelve punches.
Because Xi Zhuan didn't know, he couldn't figure out until his death why the useless and useless prince could grow to such an extent.
Gui Liu returned to the inn and handed Zhang Gu a large bag of silver brought back from the government as a package, asking him to enter Beijing as soon as possible after the New Year.
After everything was done, Gui Liu took a long breath and said with a smile: "Finally we can continue to set off."
After Zhang Gu left, Wang Sizhi suddenly asked him not to move.
Then, she grabbed Gui Liu's hands, bent slightly closer, and sniffed with her sensitive little nose.
Guiliu laughed dumbly, "You are a dog."
Wang Sizhi asked, "Tell me clearly, what did you do?"
"Went to the government office and got some... money?"
Seeing his rude answer, Wang Sizhi stepped on him hard and said coldly: "Don't even think about sleeping with me tonight."
Guiliu raised his eyebrows, "Hey, this is great for you, just don't ask me."
Wang Sizhi was too lazy to pay attention to him, and walked out with her long legs. When she crossed the threshold, she suddenly paused, her ears turned red, and her eyes stared at the white-haired figure whistling and rushing out the door with shame and anger.
There was a tingling sensation on her buttocks that was covered by clothes, and she bit her lip unconsciously.
Not far away, Guiliu hummed a little tune in his mouth, "Easy to undress Luo Shang and get on the orchid boat alone. Girl, don't be shy..."
