When I woke up again, it was already the afternoon of this day.
Perhaps it was because he had a refreshing sleep, or perhaps because he was back in a familiar place, Gu Yunqiu felt better and was no longer so anxious.
Looking around, he saw that none of the nuns who were waiting for him were in the house, and the two servants beside him were also sleeping by the door. However, on the low table beside the bed, there was a stack of oil paper bags with the peach blossom emblem printed on them.
Peach blossom is Tao Ji's unique symbol. Among all the pastry shops in the capital, Tao Ji Yin is the only one.
Gu Yunqiu's eyes lit up instantly.
He reached out and took out the stack of pastries, which were still warm to the touch - it seemed that his mother and concubine had not tricked him, and his father had really gone to Taoji to queue up.
Gu Yunqiu happily tore off the twine tied to the paper package. Wrapped in a square piece of oil paper was a whole sweet-scented osmanthus cake cut into four small pieces. The top of the cake was light yellow and crystal clear, and was sprinkled with sesame seeds.
The fragrance of osmanthus filled Gu Yunqiu's arms the moment the oil paper spread out, like breaking into a gold and silver osmanthus forest late at night in the golden autumn. Under the sparse shadows of the moon, the faint fragrance floats, and every breeze brings just the right amount of sweetness.
Gu Yunqiu stood up holding the sweet-scented osmanthus cake, pulled over a soft pillow and sat on the bedside footrest.
While eating, he looked out the window at the blue sky and white clouds and thought about his rebirth——
Perhaps even God felt that his death in his previous life was a mistake and an injustice, so he was given a chance to do it again.
But, how to... do this again?
Gu Yunqiu held his chin in his hand and stared at himself in the bronze mirror not far away in distress.
——To act first and send people to Shu to kill the only midwife who knew about it? Or should we take advantage of the moment and kill the eight-year-old real prince Li Congzhou and directly replace him?
Just thinking about it this way, Gu Yunqiu frowned, closed his eyes and shook his head.
He couldn't do it, especially after seeing such a bloody and terrifying scene in his previous life.
Mammy was not wrong, and Li Congzhou was even more innocent.
What's more, Prince Ning and Princess treated him so well... How could he bear to continue to pretend to be someone else despite knowing the truth, and even try to occupy the magpie's nest again.
Moreover, Gu Yunqiu curled his lips: This thing of flesh and blood is serious and cannot be faked at all.
The real prince Li Congzhou was indeed different from him since he was a child——
He was proficient in rituals, music, archery, mathematics, and the Five Virtues and Four Cultivations of Sanskrit. He was good at calligraphy and painting at a young age. When he was more than ten years old, people in Beijing asked him for ten taels of silver for a single calligraphy.
He knows Yin and Yang, understands Bagua, knows everything about Qimen Dunjia, astronomy and geography.
When it comes to literary and martial arts, he has always had few rivals in Beijing.
The prince introduced him as a confidant and a great scholar who would never resist him. When Gu Yunqiu was still squatting on the ground fighting crickets, he was able to pick off several foreign masters and overturn the barbarian war elephant to the ground with his clever strength.
Not to mention that he went to the northwest in the future and fought unyieldingly. He led only 500 cavalry to surprise the Xirong military camp, and finally directly destroyed the Xirong who had been harassing the Jin Dynasty border for decades.
…
Gu Yunqiu chewed the sweet-scented osmanthus cake dryly:
It is true that such a provocative real prince cannot be easily killed by the son of a peasant woman with unknown origins.
If you don't do it well, you might be exposed in advance.
You don't have to be laughed at, and your end may be even worse than in your previous life.
Moreover, Gu Yunqiu really couldn't figure it out:
——Why did Li Congzhou suddenly kill so many people indiscriminately?
It was clear that he had led his troops to kill Xirong, the Jin Dynasty's most important henchman, and was recognized by King Ning back to Prince Ning's Mansion. It was clear that he had a bright future as a new noble in the dynasty and held great power, but he suddenly went crazy.
Even if he was crazy, he still went crazy at the celebration where he recognized his ancestor and returned to his clan.
The more Gu Yunqiu thought about it, the more pain he felt in the back of his neck.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and shook his head:
That’s all.
He is a fake prince, so he should pay less attention to the affairs of the real prince.
——If you don’t do it right, your head will fall off again.
After finally resurrecting his life, he should spend more time on himself:
Since he can't be the real prince, maybe he can use the next twelve years in this life to learn to be a good gentleman and stop becoming a playboy and causing trouble for the prince and princess.
After thinking so much and tossing for a while, Gu Yunqiu felt a little tired again. He didn't know whether it was because he was weak after being reborn, or because he was full after eating four pieces of sweet-scented osmanthus cake...
In short, he felt a little sleepy, lying on the table with his eyes opening and closing. In his hazy consciousness, he remembered one more important thing: yes, there is also the handyman.
The handyman who protected him with his life in his previous life.
I don’t know if he has entered the mansion now...
○○○
Gu Yunqiu was lying on the table in a daze. He heard voices again in his hazy consciousness. He opened his eyes and saw a man and a woman walking in one after another.
"Are you really going to leave again just after you came back?" It was the princess's voice.
"Yes..." The man's voice was clearer, but he had no choice but to say, "Your Majesty is worried about the repair of Shangyuan Palace."
This sound...
Gu Yunqiu tried his best to hold up his eyelids, but his eyes were still foggy. He vaguely saw the man walking over and chuckled, and then he was hugged up.
Her head was resting on the man's shoulder, and the soft Lusi silk was clearly leaning against her ears, but what she smelled at the tip of her nose was the strange smell of smoky peach blossoms.
——It’s King Ning.
There is a roasted meat shop next to Tao Ji Pastry Shop, and everyone who queues up will be smelled of it.
Prince Ning carried Gu Yunqiu to the bed, and the princess followed him, "Let Qiuqiu lie on her side, um, yes, add a cushion, don't press your butt | buttocks."
Prince Ning followed his instructions, put down the curtain, and then asked his wife in a low voice, "Is it still... swollen?"
"Isn't it? It's green, red and swollen. How can I have such a cruel father like you?"
Prince Ning looked remorseful and hung his head for a while before tugging on his wife's sleeves, "I'm also angry..."
The princess glanced at him.
"I bought cakes for Qiuqiu..." Prince Ning's voice became smaller and smaller.
"Oh," the princess hummed, "isn't it natural for a father to buy delicious food for his son?"
Prince Ning scratched his head and did not dare to argue with his wife.
The princess glanced at him, took the cloak and tied it on for him, "It's cold in the spring evening, so horse racing should be slower at night."
Prince Ning patted his wife's hand and smoothed her hair with a smile, "Let's go, you don't have to wait for me for dinner."
The princess nodded, took a step back, and watched him disappear into the golden light of the setting sun.
…
Not long after King Ning left, Gu Yunqiu woke up. After dinner, he summoned a few servants around him. The first one was named Brother Shun, the son of the second steward of the palace.
Brother Shun has easy access to the palace on weekdays. Gu Yunqiu took note of this in his previous life, so he kept him by his side as a first-class servant of Ning Xintang.
"I want to... find someone, Brother Shun. Are you familiar with all the servants in the palace?"
"Who does the young master want to find? What is his name and what does he look like?" Brother Shun stepped forward with a smile, "Young people know it even if you don't tell them, but you can still ask."
Gu Yunqiu thought about it. He only remembered that the handyman was lame and stuttered. He was a year or two older than him and his accent sounded like he was from the northwest. He didn't know anything else.
As for appearance...
At that time, he was in panic all the time and didn't pay attention to the appearance of the handyman. Later, he only remembered how he looked more than ten years later.
"Just," Gu Yunqiu scratched his head, "Is there a... lame stutterer in our house?"
"Stuttering and lame...?" Brother Shun shook his head and denied: "No, the people employed in the house are carefully selected. Even the handymen are not allowed to be missing arms or legs."
"so……"
Seeing that he was in a low mood, Brother Shun added: "Maybe in the outer village? Maybe he was recruited by the steward of the farm. I'll ask you tomorrow."
Only then did Gu Yunqiu remember that he had forgotten to tell Brother Shun that the handyman was probably only a teenager this year, and there was no way he would be placed on the farm.
Zhuangzi was located fifty miles outside Beijing. Every day he had to carry water to cultivate fields, chop firewood and herd cattle. Not only did he do dirty and tiring work, but he was also not allowed to come and go at will. In the early years, it was common to beat people to death due to exhaustion.
Gu Yunqiu hesitated for a moment and chose to put the matter aside for the time being——
Brother Shun is right. The royal palace is very strict in selecting servants, and the sick and disabled are not used.
It may be okay to stutter, but if the palace servant can stay in Ningxintang, his legs...
Gu Yunqiu's face darkened: he was probably lame at home.
Prince Ning and his wife did not have the habit of treating their servants harshly, but the servants in the palace were divided into three, six, and nine grades. They would fight and scheme against each other in private. For the sake of small profits, they even injured people.
"That's all," Gu Yunqiu shook his head, "Maybe I remembered it wrong."
The few servants looked at each other in confusion, not knowing what the young master wanted to do when they came in.
In the end, it was Brother Shun who spoke first, "Son, are we going down first?"
Gu Yunqiu was a little disappointed when he failed to find the handyman immediately, but he said: "I have to get up early at 3:30 tomorrow, please remember to call me."
Yinshi three quarters? !
The boys' eyes widened when they heard this, and Brother Shun couldn't hold back anymore.
"I want to study hard," Gu Yunqiu added, "remember to wake me up no matter what!"
After saying this, Gu Yunqiu finally breathed a sigh of relief. After washing, he went to bed peacefully.
…
At Yin time the next day, it was still dark.
Gu Yunqiu sank into the soft quilt. Brother Shun called him three times, but he didn't even remember it.
Really annoyed by being yelled at, he pulled up the quilt to cover his head and tried to turn over. As a result, he twisted his neck whenever he moved, causing a dull pain in the back of his neck and a large area of his right shoulder.
Gu Yunqiu hissed, but didn't want to open his eyes yet.
As a result, in the next moment, a pair of eyes as cold as ice appeared in his hazy consciousness.
"!!!"
Gu Yunqiu woke up immediately.
Without waiting for Brother Shun to shout again, he quickly turned over and got off the ground, put on his shoes and rushed toward the desk——
He wants to read and he wants to write.
He wants to change his mind and become a good person!
In the mist of the spring morning, Gu Yunqiu hurriedly grabbed a pen, spread out the paper and started writing.
How difficult is it for a twenty-year-old to write hundreds of characters?
As a result, after picking up a pen on the pen holder, Gu Yunqiu realized that his little hands were weak and he could not write well on the paper:
Either the pen is not held firmly and the writing is crooked, or the writing is too heavy and the rice paper is punctured.
"The sky and the earth are dark and yellow, the universe is primitive" is the opening chapter of "The Thousand-Character Essay".
The word "Heaven and Earth" in Touli was directly asked to be written as:
A big piece of soil.
"..." Gu Yunqiu looked at the bright sky outside and gritted his teeth:
Forget it, go practice martial arts——
After breakfast, Gu Yunqiu rested for a while, then changed into light clothes and went to the courtyard to shoot arrows.
His bow was specially made, and the strings were replaced with softer ramie silk instead of raw beef tendons and horsehair. To put it bluntly, it was a children's bow, made by adults for children to play with.
Gu Yunqiu set an arrow seriously and silently recited the key points of archery "Five Levels and Three Relies" in his mind:
Keep your hands, feet, elbows and shoulders flat, listen to the string with your ears, hold the arrow against your mouth, and hold the string against your chest.
The posture looked very similar, but the arrow flew out with a buzzing sound, and before it hit the target, a roar was heard in the distance——
Gu Yunqiu was startled, and several other boys hurriedly came forward. After a while, they helped Brother Shun out from the bushes behind the target.
As for Brother Shun, there was an arrow stuck in his butt.
"..." Gu Yunqiu was dumbfounded.
