"Qiuqiu?" The princess stood at the door and knocked on the door.
Gu Yunqiu got up helplessly, "Mom, do you want to see me if you have something to do?"
The princess nodded and brought a snack made of lotus leaves, "It's just a snack sent from the palace. It's inconvenient for me and the nuns. Qiuqiu helps me send it to Master Yuankong."
Gu Yunqiu nodded and accepted the food box. Finally, he walked around the bamboo forest at the door, and there was a snap under the red wall.
Gu Yunqiu followed the sound and found that four or five servants were surrounding him and cursing: "You dare to quibble?! You don't even know what you are! How can there be such a good golden sore medicine?!"
"This, this is, it's mine."
"Yours? If you call it, will it respond? It's obviously Brother Shun's, but you dare to be so harsh!"
Gu Yunqiu frowned: Why... Brother Shun again?
"It's mine! I didn't steal it! Give it back to me!"
Gu Yunqiu held his breath and stood quietly behind the bamboo forest. He found that Brother Shun had taken the lead to surround a boy who looked like a handyman under the red wall. The boy was short and thin, and his face happened to be blocked by Brother Shun.
He reached out to grab the medicine bottle, but was kicked to the ground by Brother Shun.
"How dare you fight with me?!" Brother Shun spat, raising his foot and kicking the little handyman in the stomach, "Dirty son of a bitch, who are you?! How dare you steal what I have?!"
He used his hands and feet together, and even after being hit with several heavy punches, he still couldn't relieve his anger. Then he picked up a broom standing at the base of the wall, picked up a long stick, and hit the little handyman on the back.
The little handyman was beaten until he rolled on the ground, but he still insisted that the medicine was his.
Brother Shun was so angry that he turned around and yelled: "Why are you still standing there?! Give me a hand! Beat this ungrateful little bastard to death!"
The boys looked at each other in disbelief, and finally surrounded him due to his power.
At this moment, Gu Yunqiu saw clearly the face of the little handyman who fell on the ground, and saw his stubborn eyes.
Those eyes!
Gu Yunqiu was frightened and hurriedly stepped forward: "Stop it!"
It's those eyes!
It was he who blocked the door of Ning Xintang, looking at him and asking him to run quickly.
And it was only then that Gu Yunqiu realized that the little handyman was stammering when he spoke just now.
The boys were stunned by him. When they turned around, they still stood in a row to block the handyman.
Brother Shun came up with something and stepped forward to help Gu Yunqiu get the food box: "M-Sir, why are you here? Are you going to send it away? I..."
Gu Yunqiu retracted his hand and did not answer his words. He only raised his chin and asked, "What's going on?"
"Hey...it's just a little thief. He stole Brother Shun's things." A boy next to him answered jokingly, but got a blank look from Brother Shun for no reason. "Sir, don't listen to Xiao Wu's nonsense. It's not stealing, it's just looking like , so ask.”
"Looks like it?"
Brother Shun explained with a smile, "No, sir, have you forgotten? You gave me a bottle of golden sore medicine..."
Gu Yunqiu pointed at the broom and interrupted him with a cold voice, "Is this a question?!"
This time, several other boys also realized what was happening and turned around to help the handyman. They said it was because they were in a hurry and their hands were careless, and it was not intentional.
Gu Yunqiu allowed them to move, and only glanced at Brother Shun from bottom to top, and said coldly "Huh".
Brother Shun shuddered and suddenly became sweaty.
Gu Yunqiu pushed aside the crowd and went to help the handyman himself.
The little handyman was thin and small, with rough skin on his hands and a pair of big eyes. He looked at him with clear eyes. Although he gritted his teeth in pain, he still remembered the rules and saluted first and called "Young Master".
Gu Yunqiu stared at him for a while, with all kinds of feelings in his heart, and finally turned around: "...where is the medicine?"
He was so excited that his voice became hoarse.
Brother Shun frowned and held up his hands, "Here it is, young master."
Gu Yunqiu took it and looked at it carefully, then turned around and asked the handyman, "You said this medicine is yours, what proof do you have?"
The corner of the boy's mouth was broken, and he hissed when he spoke. He licked his lips and said slowly that he bought the medicine at the Jingzhong Pharmacy. He was originally going to give it to his uncle, but the other party didn't want it, so he took it up the mountain.
The medicine bottle is a white porcelain bottle with a narrow neck. There is a red-crowned crane painted on the bottle. The small round bead tied with a red string on the top of the stopper is loose. He came back and repaired it with white thread. There is a hole at the bottom of the bottle that cannot be replaced. Great stability.
"I saved up for three months to buy this. The guy at the pharmacy can prove it."
Gu Yunqiu nodded and looked at Brother Shun again, "What about you?"
The medicine for golden sores is said to be cheap or expensive.
For a handyman, it takes three or four months to save up to buy one, but for a boy like Shun Ge who earns only one tael a month, it is not necessary.
He wanted to use it today but couldn't find it. He happened to see the busboy taking out a bottle. He subconsciously thought it was his hand and grabbed it. He didn't expect that the busboy was so stubborn and refused to give it to him.
When they started making a fuss, they ran under the red wall. Unexpectedly, they were caught by Gu Yunqiu again.
Brother Shun trembled, hesitated for a long time, and said: "I..."
Gu Yunqiu grimaced, "Brother Shun, you have been working with me as an errand for a year or two. I don't care how you deal with things on weekdays, but when you come back to Baoguo Temple -"
"First you used your power to bully the young novice monk in the temple. You were beaten by your mother and concubine before you had a long memory. Now you insult and beat the household servants. Could it be that you could do more evil things without me knowing about it?"
"Sir, I didn't..." Brother Shun's expression changed, and the other boys also panicked and knelt down.
"That's enough. Needless to say, I don't want to hear your quibbles a second time," Gu Yunqiu interrupted him impatiently, "According to the rules of the house, I will inform my mother and concubine and ask your father to take you back and fine you. It is up to the chief steward of the Free Mansion to decide whether to fight or send them to other villages and sell them to the northwest."
"As for you guys -" Gu Yunqiu glanced at Brother Liushun's little followers, "Send them back to the house as well!"
Brother Shun fell to the ground, his face pale and full of disbelief.
Gu Yunqiu stopped looking at him and just took the handyman back to the small courtyard.
When they walked away, the young men came to help Brother Shun with a sad face, "Brother, what should I do? Master, Master, he is not really going to betray us..."
Some of them couldn't hold themselves back and started to cry, "The life in the foreign village is not human life, brother, we have to do so much work every day, we will be beaten to death! Sold to the northwest, more..."
Brother Shun had a headache from their crying, and couldn't help shouting: "Shut up, everyone!"
He gritted his teeth and stared gloomily in the direction Gu Yunqiu left——
He suddenly remembered that the prince had asked him to find a little stammerer.
○○○
After this happened, Master Yuankong couldn't go there, so Gu Yunqiu went directly back to the small courtyard to find the princess.
"Auntie——" Gu Yunqiu called out in a long voice.
"Come back so soon..." The princess looked up and unexpectedly saw Gu Yunqiu pulling a boy who was in a state of embarrassment, "Is this -?"
"Aniang, I want him to be my servant!"
The princess was stunned, and the handyman was also dumbfounded.
The princess wondered why the child thought so often, but she still smiled and asked the reason.
Gu Yunqiu couldn't talk about the past life, so he knelt down on the princess's knees and explained what had just happened. Then he hugged the princess's legs and said in a long voice:
"Let him be my servant, please Auntie!"
Princess Ning touched his head and said nothing.
Gu Yunqiu kept up his efforts and said in a sweet voice, "Mom, please promise me. As long as mommy agrees, I will study hard and practice calligraphy, and I won't be angry with the masters in the future."
Master Wang was a famous teacher at Qingyang Academy, and was hired by Prince Ning to teach Gu Yunqiu how to read.
Princess Ning's eyes twitched slightly, and she suddenly rubbed Gu Yunqiu's cheek with the back of her hand, "Little cat, your face is covered with mud. Go and wash it with grandma first."
Gu Yunqiu murmured and believed it, and was led away obediently. Only the servant kneeling on the ground was surprised - there was nothing on the young master's face.
When Gu Yunqiu walked away, Princess Ning asked him to stand up and asked his name in a gentle voice.
The handyman was a little nervous and answered very slowly.
He comes from Tianjia Village in northwest Weizhou, his name is Gou Wa, and he is twelve years old.
Eighty or nine years ago, there was a plague in the village. Only three-year-old him and the young man next door to his family survived. The young man joined the Northwest Camp and has been raising him with him.
Later, when he grew up, the young man asked someone to find him a job as a handyman. He was bought into the palace just a few years ago. This can be proved by the mothers around the princess:
"He is a solid-eyed child, madam, you can rest assured."
"Really?" The princess smiled. Although this child seemed not as smart as Brother Shun, he was honest and had no bad intentions. She asked a few more questions in detail, "Is he literate? Have he ever read a book? "
Gouwa shook his head.
Learning to read and write was too expensive, and Uncle Jiang had already worried a lot about him. It was good enough for him to have a job and a full meal, but he didn't dare to ask for so much.
Thinking of this, Gouwa knelt down and kowtowed to the princess again, "Young man, I don't have much knowledge. He is a rough man. He can do a handyman job, but as a servant, I'm afraid that he won't be able to serve the prince well with his clumsy hands." …”
The princess looked at him: this kid is honest.
"That dog, tell me, what is the purpose of being a servant?"
Gouwa knelt on the ground and thought for a while, then answered seriously: "Yes, it is loyalty."
It is easy to find a priceless treasure, but a loyal servant is rare.
The princess exchanged glances with the nanny beside her and smiled, "Well, since Qiuqiu likes you, just follow and take good care of you."
Gouwa was shocked and never thought that the princess would agree.
He was dumbfounded for a while, then threw himself down to thank Xie En, banging his head loudly.
The princess hurriedly helped him up, "Okay, okay, let's go and wash up with grandma."
When Gu Yunqiu came back and found out the result, he threw himself at his mother and concubine and thanked her endlessly, "I knew my mother-in-law was the best!"
However, when the princess asked about the original servants, Gu Yunqiu shook his head and said, "It's up to my mother-in-law."
The princess knew now: she had not liked Brother Shun from the beginning, but she was just afraid that her son would be unhappy. Now that Gu Yunqiu had said this, she was naturally happy to send them away.
So, half a moment later——
The boys who bullied Gouwa just now were beaten up in the courtyard and sent to the outer village——
Brother Shun was taken away by the second steward and was no longer allowed to work in the house.
The second steward was also implicated, and was fined half a year's salary, took away most of his power, and was transferred out of the palace's accounting office. He was asked to go home and teach his son well first.
As for how the second steward dealt with Brother Shun, that was not what Gu Yunqiu was interested in. He just happily took the newly acquired little boy... no, little boy back to the house.
After entering the house, he endured it, but he couldn't help but ask:
"Why...why are you willing to follow me?"
He felt stupid when he asked - who would leave a first-class servant and be willing to be a handyman.
But Gouwa knelt down, looked at him with bright eyes and said:
"Because, the young master saved my life. The young master is a good person."
