Gu Yunqiu blinked, why didn't he have any impression of this kind of thing?
Gouwa also knew that Gu Yunqiu didn't remember it. It was a snowy day two years ago. The boys in the courtyard were afraid of the cold and were lazy, leaving all the dirty work to him.
He slipped and fell at the entrance of the hospital while carrying water. He was soaked and had a high fever. Not only did the servants not help him call a doctor, they also beat him with canes and accused him of pretending to be sick.
Gu Yunqiu happened to be passing by at that time. He drove away the group of boys and invited a doctor for him.
"For Master, it's a small effort, but for me, it's a huge favor." Gou Wa looked at him with bright eyes and said seriously.
Gu Yunqiu felt a little embarrassed by him, touched his nose and pulled Gouwa up.
——It turns out that there is still such a past between them.
Gouwa stood up and bowed obediently to thank him.
Gu Yun became more and more happy as he watched, and couldn't help but say, "Let me change your name!"
Gouwa subconsciously shook his head, thinking that his name seemed really unpleasant, so he nodded with a red face.
Gu Yunqiu went through the names of Fuwang, Laicai, Yuanbao, etc. in his mind, but felt that he was not satisfied with them. Finally, he glanced at the food box and said happily: "I have it!"
"From now on, you will be called 'Dianxin', and from now on you will be my little snack."
dessert?
Gou Wa blinked blankly, and Gu Yunqiu couldn't tell whether he liked it or not. He could only see that his messy hair and both ears turned red.
Later, this name was also approved by Princess Ning. Gou Wa's identity list was transferred from the palace, his name was changed seriously, and his monthly payment was recorded as one silver.
Gu Yunqiu kept his word and really got up early every day to read and practice calligraphy, which made the princess feel happy.
Not only did he write by himself, Gu Yunqiu also brought snacks with him, and the two of them always squatted on the sand in the small courtyard to write and draw.
The small tree branch was easier to hold than the writing brush. Gu Yunqiu was not used to it at first, but after using it for a long time, he was able to write several beautiful words and pick out a few simple snacks.
One day, the princess passed by and heard his little boy say, "These two words are - point and heart, it's your name."
It’s hard to write down the dim sum points.
The princess took a sneak peek and unexpectedly discovered that the child's handwriting was not bad. Although he was not a handsome boy, his handwriting was straight and straight.
The princess was very pleased and thought it was the result of Gu Yunqiu's hard work during this period.
She covered her mouth and smiled, thinking it was good.
Gu Yunqiu actually had selfish motives for teaching dim sum literacy.
He thought about it, and now there are many books on business methods in bookstores, such as "What You Need to Know About Classic Business", "Seven Character Songs of Fishermen" and "Business Collection".
If the steward of the palace is allowed to buy it, the purchase of business documents will definitely be criticized and considered as not doing the right thing. After the prince and princess know about it, they will probably ask questions.
But if Dim Sum is literate, he can make an order for Dim Sum to buy it without anyone noticing.
Moreover, when the prince buys books, he does not keep any private accounts, they are all recorded in the public accounts. The dignified palace would not have to argue with him about the book money in the end.
After teaching for a few days, Gu Yunqiu felt that it was enough, so he asked him to go down the mountain to buy snacks for him.
But he didn't know what was available in Jingzhong Bookstore now, so he made a random list from memory, but he was afraid of putting pressure on the snacks, so he added: "It would be nice to have the books on the list. If not, just buy one of each."
"Buy one of each?" Dian Xin was confused.
Gu Yunqiu nodded, but he was afraid that there were too many books and it would be difficult to get snacks, so he wanted to go to Princess Yang to borrow the carriage.
"No, you don't have to, sir," Dim Sum tugged at his sleeve, "I, I have an uncle who works as a coachman in Beijing. He can help. No, there is no need to mobilize troops like this."
"uncle?"
Dim Sum then told his life experience in detail, "Uncle, he was originally in the northwest military camp. This year the army was laid off, so he returned to the capital to find a job as a carriage driver. I, I asked him to deliver the goods." , Just give it to me."
Gu Yunqiu tilted his head, "Won't you delay his errand?"
"I-I'll ask first."
Gu Yunqiu thought about it. He borrowed the princess's carriage, and maybe she would ask him what books he bought. It would be better to ask him for more than to ask for less, "I will do as you say!"
Dim sum took the order and went down the mountain to find Jiang Jun with the order in hand that day.
Jiang Jun's current boss is a junior official in the Economic Affairs Bureau who was introduced by Guan Ya. The junior official is kind and easy to get along with, but his old mother has a bad temper and is prone to irritating the servants, hitting or scolding them.
Jiang Jun had only been on duty for ten days, and he already suffered a lot of injuries.
Although he was skilled in martial arts and had served as a soldier, the other party was an old woman, and he really needed a job to support himself, so he could only grit his teeth and endure it.
It happened that Jiang Jun was not on duty today, so after hearing Dim Sum's request, he naturally drove him off.
On the way, Dian Xin told Jiang Jun in detail about his experiences in the past few days, saying that Gu Yunqiu saved him, restored his innocence, changed his name, and taught him calligraphy.
"And I'm teaching you how to write?!"
"Yeah." Dim Sum blushed with excitement.
Reading is not easy for country people. Jiang Jun's expression softened as he listened, "That's good."
Everyone in the capital said that Prince Ning's eldest son, Gu Yunqiu, was a troublemaker, arrogant, arrogant, and difficult to get along with. However, when he saw him in Changsheng Lane, Jiang Jun felt that the young master was not as bad as the rumors.
Now after listening to Xiao Dianxin's words, it seems that the rumors are not believable.
The largest bookstore in the capital is located in the east of the city and on the edge of Ningfang, and is only separated from Qingyang Academy by a wall.
The boss read the seal and knew that they were from Prince Ning's Mansion, so he immediately served them with fine tea. His attitude was too attentive, and he couldn't turn down the snacks despite repeated refusals, so he could only eat some with him.
Heningfang is adjacent to Jinzhong, where Taichang, Guanglu and Honglu temples among the five temples are located. To the west is the hall and torture room of the Ministry of Punishment, and further to the south is Nanxing Prison, which is commonly known as "Tian" prison".
Li Congzhou has been going back and forth here many times these days.
He got the news from Dr. Tea at the tea stall at the foot of Jilong Mountain - he said that the Miao people in the southwest would be sentenced in three days because of the conclusive evidence returned from the Shu government.
Those convicted of "collaborating with the enemy and treason" like them would have adult men beheaded, women and children who were not prostitutes, and the rest would be sold into slavery.
When the time comes, the Ya people will go to jail to discuss business.
The Ya people do business for profit, and it is the most profitable for them if they can sell them immediately after buying them from prison: they do not need to travel to various places to sell them, and they do not need to bear the risk of slaves dying of starvation or disease on the road. .
So Li Congzhou took all the money, found an excuse to go down the mountain, and waited outside Heningfang.
Just after the hour passed, I saw a corner door opening on the side wall of the punishment department hall from a distance, and a lean and hunchbacked man came out, followed by several strong men with fierce looks on their faces.
The strong man held an iron rope in his hand, and the Miao people who were about to be sold were tied to the other end of the chain.
Li Congzhou waited for a while, but did not see Wuying come out. Instead, he saw several jailers carrying a large iron cage from the door. Wuying was curled up in it, with whip marks all over his body.
Lifting the iron cage onto the cart prepared by Na Yaren, several jailers handed over their hands: "Boss Sun will make a fortune."
The man surnamed Sun, with his sinister eyebrows and buck teeth, stuffed them with favors and returned the favor with a smile, "Thank you, thank you, all the officials."
The jailers each weighed the red cloth bags in their hands, said a few polite words to him, and then turned around and went back.
Li Congzhou stood behind the big elm tree in front of the Forbidden City, looking at all this with a frosty expression on his face and a frown on his face.
The Yaren didn't go far when they came out, so they started shouting on the street outside Nanjing——
"Come and take a look at this—! A strong Miao slave!"
The rebellion in the southwest was serious, and several people had been beheaded at Caishikou in the past few days. This incident spread all over the capital. When he called out, many people naturally gathered nearby to watch the excitement.
Ordinary people just come to see it as a novelty. After all, these people are "chaos" and they are worried that they will become wild and untamable if they buy it back.
On the other hand, Zuo Fengluan from the Jiaofang Department in the capital came forward wearing a veil and picked out a few of the Miao children, preparing to take them back for teaching and training. It was also a kind of wild fun.
Boss Sun smiled happily after taking the money and signed the deed for Zuo Fengluan on the spot.
Originally, Yaren had to go to Guanya to register before introducing slaves, but in order to facilitate buying and selling, most Yaren with official certificates would carry dozens of blank deeds issued by Guanya.
This deed came from the Heqi Factory of the Ministry of Hubu. A whole piece of paper was folded into three parts, and each fold was sewn with the official seal of the Ministry of Hubu, Heqi Factory and Guanya.
After the slaves were sold, the people filled in the contents, signed the deed and signed the contract. One copy was taken away by the buyer, one was kept by the people, and the remaining one was returned to the official to make a list.
In the future, if there is a runaway slave or a person who secretly buys and sells people, this contract will be used as proof.
Following Zuo Fengluan's example, several bustards from Qinlou and Chuguan in Beijing also came forward, and most of the Miao slaves were lost in the blink of an eye.
A few people stopped in front of Wuying's iron cage, but in the end they all shook their heads and left.
Boss Sun's mouth went dry after the introduction, and his small eyes stared at Wuying, wondering if he was thinking of a bad idea to traffic him to Xirong.
Li Congzhou then walked out of the shadow of the tree.
Wearing a monk's robe and holding Buddha beads in his hand, he walked straight over, stood in front of the cage and said the Buddha's name.
Boss Sun was fanning the wind with his sleeves. When he heard the sentence "Amitabha", he turned around and looked for no one. He glanced down and saw Li Congzhou.
He spat with disgust on his face, stretched out his hand and pushed him, "Go away, don't come to me to beg for money!"
Li Congzhou pointed at the cage expressionlessly, "How do you sell this?"
Boss Sun raised his eyes, looked him up and down, then stretched out his little finger to pick his teeth, "The little bald donkey also imitates the Bodhisattva to help all living beings? Are you rich? Go ahead and don't make trouble for me!"
Li Congzhou's eyes became colder and his voice became colder, "More, less."
As he spoke, he took out a heavy money bag from his front pocket.
Boss Sun's eyes lit up when he saw the money bag. He rolled his eyes and snorted coldly: "This Miao man was a noble before. Don't ask for this price when selling it to the northwest. If you don't have money, don't come here to ask for the price!"
As he spoke, he held out five fingers.
The market price in Beijing ranges from 4,000 to 20,000 yuan to buy a maid, and the price varies depending on age.
Li Congzhou glanced at him and took out five silver dumplings from his money bag.
Boss Sun didn't expect a young monk to be so rich. He swallowed, took the five taels of silver and bit them one by one, and found that they were all fine snowflake silver.
He immediately beamed and was about to go over and open the iron cage, but then he stopped and a treacherous expression flashed across his face. He patted the cage, "Only five taels? He can be sold at auction in the Western Regions. Yes, at that time, there were more than five taels—"
Li Congzhou didn't want to make the matter a big deal at this moment, so he added another corner.
Boss Sun took the money and thought what kind of rich fool this was.
"Oh, my little master is so merciful," he patted the cart in a sinister manner, "The donkey pulling the cart has been with me for five or six years. He is really old. I'm not a little master, why don't you help me?"
These words reminded Li Congzhou.
He only wanted to save people, but he didn't expect Wu Ying to be so seriously injured when he came out of prison.
Having a donkey cart is convenient, but...
He glanced at Boss Sun and sneered in his heart: I'm afraid you won't be able to afford the money.
Li Congzhou stopped talking nonsense and threw a whole money bag at Boss Sun, "Is that enough?"
Boss Sun was shocked, but who wouldn't be happy to be hit with money? He was so happy that he took out the deed and gave it to Li Congzhou. Li Congzhou did not use his real name, but made up a pseudonym casually.
On Guan Ya's side, he believed that the man named Sun would always find a way.
After saving the person, Li Congzhou drove away from Heningfang without any hesitation.
Instead, Wu Ying, who was curled up in the iron cage, murmured in a hissing voice. He opened his eyes and glanced at him through the cage, and whispered in his hoarse throat: "Meng Xia."
Li Congzhou couldn't understand this, but the important thing is——
Wuying can still speak now.
○○○
After having refreshments, the bookstore owner helped me find books.
Gu Yunqiu wrote all the business books he had memorized in his previous life, some of which had not been published this year.
The boss was attentive and suggested that you bring a copy of all the books in the dim sum shop.
Although Gu Yunqiu said that he could buy one of each kind, he had never done such a heroic errand for dim sum, so he couldn't make up his mind.
The boss saw his hesitation, and added with an apologetic smile: "Anyway, the master settles accounts with the junior department every six months, and the junior gentleman takes them all back to the prince to choose from. If you don't like them, you can just return them."
Dim Sum thought about it, finally took a deep breath and nodded.
There were either too many books or too few books on the shop floor. The boss gave the order, and the boys came to help organize it. However, the story books that were brought in today were also piled on the cabinet. The careless boy didn't look carefully, so he added them too. One or two books go in.
In the end, four thick piles were collected. After Jiang Jun sent the snacks back, it was already dusk.
It was inconvenient for Jiang Jun to enter Baoguo Temple, so he could only send him to the gate of the temple. Dianxin picked up four piles of books by himself, panting and walking very slowly. By the time he reached the backyard of Tianwang Hall, it was completely dark.
He paused, trying to use the moonlight to see the road ahead, but suddenly he found a light shining in front of him.
"Little snack, you are back!"
——It was Gu Yunqiu's voice.
The young master in a brocade robe put on a hooded cloak, holding a small lantern in his hand, and ran over from the Jiuqu Bridge in the distance:
"It scared me to death. I thought something had happened to you!"
Dian Xin looked at the young prince's face in the candlelight, and his throat tightened for a moment.
"Wow, there are so many! Why so many!" Gu Yunqiu noticed the books in his hand.
Dim sum told the story honestly, Gu Yunqiu didn't care, as long as he could buy it, no matter what the bookstore owner did.
But the four piles of books were too heavy for Xiao Dianxin to carry, so he put down the lantern and grabbed two piles, "There are only a few steps ahead, let's walk faster together!"
Dim Sum was frightened and reached out to grab it: How can the master help the servants work?
Gu Yunqiu hid behind him to prevent him from grabbing it, "It's so fast! You'll have to wait a lot longer just by yourself - ugh!"
He turned around and walked hastily, but he bumped into someone, who was also holding a large stack of books. After a muffled groan, their books were scattered all over the floor.
"Sir, are you okay?" Dian Xin hurriedly brought a lantern over.
Gu Yunqiu covered his head and shook his head, "It's okay..."
As a result, under the flickering candlelight, he looked up and was shocked to find that the person he bumped into was none other than Li Congzhou!
The little novice monk's eyebrows were furrowed, and his dark eyes looked extremely dark under the candlelight.
"..." Gu Yunqiu swallowed and stood up in a panic, his hands unable to stop shaking.
Li Congzhou was still wearing the gray monk's robe, with a corner of the clothes faintly dyed dark red. As soon as he hid Wuying in an empty room in the old temple in the back mountain, he was called over by senior brother Mingyi to get scriptures.
Unexpectedly, as soon as I crossed the Jiuqu Bridge, I was knocked down by this reckless young man.
He licked his back molars, said nothing, and stood up to pick up the scriptures.
When he was like this, Gu Yunqiu felt even more frightened, and hurriedly came over, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! I'll pick it up for you right now! Don't, don't be angry!"
The way he grasped the scriptures was unorganized and a bit rough.
Li Congzhou couldn't help but push him away, "...don't touch him."
Gu Yunqiu didn't squat properly and was pushed down by him, but he didn't dare to get angry and just moved back a little.
After looking at it for a moment, he found that Li Congzhou thought his hand was heavy, so Gu Yunqiu carefully held the last scroll close to him with both hands and passed it over, "Here..."
Li Congzhou glanced at him and finally accepted it.
Gu Yunqiu didn't dare to express his anger and watched him leave eagerly.
When the people were gone, Gu Yunqiu let out a sigh of relief, quickly packed up the books on the ground, picked up the snacks and returned to the house.
○○○
Li Congzhou returned to the monk's house with the scripture in his arms.
Senior brother Mingyi's body was not yet recovered, and he was about to lie down on the kang. When he saw his younger brother coming in, he just hummed twice as a greeting.
As soon as Li Congzhou put the book on the table, Master Yuankong pushed the door open and entered.
He looked at Mingyi, asked Li Congzhou how he was doing, then picked up the scriptures on the table and flipped through them.
Then, Master Yuankong suddenly darkened his face and shouted: "Mingyi!"
Mingyi was frightened and asked, "Master?"
"You occasionally violated the precepts once or twice, and Master didn't care about you, but now! How could you encounter these things?! Did you listen to Master's words?! I think you want to piss me off to death! Do you? Ruined the centuries-old reputation of Baoguo Temple!”
The words were serious, and Mingyi immediately sat up straight, "What's wrong, Master?"
"What's wrong?" Master Yuankong was trembling all over, and he swept away the scriptures on the case with a flick of his sleeves, "What are these?!"
"These are..." Mingyi scratched his head, "The scriptures I asked my junior brother to bring me...?"
"What about this?!"
Master Yuankong threw a book in front of the kang.
Mingyi and Li Congzhou looked at each other and saw a colorful booklet lying on the ground. On the cover with a large red peony, three big words were written -
"Beauty, Spring, Love".
