The moon is full during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Near the northwest border.
Qin Bohong and his group sat huddled at the door of the woodshed, hugging their knees and looking up at the sky lanterns in the sky.
"It's the Autumn Festival."
During the Mid-Autumn Festival and New Year in Dafeng, people are accustomed to setting off sky lanterns to pray for blessings and express their sorrow.
When they walked to the inn, they saw the travelers at the inn, and then they remembered that it was the Mid-Autumn Festival. After settling down, they also used their little money to exchange for a few meat buns, just to celebrate the festival.
"Dad, I miss my mother." Qin Mingyan leaned in Qin Boxong's arms, and the father and son kept each other warm.
Qin Bohong hugged him and said, "Dad knows that I have suffered a lot for you."
He touched the child's arm under the cotton-padded coat and saw that it was extremely thin. Looking at his side, it was also dirty and dusty, and he couldn't help feeling pity in his heart.
"My child is not suffering." Qin Mingyan quickly looked up, saw his father's eyes, and lowered his head again: "I just feel a little homesick." Home, where do they have a home?
If the old house counts, it is still a home for the time being, but they don't know if they will have a chance to go back.
Qin Mingmu, who was sitting not far from them, looked at the tender side of his uncle and cousin, with a bit of envy in his eyes. Then he looked at Qin Boguang, whose eyes were half-closed, and couldn't help but get closer.
Qin Boguang was startled, opened his eyes, saw his eldest son, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Qin Mingmu said: "If dad is tired, why not sleep in the woodshed? It's windy here."
Qin Boguang was a little tired. These days, the grown men had to take care of the old man and the two younger ones, and they also had to deal with the prisoners who were exiled together and were eyeing them.
Just before, they got thick cotton clothes to keep out the cold, which attracted covetous people who wanted to rob them. Several people had to resist and fought hard. Now their faces are still swollen.
The high-intensity vigilance and fatigue also made Qin Boguang physically and mentally exhausted. But if his father wanted to see the sky lanterns, he would accompany him.
"Dad, brother, there's a letter from home." Qin Boqing came quickly with a drawer of oil paper bags and a gourd, and a thick letter in his hand.
When everyone heard this, they all stood up immediately.
"Dad." Qin Bohong held the old man's hand.
"Go inside." The old man suppressed his excitement and turned around to enter the woodshed.
The woodshed only had a single lantern for lighting, which was easy to get. If you wanted to sleep, you had to blow it out to prevent it from knocking over and starting a fire.
A group of six people entered the woodshed.
Qin Boqing first put down the things in his hands and said, "Dad, I was just outside helping a group of merchants unload their goods. They gave me a bottle of wine and some mooncakes."
Qin Yuanshan was stunned for a moment, looking at the package, and when Qin Boguang opened it, the mooncakes exuding oil and fragrance appeared in front of him, and he couldn't help but feel hot in his eyes.
Looking at the two grandsons, both of them were swallowing their saliva, he said: "Today's Autumn Festival, let's all share one piece. We, the two of us, can also celebrate it."
Qin Boguang smiled and broke the moon cake into two pieces, half for each person. He opened the wine pot again, and the aroma of the wine came out. He took a sip first, his eyes lit up, and said: "It's a knife. Dad, you can take a sip too, to warm it up first." Stomach and body.”
Qin Yuanshan took a sip, passed it to his eldest son, and said to Qin Boqing: "Look at what the letter from home says."
Qin Boqing couldn't wait for a long time. He took a bite of the moon cake, put it on his lap, opened the letter, and began to read. As he read, he felt a lump in his throat and his hands shook.
When Qin Yuanshan saw this, he was shocked. He took it over without thinking and read it quickly.
"Dad, what did you say?" Qin Boguang leaned over.
Qin Yuanshan smiled and said, "That's good news." He handed the letter to Qin Boxing, pointed at Qin Boxing and said, "You said that as a father, you are still shocked."
"Dad, I, I am a father again. Mrs. Gu gave birth to a pair of sons for me. I have a son." Qin Boqing jumped up and ran around in the woodshed, shouting and laughing, and suddenly squatted down again. , wailing loudly: "The baby was born in July, and it is not yet full term. It is still twins. She didn't mention it in the letter. I know it must be thrilling. It's me who is useless. I'm not even with these mothers. I can't help it. she."
He held his head and patted it hard several times.
Qin Mingmu quickly pulled his hand down and said: "Third uncle, you don't want this either. Third aunt gave birth to two little brothers. No matter how hard it is, the mother and child are safe in the end. It's worth being happy. You should take care of yourself."
Qin Boqing raised his head, wiped his tears and nose, and said with a smile: "I'm happy, I'm happy in my heart."
Qin Bohong smiled and said: "Third brother, congratulations to you, you have twins. This is a great blessing for our Qin family."
Qin Boqing scratched his head excitedly again and said, "By the way, Mrs. Gu said, it was my eldest brother's eldest daughter, Xi'er, who helped her deliver the baby and saved the three of them. Brother, how can Xi'er still be able to heal?"
Qin Bohong was also a little confused. His eldest daughter left home at a young age, so he was a very unfamiliar person. His wife had always been in charge of the affairs of the back house. He was involved in officialdom, so naturally he didn't know much about her, so he was a little confused. San Ran said, "I don't know much about it either."
Qin Yuanshan said at this time: "I should have learned it from Taoist Chi Yuan."
Several people looked over and asked strangely: "Isn't that a Taoist priest? Can he also heal?"
"Ten Paths and Nine Doctors, the Five Arts of Xuanmen. Medicine is one of them. It's not surprising to him. When he took that girl away, he said that she had a strange destiny, but she had a very upright Taoist mind. She was a natural Xuanmen person. ." Qin Yuanshan thought of the past and said, "Actually, I won't hide it from you even now. At that time, he also made a divination for the Qin family, saying that our family would be in trouble within ten years, and only Xiyatou had a turnaround."
Everyone was shocked, they had never heard of it.
"The divination is too vague. Even though I have an old relationship with him, I don't dare to believe it completely. At that time, Xi Ya's body was also weak and she would fall ill from time to time. Old Master Chi Yuan came and said those words, I simply asked him to take Xi Yatou back to his old house to raise her." Qin Yuanshan told what happened that year, and then said: "Seeing that ten years have passed, and the so-called disaster has not come for a long time, I just assumed that he was not right. So I relaxed my vigilance, who would have thought... Well, it's a blessing, not a curse, but it's a curse that can't be avoided. It's all me who has caused trouble for the Qin family, and you."
"Dad, what are you talking about?" Qin Bohong said: "There is no one who is implicated and not implicated. We are all members of the Qin family. We are both prosperous and devastated. You must not say that."
"Yes, grandfather, fortunately it is us men who are exiled. The female relatives can all return to their old homes and have a place to stay. Although life is more difficult, at least the whole family is intact." Qin Mingmu also said at this time Said something.
Qin Yuanshan was quite pleased and said approvingly: "You are sensible."
Qin Mingmu was a little excited at the praise and secretly clenched his fists.
Qin Yuanshan added: "The ten-year catastrophe has come, and our Qin family is really at odds, and the Gu family was frightened and gave birth prematurely. It happened that it was Xi Yatou who saved it. What the old man said is true. Now it may not be what he said, The turning point for our Qin family lies in this girl Xi'er!"
Qin Mingyan took a small bite of the mooncake and was a little surprised when he heard this. His eldest sister, if things turn around, will be the lucky star of the Qin family. I don't know what she looks like or what her temperament is like.
Qin Bohong said, "Dad, Xi'er is just a girl. If you say this is a turning point for our family, I'm afraid it's a bit unsatisfactory. Maybe Chi Yuan is trying to trick you?"
"I hope he is coaxing me." Qin Yuanshan bit the mooncake, chewed it carefully and swallowed it, and said: "Look at our exile, although it was bitter, it was smoother than those people, and more importantly Having received help from noble people twice is like being entrusted by someone from somewhere. Who do you think it could be?"
"Could they be our in-laws?" Qin Boguang asked.
"If they were in-laws, they would have already revealed their identity." Qin Yuanshan sighed: "We are almost in the northwest, but we haven't seen the in-laws and friends. I'm afraid they are also avoiding suspicion."
Everyone was silent.
Qin Boguang gritted his teeth and said bitterly: "It must be the demon concubine who is causing trouble in the capital and wants to kill them all."
"Second brother!" Qin Yuanshan scolded and said, "You have to restrain your mouth. We are in a state of poverty now. If someone catches us again, it will be even more difficult in the northwest. Your father and I are just bad. Cough with one mouth..."
Seeing that the old man was speaking in a hurry, Qin Bohong immediately helped him, and without caring so much, took the wine bottle and gave him a sip.
Qin Yuanshan took a breath and said dejectedly: "In short, from now on, we must be careful in our words and deeds. If God opens his eyes, we will always return to the court."
He said it generously, but the few people below were a little hesitant. Is it so easy? Even if the sin is pardoned, it will only be returned to his hometown, right?
Returning to the court was such a distant thing, but I didn’t dare to think too much about it.
For a moment, everyone fell silent, and they felt a little tasteless eating the mooncakes.
An independent courtyard in the inn.
A steward made a cup of tea for his father and respectfully reported everything.
"Master, we will be able to reach Yangguan in a few days. Then the Qin family and his entourage will have to find their own place to live after entering the pass. I see that they are getting sick one after another and don't have much money, so we don't have to worry about it? "Zhao Chang handed over the tea, then stood aside with his hands folded, looking at the hook-nosed man on the seat.
If the Qin family were here, they would probably recognize that this was the previous inn, and they would have met this person once.
Gong Bocheng, the president of Dafeng Chamber of Commerce, has business all over Dafeng and even cooperates with small surrounding countries. He can be said to be the richest man in Dafeng.
"She said there's no need to be fully prepared. Just save your life. We'll see how they do after we get to Yangguan." Gongbo Cheng picked up the tea and took a sip. His stern face was cold and he said, "Let me send you a letter." In Jingli, let Xue Ying take the lead, it's time to advance to the throne, we can't let one person dominate. If the Meng family is in trouble, they won't pay attention to the Qin family."
"Yes." Zhao Chang responded with clasped fists, thought for a while and then said: "Master, I'm afraid the eldest lady is not grudges against the Qin family, otherwise how could she do it to this extent?"
"It's okay to hold grudges. The Qin family doesn't have much affection for her. But I think she probably won't hold grudges. She won't put her mind on these so-called hates. It's too troublesome." Bo Cheng played with the warm jade talisman in his hand and chuckled: "She just doesn't care."
Things you don't care about, even people, can be discarded at any time.
