Duanmulan has nine sons, seven of whom are adults. Duanmuyu ranks sixth and is twenty-four years old. In terms of elders and children, there are five brothers before him; in terms of birth, his biological mother is a second-grade virtuous concubine. She is not as noble as a queen or a noble concubine, but she is truly the son of a concubine. The eldest prince, fourth prince, fifth prince born to the queen and the second prince born to Concubine Mu are all ahead of Duan Muyu in the succession to the throne. However, three years ago, he was appointed as the crown prince by Duanmu Lan to oversee the country. Such a major event that was not in accordance with etiquette and law had almost no objection from uncles and brothers in the clan, and from the civil and military officials in the court.
Just because Duanmuyu is so outstanding.
Regardless of being described as peerless, his literary talent, temperament, wisdom, and military skills are unparalleled among the princes and even the entire Jue Kingdom. Although he has been shining brightly since he was a child and has been favored by the saints, he is not arrogant. He is respectful in everything he does and treats those who are close to him. He is neither arrogant nor slow nor impatient. He is always calm and restrained and never gives up in the face of defeat.
The ninth day of the third lunar month is the month of Dingsi and the day of Bingxu. It is suitable to make alliances and sacrifices, but avoid entering the house. The direction of fortune is south and avoid going north.
Duanmuyu paced back and forth in the courtyard, thinking repeatedly about today's hexagram. Suddenly he stopped and asked behind him: "Mu Jue, where is Mr. Zhu?"
Yesterday, Zhu Xiaochen arrived at the agreed place to meet them, and it was agreed that he would take action today to end Mei Siyuan's life.
"Young Master, Mr. Zhu has already gone out at 4:00 a.m., and he is expected to arrive at the Salt Government Office soon. Just wait for the good news!" In Mu Gao's view, Zhu Xiaochen was sure to succeed in killing Mei Siyuan.
As soon as Mu Ju finished speaking, there was a burst of fast footsteps at the door of the courtyard, and it was Duan Mu Rong who walked in.
"Young Master, I have two things to report." Duan Murong said while standing against the courtyard wall.
Duan Muyu looked at Duanmu Jing's serious look, raised his eyebrows, and said with a chuckle: "Looking at your expression, it's probably something bad. It doesn't matter, just tell me."
"Yes, young master. Our people have discovered two pieces of information, both of which are extremely detrimental to our trip. One is that Mei Yuanchen, the son of Mei Siyuan who is highly skilled in martial arts, returned to his house in the middle of the night, and he was accompanied by There are more than a dozen old and young Taoist priests, all of whom seem to have quite good martial arts skills. Secondly, Emperor Dahua has sent a team of fifty guards to Jinzhou. They will be stationed at the Yanyun Government Office to take on the responsibility of guarding Mei Siyuan. Now, When we arrive in Danzhou, we will arrive at the Government Office tonight at the latest. As soon as our people got the news, they passed it on here and worked hard to get there only one day ahead of the imperial guards." Duan Murong bowed slightly and reported.
"This Xia Luhua's response is not slow. It seems that he is not as unbearable as the rumors say." Although Duanmuyu was a little surprised, the expression on his face was always calm. Hearing him say with a smile, "If I have a Ministers like Mei Siyuan have already protected him closely."
"Alas, I made a mistake!" Duan Muyu said with a helpless smile. He wrote a hexagram calendar in his hand and said in a clear voice, "Find Mr. Zhu and ask him to come back. Now that the matter has come to this, we can no longer do it forcefully." He felt quite regretful at this moment, "It would have been nice to have killed him in the first place!"
Mu Ji didn't understand, but he didn't ask any more questions. He said "yes" and walked out quickly.
"Duanmu Jing, do you believe in destiny?" Duanmuyu walked towards Duanmu Jing and asked with a serious face.
"I don't believe in luck, I only believe in young master!" Duanmu Jing shook his head and replied firmly.
"I believe it." Duanmuyu said quietly.
The ninth day of March is the birthday of Empress Ji Yao. On this day, Taoist believers will light firecrackers to celebrate. The firecrackers at the Yanyun Government Office went off for a long time, not only to celebrate the birthday of the empress, but also to celebrate Mei's return from a thousand miles away.
"Bless me, Empress Ji Yao! May the masters, servants, young and old of the Mei family be safe and healthy, and may the people of Great China have good weather and live a happy life! May my son be far away from pain and everything will go smoothly!" Bai Lisi knelt in front of the incense cauldron and prayed softly. I put the incense and bowed respectfully three times.
"It's time for breakfast!" Yun Po went to the hall and shouted to everyone. I saw a smile on her face, and she was obviously happy deep in her heart. She was really happy today. Not only did the young master come back after more than a year away, but he also brought a group of Taoist priests with him, which finally made her tense heart feel at ease. In the past few months, more than 20 guards in the mansion have been killed or injured, and even the personal guards of Mei Mansion have been injured. A few months ago, Mei Siyuan was stabbed by masked men when she returned to Jinzhou Zhengsi Yamen from the Fuzhou Salt Farm. Yunhu suffered a long gash on her back to protect Mei Siyuan, and she was able to get out of bed and walk a few days ago. Yunyuan, on the other hand, has not dared to sleep day and night for more than a year. She has already become sick from overwork, and she is still struggling to hold on. Yun Po learned from Yun Yuan yesterday that these Taoists had extraordinary martial arts skills, and three of them were not inferior to Yun Yuan, which really made Yun Po happy. "The Mei family can finally live in peace! The burden on the shoulders of the old man and the two children is much lighter." So before it got dark, she went down to the kitchen and got busy, providing hundreds of dollars for the house. Yu Renwen went to have dinner.
Fu Chu had something to report. He was walking to the side hall where the family members were dining, when he bumped into Mei Yuanchen. Mei Yuanchen saw the hideous scar on his face and the hollow and distorted socket of his left eye at a glance.
"Second Uncle Fu, how did you get such injuries on your eyes and face?" Mei Yuanchen asked tremblingly, tears welling up in his eyes.
When Fu Zun saw Mei Yuanchen, he was overjoyed for a moment. When he laughed, his scars touched his face, which made it even more terrifying. Holding Mei Yuanchen's shoulders, he laughed and said: "Master, you are really back! That's the best! My injury is nothing, it's over!" He didn't want to say more about the injury he suffered. , then said, "From Qingxi to Anxian, how many great things has the master done? How many lives have he saved? Everyone knows that he is the most capable minister in the dynasty, but there are still so many people who want to kill him. Do you think it’s ridiculous? I, the Fu family, have been so kind to you that I will never be able to repay you fully in this lifetime. Even if I die for you, I will have no regrets, let alone this little injury.”
Mei Yuanchen looked at Fu Zun's wounds and listened to his understatement. He was extremely angry. He gritted his teeth and shouted in a low voice: "These damn villains!"
Seeing Mei Yuanchen's angry face that he had never seen before, Fu Zun was frightened and said hurriedly: "Bai Ze and I are married, and our child will be born this month. Did you know?"
Mei Yuanchen came back to his senses and forced a smile: "Mom told me in a letter, but she didn't know she was born this month. Uncle Fu, congratulations on becoming a father!"
"Haha." Fu Pun succeeds and laughs. Suddenly he remembers that he has something to report to Mei Siyuan. His face drops and he scolds himself, "I forgot to report it to Yufeng Escort Bureau!"
Mei Yuanchen heard that it was the Yufeng Escort Bureau, and thought to himself that the escort team he and his party met at the Yingying Inn the day before yesterday was the Yufeng Escort Bureau. Could it be that they were the same group of people? He asked Fu Pen: "Second Uncle Fu, where are they? Can I go and take a look?"
Fu Chu never thought that Mei Yuanchen would ask about this matter, but he did not hesitate and replied: "Just in the main hall of the right side hall, walk a hundred steps to the end of the corridor and turn right. If you want to take a look, I won’t be in any way, the master will be gone soon.”
