The General's Mansion is the residence of a prince of the Shang Kingdom, occupying a huge area. Mrs. Chu and Luo Yao did not live together, she and her four dowry maids lived in a separate small courtyard in the general's mansion. After bypassing the small lake, Fang Xie walked for a while before he found the small fenced courtyard surrounded by bamboo forests. The pagoda tree in the courtyard, which was already higher than the roof, looked particularly disharmonious in the bamboo forest.
"This is Madam's residence. Madam has been waiting for a long time."
Sun Zhe led Fang Jie to the door and stopped, smiled and said: "Madam likes to be quiet, I can't go in casually, so I can only take you here."
Fang Jie nodded his thanks, and then saw the door was pushed open from the inside, and two women in plain dresses came out slowly. The clothes on these two women are almost the same, and their walking postures are also similar. It seems that there are no feet under the long skirts, and they seem to be floating forward.
The faces of these two people are the same white, but they are almost the same as Chu's.
"My servant Qiu Ju, my servant Dongmei has met Lord Xiaofang."
These two women should be quite old, their figures are out of shape, the wrinkles on their foreheads and around the corners of their eyes are telling others that they are no longer youthful.
Fang Xie returned the salute, Qiu Ju said that Madam has been waiting for a long time, and then invited Fang Xie in.
After entering the yard, Fang Xie suddenly felt a chill down his spine. It's like walking in an empty alley at night and being followed by something unclean. That kind of threat seems to be clinging to the back of the head, and at any moment, a ghost will ruthlessly pounce on the person.
At this time, Fang Jie saw the Yishu doll hanging on the big locust tree.
Just a wind blows, and the dolls hanging on the tree sway with the wind. Each doll is exquisitely crafted and looks lifelike. I don't know how long these dolls have been hanging on the tree. The little clothes on the dolls have been broken and incomplete. Because of this, those dolls look extraordinarily eerie.
Swing up, like a group of little ghosts looking at people and grinning.
These dolls look as big as three-year-olds and as small as newborn babies. The most unbelievable thing is the fine workmanship. When he walked by the locust tree, Fang Jie subconsciously glanced at the nearest doll, and found that the doll was so detailed that even the eyeballs, eyelashes and even the teeth were so lifelike. After just a few glances at Fang Jie, he couldn't help but look away and his heart became more and more tense. When he looked at the doll, it seemed that the doll was also looking at him, which made him feel uncomfortable.
There are no fewer than fifty or sixty dolls in this tree.
Seeing Fang Jie staring at the doll, Qiu Ju said apologetically, "Since the young master's accident, Madam likes to let people make some dolls. She makes one or two every year, and there are as many as sixty or seventy. These dolls come from The well-known Su Ji Mingwu shop in the south of the Yangtze River is so exquisite that it's almost unreal."
"What is the shop of ghosts?"
Fang Jie didn't understand, so he subconsciously asked.
"It's just... specialized in making things for dead people."
Both Qiu Ju and Dong Mei seemed to dislike this handsome Mr. Fang, who had changed his old habit of treating people coldly. Dongmei whispered as she walked: "The business that Su Ji accepts is because there are relatives in the family who have passed away, but the family members are reluctant. If you ask Su Ji, Su Ji will make a dummy that looks like a dead person, which is almost the same as the deceased. same."
Fang Xie's scalp almost exploded when he heard this sentence, thinking how could there be such a business in the Southwest. He didn't know that the people in the southwest would inevitably be affected by the living habits of the He tribe because of their long-term contact with the He tribe barbarians. It is said that the He people living in the jungle will not bury their relatives after their death. Instead, he invited a wizard to come and cut off the head of the deceased, brewed it with a secret method, and hung it at the door of his house. It is said that the head treated by the wizard's secret method can guarantee that it will not rot for decades.
This kind of thing that seems creepy to the people of the Central Plains is a habit that has not changed for thousands of years among the He people.
The way of thinking of the He people is also completely different from that of the Han people. Let me give you an example: a long time ago, a poet who came from He nationality traveled thousands of miles to the southwest because of curiosity about the way of life of the He people. It took him several years to finally integrate into the He nationality. In the life of the tribe, he became friends with an old hunter of the He tribe. He lived in the old hunter's house, went hunting with the hunter every day, drank rice wine, ate barbecue, and cracked the eggs of birds and ate them raw.
After living in this way for five years among the jungle tribes, the poet became more and more homesick, and then bid farewell to the old hunter. He said that I will go back, I miss my relatives. The old hunter was very reluctant and tried to keep him several times, but the poet was so homesick that he couldn't keep him. The poet cooked a table of meals by himself, poured rice wine for the old hunter, and prepared to get drunk with his old friend at the end.
After drinking for three rounds, the old hunter told the poet that you are leaving, and I know you will definitely not come back. I will miss you when I never see you again, can you leave me something as a souvenir? The poet said yes, what do you want? The hunter cut off the poet's head with a knife, brewed it with a secret method, and hung it beside the bed.
This is it.
Every night before going to bed, I will chat with the head for a while, and there are still two sets of bowls and chopsticks on the table every day when I eat.
Yongzhou is less than a thousand miles away from the jungle where the He people live, and this place is better. The place closer to the He people, many Han people have also begun to get used to the things of the He people.
Although Fang Jie had lived in Nanyan for a long time, he did not understand the way of life of the He people. Because after the founding of the country, Emperor Murong Sha of Nanyan began to use troops against the He people, so that there was no more He people in the territory of Nanyan. After arriving in Yongzhou, I heard some people mention it, but Fang Jie was not very interested.
Hearing what Dongmei said at this time, he suddenly thought that the so-called Su Ji could make such exquisite things, and this weird style seemed to have the shadow of the He people.
The more he thought about it, the colder he felt, the more he felt that those dolls were staring at him.
"Master Xiao Fang is afraid of these dolls?"
Dongmei asked in surprise.
Fang Jie smiled embarrassingly, thinking that your wife is a pervert. You've been seeing each other all day, and you've been used to it for decades, but aren't others surprised when they see it
"It's just... not used to it."
He replied, and quickly left the big locust tree and walked inside.
…
…
When he was approaching the door of the house, Mrs. Chu greeted him from the door. It can be seen that Qiu Ju Dongmei was also influenced by her wearing plain clothes. This lady is not wearing a brocade dress but a white cotton dress. Pure white clothes are unlucky for filial piety, so her clothes are decorated with some light yellow flowers, and the color of the belt around the waist also changes. But even so, it still looks like he just walked out of the mourning hall.
Fang Jie hurriedly bowed his body to salute, and said that he had seen his wife.
He met with the courtesy of a junior, and the Chu family didn't dodge and accepted it as a matter of course, and then said lightly, please come in. When she spoke, her tone was a little strange, as if she was a little blunt.
Fang Jie followed her into the room. Although he was ready, he was still taken aback.
In the room, those placed on the table, hung on the walls, and even hung from the beams are all exquisitely crafted dolls.
Fang Xie took a deep breath, and found that the smell in the room was a bit strange.
"What kind of smell is it? It doesn't seem to be sandalwood."
Fang Jie asked subconsciously.
Chunlan, the oldest maid, asked Fang Jie to sit down while pointing to the incense burner not far away, and said, "This is Fengwei incense, which is unique to Cangman Mountain in the south. It looks like a laurel tree but the paper strips are coiled together Then it was separated again, like the tail of a phoenix, and because it smells very fragrant, it is called Fengweixiang. It has the effect of sheltering oneself, and many people use it."
Fang Jie let out a sigh, sat down on the chair and said to Chu: "Madam, please forgive me for bothering you."
Chu's eyes kept staring at him, and Fang Xie was very uncomfortable with that flat and cold look. She seemed to have sensed Fang Xie's thoughts, and waved her hands without responding to Fang Xie's words, "Master Xiao Fang doesn't like these things, so take them all away. It's the first time you come to my place as a guest, so you can't make Master Fang feel uncomfortable." .”
The expressions of the four servant girls changed, they looked at each other, and then picked up all the dolls in the room.
Without those things, Fang Jie felt less uncomfortable.
"I was the one who invited Mr. Xiaofang to be our guest. If I say I'm taking the liberty, I'm the one who took the liberty first."
The corner of Chu's mouth ticked upwards as a smile, then pointed to the dishes on the table and said, "Knowing that Master Xiaofang is tired of eating greasy food in Yongzhou City, I spent the whole morning cooking a table of vegetarian dishes." Xi, I haven’t cooked for many years, and my skills are quite rusty. In the past, the general liked to eat the food I cooked the most.”
Fang Jie looked at it, and couldn't help but praised: "Don't talk about eating, just smell it and look at it, and your saliva will flow out."
When he raised his hand, he took out a Gu-breaking pill from his cuff, which was specially prepared by Fang Jie. Once the technique of Gu poison is planted, it is difficult to eradicate unless the person who planted the poison personally breaks it. However, there is no way to prevent the Gu poison. In order to prevent themselves from being poisoned by the enemy, the He people will take a pill of breaking the Gu before eating and drinking in strange places. This kind of medicine is only made from a cocktail of herbs, and it is not difficult to make. And after eating the Gu-breaking pill made of cocktail grass, even if you eat something with Gu poison, you will spit it out quickly.
It is said that all insects used for poisoning are very disgusted with cocktail grass. In the jungle, where the cockatiel grows, no poison will ever appear. Therefore, before the He people go deep into the jungle, they tie a bunch of dried cocktail around their waists to repel insects.
Fang Jie was not worried that Luo Yao's wife would poison him to death, but when he arrived in Yongzhou, he had to guard against being poisoned.
In particular, Luo Yao's mansion has the most powerful group of wizards.
Fang Jie didn't forget a word of Lu Ou's words. Lu Ou said that the one who knows the most secret things in the General's Mansion is Mrs. Chu. He took out the Po Gu Pill from his cuff and quietly threw it into his mouth before drinking. While eating, she waited for Chu to pour the wine for herself, so Chu didn't notice Fang Xie's little gesture.
"Master Xiao Fang is only seventeen this year?"
Chu asked after respecting Fang Jie for a glass of wine.
Fang Jie nodded, "It's only a few months before I turn seventeen."
"Well, three years younger than Zixu."
Zixu is Luo Wen's watchword.
"Twenty-three years younger than Xian."
Xianchang is Luo Wu's watchword. Back then, Luo Yao killed his family to save his life, leaving only his wife, Chu Shi, in the whole family. It seems that the Chu family still can't let go of what happened more than 20 years ago. When she mentioned Luo Wu, her plain eyes changed slightly.
Fang Jie was stunned, feeling that the words were a bit awkward but didn't know where the awkwardness was.
"Let's eat, how about the craftsmanship."
Mrs. Chu unpacked the dishes for Fang, and her face softened a little: "There are very few guests in my small courtyard, and the four of them are too lazy to clean up. It's my fault for making Mrs. Fang uncomfortable, really. Feel sorry."
Looking into Fang Xie's eyes when she was talking made Fang Xie more uncomfortable than those dolls.
"Madam, you're welcome. This is the best vegetarian dish I've ever eaten in my life. I'm a soldier, so it's inevitable that I don't like meat. Today is the first time I feel that vegetarian dishes can make me unable to hold my chopsticks."
Fang Jie changed the subject, he really felt that the five women in this room in this small courtyard were full of weirdness.
"As long as you like it, I will make it for you when I have time."
The corner of Chu's mouth twitched upwards, and finally outlined a normal-looking smile. It's just that maybe it's been too long since I laughed, and I still look a little stiff.