At dusk, Yunyouzi wandered back humming a little tune, holding a wine gourd in his hand.
"Master." Qi Surong stood up to greet him, but Feng Zhan did not stand up.
Yun Youzi glanced at the two of them casually and said lazily: "Are you here?"
"Master, 'Zhuo Fan' is here to pay you New Year's greetings. I wish you good health and a long life." Qi Surong bit the word "Zhuo Fan" very hard.
"I wish me a long life and a hundred years old. I'm already over a hundred years old. Don't curse me." Yun Youzi came closer. Qi Surong was about to introduce Feng Zhan, but was interrupted by him, "Okay, New Year's Eve." I have paid my respects and you can go."
"Master, in addition to paying New Year greetings, I also want to ask you a question." Qi Surong whispered.
"Ask a divination? I never do such nonsense."
"Master..." Qi Surong called helplessly.
Feng Zhan, who was sitting next to him, was not happy. This old man had never looked at him since he came back. He was disheveled and looked crazy. There was no trace of his superior demeanor.
He stood up and said: "Zhuo Fan, since the old gentleman doesn't want to, let's go back? It's still too late to enter the city before it gets dark."
Qi Surong ignored Feng Zhan and continued to look at Yun Youzi eagerly.
Yun Youzi waved his hand: "Okay, don't look at me like that, my heart will almost be broken by you. You go and stay in the back mountain bamboo forest. I will look for you later."
Qi Surong's face was filled with joy, and after bowing, he went to the back mountain.
After she left, Yun Youzi looked at Feng Zhan again. Feng Zhan thought he wanted to say something to him alone, but the old man turned around and went back to the house, closing the door.
Feng Zhan was so angry that he sat alone in the yard blowing the cold wind.
The sun sets in the west and the sky gradually turns dark. Feng Zhan sat with an empty stomach for more than an hour, but Yun Youzi never came out. He just didn't want to see him, but Zhuo Fan was still waiting for him in the bamboo forest.
Thinking of this, Feng Zhan walked to the door, knocked on the door and said, "Old sir, didn't you make an appointment with Zhuo Fan to meet in the bamboo forest? When will you meet?"
"What did you see? It's gone." Yun Youzi's voice came from inside the house.
Feng Zhan's anger rose when he heard that, and he said angrily: "You let 'him' wait in the bamboo forest for so long, and then just disappear after saying you don't want to see him? How do you become someone's master?"
"What the hell do you do!"
Feng Zhan had never been treated like this before. He was about to break in, but thinking that this person was Zhuo Fan's master after all, he didn't do anything. He just walked away angrily and went to the bamboo forest to find Zhuo Fan.
In the bamboo forest, Zhuo Fan stood alone, wrapped in a cloak, as motionless as a stone sculpture.
Feng Zhan stepped forward quickly and grabbed "him": "Let's go, your master can't come."
"Not coming?" Qi Surong hesitated, "Did he say it himself?"
"Yeah." Feng Zhan scolded her as he pulled her out, "How could you take such a weird person as your teacher?"
Qi Surong broke away from his hand, smiled and said nothing.
Feng Zhan frowned and said, "Let's go to the village to stay overnight and then return to the city tomorrow, right?"
"Go ahead, I still have something to ask the master." The master would not break the appointment without any reason, there must be a deeper meaning.
Feng Zhan had no choice but to follow "him" back to Yunyouzi's residence.
Qi Surong was about to knock on the door, but Yun Youzi had already opened the door, blew his beard and stared, "What are you doing?"
"Master, I want to ask something..."
Yun Youzi interrupted: "Didn't I already give you the answer?"
Qi Surong was stunned for a moment, with confusion on his face.
"If you don't understand, don't come again tomorrow." After saying that, he closed the door again with a bang.
Qi Surong touched his nose and found it strange. The master's temper in the previous life was not so bad. Was it the wrong time to meet
Later, she and Feng Zhan went to the village to stay overnight and begged for a meal. That night, Qi Surong was absent-minded and kept thinking about the meaning of his master's words. He said the answer has been given, so what is the answer? How did he give it
The master made an appointment with her to meet in the bamboo forest, but he disappeared in the end. Is this a puzzle? Bamboo forest... treating people... not seeing people... Qi Surong's eyes lit up and she said happily: "I know, it's 'wait'!" The code word was: "Wait!" Did the master ask her to wait patiently for news? In other words, Jin Yun is still alive, but the time for their reunion has not yet come.
Qi Surong thought like this and stayed up all night. The next morning, she immediately went to find her master.
When Yun Youzi saw her, he smiled and said: "The edge of a sword comes from sharpening, and the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold. Girl, you and I are indeed like masters and disciples. I give you these words, and I hope you will soon be relieved of all your hardships."
A smile appeared on Qi Surong's face, feeling relieved for the first time in months. With a word from her master, she was no longer afraid. No matter how long it takes, she has the confidence to wait.
"Thank you, Master." Qi Surong saluted him.
At this moment, Feng Zhan rushed over and said to Qi Surong: "Zhuo Fan, I hired a car, shall we go back to the city together?"
"Master..." Qi Surong glanced at Feng Zhan and hesitated.
"Hehehe." Yunyouzi let out a weird laugh, "Go back."
As soon as Qi Surong saw the master's weird smile, she knew what he was planning, so she said no more and left.
Feng Zhan breathed a sigh of relief and was about to follow him when his collar was suddenly grabbed by someone. He was caught off guard and fell backwards. When he turned around, Yun Youzi's wrinkled face appeared behind him at some point.
"Boy, you are very sick."
"That's nonsense. Who is ill?" Feng Zhan was about to take action when he felt two fingers pinching the back of his neck. His body immediately froze and he could not move.
"Come here, I'll give you a good treatment." Yun Youzi dragged him into the house.
"Let go! How dare you be so rude to me!"
"That's embarrassing." There was a "bang" and the door was closed.
"ah-"
Qi Surong turned around and looked around, shed a handful of tears of sympathy, and then left lightly.
Back in the city, Qi Surong cheered up and began to seriously help Gu Yufeng handle the Gu family's business. The imperial court will soon undergo major changes, and business in the capital will be greatly affected. Qi Surong plans to gradually shift the focus of his business to Lincheng.
She told Gu Yufeng her plan, and Gu Yufeng naturally had no objection. He was quite happy to see his sister-in-law, who was originally depressed, suddenly regaining her vitality.
"Sister-in-law, just do whatever you want, and Yufeng will definitely help you."
"Thank you." Qi Surong smiled.
After the New Year, Qi Surong first distributed red envelopes, money, food and clothing to the servants of the Gu family and the shopkeepers. Then New Year's resolutions were made and a new reward system was added. Gu Yufeng was not good at business, but he was good at speaking and speaking. With Qi Surong behind him, he gradually established prestige among the shopkeepers.
Not long after, the tracking expert invited by Xu Chen brought back some good news. Based on the clues provided by Qi Surong, he followed the road and found the corpses of several guards. They were all killed by sharp weapons and then buried in the wilderness. Fortunately, the bodies of Gu Jinyun and Yan Ping'er were not found, so there is a high chance that they survived. But the clues were interrupted at this point, and the detective speculated that the two people might have fallen into the Yinghe River. If they were alive, they must have been washed away in the Zhuocheng area.
Two months later, Qi Surong began to shift the focus of his business, and the first battle was Zhuocheng. Zhuocheng was already close to Jiangnan, and she planned to take the opportunity to find some Jiangnan embroidery girls to learn double-sided embroidery. She needs to sell two or three pieces of embroidery to Alopa every year, which is not enough for her alone.
Before leaving, she quietly met with Gu Chang and told the truth about Jin Yun's disappearance. Gu Chang was not as angry as he imagined. He said, "I knew it a long time ago."
Qi Surong said unexpectedly: "Dad has known about it for a long time?"
Gu Chang snorted: "I know exactly how capable Yu Feng is. How can he manage the business so well?"
"Dad really does have piercing eyes."
"Don't say nice things." Gu Chang said, "You and Jin Yun have to settle the matter on your own. I believe that my son is blessed with great fortune and will be fine."
"Yeah, I believe it too."
Gu Chang looked at her and sighed, "He actually married a good wife. You can go ahead."
Qi Surong bowed and resigned, then went to see Gu Yufeng and told him to take good care of Shuangshuang and her family.
After hesitating for a while, she added: "Uncle, please pay more attention to Shuangshuang's nanny and Fang He. I suspect they are not interested in Shuangshuang. Too many things happened during this period, and I didn't have time to deal with it. You Be careful and don't let Shuangshuang be wronged, she doesn't know how to defend herself, and she can't control those servants."
Gu Yufeng's face darkened: "When I heard what you said, I just remembered something. Didn't you send two new maids to Shuangshuang before? Fang He often found fault with them. I'm still hesitating whether to replace them. From this point of view, there may be something fishy in it. I will pay attention to it. If Fanghe and nanny really bully Shuangshuang, I will not take it easy! "
Qi Surong nodded, and after explaining, he packed up and headed to Zhuocheng.
Looking at the road ahead, Qi Surong looked calm. She would wait, no matter how long it took.
However, she didn't know that the wait would be two years.
For two years, she has been doing business as "Zhuo Fan", but externally she uses the name Gu Yufeng. With the help of her business, she traveled to more than a dozen cities, looking for traces of Jin Yun. While business in the capital was generally in a downturn, the Gu family's business was prosperous under her management, with businesses all over the country.
In the past two years, earth-shaking changes have taken place in the capital. The emperor and the Eighth Prince officially broke off and fought to the death. Many ministers in the court were implicated. Until the emperor suddenly became seriously ill and became unable to govern, the battle for the throne finally intensified.
Everyone in the capital is in danger, the ministers are wavering, and the situation is murderous. King Jing had the royal decree of the previous king, so he should have succeeded to the throne naturally, but now he only received two imperial decrees. Those who hold the imperial decrees are not powerful enough to compete with other princes. He must find all the holders of the secret edict and improve their positions to ensure that his accession to the throne is foolproof.
At this time, King Jing got a list of all the secret edict holders. There were seven in total, two of whom were dead. Of the five remaining people, only one was quite powerful in the court, and the other four were all demoted and their whereabouts are unknown.
Qi Surong did not know at this time that among these seven people, her father Xin Shuo's name did not exist at all. The person who handed this list to King Jing was the former Prime Minister Wang Qinghe. He was not the holder of the secret decree, but he was the only insider who upheld the late king's imperial wishes.
Her original move of tampering with the secret decree can be said to have gambled a wealthy future for the Qi family. The layout laid out a few years ago is now time to close the net. The people who King Jing could not find were all on the list she made back then. She knew their whereabouts clearly and took them under her banner one by one.
When King Jing was working hard to collect the imperial edict, she secretly sent this generous gift. Of course, she didn't come forward personally, she just provided others with opportunities to contact King Jing and protected their safety. As the saying goes, too much is not enough, there is no need for her to take all the credit, as this will only arouse suspicion.
Although the last few holders of the secret decree were powerless, as long as they obtained the secret decree, King Jing could use it to exchange for the support of any powerful minister.
Two years later, in midsummer, seven ministers read out the secret edict of the late king at the same time, supporting King Jing's ascension to the throne. These seven people are Zuo Mingtang, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Gu Yin, the cabinet scholar, Qi Feng, the hussar general, Junyi, the Taifu, Qiu Jingyang, the privy envoy, Fu Ye, the Marquis of Dongyuan, and Zuo Zhao, the Taichang Qing.
The appearance of the Seven Imperial Edicts shocked the government and the public. The Eighth Prince was seriously injured in the battle with the former king, but now he is unable to recover. King Jing's ascension to the throne is a well-deserved one.
King Jing ascended the throne, changed the name of the country to "Fengjing", and granted amnesty to the whole country. The battle for the throne that lasted for several years was finally settled.
Many people were affected by this incident, including the Liu family of the Taiwei, the Luo family of the Ministry of War, the Yinfeng family of Jingzhao, the Fang family of the Sinong Temple Garden supervisor, etc., all of whom were demoted because of the Eighth Prince. Correspondingly, all those who once held secret orders were restored to their posts, but none of them were from the Qi family.
After everything was settled, Qi Surong returned to the capital. Before he could take a breath, the new king sent an oral message to summon Qi Surong to the palace.
Qi Surong was slightly stunned because the father-in-law who delivered the decree read the decree directly to her who had not yet removed her disguise.
"Mrs. Gu doesn't need to change her clothes. The emperor is summoning both Mrs. Gu and Mr. Zhuo Fan." The father-in-law said.
"In that case, I'll have a hard time for you, father-in-law."
Qi Surong greeted her family and followed her father-in-law into the palace.
King Jing summoned her in the side hall. Except for a few palace attendants, there were no other outsiders in the hall.
Qi Surong bowed respectfully to King Jing, his manner neither humble nor overbearing.
King Jing walked down from the main seat and stood a few meters away from Qi Surong. He looked up and down for a moment and said with a smile: "It's really better to see once than to hear a hundred times. Women are not inferior to men."
"Your Majesty is so complimentary. I wonder why Your Majesty summoned the common women?"
"Ms. Qi, you have given me surprises again and again, as if you always anticipate the enemy's opportunities. The reason why I can successfully ascend the throne is almost entirely yours. Tell me, how should I reward you?"
"The emperor has given too much praise, and what the women of the common people did was just to protect themselves. I also ask the emperor to forgive the crime of disrespect of the women of the common people." She was referring to the tampering of secret edicts.
"It's just for self-protection." King Jing smiled: "I have found out everything you have done over the years. Mrs. Qi, do you know why I did not reward the Qi family alone?"
"The women don't know."
"Because I want to see you in person, and you can ask for credit yourself. If you want anything, you might as well say it."
Qi Surong thought for a moment, then knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, a common woman has two wishes."
"you say."
"The first is to rehabilitate the Qi family, and the second is to find the husband of the civilian woman."
"No other requirements? I can make you the imperial wife, make the Gu family officials and merchants, and also give your father a promotion."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness." Qi Surong said seriously, "What a civilian woman has done is not enough to earn such a generous reward. To rehabilitate the Qi family and repeat this with her husband is the best reward the Emperor can give to a civilian woman."
A hint of appreciation flashed in King Jing's eyes, and he took an imperial edict from the eunuch and handed it to her: "Take a look."
In accordance with the destiny of heaven, the emperor said: I only govern the world with letters and fight chaos with force. The military commanders and generals are the mainstay of the imperial court and the mainstay of the country. The former general Qi Shuo fought for the country for several years and made great contributions. However, he suffered an unjust injustice and was deprived of his title and demoted to a commoner. Now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, he hereby rehabilitates the Qi family. He will resume his official duties immediately, and he will be granted the title of Marquis of Zhongyi. The property that was confiscated in the past will be returned in detail. Xi Zhi's order was in Xi, temporarily Xi Wu Bian, plus Pi Ji, Qin Zai.
The imperial edict said: The ministers have the honor to serve the public, and they borrow their inner virtues to help them cultivate. The court has the favor of sparing nobility, and treats all husbands as equals. The Qi family, the wife of Gu Shang Jinyun of Xi'er, is beautiful, intelligent and shrewd. She has made great contributions to the country and has great righteousness in the world. It is appropriate to give her to you as your wife. You will be honored and favored by heaven forever.
The author has something to say: The imperial edict is adapted from Baidu.