After the first lunar month, the New Year atmosphere in the streets gradually dissipated, and the weather was still cold and cold. The passers-by shrank their heads and wrapped their cotton clothes tightly.
A group of men dressed as guards galloped through the street, causing a commotion.
Lingbao and two girls of the same age hid from under the eaves. While sorting out the heavy medicine bags in their hands, they looked curiously at the direction of the group of people.
"There are always soldiers on the street these days. Is there going to be another war?" the two girls asked.
Lingbao didn't hear what they said. Her eyes still stayed on where the pair of people were walking away, with a trace of worry on her eyebrows.
Just now she faintly saw that there seemed to be Ling Yuan among the group of people.
But isn’t my brother in the Ministry of Punishment? She shook her head and denied her guess. Maybe she missed her brother too much since she hadn't seen him since that day.
"Lingbao, Lingbao." The girl accompanying her called her, "Let's go..."
Lingbao came back to his senses and nodded, slinging the medicine bag on his shoulder and speeding up to follow them.
After the team left the city, they did not stop all the way, and soon arrived at a county town under the jurisdiction of the capital. Although it was a small county town, they were stopped at the city gate.
If people who often go in and out of this city gate are careful, they will notice that the security inside and outside the small county town has been much tighter in the past few days. Among the city guards, there are some royal guards in golden armor, with solemn expressions, looking at the people coming in and out.
"Who are you?" The city defender stopped everyone, his eyes fell on the weapons hanging on their waists, with obvious warning, "They are my people." Lingyuan walked out from among them, stretched out his hand to lift The thick hat reveals the eyebrows.
After the city defenders fell, the imperial guards recognized him and smiled on their solemn faces.
"It's Second Young Master Zhu." He bowed and saluted with a smile, but did not move out of the way, with a hint of embarrassment on his face, "Look, you also know this, brothers are under orders..."
Lingyuan nodded, took out a document from his sleeve and threw it to the soldier.
Bingwei hurriedly opened it and looked at it, then raised his hand with a smile, and the defenders immediately got out of the way.
"Second Master, please go away." He bowed and smiled.
Lingyuan nodded and smiled at him with some admiration, "You did a good job. This matter is important and should not be taken lightly."
After receiving his praise, the Imperial Guard couldn't help but smile, straighten his chest and back, and responded heavily.
Lingyuan then urged his horse and led a group of people into the city.
There were not many people on the street. Lingyuan led the group and stopped at the entrance of an alley.
"Thank you." One of them suddenly whispered and gave Lingyuan a fist.
"Have you arranged what I said?" Reiatsu asked in a low voice.
The man nodded, "Don't worry, brother."
Lingyuan didn't speak anymore, just waved his hands, and the group of people dispersed and quickly disappeared in different directions.
Only then did Lingyuan urge his horse again towards the location of the county government office.
At this time, in the courtyard of the Gu family, watching Gu Shiba Niang meekly complete the etiquette of sitting down and inviting tea, the two mothers who stared at her closely nodded with some disappointment.
"Not bad..." Mrs. Zhong said lightly.
"Mom, thank you for your hard work..." Gu Shiba Niang nodded slightly.
"Wait a minute..." Mother Chen suddenly said, taking a few steps forward and looking at Gu Shiba Niang's hand hanging in front of her, with the joy of finding prey in her eyes, "Miss Gu, how can your nails be so bad?" So short?"
Gu Shiba Niang said oh and looked down at her hands.
The rule for pharmacists is that they cannot have long nails...
"Did you practice it again?" Mother Chen asked, "This is not possible!"
Gu Shiba Niang lowered her head and responded, "I've written it down."
Her attitude was impeccable, and Mrs. Chen was like a firecracker that had been extinguished but could not explode even if there was fire.
"Just remember it, Miss." Mrs. Zhong nodded and bowed, "This slave will leave first..."
Gu Shiba Niang nodded and said thank you.
The two mothers walked out of Gu Shiba Niang's house and walked along the road to their own residence.
"This girl seems to be quite peaceful..." Mother Chen said in a low voice.
An unknown smile appeared on Mrs. Zhong's face, "She is quite peaceful, but she is not an easy master to deal with..."
"Her?" Mother Chen said with a hint of disdain, "She has the courage! No matter what her background is, a widowed mother and a weak brother, what qualifications does she have that she can't get along with... Don't think that relying on that person Treat her in a different light..." She said with a smile, "I hope she can give us some color based on that person... I have seen many such women, not to mention the palace, but also our Pingyang Marquis Mansion. ...just like leeks, they are cut one after another..."
Mrs. Zhong smiled, but her expression did not relax at all.
"A widowed mother and a weak brother..." She said calmly, "This is indeed a fact, but can you see it these days...?"
"What do you see?" Mother Chen asked puzzledly.
"These days, people come and go to see me..." Mrs. Zhong said, pointing out, "Here, here we go again..."
Standing aside and looking over, he saw two middle-aged men hurriedly coming from the direction of the main courtyard, led by Mr. Cao and his maid.
According to the rules, they did not enter the door, but put down the door curtain. First, they bowed at the maid's signal, and then talked outside the door.
Because I was standing far away, I couldn't hear clearly what was said, but I could see the two of them nodding from time to time with a respectful attitude.
"What's the matter? He's a member of the Jiankang Gu family. Knowing that he has a noble family, it's normal for him to come to please him..." Mother Chen said.
Mrs. Zhong shook her head, "Not only that, I heard from the girl. In addition to congratulations, this visitor from the Gu family also asked about the family's daily affairs, such as which shop employs whom, how much dividends are distributed to which company, etc."
As he spoke, his eyes fell in front of Gu Shi Niang's door again. He saw that the two men looked hesitant. One of them seemed to be explaining what they were arguing about, but after a while, he nodded. It seemed that Gu Shi was inside. Ba Niang was persuaded, and then he stood up, took out a large booklet from his sleeve, and the maid held it and handed it in. The man bowed and followed Mr. Cao to leave.
"Do you think that just because she has become a noble, she will have to take the decision in all matters in the family?" Mrs. Zhong asked with a frown.
Mother Chen shook her head.
"Unless she already holds great power in the clan..." Mrs. Zhong said in a deep voice.
Mother Chen was startled, "How is this possible!"
"How can you underestimate this person who turned the impossible into possible?" Mrs. Zhong said, narrowing her eyes slightly, "We know too little about this girl. The princess was so right to send us here... "I didn't take it seriously before coming here, but these days, I feel more and more like I can't see through this girl..."
Mother Chen's expression was startled by what she said, and she couldn't help but smile brightly, "Madam, you think too highly of her..." Then she slightly raised her chin and smiled, "No matter whether she is peaceful or cunning, there is nothing wrong with her. In the face of the power above, all conspiracies and tricks are in vain. Our princess can be used for anything, no need to say anything. As long as she is willing, her identity will be like a mountain crushing her to death. "
Mrs. Zhong nodded and glanced at Gu Shiba Niang's door again.
"But if this person can be used by the princess, that's fine. If not, he must be eradicated and suppressed completely." Mrs. Zhong said in a deep voice.
Mother Chen said yes, but her expression was disapproving. She felt that Mrs. Zhong was making a fuss out of a molehill. It seemed that she had stayed with the dowager for too long and her brain had become rigid. Being invited out again this time meant that she was too self-possessed.
Just because of Gu Shiba Niang's background, she was forced to seal the lowest level of Fengyi... This status is no different from that of a maid. It is like a tiger and an ant. No matter how much thought and strategy the ant has, it is not worth it in front of the tiger. Mention it.
"Did brother say he was coming back?" Gu Shiba Niang asked happily as she looked at the letter handed over by Mrs. Cao.
"In reply to the eldest lady's question..." Cao replied with her head slightly lowered.
"Mother." Gu Shiba Niang interrupted her and pressed her down on the chair, "If you don't enter the palace for a day, filial piety exceeds respect. Mother, if you do this again, my daughter will still deliberately avoid you... Mother... .If my daughter really enters the palace, we will have fewer opportunities to meet each other. Mom, let us spend more time together..."
Cao's eyes were slightly red, and he quickly took her hand, nodded and said hello.
"Your brother said to take time off as soon as possible and come back..." Ms. Cao said, fearing that Gu Shiba Niang would be disappointed.
"It's okay..." Gu Shiba Niang said with a smile. She still couldn't take the matter of entering the palace seriously.
After the mother and daughter said a few words, the maid outside the door reminded the two mothers that they were coming. Ms. Cao did not want her daughter to be embarrassed and got up and left.
In the dark night, Gu Shiba Niang suddenly woke up from her dream. She was so shocked that she was sitting on a small boat and the waves were rising and falling. When she woke up, she actually found that the earth was shaking gently, and there were also chaotic sounds coming from outside. sound.
"What happened?" she asked, standing up suddenly.
The girl who was waiting outside heard the sound and ran out to see, and came back not long after.
"Miss, it's okay. The family said there are soldiers outside..." the maid said.
"At this time?" Gu Shiba Niang was a little surprised. She has been isolated from the outside world at home these days. Could it be that there is another war in the north
"Is that so... go to sleep..." she said.
The maid left in response. Gu Shiba Niang was awakened and could no longer sleep. She listened intently. The sound of people and horses neighing outside was faintly visible. The noise gradually dispersed after a long time.
When she got up early the next day, Gu Shiba Niang, who was only active in the second gate without going out, saw several girls gathered at the door talking in low voices, looking quite frightened.
"What's wrong?" Thinking of the noise last night, Gu Shiba Niang felt vaguely uneasy and asked.
Several maids were fascinated by what she was talking about, and they saw her hurriedly saluting.
"What did you say?" Gu Shiba Niang signaled them to get up and asked again.
"Miss... the concierge said... something big happened..." the maid replied, lowering her voice.
"What's the big deal?" Gu Shiba Niang asked.
"The guy who bought the water came back and said that the streets were under martial law and there were soldiers everywhere..." Another maid rushed to say.
This is really a big deal. Gu Shiba Niang has seen this situation once in her previous life. It was when the emperor died. Could it be that it was really earlier
"What happened?" Gu Shiba Niang's voice suddenly became nervous.
"I don't know..." everyone replied in unison.
Gu Shiba Niang was quite out of breath. She pondered for a moment and ordered someone to call Ah Si. He was smart and asked him to go to the street to inquire.
"By the way, Ling Bao is back?" Gu Shiba Niang thought of something and asked again.
"No, Miss Lingbao hasn't been back for several days..." the maids replied.
"Go and see her..." Gu Shiba Niang frowned and said, "Let her come back first, it's so chaotic outside..."
Before he finished speaking, Ah Si ran in from outside.
"Miss, Miss, Master Zhu has been assassinated!" He jumped in and said in a low voice, regardless of saluting and forgetting the rules not to enter the lady's room.
"What?" Gu Shiba Niang was startled and stood up, "Which Master Zhu?"