The evil star came into the world, and Ziwei was in turmoil. The emperor granted General Gu the military power of the tiger talisman, and led 70,000 Rongyan troops to the northwest of the yellow sandy sky to resist the Xirong people and defend the frontier. But this time, the Xirong people were obviously prepared. The beacon fires were endless, and the war was endless, from the beginning of autumn to the cold winter.
On a cold and snowy night, a letter sealed in white leather was quickly passed from the northwest frontier to the imperial palace and then to the mansion of Gu Mansion.
That night, all the rooms and halls of the Gu Mansion were silently hung with white silk, millet stalks were burning in the brazier, copper coins and yellow paper danced with the cold snow, and the huge Gu Mansion was chilling, silent and dead, and no sound could be heard. The movement seemed to be buried on the spot by the heavy snow.
On the second day, Gu Heyan was dressed in veil and went to the frontier non-stop, helping the coffin to return to his hometown.
The story of Gu Miao's death in battle spread across the capital seven days later, and the world mourned and sighed. Without General Gu, wouldn't the Yi people invade my territory and trample mountains and rivers
Half a month later, Gu Miao's corpse was returned to Beijing, and the mourning hall was set up in the main hall of Gu's mansion. The Buddhist monks were invited to recite the scriptures in front of the spirits, and seven days later, they were buried with military rituals.
In the previous life, there was no contact between the Mu Mansion and the Gu Mansion, so Gu Miao's death was just a few sighs during the conversation between the Mu family's father and son.
But this world was different. The Gu family had a life-saving grace for the Mu family, so the second day after Gu Miao was in the coffin, Mu Boren led Mu Zhiming to the Gu residence to be mourned.
The last time the father and son came, the mansion was quiet and quiet, but in fact it was peaceful and peaceful, but now, the guests are crowded in front of the door, and the mansion looks like dead ashes.
There were only three servants in the Gu Mansion, and they had to meet so many mourning guests at once. They couldn't be busy at all. The mansion was in chaos. Mu Boren and Mu Zhiming waited at the door for a long time, but no one led the way. They ventured into the mansion by themselves and went to the main hall. go.
When he arrived at the mourning hall just now, Mu Zhiming's eyes were fixed on Gu Heyan, who was wearing plain white linen and kneeling in front of the spiritual card.
Gu Heyan didn't know how long he had been guarding the spirit, but he just bowed his head straight and knelt there motionless, his shoulders seemed to be carrying a heavy burden, but he didn't fall down halfway, and he turned a deaf ear to everything around him, as if he was not in the same world as others.
Mu Zhiming originally thought of comforting Gu Heyan after coming to Gu Mansion, but seeing this situation, he knew that he couldn't do anything.
No one knows the pain, and how can we share the pain.
A Buddhist monk came forward, led Mu Boren and Mu Zhiming to the funeral ceremony, and then led them out of the mourning hall. When he left, Mu Zhiming turned around and looked into the distance, and saw that Gu Heyan was still kneeling there, his posture had not changed at all. Quiet as a rock.
"Don't look, let's go." Mu Boren sighed, sighing that the world is impermanent.
Mu Zhiming withdrew his gaze, his heart clenched, he nodded and followed Mu Boren away, the two walked to the courtyard of the Gu residence, and suddenly someone behind him shouted, "Yan Guogong!"
Mu Boren turned around and bowed after seeing the person: "Mr. Pei, are you also here for mourning?"
Jingzhao Yin Lord Pei hurriedly bowed in return: "That's right, I rashly disturbed Duke Yan, that's it, I have a case in my hands, and the corpse is strange. I heard that the ancestor of Duke Yan once had a well-known torture officer. , Yan Guogong is also very knowledgeable in this area, this case is urgent, since I met so by chance, I wonder if Yan Guogong can give me some pointers?"
"Ah... It's all the glory of our ancestors. I only know a little bit, but it's not very good, but Master Pei is so affectionate, I will definitely help." Mu Boren agreed, turned his head and said to Mu Zhiming, "Li Zhu, you go first. Wait for me in the carriage outside."
Mu Zhiming nodded, saluted, and left alone. As he was walking, he suddenly remembered the verdant phoenix tree he had seen in the east wing when he came to Gu Mansion.
With his thoughts and actions, Mu Zhiming couldn't help but look in the direction of the east wing. It was this moment that he turned his head and saw a girl dressed in burlap and filial piety holding a stack of documents in the corner of the scarlet wall. , looking like she was crying.
Mu Zhiming remembered her. She was one of the servants of the Gu residence, Juanniang.
Mu Zhiming walked to Juanniang in a few steps: "Are you okay?"
Hearing the concern and questioning, Juanniang raised her head with tears in her eyes. Seeing that it was Mu Zhiming, she tidy up her appearance in a panic, and then said weakly, "I remember that you are... Ah, it's Mr. Mu!"
"What's wrong?" Mu Zhiming asked, "Need help?"
"Young Master Mu, I..." Juanniang held the document in her hand, bowed her head and looked embarrassed, hesitating whether she should say it or not.
"It's okay." Mu Zhiming comforted softly, "If there is anything I can help you with, just say it."
When Juanniang heard the words, she seemed to have grabbed the life-saving straw. She choked up and said ashamedly: "Mr. Mu, these things were originally the private affairs of the Gu Mansion and should not be told to you. You also know that the General's Mansion is only for my husband, my mother-in-law and the others. My three servants, General Gu is gone, the young master is not very old, and the funeral ceremony and other matters related to etiquette and face, we are too busy to do it, and the guests who came to mourning today should have a meal, but We didn't prepare anything. Just now, another father-in-law came from the palace and gave me such a pile of documents, saying that it was the rules that should be followed when General Gu was buried, including the guests who should be entertained and the gifts that should be returned, the father-in-law said. There are a lot of them, I can hear them in a fog! I wanted to ask other people if they understand, but my husband is adding incense and guarding the mourning hall, and my mother-in-law is in charge of Buddhist monks' fasting meals..."
The more she talked, the more anxious she became. Seeing that she was about to cry again, Mu Zhiming hurriedly said, "Don't panic, show me the document."
Juanniang hurriedly handed the document to Mu Zhiming. After Mu Zhiming took it, she was shocked to realize that it was inappropriate. Although Juanniang was in trouble, he was a foreigner. Gu Miao's funeral was an important matter for the Gu family, and his intervention was really overkill.
Just when Mu Zhiming hesitated, Mu Boren's voice came from behind: "Li Zhu, what are you doing there?"
Mu Zhiming was frightened, and subconsciously hid the document in his sleeve.
If Mu Boren noticed this kind of rudeness, he would definitely scold him for three days and three days, making his ears calluses.
Just after Mu Zhiming hid the documents, Mu Boren came over and said, "Didn't I ask you to wait for me in the carriage outside? Could it be that you have a desire to play again, and you should ignore it?"
Juanniang is smart and clever. Seeing this, she said nothing about the document. After salute, she said, "I have seen the Duke of Yan, and the servants and servants are very sentimental. Master Mu has a good heart, come to comfort me."
Mu Boren's expression softened, no more accountability, and let Mu Zhiming leave with him.
Mu Zhiming brought the stack of documents home by accident. After dinner, Mu Zhiming sat alone in the wing looking at the paperwork and had a headache. He pondered for a moment, and without saying a word, brought the pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and sat in front of the desk to spread the paperwork.
After more than half an hour, Mu Zhiming put down the wolf's fine brush, dried the ink marks on the document, then rolled it up and carefully put it into his sleeve, stood up, opened the door of the wing, tilted his head and shouted in the direction of the side room: "Ayin! "
As soon as he finished speaking, his clothes swept into the air, and there was a sound of hunting, and Wen Heyin, who was wearing an indigo blue guard uniform, landed in front of Mu Zhiming.
He has very good ears and lives close, so Mu Zhiming came as soon as he called.
"Master, what's wrong?" Wen Heyin asked.
Mu Zhiming said, "I'm going out for a trip, please accompany me."
"Going out at night?" Wen Heyin wondered, "Where are you going?"
Mu Zhiming lowered his voice: "Go to General Gu's mansion, we will go there secretly, and we must not be known by my parents."