I suddenly felt that I was a little too brave, so I stood up suddenly and asked solemnly, "Who are you? Why are you in my house?"
But before the woman answered, I thought that since Kong Ming and Song Qian were so familiar with her, she must be an acquaintance of theirs, but I didn't know her.
So, my tone quickly changed back to a polite question: "Excuse me, young lady... are you acquainted with my sister?"
"Yes, Sister Yinling is my father's student, and we are of similar age, so we have known each other for a long time." This is a dignified and pretty girl. Now she has a slight smile on her face, but her brows are still frowning. I am afraid she was scared by me just now.
"So it was Mr. Shuijing's... I was so rude. I thought it was my sister. I am sorry for the offense." I was a little panicked and quickly apologized.
"You're being serious. It's okay. In fact, you should treat me as your sister. When I came here, you were just a child sitting there motionless with drooling from the corners of your mouth. You were not at home for a year, and my father was afraid that sister Yinling would be too lonely, so he asked me to come and keep her company. Later, Yinling led the army to quell the rebellion, and I stayed to take care of Kong Ming and this big house. I haven't seen you for more than ten years, and you really have changed a lot, just like Yinling." This is a cheerful but shy girl. She can talk so much, but she always keeps her head down when talking to me. But after hearing her words, I felt that this voice was very familiar.
"It turns out that Brother Zirui had drool at the corners of his mouth. He must have looked very interesting at that time."
"You bastard, you left a huge pool of saliva on my couch when you first came to my house, give it back to me." I immediately put on a stern face and lectured Kong Ming, but suddenly I thought of something very important, "Where's my sister?"
Kong Ming suddenly felt a little sad: "Sister is gone."
"Gone, where did you go?"
"I don't know. She and my sister were getting married and had to prepare a lot of things. She left yesterday."
"Why did my sister leave without waiting for me to come back?" I suddenly felt empty inside and almost yelled.
"Sister, you need to heal your wounds. I don't know when you can come back. She will come back before she gets married." Kong Ming suddenly said timidly.
"Oh, I see." I felt that I had lost my composure just now, especially in front of my sister's close friends.
At this moment, the door was suddenly pushed open, and a yellow-haired man and Wu Yue came in with some food. When they saw me at the door, they stopped there. Wu Yue recognized me, but because he was holding something, it was inconvenient for him to greet me. He just nodded slightly and called out, "Master Ping'an Fengyun Hou, you are back."
The blond was staring at me blankly, but I was actually looking at him with interest. In the dim light, I could still tell another difference between him and Wu Yue: a pair of red eyes. This kid was pretty good-looking, with nothing wrong with his appearance, except for the color of these two spots. I immediately remembered who this person was.
"Chen Wu! Why are you standing there in a daze?" I felt that I should show the bearing of a marquis and call him by his name directly to appear close to him.
"My goodness the earth is shaking, the marquis is so tall!" The opening words in the front are very interesting. I have heard this word in Yandu City before, but I didn't figure out what it meant at the time. This time, listening to his accent, it seems to be from Yandu, Yangzhou, so it is probably the interjection used by the people there.
"Yeah, what do you think? What were you doing?"
"Everyone is a little hungry, let's go find something to eat."
"Eat quickly. After you finish eating, finish copying the Heavenly Questions. Kong Ming, if you are tired, go to sleep first."
"Sister Pei is biased, why is she on Kong Ming's side?" The remaining children were very angry. It seemed that Kong Ming had already aroused public resentment. Therefore, those who aroused public resentment did not say much and just ate.
"He still has it, eat quickly." Sister Pei's reason was really sufficient and powerful. After she finished speaking, the children had no choice but to eat obediently. Seeing them eating, especially Kong Ming, I not only knew how he got fat, but also felt a little hungry.
"Zi Rui, you are a little hungry, right? I will help you." Sister Pei is really nice. She saw what I needed at a glance. I wanted to not bother her and go and fill my stomach, but my stomach answered before me, which made me a little embarrassed. But she smiled and went out directly. She didn't seem to care and could understand a big belly like me. Fortunately, those kids ate like four pigs, and the most ferocious one among them must be Kong Ming, so fortunately, they didn't notice my embarrassment just now.
As soon as Sister Pei left, I got angry and said, "You four are starving. Can you please stop eating so tastelessly?"
"It's okay, we're still here, and you can take care of Kong Ming first." The three freshmen didn't feel guilty at all and directly pushed the blame onto that guy, because this was the thing they ate so hard that they almost fell on the table.
"Don't bother me, I learned it from you." But the words that this thief Kong Ming said first made me lose my temper.
The warm welcome I had imagined turned into this. Come to think of it: Chen Wu and I are not familiar with each other; Wu Yue and I just broke up, and now we meet again; Song Qian and I have been apart for less than half a month. It’s just that Kong Ming is too emotionless. He just ate after not seeing me for a year. I was so angry just thinking about it.
However, my mind was soon occupied by another thing, that is, I always felt like I had heard Sister Pei's voice somewhere before.
Before I thought about it, my midnight snack arrived, but along with the midnight snack, there was also Po Liu Han Lie Ya. According to this person, he was also looking for something to eat, and was caught by Sister Pei in the kitchen.
This is what a brother is. I patted him on the back and exchanged greetings, forgetting everything else for a moment. At least when we finished the greetings, we found that the group of children were gone.
"Don't you still need to copy it?"
"Let you brothers reminisce about the past. I've asked the children to go to bed." In fact, it doesn't matter at all. I can go out and talk with my brothers. Now this group of people is taking advantage of it and being lazy.
At this time, Kong Ming came back. My first feeling was that his conscience had returned, but his response was: "Brother Zirui, you are back. Where should I sleep?"
This confused me. It turned out that my sister asked him to sleep in the room prepared for me, so I found another room to sleep in. I thought it shouldn’t be a big deal to find a room to sleep in the Xiangyang Palace. But before he left, he said to me sincerely: I’m glad that Brother Zirui is back. Then he added, you can take me out to play. Then, he added, Brother, I miss you so much. Even if this sentence is more humane, the last sentence made me feel a little embarrassed, "But I know you didn’t bring me any delicious food, and you didn’t even say hello to me before you left." He is really an adult.
"You pig, you're going to eat more." I found an excuse and quickly comforted him: "Go to sleep, your brother will take you out to play tomorrow morning." Just as I finished, the heads of the other three children popped out from behind the screen, "What about us?"
I knew I was being set up.
After sending away these troublesome guys, I sat down with my Xianbei brother and we started eating without any formalities. While we were talking, Sister Pei was not far from us, continuing to do needlework, which made it difficult for us to say some disgusting things, and we could only keep silent about many things.
It turned out that the Xianbei people all lived in this mansion. At night, he felt a little hungry and came out to prepare food by himself. Because my sister-in-law has been pregnant for some time, although it is not inconvenient for her to move now, it is enough for my brother Longxing to not disturb the lady. He was also afraid of disturbing others because there were still people living here, including the Qingna people, the four sons, Sister Pei, people from Yangzhou, some people who still don’t know where they came from, and a few old guys. Just when I wanted to ask about their situation, Beihai added a sentence that made me give up the idea: I don’t know where I have been recently. He went to the kitchen to prepare food by himself, but happened to meet Sister Pei, I came back, so he came over. I think after my sister-in-law became pregnant, this son became more down-to-earth and calm than before. At least he didn’t shout to let everyone in Xiangyang know that I was back.
I had almost finished eating, so I asked him to go back and accompany his wife. He didn't say anything polite, just patted me on the shoulder and took away a lamb shank.
I continued to eat politely, and from time to time I secretly glanced at the daughter of the Sima family. I always felt that her voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had seen her.
But I'm not a reticent person, so when I really couldn't think of an answer, I just asked directly.
"I have seen you many times, but at that time..." It must be a bad habit I learned from my sister, and it is impossible for me to remember this kind of thing. But she immediately added a sentence, and I immediately remembered it. This was really shocking: "Do you remember the allusion of one person's mouth, the stage?"
"That's what Brother Mengde said? Ah, you are that Dongyi woman?"
"Yes, you didn't see it, oh, you were behind the curtain at that time, and you could only vaguely see my shadow. My mother was originally a Dongyi woman, and it was summer then. My cousin came to visit me and wanted to take me to Luoyang for a tour first, and then take me back to Wujun to visit my grandmother. I didn't expect to run into you in Luoyang. Later, there was a riot in Wujun, and I turned back to Jingzhou halfway. Thinking about it, you were a hero to help me drive away that ruffian on the street. At first I didn't know who you were, I hadn't seen you for a long time. But soon I learned the name of the owner of the weapon from the conversation of people on the street, and then I realized that I happened to run into you." She pointed behind me, and I knew what she was referring to. When I looked at Song Qian through the window, I saw my hedgehog out of the corner of my eye.
I remembered that in order to protect her, I stayed under the window for a whole night, and was used as a gambling tool by Zhang Kaifu and his partner.
"At that time, I received a note from a young couple who were also out for fun. They told me not to look down. I knew they had no ill intentions and didn't want to go against their wishes, so I followed their instructions. But I really wanted to see you, so I looked through the crack in the window and happened to see you. Captain Cao came to look for you from time to time, but you always let him know."
My face was burning, and I still remember that I wanted to attract her attention, so I stood directly opposite her window. This time she really saw it, but I didn't know what to do.
This Sima sister is a very interesting person, probably a very contradictory person, on the one hand she is very bold, speaks a lot, and does not shy away from anything; on the other hand she always keeps her head down and does not want to look at me directly, appearing very shy. This may be because her father is Mr. Shuijing and her mother is a Dongyi woman, which caused the influence of both sides.
I had a very pleasant conversation with Sister Sima. I had experienced this in Luoyang. But this time, we talked more and had a clearer understanding. She had no experience in military affairs and politics, but she was smart and knew a little bit. But she was very familiar with the female workers. At least I kept talking to her and she kept working without stopping, and she was not affected at all. She could make insightful comments on all kinds of other things, which made me feel inferior.
However, I felt that something was wrong, but I couldn't figure out why.
That night I talked with her for a long time before going to sleep. If she were a man, we could sleep on the same bed and continue to ask for advice. Or, she could be my wife. Thinking of this, I wanted to laugh out loud, but I felt very upset when I thought about the whereabouts of Taoist Zuo Ci.
The next morning, I was woken up by many brothers. Only Sister Sima was left, looking down apologetically and unable to stop them. I had no choice but to let Sister worry about it and meet the brothers.
The old brothers in Xiangyang are basically out, and there are not many left in Xiangyang. Ziyu, Zishi, and Zhouyu returned to Xiangyang with a large group of people. Qing came from Ping'an Fengyun Marquis Mansion, and Sister Yun came with him. When I saw her, I remembered that I had forgotten to ask him how he hooked her. The personalities of these two people are really too different. Although Sister Yun has changed a lot now, she still bowed her head and greeted me. When I asked when she would get married, the girl's face immediately turned into a sweet potato out of the pot. When I thought of this word, I remembered the first beneficiary of this word, my sister. I don't know where my sister went. This kind of preparation should be made by me.
Gan Ning came with his son in his arms. Gan Fengcheng was still a kid, and when he saw me, he turned his back to his father's arms. Ziyu and Zishi used this as evidence to criticize my ferocious appearance. In order to get past this part, I was quick-witted and picked up the four horses with different looks, saying that I would give one to Fengcheng. Gan Ning laughed and said that the life span of horses is much different from that of humans. If we can live to be sixty, horses can only live to be fifteen. When Fengcheng grows up, we can take care of these four horses until he dies. Horses can be ridden in five years, so they can only be used by our generation. Ziyu thought the name of Gan Ning's son was a bit strange, so he asked the reason. He was told that his wife had a dream the night before she gave birth, and saw a phoenix standing on the top of the city wall, hence the name.
I like children very much. For example, I can be so tolerant of such a bad son as Kong Ming. Therefore, looking at Gan Ning's happy expression as a father, I feel more jealous and lonely. At this critical moment, I don't know where Uncle Zuo Ci ran to.
Xiang was also at my house. I remembered something and asked him his last name. He paused for a moment and said that Xiang was his given name. He lost both his parents when he was young and was later adopted by some righteous men on Poyang Lake. He did not have his own last name and was usually called Xiang.
I know that I have touched upon other people's sorrows, and although Xiang is open-minded and does not mind, I still cannot let it go: "Brother Xiang, I am sorry for what Zhi did just now. However, you can indeed choose a surname, so that you can have branches in the future and continue your family line, becoming the ancestor of the clan. And in the future, on all kinds of warships, there should be a general's name on the flagpole, right?" Xiang laughed and asked me to think of one. I thought for a moment and said: "You came from Poyang, and I was going to use the word Po for you, but the pronunciation of Po is the same as that of a scoundrel, and your name does not sound good when read together, so I removed that half and added water, and it will soon become Pan. How about your name Pan Xiang?"
He nodded happily in agreement, and I smiled and added, "Then I can order someone to prepare a large banner with the word Pan for you."
However, my smile was soon replaced by surprise, and then turned into excitement. What surprised me was that Zhang Kai and Liu Wen were actually in my house. Beihai, Yan Rou, and Nan happily dragged me to the lobby to meet them and asked them why they didn't go into my room. Liu Wen laughed at Zhang Kai for being too fat and it would be too crowded if he went in.
"You guys are coming?" I was a little unsure, but still very excited.
"We have been to many places, and this is one of the best places in the world." Zhang Kaiyi didn't know whether to praise or sigh, "The governor gave me a place where I can concentrate on my things, and also gave me the title of Jingzhou Si Nong. He treated me well and trusted me. If I still find fault, wouldn't it be pretending to be noble? I should do something while I still have the strength."
"You're overthinking it."
"You are too careless." After saying that, we both laughed.
However, there was a person living in my house whom I did not know, at least I had no impression of him. He was over seven feet tall, very thin, and although his eyes were bright, he always looked like he had just recovered from a serious illness, and his handsome face was a little yellow. I searched through all my memories, but still could not remember where I had seen this person. When he saw me, he just bowed to me, and I had to return the greeting, but I still could not figure out his origins.
"Excuse me sir, Zirui has a bad memory and can't remember where I have seen you before." I said it very honestly.
"You haven't seen him, but you have seen my benefactor. May I ask if Marquis Ping An Feng Yun has ever recommended a doctor to a young man named Feng Xing?"
"Yes, Fengdong, I have drafted a letter to ask him to go to Jingzhou to treat tuberculosis. But what about others?"
"My benefactor passed away due to illness in my home two months ago." He said with great sorrow.
Fengdong grew up in a family like his and should have been considered a very good person. It is a pity that he died.
"Why do you call him a benefactor?" I suddenly thought of this question as I shook my head and sighed.
"That night, the sky was already dark, and the benefactor's group still hadn't found a place to stay. Many families didn't dare to let him stay because he had tuberculosis. I also had tuberculosis and didn't have any taboos, so I let him stay at my house for the night. We felt sympathy for each other and got along very well. He told me that I could go with him to Jingzhou to ask for treatment together, and I thought I wouldn't be rejected. Unexpectedly, due to the long journey, his physique was weak, and the tuberculosis suddenly worsened that night, and he died at three o'clock in the morning. Before he left, he left me the letter you wrote to him, which allowed me to successfully ask the apprentice of a doctor here who seemed to have a very special status to help treat him, so as to avoid being delayed by those quack doctors; now I have recovered a lot, and I think it won't take long for me to be like a normal person."
"What are your plans for the future when you get better?" I was thinking about going to Feng's house to see him, but I didn't expect to elicit such words from him.
"I received the favor of the benefactor, and the benefactor received your gift. When the benefactor talked to me about you, he said that you were not yet twenty years old, but you were able to maneuver in the big fuss, save people from trouble in the subtle ways, and your demeanor was impressive; if you could cure this tuberculosis, I would like to serve under the command of the marquis and be driven by him everywhere, and I would not dare to neglect it; now that my old friend is gone, I will realize this wish from my generation." Feng Dong saw through my trick at that time, and it was a pity that he died. Maybe he praised me, which gave me more reason to pity him.
I was moved. Seeing that this young man had a transcendent look in his eyes, I asked, "What skills do you have?"
"He has a basic understanding of arithmetic and numeration."
"Now Dong Ni is entrenched in Yizhou, committing tyranny and cruelty, and the people are living in misery. I plan to attack him. Can you help me make some plans... Do you know about this?" I suddenly felt that my first question might be a bit embarrassing, and I was afraid that he didn't know about this at all.
"Because of this disease, I can only listen to other people's gossip at home and learn some new things. However, I also know that you tricked Dong Zhuo into Yizhou in Hanzhong. At first, I thought your plan would definitely fail. But I didn't expect that you really trapped Dong Zhuo."
"Why did I fail?" At this time, people around also gathered around with interest.
"There is more than one way to enter and exit Sichuan. You can't block all of them. This is one of the reasons. If the Sichuanese help you and ship out, what will you do..."
"This... what's your name?"
"My original name was Song Yu. To commemorate my old friend, I added one more character and named myself Song Yudong. Why did you interrupt me, Lord Marquis?" His original name was indeed interesting. At least I met Qu Yuan's student just after I came back from Zigui.
"Song Yudong, to tell you the truth, I made a big mistake when I started designing it, did you know that?"
"What?"
"I'm not afraid to tell you that I didn't even think of there being people in Yizhou at that time! I really didn't think about it. I only knew which roads there were in Yizhou." At this point, I reached for my waist. Maybe the map had been taken away by my sister a long time ago. Anyway, after reuniting with my sister, I haven't looked at the map again, and I've looked at it so many times that I don't even need to look at the map; I have a general idea of it in my mind. So even though my sister is always watching me in my mind, I can still describe what it looks like there: "I have blocked all the roads to the north; I also know that Zigui can only receive a few ships from Sichuan every year, so I didn't even consider going by the river; in the south we are confronting the southern barbarians, and the appearance of Dong Zhuo will make our south much easier. I broke my flag and burned my banner in front of hundreds of thousands of Yizhou people who escaped, which was a great humiliation for myself. In addition to apologizing, I beg the people of Yizhou to forgive me and allow me to have the opportunity to go in and attack Dong. Because my biggest mistake was that I knew Dong Zhuo's cruelty, but still let them into Yizhou, because at that time I only thought about how to trick him in and how to block all his ways out. I missed everything else."
"Oh, I didn't know the exact situation in Yizhou at that time, so my calculation was also wrong... Can I ask you? If everything happened again, what would you do?" He was a little unexpected, but he still asked me this quickly.
"It's the same as this time, because I have no choice. This is a mistake I have to make and I have to take responsibility for it."
"I understand. Song Yudong is willing to follow Fengyun Hou and plan to defeat Dong."
No one was talking around, so he and I bowed deeply to each other.
After I stood up, I turned to Wu Yue. When I said the first sentence, I knew he was beside me, so I also said to him: "I will not try to make you happy, or expect you to forgive me. I really think so. Even if I go back to ten months ago, I will still issue this order with the generals."
After that, I nodded to him to show my determination, and he also nodded to me. I don’t know what his nod meant.
However, I just couldn't understand why no one pointed out to me that my plan would bring disaster to Yizhou. If only one person came out at that time, I might have given up this plan and considered ambushing him between Chencang and Hanzhong, and then attacking him from both sides, which would still have a chance of winning.
I had to go see the teacher, and it was not until noon that I met everyone in my courtyard. At least I understood everything. To be honest, my mind was very confused.
I was about to meet the teacher, but I felt a little nervous. When Sister Pei came out to ask me if I had eaten breakfast, I thought about it for a long time and finally confirmed that I had not, so I had to go back to eat.
While eating, I suddenly asked Song Yudong, "Are your parents here?"
"All are here."
"You should bring them here, and after they are settled, you need to go to Youzhou to meet the Feng family to thank them for saving their lives. I will arrange this for you, okay?" He nodded.
Sister Pei’s cooking skills are excellent, but if you ask me what’s so good about it, I won’t tell you. Anyway, I enjoy the food very much.
All the way to the governor's mansion, I greeted all the uncles and aunts, brothers and sisters. Everyone asked nonsense questions, such as "Are you back?", but I felt good, at least I didn't feel annoyed, just tired.
However, there were still people who were jealous of me on purpose; so, I decided to be jealous of him as well, and by the way, I praised Zhou Yu a lot, which made that girl very happy.
When we arrived at the governor's mansion, I and the others were stopped by the guards. The governor was angry and refused to see anyone, but if Zirui came back, he would make an exception. The brothers felt relieved when they heard that the teacher was angry and would not summon him today. They turned around and said goodbye to the brothers with the words of Yishui's farewell warrior.
They made me feel cold, I rarely see the teacher lose his temper. Today he got really angry, which made me feel a little scared.
I arranged my clothes. They were made by Sister Pei. I never cared about them, but I tried to think of things that would make me relax. I just noticed that the clothes fit me so well. I don't know how Sister Pei knew my size. At least I never had a quantitative concept of the size of my body parts. I only knew that my body parts were much larger than those of ordinary people. Sister Pei's needlework was quite special. It seemed more complicated than my sister's. But I didn't have a mirror and I didn't look at it carefully at home. I didn't know how I looked in this dress. But she knew what color I liked. I guess my sister told her. Then my sister also told me that the dress was too big. I only knew that my two sisters had advised me not to dress like a warrior. It would be better to look like a scholar. But they didn't care much about my hair. Anyway, I really hadn't had the ceremony of wearing a crown yet. And they didn't have a crown for me to wear. I didn't have one either. I used to have one, but I didn't know where I had thrown it.
I almost turned around and left when I heard the teacher's roar. Why would I go in when the teacher was furious? But I was curious about why the teacher was so angry. And I thought it was probably not directed at me. At least the teacher would not yell at me in front of an empty hall, right
Thinking of this, I tiptoed to the door, wanting to listen first to see which classmate was scolded by the teacher.
"Don't hide behind the door when Zirui comes." The teacher and master's voices rang out at the same time. My heart skipped a beat and I thought it was over. There was no way I would not be scolded today. I just couldn't understand why I was discovered as soon as I arrived.
I had no choice but to walk in with my head down, kneel down at the door, and greet my two teachers without daring to move.
"Kneel here first, I'll teach you a lesson later." I thought I was in big trouble this time, but I was confused by the second sentence, "Zi Rui, hehe, get up quickly and let the master take a good look at you."
"Zi Rui doesn't dare."
"Come here, why are you being so polite to your teacher and master? Come here!" I felt something was wrong, so I lay on the ground and looked up secretly. I saw a person kneeling in front of the teacher and master. The back of this person looked familiar, and I felt like I had seen him somewhere. It seemed that the teacher's previous words were directed at him.
I stood up and bowed again, lowered my head and took a few steps forward. Suddenly I saw the man's profile and quickly stepped back a few steps.
"Zi Rui bows to Third Uncle. I didn't see Third Uncle just now. Third Uncle, please don't blame Zi Rui."
"It's okay, it's okay," Third Uncle said quickly, "Zi Rui, please stand up. Third Uncle was punished by Big Brother and cannot stand up to return the greeting. Zi Rui, don't blame Third Uncle."
"Zirui doesn't dare." I was still puzzled. It was a good thing that Third Uncle came back. Why did the teacher get so angry
"Zirui recognized my third brother." The master was a little surprised, and the teacher also let out a surprised sound.
"Didn't Third Uncle mention this to Teacher and Master?"
"Your teacher didn't let Third Brother say anything. You call him Third Uncle? Well, that's appropriate."
"Why are you scolding my third uncle? He came back all the way from Liaodong just to see our teacher and master. It's a bit disregarding our sworn brotherhood for our teacher and master to treat him like this?" My master winked at me and then made an expression on his face and looked at my teacher, as if he was the one who was losing his temper.
"Teacher, why do you blame Uncle San? Uncle San missed his two brothers all day long in Liaodong. Now he has traveled thousands of miles back with his family to see his sworn brother. Why do you still blame him?" The teacher was silent.
"Then Uncle San can get up." I felt that things were taking a turn for the better.
"I have long since disowned this man who disregarded our brotherhood." The teacher turned his back, his words surprisingly resolute.
"Hey, Boss, I can't stand it anymore. San is wrong for not contacting us. But after all, he is in Liaodong and has family problems. How can he not know anything? Can you blame him? And when you first met him, didn't you hold hands and look at each other with joy? How come you suddenly became cold and started to curse? You have changed too much."
"Don't want him. I'm so angry about you. After you left, you only wrote me a letter every six months, and you didn't come to Xiangyang to find me. I couldn't find you even if I wanted to. If it weren't for Zirui, I might not know that you, Huang Hansheng, are in Changsha."
"You're here again. When you came to see me, you had already scolded me all night that night, and scared your sister-in-law. Now you've scolded my third brother all morning, and his sister-in-law is still out there and not settling down. That's enough, Zirui is here, you can calm down now."
"Get up!... Sit over there." The teacher seemed to have finally calmed down. The first time he said it, he was still a little angry, but the next time he said it, he was much calmer. He glanced at the big guy on the right and smiled and said something to me. This change was a bit big, and I couldn't bear it well.
"Teacher, I am an unworthy student, but today I can finally rush back to Xiangyang to pay my respects to you and master." I bowed my head again. When I thought about finally being able to rush back to Xiangyang to see my teacher, my eyes suddenly became moist.
The teacher helped me up and said, "It's hard for you, kid. You shouldn't have to bear this, but you humiliate yourself like this. Why do you have to do this?"
"Teacher always taught Zirui that he should put the people of the world first. How can Zirui make mistakes and let others take the blame for it?"
"You have brought back so many talented people for the teacher. How should the teacher reward you?" It seems that the brothers have all met the teacher. From the teacher's tone, it can be felt that he is very satisfied with these people.
"I dare not. Besides, Zirui does not need any reward." He thought of something and sighed.
"Zi Rui, what are you sobbing about?"
"My sister is going out to prepare for her wedding. Thinking that I can't send my sister out in style, I feel ashamed. I once thought, if the teacher asks me what I need, I just want my sister to have a grand wedding, but my sister still won't let me take part in this matter. Since my sister has taken care of everything for me, I still can't do anything for her. I feel very useless. When the teacher wants to reward me, I think of asking the teacher to preside over my sister's wedding. So I feel sad."
"Yinling is indeed a remarkable woman. It is easy to judge people, but difficult to be a person; and it is easy to be a person, but difficult to teach people. Yinling can lead Zirui's character and conduct to such a level that one cannot help but sigh. I have wasted half of my life, but I am not as good as Yinling in her fifteen years. How ashamed!"
This is a great compliment to my sister, but I can't be happy. My sister is leaving me, how can I be happy? In the first seventeen years when I was with my sister, I only got sick once and never got hurt. Without my sister, I have been in trouble almost all the time and I am half dead. My only relative, my sister who protected me from wind and rain for the first seventeen years, never let me do anything for her. When I wanted to do something and could do something, she left. When she comes back again, she will be someone else's bride.
The teacher asked me to take a short break, so I sat down and naturally returned to my previous position, stroking the mat. I knew that my sister had also sat on it for a long time before, and I missed her. This year, I was away from home, and whenever I missed her, I had her. But after all, I felt hope and expectation when I thought I would see her again in the future. But now my sister is getting married... No, I'm already 18 years old, I can't always tie my sister to me, why am I so selfish. Sister, what should I do? I can't pester my sister anymore, and I'm dragging her down, why am I so useless.
When I came to my senses, several young men came in from outside and saluted the teacher. They were all around 20 years old. They were brought here by the third uncle. He met young talents on his way back to the south. However, they were of humble status and had no chance to be recruited. He used his eloquence to convince those people and let them follow him to serve the teacher. The teacher asked them some questions, and those young men seemed to be able to answer fluently. The teacher was also confused. Jingzhou was short of people, especially now that we still occupied Yangzhou, held Jiaozhou, and locked up Yizhou. Even let Bin alone to support the situation in Wujun. What the third uncle did could indeed solve many problems for Jingzhou. We couldn't let those old officials who were retired come out again to serve the country.
The teacher and the master also met Third Aunt, and I went to pay my respects to her, but I honestly did not participate in their conversation. Instead, I continued to sit in that seat, trying various ways to sit on the mat.
I came to my senses and realized that they were asking me to go to dinner. I thought I should go back because there were a lot of people waiting for me at home. After thinking about it, they agreed.
The lunch had to be served in many rooms at the same time. Song Qian, Chen Wu, Wu Yue, Kong Ming and I, as well as Sister Pei, were in the same room. All the food for the six of us was prepared by Sister Pei.
In order to fulfill my hospitality, I had to go through each room first and politely let everyone eat first, because I felt that it would be troublesome to eat with too many people. The reason why I didn't choose to eat together in the hall was because there were too many scrolls in the hall, which were difficult to clean up. I didn't know what the scrolls were, so I had to find time to look at them.
My sister-in-law's belly has already shown the outline of my Xianbei brother's next generation, which makes me very interested in making a scene, and I want the child to call me godfather. The couple blushed. Pan Xiang was very generous and made a loud noise, not caring at all, while Gan Ning just laughed along because of his wife; Su Fei was also laughing, but he was bolder. Yan Rou could also add some strength, but the Xiongnu people did not dare to do so because they were controlled by a Han girl.
Song Yudong still seemed rather lonely, and most of the time he just looked at Xiaoxiao.
Zhang Kai obviously had no way to escape my attack. I asked him when he would have it, and he asked his wife directly, which caused the princess to punch him continuously. This reminded me of our princess, so I quickly ended the greetings and went back to eat.
"Chen Wu, why don't you eat?" After returning, I saw that everyone else was eating, only Chen Wu didn't move. I was still wondering if there were some rules in that pirate's den, and he was used to it. For example, before eating, he should watch others eat to see if there is any poison. My God, why does my brain sometimes work so fast, and I can think of such disgusting and innovative ideas.
"Big brother, help sister Pei bring the soup. I'm waiting for him. He can't eat alone." Such a child can be so righteous. Last time, Song Qian missed his brother and asked us for help. This time, the brother was waiting for his elder brother and didn't want to eat alone. These two children will have a bright future. Sister said, character is the first priority, just like the foundation of a building. If the foundation is crooked, any tall building will collapse soon.
I realized that my entire way of thinking, and the allusions I used, are almost all related to my sister. I can't help but sigh when I think about this.
"Zirui, do you miss Sister Yinling?" I shook my head and didn't talk much to Sister Pei. I just focused on eating.
"By the way, Kong Ming? Where are Uncle Zhang and Aunt Zhang?" I suddenly thought of the other two elders in our family. I haven't seen them since I came back, and I missed them all the way.
"They still stay in the old house and don't want to leave. They live there for a long time."
Actually, I also thought of Guan Hai, but I really couldn't think of anyone here who was familiar with him, because Ye Jian was nowhere to be found. Maybe I knew too many people, and I didn't know if my poor memory could hold up. I'll be scolded if I can't remember the names of acquaintances in the future.
After a quick lunch, I left this new home and returned to my hometown. But I was still thinking and looked through a large bronze mirror. I must admit that Sister Pei's craftsmanship is very good. Sister Pei's clothes fit well and were very comfortable, but Sister Pei's clothes made me look very... I rarely found myself so gentle and elegant. I was no longer the image of a brave warrior. Looking at myself now, I couldn't even recognize myself for a moment.
My hometown is not far from the Xiangyang Palace. In a short while, I took advantage of the afternoon break to slip back to the old house.
There were not many people along the way, which made me clear-headed. I still felt something was wrong, but I didn't know how to organize the scattered doubts in my mind.
However, when I finished organizing, I returned to the old house. The door was not closed, and when I pushed it open, the wind outside was also let into the old house, and the old house was a little deserted. An old man was sweeping the ground in the middle courtyard with his back to me. He seemed to feel the wind coming from behind and tightened his skinny body.
"The wind is so strong again. Is the weather going to change?"
"Uncle Zhang, I'm back." I ran over.
Uncle Zhang was very excited, he put down his broom, turned around and looked at me, looking left and right, his eyesight was not good, he kept blinking. Uncle Zhang was old, his hair used to be mostly black and less white, but now there is less black and more white.
"Uncle, I haven't plucked your white hair for a long time, and there are so many of them now." I was deeply touched.
"Second Master, if you keep pulling, I'll become a bald man." Uncle Zhang is quite good at joking, but I feel a little sad. There are too many people passing by this way, and seeing Uncle Zhang's aging, I can't help but feel the desolation that permeates this old house.
Aunt Zhang also came out tremblingly. Seeing me, she was very excited and wanted to come over. I hurried over to support Aunt Zhang and asked her the reason. It turned out that she had been ill in the fall and was not as healthy as before. I said a few words to her and told her that I was fine and she could rest assured. Then I asked Uncle Zhang to accompany Aunt Zhang into the house to avoid catching a cold. After that, I went to my pocket to find some coins and asked Uncle Zhang to buy more good things for Aunt Zhang. But suddenly I remembered that I had just changed this dress in the morning. All the silver and money in the clothes were divided up last night. However, my hand still touched something. I took it out and saw that it was just some silver. I didn’t think about where it came from. I quickly stuffed it into Uncle Zhang’s pocket. Uncle Zhang gave it to me. This is what I gave. Let him go back and take care of Aunt Zhang.
I had seen Ye Jian a long time ago, and he was standing there looking at me, but he didn't come over to disturb me because he saw me talking to Uncle Zhang and Aunt Zhang. As soon as Uncle Zhang entered the room, he came up to greet me.
He and Guan Hai lived in my old house, mainly because Guan Hai wanted some quiet time and Ye Jian also felt that he was not familiar with everyone, so for the time being, apart from the post station, he could only live in my house.
I chatted with him for a while. He told me that Guan Hai went to Pei's grave because today was the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month and there were still three days until the Chinese New Year. I just remembered that the Chinese New Year was coming. Yes, the first lunar month of the next year follows the twelfth lunar month, but I had no idea of it.
"Where is Brother Pei now?"
"The place in the valley in the north of the city was chosen by Guan Hai's uncle, who is a Taoist who tells fortunes."
"Brother Guan, do you have an uncle? Does he live here?"
In my old room, I saw a middle-aged man dressed as a Taoist priest in a hemp robe, studying something on the couch, completely unaware of our arrival.
"Xie Zhi greets the captain. You are staying at my house for a while. Please forgive me for not being able to greet you in person!" I think that as a host, I should perform the etiquette that a host should perform. At least my sister will definitely do so.
"Marquis Ping'an Fengyun is too polite. I am an old Taoist who comes and goes as I please. I don't need to be entertained. It's a bother to stay at your house temporarily. You are too polite." He looked up at me, and I felt that he respected me very much. In my impression, such Taoists usually act erratically, indifferent, and speak profoundly and obscurely. At least I don't know where to find Master Zuo Ci if I want to find him.
I felt that the courtesy had been met, and I really had nothing to do with him. I didn't want to disturb Qingxiu, so I prepared to go back to work on the New Year. I was already thinking in my mind: I have to prepare the peach charms for both places. There are so many people in Xiangyang Prefecture, and everyone is busy with the New Year, so there shouldn't be anything missing, so I have to take care of this place. If it is the New Year, my sister should be back on New Year's Eve, so I must do everything well. When she comes back, she won't have to worry about me starving to death when she leaves. I thought to myself that my sister was worrying too much.
But this man was enthusiastic. He knew fortune-telling and he saw my appearance and thought I had a strong body, so he wanted to tell my fortune. I also thought it was interesting, so I put aside my thoughts and decided to let him tell my fortune first.
He fiddled around me for a long time, as if he found it very strange, and looked me up and down.
"Show me your hand... your left hand."
"Broken palm?"
I moved a bit, "It's not broken."
"No, I mean your palm lines are broken."
I checked it myself, and it was indeed broken. An inch below the base of the finger, there was a shallow but clear crack running across my palm. I also knew when it was broken, how it was broken, and what it was broken with. It healed quickly after applying the medicine, so I had forgotten about it. But this made me realize that everything that was related to me must also be related to my sister.
"Can you still watch it?"
"People with broken palms often have bad luck in their lives, unless... Who hurt them? How is this person like you?"
"My elder sister was accidentally injured while trying to save me. My elder sister is my only relative. When Zirui was young, he was raised by his elder sister and Uncle Zhang and Aunt Zhang."
"Oh, well, go ahead." He suddenly stopped, which made me a little angry.
"Why not? I've seen it already, so there should be a result. Xie Zhi is not afraid of evil, but he doesn't like being blocked by a door." In fact, I don't really believe in this thing, but I'm curious.
"Give me your hand again."
"You want what I have, so you can't blame me. This injury just ruins your marriage veins, and cuts off your life and career veins. You suffered misfortune when you were young, but because everyone took good care of you, you had nothing to do with the misfortune and didn't worry about it, so everything went smoothly before the age of seventeen, and you were happy; after the age of seventeen, all kinds of misfortunes continued, because all your clues and signs have been destroyed, so you need to be cautious throughout your life. Because the knot in your palm has been destroyed, you have to control everything in the future. Your marriage may have been determined by heaven. If you connect the broken pieces according to the broken lines, you will have two wives in your life, one of whom seems to have been born long ago, but died strangely, and the other one is by your side, but she was married to you very early, and she will see you off to the end. Go away, I won't speak nonsense."
"Thank you." I bowed and thanked him, but I had already started to think about all these things about him in my heart.
"Zi Rui," he suddenly called out my name, and I stopped and turned around, "If you don't want to go through so many bad things, there might be a way: After the evening hour today, don't see anyone. Remember to stay alone in your room and don't see anyone, because I can't figure out who will bring you so many evil things."