"Tianbao has been in existence for five years, is it Xuan...is it Concubine Yang?"
"Hey, you don't even remember your own life experience, but you remember it very clearly, Concubine?"
"Is there An Lushan?"
"I seem to have heard from my eldest brother-in-law. I remember he was the military governor of a certain place. He came to Beijing and made friends with powerful people everywhere, and he made many interesting stories."
"..."
Xue Bai woke up from the small couch in the ear room, still thinking about last night's conversation in his mind.
I should have prepared for many things in advance, but my body is still a little weak.
Shaking his head, he stood up and put on the quilt that was placed beside the bed. It was filled with brocade and was quite warm.
I have lived in Du's house for three days. I eat two meals a day. Not to mention the taste, at least I can eat all-you-can-eat soup cakes or sesame cakes. I have also learned a lot about the local customs.
Entering the side room and walking around the screen, Du Wulang was still snoring.
Xue Bai pushed him and said, "Get up, a Taoist priest will come to exorcise you today."
"Sleep a little longer." Du Wulang muttered after turning over, "It's time to get up and go to Duan Inkstone to cross the bridge today."
"Duqiao?"
"Naihe Bridge, if you drink Meng Po soup and cross Naihe Bridge, you will be reborn into a good family in your next life."
As Du Wulang said this, he felt much better and stood up.
Xue Bai was slightly confused and said to himself: "Meng Po soup."
"Yes, otherwise I will become a lonely ghost." Du Wulang picked up a double-breasted fox fur and put it on, casually fastened the buttons, and said: "But if I can still remember what happened in my previous life when I am reincarnated, then
It must be interesting."
"Really interesting."
At this time, there was a knock on the door outside the house, and Xue Bai went over and opened the door.
Here comes Qing Lan again. Her hair is styled into a bun and tied with a hair rope. There is a belt around her waist to hold up her green and white striped Aijama skirt for easier walking... She is dressed like a maid in the Tang Dynasty.
appearance.
Well, she was originally a maid in the Tang Dynasty.
"Goro, are you up? The real person has arrived."
"get up."
Qing Lan walked into the house and frowned when she saw Du Wulang's messy appearance. She blamed Xue Bai and said, "You didn't ask Wu Lang to put on his clothes properly."
She stepped forward to tie Du Wulang's clothes.
"I'll do it myself." Du Wulang panicked and took two steps back. He didn't know where to put his hands. "I can put it on myself. You do your work. I'll be there right away."
"Then Wu Lang will go to the second court to wash up later." Qing Lan saluted, then called Xue Bai, and said: "Setting up the altar requires people to move things, so you can follow me there first."
"good."
As soon as she came in, she arranged the arrangements for the two people in the house, quite like a maid in the family.
When she led Xue Bai through the corridor, she did not forget to give him a few words of praise.
"I know you may have come from a wealthy family and are not used to doing this. But compared to being an official slave, being able to work in the Du family is a great blessing. You should be more dedicated."
"Okay, it should be."
"Wulang treats you as a playmate." Qinglan smiled, then became serious again and reminded: "But you must not lose your sense of being a servant."
She felt that her words were gentle yet strict, and could be called powerful.
Xue Bai still said "Okay" and looked normal.
However, Qinglan felt a little unable to control this young man, and she vaguely thought that the person walking next to her was A Lang, a high-ranking official of the fifth rank.
The two passed through the back ceremony gate, and she stopped and walked behind, adjusting herself and reminding herself to maintain her maid-like demeanor.
~~
An altar has been set up in the second court, and a servant is following a Taoist boy setting up the incense table.
There are many small bells hanging, making crisp sounds.
There was an old Taoist with gray hair and beard standing proudly in the courtyard, holding a whisk in his hand and a mahogany sword on his back, looking like a fairy.
When he saw Xue Bai and Qing Lan approaching, the old Taoist smiled slightly and stepped forward to greet them.
"The poor Daoxu is so polite. When I saw him today, I saw that Du Wulang is truly a natural person with a very handsome demeanor. He will definitely not take it easy in the future."
At the end of his words, the old Taoist waved the dust fly in his hand and spoke firmly.
Qinglan had already put her hands on her waist and was about to salute. She was stunned when she heard this and said: "The Taoist Master misunderstood, Wu Lang hasn't come over yet, this is..."
She glanced at Xue Bai and felt that saying it was a book boy now seemed to embarrass Fang Daxu.
At this time, there was a sudden "bang" in the direction of the study.
Qing Lan then gave Xue Bai a gentle push and said, "Go and see if anything is broken and clean it up."
"good."
Xue Bai bowed to Fang Daxu, who was still stroking his beard to hide his embarrassment, turned around and walked towards the study.
After bypassing the small bamboo garden and climbing up the stairs, I could already hear the quarrel.
"If it weren't for you, how could Wulang have suffered such a disaster?!"
"It was Goro who told lies, but fortunately my son-in-law asked his friends, and Ji Dalang released Goro..."
"Shut up, that's just unreasonable, don't mention those bad friends of yours again!"
"My father-in-law is so angry, but what did my son-in-law do wrong? Isn't it for the good of the Du family that my son-in-law befriends powerful people?!"
There was another loud "bang bang" sound.
The study door was not closed. Xue Bai stepped forward and saw Du Youlin angrily pushing down a short table.
"For the benefit of the Du family? Ahem, you can say such things? How much salary do you have for a soldier? You used my daughter's dowry to give luxurious things to those celebrities, brought trouble to the Du family, and you still dare to swear by it."
"My father-in-law is confused. He doesn't know that only by giving up can he gain something. If you win over them now, they will support the prince in the future..."
"Shut up! Shut up!"
Du Youlin was so angry that he almost fainted. Lu Fengniang and Quan Rui supported him on the left and right, stroking his forehead with their hands and panting.
Standing opposite them was a handsome young man, wearing a brocade fur coat and a dark blue soft bun on his head. In this cold winter month, he was holding a folding fan and hanging a jade fan pendant. He looked really elegant.
Presumably this is the eldest son-in-law of the Du family, Liu Ji.
Although Xue Bai had only been at Du's house for three days, he had often heard the name of Liu Lang's son-in-law.
According to Du Wulang, the eldest brother-in-law is arrogant by nature, enthusiastic, and informal, so he has a wide circle of friends; while among other people in the Du family, Liu Ji is arrogant and rude, flatters outsiders but is indifferent to his family, has a good eye for doing things but a low hand, except for one person. The secondary skin is absolutely useless.
At this time, Liu Ji turned a blind eye to Du Youlin's angry attitude and said to himself: "It is precisely because the prince has no power in the court that he allows others to bully him."
"I told you to shut up! Don't mention the prince again!"
Du Youlin's face turned red and he wanted to break away from his support and attack Liu Ji.
"What can't be mentioned? My father-in-law will be the father-in-law of the dynasty in the future, so he is too timid and cowardly..."
Xue Bai suddenly realized at this time, no wonder he heard Du Wulang mention "second sister" in awe in the past few days. It turned out that the second wife of the Du family was actually married to the prince of the dynasty.
I saw Du Youlin's eyes widened, and he actually fainted from anger.
"Alang!"
Over there, Liu Jicai said, "I am the brother-in-law of the prince." When he suddenly saw this situation, his expression finally changed and he quickly stepped forward to help him.
"Go away!" Lu Fengniang screamed and scrambled.
The steward Quan Rui quickly shouted: "Quick, call the doctor."
The maid Caiyun ran out in a hurry and bumped into Xue Bai.
Xue Bai rushed forward to help Du Youlin, looking calm.
"Let him lie on his side, unbutton his collar, and keep his breathing open."
"Alang! Alang!"
Fortunately, it didn't take long for Du Youlin to wake up. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he did was to raise his finger to Liu Ji with difficulty, pursed his lips, and repeated a word.
"Heli... Heli..."
Xue Bai looked at Liu Ji and saw his eyelids visibly twitching a few times, his face full of disbelief.
Looking back, I saw a piece of calligraphy hanging on the wall of the study room, with eight large regular script characters.
"Be careful with your words and actions, as if you are walking on thin ice."
~~
At noon that day, the old Taoist priest in the courtyard was still shaking the soul-calling bell in his hand, his mouth was humming, and he was mumbling something.
"Please ask Jiutian Si Ming Zhenzhen to come and calm down the surprise..."
Liu Ji walked past the Taoist altar in despair, and when he walked around the wall to take a photo, the folding fan in his hand fell to the ground and he still didn't realize it.
~~
It's almost evening.
The ritual was finally completed. Lu Fengniang prayed several times to the incense table, "No disaster or illness" before ordering people to put it away, and then invited the old Taoist priest to have a meal.
Xue Bai helped pack up various items and went to the front yard to have dinner with the servants.
Then a servant asked him: "Have you seen? Alang is really determined to let the eldest wife reconcile this time?"
Xue Bai shook his head and said, "I don't know."
"But Quanfu said it during lunch, and you were also in the study at that time."
"I did not understand."
Others were muttering about the quarrel in the morning, but Xue Bai remained silent and focused on eating mohu cakes.
"Xue Bai."
Du Wulang put his hands behind his back, leaned out half of his body from the outer gate, and said: "Come here quickly."
The two then walked to the verandah and sat down by the railing.
"you eat."
Du Wulang looked around, took out a chicken leg from his back, and took out an egg from his sleeve.
This was not the first time. Xue Bai took it and ate it calmly.
First of all, he doesn't feel ashamed about working, and secondly, he believes that helping each other is human nature. He has a kind of confidence that sooner or later the help he receives will be repaid, so he is open and generous without any shyness.
"I've been standing all day, with Master Fang waving the talisman in front of my eyes. I'm so tired." Du Wulang stretched out and said, "What about you?"
"Sweep the floor and tidy up." Xue Bai said, "I secretly read your books in the afternoon when I was sorting out the bookshelves."
"They're all just trivial, and there's nothing worth seeing about them."
"For usefulness, not for fun."
"You are really different from ordinary people." Du Wulang couldn't help but sigh, and asked: "My grandfather and my eldest brother-in-law are arguing again? Do you really want to reconcile?"
Xue Bai asked back: "Isn't it good to make peace? How does Liu Lang's son-in-law treat your eldest sister?"
"I don't know." Du Wulang thought for a while, then scratched his head and sighed: "I just feel that the eldest brother-in-law treats me very warmly. Just like I didn't want to go to Pingkangfang, but... alas!"
"You wanted to repay his enthusiasm and did something you didn't want to do?"
Du Wulang nodded and thought of the dead Duan Yan again.
"How old is your eldest sister?"
Du Wulang counted on his fingers and said, "Bingyin...twenty and six, what's wrong?"
"It's not difficult to get married again."
Xue Bai just thought for a moment that it would be a good way out if he could become the prince's brother-in-law, but now the age difference is too big.
Pity.
"Marry again?" Du Wulang asked, "You don't like your eldest brother-in-law too?"
"There's something I've always found strange. Do Yanagi-san and Yoshitaro know each other?"
"Yeah, they can talk."
Xue Bai asked: "Then Liu Lang's son-in-law took you to Pingkangfang, met Ji Dalang, and Ji Dalang caused trouble for you. Is this all a coincidence?"
Suddenly, shouting came from the front yard.
"This is the private residence of a court official!"
"Go away!"
The two people turned around and saw a group of officials marching from the front yard into the second courtyard like wolves and tigers, and shouted back the concierge who was following them. They all looked fierce.
The leader was arrogant and shouted: "Jingzhao Mansion is taking people! Who is Du Youlin?"
"Sir, wait a minute." Quan Rui hurried out and shouted politely: "Can you please come to the hall to watch tea?"
"Let Du Youlin come out!"
The official looked up coldly and pushed Quan Rui's hand away.
A few pieces of silver fell to the ground.
"What's the fuss about?"
Following these words, Du Youlin slowly walked out of the west study room, with one hand behind his back and a book in the other hand, and asked: "But Jingzhao Mansion is looking for me?"
"Are you Du Youlin? Take it down!"
A group of officers rushed forward and pinned down Du Youlin.
In the confusion, the book fell to the ground.
"Let go! It's insulting to gentlemen... Do you know who I am?!"
Quan Rui didn't expect that they would really dare to take advantage of the imperial officials, so he hurriedly stepped forward to stop them.
"Don't make mistakes, don't make mistakes. Do the officials know? The second wife of the Du family is the current crown prince Liangdi!"
"The one who took it is the prince's father-in-law!"
With a "clang" sound, the officer pulled out his sword and restrained Du Youlin, who was still trying to struggle.
"Listen up, everyone. Du Youlin 'made false claims about prophecies, told the East Palace, and criticized Cheng Yu'. He will be arrested and interrogated by Jingzhao Mansion. The others will be temporarily detained in the house and are not allowed to leave without permission!"
As soon as they heard about this accusation, everyone was stunned and stunned.
Lu Fengniang rushed out from the hall. Seeing this situation, she was so shocked that she collapsed on the ground.
Du Youlin felt like he was mourning for his heir, his lips trembled and he did not dare to move again.
Quan Rui's face turned pale and his eyes were blank.
This family was originally from a noble family. They had done nothing today, but suddenly they were hit by a bolt from the blue.
With such a heinous crime covered, no one in this house can escape.
"Grandpa!"
When Du Wulang saw Du Youlin being taken away, he subconsciously chased after him for two steps. His feet went weak and he almost fell to the ground.
Someone held him up.
He looked up and saw Xue Bai's still childish face and calm eyes...