Wei Anshi was a little cautious. He carefully looked around and saw that no one was around. Then he lowered his voice and said to Li Chongrun: "The elders in the family have sent a letter. They only said that they heard that the prince is in Yangzhou now, and asked the young man to come and pay New Year greetings to the prince. Also,
Some small gifts have been sent to the inner courtyard."
When Li Chongrun heard what he said, he thought to himself that this little old man looked like an upright official, so why was this road so familiar? Moreover, how could he come to him in a walking way?
"I don't know about Mr. Wei, the elder?" Li Chongrun naturally knew that he was overweight. Since Wei Anshi had shown himself as the elder in the family, Li Chongrun had no choice but to follow this line of inquiry.
"In terms of seniority, Princess Luling is my distant cousin. Speaking of which, I am the prince's cousin."
"My mother?"
King of Luling, the title given to the former emperor Li Xian after he was exiled to Fangzhou. This Li Xian is naturally Li Chongrun's biological father, and from this we know that the Princess of Luling is naturally Li Chongrun's biological mother, the famous Empress Wei in later generations.
Mrs. Wei.
No wonder Wei Anshi can talk about the elders in his family, and his cousin is also an elder.
Wei Anshi carefully handed over a well-sealed letter, then said a few nonsense words of New Year's greetings, and left in a hurry.
Li Chongrun didn't know what to say in the letter, but he was used to being careful. After he hurried back to his bedroom in the rockery, he opened the letter with some concern.
The handwriting is beautiful, and it does look like it was written by a woman.
The things mentioned in the letter were very common. First, he explained that his parents were forced by circumstances and could not contact him for many years.
After expressing his apology, he praised his achievements in the past few years, which fully expressed the recognition of a pair of normal parents for their eldest son's achievements.
Li Chongrun has been imprisoned within the high palace wall of the western city since he traveled through time. He has no memory of his nominal parents at all.
I had been living in Luoyang for more than ten years without any news from him. So I always treated myself as an orphan. It was not until I got Aunt Shangguan that I felt like home.
This sudden letter from home made Li Chongrun's mentality faintly collapse.
It's not that I'm complaining, after all, there is an elder above my head who likes to delete the household registration book, so anyone else would have to shrink his head and do things.
He was previously locked up in a deep palace without any contact with the outside world. It was only because of a moment of boldness that he made a name for himself, and for some reason he gained the favor of Shangguan Auntie and Her Royal Highness the Princess.
Today's King of Linzi.
Aunt Shangguan was very kind to him, and Li Chongrun naturally knew that although he had always called her aunt, he had actually treated her as his own mother.
Li Chongrun felt that this thin letter seemed a little unfair to Aunt Shangguan.
But the troubling thing is that deep down in my heart, I am vaguely looking forward to this family member who suddenly appeared.
The letter mentioned that he had a younger brother and a pair of twin sisters. Li Chongrun was a little curious. He wondered if his younger brother was as clever as Brother Fan, who was now named Wu Fan, and if his twin sisters were like Yao.
Cousin Yao is so beautiful.
The last sentence of the letter said that letters could be sent through Governor Wei on weekdays and could be kept confidential. He also said that his sister admired his brother's talent very much and wanted to write more letters.
"Save us from getting into trouble when we meet in the future."
It was just a very common sentence at first, but in the past few years, Li Chongrun has experienced the ups and downs in the court, and his ability to listen to other people's voices has improved a lot.
There is no point in assuming that my mother-in-law seems very determined to see each other again in the future.
But where did my mother’s confidence come from?
Li Chongrun read the letter and watched it ignite a faint flame on the lamp, then turn into wisps of green smoke. Finally, even the green smoke dissipated in the world, and he still hadn't figured out what his mother-in-law's confidence was.
Li Chongrun was stunned for a while, and his thoughts were interrupted by the maid's voice.
The craftsman in the backyard asked the maid to look for Li Chongrun and said that the knife he had made earlier was ready and asked him to come and take a look.
With a sound of "Choke!", Li Chongrun pulled out his trial version of the Japanese sword from its sheath.
Several of the craftsmen must be experienced in making knives, and the feeling of drawing the knife is extremely sharp, without any feeling of sluggishness. The originally thick blade is much thinner and is no longer as heavy on the hand as before.
The blade was polished to a high shine, and faint stripes appeared on the blade. The stripes were twisted and graceful, giving the whole knife a strong and rustic flavor.
The blade was also ground very carefully. Li Chongrun tried it on the hair on his hand and felt that it would not be a big problem to use it for shaving.
Several craftsmen brought over some tools for knife testing, which were nothing more than bamboo mats and wooden sticks. Li Chongrun didn't like such dull knife testing, so he asked someone to bring a piece of pork half.
The nobles of the Tang Dynasty rarely ate pork, firstly because they didn't know how to cook it, and secondly because the pig had a strong odor no matter how you ate it.
Fortunately, these are not problems in Li Chongrun's view. Things like cooking have been solved long ago. As for the smell of pork, as long as the pigs are made into eunuchs when they are young, it will be fine.
Therefore, there is no shortage of pigs in the garden, especially since the Chinese New Year is coming soon. Knowing that my prince likes to eat rotten pork elbows, I have already killed two pigs and hung them at the door of the kitchen.
Li Chongrun hurriedly called Gongsun Lan over. Although this girl had been promoted to Ruren, she did not just start living a life of pampering like other wealthy ladies. She still practiced diligently every day.
However, in the past two days, she had to frequently receive visiting guests. This new lady was too lazy to change her clothes frequently. She was practicing kung fu in a Hu suit with sachets and other items hung neatly on her body.
So when Li Chongrun saw her, he felt that the scene was very strange.
Hearing that the new knife Li Chongrun had made for him was ready, Gongsun Lan put down his posture and followed him. His little face was no longer as cold as before, but he was a little excited and curious.
"The knife is so beautiful." Gongsun Lan was still a girl after all. When she took out the knife, she was attracted by the twisted patterns on the knife at the first sight.
"This pattern is not for decoration, but mainly to increase the toughness of the knife." Li Chongrun touched his nose, thinking that at least the appearance issue was over.
She held it in her hand and waved it around. Gongsun Lan was very satisfied with the center of gravity and weight of the knife. However, the curvature of the blade made her a little uncomfortable. She had to hold the knife several times before she found the feeling of holding it.
Pointing to the pork half that had been hung on the tree, Li Chongrun motioned to Gongsun Lan to go and try the knife.
Slightly lowering her body, Gongsun Lan made a hand gesture. She didn't see how she was accumulating strength. The long knife in her hand made a very clear and crisp sound, leaving a few afterimages in the air. It was very strange.
He simply passed through the pork halves.
The soft "click" sound was heard together with the sound of pork falling to the ground. In the blink of an eye, Gongsun Lan had completed the process of drawing out the knife, cutting the meat, and receiving the knife, and stood there lively, as if it hadn't started yet.
"Good sword skills!"
"What a great knife!"
Two compliments sounded at the same time, but Li Chongrun praised his wife's swordsmanship, while Gongsun Lan praised the long knife made by his father-in-law.
Li Chongrun walked forward and looked carefully at the chopped pork halves.
The cross section is extremely smooth, and even the bones have been chopped extremely neatly, as if they were no different from cutting meat.
Gongsun Lan took out the knife again and carefully checked whether the blade was damaged.
Gongsun Lan checked the blade up and down twice and found no damage.
"The knife is a good knife!" Gongsun Lan seemed to notice something and raised the knife to smell it. "It smells a bit unpleasant."
"What the hell~ Gai Xue must be old and has been in heat recently, so the smell of urine is a bit strong." Li Chongrun scratched his head in embarrassment, "I'll use pony urine to quench the water next time. I think it will be better."
Gongsun Lan knew that blacksmiths would use some weird methods to sacrifice knives, but he had heard of using river water, blood, and lard and butter. He had never heard of Li Chongrun using urine.
No wonder Wu Qi was asked to catch the urine for so long. It turned out to be to sacrifice the sword. Knowing this, Gongsun Lan gave Wu Qi, who was hiding aside, an apologetic look.
The people who were having fun dispersed, which delayed several blacksmiths from celebrating the New Year. Li Chongrun looked at the red eyes of the craftsmen who had been sharpening their knives all night, and he felt very embarrassed and wrapped a few huge red envelopes, which was not authentic.
Poaching.
But these craftsmen all signed long-term contracts, so naturally they couldn't just leave. They could only thank Li Chongrun profusely for his kindness and go back unsteadily.
Picking out old talismans and replacing them with new ones. Without firecrackers, Li Chongrun lit a huge fire and threw several bamboo tubes into it, making some crackling sounds, which brought a bit of New Year flavor to the cold winter in Wuzhou.
.
The little girl brought from Runzhou was almost healed from her injuries, but she still didn't speak much. Gongsun Lan saw that she was pitiful, so he kept her with him all day long. The little girl actually started learning kung fu from her.
On the fifth day of the lunar month, the young master of the Song family was almost healed from his injuries, so Li Chongrun let him go. His cousin couldn't stay at home for more than half a month. He took a lot of money and silk from Li Chongrun and happily followed him.
The young master of the Song family went out to look for his old playmates.
On the seventh day of the lunar month, we welcome the God of Wealth.
Li Chongrun had just gone to the workshop and grain house to worship the gods, and when he was about to go to the press shop next to the Confucian Temple to conduct rituals, the disciple came over to spread the news that the head of the Lanling Xiao clan was visiting.