380. The Assassination Incident on the New Year's Day
In the late twelfth lunar month, my family began to prepare New Year's goods, and we gradually received New Year's goods from the north and south.
In the north, Qiu Jing bought some bacon and the like. He still remembered that Su Liang said that he liked to eat bacon from a shop in Nanping City, so he asked Qiu Cong to buy a lot and send it to the capital.
In the south, Lin Xin prepared one New Year's goods for the Lin family and one for the Su family, mostly specialties from the south. In addition to the New Year's goods, there were also a lot of gifts prepared by Nian Jincheng, Lin Xin and others for Gu Xiaonuan.
Nian Jincheng and Lin Xie had previously made a bet on whether Su Liang was pregnant with a son or a daughter, agreeing that whoever guessed wrong would lose the chance to be the child's godfather. However, it turned out that Lin Xie, who was the first to say that he wanted to be Gu Xiaonuan's godfather, guessed wrong.
But he didn't recognize it. The letter he received completely claimed that he was Gu Xiaonuan's godfather, and he looked like he wished he could grow wings and fly to the capital to hug Gu Xiaonuan.
Lin Xian didn't mention Yuan Ying, but they had already tacitly agreed on some things. If there was any news, Su Liang would definitely tell him. If he didn't say anything, there would be no news, and it would be useless to ask.
Su Liang also asked Song Qi to prepare new year's goods and send them to Xuanbei City and Kasyapa City at the beginning of the month.
The couplets were written by Gu Ling, who also cut a lot of window grilles.
On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Cen Man and Lao Mu looked at their children, while Su Liang and Gu Ling posted couplets together.
After confinement, Su Liang wanted to move, but she couldn't do strenuous exercise for the time being, so she found something to do.
Gu Ling applied the paste, Gu Ling was responsible for pasting it, and Su Liang was responsible for handing the couplets to Gu Ling and checking whether they were pasted correctly.
"Is Xiaonuan crying?" Gu Ling suddenly stopped what he was doing and asked Su Liang.
Su Liang listened carefully and shook her head, "No. I think you have separation anxiety, Master. You have been thinking about your child since you were separated, and you always feel that others can't take care of you."
"Is there still such a disease?" Gu Ling frowned.
"Yes, it's a psychological problem." Su Liang said, "Just get used to it. We can't stare at her all the time."
"But Xiao Nuan is really crying." Gu Ling said.
Su Liang looked helpless, "Master, what are you..." Halfway through her words, she also heard cries coming from the direction of Yuanming Pavilion. Her baby's cries were so penetrating.
Then Lao Mu's voice called her, "Xiao Liang! Nuan Nuan is hungry!"
Su Liang immediately put down the couplet in his hand and rushed over.
Gu Ling also followed, and the couplet that had not been firmly attached was blown up by the wind, and it hit Qi Yan's face who just wanted to come over to help...
Su Liang held Gu Xiaonuan while breastfeeding, and even complained about how long she had just finished breastfeeding.
As a result, Gu Xiaonuan refused to eat, giggled, and danced in Su Liang's arms. Her bright black eyes were full of smiles, as if she was saying it was fun.
Su Liang handed Gu Xiaonuan to Gu Ling, "Your daughter is a little liar."
Gu Ling smiled tenderly and shook her daughter in her arms, "Are you so smart?"
Su Liang: ...It seems that I can only rely on her to spank children in the future, when necessary.
Su Liang's mentality is now different from when she first gave birth to the child. It may be that Gu Ling's father is too kind, which makes Su Liang feel that she can only be a strict mother and control her rationality.
But just now Su Liang heard that Gu Xiaonuan was hungry and rushed back to Yuanming Pavilion, which showed that her rationality was also very limited.
After playing with Gu Xiaonuan for a while, Gu Ling and Su Liang went to post couplets, but as soon as they left Yuanming Pavilion, they heard Gu Xiaonuan crying again.
Su Liang complained, "Master, your prenatal education seems to be useless. I remember you told her the story of the boy who cried wolf."
Gu Ling chuckled, "If she could understand and remember then, I would be scared." Could she be another time traveler?
After several verifications that day, Su Liang and Gu Ling discovered that as long as one of them was around Gu Xiaonuan, she would stop making noises. When both of them were away, she would howl from time to time.
But Su Liang wanted to post couplets, and Gu Ling wanted to post couplets with Su Liang, so it became a family of three to post couplets. Gu Ling held Gu Xiaonuan in one hand and posted couplets in the other. Although it was a little slower, it was a lot of fun.
Gu Xiaonuan was wrapped up tightly, but she couldn't hide her excitement outside, and she couldn't stop laughing.
After posting the couplets, Gu Xiaonuan fell asleep and was put in the cradle by Gu Ling.
Gu Ling got interested, spread paper, polished ink, and drew a picture. The picture showed a warm scene of a family of three posting couplets, but it was from his back because he could not see his expression and had never painted his own portrait.
.
Gu Xiaonuan likes red things very much. Gu Ling knitted them by herself. The Chinese knot hanging on the bedside has been moved to the cradle.
…
Twenty-nine, steamed buns.
Gu Ling and Su Liang hadn't cooked together for a long time. While Gu Xiaonuan was asleep, they were busy making steamed buns in the kitchen.
Gu Ling kneaded the dough and got a little flour on his face. When Su Liang saw it, he came closer to help him wipe it. As a result, Gu Ling hugged him and lowered his head to kiss her.
Both of them had abstained from sex for a long time. Their lips and tongues were entangled, and they were both moved by emotion. They didn't even hear the water in the pot boil.
In the end, it was Gu Xiaonuan's cry that separated the two.
Su Liang's face turned red, "Master, it's been more than half a month since my confinement. I'm clean, so I should be fine. How about we tonight..."
Gu Ling's eyes moved down and landed on the lower part of Su Liang's neck, "I really want to."
"No buts. It's settled happily." Su Liang took the apron, washed her hands, and went to coax the child.
Gu Ling breathed a long sigh of relief and turned around to notice the boiling water in the pot. He couldn't bear it anymore if he didn't eat meat.
When Su Liang entered the kitchen again, the steamed buns had already been put on the steamer. Gu Ling had a good habit of cleaning up while cooking, so the kitchen was still clean when it was done.
When the steamed buns came out of the pot, Su Liang saw something strange in shape inside. If he looked closely, he saw that it was actually a bamboo shoot...
"Is this specially made for Gu Xiaonuan?" Su Liang felt that when Gu Xiaonuan grew up, she must tell her that her dear father once thought of naming her Xiaosun.
"Made for you. Bamboo shoots and bean buns." Gu Ling opened it, revealing the filling inside. He didn't add any sugar to the bean buns, but used steamed and mashed sweet potatoes to sweeten them.
Su Liang took a bite. It was hot, sweet and delicious. It was very delicious.
…
It was agreed that they would eat meat that night, but when the love got stronger, Gu Xiaonuan howled so loudly that Gu Ling almost collapsed. Maybe he slept too much during the day, but Gu Xiaonuan was so energetic that night that he didn't sleep until midnight, and Su Liang was also very tired.
, her and Gu Ling's "exercise plan" can only be postponed temporarily.
When she got up the next day, Gu Ling decided that in order to let her daughter sleep well at night, she should not let her sleep too much during the day. She should develop a regular daily routine from an early age in order to maintain good health.
So, on New Year's Eve, Gu Ling and Su Liang played with Gu Xiaonuan for a long time very seriously.
It started to snow again in the evening. Gu Ling's family of three had a New Year's Eve dinner with people in the house. Nangong Qian and Qiu Yue cooked it. Cen Man also cooked two dishes. Gu Ling cooked a fish. Because Su Liang
When I was pregnant, I couldn't eat fish for a long time. I felt nauseated when I smelled it. Today I wanted to eat it.
After the New Year's Eve dinner, Gu Ling and Su Liang gave their daughter a bath first, and then took turns accompanying her daughter while the other person took a bath.
When Su Liang returned to the bedroom after bathing in the study, she saw Gu Ling's deep eyes as soon as she entered the door.
Then, both of them were waiting for Gu Xiaonuan to fall asleep quickly. Fortunately, their "plan" was successful. Gu Xiaonuan squinted his eyes after feeding, and fell asleep soon after.
Gu Ling put Gu Xiaonuan in the cradle, covered it with a light-blocking gauze curtain, turned around and pushed Su Liang down on the bed...
Gu Ling said that we should stay up tonight and not sleep.
Su Liang thinks it makes sense.
There is heavy snow outside the window, and the feeling of spring is strong inside the house.
…
One year old is eliminated amidst the sound of firecrackers.
Lao Mu put on new clothes early in the morning and ran to the door to set off firecrackers.
Not long after he fell asleep, Gu Ling was awakened by the sound of firecrackers coming from far away. He took the half-asleep Su Liang to do some "morning exercise", and then got up refreshed to go to his daughter.
It's time to change diapers.
Su Liang was so tired that she slept for a long time, during which time Gu Xiaonuan had already received several New Year's money.
When Su Liang got up, took a shower and put on new clothes for the New Year, she went downstairs and saw Gu Ling holding Gu Xiaonuan and looking at the snow outside the window.
The father and daughter both looked back at Su Liang. They had two very similar faces, one large and one small, one as beautiful as a banished immortal and the other as beautiful as an elf, which made people sigh at the Creator's preference.
Gu Xiaonuan waved her little hand at Su Liang, which was a sign that she liked someone.
Su Liang walked over with a smile. The family of three were wearing parent-child clothes, and the patterns on the collar and sleeves were all the same.
Cen Man came to the door and saw this scene and thought it was so beautiful.
"New Year's greetings to Master." Su Liang bowed, and Cen Man gave her the "New Year's money" that she had prepared long ago with a smile on her face. It was not money, but one of her favorite hidden weapons.
Lao Mu came over with a large wooden box and mysteriously asked Su Liang to guess what was inside.
"I guess it's a piece of wood." Su Liang said.
Lao Mu was speechless, "Guess well."
Su Liang said he couldn't guess. Lao Mu is now keen on making some weird things with Gu Ling, many of which are beyond Su Liang's imagination.
However, the gift Lao Mu gave Su Liang this time was not this kind of gift, but something that Su Liang had described earlier, and Lao Mu made it.
He slowly opened the wooden box, revealing the Lucky Cat-shaped ornament inside, and then touched a mechanism behind the ornament. The Lucky Cat's hand began to wave towards Su Liang.
Su Liang thought it was amazing because the lucky cats in her previous life were all powered by batteries. She had only asked Lao Mu and Gu Ling if they could achieve what she described by simply using mechanisms, but she didn't expect Lao Mu to actually do it.
He came out. He did it behind Gu Ling's back. He did it by himself just to give Su Liang a surprise.
However, Lao Mu's aesthetics are a bit different from Gu Ling's. The cat head's expression is a bit yin and yang, but it looks quite funny, and Su Liang likes it very much.
"Thank you, Master. Master is so amazing." Su Liang hugged her and let Gu Xiaonuan touch the Lucky Cat's hands. Gu Xiaonuan laughed.
Su Liang declined the banquet in the palace on the grounds that she was just out of confinement and could not see the wind, and she knew it would be boring. The biggest pleasure for her and Gu Ling at the moment was to raise their children and do sports.
Duanmu Chen had long been used to it and didn't mind. He just planned to go to the Su Mansion to see his goddaughter when the weather was good. It was impossible for Gu Ling and Su Liang to bring their daughter into the palace to show him for the time being.
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Su Liang had no family to return to, so she and Gu Ling took care of the baby at home.
The envoys sent by the royal families of Liang and Yan to visit Princess Heqin all happened to arrive in the capital on this day. After all, their princess could not return to her natal family, so it was her natal family who came to visit.
Duanmu Chen happily let Situ Yao and Ji Yueyan meet the people who came to see them, and asked someone to prepare a return gift.
Outsiders were not allowed to stay longer in the palace, and all those who came would leave on the same day.
Before they left, Duanmu Chen already knew all the contents of the conversation.
Ji Yueyan had nothing to say. The person who came was just a routine person, asking her if she could adapt to the soil and water of Qian Country, how well she was in good health, etc. Ji Yueyan's mother and concubine had passed away long ago, and now her father also passed away years ago. After his death, Emperor Yan became his half-brother Ji Yuebai, whom she was not familiar with. For her, there was nothing worth remembering there.
The "secret conversation" with Situ Yao made Duanmu Chen even more concerned. The visitor might know that walls have ears, and the questions he asked were very obscure. Situ Yao didn't say anything to Duanmu Chen to snub her, he only said that he was living a good life, which made Duanmu Chen even more concerned. No need to worry about your mother's family.
But the monitoring expert was sure that he heard Situ Yao's cry.
Why are you crying when you are living a good life? Do you just miss your hometown and relatives? However, Duanmu Chen is definitely not neglecting Situ Yao. Even if she is pregnant, Duanmu Chen will occasionally go and sit there, but the relationship between the two is just like that at the beginning. The tacit understanding and affection are no longer what they used to be.
After hearing the report, Duanmu Chen didn't do anything. Regardless of whether Situ Yao was awakened or shrewd, Duanmu Chen only looked at the results. This is his woman who will give birth to his child. As long as Situ Yao doesn't do anything for Liang in the future. If Guo says things she shouldn't say and does things she shouldn't do, Duanmu Chen will treat her well.
…
Soon it’s the Shangyuan Festival, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
There is a grand lantern festival in the city tonight, but whether Gu Ling and Su Liang want to go there depends on Gu Xiaonuan. There are too many people, so it is not safe to take the child out, and I am afraid of scaring her, but the child cannot accept her parents yet. None of them are around.
Zheng'er had long ago begged Gu Ling to make him a lantern in the shape of a small airplane, and Gu Ling agreed.
In the evening, Lu Yu brought Zheng'er over, and Gu Ling handed the lantern to him.
After it was lit up, Zheng'er liked it very much, "Master is so awesome! It looks so good!" The lighted up little plane was hung by a rope, and it looked more like it was flying.
Zheng'er wanted to go see the lanterns with Gu Xiaonuan, but Su Liang said that her sister was too young to go.
Zheng'er reluctantly expressed her understanding, "My mother said that my younger brother can't go either. Then I'll tell my sister about it tomorrow after watching it!"
Su Liang said it was okay, although Gu Xiaonuan couldn't understand it at this stage.
Gu Ling also made other lanterns, a rabbit lantern for Su Liang, and another for Gu Xiaonuan. As Su Liang expected, it was shaped like a bamboo shoot...
Gu Ling said that he could not think of the most suitable shape for his daughter to send off. Only the bamboo shoot that Su Liang had named Xiaoshen had a strange connection with Gu Xiaonuan.
Su Liang said, just bamboo shoots, Gu Ling's ones are still very cute.
Lao Mu and Cen Man accompanied Nangong Qian to watch the lanterns, and Qiu Yue also followed. As soon as they arrived on the street, Nangong Qian couldn't stand the crowds of people and the smell of fireworks in the air, and kept coughing. Lao Mu opened the way, and the group was very excited. They quickly entered Wanjia Restaurant, and there was a private room reserved for them upstairs.
After going up, I found that the Lin family were all there, so they sat together. The Lin family brought their children out to watch the fun, but the child was small, and Lin Shuzhi refused to take him down for fear of being unsafe.
After a while, Lin Wei's parents came with Lin Shan, followed by Yuan Pei.
There were only two unmarried girls of similar age, Nangong Qian and Lin Shan, who had known each other before in Su Mansion, so they sat together and talked.
Lin's father played chess with Lin Shuzhi, and Cen Man chatted with Mrs. Lin.
Lao Mu felt bored and stared at the street market below, wanting to see if there were any good-looking lanterns to take home and hang for his precious disciples to play with, but he saw a pickpocket in the crowd.
Anyway, he had nothing to do, so Lao Mu jumped directly from the second floor, caught the thief who had already succeeded and was about to escape, found the stolen purse and returned it to the owner, and then called the officers and soldiers who patrolled the perimeter to maintain order and kidnapped the person.
.
Afterwards, Lao Mu returned to the restaurant and simply continued to stare down to catch the thief, thinking it was a serious matter.
Lao Mu, who had been watching the crowd flow, saw Lu Yu and Zheng'er appear in his sight. Zheng'er was riding on Lu Yu's neck, wearing an exquisite painted mask to cover the upper half of his face, and holding a strange-shaped small hand in his little hand.
Hua Deng is looking left and right excitedly.
It is also a custom for many people to wear masks when going shopping during the Lantern Festival. Lu Yu wore a large mask of the same style as his son's face.
Lao Mu followed Zheng'er with his eyes. When the father and son were about to walk away, Lao Mu suddenly noticed two suspicious-looking people squeezing through the crowd to approach Lu Yu. They looked very ordinary in their clothing, which attracted Lao Mu's attention.
, he saw the posture of the two people's arms, it was obvious that they had daggers hidden in their sleeves, ready to take action at any time.
"Old Cen!" Lao Mu's eyes narrowed, he called Cen Man and jumped out of the window again.
Cen Man didn't know what happened, but followed Lao Mu out without hesitation.
Others came to the window and looked down.
Soon, there was a commotion in the crowd. There were too many people and it was too chaotic to see clearly. I could only hear someone shouting "killer!"
However, the brief riot quickly subsided. Someone did die, but most people did not see it. When they learned about it, the market had returned to normal order again, and the people involved had "disappeared".
Cen Man escorted Lu Yu and Zheng'er back to the restaurant. Lao Mu dragged the two bodies into the dark alley and told the officers and soldiers who came over that he was Su Liang's master. After the officers and soldiers consulted their superiors, they asked Lao Mu to handle it on his own if necessary.
Find them again.
Those two people were indeed assassins, but it was not Lao Mu who killed them, but Lao Mu who stopped them. After Cen Man wounded them with a concealed weapon, the two committed suicide by taking poison, preferring to die rather than be caught.
Lao Mu used the light coming from the alley to search the two assassins. There was nothing that could prove their identities. Their appearance was very ordinary, and the weapons were cheap items that could be bought at roadside stalls. As for their martial arts,
Everyone is dead and there is no way to find out.
Lu Yu was worried about Wan Hui and the children at home, and wanted to entrust Zheng'er to Cen Man while he went home to take a look.
Cen Man thought that Lao Mu would come again, so she told Nangong Qian, and she escorted Lu Yu and his son home.
Lao Mu found the officers and soldiers he had greeted before and asked them to help deliver the body to the Su Mansion, and then went to the restaurant to pick up Nangong Qian and go home with him.
Su Liang and Gu Ling were about to go to bed, and Lao Mu called Gu Ling under the Yuanming Pavilion.
"I'm going to take a look." Gu Ling got dressed and went downstairs.
…
After learning that Lu Yu and Zheng'er had been assassinated, Gu Ling immediately frowned, "Who is it?"
Lao Mu shook his head, "I don't know." After saying that, he took Gu Ling to see the two corpses.
Gu Ling didn't find anything and asked Qi Yan to dispose of the body before dawn.
"Old Cen hasn't come back from sending Zheng'er home yet. I wonder if something happened to the Wan family." Lao Mu sighed.
While talking, Cen Man came back and said that everything was fine in the Wan family and that nothing unusual happened tonight.
Gu Ling asked them to rest and returned to Yuanming Pavilion.
I looked at Gu Xiaonuan first, she was sleeping soundly.
Gu Ling went to the bedside, took off her shoes, socks and outer clothing, and lay on the outside when Su Liang asked what was going on.
After Gu Ling finished speaking, Su Liang thought thoughtfully, "Lu Yu and Zheng'er usually walk around outside, and the location of their home is not a secret. The assassin chose to attack on a crowded street tonight. Does this mean that the person behind the scenes is sure? It’s not big, so we can only take advantage of this opportunity? Could it be that someone in the Li family is still alive and intends to kill Lu Yu and take Zheng’er away?”
Zheng'er's biological father was the head of the Li family, the largest porcelain merchant in the Qian Kingdom. The third son, Li, tried every means to snatch Zheng'er away during his lifetime.
"If it's the Li family, they shouldn't be dead soldiers." Gu Ling felt it was unreasonable.
"That's right." Su Liang shook his head, "Then it's even less likely that he is a human trafficker."
But if he came for Su Liang and Gu Ling, and wanted to arrest Zheng'er because he had a good relationship with them... Su Liang felt that her and Gu Ling's enemies were not that weak.
…
At this time, in the Nian family's mansion in the capital of Qian Kingdom, which had been vacant for a long time, a light came on in a courtyard.
This place was once sealed off. After Nian Ruxue and Nian Ruting's sister's crime of deceiving the emperor was exposed, the Nian family and his family were exiled.
On the day of the incident, Nian Ruxue disappeared and was never seen again. Later, when Nian Jincheng was rescued by Su Liang, Nian Ruting was rescued from the Tianlao. She was supposed to die, but was kept by Yan Qiqi's side privately. She fell into the hands of Duanmu Yi. Because Duanmu Yi failed to use Nian Ruting to disgust Gu Ling, he told Duanmu Chen that he had put her to death.
Later, after Gu Ling regained his identity, Nian Jincheng took back everything he had and became the owner of the Nian Mansion. However, he never lived in it again, and all his servants were dismissed.
"Ting'er, those two losers you sent are useless!" A middle-aged woman with rich makeup dusted off the dust on the chair and sat down.
Another woman in the room slowly walked to the chair next to her and sat down without wiping off the dust. Her voice was hoarse and dry, "In the past, Nian Ruxue liked to sit here the most."
If Su Liang were here, he would be able to recognize it at a glance. This is the fifth daughter of the Nian family, Nian Ruting, who was once obsessed with Gu Ling. And that middle-aged woman, Liao Dong is most familiar with her, is her master Shaoyao.
Even Duanmu Yi didn't know that Nian Ruting was still alive. Because he did order Nian Ruting to be executed, but the person who did it was Shaoyao, and Shaoyao was extremely dissatisfied with Lonicera and thought for a moment. He secretly saved Nian Ruting's life and accepted her as his disciple.
Shaoyao looked unhappy, "Ting'er, I'm talking to you."
Nian Ruting rubbed the armrest of the chair, still ignoring Shaoyao, "My life was ruined by Nian Ruxue. She must still be alive, but I don't know which gutter she is hiding in."
Shaoyao looked sulky. She accepted Nian Ruting because she wanted her to be grateful and to be her obedient slave. The most unbearable thing was to be disobeyed by her apprentice.
So Shaoyao stood up and came over, slapped Nian Ruting hard, "Are you awake?"
Nian Ruting didn't seem to feel the pain. She tugged at the corner of her mouth that was injured and smiled instead, "Master's question, I heard it. Those two are useless. Their only advantage is that they are devoted to me. I let them
I would be happy to die. Tonight is just a trial. I wanted to kill the child and make Su Liang suffer. It was an excellent opportunity, but it didn't work out."
"You just said that you hate your sister Nian Ruxue the most. Why do you insist on bringing trouble to Su Liang now?" Shaoyao snorted coldly.
Nian Ruting sneered, "Master, what I said was that Nian Ruxue ruined my life. I hate her, but I didn't say that I hate her the most. Of course, the one I hate most is Su Liang, because she took me away.
life and everything I want! It just so happens that master’s new master is also Su Liang’s enemy? If master wants to be reused by his new master, the best gift is of course Su Liang’s head.”
Shaoyao looked at Nian Ruting coldly, "Don't even think about taking advantage of me! What the master wants is not only Su Liang's life, but also the life of Gu Ling, who you miss so much!"
Nian Ruting's expression finally changed, "He...why does he always dismiss me? We are obviously destined to be an unmarried couple. It's all because of those two bitches Nian Ruxue and Su Liang."
people!"
"Stop talking nonsense!" Shaoyao looked impatient, "I'm not here for you. Just be calm and don't do anything I didn't ask you to do without permission! I don't want stupid actions like tonight to happen again!