Farming and reading lady

The brother and sister looked at each other in silence for a long time. They had come this far and could not go back to find the old man. Now they could only take one step at a time and pray that they could reach the capital safely. Fortunately, this thrilling incident only happened once, and the rest of the journey was smooth. However, the brother and sister kept the makeup on their faces until they entered the gate of the capital and then quietly removed it.

Gu Xihao sighed deeply, his sister was still much stronger than him. If it weren't for his sister, the consequences might be unbearable for everyone. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but blame the old man in his heart. What is more important than human life? Or, have he and his sister become abandoned? He didn't say this to his sister, but it became a thorn in his heart. And this thorn also became his greatest motivation to strive forward.

Gu Xixian didn't think as much as he did. She just lay down. It was useless to think about anything. The enemy was in the dark and she was in the light. What could she think of?

At the city gate, Tong Mingyan had already sent his housekeeper to wait. The housekeeper was also from the Tong family, so he naturally recognized Master Tong. He went up to greet him and led a group of people to the Tong Mansion. The mansion of a third-rank official could not be small. Besides Tong Mingyan, there were many people in the Tong family who were very talented in other areas, so Tong Mingyan's mansion was quite grand. Gu Xixian once again sighed that the wisdom of the ancients should never be underestimated. This courtyard style, small bridges and flowing water, rockery and painted stones, flowers and trees, a courtyard is a modern park.

After meeting the teacher and his wife, the two were arranged to stay in a small courtyard called Mingxuan Courtyard near the main courtyard. It was called a small courtyard, but it was actually a small villa. The wife took into consideration that the two were still young and it was their first time away from home, so she arranged them in a courtyard. In addition, Tong Mingyan and his wife had no children of their own. The relationship between a disciple and a disciple was not less than that between parents and children in ancient times, so the couple naturally valued it. After arranging the two children, the two asked Master Tong about the details along the way. When they heard that someone was going to kill the two children on the road, they were all scared and broke out in a cold sweat. Regardless of whether the Gu family had expected it, if the two children were hurt on the way, it would be Tong Mingyan's business. He decided to have a good talk with the two children tomorrow. They were already here with him, and if anything happened, it would be better to know about it earlier so that he could take precautions. Although he felt a little uncomfortable about being used by the Gu family, he couldn't have any prejudice against the two children based on some speculations before he figured out the matter. After all, he was the one who took the initiative.

The next morning, after breakfast, the brother and sister were taken into the study by Tong Mingyan.

"Do you two have anything to say to the teacher?" Tong Mingyan stared at the two and asked in a deep voice. After years of official pressure, he didn't think any child could bear it.

Gu Xihao looked at him with open eyes: "Teacher, you are asking about the incident that happened on the road. To be honest, we are also confused, although we don't know why those people specifically asked for someone from the Gu family."

"Oh, then why do you want to change your appearance? And why do you carry these things with you? Aren't you avoiding something?" Tong Mingyan followed up.

"We..." Gu Xihao was about to explain, but Gu Xixian grabbed his hand, stepped forward and said, "Teacher, let me explain this."

Tong Mingyan nodded: "Okay, then you go ahead."

She opened the small bag she was carrying and took out a bunch of things, including two or three small charcoal sticks, a few small brushes, some small bottles filled with colorful liquids, a few folded papers, and a rouge box that looked like it had been used many times. She placed them on the table one by one and said, "You know, I have liked playing with strange things since I was a child, although I don't think so. I use this small charcoal stick for painting, and these are for coloring."

As she spoke, she opened the folded paper, picked up a charcoal stick and drew a simple Q version bird on it, then opened the small bottles, dipped a small brush into the various liquids in the bottles to paint the bird, and opened the rouge box with only a little bit of rouge left in it, used her little fingernail to dig out a little and smeared it on the bird's belly, explaining: "That's how it is used."

Tong Mingyan nodded, and the origin of these things became clear.

"When we heard someone specifically looking for someone with the surname Gu, my brother and I were scared. It was obvious that those people had bad intentions. Although we didn't know why they had to look for someone with the surname Gu, our surname was indeed Gu. What if we lost our lives for no apparent reason? That would be so unfair. I thought at the time that no matter whether we were the ones they were looking for or not, we had to hide first. But it was too late for us to escape. Besides, my brother and I couldn't run fast, so we had to think of a way first. I remembered that my mother and the others would put on makeup in the past, so I could do it too, so I painted a beautiful picture for my brother and myself, hehehe..." As he said this, he laughed and asked for fun, "Teacher, do you want to see what I painted my brother like?"

Tong Mingyan couldn't put on a straight face anymore. He was curious when he heard from his sixth brother that the two kids' makeup almost scared him to tears. He nodded immediately. He wanted to see if the little girl was really reacting on the spur of the moment.

Gu Xixian asked his brother to sit on the small table, picked up the charcoal pencil and started to fiddle with it. Right under Tong Mingyan's eyes, the handsome boy changed his appearance and there was no resemblance at all. Gu Xixian also pulled him in front of the teacher and asked him to "watch" carefully. His appearance was just like his name at that time, "Hao Yingjun", and he was extremely handsome.

Tong Mingyan couldn't help but sigh in admiration: It's a work of art that is so ingenious.

Gu Xihao looked at his sister helplessly. What could he do? Just spoil her.

"Teacher, isn't this very interesting?" asked a mischievous little girl.

Just when Tong Mingyan was about to put aside all his suspicions, Gu Xihao spoke at the right time: "Teacher, in fact, my sister doesn't know that our Gu family does have enemies. Before leaving, my grandfather told me that our Gu family ancestors had offended some big shot, which resulted in our descendants of the Gu family only being able to stop at the level of Tongsheng on the road to the imperial examination. My grandfather asked me to go to the capital to apologize to you on his behalf. He had been hiding this from the family, but because my sister and I were going to the capital, he was afraid that I would be hit like my father, so he revealed it to me in advance. Teacher, do you think those people were sent by that big shot?"

Gu Xixian widened his eyes: Why didn’t you inform her before doing this?

In Tong Mingyan's eyes, it seems that this girl really knows nothing.

Gu Xihao looked at his sister apologetically. He just didn't want to involve his sister. As for why he made it clear now, it was because he felt that some things were better to be said by himself than to let others know.

"What is the name of your ancestor?" After being in the officialdom of the capital for many years, he knew some strange stories. There really is one related to the surname Gu, but whether it is true or not still needs to be confirmed.

"According to my grandfather, our great-great-uncle's name was Gu Yuchen, with the courtesy name Huaijin. I know nothing else about him." He was reserved when speaking, and as for the rest, he felt it was better not to talk about them.