Brother Donggong

Cui Bicheng came back after spending the night fooling around outside. As soon as he came back, he sat on the long soft rattan chair in the attic by the water, and immediately surrounded by a few handsome young men to undress him, and A beautiful little maid came over with a porcelain basin in both hands, and another maid poured water into the porcelain basin with a silver bottle and waited for him to wash.

I have always wondered what Cui Bicheng's preferences are, does he like to have more peaches and broken sleeves, or does he think that adding fragrance to red sleeves is better?

"Why did the prince come to me today? Why did you wake up so early?"

Cui Bicheng twisted the silk scarf and wiped his face. Someone next to him had already served fragrant tea. He held the tea bowl and asked me, who was sitting opposite him, "Isn't it because I am worried about things in the south? Don't worry, what you said, I will never It’s embarrassing for you. The land I bought, you let me grow rice, I will definitely grow rice, even if you want to grow grass, anyway, even if the tenants can’t eat grass, the sheep can still eat it.”

I stayed up all night with tinnitus and dizziness.

Before dawn today, my uncle put on his official uniform and went to the Ministry of Officials to report the funeral by himself, and asked for an order for Ding You by the way.The officials know about it, and they probably have to go to the palace to report the funeral. After all, my mother is now a noble concubine. She is not what she used to be, and her status is extremely noble. Although my grandfather has not been knighted, he has been the head of the country for more than 20 years after all. Veteran relatives of the royal family died in the right place, even if they were not qualified to hold a state funeral, they had to have a decree to support their family members after one day.

Cui Yan might be in the Ministry of Officials, or simply went to the Dazheng Palace to wait for the decree. I always felt uneasy sitting in the palace, and my right eyelid kept twitching, so I simply ran to Cui Bicheng.I originally thought that he was keeping his filial piety at home, but the servant of their family told me that he hadn't come home all night, and he always came back outside when the sky was dim, and he smelled of alcohol.

Seeing his contented appearance, I have a vague but extremely secret hope in my heart. Maybe, my grandfather's matter is a hidden pile arranged by Lao Cui, and there may be other secrets.

I looked at Old Cui with a dismal expression, and said, "Uncle came last night..."

"Oh?" Cui Bicheng raised his slender and meticulous eyebrows, "Are you going to Beijing to report on your work? Did you bring you your favorite smoked rabbit? It is true to say that, my father is a serious scholar, but he did not learn from Yongjing. The ambitions of those scholars, after so many years, he is still at ease as a seventh-rank official in Meicheng County, and his salary is not enough to eat, so he is actually contented."

I looked up and down at Old Cui, and he said, "If you have anything to say, just say it, don't look at me like that, I'll let you look at me so hairy."

I glanced at him, then scanned the surroundings with my eyes, Lao Cui told everyone around him to go down, and then laughed at me, "Don't be suspicious, I don't say anything outside, I can't say anything inside, if you have anything to do, just go straight to him." explain."

Me, "Grandpa passed away the night before yesterday. It was very strange. Everything was safe in the first half of the night, but I swallowed arsenic in the second half of the night."

After a while, Cui Bicheng said, "Oh."

"Oh what do you mean?"

"Oh, it means it's meaningless."

I pulled his collar to stand up, leaned into his ear and asked him, "Did you know about this from the beginning, did you have any arrangements?"

Cui Bicheng grinned, as if smiling, but he said, "No."

I squinted at him, hung my heart all night, and finally put it back in my heart.

The news of grandpa's death is just a cover-up by old Cui Bu. He wants to build plank roads openly and keep things secret. If grandpa dies, my uncle can resign and return to his hometown Dingyou to keep his filial piety. In this way, old Cui can take care of our family members one by one. Send it to a secret and safe place for protection, so that the schemes and tricks of those ambitious people in Yongjing who want to catch us at any time will not succeed.

So, I followed his example and let out an "oh" from my nostrils.

There was a big funeral in Cui's house.

When my uncle Cui Yan reported the funeral to the official department, he did not dare to say that my grandfather died of ingesting arsenic, he only said that he fell asleep in the middle of the night.In fact, he did not swallow arsenic either. Old Cui said that what he prepared was the seven-inch jasmine root. When he drank it with hot tea and closed his eyes, he could sleep for seven days just as he had died.These seven days are enough for the Cui family to report the funeral, my uncle Ding You, and my grandfather to be 'embalmed', and finally the whole family escaped.

The whole city of Yongjing didn't have much interest in my grandfather, thinking that he was just an old widower whose temper suddenly exploded because he bought his daughter to the emperor. Usually, he hid in the Cui family compound in Ranzhuang, and even the folks in Ranzhuang's township Don't make friends, let alone come to Yongjing to 'make friends widely', so the nobles in Yongjing don't bother to talk to him.As for my uncle Cui Yan, originally when my mother entered the palace, after I was born, some people wanted to win him over, but after seeing that he was 'a straightforward man, not good at making money, and doesn't speak official language', he was despised by those nobles, so My uncle's official luck has not been so prosperous, he just kept going around in various counties of Zhili Province as his seventh-rank official.

My grandfather's identity is a bit embarrassing.

He is not a prince or general, but he is the biological father of a noble concubine in the harem. It stands to reason that he should be named a prince no matter what.But my father has not given any orders for a long time. If my mother was just a "beauty", her family was not qualified to be a marquis. Now she is already a "noble concubine". If she doesn't award something, she should attract attention .

Cui Bicheng originally thought that he would use thousands of taels of silver to donate an official to my grandfather, and it would look good on the tablet, but my uncle was not happy when he heard it. He said that the silver was enough to buy a few carriages of big white steamed buns, enough for the entire Ranzhuang People who eat it for several years, anyway, your grandfather doesn't value these fake and fake things, so let's just make do with it.

Outsiders only think of the habits of the natives in Cui's hometown, and don't go into it too deeply.In fact, my uncle was afraid of becoming an official. My grandfather passed away. Anyway, if it doesn't fall on his old man's head, it will fall on my uncle's own head. I don't want to take too much salary money.He thought that it would be enough to go home for dinner every month and sleep with his eyes closed every night. Other glory and wealth are the work of the stars in the sky and have nothing to do with him.

My grandfather's 'coffin' rests in Qingliang Temple on the outskirts of Yongjing.

This temple is small, the evil wind is not strong, and it is very clean.

When burying my grandfather, Cui Bicheng invited all the elderly people in Ranzhuang, the same clan, the seventh, eighth, ninth uncles, three aunts and six wives, seven aunts and eight aunts, scholars from ten miles and eight villages, Mr. Feng Shui, There are opera singers, practitioners, and a few wandering monks and old Taoists, plus a Manicheist who came from Western Xinjiang and believed in the God of Vulcan.There were a total of one hundred people, surrounded by a black crowd.

Cui Bicheng clasped his fists together, "Fathers and folks, seventh, eighth, ninth uncles, unfilial grandson Cui Bicheng is being polite now. Bicheng has been away for many years, and he is a junior, so he doesn't understand some customs in his hometown. Today is my grandfather's funeral, and the ancestors' rules dare not Forget it, and I dare not have the slightest ambiguity. I invite my parents and folks to come here today, just to ask everyone to take a closer look at it, and if there is anything that does not conform to the rules of the ancestors, please don’t hesitate to teach me. Come and serve tea!"

Then, the young servants of the Cui family came out in a file, carrying chairs and trays with tea bowls lined up inside.

Someone had arranged the chairs for a few rounds, and took care of the people who watched the fun to sit down one after another, and offered tea and fruit.

The people at Ranzhuang had never seen this kind of formation before, they watched the excitement, and there were people who served them with delicious tea, so everyone said in unison that Cui Bicheng was a dutiful son and grandson, but in fact they secretly called him a fool, an idiot, Bai gives people delicious food, and it also makes people watch.

Everyone in Ranzhuang knows that Lao Cui's family is rich, and they have plenty of money!

The silver is like no money, it is black and piece by piece.

This time the old man of the Cui family was buried, and the things buried with him must be first-class!

Such things as gold, silver and jewellery, silk and satin are all trifles, and there must be some rare treasures to open everyone's eyes, such as Mu Wang's chariots and horses, Wen Wang's gossip, the Western Zhou Dynasty's nine tripods, and golden jade clothes. See you last time.

Everyone craned their necks eagerly to watch.

Cui Bicheng was in front of everyone, slowly embalming my grandfather.

The shroud is made of good material, embroidered with pictures of the five blessings of the next life. The shoes and socks are made of high-quality silk, which is comfortable to wear. After washing the face, combing the hair, and putting on the shroud, the thin quilt is covered , Put it into the coffin, nail the funeral nails, there is a monk and an experienced monk in the coffin, one recites the Great Compassion Repentance, which can eliminate disasters and difficulties, save the souls of the dead, and the other concentrates on offering sacrifices, resolving grievances and washing karma.

At the end, Cui Bicheng knelt down again, kowtowed his head politely, then stood up, and asked those people, "How are you?"

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Everything Cui Bicheng did was in line with the rules of his ancestors, that is... Old Cui's family is so rich, they have plenty of silver!How could there be no valuable burial for the old man?

If you want to talk about being unfilial, there are no bad rules. If you want to talk about filial piety, how about a valuable funeral?

After waiting for my grandfather's coffin to be placed in Qingliang Temple, the whole Ranzhuang began to chatter, saying that their old Cui's family probably didn't have much money, and they didn't even have any jade for the old man's burial. Someone said, our family only has a few acres Land, hired a few long-term workers, but when my grandfather was buried for thousands of years, he buried a set of jade wine vessels, the Cui family is too stingy.

Cui Bicheng shook his fan, looked at the sky and said, "Let's pass it on, let's pass it on. The encoffining was done under the noses of everyone, it was clean, let everyone know that there is nothing in the old man's tomb, and save them I have been thinking about it all the time, thinking that there are good things in it, and if that short-sighted person digs it in in the future, then we will be out of luck."

Although the Cui family's funeral was very frugal and unostentatious, many people still came to mourn and join in the fun.A small clerk from the Ministry of Rites specially sent an essay with more than 1 characters, and an editor from the Imperial Academy came over and said that he had found the genealogy of the Cui family, saying that the Cui family was a famous official in the period of King Heyu. The descendants of Cui Jue, the minister of the cabinet, are also descendants of four generations and three princes, famous royal families, and princes and generals. It was only later that the descendants declined, so they studied in the farmland of Ranzhuang. It can be regarded as a 'farming and studying family'.

I wonder.

My grandfather sells pork, that is to say, he is in a small business. His ancestors have always been long-term workers, assistants, and poor farm laborers with no roof to shelter the rain and no place to stand.The only one who was named was a robber, so why did he become the descendant of Cui Gelao, a famous minister of the Heyu Dynasty?

Besides, didn't the Cui family have been wiped out and all their bones have been wiped out?

Simply inexplicable!

Cui Bicheng didn't say anything, just accepted them all with a smile.He also invited old monks to recite the scriptures, and the voices of the chanting came one after another, saying that the scriptures not only eliminate karma for the dead, but also pray for future generations.

I am here on behalf of my mother and my father to mourn.They were too precious to come here, so they pretended to be very sad and came to cry, and stayed in Qingliang Temple for a few days, where the mountains and rivers were beautiful, and it happened to be drinking and fishing.

I just sat on the boulder and watched the fishing rod inserted over there bit by bit. It seemed that there were fish biting the hook, and I didn't bother to pull it. I just lay flat here, covered my cheeks with a fan, and basked in the sun.

"Hee hee, there is water here, it's very clean, Miss, come and have a look!" Suddenly there was a silver bell-like laughter, and then came another sentence, "Ah, there is a living thing here! Lying on the stone , and cover your face with a fan, so you don't know if you're handsome or not?"

I frowned.I took off the fan, sat up, and turned my head to see two girls coming out of the forest. The one in front was wearing two buns and silver bells, and the girl behind was much more upright and beautiful. , wearing a colorful dress, but wearing a black thin silk cloak outside, with a full oval face, amber eyes, and dazzling beauty.

Mrs. Luo.

That girl, who looks like Princess Ayla, has the blood of Baiyi, but is very popular in Yongjing, the famous Kunqu Opera actress, Mrs. Luo.

How did I meet her here?

What is she doing here?

Is this a coincidence, or another trap?

I don't speak, just look at them.

Mrs. Luo didn't seem to know me at all. She looked at me, then at the fishing rod beside me, and said with a bit of embarrassment, "Zhier, there are people here."

Her voice is really pleasant, gentle and quiet, as if water has wiped away all the fireworks in the world.

"What are you afraid of? We're just washing our hands here. The mulberries we ate just now were so sweet, but they were so red that our fingers were stained. Miss, don't be afraid." With akimbo in front of her, she pointed at me, "Hey, I said you, turn your face away! Don't look at our lady, our lady needs to wash her hands."

Before I could speak, Mrs. Luo called her girl, "Children, don't be rude. Young master, excuse me."

The latter sentence is for me.

She walked to the edge of the stream, took off her hood, and her maid rolled up her sleeves, revealing a pair of slender and slender hands like green onions, which were pressed into the cold and cool stream, like carved out of ice jade.

The girl in front of me has the same appearance as Princess Ayla, but with different eyes, she is younger and more charming.

Her voice is so pure, one can imagine that there is some kind of conspiracy behind that flower-like beauty.

However, her face, born in Yongjing, was destined to be engraved in the conspiracy.

Wow, that little girl made too much movement when washing her hands, scaring my fish away.

"Oh! Miss, look quickly, there are fish here! They are alive!"

She pointed at the water excitedly, laughing loudly, like a child.

Mrs. Luo's handkerchief was loosened by her, and it drifted away bit by bit along the water. Then Mrs. Luo lowered her head and said with some annoyance, "How can this be good? How can I dry my fingers? I'm going to the mountains today. People who walk around are exquisite people, and they can't get their clothes dirty."

The little girl came over and said to me, "Hey, borrow your sweat towel. It's worth two renminbi. Go and buy a better one yourself."

I didn't give them sweat towels, nor did I take their money, I just continued to lie here, looked at my fishing rod and looked up at the sky and said, "The mountain wind is strong now, just hold your hands like this, after a while those water drops will be gone." done."

"you!--"

The little girl stomped her feet angrily, "I've never seen such a stingy man like you!"

I thought to myself, those who are more stingy will do things in the Qingliang Temple on the top of the mountain!

In the end, I didn't speak any more, and they left.

When I went back to the temple, I saw Marquis Xiao An, the grandson of Dongping County, the young sons of General Yuan's next wife, and a few noble relatives who got along well with Cui Bicheng, and they came to cry Yes, in fact, each of them brought a beautiful spring outing.A group of people, Yingying and Yanyan, they saw Cui Bicheng's face was not good-looking, and they didn't want to stay longer, so they cried a few times, put down their money, and left without drinking tea. I saw that among the group of people, There is Mrs. Luo and her little girl.

Cui Bicheng put the tear-jerking ginger into his sleeve and found time to go to the back dining room. He watched me stand on a low stool and look out from the small lattice window on the back gable.

"what are you doing?"

he called out.

"Hush..." I let out a cry, and then I got off the low stool and asked him, "The group of people who came just now, there is a woman in it, the one in a colorful skirt and black cloak, have you seen it?"

Cui Bicheng glanced at me thoughtfully, but didn't speak, I couldn't see what he was thinking.

Me, "That woman is a famous actress in Kunqu opera. Please help me find out her birth history. In the end, I found out about everything, including whether she wetted the bed when she was a child."

Cui Bicheng snorted, and said between his teeth, "You are sick!"

I squinted at him, "I tell you, that woman is not simple, do you know who she looks like?"

Cui Bicheng did not speak again.

Me, "Like Princess Ayla."

Cui Bicheng's face seemed to be covered with mist. Suddenly, he raised his hand and was about to hit me. When I tilted my head, his slap brushed my cheek and waved over.

I was taken aback, "You are crazy! What are you doing?"

Cui Bicheng grabbed me by the collar and said through gritted teeth, "That woman is a ghost. She has been haunting Yongjing for so many years. She came and went around Yongjing, and she only attacked you! Wake up! She's dead, she died early Well, even if you haven't been reincarnated, you're still a lonely ghost, not a good thing, so you can't help but touch her?"

I grabbed his hand and asked him in a daze, "What nonsense are you talking about? I didn't think about it. I just want to know who she is. I don't want to provoke her."

Cui Bicheng didn't believe me.

He was about to shake his sleeves and leave, and I grabbed his hand, "The first time I saw that woman was at Lao San's mansion. At that time, Lao San wanted to give him to me, but I didn't want it. The second time was at Lao San's mansion." When Chu Qiangsheng was newlyweds, I knew it was her, but I didn't really see it..."

I suddenly remembered that time when I was with Wen Zhan, the tormenting Hu was in the dark, and his face started to have a fever again.

Cui Bicheng looked at me carefully, but said nothing.

I went on to say, "The third time is today. Just now in the back mountain, they ate mulberries and wanted to wash their hands. They asked me to borrow a sweat towel to wipe their hands. I didn't borrow it. No, after I went back to the temple secretly, I saw her again Here. This is too coincidental."

Cui Bicheng was really serious this time, he thought for a while, "Are you telling the truth?"

"of course it's true!"

"If what happens... I mean what if, what if she is that princess's sister or something, what do you want to do? Let me tell you, there was a little Lian with ulterior motives around you in Yongjing. I haven't figured out the details yet, and now there is another female actress. If they are all in the same group or a family, will you just leave and can't pay back the debt of favor, and you won't be able to get out of this hopeless circle? ? Will you fall in love with that woman again?"

I was startled, and blurted out, "How is it possible, I already have Wen Zhan..."

When I said this, I was stunned, and Cui Bicheng was also stunned.

Now, it began to rain lightly, one drop, two drops, three or four drops, and the leaves were smashed.

It's like knocking outside at night.

For so many years, so many forgotten things, it seems that they have passed through Cui Bicheng's eyes.

In the end, he didn't speak, but pinched my ear.

"You have him in your heart, but does he have you in his heart?"

……

"Apart from the seat in the Dazheng Palace, can he pretend to be anything else?"

"He doesn't even care about his own mother and wife, what else does he care about?"

"Chengzi, think about it carefully. After he ascends the throne, what are you? If you really follow him with all your heart, your hard life is still to come. What do you call him? A brother, a concubine, a lover , is still the bitter fruit left by youth and frivolity. How will history books write about him in the future, and how will they write about you? Others dare not write about him, but they will all write about you. You are against all scholars in the world, and there is no good fruit to eat."

Cui Bicheng said this quietly, but I felt like he was hitting me hard with a sledgehammer. When I was almost unable to hold on, his sledgehammer shattered my Tianling Gai.

"Just follow him like this, have no one to rely on, and live alone forever, are you willing?"

The heart is like water, and the mind is like smoke.

The joy of today may become the bitterness of the future.

It's not that I don't know what kind of person Wen Zhan is. He said he liked me, but no matter how much he liked me back then, he didn't hesitate when it was time to do it.In the future, will he do the same?

Over the years, he has changed, he has become better, he has become affectionate, tolerant, and rational.

Are these real, or fake?

The dining room became lively.

Vegetarian food tonight, all kinds of chicken, duck and fish meat made of tofu, fresh bamboo shoots, beans, fungus, mushrooms, placed in delicate small plates, filled the table.The steamed fragrant rice is clean and fragrant, and it is tender and attractive when placed in a moist green porcelain bowl.

The surroundings were extremely quiet, only the sound of running water and the sound of peach blossoms falling to the ground.

On the third day, the young servant of the Cui family walked into the inner house holding a silver tray. Inside the silver tray was a thin golden tube, which seemed to be something tied to the feet of a carrier pigeon. Cui Bicheng opened it and took out a white tube from it. Slender silk with words on it.

He looked at it carefully, and then said to me, "That Mrs. Luo is nothing, she is just a child born in a mixed village of Zheng and Yi on the border of Western Xinjiang. Beijing, met a famous master of Kunqu Opera, and then started to learn art. Yu Lan has recruited her several times, but her teacher is strong and has a wide range of contacts, so she can withstand the influence of the third prince and not be robbed by the third prince. Go, it's really weird!"

When I heard it, I put the heart in my throat back into my stomach, and I asked casually, "Who is her teacher! So powerful?"

Cui Bicheng, "The boss of Guanzhi Building, Liu Yimeng!"