Bright Spring

However, standing here, Zhu Gaoxu didn't miss his parents, nor his brothers and sisters very much, he only thought about Miao Jin.Most of the people he cared about in the Ming Dynasty had already come to Yunnan Mansion, except for Miaojin.

It has been nearly a month since Wang Gui and others left Yunnan, so they should be arriving in the capital soon, right?The speed of a small group of people and horses is much faster than tens of thousands of people marching; as long as they pass through the mountainous areas of Guizhou, most of the post roads can ride horses and travel hundreds of miles a day.

...Huang Gou and several other eunuchs stood silently behind Zhu Gaoxu, because Zhu Gaoxu was leaning on the railing and dazed there, no one dared to disturb him.

Standing alone on a high place, he thought about many things.

A long time ago, he was an angry | youth, the anger hidden in his heart could not be resolved, he blamed the whole society, and was cynical all day long.Then I am impatient, careless and irritable in doing anything, and feel that everyone is sorry for myself; all kinds of desires cannot be satisfied, and I hope to do a big thing and get rich overnight.Fortunately, people will always grow.

At this time, Zhu Gaoxu decided not to disturb Shen Xu for the time being, but to be patient first, to figure out the matter before weighing.

He "visited relatives" for a long time, sighed in front of several eunuchs, "I don't know how the father and queen mother are doing", and then went downstairs.

Wangqin stood downstairs in two rows of eunuchs and maids, Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand and said, "You are all gone, the yellow dog will follow me to the front hall."

"Yes, my lord." Everyone bent down and replied.

The yellow dog hugged Fuchen and said, "Does the lord want your servants to prepare chariots and chariots?"

"Go over." Zhu Gaoxu ordered.After the war, he lacked exercise a bit, and he was more likely to gain weight if he didn't exercise his muscles.

This prince's mansion was only built according to the specifications of an ordinary prince's mansion. It is indeed large, and its circumference is said to be more than three miles.When Zhu Gaoxu walked near the Duanli Gate, he broke out in sweat.

When I came to the government office of the garrison office on the west side of Duanli Gate, there were more than a dozen soldiers staying behind, and they all came up to meet the ceremony.Zhu Gaoxu sat down in the public seat inside, and asked someone to bring up all the reports of the last few days.

Not long after, Wang Bin and Hou Hai also came in to pay their respects.One of them is the commander and the other is the Dianzhang. Except for the errands of the guard office, they have their own government offices.

Zhu Gaoxu kindly told them to find a place to sit, and continued to look at the files on the table.

After a long time, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly raised his head and said, "Why didn't anyone show me the report of the Mufu West Stronghold?"

Hou Hai and others immediately stood up and walked forward. Hou Hai couldn't wait to take a piece of paper to read, and handed it to Wang Bin next to him.

It was a report of a stronghold on Banyan Street on the west side of Mu Mansion. A middle-aged woman entered and left a mansion on the east side of the street twice within three days.

"Forgive me, my lord. I thought the woman was just a slave; the spy in the guard had nothing to report, so I wrote this letter to make an appointment. Don't dare to bother the lord with such trivial matters..." Hou Hai said hurriedly.

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at him and said, "No matter what happens, it's made up of such trifles. We can't just rely on guesswork, or let others say what we say."

Hou Hai and Wang Bin bowed together and said: "The lower official (the last general) is negligent."

Zhu Gaoxu said calmly: "Usually the men who go out of the mansion to purchase are men. Do we women in the Han Dynasty's mansion often go in and out of the mansion?"

The two were stunned, and only then looked at Zhu Gaoxu with admiration.

Zhu Gaoxu pointed to the piece of paper and said: "Send the Quan Yong team to find out the details of this woman, whether she is a servant of the Mu family."

They hurriedly said: "The next officer waits for orders!"

Zhu Gaoxu said very worriedly again: "When you ask the brothers to follow her, don't just follow her carelessly, you can use the method of following her in batches...Forget it, I will go there in person, you two, and then call Liu Ying , The other generals in the garrison will follow me, I will demonstrate it first, and you can learn how to use it next time."

Hou Hai said with a bitter face: "The lower officials are incompetent, such a trivial matter requires the prince himself."

"If you don't sweep a house, why sweep the world?" Zhu Gaoxu said casually, "This is not a trivial matter, I am teaching everyone tactics."

At this time, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but think of the "unknown force" again, the one who followed the Mu family's young lady.

……

Yang Sheng, the groom of Mu Mansion, lives in the row of houses on the west side of Mu Mansion.

Yang Sheng is almost 50 years old this year. He didn't have a name before. After joining the army, hundreds of households gave him names. There are many people like him, so the names of Ming soldiers are mostly Sheng, Yong, Jun, Wu, and Zhong.

I think he was still very young when he marched into Yunnan with Mu Gong 20 years ago; now he is getting old, the old injury on his leg has not been healed, and he is lame. Fortunately, Mu's house missed the old and left him to take care of the horses for the elderly.

Go out from the back door on the east side of the courtyard, and there is a street opposite the high wall of Mu Mansion.No one walks on this street, and the intersection has been blocked by a gate, so that outsiders cannot enter.

Outside the gate on the west side of the courtyard, there is also a wider street, with banyan trees planted on both sides; the street is a little damp, and the sky is covered by the lush branches.If it is early in the morning or late at night, the road on this street is not very clear.

When he was not in the army, Yang Sheng's family was completely destitute and could not marry a wife.After the war, he was middle-aged, his legs were lame, and his face was a little crooked. Brothers in the army found him a few women, most of them were widows with a few children, all kinds of widows, Blind, lame, and insane, so Yang Sheng has not yet married a wife.But he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Many brothers he knew had died, but at least he was still alive.

…Two months ago, Yang Sheng met a woman in the city, probably in her 30s or [-]s. The woman was dressed in tatters, but she still had a charm.The woman cried and said that her daughter was sick and had no money to buy medicine, so she came up to ask for money.Yang Sheng gave him a copper coin, but she said that it was not enough, she wanted to do part-time work for him, and asked for more money.

Yang Sheng was arranged by the Mu family to live alone in a yard. He didn't need to farm or do business. He usually just took care of the horses. When he was about to refuse...the woman said that her husband died, and her husband's surname was Wang, and she was a widow. How pitiful.So Yang Sheng brought her back.

The woman kept his yard spotless and cooked delicious dishes.

...More than a month ago, the woman brought her daughter along, saying that the owner of the house kicked them out, and begged Yang Sheng to take them in for a while before leaving.Yang Sheng was very surprised when he saw Wang Xiaoniang, because the girl looked like a fairy, but her face was very pale, such a white girl is rare in Yunnan.

Wang Xiaoniang is a bit old, she may be 20 years old, but she is not married.The woman said that her daughter was sick and often took medicine to stay in the house and never go out.At first, Wang Xiaoniang hardly spoke like a mute, her face was cold.

Yang Sheng felt very strange, and asked them where their husband's family was and where their mother's family was, but they didn't make it clear.

But the mother and daughter didn't live for long and disappeared again, as if they had never been here.

Yang Sheng looked around the door every day, but never saw them again.The woman didn't show up until recently, saying that she went back to her hometown, went back to Kunming and mortgaged the house, then put on her apron and went to cook.

Yang Sheng hurriedly bought a silver bracelet, and wanted to explain his words, but he held back for a long time the day before yesterday.

When she comes again, she must take out the silver bracelet!Yang Sheng murmured in his heart every day.

...After waiting for a few days, the woman finally came again.

She looked at the unwashed bowls on the table and the dirty clothes on the bench stained with horse manure, and frowned slightly. She went into the kitchen, picked up the apron and put it on, and then began to pack things.

"Hey..." Yang Sheng's face felt very hot, and his tongue seemed to be knotted.

"Brother Yang, what's the matter?" The woman turned to look at him.

Yang Sheng didn't let out a fart in a daze, he stretched out his hand from his bosom, holding a silver bracelet, only then did he realize that the bracelet was squeezed a little by him.

The woman looked at the bracelet and seemed to understand something immediately. She shook her head and said, "Brother Yang, my husband passed away not long ago, and it's not good now."

"When will it be?" Yang Sheng finally said a word.

The woman said: "Wait a little longer, I'll go back and talk to my little girl."

Yang Sheng hurriedly nodded and said, "I have to say something."

The woman said softly again: "Is the Mu family short of servants? If you can ask the little girl to find something to do in the Mu family, there will be a way out in the future."

Yang Sheng frowned, and directly stuffed the silver bracelet into the woman's hand, "Hold it first, and I'll buy it later."

The woman received it in her hand and asked again: "Brother Yang, can you ask the person in charge to say hello?"

"Get married, I've saved some money, and I'll make a dowry for her." Yang Sheng glanced at the woman, "I'll ask the steward."

The woman suddenly showed a smile, and said kindly: "If my daughter can settle down in Mu Mansion, I will often live with Brother Yang in the future, so I can take care of my daughter."