Minglan is reborn, this time with no regrets!

The night before the wedding.

Changbai was practicing calligraphy in the study when he suddenly heard the sound of tiles breaking on the roof.

"Were we robbed?" He rushed out of the room with the pen still dripping with ink.

When he looked up, he saw Gu Tingye standing on the beam holding a scroll, grinning at him.

Changbai exhaled and glared at him with a stern face: "What are you doing! Why do you have to go through the roof instead of the main door?"

Gu Tingye: "It's too noisy to walk through the main door. Your family will find out later."

Changbai: "How can you be so sneaky? Come down now!"

Gu Tingye jumped lightly and landed on the ground without any sound.

Changbai: "You are getting married tomorrow. Why are you coming to my place instead of preparing at home now?"

Gu Tingye pretended to sigh helplessly: "Hey, it's precisely because I'm getting married tomorrow that I have to come to your place!"

"I'm telling you, you can't meet the bride before the wedding. This is customary. I won't break the rules to help you meet my sixth sister."

"I know, I'm not here to see her, I'm here to see you!"

"What do you want from me?"

Gu Tingye held the scroll in his hand forward and said, "Open it and take a look."

Changbai was full of doubts, but still took the scroll and handed the pen in his hand to Gu Tingye.

Unfolding the scroll, Changbai exclaimed after taking a glance at it: "Gao Keming's "Wujiang Snow"!"

Gu Tingye held the brush and chuckled.

"You...you...where did you find it from?" Changbai stared with his eyes wide open.

Gu Tingye: "Of course it took a lot of effort."

"Your picture...you want to give it to me?"

"Yes! Otherwise, why would I have to climb over the eaves and walls to come to your yard?"

"Why is this happening?"

"Why? Brother-in-law, don't you have any idea?"

"This..." Changbai's expression was very rich, "You are trying to bribe me!"

"Hey, we're a family, how can you call it a bribe? This is called giving a sword to a hero, good things should be given to those who know the value of it!"

Changbai squinted at him and said, "Don't try to flatter me. Tell me the truth. What are you up to?"

Gu Tingye bowed respectfully and said, "I only ask my brother-in-law to show mercy tomorrow and not make things too difficult for me."

Changbai held the scroll and raised his chin: "Then you have to tell me clearly whether you want to continue to be my brother or my brother-in-law. These two things are not the same thing."

Gu Tingye resolutely said: "As long as I can marry your sixth sister, I will accept it even if I am one generation lower than you!"

Changbai stroked his nonexistent beard and said, "Okay! I now know your sincerity in marrying my sister. Okay! This time, I'll let you go."

Gu Tingye: "It's a promise, don't go back on your word!"

"A man's words are hard to follow!"

"Great! This is my good brother!" Gu Tingye laughed and patted Changbai's shoulder, then jumped back onto the roof.

"You, you, you! Gu Tingye, you're in trouble!" Changbai stomped his feet in anger.

"A man of honor should stick to his word. You said it!" Gu Tingye left this sentence and disappeared from the roof.

"Hey! My pen!" Changbai shouted.

……

Changdong had just returned from Jing'an Jun's Taoist room, and as soon as he entered the room, he found someone in the room.

He lowered his hand to hold the dagger hidden at his waist, quickly prepared for battle, and shouted in a low voice: "Who is it?"

The door creaked shut, revealing Gu Tingye standing behind it. He smiled and praised, "Good boy, your hearing has improved again!"

Chang Dong turned around and saw that it was him. He immediately let go of the hand holding the dagger and said happily, "Senior Brother!"

Gu Tingye lifted his robe and sat down. He placed a brush dripping with ink on the tea tray, poured himself a glass of water, and said, "What noise did you hear that determined there was someone in the room?"

Chang Dong: "I didn't hear it. I sprinkled some powder on the floor when I left. When I came in, I saw a man's footprint on the floor. And there were only footprints pointing inwards, not outwards, which means the man is still in the house."

Gu Tingye suddenly realized: "Not bad! Where did you learn this trick from?"

Chang Dong: "Before Jing'an Jun became a Taoist, he used this method to prevent people from entering the house when we were not there. Later, I developed a habit and would do this every time I went out."

Gu Tingye nodded: "It's not easy for you three."

Chang Dong: "It's all in the past! Now that I have a title, I can support Jing'an Jun on my own. My sister also has my senior brothers to protect her. I will have a good life from now on!"

Gu Tingye: "Then you still call me Senior Brother?"

Chang Dong was stunned: "This... the wedding is tomorrow, and my sister-in-law said that I have to get the red envelope from my senior brother tomorrow before I can change my name to brother-in-law."

Gu Tingye sighed, "I was just praising you, how come you're so stupid again in the blink of an eye? As for the red envelope, I don't have it with me right now, but I got a good thing from the northwest battlefield. If you call me brother-in-law now, I can consider giving it to you."

Chang Dong: "Mencius said, 'Wealth and honor cannot lead to debauchery.' I can't do that!"

Gu Tingye took out a short copper handle from his arms, pressed the red gem on it, and the silver blade popped out instantly.

Changdong yelled, "What is this?!"

Gu Tingye curled his lips: "Xixia jumps the knife."

Changdong: "Amazing! Let me see!"

Gu Tingye ignored him and pressed the blade of the knife back into the short handle on the edgeless side. With a crisp "click", the knife was put away.

Changdong stared at Gu Tingye as he tossed the short handle back and forth in his hand, his saliva almost dripping.

Gu Tingye: "Hey, I'd better keep this precious sword for myself."

"Wait a minute! Brother-in-law, let's talk!"

"What did you just call me?"

"Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, brother-in-law! The best brother-in-law in the world!"

Gu Tingye laughed loudly and threw the short handle towards Changdong: "You call so nicely, so as your brother-in-law, I will give you a gift of changing your name in advance!"

"Thank you, brother-in-law! You are my brother-in-law!"

"Be careful when playing, don't get cut by the knife."

Chang Dong kept pulling the knife out and back out, playing with it while saying, "How can my brother-in-law bear to give up such a good thing?"

Gu Tingye: "What would I be reluctant to give up in order to marry your sixth sister?"

Chang Dong laughed: "I know, I know. I will tell my sister in a moment!"

Gu Tingye: "Oh, no, don't tell her! Otherwise, what if someone else comes to stop me tomorrow?"

Changdong let out a long "Oh": "So this is what my brother-in-law is planning!"

Gu Tingye: "You accepted my gift, so don't turn against me tomorrow!"

"Of course, I'm a trustworthy person!" Chang Dong couldn't put down the jumping knife. "I heard from my second brother that copper of the same weight is more expensive than copper coins. How could the Xixia people be willing to use copper to make such a weapon? Although it is exquisite, it is obviously only suitable for assassination, not for killing enemies on the battlefield."

The smile on Gu Tingye's face dimmed. "Who told us that our copper mines are in the hands of others? It's a pity that after fighting for half a year, they are almost driven away. When we can get the lost land back, we can also use copper to make these little gadgets."

"The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun are still in the hands of the Liao people, and the Li family of Western Xia is getting bigger and bigger. Oh, I really want to go to the battlefield as soon as possible and kill the enemy with my brother-in-law!"

"Just forget it. I taught you martial arts so that you can protect yourself. You should study hard in the future, take the imperial examination, and become a civil servant."

"What's the point of being a civil servant? They quarrel all day long and do nothing."

"If your second brother hears what you said, you'll be in trouble!"

Chang Dong stuck out his tongue. "That's what my second brother said. He said there are many people in the court who are good at talking, but no one can really help the emperor solve his urgent needs. The court has such a large group of people, and everyone is thinking about how to get more out of the pot and put it in their own bowl. No one thinks about how to make the pot bigger."

Gu Tingye said sternly: "It's fine if you say these things in front of me, but don't mention them to anyone else outside, and it's best not to mention them at home."

"Yeah, of course I understand these! I just agree with my second brother. I also think that we can't just focus on what's in the pot. We should think about how to produce more rice."

"As long as we don't make life difficult for the people and let them farm in peace, they will naturally produce more grain in the autumn harvest season. The problem now is that there are too many people to distribute grain, and the number is increasing. If we don't solve the problem of redundant personnel, there won't be enough grain to distribute."

"Wouldn't it be better to lay off those extra people?"

"Then let me ask you, if I ask you to return your title and fiefdom now, are you willing?"

"Why? This is what I earned for saving the emperor!"

"Yes, you received this reward because of your meritorious service. Others also received various rewards for various reasons. We are all people who share the food. Why should you give up your reward when he is fine?"

Changdong was silent.

"It was for this reason that Fan Xiwen was unable to push forward the Qingli New Deal, and he left the stage sadly. Now that so many years have passed, there are many more people who are being distributed grain than back then. If we want to push forward reforms now... it's extremely difficult."

Chang Dong frowned: "If it's difficult, then you won't do it?"

Gu Tingye looked at him: "What?"

Chang Dong: "Sixth sister told me that you, brother-in-law, had a very difficult life at home before. Although you seemed to have no worries about food and clothing, you could be doomed if you were not careful. Brother-in-law has come through all these hardships and difficulties. Now that you are facing a bigger problem, are you going to back down?"

Gu Tingye: "Family affairs are family affairs, and state affairs are state affairs. How can the two be mixed up?"

Chang Dong: "Isn't a country made up of families? If the country is good but the families are not, then one day the country will be defeated; on the contrary, if the people's families live well, then the country will surely prosper!"

Gu Tingye pondered for a long time and said with a smile: "Don't tell me, your words do make sense! No wonder you can survive under your second brother until today."

Chang Dong: "Hey, my brother just likes to nag, but he's actually a very nice person. I think if the whole world was full of people like my second brother, the country would have been called the Song Dynasty long ago, and there wouldn't be any Yelu family or Li family."

Gu Tingye imagined the scene of hundreds of thousands of Changbai standing in front of him and nagging, and shuddered violently, saying:

"Your second brother is good, but one is enough!!!"