Help! I just woke up and was stabbed by a big kid

After walking along the uneven cobblestone street for a while, Gu Yue himself began to drool.

Although there are not many types of street stalls now, the special properties of ancient food ingredients make the aroma spread all over the street. This area is inhabited by people with some money, some officials and their families, and more are servants of wealthy families. Therefore, there are many people selling things on the whole street.

Small jewelry shops, wooden toy stalls; stalls extending from various grain, cloth and utensil stores that were still open; and snack stalls with fragrant aromas wafting through the streets... There were quite a few women to be seen on the street, many of them in groups of two or three, and patrolling city guards mixed in the crowd.

Northern Qin had been open and stable for many years, and the usurpation of the throne a few years ago was ruthlessly strangled at the bud. This was an era that seemed prosperous and peaceful on the surface, but was actually turbulent undercurrents.

Gu Yue stopped in front of a spice shop. The clerk was sitting among a pile of open sacks. He didn't get up and asked with a smile, "Sir, what would you like to order?"

Gu Yue squatted down and looked at the spices.

There were definitely peppercorns and star anise, as well as some fragrant dried flowers that looked ordinary. Gu Yue grabbed a handful and sniffed.

"Want to buy some seasoning?" Gu Xu also squatted down to look.

"Yes." Gu Yue grabbed some dried flowers and peppercorns and asked the waiter to help pack them up.

"Brother, do you grow all the spices in your store by yourself?" Gu Yue seemed to be chatting casually.

Gu Xu held a dried jasmine flower under his nose. It smelled so good.

"How can that be? This is a small shop." The clerk said with a smile, and neatly packed and tied the items into a string, then handed them to Gu Yue: "Fifty cents."

Gu Yue took out the money and said, "Are you the owner of a spice shop around here? Although your shop is small, you have a wide variety of products."

The guy smiled but said nothing.

"It's like this, I want a spice called Luo Le Zi, and I've been to many places around here, but I can't find anything." He gave ten more cents.

"Luo Lezi? I've never heard of him." The waiter weighed the money in his hand and said with a smile, "If we talk about the types of spices, it has to be Lord Hu Shanghan from Yuning Prefecture. He has his own caravan going to India, and it is said that he also does business with the capital."

"Lord Han? Then how can I meet this lord?" Gu Yue asked as he spoke.

"You'd better not think about it. Lord Han is difficult to talk to. If you are not a merchant recognized by him in the city, there is no possibility of even meeting him." The waiter sat back.

"Okay, thank you." Gu Yue nodded.

Lord Han was the spice merchant that the Marquis had mentioned to him, and he was also one of the targets of this trip. Pepper was widely grown in Tianzhu, but it had not yet been introduced to Northern Qin, and it was estimated that it was not used much in the palace.

"What do you want the spices for?" Gu Xu asked.

"I want to open a fried chicken stand in Liuli Town, but I'm short of some seasonings." Gu Yue grabbed his hand to prevent the crowd from dispersing.

"There are spice shops in town. If you buy more, they will give you a discount," said Gu Xu.

"Everything else is easy. Some of these things are very rare. I came out just to try my luck." Gu Yue explained patiently.

Gu Xu nodded and didn't ask any more questions. After all, there was no evidence that he was doing something behind the scenes, so he had to deal with it on his own.

Gu Yue didn't intend to promote Hu La Tang by himself. While pepper was still a rare foreign spice, he wanted to create momentum and make some money.

Of course, he did not forget to take care of Gu Xu.

Seeing an old man carrying a straw stick not far ahead, Gu Yue's eyes lit up and he quickly pulled Gu Xu over.

"I want two strings of candied haws." Gu Yue took out his purse.

After spending six copper coins, Gu Yue handed a candied haws to Gu Xu.

The red fruits are wrapped in furry sugar, look very big and delicious, but not many people buy them.

Gu Xu took the bunch of heavy red fruits and looked up to see Gu Yue already eating them. He also took a bite. The weather was warm, and the sugar on the outside had melted and softened a little, sticking to his face as soon as he ate it.

But it is very sweet, and with the sour red fruit inside, it is still delicious.

Gu Xu had a strange feeling in his heart.

How long has it been since he last had a candied haws? This sweet and sour taste seemed to have suddenly left him since one day. Gu Xu went to see Gu Yue again.

Gu Yue was squatting, his cheeks also covered with sugar shreds. His round eyes were bright, showing a clarity that was inconsistent with his scarred and brave appearance. He looked a little silly.

"This hawthorn is from last year, it's a bit dry." Gu Yue commented as he ate it. And the hawthorn seeds were not removed, so he had to spit them out himself.

Gu Yue took out a handkerchief, held it in his hand and held it in front of Gu Xu.

Gu Xu gave him a questioning look.

"There are seeds. Spit them on them." Gu Yue stretched out his hand with a very natural expression.

Although the streets in ancient times were not clean at all, and Gu Yue himself did not have any high-quality burden of paying attention to hygiene, when he thought about the scene of Gu Xu casually spitting hawthorn seeds on the ground, he felt that it was very bad, very inconsistent, and very inappropriate.

Gu Xu bent down and obediently spit out the hawthorn seeds into his palm.

...It's nice, but still weird! Gu Yue shouted in his heart.

Maybe it would be okay to cover it up with wide sleeves? But both of them were wearing narrow sleeves, so they couldn't do that. It even looked more hypocritical.

It is said that candied haws are a common food. Gu Yue ate very quickly, but his face was covered with sugar residue at the end. Looking at Gu Xu again, no matter how gentle the future regent was, he inevitably had a cat-like face.

"You like it? We can eat it often." Gu Yue put away the handkerchief wrapped with hawthorn seeds and took out a new one. Now there is no paper towel, so he can only use this thing as a substitute.

Gu Yue unscrewed the water bag at his waist to wet the towel, then stood up and wiped Gu Xu's face.

When I squatted down, I realized that the child could not be considered a child in the true sense. At least it was inconvenient to take care of him while squatting.

Gu Xu tilted his head in cooperation. The handkerchief seemed to be made of fabric that Gu Yue had picked himself, and it was very soft. When he rubbed it against his mouth with moisture, there was also a scent of soapberry.

It's not like he couldn't wipe it himself, but Gu Xu just didn't grab the handkerchief and do it himself. Gu Yue lowered his head and looked very focused. Gu Xu was in a trance, as if he saw the shadow of someone in him.

Once upon a time...

Gu Xu couldn't remember the days before he was ten years old. That short and ignorant childhood didn't give him much chance to remember it. Just when he just realized the existence of his home, it ended in a bloody scene. The appearance of the house, the servants who had always followed him, and even the faces of his parents, had all become blurred to the point where only a shadow remained.

On the contrary, he still had some memories of his days of wandering. The rough, ragged clothes that rubbed his skin red, the biscuits he picked up from the mud, and...

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!" someone shouted loudly at the other end of the street. The sound of hurried horse hooves and wheels came rushing over, and the crowd hurriedly opened a gap.