marriage contract

Until the end of May, the sky has not cleared up. There are always thick clouds floating in the sky, but there is no rain.

Gu Chengzhi was sitting in the study room, although his eyes were fixed on the book in his hand, his thoughts had already flown to the sky.

Yesterday the emperor sent someone to send a message to him, saying that the group of people going to Nanxing Mountain will enter Beijing today. If he said that he didn't care, it must be a lie.

Born in a scholarly family, he was supposed to take the imperial examination, but he went to the border to join the army, because he could walk a bright road no matter whether it was civil or military.But now, his future career is almost cut off, and it was his relatives who did it himself.

At this time, his only hope is that Taoist Hegui can change his words and say that the previous hexagram is false. Only in this way can he destroy the only reason for insisting on this marriage... But will Taoist Hegui really change his words?

It's not that he doesn't believe the emperor's words, it's just that there are some problems with the hexagram itself, and he always feels that the hexagram is not the manipulation of those people.At first, I ignored it because I was too angry, but now I can find something unusual in it after thinking about it calmly...

Gu Chengzhi sighed softly, and threw the book in his hand on the table. He couldn't read it anyway, and it was meaningless to force himself.

Suddenly there were slight footsteps outside the study, and Gu Chengzhi turned his head to look, but it was the person he sent out to inquire about the news.

The expressions of those two people were a little dignified, and they walked into the study quickly, saluted Gu Chengzhi, and then replied: "Third Master, the people who went to the Nanxing Mountains have already entered the capital, and the priest of Hegui has also been sent to the capital." the imperial city."

The two people who came in were named Yang Yun and Wang Hui, both of whom were Gu Chengzhi's assistants when he was at the border. Although they were not good at martial arts, they were very good at handling documents.When Gu Chengzhi returned to Beijing, the two of them also accompanied him. They thought they were coming back to help, but who would have expected such a situation to arise.

Yang Yun is a tall and strong man with an ordinary appearance who is nearly thirty years old, while Wang Hui is a handsome young man in his early 20s.

"Tell me, what else is there?" Gu Chengzhi knew from their expressions that they brought back bad news, but sooner or later, he had to know these things, and it was better to hear from his own mouth than from outsiders.

After the two people looked at each other, Yang Yun answered first: "Third Lord, we asked some people who had not entered the palace, and they said that Taoist He Gui was very calm when he heard the emperor announced him to enter the palace. It only took half a day to arrange everything in Nanxing Mountain, and then followed them to Beijing."

Then Wang Hui continued: "Someone asked Taoist Hegui whether the hexagram was true or not on the way, but Taoist Hegui said that he never lied, if what he brought back to Beijing was the hexagram he predicted , then it is true, if it is dropped in the middle, it is false. After hearing this, the accompanying people did not dare to ask any more."

Gu Chengzhi frowned slightly, pondered the meaning of these words, and then asked, "What do you think the Taoist priest Hegui means? What do you think he wants to say?"

Both Yang Yun and Wang Hui lowered their heads and did not speak. Taoist He Gui made it clear that someone was watching his divination. As for the truth of the divination, he could only know if he entered Beijing and met the emperor.

Gu Chengzhi glanced at them indifferently, then looked out the window, his eyes drifted away for a while before he said: "Maybe... I'm really going to get married..." His tone was calm, and there was no dissatisfaction or love in his voice. Angry, as if saying, "It's a nice day."

The two people who were standing suddenly raised their heads to look at him. Seeing his calm expression, they didn't know what to say. Finally, only Wang Hui said, "Maybe, maybe it's not that serious..."

"Do you believe this?" Gu Chengzhi glanced at him and said, "I've always wondered before, if they want to deal with me, they just need to let the hexagram say that I am an evil star, demon possessed, etc. , or these natural disasters were brought about by me, then even if the emperor values ​​me, he will be suspicious. What kind of marriage is natural, and the hexagrams that determine life and death are like children's play, except for me What else can I do if I want to block me out of the backyard."

"Now it seems that someone has indeed gone to Taoist Master Hegui, but he should have made a divination before. After seeing it, those people probably felt that my official career was cut off, and they asked me to marry someone else's family. It would be better to kill me, that's why this hexagram has never been replaced." Gu Chengzhi paused and said: "Maybe I should go and say thank you, at least I've saved my life." Finally, he said In one sentence, the tone finally brought a hint of sarcasm.

But they all heard the sadness. As a capable man with a bright future, letting him marry is sometimes crueler than death.

Gu Chengzhi stayed for a while, and then said to the two of them, "You guys go down too, I want to be alone for a while."

Yang Yun and Wang Hui were silent for a moment, then saluted him again, and left the study room, leaving the space for the person who needed quiet.

There was silence in the study, Gu Chengzhi leaned on the back of the chair, looked up at the roof.It was just a few years of hard work, and everything seemed to be out of place, making him feel so strange.

He has always thought that he is very smart and powerful. When it comes to reading, his talent can be praised by great scholars, and when it comes to martial arts, even the chief general of the border is full of praise.He lived smoothly until he was 18 years old, but he seemed to have exhausted all his luck. His father and mother died, but he wanted to marry a man...

It's not that he's not angry or sad, but there are still so many people staring at him, even if he dies, he can't let those people see his jokes.Marrying someone else as a man is shameful enough in itself, but he can't bend his back because of this, otherwise, he will never be able to stand up again for the rest of his life.

In the study room of the East Palace of the imperial city, the emperor walked around and around, his face full of irritability.

But there was a person sitting on the chair next to him, about 20 years old, with a handsome face and a calm temperament, but his face was a little pale, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness.This person is the eldest son of the emperor, who is also the current crown prince - Jin Rong.

"Father, you'd better rest for a while, don't turn around anymore." Jin Rong said gently.

The emperor glanced at him, his expression eased a little, but he still felt anxious, he sighed, turned and sat on the couch next to him.

"Is there really no other way for Daoist He Gui?" Jin Rong asked seriously.

"If there is a way, why would I be so angry!" As soon as this matter was mentioned, the emperor's anger would rise, "I have already said that, as long as he is willing to say that the hexagram is false and has been transferred, he will I will give him whatever I want! But he just refuses to agree! The knife is on his neck, and he won't change his words! I can't really kill people, I'm about to be pissed off by him! "

Almost everyone in the capital was staring at Daoist Hegui. This man entered the palace with his front foot and died with his back foot. Isn't this clearly telling everyone that there is something wrong with this hexagram!

Jin Rong frowned and thought about it, why is this Taoist priest of Hegui just refusing to change his words?Is it possible that the hexagram is true?He shook his head and kicked the thought out, "Father, what should we do now? It's not easy to drag this matter on."

More than ten days have passed since the hexagram image came out and the Taoist priest of Hegui entered Beijing.

If we wait any longer, no matter whether the divination is true or not, Gu Chengzhi's reputation will be completely ruined. At that time, whether he marries or not, the reputation of causing natural disasters will definitely be attributed to him.

The emperor gritted his teeth and scolded countless times in his heart, but he just couldn't think of a way. How could he not think of things that Jin Rong could think of.It was because he knew that Gu Chengzhi's situation was in dire straits that he became so angry with Mr. Gu.

If there is no engagement yet, then everything is easy to talk about, but it is too late to say anything now, the Chu and Gu families are engaged, and there are still those people watching outside. Rumors are sure to fly.

Those people don't think about how much Gu Chengzhi has done for the court at the border, they only think that he is a villain who is selfish, disregards the people, disregards the country, and allows natural disasters to wreak havoc without stopping them.

"I haven't come out to play in Nanxing Mountain for decades, what kind of trouble did you come out this time!" The emperor thought for a long time but couldn't think of a way, he just felt so heartbroken.

The Taoist temple on Nanxing Mountain existed before the establishment of the Great Jin Dynasty, and no one knows when it was established.

The founding emperor of the Great Jin Dynasty was saved by the Daoist of Nanxing Mountain when he was a child. The Taoist said that he was the emperor who came to the world, and after he became the emperor, he wanted to reward Nanxing Mountain. But was rejected.Nanxingshan didn't want to have too much involvement with the court, but he never refused the emperor's request for divination.

Since the founding emperor, occasionally when major events happened, the emperor would send people to Nanxing Mountain to ask for a hexagram, and most of the hexagrams could help solve the problem.

Although Nanxing Mountain will have some influence on the court, the emperors have agreed to ignore them, and those Taoist priests are also knowledgeable and never jump out to talk nonsense.

"Breaking the secrets of the heavens, breaking the world" - this is a word mentioned by a certain temple master, and it is still hung in the main hall of the Nanxing Mountain Taoist Temple.The master said: Peeping into the sky will reduce the luck of the world, and also let the emperor not always ask for divination and gods, and do more practical things for the people than seeking divination images. After that, the southward mountain will slowly It fell silent.

It was more than 50 years ago that the last time someone was sent to Nanxing Mountain for divination, but this time they got such a divination.

Jin Rong didn't think that things would be like this and let it go. Even if the emperor didn't send anyone to go south to the mountains at that time, this hexagram might have been passed on to Beijing.From the moment Qin Tianjian jumped out, they were one step slower than others, that's why they fell into this passive and beaten situation.

At this moment, a young eunuch ran out of the study, saying that he had something to see.

After being called into the study by the emperor, the little eunuch knelt down on the ground and said hastily, "Your Majesty, Mr. Qin Ge is begging to see you."

"Why do you want to see me?" The emperor asked with a frown, he was so annoyed that he didn't want to take care of things, and if it wasn't that important, he planned to postpone it later.

"Fengtian Province has experienced heavy snow and hailstorms in recent days, causing a lot of damage to the food crops planted in the fields. The booklet has now been handed over to the Ministry of Household Affairs, and we are only waiting for the emperor to check and write."