Clam Pearl

The rooster announced the dawn three times, and the birds in the garden sang their voices. When the noise was not enough, the sky was cloudy and a little bit of light was revealed. Mr. Gu scored twice last night. He should have slept soundly, but unexpectedly sent a A nightmare, with cold sweat on his forehead, he rolled up from the bed, and after getting up, his whole body was like ripples on the river, and goose bumps appeared layer by layer.

He was hysterical there since he was wearing a delicate red jacket, and his aunt turned over in a dazed way, and stretched out her tender white lotus root arms to hug the master's waist, with some reluctance in her mouth, she muttered softly: "Master today!" Wasn't it Xiu Mu? Woke up so early?" After speaking, Jiao Hong sat up, picked up her clothes but saw the master was wearing them, she opened the curtain and looked out.There was a lot of noise last night, so everyone was sent out, and the girl on duty didn't sleep on the couch at the foot of the bed.

Jiao Hong rolled her eyes, and was about to open her mouth to scold, but Mr. Gu turned himself up from the bed. He had something on his mind, so he didn't wait for anyone to serve him, so he picked up his shoes and headed towards the Baochun Hall in the main courtyard up.

The morning wind in early winter is the most biting, especially when you get out of the hot blanket, it will drill into the bones that can't be covered by any clothes, but Mr. Gu doesn't care about this. A follower stumbled and followed, and some of them bumped into the pillars if they were not awake.

Along the way, the more Mr. Gu thought about it, the more he panicked. Even though his father had been dead for so many years, he was still afraid of him. When he was over 50 talking to his own father, his tone was a bit more serious, and his calves would still turn. There are many things that go into his head with the awe of ghosts and gods, like going around like a horseskin lamp, he just said, these years, he always feels that some important things have been forgotten.

Sitting there stroking, nothing happened.

Last night, Grandpa Gu had a nightmare. He dreamed that his father pointed to his nose and asked, "Bad dog (Grandpa Gu's name), where is your little brother? Have you brought it for me?" repeated , All night, just this one sentence, when the sparrows croaked, the old man hit him in his dream, and cursed: "You unfilial dog..." Before the crutch fell to the top of his head, Mr. Gu woke up. up.

Woke up in a cold sweat, now being blown by the wind, the whole body is bitingly cold.

Mr. Gu was born in the Gu family of Pingzhou, a prominent family of several dynasties. Their lineage was originally considered to be one of the forks. 40 years ago, his father, Mr. Gu, joined the army of the late emperor and followed him all the way to the founding of the new king.Although Zhu Zhier's side is a scholarly heir, but this side has gone astray, taking martial arts.Inevitably, Zhu Zhier looked down on them.

If you don't like it, you can't look down on it. In a big war against the previous dynasty, some people of the whole family went to die to go to the court, and there were also street thugs who became the new nobles who ranked among the nine nobles. The new nobles opened the new nobles. This is the law.

Now, in Xinguo, the old emperor is dead and the new emperor is coming up. The old Gu family is in the third class, an upstart, and the star is shining. Isn't the old family still afraid to speak?Back then, the name tree of Lao Zhi'er's family was an honor bestowed by the previous dynasty, so what if his grandfather was a side branch of a concubine?Now both sides offer sacrifices and sacrifices. Gu Yan and his brothers stand in the first row at the clan sacrifice meeting every ten years. The one who sings the sacrifice is Gu Yan's eldest son, Gu Maode. There is nothing wrong here.

It has been 40 years, and many things have happened. Mr. Gu’s father, Mr. Gu spent half his life on the battlefield, and even led troops to fight in his seventies. Known as "Gu Jiajun", the old man lived a very old age. When he died, Mi Shou was 88 years old. At that time, who would not envy the family of Wu Xun who lived under the same roof for five generations.

After the old lady left, the eldest son Gu Yan took over the title. Apart from the title, Mr. Gu served as the counselor of Zheng Sanpin in Zhongshu Province.Later, during the filial piety period, when King Mi was in trouble, he was ordered to go to the Ministry of War to pick up Zuo Shilang and Gu's army, and the six brothers went to the front line together.

This time, the whole eight years.King Mi was wiped out, the six lands in the northwest were pacified, and the brothers dispersed in the southeast and the northwest. When he came back, Gu Yan was 66 years old. Two thousand in the city, because he has made great military achievements, his family is still called the founding county government, and it will be hereditary from the next generation, and gradually decrease.

Aside from other words, there is only one major event, and that's why Mr. Gu was awakened.This is a strange thing to say, that is, when the old man was alive earlier, at the age of 79, the late emperor bestowed a beautiful woman from a scholarly family to be his concubine, and it was regarded as filling in the house.The old man's glory is still strong, he and the old clam who filled the house had a baby, and got another youngest son.

The name of this child is Gu Zhao. The old man had a son in his old age, so he naturally loved this child like a treasure, so he named him "Panzi" and raised him by his side so that no one else would see him easily. Yan has never seen his little feet step on the ground, which shows how rare the old man was to him.

When Potzi was two years old, the old man died, so he took care of Yao'er himself.

There is a child in the eighties, no matter how you say it, this is a miracle. The old man couldn't love the child so much, so he went to the top to beg for a fifth-rank boy from the countryside.Therefore, when Gu Zhao, the seventh child, was still breastfeeding, he had a salary of seventeen shi and a salary of 160 and five guan.Speaking of which, Gu Yan had seven brothers, and Gu Yan only had one elder sister who was born of the same mother. This old elder sister also went away in her early years, and died of dystocia, and did not even leave a queen.

As for the other five brothers who were all concubines, the old master had been a real-hearted vulgar person in front of the late Emperor all his life, so he only begged for this one thing, to give Xiao Jiaoer a family background.

As far as the old man is concerned, he is good to the children. He started his career as a soldier, so the positions he arranged for his children and grandchildren are all in the military. They are scattered everywhere, and they are released from every corner. No one can hinder anyone. This is the only family property in the family, your brother will take the big one, you will take the small one, and you have the family background, so just stay honest.

People are far away, and kissing is kissing. Over the years, the brothers have been sincere in etiquette, and the elder brothers have always helped the brothers. Now there are six brothers, and the worst one is the deceased fourth brother Gu Xian At home, his eldest son is also in other provinces, and he is also in charge of the real shortage of the fifth grade.

In the past, after the first emperor raised his army, there were many years of turmoil. The distinction between the son and the concubine, the etiquette of the family, all depended on it. After these years, it just started to be stable, and some old rules gradually became more important. Father, father, son, king Monarchs, ministers, and concubines, they all made it a big deal, and accidentally left the younger brother who was born in the old house in Pingzhou and ignored them for eight years. The more Mr. Gu thought about it, the more he felt uncomfortable .

A small thing, for Gu Yan, what can he do to him?It doesn't matter!It's just a meal, and it's over after taking care of it.Earlier, Gu Yan treated his little brother pretty well, and more or less brought some love from his parents, and even fed him with his own hands, and urinated. He is 50 years older than his little brother. If he prefers it, he won't care about it. He cares about it with a baby boy?How boring.

When did this little brother disappear from his sight?The old man thought as he walked...

That year, the old man was critically ill, Gu Yan went to Beijing and returned to his mansion in Pingzhou County, and hurriedly ran around in the main room. Outside the house, Gu Zhao was carried by his nanny Bi Cheng and came in to find his father. At that time, Gu Yan was a little depressed. , so he angrily asked his nanny to take him out quickly.

That was the last time Gu Yan saw his little brother with his own eyes. He was hugged by his nanny, lying on his shoulders in a daze. He looked straight at himself, then turned a corner calmly and disappeared.

Afterwards, the old man still went, holding Xiao Qi's hand as he was dying, Gu Yan was suffering, and didn't look at him carefully. Seeing him get married and start a business, the six brothers knelt and swore to agree.

Promise is yes, then all fathers are gone, the sky is falling!Everyone was sad, wasn't it busy afterwards, and Xiao Qi didn't seem to have sent anyone to come, and there was no news about him, so it was cut off in such a daze.

In the blink of an eye, it has been eight years, and the old man has been beaten. Xiao Qi was taken back to his hometown in Pingzhou, where the old man left him a house, several thousand pennies, two villages, and 25 hectares. The land, the three mountains, and his grandpa's family are not even used to serving him. Compared with Gu Yan and the others, what they get is almost sesame seeds.

The old man is wise and knows that if you give too much, the little guy can't keep it. Therefore, among the seven brothers, the little seven gets the least, most of them are land properties, and the land rent is a little money for living on the income from the land.

To give so little, isn't it just to ask his elder brothers to help out for the sake of the little brother's pity?It's a pity that King Mi was in chaos for eight years, and then the former emperor went away, and the new emperor ascended the throne. The old Gu's family is still the emperor's soldiers in his sleeves. All the members of this family have made great strides in these eight years. The weaned baby forgot all about it.

The more the old man thought about it, the more he felt sorry, and his pace became faster.

The old lady Lu Shi got up early, and she felt that she had never been frightened all these years.After getting up, she sat under the window of the main room of Baochuntang and watched some little girls teasing her love birds. But in early winter, egg yolks are easy to find, but this fresh fruit is hard to find.

Lu Shi, who was born in Liang Lu family, has a virtuous and peaceful personality, and is a very good and virtuous woman.Now her life is full of hardships, the master is back, and she has several grandchildren in her arms. Every day, she just raises birds, teases her grandchildren and granddaughters, and worries about her youngest son.She didn't care much about Mr. Gu, that is, the old couple slept together on the first and fifteenth day of the month, only two days a month. From the day they got married, their husband ran around in the north, south, east, and west. They had long been used to it. Each lived in his own place, and took care of his own work. Usually, the old man didn't bother Lu Shi very much, and he usually stayed at Jiaohong's or Yunniang's.

The old lady Lu was holding a small spoon to sip the fruit puree. Mr. Gu hurried in from the courtyard with his hands behind his back and wearing a robe, with a dark expression on his face, the old lady was startled!The fruit in his hand rolled to the ground and he hurriedly asked, "But what happened?"

Mr. Gu managed to put on a smile, and waved his hands hastily: "Don't panic! It's okay, don't be afraid." He snorted and pointed his arms at the girls serving below, and the servant said angrily: "Everyone get out!"

Lu Shi nodded, supported the big girl Hongzao's hand and sat back in the room, took another half of Yangxin pills, waved his hand, and told Hongzao to go out too, and then regained her fluttering heart.

Holding the handkerchief, Lu pursed the corners of her mouth, and asked Mr. Gu slowly: "The master came to me early in the morning, but...is there something wrong with Jiao Hong?"

"Don't think about it, what can happen to her, I mean... Lao Qi, there is nothing wrong these years, right?" Mr. Gu asked guiltily, feeling a little ashamed in his heart, he forgot, and didn't Ask Lu Shi to take care of him.

"Lao Qi? What Lao Qi... ah!" Lu Shi was confused at first, then startled, covering her mouth with a handkerchief, she also remembered, and she also forgot.It's not her fault, it's been eight years, she's been filial, she's worried, she's filial to the country, she's a housekeeper, and she's still worried, she doesn't care about Little Qiye's affairs.

Mr. Gu's face is scary, he usually doesn't swear when he loses his temper, but Mrs. Lu is just afraid. She has been afraid of her murderous husband since she got married.Besides, even if her husband never entrusted her to take care of Lao Qi's affairs, she should ask about it. The daughter-in-law who sits in the house does not make comprehensive arrangements at home and outside the house. This is really dereliction of duty. by your side.

"Why don't you ask Mao De's daughter-in-law to come over and ask. When she was in charge of the family, she probably... said that at that time... Well, the war was in chaos, and the heart was always in turmoil. It was about... that I said ..." Mrs. Lu wanted to find a helper to stop him. At any rate, when the wives came, the master's temper would be smoother. It's best to bring all the grandchildren and grandchildren to deal with them.

The old man didn't speak, and he didn't catch anyone to blame. He blamed himself for this matter. Hey, the angry old father came out of the ground and dreamed. The eight-year-old child has been ignored for eight years. There are six older brothers. Well, I don't know what it's like over there, the army is in chaos, the more Gu Yan thinks about it, the more afraid he becomes.

After sitting for a long time, Mrs. Lu opened his mouth first: "Master, don't think too much, Lao Qi's nanny, Bi Cheng, was an old man who followed the old man back then. I know him well, he has been an old man for several lifetimes, so he can be relied upon! If something happened to Xiao Qiye, there would have been a report, but no one has come all these years, so it must be... safe, and now Xiao Qiye, there may be ten Is it six?"

Mr. Gu was silent for a while, nodded, and went out with his hands behind his back.It's not his wife's fault, it's all his fault.That's the best thing about being a martial artist, you can do what you want, and it's your own fault.

When he came out of the hall, Mr. Gu immediately arranged for Tao Ruo to accompany him. He brought seven or eight carts of gifts, picked out a cart of good things, and sent a general. Lu also arranged for two nimble little girls, Huaruo and Huali They went with the car together, and told him to coax Master Qi well, and to pick up Master Qi properly.

It was already noon when the convoy left, and Mrs. Lu was sitting in the room thinking about something. Just as she was thinking, Mrs. Su, the eldest daughter-in-law, brought her little granddaughter, Gu Minghui, into the house with a half-basket of fruit in her hand.

Su Shi entered the room and laughed before saying anything: "What's the matter with mother, she is depressed, no, I found a lot of fruits on my mother's farm, I think mother's side will be discontinued." In fact, she is I heard the servant girl below say that the old man seemed to have a quarrel with the old lady, so he found a reason to come over. The old man at home, the old lady is kind, and she is not as particular about it as others. Standing in the yard to say hello, here I come to say hello to the yard on the [-]th day of the lunar new year. There are too many people, Lu feels troubled, and then we will have breakfast together.

"It's nothing, he's getting old and childish." Lu's face was still calm, she shouldn't have said it, she wouldn't reveal it to her daughter-in-law.

So Mrs. Lu didn't intend to tell Mrs. Su, but arranged for her to clean the Suyun Courtyard, pick up some high-quality and precious furnishings and send them over. The furniture needs to be new, and all hardwoods are made of high-quality mahogany, rosewood, and softwood. The style should be the most fashionable in Shangjing.The bedding needs to be bought with eight shops and eight beddings, and all the odds and ends are paid out of the old man's big tent, all of which are the best.Pick a few other honest and reliable households with living children waiting to serve there, and send Mrs. Pan, who has been in charge of Fan Qiuhua's family with her for more than 30 years, to take care of them temporarily.

What Lu meant, that is to say, the old man and the old lady have to take care of it directly, so the daughter-in-law below you should not reach out.

Su covered her mouth and joked: "Mom, is this going to find a wife for the fourth brother? Whose family is it? Is there a test? A few days ago, when I went back to my natal family, my natal uncle said that today I will give it to the meritorious family Put a batch of low-ranking titles, the little four will be born with a lot of blessings, maybe this time he will be able to get on the wheel, I don't know, let's see, mother, otherwise, we should wait?"

The fourth brother Su mentioned is the youngest son of the Lu family. His name is Gu Maochang. He is [-] years old and the Lu family is [-] years old. look.

In Lu's opinion, Gu Maochang has caught up with a good time. The world is peaceful and there is no disaster or disaster. Therefore, he did not seek his background in the Ministry of War, nor did he recognize a few words in the ethnology, but just followed After a group of famous families in Beijing, they spend their days meeting guests, visiting friends, cockfighting, cuju, and playing polo. Speaking of which, the generation of Xiao Sier is like this. His family was born in military service. Hu Wuxun's family, the talents needed by the new emperor have gradually moved from the Ministry of War to the Ministry of Officials. What is lacking today are capable officials, with high literary talents, who can stabilize the country.

Therefore, the sons of famous families in Beijing must either study for a new future, or learn how to be a qualified dude.

Mrs. Lu touched her great-granddaughter's hair affectionately, took a small bird-feeding spoon and scraped some fruit puree into her granddaughter's mouth. In her opinion, the status of her granddaughter and her love bird are similar, and her granddaughter is not as good as the bird's companion. How long has she been.

"How is that possible? If the fourth child gets married, we will arrange for him to go to the South Courtyard. Our house is a big place, and the late emperor sealed it as a good place. You can live there even if you have a few more litters. Suyun is the best courtyard in the north. This is... ...for your Seventh Uncle." After saying this, Lu's face blushed a little, he was 65, and he had a 16-year-old brother-in-law, and the youngest son was one year older than him. , quite shy.

"Little Seventh Uncle?" Su Shi repeated, then remembered, and covered her mouth and smiled: "Hey! Little Seventh Uncle! It's been a long time, how is Little Seventh Uncle? Blinking, Little Seventh Uncle also When he is old, his father and mother are kind-hearted, so he will be picked up to live in this peace, everything is ready-made, and I don’t know what to do a few years earlier.”

After Su finished speaking with a smile, she hugged her granddaughter back, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, and picked out the fruit puree from her granddaughter's mouth without showing any trace.

Mrs. Lu loves to hear these words, but no, a few years ago when the war was in turmoil, there was nothing to ask for, and I was worried all day long, so I invited the master to come over at night, so I wanted to say the same thing.

"What I'm talking about is that the old man left such a precious egg, so he can't miss it. Now he is blessed, and everything is ready-made. You look at it more. If you want to have a clean family background, you can keep it for the little Qiye. Well, Xiao Qiye also has the title of country baron, so we can't lose him."

"Look at what mother said, what kind of background our family comes from, we have to find someone from a high-class family to be worthy of our little seventh master, and this matter is left to the daughter-in-law." Those who are few are somewhat disdainful, the country man is the lowest title, and he is still a false one.Except for his seniority, Xiao Qiye has no other advantages. He grew up in the countryside of Pingzhou. Speaking of which, Pingzhou is next to barbarians, and there are many savages. Who knows what kind of crooked melons are? look like.

The person who picked up Xiao Qiye went in mid-November, and Tao Ruo came back in early April of the next year, but Xiao Qiye didn't pick it up.That's right, the adults are not at home, and the little Seventh Master runs outside all the year round, returning to Pingzhou only once in two or three years.

Tao Ruo inquired with the old family members, and said that the little Qiye loves to walk around in the Southland, and has not been back to the ancestral home for many years. After inquiring, Tao Ruo, who kept driving all the way, went to the Southland again, in the border county, looking for It took many days to find a place where Xiao Qiye lived, but unfortunately, Xiao Qiye was still not there, saying that he took Bi Cheng's eldest brother Bi Liangli out to play, and he would not return home until the end of the next year. So his whereabouts were uncertain, Tao Ruo still wanted to inquire, but unfortunately the old Bi Cheng was so stupid, he went east and west for a while, and couldn't find anything. The wife of Bi Cheng's family died two years ago, Tao Ruo knew No one was found.

No one picked it up, and the old man has been missing for several months. He can't tell his children and grandchildren, and he can't mention it to his brothers. People go to the south to wait for pick-up, and this wait is a whole year.