Dongnae County.

The green trees are shady, the flowers are delicate, the mountains are verdant, the snow on the mountain is crystal dazzling, the clear blue sea water and the clear blue sky reflect each other, giving people a feeling of 'outside the water ring the mountain, the mountain is in the water', it is simply a fairyland on earth.

Looking around at the picturesque scenery, Murong Yanfei exclaimed: "Aunt Qiao really didn't lie to me, this place is really beautiful." Close your eyes, spread your arms, take a deep breath, and feel refreshed.

Han Yelin glanced at his naïve sister, and protected his mother with Sima Linghao, so as not to accidentally bump into his mother by people passing by.

Zike, Lupo, Dragon Shadow, and some of the purple-clothed guards were calm on the surface, but secretly they were highly vigilant about the movements around them.

The other part of the purple-clothed guards disguised themselves as business travelers, and followed not far or close.

The surrounding fishermen were busy fishing, and the merchants in various costumes were bargaining with the fishermen, and everyone had a look of joy and peace on their faces, and Qingyun looked deeply gratified.

Along the way, there are many shops, people are boiling, all you see and hear are smiling people and mutual cordial greetings, almost no beggars, Qingyun and his party walked into the 'Fuqing Building', the lobby is already full of people, the storyteller is telling the story of Qingyun trying medicine to save the epidemic in Nanyang County, in the private room, the people in the corridor and the lobby clap their hands and praise from time to time.

Seeing that although the group of people who came in were dressed simply and their faces were plain, they all had extraordinary temperaments, especially the light cloud eyebrows among them, which naturally contained a trace of majesty, and the shopkeeper immediately walked out from behind the counter, and asked with a smile: "May I ask how many of them are sharp?" Or a hotel? ”

"Six upper rooms, and two more private rooms for us to eat." Zike took out a gold ingot and handed it to the shopkeeper, as usual, except for five or six purple guards accompanying him to protect him, the rest of the purple guards were scattered around to visit the officials' achievements and public feelings.

After receiving the heavy gold ingot, the shopkeeper suddenly smiled toothlessly, and raised his voice to order the shopkeeper to prepare six upper rooms, and then said to Qingyun: "A few distinguished guests, please go upstairs." As he spoke, he personally guided Qingyun and his party to the private room on the second floor.

"What would you like to eat?" Whether it is flying in the sky or running on the ground, there is everything in the shop. "The shopkeeper enthusiastically introduced the special dishes.

took a sip of the hot tea handed by Lu Po, looked at the children sitting next to him with a novel face, and said softly: "Just prepare eight or nine specialties in your store, and the same is true for the private room next door." ”

"Okay, please wait a minute, a few distinguished guests." The shopkeeper then went out of the private room to prepare the dishes.

This private room has windows on both sides, one side is the lively market, and the other side has a panoramic view of the lobby.

And Murong Yanfei was lying by the open window, listening to the storyteller telling the story of ups and downs and the praise of everyone, and after a while, she ran to Qingyun's side, held her arm affectionately, and said excitedly: "Mother, they all say that you are benevolent and virtuous, love the people like a son, and you are a rare Ming Jun." ”

Qingyun smiled and didn't speak, but Han Yelin pursed his lips: "Mother is originally a thousand ancient Mingjun, of course they are full of praise, but what are you excited about, does this have anything to do with you?" ”

"Of course it has a relationship, my mother is the eternal king, I am my mother's daughter, and I am naturally and honored!" Murong Yanfei didn't care about the second brother's sarcasm at all, anyway, from childhood to adulthood, except for his mother and grandparents, the second brother's attitude towards anyone depends on his mood, even her own sister is no exception: "Mother, Aunt Qiao said that you once subdued a snow wolf named 'Mu Xue', why haven't we seen it all the time?" Is it leaving? Or ......"

The hand holding the teacup paused slightly, and Qingyun looked at her daughter with big eyes, and a trace of imperceptible sadness crossed her dark eyes: "Mu Xue is gone with your father, perhaps, I won't see you again in this life." ”

"I'm sorry mother, my heart said the wrong thing, don't be sad and sad." Hearing the suppressed sadness in her mother's tone, Murong Yanfei suddenly panicked, hugged her mother's waist with her little arms, and blamed herself in her heart.

And Sima Linghao and Han Yelin both stood up and walked to Qingyun's side, Han Yelin stretched out his hand to hug Qingyun's neck: "Mother, you and our brother and sister, we will always accompany you!" ”

"The second brother is right, we will always accompany our mother to honor our mother, and so many relatives and friends will always be by my mother's side." Sima Linghao nodded heavily.

Looking at the sensible and well-behaved children, Qingyun was deeply grateful, hurriedly collected her sadness, put down the teacup, held the hands of the three brothers and sisters with white skin, looked at the three Zike who looked worried, and smiled: "Yes, my mother has you, and there are so many relatives and friends, my mother is very content." Well, it's hard to make a trip, and we should be happy, so we won't mention these unhappy things. ”

"Hmm." The three brothers and sisters immediately diverted the topic, and Han Yelin tried his best to play treasures, making several people laugh.

At this time, the shopkeeper walked in with the shopkeeper with the dishes, and put the various dishes on the table that were full of aroma and made people feel their fingers when they smelled, and looked at a few people with a warm atmosphere, and the shopkeeper said with a smile: "I saw that a few distinguished guests came to Donglai County for the first time, and it happened that tomorrow was our annual 'sea festival day', and a few distinguished guests could go and have a look." ”

"What is the Sea Festival?" Murong Yanfei tilted her head and asked curiously.

"This is one of our traditional festivals in Dongnae County." The shopkeeper said with a pious face: "Legend has it that one of our ancestors went out to sea one day when he encountered a strong wind and waves, capsized and fell into the sea and almost died, when suddenly a fairy came from the sea and saved the ancestor, and later others also encountered a similar situation;

Some people thought of going to worship the fairy before going to sea, but every time it was safe, and as soon as the news spread ten, ten and hundred, people followed suit, and no more shipwrecks occurred;

In order to thank the fairy for her kindness and protection, the ancestors chose the day of each year to worship the fairy, called the 'Sea Sacrifice Day', and prayed for a safe and smooth sailing in the coming year;

But ......"

"But what?" Han Yelin also aroused some interest.

Looking at Qingyun, who was always eating dishes elegantly and his face was as calm as water, the shopkeeper continued: "However, several emperors of the previous dynasty were mediocre, and the harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes emerged in an endless stream, leading us people to be miserable, many people changed their children and ate, and those who intended to go away to other countries were arrested and exterminated;

The previous emperor even decreed the abolition of the 'Sea Sacrifice Day', saying that the emperor was the true dragon son of heaven, and worshiping the fairy was to despise the imperial power, and many people who secretly worshipped were arrested and killed by the government, and no one dared to worship since then, and no one dared to mention this traditional festival;

It was not until the current emperor overthrew the previous dynasty and established Donglai County, not only successively reducing taxes, but also various policies to benefit the people, and the officials were all honest and honest, and the life of our people was getting better and better. ”

"Then do you offer any boys and girls when you worship?" Han Yelin remembered that there had been such records in some wild histories.

"Second brother, don't talk nonsense." Sima Linghao glanced at Han Yelin and said in a deep voice: "Children are the hearts and minds of their parents, how can they give up lightly?" ”

The shopkeeper's eyes darkened: "The second prince is right, at the beginning, the people did only worship livestock and fruits, but then the days became more and more difficult and difficult, almost all the people who went to sea suffered shipwrecks, and I don't know who mentioned that yì replaced livestock with boys and girls, and there was really no shipwreck that year, and since then people have been using boys and girls as sacrifices, until the previous emperor abolished the 'sea sacrifice day'." ”

"Oh my God, how could those parents ...... So ruthless? "Murong Yanfei has been cherished by her family since she was a child, and she has traveled with Aunt Qiao and Aunt Yu in the past two years, and she has never seen such a horrific thing, so she really can't understand how there are such ruthless parents in the world?

Putting down the dishes and chopsticks in his hand, Qingyun's brows were tightly locked, and his ordinary face was covered with a layer of frost.

Zike and Long Ying's faces remained unchanged, after all, they were orphans abandoned by their parents, and if it weren't for the emperor and their master, they would have starved to death long ago.

Her eyes widened, and there was a hint of pity in her shocked expression.

She was born in an ordinary peasant family, although her biological mother died early, and her stepmother treated her very badly, but her father loved her very much, but there were several younger brothers and sisters in the family, and the burden was very heavy, and her stepmother wanted to sell her for money several times, but her father resolutely disagreed.

When the emperor and his master Weifu visited their mountain village privately, the master saw that she was diligent and simple, and wanted to buy her as a maid, but his father refused.

But she didn't want her father to work too hard, and the master was very approachable, she believed that the master was a good person, and the master repeatedly promised his father that he would treat her well, but even so, the father still insisted on signing a six-year living contract with the master, and then she was reluctant to leave the master and insisted on staying with the master, and the father agreed when he saw that she was doing well.

Therefore, like the three little masters, she didn't understand how those parents could be so ruthless, and naturally sympathized with the innocent children who were sacrificed.

"Those children are also raised by their mothers' biological fathers, if it is not that life is really unbearable, who is willing to give up their children, in the final analysis, it is also for the living people to have a better life."

The shopkeeper sighed, and the sad pity in his eyes was instantly replaced by relief and gratitude: "However, the emperor loves the people like a son, although Lord Zhuang also agreed to restore the 'Sea Sacrifice Day', but strictly ordered that no boys and girls should be used as sacrifices, and the Lord Qiao sent by the imperial court not only urged and encouraged the children to go to school, but also often sent people to various villages and towns to organize cultural education, so that the people understood a lot of truths, so that no one has done such ignorant things." ”

"Listen to the shopkeeper, Master Zhuang is a good official." Sima Linghao looked at the shopkeeper and asked.

The Sixth Emperor said that when his mother was promoted to the county guard of Donglai County after careful consideration, Zhuang Yiyun was promoted to the county guard of Donglai County, because he took a fancy to his fair and strict temperament, vigorous and resolute and mellow style.

After all, at that time, Donglai County had just been included in the territory of the Jin Kingdom, and the situation was extremely chaotic and complicated, and it really needed a capable official to govern, and Zhuang Yiyun took less than two years, and the officials and the people were dedicated to making the originally barren Xihe County stable and rich, and I believed that Zhuang Yiyun could also govern Donglai County well.

It seems that Zhuang Yiyun really lived up to her mother's trust and expectations.

The shopkeeper nodded heavily and praised: "Not only Lord Zhuang, all the officials in Donglai County are good officials, and even the officials of the various prefectures have never bullied the people, and they are in the fish and meat township;

Nowadays, the people of Donglai County are well fed and clothed, adults have something to do, children have to learn to study, live and work in peace and contentment, the neighborhood is harmonious, the night is not closed, the road is not forgotten, everyone says that this is a blessing that has been cultivated for several lifetimes, and finally met the virtuous and holy emperor today. ”

Sima Linghao smiled mildly and didn't speak.

Mother said, to examine the performance of officials, in addition to the evaluation of higher-level officials, but also to listen to the opinions of the people and visit the actual situation, in order to be as clear as a mirror, will not be deceived by others, this is the emperor appoints talents, the foundation of governing the country, for the monarch to see everything, for the officials to be honest and honest, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and the society will be prosperous and strong.

"And is your worship service pretty?" Murong Yanfei asked curiously.

Han Yelin pursed his lips: "All worship ceremonies are just as boring and boring, it's better to go home and sleep." ”

"Second brother!" Sima Linghao glared at Han Yelin warningly, this is the belief and custom of other wicked people, even if you don't like it, you have to respect it.

"It's okay." The shopkeeper waved his hand and said with a smile: "In the past, the worship ceremony was indeed a little boring and cumbersome as the second prince said, but now it is more colorful. ”

Murong Yanfei was suddenly full of interest: "Tell me, how is it colorful?" ”

"At the beginning of tomorrow (seven o'clock in the morning), almost all people go to the beach to participate in the worship ceremony, and then go to the people to donate money to the ancestral hall built by the emperor today, and at the beginning of the day (one o'clock in the afternoon) go to the Chengdong Gymnasium to participate in the cultural and sports competitions organized by the government, and the street is full of lanterns at seven o'clock in the evening, in addition to various gardening activities, everyone will gather on both sides of the Yuanqing River not far away to sing mountain songs, for which a lot of good marriages have been achieved."

"And the duet singing, it sounds pretty good." Murong Yanfei looked forward to Qingyun and coquettishly said, "Mother, let's go and see it too." ”

Qingyun thought for a moment and nodded.

After Chen Yu left, she gradually got used to being quiet, and often stayed alone all day without saying a word, and her heart inexplicably rejected the excitement.

It's just been almost eight years, and there is still no news of her father and Concubine Yu, she feels that Donglai County has a special geographical location and picturesque scenery, and there are so many special festivals, maybe her father and Concubine Yu will come to enjoy it, maybe she can meet her father and Concubine Yu.

Seeing that Qingyun agreed, Murong Yanfei cheered, and Sima Linghao and the others were also very happy, but they were not interested in any worship ceremony, but wanted to see what the ancestral hall built by the people for Qingyun looked like.