Suddenly grabbed by the collar, the middle-aged man was startled, and wanted to scold the young man, but was frightened by the young man's sharp eyes, and nodded, "Yes, it's gone." ”

The young man's face was very horrified, "When?" ”

The middle-aged man replied with a wince, "The day before yesterday, the day before yesterday." ”

The young man forced the shopkeeper and the other two guests away with his eyes, and dragged the middle-aged man to the inn next to him. As soon as the door closed, he asked, "Why not?" ”

The middle-aged man was too frightened to speak.

The young man took out a piece of broken silver and rudely stuffed it into the middle-aged man's hand," he said. ”

The middle-aged man was very scared, but his eyes lit up when he saw the broken silver, so he quickly put it away, looked left and right, and spoke in a mysterious low voice, "Wu Mansion in Dexian County, powerful Wu Mansion, have you heard of it?" ”

The youth nodded.

The middle-aged man became bold, "In the entire Dexian County, there are only two fourth-grade generals before and after, one is the loyal general of our Kangxi Town, and the other is the second master of the Wu Mansion. I heard that the wife of the two old men, Ye and Mrs. Gu, are sisters. Mrs. Wu came from Dexian to visit Mrs. Gu, and somehow there was a dispute, and Mrs. Wu poked Mrs. Gu several blood holes with a hairpin, which was really terrible. ”

The young man asked, "And then?" ”

"At that time, Miss Gu and Young Master Gu were not there, and they said that they were going to Jinyang City to play. Miss Gu and Young Master Gu rushed back when they got the news, and only said a few words to Mrs. Gu, and Mrs. Gu swallowed her breath and was gone. ”

When the young man heard this, his heart was broken, and he slapped himself hard. The arrow he shot, the "blood debt and blood payment" he played tricks on people, it was broken, it was broken, he was in great trouble. "How do I get to Gufu?"

The middle-aged man was frightened by the ruthlessness of the young man's own slap, and replied tremblingly, "Go out from here, and ask anyone casually, you know that the funeral is the ancient mansion, and it is easy to find." ”

The young man kicked the stool in annoyance, "You can go." ”

The middle-aged man was overjoyed when he heard this, and he ran faster than a rabbit.

The young man quickly flipped over the bed and put something in his arms. He went out of the room, came to the counter, threw the silver money to the shopkeeper, and shouted for Xiao Er to lead his donkey out.

The ancient mansion is indeed easy to find, and anyone knows it if you ask. The gate of the ancient mansion was open, and white mourning cloths were hung everywhere, and lanterns with the words laid were hung left and right along the main road into the mansion, and they were hung from the gate of the mansion to the mourning hall.

The young man led the donkey and stopped in front of the gate of the ancient mansion and looked in expressionlessly.

The family member in charge of the chariots and horses in the ancient mansion stepped forward and said, "If you come to worship the lady, please tie the donkey to the bolted horse stake here." ”

The young man said thank you, led the donkey to tie it, and then stepped into the ancient mansion.

A family member stepped forward to guide him, "Please here, I don't know what to call the son?" ”

The young man looked at the coarse cloth clothes of the dusty peasant man on his body, and looked at the family leader in surprise, not knowing where the honorific title of this son came from. But he didn't show it on his face, and replied, "Under the surname An." ”

The housekeeper Gu Qiang stood in front of the door of the mourning hall and greeted him.

The family leader who led the way took a step back, "Go back to the housekeeper, this is Gongzi An." ”

Gu Qiang gave the young man a deep look, "Gongzi An, please." ”

The young man walked into the mourning hall, looked at the good coffin placed in the center, took the three pillars of incense handed by him, lit it on the candle flame, inserted it into the incense burner, and bowed three times.

Qingshu and Qingyang, who are dressed in linen and filial piety, return the courtesy.

The young man looked at Qingyang, who was crying and red-eyed, and Qingshu, who was tired, "Please mourn!" ”

Qingshu and Qingyang thanked softly, "Thank you." ”

The housekeeper stepped forward and invited the young man to the living room for tea. The young man refused, walked out, and when he passed by the table set up in the door of the mansion, he took out a silver ticket from his bosom and put it on the table, and walked out of the ancient mansion without even reporting his name.

The bookkeeper who was sitting behind the desk was ready to chase him out. The steward stopped him and instructed, "Remember Mr. An." ”

The young man took his donkey and walked some distance before riding it, sighing, Hang Erlang leaned on the donkey's back and muttered, "I hope that kid won't chase and kill Lao Tzu." ”

There was a faint sound of horses' hooves, and the young man pricked up his ears to listen, and immediately sat up straight, muttering, "There are at least fifteen horses, and this place is not suitable for a long time." He patted the donkey's buttocks, "Xiaohua, hurry up, Lao Tzu doesn't want to be beaten." ”

When he hid in the alley, more than twenty horses galloped by. He touched his chin and smacked his tongue, "This kid has changed his personality and actually appeared in such a striking way." He was just thinking about coming out of the alley when there was another sound of horses' hooves. He hid back and continued to peek, his eyes wide open, "Bu Feihu, why is he here?" ”

In front of the gate of the ancient mansion, Zhou Boyan, who came quickly, turned over and dismounted, and hurriedly entered the mansion.

The housekeeper's voice made Qingyang quickly raise his head.

Qingyang shouted Brother Yan and wanted to stand up, but he knelt for too long, and he was about to fall down halfway through.

Zhou Boyan had already arrived, grabbed Qingyang, and picked up Qingyang's whole person, and hugged him in his arms, "I'm sorry, my brother is late." ”

Qingyang hugged his neck tightly, sniffed, and whispered to his brother.

Zhou Boyan hugged Qingyang, his eyes looked at Qingshu, who was speechless, "Are you okay?" ”

Qing Shu didn't look at him, and replied indifferently, "It's okay, thank you for your concern." Then he said without joy or anger, "Xiaoyang, come down, don't be coquettish." ”

Qingyang listened and struggled to come down.

Zhou Boyan put Qingyang down, walked over, picked up the three pillars of incense and lit it, inserted it into the incense burner, stepped back, and kowtowed three times.

Qingshu and Qingyang return the gift.

"Step boy, please." The butler said.

Step 5 walked into the door, and he didn't care about talking, so he first kowtowed to incense. Then, Zhou Boyan walked out with him.

The housekeeper walked up to Qingshu's side, "Miss, there are no guests coming to the door now, please take the young master back to rest for a while." When a guest arrives, the old slave will send someone to invite the young lady. ”

Qing Shu glanced at his younger brother, "Hmm." ”

Guan Mutou immediately stepped forward and helped Qingyang up. Xiaojuan and Xiaoyu stepped forward and slowly helped Qingshu up, one left and one right.

Seeing Qingshu and Qingyang leaving, Zhou Boyan called the housekeeper, "Did the two of them eat well?" ”

The housekeeper shook his head, "Young Master can eat some, Miss...... Alas! The young lady is too tired, there are too many things to worry about, and she basically has no time to close her eyes in the past two days, and she says that she can't eat anything after eating two bites. ”

Zhou Boyan frowned, "Did you send a message to Beijing?" ”

Gu Qiang was stunned, "Jingzhong? After asking, he immediately reacted again, "Luo Shangshu's mansion, Deputy General Xu's mansion, Lord Gu's mansion, and General Bu's mansion have already sent people to report the funeral." ”

"Ye Fu didn't send it?" Naturally, he was referring to the Gu Ye clan's maiden family.

"I didn't send it, Mrs. left a message, and since it has been cut in two, there is no need to communicate again."

In this regard, Zhou Boyan is not good at saying anything. "Tomorrow's funeral has been arranged?"

Gu Qiang replied, "It's arranged." ”

Zhou Boyan, "Did she say anything to you?" To the Wu house. ”

Gu Qiang shook his head, "Miss didn't say a word about this. "That's the most worrying thing. He knew very well in his heart that Miss Wu Mansion would not give up. The calm in front of you is only a façade, and it can make waves at any time and anywhere. If there is anything in the past, the young lady will definitely discuss it with him. But this time, the young lady didn't say anything, and this abnormality was the most worrying.

Zhou Boyan was also quite worried about this. "Later, the people of the Chen Mansion will arrive and be ready to greet them in advance. I have plenty of men with me, and if there is anything I want them to do, let them go down. ”

With Zhou Boyan and his subordinates from the side, the burden on the housekeeper was a little lighter, but he still didn't dare to relax, and he had to see everything in person to rest assured.

Before dark, Chen Qiaohan, the eldest grandson of the Chen Governor's Mansion, arrived with his cousin Chen Qiaojiang. As the only male in the ancient mansion, hospitality has become Qingyang's unshirkable responsibility. Zhou Boyan wore a black suit and followed Qingyang inch by inch, pointing him at the side.

In the dead of night, Qing Shu, who was kneeling in the mourning hall, said softly, "Help me up." ”

Xiao Juan and Xiao Yu, who were guarding the side, hurriedly came over and slowly helped Qing Shu up one left and one right.

"Put the mat away, I'm going to sit for a while."

Lily of the valley agreed, went over and brought a thick mat, took the futon away, and laid out the mat.

Qing Shu walked in the mourning hall for a while, and felt that his legs were no longer so numb, and the blood flowed smoothly, so he went back, got his plain white skirt, and sat cross-legged on the mat. "Has the young master slept?"

Xiao Yu replied, "I fell asleep, accompanied by Gongzi Zhou, and the young master slept very peacefully." ”

Qing Shu nodded, "You guys stand down, you still have to be busy tomorrow, you have enough spirits, don't go on a business trip." ”

Xiaojuan didn't leave, she actually persuaded Xiaoyu and Lily of the Valley to sit on a cushion against the wall, "Miss, slaves can fall asleep while sitting, really." As he spoke, he closed his eyes and looked like he was going to sleep. She has always been a rough-witted and grinning girl, not afraid of the wake like Xiaoyu and Lily of the Valley. Therefore, she is the one who has the least psychological burden to accompany Qingshu to guard the spirit.

Qing Shu didn't chase her again, but sat and closed his eyes to recuperate. I don't know who set the rules, three days after a person dies before the funeral, and the children and grandchildren must keep the spirit until dawn three nights before the funeral. Although it is the responsibility of a man to keep the spirit, but her brother is still so young, how can she be willing to let her brother keep the spirit, so she is the only one who goes into battle. This stay is three nights. When the mourning is finished tomorrow, she pours out her hand, and the time has come to settle the account.

There was a slight snoring next to him, and when Qing Shu opened his eyes to look over, he saw Xiao Juan leaning against the wall and falling asleep. There were footsteps outside, and there were a few low conversations, as if the housekeeper and Zhou Boyan were talking. Suddenly, there was a creak, the door opened and closed, and someone walked up to her.

"Is it cold or not?" Zhou Boyan asked softly.

Qing Shu glanced up at him, "It's not cold, you can go." ”

Zhou Boyan lifted the corner of his robe and sat down next to Qing Shu.

Qing Shu frowned and chose to close his eyes again, indicating that he didn't want to speak anymore.

Time passed, Xiaojuan was still sleeping, Gu Shi robbed Guan Pozi's errand, came in lightly to refill the oil from the oil lamp, and quietly withdrew.

As soon as the door closed, Zhou Boyan moved in the direction of Qing Shu, stretched out his hand, and gently clasped Qing Shu's hand on his knee, feeling that her hand was very cold.

Qing Shu did not react at all to this.