"Lord Qi, take the order quickly." After the man read the decree, he saw that the kneeling crowd did not respond, so he had to whisper a reminder.

I quietly poked Qi Tong who was kneeling in front of me with my hand, it seemed that Qi Tong was also stunned, and suddenly I poked him, and his body straightened up, and he saw that the man was holding the holy decree, and he was looking at himself with a smile on his face, and hurriedly agreed loudly:

"Weichen Qitong received the order, long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

Qi Tong received the holy decree with both hands, and the man hurriedly helped Qi Tong up himself.

"Xiaguan Liu Li, meet Lord Qi" The man took a step back and gave Qi Tong a salute.

"Lord Liu, what is going on, please explain it."

Two years ago, the officials sent people to pass the holy decree, saying that it was the imperial court to reward meritorious deeds, and to promote Lord Qi, but Lord Qi was not in Yuping County at that time, I immediately sent people to look around, but there has been no trace of the adult, in the past two years, the officials have continuously sent documents to urge the Lord Qi to take office, and the lower officials could not find the Lord Qi, and had to reply according to the truth, just a few days ago, the Ministry of Officials came to the document again, and asked the lower officials to find the Lord Qi within a month to deliver the holy decree, otherwise they would be punished for dereliction of duty, Xiaguan really has a hard time, fortunately the sky has eyes, Lord Qi, you are back today, otherwise Xiaguan really has only one way to die. With that, Liu Li raised his sleeve and wiped the corners of his eyes.

"Oh, I see, it's hard work Lord Liu, Xia Guan was originally returning to his hometown this time, and this matter still needs to be discussed with his father."

"Lord Qi is about to take up the post of Tongzhi of Zhengsi Pintai Hospital, but he is still so humble, it is really a shame for the lower officials, Lord Qi rest assured, I have sent someone to Qi Mansion to explain this matter to the old lady, the ancestors of Qi have practiced medicine for generations, and this time they can be promoted to Tongzhi of Tai Hospital, it is really a matter of glory to the ancestors." As he spoke, he beckoned to the officials next to him, and saw two officials carrying a small sedan chair swaying from the city gate, and there were two horses behind the sedan chair.

"Lord Qi has worked hard all the way, and today I will go back to the house to rest, and the lower officials will send someone to send Lord Qi and the two back to the Qi Mansion first, and tomorrow the lower officials will take the documents and official seals of the adults to the house and visit them in person." Anyway, I personally lifted the sedan curtain for Qi Tong, Qi Tong was not easy to shirk, it was worth sitting in, and there were officials next to me to help me and Rui'er get on the horses respectively.

"Up."

The sedan chair man shouted, the sedan chair was lifted, I and Rui'er's horse also had a servant to lead, there were four servants in front of the sedan chair to open the way, just like two horses and a sedan chair, the team slowly walked towards the city, walked to the city gate, I looked back, Liu Li was still standing in place to make a gesture to us.

Yuping county is really not big, there are not many houses in the city, there are not many shops doing small business on the street, follow the official who opened the road through a few prosperous streets, we stopped in front of a medical hall, the official who led the horse turned around and helped me off the horse, I turned around and looked up, the plaque of the medical hall was written with three big characters "Tongjitang".

"Lord Qi is back home."

A servant who opened the road shouted, and then saw several people walking out of the door of the medical hall quickly, walking in front of a middle-aged man, about forty years old, wearing a cloth coat, white skin, although the wrinkles on his face are somewhat obvious, but his eyes are bright, and his feet are strong when he walks, and he looks like a workplace elite. Behind him, there were two young people on the left and right, dressed very similarly to the middle-aged man, I thought back to Qi Tong's appearance, these three should be Qi Tong's father and two brothers.

As soon as the shouting official saw someone coming out, he turned around and motioned to the sedan chair driver to press the sedan chair, stepped forward to open the sedan curtain, and helped Qi Tong out.

Qi Tong got out of the sedan chair, stood up straight, and made a big salute to the middle-aged man.

"Father, my son Qitong has come back to see you."

"My son, you want to die as a father, just come back, just come back." The middle-aged man helped Qi Tong, and instantly burst into tears, and the two young people next to him kept comforting him, Qi Tong was also in tears at this time, and the scene of this family reunion made my eyes wet.

Now that they have arrived at Qi Tong's house, it is time for the officials to go back to restore their lives, and one of Qi Tong's elder brothers came over, stuffed a few taels of silver into the leading officials, and said a few polite words to send the person away.

Turning around, Qi Tong's father still grabbed Qi Tong's arm, as if he was afraid that he would run away again, Qi Tong wiped his tears and beckoned to me and Rui'er who were standing aside.

"Dad, my son has been in the capital all these years, and thanks to the care of these friends," he said, pointing at me, "This is three," I hurriedly coughed, Qi Tong understood, and hurriedly continued, "No, Wen San Gongzi, is a friend I met in the capital", and pointed to Rui'er, and said: "This is Rui'er girl, Wen Sangongzi's cousin." ”

"My brother and sister have seen Master Qi here," Rui'er and I said together.

"Wen Gongzi and Miss Rui'er don't have to be polite, thanks to the two of them taking care of Qitong over the years, the little old man is polite here" said that, he also gave us a salute back.

Qi Tong then introduced me to his two elder brothers and several other relatives and friends present, after which Master Qi and the Qi brothers took Rui'er and me to the back hall of the hospital to rest.

Speaking of Qi Tong's two elder brothers, the names are really distinctive, one is called Qi Hui, the other is called Qi Da, plus Qi Tong, the three brothers "Hui", "Tong" and "Da", I once thought that if the Qi family did not open a medical hall and changed to express delivery business, they might earn more.

Came to the back hall of the hospital, we and the Qi family father and son sat down, and immediately a young man brought snacks and tea, Master Qi took the tea bowl and arched his hand to us, Rui'er and I also picked up the tea bowl and saluted, this way, it is indeed very thirsty.

Master Qi took a sip, put down the tea bowl, and asked:

"I don't know what Gongzi Wen does in the capital for a living?"

"Master Qi, do some tea business in the capital, Brother Qi often visits, come and go, and get acquainted with Brother Qi, a small business, and Master Qi's medical hall can't be compared." I put down the bowl and replied.

"Oh, I see, dare to ask where the ancestor of Gongzi Wen is?"

"In the ancestral hometown of Huguang Chengtianfu, the ancestors are also engaged in the tea business."

"Oh? Xiao Lao'er also went to Chengtianfu when he was young, and the lakes and mountains there are really unforgettable! However, listening to Wen Gongzi's accent, he doesn't look like a person from Chengtianfu, but he looks very much like a person from the capital! However, Ling's cousin's accent is very authentic. ”

"Oh, when I was a child, I went to the capital with my uncle to do business, and as I got older, my accent changed, and my cousin has lived in his hometown since he was a child, so he naturally has a more authentic accent."

Master Qi's words, although they were unintentional, but if they talk too much, I'm afraid that they will show something, and I have to find a way to divert the topic.

"Master Qi, I heard Brother Qi say that your ancestors also practiced medicine, and this medical hall must be regarded as a century-old shop."

"Hahaha" Master Qi touched the beard on his chin, and said with a smile, "Wen Gongzi has a good reputation, my ancestor was in the Yuan Dynasty, he was a doctor, and later offended the powerful in the court, in order to avoid disasters, he resigned and went into seclusion, and became a traveling party, and later, to my grandfather's generation, he settled in this Yuping County, the first was just a small stall, to the nearby villagers to see a doctor and prescribe prescriptions, and then with two generations of hard work, finally saved some money, this is the Tongjitang, to say that it is a century-old shop, it is still far away." ”

"I see, I admire it very much."

"Wen Gongzi has won the award, my Qi family has not forgotten the ancestral teachings, hanging pots to help the world, treating diseases and saving people, although it is not for the benefit of the township, but it can be regarded as a doctor, my three sons are also small doctors since childhood, and now it is a small success, the eldest son and the second son have now opened a branch in Linxian County, this head office, it will be inherited by my Tong'er, I also need to unload the burden as soon as possible, and live a few days of comfort, if it wasn't for that incident, hey."

When Master Qi said this, he sighed. Something happened to Qi Tong? Could it be that he went to the capital to work as a clerk, not as he said, wanting to have a break in the capital? Is there anything unspeakable about this? Master Qi's words aroused my curiosity, and I planned to ask clearly.

"Oh? Can Master Qi tell me about it, maybe he can explain Brother Qi below. ”

"Dad, the third brother finally came back, didn't we all say don't mention the things of the year again!" Big Brother Qi Hui stopped what Master Qi was going to say next.

Looking at Qi Tong again, the smile on his face was also put away, and he silently picked up the tea bowl and took a sip, and the scene was silent.

"That's right, third brother, today Liu County Ling sent someone to tell us all the news that you were promoted to the Tai Hospital, the second brother is really envious of you, the third brother is really for our Qi family to glorify the ancestors, I have discussed with my father and eldest brother, this is a big deal, I found someone to choose an auspicious day of the zodiac, let's go to worship the ancestors first, you take Wen Gongzi to take a good walk in the county in the past two days, I and my eldest brother will help you prepare some necessary things on the road, since the holy decree has been issued, you have to prepare earlier, do you plan when to leave?" The second brother Zida changed the topic and broke the embarrassment.

"I, I haven't figured it out yet." Hearing the second brother's question, Qi Tong slowly put down the tea bowl and replied, but his eyes kept staring at the ground.

"What? Still not ready yet? You don't want to go to work anymore? The holy decree has been issued, do you want to resist the decree and disobey it? "Master Qi was a little excited.

"Sir, the meal is ready and ready to be seated." The young man ran in and interrupted our conversation.

Qi Hui and Qi Da got up to greet everyone to the table, and Master Qi said that he was old and not easy to drink, so he arranged for his two sons and a few apprentices to accompany him, and went back to the room himself. During the banquet, the cups came and went, and Qi Tong's two brothers told us some about the customs of Yuping County and some knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine, and the atmosphere was very harmonious. Rui'er ate a lot at the dinner table, everyone toasted and drank, and no one toasted and drank by herself, and the bowl in front of her was full of a lot of dishes, with a heartless look.

Qi Tong has been very dull during the banquet, and he also toasts politely during the meal, and eats his own most of the time, although I know that he is a person who is not good at words, but I can be sure that he must have something on his mind today, and it seems necessary to talk to him.

After the seat closed, everyone went back to their rooms, and I turned around and knocked on the door of Qitong's room.

"Your Highness, haven't you gone to rest yet?" When Qi Tong saw me coming, he got up and gave me a salute.

"Brother Qi, I said that don't call me Your Highness when you go out, you can call me Wen San, Brother Wen, it's okay."

"Oh, okay, Brother Wen came to me, I don't know what to do?"

"Don't you want to go to work?" During the meal, I drank a little too much, so I walked over to the table, poured myself a cup of tea, and drank it all.

"I ......." Qi Tong didn't know how to answer, and sat in his chair with his head bowed.

"You don't have to answer now, I can tell you for sure, although I don't know what that holy decree means by appeasement, but I have never doubted you, not in the past, not now, and not in the future."

"But......" Qi Tong looked up at me.

"Actually, you don't have to care about the things that you once swore to follow me, since we fled from the capital to Chengtianfu, everything that has happened in the past two years has proved that you are a person who keeps your promises, maybe you have always regarded me as the master, but I have always regarded you as a friend and a brother, you don't have to doubt this."

I walked up to Qi Tong and patted him on the shoulder.

"People live in the world, there are always countless choices, no one can say, the choice you made is right or wrong, and no one can help you make a choice, but the most important thing is that you have to follow your heart, only by following your heart's choice, you will not regret it in the future, so no matter how you choose, I will respect it." With that, I turned and walked out of Qitong's room.

"I hope Qi Tong can understand my words" The night air was a little cold, and I took a deep breath.