Chapter 405: Between Prosperity and Decline, Life Is Only as First Seen

It's Chinese New Year's Eve again.

Although the Zhang family moved from Kaifeng to Jingshi, and the ancestral hall did not move with it, it was naturally an old rule to worship ancestors on Chinese New Year's Eve. Since almost all of the family members have a great filial piety in May, this whitewash and other façade has not been done this year. In the afternoon of this day, the back hall of the main hall Ruiqing Hall hung the statue of the ancestors, the Gu family made incense and worshipped, and all the children and grandchildren knelt down to worship together, and only turned to the front to salute the Gu family after the worship was completed. A group of relatives in the family, and a group of people, just the New Year's money and reward money have dispersed a lot, and when the banquet is finally put on the table, everyone just moves the chopsticks slightly, and it will not be long before moving to the Gu's big room in the north courtyard.

Although the Gu family said that the rules were important, they didn't want to be strict and there was no trace of the festival during the good New Year's Festival, so in addition to being served by Li Yun and Zhao Fen's two granddaughters-in-law, the others were all ordered to sit on the carved lacquer chairs on both sides.

When the girl brought the tea, she took a sip, and then said with great emotion: "It is said that if you leave the roots, you will lose the family business, and at first I was a little apprehensive when I moved here, but now it seems that this step is still the right one." Kaifeng is of course the root of our Zhang family and cannot be discarded, but if you blindly guard it and don't come out, it can't be like now. In the past few years, some of our family have started a family, some have added imports, some have made steady progress, and some have won the favor of the saints, even the ancestors must be happy to see it. I, an old woman of a lot of age, have now become Mrs. Taibo, and I don't expect anything else, I just hope that you can keep the two words of heart-to-heart. ”

This is the lesson, Zhang You took the lead and stood up, and the whole family bowed down to receive the training. Gu Shi didn't talk much about these big truths, just laughed and gossiped and got up to change clothes inside, and everyone dispersed, some were busy keeping vigil in Zhangluo, some were preparing for tomorrow's New Year's Day, and some were busy making incense offerings in the Buddhist hall. Only Zhang Yue and Du Juan were instructed in advance, so they took off their big clothes when they worshiped their ancestors outside in the ear room, changed into homely casual clothes, and then entered the warm pavilion.

After all, Gu Shi is nearly seventy years old, although it is only an afternoon and a night, he is already full of tiredness at this time, he is sitting on the kang and Bai Fang beats his legs, and when he saw Zhang Yue and Du Juan coming in, he ordered them to sit down on the chair on his side. Waving her hand to let Bai Fang retreat, she looked at Du Xuan's face, and then smiled: "There are few people there now, and I still called Lingxi back, fortunately, other people take care of it, and you are raising it well now." Now that your mother-in-law has brought someone back, I can stay in Lingxi for a few months with more peace of mind. ”

Zhang Yue naturally knew what it meant to send Lingxi to him in the first place, and he didn't think that Gu's calling people back was a change of mind - although his grandmother was kind and kind, she said the same thing at home, and she didn't change her mind because everyone opposed it at the beginning, and now she won't change her mind because he didn't say anything - because of this, when he heard that his grandmother was going to keep Lingxi for a few more months, he was really surprised.

"I'm already a person who is about to enter the ground with half of my body, thanks to the light of your second uncle, this status is a little higher, and the things that were prepared are no longer needed, and now I naturally have to prepare again. Although there is a housekeeper Gao Quan outside, who is also a first-class careful person, but Lingxi has followed me for so many years, and I am most relieved that these things will be handled by her. ”

Although these words were not thorough, both Zhang Yue and Du Juan understood the meaning. However, no matter how clever they are, they don't know what to say at this time. After all, the old lady is so knowledgeable, they naturally can't say anything about living a long life like coaxing an old child, let alone agreeing with it. When they saw Gu beckoning, the couple immediately stood up and stepped forward.

Looking at the pair of beautiful grandchildren and daughters-in-law, Gu couldn't help but sigh in his heart. She took one hand from each of them, felt the warm feeling for a while, and then put them together: "I have said everything that should be said in the past, and I don't want to dwell on it today." The most outstanding among the grandchildren is your pair of beautiful women, so you must train the Zhang family to be a smart and sensible great-grandson! Yue'er, you have to remember for the rest of your life how you married Wan'er in the first place! ”

"Grandmother, don't worry, I understand."

When the couple left the upper room in the north courtyard, they naturally shook each other's hands, and they couldn't help but feel quite a little in their hearts. Zhang Yue knew that his grandmother was more and more shrewd the older she was, either she really had a premonition for the future, or she was sad because of the Meng family. Du Juan felt that Zhang Yue's hands were slightly cold, and even remembered that she wrote a letter back, and through a document she asked for from the head of the Du family, she warned the Du family members who made a living in the capital without a trace, and couldn't help sighing.

There are no flowers for a hundred days, and the next generation of the Du family is no longer an outstanding person. If the Zhang family wants to prosper for a long time, it really depends on the fourth generation. She told everyone that she didn't mind whether the child in her womb was male or female, but whenever she thought of her mother's regrets, her father's apologies, and her youth's longing for a younger brother all the time, she naturally wished that it was a boy.

"Third Young Master, Father-in-law Zhang, the royal supervisor of the palace, is here, saying that he wants to see you!"

Before leaving the courtyard gate, Zhang Yue saw a mother hurrying over, and after standing firm and saluting, such a sentence came out. Knowing that it must not be a bad thing for someone to come to the palace at this time, Zhang Yue instructed Amber Qiuchen and the two daughters-in-law who came out of the courtyard to support and accompany him, and then instructed Du Juan, and then hurried over.

Although it is not too colorful, the entire Zhangjia compound is still hung with a lot of plain lanterns. Although it is night, the whole mansion is very bright, and there are two official lamps with gold characters on a black background hanging in front of Ruiqing Hall, which are the emperor's rewards to the princes and uncles under the festival, and they are happy with grace. As soon as Zhang Yue entered here, he saw Zhang Qian in a new unicorn suit, and he hurriedly stepped forward to see it.

"In the blink of an eye, you have been in Beijing for three years, and if you want to say that your achievements in the past three years are probably comparable to other people's ten or twenty years!"

At this moment, Zhang Qian couldn't help but think of the moment when Concubine Zhang Guifei died, and he was stunned for a moment before putting these thoughts aside, and signaled Zhang Yueping to step down. It wasn't until there were no outsiders in this huge Ruiqing Hall that he took out a thing and solemnly handed it to Zhang Yue with both hands: "This is what the emperor ordered me to bring." The emperor commanded, you don't have to salute. ”

Originally thinking that Zhang Qian was cautious and would never casually leave the palace on this Chinese New Year's Eve, but when the other party handed over things on behalf of the Son of Heaven, Zhang Yue did not dare to slack off and took it with both hands. Looking at the content of the words on it, Rao is he had just guessed in his heart, and he was still surprised. So, he couldn't help but look up at Zhang Qian, and asked suspiciously, "Grandpa Zhang, is this ......?"

"You have offended a lot of people this time, but you must be rewarded for your treachery, so after consulting with the six ministries and the ministers, the emperor decided to promote you to the military department. This is something that will be announced after the festival, I just said it in advance now, but this ......" Zhang Qian paused slightly, and the corners of his mouth turned up an arc, "You won't forget the unicorn suit that the emperor rewarded you with in the past, right?" ”

Zhang Yue naturally won't forget - at that time, there were almost problems with the Tianzi Sword and the Sable Fur Dayu, but fortunately, no one had made up his mind about this dress - after thinking about it carefully, he finally felt a flash of inspiration in his mind, and he couldn't help but sigh in surprise.

"Gonghou Bofu, embroidered unicorn, Bai Ze!"

"Not bad!"

Zhang Qian was very satisfied with Zhang Yue's cleverness, and immediately explained with a smile: "One door and two lords are rare in ancient and modern times, and you are young, so it is naturally impossible for the emperor to make you the target of public criticism." Your second uncle already has a copy of the Iron Coupon, and you keep it safe. The emperor said, when you make a great contribution that is enough to make the ministers admire, then your iron coupons will be indispensable! I have to say congratulations to you, the future Lord Anjo! ”

After sending Zhang Qian away, holding this fluttering piece of paper, Zhang Yue couldn't help but take a deep breath. Although this is only slightly stronger than empty words, it is still a big pie drawn on paper, but it is a signal after all. It's just that if you say that this is an iron coupon that was cast without going through the ministers, it really looks like the temperament of Zhu Di, the emperor......

It was also Chinese New Year's Eve, but the Fengsheng Hutong Meng Mansion was miserable and miserable. Meng Xian was sent to Jiao Toe before he could even spend the last Chinese New Year's Eve at home, and he was not even allowed to send his children at home. Since he left, several family members have resigned one after another, and even two rooms have simply said goodbye. Meng Min cleaned up the surplus money in the account room early, and let Meng Tao and Meng Fan take a few proper family members to live in the east and west wings of their own courtyard, so that some people with ulterior motives did not dare to act rashly. Until the twenty-ninth day of the lunar month, the Baoding Marquis Mansion sent the same festival gifts as in previous years, and the floating hearts of the people at home finally settled down.

Originally, the people sent by the Zhao Royal Mansion and the Anyang Royal Mansion were almost scattered, and the only Cui Mo also went out on the morning of Chinese New Year's Eve. In the evening, however, when she returned, she was dejected, stumbling into the courtyard, and could no longer hold her footing, but sat down on the ground with her feet limp. At this moment, his dry throat could no longer make a howling sound at all, and he could only let tears fill his eyes. After a while, Meng Min happened to come out of Meng Tao's east wing, and was taken aback when he saw this scene.

"Cuimo, what's wrong with you, didn't you go to Anyang Wangfu to find your father?"

Cui Mo shook her head desperately, and when she saw Meng Min squatting down, she couldn't help but hug Meng Min's neck, and finally cried out loud. Meng Min was originally holding on these days, but when he heard this voice, he only felt that his nose was sore, and after holding back hard, he helped the person up. Dead or alive pulled the person into the house, pressed the person on the kang and sat down, she went to pour another cup of hot tea, half-coaxed and half-deceived Cuimo to drink most of it, seeing that her expression seemed to have calmed down a lot, she asked again: "What's going on?" ”

"No, I don't have anything left......"

Before entering the courtyard door, he endured it hard, and he was almost crying breathlessly just now, although he was much better at this time, Cui Mo still had a lot of effort to hold back such a sentence. After a long time, she pinched her palms with her fingernails, and then she told the story of the trip. It turned out that although the matter of King Zhao did not implicate the King of Anyang, but the Anyang Palace's Mansion was also closed these days, and she used all the money she had accumulated in the past two years, and Liu's mother, who was a relative of their family, slipped out of the back door, but said bluntly that Kang Liu had passed away two months ago, and Kang Laosan happened to be sent out to do things on the night when the Beijing Division was most chaotic, and then never came back.

"I saw my dad that evening, but he didn't say anything, he didn't tell me anything...... I'm really the stupidest and stupidest girl in the world, I should have known that my father never came to see me for fear of causing trouble, why was there an exception that evening...... Something must have happened to him, he must be ...... Miss, I don't have a father or mother anymore, I don't have ......"

Looking at Cui Mo, who couldn't cry, Meng Min couldn't help but feel in a trance. She couldn't persuade her father, let alone extinguish the ambitions of those people, and now her family ended up like this, and she couldn't blame others. On that day, the volunteer help Kang Liu at the back door was naturally to do good, and they all said that if they planted melons, they would get melons, and they would get beans, why was it such a miserable and desperate ending?

"Maybe if I had left your mother alone, your family would have been fine......"

Although he cried darkly, when he heard this sentence in a daze, Cuimo still woke up with a spirit. She has not followed Meng Min since she was a child like Red Sleeves, but because of the word repaying her kindness, the love for more than a year is extraordinary. She didn't understand those big truths, and she didn't think about the cause and effect of all this at this time, but instinctively felt that she had touched the bloody scars of others again, and quickly shook her head vigorously.

"If Miss doesn't help, our family of three won't be able to survive at that time. And the mother pinned her only hope on Aunt Liu at that time, and she would definitely go to the palace...... It's all our family's bad fate, how can we blame others! Miss, I don't have any relatives anymore, and if you don't want me, I have nowhere to go! ”

Although it was useless to warn himself a thousand times and ten thousand times that tears were useless, at this moment, Meng Min could no longer control it, and the master and servant had to hug their heads and cry. I don't know how long it took, but the brothers Meng Tao and Meng Fan, who came in from outside, saw this situation, and hurriedly rushed forward, and when they learned what was going on, the two couldn't help but be stunned.

I remembered that I ate beef noodles with Zhang Yue in that simple small restaurant at that time, I remembered that I was riding a long street together at that time, I remembered that I led Zhang Yue to my sister with a smile at that time, and I remembered that the woman who was ragged but still worried about her kindness got out of the car and saluted...... Thinking that all this has become an irretrievable past, even if the two brothers have repeatedly restrained themselves these days, they can't help but gradually lose their temper at this time, and Meng Fan even hit the door frame with a hard fist.

At this moment, the joyful voice of a servant woman sounded outside.

"Fourth Miss, Third Young Master, Fifth Young Master, Little Fifth Girl came over to send a gift on behalf of the county lord and the Zhang family's Du family!"

However, the four people in the room sat and stood as if they had not heard at all, and their faces were full of confusion.

If life is only as it first seems...... Looking back suddenly, it has already changed the world.