Kong Qiu was ten years old and worshiped his ancestors on New Year.

His father's uncle Liang Su died early, and it was his mother Yan who led the whole family to worship their ancestors. There is a family tree on the case, other people's family trees are all bamboo slips, but the family tree of the Kong family is made of a thick sheepskin. Few people know that although the head of this family surnamed Kong is just a local petty official, the family is so special.

The first time Kong Qiu knew about his family's special identity was when he was fighting with local children. Kongqiu's elder brother Meng Pi, although he was not born to the same mother as Kongqiu, was very friendly with Kongqiu. His father died, his family was poor, he settled in a foreign country, Meng Pi was born lame, all of which became the reason why Meng Pi was teased by other children, in the face of the ridicule of "lame boy, chasing rabbits, laughing rabbits hugging their stomachs" on the street, Meng Pi did not refute, but was silent.

However, Kong Qiu could not bear it, although he was only eight years old at the time, he did not fear to reprimand those children: "Don't say anything about insolence, did you teach your parents to talk like this? Go home and ask your parents how to speak before you come out." ”

The children looked at each other, although they were outnumbered, but Kongqiu's momentum was so strong that they were a little scared for a while. However, the head of that group of children is from a local scholar family, called Yanghu, who is a head taller than all children of the same age, tall and big, and has a good family background.

Meng Pi was anxious and blocked in front of Kong Qiu, but he was not Yang Hu's opponent, Kong Qiu also came up to help, brothers were of the same heart, Yang Hu was a little unable to parry, and shouted: "What are you standing and watching, come up and beat these two boys!"

The other children rushed up and beat the brothers all over the ground, when a little boy shouted, "Lord Ji is here!" The children scattered in a hurry, Ji was the prince of Lu State, and this area was his sphere of influence. He claimed to be the most respectful of the law, and the punishment for fights and brawls was generally relatively severe. So even when a child hears that he is coming, he doesn't dare to be too presumptuous. What's more, the driver who collided with the public car itself may also be spanked, which is really not cost-effective.

Seeing that everyone had dispersed, the little boy jumped down from the wall with a smile and walked in front of the Kong brothers. Meng Pi picked up Kong Qiu and dusted him, Kong Qiu looked at the little boy's smug smile, looked at the empty street, and reacted: "You are lying?"

The little boy pouted: "What's wrong with lying, I don't lie, you're still lying on the ground and being beaten." Don't thank me, I don't like Yanghu either. What's wrong with a big one, no brains and in the end it's just a stupid big guy. ”

Kong Qiu thought about it, but still said: "Thank you, but it's always bad to lie......"

Before the words fell, an angry voice shouted: "Mao, you stinky boy, dare to lie to me?" Yang Hu ran out of the alley with three or four children and surrounded the three people.

Mao was a little panicked, looking left and right, hoping to escape in many ways, but Yang Hu's people surrounded him very tightly, and then, he punched and hit. Kong Qiu pressed Mao under him and took a lot of punches for him, Mao suddenly shouted in the crowd: "Lord Ji is here, run!" Yang Hu and the others were stunned for a moment, but immediately came back to their senses: "Don't talk nonsense, I won't be fooled!"

Mao's voice was urgent, and he was about to cry: "I'm serious, look at it! I don't want to be spanked with you!" His anxious appearance didn't seem to be pretending, Yang Hu and the others stopped and looked at the intersection, at this time, Mao struggled to push a person away, grabbed the road and fled, shouting while fleeing: "Yang Hu, you are a stupid big man, you are the same twice, stupid to death!"

Yang Hu was angry, but Mao ran too fast, like a rabbit, he estimated that he couldn't catch up, at least he sprinkled his anger on the Kong Qiu brothers. Just as he was fighting hard, a calm voice said, "Arrest these children and get beaten ten times." As soon as they turned around, a beautiful and atmospheric carriage stopped in the middle of the road, two guards stood next to the car, and the people who drove the carriage were looking at them and laughing. And it was the middle-aged man in the carriage who spoke.

Yang Hu was the first to react, turned over and bowed down: "Lord Ji, I am Yang Hu, the son of your retainers." I didn't see you coming, I'm really guilty, please forgive me. The other children, including Meng Pi, fell to their knees and begged for mercy.

Kong Qiu got up from the ground, shook the dust on his clothes, first helped his brother up, and then bowed deeply to Ji's first, and then straightened up: "My lord, my brother and I were beaten by them and were forced to resist. Please be aware of it. “

Ji Shi looked at Kong Qiu and straightened his face: "What a bold child, I dare not kneel when I see Benhou." ”

Kong Qiu saluted again: "Your Excellency is a prince, and the common people should bow down." As the son of a retainer, there is nothing wrong with Yang Hu bowing down. But my mother told me that my family members are first-class scholars, and they don't kneel when they see the princes, but they need to kneel when they see the princes. “

Yang Hu was furious and wanted to jump up, but he was so scared that he didn't dare to move. Ji Shi looked at Kong Qiu in surprise: "Is your home far from here?"

Kongqiu pointed to the back alley: "It's in that alley." ”

Ji waved his hand: "Go to this child's house and have a look." ”

Ji's carriage and horse followed Kong Qiu, and Yang Hu and several other children looked at each other and followed behind. Seeing the two sons walking in front with a dirty face, followed by a man in a prince's costume, Yan couldn't help but be a little panicked, and closed in the side room after opening the door.

Ji walked to the front of the case, saw the sheepskin genealogy, was slightly stunned, reached out to take down the Kong-style genealogy, flipped through the two pages, put it back, and said with a smile: "I said that it is so extraordinary, it turned out to be the Yin Shang royal family, the descendant of Wei Ziqi, who has been in turmoil for many years, and now only the body of the scholar family remains, which is embarrassing." ”

He turned to Yang Hu and said, "This is the queen of the royal family, don't be insulted, you go home and find your father to get ten boards as a punishment." Yang Hu didn't dare to disobey, so he agreed repeatedly, glared at Kong Qiu hatefully, and turned to leave.

After Ji left, Yan was so frightened that his whole body trembled: "Child, you are too bold. Although our family is a scholar clan, but we are so poor, how can we provoke those powerful people casually. ”

Kong Qiu said proudly: "Mother rest assured, the world is so big, the word of etiquette comes first, if they dare to bully my brother and me again, I will not only find Lord Ji, but also judge King Lu early." Mother sighed and respectfully put another stick of incense on the family tree.

In the middle of the night, Kong Qiu suddenly woke up, and there was no sound, but he just felt that something was wrong. He crept out of bed and walked towards the main room. In the moonlight, he saw a dark figure picking up the family tree from the offering table!

Kong Qiu immediately rushed forward, and at the same time shouted to catch the thief, the man looked back at Kong Qiu, seemed surprised, he grabbed Kong Qiu, covered his mouth, and whispered: "I am from the Yanghu family, he sent me to destroy this family tree, since you found out, I don't want to kill people." If you promise me not to say it, I'll go. Otherwise, your family is also in danger. “

Kong Qiu nodded, and the man smiled: "I know that you are a man of his word, and I am leaving." He took two steps, looked back at Kongqiu, and asked something that baffled him: "Aren't you sleepy?"

After the man left, Kong Qiu immediately turned on the lamp to check the family tree, and he found that the old sheepskin cover had been torn open a gap, and quickly rummaged through the fish maw glue given by the carpenter of the village entrance Lu. Just as he touched the crack, he accidentally noticed that there seemed to be something inside. He thought about it, gritted his teeth, and used a bamboo knife to cut along the gap little by little. Inside seemed to be a piece of yarn, the thinnest kind of silk. He dug it out, and the yarn grew bigger and bigger, and finally he took out a folded silk coat from it. It is unbelievable that a piece of clothing can be folded and stuffed into the sandwich of sheepskin, and if a woman wears it on her body, it must be like smoke, if there is nothing.

But instead of smoke, he saw a mist of blood. On the silk clothes, there were blood stains, but the blood stains did not look like they were splashed, but like calligraphy and paintings written on purpose. It's just that he can't understand what the calligraphy and painting are. Although he couldn't read it, he felt a great fear, and his intuition told him that such a thing could not be seen by others, so he secretly stuffed the sarse into his arms, and re-glued the gap in the cover with fish bladder glue.

Then he went to see his brother and mother, who were both asleep soundly, as if they had not heard anything in the hall just now. He wanted to wake up his brother, but after a long call for incense, Meng Pi barely opened his eyes and looked at Kong Qiu blankly: "What's wrong?"

Kong Qiu shook his head: "It's nothing, are you okay?"

Meng Pi shook his head: "It's okay, it's just a dream, I dreamed of ......" He blushed, embarrassed to say that he dreamed of a flower girl who learned spinning from his mother.

After this time, Yang Hu really didn't dare to trouble Kong Qiu again, and Meng Pi also had a lot less ridicule when he went to the street. The kid Mao, who was a few years younger than them, was chased by Yang Hu all over the ground, but as soon as he saw Kong Qiu, he immediately drilled to Kong Qiu's side, Yang Hu hated it so much, but there was nothing he could do about him. Only then did Kong Qiu know that Mao was an orphan and his parents were dead. From time to time, he invited Mao to his house for dinner.

As soon as the ancestor worship was completed, there was a sudden noise from outside the door: "Yes, this big New Year's Day is really pitiful." ”

When Kong Qiu walked out of the house, he saw a middle-aged man lying on the ground, and a little girl crying next to him. It was cold, and the girl's little face was red from the cold, but it still couldn't hide her pretty. Many children watched, and adults gradually gathered to discuss whether to send the middle-aged person to the hospital. A person walked over and touched the middle-aged man's mouth and nose, touched his chest again, and sighed: "What kind of doctor to send, I died a long time ago." ”

People think it's bad luck to encounter this kind of thing in the New Year, and they take their children home one after another. Yang Hu raised his head and said to his father, "Father, why don't you take this girl back." She's dead to her father, it's pathetic. ”

Yang Hu's father thought for a while and said, "It's okay, our family is about to buy a maid, take her with you." ”

Yang Hu went over to pull the girl, and the girl hugged the middle-aged man and didn't let go: "Whoever helps me bury my father, I will go with whomever I want." ”

Yang Hu looked back at his father, and his father shook his head: "This is a matter for the magistrate, who is willing to touch this bad luck during the New Year." Yang Hu, go!" Yang Hu looked at the girl very reluctantly, and slowly followed his father back.

Mao jumped down from the wall and patted the girl on the shoulder: "Let's go, I'll bury you your father." ”

The girl raised her teary eyes and looked at Mao: "I don't have a coffin." ”

Mao pouted: "What do you want coffins for? My father and mother both died of the plague the year before last, how can there be so many coffins, I dug a pit myself, wrapped in tree bark and buried them." I'll help your father pick up two tree barks, don't think it's easy to pick up, it's freezing this day, and it's hard work to pick up the bark. ”

The girl nodded reluctantly. Mao looked up at Kong Qiu: "Do you want to come and help him?" After burying his father, you can't let her follow me, you don't have a girl in your family, and you won't let your mother take her as a daughter." ”

Kong Qiu nodded: "You can live in my house first and see if she has any relatives to take refuge in." You wait, I still have a piece of pine wood at home, which is a gift from Master Ji for the New Year, so that we can make tables and chairs. Let's go to the carpenter at the entrance of the village and ask him to make a coffin. ”

Carpenter Lu was drinking at home, and when he heard Kong Qiu's request, he almost dropped the wine jug to the ground: "No, it's too unlucky for you to let me go to the coffin for the New Year." ”

Kong Qiu gave his hand again and again: "Brother Lu, the dead are the greatest, and the earth is safe." You are doing this respectfully, what is unlucky? ”

Carpenter Lu stood up helplessly: "If it weren't for the fact that you don't usually put up a shelf for the scholar clan and look up to me as a craftsman, I would never do it." “

Mao secretly drank a sip of Lu Carpenter's wine, smacked his lips and said: "What grievances do you have, don't you want me to help you collect fish bladders? Do you know how many scoldings I have suffered for asking for this thing from other people's kitchens? If you don't do it, I won't get you fish maw again." ”

Carpenter Lu scolded as he walked: "Stinky boy, no time you bring fish bladders, don't you have to eat something delicious here with me." It's as if I've done you a bad treat. ”

The three of them talked and arrived at Kong Qiu's house, Meng Pi had already carried the middle-aged man into the courtyard, and Yan was wiping her tears with the girl in her arms. Carpenter Lu entered the yard, looked at the thick pine wood, and shook his head: "Good wood, it's a pity." “

Kong Qiu said: "It's no pity, hurry up, Mao and I will choose a place to dig a pit, and when your coffin is ready, you have to help us carry it." ”

At this moment, a deep voice said in admiration: "Honest and kind-hearted, gifted and intelligent, and teachable." ”

Everyone turned around in shock, only to see the middle-aged man who had been frozen before, standing up slowly, with a ruddy face, how could he look like he was going to die?