"Premature?" Lin Xi looked puzzled.

Zhuo Minghe nodded, "Do you know Old Chu?" ”

Lin Xi; “…… Have a smattering of. ”

Zhuo Minghe looked around, and his voice was much lower: "This year is the thirtieth year of the Qin calendar, and my second uncle and third uncle are thirty and four. When they were born, the old Chu was still there, and the people's livelihood was uncertain. I heard my father tell me that when my grandmother was less than a month pregnant with them, she went to the temple to pray for the safety of my grandfather, who had been away from home, and was assassinated on the way. ”

"In order to avoid the assassination, my grandmother fled with a big belly, but she was able to survive because she passed by a farmer's house at that time, and the couple living in it were kind enough to take my grandmother in. But then my grandmother was born prematurely, and it was very difficult to give birth to my second and third uncles. For this reason, my grandmother lost her body and died when my second and third uncles were eight years old. ”

Zhuo Minghe recalled, "Yes, that year. The elders in my family were very sad, and it wasn't until two years later that I was born and there was some laughter in the family. ”

Lin Xixin said, Zhuo Minghe's birth is very difficult.

She counted again, "Hey, I remember that you are three years younger than Shen Chen, and you are twenty-four this year." Then you are ten years old apart from your second and third uncles. ”

"Yes, when my grandparents had them, they were not young, so they were very careful about this child. But he never thought that he would be killed by thieves in the end. Zhuo Minghe's eyes lit up.

Lin Xi couldn't help but sigh: "Why are there so many ups and downs in your previous generation?" ”

Zhuo Minghe's two uncles are frail and have been soaked in medicine jars all year round; Yi Hong lost his wife at an early age, and after marrying another, he used his stepfamily to murder his mother-in-law.

Is this what makes a big family different from ordinary people?

No wonder she can only be an ordinary person now.

Zhuo Minghe sighed: "Being in it, I can't help myself. ”

Lin Xi nodded in agreement, and suddenly realized that something was wrong, "Wait." Since you were born in the Xiao clan in Guanzhong, how can you still do business? With your identity, don't you still have to be an official or something? ”

Zhuo Minghe said: "I am not the only seedling, in fact, I have a brother who is a fellow mother. When my father and mother left, my mother said that my brother was naughty and more like herself, and she kept her father who could get into trouble and get angry for her, so she left him on her father's side. As a result, the eldest brother is actually extremely intelligent, and he has been admitted to the official examination and followed my father as an official in the court. ”

"Then ......" Zhuo Minghe paused, and said helplessly: "The Xiao family is special, and they also have a private army, if it weren't for the fact that my two uncles are weak and not enough to inherit the family business, I am afraid that they have already become a thorn in the side of the imperial court." Yes, it is enough for my father and brother to be officials in the family. ”

No matter how much it is, it is easy to provoke the suspicion of the court.

Lin Xi understood.

If she guessed correctly, there should be another reason, that is, Guanzhong Central is the land of old Chu and has a special location.

Seeing that the imperial court can let the Xiao family keep a private army, then the Xiao family should not be the people of the old Chu.

But in such a place, the situation is still embarrassing.

"Anyway, I'm better." Zhuo Minghe said, "I have been raised by my maternal surname since I was a child, and I have never interacted with the Xiao family on the surface, and most outsiders have forgotten me." So I can do whatever I want. ”

"Then your uncle and you are ......"

Lin Xi pointed to the courtyard.

Zhuo Minghe said: "I have a good relationship with my two uncles in private, and we usually have contact, so the second uncle knows that I have a place to settle here in Ruyangping County." ”

"To be honest," Zhuo Minghe looked into the courtyard, and there were more doubts between his eyebrows, "Although I have been in contact with them, I have rarely met them. I also think they're mysterious and I can't see through them. For example, my second uncle has been living in the Xiao family, and this time he left Guanzhong and went all the way south. And it should be someone who is hiding from the Xiao family. ”

"And my third uncle is even more mysterious, the time I saw him when I left home when I was a child was the last time I saw him so far. Everyone in the world says that my third uncle and second uncle have never left the Xiao family, but I know that in fact, my third uncle and uncle have long been out of the Xiao family, but no one can find out their whereabouts. I guess my dad and grandpa know. ”

Saying that, Zhuo Minghe fell into deep thought and muttered, "I have a gut feeling that they have been looking for something......"

"What did you say?"

Lin Xi didn't hear the latter words clearly.

Zhuo Minghe said: "It's okay." Lin Xi, I am close friends with Brother Shen, so I told you this, and I hope you don't tell others. ”

Lin Xi nodded: "I will." ”

Zhuo Minghe said: "Okay, then I'll ask the people waiting outside to bring breakfast in, and you eat first." ”

"Wait!" Lin Xi hurriedly stopped him, "You said so much, but none of them were to the point." What's the deal with that pattern on your second uncle's back? I'm telling you, I'm too smart to be bypassed by you. ”

Zhuo Minghe's figure froze.

Lin Xi said bitterly: "You've told me so much, what's the harm in telling me more?" Don't worry, I'm keeping my mouth shut. When she turned around, she asked Shen Chen.

Zhuo Minghe was even more helpless, "Knowing that my second uncle is from the Xiao clan in Guanzhong, isn't it enough?" ”

Lin Xi's eyes rolled and said tentatively: "I heard that the symbol of the people of the old Chu royal family is very special, it is a red bird ......"

"It's not!"

Zhuo Minghe immediately interrupted Lin Xi's words.

He sat back again, sat upright and looked directly at Lin Xi, and said solemnly: "Although my Xiao family is guarding the pass, my Xiao family has nothing to do with Old Chu!" And the pattern on the back of the second uncle, I heard my father say, to start with my grandfather when he was young. At that time, he was rescued by a woman, and he was grateful for his kindness, because the other party was many years younger than him, so he married him as a brother and sister of the opposite sex. ”

"I should call her aunt. My aunt is a strange woman, who traveled alone when she was young and traveled to many places. Later, she went to the south, and at that time the south was still in contact with the Central Plains. There, she got acquainted with a special race, all of whom had a lot of skills. ”

When Zhuo Minghe spoke, his expression was full of admiration and yearning.

He continued: "My aunt is interested and wants to learn from a teacher. The other party's request for accepting apprentices is to engrave such a totem on the back with a special technique. I don't know exactly what this totem is called. But this totem has a very magical effect, and it is deeply rooted in the blood and bones, and it will be inherited. ”

"At first, my grandfather didn't know about it, but my grandmother gave birth to a child early, and the two uncles were congenitally weak and almost couldn't survive, so my aunt rushed to treat them when they heard the news. We don't know what the aunt used, but in the end the two uncles miraculously survived, and then they had that pattern on their backs. ”

"Normally, the pattern doesn't appear, but it does when the body is hot. Later, the news somehow got out, but outsiders only knew that my uncle had it, and I didn't know that it would disappear. ”