The winter is slightly cold, and the sky and the earth are pure white.

At first glance, it looks white, but there is only one ancient road that has left the footprints of many people.

It had just snowed yesterday, and when the soles of your feet stepped on the ground, there was a "rustling" sound.

Legend has it that whenever this day comes, the souls of the deceased will return to the world to receive offerings and prayers to welcome relatives and friends, and most people will choose to worship their deceased ancestors, parents and even friends on this day.

Gu Dan will also follow the trend on this day to incense his biological parents who have never met and are affectionate, and burn more paper.

As for seeing it, it's not necessary, it's really not necessary.

The ancient road that has been walked by many people is not an elegant place, on the contrary, if you call it by the most famous name, you can walk along this path until you reach a place called "mass grave".

The so-called mass graves are naturally not a good place to go.

The people buried inside were either guilty of something and were captured and beheaded by the government and thrown there, or they were victims who froze to death in winter and starved to death in the imperial capital.

It's just that somehow later, some people said that this place has a heavier yin qi, and it is most suitable for burying those poor people who are not dead and cannot be buried in the ancestral land for various reasons.

Anyway, all the people buried here are poor people, and everyone on Huangquan Road can more or less have a companion.

Later, this saying spread, and it became a tradition in the imperial capital for nearly a hundred years.

Of course, if you want Gu Dan to say, it is probably because the family who committed the crime can't bury the deceased in the ancestral grave, so they use this place to replace it with a more pleasant statement.

But it doesn't have to be true about everything, this world is already very bad, so you might as well simply look at the latter's sorrow and wishes for the death of the outlaw to be more heartwarming.

It was still early in the morning, and the snow in most places on this ancient road was almost guessed to be mud, leaving a faint yellow snow, but half of the human figure was hard to see.

"Looks like everyone is still early."

Carrying a large package of paper money, Gu Dan still had the heart to tell a cold joke that was not funny.

Naturally, no one answered.

He also walked towards a certain place with great purpose.

The mass grave soon arrived, and there were still some black embers in the air that had burned out but not completely collapsed, and they were extremely conspicuous in the white vastness.

Gu Dan walked to a grave bag and stretched out his hand to wipe the snowflakes off the tombstone.

The snowflakes were cold and cold, and when they touched the warm palms, they melted a little and became wet, like water stains, and like tears shed by a weeping person.

Six words are written on the tombstone.

The tomb of Ding Ji's family.

Six words, six people are buried.

It's only been a year, and the tombstone is still very new.

Gu Dan didn't know what to say, but he cleared the snow for Ding Ji, put the paper money in front of the grave, and said softly, "I'll come to see you." ”

The flint burst out with sparks and ignited the paper money.

The burning fire spread the snow around it, and the gray smoke rose up, perhaps reaching the unknown place that the man could not see.

Gu Dan didn't speak again, just quietly and silently waited for the paper money to slowly burn out.

There was a slight movement behind him.

"I said I couldn't drink last night, I couldn't drink! You kid don't pull me to drink, and you don't look at what time it is? ”

"And I said that you drank too much yesterday! If I hadn't woken up early today, I would have had to sleep until three o'clock in the morning! ”

"You're almost there! Don't you see that there are not even many people now? Hurry up and get down to business! ”

A group of three people, each carrying some paper money, walked towards this side, and the road was still constantly mixing and shouting, which was not very compatible with the quiet and somewhat deserted atmosphere here.

Gu Dan didn't look at it, staring at the rising flames, with light and fire reflected in his eyes, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

But the three of them were heading for this place.

"Master Gu?"

Among the three of them, the fat man, who was wrapped like a zongzi, opened his mouth in surprise.

"Huh?"

Gu Dan woke up from his stunned state and turned his head to look.

"It's really you!"

The fat man's eyes showed surprise, "You're also coming to visit Ding Ji?" ”

"You are," Gu Dan asked.

"We're friends with Ding Ji, and we've been drinking together before! It's a pity that this kid is unlucky, and there are thieves in the family. The brothers discussed that they would come and see him, so that no one would burn him paper. ”

"Yes, yes, yes! I didn't expect you, Master Gu, to come too. If Ding Ji's kid knows anything, I'm afraid he will have to jump up happily! Don't you know, every time he drinks, his favorite bragging is that he knows you! And said that without you, there would be no him! What is this called? The grace of recreation, right? ”

It was clearly a kind voice, but Gu Dan felt a little harsh, his lips twitched, and he didn't speak.

The fat man said quite familiarly: "You two go out of the way!" Lord Gu is thinking about big things, do you understand big things? I can't talk to you two mud legs! ”

Squeezed the two aside, the fat man unceremoniously poured the paper money in his hand on the fire lit by Gu Dan, and shouted: "Come on, come on, rub the fire of Lord Gu, I want to see if the old boy can be clearly divided underground." ”

A large handful of paper money fell into the burning fire, and suddenly the tongue of fire spread out, half a person high, and the faces of the people against it became ruddy, dispelling the winter chill.

Immediately afterwards, two large handfuls of paper money fell in, and the flames suddenly seemed to have the potential to burn the prairie and rise into the sky, bringing a little warmth and red to this plain white world.

The three new fox friends sat by the fire without any image, and took out a few jugs of untepid wine, half of which were sprinkled on the ground and half poured into their mouths.

"Find you kid for another drink!" They said.

The fat man also handed Gu Dan a pot of wine, and said, "This wine is a farmer's bad wine, Master Gu may not be used to drinking it, don't dislike it." ”

"How can you dislike it?"

Taking the flask, Gu Dan followed their example, poured half of it in front of the grave, and gulped down the cold wine.

The bad wine enters the throat, and there is a hint of spiciness, which pierces the throat and warms the stomach, and there is even some heartburn.

After all these years, if you think about it carefully, this is really the first time he has drunk with Ding Ji, but it is in front of the grave.

The three men spoke for a while in front of the grave, and then they departed together.

It's winter, there is still work to do, not to the coldest time, to go out to pick up some firewood is a good thing, since you won't stay too long, after burning the paper is considered to be exhausted.

When even the black embers were no longer red, Gu Dan threw up some snowdrifts, patted the tombstone, and said, "It's only too late to avenge you." ”

got up and was about to leave, but saw a familiar figure walking a little ahead.

Gu Dan's eyesight was excellent, and it was almost impossible for such a thing to happen to a martial arts grandmaster, and in an instant he was sure that he was not wrong.

They hurried over, and a slightly surprised voice sounded together.

"Brother Gu?"

"Xiaoyi?"

That person was Lin Xiaoyi.

She was wearing a thick robe, compared to the queen of the world, the robe was a little out of tune, rough, wide, and there were traces of fine stitches on the sleeves and shoulders, which did not look like the clothes of the nobles in the palace at all, but like the winter clothes that the thicker people were reluctant to throw away.

Even if she is wearing such a shabby or even poor winter coat, Lin Xiaoyi is still very good-looking, her eyebrows and eyes are picturesque, her posture is delicate, and her well-maintained skin is a little whiter and more tender than snow, but some heavy and wide winter clothes cover up her slender figure and look a little bloated.

Suddenly, Lin Xiaoyi looked like she had escaped from somewhere, and she was a lady in a winter coat casually.

"Why are you here?"

Gu Dan was the first to ask.

This place is a "famous" mass grave in the imperial capital, and it is really not a good place to go, and it is a place that only people who have no one at home and no money to spare.

No matter what it is, it doesn't quite match Lin Xiaoyi's situation.

"I'm here to worship my father."

Lin Xiaoyi's eyes were red, and there was a little moisture between her eyes at this time, obviously she had just cried, and her voice was hoarse with a hint of different from the past, like a lonely little pitiful.

"Imperial Doctor Lin and them?"

Gu Dan's brows furrowed slightly, "How can you be buried here?" What about the ancestral land? ”

People are different from each other, even if they have suffered the same calamities that they cannot resist.

In this era, it is important to be buried in the ancestral land, and if you can be buried in the ancestral land, it is naturally best to be buried in the ancestral land, and future generations will have a place to worship.

Besides, although Imperial Doctor Lin and Lin Xiaoyi's mother are gone, Lin Xiaoyi is still there, not to mention that there are a group of imperial doctors in the Tai Hospital, as long as this kind of thing is mentioned, how much will they take a hand, and they will not be buried here.

Lin Xiaoyi bit her red lip lightly, barely squeezed out a pale smile, and said, "Daddy is here. The relationship with the people in the clan is not very good, they all say that the clan has spent so much effort, and it is not easy to come out with an imperial doctor, and they don't want to call the family, and some people come to the hospital to make trouble a few times, and then they gradually don't have much contact.

And then later. My father died, and the family did not agree to be buried in the ancestral land. said that since he offended the prince and disregarded the family, how could he be embarrassed to defile the ancestral land again? I didn't want to look at their faces, so I was buried here. ”

"This"

Gu Dan was stunned, this kind of family matter is really unspeakable.

It is difficult for a Qing official to decide family affairs, and what this era pays attention to is that one person has attained the Tao and the chicken dog ascends to heaven.

In the same way, no matter who is an official, if he does not give convenience to himself, he will inevitably be poked in the backbone, and even the reputation in officialdom will never be good.

After all, you don't even care about the relationship between blood relatives, what else can you care about? Who can trust you?

The official position of the imperial doctor is not big, but the connections are indeed quite extensive, and it is not too difficult to simply find a place for people to live in trouble, and it is already a position that ordinary people can look up to.

But the people in the clan obviously resented Imperial Doctor Lin's refusal to take care of him, and even refused to let the ancestral land be buried, so you can imagine the extent of resentment.

"Actually, it's nothing."

Lin Xiaoyi sniffed, a little white puff when she spoke, still smiling, and pretended to be relaxed: "Anyway, my father and mother only have clothes." If you are clothed and mounded, it cannot be considered to be buried in the ground, so what difference does it make if you are buried? I remember to come and worship! ”

Gu Dan was silent.

At the beginning, the three princes chased the farmer who broke into the royal family to collect firewood, but he fell off the horse, and was crushed under the horse, and summoned the imperial physician Ling and the imperial doctor Lin.

After Imperial Doctor Lin was diagnosed and treated, he bluntly said that the paralysis of this injury was inevitable, and he was ordered to be cut down by the angry third prince, and even the imperial physician who pleaded for mercy did not escape.

Seven days later, Lin Xiaoyi's biological mother couldn't bear that her husband couldn't even die in peace, so she secretly ran to the mansion of the third prince by herself, praying that she could collect the corpse of Imperial Doctor Lin, and was beaten to death by the domestic servants.

When the third prince learned the news, he had him chopped up and fed to the dogs.

There are no corpses.

Later, the three princes, who had a very vicious temperament and became more and more violent, were strangled to death with white silk by the maids.

Even if Lin Xiaoyigui is the queen's honor at this time, this hatred cannot be dissolved.

When people are dead, what is it to drag them out and whip their corpses? can't make up for half of the pain of the living, but only adds a lot of regrets.

Gu Dan still remembered that Lin Xiaoyi, who was still young at that time and had not married, asked himself with rain.

'Brother Gu, my mother and father are both good people, and they have never missed the diagnosis and treatment of patients, why is this happening? ’

Fifteen years have passed, and Lin Xiaoyi has stood at the pinnacle of women's rights, but the past is irretrievable after all.

Gu Dan is the same as the previous two times, he still can't think of what to say to comfort Lin Xiaoyi, that kind of heartache is that the bystanders feel that the pain is unstoppable, what kind of words can heal?

I'm afraid that there is no cure, and maybe the more I talk about it, the more sad it will become.

On the contrary, it was Lin Xiaoyi who took the initiative to comfort Gu Dan and said, "Brother Gu doesn't have to be sad, in fact, after so long, I have almost forgotten it!" Occasionally thinking about it, I tried to think about it, but one day, I suddenly found that I couldn't remember the faces of my father and mother! ”

She was clearly smiling, but the expression on her face was cold as if snow was falling from the sky.

"Brother Gu still remembers what Daddy looks like? I only remember that his temper is actually not very good, and he rarely gets together with everyone in the Tai Hospital, except for studying medical skills, or studying medical skills, and he wants to write a medical book for the rest of his life. In the end, he was killed because he didn't take care of the injuries. ”

Lin Xiaoyi said with a little complaint, "I burned all the medical books that my father collected, he likes medical books so much, he has so much time below, and he finally has time to read more, maybe it's too late for him to like it?" Where I need to feel sorry for him.

But his mother suffered a lot with him. I haven't had a chance to enjoy happiness, my father doesn't even care much about the family, it's normal for people in the clan to dislike him, and I didn't like him when I was young."

A line of tears slid down.

Gu Dan sighed, stretched out his hand, and wiped away her tears.

He reached into his arms again, took out a book with temperature, handed it to Lin Xiaoyi, and said, "This book actually wanted to be handed over to you yesterday, but Xiaoying is still there, so I left it until today." ”

The misfortune of the previous generation does not have to be borne by the next generation, Lin Xiaoyi obviously thought the same way, and when she came to worship her parents, she did not bring her own children.

Fifteen years later, today, old books are still old friends.

"Books?"

Lin Xiaoyi was a little surprised and stretched out her hand to take it.

On the cover of the book, there are four large characters written that are not good-looking.

Jin Chuang's strategy.

The familiar and unfamiliar handwriting suddenly broke into view, and Lin Xiaoyi's whole person froze there.

The flood of memories is surging!

"Daddy, Daddy! Today I saw someone flying a kite, shall we go too? ”

In some dilapidated houses, little girls who are no more than thigh-high are pestering the man who is pounding medicine, and her young hands are pulling his beard hard.

"Xiaoyi, don't make trouble, don't make trouble! Daddy pounds medicine, I don't have time to go, let your mother go with you, okay? The man whispered with his face held high, trying to avoid the little one's claws.

"I don't! Everyone else has a daddy with them! I want it too! She got angry, and pulled his beard harder and harder, and rubbed her whole body against him.

"But Daddy still has to go and heal people. Said yes."

The man showed an expression of embarrassment and some pain on his face, grinning his teeth, and did not forget to reach out to protect the medicine jar that was pounding, not giving the little guy a chance to make trouble.

"I didn't listen, that's what you said last time! I don't care, I want my dad to take me to fly a kite! ”

Seeing that it was not easy to pull his beard, Lin Xiaoyi cried out, stretched out his legs and left small shoe prints on the man's body, and waved his small fists wildly.

"Xiao Yi."

The man looked helpless, but he didn't hide, just silently pounded the medicine jar.

Hearing Lin Xiaoyi's cry, a woman walked over quickly, still holding the winter coat she was sewing in her hand, and hurriedly said, "Oh, my little ancestor, who made you angry again?" ”

Inserting the needle and thread on the winter coat, the woman kindly hugged Lin Xiaoyi in her arms, and wiped the tears on her face with one free hand.

"Daddy knows about healing and curing all day long, and he refuses to play with me! Isn't Uncle Xu also an imperial doctor? Uncle Xu took everyone out to play, why didn't Daddy take me to play! The young Lin Xiaoyi cried.

The woman put her arm around her and comforted, "Didn't my mother tell you?" Your father was sick and almost died. It's still a kind-hearted Lang Zhong passing by, and he doesn't want money to treat him. Now that your father has the ability, of course he has to help others! Xiao Yi said right? ”

"That's not right!"

Lin Xiaoyi pursed her mouth aggrievedly, "How many people has Daddy helped?" The rice jar at home is going to be empty! ”

"Well, it can't be counted like that. We can be admitted to the hospital, and we won't be hungry. Those people have nothing to eat, but they will starve to death. The woman wiped tears from her face and was relieved.

Speaking of this, Lin Xiaoyi said even more aggrievedly: "When others enter the hospital, they all have a big house to live in!" You can eat meat every day! Why is our family getting poorer and poorer, and even this winter coat has been mended several times! Uncle came over a while ago and scolded Daddy for being stupid! Xiao Yi said hello to him, and he was murdered! ”

"Let's not play with them, we don't play with them" The woman also lowered her head, smiled awkwardly, and could only hug Xiaoyi aside.

The man sat there silently, paused, and the sound of pounding medicine continued to sound unswervingly, and occasionally Lin Xiaoyi's cry.

In the blink of an eye, Lin Xiaoyi became a little bigger, and it had grown to a person's waist.

"Do you want to learn?"

The man frowned coldly, no longer showing kindness, and was staring at her and roaring.

"I don't learn!"

Lin Xiaoyi raised her neck, also glared at those eyes, her silver teeth clenched, and she didn't retreat.

"Why don't you learn? What else do you want to study without studying medicine? Is the female red?! ”

The man's expression was cold, with an almost irrepressible anger.

"What's so good about studying medicine? Just like you, the poor family is gone, and you live in the hospital all day! There are so many imperial doctors, which one is like you? I don't want to study medicine!

When I grow up, I'll find a rich man to marry and never come back! ”

Lin Xiaoyi was extremely angry, and shouted back without fear.

"Oh, that's for the future, now, come and read the medical book!" The man sneered, and was about to put her in front of the desk.

"Let go of me! I don't want to learn! ”

Lin Xiaoyi struggled hard, but he still couldn't resist him, so he could only be pressed in front of the desk.

A medical book was thrown in front of him.

"Before dinner, I will check the first ten pages, and if I can't remember, I'll wait to be hungry!"

The man said mercilessly.

"If you're hungry, you're hungry!"

She raised her head and roared in great rage.

The man ignored her and locked the door without giving her a chance to slip out.

Staring at the medical book in front of her, Lin Xiaoyi became more and more angry the more she looked at it, and tore it directly.

She was later in bed for several days.

In a trance, Lin Xiaoyi grew to the height of a man's shoulders, although she was still a little immature, she was also slim.

It's just that the relationship with my dad is very poor, and it has reached the point where I don't want to pay attention to it when we meet.

She was wandering around the Imperial Hospital, a place she was all too familiar with, perhaps more so than the Imperial Physician who had served here for decades.

Suddenly, Lin Xiaoyi saw a familiar figure under the Millennium Panason, sitting there in a daze, facing the pine tree.

She leaned over and greeted with a smile: "Brother Gu, are you practicing internal breath again?" ”

The figure sitting cross-legged nodded, looking rather helpless.

"I asked my father, you can't force this thing."

Then Gu Dan gave him a few big coins.

Money is a good thing, you can exchange it for rock sugar gourds to eat.

It's just that her father doesn't give her money, only her mother occasionally secretly stuffs some for her, saying that the girl wants to be rich, but it is difficult for her to even eat a string of sugar gourds.

"That's embarrassing."

She smiled two small dimples on her face, and decisively reached out to take them.

Memories are concatenated.

The plain white slender fingers trembled and opened the page, and more small characters crashed into the human eye.

Lin Xiaoyi flipped through this medical book stupidly, her eyes were a little more crystalline, and she didn't fit her eyes, but she kept flipping through them.

When you turn to a certain page, a new, different handwriting appears on the book.

Since then, the handwriting has been different from before.

Gu Dan said softly: "This book, when Imperial Doctor Lin gave it to me, I hadn't finished it, but I completed it later, and now I will give it to you." ”

Lin Xiaoyi did not speak.

Only tears poured down like beads with broken threads.

Half of this book is a man's life's work.

But in the end, it can only be completed by others.

Lin Xiaoyi held the medical book in her arms, as if she was holding a treasure in the world, although she couldn't stop crying, she also squeezed out a smile, she said: "This medical book is excellent!" ”

(End of chapter)