Gu Yunqiu was held wrong.

In fact, on August 15 of the second year of Chenghe, Princess Ning was not the only one who gave birth in Baoguo Temple.

The monks braved the rain to go out of the temple to invite the midwife, and when they returned to the temple gate, they unexpectedly met a woman who was covered in blood, unconscious, and about to give birth.

It was the night lightning and thunder, the wind and rain, the woman and the princess gave birth one after another, the midwife was very busy, and the woman had a difficult birth, and the soldiers were in chaos - they were wrapped in the wrong swaddling clothes:

The two children were turned against each other, and the son of the folk woman became the son of the golden and noble family, while the true son of the world became an orphan by mistake.

The woman was wounded, and died in a hurry after giving birth, and the monks found only a moon harp and a whitewashed veil in her bag.

There are no embroidered flowers and birds on the handkerchief, unlike women's objects, and the master of the round sky took a closer look under the lamp, only to find a "Li" character embroidered with colored threads in the inner corner.

Originally, the fatherless and motherless orphan should have been sent to the Salesian Bureau in the capital, but Master Yuankong saw that the child was pitiful, and it was also blessed that he was born on the same day as King Ning's son, so he left him in the temple.

According to the surname Li on the pazi, Master Yuankong took the meaning of "from the boat to the free, where not to be free", and gave him a common name from the boat.

Later, according to the monk in the temple, he was given a corresponding legal name called Mingji, which was counted under the master of Yuankong.

Although Master Yuankong is a high-ranking monk, he cares for all the small novices in the temple, and he pities the child for losing his mother since he was a child, so he takes him with him to raise him personally.

Li Congzhou was also angry and never disappointed Master Yuankong.

Even though he grew up in a Buddhist temple, he has always been diligent and hardworking:

Get up in the morning to pick up water and chop wood, read and practice words, ride a horse in the afternoon to practice swords, step on plum blossom piles, and after night, also pick up the lamp to help Master Yuankong interpret the scriptures and translate the classics, and you can read through the Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures at a young age.

When he was eight years old, he was already able to write good handwriting with silver hooks and iron.

When he was twelve years old, on the night of the Lantern Festival, His Majesty made a painting question in Xuanwu Building to test the public, but the final winner was the monk Mingji who signed the "Baoguo Temple".

Later, when the overseas traveling monk visited, he crossed his knees and discussed with the other party, and won the praise of the monks, saying that he would become a generation of grandmasters in the future.

In the next autumn hunt, Li Congzhou stood under the eaves with a monk's robe, closed his eyes and opened the bow, and hit ten targets, each target was in the heart, so as to dominate the crowd and pull out the first prize.

Master Yuankong is very proud of him, and the monks of Baoguo Temple also love this little disciple very much, and no matter where he goes to the festival, they will always think of him - the one who brought him food to play with when he was a child, and brought a unique sutra book when he grew up.

Although Li Congzhou didn't know his life experience, he respected Master Yuankong as his father and monks as brothers, and really regarded Baoguo Temple as his home.

It's a pity that a fire in the fifteenth year of Chenghe burned hundreds of monks, including Master Yuankong, to death in the temple without explanation.

Li Congzhou happened to be sent to the Jiuhua Mountain Festival at that time, but he was lucky enough to escape.

When he returned, the government was already collecting the remains, and when he asked, he only said that he was a thief.

The people in Beijing are talking——

Some people question how no one can save the water in the temple, it must be a dereliction of duty in the Wanghuo Tower; However, some people mentioned a previous suspicious case and said that Baoguo Temple colluded with corrupt officials first, so there was this retribution......

In short, that was the last time the people of the capital saw Monk Mingji.

He buried his teacher and a group of brothers and sisters, and guarded the black smoke of Baoguo Temple for seven days and seven nights, and then left the capital and went north.

He returned to the vulgar and went to the northwest to join the military camp.

Further on—

It is rumored by everyone that there is a bloodthirsty god of war in the Northwest Army: he must go to every battle, he is invincible, and with only a team of 500 people, he miraculously defeated tens of thousands of troops in Xirong.

……

At the banquet, the midwife didn't realize what she said, she still held Gu Yunqiu's hand, and didn't even have the foresight to say: "The son was born well, like a princess." ”

Gu Yunqiu was sitting on pins and needles, and cold sweat broke out on his back.

It wasn't until Princess Ning shook and fainted, and the whole banquet was in chaos, that the old lady realized that something was wrong.

The guests who knew and didn't know were sent away one by one, and Gu Yunqiu was also surrounded by the Silver Armor Guard, and he was politely sent back to the backyard Ning Xin Hall.

At the same time, a fast horse went out of Beijing and went to the northwest with a letter from King Ning.

When he arrived in the northwest, it was unfortunate that Li Congzhou had crossed the Gobi and was sending troops to the Xirong royal court-

The military situation is bigger than the sky, no matter how helpless he is, Ning Wangfu can only wait.

And Gu Yunqiu was under house arrest in Ning Xintang, and he was more at a loss at first.

- Life has been out of place for twenty years, and in the end, he doesn't even know who he is.

After relieving his momentum, he couldn't help but worry about Princess Ning:

She is not in good health, how can she stand such a fright......

Although her family is illustrious and her birth is noble, Princess Ning is gentle and kind, and treats everyone kindly.

Even if she is an ordinary peasant woman, she is willing to be squeezed on the ridge of the field and taught her embroidery; Similarly, Gu Yunqiu has been personally taken care of by her since she was a child, and even went to learn the song of a folk woman to put her child to sleep for him.

Gu Yunqiu wanted to visit, but when he walked to the door, he was ruthlessly stopped by the silver armor guard.

They were polite to him, and the palace didn't take care of Yunqiu's food and clothing at the beginning, and even allowed the original servants and handymen to serve.

It's just that he doesn't know how King Ning and the princess will "dispose" of him in the end.

This made him frightened and despair in the long wait.

There are also a few little guys who are whimsical, and they get together to say that the battlefield is dangerous, thinking that if Li Congzhou can't come back, will their master be able to continue to be the son of the world.

Later, the good news in the northwest was frequent, and those little guys found excuses to leave one after another.

In another three months, the middle of winter is approaching.

The front finally sent back the news that Li Congzhou led his troops to a complete victory, had captured the king and princess of Xirong alive, and was preparing to escort them back to Beijing.

And the people of Ning Wangfu also found him and explained everything to him.

Gu Yunqiu didn't know how Li Congzhou reacted after learning the truth, but after that day, the last few grandmothers around him resigned one after another, and they all packed their bags and left Ning Xintang.

The people in the courtyard were gone, and only a lame and stammering handyman remained.

After that day, the things sent to Ning Xintang gradually decreased:

The style of meals is getting simpler and simpler, sometimes even rancid, and the charcoal used in winter is gone.

The miscellaneous servant went to ask, and he was beaten by the steward in vain.

The steward's tone was bad, "Who has time to take care of the false master, don't you know that the princess is seriously ill?" The whole house is busy taking care of it, some of you have good food, what kind of good food and good charcoal do you want? Drink the northwest wind and go! ”

The miscellaneous servant was stunned, limped back to Ning Xintang, and saw Gu Yunqiu's depressed expression, so he didn't tell him about it in the end.

And Gu Yunqiu looked at his dark blue eyes, and his heart gradually cooled.

It snowed heavily that night, and Gu Yunqiu put on a thin blanket and quietly watched the snow fall.

He always remembered when he was a child:

It was also such a snowy day, King Ning would take him to build a snowman, have a snowball fight, and lead him to the frozen moat to walk on the ice; Princess Ning would prepare hot antique pots and roast venison and roast suckling rabbits for them......

He stood by the window all night, without enough coal, and the next day his eyes were sore and his body was hot.

The miscellaneous servant was in a hurry, he was already stammering, and now he couldn't speak clearly, and he compared with the silver armor guard at the door for a long time, but only got a sneer from the other party:

"Now that the true prince is back, the palace is going to hold a grand celebration of recognizing his ancestors and returning to his ancestors. Let your master don't waste this thought, the prince won't come. ”

The handyman was in a hurry, and he wanted to say something, but Gu Yunqiu leaned against the door and beckoned him to come back.

"Gong, Gongzi."

Gu Yunqiu smiled, but couldn't help coughing violently.

The handyman panicked, and turned to look for the silver armor guard again.

Gu Yunqiu grabbed him, "...... Don't be busy, it's cold, talk to me. ”

He didn't care what King Ning and the princess thought of him, and he didn't want to delve into whether these harsh treatments were the instructions of those two or the self-made actions of the servants of the palace.

He just thought it was ridiculous, ridiculous, and pathetic.

Gu Yunqiu sat back by the fire in the house.

They had long since lost the charcoal fire for the winter, and now they burned all the furniture in the house that could be dismantled, Gu Yunqiu sat cross-legged, wrapped the velvet blanket tightly and shook the fire in front of him, and covered his mouth and choked.

In the end, the miscellaneous servants did not sit down, but only half-crouched down to pick up the pu fan and fan it, and fanned the black smoke from the fire pit to the outside.

Gu Yunqiu didn't really want to talk about anything, but at this point, he didn't want the only little servant around him to be looked down upon again.

He didn't speak, and the handyman was quiet.

Gu Yunqiu looked at the outside of the courtyard:

I heard that this ceremony of recognizing ancestors and returning to the ancestors was asked by Li Congzhou to come to King Ning, saying that he wanted to invite the emperor's relatives and relatives, saying that he wanted civil and military ministers to watch the ceremony, and even made a big list, bluntly saying that he would not be present if these people did not come.

With a whoosh, the salute was lifted into the air.

The palace, which had been silent for a long time, finally became lively again at this moment.

Gu Yunqiu pulled the corners of his mouth self-deprecatingly, and suddenly understood what was real:

Fengzi and dragon grandson, Tianhuang noble.

It didn't take long for him to clarify the emotions in his heart, a scream suddenly came out from the lively front yard, followed by more and more screams:

"Help——!"

"Murdered ——!"

Gu Yunqiu was stunned, and the miscellaneous servant was even more frightened and dropped the fan in his hand into the fire.

Several silver-armored guards guarding outside Ning Xin Hall looked at each other when they heard the voice, they glared at Gu Yunqiu warningly, and separated the two of them to go to the front yard to find out the situation.

However, the terrible screams did not stop, and the movement became louder and louder—

Smoke rose up, and there was a fire.

The two silver-armored guards left behind couldn't sit still, and after hesitating, more than a dozen people suddenly popped out of the corridor, they were covered in blood and embarrassed, and they were still important members of the imperial court when they looked closely.

The Silver Armor Guard hurriedly stepped forward, "My lord, what are you ......?"

The official he stopped only widened his eyes, muttered "crazy" twice in irritation, and then ran forward with a strange scream.

The silver-armored guard chased after him for a few steps, and more people poured out behind him, their faces were as pale as dirt, and many of them were wounded.

"What's going on?" The silver armor guard was pushed away by the other party even after blocking several people, and it was easy to see a familiar steward, but found that the other party had lost an arm, "What happened?" Your hand?! ”

"Hurry, escape...... the steward is angry, "the son of the real world...... Crazy, suddenly at the banquet, go on a killing spree......"

The silver armor guard was stunned for a moment, but the steward tilted his head and died directly.

Gu Yunqiu didn't know about their conversation, but it happened to be listened to by the miscellaneous servants who came to find out the news.

The handyman's face changed, and he limped back to Ning Xintang, and after telling Gu Yunqiu the news, he picked him up and ran out.

The miscellaneous servant was lame and stammering, but his mind was alive, and before he went out, he also covered Gu Yunqiu with a handkerchief.

There were too many people running out of the front yard, and in the chaos, those silver-armored guards didn't care about it, and actually asked them to leave Ning Xintang.

The two went along with the crowd, and heard more things about the front yard along the way-

The princess was sick, and King Ning was taking care of her these days, although she couldn't take care of many things, she still invited all the people on the list as Li Congzhou wished.

Li Congzhou was wearing black armor of Xuantie, and his expression was like a hellish Shura, and before the salute was fired, he suddenly attacked, and drew his sword in public without warning, and pierced the Zongzheng Yuan scholar beside him.

The scholar's eyes widened in disbelief, but Li Congzhou looked at him and suddenly burst out laughing.

From the emperor's relatives to the servants and grandmothers, he didn't say a word of nonsense, he didn't let go of any of them.

The Yulin Army and the Silver Armor Guard stepped forward to stop them, but they were also mercilessly killed by this madman.

There were so many people who fled that they all ended up crowded into the cloister.

However, as soon as the backyard door opened, there were soldiers in black armor like Li Congzhou standing outside, and they also didn't say a word, and they killed with knives.

The screams resumed, and the crowd dispersed again.

Gu Yunqiu was still sick, and he really had no strength to finish this journey, and the miscellaneous servants couldn't, so they could only half-drag and half-drag him back to Ning Xintang.

There is a low wall in the backyard of Ning Xin Hall, which is not high, maybe they can get out from there.

At this moment, King Ning's Mansion has become a hell - there is blood everywhere, and there are bloody corpses everywhere.

The more Gu Yunqiu looked at it, the more frightened he became, and as soon as he returned to Ning Xintang, he couldn't help but tear off the masked towel and hold on to the pillar.

Originally, the handyman was still beside him to calm him down, but as soon as he turned around, he panicked and stuffed a dirty little cloth bag into Gu Yunqiu's arms, "Gong, Gongzi, you, you run-"

Gu Yunqiu frowned and caught it, and found that it was a bag of broken silver inside.

The handyman gave him a hard push, then turned around and limped towards the gate of Ning Xin Hall.

He struggled to close the door, plug in the deadbolt, and then turned his back against the door, and pointed with his chin in the direction of the low wall, "Male, son, you can ...... if you turn over it."

Before he could finish his sentence, a sword pierced through the crack in the door.

The blue blade of the sword passed through his chest, and the river of blood dripped down the tip of the sword onto the snow.

The miscellaneous servant opened his mouth wide and looked at the sword on his chest in a daze, but after a while, he shouted at Gu Yunqiu again: "Childe, run——! ”

He held on to his last breath and blocked the door.

Gu Yunqiu shuddered and fell to the ground softly.

- He didn't even know what the handyman was called.

The door of Ning Xintang was finally kicked open, and Li Congzhou, who was walking slowly with a blood sword, had cold eyes and a crazy expression, his cheeks were stained with blood, and the corners of his mouth were filled with a wild smile, like a hellish Shura.

Before Gu Yunqiu could speak, he cut off his head with a sword.

Then, he returned.

Back to the spring and April of the year when I was eight years old.

Thinking that he was physically and mentally exhausted in his previous life, Gu Yunqiu was really coaxed to sleep by Princess Ning.

In the haze of consciousness—

He smelled a scent of osmanthus flowers, warm and toasty, with a little sweetness of fried sugar sand.