Pihanjin

Early in the morning, Mu Fulan and Xie Changgeng each got up. After grooming, the two changed into sacrificial dresses and left the Jiedu envoy together. They led their officials and accompanying ladies out of the city to the peasant temple in the western suburbs.

After Xie Changgeng came here to serve as the Jiedu envoy, he knew people and good responsibilities, and the government was simple and punished. He not only managed the local area in a smooth manner, but also achieved outstanding political achievements. He used troops on the frontier of the northerners. The passive situation of looting, the local people are very supportive of him. When the two of them got there, they saw a sea of ​​people. People from all over the world gathered early, and when they saw Jiedushi and his wife coming, they all knelt by the roadside to greet them.

The two separated and each presided over the ritual ceremony.

The silkworm altar has been laid out in the Canniang Temple, with sacrificed cattle on it. The incense altar is filled with smoke and the scene is grand.

Mu Fulan entered the temple with the officials and wives behind her, knelt down reverently, burned incense and prayed, and then removed the silkworms from the silkworm altar and distributed them with her own hands.

Everyone saw that Jiedushi's wife was not only beautiful in appearance, dignified in dress, and noble in every move. She heard that she was not only the princess of Changsha Kingdom, but also had good medical skills and rejuvenated her hands. People who seek medical treatment have great respect for her, and when she leaves the temple gate after the sacrifice, she distributes silkworms with her own hands.

Mu Fulan was busy when she suddenly heard a voice shouting, "Madam! We're here too! I beg Madam to give us some too!"

Mu Fulan looked up and saw a large group of women dressed as natives pouring in. A woman took a seven- or eight-year-old child in her hand, came to her, knelt down and kowtowed to herself.

This child was the one who was sent to the hospital that day. The woman was the mother of the child. Some of the other faces, she recognized, were residents of the village, and some were raw faces that she had never seen before.

The woman who could speak Chinese stepped forward and bowed respectfully to Mu Fulan, then smiled and said, "I heard that Madam today is here to preside over the sacrifice in person, not only us, but also people from other places. Some. Everyone says that Madam is a goddess, and she wants to take advantage of Madam's blessing to offer sacrifices and prayers for the New Year."

The natives never had contact with outsiders in the past, and they were hostile to each other. Today, they suddenly appeared here. There are many people. The women who were originally surrounded by the plague avoided them one after another, stood far away, and stared at them with alert eyes. , whispering.

Mu Fulan lifted the mother and son who were kneeling to her, and asked the mother about the child's health. She learned that she had already recovered and was now alive and well. The rest of the patients in the village had also recovered, and she felt relieved. The silkworms were distributed upon request.

The women took it, carefully put it into their pockets, smiled happily, and said, "The men sent us here, and we are still waiting. We have worshipped the madam and asked for something, and we will leave now, so as not to cause trouble for the madam."

Everyone thanked Mu Fulan again, and then turned away.

When those people left, the crowd who had just retreated slowly gathered back, and the atmosphere became lively again.

Several officials and wives approached Mu Fulan to persuade Mu Fulan, "In the future, it is better not to interact with these natives. They are all fierce and unreasonable. The villages are in the same way, and they will form a group when something happens. I remember that a few years ago, the last Jiedushi had something with them, and in the end, even the Jiedushi almost got hurt by them. Later, the Jiedushi didn't dare to do anything to them, it's okay. No. Weng master Jin Gui, don't look at their friendly face now, who knows what's going on in their hearts, it's better to be careful."

Mu Fulan smiled and said thank you, and asked these ladies to help distribute it. After a long time of work, it was finally over.

After the sacrifice, the temple fair followed. Mu Fulan had no intention of going again, and without waiting to see Xie Changgeng's face, he took the car by himself and returned to the Jiedu envoy's residence.

After Xie Changgeng presided over the sacrifice, just after leaving the temple, an official rushed over and reported that a large group of natives had come to the open space outside the temple fair, with knives on their waists, and gathered there, not knowing what to do, although I haven't broken into the temple fair yet, but I'm afraid that they will make trouble today.

After Xie Changgeng took office, he knew that the local natives were a big problem left over from a long time ago. I have also tried to send people to communicate several times, but have been turned away each time. Fortunately, apart from the exclusion and unwillingness to interact with the official, in the past two years, I have not seen any major incidents with them, so I temporarily let it go.

He followed the official, and as soon as he arrived, he saw a large group of native women walking from the direction of the Silkworm Temple talking and laughing. The man greeted them, picked them up, said a few words, and walked away together.

Those people clearly saw themselves, but if they didn't see them, they didn't stay, and they soon disappeared.

The official looked surprised, and saw his boss lose face, which was embarrassing. At first, he pretended not to see, and when the natives were far away, he pretended to be angry and said, "These people are too arrogant! I don't bow down when I see you! This is called a lower official. People go up and teach them!"

Xie Changgeng seemed to have never heard of it, looked at the backs of the natives and walked away, called for the people to be evacuated, and turned around to go to the Silkworm Temple. When they got there, Mu Fulan was not seen, and she was told that she left after the sacrifice.

Xie Changgeng paused and asked about the native woman. The subordinate said, "The villain was also startled at first, but the first time I saw so many people. I came here to hear that Lord Weng was presiding over the sacrifice today, and came here to express my thanks and blessings. After I prayed, I left, and there was nothing else. "

Xie Changgeng pondered and turned away.

He returned to the Jiedu envoy's mansion, and asked the steward who came out. He learned that Mu Fulan had been back for some time, and people had gone in early.

After serving as Jiedushi, apart from the military, the case and slips are also complicated in government affairs, but as long as he is free, he will handle it himself. Fortunately, since he was a child, he was quick to read and handled official documents, so he was fine in court.

It was getting dark, and the maid came in to hold the lamp.

During the day, I saw the child named Mu Fulan and thought of Xi'er again. I couldn't help taking out the fur hat I bought when I first came here, rubbing the soft fur on it, imagining what Xi'er looked like when she put it on. Suddenly I heard the door being pushed open, and there were footsteps. I turned around and saw that Xie Changgeng had returned, and immediately put away his hat.

With sharp eyes, he saw it, glanced at it, and asked what.

"It's just a hat I bought at the market earlier."

Mu Fulan said, put it away.

Xie Changgeng didn't care, and asked a couple of questions about her meeting with the native women during the day, then went to take a bath, and came out after changing clothes. Mu's mother brought the dinner with her maid, and put it on a table outside. .

The two sat opposite each other and began to eat.

Mu's mother's craftsmanship is very good. For dinner, we cooked hibiscus shrimp balls, anchovy bamboo shoots, ham and pigeon slices, and braised noodles in duck sauce, all of which were delicious. In terms of the exquisiteness of the dishes, the original cook couldn't compare them.

Xie Changgeng was ignorant of the taste.

She came out of a new bath. In the slanting side, the candle was dimly red, and it was caged on her face. A plain noodles, such as Ningxiangxue.

At this time, in the south of Dongting, there is thunder and rain, and the spring is getting stronger, but the snow here has not yet melted. Xie Changgeng knew that she was timid and cold, and made people burn the fire dragon.

It was probably hot in the room, and after taking a few bites, two blushes appeared on her cheeks, and the candlelight reflected them, which was very bright, a little more charming than dyed rouge.

He looked at it in a trance like a famous flower. After eating a few mouthfuls, he became absent-minded.

For today's sacrifice, he has not touched the woman sitting across from him for three nights.

She seemed to be eating attentively, with her head lowered, never looking up at him who was sitting across from her.

There is a bowl of corn soup on the table, which is sweet and glutinous. She seems to like eating this more than food.

Xie Changgeng watched as she scooped it up and brought it to her mouth with a spoon. She opened her mouth to take a few bites, her lips were soaked with juice, and it was wet with fluorescent light. She stuck out the tip of her tongue and licked the juice.

Xie Changgeng's belly suddenly burst out with evil fire, he put down his chopsticks, got up and walked around behind her, without saying a word, he took off the spoon that was still in her hand, picked it up and turned away.

When it was over, Mu Fulan lay on the pillow, motionless, as if she had fallen asleep.

Xie Changgeng still hugged her, stroking the woman's bare back, which was slippery towards him. After stroking for a while, she couldn't help but put her mouth close and nibbled at her thin and beautiful butterfly bone.

She didn't seem to like it, she shrank her shoulders, pushed away his hand on her body, and pulled the quilt to cover her body.

Xie Changgeng knew that her skin was delicate and thin, so he would leave marks on his body with a little force or a few bites. He smiled and didn't care about this move with her. Although he was still in the mood, he knew that she was tired, so he let go of her, and when he closed his eyes and rested, he heard a voice in his ear saying, "When can I go back?"

Xie Changgeng didn't open his eyes, he still closed his eyes, and casually replied, "I told you. I was at the Empress Dowager's place before and brought you out in the name of a couple. It's only been a few days? You can't go back yet. lest the queen mother find out, in case of doubt, it will be bad for you and me."

The woman next to her didn't speak or move. After a while, she suddenly sat up, pushed the quilt to get dressed, and climbed off the bed.

"Where are you going?"

Xie Changgeng opened his eyes, looked at her back and asked.

"Go out, you can do it yourself."

Mu Fulan's tone was indifferent, she turned her long hair towards Jingwan, put on a coat, and walked out.

Xie Changgeng was a little unhappy when he was left out. Recalling that in the past few days, every time she shared bed with herself, it was the big night, and she had to go out for a while, only to return after a while, and she couldn't help but feel suspicious.

He rolled over and got out of bed, quickly put on his clothes, passed the table, which was already cold, and ate half of the leftover food, then opened the door and went out.

She is gone. He asked a maid outside, "Where's Master Weng?"

"Go to the pantry. We are not allowed to follow."

Xie Changgeng asked the maid to clean up the leftovers in the room and go to the tea room by himself.

The tea room is next to the kitchen, and there is a large tiger stove in it. There are several large soup pots on the stove, which are used to boil water for the whole Jiedushi mansion. Throughout the winter, in order to have hot water at all times, the fire does not go out day and night. Opposite is a small stove, which is used to burn tea for daily drinking.

The stove was burning coal, and it was necessary to keep adding coal hooks to the fire. There was a handyman woman here to guard the stove. People were outside and saw Xie Changgeng coming, so he hurried over to greet him.

Xie Changgeng asked Master Weng, and the maid bowed and said, "Master Weng is taking medicine inside. She said that she has been feeling a little unwell recently, and told me to prepare the medicine she gave every day and wait for her to drink."

"Anything sick?"

"I don't know that." The maid shook her head.

Xie Changgeng stopped at the door and saw a figure standing in front of the small stove, holding a bowl in his hand, drinking the medicinal juice.

He pushed the door in.

Mu Fulan turned her head and glanced at him, but she didn't respond. She continued to drink the medicine and finished it after a few sips.

"What's wrong with you? Why don't you ask someone to send it over after taking the medicine? It's so cold, why do you come here by yourself?"

Xie Changgeng glanced at the bowl with only a little black dregs left in her hand and asked her.

Mu Fulan said, "What are you doing here? It's such a cold day, go and rest early."

She put down the bowl, left him, and turned away.

Xie Changgeng's face was a little ugly, he watched her back disappear, turned his head and looked at the medicinal residues at the bottom of the bowl, he gradually became suspicious, asked the maid to fetch the medicines that had not been boiled, took a pack, and left the Jiedushi residence.