When the door was closed, the laughter of the crescent moon became distant and ethereal.
Li Derang put away the smile on his face, looked at the person standing in front of him, and asked softly, "What's the news over there?"
” The man saluted, "My lord, my subordinates have been investigating the reasons for the defeat of the Yin soldiers in Liaoyang these days, and the emperor has lived up to his wishes, and a few days ago, he finally let his subordinates find a person who witnessed the whole process of this matter." ” Li Derang furrowed two thick eyebrows, "What did he say?"
” "That man is a businessman, and he happened to be outside the city on the day the Yin soldiers attacked the city, so he saw the truth of the matter clearly.
He said that he was hiding on a hillside not far from the city gate, and saw that the soldiers defending the city of the Great Song Dynasty were beaten by the Yin soldiers and were almost wiped out, but when the army was defeated and the city was broken, there was a Taoist man holding an iron ruler from a distance, he held three fires in his palm, and between raising his palm, he swept your three thousand Yin soldiers into the sea of fire and burned them all. ” Li Derang stood up from his seat suddenly, his eyes shining, and he stared at the man's face, "What does that Taoist priest look like?"
” "Dressed in ordinary clothes, but he has a scar on his neck as thick as a small snake" Hearing this, Li Derang didn't speak for a long time, and after half a pillar of incense, he grinned lightly and said three words, "It's him again." ” "My lord, my subordinates are stupid, who is that Taoist priest?
Is it the old knowledge of adults?
” "Old knowledge?
It is indeed old knowledge," Li Derang laughed twice, his voice was like a wind and frost sword, and he sounded shuddering, "If he hadn't suddenly defected and leaked our plan to ambush the Song army, the three thousand Liao soldiers under my command would not have died tragically in the Yin Soldier Trough." ” The man was shocked, "I only knew that there was a traitor in the army at that time, but I didn't think that it was this Taoist priest?"
It's just my lord, this Taoist priest is obviously a Song person, but why does he know the secret military affairs of our Da Liao?
” Li Derang looked at the few beams of sunlight coming through the window, squinted his eagle eyes slightly, and said softly, "He has a strong mana and has won the trust of Jingzong, and he has also reached some kind of agreement with Jingzong. ” "Agreed?"
Li Derang nodded silently, and then looked up at the man again, his voice revealing irrefutable firmness, "You send someone to inquire about his whereabouts, and once it is confirmed, we will set off." ” The man was stunned, "My lord, do you want to go to the Great Song Dynasty in person?"
” Li De let the corners of his lips overflow with a hint of a sinister smile, "After so many years, it's time for me to meet this old friend." ” Before the day was completely dawn, the Cheng family's servants moved the five-colored paper and cotton they bought from the market to the courtyard, and piled up a large stack.
Hearing the movement, Li Yushan came out of the room with a yawn, and saw that everyone else was gathered in the courtyard and discussing something in a low voice, so she squeezed to the front and asked casually, "What are you doing with so much colored paper?"
And this cotton, which is yellow and rubbing, is not a good thing at first glance. ” After she finished speaking, she found that everyone was focused on herself, disdain and incomprehension, so she felt a little weak-hearted, and muttered in a low voice, "What do you want to do with me?"
The cotton you buy is not good, don't let people say it?
” When the words fell, I saw Cheng Qiuchi shaking his head lightly at her, signaling her not to say any more, but he was still a step late, Liu Ziqian cleared her throat and said to Li Yushan with a smile, "Sister, don't you know that today is the Winter Clothes Festival?"
These five-colored paper and cotton were meant to be used to make clothes for the ancestors.
Particular people will also go to the intersection not far from their homes to send winter clothes to the 'wandering ghosts', in order to 'have a home, but not to be terrible', bribing those wandering ghosts so that they can coexist peacefully with their own dead. ” Li Yushan listened to Liu Ziqian's speech, and knew that she deliberately ridiculed herself in front of the subordinates, so she glanced at her hatefully, turned out of the crowd, and walked towards the front hall. ” Seeing Li Yushan leave angrily, Cheng Qiuchi couldn't stand still, and just wanted to go over, but was stopped by Cheng Dexuan, "Qiuchi, now the South Paper Store sells ready-made clothes, boots and shoes, you don't need to buy them and make them yourself, Ziqian is pregnant again, and she does it herself, so she doesn't bother to do it yourself." ” Cheng Qiuchi said with a smile, "I didn't let her do it, but when my mother and younger siblings were alive, she got along very well with Ziqian, so she also wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to talk about her feelings." ” Cheng Dexuan nodded approvingly, "In that case, you can find a few more maids to help her do it together, don't get tired."
Speaking of this, he changed his words, "When will Mu You and Xun'er arrive?"
” Cheng Qiuchi hurriedly said, "Mu You set off from Xin'an last night, and he should be able to get home before noon, and he won't delay things, so my father can rest assured." ” Cheng Dexuan nodded, "He didn't come back during Qingming, this time, it's time to come to worship the ancestors and show filial piety." ” As Cheng Qiuchi said, before noon, Cheng Muyou's carriage arrived, and when the relatives met, they couldn't help but greet each other, and after that, the family went out to sweep the pine, sacrifice the tomb, and burn the prepared ingots in front of the grave.
When she returned to Cheng's house, it was already dusk, Xun'er looked at the table full of explosives, touched her flat belly, and whispered to Jiang Xixi, "After a busy day, now I can finally eat." ” Jiang Xixi pouted and smiled, and whispered in his ear, "These are the food for the ancestors, after a while, you have to go to the intersection to burn the paper clothes, and you can only start the meal after you come back, you have to be patient, otherwise your father will say that you are squeamish." ” Xun'er was helpless, but she had to comply, but fortunately, the ancestral tomb had been swept during the day, so the worship was just a formality, and the ceremony was very simple, so when it was just dark, the family came to the street to burn the clothes.
The people sprinkled an ash ring with soil ashes, burned incense offerings, and in the smoke of the cigarettes, everyone lit those paper ingots and put them into the ash ring, and wept low while expressing their condolences to their deceased relatives.
A cold wind blew, rolling up the paper ash with sparks, Liu Ziqian couldn't hold back, and sneezed several times in a row, Cheng Qiuchi was afraid that she would catch a cold, so he said to Cheng Dexuan, "Father, it's better to let Ziqian go back first, she has been busy for a day, I'm afraid she can't stand it." ” Cheng Dexuan was worried about the child in her womb, so she naturally nodded and agreed, and ordered the maid to accompany Liu Ziqian home.
Seeing her go away, Cheng Dexuan sat down on the stool again, he stared at the flying sparks on the gray circle, something suddenly went out in his eyes, and asked Cheng Muyou softly who was burning his clothes, "Do you believe that there are ghosts in this world?"
”