Chapter 64

Gu Ran guessed it right.

Pei Liuniang is not the sixth lady of the Pei family in the Pei Mansion in Zhengzhou.

Pei Liu crawled into the quilt. When he lifted the quilt, his hand touched the wound on his body. He frowned, but the pain was not as unbearable as when he was injured in the past.

After lying down in the cotton quilt, I felt the bedding around me gradually warming up with my body temperature, and listened to the crackling sound of the charcoal burning in the basin next to the bed, and felt warm all over.

It's nice here.

I didn't expect that impersonating the Sixth Lady of the Pei Family would bring me such benefits.

Pei Liu is not Pei Liuniang. Pei Liu is actually an assassin hired by the real Pei family's Liuniang, the number one thief. He is a spy sent by the assassin to sneak into the Pei Mansion to scout the area for the assassination.

And because Pei Liu is still young and looks like a beautiful girl, what could be more appropriate than pretending to be a maid sold into the Pei Mansion?

This was the nth time that Pei Liu had used a hidden chess piece to sneak into the target's home, but it was the only time he had a chance to escape.

He was kidnapped into the organization by the number one thief when he was young, and then trained to be a killer.

The assassins hired by Pei Jia Liuniang were one Ming and one Ming. The Ming was naturally him, and the Ming was another senior.

That day, after the assassin slaughtered all the people in the Pei family as instructed, he took advantage of the assassin's unpreparedness and stabbed his sword into his heart.

When the soldiers arrived, Pei Liuniang, seeing her great revenge, lost all attachment to the world and committed suicide. However, he was still wearing a woman's clothes next to the head of the Pei family. Because the various branches of the Pei mansion had ulterior motives and wanted to control Pei Liuniang, they never showed up in public easily. People who knew Pei Liuniang were also killed in this case of family extermination.

As a result, he was mistaken by everyone as Pei Liuniang.

Forced by the situation, he had to pretend to be Pei Liuniang. After being imprisoned and getting to know the prison environment, he planned to escape, but then he heard about the prefect's trial of her, exile to southern Xinjiang, and sent her to Fujian.

Fujian.

He remembered that the person he had been looking for was in Fujian, and he was planning to go to Fujian if he wanted to escape from prison.

So he made the best of the situation and continued to play the role of Pei Liuniang, pretending to be an exile and following the officials all the way to Fujian.

Who would have thought that I would meet Gu Er Niang on the road!

Pei Liu recalled every detail of their encounter along the way and sighed with pleasure.

very nice!

The next day was New Year's Eve.

Meimei had a good sleep. When Gu Ran woke up, she wanted to stay in bed for a while longer, but Daju called her to get up too enthusiastically. Then she remembered that there was a new Pei Liuniang in her little house, so she had to get up quickly.

Although the households in the village lived far from each other, the sound of firecrackers and fireworks outside had not stopped since the morning of that day.

Gu Ran had already cleaned the courtyard stove early and decorated it with colorful lanterns, window decorations, New Year pictures and Spring Festival paintings, so he had originally planned to use today to prepare a good New Year's Eve dinner.

When he entered the kitchen, he saw the stove boiling water. Gu Ran looked at the area where rations were usually stored.

Most of her food was actually stored in space grid No. 8. Now that space grid No. 3 had been opened, there was really no need to store all the food outside.

However, with one more person in the house, she had to arrange the food according to the storage method of ordinary people.

It's so comfortable living alone, it's too late to regret bringing Pei Liuniang home now.

She had to move some of the rice, grain, oil, salt, vegetables, fruits and meat out.

And considering that Pei Liuniang has a big appetite, she needs to move more.

However, the space for storing food in the kitchen was very small, and it seemed that it could only store staple food. As for the dried meat she had dried, the fresh meat she had stored for some time, and other vegetables, there was no room for them at all.

I can't let Pei Liuniang find out that there are no ingredients at home, but I made food with these ingredients as the main ingredients.

Moreover, it would seem strange to outsiders if we didn't store up a batch of food for the winter during the New Year.

Gu Ran looked around the small house and finally decided to move to the side room on the second floor above the kitchen.

The side room on the second floor is also a small guest room, the same size as the side room on the second floor of Jutou on the other side.

That's it.

Gu Ran quickly decided to use this side room as his own warehouse to store rice and grain.

Of course, staple foods, such as threshed rice, flour, corn, and coarse grains, are still placed in the corner of the kitchen where rations are stored because of their weight, while other food is stored in the rooms upstairs.

Gu Ran put the beds, quilts, furniture, etc. that were originally prepared for the refugees in the side room into space No. 3, and the room immediately became empty.

Gu Ran looked around in space No. 8 and moved out some of the large wooden shelves along with the food stored there, quickly filling up the side compartments.

There were two other bags of rice, dried vegetables and smoked meat that she had dried herself, as well as vegetables and fruits. She also took out all the sauces she had made. Of course, there were also candies and cakes that she had purchased in the county town specifically for the New Year, so she could use them openly.

As for the cooked food that had been stored before, it could not be taken out. Although the weather was cold now, Gu Ran still set up a fresh meat area specifically to store several kinds of meat. She went to the kitchen downstairs and took two wooden barrels. After filling the bottom with ice cubes, she left the bottom layer of the wooden shelf empty and placed the pork, mutton, chicken, etc. neatly in the upper section, as well as some prey she had hunted in the mountains.

Of course, fresh meat cannot maintain its most delicious state once it is taken out, so Gu Ran did not take much, and most of it was pickled or dried meat.

Seeing that the small side room had suddenly turned into a granary filled with food, Gu Ran expressed his satisfaction.

If you want to cook in the future, you can just come up here to get the ingredients and then go down to the kitchen to cook.

Really good!

After solving the problem of storing food rations, Gu Ran decided to rethink what to eat for the New Year's Eve dinner.

Originally, Gu Ran was going to spend New Year's Eve with Da Ju, and she had already made up her mind to cook a pot full of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, stewing it with seafood and meat slices and enough ingredients, so that she could enjoy it alone. How wonderful.

But since Pei Liuniang is here and she is still recovering from her injuries, it would not be a good idea to eat Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, which is mainly seafood.

Therefore, the dishes had to be redesigned.

There are so many ingredients in this warehouse, are you afraid that you won’t be able to cook?

If the main dishes are not enough, she can also use the signature dishes made by the chefs in the storage space. She can buy them from the big restaurants in the county to make up the number - just like when she celebrated the New Year with her parents in her first life and reserved a table at a star-rated restaurant for the New Year's Eve dinner. It is convenient and saves trouble!

Based on the available inventory and ingredients, as well as the traditional customs of New Year's Eve, Gu Ran quickly determined:

Eat taro paste for dessert and spring rolls for dessert;

The main course was a dish of sealed meat and a drunken chicken;

The side dishes include a dish of braised tofu with red mushrooms, a dish of stir-fried winter bamboo shoots, and a dish of Taipingyan.

The staple food is eel rice pudding.

The soup is ginger root chicken soup.

Since we have to cook the New Year’s Eve dinner, and we’ve worked hard for a year, it’s only right to eat something rich, right?

In the menu she listed, there were several dishes that had already been bought from restaurants in the city and stored in the storage space. The dishes she actually wanted to cook herself were only a braised tofu with red mushrooms, a winter bamboo shoots dish, and an eel rice pudding.

For Gu Ran, who cooks frequently, this is a piece of cake.

When she was going down from the warehouse with the ingredients for cooking, she happened to see Pei Liuniang coming out of the west wing.

"Second Mother Gu!" Pei Liuniang looked at the ingredients in her hands, stunned for a moment. She heard the non-stop blast of firecrackers outside, then looked at the peach charms and New Year pictures posted all over the courtyard, and realized that she was going to cook a New Year's Eve dinner. "Do you want some help?"

"How can you help an injured person? Just go and rest!"

Gu Ran went into the kitchen by himself. Pei Liu hesitated for a moment, and then he saw a furry thing at his feet. He looked down and saw it was a big orange cat.

The big orange cat rubbed the hem of his robe in a flattering manner, and raised its little cat head to look at him: "Meow~~"

Remembering how Gu Ran petted and hugged the cat, Pei Liu slowly squatted down and reached out to stroke the big orange cat.

The big orange cat rubbed its head against his palm with enjoyment, and then licked it with its tongue.

Pei Liu's body stiffened and he suddenly retracted his hand. Seeing that Daju was still looking at him straight, as if wondering what was going on, he hesitated for a moment, stretched out his hand that had been licked by the cat, took a look, then put it on Daju again and began to scratch it gently.

When he heard the big orange dog snoring, Pei Liu's mouth curled up slightly, and he felt quite accomplished.

No wonder she likes to pet cats!

In the kitchen, Gu Ran had already started peeling the most difficult winter bamboo shoots.

The winter bamboo shoots she brought yesterday were placed in the corner of the patio. She took one of them, peeled off the skin, took out the flesh, and soaked it in clean water for later use.

When it’s time to start cooking, take them out, slice them, blanch them in boiling water, and then cut them into strips. Then you can stir-fry them with shredded meat to make a winter bamboo shoot base.

As for braised tofu with red mushrooms, it is also simple. The tofu is white tofu. Put it into a hot oil pan and fry it on all six sides until it is slightly browned. Then add water and a few red mushrooms and stew them together to make a famous dish that will start a new trend.

The highlight is the eel eight-treasure rice.

Eel is a specialty fish in Fujian with tender meat. The main ingredients are glutinous rice and eel meat, and it is fried with eight ingredients including bean curd, mushrooms, scallops, etc. The glutinous rice is fresh and fragrant, not greasy, and has a rich taste.

When Gu Ran finished preparing the New Year's Eve dinner amid the sound of firecrackers, he walked to the kitchen door and saw the man and the cat getting along harmoniously. Pei Liuniang, who seemed to be averse to cats at first, was now holding the big orange cat in her arms, looking more relaxed than ever.

Oh, Daju, I forgot that Daju also has to celebrate the New Year, and I have to prepare a good New Year’s Eve dinner for her.

So he went back to the kitchen, took out a small yellow croaker, and roasted it as Daju's New Year's Eve dinner tonight.

While it was still light, Gu Ran started the New Year's Eve banquet at his small house.

Looking at the table full of dishes, Gu Ran felt a sense of accomplishment.

Even though most of them were not made by myself, I bought them with my own money, right?

Then he placed a small table in the middle of the courtyard and served spring rice to the gods, and then shouted: "Okay, let's eat, eat!"

Gu Ran greeted Pei Liuniang with a smile, and then called Daju over, taking out the fried fish specially for her and feeding her.

As soon as the big orange cat landed from Pei Liuniang's arms, it ran happily to Gu Ran, circled around Gu Ran happily, meowed twice, and then went to eat the special New Year's Eve dinner with a snore.

Pei Liu was stunned when he saw the sumptuous dishes, and then smiled at Gu Ran.

Gu Ran was also stunned.

Come to think of it, this seemed to be the first time she saw Pei Liuniang smile like this!

When she first came to the Great Sheng Dynasty, well, after we met on the road of exile, Pei Liuniang rarely showed her emotions. Now she laughs heartily, like a beautiful and beautiful woman in the world.

When I think of my first meeting with Pei Liuniang, I can’t help but think of my first New Year’s Eve in this world.

It is really hard to recall such past events.

Fortunately, I have a good life now and no longer have to eat other people's leftovers.

While Meimei was eating the New Year's Eve dinner, it quickly got dark. Fortunately, Gu Ran had lit up all the lights in the house early in the morning. The small courtyard was lit up by a few lights that were as bright as stars, exuding an orange warmth.

After the meal, Gu Ran brought out the candy pancakes prepared early in the morning and went to play with fireworks while holding Daju.

There were sounds of firecrackers in the courtyard for a long time, and there were also groundhogs running around. The cat was sensitive to the sound of firecrackers and was frightened by it. But when it saw the groundhog moving around, it pricked up its ears and looked left and right for a long time, and finally it was no longer so scared.

"Play?"

Gu Ran handed a piece of incense used to light the incense stick to Pei Liuniang, and also handed over a few fireworks.

Pei Liu was holding Daju. He paused for a moment, then finally nodded with a smile, "Okay!"

Then it was Pei Liu's turn to set off the fireworks, and Gu Ran held Daju.

Pei Liu watched the fireworks he had lit soar into the sky, bursting into a cluster of sparks. He turned around and saw Gu Ran holding one of the big orange cat's paws and pointing at the fireworks. He couldn't help laughing again.

After playing with the fireworks, the two went back into the house to stay up all night, eating candy and snacks while teasing Daju.

Daju was originally the most energetic at night. She had never experienced someone playing with her so late at night. She jumped around the house. After midnight, they said happy new year to each other, left the lamp on, and prepared to go to bed.

While lying on the couch, Gu Ran could still hear the sound of firecrackers outside.

Tomorrow is the first day of the new year. I have to go to pray for a good harvest. I heard from Mrs. Lin Er that there will be a parade to welcome the gods in Donglin Township. I want to ask her to go with us to watch it.

In her first life, Gu Ran had the good fortune to see the New Year's Parade in Fujian. Prince Zhao was super handsome, so of course she wanted to go and see the parade here to see if there were any gods as good-looking as Prince Zhao. So she selfishly wanted to rest early so that she could go to Donglin Township tomorrow.

Accompanied by bursts of firecracker sounds, Gu Ran fell asleep in a daze.

On the other side, in the west wing, Pei Liu was also lying on the bed with his eyes closed, but he could not fall asleep because of the constant noise outside. When the sound of firecrackers finally died down, becoming lower and lower until it finally disappeared, Pei Liu's tense nerves gradually relaxed.

But as the sound of firecrackers faded away, another slight sound reached his ears, and Pei Liu, who had originally planned to fall asleep peacefully, suddenly opened his eyes.

As a reserve killer, his hearing is naturally more sensitive than that of ordinary people. After listening for a while, he realized that the sound came from outside the house.

Was it the wind? Or an animal escaping from the forest? Or perhaps...

Neither.

It's a human!

Pei Liu distinguished the sound of a pair of cautious footsteps squeezing in from the courtyard gate, and then stealthily moving towards the wing room step by step.

Who would choose to sneak into Gu Er's mother's house on New Year's Eve?

Such people who come here with bad intentions are either thieves or bandits.

Is he Gu Erniang's enemy? Or, his?

Thinking that they might be coming for him, Pei Liu's originally relaxed expression suddenly became stern.

He gently got up from the couch, walked slowly to the door of the wing room, took out a dagger from his body, and stood guard at the door.

He saw that the shadows of people were stretched out in the light of several eternal lanterns hung for the custom of fighting night lanterns.

The shadow swayed from side to side, probably looking at the east and west wings. After hesitating for a moment, it moved towards the east wing.

Are you here for Gu Er Niang?

Pei Liu felt the footsteps moving towards the east wing. Without hesitation, he quickly opened the door, rushed behind the person with an extremely fast figure, and stabbed with the dagger in his hand without hesitation.

“Woo…”

The man let out a muffled cry of pain, turned around to resist, and a cold light flashed in his raised hand.

Pei Liu dodged quickly and saw clearly the big knife in the hand of the person who came, and also saw the true face of the person who came.

It’s one of those bandits on the road to exile!

Pei Liu only knew that Gu Erniang had a feud with the bandit woman during her exile, but he did not expect that after settling in the place of exile, these bandits would come to seek revenge.

"You are, Pei Liuniang!"

Uncle Ying also saw clearly who was stopping him, and was shocked. He stopped pretending and questioned.

Ever since he tried to teach Gu Erniang a lesson in the county, he was informed by Gu Erniang to the government office. His two accomplices were arrested and sent back to the county, where they were sent to a more desolate place to mine. It is said that the place is poor, with bad mountains and rivers, and it is very dangerous to survive. Uncle Ying did not want to go to an exile place with an even worse environment, so he has been fleeing here and there these days and has had a hard time.

As the New Year is approaching, every household is busy wearing warm clothes, eating warm food and sleeping in warm houses, but he is displaced, destitute and miserable, and his resentment deepens.

It’s all Gu Er Niang’s fault. If it weren’t for her, why would they have ended up like this?

So, after finding out that Gu Er Niang was in Xiaxi Village, Uncle Ying took advantage of the good opportunity on New Year's Eve when everyone was careless after staying up all night to pry open the door of the Gu family and sneak in, intending to kill this hateful woman.

But he didn't expect that there would be someone living in this house.

Doesn’t Gu Er Niang live alone?

How come Pei Liuniang, the murderer of the family massacre, is living in the same room with this Gu Erniang?

"I'm only looking for trouble with Gu Er Niang, so get out of here." Uncle Ying threatened, holding a knife.

Pei Liu didn't listen, but silently took another step towards him.

"court death!"

Uncle Ying snorted coldly and swung the butcher knife in his hand towards Pei Liu.

Pei Liu dodged and stabbed at Uncle Ying with the dagger.

The two men fought hand-to-hand in the courtyard, and Uncle Ying became more and more frightened.

How come Pei Liuniang knows martial arts?

Even though he looks so weak, he can still fight back against him?

When Uncle Ying was panicking, Gu Ran, who was finally awakened by the noise outside the house, also opened her eyes. Something sounded wrong. Did someone break into her house?

who?

Gu Ran put on his fur coat, got off the bed, opened the door, and asked sternly, "Who is it?"

Uncle Ying paused.

It was this blow that allowed Pei Liu to seize the opportunity. With a flip of his hand, the dagger quickly pierced the opponent's heart at an extremely tricky angle.

After all, he is a prepared killer who has been trained hard for many years, and he knows the deadly parts of the human body very well.

This move directly took Uncle Ying's life.

Gu Ran heard the man with his back to him let out a muffled groan, and then collapsed to the ground, revealing the face of Pei Liuniang who was still standing.

"Sixth Lady!"

Gu Ran was also surprised, but she quickly realized that the person killed by Pei Liu was probably an uninvited guest. She walked up to the person, squatted down, and turned him over. "It was those bandits."

The leader of that gang of bandits seemed to be called Uncle Ying!

So, he came to seek revenge on me on New Year's Eve?

Tsk! Good death.

Pei Liu also slowly squatted down, "What..." Before he finished speaking, he reached out to cover his mouth.

Gu Ran couldn't help but get nervous when he saw the blood seeping out from between Pei Liu's fingers.

Did his injury get worse when he was trying to stop Uncle Ying?

"Sixth Mother, are you okay?" Gu Ran was worried.

Pei Liu shook his head, "It's okay."

"Thank you for saving me!"

"You're welcome, you saved me too!"

And twice.

When we encountered a pack of wolves at the beginning of last year, it was thanks to her alertness that she carried me and rolled down the snowy forest to escape the wolves' disaster. Also, not long ago, she rescued me from the miasma forest.

He kept them all in mind.

"What should we do with this person?"

Report to the police?

It is possible, but Uncle Ying is dead.

The two of them are now exiles registered by the government. They took their lives, but they don’t know how the government will evaluate them?

If this incident results in the official supervisory review determining that they have performed poorly, I am afraid it will have a negative impact in the future.

Gu Ran was deeply impressed by the fact that she had hit Shan Yi in self-defense during her exile and was exiled to Xiaxi Village, which was in a miasma forest, because of her poor performance.

She had inquired and found out that the bandits who had caused trouble for her last time had been sent to the wilderness to mine.

She had finally settled down in Xiaxi Village and bought such a nice little house. She didn't want to end up working as a miner like a bandit.

"Buried him."

Let’s destroy the body!

Anyway, this man is in exile and the government is looking for him everywhere. If he accidentally enters a miasma forest and loses his life there, others will not be surprised.

Gu Ran thought of the anonymous person whom he had buried with his own hands.

So, the two of them did not go back to rest, and planned to transport the bandit into the miasma forest at night.

However, looking at the huge corpse, Gu Ran became worried.

Burying the body is easy, but how do we transport it?

She didn't have a donkey cart! She should have bought one earlier.

Then she and Pei Liuniang should carry it over together?

But, isn’t the target too big?

Although the villagers live far away from each other, it is not feasible for two women to carry a corpse and their every move can be seen from a distance.

"Yes, a bamboo basket?"

Pei Liu wiped his hands and asked.

"Big enough to fit his bamboo basket."

Where did Gu Ran get such a big bamboo basket?

In the end, the body was put into the largest wooden barrel, and the exposed shoulders and half of the body were covered with a bamboo dustpan. Then Gu Ran and... no, Pei Liuniang moved it alone.

Seeing Pei Liuniang easily pick up the wooden barrel, Gu Ran once again refreshed his understanding of her strength as an ox.

Burying the body was the most important thing, so at this time Gu Ran didn't care that Pei Liu was injured. He just wanted to rush into the woods before dawn.

Pei Liu held the wooden barrel, Gu Ran also carried a bamboo basket, and he grabbed a hoe and a shovel. The two of them hurried towards the miasma forest in the dim light.

Soon, they entered the forest. Gu Ran was familiar with the miasma forest, so she led the way. After going deep into the woods, they chose a valley and stopped.

At this time, the sky was gradually getting brighter. Gu Ran gave the shovel to Pei Liu, and he took the hoe and started digging the soil.

By the time the two men had dug the pit, it was already daylight. Without further delay, Pei Liu put Uncle Ying's body into the pit. At the same time, he pulled out the dagger that had pierced his heart, wiped the blood off, and put it away.

By the time the two of them had filled the soil and stepped back and forth on it to level the ground, Gu Ran was already hungry and tired.

The winter sun has come out and the weather is clear. I'm afraid that Mrs. Lin and the others have already gone to Donglin Township to watch the parade.

Others spent their New Year's Day worshipping gods and eating and drinking, but she spent her New Year's Day destroying corpses and covering up all traces of the crime. It didn't seem much better than the first New Year she spent being interrogated in the prison at the post station!

Gu Ran snorted.

Pei Liuniang, who was also sweating beside him, looked tired because she hadn't slept all night, but her eyes were very bright. When Gu Ran turned around to look at him, she smiled slightly and said, "Accomplice!"

Gu Ran was speechless, then he looked down at the soil under his feet and nodded, "Yes, we are accomplices."

Pei Liu smiled happily and narrowed his eyes.

"Let's go back and rest!"

The wooden barrel and bamboo dustpan had been used to hold the corpse and could no longer be used. Gu Ran asked Pei Liu to dismantle them and scatter them in the woods before returning to the cottage.

I don’t know if it was because of tiredness or the hard work all night, but Pei Liu’s injuries worsened. Not long after walking, Pei Liu’s pace slowed down, and then he slowly squatted down.

"Sixth Lady?"