'These earthbound spirits will repeat the process of the day they died every day, day after day.'
Zhao Chengmo thought of the dark shadow that had penetrated into his brow, and for a moment he felt so distressed that he could not bear it any more.
Gu Lingze patted his back gently and consoled him: "I have a bad memory and I will forget it soon."
Zhao Chengmo closed his eyes. When he thought of everything Gu Lingze had experienced before the bandit's death, he felt so heartbroken that he couldn't even breathe.
After he calmed down a little, the two of them went down the mountain and slowly rode back to Linji Prefecture.
Before going to sleep at night, Zhao Chengmo held Gu Lingze tightly in his arms and did not close his eyes all night.
——
After Gu Lingze recovered from his injury, he began to think about new things and kept writing and drawing on paper.
During this period, everyone in Linji Prefecture has been busy with construction work. When building new houses for the people, Gu Lingze suggested taking this opportunity to build a fire wall.
Linji Prefecture is located in the north and is very cold in winter. Officials and wealthy families can use charcoal basins to keep warm, but ordinary people certainly cannot afford it.
At first, no one quite understood it, because it was indeed a bit troublesome to add four mud walls inside the outer wall and leave gaps.
So Gu Lingze asked Zhao Chengmo to find someone to work overtime to build one.
After the building was completed and the walls were dried, firewood was lit in the stove. Within an hour, the whole house was very warm, even better than using a charcoal brazier for heating.
Prefect Wu and others were amazed, but it was a pity that this method could only be used in houses where civilians lived, as it was impossible for a government office to paste yellow mud walls on all four sides.
Gu Lingze called this house a model house and asked Prefect Wu to notify the people to come and visit.
If any village wanted to add a new building to the structure, the village head would ask them to send four people to learn from the craftsmen.
The people were very positive about this, and the village head was very cautious in selecting people, all of whom were hard-working and smart villagers.
What Gu Lingze did not expect was that this technology of adding fire walls would later become a means of livelihood for some people in Linji Prefecture.
The disaster relief work lasted for two months. When the New Year was approaching, Emperor Jing ordered the disaster relief envoys from all prefectures to return to the capital.
Gu Lingze and his companions decided to set out early in the morning and try not to disturb the common people.
After bidding farewell to Prefect Wu and others, Zhao Chengmo and his party set off with light luggage.
I didn’t expect that as soon as the city gate was opened, what came into view was a crowd of people as far as the eye could see.
"I bid farewell to you all and thank you for saving my life."
After saying that, they all knelt down and knocked their heads to the ground.
Gu Lingze immediately shouted, "Don't kneel on the ground in such a cold weather. Let's get up quickly."
Unexpectedly, as soon as he spoke, sobbing sounds were heard from the crowd, and the crying gradually became louder and louder.
Gu Lingze and the other two were overwhelmed with emotions for a moment, and the adults and imperial doctors who were traveling with them were also very emotional.
Everyone turned their eyes to Xu Mingyan, and he had no choice but to stand up and say some words to comfort the people.
A dozen days ago, Emperor Jing had issued an imperial decree to distribute the new type of seedlings cultivated by Xie Luocheng to the disaster-stricken prefectures in the early spring of next year.
At the same time, taxes were exempted for three years to allow the people to recuperate.
After hearing what Xu Mingyan said, the people all thanked the emperor for his grace and were filled with tears of gratitude.
By the time Gu Lingze and the others walked out of Linji Mansion, the sun had already risen. Everyone felt warm in their bodies and even warmer in their hearts.
After rushing back to the capital city exhausted, the three families counted the days and drove their carriages to the city gate to wait for them early in the morning.
Huang Shulang saw Zhao Chengmo, who was leading the group, from afar and ran over directly. As soon as Xu Mingyan got off the carriage, he threw himself into his arms.
Gu Lingze laughed out loud at the side, which earned him a glare from Huang Shulang, who blushed.
"Grandpa and grandma, why did you come to wait for us? It's so cold, what will happen if you get sick?"
Madam Xie patted his hands and said, "Everyone in the family has missed you very much in the past few months since you left."
After a brief exchange of greetings, everyone got on the carriage and returned to the general's mansion.
The three families gathered together for a reunion dinner, and Gu Lingze, who finally got to eat meat, couldn't help but eat too much.
This also has credit to Xie Qingwan and several aunts, who kept saying that the three of them were so thin that there was no flesh on their cheeks, and kept picking food for them.
After dinner, Gu Lingze and Zhao Chengmo took a nice hot bath and sighed comfortably while lying on the bed.
As usual, Zhao Chengmo mixed the spiritual water and used it to wipe the scar on his palm. Gu Lingze lazily raised his head and looked at him.
"It's not a big deal to have a scar on the palm of your hand. No one else can see it."
"No." Zhao Chengmo said without raising his head.
Gu Lingze immediately withdrew his hand, "Why not? It's my own body and I have the final say."
Zhao Chengmo pulled his hand back and put it away, "Mine."
"What's yours?" Gu Lingze looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"Every part of you is mine." His tone was firm.
Gu Lingze snorted lightly but did not refute.
Zhao Chengmo's wiping movements were very gentle. Gu Lingze's eyelids became heavier and heavier, and he fell asleep after a while.
After Zhao Chengmo finished wiping him, he also took off his clothes and got on the bed, holding him in his arms.
Gu Lingze moved twice and subconsciously snuggled deeper into his arms.
Zhao Chengmo looked at his face, his eyes becoming darker and darker.
"mine."
After waking up in the afternoon, Uncle Xu came to him and suggested adding He Tianshui's name to the contract.
He Tianshui is very talented in cooking. He can learn anything. Based on his previous skills, he even made several kinds of dim sum on his own, which sold very well.
He is a very down-to-earth and capable person, and Uncle Xu and the others like him very much.
"Give half of my share to Tianshui, and don't touch yours."
"That won't do." Uncle Xu rejected it decisively and then put forward his proposal.
From then on, the profits of Heyi Tower were divided into ten parts, one part each for Xu, Li, Zhou, Wu and Qiu, one part for He Tianshui, and four parts for Gu Lingze.
Just as Gu Lingze was about to speak, Uncle Xu said, "You and Chengmo are still in charge of the Black Clothes Army. Uncle knows that you still have the Medicine Hall, but this is also a token of our appreciation."
He patted his shoulder earnestly and said, "Without you, there would be no Heyi Tower, let alone the good life we have today. If we don't give you more of this money, we really don't know how to repay you."
Uncle Xu had said so much, so Gu Lingze had no choice but to nod in agreement.
He also talked about other things later, such as the fact that Heyilou was always crowded and guests had to queue up every day.
So the four families discussed opening another store in the early spring of next year. Gu Lingze also talked about the franchise store and briefly explained the method first, and other details would be discussed after the New Year.
The next day, Zhao Chengmo and Xu Mingyan went to the palace to report on their work.
The emperor praised the two men highly, but neither of them asked for gold or silver rewards, and instead suggested donating them to the people affected by the disaster.
As for the official position, Zhao Chengmo has no more to offer at his age.
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