Chapter 177 Jin丨Exclusively published by Jiang Wenxue

Gong Jiu curled up in his brother's arms, occasionally his body trembling with pain.

He still had the illusion of walking on clouds, fearing that he would fall into reality in the next moment and completely lose his brother.

He tightly grasped Xue Chen's sleeve, but always kept a certain distance from Xue Chen, not daring to touch the real thing.

Xue Chen wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve: "You lied to me, and I lied to you, we are even."

Gong Jiu said nervously: "No..."

Xue Chen: "Are you hiding anything else from me?"

Gong Jiu: "Don't even think about clearing the score with me, I won't let you go, I will never let you go just like that!"

His mood was very unstable, and now was not a good time to talk.

Xue Chen picked him up and put him on a chair in the main room.

Xue Chen: [I am so strong.]

The system did not say anything.

It thought Xue Chen was more pleasing when he was sick. Although he is healthy now, he is mentally abnormal.

He has crossed the bottom line. If there is a first time, there will be a second time. Will he be okay in the future?

The candlelight in the room flickered, and the black coffin placed in the center was very conspicuous.

In addition to the cranes and various auspicious characters on the coffin, there was also a large longevity character painted in gold at the front. A long-burning lamp was placed on the table at the end of the coffin. Even in the daytime, the light in the main hall was bright enough, but it was still filled with gloom and coldness.

Xue Chen patted the dust off his brother's body, and saw no blood stains. He said proudly: [I control my strength very well.]

System: [……]

"Are you hurt anywhere?" Xue Chen asked gently.

After entering the room, Gong Jiu's eyes fell on the coffin in the middle, and then he looked away as if he was burned, staring at the flickering candle in a daze, and did not respond to his brother's questions.

Xue Chen was not happy with the eternal lamp, so he came to the coffin and was about to put it out.

Gong Jiu: "Don't!"

Xue Chen saw some tension on his brother's expressionless face. He flipped through his memory and remembered that the eternal lamp symbolizes the place where the souls of the dead go. Only when the oil lamp is not extinguished can the dead find the way back, and they can also remain intact and reincarnate smoothly.

"Come here." Xue Chen called him.

Gong Jiu got up and came to him reluctantly.

Xue Chen pointed to the coffin in front: "Open it."

Gong Jiu begged: "Brother..."

Xue Chen was angry and amused: "You arranged people and ambushed on the way to worship mother. Why didn't you think about today? Are you scared now? Open it!"

Gong Jiu stretched out his hand and put it on the coffin.

The coffin was made of nanmu wood and painted black. The wood was of good quality and felt hard and cold.

He stroked the lines on it and did not move for a long time.

Xue Chen sneered, "I'm right here. What are you afraid of?"

He blew out the eternal lamp and pushed the coffin open. There was nothing inside, not even a piece of clothing. It was

New Year's Day, and he had no plans to prepare for his own funeral at this time, let alone hold a funeral.

There was not even a spirit seat in the house, only the coffin and the eternal lamp. The incense, candles, and paper money were all brought back from the worship of the ancestors. It was completely an empty shell.

Gong Jiu gradually came back to his senses: "Are you okay?"

Seeing his silly look, Xue Chen said helplessly: "Didn't you guess that I was pretending to be sick?"

Gong Jiu: "I can't guess what you are thinking."

After receiving the news of Xue Chen's death, he was extremely flustered, but he still had some doubts, thinking that his brother deliberately let Xiao He say that in order to trick him back.

As he went deeper into the palace and saw the different and bleak scene, these doubts were gradually dispelled. On

the way home, Gong Jiu saw the bustling streets outside full of the atmosphere of the New Year. Under the strong contrast, even the smallest things would be magnified, not to mention that he saw the coffin in the house with his own eyes.

Even if Xue Chen showed up immediately, Gong Jiu still didn't dare to be sure whether his brother was alive or dead.

After hearing the news of his brother's serious illness, Gong Jiu stayed away from home for a long time, which made him angry, so it was only natural that he should be scolded by him.

But he was such a noble and proud person, how could he still treat himself as before without changing his expression after knowing that he would be excited in pain? How

could he say such words without any grudge?

Gong Jiu couldn't believe that he could be forgiven so easily by his brother after doing such a big mistake.

He accepted the dirty self and did not alienate himself because he used pain to relieve his physical needs. He even picked up a whip and cooperated with him to whip him.

The eldest brother hugged him so gently and said in person the words that he had asked for many times but failed.

Is it really not that he can't accept the reality of his brother's death, and the shock he received is too great, so he imagined all this?

But now his elder brother is forcing him to face the reality, telling him with actual actions that these are all true.

He was the one who whipped him with a vigorous figure, he was the one who held him tenderly in his arms and comforted him softly, and he was also the one who sneered and mocked him for not recognizing the reality.

In just one hour, his brother has changed his attitude many times.

Gong Jiu couldn't even take care of his own emotions, how could he guess what was in Xue Chen's mind?

Xue Chen held his hand: "Go to the backyard to change clothes first."

Gong Jiu had just been beaten, and under the turbulent emotions, those physical desires became insignificant. His attention was all focused on other places, and he had never gotten through difficulties so easily.

Even so, Gong Jiu now looked extremely sloppy.

He rolled on the ground, covered in dust, and his hair was already a mess. If he didn't seldom wear hair accessories, the whole yard would be filled with his dropped accessories.

Gong Jiu always loved cleanliness, and he respected his brother, so he didn't want to come into contact with his brother in such a dirty state.

He tried to pull his hand away, but failed, and Xue Chen held it tighter instead.

Xue Chen: "Want to run?"

Gong Jiu whispered, "No."

Although he was treated so forcefully by his brother, Gong Jiu did not feel uncomfortable at all, and even felt at ease.

He did not know the way, and it took him a long time to find the way from the main hall to his residence. At this time, his brother held his hand and took a small step ahead as a guide, just like when they were children.

It was just that Xue Chen's holding of his hand was no longer as pure as when he was a child, but because he was concerned about his strong martial arts and was afraid that he would run away, so he had to do so.

Gong Jiu was glad that if he had not done those things, even if they were twins, they would be restricted by etiquette and laws when they grew up, and they would not have the opportunity to be so close.

Thinking of this, Gong Jiu felt much better.

He looked at the empty palace and asked, "Did you know I would come back at this time?"

Xue Chen: "I gave the people in the palace a three-day holiday. If you don't come after three days, I may not be so easy to talk to."

After a person dies, the body must be kept for seven days before being buried.

Xue Chen has always been in poor health. When Gong Jiu played him before, he pretended to be seriously ill in order to facilitate the activities. All of this was seen by King Taiping.

The burial clothes and coffins of this era do not have the meaning of bad luck. On the contrary, they also have the meaning of increasing blessings, longevity, promotion and wealth.

Most old people will prepare these things in advance and change into burial clothes before they die. Otherwise, their limbs will be stiff and it will be much more difficult to change clothes. If you wait until you die to make clothes, it will be too late.

Xue Chen was frail and always pretended to be seriously ill, so King Taiping naturally considered his final affairs. The coffin placed in the lobby was indeed Xue Chen's own.

Even if Xue Chen died suddenly, the palace would not be too busy.

Everything would go according to plan. On the morning of the second day after his death, the body would be laid in a small coffin and moved to the small coffin bed. On the next morning, the body would be laid in a large coffin. After the final farewell, the body would be placed in the coffin, the coffin lid would be nailed shut, and the wake would begin.

The third day would be the day of the large coffin. Gong Jiu would arrive within three days so that he could see him for the last time.

If he did not come back within three days, even if Xue Chen's death was fake, they would not really say goodbye forever, and it would be impossible for him to be forgiven!

Gong Jiu smiled: "Brother, you missed me."

Xue Chen looked calm: "Don't you miss me?"

"Yes." Gong Jiu said, "Why did you chase the servants away? And the coffin, even if it wasn't there, I would come back."

His tone was as cold as ever. Xue Chen and he had a tacit understanding, so it was not difficult to detect the complaint in his words.

The younger brother was frightened.

He didn't show it on his face, but he was actually frightened, and the temperature of his skin was much lower than usual.

Xue Chen: "Your martial arts are too high, I am not your opponent. If I don't do something, how can I keep you so easily?"

Gong Jiu has always been very vigilant, and any disturbance would make him retreat and flee.

Until he saw the coffin with his own eyes.

If there was no coffin, Gong Jiu would have run away the first time he saw Xue Chen.

Gong Jiu: "Aren't you afraid of me taking action now?"

Xue Chen: "Just try it."

Gong Jiu: "Brother is always thoughtful. He must have made a complete plan to say such a thing. Why should I ask for trouble?"

Xue Chen: "You'd better really think so."

He took Gong Jiu back to his courtyard, took out a set of his own clothes from the closet and threw them to him.

Gong Jiu took off his dirty white clothes without hesitation, put on his brother's colorful wide robe, sat on the stool next to the low couch, and looked at his brother in a daze.

Xue Chen: "From today on, you will live with me. It's very cold over there, so it's just right for you to warm up here and have a good New Year."

Gong Jiu: "Brother, are you going to lock me up here?"

Xue Chen: "Yes."

Gong Jiu: "I can't be locked up here."

Gong Jiu's martial arts are too high, and the low walls in the courtyard can't trap him at all. Even if the eldest brother arranges people to monitor the courtyard like himself, no one can be his opponent unless they are like Gao Cheng and Pei Rui.

Xue Chen: "I know."

Xue Chen: [This bastard will never think that Xiaomian will also have a holiday! I'll let Xiaomian and Xiaofen come over and take turns to monitor him! ]

System: [But Xiaomian and Xiaofen also have their own things to do, you can't just ignore the vest's job. 】

Xue Chen:【Don't worry, I have more than just a pseudonym. Don't forget, I also have my real body! 】

System:【...If you want to get along with him, just say it directly. There's no need to beat around the bush. 】

Xue Chen:【You understand me more and more. 】

System:【...】

I'd rather not understand.

After tricking Gong Jiu back, the pseudonyms were not idle.

Yu Qi still pretended to be Gong Jiu to get along with the people of Wuming Island. Yun Heyan took advantage of the New Year to set up her own business in Jiangnan.

King Taiping secretly sent the soldiers and horses he recruited privately to Wuming Island. Thanks to the money sent by Liu Yixiuan, he could afford to support so many people. Otherwise, it would take a long time for Yun Heyan's business to start making a profit.

Xie Heng set off for Jiangnan. Cai Jing's men began to set a trap for Liu Yixuan. Di Fei was shocked and watched Yuan Feishuang more closely. Every time he left the six and a half minutes hall, he would ask the reason.

The vests outside were busy scheming, and only Pei Rui and the original body were very idle.

When the three days were up, the servants in the palace came back from outside one after another, and the Prince of Taiping returned to the palace.

The coffins in the hall were moved to other places, and the eternal lamps were also moved away.

The servants began to pickle bacon, post spring couplets, window flowers and peach charms. Everywhere was full of joy and vitality.

The Prince of Taiping changed out of his military uniform and came to his eldest son.

He stopped in front of the courtyard, thought about many things, and then raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Who?"

King Taiping said, "It's me."

Xiao He opened the door, bowed, invited him in, and then left.

King Taiping looked at the two children in the room and frowned.

The two sons looked the same, and their expressions were equally cold. One wore red and the other wore purple, and it was impossible to tell who was who.

And there was also a little Seventh who had an extremely sophisticated disguise...

They both said in unison, "Dad."

The King of Taiping pretended to be calm and said, "Hey."