The shadows of the trees swayed again, and a few dry leaves fell, along with some remaining snow on the branches.
Madam Gu felt a chill on her forehead. She raised her hand to wipe away the snowflakes there and said in a deep voice, "Since he wants it, just give it to him."
The snowflakes quickly melted into a drop of crystal clear water on her fingers.
Madam Gu casually shook off the water drops from her fingertips with a cold look in her eyes.
However, the bow can be given up, but the title cannot.
"Send someone to inform the Marquis." Madam Gu ordered, intending to ask Gu Jian to come and entertain the guests.
So, after a cup of tea, Dingyuan Hou Gu Jian appeared "belatedly" with a broken right arm.
He brought his son to the guests and apologized repeatedly, saying that he was late because of illness. Whenever they asked why Gu Yuan left, he would just laugh helplessly:
"Excuse me, Brother Yuan is a kid who can't sit still. He just said he wanted to go practice martial arts."
"He is a teenager with a child's mentality, so it's normal that he can't communicate with us."
"Please forgive me, everyone."
Gu Jian's words were not very nice at all. Implicitly, his words implied that Gu Yuan was young and hot-tempered, and had a strange and unsociable personality.
The nobles present had been immersed in the court for decades and were all old foxes. They knew at a glance that the first and second branches of the Gu family were at odds.
Even if no one says it openly, everyone knows very well how the second branch of the Gu family got its title.
At this moment, everyone couldn't help but think of the old days, and they exchanged meaningful glances in groups of three or two.
Eight years ago, after the late Marquis Dingyuan Gu Ce "got into trouble", Madam Gu immediately and personally reported to the late emperor that the eldest son's wife had been abandoned. Some people admired the Madam's decisiveness, some felt that she was cutting off her tail to save her own life, but more people felt a little heartbroken.
After the second branch inherited the title, it appeared that the Gu family had also taken care of the eldest branch's children for the past eight years.
However, Gu Yuan was Gu Ce's eldest son. He could have enjoyed the favor of the Marquis' Mansion and been promoted to a fifth-rank general in the army. However, Gu Yuan had to start from a small soldier step by step... After so many years of training in the army and making many military achievements, he has come to where he is today.
Gu Yuan obviously inherited his father's style and was a natural born military talent. At a young age, he was promoted to the position of Imperial Guard Pacification Envoy and won the favor of the Emperor and the Duke of Wei. It was obvious that he was going to be successful.
As for Gu Jian...
Gu Jian is a mediocre person, far inferior to his brother. He has done nothing in all these years since he inherited the title. This title is just enough to fool people. By the next generation, it will be time to downgrade his title from "Marquis" to "Baron".
Everyone present could clearly see who to befriend.
The Prince of Yan'an stood up first and bowed to Gu Jian: "Uncle, I have work to do today, so I'll take my leave now."
Pingjin Hou followed suit and said, "Brother, you are injured and need to take good care of yourself. I will not bother you today."
Gu Jian tried to persuade him to stay: "My injury is not a big deal. Brother, it's rare for you to come here, at least have a few drinks with me before you leave."
His right arm was still in a cast and bandaged. In fact, his words were not very convincing. The other party just laughed and said, "Let's drink another day," and then left.
Not only the two Pingjin Marquises, but several other guests also made perfunctory excuses to leave, not giving Gu Jian any face at all. In less than half an incense stick of time, the hall was empty.
Gu Jian's face turned blue, white, and red. He looked at Madam Gu awkwardly and remained silent for a long time.
Originally, Madam Gu thought that it would be the same if Gu Jian was the one to entertain the guests.
but……
Looking at the guests leaving in front of her, Mrs. Gu's heart sank and she felt as if something was lost.
From the moment Gu Yuan received the transfer order from the Shenji Camp yesterday, some things seemed to have started to change, and today, they are completely out of control.
Gu Xiao's youthful face seemed to be stained with ink, and he left stiffly.
Gu Jian was trying hard to entertain the guests, and he was also very angry. He was distracted and when he was leaving the hall, he accidentally tripped over the threshold with his right foot and fell.
The fall added insult to injury, and his right arm hit the ground, with screams echoing throughout the mansion.
On that day, the main courtyard invited famous doctors from the capital to treat the patient at home. They invited doctors one after another and it took half a night to get the treatment done. The entire mansion was in unrest as a result.
"Master, I heard that the Madam originally wanted to invite Doctor Li, but Doctor Li got angry and refused to come again. Later, she had to settle for the next best thing and invite another doctor in the capital who is good at treating external injuries."
"All the doctors said that the old injury of the Marquis has not healed yet, and he has a new one. If this continues, I'm afraid he won't be able to hold a pen with this hand."
Gu Yuan slept well that night and slept peacefully until dawn. When he heard the news from the servant Wutong, it was already early morning of the next day.
Finally, Wutong asked hesitantly, "Master, the lady asked you to go see the Marquis..."
“No need.”
Gu Yuan left these two words and went out.
Today was his first official day as the Imperial Guard Pacifier. The first thing he did upon taking office was to accompany the eldest prince Chu Yi out of the capital.
This was the first time in eight years that the State of Yue had sent an envoy to visit Dajing.
The envoy was the third prince of Yue, born to the noble concubine of Yue. His elder brother, the eldest prince of Yue, was just made crown prince this year.
This time, the third prince of Yue State is visiting. Naturally, the person responsible for welcoming the envoy on Dajing's side cannot be too casual, lest Yue State feel that Dajing is disrespectful.
Therefore, the court had decided more than half a month ago that Prince Kang Chuyou would go to welcome the third prince of Yue and other envoys.
The emperor immediately issued an edict, appointing the eldest prince Chu Yi to be fully responsible for the matter.
Prince Kang's family had just suffered a major setback, and with the support of Duke Weiguo and others, this matter went extraordinarily smoothly.
This was also the first task of the eldest prince after returning to the country.
With so many eyes watching in the capital, Gu Yuan was also very serious. Since then, he never returned to the Marquis' Mansion. He only sent someone back to tell Gu Yanfei that he was temporarily staying in the Ministry of War with the eldest prince.
Anyway, Gu Yuan is never at home, and Gu Yanfei has long been used to it.
In the following days, she hardly left the house, and all her energy was focused on the flintlock rifle that Gu Yuan left with her.
Gu Yanfei planned to draw a formation on this flintlock rifle.
The last time, what she casually drew in the garden was a one-time temporary formation that could double the power of the flintlock.
Even Gu Yuan was stunned at the time. He took the flintlock rifle and looked at it again and again, which attracted half of the marquis's mansion to watch. Gu Yanfei tried the two shots, roughly judged the power, and did not continue.
It is not difficult to draw a formation, but the difficulty is that there is no spiritual energy to borrow in this small world.
After all, the spiritual energy in the phoenix-patterned jade pendant was too little. It was not even enough for her to draw the energy into her body. Every time the spiritual energy in her body was used up, it took a very long time to "recover".
A permanent "Sharp Edge Formation", even if it was the lowest level, would take her a lot of time at her current level. After drawing a section, she would have to wait for her spiritual power to recover before continuing...
Fortunately, the plum blossom hairpin given by Chu Yi can continuously nourish the sea of consciousness and speed up the recovery of spiritual power.
Gu Yanfei, who never goes out, stays in his small study room every day to meditate, draw formations, meditate again, and then continue drawing formations.
The days repeated themselves in such a monotonous way that seven days passed in the blink of an eye and it was the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month.
After spending so much time and effort, the result is not satisfactory.
Looking at the crooked and discontinuous formation drawn on the flintlock, Gu Yanfei sighed deeply.
It was so ugly that she couldn't bear to look at it.
If her master saw this, she would not only be laughed at, but also be punished to draw 300 more of the same formation.
Thinking back to the time when he had just started learning formations from his master, Gu Yanfei curled his lips.
The kitten rolled over on its belly carefreely, rubbing its back against the ground, and then grinding its teeth on a branch of plum blossoms.
Gu Yanfei stretched out his hand unexpectedly, grabbed the kitten, pressed one of its front paws to the cinnabar, and made a bright red "plum blossom mark" on the gun.
Well, it looks much better now!
Gu Yanfei thought while trying to cover up the truth.
"Miss, the eldest young master is here." Juanbi walked in happily, her hair wrapped in a headscarf and holding a feather duster in her hand.
The marquis's mansion has already started preparations for the New Year. On the day of the Little New Year, they have to worship the kitchen god and sweep the dust. The maids and old women in the courtyard all hold brooms, feather dusters and other things, dusting off the dirt, sweeping the courtyard, dredging the ditches... They are all sweeping the dust happily.
It's already the Little New Year. Gu Yanfei was slow to realize the passage of time.
She pursed her lips and smiled, threw the flintlock aside, and picked up the rhino horn bow on the desk.
Getting rid of the old and welcoming the new is a really good omen.
Gu Yanfei happily left the small study room carrying the newly repaired rhino horn bow.
She was not afraid of the cold, so there was no charcoal brazier burning in the house. The afternoon sun shone into the side room through the open window, making it bright and airy.
Gu Yuan was already sitting on the Arhat bed drinking tea.
He wore a robe with dark lotus pattern, tied at the waist with a silver silk ribbon, and had a sword at his waist.
He sat upright, like a bamboo or a pine tree, with the unique demeanor of a soldier, and his expression revealed the arrogance of a young man.
"younger sister!"
When Gu Yuan heard the noise, he put down his teacup and looked towards Gu Yanfei, his eyes as clear as stars.
Gu Yanfei also laughed.
It's only been a few days since I last last saw Gu Yuan, and he has changed a lot. He seems more energetic than before, and looks very energetic even without smiling.
It seems that he is living well in Luang Yi Wei.
"Brother," Gu Yanfei sat down next to Gu Yuan, took an orange from the fruit bowl and threw it to him, "Try this orange, it was sent from the farm, it's very sweet."
Gu Yuan casually caught the orange given by his sister and smiled, feeling happy and satisfied.
Then, he stopped smiling and said, "Murong Yong was just transferred yesterday and appointed as the captain of the Shenjiying Camp."
That is to say, it replaced his previous transfer order.
(End of this chapter)
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