Chapter 354 Hello, Goodbye (2-in-1)

Shu Li went to Qi this time for no other reason than to return to the hometown of her biological mother, whom she had never met.

I heard from her eldest brother that their father went to Qi State to study in his early years and met their mother here.

Their mother was born into a family of officials in the state of Qi and received a good education since she was a child.

Qi State implements the method of dividing the country and the countryside. The capital of the country is the country, and other places are the wilderness.

For the countryside, thirty families are considered as one town, and the town has a town commander; ten towns are one pawn, and each pawn has a pawn commander; ten pawns are a township, and a township has a township commander; three townships are a county, and a county has a county commander;

The county is a genus, and the genus has a doctor.

There are five vassal states in Qi, and the five vassals are governed by officials respectively.

At the same time, although Shuli's mother was extremely favored since childhood, the clan rules were also very strict and all clan members were treated equally.

Therefore, when Shuli's mother's father learned that his daughter had brought a wild boy with her when she came back from an outing, he was so angry that he straightened his beard on the spot.

Not to mention that after hearing that Shu Li's father was from Yanmen of Zhao State and was a military general, he was even more filled with contempt.

How could such a remote and impoverished place catch his eye? He had to drive Shuli's father out on the spot.

Qi, which has not had a war for decades, no longer believes in fighting with force, but rather believes in peaceful coexistence.

Therefore, the country does not attach much importance to generals, and even looks down upon them more or less.

However, Fan Shuli's father was a civil servant and aristocrat in the Zhao Kingdom. Even if his official position was not high, he could reluctantly accept it.

But after being a military commander, I live in such a remote place. I'm sorry, so I need to get out of here.

But Shuli's mother started to cry and angrily asked her father if he didn't want them to be together.

After getting the affirmative answer, I ran back to my room crying.

Her father watched his daughter run away with distress, so he drove Shuli's father away angrily.

So that night, the story in the poem happened:

Shuli's mother sneaked out of the house at night and came to the place where they first met. Sure enough, she saw Shuli's father lingering there for a long time.

She was secretly happy in her heart, and her love for Shuli's father became even stronger.

Until Shuli's father was about to return to the State of Zhao, Shuli's mother followed Shuli's father to the State of Zhao without a second thought.

So many years have passed, and although Shuli's mother sent messages to her family, she never came back.

Shuli didn't know if her mother wanted to go home and see her at the last moment, but she knew that her mother must love her father very much.

Not only did she elope with her father, she also committed suicide for her father.

That's right, the real cause of Shuli's mother's death was not due to dystocia.

But after giving birth to Shuli, she chose to commit suicide and go to Jiuyou to find her lover.

Following the route that the [Business Alliance] had inquired about, Shuli arrived at a mansion located by the lake.

A sharp-eyed servant saw Shuli standing in front of the door for a long time, and looked at her unusual dress. He cautiously asked, "Girl, seeing you standing in front of the house for a long time, is there something you have come to do?"

Shu Li was not sure how to ask, so she happened to meet this man asking. Seeing that his dress was different from other servants, but he was someone who could talk, so he thought for a while and said, "I dare to ask your master,

Is the doctor here?"

"My master is at home, who is the girl?"

Shu Li raised her head and looked at the mansion, not knowing how to explain her identity for a moment.

She wanted to come here on her own initiative to see the place where her mother grew up, but when she actually came here, she fell into confusion and became a little at a loss.

"Girl?" the servant called cautiously.

Although his tone was friendly, both his clothes and the temperament he exuded showed the noble status of the person in front of him.

Therefore, when the servant saw that Shuli was distracted, he only dared to call out cautiously, for fear of offending her.

After all, he is just a humble servant, or to put it worse, a slave. His master will not offend other nobles because he pities his life.

"Sorry." Shuli said subconsciously, "It's okay. I'm just here to check on someone else. Since everything is fine, that's enough."

After saying that, Shuli turned around and prepared to leave.

But just a few steps after Shu Li left, the door of the mansion suddenly opened, and an old man with white beard wearing a vermilion cloak appeared in front of the door surrounded by servants.

Some of the servants were holding umbrellas to protect the old man from the non-existent wind and snow, some were guarding the old man nervously for fear that the old man would accidentally fall, and some were following carefully behind him with small stoves in their hands.

I don't know what happened, but their old master was reading a book in the study today, but suddenly stood up and walked quickly out the door, faster and faster, without explaining why, which caught them off guard.

The old man stood at the door and looked out, as if looking for something.

Finally, he turned his attention to Shu Li who was leaving.

Just now, when he was reading in the study, a feeling urged him to rush to the door, as if he would be unable to catch up if he had been slower.

Although he didn't know what was going on, he still followed his intuition and hurriedly came to the door.

But in early winter, there are few pedestrians on the streets, and more are businessmen in a hurry.

He only saw the distinctive back among them, that was Shu Li.

Unlike others who walked in a hurry, Shuli's steps were steady and slow, as if she wanted to leave but couldn't bear to leave.

In a daze, the old man seemed to see his favorite daughter running towards him from a distance.

The old man instantly showed a surprised smile.

But after shaking his eyes, his daughter's face disappeared from sight again, leaving only the retreating figure.

The smile on the old man's face suddenly froze, and then turned into loneliness.

A long time ago, he had obtained the letter from Zhao State, which was a letter written to him personally by Li Mu.

In addition to the words of praise for him and his daughter, the letter also informed him of the unfortunate death of his daughter.

That night, he got angry for the first time in a long time.

But that's because he was angry with himself.

If he had not watched his daughter climb over the wall that night, but had stopped her and taken her back to her room and locked her up, would the outcome have been different?

Just why, when he looked at that back, he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

"Old Master." The servant who had been talking to Shu Li came to the old man's side and looked at him worriedly.

"Who is that?" The old man looked at Shu Li and asked subconsciously, but then he felt funny.

Why did he ask this question and how could he know.

"Back to my old master, I don't know which noble lady it is. It seems that she came to see you, sir. She also said that she came to see the place for someone, but she left without saying a few words."

"Looking for me?" The old man lowered his head and murmured. When he raised his head again, he found that the figure from before had turned around at some point.

Although he was a little far away and couldn't see the person's face clearly, he felt inexplicably warm for some reason, as if he had seen his daughter again.

Shuli saw the old man surrounded by servants looking at her, and bowed respectfully.

Hello, grandpa.

Goodbye, grandpa.

The old man suddenly smiled, and tears fell silently from his eyes.

Wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes, Shuli stood up and left again.

The cold wind whistled through the streets. Pedestrians wrapped themselves tightly in thick clothes, blowing out streams of white smoke in their breaths. It passed through the condensed white ice on the dead branches and floated to the sky, turning into scattered dots in the air.

White catkins floated on the ground in dense masses like goose feathers.

The old man's vision was blurred by hot tears, and when he opened his eyes again, the familiar figure was gone.

After looking at the street where Shuli disappeared for a long time, the old man slowly turned around and headed back to the mansion after hearing a sigh.

"It's snowing. Stop guarding the door. It's snowing heavily. There won't be anyone around anymore. Let's go back to the house."

The servant thanked him for his kindness and closed the door.

After walking out of the street and completing the purpose of the trip, Shuli headed towards [Little Saint's Manor].

Songhai, Xiaoshengxianzhuang

"I take the liberty to come here today, and I ask for your forgiveness. However, what you have heard today, I hope you will not take out of this room. Otherwise, there will no longer be [Little Saint's Manor] in this world. This is not a threat.

But a warning."

Shu Li sat on the upper seat and looked around at everyone.

All the old men present are the most senior people in [Little Sage Village]. It can be said that those sitting in the room now are the decision-makers and helmsmen of Confucianism today.

Everyone looked at each other, and then turned their attention to the old man at the head. This was their senior brother, the head of Confucianism, Zhu Zhang.

Zhu Zhang pondered for a moment and then asked, "Confucianism has always abided by faith, so you can rest assured, little master uncle. Besides, I believe that little master uncle will not embarrass my Confucian family."

When Zhu Zhang arrived, he flattered Shu Li first.

After all, don't hit the smiling person with your hand, that's what everyone said, so Shu Li wouldn't be able to say harsh words anymore.
To be continued...