Du Jun, the father of Du Xiaoyun, the second wife of Shanjiabao, was a deacon in Lengmei's outer palace.
He is an ordinary person with an ordinary family background. He is just a small businessman who has dealings with the Shanjiabao caravan.
He has average qualifications and average martial arts skills, but has good governance skills, so he was promoted.
The other thing that few people know is that when he was young, he married Leng Xiaoru, an outer palace disciple who came from the inner palace of Lengmei Palace.
To be honest, Mrs. Du's appearance was not outstanding. She was under twenty at the time, and her martial arts skills were only first-rate.
Du Jun thought she was a girl from some Jianghu family, but when she got married, she discovered that she was actually a serious disciple of the outer palace.
When he was in the palace, he was Leng Ru. When he left the palace, he added the character "xiao" to his name.
Thirty or forty years ago, this was just a joke in the outer palace, but it gradually faded away and most outsiders didn't know about it.
But the world has not forgotten it, and neither has the court.
…
Du Jun heard the news told to him by others in the past two days. Although he looked calm on the outside, he was worried in his heart.
Suddenly, someone came in a panic to send a message, saying that the palace master wanted to invite you.
Du Jun was startled, "Palace Master? I'll go right away."
"No, no, no, it's not the palace master in the palace, it's the one above."
"Ah?" Du Jun followed his colleague's hand and looked up at the sky.
The courtyard between the thin white clouds and the white snow, which vaguely reflects the sun, was built by Leng Xing, the master of the inner palace, forty years ago.
It is said that he has not descended the mountain for forty years.
And the inner palace is full of such people, or monsters.
Although his wife had good qualifications, she couldn't stay any longer early in the morning, so she went down the mountain and met him.
…
Du Jun did not dare to neglect, organized the article, and then went to the palace to report to Leng Suxue, the master of the outer palace.
There are no guards in front of the palace gate, and there is no need for guards.
There are women in the palace, and the unmarried disciples from the outer palace of Lengmei Palace and their disciples live in each courtyard.
He enjoys the treatment of a wealthy family and is served by groups of maids.
Although it is a bit inferior to the inner palace of Lengmei Palace, there are all masters in the world, and many of them can rank among the top masters.
And he is most famous for being unreasonable and domineering.
The order in Lengmeicheng depends entirely on them, and they only have one method: kill!
No matter if you are the one causing trouble or the one being picked on, you will be killed as soon as you take action. It is completely unreasonable.
…
Leng Suxue, the master of the outer palace, lived in Suxue Palace. No one stopped Du Jun until he reached the entrance of the courtyard. Seeing that it was him, they let him in.
In terms of relationship, his wife is still Leng Suxue's senior sister.
"Du Jun has met the palace master." Du Jun bowed to greet him outside the palace.
The door of the palace was open, and a middle-aged beauty in gorgeous palace clothes was processing paperwork inside. It was Leng Suxue.
"Deacon Du, there is no need to be formal."
"Yes, I heard about the invitation from the inner palace. May I ask what it is about?"
"Senior sister's temperament is not something that ordinary people like us can figure out. In short, if there is something you need to do, you just go there."
"I understand, then I'll go back and prepare."
"Go ahead."
…
The Du family's fields, pastures, and workshops are all located in the west of the city. It is a large manor.
Du Jun's house is in the south of the city, so it's convenient for him to go to work.
It was a small courtyard. In addition to the servants, there was the wife Leng Xiaoru.
Although she couldn't bear the bitter cold in the mountains, she could still endure it at home.
After practicing martial arts, he spent his days reading, drinking tea, growing flowers and vegetables, cooking, and doing embroidery.
Leng Xiaoru, who has profound internal skills, heard her husband's familiar footsteps from a long distance away.
Looking at the weather, I felt a little strange that he came back in such a hurry.
Did I forget something at home, or was I hungry and skipped work early?
Leng Xiaoru went out to greet her husband in a funny way, so she asked jokingly.
"No, it's because of the imperial concubine's invitation. I came back here to prepare some clothes."
"Ah? Inner palace?" Leng Xiaoru raised her head and looked up at the snowy peak. Although she had forgotten about it, she could still recall the difficult life back then.
"Madam, do you know why you called me?"
"I don't know, but I should just ask you to do something. You will know after you go and take a look."
"That's all. I'm going to prepare some dry food and ask my wife to help me prepare clothes."
"Are you going up alone? It's better to follow the ox team."
"I don't know if there is a Mao Niu team today, just in case..."
"No, you'd better follow the oxen team or hire a team, otherwise I'm afraid you will freeze to death in the snow at night."
"Okay, listen to my wife."
…
Du Jun took the baggage to the north of the city, took his waist tag, and inquired about the cattle team at the foot of the mountain ranch, which was the main force transporting supplies to the mountain.
By coincidence, there happened to be a group going up, so Du Jun followed.
There is no scenery on the hillside, but there are many free-range sheep, bleating and running around everywhere.
After watching it for a long time, coupled with the jingling of cow bells, I felt drowsy.
After finally climbing to a high place, you can watch Lengmeicheng to pass the time.
…
We reached the snow line in the evening. Before we passed, we built a tent underneath and used coal and stones to heat us and cook food.
As the bustling lights of Lengmeicheng overshadowed the sun, and as the sun completely set, the mountain cooled rapidly.
Even in summer, it feels quite cold.
After eating warm mutton soup, the cow was led into the tent to rest.
It can be avoided. If there is a snowstorm and the cow gets lost, you can also lie down next to the cow to keep warm.
Although coal and stone are good, if used in a sealed space like a tent, it can cause death.
…
Get up at dawn, pack up, have breakfast, and move on.
Probably because I have walked a lot, after entering the snow line, the mountain road is still not difficult to walk.
In the morning, we arrived at the cargo station of the Inner Palace. It was a stone house with no one inside and notes hanging on the wall.
Those are the missing clothes and sword, the sizes need to be stated.
Occasionally, pots and pans will be included, but nine times out of ten, he accidentally over-practiced and tore down his own house.
The Mao Niu team counts the supplies in the warehouse and calculates what extra supplies will be needed next time.
At the same time, put away the supplies you brought in by yourself.
Coal for fire, various foods, grains, vegetables, meat, snacks, seasonings, etc.
Anyone in the inner palace who wants it will come and get it.
The Mao Niu team usually does not cross the warehouse, so Du Jun has to walk the rest of the way by himself.
…
Du Jun crossed the warehouse and found that the mountains were covered with snow and there was nowhere to go.
I can only cheer up and walk slowly and cautiously.
Soon people appeared, all dressed in white and basically slovenly.
The way it floats around really makes people think they have encountered a ghost. Even in the daytime, it is still creepy.
Fortunately, they just looked at him from a distance and ignored him, probably hearing his distinctive heavy footsteps.
It's just that the distance is too far. Du Jun can't talk except to bow his hands and salute, and it's hard to shout in the mountains.
"Is it Du Jun? I forgot about it, Qing'er, please pick up Deacon Du when you have time."
"Yes, Master."
Two cold female voices echoed on the top of the mountain. Just as Du Jun was wondering, a young woman floated over without leaving a trace on the snow.
He looked to be under twenty years old, also dressed in white, with his hair pulled up casually.