Chapter 261 Gu Xu’s New House
This time, it took Shen Qiu a whole day to receive a reply from his father through the communication circle.
In this letter, the head of the Shen family used an extremely serious tone and used thousands of words to tell him many important principles. Working part-time is simply an act of humiliation," "Since you enjoy the family's support, you must work hard to contribute to the family," and so on.
After reading the letter, Shen Qiu sneered.
He has always been smart and thoughtful, so he can naturally guess what the head of the Shen family is thinking——
When he was in Jinling, the head of the family didn't want to acknowledge him as his son; now that he came to Luojing City, the head of the family wanted to beg him to go back.
If nothing else, in the recent period, the family property has been messed up by his good-for-nothing brother Shen Hua, and he needs to go back and help clean up the mess.
Of course Shen Qiu would not give in obediently.
Ever since he made up his mind to work in Gu Xu's house, he has begun to try to break away from the shadow of the family, and naturally he will not go back.
He sat by the window of the inn and pondered for a long time.
Then he picked up the pen and wrote another letter to his father, the content of which was roughly as follows -
"From today on, I, Shen Qiu, officially break away from the Jinling Shen family and have no relationship with the family from now on."< br>
“All the properties under my control, as well as all the private property left in Jinling, will be owned by the family as a repayment for the upbringing of the tribe.”
“My only request is that I hope Take my mother from Jinling to Luojing City, and I will take care of her personally from now on.”
Shen Qiu’s mother was originally an ordinary maid.
She has no real name, only the name given to her by her owner - "Ningxiu".
On weekdays, she is only responsible for doing chores such as cleaning the yard and pruning flowers and plants.
Later, she was kicked out of the Shen family mansion because the head of the family was drunk and gave birth to Shen Qiu with her, which offended Mrs. Shen.
Since then, she has been wiping tables and mopping floors in a simple inn on the outskirts of Jinling. The Shen family seemed to have forgotten her existence.
Throughout the year, it was difficult for Shen Qiu to meet her.
But every time there was a festival, her mother would find a way to ask someone to send something to Shen Qiu—sometimes it was a scarf and gloves that she had sewn by herself, sometimes it was some second-hand books, and sometimes it was some desserts that she had made by herself. or pickled foods.
These things are not expensive.
But seeing them, Shen Qiu would feel that in this cold and heartless world, there were still people who cared about him and cared about him.
Even though his father regards him as a burden and his family regards him as a tool, in the eyes of his mother, he will always be a child of flesh and blood, a unique individual.
…………
After finishing writing, Shen Qiu stuffed the letter into an envelope, handed it to Butler Shao, and asked him to send the letter to Jinling.
At the same time, he glanced at today's date.
"Time flies so fast," he thought silently in his heart. "If you don't pay attention, it will be the day to report to Master Gu's residence."
Then, with a thought, he The changes of clothes, pens, ink, paper, inkstones, various books and other things piled up in the room were all stored in his own space magic weapon.
Shen Qiu’s space magic weapon is a ring.
Its volume is not large, only about a hundred liters, which is far inferior to Gu Xu's "Xianyun Residence".
But as a rough man, Shen Qiu didn't carry a lot of luggage with him. After packing everything, the space in the ring was more than enough.
Then he left the room, walked down the stairs, returned the room key to the innkeeper, then came to the street and waved for a public carriage.
"May I ask where you are going, sir?" the coachman asked.
"No. 22, Jinyu Lane, Yanqingfang." Shen Qiu thought for a while and replied.
.........
The carriage drove through the bustling city and crossed the wide and calm Luo River along the stone bridge. The closer we get to our destination, the more open the courtyards on the roadside are, the more exquisite the houses, and the thinner the crowds.
After arriving at Yanqingfang, the noise of the market could hardly be heard, and the air seemed to become fresh and pleasant.
On the bank of the river with weeping willows, Shen Qiu saw the mansions of many important figures such as Princess Zhaoning, Prince Xin'an, Prince Yiyang, and the Minister of Industry.
At this moment, Gu Xu’s new house has been repaired.
As soon as he got off the carriage, Shen Qiu saw a dark and bright door. The steps at the door were one foot high and there was an iron knocker on the door.
He climbed up the steps, held the knocker in his hand, and knocked gently on the door.
I only heard a polite voice coming from the door: "May I have your name, please?"
Shen Qiu thought to himself: This voice does not sound like Mr. Gu's, it should be He must be a servant or housekeeper in Master Gu's house.
"I am at Shenqiu, Jinling. As requested by Lord Gu, I will come to serve at my residence." He replied.
The voice from inside the door continued: "Your distinguished guest, please wait where you are for a moment. I need to confirm your identity."
Hearing this, Shen Qiu felt a little confused at first: the other party didn't even know the door. If not, how can I identify myself?
However, he quickly thought that Gu Xu was an accomplished Talisman Master - it would not be difficult for him to arrange some special formations on the door.
Soon, relying on the powerful mental perception ability of the fourth realm monk, Shen Qiu faintly noticed that there seemed to be a pair of invisible eyes on the top of the door, looking at him high.
After a few seconds, the black door automatically opened to both sides.
What caught Shen Qiu's eyes was a screen wall.
On the screen wall, there is a complex painted painting with hundreds of figures, most of them wearing servants' clothes, including men, women, old and young.
After bypassing the screen wall, there is a spacious courtyard.
There were two boys wearing linen blouses and holding brooms. They were bending down carefully in the courtyard to sweep the dust and fallen leaves on the ground.
The two people look exactly the same, more similar than most twins in the world.
When Shen Qiu passed through the courtyard, the two boys stopped what they were doing, clasped their fists and saluted him respectfully: "I have met Mr. Shen."
Shen Qiu smiled and nodded in return, and at the same time said to him They asked: "Do you know where Mr. Gu is?" The two boys replied in unison with their childish voices: "Mr. Gu is waiting for you in the study."
As soon as they finished speaking, a young maid appeared out of thin air next to Shen Qiu. She was wearing a pale pink dress and her hair was styled into a double-ringed bun. Although her appearance was not beautiful, she was attractive.
"Mr. Shen, please come with me!" She bowed slightly and saluted.
"Interesting." Shen Qiu looked around at the many servants in the courtyard and complained silently in his heart.
The main room of the Gu Mansion is divided into three parts by a screen and a blue gauze cabinet.
In the middle is the living room, with several wooden tables and official chairs. On both sides are the bedroom and study room.
Compared to the Shen family mansion in Jinling City and many other residences of officials of the same rank, Shen Qiu felt that this house was simply too simple - no antiques, no potted plants, and no curtains. , so that it looks empty and a little deserted.
Under the guidance of the maid, he passed through a partition door of the Bisha cabinet and came to Gu Xu's study.
At this time, Gu Xu was standing beside the long table.
He held the "Jinghong Pen" in his right hand, lowered his head and looked at the words on the table intently.
There was a small bronze incense burner placed on the table, and a wisp of agarwood rose up, lingering around Gu Xu, making him look like a descended immortal.
This bronze incense burner is a magic weapon that Gu Xu took out from "Xianyun Residence". The incense in it has a miraculous effect of making people concentrate.
When he smelled its scent, Shen Qiu felt relaxed and happy, as if all the depression in his chest had been swept away in an instant.
"Master Shen, what do you think of this calligraphy?" Gu Xu noticed Shen Qiu's arrival, turned around and smiled at him.
Shen Qiu came to his side.
The table was a bit high, and he had to stand on tiptoes to fully see the things on it.
On the plain white rice paper, there were three big characters "Changshengzhai" written on it.
Gu Xu’s calligraphy is as elegant and smooth as ever, like a flying dragon or snake, or a luan or a phoenix.
But it is different from Yishui County's calligraphy, which is composed and sharp.
The words look powerful and bold on the back of the paper, like a young eagle leaping off the cliff and then flying into the sky. When he saw it, Shen Qiu couldn't help but think of the thunder that shook the entire Luojing City a few days ago, and the majestic heavy rain that everyone in Longmen Academy would never forget.
Shen Qiu thought for a moment and responded: "As expected of Dong Weng, you have the demeanor of your ability to soar up to ninety thousand miles with a thunder."
Shen Qiu is used to saying Harsh and sarcastic remarks. So at this moment, when he needs to say some words of praise and flattery, it always sounds a little weird.
Hearing what he said, Gu Xu smiled and said, "Brother Shen, you don't have to be so restrained when you come to my house. We might as well treat each other as brothers and get along like friends."
Perhaps because Gu Xu was too young, Shen Qiu felt a bit awkward when calling him "Dong Weng". But perhaps because the eighteen-year-old boy's temperament revealed a dignity that was not for his age group, Shen Qiu found that he could not call out a more casual title like "Gu Xiandi".
He struggled for a while, and finally decided to continue calling the other person "Master Gu".
At the same time, Gu Xu used the "Jinghong Pen" to write his name on the corner of the rice paper, stamped it, and then waved gently.
The calligraphy was framed in an instant and hung on the top of the wall on one side of the study.
"Master Gu, I have a question to ask you," Shen Qiu asked Gu Xu at this time, "If I read it correctly, these maids and servants in your courtyard should They are all created using the technique of "pointing the eyes and enlivening the spirit", right? But in my opinion, they look far more intelligent and intelligent than the boy in black painted by Zhao Xinran, the master of Fu and Seal Script, in Longmen Academy that day. Spirituality.
"I'm curious, have you made any improvements to this spell?"
After seeing the "Bagua Logic Circuit Diagram" and "Fire Characters" drawn by Gu Xu, Shen Qiu would not doubt it at all. Gu Xu's ability to improve or create talisman seals.
While he was speaking, the maid in a pink dress brought the teapot and teacup, and poured them each a cup of hot tea.
White mist rose from the tea and mixed with the incense in the copper stove, making Shen Qiu feel like he was in Yunzheng Xiawei's fairyland.
Shen Qiu found that he could not see the shadow behind her, nor could he hear her footsteps.
Then the maid left the main room and returned to the screen wall with light steps.
When she stretched out her slender fingers and touched the screen wall, her figure disappeared instantly and turned into a motionless picture on the screen wall.
The two children were still holding brooms and cleaning the courtyard intently, seemingly unaware of this magical and strange scene.
“You are right,” Gu Xu nodded and replied, “I put some of the Taoist secrets of puppetry, the ‘eye-pointing and soul-energizing’ technique, and the inside of this room. The defensive formations are integrated together.
“When I am at home, they will act exactly as I want. When I am not at home, they will also take care of and maintain the house according to my pre-determined plan. If a foreign enemy invades and intends to assassinate or steal, the characters on these murals will also form my second line of defense. ”
"The second line of defense?" Shen Qiu asked curiously, "Then what is the first line of defense?"
"You should have seen the first line of defense, which is the one outside the gate that can be identified by appearance. The guest's identity," Gu Xu replied, "If any uninvited guests want to force their way in, they will fall into the illusion array and the killing array one after another."
He paused for a moment and lifted up from the table. He picked up the tea cup, took a sip of the hot tea, and continued: "Of course, these methods can only deal with ordinary people, low-level ghosts and monks of average strength. If the intruder's strength is much higher than mine, then these defense lines It’s just like paper, in vain.
“Brother Shen is also an accomplished Talisman master. If you are interested in the future, maybe we can work together to continue to improve these magic circles and make them more impregnable and unbreakable. ”
Shen Qiu did not respond for a while.
He was very shocked by Gu Xu's actions.
On the one hand, he was shocked by Gu Xu's mastery of the talisman formation technique -
According to the national master, the key to becoming a talisman Tao master is to understand all methods and achieve the same goal through different paths.
Can Gu Xu have touched the threshold of the master realm by combining the puppetry technique with the technique of "eye-pointing and soul-giving"?
On the other hand, he was shocked by Gu Xu’s dedication to setting up defensive formations——
Although compared to the formations in the Jinling Shen Family Mansion and the Imperial Palace, these defensive measures in the Gu Residence are still far behind.
However, Shen Qiu had never seen any sixth-grade official setting up security formations one after another for his residence like Gu Xu.
"Perhaps this is because Mr. Gu has stayed in that troubled place in Qingzhou Prefecture for a long time?" Shen Qiu silently guessed in his heart, "Even if he came to the place under the protection of the 'Tianlong Formation' In the capital, he is also extremely wary of ghosts. "
Just like Gu Xu's previous life, people often thought that people in Yunnan rode elephants to school and people in Inner Mongolia had to take the college entrance examination on horseback.
Since the disaster happened not long ago, people in other areas often feel that Qingzhou Prefecture has become a ghost land on earth, with ghosts and ghosts walking all over the streets.
"By the way, I have something here that I need Brother Shen's help with." At this time, Gu Xu continued.
(End of this chapter)