"Cough cough cough~ cough cough cough~"

In a house in Linhu County, Lujiang County, a young man in white was holding a handkerchief, covering his mouth and coughing repeatedly. He had a small, pale face, and was even more delicate than Sister Lin.

"Master Dongguo, are you feeling better?"

A slender woman walked into the yard carrying a basket of melons and fruits. The woman was fourteen or fifteen years old, wearing a green cloth dress and a double bun, dressed as a maid.

"Miss Lian'er is here. I've been troubling Miss Lian'er these days."

Mr. Dongguo stood up and bowed.

"Master, please don't say goodbye. I can't afford to be a slave."

The maid Lian'er quickly avoided it and said with a blushing face, "Madam asked the slave to do it. If you want to thank me, please thank Madam."

"Xiaosheng wants to thank Madam, and also Miss Lian'er. Thanks to Miss Lian'er being busy these days, otherwise Xiaosheng would not be able to survive."

Mr. Dongguo cupped his hands and said with a smile.

The maid Lian'er pursed her lips and smiled. She looked at Mr. Dongguo and saw that he was slender and handsome. His lips were red and his teeth were white. He was wearing a white Confucian robe, and he looked very graceful when he raised his hands and feet.

Lian'er secretly thought that Mr. Dongguo was good-looking, interesting in speaking, very kind and polite to others. If he was from a good family background and was not yet married, he would be a good match for the eldest lady.

Madam has promised to take good care of Mr. Dongguo, and she may have plans to find a suitable husband for the eldest lady. If the eldest lady and Mr. Dongguo become good friends, she will also marry him.

Thinking of this, Lian'er couldn't help but blush.

"Miss Lian'er, Xiaosheng has been recuperating here for many days and has not yet thanked Mrs. Bu. Xiaosheng wants to thank Mrs. Bu in person, but I don't know if it's inconvenient to go up there?"

Mr. Dongguo asked with his hands raised.

Lian'er smiled and said, "It's a coincidence that the young master said it. Before the servant came, the lady said that if the young master is well, she asked the servant to take the young master for a walk. Today is the Double Ninth Festival, will the young master go?"

"If I have to go, Miss Lian'er, please lead the way."

Mr. Dongguo shook his sleeves and followed Miss Lian'er out of the courtyard.

——

The yard of Bu's house is not big, with only three entrances. The master lives in the backyard, and Mr. Dongguo lives in the east wing. Because there is no male in charge of the Bu family, Mr. Dongguo doesn't have much contact with the master's family on weekdays.

Along the way, Mr. Dongguo asked Lian'er about how he started his family. The ancestor of the Bu family was Bu Shucheng, one of the seventy-two sages of Confucius. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Bu family had a Huaiyin Marquis, which was considered a wealthy family.

Bu's family was originally in Guangling County, Xuzhou. Many years ago, Cao thieves massacred Xuzhou, which caused turmoil in Xuzhou. Mrs. Bu was worried that something bad might happen to her, so she took her daughter to Shouchun County for resettlement.

But two or three years later, the Cao thief who had killed thousands of swords led his troops to attack Shouchun again. Mrs. Bu was worried that Cao thief would kill people randomly again, so she took her to Linhu County to stay temporarily.

"The Cao thief who kills with a thousand swords, if he kills again and again every day, sooner or later he will be struck to death by lightning and choked to death by drinking water."

Lian'er clicked her lips and cursed.

Mr. Dongguo grinned, Prime Minister Cao's reputation was really bad. Fortunately, he, the accomplice, did not give his real name, otherwise he would have been thrown into the water again by the family and drowned.

"Master, why don't you scold Cao as a thief?"

Lian'er looked back at him and blinked in confusion.

"ah?"

"The young master also escaped from Shouchun, right? That day we took a boat south and found the young master in the water. The young master must also have escaped from Shouchun. Cao's thieves made the young master leave his home and fall into the water.

He almost died. Don’t you hate the traitor Cao?”

"Uh, ahem, Miss Lian'er is right, Cao Cao is a thief, he will be struck to death by lightning sooner or later."

Young Master Dongguo cursed through gritted teeth.

Hehe~

Hearing him scolding her like this, Miss Lian'er laughed happily and truly regarded him as one of her own.

Coming to the front yard, the Bu family was worshiping their ancestors during the Double Ninth Festival.

The Double Ninth Festival first emerged in the Warring States Period. Every Double Ninth Festival, the palaces of various countries would hold sacrificial ceremonies. By the early Han Dynasty, the Double Ninth Festival gradually evolved into a folk festival. On September 9th, people wear Zhumo, eat bait, drink chrysanthemum wine, and pay homage.

Ancestors, remembering relatives.

Since Mr. Dongguo was an outsider and Lian'er was a servant, when they saw the master's family worshiping their ancestors, they did not come forward to disturb them and only watched the ceremony in front of the courtyard.

The Bu family has a small population. Mrs. Bu, Miss Bu, Miss Bu's uncle and aunt, and two cousins ​​all have red dogwoods in their hair and yellow and white chrysanthemums in their hands.

Bang bang bang~

Before worshiping the ancestors, Mrs. Bu picked up a bamboo stick and struck it several times on the wooden trough next to it. After finishing the beating, she gave it to Miss Bu, the uncle and aunt of the Bu family, and each of them struck it a few times.

Master Dongguo was a little puzzled when he saw this scene. He also celebrated the Double Ninth Festival every year in Yingchuan, wearing dogwood, eating bait, and drinking wine, but he did not have the custom of knocking on wood.

So he quietly asked Miss Lian'er.

Miss Lian'er covered her mouth and smiled softly, "The trough is called Cao Ye. To hit the wooden trough is to beat the Cao thieves. It is a custom that has only emerged in Huainan in recent years. Hitting a few times every year on the Double Ninth Festival can eliminate diseases and disasters, and prolong life. Master

If you are not in good health, please remember to hit me a few more times."

Mr. Dongguo's mouth twitched. When he saw Miss Lian'er seeing you coming, he nodded repeatedly, "Okay, I'm going to give you a hundred blows and beat the Cao thief hard."

Miss Lian'er covered her mouth and smiled.

After beating the Cao thieves, the Bu family members burned incense and worshiped the ancestors' spiritual tablets, recited prayers and drank chrysanthemum wine.

"Sir, my wife invites you to come and drink chrysanthemum wine."

Lian'er came over and said.

"drink wine?"

Mr. Dong Guo's eyes lit up and he strode over. He cupped his hands and thanked Mrs. Bu and everyone in the Bu family for their life-saving grace.

Mrs. Bu's wife is about thirty years old. She is dignified and virtuous, with good appearance. She looks like a lady in every gesture.

The young lady of the Bu family, Ping Ping, half-hidden behind Mrs. Bu, blinked her smart eyes and looked at this guest.

Mr. Dongguo is a male foreigner, so it is inconvenient for him to talk to Mrs. Bu.

After saying thanks, he bowed to the spiritual tablets of the ancestors of the Bu family and recited a eulogy loudly, praising the achievements and reputation of the ancestors of the Bu family. The words were gorgeous, the writing was brilliant, and the tone of voice was ups and downs, which made him look very level.

The Bu family was overjoyed and looked at Mr. Dongguo in a new light.

Mrs. Bu also asked Miss Bu to personally bring a cup of chrysanthemum tea and wish Mr. Dongguo good health soon.

Mr. Dongguo didn't refuse and took two sips.

"It's not good, it's not good!"

At this time, a young man of eighteen or nineteen ran into the yard, wiping his sweat.

This man's name is Bu Zhi (zhi) Bu Zishan, the son of the uncle of the Bu family. Bu Zhi also contributed to the rescue of Mr. Dongguo from the water that day.

When Mr. Dong Guo was recovering from his injuries at Bu's house, he chatted with Mr. Bu several times. He was a very talented young man.

"Zishan, you are worshiping your ancestors at home, what are you doing in such a hurry?"

The uncle of the Bu family scolded.

"Mom, dad, aunt, it's not good, the Cao thieves are coming."

Bu Zhao gasped and said.

"Zishan, the Cao thieves have long been defeated by Yuan Gong and Lu Bu. He hasn't been found yet. He may have died long ago. How can he come back?"

Everyone didn't believe it.

"Father, this is Cao Xin, the sixth general of the Cao family. Cao Xin brought more than a thousand cavalry from Nanyang to Huainan. He defeated Chen Lan in Yiyang, killed Liu Xun, the prefect of Lujiang in Lu'an, and then led his men to capture Hefei and search everywhere.

Cao Thief.

Ten days ago, General Zhang Xun, General Lei Bo, and General Ji Ling discovered Cao Cao in Xize, Feishui, and were about to kill Cao Cao with a knife.

Unfortunately, Cao Xin arrived with his men and rescued Cao Mengde. General Lei Bo, General Ji Ling, was killed by Cao Xin on the spot, and General Zhang Xun was defeated and fled."

"Hiss~"

Everyone took a breath after hearing this. General Cao Liu was so cruel. There were only a dozen famous generals in Huainan.

Zhang Xun ranked first, Ji Ling, Lei Bo, Chen Lan, Liu Xun and others were all ranked in the top ten generals. In the end, Cao Xin killed half of them. This man was too fierce.

"After Cao Xin found Cao Cao's thieves, he summoned Cao's army to defeat and surrendered thousands of Yuan's troops. In less than three days, he gathered more than 8,000 people. Cao Xin led 8,000 Cao's troops to fight everywhere, and successively captured Feidong, Feixi, and Chengbo.

, Lu'an, Yangquan and other counties.

Three days ago, Cao Xin's troops surrounded Shouchun. The traitor Chen Lan helped Cao Xin open the gate of Shouchun City. Shouchun City fell, Duke Yuan fled, and most of Huainan was occupied by Cao's army.

I heard that Cao Xin is about to lead his troops south to attack Lujiang County.

Dad and aunt, let’s leave quickly, if we are later it will be too late.”

Bu Zhao said hurriedly.

The Bu family frowned upon hearing this, and the uncle of the Bu family sighed, "We ran from Guangling to Shouchun, and from Shouchun to Lujiang, where else can we run?"

"Go to Jiangdong, where is Sun Boxu's territory."

Bu Zhi suggested.

"Don't panic yet!"
To be continued...