After Gu Yun returned to Beijing, he hadn't left the house for half a year. It was fine at the beginning. He was in a bad mood and couldn't stand standing or sitting for a long time. He was drowsy and drank a bowl of medicine, and the day was almost over. But when winter was approaching, his health gradually improved, and Gu Yun couldn't stand it anymore.

When he was so busy that he was exhausted, he wanted to dive into the land of gentleness and rest every day, but after finally living the life he had always dreamed of, he was about to go crazy from idleness. He had nothing to do all day long and tortured the chattering bird at home. He tortured the starling to the point of emaciated body and wished he could die.

Maybe some people are born to sleep on a hard bed. They have a weak constitution and will get backache after lying on it for a long time.

Finally, even the emperor couldn't stand it anymore, and when the winter solstice was approaching, he released Gu Yun to attend court.

It happened to be the day he had to take a day off the next day. Gu Yun had been a little listless since the morning court session, and he didn't sleep well at night. Although he was quite self-controlled and didn't toss and turn, Chang Geng still knew he was not asleep when he heard him. When Gu Yun was not asleep, in order not to disturb him, he would subconsciously keep his breathing low and long, sometimes almost inaudible.

Even when Chang Geng asked him, he would not say anything. When asked urgently, he would start talking nonsense. Anyway, with Gu's smooth talk, if he didn't want to say something, you couldn't find a place to pry with an awl.

In Daliang Dynasty, apart from the New Year holidays, important officials above the third rank took turns to rest on a daily basis, in case something went wrong and no one could be found to take responsibility. Therefore, although Gu Yun took a day off on this day, it did not mean that the emperor, who sneaked out of the palace and stayed overnight at the Marquis' Mansion, could also take a day off. At the beginning of the new policy, Chang Geng had a lot of things on his hands, so he still had to get up early in the morning and rush back to work.

Then he discovered that Gu Yun was also dressed as if he was going out.

"Wear more clothes when it's so cold," Chang Geng asked casually, "By the way, where are you going?"

Gu Yun said in a serious tone, "Let's go for a walk on the horse in the suburbs."

Chang Geng raised his head to look at the howling northwest wind outside, then looked at Gu Yun's face which was obviously pale after recovering from a serious injury, and frowned: "What?"

Gu Yun glanced away, looking at the sky and the ground, but not at Chang Geng, refusing to talk.

Chang Geng had no time to torture him in the mansion, so he could only hastily wink at Huo Dan before leaving. Ever since he watched his own master become seriously ill and was carried back by the emperor himself, Huo Dan had decisively become a spy who betrayed his own people.

Gu Yun had poor eyesight and ears, and for a while he didn't realize there was a traitor in his backyard. After Chang Geng left, he put on his coat stealthily, ordered the servants to prepare a very low-key carriage, and only took Huo Dan with him. He left without any extra guards.

Huo Dan: "My Lord, where are you going?"

Gu Yun hummed something vaguely.

Huo Dan: "My Lord, do you have a toothache?"

Gu Yun: “…”

Huo Dan rarely saw him with such a "secret" look on his face, and thought to himself: "Could it be that he is going to go and have affairs without the emperor's knowledge?"

However, looking at Gu Yun's face that looked like he had lost all hope in life, it didn't seem like he was going out to have fun.

The two of them stared at each other for a long time. The cool wind coming in from the car curtains blew out the heater. Gu Yun finally squeezed out three words from between his teeth: "Huguo Temple."

Huo Dan: “…”

He was shocked and thought: "My master must have taken the wrong medicine this morning!"

Gu Yun angrily slammed the curtains: "What are you looking at? Why don't you leave!"

When General Gu was in Northern Xinjiang, he once secretly made a wish that if there was a solution to the Urgu in Chang Geng's body, he would go to the Huguo Temple to burn incense, but he never made the trip.

This ungrateful person might have been somewhat pious at the time, but as time passed, he had long since become ungrateful and forgotten the Buddha.

For some reason, Gu Yun had some strange dreams at night recently. He dreamed that a row of bald monks were chanting sutras to him in unison. Their heads were shiny and swaying in one direction. He was so dizzy that he still felt dizzy when he woke up the next day. After chanting like this for three or four days in a row, Gu Yun finally remembered the "grand wish" he had made that year and understood why these bald monks came.

So, taking advantage of his day off, he reluctantly went to the Huguo Temple to burn a stick of incense.

Taking advantage of the cold winter and non-holiday days, when there were few visitors in the mountain temple, Gu Yun hurriedly got up early and sneaked into the Huguo Temple like a thief. At this time, the fog in the mountains had not dissipated, and a layer of dew hung on the stone steps. The surroundings were quiet. But Gu Yun could not appreciate it at all. He just lowered his head and walked quickly, climbing up the steps like a flash of lightning. Huo Dan was afraid that he would fall, so he followed him tremblingly, jogging all the way. After half an hour of mountain road, the two of them reached the end in less than a quarter of an hour, and in the blink of an eye they were already in front of the incense hall.

Huo Dan took a few quick breaths and asked tremblingly, "My Lord, what are we doing here?"

Gu Yun was thinking about the lawsuit and gnashed his teeth and said, "Burn incense."

Huo Dan: “…”

He thought that this gentleman came with such a threatening attitude because he came here specifically to collect debts and seek revenge.

The monks' morning lessons in the Huguo Temple have already begun. The morning bells are ringing, and the cushions are neatly placed in the incense hall. Next to them, a monk in a plain robe is facing the main hall, beating a wooden fish and chanting scriptures silently.

Gu Yun glanced around and saw that no one noticed him, so he quickly rushed into the incense hall, pinched his nose, grabbed a handful of copper coins and silver and threw them into the merit box, then picked up two incense sticks with disgust, lit them with a flick of his wrist, stretched out his arm, and tried his best to prevent the smoke from floating in front of him.

Gu Yun held the incense in his hand, raised his head and glanced at the golden Buddha statue in front of him, thinking: "Should I worship this thing?"

Then he made a decision in the blink of an eye: "Fuck it."

He didn't even make a gesture of worship. He condescended to nod toward the Buddha statue, as if he had given the Buddha enough face. He quickly inserted the incense in his hand into the incense burner and turned to Huo Dan and said, "It's over. Let's go."

Huo Dan: “…”

It was the first time that he knew someone worshiping Buddha so arrogantly - it was more like their lord was waiting for Buddha to worship him rather than coming to worship Buddha.

Just as Gu Yun quickly finished the incense and was about to leave the hall, the monk who was beating the wooden fish beside him suddenly stood up and turned around. He smiled and bowed to Gu Yun, saying, "My Lord, are you well?"

Gu Yun: “…”

He made full preparations to avoid being seen, but unexpectedly he met the stinky monk Le Ran in the incense hall and forgot to check the almanac before leaving.

Monk Liaoran gestured to him with a smile and asked, "Why are you here, my lord? I don't think it's to pray for blessings."

Gu Yun replied with a somewhat unnatural look: "Fulfill your wish."

Monk Liaoran said, "Since you are fulfilling your vow, why don't you be more sincere? It's too hasty to come and go like this."

Gu Yun secretly thought "bad luck", but smiled politely and said: "Since the intention is there, why bother with the form? Master, are you obsessed with appearances?"

Liao Ran put his hands together, bowed his head and said calmly: "General Gu is naturally intelligent, which makes us practitioners admire him. It is true. However, since the Marquis remembered to come all the way here to fulfill his vow, I believe his intention was sincere when he made the vow. Now that he has come to fulfill his vow, he is naturally here to open his heart to me, the Buddha."

Gu Yun was speechless and could only look at him with a fake smile.

Liao Ran: "It's cold, why don't you come to my room for a cup of tea?"

Gu Yun: "I don't dare to disturb you. Master, please go and do your work. I...well, I have come all the way here, so I will take a look around."

Liaoran smiled and bowed to him repeatedly, then walked out of the incense hall leisurely.

The monk walked about a hundred steps after leaving the house, then suddenly picked up his monk's robe, ran back in small steps, and peeked into the incense hall with a thief's head. He saw that the disrespectful bastard Gu Yun really turned back to the futon obediently, stared at the futon for a moment with an unhappy face, then took the incense and lit it again, pinching his nose to pretend to be pious, but even his back showed that he was unwilling.

The monk admired Gu Yun's frustrated back and felt satisfied. He happily picked up his monk's robe and walked away with square steps.

After returning home, Gu Yun washed his head three times with mugwort leaves and water, and called Huo Dan aside, sternly threatening him: "I know you like to gossip with Chang Geng, but if you dare to tell anyone about what happened today, I will punish you by military law."

Huo Dan: “…”

Gu Yun took two steps forward and turned his head abruptly, facing Huo Dan's twisted expression of trying not to laugh but daring not to.

Huo Dan was so frightened that he suppressed his laughter and turned around and ran away without saying a word.

Even many years later, Chang Geng still couldn't find out what Gu Yun was doing that day, which shows that General Gu's military power is still there.

I don’t know if it was because this was a rare time for Gu Yun to sincerely worship Buddha, so the Buddha gave him a buy-one-get-one-free gift this time.

The next afternoon, Chen Qingxu came to visit and brought a prescription.

"I have searched the palace for a long time but have not found any clues," Chen Qingxu said, "but I found something useful in the book of the goddess's secret technique, which can cure the old poison. But the Marshal's ears and eyes have been damaged for many years. Even if the poison is cured, he can only wait for it to recover slowly in the future. I am afraid..."

I'm afraid it's impossible to recover completely.

Chen Qingxu: "Do you want to try it?"

Gu Yun glanced at Chang Geng who was hesitant to speak, and took it without hesitation - whether it would work or not was another matter, but if it could make Chang Geng feel more at ease, he didn't mind drinking a few more jars of medicine soup.

When he took a sip, Gu Yun suddenly felt that the smell of medicine was a little familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had smelled it before. At that time, he thought that he had drunk too many medicines in his life, and there might be some overlapping flavors, so he didn't take it to heart.

Chang Geng, on the other hand, was extremely nervous. He spent two full hours reading the memorials. Every once in a while, he would look up and ask him how he felt.

They are all old illnesses, what kind of feeling can I have after taking a dose of medicine?

Gu Yun half coaxed and half lied: "Much better."

Chang Geng asked hurriedly: "How much better? Can you see me when you take off the glass mirror?"

Gu Yun glanced at Chang Geng and smiled, "I can see it clearly, even every hair is clear. I can see it clearly even if I blindfold myself."

Chang Geng: “…”

Hearing that this person was not speaking human language again, Chang Geng threw the imperial pen aside and planned to go over and have a good "talk" with him.

Gu Yun raised his leg with a playful smile, and hit the emperor with a "trip rope" steadily and ruthlessly. His leg skills were even better than before. Chang Geng was caught off guard and stumbled. He lost his balance and fell straight into his arms. The guy stretched out his arms to catch him. Chang Geng was scared and broke into a cold sweat, fearing that he, such a big man, would fall down and crush him. He hurriedly reached out his hand to support the handle of the chair and shouted angrily: "Gu Zixi!"

Gu Yun had a wicked smile on his face, and his hands quickly took advantage of Chang Geng's waist. Chang Geng was furious at his touch, but was worried that he couldn't handle it, so he didn't dare to touch him at all. He had to hold his wrist with a gloomy face and pulled it out and pressed it aside. Gu Yun didn't struggle, and turned his head to kiss Chang Geng's forearm: "Mmm, fragrant."

Chang Geng was speechless: "You..."

Suddenly, Gu Yun's expression changed, and he broke free from Chang Geng with a flip of his wrist: "Wait."

Chang Geng stood up quickly: "What's going on?"

When Gu Yun was molesting his Majesty, his nose accidentally rubbed against the old beads on his wrist. A very subtle smell came out from the gaps between the wooden beads, so faint that probably only Gu Yun and the dog could smell it. He suddenly remembered why Chen Qingxu's prescription smelled so familiar - the smell of the medicine was exactly the same as the faint fragrance emanating from the beads in his hand.

Over the years, Gu Yun and this string of wooden beads have been on and off, and he never paid much attention to it, but these little beads seemed to be dependent on him and always stayed by his side no matter what he went through.

Gu Yun took off the beads that he rarely took off, tried twisting a few beads, and finally tried the largest spacer bead. Under his finger pressure, a shallow crack appeared, and then with a crisp sound, it broke into two in Gu Yun's hand, revealing the world inside - there was actually a pill hidden inside.

The two looked at each other in bewilderment for a moment. Chang Geng turned the entire palace upside down in search of any clues about the antidote, but unexpectedly, the real antidote was hidden in Gu Yun's body. It had been with him through thick and thin for more than eleven years. It was not until Chen Qingxu found the antidote formula on her own that it revealed a clue.

Gu Yun suddenly couldn't help laughing. He stretched out his hand and pinched the pill, and said with a smile: "Why does this little thing have the same temper as Emperor Yuanhe?"

They are all inappropriate cruelty and inappropriate warmth.

...Untimely poison, untimely antidote.

"My eldest cousin is watching you."