Everyone sat down again. This was a big matter, and everyone's faces were very serious. "It's time. Qingshan, what do you think?" Niu Yunfeng thought for a moment and said.”
"We'll have to talk about it sooner or later. Let them be mentally prepared!" Murong Qing Shan said.”
"Then let's go to the ancestral hall in the village tomorrow morning. [Yiqu, you can inform your son. Besides Yao 'er, I want to invite Pin' er as well. Although Pin 'er is a girl, she is decisive and fierce. She is a heroine!]”
Murong Qingshan nodded.
The ancestral hall of Three Family Village was rarely used. Other than being cleaned regularly, there was always a lock hanging on it. The ancestral hall was located on the north side of the pond, facing south. There was a large open space in front of the ancestral hall.
The next day, when Murong Yao and the other three arrived at the ancestral hall, Niu Yunfeng and the others were already waiting there. Murong Yao was muttering in his heart. What was it that made it so formal and grand?
After entering the ancestral hall, Niu Yunfeng signaled for the door to be closed. After everyone entered and stood still, they did not let them sit. Niu Yunfeng was in front while Murong Qingshan and Wei Yiqu stood behind him,""Children! We called you here to tell you something about our ancestors. The children of our three direct descendants must know when they reach a certain age! I wanted to drag it out for a while. You guys are still young, but I didn't want you to carry such a heavy responsibility on your shoulders. Now that the Japanese had invaded, the country and its people were at a critical juncture. We don't have a choice, and neither do you. We can only let you know about our ancestors in advance!”
Niu Yunfeng spoke in a low and slow voice," Our Three Family Village was built around the end of the Ming Dynasty. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, there was a king living in Chizhou. He was called Chizhou King. Although he was called a king, he was actually a king. When the Ming Dynasty was founded, the successor of the dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, pursued the principle of choosing the legitimate son instead of the virtuous. Later, Emperor Yongle, Zhu Di, rebelled. Zhu Di was Zhu Yuanzhang's fourth son, so he could not inherit the throne. After Zhu Di rebelled, he strictly guarded the royal family for his own reasons. All the princes were not allowed to leave their fiefs. Other than guards, they were not allowed to have their own armies. To prevent them from imitating him and seizing power, he also stipulated severe punishments. There was once such a thing. During the Chongzhen era, the Manchurian Tartar soldiers besieged Beijing. The court ordered all the troops to go north to help the king. At that time, the Tang King Zhu Yujian, who was in Nanyang, did not receive the court's order and recruited troops to go north to help the king. Later, the king of Tang recruited soldiers and horses, left his fief without authorization, and was stripped of his title by Chongzhen and deposed as a commoner. He was even locked up in Fengyang Prison. In this way, the vassal kings could only do two things in their own fiefs, plunder and accumulate wealth, and desperately make babies. In just a few hundred years, the number of royal members in the Imperial Clan Court had reached hundreds of thousands. The feudal lords 'fiefs were getting smaller and smaller, so the imperial court could rest assured. King Chizhou should be on King Zhou's side. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, they were only given a county. The King of Chizhou was honest, cautious, restrained himself, and did not accumulate wealth. His relationship with the local officials was also very harmonious. He usually did many good deeds and restrained the people in the Prince's residence. His reputation and popularity in Chizhou were good. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the situation was turbulent. The Tartar soldiers entered the pass and wreaked havoc. The refugees rebelled everywhere. The national treasury was so empty that rats could run away. The country was in danger. Chizhou King was a man of thought, ability, and ambition. He felt that he was weak, unable to contribute to the country, and trapped in a cage, unable to move. After much consideration, he came up with a plan. He bribed the low-level officials and city guards of Chizhou. He quietly sent his three sons out of the Imperial Residence. A village was built under the flaming mountain in Qingyang. In the past few years, he had secretly sent his trusted guards and maids to Three Family Village, and also transferred a portion of his family property to Three Family Village. Three Family Village had gradually developed over the past ten years. Chizhou King then split his Zhu surname into three characters: Niu, Mu, and Wei. The three surnames were given to the three sons. This is the origin of the people with the surnames Niu, Murong, and Wei in our Three Family Village. The division of labor among the three surnames was: Niu from Wu, Murong from Wen, and Wei from Shang. The guards and maids who came to the manor also took these three surnames. The King of Chizhou left a verbal instruction for his sons. When the Manchurian Tartar army approached Chizhou City. The King of Chizhou felt that his wish had been fulfilled, and he joined hands with the Princess Consort to die.”
Niu Yunfeng's words shocked the four young men! After going around in circles, it turned out that his surname was Zhu.
Murong Yao was the one who was the most agitated. He was filled with a myriad of thoughts. So after going around in a big circle and crossing decades, his surname was still Zhu.
Murong Yao was the first to react.""Then Niu Zheng, Wei Wuji and I are cousins?”
"Are we from the same generation?" Niu Zheng asked.”
Niu Yunfeng glared at his son."Your fathers and I call each other brothers. Don't tell me you want to rebel?”Niu Zheng shrank back in fear.
Murong Yao quickly came to the rescue,"Can I call you big uncle and third uncle directly from now on?"”
Niu Yunfeng nodded.
" What I said before was just the origin of our Three Family Village. Today, I'm telling your fathers that our ancestor, the King of Chizhou, left behind a legacy. This is also our ancestor's legacy. Follow me!"
The group entered a room inside. There was a statue in the middle of the room.
"This is the statue of your ancestor? Come and kneel in front of the statue of Taizu. I'll read out the ancestral teachings!”
Niu Zheng kneeled on the spot without hesitation. Wei Wuji and Murong Xi were still hesitating. They felt that things had developed beyond their expectations.
Only Murong Yao didn't kneel down. Instead, he looked at the statue in front of him with interest and muttered,""I feel that this looks a little familiar. Where have I seen it before? I can't remember at the moment!"
Actually, Murong Yao had already known who this statue was. There was only one person in the world who was half smiling and half crazy. He didn't want to say it out loud so that Niu Yunfeng and the others wouldn't be embarrassed.
After saying that, he ignored everyone's scrutinizing gazes and started to look at the statue from left to right.
At this moment, Murong Qingshan finally couldn't hold it in any longer and shouted,""Unfilial son, kneel down! You're being disrespectful in front of our ancestors. What kind of place is this? You dare to be unreasonable? I'll punish you."
Murong Yao ignored Murong Qingshan's reprimand and carefully sized up the left and right sides of the statue.
Murong Qingshan was about to attack.
"Wait, I remember now!" Murong Yao shouted. Wasn't this the portrait of the old monk in Suzhou's Xiyuan Temple? Why did you come here and pretend to be our ancestor?”
The scene became strange. The four young men looked at the three elders. Murong Qingshan and Wei Yiqu also looked at Niu Yunfeng suspiciously. Niu Zheng was still kneeling on the ground. He didn't know what to do in this situation. He didn't dare to stand up, and he felt that it was funny to kneel.
Wei Wuji was the first to speak. Third Brother, are you sure this statue is Ji Gong?
Murong Yao nodded his head.
Niu Yunfeng awkwardly thought for a moment before saying,"Taizu was a beggar in his early years. His background as a monk is very similar to this monk's. I thought that we didn't have a portrait of Taizu, so I found a substitute.”
Murong Yao said loudly," I don't want to make a fake thing my ancestor. I won't worship a fake thing. Do whatever you want."”Wei Wuji and Murong Chi also expressed this intention.
Murong Qingshan stomped his feet anxiously.
Following that, Murong Yao said something shocking that stunned everyone present.
" If my guess is correct," Murong Yao said," I think that the male and female statues in our village's temple should be the King of Chizhou and his Princess Consort." I remember that in the Great Compassion Buddhist Hall, Layman Zhang once said,"" The temple in our village worships the two disciples of Goddess Guanyin. They usually do good deeds. During a year of great disaster, they saved countless people and finally achieved positive results.'All of this proves what you said about the King of Chizhou. Besides, it is impossible for our village to build two temples for Guan Yin's disciples for no reason. Moreover, the blueprints for building the village were also worshipped in the temple. If that's the case, we might have neglected our true ancestors!”
Murong Yao's words woke everyone up. That's right! If it was really as he said, then this was a huge sin! The awkward situation became even more awkward. Niu Zheng also stood up quietly.
Wei Yiqu walked to Niu Yunfeng and whispered,"We'll talk about this later. No matter what, today's ceremony has to continue!”
Niu Yunfeng also recovered from his shock. He cleared his throat and said,"Let's put this matter aside for now. Are the four of you willing to kneel in front of us three elders? Listen to me read out the ancestral teachings."
Before Niu Yunfeng could finish his sentence. Murong Yao knelt down, followed by Wei Wuji and Murong Xi. Only Niu Zheng stood there in a daze.
"Why aren't you willing to kneel?" Niu Yunfeng asked.”
Niu Zheng was still in a daze from Murong Yao's words, so he quickly knelt down when he heard Niu Yunfeng's question.
"Because the conditions back then could not be spread on paper, the ancestral teachings of Chizhou King were mostly passed down by word of mouth. The ancestral teachings are as follows:
'If there is a chance to overthrow the Manzhou Tartar Court in the future, the descendants of my Zhu Clan will not shirk their responsibilities! In the future, if any foreign invaders invade our country, our Zhu family's descendants will be duty-bound to fight against foreign invaders! If the sun and moon don't set, it won't shine forever!"
The entire place was silent.
"Overthrowing the Qing Dynasty is our family's grudge, and now fighting the Japanese is our national grudge. The family feud was over, and the country's hatred was at that time. Back then, I went to Huangpu in Guangzhou to join the National Revolutionary Army in order to follow the ancestral teachings and overthrow the Qing Dynasty and the warlords. Now that we are old, we place our hopes on your next generation. Although this is a little cruel, the responsibility lies here. We originally wanted to wait until you were older before telling you, but the Japanese army's iron hooves are getting closer and closer. We can't afford to delay any longer. You won't blame us for placing such a heavy responsibility on you, right?”
Murong Yao looked at the other three and said firmly,""No!"
"Really?"
"Uncle, you said it just now. This is a national feud. Since it's a national feud, it's a matter for all the people of China. Even if I'm not a descendant of the Zhu family, I still have to take responsibility!”Murong Yao's eyes were clear, his attitude was serious, and his words were firm.
"Do you think so too?" Niu Yunfeng asked the other three.”
The answer he received was certain.
" There's one more thing I want to tell you," Wei Yiqu continued." You've probably been wondering where the Four Seas Trading Company's profits went. In fact, all these years, generation after generation, we have been doing the same thing, which is to gather resources to overthrow the Qing government. We have a reserve of cold weapons and hot weapons. The village's militia has always been trained for war. The Murongs took the responsibility of writing, and the Weis took the responsibility of preparing the money and supplies. We look forward to seeing you all take up this burden.”
Then, Niu Yunfeng asked Murong Qingshan what he wanted to say.
Murong Qing Shan waved his hand and smiled bitterly," The two of you have already finished talking. From now on, the three of us old men will be your backers. If you encounter any trouble, look for us and we will solve it together with you. The road to resisting the Japanese may be very long. Everyone must be mentally prepared for this!”
"Pin 'er, you may be a girl, but you might have to be independent in the future. We're all looking forward to seeing you!" Niu Yunfeng said to Murong Chi.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]