The next day.
Mrs. Fan is arranging flowers in her mansion with her Seventeenth Mother. The two of them were arranging flowers and chatting.
Fan said: "Dad was passing through Luoyang on his last trip to Renren. The prefect of Luoyang invited him to go to the flower party. Dad said that at this flower party, flowers are used as barriers, and the beams, pillars, columns, and arches are stored in tubes. Water, hairpins hanging on nails, flowers everywhere, it’s really beautiful.”
"I will arrange flowers with peonies another day. Seventeen, you love peonies. What do you think of arranging flowers with peonies?"
The seventeenth mother said: "I like peonies because they are independent from the world. In the past, Empress Wu ordered me to visit Houyuan the next day, and I wrote that in the Ming Dynasty, I went to Shangyuan to announce the spring as soon as possible. The flowers will bloom all night long, so don't wait for the dawn wind to urge you." "
"However, all the flowers bloomed, but the peonies were late. Empress Wu burned the whole garden of peonies in a rage. Now the peonies are broken off and placed in the same row as the flowers. Isn't this the original intention of peonies?"
Fan smiled and said, "I'm done with it, how about it?"
Seventeenth Mother said: "It's good, but it's better to use a bronze vase to hold it."
"You, you, you have to find a reason for everything. No matter how good the utensils are, they have to be degraded."
The Seventeenth Mother smiled and said, "It's not like my sister-in-law is indulging me. I've never been good at arranging flowers, so I won't do it anymore."
Mrs. Fan laughed and said, "Eventually you won't be able to do it either."
Although Fan said this, she still ordered the female envoy to bring the bronze vase and arrange flowers.
The aunt and sister-in-law were visiting the garden, and Mrs. Fan suddenly said: "What my uncle said last night to win daddy's praise was not his own idea, but borrowed from someone else's words."
Seventeenth Mother asked: "Oh? Did daddy see it?"
Mrs. Fan stopped and looked at Seventeenth Niang and said, "Okay, you hid it so tightly and didn't tell me, tell me how you could tell?"
Seventeen Niang said with a smile: "Good sister-in-law, I say yes. I thought that it was my second brother who had been studying at Taixue in the past six months and had made great progress in knowledge. But when I saw the face of my second sister-in-law, she frowned. She is the second brother. She knows very well how knowledgeable her second brother is. But when I saw that my second sister-in-law was not very happy after my second brother was praised by his father, I felt a little confused in my heart. After you said it again, I will understand. "
Fan said: "No wonder, your second sister-in-law has always been at odds with me. If my second uncle gains power, her demeanor in front of me will be different. You should watch carefully."
The two started walking by the lake again. The path beside Wu Mansion's lake was covered with willow trees. Along the way, they had to reach out to hold up the hanging willow branches from time to time.
The Seventeenth Mother said: "Sister-in-law, I want to tell you about this. The second sister-in-law is not a bad person, but she is usually a bit more aloof and does not want to interact with people in the house."
Mrs. Fan said: "I hate people being like this the most. Besides, there is no such thing as good or bad between sisters-in-law. The most common thing is that the other party is unhappy."
Mrs. Fan burst out laughing at this: "If you don't talk about this anymore, did you, Second Uncle, borrow this from someone?"
Seventeenth Mother smiled and said: "Probably one of his classmates in Taixue? But my sister-in-law said that, it seems that I also recognize him. I can't guess."
Fan smiled and said, "Can't guess? Do you still remember that boy from the Zhang family when we climbed to Xianxia Ridge?"
"It's really...he..."
Mrs. Fan was a little surprised when she heard this. She turned around and looked at Qi Niang behind her, but she saw that she was covering the hanging willow branches with one hand and lightly lifting the skirt of her skirt with the other hand. Her eyes seemed to be looking down at the road, but she was really not. Dare to look at yourself. But Mrs. Fan stared at her Qishang Saibai face, and noticed something strange in the expression she showed for a moment.
Mrs. Fan was suspicious in her heart, so they walked through this path and came to sit down in the pavilion.
Several old ladies here have already laid out summer fruits and drinks in advance.
The stone benches on the pavilion were also covered with brocade mats earlier.
Seventeenth Mother sat down and said calmly: "I was accidentally scratched on the face by a few willow sticks, and it hurt a little. This Lord Zhang Sanlang, I still remember when he said, 'The most troubles in the world are the most serious ones. What cannot be done is called peace and quiet, but in fact there are worries about unexpected events."
Having said this, the Seventeenth Mother smiled again and said: "Now it has become 'just do not change the legal system of the court and use this to serve the country'."
Mrs. Fan also pretended not to know and smiled: "That's right. One word is bold and the other is cautious. I don't know which one is true and which one is false."
Seventeenth mother said: "It's dad who is so powerful."
Fan said: "Last night, my second uncle admitted it when he and Shi Lang went into the study to talk to dad. I heard what my second uncle said, this husband of the Zhang family is one of the youngest in the same room. I don't know anything else. I just heard from my second uncle that Zhang Sanlang had taken the initiative to befriend him several times..."
Speaking of this, Fan thought, why did Zhang Sanlang take the initiative to make friends with Wu Anzhi? Could it be...
Mrs. Fan couldn't help but look at Qi Niang again when she thought of this, but saw Qi Niang asking in a normal way: "What next?"
Fan said: "Then I don't know, it's just Shilang who told me so, but Shilang also praised Zhang Sanlang's talents a few times in front of dad..."
"Then dad... can you trust me with your brother's eyes?"
"I don't know that either."
"By the way, there is another strange thing."
"What's the matter?"
Seeing that Mrs. Fan was trying to sell her off, Seventeenth Mother also sat patiently and drank the perilla drink.
Finally, Mrs. Fan couldn't help but said: "Dad said something in the study last night. He said that he had some free time when he came to Beijing to report on his work, and asked Shilang and his second uncle to invite more young talents from Beijing to come to the house for a banquet. , so that the two brothers will be officials in the future, and they will have support in their official careers, so that he can see the style of the future generations..."
The seventeenth mother has stopped drinking.
Mrs. Fan pretended to be indifferent and said: "It's strange, how can dad be so interested? Besides, the marriage of your sisters is just a matchmaker's suggestion. Others come to talk to matchmakers, and dad chooses them based on their family background and character. It’s not like this beforehand…”
"Sister-in-law, please don't...don't talk about it..."
Fan smiled and said, "It's rare to see you blush, but Shilang asked dad if he would choose a young talent who has not yet been engaged, but dad scolded Shilang severely. I think so, my Wu family... ...It's true...maybe dad really wants to meet today's talented man."
"Well, daddy, that must be the plan." Although Seventeenth Mother said this, her face was already as red as drunk.
It’s a day when Taixue is on vacation.
The students who live in Bianjing all go home early, and even Huang Haoyi goes to have sex.
Zhang Yue originally planned to study in the studio, but in the evening he went out to take a bath for Liu Zuo.
Zhang Yue used to take wells in the bamboo forest to take baths. Hearing that he could go to the bathhouse to bathe, he was worried and immediately went out with Liu Zuo to Xiang Qi.
During the Han and Tang Dynasties, the city-fang system was implemented. People lived in houses and traded in the market. At the same time, the imperial court strictly ordered that no city should be established "in places other than prefectures and counties."
But the Song Dynasty broke up the market, and the grass market was recognized by the court.
The previously feared drop in tax revenue was not due to a reduction in market prescriptions. Instead, the abolition of markets made business more prosperous and transactions more prosperous.
If we talk about Du Fu's song "In the Year of Li Gui in the South of the Yangtze River", it reminds people of the scene of Chang'an in the prosperous Tang Dynasty and makes people feel sad.
Then Bianjing in the Song Dynasty was more prosperous than the capitals in the Tang Dynasty, or even the Yuan and Ming Dynasties.
There is another thing that was not found in the Han and Tang Dynasties. The curfew was also abolished from the Song Dynasty.
Zhang Yue and others couldn't help but look at the night view of Bianjing all the way to the bathhouse. It can be said that "the night market has thousands of lights shining on the blue clouds, and the high-rise buildings are full of red-sleeved customers." Shuimen is busy with tea merchants in the evening, and drunkards are hanging out all night in Qiao City.
It's not yet the time when Bianjing is prosperous, but we can already get a glimpse of it.
Taiping cars carrying goods are still passing through the streets and alleys like daytime, waiters in teahouses and restaurants are standing in front of the doors to welcome guests, and prostitutes on the terrace are already waving their red sleeves to attract passers-by.
When we arrived at the end of the field, we saw a small pot hanging in front of the bathhouse door and two warm lamps to welcome guests.
As soon as I entered the door, someone greeted me: "May I ask, sir, whether you want to drink tea or take a bath?"
Most bathhouses in Bianjing have a teahouse in front of you and a bath in the back. You can drink a pot of hot tea after bathing, which is absolutely amazing!
"Take a shower first!" Xiang Qifen said seasonedly.
Liu Zuo smiled ambiguously and said to Zhang Yue: "Sanlang, let me open your eyes today."
Zhang Yue thought to himself, there won't be any other services, right?
There is a winding path behind the teahouse, but there are two doors on the left and right, one named 'Dieluo' and the other named 'Canglang'.
Zhang Yue was far outside the station door, but he was stunned when he heard the distant laughter of men and women inside. Is it possible that the folk customs in the Song Dynasty were already so open?
Liu Zuo, Xiang Qi couldn't help laughing when he saw Zhang Yue acting like this.
Zhang Yue thought to himself, this cannot be taken lightly, who is afraid of whom? Just treat it as a coming-of-age ceremony.
Immediately, Zhang Yue snorted and walked towards Dieluo. The waiter on the side quickly stopped Zhang Yue and said, "Dieluo is the 'Nv's Spring'. We are going to Canglang."
Zhang Yue suddenly realized and looked at Liu Zuo and Xiang Qi, but saw that the two of them were already laughing.
After entering the bathroom, the three of them undressed and took off their clothes, then each received a dry towel and entered the large pool.
But I saw a group of old men sitting in this big pool, looking like they were enjoying themselves. The pool was steaming. Someone must have heated hot water outside the pool and mixed it into the pool.
Zhang Yue took a shower and then went out with a dry towel. At this time, someone asked Zhang Yue if he wanted to wipe his back and have a pedicure.
Zhang Yue asked about the price first, and heard that back rubs and pedicures cost five yuan.
"Then wipe your back."
While enjoying the service, Zhang Yue remembered a short poem by Su Shi.
How can scale and scale ever bear each other? If you look closely, there is nothing there. Send a message to wipe people's backs, and you will be tired all day long and wave your elbows. Hands lightly, hands lightly, a layman is originally innocent.
After rubbing his back for a while, Zhang Yue felt comfortable all over and was so lazy that he didn't want to move. After resting for a while, Cai and Liu Zuo went to the teahouse in the bathhouse to drink tea together.
After taking a bath and drinking tea, Zhang Yue returned to Taixue along the way. At the same time, he asked Liu Zuo and Xiang Qi about Wu Anchi's daily hobbies.
Zhang Yue saw if he could suit him, and then followed him to open Wang Anshi's path.
However, Liu Zuo and Xiang Qi both shook their heads, saying that Wu Anchi had never heard of him having any hobbies. Anyway, he just didn't want to interact with others.
Zhang Yue was not upset after hearing this, but everyone has hobbies, so he would just continue to observe slowly in Taixue.
After Zhang Yue returned to Taixue the next day, to his surprise, Wu Anchi took the initiative to find him.
This made Zhang Yue feel "flattered". Could it be that his sincerity finally touched him.
Wu Anchi invited Zhang Yue to have a banquet at Wu's house fifteen days later during the holiday.
Although it was not only Zhang Yue who was invited, but also many imperial students, Zhang Yue was very happy now.
Because making friends with Wu Anchi is the most important part of his future commitment to the new party.
