Ye Long stood under the eaves of Qihe's new house, looking at the red plaque hanging slowly on the door, shining with golden light; he smiled widely, walked a few steps back and forth, smacking his lips, and listened to the servants on both sides saying: "This According to the master's instructions, everything that needs to be done about the new house has been done and all work is completed."
"Well..." Ye Long rubbed his hands and said with emotion: "None of you can compare to Cheng Congyuan, and I have to do these things myself. It's a pity that such a capable person should accompany me who is not I am a filial son." The servants all bowed their heads. As Ye Long raised his foot to cross the threshold, the door opened, and two rows of green bamboos came cascading over to protect the bluestone road, and he walked through it in a twisting and turning way, without the shade of the bamboo forest and the sunlight. Overflowing all over the body.
Ye Long finally finished arranging the work, but his body was really a little sore, so he deliberately stopped and basked in the sun with peace of mind.
"What?" Ye Long heard the thumping on the stone road behind him, but he never looked back.
"Is there someone from the court?" Ye Long immediately woke up after hearing the man's report. In a blink of an eye, he walked to the door. There were two stout men wrapped in black robes - they were the ones who came back to congratulate him on his promotion. Two of them. The two laughed loudly at Ye Long, who also smiled slightly and slowly walked down the stone steps. "Are the two messengers here to repair the ancestral hall?"
"Exactly. How dare we forget Mr. Ye's instructions and go through a lot of twists and turns to get it done! When we first told the emperor, the emperor said that we should consider it... so we went to invite the general. After the general persuaded the emperor, the emperor That’s why I agreed.”
"Which general? He speaks so cleverly..." Ye Long looked up at them, and the two of them laughed: "You don't know, he is the son of Liu Liwen, the Marquis of Dengzhou, named Liu Zhennian; you are not an official. At that time, General Liu marched south and defeated the barbarians. He petitioned for peace and strengthened the power of our celestial dynasty, so he was promoted to the commander-in-chief of the capital. This kind of thing... I would like to ask him."
"What does a man in charge of soldiers do?" Ye Long muttered a few words.
The two men continued: "Finally, the province has decided to give your eldest brother the posthumous title of 'Zhongjing', and the plaque of 'Ye Zhongjing Gong's Temple' can be hung."
"Also, Mr. Ye has been appointed the censor of Zuodu for a long time, and he should go to Beijing." After hearing this, Ye Long sighed and said, "I don't know about the official business, but I haven't finished the work at the ancestral hall, and I have to catch up with some recent affairs at home. , I can’t make time. But since the emperor is urging me, I don’t want to disobey the imperial court. I can leave in about five days. But you also have a lot of things to do, so if you want to get me to Beijing quickly, you can understand that."
The two big men looked at each other, then smiled and said to Ye Long: "If the emperor can afford to wait, the little people can also afford to wait. Your family is the largest mansion in Jinan, and the food must be good. If there is no official business, we would like to stay here This will stay for half my life." Ye Long laughed for a while, and immediately shouted to his servants: "Come into the house and prepare meals, so as to comfort the two officers!"
"Master, I'm leaving. I asked you to go out and see me off." A servant bowed and reported to the study. Ye Yongjia was still reading without moving his eyes, and he didn't even respond. He only focused on reading his sage's writings. Cheng Congyuan stood up immediately and said, "You go back and tell the master that he will be back in a while. I will take him out." The man obeyed and did as he was told.
Cheng Congyuan turned around and pulled Ye Yongjia, and persuaded: "I have been locked up for a few days, but I am still not stable. What is he going to do about this? Let's go." Ye Yongjia snorted unwillingly, stood up and looked at Cheng Congyuan stood there for a while, feeling full of resentment. He wanted to curse a few times, but after thinking about it, he decided to forget it and go out together honestly. He stepped out and saw ladders set up on the doorposts on both sides. Several people were nailing a new plaque at a high place, "Zhongjing Gong Temple"; Ye Long was giving orders under the door. Ye Yongjia had bowed and saluted early, but Ye Long didn't say anything; so he just bent there, frozen.
"Master." Cheng Congyuan said in a reminding tone. "Oh..." Ye Long lowered his head and looked at Ye Yongjia with his peripheral vision, "Is he honest? Or... he just wanted to come out when he heard about moving to a new house?" Cheng Congyuan glanced at Ye Yongjia, and he quickly responded: "In the past few days, my son has been diligently reading the articles of saints and sages, and he has also written a few decent articles, which I asked my father to read." After saying this, he trotted back to the house, but suddenly heard his father speak again, so he turned around and stopped. His face was ashen.
"No need to take it. Cheng Congyuan really teaches well." Before he could say anything, Cheng Congyuan's knees fell to the ground with a "pop", his eyes full of determination:
"Whatever the master has to say, I will not defend myself if I doubt my servant. But I have been with the master for so many years and I have never given him any opportunistic ideas, let alone written any articles on his behalf."
Ye Long realized that his words were serious and hurriedly pulled Cheng Congyuan's arm: "Get up quickly. I didn't mean this. You are a loyal and strict person, and everyone in the government knows it. How can I doubt you? I'm just I said it in a moment of anger, angry at this unfilial son for not caring about it!" Cheng Congyuan stood up following Ye Long's force, and did not forget to look back at Ye Yongjia and saw that he raised his head indifferently and looked around; then he looked forward at Ye Yongjia. Long, he has already arranged a sedan chair and is helping several servants get on it. Cheng Congyuan strode forward, grabbing the sedan curtain.
Ye Long leaned forward and asked what was going on. Cheng Congyuan said, "Master, are you going to Beijing?"
"That's right."
"After moving to Qihe, who will take care of all the family affairs?"
"My wife has never been able to take care of things. Now she is old and it's time to enjoy her life. It's all your fault for the family affairs." Cheng Congyuan lowered the curtain, but Ye Yongjia shouted from behind: "Father, have a safe journey! Father, please be careful in court! When father comes back, you will see that your son has been elected!"
For some reason, Cheng Congyuan watched the sedan go away. When he heard Ye Yongjia's last words, he couldn't help feeling weak and sweating all over his body. It was as if a knife had been stabbed viciously into his heart, which actually hurt a little. He covered his heart and came back. Ye Yongjia asked confusedly what was going on, and he was confused when he answered.
When Cheng Congyuan returned to the house, his lofty status made ordinary servants dare not disobey him. When they saw Cheng Congyuan giving orders, they all stood up and did it. But Cheng Congyuan knew his duty well and still made requests to the old lady and Ye Yongjia from the side. The old lady naturally nodded in all.
Cheng Congyuan wrote a list and assigned three groups of people to move things according to the list. In less than three days, all the things that needed to be moved arrived at Qihe's new residence, and then Ye Yongjia and others got up. Cheng Congyuan went to the new mansion first, checked the list, and arranged for people to move the things in. When the work was done, he stepped out to greet Ye Yongjia - Ye Yongjia happened to be here.
"Mr. Cheng, thank you for your hard work."
"What's the matter? Come in and take a rest."
"The matter of building an ancestral hall..."
"You don't need to worry about me," Cheng Congyuan said with a steady smile, "I sent someone to supervise the work of the ancestral hall before I left. There are enough people there, so both sides can work without delay."
Ye Yongjia sighed: "Mr. Cheng is so thoughtful in his work!"
They walked through the bamboo forest path and took a few shortcuts through side entrances. Those with names on the way, such as Zhai and Garden, all followed the original names, but they did not notice any general difference with the house in Jinan. respectively. Ye Yongjia was sitting in the meeting room where he was receiving guests, listening to Cheng Congyuan's requests for instructions back and forth. It seemed that after his father left, the whole house was more united. Although he can enjoy himself as much as he wants, Qiuyue's imperial examination is gradually approaching, so he can only study harder than before.
Cheng Congyuan was naturally very busy. He not only had to deal with official matters during the day and night, but also squeezed out time to teach Ye Yongjia how to learn calligraphy. The old lady advised him to entrust some things to his servants, but Cheng Congyuan firmly opposed: " Your Ye family has been sincere to me for more than forty years, and I wish I could do it until I die!"
On the last day before the examination, Ye Yongjia stayed up until midnight and turned off the lights. Before going to bed, Cheng Congyuan did not forget to take a few piles of manuscripts from the students, saying he wanted to see how the articles were written. Ye Yongjia didn't think much about it. , handed it to him directly. There was some hesitation in Cheng Congyuan's eyes, and he took the manuscript with his rough hands after a while.
He quickly returned to the room where he was resting, held a candlestick to the corner, and lit it. The faint yellow light illuminated the manuscript he was holding in his other hand. Cheng Congyuan glanced at it several times, not daring to say anything, but sighing heavily in his heart.
But, there is always a way. Cheng Congyuan was thinking, staring at the candle with erratic eyes.
…
The cock crows, and Ye Yongjia wakes up. He hurriedly changed his clothes and ran to the meeting room. When he saw Cheng Congyuan outside, he hurriedly bowed and went to see his mother in the room. After drinking a few sips of tea, he hurriedly set out on the road, followed by a few servants - sent by Cheng Congyuan himself. Ye Yongjia urged his horse on the road, the sun rising little by little before his eyes, and he entrusted all his hopes to it: he only hoped that his good luck would follow the sun.
The scientific examination hadn't started yet, but the outside was already crowded with people. Ye Yongjia dismounted, and several servants around him stared around alertly. "Okay. I'm not an important member of the court. Where is the danger? There's no need to put on airs for me." The servants lowered their heads. Ye Yongjia sat on the table at the door, and several people gathered around to talk. They were all talking about the imperial court's strict ban on all living beings having joints. Ye Yongjia just listened to the story, as if it had nothing to do with him. After all, after he became famous, such nasty things would still not happen.
Not long after waiting, it was announced that the candidates had entered. Ye Yongjia entered the room, and the people outside locked the door. As soon as Ye Yongjia started writing, he remembered the incident of troubling the joints, so he wrote the title "I knew it was unjust and I've done it quickly", but he wrote it very briskly.
After a few days of exams, although Ye Yongjia was idle in his apartment, he still pretended to study, his voice was louder than usual, and he pretended to be extremely calm when doing things, but he felt very uneasy. He was afraid that what he said to his father had turned out to be false, and he would be angry when he came back. , I have to lock myself away for a few more days. However, a quick knock on the door made Ye Yongjia relieved. He loudly ordered his servants to open the door. He strode forward and saw a solemn-looking police officer holding a bright red newspaper in his hand. The sunlight was so dazzling that Ye Yongjia could hardly open his eyes. Joy quickly jumped from my heart to my face, and I couldn't restrain the ecstatic expression at all. He knelt hard on the ground and saw the slowly opening poster, the large gold embroidered characters, and the messenger's crown, all so dazzling... He did not remember the contents of the poster at all, as if he was half asleep. It's all a bit confusing. However, he still did not forget to place the incense table for the report, bowed his head devoutly, and then handed it over to the messenger. Ye Yongjia didn't want to stay for a moment longer, so he hurriedly found the stables, informed his servants, and started running around regardless of official and unofficial ways.
The news that Ye Yongjia was elected spread like wildfire, and the people didn't comment much. On the contrary, some noble families in Jinan Prefecture hated it. Although they still sent people to celebrate it in order to save their face, they still slandered it.
Ye Longyuan was in the capital. After hearing about this incident, he still found time to write a letter to his family. Cheng Congyuan opened the letter and read loudly: "Hearing about the affairs of the family, I am honored to be on the list. I can't say how happy I am. I can only bathe in Shun." , the rest of my thoughts are... This boy is stubborn and has no special skills, but he is very knowledgeable in literature. He used his pen to teach him when he was young, and he actually wrote a book by himself... He is disobedient and unworthy, but he succeeded in the first try. He did not use the power of Shun, so what else can he do? ? In ancient times, a gentleman was called a gentleman. He was righteous in virtue, regardless of his superiority or inferiority. He was worried about his family when he was bathing in Shun, but he was worried about education. He was able to educate and regulate his family. Isn’t he a gentleman?... I tried my best to comfort Yun Shun, and don’t let Shun down. ..." Cheng Congyuan's eyes were red, a few tears rolled out of his eyes, and his voice was slightly sobbing, but he didn't let himself cry loudly, so he flicked a few tears away and slowly put down the letter. , ordered his servants:
"Master has been so kind to me, so I have to treat him benevolently and righteously... You are going to advocate paving the way. Well, you have to line up for ten miles, all covered with red satin. I want you to see that this is the Ye family!"
It only took Ye Yongjia half a day to get from Jinan to Qihe. Cheng Congyuan invited the ceremonial guard to be promoted long ago. They were draped in red satin, which looked like sporadic flames in the bright sunlight. When he saw a few horses in the distance approaching the official road, he immediately raised his hands and picked up the sheng. Standing in front of the earth wall are rows of shengs, about dozens of them;
But the sound was not noisy, it was played in an orderly manner, and Benrou's Sheng played in unison, becoming so sonorous and powerful. As soon as Ye Yongjia approached, the ceremonial guards dispersed. Ye Yongjia was surrounded on the left and right, playing the sheng to clear the way. The gong and Xiao ceremonial guards appeared in front, and then the sheng ceremonial guard appeared. Many teams followed closely behind. When they came over, they all got out of the way, and the groups of fire retreated layer by layer, moving closer to the walls on both sides, turning into two red-burning fire dragons. Objects such as shengs gleamed on the ground, like the dragon's golden lins; those golden lins shook, and the three Music and music, low and majestic. The people outside the earthen wall seemed so irregular amid the vocal music and fire array, they all huddled together, yelling and shoving.
When he arrived at Ye Mansion, he heard someone coughing a few times in the house. All the music was extinguished in an instant, and the fire gradually subsided - Cheng Congyuan walked out of the gate steadily.
He saw Cheng Congyuan's face was livid at first glance. For some reason, Cheng Congyuan had already changed his expression and smiled briskly: "...Look at my way of celebrating, okay?" Ye Yongjia also looked proud and said seriously. After landing, he held the horse with one hand and said with a smile: "I have never seen the scene you arranged in my life! But for a frugal person like Mr. Cheng, are these ceremonial guards too expensive?"
Cheng Congyuan curled his lips and said, "Oh, Master, I just want to be happy. I have a sense of propriety in these things!" After saying that, he asked again: "I wonder what the order will be when the list is released?"
Ye Yongjia couldn't remember it for a moment, so he said vaguely: "I only remember what I wrote about connecting all provinces. After the examiner read my article, he seemed a little uncomfortable and a little angry...but I still earned a scholarship!" Cheng Congyuan was about to go back home, and seemed to be thinking about something. Unexpectedly, he didn't look at the road well. His feet slipped, his waist flashed, and he was about to fall face to the ground. Ye Yongjia hurriedly stepped forward and pulled Cheng Congyuan. Cheng slipped a few steps from Yuan's feet and then stood up. Ye Yongjia asked Cheng Congyuan how he was doing with concern. Mr. Cheng was so frightened that he almost hit his head on the doorstep.
"It's okay! I won the prize, I'm so happy!" Cheng Congyuan dusted off his plain clothes, laughed and walked towards the house.
Since the young master of the Ye family was elected, the affairs of hospitality in the mansion have become complicated: aristocratic families and officials from Jinan area frequently come to congratulate him, and among them there are also many poor people of the same year to curry favor with him. Ye Yongjia was very annoyed by these social interactions, and would not see the judge several times. If he could not refuse, he would just ask his servants to do the work. Later, it was Cheng Congyuan's sincere words that made him adapt slowly, but in the end he was still a little bored.
This Ye Mansion should be managed by Cheng Congyuan! Ye Yongjia once thought this way when he got angry.
Ye Long came back about ten to twenty days later. He couldn't help but be happy, but even though he was happy, he kept a straight face. When he walked home, he scolded Ye Yongjia first and said, "Don't think that taking the exam will be easy. You don't have to work hard." Read it. If you are still as busy studying and doing things as before, you should be locked up for a year, not to mention a month!"
Ye Yongjia responded humbly. Ye Long glanced at Cheng Congyuan again, and immediately smiled: "This family's affairs are all thanks to Yu Shun. There are a lot of people here these days, right?"
"There are a lot of people coming these days, but it's all the young master who comes out to deal with them. I'm just busy serving them." Cheng Congyuan deliberately put the credit on his master.
Ye Long heard this and looked at Ye Yongjia intentionally.
His son was so anxious that he was sweating, and sweat flashed on his cheeks. He couldn't help but smile and explain: "This is also Mr. Cheng's credit."
Ye Yongjia really didn't want to stay here. He didn't dare to wipe the sweat on his face with his sleeves until his father asked him everything, got up and left. I originally wanted to hang out with a few slaves for a while, but looking at it now, I have no choice but to lock myself in the study for a while.
