Guoxiang people thought they knew Chen Tongpao. In his opinion, what Chen Shilang meant by "being able to write and be smart and witty" was nothing more than finding a chess piece for him that he was willing to use and a tool to pass on the family line. That's all. People in Hunan have long been accustomed to Chen Tongpao's otherworldly calmness, but now after communicating with him, they still feel shuddering and all the alcohol in their bodies has been driven away.
He walked down to the restaurant, paid for the food and drinks with the shopkeeper, went to the street to enjoy some air, and his head suddenly stopped feeling dizzy. Xiang people think this is not bad, at least it will not disturb their own work.
He only rested for a moment in the mansion, and then began to visit everywhere, claiming that his friends planned to take concubines and asked someone to help introduce some beautiful women. It happened that an official from the imperial court welcomed his concubine, and told him that a matchmaker had come to the door and told him that there was a businessman named Song in Xicheng. He had a large business and had three sons and four daughters. However, due to the recent situation, Miserable, increasingly degraded, and utterly poor. Because I still owed a lot of debt outside, I sold tables and chairs, but still couldn't pay it off, so I thought of selling my third daughter as a concubine. But this businessman is extremely stubborn and refuses to let his daughter go to an ordinary family unless she is a high-ranking official. He also talked about his daughter's many qualities, which were consistent with Tongpao Chen's requirements.
The people in Guoxiang were overjoyed and reported the news to their colleagues. After hearing this, the colleague hurriedly ordered his servants to go to the west city to inquire about the situation and meet the businessman. When the latter heard that it was Chen Shilang who wanted to take a concubine, he couldn't help but said "good" several times and wanted to put his daughter in the car immediately and take her to Chen's house. Seeing his enthusiasm, the servant was afraid of spoiling his interest, so he only said slowly: "My master is not a ruthless person, but he will eventually face the bloody storm in the officialdom, so he will naturally have stricter requirements for his family. You The old man's daughter not only has to be obedient, but also has to understand the current situation, and even has to have the consciousness that she will die for her master in order to be competent. If Mr. Chen is satisfied, he will naturally not forget his lover outside the staff and send money here every year. "
How could Merchant Song care about all this? He flattered every word he heard and vowed never to disappoint Chen Shilang, so he sent the slave away and went to teach his daughter in the house.
Ever since the third daughter heard that she was going to be a concubine in another house, she had been crying so hard that her eyes were blood-red, and no one could stop her. After three or five days, she gradually became tired from crying, her face became as yellow as wax, she couldn't swallow her food, and her voice became louder and louder. The hoarseness made her mother burst into tears and her father was even more upset.
On this day, a merchant from the Song Dynasty came to the inner room to talk to his daughter and told her that he had made a reservation for Chen Tongpao, the minister of civil affairs, and that he would send someone to greet her after everything was settled.
The third daughter knew that the situation was irreversible, so she just lowered her head and sobbed without uttering a word.
The Song merchant sighed: "Now that our family is getting worse and worse, if we continue to survive like this, we will only be able to beg for money, which will be even more destructive for you. It is better to find a high-class family. Although the status is worse, the food and clothing are good. Don't worry, just do it as hard as you can."
The third daughter did not argue, grabbed the quilt, and said in a trembling voice: "Okay, I will listen to daddy..."
Merchant Song held the edge of the bed and said again: "This Tongpao Chen has always been involved in officialdom. He has a reputation for being ruthless and not easy to serve. You usually work in the accounting room with your father and know some worldly principles. You can barely deal with him." That's enough. But when you get to him, remember not to act arbitrarily, or even show any excess joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness. Just do it according to his wishes."
The third daughter's eyes flashed a little clearer again. She was startled, then flicked away the tears with her left hand, and asked in an extremely hoarse voice: "Doesn't show joy, anger, sorrow and joy... Is this Chen Tongpao such a person... …”
After hearing this, her father was speechless for a long time. He slowly stood up and turned around, leaving only his back to her: "I don't know, even if I am a father. You should take good care of yourself in the future and don't miss her anymore..."
The third daughter understood what her father's words meant. She watched his back pass in front of her. The setting sun outside the house was hitting her dull face, and the light from her eyes was gradually swallowed up by the unspeakable emptiness.
Three days later, the Song businessman and Chen Tongpao signed a document, and the latter contributed one hundred and fifty taels to bring his daughter Song into the mansion. The third daughter had no choice but to dress up for a long time, then hesitantly got on the Chen family's sedan, put on a red gauze hijab, asked someone to pick her up, and left home with a bumpy ride.
Chen Tongpao personally greeted her in front of the house. When he arrived at the sedan, he took Mrs. Song's two slender hands and helped her out. He entered the central hall, paid homage to the ancestor's shrine, and then led her to see Zhuo Lengping, the main room, and called her softly. Kneel down.
Leng Ping looked at the girl who was kneeling tightly on the ground. She was only eighteen or nineteen years old, but she looked exactly like herself back then. She suddenly felt sad and wanted to look up to see what kind of expression Chen Tongpao had when facing this scene, but she was afraid of the consequences of her extra actions, so she just looked at Song's long black hair numbly. Hair, sitting like a sculpture.
This was exactly the scene that Tongpao Chen was satisfied with. He didn't want two people who were working for his own purposes to have any trouble with each other, so he hurriedly ordered Mrs. Song to stand up and gave her a polite smile; the latter smiled in fear.
With a dozen slaves holding candles leading the way, the two followed the bright red lights until they reached the bedroom. Tongpao Chen asked Mrs. Song to go first, then closed the door behind him and blew out all the lights in the room. The servants knew that Mr. Chen was going to consummate their marriage, so they ordered everyone to disperse and go to the middle hall to drink.
The next morning, the people who passed through Hunan were very happy when they received the money as a reward from Tongpao Chen. Although he heard about her experience at Merchant Song's house from idlers, he did not feel any guilt. He argued: "It's because his third daughter is squeamish and she doesn't know the benefits of Mr. Chen. Once the marriage is consummated today, she can marry Mandu." It's the same day." By the way, I packed thirty taels of silver for him, so I should congratulate him.
Not long after Chen Tongpao welcomed his new concubine, he received an order from his superiors in just over ten days, requiring him to go to Shandong immediately to supervise the school and not to neglect it. So he hurriedly left his wife and concubines at home and went to the palace to meet Yan Wen.
Yan Wen selected two clerks for him, and after a few more words of instructions, he ordered some of the best horses in the garden to be prepared and urged them to set off quickly; everyone accepted the order.
The land of Shandong has been completely different since Ye Yongjia left many years ago. The prefect of Jinan was replaced three times, and in the fourth term, he was demoted due to repeated disasters. The new prefect, who had only been on the board for half a year, was burdened with such a heavy burden by Yan Wen, which was really annoying.
"Your Excellency, the newly established county school in Qufu, the matter of Xuetian..."
"That's enough." Before the magistrate had finished listening, he waved his hand and replied helplessly: "If it doesn't work, just keep talking until the squires are satisfied!"
