"what is that?"
"a cat?"
"Why did the Queen's cat come here again?"
"Those cats are very capable. They can fly over roofs and walls."
"Do you want to capture it and bring it back to the Queen? Otherwise, she will find out that a cat is missing and ask us to search throughout the palace in the middle of the night."
A group of guards said as they brought a lantern closer and illuminated it, reflecting the cat on the ground.
The calico cat sat upright and tilted his head to look at them.
I saw that she was clean and tidy, with a graceful figure, delicate features, and lively eyes. She tilted her head like this, as if she could speak and asked what they were mumbling.
"Is it a calico cat? I've never heard of the Queen getting a calico cat!"
"This cat is so beautiful!"
"This little thing is still smart. If it's cold, he'll lie down on the lamppost to keep warm."
"I heard that His Majesty was entertaining guests at Changle Palace today, and the immortal master he invited brought a cat. It is His Majesty's distinguished guest. Could it be this one?"
"Cat? Distinguished guest?"
While everyone was muttering, they saw the calico cat tilting its head a little more as they spoke, and still staring at them with a pair of talking eyes, seeming to become more and more confused about their words.
Just then a voice came from behind:
"Let's go, Sanhua Empress."
"!"
The cat turned his head instantly.
The guards also followed and saw a young Taoist standing over there. Several chamberlains were standing behind him holding lanterns. The calico cat in front of them seemed to understand the words. It stretched and moved lightly. He jumped down from the lamppost, glanced at the guards, and then ran towards the Taoist.
The Taoist raised his eyes and nodded to the guards before taking steps forward.
The chamberlain and the cat followed him.
I could vaguely hear voices over there, as if the Taoist was talking to the cat.
"Why did Sanhua Empress come here?"
"There's nothing interesting in it."
"Would it be more interesting outside?"
"There's a cat in here! And a rat!"
"There must be a lot of rats in such a big place."
“The people here are so awesome!”
"Why is it so awesome?"
“The houses here are so big and there are so many, and the pillars are so big, it’s amazing!”
"It is the accumulation of previous generations."
"The accumulation of predecessors~"
"yes."
"It's fun to talk with those people over there."
"Why is it so fun?"
"Silly."
"It's rude to say that."
"Well!"
Mao'er followed the Taoist's feet. The Taoist lowered his head to the side, and she raised her head to the side. The two chatted while walking, but she was also curious: "Why did you come out so quickly?"
"There's nothing interesting in it."
The Taoist imitated Mao'er's answer just now.
"Would it be more interesting outside?"
"The air outside is better."
"The air outside is better~"
"The skylight should be better too."
"The skylight should be better~"
"A scholar."
"You are also imitating Sanhua Empress! You are imitating cats!"
"..."
The Taoist shook his head and looked up into the distance.
I didn't spend too much time in the palace today. The gradient color of the sky has not faded yet. The eaves and corners of the palace's roofs have become silhouettes in the sky. The stars are already visible in the sky, as beautiful as a dream. The Taoist woke up a lot due to the night breeze, and continued walking and chatting with the cat, farther and farther away.
The head chamberlain and the two senior chamberlains beside them were listening to their conversation. The senior chamberlain seemed to be infected by the childishness of it, and his heart, which had been trapped in the palace for a long time, seemed to be a little calmer, but the chamberlain chamberlain was listening. He just walked with his head lowered, shivering and not daring to say a word.
After leaving the palace, Song You declined the invitation from the chamberlain in a carriage and instead took the cat with him and strolled home.
You can see yourself in solitude and tranquility.
So night walking also became a pleasure.
After returning home, Song You wanted to persuade Empress Sanhua to rest and be lazy like a cat in the palace, but she didn't listen. She wanted to go out to hunt mice and stay up late to read.
In a few days, it will be the emperor's birthday.
The whole Changjing city is very lively.
The king celebrates his birthday and rejoices with the people. It is an exaggeration to say that the whole world celebrates it, but it is still okay for the whole capital to celebrate it together.
The king wants to rejoice with the people. Naturally, he does not tell the people that today is my birthday and invites you to rejoice with the king. The people will laugh. There must be substantial policies to benefit the people.
When implemented, it usually reduces or exempts rent, and also provides porridge in government offices to relieve extremely poor people.
Renting a house is common in Dayan, and many officials have to rent a house. In addition to renting houses for shops and housekeeping, renting private houses must also go through Fang Yazi, and the contract must be placed in the government office, which is equivalent to going to the government office. Therefore, rents are generally reduced or exempted on festivals, days worth celebrating, such as the emperor's birthday or the birth of a dragon son, or days when people need to be comforted by extreme weather and natural disasters such as earthquakes, heavy snows, and heat, etc., which is helpful to the government. It is not only easy to operate, but also has real benefits for the people.
Ever since Song You returned to Beijing and lived in a small building, he had to pay rent every month.
If the store clerk doesn't come to collect it, he will deliver it to your door.
The few days of rent reduction saved him money.
…
The tenth day of winter.
The weather is getting colder day by day. Fortunately, I returned to Changjing to repair myself. If I were still walking outside, I would definitely suffer.
However, I heard that in some states in the south, even the cold winter is like early summer. It is not cold at all, but it is full of smoke and not prosperous. When officials are transferred to other places, they are often unaccustomed to the climate and climate, and I don’t know what the scenery is like.
Anyway, Song You, who was in Changjing, got up early early. He went to the market and bought fish, sliced it into thin slices, and rolled a pot of white rice porridge, preparing to reward Empress Sanhua who had been busy until midnight for who knows what last night.
The porridge has just been cooked, and the aroma has spread along with the heat.
Song You filled two bowls and was about to go upstairs to ask the pillars of his family to come down for dinner when he saw a dazed cat with half-closed eyes appearing at the corner of the wooden stairs, casting a confused look at him. He asked vaguely:
"Taoist priest, what are you cooking..."
"I was about to ask Sanhua Empress to get up and have a meal, but Sanhua Empress came down on her own."
"Miss Sanhua has smelled it..."
"Miss Sanhua has a keen sense of smell."
"What are you cooking?"
The cat stopped where he was, looking at him with his head lowered, his eyes barely open, and his voice was very low.
"Fish fillet porridge."
“Fish fillet porridge…”
"Come down and eat."
"Well……"
The cat looked at him, then looked down at the stairs below him. He stood up and took two steps on instinct. But he really didn't want to walk, so he simply turned sideways and slid down the stairs lying on his back.
The body is so soft and the process is so smooth, as if it is flowing down the stairs.
It wasn't until she landed on the ground and felt a different texture from the wooden ladder that she got up, shook her head, shook her body, looked up at the Taoist priest, and walked over as if nothing had happened.
Serve lightly.
She continued to glance at the Taoist vaguely, and saw the Taoist holding up a bowl to drink porridge. She also stretched her paws towards the bowl, trying to pick it up, but she found that it was two cat paws and could not lift it up at all, so she sighed helplessly. He slowly leaned over, lowered his head and licked it.
"Did Lady Sanhua steal the cow last night?"
"Sanhua Empress does not steal cattle." Cat lowered its head and spoke while licking.
"Why does it feel like Empress Sanhua built an entire Great Wall by herself last night?"
"Sanhua Empress is not a human being." Cat replied while still licking, "Sanhua Empress can't build the Great Wall either."
"Ms. Sanhua doesn't study all night, does she?"
"!"
The cat's ears stood up instantly, and the action of licking the porridge paused for a moment. After a while, it returned to normal. While continuing to lick, the cat said vaguely: "Empress Sanhua went to catch mice."
"I see."
Song You nodded and said no more.
Concentrate on eating porridge.
This cat is really strong.
The Taoist teased her a few words, saying that she didn't wake up and was confused. He suspected that she had studied all night last night. I don't know if he wanted to prove that she was not sleepy or to prove that she had not studied hard all night. After eating, she was obviously so sleepy that she was confused when walking. But he still had to cheer up, pretend not to be sleepy, and go wash the dishes. After being rejected by the Taoist, she refused to sleep. She had to hold on downstairs and pretended not to be sleepy. After an unknown amount of time, she muttered to herself, "There is nothing to do anyway, so it is better to sleep." Lie down on the table and fall asleep.
The Taoist opened the book and covered her just right.
When I fall asleep smelling the fragrance of ink, I wonder if I can read in my dream.
At this moment, a visitor came outside the house.
Song You looked up and was stunned for a moment.
The person walking in front seemed to be in his late sixties, and his appearance was familiar. However, compared with the memory, there were many more vicissitudes and wrinkles, and there was a lot more silver frost on his hair that was visible to the naked eye. She was still as well-dressed as when we first met, her hair was combed meticulously, and she looked official and elegant, but she didn't wear a hairpin, so she was less elegant and more stable.
There is a person behind him, but in memory he is much closer.
The former was the then magistrate of Yizhou and is now the imperial censor, Yu Jianbai, while the latter was the magistrate of Yidu at that time and the prefect of Pujun whom he later met in Hezhou.
"Dear guest..."
The two sides looked at each other through the door, and the Taoist spoke first.
The two people outside the door looked at each other, a little sad, and quickly bowed their hands to him.
"Mr. Liu has met Mr. Liu."
"It's been a long time, sir. I wonder if you still remember Mr. Yu?"
"Of course I remember Zhizhou." Song You nodded sincerely and returned the gift, "I still use the felt blanket that Zhizhou gave me when I said goodbye. It's been nearly six years since then. In the past six years, I don't know how many times I've walked through it. There are so many mountains and rivers, so many times I have slept in the wilderness, and I don’t know how many cold days I have been able to spend under the felt blanket given by Zhizhou. I should be grateful to Zhizhou.”
Then he quickly invited them in.
Also pour tea for them.
I heard that after he left Yizhou, Yu Zhizhou promoted good policies in Yizhou and governed Yizhou very well. In the third year of Mingde, Yizhou suffered an earthquake. Yu Zhizhou performed outstandingly in earthquake relief, which also attracted praise from the court.
Although Yizhou is a large state, and the magistrate of Yizhou is also considered a high-ranking official in the border areas, Zhizhou Yu was originally a high-ranking official in the court, and his move to Yizhou was regarded as a relegation. In this way, the court knew about his changes, and his literary name Next, he added an official name. Everyone knows that this Yu Jianbai's future may not be easy.
However, the reason why he was transferred back to the capital so quickly and took on important responsibilities was related to the national division.
After Song You left Beijing last time, the Imperial Preceptor also quickly went to Fengzhou and no longer interfered with the government. The Prime Minister was not very capable and could not take over the responsibilities of the Imperial Preceptor, so the Imperial Preceptor transferred Yu Jianbai back to serve as Deputy Prime Minister.
When they met at this time, Song You could see the changes in Yu Zhizhou at a glance.
For example, when he first met this man in Washe, he felt that he would definitely have an extraordinary future. When we met again six years later, the future was already here.
(End of chapter)
