Zhang Di walked from Fangmen to Quxiang, and the greetings never stopped. Her smiling face froze, and even the big braid hanging behind her was too weak to move.
This winding alley is extremely quiet, with deep houses and courtyards on both sides. These houses all belong to the same family. The houses in the house are divided into rooms of different sizes and are specially rented to candidates who come to Beijing to take exams. .
These princes came and went, and they only saw the second steward of the house, never the master's family.
At first, Zhang Yan and his sister rented a house here for the sake of cheapness and cleanliness. After moving in, they found out that the entire winding alley was filled with scholars, some of whom had lived here for ten years. For the day when I was named on the gold list.
The winding alley is very quiet. The plane trees on both sides are flourishing in the spring light. The sunlight passes through the green leaves and sifts the mottled shadows on the ground.
The shadows of the trees are dancing and the spring days are long.
Zhang Di was in a good mood and hummed a Dunhuang tune involuntarily.
As soon as Zhang Di reached the door of the house, before Zhang Di had time to stop the donkey cart, a man rushed out from the house and almost hit the donkey cart head-on.
Zhang Di was startled, quickly stopped the car, jumped out, ran up to the man, and asked worriedly: "Sir, sir, how are you? Did you hit somewhere?"
But the man refused to even raise his head. He covered half of his face with one hand, and bright red blood seeped out from between his fingers.
Zhang Di was so frightened that she said "Ouch" and said at a loss: "Sir, you are injured. I will take you to see the doctor."
The man still didn't raise his head, he just glanced at Zhang Di, said nothing, but ran away in a hurry, as if he was running away.
Zhang Di felt very strange, and then noticed that the man's clothes were wrinkled, his hair was down, and his face was bleeding, as if he had just been beaten.
She shook her head in confusion and drove the donkey cart into the house through the corner gate.
While they were busy packing the things in the car, Aunt Li sneakily came out of the corner, approached Zhang Di, and whispered: "Adi, are you back?"
Zhang Di was startled, turned around and said, "Well, aunt, I'm back."
This Aunt Li is from a farmer's family in the suburbs of Beijing. She has little land and no worries about food and drink, but she lacks a scholar. She came to Beijing with her youngest son and has already taken the Spring Examination in Beijing. This is the second time this year.
She looked around and saw no one around, so she leaned into Zhang Di's ear and asked mysteriously: "Adi, do you want your brother to go to high school in one fell swoop?"
Zhang Di nodded: "I think so."
Aunt Li lowered her voice and said, "Auntie, there is a way for your brother to go to high school."
Zhang Di was extremely surprised. Although she came from a small family, she also knew how difficult it was to be born in spring. She took a step back and looked at Aunt Li: "Auntie, please stop teasing Adi. If there is any way, you must be Let’s give it to Brother Li first.”
She didn't finish what she said, but the implication was that if there is a way to not focus on yourself first, but let others use it first, then this method may not be a good one.
Aunt Li's face darkened, she snorted, and said unexpectedly: "This little girl has quite a bad temper. If you don't believe me, I'll pull her down."
She rolled down her sleeves, twisted her bucket-thick waist, turned around and entered the room.
Zhang Di lowered her head and smiled, carrying the packed buns and sesame cakes, and entered Zhang Yan's room.
As soon as she entered the house, she saw the broken
She said, "Brother, this inkstone hit you, what will happen to you?"
Zhang Yan was sitting behind the desk, with a somewhat gloomy look on his face, and a deep anger hidden in his eyes. When he saw Zhang Di coming in, his expression suddenly relaxed, and he said with a slight smile: "It's okay, if it's broken, it will be broken again. Just buy one.”
Zhang Di sighed, that was all she could do. She picked up the broom in the corner and cleaned up the broken inkstone.
The inkstone was originally blue-grey, and the corners seemed to be stained with ink, making it slightly darker.
Zhang Di didn't think too much, and turned around and said: "Brother, I'm going to make the evening meal, and you can warm up the book."
Zhang Yan nodded, but his empty eyes did not fall on the page, and he didn't know what he was looking at.
Aunt Li rented two large houses. In one, her son Li Silang lived, and rarely came out to see people. In the other, she lived by herself and hired the man who cleaned the house. She did not have to pay rent, and she paid monthly rent. They can also earn one tael of silver, which is enough for the expenses of their mother and son.
They, mother and son, have not been back home for three or four years. They have received several letters urging them to do so. If Li Silang still fails to pass the exam this year, he may not be able to stay in the capital any longer.
She had a bad experience with Zhang Di, and angrily entered the room, threw the bed on the bed, and complained: "The Zhang brothers and sisters, they look stupid at first glance, you have to let me Go get close to them."
There was a thin man sitting behind the desk. He was so skinny that he was so skinny that he had only a frame of bones. He held a big head on his slender neck and shook his head slightly, which made people tremble. Yes, lest the slender neck be broken under the load.
The man had not seen the sun all year round, and his face was as white as bloodless. He smiled like a wandering ghost in hell: "Mom, you are easy to deal with if you are stupid. And you come from such a far away place. No one will hold you accountable even if you die."
Aunt Li took a breath: "That's what I said, but if people don't answer my words, what can I do?"
The man was stunned for a moment: "She didn't agree? And she wasn't curious at all?"
Aunt Li nodded: "Isn't it? She didn't take the bait with such a big bait."
The man squinted his eyes and smiled. The layer of skin hanging on his face had layers of folds, as if it was about to peel off in an instant. His laughter was also gloomy and chilling: "It's okay, there is still one day. Grandma will go there in the evening."
Aunt Li thought for a moment, nodded and said: "Okay, I don't believe that little hoof can't agree."
Twilight rolled in, the clouds floated, and the sky darkened.
A slight breeze blew in the dusk, carrying an imperceptible moisture.
The sycamore trees beside the road were blown by the wind, making a rustling sound.
The sound of dusk drums resounded through the sky above Chang'an City, and the footsteps of pedestrians also became hasty.
Zhang Di prepared the evening meal, put it on the dining table, handed Zhang Yan a pair of clean bamboo chopsticks, and said with a smile: "Brother, eat quickly. After you finish, go and warm up your books."
Zhang Yan was a little distracted. He quickly took a few mouthfuls of buns, then put down his bamboo chopsticks, wiped his mouth and said, "I'm full. Let's go out for a walk. You can go back to your room to sleep early."
Zhang Di said "Ah" and didn't notice anything was wrong with Zhang Yan. She chased after his back and said, "Brother, it's almost curfew. Where are you going?"
Zhang Yan didn't even look back and said, "I won't go out, I'll just walk around in the workshop."
The wind blows rapidly through the trees
The crown caused a loud crashing sound, and the window paper was blown by the wind and kept rustling.
Zhang Di shouted again: "Brother, the wind is blowing, I'm afraid it's going to rain, so don't go out."
Zhang Yan paused, then picked up the umbrella standing by the door and tucked it under his armpit: "I'm carrying an umbrella."
Zhang Di sighed and stared at the direction Zhang Yan left, feeling a little annoyed.
Was it because she always urged her brother to write books that she forced him to run away from home?
After the last sound of the dusk drum, the busy streets and alleys suddenly became deserted. There were only winding alleys in the lanes, and there were still very few people walking around, but they were all in a hurry.
It was completely dark, and lamps were lit everywhere. In Chang'an City at night, the most lively place was Pingkangfang.
Xue Lu, the envoy of the Jiaofang, stood at the door of the Jiaofang and saw two people entering the door one after another and walking into the same private room.
Of those two men, one was extremely gorgeous and more alluring than the flower girls in the church.
The other one is strong and strong, with extremely stable lower body. Although his eyes are not big, they are full of energy. His hands are covered with calluses. At first glance, he is someone who has practiced martial arts all year round.
Xue Lu looked at the backs of the two people, narrowed his eyes slightly, called the most clever waiter and gave some instructions, watched the waiter go upstairs, then he set up his car, opened the gate with a sign, and went all the way. Rush in the direction of the imperial city.
Not long after, two people and two horses emerged from the Internal Security Department, galloping down the long street without any scruples, causing dark ripples in the night.
The two of them rushed straight to the entrance of the workshop, threw the reins to the young man who was greeting guests at the door, carried their clothes and went upstairs gently and delicately, and walked into a private room almost silently.
One person took out a small bamboo tube, gently buckled it on the wall, put his ear against the bamboo tube, and listened with bated breath.
The Bao Mansion in Yiyangfang was once a wealthy family, but it gradually fell into decline. Although the current head of the family, Mr. Bao, did not have much ability, he was able to give birth to children and had six sons and six daughters. Except for a pair of legitimate twins, the other four sons and six The girls all came from different concubines.
After night falls, there are very few people walking around in the Bao Mansion. After all, the house is too big, and there are always some dark places. When you go to a dark place, you will inevitably feel scared. As time goes by, when it gets dark, unless you have to, girl They rarely go out.
Bao Cheng's courtyard is in the most secluded corner of Bao's mansion. There is only one servant, who was sent away by Bao Cheng today.
There was no light in the room, and there was no moonlight tonight, so it was even more difficult to see.
Bao Cheng waved his hand in front of his eyes and asked in a low voice: "Ah Yao, Ah Yao, can you see me?"
Yao Yao narrowed his bright almond eyes and smiled: "I can see your white teeth."
Bao Cheng snorted: "Bao Chi must have burned the things long ago, and he can still wait for you to steal them? You will definitely return in vain this time."
Yao Yao raised his eyebrows: "What good does it do to you if I return without success? You sound very happy."
Bao Cheng held his chin and thought for a moment: "The advantage is probably that when the time comes, I will confiscate my house and exterminate my family, and I won't be able to find any evidence. If I can't find any evidence, I won't be convicted, so I won't have to commit myself to the Department of Internal Security."
Yao Yao looked at Baocheng's eyes as bright as stars in the darkness, and was completely amused by his naivety. He sarcastically said, "Have you ever heard that the Internal Security Department relies on evidence to handle matters?"
