"I heard that wasn't chirping, but who do daddy and uncle want my sister to see?" Ah Lian was so ignorant that she opened her mouth and Ah Ying was so panicked that she stretched out her hand to cover her mouth.
"Uh, this..." Xu Tong turned his face and looked at his elder brother, meaning: This is your daughter, please say something.
Xu Bu finally managed to keep his composure, stroking his beard and thinking for a while before saying, "Actually, there is nothing bad to say. Sister, I originally wanted to marry you to the Liu family, but you said you would not marry Liu Qi. Forget it. Read the book
Just now, your second uncle and I were talking about Li Sanlang. The second uncle thinks this kid is good and has both literary and military talents. The 9th grade man who was under the age of 16 and fought for the inspection of the capital was now stationed in Yugan under the orders of Zhao Tongzhi, with thousands of tiger and wolf soldiers under his command. "
He endured it and did not tell the girls about the victory: "It's not enough that we both think it's good. It depends on your own thoughts.
Well, since you have met Liu Qi and know that he is reckless, do you want to take a look at Li Sanlang as well? Although it is the order of the parents and the words of the matchmaker, but... Your mother is gone, and I, the father... "
"Dad, stop talking. If both dad and second uncle think this person is worth seeing, my daughter will meet him." After speaking, Aying covered her face with her sleeves and turned her head. The two brothers looked at each other and smiled.
"Sister, don't be afraid. If you are shy, Lian'er will go see you for you!"
Alian's words made her sister stamp her feet, which made Xu Bu and Xu Tong laugh. "That's fine," Xu Tong said suddenly, "It would be awkward if Ying'er goes by herself, why not ask Lian'er to go with her? She can cover up any amount of innocence."
Xu Bu nodded, called the girls over, gave these instructions, and then called:
"Yutong, you go to the front hall to complain. There are business guests coming and we three brothers will come out to receive them. Mr. Li is inconvenienced there. Please ask him to sit in the east garden for a while and wake up by the way." Sober up and stay with us after we see off our guests."
After hearing this, the maid knew that she had a chance to meet Mr. Li, who was rumored all over the place, before her own lady did. She immediately agreed and went forward happily.
Yutong turns sixteen this year, eight months older than Aying.
People like her who grew up with the young lady will most likely be married with the young lady in the future, so they are particularly concerned about the young lady's husband. This is why there were so many matchmakers in ancient times!
The maids are always interested in trying to find out the private stories of the young lady's future husband. Like the unlucky Liu Qi, it was because the story of causing trouble in the flower house reached Yu Tong's ears, which aroused A Ying's vigilance.
This is similar to how girls in later generations always send their best friends to test their boyfriends.
But not every maid is an excellent matchmaker. If you give the lady advice and find the right person, the girl will be happy throughout her life. If she makes the wrong choice, it will be terrible. Fortunately, most maids are more serious and responsible, and Yutong is one of them.
Seeing her come in, Xu Xian was puzzled. Just as he was about to speak, he saw her bowing down to the Third Master and Young Master Li, and then told her the reason for coming here.
Xu Xian knew that this was Ying'er's personal maid, and was a little suspicious at first. But when he heard what the two brothers meant, he nodded and said to Li Dan:
"In this case, if my nephew has no urgent business, he might as well rest in the back. There are also couches in the flower hall, which is very convenient."
"Then I'll disturb your house." Li Dan said, cupping his fists. He had just had a few drinks, so it was inappropriate to return to the Yamen like this. It would be better to ask Mao Zaidi to go back and let him know, and he would wait here until the drunkenness subsided before leaving.
So he followed Yutong out and turned into the back of Dongkua Yard. There was a small courtyard here. With an oval pool of water as the center, there is a tea-making pavilion on the surrounding stone bank, connected to the corridor built along the east wall.
There is a small peony garden and a wisteria tree facing the two flower halls. Under the west wall are several plum trees and more than a dozen bamboo poles, and the ground is covered with green and fluffy clover.
When I entered the house, I saw several calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall. There is a row of flower stands near the window, with pots of various orchids on them. "Hey, there are also dendrobium orchids, which are not easy to grow!" Li Dan said in surprise.
"Young Master also understands flowers?" Yutong blinked in surprise, then lowered his head and glanced at the waist knife beside Li Dan.
“It’s not that I understand flowers;
Solution plants. "
"Position? Master, are you talking about patrol inspection or deputy training envoy?"
Li Dan laughed loudly, watched her make tea for himself, and said:
"I'm not talking about errands, but flowers and plants. The living things in this world are generally divided into two categories: plants and animals. Plants are further divided into seed plants and spore plants. Orchids are seed plants, and mushrooms are spore plants."
"Then, where are the people?"
"Humans are not plants, they are animals. The two major categories of animals are vertebrates and invertebrates. For example, shrimps and crabs are invertebrates, while fish and snakes have backbones."
"Young Master knows so much!" Yu Tong wanted to ask a few more questions, but suddenly he saw Alian's little head flashing by the door. He put the tea tray on the coffee table, asked Li Dan to rest, and then quietly left. When I got to the door and took a look, it turned out to be the two sisters.
"Yutong, what did you tell him to smile like that?" Alian asked curiously.
Yutong explained the conversation she had just had with Li Dan. Alian couldn't understand, so she frowned and pouted: "What do you mean, I didn't understand!"
Aying's eyes flashed, and after thinking for a while, she asked her to guard the courtyard door and not let anyone disturb her. Then she grabbed her sister and walked in carefully. After taking only two steps, I suddenly heard a voice in the hall sneer and say:
"You dare to use such handwriting to make birthday gifts for others? You are still a scholar! Oh, what happened to this examiner? If I sit in the hall, I will take care of him and demote him!" Aying made a silent gesture and pulled her sister. Sit down by the pool.
After a while, I heard someone say again: "Hey, you just imitate Yan Gong's calligraphy, but you also use his famous sayings. It's really embarrassing to others! Since you are General Shi Zhaoyi, I am Why don’t you like it!”
Alian was surprised: "Sister, he dares to scold General Zhaoyi!"
Aying hurriedly shushed, and the room laughed loudly:
"Interesting, I didn't expect that someone would write this sentence in Yugan City, and it was actually written by Master Tie. It is understandable that people pursue elegance, but to pursue it to the extent that Mr. Ye loves dragons is really unexpected!"
It turns out that the hangings in this flower hall are calligraphy and paintings of scholars collected by the Xu family from various places. The business class likes to buy such things and decorate them in their homes to show others their elegance. It is similar to the wealthy people of later generations who went to Sotheby's to snap up the paintings.
But Ah Lian became a little unhappy after hearing this. She broke away from her sister's hand and ran to the door with her hands on her hips and shouted:
"Hey, no matter what you say, other people in that room are bad.
If we just talk about poor painting and poor writing, Mr. Tie's handwriting is famous throughout the county, and Fan Wenzhenggong's words are also excellent. Why does it sound like Ye Gonghaolong when it comes to your mouth? "
Aying didn't stop her sister and was too embarrassed to run out with her, so she had to hide behind a banyan tree and knock secretly.
Li Dan had nothing to do and was a little drunk again, so he got up and walked around the room, and accidentally glanced at these calligraphy and paintings on the wall.
Looking at each piece, I couldn't laugh or cry, knowing that they were all bought by the Xu family at a high price for appearance, so there were all sorts of messes. They were just a collection of copies and exercises, without any real works of art or creations with great connotation.
He thought it was funny, and because he was drunk and no one was around, he started to act recklessly in the room.
Li Dan was startled when he heard the noise outside, and suddenly realized that Mr. Fan, the county honour, often claimed to be a descendant of Wen Zhenggong (Fan Zhongyan). The Tiejiao might have flattered him by writing this calligraphy, but he didn't know that this calligraphy Why did he end up living in the Xu Family Flower Hall?
However, he didn't have time to solve the case. He heard that the other party was a little girl. He was in the back house. It was unclear whether some female family member had broken in without knowing that he was here.
Li Dan felt a little regretful that he was talking to Lang. He stretched out his head to take a peek and burst into laughter. He didn't expect that the person with such a loud voice was actually a little girl.
He wanted to make a joke because it was not appropriate to go out and face each other. Li Dan stood behind the door frame and deliberately pretended to be very mature and cleared his throat: "Which family is this girl from? I am taking a rest here. If you have nothing to do, just leave!"
"I know who you are. You are Li Sanlang. You are half a year younger than my sister!" Lian'er's words stunned Li Dan and made Aying blush with embarrassment.
"Uh, you know me? Then, who are you?" Li Dan really doesn't know much about the next generation of the Xu family.
"I am Alian, and my sister Aying is my uncle's daughter. He calls my father the second uncle."
"Ha, you are Uncle Xu's daughter!" Li Dan felt relieved and liked the little girl who kept saying "I" every time. She looked so innocent and innocent.
"Don't interrupt, you haven't answered the question I just asked!" Unexpectedly, the little girl returned to her original words in an instant: "Why do you say Mr. Tie is Ye Gong and loves dragons?"
"Uh, do you know what's written here?" Li Dan wanted her to come in, but immediately gave up the idea.
"I know, worry about the world first!" the little girl replied in a clear voice.
"Okay, does Alian know the last sentence of Mr. Fan's words?"
"Rejoice in the happiness of the world after tomorrow!"
"Exactly!" Li Dan encouraged him with a smile, stroking his hands, and then said, "Do you know what Mr. Fan's real name was?"
Alian was stunned. She wanted to answer the answer that everyone knew, but she suddenly tilted her head in confusion, knowing that since he asked like this, things shouldn't be so simple. Even Aying behind the tree was surprised, and then heard Li Dan continue:
"Fan Gong was born as a concubine. He lost his father when he was young. He remarried with his mother and was named Zhu Shuo (the same pronunciation of the word Yue). When he was twenty-two years old, he left home after learning about his life experience and studied at Yingtian Academy.
In the third year after becoming a Jinshi, his mother took care of him and he returned to his clan and resumed his surname. Wen Zhenggong admired the great Confucian Wang Tong, so he named him Zhongyan after his character. ” At this point, Li Dan paused:
"Because of his life experience, he has high aspirations and down-to-earth work. Although he has experienced ups and downs in officialdom, he has always been able to make achievements that have been praised by local people for hundreds of years.
At that time, his friend Mei Yaochen advised him to talk less and meddle in other people's business. Wen Zhenggong wrote "Ode to the Spiritual Bird" and replied: If you prefer to sing, you will live, but if you don't keep silent, you will die. He is the mouth of a spiritual bird, expressing his view that he is born with responsibilities and is loyal to his duty.
Although Wen Zhenggong was upright by nature and would not flatter, he was able to say, "Be worried when the world is worried first, and be happy after the world is happy." This not only shows the character of a scholar, but also shows that he treats the world with the heart of a national scholar. , is the representative of the new class of scholars.
Scholars in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods were loyal to their king or lord, but Fan Gong advocated loyalty to the world, the country, the nation and the king. He was taller and broader-minded than his predecessors. This is why I commented that he had lofty aspirations.
But how could his meaning be understood by people like Tie Jiaoyu? Like him, he still has to marry a concubine when he is old. His food must be sweet and his sleep must be warm. He loves to listen to the flattery of his juniors and likes to comment on others in private.
If you say that he can understand what it means to be "worried first when the world is worried, and then be happy when the world is happy," wouldn't it mean that he has to wait until the sun rises in the west and the heaven and earth turn upside down? So I say he is Ye Gong Haolong! "
As soon as Li Dan finished speaking, he heard a "chi" sound. He looked over and saw that the little girl was not smiling, and he became suspicious.
Before she could speak, she heard Alian say: "Well, even if what you said makes sense. How come the facial expression written by General Zhaoyi offends you?"
"I've never provoked you." Li Dan sneered: "He's this guy..." Just halfway through his words, he suddenly noticed the pretty face unknowingly emerging from behind the tree, and he was stunned. I thought that scene was so beautiful.
He suddenly remembered and immediately took out the plywood from the green cloth satchel of the Green Jersey team on his right, opened a piece of white paper, took out a pencil and started sketching.
Seeing that there was no sound inside, Xiaolian kept asking the general what was wrong. Only then did he come back to his senses, swallowed his saliva, and said while drawing:
"People say that Yan Jinliugu, his calligraphy is dignified and majestic, his running script is powerful, and his writing is just like the person he is. Yan is fair and honest, upright and disciplined. That Zhaoyi General Zhao Jintang, he is actually a weakling!
Hundreds of people went out and were chased by dozens of others, and finally had to flee back to the city. What's the point of someone like him spending a lifetime studying facial expressions? How much character, integrity and righteousness can he learn from Mr. Yan?
There is no need to embarrass the royal family! Exactly: When a general goes to the battlefield, he is majestic and dignified. But when I hear the sound of the golden drum,
They were also in a hurry to withdraw their troops. "
As soon as they finished speaking, the two little girls fell down laughing. Li Dan bowed generously at the door: "Li Sanlang has met Sister Aying. Sister Aying is well!"
Aying suppressed a smile and bowed her head in return, but she had a ghost in her heart and did not dare to look directly at him. She said softly: "You are already a ninth-rank official and you are so narrow-minded. I think you are not worthy of it."
"Sister, you're right, Saburo remembers it. It's just a joke at home, you would never dare to do it outside!"
"Don't do this at home. If your servants talk nonsense, it may damage your reputation if word spreads."
"Okay, little brother, remember it!" Li Dan liked her gentle advice and rigorous thinking, so she responded to her every word.
At this time, Alian was unhappy again: "When you two meet, you just sing together and don't care about me?"
A Ying's face suddenly turned red to her ears, and she hurriedly hugged her into her arms, complaining: "This girl talks more and more, she needs to eat twice to make her stomach empty!"
Alian smiled and asked Li Dan: "Li Sanlang, you said that others have said so much, but they don't know how good you are. Do you dare to leave a piece of writing in my house? I beg my father to hang it here to see if there is anyone." I also shook my head and commented!"
"I'm afraid no one dares to comment." Li Dan shook his head.
"Why?"
