After returning to Liaoyang, Shi reunited with his eldest sister Li Hongyuan and had nothing to do. Kui Ke also resigned from Imperial College and settled down in Liaoyang.
Shi loved fishing, so he often came to the banks of the Hailuoyi River with several old friends from the Zhang and Liu families to enjoy the beautiful water and fish together. Once there, he never returned home.
On a sunny day, he and a few of them were fishing by the water, and Li Hongyuan was meditating in a pavilion nearby. The light "sea green" on her body blended with the bits of blue waves revealed by the black water of the white mountains. The small flowers in early spring poked their heads in the shaded grass, and the shore The rows of white birches on the side are reflected in the water, and the way the water ripples is the gentleness of spring.
Kuike drove over, and together with Zhang Rulin of the Zhang family, brought some dry food and food for their respective fathers. The sound of hurried horse hooves echoed in the turning green birch forest, and the cheerful laughter of the two attracted Li Shi, who was fishing, to look up.
Shi and Zhang Xuanzheng beside him laughed: "These two rogues are so big, they are still like children!"
"Hai, none of the children grow up. My Rulin and Rubi have a family and a career, but they still go to the house every day, go to the railings, and watch the sideshows, haha!"
Hearing this, Shi chuckled, half sneered but not sneered, with a hint of disdain: "Brother taught me well, unlike my son, who never stands out."
"Brother Shi, what you said is wrong. The son of the Li family is still young. When he grows up, he will make great achievements."
Li Shi laughed, put away the hat on his head, helped his injured waist to stand up, and shivered in pain.
"Brother Shi!" Xuan Zheng stepped forward to help him.
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter..." He stood up and stretched at the beautiful scenery in front of him.
"Brother Shi's injuries haven't healed yet? You said you were passing through Xianping and encountered a bandit. Why didn't you order the local government to conduct a thorough investigation? It's not like you to allow the bandit to be beaten like this for nothing and not to pursue it. style!"
Shi sighed casually, twisted his wrist, and said thoughtfully: "I have resigned and returned to my hometown now. I have no position and no power. I have no qualifications to pursue him, so just let him be!"
His leisurely look and the understatement of those words seemed to cover up his crime.
Xuan Zheng stopped asking, and the fish that happened to hit the rod made him extremely happy.
Ru Lin and Kui Ke brought a lot of dry food. Kui Ke first greeted Li Hongyuan respectfully, who was meditating in the pavilion, and then called his aunt. Then he handed over the bags of dry food and the pastries he had stored in his hands. Father.
When Li Shi saw the two of them, he wanted to compare them, and first asked - "Rulin, how many days of leave will your Majesty allow you to take?"
Rulin lowered his head and said guiltily: "In reply to Uncle Li, the Holy Father promised me to escort my father to Liaoyang. After seeing him off... I will leave. Soon, I will return to the capital with my third brother and my third brother-in-law. It’s definitely not appropriate for a child to be so far away in Zhongdu.”
Shi's hand hung in the air for a long time, then he looked back at him: "Have you and the Gao family's niece decided on a wedding date?"
"It's decided, it's this year's... Chinese Valentine's Day."
Shi was silent and Ru Lin lowered his head and bowed, not daring to speak any more. It was Kui Ke who brought it up first, leaning on Ru Lin's drooping shoulder and saying: "Hey, dad, everything will happen naturally when fate comes. The third sister has her own blessings, so there is no need to embarrass Brother Ru Lin."
Li Shi looked at his silly and understated state, twirled his gray beard and said nothing.
After a long time, Shi looked at Kuike's leisurely posture again, and became more and more envious of the clever and sensible children of the Zhang family. He scolded Kuike with a cold face: "Smile, you just know how to laugh. You are already married, and I don't see any progress from you." , Rulin is now Zuo Sijian (an official name, responsible for admonishing and advising the minister) of the Holy Emperor. You entered the Imperial Academy with him, but I didn’t see you getting an official position, so you just waited for me, an old bone, to resist. Stop moving, are you drinking the northwest wind?"
Kui Ke had a long face after hearing this: "Everyone has his own ambitions. Brother Rulin studies to serve the country. I just like reading and writing. Why force everyone to be the same? Isn't it true that everyone in the world is the same?" Has the printing plate come out?"
"You think it's easy, but you have forgotten that you are the eldest son of Li. If you don't set an example and get an official position, the two younger brothers below you will imitate you! After you see Xianke, you will When he arrived in Liaoyang, he was so stubborn in front of me. As an elder brother, if you don’t teach him well, you should first..."
Before Li Shi could finish speaking, Kuike gasped and turned around to leave. After walking a few steps, he turned around again, clenched his fists, raised his voice to his throat, and said with a blushing face:
"Dad, I will never teach my younger brothers and sisters to be obedient people. What's the difference between this and birds in a cage? You forced the second sister to marry someone she doesn't like, trampling on the dignity of such a strong woman, If something is not as you want, you will use some despicable means to make her give in and make her feel uncomfortable..."
"Now, what you talk about every day is that you are good for me and think about me. You urge me to pursue fame and fortune every day, and you ask me to take the scientific examination."
"What do you want to do in the future? Do you want your younger brothers and sisters to be tied up under your palm? Do you want to train them into little birds for people to watch and amuse?"
"This is not for our own good, this is to satisfy your endless selfish desires and greed..."
When Li Shi heard this, he opened his sharp eyes and walked towards him: "You are simply uneducated. You said such things. My father has raised you for many years. Everything you brothers and sisters have is given to you by me. You are still here." Are you sure what you are saying here?"
"If you don't give it to me now, I can live on. My remuneration as a private school teacher is enough for me to live on. The teahouse I bought is enough for me to gain a foothold in the capital. You are so obsessed with it. I really don't want to stay here." By your side, just return to the capital with Brother Rulin."
"You dare?" Shi raised his hand and hung it in mid-air.
Kuike was stunned for a long time, with the wrinkles on his face reflected in every pupil. He took two steps back, bowed and resigned, walked through the vast green birch forest, got on the carriage and drove away. new
Rulin chased and worshiped.
The vast slender grass confuses the vision, and the dense white birches are particularly green against the pine forest in the distance. The misty gray clouds swim with the wind and then scatter again. A slightly earthy wind blows from the distance, and there are one or two birds chirping. With the sound echoing in his ears, Shi Fang settled his heavy heart and turned around to continue fishing.
When he raised his eyes, he suddenly saw monks and nuns in sea-blue robes on the other side, giving him a clasped palm salute.
In the middle of spring, Qingru's belly became bigger and bigger, and the day of childbirth was getting closer. Zhang Rulin would return to the capital soon, but her affairs with Rulin were not over yet.
That day, she felt a little interested and wanted to go out for a walk, so she called the maids to go to the temple where her aunt was to pray. She sat on the horse and looked at the former stay-at-home residence.
Three years ago, in the year of Tiande, bandits invaded the Liushou Mansion that night, and the Wulin family lost two sons...
Now the left-behind mansion has been destroyed by the enemy. The tiles have been lifted up and the walls are broken. It stands in the green of early spring, with deep grass in the courtyard.
"Is this where King Yong lost his two children?" Qingru asked as she opened the curtain.
The only answer is yes.
"Li Qingya is nothing more than that. Asking her to protect the child, she can make mistakes. What kind of orders does she take..."
The waiter didn't dare to answer again.
After walking like this for a long time, she came to a birch forest. She heard a report from someone waiting for her, saying that Zhang Rulin's horse was in front. After hearing this, she gently lifted the car curtain and saw Zhang Rulin getting off the carriage and walking towards her.
"Sister Ru, are you feeling better?" Ru Lin came to ask, standing outside the car curtain.
"Brother Rulin, I'm fine." After she finished speaking, she lowered her head again and again, and the pearls on her earlobes touched her cheeks.
At that moment, she looked at her belly, which was so swollen, and then looked at his loving eyes, and she swallowed the words that reached her throat again.
He invited her to get off the carriage and sit in a pavilion by the roadside. The yellow and green colors of spring came into view, and the light haze fell on her.
She was so beautiful, so gentle, as if everything around her was created to reflect her.
He stood in front of the fence, carefully sitting very close to her, and looked at her pink face in profile.
After a long time, he said: "Sister Ru, I am going back to the capital..."
As if she had expected that he would say this, her jaw only stayed in the air for a moment before she nodded as if she understood.
"Sister, please come back with me! How about I take care of you for the rest of your life?"
"Brother Rulin,..." She sighed deeply: "I want to go with you, but
Your wedding is coming soon, how can I stand by your side again. "
"I am a miserable person. I have chosen husbands twice, divorced twice, and I still have a big belly that no one cares about. I wanted to get back together with my brother, but it was too late."
He hung his head in shock, looking down at the remaining dead trees of early spring in the distance. He stood up and walked a long way.
After a long time, he turned back and squatted in front of her: "Sister, if you don't want to suffer, just follow me back to the capital! I will take good care of you mother and son."
"Then what is my identity?"
"I'll just...be my concubine first," he said hesitantly.
"I am now an official in the court. I will work hard in the future and climb higher and higher. I will soon give you the title you deserve, the same as the principal wife, okay?"
She remained silent.
"Sister, how can I let go of you? I used to be too clumsy and didn't understand the love between children, but I have really liked you since I was a child. You are beautiful and well-educated... I know you have met with misfortune, but I won't do it in the future. Come with me, I will protect you," he held her hands tightly.
She gently put his hand away, a touch of coldness floating in her eyes.
"Sister, how can Mrs. Gao compare with you? No way. At that time, you insisted on marrying to the Prince of England. I just listened to my father's words and went to propose marriage to the Gao family. Sister, I have only met Mrs. Gao once. I even I have forgotten what she looks like, so just promise me and I will tell Uncle Li that I will take you as my second wife, okay?"
She knew that her face was really beautiful, otherwise, he wouldn't care about her so much.
But when she saw his eyes, she wavered a little bit, but quickly stopped, stood up and walked towards the carriage ahead.
After taking two steps, she turned around and asked, "Brother Rulin, did you know that concubines can be bought and sold? I...Li Qingru, if I don't go with you, I won't bend down to be a concubine again."
The most rewarding decision she ever made.
