New Year's Eve. óΠъ.oяＧ
Eating dumplings and watching fireworks, the air is filled with the strong flavor of the New Year.
Zhu Yunwen was getting older. Halfway through his vigil, he couldn't bear to go back to his room to sleep. The master and his apprentice came to sit on a bench under the pavilion, enjoying the scenery and chatting.
The bright moon hangs high in the night sky and the stars are shining brightly.
The soft moonlight shone in, stretching the two figures very long.
"Time flies so fast!" Li Qing sighed.
He folded his arms and suddenly felt a little cold.
It is indeed a bit cold in Jinling this year, but it is nothing to him. Even in the capital of ice and snow, he did not feel this way.
After all, Li Qing's coldness is not a physical feeling, but a feeling in the heart.
Zhang said with a sloppy smile: "It's not that time flies by so fast, but that most of your memories are concentrated on the New Year's Day, that's why you feel this way."
"Maybe." Li Qing smiled.
The white hot breath was exhaled, drifted away, and quickly disappeared.
Li Qing's eyes moved slightly and asked: "Master, do you feel that the temperature in Jinling has dropped a bit in the past two years compared to the Hongwu period?"
"It seems a bit." Zhang Sloppy nodded slightly, then smiled, "The weather is unpredictable, and the climate is different every year. Is there anything surprising about this."
Li Qing scratched his head and said to himself: "I hope so."
He moved his body next to his master, and his coldness dropped a lot.
Zhang's sloppy snow-white eyebrows twitched, his eyes narrowed, full of kindness, and he patted his back gently.
The master and the apprentice looked up at the sky, just like they did when they were at the Taoist temple on the mountain.
Unknowingly, midnight passed and time came to the eleventh year of Orthodoxy.
It’s a new year again.
…
New Year's Day.
Before dawn, Li Qing was awakened by the sound of firecrackers.
I got up and came to the courtyard. The little old man was boxing. His movements were sometimes slow, sometimes even slower, but there was an indescribable charm about him.
The sound of firecrackers surrounds the ears three-dimensionally, and the air is filled with the smell of nitric acid. Taking a breath, it is refreshing to the heart and a little choking to the nose.
However, Li Qing thought it smelled good and he liked the smell.
"Master, I'll play with you." Li Qing stepped forward with a smile and started playing too.
Zhang was sloppy and said quietly: "Stay away from me. Don't hurt you during the Chinese New Year."
"If you didn't hit me on purpose, how could you... Okay." Li Qing stayed a little further away.
The master and apprentice's boxing styles are completely different. Zhang Sloppy's movements are natural and flowing; Li Qing's boxing style is windy, fierce and domineering, and also very entertaining to watch.
After practicing for half an hour, Li Qing was sweating slightly on the tip of his nose. He stretched his limbs and hummed softly: "Hmm...it feels so good to move around."
"The day's plan starts in the morning. You're just too lazy." Zhang Sloppy stopped, dusted off his clothes and walked to the side room.
"It's time to have breakfast soon. Master, why are you going?"
Zhang sloppily raised his hand without looking back, "I'm going to sleep in my cage and won't have breakfast."
…
After breakfast,
Li Qing and Zhu Yunwen went to Cao Guogong's mansion.
He didn't visit the house on the first day of the new year, but Li Jinglong's deadline was approaching. As each day passed, Li Qing no longer paid attention to the so-called rules.
Li Jinglong was very happy when the two arrived, "I thought you two wouldn't come today."
Li Qing smiled and said, "I'm bored at home, so I came over to take a look."
"The sun is just right today, let's go outside and chat." Li Jinglong propped himself up on the bed and tried to get up, but Li Qing quickly went to help him.
Zhu Yunwen walked out of the room, and after a while, a wooden wheelchair came.
The two helped him into the wheelchair and came to a sunny place in the courtyard.
The children and grandchildren of the Li family are very filial. In this era, the children and grandchildren of wealthy families are all filial. First, they have received Confucian education since childhood, and second, they enjoy the blessings brought to them by their ancestors.
From his fifty-year-old son to his two-and-a-half-year-old great-grandson, they lined up to greet Li Jinglong.
This kind of family happiness with children and grandchildren around their knees makes Li Qing envious.
But he didn't dare to hope.
Li Jinglong took out an exquisite jade pendant from his arms and waved it in front of his little great-grandson, "Does it look good?"
"It's so beautiful." The child was so innocent that he completely ignored his mother's eyes in the distance and said in a sweet voice, "Grandpa, do you want to give it to me?"
"Hong'er, you can't do this." The Li family's grandson's daughter-in-law stepped forward and bowed, trying to pull away her son who didn't know etiquette.
It is very rude for a junior to ask for something from an elder. The elder can give it, but the junior cannot ask for it directly.
Moreover, the Li family has luxuriant branches and many descendants, so the other families have no choice but to gossip.
"Hey? It doesn't matter." Li Jinglong waved his hand, "I'm giving a gift to my great-grandson, who dares to make irresponsible remarks?"
"Yes, then...granddaughter-in-law, please retire." The granddaughter-in-law of the Li family secretly warned her son with her eyes, and Yingying retreated.
Li Jinglong sighed: “With many people, there are also many things to do!”
The family was big and had many children and grandchildren, so dividing the property was a problem. Li Jinglong had to make preparations in advance. He didn't want his children and grandchildren to fight over the family property after his death.
"Li Qing, you have a lot of ideas, help me come up with an idea." Li Jinglong asked, "How do you think this family property should be divided?"
"We are not worried about being widowed, but worried about inequality. Let's share it equally." Li Qing said with a smile, "This court has a clear stipulation that no matter the elders, concubines or children, they are all qualified to share the inheritance equally."
Zhu Yunwen interjected: "Almost no one abides by this rule now. Even at the time of Emperor Xuande, it was only in effect and in name only."
"Yes." Li Jinglong sighed: "The world doesn't approve of it, and I can't be independent."
Then, he patted his great-grandson on the head and said, "Go and play for a while. Grandpa will ask you to come back."
"Well, okay." The little guy went happily.
Li Qing frowned and said: "About this, I will bring it up again later, and it must be strictly implemented."
"Don't talk about it yet." Li Jinglong said angrily, "I won't live until then, so just tell me what to do now."
"Well... Absolute fairness is not accepted, so let's be relatively fair." Li Qing said, "The position of Duke is naturally inherited by the eldest son. As for the family property... it can be divided into several shares, and the descendants can be given to them in turn according to their age. Choose yourself.”
Zhu Yunwen nodded and said: "This is indeed relatively fair."
He was born a concubine. Although he was later corrected, deep down he still believed that he was not a legitimate concubine in the true sense.
Starting from his status as a concubine, Zhu Yunwen advised: "They are all your children and grandchildren. No matter whether they are concubines or concubines, they all have your blood on them."
"Well... that's the truth." Li Jinglong nodded lightly, "This idea seems to be a good one, OK. I will put it together later and you can help me refer to it."
The two nodded in agreement.
Li Jinglong looked up at the rising sun, squinting his eyes comfortably. Seeing this, Li Qing put his arm on his wrist, trying to give him some energy.
"Don't worry, your method will easily make me sleepy. I don't want to sleep on this beautiful day." Li Jinglong took back his hand and asked, "Li Qing, do you want to have a son?"
Li Qing was surprised: "What do you mean?"
"What do you think of my great-grandson?" Li Jinglong pointed at the child playing alone in the distance.
Li Qing's face was expressionless: "If you weren't about to die, I would have beaten you up. I wouldn't have taken advantage of you like you."
"I'm serious." Li Jinglong's tone was rare and serious, "I'm not joking. What do you think of him?"
"Not at all." Li Qing rolled his eyes, "If I wanted a son, I would have given birth to him long ago."
Zhu Yunwen said: "He means that if no one knows the basics, it will be extremely difficult for you to change your identity and re-enter the temple in the future."
"My cousin still understands me." Li Jinglong smiled and nodded.
Li Qing was silent for a moment and sighed: "I don't know how it will develop in the future. I may...not enter the court again."
"Come on, I don't know you yet?" Li Jinglong curled his lips and said, "Can you stand by and watch?"
"Not entering the court does not mean that you have done nothing." Li Qing said.
Zhu Yunwen said: "But entering the court is always the most efficient and convenient way. There is no one."
"Yes, my old cousin is right." Li Jinglong said sternly, "We will grow old eventually, and even the old man... I'm afraid I won't be like you."
After a pause, "Even if you really don't plan to enter the court again, you still have to have an identity, right?"
"Yes!" Zhu Yunwen praised, "You can't be like the master and be an old gangster. If that's the case, you won't be able to do anything."
"I……"
"Senior brother, have you forgotten what you promised Taizu?"
Li Qing cursed angrily: "Do I owe you the Zhu family?"
"You are not doing it for the Zhu family." Zhu Yunwen retorted.
"..." Li Qing fell into deep thought.
Although this era is not like that of later generations, you can't do anything without an ID card, but the issue of household registration... is indeed quite important.
Unless he wanders around like Zhang Suluo without caring about worldly affairs, or returns to a small Taoist temple to become a Taoist priest, it will be extremely difficult to achieve anything.
Identity is a hurdle!
