Ma Xianglin and Zheng Haizhu had only been in Wudi for less than a year, and they had a lot of fresh resonance with the Susong Second Mansion in the south of the Yangtze River.
Their hometowns, Shu and Zhangzhou, are also prosperous places, and their respective scenery and customs are very telling.
In this way, the two talked happily.
As the cloths on several bullock carts were being taken away by the sergeants one after another, Ma Xianglin glanced at the word "Han" on the wheel and suddenly remembered something. His smile faded and he said seriously to Zheng Haizhu: "Miss Zheng, after you leave that day, I interrogated several surviving bandits, and they all said they didn't know who paid Qiu Wanliang to attack the eldest lady of the Han family. They were all young Luoluo, and they usually robbed silk ships, so they really didn't know. It's a pity that Qiu Wanliang Wan Liang and Xu Ahliu are all dead."
Zheng Haizhu nodded and said: "When Xu Aliu robbed the ship, he could call out the lady's maiden name with his mouth. It's so strange that there must be something wrong. Although the lady and I have returned home now, we can't just sit back and relax. We must try to find out the clues. , otherwise there will be a next time.”
Ma Xianglin said in a serious tone: "Fortunately, Brother Huang is a Songjiang official. He has personally experienced the Shen family who cheated on the scientific examination, and he has seen with his own eyes how the young people framed the Dong family. He should know best that your worries are not groundless. Your concern." The family business is not under the Dong's control, and Mr. Han is not an ordinary scholar. The cotton business is so big... If Miss Zheng has the opportunity, she might as well ask Mr. Huang more, maybe she can find clues."
"What General Ma said is that Mr. Huang is upright and upright, and we believe him."
"Well, I wish my Ming Dynasty could have more good officials like this."
"I heard that Mr. Huang's family is still in Yuyao. I don't know when they will come."
"Oh, I asked about it at the banquet yesterday. The family members must have already started their journey. His eldest son is called Huang Zongxi, and he is five or six years old. His second son was also born three months ago, so he happened to come to Songjiang to make a hundred-day wine."
"That's great. I'll report to Miss when I get back today and see what gifts I can prepare. By the way, I'd like to ask, has General Ma gotten married?"
"Uh, well, we haven't said kiss yet..."
Deep in the shade, cicadas chirped. Water lilies bloomed in the clear, shallow pond.
Ma Xianglin wished that the conversation in Ninghe Jingjing could last longer.
Whether it's indifferent or eager, even if it's a little bit embarrassing sometimes, it's better than those negotiations that are full of temptations and threats.
However, the sun always sets.
Songjiang cotton always runs out.
The horse of the old lady of the Gu family always needs to be painted.
At the entrance of Wenzhe Academy, Ma Xianglin watched the Gu family's carriage and the Han family's ox cart go away, and sighed with a hint of sadness.
Just as he was about to turn around and go in, a little baby with a lotus pod in his hand and peeling lotus seeds jumped over. He raised his face and said to Ma Xianglin: "General, the tits flew down from the willow branches."
Ma Xianglin was shocked and asked, "What did you say?"
Wawa pointed at the big willow tree by the river pond not far away: "Over there, General, go take a look."
After saying that, he still lowered his head and concentrated on peeling the lotus seeds. He ate them loudly, and he was obviously an ignorant child who came to deliver a message.
Ma Xianglin touched the child's head, knelt down and helped him peel a few lotus seeds, then straightened up and walked to the river bank like a leisurely stroll.
Under the setting sun, an old man wearing a bamboo hat was fishing.
Ma Xianglin stopped beside him, looking at the thin fishing line, as if in a trance.
A soft and gentle voice came from under the straw hat: "General Ma, why don't you wear a flying fish suit today? That outfit is so majestic."
Ma Xianglin said calmly: "Mr. Ma will cherish the items given by the emperor. In order to save people, he had to take them out and show them off."
The fisherman smiled softly: "General Ma is addicted to rescuing people. He also saves humble civil servants and weak women. When he meets an old man like Dong Qichang who is involved with the country, he doesn't care whether he is a good person or not. Without even asking a few questions, I put on my Feiyu suit and went to save him."
Ma Xianglin's face darkened when he heard the word "national foundation".
On the river, the last psychedelic scene before daylight reminded him of the treacherous clouds in the capital.
It also made him suddenly wake up.
After his father's accident, he, who was already young and mature, paid more attention to the stories of intrigues inside and outside the palaces of the past dynasties, which were like the mud at the bottom of the river.
That day in front of Dong's house, he felt something strange. Those gentlemen from the government to the prefecture and fellow magistrates, none of them are human beings. How could they incite a group of local ruffians to attack a man who had given lectures to the prince of the dynasty and had no official status in the past? No small Dong Qichang?
Ma Xianglin then turned his head slightly and asked, "Mr. Cui, is this unreasonable disaster in the Dong Mansion something that the imperial concubine was happy to see happen?"
That fisherman was none other than Cui Wenxin, a close servant of Concubine Zheng.
Emperor Wanli had favored Concubine Zheng for decades, and wanted to confer the title of crown prince on several occasions to the third prince Zhu Changxun, who was born to Concubine Zheng. Ministers from the Zhongzhong Lin Party strongly opposed it and exhausted all means to put pressure on Emperor Wanli to support him. The eldest prince Zhu Changluo, who was born to the emperor and his maid, was made the crown prince.
The princes in the past dynasties have become the "national foundation", so the quarrel in Wanli Shi, which lasted for more than ten years, was called the "fight for the national foundation". The word "national foundation" mentioned by Cui Wenxin just now also refers to this matter.
Cui Wenxin adjusted the fishing rod and stopped talking: "General Ma, Dong Qichang is a smooth person and a profound official. He is neither the Donglin sect nor the Zhejiang sect and the Chu sect. However, he has many friends, many disciples and former officials, and he is in a high position in the capital. Many of them are selling his face. Don't forget that he has returned to his hometown and lived in seclusion for ten years. After all, he was once a member of the East Palace, and like his fellow countryman Xu Guangqi, he is very prestigious in the sacred land of Jiangnan. The old guys from the prince's faction think highly of him. "
Cui Wenxin paused when she said this, and her tone became colder and colder: "But General Ma, this time, Huang Zunsu, the rising star of the Donglin School, could have died in the bandits' den, but you saved him. You could have saved him." Teach the East Palace a lesson, you inexplicably stood up to Dong Qichang. You really hurt the hearts of the imperial concubine and Prince Fu."
After hearing this, Ma Xianglin was silent for a moment, and then spoke again, with a frosty air in his voice.
"Then I'll trouble you, concubine, to ask Eunuch Hu Fang to inform Ma first next time, so that Ma can know which scenes belong to her and Prince Fu. However, even if you tell her clearly, Ma may not mind his own business. .”
"General Ma! As a human being, you must repay kindness!"
Cui Wenxin's anger was obvious in her tone. She shook the fishing rod in her hand and swung up a small fish.
Ma Xianglin leaned over, took off the fish from the hook, threw it in front of Cui Wenxin, and said sarcastically: "Songjiang's four-gill bass is famous all over the world, husband Cui, don't miss it. Ma will go back and rest first."
…
"Miss Zheng, the four-gill bass after the beginning of autumn are heading to the mouth of the Yangtze River. They are the most plump. Zhuxiang, please give Miss Zheng a piece of meat from the back of the fish."
In the private room of Zuibai Building in the north of the city, Mrs. Miao sat at the top and ordered her maid Zhuxiang to prepare dishes for Zheng Haizhu.
At dusk, after the Han family's ox cart convoy left Wenzhe Academy, they walked slowly for half a mile when they saw the Gu family's sedan waiting in front. Zhuxiang came to invite her in person and said that Mrs. Miao was from Fujian. She learned that Zheng Haizhu's hometown was in Zhangzhou. Seeing that her speech and behavior were very neat and refreshing today, she wanted to treat her to a dinner and talk about her hometown in Fujian.
After this explanation, it was difficult for Lao Peng, a housekeeper, to say anything. Although Han Xiying was the head of the family, she was of lower seniority, so she had no choice but to leave angrily, with Zheng Haizhu and Zhu Xiang following beside the sedan.
At this moment, Zheng Haizhu took a closer look at Zhuxiang. Although she was about the same age as herself, her movements were elegant and sophisticated. She was obviously not an ordinary maid of the Gu family, just like the mandarin duck of Mrs. Jia in "A Dream of Red Mansions".
As a servant of the Han family, how could he sit there and be served by the "mandarin duck" of the Gu family?
Zheng Haizhu stood up hurriedly, dragged Zhuxiang's sleeves, and told Miao that she couldn't afford it.
Miao didn't insist and said with a smile: "It's a good thing that you take the rules seriously. Let's do this. Zhuxiang goes outside and waits. It's just the two of us eating fish and talking. You'll be more comfortable."
Zhuxiang bowed and exited the private room, leaving only a shadow faintly imprinted on the door, motionless.
Zheng Haizhu moved his body, held the lotus petal bowl in front of the old lady with both hands, used chopsticks to gently pick out two pieces of gill meat of the sea bass, put it in the bowl, picked up the spoon, and poured half a spoon of soup on the meat. .
The soup is filled with the freshness of ham, the warmth of ginger slices, and the aroma of shredded green onions. When mixed with the gill meat of sea bass, the flavors will complement each other.
Ordinary bass has only two gills, but Songjiang bass looks like a pond snakehead. There are two flame patterns on the main gills, so people call it four-gill bass. This kind of sea bass has a wide, flat and huge head, and the gill meat is very delicious and tender, and it melts in your mouth. It is perfect for the elderly with poor teeth.
Miao looked at Zheng Haizhu calmly. The habits and propriety in her behavior conveyed the same message as she had heard, that she was a child from a respectable family.
Miao took a bite of the fish and tasted it gracefully. After swallowing it, she smiled at Zheng Haizhu and said, "I have taught my old lady to enjoy the best two pieces of meat on the fish. Don't stand still." It’s cooked, sit down and eat while it’s hot.”
It was disrespectful and disrespectful, so Zheng Haizhu followed the instructions and picked up a piece of fish back meat.
Miao took a sip of rice wine and said slowly: "Miss Azhu, I am from the palace. As for the importance of rules, I am afraid that no one in the Gu family or the Han family is as strict as me. But the original intention of establishing rules is , is nothing more than teaching people to live comfortably within a certain limit. Some children are obviously well versed in human affairs, but they turn a blind eye to such simple rules as melon fields and plum blossoms, regardless of whether they are unintentional or intentional. In short, they are too unreasonable. As for me, the old lady, I would like to treat you to a bite of fresh seasonal fish. I am happy to make you happy, and it does not disturb the others. This does not break the rules or lose your sense of proportion. You really don’t need to be too restrained."
Zheng Haizhu was very surprised when he was suddenly invited to speak by Miao today.
At this time, Miao's words were clearly pointing out Han Xiying's misbehavior, and she was even more surprised that the old lady would say this to her.
Zheng Haizhu lowered his eyes for a moment, guessed a little bit of the reason, and decided to take a few bold steps.
Then he said to Mrs. Miao in a sincere tone: "What Madam has given to Ah Zhu today is not only the teachings of the spring breeze and the delicacies that make people's teeth and cheeks fragrant, but more importantly, Ah Zhu was lucky enough to walk beside Madam's sedan just now. Sister Zhuxiang was looking after me with her smile and words, and I was walking through a busy city, where all the people and sergeants in the city were looking at me. This is what really made Ah Zhu feel great kindness."
Miao smiled and said: "You are a smart child. Yes, I am just doing it for outsiders to see. After all, Ximeng and you are women who have been to the bandit camp. Even if General Ma and Master Huang speak for you, With A Qian returning to protect Ximeng, an elder of the Gu family should stand up and show his attitude. The marriage between A Qian and Ximeng is still certain. Others, whether they are traffickers and lackeys or officials and gentlemen, should not worry about it. What a joke.”
Zheng Haizhu understood it completely this time, and for a moment she was filled with joy. She got up quickly, knelt down without hesitation, and said gratefully: "Azhu is brave enough to thank Madam for your compassion for my young lady."
Mrs. Miao helped her up and motioned for her to sit back and continue listening to him.
"Miss Azhu, I am originally from Ningde, Fuzhou Prefecture. When I was a child, I went to Shangqing Temple with my parents to offer incense. By chance, I saw an extremely beautifully embroidered cassock. It is said that it was given to the previous abbot by the palace. Since then, I Fascinated by embroidery skills, I begged my parents to send me to Suzhou to learn embroidery, and was sent to the capital by the Weaving Bureau. After entering the palace, I realized that this human heart is by no means as pure and clean as embroidery. Fortunately, Queen Wang cherishes me , pointed me out to Shang Baocheng as his concubine, allowing me to walk out of the Forbidden City and return to the southeast at a young age. Of course, my queen is grateful, and she is especially grateful to the Gu family. From the bottom of my heart, I hope that the Gu family will become more and more prosperous. . Miss Azhu, my view of people is not wrong. Ximeng and you are both good children. You have already groomed yourself and will not marry again. Your heart is determined, and it is all about Ximeng. 1 A house that has a bright front door is blessed with peace and tranquility in the back. The Gu family should welcome women like you."
In the shadow of the glazed lamp, Miao's face seemed to be embellished with a soft halo, making it look friendly.
The old man was like this, chatting for a while, taking a few sips of wine, and eating a few bites of food. He was so approachable and eloquent that Zheng Haizhu had the illusion several times that he was facing his grandmother in his previous life in the modern era. .
After Youshi hour passed in this way, Mrs. Miao called Zhuxiang to settle the bill, and sent her and a servant to take Zheng Haizhu back to Han Mansion.
As soon as he reached the door of the mansion, Zheng Shoukuan, who was squatting under the lantern, shouted in joy and came up to him.
"Auntie, the eldest lady is also waiting for you in the front hall, saying that she won't be able to sleep if you don't come back."
Zheng Haizhu politely said goodbye to the Gu family's servants and walked into the house with his nephew.
In the early autumn night sky, the stars are shining. In the garden, the osmanthus trees have hung their stamens, and the air is soaked with sweet fragrance.
Zheng Haizhu looked up at the crescent moon, and pictures appeared in front of his eyes: the splendid clothes in Yan Siqi's house on Daishan Island.
The sails of the bird ship and the backs of the Liaodong soldiers, Ma Xianglin's eyes when he said "If one day our Sichuan army wants to march north", Huang Zunsu's face when he said "I only deal with the right and wrong", the appearance of Gu Shouqian and Han Ximeng standing side by side, and finally Miao The old lady looked at herself and smiled.
She said to herself in her heart that this era, in fact, is not that bad.
