In the spring scenery of Jiangnan where butterflies play among peaches and plums, Gu Shouqian stepped into Luxiang Garden.
The servants and maids who were walking back and forth stopped to salute when they saw the second young master coming back.
Gu Shouqian smiled kindly at them as usual.
Outside the "Biyi Hall" on the west side of the garden, on the rockery, the third mistress, Mrs. Li, was sitting in the pavilion with the two concubines of the third room, admiring flowers and eating fruits, and watching the third young master Gu Shouxuan and his two sisters. draw.
Everyone looked down and saw the tall figure with fluttering sleeves, disappearing and appearing outside the flower garden and beside the waterside pavilion, and finally stopped in front of the embroidery in Muartet's yard.
The third young master Gu Shouxuan, holding a paintbrush in his hand, looked back and praised his mother Li: "The second brother really looks like the person in the painting, and his behavior is like a fairy."
A trace of disdain flashed in Mrs. Li's eyes, and she snorted softly: "Yes, the grandson of our Gu family is first-rate in appearance and style, and the young mistress he married is even more powerful than the Queen Mother. Who in Songjiang doesn't know this? The Queen Mother has cleaned up the house for our Gu family."
Gu Shouyun has been Gu Shouqian's follower since he was a child, and they have a very close brotherly relationship. Both Gu Shouqian and his wife were good at painting, and Gu Shouyun, who also liked calligraphy and painting, benefited a lot from his brother and sister-in-law.
At this moment, Gu Shouxuan heard the sarcasm in his mother's tone and knew that she was talking about the past when Han Ximeng exposed the crimes of the eldest son Shen. For a moment, the young man became angry and wanted to argue with his mother about the rights and wrongs.
The aunt next to her saw the mother and son arguing, and quickly changed the subject, pretending to be curious: "Hey, why didn't the Second Young Master come with the Second Young Master today? Look, isn't the Second Young Master and the wife appraising the embroidery work?" ?”
Mrs. Li raised her eyebrows: "The second young lady who came down from the fairy world is very busy. Just like her maidservant who is now making all the changes, she is busy doing things everywhere. Unlike us, we are all sitting idle in the house."
"No, Mom," the little sister Ah Ling, who was helping her brother grind paint, said seriously, "my brother and sister-in-law were quarreling and scolding each other."
In Songjiang dialect, "quarrel and scold" means arguing and quarreling.
When Mrs. Li and her two aunts heard this, they immediately became energetic and even more excited than when they saw the handsome Lingzisheng appear in the theater.
They were about to inquire about the reason in detail, but Gu Shouxuan frowned and asked his ten-year-old sister, "How did you know?"
"Mr. Zhou from Wenzhe Garden accompanied her second aunt to see the apricot blossoms the day before yesterday. I heard what Mrs. Zhou said to the servants at home."
The second aunt A Ling mentioned was Gu Shouqian's mother. Han Ximeng, a gentle-tempered mother-in-law, lived with the Gu couple in Wenzhe Garden, but she often went back to Luxiang Garden to say hello to Miao Ruiyun.
"Mr. Zhou can be sent back to the countryside. Even if you have been with your second aunt for decades, it's best not to use the servants who gossip about your master." Gu Shoyu stopped his sister's words without waiting for Li to ask.
Then he said calmly: "A-Ling, you are a young lady, don't let yourself be tainted by the dirty talk of women in the market. Come, I will teach you a method of painting mountains and rocks, which was also taught to me by brother A-Qian: add Garcinia water. Dip in light ink and lightly touch up the brush..."
Mrs. Li was not happy to see her son protecting her cousin in this way, but as a middle-aged daughter-in-law who was not loved by her mother-in-law and husband, the only thing she could count on in her life was her son. Gu Shouyun, who passed the examination as a scholar, did not dare to fight tit for tat, so he could only pick up a piece of cloud cake to eat.
…
"Ah Qian, take this painting "Fierce Battle in the Fujian Sea" and give it to Jishan Society."
Outside the Rongcui Mountain House in Luxiang Garden, Miao Ruiyun asked his maid Zhuxiang to lay out an embroidery painting of the Battle of Luowan in Ming Dynasty for Gu Shouqian to see.
The Jishan Society is a charitable organization formed in recent years by the female relatives of the Songjiang gentry. It is modeled after the Tongshan Society of the Donglin School in Wuxi. It often distributes medicine, helps students, buries exposed corpses, adopts abandoned babies, and beggars for homeless people. The act of building a shack.
The current head of Jishan Society is Dong Qichang's daughter-in-law Yin.
Every year in spring and autumn, Mrs. Yin borrows the grounds of the social school to hold a charity sale, asking the ladies in the society to donate themselves or find others to donate. They have to donate paintings, calligraphy, curios and the like. Come to the bazaar, compete for beauty, and then buy it with the money from the Jin gentry who sells the Dong family's face, and the money earned is put into the account of Jishan Society.
Gu Shouqian was a close disciple of Dong Qichang's painting skills. Gu and Han had stepped forward when Dong's house was besieged, so Yin took it for granted that Han Ximeng should get closer to her.
She said no, she said three or four times, but Han Ximeng declined to join Jishan Society. This time to raise good items for the charity sale, Mrs. Yin asked her husband Dong Zuchang to come forward and ask Gu Shouguan for a piece of Han Ximeng's latest embroidery painting. It was best to show the righteousness of the family and the country, and those gentlemen who talked about the country and the country all day long could do it. If you can compete for them, the charity sale will be prosperous.
Gu Shouqian returned to his home and conveyed his message to his wife in a normal tone.
However, Han Ximeng unexpectedly spoke harshly and ridiculed the Yin family. Whenever she went on a trip, the sedan curtains had to be made of Hu silk or Hang brocade with different colors and patterns. When she appeared in front of the ladies of Songjiang, the hairpin rings on her temples were probably worse than those of the empresses in the palace. Also gorgeous and exquisite. In this case, why did the leader of Jishan Society, who is said to be "a beautiful person with a kind heart and no shortage of money", not invest his own money to buy another work that was embroidered with stitches and stitches, instead of forcing him to donate?
Isn't this generosity to others?
Moreover, in the past three years, the Jishan Society led by the Yin family has not seen the newly built Zelu Courtyard or the Nursery. It did not even distribute soup during the Spring Plague, even though the money raised did not fall into the Yin family's private purse. Here, the leader of the society is at least incompetent.
Gu Shouqian listened, but also felt sullen. After all, he was a disciple of Dong Qichang, and he had contact with Dong Zuchang on weekdays, so he accused his wife of only cherishing the embroidery. Why should she speak harshly to the female members of the Dong family? Could it be that he had infected Zheng Haizhu's business habits with such care.
Han Ximeng was angered by the last sentence and asked her husband why he had the right to look down on businessmen. Women like Zheng Haizhu and Yao who worked hard to run a school and educate themselves were the role models for people who cultivate virtue and do good.
With such bickering, the couple had a heated argument for the first time in three years of marriage. In the end, Gu Shouqian simply believed that his wife had been led by friends to see the world outside of Southern Zhili, and she no longer looked down on the scholars and ladies of Songjiang, including his husband, who had no fame and was obsessed with painting.
Han Ximeng cried a lot in front of her husband who walked away and his mother-in-law, Mrs. Lu, who came to comfort him. Zheng Haizhu saw Han Ximeng's eyelids swollen at Chongming Pier that day, which was why.
At this moment, Gu Shouqian took Miao Ruiyun's "Pictures of the Fierce War in the Fujian Sea" and said softly: "Thank you, Mrs."
Gu Shouqian's expression of gratitude did not appear alienated, but Miao Ruiyun could tell at a glance that he still felt a little unhappy.
"A Qian, don't blame your mother for coming to talk to me about this. She has a doughy temper and has never blushed with anyone in half her life. Seeing you two suddenly quarreling like that, she naturally lost her mind."
Gu Shouqian nodded: "To be honest, I have to thank my mother, otherwise how would my wife know and help me in the emergency? Dong Gong is my mentor, how can I not give the Yin family the face."
A meaningful look passed through the corner of Miao Ruiyun's mouth: "But Ah Qian, Ximeng is right about what he said. The Dong family's daughter-in-law is vain and pretentious, which is very different from the Xu Hanlin family's daughter-in-law. Ximeng has always been different from the Xu family's daughter-in-law, Huang Grandma and the others are close to me, so it’s not surprising that they don’t like Mrs. Yin.”
Gu Shouqian lowered his eyes: "Ata, I understand."
Mu Ruiyun narrowed his eyes and asked his grandson kindly: "When did Ximeng go to Chongming?"
"I've been gone for seven or eight days."
"Haha, I like this granddaughter-in-law. When she gets into trouble with her husband, she doesn't go back to her parents' house in anger, but she goes to study skills vigorously."
Gu Shouqian sat down on the chair next to the embroidery bed and said in a low voice: "In A Meng's opinion, the Zheng family is probably closer than her natal family."
Miao Ruiyun said angrily: "Hey, you, a dignified man, how can you be jealous of a woman? Ah Zhu is well-mannered and kind-hearted. He is one or two years older than you. Now he has received a reward from the court. Although he is a woman with a sixth-grade order, he is a woman." She has some talents, but her rank is on par with Mr. Huang’s official status. Why, she is the eldest sister of you two, and you are just a scholar, are you still suffering a loss? "
Gu Shouqian was silent for a moment and then said: "What A Tai taught me is that my grandson is too narrow-minded. In fact, this time, Miss Azhu probably didn't know about the quarrel between me and Ximeng. She thought she was looking for interesting folk weaving." Because of his skill, he sent someone to invite Ximeng and Fan Polu to have a look."
Miao Ruiyun acted like a peacemaker and clapped his hands and said: "That's right. Madam thinks it's a good idea to invite Miss Zheng here, so that you don't have to live in the same yard just after the quarrel and get tired of each other. Ximeng I'm going to Chongming to relax, and I might even make amends to you when I get back. As for you, don't be idle these days and draw some embroidery patterns for her."
Gu Shouqian talked for a while with the grandmother in front of him, who was not related by blood but was quite considerate of the younger generation. He felt that he felt relaxed and echoed his grandmother: "Ah Tai reminded me, Ximeng finished embroidering the naval battle map and used artillery fire. I have great experience in using needles and colors, and I also want to embroider the daily scenes of Miss Zheng’s firearms workshop.”
Miao Ruiyun said with a smile: "Then you go to the firearms workshop and have a look. When Yuesheng came to play the piano for me, he said that Mr. Sun and Mr. Li were imitating new cannons recently. I hope they won't explode like last time."
"Auntie," Gu Shouqian became more interested, "My grandson really doesn't want to take the imperial examination, and he has some writing skills. If I join Mr. Sun's disciples and study firearms together, I don't know what the head of our Gu family will do." Do you agree?"
Miao Ruiyun thought calmly for a while, then raised his head and said, "Children and grandchildren will have their own blessings, and children and grandchildren will have their own ambitions. A Tai supports you and will tell the head of the Gu family for you."
A few days later, in front of the Songjiang Firearms Factory in Shanghai County, Gu Shouqian got out of the carriage first. After the driver put down the step stool, he carefully helped Miao Ruiyun down.
Wang Yuesheng was already waiting at the door and stepped forward: "Master Sun was just about to come out with me to greet Mrs. When the craftsman came to report, the compatibility of copper, iron and tin seemed wrong, so I hurriedly went to see it."
Miao Ruiyun raised his hand and said, "How can we delay Mr. Sun's business? Let's go. First, you can show us the heavy matchlock gun place that Miss Zheng mentioned."
After everyone entered, the two trackers who had been recruited by Zheng Haizhu to serve as guards followed the rules set by Zheng Haizhu and Sun Yuanhua and closed the door of the firearms farm tightly.
In the boat on the river not far away, Tong Xiyu turned her head and looked at Han Xiying.
The half of the unburned face suddenly became clouded.
Then he put on a strange smile, as if sunshine suddenly broke through the clouds in the gloom.
The spies from the north spent more than a month renting a house in Songjiang, pretending to be merchants from Shandong to collect gauze and silk, and slowly made themselves look like they had no flaws.
Today, Tong Xiyu and Han Xiying booked a small fairy boat for a river cruise and came to the firearms factory to pretend to rest and wait for an opportunity to investigate.
Han Xiying did not expect that she would meet Gu Shouqian not long after staying.
Tong Xiyu glanced at the boatman who was dozing beside the oar, and said close to Han Xiying's ear: "Your brother-in-law is indeed a handsome man who looks like Pan An. If this happens, get him back to Hetuala. What do you do?" How about becoming a mandarin duck?"
Han Xiying said: "Thank you, Master, for caring about this slave."
