By Jia Xiuzhen

Time passed, and at the end of summer this year, news came out from inside that Jia Zheng was the only one to prepare.It should be a good thing, Jia Zheng kept it in his heart, and only said a few words to Aunt Zhou.

Aunt Zhou hurriedly asked: "Based on Master's current calculations, it seems that there is still a lack of direct promotion in the Ministry. It may be that it is released."

Jia Zheng also nodded and said, "I expected so too."

Aunt Zhou said again: "If the master is really letting go this time, it's better to let the humble concubine follow him to serve, that's fine... When I come back, I can talk about it."

Old Jia Zheng blushed slightly, hesitantly said: "You have not been in good health for many years, how can you stand the fatigue?"

Aunt Zhou laughed even more when she saw him like this: "Master, it's not because of my poor health that I can talk about this matter?"

Jia Zheng couldn't sit still any longer, so he stretched out his hand to pat Aunt Zhou's cheek, stood up and said, "Why don't you talk about it, you plan to get up. There are still some things outside, I'll go first." After saying that, Gu Zi went out, He stopped for a while when he went out the door, glanced down the corridor, and coughed lightly, fearing that Aunt Zhou would laugh at him even more, he hurriedly stepped out of the courtyard door.

When walking out, I thought about what Aunt Zhou said just now, it was a decent way.It turned out that before, and for some reason, the longer the little girl in front of Aunt Zhou, the more she liked it. It just happened that a while ago the foreign affairs went well and she was in a good mood, so she accepted it after a few drinks.It's just that this matter has to go through the clear road, and it would be presumptuous to ask Aunt Zhou to tell Mrs. Wang about this, and it would be embarrassing for Mr. Zheng to speak up, so he only used the word "drag".

According to Aunt Zhou's mention today, it is really a way, but it has to be completed by God.

Sure enough, in August of this year, the higher-ups made a decree, and Jia Zheng was dismissed as a poor student.When everything was getting ready, Mrs. Wang couldn't help mentioning the candidates for Jia Zheng's service. Jia Zheng said, "You don't need those people, and you can't follow. Can you still have a house for entertainment? Just bring a daily waiter... umm , let’s take it from Mrs. Zhou, her hand tea is pretty good.”

Mrs. Wang was a little suspicious, but said: "She is easy to trouble, but she is not in good health, and I am afraid that she is not well-served."

Jia Zheng said, "This is the first time I've been released. How many foreign affairs and how much time do I have to wait for someone to serve in the inner yamen? I'm afraid that when I'm so busy, I can sit down and drink a cup of tea to catch my breath." That's good." At this point, he said casually, "Forget it, you can figure it out, it's nothing important! But you should pay more attention to the matter of worshiping ancestors when you are approaching, and Baoyu's poor studies are also important. .”

Mrs. Wang quickly agreed, sent Jia Zheng out, and came back to sit alone and meditate.Half a day later, Fang said to Caixia, "Go, call me Jin Chuan'er."

In the scorching summer, in a courtyard near the water in a huge garden in the southeast of Chang'an City, a little girl in light clothes stood at the door and shouted: "Sister Qingwen, someone is looking for you!"

Qingwen was wearing a water-colored gauze shirt, and she was drawing flowers at her desk. After hearing this, she hurriedly got up and put away her things, opened the door to welcome her out, and smiled when she saw the person coming, "It's so rare, why can I go out at this time? Could it be that I was kicked out again?" ?”

Jin Chuan'er spat at her: "A dog can't spit out ivory."

The two held hands and entered the house together. Jin Chuan'er looked at Qingwen's small courtyard, saw that there were three bamboo houses, and said with a smile: "Your place is quiet and elegant, but what will you do when the northwest wind blows? It’s because the house isn’t warm at all.”

Qingwen poured tea for her, and scolded with a smile: "You can't hope for me! I only live here for one season, and when the autumn cools, I have to move to the maple leaf and ginkgo forest over there. There are other places to go in winter. There is a rule, so you need to worry about it?"

Jin Chuan'er smacked her lips again and again: "You are almost catching up with the girls in our house, even the girls are not as particular as you are here, and they change places to live according to the seasons."

Qingwen smiled: "Can it be the same? The girls are Yanju, we are all here to learn art."

Seeing that Jin Chuan'er was puzzled, he continued: "The gentlemen said that this skill must be perfected, and kung fu is beyond the skill. It needs to be able to respond to the movement of the world and know the taste of everything. It is only entangled in common things. It’s not just this house, we went to the south for a long time earlier.”

Jin Chuaner said: "That's right, I asked my mother to bring you some things. She told me that I didn't find anyone. I also complained that she didn't care. It turned out that I couldn't find it!" He asked again, " What are you going to do in the south again? Is it possible to open a few residences there as well?"

Qingwen shook her head: "Go to pick tea. I stayed in a mountain for half a month, picking tea every day. When I came back, I drew flowers and embroidered them by myself, and then I presented them when I was done. Only then did I realize that it was the meaning of the school exam. A few days ago Those who were impatient, who thought they couldn’t do the hard work of picking tea, were sent back a while ago.”

Jin Chuan'er stuck out her tongue: "It's also a hard life, and it's always a challenge."

Qingwen smiled again and said, "That's not true. I am living a very happy life now. Before, some of us who could not read were taught how to read. Now I can read some books very well. I used to only read books. Baoyu doesn't like reading, but now I can't figure it out, there are so many interesting things in the book, why don't I like to read it?"

Jin Chuan'er laughed and spat: "Bah! I read the knowledge book about being an official, can it be the same as your interesting book?"

Qingwen smiled: "That's true."

But Jin Chuan'er seemed to suddenly remember, looked at her and said, "Why, are you still thinking about your second master?"

Qingwen tilted her neck: "I don't know, but it's a little funny to think about the past occasionally."

The two sat silently for a while before Qingwen asked: "By the way, you came over so fast, you didn't come here to gossip with me, did you?"

Jin Chuan'er smiled: "Master has been dismissed as a poor student, and now he is scheduled to get up on August [-]th, and my wife asked me to follow along."

Qingwen was startled: "Why would you point me? You weren't...last time...Madam..."

Jin Chuaner glanced at her sideways: "You want to say that last time I was kicked out because of ambiguity with Baoyu, why do you let me serve the master now? Is that what you mean? Tsk, how do you know that the wife is not Did you hit on this point?" Picking up the tea, he took two sips and said, "This time the master told me to let Aunt Zhou go with me, so my wife has to guard against it? But I'm afraid that someone will accidentally get a weasel to see it. Chicken, it’s even more of a joke! Didn’t I have it ready-made? Huh, it’s just that the calculations are all made by people, who knows what other people really planned!”

Qingwen is still hesitant: "If you want to say that, it's better to pick one of the colorful clouds and clouds, they are all close to Brother Huan, aren't they the same?"

Jin Chuan'er laughed and said, "What do you know! Even the third master can see something like that, so what's there to say?!"

Qingwen listened to her nonsense, and spit quickly: "Bah! It's getting worse and worse!" Finally sighed, "So we won't see each other for many years, and it will take three or two years for the master to go to work this time, right? "

Jin Chuan'er smiled: "If you commit a serious crime, you may be escorted back halfway."

When Qingwen heard the words, Jin Chuaner smiled and said: "Okay, we have all died once, and it is a bit vulgar to say that these separations are not unavoidable. I came to see you, and I also want to know How are you doing now? Don’t accidentally let Fa go back to the mansion again, making a disheveled face, that’s the wish of others!" Looking at Qingwen again, "I am relieved now, seeing that you will only get better and better. Come and get better."

Qingwen was moved when she heard the words, she took her hand and said, "I will advise you at that time, just don't go back."

Jin Chuan'er patted her hand: "You have a big heart, but I have a very small heart. There is no reason for people to hurt me for nothing."

The two babbled about their respective trivial matters before solemnly saying goodbye. Qingwen walked all the way to the gate of the garden, watched Jin Chuan'er get into the car, and walked slowly to her small courtyard when the car was far away.But he didn't realize that there was another car under the shade of the big tree outside the door, and his eyes had been looking at her for a long time from the bamboo curtain with phoenix tails...

Seeing that the departure time was approaching, Mrs. Wang's yard became more and more hectic.It will take three or four years to take office, so naturally there are a lot of things to bring.In the side courtyard, Aunt Zhou was also packing things with the little girl Rui'er. Ya'er wanted to come up to help, but Aunt Zhou stopped her and said, "It's important to collect your own things first, and you must be more considerate. This time there is also the wife Jin Chuan'er who is beside me will go together, and I must record what I told you on weekdays." Now that Ya'er knows her identity, she didn't refuse her words, so she went to her room to tidy up.

As soon as she left, a woman knocked on the door and came in, looked left and right, took out a handkerchief from her chest, handed it to Aunt Zhou and said, "Sister Lan, the shop house and the thirty-odd acres The land has been pushed out, all the money you got is here, and there is another piece of paper to remember various amounts. You can count it yourself. This time our family asked the surrounding people directly, without going through the middleman, and they lost a fortune If you can save some money, save some money. Sigh, tell me, you’re only serving for a few years, so you’re going to sell it off? It’s going to be hard to buy it back later.”

Aunt Zhou took the things, moved a stool for the woman to sit on, and said, "Thank you, old sister." Then she took out a purse from her sleeve and handed it over, but the woman refused to take it: "Don't mind! If it weren't for you, my little boy would be gone. We are not those people who only have money in their eyes!"

Aunt Zhou forced her way over and said, "Sister, take it! It doesn't matter, I don't know how long I'll be gone. To put it bluntly, with my body, after all this tossing, I'm still talking about whether I'll be able to come back." Besides, it's time for my elder sister's brother and daughter-in-law to find someone else, so just treat me as a follower in advance."

The woman just accepted it, and sighed for her: "Speaking of it, it's a crime. In such a big month, you must go to the temple to pray for your wife. If the child who was left behind, I'm afraid there will be Second Master Bao." It's that big."

Aunt Zhou wept and said: "Stop talking, old sister, it's fate."

When the woman left, Aunt Zhou opened the bundle, saw several banknotes and a piece of origami inside, picked up the origami, looked at it, and sighed: "It's really hard to bear them." After saying that, she told Rui'er, "" Remind me later, take out 20 taels of silver and put it aside, and send it to Granny Meng's house before leaving." Rui'er quickly agreed.

The two of them had just put their things back together, when the curtain moved outside, it was Caixia.Seeing her, Rui'er hurried forward to pour tea, then went out and took a cloth to wipe the pots and jars in the yard outside the house.

Aunt Zhou stepped aside Caixia and asked, "But Madam, do you have something to order?" Caixia nodded, "Madam asked me to ask Auntie how things are going, and if there is anything missing, please tell me, and I will go back to Madam. "

Aunt Zhou said solemnly: "If you go back to your wife, you can take care of everything. There will be no delays, and there is nothing missing."

Caixia nodded when she heard the words, then went up to help Aunt Zhou to sit down, and then knelt down and kowtowed in front of Aunt Zhou.Aunt Zhou was busy reaching out to stop her, but Caixia refused, she kowtowed her head three times before saying: "Auntie is going back now, the mountains are high and the water is far away, and I have nothing else. I kowtow twice to thank Auntie for your advances all these years." Some teaching."

Aunt Zhou helped her up, and sighed: "Why do you do this? I'm just a lowly concubine, how can you give me a salute? I can't bear it. As for what to say, it depends on what you can listen to." Only then."

Caixia sighed and said, "Why is my aunt's business? If I don't have this snack, I can't be regarded as a person." After a little thought, she asked, "In my aunt's opinion, what should I do in the future?"

Aunt Zhou smiled and said, "You are now the No. Huan'er, isn't it you who decides on your own?"

Caixia smiled shyly and said, "What Auntie said, it's not up to us to make decisions."

Aunt Zhou said: "My wife has never liked such work as marriage, you have to send it back and let your parents choose someone. You just have a good one, and when the third master asks for someone, maybe your parents can't help you?" Agree? There is only one. Whether the third master is willing to say it or not is another matter. Although he is raised by his aunt, the aunt has no control over this. At that time, except for him to go to his wife or the master to ask someone, There's no other way. That's all you care about."

Caixia heard every word carefully and wrote it down in her ears. She thanked Aunt Zhou before going back to report the matter to Mrs. Wang.

Aunt Zhou called Rui'er to come in, but the master and servant didn't mention it since they packed their things.

Seeing that Cheng Ri is approaching, there is another happy event in the mansion.It turns out that the weather has been abnormal in the past few years, and the emperor pointed out that the Nine Princes compiled two books, "Materia Medica for Relief from Famine" and "Preparation for Famine Years", which aimed to teach the people to save themselves and make a living in the year of severe famine.There are wild vegetables and wild things that can be used to feed the hunger at various times, as well as ingenious strategies for preserving all kinds of food and vegetables in good years, as well as emergency tips for how to fight against the sky after a disaster.After being compiled, the joints were verified and revised according to the differences between north, south, east and west, and separated into regional volumes.It was decreed by the Holy Spirit to allocate money from the inner treasury to distribute it to the world.Even a state, a county, and a county have decided on the number of volumes that should be prepared, and another commissioner will be sent to various places to explain and explain the Chinese essentials of the book in detail.In fact, it is a momentary benevolence.

Jia Zheng was working in the yamen today, several colleagues and other people from the next door came to congratulate him, he was confused, someone handed over a book newly engraved in the palace, it was the first part of "Materia Medica for Rescuing Famines" .Among the catalogers on the title page, Jia Lan of Liancheng Academy is impressively listed, and his ranking is quite high.Jia Zheng was overjoyed when he saw it, but then he thought that Jia Lan was only in his teens, so he should be listed here, which made people suspicious.Feeling ups and downs in my heart, I socialized with everyone indiscriminately, and hurried back to inquire.

It just so happened that Jia Lan was at home these few days, and when he heard that Jia Zheng was looking for him, he went to the front study.Jia Zheng then asked about the compilation of the book, and Jia Lan shook his head: "Hey? I told my husband not to include me, why did I still include it?"

Jia Zheng frowned even more: "Who encouraged you to sell such a favor to you?"

Jia Lan shook his head again: "No, no, Grandfather, listen to me. I didn't know it was about compiling books. It turned out that our academy was going to open fields in various mountains to plant things. Because there are many places to choose In the extremely cold place in the high mountains, those with weak bodies can’t bear it at all. It’s easy to find some strong farmers to do it, but this crop is different from others, and many things need to be recorded in person. No, I’m in good health Just do my part.

Unexpectedly, after I went to a few places, the uncle told the gentleman that the prince felt that I remembered it very clearly, so he simply took me to the remaining important places.It was not until a few months ago that I realized that it was originally going to be compiled into a book.The master came to me and said that the prince and all the masters and uncles discussed merits, and said that he wanted to write me too.I said, 'I'm just a child, isn't it a joke to write in such an important book? 'So I refused, and my husband didn't say yes or no in person.I didn't know that it was still written up, which is really troublesome. "

After hearing this, Jia Zheng knew that it was not a lie, but he had another layer of doubts: "Why have you never heard of such an important matter?"

Jia Lan said: "I told you. Didn't I always tell my grandfather that we went to live in the mountains for a while and watched people plant the land and vegetables?"

Jia Zheng stroked his forehead, looked up and saw Jia Lanli blinking at him, and said with a helpless smile: "Okay, okay, Lan'er said that it's because my grandfather didn't hear it clearly. It's true. , It doesn’t matter if you write your name. I’ll take it as someone inside deliberately doing this, and then it’s intended to flatter and kill, so I have to guard against it.”

Jia Lan yelled: "Don't worry, this grandfather, let's talk about it seriously. There are many land boundaries that I can't even open. How can they find the way?"

Jia Zheng only thought of him as a child, and didn't care about it.Now that I got the right words, I also let go of my mind at the moment.At one end, he ordered people to prepare several thank-you gifts and sent them to the academy, and then he took the book and went inside to meet Jia Mu to announce the good news.Mother Jia was not unhappy when she found out, she repeatedly asked Yuanyang to open the box to find something to reward Jia Lan and Li Wan.It made Nanny Chang laugh a little bit: "Madam insists on making progress with Second Master Bao, but Second Master Bao doesn't like to hear that; our grandma doesn't like to take care of our elder brother, who would think that elder brother will be so competitive?" It can be seen that it is really difficult to be sure in this world."