After a shower, most of the summer heat was relieved.
People lamented that it was raining well. It has indeed been too hot and muggy in the past few days.
In the evening, a new family moved into Yinchen Lane, Taofu Street, Beijing. Their surname was Zhen.
This house was leased to them. Although it only had three main rooms, it would cost a thousand taels to buy it.
The Zhen family has a small population, consisting of a master, a wife, a young lady, and a pregnant aunt.
There are only one old man, two mothers and three or four maids.
The luggage took up a whole car and no one was hired to move it.
This master of the Zhen family came to Beijing to be elected as a candidate. He was in his early forties, which was the right time in the officialdom.
If you can make further progress, it will definitely be a different situation. If there is still no improvement, you will have to sink into the lower ranks and it will be difficult to stand out again.
There are not many families like this in the capital. If you throw a brick at the city gate, you can hit several of them at once.
But the arrival of the Zhen family still caused a moderate storm.
It's not because of anything else, it's just that this young lady from his family is too beautiful.
When I got off the bus, only a few people saw me.
Although it was only a quick glance from a distance, it was still shocking.
There are more than a dozen families living in this alley, and there are seven aunts and eight aunts who love to inquire about things. The next day they came to visit them with snacks.
The Zhen family had just arrived in Beijing and were not familiar with the place. They were eager to make friends with a few locals so that they could inquire about things and find connections.
So when I saw a neighbor coming to visit me, I naturally welcomed him warmly.
Mr. Zhen seemed to be quite smart and capable, while his wife was a well-behaved person. She would only laugh and give up her seat, and would not talk much.
The important thing is that this young lady from his family, whose nickname is Ning Ning, is only fourteen or fifteen years old, and her appearance is too good-looking to be drawn even in a painting.
The couple raised their daughter very well. She was knowledgeable about books and etiquette, could write poetry and paint, was chaste and dignified, and was not frivolous at all.
According to his wife, Zhen Ningning had two sons before her, but unfortunately they both died in infancy.
This is the only daughter I love so much.
She was getting older and could no longer bear children, so she gave her husband another concubine. This concubine is now six months pregnant.
The vegetable sellers at the foot of the Imperial City are all a bit aristocratic, and I hear they are more knowledgeable than people elsewhere.
The seven aunts and eight aunts flattered the family openly and started talking about it after they came out.
This one said: "Did you see this? The whole family is here. It is obvious that they want to stay in the capital."
The man said: "It can be seen that their family does not have many connections, and the only one who can use it is their daughter. She must want to come to Beijing to seek a marriage, and then stay with the help of her in-laws."
"This girl is really beautiful. If she can be given to a high official as a concubine, she will definitely be happy."
"That's true, but I don't know if his family has the same plan."
A few days later, the Zhen family, under the guidance of some master, prepared their daughter's name card and went to see the fortune teller Zuo Zhengqing.
Zuo Zhengqing's reputation was so resounding that many officials and noble ladies came to him to criticize him.
As long as you get a good word from him, it's like being plated with a layer of golden light.
This girl from the Zhen family is so beautiful. No matter how good her horoscope is, she still worries about not being able to get a good marriage?
As long as this step is taken, the rest will naturally fall into place smoothly.
Zuo Zhengqing only returned to the capital at the beginning of this month. The Zhen family was lucky enough to wait for a few days before receiving a reply, asking her to go on the tenth day of the lunar month.
The Zhen family was so busy that they dressed their daughter up to look more noble and prepared gifts for Zuo Shenxian.
On that day, Zhen Ningning arrived early and ranked first in the queue.
The other four women who were reading fortune tellers with her, after seeing her appearance, some were ashamed of themselves and some were jealous.
There is even a secret hatred in my heart: "If you are born like a monster, you must be like the Cen family member, and there will be no good results."
"Miss Zhen, please come with me." A middle-aged woman wearing a Taoist robe walked in and said to Zhen Ningning, "Sir, please come over."
"Qiu'er, go to the back door and wait for me. I heard that Mr. Zuo doesn't allow his servants to be in front of him when he's doing a fortune telling." Zhen Ningning whispered to the maid who was accompanying her.
Zuo Zhengqing is not allowed to have a third person next to him when he is doing fortune telling, because he is afraid that his breath will interfere with his fortune telling.
Zhen Ningning carefully followed the woman out of the door, passed through a large garden, and came to the end of a long corridor.
At the end of the corridor is an octagonal pavilion, which is built in the center of the man-made lake and is connected to the shore by only this corridor.
"Miss Zhen, you can walk the rest of the way by yourself." The woman lowered her head slightly and said, "Don't talk nonsense when you get there. You can answer whatever the gentleman asks."
"Thank you, Master, for your advice." Because the woman was dressed as a Taoist nun, Zhen Ningning called her Master.
After thanking her, Zhen Ningning stepped onto the corridor and walked towards the octagonal pavilion. The breeze blew gently on the water, her waist was slender, her clothes were flying, and she looked like she was out of the world.
The woman glanced at her back, her eyes flickering, as if she was feeling something.
Zhen Ningning approached step by step, and there was silence all around. Although the windows on all sides of the pavilion were open, they were all covered with curtains, and they couldn't see what was going on inside.
When she reached the door of the pavilion, she stood still, lowered her head slightly, and tried to calm down her somewhat chaotic breath.
After feeling that her breath had calmed down, she timidly said: "Ning Ning, daughter of the Zhen family, pays homage to Mr. Zuo."
The white curtain stirred slightly, but there was no response from inside for a long time.
Zhen Ningning became more and more nervous. She couldn't help grabbing her belt and biting her lips.
"Come in." Someone finally spoke.
Zhen Ningning let out a long breath and walked in slowly. The waiting just now seemed to be tormenting her, and now her steps were soft when she walked.
When I walked in, I discovered that there was still a white curtain in the middle. I could vaguely see what seemed to be a long case behind it, and a figure sitting behind the case.
Zhen Ningning said a blessing to the figure and said again: "Meet Mr. Zuo."
"Miss Zhen, please sit down." The voice was very slow and low, making people uncomfortable.
Zhen Ningning sat down timidly. She was very cautious and did not dare to look around.
"What is Miss Zhen's horoscope?" Zuo Zhengqing asked her.
Zhen Ningning hurriedly reported her horoscope, speaking a bit quickly, and took a few breaths after finishing speaking.
She was wearing moon-white clothes today, her beautiful eyes were wet, and her face looked fearful and uneasy, like a jade rabbit spirit who had just become a human being and met the monster hunter.
Even though she was separated by a layer of curtain, she still felt that there was a pair of eyes looking at her from behind, like a beast and a madman.
