After dinner, Liu Jing returned to the dormitory, sat cross-legged, untied his hair and spread it around his back.
From now on it is personal time, he no longer has to "restrict" himself, he can do whatever he feels comfortable with.
Opening Jia Kui's "Exegesis of Zuo Zhuan", Liu Jing read it word for word.
The text of "Zuo Zhuan" is concise and concise, conveying the meaning through conciseness, and has a very high artistic achievement. However, because of this, modern people, especially modern people with average knowledge of classical Chinese, will find it difficult to understand when reading it. Liu Jing read "Zuo Zhuan" in his previous life.
》, I had this feeling. I had to endure it and stumbled through it, but I didn’t remember it deeply.
Now, more than 1,800 years ago, while reading the main text of "Zuo Zhuan" and Jia Kui's annotations, there is no trace of impetuosity in my heart. I am completely immersed in the magnificent history of the Spring and Autumn Period.
"Brother," Liu He leaned his head out from behind the screen and shouted in a low voice.
Liu Jing was so engrossed in his reading that he didn't notice Liu He's arrival at all. Only then did he realize that the sky had darkened at some point.
"Aruo, why are you here? Are you alone? Come and sit here with me." Liu Jing waved to him and lit the bronze flying swallow oil lamp on the desk. The firelight instantly illuminated most of the room.
This was the first time the two brothers had the opportunity to be alone together since Liu Jing returned home.
Liu He came to Liu Jing and sat on the same couch with him, his face flushed and his heart very happy.
Liu Jing saw that there was a bulge in his chest and abdomen, and he deliberately covered it with his hands. Isn't this three hundred taels of silver?
.”
Liu He smiled mysteriously, reached into his arms and took out two hard-boiled eggs, and said as if he was offering a treasure: "Brother, I'll give you some chicken. These are freshly cooked and are still hot."
Liu Jing looked at his expectant eyes and had mixed feelings for a moment. Liu He didn't know that his behavior would only make his mother more despicable and unbearable in Liu Jing's heart.
It's not that he was angry. He felt more sad. He shook his head and said, "Brother, I'm full. It's time for my brother to grow. You can keep it for yourself."
"I won't eat." Liu He immediately jumped up and said anxiously. "Brother, you are just sick and need to replenish your body. You should eat."
Liu Jing refused again, and this time Liu He was completely dumbfounded. In his imagination, it was the brother who accepted the chicken and praised him for being sensible. Why was the reality different from what he thought? In order to get the chicken
He left it to his brother, who was not willing to eat it himself, and sneaked out on the pretext of going to the toilet, but his brother refused to take it.
Why is this happening? Liu He was so anxious that he almost cried.
"Aruo, don't worry." Liu Jing was really afraid of making him cry, so he had to give in. "There are two chickens here, one for each of you and me, how about it?"
"Yes." Liu He nodded heavily. He was already eleven years old this year and had started reading "The Analects of Confucius". He also felt that it was a bit embarrassing to almost cry in front of his brother.
Then he compared the two chickens in his hands, handed the larger one to my brother, and said seriously: "Brother, you eat the big one, and I'll eat the small one."
"Okay." Liu Jingjing nodded and took it.
As Liu He giggled, the two brothers each peeled off the eggshells and ate them in two or three bites.
Worried that his mother would notice something, Liu He only sat there for a short while before reluctantly leaving, and the room became quiet again.
Liu Jing cleaned up the desk, thinking about Liu He's innocence and his stepmother's meanness, and felt a lot in his heart.
Having such a stepmother on the street is really a headache.
"Shi's Funeral Ceremony" says: "The stepmother is actually the stepmother, so she is called stepmother. She acts like a direct descendant, so she is called Rumu."
The Han Dynasty prides itself on ruling the world with filial piety, and even goes to the extent of going too far. The stepmother enjoys the same rights as the biological mother. No matter how evil she does, as a son of a human being, she can only endure it silently.
Feng Bao, a famous scholar in this dynasty, when he was twelve years old, his stepmother took advantage of him and "wanted to poison him" while he was sleeping at night. Feng Bao found out and ran away secretly. Afterwards, he "became more respectful and respectful", but his stepmother did not appreciate it and "hated him".
"Yi Shen", people at that time called him filial.
Although stepmother Zhang would not be as vicious as Feng Bao's stepmother, she could not expect anything from her. Being slapped on the left cheek and having to stick out the right cheek obediently was not the life he wanted.
, so he must become independent as soon as possible.
Now, there are three roads before him
The first is to return to Xiangyang. This is the most beneficial path for him, but it is also the first to be rejected by him. Let’s not talk about the current situation at home, whether stepmother Zhang will provide him with travel expenses and living expenses.
To put it another way, even if he has enough money, can he really leave? Changsha will become a battlefield in three years. How can he sit back and watch his family suffer from the war? First of all, he will not be able to get through it.
The second is to observe filial piety for the elder brother. In the Han Dynasty, it was common to observe filial piety for parents for three years and for the older brother for one year. If he chooses to build a house in front of the tomb of his brother Liu Yuan to guard the tomb, he can avoid his stepmother and increase his reputation, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.
However, Liu Jing was worried that the war in Changsha was imminent, and the time left for him was limited. Choosing to observe filial piety for his brother would be a waste of precious time for a year, but this must be considered.
The third is to serve as an official in a county. He is seventeen years old and has not yet been crowned. However, Yang eventually became famous for his talent and served as a county official for thirteen years. Yu Xu was famous for his filial piety. He was recruited as an official for twelve years but was not moved. So
Age has never been an issue.
Liu Jing was a man of two generations, and he didn't think he was any worse than others. What he lacked was a reputation. At least he had to be well-known in the counties.
The first is not advisable, but the second and third have their own pros and cons. Liu Jing is a person who likes to take the initiative, so he prefers the third path, which is to seek an official career. The second path is too conservative and does not fit with his character.
Once he made his decision, Liu Jing calmed down, reopened "Exegesis of Zuo Zhuan", and then recited the previous paragraph in a low voice.
Time always flies by when you devote yourself to one thing. When Liu Jing felt his eyes were sore and uncomfortable and stopped reading, he suddenly realized that the night was already deep.
Reading at night hurts his eyesight the most. He didn't want to become severely short-sighted in his life, so he decisively closed the book, took off his clothes and went to bed.
Maybe it was because he had slept a lot during the day, but Liu Jing was tossing and turning in bed, unable to fall asleep, but becoming more and more energetic.
Really unable to sleep, he got up again, put on his coat, and came to the window. The cool night wind blew on his face, making his mind wander.
Looking up, the bright moon is in the sky and the stars are shining brightly. It seems that tomorrow will be another rare good weather.
"Squeak"
A sudden sound of the door opening broke the silence of the night.
The sound came from the opposite side. Although the scaffolding in the center of the yard blocked Liu Jing's view, it was not difficult for the visitor to guess that there would be no one else awake at this time, and that was his sister-in-law Lai Ci.
Sure enough, a white figure appeared under the scaffolding, lingered for a long time, and said sadly in a clear voice:
"Gege grows in Mengchu, and vines grow in the wild. If beauty is destroyed here, who will be left alone?"
"Kudzu grows covered with thorns, and vines spread over the field. If beauty is destroyed, who will be able to rest alone?"
"The corner pillow is beautiful, the brocade quilt is rotten. If you give up beauty, who can compare with Du Dan?"
"On summer days and winter nights, after a hundred years, I will return to my home."
"Winter nights, summer days. After a hundred years, return to your home."
"Gesheng" is a mourning poem in the Book of Songs, which can be called the ancestor of mourning. It tells the story of a wife's endless longing for her deceased husband.
The grief in Lai Ci's heart at this moment was no less than that of the wife in the poem. Whenever she thought of her husband being alone, sleeping alone, alone, unaccompanied, lonely and helpless, she wished she could immediately follow her husband back to his home and room.
But she can't. She still has unfulfilled responsibilities in this world. Their two young sons need her to raise and educate them. This is her entire future life.
Liu Jing did not show up rashly. His sister-in-law certainly did not want his fragile side to be exposed to others. He just stood quietly in front of the window, watching his sister-in-law Lai Ci moaning sadly over and over again until she burst into tears.
"What more can a husband ask for when he has such a wife?" Liu Jing suddenly felt envious of his deceased brother at this moment.
At the same time, a picture vaguely emerged in his mind, which was a unique and independent silhouette standing on the outskirts of Xinye, on the bank of the Qishui River...