It was already evening when we arrived at Ganjingzhuang in Weinan.
As expected these days, carriages and horses are slow, letters are far away, and there is only enough time to love one person in a lifetime.
As soon as he entered Zhuangzi, Li Qinzai smelled the smell of cooking smoke. He opened the curtains and saw fifty or sixty farmhouses built in disorder outside the fields, with smoke rising from the roof of each house.
In the world of mortals, there are only fireworks that cannot be dissipated.
The carriage continued to drive, and after entering the village, it stopped in front of a unique village courtyard.
An old man in green clothes and about a dozen servants stood at the door. When the carriage stopped, everyone stepped forward to help Li Qinzai and Qiao'er get out of the carriage.
Then the old man and his servants saluted Li Qinzai respectfully.
Only then did Li Qinzai find out that the old man's surname was Song, and he was the steward of the Li family's villa. He usually managed the restaurants and farmers under the British public name, and took care of all the affairs in the villa.
This Zhuangzi, located in Weinan County, has people from the Li family coming to it every year, and Li Ji personally comes there several times a year.
Because there lived a very important person in the other courtyard, who was Li Ji's biological sister. After losing her husband in middle age, she had no intention of remarrying, so Li Ji kept her in his own village and would visit her every New Year. .
Grandpa's sister, according to seniority, Li Qinzai calls her "aunt".
As soon as Li Qinzai got off the carriage, Manager Song diligently dusted him off and kept chattering.
"Old Lingjun has talked about the Fifth Young Master many times, and asked me to wait at the door. The Fifth Young Master doesn't come to this village very often. The last time I saw you was about five or six years ago..."
Seeing that Manager Song was chattering endlessly and seemed to be having a long conversation, Li Qinzai decisively stopped him.
"Stop! Don't talk about past events that are more than three months old. I won't remember them even if they are mentioned."
"Ah? Why, why?"
"Because I'm stupid. I was struck by lightning three months ago. Does that satisfy your curiosity?"
Only then did Manager Song realize what was going on. He smiled sarcastically and led Li Qinzai and Qiao'er through the door in silence.
The Li Family Courtyard is much smaller than the Duke's Mansion in Chang'an City, but it is more elegant and unique.
The decoration inside and outside the yard still has a grand atmosphere. Around the screen wall, there is a ginkgo tree planted in the yard. The tree is quite old.
Now is the golden autumn, the golden ginkgo leaves are falling, and the ground is covered with yellow fallen leaves, adding a bit of ancient poetry to this elegant courtyard.
Walking into the backyard, there is a separate Buddhist hall in the north of the backyard.
At Steward Song's prompt, Li Qinzai took Qiao'er's little hand and walked into the Buddhist hall. Sanskrit chants were chanting softly in the Buddhist hall. An ever-bright lamp hung in front of the hall, and the large light reflected a dim, rickety figure.
The figure had his back to Li Qinzai, who had been reciting scriptures attentively. Li Qinzai and Qiao'er stood quietly in the hall, and the father and son remained silent.
I don't know how long it took before the muttering stopped suddenly.
Li Qinzai led Qiao'er forward to pay homage: "My grandnephew Qinzai, I want to pay my respects to my great-aunt."
Qiao'er also knelt on her knees and said plainly: "Qiao'er pays homage to my great-grandmother."
The rickety figure slowly turned around, and an old woman in her seventies smiled at the father and son.
"It turns out it's Qin Zai. You little monkey, you still know how to come to see me? I haven't seen you for about five years, right?"
Li Qinzai said ashamedly: "Yes, my great-nephew is too busy..."
Before she finished speaking, the old woman snorted angrily: "You are so busy! Do you think I really don't care about worldly affairs? You have caused a lot of troubles in Chang'an City in the past few years, and I have even heard about it."
Li Qinzai said hurriedly: "Grandpa and father have already been punished. They have been punished."
The old woman then glanced at Qiao'er beside her and said doubtfully: "This baby is..."
"He's my grandnephew's son. He just picked it up."
The old woman's eyes quickly swept across Li Qinzai's face, and then she laughed: "It looks exactly like you. It is indeed your child. She is well-behaved and knows etiquette..."
As she spoke, the old woman searched around on her body, took out a jade bracelet and stuffed it into Qiao'er's hand, and said with a smile: "People who practice Buddhism have nothing to gain, so this bracelet can be regarded as a greeting gift. It's called '
Buckwheat'?"
Qiao'er looked at Li Qinzai hesitantly, and Li Qinzai said with a smile: "You can't refuse this gift from the elders."
Qiao'er then said obediently: "Thank you, great-grandmother, for the generous gift. The boy's name is indeed 'Qiao'er'."
The old woman nodded and said: "The name 'Qiao'er' has a bit of a bitter meaning, but it doesn't matter. The body of the mortal body cultivates the reincarnation of the next life. After you become literate, I will give you a few simple scriptures. There is no harm in reading more...
"
Li Qinzai's eyelids twitched. Are you trying to turn his son into a little monk?
That won't work.
The purpose of raising children is to provide for old age, not to provide a free dojo for oneself after death.
"My aunt and grandnephew have come all the way. It's getting dark, and Qiao'er and I haven't eaten yet." Li Qinzai hurriedly changed the subject.
The old woman glared at him: "You have a lot of things to do, so go ahead. Manager Song has already prepared the food. I am doing some meditation in the Buddhist hall alone. If there is nothing to do, please don't disturb me."
Li Qinzai smiled, said goodbye to the old woman, and led Qiao'er out of the Buddhist hall.
Walking to the yard, Qiao'er said curiously: "Father, my great-grandmother said that Qiao'er's name has a bitter meaning. Is Qiao'er's name unpleasant?"
Li Qinzai sighed: "'Bitter meaning' doesn't sound bad, it means how bitter life is."
Qiao'er opened her innocent eyes and said, "Are you saying that Qiao'er's life is miserable?"
Li Qinzai hesitated for a moment, then knelt down to look level with his eyes, and said slowly: "The name is just a symbol. Its only function is to distinguish you from others. The name will never affect your destiny."
The words were a bit profound, and Qiao'er's clear eyes were full of confusion.
Li Qinzai smiled: "The word 'buckwheat' refers to a plant. There are 'bitter buckwheat' and 'sweet buckwheat' in the world. Your name can be either bitter or sweet. This is true for everyone's life."
"From now on, if you see all the people and everything with a happy heart, you will be like a 'sweet buckwheat' and will be happy all your life, okay?"
Qiao'er still didn't understand, but he understood that he wanted to be happy, so he nodded heavily and said with a smile: "Okay, father, Qiao'er will definitely be happy from now on."
"Let's go and eat. What does Qiao'er like to eat?"
"Father, Qiao'er likes to eat meat, all kinds of meat."
"Then eat meat!"
One big and one little girl held hands and walked happily into the golden twilight.
…………
In a short and narrow farmer's courtyard to the east of Ganjing Village, the little maid Cong Shuang rushed into the courtyard like a tornado.
"Girl, something bad has happened, it's time to die!" Cong Shuang shouted exaggeratedly.
Cui Jie was embroidering. When she heard this, she was startled. She pricked her finger with a needle and a small drop of blood fell on the embroidery cloth. The embroidery work was ruined before her eyes.
"Cong! Shuang!" Cui Jie's face turned red and she gritted her teeth angrily.
She wasn't used to being angry, and she didn't know what anger should look like, but Cui Jie was very angry at the moment. She was so angry that she wanted to ask Cong Shuang to reach out and hit her palm with a ruler.
Congshuang didn't care about this. After Fengfenghuohuo rushed into the yard, he said with a look of horror: "Girl, something bad is going to happen! Someone is coming from the Li family's courtyard!"
Cui Jie was startled again, and immediately ignored her anger and said hurriedly: "Who is here?"
"It's getting dark and I can't see clearly. I only saw a carriage parked outside the courtyard and a dozen tribesmen wearing armor. They should be members of the Li family in Chang'an."
Cui Jie was also frightened, her beautiful face was filled with fear, and her face instantly turned pale.
"The Li family... why are the people from the Li family here?"
Congshuang said mysteriously: "I was worried just now. I asked the farmers in the village. It is almost the autumn harvest time. It is said that the harvest in the fields is good this year. The people coming from the Li family should have nothing to do with the girl. They are here to preside over the autumn harvest opening ceremony."
But Cui Jie was still flustered and said in a trembling voice: "Isn't it the... dandy from the Li family who is coming?"
Cong Shuang was stunned, and a look of sadness suddenly appeared on her face. In terms of the degree of worry, she was actually more worried than Cui Jie.
Even if Cui Jie is found by her family, she will only get a scolding at most, but Cong Shuang's fate will be different. In more serious terms, she is a runaway slave and an accomplice of Miss Cui's escaped marriage. If she is captured, she will be
Beaten to death.
"Girl, why don't we run away overnight." Cong Shuang said with a worried look on his face.
Cui Jie gradually calmed down and pondered for a long time. When she raised her head, her pretty face was already calm and wise.
"Don't be anxious. The enemy's situation is not clear yet. Don't mess up your position. Otherwise, you will be more easily exposed."
Taking Cong Shuang's hand, Cui Jie analyzed seriously: "Think about it, how many people are there in the Li family, and how many Zhuangzi are there?"
Cong Shuang opened his eyes wide, and after a while, he started counting on his fingers.
Cui Jie rolled her eyes at her and said: "Old Duke Li has two sisters, one of whom lives in this village. He also has two younger brothers, two sons, and five grandchildren..."
"The autumn harvest is very important, but the Li family sent to Ganjing Village is not necessarily the dandy Li Qinzai. Unless we are extremely unlucky, it will not be such a coincidence that that dandy will be sent to this village."