In the evening, after the rain, the sky cleared up, and the sultry heat like a steamer was swept away, and I could feel the slightest hint of autumn. It is absolutely true to say that the summer rain is like a letter of forgiveness, and it really feels like a general amnesty.
Zhang Yuan saw Zhang Dai off and Zhang E went to the Three Arch Bridge. They saw the sunset in the sky and the sky was clear and clear. There were no traces of the lightning and thunder and violent wind and rain just now. Only the floating and swollen river water filling both sides of the bank showed signs of it.
With the power of the heavy rain just now.
The air was fresh after the rain. Zhang Yuan took a deep breath and bowed his head and said, "Thank you very much, Brother Zongzi, for your advice. I wish Brother Zongzi good news in the future."
Zhang Dai smiled and said: "If Qiu Wei succeeds, I will have to rush to the capital to participate in the examination early next year. I am afraid that it will be rare for me to get together with my brothers in the future. On the eighteenth of this month, I will invite my brothers from the same generation to visit Liyuan.
, we also need to invite several classmates from the county who are about to take the provincial examination together. The singing class of the dining class will also perform the new play "The Resurrection of the Peony Pavilion" in Liyuan. It will definitely be a blessing for the eyes and ears - Jiezi can go out by then.
?"
Zhang Yuandao: "Mr. Lu Yungu said that I can do whatever I want after Bon Festival." I still have to read "The Peony Pavilion" and take the opportunity to get to know some outstanding Sanin scholars. I can't stay at home reading all day long.
Dead book.
Zhang Dai said: "Okay, I'll invite someone to invite you then." After saying that, he nodded and walked side by side onto the arch bridge with Zhang E. Wang Kefan, Pan Xiaofei and others followed behind.
Walking to the west of the bridge, Zhang Dai looked back and saw Zhang Yuan still standing under a tall locust tree on the river bank, looking thoughtful. Behind Zhang Yuan was the tall and short slightly dilapidated house of Dongzhang Eight Houses -
—
"Third brother, Dongzhang's meson is really amazing. He can play chess blindfolded and recite it by ear. How come we didn't realize he had this ability before? Since he was a child, he has always been a follower who only followed your lead. When he got an eye disease, he changed into a different person.
, It’s really incredible.” Zhang Dai shook his head as he walked.
Seeing that his eldest brother also praised Zhang Yuan, Zhang E felt a little happy for some reason and said, "Maybe things have changed and it's time to turn to Zhang Yuan."
Zhang E spoke openly, so Zhang Dai glared at him and said: "After the feng shui has changed to Dong Zhang, how can you still spend all your time living and drinking!"
Zhang E smiled and said: "I won't turn around all at once. Another twenty years will be enough for me. After I die, I will care about who is poor and who is rich."
Zhang Dai sneered, ignored Zhang He, and thought to himself: "As long as I, Zhang Zongzi, are here, Xizhang will not fall. If Jiezi can advance in the imperial examination, it will also be the glory of my Shanyin Zhang family. East Zhang, Xizhang, this
They are from the same clan."
Young Zhang Zongzi is open-minded and confident.
…
Zhang Yuan on the other side of Shiqiao stood alone under the locust tree for a long time. The boy in Shaoxing Prefecture took an examination of six and got one out of seventy. This was just a scholar. The provincial examination took one out of thirty, and the provincial examination took one out of ten.
In other words, to go from a scholar to a Jinshi is to fight your way through tens of thousands of scholars. It is not an exaggeration to use the metaphor of thousands of troops crossing a single-plank bridge. It is much more cruel than the college entrance examination he experienced in later generations.
What should I do? Eating and waiting for death seems to be a way of life. Zhang E can live like this, but he can't. Thirty years later, Hu Ma crossed the river and shaved off his forehead and left big braids. The days are not so easy to adapt to. Wang Siren died on hunger strike.
Well, Liu Zongzhou died on hunger strike. Zhang Dai wanted to be a loyal minister, but he was beheaded because he was afraid of pain and went on hunger strike, so he hid in the mountains to survive——
The sunset on the horizon gradually dimmed, the noisy Touji River nearby also became quieter, and dusk fell.
Zhang Yuan gently kicked a stone under his feet towards the Touji River. Not a single splash of water splashed up, but he suddenly shouted: "Rabbit, we'll see!"
A voice suddenly came out from behind: "Master, are you calling me maid?"
Zhang Yuan turned around and saw the little girl Tu Ting standing by the gate of the back garden, looking at him with wide eyes. The two little buns on her head had two pigtails sticking out, much like two rabbits.
ear.
Zhang Yuan laughed and said, "I didn't call you, but I saw a hare running across the other bank."
"Ah, there is a hare, where is it?"
The little girl suddenly became lively, ran to Zhang Yuan, stretched her neck and looked towards the other side, but there was no hare anywhere.
Zhang Yuan stretched out his hand to flick the ends of Tu Ting's ear-free braids and asked: "Tu Ting, who helped you comb this bun?"
"It's Sister Yiting." the little girl replied.
…
After dinner, the eldest girl Yi Ting carried a basket of clothes to the well in the hall to wash. These were the clothes that Master Zhang Yuan had changed out of. They had gotten wet when it rained heavily in the afternoon and played with the young men from Xizhang.
Yi Ting only washes clothes for his wife, Lu Shi, and young master Zhang Yuan. She also helps Tu Ting wash clothes because Tu Ting is still young. As for Wu Ling, she doesn't care. When Wu Ling changes clothes, he always asks for the couple from the kitchen.
A maid helps.
There is a small door on the left side of the hall. After passing the small door, you can see a row of houses with earthen walls and tiles, which are the kitchen, utility room and servants' quarters of Zhang Yuan's family. This is connected to the back garden, where the well is.
Next to it, the watering of the vegetable patch in the back garden and the water for the whole family depend on this well.
The round well is surrounded by a stone well railing. The moss under the well railing may be thick or thin. A bucket painted with tung oil rests on the edge of the well railing.
Yi Ting put down the bamboo basket, untied the rope coiled on the horizontal handle of the bucket, and was about to go to the well to fetch water. An eighteen or nineteen-year-old male servant jumped out of the east end room of the row of tile-roofed houses.
Wearing a net scarf, a blue cloth shirt and trousers, and swing shoes, with a short figure and a face full of acne, she asked with a smile: "Sister Yi Ting, why are you doing laundry here today?"
This male servant is Zhang Cai, the son of Zhang Dachun. He is a slave of the Zhang Yuan family and has a slave contract.
Yi Ting glanced at him sideways and said, "The water in the river has swollen. If you can't wash it here, why don't you wash it?" He let go of his hand and the bucket fell into the well with a "plop".
Zhang Cai stood behind Yi Ting, watching Yi Ting bend down to carry water. In order to work smoothly, Yi Ting tightly tied her waist with light-colored cloth strips. This posture of bending down and struggling to carry water made her look like a long silk dress with a narrow collar.
The round buttocks underneath are very perky.
Zhang Cai's eyes lit up, he swallowed and said, "Sister Yi Ting, let me help you." He stepped forward and deliberately rubbed Yi Ting's buttocks with his hands -
Yi Ting kicked out her skirt, Zhang Cai said "ouch", jumped a few steps away, leaned over and rubbed her calf bones, shouting: "Sister Yi Ting, you are so cruel."
Zhang Cai's parents were out of town today, going to Jianhu Farm. Only two servant girls in the kitchen heard the sound and came out, laughing and watching the fun.
Yi Tingli ignored Zhang Cai, picked up three buckets of water, poured it into a large basin, sat on a small bench and started washing clothes.
Zhang Cai rubbed her calf a few times and found that the pain was gone. Then she came over and squatted in front of Yi Ting. With a smile on her face, she said, "Thank you, Sister Yi Ting, for showing mercy."
Yi Ting was washing his clothes without raising his head, and said coldly: "Stay away from me, don't mess with me."
Zhang Cai moved back slightly and lowered his voice: "Sister Yi Ting, I have something important to tell you -" After waiting for a while, seeing that Yi Ting didn't respond and was only doing laundry, he continued: "That's it,
My father is going to propose marriage for me."
Yi Ting then said "Oh" and said, "That's a good thing."
Zhang Cai took a step closer and asked, "Do you know which girl my father is proposing to marry?"
"I don't know." Yi Ting responded casually, and then he noticed something was wrong. He raised his eyes and looked at Zhang Cai. Zhang Cai's face was full of enthusiasm, and his spots were full of color.
Yi Ting's two willow-leaf eyebrows slowly stood up. Zhang Cai saw that the momentum was not right, so he quickly stood up and backed away, but heard Yi Ting say: "Zhang Cai, come here, I want to ask you something."
Zhang Cai slowly approached, ready to escape at any moment, and said, "Just ask."
Yi Ting asked in a low voice: "Who is your father going to propose marriage to?"
Zhang Cai remained silent and answered after a while: "Sister Yi Ting has already guessed it, hasn't she?"
"no."
Yi Ting threw the brown brush in his hand into the big wooden basin with a "pop" sound, glared at Zhang Cai and said, "I will never do it."
Zhang Cai pouted and muttered: "As long as the wife is willing--"
"What did you say!" Yi Ting said angrily.
"I didn't say anything. I didn't say anything." Zhang Cai hurriedly ran away for a few steps. He stayed further away and said shamelessly: "Sister Yi Ting, I, Zhang Cai, have a decent personality and a solid family background. Why don't you marry me?"
"The family is well off?" Yi Ting sneered: "I guess they all came from the master's fields."
Zhang Cai's face changed color, she put away her playful smile, and said, "Sister Yi Ting, don't talk nonsense." She went back to her room angrily.
Yi Ting was doing the laundry distractedly, thinking: "My wife trusts Zhang Cai's family too much. She leaves everything to Zhang Dachun. Apart from anything else, Zhang Dachun conspired with the tenants to rent the fields for the summer, wheat and autumn crops alone."
, I deducted a small amount from it, hum, the weather was good, but the harvest was poor every year, everything went to the bottom of Zhang Cai's box."
Zhang Dachun's family was able to deceive the superiors and could not hide it from the inferiors. They only coaxed Zhang's mother, Mrs. Lu. The eldest girl Yi Ting was quite thoughtful and had already noticed something was wrong with her cold eyes. She also mentioned it to Zhang's mother, Mrs. Lu. Zhang's mother, Mrs. Lu, was half-convinced that her daughter had an abortion.
Zhang Yuan's father has been away from home for many years and is unable to investigate and rectify——
After washing the clothes, Yi Ting returned to the inner courtyard with the bamboo basket. The light was on in the young master's study in the west building. The young master was reading. The young master seemed to be much smarter and wiser after suffering from eye disease.
"Should I tell the young master about Zhang Dachun and let the young master make up his mind?"
Standing by the large patio in the inner courtyard, Yi Ting thought hesitantly. He looked up and saw the semicircle moon rising.
————————————————————
It’s the New Year, Xiaodao is here to wish all the book friends a happy family and all the best!
There will be another update in the early morning. The first day of the Lunar New Year also happens to be Monday. "Ya Sao" is going to be the first in the new book list. Please support me, book friends.