Ouyang Rong came to this ancient merit tower in the clouds again.
Before the water control was successful, he actually didn't want to set foot in it.
And at the beginning, Ouyang Rong had no intention of redeeming this new blessing. He didn't lack anything at the moment, and the flood control progress was going smoothly. At the moment, he just wanted to save 10,000 merit points, and go to the Pure Land Palace to redeem the share that might send him home.
It is a great blessing, so there is no need to waste the merit points to exchange for other things.
But no matter what, the new blessing that was inexplicably triggered on the Dragon Boat Festival was always reminded in his ears by the slight buzzing of the blessing bell.
It was like the phone buzzing and vibrating on the table after the sound was turned off - and it was a call from my girlfriend.
Ouyang Rong deliberately ignored it for two days, but it was still buzzing. The purple bell in his mind kept reminding him: Damn it, it's time to answer your "girlfriend's call."
Pick up your sister.
You're relying on me, right?
Ouyang Rong was helpless.
Either you are afraid that new blessings will block the exchange of old blessings, or you want to test the power of the blessing clock.
It just so happened that the overall situation outside had been decided for the time being. Tonight, he took the time to enter the Merit Tower in the Sea of Consciousness again.
It's the same place again, with endless white mist, the blocked little wooden fish, and, oh, there's also the three-stop vibrator-like fortune clock above.
Ouyang Rong first glanced at the line of green-gold official script above the little wooden fish:
[Merits: nine thousand three hundred and sixty-one]
"Soon."
His face softened slightly, and he raised his head to look at the ancient clock, which was unwilling to be lonely and wanted to arouse its owner's interest. The corners of his mouth twitched.
You were not like this before. You were aloof and motionless before. Even if you hit me with all your strength, you wouldn't even make a sound. Why are you trembling like this now? Do you want the master to satisfy you?
Ouyang Rong looked at the dark purple energy slowly overflowing from Zhong's body with strange eyes. He stretched out his hand to grab it. The purple energy was invisible and formless, but immediately there was a spiritual message that came from nowhere in his heart.
.
Well, only one thousand merit points can satisfy you?
"It turns out it's so easy to satisfy you now..."
Ouyang Rong sighed, "I still like the way you were indifferent to me before. Then... recover."
As if feeling the instruction, the line of green-gold inscriptions below glowed brightly, and the originally displayed merit value quickly dropped from "nine thousand three hundred and sixty-one" to "eight thousand three hundred and sixty-one". At the same time,
A cluster of light clusters of the same color flew out from the green-gold official characters, transformed into a vivid "a swimming carp", and shot towards the blessing bell!
This time, the "one swimming carp" was not bounced back, but exploded into a ball of brilliant fireworks. At the same time, the fortune bell stopped all trembling...it rang.
Dang~
This is the first time the blessing bell has rung.
It is also the first blessing that I have redeemed.
The bell ringing in my ears was not loud, but it was dull and melodious, as if it had penetrated time, penetrated space, and spread into the boundless void.
Ouyang Rong stood in the white space inside the tower and waited expectantly for a while. Only when the bells ringing around his ears faded away did he look around blankly.
The merit tower returned to silence.
The small wooden fish, the green-gold official script, and the fortune bell... all returned to their original state, and the eternal tranquility returned.
After waiting for a while, it was still quiet.
"Is it exchanged in reality?"
Ouyang Rong thought for a moment and muttered, turned around, left the Merit Tower, and returned to reality.
Meiluyuan, in the back room of the study, on the dark bed, the young county magistrate stood up with his hands behind his back, and looked around curiously.
The house was quiet, except for the chirping of insects in the yard, which filtered in through the cracked windows, making it seem even quieter.
"Um, why do I feel like nothing has changed?"
Ouyang Rong frowned in confusion, lifted the quilt and got out of bed and wandered:
Sometimes he opened the window, sometimes he pushed open the courtyard door, and even in the middle of the night, he ran to the door of the mansion and looked around, which attracted Zhen and others to look around curiously at night.
meeting.
"..."
Ouyang Rong hesitated for a while and returned to his room just before dawn, full of doubts.
Where is my blessing? Where is my blessing? Where are they?
But when this difficult night ended, the morning ended, the morning ended, the afternoon ended... the day was over, Ouyang Rong finally no longer had any doubts.
Be confident, remove the "feeling", and nothing will change!
On the second day, at eight in the morning, the young county magistrate walked into the county government gate with an expressionless face.
"Senior brother...why do you have such dark circles under your eyes?" the waiting little junior sister asked curiously.
"No, it's okay." He shook his head, "I'm fine."
I was just cheated out of a thousand merit points by Zha Zhong...
Wait, is it planning to defraud another 10,000 yuan another day!?
Ouyang Rong suddenly became bored.
…
"Tanlang, has the price of rice dropped a lot? Isn't it still twenty yuan a dou before the Dragon Boat Festival?"
"It seems...right."
The person who was dragged along for shopping was in no mood today, but the beautiful woman walking next to him didn't seem to notice and continued to laugh:
"Tsk, tsk, these twelve coins a dou are really cheap. Fortunately, I didn't buy it before the Dragon Boat Festival."
The Silla maid, who followed the beautiful woman and handsome husband step by step, said happily:
"Madam, the current price of rice is one mile a day!"
"oh?"
"I heard that every morning when the East Market opens, there are people selling grain at low prices. A bucket of rice only costs five yuan."
"There is such a good thing, could it be that the old grain is being sold at a low price?"
"No, it's fine white rice."
Banxi shook his head and said: "But I heard that this 'five-money rice' is only sold for one hour every morning, and each household is limited to buying half a kilo per day. Nowadays, many people go to squat rice every day."
"It's more like doing charity, but the methods are really powerful."
Zhen nodded and smiled lightly: "No wonder the price of rice in these grain stores has dropped, the price keeps rising every day."
"Madam, should we let the servants squat tomorrow too?"
Mrs. Zhen didn’t even bother to turn around:
"Who are we? It's shameless to line up to grab rice. Besides, Tanlang is the magistrate of a county. How can we compete with the people for profit and give it to the people in need?"
Ban Xi was stunned for a moment: "Oh, the eldest lady is still thoughtful and generous in running the household!"
Under the black gauze curtain that covered her face, Mrs. Zhen shook her head slightly. In her heart, she evaluated Silla's maid behind her. In addition to "being strong but timid, clever and unstoppable", she also added "seeing small gains and forgetting the great righteousness".
.
But if you think about it carefully, it is normal for a foreign slave girl who came from Dongyi to admire Wang Hua. She has never read a book and has long hair and short knowledge. Is it possible to expect her to be well-educated and sensible? It is not like something in a romance novel.
The lost princess of Goguryeo...
So as long as you are well-behaved, good-looking, and have a graceful figure, that's all, because the most important thing is to please the male host.
This is also the lowest standard in Zhen's heart, just to please Tan Lang.
It's a pity that the hobby of my precious Tanlang seems to be a bit remote. In addition, he is lukewarm and polite to the maids at home... Doesn't this mean that he doesn't like it? If he likes it, why is there any need to be polite? Just be 'bullying' and that's it.
Already.
Zhen became increasingly determined about the necessity of today's trip to the West Market.
She said casually: "One price per day, so don't buy too much. Today I will take five buckets of rice back to Meiluyuan and come back to buy after eating."
Banxi didn't know that he had deducted big points again. Instead, he was happy because he could go shopping with the man he hadn't seen for many days.
"Okay, sir, madam, please wait a moment."
Banxi nodded hurriedly and led the rice shop clerk in to order some rice.
Zhen, Ouyang Rong, and Liu Ashan were left waiting at the door.
This rice shop is located not far from the archway of the West Market. The street next to it is very busy with traffic in the morning, and it is still immersed in the festive atmosphere of the Dragon Boat Festival.
This Dragon Boat Festival dragon boat festival is not just held for one day, but lasts for half a month. The whole city celebrates together. Even the widow Zhen, who has always lived in seclusion, wears a hat and black gauze, and goes out with her maids and slaves to watch the dragon boat race and catch sandals.
Lang is here for shopping.
Originally, on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, Mrs. Zhen wanted to ask Ouyang Rong to go shopping with her, but later she also called Xie Lingjiang to call him over.
However, the young county magistrate who loved the people like his own son also worked overtime during the holidays and was busy organizing the Dragon Boat Festival, so he asked his junior sister to go over and refuse.
In the next few days, Ouyang Rong was busy greeting Wang Caozhi and other foreign grain merchants... After a lot of trouble, he finally had some free time today, and was caught by his aunt.
Now, walking all the way from the East Market to the West Market, Zhen and Banxi are almost always talking.
Liu Ashan is an old and dull person, and it is normal for him not to speak, while Ouyang Rong seems to be in a bad mood, and his face is a little... lifeless.
In fact, Mrs. Zhen, Banxi and other maids carefully observed his face secretly and overtly along the way.
Ouyang Rong may not know that as the only male and the mainstay of the family, any changes in his expression can affect the mood of the family.
Outside the rice shop, Mrs. Zhen lifted up some black gauze with her fingers, revealing a pair of bright red and phoenix eyes, which stared at him unblinkingly.
The kind of curtain hat she wore was made of soap gauze, with a wide brim around it, and a drooping thin silk under the eaves. It was long to the neck to cover her face. It was also called "shallow dew". This thing was popular in Dazhou.
It is very popular among women in the boudoir and is often worn when going out on the streets.
At the moment, Mrs. Zhen is wearing this kind of light and thin black gauze, which is quite good-looking. It is consistent with the identity of a widow and has the temperament of a widow. Especially when standing with Ouyang Rong, who is dressed in slender white clothes and is as gentle as jade, he is very popular on the street.
Pedestrians pay attention.
The woman asked in a low voice: "Tanlang, are you tired of shopping?"
Ouyang Rong nodded truthfully: "It's a little bit, but it doesn't matter. Auntie, just enjoy yourself. My nephew is casual and just goes out for a walk to relax."
Mrs. Zhen sighed quietly, with a very distressed look on her face. She lifted up the black gauze and touched Ouyang Rong's deep bags under his eyes with two fingers of a gardenia-scented red handkerchief. The latter had no choice but to lean back and hide.
"The county government is busy with work, so you should let your servants do it more. If you use salary money to support them, they are not just working. Tan Lang is devoted to his salary, but he does not have to do everything. You are the one who works hard, so let them work hard...
"
Ouyang Rong nodded obediently and responded to his aunt's nagging, but in fact, his aunt gave a lot of instructions and did not get to the real point at all. It was as if it had fallen on deaf ears.
Because she did not know the specific facts, the suggestions she gave may be because of this or that, which he could not adopt. And if Ouyang Rong wanted to explain his thoughts to Zhen in detail, it was not practical and he did not have the patience.
What should I do? For this kind of family concern, Ouyang Rong only understands one mantra for the time being: be calm and don't argue.
"Well, every time I look diligent and honest, but when I look back, nothing has changed. Are you treating your aunt like a little girl?"
Zhen grinded her teeth in anger and poked Ouyang Rong's shoulder with her index finger.
The latter smiled and said nothing.
At this time, Banxi went out with the rice-carrying boy.
"How much?" Zhen asked casually.
"Thank you for your patronage, sixty cents."
The rice store clerk put down the rice bag, counted the number with a smile on his face, and went to dig out his wallet. Ouyang Rong reached into his arms, took out some remaining money, and handed it over quickly.
He turned to the curious Zhen and smiled:
"Last time, the ten guan of money that my aunt gave me, apart from the banquet at Yuanming Tower and the ransom money for Ashan, there was exactly 60 qian left... I just used it cleanly and comfortably."
Mrs. Zhen couldn't help but laugh, "It turns out that Tanlang manages the household like this. Okay, here comes Tanlang, and for the money later, aunt will come."
Ouyang Rong, who was about to bend down to carry the rice, was stunned and asked, "What's the money later?"
Zhen didn't answer. She turned to the tall and thin man wearing a turban behind her and raised her chin in a gesture.
Liu Ashan immediately stepped forward and picked up the bulging rice bag containing five buckets of rice.
"Auntie, Ah Shan is not a servant of our family, he is free."
Ouyang Rong frowned and stopped, but Zhen smiled and nodded.
Ouyang Rong reached out to pick up the rice, but Liu Ashan was stubborn and refused to let him go.
Madam Zhen suddenly asked: "Why didn't Tan Lang stay up the night before and went out to do some troubles?"
Ouyang Rong wanted to speak, but this was not a question she gave him, but a fill-in-the-blank question.
Mrs. Zhen nodded with determination and asked and answered herself:
"It must be a long night, and the empty room is lonely. Let's go, I have to pick a bed-warming maid to go back today. Mr. Tanlang said yes."
"..." Ouyang Rong.
Auntie's map of Yan Kingdom is getting shorter and shorter.
(Big chapter, a little late... Now there are two chapters every day. In addition, good brothers, don't wait for the next chapter, go to bed early, and read it tomorrow... I can't stand Xiaorong's whining)