Snowflakes were falling outside the window. In the study, the multi-treasure shelves were filled with books, and there was a belt on the desk with a silver fish bag hanging on the belt.
The fish charm is placed on the outside. In the middle is the raised character "Tong" for verification. On both sides are engraved "Prince Zuo Chunfang" and "Praise to the good doctor Du Youlin" respectively.
Du Youlin was sitting on the bed, holding a book and reading it intently, immersed in the scholarship of the sages.
Suddenly, he heard rapid footsteps outside the door, and his second wife, Lu Fengniang, called "Mr. Husband" in a panic and pushed the door open.
Du Youlin, who was disturbed from his silence, immediately frowned and asked, "What happened again?"
"It's not good." Lu Fengniang was so anxious that she stuttered and said, "Wu Lang is being bullied outside!"
Du Youlin put down the book and said impatiently: "Speak carefully."
"Liu Ji took Wu Lang to Pingkangfang. He had a conflict with some libertine family and made... a move."
"You beast, you dare to go to that place." Du Youlin scolded fiercely, "Why don't you bring him back? Are you going to ruin the reputation of the Du family in Jingzhao by staying outside?"
"Have my son ever been to that place? Your eldest son-in-law didn't take him there."
Lu Fengniang's fat face was full of grievances, but she couldn't explain clearly, so she had to stamp her feet, turn around and call a boy waiting outside the study to come in.
"Quick, tell me."
When Du Youlin saw the boy next to his eldest son-in-law, he turned away with disgust in his eyes.
"Back to Alang, my husband just wanted to take Du Wulang to Nanqu for tea. Du Wulang saw the residence of the Prime Minister to the east of the square building and asked, 'How can the Prime Minister live in this land of red orioles and green willows?' Just when Ji Dalang heard it, there was a quarrel, and Ji Dalang had Du Wulang taken away, saying that he would be taken to the Prime Minister's Mansion to make amends."
Hearing this, Du Youlin's expression changed and he asked: "Which Ji Dalang?"
"He is the eldest son of the Jifacao family in Jingzhao Prefecture."
Du Youlin stood up suddenly, walked out with his shoes on, and shouted: "Quan Rui."
Quan Rui, the housekeeper at home, was already waiting in the corridor. He lowered his body, stepped forward and said, "The villain is here."
"Bring that beast back quickly!"
"Let's do it now."
Quan Rui then asked the boy to lead the way and hurried out to Pingkangfang.
Du Youlin looked unhappy, walked back and forth for a few steps, then sat down again, picked up the book and continued reading.
for a long time.
Lu Fengniang was wandering in the corridor when she saw Quan Rui, the housekeeper at home, running back in a hurry alone.
"Where's the Goro man?"
"The villain can't find Wulang."
Quan Rui was still panting, and while answering his mistress, he knocked on the study door.
"What do you mean?" Lu Fengniang was frightened and chased him and asked, "What do you mean if you can't find him?"
"Ji Dalang did not take Wulang to the Prime Minister's Mansion, but I don't know where he was taken. I have left someone to look for him nearby."
When Quan Rui said this, he stopped talking.
Du Youlin heard the noise outside and opened the door.
"Alang." Quan Rui whispered: "I heard from people around me that there was a fatal incident in Nanqu today. I'm afraid the matter is serious. Would Alang come forward to visit Ji's house?"
When Lu Fengniang heard about the human life, she was so frightened that she hurriedly said: "Mr. Lang, go and beg..."
"Shut up." Du Youlin scolded his wife and ordered, "Look again until we find Wu Lang."
Quan Rui wiped his forehead and said: "Alang, there are only a dozen servants in the house. Would you like me to go to the Wei family across the street and borrow some people to search for them together?"
Du Youlin looked calm, but actually had no idea and asked: "Is it feasible?"
"Young man, go right away."
~~
This time Lu Fengniang rushed directly to the side door and waited, anxious.
Finally, the maid Qing Lan raised her hand and said, "Madam, look quickly."
I saw two slaves in green clothes running towards this side, one of them was carrying a man on his back, and he was shouting this way from a distance.
"Found it, we found Du Wulang!"
"My son!" Lu Fengniang was overjoyed and cried as she came forward to greet him.
The two servants of the Wei family were quite enthusiastic. One of them continued to run forward and carried Du Wulang into the courtyard, while the other comforted him.
"Madam Du, don't worry, you're alive... I checked first, I thought I was out of breath, but I checked again, I'm alive, alive."
It can be seen that they are also very happy to be able to rescue the young man of the Du family.
Finally, the unconscious young man was put down under the verandah in the front yard of Du's house.
He looks to be about fifteen years old. He has an excellent appearance and exquisite facial features. Even with his eyes closed, he can make people feel that he has a good temperament.
He was only wearing single clothes, and there were bruises on his neck, obviously someone had pinched him severely.
"My son..."
Lu Fengniang cried loudly and rushed forward. After a closer look, the shouting in her mouth stopped abruptly.
She was stunned for a moment and said in surprise: "This is not my son."
"Isn't this the husband of the Du family?"
The two servants of the Wei family looked at each other.
"How could this not be the husband of the Du family? When we picked it up..."
Suddenly, there was another noise outside the door.
Quan Rui hurried back and asked a servant to put the young man down on his back.
"Quickly, knock him down first and pinch him."
The boy who was brought back this time quickly woke up and sat up on the porch.
He is exactly fifteen years old this year. Like Lu Fengniang, he has a round face, a flat nose, and small eyes. Although he is not too ugly, he has a timid temperament.
At this time, he seemed to wake up from a nightmare, his whole body was trembling, and he was still mumbling something.
"My son?" Lu Fengniang pushed away the others, took a closer look, and cried loudly: "This is my son!"
"Goro, are you okay?"
"..."
Behind the crowd, a slave in green clothes looked over and slapped his forehead in annoyance.
"Oh, this ugly one is Du Wulang."
The steward of the Wei family quickly pulled away the rash man, confessed to Lu Fengniang, and led the people out of the front yard of the Du family.
"Is there no way to talk about it? You have to say it face to face."
"Uncle, I carried that handsome guy all the way from Pingkangfang."
"You don't even know who it is, so who's the weird one? You didn't even ask Quan Rui to identify it first."
"Isn't that just to... get more reward money?"
"Speaking of it, Madam Du's family really doesn't reward me with a single penny."
"Chesou."
While talking, they stopped.
I saw a corpse wrapped in a mat lying in the alley. Blood gradually flowed out from between the mats, dyeing the snow a bright red.
"Is someone really dead?"
"The boy next to Du Wulang, I heard his name was Duan Yan, was beaten to death by Ji Dalang. Du Wulang fainted from fright."
The green-clothed servant whispered, sighing.
They are also lowly private slaves, and they will inevitably die like rabbits or foxes...
~~
In the study, Du Youlin held the fish charm and gently rubbed it with his fingers.
Du Wulang, who was kneeling in front of him, was crying so hard.
"The child kept saying, 'I was wrong.' Jixiang just refused to let anyone stop. The child was pushed to the ground. I don't know how to make him stop. Duan Yan... Duan Yan... was beaten so hard..."
Speaking of this, Du Wulang choked up and almost couldn't breathe.
Du Youlin sighed, sighed several times, and asked, "What else did Ji Dalang say?"
"He asked me, 'Can you swallow this breath?' Master, can we ask the second sister to seek justice for Duan Yan?"
"Damn it!" Du Youlin yelled, snapping the case: "You still think you've caused enough trouble to the Du family?"
Du Wulang was startled, his lips were trembling, but he still looked up at Du Youlin, his eyes full of begging.
Lu Fengniang couldn't see her son being like this, so she wiped away her tears and said, "Lang Jun, Wu Lang have been bullied!"
"That's enough. Did Ji Dalang hurt Wu Lang? Go to Jingzhao Mansion and sue him for killing his slave. He will be punished with a hundred sticks and pay fifty thousand in compensation. Are you satisfied? Go out."
"Lang Jun." Lu Fengniang jumped aggrievedly.
Du Wulang burst into tears, his lips trembling, and said: "Grandpa, Duan Yan has been there since he was a child..."
Du Youlin sighed, closed his eyes, and ordered: "Quan Rui, bury the Duan Inkstone with the rites of a commoner, so as to fulfill the friendship between master and servant, and be benevolent and righteous to the Du family."
"Yes, Alang."
"Let's all go." Du Youlin raised his hand and pointed at Du Wulang, scolding: "You will be confined at home from today on, and you will not have any contact with Liu Ji from now on!"
"Eldest brother-in-law, he..."
"You still care about that harmful person."
Lu Fengniang didn't let Du Wulang speak anymore, so she picked him up and helped him out.
After leaving the study room, I left behind a small complaint.
"Before joining the imperial court, she was a lady from a famous family, but she married into Du's house and suffered such cowardice."
It's still snowing outside the porch, the courtyard has quieted down, and the slaves have returned to their places.
Quan Rui followed and said in a low voice: "The little man is going to take care of Duan Yan's funeral. The bamboo pole is three feet long, and there are nine things about the bright weapon. What do you think, the eldest lady?"
"You know how to ask me now?" Lu Fengniang knew that the steward was just asking for money, so she said, "Ask Alang."
"Alang doesn't care about secular affairs." Quan Rui replied, feeling very embarrassed.
Du Wulang then pulled the corner of Lu Fengniang's clothes and cried: "Mother, please bury Duan Inkstone with dignity."
"For a false official to support such a large ancestral home and take care of it for your two brothers, I..."
Lu Fengniang muttered, but looking at her son's sad expression, she finally gritted her teeth and said, "Death is the most important thing. Let's do it and pay it to the account."
"Yes, there is one more thing. In the afternoon, Liu Lang's son-in-law said that he was looking for help from a friend. Would you like someone to inform him that Wu Lang has been found?"
"He really thinks he has a lot of connections." Lu Fengniang cursed secretly and waved her hand to the steward to take care of it.
She didn't bother to care about her eldest son-in-law.
"Caiyun, you go to Xuandu Temple and ask a real person to do magic for Wulang to ward off evil spirits."
Du Wulang was still choking and said, "Mother, I don't need to exorcise evil spirits."
"Look at you like this, you're out of your mind." Lu Fengniang caressed Du Wulang's shoulder, "Please, let the real person use the inkstone to cross the bridge."
"Oh well."
At the Waiyi Gate, Caiyun just left from the second courtyard, and Qinglan came in from the front courtyard and said: "Madam, the young junior is awake."
"You help Wulang go and have a rest." Lu Fengniang said, "I'll go take a look."
When Du Wulang just woke up, he noticed the unconscious young man. He was very concerned about it and insisted on going with him.
~~
On the verandah in the front yard, the young man sat up with his body propped up.
If he was in a coma, he gave the impression that he was a noble and weak man from a noble family, but as soon as he opened his eyes, his temperament changed again, making people feel a calmness that was extremely inconsistent with his age.
What's even more strange is that there is a sense of confusion amidst the calmness.
"Little Prince, which family are you from?" Lu Fengniang asked, "Why are you unconscious on the road?"
The young man was looking around suspiciously, hesitated for a moment, and then asked slowly.
"Am I not dead?"
There was a pause in the middle, as if he didn't know how to speak.
"You're not dead." Lu Fengniang said, "You were rescued by the Du family."
The young man's eyes were still full of confusion and he nodded in thanks.
"Don't be afraid. Do you have a name?"
"Xue Bai."
"But where is the Xue family from Hedong?" Lu Fengniang asked again.
Xue Bai shook his head and his eyes fell on Du Wulang's temples, looking at it very seriously, as if he was observing something.
Du Wulang felt a little embarrassed when he saw him, scratched his neck and lowered his head.
After thinking for a while, he said to Lu Fengniang: "Mother, he seems to be sick. Can you give him a bowl of ginger soup?"
The ginger soup had just been cooked for Du Wulang, so Lu Fengniang sent someone to bring another bowl.
After a while, Xue Bai stood up and staggered to the door.
He was still a little weak, holding on to the wall, standing on the steps and looking outside.
Du Wulang couldn't help but follow him, stood on the threshold and stuck his head out, looking to the west following Xue Bai's gaze.
There was a pool of blood left on the side of the alley.
In the distance, in the two-inch wide screen between the Shengpingfang archway and the wall of Wei residence opposite, is the busy traffic on Zhuque Street.
"Where is this?" Xue Bai asked.
"Chang'an, Wannian County, Shengpingfang."
"Chang'an?"
There was still light snow falling in the sky, and pavilions and pavilions were revealed from the courtyard wall opposite the alley, with layers of wooden brackets, a gable-shaped roof with double eaves, and an owl standing on the ridge with its mouth raised.
The wind blew the bell hanging under the eaves, making a clear sound.
"Which dynasty, generation and year is it from?"
"Don't you even know this?" Du Wulang said: "Tianbao of the Tang Dynasty lasted for five years."
"Tianbao five years?"
Xue Bai sighed slightly when he heard the words, and let out a breath of white breath, which drifted in the cold wind of the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty.
The unlined clothes on his body were very thin, and his lips were white from the cold.
"Zai is not years, but Zai." Du Wulang reminded: "Xia is called Sui, Shang is called Sacrifice, Zhou is called Year, and Tang and Yu are called Zai. Only the kings of Yao and Shun used Zai to record their years. Today's saints are more meritorious than Yao and Shun, and they are called Zai.
"
Xue Bai glanced at him, looking confused and without awe.
Du Wulang couldn't help but shrink his head and murmured in a low voice: "It doesn't matter if you don't read the books next to you well. You must remember this matter."
"good."
"Where is your home?"
"I don't remember." Xue Bai said: "After I died...I passed out, I couldn't remember many things."
"Is someone trying to kill you?" Du Wulang pointed at the pinch mark on Xue Bai's neck with a small movement.
"Can not remember."
Du Wulang became worried and went to Lu Fengniang's side and whispered: "Mother, he is alone, shall we take him in?"
The maid Qinglan said: "Madam, I saw bruises on his ankles from ropes and burnt marks on the back of his neck. They were found in Pingkangfang. He may be an official slave who made a mistake and was beaten like this.
Throw it on the roadside."
"Official slave?" Lu Fengniang murmured to herself: "I just need to buy another slave for Wu Lang."
Seeing that her mistress didn't understand, Qing Lan reminded her, "It's not a good situation to sign a contract and become a lowly person. It might not be appropriate to stay. If we get into trouble again, after all, the Du family is not an ordinary family."
After hearing this, Lu Fengniang immediately hesitated.
Du Wulang said anxiously: "But he will die outside like this, and there will be a curfew soon..."
"Wu Lang is kind-hearted and doesn't want to see others suffering, so he can just provide some relief."
Du Wulang really wanted to take Xue Bai in, but his eloquence was far inferior to Qinglan's and he was too anxious to say anything.
But this conversation fell into the ears of Lu Fengniang. Thinking of not only buying slaves for the benefactors but also signing a contract to become a lowly person, she couldn't help but ask Xue Bai: "Can you read?"
"Literacy."
Nowadays, such a gray head in the West Market is not cheap, so Lu Fengniang thought about it and asked: "My son was frightened today and needs someone to accompany him. Since you have nowhere to go, how about you stay and be his book boy for the time being?"
"
Xue Bai did not answer immediately, but carefully looked at everyone in the courtyard.
Qing Lan looked at him and felt that there was a look in his eyes, and then she seemed to weigh it in her mind before nodding.
This is not an attitude that a teenager of more than ten years old can have, and he is a person of unknown origin. Qinglan can't help but feel a little worried.
But as a maid, she has fulfilled her duty of reminding her and it is hard to say more. I just hope that he will not bring trouble to Du Zhai.
When the new book is released, the signing will be completed during the day, and monthly votes can be cast only then. I am asking for monthly votes and follow-up reading. It is very important to follow up on the new book period. Thank you very much.