Xiao Man excitedly waved his hand at Lin Fu. When he saw Gu Junxun walking between Lin Fu and Gu Wuchen, he was slightly startled. In the blink of an eye, he recognized that she was a girl dressed as a boy like herself. Judging from her age, she was much older.
He was two or three years older than himself, but he looked at Lin Fu with very kind eyes, and his waving hand suddenly stopped there as if filled with lead.
Gu Junxun followed her to the ferry and was silent. She listened with interest to Lin Fu talking about current affairs with her father. They were all new things that his brother and Yang Shi could not talk about. In the twilight, she was talking to her father again.
Behind him, Gu Zizi couldn't help but let go. His dark eyes kept staring at Lin Fu's side face without realizing it - but this scene fell in Xiaoman's eyes.
Lin Fu was very happy when he saw Xiaoman dressed as a man and crossing the river to wait for him at the ferry. He strode over and asked, "Why are you here? Are you here alone?" He saw that there was no Su Mei at the ferry.
The figure of the lady.
"She is Miss Gu Jiaxun?" Xiaoman took Lin Fu's arm, slightly tilted his head and glanced at Gu Junxun again, his smooth and jade-like forehead was slightly raised, and his bright jade eyes looked at Lin Fu intently in the dusk.
, seemed to be confirming Gu Junxun's identity, and seemed to just say this to Lin Fu casually.
Gu Junxun also saw that the person waiting for Lin Fu at the ferry was a girl. She looked at the person curiously. Seeing that she was so close to Lin Fu, she was timid and shy and was embarrassed to take the initiative to greet him.
Although Xiaoman wore a white robe and bound her hair, in the dusk her facial features were delicate and there was something in her eyebrows that could not be concealed. It seemed that she had a soft temperament brought by Yusheng. Comparing her with Gu Junxun, who was dressed as a young boy,
She is so pretty that no one can tell that she is disguised as a child.
Gu Wuchen laughed loudly and said to Lin Fu: "You said you have two friends in Jiangning to seek refuge with. It turns out that there is a beautiful lady waiting for you. No wonder my wife asked the Xiao family's wife to come over and be your cook. You resisted. It turns out that you are afraid that the beautiful lady will misunderstand you."
...Don’t worry about this, I can vouch for you.”
Xiaoman and Gu Junxun grew up in completely different environments: when Gu Wuchen and his wife were exiled, Gu Junxun and her brother were meticulously cared for in the house of their grandfather Tang Haoxin. At this time, they were still delicate young ladies who did not know the world. Xiaoman was sold to his parents since he was a child.
Being a young prostitute in a prostitute's house, her experience and mentality are more mature than Gu Junxun's. Besides, there is a natural charm in Xiaoman's eyebrows, which makes her and Gu Junxun stand together dressed as young men. They are about the same height, although she is taller than
Gu Junxun is two years younger, but he can even look like a young girl.
Lin Fu heard some sense of relief from Gu Wuchen's words, and sighed in his heart. Gu Wuchen treated his wife with respect, but as a man, it is more natural to like and pursue beautiful women.
Gu Wuchen himself felt that it was too revealing, so he coughed slightly and said: "Whose young master is this? Xun Niang has no girlfriend when she comes to Jiangning. You can come to the house in the future and ask this young master to come over to accompany Xun Niang..."
"He was also worried about the fact that the Xiao family's wife was kicked out to work as a cook for Lin Fu. One was a young scholar with strong blood, and the other was a literary gentleman, a new widow, and beautiful. Although the Xiao family's wife had the ability to keep integrity for her husband's family,
Duties, but without the constraints of local covenants and favors, the so-called duties are really weak. Although Lin Fu is also a scholar who has read the books of sages and knows the morality of a gentleman not to bully the dark room, but in the face of the alluring beauty, this morality
It was also a weak experience. Gu Wufa thought that the two of them might be able to hold it back at first, but as time went by, it was self-evident what would happen to dry wood when it encountered a strong fire. Liang Zuoren could have helped others with his own efforts. To say that Gu Wuchen didn't feel sad was that
He deceived himself and others. When he saw a pretty girl waiting for Lin Fu at the ferry, he thought this girl was the lover Lin Fu met when he took the provincial examination in Jiangning. Gu Wuchen put aside his thoughts and thought: The Xiao family's wife will work as a cook for Lin Fu.
My mother didn't look as dangerous as I thought.
Hearing what his father said, Gu Junxun also greeted Xiaoman cordially: "This sister, Ms. Xun is new here. Please ask her to take more care of you in the future!"
Listening to Gu Junxun calling his sister, Xiaoman leaned beside Lin Fu and smiled slyly, but said nothing.
Lin Fu doesn't care about Xiaoman's identity, but if he doesn't care, it doesn't mean that others don't care. If he makes friends with Xiaoman and Gu Junxun, and lets the Gu family know Xiaoman's life experience in the future, he is afraid that he will never want to enter the Gu family again in this life.
Door.
Gu Junxun is a charming lady from an official family, while Xiaoman is just a young prostitute in Dustpan Lane. The reality is often so cruel.
Gu Junxun was looking forward to Lin Fu introducing the extremely handsome girl in front of him. Gu Wuchen also wanted to know whose daughter this girl was. Lin Fu deliberately avoided the topic, put his hand gently on Xiaoman's shoulder, and said with a smile:
"This girl just got hairpins this year..."
"Ah..." Gu Junxun saw that he actually called a girl two years younger than him as his sister. His face turned red with embarrassment and he was very embarrassed. After spending a few days together, Gu Wuchen knew that Lin Fu was a polite scholar. When he saw his hand on his
On Xiaoman's shoulder, he instantly knew the girl's identity, smiled, and stopped mentioning the idea of making friends with the little girl, which almost made him laugh.
Xiaoman's mind was extremely sensitive. From Gu Wuchen's eyes, she knew that Lin Fu was not putting his arm on her shoulder to be intimate with her, but just to hint her identity to others. Her heart suddenly changed from joy to desolation and inexplicable sadness.
She stood up, her shoulders slumped slightly, and escaped from Lin Fu's hand. In the dusk, her bright and beautiful little face had an unconcealable sadness.
Lin Fu looked at her and felt pity in his heart, but it was inconvenient to comfort her at this time.
The postman who was waiting in front of the ferry heard from someone on the official boat that the middle-aged man walking over here in plain robes was Mr. Gu, the deputy inspector. He hurriedly came over to say hello. The carriages, horses and sedans were all ready. Gu Wuchen and his family were asked to go to the post first.
Just send someone to keep an eye on the postmen and the handymen in the posthouse to take a break from sweeping the dust and packing the trunks.
At this time, Liu Yue'er also came ashore with her luggage. Xiaoman, Zhou Pu, and Chen Enze had been waiting here for a long time. They already knew from Zhou Pu what happened in the forest during this period and what happened in the forest.
What happened on their way to Jiangning, she cheered up and calmed down her gloomy expression, showed a bright smile and went to help Liu Yue'er pick up the package: "Are you the Xiao family sister?"
Liu Yue'er didn't recognize that Xiao Man was a girl for a moment. She was startled when she saw the handsome young man coming up to help her get something. When she was about to get out of the way, Lin Fu said with a smile: "Miss Liu, don't be scared, Xiao Man is
My sister, it's okay to ask her to help you get things..." Liu Yue'er then realized that the boy was disguised as a girl, and she didn't understand. They said that Lin Juren's parents died young and he had no relatives, so why did he have another sister?
come out?
The dusk was getting darker, and we had to ride the Chaotian Lake Waterway for thirty miles to Jiangning City. We would definitely not be able to arrive in time before the city gate closed, so we had to stay in the posthouse for the night. They didn't need the help of the postmen, they had four good horses.
, put all the few luggage on the camel, Lin Fuqu squatted down, let Xiaoman step on his knees and sit sideways on the horse, he personally held the horse for Xiaoman, and while walking, told some interesting things about the separation of more than ten days.
Gu Junxun and her mother were sitting in the carriage, slightly opening the carriage curtains and looking at Lin Fu leading Xiaoman's horse in the dusk. He thought to himself that Mr. Lin was so kind to the girl, and then remembered that he had given Lin Fu to Lin Fu at the teahouse.
When Feng was accidentally grabbed on the chest, he sighed in his heart: Did Mr. Lin not even know that he was caught here? Do you want to forget this too?
The wealth of Jiangning can be glimpsed from the Chaotian Post building. Lin Fu and the others crossed a gentle slope and stood on a slightly higher ground to look over. The Chaotian Post building was lined up in rows. In the dusk, it was hard to count how many people entered the courtyard.
There is another building complex further away, which is a camp on the north bank of Jiangning garrison.
It is important to arrive at an auspicious date for an official appointment, and Gu Wuchen was no exception. He arrived at Jiangning City as soon as he saw it, and he had to stay in the post house on the north bank of Chaotian Lake for a few days, waiting until the chosen auspicious day before entering Jiangning City to officially take office.
During this period, some officials from the Jiangdong Procuratorate who would become his subordinates would regularly cross the river to visit him, and naturally they would also offer him a large sum of money.
Gu Wuchen is not a secular person, he cannot escape from the secular world. He is a fourth-rank official in the imperial court, with a salary of two hundred and fifty dan, and a yearly payment of one hundred taels of silver. Although one hundred taels of silver can be used by four or five well-off families.
One year, the people who followed Gu Wuchen to Jiangning included three members of his entourage, a maid, four wives, and Yang Pu's wife and daughter. After arriving in Jiangning, although there was an official residence to live in, the servants and servants had to be hired again.
For four or five people, one hundred taels of silver a year alone is far from enough. Gu Siming and Gu Tianqiao, two nephews from the clan, followed him to Jiangning to provide them with food, drink and accommodation, as well as some monthly payment.
Money expenses. In order to maintain a standard of living comparable to that of a fourth-grade official, there is no way to save on food and drink in the mansion, which is an even bigger expense. In addition, you have to recruit some staff as assistants to handle official duties, and you have to pay all this money yourself.
How can Gu Wuchen use his own salary?
In this era, if an official only accepts ceremonial money from his subordinates and colleagues, he will be considered incorruptible, just like the officials of later generations who only accepted gifts during New Years and holidays a thousand years later.
Gu Wuchen couldn't escape from the secular world, so he had to stop at the post house instead of rushing into the city. He first accepted the congratulations from the officials who were about to become his subordinates. Besides, after entering the city, he had to go to meet his superiors in Jiangning, including the Jiangdong Commissioner, Jiangning.
The Minister of the Ministry of Justice and his left and right ministers, the Minister of the Ministry of War and the garrison general of Jiangning, the censor of the Imperial Procuratorate of Jiangning and others, as well as the princes and lords living in Jiangning city; for the future of his son Gu Siyuan, he also took the initiative to visit Jiangning
The chief officer of the Imperial College. Maybe these things were planned in advance in the post house, and there were rules for who to visit first and who to visit later. Although he, Gu Wuchen, would still be one of the big guys in Jiangning City in the future, rules were rules.
No one can be damaged.
Lin Fu was aware of these bad official habits. He thought that he would not have to work as Gu Wuchen's staff. He could bid farewell to Jiangning tomorrow morning and not have to pay attention to these bad official habits. He felt very relaxed in his heart.
Lin Fu did not expect the eagerness of the officials who were about to become Gu Wuchen's subordinates. He approached the post house with the Gu family and saw some people standing under two strings of angry wind lanterns raised high in front of the building, looking at them.
It looked like they were waiting to greet Gu Wuchen. When they saw Gu Wuchen's carriage and horses arriving at the post house, they all greeted him together. They met at Shiliang River in the afternoon. The young man in brocade clothes escorted by Wu Feng Escort Company and the man from Jiangning Qingfeng Company
Rich man Du Rong and Hao Ran were also among the welcoming crowd.
Lin Fu was startled when he saw Du Rong appearing here. He hurriedly grabbed Xiaoman's waist and picked her up from the horse. ,!