Xu Youtang was wearing a new floral skirt, with her bare face upturned, her face rosy, bright and beautiful. But for some reason, she seemed a little shy.
"Miss Xu, please be polite. You are at home, and I was worried that you were not at home." Zhang Yanling smiled and bowed her hands.
Xu Youtang showed a sweet smile, and Lianju returned the greeting: "I have met Lord Zhang. Who did I think it was, but I didn't expect it to be you."
Zhang Yanling said: "Didn't I tell you years ago that I would come to visit? Is your father at home?"
Before Xu Youtang could speak, a woman from the main hall came out and shouted: "Tang'er, who's knocking on the door?"
Xu Youtang turned around and shouted: "Mom, this is Mr. Zhang, the Marquis Zhang of Jianchang that dad mentioned. Please tell dad to stop working, we have a distinguished guest."
The woman was stunned for a moment, and immediately agreed and hurriedly entered the house. Xu Youtang stretched out her hand and said sideways: "Master Zhang, please come in quickly. My father is at home."
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "That's great, the trip was not in vain."
Zhang Yanling stepped into the yard. The yard was not big, but it was neatly tidied up. A few small vegetable patches were opened in the corners of the yard, and a stone mill was placed on the flat ground between two large bare trees in the middle of the yard. Hanging hanging from the porch
Wearing coir raincoats, shoulder poles and other sundries, it looks like an ordinary farmyard.
Zhang Yanling entered the main room. The furnishings in the room were also very ordinary, with ordinary tables, chairs and benches, and the light was very dim. If it weren't for the sunlight cast by a few clear tiles on the roof, it would have been even dimmer.
"Sit down, Mr. Zhang, please sit down for a moment. I'll make you some tea." Xu Youtang quickly wiped the tables and chairs and greeted him diligently.
Zhang Yanling nodded and said, "Thank you, Miss Xu."
Xu Youtang smiled brightly and hurriedly went out to make tea in the wing. Seeing her cute smile, Zhang Yanling suddenly felt jealous and shouted in a low voice: "Miss Xu, please slow down, be careful of another fall."
Xu Youtang's face turned red, and he turned around with an angry look.
"Who fell?" Xu Gao's voice came from the back door, and at the same time, a dark and thin figure appeared in Zhang Yanling's field of vision.
Zhang Yanling stood up with a smile and said: "Master Xu, Yanling is disturbing me."
Xu Gao came forward in surprise and said, "It's really the Marquis who is here. I still don't believe it. I'm so rude."
Zhang Yanling bowed his hands and saluted. Looking at Xu Gao's hands with mud on his body and the wrinkled cotton-padded jacket on his body, he asked, "What are you doing, Mr. Xu? Why do you look like this?"
Xu Gao said hurriedly: "Oh. The woodshed in the backyard has collapsed. I have been repairing it these two days. I will go to the Yamen tomorrow to do some work, so if I arrest you and repair it today, my mother will not be able to spare me."
The woman standing next to her said angrily: "You are lazy at home and hard at work outside. The woodshed collapsed during the heavy snowfall last year, but you have refused to repair it. You are quite diligent in helping people repair houses outside."
"
Xu Gao smiled bitterly and said: "Madam, I have guests today, so you have to save face for me."
Zhang Yanling laughed. Although the woman was scolding Xu Gao, there was love in her scolding.
"Is this your lady?" Zhang Yanling asked.
Xu Gao said hurriedly: "Yes, you are a humble girl from a small family, and you don't know the etiquette. Madam, I haven't met Mr. Zhang yet. This is the Marquis of Jianchang in the Ming Dynasty. The man who saved tens of thousands of people outside the city during the last snowstorm
.”
The woman saluted quickly, and Zhang Yanling bowed in return.
Xu Gao crossed his hands and said: "I'm going to wash my hands and come back. Oops, the Marquis said he was coming to visit. I thought it was just a casual comment, but I didn't expect that the Marquis is really here. Ah Tang, Ah Tang, make some tea quickly.
.Where has this girl gone?"
Xu Youtang's voice sounded outside the house: "Here you go, dad. The tea has been brewed, do you still want to say anything?"
Xu Youtang walked in from the door holding a wooden tray with a teapot and tea cup. When he was about to put it on the table, he suddenly said: "Why don't we go to the yard to drink tea. It's bright and sunny outside. It's cold in the house, and we don't have a brazier.
Something like that, Mr. Zhang is afraid it will be cold."
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "It's not cold, but it's definitely more open to drink tea in the courtyard."
Seeing that her opinion was adopted, Xu Youtang turned around and walked out happily. Mrs. Xu said angrily: "How can this girl let guests drink tea outside? Really."
Having said that, Mrs. Xu moved the small table from the corridor to the foot of the tree in the yard. Xu Youtang put the tea on the table, then went back to get the food box and put peanuts, melon seeds, snacks and other items on it. Mother and daughter were very busy.
Xu Gao washed his hands and changed into a robe and came out. After meeting again, he and Zhang Yanling sat in the sunshine in the yard. Xu Youtang seemed to like to join in the fun. He stood leaning against the millstone nearby, holding a handkerchief unconsciously.
of swing.
"Master Marquis, let's use tea. There is no good tea or snacks in the humble house, so Master Marquis will make do with it." Xu Gao said with a smile.
Zhang Yanling smiled and nodded, turned to look around the yard, and said with a smile: "If you hadn't seen it in person, who would have thought that I, a fourth-rank official in the Ministry of Industry of the Ming Dynasty, lived in such poverty. I almost couldn't find it when I came here."
Xu Gao smiled and said: "Master Hou, we are very satisfied with such a small house. Is it easy to have a place to live in the capital? Even this house, I spent several years frugally to buy it.
.As a result, my wife and daughter suffered a lot."
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "Some officials in the court will die from drought, and some will die from floods. Some officials in the court are extremely rich, while others are as poor as Mr. Xu. But people like Mr. Xu are still the ones who do practical things. I feel that
I’m very ashamed.”
Xu Gao smiled and said: "What's the point? No matter how good a house a person like Marquis lives in, and no matter how good treatment he enjoys, that's what he should do. Master Hou can save people's lives at critical times, and he doesn't hesitate to waste his family wealth.
"
Zhang Yanling chuckled and said: "Don't listen to the nonsense outside. It's true to save people, but it won't be a big deal if we spend all our wealth. There are dozens of people in my house to eat, so how can I teach them to drink the northwest wind after spending all my wealth? I'm not that kind. I'll spend my money."
The Ministry of Finance has to make up for all the money and grain. If you miss one word, I will go to the Ministry of Finance and cause trouble. Don’t think too much of me."
"Pfft!" Xu Youtang covered his mouth and laughed out loud.
Xu Gao frowned and said, "Why are you standing there, girl? Go and help your mother cook some dishes. The Marquis is going to have dinner here today. Make some dishes."
Xu Youtang said: "It's still early for lunch, why don't I bask in the sun?"
Xu Gao looked at Zhang Yanling and smiled bitterly: "Look, this girl is making the Marquis laugh."
Zhang Yanling smiled and suddenly remembered that the gifts he had brought had not been taken out yet, so the servants who were busy with him brought the gifts in. The gifts were two boxes, one large and one small. Zhang Yanling ordered the servants to open the big box, and there were stacks inside.
cloth and a few hats. There was a plate of silver on a small wooden plate next to it, about two to three hundred silver.
Zhang Yanling pointed to the big box and said with a smile: "Master Xu, this is a small gift, please accept it."
Xu Gao stood up hurriedly and said: "It's absolutely impossible to do it. How can we do it?"
Zhang Yanling said with a smile: "It's just some cloth and three hundred taels of silver. These cloths are used to make a few sets of new clothes for the master and his wife. These silver taels are a congratulatory gift to Mr. Xu for his promotion. Don't be too little, Mr. Xu.
.”
Xu Gao said sternly: "Master Zhang, you and I have become friends and Xu is naturally happy. But how can I accept your gifts and money? Although Xu is poor, he is not vain. In this way,
Don’t others say that my motives for befriending the Marquis are impure? I can’t have these things.”