Standing by the car, the maid was about to burst into tears. She felt wronged, ashamed and anxious.
"Master, I'm going to the academy." She sniffed and said.
"Then let's go to the academy." Cheng Jiaoniang said, lifting the car curtain and smiling at the maid who looked aggrieved, "It's not your duty to help others, it's kindness to help, it's normal not to help, you have to bow your head when asking for help.
,What are you wronged about?"
The carriage turned around and headed out of the city.
"That's how it is, sir."
The maid in the carriage said aggrievedly and angrily.
"He is very stubborn. He doesn't give face to others if he disagrees. His etiquette, gentleness, humility and courteousness are obviously the best people, but sometimes he behaves... When I was teaching in Lianzhou, I didn't know that what I said and what I did was too much. The local
All the great scholars sent people to assassinate him. If it weren’t for the local officials who protected him and saved his life, how would he be able to ascend to the emperor’s gate now?”
"Wrong, if it weren't for this, it would be difficult to enter the emperor's gate now." Cheng Jiaoniang said.
It is not good to speak ill of the original owner behind his back. The maid said a few words angrily and naturally stopped talking. After listening to Cheng Jiaoniang's words, she smiled.
"After all this, I still praise you," she said.
"He deserves to be praised," Cheng Jiaoniang said.
The whole journey was silent and we soon arrived at the academy outside the city. Fortunately, after asking here, we didn't hear anything about Zhang Chun's absence.
The person who came to guide the way was a young man in green clothes. He seemed to be very familiar with the maid, and he called her sister with a smile. This attitude helped the maid who was blocked from the Zhang family regain some face.
"I suddenly had something happen yesterday, and I had to write an important scripture, so I came to the academy to cleanse myself." The boy said with a seemingly casual smile.
The maid finally smiled with her pulled face.
At this time, classes in the academy were dismissed, and the students were scattered around, either practicing the six arts or exchanging what they had learned.
A student recited a poem, and there was a roar of applause from everyone around him. During this period, Cheng Silang was suddenly startled, his raised hand stopped, and he stood up and let out an ooh.
"Brother Mingde?" Someone called from the side, "What's wrong?"
"I seem to have seen my sister." Cheng Silang said, unable to help but lift his feet and take a few steps this way.
younger sister?
Nowadays, many women are educated and literate, but they are all hired by their husbands at home, not in the academy. As for visiting their families, that is even more impossible.
After hearing this, everyone looked over and saw a child leading two women on the bamboo forest path. They were far away and from the side, so they couldn't see the description clearly. Just looking at it like this, everyone couldn't help but be slightly startled.
Bamboo forest, plain clothes, walking leisurely, it is like a picture of a beautiful woman walking in the mountains.
The person quickly entered the depths of the bamboo forest and disappeared.
"Brother Mingde, that is Mr. Jiangzhou's child, and he went to his courtyard. Your sister, did you go to see Mr.?" Everyone came back to their senses and asked one after another, with surprised expressions on their faces. They couldn't help but look at Cheng Silang again.
Everyone knew where their classmates were from, as well as their personal background and family origin. Cheng Silang's family background was not ordinary, and his qualifications were mediocre. He was able to come here just because of his friendship with Mr. Jiangzhou from the same hometown.
In the days since I came here, I haven't seen Mr. Jiangzhou at all except in daily classes.
He can't even see his sister, but he can actually see her?
"Did I see it wrong?" Cheng Silang said with a smile again.
This is reliable and everyone is relieved.
"Isn't your sister in Jiangzhou? How come she's so far away?"
"Is it the first time Mingde has been so far away from home? I'm homesick..."
"It seems that your sister is very close to you."
Everyone joked around, sat down together, and continued to recite poems, but Cheng Silang was obviously absent-minded.
His sister is in the capital, and his sister is indeed somewhat related to the Zhang family.
My sister’s maid is the Zhang family’s maid.
Could it be that she is really here?
Cheng Silang turned his head and looked at the bamboo forest, unable to hide the surprise in his eyes.
What is she here for? To visit me? There is no need to see Mr. Jiangzhou first?
The maid from the academy had been here several times, and although she was not familiar with them, she was relieved when she saw the boy in green taking them directly into Zhang Jiangzhou's study instead of waiting in the side hall.
"Sir, the Cheng family's wife is here." The boy said from the corridor.
In the autumn, when the hall door was opened, a tall middle-aged scribe wearing a long gown and writing at his desk looked up.
His face was as solemn as his figure.
Cheng Jiaoniang bowed and saluted.
"Please come in." Zhang Chun put down the pen in his hand and said.
Cheng Jiaoniang thanked her, then walked into the hall and knelt down on the cushion next to Zhang Chun.
After the boy held the tea, he bowed and left.
"Zhang Chun thanks Mrs. Cheng for helping Jia Yan." Zhang Chun said straight to the point, giving a big gift.
"It's just a small effort, a pill of candied fruit. I don't dare to treat it as such a big gift." Cheng Jiaoniang returned the gift.
"Jia Yan told me before leaving that if my wife is in trouble, I must help her," Zhang Chun said.
Before Cheng Jiaoniang could say anything, he continued, "Nevertheless, if the difficulty my lady has committed violates etiquette, justice and national laws, please forgive me for Zhang's difficulty in obeying my order. I hope my lady will be considerate and don't speak respectfully."
The maidservant who was kneeling on the porch outside the door bit her lower lip and turned to look indoors.
The master already knows why they came. They are deserters and should be killed according to the law. The master has made it clear that he will not help them.
I knew he would be like this!
After Zhang Chun said this, there was a silence in the room.
"My daughter won't embarrass Mr. Zhang. I just want Mr. Zhang to listen to what I have to say." Cheng Jiaoniang asked.
"Please feel free to speak, I am all ears." Zhang Chun said.
Cheng Jiaoniang lowered her head and thanked her,
"Since your husband is being honest, I should also tell you frankly." She said, "I am not here to ask your husband to help my brothers get off the hook."
Not absolution?
The maid was slightly puzzled, but Zhang Chun's expression remained the same, as if he would let you tell me where the flowers came from and remain unmoved.
"Although my brothers and others had no choice but to flee because they were wronged by false accusations, the crime of escaping is true and no one can deny it." Cheng Jiaoniang said,
Zhang Chun hummed.
"That's right." He said, "You said they had no choice but to do it, so what?"
"Not at all." Cheng Jiaoniang said, "Having no choice is not a reason to escape guilt."
Zhang Chun said no more.
"I just want to think that people should die a worthy death." Cheng Jiaoniang said, "I don't know what they were like before. Since I was here, no matter whether they are in Taiping Residence or Immortal Residence, no matter how hard the day's work is, how many of them have been there every day?
Every day I have to dance with sticks, draw strong bows and lift stone locks, and practice martial arts diligently to strain my bones and muscles, rain or shine.
"They are half-owners of Taiping Residence and Shenxian Residence. The dividends they receive are enough for them to have enough food and clothing for the rest of their lives and become rich men in the capital."
"Liu Kui came to arrest. With their skills, they could have escaped unscathed. Moreover, I also told them that no matter what, they cannot be caught in the prison. As long as they are outside, even if they kill someone, I can find a way
comprehensive."
"But they didn't. Just because of Liu Kui's few words, they gave up resistance."
"Afraid of death? They are deserters, and they know very well what the punishment for deserting is. If they were afraid of death, how could they be captured without mercy?"
"Because they understand what is right."
"A gentleman must know right from wrong, good and evil, and do not seek to be heard in the world, but to die in a worthy place. My brothers are determined to kill the enemy and serve the country, and the battlefield will be stained with blood. Although they die without regrets, they may not be considered
Gentlemen, but they also understand that being loyal is right, fleeing is wrong, killing the enemy is good, and killing comrades is evil. They are willing to be caught because of the crime of fleeing, but they are killed because of fleeing, but they do not deserve to die.
"That's right." Zhang Chun nodded, "But what?"
"Nothing, I just want to talk to someone." Cheng Jiaoniang said again, "Now, only Mr. is willing to listen to me, and the others are no longer willing or willing to listen to me. For them, no matter how hard they run away,
Whether it's a soldier or a dog, it's the same. What they want is the word "escape", not the word "soldier".
"They were sentenced to death, which is not an exaggeration. The law is strict."
"It's just that he died in a wrong place."
"Beheading deserters is nothing more than a warning. But if the execution is carried out in the capital and then notified to the border towns, for those soldiers thousands of miles away, who can be frightened by that document?"
"It is said that deserters should be punished. Do you know how many deserters there are in the world? If they are all caught and killed, how many people in the empire will be able to guard the border? My little girl's brothers are just committing crimes in the capital. They are committing crimes.
In the party struggle, it hinders the important things of the nobles. It is a small stumbling block, just kick it away, and it will cost you just a few lives. To shock? To warn? To put it nicely. If you really die like this, it is simply unjust, and even more
How can we talk about a well-deserved death?"
"There are many people in this world who die out of place," Zhang Chun said.
"That's why there are debates in Taoism and debates about principles and principles, not just to let the world know the principles clearly and know what to do and what not to do." Cheng Jiaoniang said.
"So, after all your talk, you are not going to exonerate these people."
"The purpose of killing deserters is to strengthen the army, relieve the country's crisis, and alleviate the difficulties of the border troops, not to argue for personal gain."
"Are they arguing for their own selfish interests? Why aren't you arguing for your own selfish interests? You say it so openly."
Zhang Chun's voice is as pure and harmonious as his name. In comparison, Cheng Jiaoniang's hoarse voice is even more unpleasant.
But the same thing is that both of them spoke slowly and steadily, but to the maid sitting outside the door, when she heard it, she just felt like plucking strings on a pipa, noisy and tight.
"Humans are transformed into things, destroying the laws of nature and the desire of the poor. My human desire is harmless to the country, but their human desire is not at all about killing or not killing these few deserters, but the purpose behind the word "kill"...
"[Note 1]
"Ignorant child!"
Zhang Chun's voice suddenly rose in the hall, interrupting Cheng Jiaoniang's words. The maid who was already tense trembled in fright.
***************************************
Note 1: "Book of Rites. Book of Music" "Those who transform themselves into things are those who destroy the laws of nature and have poor desires. Therefore, they have a rebellious and deceitful heart, and engage in lewdness and chaos." This means: the human heart is influenced by external things.
If people change due to temptation and become things, they will destroy the good nature bestowed by God on human beings and pursue endless satisfaction of personal desires.
Thank you Yu Zixuan, the leader of the cat group He Shibi, thank you all for the rewards, thank you all for the pink smash, thank you all! April is over! See you in May! (To be continued)
