In order to allow Zongzhi and Runer to get closer to their mother Ding Youwei for half a day, Chen Caozhi did not set off back to Chenjiawu early on the fourth day of May as before. He wanted to have lunch at Ding's villa before setting off.
Ding Youwei was happy and sad to be able to be close to her two children for a few more hours, but also worried that her aunt would lean on the door and look forward to——
Chen Caozhi comforted him and said, "Don't worry, sister-in-law. I told my mother when I came here. If I don't get home after noon, I will arrive in the evening."
Ding Youwei said: "Xiao Lang is always so careful and thoughtful in his work."
But half a day passed quickly. Before leaving, Run'er hugged her mother Ding Youwei's fair neck and whispered: "Mom, don't be sad, we will be together soon and never be separated, right?"
Ding Youwei nodded vigorously, kissed Run'er on the cheek, carried a pair of cute children onto the oxcart, smiled and waved goodbye, his dark eyes widened, and his long eyelashes did not dare to blink, because his eyes were full of energy.
Tears will fall down in the blink of an eye.
As the oxcart drove by, Zongzhi and Runer naturally sang the poem that Uncle Chou taught them when they parted from their mother in early May last year:
There are strange trees in the courtyard with lush green leaves.
Climb the bar and break off the glory, leaving behind the thoughts.
The sweet fragrance fills the sleeves, but the road is far away.
Sutras are not valuable, but they are different from time to time.
…
A red sun gradually sets outside the mountains to the west of Mingsheng Lake. Dusk is rising. The huge and solid fortress of Chenjiawu cannot be seen yet, but the curling smoke from the kitchen can be seen first.
Three bullock carts and seven or eight foot servants came towards them. The road was narrow. Laifu first drove the bullock cart to the side of the road to let the other bullock cart pass. Laide also drove to one side.
As the three bullock carts passed by each other, the last one suddenly stopped, the window curtains opened, and someone in the carriage said, "Is this person Chen Caozhi?"
Ran Sheng said hurriedly: "Xiao Langjun, someone is looking for you."
When Chen Caozhi got off the oxcart, the people in the carriage said "Hey" and said, "So you are Chen Caozhi."
It was dark in the carriage, and Chen Caozhi couldn't see the face of the speaker clearly, and the voice was unfamiliar to him, so he cupped his hands and said, "Who are you, and what do you want from me?"
The man said: "I would like to hear a clarinet song from you."
Ran Sheng smiled and said: "Another one who came here to listen to the young man playing the flute."
Chen Caozhi said no more and asked Xiao Chan to hand over his Keting flute from the carriage. He sat on the carriage shaft and played a Dongxiao tune adapted from Ji Kang's qin music "Changqing" and "Duanqing".
The twilight was dark, the wheat ears were fragrant, and the five ox carts were motionless. There was only a faint sound of flute, like smoke from a distant stove. For a long time, three ox carts were heading east, and the other two were heading west, getting farther and farther away.
Each disappeared into the misty dusk.
…
After the Dragon Boat Festival, Chen Xian, the head of the Chen clan in Qiantang, took his eldest son Chen Shang and two young tenants to leave Qiantang and set off for Beijing. Except for Chen Caozhi, no one in the clan knew what the old clan had to do with the long journey to Jiankang.
It was a big deal, but seeing Chen Xian's solemn look, he knew that it was not a small matter, and it was also a good thing.
Chen Caozhi, Chen Xian's youngest son Chen Tan, and Chen Mo from the east building were sent to Fenglin Ferry. Before boarding the ship, Chen Shang held Chen Caozhi's hand and asked: "Sixteenth brother, my father asked me to accompany him."
Sixteenth brother must know what is going on in Beijing for him, so tell me first, I feel so uncomfortable for no apparent reason."
Before Chen Caozhi could answer, Chen Xian, who had already boarded the boat first, shouted: "Shang'er, get on the boat quickly."
Chen Cao said: "Third brother, this is a major event in the clan. Fourth uncle will tell you soon. Third brother, take care and take good care of fourth uncle. Have a safe trip."
Chen Mo is the second son of Chen Xian, adopted by Donglou. He is three years older than Chen Caozhi, and Chen Tan is one year younger than Chen Caozhi. The three brothers of this clan stood at Fenglin Ferry and watched.
The ferry crossed the river, the ox cart landed, and Chen Xian and Chen Shang left with their two servants.
Chen Mo and Chen Tan also asked Chen Caozhi: "Why did my father and brother go to Jiankang?"
Chen Cao said: "Fourth uncle strictly ordered me not to say anything, otherwise the patriarchal clan will serve - it's a good thing anyway. Didn't the eighth brother and the seventeenth brother see the beaming look of the fourth uncle?"
Chen Mo and Chen Tan nodded together: "That's true."
The three of them returned to Chenjiawu and talked while walking. Chen Tan had a lot of topics to talk about because he was going to study at the Xu Academy under the Lion Mountain in Wu County next year, so he asked Chen Caozhi about this and that.
Chen Cao said: "Dr. Xu's son Xu Miao and Xu Xianmin are my close friends. They will come to Chenjiawu in September. Xianmin's family is very knowledgeable. My seventeenth brother can ask for more advice from him then."
Chen Tan smiled and said: "Sixteenth Brother is such a talented person, why should I sacrifice the near and seek the far away."
Chen Cao smiled and asked Chen Tan what book he had read and what its principles were.
The three brothers Chen Shang, Chen Mo and Chen Tan were all taught by Chen Xian personally. They had a strong foundation in Confucianism, but they knew nothing about metaphysics.
I have never copied the cursive writing, and my knowledge is still in the Eastern Han Dynasty. If I take part in the final examination in the future, I will be at a disadvantage.
Returning to Chenjiawu, Chen Caozhi lent the metaphysical works of Wang Bi and He Yan that he copied, as well as a large number of notes recorded while listening to Dr. Xu Zao's lectures at Xu's Cottage, to Chen Mo and Chen Tan, asking him to
Two people make a copy of the transcript.
Chen Mo and Chen Tan looked at the thick stack of bound books with surprise and admiration. Chen Tan said: "Brother Sixteen, you copied these by hand over the past year. I'm afraid there are not a million words in them.
When will I copy it?"
Chen Mo flipped through the book with elegant handwriting and sighed: "My father often praised my sixteenth brother for his talent. Although my sixteenth brother is talented, his diligence and hard work are also very unmatched. Brother Tan, starting from today
The two of us copied 5,000 words every day. Han Li writing was too slow and Zhang Cao was not suitable for copying, so we copied Sixteenth Brother's regular script calligraphy and asked Sixteenth Brother for advice when the meaning of the scriptures was unclear."
Chen Mo was older than Chen Caozhi and was able to ask questions without shame, so Chen Tan naturally had nothing to say.
From then on, the east, west and south buildings were full of books. Only Chen Man and his family in the north building did not study. Chen Man just wanted to be a wealthy farmer. It made Chen Man very sad that his second son Chen Liu was in such a bad situation.
He also knew that Chen Liu had brought it upon himself, but in his heart he felt resentful towards Chen Xian and Chen Caozhi.
Chen Caozhi read and practiced calligraphy every day. While painting, he pondered the character techniques in "Wei's Six Methods". He wanted to draw a picture of a lady for Lu Weirui, but he dared not start painting for fear that his poor brush would blaspheme the beauty in his heart.
Beautiful images, so he painted Ran Sheng and Jing Nu first, figure painting. It is easier to paint ugly than beautiful. This is why Master Wei asked Chen Caozhi to learn how to paint ghosts and gods first when learning to paint figures. At that time, Gu Kaizhi was still laughing and said
He said, "It's easy to draw a ghost, but hard to draw a human being."——
After turning on the lamp at night, Chen Caozhi would always sit in front of his mother's bed for a while, talk to her, and play music for her.
Chen's mother, Mrs. Li, listens to two favorite pieces of music, one is "Remembering Old Friends", and the other is Chen Caozhi's adaptation of the flute music "Changqing" and "Duanqing" by Ji Kang. On the tenth night of May, Chen Cao
After playing this piece, Chen's mother, Mrs. Li, asked, "Chou'er, does this piece have a name?"
Chen Caozhi thought for a while and said, "Mom, this song is called "Qinglian Song"."
Chen's mother, Mrs. Li, smiled and said: "Okay, okay, "Qinglian Song", I like it."
Chen Caozhi sat for a while longer, and when he saw his mother fell asleep, he quietly left and went back to the study to study. I don't know why, but he always felt uneasy in his heart?
Xiao Chan was waiting for Chen Cao to read at night. Seeing Chen Caozhi's eyebrows frowning like an ink painting, she asked, "What is the little man worried about?"
Chen Caozhi said: "Nothing else. I just feel that my mother's energy is getting weaker and weaker. She also sits there and dozes off during the day."
Xiao Chan said: "Yes, the old mistress couldn't breathe when she went up from the ground floor to the third floor. Aunt Ying said that the old mistress always tossed and turned at night and couldn't sleep well."
Chen Caozhi was even more worried. He went to take his mother's pulse the next morning. He felt that the pulse was weak, and he placed it on his mother's chest to listen to her heartbeat. The heartbeat was irregular, sometimes fast and sometimes slow. The mother should have a heart disease, but "Elbow Backup Emergency"
There is no prescription for treating this kind of heart disease in "Prescriptions". Heart disease is still a very difficult disease even in future generations after thousands of years——
Suddenly I remembered Master Ge’s parting words before going to Luofu Mountain last September, telling him to stay in Chenjiawu and not go out again after May this year——
Thinking of this, Chen Caozhi was startled. Could Master Ge's words mean that it was because of his mother's illness? Master Ge was a famous doctor in the world. If that was really what he meant, wouldn't it mean that his mother's illness was incurable? Otherwise, Master Ge's words could not be cured.
Why should a teacher be stingy?
Chen's mother, Mrs. Li, saw her son's face changed drastically and asked hurriedly: "Chou'er, what's wrong with you?"
Chen Caozhi calmed down and said with a smile: "Mom, I have nothing to do. I just suddenly remembered that the sixth-grade exemption status has not been obtained yet, and I am worried."
Chen's mother, Mrs. Li, breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "Silly boy, you have only been back for a few days. Didn't you tell me that you had to go to Jiankang to get it without a permit? It takes more than a month to go back and forth."
Chen Caozhi felt a little relieved when he saw that his mother was not feeling well. He comforted himself and said, "I must have guessed the meaning of Master Ge's message wrongly. Master Ge couldn't have meant it this way - the rhythm of an elderly person is a bit abnormal."
Qi is also very common, and it still lives for more than ten or twenty years. I saw a lot of it in my previous life."
Chen Caozhi returned to his study and wrote a letter to Governor Lu Nalu, telling the story of his mother's illness and asking if Yang Quan, a famous doctor in Yangzhou, was still in Wu County. Whether he was in Wu County or had returned to Yangzhou, he begged Lu Envoy to come forward.
Invite Yang Quan to come to Qiantang——
After the letter was written, Lai De was sent to deliver it. Lai De asked Ran Sheng to accompany him, and the two set off on foot that afternoon.
On the afternoon of May 14th, a healthy servant of Zhu Yingtai came to Chenjiawu and brought a letter from Zhu Yingtai. The elegant and refined Xie An style calligraphy was pleasing to the eye, with just a few lines:
"Yingtai Bai: When Qian and Tang Dynasty bid farewell, I only heard the sound of wooden clogs, but no farewell song. I still think about it. Recently, Xie Gong's Dongshan villa has silk and bamboo, and there is a calligraphy gathering. My brother Yingting will also attend the meeting. I am eager to see you again.
Come here, maybe we can meet again. Yingtai bows his head."
Chen Caozhi's heart was pounding, but he shook his head and said to Zhu's servant: "I would like to apologize to the two Mr. Zhu. I have something to do at home and cannot go to the meeting."
Zhu's servant was very anxious and begged: "Chen Langjun must go there. Kuaiji is not far from here and can be reached in less than two days."
Chen Caozhi shook his head with regret, wrote a reply, and asked the servant to take it back to Zhu Yingtai.