If you take a shortcut from Qiantang County to Wu County on foot, it is about 600 miles, but the ox cart must take the post road, so you have to detour through Huating, which takes more than 100 miles to walk. Chen Caozhi, Liu Shangzhui and a group of seven people
Traveling seven to eighty miles every day, we arrived at Huating on the evening of September 27th. Huating was only a hundred miles away from Wu County and could be reached in two days.
Chen Caozhi knew that the Huating area was Shanghai in later generations. Huating was located on the left bank of the Songjiang River. It was originally a post station during the Qin and Han Dynasties. In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, it was still a desolate reed field. After the refugees from the north moved here one after another, the two sides of the Songjiang River gradually became prosperous.
There is a famous allusion about Huating, which is related to the Lu family of the four famous families in Wu County. Lu Ji, the grandson of Lu Xun, a famous general in the Three Kingdoms, was a rare genius and a world-class writer. Zhang Hua, the most trusted minister of Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty, Sima Yan, once said, "The battle against Wu will bring great benefits."
"Two Heroes", regarded the brothers Lu Ji and Lu Yun as the biggest gains from the pacification of Soochow. Lu Ji's poetry and calligraphy were valued by the world. However, during the Eight Kings Rebellion, Lu Ji, Lu Yun, and Lu
The three brothers were killed one after another by Sima Ying, the king of Chengdu. Before his execution, Lu Ji sighed: "How can we hear the roar of cranes in Huating again!"
The Huating area is mostly composed of lakes and swamps, with abundant aquatic plants and golden reeds. A large number of water birds inhabit this area, most of which are cranes, including gray cranes, white cranes, and black-necked cranes. From time to time, they flutter their wings and fly up from the dense reeds, making the sound of clearing the pavilion.
Chirping, "The Book of Songs" says, "The cranes are heard in Jiugao, and the sound is heard in the sky", which gives people a feeling of vastness and distance. The Lu family has a manor in Huating, and Lu Ji loved to go here to listen to the cranes when he was young, so
Only when you are dying will you feel that emotion.
It was still early when Chen Caozhi and Liu Shangzhi arrived at Huating, and the setting sun was still some distance away from the top of the mountain in the west. When they were standing on the south bank of the Songjiang River, waiting for the ferry to cross the river, they happened to see a group of cranes rising up on the north bank, and their high-pitched cries were heard one after another.
, a faint song came from the crowing of cranes, sad and sad, like an elegy.
As the boatman sailed closer to the shore, Chen Caozhi asked: "Old man, why are you singing on the other side of the river?"
The boatman looked back at the crane shadow in the sky and said with a smile: "That is where the Lu family of Wu County is worshiping their ancestors. It is to pay homage to Lu Ji and Lu Yun. Lu Ji's birthday is September 27th, and the Lu family members celebrate it every year."
Come here, do nothing else, just let the bankers drive away the birds and cranes everywhere, and let the birds and cranes fly in the air and chirp——"
Liu Shangzhi burst out laughing: "I see, you can hear the chirping of cranes in Huating every year!"
Seeing the descendants of the Lu family using cranes to commemorate Lu Ji, Chen Caozhi couldn't help but think of the "Zhang Han Si Perch Post" that he copied every day. Zhang Han and Lu Ji were from the same hometown, and they were the descendants of the four surnames Gu, Lu, Zhu and Zhang in Wu County.
In the autumn before the Eight Kings Rebellion broke out, Zhang Han resigned from office and returned to his hometown because he missed his hometown's water shield soup and the beauty of sea bass. However, Lu Ji was eager for fame and fortune and made careless friends, which eventually led to misfortune——
Chen Caozhi looked down at the clear Songjiang water outside the ship's side, thoughtfully.
After passing Songjiang, we found an inn to stay. Liu Shangzhui naturally stayed with his maid Gillian, and they were very happy. Chen Caozhi still copied his books and played his flute. Liu Shangzhui talked about Wu
County, I must buy a recorder and learn to play the flute from Chen Caozhi.
After a night of silence, I set out on the road at dawn, only to see bullock carts jammed on the road and hordes of servants. It turned out that the Lu family from Wu County was returning to the city today after worshiping their ancestors yesterday.
Chen Caozhi, Liu Shangzhi and his party moved to the left side of the road to let Lu's motorcade go first. There were dozens of ox carts and more than a hundred servants.
The car rolled down a little and a flowerpot came out. The flowerpot shattered with a bang, and soil spread all over the floor. A jujube was lying in the mud among the broken tiles.
Several of Lu's servants exclaimed together, as if this was a big deal, and then they covered their mouths and hurriedly dealt with it.
More than ten feet away, an oxcart stopped, and a young girl dressed in plain white and wearing a ponytail got out of the car. She held her skirt in one hand and ran over in a hurry, tears streaming down her face as she ran.
He shouted: "Why are you so careless - don't even move!"
Several servants were as silent as cicadas, withdrew their hands and stepped aside, not daring to touch the ink chrysanthemum on the ground.
The girl ran to the broken flower pot, squatted down, carefully removed the broken tiles that were pressed on the flower branches, and muttered: "Don't break it, don't break it--"
He held the lying chrysanthemum upright with both hands, but he saw the lotus-shaped chrysanthemum drooping on the branch. It was obvious that the branch had been broken.
The girl squatted there and didn't blame the servant anymore, but she couldn't hold back her tears.
The servants on the side were panicked. They would rather the young lady scold them or beat them. What they feared most was that the young lady would shed tears. Once the young lady cried, she would not be able to calm down for three days, which would really make the whole house restless.
Chen Caozhi watched from the side and recognized the girl in plain clothes as the flower-loving girl he and his mother met by the West Lake when they came out of Lingyin Temple that day. At that time, he also helped the girl identify a golden tree.
Dendrobium hairpin, but it turns out that this is the girl of the Lu family. Two words said by my sister-in-law Ding Youwei came to mind - "Yongxu Xie Daoyun, nymphomaniac Lu Weirui". This girl loves flowers so much, she must be the nymphomaniac Lu Weirui.
Chen Caozhi saw the girl squatting there with her back on her back, her shoulders and back shaking, obviously very sad, so he couldn't help but remind her loudly: "The flower branches can be picked up, and they won't die."
The girl didn't even raise her head, just looked at the ink chrysanthemum in her hand, and sobbed: "But this flower is broken, and it will wither soon. This flower is only half-opened. It's such a pity, wuwu—"
—”
Chen Cao said: "It doesn't matter, this flower can be saved. Quickly straighten the flower branch, wrap the broken part with beeswax, replant it, and then use bamboo pieces to protect it. Do not put any force on the flower branch, and the flower can continue to live."
open."
The girl was still squatting and holding the flowers, and turned to look at Chen Caozhi. The girl was extremely delicate, with fine and neat eyebrows, and long eyelashes with tiny crystal tears. Her eyes opened wider and wider, and suddenly narrowed into two crescents. She was pure and beautiful.
A pure smile bloomed on his face: "Ah, it turns out it's you!"
The girl also recognized that this was the handsome young man she met by the Mingsheng Lake. After half a year, the young man had grown much taller, his skin color had changed from pale and green to white and rosy, and his eyes had become darker.
Chen Caozhi smiled and responded: "It's me. Hurry up and ask someone to find beeswax to graft the flower branches."
Without the girl's instructions, the two servants had already rushed back to the manor to find beeswax, while the girl kept squatting there to support Mo Ju.
Chen Cao said: "It is better to let the flower lie down without supporting it."
The girl then gently put down the ink chrysanthemum in her hand, stood up, and looked at Chen Caozhi with her hands wet, slightly shy.
The maid hurriedly brought water for the girl to clean her hands. At this time, a young man stopped the car and came over, asking: "Sister Qi, what's wrong-" Suddenly she saw Chen Caozhi, recognized her, and immediately recalled that Chen Caozhi didn't answer at the lakeside that day.
He turned around and left with the sentence "What about Wang Xie's children? What about the poor family of the common people?" He asked, which seemed quite rude. He couldn't help but frown and said: "Who are you, and why are you here?"
This question was rude and a bit silly. Chen Caozhi smiled slightly and said: "It's strange, isn't it? Maybe we will meet again in the future." He bowed slightly, got on the bullock cart, and drove slowly beside Lu's motorcade.
Pass.
The girl took a few steps and called out: "Hey, hey, that young man, wait a moment before you leave. The wax will be obtained soon."
Chen Cao said: "Do as I say, that's right."
The girl was still waiting to call out, but a dignified middle-aged man with a long beard came out from behind an oxcart and scolded her in a low voice: "Rui'er, you are a woman, you are so polite on the road, so hurry up and get in the car."
The girl still said reluctantly: "He will save my Mo Ju."