Xueyue arranged a special test for Liu Zheji. She wanted to know whether Liu Zheji's determination was what he said. If Liu Zheji passed the test, Xueyue could help him. After all, she already had
I haven't seen a good show in nearly a thousand years.
After Liu Zheji agreed to accept the test, his eyes suddenly fell into a trance. Scenes were forced into his mind, and the huge memory overwhelmed him.
Yanwei City is a small city-state on the border of Zhao State. There are three major families here, namely Zhang, Wang, and Li. They control the lifeblood of the entire small city. The Zhang family is located in the south of the city. The family is a scholarly family, and most of their children are involved in politics.
Zhang Zongyuan was the son of a prostitute from Jiaxing, the leader of the Zhang family. The woman from the brothel was unlucky and died before she could enjoy the glory of the Zhang family.
The concubine Zhang Zongyuan is a joke of the Zhang family! It is also a stain on Zhang Jiaxing. Although Zhang Jiaxing tried his best to hide that it was the brothel woman who got him drunk and forced him to have a child, Zhang Zongyuan's existence still made Zhang Jiaxing often criticized.
"Butterflies fall in love with flowers, and are intoxicated by the fragrance of flowers. I feel drunk and melancholy and find it difficult to relax..."
In a dilapidated small courtyard in the residential area of Zhangjia Villa, a young man with delicate features stood in the yard and sighed for a long time. He was Zhang Zongyuan, the concubine of the Zhang family. Although she was not favored by the Zhang family, she had the blood of the Zhang family after all, so
The Zhang family did not lack a simple residence and ordinary food and clothing, but that was all.
Zhang Zongyuan has only met Zhang Jiaxing three times since he was a child, and he has never met his mother once. He grew up with the children of the Zhang family's servants. The children of those servants' families were even more outrageous than the Zhang family, and the children of the Zhang family were even more outrageous.
I have some scruples about him. If one day Zhang Jiaxing remembers this boy and gives him something to do, he will make an enemy for no reason. Although he is a commoner, his blood is also from the master's family. Generally, the children of the Zhang family really don't have that.
People mess with him.
"Look at that fool, what is that person talking to himself?"
Two black heads emerged from the earthen wall next to the yard. They are the children of the Zhang family's servants. They usually enjoy teasing Zhang Zongyuan, because this kid looks silly and will not get angry if he is bullied. They are on Zhang Zongyuan.
Got a lot of satisfaction.
"Are you reading poetry here? I heard that this kid wants to apply for a scholarship?" One of the young men with green hair and a ragged coat said with a frown.
"Application for meritorious service? Not sure! It would be great if this kid gets the top prize, and he might become famous! No wonder he is from the family head's bloodline! He has such lofty ambitions!"
"Eh? Brother Jin, what's going on with your conversation? You even used the word "ambition"?" the green-skinned young man asked in surprise.
"Humph! You didn't know this! I heard it from Zhang Zhuangyuan!" Jin Yuan said proudly.
"Zhang Zhuangyuan? Who is Zhang Zhuangyuan? Brother Zhang, do you know the number one scholar?" the green-skinned young man said in surprise.
"Bang!" Jin Yuan patted the green-skinned young man's shaved head and said angrily: "What were we talking about just now? Isn't Zhang Zongyuan the future number one scholar?"
"Oh oh oh!"
Zhang Zongyuan was originally creating poetry with great inspiration, but the two people on the wall interrupted his train of thought. They were discovered by Zhang Zongyuan as soon as they arrived, but he just didn't want to pay attention to them. Unexpectedly, the two people's voices became louder and louder.
People's words also entered his ears clearly.
"..."
Zhang Zongyuan had no choice but to return to his hut.
Then he closed the door tightly.
Zhang Zongyuan really wanted to apply for the provincial examination, but unfortunately his repeated applications were rejected by the Zhang family for various reasons. This lasted for several years. Finally, Zhang Zongyuan gave up on this idea and thought about whether he could find another way out.
For a person like him who has no identity or status and can only barely make ends meet, he is already very happy to be alive in this world. Whenever he passes by several open-air wine shops in the south of the city, he will be greedy by the smell of wine and meat.
Can't help myself.
Zhang Zongyuan is a scholar. The most mentioned food in the book is wine and meat. He has eaten some meat, but not much, but he has never drunk wine. Whenever he wants to write a poem about wine, the inspiration is held in his mind and cannot be rushed.
come out.
On this day, Zhang Zongyuan went to the study to rent books, and happened to pass by a wine shop. This wine shop had a large pot set up in front of the door. The firewood under the pot was burning brightly, and the thick broth in the pot wafted out with an attractive aroma.
"This shop is so evil! Use this fragrant broth to attract customers! Spices must be added to it!" Zhang Zongyuan swallowed and pretended to pass by the wine shop. Although there was no expression on his face, his Adam's apple kept surging.
betrayed him.
A fat man with a sinewy face was stirring broth in front of the door. Suddenly he saw Zhang Zongyuan passing by in a hurry, and a sneer suddenly appeared on his face.
"Huh? Who is this? Mr. Zhang! What? Why don't you come to my place for a bowl of broth before leaving?" The fat man's tone was frivolous, his eyes were contemptuous, and he had bad intentions at first glance.
Zhang Zongyuan was trying his best to read various poems to suppress his greed, when he was suddenly stopped by the fat man and stood there in surprise.
"I...I don't want to drink soup, please get out of the way!" Zhang Zongyuan was frightened by the fat man's huge body and took a step back. He had been teased by the fat man several times, and every time he was disgraced. Today he was really in a hurry to borrow books and was late.
It might have been borrowed by someone else.
"Hmph! What are you doing here if you don't want to drink soup? My soup smells bad to you! Give me two coins as compensation!" The fat man showed a fierce face.
"Wha...what?" Zhang Zongyuan opened his mouth in surprise. He didn't expect that the fat man would become so aggressive and demand two coins from him just for smelling it.
Zhang Zongyuan touched his chest without leaving a trace. There was two coins of silver for renting books there, and there was no way he could give it to the fat man.
"What are you doing standing there? Why don't you get paid?"
The fat man took another step forward, and the saliva from his mouth sprayed all over Zhang Zongyuan's face. Zhang Zongyuan was horrified, and his hands involuntarily reached into his arms.
"for you!"
Zhang Zongyuan was cruel and threw the two coins to the fat man, then turned around and ran away. He knew that if he didn't run away, the fat man would think of various tricks to deal with him.
Without money, he couldn't rent books to read. Zhang Zongyuan walked alone to the river in the north of the city. Human traces were rare here. He heard that there were monsters. However, Liu Zheji had been here for several years and had never seen a monster.
Maybe even the monsters are too lazy to touch a poor boy like him, right?
Zhang Zongyuan smiled bitterly and sat by the long river. Whenever he was sad, he would sing his own poems here.
"I always hate that the world is unfair and the earth is not forgiving. It makes me miserable every time. It is unspeakable! It is unspeakable!"
Zhang Zongyuan hit his legs hard, buried his head in his knees and squatted down.
I don't know how long it took, but Zhang Zongyuan was woken up by a vicious mosquito bite. When he woke up, his eyes were still blurry, and there was a faint light of fire.
Flashing not far away, Zhang Zongyuan suddenly smelled a fragrant smell. The fragrance was ten thousand times more fragrant than the broth he had ever smelled. Zhang Zongyuan had never smelled such a fragrant smell. He rubbed it with his hands.
He opened his eyes, found his bearings and walked towards the direction of the fire.
Not far ahead, a whole wild boar was roasted golden on a fire. Zhang Zongyuan sat by the fire, his stomach growling incessantly, but his good upbringing still prevented him from stealing it. He was waiting.
The owner of the roasted wild boar had better be a heroic knight, so that he can be given a piece or two of pork, and maybe a sip or two of wine.
After thinking about it, Zhang Zongyuan fell asleep again. This time he was woken up by someone. A red figure blocked the wild boar's sight, making Zhang Zongyuan couldn't help but raise his head.
"What are you doing?"
The first thing he saw was a delicate chin, and her face was shrouded in darkness and it was difficult to see her face, but Zhang Zongyuan was sure that she was a woman, and she was also an extremely beautiful woman.
"I…"
When the woman opened her mouth, a stream of fragrant wind floated over from above. This scent was different from the scent of wild boar meat behind her. It could best be described as refreshing and intoxicating.
"nausea!"
The woman in front of him suddenly cursed, and then squatted down under Zhang Zongyuan's surprised eyes.
"Huh? You have a good skin, but you didn't expect that you are a pervert! Tell me! How many little girls have you harmed?"
The woman's face was very close to Zhang Zongyuan's. Zhang Zongyuan's face, which had never been in close contact with a woman, suddenly turned red. He subconsciously wanted to leave the other party, but he didn't expect to step back. His numb legs where he was sitting felt weak, and his upper body
He fell directly to the ground, and then there was a sharp pain in the back of his head, as if he had hit a stone. Zhang Zongyuan fainted from the trauma.
I don't know how long it took, Zhang Zongyuan woke up, and his first reaction was to touch his chest. When he found that it was empty, he immediately guessed that he had been robbed, but then he remembered that he had thrown the two coins to the fat man.
.
"What's so precious?"
A voice as crisp as an oriole sounded from beside Zhang Zongyuan. Zhang Zongyuan quickly turned his head. A girl in a red dress was looking at him flawlessly. She had a small piece of green grass in her mouth, and her big eyes were full of curiosity.
.
"I..." Zhang Zongyuan got stuck again.
"What are you? Are you stuttering? Can you tell me everything?" The girl frowned and looked very angry.
Zhang Zongyuan had only spoken one or two words to the bookstore owner's daughter, and he really didn't know what to say when he met such a beautiful girl.
"Nothing..." Zhang Zongyuan half-opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but gave up the idea and lowered his head and muttered.
"You are so boring!" The girl rolled her eyes at him, stood up and wanted to walk away. At this moment, Zhang Zongyuan's stomach suddenly made a gurgling sound. The girl's ears were very good, and she immediately heard that Zhang Zongyuan was very hungry.
"How long has it been since you've eaten?" The girl covered her mouth and laughed. She stood up and walked to the shelf nearby. Without seeing her move, she picked off a complete steak on a plate.
"Eat! Although it's a little cold, you should still be able to eat it." The girl stared at Zhang Zongyuan and handed Zhang Zongyuan a plate and a pair of chopsticks that appeared from nowhere.