When the sunlight moves up from Xijindu inch by inch, the city by the water is gradually waking up from its deep sleep, first the white smoke curling from the early shops, the fragrance of tofu brain and xiaolongbao, then the sound of the unloading latches of the shops, the tired sound of the people yawning half-asleep, and the long shouts of the early flat hawkers in the streets and alleys, one by one crossing the layers of gray walls of the courtyard of the deep houses in the south of the city, waking up the people living in the low houses.

When Xie Funing put on his robe and fastened his belt and walked out of the door, the entire Xie Mansion woke up, the kitchen was tinkling with fires to make breakfast for the old ladies and young masters and young ladies in each room, and the servants who were doing rough work unloaded the latches of the large and small doors in the house. The morning light was still faint, he was busy sorting out his clothes, and kept walking to the kitchen yard: "Aquatic, is Aquatic?"

A young man about thirteen or fourteen years old ran out of the middle of the air, wearing a short coat of dark cyan burlap, his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, a hemp rope was tightly tied around his waist, he was holding a radish in his hand, with a smile on his face, and ran to Xie Funing in the blink of an eye: "Uncle Ning." ”

Xie Funing smiled, the corners of his eyes were wrinkled, and he looked at the young man in front of him in the morning light: "Not bad, I am wearing the right board today." ”

"It's not that the second master in the capital is coming today, but you can't be more upright, and you can't embarrass our house. Shui Sheng laughed as well, revealing a mouthful of clear white teeth. Zhenjiang is beautiful, and the people who raise it are beautiful one by one, "Uncle Ning, you came here to arrange a big banquet at noon, didn't you?"

"Yes, the second master has not been back to Zhenjiang for ten years, we can't just come according to our taste, I pondered for half a night last night, the previous recipe is gone, you go to the street and call Uncle Yang, let's discuss a new set." ”

"Alas, you wait. The aquatic student agreed, turned around and ran away.

The Xie family is a well-known family in the south of the Yangtze River, entrenched in Zhenjiang for generations, several generations longer than this dynasty, according to folk words, in the officialdom of Jiangsu, the words of the eldest master of the Xie family are more effective than the words of the emperor. With such a force, it is no wonder that Xie Fu has always been peaceful, and never considered reaching outside.

But when it comes to the Xie family's Dao generation, there is a little different, the second master Xie Daoyong was only eight years old when he was young, and when he was twenty years old, he won the Huiyuan of the current exam in one fell swoop. can be placed in the Xie family, and this fame must be weighed carefully. The eldest lord said that the Xie family is simply a soil emperor in Zhenjiang, if he is honest and peaceful, the emperor in the capital can still turn a blind eye, raise his noble hand and let it go, if he is not honest, he has to stretch his hand out, and the consequences will be uncertain.

But the second master felt that more than 200 years had passed since the founding of the country at this time, and the people above the golden ladder were no longer Prince Yu who had negotiated terms with the Xie family ancestor back then, and the Long Live Lord in the Forbidden City today probably had forgotten which family their Xie family was. Sticking to a ridiculous thing that has been followed by rules for two hundred years, except for the Xie family, no family can do it.

That year, the second master and his father and brother had a very stiff quarrel, although in the end he still had a burden to go to Beijing to catch the exam, but since then, the eldest master is like not having this younger brother at all, not a penny of silver is given, not a letter is written, even if the second master finally graduated from high school, the eldest master is not his own family for this happy event.

Xie Funing thought about the old things and sighed again. The second master has never been home in these years, who knows what he has become, and what is he coming back for this time, since the second master dragged someone to send a message saying that he wanted to go home half a month ago, the entire Xie Mansion is like a great enemy, and everyone is concerned.