Jia Zheng arrived in Jinling, first to the old house, worshiped the ancestors, and saw a cadre of elders in the clan, the clan knew that he was a good son, since he only had the share of welcome, not only set up a sumptuous feast to entertain, but also Yin Yin to keep him to live with everyone, but Jia Zheng suspected that many people were not good at studying quietly, so he rented a small courtyard in a quiet street two streets away from the old house.

As the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, Jinling is extremely prosperous, and there are many talents and elites. Jia Zheng lived for a few days, has made friends with several readers, every day to drink tea and talk, chant poetry, and every time he wins, his heart is very comfortable, he is so uncomfortable, the only regret is that he listened to his brother's words for a while and was angry and did not bring a talented and good-looking maid, and when he was reading at night, there was no one around him with red sleeves to add fragrance, and there was no interest in talking about poetry and lyrics to the little guys can only be more disappointing.

There is a person named Li Li who has befriended Jia Zheng, who is the most in line with his temper, and after knowing Jia Zheng's regrets, he said: "Brother Zheng's vision is so high, there are countless talented beauties in Jinling, and beauties like Jade Girl are not uncommon, aren't these people able to enter the eyes of Brother Zheng?" ”

Jia Zheng hurriedly waved his hand: "Brother Li doesn't need to say much, fireworks and willow lane, is it a place where we and other scholars can go?" ”

Li Li laughed: "What's so difficult about this, the younger brother knows that the political brother is clean and has a good character, and he must be reluctant to go to the land of flowers and willows, but the younger brother has other countermeasures, and the political brother will wait for a few days, and the political brother will fulfill his wish." ”

One night half a month later, Li Li really set up a banquet and invited Jia Zheng to go, and after three rounds of drinking, Li Li called his subordinates: "Please Miss Xuanxuan to come." ”

It seems that they have been prepared for a long time, and soon the old women helped out a beauty from the courtyard, wearing a small red cotton jacket, a green embroidered eight-panel skirt, and a fox fur cloak with white hair.

Jia Zheng felt that he was disrespectful, and he wanted to avoid it in surprise, Li Li pointed to the beauty and smiled: "Brother Zheng doesn't need to panic, this woman's surname is Jiang Mingxuan, and she doesn't know anything about piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, no poetry and songs, it turns out that she is also an official eunuch, but the family has to plan to be a small star with people, and the younger brother happens to be looking for a beauty for Brother Zheng, so he got this woman for eight hundred taels of silver, and Brother Zheng is also a famous family, isn't it a destined marriage, today Eighteen is suitable to marry, and the younger brother has become a good thing for Brother Zheng." ”

After that, Li Li ordered someone to change a red dress for Jia Zheng, helped Jiang Xuan to Jia Zheng's side, congratulated the two with wine, and called Jiang Xuan "little sister-in-law". Jiang Xuan was silent shyly, and Jia Zheng excused himself and said: "I understand Brother Li's kindness, but I already have a main room at home, how can I ・・・・・?"

Li Li interrupted him: "Brother Zheng is too worried, talented and beautiful, a match made in heaven, Brother Zheng is missing a beautiful woman like a sister-in-law, and the sister-in-law is going to be a concubine with someone, Brother Zheng has someone around him to wait, and saves the sister-in-law from falling into such a vulgar merchant house to suffer, isn't it also a great merit; As for Brother Zheng's family, when Brother Zheng's gold list is named next year, he will return with beauty, and Ling Zun Lingtang will not object to his sister-in-law's meritorious service. ”

Jia Zheng didn't want to excuse himself, but he just made a show, and after listening to Li Li's words, he felt reasonable, and asked Jiang Xuan a few words in a low voice, Jiang Xuan spoke well to the answer, and Jia Zheng felt that it was very agreeable, so he excused himself twice and said: "Brother Li is good, the younger brother has received it, but I can't let Brother Li break the bank." Immediately called the little servant Zhao San to fetch eighty taels of gold to Li Li, Li Li smiled and said: "The silver of the younger brother is also the silver of the political brother, why should the political brother be so anxious, now that the curfew is not allowed to go out, the political brother only Gao Le does not have to worry." So he just toasted Jia Zheng, and set up a banquet to reward Jia Zheng's servant, and Jia Zheng rested at Li's house that night.

The next day, for fear of being seen, Jia Zheng took Jiang Xuan back to his yard early in the morning, and sent Zhao San to Li Li to send eighty taels of gold and fifty taels of silver as a reward.

After more than ten days like this, the Li family sent a grandmother to visit, and after the grandmother left, Jiang Xuan frowned, and said to Jia Zheng: "When the concubine was in the Li family, she was taken care of by a grandmother, and now I heard that the grandmother is seriously ill and is in danger, and the grace of dripping water must be reciprocated by a spring, and please let me go back to see my grandmother." ”

Jia Zheng agreed, so when it was almost night, a sedan chair sent Jiang Xuan back to Li's house, who knew that Jiang Xuan didn't come back until the curfew, Jia Zheng and others only rested at Li's house when she missed the hour, but the next day there was no one on the day, and then sent a small servant to find it, only to see that the courtyard of the Li family was empty and furnished, only the two small maids who were sent to escort Jiang Xuan yesterday and the two old women who were recruited to do rough work in Jinling were tied like a zongzi under the steps, and they were unconscious.

There is a gatehouse keeper in the courtyard rented by Jia Zheng, and after listening to the description of the little guys on the left sentence "strange" and the right sentence "strange", he said: "Your son has met a liar, Jinling is prosperous, and there are many liars, there is a special kind of person J □ J Skinny Horse, deceived the buyer and said that the woman of a good family is in trouble to be a concubine with someone, and when she gets the money and earns enough oil and water, she takes an excuse to take the skinny horse back, and she goes lightly and skillfully, and the government generally can't track it down." Your son-in-law's family seems to be rich and powerful, so why don't you write a post and ask the people in the government to vigorously pursue it, or you can recover the money. ”

Where did Jia Zheng dare to publicize such a thing, he could only knock out his teeth and swallow it in his stomach, only as if the eight hundred taels of silver were lost. It doesn't matter if the money is lost, the money given to him by his wife has never been less, but he has never encountered such a thing, and he is angry and ashamed to suffer a little cold, the little guys are busy seeking medical advice, and the clansmen have also come to visit, Jia Zheng only ordered his subordinates to keep their mouths shut, Jiang Xuan's matter can't be revealed a word, and the little guys also know that they must have suffered from this incident, so they never mentioned it.

Jia Zheng's illness lasted until the first month, and after the family learned about it, he kept sending people to send money and things, and Shi Shi couldn't wait to come by himself. When he got better, the time for the Tongsheng exam was approaching, during Jia Zheng's illness, the little guys didn't dare to let him spend too much energy, and the books naturally didn't read much, Jinling is a place where talents gather, and there are many masters, and his level is not high, so when he waits for the exam, it is natural that he will fall off the list.

After falling off the list, Jia Zheng fell seriously ill again, and when he returned to the capital, it was nearly May, and his brother's return to his hometown was just the opposite, he couldn't wait for the road from Jinling to the capital to be completed in his life.

The subordinates of Rongguo Mansion still remember the big trouble that could not be spoken to outsiders before, although Shi Shi issued a gag order, but because of some subtle thoughts, it was not completely blocked, so now there are some whispers among the subordinates:

"Have you heard, the second master is off the list."

"I know this, my wife said that she was not allowed to mention this matter in front of the second master."

"Hey, I didn't expect that even the second master would fall off the list, and my wife told the second grandmother that the second master would definitely come back with three yuan and the first to earn a life for the second grandmother."

"What is the second master will fall off the list, have you forgotten, the uncle once beat the second master because the second master couldn't answer the question, think about it, how good can it be if you can't even answer the uncle's question?"

"Shhh・・・・・・h

"Although it doesn't sound good, but this is the truth, the uncle scolded the second master at the time for not learning and not knowing, and now it will be proved."

"It seems that too, the second master is almost twenty, and my aunt's sister-in-law's niece's neighbor's son has passed the Xiucai exam at the age of fourteen・・・・・・"

Similar gossip quietly circulated between the inner and outer courtyards, Jia Zheng heard one or two times by chance, and was so ashamed that he hid in his yard for several days and didn't dare to go out, and even Jia Qiong's Zhou Rite didn't dare to attend, so he rested in his yard under the pretext of illness. Shi Shi put a lot of effort into making those gossip disappear.

After August, Jia Jing from Ningguofu passed the township examination and won the promotion, and I heard that the next branch was promising, and the people of the two provinces were honored, beating gongs and drums to celebrate, and the joy of celebration was heard in the ears of Jia Zheng here, it was like a needle piercing his heart, so the "weak" Jia Zheng fell ill again.

Jia Daihua said to Jia Daishan: "The three children of the literary generation look very good, you and I don't have to worry about the follow-up of the family." ”

Jia Daishan was mixed, happy for Jia Jing, and worried about his beloved son, who was also a literati but had a delicate body: "Jing'er is a good one, and Yu'er is okay, but Zheng'er, I am sick for half of this year, and I can't do well in the exam, how can this be good." ”

Jia Daihua said: "He is still young, taking care of his body is a big deal, and the exam is not in a hurry, didn't Jing'er also take the exam twice." ”

Jia Daishan thought about it - he didn't know why Jia Zheng was sick before, he thought it was just a cold, so he couldn't bear to scold his beloved son, Jia Zheng saw his father's attitude, and the "illness" slowly got better.

I don't know if the feng shui is not good this year, at the end of November of this year, Jia Daishan was also infected with wind and cold, he has always been healthy, the disease is menacing, and it is difficult to get up, but fortunately, the imperial doctor sent by the palace has superb medical skills to alleviate the condition, and only told Jia Yu that Jia Daishan needs to rest and recuperate, don't work.

And with his father's illness, Jia Yu became more and more nervous day by day. On December 21, the eldest son of Zhao Ge of the Zhao family, the prince's mother, came to visit Jia Daishan, and Jia Yu came forward to entertain him, but he accepted the generous gifts brought by the Zhao family, but as soon as the Zhao family left, Jia Yu immediately ordered someone to seal the gift, and no one was allowed to use it.

On the night of December 25, Jia Yu did not sleep for a long time, and when he waited until about the third watch, he put on his clothes and walked out of the courtyard, and it was not surprising to see that the sky in the direction of the palace was reflected red by firelight.

On December 25, the thirty-ninth year of the Xi Dynasty, the prince rebelled.