Early the next morning, the weather was still gloomy, and it looked like it would rain at any time. Zhao Xiu was still thinking about Gao Zhen's side, but since she agreed to go out with her brother Zhao Wei, she still got dressed and got into the carriage and followed her brother to the Mingzhi Library.

Knowing that the library was close to Shichahai and the terrain was already low, Zhang was worried that if the rain was heavy, the house would be flooded, and the books in the house would be damaged. Fortunately, after Zhao Xiu moved in last year, she made some simple rectifications to the drainage facilities of the house, and after the three grandparents moved into the Hou Mansion, she took the opportunity to renovate the three houses and let the craftsmen dredge the sewers again. At that time, I just thought that this library was full of books, and water and fire were taboos, so all kinds of preventive measures had to be taken sufficiently, and several large clay tanks filled with water were placed in the courtyard, and the drainage pits in each courtyard should be dug deep enough. Except for some water in the corner of the backyard of the East Building, most parts of the library were not affected by heavy rain. Zhao Wei was glad in his heart, and instructed the foreman to pay attention to the renovation, so he was relieved.

Knowing that the library had basically completed the repair of the hardware at this time, the hired children and talents had already begun to sort out the boxes of books and put them on the shelves. The bamboo library card that Zhao Xiu ordered in advance was also made and delivered, as well as six index books, which were also neatly stacked in the wing room of the main courtyard of the library, waiting for the students to come and inquire at any time.

Zhao Xiu came to the wing room, opened one of the indexes and took a look, the handwriting on it was very familiar, it was written by her. This first index, which she compiled, served as an example for other hired readers, and made the rest of the indexes according to the format. She looked at the black and white letters, neat, delicate and energetic, and did not show the squeamishness of the boudoir, and she was very satisfied. Then I walked to one of the stacks and looked at the books that had been placed on the shelves, several of which she had copied, and at the bottom of the last page of the book, there was a paragraph of "Mingzhitang".

The name of the library is "Mingzhi", and all the books here have the imprint of "Mingzhishu Collection", but "Mingzhitang" is different from "Mingzhi Library". The employees in the library all knew that only the three ancestors and grandchildren of the Zhao family would use this payment, representing the real owner of the library. But Zhao Wei rarely uses this paragraph, he usually writes his name directly, and Zhang's never lets his pen and ink circulate outside, so in this library, there is only one copyist who will use this payment. Of course, in the eyes of the world, the pen and ink in the boudoir should not be leaked, but the girl did not sign her name, and the handwriting was not fat, the Zhao family did not mention it, what can outsiders say?

Zhao Xiu put the book back on the library and looked around, feeling quite accomplished. According to the type of books in the house, at least one hundred and eighty books were copied by her own hand, no worse than any one of the employees. Who says women are inferior to men?

Zhao Xiu wanted to go to the inner room with a smile on his face, but suddenly caught a glimpse of a faint figure behind the bamboo screen at the end of the room, it seemed to be a man, writing something on the desk. She blinked, quietly turned and walked out.

It's really strange, their brother and sister came to inspect today, and all the employees were talking to Zhao Wei outside, she thought that there should be no talent in the room here, how could there be a fish that slipped through the net? Fortunately, she found out in time and didn't meet her.

Out of the house, Zhao Xiu stood under the porch, saw that Zhao Wei had finished instructing the employees, and walked over to meet her: "How is it?" Do they have a neat book? But do it according to your ideas? ”

Zhao Xiu nodded: "They did a good job." After a pause, he leaned over and whispered, "There is still someone in the house, it's a man, and it startles me." But he didn't seem to notice I was in. ”

Zhao Wei was surprised, and hurriedly entered the house, and after a while, there was a very hearty sound of him and others laughing. Zhao Xiu listened to the movement outside the window and found that the person in the room turned out to be an acquaintance, and it was Shang Qiong, who had a relationship with her. I have long heard Zhao Wei say that Shang Qiong has recently become interested in the collection of books in the Mingzhi Library, and comes to borrow them almost every day. Because Zhao Wei asked him for teaching, he opened the door to him. Since he is not an employee of the library, there is naturally no need for the boss to come out to greet him. I'm afraid that his whole person is immersed in the ocean of knowledge, if Zhao Wei hadn't gone in to say hello, when their brother and sister left, he wouldn't have known that they had ever come.

Zhao Wei also knew Shang Qiong's temper, and after saying hello, he said a few words casually, and he came out. He smiled at Zhao Xiu and said, "Brother Shang has been coming every day lately. There was a small cubicle in it, which I had for myself. When I need to check books and review my homework, I come here. Brother Shang is now reading in that cubicle. I was negligent and didn't notice him in the house. ”

Zhao Xiu said in his heart, and he didn't care, he just asked: "The weather is gloomy, if there is nothing to do, should we go to Fang's house next, or go back to the Hou Mansion?" ”

Zhao Wei thought for a while: "Let's go to Fang's house first." It's just a condolence in the past, if there is a mourning hall, it means an incense, if not, forget it, it won't be delayed for much time. ”

Zhao Xiu responded, and the brother and sister left the library, and it began to drizzle. Zhao Xiu was afraid that his brother would catch a cold and get sick when riding a horse in the rain, so he let him get into the carriage as well. The two took a car to the street where the Fang family lived, and found that it was quiet, almost no pedestrians passed by, and the doors of every house were closed. Under the eaves of Fang Yishan's house, the fourth master, a white lantern was hung, and the couplet at the door was also replaced with white paper, but other than that, there was no other sign of mourning. If there is a mourning hall, at least there will be chanting, and the door of the main house will be wide open to welcome guests who come to the door to offer condolences.

However, considering that Fang Yishan died an undignified death, and his wife and children did not know whether they had come out of prison or not, Zhao Xiu could also understand the Fang family's unwanted. She hesitated for a moment before asking Zhao Wei: "Brother, seeing that the street is so deserted, if you, the Marquis of Jiannan, show up, I'm afraid it will be too eye-catching." Although you haven't entered the court yet, you are also a nobleman with a knighthood, and you have a place in the court, so don't cause any trouble. Why don't you let me go alone? You stay in the carriage and don't come out. When I'm done, let's go home together? ”

Zhao Wei was also a little hesitant. He is the Marquis of Jiannan, and his appearance in the Fang family is different from the appearance of his daughters in the Fang family. He didn't have much friendship with the Fang family, so there was no need to cause criticism for the Fang family. So he agreed to his sister's suggestion, the carriage drove to the front of the Fang family's mansion, parked on the side of the road, and the mother-in-law took Zhao Xiu off with an umbrella, Zhao Wei didn't even show his face, continued to sit in the carriage, and turned out a famous anthology that had just been brought out of the library, and looked at it through the light outside the window.

Zhao Xiu entered the gate of the Fang family, and Mrs. Fang and Fang Renzhu, who got the news, had already come out of the second door. It was raining, and they simply shuddered, and hurried into the flower hall. Mrs. Fang seemed to be very moved that Zhao Xiu still dared to come to Fang's house at such a time, and choked up and said, "Thank you." Zhao Xiu could only say some comforting words dryly to make her feel at ease.

Mrs. Fang sighed: "The clansmen have caused such a catastrophe, we have not been implicated, and we are already the emperor's grace. I don't know how many times I have incense in front of my ancestors, and I am grateful for their blessings. If you can't relax like this, how can you live this life? ”

Fang Yishan's case was quickly tried, and his disposal came down, he himself was dead, so naturally there was nothing to say, but dismissal was inevitable. Fortunately, he had already split up, so he was the only one affected, and the rest of the Fang family was not implicated. His wife and children were sentenced to exile, and the place was not too remote, in Duanzhou, Lingnan. Domestic servants were not included in the ranks. Most of his family's subordinates were hired or tenant farmers on the village, but now they have dispersed, and the house slaves have been taken away by the government, and the clansmen have helped to take care of the funeral for the past two days. His body was returned by the government, and the Fang family complained about him in their hearts, and there were also those who were afraid of getting into trouble, and they didn't want to cause trouble, so they found that the cause of his death was different from the official announcement, and no one brought it up. Everyone just thought that they would simply handle his funeral, fulfill the obligations of the clan, and leave the rest to the descendants or his family.

Mrs. Fang and Third Master Fang had already come forward to inquire, but the government had not yet nodded and said when Fang Yishan's family could be redeemed, so the Fang family could not redeem Mrs. Fang's mother and son for the time being. However, considering that the place where they were exiled was Duanzhou, it was not a remote and poor place, although the road was far away, but the clansmen could make some money to make some money, which could also make their mother and son suffer less, so the clan was not very worried. Mrs. Fang took the opportunity to show her clansmen that she was willing to contribute to this, but she earned back a lot of impression points for her heirs. The prestige of the descendants in the clan is also gradually showing signs of recovery.

Naturally, Mrs. Fang would not talk to Zhao Xiu as an outsider, so after a brief chat, she smiled and said, "I know that you girls must have a lot of private things to say, and I won't hinder you, go to Ren'er's house." I'll have someone bring refreshments in a moment. ”

Zhao Xiu and Fang Renzhu looked at each other and smiled, got up and saluted Mrs. Fang together, and said goodbye.

They went to Fang Renzhu's house. Fang Renzhu seems to be in good spirits, and his mood is not bad. She has changed into plain homely clothes, and wants to wear "hemp" for Fang Yishan, the clan uncle, for three months. Although three months is short, it is inconvenient to have fun within the time limit, so she can't participate in the small party that Zhao Xiu has scheduled in advance. In the same way, Cao Luo has to serve her uncle for five months of "small work", and she can't participate. Zhao Xiu thought to himself, two of them couldn't come to the small gathering of four people, so they simply canceled it.

Fang Renzhu persuaded her: "There is another Jiang girl." I heard that Miss Jiang lives in Tianjin on weekdays, and it is rare to return to Beijing once, since you are good friends with her, how can you snub her for the sake of Cousin Cao and me? You just have to joke with her, Cousin Cao and I know that our friends are happy, and our hearts will be happy. ”

Zhao Xiu thought about it, so he smiled and said, "Okay, when you get out of the service and go back to Beijing, I'll invite you two to play again." ”

Fang Renzhu pursed her lips and nodded with a smile.

Zhao Xiu asked about Fang Huizhu's marriage: "If you want to serve filial piety, you must have to postpone the marriage." Do you plan to go to Jining first and come back in a few months to get married, or do you want to wait until the marriage is over and then go to Jining? ”

Fang Renzhu replied: "Mother means that we will go to Jining in advance, and when the Qiu family resets the date, it will not be too late for us to come back for a happy event." Mother has ordered someone to send a letter to Mrs. Meishanbo, but I don't know when there will be a response from his family. She was still a little embarrassed when she said it: "Previously, because our family wanted to have a happy event earlier, I asked the Qiu family if they could advance the wedding date, and his family agreed without saying a word." Now our family is saying that they will postpone the wedding for three months...... It seems that there is some intention to backtrack, although it is a last resort, but I still can't help it. I hope the Qiu family doesn't blame it. ”

Zhao Xiu smiled: "How can they blame? This is also the proper number of courtesies. ”

While he was talking, a girl suddenly came from outside the courtyard gate and hurriedly entered the main house. It was Fang Huizhu's room. Zhao Xiu saw it, and had some doubts in his heart, but Fang Renzhu was very embarrassed: "The girls are rude, don't blame my sister." Zhao Xiu smiled and shook his head: "It's nothing, was that your sister's girl just now?" What's going on? ”

Fang Renzhu didn't know either, but then, she saw Fang Huizhu walk out of the house with a big change in her face and hurriedly walked out of the yard with the two girls. Fang Renzhu hurriedly got up and walked to the door, and Zhao Xiu also followed.

The girls under the porch were whispering. Fang Renzhu asked, "What's wrong?" ”

Nanshan walked over from outside the main house and lowered his voice: "Just now, the eldest girl's girl came to report, saying that Mrs. Meishan Bo is here." ”

Fang Renzhu frowned: "What's so strange about this?" ”

Nanshan shook his head: "Girl, it's very strange. Mrs. Meishan Bo came to tell our wife, can you not postpone the wedding date and do the happy event according to the original date? She said that their family didn't care if the big girl had clothes on her. ”

Fang Renzhu and Zhao Xiu were both taken aback.