The tea mat shed of the Zhang family is not large, and only three wooden tables have been set up. Sang Xiu and her maid were at the same table, and two passers-by who were drinking tea and taking a break occupied a table, Shang Cheng and Sang Xiu nodded and sat down at the empty table. He pressed the crumpled robe against the stool, beckoned Duan Si and said, "That's it." ”

Duan Si and the three are all military men, and there are often things in the military to eat with a cauldron and grab food, so they are not like civilian officials who are subordinate to each other in everything, and they have been with Shang Cheng for a long time, knowing his temperament, he is naturally not taboo, and he quietly examines the surrounding movements, and they all sit around with a smile. The two guards pulled Zhang Xiao to inquire about what to eat and drink, Duan Si put down his coat, grabbed a handful of chopsticks and stacked them on the table twice to compare the length of the two, first put a pair in front of Shang Cheng, and asked with a smile: "My lord, is that her?" ”

Shang Cheng was drinking water from a pottery bowl, but he didn't react in a hurry, and asked rhetorically, "What?" ”

Duan Si grinned: "I mean, what you want to ask for is that bearded girl, right?" ”

This time, Shang Cheng heard clearly. He glanced sideways at Duan Si and ignored it.

While talking, the restaurant brought a large pot of steaming beef in sauce, and Zhang Xiao's mother-in-law put her own dishes on the table, vinegared garlic, salt mixed with shallots, boiled soybeans in salted water and miso sauerkraut...... There is also a large plate of cut salted eggs, and there is also a large table. Zhang Xiao poured a large bowl of blue and white liquor again, and placed one in front of one person in front of Wuli's red black pottery bowl. Shang Cheng was already a little hungry, and he couldn't drink, seeing that Duan Si and them were still drinking vigorously, and they felt greedy, so they simply rolled the nasal fragrant chicken fat pancakes with meat and vegetables, shook off his cheeks and munched on them, swallowed six or seven pancakes in a blink of an eye, wiped his mouth and said, "I've eaten well." Let's not rush back, you eat and drink your slowly. I went to talk to the boss. Another chopstick, green onion, thrown into his mouth, squeaky and chewed, put down the chopsticks and praised loudly: "Ah! The little brother is a blessed person, and the sister-in-law's craftsmanship is really good! There's garlic juice in these shallots, right? Refreshing! ”

Zhang Xiaozheng accompanied Sang Xiu to speak without a word, and when he saw him get up and leave his seat, he quickly stood up and said with a smile: "My lord, come and sit here." "I wiped the stool with a rag, poured the tea soup for Shang Cheng again, and handed over the fork fan." I just heard from Miss Xiu that I realized that you were not a merchant......"

Shang Cheng laughed: "I never said that I was a businessman. ”

"Yes, yes, yes." Zhang Xiao nodded again and again, stood beside Shang Cheng and took a broken fan to shake the wind for him, and continued with a smile, "Old guest...... Your Excellency, you never said it, I was dazzled and misunderstood. I also saw that you and the shopkeeper of Liu Ji Warehouse are commensurate with each other, and the relationship is very close, so I mistakenly thought that you were also a wealthy businessman who passed through the state. Who knew you would ......"

Shang Cheng nodded, looked over the roof on the other side of the road, and stared fixedly at the thin shallow clouds under the blue sky, and only after a while did he sigh and say with a smile: "Me and the third brother of the high school...... It is Liu Ji's senior shopkeeper, we are fellow villagers. ”

Zhang Xiao became more and more respectful, and said with a smile: "This is what Miss Xiu told me just now, you are also from our Huo family in Yanshan Yi County." ”

Shang Cheng glanced at Sang Xiu, who was obviously a little distracted, smiled, and didn't excuse himself.

“…… To be honest, when I first saw the adult, I felt that the adult was not an ordinary person, who knew that the adult was actually ...... It's an adult. I'm still confused in front of me, according to the appearance and behavior of an adult, my identity must not be lower than that of a high shopkeeper, but it's strange, but I can't remember the name of an adult. Supposedly, I am more or less a well-informed person in Yanzhou City, how can I not know when our Yanshan has a big businessman? It's a shame that Miss Xiu is here with me today, otherwise I don't know when it will be ...... in this confusion."

Zhang Xiao's mouth was full of flattering words, although he didn't say it properly, Shang Cheng could also listen to it with his mouth open and laugh, shook the pu fan loudly, and asked Zhang Xinhua: "This is the tea shop you opened, right?" Well done, how do you think of quitting the work in the city? ”

Zhang Xiao refilled Shang Cheng's bowl with tea soup, and poured it into Sang Xiu's bowl, and then said: "This tea shop was originally my brother and sister-in-law's business. I didn't plan to quit my job in the city. …… As you know, in recent years, the drought in Yanshan has become more and more severe, and the drought-stricken places have become more and more southern, and it is becoming more and more difficult to dig roads in the soil. Our family's land is scarce, and we have always been tenants of other people's land to do work; In the year when the wind and rain were good, I went to the tenant rent and paid taxes, and the remaining grain was made up for a year, and it could more or less last for the next year. But the drought will not work. So after the autumn harvest last year, my brother discussed with me that he planned to give the land to others, collect some rent money for himself, and find other things to do. No, he just got up with this thought, Liu Ji Warehouse changed owners, and the high shopkeeper was promoted to the big shopkeeper of the warehouse, so I told him to pay attention to a job for my brother......"

After listening to it for a long time, Shang Cheng still didn't understand, Zhang Xiao's brother went to Liu Ji to be a buddy, what does this have to do with Zhang Xiao's resignation and going home?

"My home is in the village. I live with my daughter. Zhang Xiao said, "My brother still has three dolls, and my mother's legs and feet are not good." Not only have to take care of the elderly, but also take care of the small ones, and also guard the tea shop, relying on the two women is really a bit busy. So as soon as my brother and I made up the plan, I asked him to go to the storehouse to do some work, and I came back so that I could take care of the shop and the house. ”

The merchant wanted to say that you should go to the warehouse if you have eloquence and will come to something, but when he saw Zhang Xiao's lean body, he took back his words. He has been with caravans and packers, and he knows all the hardships and hardships involved...... He smiled and said, "Then how is your brother doing in the warehouse?" Is there anything I can help with? If there is a difficulty, just say. I know my senior brother very well, and I don't know how many times we have eaten together when we were in Huojiabao. Every time he comes home, he will come and sit with me. ”

Zhang Xiao narrowed his eyes and smiled, and said, "The old guest has this heart, but there is no difficulty at the moment. I would also like to say a big thank you. Speaking of which, my tea shop is also stained with the light of the warehouse. As long as it is a caravan walking south of the warehouse, passing by here, even if you are not tired, you have to rest. Don't hide it from the old customers, at the moment Liu Ji is one of the top two merchants in our Yanshan, they often come and go here, and the business of my tea shop is getting better and better......"

Shang Cheng pursed his lips and nodded. That's what he believes. Gao Xiaosan is a person who values affection and righteousness, even if Zhang Xiao and him only have a nod in the tea shop, as long as he needs help, he will always try his best to help.

He asked, "Have you rented out your land?" ”

When it came to the land, Zhang Xiao's expression immediately became a little gloomy. He shook his head and said, "Many people around here are thinking of giving up their land, so I haven't found anyone to rent my land." ”

"What then? Are you planting? Shang Cheng asked. He was a little skeptical that Zhang Xiao had the ability and physical strength. Looking at Zhang Xiao's mother-in-law, she doesn't look like a woman working in the field with thin arms and legs. Maybe it's Zhang Xiao's sister-in-law who is planting......

"I sowed the seeds in the spring, and I didn't care about it." Zhang Xiao lowered his eyebrows, sighed and said, "There was a drought the year before last year, and this year the soil strength is not enough; Today's drought is even more severe, and it is estimated that no matter how hard it takes, it will be difficult to have a good harvest...... My brother went to the warehouse to work, and with my small body, I had no hope of digging in the land. My sister-in-law and my woman don't make it either. The road in the field, turning the soil, plowing, manure, watering, which is not heavy physical work? ”

Shang Cheng was silent for a while and asked, "Then in this village, how many farmers like you are?" One by one, I mean, people who don't have to work hard when they sow seeds, aren't they? ”

"Not much." Zhang Xiaobitter smiled and said, "Not every family is like ours. But there are also people who go out to do things, and this year there are more than in previous years. He pondered what Shang Cheng meant, as if he was asking about the exact situation, so he added, "In previous years, there were people who went out to do things, and it was generally because there was a lot of labor at home and nothing to do; This year, some people who are short of labor also have people who go out to find things to do. I estimate that about three or four out of ten people in the whole village have people working outside. ”

Shang Cheng stopped talking. Encouraging peasant households to work hard and persuading and stopping people from running to the city to collect work is the "Zunben Zhenfu" mentioned in the proclamation "Re-persuading Nongsangwen" by the scholar Zhu Xuan. Obviously, in this regard, the actual situation in Yanshan is contrary to the proclamation of the imperial court. It seems that if he wants to improve Yanshan's agriculture and let people eat their bellies, there are still many specific difficulties waiting for him......

"My lord, there is something, I don't know if I can do it, can I ...... it" Sang Xiu, who had been listening to them beside him, suddenly asked at this time.

Shang Cheng turned his head to look at her and said with a smile, "What's the matter with you?" I've already said it, the two of us are actually relatives, you don't have to open your mouth and shut up so much. ”

Of course, Sang Xiu couldn't take Shang Cheng's words seriously. She is still a happy member, but what she is in front of her is a seven-grade official of the imperial court, how dare she not distinguish between the upper and lower levels? Of course, it is not uncommon for there to be a respected kabuki who were born in a school, but they are only a very small minority, and many more people always remember their identity one by one: they are kabuki, they are dancers, they are lingren, and they are piano girls...... They can talk about poetry and decrees with dignitaries and dignitaries in the tea shop, or they can talk about the ancient and modern, and it is not impossible to introduce each other as confidants in interest, but there is one, the word "confidant" can only be promoted by the guests, it is a romantic story, but they can only humbly push it to the guests, otherwise, even if the guests do not say anything, the teaching workshop will not let them go, and the small ones are strictly reprimanded, and the heavy ones are whipped and admonished, and the things that write off the cards are also heard from time to time......

She lowered her gaze, hesitating to know what to say.

She was a little distracted, and her thoughts seemed to be out of the tent for a long time......

At the end of last month, she returned to the state city and immediately went to the state capital to do her business of leaving the music family. She had thought that this should not be difficult. First, she carried with her the divorce documents issued to her by Shangjing Neiyuan, and secondly, she also brought all her savings over the years; She thought that even if someone in the workshop wanted to embarrass her, she could spend money to buy a safe and smooth life. Yanzhou Jiaofang didn't make it difficult for her at all. The exodus of the kabuki and dancers is a major event and happy event in their lives, and if it is not a deep hatred that cannot be resolved, who is willing to damage yin virtue in this kind of thing? But she handed over the paperwork, paid the city currency, and returned the painting card, but in the end she couldn't get back her deed, it was really unfortunate that she came, and the clerk in charge of the contract in the workshop had just gone to Quzhou on business.

She had no choice but to find a hotel in the city and rent a room to live in first. Fortunately, the formalities for her dissolution of the deed have been completed, and the official document that allowed her to get back the deed is also in her hands, as long as the person who does the work comes back, she can immediately get rid of the identity of Kabuki. She had to go to the church almost every morning and evening to see if the clerk had come back; The rest of the time she stayed anxiously in the inn and waited, for fear that she would miss the return of the errand. Because she was worried that things would be long at night and there would be some terrible changes, in those more than ten days, she was so anxious that she couldn't eat anything, she couldn't sleep well at night, and she was listless all day long.

Three days ago, she heard that the official had returned, so she immediately took the official document and ran to redeem her deed. Because she was so excited, she even forgot that she still had a carriage, but ran all the way from Xicheng to the Teaching Workshop Division.

The person who told the news didn't lie to her, and the person in charge of the contract did come back, but before she could see the person, she was invited to the public office by the manager of the sect first. She was keenly aware at that time that something must have gone wrong—the three chief and deputy stewards of the workshop had arrived, and there were two people she didn't know...... When she entered the public office, she was about to cry. But what happened next was different from what she expected. The three stewards and the two strangers did not say anything terrible to her, but chatted with her with a pleasant face, asking her if she had a good life in Yanzhou in the past few years, and asking her about her various experiences in Beijing, and what she would do after she left the country. She was completely confused by them, and she was also a little frightened - when they talked to her, they not only gave her a seat, but also poured her a bowl of tea, and repeatedly called herself a "lower official" in the conversation......

She didn't know what they wanted to ask, so she could only deal with it carefully and seriously, and if she knew, she would say she knew, and if she didn't know, she would say she didn't know. Until the steward asked her master Sang Aiai, and asked if Sang Aiai was acting as a matchmaker for her beloved apprentice, she was still ignorant. At that time, she thought that these people were going to deal with the Huo family, so she was very surprised in her heart for a long time, one by one, she felt that these people were really bold, and they dared to find the Huo family! At the same time, she also felt very afraid that these people would dare to go against the Huo family, no need to ask, there must be a lot of dependence behind them! And at that time, the five people all looked at her with expectant eyes, which made her heart full of fear and trepidation......

Although she knew that once she told the truth, the consequences might be unimaginable, but she still denied being a matchmaker. She told them that she had indeed visited the master in Huofu a few days ago; But Huo Chengcheng was detained in the Patrol Department because of a big case, and her master didn't have the heart to talk to her, so she sat for a while and left. Huo Gong's case has not yet been finally decided, and the Huo family is panicked, how could her master be a matchmaker for her at such a time?

By the time she said this, she was ready to be locked up. She was so frightened that her hands and feet were a little disobedient, and she even spoke intermittently. But she told the truth anyway. She thought that even if she was to go to prison, she couldn't lie; Besides, the master and Huo Gong are kind to her. If people are ungrateful, aren't they even worse than pigs and dogs?

As she expected, the faces of the five officials all became disappointed after hearing her words. The room was silent for a long time, and the steward suddenly asked her, is she familiar with General Shang, the commander of Yanshan?

She was even more scared. She thought these people were crazy! Could it be that these people have all eaten bear heart and tiger guts, and they dare to go to the trouble of the mortal Wu Quxing?

She still shook her head, saying that she had never known her. She was telling the truth. She really didn't know the Admiral, and she was not lucky enough to meet General Shang when she was in Yanzhou; Her master and Huo Gong didn't get along for long and she went to Beijing, and this time she came back to go back to the Huo family for the first time, only to hear the master say that the general rarely went to Huo Mansion in normal times. She also excused Sang Aiai, saying that although the master was very favored by Huo Gong, after all, he was only a concubine, and he didn't know many things.

These are obviously not the words that those few people want to hear. But they themselves didn't seem to know what to say to her. In the end, the steward made it clear: she is blessed, the general has taken a fancy to her and wants to ask her to go back!

She was stunned! Joy that she had never dreamed of suddenly fell from the sky, and she was completely lost in great joy. This is far better than she imagined her own ending, she used to only dare to dream that she would become the woman of some ordinary people, or the concubine of a wealthy merchant, or the outer room of someone...... Now, however, she may well become the woman of a great general; It was something she never dared to imagine......

But she soon came to her senses.

She found a question: if the general was interested in accepting her, why did her master Sang Aiai not say a word about it? Could it be that the master doesn't know about this? Or are these people joking with themselves? Or, is it a trap and trap set by these people in order to deal with the Huo family and the general?

Just as she was tormented by the truth of the matter, someone called out the two people she didn't know; They went out and never came in. Then a man wearing a nine-grade official uniform called out all the three school stewards. After a long time, a deputy steward walked in with a bitter face and told her that maybe they had made a mistake. He also said to her, "Don't go out and spread all the words just now; The teaching workshop may be chaotic these days, and she needs to wait for another two days to exchange the deed. Then the deputy steward walked away like a drunken man, one foot at a time, muttering as he went, "This is a terrible slap on the horse's hooves......

After this incident, her mind was a little confused, and she couldn't get the deed, so people became even more bored. She is a Hu person who was sold to Da Zhao, she has no relatives and not many friends, and in addition to a few sisters who know in the workshop, the only ones who can speak are the master and Zhang Xiao. The sisters have to do things every day, and the Huo family is suffering again, and she finally has nowhere to go, so she simply runs out of the city to Zhang Xiao to relax. Who knew that he would meet this young captain who has several connections here......

She was silent for a long time before she whispered along with Shang Cheng's words: "Huo Gongzi, there is something I want to ask you ......"

Shang Cheng smiled and said, "I don't have the surname Huo." He touched his face, looked at his sweat coat again, raised his face and shook his head, and said, "Don't call me a son......

Duan Si and the two guards ate meat and drank wine at the wooden table outside the two steps, but they put most of their minds on this side, and they also heard Sang Xiu's name to Shang Cheng clearly. Duan Si was better, his ugly face tightened, his eyes stared at the roof of the shed without saying a word, the two guards really couldn't help it, they all stomped their feet and fell down with laughter......

Sang Xiu didn't know what they were laughing at, and when he heard Shang Cheng say that he was not surnamed Huo, he changed his title in his heart to doubt: "Childe ......"

This next paragraph finally couldn't hold it back, jumped to the edge of the tent in two or three steps, and sprayed a mouthful of wine and food from his nose and mouth, and suddenly hammered his chest and called out to him: "Do you want people to live...... and said to the two guards, "Remember, you have to give me evidence for today's events, and when I go back to record the documents and file them, you two have to sign and draw your fingerprints!" The two guards leaned forward and backward on the bench, already laughing so much that their waists could not stand upright, tears were hanging from the corners of their eyes, and they were grinning and nodding vigorously.

Shang Cheng couldn't cry or laugh, so he had to say to Sang Xiu: "If you have anything, just say it directly." ”

Sang Xiu hesitated for a long time, then plucked up the courage to say, "...... My lord, you work in the Guard, so you must know the Admiral, right? ”

Shang Cheng looked at her and nodded suspiciously.

"That, that ......" Sang Xiu's voice suddenly decreased. She was stunned for a long time, and suddenly asked, "How is he?" ”

The next paragraph four and the two guards stopped laughing. Of course, they have also heard the rumors of Shang Cheng and Hu Nu, and one of them has also coaxed the rumors, and now that the two parties are present, they are very much looking forward to what will happen next, will it be as said in the play?

Shang Cheng frowned, and said in a deep voice, "I think this person is probably about the same." He burst out laughing. There is probably nothing more difficult in this world than to judge yourself. He turned his head, asked Duan Si to pay for the meal, picked up his long shirt, attended the shed and got on the horse, bowed his hand to Zhang Xiaogong on horseback, nodded to Sang Xiu, and led the two guards to go on the road first.

Duan Si took a hanger of money and gave Zhang Xiaoyi a wine and dinner money, which was more than enough, and gave him an extra hang, which was specially instructed by the governor before leaving, and it was a meeting gift for a few dolls of Zhang Xiaoyi. Zhang Xiao was very grateful, and said good things about Shang Cheng and Duan Si one after another.

Duan Si saw that Shang Cheng had left the shed for more than ten zhang, so he took the blanket and smiled at Sang Xiu: "Girl, don't you recognize who my family adults are?" He is not surnamed Huo, and he is related to you, that is, he and the Huo family are also relatives. If you think about it, you know what his last name is. He gestured to his eyes and went out with a smile.

Sang Xiu still didn't understand. She looked at Zhang Xiao suspiciously. Zhang Xiao didn't understand either, he frowned, and said to himself, "Eyes? The eyes of an old customer? What do you mean? …… Is he blind in that eye? Is he really blind? Speaking of this, he suddenly opened his mouth in shock, and looked at Sang Xiu one by one like a ghost

God! The person who sat with them and talked for a long time was, just, just, that is...... It's a blind businessman in Yixian County!

This, is this possible?!