In Hongqiao, Shanyin County, Shaoxing Prefecture (Note 1), not to mention in the Great Song Kingdom, it is also in Shaoxing Mansion, which is also an unnamed town, with only about 100 households, which is naturally far from the prosperity of the city. However, since the reign of Taizu Yuyu, the land of Zhejiang and Zhejiang has been populated, and there is a serious shortage of land, and households occupy very little arable land, even the so-called "big households" only have more than 100 acres of land, and most of the poor families have less than 10 acres of land (Note 2). These landless people have no arable land, so they only open workshops or for businessmen, in order to seek food and clothing, where they settle, the formation of the "grass market", Hongqiao is the case, in the Shaoxing Prefecture cities, the annual payment of commercial taxes is not much, there are more than 1,200.

Therefore, the people here are not ashamed to be businessmen, they are official eunuchs, and there are many industries, but they are operated by distant relatives to avoid suspicion.

Zhao Yong hummed a little song, followed behind his father, and when he went to Fucheng, the wheelbarrow was piled with two hundred catties of snow sugar, and when he came back, he exchanged it for hundreds of copper coins, which made him not only feel lighter, but also his own steps were much easier.

"Daddy, Madame will be very happy to see this money." Thinking about today's harvest, Zhao Yong couldn't help but say, "We won't be sent away!" ”

Zhao Xi twisted his beard, and his face was also full of joy.

Zhao Yong said again: "The eldest young master is really extraordinary, no wonder he has a different appearance, and he actually worked Lu Zu to order ......."

"Hugh is talking nonsense!" Zhao Xi has passed more things than Zhao Yong, so he naturally knows that such things are not good to say outside, so he scolded in a low voice, because he was in a good mood, he was not so harsh, Zhao Yong smiled innocently, muttered something in a low voice and then stopped talking.

Still at the gate of the town, a young maidservant girl waited a little anxiously, and when she saw the two approaching, she breathed a sigh of relief and complained: "Why is it later than yesterday, Madame is in a hurry, send me to take a look!" ”

"I'll talk about it when I go back, I'll talk about it when I go back." Zhao Xi looked at the curious gaze of the townspeople and stopped Zhao Yong from speaking.

They returned to a mansion with two entrances in front and back, although this mansion was not small in ordinary people's eyes, but it could be seen from some old appearances that the owner of this mansion did not have a good life.

"Madam, the old slave is worthy of his mission." As soon as he entered the door, Zhao Xi saw the housewife standing between the front and back, waiting anxiously, so he hurriedly stepped forward to salute.

"Butler, please up, butler, please!" Madame glanced at the bag on the wheelbarrow, the anxious look on her face finally disappeared, and she breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good to come back, my heart has finally been put down." ”

"Ma'am, this is the money earned today."

Zhao Xi opened the bag, revealing the copper coins inside, more of which were scattered. Madame sighed: "I can't be happy when I see so much money every day these days, but it is you who can come back safely that makes me happy." ”

"Madame, just rest assured, if you are Shengming today, although there are some wanderers in the city, how can the old slave father and son eat their deeds!" Zhao Xi was relieved: "It's just that there is a lot of money in the family, if outsiders know about it, it's always not good, why don't Mrs. expand the house and accept a few more family members?" ”

"This matter is urgent, and I have to tell my father before I can act." The lady sighed again: "I'm a woman, what can I do, if it weren't for Ju'er......"

At this point, she realized that she was facing her servant at home, so she shut up and said no more. Originally, although she was not from a scholarly family, her family education was quite rigorous, and she was not a person who liked to talk, but today a big stone that had been lying in her heart for a long time landed, and she couldn't help but lose her temper for a while.

This lady's maiden name is Quan, her father is the chief of security in this Hongqiao, and she is married to Zhao Xilu, a son of the clan. Although Zhao Xitong is a clan, he is not very noble, he was originally a descendant of Zhao Dezhao, the eldest son of Taizu, and now he has long lost his title, Zhao Xixuan's father and grandfather have not been outstanding, and he himself became a county lieutenant of Jiupin in order to make a living. However, in the winter of the second year of Jiading (1209), Zhao Xitong fell ill and died (Note 3), leaving only this mansion for the Quan family and his two sons.

The eldest son Zhao and Ju are seven years old, and the second son Zhao and Rui are five years old. Therefore, she intended to dismiss the servants and go back to her parents' house to take refuge in her father, but at this time, her eldest son Zhao and Ju made snow candy.

Thinking of the eldest son, Quan's heart was full of joy, this son was born with auspicious signs, the night before he was born, Zhao Xitong had dreamed of a man wearing a purple dress and a golden hat to visit. He was born in a colourful red room, like the sun at noon. Three days after he was born, the noise of cars and horses could be heard outside in the house, but when he opened the door and went out, he could see nothing. What made Quan even more happy and worried was that when Zhao and Ju took a nap, the sun shone on him through the window, and the servants saw that there were faint scale-like patterns on his body. The neighbors and villagers all said that this son was a heavenly immortal and would become a great weapon in the future.

"Ju'er is really an immortal in the world?"

This thought haunted Quan, especially two months ago, when she was worried about her livelihood, Zhao Youju quietly took out a handful of snow candy, which made her can't help but be pleasantly surprised.

She still remembers Zhao Heju's expression at the time: "Although the son is young, she can't bear to sigh at night, with this snow candy, although you can't be rich and rival the country, you can also be rich!" Mothers should worry about their livelihoods! ”

"Ju'er, where did this come from?" She asked at the time.

"When the child saw that his mother was worried, he couldn't bear it, and he met an immortal in his dream the night before, and gave him this method, saying that it was to fulfill the child's filial piety." Zhao Heju replied with a serious face, his expression was the same as that of an adult, but at that time, the whole family was completely moved by his "filial piety", and he didn't think about it at all.

She also remembered the surprised eyes of Zhao Xi and Zhao Yong's father and son when they saw the snow candy, thinking of this, she couldn't help but be proud, she had indeed given birth to an amazing son.

"Thank you, Lu Zu...... Please also ask Lu Zu to bless Ju'er and Rui'er safely. (Note 4)

She folded her hands and prayed silently to the sky. From her son's description, she felt that the immortal who had granted the method of making snow candy in her dream was Lu Dongbin, the pure yang son.

"Madam, where is the eldest young master?" Zhao Xi waited for her to put down her hand and asked, "There is one more matter, the villain wants to report to the lady and the eldest young master." ”

"In his room, Cui'er, go and call the eldest young master." The Quan family knew that this old servant was the most loyal and reliable, and if it hadn't been for his husband in the past two years, if he hadn't been there, a little of the family property would have been taken up by those scheming clansmen, so he didn't treat him as an ordinary servant.

Note 1; Now belongs to Shaoxing, Qin Shi Huang began to set up a county, the Southern Dynasty was divided into Shanyin, Huiji two counties, the county governance is in Shaoxing.

Note 2: Fang Fengchen's poem at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty: "Everyone has only 100 acres of land, 320 acres and 189." Parents, husbands, wives, children, grandchildren, one slave and one maid into a family of nine. A mouthful of two liters of rice a day, and the pickles and salaries. A total of two or three Fermi fights, there are still seven or eight points of loss. The small people have less than ten fields, and the sickle side has vegetables. ”

Note 3: No relevant information has been found about the time of Zhao Xitong's birth and death, but it is known that he died of illness when his two sons were young, so this time may not be consistent with historical facts. The same is true for Zhao and Rui below.

Note 4: The legend of Lu Dongbin was extremely prosperous in the Song Dynasty, and it was recorded in "Old Things of Wulin" that an inscription by a certain Fujian person under a bridge in Lin'an was attached by the people to Lu Dongbin. In the Southern Song Dynasty Wu Zeng's "Can Change the Zhai Manlu", there is an autobiography of Lu Zu, and this matter is contained in the entry of Baidu Lu Dongbin, and it is said that Lu Dongbin once said to himself: "The world says that I fly the sword to take the head, and I am very exposed." There are three swords, one is ignorance and trouble, the second is ignorance and anger, and the third is ignorance and greed. ”