On the fourth day of the eighth month of the tenth year of Chongzhen.

Affected by the climate of the Xiaoice River, although the cool summer has just left, the coolness has already hit Linqingzhou.

Lu Yuan wrapped the old cotton clothes on his body tightly, held a roll of ink treasure, and shuttled through this crowded Linqing City.

"Isn't this Lu Yuan, you're going to my cousin's house too?"

When Lu Yuan saw that Zhang Heng was coming, he stood still and nodded: "Brother Tang Shi said that today is the gift of the baby sister, and I was specially invited to go." ”

The Tang Shi brother in Lu Yuan's mouth is Tang Wenyun, the son of Tang Jin, the head of the Literature and Anthology Department of the Ministry of Officials, and a student of the government.

And the baby sister mentioned by Lu Yuan is the cousin mentioned by Zhang Heng, and she can be regarded as Lu Yuan's fiancée.

Because the Lu family and the Tang family have been friends for generations, when Lu Yuan's father was alive, before the Tang family was born, Lu Yuan and Tang Ying exchanged birthdays.

But since Tang Jinzhong stayed in Beijing as an official, the Tang family has not mentioned this matter again, and the Lu family has not talked about it again because of the family's downfall, but now when it came to the gift of Tang Ying and Lu, the Tang family suddenly invited Lu Yuan to come again.

Zhang Heng's face showed displeasure, he didn't expect his cousin to invite Lu Yuanlai, and the gift of the woman is a gift for the coming of age, which is the same as the gift of the weak crown for men, and the gift of the woman and the gift means that you can be a matchmaker.

Now that the Tang family invited Lu Yuan to participate in Tang Ying's ceremony, Zhang Heng began to worry that his cousin would marry Lu Yuan.

"Yes, it seems that my uncle's family is really worthy of being a scholarly family, and he didn't dislike your friends because your Lu family was poor, but, Lu Yuan, I have to ask you, when will the silver that your Lu family owes my family will be repaid, it has been three months now, and there will be one hundred taels plus interest, if you can't afford to pay it back, why don't you sell yourself and come to my house as a slave, how about it?" You know, the servants in my family are all wearing silk, you can inquire, in the entire Linqing City, who doesn't want to come to my Zhang family as a slave. ”

The Zhang family is a wealthy family in Linqing Town, and the ancestors are good at doing business outside the mouth, and now they have accumulated a net worth of tens of thousands of taels, and now they have a lot of money from the Zhang family because of the poor management of the weaving mill and the funeral expenses before and after the death of Lu Yuan's father, so they also borrowed usury from the Zhang family.

And Zhang Heng also ridiculed Lu Yuanlai because of this, the purpose was naturally to prove to Lu Yuan that he was more worthy of Tang Ying.

Zhang Heng, who was riding on the horse, glanced at Lu Yuan obliquely after speaking.

Lu Yuan glared at Zhang Heng: "The silver will naturally be repaid to you soon!" But I, Lu Yuan, even if I become a beggar, I won't be a slave of your Zhang family! ”

"Heng'er, what are you talking about with this kind of broken household, you will inevitably lose your identity, hurry up, don't delay the auspicious day of your cousin and the gift of Lu."

A woman's face poked out of a carriage behind Zhang Heng.

Lu Yuan recognized that this person was Zhang Heng's mother and Tang Ying's aunt Zhang Wang.

Zhang Wang said and lowered the curtain.

Lu Yuan didn't greet Zhang Wang's family, so he followed the crowd first.

Lu Yuan didn't take the words of Zhang Heng's mother and son to heart, as a time-traveler from the twenty-first century, he knew better than anyone in this era that the Ming Dynasty at this time had only seven years of peace.

Therefore, nothing is anything in the face of the impending destruction of the country.

It didn't take long.

Lu Yuan came to the mansion of Tang Jin, the head of the Wenxuan Department of the Ministry of Officials of Linqing Prefecture.

The entire vicinity of the Tang Mansion has been cleaned and renewed, and a curtain has been blocked within two miles around, and there is a Tang Mansion servant standing every ten steps in the curtain.

Even the small houses in the Tang Mansion are all uniformly worn soap-colored satin, revealing the grandeur of a big family.

In front of the gate of the Tang Mansion in the curtain, there are a group of people in the Tang Mansion who welcome guests, basically all of whom are the younger generations of the Tang Mansion.

And the most famous of the younger generations of the Tang Mansion is Tang Wenyun, the son of Tang Jin, who has just won the first court examination.

Tang Wenyun stood at the front of his own children and personally bowed to his relatives who came over, showing great humility and courtesy.

Even Zhang Heng prides himself on being a rich son, but when he sees his cousin, he is ashamed of himself.

And some boudoir women were even more upset when they saw Tang Wenyun, and they blushed unconsciously.

As for some elders who have daughters, they can't wait to accept Tang Wenyun as their son-in-law.

"Cousin, cousin Zhang Heng would like to congratulate you on winning the championship!"

"Wenyun, my aunt is also happy for you, and your cousin often says that your cousin is the most talented person she knows."

Zhang Heng's mother and son came over first and talked to Tang Wenyun.

Lu Yuan, who was about to step forward to congratulate Tang Wenyun, had to take a step back, and then silently watched all this, looking at these Han women who were warblers and swallows, looking at these Han men who were smiling and laughing, I don't know why, he suddenly thought that in the twelfth year of Chongzhen, when the Qing army entered the customs, ransacked Shandong through Tianjin Wei, captured Linqing and looted, how would these Han men and women face the robbers who broke into their homes.

"Lu Yuan, since my uncle has passed away, but Lingtang is still there, and filial piety is not over, you still have to come out as soon as possible, if you need it, you can find me, you and I are world friends, I will help you."

Tang Wenyun patted Lu Yuan on the shoulder and pulled Lu Yuan's thoughts back.

Lu Yuan didn't expect Tang Wenyun to come to comfort him, and while he was moved, he also thanked him: "Thank you Brother Shi for your comfort." ”

Zhang Heng saw Tang Wenyun talking to Lu Yuan, he was a little unhappy, and he also walked over: "By the way, Lu Yuan, I have something to ask you, since today is my cousin's gift, as a brother, you shouldn't come empty-handed, but what gifts did you bring." ”

Lu Yuan saw Zhang Heng asking, and with so many people here, it was not easy to ignore it, so he replied: "I wrote a poem last night, and I am going to give it to Tang Ying's little sister." ”

Saying that, Lu Yuan apologized to Tang Wenyun and said: "Please forgive me, brother, my family has been difficult recently, and I can't get a rich gift list, if he can get rich in the future, he will make up for what he owes today." ”

"Between you and me, what are you talking about, let's go have some tea first."

Tang Wenyun smiled and pulled Lu Yuan to walk in.

And Zhang Heng also followed: "A word? I said, Lu Yuan, if you are like my cousin, you are the first talent in the case, you are a great talent in Linqing City, send a poem, I may still think that you are very elegant in doing this, but you are a businessman's son, but you are the same as me, I at least donated the prisoners, and you are nothing, how can you be embarrassed to give away poems, and you are also elegant, this is not to make people laugh, you are a person who does not learn and has no skills, what good poems can you write! ”

Lu Yuan stood on his feet and glared at Zhang Heng angrily, if he hadn't thought that he was coming to the Tang Mansion as a guest now, he really wanted to beat this Zhang Heng.

It was Tang Wenyun who reprimanded Zhang Heng first: "Zhang Heng, don't talk nonsense, you and Lu Yuan have also known each other since childhood, and they can be regarded as brothers. ”

Zhang Heng didn't say anything more, but Lu Yuan's angry gaze at him made him a little indignant.

Tang Wenyun brought Lu Yuan to the middle hall of the Tang Mansion, and when he saw that his mother, sister and aunt Zhang Wang were already sitting in the hall, he stopped and turned to Lu Yuan and said:

"Lu Yuan, you go in, the foolish brother won't take you in, if my Tang family has words to humiliate your Lu family, the foolish brother apologized this time, this matter is not what the foolish brother thinks, but the mother's fate is difficult to disobey! The foolish brother came to the door another day to apologize. ”

Lu Yuan had probably guessed what was going on, so he only smiled faintly and returned the salute to Tang Wenyun: "Foolish brother understands, this is the destiny of the Lu family, and the world brother doesn't have to worry about it." ”

Zhang Heng smiled secretly when he saw this, he saw that Lu Yuan was still forcibly calming, and he was even more proud in his heart: "When my aunt will withdraw from the marriage, see if you Lu Yuan can be so calm!" ”

……

Lu Yuan and Zhang Heng walked in.

"My nephew Lu Yuan has seen Madame."

"My nephew Zhang Heng has seen my aunt."

Lu Yuan and Zhang Heng greeted one after another.

But Tang Wang only smiled and said, "Let's all sit down." ”

And then.

Tang Wang's family only called Zhang Heng closer, shh ”

"Isn't it, now I'm starting to study hard, although it's not as good as Wenqu Xing like Wenyun, but I can also take care of the store for his father, it's different from those losers, this is also fate, just as Wenyun is destined to be a Zaifu, and my family Heng'er also has a fortune teller who said that he has been rich and noble all his life, and some people have lost their fathers and broken families."

Zhang Wang replied with a smile.

Although Tang Wang could hear that his sister was deliberately belittling Lu Yuan, he couldn't help but smile slightly when he heard her flattering his proud son Tang Wenyun, and he couldn't help but smile slightly, and he also felt that what his sister said was quite right, this person has his own numerology.

Lu Yuan naturally could hear the meaning of Zhang Wang's words, but he also listened to Zhang Wang's words, and couldn't help but think that no matter whether he was a Zaifu or a rich idler in the future, he would not be able to escape the fate of the country being ruined.

If the numerology of an individual cannot be changed, is the numerology of a country and a nation also unchangeable?

In other words, seven years later, the children of the Han family will still usher in that catastrophe? Seven years later, will the world still be in chaos? Will aliens still colonize the land?

Lu Yuan didn't believe and couldn't believe that fate could not be changed, but even if fate was unchangeable, he had to work hard to change it, because since he came to this era, if he didn't work hard once, he would be sorry for the blood of Huaxia flowing in his body.

Tang Wang noticed the taciturn Lu Yuan, because at this time, Lu Yuan was only wearing coarse cotton clothes in the crowd full of silk and satin, which was particularly eye-catching.

However, Lu Yuan's calmness made the Tang Wang clan not dare to despise Lu Yuan, but he didn't really look down on Lu Yuan, thinking that he was better than his son Wenyun.

Thinking of her son, and then looking at Lu Yuan, Tang Wang's family couldn't help frowning, she admitted that her son Wenyun was good everywhere, but he was a little pedantic, just like his father, now the Lu family is ruined to the point of being riddled with debts, but he still insists that his sister marry into the Lu family.

The reputation of the family is as important as the happiness of the daughter!

"Auntie, cousin, this is a congratulatory gift I brought, one hundred high-grade Shu brocade, thirty pairs of gold-faced jewelry, fifty pairs of silver-faced jewelry, and I hope my aunt and cousin will not dislike it."

Zhang Heng stepped forward with the gift first, and his eyes didn't leave Tang Ying who was sitting next to Tang Wang's for half a second.

And Lu Yuan also noticed Tang Ying.

With a good face, fair skin, and a hint of bookishness, she is a very standard lady.

However, Lu Yuan had seen a lot of beauties in his previous life, so when he saw Tang Ying, his legs were not so weak that he couldn't walk, nor was he as nervous as Zhang Heng, so he didn't know where to put them.

Tang Ying frowned at this time, she was obviously not interested in these gold and silver jewelry, but she still got up and saluted Zhang Heng and expressed her gratitude.

Zhang Heng felt his brilliance, smiled and retreated, his eyes still did not leave Tang Ying, the jade bamboo fan in his hand was tightly pulled by him, and when he looked at Lu Yuan, he was even more proud, and said to Tang Ying: "Cousin, you don't know, Lu Yuan also brought you a gift." ”

Tang Ying raised his eyes when he heard this, and looked at Lu Yuan, but immediately lowered his eyelids again, did not speak, and only glanced sideways at Tang Wang.

Tang Wang's said at this time: "Baby, now Lu Yuan is here, you have also met him in real person, if you have anything to say, you can ask directly, whether our Tang family will return the marriage contract with their Lu family depends on yourself, if you think Lu Yuan can be your husband, then we will not retreat, if you think it is not possible, we will withdraw from the marriage contract, and it is a big deal that the mother bears this notoriety." ”

"Baby, it's not that your aunt talks a lot, you look at Lu Yuan, cowering, shabby, where is worthy of an official eunuch like you, and it's not a kiss, even if you don't like your cousin, you have to be worthy of a talent like your brother."

Zhang Wangshi also persuaded on the side.

Lu Yuan just smiled slightly, he already knew the purpose of the Tang family to invite him to be a guest during the Tang Ying and Lu Zhi ceremony, but he didn't expect that the Tang family would withdraw from the marriage and didn't mean to ask himself at all, but directly relied on him Tang Family Miss to make his own decisions.

However, Lu Yuan doesn't care, anyway, he is ready to withdraw from the marriage, and now he is only thinking about how to gain a foothold in the upcoming troubled times.

"Got it, Mother."

Tang Ying nodded, Lu Yuan's shabby did make it difficult for her to have a good impression of Lu Yuan, but she still maintained the bearing that everyone should have, so she asked with a smile: "I heard my cousin just now that Brother Lu Shi has a gift for him, I don't know what kind of gift it is." ”

"It's a poem written by a contemptible person, please let my little sister discern."

Lu Yuan handed a scroll of ink treasure to Tang Ying.

Tang Wang's face turned cold, she thought that Lu Yuan was holding some kind of Lu family's famous painting and calligraphy in his hand, so as to get back the Lu family's lost face, but she didn't expect Lu Yuan to actually take out a self-created poem.

"I remember that Lu Yuan doesn't even seem to be a child, right, and he has also begun to learn to read poetry and songs?"

Zhang Wang added.

"Mom, you don't understand, this is called vassal elegance", Zhang Heng had already laughed before, but at this time, he couldn't help laughing: "Lu Yuan is a poet, and he is more powerful than his cousin." ”

When Tang Wang's family heard Zhang Heng say this, he was even more displeased, his son was the head of the court trial, and this Lu Yuan was also worthy of comparing Wencai with his son?

Tang Ying also raised his eyes and glanced at Lu Yuan with some displeasure, thinking that he was still a calm and dignified person just now, but he didn't expect to be so frivolous, not a scholar and a talented man, but a vassal and elegant, which really made people feel disgusted.

However, Tang Ying still did not lose everyone's beautiful demeanor, and still took Lu Yuan's gift from her maid, unfolded Mobao and looked at it, seeing that the calligraphy was not very accomplished, she was even more disliked, but when she read the content of the words, she was stunned again.

Half an hour later.

Tang Ying came back to his senses, got up and saluted Lu Yuan, and then turned his head to Tang Wang's family and replied: "Mother, my daughter has decided, obey the orders of her father and brother, and keep the covenant of the Lu family." ”

"What do you mean?" Zhang Heng asked a little puzzled.

Tang Wang's family came back to her senses at this time, although she didn't know what Lu Yuan wrote, but she had promised her daughter that her own marriage contract would be decided by herself, so she nodded and said: "Okay, since you are willing to do it yourself, then we will not divorce the Lu family." ”

Tang Wang looked at Lu Yuan as he spoke: "Virtuous son-in-law, you can go home and tell your mother, let her prepare the dowry and send it to the door on a later date, now that Tang Ying and Lu are over, the marriage will not be delayed any longer." ”

Tang Wang said and turned to the eldest girl beside him and instructed: "Inform the young master, let him write a letter to the master, the baby is ready to get married, and the husband chosen is Lu Yuan, the son of the Lu family who was agreed back then, ask the master if he can ask for leave to return to his hometown, if not, can he send a letter back?" ”