In the blink of an eye, it is the beginning of April, and the provincial capital seems to have recovered from the civil unrest of February, and the life of the people in the city has basically returned to normal. It's just that after the price of rice rose to two taels or three dollars a stone, there was no more droppings. As the price of food rises, so does everything that can be eaten. How many coins can ordinary people have in their hands? In this regard, it is natural to complain about it. However, seeing that the winter wheat harvest is imminent, and perhaps the price of this grain will fall to next year's level, the people are looking forward with great hope.

There is a small river in the northwest corner of Chengdu, called the bottom river, probably to take its water to see the bottom and touch the meaning of fishing. The two sides of the small river are full of sycamores, the sycamore leaves are wide and fat, and the streets are full of trees as soon as spring and summer arrive, which is a good place to enjoy spring and summer. The merchants on both sides of the river bank are stained with the light of the plane trees, and they will set up seats by the river in the bright sunshine at the turn of spring and summer, for tourists who enjoy the spring and summer to drink tea and rest, and earn a few tea money by the way.

Sun Hong's home is on this street of the river. It's just that his house is not on the street, but in the alley next to the street. In order to make ends meet, Sun Hong's wife and concubine rented a storefront on the street and ground some tofu and soy milk to sell.

In the early morning of this day, Sun Hong's wife was busy, and an old woman came to the door.

"Oops, isn't this Granny Feng? Come in and sit down. Sun Hong's eldest wife had sharp eyes, and at a glance she saw Mrs. Feng, who was collecting rent, coming over, and hurriedly rubbed her hands on her waist and greeted her warmly.

"It's rare that the lady of the Sun family invites the old woman to sit in! If your Mr. Sun is here, it's strange if you don't beat the old woman out! Granny Feng said lukewarmly as she entered the door.

"Oh, you old man has a lot, don't worry about my useless things!" Sun Hong's eldest wife gave up her seat and asked the concubine to serve tea with her eyes.

Listening to the soft words of the Sun family's lady, Granny Feng's face became better. When she saw the concubine looking for a cup everywhere, she was disdainful, and said, "You don't need to look for tea, the old woman drank sour plum herbal tea before she came out." Lady of the Sun family, let me ask you, this rent has not been paid for three months, and you plan to drag it off like this? The old woman and your grandson family have also been neighbors for life, so you can delay it again and again. But there is always an end to everything, and it can't be endless! The old woman came uninvited today, just to listen to your words, when will the rent be paid? ”

Sun Hong's eldest wife looked embarrassed. The price of this grain is rising rapidly, but tofu cannot keep up with it. If it rises too fast, it will offend all the old customers in the neighborhood, and it will be even more difficult to do business in the future.

She laughed and said: "The two of us who sell tofu can make a good porridge money, and we have to wait for the man to earn money from outside." I'm not afraid of Granny Feng's jokes, my family's useless family has not come back since I went out in the first month, and I don't know where I died. When he comes back, I'll settle the rent right away! ”

Granny Feng was stunned and said, "These years are in chaos, who knows when your Mr. Sun will come back?" Ay? For so long, your man hasn't sent a letter? No, he ......."

Mrs. Feng had something to say, which scared Sun Hong's wife a lot.

The little concubine couldn't hold her breath anymore, and ran over from the grinding plate: "Why did the master have an accident?" I heard the lord say that he entered the palace and hired a copywriter, and he stayed in front of the prince! That prince stays in the imperial city, what can happen? ”

"Staying in the Imperial City? Haven't you heard? The prince fought a battle with Zhang Xianzhong's men and horses in Pengshan County! I heard that the fight was so miserable! There were tens of thousands of corpses on the ground, paved more than ten miles along the road! The corpses floating on the river floated all the way to Jiading Mansion, and the boats on the Mide River couldn't pass! Also, the severed human head is full of dozens of carts......"

Sun Hong's wife grinds tofu and sells tofu every day during this time, and she really doesn't know about the war outside. Hearing Mrs. Feng say this, the two of them were so anxious that tears came down.

Mrs. Feng's words didn't end, and then added oil and vinegar: "I heard that the official army has won a big victory, and Zhang Xianzhong's men and horses have only run away with a thousand people!" It's just that you think, as the old saying goes, if you kill a thousand enemies and lose 800, the casualties of the officers and soldiers must be not small......"

Sun Hong's concubine was already crying with tears rippling down her eyes. If the master leaves, how will this day be! After all, the eldest wife is calmer, although she is in a hurry, she still knows what to do when she asks Mrs. Feng.

"What to do? Go to the palace and ask for clarification! To live to see people, to die to see corpses! This is the same rule in the world, people can't just disappear out of thin air for no reason! Mrs. Feng helped with an indignant face: "If your man is really dead, then he will also die for the palace!" No matter what the Shu Wangfu said, it has to give dozens of taels of burned silver, how can you not ask if someone is dead! ”

"No, it won't! Granny Feng, no. The old man said, the son of the world is very good, just like ...... It's like...... Anyway, it's the bodhisattva's heart. If the master leaves, my family will definitely get the news. ”

The concubine (Note 1) brought in by the side door, Mrs. Feng didn't look down on her at all, so she didn't bother to talk to Sun Hong's concubine. She put aside Sun Hong's concubine, grabbed Sun Hong's eldest wife and whispered:

"In my opinion, the silver must have been eaten by those black-hearted eunuchs under the palace! Lady of the Sun family, hurry up to the palace and ask if there is any news of your man. If it's here, it's best to get the money to settle the rent quickly! If the person is gone, you can also ask the palace for some money. Without money, your days to come will be miserable! ”

Mrs. Feng finally closed her mouth and didn't stab Sun Hong's wife twice in the heart.

Sun Hong's wife was so anxious that she hurriedly thanked Mrs. Feng, collected the tofu stall, and inserted the door panel of the store (Note 2), and then trotted all the way to the tall and magnificent building complex in the center of the provincial capital.

From the Modi River to the palace in the center of the city, it is necessary to pass through the governor's yamen of the western city. Because the government office is on the side of the street, it is quiet and quiet on weekdays, and there are not many people coming and going. But today, when Sun Hong's wife passed by, it was crowded with people.

I saw hundreds of young people in satin robes shouting in front of the Yamen, and some raised their fists while shouting. Twenty or thirty officials trembled and stood in front of the yamen.

"Ma'am, what are they calling?" After all, the concubine is young and curious, so she can't help but ask Dafang.

"A group of reading people who can't poop after eating too much!" Sun Hong's eldest wife scolded secretly, took the concubine's hand and hurried out of here.

Suddenly, a cluster of fresh shirts appeared in front of the two, blocking their way. They stopped and looked up, and it was a student wearing a dark scarf, smiling at them.

"Xiucai, please get out of the way! The slave family has an urgent matter to find my father-in-law. Sun Hong's wife said calmly to that Xiucai.

"Yo! Such a handsome two little ladies actually got married at a young age. It's a pity! It's a pity! Na Xiucai shook his head and sighed, causing several strange screams from the surrounding scholars.

"Please respect yourself when you speak! My father-in-law is also a scholar! Sun Hong's wife said.

"Oh? It turned out to be under the sage gate. Disrespectful! Disrespectful! That Xiucai didn't dare to make a mistake, so he hurriedly bowed down, and even the sound of coaxing around him stopped.

"Dare to ask where the lady and husband are the great sages, and where is the high level now?" Xiucai bowed down and asked.

Seeing that others were polite, Sun Hong's eldest wife relaxed her vigilance and replied honestly:

"It's not a great sage, it's just a scholar. Now in the royal palace. ”

This stabbed the hornet's nest.

"What? A dog in a pigsty? What a fucking Sven scum! Xiucai immediately scolded. Before Sun Hong's wife came back to his senses, Xiucai raised his arms and roared, first luring all the scholars around him to his side, and then began to loudly accuse the palace of accepting sacrifices, occupying people's land, and the bad deeds of the people. The saliva was about to dry, and he said: "We, the Pengshan gentry of Meizhou, can appeal to the governor's yamen." If the governor's yamen protects the relatives, we will find the patrol! If the patrol still doesn't pay attention, we'll find the third division......"

Isn't it a joke that the more you look for the official, the smaller it gets?

A scholar next to him hurriedly corrected: "The old gentleman is in Ba County in the spring, you can ask him to transfer our folds to the imperial court!" "In the spring, it is the word to Wang Yingxiong, a scholar from Shichuan University. After Fengyang was burned in the eighth year of Chongzhen, he was sent back to his hometown by the emperor for concealing the funeral report. However, the emperor sent officials to ask questions the year before last, which shows that Wang Yingxiong is still in the emperor's heart, and there is a great possibility of recovery.

"Yes, yes!" A scholar answered below, "My family has a business in Chongqing Mansion, and my family can bring the fold to ......."

Sun Hong's eldest wife saw that the scholars' attention had turned to something, so she hurriedly pulled the concubine, and the two quietly slipped out. It's a pity that the two beauties are so eye-catching in the pile of men, they didn't take a few steps before they were stopped by the scholars. More than a dozen scholars came up and shoved, saying strange things that were not clean, and the two young women were so frightened that they had to lean against each other, facing the shadow wall in front of the yamen, and turning their backs to the crowd to avoid those dirty hands.

Scholars making trouble, unlike disturbing people's livelihoods, cannot be cut with a knife. Those are the future Wenqu stars, the future masters, who will sit high in the lobby. Therefore, as long as the scholars do not storm the governor's yamen, do not fight with weapons, and do not kill people and prevent fires, those officials are too lazy to open their eyes. It's just that dozens of men openly bullied and insulted two royal officials in front of the yamen of a provincial governor, and it was a bit appalling when it was spread. Seeing this scene, the head of the government servant team hurriedly sent someone to invite Master Qian, who was sitting in the hall today to ask about things, to come over.

As the saying goes, the yamen is as deep as the sea, and it is like the yamen of a provincial governor. How could Master Qian come so quickly? The scholars were excited, and the scene quickly got out of control. They used the two little women as scapegoats for the palace, and the king punched and hammered for a while. Pity the two little women, where can they withstand so many fists! Moments later, the two were knocked unconscious. Seeing that Master Qian had not come out yet, and he was afraid that people would die at the gate of the yamen, it would be difficult for the officials to ask about it in the future, so they had to rush out to protect people.

The people at the entrance of the governor's office were full of voices, and there was a miasma of black smoke. At this moment, two fast horses galloped up, blocked by the chaotic scholars. When the two horsemen saw that the road was impassable, they had to turn their horses and change their ways. The officials saw that one person was three big and five thick, wearing mandarin duck battle jackets; The other man was thin and dressed as a scribe, and he expected that an official was passing by, so he hurriedly stopped the two horses and called for help. When the scribe asked what had happened, he told the sergeant to come forward and get the man out first.

The sergeants and servants had struggled to separate the crowd, and as soon as they carried the two women out, the scribe had already jumped off his horse, hugged the two women, and wept and shook them. Sun Hong's eldest wife was woken up first, and when she saw the person in front of her, she murmured: "Xianggong, isn't the young lady on the Huangquan Road?" ”

At this time, Sun Hong's hands were already trembling, and his eyes were red. He roared in a deep and vicious voice:

"Wang Erniu, do you dare to cut down the thief who beat me just now?"

Wang Erniu smiled contemptuously: "Why don't you dare? It's not the first time that the little one has cut people! ”

He laughed as he pulled out the steel knife from his waist.

Note 1: In folklore, the wife is married, the Ming media is marrying, and the main gate is taken: the concubine is accepted, and it is said that it is carried into the side door in the middle of the night. This is the traditional monogamous and polygamous marriage system in ancient China.

It is not accurate to say that ancient China was polygamous.

Note 2: In many old houses in Chengdu, when you open and close the door, you can take the door panel and insert the door panel.