As an authentic northerner, Zheng Chan was quite uncomfortable with the summer in the south, especially when Fan Jin had to leave the room to deal with Hu Zhili, this sense of discomfort made her feel more and more intense. The summer in Jiangnan is like this mansion, which makes her feel inexplicably depressed.

The sky is gray, like a layer of fog, the sun is weak, and if it can't pierce this thick fog, it will naturally not illuminate people's hearts. At first, I felt that the sun was soft and not as hot as the north, and I thought it would be very comfortable, but after a long time, I realized that this mild sunlight was like a slow simmer, and the water vapor rose little by little, and when you found it hot, there was nowhere to escape, so you could only let it be concocted slowly and methodically.

The room was so stuffy that she couldn't stay anywhere, so Zheng Chan had to push the door and come out to the courtyard to relax. I found that the air in the courtyard was also depressing, and it was no better than in the room. She just walked around the Hua family's mansion, admiring the architecture of the south of the Yangtze River.

She has no aesthetic knowledge, and she can't see the beauty of this Jiangnan courtyard. When I looked around, I only saw the blue brick walls, and when I looked up, I saw the gray sky, which made people's hearts feel as inexplicably depressed as if they had fallen into lead. The place where Fan Jin lived was in the front yard, and the servants he saw on the road were basically men.

The manservant, who had been ordered by the housekeeper's mother-in-law, was very polite to the Zheng family, and everyone would salute her when they saw her. But Zheng did not feel kindness in their humble demeanor. In her opinion, the faces of these people were so blurry, even though it was daytime, she couldn't see their real facial features clearly. Everyone was stiff and sluggish, as if they were a puppet, and their laughter and salute were not out of their own volition, but by someone behind them carrying a string to manipulate their actions.

In this mansion, there are no children to be seen. Jiyin's age is said to be not suitable for living in the inner house, but he can't see his people in the outer courtyard, Zheng Chan stopped a male servant to ask, but the servant didn't dare to talk to the woman, just kept saluting. asked several people in a row, and it wasn't until an elderly steward came over that he dared to talk to Zheng Chan.

"All the enlightened children in our Huatang Village live together to facilitate my husband's teaching. The young master you said Jiyin, that's probably it. It was a social study on the side of the ancestral hall, and it was inconvenient for the female relatives to go there. ”

Zheng Chan reluctantly walked to the inner house again, she wanted to meet Sha Shi and chat with her. In fact, she doesn't have a good opinion of this woman, first she was worried that she would grab a man with herself, and then she found out that this person actually didn't look down on her man, and she couldn't get along with her. But at this time, she began to miss Sha Shi a little, and wanted to meet her, even if she said something unnutritious, it was true. And not like now, it feels like being in a nightmare.

When people came to the door of the inner house, they were stopped by several stout women with big shoulders and round waists. When the women stood together, they formed a meat screen, blocking the moon doorway. With sticks in their hands, Zheng Chan had no doubt that they would swing sticks at possible targets, even for themselves.

One of the leading women said:

"The Hua family has a family rule, in order to prevent women from being in private for a long time, so that siblings are not in harmony and the house is uneasy, so women are not allowed to visit each other in private, so as not to have tongues. Besides, at this hour, all the female dependents of the Hua family, in addition to being on duty, must follow the upbringing mother-in-law to read the female ring, and can not see outsiders, Zheng Niangzi, please go back, and when Sha Niangzi has time, we will invite you again. ”

Zheng Chan, who had touched the nail, walked to her room dejectedly, and was walking a few steps when suddenly a man greeted her. Zheng Chan followed the voice and looked over, but saw that it was Zhang Tiejian shaking his hand at him.

She is not familiar with Zhang Tieji, and the relationship is not as close as Guan Qing and Fan Zhigao, and she knows the details, knowing that although he is powerful, he is actually a lackey in front of Fan Jin, and his status is lower than Fan Zhigao, so it is not a matter of fact. But after all, he was an acquaintance, better than those weird servants of the Hua family, and walked over and asked, "What are you doing?" ”

"I didn't ...... Nothing. Brother Guan and Brother Fan were chatting in the room, the two of them spoke Cantonese, I couldn't understand a word, and I didn't know anyone here. It's rare to see acquaintances and say hello. ”

Zheng Chan sank her face, "Be careful when you speak, what birds come and go, and don't look at your identity." Talk to me like this, and be careful I tell the master to discount your legs! ”

"Ah...... This is a small mistake, Aunt Zheng is not surprised. ”

Finally, this aunt made Zheng Chan happy in her heart, and snorted, "Okay, go back to the room, you can't find anyone to talk to, just go learn Cantonese." What does a man and a woman say here? Our family is a family with rules, we can't mess with the rules and go back. ”

After training Zhang Tiejian twice, Zheng Chan felt that something was wrong, why was she also infected by this yard, and began to care about the defense of men and women, and even said a few words to a man and thought it was a big rebellion? It's not like this in Jingshi or even on the ship, how can a woman from the market be so exquisite, and who can't you chat with? It seems that this courtyard is full of evil gates, and if you stay here, you will even have to change your temperament by it?

As soon as she thought that she might become like those mothers-in-law in the future, she might become like those mothers-in-law, unsmiling and expressionless, and acting in accordance with reason, but not angry, she felt furious in her heart, and ran back to the room with her steps, and her heart was still trembling when she closed the door, always worried that the invisible monster outside would run in with her. Stuck on the bed, buried his head in the pillow, and repeatedly said: "I don't want to be like those women, I want to be a little vixen who is in charge, I want to be a bad woman......"

When Fan Jin returned to the room, he saw Zheng Chan lying on the bed, tired and unfocused. He hurriedly stepped forward and touched Zheng Chan's forehead with concern, but he didn't feel a fever. Zheng Chan and him were only separated for half a day, but as if they had been reunited after a long absence, they threw themselves into his arms and arched their heads towards Fan Jin's arms.

"Master, let's go. Go to the guest house in the city, and don't live in this hellish place anymore. This courtyard is very evil, people are like being locked up in a big prison here, they are not allowed to do this, they are not allowed to do that, they can't go to this, they are not allowed to go there, it's not awkward. You take me out of here, I don't want to live here. ”

"Okay, my chick is whatever she says, I just went to see Governor Hu to answer, and I spoke, and it's not impossible to say goodbye now. But we have to spend the night, and we won't be able to do it tomorrow morning? ”

"Then you promise me not to go away, but to stay here with me. I don't want to see those people in the Hua family, it's too scary. All of them are like mud tires in the temple, you say, will they all be little ghosts? ”

Fan Jin smiled: "Where did you think of going?" The Hua family was originally said to be not like this, but it went too far and almost lost the family business. Therefore, Mrs. Jia rectified the family rules, and her requirements were inevitably too harsh, and now she is a little extreme, and people have become like this. Of course, I don't like many of her initiatives, but I can't manage her family affairs, and I can't help it. When Governor Hu spoke to me just now, he also praised Jia's good governance of the family, and he was ready to go to the book for her, please be a local model. Let the southeast follow her example and think it is a model for the world. ”

"So, aren't all old witches like her here?"

"How can I be? I told you, when I first met Qingqing, she and her brother traveled to Changsha in women's clothes, and they were all Southeast talents who traveled together, where would it be so boring as here. In Jiangning City, ten miles of Qinhuai, there is an endless appearance of sealing the stream. Not only are the people there not as closed as her, but they have a lot of fun, and men and women don't take it seriously when they swim together on the street. ”

"So what are you waiting for? Let's go and go to Jiangning to have fun. I'd like them to see who the leopard is. ”

Although she was a little surprised to hear Fan Jin mention Zhang Shunqing and Zheng Chan, she was already mentally prepared. Knowing that she can't make the main house, this big woman is inevitable, and as long as she can leave this courtyard, she can discuss anything else. Fan Jin smiled and scratched her nose,

"You're an impatient. It's so easy, I still have to run a land and water dojo for Hua Lao, I will leave at this time, as if the Hua family has treated me slowly, but there are a lot of favors that are too troublesome to socialize. Let's just say goodbye tomorrow morning, I'm here with you, and I won't let you get bored. The weather here is really hot, look at my sweat, I'll get a bucket of water in a while, let's take a shower together, I'll wipe it for you, you wipe it for me......"

No matter how bold Zheng Chan is, she usually refuses this kind of proposal. After all, it is too far away from the moral standards of this era, and even the Qinglou women are not all willing, let alone from a good family. But thinking of the oppressive and dreary atmosphere in this courtyard, and everyone's behavior that was absolutely in line with the rules, she felt an urge to break it and oppose it for no reason, and nodded:

"Well...... The concubine is rubbed by the master, and the owner also helps me wipe it...... Isn't this called ...... Mandarin ducks playing in the water? ”

In the inner house.

Jia's face was as gloomy as iron, "In broad daylight, we bathe together in the bedroom...... If such a person says that he has never done anything with that slut of the Sha family, the old man will not believe it first! No wonder he was a guarantor for that little brute, maybe he had already done anything shameless with the Sha family, so he naturally stood up for her. ”

Hua Jiyin said: "While Hu Zhongcheng is not leaving, we might as well sue him, the child knows that Hu Zhongcheng has the best relationship with Weng Sikou, and has always wanted to avenge Weng Sikou." This is a great opportunity, just in time ......"

"It's useless. Fan Jin is a Buddha of ten thousand families in the southeast, and if he sues him for this kind of thing, Hu Zhongcheng will not pay attention to it. Besides, he has a lot of friendship with the Duke of Wei, and he is not an easy character to deal with, and now he is a celebrity in front of His Majesty, so this thing can't touch him. It is said that Gangneung Xiangguo himself is a womanizer, and if he has no wife, he will be served by a young orchid. Hum! The upper beam is not correct and the lower beam is crooked, there is such a first assistant, how can there be a righteous gentleman below? The court does not take this kind of shameless thing as a big thing, and it doesn't hurt or itch to participate, but it makes him hold a grudge against us. Jiyin, the most important thing for you at the moment is your own fame, and you can get off the post when you are full of three years, as long as you have a future, your mother's hardships over the years have not been in vain. Fan Jin...... Turning around and asking him to walk is that this kind of villain does not need to be offended, nor can he be offended. When you see him, you have to be polite, respectful and polite, and don't offend him in the slightest. ”

"Why? This is very different from what my mother usually taught......"

"Confused. What my mother teaches you on weekdays is the truth of being a human being, and it has nothing to do with outsiders. You can't read to death when you read, you must learn to be flexible. My mother asked you to be a decent gentleman, not close to women, all for your good, not for you to manage outsiders according to this standard, what does his life and death have to do with you and me? My mother asked you to make friends with Fan Jin, and it was also for your own good. Young monarchs and ministers, the future may be a good story of decades of monarchs and ministers, even if they are not zaifu, they may also be important ministers. If such a villain is offended, and always thinks of harming you, with my son's loyalty, he will be poisoned sooner or later. Instead of this, it is better to be friends with him, as long as you don't follow him to learn badly, let him take care of your future, what's wrong? ”

"The child obeys his mother's command."

Jia Shi said again: "What my mother asked you to do, hurry up and do it, don't delay." ”

"This ...... The old man is still in mourning, and it seems ...... to do this."

"What does a slut have to do with your father's life or death? My mother worked hard to earn this family business, and as soon as she came back with that seed, she would take a part of the land from your name. Those fields and houses are all reclaimed by the mother with a hoe, and when the family is the most difficult, the mother also has to work in the fields, and she is tired and half dead, so that we have today's family business. She first lured your father, and then took away our property, how can there be such a cheap thing in the world? And dispose of the slut first, the remaining small one, will be dealt with slowly in the future, after all, it is the family business that my mother earned for my son, and it must not be cheap for foreign wild seeds! ”

The old woman's appearance was already very serious, but at this moment she was as hideous as the devil. Hua Jiyin hurriedly said: "Mother's anger is relieved, so I'll do it." ”

Fan Jin and Zheng Chan's mandarin ducks playing in the water obviously caused a lot of influence in the Hua family, and when the family looked at Zheng Chan the next day, their eyes were obviously strange, and their eyes were clearly full of contempt and discrimination. It seems that what she and Fan Jin are doing is immoral and full of evil.

Although Jia didn't say anything, when Fan Jin proposed to resign, he didn't keep it, but just ordered his subordinates to pick a flat shoulder to follow Fan Jin. In the front and back baskets, there are Shanghao Ning silk in front, and several volumes of the Hua family's collection are placed in the back. When the group arrived at the ancestral hall, they saw that Jiyin was really reading with a group of children inside, and his originally cheerful appearance became as stable and lacking vitality as in Jingshili.

Fan Jin called him out and asked a few words, Hua Jiyin replied very decently, but he couldn't see much closeness, only when he broke up, he suddenly pulled the corner of Fan Jin's clothes, but he didn't wait to say anything, but he took the initiative to let go.

The Jia clan took the clan to send Fan Jin out of the village and walked a long way before parting, looking back at the archways in the village, Zheng Chan stuck out her tongue, "It's finally out, this time it's good, you can do whatever you want, and you don't have to look at people's eyes anymore." Boss, will you help me wash my body today? ”

"Well, I'll listen to you. The three of you, don't look this way, each of you takes a few taels of silver, find a clear building to play, don't come to me. ”

Several people in the group laughed, including Fan Jin, they all felt that the farther away from this house, the lighter their bodies became, and even their breathing was much smoother, and the hot and humid weather in the south was not so uncomfortable, as if everything had changed for the better. There was a thought in everyone's hearts: it was better not to come to this house again.