Lu Weirui and her stepmother Zhang Wenjun visited Tiger Hill together seven days ago, and saw that the peony by the sword pond buried in the tomb of King Wu Lu was brightly blooming, so they agreed to draw a "Tiger Hill Peony Map", and because they only cared about watching the peony that day, they did not have time to visit other scenery, so they wanted to play again today.

Today is the official's day off, Lu Na does not go to the office to sit in the hall, Mrs. Lu Zhang Wenjun and Lu Weirui came together to invite Lu Na to visit Tiger Hill together, and when she saw that Chen Caozhi was also here, she said happily: "Chen Langjun has seen those two paintings, would you like to hear Chen Langjun's evaluation?" ”

Mrs. Lu Zhang Wenjun is also a devout believer in the Tao of the Heavenly Master, Chen Caozhi prayed for his mother in Zhenqing Taoist Institute to copy "Lao Tzu Five Thousand Texts", she and Lu Weirui went to see it together, Chen Caozhi's dignified writing demeanor makes people feel respectful, and the beautiful character is always desirable, Mrs. Lu Zhang Wenjun is quite close to this pure filial piety and talented young man, as if Chen Caozhi is also Lu's nephew.

Lu Na said to Zhang Wenjun: "Today, Linhai Taishou He Xi comes to Wu County, I want to go out of the city to greet him, I have no time to visit Tiger Hill, you and Wei Rui go, let the land fowl accompany each other, and go together." ”

Lu Na said that, and led a few of his followers.

Mrs. Lu Zhang Wenjun personally unfolded the two "Tiger Hill Peony Pictures" and said to Chen Caozhi: "Chen Langjun, please comment on which painting is better?" ”

Lu Weirui looked at Chen Caozhi and chuckled: "Aunt Zhang, aren't you embarrassing Chen Langjun?" ”

Mrs. Lu smiled: "So Wei Rui thinks this painting has surpassed me?" Let Chen Langjun say that he must speak out. ”

Chen Caozhi was also not restrained, and said: "These two paintings of Mrs. Lu and Mrs. Wei Rui are both models for me to copy and chase, it's too late to admire, how dare I judge them——"

Mrs. Lu shook her head and smiled: "Chen Langjun can't be so prevaricating, he must say something." ”

Chen Caozhi looked at the picture scroll and said: "Mrs. Lu's painting, the color is creamy, the charm is wonderful, even Mr. An Tao should not be able to find the slightest flaw here, on the pen power, on the rich changes in the petal coloring are better than the little lady, but the little lady is good at learning, learning from others, and it is not impossible to beat Mrs. Lu in time." ”

Mrs. Lu laughed: "Chen Langjun is really exquisite, and he praised me and Wei Rui." ”

Lu Weirui pursed her lips and smiled, and said: "Aunt Zhang, Chen Langjun has not seen the peony by the sword pool, let Chen Langjun also go to see it today, I think there will be another evaluation of these two paintings." ”

Mrs. Lu laughed and said, "Ah, Wei Rui is not convinced, do you want to beat me now?" Well, let's go and have a look, I'm afraid that the bush of peonies has withered. ”

Lu Weirui said: "No, the flowering period of peony is not short." ”

Mrs. Lu asked the maid to summon Lu Fowl to go to Tiger Hill together, and the maid reported that Lu Langjun had gone out early in the morning, and he didn't know where he went?

Mrs. Lu said, "Then let's go by ourselves." ”

The dependents of the Lu Mansion traveled, with more than 10 ox carts and nearly 100 servants, filling the road and blocking the road.

Tiger Hill is in the north of the city, there are six or seven miles of road from Taishoufu, in late spring March, the grass grows and the warbler flies, and the people who go out of the city to visit the spring are on the way.

Chen Caozhi sat on the ox cart driven by Laide, looking at the beautiful mountain peak not far away from the car window, that is, Tiger Hill, he had climbed in his previous life, and what he saw now is really very different, the most important thing is that there is no iconic Leaning Tower of Tiger Hill on the top of the mountain, and the forest is more lush than later generations, and his heart said: "The Leaning Tower of Tiger Hill was built in five generations, and it will only appear in 600 years. Then he thought, "It would be better if I could travel alone with Wei Rui, but it's a pity—"

The ox cart rolled over the stone bridge at the foot of Tiger Hill, but heard someone catch up from behind and called: "Madame—Madame, the head of the family asks Madame to return to the house immediately." ”

The ox cart "creaked" to a stop, and Mrs. Lu's wife Zhang Wenjun asked from the car window, "Why are you in such a hurry?" ”

The person who came was the steward of the Lu Mansion, and said: "The head of the family said that Mrs. He Taishou has also arrived, and please go back to accompany Mrs. He." ”

Mrs. Lu Zhang Wenjun said helplessly: "Then go back." ”

"Wait a minute." Lu Weirui got off the ox cart, walked over and said, "Aunt Zhang, it's not urgent to see Mrs. He, it's important to go up the mountain to see the peony first." ”

Zhang Wenjun smiled: "You are a nymphomaniac, you just want to see peony, how can I be as childish as you, let's go back together, and come back tomorrow." ”

Lu Weirui said: "I have arrived at the bottom of the mountain but I want to go back, I am really depressed, and I don't know if the peony has withered?" ”

Lu Weirui bit her thin lips lightly, her eyebrows frowned, and she looked coquettish.

Zhang Wenjun hurriedly said: "Okay, Wei Rui, you go to the mountain by yourself, let Chen Langjun accompany you, and come back early after seeing the peony." ”

Lu Weirui said: "Aunt Zhang will go together, it's only an hour." ”

Zhang Wenjun said: "Your father is waiting, the He family and the Lu family are world friends, so you can't be rude." He told the servants such as the short hoe and the hairpin to wait carefully for the little lady, and took most of the people back to the city.

Lu Weirui endured it for a long time, and then she laughed silently, quickly clasped her hands together, closed her eyes and prayed silently, but the smile on her face became thicker and thicker, and the laughter in her throat finally couldn't be suppressed, and the crisp and sweet laughter flew into the distance like a flock of birds flapping their wings.

Chen Caozhi also got off the ox cart, looking at the beautiful girl's silent prayer, he had a wonderful feeling in his heart, it turned out that he could really make his wishes come true in this world.

The slate bridge was only half a mile away from the foot of Huqiu Mountain, and Lu Weirui asked the ox cart and the servants to wait here, and she brought two little maids, a short hoe and a hairpin—after thinking about it, she brought two servants from the Lu Mansion with her, and these two servants were not inferior to Chen Langjun's servants to Laide.

Laide also likes to climb the mountain, unwilling to stay at the foot of the mountain, Chen Caozhi let Laide and Ran Sheng go up the mountain together, and Lu Weirui a total of eight people walked to the foot of the mountain, a mountain stream is clear and shallow, there is no bridge on the stream, there are several circular stone piers scattered in the water, there is one every two feet, seven or eight stone piers connect both sides of the mountain stream.

At this time, it is about three o'clock in the morning, the spring sun is warm, the spring breeze is swaying, the stream water brought by this mountain stream is extremely clear, the sunlight is shining, the crystal pebbles in the stream can be counted, occasionally there is a small fish swimming slowly, a little stagnant, the fish's tail is twisted, and it swims away suddenly.

Lu Weirui was not in a hurry to go up the mountain, she was standing by the stream, her eyes were bright, the happiness in her heart was bubbling up like a spring, the whole person was going to float happily, she felt that she had never been so relaxed, she looked at Chen Caozhi who was close at hand, and said softly: "I just thought in the car, will Aunt Zhang have something to go back halfway——"

Chen Caozhi smiled and said, "Well, I think so too." ”

Lu Weirui smiled and said, "It turns out that two people can get their wish if they look forward to one place." Speaking of this, he turned his head slightly shyly to look at the top of the mountain.

The little maid urged with a short hoe: "Little lady, go up the mountain." ”

The two servants of the Lu Mansion had already taken off their shoes and stood on both sides of the stone pier in the stream, waiting for the little lady to cross the stream on the stone pier.

Ran Sheng was reckless and said, "This stream is only three feet, watch me jump over." ”

Laide said: "Don't fall into the water. ”

"Look at me." Ran Sheng tightened his belt, stepped back two feet, sprinted, jumped, landed on the other side, turned around and laughed.

The two healthy servants of the Lu Mansion couldn't stop talking.

Lu Weirui saw that the stream was clear and lovely, and said: "Chen Langjun, I want to wade through the water barefoot, I used to love wading like this." ”

The short hoe and hairpin are both girls' hearts, and they said with great interest: "Okay, the two of us will go first, and the little lady will come over if the stream is not slippery." ”

The second maid sat on the stone by the stream, except for her shoes and socks, stretched out her feet into the water, and inhaled with a short hoe: "It's cool, it's a little cold, but it's so comfortable—little lady, come." ”

Lu Weirui glanced at Chen Cao, also sat on the flat stone and took off her green silk shoes and white cloth socks, quickly immersed her feet in the stream, let out a soft cry in her mouth, stood up with her skirt up, took two steps tentatively, and turned back and said, "Chen Langjun-"

Chen Caozhi was happy and relaxed, and being with Lu Weirui was like washing off the mortal dust, and his heart was as clear as this stream, so he also went to his shoes and socks, and waded across the stream step by step behind Lu Weirui-

The stream is very shallow, just submerged the instep, Chen Caozhi looked at Lu Weirui's slender and delicate ankles, the snow-white feet moved cautiously, when stepping on the smooth pebbles, the toes were cutely shrunk, the toenails were floating in the water like rose petals, and the skirt was raised a little more, and he saw the calves like mutton fat and white jade, and the curves extending from the slender ankles to the smooth calves were extremely beautiful, and it was extremely difficult to draw such lines with one stroke when painting.

Lu Weirui looked at the gurgling stream, Chen Caozhi's shadow behind her was under her feet, she couldn't bear to step on it, staggered to the side, slipped a little under her feet, her body shook, she naturally opened her arms to maintain balance, and then her left hand was pinched, it was Chen Caozhi's hand, warm and powerful, just more than ten steps, but it seemed to have walked far, far away, and the happiness in her heart seemed to be so light that she wanted to fly.

When he went ashore, Chen Caozhi said: "When the stream is barefoot and stepping on the stream stones, the sound of the water is flowing and the wind is raw - in the future, I will paint such a picture for you, but now I can't paint it, I have to ask Gu Changkang for advice on how to draw characters." ”

Lu Weirui let out an "um", her heart was happy and radiant.

At this time, the tiger hill does not have a smooth climbing stone steps, it is the mountain road that is paved with a piece of stone, there is quite a steep place, after a thousand people stone, it is the tomb of King Wu Lu, the left wall of the mountain cliff is engraved with two seal characters - "sword pool".

Lu Weirui said: "Chen Langjun, the word 'Sword Pool' was inscribed by the right general Wang Xizhi when he visited Tiger Hill seven years ago, and it was engraved on the cliff wall the year before last. ”

The sword pond is about 20 zhang wide, deep and unfathomable, legend has it that King Wu decided to bury the sword such as "fish intestines" and a large number of treasures here, Qin Shi Huang had sent troops to excavate, but found nothing.

The mountains and rocks on the side of the sword pond, the flowing spring is secluded, it is really the first scenic spot of the tiger hill before the leaning tower, more than ten peony flowers on the side of the cliff are blooming brightly, the flower color is white, pink, red, purple, there are about hundreds, such as a big splendid draped on the edge of the cliff of the sword pond, it is really beautiful.

Chen Caozhi and Lu Weirui were admiring the flowers side by side, and two people suddenly turned out on the edge of the cliff, but they were Zhu Yingtai and Zhu Yingting brothers.

The Zhu brothers were also taken aback when they saw Chen Caozhi, Zhu Yingtai glanced at Lu Weirui, and arched his hand to Chen Caozhi: "Brother Zizhong is traveling to the mountains with beauty?" ”

Chen Caozhi frowned, Zhu Yingtai's words were a little rude, and he said lightly: "Brother Yingtai wants to show the conversation again?" How about I bow down? ”

Zhu Yingtai saw that Chen Caozhi was sarcastic, and somehow felt annoyed, and said: "I came to appreciate this peony, and I want to draw a picture of "Jianchi Peony" to see how the first lady in Wu County draws?" ”

Lu Weirui didn't understand what Zhu Yingtai mentioned about her, seeing this, Zhu Yingtai's eyes and tone were quite unfriendly, so she said, "Chen Langjun, let's go to the top of the mountain and have a look." ”

Chen Caozhi bowed his hand to the Zhu brothers and said, "Accompany less." "Follow Lu Weirui to climb up.

Zhu Yingtai stared at the backs of Chen and Lu, inexplicably angry.

The mountain road was tortuous, and when he turned around, he couldn't see the figure of the Zhu brothers, Lu Weirui asked: "Chen Langjun, have you offended that person?" ”

Chen Caozhi said with a smile: "No, this person has always had sharp teeth and sharp mouths, and the day before yesterday, I saw your "Tiger Hill Peony Map" in Taolin Xiaozhu, and I was interested, and I want to paint one." ”

Lu Weirui said: "Painting is painting, why do you want to compare with me, it's really strange." ”

Chen Caozhi said: "Zhu Yingtai should be a woman, Shangyu is also a county under the jurisdiction of Wu County, Zhu Yingtai is proud of his talent, and he is not convinced by Lu Weirui's claim to be the first lady in Wu County, it's really funny, I really can't understand how she will fall in love with Liang Shanbo of Mu Ne in the future, I will go back to Qian Tang at the end of April, it is estimated that there will be no chance to be a classmate with him in the future, then Liang Shanbo should come later, I hope that all lovers will become dependents, don't be tragic butterflies." He said, "This person had better win, ignore him, let's go to the mountains by ourselves, and then go to see the peony." ”

The top of Tiger Hill is flat and wide, and there are several big locust trees in the position of the leaning tower later, Chen Caozhi looks at the big locust tree, and he feels better than the past and the present.

Ran Sheng opened and closed the two simple small stools, rested them on the ground, and asked Xiao Langjun and Wei Rui to sit and rest.

Lu Weirui was very strange, sat down cautiously, and sat with Chen Caozhi to look at the big city of Wu County not far away, the tiger hill in this spring, the wind and the sun are beautiful, the mountains and forests are dripping green, the sun shines through the branches and leaves of the locust tree on the two of them, the spots are swaying and flickering, and the eyes are faint and faint.

Occasionally, tourists walked by, and they didn't know that this was the Lu girl, but looking at the silhouette of the two, I felt that these two people were really a pair of beautiful people.

Lu Weirui sent the short hoe and hairpin flower to look for flowers nearby, she held a bamboo branch in her hand, gently teased the grass in front of her, and asked softly: "Chen Langjun, are you going back to Qiantang next month?" ”

Chen Caozhi said: "Yes, rush back before the Dragon Boat Festival." ”

Lu Weirui asked, "Then when will you come again?" ”

Chen Caozhi hesitated for a moment and said, "Maybe next year." ”

Lu Weirui's eyes darkened, and then she said, "Okay, I'm waiting for you to marry me." The last three words were barely audible.

The second servant of the Lu family was on the other side of the locust tree, Chen Caozhi just lightly touched the back of Lu Weirui's hand, and said with a smile: "If you want to marry the Lu girl into Chenjiawu, it will be like ascending to the sky, but the fairy of the Lu family is willing to marry, so how can I not work hard, I can't be too wronged by you, right?" ”

Lu Weirui blushed on her cheeks and said, "I will wait for you no matter what." ”

The two of them sat silently opposite each other for a while, because their hearts were sweet, and they felt that even though the road was long and obstructive, they didn't have anything too to worry about, because if two people thought together, they would definitely be able to get their wish, wouldn't they?

Going down the mountain and passing by the sword pond, the Zhu brothers have disappeared, and the two of them watched the peony for a while, Lu Weirui asked Chen Caozhi to also draw a picture of "Tiger Hill Peony", which must be better than that Zhu Yingtai.

……

In the evening of the next day, Ding Chunqiu came to Taolin Xiaozhu and said to Chen Caozhi: "Zizhong has heard of it, then He Zhu's father Linhai Taishou He Xi came to Wu County to propose to the Lu family!" ”

Chen Cao's heart jumped, his tone was still calm, and he asked, "Did you propose to Lu Weirui for He Zhu?" ”

Ding Chunqiu was a little resentful: "Exactly, that He Zhu is obedient in words and deeds, where is he worthy of the Lu girl, it's just that the family is quite good." ”

Liu Shangzhi glanced at Chen Cao and said, "Yes, He Zhu is talentless, ignorant and arrogant, it's a pity that Lu marries into Hemen." ”

Chen Caozhi said lightly: "He Zhu is disobedient. ”

……

On March 25th, Linhai Taishou He Yu and his wife left Wu County with their son He Zhu to return to Huiji, Lu and He failed to marry, the reason was that He Zhu was scattered, Lu Na's beloved son Lu Changsheng was sick because of the service, and a few days ago I saw Yu Xi's naked ugly state in the office, how could he marry his only beloved daughter to He Zhu! Lu Na has made it clear that he wants to marry his daughter Lu Na, and the children of the Shi clan who are scattered should not mention it.

On this day, Yang Quan, a famous doctor in Yangzhou, rushed to Wu County for Yu Xi's diagnosis and treatment, and used acupuncture and moxibustion to guide Yu Xi, this method of treating the sequelae of dispersion was invented by Huang Fu Mi, a famous doctor and a famous scholar, Huang Fu Mi himself suffered from the dispersion, and explored the acupuncture method for many years, but the efficacy was also limited.

Chen Caozhi still went to Lu Na Mansion every few days, although he couldn't say anything to Lu Weirui, but he was happy to see it.

After the assessment, many of the children of the scholar clan who studied in the Xu Academy left, and only the students of the Hanmen Shu clan still listened to Dr. Xu's explanation of Confucianism and metaphysics every day.

After the Zhu brothers and Chen Caozhi were cold for a few days, they began to communicate again, Chen Caozhi didn't know if Zhu Yingtai painted the "Tiger Hill Peony", and Zhu Yingtai never mentioned that Jianchi met Chen Caozhi and Lu Weirui that day, and still played against Chen Caozhi, debated, and heard the flute......

In a blink of an eye, it was the eighth day of the fourth month, last year was this day, his past life and present life soul fusion, that day his mother said in the Lingyin Temple: "- ugly, my mother is old, I am afraid that I will not be able to accompany you to the temple to make incense and make vows, and you will come to the temple to give incense on the eighth birthday of the Buddha in April every year, remember not?" ”

A year has passed, and I think my mother is going to Lingyin Temple today to make incense and make vows for him, and add lamp oil to the longevity lamp in front of the Buddha.

Chen Cao one morning bathing and changing clothes, take Laide and Ran Sheng to the north of the city Tongxuan Temple to worship the Buddha, Wu County Heavenly Master Tao prevails, Buddhism has not yet been widely preached, there are only two Buddhist temples inside and outside the county, Tongxuan Temple is more famous, it is said that it is the mother of Sun Quan, Mrs. Wu built the house, has a history of more than 100 years, there is a pavilion-type octagonal stupa in the temple, the outer seven layers, the inner nine layers, up to 30 zhang, majestic and solemn, is the first pagoda of the three Wu.