Yan Ge Lao passed his eightieth birthday the year before last, and in which era it was placed, it was also a genuine high life, so that Xu Ge Lao, who had been waiting to attend his memorial service, had already begun to wonder who would attend whom.

But the erosion of time on life, no one can resist, Yan Ge is really old, his eyes are too dazzling to see the documents clearly, his hand trembles slightly when he lifts the pen, he must be supported when he walks, and he can't take care of himself in life. Especially when it rains on a cloudy day, the joints all over the body are swollen and painful, tossing and turning, and I can't sleep all night.

Yesterday, it was still sunny during the day, but Yan Ge Lao still predicted according to his body's reaction: "It's going to change the sky...... Sure enough, at night, a gust of wind blew, black clouds came up, and it began to rain.

Yan Ge was tortured all night long, afraid that the seriously ill lady would not be able to sleep well, so he had to get up in the middle of the night to lie down in the study, and the four little maids in Jiangnan rubbed him for a night, and when it was almost dawn, he had just fallen asleep.

I just fell asleep, but I was woken up by a knock on ......the door of 'tu, tuk'.

"What's wrong?" Yan Song woke up from his sleep, let the maid sit up and said, "Is it Mrs. Wrong?" "His wife Ouyang has been bedridden since the spring, and the imperial doctor said that it is difficult to go away, so she can only raise it and see the creation. Therefore, Yan Song was very worried that when he woke up one day, he would never see his wife again.

The voice of the old housekeeper Yan Nian sounded outside: "Master, it's not Madame, it's Gonggong Li in the palace." After listening to the first half of the sentence, Yan Song's heart was relieved, but after listening to the second half of the sentence, he suddenly became nervous and said, "Which Gonggong Li?" ”

"It's Li Fang, Mr. Li." Yan Nian bowed outside the door and replied in a low voice. When he said the words 'Gonggong Li', his tone was even more gentle and respectful. To say that this Yan Nian is a person, there is a way to be a seven-grade official in front of the prime minister, not to mention that he, the head of the Yan Mansion, is very powerful in front of outsiders. And those low-bony officials, but all those officials who want to be promoted to the rank of knight and want to attach themselves to the Yan family, all compete with each other to flatter, and they don't even dare to call them by their names, and they call them 'Mr. Caoshan', even high-ranking officials like Shangshu Shilang are no exception, which is really sad and lamentable.

But this manager is still incomparable. Li Fang is the palm print of the celebrant eunuch, the old man next to the emperor is on an equal footing with Yan Song, and he dares to compete with a cabinet minister? These people who tend to be inflammatory, and they are the most bullying and afraid of the hard, so when the name of Manager Li is mentioned, Yan Nian's voice is full of softness, as if it is not enough to show his respect.

Hearing that it was Li Fang who came, Yan Song suddenly came to his senses, and hurriedly ordered someone to change his clothes, and he thought about it even more quickly in his heart - this Li Fang is the head of the inner house, and he usually stays by the emperor's side, if Jiajing has a will, at most he will let Chen Hong come over for a run, and he has never worked his big driver.

It was still dawn, so Li Fang came, obviously waiting early in the morning and coming out after opening the palace door...... This is absolutely unreasonable, what is it that makes him so anxious? The more Yan Song thought about it, the more he felt unsteady, and he couldn't care about washing his face, so he rubbed his eyes and asked people to help him out to see Li Fang.

In the living room of the Yan Mansion. Li Fang put his hands behind his back, looked at a banner hanging on the wall, and just looked at the strong and square font, he knew that this was Yan Ge Lao's proud work, and said:

'The unprovoked world goes around the sheep's intestines, and occasionally hides itself with laziness. Plant bamboo and add a crane path, buy a mountain and talk about the reading hall. The ancient wood of the window is opened, and a few cold flowers are lonely. Mo Xiaoye has little livelihood, and there are waves everywhere. ’

On the side of the poem, there is also a few lines of small print commentary, saying that "because his grandfather and mother passed away one after another, he was worried according to the system, but after the expiration of the system period, because the ministers were in charge and the gentlemen avoided him, he used the reason of 'raising scabies' as a reason and no longer became an official." And in the autumn of the fourth year of Zhengde, he moved his home from Jieqiao Village to Fenyi County, borrowed the east building of the idle "Hall of Inspection" at that time, turned it into a reading garden, and the name was called "Dongtang", and began the career of "Hidden Reading in the Mountain".

Such a good poem, sparse, scattered, comfortable, natural, with a classic ironing without revealing traces, elegant in the streamlined, in the casual atmosphere, it is easy to think of a noble gentleman, but it can not be associated with the party and the powerful Yan Ge Lao.

'Zhengde four years ......' Li Fang calculated in his heart, Yan Song was not yet thirty years old at that time, and when he wrote this poem, he would never have thought that he would become like this, right? If Yan Song was born at that time, I don't know if he would abandon his official position and go home again. ’

Just as he was shaking his head and sighing, he heard the sound of heavy breathing outside the door. Li Fang deliberately said loudly: "Good poetry, good words, good scribe!" ’

Yan Song happened to enter the door, and when he heard this, his old face smiled and said: "When I was young, I moaned and scribbled indiscriminately, but now I am just chatting about it, which makes Gonggong Li smile." It seems that he also knows that his current virtue is thousands of miles away from that time.

Li Fang shook her head and said with emotion: "I have heard that the pavilion is always a poetry and calligraphy person, but in addition to the green words you have written, this is the first time I have seen it, and it is really famous for not meeting!" It turned out that decades ago, Ge Lao had already dominated the literary world. ”

Yan Song smiled brighter when he heard this: "Father-in-law, don't boast anymore, if you praise again, the old decay will fly to the beam." Although he smiled on his face, his nervous mood was not relieved in the slightest. Because he knew very well that the chief manager beside Jiajing was not here to appreciate his calligraphy when he visited early in the morning, so he had been carefully observing Li Fang's face, hoping to find a little bit of good luck through subtle changes.

Li Fang often serves by Jiajing's side, observing words and feelings, and if he thinks that he is second in the world, no one dares to admit that he is first. Therefore, he knows Yan Ge Lao's mood at the moment, but in any case, it is a quick thing to see the powerful Yan Ge Old Man full of suspicion and nervousness. I don't know what kind of psychology he had, he pretended not to understand, but just talked about poetry and words.

Yan Song tried his best to deal with it at first, but in the end, he finally couldn't hold it back, and asked with a wry smile: "If my father-in-law likes it, I will give you this painting, I just ask you not to sell it again, let's talk about something, okay?" ”

Li Fang couldn't go down with mushrooms now, so he smiled slightly when he heard the words, and said, "Don't hide it from the elder of the pavilion, it's the emperor's edict that has arrived, please take a look." Saying that, he sighed lightly and said, "It's just that the wording is a bit harsh, and our family is afraid that you will be unhappy, so we haven't taken it out for a long time." ”

As soon as these words came out, Yan Song's heartbeat suddenly became chaotic, and he forced a smile: "Look at what you said, the old man has served the emperor for decades, and he has been scolded several times, and he still has the ability to bear it." ”

"That's good, that's good." Only then did Li Fang take out Jiajing's edict from his arms and hand it to Yan Song. Yan Song took it respectfully, put on reading glasses, squinted his eyes and looked at it, only to see that the words were as big as a bucket...... That's because Emperor Jiajing knew that he was old and dizzy, so he deliberately wrote a big ...... But that stroke by stroke, silver hook and iron stroke, did not have the usual fairy aura at all, but revealed uncontrollable anger.

I saw that the edict wrote: 'I use the Qing family, the only one I want is Qingjinger, but the father and son of the Qing family are bold, dare to regard the major affairs of the court as child's play, and dare to turn my talent ceremony into a hall where your family and city collect wealth? Is this a tolerable matter? What's intolerable? The indignation and anxiety of hearing it caused an old illness, and the expression was unhappy, and the anger accumulated into a stubborn state! I want to meditate, but the yin and evil winds do not stop! How to stop the evil wind, how to stop the yin qi? Can the Qing family relieve my worries? If you don't understand, don't come to see me! ”

This reprimand made Yan Ge Lao confused, especially those few stern questions, which made him even more frightened, his hands holding the edict trembled, his already haggard face became more and more pale, and beads of sweat the size of beans trickled down...... Li Fang knew that this unprecedented harsh reprimand had made Old Yan Song's every inch chaotic. But he pretended not to know, brushed the dust with the crook of his arm, got up and smiled: "Since the hadith has been delivered and our family's errand has been completed, we will go back to the palace to resume our lives." "As soon as he had said the salute, he had to withdraw.

"Please ......wait a minute, father-in-law" Yan Song came back to his senses at this time, he knew that the emperor's thunderous anger had to rely on this Li Fang to interpret and even resolve it, how could he let him go like this, and hurriedly said: "Breakfast has been prepared in the kitchen, my father-in-law came so early, he must have not eaten yet, and it is not too late to leave after using it." As he spoke, he grabbed Li Fang's wrist and didn't let go.

Li Fang had no choice, so he had to follow him to the dining room next door and sacrifice the Five Organs Temple first.

"Come on, try the rice noodle steamed pork ...... our hometown" Although more than a dozen dishes have been served, Yan Song still greeted warmly: "There is also this and this siu mai, they are all made by the chef in my hometown, and Grandpa Li should use more." ”

Li Fang ate half of the siu mai on the plate, held her eyelids and smiled bitterly: "I can't eat it, I can't eat it, I can't eat it, my stomach will be swollen if I eat it again." As he spoke, he wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin and said, "Elder Ge, if you have something to say, our family is panicking for you." ”

Seeing that his mind was broken, Yan Song smiled and said, "Okay, I'll just say ......" said and lowered his voice, arched his hand and said: "Old decay, may I ask my father-in-law, when the emperor writes this holy edict, my father-in-law can serve on the side?" ”

"What is this...... Li Fang paused, nodded slowly, and said, "The elder Ge's eyes are red when he looks at our family." "I didn't say it explicitly, but I obviously admitted it.

"That's really good...... Yan Song got up, gave Li Fangshen a salute, and begged in a begging voice: "Old decay, please ask your father-in-law, why did the emperor make this edict, what did he say at the time, what was his mood, please let the public know, the old man is grateful." ”

"What are you talking about?" When Li Fang heard this, the smile on his face suddenly disappeared, and he said with a serious face, "Taizu has already set an iron law, the internal servants are not allowed to interfere in politics, and violators will be beheaded, do you want my life!" ”

Yan Song laughed in his heart when he heard this: "I don't know what Wang Zhen, Liu Jinzhi and others do? It's you, an old dog, who is not less troublesome and secretly tossing, what are you selling to me at this time? But his face was still full of earnestness: "God knows this, you should be an old friend, and the old man is unforgettable!" Saying that, clapping his hands, Yan Nian came in from outside, presented a thick envelope, put it on the table, and left with interest.

Yan Song pushed the big envelope in front of Li Fang, and said with a smile on his face: "My father-in-law has served the emperor at night, and he has worked extremely hard. ”

Li Fang picked up the envelope, opened it and saw that there were ten Huitong silver bills with a denomination of 1,000 taels and no one who recognized the vote, laughed, but resealed the envelope, and returned the original and said: "The elder is gracious, our family is flattered; However, our family is alone, and we eat and live in the palace, so we don't need money. ”

"Alas, my father-in-law's words are wrong," Yan Song shook his head and said: "No one dares to say what will happen in the future, you should still be prepared." "It's really a naked abetment to sin.

"What Elder Ge said is reasonable," Li Fang seemed to be as good as a stream, paused, but said: "But our family has no merit, how dare we even eat and take, that's too funny!" ”

Yan Songxin said: 'Just wait for your words! Then he released the feelings that had been brewed long ago, his face became more and more sad, and in a blink of an eye, his eyes were full of tears, and he clenched his fists and begged bitterly: "Father-in-law, please help me, please help me......"

"Oh, what are you doing here?" Li Fang hurriedly got up and saluted: "Do you want to kill the old slave?" ”

"If my father-in-law doesn't agree, I'll ......," Yan Song said, holding on to the edge of the table, slowly kneeling to the ground, and said, "I'll kneel down for you!" ”

Speaking from the heart, Li Fang really wanted to accept his kneeling, but he also knew that if that was the case, Yan Song would definitely take revenge on him, so he could only quickly support him with regret, and sighed: "Alas, the old man treats me like this, the old slave, I don't want this old life, I have to help you." ”

"Thank you, thank you." Yan Song had tears on his face, but he had already smiled, sat back in his chair, and said, "May I ask my father-in-law, what is going on, who has aroused the fire in Your Majesty's heart?" ”

Looking at his neat appearance, Li Fang knew that people were just acting at all, and they didn't want to kneel for themselves at all, so they couldn't help but crook their noses, and finally knew that Jiang was still old and spicy! This eighty-year-old is shameless than his own sixty-year-old.

Come to think of it, I still have to say it...... In fact, these things can't be hidden from people at all, I don't know how many palace people and eunuchs have collected money and become the eyes of foreign ministers, and yesterday the emperor did not clear the scene, and it will soon be spread out. Li Fang knew that now that Yan Song was suddenly reprimanded and in chaos, he would rush to the doctor with his illness, so it was better to sell a favor, so as not to offend this giant crocodile.

He told Yan Ge about what happened yesterday, and of course he would exaggerate it according to his own needs, adding oil and vinegar; Or to put it mildly, the words are vague, but they finally let Yan Song know what happened.

After hearing this, Yan Song was sweating profusely again, and denied it again and again: "The old man dares to swear to the sky, he never knows about this matter, and he definitely doesn't have the courage to indulge in the court's talent ceremony!" ”

"Of course our family believes in Ge Lao." Li Fang smiled and said: "But you don't know Your Majesty's temper, your lordship is so strong, and our family doesn't dare to rashly say good things to you, so as not to paint it darker and darker." ”

"That's, that's." Yan Song nodded and said, "Your Majesty's temper, I still know." As he spoke, he arched his hand and said, "May I ask my father-in-law, how should I deal with the old decay?" ”

"Look at me." Li Fang said: "You have to find out this matter first, Your Majesty can't go there for the time being, wait for a while to dissipate your anger, and we will see you again to help you mention it, and then you go and talk to Your Majesty about it, borrow the misunderstanding, and make the best decision." He smiled again: "Of course, what we say is not accurate, and the idea has to be taken by the elder himself." As he spoke, he put the envelope into his sleeve without a trace, got up and said with a smile: "It's not free to be an errand, the incident that came out of our family is not short, and we can't talk about it anymore." ”

Yan Song had already achieved his goal, so he naturally didn't keep him anymore, and slowly got up while holding on to the table and said, "The old man sent him to his father-in-law." ”

"Please stay, don't." Li Fang hurriedly stopped and said, "I'll just go by myself." But Yan Song still sent him to the weeping flower gate, watched him disappear into the front yard, and then turned around against the wall, looking at the withered trees in the yard and was stunned.

But after standing for a while, I felt that my legs were weak and my head was dizzy. The old housekeeper Yan Nian hurriedly came over, supported him, and said softly: "Master, let's go back to the house and rest." ”

Yan Song sighed helplessly and said: "Old, really old......" He hunched his waist, and with Yan Nian's support, he entered the house, first went to see his wife, talked with her for a while, and then returned to the study, lay down on the usual recliner, closed his eyes and recuperated for a while.

Just when the people thought he was asleep and wanted to quietly withdraw, they heard Yan Ge Lao say slowly: "Is Yan Shifan up?" ”

"This ...... Probably not. Yan Nian whispered.

"It's been a long time, and I'm still in bed." Yan Song snorted and said, "Call him over to me, as soon as possible!" ”

"Yes!" Yan Nian felt the anger of the master, where did he dare to slack off, and hurriedly went to the garden where Yan Shifan lived in the back house.

(To be continued)