The second year of Guangxu coincided with the year of the imperial examination. The imperial examination system of the Qing Dynasty inherited from the Ming Dynasty, and the examination was held once every three years, and the examination period was mostly in autumn and August, also known as "autumn plow". The list is released in September, when the osmanthus is blooming, so it is also called "laurel list". No matter how Song Xiaofei said that "the big husband is ambitious in all directions, how can he be depressed and trapped between the pen and inkstone for a long time", Li Hongzhang and Yuan Baoheng both think that he should return to his hometown to participate in the imperial examination first, and then come back to do a big career.

Xiangcheng is subordinate to Chenzhou Mansion. In June of that year, Song Xiaofei took Qiu Yi, who was dressed as a man, to Chenzhou to participate in the imperial examination. In the examination room, from the white-bearded grandfather to the teenage little doll, there are all ages, most of the readers are like vegetables, and the topics are still very fashionable, on "kissing and hiding".

"Relatives and relatives conceal each other" is a basic principle of the feudal criminal law, that is to say: relatives should conceal their guilt from each other, and those who do not report and testify do not forget the crime, but on the contrary, they should be punished. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius clearly stated in the Analects of the Son: "The father is hidden for the son, and the son is hidden for the father, and it is directly in it", believing that the righteous destruction of relatives is the extinction of people's surnames.

Song Xiaofei's concept has been brainwashed by modern times, believing that this is inconsistent with the spirit of the rule of law, so he is unusual, saying that relatives and relatives promote crime, and his literary writing is very non-standardized, and the result can be imagined. In September, on the day of the list, Song Xiao flew to the red list to see that his name was Sun Shan, and many of the people on the list around him were "Fan Jin", forty or fifty years old, laughing madly, like a fool, he was even more depressed, so he took Qiu Yi to wander on the street, revealing the sulkness in his heart.

Chenzhou Mansion is located in the Central Plains, in the Guangxu period is Zhili Prefecture, equivalent to the current municipality directly under the central government, in the late Qing Dynasty, although not as prosperous as Yanjing City, it is also a big city. It was said that autumn was high and crisp, the sky was blue, a few wisps of white clouds floated slowly in the sky of the Central Plains, and golden sunlight poured down from the clouds. People come and go on the street, most of them drag long braids, cloth village silk shops, Goolan wine shops, official salt shops, green. The building casino is readily available.

Song Xiaofei and Qiu Yi walked on the street, the butcher shop was full of large pieces of pork, the middle-aged woman carrying the basket was shouting "velvet flower" and "selling silk thread", and the fragrance of small grinding sesame oil wafted in the air. When the two of them passed by the Yixiang Building in the east of Chenzhou Mansion, there was a burst of gongs inside, and the downstairs was full of people, inside and outside several times.

Song Xiaofei was a little curious, pulled over a middle-aged uncle wearing a scarf and asked, "Uncle, what's so lively inside?" ”

The middle-aged uncle said: "Yixianglou has a big beauty in Yangzhou picking flowers today, I heard that not only people look Peugeot, but also chant poems and paint, play songs and dances and are proficient, of course, there are many people who come." ”

Song Xiaofei didn't know what it meant to pick flowers, so he humbly asked for advice, and the middle-aged uncle smiled: "Big brother, look at your clothes, you are also a rich child, you have seen the world, you don't know this?" Green. There is a rule in the building, the girl picks up customers for the first time, thirteen years old is too early, it is called a test flower, because the old mother loves money, will not care about the pain of the girl, those prodigal children are just a false name, and they will not have a good time. At the age of fourteen, it is called flowering, and at this time, the girl's day has arrived, and the man and the woman are receiving, which is also considered to be the time. When it reaches fifteen, it is called defloration. In ordinary people, fifteen years old is not young, it's time to talk about marriage. In the building, she can be regarded as a virgin martyr! Why don't you go in and take a look? ”

Song Xiaofei just had a ** with Qiu Yi last night, his legs were weak, and he was about to leave, Qiu Yi was a girl and had never seen Qing. What is the building, I was very curious, and pulled Song Xiaofei into Yixiang Building.

Yixiang Building is a small two-storey building, built exquisitely and chic, with the clear Chenjia River flowing next to it. The old mother of Yixianglou is called Li Erniang, a, and the charm still exists. When she was young, she was a popular celebrity by the Qinhuai River, married a wealthy businessman in Chenzhou when she was old, built this Yixiang Building by herself, adopted several beautiful goddaughters, and taught her skills in treating people and customers. After her training, several daughters can sing and dance poetry, wine, and dance, so Yixianglou is well-known in Chenzhou Mansion.

At that time, Qing. The building is a legal business, protected by the government, and the women in it are not like the current showbiz who only sell themselves and do not sell their arts, and most of the daughters' family piano, chess, calligraphy and painting are all exquisite, which is more elegant than the geisha of Xiao Yueben. Green. Among the women in the building, the beauties of Yangzhou are the most popular, such as the poet Du Mu went to Yangzhou to be an official, lingering in the museum every night, inviting sex to buy drunk, and also wrote "Ten years of Yangzhou dream, win the green. Lou Bo Xingming". This time, the beauty of Yixianglou Yangzhou was going to be deflorated, which naturally attracted the local three religions and nine streams. Some middle-aged gentry and wealthy businessmen all cheered with a big belly, and there were also many scholars who shook their heads and came to Chenzhou Mansion to participate in the imperial examination.

On the second floor of Yixiang Building, Li Erniang appeared with a young girl in hand. Song Xiaofei looked up, the girl had a goose egg face, a little baby fat, two depicted eyebrows like small willow leaves, a butterfly hairpin on her head was very chic, holding a silk fan in her hand, wearing a colorful dark flower skirt, she looked slender, slim and elegant, if out of the water hibiscus, she was Yu Xiaowan who was going to pick flowers today.

Li Erniang held Yu Xiaowan's hand upstairs and smiled at the many guests downstairs, "She is my most beloved daughter, surnamed Yu, named Xiaowan, originally the daughter of a Suzhou embroidery family in Suzhou. In that year, the long-haired remnants went to Suzhou, burned, killed and plundered, so the family fled, and when they arrived in Chenzhou, they were exhausted, and their parents sold her to Yixianglou at the price of thirty taels of silver. I have been cultivating her for more than three years, and now I am picking flowers, everyone must abide by the rules, pity the fragrance and cherish the jade! ”

As she spoke, Li Erniang took out Yu Xiaowan's deed of sale, which was written in black and white, as well as a few bright red handprints, and showed it to the visitors downstairs to prove that she was not blind. After the seekers downstairs nodded in approval, Li Erniang announced the start of today's flower picking, and announced the rules: Anyone who picks flowers must go through two levels. The first level, fighting money, ten taels of silver, whoever bids high will hold the beauty. The second level is Douwen, which is a level that my daughter specially wants to add, and she needs to match her couplets before you can sleep together.

Song Xiaofei heard that Yu Xiaowan's miserable life experience was similar to that of the Fengxian girl, and felt pity for her, and he couldn't help but feel good about her when he saw her picking flowers and fighting for it. Qiu Yi next to him looked at Song Xiaofei intently at Yu Xiaowan, and said with a smile: "Young master, look at you, you look at you so seriously, your eyes fell to the ground." ”

Song Xiaofei glanced back at Qiu Yi and said, "What, are you jealous?" Let's go, then. ”

"Don't, young master, how dare I be jealous, which man who has the ability now is not a third wife and four concubines, as long as I can be by your side. I know you're in a bad mood and you're in a bad mood, so have fun. And I also want to know, such a beautiful girl, who will be blessed with her cave room candles in the end. Why don't you try it, young master? ”

The first level is real money, starting with ten taels of silver, those poor scholars stared dryly, and they all shook their heads and sighed: The world is hot and cold, and the girls are drilling into the eyes of money. The rest of the rich children, you ten taels, I fifteen taels of non-stop, Song Xiaofei touched his pocket, there were more than two hundred taels of silver tickets left, you can buy a big house with three in and three out in Chenzhou, Song Xiaofei climbed on a square table, stood on it and shouted: "Xiaosheng is willing to give out a hundred taels of silver." ”

Since ancient times, "mothers love money, girls love pretty", Yu Xiaowan saw that Song Xiaofei was handsome, and he looked like a rich son, and she looked at him with admiration.

One hundred taels of silver was not a small amount at that time, and dozens of acres of land were purchased, and for a while, the lobby of Yixiang Building was silent. People all looked at Song Xiaofei and discussed, which son-in-law is this. Lou is so generous, do his parents know?

Seeing that no one was robbing him, Song Xiaofei smiled and was about to go upstairs, when a voice like a male duck came from outside the door, "I'll give one hundred and twenty taels!" ”

Song Xiaofei turned his head to see that a crooked-mouthed young man with oily hair and a powder face and more than a dozen domestic servants broke in. The young man wore a carmine horse coat and a piece of jade Ruyi pinned to his waist.

That young man is the famous swinger Wu Ba in Chenzhou Mansion, relying on his father Wu Zideng to supervise the imperial history in the capital, gambling and drinking in peacetime, and often lingering in the land of fireworks. In the past, he repeatedly asked his subordinates to bring white flowers and silver to Yu Xiaowan, wanting to scoop her, but Yu Xiaowan thought that he had a hateful face, did not learn and had no skills, and was unwilling to meet, and repeatedly excused himself on the grounds that he was selling his art and not selling his body.

Wu Ba heard that Yu Xiaowan was picking flowers today, and led more than a dozen servants to break in, and the servants led by him were fierce and vicious, and there was a big knife more than a foot in his waist, he pushed away the crowd, "Get out of the way, our son-in-law is here, don't hurry up and get out of the way!" ”

Wu Ba walked downstairs, pulled a stocky pear wood chair in the lobby, sat inward, crossed Erlang's legs, and was very arrogant, and those servants stood on both sides like wolves. Yu Xiaowan upstairs saw Wu Ba, and was immediately frightened, what she was most worried about still happened: this Wu Ba is like a plague god, he can't hide if he wants to, in case he is allowed to pick the flowers, it will really be a tender cabbage gnawed by a wild boar!;