Zhang Yuan walked out of the cabin with an iron lamp, a distant light, it was dark all around, the water was sinking, the large and small boats on the bank of the river at the port were quiet as sleeping, only the restaurant on the shore still had sparse lights, Zhang Yuan was anxious, and was about to call Mu Jingyan to go to the creek over there to inspect, when he heard Mu Zhenzhen's voice not far away and said happily: "Young master, the maid is back." ”

Zhang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, walked to the bow of the ship near the shore with an iron lamp, looked at a handsome figure walking briskly, and said, "Just two clothes, how can you wash them for so long, I thought you fell into the water." ”

"And the maid's own two clothes-" Mu Zhenzhen felt the young master's concern, his heart was happy, holding the bamboo basket, walking lightly across the pedal, jumping on the bow of the boat, the wind brought up extinguished the iron lamp, Zhang Yuan was used to this light, as soon as the light went out, it was dark in front of him, and the empty right hand subconsciously stretched forward, the blind man explored the way, this is the posture, Zhang Yuan's eyes have been blind for a few months, this action is very skillful - Mu Zhenzhen's eyes are fast, and when he saw the young master's eyes in a daze, his hand went straight to her chest, if he dodged, he was afraid that the young master would stumble and fall, Hurriedly retracted with one hand, the palm was erected, protected in front of the chest, and the young master's palm was supported together with her palm, as if the palm of a master was fighting - the original calloused and rough palm of this fallen girl also appeared soft because of the water soaked for a long time, Zhang Yuan retracted his hand and said with a smile: "It's really walking with the wind - can you see washing clothes on such a dark day?" ”

Mu Zhenzhen used the night to hide his shame, and replied: "There is still starlight, anyway, washing clothes is not literacy, so you don't need to see so clearly - young master, the lamp is given to the servant, and the servant goes to catch the fire." He put down the bamboo basket, took the tin lamp from the young master, and walked to the small tent at the stern, where there was a dark fire in the stove.

Mu Zhenzhen lit the lamp, walked to the front cabin with one hand to protect the lamp flame, and saw that the young master had returned to the cabin, so he put the tin lamp back on the bulkhead, laid the futon for the young master, smiled, turned back and went out to dry clothes, and when she came back, she saw that the young master had fallen asleep, so she went to blow out the lamp, sat on the bunk, touched her long hair and was still a little wet, and gently rubbed it with a towel, and listened to the young master on the side asked: "Zhenzhen, have you gone to the creek to take a bath?" ”

Mu Zhenzhen's face flushed, and he let out a low "um".

Zhang Yuan said: "In the future, I will wash in the cabin, I will go out with Xiao Wu for a while, it is not hot yet, you run to the stream in the middle of the night to take a bath, you get sick with a cold or- what should I do?" ”

Mu Zhenzhen said softly: "The maid knows, don't dare next time." ”

The weather was unusual, it was so cold last winter, and now it is the beginning of late spring and March, and the night is as hot and humid as early summer.

…… On the morning of the second day of the third lunar month, Zhang Yuan went to Qin Liangyu's red-headed camphor boat to say goodbye to the Qin sisters, and Qin Liangyu was surprised: "Will Zhang Gongzi leave now?" ”

Zhang Yuan said: "I'll leave immediately, and if I don't move, I won't be able to catch my brother-in-law's birthday banquet." ”

Qin Liangyu said: "The little woman didn't dare to bother more, and the little woman also prepared a birthday gift for Zhang Gongzi's brother-in-law, Zhang Gongzi must not refuse." ”

Zhang Yuan knew that he couldn't refuse, and said: "Then thank you, but before you say it, Madame's congratulatory gift can't exceed the congratulatory gift I gave to my brother-in-law, then I will lose face." ”

Qin Liangyu knew that Zhang Yuan was unwilling to accept a generous gift, so he had to ask: "What kind of gift did Zhang Gongzi prepare for Brother-in-law Ling?" ”

Zhang Yuan said: "It's six taels of silver, and a few pieces of silk cloth." ”

Qin Liangyu said: "That little woman should also prepare a thin gift like this, and there are some earthen rituals, which are nothing more than fruits, bamboo shoots, and honey." He said: "Say goodbye today, I don't know how to say goodbye to Zhang Gongzi!" ”

Zhang Yuan smiled and said: "Serving the country, different paths lead to the same end, there is always a time to meet, take care of your wife." ”

Zhang Yuan returned to the white canopy boat, several native soldiers carried the gifts over the boat, the boatman untied the cable, stepped on the oars and rowed, the white canopy boat slowly went off the shore, and saw dozens of stone pillar native soldiers from Qin Liangyu on the shore kneeling down together, Qin Liangyu's clear voice said: "Farewell Zhang Gongzi, I wish Zhang Gongzi a smooth journey, the title of the gold list." ”

Zhang Yuan knelt down and returned the salute, when he stood up, the white canopy boat had turned north, and he could not see Qin Liangyu and others on the shore, only to see the boats coming and going, noisy, and the busy day of the canal began again - Zhang Yuan stood on the bow of the boat with his hands in his hands, the morning sun was rising, the spring breeze was blowing, and the body and mind that had worked hard for a few days finally relaxed, and the ten days of temporary stay in Hangzhou had a lot of gains, like a game of Go, his own layout was exquisite, there were hidden means, and the chess momentum was open, but now it is still necessary to step by step, the imperial examination, the imperial examination is the way he must go, well, Eunuch Zhong also gave him a thousand taels of silver, which is a huge amount of money, how can he use this silver to regenerate wealth?

"Master Jie Zi—"

Lu Dayou walked to the bow of the boat, stood beside Zhang Yuan, and was also relaxed and happy, and said: "According to this itinerary, do not delay, you can rush to Qingpu before dark on the fifth day of the first month, when the villain left home, the young grandmother told the villain to take care of the young master Jie Zi to arrive safely, this way, the young master Jie Zi is everywhere to take care of the nobles, why do you need the villain to take care of it, you can only lead the way." ”

Zhang Yuan smiled and said: "Steward Lu is my brother-in-law's capable family, and this time it is hard for Steward Lu." ”

Lu Dayou said: "What's the hard work, but the young master of Jie Zi is hard, and he still studies on the boat, this time the young grandmother doesn't know how happy she will be when she sees the young master of Jie Zi, the young master is the head of the trial case in Shanyin County." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "I'm going to see my sister, brother-in-law and two little nephews soon, and I'm also very happy, by the way, Steward Lu, is my brother-in-law's cotton and silk shop still thriving?" ”

Lu Dayou said: "Don't hide it from the young master, although the young master Lu Tao is the eldest son of the master, he has always been unfavored, the master of the family loves the youngest son Lu Yangfang, and the shops are also run by the second young master, and the villain follows the eldest young master, so the villain doesn't know much about the business of Lu's cotton silk shop." ”

Zhang Yuan's heart sank slightly, I didn't think it before, but now I heard Lu Dayou say this, it seems that my sister is not very happy after marrying the Lu family, brother-in-law Lu Tao is not favored by his father, and my sister Ruoxi is naturally cold, this time I want to see what the situation is - there is nothing to do on the boat, Zhang Yuan in addition to reading and learning words by himself, is to teach Mu Zhenzhen to recognize words, this fallen girl is very serious, in ten days, "Before and after the teacher's table" will be recited, and the words on it are all recognized, Zhang Yuan wrote the "Before and after the teacher's table" on the paper alone She can also recognize the words that appeared in it, Zhang Yuan praised: "I am really willing to learn, follow me for a few more months to learn better than Xiao Wu, Xiao Wu is lazy and unwilling to pay attention." ”

Wu Ling said in his heart: "The young master used to be lazy, I didn't learn from the young master, and I didn't have to worry about reading, but the young master suddenly became diligent after last summer, and he seemed to have changed as a person." said: "The young master has never taught me so hard, but the young master is very patient in teaching Sister Zhenzhen." "Anyway, he laughed and got out of the hatch to help the boatman row, Wu Ling is not stupid, the young master is really good to Mu Zhen, he can see it in his eyes.

Mu Zhenzhen blushed, but Zhang Yuan's face did not change, and said: "This person is lazy and will find a reason - Zhenzhen has learned before and after the teacher, then I will start teaching you "Former Chibi Fu". ”

Zhang originally didn't plan to carefully teach this fallen girl to read and write, when he said that he just taught her to recite the "Teacher Table" on a whim, but he didn't expect Mu Zhen to be willing to learn, and he was quite smart, so teach it, don't teach the thousand-character text, don't teach the three-character scripture, just teach her to memorize the ancient text, as long as she recites dozens of articles, she almost knows the words she should know, and she can have a certain reading ability, as long as she is willing to learn, it is so simple to break the text and read - when he encounters the banknote tariff station along the road, Lu Dayou shows the survey card, and he will be released immediately, From Hangzhou to Jiaxing waterway two hundred miles, there are four or five tax cards along the way, more than the post house, and there is only one of the eunuchs guarding the banknote in Hangzhou, the rest are local private tax stations, each county is a card cashier on the water and land arteries that business travel must pass, Zhang Yuan found that those big merchant ships with a name are often unimpeded, and those who are stopped to collect taxes are some small merchants and hawkers, the poorer the poorer, the richer the rich - although Zhang Yuan has a survey card, only for passes, and did not go to the water post to eat and drink to get it, the second day of the first day of the first morning from Hangzhou, On the afternoon of the third day of the first month, the boat arrived in Jiaxing, and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal turned north from here to go to Suzhou, and to go to Qingpu West in Songjiang Prefecture, it was necessary to give up the boat and travel by land.

Zhang Yuan gave the boatman and his wife five dollars of silver, and asked them to wait for him in Jiaxing for ten days, and he must rush back to Jiaxing within ten days, and the Shaoxing Mansion test on the ninth day of the next month will not wait for anyone.

Of course, the suitcase containing 1,000 taels of silver had to be taken on the road, Zhang Yuan and his party of five people rested in Jiaxing for a night, and asked for a carriage from the Jiaxing Post House early in the morning, Zhang Yuan took the car, and all the gifts were in the car, and the others walked, and arrived at Cixi in the afternoon of the fifth day of the first month, so that the post groom drove back, and they hired a boat from Cixi, sailed from Cixi to Xuedian Lake, and then went to Dahuangpu through Xuedian Lake, and went down the river, the boat traveled quite fast, and it really entered Qingpu County before dark——...... Zhang Yuan's sister Zhang Ruoxi was restless, it is said that his younger brother Zhang Yuan should have arrived in Qingpu in the first few days at the beginning of the month, but today it is the fifth day of the first month, and Zhang Yuan has not yet arrived, Zhang Ruoxi is a little worried that his younger brother has never been far away from the door will be sick or have any other accidents, so he begged her husband Lu Tao to send a few more family members to meet him, Lu Tao went to his father Lu Zhaoshen and said that Lu Zhaoshen was worried about the defection of the rich servant to the Songjiang Dong family, and scolded Lu Tao, Lu Tao was more cowardly, and retreated gloomily - Zhang Ruoxi was indignant, In the afternoon, she took two maidservants, led the two children to the port of the Dahuangpu waterway in the south of the city, to see if she could receive her younger brother Zhang Yuan, and if she couldn't get the call, she could also ask for some news from the passenger ship from Hangzhou and Jiaxing - the sunset was still shining, the city wall was mottled, Zhang Ruoxi's two children were six years old and one was four years old, holding their mother's hand on one side, standing on the high bank of the port, looking at the boats and boats in the river, the two children asked together: "Mother, which boat is Uncle Jiezi on?" ”

Zhang Ruoxi was about to coax the two children, when she suddenly heard a servant girl next to her surprise and said, "Isn't that Uncle Lu, Uncle Lu is back." ”

Zhang Ruoxi looked at it, and sure enough, it was Lu Dayou, but why was he alone!

(To be continued)