In the evening, after the rain, the sky was clear, and the steamer-like stuffiness was swept away, and I could feel the slightest autumn mood.

Zhang Yuan sent Zhang Dai and Zhang Cao to the side of the three-arch bridge, but saw that the sunset reflected in the sky, the sky was clear, and there was no trace of lightning and thunder, and there was no trace of sudden wind and rain.

The air was fresh after the rain, Zhang Yuan took a deep breath and said, "Thank you for the advice of the eldest brother of Zongzi, and I wish the eldest brother of Zongzi an early good news." ”

Zhang Dai said with a smile: "If the autumn is successful, I will have to rush to the capital to participate in the examination at the beginning of next year, and I am afraid that it will be rare to get together with my brothers in the future. ”

Zhang Yuan said: "Mr. Lu Yungu said that I can do whatever I want after the Obon Festival. "I still have to watch "The Peony Pavilion", and I also take the opportunity to meet some excellent Shanyin scholars, and I can't stay at home and read dead books.

Zhang Dai said: "Okay, I'll let someone invite you then." After that, he nodded, and walked side by side with Zhang Cao on the arched bridge, followed by Wang Kedian, Pan Xiaofei and others.

Walking to the west of the bridge, Zhang Dai glanced back, and saw that Zhang Yuan was still standing under a tall acacia tree on the riverbank, looking thoughtful, behind Zhang Yuan, there were eight tall and short slightly dilapidated houses in Dongzhang——

"Third brother, Dongzhang's meson is really a god, playing chess blindfolded, reciting in his ears, why didn't he find out that he had this ability before! Since he was a child, he has been a little follower who is the only one who looks ahead, and he has become a general person when he has an eye disease, which is really incredible. Zhang Dai shook his head as he walked.

Zhang Cao saw that the eldest brother also praised Zhang Yuan, and somehow felt a little happy in his heart, and said: "Maybe feng shui takes turns, it's time to turn to them Dongzhang." ”

Zhang Cao was open-mouthed, Zhang Dai glared at him, and said: "After the feng shui is transferred to Dongzhang, how can you still spend all your time drinking!" ”

Zhang Cao smiled: "I won't turn around all at once, another twenty years will be enough for me, and after I die, I will care about him, who is poor and who is rich." ”

Zhang Dai sneered, no longer ignored Zhang Cao, and said in his heart: "With my Zhang Zongzi here, Xizhang will not be defeated - if Jie Zi can advance in the imperial examination, it is also the glory of my Shanyin Zhang family, Dongzhang and Xizhang are the same sect." ”

The young Zhang Zongzi is open-minded and confident.

……

Zhang Yuan on this side of the stone bridge stood alone under the locust tree for a long time, Shaoxing Mansion boy tried sixty or seventy to take one, this is just a show, the township test is thirty to take one, will try to enter the Shi and then ten to take one, that is to say, from the Confucian child to the Jinshi, it is equivalent to killing a bloody road from tens of thousands of scholars, and it is not an exaggeration to use thousands of troops and horses to cross the single-plank bridge as a metaphor, which is much more cruel than the college entrance examination he experienced in later generations.

What to do, eating and waiting for death seems to be a way to live, Zhang Cao can live like this, he can't, thirty years later, Hu Ma crossed the river, shaved his head and kept big braids, Wang Siren died of hunger strike, Liu Zongzhou died of hunger strike, Zhang Dai wanted to be a loyal minister but he was afraid of pain and hunger, and he hid in the mountains to survive-

The sunset on the horizon gradually dimmed, and the noisy water of the nearby Moromi River also converged and quieted down a little, and twilight fell.

Zhang Yuan gently kicked a stone under his feet towards the Mash River, and the water splashed without splashing, and suddenly shouted: "Rabbit, let's see!" ”

A voice suddenly came out behind him: "Is the young master called Xiaowen?" ”

Zhang Yuan turned around and saw the little girl Rabbit Pavilion standing by the gate of the back garden, looking at him with two eyes, and the two little girls on their heads were still braided with two braids, very much like two rabbit ears.

Zhang Yuan laughed and said, "I didn't call you, I saw a hare running on the other side." ”

"Ah, there are hares, where is it?"

The little girl suddenly came alive, ran to Zhang Yuan's side, stretched her neck and looked at the other side, but there were no hares.

Zhang Yuan stretched out his hand and flicked the ear-free braid of the Rabbit Pavilion, and asked, "Rabbit Pavilion, who helped you comb this girl's bun?" ”

"It's Sister Yiting." The little girl replied.

……

After dinner, the eldest girl Yiting carried a bamboo basket of clothes to the well on the side of the hall to wash, this is the young master Zhang Yuan's clothes, the young master and the young masters of Xizhang played with the young masters in the afternoon and wet the clothes.

Yiting only washes clothes for his wife Lu and young master Zhang Yuan, and will also help the rabbit pavilion wash by the way, because the rabbit pavilion is still young, as for Wuling, she doesn't care, Wuling changes his clothes and asks the two servants in the kitchen to help.

There is a small door on the left side of the hall, and after passing the small door, you can see a row of earthen wall tile houses, which is the residence of Zhang Yuan's kitchen, utility room and servants, which is connected to the back garden, and the well is on the edge of the back garden, and the watering of the vegetable furrow in the back garden and the water of the whole family depend on this well.

The round well is surrounded by a stone fence, and the moss under the well fence is thick or thin, and a bucket painted with tung oil rests on the edge of the fence.

Yi Ting put down the bamboo basket, untied the rope coiled on the handle of the bucket, and was about to go to the well to fetch water, when an eighteen or nineteen-year-old manservant jumped out of the easternmost row of tiled houses, wearing a wide-brimmed deep net scarf, wearing a green cloth shirt and pants, swinging shoes on his feet, five short figures, a face of acne, and asked with a smile: "Sister Yiting, why did you come here to do laundry today?" ”

This manservant is Zhang Cai, the son of Zhang Dachun, a slave of Zhang Yuan's family, and has a slave contract.

Yi Ting glanced at him and said, "The river is rising, so if you don't wash it here, you can wash it." As soon as the hand was released, the bucket fell into the well with a "plop".

Zhang Cai stood behind Yi Ting, watching Yi Ting bend over to lift water, in order to do things coolly, Yi Ting tightly tied his waist with light-colored cloth strips, this posture of bending over and struggling to lift water made it appear that the round buttocks under the silk narrow neck and long skirt were very upturned.

Zhang Cai's eyes lit up, swallowed his saliva, and said, "Sister Yiting, let me help you." "I stepped forward and deliberately rubbed each other, and my hand touched Yi Ting's buttocks—

Yiting kicked out under her skirt, Zhang Cai said "ouch", jumped a few steps, leaned over and rubbed her calf bone, and shouted: "Sister Yiting, you are so ruthless." ”

Zhang Cai's parents were not in the city today, and they went to Jianhu Grange, only two servants under the kitchen came out when they heard the sound, smiling and watching the excitement.

Yi Tingli ignored Zhang Cai, took care of himself and poured three buckets of water into a large basin, sat on a small bench and began to wash clothes.

Na Zhang Cai rubbed his calf a few times, it didn't hurt anymore, and he came over and squatted in front of Yi Ting again, with a smile on his face: "Thank you Sister Yi Ting for your mercy." ”

Yi Ting scrubbed his clothes, didn't raise his head, and said coldly: "Stay away from me, don't mess with me." ”

Zhang Cai moved back slightly, and said in a low voice: "Sister Yiting, I have something important to tell you-" After waiting for a while, seeing that Yiting didn't respond and only cared about laundry, he continued: "That's the case, my father is going to propose marriage for me." ”

Yi Ting said "oh" and said, "That's a good thing." ”

Zhang Cai took a step closer and asked, "Do you know which girl my father is proposing?" ”

"I don't know." Yi Ting replied casually, and then noticed that something was wrong, and raised his eyes to look at the color, Zhang Cai's face was eager, and the acne was colorful.

Yi Ting's two willow eyebrows slowly erected, Zhang Cai saw that the momentum was not right, and quickly got up and retreated, but heard Yi Ting say: "Zhang Cai, come over and ask you something." ”

Zhang Cai slowly approached, ready to run away at any time, and said, "You ask." ”

Yi Ting asked in a low voice, "Who is your father going to propose?" ”

Zhang Cai was silent, and replied after a while: "Didn't Sister Yiting already guess it." ”

"Nope."

Yi Ting threw the brown brush in his hand into the big wooden basin with a "snap", glared at Zhang Cai and said, "I will never will." ”

Zhang Cai pursed her lips and muttered, "As long as my wife is willing—"

"What did you say!" Yi Ting said angrily.

"Didn't say anything, didn't say anything." Zhang Cai hurriedly ran away a few steps, and said with a dead face: "Sister Yiting, my Zhang Cai's character is also neat, and my family background is also solid, why don't you marry me?" ”

"A solid family?" Yi Ting sneered: "It's all from the master's field." ”

Zhang Cai's face changed color, put away his hippie smile, and said, "Sister Yiting, don't talk nonsense." He went back to his house.

Yi Ting was distraught to wash his clothes, thinking: "Mrs. believes in Zhang Cai's family too much, and leaves everything to Zhang Dachun to take care of, not to mention anything else, just the two seasons of summer wheat and autumn grain, Zhang Dachun conspired with the tenants, and deducted a small half from it. ”

Zhang Dachun's family was deceived and couldn't hide it, they only coaxed Zhang's mother Lu's family, the eldest girl Yiting was quite thoughtful, and she had already seen that something was wrong with her cold eyes, and she had also mentioned it to Zhang's mother Lu's family, Zhang's mother Lu's half-believing and suspicious, the female streamer, Zhang Yuan's father had been away for many years, and he was unable to track down and rectify it-

After washing the clothes, Yi Ting carried the bamboo basket back to the inner courtyard, the light was on in the study of the young master in the west building, the young master was reading, and the young master seemed to know a lot more shrewdly since he had an eye disease.

"Do you want to tell the young master about Zhang Dachun and let the young master have an idea?"

Yi Ting, who was standing on the edge of the large courtyard in the inner courtyard, hesitated to think, and when he looked up, the moon in a semicircle had risen.