Huang Qin said: "Uh-, okay, but don't tell Zuo Gongzi about this matter first, so as not to embarrass him, when the time comes, he will really be an official in the capital, let's go by ourselves." ”

"Okay!" Sang Xiaomei had hope, and her heart suddenly became happy.

In the courtyard of the left family's house.

Miao Peilan and Qiao Qiao'er met, the two chattered endlessly, Zuo Shaoyang saw that the two of them were talking so happily, remembering that Miao Peilan usually saw the living, she could only laugh and rarely speak, but because she was shy, she really wanted to meet her best friend, but she still had endless words.

Qiao Qiao'er heard Miao Peilan say that she wanted to borrow the back garden of her home in the capital to plant medicinal herbs, and said to Zuo Shaoyang with a straight face: "Brother, why don't you tell me this kind of thing yourself, you have to call Sister Miao to come around the bush, you still can't live with me?" ”

Zuo Shaoyang smiled: "Where, didn't she say it was the same as telling me?" ”

"Humph!" Qiao Qiao'er said, "I asked you to treat me, I have never been polite, the back garden can lend you to grow medicinal herbs, but there is a condition!" ”

"Oh, hey, what's the condition?"

"I live alone in the back garden, lonely, Sister Lan'er said just now, she wants to go with us after the year, but I have to let her live with me!"

"This ......"

"What is this, that, she hasn't entered your Zuo family yet, she is not your Zuo family, what is it to live with you in the capital? Where do I live, you have to come to see me all the time anyway, won't you be able to meet each other, and besides, if the medicinal herbs are transplanted, I won't take care of you, Sister Delan'er will take care of it for you herself, she doesn't live where I am, who will take care of it? ”

Zuo Shaoyang saw that she was pouring beans into a bamboo tube like a big string, and she couldn't even insert her mouth, so she finally picked up the loophole, and said with a smile: "This, I'll decide after discussing it with my father, okay?" ”

"Alright! If you can't make sense, I'll talk to my uncle! ”

"Well, don't worry, I'll go tell ....... Let's wait until after the New Year, let's pass the New Year first! ”

Zuo Shaoyang was a little bottomless in his heart.

――――――――――――――'s New Year's Eve.

The old house of the Qu family now completely belongs to the Zuo family, so the plaque on the door has been changed, and the carpenter Li Dazhuang has made a new plaque, and Zuo Gui's father has written the two big characters "Zuofu" in his own handwriting, and it has been framed and hung up.

The New Year's goods have been purchased from the capital, and the Zuo family now has a little money, so this New Year's is still relatively fulfilling. Especially there is an innocent and lively Qiao Qiaoer, although he is sick, he doesn't worry at all, he talks and laughs all day long, and the Liang couple and others like him very much.

After the New Year, relatives and friends are very lively in the New Year, I remember that last year, only my sister's family came to pay New Year's greetings, and Zhao Sanniang came to force debts, and this year, there is an endless stream of New Year's greetings to the Zuo family, in addition to the brother-in-law's family, Miao Peilan's family, the Sang family, and the medicine cabinet, Dr. Ni, Yu shopkeeper, Zhao Sanniang and other people who have received the favor of the Zuo family before.

To the great surprise of the Zuo family, Qian County Ling actually came to Zuo's house to pay New Year's greetings. This made the Zuo family very happy and frightened. I can't believe that the dignified Qipin County Order will go to a Langzhong's house to pay New Year's greetings. If it is said that for Zuo Shaoyang's direct access to the national examination, then more than a dozen people from various departments in Hezhou participated in the national examination, but they only saw them go to the county commander's house to pay New Year's greetings, and did not see the county order come to the door to pay New Year's greetings.

Only Zuo Shaoyang vaguely guessed the reason, - a few months ago, Qian County Ling ran with the Tang Dynasty Law to prevent the Zuo family from marrying Bai Zhihan as his daughter-in-law, at that time Zuo Shaoyang didn't know why Qian County Ling was so enthusiastic, and now after experiencing three inexplicable divorces in the capital, the two things are linked, and he has a hunch that the reasons behind these two things are likely to be the same! That is, there is a mysterious figure who is preventing himself from every marriage!

This person must be very simple, he can not only let Qian County Ling take the Tang Dynasty Law to stop him from marrying Bai Zhihan, but even make the Wupin Imperial Doctor beside Tang Gaozu Li Yuan dare to be laughed at and regret his marriage!

Who is this man? Zuo Shaoyang had no clue at all.

This time, Qian County's order carried things and sounded gongs to open the road and swaggered through the city to their house to pay New Year's greetings, which illustrates this problem even more. Therefore, Zuo Shaoyang decided to ask on the side to see if he could find a clue.

Unexpectedly, Qian County was very alert, although Zuo Shaoyang poured him a lot of wine at the banquet of the Zuo family's hospitality, and he didn't show any of his mouth.

Wu Shu had already worshiped Zuo Gui as his teacher, so he brought his parents, wife and children to Hezhou to pay Zuo Gui New Year's greetings. Brought a lot of gifts to thank the teacher. Wu Shu was surprised and delighted when he learned that Zuo Shaoyang was also going to participate in the medical examination, and that he was directly sponsored by a senior official of the imperial court, so he agreed to go to Beijing together to take the exam. So after the New Year's greetings, after leaving a companion to study and follow Wu Shu to Beijing to serve, Wu Shu's parents returned to Longzhou with their daughter-in-law and grandson. Wu Shu and the scholar lived in Zuo's house, waiting to enter Beijing together.

The national examination is held on the 25th day of the first month. From the states to the capital, the normal speed of the carriage takes about ten days, and it is necessary to prepare a few days in advance, and you have to beware of accidents on the road, and you have to be careful about a few days to come. Therefore, Zuo Gui's father scheduled to leave for the capital after the fifth day of the first lunar month.

The money from the sale of the rice laid by the Zuo family's thousands of acres of land, in addition to the money from the Yu shopkeeper to buy the Qu family's old house, after the New Year, there are only more than 20 yuan left. Although Wu Shu had plenty of money to enter Beijing this time, the Zuo family did not want to take advantage of him.

As soon as the whole family discussed, Zuo Gui's father and they took fifteen people into Beijing, and left the rest to the Liang family to live. The family is already rich in food, and there are chickens and ducks, so they can't spend much money. The so-called poor family is rich on the road, and it is good to bring more on the road. Anyway, when you get to the capital, there is still a house to live in, so you don't have to worry about the problem of living.

Zuo Shaoyang hesitated for a long time, and finally mentioned to his father Zuo Gui the idea of taking Miao Peilan and Sang Xiaomei into Beijing.

Zuo Shaoyang was worried that his father would object, but it was the New Year, in order to let the whole family have a good mood, so he endured it until now.

Sure enough, Daddy Zuogui said sharply: "Absolutely not!" You haven't married yet, you haven't married a wife, you live with a concubine, who would dare to marry your daughter to you? What's more, the women of the Sang family also have filial piety. As for Miss Miao, she hasn't even decided the identity of the concubine, and she lives with you, and she takes a concubine before marrying a wife, which is a loss of virtue! If you let the superintendent know about it, do you still want to be an official? ”

This is what Zuo Shaoyang expected, and he has already thought of countermeasures, and said in a muffled voice: "It's not a big deal, right?" Even if the Overseer knows about it, he won't be able to do anything to me. ”

"You! I haven't entered the career yet, and I don't know the sinister nature of the career! This kind of thing is a small problem in the eyes of others, but the court officials, virtue is the first thing, and the second is talent. The first item in the annual performance appraisal is moral performance, not only to educate the people, but also to set an example. If this cannot be done, virtue will be lost, and other political achievements will not need to be evaluated. Straight is bad! If you can't do it, not only will you not be able to do it, but you will also be asked if you can't do it! You are the hope of our Zuo family's glory ancestors, I don't ask you to climb up the camp, but it's not too much to be a good official in a down-to-earth manner, right? Isn't it good that you wait until you get married for a year, and then marry Miss Miao steadily, and when you have completed three years of filial piety, you will take the woman of the Sang family as a concubine? What kind of children's affection? - Remember! If a man becomes a big thing, he can't be infatuated with a woman! ”

Unmarried cohabitation has been slowly accepted by people in modern society, but before the eighties of the last century, it was still difficult to be generally accepted by people, and this is the case in modern society, not to mention the ancient times when feudal ideas were serious. And it is an official who lives with two women unmarried, and it is indeed detrimental to the image of the official to say it.

Zuo Shaoyang knew that his imperial examination and future officials were the most important in his father's eyes, and he would not allow any mistakes. However, he didn't want to back down, and said: "Let's say to the outside world that the two of them are my godsisters!" ”

"Godgirl?" Zuo Gui's father laughed angrily, "You, you are a wooden head!" Just treat others as wooden pimple heads? The two of them don't look like you, and they look even more different from each other, why did they become your sisters, why are they sisters? Could it be that you can explain to people when you meet them, saying that they are your sisters, not your concubines? Besides, even if you say it when you meet people, can others believe it? You can't hide it from the first day of the first month, you tell people now that you are your sisters, and you will accept them as concubines in the future, you are an official, many people's eyes are staring, what have you done that others don't know? At that time, the Imperial Doctor can also picket you! At that time, it was not only a problem of the lack of virtue to take a concubine before marrying a wife, but also the suspicion of deception, that is, a problem of character! ”

Zuo Shaoyang didn't know that there was such a thing, he didn't want to talk back to his father unless he had to, besides, his father was also for his own good, or rather, for himself to be a good official, for fear that he would cause gossip. Otherwise, he would not strongly object to the second daughter living with him.

Zuo Shaoyang had no choice but to make one last move: "Then, it's okay to tell them not to live with us, right?" ”

"That's not going to work either!"

"Why?" Zuo Shaoyang glared.

"If you run to them twice in three days, or if they come to our house and spread the word, it will not have a good reputation for you! - And from now on, you must not say that you have three concubines or anything like that! In the past, we could say this, but at that time we were just ordinary people, but now, you will soon be an official, you have to start from small things, start from little things, and pay attention to your image everywhere. ”

Zuo Shaoyang said in a deep voice: "However, my wife must be able to accommodate the three of Zhi'er!" You promised. And we are in a lawsuit, if we don't say it, the Yu family will say it. ”

"This lawsuit is over!" Zuo Gui twisted his beard and said.

"Don't fight? All right! Zuo Shaoyang said happily, "I wanted to persuade my father not to fight this lawsuit." If they want to repent of their marriage, they will regret it, and they will just lose money. Are we afraid that we won't be able to find a good family if we have money? ”

"Hehe," Speaking of this, Zuo Gui became happy again, "We have to add one sentence now, - rich and powerful!" When you become an official in the future, at that time, it was not us who asked for others, but people who came for us! ”

(To be continued)