On the fifth day of the first month of August, the autumn rain continued, the cold wind penetrated under the Pearl Bridge, Zhang Yuan and Mu Zhenzhen were wet by the rain, and when the wind blew, they all felt cold - Zhang Yuan touched his chest, fortunately, the oil paper bag was still there, and when he saw Mu Zhenzhen holding his arms on his chest, he smiled and said: "Zhenzhen, you quickly run back to Tingzen House to change clothes, I will go to Teacher Jiao's house by myself." ”

Mu Zhenzhen shook his head and said, "Yuyuan is four or five miles away from here. "This is because I am worried that the young master will meet Mao Jiancheng's gang, of course she will follow the young master at this time.

Zhang Yuan hired a carriage to the bridgeside market, and Mu Zhenzhen rode to the garden, the wheels were rolling, running through the streets in the rain, splashing a little mud, this Nanjing city was the capital of the Ming Dynasty, the underground dark river connected by shafts and culverts extends in all directions, the drainage system is perfect, although there is heavy rain, there is no water on the street - Mu Zhenzhen sat in the corner of the carriage with his knees crossed, looking at the cold rain outside the car window, and was worried: "The young master was driven out of the country's prison, how is this good?" The old man is going to come here, but don't scold the young master. ”

Zhang Yuan stretched out his hand and pressed on Mu Zhenzhen's knee, and said: "Don't worry, whether it's Mao Liangfeng or Song Siye, they can't stop my school status, I haven't made any mistakes, why is this sin!" ”

Mu Zhenzhen hesitated for a moment and said, "Young Master, you scolded that official and beat someone." ”

Zhang Yuan said "hey": "I want to split the face and give the plague official a stick, think about it, forget it, I'm afraid it's not reasonable, as for saying that I scolded him, even if I didn't scold, the plague official would accuse me of scolding, and the plague official was deliberately trying to frame me." He shook the hand of the fallen girl: "Don't worry, I'll take care of it." ”

Mu Zhenzhen nodded, thinking that the young master would have a way, the young master has a wide range of friends, and the young master can be at ease with Yao, Dong, and the young master can be at ease, so he should not be planted in this country, and he thought that the eunuch surnamed Mao was really hateful, and he wanted to use shackles to harm the young master, of course the young master had to resist - the small dragon stick was erected on the side of the carriage, and the water had been drained at this time, Zhang Yuan said: "Really put this stick away, it's not good to carry the stick to Teacher Jiao's door." ”

Mu Zhenzhen blushed and said coyly: "There is no belt." ”

Zhang Yuan let out an "oh" and didn't say anything more.

Mu Zhenzhen herself felt that it was inappropriate, thought about it, and untied her belt, the narrow sleeves she wore were generally not tied to her waist, and she liked to tie her waist tightly, so she untied her belt - Zhang Yuan didn't know how Mu Zhenzhen hid this pair of nunchucks on his body, so of course he had to take a closer look at it at this time.

Mu Zhenzhen glanced at the young master shyly, lowered his head, lifted the hem of the long skirt, and lifted it all the way to the waist, there were also blue pants under the green skirt, the pants were all wet from the knee down, stuck to the legs, as thin as cicada wings - Mu Zhenzhen quickly tied the small panlong stick to the outside of the right thigh with a belt, and then quickly covered the skirt, not daring to raise his eyes to look at the young master, the blush had already reached the root of his ears, although he had a skin-to-skin relationship with the young master, but Mu Zhenzhen was still very shy, there was no kind of idea that anyway, the young master had seen all of her body, so just look at it - Zhang Yuan asked:" Wouldn't it be hard to really walk around like this? ”

Mu Zhenzhen shook his head and said, "No." ”

While talking, the carriage arrived in front of the gate of the garden, Zhang Yuan and Mu Zhenzhen got out of the car to knock on the door, Jiao Runsheng saw that Zhang Yuan's master and maid were so embarrassed, and asked what happened?

Zhang Yuan said angrily: "Brother Runsheng, that Mao Jian Cheng was instructed by Song Siye to frame me and wanted to cut my school status, and even used wooden flail and iron shackles, I ran out, and asked the teacher to be my master." ”

Jiao Runsheng once reminded Zhang Yuan to pay attention to that Song Siye, and his father Jiao Hong also asked Gu Qiyuan to take care of Zhang Yuan, but he didn't think that Zhang Yuan was still retaliated against by Dong Qichang's protégé Song Shimian, Song Shimian was too deceitful!

Jiao Runsheng asked the servant to take Mu Zhenzhen to change clothes, and he led Zhang Yuanjing to the library to see his father Jiao Hong, and he also wanted his father to see what kind of abuse Zhang Yuan had become by the personal vendetta of the Song Siye Communiqué of the Guozijian - Jiao Hongzheng and Zong Yishan were compiling a bibliography upstairs, and when they saw Zhang Yuan bowing down at his feet, without waiting for Zhang Yuan to speak, Jiao Runsheng first said angrily: "Father, Song Shimian wanted to cut Zhang Jiezi's school registration, and he also had to use shackles, and Jie Zi ran out. ”

Jiao Hong, who had fluttering white beards, was very calm, took off the faint glasses on the bridge of his nose, and said: "Get up, get up, no one is hurt, it's good if people are not hurt, go down to bathe and change clothes first, don't feel the wind and cold." ”

Zhang Yuan changed into Jiao Runsheng's scarf after bathing, and when he came out, he saw Mu Zhenzhen in the wooden hairpin cloth skirt waiting outside, so he handed the oiled paper bag with four letters to Mu Zhenzhen to put it away, and he went to see Jiao Taishi.

Zhang Yuan said that last time Mao Jian accused him of stealing the bow and arrow in the garden and changing the number room, Jiao Hong waved his hand and said: "I already know about this, I told me about the sacrificial wine last time, and you only said what is going on today?" ”

Zhang Yuan told Jiao Taishi about the conflict with Mao Jian Cheng in the shooting garden in the early morning, and also told Jiao Taishi about beating the two prisoners.

Jiao Hong's white eyebrows twitched, and he asked, "Then what's going on with Qin Huai's family?" ”

Zhang Yuan told Chen Meigong that his three brothers came to Jinling with Wang Wei along the boat, and added: "That Mao Jian Cheng said that he caught a turtle slave from Xiangzhen Pavilion, but Wang Wei is not from Xiangzhen Pavilion, and the disciple really doesn't understand how they want to trap the disciple, the disciple has only been out of prison once since June 21, and he has only been out of prison once, and he is passing by here when Hangzhou Eunuch Zhong is returning to Beijing, and invites the disciple to meet at Xuanwu Lake, and the disciple respectfully abides by the prison rules, and returns to the prison on time in the evening. ”

Jiao Hong nodded, Zhang Yuan and Eunuch Zhong had a friendship He knew, and he also wrote "The Story of the Zhong Family's Nursing Home in Gem Mountain" for Eunuch Zhong at the invitation of Zhang Yuanzhi, Eunuch Zhong left Hangzhou and left a nursing home, which can be regarded as benefiting the people - Jiao Runsheng said: "Even if it is a great sage, he is stared at and picked on all day, there are always such and such nos, Jie Zi is just a seventeen-year-old boy, known as a talented person, this Song and Mao are the supervisors of the country, they have no regrets about their talents, and they only think about framing them - Daddy wants to be the master of Jie Zi." ”

Jiao Hong got up and said, "The old man is going to see Gu Taichu, and let Song Shimian show any personal and physical evidence." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "Teacher, the disciple heard from Mao Jiancheng that Gu Xianjiu went out on business and would not come back until five days later, and Song Siye and Mao Jiancheng seized this opportunity to dispose of the disciple." ”

Jiao Hong was really angry at this moment, his white beard flicked, and said: "I see, the old man won't go to the Guozijian anymore, and go to the Ministry of Rites to see Li Shangshu." ”

The officialdom of the Ming Dynasty valued the friendship between teachers and students, closer than the township party, the same year, and even the relationship between in-laws, as a teacher, he tried his best to promote his protégé, and if the protégé was noble, he was willing to take care of the teacher and the teacher's descendants, although this was also caused by interests, but there was a sense of affection in it - Zhang Yuan was Jiao Hong's most valued student, although Zong Yishan said that his talent was not under Zhang Yuan, but because of his background, he could not participate in the imperial examination. In Jiao Hong, he did not hesitate to praise, saying that Zhang Yuan was studious and thoughtful, and his schoolwork was excessive, and he had been promoted to Chengxin Hall in just one month, Jiao Hong was happy to hear it, and then he saw that Song Shimian and Mao Liangfeng wanted to provoke Zhang Yuan's expulsion from school while Gu was not in the country, and he was angry, if a prisoner was expelled from school, it would be equivalent to ruining his future, and how many nine years would he have in his life?

At this time, it was about the end of the hour, and the rain was still dripping underground, Jiao Hong immediately ordered to prepare a sedan chair, and took two entourages to visit Li Weizhen, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, in Nanjing, and told Zhang Yuan to stay in the garden and wait for news - after Jiao Hong left, Jiao Runsheng comforted Zhang Yuan and said: "Don't worry, you will never be able to get rid of your school status." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "Thank you, Brother Runsheng." ”

Zong Yishan thought to himself: "Jie Zi said that he wanted to change his identity for me and let me participate in the scientific examination, I think it's better to forget it, just follow Teacher Jiao to do some learning first, and then be a staff member for Jie Zi, if I participate in the imperial examination, once I am discovered, Jie Zi will not escape the responsibility, the road of the imperial examination, the road of officialdom, everywhere is intrigue, Dong's protégé will stare at Jie Zi, I can't let Jie Zi give people a handle because of me——"

Zhang Yuan called Mu Zhenzhen upstairs, asked her to listen to what Zen Ju and Xiao Wu said, let Laifu and Xiao Wu come to the garden to wait, and find a way to inform the eldest brother and the third brother, so as not to make the two of them angry by Mao Jian - Jiao Runsheng said: "I used to be a prisoner, and I am very familiar with Guozijian, I went to say to Zongzi and Yanke, Yanke is in the Hall of Justice, what about Zongzi?" Oh, the monastery. ”

After Jiao Runsheng and Mu Zhenzhen left, Zhang Yuan opened the oil-paper bag left by Mu Zhenzhen, and the four letters inside had not had time to read, first look at the envelope, one is from his mother Lu, but the words on the envelope are not his mother's handwriting, they should be written by someone else, and the remaining three letters were written by his uncle Zhang Rulin to him, his eldest brother, and the third brother, all of which were sent by post - Zhang Yuanxin said: "Why didn't there be a letter from her, the letter I gave her was sent together with the letter from my mother and my uncle?" ”

Zhang Yuan opened and looked at his mother's letter, three pieces of bamboo paper, the ink on it was square, with a pen a little subordinate, but also a little jerky, obviously not often pen, this is the mother Lu Shi handwriting, Zhang Yuan's heart is hot, three pieces of bamboo paper are full, the mother wrote at least an hour, are some trivial words, the servants of the family all wrote, said that Yi Ting is nineteen years old, should have promised to marry someone, but there is no suitable one, Yi Ting's heart is not low, and said that the twelve-year-old rabbit pavilion is meticulous to the white mule snow essence, and there are big stones, The two little stone brothers have grown taller, and they also said that the two laurel trees in the back garden bloomed early this year, and they were extraordinarily fragrant - in Lu's opinion, his son Zhang Yuan seemed to have been away from home for a long time, so he had to tell his son a lot of things, Jianhu Grange, Yanghe Yicang, Huiji Shang, Shanyin and Sunny Rain...... Reading his mother's letter, Zhang Yuan's heart was extraordinarily peaceful, as if all disputes had nothing to do with him, only the small bridge and flowing water in Shanyin City, and his mother said that on the birthday of Guanyin on June 19, Miss Shang sent someone to make an appointment with her mother to meet in Dashan Temple in advance, because that day was also Zhang Yuan's birth, and her mother chattered a lot about Miss Shang, and her love overflowed beyond the paper and ink - Zhang Rulin, the ancestor of the clan, scolded Zhang Yuan in the letter, saying that Zhang Yuan was reckless and wanted to be happy for a while, and the future troubles were endless, reminding Zhang Yuan to beware of Song Shimian, the secretary of the Guozijian Division, The relationship between Daoming Song Shimian and Dong Qichang...... Zhang Yuan didn't care about the accusations of the clan uncle, this is the elder's cliché, the younger generation caused trouble outside, even if he didn't suffer a loss, he always had to be scolded as an elder, but the concern of the clan uncle was real, the clan uncle reminded him to have a good relationship with Gu Xijiu and Li Shangshu, and it was necessary to show his talent and stand out if necessary - Zong Yi was kind and careful, and he thought that Zhang Yuan hadn't eaten breakfast yet, so he asked the servant to cook a big bowl of wontons for Zhang Yuan, Zhang Yuan ate the wontons, Mu Zhenzhen, Wuling, and Laifu three people arrived, Zhang Yuan asked Wuling and Laifu to go to the Xiangzhen Hall on the banks of the Qinhuai River to inquire and see what happened?

Gongyuan examination that said that Wuling had been to the old courtyard with Zhang Yuan, knew the location of the Xiangzhen Pavilion, and immediately went with the two of them with an umbrella, Zhang Yuan showed his mother's letter to Mu Zhenzhen, and his mother also mentioned Mu Zhenzhen in the letter - Mu Zhenzhen went to Qingpu with Zhang Yuan in March last year, Zhang Yuan taught her to read on the boat, and then it has not stopped, now Mu Zhenzhen, literacy has surpassed Wuling, and even the "Historical Records" can be roughly read down, but reading the letter, or the first time in his life, Mu Zhenzhen feels very happy, this is the benefit of literacy, is no longer blind, and in the future, she will write a letter to her father Mu Jingyan - Jiao's servant came to report that someone wanted to see Jie Zixianggong, and he had no name, claiming that his master's surname was Xing.

"The surname is Xing."

Zhang Yuan frowned slightly, except for Xing Long, the eunuch of the Nanjing garrison, he didn't know anyone else surnamed Xing, so he went to the front hall with Zong Yishan, and saw a man in a short shirt standing on the verandah of the hall, with a bamboo hat in his hand, and a dripping water on the edge of the hat - Zhang Yuan didn't know this man, but this man seemed to have seen Zhang Yuan, and he didn't regard Zong Yishan as Zhang Yuan, and sang to Zhang Yuan with a forked hand: "Zhang Gongzi, the villain is ordered by the head of the family, please ask Zhang Gongzi to ask for some things." ”

Zhang Yuan looked at this man and asked, "Is your master's surname Xing, and where do you know him?" ”

The man said: "On the ninth day of the seventh month, Xuanwu Lake." When he said this, he raised his eyes and met Zhang Yuan's gaze, and lowered his head.

Zhang Yuan nodded and said: "I know, it's just that I have something to do now, and it's inconvenient to go for a while. ”

The man said, "Zhang Gongzi, please take a step to speak." ”

Zhang Yuan said "um", walked to the tea house on the left side of the hall, and stood outside the door, the man followed, bowed down and said, "Zhang Gongzi is not worried about the affairs of the country's eunuch?" ”

Zhang Yuan raised his eyebrows, and said in his heart: "This is what happened in the morning, Eunuch Xing's news is too well-informed, right, his ears and eyes are everywhere?" ”

The man lowered his voice and said: "What can I do to forgive a little eunuch, Zhang Gongzi is a person respected by the head of the family, in Nanjing, no one can bully the son, the son can rest assured, the villain will handle the matter of the prince on behalf of the son, now, please ask the son to go to see my master first, how about it?" ”

When Zhang Yuan heard this man say this, he must have been done by Xing Long about the opening of the Imperial Mausoleum Mountain, and he was very happy in his heart, and said: "Teacher Jiao has gone to the Ministry of Rites for the matter below, and told him to wait here for his life, can he visit your master again in the afternoon?" ”

The man said: "Well, the villain will come back from time to time to wait for Zhang Gongzi." With that, he saluted Zhang Yuan, took a few steps back, put on a bamboo hat, and strode away.

Zong Yishan came over and asked, "Jie Zi, what's the matter?" ”

Zhang Yuan said with a smile: "It's nothing, that man is the person who guards the eunuch Xing in Nanjing-this matter, Brother Yishan should not talk about it to Teacher Jiao for the time being." ”

Zong Yishan raised his eyebrows and said in surprise: "Recently, it was said that the matter of reducing business taxes was actually a plan of Jie Zi?" ”

Zong Yishan was shrewd, and when he heard that Zhang Yuan and Eunuch Xing knew each other, he immediately thought of Eunuch Xing's move to promote the reduction of tariffs on the Longjiang River by two-tenths - Zhang Yuan said "Oh": "Has the tariff been implemented, I don't know what the opinions of the people of Jinling are?" ”

Zong Yishan said: "Nature is welcome, not only businessmen rejoice, but the general public is also happy to see it, because the business tax is heavy, resale will be expensive, and the reduction of business tax, the Quartet businessmen are willing to come, the circulation of goods will be accelerated, prices will also fall, on the surface it seems that the tax reduction only benefits the merchants, and the four people will benefit at that time." ”

Zhang Yuanxi said: "Brother Yishan has extraordinary knowledge, and I am very relieved. ”

Zong Yishan smiled and said: "I fully support what Jie Zi does, Brother Jie Zi also knows me, Zong Yishan has never been a talkative person." ”

Zhang Yuan said with a smile: "I'm just afraid that the teacher will blame me, make friends with eunuchs in Hangzhou, and make eunuchs in Nanjing, hehe." ”

Zong Yishan said: "The teacher is knowledgeable, and he doesn't care too much about these common opinions, Jie Zi studies hard and acts very rightly, and the teacher often praises him." ”

At the end of the day, Jiao Runsheng came back, Zhang Cao also followed, Zhang Cao's prison rules were relaxed, and it was very easy to ask for leave, Zhang Cao heard Jiao Runsheng say that Zhang Yuan was framed by Mao Jian Cheng and had been released from prison to Xiangyuan, so he followed Jiao Runsheng, Zhang Dai couldn't get out for a while, so he found Ruan Dacheng and Wei Dazhong, Huang Zunsu and others in the prison, and went to Mao Jian Cheng to discuss the explanation-Zhang Cao said angrily: "Jiezi, what's the matter, then Mao Jian Cheng dares to frame you again?" ”

Zhang Yuan said the morning incident again, Zhang Cao shook his head, and said: "Oh, meson, there is Mu Zhenzhen, you should beat that plague official down, he is so blatantly framing you, what do you care." ”

Jiao Runsheng said: "If you can't bear it, you will make a big plan, if you hurt the prison officer, my father can't talk well to Dean Li, then the prison officer will hold on to this matter." ”

Zhang Cao disagreed, and said: "If I follow my surname, I will fight first, and then I will talk about it, and the eight-grade little official will be arrogant, and I will want to beat him if there is nothing to do today." He also said: "I will talk about it at the end of the year, before I return to my hometown, I will beat the plague official to see what he can do to me." ”

Zong Yi said kindly: "With Teacher Jiao coming forward, Song Shi can't get rid of Jiezi's student status, and with the support of Eunuch Xing, then Eunuch Mao can't wait for Zhang Yanke to beat him, and he has already asked for mercy." ”

While everyone was talking, a sedan chair was carried in, stopped in front of the hall, the sedan chair man took off the sedan bar, and Jiao Hong, who had white hair, walked down the sedan chair, maybe he was sitting on the sedan chair legs and was numb, and he stumbled slightly when he got off the sedan chair, Zhang Yuan hurriedly went to help - Jiao Hong waved his hand and said: "It's okay, the old man doesn't need a cane to walk now." Entering the hall and sitting down, he looked at Zhang Yuan and said: "Li Shangshu will go to Guozi to inquire about this matter in the afternoon, you can wait outside the prison gate after lunch in the garden, let Runsheng accompany you, you don't have to worry." ”

Although Jiao Hong did not give Zhang Yuan an exact answer, but looking at Jiao Taishi's determined demeanor, it must have been relatively smooth to visit Li Shangshu to intercede for Zhang Yuan, but Zhang Yuan was going to see Eunuch Xing in the afternoon, and he promised not to make an appointment, so he said: "Thank you teacher for coming forward for the disciple, the disciple has to go back to listen to the Zen residence, so he will not eat here, and the disciple will go to Jixian Gate to wait outside the gate in the afternoon." ”

At this time, the rain had stopped, Zhang Yuan, Mu Zhenzhen and the third brother Zhang Cao came out of the garden, remembering the family letters from the ancestor of the clan to the eldest brother and the third brother, so he took out the two letters from his arms and gave them to Zhang Cao, and said: "Third brother, you go back to the Zen residence first, and I have to go to the inner garrison mansion." ”

When Zhang Cao heard this, he nodded and said, "Yes, find more people to deal with the two plague officials, Song and Mao, you can go." ”

Zhang Yuan wanted to hire a carriage at the entrance of the street and couldn't hire it for a while, so he hired a sedan chair, Mu Zhenzhen followed the sedan chair, and went straight to the inner garrison mansion, the six departments of Nanjing and the garrison yamen are in the southwest of the old imperial city, only three or four miles away from the garden, and when they arrived at Tongji Gate, Mu Zhenzhen suddenly shouted: "Xiao Wu——"

Zhang Yuan lifted the sedan curtain and saw that Wuling and Laifu were getting off the Qinhuai River boat, Zhang Yuan asked the sedan chair driver to stop the sedan chair, Wuling and Laifu had already run over, Zhang Yuan got off the sedan chair and asked, "Did you two inquire about anything?" ”

Wu Ling said: "Young master, I went to Xiangzhen Pavilion with Laifu to see Miss Li Xueyi, Miss Li Xueyi said that there was a group of children of the royal clan who wanted to comb Miss Wang Wei, but Miss Wang Wei refused, and the children of the clan threatened to smash the Youlan Pavilion and let Miss Wang Wei be imprisoned and punished, Miss Li Xueyi said that this group of children of the clan was like a scoundrel, robbing the property of the shop at will, and the girl in the hospital never gave money, and was extremely domineering, yesterday evening, Miss Li Xueyi asked a servant of the Xiangzhen Pavilion and Xue Tong to go to the Guozijian to find the young master. Let's see if the young master can help Miss Wang Wei, but for some reason, the servant was caught by the people of the Guozijian, Xue Tong escaped back, and he has not seen the servant return yet. ”

Zhang Yuan then understood what Mao Jian Cheng said about the two turtle slaves in Xiangzhen Pavilion, one big and one small, just like that, Mao Liangfeng wanted to trap him, but there should be no royal clan in Nanjing City, Yanjing and Nanjing are not allowed to live in the clan, and the blessed king Zhu Changxun was favored by Emperor Wanli, and he had to go to Luoyang, if it was a passing clan, this is not right, if there is no imperial order, the vassal kings cannot leave their respective fiefdoms without authorization, and listen to Xiao Wu relay Li Xueyi's statement, this group of clans surnamed Zhu has lived in Nanjing City for a long time, and they are like scoundrels. That's weird!

Presumably Wuling didn't ask clearly, Zhang Yuan said: "Xiao Wu, Laifu, you two go to the old courtyard again, please Li Xueyi or Wang Xiuwei wait for me by this river, I will go to the inner garrison mansion and come back to talk to them." ”

Wuling and Laifu hired a boat to go, Zhang Yuan and Mu Zhenzhen walked to the archway in front of the inner garrison mansion when they heard the drum at noon - there are three doors in front of the lobby of the inner garrison mansion in Nanjing, the instrument gate, the second gate and the gate, Zhang Yuan stood outside the gate, he had no name, nor did he bring silver, and the guard sergeant did not pay attention to him, if he didn't see him as a square scarf shirt, he would have to drive him away - Zhang Yuanxin said: "This is troublesome, please don't come when I come, now I come by myself, I can't even enter the door." ”

When he was hesitating, he suddenly saw two horsemen coming from the south, the one on the left wearing a flying fish suit and wearing an embroidered spring knife should be a hundred households in Jinyi, but the one on the right was a man in a short coat, who dared to ride with a hundred households in Jinyiwei

(To be continued)