Cui Fu outside the door agreed, patted the snow on his body, wiped the mud on his oil boots vigorously, came in to salute, did not speak, just took out a cloth bag from his arms tremblingly, and presented it with both hands. Cui Chengxiu opened it and saw that it was a folded newspaper, and hurriedly read it, and when he saw that it carried Wei Zhongxian from Fucheng County, he couldn't help but be shocked, and wept in a daze: "The nine-thousand-year-old fruit is no longer there!" He asked Cui Fu again: "Why did you come back two days late?" ”

"The little one in Beijing heard about the nine-thousand-year-old hanging, and he didn't know whether it was true or not, so he tried to buy the newspaper with a lot of money, so as not to ask the old man about it, and it was difficult for the little one to answer. Then it will be too late. Cui Fu hurriedly explained.

"Good! You're a good old man. It's just that why don't you hurry in and report it? ”

"The little ones are afraid of alarming the lord and the lady."

"What's going on in Jingshi? Is there any discussion? ”

Cui Fu knelt on the ground with a thud and said with tears in his eyes: "Master, it is inevitable that the nine-thousand-year-old will be discussed, but this time I am afraid that the master will also have a disaster." ”

Cui Chengxiu raised his hand and ordered him to get up and speak, but Cui Fu ignored it and cried: "Master, the news of the nine-thousand-year-old hanged himself reached the inner court, and the saint listened to it: 'Zhongxian is a person, if it is not for the outer court, why should the slave bully the master, be good at the court, and be in great trouble? 'The courtiers mostly impeached the lord for clinging to the eunuchs. For wrongdoing, the saint was furious, and when he heard that there was a will, the lord was dismissed from his post and listened to the investigation, and he was afraid that it would be difficult to return to the holy wrath. ”

Cui Chengxiu said secretly: "That's it! I'm afraid that the next step will be to ask about going to prison, what kind of place is the edict prison! Thinking that Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou were in prison back then, even if they were iron-clad, which one could escape their lives? Over the years, I have had a lot of grievances, and when I go in today, who will help to let me live? I have to endure those countless tortures, and it is really better to find a suicide like nine thousand years old, so as not to suffer those sufferings! At that moment, he waved his hand and ordered Cui Fu to retreat and said: "Go down and rest first, we have our own way, don't make a noise!" ”

Xiao Lingxi heard it well in the inner room, rushed out, saw Cui Chengxiu's eyes were distracted, and leaned on him and whispered: "Master, is the emperor's order true?" Cui Chengxiu knew that there was no big tree to rely on now, so she had to caress her shoulders and said: "Since there are such rumors, I am afraid that it will not be false, and the official flag that cannot be ordered will arrive in a few days." I'm afraid there is nothing to be done this time, the most difficult to accept the grace of the beauty, Bao Niang, I'm afraid I'm going to lose you. ”

Xiao Lingxi cried: "Master, it's all because the servant is a prophecy and a cranky thought. ”

"Bao Niang, I can only blame one of them, the fire is scattered too much, and sooner or later it will burn to my own house. You don't have to blame yourself, you only promised us one thing, and it won't be in vain for us to hurt you. Cui Chengxiu comforted gently.

"What's the matter? Even if he dies for the master, the servant is not afraid. ”

"No, you're thinking too much. Even if you die, you can't save me, and besides, how can I bear you to die. Don't follow me, pack up some softness first, and send you out while I'm here, and go away, don't do your best for me, just find a good family, don't fall into fireworks again, and teach me to make people laugh and scold under the nine springs. I can't shelter you anymore, as long as you stay with me again tonight. After speaking, I couldn't stop sighing and sighing to myself.

Xiao Lingxi didn't feel tears falling like rain, and chanted in a low voice: "The pine and cypress of the Beijing Post are sorrowful, and the people of Yanzilou are quiet. Because of the dust of the buried crown sword song, the red sleeve incense disappeared for 20 years. Then he cried, "Isn't the servant as good as Guan Panpan?" ”

Cui Chengxiu smiled faintly: "I'm not like Zhang Jianfeng all year round, why do you have to learn that Guan Panpan?" Go down and order the cook to prepare some fine food, and bring me the wine and the precious utensils that I have saved, and tell your family not to come and disturb them. In such weather, you can hug each other, drink and enjoy the snow, talk around the fireplace, and have fun all night. ”

Xiao Lingxi cried sadly: "Once the sea was difficult to turn into water, except for Wushan, it is not a cloud. Although the servant was born in fireworks, she was lifted by the lord, dressed in brocade and food, enjoyed for many years, and was extremely favored, and served the great Sima of the imperial court, how could she hold the pipa again and go back to the shy face to others? is willing to kill in retribution, and follow the master underground. He got up and arranged food and drink, and came back to stay by Cui Chengxiu's side.

Cui Chengxiu sighed: "Bao Niang, why are you suffering? I am the palace guard, and my family has millions of dollars, and I am extremely rich. It's over the age of five or six, and it's not young. I have committed great crimes, I have condescended to adultery, I have become inflammatory, I have flattered the public, I have many grievances, and if the saint lets me go, the enemy will not let me go. You are young and just enjoying the romance and wealth, why bother looking for this short-sightedness! ”

Lingxi's tone was cold, and he got up and saluted: "The maid has made up his mind, and the master doesn't need to persuade him anymore." ”

In a moment, the wide mahogany table was full of delicacies, more than a dozen large and small wine jars and wine bottles, and two family members carried a large rosewood box. Cui Chengxiu saw Xiao Lingxi pouring wine, taught Xiao Lingxi to sit opposite, took a sip of the wine, shook his head and said: "There is such a good wine, there must be good utensils, the way of drinking, you must pay attention to the wine utensils, what kind of wine to drink, what wine glass, you can go deep into the samadhi, the slightest sloppiness." Xiao Lingxi looked at it and saw that it was a few red sandalwood, pear, wenge, and golden silk nanmu, which shimmered in the candlelight, or colorful, or clumsy, or bright, or crystalline...... It is actually full of several wine utensils, large or small, with different shapes, all of which are extraordinary. "These are all ancient cups of the previous generation that I have accumulated and collected over the past decades, gold, silver, copper, jade, bamboo, wood, horn, and glass, which are not comparable to the palace inside." Cui Chengxiu grabbed a handful of celadon wine jugs, took a bottle of golden stem dew in one hand and said: "This pot is the Eight Immortals wine pot of the Song Dynasty Dingyao, not only the story of the eight immortals crossing the sea is painted on the outside, but there is also a mystery in the pot, full of pots to change eight directions, just pour eight glasses of wine." It's just that this golden stem dew is a royal wine, clear but not cold, mellow but not greasy, thick but not hurtful, with the fragrance of the king, it seems that it is not suitable to use this worldly wine pot, it should be replaced with a gold holding pot. As he spoke, he changed the eight-edged chisel flower gold holding pot, gently pinched a Maiko bead handle gold cup and a gold basket Bao Tian Tuanhua gold cup, poured the wine and handed it to Xiao Lingxi. Xiao Lingxi said secretly: "Anyway, it's not long before I die, and it doesn't make much difference whether I'm drunk or not." Although the amount of alcohol is very shallow on weekdays, at this time I held it with both hands and drank it clean in a few sips, but I felt that my throat was like a knife cutting fire, and I couldn't help coughing, my cheeks and neck were crimson, and my mouth praised it repeatedly: "Good wine, good wine!" ”

Cui Chengxiu laughed lightly, raised his head, shook his hand and threw the gold cup on the table to the ground, stepped on it with his feet, and threw the gold pot hard, and when he fell to the wall with a bang, he saw that it was flattened and could not be used. Seeing that Xiao Lingxi seemed to be about to stop him, he stopped talking and laughed wildly: "This golden pot and golden cup are antiquities of the Tang Dynasty, and it has been no less than 800 years since today. Although it is precious, I don't know if I will use it to drink tomorrow, and what is the use of leaving these things outside? It will never be left to the enemy's play! ”

Xiao Lingxi sighed: "It's just a pity that the master's hard work in half his life has been wasted. I don't know how many powerful people have used these treasures, but they ended up like this! ”

"There are talented people from all generations, not to mention this small cup! You don't have to touch the injury, and you can have another drink with me. Cui Chengxiu took a silver pot inlaid with emerald gemstones, took out a small red porcelain jar, smashed the sealing mud, and suddenly the room was filled with the mellow aroma of wine, and he sniffed deeply: "Good wine, good wine!" This is the best Shaoxing champion red for the inner court during the Yongle Dynasty, and it must have changed to amber for two hundred years. There is a poem in the Tang Dynasty that says: The jade bowl is filled with amber light, and such a good wine must be drunk with a silver-white vessel, so as not to reduce its true color, not to lose its inner fragrance, and not to spoil the scenery of the Huatang feast. ”

Xiao Lingxi doesn't know anything about wine, and he only feels spicy when he drinks on weekdays, so where can he pay attention to these feelings? At first, I heard it very mysterious, savored it, but it was not unreasonable, I saw him look at the flower-shaped silver cup in his hand, and it seemed to be thrown on the ground in disgust, and he stepped on it flat, and then he held the pot and poured it into the eight-sided silver cup with the pattern of vines and flowers and birds and lotus petals. The cup in his hand was swept to the ground, and he felt that his face was hot, and he saw that the charcoal in the basin was small, and he added green charcoal to the kang himself, and looked outside the window was already full of snow like swan feathers, and said to himself as if he was pitying: "This snow is also like a silver cup with ice skin and jade skin, only drinking this kind of wine, but it is a pity that the famous vessel seems to have snubbed the beauty?" ”

"The wine has never been like a beauty, and the beauty is like a virgin, which means that the top objects match, natural color, a snow-white face like yours must be decorated with two peach blossoms, and the pink and white contrast is appropriate. The same is true for wine and cups, the silver cup and the champion red, the daughter red, and the Huadiao wine are the most compatible, and so on, you can also drink bamboo leaf green, but the light green and silver white are cold, and you feel a little uncomfortable. If it is a medicinal wine brewed with ginseng, Fuling, Ganoderma lucidum, deer antler, Shou Wu, bear bile, Panax notoginseng and other precious medicines, it can also be barely drunk, but the medicinal taste is overwhelming, but it is not drinking alcohol but like taking medicine. Other wines are inevitably suspected of occupying the magpie's nest and are not enough to taste. Cui Chengxiu replaced the two silver cups, poured half a cup, pushed the eight-petal silver cup carved with the lady's hunting pattern to Xiao Lingxi, and took the high-foot silver cup with the hunting flower and grass pattern, and asked with a smug face: "Is it so?" ”

"The old man is elegant and erudite, and he is an eye-opener. How did the servant know that there was so much knowledge about eating and drinking? Xiao Lingxi couldn't help but be very impressed, but he couldn't help but secretly feel a little melancholy in his heart.

Cui Chengxiu drank four taels of wine, and couldn't help but fly away, took off the hat on his head, leaned to Xiao Lingxi's side, and said shoulder to shoulder: "The origin, smell, wine-making method, cellaring method, and vintage origin of the wine, you can distinguish it when you taste it. These gold, silver, and wine vessels seem to the laity to be priceless treasures, but in my home they are ordinary things, and they are not yet to be appreciated. Why do you say? ”

Xiao Lingxi snuggled on his shoulder, and when he saw him squinting and smiling at his wrist, his heart was bright, and he smiled: "Since ancient times, gold and silver have been priceless and jade is priceless, it must be a jade pot and jade cup." ”

Cui Chengxiu stretched out his hand and twisted it at the neck of her cheek and said, "Weird elf, guess accurately!" Cui Chengxiu took it off one by one and put it on the table, pointing to the name of the cup, what was the horn-shaped jade cup of the Han Dynasty, the golden buckle jade cup of the Sui Dynasty, the jade eight-petal flower-shaped cup of the Tang Dynasty, the green jade carved peach blossom ear cup of the Tang Dynasty, the green jade amphora of the Song Dynasty, the white jade sunflower cup of the Yuan Dynasty, almost all over the dynasties, all of them are finely carved, ingenious, and indescribably ancient. Xiao Lingxi sighed to himself, and actually thought of those famous Ji Yan prostitutes in the previous dynasty, Lu Zhu, Su Xiaoxiao, Guan Panpan, and Master Li...... Cui Chengxiu didn't notice her dim eyelids, and said with a smile: "You only guessed half right, in addition to these jade cups, there are a few rare things!" "I opened a few small drawers under Duobaoge, and took out a purple-red cup with empty hands, with pimples on it, and only after a closer look did I realize that I carved a picture of the old man playing against Panasonic; A jet-black rosewood ancient plum cup, a horn-like curved cup, and an ivory carved water scoop-like wine vessel, a pair of ivory cups. Xiao Ling took the chestnut horn cup and said, "This is the rhino horn cup, right?" ”

"Yes, you have some knowledge. This rhino horn cup can be used in medicine, if the wine is strong, use the rhino horn cup to drink it, it can add a fragrant breath, and it will feel mellow and sweet. The so-called jade cup increases the color of wine, and the rhino horn cup increases the fragrance of wine, and the ancients are honest and do not deceive me. Cui Chengxiu smiled and scooped a bowl of liquor and sent it to Xiao Lingxi's nose to sniff, but he felt that it was strong and abnormal, and his breathing was suppressed, Xiao Lingxi hurriedly turned his head and said, "What kind of wine is this, so choking?" ”

Cui Chengxiu poured the wine into the rhino horn cup, shook it slightly, and said: "This is the famous Sun Ji burning knife outside the Guan, which can be regarded as the strongest wine in the world." The land is cold and cold, and the local people are all happy. However, when I entered my rhino horn cup, the wine had become much more mellow and mild. Take a sip of yourself, and feed Xiao Lingxi to drink, Xiao Lingxi swallowed it with his breath, the fruit was fragrant, and he nodded to Cui Chengxiu at the moment. Cui Chengxiu was proud, pointed to the water-like cup and said, "I don't think you understand this?" This thing is called the dragon handle, the dragon pattern on the carving, is to take the whole ivory carved out, and the remaining scraps are made into this pair of plain cups. This ivory cup is suitable for sweet wine. "Hold up a jar and pour it all over the table, and it is not a very precious wine. Although Xiao Lingxi is not fond of drinking, he smells the aroma of wine, and knows that it is indeed a good wine, Cui Chengxiu poured it like this, it was inevitably ruined, and he secretly felt a pity in his heart, but seeing that he was upright, he didn't dare to stop it.

Cui Chengxiu drank the wine, threw the cup into the charcoal basin, only heard a few rattling sounds, and in the blink of an eye, a puff of green smoke rose, and a thick burnt fragrance wafted throughout the room. He clapped his hands and laughed, "Happy! Joyfully! Some people say that the way of drinking, drinking sorghum wine, must use bronze wine, which has an ancient meaning; Drink the champion Yuan red must use the ancient porcelain cup, the best is the Northern Song Dynasty porcelain cup, the Southern Song Dynasty porcelain cup is barely usable, but there is a decay weather, as for the Yuan porcelain, it is inevitably vulgar; Drink the pear blossom wine in the jar with a jade cup. Although it is not unreasonable, it is just pretentious, and it is not true. If the bronze wine is to be ancient, it must be rusty and mottled, and it is impossible to distinguish the true color of the wine; The porcelain cup has a hidden atmosphere, which does not match my identity. That's why I didn't look for these two vessels. As for drinking wine with a luminous cup, Tang poems are also cited as evidence: "Grape wine luminous glass, if you want to drink pipa, urge immediately." In fact, this luminous cup and glass cup are the same kind. The color of the grape wine is bright red, the glass cup is empty, the two are combined, the color of the wine is the same as rouge, drinking is like drinking the tears of the beauty, and you can see its advantages. But drinking this wine should not only have a luminous cup and a glass cup, but also a beautiful woman to accompany you, otherwise the entrance will turn into a turbidity, and you will eventually feel a lot less emotional. Of course, it is not a wine or a pleasure, but there is no beauty, and it is even more laughing. After that, he lined up the cups on the table, tore the seals of the remaining jars of wine, poured them into the cups, and exhaled a long sigh of relief, and sighed: "These wine glasses are really the treasures of drinkers, throughout the ages, all kinds are complete, unheard of; There is no other way to drink it like this. It doesn't hurt to drink! Drinking wildly, drinking all over his cheeks, his front was wet, he hugged Xiao Lingxi and cried: "I know that the crime is inescapable, and I still have some thoughts of greed for life and money, how can I be willing to die in my heart?" I think there are still buried gold and silver cages in Beijing that have not yet been returned. In this huge field of the family, there are only seven years old Borier and four years old key children, and they have not yet known the personnel. The eldest son, Cui Duo, re-examined, and I don't know how? How can you give up such a young and beautiful woman as a flower? The banquet was overturned vigorously, and the cups, dishes, dishes, and wine fell all over the kang, Cui Chengxiu held Duobaoge and smashed it downward, seeing the cups and butterflies shattered into several pieces.

Xiao Lingxi cried almost out of breath, and whimpered: "The servant waits for the master to go on the road." When it comes to the underworld, the maid is still the master, and he will serve the master in the same way. ”

Cui Chengxiu's family law is extremely strict, and the concubines heard the crying, and they didn't dare to come over to take care of them on their own, and let them act at will. Cui Chengxiu smiled dumbly, looking extremely helpless, and got up to change into a court dress, black gauze soap boots, python clothes and jade belts, Xiao Lingxi was also dressed in a gorgeous dress, hugging and crying. At this time, the second watch has passed, and the snow outside the window is flying, and the ground is silvery white, covering the huge mansion to the fullest. Xiao Lingxi looked up at Cui Chengxiu, the two looked at each other and smiled, Xiao Lingxi watched him move a chair, threw the silk silk that had just been tied to the beam, and kicked the chair over. Xiao Lingxi didn't dare to look at it anymore, slowly knelt aside, bowed his head and chanted: "The curtain rolls tassels, and the curtains hang with vermilion foil." Rui brain smoke sprays treasure duck fragrance. The glittering Qiong pot, the fruit splits the syrup, and the food and cooking smell is peculiar. Xu Luo Zhu, two rows of pink plum makeup; Crisp tube complex sound, play a new sound and elegant rhyme: dance everywhere bundle Shu brocade, when the feast song beats the red teeth. "He took the sword that hung on the wall, and killed himself.

Early the next morning, the cooks and maids went to the study to clean up the remnants, and saw that the room was in a mess, Xiao Lingxi fell on the side of the kang, and there was blood on the ground, and when he looked up, he saw Master Cui hanging on the beam, and hurriedly reported to his wife. Mrs. hurriedly invited her brother Cui Zhongxiu to discuss, so she had to report to Benzhou, so Zhao Zhizhou immediately prepared the troops in detail, and then sent the garrison to inspect and report back to the Dao. At this time, before there was a purpose, the family first buried it by itself, and caressed the topic.

Qiu Hong, a woman in Cui Mansion, was originally the maid of Ke Yinyue, because she had met Cui Fu, a little girl in Cui Mansion, many times, and secretly had feelings, and it became a good thing for Ke Yinyue to open hungry jade. The woman listened to her husband come back and tell her about the scene in the study, and in the morning, taking advantage of the chaos up and down the house, she brought some soft clothes with her husband and hurried to Yinyue. When I arrived in Beijing, I learned that Hou Guoxing had been imprisoned in Jinyi Prison, and the Hou Ye's Mansion and those private houses had also been blocked, and the family had fled.

The Huanyi Bureau is in the Xuanwu Gate, and there is a member of the eunuch with palm prints, and there is no fixed number of secretaries and supervisors. All the palace people who are old or have been deposed and abolished will be sent to live here, and all kinds of clothes in the palace will be washed every day. Qiu Hong and her husband arrived at the door, and sent three taels of scattered silver, only saying that they wanted to find a distant relative, and did not dare to come to see the guest Yinyue openly. This place is no longer an important place, the access control was originally relaxed, and there was money, so the door value taught Qiu Hong to go in and find it. Qiu Hong came in to see that the courtyard was wide, but it was extremely dilapidated, it was obvious that it had not been repaired for many years, and there were many old palace people inside, gathered in twos and threes, washing clothes and talking, and did not see the shadow of the guest Yinyue. Qiu Hong didn't dare to ask, so he had to search one yard after another, until he found a small courtyard in the back, but he didn't find Ke Yinyue. I was disappointed and depressed, thinking that my husband was still outside the door, I was afraid that he would be anxious to wait, so I wanted to turn around and leave, but I heard someone inside sneer: "You poured the wealth back then, how enjoyable!" Do you think there will be today's end? Let's do an errand under orders, you still grit your teeth and don't say anything, it's just rude to us, you despise the Lord of Long Live so much. Really beating a slut.。 Look at whether your teeth are hard or our sticks are hard! ”

Qiu Hong's heart moved, and he saw that the gray wall was tall, the courtyard door was closed, and a few towering ancient trees were falling. Beating the drum in my heart, looking at the front and back, left and right, it seemed to be a little chilling, fortunately, there was no one behind, and there was no guard at the door, so I was busy lying on the door lightly, peeking in through the small gaps, only to see a thick white snow pile under the ancient tree, and a dilapidated table was placed in a small open space cleaned out, and there was a eunuch sitting on the chair behind the table, with a black hat, white ear protection, a red gold moire brocade plate collar Yangsheng Buzi python clothes, lined with cotton robes, a square jade belt around the waist, and a long tassel ribbon hanging down between the left side, With a rosary on his right wrist, he looked at an old woman tied up in front of him with a smile. The old woman cut her hands behind her back, dressed in a shabby cotton clothes, without a scarf and hat on her head, her gray hair was blown by the cold wind, and she knelt on the ground with her back facing outward, and two stout eunuchs stood behind her. Qiu Hong heard the familiar voice, and felt miserable in her heart, she couldn't help but burst into tears, almost crying, and said secretly: Her old man is really here.