During the Yuan and Yuan periods of the Daxing Dynasty, the country and the people were safe, and the world was rich. However, the world has changed, and it has always been a few joys and a few sorrows, even if it is prosperous, it is inevitable to be born, old, sick and die.

At the end of the winter of this year, Tu Hong, the director of the Ministry of Industry and the Nine Products of the Ministry of Industry, unfortunately died while repairing the imperial tomb. Mrs. Tujia was suspicious, and asked someone to investigate several times, but she did not solve the mystery of her husband's death.

The palace garden has been suffering from natural fire for a long time, and the Ministry of Industry urgently needs the new head of the Tujia family to be on top, and it cannot be delayed any longer. After Tuhong was buried, the appointment documents of the Ministry were sent to Mrs. Tu. The candidate for the new director is Tuling, the second daughter of the Tujia family. Long.

The appointment has been made, and it is difficult to change it. There is a way to know the daughter Mo Ruomu, Tuling. Long is disgusted with the art of gardening, and has never been careful since he was a child, if she becomes an official like this time, she will definitely smash the name of the gardening saint accumulated by the Tujia family for several generations. In a hurry, Mrs. Tu thought of another master, and wanted her to give her daughter some advice, so she sent the maid Xiangxiu to pass on the word.

At the beginning of the next day, before dawn, a young woman appeared at the back door of Tujia. The woman was about sixteen or seventeen years old, with a round face and apricot eyes, and a smell of brine on her rat-gray coarse cloth jacket, and she was dressed as a hawker in Yunning City.

This woman is Hong Xin'er, the proud female disciple of Tuhong.

Hong Xin'er was alert, checked again and again, and confirmed that there was no one around, before she pushed open the small door that had been reserved for her.

The maid Xiangxiu was already waiting in that door, and when she saw someone coming, she was happy: "Xin'er, you came just in time." Madame has already gone to call Miss, come with me. ”

Hong Xin'er followed, and the two walked all the way through the black and white curtain that had not yet been put away, and came to Mrs. Tu's residence.

There was no one in the warm hall in front, so Xin'er and Xiangxiu went to Mrs. Tu's bedroom together, but there was no one to see.

Hong Xin'er pointed at Tu Ling at Xiangxiu. Long's residence. Xiangxiu comprehended, and the two were just about to look for someone, but when they heard an "ah" in the side yard, there was no sound.

Hong Xin'er heard the sound, it was Mrs. Tu, she didn't care about Xiangxiu, stretched out her long legs and ran to the front hall of the side courtyard. Mrs. Tu had fallen to the ground on her back, tears hanging from the corners of her eyes, and her face was pale.

Seeing this situation, Hong Xin'er hurriedly worked with Xiangxiu to help Mrs. Tu onto the soft couch. Before the person stabilized, Hong Xin'er instructed Xiangxiu: "Sister Xiangxiu, I'm afraid that my wife is not lightly ill, go find Lang Zhong quickly!" Remember to go through the back door! ”

After Lang Zhong came, he said that Mrs. Tu was in a hurry, so she had to be treated with an acupuncture. When the day was bright, Mrs. Tu finally opened her eyes, and fortunately there was no big problem, but she was silent.

Wait until Xiangxiu sends Lang Zhong away. went out, and Tufu pulled Xin'er, who was sitting on the edge of the couch, and said, "Xin'er, how is this good?" The clerk's clerk has arrived, and the new head of my Tujia is Ling. Long, tomorrow is the day when she enters the Ministry of Engineering to meet Master Wei, I originally wanted you to come over today to give her some advice, but now, she has run away, how do you want me to explain to the ancestors of the Tujia family? ”

Only then did Hong Xin'er remember that she and Xiangxiu were busy taking care of Mrs. Tu, but they really didn't see Tuling. Long's figure. Hong Xin'er turned around and poured hot tea for Mrs. Tu and handed it to Mrs. Tu: "Master, you take a sip of tea first and speak slowly." Ling. Miss Long ran away, what's going on? ”

Mrs. Tu took the teacup, did not take a sip, and sobbed: "Good boy, you are the only apprentice of the master, and I will not hide it from you." This matter was originally really unspeakable, Ling. Long she was afraid to enter the palace as a main matter, and last night she brought the golden bell and ......", speaking of this, Mrs. Tu looked extremely hateful and helpless, "I eloped with her friend who I don't know where she came from, and only left a letter." At this moment, I am afraid that I have already left the city and is nowhere to be found. I want to prosper the dynasty, the three families of earth, wood and house have been hereditary for many years, and the royal garden and mausoleum are all from the hands of the three masters. My Tujia knows too many royal secrets, Ruoling. Long went to take the main task, but he could still live in peace. But she is gone, my youngest son is only seven years old, and my Tujia can't hand over anyone to inherit the principal, and the emperor will kill my Tujia according to the law to keep it secret for the royal family. The matter has come to this, Xin'er, go quickly, don't be implicated! ”

After that, Mrs. Tu came to push Xin'er. The teacup in her hand was unstable, and it flipped on its side and fell. Hong Xin'er's eyes were quick, and she leaned over and reached out to catch it. The tea cup was saved, but the hot tea water spilled Xin'er's hand, and it hurt slightly.

It happened that Xiangxiu entered the house, she hurriedly helped Xin'er up and asked her to soak her hands in cold water in the backyard water tank, and Xiangxiu herself accompanied Mrs. Tu in the room.

Hong Xin'er went to the backyard and put her scalded hand in the cold water, she thought about Mrs. Tu's words repeatedly, and her thoughts drifted back to the Shangsi Festival ten years ago.

Before that day, Hong Xin'er was still called Hong Shi'er, the second daughter of a tofu vendor in the East Market. The stone girl of the old Hong family, she has the strength not to lose to men when she is young, she can shoot birds with a slingshot at the age of six or seven, climb trees and touch fruits, and even the boys older than her in the East Market dare not provoke this girl.

On her seventh birthday, Hong Jiafu and his wife sent Shi'er to learn from female workers, wanting her to take care of her. But within three days, Hong Shier bent those embroidery needles and piled up a rockery at the entrance of Dongshi Street. Since then, no embroidered girl in the East City dares to accept the old Hong family. Two.

During the Shangsi Festival, Shi'er had nothing to do, so she pestered her father and mother to take her to Mingchi.

There were many tourists in Mingchi that day, and the Hong family and his wife patronized to listen to Wang Mazi's speech and separated from Shi'er. Hong Shi'er was not in a hurry to find her father, she ran to the fork in the road alone, planning to climb the rockery to touch a few fruits on the trees next to her.

Next to the rockery, Hong Shier happened to meet Tu Hong, who was dressed in a green shirt and poured sullen wine for his eldest son's departure. Hong Shier and Tuhong chatted with the deed, Tuhong saw that Hong Shier said that the rockery, the head is the road, and even the smooth and negative stone patterns can be clearly explained, so on a whim, he picked up a small stone and asked Hong Shier to build a small rockery for him to see.

The young Hong Shi'er was not afraid of difficulties, and embedded those small stones into the small mound in three or two strokes. That's exactly the "stone-clad soil" rockery that Tuhong wants to try. Tuhong taught his craftsmen for more than twenty years, but none of them understood the meaning.

Tuhong didn't expect that the little girl had such talent at such an age, and he was overjoyed. When Hong Shi'er's father and mother came to find him, Tu Hong revealed his identity as the head of the Ministry of Works, and wanted to accept Hong Shi'er as an apprentice.

Hong Shi'er and her mother were reluctant to let her daughter learn that craft at first, but fortunately, her father was still a long-term vision, he felt that his daughter had learned to build a garden, and it would be better to have a relationship with craftsmen in the future, which would be better than being a market vendor for the rest of his life, so he agreed to Tuhong.

At that moment, Tuhong asked Hong Shi'er to give him an apprenticeship, and renamed Hong Shi'er Hong Xin'er, wishing her a bright future and a fragrance of flowers. When their craftsmen build gardens, they inevitably have to touch flowers and trees, and this name is also appropriate.

Hong Xin'er has been studying art for ten years, and the director of Tuhong taught Hong Xin'er the essentials of being a craftsman, and also passed on her a set of gardening mantras, treating Xin'er like her own daughter. But because of Tuhong's official position, neither of the two families publicized Xin'er's apprenticeship to the outside world.

Thinking of the master's kindness to her in the past, Hong Xin'er's eyes were slightly red, and the master was kind to her, but now that the Tujia family is in a desperate situation, how can she sit idly by and ignore the affairs of the Tujia family? She withdrew her hand back from the water, got up quickly, and ran back to the side yard without bothering to wipe her hands, knelt down in front of Mrs. Tu's couch, and said the bravest decision in her life: "Master, Ling. Miss Long is the same year as me, and I would like to take her place to do the main work and keep the Tu family safe! ”

When Mrs. Tu heard Xin'er say this, she was taken aback and sat up suddenly. Mrs. Tu has always felt that this child is clever and smart, and she is still smart and filial, and she also regards Xin'er as half a daughter. When Tu Hong was alive, he always boasted to Mrs. Tu that his female apprentice was used to ingenuity and often had different opinions. But this Nizi actually wanted to risk the crime of killing her head to help the Tu family do the main thing, Mrs. Tu really didn't know whether to praise her for not forgetting her teacher's kindness, or scold her for being bold.

Lady Tu got up. After staying at the house, he helped Xin'er up: "Good boy, how can I let you be an outsider in my family affairs?" This is a great crime of deception, so don't talk about it again. If something happens to you, how can I explain it to your parents? Let's go. This is the life of my Tujia, and I will bear it. ”

Where is Xin'er willing to go? She stood on the ground, no matter how Mrs. Tu pushed and shoved, she was also motionless: "Master, Master has the grace of reinvention for me. If I don't save myself when I see death, then how much face will I have to see Master under the Nine Springs? I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep well for decades to come. I beg your permission to let me go for Miss Linglong! Master has taught me for many years, and I will live up to the reputation of the Tujia family. ”

Xin'er dared to be so bold, not because she didn't take into account her father. Daxing Dynasty has always governed the country and is clear, and for the common people in the market, even if someone commits a heinous crime, it will not harm the family, and the children will not be punished. Xin'er is just a tofu vendor, and her impostor was found out, as long as she admits that it was all done by one person, her family will not be implicated. There is also a younger sister at home to help with filial piety, and she doesn't need to worry about it. But the Tujia family is in danger now, if she doesn't make a move, there is really no way to live.

Xiangxiu, who was on the side, saw that the two of them were frozen together, so she opened her mouth to persuade her: "Madam, Xin'er, this is a good way." Outsiders have never seen Miss, and the two of them are of the same age, so maybe they can really hide it. I know that you and the master have been in love for many years, and you have long wanted to follow the master under Jiuquan. But the little young master is so young, how could he lose his life like this? Think again! ”

"Mao'er, where's my Mao'er? That's right, Mao'er can't die! Mrs. Tu thought of her youngest son and hurriedly asked.

Xiangxiu helped Mrs. Tu to sit down and said, "Madam, don't worry, the little young master is guarding filial piety in the lobby." I didn't alarm him. ”

Xin'er saw that Mrs. Tu was loose, and her hanging heart was put down. She helped Mrs. Tu sit down and spoke again: "Master, you can promise me." I'll go to the Ministry of Works tomorrow instead of Miss Linglong, okay? ”

Mrs. Tu sighed lightly: "Good boy, have you decided?" You can't go back this time, at least you have to wait until Mao'er is an adult. Didn't you say last month that you wanted to see the son of the carpenter's family at the entrance of the alley? This has delayed your life, but how is it good? How could your father and mother allow you to do such a dangerous thing? ”

Xin'er sat down and said her thoughts: "Master, I know how important this matter is. Carpenter Zhang's son went to repair the emperor's mausoleum and was transported to the north, and before he returned, I couldn't see him anymore. When Mao'er is an adult, I will marry and have children, and you can let him take back the position of the principal, and I only need to support him until he is fifteen years old. My father and mother can rest assured that they are grateful for Master's kindness to me and will definitely allow me to repay the kindness, and they only bother you to take care of me for a thing or two. ”

Mrs. Tu's nose was pantothenic, and she recalled the scene when Tuhong went to see him off a few months ago. didn't want to be in this situation now, she took Xin'er's hand: "Good boy, it's hard for you to think so thoroughly." But don't you know that your master is rumored to have died in the wheel of martyrdom? Aren't you afraid? ”

Xin'er nodded: "I heard." I'm not afraid of martyrdom, and I may lose my life at the top of my job. Master, I'm afraid there is something strange about this, if I am the main business, I may be able to verify one or two. I've made up my mind, so don't stop my wife. ”

In the current situation, Mrs. Tu really has no other way, she saw Xin'er so resolute, she knew that she couldn't stop it, so she nodded heavily to Xin'er, and agreed to Xin'er's request to replace Tu Linglong as the main thing.