The apricot blossoms and smoke and rain in the south of the Yangtze River have long been far away, and when the horseshoe splashes the petals and peach blossoms in Beijing, it is already spring in March.

Just after the Beijing test, the scholars all over the world are waiting for the results of the list, and many people also seize the time to make friends everywhere to prepare for the selection.

On this morning, Mrs. Lu, the daughter of the Gao family, sent a steward to wait outside the city early, and drove into the capital after picking up Mrs. Tan and her party.

After the magnificent city wall, the horse-drawn carriage marched on the heavenly street about 20 zhang wide, the buildings near and far were magnificent, the surrounding streets were lined up one after another, and the people were rubbing shoulders one after another. Several girls lifted the curtains on the carriage from time to time to look out, this imperial capital is majestic and rugged, swallowing thousands of miles like a tiger, and the Jiangnan is as warm as jade, and the sunrise river flowers are red.

It slowly began to rain lightly, the light rain on the heavenly street was as moist as a crisp, the buildings in the distance loomed in the hazy drizzle, and the pedestrians on the road hurriedly ran away. The vendor put away the oilcloth umbrella that was stretched out, and the raindrops dripped down the oilcloth umbrella one by one. There was silence all around, except for the sound of horses' hooves on the bluestone slabs.

The Heavenly Street traverses the north and south of Shangjing, the Imperial City is located in the middle, the carriage travels a distance on the Heavenly Street and then turns to the southwest, Shangjing officials and nobles live in the north of the Imperial City, and low-grade officials and wealthy merchants live in the southwest.

The housing prices in the southwest are not low, Lord Lu is a six-grade official, born in poverty, the rank is not high, and there are not many natural fortunes, but the wife is rich in marriage and the life is rich.

After leaving Tianjie for about half an hour, they finally arrived at Lu's mansion, where Mrs. Lu and her children had been waiting for her sister, nephews, nieces and nieces since the morning.

Uncle Lu Da and aunt Mrs. Lu have a son and a daughter, the eldest son is 19 years old, named Lu Yin, is still studying in the academy, and also participated in the Beijing examination this year. Daughter Lu Qing is the same age as Tan Yin, and there is also a concubine and a concubine, the concubine Lu Yong is seventeen years old, and the concubine is still young, born to two aunts respectively.

Mrs. Lu has not seen her mother's relatives for nearly ten years since she got married, and since she received a letter from her mother, Mrs. Gao, she has prepared early, thinking about it day and night, and finally looked forward to everyone.

The sisters have not seen each other for so many years, and their faces are inevitably stained with the dust of the years, Mrs. Lu is two years older than Mrs. Tan, Xu is a family worker, and she is running around, but her face looks like she is about five or six years older. As soon as the two sisters met, tears rippled. Gao Yanting and Lu Yin saw this situation, and hurriedly persuaded each other, Mrs. Lu saw that the younger generation of her mother's family was born with clear eyebrows and generous behavior, she couldn't help but burst into tears and smiled, and hurriedly beckoned everyone to enter the house.

Lu Mansion is a three-entry courtyard, Lu Da and his wife live in the middle courtyard, and the old lady lives in the backyard. Entering the Lu Mansion, several people walked through the middle courtyard into the backyard and saw Lu's mother.

Lu's mother was an ordinary peasant woman in the countryside of Hangzhou, who could not read a single word, and her husband died when Lu Da was ten years old, and she worked hard to raise her son. When she discussed marriage with the Gao family, Luda was just an ordinary scholar, and when she learned that her son was favored by the Gao family, she was overjoyed and called the ancestral tomb smoking.

After so many years, his son became a jinshi and became an official, and he has long lost the sincerity and fear of the year, thinking that his daughter-in-law is blessed, a merchant girl became an official wife, and she is quite complacent in her heart, but she is not a vicious person by nature, and she is grateful that her daughter-in-law married in Lu Jiawei when she was young. Over the years, he has been quite filial to himself, and he has also taken good care of his son, gave birth to a son and a daughter, and also helped his son take two beautiful concubines, and took care of the Lu family in an orderly manner, so he is quite satisfied with Mrs. Lu. also greeted Mrs. Tan and her entourage, and asked Mrs. Lu to arrange everyone.

In the afternoon, Luda returned from duty, and everyone greeted him again. He was about forty years old, he read poetry and books when he was young, he had his own golden house in the book, Yan Ruyu in the book, ten years of hard work, and now he is a small six-grade official in the Ministry of Rites.

Mrs. Lu arranged for Mrs. Tan and the three young ladies to rest in the Rongyue House on the east side of the courtyard, although the courtyard is not large, it is quite quiet and elegant, and the decoration of several houses is also quite thoughtful. He also arranged for the eldest prince to rest in the guest room in the front yard, and several people settled down.

Mrs. Tan called a servant and asked him to send a letter to Li Zheng and Zhang Ziqing.

……

That night, the Lu family picked up the wind and washed the dust for Mrs. Tan and her party. The banquet was placed in the east wing of the front yard, a long table of dozens of meters was set up in the house, Lu's mother sat on the head, Mrs. Tan's mother and daughter and the three brothers and sisters of Yanting sat facing the door facing the west, Lu Da and his wife Lu Yin and Lu Qing and their concubine Lu Yong sat facing the east, and the two aunts were waiting on the side.

The moonlight is bright, the courtyard outside the window is like daylight, and the old ginkgo trees in the courtyard are luxuriant, covering the entire courtyard with shadows. The four corners of the east wing room are placed with a person-high entwined lotus lantern, and dozens of candles are placed high and low in each lotus lantern, and the candle flame sways gently with the breeze, illuminating the human face or bright or dark, making people feel unreal.

The dinner was quite rich, which shows that Mrs. Lu prepared it quite carefully. Tan Yin eats the crispy and tender duck skin, stained with a secret sauce, sandwiched with refined green onions, wrapped in a strong dough, and bites down, crispy and soft, salty and sweet, fat but not greasy, delicious, and really a famous dish in Beijing.

Tan Yin looked at her aunt and uncle opposite while eating delicious food. Mother Lu sat on the top seat, and Aunt Chen waited on the side.

Aunt Chen and Luda are of the same age, they are Luda's cousins, the two were childhood sweethearts, and the Lu and Chen families also intended to get married, but the Lu family was cold, and Aunt Chen's father saw that his daughter was born quite beautifully, so he disliked the Lu family and wanted to climb another high branch, but later it was not high or low, and he did not marry after the age of 20. I never thought that Luda would come to run, like winning the jackpot, first marrying the daughter of a high family, and then taking the Beijing test in the high school township, changing the poverty of the past. Aunt Chen's mother and Lu's mother are sisters, and she cried to her sister with a handful of snot and tears, hoping to see the face of the past, and accept Aunt Chen as a concubine, Lu's mother couldn't stand her sister's pleading and agreed, Lu Da is a filial son, and he is a cousin who has known each other since childhood, so he obeyed his mother's arrangement. Mrs. Lu naturally didn't want to do it in her heart, she was the eldest daughter in the family, and she had an idea since she was a child, but Lu Da was already a jinshi, and it was only a matter of time before she took a concubine, and she knew in her heart that this was what her mother-in-law meant, so she had to let Aunt Chen enter the door in the end.

Tan Yin had heard Tan Jun and Mrs. Tan talk about this matter when she was a child, and when the couple discussed things, they never avoided their daughter, originally Mrs. Tan thought that her daughter was young and knew that these things were inappropriate, but Tan Jun thought differently.

At that time, Tan Yin was only eight or nine years old, and the couple were chatting in the room at the time, while Tan Yin was playing on the side.

"I went back to Hangzhou this time to listen to my mother talk about my sister, that Aunt Chen was honest at first, grateful to my sister for letting her enter the door, and later gave birth to a son, relying on the old lady's niece, and my brother-in-law's childhood sweetheart cousin, I don't conflict with my sister on the surface, but secretly I always fanned the flames and played with right and wrong, and my sister suffered several times." Mrs. Tan made a pot of tea, poured a cup for her husband and herself, and complained to Tan Jun.

"Your sister has a direct personality and is the easiest to be tricked into, she should have pressed not to let that aunt pass through the door at the beginning, how could there be today's incident." Tan Jun looked at Mrs. Tan who was huffing and whirring, and shook his head.

"This mother-in-law and brother-in-law agreed, isn't it jealous that my sister won't let me in? This is in the way of my sister's reputation. Mrs. Tan disagreed.

"It involves a fundamental issue, how can we back down, and besides, there is a way not to damage our reputation." Tan Jun took a sip of tea.

"This ...... My sister is not jealous, is it wrong! Mrs. Tan's eyes widened when she heard this, and she was very puzzled.

"Naturally, it's wrong, wronged yourself for those illusory reputations, but let yourself suffer for a long time, isn't it wrong?" Tan Jun asked rhetorically.

"That'...... That's Aunt Chen, who doesn't miss her sister's kindness at all, is really ungrateful. ”

"How can she be grateful for your sister's kindness, she will only miss her aunt and cousin's kindness, your sister is a thorn in her eye, has the wolf ever been grateful to Mr. Dongguo?" Tan Jun drank it and woke up Mrs. Tan.

In front of her, Aunt Chen's are half-old, the charm still exists, wearing a water-red satin shirt, the color is quite bright and conspicuous, and the silk and satin materials are not worse than that of Aunt Lu, like a flower butterfly, busy before and after, taking care of Lu's mother very diligently, picking vegetables for a while, rolling ducks for a while, peeling peanuts for a while, busy and happy, and joking from time to time to follow the words of Lu's mother and Luda.

She saw Tan Yin eating roast duck, and said with a smile: "Miss Biao thinks this roast duck is not extremely delicious, our cook invited it from Li Shunde's roast duck, and ordinary people can't eat it." Last time my nephew came over, I didn't think it was enough to eat more than a dozen pieces, and I said that I had never eaten such a delicious thing! ”

Tan Yin was about to swallow the roast duck that was put in her mouth, but Aunt Chen said this: choked, swallowed or vomited, so she had to smile at her. Yan Min just clipped a piece of duck, and when he heard this, he was also stunned, glanced at Tan Yin, the two looked at each other, and put down their chopsticks.

Mrs. Lu's face immediately sank, and it was not easy to have a seizure in front of so many people, but she just gouged out Aunt Chen's eyes fiercely, and Aunt Chen saw that the housemother was like this, so she didn't dare to say more, so she had to sneer.

Lu Mu didn't think there was anything wrong, Lu Da was a little embarrassed, Lu Yin and Lu Qing were a little uncomfortable, Yan Ting hurriedly said: "This duck is delicious, everyone eats it!" ”

Uncle-in-law Luda sat first on the west side, and Mrs. Lu sat under him.

In addition to Aunt Chen, who is a childhood sweetheart, there is also an Aunt Yin, but twenty-two or three years old, originally a Qinglou Qingqi, proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, born very beautiful, when Lu Da was released as an official, he was bought by Shangfeng and given to him.

Rusi Meiren, informed and interesting, Luda is naturally very favored, and rests in her room for half of the month, and gives birth to a daughter, who is three years old.

Aunt Yin's beauty is not what everyone expected, but the weak and boneless I see that my pitiful appearance is as unique as a sick Shih, unlike Aunt Chen, she barely spoke, only quietly waiting for Luda by the side.

Tan Yin looked out the window, the moonlight was shining in the courtyard, and the old ginkgo branches were stretching, as if to cover the entire surrounding sky, and the entire courtyard was half light and half dark. Retracted his gaze, looked at the beauty in front of him, and in a trance didn't know what year it was and where he was.

Lu Da continued the topic of Yanting: "Yanting, how about Li Can go to Hangzhou?" ”

"Back to my uncle, Li Can is extremely shrewd and capable, and when the little nephew leaves, Hangzhou is calm and prosperous." Yan Ting saw Lu Da change the topic, and quickly replied.

"Oh, that's good, but there's something important going on." Luda nodded when he heard this.

"The others are no different from the past, but I heard that the imperial court has changed the commercial tax, and they are all ready to build ships and prepare to go to sea to do business, but everyone is afraid that this policy will not last long." Yan Ting thought for a while and replied.

The tax cut was huge, shaking the temple and the opposition, and the supporters and opponents had their own supports, which stirred up a thousand waves.

"Cousin, it is not unreasonable for everyone to worry, the tax reduction is unprecedented, and supporters believe that reducing the burden on the people is a policy for the benefit of the country and the people; Opponents argue that reducing taxes and emptying the treasury will shake the country's capital. In the past few months, there has been a lot of quarrel in Beijing, and it is also a must-talk topic for all scholars and gatherings. Lu Yin heard what Yan Ting said, nodded and said.

Yan Ting was very excited when he heard this, and was about to ask.

"Okay, it's not early, they're very tired from coming over long distances, you people who care about national affairs will also leave it for the future, let's talk slowly, eat and eat!" Mrs. Lu interrupted them with a smile.

Lu Dalu Yin wanted Yan Ting to come this time, and there would be an opportunity to chat in the future, and there were many women in the banquet, so he would not continue this topic.

After everyone finished eating, they were tired from running all the way, so they went back to their rooms early to rest.

When Tan Yin returned to the room, she was very tired, and she had to fight between her upper eyelids and lower eyelids, but her spirit was still very excited. After going to bed, I couldn't sleep for a while, thinking that my mother sent someone to deliver a letter to Li Zheng today, and I would see him soon, I haven't seen him for a year, I don't know how he is doing, but he still looks thin? Does he miss himself? What do you say when you see yourself? Thinking about tossing and turning, I slowly fell asleep in a daze.