The door is open, there are more than ten sedan chair men, porters, and manservants in the front yard are busy, the winter sun is oblique in the afternoon, the patio is noisy, and the figures are messy, Zeng Yu walked in and saw Sixi standing by the pillar in a daze, so many guests came at once, where can Sixi cope with it, and he is at a loss.

"Young Master, Young Master—"

Seeing Zeng Yu come back, Sixi was like seeing a savior, and quickly greeted him and said, "Young master, it's the grandmother and young lady of the Ji family in Leadshan Goose Lake." ”

Zeng Yu saw at a glance that Ji Erlang, who had come a year ago, was directing the porter and the manservant to move the cage to a corner of the hall and stack it neatly, and immediately stepped forward and said, "Brother Ji, Happy New Year, Happy New Year." ”

Ji Erlang tufted a new cocoon velvet robe, with a festive smile on his face, and said: "Zeng Xianggong has an auspicious New Year, and I wish Zeng Xianggong a successful victory in this year's township test and next year's palace test." ”

After greeting each other on the festival, Ji Erlang said: "My mother and Humble Jing have accompanied my little sister to recognize their relatives, and they are talking in the courtyard." ”

Zeng Yu said: "You are so hearty, I didn't expect you to come here so early, today is only the second day of the first lunar month." ”

Ji Erlang said: "Originally, I was going to come on the first day of the first lunar month, but I was afraid that I would delay the New Year's greetings with my relatives and friends, so I came today." ”

Zeng Yu said: "Brother Ji go in with me, and I will also kowtow to Aunt Ji." Turning his head and telling Sixi to cook a pot of tea, he said to Ji Erlang: "The cook originally hired by the Poor House went back for the New Year, and she didn't come back until after the Lantern Festival. ”

Ji Erlang said: "Zeng Xianggong is now a well-known figure, and the house should recruit a few family members to help him." ”

Generally, after the township test, there will be people who sell themselves to take refuge, and want to take advantage of the shade of the lifter to be exempt from duty, and it is rare to surrender to Xiucai, who can be covered by Xiucai, as a first-class Xiucai, the little food is enough for himself not to starve, and there are no other privileges, but those who are famous and favored by the officials are still people who take refuge in Xiucai, Zeng Yu belongs to this kind of Xiucai, a few years ago, there was a rich family in Zhu Dedong who interceded and wanted to take refuge in Zeng Yu's door, Zeng Yu of course declined-

Zeng Yu said: "There are few people who help in the cold house, and I will look for two more honest and reliable servants after the holiday, but the kind of people who tend to be attached to the situation will not be able to cause trouble, not to mention that I am just a small showman, and I am not a squire, what qualifications do I have to accept other people's children." ”

Ji Erlang said: "Which squire in this Guangxin Mansion has such a resounding reputation as Zeng Xianggong, a thief a few years ago, how many people Zeng Xianggong saved, the name of benevolence and righteousness is well known, and this year's township test is also a must, and there is no reason to miss it." ”

Zeng Yu said with a smile: "Brother Ji, don't say that, otherwise I won't be able to sleep at night, for fear of being pressed by heavenly principles." ”

As he spoke, Zeng Yu led Ji Erlang from the corridor to the courtyard of the inner courtyard, there is a small hall on the ground floor of the two-story wooden building in the inner courtyard, which is the place to receive the guests and their relatives.

In the small hall, Zeng Yu Zhou was talking with a gray-haired old woman, and there was a beautiful young woman sitting horizontally, and two maids stood behind the old woman and the young woman. ”

Zeng Yu recognized this young woman as Li Shi, the wife of Ji Erlang who was taken hostage by Qixingguan, and hurriedly said: "Second sister-in-law Ji, please get up, please get up." He turned his head to Ji Erlang and said, "Brother Ji, help me help my sister-in-law get up." ”

Ji Erlang let his wife kneel, he also knelt down and kowtowed to Zeng Yu's mother, and said respectfully: "Ji Yuncong kowtows to Aunt Zeng, and wishes Aunt Zeng a healthy and blessed New Year." ”

Great-mother Zhou leaned forward and beckoned, "Please get up, please get up." Then he said to Zeng Yu: "Yu'er hurriedly kowtowed to Aunt Ji, and her mother and her have become sisters." ”

"My mother has married another sister." Zeng Yu smiled secretly in his heart, immediately knelt down and kowtowed, and then stood up with Ji Erlang and his wife, Grandma Ji, who was nearly sixty years old and gray-haired, looked at Zeng Yu with a smile and said to his great-mother Zhou: "Old girl, you are so blessed, you are born such a good son, you are a good man at a young age, you are famous in all directions, and you are so upright and upright, it really makes the old woman look hot." ”

Great-mother Zhou heard people praise her son in person, and she was happy, and praised back that the old sister was really a good blessing, and the children were in groups, and they were all so well-behaved and filial-

Grandma Na Ji looked left and right and asked, "Where is that girl Xiaozhi, why didn't you come to see your benefactor's brother?" ”

A maidservant girl said, "Miss Zhi followed Miss Zeng to play." ”

Grandma Ji smiled: "This kid thinks he's the age of Miss Niuniu, and he's still playful." "Tell the maid to hurry up and find Ji Zhi, several maidservants looked at each other, the front yard and inner yard of this house, the upstairs and downstairs places are not small, how can they outsiders look for people everywhere?

Zeng Yu said: "It should be going to the back garden, Niuniu loves to go to the back garden to play." Then he said to some of the maidservants, "I will lead you there." ”

Zeng Yu and Ji Erlang went out of the small hall together, and the two maids followed to the back garden, the weather has been sunny these days, the temperature has become warmer, and the plum blossoms in the back garden are blooming very well, dotted and clustered, fragrant and remote; There are more than ten camellia plants, which were originally going to bloom at the beginning of the lunar month, but they were forced by the cold and did not bloom until today; The stone fences of the brook are mossy and green, and the plum blossoms are like iron, and the withered vines of the rose trellis have begun to show new leaves, and the roses will be very gorgeous in February and March.

Standing by the gate of the garden, looking at the flowers and trees in the garden, Ji Erlang praised: "What a garden, it is so neat and tidy." ”

Zeng Yu said: "Jiaci likes to serve flowers and plants, and he has to come to the back garden every day to take care of them, and he works tirelessly——"

"Brother."

Niuniu turned out from behind an old plum tree, jumped in front of Zeng Yu, and turned back and called, "Sister Xiaozhi-"

A young girl walked out from behind the old plum tree, combed three buns, wore a light-colored moonlight skirt, and her bright eyes looked forward to Zeng Yu's side, and then she frowned shyly, lifted the corner of her skirt lightly, and walked over briskly.

Niuniu ran back and grabbed the girl's narrow sleeves, and said crisply: "Sister Xiaozhi, my brother is here, and he is my brother." As he spoke, his little hand pointed at Zeng Yu, and his little face smiled proudly.

The girl Ji Zhi's eyes flashed towards Zeng Yu again, and she quickly lowered her eyelashes and said in a low voice: "Well, I know the truth." When he said this, his face became more and more red, and he was so red that he couldn't lift his head.

In the Hengfeng Seven Stars View, although Zeng Yu also felt that this girl's appearance was also quite beautiful, but there was no feeling that made his eyes shine, and today he found that this girl was very delicate, melon seed face, deep eyeliner, bright eyes and bright teeth, white skin and thin waist, and that kind of shy and shy posture is even more touching, in the Seven Stars View must have deliberately stained the dress, gray face to scandalize himself, of course, not to show his complexion, now he is here to recognize his relatives, the dress is bright, the hair bun is like, the smooth and bright appearance makes Zeng Yu a little surprised, thinking that the beauty of the lead mountain is worthy of its reputation, Just as he was about to greet Ji Zhi, Ji Erlang greeted Niuniu first, and said: "This is Miss Niuniu, I am Xiaozhi's second brother, good New Year, good New Year, auspicious New Year." ”

Seeing the strange man, Niuniu was a little shy, and Fu Yifu said: "Second Brother Ji is good, the New Year is auspicious." ”

A maidservant girl said, "Third Miss, grandma called you there." ”

The girl Ji Zhi answered, and she was about to enter the inner courtyard in a panic-

Ji Erlang frowned slightly, and thought: "Why is the little sister so ignorant, she doesn't know how to salute Zeng Xianggong, and her panicked behavior is not a joke." said: "Xiaozhi, don't thank Zeng Xianggong for saving his life." ”

Ji Zhi was ashamed, he felt that he couldn't behave generously in front of Zeng Yu, he was so sad that he almost cried, and he quickly knelt down to give a thanksgiving gift-

The muddy floor in the back garden, kneeling down will stain the dress, Zeng Yu hurriedly shook his hand and said: "No, no, no-Niuniu hold on." ”

What a girl, after all, she is a year older, and her little body is quite agile, so she grabbed Ji Zhi, who was about to kneel, and lifted Ji Zhi's arm hard, and carried her little shoulders up, not letting Ji Zhi kneel, and said in her mouth: "Sister Xiaozhi, don't kneel, my brother said don't kneel." ”

Ji Erlang shook his head slightly, feeling that his little sister's behavior was not decent enough, so he was a little embarrassed, and thought: "Xiaozhi won't be like this at home, this should be because she is afraid of life and has never seen the world." ”

Zeng Yu saw Ji Zhi's embarrassed and embarrassed appearance, and hurriedly said, "Aunt Ji called you, let's hurry over." "Be the first to walk into the corridor.

Ji Zhi and Ji Erlang followed Zeng Yu to the inner courtyard hall, Grandma Ji asked Ji Zhi to salute Zeng Yu and call him "brother", Ji Zhi's face was flushed, and her voice was as thin as a mosquito, but fortunately Niuniu proved it to her, Niuniu said happily: "Sister Xiaozhi called her brother, it's great, it's great, I have an extra sister, my brother has an extra sister." ”

Grandma Ji smiled and said, "Your mother has an extra daughter." ”

The small hall was filled with laughter.

Zeng Yu quietly instructed Sixi to go to the familiar restaurant by the north gate, and asked the shopkeeper to send a cook and two helpers to help in the house, and give more commissions.

There is such an arrangement, when the lamp is held, the six tables of banquets in the house are successfully held, three tables in the outer courtyard, three tables in the inner courtyard, nineteen men and women from the master and servant of the Goose Lake Ji family this time, Zeng Ruolan's family also came in the evening when Zeng Yu sent someone to report the news, the house was very lively, Niuniu and A Tong and A Wei sisters were the happiest.

During the banquet, Ji Erlang said that his little sister Ji Zhi had dissolved the marriage contract with the Hekou Wang family, and Zeng Yu's brother-in-law Zhu Dedong said unfairly after knowing what was going on: "This is obviously not saving you when you see death, no matter what, you have to pay the ransom money first to redeem the person back, and it's not that the family is poor and can't get the silver, so it's best to say that kind of family dissolves the marriage contract, otherwise Ji Xiaomei will be unfortunate if she marries." ”

Ji Erlang nodded again and again and said: "Brother-in-law Zhu is very right, after this incident, my Ji family can see through the face of the Wang family, I don't believe that my little sister can't marry a better son than his Wang family." ”

Zhu Dedong drank a few glasses of wine, the strength of the wine came up, and the sense of justice was vigorous, and he forgot how he treated Zeng Ruolan at the beginning, and together with Ji Erlang, he reprimanded the Wang family for hypocrisy, and said with a big package: "Second Brother Ji, don't worry, Xiaozhi's sister's marriage is on us, Jiu Li's friends are extensive, either Xiucai is a high-ranking official or a nobleman, let Jiu Li pay attention to Xiaozhi's sister, there is a suitable way to say and say, which one is not better than the children of the Wang family?" ”

Ji Erlang is overjoyed, although the notoriety of Zeng Fisherman's military division has rarely been mentioned in Lead Mountain these days, but whether the Li family and Ji Zhi have been defiled by Zeng Yu, many dirty people would rather believe in their dirtiness than believe in their cleanliness, and they feel bored and inferior to each other, and their sister-in-law is happy to see them in the same bed, there are many things to say, don't look at what show is fair, everyone is beautiful, it's not as humble as them, no one should look down on anyone, everyone is in the dust, so the reputation of the Ji family has been affected to a certain extent in Lead Mountain, for Ji Erlang, His wife Li and his little sister Ji Zhi had already told him in detail about the process of being rescued from captivity, he trusted his wife and sister, the little sister has a soft temperament on the outside and strong on the inside, if she was really violated by Zeng Yu, how could she talk about repaying her kindness, but after the marriage contract between the little sister and the Hekou Wang family was dissolved, she really couldn't find a suitable in-law in the local area for a while, after all, it was unlucky to break the marriage after a big engagement, no matter what, it was unlucky, and looking for her in-law in a county outside the lead mountain was relatively untroubled and worried-

So when Ji Erlang heard Zhu Dedong say this, of course he was overjoyed, and left the table and said: "Then Xiaozhi's little sister's marriage will be entrusted to Brother Jiuli and Brother-in-law Zhu." ”

Zhu Dedong blushed and said with a thick neck: "It's all my own family, why please, it's wrapped up in me and Jiuli." ”

He still has to worry about his sister's marriage, Zeng Yu had no choice but to say: "I'll pay attention, Second Brother Ji, sit, sit, drink, drink." ”

……

Grandma Ji came from afar, and she was a newly recognized godfather, of course Grandma Ji wanted to keep them for a few more days, Grandma Ji decided to play until the sixth day of the new year and then go back, and learned that the cook and two helpers in the house were temporarily invited from the restaurant, and immediately asked Zeng Yu to resign the three people, two of the four servants brought by Grandma Ji this time are good at cooking, and there are so many people who do it, why invite outsiders to cook.

So in the next few days, the housework of Zeng's house was taken care of by the servants of the Ji family, Zeng Yu's family of four seemed to be guests, but Grandma Ji and Zeng Yu's mother were very talkative, and the girl Ji Zhi was also very liked by Zeng Yu's mother, Niuniu was even happier, and there was an extra godsister, although Niuniu had a half-sister Zeng Ruolan, but the age gap between Ruolan's sister and her was too big, and her daughter Atong was one year older than her, not a generation at all, and Sister Xiaozhi was only nine years older than her, and she was willing to play with her, which made Niuniu very happy-

The New Year banquet of the Xiucai takes turns to be the village, all of which are placed at noon, and the restaurants in Shangrao City go to eat, Zeng Yu wanted to say that there are guests at home and will not go, but the other Xiucai do not follow, saying that there is no guest in the Spring Festival, and it is not possible to accompany the guests at night, Ji Erlang said that the nine carp brothers should go, how can the gathering of the ministers be delayed.

On the evening of the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, great-mother Zhou, Zeng Ruolan accompanied Grandma Ji, Ji Erlang's wife Li and Ji Zhi from Guangjiao Temple to return from the incense, and the servants and maids of the Ji family in the house had already prepared a meal, and it was extraordinarily rich, because the Ji family and his party would leave here tomorrow morning and go back to Goose Lake.

The twilight was dull, the lights were on, Zeng Mansion closed the door and was about to have a banquet, but he heard someone knocking on the door, Sixi ran over to open the door, but it was Huang Lao, the head of the government who came in, and he sang: "Zeng Xianggong is auspicious for the New Year, and the science test is successful, and the title of the gold list - the lord of the mansion invites Zeng Xianggong to speak." ”

Zeng Yu asked, "What's the matter?" ”

Huang Tou said: "This villain doesn't know, it's a good thing after all." ”

Governor Lin's New Year's call, Zeng Yu didn't dare to slack off, confessed to Ji Erlang, and asked his brother-in-law Zhu Dedong to pay more respects to Ji Erge on his behalf, and then went straight to the prefect's yamen with the yellow head servant.