At the end of the day's schoolwork, Zheng Yan walked alone on the way back to Anguo Gongfu, his steps were not fast or slow, and he was carrying a small cloth bag in his hand, which was a few scriptures and meanings taught by Professor Guozijian in recent days, dressed plainly, just a Guozijian robe, except for a jade pendant specially issued by Guozijian, there were no extra accessories on his body, and he was no different from ordinary children of Yin people.

Guozijian is close to the west wall of the palace, the north is Taixue, the south is the Zongren Mansion and the royal family Zongxue, Zheng Yan returned to the Anguo Mansion and passed the Phoenix Bridge of Taixue to pass through the Bianshui, the Phoenix Bridge is located in the Bianshui is not more than three zhang wide, basically showing a tightening trend, the bridge is a stone arch bridge, the stone of the bridge body is said to come mostly from a dredging a long time ago, digging out many square gloomy stones from the bottom of the river, I don't know when it sank, thousands of catties of tens of thousands of catties of stones are engraved with strange runes, so that people can see a kind of mysterious and desolate breath rushing to their faces,

As for why the phoenix and the phoenix temple that were mostly worshipped by the southern countries at that time appeared in the northern hinterland, no one can explain it, maybe it was that the southern countries expanded to the north at that time, or the north and south formed an alliance to build a temple to commemorate it, or it may be that the northern countries conquered the south and dismantled their temples and transported them back to Luoyang, in short, tens of thousands of years have long since wiped out all the truth, leaving only the infinite reverie of the world for that era;

In the Middle Ages, especially before the middle of the Middle Ages, the world mostly pursued the patriarchal ritual system, and there were also primitive totem worship and worship of heaven and earth, ghosts and gods of Shinto coexist, the three influenced each other and fused with each other, almost built up the three systems of heaven, earth and man that lasted throughout the Middle Ages.

Therefore, the bridge built with these stones at that time was named Phoenix Bridge, because the stone used is mostly gloomy stone, thousands of years in the underwater silt by the erosion of yin gas, used to build a bridge is somewhat inappropriate, so the bridge deck is equipped with white jade guardrails, the railing is carved with phoenixes, and "primary school blue pearls" has a saying that "the phoenix has five shapes, can be five * points, the red phoenix, auspicious and holy virtue; the green one, the spirit of the gods and the spring god also; the yellow one is the duck, noble and pure love; the purple one is the cormorant, the loyal and unyielding; the white one is pure and noble" Therefore, the phoenix carved on the bridge is not the same color in addition to the different moods.

In short, all kinds of actions, one is allegorical, and the other is used to eliminate the yin energy released by the gloomy stone of the bridge.

It is also said that the Phoenix Bridge is an important passage for the gathering of luck in Luoyang City and even the Great Zhou, the luck from south to north, through the Phoenix Bridge into the Imperial City, some impurities and bad things will be screened and removed by the stone bridge; Zheng Yan has a younger sister, because of the special physique, has the ability to gather luck, when born, there is a divine bird and a bird into the house and singing, the elders are happy and unanimously agree to name it "Zheng Xuandu", and build the Xuandu Temple not far from the Phoenix Bridge.

Zheng Yan has always been a little helpless about these statements, obviously there are some suspicions of cocooning and self-restraint, I have heard that some families take an ancient book, a long sword and other dead things as family heirlooms, and the whole family declines after accidental damage and loss.

After passing the Phoenix Bridge, walking through the long street, and turning into a street that is not too big or small, while walking forward, I watched and listened to the sales of the shop owners along the street with great interest, and met a few people who were familiar with each other on weekdays and said hello, uncles, brothers and sisters called.

There are indeed a lot of acquaintances on this street, Zheng Yan grew up here, today he had a fight with the second boy of the Wang family who had a stall earlier, and tomorrow he ran to the Bianshui River not far away with the little young master of the Wen family of the silk shop to swim, the second boy of the Wang family called his country cousin who was an apprentice in the blacksmith shop on the corner to find a place, Zheng Yan called Chen Youyu and Chen Youliang, the guys of the Chen Ji steamed bun shop, don't go! Okay, then I won't go to your house to buy steamed buns in the future.

The front is Lu Ji grain store, said it is a grain store, there are a lot of things actually sold, flour alone has wheat flour, corn flour, barley flour, bean noodles, etc., all kinds of rice, beans and oil, Zheng Yan likes to run with children of the same age to smell the noodles in the shop, rice and oil, anyway, smell very happy, the shop owner is called Lu Ning, honest and kind, often joke that these children have never eaten a full meal in their previous lives.

The boss has a girl named Lu Ying, fifteen years old this year, twenty-eight years old, a young girl, the same year as Zheng Yan, she helps take care of the shop on weekdays, and if there are many guests, she will be transferred to the back room, the second boy of the Wang family said that this girl is not sensible, and there are many people in front of her who should help her father Zhang Luo, the little master of the Wen family sarcastically ridiculed the second boy for not being reasonable if he does not study, he is a woman, so he naturally has to avoid so many strangers, this is the reserved nature of a girl's family,

At this time, the second boy must have been speechless, he really hadn't read a few days of books, just knew a few dozen words and shouted a headache, and then went home to sell breakfast with his father, at that time, the little master of the Wen family was a child who had studied in a private school for five years, and then entered the Luoyang School Palace, and now he is a showman, and he will participate in the autumn festival next year, and he naturally has a lot of weight in speaking among the children.

Zheng Yan knew that these guys wanted to take a few more glances at the girl of the Lu family, but every time they saw it, they would only peek, and pretend to be indifferent, Zheng Yan also wanted to see it, it was indeed very good-looking, the girl's eyes were always soft, her face was delicate and soft, and she was combed with a big braid that reached her waist, the braid was black and soft, the braid was tied with a red head rope, and there were only three very small and thin peach wood hairpins pinned to the top of the forehead, which looked a little playful and cute.

I had never seen her draw her eyebrows with red grease and powder, and she often wore a white cotton wrap gown, only embroidered with gold and light green moire vine shadows on the cuffs of the placket, and her azure long skirt almost covered her shoes.

At first, the children didn't know the girl's name, although they were all neighbors for many years, but few girls ran out to play with a few boys, and finally Zheng Yan heard that the girl's name was Lu Ying, and her status in the group of children obviously rose several places.

Anguo Mansion is not on the edge of the imperial city, but on the south bank of Bianshui closer to the south of the West Market, where the street is located after the Anguo Mansion and then go west for a while is the vegetable market in the northwest corner of the West City, Zheng Yan happened to see the Lu family girl will go to buy vegetables from time to time, so there are always a few unexpected encounters, every time the girl is shy and far away.

After several battles between heaven and man and self-comfort, Zheng Yan finally mustered up the courage to deliberately walk to the straight line where the girl was going, and was embarrassed to bypass it again, the girl had to stand still a foot away, her eyes drifted left and right helplessly, and the hands holding the vegetable basket were pinched together and turned.

Zheng Yan was also out of the way, suppressed his pounding heart, scratched his head and said, "Buy vegetables,

The girl hummed softly, but Zheng Yan didn't hear it, and then said, "My name is Zheng Yan, and I've always seen you when I was a child."

The girl whispered again, "I know",

When Zheng Yan heard it this time, he was a little stunned for a while, and then simply asked directly, "What's your name?"

"My name is Lu Ying",

"Oh.... See you next time", after saying that, he ran away,

An Guogong, who was hiding in the shadows, stomped his feet angrily, there was no interest, what should I do in the future, I don't have to find him a few maids in the room, otherwise there will be women around.

That's right, Zheng Yan is the prince of the Great Zhou, the eighth son of the current emperor, but he didn't grow up in the palace, but in this market.

The neighbors always thought that the old man who was dressed plainly and could play chess with the idlers on the street for a day was the account keeper in the Anguo Mansion, and the well-behaved child named Zheng Yan was the nephew of the old man, who came to the capital to study.

In fact, Zheng Yan never regarded himself as a prince, or he rejected this identity from the heart, his mother was absent when he was four years old, and then he was raised by other mothers, but he was always bullied, and tens of thousands of people in a huge palace lived and did things, and few people thought about him.

Zheng Yan's mother is the adopted daughter of An Guogong, and she has been closed since the death of her daughter, until she heard that Zheng Yan was bullied in the palace, and the old man who had been known for his kindness in those years finally broke out, carrying the sword given by the emperor into the harem and killing several eunuchs and palace maids who had bullied the child on the spot, and did not look at the queen on the side, took the child's hand and found the emperor directly, took off the child's shirt, and there were many bruises on his body.

Zheng Yan remembered that the man who wanted to call his father emperor at that time was always as calm as water, sitting behind the Minghuang Imperial Table full of sparse music and not moving like a mountain, and then An Guogong left the sword and carried Zheng Yan back to his house, followed by a little girl of five or six years old, the little girl's eyes were full of vigilance, and one hand was tightly holding the little hand on it.

On the way, An Guogong, who is Zheng Yan's grandfather, told him that he would live in the grandfather's mansion in the future, but when he was old, he would have to study with his brothers and sisters in Zongxue Guozijian.

Later, the grandfather told Zheng Yan that the two concubines who instructed the palace maid and eunuch to bully him were all sent to the cold palace, these Zheng Yan didn't care too much, let alone hated anyone, his idea was very simple, there were many amiable and lovely people around him, so he wouldn't be afraid and wouldn't be lonely.

I couldn't help but feel a little regretful that I didn't see the girl of the Lu family today, thinking that I should go back quickly, and after I go back, I will eat, study, and practice, and the time has already been filled.

——————

When An Guogong was young, he fought at the border all the year round, and traveled for many years after middle age, so there were not many families, only one wife and four concubines, and the four concubines were all Tongfang maids who grew up together, and had six sons and no daughters.

At first sight, I felt very cordial, when I was only ten years old, the little girl was alone on a reef by the sea to fish nets, in the distance is the gray boundless sea, the tide under the feet is still wantonly slapping the black reef, venting their own aftermath, the average child will be scared when he sees this scene, but this little girl is still there to focus on looking for the traces of the fish, unaware of the surrounding heaven and earth, every time the net arrives, she cheers, adding infinite aura to this vast and oppressive atmosphere.

Zheng Mu was afraid that the child would be swept away by the waves, standing not far away to ensure that he could be rescued in time, and he really liked it more and more when he saw the little girl quietly, you must know that the family has been looking forward to having a daughter.

Seeing that the sky was about to completely darken, the little girl packed up her catch and prepared to go home, turned around and saw a tall man standing not far away who was looking at her, but she didn't say anything and staggered and walked in the direction of the village.

After looking at the sea for a while, he thought that the little girl must have returned to the village, so he prepared to spend the night in a town thirty miles away.

The fishing village where the little girl is located is less than two miles from the coast, there are only a dozen families, and they have passed by to ask the villagers for water to drink, and learned that the water in the village well is getting less and less, and then somehow the sea water is poured into the well and the water is not drinkable, and many people have left one after another, and most of the people who can't go are lonely and widowed families who have no way.

Thinking all the way into the village, I saw the little girl again, but she hadn't gone back yet, and after a closer look, she found that there were a lot fewer fish in her net pocket, Zheng Mu seemed to think of something, and couldn't help but be angry, stopped the girl and asked in a deep voice, "Did those fish tyrants snatch your fish?" because he had seen a few fish tyrants collecting fish in several nearby villages before.

The little girl was shocked by the momentum of the man in front of her, she was a little scared, and took two steps back, Zheng Mu also realized that something was wrong, suppressed her anger and whispered, "If they bully you, I will help you get it back."

Only then did the little girl put her mind at ease, smiled and said, "They never come to our village," looked at the fish in her net pocket and added, "I gave some of what I can't eat to others."

Speaking of this, Zheng Mu is a little clear, although some old people in the village can also operate boats and fish, but after all, age and strength are limited, many times there must be little harvest, this child probably gave the fish to those old people who have not eaten at home.

Seeing that the middle-aged man in front of her had no malicious intent, the little girl still wanted to help herself, so she hesitated for a moment and said, "Uncle, you don't have a place to live, do you?"

Zheng Mu actually wants to hurry, the thirty-mile journey is only a matter of half an hour, and it is okay to hurry up, but he doesn't want to spend his energy on this kind of thing, since the little girl invited, it is just right to leave some silver taels, so the little girl led the way and followed to the north of the village.

A few steps away Zheng Mu knew the situation of the little girl's family, her parents were really gone, her father was killed in battle, and her mother died of illness due to hard work, when she learned that her mother would never receive her father's pension after she died, Zheng Mu was not angry this time, and in his heart he had sentenced the county order of this county to death.

In the past, when he led the troops to fight, he set up a town in the prison army, which was specially used to assist the local government and the military department to handle the compensation of the fallen soldiers, although the military department also had a special yamen responsible for this matter, but Zheng Mu still insisted on doing it, and for this reason, he offended people a lot, and many things would go down one level at a time.

The two entered the courtyard, the courtyard wall was made of earth and stones, a dilapidated wooden door barely supported, the three main rooms and the two side rooms were brick and tile structures, but they had been dilapidated a lot, the little girl was a little embarrassed, and said with a smile that she would repair these in a few years if she had the strength, and said that she put the fish and shrimp in a basin, scooped a few scoops of water from the water tank and began to clean, chatting with Zheng Mu while busy working, it was probably rare to have guests, and the guests looked quite good,

"Since I was a child, I can know when there will be fish, and where there are more shallow fish, in fact, there are not many, but there is enough for us to eat", the little girl was a little proud.

Seeing that the uncle smiled mildly and didn't say anything, he emphasized again, "This is not taught by adults, Grandpa Gao said that I am a talent, a daughter of the sea, but I am still my father's daughter."

Zheng Mu should be in harmony, "Well, it should be talent, where did you get this water, isn't the well full of seawater now?"

The little girl pointed to the tank where she scooped the water just now and said, "This tank is indeed seawater, which is used to wash and cook fish, uncle, if you want to drink, you can drink the water in that tank, there is a well not far east of the village to drink, by the way, I will give you kettle water first",

Saying that, she stopped what she was doing, took out an iron kettle that had made up several pieces and began to make a fire to boil water, Zheng Mu squatted on the edge of the basin to clean up the fish and shrimp, and the little girl looked back and saw that the uncle was quite skilled, so she began to make a fire on the stove and prepare to cook fish.

The two sat by the stove while adding firewood while chatting, chatting about the life of some seaside fishing villages, the little girl will also be curious to ask where the uncle's house is, what is it like there, listening to the uncle talk about how prosperous it is, how rich is food, clothing, housing and transportation, the little girl is a little curious, and said that she will go to see it in a few years, Zheng Mu said that she must invite the little girl to be a guest at that time.

After that, the two of them ate a meal of fish and shrimp, without adding any condiments, because it was boiled in seawater, the taste was a little light but very fresh. There are no lights and candles at home, the little girl took a small burning wooden stick and took Zheng Mu into a simple main room, which is where to sleep tonight, it is a clay kang, the water was boiled and cooked just now, it was very clean, I thought it was cleaned often, and there was nothing to say all night.

At dawn the next day, Zheng Mu said goodbye to the little girl, saying that he was going to the county to do something, and he would come to see her in a few days and leave, the little girl looked at the empty yard and was a little lonely, and she was left alone, last night's excitement seemed to have passed for a long time, she shook her head and jumped on the spot a few times, as if she had lost her emotions, and began to clean up the yard of the house, and found a bag of broken silver on the kang of the house where the uncle slept last night, which made the little girl a little depressed, what can I do.

After about half a month, some officials and errand servants came to the village, counting the population from house to house, saying that they wanted to take the lonely old man to the state capital to live, Pujitang or something, and left in the past two days, and no official messenger came to the little girl's house to inquire, and some wanted to move away

The old man gave the little girl all the things that could be used in the house, and I heard that there was no need to bring anything with her.

After that, the village became more and more silent, and a few families left also said that they would move out, which made the little girl who originally planned to live here for the rest of her life more and more confused, as if there was endless loneliness flooding over herself, and she was more lonely than diving into the deep sea.

That afternoon, when the little girl came back from fishing, she saw the uncle standing at the gate of the courtyard, and happily let the uncle into the yard after a trance.

Zheng Mu came back after finishing his errands, he wanted to take the little girl away, so he said it, saying that he had no daughter and had always wanted to have one, but he and his wife were old, and they were afraid of being laughed at by others, so they wanted to recognize the little girl, the family was very good, and if they went and stayed and were not used to returning here.

Looking at the uncle's eyes, the little girl agreed, here the ancestors have died for generations are buried at sea, relying on the dragon lord to eat fish for a lifetime, and then return himself to the sea, so the ancestors are burned incense and worshipped, the little girl figured this out and agreed, she was afraid of a person.

After that, he went to Luoyang City with the uncle, the family was very happy to see the little girl, and gradually got along and felt that this should be a family, the little girl was also sensible and kind, and was really spoiled by the father-in-law and the six brothers above into the pearl of the palm, adding too much joy to the family, the little girl is the kind of care and care from the heart, originally because Zheng Mu ruled the army and the family all the year round in the early years, and the deserted home was also happy.

Later, when I got older, my appearance gradually grew more and more beautiful, and once I was entangled with a few gentlemen when I went shopping with a maid, and I let a few brothers know about it and beat someone to someone's house.

The other party's family is also prominent, it is the Dingguo Mansion, I'm embarrassed to worry about the young man, the Dingguo Gong himself is not here to find An Guogong's theory, thinking about the strings and not thinking about taking it seriously, how do you know that when I arrived at the Anguo Mansion, I was scolded by the eldest lady speechless, saying that I was not finished bullying my daughter, I was not finished with you, and I went to the emperor to comment, Dingguo Gong had no choice but to retreat while apologizing, and from then on, the gentlemen in the capital knew that the little daughter of the Anguo Gong's family could not be provoked.