The autumn wind is loud, the crab feet are itchy, and after the autumn equinox, it is a good time to eat crabs.

Eat female crabs in September, eat male crabs in October, open the back shell after cooking, the female becomes golden, the male is like white jade, the taste is delicious.

Bashu, located in the south of the dynasty to the west, the river is criss-crossed, every year to September and October, the people living along the river will go down the river to touch the crab.

There are several kinds of crabs in Bashu, among which the hairy crab is the most famous, its body is big and fat, the back is green and white, the meat is delicate, the taste is fresh and sweet, and it does not lose the hairy crab of Yangcheng Lake at all.

Every year after the autumn equinox, fishermen will set nets to catch fish, and then take them to the city to sell, the price is not expensive, a few copper plates can buy a two or two female crabs to drink.

The people in the city also eat crabs, and almost every time they encounter them, they will buy a few and taste the unique freshness of this season.

In the city of Jialu Mansion, a thin old Confucian was bargaining with a vendor at the moment, and finally it took a lot of words to buy three crabs with missing legs at a low price.

The old Confucian has lived in this city for nearly 20 years, and almost everyone knows him, Jialu Mansion City is not big, but it is not small, and the number of people registered in the government has reached nearly 20,000.

Supposedly, he has a reputation that can be known to 20,000 people in the city, and he should not be so poor.

But the fame of the old Confucian is not a good name.

The old Confucian has a daughter named Xiu'er, a well-known beauty billet in ten miles and eight towns.

Xiu'er Niang died early, and the old Confucian pulled her up.

Because of his handsome appearance, it is indispensable to come to the door to propose marriage, and the old Confucian family is surrounded by four walls, although he can't get a decent dowry, he doesn't worry about getting married.

Later, in Xiu'er's sixteenth year, the middle-aged Confucian finally helped her finalize the family. The other party is the son of a large family in the city, a scholar, and it is said that he is also good-looking.

Under the matchmaker's matchmaking, the originally small house was suddenly stuffed with dowry gifts.

Looking at the red satin, Confucian was indescribably happy, and that night he opened a jar of good wine that had been sealed for a long time, and drank it alone with the pig's head meat sent by his in-laws.

Early the next morning, the matchmaker brought a Lang Zhong, saying that she wanted to take the pulse of Xiu'er.

Throughout the ages, there have often been seven out of one saying in the husband's family, including "having a bad disease", although the Confucian student as a father was displeased, but he didn't say anything.

After all, the other party can send someone to diagnose in advance, so as not to divorce his wife after getting married, which is already enough to give face.

When Lang Zhong put his finger on Xiu'er's wrist, his brows immediately furrowed, and Confucius also became nervous when he saw this.

"This girl, you ......" Lang Zhong curled his beard and hesitated.

Seeing this, the matchmaker behind him urged: "What's wrong, you hurry up, the days are already settled, if there is a problem, it's better to adjust as soon as possible, isn't it?" ”

The matchmaker's words can be regarded as leaving enough leeway, after all, she earned a few hundred taels this time, and if she is allowed to spit it out again, it will hurt more than cutting a piece of meat.

Lang Zhong closed his eyes and carefully numbered for a while, and finally affirmed:

"The girl is pregnant, and it's been three months."

"Huh?" The matchmaker grows her mouth.

Hearing this, Confucius glanced at his daughter, only to see that her daughter was lowering her head at this time, and she didn't speak, and Confucian's heart instantly cooled half, and he whispered to Lang Zhong:

"This ...... Is it wrong, please sir call it again. ”

Lang Zhong shook his head and sighed:

"I have been practicing medicine for decades, and Ximai will not be mistaken, you ...... Let's ask her. ”

After speaking, Lang Zhong picked up the medicine box and got up and left, leaving the matchmaker and Confucian with wide eyes.

Although Confucian Sheng's face was solemn, he still asked softly: "Xiu'er, what's going on?" ”

The girl named Xiu'er still bowed her head and kept silent, so that the other two people present couldn't see her true face.

The matchmaker on the side finally couldn't bear it anymore at this time, and shouted:

"I don't know what's going on, your daughter is unclean and self-conscious, I don't know whose seed she is pregnant, so I will work hard in vain and lose ...... in vain"

The matchmaker suddenly closed her mouth when she said this, because she saw that the Confucian student opposite, who had always been gentle and did not dare to speak loudly, was staring at her with red eyes at the moment.

"What do you want to do?"

The matchmaker looked frightened.

"Get out!"

For the first time, a Confucian student, who had never exploded in foul language, spoke swearing.

"Good, good." The matchmaker said three "good" words in a row, "Your family is waiting to be famous." ”

After that, he hurriedly turned around and left, for fear that if he was a step too late, he would be regarded as the object of anger by the Confucian who showed a fierce light.

When the Confucian student, who was angry at the matchmaker, turned around again, he found that his daughter had raised her head at this time, and the big tears of beans slipped from the corners of her eyes, and he was worried for a while.

Xiu'er's mother died early, and Confucianism, who became a father in his thirties, was extremely fond of this hard-won girl, and he would rather drink less wine himself than buy Xiu'er a good-looking head rope.

But God did not fulfill people's wishes, thinking that the Confucian who had finally survived was still glad that his daughter had found a good family the night before, and drank sullen wine in front of the lamp this night.

The wine is still the same as yesterday's, but the taste has completely changed.

When the lights flickered, Xiu'er finally calmed down, moved her steps to the only table in the room, and looked at the man opposite who had worked hard to pull herself up with her red and swollen eyes.

"Daddy......"

"Don't say anything, Dad doesn't blame you, if you really don't want to tell who that person is, forget it.

Dad will go and return the dowry tomorrow, if you don't want to abort the child, then give birth, and Dad will help you raise it. Dad is trying to hug his grandson sooner. ”

"Daddy!" The woman finally couldn't hold on any longer and fell to her knees.

……

The next day, Confucian returned the dowry gift, and even though the door was closed, he still respectfully bowed to the mansion.

In the next few days, rumors spread in the city, some said that Xiu'er had recruited a wild man, some said that she was defiled by a flower thief, and even worse, that the father and daughter had violated human ethics and did unjust things, and that the child in the womb was not a grandson but a son......

Don't ask, it must have been the matchmaker who was humiliated that day and was angry and went back to make it up.

The Qing is self-purifying, Confucian did not care about these rumors, nor did he go to the matchmaker to trouble, in his heart, the safety of the girl is the most important thing.

He can deal with it calmly, but Xiu'er may not be able to do it, Confucian Sheng, who knows his daughter's son, sells the only property in the city, and the father and daughter buy a cottage with a courtyard not far outside the city.

Although the hut was not as spacious as the original one in the city, it was quiet, and by the way, even the ears were much cleaner.

……

Seven months later, just after the autumn equinox, the child in Xiu'er's womb fell to the ground, a boy with a handle.

The Confucian student, who had already seen the gray temples in his ears, smiled for the first time and hugged the little guy for a good time.

The arrival of the little one adds a lot to the ordinary life, and the originally slightly cramped hut is even smaller.

Outsiders don't know how much ink is in Confucian's belly, but they know that he writes well, and there are not a few people who ask him to write on weekdays.

Before, Confucianism still had his own reserve, and he would only help the writer write Spring Festival couplets, and he would not accept anything else, and he was not even willing to let others ask him to write a couplet.

But since the birth of his grandson, the family's consumption has increased dramatically, and the house has become more and more cramped, and the house where the three of them live will need to be expanded sooner or later.

So the old Confucian gave up that worthless reserve, not only often wrote elegiac couplets for others, but even wrote epitaphs together.

Because the epitaph written by Confucian is beautiful and atmospheric, and he often buys an epitaph to send an elegiac couplet, and buys a elegiac couplet to send an inscription.

Such a kind way of buying and selling was quickly recognized by everyone.

As his reputation spread, more and more people asked him to write epitaphs, and in the end, working in vain became the main business.

Although Confucian often said in front of his daughter that he was a scholar in vain, the money he earned now could still have some left while supporting the three of them, which also diluted his only remaining book business.

But the good times didn't last long, and the heavens didn't seem to be able to see the Confucian family well.

When his grandson was three years old, Confucian was watching the child at home, and Xiu'er went to the street to buy vegetables, preparing to give the child a decent birthday.

But after leaving, he never came back.

Xiu'er went out at noon, but at night there was still no one.

Confucian was anxious, so he picked up his grandson and went out to look for it, but until he found the curfew, his voice was smoking, and he couldn't find his grandson's mother.

At this time, the street was already empty, and the Confucian student, who knew that something was wrong, ran to the door of the government office in one breath and sounded the drum of injustice.

The prefect, who had just fallen asleep on the bed with his concubine in his arms, was awakened by the sudden sound of drums, scolded and put on his clothes and came to the lobby.

Seeing that it was Confucian who was beating the drum, the prefect who was woken up in the middle of the night suddenly lost half of his anger, he knew this person.

Last year, the old man of the prefect's family passed away, and it was the Confucian student in front of him who helped write the couplet, and the prefect saw that his font was correct and neat, so he asked him to write the epitaph together.

When the prefect got the epitaph written by the fly's head, his jaw was about to fall, is this still his own dead ghost dad who can sneak the girl's ass?

Confucianism wrote the late old lady as a saint comparable to Confucius and Mencius, as if the world would stop functioning without this old man who lies on a rocking chair all day and basks in the sun.

One of the sentences, "The benefit is in the contemporary, the merit is in the future, the loss of Mrs. Liu, my generation should cry for three hundred years", is the finishing touch.

Although Liu Futai was thin-skinned and failed to adopt it in the end, this incense was concluded. When he heard that the Confucian daughter had not returned, he hurriedly ordered his subordinates to search the whole city.

But after a busy night, until the next morning, there was still no one alive or dead.

Liu Futai ordered someone to send the exhausted Confucian student home, and promised that once there was news of Xiu'er, he would be notified as soon as possible.

Confucian waited at home for the afternoon, and finally waited for a piece of news that broke his heart - Xiu'er died.

The body was found by a fisherman and brought up in a fishing net along with the shrimp and crabs.

When Confucius arrived at the palace, Xiu'er was already covered with a white cloth and was lying flat on the ground, with a puddle of water stains under him.

The Confucian student, who was nearly fifty years old, almost fainted.

The mediocre but not mediocre prefect decided to investigate the matter strictly and invited the best from the Linfu to conduct an autopsy.

……

"My lord, the deceased had no external injuries on his body, he had all the money on his body, and there was no trace of intercourse before he died."

"Oh? didn't die because of wealth or robbery, isn't it because he didn't fall into the water? ”

Liu Futai has been working for so many years, and there is still basic common sense, but he overturned his inference in the next sentence:

"My lord, there was no water in the lungs of the deceased, so he should have been killed first, and then thrown into the river."

"Since there are no external injuries, but you were poisoned?"

"The silver needle probed the body, and there was no blackening."

This servant, who even the four great gods of the capital have to respect him a little, replied truthfully.

“……”

Liu Futai made a mistake for a while, to be honest, his own ability is limited, and he can sit in today's position because of a godfather who can speak in the court.

"Your Excellency, you must know something, please tell me."

For a moment, the Confucian scholar, who seemed to be much older, pleaded in a low voice, although he was not involved in officialdom, he was better at observing words and emotions than Liu Futai in front of him, and through his pretentious expression, he knew that the other party must have something to hide.

This inspection kung fu can be ranked in the forefront of the dynasty is a man of temperament, he has resigned many times because of the unfairness of the court, and now seeing that Confucianism has grievances and cannot be redressed, he really can't stand the inner torment, and finally whispered:

"Don't tell others about this matter, I said it, although Ling Yan died strangely, but in my experience, he still died of severe poison, but this poison is unusual, in my opinion, eighty percent is related to the Tang Sect."

"Tang Gate?!"

Liu Futai almost jumped up.

It stands to reason that a Jianghu sect will not make the officials of the court react so violently, but as an official in Bashu, they all understand a rule that cannot be put on the surface, that is, they would rather offend the emperor than offend the Tang Sect.

Why?

offended the emperor, unless it was a felony of treason and bullying, it would never involve the whole family, at most it would be beheaded or distributed.

But offending the Tang Sect is equivalent to exterminating the clan.

It's not that Governor Liu is cowardly, it's really too many bloody lessons from the past.

Living in Bashu, I have more or less heard the terrifying rumors about the Tang Sect, and Confucianism is no exception.

He didn't know how his daughter, who had never been out of the door, offended the Tang Sect, but he only knew that his daughter had lost her life in vain this time.

Governor Liu was also embarrassed at the moment, he wiped the sweat on his head, and said politely to the Confucian who was only a civilian:

"Brother Jiang, look at this ......"

The Confucian surnamed Jiang looked sad and shook his head, "Everyone is dead, and I don't want to embarrass the prefect, so be it, it's just that the child suffers." ”

Hearing this, Governor Liu immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly said:

"Brother Jiang, don't worry, Xiu'er's funeral office is responsible for handling it, and there are children, I will help him find a wet nurse, and I will pay for it."

The next day, news came out from the government that Xiu'er was humiliated and committed suicide by jumping into the river......

Lu Wenpo fled from the city overnight, and everyone in Jialu Mansion City was in danger.

really responded to that sentence: I don't do anything bad in my life, and I don't feel shocked when I knock on the door in the middle of the night.

……

Fifteen years later, when it was the autumn equinox crab fattening, the old Confucian carried three half-price river crabs that he had just bought after grinding his mouth for a long time in his left hand, and a pot of rice wine in his right hand, and walked towards the outside of the city.

Out of the city gate less than three miles, a secluded courtyard comes into view, there are no guests here on weekdays, usually the old Confucian will buy two river crabs, one for himself and his grandson, and the wine can be saved.

"Old ginger, you are back, and you have bought the sea again?"

A young man was lying on the fence of the small courtyard with a hippie smile, tilting his head to look at the crab in the old Confucian student's hand.

Panhai, or Pang Hai, is the name of the Bashu people for crabs, and the young man with a standard Bashu accent at the moment is not a Bashu person.

When the old Confucian saw the young man, a rare smile appeared on his face, and he asked:

"Why don't you enter the house, Xiucheng is not here?"

"Don't mention it, it's not like you don't know, I'm not on the right path with that guy, and I'm sour after reading a few books.

If everyone is like this, the homes of those scholars in the capital must not smell as bad as vinegar jars? If you want me to say, let's talk together. ”

As he spoke, the young man stepped forward to take the rice wine from the old Confucian Sheng's hand, and then unceremoniously opened the stopper and took a sip.

"You take a small bite, you will drink it all in a while, don't think about eating drunk crabs today."

"Don't think I don't know, there are still a few jars of good wine buried in your courtyard."

The young man said so, but he still put the plug on it very honestly.

"How do you know?"

The old Confucian looked surprised, it was all the tip of his heart, and he planned to keep it for when his grandson got married.

The young man pointed to his nose, "In the next place, the people in the rivers and lakes are called the Howling Sky Dog." ”

"As far as you are still a divine dog, I don't think it's as good as my Ah Huang."

At this moment, a cold voice came from inside the house, and immediately after, a young man in a white robe walked out of the house.

……

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