At noon on the second day, Yan Ning woke up, he moved his body, and found that his back was no longer as painful as yesterday, and the real qi was circulating throughout his body, not only nourishing the wounds, but also making the muscles and bones stronger.

He opened the door and saw that it was already sunrise outside the door, so he hurriedly cleaned up the house, thinking that he would be able to eat a full meal at noon. When he came to the kitchen door, he saw that the servants were already eating there, and he was about to get one, but he saw the butler staring at him from afar, and shouted, "That boy, you don't come to the kitchen during the day, have you overslept and are lazy?" ”

Yan Ning saw that his face was not good, and he didn't dare to speak, and the housekeeper saw that his expression was wrong, and he must have been lazy in the morning, so he stepped forward, pointed at his nose and scolded: "Okay, you kid, seeing that you are young, you can't imagine that you are still lazy, don't think that you are the eldest prince who found it, and you can not follow the rules here." ”

Yan Ning knew that she was at a loss, so she had to say: "Housekeeper, I am lazy today, I slept too hard yesterday, I hope the housekeeper will forgive me." ”

The butler said angrily, "Forgive? Oh, since you don't follow the rules, then we can only do things according to the rules, see that you are a scholar found by the eldest son, look at your skinny appearance, I won't punish you heavily, you don't want to eat this meal at noon, today you go to pick ten buckets of water, and then deduct half a month's salary. ”

Yan Ning was stunned when she heard that she was deducting half a month's salary, and said, "Deduct my half a month's salary?" ”

The housekeeper thought he was not convinced, and said: "Hmph, don't think that I have embezzled your money, this is the rule set by the master, you are a scholar, twenty dollars of silver a month, and ten yuan will be deducted from you, and this money will be credited to the account." ”

How do you know that Yan Ning laughed, he came to the Shen Mansion just to live, and today he realized that he still had twenty yuan in wages a month, and he didn't think about it at the moment: "The housekeeper deducts the money, how dare I, Yan Ning, not be convinced." ”

The housekeeper snorted and said, "Just be convinced, don't come to me at the end of the month to get the money." ”

Yan Ning shook his head and smiled: "Don't worry, housekeeper, I am willing to be punished, how can I ask you to fight for this money?" ”

The housekeeper was so happy to see that he had been deducted from his wages, and thought that he had been stupid to stay in the study all these days to read and read, and after scolding the nerd, he beckoned the servants to leave.

Yan Ning saw that he couldn't eat this meal, and he was not annoyed, he was used to starving, so he picked up a flat burden from the kitchen and went to the well in the backyard to fetch water. When he picked up two buckets of water, he found that his shoulders were so strong that he could lift them up in one breath, and he walked a few steps, but he was not as out of breath as he had been after a little heavy work.

After picking up the water, Yan Ning came to the study, and as soon as she opened the door, she saw that someone had moved on the bookcase.

He stepped forward and saw a few subsets of scriptures and histories on the bookcase, and saw a few pieces of fine rice paper spread in the middle of the desk, and a few wisps of green sandalwood fragrance came out of the rice paper, accompanied by some unique ink smell.

Yan Ning took the ink rice paper in his hand, and saw that there was a landscape painting painted on the paper, he spread out the painting, only to see a high mountain on the left side of the painting standing in the fog, the mountain was lush and lush, full of flowers, and saw a waterfall hanging high on the right side of the mountain, and the water drops on the waterfall fell on the side of the tree at the foot of the mountain, causing the birds on the tree to laugh.

This painting has a god and a shape, although it is a landscape painting, but even the bird is sketched vividly, seeing this painting, Yan Ning couldn't help but sigh: "It's really a fairyland on earth." ”

He saw that this painting was so wonderful, quite in line with Shen Fu's temperament, and thought that this painting must have been made by him, so he immediately relaxed.

This painting is really perfect, Yan Ning can't help but praise again and again, he has read poetry and books since he was a child, poetry and paintings are naturally not a problem, the painting carefully pondered for a long time, and suddenly found that the painting did not have an inscription, he surged up in his heart a reader's impulse, wanted to write a sentence for this painting, so he picked up the pen, thought for a while, and wrote on the painting: "Qinglan is faint mountain rain, and the waterfall plays spring songs with birdsong." ”

This sentence of Qinglan is faint mountain rain, facing the high mountains in the hazy smoke and rain in the painting, and the waterfall plays a spring song accompanied by birdsong, and is facing the birdsong scene under the waterfall and flowing water.

After inscribed this poem, he was satisfied, put down the pen and paper, admired it for a while, and then picked up the subset of scriptures and histories and read it.

This reading came to the evening again, Yan Ning saw the painting, thought that she might be able to see Shen Fu today, but after waiting in the study for a day, there was still no trace of Shen Fu, seeing that it was getting late, and dinner time had passed, so she stopped waiting and went back to the house to rest.

Back in the house, Yan Ning wanted to rest, but thinking that he didn't have much trouble carrying water during the day, he thought that it was because of the breathing mantra taught by Wei Chenfeng, which was extremely wonderful, which could not only heal the wound, but also increase his strength, so he practiced it immediately.

This practice, it came to the second day of noon, and it was noon, Yan Ning woke up, saw that the winter sun was hanging high outside the house, and the secret road was not good, so he hurriedly ran to the kitchen, and saw that everyone had not yet eaten, and his heart breathed a sigh of relief, but suddenly he saw the housekeeper staring straight at himself with a pair of eyes, and before the housekeeper could speak, he walked over, and the housekeeper saw that he himself came to be punished, and snorted, so he scolded: "Hmph, you kid, I just told you the rules yesterday, and you committed it again today, do you still want this salary?" ”

Yan Ning lowered her head and said, "Housekeeper, I have already memorized the rules you said yesterday, and if I do it again today, it is natural that I should not deduct the wages, and you should deduct the wages." ”

The butler was so angry that his nostrils were smoking, and he said, "What do you want me to buckle?" If you have committed a crime yourself, of course your wages will have to be deducted, and you know that you have not paid a cent of your wages this month. ”

Yan Ning scratched her head and said stupidly: "Then if you commit it again, will you still deduct your wages?" ”

The housekeeper slapped himself on the leg and said angrily: "I want to deduct your money, do you still have to deduct it?" Seeing that Yan Ning bowed his head and was silent, the housekeeper said again: "According to the rules, the punishment will be doubled today, you will go and pick up twenty buckets of water later, and you don't have to eat this meal at noon." ”

Yan Ning was just about to agree, and his stomach screamed angrily, the housekeeper knew that he hadn't eaten since yesterday, and if he fainted from exhaustion, the eldest prince would blame himself at that time, but it was not easy to explain, so he took a sip of water and scolded: "Damn, it's soft-hearted, you go and eat the rice, and then go to fetch water." ”

Yan Ning nodded in response, and immediately went to the kitchen to make a bowl of rice After eating, he picked up the burden again, and went to the well to fetch water.

After picking up the twenty buckets of water, he went to the study alone, and as soon as he opened the study, he smelled the familiar aroma of paper and ink from yesterday.

He thought it was the scent left in yesterday's painting, so he walked to the bookcase, and saw that there was a new painting left on the bookcase, and yesterday's painting was pressed underneath.

When he looked closely, he saw that today's painting was not the same as yesterday's. Today, there are only a few brushstrokes on this painting, one stroke outlines a river, the other strokes outline a few mountains, the river passes through those mountains, and the mountains are next to the river, although there are only a few brushstrokes, but the whole painting seems to be natural, and there is nothing wrong with the shape of the lines in the painting.

Yan Ning saw that the style of this painting was very different from yesterday's, but when she saw that the strokes at the foot of the mountain and the riverside in the painting were the same as the hook on the end of yesterday's painting, she said in her heart: "I didn't expect Brother Shen to be a painter, these two paintings are completely different, yesterday's picture was outlined in great detail, and today's painting is only a few brushstrokes, but the beautiful artistic conception of the painting is intoxicating." ”

He picked up the pen and wanted to write an inscription, but after thinking about it for a long time, he didn't know how to put it down, so he put the pen down again, turned the painting over and over again, and after looking at it all over again, he slapped his thigh and exclaimed: "This painting should be accompanied by this poem." ”

I saw him write with a pen: "The river is a green Luo belt, and the mountains are like jade hairpins." This poem is the poem of the predecessors, this poem compares the river to the green silk belt, the river is like a ribbon dance, ethereal like a fairy; And the green mountains are green, like jasper hairpins, straight into the sky.

After inscribed this poem, Yan Ning was satisfied, and then spread the waterfall landscape painting from yesterday and this painting together, and after carefully tasting it, it was folded back to its original place.

On this day, Yan Ning read the book again and saw that it was dark, although he was thinking about eating, but when he read the book of the sages, his ears were silent, and he threw himself on it, forgetting everything.

In the evening, Yan Ning was on the way back to the house, and saw the lights in the Shen Mansion, so lively, he suddenly remembered that today was the Lantern Festival, he looked up, the sky was full of clouds, but he didn't see the moon, thinking that he was in a foreign country, like the clouds in the sky, drifting outside, unable to return home, he sighed in his heart: "It's really the clouds in the sky that refuse to return." ”

sighed for a long time, and then saw the two maids a few days ago, the two maids were whispering, Yan Ning wanted to go forward to ask about Brother Shen, but when he saw the two girls on the other side, he was embarrassed to open his mouth, until the two maids walked away, he sighed, and quickly went back to the room to rest.

This night, Yan Ning started to practice again, he was alone in a room, no one disturbed him at night, thinking that practicing was also a beautiful thing, even if he slept until noon tomorrow, anyway, the salary had been deducted, so it was a big deal to pick up a few more buckets of water.

The next day, Yan Ning slept until noon, and he ate lunch under the vicious scolding of the housekeeper, and went to pick up thirty buckets of water, and then went to the study again. In the next few days, he came to the study in the afternoon and saw new paintings on the bookcase, inscribed with his own poems.

After almost half a month, at lunch on this day, Yan Ning did not see the housekeeper, and was surprised, just wanted to ask Lao Xu next to him, and saw the housekeeper order a few people to carry a small box to come, and the housekeeper ordered someone to open the box, only to see that it was full of broken silver with white flowers.

The housekeeper instructed everyone to come up one by one to receive the wages, and when he saw that everyone had received the money, Yan Ning actually sighed a little in his heart, and sighed in his heart: "Working in this Shen Mansion for a month, I have twenty dollars of silver, I think when I was in Fengcheng, I and the grandfather and grandson, just because of nine copper coins, I was wrongfully imprisoned, and the grandson was also tortured into a trick, if it wasn't for this silver and that person's heart, how could I end up like this." ”

Seeing that everyone received their wages, they were all overjoyed, and he thought in his heart: "Brother Shen saved my life, treat me well, how can I covet the Shen family's silver, it really shouldn't be." Then he was silent, and when he had eaten, he went back to the study.

When he arrived at the study that day, he saw that the bookcase was different from the previous days, for when he came a few days ago, there was always a picture on the bookcase, but today it is a couplet.

He picked up the couplet and looked at it, only to see that the rice paper read: "Shangyuan does not see the moon, light a few lamps to make the world colorful." ”

These words are beautiful and beautiful, like the hairpin calligraphy of the previous generation, but this word is not like what a man wrote, Yan Ning picked up the word, watched it for a long time, and thought that Brother Shen might fall in love with this calligraphy.

He saw the meaning of this joint weather, and thought of the moonless night sky a few days ago, which was exactly such a scene, and at that time the house was full of red lanterns, although there was no moonlight to add light, but there were also lights.

He thought about it for a long time, but he couldn't think of the next couplet, so he sighed a few times, put the couplet down, and went back to reading.

When he read the book, he was not as attentive as before, and he was always restless, thinking about how to interpret the couplet. At this time, it was late at night, and after he was about to lock the door of the study, he went back to the room to rest, when the wind suddenly blew outside, and a bright light flashed in the sky, Yan Ning hurriedly covered his ears, but after a long time, the thunder did not come.

He looked into the air, laughed violently, and then walked towards the study, picked up the pen, and wrote in today's couplet: "Thunder has not been heard, and a few drums have been beaten, and the power of heaven and earth will be announced." ”

Today is the stinging solar term, just now Yan Ning saw that the air with the wind was blowing, but the thunder did not rise, suddenly startled, thinking of this sentence, Shangyuan did not see the moon, stinged did not hear the thunder, there is the same thing.

And the drums that beat a few times, on behalf of heaven and earth, were actually when Yan Ning passed by the execution ground when he was a child, before the execution of the execution ground, there would be drummers beating drums to cheer, and the drum sounded like thunder, like Tianwei.

After making this couplet, Yan Ning left satisfied.

This night, the white waves swept the sky, Yan Ning did not practice, he thought that he went to the study every afternoon every day, and he didn't see Shen Fu, if he went tomorrow morning, he would definitely be able to see him, and he went to bed early this night.

On the second day, Yan Ning woke up early, and when he went to the kitchen, the housekeeper saw him with a strange look in his eyes, and said, "The sun is coming out of the west today?" It's the first time I've seen you come so early. ”

Yan Ning laughed dryly, he didn't want to lie, he didn't know how to answer, but the housekeeper said: "You kid must have seen others take wages yesterday and envy them, if you want to get paid, right, if you want wages, you can get up early for me and clean the study for me, don't make anything wrong with me." ”

Yan Ning nodded hurriedly and replied: "Please rest assured, housekeeper, you will leave the study to me, and I will definitely take care of it cleanly." When the housekeeper saw that he knew each other, he left after a few words.

After breakfast, Yan Ning came to the study, he saw that the study was like last night, no one had moved, he thought that Shen Fu would not come so early, he was reading a book over there and waiting for Shen Fu, this time it was noon, Shen Fu was still in the future, he thought that Shen Fu must have come at noon in the past, and he didn't go to the kitchen to eat this day, and waited. But in the evening, no one came, so he waited until late at night, until he saw that the lights of the rest of the houses were out, thinking that Shen Fu would not come today, so he locked the door and went back to rest.

That night, he still didn't practice and went to sleep, and the next day, he waited for another day, but he didn't see Shen Fu coming; On the third day, on the fourth day, it was still the same.

On the fifth day, Yan Ning came to the study early in the morning, he habitually looked at the bookcase, saw that there was no new calligraphy and painting couplet on the bookcase, and was about to skim his eyes, but saw that the couplet a few days ago was missing, he felt strange in his heart, rummaging on the bookcase, but did not find the couplet, he searched the study, only to make sure that the couplet was indeed not in the study, and thought: "Isn't it Brother Shen who came to take the couplet?" It's really strange that he didn't show up for many days, but he only took this couplet, why didn't he leave a new calligraphy and painting here? ”

didn't think about it, he didn't think about it anymore, found a Confucian holy book and read it, this reading, and read it until noon meal time, he put down the book in his hand, just wanted to get up, but saw a person staggering into the door, that person's face was like a crown of jade, dressed in blue and white clothes, not Shen Fu but who was it?

Yan Ning hurriedly went over to support Shen Fu, and seeing that he was like a withered body and his face was sallow, he hurriedly asked, "Brother Shen, what's wrong, why is your face so haggard?" ”

Shen Fu waved his hand, signaling that Yan Ning didn't need to support him, and said, "Alas, every family has scriptures that are difficult to read, and they are all family affairs, so Brother Yan doesn't need to ask more." ”

Yan Ning heard Shen Fu say this, so he didn't want to ask too much, saw Shen Fu walk to the bookcase, picked up a piece of white paper, picked up the pen and wrote, he wrote out of order, Yan Ning watched from the side, and saw that the words he wrote were not like wild grass, but those words were flying like dragons and snakes, and he couldn't see what the words were. He didn't know that Shen Fu was upset in his heart, and this time he was just venting his feelings, not writing.

Shen repeatedly vented for a while, slammed the pen, and sighed twice: "Destiny, destiny." ”

Yan Ning saw that Shen Fu was like crazy, she was concerned in her heart, and bowed down and said: "Brother Shen, you saved my life that night, Yan Ning is grateful, although I am a scholar and useless, but I also know the truth of knowing that I want to repay my kindness, if Brother Shen is inconvenient to say more because of family matters, I will not ask more; If there are other difficulties, I hope Brother Shen will make it clear that although I am weak, it would be good if I could help Brother Shen solve problems. ”

Shen Fu sighed, he knew that Yan Ning was righteous, but he didn't want him to get involved in this troublesome matter, so he shook his head and said, "I don't have much difficulty, it's just that I have a mad attack that scared Brother Yan." ”

Yan Ning saw that he didn't want to say, and didn't ask any more, picked up the pen that fell on the ground and put it back in its place, but Shen Fu suddenly found the paintings on the bookcase, he sighed, picked up the paintings and looked at them carefully, then looked at Yan Ning, and said, "These poems, but Brother Yan inscribed?" ”

Yan Ning wondered in his heart, this painting was made by Shen Fu, and he had only seen Shen Fu and himself come in the study during these days, and there was no one else; Thinking that Shen Fu had made so many paintings, he didn't know that this poem was his title, it was really strange, he replied: "Brother Shen, I am only a shallow learner, these poems are written by me in my spare time, if Brother Shen thinks it is inappropriate, don't blame." ”

Who knew that Shen Fu stared at him carefully for a few moments, and suddenly laughed and said, "How can it be inappropriate?" It's a match made in heaven, it's a match made in heaven. ”

Yan Ning saw that Shen Fu did not blame, but praised him, and was overjoyed, and was about to ask about the couplet, but at this time, the housekeeper shouted outside the door: "Eldest son, the master told you to go back." ”

Shen Fu scolded, and was about to leave, but when he saw Yan Ning standing aside, looking at him worriedly, he patted Yan Ning on the shoulder and said with relief: "Brother Yan don't worry, I'm busy today, but I can't leave, if you want to help me, then you can do me a favor in a few days, what do you think?" ”

Yan Ning asked, "What's the matter?" Brother Shen said yes. ”

Shen Fu turned his head, wrote a few words on a piece of paper, handed the note to Yan Ning, and said: "Three days later is my mother's death day, my mother raised me with hard work, but my unfilial son can't get away from it recently, and I can't kowtow to her in person, if Brother Yan has a heart, you can go to the side hall of the White Horse Temple outside the city three days later, and burn three pillars of incense for my mother Kong." ”

Yan Ning nodded in agreement, and the housekeeper outside the door urged again, asking Shen Fu to hurry up, Shen Fu scolded a few words, and went out.