Ma Xianglin and Zheng Haizhu have only been in Wudi for less than a year, and they have a lot of fresh resonance with the Susong Second Mansion in Jiangnan.

And their hometowns, Shu and Zhangzhou, are also prosperous, and their respective customs and people are very profound.

In this way, the two talked happily.

It wasn't until the cloth on several ox carts was taken away by the sergeants one after another, Ma Xianglin glanced at the word "Han" on the wheel, suddenly remembered something, his smile faded, and he said to Zheng Haizhu: "Miss Zheng, after you left that day, I interrogated several surviving bandits, and they all said that I don't know who paid Qiu Wanliang to do something to Miss Hanfu. They are all little Rollo, and they rob silk boats at most on weekdays, and they really don't know. It's a pity that Qiu Wanliang and Xu Aliu are dead. ”

Zheng Haizhu nodded and said: "When Xu Aliu robbed the ship, he could call out the name of the young lady when he opened his mouth, so strange, there must be a ghost." Although my sister and I have returned home now, we can't rest easy, we have to try to find out, otherwise there will be another time. ”

Ma Xianglin's tone was earnest: "Fortunately, Brother Huang is a Songjiang magistrate, how he personally experienced the Shen family's fraud in scientific examinations, and saw with his own eyes that the young people framed the Dong Mansion, you should know best that your worries are not groundless." Your family business is not under the Dong Mansion, and Master Han is not an ordinary scribe, so this cotton cloth business is so big...... If Ms Cheng has the opportunity, she may wish to ask Mr. Wong more and may be able to find clues. ”

"What General Ma said is that Mr. Huang has a strong and righteous spirit, and we believe him."

"Well, I wish I would have more such good officials."

"I heard that Mr. Huang's family is still in Yuyao, and I don't know when I will come over."

"Oh, at the banquet yesterday, I asked, the family should have set off. His eldest son is named Huang Zongxi, who is five or six years old. Three months ago, the second son also fell to the ground, but he happened to come to Songjiang to make 100 days of wine. ”

"That's great, I'll report to Miss when I go back to-day, and see what kind of congratulatory gifts I have prepared. By the way, take the liberty of asking, can General Ma get married? ”

"Uh, well, haven't said kiss yet......"

In the depths of the thick shade, cicadas chirp. Clear pond, water lilies blooming.

Ma Xianglin hopes that the conversation between Ning and Jingjing can last longer.

Tranquil or eager, even a little embarrassment at times, is better than negotiations full of temptation and threat.

However, the sun always sets.

Matsue cotton cloth always has to be finished.

The old lady's horse of the Gu family always has to be painted.

At the gate of Wenzhe Academy, Ma Xianglin sighed slightly abruptly after seeing the carriage of the Gu Mansion and the ox cart of the Han Mansion go away.

Just as he was about to turn around and go in, a little doll holding a lotus pod and peeling lotus seeds jumped over, raised his face and said to Ma Xianglin: "General, the have flown down from the willow branches." ”

Ma Xianglin was stunned and asked, "What did you say?" ”

The doll pointed to the big willow tree by the river pond not far away: "Over there, the general will go and have a look." ”

After saying that, he still lowered his head and concentrated on peeling lotus seeds, eating so much that he was obviously an ignorant boy who came to pass the word.

Ma Xianglin touched the boy's head, squatted down to help him peel a few lotus seeds, and then straightened up and walked to the riverbank.

At sunset, an old man wearing a bamboo hat was fishing.

Ma Xianglin stopped beside him, looking at the thin fishing line, as if he was in a trance.

A soft and peaceful voice came from under the cool hat: "Why didn't General Ma wear the Flying Fish suit today?" How majestic that body is. ”

Ma Xianglin said lightly: "The objects given by the emperor, Ma will cherish them, and in order to save people, he has to take them out and make a bright appearance." ”

The fisherman smiled lightly: "General Ma saves people, it's really addictive, the civil officials of the micro end are also saved, and the weak female stream is also saved, and when he encounters an old man like Dong Qichang who is involved in the country, he doesn't see if he is a good person, so he doesn't even ask a few words, and puts on a flying fish suit to save it." ”

When Ma Xianglin heard the word "national capital", his face sank.

On the river, the last scene of sparkling and psychedelic scenes before the end of the day reminded him of the treacherous scenes of the Jingshi.

It also made him suddenly wake up.

After his father's accident, he was already a teenager and an old man, and he paid more attention to the intrigue stories inside and outside the court of the past dynasties, which were like silt at the bottom of the river.

In front of Dong's house that day, he felt strange. Officials to the prefect and those old men who know the same knowledge, which one is not a human spirit, how can they incite a group of ruffians to besiege Dong Qichang, who has lectured to the prince of the current dynasty and has a lot of official qualities in the past?

Ma Xianglin tilted his head slightly and asked, "Husband Cui, this unwarranted disaster in the Dong Mansion, could it be that the concubine is happy to see it?" ”

The fisherman is none other than Concubine Zheng's confidant Cui Wenxin.

Emperor Wanli favored Zheng Guifei for decades, and several times named Zhu Changxun, the third prince born to Zheng Guifei, as the crown prince, and the ministers from the Middle East Lin Party tried their best to oppose it, and tried all kinds of means to put pressure on Emperor Wanli to support Zhu Changluo, the eldest prince born to the emperor and the palace maid, as the crown prince.

The past dynasties have made the prince the "national capital", so the quarrel that has lasted for more than ten years in Wanli is called "fighting for the country", and the word "national capital" mentioned by Cui Wenxin also refers to this matter.

Cui Wenxin adjusted the fishing rod and no longer sold Guanzi: "General Ma, Dong Qichang is a sleek person and a deep official, neither the Donglin faction nor the Zhejiang faction Chu faction, but he has a wide range of contacts, many protégés and former officials, and many people in high positions in Beijing have sold him face." Don't look at him returning to his hometown and retreating for ten years, after all, he was a person from the East Palace, and like his fellow villager Xu Guangqi, he has a lot of prestige in the land of Jiangnan, and the old guys of the prince's faction value him very much. ”

Cui Wenxin paused when he said this, and his tone became more and more cold: "But General Ma, this time, you could have let Huang Zunsu, the rising star of the Donglin School, die in the bandits' den, but you saved people." You could have taught the East Palace a hard lesson, but you inexplicably gave Dong Qichang a head. You, you really broke the hearts of the concubine and the blessed king. ”

When Ma Xianglin heard this, he was silent for a moment, and then spoke again, and his voice was also full of frost.

"Then bother the concubine next time, first call Hu Fang's father-in-law to inform Ma Mou, so that Ma Mou knows which fields belong to her and King Fu. However, even if the ear mentions the order to make it clear, Ma may not be idle. ”

"General Ma! To be a man, you have to be grateful! ”

Cui Wenxin's tone was obviously angry, and the fishing rod in his hand shook, and a small fish was thrown up.

Ma Xianglin leaned over, took off the fish on the hook, threw it in front of Cui Wenxin, and said with ridicule: "Songjiang's four-gill perch is famous all over the world, Husband Cui should not miss it." Ma went back to rest first. ”

……

"Miss Zheng, the four-gill perch after the beginning of autumn is about to go to the mouth of the Yangtze River, and it is the fattest. Zhuxiang, you quickly clip a piece of meat on the back of the fish for Miss Zheng. ”

In the private room of the drunken white building in the north of the city, Miao sat on the top and instructed the maid Zhuxiang to serve Zheng Haizhu as a cloth.

At dusk, after the ox cart convoy of the Han Mansion left the Wenzhe Academy, it only walked half a mile slowly, and saw the sedan chair of the Gu Mansion waiting in front. Zhu Xiang personally came to invite, saying that Mrs. Miao is from Fujian, and learned that Zheng Haizhu's hometown is in Zhangzhou, and today she sees that her speech and demeanor are very neat and refreshing, so she wants to invite her to have a dinner and talk about the nostalgia of Fujian.

This time from the beginning, Lao Peng, a housekeeper, naturally didn't say anything, although Han Xiying was the main family and had a low seniority, so he had to follow Zheng Haizhu with the bamboo incense next to the sedan chair.

At this moment, Zheng Haizhu took a closer look at the bamboo fragrance, although she was about the same age as herself, she was elegant and sophisticated in her gestures, and it was obvious that she was not an ordinary maid of the Gu family, just like the mandarin duck of Mrs. Jia in "Dream of Red Mansions".

His identity, speaking of which is also a subordinate of the Han Mansion, how can he sit there and be served by the "mandarin ducks" of the Gu Mansion.

Zheng Haizhu hurriedly got up, dragged the sleeve of the bamboo incense, and told Miao that he couldn't afford it.

Miao didn't insist, and said with a smile: "It's a good thing that you kid values the rules." In this way, Zhuxiang will go outside and wait, let's eat fish and talk, you can be more comfortable. ”

Zhuxiang bowed and exited the private room, only a shadow faintly imprinted on the door grid, motionless.

Zheng Haizhu moved her body, took the lotus petal bowl in front of the old lady with both hands, used chopsticks to delicately pick out the two gill pieces of the perch, put them in the bowl, picked up the spoon again, scooped half a spoonful of soup and poured it on the meat.

The soup is filled with the freshness of the ham, the warmth of the ginger slices, the fragrance of the shredded green onions, and the gills of the sea bass.

Ordinary perch, only two gills, but Songjiang perch looks like pond snakehead, there are two flame patterns on the main gills, people are called four-gill perch. This kind of sea bass, the head of the fish is wide and flat, the gill meat is very delicious and tender, and it melts in the mouth, and it is best for the elderly with poor teeth to eat.

Miao looked at Zheng Haizhu serenely, the habits and proportions in her manners, and the message she conveyed were really the same as what she inquired about, she was a child from a decent family.

Miao took a bite of the fish, smacked it elegantly, and after swallowing it, he smiled at Zheng Haizhu and said: "The best two-petal meat on the fish has taught my wife to enjoy it, and you don't have to stand still, sit down and eat it while it's hot." ”

But it was disrespectful and rude, so Zheng Haizhu went to sandwich a piece of fish back meat as he said.

Miao took a sip of rice wine and said slowly: "Miss Azhu, I am a person from the palace, if I care about the rules, I am afraid that no matter the Gu family or the Han family, no one has as much rules as me." But the original intention of the rules is nothing more than to teach people to live comfortably within the measure. Some children, obviously have understood personnel, but they turn a blind eye to such simple rules as melon fields and plums, and don't care whether she has no intention or has a heart, in short, it is too disproportionate. And the old woman, I, Zuodong invites you to eat a bite of seasonal fresh fish, I am happy, you are happy, and it does not hinder the people next to you, this is not a violation of the rules and a loss of proportion. You really don't have to be too restricted. ”

Zheng Haizhu was suddenly invited by Miao to talk today, and he was already very surprised.

At this time, listening to Miao's words, it was clear that Han Xiying's misbehavior was actually a deep meaning, and she was more and more surprised why the old lady wanted to say this to herself.

Zheng Haizhu lowered his eyes for a moment, guessed the reason for the slightest star, and decided to simply boldly explore a few steps.

Then he said to Miao Shi in a sincere tone: "What Mrs. gave to Azhu today is not only the teaching of spring breeze and rain and the delicacies that make people's teeth and cheeks fragrant, but more importantly, Azhu is fortunate to walk beside Mrs. Zhuxiang's sedan chair, and can be cared for by Sister Zhuxiang's smile. This is what really blessed Azhu. ”

Miao smiled: "You are a smart child. That's right, I'm just here for outsiders. After all, Xi Meng and you are women who have gone to the bandit village once, even if General Ma and Master Huang speak for you, and Ah Qian returns to protect Xi Meng, there should still be an elder in the Gu family who stands up to express his attitude, and the marriage between Ah Qian and Xi Meng is still ironclad, and others, whether they are peddlers and pawns or officials and gentlemen, don't worry about watching jokes. ”

Zheng Haizhu completely understood this time, and was overjoyed for a while, hurriedly got up again, knelt down without delay, and said gratefully: "Ah Zhu is brave and sympathetic to my young lady, Mrs. Xie." ”

Miao helped her up, motioned for her to sit back, and continued to listen to herself.

"Miss Azhu, I was originally a native of Ningde, Fuzhou Prefecture, when I was a child, I went to Shangqing Temple with my parents to make incense, and by chance, I saw a robe with extremely exquisite embroidery, which is said to have been given to the previous abbot by the palace. Since then, I have been fascinated by embroidery skills, and begged my parents to send me to Suzhou to learn embroidery, and was sent to Beijing by the Weaving Bureau. After entering the palace, I realized that this person's heart is by no means as pure and clean as embroidery. Fortunately, the queen took pity on me and pointed me out to Shang Baocheng as a concubine, so that I could walk out of the Forbidden City and return to the southeast at a young age. Of course, my queen is grateful, and she also misses the Gu family. From the bottom of my heart, I hope that the Gu family will become more and more prosperous. Miss Azhu, I can't be wrong when I look at people, Ximeng and you are both good children, and you have combed yourself and will not marry again, your heart is fixed, and it is all in Ximeng. A family, the front of the door is glamorous, and the peace of the back house is a blessing. The Gu family welcomed in, and it should be a female dependant like you. ”

In the shadow of the glass lamp, Miao's face seems to be inlaid with a soft halo, which is amiable to watch.

The old man said something considerate for a while, took a few sips of wine, ate two mouthfuls of food, was easy and kind, and spoke eloquently, which made Zheng Haizhu have the illusion several times, as if he was facing his grandmother in the modern era in his previous life.

After this time, Miao beckoned Zhuxiang to settle the account and sent her and a family member to send Zheng Haizhu back to Hanfu.

As soon as he walked to the gate of the house, Zheng Shoukuan, who was squatting under the lantern, screamed with joy and greeted him.

"Auntie, the eldest lady is also waiting for you in the front hall, saying that if you don't come back, she won't be able to sleep."

Zheng Haizhu politely said goodbye to the servants of the Gu family and walked into the door with her nephew.

In the night sky of early autumn, the stars are shining, and in the garden, the osmanthus trees have been hung, and the air is soaked with wisps of sweet fragrance.

Zheng Haizhu looked up at a crescent moon, and a frame of pictures appeared in front of him: the splendid clothes in Yan Siqi's house on Daishan Island.

The sails of the bird boat and the backs of the Liaodong soldiers, the eyes of Ma Xianglin when he said, "If one day our Sichuan army wants to wave its division to the north", Huang Zunsu said "I only talk about the merits of my work", Gu Shouqian and Han Ximeng stood side by side, and finally Mrs. Miao looked at her smile.

She said to herself in her heart that this era, in fact, is not so bad.