None of the family members would be wary of a stranger crying suddenly on the ground. In astonishment, Li Fu ran to the spirit with the yellow table paper in one hand and the banner in the other, and fell to the ground, crying softly:

"Brother Mei Qing! I'm here to see you......" Li Fu burst into tears, tears like springs, "I agreed with you to climb the West Mountain this autumn, drink jade spring water, watch the evening maple forest, arrive at the detention trip, and cut candles and papers." Why have you forsaken me? Wake up...... Looking back at Li Fu, what did you say to me? ……”

He knelt in front of the coffin and cried while complaining, grieving and painful, the sad wind in and outside the shed, the cool rain and Xiaoxiao, which increased the desolation atmosphere, and everyone saw that they were all sad and weeping. Wu Sidao was at a loss for a while, and after a little hesitation, he realized that this person was treacherous, and the ghost trick was renovated, and he actually pretended to be this bitter drama to hit Zhang Tingyu's wooden clock, and in terms of natural distraction, it was enough to make people shudder - I can't imagine that he is elegant, like a virgin and a scholar, and has such a means! Just as she didn't pay attention, she turned her face to a white-haired old woman, supported by a middle-aged man in her forties, surrounded by thirty or forty old women and girls. The butler muttered in a low voice, "The master is here too!" Then he stepped forward to call Qian'er and asked, "The slave asks the old lady and the old man to say goodbye!" Wu Sidao knew that this middle-aged man with a white face and a moon-white bamboo cloth gown was the Son of Heaven Xingchen who leaned towards the government and the opposition, the Minister of the Interior and the Interior of the Guard, the Prince Taibao and the Cabinet University Scholar Zhang Tingyu.

The housekeeper asked the old lady and Zhang Tingyu to say goodbye, glanced at Li Fu, and was about to say something, Zhang Tingyu waved his hand, signaling him not to speak, and only helped his trembling mother to stand aside and groan.

"Brother Mei Qing......" Li Fu cried so hard that his face turned yellow, and he said without sobbing, "The heroic spirit is not far away, Qintai knows my heart, I have a few words to tell you, send you on a trip to Yetai-" As he spoke, he took out ten taels of silver from his arms, put his trembling hands on the spirit case, bowed down and bowed again, and groaned: "On June 8, midsummer in the forty-sixth year of Kangxi in the Wei Daqing Dynasty, Li Fu, a scholar from Jinling, only offered a petal of heart incense, two bunches of money, the cry of heavy rain, and the pull of Su Xuan, and sacrificed himself before the sacrifice of his deceased friend Mei Qing. The life of my brother is also, the wealth of the golden car, the nobility of the honorable door, the flower of the hairpin, and the mao of the purple algae; And it is Huaisu and clear, detached and elegant, indifferent and humble, and sassy in the wind of the forest. With the capital of Xinyi Lushen, the chastity of Lanhui Jufang, although the wind festival of bamboo, the fragrance of plum, the grace of Gui, and the cold of the moon are not enough. The servant with the down-and-down body, the thin talent, the frosty withered grass, the sick dead wood, once met on the side of Mochou, and then met in the temple of the rooster, then the green eyes of Ruan Lang, and had to serve in the piano platform of the sub-period! …… Remembering the beginning of the brother's handover, that is, the cloud 'gentleman's Ze, the fifth generation and beheaded, although the prosperity of Yao Tianshun and the earth, the ambition of helping the people is empty, and there is a lack of skills to govern the world, I am afraid it will be difficult to fulfill the wish of life! 'Si Yan is like a tomb, humble as a valley, although the servant is not sensitive, the center admires, thinking that today's Shilin children are numerous, and it is rare to see Mao Cai Qingde is also ......"

He recited without restraint: how he befriended Zhang Shiping, how the two smelled like each other, and like this, they met to travel to Beijing together. Now the mountains are still there, the flowing water is ruthless, the silk strings are broken, the dream soul is empty, the blood is exhausted, and the butterfly is coming back...... When it comes to the sore spots, he crows his eyebrows and chokes his wrists, and every word is bloody, which stunned everyone. Wu Sidao couldn't help but think: This person has done a good job of ancient writing. In a daze, Li Fu's article had come to an end, and I saw him tearfully to the sky, and said: "...... Now the five strings are still there, where is Qiuhong? In the depths of the white clouds, the yellow crane is gone! Remembering the previous steps, the thin horse west wind, the Xianyang ancient road, it is difficult to walk...... Oh my God! Why take away my good friends, and save the quality of the rough wood village in the world? The heartache is silent, the tears and blood are dry, the ground is crying, and the sky is speechless! …… Fu Wei is still feasting! At the end of the chant, Li Fu kowtowed three times, and he was already hoarse. Although the family didn't understand his words, seeing that he was so sad, they had already wept with tears.

Zhang Tingyu remembered that he should not blame his beloved son because of a woman in a green building, so that the old mother was hurt and unhappy, listening to this heart-rending text, every sentence was shocking, and every word was snatching, where could I endure tears like beads. Li Fu ignored it all, got up in a daze, waved to the housekeeper who was guarding in front of the spirit, and said, "This is what Brother Mei Qing lent me in Nanjing." He said not to return it, and I also wanted to use it to drink wine with Brother Zhang...... Alas...... I bother you to buy a jar of wine and bury ...... Bury it beside his grave......"

"This is Shiping's friend?" The old lady turned her face and asked Zhang Tingyu, "Do you know each other?" Zhang Tingyu shook his head, bowed down and said, "My son doesn't know - it's rare that this evil obstacle has such a friend!" The old lady's face was full of tears, and when she turned her face and saw that Li Fu was leaving, she raised her hand and said, "That gentleman, please stay for a while!" Li Fu stood still, came over reservedly, and said to the old lady: "Old man, you call me something?" ”

When the old lady looked him up and down, she was refreshed and weak, as if she was her beloved grandson who had died young, and couldn't help but sigh and asked, "Are you Shiping's literary friend?" ”

"Hmm." Li Fu nodded, almost crying again, "I met in Nanjing." ”

"Shiping has only been in Nanjing for two months." Zhang Tingyu frowned and said, "It's not worth the trip to make a friend like you." After all, he knew the world, and he still had some doubts about this matter. Li Fu replied indifferently: "The way to make friends, to communicate with each other with qi and to tie up with sound, can the cover be the same, how long is the time?" Zhang Tingyu's heart moved when he heard this, and he looked at his son's "friend" blankly, and he had nothing to say for a while.

Li Fu took a step forward and asked, "...... is the honorable driver?"

"I'm Mei Qing's father." Zhang Tingyu looked at the coffin, and the look in his eyes seemed to call his son to get up, and it took a long time to dim. Li Fu exclaimed bitterly: "Uncle Shi! But he couldn't answer a word, just hid his face and wept bitterly. Zhang Tingyu knew that he was reproaching himself, and he avoided respect and couldn't speak, and he was more and more grateful for this filial piety and etiquette, and he was speechless and weeping. The old lady stroked Li Fu's shoulder and choked up: "What a courtesy!" - You entered Beijing to take the exam, right? ”

Li Fu couldn't answer, only whimpered: "Yes......" kowtowed and got up to wipe his tears. The old lady said: "Of the three grandchildren of the Zhang family, the one I pity the most is Shiping, and I don't want me to send him to the white-haired person first!" Tingyu, I think this kid is filial piety and righteousness, and he is good with Shiping, since he came to Beijing to take the exam, why not live in our house to study? His eldest brother and second brother can also meet together in their spare time......"

"Old lady!" Zhang Tingyu hurriedly bowed down and said with a smile, "My son also likes scribes. However, since this Mr. Li is here to take the exam, he should avoid it, and it is not suitable to live in the house. Since the mother has this kind of life, the son thinks that it is better to live in our family temple and study. After passing the exam, whether you are in or not, you will have a good response, and outsiders can't say anything - the imperial court has already decreed that the fourth and thirteenth masters of Anhui will return to Beijing, and Qiu Yu is only afraid that the two masters will also preside over it! ”

The old lady couldn't help but be stunned: there are many people here, and it is inconvenient for her son to say anything, but the fourth elder brother Yinzhen and the thirteenth elder brother Yinxiang are both notoriously scathing and mean people. After that, he ordered someone to go home, and Li Fu naturally followed.

Wu Sidao dragged his heavy legs back to the backyard, only to find that the rain had already stopped, and the sky was white and shiny. I don't know where the sex voice went, but Tian Wenjing held a book and fell asleep crookedly by the wall. The room was empty, and Wu Sidao suddenly felt an inexplicable loneliness. Tian Wenjing, who originally felt amiable and respectable, suddenly had a faint layer of separation. His grim face seemed to be covered with a layer of frost, and he carefully discerned the handwriting on it one by one along the stone tablet attached to the wall.

I don't know how long later, the temple bell rang, it was time for fasting, and there were voices and hurried footsteps outside, and someone shouted: "Right here, right in this house!" As he spoke, more than a dozen people rushed in. Tian Wenjing, who was asleep, sat up, rubbed his worried eyes and asked, "What's wrong?" Was it a fire or was it the other way around? Wu Sidao saw Zhang Gui staring at himself in the crowd, and his face suddenly turned pale: Jin Yuze couldn't let himself go, so he came to the door!

"That's him!" Zhang Gui frowned, glanced at the room viciously, and designated Wu Sidao, "**The master mother didn't obey, hanged herself, and secretly hid in the temple-aha!" What are you staring at me for? You are a wild mongrel who has not been able to develop for eight lifetimes, and you don't know that it is difficult to hide in the three-foot world of life? I thought you were flying away, but it turned out that my wife was haunted by the soul - what you do can be tolerated by the sky, fart and cover it, where are you going? Wu Sidao heard his head buzzing, and he sat down paralyzed with his crutches thrown away, muttering, "She's dead...... She's dead? Lan Cao'er is dead......"

Zhang Gui said by him, "Take it!" A few elders pounced on him like a wolf and a tiger, and tied up Wu Sidao, who had no ability to resist, with a rope, like rice dumplings, and dragged him up and was about to leave, but Tian Wenjing, who was stunned, came to his senses, waved his hand and shouted:

"Slow!"

Tian Wenjing slowly paced in front of Zhang Gui, smiled coldly and asked, "He** your mother, who is the witness?" Zhang Gui saw that he was wearing an openwork silver crown, and knew that he was a lifter, so he didn't dare to be too contemptuous, and snorted: "What kind of witness do you want for this kind of thing?" The mistress hanged herself in his room, and his coat was there, and it was evident that he had fled in a hurry because of his disobedience on a rainy night. Human life is at stake, you don't care! ”

"Oh?" Tian Wenjing tilted his head and pondered, "Your mistress originally died in Wu Sidao's room?" As far as I know, Wu Sidao stayed in the Jin family for less than twelve hours. Joining relatives from afar, and there are many entertainments, why did your housewife have an adultery with him, and why did she come to Wu Sidao's house? Wu Sidao is a disabled person and has no power to restrain the chicken, since it is **, why didn't your housewife shout for help, but committed suicide by hanging herself? Zhang Gui couldn't help but be dumbfounded, and it took a while to come back to his senses, Gege smiled, looked at Tian Wenjing and said, "Are you the Yin of Shuntian Mansion or the county order of Wanping?" Is this a trial of me, or a trial of Wu Sidao? But seeing that you are a literati, I am afraid that you will ruin your reputation, so you dare to go on this stage! Bastard, bastard, so you can fold the ink in your belly, and get ready to enter! Fart and spicy, taking care of the man's business? - Pull the surname Wu and go! ”

At this moment, Xingyin came from the south corridor with a bowl of rice in one hand, and the situation in the house had already been heard clearly, because he smiled and said, "Hey, the big housekeeper of the Jin family, how can there be such a Meng Lang?" Mr. Wu hasn't eaten for a few days, and he is holding on to it in one breath, will he follow you this time, will he still have his life? Come on, come on! Give the monk a face, go back and tell your master, saying that he is sick, and the monk is treating him, and when he is cured, I will personally send him to the door, how to say it, I will stuff a bowl of porridge to Wu Sidao, who is in a daze, "Take advantage of the cold, eat quickly, and you can eat another bowl in a hurry - Lao Tian, you also go to eat, it will be gone when it is late." Where have I seen the monks in this temple, what Buddhist disciples, they are all starving ghosts to survive, and they don't want to eat and die! "Tut-tut...... "He chattered with a misty hippie smile, and the room was full of people who looked at it as if it were nothing, and several family members couldn't help but laugh and cover their mouths. Zhang Gui thought he was a madman at first, but then he couldn't help but be furious and shouted, "Go!" "I slapped a round slap and slapped me in the face! Unexpectedly, as soon as he raised his hand slightly, he grabbed it tightly, and with a twist, Zhang Guizao flipped over and half-knelt on the ground, dragging his legs and pouting his buttocks, grinning in pain.

"What an ugly look!" With a smile, Xingyin deducted the bowl of hot gruel in his right hand on his face, and with a lift, Zhang Gui fell out of the door more than a foot away! Sexuyin rubbed his hands together and laughed: "Buddha, sin! It's a good bowl of rice stained. Then he turned to the crowd and said, "Which of you dares to try again, or let's go to the fasting room?" There's also a half-pot of porridge there! After that, he tucked Wu Si out with one hand and said, "Let's go, let's go...... Can't be provoked, can't you hide? When the people saw him in such a way, they dared to stop them, and watched them go. Wu Sidao was dragged by him and walked fast, earning two struggles, just like casting in the arms of Xingyin, because he said: "Don't drag, I am not guilty, I want to reason with them Shuntianfu!" ”

"Mr. Wu," Xingyin kept dragging Wu Si out of the mountain gate—there was already a sedan chair waiting there—and stuffed Wu Sidao into the sedan chair, and he himself came in and sat opposite, and then said, "I am the presiding monk of the Sibeile Mansion Temple, and I have been ordered by the fourth master to protect you for a long time!" You were angry with people in Yangzhou and offended the eighth master, if it weren't for the fourth master's love for your talent, you would have been dead for a long time! In addition to the fourth master in the whole world, I am afraid that no one will protect you thoroughly! I explained that I hope you will understand the world affairs and follow the fourth master to do a career, if you must refuse, my monk is also dedicated. ”

Wu Sidao quietly looked at the backward street houses, as if he had just woken up from a nightmare, and many things he didn't understand had answers, and he breathed a sigh of relief for a long time, and said: "From now on, I am the fourth master's person......"

"The fourth master said again and again in the letter, don't force you." The sexual voice said coldly, "You are so good. The fourth master will treat you with a teacher's courtesy. ”

Zhang Tingyu had just gotten off the sedan chair when he returned home to serve his mother, and the person on the door stepped forward and said, "Master, the father-in-law of He Zhu'er in the inner court has just gone out, and he has passed on the prince's edict to tell you to go in!" Zhang Tingyu couldn't help but be stunned, and hurriedly asked: "Is it Yuqing Palace, or Changchun Garden?" "Changchun Garden." The family said, "Ma Zhongtang and Tong Zhongtang have already gone, He Zhu'er heard that the master was not there, and he was very anxious, so he said to go quickly, and handed the sign to go in with Ma Zhongtang and Tong Zhongtang." Zhang Tingyu looked back at his mother, bowed slightly, and said, "Mother asked for placement, and my son has to go." This Mr. Li lives in the family temple, let's meet again after the exam. Then he hurriedly got on his horse. Dozens of family members in Zhang's mansion have already prepared their court clothes, crowns, and pearls, and they will go with them. This is the rule of the Zhang family, which is taken for granted, and it is not time to elaborate.

Changchun Garden is located in the western suburbs of Beijing, Nanhaidian, because it is in the south of the Old Summer Palace, so it is also called "front garden". It was originally the study villa of Li Wei, the marquis of the Qing Dynasty in the former Ming Dynasty. The Manchurians lived in the cool north and could not withstand the scorching heat. Forty-two years after Kangxi, the national strength was abundant, so he allocated more than 2 million taels of domestic currency, in addition to building a summer resort in Rehe, and repaired this front garden in Beijing, giving the name "Changchun". The outer ring of the long stream, the inner Luo blue waves, among which the stone mountain path is secluded, the pavilions are scattered, although the scorching sun in midsummer flows the fire and gold, as soon as you enter the garden, you will feel that the water vapor is cool, the moss talc is cold, it is indeed the summer garden.

Zhang Tingyu took his family, fast horse ride out of Xizhi Gate, passed the Qingfan Temple, saw the dragon roaring in the distance, a large area of lush forest and bamboo, the left and right sides of the garden gate each have a color square, the top of the five-color brocade color wall is entangled, the branches are staggered, just form the words "longevity without borders", the algae beard hangs down and is connected to the ground. Next to the double gate of flowing water, on the red pillar of the golden lacquer of the gate, the spirit of the Yan book couplet:

Immortal battles, five clouds, Luanming and prosperity

Deche Qisu Longjiao Yunzhongtian

Zhang Tingyu saw Que and immediately rolled the saddle and dismounted, changed into court clothes, and saw an official walk out of it, wearing a gold and lapis top on his head, with peacock feathers in his eyes, but there was no supplement on the robe of the eight pythons and five claws. Zhang Tingyu was secretly surprised: "I haven't heard that the four-rank civil officials have flower appreciation, besides, why doesn't the emperor even wear supplementary clothes?" After thinking about it, the person had already approached, and Zhang Tingyu saw clearly that it was Jin Zhongyu, the envoy of the North Korean State, who was stationed in Beijing to contact the two countries, and the title of Sipin Beijing was still rewarded last year, so he stood up and asked with a smile: "Lao Jin, have you seen the emperor?" ”

"I've seen it." Jin Zhongyu said with a smile. He speaks very beautiful Beijing dialect, just listening to the accent, he doesn't know that he is a foreigner, "I won the lottery today." Because he was going to return to China to report on his work, Babeile had a good word with the former elder Jin Chuan in the emperor. The emperor was happy and rewarded this feather, not afraid of offending Zhang Xiang, even you haven't yet! "Oh, you're going home?" Zhang Tingyu pondered for a moment: This eighth master, even the sycophants of foreign envoys are loud, is it still too powerful? Thinking about it, he smiled: "I've had a lot of things to do these days." See, if you can spare time, I will send you myself; If you don't have to be idle, I'll ask my family to send some Cheng Yi - go back and say hello to the king on my behalf! ”

Jin Zhongyu smiled and said, "You are a busy person, you have everything with this sentence." Cheng Yi Baye sent me six thousand taels, which is enough to use, and if there is a difficulty when I come next spring, I will find Zhang Xiang to fight the famine - go in quickly, Ma Qi and Tong Guowei are waiting in Peiwenzhai! With that, he raised his hand and resigned. Zhang Tingyu didn't dare to delay any longer, and was led into the Caifang by the little eunuch, through a flower hole made of rose moon season branches, and went to the west of the open space - nine oilcloth yellow sheds on one side, but it was the place where the provinces entered Beijing to report on their work and introduced the officials to the north - and saw a small mountain-style hall connected by three wings standing in the north of the road, with three big characters written on it, and a tall official wearing a flowering coral top greeted him early, clapping his hands and saying: "Hengchen!" How did you get it, it's coming sooner or later? Long live the Lord has just met the North Korean envoy and is changing clothes. If we don't come in for a while, what are we going to do? ”

"Ma Qi," Zhang Tingyu smiled, "You impatient ghost temperament, what do you look like a prime minister?" Am I not here? While speaking, he paced into the fast, but saw another minister in the study, Tong Guowei, talking to an official across the coffee table, and when he saw Zhang Tingyu coming in, he only nodded slightly as a courtesy, and said: "Hengchen, let me introduce it, this is the Anhui political envoy Shi Shilun...... Shi Shilun has already stood up, bowed to Zhang Tingyu in his seat, and moved out to pay tribute to the hall. Zhang Tingyu hurriedly helped up with both hands, and said Tong Guowei with a smile: "I have admired the name for a long time, Shi Shilun, the sixth son of Lord Shilang of Jinghai!" Shi Shilun said with a smile: "I'm afraid that Zhongtang is 'long-admiring' my ugly name - the famous 'incomplete'!" ”

Everyone laughed when he said this, and even Tong Guowei, who was full of shelves, couldn't help but laugh. Zhang Tingyu looked at Shi Shilun carefully, as the folk said, the hanging eyebrows, triangular eyes, nose and mouth were very close, the chin was cocked forward like a shovel, the chicken breast, the neck was shrunk, the smart pimple was tearful, and he was slightly lame when he walked. Tong Guowei said: "Tingyu, the emperor asked Lao Shi to come in with me today, I am afraid that if you want to ask about the affairs of the officials, you have to be prepared." The fourth master and the thirteenth master have made a lot of money in Anhui, and one of them will get rid of thirty government officials - Lao Shi is from Anhui, and the emperor must ask - this is an abridgement of the approval department, you can take a look at it first. As he spoke, he handed over a fold of a yellow silk cover. Zhang Tingyu took the folded book and browsed it, only hesitating in his heart: this pair of brothers and partners cleared the arrears in Beijing, forced the death of nineteen officials, and made the government and the opposition boil. The prince asked them to go to Anhui to do river work, in fact, to avoid the limelight, why are they still in Anhui and still force debts? If you don't think about yourself, don't you think about the prince? Ma Qi sighed in a deep voice: "No matter what others say, it is rare that the hearts of the fourth master and the thirteenth master are really pure for the community, and now the officials have returned it?" One hand digs up silver from the treasury, and the other hand knocks out the bones and sucks the marrow of the people. You see, when the examiner collects money for filial piety; When an officer eats the vacancy of being a soldier, he earns military salaries; Judge the case and accept bribes, collect donations and increase the fire consumption to one, two or two - in the world of the Qing Dynasty, there are really people like the fourth master who have to rectify it. Otherwise, it must be called hollow out! ”

"Governing a big country is like cooking a small fresh." Tong Guowei smiled, "Thin and tender little fish, you use a shovel to stir around, okay?" If you want to hurry, you can't reach it, and you can't rush. "He is the younger brother of Kangxi's biological mother Tong Jiashi, with a noble posture, he always speaks with an unquestionable tone, and his exit is to teach people. Zhang Tingyu listened to the disagreement between the two, gently folded the page, and said: "The corruption of the government is obvious, no wonder the fourth master and the thirteenth master are in a hurry, but it is difficult to return, and it is not easy to blindly stab with the courage of blood and qi alone-Shilun, let's talk about it, what is the tone of the Anhui people about this matter?" ”

"Talk back to Zhang Zhongtang." Shi Shilun bowed down and replied, "Officials are a kind of mouth, and the people are another kind of mouth. The officials said, 'The sky is not afraid, the earth is not afraid, they are afraid that the fourth master will call back', and the common people said, 'If the sky is not shocked, the earth is not shocked, they are afraid that the fourth master will be transferred back to Beijing'. The tone of the mouth is different--" He just said down with his neck stalked, Zhang Tingyu saw at a glance that a man in his fifties was listening quietly with his hands behind his back next to the gilded bronze tripod in front of the fast, and he hurriedly waved his hand, stood up and took a step forward, knelt down and kowtowed: "Long live!" When did you arrive? The ministers only cared about talking, but they didn't see their masters! Shi Shilun was also taken aback, and hurriedly turned around to perform three kneels and nine bows, and Ma Qi Tong Guowei also knelt straight and asked Emperor Kangxi to fast.