Chapter 95 6. Xia Shoutian's affectionate attachment to his deceased concubine made Shu Ji feel very uncomfortable
After receiving Xizi's letter, Xia Shoutian traveled day and night from Xi'an back to Beijing.
The Qing Dynasty was overthrown, and the Hanlin Academy was naturally disbanded. Xia Shoutian's family was rich, so he didn't care too much about being knocked out of his job.He has long admired the historic sites in Xijing.The autumn wind in Maoling and the weeping willows on the Baqiao have long aroused his long-lasting nostalgia for the past.For example, his wife, Yue Shuang, has always loved Xingsheng in Guanzhong and wanted to go west to sketch.The two shared similar interests, so they hurriedly went to Xi'an.His wife, Mrs. Chen, has always been jealous of her husband's preference for Mrs. Yue, and happened to receive a letter from home.The letter said that his mother was seriously ill and missed his daughter dearly, so Mrs. Chen took the opportunity to go back to her hometown in Guiyang with her two children.Yue Shuang got rid of the contender, and happily accompanied her husband, painting and reciting poems all the way to Xi'an.
Although the flames of war were everywhere inside and outside the pass, they lingered among the forest of wild goose pagodas and steles, wandered along the banks of the Lishan River and the Weishui River, hung on the relics of their ancestors, and enjoyed the wonders of mountains and rivers.Unexpectedly, extreme joy begets sorrow, Yue Shuang unfortunately fell ill and couldn't afford it in Xi'an, Xia Shoutian buried his concubine next to Xiangji Temple with great grief.He rented a meditation room in Xiangji Temple, worshiped Buddha and recited scriptures every day, and stayed by his concubine's Xiang's house for a whole hundred days.At the end of the hundred days, he still didn't want to leave Xi'an, so he became an aide in the Shaanxi Governor's Yamen.Usually, the complicated copywriting and books can temporarily dispel the worries in the heart, and when the thoughts are extreme, you can go to the Xiangji Temple to visit the grave.Xia Shoutian decided to just stay in Xi'an and forget about it, and bring his wife and children out of his hometown in Guiyang when autumn cools.At this moment, he received an urgent letter from Yang Du, asking him to go to Beijing, the capital has a high position waiting for him.
When Xia Shoutian stepped into Huai'an Hutong, it happened that Yang Du Xiantian went to Xiaotangshan Villa.Although the hostess was not there, all the hostesses in the room were acquaintances. After Xia Shoutian visited Mrs. Li as a nephew, he talked with his uncle, Huang, and sister Jingzhu.
During the conversation, Shuji looked carefully at the lover in her early heart from time to time, and felt a lot of emotion in her heart.
It has been twenty years since the first meeting in Guide Town that year, and the girl who was seventeen or eighteen years old is now almost forty.People say that a forty-year-old woman is bean curd.Although the strong uncle doesn't think so, she has to admit that there are more and more wrinkles at the corners of her eyes when she looks in the mirror every day, and she looks older and older.
Uncle Ji has not been very happy in the past ten years.After becoming the daughter-in-law of the Wang family, she indeed worshiped a very outstanding teacher, and she made great progress in poetry and prose.The father-in-law loves her very much, even more than his own children.No matter how good the poems are, no matter how nice her father-in-law is to her, for a woman, they can't replace the affection between husband and wife.The biggest shortcoming of Uncle Ji is that her husband cannot satisfy her.
Dai Yi has always been deeply in love with his uncle, except for a short period of misbehavior in Japan, he has been married for more than ten years, and he has no ulterior motives.In front of my uncle, I was always polite.After studying abroad, he also worked in the provincial and Xiangtan county yamen.Although he does not have a formal official title, he still has a general social status. As for supporting a family, there is absolutely no problem.If she was an ordinary woman, she would be able to live her whole life with such a husband.Uncle Ji is otherwise, she is a proud and talented woman.She hopes that she can become Li Qingzhao, and that her husband is Zhao Mingcheng.Her ideal husband should be doing a big business outside, and when he comes home, he will talk to her about the past and the present, and sing poems for her.If there is such a husband, she is willing to love him like Yi Anju so that "a man is thinner than a yellow flower".But Dai Yi didn't do a great job.She often said to her husband: "Look at Cai Songpo, they all studied military in Japan together, and now he is the governor of Yunnan, so you are not shy."
As far as the matter of chanting is concerned, Dai Yi is also far behind Naifu.Ever since Dai Yi admitted that most of the poems and essays in "Xuebu Ji" were written by his father, Uncle Ji has been full of anger for two months.Later, she wanted to give advice to her husband, but Dai Yi just didn't live up to expectations, and no matter how much she gave advice, she couldn't meet her requirements, so she was completely discouraged.
There is no great cause, and there is no joy of singing poems for rewards. Uncle Ji is really disappointed in Dai Yi.Husbands and wives often quarrel over trivial matters.Once they quarreled, she would go back to her mother's house.Every time, Dai Yi came to pick her up with a smile on his face.As soon as she entered the Xiangqi Tower, her father-in-law always coaxed her and scolded her son.He kept repeating those two sentences: "Dai Yi is not worthy to be your husband, just look at my old face and be my female disciple!" It was because of these two words for her father-in-law that Uncle Concubine reluctantly Strongly maintained this small family, did not break up.
The more dissatisfied she is with her marriage, the more Uncle Ji misses her first love.Xia Lang sitting in front of him should be about forty-seven or eight years old, his body is fat, and there are a little frost on his temples.The careful uncle found that the two bright, lively and carefree eyes in the past did not seem to be too bright, and there was a kind of maturity and stability in the eyes after the world, perhaps because of the loss of the concubine, but also obviously a little Grief and pain.
"Oh, everything has changed. It would be great if life was forever young!" Shuji sighed deeply in her heart.
"Dai Yi didn't come to Beijing?" Xia Shoutian turned his face to chat with Uncle Concubine.
"He didn't come." Uncle Ji replied with a wry smile.
"Haven't seen him for many years, how is it?"
"He's not what he used to be!"
Xia Shoutian saw that Uncle Concubine couldn't get up when talking about her husband, and seeing that Dai Yi didn't come together, he knew that the couple must be at odds, so he changed the subject: "I think you must have done a lot of poetry and essays over the years. , I will live in your house for a period of time, and I want to listen to you carefully."
As the old saying goes, "articles hate fate", "poetry is poor, and then work". The unsatisfactory marriage life of Uncle Ji these years has actually fulfilled her poetry creation.She has a lot of boudoir grievances to resort to writing, and she also has a lot of leisure time to ponder over and over again. A female talent who is nearly forty years old has already perfected her poems and songs.Dai Yi couldn't bear to talk to him, his elder brother was busy with political affairs and had no time to talk in detail, Huang and Yi Zhu didn't understand poetry, Jing Zhu was very interested, but after all he was a little less talented, just like Zhuang Zi was eager to see Hui Shi, uncle How much Ji hopes to have a highly talented and master scholar to discuss with her carefully!Now a great talent came, not to mention that this great talent once occupied her whole heart.She happily said: "Master Xia has this interest, I will ask you for advice every day."
"Master Xia"!This long-lost title, Xia Shoutian, who has gone through many vicissitudes, sounds so kind and emotional today.Looking at Shu Ji's twinkling eyes and the slight blush on his face, the image of the intelligent and innocent Miss Yang in the General Military Mansion of Guide Town twenty years ago suddenly came to his mind.A sweet memory came to my heart immediately accompanied by nostalgia for youth.What a beautiful spring, what a beautiful boyhood and girlhood!How wonderful it would be if time could be turned back and everything could be restored to the environment that had passed away!
"Well, I'm most interested in listening to you talk about poetry."
Mr. He came over to greet everyone for dinner.
After the meal, Xia Shoutian was led into a small room in Xitou.The room is furnished in a simple, elegant and comfortable way: silver-white sheets, cream-yellow quilt cover, and egg-blue pillowcases, laid flat on a small wooden bed.Next to the window is a dark red desk with all the four treasures of the study.A few unopened jasmine flowers are inserted in a small rectangular porcelain vase, adding a faint fragrance to the small room.There are two low-leg wooden sofas by one wall, and a picture of Qi Baishi's "Shrimp Interesting Picture" is hung on the sofa.
Xia Shoutian stood in front of the painting with great interest and began to appreciate it carefully.On the screen, five or six large and small shrimps swim beside the aquatic plants, vivid and lifelike, with different shapes, especially the two long tentacles on the head of the shrimps, which are thin, hard and vivid, ten times more beautiful than real shrimps .The last time he went back to Hunan, Xia Shoutian met Qi Baishi at the Xiangqi Tower.He couldn't understand how such a rustic, clumsy and stingy peasant carpenter could have such a clever hand!
After seeing Qi Baishi's paintings, Xia Shoutian thought of his concubine's paintings again.Yue Shuang is good at drawing, and some paintings are also good, but they are naturally far behind this "Shrimp Interesting Picture".If Yue Shuang was still alive, he would really invite Baishi to Beijing to give her advice.With Yue Shuang's intelligence, he will definitely benefit a lot.It's a pity, when Xia Shoutian thought of this, his sadness came out again.
He opened the wooden box he brought from Xi'an, and there were more than a dozen Yue Shuang's paintings in the box, which were handpicked by her during her illness and handed over to her husband for permanent preservation, and she burned the rest.There is a picture of "Baqiao Catkins", which Yue Shuang considers to be her favorite work, and Xia Shoutian also likes it.He took out the painting, spread it on the table, and watched it over and over again.
Baqiao is an ancient bridge on the Bahe River in the east of Xi'an.Since the Han and Tang Dynasties, tens of thousands of weeping willows have been planted on both sides of the Baqiao.Most of the guests sent east to the Central Plains stop here, and then they fold a willow branch as a farewell.Liu is a homonym of "stay", which means to stay and say goodbye. "The willows are full of smoke and spring on the bank of the bank, and they climb and fold into pedestrians every year", which is what is written.Every spring, countless branches covered with green leaves hang down to the river, making both sides of Baqiao a green world.When the breeze blows, catkins fly all over the sky, scattered like snowflakes on the water surface and fields, and scattered on tourists, forming a large landscape in Xi'an.People like to come here for a youth tour.The ancient custom of breaking willows to give goodbye is still preserved: friends travel far away, send them to the bridge, and then fold a weeping willow to send each other off, saying goodbye to each other with tears.
Last spring, Xia Shoutian and Yue Shuang saw this scene by the Baqiao.Among the catkins fluttering in the sky, a young couple broke up beside the Baqiao, and the wife folded a weeping willow and gave it to her husband.The couple was relatively speechless.Yue Shuang saw it and was greatly moved.When I got home, I immediately laid out paper and painted.Xia Shoutian was grinding ink for her.Baqiao, weeping willows, catkins, and the couple together form a beautiful and sad picture.After the painting is completed, everyone praises it.Unexpectedly, Yue Shuang fell ill soon, and this "Baqiao Catkin Picture" became her last pen.Thinking of this, Xia Shoutian decided to hang up the picture and let it face himself every day.
Looking back at the room, he found the most suitable place to hang "Shrimp Fun Picture", and said softly in his heart: "Brother Baishi, if you feel wronged, let this place be temporarily used by Yue Shuang for a few days!" Take down the "Picture of Interesting Shrimp" and hang up the "Picture of Baqiao Catkins" upright.
After hanging the painting, he took out a small wooden photo frame, in which was a photo of him and Yue Shuang.He placed the photo frame on the desk, and sat on the edge of the bed to look at it carefully.After looking at it, I feel that this photo frame is only suitable to be placed on the small porcelain vase.He took away the porcelain vase with the jasmine in it, and put the photo frame there.
At this moment, Shuji gently opened the door with a teapot in hand.She was about to call out "Master Xia", but suddenly saw that the "Picture of Shrimp Fun" on the wall was gone, replaced by another painting.She tiptoed over without disturbing Xia Shoutian whose back was turned to her.She saw four words in the lower left corner of the painting: Yue Shuang learns painting.She understood that this painting was painted by his wife Ru.Uncle Ji felt uncomfortable.It turned out that she had brought this "Shrimp Fun Picture" from Qi Baishi's home.Before Baishi had any inscriptions, she brought them to Beijing.When she heard that Mr. Xia was coming and staying at home for a period of time, she specially picked out this painting, sent it to the store to be framed, and hung it in the room as a gift.Unexpectedly, Mr. Xia would replace this masterpiece with Mrs. Ru's unsophisticated painting!
In a blink of an eye, Uncle Ji is even less quick.The jasmine flowers she picked for Mr. Xia are gone, along with the porcelain vases in which they were placed.Jasmine is her favorite flower. This small porcelain vase was given to her by her father when she was a child. She has always treasured it, and now she took it out for the sake of her beloved Mr. Xia.It was unexpectedly moved to another place by him inadvertently, and what was replaced was a photo of him and Yue Shuang.Uncle Ji felt very uncomfortable.
Still carrying the teapot, she quietly exited the room, returned to her bedroom, and sat alone for a long time in a daze.She gradually understood that Mr. Xia only had Yue Shuang in his heart, and it was impossible and she should not insert herself into their emotional world.She picked up a pen and scribbled down a few lines of poetry:
She put down her pen, and sighed a long sigh, her interest in discussing poetry and papers with Mr. Xia has been reduced by half!
The next day, Yang Du came back from Xiaotangshan.A pair of close friends reunited in the capital, naturally happy.Yang Du comforted Wu Yi to let go of his longing for Yue Shuang, because this kind of longing is not good for the dead, and will only increase the suffering of the living. It is better to focus on doing a great cause, and become famous in the future. A better memorial for the dead.Of course Xia Shoutian could understand his old friend's kindness.
Yang Du told Wu Yi that the Internal History Supervisor was looking for a capable internal historian. Half a month ago, he sent Wu Yi's resume through Yuan Keding.Yuan Shikai came from a very heavy family background, and he was already very satisfied to see that Xia Shoutian was the second in the Reform Division, and he was even more happy to see that he was the son of Governor Xia Shi.It turned out that Yuan Shikai had acquaintance with Xia Shi once, and had a good impression of Xia Shi.He was the second in the list and a family friend, and Yuan Shikai was about to use such a person, so he personally approved: transferred Xia Shoutian to Beijing, served as the internal historian and supervised the internal historian, with a monthly salary of 300 yuan.
The Internal History Supervisor is equivalent to the current confidential secretariat and is a very important institution.There are already three internal historians, with monthly salaries ranging from 100 yuan, 150 yuan, and 200 yuan respectively. Xia Shoutian pays 300 yuan when he comes, which shows that Yuan Shikai thinks highly of him.Xia Shoutian is very satisfied with this position, no matter in terms of status or salary, it is not only far from being comparable to the staff of the Shaanxi Governor's Mansion, but also superior to the bachelor's degree in the Imperial Academy.He is very grateful for the support of his old friends.
After resting for a few days, Yang Du led Xia Shoutian to see Ruan Zhongshu, chief of internal history.In the carriage to the presidential palace, Yang Du told the new internal historian a story he heard from Yuan Keding about the chief internal historian.
As early as when Yuan Shikai was the governor of Zhili, Ruan Zhongshu was the chief of staff of the governor's office.This person has no fame, but his academic articles are excellent.He lives a life of upside-down morning and evening every day.During the day, I sleep with my head covered, and I get up in the evening. After eating, I lie on the kang and smoke for an hour, and then I go into the house to do business.He is energetic and quick in thinking, no matter how many official duties, how difficult the letter memorial is, he can finish it in one night.In the early morning of the next day, he put the things he had arranged on the desk one by one, and went out to have fun by himself, and others would follow his instructions without causing any mistakes.Therefore, even though Yuan Shikai didn't like his bad habits of smoking opium and sleeping day and night, he still reused him.
One day, Ruan Zhongshu told Yuan Shikai that he had taken a fancy to Yan'er, a girl from Baoding Yanxiangyuan, and planned to redeem her to be a concubine.Yuan Shikai scowled and said: "The chief of staff in the dignified supervisor's office, how can he marry a prostitute as a concubine? You should give up this idea!"
Seeing Shangfeng's resolute opposition, Ruan Zhongshu had no choice but to give up, but his heart was dispirited.From then on, he couldn't lift his spirits up, and his articles didn't have the same brilliance as before.
On this day, Yuan Shikai said to Ruan Zhongshu: "Come with me to Tianjin!"
When he arrived in Tianjin, Yuan Shikai said: "Tonight, a friend of mine is having a wedding. Come and eat at the wedding bar with me!"
At night, two sedan chairs were carried into a secluded alley.As soon as I got off the sedan chair, the sound of firecrackers and drum music rang out.As soon as Ruan Zhongshu stepped into the threshold, a group of women shouted: "The new young lady has entered the room!" Ruan Zhongshu was puzzled, and asked the governor beside him, "Who is the new young lady?" Yuan Shikai laughed and said, "It's you, hurry up and enter the bridal chamber!" The bride has been waiting for you for a day." Ruan Zhongshu walked into the candlelit bridal chamber suspiciously, and saw a woman in red clothes and red trousers sitting on the edge of the bed, with a bright red shawl on her head.Yuan Shikai encouraged: "Uncover it quickly!" Ruan Zhongshu hesitantly opened the red shawl, and was stunned: Isn't this a wild goose?Why is she sitting here?He wiped his eyes, and then looked carefully: Yes, it is really a wild goose.He was ecstatic, grabbed Yan'er's hand and asked, "Why did you come here?" The girl said shyly, "Master Yuan redeemed me and sent me to Tianjin, saying that you are waiting for me here."
Ruan Zhongshu immediately understood everything.How far-reaching was Yuan Shikai's intentions in preparing this happy event for him!The lecherous chief of staff excitedly said to his Shangfeng: "Master Yuan, you are really my reborn parents, and Zhongshu has followed you wholeheartedly for the rest of his life!"
Hearing this, Xia Shoutian burst out laughing, he thought the Chief Internal History Officer was a very interesting person, and President Yuan's understanding of his subordinates was rare in ancient and modern times.
Ruan Zhongshu came out to meet them.Because it was approaching noon, it was time for him to go to bed, so he was in a particularly bad mood, his face was dark and gloomy, and he yawned repeatedly.He shook hands with Xia Shoutian weakly, and said, "Just now the eldest son called to take care of him personally. From tomorrow onwards, the Internal History Supervisor will directly deal with the president himself. You are the one who will deal with the president himself. Work hard, the president will not treat anyone badly. "
Xia Shoutian hurriedly bent down and said, "From now on, I will rely on you to take care of me!"
"To each other, to each other." Ruan Zhongshu yawned and asked, "Where do you live, are your family members here?"
Yang Du replied on his behalf: "I live in my house temporarily, and my family members are still in Hunan."
Ruan Zhongshu said to Xia Shoutian: "Let's live there for a couple of months, and I will find you a good house in Zhongnanhai."
Ruan Zhongshu couldn't resist the attack of dozing off, so he hurriedly ended the conversation: "Okay, this is the end of today's chat. Tomorrow, you come to the Internal History Supervisor an hour early at seven o'clock sharp, and I will arrange your work. Yes. The president comes into the office at eight o'clock on time, and you have to get busy."
Xia Shoutian is talented, but he doesn't have the loose and conceited habit of ordinary talented people.He is modest and prudent, diligent and conscientious.No matter how bad the weather was, he was never late or left early.No matter how many official duties he has, he never complains and always does them well.After two months, not only Ruan Zhongshu liked him, but Yuan Shikai was also very satisfied, thinking that he was an ideal talent for internal history, and he became more and more important to him.
Chatting after dinner one day, Yang Du asked Xia Shoutian nonchalantly: "Is there any news in the presidential palace recently?"
Xia Shoutian replied casually: "Yesterday the President had a chat with Xu Xiangguo. The President said that most of the old people in Xiaozhan back then are now depressed, especially Duan Qirui, who thinks he has a lot of qualifications and meritorious service, so he often doesn't come to meetings. It's really shameful. Xu Xiangguo said that the chief of the army should just be replaced by another person. The President said, I also want to use a new person to reform the new Beiyang army, but I can't find a suitable person for a while."
When Yang Du heard this, he thought this was a big move by Yuan Shikai.Yuan was dissatisfied with Duan for more than a day. He may have been planning to remove Duan from his position as chief of the Army for a long time, but there was no definite news. Fortunately, Xia Shoutian was by Yuan's side, so he could get such fast and accurate information.He couldn't help secretly admiring Yuan Keding's shrewdness. It was his suggestion of arranging someone to be by the old man's side that made Xia Shoutian where he is today.
"Did they talk about some candidates?" The post of chief of the army is very easy, and whoever sits in this position will control the country's armed forces.Yang Du got up and carried the teapot to refill the water for his old friend, so as to hide his thoughtful expression just now.He still can't tell the purpose of Xia's placement as a spy.Because he knew that his former classmate was a well-behaved person and didn't have much political ambition.If you tell him clearly, he will be afraid instead, and may even resign.
"They mentioned a few people, Tan Yankai from Hunan, Yan Xishan from Shanxi, and Lu Jianzhang, the commander of the guards."
Yang Du weighed these people one by one in his heart, but unfortunately they had nothing to do with him.
"There is also Cai E from Yunnan." After a pause, Xia Shoutian announced another name.
"CaiE!"
Yang Du's heart skipped a beat, and the scene of eight people raising their glasses to swear together in Shiwu School that year immediately came to mind, the youngest of which was Cai E.Thin and lean, with small eyes but great spirits, a short but steady current affairs student, left a deep impression on Yang Du's mind at that time.Especially when we met again in Yokohama ten years ago, Cai E was already a heroic soldier.He recited "Hunan Youth Song" excitedly, and Yang Du always remembered his sincere admiration for himself.Over the past ten years, Cai E has been down-to-earth, devoted himself to military training, and emerged in the military circle with outstanding achievements.What is commendable is that Cai E is upright and cautious, so he has won a wide reputation.In the year of 1911, he led the Kunming New Army to respond to the Wuchang Uprising, and was unanimously elected as the governor of Yunnan. He is only 32 years old this year.Such a young governor with both ability and political integrity is really a blessing in today's China.If he was introduced to Beijing to take charge of the chief seal of the army, it would be tantamount to attracting a golden god of armor in his future political career.With the past friendship and today's recommendation, Yang Du believes that the hot-blooded man Cai E will become his confidant.
Thinking of this, Yang Du became extremely excited.He smiled and said to Xia Shoutian: "Wu Yi, I borrowed a phonograph from a friend yesterday and played a play for you."
"Okay, which part to play?"
"Let's play a piece of "Changbanpo" by Shang Heyu!"
Yang Du gently shook the handle, the record was spinning, and Shang Heyu's high-pitched and powerful singing voice sounded in the study: "Zhao Zilong dropped the silver gun and entered the siege again. Save the young master and help the Han family. I am utterly loyal..."
Yang Du half-closed his eyes, hit the table with his left hand in sync with the beat, unknowingly moved his head, and nodded his legs accordingly.He seems to think that Cai E is the current Zhao Zilong, and he will undoubtedly be the eternal Zhuge Liang!