Chapter 42 each have their own concerns

Mao Xiang undoubtedly did not understand Huang Zongxi's disgust.He didn't even know that Huang Zongxi was standing in the crowd watching him, because he didn't pay attention to the people around him at all.He was thinking wholeheartedly: what method should be used to get rid of Dong Xiaowan beside him. Now Maoxiang is quite regretful, at the beginning he was soft-hearted and agreed to let Dong Xiaowan see him off with the boat.He thinks like this: Although Dong Xiaowan's motives are very suspicious, as long as she is careful, she can only waste her thoughts in vain in the end.However, as the journey progressed, Mao Xiang realized more and more that this idea was too simple.Because Dong Xiaowan is obviously not the kind of woman who is easy to get rid of.It was not because she was so good at messing around; it was because of her firmness and stubbornness that during the twenty-seven days of the journey, all Mao Xiang's efforts to persuade her to leave the ship were in vain.Not only did she serve Maoxiang like the most gentle and considerate wife, the most docile and obedient servant, making him feel the comfort and comfort he had never had before, including when he was with Chen Yuanyuan; moreover, she was also like a Like the most intimate and versatile friend, a most loyal and intelligent student, he talked heart-to-heart with Mao Xiang, accompanied him to play the piano, chess, cards, and music, and listened to Mao Xiang with concentration and reverence. From time to time, she expresses her enlightenment with one or two pleasant words... It is precisely these reasons that quickly dispelled the initial annoyance caused by her forcibly sending her off, and made her feel in Maoxiang's heart. She is no longer a strange, estranged, and unpredictable woman in the world, but has become more approachable and understandable.Therefore, whenever she insisted on sending him another ride, Mao Xiang actually felt that it was difficult to hold his face and be ruthless.However, this also made him secretly surprised, feeling that something was wrong, and aware of the danger of falling into the emotional trap set by the other party.Even though he has now figured out that this is a harmless trap, he is still unwilling. "It's impossible! No matter what, she's not as good as Yuanyuan, not as good as she is! Besides, since I've lost the best, how can I settle for the second best, and make people laugh for nothing!" He thought coldly .Therefore, after arriving in Zhenjiang, Mao Xiang decided to act decisively.Early this morning, he specially brought Dong Xiaowan to climb Jinshan Mountain, intending to send her away after enjoying the tour.Who knows that on the Miaogao platform just now, before he brought it up, Dong Xiaowan seemed to have guessed his thoughts, and swears at Dajiang first, saying, "This concubine is like a river flowing eastward, and I will never return to Wumen! "He was taken aback, immediately put on a straight face, and sternly refused.After that, regardless of Xiaowan's gloomy expression, as if he was about to cry, he immediately set off down the mountain.However, although he has made his words clear, whether Dong Xiaowan will obey or not, Mao Xiang is still a little uncertain.So, along the way, he continued to make up his mind.He has made up his mind, no matter what, he must not give in this time.

Now, they have walked out of the mountain gate and are standing under three four-pillar stone squares.It was nearly noon, and the sound of the drums of the dragon boats on the river was falling silent after a while ago.The river bank was still crowded with people, probably waiting to watch the second round of the game.Zhang Mingbi originally came with them when they visited Jinshan today, but he knew that Maoxiang had something important to discuss with Xiao Wan, and when the boat landed, he excused himself to visit the abbot of the temple and left.At this moment, Mao Xiang estimated that he might have returned to the boat, so he also walked towards the pier.

"My lord," Dong Xiaowan, who was silently following after walking a few steps, suddenly stopped him, "The dragon boat race will start again soon, let's walk along the shore, shall we?" She smiled sweetly, Ask to say. Mao Xiang looked at her, feeling a little surprised. "Well, maybe she's figured it out?" he thought.Originally, he had no intention of leaving, but since the other party brought it up, Mao Xiang didn't want to appear too stingy.Moreover, as long as the other party doesn't mention the marriage, he doesn't care about anything else.So he nodded, and stopped for a while, and waited for Xiao Wan to walk side by side with him, and then walked slowly along the stone embankment along the bank.Seeing that the master did not return to the boat, Mao Cheng and a picky servant had no choice but to follow behind.

At this moment, the drums and cymbals of "Dong Dong Dang! Dang Dang Dang!" sounded again.Five dragon boats rushed through the waves and appeared on the river.These dragon boats are all equipped with exquisitely carved dragon heads and tails, each with its head held high and its scales sharp.A beautiful colorful canopy was set up on the boat, and flags and embroidered umbrellas were planted at the front and rear, fluttering in the wind.On the weapon rack at the rear end, there are dense arrays of knives, guns, swords and halberds.Twenty strong men, bound tightly and mightily, sat in the narrow and long cabin in two rows.Everyone holds a big oar in their hands, and they rise and fall together in response to the beating of the gongs and drums of their own boats, rowing the boat like a horse running off the rein, like an arrow off the string.On the dragon head of each boat, there is a young man standing upside down with his feet upside down, and an eight or nine-year-old child is suspended by a rope under the tail of the dragon. Make all kinds of thrilling postures, so that the onlookers can't help but sweat for them while admiring them.

However, the tourists along the embankment had already forgotten to watch the dragon boat race, their eyes were all attracted by Maoxiang and Dong Xiaowan who were walking slowly.The appearance and demeanor of this pair of gods are so amazing and fascinating that no matter where they go, people everywhere will automatically move away, as if they were afraid of insulting them.After they passed by, they closed up again and followed them from a distance.And this commotion attracted more people's attention, and they couldn't help but join in.There are thousands of tourists on Jinshan today, but more than half of them followed their shadows indifferently afterward...

"My lord, I hope you can remember today." Dong Xiaowan glanced at the crowd behind him and said quietly. Mao Xiang was startled for a moment, and understood what she meant.He smiled slightly: "Today we became a couple of immortals, how can we not remember!" As soon as the words came out, he felt inappropriate, so he changed his words and said, "It's no wonder they are so envious, you must know that the 'Second Director of Qinhuai' originally It’s not for nothing!” Dong Xiaowan shook his head and sighed: "Whether it's a false name or a real name, I only hope for the mercy of the young master in this life, and I'm willing to die, but who knows the young master..."

When Mao Xiang found out that she was coming again, she immediately turned cold and remained silent. Dong Xiaowan watched him from the side of the round fan, "puchi" smiled: "Okay, I won't talk about this anymore, I won't talk about it!" She removed the fan, pouted her mouth, and said softly and coquettishly, "Why, Is it not enough?" Mao Xiang snorted, and warned half-truthfully, "If you want to say those disappointing things again, I'll just..." Dong Xiaowan quickly covered his mouth with a fan, "I know, I know!" She approached him and said softly.After a pause, she asked again: "The Grand Competition is coming soon, and you will not be able to come out again until July or August?"

"Ok……" Dong Xiaowan blinked her eyes, and suddenly said with a smile: "My family is sure, this time, young master, he will definitely be able to go to high school!" "Oh, how did you see that?" "This is what the gods told me." Dong Xiaowan said earnestly, "These days, my family burns incense in front of the gods every day, silently wishing the son Jinke high school. Last night, the gods came to dream and said that the son's predecessor was Du Muzhi. Peerless, he was tabooed by Li Deyu back then, so he couldn't fully embrace it. Therefore, the emperor of heaven took pity on him and sent his son back to the world to help the true emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Mao Xiang looked at her with a half-believing expression, "Well, it's unreasonable!" he said. "Ah, this is absolutely true. The gods also said to the slaves that since the son came into the world, he has pitied the poor and cherished the weak, generously bestowed benevolence and righteousness, and filial piety to his relatives. His reputation has been heard in the government and the public. The emperor of heaven has comforted him and ordered him to increase his salary." Sanzhi. Therefore, if you go here, you will not only be promoted to Kejia, but you will also enter the cabinet to pay homage to the prime minister in the future!"

Mao Xiang was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "It's even more absurd, even more absurd!" He shook his head and said.However, even so, I feel useful in my heart.He raised his head, took a look around, and saw those dragon boats racing, gathered on the river not far from them at the moment, beating the drums and beating the drums, but not moving forward.Mao Xiang had long discovered that from the moment they appeared on the embankment, these dragon boats had been following them intentionally or unintentionally, wherever they went, they also followed.At this time, he became excited, turned his head and gave Mao Cheng a loud order:

"Go—ask them who they are and why they keep following us?" Pretending to agree.He walked to the shore and made a gesture to ask something.Those dragon boats immediately stopped beating drums and beating gongs, and after Mao Cheng loudly conveyed Mao Xiang's inquiry, one of the dragon boats rowed over.A tall and thin man got off the boat, and when he was five or six steps away from Maoxiang, he knelt down on the ground, kowtowed respectfully and said: "Young master and grandma are on top, the villain Zhou Ah Liu, please greet the master and grandma!" Mao Xiang sized up this man, feeling a little kind-hearted, and was taken aback when he heard him call him that. "Forget it, get up!" Mao Xiang waved his hand, and then asked, "I see you have a kind face, have you seen it somewhere?" "Report to my lord: In the autumn of last year, my lord, Mrs. Feng came back from Hengzhou on a boat supported by villains." Zhou Ah Liu replied with his head down. Mao Xiang said "Oh", and immediately remembered, "Not bad! It really is you!" He said happily.That time when I came back from Hunan, there was a great famine, and thieves swarmed up, so there were quite a lot of risks along the way.When he was about to reach Suzhou, he clashed with a certain eunuch's boat because of a dispute over the waterway, and the two sides had a battle.At that time, although there were soldiers guarding them, it was thanks to Zhou Ah Liu's careful arrangements for the sailing and berthing, etc. that he was able to get home safely. "Oh, I remember there are ten or twenty of you in total, are they all okay?" Mao Xiang asked again. "Thanks to the blessing of my son, they are all well." Zhou Ah Liu said, then turned around and pointed with his finger: "No, they are all on the boat!" As soon as the words finished, as if in response to his words, the drums on the dragon boat suddenly started beating loudly.Then, the whole ship let go of their throats and shouted in unison: "I wish you all the best and the best of luck!" "Oh, good, good!" Maoxiang nodded happily.He turned around and ordered Maocheng: "Go back to the boat, seal twenty taels of silver, and pick up two jars of the 'Orchid Three Whites' you bought yesterday, and I'll ask brother Saturday to bring them back to help everyone have fun." After hearing this, Zhou Ah Liu hurriedly knelt down again, kowtowed to thank him, went to the riverside, and explained a few words to his companions, and then he went out of his way. The people on the dragon boat obviously knew that Mao Xiang had rewarded them, and they beat the drums more happily; then they rowed the boat away from the river bank, rejoined the other dragon boats, and formed a line on the river.The boatmen shouted louder and saluted Mao Xiang once again, and then the five young men who stood upside down on the dragon's head and the five children who hung on the dragon's tail put on a show with all their might - holding a big top, erecting a dragonfly, and standing alone with a golden rooster... …One trick is more thrilling than the other, and the style is more beautiful than the other, which makes thousands of tourists on and off the Jinshan Mountain dazzled and mesmerized.Mao Xiang seemed very excited. He enjoyed this wonderful performance specially dedicated to him with great interest, and he laughed loudly and happily from time to time, as if he had completely forgotten Dong Xiaowan beside him...

---

Notes: