Chapter 74 cold face iron core

No wonder Zhang Zilie couldn't find Maoxiang in Taoyehefang, because early in the morning, Maoxiang took Dong Xiaowan out of the city from Tongjimen to Shenlian to watch plum blossoms. In Nanjing, God Optimism is another famous place to visit.It is located on the southwest side of the Great Salute.The musical instruments used by the imperial court to hold god worship ceremonies are stored in the temple on weekdays.There are continuous forest belts in that place, towering ancient trees, and the palace view with red walls and blue tiles, the scenery is quite elegant and solemn.Especially the large plum grove beside the view, every winter and spring, hundreds of millions of flowers are blooming against the cold. At a glance, it looks like clouds and flocks, and you can smell the refreshing fragrance blowing in the wind from a long distance. .At this time, the scholars and civilians in Nanjing City also dispatched one after another, and went to play and watch with wine and companions.However, the reason why Maoxiang decided to bring Dong Xiaowan out today was not because he really had any interest in sightseeing, but because he was bored in the river room and bored with receiving guests and friends, so he simply hid outside Come.Indeed, although he has only been in Nanjing for half a year, the enthusiasm that he had eagerly hoped to join in the national disaster in the hope of displaying his ambitions has been completely extinguished.If it is said that when he first arrived in Nanjing, he was only surprised and disappointed by the increasingly serious threat from the Qing army in the north, but the court was obsessed with internal strife and had no sense of crisis, then in recent months, the court The honest and gentlemen in the palace were dismissed one after another. On the contrary, the gang of foxes and dogs headed by Ma Shiying climbed the dragon and the phoenix one after another, occupying almost all the vital points, and Mao Xiang's inner despair also reached its peak.In fact, the power of the Ministry of Officials has now fallen into the hands of Zhang Jie, the remnant of the eunuch party. Not only a large number of old people who were listed in the rebellion case have been appointed one after another and entered the court boldly, even the dead eunuch members For example, Huo Weihua, Liu Tingyuan, Yang Suoxiu, Xu Dahua, etc., also gave posthumous titles, sacrifices and sympathies one by one.That’s not to mention, recently Ruan Dacheng and others have intensified their efforts and petitioned the imperial court to request that the criminal case book that the eunuch party used to persecute Donglin people in the past, which had been burned by the order of Emperor Chongzhen, to be rewritten. Published, "to clarify right and wrong".Judging from this momentum, Ma, Ruan and others are indeed as Chen Zhenhui estimated, not only satisfied with arresting Zhou Biao and Lei Zuo, but trying to catch all the gentlemen.In the end, the resigned Zhang Shenyan, Jiang Yueguang, Lu Daqi, Liu Zongzhou, Xu Shiqi, Gu Xichou, as well as the still-employed Shi Kefa, Qian Qianyi and other Donglin school leaders were not spared, even Fushe members including myself You guys, I'm afraid they will not escape doom!When thinking that he might become a sacrificial object for the party's disaster before the country is destroyed and his family is destroyed, the hatred and despair in Mao Xiang's heart are really beyond words.But he also refused to leave.Because Chen Zhenhui, Wu Yingji, and a large group of other members of the society still stayed.After experiencing the turmoil of running for his father's transfer two years ago, this time Mao Xiang has made up his mind that he can no longer let others see him as a coward who is greedy for life and afraid of death. "Yes, even if I have to go, I can only be the last one!" He gritted his teeth and thought.

Dong Xiaowan is undoubtedly not clear about Maoxiang's pain, because Maoxiang has always kept her secret about this kind of concern.Dong Xiaowan could only guess based on her husband's gloomy demeanor and his increasingly irritable and irritable temper that something went wrong with him.In order to comfort her husband, she could only be more considerate and obedient. Even if she was scolded and accused by Mao Xiang outrageously and unreasonably, she silently endured it and never added fuel to the fire. "Yes, as long as he scolds me, he will feel better!" She prayed worriedly.So today, when Mao Xiang suddenly proposed to go to Shenlian to see the plum blossoms, Dong Xiaowan was really surprised and happy, and immediately dressed up, followed by Ziyi, Maocheng and a picky eater, and hurried out with her husband.

Now, a group of people have already left Tongji Gate, passing through Xiangfang, Xuanzhen Temple, and Shanchuan Altar.Along the way, Dong Xiaowan kept looking out through the car curtain.She also visited this place several times when she lived in the old courtyard on the Qinhuai River in the early years.She found that compared with the bustling scene in the past, there were significantly fewer tourists on the road this year.Sometimes the sedan chair walked for a long time before bumping into a few of them, and most of them were walking along, without that kind of enthusiasm at all.However, this did not affect Dong Xiaowan's mood. "Hey, it's better if there are fewer people. Plum blossoms are so elegant that they should be viewed quietly. And the most important thing is that Maolang is interested today!" When the sedan chair finally shook slightly, it stopped Sometimes, Dong Xiaowan even became a little impatient.

However, when she bowed out from under the curtain of the sedan chair lifted by the purple clothes, she found that she was not looking up to God, but a pavilion for people to rest half a mile away from God's Optimism.She was a little puzzled, so she saw Maocheng approaching and explained: "It's already the noon quarter, the uncle said that it's better to have some dim sum nearby, and it won't be too late to go." Dong Xiaowan said "Oh", thinking: "Isn't there a pavilion in the plum grove, why choose such a place where you can't see the plum blossoms?" She acted obediently, as if guessing what she was thinking, and said with an apologetic smile:

"The younger one also advised the uncle to go to the Merlin, but the uncle thinks that there are people coming and going, so it can't be quiet, so..." Since her husband made such a decision, Xiaowan no longer expressed any objection.So, after a while, the two sat down on the stone pier that had been temporarily covered with cushions.Then, Maocheng and Ziyi stretched out again, lit a small charcoal stove, warmed the snacks and wine one by one, and placed them on the stone table.It was only then that Dong Xiaowan felt really hungry. Seeing that her husband had already eaten and drank silently, she also picked up the chopsticks, picked a piece of lentil cake, and chewed it slowly.

Originally, the pavilion was already very close to Meilin, but there was a small earth slope in the middle, and the bushes on the slope blocked the view.Dong Xiaowan has always liked plum blossoms very much.Back then, her old residence in Bantang, Suzhou, was full of plum blossoms.After marrying Maoxiang, she specially went to live in Xiangliyuan villa, and also liked the fact that there were so many plum trees and the flowers bloomed in full bloom.In the past, whenever the buds were in bloom, she would go to the plum groves to observe and select them in person, and pre-pruned the selected flower branches to make them more graceful.I remember that last year she even asked her husband to do it together. At that time, Mao Xiang praised her vision and skills quite a lot.However, seeing that Maoxiang just eats and drinks in silence, and doesn't seem to care about the flower viewing at all, Dong Xiaowan is a little worried again.

"Go, go, go away! No! Don't come here to beg!" The voice of pretending to scold suddenly came from outside the pavilion.Dong Xiaowan turned her head and found that at some point, a group of beggars came out of the pavilion.There were not many people, only about seven or eight, including men, women, old and young. It looked like a family of three generations.They were all yellow and emaciated, and dressed in ragged clothes. Although it was snowy and cold weather, at most they wore one more sack than usual, one or two, and they simply tied the broken quilt covers around their bodies with straw ropes.There are shoes but no socks under the feet, revealing two slender calves that are purple with cold, and some even stand barefoot in the snow.They held the empty earthen bowls in their hands and shivered there. Although they were reprimanded by Masquerade, they not only refused to leave, but even made a louder begging sound, clearly hoping that the two in the pavilion would wear luxurious furs. the master heard.

In the past few years, Dong Xiaowan traveled to various prefectures and counties in the south of the Yangtze River. It can be said that beggars have long been commonplace. It was not until she married into the deep courtyard mansion of the Mao family that she rarely saw them.However, as long as you go out, you will bump into it everywhere.As for these beggars, it is very difficult to drive them away without sending some things away.What's more, Maoxiang has always been willing to do good things. In the past few years, he worked tirelessly to help the hungry people in his hometown, and even resolutely sold his wealth, which was praised by all parties.So, seeing that it was futile to reprimand him, Dong Xiaowan turned around, pointed to the lentil cake on the table that had only moved a few chopsticks, and said to Zi Yi who was standing by:

"Well, these, anyway, we don't eat them, and reward them, let them go!" Zi Yi agreed, approached, and was about to reach out to hold it.Suddenly, Mao Xiang said coldly at the side: "Don't move! Who said I won't eat? I still want to eat!" As he spoke, he stretched out his chopsticks, picked the cake over and over for a long time, finally picked a bean, and put it in his mouth. "Oh, then don't take that." Dong Xiaowan said hastily, and then looked at the table, "Well, just take this plate of stuffed pie, or you can also take the scallion pancake, this scallion pancake tastes bad ..."

"Where is this nonsense! I tell you not to move, so don't move! Do you hear me!" Mao Xiang raised his voice.Hearing the sound, it was obvious that he was on fire. Dong Xiaowan was taken aback for a moment, and looked at her husband suspiciously.However, in just a moment, Mao Xiang returned to normal, and even looked quite happy and leisurely.He didn't seem to see the group of beggars at all. He raised his face and looked at the trees outside the pavilion, as if he was looking for something.Finding a few crows resting on a dead branch, he pursed his lips and made a teasing sound, then raised his hand and threw the bean on the chopsticks high, allowing the crows to come down and peck.Seeing that there was no response, he enthusiastically threw out the second and third ones...

Dong Xiaowan watched from the sidelines, feeling even more bewildered.However, with the unique carefulness of a woman, she faintly sensed that there was something cold and abnormal behind her husband's carefree appearance.Under such circumstances, any rash questioning may lead to counterproductive consequences.So, even though she was suspicious in her heart, she could only smile and dare not mention the matter of sending beggars. Probably thinking that the benefactors in the pavilion hadn’t seen them, or that the begging just now was not earnest enough, the group of beggars hesitated for a moment, then suddenly rushed up, ran to the stone steps outside the pavilion, knelt down, and began to beg loudly, breaking one by one. The dirty empty bowl stretched out into the pavilion.A few hungry children simply rushed to the snow, rummaging through the beans that Maoxiang had just thrown to tease the crows.Every time he found one, the child hurriedly stuffed the snow into his mouth.So it caused other children to fight for it, and even issued bursts of annoying crying. Mao Xiang's eyes flickered for a moment, and his face suddenly changed.He slapped the table, stood up abruptly, and shouted sharply: "Bastards, what are you trying to do? Ah, what are you trying to do!" "Please, grandpa and grandma, do me a favor and give the little ones a bite to eat!" "Uncle and grandma, sorry to see you, the villain's family has had nothing to eat for two days!" "It's not that the villains are here to harass grandpa and grandma, it's because the villains have been begging for nothing since the morning!" "Isn't there leftovers on the table, let's give a little bit of alms, the villain kowtows to the uncle!" The beggars begged bitterly and kowtowed.At first, Mao Xiang still had a tigerish face, showing anger and hatred.But for some reason, he didn't seem to be angry anymore, but he sneered, picked up the plate of red bean cake from the table, suddenly swung his arm vigorously, and threw it towards a ditch beside the pavilion. This move was so surly and abrupt that not only the beggars were dumbfounded, but even Dong Xiaowan and the servants were stunned.Everyone watched dumbfounded as the pastries separated from the plate in mid-air, drew several arcs, and fell into the dry deep ditch full of thorns one after another. As for Mao Xiang, he obviously got some revenge-like pleasure from this action. He continued to wave his hands, throwing one plate after another of the snacks on the table into the deep ditch. After everything was clean, when the last "click" sounded in the deep ditch, he waved his hand and said loudly: "Let's go and see the plum blossoms!" After finishing speaking, ignoring the beggars who were stunned by his actions, as well as Dong Xiaowan and the servants who became at a loss, they left the table and walked out of the pavilion with big strides.