Chapter 75 Tears

"Ah, what happened to Maolang today? Why did he act like this? How could he be like this?" Dong Xiaowan hurried forward wearing purple clothes, while looking at her husband's back, thinking in a hurry, "Maolang Lang Ke has never been like this. In Nanjing and in the village, everyone praises him for being the most sympathetic to the poor and the weak. Why do you want to tease those beggars like this today? Ah, could it be that he is ill? Out of character?" Thinking of this, Dong Xiaowan couldn't help but become more busy.She didn't care about the difficulty of walking on the uneven dirt road with a pair of small feet, she just yelled: "Mao Lang, wait for my concubine!" while letting Zi Yi support her, she drove forward vigorously.

Just turning around the grove, Mao Xiang stopped.Even until Dong Xiaowan approached, he seemed unconscious. "Sir, are you, are you tired? Or are you not feeling well?" Dong Xiaowan asked in a panic. Mao Xiang didn't answer, just stared straight ahead.Suddenly, he raised his legs and walked forward again. "Hey, Xianggong, don't do this! You can't..." Dong Xiaowan hurriedly followed, saying in a trembling voice. "Well, they're dead, they're all dead! There's no escape, as expected!" Mao Xiang stared at his dry eyes that seemed to be bleeding, and murmured in despair as he looked around.

"Dead?" Dong Xiaowan was startled, "What died?" Maoxiang pointed with his hand: "Plum trees, these plum trees!" Dong Xiaowan looked around in a daze, but didn't understand anything.However, she finally woke up and found that they were already in Merlin.At a glance, the plum trees next to each other are still standing upright under the frosty sky, but if you look closely, you will find that the branches that should be proud of the snow and full of flowers are all bare at the moment. Neither a flower nor a star bud could be seen, and even the slanting branches seemed lifeless, without the slightest vitality.If it is said that Dong Xiaowan came here today, all he wanted was to visit the wonderful fairyland of Yaochi, then what is unfolding in front of his eyes at this moment is a cemetery, and what stands on the snow-covered ground are all dry and stiff corpses!The more Dong Xiaowan looked, the more horrified she became, the hairs all over her body stood on end.

"Ah! Mr., what's going on here?" She asked tremblingly, and leaned against her husband involuntarily. "Drought, dead!" Maoxiang replied in a low tone, "Even if they are clean and lonely, and they are not afraid of frost and snow, they still cannot escape the catastrophe of destruction!" After a pause, he murmured and repeated: "Yes, you can't escape, and no one can escape!" Dong Xiaowan blinked her eyes, feeling that her husband's words were a bit weird and difficult to understand.However, after finding out that her husband was not ill, she finally felt a little relieved.In order to comfort her husband and herself, she began to take the lead to walk deep into Merlin, and kept looking around, searching, hoping to find that there were still survivors alive.However, no.Apart from looking through the branches and finding a few people sitting around in a pavilion not far away, drinking and guessing, there seems to be no other life in the huge plum grove.But Dong Xiaowan didn't give up, and kept walking and searching...Suddenly, her eyes, which were a little tired from searching for a long time, were clearly touched by something.In the atmosphere full of death, horror, and coldness, the feeling is unusually soft, warm and fresh.Her heart trembled, and she quickly turned her head to look for it.Yet she could see nothing but dead branches criss-crossed like thorns and antlers. "Ah, could it be that I've made a mistake?" She wondered, and when she was feeling discouraged, suddenly, her eyes lit up.

"Ah, flowers, flowers, here are flowers!" She exclaimed in surprise, and hurriedly led Maoxiang over.Sure enough, on a small piece of low-lying snow, there stood a particularly thick and strong plum tree.Its dense branches are like dragon snakes, stretching in all directions.And the rough torso, which was scarred by the scorching sun and frost, was like a dark iron pile, buried deeply in the soil.But it also failed to escape the catastrophe of drought, and most of its branches, like other plum trees, have completely withered and become a pile of firewood that is only worth burning.Even its epidermis burst and peeled off under the scorching sun for a long time, exposing the dead wood that has lost its vitality, so that when you look at it suddenly, it is the same as the surrounding suburbs that have been exposed to the bones, waiting to be cut and dragged away. It's no different.However, it is such a plum tree that miraculously grows a small branch from the root.On it, three small snow-white flowers bloomed!Undoubtedly, they are all delicate and appear to be undernourished.Probably to make the most of the remaining breath of life in the mother's womb, they crowded together tightly, raised their haggard little faces, and surrounded by the severe cold around them, it looked like they were flashing in the vast and lonely world. Between a sad smile.It was this last feeling that made Dong Xiaowan feel as if a needle had been pricked in her heart, and the previous unexpected joy disappeared.She looked at the three miserable little flowers in dismay, stepped forward step by step, knelt down in front of them, stretched out her hand, and touched them lightly.Gradually, an extremely sad feeling of desolation that even she couldn't explain clearly rose from the bottom of her heart, and began to oppress her more and more strongly.Dong Xiaowan's eyes became hot, and she couldn't hold it anymore, sobbing and crying...

"Mother, don't cry, look, Master is going back!" After a while, Zi Yi urged beside him. Dong Xiaowan turned her head with tears in her eyes, and found that Mao Xiang had turned around, was walking slowly towards the original road with her head lowered.She hastily took out her handkerchief, wiped away her tears, hurried a few steps, and followed her husband. "My husband," Dong Xiaowan raised his head after walking in silence for a while, and asked timidly, "In the future, all the plum trees here will have to be cut down and replanted. I wonder if the one just now can be left?"

Mao Xiang's eyes flickered slightly, but he didn't answer immediately.He pondered, and after walking about ten steps, he said: "Who knows. Maybe you can stay, maybe you can't stay, it depends on yourself!" After a pause, he said to himself: "Yes, we have to On their own!" After saying that, he stopped talking.The three masters and servants followed each other. After meeting Maocheng and Changban who were waiting there at the edge of the grove, they went back to the pavilion together, intending to get on a sedan chair and donkey from there to return to the city.

When they approached the pavilion, they found several bearers standing by the ditch, stretching their necks to look into the ditch.There were also two ragged women and several children standing beside them.Dong Xiaowan recognized at a glance that they were some of the beggars just now. "Why, they haven't left yet?" She thought strangely, and couldn't help but take two steps.However, when she looked into the ditch, she couldn't help but let out a soft "ah".It turned out that in the dry ditch with many thorns and thistles, there were several people gathering - no need to ask, they were the few male beggars before, some of them were bent over, and some were lying on the snow. , with the dog-beating stick in his hand, or the dry branches picked up temporarily, he tried his best to poke and poke, trying to get out the food that fell in the thorn bushes.I don't know how much they fiddled with, but the ragged clothes seemed to be even more torn by thorns, and bloodstains were drawn on their faces and hands.But they seemed to be unconscious, still calling and searching frantically and unrelentingly.Dong Xiaowan was startled by the tragic scene in front of him.Her heart couldn't help tightening up. "Ah, why did Maolang play tricks on them like that just now!" She couldn't bear to think, then looked back and found that Maoxiang was standing next to the pavilion, as if listening to Maocheng's explanation.So she walked over hesitantly, looked at her husband imploringly, and said softly:

"Sanggong, they are picking it up! Otherwise, let Maocheng send them some money, and save..." Mao Xiang listened silently, although his face was still sullen, he did not express any objection.Seeing this, Dong Xiaowan became a little more courageous.She winked at Mao Cheng, signaling him to send the beggar away, while she stretched out her hand, gently and thoughtfully supported Mao Xiang, and they walked towards the donkey together. "Hey, Mr. Pijiang, please stay, please stay!" A hurried call suddenly came from far behind.When Dong Xiaowan instinctively covered her face with a fan and turned her head slightly, she found that from the side of Meilin, a man dressed as a Confucian scholar, holding the hem of the straight jacket with both hands, was rushing along the snow-covered road. Xiang had heard the sound and stopped, so he moved his legs more vigorously, and arched his hands from afar, making a smiling face.He probably found a female relative, and when he was five or six feet away from Maoxiang, he stopped and bowed deeply.

"Mr. Jiumu's face is so respectable, I didn't expect to be here today, what a blessing!" He panted slightly, and said. "Don't dare!" Mao Xiang bowed respectfully, then looked at the other party, and asked hesitantly: "Please forgive me for my poor eyesight, Mr. I don't know..." "Oh, little brother Su Wenqing, from the family of Huaining, is currently candidate in Beijing." The Confucian scholar hurriedly introduced himself. "So it's Mr. Su, I'm sorry!" Mao Xiang nodded, "I don't know what Brother Su has to teach you?"

"Don't dare! Brother, I came here today to enjoy the plum blossoms in the snow with a few friends. I didn't expect to pick up Zhiyu. It's really lucky for three lives. Now there is thin wine in the pavilion in the plum forest. Dare to invite sir to come over and join me Drink three cups, apply for one, don't know what will happen?" Mao Xiang came out today, although Dong Xiaowan was with him, but if he wanted, Mao Cheng could send his concubine back first.It's just that he obviously has no interest in socializing. "Mr. Duogan's kindness," he cupped his hands and declined, "It's just a hasty moment to disturb each other, but it's not a proper courtesy, so let's wait for another day!" "Hey, although brother and younger brother are meeting for the first time, but in Meiting today, there are old acquaintances of brother's table here!" Seeing that Mao Xiang's tone was very firm and he obviously had no intention of staying, Su Wenqing added hastily. "Oh, I don't know which old acquaintance it is?" Mao Xiang, who was about to turn around, stopped again. Su Wenqing did not answer.He reached into his sleeve, fumbled for a while, finally took out a name card, and handed it over with both hands. Dong Xiaowan has been watching from the side, she is naturally not willing to leave her to go to the meeting.Seeing her husband rejecting the other party, she was secretly comforting herself, when she suddenly heard that it was an "old acquaintance", she couldn't help feeling worried again.Seeing her husband accepting the name card, she watched eagerly.However, what surprised her was that before getting the famous post, Mao Xiang only had a cold expression, but when his eyes fell on the post, his face suddenly changed. "What? It's Ruan Yuanhai!" He suddenly raised his head and asked sharply. "Oh, oh, Mr. Mao, please don't be anxious, just listen to my brother!" Su Wenqing waved her hands quickly, and said, "Please come to Meiting to tell me, that's exactly what Mr. Ruan Yuan meant. Mr. Ruan said that in the past, Mr. Although he has some grudges, but he would rather not blame the past, have a drink with his husband, and wash away the old grievances. Master Ruan also said that although most of the people in Fushe are rebellious people with rebellious ambitions, they will be reported to the Ming court soon However, Mr. Ruan is not of the same kind as them. Besides, Mr. Ruan loves Mr.'s talent very much. As long as Mr. Ruan is willing to hand over a student post, Mr. Ruan will definitely recommend him to the imperial court and entrust him with great responsibilities, and he will never break his promise..." Su Wenqing talked incessantly, at first she maintained the etiquette and propriety, but gradually her eyebrows became joyful and her hands and feet floated.Apparently, in his opinion, Ruan Dacheng, who is now in power and very popular, pays so much attention to Mao Xiang, and the conditions he put forward are so insignificant. Mao Xiang, who is at the end of the road, will be surprised and happy, grateful, and immediately bow to his orders .In fact, for a while at the beginning, Mao Xiang did open his eyes wide, and his fair and handsome face was also flushed, looking extremely excited.But not long after, he calmed down, and even a slight smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.He waited silently for Su Wenqing to finish speaking, then shook the name card in his hand and said: "I asked Mr. Su to return to Mr. Ruan, and said that I really appreciate his kindness. However, if he thinks that he is now in a high position, he can boss around and do whatever he wants, destroying the world's justice and enslaving him, but he is daydreaming!" After answering so decisively, he sucked his lips, spit out a spit on the post signed by Ruan Dacheng with a "poof", and then sent it to Su Wenqing's frightened yellow face. "Didn't Master Ruan want to impersonate someone's student post? I'm sorry, no. But the words are unfounded, and I'm afraid your Excellency will not be able to return to life. Then, just take this back to him!" After finishing speaking, without waiting for the other party to take it, he threw the post on the snow, turned around, and said calmly to Dong Xiaowan: "Well, let's go back now!"