Chapter 27 The twenty-sixth observation

It is said that when Xiang Zhifu heard the official who picked up the seal, he hurriedly invited the criminal name and Mr. Qian Gu to his eyes, and said, "Misters, check all the manuscripts in the room. Be sure to check them carefully, and don't miss anything." Don't go out in a hurry after opening the house door.Went out to meet the second mansion, took out a card ticket to read, and whispered a few words in his ear, the second mansion went to the sedan chair, and the messenger was still waiting outside.When Xiang Taishou came in, relatives and Bao Wenqing all greeted him and asked.Said to the magistrate: "It's nothing, it's irrelevant. It's the magistrate of Ningguo Prefecture that's broken, and I'm entrusted to remove the seal." At the moment, the groom and the officer went to Ningguo overnight.

In the yamen, they make jewellery, sew clothes, make bed curtains and quilts, paste houses, manage the daughters of the Wang family and recruit sons-in-law.After working for a few days, Xiang Zhifu came back and set a date for October 13th.A group of drummers and two bridesmaids came in from outside the yamen.Bao Tingkui was dressed in flowers, dressed in red, satin clothes, and powder-soled soap boots. He first bowed to his father, played and played, and went over there to pay homage to his father-in-law and mother-in-law.Xiao Wang came out to accompany his sister-in-law in mended clothes.After eating tea three times, please go into the bridal chamber and pay respects to the bride, no need to elaborate.In the early morning of the next day, I came out to meet the master and madam, and the madam rewarded me with eight pieces of jewelry and two sets of clothes.There was three days of wedding wine in the yamen, and there was no one who did not eat it.After the full moon, Xiao Wang will go to Beijing again to select officials.Bao Wenqing prepares wine for the farewell party for the little in-laws.Bao Tingkui personally sent Uncle to the boat, and he returned after a day's journey.Since then, Bao Tingkui's life in the Yamen is like living in the clouds.

Look at the new year, the seal is opened, and the counties send children to the government for examination.Xiang Zhifu wanted to go to the Procuratorate to take the examination of Tongsheng, and said to Bao Wenqing and his son: "I want to go to the Procuratorate to take the examination of Tongsheng. If these young men are taken to patrol, they will cheat. Your father and son are my confidantes. I'll take care of it for a few days." Bao Wenqing took the order, and the father and son patrolled the procuratorate to check the number.There are three exams for the seven schools in Anqing.Seeing those children, there are also ghostwriters and passers-on. Everyone throws paper balls, grabs bricks, winks, and does everything.When it was time to grab the noodle soup and steamed buns, everyone pushed them into a ball and fell into one piece, Bao Tingkui looked down on them.There was a boy who pushed Chu Gong to the earthen wall of the procuratorate, dug a hole in the upper wall, and stretched out his hand to pick up articles outside. Bao Tingkui saw him and wanted to pick him up to see the grandfather.Bao Wenqing stopped him and said, "This is because my child is ignorant of world affairs. My husband, you are a serious scholar, go back to your account and write an article. If the grandfather sees it, it will be inconvenient." Quickly picked up some, patched the hole, and put The boy was sent to the number.

After the examination was over, the case was issued. The chief of the case in Huaining County was called Ji Ji. His father was a military officer, and the prefect was the same year as the civil and military officer. He was elected as a guard at home. The magistrate set up a table to stay with each other, and the table was placed in the study, and Bao Wenqing was asked to come out and sit at the head of the defense for the current season. To the magistrate, Bao Wenqing sat at the head.Ji Shoubei said: "The old grandpa's exam is as far as the public is concerned, and no one in the Taiwan government refuses to accept it." He said to the magistrate: "Mr. Nian, I have neglected the matter of reading words, but it was my fault in the examination room the day before yesterday. This friend Bao is on tour there, and he hasn't done any harm." At this time, Ji Shoubing knew that this person's surname was Bao.Later, when it was slowly mentioned that he was an old troupe character, Ji Shoubei had a strange look on his face.He said to the magistrate: "People nowadays are in decline. When these Jinshi and Hanlin talk to him about preaching the poor scriptures, he says it's circuitous and useless; After all, it’s where you make friends. I can’t see it at all! It’s not as good as my friend Bao. Although his business is cheap, he has a lot of gentlemen’s deeds.” After talking about the good things in his life, Ji Shoubei was also awe-inspiring. Respect.Let's drink and quit.Three or four days later, Bao Wenqing was invited to his home for a meal and wine, and the son of the chief examiner, Ji Yu, also came out to sit with him.Seeing that he was a beautiful young man, Bao Wenqing asked, "Young master's title?" Ji Shoubei said, "His name is Wei Xiao." After finishing the wine, Bao Wenqing resigned and returned, and praised the magistrate for his good looks. The future is unlimited.

A few months later, the daughter of the Wang family was pregnant and was about to give birth, but she didn't want to be able to support her and died.Both Bao Wenqing and his son wept bitterly.Instead, he persuaded the prefect: "Forget it, this is the life span of each of them, so you don't have to be sad. You are young, and I will inevitably marry you a daughter-in-law in the future. If you just cry, you will offend your wife. My heart is getting worse." Bao Wenqing also told his son not to just cry.But he himself also suffered from phlegm-fire disease, he moved from time to time, coughing in the middle of the night at every turn, and wanted to resign and go home to the grandfather, but he didn't dare to say it.It happened that Grandpa was promoted to Tingzhang Road in Fujian Province, and Bao Wenqing said to the prefect, "Congratulations to Gao Sheng again. The young one should have gone with the grandpa. However, the young one is old and sick. The young one is now resigning." The old man goes back to Nanjing and leaves his son to serve the old man." Xiang Taishou said: "Old friend, it is such a long journey, and the road is not easy to walk. You are old, and I will not take you. Your son , you stay by my side to serve you, what will I take him to do! I will go to Beijing to see you now, I will send you back to Nanjing first, I have my own reason." The next day, a thousand taels of silver were sealed, and Zhong The servant took it to the study, and said, "Wenqing, you have been with me for more than a year, and you have never seen a single word of favor from you. I married a wife for you, and I died again. In my heart I’m really sorry. Now that I’m giving you this thousand taels of silver, you can take it home to buy some property, marry a wife, and die in retirement. If I become an official and come to Nanjing again, I’ll meet you again.” Bao Wenqing refused again. by.Xiang Daotai said: "Now it's not the same as before. I am a Taoist, and I am not poor at this thousand taels of silver. If you don't accept it, what kind of person will I be!" Bao Wenqing didn't dare to disobey, so he kowtowed and thanked.He ordered a big boat to Daotai, prepared wine for his farewell, and sent him out of the house.Bao Wenqing knelt on the ground with his son, bid farewell with tears, and bid farewell to Daotai with tears.

Bao Wenqing and his son came all the way to Nanjing with their money, and when they got home, they told their wives to thank the elder for their kindness.Bao Wenqing went out to look for people while he was ill, and bought a house with the money; he rented two outfits for two troupes to wear, and the rest was spent at home.A few months later, Bao Wenqing became seriously ill and became bedridden.I knew it was not good, so I called my wife, son, daughter, and son-in-law in front of me that day, and told them: "Agree with one heart, live a good life, and marry a daughter-in-law without waiting for me to be satisfied." passed away.The whole family wailed and took care of the funeral. They parked the coffin in the middle of the house and held the funeral for several days.The actors from the four general residences all came to show their filial piety.Bao Tingkui went to Mr. Yin Yang to find a piece of land, and chose a date for the funeral, but no one wrote the inscription.Just as he was hesitating, he saw a man in Tsing Yi running towards him and asked, "Is this Papa Bao's house?" Bao Tingkui said, "That's right. Where are you from?" Here we come, the sedan chair has arrived at the door." Bao Tingkui hastily changed into his filial attire, put on a Tsing Yi, and knelt outside the gate to meet him.

He got off the sedan chair to Daotai, saw the white sticker on the door, and asked, "Is your father dead?" Bao Tingkui cried and replied, "My little father is dead." He said to Daotai, "How long has it been?" Bao Tingkui said: "Tomorrow is April 7th." He said to Daotai: "My Majesty sees you coming back and passing here. I am about to meet your father. I don't want to be an old man. You lead me to the coffin." Bao Tingkui cried Kneeling to resign, he refused to the Taoist platform, went all the way to the coffin, and shouted: "Old friend Wenqing!" After crying for a while, he lit a stick of incense and made four bows.Bao Tingkui's mother also came out to thank her.Xiang Daotai went out to the hall and asked, "When is your father's funeral?" Bao Tinglong said, "On the eighth day of the first lunar month." Xiang Daotai said, "Who wrote the inscription?" Bao Tingxi said: " The little one discussed with others and said that it is not easy to write on the Ming Jing." He said to Daotai: "What is not easy to write! Bring the paper and pen." Bao Tingkui then sent the paper and pen.Xiang Daotai took a pen in his hand and wrote:

The coffin of Emperor Ming Yimin Bao Wenqing (at the age of fifty-nine).An old friend from Tingzhang Road, Fujian Province, who was born as a Jinshi in the Chinese Constitution, asked Dingdun for questions. After finishing writing, he handed it to him and said, "You can send it to Tingcai shop to do it according to this." Then he said, "I'm going to sail tomorrow morning, and I still have some funeral expenses. I'll send it to you tonight." After all, I had a cup of tea and got into the sedan chair.Bao Tingxi immediately followed to the boat, and thanked the old master for coming back.In the evening, Xiang Daotai sent another butler to Bao's house with one hundred taels of silver.The butler didn't even eat tea, and hurried back to the boat.

Here until the eighth day of the first lunar month, a Mingjing was made.Chui Shou, Ting Cai, Monk, Taoist Priest, and Ge Lang went out to the south gate for Papa Bao's funeral.All the people in the same company came out to attend the funeral, and dozens of tables were set up in the restaurant outside the south gate.The funeral is over. After more than half a year, one day, Jin Cifu came to ask Mrs. Bao to talk.Bao Tingxi invited him to sit in the hall, and went in to talk to his mother.Boss Bao came out and said, "Master Jin, long time no see. What kind of wind is blowing here today?" Jin Cifu said, "Exactly. I haven't seen the old lady for a long time, and the old lady is enjoying the blessings at home. Your outfit has changed now." Are you wearing the troupe?" The old lady said: "Because the troupe is acting in the city and the business is doing well, now it has changed to a Wenyuan troupe, half of which are also my apprentices, and they are gone in Xuyi and Tianchang. He is a squire There are many rich people, and you can earn a lot of money." Jin Cifu said: "In this way, you old man will get rich even more." After drinking a cup of tea, Jin Cifu said: "Today I have a marriage to make your imperial seal. You can make a lot of money by marrying her." Mrs. Bao said: "Which family's daughter is it?" Jin Cifu said: "This person is the daughter of the Neiqiao Hu family. The Hu family is the yamen of the chief envoy. At first, he married Wang Sanpang, who was in charge of Anfeng Dian, and Wang Sanpang died within a year. This guest was only 21 years old, and he was so talented that he couldn't do it even if he was a painter. Because he was young and had no children, his natal family insisted on getting married. This Wang Sanpang threw him thousands of things: a big bed, a summer bed, four boxes, four cabinets, and the things in the box Clothes are so full that you can't put your hands in them; there are two or three pairs of gold bracelets, two red gold crowns, and countless real pearls and precious stones. There are also two maids, one named Lotus and the other Cailian, who followed her Married here. If you marry him and Tingxi, he and Tingxi will still be of the same age, which is an excellent thing." The old lady said to him with joy, "Master Jin, it's a waste of money for you. Heart! I still want to ask my uncle to go out to visit. If the visit is confirmed, I will find you as a matchmaker." Jin Cifu said: "I don't want to visit. No matter, visit or visit, I will ask for a letter." Said Come on, let's go.Bao Tingxi sent him out.In the evening, his uncle surnamed Gui came, and the old lady told him these words in every detail and asked him to go out to visit.Uncle Gui asked the old man again and asked for dozens of dollars to take with him, and went to have tea tomorrow morning.

The next day, I went to the home of Shen Tianfu, a matchmaker.Shen Tianfu's wife is also a matchmaker, the famous Shen Dazuo.Uncle Gui went to Shen Tianfu's house, pulled Shen Tianfu out, had tea in the teahouse, and asked about the marriage.Shen Tianfu said: "Oh! Are you asking about Hu Qilazi? His story is long! Buy some biscuits and tell you when I'm full." Mr. Gui went to the next door and bought eight biscuits. Bring it into the teahouse, eat with him, and say: "You tell the story." Shen Tianfu said: "Slow down, let me finish eating." After eating the biscuits, he said: "What do you ask this man? Could it be that the family wants to marry him? This guest is not allowed to marry! If you marry into the door, you will have a fire from the sky!" Mrs. Gui said, "What's the matter?" The head's daughter. The head died, and he lived with his brothers. His brother was not a man, he gambled, ate and drank, and sold all the vacancies of the chief envoy. Men Qiao came to the house to be a child. He was not doing his duty, and if people called him 'bride', he would scold him. If he wanted people to call him 'wife', the eldest lady found out about it and kicked her out. Married to Wang Sanpang. Wang Sanpang is a candidate for state affairs. He is really a wife. They were beaten eight times. These people hated him like jealousy. Unexpectedly, within a year, San Pang died. The son suspected that San Pang's things were in his hands, so he went into the room to search that day; This guest was very knowledgeable. He dumped a box of gold and jewelry in the toilet in advance. Those people searched the room, but couldn't find it; Crying and shouting, he went to the Shangyuan County Hall to bring out his first son. Shangyuan County passed the trial, punished his son, and persuaded him: "You have also married two husbands, and you are still married." What festival do you keep? Looking at the situation, your son can’t live with you. It’s better to ask him to give you an inheritance and live in another place. It’s up to you to keep it, and it’s up to you if you remarry.” Cut off at the moment He lived in Rouge Lane with a few other houses. Because of Hu Qilazi's reputation, no one dared to provoke him. This has been going on for seven or eight years, and he is probably in his twenties. He treats people only Say twenty-one years old."

Uncle Gui said: "If he has thousands of silvers on hand, does he have some?" Shen Tianfu said: "It has been spent in the past few years. His gold jewelry and brocade clothes are also worth five or six hundred silvers. Yes." Gui Guye thought in his heart: "Sure enough, there are five or six hundred silver, and my mother-in-law is also happy. If women can play tricks, I'm afraid that this kid in the Ni family will be killed!" Because he said to Shen Tianfu: "Old man Well, the person who wants to marry him is my father-in-law who adopted this child. This marriage was told by his teacher Jin Cifu. Now you don’t care whether he is a child or not, and you have arranged it for him. Naturally, you will win him a lot. Why don't you do it for a matchmaker?" Shen Tianfu said: "What's so difficult about it! When I get home, I ask my guest to talk to him about the success of the package, but you are the one who thanked the matchmaker." My uncle Gui filled in: "That's natural. I'll go and ask for your reply." He paid the tea money immediately.When we went out, we separated from each other. Shen Tianfu came home and talked to Shen Dajiao, Shen Dajiao shook his head and said: "My lord! This grandma is easy to provoke! If he is an official, he must have money, and he must have a well-organized character, and he must be superior. Parents-in-law, no younger uncles or aunts. He sleeps until noon every day, does not pick up horizontal grass, does not pick up vertical grass, and takes eight cents of silver medicine every day. He does not eat big meat, and he wants ducks on the first day. On the second day, I want fish, and on the third day I want water bamboo shoots and fresh bamboo shoots to make soup. Three catties of Baihua wine. Go to bed and go to the countryside. The two maids take turns beating their legs until the fourth watch is exhausted. I just heard you said that you are an actor. How much soup does the actor's home have to send to this grandma?" Shen Tianfu said. , "Just make room for him." Shen Dajiao deliberated: "I will hide the story of being an actor now and don't say it, and I don't need to say that his family is a suit. Just say that he is a juren, and he will do it soon. Officer, the family has a brand shop and has a lot of land, is this a good idea?" Shen Tianfu said: "It's the best, the best! Just say so." At that moment, Shen Dazuo had eaten, walked all the way to Rouge Lane, and knocked on the door.The girl Hehua came out to meet her and asked: "Where are you from?" Shen Dajiao said: "This is Mrs. Wang's house?" Hehua said: "Yes. What do you have to say?" Shen Dajiao said: "I am for you. Mrs. Wang is talking about happy events." Lotus said: "Please sit in the hall star. My wife just got up and hasn't stopped yet." Shen Dazuo said: "Why am I sitting in the main room? I will go into the room to see my wife. " Immediately opened the door curtain and entered the room, I saw Mrs. Wang sitting on the edge of the bed binding her feet, and Cailian was holding the aluminum box beside her.When Mrs. Wang saw him coming in, she knew that he was a matchmaker, so she asked him to sit down and take tea with him.Watching my wife's feet fully wrapped up for three meals, she slowly combed her hair, washed her face, and put on her clothes until the sun was shining.Yin asked, "What's your surname? What can you say?" Shen Dajiao said, "My surname is Shen. Because I have a relative to serve, I will have a wedding with my wife in the future." Mrs. Wang said, "What kind of family is it?" Dazuo said: "It's our Bao's house on Shuiximen Street. Everyone calls him Baoju's family. The family has a lot of land and a shop, and has tens of millions of furniture. I am twenty-three years old. I have no parents, no brothers and children, and I have been talking about marrying a virtuous wife for a long time. I don't think this family can go unless it is your wife, so I boldly say it." Mrs. Wang said: " Who is this Juren from his family?" Shen Dazuo said: "This is the master who is going to get married, there is a second one in his family!" Mrs. Wang said: "Wen Ju, Wu Ju?" Shen Dazu said : "He is a martial artist. He can pull a ten-strength bow and hold a three-hundred-jin bow. He has no strength!" Mrs. Wang said: "Mother Shen, you know as expected. I have seen great things, and I am no better than others. I thought that when I first arrived at the Wang's mansion, it was only one month old, so I sent my eldest daughter to Sun Xiangshen's house. The grandson There are three spacious halls in the country gentry's house, with a hundred candles lit, sugar hoppers and sugar fairies set up, and a table where you can watch with two eyes and three eyes. Wearing a phoenix crown and a Xiapei, he enshrined me in the middle of the table and sat face down. On my head was a drape of soybeans and big pearls, which covered my face completely. I came to eat his tea with candied fruit. I sang and drank all night. When I went home the next day, the four family wives who followed me got a little dust on my white silk and gold skirt. I want to eat him alone. All of them were executed. The four of them came in together and knelt in the room, thumping their heads on the floor. I will not forgive him. Mother Shen, you need to be very honest to tell me about this. If there is anything wrong, I can't let you go lightly." Shen Dajiao said: "What's the point? I've always been a person of 'a little water and a bubble', and I can't compare to a matchmaker's mouth. If you pull it Lie one word, my wife will visit tomorrow, and I will send these two faces to my wife to slap her." Mrs. Wang said: "It is indeed the case, well, you go to the other person's house and I will wait for your reply." I paid dozens of dollars, and packed some black dates, green cakes, etc., and asked him to go back and eat with the baby.Because of this, there are different teachings: