Chapter 9 2. Ice tent

A narrow lane winds eastward over grassy plains.Along the road, there are barren rice fields and wheat fields everywhere.Looking from a distance, there are not many people in the sparsely populated villages. A calf cart came creakingly from the west, followed by seven or eight guards in white clothes and white hoods, all of whom were so tired that they wiped the hot sweat from their foreheads. Zhang Wang, the county magistrate of Suyi County, Hanoi County, who was sitting on the cart, turned his head and looked at them. His eyes were quite unbearable, and he sighed secretly in his heart.Originally, he himself didn't like the bureaucratic behavior of shouting and ostentatious. If it weren't for the chaos, the hungry people running around, and the bandits rampant, how could he have dispatched these government officials to escort him out for a trip?

"Father... Has Brother Zhong Da (Sima Yi's name Zhong Da) really returned to his hometown?" Zhang Chunhua, the daughter who was leaning on Zhang Wang's side, looked up at the east and murmured.She is only thirteen years old this year, but she is already born with a handsome figure, her face is like a jade carving, she is really cute, at first glance, one would think she is a girl of fifteen or sixteen years old! "You! I know that Brother Zhongda misses you! He really returned home..." Zhang Wang looked at his daughter with kindness in his eyes, and said with a smile.Three days ago, brothers Sima Yi and Sima Lang sent a joint invitation card, inviting him to bring his whole family to the Sima Mansion in Xiaojingli, Wen County. At that time, the first thought in Zhang Wang's heart was to bring his daughter Zhang Chunhua with him. .At this moment, he looked at Zhang Chunhua again, and said with a slight smile: "Chunhua! You and Zhongda were childhood sweethearts and childhood sweethearts when you were young. When you were seven years old, he followed his father to Luoyang, the capital of the capital. We haven't seen each other for six or seven years. My father guessed that you have been missing him from the bottom of your heart, so he took you to his house to meet him for a banquet. After you meet him, you must pay attention to etiquette and manners, be dignified, generous, virtuous and chaste. Don’t let His Sima family joked about the etiquette of my Zhang family in Suyi..."

"Daddy! Look at what you said?..." Zhang Chunhua couldn't help but blushed with shame when he heard it, and hurriedly turned his face to the side, avoiding staring at his father, but turned his eyes to the one in Wen County's filial piety Direction, I thought to myself: Yes!In the blink of an eye, six or seven years have passed like water. I don't know what Brother Zhong Da looks like now, is he still as quiet and introverted as before? ... Zhang Wang closed his mouth at this moment, and saw his daughter's expression clearly in his eyes.While he was secretly happy for his daughter, he also had a faint worry: Although his Zhang family in Suyi and their Sima family in Wen County were old friends, the two families had been very close since Sima Yi's grandfather, Sima Junshi, the prefect of Yingchuan. Intimacy...But in the past six or seven years, Sima Fang has been on the rise all the way, and he has achieved the position of Jing Zhaoyin with an official rank of two thousand stones... Does the Sima family still miss this old friendship? My Zhang family in Suyi will continue the friendship between Qin and Jin in the past?I remember that when Sima Jun was alive, he once saw Sima Yi, who was over three years old, playing with Zhang Chunhua, who had just turned two years old, playing in front of the hall, and said: "Chunhua is smart and cute, and she can be Zhongda's wife!" Of course, that might be a joke, but Zhang Wang himself kept it firmly in his heart.It is Zhang Wang's dream to be in-law with the Sima family, the most prominent family in Hanoi County.Back then, Zhang Chunhua's mother passed away early, and he had no heirs to inherit the family business, only Chunhua, his daughter - her lifelong event, but the most important event of the rest of my life!Sigh... At this moment, all I can do is beg the old man Yuexia to appear, so that the marriage between Chunhua and Sima Zhongda can be a natural marriage and go smoothly!

So full of thoughts, Zhang Wang and his daughter finally came to the gate of Sima Mansion, which is located in the east of Xiaojingli, Wen County. I saw the majestic mahogany door opening, and the blue stone lions squatting on both sides of the steps in front of the door looked at every guest mightily.Sima Jiagui's not vulgar style of being a wealthy family has already forced people to come here invisible and silently. Brothers Sima Lang and Sima Yi, dressed in Confucian robes, were standing at the bottom of the steps, greeting relatives and guests who came from afar. After getting off the cart, Zhang Wang took Zhang Chunhua and walked towards them.Sima Yi saw it from a distance, and a smile suddenly appeared on his face. He hastily stretched out his hand and pulled the corner of Sima Lang's robe who was greeting other guests, and gave him a slight signal.

Sima Lang turned around and saw that it was Zhang Wang and his daughter. Their faces were filled with joy immediately, and he led Sima Yi to greet them quickly. He laughed and said, "Uncle Zhang, Sister Chunhua, my nephew and brother Yi are far away. I also hope for forgiveness.” Zhang Chunhua sneaked a few glances at Sima Yi who had been standing in front of him from behind his father, but seeing that he hadn't seen him for six or seven years, he was already tall and tall, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a handsome appearance.Her heart moved secretly, and her jade cheeks couldn't help but blush slightly, she quickly restrained her mind, and followed her father to return the greeting.

Zhang Wang looked up and down at Sima Yi and Sima Lang, and with a smile on his face, he replied, "Thank you for the kind invitation of the two virtuous nephews who came back to their hometown. Uncle Yu also came in a hurry. Chunhua, you will prepare for the two elder brothers." Take out the presents below..." Hearing what his father said, Zhang Chunhua hastily bowed his head to pay a respectful salute, took a blue cloth bundle from a servant following behind him, held it in his hand, presented it to Sima Lang, and said slowly: "Boda (Sima) The eldest brother (Langzi Boda) and the second brother Zhongda, my younger sister knows that the two elder brothers are used to living in a mansion in Kyoto. It is midsummer at this time, and the living conditions here in Wen County are far from comparable to those in Kyoto. Mosquitoes in the countryside There are so many horseflies, it's not good to get bitten. So, the younger sister brought over two ice silk tents that she wove with ice silkworm silver silk, and hoped that the two elder brothers would not think things cheap and light..."

"Oh? That's really troublesome for Uncle Zhang and Sister Chunhua Xian!" Sima Lang laughed after hearing this, and quickly thanked him. "Ice tent? Sister Chunhua woven it herself?" Sima Yi stood beside Sima Lang, looked at Zhang Chunhua very affectionately, and then looked at the blue cloth bag she was holding in her hand, and couldn't help being a little surprised. "What object is that?" Hearing this, Zhang Wang walked up to him with a slight smile, and opened the blue cloth bundle in Zhang Chunhua's hands. Inside was a sandalwood box with orchid patterns.He opened the box again, and the inside of the box was lined with purple satin, with two bundles of silver gauze folded on the satin.Zhang Wang casually picked up one of the bundles and put it in his palm, he saw that the folded yarn was less than half a chi long and less than an inch thick, very light and delicate.

"This is the ice tent!" Zhang Wang said with a smile, but his hands didn't stop, and he opened the stack of silver yarn layer by layer. When it reached the seventh or eighth floor, it was already as big as a tabletop.Seeing this, Sima Yi couldn't help being amazed. However, Sima Lang seemed to have seen such a gauze curtain before. He pointed to it and introduced it to Sima Yi: "Second brother, you see that there are still three or four folds here, and it seems that you have to go into the high hall to open it. This is really true. Woven by ice silkworms and silver threads! This kind of silk is extremely precious and hard to find. It is spread in the house in hot weather, and no flies, mosquitoes and horses can get in, and it is thin and translucent. Sitting here Reading the scriptures and playing the qin comfortably is very useful." Then he said to Zhang Wang quickly: "Uncle Zhang, you don't have to open them all, I'm afraid it will be troublesome to fold them up later."

Then Zhang Wang stroked his beard and smiled, and handed it over to Zhang Chunhua and the servant to fold and put away the ice-cream tent layer by layer, and put them back in the wooden box. Sima Yi's eyes lit up, he looked deeply at Zhang Chunhua, and blurted out praise: "Thank you, sister Chunhua! Thanks to your kind heart, where did you find this ice silkworm silver silk so hard, and what is it?" Ingeniously weaving this gauze one stitch at a time..." "Brother Zhongda has won the award. My little sister was afraid that this gauze curtain would not satisfy you and Brother Boda." Zhang Chunhua was praised face to face by Sima Yi, and his cheeks were already covered with crimson clouds. He hastily lowered his head slightly, Staring at the tip of his shoes, he fiddled with the hem of his clothes, and said shyly, "Brother Zhong Da keeps boasting like this, little sister will feel ashamed..."

Sima Yi also smiled reservedly, and walked up to take the sandalwood box.But hearing Sima Lang's order from the side, two maidservants rushed ahead of him, one took the sandalwood box from Zhang Chunhua, and the other respectfully led her into the backyard of the mansion to rest. Sima Yi saw that these two maidservants were the Qing Fu and Qing Ping sisters who were bought from the traffickers in Luoyang City that day, so he told them: "You must treat Miss Zhang well, and you must not neglect her." The elder sister, Qing Fu, turned her head and agreed with a smile on her face, and she and her younger sister, Qing Ping, brought Zhang Chunhua into the mansion warmly and politely.When Zhang Chunhua heard Sima Yi's instructions, his face flushed again, and when he secretly looked back - Sima Yi had already stepped forward to greet her father, Zhang Wang.