Chapter 8 The Eighth Chapter Dajue Temple's False Love Crying for Fake Friends Changchun Garden Worthy Officials Said Weak Government

No one in the family is prepared for a strange crying spirit to appear suddenly on the flat ground.While looking at each other in astonishment, Li Fu ran to the coffin with the yellow paper in one hand and the banner in the other, and threw himself on the ground, already weeping so softly: "Brother Mei Qing! I came to see you..." Li Fu burst into tears, bursting into tears like springs, "I promised you to climb the western mountain this autumn, drink the jade spring water, look at the maple forest at night, stop the journey and cut candles for thesis. Why did you abandon me? Wake up... look back at Li Fu, answer my question?..."

He knelt in front of the coffin and wept, mourning so much that he couldn't bear to live. The sad wind and cold rain outside the shed added to the desolation, which made everyone cry.Wu Sidao was at a loss for a while, and after a little thought, he suddenly realized that this person is treacherous, and his ghostly tricks are refurbished. He actually pretended to be a bitter play to hit Zhang Tingyu's wooden clock. A virgin, a handsome scholar, has such tricks!Just as he didn't pay attention, he turned to a white-haired old woman, supported by a middle-aged man in his forties, surrounded by thirty or forty old women and maids.The housekeeper muttered in a low voice, "Master is here too!" He stepped forward to greet Qian'er and said, "Slave, please greet the old lady, madam!" It is the emperor Xingchen who has power over the government and the public, the minister who walks in the study room, the minister of the bodyguard, the prince Taibao and the cabinet scholar Zhang Tingyu.

The butler greeted the old matriarch and Zhang Tingyu, glanced at Li Fu, and was about to say something, Zhang Tingyu waved his hand, signaling him not to speak, and only supported his trembling mother to stand aside and ponder. "Brother Mei Qing..." Li Fu's face was yellow from crying, and he said in a calm sobbing voice, "The heroic spirit is not far away, Qintai is close, I have teaching words to send you off to Yetai—" He took out twelve ingots of silver from his arms, put them on the spiritual case with trembling hands, bowed and bowed again, and chanted: "On the eighth day of June in the midsummer of the forty-sixth year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, Li Fu, a scholar in Jinling, only offered his heart fragrance. One petal, two bunches of money, the weeping of the heavy rain, the pull of the plain curtain, before the sacrifice of the deceased friend Mei Qing. My brother's life is also rich in golden cars, noble in the noble family, and the flower of the hairpin tassel, purple Zao Zhimao; but Huai Su contains Qing, transcendent elegance and suave, indifferent and humble, like the wind in the forest. With the capital of Xinyi Lushen, the chastity of orchids and chrysanthemums, although the wind of bamboo, the fragrance of plums , the beauty of osmanthus, and the beauty of the moon are indescribable. With a down-and-out body, meager talents, withered grass covered with frost, and dead wood with disease, once you meet by the bank of Mo Sorrow, you will meet again at the temple where the cock crows , then met Ruan Lang's green eyes, and got to serve Ziqi's Qintai!... Reminiscing about the beginning of my brother's friendship, it is said: "The gentleman's luster will be cut off in the fifth generation. The aspirations of the people are lacking in the skills of governing the world, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to fulfill the wishes of life!'Si's words are like a mausoleum, and his heart is like a valley. Although the servant is not sensitive, he admires it in the heart. "

He recited eloquently without hesitation: how he made friends with Zhang Shiping, how the two of them had similar tastes, and so and so, they made an appointment to travel in the capital together.Now the high mountain is still there, the flowing water is ruthless, the string is broken, the dream soul is empty, the blue blood is gone, the butterfly comes back... When it comes to the pain, I feel heartbroken, eyebrows and wrists, every word and every word is heartbroken, and everyone is stunned. .Wu Sidao couldn't help but think: This person's ancient prose is very impressive.In a daze, Li Fu's article had come to an end, and he turned to the sky with tears in his eyes, and said eloquently: "...the five strings are still there, where is Qiu Hong? In the depths of the white clouds, the yellow crane is far away! Thinking about the previous step, Thin horse west wind, Xianyang ancient road, staggering and difficult to walk... Oh my god! How can I take away my good friend and keep the rough village quality in this world? The heartache is silent, the tears and blood are dry, and the sky is speechless!  … ... Fu Wei Shang!" At the end of the song, Li Fu kowtowed three times, and his breath was dead.Although the family members don't understand his words, seeing him so sad, they have already sobbed with tears.

Zhang Tingyu thought that a woman from a brothel should not berate her beloved son to the point of hurting her mother and making her feel unhappy. Listening to this heart-piercing text, every sentence is shocking, every word is soul-stirring, no one can hold back tears Come out like a child.Li Fu ignored it, stood up in a daze, bowed to the steward standing in front of the coffin, and said, "Brother Mei Qing lent it to me in Nanjing. He said not to return it, and I originally wanted to use it to buy wine." Let's drink with Brother Zhang... oh... I'll trouble you to buy a jar of wine and bury... beside his grave..."

"This is Shiping's friend?" The old lady turned to ask Zhang Tingyu, "Do you know him?" Zhang Tingyu shook his head, bowed and said, "My son doesn't know him—it's rare that such a wicked person has such a friend!" The old lady's face was full of sadness. Rong Yingying was about to cry, and when she turned her face and saw Li Fu was about to leave, she raised her hand and said, "Mr. Is something wrong?" When the old lady looked him up and down, she looked so refreshed and weak, as if she was her beloved grandson who died young, she couldn't help but sighed, and asked, "Are you Shi Ping's literary friend?"

"Yeah." Li Fu nodded, almost crying again, "We met in Nanjing." "Shiping has only been in Nanjing for two months." Zhang Tingyu frowned and said, "It is worthwhile to make a friend like you."Li Fu replied indifferently: "The way to make friends is to communicate with each other through breath and voice. How long will it take to cover them as before?" Zhang Tingyu felt his heart move when he heard this, and looked at his son's "friend" blankly, speechless for a while. can be said. Li Fu took a step forward and asked, "Your Honor is..."

"I am Mei Qing's father." Zhang Tingyu looked at the coffin, the expression in his eyes seemed to call his son to get up, and it took a long time before it dimmed.Li Fu cried out in pain, "Uncle Shi!" But he couldn't finish a word, he just covered his face and cried bitterly.Zhang Tingyu knew that he was blaming him, but he avoided the taboo and couldn't say it out. He felt more and more grateful for this filial piety and courtesy, and she couldn't speak and shed tears.The old lady was stroking Li Fu's shoulder, choked up and said: "You are really polite! —— You are going to Beijing to take the exam, right?"

Li Fu couldn't answer either, he just sobbed and said: "Yes..." He kowtowed and got up to wipe away his tears.The old lady said: "The three grandchildren of the Zhang family, I feel sorry for Shiping the most, I don't want me, the white-haired man, to send him away first! Tingyu, I think this child has both filial piety and righteousness, and he is like Shiping." Well, since you are coming to Beijing to take the exam, why not live in our house to study? His elder brother and second elder brother can also have a chat together when they are free..." "Old lady!" Zhang Tingyu hurriedly bowed and smiled apologetically, "My son also loves scribes. But since this Mr. Fu is here to take the exam, he should avoid it. It is not suitable to live in the mansion. Since the mother has such a benevolent order, the son thought, why not live in the mansion?" Go to our family temple to study. After passing the exam, no matter whether you pass or not, you will be taken care of, and outsiders can't say anything—the imperial court has ordered the fourth and thirteenth masters of Anhui to return to Beijing, Qiuwei is afraid that the two masters will also preside over it!"

The old lady couldn't help being startled: There are too many people here, so it's inconvenient for my son to say anything, but the fourth elder brother Yinzhen and the thirteenth elder brother Yinxiang are notoriously bitter and mean people, Zhang Tingyu is in danger, and it is not for nothing that he is careful , Think about it and say: "Then it's up to you." After that, he ordered someone to take a sedan chair back to the house, and Li Fu naturally followed. Wu Sidao dragged his heavy legs back to the backyard, only to realize that the rain had already stopped and the sky was white and bright.Xingyin went to nowhere, but Tian Wenjing fell asleep leaning against the wall with a book in his arms.The room was empty, Wu Sidao suddenly felt an inexplicable loneliness.Tian Wenjing, who used to be considered amiable and respectable, suddenly felt a layer of estrangement.His cold and sour face seemed to be covered with a layer of frost. Along the stone tablet on the wall, he carefully discerned the writing on it one by one.

I don't know how long it took, the bell in the temple rang, and it was time for lunch. There were voices and hurried footsteps outside, and someone shouted, "It's here, it's in this room!" More than a dozen people swarmed in even talking and running.Tian Wenjing sat up in his sleep, rubbed his sleepy eyes and asked, "What's the matter? Is it a fire or a rebellion?" Wu Sidao saw Zhang Gui staring at him in the crowd, and his face turned white: Jin Yu After all, Ze couldn't let himself go, so he came looking for her! "It's him!" Zhang Guileng frowned, glanced at the room viciously, and designated Wu Sidao, "Forcing the mistress to refuse, hanged himself, and secretly hid in the temple-ahha! What are you staring at me for? You This wild bastard who has never made a fortune in eight lifetimes, doesn’t he know that it’s hard to hide in a three-foot world? I thought you had gone far away, but it turned out that my wife is still haunted—what you do can be tolerated by others, but you can’t hide it with your farting hands , where are you going?" Wu Sidao could hear his head buzzing, and he sat down paralyzed when he lost his crutches, muttering in his mouth: "She's dead...she's dead? Lancao'er is dead..." Let him tell where Zhang Gui is, "Take it!" Several long followers rushed up like wolves and tigers, and tied Wu Sidao, who had no resistance, like a rice dumpling with a rope, dragged him up and was about to leave However, Tian Wenjing, who was startled, woke up, waved his hand and shouted loudly: "slow!" Tian Wenjing slowly walked up to Zhang Gui, and asked with a sneer: "He raped your mistress, who is the witness?" He sighed and said: "What kind of testimony do you need for this kind of thing? The mistress hanged herself in his room, and his bag is all there. It is obvious that he escaped in a hurry because of adultery in the rainy night. Human life is a matter of heaven, you leave it!" "Oh?" Tian Wenjing tilted his head and pondered, "Your mistress died in Wu Sidao's room? As far as I know, Wu Sidao stayed in Jin's house for less than twelve hours. He traveled far away to visit relatives and had a lot of entertainment. Your mistress Why did you have an affair with him, and why did you come to Wu Sidao's room? Wu Sidao is disabled and has no strength to restrain a chicken, since he forced you to rape, why didn't your mistress call for help, but hang herself from the beam instead?" He said aggressively In one sentence, the question was aggressive but well-founded. Zhang Gui couldn't help being dumbfounded. After a while, he came back to his senses. He chuckled, looked at Tian Wenjing and said, "Are you the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture or the magistrate of Wanping County? This is my trial. Or judge Wu Sidao? But seeing that you are a literati, if you are afraid of ruining your fame, you dare to take the stage! You bastard bastard, get ready to enter the arena! , meddling in the men's business?—Pull up the surnamed Wu, let's go!" Just at this time, Xingyin came from the south corridor with a bowl of vegetarian food in one hand, and he could hear the situation in the room clearly, because he said with a smile: "Hey, the housekeeper of the Jin family, how can there be such a Meng Lang? Mr. Wu hasn't been there for a few days. Eat, all in one breath, follow you now, will you survive? Come, come! Give the monk a face, go back and tell your master that he is sick, and the monk is treating him, waiting for him to be cured How about I personally send him to the door?" Then he stuffed a bowl of porridge to Wu Sidao who was in a daze, "Eat it while it's still cold, and you can have another bowl in a hurry—Old Tian, ​​you go too If you eat late, you will be gone. Where have you seen the monks in this temple, and all the Buddhist disciples, they are all starved to death, and they don’t even want to pick up the food! Oh, tsk, tsk, tsk..." He said in a cloudy voice The hippie smiling face chattered endlessly, and the people in the room ignored it. Several family members couldn't help laughing, covering their mouths and laughing.Zhang Gui thought he was a lunatic at first, but now he couldn't help being furious, shouted "Go!", slapped Xingyin's face with a round slap!Unexpectedly, as soon as Xingyin raised his hand, he grasped it tightly, twisted it, and Zhang Guizao turned over and half-kneeled on the ground, dragging his legs and sticking out his buttocks, grinning his teeth in pain. "It's so ugly!" Xingyin smiled and pushed down a bowl of hot porridge in his right hand to his face, and with a flick of his hand, Zhang Gui fluttered out of the door for more than a foot!Xingyin rubbed his hands and laughed, "Buddha, sin! A good bowl of rice is dirty." Then he turned to the crowd and said, "Which one of you dare to try again, why don't we go to the fasting room? There is still half a pot of porridge there !" After that, he tucked Wu Sidao out with one hand, and said: "Let's go, let's go... Can't afford to provoke, can't we still hide?" Seeing his tricks like this, how could they dare to stop him, they just watched them go.Wu Sidao was dragged by him and walked fast, earning a couple of bucks, just like being cast in Xingyin's arms, because he said: "Don't drag me, I am not guilty, I want to argue with them in Shuntianfu!" "Mr. Wu," Xingyin has been dragging Wu Sidao out of the mountain gate - there was already a sedan chair waiting there - he stuffed Wu Sidao into the sedan chair, and he himself came in and sat across from him, and then said politely, "I am Sibeile Mansion The head monk of the family temple, I have been ordered by the fourth master to protect you for a long time! You were angry with others in Yangzhou and offended the eighth master. If the fourth master did not love your talent, you would have been dead for a long time! In the whole world, except for the fourth master, I am afraid that no one can protect you You are considerate! Let me explain, I hope you will understand the affairs of the world, and follow Fourth Master to do some business, if you are definitely not willing, then my monk will be doing my best." Wu Sidao quietly looked at the retreating houses on the street, as if he had just woken up from a nightmare, and many things that he didn't understand were answered vaguely, and he took a long time to breathe out, and said: "From now on, I am the fourth master's son." people..." "Si Ye has repeatedly said in his letter that you should not be forced." Xing Yin said coldly, "You are so lucky. Si Ye will treat you with respect as a teacher." Zhang Tingyu served his mother back home and just got off the sedan chair, the person at the door stepped forward and said: "Master, Mrs. He Zhu'er in the inner court has just left, and the crown prince Jun ordered you to come in!" Zhang Tingyu couldn't help being startled, and asked quickly : "Is it Yuqing Palace, or Changchun Garden?" "Changchun Garden." The family said, "Ma Zhongtang and Tong Zhongtang have already gone. , together with Ma Zhongtang and Tong Zhongtang handed the sign in." Zhang Tingyu looked back at his mother, bowed slightly, and said, "Mother asks for resettlement, and my son has to go. This Mr. Li will live in the family temple. Let's meet again after the exam. "After that, he hurried on his horse.Dozens of family members in Zhang's mansion have already prepared their clothes, crowns and pearls, and they mounted their horses and followed them.This is the rule of the Zhang family, which is commonplace, so there is no time to describe it in detail. Changchun Garden is located in Nanhaidian, the western suburb of the capital. Because it is south of the Old Summer Palace, it is also called "Front Garden".It was originally the reading villa of Li Wei, Marquis of the Wu and Qing Dynasties of the Ming Dynasty.The Manchurians lived in a cool place in the north, and they could not stand the scorching heat. After the forty-two years of Kangxi, when the national power was abundant, they allocated more than two million taels of domestic currency. It was repaired and given the name "Changchun", with Changxi on the outside and blue waves on the inside. Among them, the stone mountain paths are secluded and the pavilions are scattered. Although the sun is hot in summer and the fire is golden, as soon as you enter the garden, you will feel the water is cool, the moss and talc are cold, It is indeed a summer resort. Zhang Tingyu and his family rode out of Xizhimen for a quick ride, passed the Qingfan Temple, and in the distance, he could see dragons singing and wind whistling, blue and green, a large expanse of luxuriant forest and bamboo, and a colorful square on the left and right of the entrance of the garden, with colorful brocade and colorful walls on the top. The vines are intertwined with vines, and the branches are intertwined, just forming the words "Longevity without borders", and the algae tendrils hang down to the ground.Next to the double gates of the flowing water, on the golden lacquered red pillars of the gate, there is a very energetic couplet written by Yan Shu: Immortal Battle Five Clouds Luanming and Prosperity German car Qisu Longjiao Yunzhongtian Zhang Tingyu got off the saddle when he saw the lack, and changed his court clothes. He had seen an official coming out of it earlier, with a gold and bluestone crown on his head, peacock feathers with eyes pierced, but there was no patch on the robe of eight pythons and five claws.Zhang Tingyu was surprised inwardly: "I didn't hear that the fourth-rank civil servants have flower-appreciating feathers. Besides, why didn't the emperor even wear mending clothes?" After thinking about it, the man had approached, and Zhang Tingyu saw clearly that it turned out to be the envoy of North Korea Jin Zhongyu, who is permanently stationed in Beijing to communicate with the two countries, was awarded the fourth rank in Beijing by the Long Live Award last year, so he stopped and asked with a smile, "Old Jin, have you met the emperor?" "I've seen it." Jin Zhongyu said with a smile.He speaks very beautiful Beijing dialect, and just by listening to his accent, he doesn't even know that he is a foreigner. "Today, I won the lottery. Because I have to return to China to report on my work, Babeile said a lot of good things to the emperor, the old elder Jin. The emperor was happy, After rewarding this plume, I’m not afraid to offend Prime Minister Zhang, even if you don’t have one!” “Oh, you’re going back to China?” Zhang Tingyu pondered for a moment: This eighth master even flattered foreign envoys, and he didn’t like it. Is the heat low?Thinking about it, he said with a smile: "I have a lot of things to do these days. Look, if I have time, I will see you off in person; if I have time, I will ask my family to send some Cheng Yi—go back and say hello to the king for me! " Jin Zhongyu said with a smile: "You are a busy person. With this sentence, you have everything. The eighth master Cheng Yi gave me 6000 taels, which is enough for me. If there is a problem next spring, I will find Zhang Xiang to fight the famine—come in quickly." Come on, Ma Qi and Tong Guowei are waiting at Peiwenzhai!" After saying that, he raised his hand and resigned.Zhang Tingyu didn't dare to delay any longer, led by the little eunuch into Caifang, passed through a flower hole made of interlaced rose branches, and went to an open space to the west-nine oilcloth yellow sheds on one side, which were used to introduce officials from various provinces to Beijing to report their duties Waiting for the decree - I saw a small Xieshan-style hall with three jacarandas connected to the north of the road, with "Pei Wen Zhai" written in three big characters. A tall official inside, wearing a flowered coral top, came out early and clapped his hands. : "Hengchen! What's the matter? You didn't come here sooner or later? Long live Lord just met the North Korean envoy and is changing clothes. If you don't come in for a while, what's the matter with us?" "Ma Qi," Zhang Tingyu said with a smile, "You have a quick temper, and you look like a prime minister? Am I here?" While talking, he walked into the room, and saw Tong Guowei, another minister of the study room, talking with him across the coffee table. When an official spoke, seeing Zhang Tingyu coming in, he just nodded his head as a salute, and said, "Hengchen, let me introduce you. This is Shi Shilun, the Anhui chief envoy..." Shi Shilun had already stood up, and bowed to Zhang Tingyu in his seat, Move out and perform the ceremony of attending the hall.Zhang Tingyu quickly raised his hands, and said with a smile to Tong Guowei: "I have admired your name for a long time, Shi Shilun, the sixth son of Lord Jinghai Hou Shilang!" Is it 'incomplete'!" One sentence made everyone laugh, even Tong Guowei, who was full of airs, couldn't help but smile.Only then did Zhang Tingyu take a closer look at Shi Shilun. As the folks said, the hanging eyebrows, triangular eyes, nose and mouth are very close together, the chin is raised forward like a shovel, chicken breasts, shrinking neck, smart pimple teardrop mole, walking still Slightly lame, full of failures all in one body, only a pair of eyes shining brightly, revealing the strength of the whole body, because of a smile, he said: "It is true that ten things are incomplete. The Book of Changes says that if you are not very happy, you will become a nobleman." " Tong Guowei said: "Tingyu, the emperor asked Lao Shi to come in together today. I'm afraid he will ask about officials. You must be prepared. The fourth master and the thirteenth master have made a lot of money in Anhui. Just get rid of 30 government and Taoist officials—Lao Shi came from Anhui, the emperor must ask—this is an abbreviation of the approval department, you can read it first." He said and handed over a booklet with a yellow silk cover.Zhang Tingyu took the notebook and looked at it, but hesitating in his heart: this pair of brothers and partners cleared up their debts in Beijing, forced 19 people to death and ordered officials, and caused a stir in the court and the public.The prince asked them to go to Anhui to do river work, in fact, to avoid the limelight. Why are they still in Anhui and press for debts?Not for yourself, don't you think for the prince?While pondering, Ma Qi sighed: "No matter what others say, it's rare that the fourth master and the thirteenth master are so devoted to the community. How can the current officials be able to manage? With one hand digging money from the national treasury, with the other hand they beat the bones of the people. You Look, being an examiner receives Xiaolian's money; being a military officer eats the vacancies of being a soldier, and earns military salary; If people are in pain, they need to be rectified. Otherwise, they must be called empty!" "Governing a big country is like cooking small fish." Tong Guowei laughed. "You can use a shovel to stir up a tender little fish, okay? Haste makes waste. Don't rush." ​​He is the direct relative of Kangxi's biological mother, Tong Jia. Younger brother, with the posture of a celestial aristocrat, always speaks with an unquestionable tone, and his words are to teach others.Zhang Tingyu heard that the two people had different opinions, so he gently closed the folding page, and said: "The corruption of officials is obvious, no wonder the fourth master and the thirteenth master are anxious, but the accumulation is hard to recover, and it is not easy to stab blindly with only blood and courage—— Shilun, tell me, what is the tone of Anhui people about this matter?" "Respond to Zhang Zhongtang's words." Shi Shilun bowed and replied, "Officials have a kind of tone, and folks have another kind of tone. Officials say, 'Don't be afraid of the sky, don't be afraid of the earth, just be afraid that the fourth master will call you back', and the common people say, 'Heaven is not afraid. Surprised, not surprised, I'm afraid that the fourth master will be transferred back to Beijing'. The tone is different--" He straightened his neck and just continued, Zhang Tingyu saw a man in his fifties standing in front of the restaurant. Ding listened quietly with his hands behind his back, he waved his hands in panic, stood up, took a step forward, knelt down and kowtowed: "Long live! When did you come? The servants are only talking, but they didn't see the master!" Shi Shilun was also startled, and hurriedly Turning around and kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times, Ma Qi and Tong Guowei also knelt straight and long, inviting Emperor Kangxi to eat.