Xian Sun of the Ning Mansion of the Red Chamber

Chapter 3
Willow head on the moon, after dusk.

Xuzheng said: "Ermao, everything is covered."

Yueyang City, which was noisy all day, gradually quieted down, even the guards who were arrested on the street had disappeared, and the only noisy places left were probably those romantic places.

Lights were lit in thousands of homes, and occasionally one or two drunks staggered. When they met a well-meaning watchman, they stepped forward to help them, and then shouted to the four directions: "People are quiet, everything is falling, be careful of candles!"

Come to the backyard of the inn together, the old servant Zhou Siwu added fodder for the horses, put three sticks of An Lingxiang in front of the coffin, respectfully kowtowed three times, and after everything was done, he put the hay on the side of the carriage Lie down on the bed, untied the gourd around his waist, took a sip of strong wine, tightened his collar, and prepared to watch the night and rest here.

All the way from southern Xinjiang, he spent the night like this every night.

Not because of anything else, but because I am afraid that some thieves who don't open their eyes will violate the peace of the master.

He is an old servant of the Jia family, and he has been following the second master since he left the capital to southern Xinjiang. There were a few servants with him, but almost all of them were gone, and most of them lost their lives to the poisonous people in southern Xinjiang. In the miasma dense forest, there are still one or two people who are not used to the water and soil of southern Xinjiang, and died of the disease early on.

Twenty years have passed in the blink of an eye, and he is almost [-] years old. There is nothing dissatisfied in living to this age, after all, the old Zhou family still has a queen.

Now I only look forward to the second master's trip to the high school list, so that the second master and his wife can rest in peace.

In the inn room, beside the candlelight, Jia Ying was reading a book fascinated.

For the scientific examination, even though Jia Ying had been preparing for more than ten years, she did not dare to relax in the slightest.

As the earliest examination system in the history of the world, its difficulty can be imagined. Thirty old Mingjing, fifty young Jinshi, so many scholars and students can't jump over a high hurdle in their entire lives.

Therefore, after so many years, Wenshu has become one of Jia Ying's daily homework.

However, the books he reviewed were an unusual subset of classics.

In the dim light, one can vaguely see the seven big black characters written on the cover of the book, "Chronicle and Textual Research of Policy Theory of Past Dynasties".

This is Jia's exclusive collection of scientific research, and its author is undoubtedly Jia Ying himself.

There are many similar bibliographies, such as the simulation of the five scientific examinations and the three sessions, one hundred days of retreat practice, stereotyped scriptures, excerpts from the four book collections and application templates, a thousand questions on the essentials of the time, a collection of wrong and error-prone questions, and so on.

The contents of these bibliographies are all transcribed by Jia Ying herself on weekdays, similar to study notes. As the saying goes, a good memory is not as good as a bad pen.

Of course, for these treasures and cheats, Jia Ying firmly adheres to the principle of self-produced and sold and never sold out.

It's not that he's worried about strengthening his opponent's strength, but mainly because he's afraid of being targeted by those who want to.

Jia Ying could even foresee that if these books were circulated, they would be bruised and regarded as crooked by some clean people.

If it was accidentally spread to the court, Jia Ying might even be deprived of his qualifications for the exam.

"Squeak!"

The door of the room was pushed open, and Xi'er came in with a large wooden tub that was steaming.

"Second Master, it's time to soak your feet!"

The life of a rich man is so boring. If you are hungry, someone will feed you, if you are thirsty, someone will give you tea.

Alas, there is no pursuit at all in human life!

It's a pity that Baochun and Lvrong didn't come with them. Although Xi'er is a good servant, Jia Ying is not used to a man rubbing his feet.

Alas, another lonely night!

Jia Ying seemed to have thought of something, and asked, "Xi'er, is your father still staying overnight with the carriage?"

Xi'er brewed a bowl of hot tea, and replied, "I just delivered a mattress to my father."

Jia Ying shook his head helplessly. He understood Zhou Siwu's worries. Since ancient times in Hunan and Guizhou, there has been a saying of raising corpses and driving them away. The folks have a special enthusiasm for corpses, especially for yin marriages. All are priceless.

In some families, the forefoot of the deceased just entered the soil, and the first seven went to pay homage, and suddenly found that the grave was gone.

It can be seen that the wind of stealing corpses is prevalent.

Therefore, the ancients guarded the grave not only because of the word filial piety, but also because they were afraid that people would die in peace!

It’s just that his parents have passed away for four years, and now there is only a pile of bones left. As for the buried objects, they have been taken out when the bones were collected again, and they were left in the tomb in southern Xinjiang, but there is nothing wrong with it. I'm so worried.

Then he confessed: "Xi'er, let Xiaoer open a room again. It's winter now, and the weather is getting colder as you go north. After all, your father is getting old, so you can't live in a good house. To suffer that crime, go and call him back to his room to sleep."

Unexpectedly, Xi'er heard the words, shook her head like a rattle, and said: "Second Master, it's not that you don't know my father's temper. I'm going here now to scold you."

Jia Ying said helplessly: "Then you go and call him over, and say that Master is looking for him for something!"

Xi'er was very happy, so she turned around and left.

"Wait!" Jia Ying called to stop him, and explained: "By the way, you also take the mattress back, remember not to face him."

Xi'er smiled and said, "Understood, Second Master!"

When Xi'er arrived in the backyard, seeing his father, he only said that the second master had something to do with you, so Zhou Siwu didn't doubt it, and hurried to the guest room.

Seeing that her father had entered the inn, Xi'er picked up the quilt and walked back. Halfway there, she turned back and threw all the hay on the ground into the stable, only then was she satisfied.

There is no son in this world who doesn't feel sorry for Lao Tzu.

There was no one in the backyard for a while.

But after a while, I saw a black figure wearing a bamboo hat over the wall and entered, but the moment he landed, his figure was a little staggering.

Immediately afterwards, the man in black wearing a bamboo hat opened the latch of the backyard door, poked his head out, and heard a few nightingales singing softly. A petite figure walked in, also covered by a bamboo hat, but the clothes looked familiar.

Only the petite person asked in a low voice: "Brother Tie, what should we do next?"

But it was Tie Kou and Qi Sixian.

Hearing this, Tie Kou pointed to the two coffins on the carriage and said, "There was an old servant who kept watch at night, but I couldn't do anything about it. Now that there is no one, it is convenient for us."

When Qi Sixian saw the two coffins, he couldn't help taking a few steps back, but he realized the meaning of Tie Kou's words.

Under the bamboo hat, the embroidered eyebrows were slightly frowned, and she couldn't bear to say: "Isn't this not very good."

Tie Kou also sighed, although he is a man in the Jianghu, he also understands the four words of filial piety and shame, but now he wants to disturb the souls of the dead, and he feels uneasy, but it is hard for him to show it because he is like his brothers.

He only said: "Brother Qi, you and I are both enemies, and the only way to get out is by hiding in the coffin. The scholar is obviously a famous scholar, and Bao Siqi's eagle claws will not easily check him, so he can only offend him right now." The big deal is that Tie will be dealt with by the master afterwards!"

At this moment, Qi Sixian was thinking about sharing the same coffin with the deceased, he was so frightened that he lost his mind for a while.

But the voice trembled: "Brother Tie, but I'm afraid!"

Tie Kou said: "Brother Qi is calm and decisive when things happen, how can he be so timid!"

Immediately explained: "When the light is off when people die, there is nothing to be afraid of. If it doesn't work, I will knock you out. You just need to sleep for a while."

After finishing speaking, Qi Sixian didn't respond, and pulled her towards the carriage: "Pry open the coffin lid with me first!"

The two people here are very busy, but they are afraid that people will find out, Tie Kou is fine, it is the first time for Qi Sixian to encounter such a thing, but there is a slight noise, and he frightens himself first, Tie Kou has no choice but to let her stay in front of her. Waiting aside, he did it himself, and immediately walked towards the carriage.

On the other hand, Jia Ying was also very helpless.

No matter what he tried to persuade, Zhou Siwu would not agree, even if he showed his master's prestige, the old servant would only have a thorn in his neck, what can you do.

Jia Ying changed her mind and said, "If Uncle Wu insists on doing this, it will be easy!"

Turning around to Xi'er, he said: "Xi'er, you also move out the quilt of the master. An old servant can be so loyal. It doesn't make sense that the son of the master knows how to be cold and afraid of the heat, and spread a reputation of being unfilial. He is afraid Even scientific research is hopeless!"

Zhou Siwu heard the words and said anxiously: "How can this be done? It's cold at night, no matter how good the second master's body is, I'm afraid that something will happen. If this delays the spring, how will the old servant explain to the deceased master and wife?"

But Jia Ying didn't pay any attention to it, she just said: "You don't have to worry about these things, I only care about not tarnishing my face."

Zhou Siwu was silent.

Seeing this, Jia Ying came up with a compromise: "Uncle Wu, you can relax indoors and rest. If you are really worried about the outside, you only need to get up a few more nights and don't sleep well."

Zhou Siwu could only agree.

Jia Ying was overjoyed, but only heard the faint sound of a bell.

His complexion suddenly turned cold, and he was about to go to the backyard.

The old servant on the side reacted three minutes faster than him, picked up the waist knife on one side, smashed the window, and jumped straight from the second floor.

Jia Ying realized that the downstairs led directly to the backyard, and immediately jumped out.

Although Xi'er moved slowly, her figure was extremely flexible in every movement.

The three masters and servants are all fierce.

As soon as the bell rang, the iron buckle knew something bad was going on. Unexpectedly, there was an imperceptible silk thread between the two carriages, connected to the copper bell, so he didn't care about other things at the moment, pulled Qi Sixian who was dazed from the side, and walked towards the back door.

Unexpectedly, in a hurry, Qi Sixian, who hadn't recovered yet, stumbled and fell to the ground, his leg bone knocked on the edges and corners of the sundries beside him, making it difficult to get up for a while.

This delay made Tiekou even more impatient.

Just now he was secretly observing, but he saw that the old servant was also unusual, with a brave spirit on his body, which seemed to be the way of the army, and he probably had already reacted by now.

Seeing that Qi Sixian had difficulty walking for a short time, he could only carry him on his shoulder with one hand and rush out the door.

The three of Jia Ying's master and servant came to the backyard, only to see a crowbar thrown on the ground next to the carriage, and looked around, but there was no one there, only the backyard gate was half closed.

When the three of them were about to chase away, the door was pushed open again.

It was Tie Kou who carried Qi Sixian back in embarrassment and closed the door tightly.

Zhou Siwu on the side had already drawn his saber out of its sheath at this moment, and with a few strides, he rushed towards Tie Kou and the other two, with a single strike, there was no return.

Tie Kou looked at the flashing knife light and pointed at Qi Sixian on his shoulder. He was injured again, so his reaction was naturally not as good as usual.

In a panic, he could only throw Qi Sixian on his shoulders towards the open space beside him, and he made a sharp turn, narrowly avoiding the blade, and drew out the long sword behind him to meet the cutting blade.

Qi Sixian, who was thrown over there, hadn't landed yet, when he saw Jia Ying's feet rising and falling on the other side, he flew towards him and kicked Qi Sixian on the back.

"Wow!"

A mouthful of blood spewed out from Qi Sixian's mouth, and his body was knocked into the stable by a huge force, his life and death unknown.

"Brother Qi!"

Tie Kou saw it, and felt extremely anxious, but the old servant in front of him was too domineering in his sword skills, so he could only be forced to retreat again and again.

Xi'er on the other side conjured up two crescent short blades out of nowhere in his hands, bent his body, walked very fast, and attacked the lower three sides of the iron button.

Tie Kou became even more flustered for a moment, and the huge range of motion tore apart the freshly scabbed wound.

Jia Ying ignored the three people who were fighting, but walked aside to check the integrity of the coffin lid.

Fortunately, the old servant Zhou Siwu had set up traps beside the carriage in advance, and the other party was alarmed before he could get close!

On the other side, in less than a dozen rounds, under the crazy offensive of Zhou's father and son, Tiekou's long sword was released, and two bloody cuts were drawn on his thigh and calf. In addition to his original injuries, it was difficult for him to hold on.

One knee went limp, and he fell to the ground.

In the next instant, three gleaming blades were placed between his necks, with his blood still sticking to them.

Zhou Siwu's face was full of murderous intent, Zhou Xi'er lost her usual laughter and was extremely gloomy.

Jia Ying was about to go forward to torture him, when he suddenly heard the noise of footsteps in the street outside the backyard, mixed with the sound of swords and soldiers unsheathing.

Immediately afterwards, there was a knock on the door in the front yard.

(End of this chapter)