"Hu finally arrived." Looking at the towering city wall not far away through the white raindrops, the sinking machinery breathed a lot of relief.
After the anniversary of the great master, Shenmao set off and left Songjiang. In order to enter Beijing earlier, he took the land route and did not take the water route. If he wanted to arrive in Beijing before the Mid-Autumn Festival, it would not be conspicuous to visit relatives and friends at that time. It was just right for him to do so. Ask someone to find good things to come back.
In order to give yourself time to enrich yourself, Shenmao and his team followed the official road from the start and rushed a hundred miles a day.
Unexpectedly, the first half was fine and smooth. After passing Shandong, a rain followed by a rain.
At the beginning, in order to shelter the rain, the trip was temporarily suspended.
Later, I saw that it was raining and the sinking machine was afraid that it would be delayed, so I asked people to rush in the rain. I rushed to the city slowly, and finally entered the capital at noon on the eighth day of the eighth month.
"It's the eighth day of the lunar month, it's okay..." Shenzhi put down the curtain of the car and said to himself.
It was only a few days before the Mid-Autumn Festival. Since he arrived in the capital, he naturally went to visit his relatives and elders.
But whether to go to the Shangshu Mansion first or the Minister's Mansion first, the sinking equipment has not yet made up its mind.
If it were a year ago, Shen Ji would naturally be close to his cousin He Shilang; but in the first half of this year, he sent people to the capital twice and wanted to entrust the resumption to his cousin, but he didn't want him to reply to his cousin, saying it was nice. But there was no accurate letter until the sinking suit was full.
In addition to being dissatisfied, you must think too much about sinking weapons.
Although the He family is his mother and wife, and they have been married to the Shen family for generations, they have also had a slight struggle in Songjiang. However, the Shen family first had the Shen Du brothers as scholars, and they have gained a reputation as scholars; later, the second-family old man was ninth. You were able to gain a foothold in the capital, which made the Shen family more and more famous.
Although the He family was also a family-running family, and their children from the other branches all served as officials, they always put the Shen family in terms of grades. That is, the He family is the ancestor of Songjiang. It was a long time ago in Songjiang and was not allowed to sink the family industry. Only then did the family always work with the Shen family, far superior to other big surnames and become a family like Songjiang.
Although Shen Ji attaches great importance to power, as a son of the Shen family, he is not a fool, so he naturally notices his cousin's perfunctory behavior.
Shenmao was not restless, but calmed down and carefully recalled the years he had been in Beijing.
He Dongsheng and his nephew were very close to each other, but they really had a lot to do with him.
The Shen family has a prominent relative of the second wife in Beijing, and Chen Li, the top scholar, and he didn't easily ask for a place in the He family. He Dongsheng was still struggling to get a seniority and had nothing to take care of his nephew.
Chen Ji is a grandson of the Shen family. He has always been arrogant and did not feel that he needed the support of the He family in his early years. Even if he was close, he was close to his relatives, and there was no exchange of interests.
Until a few years ago, He Dongsheng was promoted to Minister of Internal Medicine and became enthusiastic about the nephew of Shenji. If the great master had not passed away last year, Shenji would have jumped from the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Personnel under the help of He Dongsheng. They were also officials and officials The department is very fat.
Shen Ji thought that even if he missed the Ministry of Personnel's shortcomings, he would have no problem resuming the capital. After all, there was a Master Li behind He Dongsheng. There were many officials in the capital, which was not as rare as the lack of officials.
Who would have thought that until he was fully convinced, he would not have a clear letter.
If there were changes in He Dongsheng, the sinking machinery would not have thought of the place next to him. After all, the two places were thousands of miles apart, and some things could not be explained clearly in the letter. However, not only He Dongsheng, the capital, was perfunctory and cold, but also the He family in Songjiang. Nowadays, there is a little less enthusiasm.
The change did not start with the death of the clan leader, but with the return of Chen Jue's coffin to Songjiang.
The causal relationship between this is not difficult to guess.
Thinking about the rumors about the Shen family's house and the Shen family's second house in Songjiang in the past few months, Shen Ji's face turned gloomy...
Renshoufang, a sunken house, Jiuru residence.
Chen Quan put away his umbrella, took off his straw raincoat, and handed it to the maid next to him. Shen Rui looked at the rain outside and there was a pool of water stains on the ground, and said helplessly: "It's just a provincial examination, I'm not a child." , I asked my third brother to come over to the rain."
Although Chen Quan was worried about Shen Rui, he was afraid that he would be too serious and would make him nervous, which would affect tomorrow's exam. He pretended to be relaxed: "I just met you a few days ago. Who is patient to see you again? It's not my mother, I was in the temple a few days ago. There was a sign of peace in the middle. Today, the other party will send it to you, so he urged me to deliver it to you." After saying that, he solemnly took out a half-sized brocade bag from his arms.
Shen Rui took it with both hands and said, "I'll tell my aunt to worry about me."
The father and son of the five houses have all fame and fortune. The Guo family is also from a wealthy family. He knows the rules of the examination room that he is not allowed to bring pieces of paper into the market, nor will he ask for paper talismans. The brocade bag contains one inch wide and half inch. The long card of peace and ease. There is no word on it, so it is not a taboo.
Shen Rui immediately took it out and replaced the jade ring tied around his waist.
Chen Quan has always been a worry-free person and has always treated Shen Rui as his biological younger brother. Even though he knew that the elders of the second room would give instructions, he still couldn't help but say, "Are you ready for the basketball exam? I'll ask my elder brother to go to the Imperial Heaven Supervision to inquire. There is no sunny day these days. Not to mention anything else, charcoal needs to be prepared. The examination room is open. In this weather, if the charcoal is insufficient, a big problem will occur..."
Shen Rui took him kindness, and did not bother him, nodded and said, "Mrs. I have prepared charcoal fire, stove, and food..."
Chen Quan nodded first, then looked at Shen Rui with suspicion and said, "Can Brother Rui make a fire? Should I take the small stove first and light a fire? You don't do this in normal times, and you won't be able to ignite it then. But I suffered."
Shen Rui's mouth twitched. Just yesterday when he was preparing for the basketball exam, the third master asked the same question and forced Shen Rui to light the fire, boil water, heat food and other things.
Don’t everyone say he is old and mature? Why don’t he have no confidence at all? Does he look like a waste?
"Let's try it." Chen Quan saw Shen Rui's expression and said uneasy.
Shen Rui waved his hand and said, "Don't bother. I've tried it yesterday."
Chen Quan nodded, as if he was relieved. However, after he looked at Shen Rui again, he became worried again.
Shen Rui has always loved wiseness. Even if he was studying behind closed doors, he had to take a shower and tidy up every day. When he first arrived in the capital, it was the cold winter month. It was inconvenient to take a bath every day, so Shen Rui also had to wipe his body clean water.
The difference between the boys in the provincial examination is one day, but the other is three days.
In the palm-sized row room, there is no door or window, there is only a wooden board, a chair and a toilet. For three days, I have eaten, drink, defecation and urination. I just feel so terrifying when I think about it, let alone Shen Rui. This is the turtle-haired temperament.
"Speaking of this, the weather is also good for coolness. Otherwise, if you can't pour the toilet within three days, you can make people vomit to death." Chen Quan said: "Oh, it's not like being at home, Rui Ge'er will deal with it... …”
Before he finished speaking, someone said outside the door: "What should I deal with?"
As he spoke, the boy came in, as if Chen Quan was dressed up like Chen Quan, wearing a straw raincoat and wearing a full of steam.
It was He Taizhi who came.
Chen Quan smiled and said, "I'm worried that Brother Rui would not be able to bear the dirty things of taking the house exam..."
He Taizhi is two years younger than Shen Rui, and is fourteen years old this year, and he has also begun to change his voice.
After two years in the county school, He Taizhi has lost his childishness and no longer looks like a boy, but has become a handsome young man.
After hearing Chen Quan's words, He Taizhi also remembered Shen Rui's fault, went to the raincoat and said, "It's too late to say this now. If Brother Quan remembered it earlier, he could still ask Brother Rui to find a place to adapt. No matter how unmoved he is, Cousin Rui will have a great change in his appearance..." At the end of his speech, he couldn't help but cover his mouth and smiled.
Chen Quan thought about that scene and found it ridiculous.
Seeing that both of them were joking about themselves, Shen Ruiheng glanced at the two of them and said, "It's too late for me to adapt, but Brother Quan and Cousin He are now starting to adapt. It's too late, but the two people on the left and right must adapt. …
He Taizhi got into the seat and was eating ginger tea with snacks. After hearing Shen Rui's words, his body trembled and immediately lost his appetite.
Chen Quan hurriedly said, "Maybe because of rumors, it's where it's going to be? After all, this is a capital city, which is different from Nanzhili."
Although he heard his brother mention the pain of the provincial examination, it was Nanjing, which was different from the capital.
He Taizhi wanted to say a few words, but when Shen Rui listened with a smile, he swallowed the words from his mouth again.
Chen Quan came here to give him a sign of peace, and He Taizhi came here to give him a beef.
"It just happened that people from the countryside came yesterday and sent a beef leg. My mother remembered that Brother Rui liked beef Yu, so she sent me to send it, saying that she could ask the kitchen to make fried meat Yu, which is better than pancakes or something. …” He Tai’s way.
Because oxen cannot be slaughtered casually, even in the capital, beef is not common. You have to catch up with injured cows and report to the yamen before you can slaughter it. But there are policies from the top and countermeasures from the bottom. For families like the Shangshu Mansion, It’s not difficult to eat one meal a month or two beef meals.
Beef is rougher than mutton and is not easy to overcome. The old and younger people in the Shangshu Mansion don’t like to eat this. Even when Chen Jue was there, his diet also maintained a southern taste. He liked to eat fish and shrimp, and was just ordinary for beef. It was Shen Rui. When he saw that the beef was braised or stewed in soup every time, he remembered the beef from later generations, so he ordered the kitchen to fry it. The fried beef was crispy, crispy and easy to melt, but everyone could eat two pieces.
"When I finish the exam, I will go to thank my aunt." Shen Rui said.
He Taizhi waved his hand and said, "Brother Rui is so polite, but just a ox leg..."
The things had been delivered, so Chen Quan and He Taizhi didn't stay for too long. They put on their straw raincoats and went to Xu's place to meet, then said goodbye and went back.
Everything is as usual here in the Shangshu Mansion.
In the morning, the third wife asked Xu whether she needed to arrange a table today, but Xu rejected it.
"Looking that Brother Rui is already attentive enough, the rest depends on God's will. Just do ordinary things, so he can save himself from being forced." Xu said.
The third wife thought about it and said this was the same, so she felt a little embarrassed: "Fortunately, my sister-in-law is very thoughtful, otherwise I, an aunt, would have done something bad..."