When I returned from the Song family, it was already the time of Xuzheng.
Originally, Song Yuan intended to stay overnight, but Jia Heng refused, so he had to send yesterday's carriage to take Jia Heng back home.
Although Jia Heng smelled of alcohol and had red cheeks, his mind was clearer than before. He got off the carriage, stopped the old man who got out of the carriage to help him, and said with a smile: "Old man, I don't need help, I'm going alone."
Just go over there."
"Is the young master okay?" the old man asked worriedly.
Jia Heng smiled, waved his hand and said, "It's only a few steps away. Let's go back."
The old man said: "Young Master, be careful."
Jia Heng picked up a lantern, responded, and went to the house where he lived.
It was dark in the night, and from time to time I could hear the barking of dogs.
Jia Heng pushed the door open and entered the hospital. As usual, he hung a lantern under the eaves of the corridor and went to fetch water. Before he could fetch water, he saw Aunt Cai coming out of the back room with two people, about eleven or twelve years old.
The maid, who had a slightly similar appearance, said: "Sir, please be careful and don't busy yourself. Just let them come."
Jia Heng raised his eyebrows and said, "What is this?"
"I have seen the young master." The two maids knelt down on the ground and buried their heads in their chests.
Aunt Cai smiled and said: "Brother Heng, I have been paying attention for a long time in the past two days before I found the one I like. They are a pair of sisters."
Then he said: "Get up quickly, raise your head, and let the young master see."
Jia Heng frowned and said while washing his hands: "Get up, the ground is cold."
Then, he took the towel hanging on the rope, wiped his hands, and asked Aunt Cai beside him, "Aunt, how old are they two? Where are they from? Do they know each other?"
Before Aunt Cai could answer, the two maids had already raised their eyes to look at Jia Heng. Under the light of the lamp, they seemed to have just washed their faces. Their two young and beautiful faces were slightly malnourished, and there seemed to be tears on their faces.
A young girl with braided hair and straight eyebrows said: "Sir, my name is Bi'er. I am twelve this year. This is my sister. I am thirteen this year. I call her Yan'er at home. She came from Shandong to escape. My mother is
Starving to death on the road, my father and his younger brother sold me and my sister to a man for five taels of silver in order to make ends meet."
The girl named Bi'er seemed to be more articulate. She raised her thin, fair face and spoke in detail.
Although the two sisters are not very beautiful, they still have good facial features, but they may be malnourished and both are a little haggard.
Jia Heng was silent for a moment, raised his eyes to look at Aunt Cai, and asked: "They are not young, how did they buy this?"
It is said that a maid who is too old has already remembered things, her temperament has been determined early, and it is not easy to sell her husband. If she runs away to another place...
Aunt Cai sighed and explained: "Brother Heng doesn't know something. The two sisters have been waiting for more than half a year at Dongshi Renyaozi... Just because the elder sister is mute, the younger sister is not willing to sell it alone."
He had to take his sister with him before he was willing to give up. He was sold several times, but he refused to work hard in the master's house. He ran away and returned to the house where he was beaten many times. I heard people talk about this, and I felt
I felt a little pitiful, so I simply bought them together. The man asked for twenty taels at first, but I talked hard and talked until I got ten taels of silver."
Jia Heng looked at his sister and saw a face with handsome features and slightly dark skin. There were tears in her eyes and her lips were moving as if she wanted to say something, but she just made a babbling sound.
Perhaps she thought that the young master opposite wanted to drive her away.
At this time, the girl named Bi'er raised her pale, thin face, with slightly red eyes, and said, "Master, if you don't want my sister, just send me back with you."
Jia Heng was silent for a moment and said to Aunt Cai, "Keep them all."
The girl named Bi'er shed tears excitedly and said, "Thank you, Master. My sister and I will serve you well."
Aunt Cai smiled and said, "Go and prepare the bath water."
"Hey..." Bi'er said, happily pulling her sister beside her, and then went to the stove to scoop hot water.
Jia Heng looked at the backs of the two girls, sighed softly, and thought to himself, this is the tip of the iceberg.
As far as he knew, since the eighth year of Chongping, Shandong, Henan and other places had suffered from drought and floods for many years. Coupled with military preparations and banditry, the two places had almost become a financial black hole for the Chen and Han Dynasties.
It is also a coincidence that in order to prepare for the Eastern Lu, Chen Han also added additional border rates and training rates to the normal tax system.
The border pay was imposed more than 20 years ago due to the fall of Liaodong and the rise of the Later Jin Dynasty. The garrison strength of the nine-border town increased greatly. In order to raise food and military pay, additional taxes were collected and assessed.
As for training pay, it is due to natural and man-made disasters in various places and the rise of bandits and bandits. The local governors use it to train soldiers, prepare for bandits, and maintain peace and security.
However, the country has been plagued by numerous abuses for hundreds of years. The royal family, the gentry and wealthy merchants have accumulated land and property, and land annexation has reached a frenzied level. The central government's finances are even more difficult to make ends meet, with deficits every year.
Jia Heng sighed in his heart for a while, and suddenly felt something was wrong, and asked: "Auntie, where is Qingwen?"
Turning around, I saw the candlelight in the wing.
Aunt Cai turned to the side room and whispered: "The girl doesn't know why. I called her at night, but she didn't come out to eat. She must be embroidering something in the house right now."
Jia Heng's face paused, his eyes were thoughtful, and he walked towards the east window room.
As soon as I arrived at the wing, I walked around the curtain and saw Qingwen sitting on the bed, lighting up the lamp, seemingly embroidering, but the needle and thread were not moving, it was all pretending.
Jia Heng felt funny.
The girl seemed to hear the noise, put down the embroidery in her hands, raised her face as charming as a spring flower, and looked at herself faintly. Jia Heng was startled for a moment, then smiled and said: "Qingwen, aren't you asleep yet?"
"How can I dare to sleep if the young master doesn't come?" Qingwen said crisply, turned her head to the side, snorted softly, and couldn't help but said: "The young master smells of alcohol, he should be taken care of and take a bath.
I just entered the house and the room smelled of alcohol."
Obviously, this pretty maid heard the conversation in the courtyard very clearly.
The girl's voice was clear and crisp, with a bit of cadence, but it was as sweet and sweet as an oriole coming out of the valley.
Jia Heng walked to the table, poured himself a cup of tea slowly, closed his eyes slightly, and said lightly: "I was a guest at a gentleman's house today, so I came back a little late."
He briefly guessed where Qingwen was when she suddenly became upset.
One possibility is that he originally promised to teach Qingwen how to read and write, but he was drinking late and came home late today, so he probably couldn't do it.
Another possibility is that Aunt Cai brought two maids.
After Jia Heng finished speaking, he raised the teacup and drank the tea. Well, the tea was still warm. It seemed like the tea leaves had just been changed. It was a little sweet. Did it add honey?
When Qingwen heard this, her delicate body trembled slightly, she raised her bright melon-seed face, looked at Jia Heng who had her eyes closed to rest, and said quietly: "Master, how come you eat so late when you are drinking?"
Jia Heng opened his eyes, chuckled, and said, "I originally wanted to go back early, but that gentleman kept me here for a while. I'll teach you how to read after you take a bath. By the way, those words,
I have to review today, and I will test you later."
Qingwen pursed her lips and said softly: "I have memorized those ten words."
Jia Heng put down the tea cup and said with a smile: "Remember, you won't know until you pass the exam."
At this time, Qingwen saw that Jia Heng was about to lift the teapot to pour tea, so she stood up and stepped forward, saying softly: "Master, let me do it."
Jia Heng suppressed the smile on his face and said calmly: "How dare you bother Miss Qingwen?"
As he spoke, he did not let go of the teapot.
Qingwen's face turned pale and she said urgently: "Master, you...it's me..."
Seeing this, Jia Heng smiled softly and said helplessly: "Okay, I won't tease you anymore. I just don't add any honey to tea in the future. I don't know who you learned this from?"
Qingwen's worry turned to joy. She picked up the teapot and poured it into the blue-grained white porcelain teacup. She curled her lips and said with a smile: "Old ladies eat tea like this in their house. I saw honey in the cupboard.
So I added some to it, hoping that the young master would like to drink it."
Jia Heng picked up the tea bowl, took a sip, and said with a chuckle: "After eating wine, I was thirsty. The more I drink honey tea, the thirstier I become."
Qingwen's eyebrows curved and she chuckled, "Then just drink it all, young master."
