After copying documents for a day, when Shen Jundao returned home from the Prince's Mansion, it was already time to turn on the lamp.
Nowadays, the downtrodden Shen Jundao lives no longer in the Zhumen Courtyard, but in a small courtyard with three thatched cottages, with dilapidated pavilions and drafty walls.
There are no servants or maids in the house, so most of the affairs have to be done by oneself.
Life was hard, and she had to work all year round. Shen Jundao's wife became ill from overwork five years ago and had no money for medical treatment. As a result, she died.
For a long time after that, only three pure men, Shen Jundao and his two sons, were left in the Shen residence.
Fortunately, I finally got married before my eldest son. She is the daughter of a small family. Although she is not beautiful, she is still virtuous, hard-working, and well-managed. She finally manages the Shen family in a somewhat human-like manner. .
"My father-in-law is back!" Seeing Shen Jundao returning home, his wife hurriedly stepped forward to greet him.
"Yes!" Shen Jundao stroked his beard lightly and nodded slowly. His eyes wandered around before he said, "Where's Da Lang?"
"Husband, he is still copying books. I heard from husband that business is good today and he has taken on a lot of work. He may be busy these days!"
"Oh! What about Erlang?"
"My uncle's friends sent him a chicken early in the morning, and then they asked him to go out together without saying where they were going."
"Oh, I got it!" Shen Jundao sighed softly and stood up to go back to his room.
"My father-in-law hasn't eaten yet? My daughter-in-law has prepared dinner, but she wants to deliver it to her father-in-law's room?"
"No! I ate at the Prince's Mansion. You and Dalang should share those meals."
In order to save money, Shen Jundao rarely ate at home since he started working in the Prince's Mansion. He basically ate with the servants in the Prince's Mansion.
Because the Shen family's life has always been tight, Shen Jundao and his eldest son were out copying books and selling them for money, but they didn't earn much. Although they could barely make ends meet, there was no tomorrow.
It wasn't until Shen Jundao found a job in the Prince's Mansion that his life began to improve slightly.
But later, in order to arrange a marriage for his eldest son, Shen Jundao scraped together some money, but this also left the Shen family impoverished again and heavily in debt.
After the marriage, both the son and the daughter-in-law worked hard to find work. The son copied books and sold calligraphy outside, while the daughter-in-law did some mending, starching and washing chores for wealthy families. Although the income was limited, she could always supplement the family income.
Although they are all very hardworking, the income of the three Shen family members is barely enough to maintain, and they have not yet been able to pay off their debts.
Years ago, Goryeo invaded the border and the Turks were in turmoil, which led to a rather unstable situation in the Sui Dynasty. In addition to people's panic, the price of rice in Chang'an City continued to rise. This is undoubtedly making things worse for families like Shen Jundao who have no stable income. .
Although these things are troublesome, they are still within the range that Shen Jundao can bear.
There was only one thing that made Shen Jundao feel a little exhausted, and that was the bullying of those old Nanchen officials.
Fortunately for the civil servants, although Shen Jundao is not in the officialdom, basically none of the old Nanchen officials are doing very well. Compared with everyone, they are only fifty steps and a hundred steps away.
Moreover, without the overwhelming power, all those civil servants can do is to make sarcastic remarks. It doesn't hurt to scold others, and they can do what they want, so let him do it for the time being.
On the other hand, those Nancheng generals, because many of them had been attacked by the scholars, had long harbored resentments. This time, they all blamed the Shen family. They often sent out their children and grandchildren to lead a group of green-skinned bullies. Go to Shen's house and smash it up.
Fighting and fighting failed, and peace and reconciliation failed. One can imagine how miserable Shen Jundao's life was.
Among them, the one who bullied the Shen family the most was Xiao Mohe, the former number one brave general in Nanchen!
Xiao Mohe was loyal to Empress Chen. Although he was once given a green hat by Chen Shubao, he was Xiao Mohe's master after all. Although Xiao Mohe had hatred in his heart, he did not dare to do anything to Chen Shubao. ….
As for Zhang Lihua, the most proud beauty of Empress Chen, she was beheaded by Marshal Shi Gaojun as early as when the Sui Dynasty destroyed Nanchen. Zhang Lihua was also a prostitute, and she didn't seem to have any family members.
Therefore, the Shen family, Empress Shen's natal family, naturally became Xiao Mohe's first punching bag.
Although you can't blatantly send people to kill one or two direct descendants of the Shen family, if you just beat them up and do some damage along the way, basically no one will care.
Shen Jun's Taoist family was once beaten seven times by Xiao Maha's men in half a year, at least once a month on average, more frequently than women.
Fortunately, Xiao Mohe is quite general in his mind, and he is very measured in his actions. He only smashes things, demolishes walls, builds houses, etc. He rarely attacks anyone, and his destruction is also very moderate, and he never does anything destructive. The destruction finally left a way for the Shen family to survive.
Even so, Shen Jundao was tortured by Xiao Maha and others to the point of inexplicable grief and anger, and he was in pain and wished to live.
The only thing that makes Shen Jundao feel that there is still some hope in this life is that his eldest son is relatively promising and has a bit of his own style in the past.
Therefore, Shen Jundao has been thinking hard about how to find a way for his eldest son to embark on an official career.
However, after thinking about it for a while, Shen Jundao found out helplessly that as long as the current emperor did not die and someone else did not come to power as the boss, the old southern officials like the Shen family would basically have no chance.
Although he had an idea in mind, Shen Jundao had no money, no power, and no loyal and reliable subordinates.
After the death of his brother Shen Junli, there was no one in the Shen family who could support him. As a result, Shen Junli didn't even have anyone who could discuss important matters. He had no choice but to keep all his thoughts deep in his heart. .
There is another thing that makes Shen Jundao even more troublesome, that is, his second son Shen Guang, who has not learned anything since he was a child, only knows how to fight with chickens and dogs every day, and associates with the green-skinned bullies on the street, sweeping the floor in a polite manner, which is humiliating to the family!
In anger, Shen Jundao asked for help from the monks several times and gave Shen Guang several times of fried pork with bamboo shoots.
It's a pity that this little brat Shen Guang doesn't care about being beaten. Although he was beaten by his old man until he was crying and screaming, he turned around and returned to his idle green self.
After repeated disappointments, Shen Jundao no longer had any illusions about these two sons. He only hoped that this guy would not bring trouble to the family.
However, things backfired. No, Shen Jundao sighed sadly for a long time. Just as he took off his clothes and went to bed, ready to sleep, there was a loud knock on the door: "Hey! Is anyone there? Is Shen Jundao at home?"
"Who came to see me?" Shen Jundao was puzzled and quickly got up and got dressed.
He walked slowly and slowly to the outside of the house. On the other side, his daughter-in-law also opened the door with a candle and took small steps to open the door.
Outside the door was a young man dressed as a servant, with a medium build and splendid eyes.
When he saw the young woman opening the door, the young man was stunned for a moment, and then he came back to his senses. He quickly looked back and saw Shen Jundao who was calm and steady. Then he said to Shen Jundao, "That old man, is this Shen Jundao?"
"It's me!" Shen Jundao said loudly as his anger sank into his dantian.
"Hey! He's worthy of being a high-ranking official. He's quite impressive! Come here quickly. My young master has a letter for you, telling you to collect it personally. If you miss something, you'll have to bear the consequences." He said in his mouth.
Then, the boy waved the letter in his hand towards Shen Jundao.
Frowning, Shen Jundao slowly stepped forward to take the letter, then lit a candle and read it on the spot.
Seeing this was not a big deal, it shocked old Shen Jundao into a cold sweat!