Sword of Coming

When the hot summer comes, the old locust tree that holds a big shady umbrella is gone. The iron-locked wells are closed by private houses. The sweet well water that the old people miss is no longer drinkable. The tombs of gods are missing a lot. There is the sound of crickets, and you can no longer climb up the creaking old porcelain mountain. Fortunately, in the spring, there are still peach trees in Peach Leaf Lane, which are cute in deep red and light red.

In life, there are gatherings and endings, but fortunately, there are separations and gatherings.

Today, there are many people who have returned from their hometown gathered at the old school.

Before returning to the academy, Li Huai, Lin Shouyi, Dong Shuijing, and Shi Chunjia made an appointment to return to the school together today, and they didn't talk too much, just went over there to have a look and sit around.

Dong Shuijing asked someone to find the subordinate clerk at the county government office, and got the key to help open the door. He usually didn't know Dong Shuijing's ability, and he didn't know Dong Bancheng's name, but the glutinous rice wine sold by Dong Shuijing had already been sold far and wide. In Lijing City, it is said that even the Xianjia ferry, which flies like birds in the white clouds, will put this wine on it. This is a rolling source of wealth that everyone can see.

Four classmates and friends who used to study here, Li Huai and Dong Shuijing came all the way to carry water. The carrying poles, buckets and rags were all brought from Li Huai's ancestral house, and Shi Jiachun was holding a basket, all of which were packed inside . Lin Shouyi was the young master of a rich family back then, he didn't have to worry about clothes and clothes, so he didn't have the opportunity to do these jobs, and today he wanted to fetch water, but Dong Shuijing laughed and said that the water fetching place near Li Huai's house is more familiar to me. some.

So Lin Shouyi, who was empty-handed, chatted with Shi Chunjia, who was approaching him.

Both families moved to the capital of Dali. Lin Shouyi's father was promoted to a capital official, but the Shi family was only rich. In the eyes of the natives of the capital, they were like a rich man from a foreign country, covered in mud. The fishy smell, the Shi family's business in the early years was not going well, and they couldn't find any reason to reason when they were cheated. Shi Chunjia had something to say. The shop in Qilong Lane was crowded with people before, so it was just a joke, so it was not easy to say more. Now that only Lin Shouyi was there, Shi Chunjia began to sarcasm and complained about Lin Shouyi, saying that his family was knocking in the capital. After some bumps and bumps, I couldn't find the temple even when I lifted the pig's head, so I went to find Lin Shouyi's father. I never thought that the door would be closed, but I just went into the house and drank tea to talk about the past, and it was over. Lin Shouyi's father , made it clear that he was not willing to help.

When Shi Chunjia married a woman, she was no longer the carefree girl with shofar braids in her early years, but the reason why she was willing to talk straight to the point was that she was still willing to treat Lin Shouyi as a friend. How the fathers deal with each other is the business of the fathers. After Shi Chunjia left the school and the academy, he became a woman who cared for her husband and taught her children, and cherished those early years even more.

The words that can be used to complain to people face to face are because there is no resentment in the bottom of the heart.

Lin Shouyi didn't hide anything for his father and family, and said: "What is my father's temperament, what is my family's situation, you still don't know? Who would dare to go to my house to play when I was a classmate? Was Aquarius courageous back then? Do you see how many times she has been to my house?"

The style of the Lin family has always been eccentric in the early years in the small town, and he doesn't like to talk about human relations with outsiders. Lin Shouyi's father is even more strange. It was a man who was almost harsh in the face of the concubine Lin Shouyi, and another man who got along with almost everyone and knew everything too clearly. He got along very well with several supervisors, so apart from the compliments from his colleagues in the yamen, Lin Shouyi, as the head of the family, or his father, seemed a bit mean and ruthless.

When I traveled to the Great Sui Academy, the letters I sent home to Lin Shouyi were always concise and to the point, as if settling accounts.

No matter how well-known Lin Shouyi is now in the Sui Dynasty, he even has a great reputation in the officialdom of Dali, but that man has never seemed to have such a son, and he has never written a letter to Lin Shouyi. Go home and have a look at the words when you have time.

Shi Chunjia remembered something and jokingly said: "Lin Shouyi, even a few of my friends have heard about you. How capable is it that the story can be spread to the capital of Dali, saying that you can definitely become a sage in the academy, even a gentleman Those who dare to think about it are still immortals on the mountain who have accomplished Taoism and have good looks..."

Speaking of this, Shi Chunjia turned sideways and looked at Lin Shouyi who was wearing a green shirt, "Yo, you are so handsome. I couldn't see it at all before. He has a straight face all day long, like a little master, which is not pleasing."

Lin Shouyi said: "If you have the guts to say this in front of Bian Wenmao."

Shi Chunjia smiled and said, "I didn't say you were prettier than my husband."

Lin Shouyi shook his head and said nothing.

Shi Chunjia was a little emotional, "At that time, the school only counted the latest books of you and Li Huai, and it was the same after a year of reading. Li Huai didn't like to flip books, and he felt sleepy when he read them. You were the most careful flipping books. "

Lin Shouyi smiled and said, "Do you still remember such a small thing?"

Shi Chunjia asked: "If you don't remember these, what will you remember?"

Lin Shou nodded and said, "It's a good habit."

Lin Shouyi hesitated for a moment and said, "If anything happens in the capital in the future, I will ask Bian Wenmao for help."

Shi Chunjia was stunned for a moment, then laughed and pointed at Lin Shouyi, "Since you were a child, you have talked the least and have the most thoughts."

Where does Lin Shouyi need to ask Bian Wenmao?

This kind of thing of helping others with steps and ladders is probably Lin Shouyi's unique gentleness and kindness.

Over at the school, while cleaning, Li Huai loudly recited the beginning of a family motto article, "Rise at dawn, sweep the court!"

Thinking back to those days, every morning, Mr. Qi would start cleaning the school early. He would always do these things by himself and did not need to be done by the book boy Zhao Yao.

Dong Shuijing smiled and answered: "Be clean inside and outside."

Shi Chunjia wiped the table. After hearing this, he raised the rag in his hand and said, "As soon as you faint, take a rest and lock the door."

Not far away, Lin Shouyi smiled and said, "I must check it myself."

Lin Shouyi carefully wiped the window rails, studying at the foot of the mountain, cultivating Taoism on the mountain, cultivating his body and mind, why not?

Shi Chunjia's husband, Bian Wenmao, also returned to Huaihuang County, the town belongs to the county and the county. Bian Wenmao submitted a name card and needed to visit Fu Yu, the governor of Baoxi County.

Fu Yu is also a son of a well-known family in the capital. The Bian family and the Fu family have a certain relationship and belong to the Dali Qingliu, but the Bian family is still much inferior to the Fu family. However, the Fu family is not as famous as the Cao and Yuan surnames. After all, it does not belong to the surname of Shangzhu State. Fu Yu was once the secretary general of Wu Yuan, the first county magistrate of Longquan, and he kept it secret.

After Longquan County was promoted to Longzhou, it governed the four counties of Celadon, Baoxi, Sanjiang, and Xianghuo. Yuan Junshou belonged to the chief official of Qingci County who was promoted on the spot. The prefects of the other three counties were all from Beijing officials. The county was collected by Fu Yu.

Bian Wenmao was willing to submit to the Baoxi County Sheriff's Office, but he did not dare to visit the Celadon County Yamen. This was due to the deep prestige of the Shangzhuguo surname.

In fact, although Fu Yu is now the same rank as the direct grandson of the Yuan family, and they are both governors of the same county, but every time he goes to the governor's residence in the state city to discuss matters, not to mention Fu Yu, the governor Wei Li, when facing the governor of Yuan Commandery, all Not easy.

Not only Yuan Junshou's background, but Yuan Junshou's own conduct and political methods are the key.

Yu Lu and Xie Xie went to Yuan's ancestral house first, then came to the school and picked two unoccupied seats.

Both of them used to be foreign students of Dali Old Cliff Academy, but they were not as close to Mr. Qi as Li Huai and the others. They migrated here as survivors of the Lu family, and they only saw Cui Dongshan, but they did not see Mr. Qi who founded the cliff academy and the school in this small town.

Coincidentally, Song Jixin and his maid Zhigui also revisited their hometown today. They did not go to the school to sit down in the classroom. Song Jixin hardly had any contact with Lin Shouyi and the others at the school except for Zhao Yao. Zhigui went to the backyard, and he was sitting at the stone table, where Mr. Qi instructed him to play chess with Zhao Yao. Zhigui stood outside Chaimen in the north as usual.

Song Jixin looked forlorn, and brushed his hand across the table.

I don't know if Zhao Yao, who finally lost to him in chess, is still safe now that he is traveling far away.

Song Jixin turned his head and looked at the Zhigui who had nothing to do and was bending a wicker.

She stood on tiptoes and shook the branches gently.

Song Jixin looked at her side face that he never tired of watching and liked more, and couldn't hate it, didn't want to, couldn't bear it.

She turned her head, as if she had completely forgotten the frankness that day, and turned into a maid who depended on Song Jixin again. She let go of her hand and said with a sweet smile: "Master, do you want to play chess?"

Song Jixin shook his head slightly.

In addition to the two groups of Li Huai and Song Jixin, there are also two unexpected big figures in the officialdom who came to visit.

Yuan Junshou, who is diligent and pragmatic, and Cao Duzao, who is unruly.

None of them brought any retinues, one didn't bring them on purpose, and the other didn't have them at all.

In fact, these two people of the same age who were born with the surname of Shangzhu Kingdom were both students of the Old Mountain Cliff Academy in Dalijing City.

However, similar to Yu Lu, the subjugated prince, he has never seen Mr. Qi with his own eyes, let alone listened to Mr. Qi's teachings with his own ears.

Cao Duzao was leaning against the window, with a vermilion wine gourd hanging around his waist. It was made of an ordinary material. The little wine gourd had been with him for as many years as he had been in the town. It was shiny when rubbed and had a pleasant patina. It was Cao Duzao. The beloved thing made by the supervisor cannot be replaced by a thousand pieces of gold.

Seeing the county guard who had taken off his official robe and put on a green shirt, Governor Cao was surprised and said: "Jiangsu Yuan is a very busy man. He spins the top every day, his feet never leave the ground, and his buttocks don't touch the chair. Mr. Yuan himself doesn't do it." Feeling dizzy, it makes others seem to be drunk. This trip to and from Huaihuang County will delay a lot of serious work."

Yuan Junshou looked indifferent, "Talking to you will delay things."

The two surnames of Da Li and Yuan Cao are now the most famous surnames of the Shangzhu Kingdom in the entire Aquarius Continent. The reason is very simple. Half of the door gods posted on the territory of this continent are their ancestors, the old ancestors in Huaihuang County. In Cishan Confucian Temple and Immortal Tomb Wu Temple, the ancestors of the two families were also shaped into golden bodies to enjoy incense as accompanying gods.

Cao Duzao took off the jug from his waist, took a sip, and squinted his eyes, as if whenever he drank, his life was complete.

Governor Yuan stood upright, just like the lazy Governor Cao. This son of the Yuan family, who had an excellent reputation in Dali officialdom, said: "I don't know that Governor Yuan goes out drunk every time and wanders back." Home, seeing the portrait of the ancestors on the door, will you sober up a little bit?"

Cao Duzao is famous for his lack of airs and a heavy drinking habit. He doesn't like to drink heavily and just drinks slowly in small sips. Therefore, he seems to be drinking all day long. The road of life is to buy wine. He stops halfway and talks to everyone. Can chat and spank.

Fortunately, the Kiln Supervision and Construction Office located in the small town is a clean yamen, with no regard for heaven or earth. It is nominally under the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Officials in the capital has no right to interfere. In fact, whether the Ministry of Rites can manage the supervision of Longquan kiln affairs, everyone in the officialdom of Dali capital is like a bright mirror.

Cao Duzao specifically instructed the assistant officials to write good or excellent performance evaluations for all officials and subordinates in the yamen.

If you only get a good word, if you send some good wine, that would be great.

It was very good last year, if you don’t send some wine, it won’t be very good this year.

The official rules of the Kiln Superintendent’s Office are as simple as that. It saves worry and effort so that officials, big and small, will be stunned regardless of the clean and dirty, and then beam with joy. Such an easy-to-handle chief official is hard to find with a lantern ah.

Cao Duzao himself didn't take the official hat seriously, and the people of the town over time, seeing that this young official was really not pretending to be approachable, so they didn't take it seriously.

Huang Erniang dared to laugh and scold him. Liu Dayanzhuzi and his like who moved to Zhoucheng also dared to call Cao Duzao brothers at the wine table. When they returned to Zhoucheng, they would say that they were good buddies with Cao Duzao, even Even those big kids who wear crotch pants like to play and fight with the idle Cao Duzao. If they complain to their father, it is mostly useless.

Cao Duzao has already spoken the small town dialect very idiomatically, if he speaks in Dali official dialect with others, he will feel uncomfortable.

Cao Duzao squinted at the very familiar colleague of his age and replied, "I wonder if Commander Yuan, who is the most abiding by etiquette, would kneel down and kowtow every time he sees the portrait of the door god."

If the two of them had not come to this small town for experience, as they were starting out in the officialdom, the county governor Yuan Zhengding would never have said a word to each other, while the supervisor Cao Gengxin would probably take the initiative to talk to Yuan Zhengding, but there was absolutely no way he could say so. "Graceful".

Yuan Zhengding was silent for a moment, "If you don't do your job properly, do you have the face to go to Chi'er Street in the future?"

Cao Gengxin shook the wine bottle in his hand and said with a smile: "You walk with your face. Master Yuan's words are very funny. Next time, who in the capital will dare to say that Master Yuan's only flaw is that he is not funny enough. I'm on the way If we touch each other, we will see two big mouths."

Yuan Zhengding continued to ask: "Do you still remember Guan Yiran and Liu Xunmei? If I remember correctly, these two generals liked to hang out behind you when you were young."

Now, although the rank of those two people is still not too high, they can be equal to Yuan Zhengding and Cao Gengxin. The key is the trend of the officialdom later. It seems that those two generals have broken a big bottleneck.

That is the transformation of civil and military identities.

Cao Gengxin smiled and said: "Master Yuan, since you don't know who I am, don't say that you think you know my words."

Yuan Zhengding feigned surprise, "Oh? May I ask who you are?"

Cao Gengxin took a sip of his wine, "I was a drunkard Cao when I didn't drink enough, but I'm a wine master Cao."

Yuan Zhengding smiled and said, "It really delayed things."

Cao Gengxin shook his head and said: "I'm here to see Mr. Qi's direct students, especially to ask Brother Dong for some glutinous rice wine without credit. Master Yuan is different. I'm here to make friends with the prince. I'm superior to you." Judgment, I stepped on the mud of a back alley with dirty boots, Master Yuan is the bronze mirror on the high hanging door, high-spirited, bright and upright."

Yuan Zhengding frowned and said, "All these years, have you only learned to play tricks?"

Cao Gengxin asked: "Then have you learned it?"

Yuan Zhengding said in a deep voice: "It's not child's play!"

Cao Geng held the small wine pot in his heart, clasped his fists in his hands and begged for mercy: "Master Yuan, just focus on your own ability to rise to the top, don't worry about me, a lazy guy, not making progress."

Yuan Zhengding sighed in his heart.

If you don't like this person's style, you really don't like it, but deep down in his heart, Yuan Zhengding actually still hopes that this descendant of the Cao family can be a little more focused on climbing the official career.

Of course Yuan Zhengding mainly cares for himself.

Whether it's officialdom, literary circles, rivers and lakes, or mountains.

The world is so strange, and all the people who watch the excitement like to have the rivalry between rivals who are evenly matched, and are willing to pay more attention. It would not be such a good thing if someone single-handedly rode the dust early.

The responsibilities of the Kiln Supervisory Office are actually very large.

Yuan Zhengding was very envious.

One is to prevent thieves, and you can also catch thieves yourself.

There are four surnames and ten ethnic groups in the town, Song, Zhao, Lu, Li, Chen, Shi, etc., and the supervising Yamen has the power to supervise. On the surface, this Yamen only supervises the firing of royal porcelain, but in fact it can control everything, Yangjiapu , Beiyue Piyun Mountain, Linlu Academy, Longquan Jianzong, Luolu Mountain, all the Xianjia Mountains in the west of the town, the school that Chen later opened in Longwei River, the large and small Wenwu temples in prefectures and counties, the Chenghuang Pavilion and the Chenghuang Temple, Iron Various landscape gods including Fu Jiang, Chongdan, Embroidery, and Yuye Rivers, Hongzhu Town, feudal officials, people with big surnames, innocent people, low status, even those who are cultivators, with the peace and quiet card, as long as Cao Cao If the supervision wants to investigate, then it can be investigated. The Ritual Department of the Dali Ministry of Punishment will not and dare not pursue accountability.

It's just that Cao Duzao, appointed by the late emperor, seemed to choose to ignore everything.

Yuan Zhengding was both happy and worried. What made him happy was that his neighbors, who would have been the mortal enemies of the Dali Temple in the future, were of the same age. What is worrying is the enterprising young emperor. Seeing that Cao Geng is not pleasing to the eye, one day he can't bear it, and even Cao's face will not be sold. In the future, after Yuan Zhengding took advantage of the opportunity to be promoted to the governor of Longzhou, he would become a truly powerful official in Xinjiang, but he would become restrained instead. After all, the lessons learned from the past are vivid, and the new superintendent will definitely not be too talkative.

Not far from the school.

There stood Ma Kuxuan and his maid Shudian.

There was eye contact with Cao Gengxin and Yuan Zhengding respectively, but neither of them meant to say hello.

Never a stranger.

Ma Kuxuan said: "When my grandma was alive, she liked to scold people very much. She just scolded people in front of them. Those who didn't dare to scold people in front of them scolded them behind their backs. Among the people I knew, there were only three people who didn't scold them. Mr. Qi from the school, forget it. One. My grandma said Mr. Qi is a truly good man."

Ma Kuxuan tugged at the corner of his mouth, crossed his arms across his chest, leaned back, and leaned against a yellow mud wall, "In my hometown, people like to speak freely without guarding the door."

Ma Kuxuan smiled, and then said a strange saying: "You deserve this."

Shudian couldn't understand it at all, it was probably a local proverb.

Shudian only knows a little bit, the small town dialect is very flat, so there are no ups and downs.

It was rare for Ma Kuxuan to have more innocuous words with her. Instead, he seemed to be making things happen for the first time. He explained with a smile: "It means that after listening to other people's words, it's like carrying a burden. Can't you bear it?" That weight.”

A young man who walked out of his ancestral house in Niping Lane stopped for a long time when he passed by Chen Pingan's ancestral house.

Gu Can originally planned to go directly to Zhoucheng, but after thinking about it, she decided to go to the school.

And at the Niujiaoshan Ferry, on a cross-continental ferry from the north of Old Dragon City to Luzhou in Beiju, a tall man who left his hometown and returned to his hometown got off.

Ruan Xiu greeted with a smile, "Hello, Liu Xianyang."

Liu Xianyang walked quickly, smiling brightly, "Miss Ruan!"

Ruan Xiu nodded, and tossed a sword tablet over. If she got it, she could travel far away in Longzhou.

In fact, in a few years, Liu Xianyang should be the direct successor of the Longquan Sword Sect's Patriarch Hall.

Liu Xianyang was only loaned to the Chen Confucian family in Nanbasuozhou for twenty years.

Liu Xianyang took the sword tablet, bid farewell, and went directly to the ancestral house, then to a grave near the Dragon Kiln, and finally returned to the small town.

He blocked the entrance to the Mud Bottle Alley and beat Gu Can.

Gu Can didn't fight back.

A woman in red who was dancing on the sea of ​​clouds also changed her mind. After calculating the time, she did not go to Lijing City and took a detour back to her hometown town.

Looking down, she landed on the side of the school.

Ruan Xiu went to the New Year's Eve shop in Qilong Lane, ate pastries all the way, and also went to the school.

As a result, the already lively school became increasingly crowded.

Bian Wenmao left the Sheriff's Mansion and took a carriage to the street near the school. He raised the curtain and looked over there. He was surprised to find that Cao Duzao and Sheriff Yuan were standing together.

Bian Wenmao weighed the pros and cons. Since the two Shangzhu Kingdom disciples were there, he stopped talking politely and lowered the curtain of the carriage to remind the coachman to move the carriage to another place.

As for the other people near the school, Bian Wenmao either knew them, had dealt with them before, or they were strangers, so he just ignored them.

Bian Wenmao just waited for Shi Chunjia to leave the elementary school, and then set off together to return to Dali Capital.

A guy with the appearance of a weak scholar actually went back on his word, took that brother Long Bo, and wandered around the town carefully.

As a result, he was attracted by the "movements" at the school. Liu Chicheng gritted his teeth and silently told himself to just take a look and not cause trouble. It was a kid with a yellow mouth on the roadside in this palm-sized place who jumped up and threw himself inexplicably. Even if you slap someone in the face, you should also greet him with a smile!

So Liu Chicheng and that brother Long Bo saw a scene.

The school side began to disperse almost at the same time, so at a certain moment, everyone fell into the sight of pedestrians on the street.

The woman in Tsing Yi with ponytail, Ruan Xiu.

Li Baoping wearing a red cotton jacket,

Li Huai, Lin Shouyi, Dong Shuijing.

Yu Lu, thank you.

Ma Kuxuan.

The Song Dynasty collected salary and Zhigui.

Liu Xianyang, Gu Can.

Those people more or less glanced at Liu Chicheng who was standing on the roadside.

Especially Gu Can, who smiled playfully.

Liu Chicheng's scalp was numb and his intestines were green with regret. This shouldn't have happened, it definitely shouldn't have happened.

If there was no one around, I would have slapped Brother Long Bo in the face. If you are stupid and you don’t even know how to persuade me, how can you be a close friend or critic?

Chai Bofu's realm is gone, but his vision is still there, but he is more stubborn than Liu Chicheng. I am now on the verge of death, so take it as you go.

Liu Chicheng humbly asked for advice: "Brother Long Bo, if you make a living here, how many days can you live?"

Chai Bofu was speechless.

It's just that those people are getting farther and farther away from the school and getting closer and closer to the street.

Chai Bofu felt more and more suffocated.

Liu Chicheng stopped talking and smiled with Brother Long Bo: "Don't you know, Chen Pingan and I are close friends?!"

Chai Bofu thought for a while, nodded and said, "Me too."