New·New Consort

The prince's inexplicable disappearance from the capital was certainly not hidden from the emperor. On the one hand, Yuxian sent people around to search for the prince's traces, and on the other hand, he made several insinuations about the emperor's attitude towards the prince, but the emperor interrupted him by asking about alchemy. passed.

Yuxian felt the inconvenience of offending Concubine Ju, no one was blowing the pillow wind, the words entered the emperor's ears and came out again after turning a corner.He had no choice but to play tricks on the elixir, causing the emperor's body to become hot. He cut down every day and every night was not empty, so he quietly stuffed a few beauties into the harem behind Concubine Ju's back.

One of the beauties from the south of the Yangtze River was delicate and soft, she was good at singing and dancing, her body was like a willow brushing against the wind, swaying in the wind, and she sang Jiangnan ditties so that the old emperor walked straight down from the dragon chair and kissed him as if he had returned to the love of his youth. She was given the title of Yimei Ren.

On this day, the emperor rested in Yimeiren Palace, and when he woke up early in the morning, he found that there was no one around him.He got up slowly, and poured himself a cup of tea, he was a little complacent about last night's fierce dragon and tiger, so he couldn't help but put on his middle clothes and started walking in the hall.At this time, I heard a Jiangnan ditty sung softly by a woman:

"Plucking lotus in the east of the South Pond, the remnant lotus is getting poorer day by day. The world loves lotus seeds, but who cares about empty lotus pods? The new bamboo shoots are tender, and the old poles are full of silverfish. It is better to bully the pulsatilla than to bully the young and poor."

The emperor narrowed his eyes, and suddenly felt a huge sense of nothingness sweeping over him.The lightness and complacency just now disappeared, and he took a heavy step to sit on the couch beside him, leaning against the side of the couch, panting deeply.

After a while, Yimei, who was humming a ditty tune, entered the room, facing the emperor's expressionless face.She picked up the Yanghe and stuffed it behind the emperor, while she leaned against the emperor's legs and sat on the footrest: "Your Majesty, you are awake."

She had just come out of the bath, and she carried a girly fragrance after bathing, the warm fragrance made people involuntarily immersed in it.

The emperor was slightly relieved, and stretched out his hand to stroke her hair, which still had water on it: "Why did you wake up so early?"

Yimei smiled and said: "In the morning, I thought of the past events on the battlefield that the emperor told me yesterday, and thought of the heroic appearance of the emperor, so I couldn't fall asleep for a while."

The emperor sighed: "That was when I was a teenager, and I am old now."

Yimei was full of life: "The prince is still in his teens now. He is the emperor's son. Is he the same as the emperor back then? I have been here for so long, and I haven't seen the prince yet~"

There was no response to the question for a long time, so she couldn't help raising her bright face and looking at her husband and her master.

The aged emperor's face was sinking like water, exuding a murderous aura.

In the evening, when Yuxian entered the palace to serve the emperor, the emperor was sitting in the study from a high ladder, holding a thick book in his hand.Yuxian shook his whisk, lifted his breath into the air, and helped the emperor back from the ladder to the ground.

He presented the newly refined elixir to the emperor, which was exactly what the emperor had been eating recently.

The emperor took a breath, threw the book in his hand on the table, took the elixir, and sighed: "Master, besides studying Laozhuang and Taoism, do you also read history books?"

Yuxian glanced at the titles of those books, and said respectfully: "Poverty is all about Taoism, and doesn't read history books."

"Hehe, you are a monk, you have nothing to do with history, but I have something to do with history," the emperor sighed, and put down the elixir in his hand, "Since ancient times, those who pick up yin to replenish yang are innocent kings. Yebukong, I don’t know how Qingshi will write about me in the future!”

Seeing the emperor's melancholy, Yuxian smiled slightly: "The emperor wants to practice immortality as soon as possible? Poor Dao also has a way—"

"Speak quickly!"

Yuxian showed a smug smile, and said word by word: "Take—Xian—Taiwan!"

Here in Huailai, the sky was very bright, Feng Suzhen woke up early, and before the sun rose, she went to the yard to practice a set of simple sword skills, right for morning exercises.

After dancing a set of sword skills, Feng Suzhen turned her wrist, using the sword as a brush, and began to write in the air, pointing, marking, chopping, stroking, stabbing, stroking, and sweeping.

"Okay—what a set of Yongzi Bashi!" A cheer suddenly came from behind.

Feng Suzhen turned back and saw Song Changgeng's smiling face: "I made Mr. Song laugh. I waved a few times casually, and I got Mr. Song's nickname." , seeing the white mist around Song Changgeng.

Song Changgeng's upper body was covered by the white smoke, and there seemed to be a scent in the strange and choking smoke.Feng Suzhen looked intently, and among the smoke, she saw a porcelain object in Song Changgeng's mouth, burning with red sparks.She couldn't help asking: "Mr. Song, what is the origin of this puffing up?"

Song Changgeng said with a smile: "The son-in-law is worthy of being the number one scholar. The four words "swallowing clouds and spitting fog" are used appropriately. This is called smoke, and at the Xuanfu, they call it tobacco and wine. Smoking refreshes the mind. Old age When you get older, your energy is low, and you have to take two puffs to regain your energy."

Feng Suzhen wondered: "I've never heard of this thing, is it fanciful?"

Song Changgeng nodded: "Yes, Fanhuo. Originally, this thing was only found in the areas of Fujian, Fujian and Guangxi. The old elder brother used to be the prefect of Guangzhou. I followed him to work in Guangzhou. That's why I got this thing. It didn't exist in the north. In the past, during the riots in Liaodong, the Guangfu soldiers were mobilized, and then spread to the Nine Sides, and gradually there were people. In the past two years, there have been many merchants from south to north, and I have also drawn some of the old ones. Those fanboys are rare after all, and you can only get some occasionally." Song Changgeng said, taking another deep puff of his cigarette.

Feng Suzhen knew that the old man was thinking of her deceased relatives, so she didn't know what to say for a moment, but silently put away her sword.

Song Changgeng clapped his hands, shook off the soot from his body, stood up and looked at the sky, and said, "It's getting late, let's go out of the city!"

Song Changgeng told them about this, Feng Suzhen nodded, dragged the crown prince and Tianxiang up from the bed, and the group marched out of the city.

Today, they are going to install the keel waterwheel.

On the outskirts of Huailai, beside the Yongding River, a three-foot-long keel waterwheel was erected. Song Changgeng smiled as he watched the prince sweat profusely and beat wedges with ordinary villagers.

The hot sun was in the sky, and the waterwheel was assembled. Six strong men stepped on the pedals, and sang the car water chant loudly with the horizontal bars: "One, two, three, four, ah, hey, Erlang stepped on the bones together; Stepping through, the four are stable and do not kowtow; the water in five yellow and six months is like oil, and the dragon king does not nod; the wife and children are hungry, the father and mother are worried, and there is no life to pull the grass and skin. Nine steps on the keel, the water flows back, ten miles and eight villages have a good time; step on the bones three times Qianha, the fat pig's head will be cut first in the twelfth lunar month!"

Tianxiang saw this in the south in her previous life, so she turned her head and explained to Feng Suzhen: "This waterwheel needs to turn four hundred times a day, so it needs to be counted with numbers. The beginning of each sentence they sing represents a number, Ha Tou song Sing twelve verses, twelve turn into one ha, and sing it in one summer, there will be three thousand ha.”

Feng Suzhen was surprised: "How do you know?"

Tianxiang didn't take it seriously: "I'm smart."

Feng Suzhen: "..."

With the fan leaves of the overturned car, the river water turned into white waves, gurgled out from the Yongding River, and flowed along the long mu ravines dug in advance, moistening the dry seedlings and glowing with crystal light.

There was joy all around, and the rest of the villagers carried another keel waterwheel to another part of the river. Presumably, one waterwheel was not enough for such a big village.The north is very dry, so a few more water trucks can greatly reduce labor and enable farmers to grow more food.

Early in the morning, the crown prince followed Song Changgeng to assemble the waterwheel, and he was so tired that he was out of breath. Tianxiang saw that his usually white and tender young man was flushed from the sun, so he stopped him and took him to rest under the tree by the river.

Wiping his sweat, he took the water bag and drank it all in one gulp. He sat under the tree and stared at the water flow of the keel waterwheel.

Tianxiang looked at Feng Suzhen, and the two looked at each other and smiled.Feng Suzhen continued: "If you can move the rain and rain, you will be able to bring He Miao Ren."

The prince let out a long sigh: "This is a living thing——"

The car was driving, and a big dizzy fish came out from the board leaves. Standing next to Song Changgeng, Chief Jia laughed, and told the woman beside him to clean up the fish, then lit a fire beside the water tanker, and pulled out the fish. I bought some seasonal vegetables from the field and cooked a pot of fish soup directly.

The lunch of Tianxiang and the others was this delicious fish soup. After the prince drank three bowls, he was embarrassed to say that he was still hungry.Just now, Najiachang laughed loudly, picked up a branch and pulled the raw fire grill away.Only then did a few people see that the soil under the firewood had been turned over.Chief Jia turned over the soil and saw chestnuts cooked by firewood and a few round things inside.

Song Changgeng sighed lightly: "Hey, Huailai also has yams?"

Jia Chang laughed and said: "It's the seeds brought by the merchants in the south. They are so well planted. They are so ripe and very sweet. Mr. Song, some young masters, try it."

The crown prince ate until his face was full of dirt, but he found it extremely sweet.

After a few people had dinner, another water truck was set up, and they left and went back to the city.

Song Changgeng was in a good mood, and pulled a few people to recognize a lot of crops.

The crown prince and Feng Suzhen are both masters who don't touch the spring water with their ten fingers. They put on their crowns and wear them several times, regardless of the five grains. Tianxiang laughs at the side.

"Oh, I can't tell the difference between garlic and narcissus..." Tianxiang rubbed her stomach and laughed heartbreakingly.

Feng Suzhen speeded up her pace calmly, and walked with the prince who was ridiculed together.Tianxiang knew that she was a bit carried away, so she trotted a few steps and continued to smile playfully at the stern Feng Suzhen, trying to make her smile.

The prince couldn't stand it anymore, and said seriously: "Sister, why do you look like an evil young master who molested a good woman."

Feng Suzhen: "..."

Tianxiang: "..."

Laughing all the way back to the city.

The crown prince was so ashamed that he went straight to take a bath as soon as he entered the courtyard.Song Changgeng said that he was in a good mood, and he was going to the south of the city to drink two catties of old wine and buy a few taels of tobacco leaves. Feng Suzhen was worried about the old man, so she took Shan Shiwen along with her.

The heat subsides, it will be late, the cook at home has already prepared dinner, the smoke is rising, and the aroma of the food is coming, which makes Tianxiang feel very peaceful.

With the wind blowing in his ears, Tianxiang looked into the yard, and a sword fluttering red lightly landed on the ground.

"Recently, the number of Yuxian gang members has decreased a lot. Maybe they have given up on Xuanfu and gone to other places." He has been patrolling around Huailai recently, and when he saw Yuxian gang members, he tried to attract them. Go, for more than half a month, the effect is remarkable.

Tianxiang was very grateful for his diligence and invited him to sit down for a meal.

It was getting dark, and those who had gone out had not yet returned.

Song Changgeng and Feng Suzhen didn't come back until the prince couldn't help but came out and said he was hungry.

The setting sun had completely sunk, and Tianxiang's heart was also suspended. Seeing her frequently looking at the door, she got up with a sword fluttering red and said, "I'll go find him."

Tian Xiang stopped her and said, "No need, Brother Jian, you are not that familiar with Huailai City. The son-in-law is very skilled, I believe she will be fine. Maybe she got stuck."

While talking, there was a knock on the door, and when he opened it, it was Song Changgeng with a gloomy face, followed by Feng Suzhen and Shan Shiwen.

Song Changgeng went straight into the room with a sullen face.

"Why did you come back?" Tianxiang couldn't help asking Feng Suzhen in a low voice. .

Feng Suzhen carried the things in her hand with a smile: "It's okay, it's okay, Huailai is a small town, although there are many merchants, things are not easy to buy." She looked as usual and closed the door calmly.

Tianxiang pulled Feng Suzhen and Shan Shiwen into the room: "What's wrong?"

Shan Shiwen looked sideways at Feng Suzhen, and Feng Suzhen let out a long sigh.

Just now Song Changgeng didn't buy any tobacco leaves, so he went straight to his smoker friend, the magistrate of Huailai, but saw the magistrate of Huailai with a sad face.In the third year of his tenure, his test scores were suddenly changed, and the proportion of taxes was greatly increased, which meant that Huailai's commercial tax and personal tax had to be raised.

As for the reason for the doubling, the county magistrate didn't know, and only said that Beijing was asking for money from the local government.

Tianxiang's heart sank, and she asked Shan Shiwen, "Is there any news from Beijing?"

Shan Shiwen shook his head, "I didn't hear anything in Beijing." Tianxiang was suspicious, and went back to the room to let the pigeon "Elder Princess" out.

You still have to eat.

Feng Suzhen went to Song Changgeng's room to invite her several times, and finally called out the old man.

The atmosphere during the banquet was a bit dull, only the prince ate happily.While eating, he suddenly raised his head and asked, "Mr. Song, the keel waterwheel is finished, can you teach me how to make a flying wooden bird?"

With a "pop", Song Changgeng threw the chopsticks angrily, pointed at the prince with his index finger, and went back to the room angrily.

Tianxiang rubbed her forehead, the prince looked bewildered.

After going in circles for more than half a month, it seemed to be back to the original point.Does it have to be the same as in the previous life, after experiencing life and death, my brother can be sober?

After dinner, the prince sat bored in the yard.He himself made a bamboo dragonfly with the leftover wood from the waterwheel, rubbed his hands together, and flew into the sky.

Tianxiang caught the dragonfly, and sat next to the prince: "Brother, Huailai is going to raise taxes. Mr. Song is in a bad mood, so don't mention your wooden bird."

The prince said "Oh", tilted his head and thought for a while, then asked cautiously: "Why can't you mention the wooden bird after the tax increase?"

Tianxiang: "...Mr. Song cares about the people's livelihood. Once the government raises taxes, the people's life will be difficult. He is in a bad mood, so naturally he doesn't want to talk to you about wooden birds."

The prince is still puzzled: "The matter of increasing the tax may not be a bad thing, maybe it is because the court has important matters, and for the sake of the people's livelihood, it has to be added. Besides, even if he is in a bad mood, he can still talk to me about wooden birds. Maybe it would be good to chat and get in the mood? Every time I talk about wooden birds, I am very happy."

Feng Suzhen's voice sounded from behind her: "Because in the eyes of Mr. Song, you are the prince, and you have your responsibilities. To the prince, the people should be more important than the wooden bird. You don't talk about the people with him, but talk to him Talking about the wooden bird, he will be even more unhappy."

The prince was melancholy: "I would rather not be a prince, I just want to be a carpenter."

The fragrance of the sky was over, but Feng Suzhen smiled: "Do you really want to be a carpenter?"

The prince looked at Tianxiang's expression and shrank his neck: "I..."

Feng Suzhen asked: "What do you think of the life of the villagers we saw during the day?"

The prince's eyes lit up, and he said: "Very good, pastoral songs, no worries about food and clothing. If you want to eat fish, you can fish from the water. If you want to eat meat, you can kill pigs and eat meat. There are so many fresh vegetables. It's something I've never seen in the palace."

Feng Suzhen nodded, and she summoned Yijian Piaohong: "Hero Jian, I will ask you to take the prince to the countryside for a few days tomorrow, and I will write you a letter when the time comes, and you can bring it to the Chief Jia there. It's time to entrust you to take care of the prince again."

The prince was afraid that a sword would be popular, so he hesitated for a while after hearing her arrangement.

Feng Suzhen said: "There are many talented people in the countryside, and almost everyone knows how to do carpentry. Maybe someone can make wooden birds?"

The prince said: "That's it!"

The prince packed his bags excitedly, Tianxiang was a little at a loss for Feng Suzhen's proactive decision.

Feng Suzhen shook her head and sighed, "Whether it's you or Zhang Shaomin, you dote on him too much."

Even though he has been through many hardships, he has never really suffered. He has never known the price behind the price of the crown prince he abandoned like a bag.

It was his father and great-grandfather who fought for many years, it was the silent waiting of loyal ministers and good generals, and the careful enshrining of the leader of the people.

The fragrance is dumb.

The glory of his father and ancestors, he has saved since childhood; the loyalty of his subjects, he takes it for granted; only the devotion of the people, he has never seen.

"You're right," Tianxiang said in a deep voice, "he has never really stepped out of his identity, so he naively thinks that he can easily give up this identity." He taught his elder brother the same way he used to deal with his nephew, and imagined that a famous teacher would produce a good apprentice, so the medicine would inevitably be wrong.

Feng Suzhen smiled lightly.

Song Changgeng didn't know their decision until the expressionless Yijian Piaohong took the excited prince away the next day.He didn't object, he just begged Tianxiang, Tianxiang and Feng Suzhen repeatedly persuaded Song Changgeng to stay.

For some reason, after waiting for a day, "Eldest Princess" never came back. This was Tianxiang's only channel to communicate with Jingli. She couldn't use other channels to contact Zhang Shaomin, so she could only wait patiently.

After Feng Suzhen took Shan Shiwen out to investigate around, she came back with a solemn expression.

Tianxiang's heart tightened: "What happened?"

Feng Suzhen shook her head, and said slowly: "No, I don't know about the grant, I saw someone looking for Mr. Song?"

Tianxiang was surprised and said, "Why is someone looking for him?"

Song Changgeng's relatives were slaughtered in the war decades ago, leaving him alone. His hometown in Jiangxi has already lost his relatives, and it is said that no one will come to him.

"Could it be that you disturbed the capital by inquiring about Mr. Song a while ago?" Tianxiang was surprised and asked Shan Shiwen.

Shan Shiwen scratched his head and said, "No, no, my brother is the commander of the guard station in Huailai. I entrusted someone with his connections, and I have nothing to do with Jingli. Even if someone knows that my brother is looking for someone, he won't It involves the princess."

"I don't think so," Feng Suzhen said, "it was a young girl and her family who inquired about Mr. Song. Shan Shiwen and I followed them to their apartment, and inquired around the Nilv where they lived...it was Huizhou Merchant, I guess it should have nothing to do with the Yuxian Gang..."

As Feng Suzhen talked, she looked at Tianxiang's eyes straightened, and her mind wandered away.As early as when Feng Suzhen mentioned "young girl", Tianxiang had made several inferences in her mind - strictly speaking, she made up several scripts.

Song Changgeng was indeed an official in Huizhou when he was young. Could it be that the old man Song's old treasure came to him when he was young?No, no, Mr. Song is ninety years old... When Tianxiang's thoughts were like a wild horse galloping wildly, her forehead hurt.When she woke up, she saw Feng Suzhen Shi Shiran retract her finger: "What are you thinking? A sly smile on her face."

"It's nothing, nothing." Tianxiang chuckled, and suddenly stretched out her hand to hook Feng Suzhen's shoulder. Feng Suzhen's shoulder tightened, and she wanted to break away immediately, but she still held back.

Of course Tianxiang was aware of Feng Suzhen's stiffness, but she pretended to be ignorant and said lazily: "It's useful, but have you found out the details of Huizhou merchants?"

Feng Suzhen nodded: "Just now Shan Shiwen and I followed her to the Nilu where she lives—we met a lot of merchants when we were wandering around Huailai a few days ago. I checked. The girl's surname is Cheng, and she is an ink merchant in Huizhou. Shexian County in Huizhou is the ink capital of the world, and the girl is from Shexian County, and her surname is Cheng. Presumably, she may have come from a big ink maker."

"Does the surname Cheng have anything to do with making ink?" Tianxiang wondered.

Feng Suzhen sighed and said with a helpless smile: "Well, writing and ink is a hobby of my generation of scholars. It's normal that the princess doesn't know much about it, but this—it's a long story."

Feng Suzhen's words were teasing, Tianxiang knew that she was going to amuse herself again, so she raised her brows: "If you like to talk or not, I'll go ask Mr. Song." After saying that, she made a gesture to leave.

"Don't go, don't go," Feng Suzhen pulled her sleeves and said cautiously, "Mr. Song is getting old, and he is in a bad mood at the moment. If someone really came, what should I do if the old man's mood is not stable?"

Tian Xiangjue said: "Are you also thinking that that girl is Mr. Song's legacy?"

"What is the legacy of the sea?" Feng Suzhen said seriously, "The girl's surname is Cheng, and she may be a descendant of Mr. Song's old man. You are thinking about it, Mr. Smell."

Tianxiang snorted, turned her back, and heard Shan Shiwen muttering in a low voice: "Of course not. On the way back, the son-in-law kept telling me that he was not the same age."

Tianxiang looked sideways at Feng Suzhen and smiled meaningfully.

"Hey, it's late today after all." Feng Suzhen said, "I think it's better to visit tomorrow to inquire about the reason for that Cheng girl's visit. After all, we still have to hide. If she finds out something, I'm afraid it's not good. .”

"This ink is for scholars, I shouldn't mix it up." Tianxiang shook her head and said.

Feng Suzhen laughed dumbfounded: "Come on, I'll tell the princess about Cheng Mo."

Seeing the situation of the two of them, Shan Shiwen retreated knowingly.

The skill of making ink is said to be craftsmanship, but it was born with Chinese civilization and has a long history.

This technique originated from ancient times, developed in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and developed in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

Since the Song Dynasty, many famous ink makers have appeared on the stage in the history of ink. In the Wanli Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty, Cheng Mo was one of the best famous inks in the world at that time.Not only did ink enter the court as tribute ink, Cheng Junfang, the head of the family at that time, also ranked in the preface class of Honghu Temple with this hand-made ink skill.

The wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy it.

Cheng Junfang's road to ink making is smooth sailing, but he meets Fang Yulu, who has been bright with him for a while.

"...The ebb and flow of the tide is a definite number. I remember Cao Mo as Gong Mo now, and Cheng Mo only has the short-lived amazement of Cheng Junfang's life and an anecdote of Cheng Fang's fighting skills left in the world."

Tianxiang listened fascinated, until Feng Suzhen took a drink of cold tea and woke up. She had finished speaking: "Is it finished?"

Feng Suzhen nodded: "It's over, I'm not from She County. All I know is that much in the book. I really don't know what happened to Cheng Mo in the past hundred years after Cheng Junfang passed away."

Tianxiang asked curiously: "You like Mo very much? Why do you know everything about this little She County?"

Feng Suzhen smiled and said, "I'm a scholar."

Tianxiang: "..." She reflected on whether she had been too shameless recently and infected Feng Suzhen with this virtue.

The author has something to say:

According to my imagination, the current timeline of history belongs to the reign of Kangxi. There are potatoes and tobacco_(:3」∠)_Cheng Junfang had it, and Fang Yulu had it. Most of the stories I asked my son-in-law to tell about the royal family surnamed Dongfang are true