Jian An Kee

Note 1: Qu'a, now Danyang, Jiangsu

Note 2: Xuancheng, now Xuanzhou, Anhui

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, a big day to invite guests, the elder Zhou Jing became the guest of honor in the General's Mansion.Grandfather Zhou Chong and Zhou Yu's father are brothers of the same mother. Father Zhou Yan is Zhou Yu's cousin, I am Zhou Yu's niece, and third grandfather Zhou Jing is the only surviving member of the Zhou family's grandparents.Logically, my marriage will be approved by him in name.

I had a vague idea of ​​what General Sun wanted to do, and I was still idly hiding in the bedroom looking through the ghost notes, and from time to time let out a burst of laughter that frightened the maids.

I wrote a letter to Sun Shangxiang, which filled six sheets of paper, tirelessly describing the human conditions and customs of Jianye New City. At the end of the writing, I added a sentence "I will definitely see you".

Someone lifted the curtain and came in: "Ma'am, General Zhou is asking to see you."

"Which General Zhou?"

"It's Madam, your elder brother, Mr. Zhou." The maid said with a smile.

I tightened the shawl on my body, put one hand on the low screen and stood up: "Get the tea ready, I'll go out right away."

Zhou Jun was waiting for me in the hall, seeing me going out, he quickly set aside his teacup and got up: "Your Majesty has seen Madam."

"Brother is so polite, why should we see each other from our own family, let's call me sister."

Zhou Jun seemed to have drunk alcohol, a very faint blush appeared on his cheeks, but his eyes were as bright and energetic as ever.Hearing this, he laughed and said, "Since my younger sister said so, my elder brother should be respectful and obedient."

He and I are considered acquainted, otherwise he would not have dared to say these few naughty jokes.

I smiled slightly: "Big brother said, sit down quickly, can you enjoy today's wine?"

The two sat face to face, and he nodded: "General Sun has just shipped a new batch of good wine from Sichuan, but we guys are close to the water."

I was happy: "Don't be cheap and act like a good boy."

Zhou Jun pointed to the big bowl of tea soup on the small table, and said, "Don't you dare. My sister knows that my elder brother doesn't like this, so I prepared a large portion for my elder brother to refuse. My younger sister said, yes or no?"

I couldn't help being embarrassed: "It's nothing, I was negligent, so I ordered someone to warm a pot of wine for eldest brother."

He shook his head, his eyes flickered: "Alan, brother, is he here today to ask for a drink?"

I said "oh".

A few days ago, I seemed to hear people say that the Zhou family and others had some disputes in the farm near Jianye, which dragged on until the Chinese New Year and were not resolved.I vaguely guessed what he was going to say next, and because I had no words to say, I lowered my head and remained silent.

Seeing me like this, he said hesitantly: "During my sister's return, have you ever met Mrs. Xiao Qiao?"

I immediately raised my head and snorted coldly: "I thought about it, and then I thought about my uncle...after the funeral, their faces, and I lost my mind immediately."

At that time, Mrs. Xiao Qiao was not a big deal, she just tried to persuade me not to be filial.The rest of the family, who knew about my relationship with Sun Quan, came over and called me to enter the Sun's residence as soon as possible, without any regard for face and fame, let alone my future.

"Little sister, don't do this." Facing my sarcasm, he was a little at a loss: "Uncle always loves you, and Mrs. Xiao Qiao treats you very well, why does my sister think so?"

I squinted my eyes angrily: "Brother is in trouble, Alan knows it, and brother treats Alan well, so Alan also knows. But I won't take care of the mess at home."

He was a little embarrassed, "I understand, brother will just go find someone."

When he lowered his head, his eyelashes trembled, very much like Zhou Yu.

After all, I couldn't bear to see the Zhou family begging for help in a low voice, so I breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Brother, what is it?"

"I know my little sister has a lot of troubles around General Sun every day, but if I don't come, your aunt will come to beg you personally, and you definitely don't want to see her." He looked sad.

I was taken aback for a moment, and then realized that the "aunt" he was talking about was his mother, Zhou Yu's sister-in-law, she was not the one who persuaded me to go to the general's mansion with the cheek to get Wu Guotai's permission to enter the mansion. .

"It's Alan who shouldn't be childish, please forgive me, brother."

His eyes were gentle and sad, and he did not have the firmness of the past: "Little sister said this, how can I tell my elder brother to talk to you..."

I laughed for a while: "Okay, you don't have to take it seriously when you're joking. Big Brother has something to say, and Alan should do his best."

"I'm putting you in a difficult situation."

"Brother, hurry up and talk. When General Sun comes back, he will have to be free."

He clenched and loosened his hands on his knees, and his voice gradually dropped.It turns out that my eldest brother’s family has some fields in Qu’a (Note 1), which are usually taken care of by his father, that is, my uncle. When I went back to collect the rent a year ago, the plan sent by my uncle clashed with the local landlord in Qu’a. Someone died, and the official meaning is to hold the guy who beat someone accountable.

After listening to Zhou Jun's narration, I said disapprovingly: "What a big deal, it's just a slave to die, let uncle find another plan."

Zhou Jun looked distressed: "Little sister, things are not as simple as they appear on the surface. The family plan is that the 30-year-old slave is loyal, and he is also old and weak. How can we push the middle-aged man to fall to his death. We If you admit it, it has a lot to do with the Zhou family's reputation, not to mention how the family's plan to buy land in Qu'a Guang will be affected."

"That's right." Seeing his serious face, I put down the teacup and said, "There is indeed something hidden in it. The government is so blind, which family have you offended?"

Zhou Jun turned his eyes elsewhere: "That family is the original family of Yichun Chang Zhou Tai."

I couldn't help shaking my head, "Brother's family planner really has a good eye, who doesn't want to mess with anyone, but instead provokes the general's savior, it really makes Alan feel embarrassed."

This Zhou Tai was a capable general when Sun Ce attacked Jiangdong.Sun Ce attacked bandits in six counties. At that time, Sun Quan was still young and was stationed in Xuancheng (Note 2). When camping at night, he was careless and neglected to build a wall. Only Zhou Tai was brave enough to defend Sun Quan with all his strength, and suffered twelve wounds on his body, which saved Sun Quan from danger.Whenever Sun Quan mentioned this matter, he was extremely grateful to Zhou Tai and treated him generously.

Besides, although the two families are both surnamed Zhou, they are not related at all.His family has always been disliked by officials and eunuchs...

If Zhou Yu was here, these would not be a problem at all.But he is gone.

I deliberated for a while and said in a low voice: "Well, let me talk to the general. How he handles it is his business. Let's do our best."

A smile appeared on Zhou Jun's face: "It would be great if my little sister would give it a try."

I chatted with him again, knowing that he had brought his family with him, and the meaning in the words was that he wanted his sister-in-law to come to meet him, but I insisted on resigning, and only ordered someone to send him to the posthouse to rest.

Zhou Jun was sent back at the door, and when he passed the front hall, he happened to meet Xu Wan talking to a steward, his face was still stained with tears, and his makeup was washed out.

When she saw me appear, she frowned, and shouted: "You're not the same, hmph, why are you so airy." She flicked her sleeves and went away like a gust of wind, without waiting for my answer.

I was so confused by what I said, so I had to stop the steward to ask what happened.

"Madam Xu is like this, who bothered her?"

The steward said repeatedly: "Don't do the villain's business, madam, go ask Ah Hua, it's just that girl who is talking nonsense."

Ahua is the rough envoy of the mansion, and because she came all the way from Wu County, I had a vague impression, so I told him: "Let Ahua come to my room and keep silent."

When I was young, someone pushed Ah Hua to my room and said respectfully, "Ma'am, Ah Hua is here."

I just took off my outer robe, hung it on the screen, turned my head and said to Ah Hua: "My good girl, come here, I want to ask you something."

The little girl named Ahua was at most eleven or twelve years old, with an ordinary appearance, and her face was full of fear at the moment.

"Come here, I won't kill you."

She walked in slowly, lowered her head and tied the hem of her clothes, crying and said: "Ma'am, slaves should die, it is slaves who should not be playing around and delay the hour."

It's not uncommon for the little girls to be playful and miss the time. Such trivial matters will never cause the delicate Miss Xu family to lose her temper in front of me regardless of her appearance.

I patiently coaxed her: "Okay, Ah Hua, whoever said to blame you, I'll help you out. Tell me, what did you tell Mrs. Xu?"

She cried more fiercely, looking very pitiful.My mind moved slightly, I put one hand on her shoulder, exerted a little force, she immediately stopped crying, raised her head and looked at me in confusion.

"Well, I don't blame you." I looked straight into the depths of her eyes.

"Yes, yes... the servant was late to start the stove, and was very anxious. She took a shortcut from the guest room in the west wing. The stove was hot, and the servant was afraid that the charcoal fire would be spilled, so she put it under the window to rest. Seeing Ru Xue Elder sister smiled and opened the window, and...saw the general inside. My elder sister scolded me loudly when she saw me, and the servant was frightened and ran out in a hurry. The servant was really scared..."

I frowned: "Based on the time, the general should be in the study right now."

"Perhaps, perhaps this servant is wrong..."

"What's the matter, you just read it wrong." I said lightly, turned around and took a big apple from the fruit plate and handed it to her, then put on a kind smile: "Good boy, don't talk nonsense in the future. Go. "

She knelt down to thank her, and I smiled and waved her out.

I walked back and forth in the house with my hands behind my back, a little vacillating for a while, but finally I felt that it was better to believe it.I intended to leave Jiangdong within a month or two, but tonight's incident broke out, which is a good reason.

So I changed my clothes, asked someone to pick up two small dishes and a jug of good wine, and took them straight to the study.

The banquet here is not over yet, but the weather is very cold now, the important guests have already left first, and most of the rest are opportunists, faintly visible people are walking among the rockery in the garden, whispering from time to time.

My Wu language is not the same as when I arrived in Chaisang at the beginning of the year, but it is a pity that I have important things to do, otherwise it would be interesting to listen to the wall.

At the end of the corridor is Sun Quan's study.When he was dealing with official documents, he didn't want to move a little bit, so he specially set up a small courtyard in this new mansion for office use.

When I arrived at the door, I took the food basket and told the maids on the left and right: "Go down."

Everyone filed out, I handed the food box to my left hand, walked on tiptoe to the door, was about to knock on it, when the door suddenly opened, Sun Quan stood at the door and looked straight at me, he said: "You What are you here for?"