unlucky ghost

This is a postscript, let’s say that the sun and the moon fly like a shuttle, and time flies like an arrow. In the blink of an eye, I will be twenty or three years old. I have used up more than ten carts of pens and inks at home, and my calligraphy and paintings have been circulated in the city for a long time.

Everyone said that in the future, I would be able to win the laurels in the Toad Palace, and soar up to the Ninth Heaven.

It's just because my father doesn't allow me to take the exam.

When I was 14 years old, my uncle couldn't stand it anymore. He came to the house empty-handed on the Dragon Boat Festival, sat in front of my father, blew his beard and stared and said, "Tan Zishi, why are you so stupid? My nephew has been very smart since he was a child. It is a piece of rare jade in a hundred years, how can we not let him get fame and glory to honor our ancestors?"

I almost bit my tongue on the sidelines, my father didn’t send me to the Gongyuan, privately I took the children’s examination a few times, but I failed repeatedly, my father wanted to save face, saying that wealth and fame are things outside the body, the purpose of reading It's all about self-cultivation.

My father started to use this to prevaricate my uncle again, saying: "I am your brother-in-law."

My uncle's face froze.

My father said again: "My Feng family has a big business now, does your nephew still need such a false name? Reading and calligraphy are for self-cultivation, how can my son bear the hardship of ten years of poverty?"

I secretly admire my dad's stubbornness.

My uncle couldn't say anything, so he said: "Although there is no shortage of glory and wealth, only after becoming an official can we last forever."

My father said: "Since ancient times, being with a king is like being with a tiger. You have the heart that once your nephew enters the officialdom, there will be ups and downs, and he will not be able to live a peaceful life for a few days."

My uncle wanted to say more, and I quickly covered his foul mouth with my hand, how can I not make my father lose face?

These words spread to the market, and everyone began to praise my father for his integrity, and praised his integrity for not going with the world.

For this reason, every time I walk in front of people with my father, I feel inexplicably guilty.

But my father loved me since he was a child, and whenever he was free in the village, he would ride a big horse and take me around.

My mother often persuaded my father not to spoil me, and said that I was naughty from a young age and needed to be polished to become a tool.

My father only said: "I only have this son, how can I not love him?"

My mother can't help it either, only this son actually can't blame my mother, if I really want to blame it, it's my father's fault, this is what my brazen uncle told me.

Although I didn't go to a private school, I was fully favored by my father, and I inherited my father's good calligraphy. In addition to my natural love of poetry and books, I didn't waste my time.

At that time, I was fourteen, and my father was close to age, with a big beard on his chin, and mottled hair on his sideburns.

Every evening, I grind in my father's study, or write some poems to make my father happy, or draw some flowers and birds in front of the window, so that my father will be happy when he reads them.

I thought, as long as my father likes me, I am willing to do anything.

But the good times didn't last long.

I don't know why Dad is always depressed. Sometimes he tosses and turns in the middle of the night and can't fall asleep, so he sits up and lights the lamp to boil the oil, and reads the old book that the old man with the missing teeth gave him. tears.

I couldn't understand it, so I had to wipe my tears with him.

I think that later my father must be old, the hair on the sideburns gradually turned white, and the beard and eyebrows were also stained with hoarfrost. He could no longer get up to watch my inscriptions and paintings every day, and he often coughed until midnight.

When I was 15 years old, my father couldn't survive the cold winter and finally passed away.

Since then, there is no one in this world who loves me like my father.

On the day of my father's funeral, the general named Jiang Han also came to attend my father's funeral in white.

Jiang Han supported my father's coffin, and finally adjusted my father's clothes with affectionate eyes.

My brazen old uncle also went to the coffin to arrange my father's clothes.

That day was the saddest day in my life, but it was also the day I had great luck.

Because a high-ranking official came to the Tianfu this day, sitting on a tall horse, and bringing a mighty force to attend my father's funeral.

I didn't dare to neglect, and went out with Jiang Han and my uncle to welcome the distinguished guests.

This man is younger than my father, and looks not much older than me. The red and purple official robes are shining brightly on his body, and his whole person has a golden aura.

When I saw this man, my legs were weak and I wanted to kneel down to him, but luckily Jiang Han helped me up.

The man dismounted and began to hide his face in pain, saying: "Brother Tan, Yunhu is late."

My uncle told me in a low voice: "This man is Luo Yunhu, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, who was promoted from Hanlin not long ago."

I asked in a low voice, "What are you doing with my father?"

Jiang Han had already bowed to Luo Yunhu and said, "Master Luo, mourning, the dead cannot be resurrected."

Uncle shook his head at me.

Luo Yunhu walked up to me, stared at my face for a long while, and cried bitterly while hugging me, "My nephew has grown up now, but my big brother Tan... big brother Tan..."

I was caught off guard by his hug, and I didn't know where to put my hands, so I could only comfort him: "My lord...sorry."

Jiang Han couldn't help holding me in pain as well.

My brazen old uncle also came over, holding the three of us and crying loudly.

People on the road all looked strangely at the hopeless look of the four big men hugging each other and crying loudly.

I remembered that my father would never spoil me again, so I also burst into tears.

Later that day, many of my father's old friends came one after another.

There were two people who came first on a white horse, one named Qinggu and the other named Lingyu, both of them were about the same age as my father.

Then people from the yamen also came, and the four of them carried official sedan chairs and stopped at my house, and a seventh-rank sesame official named Wang Wenhan came down.

Later, when a carriage turned on the lights, they arrived at the gate of the mansion. Two people, one tall and the other low, came down, one named Qin Qing and the other named Xiaogezi. When they entered the door, they hugged me and howled.

When the two of them cried, everyone in the room burst into tears too, and my mother had no choice but to go forward one by one to comfort them.

Although this night is a day of great sorrow for my bereavement, fortunately, these people accompanied me to express condolences, so it is not so sad.

Later, everyone was tired from crying, and my mother arranged for everyone to sleep in the wing room, but Master Luo Yunhu and Jiang Han refused to sleep, saying they wanted to spend the night with my father and me.

My brazen old uncle is also coming to join in the fun.

Master Luo said to me with a sad face: "Mingyuan, your father was a great kind person before his death."

I don't know where my father is such a good person.

Master Luo said again: "Thinking back when our family was begging on the street and living in a dog shed in the alley, if your father hadn't pawned clothes and gave me the money, I would not be able to get a job or be an official now. He is the great benefactor of my Luo family." (Yunhu is a little beggar, see Chapter 45 for details)

I never imagined that my very unreliable father would actually do such a good thing.

The four of us had another drink before falling asleep.

The next day was the day of my father's burial, the coffin fell into the pit and was barely covered by the earth, when a group of horses and horses came galloping from the east, flying sand and dust.

We were all stunned, who is so bold now to smash my father's place in front of Lord Luo and General Jiang?

Jiang Han stood in front of us, holding the sword on his waist with one hand.

A group of people stopped in front of us, and immediately jumped down a group of big men. The leader was Ma Zhi, followed by a gentle-looking man named Tang Cheng, and a bearded man named Yu Bu.

Ma Zhi said loudly, "Which one is my nephew Tan Mingyuan? Come and meet my uncle."

Jiang Han put down his hand holding the sword, and made a show of flirting at me.

I went up to salute, and the group started hugging me and crying loudly.

"My little brother Tan is leaving now, leaving me alone as a good nephew, it's really pitiful."

My uncle muttered in a low voice: "A group of old men are not ashamed to cry and howl."

Jiang Han stepped forward to comfort the group of people, saying: "My dear brothers, my condolences, my nephew will be taken care of by us, and I will definitely not be lonely and helpless in the future."

Lord Luo followed suit.

In the end, Ma Zhi and the others insisted on seeing my father for the last time, so my father's coffin had to be lifted up for the time being, and the burial was postponed for a day.

After my father was buried with great difficulty, the crowd dispersed one after another. Every Qingming and memorial day, they would come to the house again to mourn my father.

Only year after year, those who should be buried are gradually buried, and my father's memorial day is gradually deserted, but Jiang Han and my old uncle have never been absent every year.

Ever since my father passed away, Master Luo Yunhu and Luo have always taken care of me. Although I failed the examination many times, in the end, with his help, I entered the imperial court and got a moderate job, which can be regarded as a prosperous official career.

It's just that although I am proud in officialdom, I have repeatedly frustrated in love.

First of all, my little cousin Tan Shuxian was clamoring desperately to marry me, but my uncle refused to do so.

If he doesn't allow it, I'm still not happy!

When Xiao Shuxian was young, she looked cute and cute, but when she was fourteen or fifteen years old, she gradually became aggressive, and no son of any family would dare to marry her after seeing her.

Shuxian quarreled with my old uncle every day, and my old uncle didn't know what to say in the end. She obediently married the rich man's beloved son Zhang Xianfeng.

I was just eighteen at that time, and it was time to start a family and start a business, but no girl was willing to come through my door.

My mother was in a hurry, she held my uncle by the ear, and asked him what did he say to Shuxian that Shuxian would not marry me again?

The uncle covered his ears and said, "Also...didn't say anything?"

My mother glared at him fiercely.

My uncle stammered: "This... I'm just saying that my nephew, like my brother-in-law, is... a shame..."

"what?!"

That day, my mother chased my uncle like a shrew for a whole block, causing everyone in the neighborhood to know that I, Tan Mingyuan, are... not to mention...

"..." I was drinking tea in the living room, and I heard what the maid said, so I didn't choke to death on the tea, no wonder the girls in the city, no matter how beautiful or ugly they are, just look at me and don't talk to me, so it's because of my old uncle's maliciousness slander.

Two years later, my mother harassed all the girls in the city who were waiting to be married, and she couldn't find me a daughter-in-law after all the good words.

For this reason, my mother has always hated my uncle until she died.