The Hairpin of the Red Chamber

While Mrs. Chen was waiting for Mrs. Wang, someone from the front yard had already come, saying that Master Tongjuan from Fucheng did not follow the official path, but came from the other side of Luofu Mountain, and has already entered the city. The officials and government servants shouted and shouted to drive the prisoners out.

Mrs. Chen was also among those who were kicked out because she served on behalf of someone else. She hurriedly grabbed the sleeve of the guard's catcher and begged: "My grandma is still inside, let me go and call her out."

Before the head catcher could answer, several yamen servants beside him laughed strangely. This one said: "Although mother is old, she is not good at flirting with mature men. Be careful, Uncle Chen is angry when he comes back!" The other said: " Others use beauty tricks, mom, is this an old man's trick?" Another one said: "Mom, don't talk to him, just talk to the old money on the door, he likes mother like this the most."——but it was a joke on the face, and hands on But each of them tried their best to drag Mama Chen out with half-drag and half-support. There were already people clamoring to create an open space, and Mrs. Chen couldn't get close to her. She beat her chest and stomped her feet anxiously. It was getting close, so I had to hide in the corner of the side street and look here.

Not long after, I saw many people coming with blue umbrellas, plain black palm fans, paulownia sticks, lance sticks, avoidance cards, etc., and more than [-] people were behind with four dark sedan chairs carried by four people, and then came There are about a dozen carts with green covers, and at the end are the sedan chairs and horses of the county magistrate and officials in the county.

When this group of people came over, they immediately blocked the entrance of the county government office. From the first sedan chair, a man with a white face and a slight beard came down first. He looked like he was only in his thirties. Such a suave young master, it's a pity that he has gained a little weight now. Although he has gained official authority, he has lost a little bit of his handsomeness.

A few scattered people around her knelt down, not daring to raise their heads, and Mrs. Chen could only follow suit, kneeling while secretly speculating, expecting that this was the master from Fucheng, but she didn't know why he wanted to be in the county government office. Get out of the car before.

A group of yamen servants had already opened the middle door wide, preparing for the master to enter directly, but suddenly seeing the appearance of this master, they all looked at each other, but the judge did not look at them at all, got off the sedan chair, and walked quickly to a sedan chair at the back Beside, the family members holding the sedan chairs had already dispersed, and the people behind saw the front stop, from the county magistrate to Dian Shi, the master, the police, those who got off the horses got off the horses, and those who got off the sedan chairs all waited for the judge. The old man spoke—but he saw something whispered between the old man and the people inside, the sedan chair curtain was opened from the side, and the people inside seemed to glance at the county government office, and then said something to the old man, then he He straightened his body, raised his hand, and a senior officer next to him approached him knowingly, and heard him say: "Luofu Mountain is in the northwest, and this yamen faces southeast, with the mountains and rivers behind it, which is incompatible with me. Not good, we'd better go to the inn. stop."

At that time, most people regarded the mountains and rivers as a prosperous place, and the magistrate of Boluo County had always been proud of this yamen. Suddenly hearing what he said, everyone was dumbfounded. The magistrate stepped forward, wanting to explain, Suddenly remembering the rumors about the judge, he stopped talking again, and changed his mouth to smile: "If your lord doesn't like this yamen, that's easy. The local Zhang Juren has a good garden. Please move the jade body temporarily and put it in Zhang's small house. It's good to rest for a few days."

The squires were following him, and when they heard the county magistrate, they all turned to look at Zhang Juren enviously. Zhang Juren cleared his throat and was about to come up to say hello, but saw the judge The master shook his head and said, "I was ordered to inspect, and I always live closer to the yamen." He looked around as he spoke, and the magistrate of Boluo also followed his gaze, and found that there were no people around the yamen except There is no decent house other than the royal residence.The county magistrate coughed, and one of his confidant masters immediately took a step closer and whispered in his ear: "The king is away and has not returned, so I'm afraid it's inconvenient to welcome Mr. Xue, and the place of the king's house is also small, so I'm afraid the female relatives can't live there." He didn't continue, I just glanced around the three sedan chairs at the back, the judge could hear every word clearly, and saw the master's expression, but he didn't care at all, instead he smiled and said: "I'm just borrowing a place, It’s not about doing something with his family, no matter where he is?”

The Boluo county magistrate and the master looked at each other, they both felt that the gentleman's reputation of "not stingy" had a good reason, the Boluo county magistrate took Wang Ping's money, but he was quite planning for him, and stepped forward to persuade: " My lord doesn't know, the female family members of this family were originally criminals, sent here from thousands of miles away." He only spoke half of what he said in the officialdom, but the judge squinted at him and said: "I am in charge of criminal crimes, inspecting prison affairs, Wouldn't it be a good time to meet such a family?"

The county magistrate of Boluo cried bitterly in his heart, and hurriedly said again: "I know that your lord is a person who understands the feelings of the people, but there is a difference between officials and people. Your lord rashly lives in this family of merchants and sinners. I'm afraid it will hurt your reputation. , and besides, the place in his house is really small, I'm afraid there is no place for noble servants to settle."

Natong judge said with a smile: "It's so easy, just ask them to live in your yamen again, it's just across the street, and it's convenient to come and go."

The county magistrate was still waiting to persuade, but the master pulled his sleeves, he bowed and said with a smile: "Since that's the case, the next official will ask someone to tell his family."

The judge said with a smile, "It's okay, I'll just ask someone to go." With a wave of his hand, his elder casually went there and knocked on the door, said something to the person who opened the door inside, and came back to report: "The man said that he The hostess is not here, so it is inconvenient to welcome the master in."

The magistrate of Boluo County was sweating profusely. He glanced at the master, then at the judge. The master remembered to ask the prisoner to clean up, and hurriedly asked the arrester to find someone. The arrester walked around to the side door, I asked the guards one by one, but no one knew where Mrs. Wang was. Just in a hurry, one of the guards guarding the gate clapped his hands and said: "Just ask Mrs. Chen about this." Mrs. Chen, who was on the ground, patted her on the shoulder and asked, "Where is your wife?"

Mrs. Chen was so frightened that she kowtowed like garlic, she was pulled up by the guard and stood up, explaining the reason, then pointed to the corner door tremblingly, and said: "Ma'am... just went in."

The head catcher blinked, the county magistrate blinked too, but the master gave him a push and said, "May I ask you to send someone to the backyard to ask?" It was like waking up from a dream, and hurriedly called a boy who hadn't yet been appointed to pass the message.

It was near the Dragon Boat Festival, and the weather in Huizhou was already getting hotter. Sister Feng was wearing two layers of clothes. After walking for a long time, her body was covered with sticky sweat.

Damn, she murmured indignantly, and saw a grape shelf not far away, with a stone bench under it, looking rather cool, she stomped over, but stopped when she got close, He bent down, looked at the stone bench several times, and finally sat down reluctantly. He felt that the bench was too hard and uncomfortable to sit on. Pillows were placed on the stone bench, and Xiang Ping'er was lying on his side with his head resting on the bench.

96 days.

Ping'er has been away for 96 days this time, which is seven days longer than the farthest time she traveled before.

In the beginning, Ping'er would ask a passing peddler to bring a few words, but later she said that when she found a good deal, she would have to travel farther, so she might not be free to write a letter, and then there was no news from then on.

The unconscionable obscene seed who was split into five ghosts by the thunder of heaven!She continued to think, kicking her nose and face, crossing the river and tearing down the bridge, she shook her wings when she gained momentum, and the little wave hoof with her tail raised first, how dare she not reply to the letter for so long.Feelings rely on her, Wang Xifeng is an exile, detained in this Boluo County every day and cannot escape, so she can do whatever she wants outside without any fear, right?One day, when Wang Xifeng turned over, she would have to travel all over the world for six or seven months before returning home without writing a single letter. Let's see if she dares to be complacent!

The weather was hot, and the side next to the stone bench soon became sweaty. Sister Feng turned over and lay on her back.

The sky was extremely blue, and there were clouds slowly changing in it. After a while, it seemed to change into Ping'er's shape too. Seeing that Sister Feng's chest was tight and short of breath, she sat up suddenly, tore a leaf from the nearby flowers, and looked towards it. The sky throws it away.

The leaves floated up and down, and fell into the flowers.

Sister Feng angrily pulled a handful of leaves again, but this time the thorns in the leaves pierced her hand.

Sister Feng looked at the sky for a while, sucked the damaged part in her mouth for a while, remembering that this is usually Ping'er's job, but now she can only do it herself, she couldn't help feeling sad, and tears fell down. , she just pretended that there was no one around, and took out a handkerchief from her bosom, covered her face and cried loudly.

Unexpectedly, when she cried, she heard the sound of people behind her. Sister Feng stopped crying vigilantly. Looking back from the corner of her eye, she saw a man's foot protruding from the flowers and leaves. Sister Feng's heart tightened and she covered her eyes With a frown on his face, he pretended to cry, while secretly looking behind him from the corner of his eye.