Minister

80【Six Years of Jiankang】

In the twelfth lunar month, there are new things to do every day, the adults are busy, and the children are waiting for the excitement.Except for the deserted street at the gate of the Imperial Academy, looking at the avenue to the southwest, every household is already decorated with lights and festoons, and all kinds of pretty things purchased years ago have been dressed up. Already busy.

"Master Wei?" Zanxi Zhilang, the third son of Mr. Liu's family, was counting the ducks and geese sent by the tenants.

"Mr. Liu." Wei Chi also nodded with him to greet him.

Seeing that Wei Chi was dressed plainly, Young Master Liu secretly figured out a general idea, and seeing the unfamiliar military officer behind him, he knew that he must be going to the Geng family: "Your Excellency has worked hard this year. "

Wei Chi stopped his horse and got down: "Young Master Liu has said that I won't come to visit your father for a few more days, and I will definitely come to bother you in the next year."

"Your Excellency, please don't break your promise," Young Master Liu temporarily left the tenants behind: "If my father finds out, he will definitely be happy from now on!"

"You're welcome," Wei Chi said with a smile, "My lord, I'm busy with my own business." After saying that, he saluted with him, got on his horse and left.

"Hehe," Young Master Liu laughed twice: "This is also an auspicious sign, and the weak and weak Mr. Wei has returned safely."

The tenants at the side couldn't help but come to talk: "I heard that Mr. Wei is also very handsome, but Fengyi City even eats the dead..."

"Bah!" The housekeeper spat, "What are you talking about for the New Year's Eve?"

Young Master Liu was taken aback: "What did you say?"

How dare the tenant farmer talk to him again?Embarrassedly stepped aside.Little Mr. Liu felt that he didn't hear clearly, and when he looked back, Wei Chi's shadow had disappeared around the corner.

Wei Chi arrived at the main gate of Geng's Mansion and announced the door post, and the filial concierge let him into the hall and waited.Although Wei Chi is familiar with Geng Bingwen, but the Geng family is very big, the elders and juniors are separated by several walls, and Wei Chi has not entered the door here.Geng Bingwen is naturally in the mansion here for such a big matter, and Wei Chi also announced his accent before he came, so Geng Bingwen rushed out as soon as he saw the door post.

"Shaohu!" Geng Bingwen helped the white cap on his head.

Wei Chi put down his tea and stood up: "... Alas!"

Geng Bingwen had mixed feelings: "Thank you for your hard work!"

The two walked in from the foyer. This piece of plain white seemed a bit embarrassing at this time of year. The mourning report arrived a month ago. After the family mourned, they had to put everything aside and put the mourning first. .The emperor's attitude was rare and clear at this moment, after rewarding and rewarding, he specially sent someone to bring a bundle of honor guards over, and Concubine Geng, who was in the deep palace, was able to visit her relatives for a day.In addition, 300 taels of silver and 190 taels of gold ingots were specially transferred from the internal treasury as a gift, and the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs were ordered to send them.

The Geng family has been favored by two generations of kings, but the house is still simple and unadorned. Wei Chi entered the elder's main house today and felt that the garden of the house was nothing more than that.He couldn't help thinking: a few years ago, the Wang family refused to move to a new house in order to avoid suspicion. Now that they saw the situation of the Geng family, they knew why the emperor had never been suspicious of his family.

The courtyard of the main hall is where the coffins are parked. Wei Chi saw a lot of burnt incense sticks in the incense burner, and forced a smile, "I'm late." After that, he lit the incense, shook it out, and bowed respectfully bye.

After Wei Chi's ceremony was over, Geng Bingwen took him to pay respects to the elders one by one.Although most of these people were not officials in the court, they had heard about Wei Chi's incident. They all said that rumors only stop with wise men, and many members of the Geng family still believed that his virtue was not corrupted.Otherwise, no matter how much Geng Bingwen asked, these elders would not agree to transfer Wei Chi to the army.

"Master Wei, my old man specially ordered that if your lord comes, you must let him see you." The elder Geng Qilin and Wei Chi said loudly after the ceremony.Except for Geng Bingwen, the Geng family are all military officers, and most of them have resigned for training. This is the eldest son of the old man of the Geng family, the former emperor's forward general.

Wei Chi was a little panicked, straightened his sleeves hastily, said goodbye to Bingwen, and followed the lord into the inner hall.

Geng Jinzhong, who has sealed the Youzhu Kingdom now, is regarded as an extremely human minister.It's just sad for military strategists, and being promoted to a higher rank is often not a happy event.

"Master Wei?" The old man was in good spirits.

"If you go back to your father, it's Master Wei." Geng Qilin instructed Wei Chi to sit down, but Wei Chi refused.

Geng Jinzhong sighed: "But it's okay to sit."

When Geng Qilin left the house, there were only two people left in the inner hall, Wei Chi looked up at the green pines and cypresses outside the window, and couldn't help feeling sad.

Geng Jinzhong raised his silver whiskers, "Master Wei will take the wine on the table by himself."

Wei Chi was taken aback for a moment, only then did he see that there was a jar of wine on the table, sealed with old waxy yellow mulberry, and the jar was covered with official seals.

"This..." Wei Chi remembered something.

"He didn't say anything else in the letter, presumably Mr. Wei had already done it safely at that time, but he just mentioned Mr. Wei's greediness, let the old man remember this. He was thinking about this altar. Back then, the drunkard of the Liu family won the first emperor. All the benefits are given to him, and he treats him like a treasure."

"I..." Wei Chi almost shed tears.

"Don't worry," Geng Jinzhong looked at Wei Chi's refusal: "The Liu family also kept an altar back then, and it was sent to him to relieve his alcohol addiction a few days ago. The adults in this altar are at ease. If you keep a drop, it will be a disappointment. Very kind."

Wei Chi didn't say anything else, just got up silently, lifted the mud seal, and the room was filled with fragrance.Wei Chi took a sip from the jar: "Good wine!"

Geng Jinzhong laughed: "Sure enough!"

The taste of the wine is sweet and refreshing, and the jar is actually no more than the size of a ring arm, and the magnetic wall is thick, and the inside is no more than half a liter.Seeing Wei Chi take a sip and seal the jar, Geng Jinzhong sighed, "Thank you, General Geng, for your kindness."

"Master Wei, do you know the name of this wine?"

Wei Chi was puzzled.

"This wine is called Wan Lai Xiang, also known as Wan Lai Xiang. It took the longest time to store in the cellar, and the taste is soft and not strong. Do you know why Mingyan I military general has a soft spot for this mild wine?" Geng Jinzhong smiled faintly: "When he was young, he was also very arrogant. He and the members of the Liu family were all unconscious. He refused to listen to what the elders said. He just blindly followed the difficult path. Later, he learned a lesson... and then this altar Wine is the most labor-intensive thing. It is not her who serves, but the self-cultivation of the family. You..." Geng Jinzhong looked at Wei Chi silently: "I came to the imperial court, and I was famous in the court that day. The academician Qu Nianci was famous in the Hanlin, and later risked the world's disgrace to get acquainted with the imperial family. This time, he was also reckless. It is rare for a young man of seventeen or eighteen to be able to sit on the fifth rank. But, Mr. Wei, this is Is it a good thing?"

Wei Chi felt a chill down his back.

"Geng Bingwen can't understand the principles of advance and retreat. Even though he is ten years older than you, he can't understand. How many bumps did Ming Yan suffer in his life, and he finally realized it? He mentioned you a lot in his letter. You can't go far if you act like this."

"I would like to listen to my lord's advice." Wei Chi said sincerely.

Geng Jinzhong beckoned Wei Chi to come over. Looking at this young face, Geng Jinzhong's resolute and serious face became kinder: "Mingyan has seven brothers in his generation. I couldn't be in front of them when you were your age. Wait until I am free. After coming down, they are all old men. Even the grandchildren are adults with families, and the great-grandchildren are far away, and they can’t get close to me. I feel ashamed of them, many You don’t know anything until it’s over, it’s really over, and it’s just delusional to start over.”

Wei Chi held those vicissitudes of hands silently, the touch was so hard, a kind of oldness that was different from the look of the old man.Geng Jinzhong patted Wei Chi's head: "I should have taught him, but the late emperor gave him the altar of wine to enlighten him. It shows that I am not a good father. Now this altar of wine is entrusted to you...Bo Guan And take appointments, accumulate thickly and send thinly.”

Wei Chi was furious when he thought of Geng Zhuqiu ordering him to leave with King Qin's men that day.

"You are a savvy person, let's go." Geng Jinzhong nodded and said: "The old man is also tired."

Walking out of the side pavilion, Wei Chi handed the wine jar he was holding to Chen Hu: "Have you gone to offer incense?"

Chen Hu nodded.

"Then let's go..." Wei Chi sighed.

Geng Bingwen greeted him, and Geng Qilin said, "Your Excellency will entertain you."

The two of them didn't say much, and they said goodbye to the elders and went to the west courtyard all the way.Turning around the main hall, next to it is the flower hall, and behind it is the study.Different from other martial arts, the Geng family is mostly Confucian generals.Wei Chi stood silently in front of the study for a while, thinking of the small study in Fengyi City, where the bean-sized oil lamp aroused his hopes.

"Bingwen, have I changed?" Wei Chi laughed at himself.

"It really hasn't changed much..." Geng Bingwen looked at it honestly: "I thought you would be stronger, but it turns out...huh."

Outside the study room, the red plum blossoms in the first courtyard are dazzling, and the red color is even more stubborn under the white snow.

"This flower... blooms really well..." Wei Chi sighed.

"It was all planted by my uncle. These plum trees were like this when I was a child. My uncle planted them for wine cellars. There are one jar in the east and the other in the west. They have to be dug up every year, and the place has to be changed every year. Where do I go?" Do you know these treasures? It was also Chinese New Year, and I led my younger brothers and sisters around this place to fight and fight. I was caught later, and I was very scared. I just thought it was this uncle who was not talkative and wanted to reward the board. Who? Knowing that he doesn't care... Uncle and aunt have no children in this life, but I don't think it's a pity. It's not a pity that you never leave him in the end."

Looking at the bustling area, Wei Chi thought to himself, in which life did I get blessings and get to know you?

"Let's not talk about this," Geng Bingwen led Wei Chi to continue walking westward: "Since the news of King Qin's victory came, your sister-in-law has been talking about your winter clothes, saying that she doesn't know if you fit well. I heard that you are coming early today." Ready."

"I'm really sorry to trouble my sister-in-law every year."

"Pretending?" Geng Bingwen smiled and said, "Didn't you say you were going to change the flowers on your cuffs last year? I don't think you're going to feel sorry for me, brother."

The Geng Mansion is simple, but it is a big family after all, and the two of them walked for a while before arriving at the junction of the two courtyards.Geng Bingwen is the son of Master Geng's second son and the eldest grandson of his grandchildren.It took some time to turn into his yard.

The servant girl in this courtyard knew Wei Chi. When he met Geng Bingwen, he was still a half-grown child. After the scientific examination, he was invited to live in this mansion for half a month. Naturally, the whole family would not treat him as an outsider.

Wei Chi went to meet the two elders first. The whole family has been attending funerals for the past few days. Seeing Wei Chi today, the two elders also added some joy.Wei Chi is no different than the previous two years. He has reached the age of an adult man, and he can no longer give gifts to his children. He greeted each other affectionately, and the old lady said: "My daughter-in-law made winter clothes, and my son took Wei Geer to go." .”

Geng Bingwen's wife is the daughter of the great writer Su Panyun, besides being knowledgeable and reasonable, she also has a kind of family attitude.Mr. Su had only this one daughter in his whole life, and he was raised as a boy when he was young, and he knew everything about history and classics.This woman is also strange, but Botong does not like to argue with others in ancient and modern times. When getting along with her, she is gentle and elegant. Everyone from the elders to the family officials admires her.

Back then Wei Chi was curious about her knowledge, but blindly provoking her failed.The Su family didn't argue with Wei Chi, but just brought the chessboard. Why was Wei Chi afraid of this?Unexpectedly, in the end, the six sons were defeated miserably!Only then did she learn how powerful this woman is, and honestly call her sister-in-law, knowing that this talented woman's title is not empty.Su also thinks this little boy is straightforward and cute, and since she doesn't have a younger brother, she treats him as a younger brother and loves him. During festivals, she never forgets to give him a share in addition to the etiquettes that should be prepared at home.

Seeing the two of them coming in, Mrs. Su quickly ordered the servant girl to put out the smoked cushions, while she went to the cabinet to pick up the package herself: "Brother Wei, give it a try."

Wei Chi asked hello and took the package. Inside was a small jacket with a dark red satin surface: "Sister-in-law made it fit naturally." In addition to the jacket, there was also a big shawl, thin fur, which was just right for wind protection in spring .

"Father gave them exactly two pieces. The color is right, and it matches you young people. You and my sister-in-law just happen to have one each."

While talking, there was a sound of walking outside the house.

A pretty little girl, wearing a lotus-coloured Confucian skirt, a goose-yellow fur coat that reaches her feet, and the cloth on her shoulders is soaked in snow. She didn't care about the wooden treads on her shoes, and the maid just lifted the curtain He hurried in.

"Brother Wei?"

The author has something to say: Little sister of the Geng family~