Qing Jialu

After Du Huan got off the boat, he hurried home with his servant and delivered the things his father had given him.For the next few days, Du Huan stayed at home with nothing to do, and finally thought of going to visit his friend Shen Jia.

When Shen Jia came to Hangzhou, among the big families that were going to be rectified, it happened that there was the wealthy Du family among them.Fortunately, Du Huan had a brain, persuaded his father and the patriarch of the family to actively cooperate with the government to clean up the land, and never go against the prefect of Shen, which allowed the Du family to escape.So this year, the Du family often helped the magistrate to mediate the relationship between the merchant and the government.

Today, Du Huan and Shen Jia are still gentlemen's friends. Although they are busy with each other and rarely see each other, they always make an appointment every other month or two to go to the tavern for a drink.This time Du Huan hadn't returned for several months, so he naturally wanted to meet Shen Jia when he came back.

In the evening, Du Huan waited for Shen Jia to finish his official duties before inviting him to a restaurant for dinner.Du Huan talked about what he had seen and heard during this period at the dinner table, starting from Hangzhou and continuing to talk about the customs of Zhenjiang.It wasn't until the end that he said mysteriously, "Guess who I met on the way back?"

"Who is it?" Shen Jia asked casually while drinking.

Du Huan had long forgotten what Brother Xiao said, "You don't need to tell Shen Jia that I'm going to Hangzhou", and he blurted out: "I met Brother Xiao."

Hearing this, Shen Jia almost couldn't hold the wine glass in her hand, and spilled a little wine on the table.

"He...why did he come to Hangzhou?" Shen Jia only felt that her thoughts were chaotic, like a ball of twine that kept being cut and untangled.

"He said he was here to recuperate." The naive Du Huan told all about what he had seen and heard on the boat, "I saw him sitting in a wheelchair, and I don't know what's wrong with his leg."

As soon as Shen Jia's expression darkened, he knew that Xiao Yi's cold poison was getting worse, and this year must be worse than last year.

"Where's his hand?" Shen Jia asked.

"Hands?" Du Huanru was puzzled by the second monk, "Hands are fine, what's wrong?"

"That's good, that's good." Shen Jia didn't know if this was considered good news, at least this year the cold poison did not spread to both arms, it seems that keeping Dr. Fan was right.

"Brother Xiao said he would stay in Hangzhou for a month, but unfortunately he refused to live in the restaurant of our Du family. I don't know where Brother Xiao and his party are now." Du Huan continued.

Shen Jia thought to herself, he probably didn't want to see me, so he didn't want to have too much interaction with Du Huan.Otherwise, His Majesty will go to Hangzhou in disguise. As the prefect of Hangzhou, he should be the first to know.

Thinking of this, Shen Jia raised her head and drank another glass of wine suddenly.Seeing that he was drinking in a hurry, Du Huan grabbed his arm and persuaded him worriedly: "Master Shen, although you have become better at drinking this year, don't drink yourself so hard. Otherwise, you will be too drunk like that time again. Unconscious."

What Du Huan was talking about was Shen Jia's first visit to Hangzhou, when he first met him and got drunk.At that time, Shen Jia was in a low mood and kept drinking to drown her sorrows, but Du Huan couldn't persuade her.In the end, Shen Jia really got drunk by herself, and lay on the table with the jug in her arms.

Seeing Shen Jia like this, Du Huan felt a little sad for him.He originally thought that Shen Jia drank to relieve his depression because of being dismissed from office.Unexpectedly, after being drunk, Shen Jia revealed the truth.

It turned out that it was because of emotional injury.

The drunken Shen Jia fumbled around in his bosom, Du Huan looked at him curiously, watched him fumble around for a long time, finally took out a jade pendant from his bosom, touched it so much that he couldn't put it down.

The whole body of the jade pendant was as white as a blemish, moist and smooth, and there were some totems engraved on it.Du Huan was far away, so he couldn't see the pattern on the jade pendant clearly. He could only vaguely see that the jade pendant looked like a high-quality Hetian jade, which was extremely rare.

As a jade collector, Du Huan naturally wanted to take a look.But he never expected that such a small request would be politely rejected by the stingy Shen Jiayi.

Shen Jia hid the jade pendant close to her body, and said to Du Huan half drunk and half awake: "This is a token of love he gave me, and I can't show it to others."

"Which girl is so lucky that Mr. Shen has taken a fancy to her?" Du Huan didn't see Shen Jia's injury at first, and kept teasing him.

Shen Jia shook her head and said, "I am not good enough for him."

"Mr. Shen is amazingly talented, and there are women who are not worthy of him?" Du Huan asked in surprise, "What kind of lady from a high family, or a daughter of a rich family? Although you have been demoted now, you can't guarantee that Qi Sheng will be happy and make you happy again." Go back and be an old man."

"I also want to go back, I must go back." Shen Jia suddenly shed a tear, "I want to make political achievements, I want to stand by his side in an open and honest manner, and I want to protect him."

"Of course, we big men must protect our beloved woman." Du Huan patted Shen Jia on the shoulder, "Master Shen, I really didn't see that you are still a lover."

"But I'm afraid it's too late, there are only four years." Shen Jia became sad again when she said this.

"Four years, what four years?" Du Huan was confused when he heard this, "Is it because the woman's family only gave you four years?"

However, Shen Jia didn't hear Du Huan's question, and was still immersed in her own sadness, "It's too short, four years, too short."

He and Xiao Yi met too late, if it had been earlier, would it have been possible that Xiao Yi would not have suffered from the cold, and would they have a better future?

"He didn't tell me anything, he didn't want to drag me down." Shen Jia took another sip of wine while talking, "He doesn't believe me, he doesn't believe that I can protect him."

As Shen Jia talked, her voice became lower and lower, and finally fell asleep holding the flagon.

Du Huan never told Shen Jia about this truthful confession while drunk, for fear that he would be embarrassed if he found out.Fortunately, Shen Jia is a person who loses her memory when she gets drunk, but she just vaguely remembers that she seemed to cry, and she was really ashamed in front of Brother Du.

Now hearing Du Huan bring up that embarrassing incident again, Shen Jia said with a little embarrassment: "Brother Du, I drink much better now than I did a year ago."

This year Shen Jia has to deal with all kinds of entertainment in the officialdom, how can she escape drinking?In order not to get drunk at the wine table, Shen Jia had been practicing her drinking capacity in private, and practiced it after vomiting more than a dozen times.

In fact, there is another reason, Shen Jia doesn't want to be compared by Xiao Yi, he not only wants to practice drinking, but also wants to practice horseback riding, he wants to ride as fast as Xiao Yi, and he doesn't want to be accommodated by Xiao Yi anymore.

It's just that he is busy with official duties and hasn't spared time to practice horseback riding yet.

Although Shen Jia drank three pots of wine, she was not drunk this time. After saying goodbye to Du Huan, she walked steadily back to the back hall of the government office.He sat alone in the study, taking out the jade pendant to appreciate the moonlight outside the window.

This Hetian Jade was the "meal money" that Xiao Yi gave him when he was assassinated when he left the palace.But Shen Jia kept it carefully all the time, kept it close to her body, and regarded it as a token of love.

Relying on this jade pendant, he was able to survive the sad days when he first came to Hangzhou.

Now, Xiao Yi is here, in Hangzhou.Even though he didn't know why he came, Shen Jia felt a hint of secret joy in her heart, let him have another daydream, and pretend that Xiao Yi came for him.