whale wave

Zhao Yousheng's family was celebrating the New Year in Ningxian County for the first time. Ningxian County and Quanzhou City are bustling, and the small market closes before dusk, which is really frustrating.

In the afternoon, Zhao Youqing had nothing to do, squatting under the steps of the verandah, holding a branch in his hand, turning over a dead leaf. There were a group of ants crawling on the dead leaf. He was so bored that he was playing with the ants.Zhao Yousheng came over, kicked his ass lightly, and said that he was going out, do you want to follow?

Zhao Youqing immediately followed, and the two brothers left together.

The aroma from the kitchen wafted out, and the cook told Mother Zhao that a nutritious meal had been prepared. Mother Zhao couldn't find her two sons when she went out of the house. The direction to go is to find Zhang Yi."

Since Zhao's mother came to Ning County, Zhao Yousheng had a small stove every day. Zhao's mother thought that he was hungry and thin in Xihua Academy, and needed to make up for it.

Zhao's mother knew Zhang Yi was such a character, he was Lao Zhao's subordinate, a small prisoner.I heard that he is skilled in martial arts and proficient in swords. It is all because of Lao Zhao that he raised two sons who like to wield swords and guns.

Zhang Yi's house is behind the county office, just down an alley. It is a low-rise private house with a spacious yard.It is said that Zhang Yi's father was a low-level military attache in the Xiang Army, but was dismissed because of a crime. Zhang Yi's family was poor, so he went to the county office to serve as a prisoner.

Zhao's father went to Ning County to serve as the county magistrate, Zhi Zhangyi was a martial arts expert, and he appreciated him very much. When he married his wife He Shi, Zhao's father presided over the wedding.

Zhang Yi was loyal to Father Zhao, and he naturally took good care of Father Zhao's two sons. He taught Zhao Yousheng swordsmanship without reservation, and Zhao Youqing who came to learn kung fu from him, seeing that he was young, taught him He did a few punches.

The two brothers were sweating at Zhang's house, and went home together at dusk. On the way, Zhao Yousheng told his younger brother: "Learning martial arts is for strengthening your body, so you are not allowed to fight with others." My brother said that learning martial arts is to fight the enemy and serve the country!"

"Snapped!"

"Brother, why did you hit me on the head!"

Zhao Youqing hurriedly covered her head, showing aggrieved little eyes.Thinking about it, Zhuang Kun has instilled in him the concept of learning martial arts well and protecting his family and country.From the kingdom to the present, there has never been a single eldest son who holds military power, and the court does not allow it. Learning martial arts is just for him to keep fit.

The two brothers walked into the county office one after the other, and Zhao's mother saw that they came back together happily, so she didn't care about the two boys asking Zhang Yi to practice martial arts.

Old Zhao was busy with business. After Zhao Yousheng came to Ning County, he seldom cared about him, and directly threw him to Mr. Sanxi to discipline him. Only when Zhao's mother came to Ning County this time did he put down what he was doing and spend time with his wife and children.

On New Year’s Eve, the whole family gathered together. At the dinner table, Lao Zhao taught his two sons that he should be a useful person. As the eldest son, he can live a good life even if he has nothing to do. Be aggressive, eat and wait to die.A man should do something in his life.Of course, Lao Zhao is not always full of rhetoric. At the dinner table, he also talks about money and other down-to-earth things with Zhao's mother.

The eldest sons live in Quanzhou Port, so they are naturally involved in maritime trade. The local Zong Zhengsi has an official ship. If the eldest son wants to participate in maritime trade, he will form a partnership with several families. Go to Zong Zhengsi to ask for a supervisor, and the supervisor will board the ship instead of them. , use their capital to buy goods and trade overseas.

"I didn't make any money last year. This year, Dou Ganban came to collect the capital. I gave him three hundred coins, but he thought it was too little." Zhao's mother was a little displeased when talking about this matter.

"Three hundred coins is enough! These gangsters are all greedy. They earn more, and they tell their employers that they earn less. If they earn less, they say they will lose money." Zhao's father felt that his wife paid too much, but it didn't matter. Well, the official boats are naturally making money, but the dividends distributed to them every year are pitifully small.

Zhao Yousheng put down his chopsticks, and said: "In the early years, all giant merchants led the boats to sea in person in order to accumulate millions of family property. Otherwise, even if they send their own people to go to sea, they will always be deceived."

"Brother, if we go to sea to do business by ourselves, can we also earn a lot of money!" Zhao Youqing grew up in the seaport and has heard many stories about sea merchants.

As soon as Zhao Youqing finished speaking, he slapped Lao Zhao lightly on the head, and Lao Zhao annoyed him: "Drilling money is the only ambition."

Zhao Youqing hugged her head and cried to her mother: "Beat me stupid!"

Mother Zhao smiled and rubbed his head.

Zhao Yousheng said lightly: "The eldest son is not allowed to go to sea to do business."

Maritime trade is extremely risky. If you are unlucky enough to encounter sea storms, crew riots, or even overseas wars, you will lose your life. In fact, there are a thousand ways to die for people on long-distance voyages.As children of the royal family, life is very precious, and the imperial court does not allow them to sail far (there are also political concerns), and as a royal family, it is even more demeaning to be a sea merchant who earns money with his life.

If it weren't for this prohibition and this resistance, Zhao Yousheng in his previous life might have had a different fate.

**

Before Chen Yu opened Zhao Yousheng's letter, he already knew from Wu Chu that their family was going to celebrate the New Year in Ning County, and that Ah Surplus would not be able to return to Quanzhou City even on New Year's Day.

He was full of expectations, but was poured cold water. The only thing that made Chen Yu feel relieved was the reply letter from Ah Left in his hand.

In the past, it was convenient for the two to meet and there was no need to write letters at all. This was the first time Ah Left wrote to him.

Chen Yu opened the letter paper and saw Zhao Yousheng's handwriting. If he was not sure that it must be written by himself, he would have doubts because Yousheng's handwriting had changed.Although his previous handwriting was beautiful, it could be seen that it was written by a young man, but this letter was written calmly and heartily.

Fortunately, the tone of the letter was familiar and friendly, which undoubtedly belonged to Ah Leftover.

Chen Yu, who was originally sad that he could not see Zhao Yousheng during the Chinese New Year, read his letter and was so happy that his sadness disappeared.Ah Ling did not forget him, seeing the letter was like seeing a person, as if he was recounting the words in the letter in his ear.

Sitting in the courtyard, Chen Yu read a piece of letter paper over and over again, four or five times, with every word in his heart, before he folded the letter paper with satisfaction and put it in his arms.He went back to the room, met Mo Yu on the way, and Mo Yu teased him: "My family heard that it was Zhao Sheren's letter, no wonder Xiao Lang is full of joy."

Chen Yu couldn't hide his smile, and responded happily: "Well, Ah Left wrote to me!"

Looking at his back as he left happily, Mo Yu had an inexplicable thought in his heart: Fortunately, Zhao Sheren went to Ning County, and the two separated.Ever since she knew that Zhao Yousheng was imprisoned in Zongxue Guan because he injured the Qin brothers who pushed Chen Yu into the pool, she had a strange thought.

Without Zhao Youcheng, Chen Yu still has playmates such as Su Yi and Qi Shichang by his side, and he has recently met a new friend, Zheng Yuanya, so he doesn't feel lonely in life.

Chen Yu often travels with Zheng Yuanya, this well-informed friend takes him to wander around the corners of the city, looking for strange people, and hear strange things from them.

They went to Fanfang and found an old and down-and-out sailor from Xilan Kingdom. Zheng Yuanya said that although he was sloppy and poor now, he was also a famous person many years ago.Zheng Yuanya invites the old sailor to drink, and after a few glasses of wine, the old sailor tells them about the dragon on Longyu Island. He says something, and Zheng Yuanya translates it.

Longyu is to the west of Xilan Kingdom, and Longyu has eight slippery islands. The so-called slippery islands refer to atolls.The dragon on Longyu Island dives in the eyes of the deep sea. Only at the end of its life, Qianlong will be willing to board the Liuyu Island, and will die after a few months of panting.

However, people can't wait for the dragon to die at all. Even if the dragon island is extremely difficult to find, and the deep sea eyes will swallow ships, the treasures in the forehead of the dragon are often gouged out by greedy people before it dies.

It is a rare treasure called Haiyu Soul, which can gather the souls of the dead, keep the corpses from decay, and bring people back to life.

The old sailor Xilan wiped the wine from his gray beard, his face was flushed, he was already drunk, and his speech was slurred, but he had finished telling the story.

"Hai Yu Po..." Chen Yu recited these three words, feeling familiar inexplicably, but he had never heard of it before.

Zheng Yuanya went to settle the wine bill, came back and saw that Chen Yu was still stuck in the old sailor's story, he said: "I heard from my father that there is indeed a sea jade soul that can bring the dead back to life. It's not that sailors and boatmen are talking nonsense, but this thing It is said to be very evil."

As for how evil it was, Zheng Yuanya didn't know the details, and his father didn't go into details at the time.

There are many merchants and sailors from overseas in Quanzhou Port. They have rich experience and many stories.The old sailor Xilan was not the only one they found, but Chen Yu's memory of the sea jade soul he mentioned was particularly deep.

The Chinese New Year is about to come, people are buying new year's goods one after another, the post street is crowded, there is a lot of traffic, Chen Yu walks on the road, try to get as close to the shop as possible, so as not to be pushed by others, he is not traveling alone, he is accompanied by Zheng Yuanya.Both of them have no homework, they have a lot of free time, and they are often together.

Surrounded by noisy crowds, Chen Yu led Zheng Yuanya to turn in from an alley, and after passing a high vermilion wall, Chen Yu realized that this is the place of Zongxue.Ever since Zhao Yousheng left Quanzhou for Ning County, he hadn't passed by this place for quite some time.

He used to come here often, and whenever he saw the high wall of Zongxue, it meant that Zhao Yousheng's house was not far away.

"Is this Muzongyuan?"

Zheng Yuanya raised his arms and jumped quickly, trying to climb the wall so that he could peek inside.However, the wall was built really high, just to prevent outsiders from peeping.

Chen Yu touched the wall with his hand, thinking that Zhao Yousheng used to study here, he said sadly: "This is Zongxue."

Zheng Yuanya gave up his plan to climb the wall, and pointed forward: "New Year is coming soon, Zongxue must have been closed, let's go, let's go to the front for a stroll." Ahead is a road that is gradually widening. The Muzongyuan is over there, and Yousheng's family is also there.

As soon as they passed by, they saw that the doors and windows of Yousheng's house were closed and the courtyard was empty. Zhao's mother and Zhao Youqing went to Ning County, leaving only Wu Xin and Wu Chu, the grandparents and grandchildren, to look after the house.But he didn't know when Ah Left would come back.

Chen Yu stood still at the gate of Zhao Yousheng's house, Zheng Yuanya looked around and said, "It seems that we can't move forward, this is the land of Nanwaizong, and the Muzongyuan should be in front of it."

In addition to living in the capital, some of the imperial descendants of the Guo Dynasty lived in Fuzhou and Quanzhou. The institutions that managed the eldest sons of Fuzhou and Quanzhou were called the West Waizong Zhengsi in Fuzhou, and the Nanwai Zong Zhengsi in Quanzhou.

Mu Zongyuan has high walls and thick gates, guarded by soldiers. Except those who live inside, the idlers are not allowed to get close. If they dare to break in, they will be punished.Zheng Yuanya is very aware of the difference between the royal family and ordinary people, not because he is well-informed, it is common sense.

Zheng Yuanya was about to urge Chen Yu to leave, but when he saw that he was still looking at the closed door and windows thoughtfully, he was puzzled: "Do you know this family?"

"know."

"This family is probably a relative of the emperor, and they live outside the Muzong courtyard."

"It's the eldest son's home, and this is where Ah Leftover lives." Chen Yu told Zheng Yuanya about his good friend, but he didn't mention Ah Leftover's identity before.

"The leftover you are talking about, is he the eldest son?" Zheng Yuanya was a little surprised.

"Although Ah Left is the eldest son, he is no different from us."

"How could it be the same?" Zheng Yuanya didn't realize that Xiao Yu was an ignorant person, but why did he think that this Ah Sheng was the same person as them? He seemed to look at Chen Yu with deep meaning, and said: "The clan is not like a businessman. Marriage between families, especially clan daughters are not allowed to marry merchants, and even half-fans are not allowed."

Chen Yu thinks this has something to do with him and Zhao Yousheng, they are both men and not married.

Zheng Yuanya didn't take it seriously when he saw Chen Yu, and said, "I really want to meet this leftover of yours."

"Why do you want to see him?"

"It's strange, I've never heard that the eldest son has a deep friendship with the merchant's son."

Chen Yu said with a smile, when Ah Leftover comes back, you will naturally see him. Ah Leftover is a very nice person, especially when he treats his friends with loyalty.

Seeing that he was full of emotion when he mentioned Ah Yuen, Zheng Yuanya thought that the two seemed to be very close, but in his perception, the eldest son was a group of arrogant and domineering people, but he didn't know how this Ah Leftover made friends with Xiaoyu of.

The two left, crossed the Post Street, and passed the Gulian Temple on horseback. Suddenly, a cold wind blew in the face. Chen Yu raised his head and recognized a tall and bare ginkgo tree inside the courtyard wall. The branches seemed to tremble in Chen Yu's heart, and he suddenly felt a sense of unexplained melancholy.

Once the golden leaves fell, each piece was submerged in the past.

The author has something to say: You Sheng: Banfan cannot marry the eldest daughter, but the eldest son should not be allowed to marry Banfan.

Director: So you want to express...

You Sheng: No, you think too much.