Tang riddles

Just after the third quarter of Shenchu, the first restaurant "Xinyuanchun" on the corner of Daozhengfang Beifangmen welcomed new customers.At this time, when the business was sluggish, Dr. Jiu was dozing off in the corner, and the shopkeeper was taking notes behind the counter.

"Excuse me." A deep and unique voice came from the door. The shopkeeper looked up and saw a handsome young man standing at the door, looking at him with a smile on his face.

"What's the matter, my lord?" Seeing that the lord didn't seem to be here for a drink, the shopkeeper couldn't help but squinted his eyes and asked.

"A certain name, Shen Sui, is from Luoyang." The visitor said softly.

The shopkeeper raised his eyebrows when he heard the words, and stayed for a while before saying:

"Lang Jun, wait a moment, the younger one will call for someone."

After finishing speaking, he hurried into the back hall.

Shen Sui didn't go in either, just stood at the door and waited.Not long after, the shopkeeper came out, followed by a girl who looked like a maid.The girl has delicate features, a round face, and a rather pleasing appearance. She wears a jacket and a long skirt, and is dressed in plain clothes. Her appearance is somewhat similar to that of the shopkeeper.Seeing Shen Sui, she quickly blessed her and said:

"My maidservant Chengxi, I have met Shen Lang. This maidservant is serving by Madam Qin's side." She glanced at the submissive shopkeeper standing beside her, and introduced, "This is my maidservant father. With help, the maidservant's family can gain a foothold in Chang'an. The Lord knows that Shen Lang will come in a few days, so he asked the maidservant to wait at Father's place."

The "Master Lang" in her mouth refers to Qin Zhen, the owner of the Qin family, and "Madame" refers to Qin Zhen's wife, Lu Shi, who was ordered by the third rank.

"Chengxi is polite." Shen Sui nodded with a smile.

"Please invite Shen Lang to come with the maidservant, the house arranged by the master is near here."

Chengxi doesn't talk much, but does things quickly.She quickly walked out of the gate of Xinyuanchun, Shen Sui followed, and the bride who had been waiting outside also followed, the slaves from the Western Regions led the three horses behind, but the horses did not leave.The slave of the Western Regions lowered his waist and pulled the reins vigorously. The horse purred, shook its head, but did not move its feet.

Shen Sui in front heard the movement behind, turned around and shouted:

"Khuta!"

Her sound caused Cheng Xi, who was running ahead, to stop, and turned around to look.The bride at the back also stopped and looked back.

The Nuhutuo of the Western Regions quickly responded:

"Da Lang wait a moment, the horse smells of wine and can't walk anymore." He actually spoke very standard official Chinese, his voice was deep and soft, which was extremely pleasant.

Hearing his words, Shen Sui couldn't help laughing, turned his head and said to Chengxi:

"Chengxi's wine is good wine, my horse is good wine, and his tongue is more picky than that."

Cheng Xi stared blankly at Shen Sui's smile, only felt that smile was like a hundred flowers blooming in the cold winter months, brilliant and gorgeous.When he came back to his senses, he suddenly lowered his head, his cheeks flushed, and shyly said:

"Lang-jun praised it. The family brewed some sake for sale and called it Xinyuanchun. If Lang-jun likes it, I will ask my father to send you some jars some other day."

It turned out that the restaurant was named directly with the name of the wine.

At this moment, Kutuo finally tamed the horse and led the horse to catch up.Cheng Xi slowed down and continued to lead the way, Shen Sui walked side by side with her, chatting leisurely:

"Could it be that Chengxi's family came from Jiannan?"

"Lang Jun is right, the maidservant's family is from Jiannan." Chengxi lowered his head, with a bit of shyness remaining on his face.

"But Luzhou people?"

"How does Mr. Lang know?" Cheng Xi asked in surprise.

"The aroma of spring wine in Xinyuan seems to be that of Luzhou's strong-flavored wine. A certain Guan Chengxi's age, and he has been in Chang'an for less than ten years. Your father's official speech still has an accent from the southern Sichuan area. If someone remembers correctly, eight There was a big flood in Luzhou a few years ago, maybe Chang'an moved here at that time."

"Lang Jun is right." Cheng Xi said with his eyes wide open.

You said a word to me, and we started talking.The mother from the back looked at her and smiled secretly: Dalang is still the same, he can chat with anyone in a few words, has insight into everything, is knowledgeable and good at talking, and is cheerful and open-minded, unlike those proud children of the noble family, who don't have too much respect in their hearts. idea.

Shen Sui's background is not low, according to the family tree of the Tang Dynasty written during the reign of Emperor Taizong, he actually belonged to a family with the surname Jia of the Shen family of Wu Xing.But her lineage has long been out of the five clothes of Wu Xingshen's direct branch, and as early as the end of Nanliang, she had moved from Huzhou to Jiankang Mansion at that time.After the demise of Nanchen, Jiankang Mansion declined, and after the Tang Dynasty, it was renamed Jiangning County and merged into Runzhou. The Shen family took Wangyanling, Runzhou County, as its hall name.In detail, they are not in the same family as Wu Xingshen's.

The Shen family in Yanling is thin, almost single-handed from generation to generation. The family is not prosperous, and most of the children are not very outstanding. Few of them enter the court as officials, so they can't even meet the threshold of a family with the surname Ding.But Wu Xing Shen’s family is willing to admit that Yanling Shen’s is their own side branch, because Shen’s has been an agent of merchants since Nanliang. At first, it started with brocade weaving. Later, it was involved in tea and silk. The business grew bigger and bigger, with shops all over The world brought great wealth to Wu Xing.This branch of Yanling is Wu Xing's cornucopia, how could he be so stupid as not to admit it?Wu Xing has always been reluctant to separate Yanling independently, so until Shen Sui's generation, the outside world still thinks Yanling is a side branch of Wu Xing.

Shen Sui took advantage of this advantage to participate in the imperial examination and became an official. After seven or eight years in the officialdom, he is still a small local official from the seventh rank, probably because of Shen Sui's rather loose nature.She doesn't like making friends in the officialdom, and she doesn't like the filth of those sleazy businessmen. She will definitely handle the affairs in her hands properly, but she will let go of the rest.On weekdays, he always likes to study and ponder some strange things, and speaking of it, he is also an unpredictable person.

Shen Sui also has a "brother" named Shen Jin.Of course, the "brother" is not Erlang, but actually the younger sister, and Shen Sui himself is not Erlang, but due to helplessness, the two sisters have to pretend to be men.Her "brother" is white and has no official position. When he was young, he had an accident and was paralyzed from the waist down. He can only sit in a wheelchair all year round. He has a throat injury and can't speak most of the time.But she is physically disabled, intelligent and talented, and she manages the complicated business affairs of the Yanling Shen family, and it has been flourishing in the past few years.There are no elders in the family anymore, Shen Sui is the head of the family, the current Yanling Shen family relies on the two sisters to support each other.

The maiden's surname is Yi, and her first name is Ying.The Yi family is the family doctor of the Shen family, so if we want to talk about the relationship between the two families, it's a long way off, so let's not mention it.Tiaoniang is ten years older than Shen Sui, and she is thirty-six this year. She was married 20 years ago, but her husband passed away early and she has no children, so she is still alone.Since the two sisters, Shen Sui and Shen Jin, have been by their side since they were seven or eight years old, they are actually their half-mothers.It wasn't until Shen Sui became an official in Henan Province that she finally relaxed and often went out to practice medicine.But after all, I can't worry about these two sisters, this time when they heard about Shen Sui's entry into Chang'an, they immediately rushed to meet, and they probably won't go out again in a short time.

Yiyan recalled the past in the back, followed Shen Sui and Chengxi absent-mindedly all the way through the shops at the head of Daozhengfang Xiqu, turned into the first curved road after a while, walked west for a few shots, and soon stopped at a place The gate of the house.Yi Yan regained her senses, turned her head to look at the house, it wasn't very spacious, it was the most common Wutoumen.After entering, there is the manger and the gate room, with the main gate inside, and the new paint on the door is black.Entering the main entrance is the courtyard with two entrances, the most common layout, the building materials are sparse and ordinary, and the construction structure is solid. Green bamboo is widely planted in the courtyard. The heavy snow of the past few days has bent the bamboo branches, showing a bit of tranquility.

"The master said that the time is short, and I felt wronged and lived in this yard first. I will find an elegant house later and recommend it to Shen Lang." Cheng Xi said.

"Mr. Qin, you are being polite. This yard is very nice. Please take care of Mr. Qin." Shen Sui said with a smile, remembering that he went to Beijing to take the exam several years ago. At that time, he lived in a Taoist temple for two full years, and the living conditions were not up to par. now.She is not short of money, but she never spends it recklessly. The money in the family is earned by her younger sister, and she has to offer a lot to Wu Xing, which is actually not rich.This time I come to Chang'an, I don't know how long I can stay, wait until everything is settled.

She thought about it again, it's getting late now, and in less than a moment, it's time to go to the Yamen, and when the evening drum sounds, there will be a curfew.The Qin Mansion is also in the Daozheng Square, although it is late, it does not affect the night out, as a junior, it is more appropriate for her to go to the Qin Mansion to meet Duke Qin.Moreover, the case was urgent, and she wanted to know the details as soon as possible.

So he asked Seung Hee:

"Will Chengxi return to the Qin Mansion in a while?"

Cheng Xi nodded, and said: "Since Shen Lang has come, Cheng Xi should report back to the mansion immediately."

"Wait a minute, someone wrote a greeting card, please take Chengxi to the Qin residence, saying that someone will pay a visit to Duke Qin tonight."

Cheng Xi was stunned for a moment, and immediately responded with blessings.

Shen Sui immediately turned around, and Hutuo was leading the horse to the manger to tie it to the manger, she went up to meet her, and took out a long strip of bamboo box from the bag carried by her horse.Pressing from one end, the other end of the bamboo box popped out, and she pulled it out. At first, she saw that the inner port was a black ball, which seemed to be filled with dry ink.After pulling out a third of it, I found that the long compartment was actually a pen case, and there was a stick of Zihao lying in it.She took the water bag, dripped water into the ink box, took out Zihao, dipped the ink into the ink box, and Hutuo had already taken the blank calligraphy very thoughtfully and handed it over.

Chengxi looked at it with novelty. She had never seen this wonderful pen case before, and it was really convenient to think about it.

Shen Sui held the post with his left hand, and swung the brush with his right arm in the air. He wrote the greeting card in an instant, dried the ink, and handed it to Cheng Xi.Cheng Xi learned calligraphy from his master, and he could more or less tell the difference between good and bad calligraphy, but he felt that the calligraphy was careless and vigorous, and it was really unrestrained, so he couldn't help but blush again.She hastily put the greeting card into her sleeve, saluted Shen Sui and Yi Yan again, then turned and left in a hurry.

Yi Yan wanted to laugh when she saw it, she took off her veiled hat, revealing her beautiful face like a hibiscus, she was only in her early twenties from her appearance alone, she could be described as gorgeous.She teased Shen Sui:

"Seeing that Zhaolang missed his life, my family Zhaolang missed another little lady."

Shen Sui: "..."

Seeing her speechless expression, Yizheng was even happier, just to see Shen Bozhao's deflated expression, the handsome eyebrows that slanted into the temples drooped, the corners of the lips were pursed, and the expression of grievance and annoyance was really cute, I don't know how many times I have watched it since I was a child, and I never get tired of it.

Their family Bozhao's temperament is also strange, she doesn't like to be sociable, but it's not that she is not good at sociable, but she doesn't like to do useless work.When she really needs to communicate, she can be mellow, amiable, and watertight, because she is very good at observing words and expressions, and she also has sharp eyes and good judgment.But she won't show that trick to the people she is close to.Because he cares in his heart, he is generous and tolerant to those close to him, and he always seems a little clumsy in speech, so he becomes more and more cute.

Yi Yan couldn't help raising her hand to grab her face, her intimacy and love were beyond words, Shen Sui blushed immediately, covered her face and said in annoyance:

"Xiaoniang! I'm already 26!" In front of Hutuo, where does her master's majesty go?

Kuta turned his head to show that he saw nothing.

"So what if you're 26? How old are you? You're still our little Chishi." Yi Yan smiled.

When Shen Sui heard Yiyan call her baby name "Chishi", her heart suddenly felt sour, and her eyes turned red.Yi Yan looked at her expression and knew that she remembered the past.With a smile on her face and a bitter mouth, Yizheng thought to herself that she really couldn't open or lift any pot, so she stepped forward and hugged her, stroked her back, and didn't speak again.

Shen Sui hugged Yizheng back, expressing that he was fine.She lowered her eyebrows and looked at Yi Yan, her starry eyes were dazzled with a layer of water, she looked extremely gentle.Yizheng's heart trembled, and she couldn't help feeling more distressed.

This child has grown so big that he is half a head taller than her.When I first saw her back then, she was just a little doll that had just grown to her waist.

"Pack up your things." Shen Suiwen said softly.

"Ai."

The three masters and servants unloaded the horse's luggage and went into the house to clean and tidy up without mentioning it.

After supper, at the beginning of the unitary year, the evening drums in the imperial city sounded, and then the street drums in all the squares and cities rang together, and the soup was vast, as if the power of heaven was washing over the sky of Chang'an City.Shen Sui bathed and changed his clothes, straightened his clothes, still carrying the horizontal knife wrapped in black cloth, about Moyou was going out, heading south.The Qin Mansion is located in the east of Nanqu, Daozhengfang. At this moment, Duke Qin should go back to the mansion after dinner.

It was already dark, the snow was getting heavier, and the road was so quiet that it was hard to see anyone. She walked on the road alone, feeling quite lonely and cold.Fortunately, not long after, I saw a spacious mansion with red lanterns hanging on the Wutou gate, glowing with warm light.You can see the plaque on the gate of the Qin Mansion inside, and you know where you are.Shen Sui straightened his clothes, brushed off the snowflakes on his body, stepped in, and explained the purpose of coming at the gate.Not long after, a housekeeper came out and led her in.