Hypocrites

Cui Xian's style of study is harsh and unkind, but his family style is very kind. I heard that Shen Yu was forced by Shen Jin to face the wall and recite the elementary school when he was Cui Xi's age. The sick and injured also have a heart that can't bear loneliness, and the two hit it off.

One day, Xiao Xi pushed a heavy rattan box into the house. He didn't know what treasure was inside, and he couldn't wait to share it with his brother.

The box is very old, the rattan weaving is frayed everywhere, it seems that it has been used a lot in the past, but dust has accumulated on the surface, and it has been forgotten since no one knows.

"Don't drag your aunt's dowry here." Liang Heng half leaned on the bed, trying to take advantage of Cui Xian's absence, to soak the sugar in the medicine soup before drinking it. Seeing that it was difficult for Xiao Xi to drag, he simply put the medicine After that, he got out of bed to help, he is recovering well now and can already use his strength.

Xiao Xi said, "This is Uncle's!"

"You still have an uncle?" Liang Heng always thought that the Cui family was a single family with two generations, and the descendants were weak. Unexpectedly, Cui Ji had an older brother.

"There is Uncle!" Xiao Xi couldn't tell why, so he opened the rattan box and pointed at Liang Heng proudly, "Uncle is fun!"

There are all kinds of objects in the box, all of which are carpentry and pottery, which seem to be gadgets made by Xiao Xi's uncle himself.Liang Heng picked up an upside-down wooden goose on the surface, and started with a heavy hand. Once he held it upright, the goose's two soles retracted into its belly, and a small egg fell out of its buttocks, rolling twice in the bed.

Liang Heng picked up the goose egg and saw that it was a polished and round black pebble.

The wooden goose laid an egg and had to turn it upside down before standing upright before laying another white pebble.What a delicate mechanism, Liang Heng's eyes were close to the abdominal cavity of the wooden goose to peek, but he couldn't see anything clearly. Instead, he accidentally got his foot stuck in the stomach, and pushed the wooden goose to a corner guiltily.

Xiao Xi pulled out a palm-length cylinder, climbed onto Liang Heng's bed, pushed open the window pane, and turned the cylinder against the spring sun: "Look!"

The sunlight passed through the wooden tube and projected on Liang Heng's knees, shining with colorful colors. As the wooden tube rotated, it formed a variety of strange shapes, like magnificent daydreams.

"Your uncle is so skillful!" Liang Heng sighed sincerely, there was no such thing in the palace.

"Daddy can only read," Xiao Xi said angrily, "Uncle is so fun!"

"What's your uncle's name?"

Xiao Xi thought for a long time, but couldn't remember.

Liang Heng couldn't help being curious about this person, and even more eager to see what other treasures were in the box. He rummaged through it, but found a nineteen-rule scale.It seems that Xiao Xi's uncle is not only good at carpentry, he was born in a scholarly family, so he must be able to play piano, chess, calligraphy and painting.

The chessboard is about three fingers wide, very solid and heavy, with dark gold and wood patterns running around the board surface, with brilliance inside.A few small characters are chiseled on the side - Lin Ke.

Cui Linke?

Cui's father and son have been missing for a long time, Xiao Xi took his things as his own, and used everything to play with. There were still a few pages of hemp paper in the box. The kid was illiterate, so he tore it up While playing, the sound of paper cracking sounded, Liang Heng was startled, and hurriedly stopped: "Hey! That's a letter! You can't tear it!"

Luckily it didn't break in two.

There were more than a dozen of them in that stack, all of which were family letters. After a quick glance, the titles were all "Di Ji Sheng Jian Zi", and there were only one or two "Pen Yu Yi'er".It seems that the eldest brother of the Cui family wrote many letters to his younger brother Cui Ji, all of which were stored in this box, and there were two replies.

Brother Jisheng saw the words:

One and a half months away, my brother has arrived at Wangdu a few days ago, exhausted by boats and cars, and physically exhausted, so I haven't had time to write a letter.If you have a letter from home, you can send it here.After my brother made some adjustments, he gathered all the students of Wangcheng Jingshe to discuss the matter of seeking an official.

Don't even miss it.

July [-]rd in the fourth year of Wenzhi

Wenshen Emperor Liang Xuan had two reign titles before his death, Wen Zhi and Ren Cheng. In the fourth year of Wen Zhi, the Empress was still a widow in the Gui Palace.Even though Liang Heng was not Liang Xuan's son, he was born in the same year as Duan Yanyou, that is to say, Liang Heng hadn't come to this world in the year when Cui's elder brother went to Wangcheng to seek fame.

Brother Jisheng saw the words:

Recently, my brother has been depressed, and I have written a lot of complaints, please forgive me.The situation in Wangcheng is far from what I want. If I want to seek a job, I have no choice but to surrender to the three eunuchs of Qiu, Niu and Tong.The eunuchs are greedy and treacherous, and I really don't want to be with them as a brother.

The younger brother wrote a letter the day before yesterday, urging him to vote for the prime minister.My brother is still young, and I can't read all the books. He has ever clearly observed the situation in the court, so it must be his father's excuse.Brother Wang told his father in the original words that the court was full of black and white, good and bad mixed, and his son couldn't bear it, so he would leave immediately.

By the way, hello.

August [-]th in the fourth year of Wenzhi

Brother Ji Sheng met:

I wrote a letter the day before yesterday, and my brother already knew that everything in the family is dependent on the long-term worker. I feel guilty for my brother, but I am far away from home, and I can't do it.

Although the royal city is political/government/dark, its interesting features are too numerous to enumerate.Brother Fang was young, and he must have never heard of the good names of Xie Ling Pavilion and Chen Yutang. Every time he would meet with talented scholars of the same generation in the building, they would throw pots and fight birds, and Shuanglu Feihua would be full of fun.My brother had a lion king a few days ago. He made an appointment with the fish friends and won a piece of golden nanmu. The wood is very wonderful.Wangcheng's son, he has already learned the art of chess in his first year, I hope you don't fall behind, otherwise you will have no chess friends after you return home, and you will inevitably be bored.

In addition, for my brother and friends to visit Lu Yuanye, if you will not be in the inn within half a month, if you have a letter, please forward it to the store for collection.

No worries.

August [-]th in the fourth year of Wenzhi

Brother Cui's family is very interesting, he can't ask for an official, he is depressed for less than ten days, and he is enjoying himself again, drinking flower wine and playing with fighting fish.Unexpectedly, he was also a guest of Xie Ling Pavilion and Chen Yutang, and he and Liang Heng were considered fellows.

The next few letters were all about him getting some new plaything, or finding an interesting store. It seemed that there was a bumper harvest after autumn, and he sent several jugs of new wine home.There is no sense of fame at all.

There were only two letters from Cui Xian.The first letter was stern, admonishing his son to guard against arrogance and impetuosity, to be aggressive in the future, to learn from scholars, and to broaden the way. "Book" said: "It is not difficult to know, but difficult to do." , To be put into practice in government affairs, is the merit and virtue.Wan Wang got a half-official position, and the lintel of glory.

It seemed to be the harsh tone that Liang Heng was familiar with, and he had high hopes for the eldest son, but the second letter was quite different, avoiding the matter of becoming an official in the court, and asking his son's daily life, food, clothing, housing and transportation between the lines, as if he was too shy , even if you draw money from your house.He also asked him whether he would return to his hometown during the Chinese New Year.The scenery of Wangdu is fascinating, and I look forward to more letters from him to tell about it.

It seems that Cui Xian, a kind old man, has changed because of his son.As people get older, they all look forward to family reunion and family happiness, but the eldest son has to stay away from home, and because of frustration in finding a job, he is depressed.Cui Xian was thinking about it, so he had no choice but to adapt to the current situation. It doesn't matter if he can't be an official, he doesn't want anything else, but he wants his eldest son to live a worry-free life and return home as soon as possible.

However, the elder brother Cui's letters were all written to his younger brother Cui Ji. The only sentence that mentioned his father was that he asked his younger brother to pass it on for him.Although Cui Xian wrote two letters to his son, he never sent any of them, and they were all put into this broken rattan box to collect ashes.The relationship between father and son can be said to be deadlocked.

Liang Heng looked at it with a sigh, thinking that he had never met the eldest brother of the Cui family, and guessed that the family had already separated and set up his own family.To see where he lives now, after reading Cui Linke's handwriting, there is no way of knowing.I only know that this person met an opportunity later, went to the palace to play chess for a while, and taught the Emperor Wenshen to play chess.But the emperor was a tuberculosis ghost, his mind was not very bright, and teaching was boring, so he planned to resign.Since then, there has been no news.

For so many years, everything belonging to the eldest brother of the Cui family has been properly preserved, and it was inevitable that it would be damaged by the troublemaker Xiao Xi. Liang Heng packed the things in the box as they were, and wanted to move them back to the original place, when he met Cui Ji as soon as he left the house.

Seeing him carrying the rattan box, Cui Ji was stunned.

"I didn't find it out," Liang Heng readily confessed to Cui Xiaoxi, "it was this kid."

"It's me, it's me!" Xiao Xi didn't understand anything and could only respond.

Cui Ji didn't say anything, and took the box over, only saying that Liang Heng's illness was not recovered, so he shouldn't work hard.The three walked through the garden to the east courtyard.Liang Heng was very uncertain about Cui Ji, this person used to be quite arrogant and looked down on him, but later he was willing to take him in, presumably because of Shen Yu's face.

After walking for a while, Cui Ji broke the silence and asked, "You... rummaged through the things in the box?"

"Well, overturned."

"How much did it turn over?"

Liang Heng said ashamedly: "It's all over."

Cui Ji: "..."

Liang Heng said shyly, "Xiao Xi's uncle, Cui Linke..."

Cui Ji interrupted him: "Cui Yi. My elder brother's name is Cui Yi."

"I see. Where does Big Brother Cui Yi live now?"

Cui Jidao: "In the eighth year of Rencheng, Emperor Ling issued an edict to summon the Fourth Master of Ruyang to give lectures in the Chu Palace. My father was the first to answer the edict. He has not heard from his eldest brother for 20 years."

"Huh?" Liang Heng didn't expect this, "Brother Cui Yi is missing?"

Then he recalled that at that time Cui Xian was so angry that he abandoned his son and left the Chu Palace, but the father and son still seemed to be staying in Wangdu City. He also met Cui Xian later, presumably he was looking for Cui Yi's whereabouts.

"My father is always worried that the elder brother is angry with him and trying to escape from his control. He dare not write a letter, and he dare not go to visit him in person, for fear that the elder brother will run away again. This delay has been dragged on until the person who knew the elder brother in the chess office. The people were all gone, and there was nothing I could do. Then I entered... Uh, I think you already know that after entering the Xiangguo Mansion, my father got some advantages in his status and contacts, so he went back and forth to find the old chess game. Waiting for my colleagues. The reason is that my eldest brother fell in love with a female official in the palace in the past, and then both disappeared. They only considered it as elopement during the same period. After all, love affairs within the palace are considered illegal, and they will be punished if they are reported. "

"That's true," Liang Heng said, "Later, there were no more female officials in the previous court, and there were eunuchs inside and out. As far as I can remember, I haven't seen a few court ladies. I'm afraid you have lost even this clue."

Cui Ji shook his head: "If it's true that they eloped and got married, I'm at ease, as long as they live well. If..." The second half of the sentence was lost in silence.

Liang Heng tried to recall whether the affair in the palace was serious enough to kill two lives, even with Liang Xuan's extreme character, he might not be so, so he felt that Cui Ji was thinking too much.