The husband's son-in-law

Those who came before noon, had a good time eating, drinking, playing cuju, until the sun was about to go down, Gou Gui thought it was too late, so he stepped forward to remind him, it was Mr. Rong who asked.

"Young Master Rong, the palace gate is about to be unlocked."

Rong Ye still had a smile on his face, and only after hearing this did he suddenly realize that this is the end of the day.Fortunately, he and Li Wubing lived in the former dynasty, if they lived in the harem, they might not be able to go back.

"It's getting late, Fourteen and I will go back first."

Li Zhouzhou nodded, "I'll bring you some dried fruit."

"it is good."

Anyway, they are all in the capital, and the imperial palace is close to Li Mansion, so it will be convenient for them to meet in the future.

The servants of Li's mansion had already prepared the food box, Gou Gui stepped forward and took the food box himself, without bothering others.There is no other way, today the Lord Sheng Rong brought him alone to serve him when he left the palace.Chief Gou is very pleased with himself.

If he was in the palace, he would naturally not do this 'heavy' work, but it's different now.

This is the food box given to Young Master Rong by the capital.

Gu Zhaoli Zhou Zhou took the lead to see off Li Wubing and Rong Ye, and Zheng Hui and Yan Jinxin followed. Although Liu Shu didn't know the identities of these two, it can be seen that the big guys are sending them off, so he will also send them off, anyway, they are not far away.Tang Rou saw it, and that followed suit.

...Actually, the male guest who came to visit the house should not belong to the female family member who sent out the gate of the mansion, she is also here to be a guest.Tang Rou thought.

Fu Bao also sent the two uncles off, and called his friends, "Let's all go."

The main gate of Li Mansion opened slowly.

Seeing the scenery outside the door, Gu Zhao was silent for a moment, he knew it would be like this.

Outside the gate of Li Mansion on Taiping Main Street, the road to the palace is cleared—but it’s better. There are very few ordinary people on the first ring road, most of them are servants of various prefectures who go out to buy, or wives, ladies, and the inner ring. In the circle of the city, ordinary people are not allowed to enter.

So the road closure has little effect.

Li Wu's personal guard stepped forward first, clasped his fists with both hands and bowed on one knee, and said: "Your Majesty, there are too many people in front of the gate of the Li Mansion at the last moment, and the lowly position can only mobilize the personal guards to come here first, please Your Majesty." Forgive me."

"Get up." Li Wubing didn't care, glanced at the courtiers who were kneeling after clearing the road, and didn't give a good face to say hello, "Go back to the palace."

On such an occasion, Gu Zhao wanted to bring his whole family to see him off, but it was just a big bow.

"I respectfully send you off to the Holy One."

"Come to play with you next time, let's go back." Li Wubing waved his hand.

Rong Ye also smiled at Zhou Zhou and said, "Go back."

Until the ordinary carriage went away and the shadow disappeared, Gu Zhao glanced at the ministers standing opposite the gate of his house. Some of them looked familiar, and most of them were not high-ranking officials—an old man with a high ranking official would not Come here in person, these low-ranking officials who want to 'move up' will come and have a look when they hear the news.

"Prepare some tea and fruit for these adults."

It came at the last two hours, that is, at 01:30 in the afternoon. It would be almost five o'clock, and it was hard enough.This area is full of mansions, no teahouses - there used to be one, which was opened by the second prince, but it was later closed.

It is equivalent to saying that these officials stood for three or four hours.

It's not good for Gu Zhaozi to introduce all of them into his family, and the limelight will increase. At that time, it will be another book about joining his party for personal gain, and he will have to approve it. It will save everyone trouble at the source.

"Holy, holy, holy?" Willow stuttered.

Tang Rou's face was already pale with fright, her palms were cold and sweaty, her body was weak, and she didn't know what to say for a long time.Although the children were a little stunned, except for Fu Bao, but the younger they were, the faster they recovered. Xiao Hei would be fine after a while, and only curiosity remained.

It turns out that the one who just played football with him was the emperor!

He also caught the Emperor's ball.

Li Zhouzhou asked his servants to serve hot tea, and everyone sat down and sipped tea slowly, while explaining to Xiaoshu and his sister-in-law: "The Holy Majesty used to fight in the south, and it is closer to Zhaozhou, so I have some face."

Not much to say.

But speaking of this, the two of them were still in shock. After drinking tea for a while, each had a belly full of words but didn't know what to say, or was worried, so Gu Zhaoli sent everyone back first, anyway, it was getting late , Everyone went back to talk.

After everyone was sent away, Li Zhaoxi was tired after playing all day, so he said goodbye to his father and father and happily went back to his own yard—Li Zhaoxi, a second-year middle school boy, also likes to enjoy his own space.

"Xiaoshu is such a straightforward person, he always suppresses his words when he speaks." Li Zhouzhou sighed.

Gu Zhao thought it was normal, "When people grow up, children have different opinions from their parents, and they hide little secrets that they don't want to reveal. Besides, I don't think Liu Fulang is necessarily concerned about us people. , especially regarding the matter of the Holy Majesty, you can’t be too cautious, and you can’t gossip with the villagers like goingssip about someone’s right and wrong.”

"Why are you smiling at me?"

Li Zhouzhou laughed and said, "As soon as I came back, you didn't talk much to me in bed."

Gu Zhaoli said bluntly: "We are a husband and wife, can it be the same? We are one person." He told Zhou Zhou a lot of gossip about Li Wubing Rong Ye, and he felt at ease after speaking.

In order to show that he had something to say, Mr. Gu said solemnly, "Zhou Zhou, believe it or not, Liu Fulang couldn't help but gossip with his second brother in the car." As for the Zheng family, Gu Zhao didn't dare to promise .

Once upon a time, Zheng Hui and his wife also opened up about it.

Husband and wife are one body, without any concealment.

Inside the Yan family carriage.

Liu Shu had already thumped Yan Jingxin with his fists, "Why didn't you tell me? I didn't know, and you didn't know. I didn't have a doorman. What if I said the wrong thing and hurt you?"

When Yan Jinxin heard the word 'again', he knew that he hit Zheng Hui last time, and Xiaoshu was also worried for him.

"I said that."

"When did you say it? Why did you say it? Why didn't I hear it?" Liu Shu didn't believe it. If he said it, he would dare to talk in such a mess, and said, "You brothers don't look like each other, but they are all good-looking people standing together." It matches'——

When he said this, Yan Jinxin seemed to be coughing?

Willow also said that your throat is uncomfortable and you should drink more tea. This fruit tea is very delicious, sour and sweet...

"Me and Zhaodi are on the peak." Yan Jinxin reminded: "Zhaodi is already the chief assistant."

Liu Shu also muttered that you said you were going up to the peak, who knows, but you didn't say that you were the sage, and then realized that Mr. Gu is the first assistant, that is the biggest official, who can care that Mr. Gu is going to the peak?

Of course it is the emperor.

Alas, his pig brain sometimes can't react.

Yan Jinxin looked at Xiaoshu and blamed himself, and was still asking him if he said something wrong to hurt you.Unable to tell what it was like in his rigorous confidence, he shook his head and said, "Xiao Shu, you never harmed me."

Zheng's car is on the way.

The couple sat upright for a while, Zheng Hui saw his wife's face turned pale, and said, "Did I scare you just now? I saw that Brother Zhao and Jinxin didn't say anything. Shengyi didn't want to reveal his identity, so he didn't say it directly."

Tang Rou shook her head, "I'm not scared, it's okay."

But the voice is tight.

Zheng Hui was silent for a while, and said, "Rou Niang, I'm an asshole for taking concubines, if you hate me and complain about me, I understand—"

"What did Xianggong say? It's just a concubine's room." Tang Rou was magnanimous and virtuous, "For so many years, there were only Yingniang and Guang'er in the mansion, and they didn't have many children. Now I have a younger brother, which is very good."

Looking at the forced smile on his wife's face, Zheng Hui felt even more guilty in his heart.

Brother Zhao was right, and Yan Jinxin was right.

"Rou Niang, Zheng Hui swears here that there will be no more concubines in the future."

"Xianggong, why should I be the wife—" Tang Rou couldn't continue speaking halfway through, she should say that she doesn't mind, she should be a concubine, and she should give birth to a few more, so that the branches and leaves will spread and the children will be abundant.

Can not say a word.

She thought of what Xiaoshu said to her when she was in Gangli Mansion, and what Zhou Zhou said, "Your mother was still eating in the stove", she actually remembered that a long, long time ago, her husband reformed himself and had a tender relationship with her. , pick her up to live in Fuxian County, when she first arrived in Fuxian County, she went to Li's small courtyard, she ate an egg standing in the kitchen.

Thinking about it now, she was like another person back then.

so unfamiliar.

For some reason, Tang Rou burst out with sadness and grievances. She shed tears secretly, and whispered the pain of these years, "I can't sleep well for a day when you are outside, and I am often frightened. The rebellious minister hurt you, so he begged Xiaoshu with a shy face, and begged to Zhaozhou..."

"The mansion closed its doors to thank guests, and lived in secluded places. Guang'er is still shy and shy at this age. Yingniang didn't even talk about marriage when she was seventeen..."

What does it come back with?It was the husband with a concubine and a son.

How could Tang Rou not be in pain, but what could she do, she could only accept it.

……

At the beginning of November, the results of the provincial examinations in various places came out.

Some of them wept with joy when they passed the exam, and their families congratulated them.Some of them are full of worries, and they have nothing to worry about when they go back, so they can only rely on walking, but what can they do? This year, Jia Enke did not give up and wanted to try. In fact, his knowledge is not solid, and he should take the exam next year.

Those who are admitted to Juren will have to go to Beijing to participate in the general examination and palace examination in February next year. If someone is not short of money, then after the family banquet, rent a car and go to Beijing to prepare for the exam early, and you can also feel the wind direction of the chief examiner in Beijing in advance , preferences, when the time comes to write articles to match their preferences, I want to get a good score.

Those who are short of money—all have been admitted to Juren, even if they were short of money before, they are not short of money now that they are masters of Juren.Back when Gu Zhao was admitted to Juren, the town gentry came to his house with a silver money box and offered to give him money.

There should be some like Gu Zhao who don't accept it, but a few, most of them will take it.

The squire's words were nice to listen to. He said that he only wanted to gain the honor of the master Juren, not to do things. Once he said this, and the family was dazzled by the great joy at the time, he accepted it unconsciously.

Therefore, unless something happened at home and they couldn't leave, most of them arrived in Beijing early.Naturally, this year has passed in Beijing.

In mid-November, Li Mansion sent chariots and horses to Xiping Village to pick up the old man back to his mansion.It was already December [-]th when we arrived at Xiping Village, so we walked fast, without much delay along the way.

This season is winter, and the weather is not particularly cold. It is the rarest time for the village to be at ease.

The crops in the field were harvested, and the seeds of winter wheat were sown, and only half an acre was left to plant Chinese cabbage and radishes, so that they could be eaten by the family in winter or sold to the town.

In the past at this time, when the men in the village were free, they would sleep, eat, go to the mountains to collect firewood, chat together, and some played cards, but they didn’t gamble—there were rules in Xiping Village that gambling was not allowed, and with the example of Wang Ergou, who would dare? .

The good life is boring, gambling and playing dice loses the family fortune.

This year there is an extra one, sending their own children to school, naturally men from both villages in the east and west give dolls.In the past, except for the wealthy households in the village, who would dare to send their dolls to study?That is, even if the family is rich, they dare not do this. The beam repair is only two taels a year, not to mention paper, pen and ink.

It is different now, the Dongxiping and Dongxiping villages have ethnology, and the children of the two villages don’t need to spend a year and a half taels of silver.Natural pens, inks, papers and inkstones cost money, but the cheapest ones can be used.

The most important thing is that if you get good grades in your studies, you will be rewarded with silver!

The top three in the annual examination results, No.1 three taels of silver, No.2 two taels, No.3 one tael.

"Other surnames are okay?"

"It's not the Gu family dolls of the Li family. The other dolls are better than them and give money?"

Zhao Ze was patient and responded to the villagers one by one.

"Yes, I only look at the grades and not the surname."

"Folks, please rest assured that the master's examination results in our school will not be based on the surname." Zhao Ze assured that he knew what the villagers thought.

You guys will feel at ease now.

Zhao Ze was a scholar, and he failed every time he took the exams. He had lost his fighting spirit and had already started to raise his son, but now that the village has established an ethnology school, he still invited Jinshi to be his master. When Zhao Ze heard the news, he was excited It was hard to hide, and the thought of fighting again rose in my heart.

Now he is teaching and enlightening in ethnology, and he used his salary to support his son and his own imperial examination.After teaching literacy in the enlightenment preschool class, I have to make up the middle class later.

The dolls in the village are more literate, and most of the villagers want to "try it out". Anyway, one and a half taels of silver is not too expensive, and paper and pens are the cheapest. What if their dolls are good seedlings?

The grand courtyard of Li's family sits in the village, and the villagers who pass by are not envious, they all want to be "Li Da", and their children become officials, and they are called old masters and old ladies.

Therefore, the enlightenment rate of children in the east and west villages is quite high, and some villages farther away send their children here.

The progress of the middle class and the small class is that the older ones have passed the enlightenment, such as this year's Enke Academy Examination, Wang Yuan and Mu Erlang went to participate.Jian'an and Dongdong from Li Er's family, and Gu Chen and Gu Yang from Gu's family are taking the childbirth exam.

When the chariots and horses from Lifu arrived, the village was very lively.Nothing more, too much good news.

These days, Li Guihua goes to the courtyard of Li Mansion to brag and knock her teeth every day, calling her father-in-law, her face is beaming, tea, melon seeds, peanuts and dried fruits are free to eat here, and when she is free, Li Guihua is cute.

She wasn't afraid of people in the village talking right and wrong, because not only her, Liu Huaxiang also came, and other people in the village.

"I'm not surprised at all that Yuanyuan was a scholar. This kid has been smart since he was a child. Zhao'er said that being able to sit still is a good material for being an official." Liu Huaxiang said to Wang Shitoniang while nibbling a peanut.

For more than half a month, Wang Shitou Niang has never stopped smiling.

The Wang family has a talent!

Brother Xing is really the best.

Li Guihua curled her lips in her heart, she has been talking about this for more than half a month, and she couldn't help raising her eyebrows, and then said: "If you want me to say, my family is capable. They are like his elder brother. They are good for reading."

"Didn't your family fail the exam?" Liu Huaxiang said bluntly, bragging in front of her.

Li Guihua said: "Yangyang is so old, the master has already said, my Yangyang is smart, this year is a little bit worse, Enke just asked him to try, next year is appointed."

Gu Chen passed the entrance examination for Tongsheng.

Liu Huaxiang didn't bother to talk to Li Guihua, anyway, her family, Jian'an, had also passed the Tongsheng exam. Unexpectedly, this year's ethnology was completed, and she passed the Tongsheng exam so soon.

ok ok ok.

The courtyard was bustling with activity, Li Da avoided it, and only asked the servants to remember to bring tea and dry goods for the big guy. The two children passed the exam, even though they were children, it was a happy event.Li Da also wrapped the money for happiness, and the share for the Gu family was also wrapped for Zhao'er.

They are all juniors.

But no matter how happy this happy event is, it's almost January, and the yard is like this all day long, Li Da is afraid-can he, a widower, chat with the women in the village, what kind of words.

So when the chariots and horses came to pick him up in Beijing, Li Da was very happy, "Pack up and go to Beijing quickly, don't delay."

When I went back, I collected a cart full of agricultural products, pickled vegetables, whole grains, and some letters.

Seeing that Li Da was about to leave, Li Guihua and the others were most reluctant - no free tea, snacks and fruits to eat, and the yard to talk, the chairs in Li's house were comfortable, and there were servants to serve them.

Ugh.

Li Da seemed to be fleeing back to the capital, looking back at the scenery of the village, he actually had a smile on his face, and the creases deepened, "...it's okay to come back once in a while to have a look."

On the way back, it’s not too fast to stay at the inn. The closer you go to Beijing, the closer you are, the more scholars are eating in the inn, and there are so many people that you have to share a table. With a table of scholars, there are more topics.

Li Da is a rough man, and he can't understand the words of those who are knowledgeable, but one day he understands.

"I don't know what the chief examiner likes since then? Is it gorgeous rhetoric, or quotations, or plain but profound?"

"I've heard the news, our chief examiner has a lot of background this time."

"Brother Huang, can you talk about it carefully?"

Everyone quieted down, and heard from this brother Huang that he was better dressed than them. He heard that his family was in business, so he was better informed than them.Of course, some people disdain to sit with the businessman's son, and they are all at the next table. When they hear the word examiner, they can only stop talking, chew less, and secretly listen to what this side has to say.

Li Da just ate the noodles and didn't take it seriously - it had nothing to do with him.

"I heard that Lord Shoufu is in charge of the examination. Do you know this Lord Shoufu Gu?"

Li Da's sound of sucking noodles also stopped, he almost choked, did he mean Zhao'er?Then listen to what these scholars have to say.

"Of course I know that "Three Years and Two Tests" was edited by Mr. Gu."

"Master Gu has been in Hanlin, edited books, and released Zhaozhou, which is miserable..."

Zhaozhou was not miserable at all. When I first went there, it was a little poor but the folk customs were simple, not to mention now, it is even better than the Central Plains.Li Da thought.

"Master Gu is a role model for my generation."

"Our current Enke, if Master Gu is really the examiner, we will be Master Gu's disciples, what a blessing."

Several flattered and praised.

Li Da was also very happy when he heard that someone praised Zhao'er.

"Is it Gu Zhao who married in as the son-in-law or married a brother? You people don't even want your face now. People who brag like this have lost their character and become scholars in vain."

Li Da frowned, the smile on his face disappeared, he looked at the speaker.

"You young man, just thought that the son of a businessman didn't want to eat at the same table with him, so why did you eavesdrop on what he said at that table? You are a scholar by eavesdropping?"

"Then your bones are light."

As soon as he spoke, the table holding Gu Zhao laughed loudly, and the eavesdropper turned red with anger. He is also famous now, and seeing the people who scolded and taught him, the old man in his sixties, dressed in the same way. Unusual, he said: "You are an old man, what do you know? Have you ever read? What books have you read?"

"I don't know how to read or read, but I know the principles of being a man." Li Dazheng said, "Gu Zhao is a real married man, but when he was in the village, he figured out the fertilizer that would fertilize the fields of the people all over the world. Have you readers read the book? Is it useful? When you are in Zhaozhou, go and see how the people live there?"

"You scholar, you took the imperial examinations to become an official, and what is the purpose of being an official? For face, or for the sake of sounding good. Although he is in business at home, what's the matter with business? You don't have the clothes you eat like vinegar and sweets as a businessman. Can you do and weave by yourself?"

"To be a human being, one must be upright, and everything else is external to one's body."

That Juren was educated by an old man, so he was not reconciled, he uttered nonsense, quoted scriptures, and seeing that the other party couldn't understand, he dragged the text and called Li Da a mule.

The other table frowned, some didn't want to cause trouble, and some stood up to explain for Li Da.

Li Da said: "Mules, cows and horses are not scolding people, they are good animals, unlike him, he is not as good as him."

Not as good as animals.

Now the fire is on.

Li Da saw that this man's face was red and his neck was blue, and he was afraid that he would be angry, so he said: "Don't be angry, I won't tell you, you are not as old as me, why are you so weak, why are you acting like this?" Officer?" Back then, Zhao'er rode a horse day and night, running back and forth between several places.

The man rushed over and hit Li Da with his head.

There was a guard blocking him, and he shouted, "Is the old man alright?"

"it's okay no problem."

Seeing the battle and the old man called by the guards, the bumper immediately didn't know what to do. Could it be that this person is a merchant?Have a background?He felt aggrieved in his heart, and when he passed the exam and became an official, the old man would be punished.

"Oh." Li Da sighed, and said: "I didn't want to say it at first, you said my child, I am a father, of course I can't sit still and want to talk to you, forget it, let's go."

The guards responded, and those who harnessed horses and carried things continued on their way.

It's just that when someone passed by the old man who was hiding resentment in his eyes, the guard "kindly" said: "My old man's surname is Li, and my adult's surname is Gu, and he will be a son-in-law at home."

Those scholars in the inn who were watching the jokes, after chewing those few words, looked at each other in blank dismay, and all fell silent for a long time——

"Gu, Master Gu's father?"

"Brother Huang, what is the name of Mrs. Gu Ge's wife?"

Brother Huang replied in a daze: "The surname is Li..."