Clan House

The Zongren Mansion is located in the east of the Outer Imperial City, where the yamen of each ministry are at the top, facing east from the west, facing the Ministry of Punishment across the Qianbu Corridor of the Imperial Street [1].

In the fourth year of Xuanqing, Song Yi served 27 days of filial piety for the Empress Dowager in Beihai Bieyuan, then changed into ordinary clothes and left, and took charge of the clan's mansion again.Although the Zongren Mansion is a yamen for handling affairs, its subordinates are all equipped with civil and military officials, so it is very inconvenient to enter and leave the inner court.Song Yi wrote to the Son of Heaven, hoping to have a small number of low-ranking servants in the clan's mansion, so that he could pass the news by entering and leaving the palace.Seeing that it was not a big deal, Emperor Xuanqing approved it. Since then, the clan mansion has been equipped with five internal servants on a daily basis, one of whom is in charge of management.

Now that the crown prince is being escorted to the clan mansion, the one who was sent to the East Palace to communicate is the newly appointed eunuch Wang Yongfu.

When the princess heard that the prince was grounded, she panicked.Worried about her husband's poor food and accommodation in the clan mansion, the princess packed up everything from clothes and quilts to the usual pens and inks, and even the tea sets and cups that the prince used to use.The princess has been busy for half a day, and is waiting for her colleagues to go out of the palace to check the situation at the ancestral mansion. She also remembered that her father told her to be cautious before she got married.She thought that since the prince committed a mistake and was grounded, everyone in the palace should act in a low-key manner.The princess re-screened the things again, only picked out the low-key but delicate clothes, took the heavy bedding and washed the washing utensils.Just when Huang Xi was released from the Qianqing Palace, the Crown Princess wrote a note and sent him to the clan mansion to investigate the situation on the pretext of sending something.

On the way, Huang Xi stuffed a few golden beads for the eunuch who was traveling with him, and asked about the prince's current situation.He knew more about the inside story than the Crown Princess, and it was only because the King of Chu brought people to the Eagle Room to arrest Xiao Kong in the morning, that the little eunuch hurriedly ran to the Qing Palace to report the news.

The eunuch accepted the money kindly, but he was very talkative. He said bluntly that the prince was only restrained from copying books, so please be at ease.After hearing this, Huang Xi still couldn't let go, and insisted on going to the clan mansion together.

The Shensi hall was heavily guarded, and Huang Xi was not allowed to enter, so he went to the east chamber to arrange a bed for the prince.The eunuch who was traveling with him didn't help him, and turned back to the main hall to report to the king of Chu.

"Only one person was sent here, Huang Xi, the chief servant of the Eastern Palace." Wang Yongfu replied, "He sent a quilt, a jade pillow, three sets of the crown prince's regular clothes, five sets of middle clothes, three sets of pajamas, and shoes... "

Song Yi still felt that there was a lot of luggage, so he frowned slightly, but in the end he didn't say anything, and just asked Wang Yongfu to send Huang Xi back.Wang Yongfu respectfully agreed, he had been assigned to the clan's mansion as an errand for some time, and he acted more cautiously than before.He speculated on the attitude of the King of Chu, and tentatively handed the letter from the Crown Princess to the King of Chu: "Your Highness, I heard from Eunuch Huang that the women in the Prince's mansion are terrified because the Prince is grounded."

Song Yi deliberately troubled the prince, but did not intend to frighten the harem women.After all, he was young and never thought of this place.Hearing this, he glanced at Wang Yongfu appreciatively: "This king is negligent."

Song Yi came to the Shensi Hall, and saw Song Jingxin crooked in front of the table like a bone, with a pen in his mouth, and only two words were written on the rice paper laid on the table.He didn't put his feet on the table, which is considered to be a great face to his ancestors.Song Yi hadn't stepped into the palace door when Song Jingxin heard the voice, leaned on the back of the chair, and stared at him lazily.

Song Yi paced forward with his hands behind his back, and the two of them stood and sat, almost at eye level. "The prince is sitting upright," Song Yi said.

"I...No!" Song Jingxin became a little shorter, and cast a wink at King Chu from bottom to top.

Unmoved, the King of Chu walked up to Song Jingxin, holding a ruler in his right hand, stretched out behind him, and smashed Song Jingxin's left arm.Song Jingxin remained motionless with a lazy look, holding the ruler with his backhand, and the King of Chu couldn't draw another half point. "Who gave you the right to beat the prince?" Song Jingxin threatened.

"This king is the head of the clan," Song Yi said, "Even if the emperor makes mistakes, this king can follow the family law."

Seeing that she couldn't scare the child, Song Jingxin insisted, "Don't fool me!"

"The prince really doesn't study too much." Song Yi let go of the ruler, walked to the desk, and faced Song Jingxin. "It seems that the prince should not only copy the "Tai Zu Xun", but also the "Hui Dian"."

The "Hui Dian" was as thick as turning his head, Song Jingxin sat up straight in shock, and returned the ruler to Song Yi respectfully with both hands.

Song Yi snatched the ruler again, but didn't continue to beat the prince, instead he took out the letter from the princess from his bosom: "I don't make things difficult for you, you first sent the message to the princess, and just sent Huang Xi to take it back with you."

Song Jingxin received the letter, seeing that the crown prince had personally signed it, she felt baffled: "Huang Xi is here? It's all right, why is she writing me a letter?"

Song Yi rolled his eyes at Song Jingxin, feeling that this person was sick.But I saw that person unfolding the letter, muttering in his mouth: "She said that everything in the East Palace is fine, so I don't need to worry about it. I just left the East Palace in the morning, so naturally I know everything is fine, so why write this letter?"

Song Yi rolled his eyes and urged him to reply quickly.She secretly scolded Song Jingxin for being an idiot in her heart. The concubine and the prince are one body, one is prosperous and the other is damaged. She doesn't know what the prince has done wrong. Naturally, she wrote the letter because she was worried that she would be implicated. She didn't understand such a simple truth!

Song Jingxin was impatient with being urged, so she picked up a pen and scribbled two sentences on the rice paper: "Although I don't know what my wife wrote the letter, I still thank you for your concern. Don't read it when you are safe..."

The two idiots dawdled for a while, and when the King of Chu came out with the letter, Huang Xi had already been sent back to the East Palace by Wang Yongfu.Song Yi handed the reply letter to Wang Yongfu. The eunuch traveled hard and won another reward from the princess. For no reason, he had some friendship with Donggong.

After Wang Yongfu left, the princess hurriedly opened the prince's reply letter, but saw only a few numbers, and the words were ruthless.The princess was stunned for a moment, then smiled.Knowing that the stick is safe, the female family members of the Prince's Mansion are finally relieved.

The clan's mansion has nothing to do recently, and there is no need for the clan's order to sit and watch the office.Song Yi originally planned to lock Song Jingxin up and think about his mistakes alone, but he saw that he was restless, and if he was left unattended, he was afraid that something would happen.Song Yi had no choice but to lock the Shensi hall first, and went back to the palace to get the books and ink to be read in the near future, and then returned to the clan mansion to work.

The desks and chairs that Song Yi usually used were tailor-made, but now he was using the adult desks and chairs in the clan mansion, and he felt very uncomfortable.He didn't complain too much, he slid onto the chair skillfully, leaned on the huge table and began to read.

Song Yi was fascinated by reading, and the Shensi hall was very quiet.Song Jingxin wrote a few lines of guilt, and felt that her behavior was correct and there was nothing to reflect on.Sitting back sore, he quietly put down the pen, stood up lightly, and peeked at the scroll in Song Yi's hand.Practicing arrows for many years has made him have very good eyesight, and he can see the text in the scroll at a glance.The king of Chu had a hypocritical expression at such a young age, and Song Jingxin was also curious about what the kid was reading with great interest.

It was difficult to read the reversed text, Song Jingxin looked at it for a long time, only felt that the text was not like a subset, but more like a common official file.

Song Yi felt the gaze, looked back and asked what Song Jingxin was looking at.

Song Jingxin quickly retracted his long neck and asked, "What book did the emperor's uncle read?"

Song Yi didn't want him to ask such a question, so he closed the book, but saw that there was no title on the cover of the book, and only wrote down "Volume 23".Song Jingxin felt weird, feeling that Song Yi was covering up something.Song Yi showed no signs of panic, and said calmly, "It's just the notes of the famous ministers of the previous dynasty after they became official."

"What book?" Song Jingxin asked, "The emperor's uncle is so stingy, he didn't even want to tell the title of the book. Could it be that he is reading something shady?"

"Que Ruzhai's Notes," Song Yidao, "It was written by the grand master after he became an official. There are 61 volumes in total. It tells about his ups and downs when he was an official and anecdotes about him in the field after he became an official. There are also poems and essays he wrote with his friends when he was young. , is also included in it."

"Sounds interesting," Song Jingxin said, "The emperor's uncle borrowed this palace to have a look?"

"The crown prince didn't even do his basic homework well, so it's better to read less of these miscellaneous books." Song Yi sullenly pulled out his ruler and walked towards Song Jingxin, "Is the "Book of Guilt" finished?"

"Write, write, write!" Song Jingxin sat down heavily, lifted the pen to the rice paper without moving, dripping a drop of smudged ink.He looked at the smudged ink, threw the pen away again and lost his temper: "This ink is too thin, I won't write anymore, bite me if you have the ability!"

Song Yi rolled his eyes at him, then looked at the paper on the table, and asked disgustedly, "You don't know how to grind ink?"

Song Jingxin turned her head away and hummed softly.

"Then let's stop writing." Song Yi patted Song Jingxin's arm considerately, "The prince should go back to the East Palace. This king will report to His Majesty and ask Wen Yanbin to take the crown for the prince."

Song Jingxin sat upright "squeaky", trying to scare off the ferocious King Chu with fierce eyes.Song Yi was unmoved, and a pair of dimples came out from the corner of his mouth: "I just thought about it, copying these things is really embarrassing for the prince. It is necessary to regulate the prince's behavior, or to solve the problem fundamentally. This king is called People plucked the animal and stewed it, so that the prince will not be discouraged by playing with things in the future."

Song Jingxin gritted his back molars until they "creaked", raised his shoulders, took a deep breath, and picked up the pen again.

The brush rubbed randomly in the inkstone, and Song Yi rolled his eyes helplessly when he saw that the prince really didn't know how to sharpen ink.He pulled up the sleeves of his robe, revealing a pair of thin white wrists.Song Yi patted the back of the prince's hand, Song Jingxin just felt like being rubbed by a kitten, and quickly let go of his paws.Song Yi's stature is not enough, his arms are raised very high, and they are well worn.

Song Jingxin leaned on his chin with one hand, and saw Song Yi pursed his lips with a serious face, and the fine hair on his temples was hanging down, just covering the faintly visible dimples.Song Jingxin stretched out her fingers, brushed the boy's hair back, and gently brushed her cheeks with her fingertips. "What a handsome little book boy," he teased, "I also enjoy the fun of adding fragrance to my red sleeves."

"Prince, be careful." Song Yi rubbed the ink so thickly that he didn't even give Song Jingxin a look. "Before today, this king only polished ink for his father."

Hearing this, Song Jingxin hurriedly withdrew her paws and retreated, almost falling to the ground.

"Prince, sit still." Song Yi laughed with deep dimples.

The second grandfather rubbed the ink with his own hands, and he had to write "Book of Guilt" if he didn't write it.Song Jingxin didn't enjoy it for long, and became distressed because of the content.It's not that he hasn't been punished before, but it's the first time he's writing a self-criticism, and he can't tell his fault at all.

Song Jingxin bit the pen holder habitually, and heard the King of Chu cough, and corrected his pen holding posture again.He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and looked at the blank paper again, still exhausted.Song Jingxin was discouraged, and looked pitifully at the boy in front of him with slumped shoulders: "Emperor's imperial edicts are all embellished by the imperial court. This sinful letter is posted for the common people to read. Can you write it for me...Uncle Emperor..."

The ending sound of "Emperor Uncle" took seventeen or eight turns before it ended.

Song Yi smiled kindly, but insisted that the "Book of Guilt" does not need ghostwriting, and it needs to be more simple to post in the market. "The prince can't find his own fault?" Song Yi asked understandingly, "The prince can copy the "Teachings of the Taizu" a few times first, and then he will understand how to write it."

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[1] There are many versions of the pattern of Qianbu Gallery on Imperial Street, and the Ming and Qing Dynasties are also different. The description in this article may not be accurate.