To The Land of Nevernight

The long white striped silk hangs high above the mourning hall.Although it was mid-winter and the weather was severe after the snow, the mourning hall was not cold, and there were cries and head-grabbing sounds one after another.When Tang Shen came to the mourning hall of the Liang Mansion wearing a hemp hat and filial piety clothes, what he saw was the scene of the young servants and maidservants of the Liang Mansion crying together.

Liang Song married a wife in his early years and had a son.It is a pity that Mrs. Liang passed away early, and her only son died of illness ten years ago, and the white-haired man sent the black-haired man.

Xu Hui is Liang Song's cousin, who is his closest relative now.

Wearing a hemp hat, Xu Hui knelt on the side of the coffin, constantly adding paper money to the pot.The other Liang family members from the Gusu Mansion also came to mourn. Tang Shen had never seen his husband interacting with these relatives before, but now they all came, each dressed in mourning.

Tang Shen knelt down, kowtowed three times to his husband, and burned another handful of paper money.

Xu Hui saw that he was also wearing filial piety, Tang Shen said: "I will send you off to Mr.

Xu Hui was silent and nodded.

The coffin was parked in Liang Mansion for seven days, and in the early morning of the eighth day, everyone delivered the coffin for the funeral.Xu Hui walked in the front, holding Liang Song's coffin, followed by several distant relatives with the same surname Liang.Although Tang Shen was a student of the master, he was not related by blood after all, so he stood beside the coffin and walked along with him.

Tang Shen gently supported the base of the coffin with his hands, as if lifting it.

The yin and yang basin was smashed in front of the tombstone, and everyone kowtowed in turn. Tang Shen said goodbye to Xu Hui, and the two separated.

When Tang Shen returned home, he was about to change his hemp hat and filial piety, when he saw Tang Juan carefully hiding behind the door, sizing him up quietly.Seeing this, Tang Shen waved his hand and asked, "What are you doing, sneaking over there for a while. I'm about to change clothes, do you still want to see?"

Don Juan: "You, don't talk nonsense, I don't want to watch you change clothes. Brother, you... don't be sad."

Tang Shen was silent for a moment: "Of course I'm sad. Mr. treats me very well. I never thought that he would leave like this."

"I saw you secretly wiping tears under the quilt a few nights ago."

Tang Shen: "What are you muttering about?"

"It's nothing, brother, if you feel uncomfortable, just tell me."

Tang Shen smiled for the first time in the past few days: "You are only so old and what do you know. Forget it, as long as you have a heart."

Liang Song is gone, but life still has to go on.

In order to give Liang Songshou a funeral, Tang Shen asked the academy for ten days off.When he finished his work, he returned to the academy. Sun Yue saw that he was about to call his name, but shut his mouth again.Fatty Sun walked over hesitantly, and said, "Tang Shen, if you are sad, don't hold back. My grandma passed away last year. She is the person who loves me the most in this world. It took half a year for me to feel relieved. come over."

Tang Shen glanced at him: "I know that you are doing it for my own good, so don't worry, it's been so long, I should slow down."

Sun Yue nodded.

Tang Shen specially asked for leave to guard Liang Song's coffin, and held his funeral together with Xu Hui.As a student, what he did can be described as benevolent and righteous.Sun Yue could see Tang Shen's sadness, and now he could see that Tang Shen hadn't fully come out, but had accepted the reality.

Sun Yue: "Tell me, so many great Confucians died for Zhong Daru alone, is it worth it?"

Tang Shen's eyes froze: "It's worth it!"

"Ah? What is it worth? I don't understand. I don't understand the literati sentiments of these great Confucians. I want to live a few decades longer and eat more good food. If I can pass the Juren exam, I can live a fairy life. I spent the second half of my life happily. Hey, Tang Shen, why didn’t you speak, why did you read "Book of Rites"? Do you have the knowledge to know that this year’s chief examiner of the rural examination might like "Book of Rites?"

Tang Shen said: "Go read your book! Just now you said you wanted to comfort me, but now you are bothering me, being capricious."

Sun Yue: "..."

"You are capricious."

Qian Jianxuan walked into the lecture hall and began to teach.Tang Shen's mind slowly drifted away.

During the seven days when he knelt in the mourning hall, he stood beside his husband's coffin, thinking all the time why he had to be buried for Zhong Daru!

He doesn't understand the integrity of the ancients. If it is said that only two people, Luo Dashi and Liang Song, died for Zhong Daru, then he understands.They all died for their own aspirations, for some lofty ideal that Tang Shen didn't understand.

However, on that day, seven great Confucian scholars died in the entire Song Dynasty!

Songqing Party members almost died overnight.

This party almost existed in name only because of the palace coup 26 years ago.Now, the only few remaining great Confucianists who are well-known to the world, at the same moment raised the knife without hesitation, and stabbed it into their heart to show their will with death.

Yes, I can only show my ambition with death!

What is the ambition, Tang Shen thought for seven days, and he finally understood.

26 years ago, the crown prince Tai Fu Zhong Taisheng and the prince broke into the palace with his private soldiers, intending to force the palace.The prince was shot and killed on the palace gate by the current emperor and the second prince at that time, and Zhong Taisheng was thrown into the prison.From then on, the Songqing Party, which was in full swing at the time, was suddenly labeled as an anti-Party traitor, and the disciples almost dispersed.

History books are always written for the victors.

Zhong Taisheng is an anti-party traitor, and the prince is an unfilial and rebellious son. This fact is engraved on the iron and blood painting, which cannot be changed forever.So they used a total of seven lives to show their ambitions, even if there is only a slight hope, they must tell future generations what the truth is, and return the crown prince and Zhong Taisheng to their innocence!

Thinking of this, hatred welled up in Tang Shen's heart.However, he suddenly smiled, and he remembered one thing.

"Sir, the saddest thing is that you don't know that there are six other colleagues who made the same choice as you!"

When Tang Shen left the Liang Mansion that day, Liang Song finally advised him to read more "Spring and Autumn", because Luo University likes "Spring and Autumn".He didn't know that Luo Zhen had already followed Zhong Taisheng one step ahead of him.He didn't know that in the other five places in Song Dynasty, there were five former friends who chose to end up like him.

In order to put an end to an eternal infamy, and to reclaim an innocence in the history books, seven people sacrificed their lives.

Is it worth it?

Tang Shen felt it was worthless.

But Liang Song thinks it's worth it, and Luo Zhen thinks it's worth it.

The five Songqing party members who died thought it was worth it!

That's enough.

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, Liang Song, governor of Gusu Prefecture, hanged himself and died. The people of Gusu unanimously mourned Mr. Liang and sent him to the funeral.After February, when the county examination for the new year comes out, life will be over after all, and Gusu Mansion has returned to its former peace.

For the students of Ziyang Academy, they mourned the departure of several great Confucian scholars, but even more painful was the fact that they did not know who the chief examiners of this year's rural examination were.

Sun Yue slapped the table and wailed: "Why did the scholar Luo kill himself!"

Tang Shen: "With this howling time, if you read the book a few more times, you may be able to read this year's rural examination questions."

Sun Yue: "It's easy to say. So what if I read it. I also know the Four Books and Five Classics by heart. When did the title come from here? But I can't write it after reading it. What's the use of it!"

The two chatted for a while, and a scholar from another lecture hall called Tang Shen's name at the door: "Tang Shen, someone is looking for you outside, it seems that there is something urgent."

Tang Shen walked out of the academy, only to see Yao San waiting for him outside the door, his forehead was covered with sweat.

Seeing Tang Shen, Yao San hurriedly said: "Little Boss, it's bad, something happened in Xixia Tower!"

Tang Shen looked cold.

The two rushed to Xixia Tower in a hurry, and before they approached, they saw the Suijin Street surrounded by crowds.This group of people gathered around the gate of Xixia Tower, seeming to be watching the excitement.I don't know who shouted "Tang Xiaodong's house from Xixialou is here", and everyone stepped aside.Tang Shen walked over to take a look, and saw a middle-aged man with a pale complexion lying on a stretcher, howling miserably, clutching his stomach and rolling over.

Beside him was a fat woman, when she saw Tang Shen, without saying a word, she was ready to strike.

Yao San stopped him: "What are you doing!"

The woman said angrily: "What am I doing? Let's take a look, this Tang Xiaosanyuan's Xixia Tower is full of bad things, and they are going to eat dead people! Yesterday my husband came to eat at your place, and when he ate it, he felt that the taste was not right. It tasted like it was broken, and he vomited all night after returning home, and it hasn't healed until today. He vomited almost to death! Tang Shen, if you don't give us an explanation, I will smash your Xixia Tower! "

Tang Shen smiled and said, "What a big tone, why are you saying that I, Xixia Tower, made you eat up your stomach? Pengci touched my head!"

Yao San: "My little boss, what is Pengci?"

The Tang family laughed and scolded: "Pengci, some people took a piece of porcelain and walked on the road and insisted on bumping into me. When he let go of his hand, the porcelain threw it on the ground, and it shattered, and he insisted that I gave it to me. He smashed it, you say it’s amazing or not.”

The onlookers said: "Hahahaha, Pengci, this is really vivid!"

The shrew said angrily: "Oh, are you planning to deny it? You scholars talk beautifully, but I can't beat you. My husband met Li Butcher from the east of the city when he was eating in Xixialou yesterday. He also said hello. I will find him right away and ask him to testify that my husband is eating his stomach because of you!"

But after a while, the woman really found Butcher Li.

Li Tuhu said: "That's right, I did meet this Zhao Si when I came to Xixialou to eat food yesterday."

Woman: "You still dare to quibble?"

Tang Shen's eyes gradually turned cold, and he stared carefully at the savage woman and Butcher Li.Yao Sandao: "Who knows if you are in collusion, let's touch porcelain together!"

Tang Shen stopped him: "No need. They did come to Xixialou to eat food yesterday."

The woman's eyes rolled: "You admitted it? Well, then do I need to find Dr. Liu in Tongli Lane and ask him if my husband-in-law ate at your place at noon yesterday and started to vomit yesterday afternoon until Nothing is going well today!"

Tang Shen: "Call him over and try."

The woman didn't panic, and quickly called Dr. Liu.Dr. Liu testified: "Yes, Zhao Si was sent to my clinic by his wife yesterday afternoon, and I treated him with my own hands."

There was an uproar in the crowd.

"This Xixia Tower really makes people eat up?"

"It's really scary. I didn't expect such a big shop like Xixialou to do such immoral things!"

Tang Shen asked: "Doctor Liu, what disease have you diagnosed him with?"

"It seems to be poisoned. It should be because of eating bad stomach. I prescribed some medicine for him, take it as usual, and he should be fine in two days. I don't know the specifics. There are many reasons for the vomiting of eating bad stomach. Who knows What did he eat?"

Tang Shen: "I know what he ate."

Everyone was stunned.

Tang Shen: "Yao San, go get the bill."

Yao San: "Okay!"

Yao San turned around and walked into Xixia Building, and brought a stack of thick paper from the shopkeeper. "Little boss, the guest officials who ate at Xixialou at noon yesterday and the dishes they ate are all recorded here."

The woman was so shocked that even Zhao Si, who was lying on the ground and rolling around, was stunned.

Who would have thought that this Xixialou does not follow common sense. In the entire Gusu Mansion, even in the entire Song Dynasty, there is no restaurant that will record all the dishes the customers have eaten in a book!

Tang Shen flipped through the papers and took out one: "February nineteenth, at three o'clock in the afternoon, with a black face and a short body, with a brown birthmark on the left cheek. This is about you, Zhao Si."

The onlookers said: "That's right, Zhao Si has a brown birthmark on his left face."

Tang Shen: "Okay, since this is you, it proves that you really came to my Xixia Building to eat."

Shrewd woman: "Then what else do you have to say!"

Tang Shen: "Wait for me to finish. You ate a plate of mutton slices, a plate of bamboo shoots, a plate of Chinese cabbage... and a plate of Qiaoya for lunch yesterday. Tell me, what kind of food did you eat from me? Bad stomach."

Zhao Si: "How can I remember, anyway, I just ate your food and it spoiled."

"Oh, your wife said just now that you feel that the taste is not right when you eat it, but now you can't remember?"

Zhao Si was stunned, and hurriedly said: "Qiao Ya, it's the last plate of Qiao Ya! When that plate of Qiao Ya was delivered to the table, I felt something was wrong, the roots were all rotten, but I was thinking how could such a big restaurant like Xixia Tower Maybe give me bad food, so I’ll eat it boldly.”

Woman: "Did you hear that, even a fool knows not to eat Qiaoya with rotten roots. My husband-in-law ate it all by himself, so he couldn't spit it out like this!"

Qiaoya, that is, bean sprouts.As we all know, Qiaoya with rotten roots cannot be eaten, and it will be poisoned if eaten.

Tang Shen: "Yao San, count the people who ate vegetables with Zhao Si in our Xixia Building at the same time, and also ate Qiaoya, find them all, I want to see how they are now, Did you get poisoned too?"

Yao San immediately found two people from the bill. These two people sat at the next table of Zhao Si and ordered Pan Qiao Ya.One of them happened to be in the shop next door, he was called by Yao San, with a surprised expression on his face: "I did eat Qiaoya, but the plate of Qiaoya I ate did not rot."

Tang Shen: "Zhao Si, is it true that I, Xixialou, only target you, and only give you the broken Qiaoya?"

Zhao Si got up from the ground and said: "Who knows if only one plate of Qiaoya is broken in you, don't deny it!"

Tang Shen laughed loudly: "Okay, I can't prove anything else you said, but you dare to say that you were poisoned after eating my plate of Qiaoya. Yao San, go to the kitchen and get a chicken. Everyone here Folks, whoever has a broken Qiaoya, I, Tang Shen, bought it for you for ten taels of silver."

"My family has it!"

Both the chicken and the rotten-root Qiaoya were brought over, Tang Shen didn't blink, and directly fed the whole plate of Qiaoya to the chicken.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the chicken began to vomit.

Zhao Si proudly said: "Yes, I had this symptom yesterday, and I still vomit from time to time until today!"

Tang Shen: "Big words! Zhao Si, do you know how long this chicken can live?"

"what?"

"I, Tang Shen, made a bet with you today. If this chicken can live for a month, I will pay you 100 taels of silver. If it can't live for a month, but you, Zhao Si, have survived, Zhao Si, you are in my care." In front of Xialou, give me Xixialou a clean name and kowtow a hundred times, how dare you!"

Qiaoya, that is, bean sprouts.

Rotten bean sprouts will produce aflatoxin, which is more poisonous than arsenic, just like moldy peanuts and soybeans.

Tang Shen couldn't believe it, someone could eat a whole plate of bad bean sprouts and still not die!

Tang Shen's expression was serious, and Zhao Si's eyes widened from his fright. He really wanted to bet against Tang Shen, but Tang Shen's confident appearance made him dare not make a sound.His mouth opened and closed again, Zhao Si had nothing to say.His savage wife was also frightened by Tang Shen, but she bit the bullet and said, "Who, who wants to bet with you! Maybe my husband remembered it wrong. Yes, what we eat is not Qiaoya." , it’s bamboo shoots, and that plate of bamboo shoots is bad.”

Tang Shen: "Speaking of Qiaoya and bamboo shoots. Alright, Yao San, find out who ate the bamboo shoots at the same time as Zhao Si. Zhao Si, I will go to court with you today to seek magistrate Jia! First of all, you Slander me, saying that eating my food from Xixialou will ruin my stomach. I, Tang Shen, am a scholar with a reputation. You, a white man, want to go to court with me, but you are confused and confused. You will be beaten when you go. Ten big boards!"

Zhao Si was so frightened that he sat down on the ground.

Tang Shen: "Brother Yao, hang him up, let's go to the county magistrate Jia."

The onlookers also noticed at this time that Zhao Si and his wife were clearly here to touch porcelain.

"Let's go to Magistrate Jia."

"Let's go together, we want to see Magistrate Jia uphold justice."

Seeing that something was wrong, Zhao Si's wife ran away.Zhao Si was weak and was taken back.Seeing that Tang Shen was going to turn him over to the county government, he said loudly: "The shopkeeper Wang of Ruyi Building hired me, the shopkeeper Wang of Ruyi Building hired me. Tang Xiaodong, please spare me, ten The big board can kill half of my life!"

Ruyi Building is on Suijin Street, half a street away from Xixia Building.The shopkeeper Wang was standing in the crowd watching the fun, when Tang Shen said that he was going to send Zhao Sicuo to the county government, he turned around and wanted to sneak away.Hearing this suddenly, his complexion changed drastically, he turned his head and said, "You rascal, why are you slandering me!"

"Shopkeeper Wang, you can't cross the river and tear down the bridge. You said that you want me to find a way to slander Xixia Building and bring down Xixia Building."

"You, you, you...you spout blood!"

Tang Shen: "Treasurer Wang, is he spitting blood? Let's go together and find Magistrate Jia, and listen to what he has to say!"

Shopkeeper Wang opened his eyes wide, dumbfounded.

A farce ended like this.Zhao Si received ten large boards, but shopkeeper Wang killed himself and did not instruct Zhao Si. He refused to admit it, and the county magistrate Jia did nothing about him.It's just that before he returned to the Ruyi Building that day, he was kicked out by the owner of the Ruyi Building: "Things that are not enough to succeed are not enough to fail!"

Shopkeeper Wang ran away despondently with his bundle in his arms.

This farce tossed Tang Shen for two full days, and the owner of Ruyilou came to the door in person, gave gifts and made up for it, before it was settled.

Yao San looked at the presents on the table, and said: "My little boss, this member Wu is quite kind, and he paid us a lot of things. It was obviously ordered by the shopkeeper Wang, but he still doesn't admit it himself, so it's really not a thing. "

"Was shopkeeper Wang instigated?"

Yao San: "Huh?"

Tang Shen was standing by the window of the elegant seat on the second floor of Xixia Building, with his back leaning against the window sill, looking calmly at the few small gifts on the table.Soap and golden strands, heh, they are all from the Treasure Pavilion!

"Brother Yao, do you really think that a shopkeeper Wang dares to do this by himself? The real mastermind behind this is none other than Yuanwai Wu."

"What! God damn it, we even took his stuff, I have to throw it all back to him."

"Why bother."

"Little Boss?"

Tang Shen turned around and looked at the bustling Brocade Street.As the sun set, the vendors on Suijin Street lit up lamps one after another.The people on this long street will never change themselves because of the death of one person.Just like the entire Gusu Mansion, not to mention the death of Liang Song, even if the emperor died, they would still live their lives.

"In the past two years, I have made soap, scented soap, and brewed golden strands. I have done logistics, and I have made shabu offerings. Many people in Gusu Mansion are jealous of my business, but they have never done anything to me. The soap is because of the Tang family guard. That's because it's Zhenbao Pavilion. But Tang's Logistics and Xixia Building are all mine."

"When Mr. is here, they dare not embarrass me."

"Mr. left, they swarmed up like hungry wolves."

"Mister helped me so much when I never noticed."

Yao San looked at Tang Shen's back and said, "My little master..."

In the setting sun, Tang Shen's back looked extremely thin. He didn't turn around, but said indifferently: "Brother Yao, until today, I know that Mr. has really gone."

"Little Boss?"

"Sir, did you really go..."

Crying sounded suddenly, even with a soul in his 20s, Tang Shen at this moment only felt that a large piece of his heart had been ruthlessly dug out, it was hollow and silent, he couldn't bear it.He cried loudly, crying desperately, knowing that it was irreversible, and he was powerless to do so.

He suddenly realized that in the past two years, the person who has treated him the best, the most sincere and the closest.

is really gone.

At night, Tang Shen wrapped himself in a fur coat and went home with Yao San.

Just after returning home, he saw a person in the courtyard who shouldn't be here.

Tang Shen was stunned for a moment, stepped forward and said, "Fool."

Xu Hui looked at Tang Shen's red eyes, and subconsciously said, "Are you crying?"

During the seven days of funeral for Liang Song Shouling, Tang Shen cried the least among them.Xu Hui also thought that he was reserved by nature, or that his feelings for Liang Song were not that deep.After all, the two had only had less than two years of teacher-student friendship.

Tang Shen didn't hide anything: "Thinking of Mr., I can't help myself."

Xu Hui was silent for a while.

Tang Shen said: "I thought you had already gone to other places to apply for the post. Didn't you serve as a county magistrate, why didn't you go to take the post?"

Xu Hui: "I was going to go yesterday, and I found a book when I was packing up the adults' belongings. I have never seen this book before, and it should be the customs and customs of Gusu collected by the adults. There is only one time I did not travel with the adults. He was with you that time. Do you know whose book this is?"

Tang Shen took the book and looked at it: "It is indeed that I went to Shazhou County to borrow it with my husband before the county exam. I have already copied this book, but I didn't expect my husband to borrow it."

Xu Hui: "I want to return this book to its original owner. Do you know how to get there?"

Tang Shen talked roughly.

Xu Hui frowned: "I have never been to Shazhou County. I am at a loss when you say that. Tang Shen, do you have time recently? If you are free tomorrow, can you go to Shazhou County with me? Together we will return it to its owner."

Tang Shen: "Okay."