To The Land of Nevernight

It was early morning when Tang Shen arrived at Gusu Mansion.

During this period of time, it was placed in Zhaojia Village. Everyone in the village was working in the fields, and no one was seen on the road.However, Fucheng was already full of people, and the vendors were selling their goods for breakfast, and the pickers carrying the goods moved the goods from one end of the street to the other.

In a short while, two carriages passed by the two brothers and sisters.

"Brother, there are so many cars, so many!"

Zhaojia Village does not see a carriage for a month, but Gusu Mansion is full of carriages and horses.

Tang Shen: "Grandma Liu's appearance in the Grand View Garden is probably what you look like now."

"Grandma Liu, Grand View Garden. What are you talking about?"

"Praise you for being beautiful."

Don Juan: "..." Why don't I believe it.

It was not easy to find a house to live in in ancient times.Yao San had stayed for a month and was familiar with Gusu Mansion, so he took Tang Shen to find a Zhuangzhai tooth shop.

Yahang is equivalent to the real estate agency in ancient times, and Yalang is the intermediary agent.In the Song Dynasty, it was illegal to buy and sell houses in private without finding a dental dealer.

After watching for a whole day, Tang Shen and Tang Juan fell in love with a tile-roofed house with four open courtyards.The house is small, just a kitchen, a main room and a side room.The roof tiles on the roof were rotted a lot, and there were a few small holes in the walls.Na Yalang opened his mouth and asked for three slings of money for a month.

Tang Shen was not good at haggling, but luckily Aunt Yao was there, and he finally settled on two shillings for a month, and had to pay a half-year deposit first.

In the blink of an eye, half of the money is gone.The miser Don Juan was stunned, holding the small purse and refusing to let go.

Since there were only two rooms, Tang Shen asked Yao San to sleep in one with himself, and Tang Juan and Yao Auntie to sleep in one.Aunt Yao said again and again: "This is impossible! How can the two young masters sleep with us, San'er and I just go to the side room."

Tang Shen: "Six years taught the number and name of the party, and seven years men and women did not eat together. Although our house used to be a few thatched huts, there were many rooms and there was room to sleep. Now there are only two rooms, and Ah Huang is nine years old. I'm old, I can't sleep with her again."

Aunt Yao said: "Why don't San'er and I go to the kitchen and make a bed on the floor?"

Don Juan: "How can I do that! Aunt Yao, you can sleep with me."

Yao San: "Mom, we all listen to my little boss."

After allocating the room, handling the moving matters, and cleaning the house, Yao San approached Tang Shen: "Little Boss, I'll go to the city tomorrow to see if there is any work to do. Find a job to supplement the family. "

Tang Shen said, "What job do you want to find?"

"Guardian. Don't laugh. I'm a rough old man. I only have some strength. I can only do this. They didn't want me before because of my mother. Now we have a place to live and can live with you, my little boss. , I am very good at finding a job as a nursing home."

"Brother Yao, don't be in a hurry, I still have something to do here for you."

Yao San was stunned: "What's the matter? What orders do you have?"

Tang Shen thought for a while: "Do you know where the Gusu Mansion has the most people?"

"Of course it's Suijin Street before Qingguan that day!"

Gusu Mansion, Tianqing Temple, Suijin Street.

Tianqing Temple, also known as Xuanmiao Temple, is said to have been built in the Western Jin Dynasty by Emperor Sima Yan of Jin Dynasty.The place with the most incense in Gusu City is not the Hanshan Temple outside the city, nor the Xiyuan Temple inside the city, but the Xuanmiao Temple.There is a long street in front of Xuanmiao Temple, named "Tianqing Guanqian Street", which is called Suijin Street by Suzhou people.

Aunt Yao took Tang Juan out to buy some household items, and took the little girl for a walk. Tang Shen and Yao San went to Brocade Street.

Yao San took Tang Shen to the busiest alleys of Suijin Street, where there were tailor shops selling silk and satin, rice shops, grain shops, wine shops, and various small stalls.At noon, the two sat down in front of a wonton stand, and while they were eating, Yao San followed Tang Shen's instructions and said, "Shopkeeper, your wontons are so delicious that your tongue almost swallows them. It's an old name."

The stall owner who sells wontons said with a smile: "Master, you can really talk. My wontons are also unique in Suijin Street. I have been making them for more than 20 years since my father's generation."

Tang Shen: "Oh, is this still an ancestral handicraft?"

"That's not right. You go and ask, who has the best wontons on Suijin Street, and nine out of ten will definitely say mine."

Yao San: "You have to hand in a lot of income every year, right?" He made a gesture of rubbing his fingers, "Privately, do you have to hand in something?"

The street vendor shook his head: "No way. Ever since Liang Daru became governor of our Gusu Mansion, no one knows that Liang Daru has always cared for the people. Those rogues on the street have long since dared not bully us casually, as long as they pay the government a fixed income, We have our own official protection." He spit out, "Those picky rogues, no one dares to act presumptuously in Gusu Mansion. You are outsiders, Gusu Mansion is different from other places."

Tang Shen: "We are from Wu County."

"No wonder, our Gusu Mansion is doing well."

After eating a bowl of wontons, Tang Shen and the others put up the money and left.Yao San calculated: "Little master, Gusu Mansion doesn't collect much money, but we only have [-] taels of money left. After buying all kinds of household items, we don't know how much we can have left. Gusu Mansion doesn't have fruit trees, so let's make fruit. Juice has to buy fruit from others, which is not a small expense.”

"Who said we were going to make fruit juice?"

Yao San was taken aback: "Then what?"

The two stood in the center of the bustling Suijin Street, Tang Shen said: "Brother Yao, do you see any difference between Gusu Mansion and Zhaojia Village?"

Yao San looked at it for a long time, and said: "There are many more people than Zhaojia Village, and there are more people selling things."

"Gusu Mansion has sweet-scented osmanthus and lotus wine, and Jinling Zhuyeqing from Jinling. There are only seven or eight shops selling these two kinds of wine in Suijin Street. There is no wine in Zhaojia Village, only homemade rice wine, and more It’s just a cup of herbal tea. People in the village can’t drink anything tasty. Our fruit juice is fine in Zhaojia Village, but in Gusu Mansion. After selling it for a month, they will be forced to move out of Gusu Mansion and return to Zhaojia Village. home village."

"How good is this!"

Tang Shen and Yao San walked slowly on Suijin Street, Tang Shen carefully looked at the vendors on both sides.His eyes lit up: "Brother Yao, you are from the north, can you make pancakes?"

In the evening, when the family returned to the house, Tang Shen arranged for Yao San to buy some buckwheat noodles, black rice noodles, mung bean noodles, and some flour the next day.He asked Mrs. Yao to take some money to go to Suijin Street to see and eat, to taste the taste of Gusu people.

Don Juan said happily: "I will go with Aunt Yao."

Taking money to eat on the street, who would not want to do such a good thing.

Tang Shen said calmly, "You stay with me."

Don Juan: "Huh?"

"Let's go visit relatives."

Tang Juan didn't understand what Tang Shen meant at first, and subconsciously said, "We don't have any relatives in Gusu Mansion." After a while, she realized, and hurriedly said, "You, you really want to leave relatives? When Dad was alive, but You said you wouldn’t even go to starve to death. Why did you go!”

Tang Shen looked at her: "That's why our father left. Boss Tang, do you want to starve to death too?"

Don Juan: "..."

After a while, the little girl muttered, "How could we starve to death?"

Tang Shen patted his younger sister's head: "There is no hatred in the first place, why don't you visit relatives."

The mother and son of the Yao family looked on in confusion, they had never heard Tang Shen say before they came to Gusu Mansion that the two siblings had relatives in Gusu Mansion.In fact, even Don Juan forgot that he had such a relationship.

Tang Shen and Tang Juan's father, Tang Xiucai, was actually from Gusu Prefecture.

Liang Daru asked Tang Shen two months ago if he was related to the Tang Ju family in the west of Gusu Prefecture, but Tang Shen only said they were distant relatives.In fact, they were not distant relatives at all, Tang Shen's father and Tang Juren were brothers.It's just a concubine and a concubine.

Tang Xiucai's mother died early, and he was raised by his aunt since he was a child, so he can be regarded as half a aunt.The Tang family is a scholarly family, and the family is well-off. It is not considered rich, but it is also a poetic family.The aunt's relationship with Tang Xiucai was average, but it wouldn't be his fault. He had been studying in a private school at home since he was a child.

Tang Xiucai was smart since she was a child. Because her mother died early, she was strong in every way.Fortunately, he worked hard on his own, and was selected as a scholar at the age of 14, which can be regarded as a glorious ancestor.The Tang family placed high hopes on him, thinking that he would at least be able to pass the Juren examination, who would have hurt Zhongyong. Since then, Tang Xiucai failed the examination four times.

The fourth time, it was his eldest brother who was born by direct birth. He was not smart when he was young, but he passed the scholar examination in one fell swoop when he was in his 30s, and he passed the Juren examination the following year.

Tang Xiucai was so angry that he couldn't afford to fall ill. After recovering from his illness, he took his family to Zhaojia Village, his wife's hometown.

Within two years, Tang Shen's mother died.A few years later, Tang Xiucai passed away due to illness.

When Tang Shen and Tang Juan were young, they often listened to Tang Xiucai talking about the injustice of the heavens, how could their stupid brother win, so they also hated the Tang family since they were young.Tang Shen after time travel didn't care. According to his memory, although Tang Xiucai always complained about the Tang family, he only complained about the elder brother who won the exam, and had no opinion on others.

Don't talk about the father's mistakes, only the person involved knows what happened back then, and Tang Xiucai has already gone.

Tang Shen thought to himself: Dad, I can be regarded as your son. From now on, I will take my sister to eat and drink spicy food, so I promise not to embarrass you.Finally, I silently added: So tomorrow we will go to Tang's house, don't be angry if you are in heaven.

After saying this, Tang Shen looked up at the sky: "If there is no lightning strike, I will take it as your consent."

Don Juan happened to be passing by the yard with a pillow in his arms. Hearing this, the corner of the little girl's mouth twitched, and she also looked up at the sky.

Where is the lightning on this sunny day, my brother really has a problem with his brain!

Before taking his eyes off the night sky, suddenly, Don Juan saw a star falling from the sky, gliding to the north.The little girl had never seen this thing before, she was startled, threw the pillow, and hugged Tang Shen's arm: "Brother, what is that, what is that, have you seen it, the star has fallen!"

Of course Tang Shen saw it.He was still talking to the dead Tang Xiucai in his heart just now, when a shooting star suddenly appeared, Tang Shen was also startled, thinking: This can't be Tang Xiucai scolding me.

He relaxed, and silently recited the Eight Honors and Eight Disgraces and the Scientific Outlook on Development in his heart.He is a materialist and does not believe in these monsters.

"That's called a shooting star."

Don Juan asked: "Meteor?"

"Meteors are a kind of astronomical phenomenon. The earth we are on now...cough, you don't understand this. Anyway, you should know that meteors are normal, that is, a star just passing by in front of us and you see it. Some The stars will meet us regularly, for example, there is a star named Halley, it is a comet, and it will meet us once every 76 years."

Tang Juan half-understood, Yao San said beside him: "Xiao Dong has read books, so he knows a lot."

Aunt Yao: "No, scholars are different from us."

It is too difficult to explain to Tang Juan what a meteor is, so Tang Shen went back to his room to sleep after a few perfunctory generalizations.

At the same time, the capital of the Great Song Dynasty, Shengjing.

The majestic palace, the inner court is strict.

In the dark night, a group of armored guards held long spears and stepped on the bluestone slab with their feet, making a stomping sound.In the palace, there was silence, except for the patrolling guards, there was only a faint light in a magnificent palace.

The light seedlings flickered, and suddenly a gust of wind hit, turning into darkness.

There was a roar from inside the house.

"Come on, come on, light this longevity lamp for me!"

In an instant, two boys in Taoist robes bent over and ran into the hall, and came to a row of long bronze lamp stands.Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the lights had not been extinguished, but had been blown to only a few sparks.

The little boy turned pale with fright, his legs trembled, and shiveringly, he lit up the nine longevity lamps.

Among the carved beams of gold bricks, an old man in a white Taoist robe and with a long beard let out a long sigh of relief.He walked anxiously to the longevity lamps, entwining the nine lamps with obsessive eyes.

"What happened to the wind just now?"

The two children plopped and knelt down: "Your Majesty, spare me!"

The old man had a fair face, narrow eyes and raised eyebrows. He looked at the two children quietly with deep eyes.He fell silent for a moment, before he could speak, a voice came from outside the room: "Your Majesty, Qin Tianjian is coming to report!"

Song Emperor Zhao Fu's gaze paused: "Xuan."

Li Xiaoren, the inspector of the Qin Tianjian, walked into the hall quickly, but he kept his head down, not daring to look up.Seeing two children kneeling on the ground from the corner of the eye, Li Xiaoren cursed inwardly.Since he heard that the longevity lamp was out, he hurried over, but he was a step too late.These two little boys are his proud disciples, they thought it would be a good job to serve the emperor and guard the longevity lamp, but they didn't expect to encounter such a disaster.

Wearing a Tai Chi gossip official gown, with a colorful cocktail in his head, Li Xiaoren bowed down on the ground: "Your Majesty, there is a star meteor as big as a peach, which exits the Purple Palace and enters Taiwei. Xing, a natural calamity, may endanger our century-old society of the Great Song Dynasty!"

Zhao Fubai showed panic on his thin face, he took two quick steps, then stopped: "Speak carefully."

Li Xiaoren recounted the matter of the meteor in detail again, and said: "Your Majesty, that meteor stopped on the emperor star and disappeared without a trace, I'm afraid it will be unpredictable."

"Why?"

How could he know why.This starfall came inexplicably, starting from the south and sinking into the north.Could it be that something is going to happen in the south?Is there a rebellious party interfering in politics?

Li Xiaoren suddenly thought of a person, he opened his eyes and said nonsense: "This star has passed through 22 stars in the city, submerged in Ziwei, and quietly invisible. It must have been hidden for many years. When I watch the stars at night, Ziwei's star is as bright as the sun." , the imperial power is prosperous, and it has not been affected for 20 years. Presumably, this curse star has long been subdued by His Majesty, and has been dormant by His Majesty's side for many years, and there are signs of revival recently."

Zhao Fu narrowed his eyes: "Being subdued by Zhen, dormant for many years... Revival?"

Li Xiaoren gritted his teeth, and reminded again: "Your Majesty, to cut grass, you must get rid of the roots."

Zhao Fu looked at Li Xiaoren quietly, accompanying a king like a tiger, Li Xiaoren held his breath like a child, not daring to take a breath.

"Aiqing, speaking of it, he has also been in prison for 24 years."

Li Xiaoren dropped his body to the ground, knelt down and said: "I am stupid, I don't know what Your Majesty said."

Zhao Fu said impatiently: "I know, let's go down."

"My minister retire."

Li Xiaoren tremblingly got up from the ground, he hadn't stood still yet, only Zhao Fu said indifferently: "Those two, drag them down and chop them up."

The two children shouted: "Your Majesty, forgive me, Your Majesty, please forgive me!"

Li Xiaoren's body trembled, and he left without taking his eyes off it.

After leaving the emperor's bedroom, Li Xiaoren wiped the sweat from his forehead, only to hear two screams from the back of the hall.Li Xiaoren left the palace calmly as if he had never heard of it.

Jiangnan, Gusu Mansion.

Knowing that he was going back to the Tang family, Don Juan was curious and apprehensive.The little girl put on the dress she bought yesterday with Aunt Yao on the street, which caught Tang Shen's eyes.

Don Juan said shyly, "What are you looking at?"

Tang Shen teased and said, "Look at my younger sister who doesn't wear a sarong and linen clothes, so she is also a small family jade? I thought she was a village woman before."

"..."

"Tang, Shen!!!"

The siblings set off to go to Tang Ju's house in the west of Gusu Prefecture, but before they left, Tang Shen said, "I almost forgot about that."

After a while, he took something out of the house.Don Juan didn't see it clearly, only saw it was a post.

The two brothers and sisters went out to the west of Gusu Prefecture, Tang Ju's family.