Prequel to the Red Chamber: I Am the Second Wife

There are always a lot of things at the end of the year. Jia Zheng is busy with the government affairs at hand. It will be sealed on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, and the official office will not start until the fifth day of the second lunar month.In order to finish everything before the year, Jia Zheng couldn't help speeding up.In fact, being an official is also a skilled worker, and there is a template for government affairs.How to collect taxes, when to prepare for spring plowing, when to report prisoners for execution, and pay attention to fire prevention and resettle the homeless in winter.Jia Zheng has been a magistrate for several years, and he is familiar with these things. With the help of Mr. Shan and Mr. Zhou, Jia Zheng can be said to be a duck to water as the prefect of Qingzhou.

A few days ago, a snow fell, which collapsed a lot of dilapidated houses in the west of the city. Jia Zheng hurriedly led the army and civilians to rescue them, but those thatched houses did not cause too many casualties.When some big families in the city saw the magistrate coming to save people in person, they all wanted to please him.The porridge sheds were immediately opened after discussion among the several families. Jia Zheng asked several temples and Taoist temples to temporarily accommodate the homeless people, and then find a way to build houses to resettle them in the spring.

"Everyone has been rescued. If the mess here is messy, please go back." Qianhu Li Shouyi was directing the soldiers to tidy up the messy scene.Jia Zheng's boots and robe were stained with mud, and sweat broke out on his forehead.It seemed that the wailing was still echoing in his ears, and Jia Zheng's mood became gloomy.Qingzhou was originally a place with rich fields, but it is a pity that the king of Wei came, and the people's livelihood was difficult. "I don't even want to go back. Those disaster victims are worrying. It's because of my incompetence that this disaster happened." Jia Zheng refused to leave.

Li Shouyi's face was black and white, and he raised his hand to wipe the sweat off his face, but when he touched it, his face was even more smudged.Li Shouyi didn't care about his own image, he persuaded Jia Zheng: "It's also God's will. I have been working in Qianhu's seat for several years. When my lord didn't come to Qingzhou, I encountered several natural disasters that were much bigger than this. To say something disrespectful, I don’t see that official has half the compassion of an adult. In fact, there is no way to do it. The world is not benevolent. Now it’s those poor people. Maybe there will be a bigger disaster someday, let alone the poor. Even the entire Qingzhou City may not be able to keep it. Your Excellency has a heart of love for the people, so you don’t need to be too rigid about this trivial matter. Your Excellency might as well go back and discuss the matter of the river engineering.”

Jia Zheng glanced at Li Shouyi in surprise: "I heard that your conversation doesn't look like a martial artist, but a scholar. Where are you from?" Here, he was always in military uniform, his face was tanned by the sun.Unexpectedly, Li Shouyi's words turned out to be reasonable and well-informed.

I am from Jinling with a humble job, and I feel ashamed that I was selected as a scholar, but later my family was poor and in order to support my elder brother’s education, I invested in the army in order to earn some money to support my family.Li Shouyi's dark face showed a little embarrassment. In this era, scholars, farmers, businessmen, and soldiers are generally looked down upon.Li Shouyi was able to give up his studies and join the army.Jia Zheng expressed his surprise at Li Shouyi's choice: "You can give up your future for your brother, so you are a filial person. No wonder you speak well and do things well. I didn't expect you to have such a long time." It sounds like Li Shouyi gave up for his brother. Looking ahead, Jia Zheng couldn't help but look at him differently.

"Actually, it's nothing. My aptitude is not as good as my brother's. Why do we have to be so careful about our brothers. I'm just as happy that he can stand out. Now my brother is an editor in the Imperial Academy, which shows that he has a good future." His brother, Li Shouyi had a look of pride on his face.

"Who is your elder brother from the Imperial Academy?" Jia Zheng asked who Li Shouyi's elder brother was.

It was Li Shouzhong, editor of the Imperial Academy.He has never been very good at cheating, he is an extremely responsible person.My Li family has always been a family of poets and books, and all men and women in the family are well-versed in reading and etiquette.Li Shouyi didn't finish his words when he saw Zhou Rui rushing over panting: "Second master is not good, grandma fell and is about to give birth!"

"How can you wrestle well?" Jia Zheng was startled, grabbed Zhou Rui and asked him.

"It was with the third aunt's dowry family. He was in a hurry to report and accidentally injured the second grandmother. Now the family is in chaos. Wen Po and the doctor said that the second grandmother's fetal position is not right, so the second master should go home quickly and make up his mind. It seems that something happened to Sangu's grandma."