surnamed Wang

Chapter 218 Yan Ruyu

Bai Yuniang came outside the house, looked at the slightly mottled door, smiled slightly, and thought of all the things in the past.

The previous owner of this room was a bookkeeper and also Bai Yuniang's master.

A poor scholar in his 40s, unable to carry his shoulders and hands, studied benevolence, righteousness and morality for half his life, but failed to get fame, and almost starved to death in the end.

By coincidence, Bai Zijing, who was down the mountain to work, saw him. Seeing that he was pitiful, the master of Baizhai took him back to the village to teach his eight-year-old daughter and help the village keep the books.

This old scholar whose export is what he knows is not a successful scholar, but an excellent teacher.

Under his influence, Bai Yuniang gradually developed a strong interest in poetry and essays. As a result of her enthusiasm, she even wrote a poem to compete with her teacher.

Bai Yuniang's poems at the beginning were still immature, but as her husband helped her make up for them, her later works became more vivid, and even golden sentences appeared frequently, making the teacher feel inferior.

During these ten years of getting along, the old master finally realized the fact that he had limited talent for reading and seemed more suitable to be a teacher, so he came up with the idea of ​​going down the mountain to start a private school.

Two years ago, this old man who had been amiable and submissive in the cottage suddenly submitted his resignation to the village master Bai.

The reason is that he has nothing to teach his students, and if he stays here any longer, he will be suspected of eating and drinking.

Although Bai Yuniang was very reluctant to give up on this gentleman, she also knew that the teacher had her own ideals.

Master Baizhai thought of his kindness to his daughter in teaching her career over the years, agreed to the other party's request, and gave a handsome reward before leaving.

The old scholar stayed on the mountain all the year round, and he had never been involved in meat in his life. Even if he was full of courtesy, righteousness and shame, he couldn't beat the guys on the mountain who bragged about the kilns all day long, so the first thing he did when he went down the mountain was to drink a meal of flower wine.

Unexpectedly, just this one and only time brought disaster on him.

The guests of the brothel include all kinds of religions and nine schools, and one of them is a big family who recognizes the old scholar.

This rich family had been kidnapped by the bandits in Girl Mountain, not only was he extorted ten thousand taels of silver, but he was also humiliated by those damn guys. There was even a guy with a tattoo on his face who said he wanted to vent his anger on himself.

Although in the end the other party released him as promised, just thinking about those frightening days made him sweat coldly.

Not to mention that I was hungry for nine meals in three days during that period, and I lost seven or eight catties of meat, and I couldn't make up for it no matter how much delicacies I ate.

The big family who held a grudge immediately ordered his men to report to the officials. Because he had some friendship with the county magistrate, soon a team of officials came here in shackles.

At first, the old scholar never thought that he was here to arrest him. Looking at his posture, he thought it was some vicious gangster.

Just as he was waiting to watch the play with his hands in his hands, the officials came to him in shackles, couldn't help but break up and beat him up. After the beating, they confiscated hundreds of taels of silver from him.

The rich family who hid far away to watch the excitement was overjoyed, this time they even saved filial piety money.

The poor old scholar, who had never done anything wrong in his life, was inexplicably interrogated and thrown into the death row.

After being locked up for about a month, I ate a greasy breakfast and was pushed to Caishikou again.

The old scholar was in tears, and he couldn't figure out which king's law he had violated when he was dying.

Perhaps it was because his life was undeserving, the old scholar who was prepared to have his head beheaded, knelt on the execution platform for an hour, but was dragged back to the county government office.

The person sitting on the county government office is no longer the magistrate, but a young man in his 30s.

The man said a few words casually, and the old scholar's shackles were removed, and with a few more words, he was spared the death penalty.

Immediately under his surprised gaze, the county magistrate and the former big family were escorted to the county government.

After that, there were three or two more sentences, and the people who were going to be beheaded became these two.

Seeing the two being dragged away while howling, just when the old scholar was feeling in the fog, the adult who didn't know the rank behind the yamen desk came over and saluted him.

The old scholar was overwhelmed by the flattery. He only felt that the other party looked familiar, but he couldn't remember who it was at all.

The official wearing a crimson official robe with a white pheasant embroidered on his chest opened his mouth to explain the old scholar's confusion:

"Cheng went to Beijing to take the exam that day, passed by Guidi, and was taken into the stockade by bandits from Girl Mountain. They saw that I didn't have much money on me, so they threw me into the forest to feed the jackals and leopards.

It was my husband who offered to save me at that time, and I was able to walk out of the village alive.

If it weren't for the life-saving grace of Mr. Cheng that day, Cheng would never have achieved what he is today. "

The official who claimed to be surnamed Cheng gave another salute after speaking.

Seeing this, the old scholar hurried forward to help.

It was only then that he remembered that about seven or eight years ago, a scholar was indeed kidnapped in the cottage, and the old scholar never bothered to ask about such things.

But when he saw that the other party was a poor scholar just like himself, and now that he had encountered an accident on the way to Beijing to catch the exam, he somewhat felt sympathetic to each other.

Therefore, he who never begged for mercy rarely found the village master Bai once. Naturally, Bai Zijing didn't care about a poor scholar who had nothing to do, so he ordered him to be released.

The old scholar saw that the scholar's money had been taken away by other bandits, so he secretly stuffed some money for him and sent it down the mountain.

Unexpectedly, he accidentally inserted willows and willows into shades, and the act of kindness at the beginning actually saved his life now.

Afterwards, this Cheng Xiucai ranked first in the year and ranked in the top three, and then he was promoted all the way until he is now a fifth-rank member.

This time, as an imperial envoy, he was inspecting Zhongzhou. When he first arrived here, he encountered this kind of incident.

On the way here, the imperial envoy Cheng heard a lot of collusion between local officials and businessmen.

At first I heard that someone was going to be beheaded today, so I looked through the file and found many doubts.

Guessing that some unlucky ordinary commoner suffered an indiscriminate disaster, he stopped the execution immediately.

Unexpectedly, he accidentally saved his savior, which can be regarded as a reincarnation of heaven.

Envoy Cheng Qin and the old scholar thanked each other, and the old scholar planned to turn around and leave.

Now that the other party is a high-ranking official, and I am a bandit accountant, even if it is a life-and-death friendship, the two are very different.

At this moment, the imperial envoy stopped the old scholar, and returned the money that was taken away by the official envoy to him.

The old scholar hesitated for a while, but still took it, after a rough weighing, it was only a little more.

Cheng Qin saw the old scholar's doubts and explained:

"The government has imprisoned you for more than a month without reason, and the extra money should be regarded as compensation for you."

Only then did the old scholar accept the money tremblingly.

Commissioner Cheng Qin hesitated for a moment, but still said what was on his mind:
"Mr., being in the same class as bandits is not the way for scholars of my generation to go. I hope that the old man will get out as soon as possible, so as not to get burned like today."

The loyal words were harsh, and the old scholar knew that the other party had good intentions. He stroked his beard and said with a smile:
"Thank you for your concern. The old man almost starved to death that day. It was Bai Dazhai from Wangshizhai who gave him a bite of food. Although the saint had taught him to 'sacrifice one's life for righteousness', but the old man is still a mortal body. Can't help feeling empty.

So he followed Bai Zijing up the mountain. Although the little old man entered the cottage, he had never done anything evil. Apart from teaching the head of the family's daughter to study, he just settled accounts in these years.

I have seen and seen a lot these years, but I still can't get used to the behavior of the people in the village, so I resigned from the head of the village and wanted to go back to the county to be a teacher.

To be honest, my lord, these silver coins are the capital that Bai Zijing gave me when he left. "

After hearing the old scholar's words, the imperial envoy Cheng's original worries were swept away, and all of them turned into joy.

Although the old scholar didn't do anything bad, but with bandits all day long, there is no guarantee that he won't be implicated one day, and he won't even be able to leave a whole body behind.

The reason why envoy Cheng Qin was worried about the old scholar was not only that the other party had saved his life, but also the sympathy among scholars.

Now the other party can know how to return from a lost path, no matter how late it is.

Governor Cheng was gratified, and personally wrote a document for the old scholar, and then stamped his fifth-rank official seal.

In the dynasty, it is not necessary to open a private school without official documents, or even a decent teacher, as long as you can read and write.

After all, in this era, it is already a remarkable thing for ordinary people to be able to read and write.

But the real nobles will send their children to formal private schools, and the teachers are well-known, at least they are scholars.

However, government documents can be given casually. The county magistrate's seal, which does not seem to be very valuable, costs at least a few hundred taels of silver in the market, let alone the seal of a fifth-rank official in front of him. .

If it was said that becoming an imperial envoy was to repay a kindness before, then the current behavior is righteous.

The old scholar was just about his age, and it was rare for him to have red eye circles. He took the document tremblingly, looked at it again and again, and his excitement was beyond words.

Cheng imperial envoy first gave charcoal in a timely manner, and now it is icing on the cake. How could this old scholar not be excited?
……

The county magistrate was beheaded, and it will take about a month for the new county magistrate to be transferred. During this period of time, the county's affairs, large and small, can only be temporarily managed by the governor's imperial envoy Cheng Huaji.

In just eight years, Cheng Huaji was able to go from a commoner to a fifth-rank official, and even became a governor, holding a Shangfang sword and controlling the life and death of a group of officials, which has its own uniqueness.

Just talking about the way he handles the government affairs in the county makes the local county prime minister dumbfounded.

In just three days, the county government had a backlog of more than a hundred cases, except for a few old cases that could not be verified, the rest were handled cleanly and beautifully.

There was even a murder case that had been shelved for nearly 20 years. He also found clues in the file, followed the clues, and arrested the murderer.

After that, he organized the people to dig ditches and divert roads, and did some water conservancy for the benefit of future generations.

His series of actions won the unanimous praise of the local people. Apart from the praise, he couldn't help but feel sad.

I don't know when this adult who is truly worthy of the word "parent official" will leave.

During this period, Cheng Huaji was free, so he took a pot of flower carvings and went to play chess with the old scholar.

Seeing that the other party had no airs at all, the old scholar gradually let go of his restraint, and the two of them came and went and became a rare year-end friendship.

With the help of Cheng Huaji, the old scholar found a suitable courtyard, which could be used as a private school for teaching with a little repair.

The old scholar didn't make many friends in his life, and the one closest to him was his apprentice Bai Yuniang. Now that he is half a hundred years old, it is a great blessing in his life to be able to meet Cheng Huaji, who has a bright future and an even brighter future.

On the day the private school was established, Cheng Huaji personally wrote the three golden characters "Qiansu Pavilion" on the plaque of the private school under the repeated invitation of the old scholar.

Thousand millet hall, taken from "There are thousands of millet in the book".

The ancients encouraged learning, often saying that there is Yan Ruyu in the book, and there is a golden house in the book.

But in Cheng Huaji's view, scholars should be strict with themselves, and aim to benefit the common people, rather than pursuing the glory and wealth of Yan Ruyu's golden house.

In his opinion, only "thousand bell millet" is in line with his wishes, which is what he has been pursuing since he became an official.

When the common people saw that this admirable adult personally wrote an inscription for the private school, and that the old scholar paid a fair fee, they sent their children to the Qiansu Hall one after another.

In just three days, Qiansu hall was full of students.

At this time, the new county magistrate had also taken office, and the imperial envoy Cheng had completed his mission here.

At the time of parting, the old scholar would give them away again and again, knowing that he could not write a decent poem, so he could only recite a line from his ancestors, "A bosom friend is always in the sea, and the world is like a neighbor" to express his heart.

When Bai Yuniang went down the mountain later, she went to meet the old scholar. At that time, he was full of energy, with a ruddy complexion, completely gone from the promises he had when he was in the cottage. Perhaps this is what he really wanted to do.

Bai Yuniang didn't know much about the uninvited son, except that her father respected him very much. The two of them chatted until midnight in Juyi Hall last night.

Bai Yuniang only had a quick glimpse of that person's appearance, but just this glimpse was comparable to surprise.

The other party was totally different from the other people in the village who were tall and rough. Instead, he was so handsome that he was not like a man, and his demeanor was elegant. It was obvious that he had read the book.

It is impossible for a woman of Huaichun's age to meet a man who looks gentle and elegant, and has an extremely good appearance.

So when Bai Zijing asked her to deliver food to that guest, she agreed without hesitation.

When Bai Yuniang came outside the room where the guest was, a smile inadvertently appeared on the corner of her mouth, and then she gently knocked on the door.

After waiting for "Come in" to be heard in the room, she straightened her clothes and gently opened the door.

The house was temporarily vacated, with a small area, but most of it was occupied by desks and bookshelves. The only wooden bed was placed in the corner, which was a little thin.

As soon as Bai Yuniang entered the room, she saw the man looking down at the book. Books and other things that should not appear in the bandit's lair were left by old scholars.

The man raised his head and looked at the person who came, and the two looked at each other for an instant.

Seeing the other person's face carved out of beautiful jade, Bai Yuniang felt as if her heart had been hit by something, and couldn't help jumping up.

She only felt that her cheeks were a little hot, she quickly looked away, lowered her eyes and said:

"My father asked me to bring some food to the young master."

After finishing speaking, she put the food box on the large desk. She, who has always been eloquent, couldn't say another word.

The handsome young man smiled slightly and said:
"There is a Lao girl."

After he finished speaking, he fell silent.

Bai Yuniang waited for a while without waiting for the next sentence, so she bravely looked up and found that the other party had already lowered her head and continued to read the book.

A feeling of disappointment flashed through her heart, she thought for a while, and asked:

"I don't know what book the young master is reading?"

The man put down the book in his hand, looked at the woman, said with a smile in his eyes:
"A niche book called "Shu Yulu". It's very interesting. You can read it when you have time."

Seeing the smile in the other person's eyes, Bai Yuniang's heart beat faster.

...

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(End of this chapter)