surnamed Wang

Chapter 229 Drunk Crab
The autumn wind is blowing and crabs' feet are itchy. After the autumnal equinox, it is a good time to eat crabs.

Eat female crabs in September and eat male crabs in October. The back shells are uncovered after cooking. The female crabs are golden and the male crabs are like white jade. The taste is delicious.

Bashu is located in the west of the southern part of the dynasty, and the rivers are vertical and horizontal. Every year in September and October, the people living along the river will go down the river to fish for crabs.

There are several types of crabs in Bashu, among which the hairy crab is the most famous. It has a large body, a green back and a white belly, delicate meat, and a fresh and sweet taste, which is not inferior to the hairy crabs in Yangcheng Lake.

Every year after the autumnal equinox, fishermen will catch with nets, and then sell them in the city. The price is not expensive. A few copper coins can buy a couple of female crabs to go with wine.

People in the city also eat crabs, and almost every time they encounter them, they will buy a few to taste the unique freshness of this season.

In the city of Jialu Mansion, a thin old Confucian scholar was haggling with a street vendor at the moment, and finally bought three crabs with missing legs at a low price after a lot of talking.

The old Confucian scholar has lived in this city for nearly 20 years, and almost everyone knows him. The Jialu Mansion City is not too big, but it is not too small. The number of people registered in the government office has reached nearly [-].

It is said that having a reputation that can be known by 2 people in the city should not be so poor.

But the reputation of the old Confucian scholar is not a good one.

The old Confucian scholar had a daughter named Xiu'er, who was a well-known beauty from all over the world.

Xiuerniang died early, and the old Confucian scholar raised her alone.

Because of his handsome looks, it is indispensable for people to come to propose marriage. The old Confucian scholar's family is surrounded by walls. Although he can't afford a decent dowry, he doesn't worry about getting married.

Later, in Xiu'er's sixteenth year, the middle-aged Confucian scholar finally helped her decide on a family.The other party is the son of a rich family in the city, he is a scholar, and it is said that he looks good.

With the help of the matchmaker, the originally small house was suddenly filled with dowry gifts.

Looking at the bright red silks and satins, the Confucian scholar was indescribably happy. That night, he opened a jar of good wine that had been dusty for a long time, and drank alone with the pig's head meat given by his in-laws.

Early the next morning, the matchmaker brought a doctor, saying that she wanted to feel Xiu'er's pulse.

Throughout the ages, there have been seven rumors about divorce in the husband's family, including "having a bad disease". Although the father of the Confucian scholar was unhappy, he didn't say anything.

After all, the other party can send someone to diagnose in advance, so as not to divorce his wife if there is any problem after marriage, it is already enough face.

When Langzhong put his finger on Xiu'er's wrist, he immediately frowned, and Confucian scholar became nervous when he saw this.

"Girl, you..." Lang Zhong twisted his beard and hesitated for a moment.

Seeing this, the matchmaker behind urged: "What's the matter, tell me quickly, the days have been counted, if there is any problem, you should fix it as soon as possible, right?"

The matchmaker's words had enough leeway, after all, she had earned a few hundred taels this trip, if she were to spit it out again, it would be more painful than cutting a piece of meat.

The doctor closed his eyes and checked carefully for a while, and finally affirmed:
"The girl is pregnant, and it has been three months."

"Huh?" The matchmaker opened her mouth wide.

The Confucian scholar glanced at his daughter when he heard the words, and saw that the daughter was lowering her head at this time, not saying a word. The Confucian scholar felt cold for a moment, and he whispered to the doctor:
"This...is the number wrong, sir, please call it again."

The doctor shook his head and sighed:
"I've practiced medicine for decades, and I can't read my Ximai wrong. You... you better ask her."

After finishing speaking, the doctor picked up the medicine box and got up to leave, leaving the matchmaker and the Confucian scholar staring.

Although the Confucian scholar looked dignified, he still asked softly, "Xiu'er, what's going on?"

The girl named Xiu'er still lowered her head and remained silent, making it difficult for the other two present to see her true face clearly.

The matchmaker at the side finally couldn't bear it anymore and shouted:
"It's not clear, the daughter of the Ni family is unclean and self-conscious. I don't know whose seed she is pregnant with. It made me work for nothing and lose for nothing..."

The matchmaker suddenly shut her mouth when she said this, because she saw that the Confucian scholar who was always gentle and did not dare to speak loudly was staring at her with red eyes.

"What do you want to do?"

The matchmaker showed fear.

"roll!"

It was the first time for a Confucian scholar who had never used foul language in his life to speak foul language.

"Okay, okay." The matchmaker said three "good" words in a row, "Your family is just waiting to become famous."

After finishing speaking, he hurriedly turned around and left, for fear that if he was a step late, he would be taken as a target of anger by the Confucian scholars with fierce eyes.

When the Confucian student who had finished getting angry at the matchmaker turned his head again, he found that his daughter had raised her head at this time, with big tears falling from the corners of her eyes, which made him feel anxious.

Xiu'er's mother died early, and the Confucian scholar who became a father in his thirties loved this hard-won girl very much. He would rather skip a meal of wine by himself, and buy Xiu'er a beautiful headband.

But the sky failed, and the Confucian scholar, who thought he had finally made it through, was glad that his daughter had found a good family the night before, so he drank wine in front of the lamp this night.

The wine is still the one left over from yesterday, but the taste has completely changed.

While the lights were flickering, Xiu'er finally calmed down, she walked lightly to the only table in the room, and looked at the man who had worked so hard to pull herself up opposite her with red and swollen eyes.

"father……"

"You don't need to say anything, father doesn't blame you, if you really don't want to tell who that person is, then forget it.

Dad will return the dowry tomorrow, if you don't want to abort your child, then give birth and Dad will help you raise it.Dad is planning to embrace his grandson soon. "

"Father!" The woman finally couldn't hold on any longer and fell to her knees.

……

The next day, the Confucian scholar returned the betrothal gift, even though the other side's door was closed, he still respectfully bowed to the mansion.

In the next few days, rumors arose in the city. Some said that Xiu'er recruited a wild man, some said that she was defiled by a flower picker, and what's more, that the father and daughter violated human relations and committed mediocrity. A child is not a grandson but a son...

No need to ask, it must have been made up by the matchmaker who was humiliated that day.

The Qing is self-clearing, the Confucian scholar didn't care about these rumors, and he didn't bother the matchmaker. In his heart, the safety of his daughter is the most important thing.

He could deal with it calmly, but Xiu'er might not be able to do so. The Confucian scholar who knew his daughter sold off the only real estate in the city, and the father and daughter bought a small house with a yard not far outside the city.

Although the hut is not as spacious as the original one in the city, it is better than quiet, and by the way, even the ears are much cleaner.

……

Seven months later, just after the autumnal equinox, the child in Xiu'er's womb was born, a boy with a handle.

The Confucian scholar whose ears and temples were already graying showed a smile for the first time, hugging the little guy and teasing him for a long time.

The arrival of the little guy adds a lot to the ordinary life, and the originally small cabin is even smaller.

Outsiders don't know how much ink the Confucian scholar has in his belly, but he knows that he can write well, and there are not a few people who ask him to write on weekdays.

In the past, Confucian scholars still had their own reservations, and would only help writers write Spring Festival couplets. Other than that, he would not accept anything else.

However, since the birth of the grandson, the consumption of the family has increased sharply, and the house has become smaller and smaller. Sooner or later, the house where the three of them live will need to be expanded.

So the old Confucian scholar gave up that worthless reserve, not only often wrote elegiac couplets for others, but even the epitaph could be written together.

Because the epitaphs written by Confucian scholars are beautiful and magnificent, and they often buy epitaphs to send elegiac couplets, and buy elegiac couplets to send inscriptions.

Such a kind and honest way of buying and selling was quickly recognized by everyone.

As the reputation spread, more and more people asked him to write epitaphs for elegiac couplets, and in the end Baihuo became the main business instead.

Although the Confucian scholar often said that he was a scholar in vain in front of his daughter, the money he earned now, while supporting the three of them, still had some left over, which also diluted his remaining scholarly spirit a lot.

But the good times didn't last long, and God seemed to dislike the Confucian family.

When his grandson was three years old, Confucian scholars looked after the child at home, and Xiu'er went to the street to buy vegetables, planning to give the child a decent birthday.

But once he left, he never came back.

Xiu'er went out at noon, but there was still no one in sight at night.

The Confucian scholar was anxious, so he picked up his grandson and went out to look for it, but when he found the curfew, his voice was full of smoke, and he couldn't find his grandson's mother.

At this time, the streets were already empty, and the Confucian scholars, who knew that something was wrong, rushed to the gate of the government office and beat the drum of grievance.

The magistrate, who had just fallen asleep with his concubine in his arms, was awakened by the sudden drumbeat, cursed and put on his clothes and came to the lobby.

Seeing that the person beating the drum was a Confucian scholar, the magistrate's annoyance at being woken up in the middle of the night suddenly subsided by half, he knew this person.

Last year, the magistrate's old man passed away, and this Confucian scholar in front of him helped to write the elegiac couplet. The magistrate saw that the font was correct and the confrontation was neat, so he asked him to write the epitaph together.

When the magistrate got the epitaph written in teeny lowercase script, his jaw almost dropped in shock. Was it about his dead ghost father who would sneak around the maid's ass?
The Confucian scholars wrote the late old man into a saint comparable to Confucius and Mencius, as if the world would cease to function without this old man who lay in the rocking chair and basked in the sun all day long.

One of the lines, "Benefits in the present age, merits in the future, the loss of Mrs. Liu, we will cry for 300 years" is the finishing touch.

Although Liu Futai was thin-skinned and failed to accept it in the end, the love for incense was finally settled.When he heard that the Confucian scholar's daughter hadn't returned, he quickly ordered his men to search the whole city.

But after working all night, until the next morning, there was still no one alive or dead.

Liu Futai ordered people to send the exhausted Confucian scholar home, and promised that once there was news about Xiu'er, he would be notified as soon as possible.

The Confucian scholar waited at home until the afternoon, and finally he received a piece of news that broke his heart - Xiu'er died.

The corpse was discovered by a fisherman, and was brought up by the fishing net along with the shrimp and crab.

When Confucian scholars rushed to the government office, Xiu'er was already covered by a white cloth, lying flat on the ground with water stains all over her body.

The Confucian scholar who was nearly fifty years old almost fainted.

The mediocre but not fatuous magistrate decided to investigate the matter strictly and invited the best assistant from Linfu to do the autopsy.

……

"My lord, the deceased has no external injuries, has all the money on his body, and there is no trace of intercourse before his death."

"Oh? I didn't die because of money or robbery. Could it be that I didn't fall into the water?"

After working in Liu Futai for so many years, he still has basic common sense, but Wu Zuo's next sentence overturned his inference:

"My lord, there is no accumulation of water in the lungs of the deceased. He should have been killed first and then thrown into the river."

"Since there is no external injury, but was poisoned?"

"The body was probed with a silver needle, and no blackening was seen."

The master, who even the four great god arresters in the capital respected him, answered truthfully.

"..."

Liu Futai was in trouble for a while. To be honest, his own abilities were limited, and he was able to sit where he is today, thanks to a godfather in the court who can talk.

"My lord, you must know something, please tell me."

For a moment, the Confucian scholar, who seemed to have aged a lot, begged Wu Zuo in a low voice. Although he was not involved in officialdom, he was better at observing words and expressions than Liu Futai in front of him. From Wu Zuo's expression, he knew that the other party must be hiding something.

This Wu Zuo, who was at the forefront of the dynasty, was a man of temperament. He had resigned many times because the court was unfair.

"Don't tell others that this is what I said. Although Ling Ai died strangely, based on my experience, she still died from a severe poison. It's just that the poison is unusual. In my opinion, it's probably related to the Tang Sect."

"Tang Sect?!"

Liu Futai almost jumped up.

It stands to reason that a Jianghu sect would not make the dignified court officials react so violently, but as officials in Bashu, they all understand a rule that cannot be put on the bright side, that is, they would rather offend the emperor than offend the Tang sect.

Why?

Offending the emperor, unless it is a serious crime of treason and deceiving the emperor, will never involve the whole family, at most it will be beheaded or distributed.

But offending the Tang Sect is tantamount to exterminating the clan.

It's not that magistrate Liu is timid, it's because there are too many bloody lessons learned from the past.

Living in Bashu, everyone has more or less heard the shocking rumors about Tangmen, Confucian scholars are no exception.

He didn't know how his daughter, who had always been out of the door, offended the Tang Sect. He only knew that his daughter lost her life for nothing this time.

Liu Zhifu also showed embarrassment at the moment. He wiped the sweat off his head, and said politely to the Confucian scholar who was only a commoner:
"Brother Jiang, look at this..."

The Confucian scholar surnamed Jiang looked sad, and shook his head, "Everyone is dead, and I don't want to embarrass the magistrate, so let it be, it's just a pain for the child."

Liu Zhifu immediately breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the words, and hurriedly said:
"Brother Jiang, don't worry, the government office will take care of Xiu'er's funeral, as well as the child, I will help him find a nanny, and I will pay for it."

The next day, news came out from the government office that Xiu'er couldn't bear the humiliation and committed suicide by jumping into the river. The magistrate was furious and threatened to arrest the rumor-monger...

Matchmaker Lu fled out of the city overnight, and everyone in Jialu Mansion was in danger.

I really complied with that sentence: Don't do anything wrong in your life, and don't be surprised when you knock on the door in the middle of the night.

……

Fifteen years later, when the autumnal equinox crabs were fat again, the old Confucian scholar walked out of the city holding three half-price river crabs that he had just bought after grinding his mouth for a long time, and a pot of rice wine in his right hand.

Less than three miles away from the city gate, a secluded small courtyard came into view. There were not many customers here on weekdays. Usually, the old Confucian scholar would buy two river crabs, one for himself and his grandson, and drink as much as he could.

"Old Jiangtou, you are back, and you bought Panhai again?"

A young man was lying on the fence of the small courtyard with a playful smile, stretching his head and looking at the crab in the old Confucian scholar's hand.

Panhai, or Pang Hai, is what Bashu people call crabs. The young man who speaks a standard Bashu accent is not from Bashu.

Seeing the young man, the old Confucian scholar had a rare smile on his face and asked:

"Why don't you come in, Xiucheng isn't here?"

"Don't mention it, it's not like you don't know that I'm on the wrong track with that guy, and after reading a few books, I feel sour.

If scholars were like this, wouldn't the homes of those great scholars in the capital smell as bad as vinegar vats?If you want me to say, it's still possible for the two of us to chat together. "

While talking, the young man stepped forward to take the rice wine from the old Confucian scholar's hand, unceremoniously opened the cork and took a sip.

"Sip it down, drink it up in a while, don't even think about eating drunk crabs today."

"Don't pretend that I don't know, there are still several jars of good wine buried in your yard."

The young man said so, but still put the stopper on very honestly.

"How did you know?"

The old Confucian scholar showed surprise on his face, it was all on the tip of his heart, and he planned to save it for later when his grandson got married.

The young man pointed to his nose, "I'm not talented, people in the Jianghu call it the God Howling Dog."

"As long as you are still a dog, I think it is not as good as my Ah Huang."

At this time, a cold voice came from the room, and then a young man in a white gown came out of the room.

……

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