48 Mysterious Plants
◎Do you want to change clothes?◎
Lin'an City, Lu Family.
Lu Fei stood at the table, holding a pen, but deep in thought.
On the rice paper under his hand, there is a girl painted in a lotus-colored short shirt and a sky-blue three-pleated skirt.
Her hair was tied in a bun, and a pair of golden lilac pendants gleamed in the sunlight. A smile played at the corners of her mouth, but her eyes were downcast, like a bodhisattva with lowered brows.
Lu Fei was skilled in painting, and his figure paintings could be sold for two hundred taels of silver each.
A few days ago, in order to rescue his eldest brother, he raised money and painted a lot of paintings. However, whenever he painted her, he always didn't know how to paint those eyes.
Yes, he changed, and she changed too.
As he was lost in thought, the ink he had dipped in the painting dripped down, spreading out at the corners of the eyes of the person in the painting, forming a ball of ink.
The painting was ruined, so Lu Fei crumpled it up and threw it into the trash can. Inside, there was already a pile of paper balls.
Madam Lu came in with a few scrolls, a smile on her face:
"Erlang, come and look at these portraits. You are now a fourth-rank official, and many matchmakers come to your house. This one is the eldest daughter of the Hu family in Jinliu Lane. Her brother is the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, and this one is..."
Lu Fei didn't even glance at it. He spread out another piece of rice paper, drew a bamboo painting with a few strokes, and said coldly:
"I've already been married once. Now, there's no rush. I should start my career first."
The smile on Madam Lu's face slowly faded. "Nonsense! When it comes to building a family and a career, you should always start with a family and then build a career. Don't you even understand this?"
But Lu Fei has been a man of few words since he was a child. When he is silent, he is like a saw-mouthed gourd, and no one can make him speak.
His mother chattered for a while, but he just concentrated on painting his ink bamboo.
Madam Lu always had the final say in the Lu family. Widowed in middle age, she painstakingly raised two sons, married them to obedient daughters-in-law, and gave birth to two grandsons...
Lu Fei had been indifferent to her these past few days. Besides the Jiang family, what other reason was there?!
She said with a stern face, "Are you still thinking about that guy named Jiang?"
Lu Fei paused, put the brush on the pen holder, took a deep breath, and then slowly said:
"Mother, Lord Jiang was my mentor. Not only did I fail to collect his body, I couldn't even protect the people he entrusted to me. How could I even have the heart to marry? I've done my best for the Lu family, but I've failed the Jiang family."
"The Lu family has my brother's two nephews to carry on the family line, which is enough. I have made up my mind to observe three years of mourning for my master. Mother, please don't try to test me with other people's daughters again."
Madam Lu almost vomited blood.
The most people in the world observe is three years of mourning for their parents. She's not even dead yet, and her own son has to observe mourning for someone else?! Her fingers trembled as she pointed at him, "You...you evil creature, are you trying to piss me off to death?"
Lu Yun heard the noise in the room and walked in.
The Lu family spent all their wealth to rescue him, but he had already been demoted to a commoner.
He hurriedly supported his mother, and comforted her with soft words for a while, then sighed and said to Lu Fei: "Erlang, it is your brother who has let you down."
He is only twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, but he has been worried so much these days that he has some white hair on his temples.
In the Tanzhou Pearl corruption case, his actions weren't excessive. Officials protecting one another is a common occurrence.
His mistake was that he did not see through the true face of his smiling tiger boss and fell into his trap, which led to the Lu family being forced to break with the Jiang family.
Lu Fei raised his eyes and looked at Lu Yun.
He couldn't really blame him. In the political maelstrom, there's often no right or wrong, only win or lose. They lost.
"Brother, there's no need to say that. If I were you, I wouldn't necessarily be able to do better. My last name is Lu, and I know exactly what to do."
"I feel so sorry for the Jiang family. I have made up my mind on this matter. I also ask my brother to persuade mother."
After he said that, he didn't even look at Mrs. Lu, and walked out of the room.
Lu Yun looked at the pile of paper balls in the trash can and sighed in his heart.
——
Wang Huiniang and Xue Qi agreed to set off back to Lin'an in the afternoon.
Jiang Qinglan felt something was wrong, but couldn't tell why, so he had to agree.
They had collected the radishes and cabbages, but they still needed some duck eggs. Muramasa also notified several families living farther away and waited for them to deliver the eggs.
Jiang Qinglan then said, "Shall we go walk around the fields again?"
Wang Hui Niang: "The ground is so muddy, how can it get better? It's better to lie down at home."
Jiang Qinglan laughed at her for being lazy, but she had something on her mind.
Yesterday, while washing her hands by the river, she seemed to see a familiar plant in the mustard field. However, she later forgot about it when she ran into Xie Linchuan.
He left now, and she would look for him again before she felt at ease.
Another example is: green mountains loom in the distance, and the water stretches far away; autumn ends, but the grass in the south of the Yangtze River remains unwithered. [1] Natural scenery is enough to cultivate one’s sentiments.
She had seen too much steel and concrete in her previous life, and she had always lived in Lin'an City in this life, so she had few opportunities to get close to nature.
Seeing her persuasion was ineffective, Wang Huiniang said, "Go ahead and walk around, but don't stray too far. Although the village chief has given us a heads-up, so there won't be any bad guys, there are bound to be stray dogs and the like."
She was silent for a moment, then added, "As for me, I'm going to go burn some paper money for my husband."
The two parted ways.
Jiang Qinglan followed the same route as yesterday to the river. He stepped into the mustard field, lowered his head, bent over, and searched carefully.
However, nothing was found.
She was a little frustrated. Could it be that she was really seeing things? She had been bent over for too long, and when she stood up suddenly, her vision went black.
When I looked more closely, that person appeared out of nowhere again.
He said with a playful smile: "Why are you collecting so many cabbages and radishes?"
Jiang Qinglan rolled his eyes and said unhappily, "Of course, pickles are good for the winter. How could Master Xie understand such things?"
"Who says I don't understand?" Xie Linchuan said with a smile, "When marching to war, food and fodder come first. The army needs to prepare a large amount of salted vegetables and pickled melons and tomatoes, which are what you call pickles."
"These things are durable, portable, and contain salt, making them an important part of the soldiers' diet. Winter is cold, and vegetable production decreases, so you need to make pickles to survive the winter."
Jiang Qinglan then looked at him. He remembered that summer when he was reading Taibai Yinjing in the Xinghua Restaurant.
Although he was a dandy, he was still ambitious. She thought so in her heart, but she couldn't help but sarcastically said to him, "It's just empty talk."
Xie Linchuan changed his good temper of the past few days and became serious: "You don't even mention it on paper. Are you only coming here when the enemy is at the gate? Are you like the ministers in the court, ashamed to talk about war and ashamed to practice martial arts? The Liao Kingdom is watching covetously. There will be disaster within three years."
Jiang Qinglan was shocked when he heard this.
The historical facts of this dynasty are somewhat similar to those of the Song Dynasty, but not in some ways. She has always been very worried that she will encounter the Jingkang Shame or the Mongol conquest of the Song Dynasty.
But as a business woman in the market, she has some ways of understanding the power situation.
Since he had said that, she asked, "So, do we win or lose?"
Xie Linchuan's expression was serious: "If your father hadn't died, there would still be hope. Given the current situation, our dynasty is doomed to fail!"
Jiang Qinglan was startled, then listened to him slowly say: "During the Northern Expedition during the Jiande period, Lord Jiang was a minor official under the Zhuozhou Transport Commissioner."
"The Liao army cut off our supply lines, and our civil and military officers held each other back, resulting in new food not arriving for over a month. Ultimately, we suffered a crushing defeat at Qigou Pass."
"Lord Jiang experienced this disaster firsthand. Although he later entered the court through the imperial examination and became a member of the civil service, he pointed out the drawbacks of using civil officials to control the military and spoke on behalf of the military. There is no one like him in the court."
After hearing this, Jiang Qinglan sighed for Jiang Yuan, but on the other hand, he felt relieved.
The Northern Expedition that Xie Linchuan mentioned was the Yongxi Northern Expedition of Emperor Taizong of the Northern Song Dynasty in history.
After the defeat, the Northern Song and Liao fought for several years, with both sides winning and losing. It was not until the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song that the Treaty of Tanyuan was signed, which maintained peace between the two countries for a hundred years.
If events had unfolded according to historical processes, she would not have encountered a major war during her lifetime. However, as Jiang Yuan and Xie Linchuan had said, using civil power to control military power was a major disaster, ultimately leading to the Jingkang Incident.
She then asked, "Then...what is the Crown Prince and the Third Prince's attitude towards my father's death?"
She remembered very clearly that after Emperor Taizong of Song, the third prince Zhenzong succeeded to the throne. The eldest prince became mentally ill and was demoted to a commoner.
But historically, the Song Dynasty's national policy was to emphasize culture over military power, and Emperor Zhenzong was no exception.
Xie Linchuan suddenly became alert: "Are you trying to trick me?"
That malicious smile appeared on his face again. After a pause, he said:
"They are both scheming people. Palace secrets are treacherous and complex. You are a little girl, so it's best not to pry into them."
"Just remember that I'm on the same team with Lord Jiang."
He found out. Jiang Qinglan gave up the idea of finding out the news.
She was also annoyed by his frivolous smile, so she crossed her arms and bowed, "Thank you for your advice." She then walked forward.
At that time, the autumn wind was gentle and the sun was soft.
Xie Linchuan walked side by side with her and noticed that the setting sun stretched their shadows very long, so he moved a little to the left so that their shadows overlapped.
Jiang Qinglan was silently thinking about his own things. When he saw the shadow, he frowned slightly and moved a little to the left without saying a word.
But when she moved, he moved again, so she had to continue moving to the left.
Xie Linchuan considered: "Do you want to..."
"No!" Jiang Qinglan thought he was going to talk about changing clothes again, and was so ashamed and angry that he interrupted him quickly.
Xie Linchuan smiled faintly: "Why are you so excited? I want to ask if you can stand closer. If you move any further, you'll fall into the ditch."
Jiang Qinglan didn't want to pay attention to him. He lowered his eyes and stared at a clump of weeds in the field in a trance.
But the soil under her feet was loose and the ridge of the field collapsed. She stumbled to the left and really fell into the ditch!
For a moment, she felt dizzy and her mouth and nose were filled with the smell of earth. She seemed to hear someone shouting, but she was confused and couldn't hear it clearly.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself lying in a mustard field.
The dew hidden in the broad leaves dripped down her clothes into her neck, giving her a start and waking her up instantly.
Several weeds with oval leaves were swaying in the wind, swaying in front of her eyes.
Jiang Qinglan's heart trembled, his eyes widened, and he grabbed the weed fiercely.
【Author’s words】
[1] Du Mu, “Letter to Judge Han Chuo of Yangzhou”
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