Chapter 76 The horsemen are dead, who will recognize you?
Everyone spent the night in the post station. Song Jin was drunk and did not see the dancing fireflies. Ji Shubai and Qingshan carried him back to his room.
She slept very deeply that night.
Early the next morning, everyone set out for the county government office. Although Ji Shubai did not arrange anyone to notify them, the post station secretly sent someone to inform them. So when everyone arrived, the county magistrate was already waiting at the gate of the county government office with all the officials.
Song Jin was still drunk and followed behind in a daze, following wherever Ji Shubai went. Until Ji Shubai turned around, she almost bumped into him.
Ji Shubai looked down at Song Jin. Song Jin just kept looking at the pair of feet in front of her. She didn't move until the feet moved. She stood there for a long while before she realized that she should turn around.
I turned around in a daze and stood in front of Ji Shubai, then I heard a sigh from behind.
"Qingshan, go to the government office first to make arrangements. You don't need to come with us."
Before Song Jin could react, someone grabbed her arm and dragged her away. When she came to, it was already noon.
She walked out of the door, complaining about the bad wine she had drunk yesterday, and looking for someone. As a result, Qingshan saw her first.
"Are you awake?"
Song Jin rubbed his eyes: "I'm hungry."
"Hey, you sleep so much. I'll take you to eat."
Song Jin stretched out his arms and followed: "I drank too much yesterday."
"What's more?" Qingshan pointed out, "You only drank half a pot of wine and you're already dizzy."
"What? Half a pot?"
"What else?"
Song Jin's mind shuddered. Was the wine from Daming so strong? Or was it the wine from last night? She used to be able to drink a lot.
Song Jin thought for a long time and came up with a reason. Mancao's body couldn't tolerate alcohol, unlike Song Jin, who had trained herself to do so after drinking at the table over and over again.
I have to be more restrained when drinking in the future.
Song Jin and Qingshan were eating and chatting in the kitchen. Ji Shubai had gone out a long time ago at this hour, and Qingshan was left behind because he was afraid that Song Jin would run around again. Besides, she was still hungover, so he was afraid that she would cause trouble.
Song Jin rolled his eyes at him and said, "I'm a good drinker, I'll just take a nap at most."
Qingshan snorted: "I don't think so."
Song Jin ignored him: "Aren't you going to accompany me? Then let's go horseback riding. Your parents asked you to teach me how to ride a horse."
"Okay, I'll take you there. I happen to be free."
Qingshan was idle. He had been following Ji Shubai since he could remember, from a young scholar to a fifth-rank official. He had to wait until Ji Shubai stopped.
It just so happened that today, his master went out without him and asked him to take Song Jin out to play. Isn't it a rare opportunity for him to have some free time?
After dinner, Qingshan led Song Jin to the stable, and under the guise of Ji Shubai, he led out two horses, one tall and one shorter.
Qingshan stuffed a rein into Song Jin's hand and said, "Here, the short one is yours."
"Why should the short one belong to me?"
Qingshan said with a smile: "Can you ride? You need a tall horse and you won't be afraid of falling off."
Song Jin looked at the horse whose back was taller than his head. He stopped being stubborn. It would not be fun if he fell. He obediently led the pony and followed him.
The two of them led the horses out of the yamen. Song Jin saw that the heat of the Dragon Boat Festival had not yet passed on the streets, and there were people everywhere. She dared not ride anymore, for fear of stepping on people.
But Qingshan wanted her to get on the horse.
"What if the horse runs away?"
"Why are you panicking? I'm here."
Qingshan asked Song Jin to step on the stone and mount the horse without any explanation: "We have to go to the suburbs to ride horses. If we lead them, it will be dark before we leave the city gate."
Song Jin had no choice but to obey, but the reins were handed to Qingshan. He rode one horse and led the other. Song Jin just sat firmly, and the two of them went all the way out of the city.
Sitting on horseback is not a very comfortable thing. Not to mention whether the Ming Dynasty saddle is as comfortable as the modern one, Song Jin has never used it anyway. The important thing is that she is a little scared.
With such a big beast under her butt, if it got angry or jumped around a little, her soul would fly away.
So she sat on the horse, holding on to the saddle with both hands and staring at the horse's neck, afraid that it would suddenly jump up, not to mention looking at the streetscape, and she endured like this until she left the city.
When the two of them left the city gate, the number of pedestrians on the road did not decrease, especially at the city gate, which was extremely busy.
Song Jin looked up and saw mountains looming in the distance, and the rice fields nearby were lush green. The rice ears had not yet formed, and it was still the flowering period. If there was a heavy rainstorm at this time, it would really affect the harvest.
When thinking of this, Song Jin couldn't help but look up at the sky. Fortunately, the sky was blue and there was no sign of rain.
"Hold it steady."
Qingshan shouted in front, and Song Jin reflexively clamped his legs together and grabbed the saddle with both hands, fearing that he would be thrown off.
Qingshan slowly and leisurely squeezed the horse's belly and shouted, and the horse raised its legs and started to trot slowly. The horse that Song Jin was sitting on also started to trot.
The horse riding process was not very smooth. Song Jin lowered her body, making sure she would not fall off. At the same time, she was thinking about the medical conditions in the Ming Dynasty. She did not want to meet a witch doctor or drink some magic water, so she listened to Qingshan's words obediently and did not dare to make any unnecessary movements.
When they got to the back, Song Jin felt that her thighs were almost stiff, and she kept calling Qingshan to let her rest. When the people got off the horse, she felt that her legs no longer belonged to her.
Song Jin couldn't walk smoothly and sat on the ground with his legs twisted in embarrassment, his posture was very strange.
Qingshan had experienced this before, so he smiled as soon as he saw it.
"You still don't ride enough. Some express deliverymen take a whole day to ride and dare not rest at all. How long have you been riding?"
“How long have I been studying?”
Qingshan smiled, tied the two horses to a willow tree, took off the bag and handed it to Song Jin.
"Would you like some water?"
Song Jin took it and drank two sips before asking him, "Isn't your master from Changzhou County? In Suzhou, sedan chairs are mostly used. How come you can ride horses?"
Qingshan said, "I didn't know how to ride it at first. Later, my master went to Beijing to take the imperial examination. After passing the examination, he stayed in Beijing. At that time, let alone a sedan chair, a mule was good enough. Later, it was Master Chai who helped me buy two horses, and I learned to ride with my master. That's why I know how to ride it."
"Your master has a very good relationship with Mr. Chai."
Song Jin asked intentionally or unintentionally, but Qingshan was the same character as his master, extremely tight-lipped, and only said "hmm" to show his agreement.
Song Jin had no choice but to ask again: "How did they know each other?"
Qing Shan then answered, "Actually, I don't know either. They already knew each other when I was following my master. They were in the same school and became familiar with each other."
"Mixed?" Song Jin couldn't use this word to describe Ji Shubai, and sure enough, Qingshan also noticed it.
"Hehe, it must be Mr. Chai who insisted on dragging my master to play together."
"Why?"
"Why else? He is good-looking, good at studying, and the teacher praises him and asks him to learn from him. Isn't that what Mr. Chai did? He dragged him home after school, saying that he wanted to study together."
Song Jin looked at a rice field, thinking about how Ji Shubai, who was still a teenager, was dragged into his home by the fat boy Chai Heng, under the pretext of studying...
"Are you really going to learn it?" Song Jin didn't quite believe it.
"He also learns, and plays while learning. It's mainly Master Chai who plays, and my master learns. But with my master around, Master Chai won't scold him, so he likes to drag my master to his house."
"Will the Ji family agree?" Song Jin took a detour to inquire.
"I didn't agree at first, saying it would disturb others, but later on, I agreed."
"Why?"
Qingshan looked into the distance, thought for a moment, and then said, "It's said that he was going to study, which would disturb others, but in fact, after my master arrived at the Chai family, the Chai family served him very well. They treated him well and treated him just like his own son. Even when the master of the Chai family wanted to ask about Mr. Chai's homework, he asked my master because he told the truth."
Hearing this, Song Jin wanted to laugh, but felt it was inappropriate, so he forced himself to hold it back.
Qingshan continued: "The Chai family is rich and powerful, so they don't care about having more pairs of chopsticks. When my master studies at the Chai family at night, the candlelight is brighter than at home. Every time he stays there until late at night, the Chai family will arrange for a sedan chair to be sent back. During festivals, they also give him two pounds of meat. If Mr. Chai grows taller and fatter and needs new clothes, my master will always have a portion."
Song Jin bit his fingernails, feeling inexplicably sad.
"Then will your master accept it?"
Who doesn’t have some backbone when they are young?
"Well, at first he definitely refused to accept him, but later on, Mr. Chai cried and rolled on the ground saying that he despised him, so I had no choice but to accept him."
Song Jin wanted to laugh, but Qingshan's next words made it difficult for her to laugh.
"Actually, everyone can see that the Chai family just wants to take care of my master, but my wife keeps making excuses, so they have no choice but to let Mr. Chai, who is still a child, come. Two pounds of meat is not enough for a meal for the Chai family, but it is different for my master."
Song Jin frowned and asked, "But isn't Mr. Ji's father the Admiral of the Sea Road? This is a high position."
When Qingshan heard this, he did not answer her immediately. Instead, he grabbed a stone nearby and threw it fiercely, his tone also becoming fierce:
"It's a different time now, now that everyone is dead, who will recognize you? Not to mention outsiders, even your own family members want to step on you."
"What happened next? Where's the lady?"
After hearing this, Qing Shan suddenly turned around and looked at Song Jin, and said coldly: "Don't ask my master about this. He will definitely get angry if he hears it."
Song Jin was startled by Qingshan's sudden change of attitude and nodded repeatedly.
Qingshan ignored her and turned to lead the horse. Song Jin followed behind and asked in a low voice: "Can't we talk about what happened later?"
"Dead." Qingshan said without turning his head: "My wife died when my master was sixteen years old."
Song Jin didn't know how to continue. No matter how stupid he was, he should know that this was not a pleasant topic.
While she was stunned, Qingshan had already climbed onto the horse: "My master has never met the admiral."
In just two simple sentences, Ji Shubai's relationship with his parents was made clear: the father and son had no chance to meet, his mother died when he was sixteen, and the relationship between the clan members was not close. She didn't dare to ask for the specific reasons.
But she really didn't want to.
People are like this, when curiosity arises, they have countless questions.
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