Southerners

Xiuniang was originally the dowry maid of Song Zhi's mother, Li Hansu, and grew up with Li Hansu as sisters. After Li Hansu married into the Song family, the two became closer.

Six years ago, the Mongols invaded Tongling. Song Zhi's father was the prefect of Tongling, a civil servant, but he refused to abandon the city and flee. He only arranged for chariots and horses to send his wife out of the city.

Xiuniang was arranged to flee everywhere with Li Hansu, until four years ago, when Li Hansu died at the hands of the Mongols, all of Xiuniang’s family members and close people died at the hands of the Mongols, and she was also defiled by the Mongols. Her hatred of the Mongols reached an irreconcilable level.

Song Zhidao: "Xiu Niang, I have to help with Uncle Bai's funeral."

Only then did Xiuniang come back to her senses, she nodded and said, "This is what it should be." Both Bai Azhu and Bai Man'er are women, so it's inconvenient to come forward in such a matter.

Xiu Niang said again: "In the future, the life of the mother and daughter will be even more difficult. Let's take care of it."

Song Zhiying is.

Bai Chongliu is an actor, and earns some money to subsidize his family by working in the barnyard. Bai Azhu, like Xiuniang, occasionally works as a female celebrity, barely enough to make ends meet.Bai Man'er was still young, so she couldn't show up to be an actress like Bai Chongliu, so she could only follow her mother to become a female celebrity.

I just feel sorry for their orphans and widowed mothers, who once lost their support.

Song Zhi took out a small purse from her bosom, which contained ten taels of silver, and handed it to Xiuniang.

After Song Zhi moved out from Zhang's house, Zhang Hui cherished her talents and still didn't want to completely ignore the two, so she made an appointment with Song Zhi, willing to buy Song Zhi's calligraphy and paintings, so that Song Zhi could subsidize her family.

Xiu Niang took the money, and the corners of her lips curled indistinctly: "It's Zhongqiu, it's time to add a jacket to the young master."

Song Zhi only had two cloth robes in total, which she wore in summer, but now that the weather is cold, she needs to add a jacket.

Song Zhi hurriedly said: "Xiuniang, no need! You might as well buy yourself some tonics to nourish your body." Xiuniang's health has not been very good since Jingyan two years ago.

Xiu Niang shook her head.

Xiuniang always cared about Zhang Hui's identity, he was a Han who had been demoted to the Yuan Dynasty, so she always refused to accept his favor and never spent Zhang Hui's money.

Song Zhidao: "Xiu Niang, I earned this money by my ability, and it is not Mr. Zhang's. Why do you have to make trouble with your own body?"

"What's more, what's the purpose of adding that jacket? I can wear this one." Song Zhi pointed to the armor and sash on her body.

Xiu Niang said: "Nonsense. You are a scholar, you dress like a peddler all day long, how decent are you!"

Song Zhidao: "Where did the scholar come from? Now the imperial examinations are abolished."

After Song Zhi finished speaking, she knew that she had said the wrong thing, her heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly said, "Xiu Niang is hungry, I'll cook for you!"

When Xiu Niang heard this, her brows stood upright: "The gentleman is far away from the kitchen!"

Song Zhi had already run into the kitchen.

Xiuniang sighed softly, knowing that Song Zhi regarded her as a half-mother and was filial to her, so she couldn't vent her anger.

After the two had eaten, Xiu Niang filled some food and took it to the Bai family next door, knocked on the door and said, "Ah Zhu, open the door."

Bai Azhu has a close relationship with Xiuniang, and came to open the door not long after.When Xiu Niang saw her, she was startled.

Bai Man'er is only 13 years old, and Bai Azhu is not too old. The burden of life has made her look older than ordinary people, but she is not as haggard as she is now. Her eyes are red and bloodshot, crying I almost lost my breath.

Seeing her, Bai Azhu nodded, then turned and entered the room.

Xiu Niang followed her in, and said softly, "Man'er hasn't eaten yet, right? I'll give her some food, she's too young to be hungry."

Xiuniang's words really touched Bai Azhu's heart, she knew that if there was no Bai Man'er, Bai Azhu would have followed Bai Chongliu by now, so she said this on purpose to make Bai Azhu think about it daughter.

Bai A'Zhu's nose was sour, and she shed tears: "Thank you, Xiu Niang."

Xiu Niang quickly handed her a handkerchief, and wiped her tears: "Say these kind words!" Xiu Niang helped Bai Azhu into the room, put the food on the table, and greeted Bai Man'er: "Man'er, Auntie! I brought you something to eat, are you hungry?"

Bai Man'er couldn't cry anymore, her eyes were swollen, she hiccupped and said, "I, I'm not hungry."

"I miss Daddy..."

Xiuniang's eyes became hot, and she stepped forward to hold Bai Man'er in her arms, wiped her tears, and said, "How can you not be hungry? If your father knows that you don't eat, he will annoy you again. Be good, eat as much as you want." a little."

Bai Man'er looked at her aggrievedly. After all, she was a child from a poor family. She was sensible. After hearing this, she moved over and sat on the small bench, and began to eat.

Seeing her so well-behaved, Bai Azhu felt sad again.

Xiu Niang said: "Ah Zhu, Xiu Niang will help you raise Man'er together, don't do anything stupid."

"Think about it, I brought the young master back then, didn't I come here too? There is no hurdle that cannot be overcome, the key is you... Man'er's father loves her so much, and he definitely hopes that she will grow up safely."

Xiu Niang asked again: "Have you notified Brother Bai?"

Bai Chongliu also has an older brother who is a butcher. His original name was Bai Erjiu, but he later gave himself a nice name, Zhongfu.This Bai Zhongfu claimed to be a lucky person, and he always looked down on his younger brother, thinking that Bai Chongliu was acting alone, ruining their Bai family's lintel.Except for the holidays, the two brothers usually do not communicate with each other.

Bai Azhu said: "Not yet."

Xiu Niang said: "Brothers still have to talk about it, after all, they have to handle the funeral. If you need it here, you can speak up at any time, and I will let the young master run errands for you."

Bai Chongliu's funeral cannot be delayed, because counting the days, Shizu will return from Shangdu in the near future, and Shizu's return to Beijing is a big event, if it is delayed after that, Bai Chongliu's bones will probably rot.

So Xiuniang made the decision and asked Song Zhi to go to Bai Zhongfu's house.When Bai Zhongfu learned that his younger brother was gone, he didn't feel sad, maybe he wanted to say hello secretly, and immediately called a few people to Bai Azhu's house to carry Bai Chongliu's body back.

Xiuniang couldn't bear to see Bai Chongliu's funeral was too shabby, so she paid a few taels of silver out of her own pocket and asked Bai Zhongfu to order a better coffin.As for the 100 taels of silver that Lian Shen compensated, Xiu Niang asked Bai Azhu to hide it, so as not to be coveted by Bai Zhongfu.

On the day of the funeral, Song Zhi also went with her.The ancestral grave of the Bai family was in the eastern suburb outside Chongren Gate, the eastern suburb was sparsely populated, the funeral procession was full of gongs and drums, Bai Azhu and Bai Man'er almost fainted from crying, Bai Zhongfu cried a few times in a hypocritical way to avoid gossip.

After the funeral, the deceased will do Buddhist rituals every seven days, seven times in succession until the 49th day, which is called tired seven.Bai Zhongfu didn't want to pay the money, so Song Zhi made a painting and sent it to Zhang Hui's mansion, exchanged a few taels of silver, and gave it to Bai's mother and daughter, and Bai Zhongfu finished the Buddhist work willingly.

But when Bai Chongliu's bones were still cold, Bai Zhongfu pointed the finger at the orphan and widow.Bai Ajun had some flair, and Bai Man'er was even more beautiful. Bai Zhongfu intentionally wanted to make raw rice and cook mature rice, make Bai Arjuna his concubine, and then sell Bai Man'er to Goulan wine shop.

Unexpectedly, Bai Azhu's temper was so fierce that he bumped his head against the edge of the bed, and almost killed him. Bai Zhongfu was frightened by her, and Song Zhi frightened him with Dayuan's laws, so Bai Zhongfu stopped his thoughts and sent The mother and daughter let themselves go, no longer caring about their lives.

Afterwards, the two kept their filial piety behind closed doors and seldom went out again.

Soon after the funeral, Shizu returned to Beijing.The officials staying in Dadu met at Jiandemen and Lizhengmen respectively, set up tea and dinner, and counted the days until the ancestors came to Beijing.

When the dignitaries of the imperial court gather, the ancestors of the second generation also gather.

In the leap month of August, Jiachen, Lian Shen took the lead in hosting a banquet at Lian's mansion, and invited five or six second generation ancestors.There are Zhang Chengyi, the eldest grandson of Zhongshu Youcheng Zhang Hui, Meng Gutai, the grandson of Pingzhang Zhengshi Ahema, Hao Yan, the nephew of Zhongshu Zuocheng Hao Zhen, and the lost youngest son Yasu who participated in Zhizhengshiye. A few that Meng Huan was not very familiar with.

As soon as Meng Huan entered the room, he almost withdrew from Lian's residence when he saw Meng Gutai and others. He had the closest relationship with Lian Shen, and whispered to Lian Shen, "Why did you call them?"

Lian Shen wanted to cry but said without tears: "It wasn't me...Meng Gutai wanted to come, I can't take his face off."

Ahema, Zhang Hui, and Hao Zhen were all fighting together in the court, and Boyan never liked it.Meng Huan is from Boyan, so naturally he doesn't have a good look at Ahema's people, especially Meng Gutai, who always has a fake smile on his face, which is very disgusting.

The corner of Meng Huan's mouth twitched, at this time Meng Gutai had already spoken: "Hazier, why didn't you say hello when you saw me?"

The corners of Meng Huan's mouth twitched, he forced a smile, and said perfunctorily, "Long time no see, Meng Gutai."

Lian Shen said in a low voice: "If you really don't want to see him, you can find an excuse and leave first."

Meng Huan said: "No need, it's okay to endure for a while." Lian Shen was the host, he left with an excuse, it was too disrespectful to Lian Shen.

Meng Gutai said: "I heard that you were injured in the Japanese expedition with General Asahan and General Fan. I wonder if you have recovered now?"

Meng Huan said: "Thank you for your concern, I have already recovered."

"I just don't know how General Xindu is doing these days?"

Xin Du Meng Gutai's Ah Buhe, that is, his uncle, lost because of fighting for merit and greed for life and fear of death when he fought against the Japanese army in Kashima.

The smile on Meng Gutai's face suddenly stopped.

Lian Shen hurriedly came to smooth things over: "It's rare to get together, you two don't say a word, come, drink!" As soon as Lian Shen raised his glass, no one dared to disrespect him.

Everyone toasted and drank it all in one gulp, and the atmosphere of the party eased down.

Meng Huan was closer to Yasu, so he talked to him more during the dinner.Meng Gutai didn't know which muscle was wrong. He was talking to Zhang Chengyi and the others, and he had to get in the way of Meng Huan from time to time.

I just heard Zhang Chengyi say: "Your Majesty will return to Beijing in a few days, my grandfather ordered me not to just focus on having fun, and said that he would ask for an official job for me. Alas, it is really hard for me!"

Meng Gutai had already worked at Yushitai, and he said with a smile: "What's so hard about it, when you become a job, you will naturally know the benefits!"

Among them, apart from Zhang Chengyi, Yasu hadn't officially entered the official position yet, but had followed Brother Ai Chi to the battlefield once.

Yasu said: "What's the advantage of being an errand? It's better to put on armor and go to battle! That's the prestige!"

Zhang Chengyi said: "Why do you all like to become officials?"

Hao Yan smiled and said, "Who doesn't like being an official?"

Zhang Chengyi said: "There really are!"

Lian Shen wondered: "Oh? Who is it, tell me?"

Zhang Chengyi smiled, took a sip of the wine from the jade cup, and said, "This man is a Han Chinese rescued by my grandfather back then. His surname is Song, his name is Zhi, and his style name is Zilan."

The author has something to say:

Note: ⑴The emperor of the Yuan Dynasty set off for Shangdu in February every year, and returned to Dadu in September. He stayed in Shangdu for half a year. In the 18th year of the Yuan Dynasty, it was the leap month of August in 1281, and there were two Augusts.

⑵ The fourth son of Ahema is called Xindu, but there were many Xindus in the Yuan Dynasty, for example, Lian Xixian was also called Xindu... I can’t tell the difference. I don’t know if it was Meng Gutai’s uncle who went to Japan. Take a look, don't be serious