Legacy of the old dynasty

When the first snow fell in winter, the old man couldn't stand it anymore.

A thick layer of snow fell in the Baihe Garden, and the sky was covered with white.All the lanterns were replaced, and the vermilion pillars were wrapped with curtains.The family members should be plain, and white candles are lit from night to dawn.Wu Xie's father came back earlier, and the third uncle didn't come back until the first seven days.As soon as I entered the mourning hall, I saw a black coffin under the green cloth curtain.The fine ebony wood glowed coldly under the lamp.It was as if all the strength had been sucked out of the person at once.

Wu Sansheng cried bitterly.The family members came up to persuade them again, it was originally a joyous funeral, don't cry to the point of breaking your body, the old man's spirit in heaven will not live in peace, at this point, the persuading people also cried.

Wu Xie's expression was always numb, and he didn't shed a single tear on the day of the funeral.He slowly had some experience.Zhuangzi also said, "Together is life, and to be scattered is death." Death and life are relative. Perhaps death is not the end, but another beginning. This may not be a bad thing.Thinking of this made him feel better.

Until March [-]th, the family eats at the same table.It is rare for the three brothers to get together, and there are some things that they would not dare to say on weekdays, but they can be said today.After talking about some official experience, the topic turned to interesting stories about the three of them when they were young.Everyone laughed at the end.

Wu Xie also fell on the table, her shoulders twitching.Everyone thought he was laughing, but when they stood up they saw tears all over his face.

He finally realized that grandpa would never come back.

On the night of the [-]th, it was customary for the Wu family to worship their ancestors.

A large brazier was placed at the entrance of the ancestral hall, and inside it hung two rows of ancestor statues along the wall.The people in the painting have no expressions at all, and the clothes are similar, and they stare blankly ahead.There is a row of memorial tablets in the middle, clear smoke curls from the incense burner, and a pair of red candles are lit on both sides.

Tributes are placed on the table in the middle.Among them is a big pig's head, two big fish, and a chicken; the meat is cut into squares and neatly stacked; a plate of rice cakes with a red seal in the middle; five bowls of vegetables, tofu, fungus, mushrooms, and rice stems , lotus root; five-color dim sum, mung bean cake, persimmon cake, red date cake, glutinous rice dumpling, walnut cake.In addition, there are all kinds of fruits, which are full of a table.

The Wu family was not considered prosperous, so in a spacious ancestral hall, the four of them had to kneel and kowtow there. Seeing this scene, Wu Xie's mother inevitably frowned at the thought of marrying Wu Xie.

After the worship, it was burning paper money again.All kinds of paper bundles, gold and silver ingots were prepared early, and they were all thrown into the fire.The flames blazed up all of a sudden.Wu Xie was a little happier now.The fire scorched his face, hot.Wang Meng had been waiting on the sidelines for a long time with a firecracker in his hand, and when he saw that he was done, he rushed over to tell him to set off the cannon.

The two of them went out of the gate, which is not often opened on weekdays, but today there is no taboo.The streets are very lively, adults and children are everywhere setting off firecrackers, and they are ringing everywhere.After a while, the third uncle also came out, holding a firecracker in his hand, and asked Wu Xie to light it.After igniting, flick your hand, and the cannon will fly out.

Wu Xie also wanted to come when he saw him, and the more his third uncle refused, the more he wanted it, urging Wang Meng to give him some letters.How could Wang Meng dare to hide far away.The third uncle saw that he didn't listen, so he didn't care about him anymore, and stood aside with his arms folded, as if he was watching a joke.Wu Xie's stubborn strength came up, so he simply ordered it himself.However, this letter is still short, and the incense burns "squeaky" as soon as it touches it.He threw it hastily, and as soon as he left his hand, the cannon went off in the air.

Although it couldn't be seen on his face, there was still a layer of cold sweat on his body.

In any case, the Chinese New Year is still happy.After eating on New Year's Eve and watching the new year, Wu Xie's father and mother went to bed early, the second uncle is a person who has no airs, the third uncle has just returned home, and he is surrounded by old slaves who grew up together, so naturally there is something to say Endless words.

Wu Xie nestled on the couch, and the nurse peeled peanuts for him to eat.You don't need to pick it up with your hands, you close your eyes and open your mouth to ask the nanny to feed you.Wang Meng came in and went out to get fruit plates, arrange melon seeds, and pass out snacks. Seeing that his own mother doted on Wu Xie, he would inevitably go up to share a piece of the pie. The two milk brothers rolled together, which was very lively.

After drinking a few cups of tea, the sound of firecrackers outside can be heard endlessly. It is also a great joy in life for family members to gather and talk about the past and the present.After talking for a while, I have to listen to my second uncle talking about ancient times.

In fact, my second uncle told this story every year, and it was about the origins of the Wu family.

The Wu family was originally from Hedong, farming and studying heirlooms, and became an official in the Song Dynasty, and became an official in the court. The family was very prosperous.Later, the Yuan army entered the Central Plains and exterminated the survivors of the Song Dynasty.The Wu family kept their anonymity and returned to their ancestral home to live in seclusion.But there was an unforeseen situation, and one day the court got the news. Seeing that the officers and soldiers were about to be killed, the Wu family fled overnight. Passing by the north of the city, there was a majestic temple. There was a Chinese locust tree by the side of the temple. years.The head of the Wu family knelt down in front of the tree, begging for the blessings of the ancestors and gods, and the blood of the Wu family continued.The trees are full of old harriers densely, which is a scene of this place.If the old harriers were flying in groups, covering the sky and blocking out the sun, they would definitely attract the attention of the pursuers, but that day, none of the birds in the trees were alarmed.

The Wu family hugged their heads and cried under the tree.Divided into several roads and went their separate ways.Thousands of mountains and rivers, thousands of rivers and thousands of mountains, from now on, the world is boundless, and life and death are unknown.This branch of the Wu family escaped to the south of the Yangtze River by chance, and the Song family was still here in peace, but the good times didn't last long. One day, Japanese soldiers went south. After Yashan, [-] soldiers and civilians of the Southern Song Dynasty jumped into the sea and committed suicide.But finally the Wu family survived.It took root, flourished, blossomed and scattered leaves.

The third uncle was already slightly drunk, and said with a smile: "It can be seen that the ancestors have blessed me, and my Wu family will never die."

The second uncle shook his head and said: "Naturally nothing happens in a peaceful and prosperous world, but in a troubled world..." He remembered that tonight was New Year's Eve, so he didn't continue talking.

Wu Xie played around for a day and drank again. He was already tired at this time, but he felt hungry again, so he went to the kitchen to watch the nanny make wine glutinous rice balls for him.A bowl of hot soup in the middle of the night tasted extraordinarily sweet, and there was still a bowl left after the family shared the food, so Wu Xie insisted on keeping it for Zhang Qiling.

The nanny laughed at him, saying that it would be the same if he made it tomorrow, Mr. Zhang would not eat the overnight meal.He also ignored.The nanny knew he was drunk, so she stopped pushing him.

Snow started to fall outside the window.Wu Xie didn't know when he fell asleep, and when he opened his eyes, he was already on his own bed, covered with the quilt indiscriminately, and didn't even take off his clothes.

Eat fish in the morning on the first day of the new year, and pay attention to the year after year.Soy bean sprouts must be eaten in the dish, because the bean sprouts look like wishful thinking.A plate of sweet-scented osmanthus cake, for every year high.The most important thing is a bowl of glutinous rice balls, so that everything goes well and the reunion is happy.After eating these, it's time for relatives and friends to come to pay New Year's greetings.

In the end, Wu Xie waited for two people, Zhang Qiling and Wang Gongzi.

Zhang Qiling came late, this year he went to Wang's mansion first, and Wang Gongzi came with him again.The three of them talked for a while around the table, basically it was the prince who said, and the two of them listened.

Prince Wang said that people say that there are sea eyes under the lake next to Jianfu Bridge.A few days ago, lotus flowers bloomed in the lake overnight. Some people said it was a miracle and some said it was a demon wind. Because it was far away, I couldn't see it clearly.Every day, people on the inner, third and outer floors of the bridge attract hawkers to do business.He heard about this, and since he couldn't leave him alone in watching the excitement, he naturally ran to watch it.

It's really hard to see clearly from the bridge, but it does look like a lotus flower from a distance. Who is the prince, you have to figure it out.Someone hired a boat, and because there was ice in the lake, they went all the way through the ice and rowed in. There were people on the shore applauding, how lively it was.As a result, it took a long time to see the true face of the lotus.

"What is it?" Wu Xie couldn't help asking.Unexpectedly, before Prince Wang could speak, Zhang Qiling laughed first.

He laughed very shortly, and stopped when Wu Xie looked at him, and turned his head to look out the window instead.Prince Wang sighed, and said, "I don't know whose lotus lantern was played by the children, but it was frozen in the lake..."

Wang Meng came in with snacks, just heard a tail, his hands shaking from laughing, a bowl of rice dumplings almost spilled on Zhang Qiling.

Wu Xie turned his head to look, and asked Wang Meng: "Why is he the only one who has this, and neither of us?"

Wang Meng was confused, patted his head and said, "Isn't this young master? You cried and shouted last night and insisted on leaving a bowl for Mr. Zhang to eat? The kitchen was hot again just now, and the pearls were soaked to the size of walnuts. Hurry up while it's hot." eat."

When Wu Xie heard this, he stretched out his hand to grab the bowl, but Zhang Qiling held it down.He had no choice but to turn around and clean up Wang Meng: "Why are you still standing there! Hurry up and change a bowl!"

Wang Meng responded, bowed his head and ran out.

"Crying and shouting?" Zhang Qiling picked up the spoon and stirred it in the bowl, "When did you learn this trick?"

Wu Xie said nothing.Prince Wang was overjoyed: "Brother Zhang, do you really want to eat it? So what about the bowl that will be brought back later?"

Zhang Qiling took a mouthful, the balls had been soaked for a long time, the teeth were very soft and greasy. "It doesn't matter," he said, "I brought you here after all, and I can eat as many bowls as I want."

Wu Xie laughed again.

Before leaving, Wu Xie sent them to the door.The road was slippery, and neither of them rode a horse, but came in a sedan chair.Seeing that Prince Wang entered the sedan chair, Wu Xie quickly grabbed Zhang Qiling.

But I don't know what to say.

But Zhang Qiling opened his mouth: "How do you say a sentence in "Mencius: Devotion to Heart"?"

Wu Xie didn't understand what he meant and stared at him blankly.

Zhang Qiling straightened his sleeves, seemingly unintentionally said: "That's why those who know their fate don't stand under a rock wall. As the saying goes, knowing and acting cautiously..."

Seeing that Wu Xie was still confused, Zhang Qiling patted him on the shoulder, turned around and got into the sedan chair.

It was much later that he understood what he was talking about.