How many buildings are in the mist

"So the two of you are from Jiankang. I don't know how your respected brother Li Su is?" Xie Yan dispersed the crowd, let those who should go back to the city, and he and another personal servant sent Feng Zizhang and Zhezhu into the city on horseback to see the officer. "My brother and I don't see each other very often. I heard it's okay. It's just that I'm dismissed from office, and I'm a little bored." Luckily, Feng Zizhang knew a little about this.

"Hey, Brother Zun is a man of righteousness. It's only natural that I feel dissatisfied with this experience. It's just that I don't think it's necessary to care about it. Your Majesty values ​​the Li family, and it won't be difficult to make a comeback in the future."

"Thank you, the city lord, for the rescue today."

The two rode side by side. Behind the Zhezhu Palace, Xie Yan's attendants opened the way and entered the county. Some people saw the visitor and greeted Xie Yan, "What did you say? Everyone is the same. What's more, the surrounding area is uneven I'll take care of it when I see it. It's just that the girl has to go to the government as soon as she arrives in Shanyin today."

"It's okay, since I've helped the farmer, I'm going to see the official. That's..."

"Huh?" Xie Yan turned her head to look at her, in order to be more polite, she had no choice but to turn her head to face Xie Yan.A little unsure.

She was not sure if Xie Yan still remembered herself.I do remember her.Xie Yan seldom went to Jiankang to participate in court celebrations. Her father, Xie Chen, did not inherit the title, and it is said that he was wandering around most of the time.The last time the two met was a few years ago, when they were seventeen or eighteen years old.Thinking about it now, this person's appearance hasn't changed much.At that time, we met each other in Chaohe's main hall. I don't know if Xie Yan looked at her more and remembered her appearance.Everyone in the world knows that Xie Yi said that his niece is "the number one in this generation", she must obey certain celestial phenomena and hexagrams before she can become an official, and when the time comes, she can't wander around, she has to stay in Kuaiji to look after the house, like a treasure.I came here this time to find out the reality of their family, not only to see her, but also to prevent myself from being discovered by her.I originally had a plan to approach in a roundabout way, but I didn't expect to bump into it directly.She decided to die without taking off her veil.God knows how smart this guy is?Those four words have been passed around for so many years, and in Jiankang, where there is a lot of gossip, no one has said that the name is not worthy of the name, so we must guard against it.

"When I came out this time, I planned to travel around the mountains and rivers. I didn't want to show my face and avoid gossip. I told you bluntly just now. I didn't want to hide it from my savior. But when I went to see the officials later, I asked the city lord to speak for me."

"Okay, okay, girl, don't worry. Sigh, you and I are both from a high school, so you don't need to say 'city lord' like everyone else, just call me by my name."

"Isn't it disrespectful to call you by your name?"

Unexpectedly, Xie Yan laughed loudly, "Rites are established by people and should be flexible for others. When one person respects another, it depends on his mind and behavior. Every day, he abides by the law orally to show respect, but he does not necessarily respect in his heart. So, what's the point?"

Feng Zizhang smiled when he heard the words, under the veil, he couldn't see each other.Xie Yan only saw the corners of her eyes, lifted them up slightly, and felt his heart flutter, and quickly added: "Besides, my name and my name are not much different. The girl calls me Xie Yan, and my name is Ziyan. There is a difference between the two. What's the difference!"

Feng Zizhang didn't answer, so Xie Yan looked away.From time to time, Feng Zizhang glanced at his saddle from the corner of his eye.Her saddle was nothing but quaintly carved.She wondered what Li Zhang was looking at.When they arrived at the official residence, Xie Yan calmly led the master and servant in, and asked the handsome young attendant to wait outside.The officials are usually used to seeing attendants instead of her, so they were terrified at the moment, and hurriedly interpreted inside.The county magistrate ran out to greet him, but he didn't have time to put on the shoes on his feet. Feng Zizhang saw at a glance from behind that the county magistrate's shoes were made of cotton, and they were very delicate, unlike ordinary things.

The county magistrate was about to invite a group of three people to sit in. Xie Yan said that we came to report to the official, "Where is the fat man who was sent over just now?" down."

"Detained? You don't know the reason, so you will be detained?" The county magistrate faltered and hesitated.Xie Yan then explained the matter, "Private usury is prohibited by the court. You should deal with it according to our court's laws."

"Yes Yes."

"I think there must be more than one incident like this. I hope you can investigate thoroughly. Of course, this person claims to be Chen Bo's tenant. I don't know what Chen Bo has to do with it. If you have any inconvenience, you can send someone to Frostfall City is looking for me. Understand?"

"Yes, thank you Lord City Master for your help."

Xie Yan nodded, looked at the county magistrate who bowed his waist very respectfully, and said: "There is no need to alarm the prefect for today's matter. Of course, if you think it is necessary, I don't mind going to him. Cheng Qi will not come to play chess with me for a long time Yes, I think it will be good around the second day of April."

The county magistrate nodded and bowed incessantly.Xie Yan smiled and left.Feng Zizhang saw everything in his eyes.

When they left the county office, the three of them hadn't mounted their horses yet. Feng Zizhang was about to thank her, but Xie Yan said first, "What's your plan going down? Are you planning to live in Shanyin County for a few days, or go to our Shuangluo City for a few days?" Do you have a rest?" Feng Zizhang looked at both sides of the market, people came and went, and people kept saluting to Xie Yan, she smiled and nodded when she saw it, she looked very friendly, and then immediately turned her head to look at Feng Zi Zhang, "I rarely leave Jiankang, and I don't know much about the outside world. Is Shuangluo far from the county seat?"

"It's not far, just half an hour on horseback."

Feng Zizhang was still waiting for her to say something like "In my opinion, it's better for a girl to live in Shuangluo", but she didn't expect to add anything, and left it to her to decide. "Then I will trouble you. I am afraid that if I live in the county again, I will cause unnecessary trouble." Xie Yan said with a smile: "Hahahahaha, girl, don't worry. The county government office I accompanied you today is here No one in Shanyin City dares to trouble you anymore. But it will be quieter if you live in Shuangluo, and let me do my best as a landlord. If you want to visit Shanyin City, I will accompany you at any time."

Feng Zizhang said: "What a problem. Since that's the case, it's still early today. If you don't mind, can you take us for a walk in the city before going to Shuangluo?"

"Of course, how about we leave the horses here? We'll walk the main street on foot, and it's just right to get on the horses at the west gate and go back. It's inconvenient to disturb the people by walking around the market."

Feng Zizhang handed the reins to Xie Yan's attendant, "Let's go."

Walking through the city all the way, Xie Yan led Feng Zizhang's master and servant through the bustling market, and along the way, someone always greeted her and saluted her. Zhezhu felt strange, but Feng Zizhang did not say a word, just observed quietly.There was a vegetable vendor far away who had just collected money from a stall. Seeing Xie Yan approaching, he immediately called out: "My lord! My lord!" Seeing Xie Yan approaching leisurely, Feng Zizhang chatted with the vendor as he walked: "Hey! How did you change to this place to sell vegetables today! Yan Bing asked you to come?"

"Exactly. Manager Yan said that the weather is going to be hot, so he asked me to hide here."

"How is your old mother?"

"Okay! It's much better! Manager Yan asked me to go get some more medicine, but the old mother didn't allow me to go! Her old man has the strength to scold me, so it's great!"

"The old man is always like this, you should go or go. If Yan Bing never sees you to get the medicine, he will come to the door, let me tell you."

The three of them walked to the side of the vendor and stopped for a while.Feng Zizhang looked at the vegetables on the vegetable vendor's stall, then glanced at the vegetable vendor's expression, and asked the price. Unexpectedly, the vegetable vendor immediately began to brag about the quality of his dishes.Xie Yan smiled and scolded him for not doing such a thing, "Blowing up to everyone, there is a bit of shame and restraint!" All three laughed and moved on.Passing the intersection, the alley on the south side is surprisingly quiet and narrow.Feng Zizhang looked at it and asked: "The most prosperous place in this city, there is such a quiet place?"

"That's the residence of the Chen family and the Du family, so it's naturally quiet."

"Oh? How big are the mansions of these two families?"

"It's very wide, otherwise, why would it crowd each other, and make this good alley only so wide. People in Shanyin call this alley Dixie Alley. I haven't seen it for a few years, and it should be called Jichang Alley." Zhe Zhu Hearing this, she almost laughed out loud, Feng Zizhang was still just smiling, but after seeing Xie Yan looking at the chain of her veil, she restrained her smile, "Let's go."

On the way to the west gate, I met a group of gorgeously dressed women with provocative jokes, and behind them were children carrying musical instruments. Feng Zizhang suspected that they were singing girls, but felt that their behavior was too flirtatious.Xie Yan seemed to understand what she meant, and whispered to her: "This is to sing for Du Jian, the young master of the Du family. Although they look like this, they are actually good people."

Feng Zizhang was about to ask a question, the women walked up to him, changed their posture, and saluted solemnly.Xie Yan said: "But go to the Du family's mansion?" Everyone answered yes, behaved politely, and had a good manner. Xie Yan said: "Please send me a greeting." But he refused, thanked him and left.

Straight out of the west gate, after riding the horse for half a stick of incense, Feng Zizhang asked: "Just now why did you reward those singing girls?"

"They all came from a poor family. They were bought by the madam. They beat and scolded them since they were young. Du Jian is good at music and elegance, but he is stingy. He doesn't pay the singing girls until the end of the year. He always rewards them with food and drink every time. .I don’t always see them suffering. If I meet them, I usually reward them with a little money so that they can work hard today and have money left over to buy wine.”

"I heard on the way here that the land in Shanyin is nothing more than Du, Chen, Han, and Chu. The Du family ranks first, but they are still stingy?"

Xie Yan laughed loudly, "Young lady has lived in Jiankang Buddhist Temple for a long time, and she doesn't go out in the secular world. I don't know that Du Jian's incident has been passed on as a joke. In the field outside his house, there is a piece of woodland with many plum trees on it. I don't know that the young lady came here. Have you ever seen it?" Feng Zizhang shook his head, "His plums are the best in Kuaiji and even Jiankang. But he is afraid that others will get the seeds of his plums, so he not only sent people to guard the forest, but also sold the plums on the market. Before that, he had to dig away {35} the core of the fruit! There are many rich people in the world, but he is not the richest, but among the stingy people, he ranks first, there is no dispute!"

Zhezhu laughed loudly from behind, while Feng Zizhang just smiled and shook his head, and said: "At that time, I asked casually by the edge of the field, and thought that the thousand acres of good land belonged to your family. I didn't expect the farmer to tell me that there The land yield is not good, so it is difficult to get into your family's eyes. It is said that your family's land is all in the frostfall area."

Zhezhu behind suddenly stopped talking.

"Yes," Xie Yan replied calmly, "My family is enshrined in Shuangluo, bestowed by the emperor's grace, how can I mess around? Put it in Mihao—" At this point, she glanced at Fengzizhang and smiled He raised his head, "That's water and soil, it's also seeds, and it's farmers' labor. Girl, do you want to go and see it?"

Feng Zizhang followed Xie Yan around the path, and when he saw the Xie family's fields, he couldn't help but be surprised: Looking around the hundred acres of fertile land, even the lush fruit forests on the mountain, are all the land of the Xie family.She took a rough look and found that there were nearly a hundred people working on the ground, more than a dozen cattle, and private guards. "That's all?" she asked, not caring if she was being too bold.

"It's half. The land is half, and the people are only half."

"Half of the people?" Feng Zizhang asked in surprise, "It really is my dynasty."

"Miss, you are joking," Xie Yan said while walking around with Feng Zizhang to watch, "more than half of them are tenants here, not many are really my family, and we have to exclude the land of these trilogy {36}."

"How is it compared to the Chen family and the Du family in the city?"

"Land? Or people?"

"People and land."

"Human servants are less than them, and tenants are more than them. Of course, there is more land than them."

Feng Zizhang originally wanted to ask how the rich were, but felt that it was too much, so he stopped talking and followed Xie Yan into the city.

Frost Falling City {37} is located on a high hill, under a high mountain, surrounded by lush forests, inconspicuous and not tall, but it stretches very deep, and at the deepest point, pavilions are built according to the mountain, and mountain springs are used as curved water in the city. Planting flowers and trees is not as gorgeous as Hualin Garden, but it is better than ingenuity.When Fengzizhang first entered, he felt that the scenery in this small place is so beautiful, it really is a place where the world lives. "Your house is like this..."

"how?"

"It's really enviable to live in a garden."

She intended to flatter Xie Yan, but unexpectedly, the city lord shook his head and said: "The garden is just a piece of heaven and earth, and it can't compare to the natural landscape, the infinite world!"

"It seems that you like to indulge in mountains and rivers."

"Yeah, otherwise, how could I meet you two when I went hunting today? For today's matter, the girl should thank the deer that ran fast. If it wasn't for chasing it, I wouldn't have run away in the rain. So If you are far away, you will not see a group of people holding weapons on the road, and you will not encounter that catfish."

"Catfish?"

"Yeah, that fat troublemaker. What else do you think he looks like?"

Before Feng Zizhang could fully realize that it was a joke, Xie Yan added on his own, "But I think Miss Zhezhu's kick was really good, and she kicked like a fat cat."

Feng Zizhang smiled and narrowed his eyes this time, even if it was only for a short moment.Xie Yan seized the time to glance at the chain of her veil.Is it something from Longxi County?No, something like a barbarian.

Every time I wanted to stop and think, I was sucked away by this person's eyes.I seem to have seen this eye somewhere, where is it?

Feng Zizhang followed her into the mansion and asked the servants to remove the luggage.Seeing that the house was sparsely populated and not lively, he asked her where the family members were.She counted who is in Jiankang, who travels where, and who loves forging iron on the mountain {38}, "In short, there are not many people in my sect in Shuangluo at present, so I will be left as a housekeeper. Ah, please use it." The maid brought the tea, "You might as well try this famous product of Shuangluo." Feng Zizhang tasted it, and it was really extraordinary, "I never thought that there is such a good tea in Kuaiji County." Xie Yan said with a smile: "There are many mountains near Shuangluo City, and the terrain is also high, which is suitable for growing tea. To tell you the truth, according to the ancestor's precept, it is not allowed to compete with the people for profit, so the rice produced by my family is for myself, and the fruit is a little bit less. For sale, there is only this tea, and it is often not enough to keep for myself, and there are still many people vying for it, and the asking price is very high."

"So, is it sold?"

"If there is any surplus left for my family, I will sell it naturally. Why don't I earn money? If I earn it, I can return it to the people!"

The two chatted again, Xie Yan asked about Jiankang, Feng Zizhang came one by one, and used Li Zhang's year-round meditation in the temple to cover up what was unclear, and Xie Yan talked about his own experience to make her happy.When it was time for dinner, Zhezhu said helplessly, "My lord, you joked one after another, my stomach hurts from laughing."

Feng Zizhang turned to comfort her, Xie Yan took the opportunity to look at the hanging chain again.The pattern is fine and the workmanship is excellent.

Before being attracted by the outline of that cheek, she thought of Cui Xuanji's letter from yesterday.

The author has something to say:

{35} The person who really did this in history was Wang Rong, the youngest of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. "Book of Jin Volume 43 Biography No. 13" contains: "(Wang Rong) has good plums in his family, and he often ships them, fearing that people will get them, so he keeps drilling their cores. This is ridiculed by the world." "Shi Shuo There are nine articles in "Frugality" in Xinyu, four of which are about Wang Rong, which shows that he is extremely stingy.

{36}During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Chinese trilogy mainly refers to family soldiers and private soldiers.

{37}The name is a city, but it is actually a Wubao, also known as a Wubi, which is a kind of folk defensive building, and the clans live in it for self-protection.

{38} It was Ji Kang who loved blacksmithing in history.