cite Han

Chapter 3 Stepmother

Liu Jing pushed open the door of his house and walked into the open front yard. The row of houses to the east were guest houses, usually vacant.In the house to the west is the guest Song Liang's family. There is a large vegetable field in front of the house, and there are chicken coops, kennels, and cattle pens beside it.

Song Liang is in his early forties this year, his wife Zhou Shi, and they have two sons and a daughter. The eldest son Song Gu Nian is [-], the youngest son Song Jinnian is [-] years old, and the youngest daughter Song Shi is eight years old.

Song Liang, Song Gu, Song Jin and his son are all working in the fields now, and they haven't returned yet, the kitchen is clanging, it is obvious that Song's wife Zhou is preparing dinner.

Seeming to have heard noises from outside, Song's wife, Mrs. Zhou, leaned out half of her body. Seeing that it was Liu Jing who had returned from a trip, she wiped her hands hastily and walked out of the kitchen, calling her "Lang Jun".

Liu Jingwei nodded, Song's wife, Zhou, was not a man of wealth, and her thoughts were almost all written on her face, but he had no intention of inquiring into the truth. Song Liang's family was called guests, but they were no different from servants. How could they be satisfied in life? .

There is a "hard mountain-style" hall between the front yard and the back yard of the Liu family. There are rooms on both sides of the hall. The Liu family is small, and the only guests are the Song family. For many years, no one has stayed in it. Place.After several generations of hard work, the two ancillary rooms are almost filled with bamboo slips and silk books. In terms of the number of books, there are few in the Liu family that can compare.

There is a scaffolding in the center of the backyard, where melons and beans are planted.

Liu Jing lived on the west side, the widowed sister-in-law and the orphan lived in the east house, and the stepmother lived in the north with a pair of children.

Liu Jing's parents, brother and sister all died, and now these five are his only remaining relatives. In the future, he will take over the burden of the family from his deceased brother.

"The Master said:" Parents are here, if you don't travel far, you must travel well. "

"The Master said: "Three years without changing the way of the father can be called filial piety. "

"Son said..."

When Liu Jingcai entered the backyard, he heard the sound of young men and women reciting "The Analects of Confucius" loudly in the hall.

Stepmother Zhang saw Liu Jing's figure in the hall, and she walked out of the hall slowly. She was dressed in a wide plain robe, and her hair was piled up on the top of her head, like layers of clouds.

Zhang's skin is fair, her face is round, her eyebrows are removed, and she is drawn with a black brush in the shape of a willow leaf. Whether it's clothing, hair style, or makeup, they are all popular among noble ladies in Jingzhou.

It's a pity that the lips are slightly thin, which gives people a sense of meanness, and it is difficult to make people feel close.

Mrs. Zhang is from Luoyang, the capital city. Although she came from an official family, her ancestors started out as cloth sellers. When Liu's father was alive, although he was not kind and benevolent, he treated Liu Yuan and Liu Jing brothers fairly well, but since Liu's father died , Xu Shi lost control, Xu Shi resented God for making her a widow at such a young age, in short, she treated Liu Yuan and Liu Jing brothers day by day.

"Master, I'm back." Liu Jingsu said with a bow, seemingly respectful, but actually quite alienated.

Mrs. Zhang's face was grim, she hummed heavily, and said, "You still know how to come back? You said you were going out for a walk to keep your muscles and bones in good shape. I didn't think it would take half a day to go. The weather is fine today, but the wind is not small. You are seriously ill." You are just recovering and your body is weak, what should you do if your old illness recurs? Don't you know that your family has no money left to treat your illness?"

The previous words are quite like a strict mother, but it is a pity that the last sentence reveals its true nature.

Before Liu Jing could open his mouth, Mrs. Zhang continued to rebuke: "Brother you's funeral was handled by me personally, and I did my best to do my best. On the day of Boming's burial, he had jade in his mouth and was decorated with beautiful clothes. The original Yuzhang wood and the funerary objects are also exactly the same.

In order for your brother to go away with peace of mind, almost all the accumulation in the family over the years has been exhausted, but you are seriously ill again, and you need to ask a doctor to take medicine, where is the money?No matter how much savings the family has, it cannot prevent your brother from spending so much. "

Liu Jing's face was calm, and he bowed again and said: "Master, everything is the son's fault. My son apologizes to you. Please calm down and don't get angry."

Mrs. Zhang couldn't help being taken aback for a moment, feeling quite unsustainable for a while.She reprimanded Liu Jing in the past, and the latter was always submissive, but now he speaks submissively but calmly, which gave her a faint feeling of facing her brother Liu Yuan. It seems that the two years of studying in Xiangyang has made him grow a lot.

Liu Jing raised his head quietly, looked past Mrs. Zhang, and looked into the hall, only to see a pair of handsome men and women sitting on the couch, holding bamboo slips to cover their faces and noses, their eyes flickering at him.These two people are from the Zhang family. Liu Jing's half-brother and sister, the younger brother's name is Liu He, and the small name is A Ruo, who is 11 years old this year.

In my memory, Liu Jing doesn't have much affection for Zhang, but more of awe and fear, but has a very good relationship with her younger brother and younger sister.

As if they were encouraged by Liu Jing's eyes, the little brothers and sisters looked at each other, got off the couch together, and ran out.

However, Mrs. Zhang obviously did not intend to give the two parties a chance to get close, and turned around and scolded the pair of children: "Presumptuous! You are not allowed to go out without authorization, go back and continue studying!"

Brothers and sisters Liu He and Liu Rao have always been afraid of Mrs. Zhang, like a mouse shrank its head and backed away after seeing a cat, looking back at every step, its pitiful little appearance is very pitiful.

Liu Jingchong's younger brother and younger sister smiled gently. They have the same blood flowing through them. Could it be possible to prevent them from getting close forever?Immediately filed a resignation to Zhang.

The Han Dynasty was no different from the later generations. The home furnishing was extremely simple and similar in style. Liu Jing’s bedroom furnishings are almost typical. Behind the door stands a wooden carved and painted screen, on which flowers, birds, fish and insects are lifelike.

Facing the west door is a simple and old wide wooden bed, with vertical screens on both sides of the bed and tents around it.

The book case is displayed on the south side of the room, with a curved gate outside and a couch behind the case. On the north wall, there are bamboo baskets, rattan boxes and other clothes boxes. There are only a handful of things in the room, which are clear at a glance.

After taking off the hemp shoes, patting off the floating dirt on the soles of the shoes, and hanging them on the wall, Liu Jing came to the desk with bare feet and sat down.There is an unfolded silk book on the case, the content of which is "Chu Ci·Calling the Soul": "My youth is clean and honest, and I am obedient to righteousness but not filthy. The Lord is virtuous, drawn by vulgarity and filthy. There is nothing to test this great virtue, and the long-term calamity and sorrow..."

This book is compiled by Liu Xiang and supplemented by Wang Yi. It is the first complete interpretation of "Chu Ci".

Liu Xiang was a master of Confucian classics in the former Han Dynasty, while Wang Yi was a famous scholar in the reign of An and Shun Emperors in this dynasty, and a native of Nanjun, Jingzhou.His son Wang Yanshou was also very talented and very famous at that time.The reason why this person is mentioned in particular is because he and Liu Jing share the same illness, and they also drowned in Xiangshui at a young age.

Liu Jing slowly closed the silk book, recalling the experience of studying in Xiangyang in his mind. He had enviable network resources in his predecessor, but he didn't know how to cherish them at all. "Chapter Sentences" and other books are one of the few serious things he has done.

Thinking that the books copied from Xiangyang hadn't been put into the library at home, anyway, there was still some time before dinner, so he got up and went to the next room to organize the books and move them into the library.

He was busy back and forth for half an hour, which made him sweat. When he recovered, Liu Jing cast his eyes on the rows of bookshelves full of bamboo slips and silk books in front of him.

It is no exaggeration to say that if these books are sold in the market, even if they cannot be exchanged for ten thousand gold, they can be exchanged for an astronomical amount of money, which is enough for him to enjoy his life.

But no one is so stupid as to exchange books for money, and there is no printing technology nowadays. This is the era of "the legacy is full of gold, it is better to once".Du Xian, a famous official in the Tang Dynasty, wrote in his book collection: "If you buy a salary in the Qing Dynasty, you can teach it yourself. After reading it, your descendants will know the holy way. It is unfilial to sell or borrow books." Selling books and borrowing books are considered unfilial.This is still the case hundreds of years later, not to mention today, books are more precious than anything else in this era.

Liu Jing took out a volume of book from the bookshelf and opened it slowly. This book was "Spring and Autumn Zuo Shi Zhuan Jie Gu" written by the great Confucian Jia Kui.

At that time, Ma Rong, a great Confucian in Guanzhong, learned from ancient times and modern times, and annotated all scriptures. He wanted to annotate "Zuoshi Chunqiu", but he saw Jia Kui and Zheng Zhong's annotations. Since I am rich, how can I add it.”

Over the past hundred years, famous writers of "Zuo Zhuan" have emerged in large numbers, each expressing his own opinion, but "Zuo Zhuan" annotated by Jia Kui is still the best choice.

Liu Jing had read "Zuo Zhuan" when he was in college in his previous life, but in comparison, he still preferred Sima Guang's book "Zi Zhi Tong Jian".

Even when his life was about to come to an end, he was reading this book, and he clearly remembered that his last memory fragment was the end of the five years of Jian'an:

"Liu Biao attacked Zhang Xian for years and years. Xian died of illness, and Changsha restored his son Yi. Biao attacked Yi and Ling and Gui, all equaled."

And this battle started in the third year of Jian'an (198 AD), and now it is the second year of Xingping (195 AD), and there is not much time left for him. If you don't want to be swallowed by the huge waves of history, you must plan early .

(End of this chapter)