The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

After dinner, Su Jin read a book in the study for a while, waited a little longer, said hello to Xiao Sui'er, and went out.

Xiao Sui'er wanted to follow, but how could Su Jin let her follow him to meet Xia Siling? Isn't this asking for trouble?Dynasty, Zhao Hu, Zhang Long and others were all sent back to the teacher’s gate to recruit people. Ma Han’s injuries were not healed, his face was covered with a mask, his hands were wrapped in gauze and hung around his neck, and he could only rest in the house; Xiao Sui'er didn't insist on following. <When the mood is full, although it is slightly cool in the morning and evening, it is no longer that kind of biting cold, and the evening wind has become a "willow wind that blows the face without cold". <When the mood is full, the people are more restless, and the night business of the ship building and the painting boat is gradually booming; the first shift is the time to come to have fun after eating and drinking, so the tables on the river near and far are laughing and laughing. The silk and bamboo are full of ears, a noisy and prosperous night scene.

Su Jin and Xiao Zhuzi sat side by side on the shaft of the carriage, and the master and servant chatted with each other. Half an hour later, the carriage arrived near Junyi Bridge.

Su Jin asked Xiao Zhuzi to stop the carriage, gave Xiao Zhuzi a consistent amount of money, and asked him to eat and drink at the night market near the noisy Junyi Bridge, because Su Jin didn't want Xiao Zhuzi to know that he was here to date Xia Siling, Xiao Zhuzi has a big mouth It's Sui'er's eyeliner, if he knows, when Xiao Sui'er asks tomorrow, he will definitely pour beans out of the bamboo tube.

Xiao Zhu'er didn't care about where the young master went, so the young master gave him the money all at once, and if he didn't eat all the dozens of supper stalls up and down Junyi Bridge tonight, he would be sorry for the reward from the young master.

Su Jin walked away, and Xiao Zhu'er pounced on those steaming supper stalls, bean curd flower, noodle soup, cooking cakes soaked in mutton soup, fried chestnuts... Xiao Zhu'er was so happy that he was about to cry.

Su Jin went north along Junyi Bridge Street, heading straight for the corner tower of the Imperial City; the further north he went, the fewer and fewer people were on the street. When we arrived near the residential area, no one went out.

Except for the occasional pedestrians in twos and threes on the street, it has become extremely deserted; it is near the end of the month, even though it is full of stars tonight, there is no trace of moonlight, and the last quarter moon will not come out until midnight. If there is a door lamp hanging at the door of the mansion, the whole street will be dark.

Su Jin was familiar with the road, and came to the alley entrance of the house where Xia Siling lived, walked into the alley, everything was completely silent, occasionally there were a few dogs barking, not only did not appear to be noisy, but the silence was even more unusual. .

The Xia's house is not far from the alley in front of it. When seeing the light of the red lantern hanging at the door, Su Jin felt a little nervous and relaxed. All this is like something written in a play, the romantic son visits the boudoir at night to steal The scene of stealing incense and jade is both tense and exciting.

Su Jin didn't dare to enter through the main entrance, Xia Siling had told him long ago that he didn't need to enter through the main entrance in the future, that would attract people's eyes and ears and arouse people's suspicion; there is a side entrance to the west, just go around to the side entrance along the courtyard wall; Of course, most of the time, the small door is locked, but Xia Siling told him that if there is a yellow ribbon tied to an old locust tree next to the side door, it means that the small door has been unlocked, allowing you to come in and out without hindrance; And if there is nothing, it is inconvenient to enter.

Although the secret sign was agreed, Su Jin has only come here once in more than ten days, and it is the second time tonight. He walked around the wall and went west. Huge ribbons were tied on the branches of the pagoda tree and fluttered in the night wind. Su Jin felt happy. Who in the middle of the night could tell whether it was a yellow ribbon or a red ribbon? , reached out and pushed gently on the small door.

With a slight 'squeak' sound, the small door was half opened. Su Jin listened carefully to the surrounding movement, but there was no sound around; Where is his house, there is a bean of light, obviously the beautiful woman is waiting for him to go.

Su Jin walked along the small path, and came to the house where Xia Siling lived. The door was closed, and the light came out from the window edge and the crack in the door. There was a sound of thumping, Su Jin was startled and followed the sound, only to see a black shadow on the parrot stand hanging on the corridor, fanned a few times and then stopped moving.

Su Jin wondered why the parrot was still outside in the middle of the night. Looking at the parrot, it looked like it was hanging upside down under a cattail fan, not in a normal standing posture.

Su Jin leaned forward to take a look in the dim light, and if he didn't look at it, he was scared out of his wits. The parrot named 'General Flower' actually lost its head, and only its body was hanging under the iron frame. The thumping sound was nothing more than a muscle reaction after death.

Su Jin was sweating all over. He didn't know what happened. His first thought was: Xia Siling's safety is in danger if a strongman breaks into this place.

Su Jin no longer hesitated, reached out and quietly pulled out the self-defense dagger from his waist, crept to the door, stretched out his hand and pushed the door, the door was opened, and Su Jin couldn't help squinting his eyes under the bright lights inside.

At this moment, Su Jin had a clear view of the situation in the room. There were at least dozens of giant candles lit in the room, and there were more than a dozen big men standing up and down. In the center was a middle-aged man with short stature and fair face sitting on a grand master's chair. Sitting in the middle dressed in black; the moment Su Jin pushed the door and entered, everyone's eyes were on Su Jin, but no one was surprised, as if they knew Su Jin would come.

Su Jin was startled, and shouted in his heart: No!I got caught!

Just when Su Jin was about to withdraw, his clothes rustled in the darkness behind him, and more than a dozen black shadows appeared from behind the rockery flower bed, each with a weapon in their hand, flickering under the lights, with a frightening look. halo.

I want to leave, but I can't!

"Mr. Su! Stay safe and sound!" A yin and yang voice came to Su Jin's ears, and Su Jin felt it was very familiar. At a glance, the person who made the sound was wearing a brocade suit and holding a folding fan. He was dressed like that, but his eye sockets were slightly dark, his cheekbones were protruding, and he looked like a drunk guy.

Su Jin remembered that this person was none other than Liu Binhua, who had been married to Su Jin the first time he came to Bianliang.

Su Jin's panic was only for a moment, and he knew in his heart that today was completely planned, and panic was useless, the only way to deal with it was to have a chance to escape.

"Young Master Su broke into my Xia's courtyard with a dagger in his hand, what are you doing here?" Liu Binhua said triumphantly.

Su Jin inserted the dagger into his waist, and with a smile on his face, he cupped his hands and said, "So it's an old man. Isn't this Mr. Liu who owed me 150 taels of gold? I'm looking for you for the debt, but I can't find it anymore , It doesn’t take much effort to get it, Mr. Liu, this debt will have to be repaid, the interest is three cents a day, and after several months, I’m afraid it’s worth at least a thousand taels of gold..."

Liu Binhua said angrily: "Little thief Su Jin, you are still in the mood to say these things when you are about to die."

Liu Binhua bowed to the man sitting on the grand teacher's chair in the middle, and said: "Uncle, nephew is right, this little Su Jin thief secretly seduced my cousin, you can see that it all came into the house."

The middle-aged man sitting on the chair looked ashen, and said in a low voice: "Shut up, do you still think that few people know?"

Liu Binhua shrank back and said: "Yes, my nephew made a slip of the tongue, but these are the nursing homes at home, they all understand the rules, if anyone speaks nonsense, my nephew will kill him immediately, uncle can rest assured. "

It was only then that Su Jin knew that the five short middle-aged man on the chair was Xia Song, the father of Xia Siling. He had been bored reading in the study for the past few days, and he didn't even know about Xia Song's return to Beijing to serve as the deputy envoy of the Privy Council. This was a mistake. Well, if he had known that Xia Song was coming back, he would not have come so recklessly, at least he would have to weigh it carefully.

Xia Song got up slowly, walked in front of Su Jin, looked Su Jin up and down with falcon-like eyes, and asked hoarsely, "Are you Su Jin?"

Su Jin cupped his hands and said, "I've seen Deputy Envoy Xia."

Xia Song was taken aback for a moment, and burst into a burst of laughter. After the laughter stopped, he yelled loudly: "Su Jin, you are so brave that you actually bullied this old man; come here! Tie this person up and bury him alive." Under the osmanthus tree in the backyard, teach him the fate of someone who insulted me, Xia."