The Rise of the Cold Gate in the Eastern Jin Dynasty

Chapter 11
The noon sun is still bright, the clear white clouds are rippling, and the warm spring breeze comes from afar, slowly passing over the boundless wilderness, blowing over the Xiao's Manor at the foot of Jinniu Mountain, and taking away the last trace of human fireworks. It's like a new life of "waiting for death".

This big fire came and went quickly, the raging flames only left a little spark among the rubble, ruins, and ashes. Some people carried water to put it out, some were cleaning up the ashes, and some were kneeling down. Someone stood and groaned
Xiao Qinzhi followed Mother Xiao to the west room, when he stepped upstairs, he suddenly looked back and saw this scene in his eyes, it was all his own fault, and his heart was stung.

There are two study rooms on the third floor. One is named "Lanfang Room" on the east side. It was named because the elder sister Xiao Yunzhi loved flowers and grasses, especially orchids, when she was not out of the pavilion. After she got married, she became the younger sister Xiao Yunzhi. Yunzhi's study room.

The other room is next to Xiao Qin's bedroom. Xiao Yunzhi named it "Yesan Room", which means "Ye San is not dispersed, and people are dead but not dead". Zhongsan.

As the spiritual leader of the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove", Ji Kang also led a trend of the times:
In terms of appearance, he "is as independent as a lone pine, and his drunkenness is like a jade mountain about to collapse";
In terms of wisdom, he is very capable of speculative thinking. "On Sound Without Sorrow and Joy" can write ten thousand word essays, and explain it for you slowly;

In terms of intelligence, "The Book of Breaking Friendship with Shan Juyuan" is eloquent, full of laughter, cursing, sarcasm, and sarcasm, pointing at the filthy stream;
In terms of temperament, he calmly faced difficulties, and a piece of "Guangling Song" has been sung through the ages.

Whether it is useless or not, he loves blacksmithing the most. Whenever he strikes iron, Xiangxiu travels thousands of miles to pull the bellows for him.

He is seven feet eight inches tall, nearly 1.9 meters tall, tall and familiar, with a free and easy air, without a trace of femininity, he is a well-deserved public idol.

Therefore, the name "Yesan" is also Xiao Yun's hope that Adi can use Ji Kang's noble quality to stand tall in the world. Now it seems that it is the opposite and has a negative reputation.

The "Yesan Room" has a strong fragrance of calligraphy and ink, but Xiao Qinzhi, a big bastard, rarely comes here, but it is very clean and tidy, and the maidservants Hibiscus and Manjing clean it as usual.

Although the interior furnishings are not as expensive as those of a rich family, they are not lacking in elegance. There is a nanmu desk inside. There are often pens, ink, paper and inkstones on the desk. A row of bookshelves are embedded on the side wall. There are no fewer than hundreds of volumes of silk and paper books, including "Book of Changes", "The Analects of Confucius", "Lao Zhuang" and "Book of Songs".

Behind the Zen wood three-curtain screen on the inside, there is a lyre. The rear window of the study is next to a gentle slope. After waiting for a few days, you can watch the colorful mountains.Facing the south, the large windows facing the opposite side, you can have a panoramic view of the wilderness with a thousand miles of spring, and the busy figures are dotted among the greenery.

However, in the "Ye San Room" at this moment, the atmosphere is dignified and quiet. Xiao's mother knelt in front of the desk, silent, her face frosty, Hua Gu was serving at the side, and the maidservant Mu Jin was anxiously waiting for orders.

"Kneel down!" Mother Xiao ordered coldly.

Before today, the fat old man had slept in the west building for three consecutive nights, and Xiao Shu had always been in collusion with Xiao Qinzhi, so today's incident probably had something to do with Xiao Qinzhi's escape, Xiao's mother was very clear.

Xiao Qinzhi didn't argue, but suddenly knelt down.

"Mujin, go get a cup of tea, Huagu, go to Yunzhi's room and see what she is doing."

Mu Jin and Hua Gu leave after hearing this.

The two were separated, only Mother Xiao and Xiao Qinzhi were left in the room, sitting and kneeling, Mother Xiao said calmly:

"Tell me in detail."

One of Xiao Qin's words was straightforward, without any concealment.

Quiet, infinitely quiet, even the air is quiet, there is no sound in the room of "Yesan".

The more indifferent Xiao's mother treated her, the more silent she was, the more guilty Xiao Qinzhi felt.

Over the past few days, Xiao Qinzhi has long treated Xiao's mother as his biological mother, even if he scolded and scolded her a few times, it was better than this empty and quiet place.

However, Xiao's mother didn't say a word, but she was full of thoughts, her husband's death was new, and her soul was still alive; the eldest daughter was out of luck and had a lot of fate; At this point, the gloomy qi in his chest persisted, and he didn't raise his breath, but he fainted from the qi.

This sudden scene made Xiao Qinzhi flustered, he hurried over, helped his mother up, and shouted anxiously:

"Mother, mother, what's wrong with you?"

Seeing no response, he shouted towards the door again:
"Flower girl!"

"Hibiscus!"

"Come on people!"

Aunt Hua is Xiao's mother's dowry maid. She has supported Xiao's mother all these years, and watched the three siblings grow up. They are not relatives, but better than relatives. Hearing Xiao Qinzhi's voice, she came here after hearing the news. Fainted, he said in horror:

"Xiao Lang, what's the matter, ma'am?"

Due to his own reasons, Xiao's mother became dizzy, Xiao Qinzhi was very panicked and blamed himself, and even more worried and afraid. At this moment, all the cleverness in the past was completely lost, and his heart was already in a mess, sobbing and talking about it.

"Xiao Lang, don't talk about it." Hua Gu's heart tightened, she suddenly understood, interrupted Xiao Qinzhi's narration, and solemnly warned: "Remember, you can't tell others what you said, the ancestral hall has its own affairs The patriarch will deal with it, Xiao Lang and I will help the wife back to the room first, it is important."

Xiao Qinzhi didn't think too much, got up and walked towards the west bedroom with Mother Xiao on his back, met Hibiscus holding tea head on, sideways to the side of the corridor, Hua Gu said:
"Bring hot water and a towel, and tell Manjing to take care of the little lady."

Mu Jin said: "Yes."

On a night in early spring, it was cold and cold, and the moon was not visible. Under the starry sky, Xiao's manor became quiet after removing the hustle and bustle of the day.

This is a plain room with simple yet elegant interior furnishings. The bronze goose fish lantern emits a dim yellow halo, illuminating the darkness and falling on the carved white screen before the collapse, showing a Two figures, one big and one small, came.

Xiao's mother rested for an afternoon, and she woke up at this moment. She was just over forty, and she was exhausted. The years had invaded her bun, white growths in the middle, scattered between the pillows, and her face had lost its luster.

Since her husband's death, many bad news hit her one after another, and Xiao's mother's heart became more and more heavy. Today, she was slapped hard by her ineffective son, but she couldn't resist and fainted.

Fortunately, the incompetent son has not yet reached the point of no return. He was sincere and tremblingly said a lot of words like repentance, which relieved Xiao's mother a lot and relieved a lot of anger.

"It's good if you know your mistakes. Don't act recklessly in the future. Now I have figured it out. I don't ask you to be famous, but I hope you can live a safe life. Even if I meet your father, I can make an explanation."

Feeling guilty, Xiao Qinzhi held Mother Xiao's hand and continued to admit his mistake:

"Mother, I know I made a mistake, and I will keep the teaching in mind, and I will never do it again. I will personally ask Mr. Cui to come back tomorrow. I promise to go to school every day in the future. I will not skip classes, leave early, or be late. Listen carefully. Mr. Cui is giving a lecture. Don’t be angry, get well soon, and many things at home are waiting for you.”

Speaking of Mr. Cui, Xiao's mother couldn't help shouting:

"Two gentlemen passed away last year, and another gentleman passed away this year. If things go on like this, which gentleman dares to come to teach? Thinking that Mr. Cui has not gone far, please come back tomorrow, treat each other with kind words, and don't offend him again. .”

Xiao Qinzhi nodded and said, "Yes!"

Xiao's mother asked again: "You are idle all day long, you don't know the six arts, but you only have one chess skill. How can you lose to Mr. Cui?"

Xiao Qinzhi said: "Recently, in the school, I saw the patriarch playing chess with Mr. Cui. On a whim, I watched from the sidelines. After thinking about it for a few days, I was able to get a glimpse of the door."

Mother Xiao let out a long sigh, and said: "There are so many mysteries in the art of chess. You can learn it by yourself without a teacher, which shows your intelligence. If you can put this mind on your studies, why don't you worry about it?"

Before Xiao Qinzhi could speak, the ghostly Xiao Yunzhi rushed to say:

"Mother, mother, my studies are better than my brother's. I have already passed the plenary session of "The Analects of Confucius", but my brother still doesn't know how to do it. He often says that I am stupid, and my brother is the one who is stupid."

Xiao Yunzhi is ten years old this year. She wears a double bun, black eyes like ink, and wears a light yellow shirt. Xiao Qin's bickering.Before Xiao Yunzhi came out of the pavilion, Xiao Yunzhi was enlightened by Xiao Yunzhi's works, and later taught by Xiao's mother.

Xiao's mother came from the Qinghe Cui family, a large family in the north. She had read poetry and books since she was a child, and paid special attention to family education. If not, she would not be able to carve a talented woman like Xiao Yunzhi.

Xiao's mother smiled knowingly, held the little daughter's hand tightly, and thought: "It would be great if the two daughters were men." Looking at Xiao Qinzhi again, her eyes inevitably dimmed again.

Being disturbed by one of Xiao Yun, the atmosphere warmed up a lot, Xiao Qinzhi curled his lips and replied to Xiao Yun's words: "Master said: A gentleman wants to be slow in words but quick in deeds."

Xiao Yunzhi replied: "I am young, I am young, and people are young."

Xiao Qinzhi said again: "Son, the law should take the younger one."

Xiao Yunzhi thought for a while and said: "People also have words, if you are soft, you will talk about it, and if you are hard, you will spit it out."

Before the collapse, the two brothers and sisters chattered again, refusing to give in to each other, you said something, I said something, it was such an ordinary scene, but it made Xiao's mother feel very warm, and she couldn't help but hold the hands of her children.

Standing on the corridor, Hua Gu couldn't help showing a gratified smile when she heard the bickering between the brothers and sisters in the room. Looking downstairs, the patriarch was coming out of the sparse light and shadow.

(End of this chapter)