A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 22

"Is this bell coming from Dongshi?"

"Dongshi gong closes at dusk. How can there be a bell when the market closes at night? This is the sound from the Bodhi Temple on the west side of Li's Mansion. In the second year of the emperor, Li Jingdao, the Duke of Longxi, and Huiying, the monk, built the temple. The bell towers of general temples are in the east. Because the east of the Bodhi Temple is our Yongkang Duke’s mansion, the Bodhi Temple rebuilt the bell tower to the west of the temple..."

The night was as cool as water, but Huaiyu was a bit hot and dry.

Had an extra plate of lamb for dinner.

What's more terrible is that Wenxiang nephrite is in his arms. This young body, which has been imprisoned for five years, is ready to move and cannot be restrained. It is a bit hard for him to endure it.

Although Zhang Chuchen had already given him the private contract, Siqi would be his woman from now on, but he didn't want to be too beastly, it's only been a day, I'm afraid Siqi won't be able to accept it.

But he doesn't want to be inferior to animals.

Siqi was a little deliberate, he was dressed very coolly in this hot weather, and he was deliberately touching him next to him, making people even hotter.

"Why don't these monks sleep in the middle of the night and are still ringing the bell? Don't the neighbors sleep, don't they have to do things tomorrow? Do you still have a sense of public morality?" Huaiyu complained.

"Erlang can't sleep, and my concubine can't sleep either." Siqi hit him again.

"It's so hot." Huaiyu sighed.

"The concubine's body is cold, Erlang pastes the concubine's body to cool off."

Siqi was lying, her body was even hotter, as hot as fire, it felt like it had been burned to forty degrees.

She wriggled around him like a snake, but she was not as cold as a snake, but hot as fire, but she just said that she was very cold and wanted to cool down Huaiyu.

This is obviously adding fuel to the fire.

The damned arsonist.

Faced with such an obvious signal, Huaiyu couldn't bear it anymore, if he went any further, he would be burnt out by the fire, and animals were worse than animals.

······(Display prohibited)·····
The bells of the Bodhi Temple finally stopped.

The only sound outside the window is the sound of crickets and occasionally frogs.

Huaiyu's five-year persistence was broken.

After a long time, he asked, "Why can I still hear the sound of frogs here?"

······
Chatting at this time is always the sweetest, even the air is still filled with a sweet smell.

"Your real name is Run Niang, do you have relatives at home?"

Siqi's real name is Run Niang, and she is indeed very Run.

When the dryness and heat dissipated, Huaiyu also regained his clarity and became a gentleman.

"My surname is Chen, and my hometown is Runzhou in the south of the Yangtze River, so my nickname is Runniang. My grandfather used to be an official in South Chen. Later, because of the destruction of Chen in the Sui Dynasty, he was dismissed as a civilian. Later, my grandfather and his clan responded to Jiangnan's anti-Sui , the whole family was demoted to slaves, and sent to Chang'an to reward the officials as slaves..."

The history of chess players is also quite involved. They were originally from the Jiangnan gentry. Although they are not said to be first-class famous, they are also from a superior family. As a result, Nanchen was destroyed by the Sui Ping. The whole family is slaves.

Since then, the once famous noble family has been reduced to slavery for generations. Siqi was born as a servant of the Li family. His parents were slaves of the Li family, so she is also the servant of the Li family.

Maybe it's because Zhang Chuchen was also a descendant of the Jiangnan gentry, or maybe Zhang Chuchen also had the experience of being a kabuki in a noble family in Chang'an, so he was good to the Chen family, especially playing chess. Because he was smart, he chose Sanniang After becoming a maidservant, she has no worries about food and clothing, and can even study and practice martial arts.

Now he has chosen a good husband-in-law for her, and even gave her a handsome dowry.

"Who else is in your family?"

"Aye works in a Zhuangzi in Yongkang Gongfu, Liquan County, west of Beijing, and A Niang is also there. One of the two elder brothers is an errand in the mansion here, the other follows Li Erlang as his entourage, and there is a younger sister. Now Follow Ye Niang."

As domestic slaves, Siqi's family is doing well.

According to Siqi, that Li Erlang is a man of chivalry, he aspires to be a chivalrous man, he spends his whole day not practicing martial arts and swords, but also galloping and hunting. , it is said that even eagles can shoot down, but Li Erlang Li Deju doesn't really want to be an official, and he doesn't even want to lead troops to fight. He just wants to be a hero who is full of friends and friends everywhere. Outside, rarely home.

Li Jing has been working outside all the year round, so she can't control this son, but Mrs. Zhang seems to deliberately indulge her second son's lack of self-improvement. Her brother played chess and followed Erlang, and also learned martial arts, eating, drinking, drinking and making friends outside all day long. Friends, live a very carefree life, and even become a little famous in the world.

The big brother Siqi and the second brother are also rewarded by the Li family with maidservants as wives, and they all have children. Anyway, slaves match slaves, and the babies born become family slaves. The Chen family is considered among the slaves of the Li family. The higher the status, the better off.

"No wonder I didn't see Li Erlang."

"Although Dalang Li Deyu is a sixth-rank thousand bull and wears a fifth-rank honor, in fact, he is not capable of writing or martial arts. In terms of ability, he is far inferior to Erlang. It's just that compared to Erlang's lack of official career, Dalang is very keen on official career. Usually he likes to make friends with the sons of famous nobles, but Erlang is on the contrary, no matter if he is a son of a noble family, a young man from a wealthy family, a knight-errant from a frontier fortress, a rogue in the city, a villain in the neighborhood, or a hero in the world, he likes to make friends with him."

Wu Huaiyu listened and thought, no wonder after Li Jing, there seems to be no famous descendants of Li Jing's family in history. It turns out that the two sons are not the ones who inherited their father's career.

He hasn't come into contact with Li Erlang, but seeing Li Dalang today, he is indeed not a capable person.

In comparison, Li Sanniang seems to be a pretty good girl. Li Jing's brothers and nephews also seem to be pretty good, such as Li Xiuxing and his son who are currently trapped in Huining Pass, and Li Sanniang, who is about to go to the front for reinforcements. The two brothers, Master Ke and Li Zhengming, and their son are all men.

However, the two sons of Li Jing, although what Siqi said was tactful, but the boss is obviously just a dude with little skills, who likes to make friends with power, likes fame and fortune, but has no skills. Given the fierce political struggles in the early Tang Dynasty, it will be easy sooner or later. An accident may even involve the Li family.

Li Erlang is a free-spirited person, but as the second son of Li Jing, he is good at riding and shooting, but he doesn't want to follow the Li family's line of generals, but wants to be a hero. To put it bluntly, this is also irresponsible Guy, relying on his father's shadow, family reputation, and even family wealth, of course he can be unrestrained. The son of the county prince is also a famous Li family in Longxi, but he only enjoys everything the Li family gave him, but he can't do anything for the family and future generations. To create value, Li Jing's two sons, the eldest is incompetent, and the second is irresponsible, so how can he not decline.

He vaguely remembered that the family temple of Li Jing's family in history was reduced to Yang Guozhong's stable in the Tang Xuanzong period.

Siqi knows a lot. The high-ranking maid in the big mansion gate can properly stand up to the senior white-collar workers in the big group of later generations. Not only does she know a lot about the affairs in the mansion, but she also knows a lot about the in-law relationship between the big families outside. , and even the relationship between each family and the palace, or the power struggle in the court, etc. are well understood.

Huaiyu believed that she must have heard Li Sanniang talk with Zhang Chuchen and the others, but she was indeed smart and understanding.

To be honest, if a girl like Siqi were to be a concubine or a housekeeper in the mansion, she would be more than enough to manage the inner house. It would be a waste of time to follow him back to Longqiaobao to live in a cave.

Zhang Chuchen gave Siqi a generous dowry, which was more generous than what ordinary small landlords would buy for their daughters. It is worthy of the county government and the Li family of Longxi. Of course, the more important thing is that she served Li Sanniang well. .

"The dowry given by the madam will be handed over to Erlang to take care of the concubine later. How about we take the money and hire someone to build a yard first?"

"These are your dowry, you keep it well, I can't use your dowry, building a house is indeed a top priority, but don't worry about the money, before Cheng Dalang bought my medicine and gave me ten coins, which can be exchanged for twenty pennies, madam yesterday Give me another three hundred bolts of silk, worth one hundred and eight guan, which add up to 120 and eight guan, which is more than enough to build a courtyard in Sanyuan Longqiao, and it is enough to buy a courtyard in the southern city of Chang'an now."

The east of Chang'an is expensive and the west is rich, Huaiyu can't afford it in the east and west, but it is possible to buy property in the south.

"We are still building yards in Sanyuan, managing the fields well, raising cattle and sheep, planting mulberry and silkworms, you are working part-time in the yamen to catch money, and I am doing housework at home, spinning and weaving. After a few years, I will look for you again." A young lady from an official's family welcomes her into the door..."

Siqi's words made Huaiyu suddenly stunned.

There is even a bit of guilt, in this era, a concubine is a concubine, and you can never replace your wife with a concubine. Even if the Li family exempts Siqi, you can only be his concubine forever. If you use a concubine as your wife, it is a violation of the law , to be severely punished.

He was a little irritable.

Siqi seemed to feel it, and posted it gently, "Erlang, don't worry, in the future when the bride enters the house, the slave will definitely abide by his duty, respect the eldest lady, and never dare to commit the same crime..."

"do not talk."

"Erlang, my concubine wants a child."

······
It's been a long night.

Until the bell for the morning class in the Bodhi Temple rang again, Huaiyu woke up.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a pair of bright eyes staring at him.

He was a little dazed, and then he remembered that this was Li Jing's mansion, and the girl lying beside him and staring at him was Siqi, and she called her real name Chen Runniang later.

"You already woke up?"

"Well, you woke up just after the sky turned pale, and you slept so deeply."

Last night, the black lights blinded you and me. Now that the sky is bright, Huaiyu is a little at a loss as to how to deal with it.

"Erlang is hungry. I'm going to get Erlang something to eat. After eating, let's go see my wife and third lady. Then I pack up my things and go home with Erlang."

"Okay, but now that I've come to Chang'an, I still have some things to do. I originally planned to visit the elders of the clan in Chang'an with Aye and Brother. I will visit later by myself, and by the way. Su Guogong's mansion pays a visit to Cheng Dalang."

"I will report to Madam in a while, please Madam let my eldest brother borrow the car to take us there."

"You should rest more," Huaiyu said affectionately.

"Nu asked brother to go with Erlang. He is familiar with Chang'an. He also needs to buy some gifts when he visits his elders and friends. It is not a loss of etiquette. He is familiar with brother Nu and buys them, so he can save some money. It also saves money and time, and he also knows how to deal with the family members of the mansion gate. Although it is a visit to relatives and friends, gifts to the family members are also indispensable..." Siqi said very considerately .

"You are such a good housemate!" Huaiyu kissed her, making her blushed, both happy and ashamed, and got up quickly, "I'll get Erlang something to eat."

Siqi's feet may not be in good condition, walking is very difficult today!

(End of this chapter)