Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 71 Lou Dong’s Family Banquet
Wang Heng stared at him with inquiring eyes: "Mr. Zhao might as well tell us the origin of this picture."

Zhao Zhanyun said: "Xu Zhenjun was a Taoist priest of the Jin Dynasty and the ancestor of Jingming Dao. He once killed a rebellious dragon, but the dragon escaped. Xu Zhenjun predicted the prophecy of the Dragon Sand. During the 240 years since his death, In the realm of Yuzhang, within the Five Tombs, there should be eight hundred earthly immortals. If the little dragon does harm at that time, eight hundred earthly immortals should kill it. This is the picture."

Wang Heng said: "Is there any inscription on the picture?"

Zhao Zhanyun thought hard and said: "It seems to be a few lines of poetry, about Wuling as the leader, Gu Yue as a solitary peak, and there are two lines in front of it, I really can't remember it."

Wang Heng asked: "Is Mr. Yuming a Taoist?"

Zhao Zhanyun shook his head and said, "Mr. Yuming loves the prosperity of the city the most. It is impossible for him to practice hard."

Wang Hengdao: "I said goodbye to Mr. Yuming at Liujiagang Pier this morning. He seemed to have gone to sea with members of a certain sect."

Zhao Zhanyun showed a look of despair in his eyes and said: "Mr. Yuming did not go to sea to practice Taoism. He must have gone to avoid debts and avoid the limelight."

Wang Cai was surprised and said: "Mr. Yuming is a dignified scholar, and has been a county magistrate. He travels with countless servants in boxes and cages, and rewards his servants extremely generously. How can he be so poor and owe so many debts?"

Zhao Zhanyun was a kind man, and he felt a little ashamed to talk behind people's backs. He only said half of his words, but he couldn't hold back, so he said: "It's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it's hard to go from luxury to frugality. Mr. Yuming has made a good scene. In the past few years, I have been without income for a long time, which is like sitting on nothing. He even borrowed 300 taels of silver from me for turnover. He does not do business, God knows what he does for turnover. He and I have been guests of the Wang family for many years, and we are old friends, so I just treat it as a gift to him. There were also creditors who came to our troupe. If the amount was not very big, I would pay it off for him. He still had to move a few hundred taels from my small farmer's family, and I don't know how much he owed elsewhere."

Yueting also said: "I remember what happened in the past. Last year, Mr. Yuming was giving guidance to our Dengyun Society. Someone from a printing house in Nanjing came to him and said he wanted to come to discuss the accounts. Yuming was very happy at that time and gave him a Suzhou The people at the printing house refused to give the bill to Henghe Bank and insisted on cash. They started arguing within a few seconds. The person who wanted the account was not a good person and had a very loud voice. He didn't even come to watch the show when we saw it. It was Master Huiyun who gave me some cash before sending the people from the printing shop away."

Wang Heng suddenly said: "It's strange that he comes to Taicang every year, but my eldest brother doesn't see him every year. He has no choice but to hide in his old mentor's house."

Zhao Zhanyun said: "This house is the private residence of a high-ranking official of the imperial court. Who would dare to come here to collect debts?"

Wang Heng paused and said, "Mr. Zhanyun, does he know that the biological father of Master Huiyun's fetus is Yuming?"

Zhao Zhanyun sighed: "I guessed about [-]% or [-]% of it. After all, the situation is awkward, so it's not easy to ask more questions. Speaking of which, I feel sorry for Huiyun."

Wang Heng heard that there was something in Zhao Zhanyun's words and asked, "How can I say this?"

Zhao Zhanyun complained about himself and said: "Yu Ming has told me more than once that he comes from an ancient scholarly family in Yunchuan County. He has been working with the maids since he was a child when he met his mother at Mao hour. He did not rest until You hour. New Year's Eve was no exception, and most of the women in the clan lived like this. His deceased wife, Mrs. Lu, married in with a dowry of 5000 taels of silver. He tried every means to rent a yard near the academy and negotiated with his family to let Mrs. Lu take care of the food and daily life. , thanks to his success in the imperial examination, the family let Mr. Lu come out to give gifts in the palm of his hand, and Mr. Lu was able to avoid a lot of friction. After Mr. Lu died of illness, if he remarried, the dowry would have to be at least 5000 taels of silver, otherwise, he would not be able to survive. Yes, Huiyun, obviously does not meet the requirements."

Wang Heng recalled that his eldest aunt once wanted to be a matchmaker for the third sister, the concubine of the second wife. Yuming was so smart. He knew the elegant meaning of the song after hearing it. He might have guessed that it was the third sister who could have a wife of 2000. Two dowries are great, but obviously do not meet the requirements.

Wang Hengdao: "Mr. Yuming only served as a county magistrate once, and then gave up his official position. He was so strapped for money, why didn't he go to the ministry to wait for a vacancy? It is difficult to fill the post of official official, but the officials in the department can always make plans. ." Zhao Zhanyun spread his hands and said, "How did you know that Yu Ming was dismissed from his post and the charge of dismissal was corruption."

"This, this, where do you start talking about this," Yueting said with sweat on his head: "I really remember that Mr. Yuming said that the officialdom was dark and he did not want to be a part of it. He just wanted to be a writer of stories. When you have time, you can write about green mountains and sell them, so that you don’t make money by causing evil in the world.”

"Hey, maybe he really thinks so. Officialdom is ruthless. It's very possible that he wants to be a good official but is framed." Zhao Zhanyun said.

If Wang Heng hadn't found the official certificate of the shipping company in Shenliutang yesterday, some people would still believe Zhao Zhanyun's words. Now, Mr. Zhao himself has to be skeptical.

After sitting for a while, Zhao Zhanyun invited a few of them to Han's house to have a rest and have a glass of wine.

Wang Heng looked at the sky and hesitated: "We will enter the city later."

Zhao Zhanyun said in an earnest tone: "It's still early in the morning, let's have a few drinks. I'll keep an eye on the time and send you into the city before the city gate closes. Just now I saw the green-covered carriage from a distance, and I knew it was you. I have already told the little eldest sister to put the dishes on the iron wok to steam. It is not that Yueting wants to say goodbye, but it should be a farewell."

Seeing that Mr. Zhao was so sincere in his approach, the group of people were more respectful than obeying orders.

Zhao Zhanyun's house is at the east end of the village, with the Five Mountains Palace facing four or five hundred steps east.

The house that the Zhao family entered was a row of green brick and tile houses, with vegetables planted in front of the bamboo fence, various flowers and plants in the patio, and a few osmanthus and wintersweet trees. The layout was quite decent.

Under the big osmanthus tree, tables and chairs had been placed. Seeing them sitting down, the young lady put down four porcelain bowls and poured out four bowls of water from the hanging basket.

None of them knew what the reason was, but Wang Cai was very thirsty, so he swallowed it in one gulp. A sweet fragrance penetrated his heart and spleen, and it was ironing all his internal organs.

At this time, Zhao Zhanyun came to know that this was the custom of hospitality in the Loudong countryside. Guests who came for the first time had to drink a bowl of honey water.Yueting and Wang Heng also drank it all in one gulp.

Wang Heng only felt that drinking this honey water seemed to have calmed down a lot of the pain of running around. He saw that the people he usually admired turned into buffoons, and the people he wanted to rescue were not worth rescuing. He felt depressed inside. it goes without saying.

So, when everyone was drinking, they inevitably drank a few more drinks. When they entered the city at dusk, except for the boy driving the carriage, everyone else sang loudly, repeating one line here and the other without making up the tune.

Back at the Wang Mansion, everyone couldn't remember how they found their beds.

(End of this chapter)