Good son-in-law of the Ming Dynasty

After returning to the capital, Su Mu told Xiaodie in detail how he got to Cangzhou and what happened to him in Cangzhou.In front of her, Su Mu has no secrets at all.

For Kocho, he trusts him wholeheartedly.

Xiaodie naturally knew about Gu Run's and Su Mu's festivities, but when she heard that her master was so mean to Gu Huashao, she was still stunned and murmured: "It's so poisonous!"

Seeing her stunned, Su Mu gave her a hand, and said with a smile: "Let's go, go. It's getting late, it's important to go home early to watch the New Year."

When I got home, it was completely dark.

Naturally, the New Year's Eve dinner will be next, Mr. Wu's courtyard has been separated, and he has his own children, so it is impossible for him to accompany Su Mu to celebrate the New Year.

Therefore, the entire Sumu mansion was full of dishes, and only Su Mu ate it alone.

And Xiaodie, Zhao Hulu and other maidservants stood by, filling the whole room.

In full view, the New Year's Eve dinner, Su Mu, was naturally not delicious.

He felt very boring, so he asked Xiaodie to sit down and asked her to have a few drinks with him.

But Xiaodie shook her head and said: "Master, there is a difference between superiority and inferiority. I am a maid, how can I get a seat. Our Su family can't mess up the rules and let others see the joke."

Su Mu is a modern person, and there is no distinction between high and low in his mind.However, no matter which mountain he sang or which song, he wasn't so pretentious that he asked everyone to sit with him.If you really do that, you will make the servants look down on you. In the future, after Miss Wu gets started, how will she control the maids.

So he nodded and told Zhao Hulu and the other maids to retreat, saying that they didn't want to serve them.

After everyone retreated and closed the door, Su Mu pulled Xiaodie to sit beside him, and said with a smile: "Come, come, let's reunite as husband and wife for a year."

Xiao Die blushed with shame: "Master... who is your husband and wife?"

Su Mu, "After I get married with Ms. Wu and Hu Ying after the new year, I will formally admit you and give you a title. I have wronged you and worked hard for you all these years."

Finally hearing her master's promise, Xiaodie's eyes turned red, she hurriedly poured a glass of wine for Su Mu, and ate a few with him.

Su Mu sighed: "I had to drive in Xiyuan at any time during the Spring Festival last year. So many big things happened, so let's just forget about it. Nothing happened this year, and I feel very deserted living in such a big house."

Xiaodie said: "Master, next year when Sister Wu comes over and gives birth to a baby, the house will be lively."

"But you think long-term, Xiaodie, I want you to have a son." Su Mu hugged Xiaodie as he spoke.

Xiaodie has never been so intimate with the master before, and her heart is both nervous and sweet.

For a time, the scenery was beautiful.

After talking for a while, Xiaodie said: "According to what the master said, Her Royal Highness Princess Taikang is not as ugly as in that portrait, but a beautiful woman with a beautiful country. The master has been with her for so long in Cangzhou. Next time, Your Highness is getting married, is the master feeling a little sore?"

Speaking of this, Xiaodie couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Su Mu: "How is it possible? Princess Taikang is messing around sexually. I don't even have time to hide. How could there be other thoughts?"

Xiaodie deliberately said: "Then why are you teasing Mr. Gu San so much, maybe you are jealous?"

Su Mu was stunned, thought for a while, shook his head and said seriously: "Xiaodie, don't try me, I really don't have that kind of intention. Her Royal Highness and I are just partners in making money. This kind of woman is too weird and powerful. Any man, once he understands her deeply, is absolutely impossible to have a heart of love."

Hearing what Su Mu said was formal, Xiaodie suddenly breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good!"

"What would be good?" Su Mu was surprised.

Xiaodie: "Xiaodie is afraid that His Royal Highness Taikang has taken a fancy to the master, and wants to recruit you to be his son-in-law."

"What are you afraid of? It's nonsense. Xiaodie, if you talk like that again, I won't forgive you." Su Mu put down the cup in his hand and yawned: "I'm full of food and wine, and the weather is cold. Let's go back home and sleep."

"and many more."

"what happened?"

Xiaodie: "Master, today is the [-]th year of the year, so you have to watch the year. You can't sleep when it's too late."

Su Mu nodded: "Then let's set off firecrackers."

Xiaodie clapped her hands with excitement on her face: "My family used to be poor and had no money to buy firecrackers. Seeing people in other yards celebrate the New Year with fireworks and firecrackers, Xiaodie is envious! Now it's all right, for this In [-], Xiaodie bought fireworks worth more than a dozen taels of silver, and she is just waiting for you, Master, to set them off!"

"There are so many, that's great!" Su Mu was in high spirits, and was about to go out to join in the fun, when someone came to report that Mr. Wu had come.

Mr. Wu has always regarded Su Mu's mansion as his home, and he doesn't see him.

Seeing Mr. Wu, Su Mu hurriedly asked: "Why is the old man here, isn't he at home for the New Year?"

Mr. Wu put a stack of manuscripts in Su Mu's hand: "Life is long, and you can live it every year for 30 years, and this year is not bad. But Chunwei only comes once in three years. If you miss it, you have to wait for the next one. The old man is determined to take the imperial examination. , how would you waste your time. This is my recent essay, and the one you handed in, all revised by Yuner. Anyway, I have to watch the year, if you and my son-in-law, Weng, compare crafts, then it is not a waste of time .”

After finishing speaking, he strode towards the study: "Follow me!"

Mr. Wu's temperament is very clear to Su Mu, but if you don't agree to him, you don't know what kind of scolding you will be by this old Taishan later.

In desperation, Su Mushi went to the bookstore with him.

Then he took over the old man's work and started to read it. After reading it, Su Mu was startled: It's really...too bad...

It's not that the old man's articles are not up to par. In fact, his writing is of a very high standard, simple and steady, showing the style of a celebrity.

But this style is too old, out of tune with the popular rhythm of the whole era.

That's right, stereotyped essays also have a popular trend.

For example, the current Ming Dynasty is in its heyday and prosperity, and the people are rich and luxurious.Therefore, reflected in literary works and stereotyped arts, there are also many beautiful and chic words.

In particular, in today's Imperial Academy, most of them are scholars from the south, but few from the north can be seen.

The scholars from the water towns of Jiangsu and Zhejiang also wrote in a gorgeous and magnificent style, but they didn't like the simple and heavy writing very much.

According to the imperial examination system of the imperial court, most of the examiners for the general examination were selected by the Imperial Academy.

The old man has not participated in the imperial examination for many years, so he is not familiar with this situation.As soon as his article like this appeared on the imperial examination field, his first impression was not very good, and he was afraid that he would be deducted points.

After reading a few articles, Su Mu frowned and remained silent.

On the contrary, Mr. Wu was displeased, and said: "Su Mu, whether it's good or bad, can you just say it straight?"

Su Mu: "Old Mr. Wu is a senior scholar, so his essays are naturally sophisticated, but if he enters the imperial examination field, he may not have a good end?"

Mr. Wu: "What's wrong?"

"The style is wrong. Think about it, old man. Most of the scholars and editors in the Hanlin Academy are from the south. I don't need to say what kind of articles the southern scholars like. They also have a lot of contempt and disdain for the northern scholars." Squeeze out. Thinking about Jiao Fang, the current Minister of the Ministry of Officials, when he was in the Imperial Academy, he had a very unhappy life. He has been promoted to an important position after so many years of ups and downs. The old man's article is certainly good, But it may not be possible to be a Jinshi."

So, Su Mu told Mr. Wu about his understanding of the examination questions and the style of the article in detail.

It's a pity that the old man is a stubborn man, how can he be convinced, and sneered: "Just kidding, you only need to read it once to know whether the article is good or bad. What does it have to do with the style of writing?"

So, he began to eloquently extend it, citing scriptures and allusions, and the more he said, the more outrageous he was.

Speaking of this anger, he couldn't hold back for an hour or two.

Su Mu only felt a swarm of bees buzzing and flying in his head, and his heart was extremely irritable.

But it's also inconvenient to leave, this is simply unbearable torture.

I don't know how long it took, but suddenly, there was a "bang!" outside, and when I looked out the window, I saw a brilliant firework exploding in the dark night sky.

Then came the second flower, the third flower, and the 100th.

The whole capital city was illuminated and enveloped by this splendid fireworks.

The loud noises sounded one after another, as if there was no time to stop.

Su Mu looked and saw that Mr. Wu's lips were still moving, but he couldn't hear what he said clearly.

My heart suddenly relaxed, it was time, and I was finally relieved!

"It's time, it's time!" The servants cheered everywhere in the mansion.

Xiaodie opened the door and came in, followed by Zhao Hulu and the maids.

Zhao Hulu took the lead in bowing down: "Happy New Year, I wish the master has today every year, and this photo every year, good luck and good luck."

The other maids and servants also bowed down at the same time, and for a while, the sound of New Year's greetings was endless.

Xiaodie giggled: "One by one."

Then asked someone to carry a basket of money, and began to distribute red envelopes for New Year's Eve.

Old Mr. Wu was disturbed by them, so naturally he couldn't go on talking, he just shook his head depressingly.

The sound of firecrackers in the capital city for three years and thirty years lasted for nearly an hour. On the second day, Su Mu rested and slept until noon before getting up.

The yard is full of red firecracker debris, the snow has stopped, and the wintersweet flowers are covered with white snow.

Su Mu suddenly thought: The first year of Zhengde is finally here, and the emperor is going to be in charge. This is a new era, an era that belongs to our generation!

He is a low-key person, and he is only an eighth-rank idle official, and few people come to pay New Year's greetings, and he is too lazy to go out.

After spending half a day free at home, on the second day of the Lunar New Year, I went to work at the Secretary of General Administration as usual.

Chinese New Year is a rare day for officials of the Ming Dynasty to take a rest, although the statutory holiday is only one day.However, the officials didn't take this seriously, and the yamen didn't take much care of their affairs, and let everyone deal with the sundries at hand.

During the Chinese New Year, the yamen visit each other.It is unavoidable for officials to share posts with each other, pay New Year's greetings, and drink to connect with each other.

This situation has been busy until after the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year.

After the new year, the officials are really relieved and start to go to work.