Dali Temple Small Dining Room

  Chapter 103 Octagonal Rice Dumplings (4)

  Wen Mingtang, who was peeling zongzi, sneezed and continued to concentrate on peeling zongzi.

  The zongzi leaves are peeled off to reveal the zongzi inside. Bright green peas, golden corn kernels, and dark brown diced bacon are evenly mixed in the light brown glutinous rice, tightly pressed together.

   The zongzi are bright and beautiful in color, and those who can hook them just by looking at them move their index fingers.

  Wen Mingtang lowered his head and took a bite. The glutinous rice was fragrant, the salty diced bacon was mixed with a smoky taste, the peas were refreshing, and the corn kernels were fresh and sweet. After he took a bite, juice oozes slightly. There is also a hint of the fragrance of zong leaves in all the ingredients.

  Wen Mingtang ate rice dumplings slowly, with a pot of boiled scented tea in hand, and next to the scented tea was an incense burner with three sticks of incense stuck in it.

  Cigarettes curled up, and the girl sat cross-legged behind the stone table in the yard, leisurely eating rice dumplings with scented tea.

  When Wei Fu finished sorting out the files and passed by the gate of the courtyard, this was what he saw.

   Wei Fu paused to see the extra incense burner on the stone table, couldn't help being curious, walked over and asked: "Master Wen, this incense burner..."

  The girl who seriously ate rice dumplings and drank scented tea said: "It's my family's memorial day, let's pay my respects."

  The phrase "memory day" reminded Wei Fu that the time when the Wen family had an accident seemed to be the Dragon Boat Festival of that year.

  Just when I felt pity, I saw the tribute in front of the incense burner: a few red dates and a handful of fried melon seeds.

  Looking at the zongzi and flower tea she ate herself, the perfunctory performance of the girl who is good at cooking is really obvious.

Wei Fu fell silent, paused, and was about to continue talking when he saw the girl finished eating rice dumplings and drinking scented tea, feeling a little unfulfilled, and casually took two red dates from the "tribute" with her. A few melon seeds came over and ate them.

  Wei Fu: "..."

  Looking at Wen Mingtang who was eating dates and melon seeds, he fell silent again.

  When the girl finished eating the red dates and melon seeds, and continued to reach out to grab the red dates and melon seeds in the "tribute", Wei Fu couldn't help calling out: "Master Wen."

  The girl said "oh", as if she just remembered, she handed the dates and melon seeds she grabbed to Wei Fu, and asked, "Wei Si Cheng, do you eat dates and melon seeds?"

  Seeing the serious expression on the girl's face, Wei Fu twitched the corners of his mouth, shook his head at the tribute in her hand, and couldn't help asking: "You always worship the ancestors, why do you just eat like this?"

  The girl who was eating melon seeds didn't change her expression when she heard the words, and said while eating melon seeds: "If you don't eat it, it's a waste."

  Wei Fu's eyes fell on the girl's face, and seeing the girl's face was calm, without any trace of sadness, he couldn't help but said: "Master Wen, you..."

  The girl stopped when she saw him say the word "you".

  Wen Mingtang looked at him without interrupting him.

   Just quietly nibbling melon seeds, waiting for him to continue talking.

  After waiting for a while, Wei Fu said, "Master Wen, I thought you would interrupt me."

  Wen Mingtang shook his head, and while eating melon seeds, he helped one of the incense sticks that was about to fall over, and said, "What are you interrupting? As a member of the Wen family, I worship them!"

   As for waste...

The girl threw the jujube into her mouth, and said slowly: "I remember the first few days when I first entered the palace, because I was of Wen family blood, I was excluded a lot in Ye Ting, and I was imprisoned by the heirs of Ye Ting. The hall. I was very hungry when I was locked in there, and there was nothing to eat, but I used the offerings from the gods and Buddhas in the hall, a plate of dates and a plate of melon seeds to survive.”

   This is what happened to the original owner.

   "Blessed by the gods and Buddhas, there is no blame. I think they are telling me not to waste food." Wen Mingtang said, knocking the melon seeds in his hand, glanced at the incense burner in front of him, and said, "They shouldn't blame them either!"

  Wei Fu heard the words, paused for a while, looked at the girl's still calm face, and couldn't help asking: "Your family..."

"Dead!" The girl calmly narrated the events of that year, "Everyone said that my father and my uncle and grandfather tampered with the imperial edict and killed a famous general. Such heinous people should be beaten by everyone. Therefore, The whole family of Wen’s family has been punished as they should.”

  Wei Fu fell silent again when he heard the words, and after a short silence, he said, "Although I didn't take over the case of your family back then, I also assisted in the investigation. The evidence..."

   "The evidence is solid, I know." Wen Mingtang said, paused, and added, "Everyone knows."

   After all, he is a great Confucian who is famous all over the world. How can he be easily overthrown without ironclad evidence?

  When this incident started, many people didn't believe it, even Wei Fu couldn't believe it, but in front of the evidence, how could he deny it?

  Wei Fu let out a long sigh. He was older than Liu Yuan, Bai Zhutong and Lin Fei, so he had come into contact with Wen Xuance.

   "Your father was really upright back then," Wei Fu said, looking at the calm girl in front of him, "Do you know that?"

"I was young back then," Wen Mingtang said earnestly, "I didn't know anything about the outside world, so I just stayed at home to study, practice calligraphy, and embroider. The people I saw the most were my mother and the masters. My father is very busy, so it is rare to come back to see me once. Every time, he must severely correct mistakes and shortcomings. He is a strict and respectful person."

  Wei Fu let out a "hmm", looked at the girl, and waited for her to continue.

  The girl threw the melon seed husk in her hand aside, clapped her hands, spread her hands together, and said, "It's gone."

  Wei Fu: "..."

  Wen Mingtang said: "It's really gone. He rarely cares about our affairs, and is always busy with outside things."

"Before the accident, even my mother said that he only cares about outside political and state affairs, and has no family affairs in his heart. Let him live with the court!" Wen Mingtang said, "He suddenly did such a thing, even my mother is afraid. unbelievable."

  But given the solid evidence, who can deny it?

"The whole family suffered with him. I don't know what happened to the uncles, grandfathers, and cousins ​​outside. Those men were taken away on the first day of the accident." Wen Mingtang brought another date, but didn't eat it. , but held it in his hand and said, "The aunts and cousins ​​in the backyard surrounded me and my mother, scolded us, pushed us, cursed us with the most vicious words, and Wen Xiutang even spit at me .”

"They weren't like this before my father's accident." Wen Mingtang buried the dates in the incense burner that was about to burn out, "They circled around me and my mother, not daring to offend me and my mother. I didn’t dare to come out, I only dared to **** it secretly, and then threatened me not to tell my mother and my father.”

"At that time, uncle and the others relied on my father to gain power; later, when my father fell, the power became a mountain of swords. I wish I could run faster than anyone else." Seeing some different emotions, she smiled, as if mocking, "But I've been relying on you for so long, how can I escape?"

  (end of this chapter)