When they got there, as soon as they entered the room, Meng Zezhi, who was mentally prepared, knelt down to Mrs. Xiao with a plop, "Mother."
Recalling the carrion hidden under the quilt in the corner of the ruined temple in memory, and looking at the small but intact person on the ground, Xiao's nose was sore, and he almost burst into tears.
Fortunately, she was worried that there were other people present, so she restrained her emotions in time.
She said slowly, "Get up."
"Yes." Meng Zezhi replied respectfully, then got up from the ground and stood aside, bowing his body, not daring to look directly at Mrs. Xiao, but just said, "Is your mother's health better?" There is no lack of concern.
Xiao Shi's mood improved a lot in an instant.
So what if everything is true, after all, her cousin hasn't had an accident yet, Mammy Zheng is still alive, she's fine, and An'er is still alive. For her, that's enough.
"It's much better." Xiao Shi relieved, paused, and then said, "You stand over and let mother... I'll take a good look at you."
She changed her mouth in time, lest it would be too abrupt to frighten Zhao Yian.
But even so, the kindness shown by Mrs. Xiao still surprised Mammy Zheng and the maid who was waiting on the side.
Hearing this, Meng Zezhi paused, then looked up at Mrs Xiao cautiously, and found that the other party was also looking at him, he blushed and lowered his head in a panic. Going to the bed: "Mother."
It can be said that the inner anxiety and restraint are vividly played.
Looking at Meng Zezhi who was full of 'little family', Xiao Shi couldn't tell what it was like, she tried her best to keep a calm tone: "How old are you this year?"
Meng Zezhi replied respectfully, "It's twelve to go back to my mother's words."
"It's okay to eat and live on weekdays."
Speaking of which, Xiao's voice stopped abruptly. She knew the treatment of the concubine in the backyard, not to mention Zhao Yian who was not taken care of by his biological mother.
When I think of the way that little bastard wears gold and silver on weekdays, and looks at her An'er, she doesn't even have any accessories that can be worn on the table, you can imagine how much she has been living on weekdays Struggle, the heart can not help but stained with a layer of sour.
People are all emotional. When they hate someone, they want him to die. People who love someone are only afraid that they won't be able to hold everything in front of him.
Without waiting for Meng Zezhi to reply, Mrs. Xiao turned to look at Madam Zheng: "I remember that during the Dragon Boat Festival, there were still some cloud satin and tribute satin rewarded by the Empress, and they were all taken out and bought for Ninth Young Master. clothes."
Madam Zheng was startled, didn't she say that all these satins were to be kept for the winter to be made into clothes and sent to the prince
But she still answered respectfully: "Yes."
Nanny He Shi's heart was beating like thunder, what Mammy Zheng could think of, she could naturally think of. In the dark, she seemed to see a road to the sky appearing at the feet of her young master.
I just heard Xiao shi continue: "You are living in the east wing these few days. If there is anything unsatisfactory, just tell Shiqin."
With that said, the eldest maid knew the qin and gave Meng Ze a blessing.
Meng Zezhi appropriately made a flattered look: "Yes."
It is said that it is here to serve the disease, but in fact, it is more or less to enjoy it.
The mutton stir-fry in the morning, the pork stir-fry with yellow cabbage, the veggies with clear sauce, the steamed pork trotters, the two-cooked fried fresh fish, the roast pork, the fragrant rice... Unless you specifically ask for it, the kitchen is will not be prepared.
At noon, fresh shrimp with pepper vinegar, goose meat, lamb tripe plate with salted soy sauce and mustard, five-flavored steamed chicken, Yingshuang spicy rabbit, mutton crystal dumplings, steamed fragrant rice...
In the evening, the food is slightly lighter, milk nest, roasted bamboo shoots and goose, steamed squirrel, stewed quail, rice rotten soup...
Coupled with steaming dim sum twice a day and adding dried fruit and dried meat once a day, the taste could not be better.
This is Meng Zezhi's perspective.
Xu Shi has eaten too blandly in the past few years, either green vegetables and tofu, or pork and fish. If you go to the kitchen late, the food you bring back may be completely cold, and there is a layer of white grease on it. , Even if you want to eat, you don't know how to put your chopsticks down.
This food has to be hot when it's cold, but the food next to it is fine. Once the green vegetables are put back into the pot, they'll be fished out again. Anyway, Meng Zezhi seems to have lost his appetite to eat it.
Although this remark has the smell of wine and meat in the Zhu family, and the road has the suspicion of freezing to death, but Mencius and his old man also said that if you are poor, you will be good at yourself, and if you are rich, you will be good at the world. More.
So when he saw such a sumptuous dish at first glance, he was naturally aroused by the appetite.
In just a few days, Meng Zezhi had an extra ring of flesh on his stomach.
What he loves most is the steamed squirrel in front of him. He uses two-year-old squirrels, which are produced outside the plug, peeled and caesarean section, dried and stored. Put it in the steamer, steam for a quarter of an hour, take out the scraper and wash it, cut each into eight or nine pieces, sprinkle with salt and pepper, wrap the noodles and then steam slowly over low heat, be sure to steam it once, otherwise the oil will be lost, and finally you have to Cook it with lees.
Meng Zezhi prefers this crispy taste.
Compared to Meng Zezhi, who was silently immersed in the ocean of delicious food, Nanny He was obviously much more sensitive.
She touched the new thin quilt brought by Shiqin, the maid next to Xiao, and was flustered.
It's really that the Xiao family treats her young master too graciously.
It was like the thin quilt in front of him. The fabric of the quilt was only seen by He's father, and it was said to be a piece of soft smoke for six hundred taels of silver. The core of the quilt was not cotton, but silk.
Generally speaking, a piece of cloth is ten feet long and can fit six adult clothes, but if Meng Zezhi is this age, ten clothes can also be made. But if you buy a quilt, you can have four beds.
In other words, the quilt alone is worth one hundred taels of silver—
You must know that these days, one stone of rice (one hundred and twenty catties) is only five cents, and one tael of silver is enough for a family to live for a month.
Looking at the dishes on the table in front of Meng Zezhi, He's mind was full of eight taels of silver for a squirrel, six cents for a pound of pork, and three dollars for a goose... She subconsciously forgot Most of these things are produced by the villagers in the house.
- Can she not panic!
But she thought about it, and couldn't think of what Xiao Shi could do with this, so she panicked, and she got used to it.
Here, the wet nurse He Shi was busy and flustered, but there, Madam Zheng couldn't help but feel worried, especially when she learned that her wife had let the maid know the piano and quietly touched the inch of satin and inch of gold Yunyanluo. After making a quilt for Meng Zezhi, he was even more worried.
Mammy Zheng couldn't help but remind Xiao Shi politely: "Madam, are you treating the ninth young master better, if you let the prince know?"
She doesn't agree with Xiao's approach. Even if the prince doesn't kiss her, there is no need for her to adopt another child. Isn't this pushing the already weak mother-child relationship between her and the prince into a deep ditch?
Taking 10,000 steps back, you should adopt the fourteenth young master even if you want to adopt it. The same is true that he lost his mother at birth. The ninth young master is twelve this year, and he understands everything he should understand. When I was only two years old, it was when I was very forgetful. As the old saying goes, I am not afraid of not being able to raise well, but I am afraid that I will not be able to raise it well.
It is said that they are soft-handed and cannibalistic. Seeing that under this series of offensives, her An'er slowly came out of her restraint and became more intimate with her, Xiao Shi couldn't help it. It was a little better, but when she heard this, the smile on her face instantly faded.
Thinking of how she wanted to hold everything in front of Zhao Yijing in the past, but the other party ignored her while accepting her things, Xiao Shi couldn't help but feel nauseated.
She didn't want to hide it from Mammy Zheng. Taking advantage of the fact that only the two of them were there, she put down the medicine bowl in her hand and said lightly, "Mammy Zheng, do you think the prince and the grandfather look alike?"
Mammy Zheng didn't know why, but she still said, "It's not just a resemblance, it's simply carved out of a mold."
Xiao Shi looked at her: "Then, do you look like me?"
"Of course—" Mammy Zheng's voice choked, the faces of Xiao Shi and Zhao Yijing flashed in her mind, and her complexion changed dramatically.
She understood what Xiao's meant, and the eldest glared at her, her mouth trembling: "Husband, madam, what do you mean?"
Xiao Shi murmured to himself, "Yes, obviously I don't look alike at all, why did I just want to take him as my son for more than 20 years."
Mammy Zheng took a breath. She wanted to say if there was any misunderstanding, but she thought again, if there was no definite evidence, how could Madam say such a thing, she swallowed the words again, thinking about it. A mess in it.
The next day, Meng Zezhi found that Mammy Zheng's attitude towards him was a little better, less perfunctory and more sincere.
Day by day, Xiao's condition gradually improved, and her relationship with Meng Zezhi became more and more harmonious. On this day in mid-September, she brought Meng Zezhi to Xiao Deren.
Xiao Deren is the cousin of the Xiao family, currently serving as a sacrificial wine in the Imperial College, and second on the Enke list in the first year of Guangde.
Xiao Shi had greeted Xiao Deren long ago, only begging him to help accept a student, and also informed Meng Zezhi's identity, without mentioning anything else.
After all, the Xiao family is his only relative in this world. It can be seen that the Xiao family has something to hide, so Xiao Deren didn't ask any more questions and agreed.
"uncle."
Under Xiao's introduction, Meng Zezhi knelt down and kowtowed to Xiao Deren.
"Yeah." Xiao Deren nodded, and handed him the greeting gift he had prepared.
Meng Zezhi took it with both hands: "Uncle Xie."
After meeting Li, the process before apprenticeship always has to go. Xiao Deren didn't expect too much from Meng Zezhi, after all, he was just a shy son and not very old.
He asked, "What book have you been reading recently?"
Meng Zezhi looked at Xiao Shi subconsciously, with a look of apprehension.
It's not like Zhao Yijing has Song Guogong specially invited famous teachers for him. The sons and daughters in the Guogong's mansion are all taught in the family study. The Xiao family knows what kind of level the gentleman is in the family study. Looking at Meng Zezhi's appearance, she only Thinking that the other party knew nothing, so she felt uneasy, she immediately comforted: "Don't be afraid, it's the truth."
Meng Zezhi couldn't help but glance at her again, and then he turned around and said hesitantly, "Returning to my uncle, I'm studying the first three histories."
Generally speaking, scholars do not start to study history books until they reach the stage of judging people, because the palace exam is to test strategy theory.
"The first three... eh?" Xiao Deren frowned slightly: "Have you read all four books and five classics?"
"I've read it all." Meng Zezhi replied.
Xiao Deren didn't think Meng Zezhi was going to lie to him, so he straightened up and asked, "The way of a gentleman is expensive and hidden, and the stupidity of a husband and wife can be compared with Zhi... What's the explanation?"
Meng Zezhi replied without hesitation: "This sentence comes from "The Doctrine of the Mean", which means that the way of a gentleman is broad and subtle. Although ordinary men and women are ignorant, they can also know the way of a gentleman..."
Xiao Deren's expression lifted, and after thinking for a while, he asked, "It's a human but can be inferior to a bird? Poem says: King Mu Muwen. What's the explanation?"
"The first half of the sentence comes from "The Great Learning", 'You know what you are doing, you can be a human being and not as good as a bird.'… ”
Seeing Meng Zezhi's fluent answer, Xiao shi looked dazed.
After asking a few questions, Xiao Deren couldn't help but nodded and said, "Not bad."
It's more than good. If you can read the Four Books and Five Classics, at least one scholar can get the title, and a twelve-year-old scholar—
Thinking of this, Xiao Deren's gaze towards Meng Zezhi inadvertently softened a bit.
As if thinking of something, Xiao Deren asked: "By the way, which gentleman taught you all these?"
"No one taught me," Meng Zezhi glanced at the Xiao family again, and said vaguely, "It's Song Juren from the clan, and he gave me a set of his study notes when he left the library three years ago."
There is no mother-in-law who does not suppress the concubines, and the Xiao family is the same. Compared with using the guise of a servant to spar with the concubines, she is more concerned about their studies. Of course, it is not a kind of good intentions.
In her memory, in the mouths of the gentlemen in the clan, Meng Zezhi always belonged to the category of mediocre aptitudes, but behind his back he gave Song Ju's reading notes to him willingly...
Subconsciously, Xiao Shi thought of the word Zangzhuo, and his expression was complicated.
To be self-taught, what kind of talent this is!
The more Xiao Deren looked at Meng Zezhi, the more pleasing he felt, he breathed a sigh of relief, and said repeatedly, "Alright, alright, this student, I'll accept it."
Hearing this, Meng Zezhi immediately knelt down and bowed to Xiao Deren.
The imperial examination is not a test that can be done behind closed doors. It is better to have a good teacher leading the way.
After leaving the gate of Xiao's house, Meng Zezhi, who was overjoyed at first, seemed to think of something, his face changed slightly, and then he looked at Xiao's cautiously.
When Xiao Shi saw it, she naturally understood that Meng Zezhi was worried that she was dissatisfied with his clumsiness, and she immediately reached out and touched Meng Zezhi's head, comforting: "I didn't expect An'er to be so smart, In the future, I will definitely give my mother a champion and come back."
Meng Zezhi's eyes lit up, and he pretended to be happy and said, "Really?"
"Really." Xiao Shi almost burst into tears, she thought, she would hide her clumsiness at a young age. Her family, An'er, was so clever, why did she insist on giving her up in the first place, and even lost her own life in the end go in.
The author has something to say:
Meng Zezhi: I think some people will say that I made up a memory for Xiao just to cheat food and drink!