Governor’s Illness

Chapter 10: Congealing autumn water

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The old man Dai Shengyan seemed to like Wangqing Pavilion very much, and even the school was located there. There has been no snow in the past few days, and there are several pots of charcoal fire in the attic. Xie Jinglan is wrapped like a ball of hair, and he is not afraid of the severe cold on the lake.

In the deep winter, the scenery on the Yanbo Pond is even more intoxicating. The sky and the water are almost the same color, and they are all white. In the middle is a thick ink like a distant mountain. In a trance, everyone seems to be sitting in a landscape painting.

Xia Houlin was just here to make soy sauce. Whenever he was in class, he would pretend to put the book on the table and hide a notebook under it. When the interest came, he listened to benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith, and the interest went away, or Sleep or read the book.

Dai Shengyan saw that he didn't want to make progress, and hated that iron could not become steel. At first, he urged him a few words, and then he went.

Xie Jinglan listened intently and focused, but within a few days, his book was filled with dense annotations, which made Xia Houlin feel like the world was spinning and his scalp was tingling.

Dai Shengyan's class was very interesting. He only taught for one morning, and in the afternoon he let Xie Jinglan read while he sat on the observation deck on the first floor fishing. If Xie Jinglan had any questions, he could ask him for advice. When answering questions, Xie Jinglan stood by the side, asking for advice humbly, often for half an hour. Xia Houlin was bored by the side, looking forward to going home from school to catch birds and play.

Dai Shengyan shook his head when he saw it, and said, "Learning is more important than thinking. If you think about it, you will have doubts. If you have doubts, you will have to ask. Xiaolin, don't you have anything to ask?"

Xie Jinglan said, "He doesn't even read the book, so what can he ask? He's probably just curious about the best way to catch birds."

Xia Houlin smiled and said, "You still know me best, the young master."

Dai Shengyan sighed helplessly and said, "You child, please have some snacks."

Xia Houlin was also helpless, and said, "Okay, sir, this is what you asked me to ask."

"Oh? Come on and listen."

Xie Jinglan also looked at him sideways, he stuck out his tongue, and said, "Dare to ask, sir, is Confucius the most learned scholar?"

Dai Shengyan said: "That is natural."

"Then the old man wants to memorize "Mencius" and Tang poems, and write Bagu?"

Dai Shengyan smiled and said, "Confucius had already passed away a hundred years ago when Mencius was born. How can you memorize the "Mencius"? Not to mention the eight-part Tang poems, Xiaolin, your question is really casual."

Xia Houlin gave a long "Oh" and said, "The most learned Confucius doesn't have to learn these things, so why should we learn them?"

Dai Shengyan was speechless and said, "Stop, stop, I don't care about you."

Xia Houlin was free from then on, and he only needed to submit a few test poems every day to pass the test. But this test post is also really annoying. Xia Houlin scratched his ears, scratched his cheeks, pondered hard, peeked at Xie Jinglan's studies from time to time, and then made up his own, in order to suffocate a handful of sentences. These days were really hard, Xia Houlin felt like he was going to lose his head as a teenager.

However, Dai Shengyan's class was not boring and boring. During his breaks, he often told some anecdotes about his travels, or ghost stories from some books.

It's just that Dai Shengyan looks thin and weak, honest, and looks like a standard decent old master, but his taste is very heavy. Nine out of ten stories he tells are ghost stories, and some are very strange. sore", "stretching the ghost's hand under the bed", "the smiling face flower in the mountains" and so on.

Xie Jinglan actually felt that Dai Shengyan wasting time talking about these things was boring, so he might as well talk more about the meaning of Mencius. But he is not good at interfering with words. He originally planned to let Dai Shengyan talk, and he continued to review his homework, but he did not expect that even if he was not careful, his attention would also be attracted by Dai Shengyan, so he unknowingly listened to countless gloomy stories. Horrible ghost story.

Xia Houlin was naturally daring, these ghost stories were just snacks after dinner for him, and he had heard of them that were more bizarre and bloody. But Xie Jinglan listened to it for the first time, it made his scalp numb and goosebumps all over his body. He couldn't control his ears. Even if his heart was agitated, he couldn't help but listen intently. Is there a human face growing on the arm

The sound of rain gradually sounded outside the window, accompanied by a gust of wind, and the roof tiles were rattled by raindrops. Xie Jinglan couldn't sleep, and dragged the quilt barefoot to the outhouse to find Xia Houlin, but only saw an empty quilt.

Where did this kid go in the middle of the night

I won't be abducted by the female ghost...

Of course, Xia Houlin would not be abducted by the female ghost. At this moment, he was walking under the porch, running and jumping a few times, and turned into Xie Bingfeng's study through the window.

Xie Bingfeng's study was much bigger than Xie Jingtao's, it was full of sweat and dazzling. Xia Houlin directly touched the desk, opened the drawers one by one, and found a stack of letters. The letters were placed casually in unlocked drawers and did not appear to be classified. With his unforgettable ability, Xia Houlin memorized the names of the people in the letter in his mind, and took a look at the content of the letter.

Xie Bingfeng's spare time is really boring. The letters are either about qin, chess, calligraphy and painting, or political affairs in the dynasty, such as the severe drought in eastern Zhejiang, the floods in the Yellow River, the disturbance of the Tatar customs, etc. There are also a lot of angry comments against the eunuchs. 's words.

Suddenly, there were messy footsteps outside, and Xiahou was startled. He hurriedly put the letter back in the drawer, closed it, and turned over to hide in a cabinet.

The door was opened, and the two people slammed into the table, accompanied by rapid gasping and lust.

Who is so bold to fight in Xie Bingfeng's study

"You foe, close the door." A delicate voice sounded in the breath.

"Okay, I'll close the door now." The male voice replied.

Xia Houlin didn't dare to come out, and huddled in the cabinet motionless.

The two of them were in ****, the desk was constantly shaking, the woman's babble was louder than a groan, and the man's heavy breathing was interspersed.

Xia Houlin is not a pure and good boy who doesn't know anything about human affairs. He has secretly flipped through several fire avoidance maps that his mother treasured. Although he has never played it in person, he still knows exactly what is going on between men and women. Instantly blushed.

Gently opening the cabinet door a crack, I saw two bodies on the desk closely overlapping each other, the woman closed her eyes, and her expression seemed to be both painful and happy, the man turned his back to Xia Houlin, and every time he hit him, he let go. The desk shook violently.

The woman's hand touched the man's back and slid up along the ridge line. Suddenly, the seemingly soft and boneless hand pinched a section of the man's spine and pinched it hard. The sound of bones snapping and breaking suddenly sounded, tight. Then there was a muffled groan from the man, and he fell to the ground like a tattered sack.

His pupils were scattered, and he was clearly dead.

That was the first time Xia Houlin saw a real dead person. It turned out that the death of a person was so grim. It wasn't a few lines of black and white in the book, and it wasn't a simple wave of a knife in his mother's mouth. The corpse was still steaming hot, staring at a pair of bloodshot eyes, Xia Hou stared at the gray face, feeling the cold inch by inch of his hand holding the cabinet door.

He covered his mouth, closed the cabinet door in horror, and waited for the woman to leave.

Suddenly, Jiao Di Di's voice sounded again: "Little thief in the cabinet, come out."

He was discovered!

Xia Houlin was confused and hesitant to go out.

Suddenly, a knife as thin as a cicada's wing was inserted into the door of the cabinet, just an inch away from Xia Houlin's nose. Xia Houlin stared at the silver blade as bright as water, and his heart almost jumped out of his throat.

"I'll stab it again, but I'll see blood."

Xia Houlin covered his eyes with one hand, crawled out of the cabinet resignedly, and said, "Sister, spare your life, the little one sees everything, and doesn't know anything!"

"Huh? I wondered who was so daring to sneak into the master's study late at night. It turned out to be the Xiahou boy."

Xia Houlin put down his hand, and saw a beautiful woman looking at him with a half-smile, the woman was wearing the maid's costume of Xie's house, she had just "war", and before she had time to tidy up, the clothes were half faded, revealing round shoulders and chest.

The woman reached into her armpit, and when she tore it off, the two groups of Bai Shengsheng were torn off by him. She raised her hand again and took off a human-skin mask, revealing her pure and beautiful face. He turned his neck, stretched his hands, and with the sound of bones, he suddenly grew several inches taller.

Under Xia Houlin's stunned expression, he changed from a woman to a man.

"You... you are Big Brother Qiu!"

Jinna Luo Qiuye, one of the eight parts of Galan. Xia Houlin often saw him on the mountain. He had a good temper and was usually the first choice for him and his mother to eat dinner.

Xiahou suddenly remembered, wasn't the knife just now the saber Qiushui of Qiuye

I didn't expect that the first time they met at the foot of the mountain would be like this... It's hard to say.

Xia Houlin was speechless for a long time.

"You don't seem to know my skills yet?" Qiuye smiled at Xiahou, "This is the kung fu of my family."

"I've never heard of it before, it's really not as famous as... See it." Xia Houlin could put an egg in his mouth.

Qiuye kindly helped Xia Houlin close his mouth, and said with a smile: "We are really destined, we can meet in places like this, just now my Qiushui almost killed you."

Xia Houlin didn't say a word, thinking to himself, this kind of fate is not worth it.

Qiuye continued: "Xiao Rong, I see that you have a peculiar skeleton and an extraordinary talent. In this way, if your mother accidentally explains that you are in the Western Regions, you will come to find me, worship me as a master, and learn art with me. In the future, if you want to seduce women, you will seduce women, and if you want to seduce men, you will seduce men, do you think?"

What a shit, neither male nor female, he doesn't want to learn.

Xia Houlin shook his head into a rattle.

Qiuye nodded Xia Houlin's head disappointedly, and said, "You little doll, you don't understand the benefits of shrinking your bones, and I won't teach others if you want to learn."

"It's enough for me to learn swordsmanship." The image of Qiuye's gentle older brother in Xia Houlin's mind was completely subverted, and he felt awkward talking to Qiuye now, "I rely on the sword in my hand to be invincible and unparalleled in the world. Don't worry about it. Besides, my mother will be able to come back safely."

"You don't even have a decent knife, and you are still the only one in the world?"

"There will be in the future." Xia Houlu said in a sullen voice, "Big Brother Qiu, why are you here? Someone bought this person's life? He looks familiar, he seems to be the housekeeper of Xie's residence."

"You forgot Galan's rules? Do your own thing and don't get in the way. Go back to sleep. When you are free, my brother will come to play with you."

"… Oh."

Xia Houlin turned around and walked away. In fact, he really wanted to ask Qiuye, how did he lie to the housekeeper and make the housekeeper think he was a woman

A man and a woman are constructed... aren't they the same? Are all erotic pictures a lie

Xia Houlin finally did not ask.

Qiuye sent Xia Houlin away, took out another human skin mask from his arms and put it on his face, then took off the clothes of the dead man and put it on. Before leaving, he did not forget to wipe off Xia Houlin's footprints on the windowsill. After cleaning up the scene, he closed the door and left with the body on his back.

If someone happened to pass by, they would be terrified, because the person who was carrying the person and the person who was being backed were exactly the same.

Xia Houlin returned to Qiuwuyuan in a trance, and as soon as he opened the door, he saw Xie Jinglan sitting on the edge of his couch dozing off with a quilt on his head.

Xia Houlin's heart almost jumped out, how long has this kid been sitting here

Xie Jinglan rubbed his eyes, raised his head, and said in a daze, "Where have you been and why did you come back?"

"I went to the toilet."

Xie Jinglan looked at him suspiciously: "Are you suffering from a yang knot? Have you been on it for so long?"

"It seems a little..." Xia Houlu lied guilty and pushed him, "Why are you sitting here? I'm going to sleep."

Xie Jinglan stood for a while, then hesitantly said, "That... It's cold outside, do you want to sleep with me in the inner room?"

"Why is it cold? There are two stoves." Xia Houlin looked at Xie Jinglan's tangled expression, and suddenly understood, "Are you afraid of sleeping alone?"

"Go away, you are afraid! I have always slept alone."

But recently Dai Lao has told a lot of ghost stories...

Xia Houlin already had the answer in his heart, but he didn't show the face of taking care of Xie Jinglan. He gently picked up his pillow and quilt, and pushed Xie Jinglan back to the back room.

"Let's go, it's really cold outside."

With Xia Houlin in the house, Xie Jinglan suddenly felt a lot more at ease. The rain had stopped, and it was quiet in the darkness. He could hear Xia Houlin's breathing and the rustling sound of turning over from time to time.

"Master, are you asleep?" Xia Houlin asked softly.

"not yet."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"If it is discovered that officials form a party for personal gain, what kind of punishment will be imposed?"

"If you have friends, you will have a party, and literati are disrespectful. Either you form a faction based on your teacher, or you divide the enemy and you according to the region. There are many bullish parties, Li Dang, Zhejiang party emblem parties. This matter can be big or small, it depends on who you form a party with What private."

"Uh..." Xia Houlin thought about it for a long time, racking his brains to organize the language.

What party? He certainly couldn't name Xie Bingfeng and his friends.

What private business? They don't seem to have any selfish interests, they are nothing more than tasting tea and painting, insulting the eunuch.

How to say this? Looking back, Xia Houlin thought that reading was still a bit useful, at least he could fool people with eloquent eloquence.

"Let me give you a few examples?"

Xie Jinglan thought for a while, and said, "Do you know about the party-inflicted disaster in the Han Dynasty... Forget it, you definitely don't know. Taiwei Dou Wu joined forces with scholars to bring troops into the palace, trying to get rid of the eunuch Cao Jie's party, but Cao Jie's Cao Jie falsely accused them of plotting chaos, and Li Ying, Du Mi, Fan Pang and other great scholars of the world were all executed, involving more than 700 people.”

Mother, it's scary.

Xia Houlin recalled the contents of the letter, and there was no mention of bringing troops to force the palace, so it should not be so serious.

"Then what if we were drinking tea together, looking at a painting, scolding the eunuch, asking a girl to sing a little song or something?"

"It's called a collection of literati. Even if you use it to play, at most officials say that they are not allowed to go to prostitutes, and they will be fined a salary or something. But... Eunuchs have always been narrow-minded, and if they are bigger, they may be labeled as lazy and dereliction of duty."

Xia Houlin breathed a sigh of relief, so it seems that Xie Bingfeng has nothing to worry about.

Xie Jinglan asked, "Well, what are you asking about this?"

"It's nothing, I'll just ask, if I choose an official in the future, I have to form a party to find a backer?" Xia Houlin was talking nonsense.

"Hey, if you lose your mind, you won't even be able to pass the exam as a scholar. But with your well-developed limbs, you might be able to get a yamen dangdang."

Xia Houlin didn't answer, the room suddenly became quiet, the moon moved out of the clouds, and the moonlight entered the room.

"Hey, young master, will you turn to the eunuchs in the future?" Xia Houlin turned to look at Xie Jinglan.

Xie Jinglan was stunned for a while, and said, "The teacher said, 'The world is tough, and the heart is precious,' so naturally I won't be a castrated lackey. Mostly, when the castrated people are in chaos, I will be released as an official to keep the peace of the other party. After the castration has subsided, I will return to the DPRK to help the society and the crops to be well-being."

"What if you encounter a dilemma and have no choice?"

"Life and death are fate, I can't decide life and death, at least I can decide the path I want to go."

He wanted to say something, and when he turned his head, he found that Xia Houlin over there was no longer responding, only the sound of his long breathing could be heard.

actually fell asleep.

Xie Jinglan turned over and looked at Xiahou's peaceful sleeping face, the moonlight hit his porcelain cheeks through the window paper, coating him with a streamer. He stared for a while before closing his eyes and falling asleep.