The setting sun melts gold, the evening clouds merge into one, and I am on my way home.
When returning from his mentor's home, it was almost sunset. The red sunset leaned towards the west mountain, dyeing most of the sky red. In the golden red, Zhu Ping'an slowly returned to Xiahe Village.
When he reached Xiahe Village and was almost home, Zhu Ping'an discovered that there were a lot of people gathered in front of his house, as if something exciting was going on.
As he got closer, Zhu Pingan found that his mother Chen, his father, and the old man and old lady Zhu, his eldest aunt, the fourth aunt, and the third aunt were all there, as well as several neighbors. People did not notice Zhu Pingan's arrival, and their attention was focused on a middle-aged Taoist priest in the crowd, who was wrapped in a crimson Taoist robe, had his hair tied up with a wooden hairpin, and was carrying a bag of eight trigrams and a feng shui plate in his hand.
From the feng shui plate in his hand, Zhu Ping'an could roughly guess his identity: a fraudulent feng shui master.
Even in modern times, Feng Shui masters are very popular, not to mention the feudal Ming Dynasty.
Mother Chen was standing in the crowd with a look of indignation on her face. She gritted her teeth and glared at her aunt, as if she wanted to bite her a few times.
The eldest aunt hid from her mother Chen's gaze in the crowd, stood beside Old Lady Zhu, pointed at Zhu Ping'an's house, and spoke to the Feng Shui master meaningfully, "Master, please help us see if there is anything unclean about this house. You also looked at the old house just now, please also see if there is any conflict between this house and the old house."
"Sister-in-law, what do you mean by this? What do you mean there is something unclean about my house?!" Mother Chen raised her eyebrows and asked with a sneer.
The eldest aunt avoided the gaze of her mother Chen and replied with a lack of confidence, "Ahem, sister-in-law, aren't we all members of the Zhu family? I invited Master Zhang to come all the way here to look at our old house, and I'll take a look at yours as well. Master Zhang is very powerful, and many people want to invite him but can't. Let Master Zhang look at your house. If there is anything unclean, let him help you improve the Feng Shui."
When the onlookers heard the name of Zhang Tianshi, some people who knew him sighed a few times and then spread the name of Zhang Tianshi to the people around them. It is said that Zhang Tianshi is a descendant of Taoist Zhang Tianshi. He practiced in a Taoist temple on Woniu Mountain since he was a child. He is proficient in geomancy and feng shui. He is very famous in the Woniu Mountain area. From high-ranking officials to ordinary people, they are proud to invite him to do geomancy and feng shui.
It is said that the former magistrate of Huaining County heard of Zhang Tianshi's reputation and sent someone to summon him to test his knowledge. Zhang Tianshi pointed to the corner of the courtyard of the county government office and said that there was a stone tiger five feet below the corner. The former magistrate of Huaining County sent people to dig, and indeed, a tiger-like stone was dug out at a depth of about five feet. Since then, Zhang Tianshi's reputation has become even greater.
After hearing the neighbors' gibberish, Zhu Ping'an glanced at the Taoist priest in the crowd and curled the corners of his lips slightly. It was interesting. This was also a charlatan who knew how to spread propaganda and guide public opinion.
"Thank you for your kindness, sister-in-law. The feng shui of my house is very good. Don't worry about it." Mother Chen sneered.
"Don't be polite, sister-in-law. Since Master Zhang is here, I'll let you take a look too." The aunt said angrily.
"Don't worry, sister-in-law. Just take care of the old house. Our home is fine. There's no need for all this." Mother Chen glared at her aunt. She didn't buy what she said at all and looked down on her.
"Hehe, let's take a look. Your elder brother started studying much earlier than Zhi'er, but he has failed the imperial examinations for so many years. I have asked many people to look at it, and they all said that it is because of the bad feng shui of the family, which has affected your elder brother's luck in the exam." The eldest aunt's words became less and less confident, but despite this, she still insisted that Zhang Tianshi check the feng shui of Zhu Ping'an's house.
"What do you mean? You said that my family's feng shui is unlucky for elder brother?" Mother Chen looked at her aunt with contempt as if she had heard a huge joke.
"Your eldest brother has already set off. This time, let's ask Master Zhang to take a look at the Feng Shui so that your eldest brother can pass the imperial examination smoothly. Your eldest brother's imperial examination is our Zhu family's business. If he passes, it will benefit our whole family." When the eldest aunt mentioned the eldest uncle's imperial examination, her eyes lit up and her back straightened.
Hearing this, mother Chen raised her chin, glanced at her aunt, and rolled her eyes in disdain. My son Zhu Ping'an has passed the imperial examination and won the first place. Do you still want your husband to be a scholar? ! With the character of the eldest brother, he borrowed a debt to frame his brother. Thank God that he didn't bring us any harm. What else do you want? !
While my mother Chen and my aunt were arguing, my grandfather, Old Man Zhu, had been smoking his pipe by the side, silent and not saying a word, just watching silently.
Grandmother Zhu, like always, was thinking of her uncle and siding with her aunt. Her words seemed fair, but anyone who heard them would know that she was biased towards her aunt. "Okay, eldest and second sons, keep your mouth shut. There are so many people watching, don't be afraid of being laughed at. The sun is about to set, don't delay Master Zhang's work, let him check out the house quickly."
Upon hearing this, Mother Chen wanted to say something, but Father Zhu reached out and pulled her back. Although she was very unhappy, for the sake of Father Zhu's face, Mother Chen did not say anything.
Seeing that her mother Chen had acquiesced, the aunt felt as if she had eaten honey.
In the heart of the great aunt, she always felt that it was the Feng Shui of Zhu Ping'an's family that had brought bad luck to their family. In the past, the great aunt had consulted fortune tellers in the town many times, and the fortune tellers had always said that she was destined to be an official's wife, that her husband, that is, her uncle, would pass the imperial examination, and that her son Zhu Pingjun was a literary star and would become the top scholar in the future.
As a result, my uncle became an official without passing the imperial examination, but Zhu Ping'an passed the imperial examination and was promoted to a sixth-rank official within a few days of taking the office. It is said that he was two levels higher than the county magistrate. Zhu Pingjun did not even pass the examination for a student, let alone the top scholar. On the contrary, Zhu Ping'an passed the examinations for students such as student, scholar, juren, and gongshi, and finally became the top scholar.
In the heart of the great aunt, the title of the first scholar and the position of an official were all hers, but Zhu Pingan had taken them away...
That's why my aunt went to great lengths to find Zhang Tianshi, hoping to change the feng shui.
After hearing the whole story, Zhu Ping'an walked into the crowd and greeted his mother Chen, his father Zhu, and his grandparents in turn.
When mother Chen saw Zhu Ping'an, a rare smile appeared on her face.
Seeing Zhu Ping'an coming back, the aunt looked a little embarrassed and a little worried. After all, Zhu Ping'an is now an official. If Zhu Ping'an doesn't allow Feng Shui to be consulted, she can't do anything...
After receiving Zhu Ping'an's greetings, grandfather put down his pipe and said "hello" twice in a row; after grandmother nodded, she told Zhu Ping'an again about the recent decision to let Zhang Tianshi look at the house as soon as possible.
Just take a look, I also want to see how the Feng Shui masters of this era fool people, so Zhu Ping'an nodded and agreed to the request to look at the Feng Shui.
Seeing this, my aunt breathed a sigh of relief.
A group of people surrounded Zhu Ping'an and Zhang Tianshi and entered Zhu Ping'an's house. Zhang Tianshi, holding a feng shui plate, had his own theory. He said that the feng shui should be looked at in the order of first back to front and then left to right.
So, the group went straight to the backyard of Zhu Ping'an's house.
When he was almost at the backyard, Zhu Ping'an discovered that a bird was flying up in the backyard, and he heard the grunting of pigs and the clucking of chickens. He could also hear the sound of tree trunks shaking vigorously, and faintly heard the voice of a child.
So Zhu Ping'an stopped and signaled everyone to stop.
"What's wrong, Zhu'er? Are you changing your mind?" The aunt was a little excited, thinking that Zhu Ping'an had changed his mind.
"No, my father planted some fruit trees in the backyard, and now it's time for them to bear fruit. I just saw a bird flying up, and heard chickens flying and pigs squealing. There must be children stealing the fruits. If we go in like this, we might scare the children and let them fall from the fruit trees." Zhu Ping'an shook his head slightly. His hearing was better than that of most people, and he could recognize children's voices.
Hearing this, the aunt couldn't help but frowned. What does it matter whether the child is a child or not? The most important thing is to check the feng shui as soon as possible.
"I don't need to look at this house anymore. Everywhere you are is a lucky house!"
Master Zhang put away the feng shui plate, bowed to Zhu Ping'an with admiration, and then said goodbye to his aunt and the others.
The aunt was completely stunned... (To be continued.)