"Fall-sedan chair-"

With a long shout, eight sedan chair drivers wearing green shirts printed with the word "Zhang Fu" skillfully parked the blue sedan chair in the sedan hall of Zhang University's Mansion. An old entourage had been waiting for a long time, and as soon as the sedan chair stopped, he immediately reached out to open the curtain of the sedan door, and shouted respectfully: "Master." ”

Zhang Juzheng, who had a clear face and beautiful hair to his chest, slowly got off the sedan chair and glanced at it casually, and everyone around him was respectful, and no one made any extra sound.

This is the common situation in Zhang Juzheng's mansion: as soon as he comes back, there will be a huge Zhang University Scholar's Mansion, and he will become silent. After all, whether in officialdom or at home, Zhang Juzheng is famous for his unsmiling behavior, and sometimes he can't see a trace of a smile on his face for half a month. Therefore, all the people of the Zhang family, from his sons to the miscellaneous servants, were very afraid of him.

Zhang Juzheng's bachelor's mansion is located in Dashi Yongfang, northeast of Xuanwumen. Turn right from the Chengtian Gate of the Imperial City, and walk to the opposite side of the Longxiang Guard Yamen. It's hard to say that it is only a stone's throw away from the imperial city, but it is indeed not far, speaking of which, his mansion is only one street away from Zhang Siwei's mansion, and it is obviously an excellent location among the Jingshi.

Such a good mansion, of course, has some origins: in February of the first year of Longqing, when Zhang Juzheng was forty-two years old, he was promoted from the head of the Hanlin Academy to the left servant of the Ministry of Officials and a scholar of Wuyingdian University. In a few months, he was suddenly promoted from a five-rank noble civil official to a second-rank important minister, and when he was an old courtier, his status was equivalent to riding a rocket, so the original residence suddenly seemed too shabby. So Zhang Juzheng asked someone to find this new residence.

It was originally the residence of a squire of the Ministry of Works. The squire was originally from Suzhou, and he was good at managing the garden, but he made this mansion a bit of a Jiangnan garden style, but because it was located in Beijing, it lacked a little water color, which was a little regrettable. This compound covers an area of about ten acres, and is divided into two courtyards as usual, the backyard is the residence of dependents, and the front yard is a place for feasting and drinking. Separated from the front and back courtyards is a garden of about four acres. Pavilions and pavilions, all available, in this inch of land in the capital of the capital, it is really a home scene.

When Zhang Ju was looking for a house, it happened that this waiter was going back to his hometown in Suzhou. So the two sides hit it off, the old waiter came to rejoice that there was a master of the famous garden, and secondly, he was also happy to tie up with the newly promoted old minister, so he only needed Zhang Juzheng 20,000 taels of silver.

This courtyard, according to the price of the capital at that time, not to mention 100,000 taels of silver, 80,000 taels can definitely be sold in the blink of an eye. Selling so cheaply, Zhang Juzheng was quite worried about causing gossip at the time, so he insisted on increasing the price, but the old waiter was determined to do this favor, so he half-pushed and half-agreed, and the deal was completed. After Zhang Juzheng bought the yard, he repaired it slightly according to his hobbies, and then moved over to live there, but he didn't realize that two years had passed.

Between the sedan hall and the front yard, there is also a courtyard. Although the festival is close to Qingming, if it is in the south of the Yangtze River, it should already be a scene of wicker tender green and cauliflower early yellow. However, Beijing has become colder and colder over the years, and today the branches have just broken green, and the old locust tree in the middle of the court has only sifted a little spring. However, a spring plum tree in the corner of the courtyard is blooming luxuriantly, and a faint dark fragrance fills the yard.

But because after the recovery of the high arch, the situation in Beijing has changed greatly, and there are more and more troubles in the cabinet, so Zhang Juzheng is not in the slightest mood to enjoy this scenery at the moment. He kept his face calm, bowed his head through the courtway, walked straight to the backyard, took off his official uniform and hat under the service of the maid, changed into a regular dress worn at home, and wore a scarf on his head, so he sat down in the living room of the backyard, and together with his wife, he accepted the greetings of the four sons of Jing Xiu, Hei Xiu, Mao Xiu, and Jian Xiu in turn.

Zhang Juzheng has a total of six sons, in addition to these four, there are five-year-old Yunxiu and three-year-old Jingxiu. After asking a few sons about their studies, they had dinner together.

After the meal, Zhang Juzheng returned to the study in the front yard to use tea, and when he tasted tea, he asked the scholar to call the housekeeper You Qi as usual. After a while, a middle-aged man in his forties walked into the study.

The figure of the person who came was also similar to Zhang Juzheng's thinness, but his face was very different, with light eyebrows and small eyes, a long face like a horse, and a pea-sized cinnabar mole was moved out of the corner of his right mouth by an inch, and there was a rather thick black hair on the mole. He was wearing a dark coat with a light blue background, a pair of cloth shoes lined with leather and gold on his feet, and a square scarf on his head. This person is You Qi.

You Qi and Zhang Juzheng are fellow villagers, both from Jiangling County, Jingzhou Prefecture, Zhang Juzheng Jiajing returned to his hometown after 33 years of sick leave, and returned to Beijing again three years later to resume his official duties, so he took You Qi to Beijing to take care of his housekeeper, and 14 years have passed in a flash. You Qi and Zhang Juzheng have a little distant relative, and they should be called Zhang Juzheng's cousin, but You Qi guards the identity of master and servant, and never regards himself as a relative.

This You Qi also likes to read poetry and books since he was a child, and he originally wanted to participate in the township test to gain fame, but after following Zhang Juzheng, he put that mind on hold. Zhang Juzheng not only likes the elegance of Zhongyou Qi, but also thinks that he is alert. Let him take care of the house, he takes care of all the affairs at home in an orderly manner, and treats people and things very well, sometimes helps Zhang Juzheng to entertain some things, and never makes mistakes, so he is very trusted by Zhang Juzheng.

At this moment, Zhang Juzheng was sitting on a bamboo couch covered with brocade silk cotton cushions, You Qi was standing next to the bamboo couch with his hands down, and Zhang Juzheng motioned for You Qi to sit down. You Qi moved a chair and sat in front of the bamboo couch.

Perhaps seeing that You Qi's face was slightly tired, Zhang Juzheng said: "These days, I am busy with things, and I rarely ask about family affairs, you have worked hard." ”

"It's all normal, not hard." You Qibi replied respectfully: "It's you, sir, but you have to pay more attention to your body." ”

Zhang Juzheng raised his head slightly and asked, "What's wrong?" ”

You Qi said cautiously: "Little feeling, in the past two months, the master has lost some weight. ”

"Perhaps." Zhang Juzheng sighed and asked, "During this time, is there anything important in the family?" ”

"The old lady sent a letter, saying that he would go to Yidu to pay tribute to the ancestral tomb on the Qingming Festival, and explained that the use was insufficient, and the old man was busy, so the little one asked the lady and asked someone to bring two hundred taels of silver to the old lady."

When Zhang Juzheng heard the word "Qingming", he sighed, and a feeling of homesickness could not help but arise spontaneously. He has not returned to Jiangling for 16 years since the 33rd year of Jiajing, when he went home on sick leave and lived idlely for three years, nor has he seen his parents. Although there are often correspondences, but after all, the capital is three thousand miles away from Jiangling, Guanshan is blocked, family affection is difficult to find, not to mention serving soup and medicine, and even such a major event as worshipping ancestors, I have no time to participate. Thinking of this, I felt unconsciously scared, and said: "For such a big event as ancestor worship, two hundred taels of silver, is it too little?"

You Qi hesitated for a moment, lowered his head and replied: "With the identity of the master, this bit of silver and two to carry home is indeed a little less, but it is just ......."

"Just what?"

You Qi's head lowered: "The use of the house has been a little tight in the past two months." ”