For Pingkangfang, which is bordered by Dongshi in the east, Qixiamen Street in the west, Chūn Ming Street in the north, and Xuanyang Fang in the south, just like the conversation between Wang Wei and Wang Jin's brothers that night, Du Shiyi, who had never set foot in this place in his previous life and this life, has always thought that since this fang lives in groups, it must be a place of dogs, horses, rouge and gouache.

However, when the carriage entered the west gate of Pingkangfang, he immediately knew that he was wrong.

In this sunny season of Chūn at the end of March, when the weather is just right, there are not many women on the road, and there are not many merry men in brocade clothes and horses. Along the way, you can see a courtyard where the houses are neatly organized and almost identical, and there are plaques hanging in front of the door, except for the first word or two, and the rest are all exactly the same.

Seeing Du Shiyi looking at these places thoughtfully, Liu Mo knew that he was probably coming to Pingkangfang for the first time, so he immediately explained with a smile: "Among the squares in the capital, there are the most Pingkangfang Jinjuan Courtyards, including Tong, Hua, Hezhong, Heyang, Xiang, Xu, Wei, Xiazhou, Rongzhou and many other Jinjuan Courtyards. These concert houses are all listed in the north of Cross Street, and they are the most conspicuous. Every year, there are often scholars from various states to borrow it. The three songs on the east side of the north gate of the fang, private jì gathered, is also because of the many Jinju Academy, many township tributes and scholars and township tribute Ming Jing gather every year. ”

Sure enough, as Liu Mo said, there may be some gold caves in Pingkangfang, but the overall situation is quite clean, there are several temples and Taoist temples, and there are many official mansions. Among them, the mansion of Cui Taizhi, the squire of the Yellow Gate, is located in the northwest of the south gate, and the south is next to the mansion of Wang Zhixuan, the secretary of the Criminal Department. If Cui Taizhi once served as the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, it is actually the pattern of the two books in the north and south.

However, compared with the six-room cohabitation of the Cui family in Yongfengli, the eastern capital, and the wide courtyard of the house, this mansion of Cui Tae-zhi is much simpler. Not only is there no halberd in front of the door, but because it is not next to the wall, although it is ranked in the third grade, it is impossible to open the door to the wall.

Entering the simple style of the Aconitum Gate of Cui's house, it is the first major courtyard, and when it comes to the second main gate, a steward has already greeted him. It was about a long time ago that he had been instructed by the Eastern Capital, and the middle-aged steward was very diligent, and personally led Du Shiyi and others to settle in a two-entry courtyard in the southeast corner of the front yard, and explained with a smile that this was the small courtyard where Cui Mansion used to entertain guests, quiet and elegant, and arranged the masonry accompanying Du Shiyi in the east and west corridor in front of him, as for Liu Mo, these families also have their own places.

And by the time it was all settled, it was already evening. When Cui Wu, the diligent and cautious steward, entered the house again and asked carefully if he wanted to call two maidservants, Du Shiyi shook his head and said: "No, there is already a maid and a maid in the house, I am used to taking care of my daily life alone when I am in the mountains, and if it is other miscellaneous affairs, there is Tian Mo." ”

"That's just as well." Cui Wu smiled and nodded in agreement, thinking for a moment but cautiously probing, "Du Langjun is even running around hard, I don't know if I plan to go out today?" In the northern song of Pingkangfang, I heard that it was a continuous drinking party, where celebrities gathered, and good poems were often sung. ”

Du Shiyi couldn't help but think of the conversation between Wang Wei and Wang Jin last night, and she was stunned for a while. But before he could answer, he only heard Du Sanniang's voice outside: "What is lacking, that kind of land of wind and moon, it is all some false feelings and laughter, even if there are good poems, they are just fragrant words!" ”

Du Sanniang, who entered the house, glanced at Cui Wu with some displeasure, and saw that he echoed and said yes, and slipped out after a while, she couldn't help but say angrily: "Looking at his sneaky appearance, if the master of the Cui family knows that he is so unreceiving, he will definitely be blamed for many things!" Putting aside this, she raised her eyebrows at Du Shiyi again, "Brother, you can't be sorry for the fifth lady!" ”

Du Shiyi was so amused by Du Shisanniang's self-talk that she couldn't cry or laugh, so she had to stand up and pull her shoulders angrily, pushing people out and said: "I said before that the Cui family intended to marry Jiuniangzi to me, and now I want not to be sorry for Wuniangzi is also you...... You little girl, don't sell your brother casually! Go back to the room and rest, after all, Qiu Niang is leaving her hometown, her face is not revealed, she must be sad in her heart, you go and accompany him well, I don't need you to be blind! ”

It was easy to coax Du Shisanniang, who was now more and more nosy, out of the house, Du Shiyi wiped the sweat stains on her forehead, and then came to the bedroom in the west, and fell directly on the low bed. On the way from the Eastern Capital to Chang'an, he had already encountered an unbelievable thing, and when he arrived in Chang'an and returned to Fanchuan, it was another thing that made him unhappy, and at this moment his head was full of all kinds of thoughts, which was enough to make him dizzy. Half-squinting at the somewhat dim roof in the dim light, he unconsciously felt a deep sleepiness.

I don't know how long it took, when Tian Mo came in to look, he found that the room was quiet, and he couldn't help tiptoeing in to check, and when he found that Du Shiyi was asleep, he didn't dare to wake him up rashly, so he hurriedly retreated and went to tell Du Sanniang again.

When Du Shiyi woke up, he saw only a small oil lamp as bright as a bean left in the room, and it was dark outside. He got up in a bit of a daze, rubbed his eyes and swept the environment around him, only then did he realize that he was staying in Cui's house tonight. But the next moment, he heard a clear grunt again, and he was stunned for a moment before realizing that it was actually his stomach protesting.

When he was eating at Du Siwen's at noon, he was absent-minded because he was thinking about those words, he didn't fill his stomach in the first place, and if he missed this dinner again, he was really hungry at this time!

Previously, he politely refused Cui Wu to call two maidservants over, and at this time, he pulled his shoes and took the small oil lamp to find something to eat, and Du Shiyi faintly regretted it. He doesn't like a stranger around him, and he is a stranger with ulterior motives, but is it possible that he will starve until dawn at this moment? Through the dim light, I found the room in the west that was used as a bookstore, and only then did I find something wrapped in a thick leather case on the short foot case where the books were stacked in the center, and when I opened it, I saw a boxy wooden box, a bowl of green jīng rice, and two small and exquisite crisp rolls.

Although the green jīng rice was still a little warm, there were no other accompaniments, and it was naturally difficult to swallow in the middle of the night, so Du Shiyi naturally had to take the crispy rolls. However, when he was hungry at the moment, these two things not only did not quench his hunger, but because they were not used, they made him even more hungry. Just as he took the lamp and groped all the way to the door, he heard a soft knock outside. He was slightly stunned and hurriedly stepped forward to open the door, but saw that it was Qiu Niang standing outside wearing a coat.

"Grandma?"

"Lang Jun, the slave sleeps lightly, and when he hears the movement, he comes out to take a look. Seeing that there is a lamp in this room, I think Lang Jun can't have dinner yet, is he hungry? ”

Du Shiyi originally wanted to prevaricate, but his stomach was extremely uncompetitive at this time, and he suddenly turned embarrassed, and couldn't help but say: "It's a little unbearable hunger......"

Fortunately, the slave asked if there was a small kitchen nearby in the evening, so that he could prepare some snacks for himself. The Cui Wu steward had a heart, saying that there would be a stove in the front yard, and there would be hot water at night. Qiu Niang smiled and said, then said, "Lang Jun, wait a minute, the slave will go there and see what else is there." ”

Seeing him leave in his clothes, Du Shiyi couldn't help but be stunned. Returning to the room and sitting down, he had a lot of thoughts for a while, sometimes thinking about Du Sanniang, sometimes thinking about Lu Hong and a group of brothers who were far away in Songshan, occasionally Cui Jianxuan's face would appear to compete for the space of memories, and the hunger in his stomach gradually forgot it. However, when the door of the room was pushed open, and a scent came in, he was immediately alarmed again.

"I couldn't find anything for a while, so I ordered a bowl of egg soup cakes, and Lang Jun will use them."

The so-called egg soup cake is to twist the dough into a piece by hand and put it in the pot, then beat an egg, and then sprinkle it with green onions and a few drops of sesame oil, and it is done. Although it is simple, in the eyes of Du Shiyi, who is so hungry that she can swallow a cow at the moment, there is naturally no more wonderful food than this. After a bowl of belly, he only felt sweat on his body, and the feeling of extreme emptiness in his stomach and intestines was also filled, and he actually took a long breath comfortably for a while. Thinking of Qiu Niang getting up in the middle of the night and making a bowl of egg soup cakes for himself, he couldn't help but thank him, but Qiu Niang shook his head with a smile.

"When the slave had already wanted to die, it was God who sent Lang Jun and the lady to the slave again. A little thing, why is it worth saying a word of thanks to Lang Jun? As she spoke, she looked at Du Shiyi with apprehension for a long time before she spoke, "What's more, Lang Jun doesn't dislike the slave as an ominous person, which is tantamount to giving the slave a second life!" It's not early, Lang Jun should rest early after eating and rinsing, there is still a matter of Ming rì. ”

When Qiu Niang served him to rinse his mouth and lie down again, Du Shiyi listened to the footsteps in the distance, and already understood in her heart why she abandoned the old mansion to follow his brother and sister. Whether it is in the past life or the present life, the impression of his mother in his memory is very vague, but Qiu Niang at this moment gives him a bit of a mother's feeling.

It is said that the Cui family is clean and more suitable for preparing for the exam, but the exam is the same as the year, although there are three exams, but the second essay is the most important, but the first rote memorization of the scriptures even if it is not successful, can be made up for with poetry, the so-called redemption post, this is what it means, and the third policy is because it is zuihou, so it is despised by people. Therefore, cramming on the spot is naturally a stupid method that most scholars will not adopt. If you have such time, it is better to meet a few famous ministers in the DPRK and China, or go to a few literary and poetry meetings to make a name for yourself.

Since Du Shiyi lived in Cui's house, he called the steward Cui Wulai the next day, as if inadvertently, he asked about the various things that had happened in Chang'an City recently, especially the Doubao Conference in the East and West Cities, and he asked extremely carefully. When he learned that the person he wanted to inquire about was indeed in and out of the city, he thought about it.

Just like Du Siwen said, since the Du family is not enough to help, he can't rely on the Cui family for everything, and now, that's the only way!