There was an irrigation ditch on the outskirts of Yihe City in Youzhou. In autumn, the reeds were covered in a vast expanse of snow.
Several riverside villages were scattered among them. A carriage turned from the official road to a small road. The coachman was a young man in strange clothes with a dull expression.
Behind the coachman sat a man in plain cotton-padded clothes. He leaned against the wall of the carriage with his legs dangling outside, gently swaying with the carriage.
On the small road in the evening, the carriage caught up with an old farmer who had just finished his work. When the carriage passed by the old farmer, the man in cotton-padded clothes turned to look at the old man who was looking at him curiously. The old man had a very ugly face. Although he was hunched, he was still half a head taller than the old people in the south. His footsteps were also quite vigorous. It was obvious that the old man must have been a good fighter when he was young.
The man in cotton-padded clothes softly called for Mister. The coachman pulled the reins and the carriage slowly stopped. The man jumped off the carriage and greeted with a smile, "Fourth Grandpa?"
The old farmer's face was full of astonishment. He did not know why this unfamiliar junior called him Fourth Grandpa. It was probably because he was intimidated by the cotton-clothed man's imposing manner that the old farmer stammered uneasily and did not dare to speak.
The man in cotton-padded clothes smiled with the most authentic Youzhou accent, "I am Chen Wang from the end of the village. Fourth Grandpa, don't you recognize me?"
The old farmer widened his eyes and looked at the young man who claimed to live at the end of the village. Then, he suddenly realized and a smile bloomed on his wrinkled face, "Little Wang?!"
Chen Wang grinned and said, "Yes."
The old man sighed and then wondered, "Why did you come back? Didn't you go to the capital to take the exam? "
Chen Wang smiled and said, "I finished the exam long ago. This time, I went home to take a look. Fourth Grandpa lent me two taels of silver. I dare not forget. "
The old man waved his hand and asked curiously, "How did you do?"
Chen Wang said softly, "Not bad."
The old man said, "Oh." Perhaps he was afraid of hurting the young man's face, so he did not get to the bottom of it. Moreover, the old man who had been dealing with the yellow soil all his life could not get an answer. He just sighed, "What a pity."
Chen Wang's expression was calm, as if he did not understand the regret in the old man's words.
Chen Wang and the old farmer walked back to the village side by side. They talked about this year's harvest, the marriages of their peers, and whether the elders in the village were still alive.
Through chatting, Chen Wang learned that his Yellow Mud House had long been dilapidated. One of the walls had collapsed. This was within reason. He hadn't returned to his hometown for ten years. How could an extremely simple house be safe and sound? Chen Wang's parents had passed away one after another before he went to take the exam. An ownerless house was not like those weak reeds that would flourish in the spring even if they withered in the autumn. There were some things that the old farmer didn't say. In fact, after this young man came to the capital, there was a woman in the village who would often clean up. She kept the village as clean as her own home. Year after year, many of the young men who secretly admired her gave up and got married and had children. Gradually, the virgin girl became an old woman. But now that she was no longer here, what was the use of saying these things to Chen Wang? Moreover, Chen Wang had stayed in the capital for so many years. Perhaps he didn't remember her? Otherwise, if he really cared, why didn't he send a letter back even if he couldn't return home for so many years?
When they were close to the entrance of the village, the old man raised his head to look at the village with smoke rising in spirals. He couldn't help but sigh. That girl's home was at the entrance of the village. What a virtuous child. Everyone within a hundred li would give her a thumbs up. In the early years, the matchmaker almost broke the threshold of her home, but she didn't agree. Her parents couldn't do anything about it. No one expected that in the end, such a tragedy would happen. The common people all accepted their fate. If their fate was bad, they couldn't blame anyone. This was like getting an illness. If they could get through it, they could live. If they couldn't, then it was because the heavens didn't reward them with food. They could only be buried in peace.
Chen Wang didn't enter the village. He suddenly stopped and asked, "Fourth grandfather, where is her grave?"
The old man was stunned. He lowered his voice and said, "How do you know she …"
The old man didn't continue speaking. Chen Wang also didn't speak.
The old man pointed in the direction of the ferry and said, "Over there. The grave mound is small, but easy to find."
Chen Wang took out a heavy money pouch and a letter. "Fourth grandfather, please help me pay off the village's debt. Give it to Li Zheng or the teacher from the nearby private school. It's written clearly on there."
The old man hesitated but didn't refuse in the end. He carefully took the letter and money pouch and asked, "Are you not going back to the village to take a look?"
Chen Wang shook his head and said, "I won't go. After visiting my parents' graves, I need to immediately return to Jing. "
The old man sighed emotionally. "You're in too much of a rush."
Chen Wang smiled.
The old man had just walked a few steps when he suddenly turned back and asked, "Little Wang, you're really a high-ranking official in Jing?"
Chen Wang didn't seem to know how to answer. A high-ranking official in Great Peace City? High ranking official Huang Zi, in the center of power, a ruler of a dynasty?
So he could only smile and say, "It's not that big."
The old man said with relief, "Then it's very good. Fourth grandfather knew a long time ago that you wouldn't be bad!"
Chen Wang's smile was light.
The old man didn't forget to glance at the young person standing next to Chen Wang. When he turned and left, he was full of suspicion. That person's clothing was very strange.
Chen Wang and the "young eunuch" of the same age as the country slowly walked forward. His parents' graves were not far from the village.
Chen Wang raised his hand and brushed the reeds.
When he had studied hard, he didn't even dare to think about becoming a grand scholar or getting a place in the imperial exam. His parents didn't have such hopes. They only felt that their son being able to read and write was a good thing to bring glory to their family. Beiliang was very cold. It was very good if each family could produce a scholar. It was very different from the Central Plains, especially the rich Jiangnan. That place was very particular about passing down the family through farming and studying. In Beiliang, it was common for young people to join the army, but it was rare to find someone with a book in their hands. When he had just entered the capital to participate in the imperial examination, Beiliang was the only one that had not set up an examination hall in Great Peace City. He was unfamiliar with the place and did not have the care of the seniors from his hometown in the imperial examination. He could only stay in a small temple. Beiliang's accent caused him to run into resistance everywhere. The same ancient book was sold to him at a much higher price. Even after he had participated in the court examination, he still did not have any friendships in his generation. Beiliang was the only one. Jin Lanting's meteoric rise in Great Peace City and Yan Jiexi's rise to become a relative of the Imperial Family were due to personal grievances and did not change this. Even though Yao Baifeng was the Left Chancellor of the Imperial College, he did not have the ability to change this.
And he, Chen Wang, the Chen Shaobao in the eyes of all the civil and military officials, was the Left Scattered Cavalry of the province, and the future Grand Secretary that the Emperor relied on the most. He had the heart and the power, but he could not do it.
Chen Wang walked slowly. On his two sides were reeds that were taller than a person's head. The large and soft reed flowers were blown up by the autumn wind and landed somewhere unknown.
Chen Wang arrived at the grave mound and pulled out the messy weeds. Then, he straightened his clothes and knelt down to kowtow three times.
The son wanted to take care of his parents, but the parents did not wait.
The old man that this cotton-clothed man respectfully called Fourth Great-grandfather probably did not know in his life that the two items that the junior had handed to him, the money pouch and the letter, were worth thousands of gold just from the two words "Chen Wang" at the end.
In the twenty years of Beiliang's history, there were only a few people in the Liyang officialdom. Among them, Jin Lanting was the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, Yan Jiexi was a scholar, and the Confucian scholar Yao Baifeng was in charge of the Imperial College. However, even if the three of them were added together, they might not be as important as Chen Wang.
It could even be said that in a large sense, it was this scholar from Beiliang who had left his hometown. His two secret letters changed the structure of Beiliang.
On the way back, Chen Wang met a sturdy man of the same age. After seeing him, the man's expression was complicated. There was resentment, reverence, surprise, and confusion.
The man took a deep breath and handed Chen Wang a coarse cloth bag with a straight face. "These are the things my sister left behind. They are the books you left behind. I'm returning them to you."
Chen Wang took the cloth bag and was lost in thought.
The man turned around and strode away. He stopped and said with a hoarse voice, "Wang, although my sister … Don't think that she died in a dubious way! She's cleaner than anyone else! "
Chen Wang covered his mouth and looked at the back of the man who used to put his arm around his shoulder and call him brother-in-law. He said vaguely, "I'm sorry."
The man muttered, "You can say that to her."
Chen Wang was silent. Blood seeped out between his fingers.
He did not move for a long time.
— —
Chen Wang carried the cloth bag to the ferry and found the small grave.
The eunuch was nowhere to be found.
Chen Wang sat cross-legged in front of the grave.
He sat across from the small grave.
There was an illiterate woman who would find a clean place under the sun to dry her books. She would open them one by one and put them away one by one.
There was an unmarried woman who would go to the small ferry when no one was around. She would look into the distance again and again and turn around again and again.
Chen Wang gently opened the cloth bag and looked down. There were familiar books such as "The Book of Rites" and "The Great Learning". There were also older books such as "Three Thousand Books of Elementary Learning".
Back then, when they were working in the fields, washing clothes at the ferry, picking reeds during the heavy snow, he would often recite to her.
Ten years had passed between this year and that year.
He and she were separated by Yin and Yang.
Chen Wang closed his eyes and read softly, "The country is in trouble. The king dies in the country. The doctor dies in the ancestral temple. The people die in the countryside …"
"The gentleman said, 'Great virtue is not an official, great Dao is not a tool. Great faith is not agreed, and great time is not uniform.' Those who observe these four can aspire to learn …"
"Let the people of the world be united in worship and worship. As if on top of it, as if on the left and right of it … "
In the twilight, the scholar was reading.
The reeds swayed gently in the wind. It was like a woman nodding her head and smiling like a flower.
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