Annual Ceremony

Chapter 20 Beginning of Summer (Part )

Wangzhefu had a separate courtyard with farmland behind the house, and most of the people living nearby were military families.

The crimes of exile were also divided into light and heavy. Unless they were charged with the unforgivable crime of treason or were deliberately targeted, the government was usually more lenient towards the scholars exiled to the north. Local officials were also reluctant to offend these great men who might be reinstated one day. Some high-ranking officials who were exiled here would be invited to a prepared mansion with all the servants as soon as they got off the prison cart.

Some scholars were also assigned teaching tasks by the government, and they would form poetry societies together, which also promoted cultural progress in the north.

Wang Zhefu would occasionally teach the children of nearby military households to read and write, so he was respected by the people around him. Although his life was hard, it was not extremely difficult, at least not as Juzi had imagined - with iron chains on his feet, stones on his shoulders, braids in his mouth, doing hard labor every day, and if he walked a little slower, he would be whipped by the officials.

Therefore, when Juzi saw Wang Zhefu, who was waiting in front of the courtyard, wearing a patched but clean and elegant gown, she felt relieved.

Then, Juzi looked at Zhenyi with a look of satisfaction as she ran towards Old Wang with a small bag on her back: "——Grandfather!"

"Hey!" Wang Zhefu bent down to support his granddaughter who was running towards him, smiling with wrinkles all over his face: "Whose girl is this? She is so pretty and beautiful? I can't recognize her!"

As he said this, he looked at Orange who had followed him and said, "Oh my god, the cat is here too! What's its name? - Date? - Lazi?"

Orange: “…” Old Wang really hasn’t changed.

No, he has changed a little. His braids are whiter and thinner, and he is darker and thinner than before. He looks much older. It must be hard to guard the border. Fortunately, he is in good spirits and still smiles like a chrysanthemum.

"Come, follow me to meet Lord Chen!" Wang Zhefu took his granddaughter's hand, raised his hand and smiled as he urged his old wife and son to come over.

Wang Xichen hurriedly bowed to Chen Tu who was waiting there.

Chen Tu looked ashamed, and held up Mrs. Dong who was about to bow: "...I just moved my mouth a few times, but it made my sister-in-law run thousands of miles!"

As he said this, he sighed repeatedly and bowed to Mrs. Dong with a smile to apologize.

Orange was watching from the side and couldn't help but want to compose a poem for this ashamed Mr. Chen - Ah, I'm dying, please come and collect my body; Haha, I'm fine again, how shameful!
That being said, it is impossible for the Wang family to blame Chen Tu without distinguishing good from bad. Wang Zhefu's previous illness must have been serious, and the Chen family must have put a lot of effort into it.

Wang Xichen and Chen Tu thanked them again and again. Zhenyi was also very grateful to Mr. Chen. If it weren't for Mr. Chen's kindness in sending a letter, she would never have the chance to visit her grandfather.

While the adults were talking, Zhenyi pulled her grandfather's coarse cloth and looked at the mountains in the distance.

Everything here is unfamiliar, without the bustle and prosperity of Jinling City, but standing beside her grandfather at this moment, Zhenyi looked around and felt that the mountains and rivers were friendly. She took a deep breath of the slightly cool air, and her heart was open and peaceful.

Chen Tu invited the Wang family to his home for lunch, but Mrs. Dong declined with a smile, saying that she was in a hurry today and it would be impolite, but she would come to express her gratitude formally another day.

Chen Tu also smiled and said, "My sister-in-law and my nephew have been exhausted from the journey, so it's time for you to rest and settle down first... After two days, I will prepare some simple food and tea for you to welcome you back. I hope you will honor me with your presence!"

The Chen father and son left, and Wang Xichen saw them off and thanked them again and again.

People nearby came out to see what was happening when they heard the noise, and a few women brought food over. The food from the military households was mostly coarse, but the kindness was so sincere that Old Lady Dong asked Mother Zhuo to accept it all and personally thanked the neighbors.

Seeing this old lady from Nanjing was polite and kind, and her demeanor was very different, the women were flattered and didn't know what to do. Some of them looked at the little girl next to the old lady, and saw that the little girl was clean, pretty and well-mannered, so they were even more surprised. On the way back, they all said, "People from Nanjing are really different..."

The cats from Nanjing City are also very different.

Because there were strangers here, a group of dogs surrounded the yard and barked wildly. Orange got annoyed and rushed over to pick out the barking one the loudest and started beating it up. The little yellow dog had never expected that there would be such a ferocious cat, and it jumped up and hit it in the face. The yellow dog was so scared that it ran home howling with its tail between its legs. The other dogs also retreated a little.

Orange squatted at the door and guarded it, beating up everyone who came to him, to see who dared to talk back.

The Chen family father and son were very considerate and sent a lot of daily necessities. Mrs. Dong led the servants to clean up the house and organize the luggage, Wang Xichen also helped, and Wang Zhefu leisurely took his granddaughter to see the fields behind the house.

Most of the exiled prisoners in this area were allocated land by the government. Each person was required to cultivate about twelve acres and pay more than six stone of grain per year.

Wang Zhefu was also allocated ten acres of land. Zhenyi looked at the large field in front of her that was well-tended and couldn't help but exclaimed: "Are these all planted by Grandfather?"

"If you leave it all up to me to plant, it's bound to be a scene of lush grass and sparse bean sprouts..." Wang Zhefu stroked his beard and smiled, then waved towards the field. Only then did Zhenyi see that there was a person bending over to work in the field.

The man came out of the field. He was a barefoot man wearing a coarse cloth shorts, thin and dark, hunchbacked, with braids wrapped around his neck and long, hideous scars on both sides of his mouth. At first glance, it looked like he was smiling, which was very strange and terrifying.

Zhenyi was a little scared and half-hid behind her grandfather.

Wang Zhefu smiled and told his granddaughter: "This is Ji Wu. He lives with me and he helps me take care of the fields on weekdays."

Ji Wu bowed and nodded towards Zhenyi, grinning, revealing a mouthful of rotten teeth, looking clumsy and honest.

Although Zhenyi was still afraid, she nodded to him.

Ji Wu seemed to know that Zhen Yi was afraid of him, so he would always stay away from her when he saw her again. Zhen Yi later learned that Ji Wu was a mute, and the prisoners exiled here were divided into several levels, and Ji Wu was the lowest. He was rewarded as a slave to the armored men for several years and suffered a lot. Later, he became the assistant of the king to take care of the fields.

Few civil servants who had studied hard since childhood knew how to farm. If they were expected to cultivate the land, they would not only have to pay taxes, but would also have starved themselves to death. Therefore, it was common for scholars like Wang Zhefu to be assigned a prisoner to help them take care of the land.

Ji Wu was very grateful to Wang Zhefu and also took this job very seriously. Apart from sleeping, he devoted all his attention to the fields. At lunch time, he often carried a coarse porcelain bowl and walked in the fields to drive away birds.

Seeing how serious and diligent he was in his work, Zhenyi gradually became less afraid of him.

Wang Xichen inquired about Ji Wu's past and felt a little sympathy. He wanted to treat him a little better, but he heard Mrs. Dong say, "Everyone has his own destiny. There's no need to meddle in other people's affairs. This is the best thing to do right now."

In the blink of an eye, seven or eight days passed and the beginning of summer soon arrived.

In the early morning, Wang Zhefu and his son Wang Xichen were talking in the field behind the house. Zhenyi was squatting not far away, picking some dogtail grass and playing with Orange.

Wang Xichen chatted with his father: "It's still cooler in the north. Although it's the beginning of summer, there's still chill in the morning."

Wang Zhefu: "The beginning of summer is the beginning of summer from an astronomical point of view. But from a climatic point of view, the real summer is a little later."

Ji Wu, who had been snowing for an hour, came out of the field with a big armful of grass. He put the grass on the path at the edge of the field. When he heard what the Wang father and son said, he murmured something and gestured with his hands.

"Grandfather, what did he say?" Zhenyi asked curiously.

Wang Zhefu smiled and said, "He is saying that we should weed the ground for three days after the beginning of summer. If we don't weed the ground for one day, we won't be able to weed the ground for three days."

"Don't underestimate these proverbs," Wang Zhefu said to his granddaughter, "They all contain thousands of years of wisdom and experience of farmers... It is never easy to grow a good field."

As Zhenyi listened, she couldn't help but admire Ji Wu even more.

Wang Xichen recited a poem with his hands behind his back: "The mountains are green and the river is white. The rain is like smoke in the sound of cuckoos. There are few idle people in the countryside in April. After finishing the sericulture, they start planting in the fields."

Zhenyi read aloud along, and after reading it six or seven times, she was able to recite it fluently.

Ji Wu didn't understand poetry, but he was very supportive. He smiled and applauded Zhenyi.

Wang Xichen also looked at his daughter with relief, but he couldn't help feeling a little regretful and lost in his heart.

In the evening, Wang Xichen checked his father's pulse again, adjusted the prescription again, and told his father: "The heart is connected with summer, and you need to nourish your heart first at the beginning of summer. Starting tomorrow, I will boil water with dandelions. Father, drink two pots a day. Don't complain about the bitterness anymore, because bitterness can nourish the heart."

Wang Zhefu didn't like bitter food, and got a headache when he heard his son's chatter. He just smiled and said to his granddaughter: "With Deqing here, my heart is well taken care of!"

Zhenyi asked, "Grandfather, can I stay here for a little longer?"

"Grandfather, that's what I want!" Wang Zhefu pretended to sigh, "It's a pity that Grandfather's words don't count. Now everything in the family has to be decided by your Grandmother..."

Zhenyi went to beg her grandmother for help.

Mrs. Dong smiled and agreed: "Since Deqing doesn't mind the poverty of this place, then you can stay for a while."

No one can predict what will happen in the future, and separation is hard to predict. We have come all the way here.

Wang Zhefu laughed and said, "It turns out that Deqing has the most face!"

Watching the old couple coaxing their granddaughter like this, Wang Xichen shook his head and smiled, then followed his father's instructions, went back to the house to write a letter and send it back to their home in Jinling.

Now that you have decided to stay for a long time, you need to prepare for it.

The small courtyard was a bit crowded to live in, so two more houses were built and the fence was moved outwards. Wang Xichen fenced off a small piece of land next to the house, carefully turned the soil, and used it to make a medicinal garden.

The wives of the military households brought several vegetable seedlings one after another, and Mother Zhuo and her maid Tao'er planted them next to the medicine garden. When the weather got hotter, if Zhenyi got up early, she would carry a basin of water and use a gourd to scoop water to water the rows of vegetables one spoonful at a time, carefully observing their growth, flowering and fruiting.

Orange always lay lazily on the stone table under the grape trellis, watching Zhenyi work.

Juzi could see that Zhenyi liked it here very much.

By June, when the summer was at its hottest, Zhenyi had decided to study and become an apprentice.

When Zhenyi went to class on the first day, Juzi was worried and followed her.

　Good morning~ Thank you all for your valuable monthly tickets. This book will be completed next month. Please vote for me!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)