Bend Over [ 折腰 ] - Chapter 36

[Chapter 36]

The Hall of King Jinmu of the West is outside the Dongcheng Gate, not far from the county and Guoxue. It is not too far or very close to walk out of the city gate for a mile or two. Wei Shao did not bring any entourage, and only rode out of the city in plain clothes alone and came to the Queen Mother’s Hall.

Because it was just finished, there were some details in the interior, and the craftsmen were pondering, so now the hall is not opened, the door is open, and a carriage of the Wei family is parked on the side of the door, with a driver and a few guards beside it.

Wei Shao approached on horseback, and was far away to the open space not far from the gate. There were at least 20 or 30 people gathered at the moment, all of them were students and children of the nearby county school, ranging in age from fifteen to sixteen to twenty-something. . These people are not studying in Sinology at the moment, but they all ran here and waited in the direction of the gate, and some people simply climbed up a tree by the roadside because they could not occupy a good seat. As if there is a big drama inside the gate.

Wei Shao got closer. The students’ attention was on the inside of the gate, and they didn’t notice his arrival on the road behind them, and they were still talking there.

“When will it come out? I’ve been waiting for a long time!”

“It should be soon. Brother Zhang is obsessed with painting and calligraphy. Then Gao Bohai was invited to do murals, and he didn’t show it until he finished writing. Brother Zhang was really itchy. He came here yesterday. I was looking for an opportunity to watch Gao Bohai’s paintings, but I happened to see Mrs. Junhou come out. According to Brother Zhang, ‘What is a country and a city? It’s like this!'”

The students on the side were said to be fascinated.

“Mrs. Junhou not only has a beautiful appearance, but also has a good hand in writing. Even Gao Bohai invited her to write an inscription, which is evident.

” Feng, Xiuya is calm, and I see Fengshen flowing again. This kind of evaluation is really fascinating.”

“If I could see the words of Madam earlier, it would be good to have a feast for the eyes!”

… The

students were full of tongues . Discuss, you talk to me.

Wei Shao stopped his horse, frowned, and his expression darkened.

“Come out! Come out! Silence! Silence!”

Inside the gate, a green figure swayed, as if a woman was about to come out.

The student who climbed the top of the tree saw it first and shouted. Everyone was immediately excited, pushing each other, scrambling to look forward. In the end, when they saw that there was only a slightly plump middle-aged woman coming out of the door, they were all disappointed, and all sighed.

Wei Shao had already seen that the woman was Chunniang. She came out, took a thin lake blue soft silk cloak from the carriage, turned around and entered again.

The students rejoiced for nothing. After disappointment, they did not give up and continued to discuss the beauty of Mrs. Junhou. At this time, the highest student who climbed up turned his head unintentionally and saw Wei Shao, who was parked on horseback on the roadside behind him, who happened to be the former Wei Shao. Shao entered the city, he saw it on the side of the road, and was deeply impressed. He recognized it at a glance, and cried out, “Your Majesty is here”, his hands and feet softened, and the branches couldn’t climb up. into two halves.

The rest of the people turned their heads when they heard the sound, and saw a man sitting on the back of a fat horse behind him. He was young, but his eyebrows were extremely dignified. His two eyes shot over, and suddenly he was silent, and no one dared to speak again.

“Students of Sinology in Er and other prefectures, who don’t want to deal with the school selection, are gathering here to cause trouble. Are they really vacant as school officials?” Wei Shao said coldly.

Nowadays, the selection method of state officials is mainly based on recruitment and recommendation. In addition, the imperial court set up Taixue, and local prefectures set up prefecture Sinology, and admitted young people with outstanding talents and character. Those who have completed their studies will be reused by the candidates, or recommended to the imperial court as officials.

Although the standard for selecting students in Sinology is nominally measured by the two items of “talented and learned character”, in reality, except for a few students from poor families who are really talented, most of them come from local aristocratic families or wealthy families. All the students of the prefectural Sinology are the children of the local aristocratic families or big families. They have no intention of going to school on weekdays. Life in Sinology is boring. Yesterday I heard that Mrs. Hou and Shao of the Wei House personally went to the Palace of the King of the West to inscribe the murals. They are amazingly beautiful, and everyone has their own thoughts. To be able to see it with your own eyes. I didn’t want anyone to see it yet, blocked by Wei Shao himself, how dared to speak up, all of them stood with their hands and breaths held down, and they didn’t dare to lift their heads, lest he would remember their faces.

Wei Shao frowned and glanced at the group of people. After a while, he squeezed the word “scroll” out of his teeth.

If the students meet the amnesty, they scramble to salute him, turn around and run away.

Wei Shao glanced at the backs of the students who were scattered like birds and beasts, let out a sullen breath from his chest, and then reached the front of the main hall. Several family members who escorted Xiao Qiao here saw him and hurried to greet him.

Wei Shao dismounted and entered, walking towards the mural wall in the apse.

The frescoes are finished. Gao Heng is worthy of the title of “Crown of the Bohai Sea”. On the huge wall with a height of several meters, the Queen Mother’s face is vivid, the fairy belt is flying, and the auspicious clouds and birds are arched around, as if stepping on the clouds. The picture is solemn and gorgeous, with bright colors. It is admirable, Xiao Qiao’s inscription has been written for two days, and it has been completed at this moment, which complements the picture, like the finishing touch. But she hadn’t left yet, with the aqua blue cape that Chunniang had brought in just now on her shoulders, standing side by side with Gao Heng in front of the newly completed mural. Xiao Qiao looked up at the mural, Gao Heng was talking, as if discussing something.

Not far from the side, are Chunniang and two maids.

Wei Shao got closer and gradually heard the conversation between Xiao Qiao and Gao Heng. It turned out to be talking about contemporary calligraphy. Wei Shao listened to Gao Heng and said, “…Speaking of the cliffs, I first recommend the Ode to the Cloud Gate. The brushwork is indulgent and the body is open. The script and calligraphy are similar to the official script. Yunmen stayed in March, in order to be able to climb the mountain to observe the calligraphy on the west wall every day, sunny and rainy, morning and evening, the seasons change, and the lettering seems to have its own charm. My wife and I talked about calligraphy, and listened to my wife’s words, and I had a lot of experience in calligraphy. The experience is also full of novelty and romance. If I know myself, I feel very happy. If Madam is free, if you want to go to see it in person, I would like to recommend it as a guide…”

This Gao Heng, not only has a jade-like face, but also since childhood. In the name of talent, at the age of thirteen, he was praised by the governor of Bohai, personally recommended, and entered the Chinese Academy at the age of less than sixteen. Now he is less than thirty years old, and his temperament is sparse and unruly, and he acts like a celebrity. Wei Shao could see him looking at Xiao Qiao from a distance, his eyes were unblinking, his eyes were bright, and as he got closer, he heard his invitation and self-recommendation. Immediately it rose back up. Step up immediately.

Chunniang stood beside Xiao Qiao, heard footsteps behind her, turned around, and hurriedly turned to bow to Wei Shao, calling him “Junhou”.

When Xiao Qiao heard the sound, she turned around and saw that Wei Shao, who had been away for more than half a month, appeared here as if the world had fallen down. She was startled, got up and greeted him and said, “When did your husband come back? How did you come here?”

Wei Shao stopped and looked at Gao Heng.

At first, Gao Heng was only amazed at the words of Mrs. Hou Shao, the prince of the Wei House. In the past two days, he worked with her to complete the mural. The mural painting is tall, which is much more difficult than the usual writing on silk. This young lady is not at all squeamish, and she is extremely serious. Be lovable. Not to mention the beauty of the face. By the time the mural was completed, he couldn’t help but fall in love with it. Therefore, although the painting was completed just now, she was reluctant to let her go, so she left her to talk about the stone monuments and cliffs of the world. The conversation was on the rise, unexpectedly Wei Shao came suddenly, the conversation was interrupted, and I felt lost, got up and bowed to Wei Shao.

Wei Shao’s expression was as usual, and he greeted him with a pleasant smile, and turned to Xiao Qiao: “It’s getting late, grandmother is worried about her at home. If things go well here, I’ll go home.” After speaking, he nodded towards Gao Heng, Turn around and go out.

Xiao Qiao said goodbye to Gao Heng, Chunniang and the maid packed up their belongings, accompanied Xiao Qiao out, and boarded the carriage.

Wei Shao rode ahead and was speechless all the way. When the sky was dark, he sent her back to Wei Mansion.

When Xiao Qiao went in, Wei Shao didn’t go in with her, and didn’t say anything to her. When she entered the door, she left by herself, probably going to the government office.

…

the silver lights in the Westinghouse are bright.

In the past two days, I climbed high and wrote inscriptions on the murals. In order to ensure that everything was done in one go, before finally writing, Xiao Qiao practiced on the wall many times, and finally came home after finishing the work. After taking a bath, Chunniang sat next to her and held her gently.

It wasn’t too late, about a little after Xu, Wei Shao returned.

Xiao Qiao greeted him as usual.

In fact, she could see that he seemed to be unhappy on the way to pick him up.

It’s just that she can’t eat, why is he unhappy.

To be honest, she was surprised when she suddenly saw him coming to pick her up, and even at first, she was a little flattered.

So this is even more confusing.

Since he was willing to come and pick him up in person, why did he have another stinky face on the way that he owed him money and didn’t pay it back?

The most direct and rude inference is that he is not happy to see other men say too much to him?

But Xiao Qiao quickly overturned this speculation.

When he was chatting with Gao Heng at that time, it was very normal, and he couldn’t see any unhappiness at all. What’s more, a woman should be qualified to make a man jealous for herself. Before, he had always treated himself coldly. Even when his mother gave him medicine half a month ago, he served him so hard all night. After a day, he left Yuyang early in the morning to patrol the border city. , sent him out of the Westinghouse by himself before leaving, and he did not show any signs of softening to her.

It can be seen that this is impossible. “My husband has been around the city for half a month, and he will pick me up as soon as he comes back. In fact, there is no need for it, I feel very sorry.”

Xiao Qiao has nothing to do, and helps him take off his coat as usual. Since the last time I helped him take off the armor, it was a practice for Xiao Qiao to undress him every time he came back. Wei Shao asked her to wait on her, and said expressionlessly, “Grandma told me to pick you up.” That’s it. It turned out that he did not want to, but was forced out by Mrs. Xu. No wonder he looked so stinky. “There is Mr. Lau. Thank you, Mr. Hu. You have worked hard on the road, so you must be tired. Let’s rest early.” Xiao Qiao put the clothes he took off neatly, turned his head and smiled.

[End of This Chapter]