Chapter 19 The Second Human World
After the death of Pi Dan, the spiritual consciousness reverted to Ni Zhong's identity. In his second life, Ni Zhong was reborn as the eldest son and grandson of an official family, was exceptionally respected by the whole family, and was named Ouyang Zhong. Ouyang Zhong was in a rich country, whose name was Zhongming, and the Ouyang family lived in the capital city of this Zhongming country, Zongcheng.
Since he was three years old, Ouyang Zhong was arranged by his family elders to learn the six arts of reading, writing, music and rhythm, swordsmanship, and riding and shooting from a private tutor every day. Ouyang Zhong's talent was so bright that he learned everything very quickly, and he could recite the scriptures two or three times before he was able to recite them backward and forward. Several teachers were delighted with this student, who was a child prodigy! Because he was good enough, he was taken as a model template for "other people's children" and passed on by word of mouth. Therefore, even young, Ouyang Zhong was already very famous in the Ouyang Clan and Zongcheng City.
He does not show anything special; his behavior is more than the exact age of the young boy, and he has a kind of beyond the period of stability and sophistication. After reincarnation, they wash away the memories of the past and do not remember the past life of all kinds of things, not to mention any spiritual power spells. Only once the moon was full, Ouyang Zhong would always have a strange dream:
In the dream, there was a small fox with messy and not very pretty fur, which was not very pretty but had attractive eyes. He followed the little fox and enjoyed chasing and playing with it. Suddenly, the little fox hid behind a giant peach tree and came out as a 2-3-year-old girl who grew up to be very beautiful, and they were very close to each other as if they had been good friends for a long time. Then the girl suddenly looked at him one day in particular despair. In his dream, he felt a dull pain in his heart, so he opened his mouth and said to the little girl: Fox Little Fairy, come on, I'll take you away.
Every time he woke up, he felt that the plot in this dream was inexplicable, but he did not mention this matter to anyone.
Ouyang Zhong's days went by daily with a meticulous rule of peace, except for reading, practicing calligraphy, and martial arts; there were no waves.
He was six years old this year, coinciding with the first month of the 15th Lantern, his father Ouyang Ming; every year on New Year's Eve and his son's birthday, this day will let him relax. Ouyang Ming is also a good face of the people, the eldest son so promising, teenage fame than their fame is a lot, naturally, to take him out on the street to show off a bit. Ouyang Zhong followed his mother and father together in the street to enjoy the lanterns stroll; behind a few family servants, a small boy was waiting. Along the way, some passers-by always recognized the Avatar Ouyang Zhong, and while bowing to the head of the family, Master Ouyang, they could not help but praise him to his face. Master Ouyang's vanity was bursting at the seams, and he was delighted with these people's false or real praise. He also looked at his son with a few more loving eyes.
During the holiday season, the marketplace temple fair in Zongcheng was the most lively. At night, every household lights up their lanterns, and a whole street is lit up by red, green, and various kinds of lanterns; in the distance, some fireworks are bursting and shining in the night sky; everyone is immersed in a lively and peaceful atmosphere of the festival.
Father asked Ouyang Zhong, "Chong'er, today is a rare holiday and your birthday; if you see anything you like or have fun with on this street, just tell Father, and Father will give it to you as a gift."
"Thank you, Father, but that's all childish things; I've grown up." Ouyang Zhong had been in private school for almost three years and was already a young man.
Father Ouyang Ming nodded, satisfied with this answer from his son, "Then choose one or two books to go back to when you see any good books in a while!"
"Yes, father."
Mother looked at her outstanding son and said with satisfaction and heartache, "Other families' children, at the age of six, are still pampered with their parents! Our Chong'er is already like an adult. Hey, it's still too early to go to school ..."
Ouyang Ming reprimanded: "Women's kindness, how can other people's children be compared to Chong'er? You remember, 'loving mothers have many defeated children,' and spoiling a child like that is ruining the child."
Ouyang Zhong's mother, Xie, is Ouyang Ming's wife. Not out of the cabinet is a big family young lady of a famous girl. Temperament has always been gentle and mild, by the three from the four virtues of a lifetime's indoctrination. In the mother's home, she was told that her husband's words were the holy decree. Therefore, she was afraid to repeat the wrong thing, which annoyed Ouyang Ming, so she nodded to keep quiet but could not help but clench his son. Ouyang Zhong tender little hand.
Ouyang family in the street walk stopping casually wandering, on the surface, seems to be an ordinary family out shopping to celebrate the New Year's festival. Still, it is the capital of the aristocrats and scholars, each to show off to compare the status of their respective power and nobility. Ouyang Ming pursued a row face, but the strength, compared to the natural royal elite, is far from, pretending to be superior look at the same time and only using too many family guards to follow behind to decorate the facade.
Suddenly, a little girl with a small windmill from Ouyang Zhong's side passed; because the age was still small, walking unsteady, they bumped into Ouyang Zhong but fell on the ground.
Ouyang Zhong leaned down to look at the child; under the light, he saw a familiar face - the face of the girl who appeared in his dreams countless times. Ouyang Zhong looked at the child in a daze for a long time. The little girl grinned at him, more than two years old, unable to speak, babbling and screaming out.
At this time, the child's mother hurriedly came over to pick up the child, kneeling to Lord Ouyang's family to make all sorts of amends. The woman said: ''I am sorry, my child is small and likes to run around, and accidentally bumped into the young master. Please be generous and forgive the child's rudeness. Just in time for the festival, my store tied a few lanterns; if the little young master likes it, take it as compensation ...."
Lord Ouyang is the most disliked this kind of merchant pawn, although they did not let the family guards come forward to beat this pair of mother and daughter, but also disgusted to spit a mouthful and say "Bad luck," not happy to go back to the house.
Ouyang Zhong didn't listen to a word. Just looking at the little girl, he asked: "What's the name of this little sister?" His parents did not want to talk to a small trader, put off a few sentences, and were about to leave, but heard Ouyang Zhong ask this. Adults speak, generally, Ouyang Zhong. This child will not interrupt; rarely is he interested in something, always a little childish feeling.
The little girl's mother hurriedly smiled and replied, "My man's surname is Linghu, this child is my second, his breast name is a little fresh child, Linghu Xian."
Ouyang Zhong looked at the child and couldn't help but grab her plump little hand. The two children looked at each other, and both laughed.
In this life, Fox Xiao Xian appeared in a field and was adopted by an ordinary farmer's family. At that time, Fox Little Fairy was wailing on the ridge of the area. The two young couples who were busy plowing followed the sound and saw a little white and chubby doll.
The wife hurriedly put down her hands of the work, rubbed the sludge on the body, and hastily picked up the child; the weather had been a little cool for fear of freezing the child.
The man sighed and said: "Really sinful ah! A good child, so thrown away. Even if our family still has rice soup, we can't throw the child away. Mother, can you see if the child is sick or hungry?"
The woman touched the child's head, then touched his little buttocks, and helplessly shook her head and said, "It's a no-brainer. His father, look at this poor child. Why don't you be our Linghu family's daughter in the future!"
"Hey ... well. In the field, you can also retrieve a daughter; this is a new thing called a 'fresh child'!"
Linghu's family is ordinary; a few acres of rice paddies exist. Usually, men plow and women weaving, although the days of hard work can also be self-sufficient. However, after a few years of peace, they encountered a chaotic world, and the imperial court's taxes on farmers and traders increased. Farming relies on the sky to eat, and there will always be insect pests, droughts, floods, and other natural and artificial disasters. Linghu family has only one strong laborer, Linghu LaoSi. His wife is too weak to do heavy labor, and his children are still young, so he can't continue to plant the fields. So he gritted his teeth and followed a few old fellows in the village to the nearby mines to chisel and mine for the imperial court to mine black gold, that is, coal mines.
This business is the court official because the risk is very often killed, so to recruit workers to pay higher wages, taxes can also be reduced accordingly. It is a paradox that low-income families have to sell their lives to survive, but there is nothing they can do about it. Unfortunately, Linghu LaoSi, a kind brother, was a bit backward. Just working for more than half a year, he encountered a landslide, and a boulder in the mine broke his lumbar vertebrae. He did not die at that time but was sent home by some workers, and after lying in bed for a few months, he died.
As a result, Mrs. Linghu became a widow with an eight-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter, Linghu Xian (the second generation of Fox Xiao Xian). To bring up her two children, Mrs. Linghu had to buy all the land and houses in the family. After burying her man, she took the remaining money. She moved to Zongcheng with her children to join her relatives, doing some small business while working as a washerwoman for rich and noble families. Coincidentally, one of the families she worked for was the Ouyang family. She sent her son to a blacksmith store in Zongcheng daily to become an apprentice while carrying her young daughter to work part-time jobs. She had to grit her teeth to survive even the hardest of days.
The night Ouyang Zhong met Linghu Xian, he again had that dream. This time, the girl smiled at him, the same as in the street; she said to him: "Ni Zhong, I'm here; I'm Fox Xiao Xian. We did pull the hook, yo! I haven't forgotten our agreement." Then she smiled and disappeared.
Ouyang Zhong continued to follow the arrangement of the elders every day, reading and practicing calligraphy, playing the zither, riding the horse and archery, never slacking off for a moment. Still, in his heart, he wished to leave the Ouyang family's mansion to walk outside and meet that child named Fox Xiao Xian again. But Ouyang Zhong never saw her again; he countless times made excuses to go to that small street to look for her but never found them. He thought it was a dream and laughed at himself for being stupid.
In fact, Linghu Xian often appeared in the backyard of Ouyang Zhong's house, helping her mother with laundry work. The two were separated by a yard but by four years.
On the fifteenth day of the year's first month, Ouyang's entire house is decorated with lights and colors, bustling with activity. What was the celebration for? It turns out that Ouyang's old master was promoted to the second grade of the order of music, in charge of the royal family's kabuki music; in addition, Ouyang Zhong, before a royal banquet invited the courtiers at the feast for the presence of the nobles and ministers of the qin and also made a poem. He was so gifted at such a young age that he was appreciated by the ruler of the Zhongming Kingdom and was rewarded with a lot of gold and silver.
Master Ouyang was thrilled, so he celebrated the day of Ouyang Zhong's 10th birthday with a big banquet. Guests came to congratulate him, and many of those who could see the wind at their backs began to pat their asses:
"Congratulations to Master Ouyang for his great ambitions and rising ranks! I've heard that the Emperor appreciates your son, and I'm afraid your house will be blessed with many happy events."
"I heard that the eldest princess of Nanling has a daughter the same age as your son. Will she be recruited as the Emperor's son-in-law in a few years? Hahahahahaha ..."
"I don't think there's any hurry for a prince consort or anything, but this young master Ouyang has such talent at such a young age. It's a fearful future generation! Perhaps in a few more years, Master Ouyang can serve in the same dynasty as your son and soar together!"
Those are good words everyone loves to hear. Master Ouyang has been suppressed for too many years and has quite a bit of talent; he joined the civil service for ten years before finally mixing to the second grade, the eldest son again in such a big scene to give himself a long face. The heart is thrilled tight, so drink a little more. His mind also has a little floating.
After sending away a batch of guests, he still held a jug of wine, wandering around the courtyard. Ouyang Zhong dismissed the subordinates waiting around and followed his father, wanting to see what he would do. No matter how steady Ouyang Zhong appeared in front of outsiders beyond his actual age, he was still a small child inside, just ten years old; it was impossible not to be playful or naughty; it was just that he usually suppressed himself.
Father was drunk and walked forward, but walked and walked to the backyard; this is where the subordinates usually work, washing clothes, brushing the toilet, killing chickens, and slaughtering pigs dirty and messy. Ouyang Zhong will never patronize the place. Father did not realize that he had gone wrong, continued to walk, and pushed open a room to go in, only to hear a woman inside exclaim.
Ouyang Zhong thought, terrible; I am afraid his father was in trouble. Rushed over to the father to stop, pulled to the side. Inside, the woman also hurries to palm light, puts on her clothes, and comes out to see Ouyang's master, and the young master hurriedly salutes. Through the dim light, behind the woman hid a little girl of more than six years old, asked: "Mother, who are they ah?"
Ouyang Zhong's mind "boomed." This girl is different from the Linghu Xian, who has been looking for years. Why was she in his house? He restrained his emotions, resumed the young man's dignified face, and said: "Today's matter is a misunderstanding. My father drank too much and mistakenly broke into the lady's inner room; please forgive me. I will send someone to send some silver tomorrow but also ask the lady to keep it. This matter must not be spread out, or it will not be easy to explain."
Although Mrs. Linghu is a village peasant woman in this big family who does some days of work, she more or less knows some rules, thanks to the young master's goodwill, said: "Enslaved person was originally the laundry helpers in the mansion, and Today caught up with the lack of workforce in the mansion to organize a banquet, so I brought my daughter over to help do some of the trivial things of washing vegetables, burning fire. Because it's late and inconvenient for a woman with a child to walk at night, the housekeeper was kind enough to lend me this house to rest in. Tomorrow morning, I will take the child and leave; I will not talk nonsense outside; please don't worry, Master and Eldest Young Master."
Ouyang nodded and looked at Linghu Xian, who was hiding behind his mother and looking at him. Then, he helped his drunken father leave. As he walked away, he turned back and glanced at Linghu Xian again, saying, "My room lacks a servant girl to help me spread paper and study ink. I'll talk to the steward tomorrow and let your daughter come to the mansion to work!" Turning back, the corner of Ouyang Zhong's mouth couldn't help but turn upward in a silent smile.
The following day, the father woke up in the blur of wine seems to remember something rather chagrined; if this spreads out their face, where to put it? Ouyang Zhong, according to the customary to give parents adults to greet, see his father did not look good, on the pretext that he wrote a new word, please father to the study to point out a little.
In his study, Ouyang Zhong proposed buying the washerwoman's daughter as his personal maid to his father.
"How would that work? For such a family, I'll find an excuse to drive their family out of the city. Why bother." Father was unhappy, constantly feeling that others held his stain, and a knot formed in his heart.
Ouyang Zhong understood his father's behavior, smiled, and said, "Father is not right. It is said that the washerwoman helped our family and did some chores for several other big families. If she were expelled this way, there would always be a good person asking a question or two if she said something she shouldn't have, and then it would not be easy to control. If we, on the surface, do not care about the previous suspicion, are open-minded and generous to give them some benefits, and then her daughter tube in our eyes, she will be more or less scrupulous a few points, this is a foolproof plan."
Ouyang Ming deliberated for a minute or two, then nodded in agreement. He then called for the steward to make proper arrangements and instructed, "Let that woman behave herself; don't refuse to eat the penalty wine." The steward bowed and went down. Although this matter is not significant, it is not a good thing; Ouyang Ming's heart is always not too happy, so he says to Ouyang Zhong: "You put her in your place to be a rough maid is good; the time to discipline can not be merciful and soft, remember?"
"Son obeys." Ouyang Zhong replied respectfully, but inwardly, he snickered: I finally found it! As long as it's what I want, whether it's a person or a thing.