I

In the autumn of the fifth year of Chongzhen.

The drought in Jiangxi two years ago seems to have eased, but the bandits in the mountains have not yet been wiped out.

Ehu Town is still bustling with businesses and travelers.

Fei Yinghuan had already said goodbye to his parents and brothers at home, but his wife and children took him all the way to the dock.

Wei Jianxiong stood quietly beside the eldest young master with a wrought iron rod on his back.

When they were about to leave, Fei Yinghuan looked at his seventeen-year-old daughter and told his wife, "You should also pay more attention to Rulan's marriage. It doesn't have to be a perfect match, as long as you have good conduct, don't worry about what others say."

Mr. Lou sighed: "I'm afraid the old man won't agree."

"Don't worry about him. If you don't want to do it, you'll have to admit it!" Fei Yinghuan still spoke so casually.

"Dad, don't talk nonsense, what about cooking raw rice..."

Fei Rulan blushed a little, but also felt a little sad: "It's about the Fei family's family tradition. As long as the daughter doesn't get married, we can't let Sangzi laugh at it anyway."

"Nonsense!" Fei Yinghuan immediately scolded, "You are still young, can you be a widow for the rest of your life? After I take office, I will also pay attention to young talents, and I must find a good husband for you!"

Fei Rulan's fiancé died. She had planned to return to her hometown to get married as soon as her term was over. Unexpectedly, she died at the hands of the peasant army last year.

Fei Yinghuan had never agreed to this marriage, and it was the old man of the Fei family who had forcibly arranged it.

After hearing her father's words, Fei Rulan was very moved. She only hoped to marry a good man and stay far away from this suffocating mountain of lead.

After talking about his daughter, Fei Yinghuan looked at his son again.

Fei Ruhe was already fifteen years old. He was tall and strong. He didn't look so fat anymore, but he still looked tall and tall.

"You..." Fei Yinghuan had a thousand words in his heart, but finally turned into a sigh, "Just practice martial arts well, and I will donate a military position to you in the future."

After the Tatars broke through the border, due to financial constraints, buying officials has been legalized.

The imperial court allowed donating money to serve as an official, but generally people with good grades but no positions would just buy an official position. If you want to fill the gap, you have to find another way.

"Really?" Fei Ruhe was overjoyed, "Dad, I really don't need to study anymore?"

Fei Yinghuan said with a straight face: "I have to continue studying. Even if I'm taking the martial arts exam, my essays must be passable!"

"Oh." Fei Ruhe lowered his head and was unhappy.

Fei Yinghuan stroked her little daughter's head again and said softly: "Rumei, daddy is not at home, you have to listen to mother. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I know." Fei Rumei nodded heavily.

Fei Yinghuan looked at Zhao Han again: "I urged you, you finally won the Tongsheng test, do you really no longer want to take the scholar exam?"

"Then give it a try." Zhao Han replied with a smile. Anyway, you can take the test casually. If you can, you will win. If you don't, you will be defeated.

Finally, Fei Yinghuan said to his wife: "What I wanted to say was finished last night. You are taking good care of yourself at home. When I am settled in my post, I will send someone to pick you up."

"Take care." Lou wiped his tears.

Fei Yinghuan turned around and boarded the ship, and Wei Jianxiong quickly followed.

Fei Yinghuan and Hu Mengtai both failed the list again last year. On the contrary, Zhan Zhaoheng, who was studying at Hanzhu Academy, was only 18 years old and got a gold medal in one fell swoop!

There is no comparison between people.

After failing the exam, Fei Yinghuan did not return home immediately, but went to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to look for books.

After visiting the libraries of aristocratic families, Fei Yinghuan not only collected all the articles, but also selected more than 30 additional articles, compiled them into "Selected Ancient Prose" and published it in Jiangnan.

"Selected Ancient Prose" compiled by Fei Yinghuan contains 147 ancient texts from all dynasties.

It's a pity that he published the book at his own expense and lacked fame. His pants were all lost and not many people bought it.

Unexpectedly, as time passed, Qian Qianyi, who had resigned from office and was at home, obtained this book from a friend. For a time, he became a comrade and took the initiative to make friends with Fei Yinghuan. He also introduced big bosses to Fei Yinghuan and spent only five thousand taels of silver to find the real vacancy in Suqian County Magistrate.

This is a good job. Suqian is located on the north-south trade route. If you want to buy a county magistrate, you have to spend tens of thousands of taels of silver!

In other words, the ancient prose entries provided by Zhao Han saved Fei Yinghuan at least five thousand taels and helped him develop connections with the Donglin Party.

This fact alone was enough to make Fei Yinghuan value Zhao Han even more!

…

Watching the passenger ship go away, Fei Ruhe relaxed all over and said with a smile: "Finally let's go."

"What did you say?" Lou frowned and glared.

Fei Ruhe quickly changed his words: "The child is reluctant to let his father leave."

"go home!"

Mr. Lou wanted to beat his son.

Fei Ruhe did not sit on the slide again, but walked side by side with Zhao Han, and asked in a low voice: "You haven't finished writing "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" yet?"

"It's almost over." Zhao Han said.

Fei Ruhe scratched his head and scratched his head: "You have been writing for three years, and I have been reading for three years. I am about to finish it, and you keep putting it off. I am really anxious!"

"That's right," Fei Chun suddenly said, "So, are Guo Jing and Huang Rong getting married? I'm still waiting to see. Brother, please finish writing as soon as possible."

Zhao Han smiled and said, "It's only happened in the past few days."

In addition to borrowing the general plot, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" is almost a rewrite.

All the decent people in it have a dirty side, especially the beggar gang is written in a very dark way.

In particular, the character Hong Qigong is even suspected of alluding to Emperor Wanli. They all hide and ignore political affairs (helpers), only know how to enjoy themselves, and indulge their subordinates in party disputes (the Dirty Clothes Sect and the Pure Clothes Sect).

Lujiazhuang in Taihu Lake was simply described by Zhao Han as a water bandit's nest, and Lu Chengfeng was a ferocious water bandit leader.

It can be understood as a dark version of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", with a hint of "Water Margin".

Guo Jing finally had a great enlightenment and understood the true meaning of "a great chivalrous person serves the country and the people". He spent all his money to organize a rebel army, but was tricked by the court and almost died in an ambush. Finally, he became disheartened and chose to live in seclusion on Peach Blossom Island with Huang Rong.

Fei Ruhe and Fei Chun inquired about the finale, while Zhao Han smiled and said nothing and returned to Fei's mansion.

As soon as they entered Zhongqinyuan, a servant shouted: "Brother Han is well, brother Chun is well."

Zhao Han returned the greetings with smiles all the way, while Fei Chun accepted the greetings with peace of mind.

After hearing the news, Mrs. Ling came out and said enthusiastically: "Oh, brother Han is back. Come to the house to drink tea quickly."

Zhao Han smiled and said: "No need, thank you for your kindness."

Mrs. Ling added: "Chun'er, why don't you invite Brother Han to come in and sit down?"

"Brother, come in and have a cup of tea at my house." Fei Chun said quickly.

"I'll go back to the house and write a novel." Zhao Hanwan refused.

When you are frustrated, the world is full of evil people.

When you are proud, there are good people in the world.

With red on top and white on top, holding high and undermining low, that's all.

Zhao Han was appreciated by the eldest young master, and Zhao Zhenfang became the maid of the inner courtyard. The status of the brother and sister increased rapidly.

The arrogant Mrs. Ling originally harbored ill intentions toward Zhao Han, but now her attitude has completely changed. Every time Zhao Han returned to the Fei House in Ehu, Mrs. Ling greeted her with a smile and was always attentive to her no matter what.

Back in the room, Zhao Han continued to write a novel. He had already written about the rebel army formed by Guo Jing, but was betrayed by a traitor and was ambushed.

Among them, we draw lessons from the story of King Qin in the second year of Chongzhen. The rebel army under Guo Jing changed defenses in three places in three days and did not receive a grain of military rations...

Before a chapter was finished, Fei Ruhe sent Fei Chun over and urged him several times.

The next day, Lou returned to her parents' home to visit relatives.

In fact, I asked my mother-in-law to find a partner for my eldest daughter.

It's really hard to get married. Fei Rulan is already seventeen years old, and her fiancé is dead. A serious and wealthy family won't be happy.

As soon as Lou left, Fei Rulan was called over by the old man of the Fei family.

Come to the main hall.

Fei Rulan knelt down and kowtowed and said, "My grandson pays his respects to his grandfather, and his grandson pays his respects to his grandmother."

The old lady seemed to feel guilty. She closed her eyes and said nothing. She only fiddled with the rosary beads in her hand and kept reciting Buddhist scriptures in a low voice.

The old man Fei Yuanyi, who was nearly 70 years old, said expressionlessly at this moment: "Get up."

Fei Rulan stood up straight: "I don't know what the instructions from grandparents are for calling your grandchildren?"

Fei Yuanyi asked in a roundabout way: "Your husband-in-law passed away a year and two months ago, right?"

"Yes." Fei Rulan replied.

Fei Yuanyi added: "In the past three months since your father came back, he has been looking for another in-law for you. I know that he loves his daughter very much, but he also has to take into account the reputation of the Fei family. Now that he has changed his horoscope, Once the wedding date has been agreed upon, you are considered a member of your husband's family. If your husband dies, what's the point of continuing to live in your mother's family?"

Fei Rulan's face turned pale, she bit her lip and said, "My grandson has been there, and my father-in-law and mother-in-law asked me to come back, and even asked me to choose another husband to marry."

"That's because your parents-in-law are benevolent and cannot bear to see you become a widow at such a young age," Fei Yuanyi said. "But my noble Fei family from Ehu, my married daughter, has been living in her natal family. How unbecoming is this!"

Fei Rulan had already understood, but she didn't want to die and said with tears, "My grandson will find a female concubine, tie his hair and become a sister-in-law."

"Nonsense!"

Fei Yuanyi was immediately furious and stood up on crutches: "I, the daughter of the Fei family, do not have a sister-in-law. It is simply insulting to the family tradition!"

Fei Rulan looked at the old lady: "Does grandma also want her grandson to die?"

The old lady shrank, closed her eyes tightly, and chanted repeatedly: "Namo Amitabha, Namo Amitabha..."

"Grandson, please leave." Fei Rulan smiled with tears in her eyes.

If you marry and then become a widow, that is the matter of your husband's family. Whether or not you die as a martyrdom has nothing to do with Fei.

But if the fiancé dies and the in-laws don’t accept her, then it’s the Fei family’s business!

It would be good if she could remarry quickly, but if she never gets married, she would have to remain a widow in her parents' family forever. This was bound to be ridiculed. The villagers held a meeting and discussed: "Look at the eldest daughter of the Fei family. She didn't show filial piety to her parents-in-law after her husband died. She stayed in her parents' house waiting to remarry. She doesn't have any tutoring, so she doesn't know anything about chastity. She's just a bastard." Sichun’s X-wife!”

Seeing that his granddaughter was about to step out of the room, Fei Yuanyi said in a deep voice: "You should take care of yourself, don't humiliate your ancestors!"

Fei Rulan froze, staggered, and burst into tears.

All the way back to her room, the maid Xiyue saw her ugly face and couldn't help but ask: "Is the lady menstruating? I have someone make brown sugar and ginger soup."

"No need." Fei Rulan sat down blankly.

Xiyue didn't dare to ask any more questions and just stood aside and listened.

After an unknown amount of time, Fei Rulan secretly wiped away her tears and said to the maid: "Go get a bowl of brown sugar and ginger soup."

"Oh." Xiyue trotted out.

Fei Rulan got up and opened the closet and found a damask that she planned to use to make clothes.

After trying several times, Hong Ling finally passed through the beam and tied it tightly into a knot.

Fei Rulan hung her neck on it, feeling extremely frightened. After much hesitation, she finally kicked the stool over.

Xiyue asked her mother-in-law to make brown sugar and ginger soup. On the way, she met the maid in the inner courtyard and chatted for a while. She walked back slowly and suddenly saw someone hanging in the room. She was so frightened that she rushed in and hugged him.

"Cough cough cough!"

Fei Rulan coughed crazily and almost suffocated.

Xiyue held Fei Rulan in her arms and did not dare to walk away. She shouted in horror: "Someone is coming. Miss committed suicide! Someone is coming..."