Chapter 1: The Madam's Summons
Dayinwu Dynasty, the 18th year of Jiayou.
On the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, there was heavy snow in Haojing.
The biting cold wind howled into the streets and alleys of Haojing, and from the gardens of wealthy homes on the roadside, it blew up plum petals, mixed with goose feather snowflakes, and swept across the courtyards and roofs.
To the southeast of the imperial city of Haojing is Min'anfang, one of the four major wards of the first-class upper class: Fengtiao, Yushun, Guotai and Min'an.
To the east of Min’anfang, across an artificial canal several miles wide, is Anlefang, a second-class upper-class square.
Anlefang, many noble people.
Most of those who were able to establish a business in Anlefang were wealthy and powerful families with red robes and red gates.
In recent years, the most famous and extravagant figure in Anlefang is none other than Lu Tai (tai, the same as 'big' and 'sunlight') the Marquis of Tian'en.
To the north of the magnificent Tian'en Marquis Mansion, which covers an area of nearly a thousand acres, is Yulu Hutong, the back street of the mansion.
The entire back street is nearly three miles long, with neatly arranged courtyards on both sides of the street, where various branches of the Tian'en Marquis Mansion of the Jingyang Lu family live.
At the westernmost end of Yulu Hutong, next to Anlefang No. 1 Canal Wharf, there is a small courtyard.
It was freezing cold and the canal was frozen.
At daybreak, teams of sleds pulled by fat and strong snow dogs, carrying mountains of firewood, salt, rice, flour and other daily necessities, rushed across the ice of the canal that was several miles wide like shuttles.
Amid the hissing sound of the sled rubbing against the ice, Lu Xian (xian, pronounced as "xian"), with her long, shiny black hair tied into a ponytail and wearing a thin, blue cloth double-breasted cotton jacket, opened the door of the main room on the north side of the courtyard and took a deep breath of the icy cold air.
The cold air entered his stomach, and his whole body felt cool. A warm smile appeared on Lu Yi's resolute and upright face.
He closed his eyes, opened his arms, and muttered with full concentration:
"On the premise of ensuring your own safety and having sufficient self-protection capabilities, do your best to achieve success in both career and love, enjoy life, and be happy. I have set a small goal for the time being - to live for a thousand years!"
"Before I have enough ability to protect myself, I, Lu Yi, swear that I will be kind to others, protect myself, be tolerant, and be low-key and humble. I will endure it again and again unless I can no longer endure it."
He opened his eyes, exhaled a breath of hot air, stretched his arms and legs, then raised his head and looked at the sky covered with dark clouds.
"Oh, auspicious snow indicates a good harvest."
"Oh, ugh, ugh, I'm wrong, I'm wrong. I should have turned my heart to the moon, but the moon is only shining on the ditch!"
Counting on his fingers, Lu Yi muttered to himself.
"In the fifteenth year of Jiayou, after a banquet to thank my teacher, I slipped and fell after drinking, and broke my left calf."
"In the sixteenth year of Jiayou, after the thank-you banquet for teachers, I fell down the stairs and broke my right calf."
"Yesterday last year, after the end-of-year teacher appreciation banquet of the clan school, I fell down in the toilet and broke my left thigh. Tsk, but you still have no remorse."
"How about, all three legs break at the same time this year?"
Lu Yi smiled and gestured with his fingers.
"You've learned your lesson. When the clan school was dismissed yesterday, you said you were not feeling well, so you changed the teacher appreciation banquet to tonight."
"If you avoided yesterday, can you avoid today? Ha!"
"Do you want to break all three legs at once?"
"Isn't that too cruel? It's not some deep hatred, it's just that they're deliberately making things difficult for me. For four consecutive years, they've given me four Daoist essay questions that I can't answer, can't do, or will get into trouble if I do them!"
"There is no hatred without reason."
"On a daily basis, in the clan school and among the clan, I am just an ordinary, mediocre and invisible person."
"You are making things difficult for me for no reason. Why is that?"
"What hatred and grudge do we have?"
Muttering to himself, Lu Yi walked to the well in the courtyard.
In the middle of winter, Lu Yi stripped off his clothes, grabbed a bucket, drew a bucket of water from the well, and poured it all over himself.
After pouring seven or eight buckets of water, Lu Yi, who was steaming all over, dipped his fingers in some coarse salt and brushed his teeth vigorously.
After brushing my teeth, all the water in my body has evaporated due to my body temperature .
Lu Yi stretched his body hard against the cold wind, yawned comfortably, then put his clothes back on and strode to the east side of the yard.
In the corner of the east wing, there is a small patch of green bamboo. Although it snows heavily in the cold winter, this small patch of bamboo is still green and lush.
Lu Yi hissed a few times, and from the dense bamboo leaves covered with snow, a small snake as thick as a thumb and more than three feet long swam down lightly, coiling around the bamboo pole.
This little snake is emerald green all over, and its scales are as crystal clear as gems. It does not have the eerie and ferocious look of other snakes, but instead appears to be somewhat spiritual and cute.
In such a cold winter, ordinary snakes would have already hibernated and frozen stiff, but this green snake is very clever and lively.
The green snake slid along the bamboo pole to Lu Yi's front, opened its delicate little mouth, and hissed with its tongue.
Lu Yi took out two fresh eggs from his sleeves, and the front half of the green snake pounced forward as fast as lightning and swallowed the two eggs alive. It swayed its body and gently rubbed Lu Yi's palm, appearing particularly intimate.
"Go, go, and have a good rest."
Lu Yi patted the green snake's head, turned and walked towards the backyard.
Behind the five main rooms in a row on the north side of Lu Yi's yard, there is a half-acre piece of land, where some common vegetables, fruits and melons are usually planted. Now it is covered with a thick layer of snow.
To the north of the backyard, Lu Qi dug a water pit that was ten feet square.
In the middle of winter, the more than three feet deep water in the puddle has frozen into ice.
A millstone-sized, jet-black alligator turtle was lazily lying on the ice.
Hearing Lu Yi's footsteps, the alligator snapping turtle stretched out its long neck and made a "cooing" sound. Its soybean-sized eyeballs rolled around, making it look particularly smart and even a bit cunning.
Lu Yi squatted beside the puddle and took out two pieces of fresh lean pork.
The alligator snapping turtle opened its mouth wide and swallowed two fist-sized pieces of lean meat one at a time. It nodded gently to Lu Yi, then retracted its head and limbs into its shell and lay quietly on the ice.
Lu Yi reached out and touched the alligator snapping turtle's rugged and prickly carapace, then stood up and walked to the west side of the yard.
On the west side of the yard, in the corner of the west wing, a small shack was built.
A pure white, round and ferocious caracal (a member of the cat family) was lazily lying in the shack. When it saw Lu Yi coming over, it widened its blue eyes and roared "Ha, Ha" twice in a very rude manner.
Lu Yi hurriedly took out two pieces of chicken breast and two fresh eggs and placed them in front of the caracal.
"Uncle, you eat first. If you're not satisfied later, you can ask for the younger ones!"
"I won't disturb you while you're eating. Please enjoy your meal slowly!"
Lu Yu gave the caracal a flattering smile, stretched out his hand and rubbed it hard twice, then touched its chin, took small steps with a smile, and ran to the south of the yard amid the caracal's impatient "haha" to drive him away.
The caracal pressed one claw on a piece of chicken breast, tilted its eyes towards Lu Yi's back, and breathed out a breath of cold air through its nostrils.
Under the eaves of the sundry building to the south, there hangs a large birdcage made entirely of fine steel.
A huge parrot, whose entire body was bright red without any other colors, was about one foot long, and whose tail feathers were more than one and a half feet long. It stood in the birdcage, tilting its head and looking at Lu Yi who was jogging over.
"Your mother exploded!"
"Your mother exploded!"
"Your mother was blown to pieces!"
The big parrot suddenly opened its mouth, howling hysterically at the top of its lungs.
"Hey, here it comes, here it comes!"
Lu Yi hurried to the birdcage, took out a handful of dried nuts and threw them into the food bowl of the birdcage.
The big parrot glanced at Lu Yi with its eyes slanted, shook its feathers, lowered its head, and began to chew the dried fruit slowly.
"You are all masters!"
Lu Yi pointed to the clump of bamboo in the east, the puddle in the north, and the shack in the west. He reached into the birdcage and poked the big parrot's fat belly hard.
"Each of you, what did I owe you in my past life?"
"Da Huang is still honest!"
Lu Yi sighed, clapped his hands, and walked into the kitchen next to the utility room.
After a noise, a thin column of smoke floated out of the kitchen chimney, and soon the aroma of meat porridge wafted in the small courtyard.
A big yellow dog stood on the ground, with a head and neck almost as high as a human waist, nearly seven feet long from head to tail, with shiny yellow hair all over its body, and a fat and strong body and full of energy. It was holding a huge iron basin in its mouth and walked out of the main house slowly with square steps.
The big yellow dog carried the iron basin in its mouth, walked slowly across the yard, and squatted quietly at the kitchen door.
A quarter of an hour later.
The big yellow dog lay on the ground, licking the meat porridge in the iron basin very calmly.
There are a few eggs nestled in the meat porridge. The aroma of meat, eggs and rice mixed together, the fragrance is so fragrant that it is really mouth-watering.
Lu Yi held a large white porcelain bowl and squatted beside the big yellow dog. He drank the meat porridge in small sips without using chopsticks or a spoon.
'Rustle, rustle.'
The caracal, having eaten its fill, walked out of the shack, shaking its fat, and began to circle around the yard, looking like a wealthy landlord inspecting his own land.
The big parrot was also full of dried fruits. Its short hair stood up. It squeezed its head out from the gap in the cage bars and challenged the caracal that was circling around to digest its food after dinner.
"Girl, give me a smile!"
The caracal's long fur exploded and it rushed over like a ball of lightning. It suddenly jumped several feet high and hooked its claws on the birdcage.
There were a few "ding ding" sounds, and the caracal's claws created a few small sparks on the birdcage.
From a clump of dense bamboo leaves, a green snake stealthily poked its head out and peered over here.
The big yellow dog finished eating the meat porridge in the iron basin, shook off its fur, stood up, and barked a few times at the big parrot in the birdcage.
The big parrot stopped fighting and retracted its head back into the cage.
The big yellow dog walked up to the caracal with its fur standing on end and put one paw on the caracal's head.
The originally ferocious caracal's arrogance completely disappeared, and its long fur stuck to its body softly. It meowed and rubbed its head on the big yellow dog's legs again and again.
Lu Yi had just finished his porridge. He grabbed the big yellow dog's iron basin and walked to the well in the corner of the yard. On the way, he kicked the caracal on the butt: "You bully the weak and fear the strong!"
The big yellow dog opened its eyes wide and looked at Lu Yi in shock, with the corners of its mouth drooping and a look of being hurt.
Ding ding ding!
Someone knocked heavily on the courtyard door, and an unpleasant drake voice came in: "Brother, Brother? Hurry up, the lady is calling you. Quick, quick, I dare not let the lady wait for you!"
Lu Yi, who had already walked to the well and was about to throw the bucket into the well to fetch water, was stunned. He put down the bucket, shook off the snowflakes on his hands, and ran to the gate of the courtyard in small steps.
"Who is this early in the morning?"
Lu Yi unbolted the door bolt and opened the gate, and a cold wind blew in his face.
A middle-aged man wrapped in a rabbit fur coat, with triangular eyes, a triangular face, and a rather sarcastic look, grabbed Lu Yi's arm and dragged him out.
"Hurry up, the lady is calling you."
"Brother, let me tell you, the Madam has been very angry these past few days, so don't disobey her. Just obey her in everything!"
" If you anger the Madam, you'll have a hard time this year! Watch your skin!"
