Chapter 151 Thirteen Stones
Women in the Northern Song Dynasty attached great importance to their status.
Pang Meir likes Lu Sen very much. Living with Lu Sen for more than a year has made her like this man even more.
She was indeed proud of herself, and the prouder she was, the higher her demands on herself.
The fact that she couldn't be the legal wife was already a thorn in her heart, so she attached even more importance to her "legitimacy".
She was very happy and even grateful that Lu Sen was willing to marry her in a grand ceremony with eight bearers.
Because she knew very well that when a man took a concubine, he never made a loud noise. Under normal circumstances, he would just take a sedan chair and carry the person away quietly.
After all, it's not something worth writing about.
And now Lu Sen means that he wants to marry Pang Meir in a grand ceremony with a sedan chair carried by eight people.
Although she is not the legal wife, she has the airs of a legal wife.
This touched Pang Meir deeply, and she was even a little ecstatic.
After all, she followed Lu Sen on her own initiative and voluntarily, and it even felt a bit shameless.
However, Lu Sen is now willing to accept her, so she naturally wants to be in the best condition and marry the man she loves.
But now, what kind of words are being spread out by Zhao Lifen?
Her good reputation in the capital was ruined in an instant.
To destroy someone's reputation is to destroy their good name, which is an extremely bad behavior at this time.
Sometimes, it can even develop into a life-and-death struggle.
After Pang Meir's slap, Zhao Lifen fell on the table, completely dazed.
Everyone else watched quietly and no one said anything. After all, Zhao Lifen's behavior did affect everyone in the Pang family. Anyone who walked outside would be looked at strangely.
Although Zhao Lifen angered everyone, there were still people who spoke up for her.
Pang Meir's third brother squeezed out of the crowd, helped Zhao Lifen up, looked at Pang Meir angrily, and said, "How can you do this? This is your sister-in-law."
"If she thought of herself as my sister-in-law, and a member of our Pang family, would she do such a thing?" Pang Meir pointed at Zhao Lifen angrily, her eyes red with anger: "Third brother, didn't you hear how people outside made up stories about me?"
The third brother sighed: "But she is still your sister-in-law after all."
When Pang Meir heard this, she was so angry that she almost dizzy.
At this time, Master Pang spoke up: "Stop arguing, send Zhao Lifen back to her parents' home. If Prince Xin doesn't come here in person to explain the matter, she will never be allowed to enter our house again."
Hearing this, Zhao Lifen was so frightened that she almost lost her soul and dared not move at all.
The third brother was even more excited: "Sir, it's not necessary, it's not necessary, please spare Lifen."
"After causing such a big incident, I didn't kill her on the spot, which was already very considerate of Prince Xin." Master Pang looked around and said, "If anyone still has any objections, then that means they don't regard me as the head of the family and want to make their own decisions. Do you understand?"
At this moment, everyone in the hall fell silent, except Zhao Lifen, who suddenly burst into tears.
Looks so aggrieved.
At this time, Lao Bai Guan Ai came over and whispered, "Sir, Prefect Bao is here to visit."
Master Pang glanced at everyone and said, "Everyone, go away. Lao Bai, please bring me the bag of black charcoal."
After hearing the head of the family's order, all the members of the Pang family left. The third brother supported Zhao Lifen and left slowly, while Pang Meir also walked away unhappily.
Although he slapped Zhao Lifen, the fact that his reputation was damaged was already established. What was the point of beating her up more!
After the Pang family left, Lao Bai just happened to come over with Bao Zheng.
Bao Zheng was wearing a dark blue uniform. He looked around and finally looked at Master Pang. He bowed and smiled and said, "Yesterday I heard that Master Pang was not feeling well, so I came to visit you today. Now that I see how you look, I think you should be better."
Master Pang smiled and said, "It's just a minor illness. It will be fine after a while of sleep."
"I don't think he just slept." Bao Zheng's tone rose slightly: "Master Pang's face is ruddy and he looks light and refreshed. I think he must have eaten something very tonic. That's why he is like this."
Master Pang smiled and did not respond. Instead, he asked, "What was the situation in the court yesterday and today?"
"Master Pang, please don't change the subject." Bao Zheng waved his hand and said seriously, "I came to the Pang residence, in addition to visiting the patient, I also wanted to ask whether Master Lu's return to the capital is true."
"Master Lu has legs of his own. Whether he returned to the capital is true or not is none of my business."
Bao Zheng frowned and said, "Master Pang, the emperor is feeling increasingly unwell. If you know the whereabouts of Master Lu, please let me know."
Master Pang shook his head: "I don't know where Master Lu is. If a strange man like him really wants to hide, who can find him?"
With a soft sigh, Bao Zheng knew that what Master Pang said made sense.
Master Lu is indeed hard to find, otherwise it wouldn’t have taken more than a year for anyone to know where he is living in seclusion. We only know that he is near Hangzhou.
Unfortunately, the entire area around Hangzhou City was turned upside down, but there was still no trace of the real person.
"Your granddaughter seems to be related to..."
"No, there's no point in discussing this."
Bao Zheng was just about to ask Pang Meir to invite Master Lu out, but Master Pang immediately reached out to stop him.
"Xiren, you are not wearing your official uniform now, so I guess you don't want to be punished for official business. In this case, private matters should not interfere with the internal affairs of our Pang family." Grand Tutor Pang said with displeasure: "If you are here for official business, please wear your official uniform and bring the official orders from all the important officials of the Secretariat."
Bao Zheng's expression froze for a moment.
I have to say that what Master Pang said makes sense.
It is an excessive act in itself to want to handle official business in someone else's home in a private capacity.
After a while, Bao Zheng said with a worried look on his face, "The emperor's illness can no longer be delayed. The imperial doctors are helpless and can only watch the emperor's health deteriorate. Now only Master Lu's fairy fruit and honey can stabilize the emperor's condition."
Master Pang didn't say anything.
Bao Zheng continued, "The Pang family has received many favors from the emperor. The Grand Tutor is not so heartless, is he?"
At this time, Master Pang felt extremely annoyed, and he had to admit that what Bao Zheng said made sense.
Pang Jialian was loved by two emperors and benefited greatly from it. Now that the emperor is unwell, he does have the obligation and responsibility to help.
But... He shook his head: "I really don't know where Master Lu is staying. You can check in the city."
Bao Zheng shook his head helplessly.
He just couldn't find the answer, so he came to ask Master Pang for help.
At this time, Master Pang was also a little confused. His expression changed from time to time, and finally he said, "Xiren, wait here for a while."
After saying this, Master Pang turned around and went back to his bedroom.
Bao Zheng breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what, the fact that Master Pang was shaken was good news for him.
After a while, Master Pang came out with a peach in his hand.
It is not the season for peaches to ripen yet
"This is what I had left over from yesterday. This is the only one left. Take it back to the emperor." Master Pang looked at the peach in his hand reluctantly, then put it on the table: "It should make the emperor feel better for a while."
Bao Zheng looked at the fairy fruit without hesitation and put it into his sleeve, and then said: "However, this is only a temporary solution, and it will not cure the root cause. After a period of time, the emperor will suffer from the disease again, so what?"
"I can't do anything about this. Can I catch Master Lu?" Master Pang looked Bao Zheng up and down for a while, and said in a rather strange way: "It's you, Xiren, who cares too much about the emperor's health. If it were you in the past, you would never do this."
Bao Zheng was silent.
After a while, he looked up and said, "The crown prince is still young, not even six years old. If something happens to the emperor, who do you think has the final say in the court?"
Master Pang laughed: "It's nothing more than Empress Cao ruling from behind the curtain, recreating the feminine style of Empress Dowager Liu back then."
"A hen crowing at dawn is not a blessing for the country." Bao Zheng tapped the table lightly and snorted, "As long as this government is still here, I will never let such a thing happen."
Master Pang seemed to smile, but ultimately said nothing.
Bao Zheng took the peach and stood up: "If the Grand Master has any clues about Master Lu, I must let him know. I will take my leave now."
Watching Bao Zheng leave, Master Pang finally sneered, and then felt extremely distressed: "This damn Bao Zheng actually made me lose an immortal fruit, how hateful."
Bao Zheng first returned to Kaifeng Prefecture and ordered Zhan Zhao to take people to search for Master Lu's whereabouts, while he went to the palace and gave the peach to Zhao Zhen.
After eating the peach, Zhao Zhen felt much better. He leaned against the head of the bed and asked weakly, "Lord Bao, do you think Master Lu is still willing to stay with us?"
Bao Zheng was silent, and remained silent.
Zhao Zhen, who originally had some expectation in his eyes, immediately smiled bitterly when he saw Bao Zheng's expression.
"Yes, when Master Lu was still in the capital, we treated him like that. Anyone would want to leave."
Not to mention Zhao Zhen's regret, all the civil and military officials in the capital are regretting it now.
This is also the reason why they were so excited after hearing that Master Lu had appeared again.
At this time, Lu Sen was actually hiding in a low mountain, but he was inside the mountain.
They had already hollowed out the low mountain and dug a tunnel that led directly to the hidden Bianshui River.
Two golden torches illuminated the spacious space.
Sitting opposite Lu Sen were the Prince of Runan and Zhe Sanlang.
"I'm going to trouble you to prepare a wedding ceremony again." Lu Sen smiled and said to Zhe Sanlang, "The object of this event is Pang Mei'er from Master Pang's residence. Here are her birth dates and horoscopes."
Lu Sen pointed at the white paper on the table.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it. It's a piece of cake." Zhe Saburo patted his chest with great confidence.
Although Lu Sen is in Hangzhou, he has secret connections with the Prince of Runan, the Zhe family, and the Yang family.
Occasionally, honey or fairy fruit would be distributed to these three companies from trusted channels.
It's just to conceal their presence, the number is extremely small.
The Prince of Runan looked at Lu Sen and asked, "When can you help Lian'er to have a wedding like this?"
"Taishan, you pick a time. Just make sure it doesn't conflict with Pang Mei'er's wedding."
The Prince of Runan thought about it, and finally shook his head and said, "Forget it. Bilian is a concubine's daughter, and Pang Mei'er is the legitimate granddaughter. She should have a bigger show."
Besides, the Prince of Runan also understood that no matter how grand the wedding was, it was not as important as the man's love and tolerance for the woman after the wedding. And Bilian was obviously very popular.
"Let's put Bilian's matter aside for now. My dear son-in-law, I heard that you have made some good stuff like immortal rice in Hangzhou. Can we have a share of it?"
"Yes, we have prepared it for you. Each family will get 100 kilograms of rice seeds. Try planting them first."
When they heard this, they both became excited.
Although both families were considered wealthy, food was something that no aristocratic family would ever have too much of.
The Prince of Runan couldn't help but ask, "My dear son-in-law, can you give me a guarantee? Can the yield per mu really be over 1,000 catties?"
Really capable!
Lu Sen nodded affirmatively: "And you will know soon."
The reason why he is so sure is that the Yuan's Giant Rice in Hangzhou is now mature and can be harvested.
Because giant rice grows faster than ordinary rice seeds, harvesting now begins more than half a month earlier.
The first harvest of the immortal rice was such an important event that naturally required sacrifices and celebrations.
Moreover, ordinary people believe in ghosts and gods, and many people think that the rice plants that are almost ten feet tall and the heavy rice ears on them are blessings.
Most people cannot bear this kind of blessing. There must be someone with a strong life or particularly strong blessings who can harvest the rice first to spread the blessing, and then they can follow suit and harvest the rice stalks.
The most obvious group of people who are blessed are the high-ranking officials and nobles.
Therefore, Lü Huiqing, who was in charge of the Hangzhou Prefecture, was elected by everyone to be the first person to harvest rice at the ceremony.
After the firecrackers had sounded and the temple priest had finished his prayers, Lu Huiqing walked down to the paddy field holding a sickle with a red wooden handle.
He went barefoot into the paddy field, cut down a bunch of tall rice stalks with a sickle, and then took a breath before eating.
There is no way. The stalks of ordinary rice are very thin and small, but the stalks of this giant rice are obviously much taller, making it very difficult to cut them.
Lu Huiqing came ashore with the tall rice stalks in his arms. After placing the stalks on the ground, he shouted, "We have officially started harvesting the immortal rice. Constables, please prepare to weigh the rice. If anyone dares to cheat, don't blame me for being rude."
A group of detectives responded and rushed down to the paddy field anxiously.
First, the water in the paddy field was drained, and then bundles of rice stalks were cut and placed on the edge of the paddy field.
And next to the paddy fields, there were crowds of people.
They looked at the situation in Guantian and talked excitedly.
"Wow, the rice seedlings are really tall, and the rice ears are so many and heavy. It really deserves to be called fairy rice. It's worth my trip all the way from Jinling."
"These constables don't know how to do farm work. They've been mowing for half a day and haven't even harvested half of the land."
"I guess it's because the rice stalks are too thick, so it's a bit difficult to cut them. "
"They are useless. If this field belonged to me, I could harvest all the rice in half an hour by myself."
"Ridiculous. Come and try if you can."
"Just give it a try. Give me the sickle."
Amid the quarrel, the acre of rice was gradually harvested and the detectives were nervously weighing the rice.
In fact, the people watching nearby all had a rough idea of the weight of the rice.
They have all done farm work. Can't they tell how tall and heavy the millet is?
But they still want to hear official data and get a definite answer.
After a while, the sweaty chief clerk clasped his fists and said to Lu Huiqing: "Reporting to the prefect, the weight was more than thirteen stones each time after three weighings."
As soon as these words were spoken, the people near the paddy field screamed.
Thirteen stones!
Thirteen stones!
This number seemed to have magic and spread quickly throughout the fields.
One after another.
Many old farmers shouted and then began to wipe their tears.
