Chapter 42: Taking a Boat

Since its founding, the Zhou Dynasty has attached great importance to water transport. Hundreds of thousands of civilians were recruited to dig rivers and build water transport. In this dynasty, waterways are well connected and extremely convenient.

Compared with the hardship of traveling by car, taking a boat is faster and more comfortable. You can travel a hundred miles a day and enjoy the scenery along the way. Therefore, most people choose to travel by boat. Ordinary civilians mostly take passenger ships and civilian ships, most merchants have their own merchant ships, and officials above the seventh rank can take free official ships when traveling.

According to different ranks and status, the grades of official ships are also different. Grandpa Ling is a fourth-rank official. According to convention, he takes a superior official ship.

This official ship has three floors. The bottom floor is where the crew members live. The second floor is where the maids and servants live. Grandpa Ling lives on the third floor with his family.

There are eight cabins on the third floor. The area on the ship is limited, and the cabins are not large, but they are very delicately decorated. Each cabin has a window. Sitting by the window, you can overlook the scenery by the river.

Ling Jingshu and Ling Xiao lived in adjacent cabins, so that they could take care of Ling Xiao at any time.

It was Ling Xiao's first time to travel long distances by boat. At first, he was so excited that he couldn't control himself. He always asked Ling Jingshu to describe the scenery he saw to him one by one. After a few days, the novelty of taking a boat gradually wore off, and he felt that staying in the cabin all day was too boring. He couldn't help but mutter: "I've been on the boat for five days. How long will it take to get to the capital?"

Ling Jingshu laughed dumbly: "We have only walked less than one-third of the way. We still have to walk for more than ten days! As the saying goes, reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. Haven't you always wanted to go out of Dingzhou City to see it?"

Ling Xiao is still a child at heart and has little patience.

Ling Xiao was teased by Ling Jingshu, and he was a little embarrassed: "I just feel that I stay on the boat every day and can't go out. It's a bit suffocating. Forget it, I'd better read a book to kill time."

Ling Xiao's "reading" is to let someone read to him.

Ling Jingshu smiled and said, "I'm also idle, I'll read to you."

As she said that, she asked Baiyu to find a travel journal and read it carefully to Ling Xiao.

The warm and bright sunlight shone through the window, illuminating the small cabin. Ling Jingshu's gentle and soft voice rang out in the cabin, and Ling Xiao sat beside Ling Jingshu obediently and listened attentively.

Jingyu served tea on the side, and Baiyu was idle and did needlework.

The atmosphere was quiet and peaceful.

The voice of a little maid broke the tranquility: "Miss, the lady has prepared lunch, please go to have lunch together."

Ling Jingshu smiled and responded, put down the book in her hand, took Ling Xiao's hand and went out of the cabin to the dining room.

......

Living on a ship, three meals a day are eaten in the morning and evening in each room, only at noon do everyone eat together.

Sun brought two cooks from the mansion. Both cooks have excellent cooking skills. The dishes for lunch every day are not many, but they are very delicate and delicious.

When Ling Jingshu and her brother arrived, Grandpa Ling and others had already sat around the dining table. They had to greet each other before they sat down.

Speaking of which, the population of the eldest house is not complicated.

Grandpa Ling has two daughters and two sons. The eldest daughter Ling Jinghao got married a few years ago and now follows her husband to Tongzhou. The eldest son Ling Ji is now a student of the Imperial Academy. He married his wife Jiang four years ago and has no children yet. The second son died in infancy, and there is also a daughter Ling Jingyan.

Sitting at the table are Grandpa Ling Sun, Ling Ji and his wife, and Ling Jingyan. Including Ling Jingshu and her brother, there are only seven people. The round pear wood table is more than enough.

Grandpa Ling is serious and unsmiling in front of the younger generation. He practices not talking while eating and not talking while sleeping. Everyone finished lunch in silence, and the atmosphere was relaxed only when Master Ling got up and returned to the cabin.

No need to tell them, a smart maid served hot tea and snacks.

The journey was long, and staying on the boat all day, chatting was a great pastime.

Ling Jingyan smiled and chatted with Ling Jingshu about the interesting stories of Doctor Wei's practice: "Doctor Wei founded Huichuntang before he was sixteen and took in patients. At first, those patients didn't trust him at all because they saw that Doctor Wei was too young. Doctor Wei not only didn't charge for consultations, but also gave away medicine for free, so those poor patients who couldn't even afford medicine stayed..."

"Now Doctor Wei is famous in the capital. On the first and fifteenth of every month, the patients waiting outside Huichuntang can line up two streets." The young woman sitting next to Ling Jingyan also smiled and interrupted.

This young woman was about twenty years old, with an outstanding and graceful appearance. She was Ling Ji's wife Jiang.

Jiang was from a proper family. His father is the nephew of the late Duke of Yingguo, and the current Duke of Yingguo is Jiang's cousin. The two mansions are of the same clan, and they are closely connected.

The Duke of Yingguo's mansion is the most prominent mansion of the nobles in the Great Zhou Dynasty. When the Great Zhou Dynasty was founded, Duke of Yingguo was a founding hero. Now the Great Zhou Dynasty has been passed down for more than 200 years, and the Duke of Yingguo's mansion has also existed for 200 years. The deceased Queen Jiang is the youngest daughter of the late Duke of Yingguo and the aunt of the current Duke of Yingguo.

The current Crown Prince of the East Palace is a cousin of Duke of Yingguo.

Jiang was only born out of wedlock, but she was outstanding in talent and appearance. When Jiang was not married yet, there were countless people who came to ask for marriage.

Uncle Ling was a Jinshi, studied the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, and believed in the orthodoxy of the crown prince. He did not agree with the fact that the emperor doted on his youngest son, Prince Yan, and wanted to stand under the crown prince. In order to form this marriage with the Jiang family, he really spent a lot of thought.

Because of this, when Mrs. Jiang first came into the family, her husband respected her, and her parents-in-law were quite friendly to her as their daughter-in-law.

It just didn't last long.

Jiang had been married for four years and had nothing to do. The Sun family had long been dissatisfied. Due to the popularity of the Jiang family, it was inconvenient for Ling Ji to take a concubine. When talking on weekdays, it is inevitable to criticize: "This time when I returned to the capital, A Shu accompanied A Xiao to seek medical advice, and Mrs. Jiang, you will also go with me. I just happened to ask Imperial Physician Wei to prescribe a prescription for you to take care of your health. He said Maybe I’ll get pregnant soon.”

Jiang's smile froze, she responded, and then lowered her head.

There are three kinds of unfilial piety, the greatest of which is to have no descendants.

So what if you are of high birth, talented and beautiful? The failure to conceive an heir has become Jiang's biggest pain. Sun opened his mouth and hit Jiang's sore spot.

Ling Jingshu had a good impression of this humorous cousin-in-law, and couldn't bear to see her in such embarrassment. She smiled and came to her rescue: "Children's matters also depend on God's gift and fate. There is no need to rush. My cousin-in-law is so young. , as long as you take good care of yourself, you might get pregnant soon.”

Jiang's heart warmed when she heard this, and she glanced at Ling Jingshu gratefully.

Ling Ji and his wife Jiang were very affectionate, and he took advantage of the situation and said: "It's my fault, I spend most of a month in the Imperial College, and have very little time to go back to the palace. I often leave my wife alone in the empty room."

If the couple doesn’t have time to get together, where will the children come from?

The fact that her husband defended herself in this way made Ms. Jiang feel warm in her heart. There is no need to pay attention to mother-in-law Sun's nagging.

Ling Jingshu and Ling Ji defended the Jiang family one after another, and the Sun family couldn't say anything more to avoid showing a mean face in front of everyone, so they quickly changed the topic: "The boat will arrive at the dock tomorrow, and the cooks will go buy some ingredients. The boatmen also have to go down to the pier to rest for half a day. If you want to take the opportunity to get off the boat, it’s okay.”

As soon as this statement came out, everyone was excited.

Especially Ling Xiao, who immediately pulled Ling Jingshu's sleeve and shook it: "Ah Shu, let's get off the boat and take a walk!"

Ling Jingshu was also quite moved and agreed with a smile.

...