son-in-law

Chapter 775: Flowers Bloom on the Other Side, Lao Canghe (1)

Chapter 775 Flowers blooming on the other side of the old Canghe ([-])

After all, in the middle of June, the scenery of West Lake is not the same as the four seasons.The lotus leaves in the sky are infinitely green, and the lotus flowers in the sun are different red.

Southern Dynasty.

It was an extraordinarily hot summer, and Jiangnan was approaching the season of picking lotus.Amidst the annoying cicada chirping, Zhou Pei woke up from his sleep, and there were vague traces of nightmares in his mind. The conflicts of thousands of people merged into an unspeakable rage in the dark. place to float.

How long has it been since that nightmarish battle?

Jurchen searched for mountains and seas, and wanted to slaughter in Jiangnan.

She spent half a year floating on the sea with her father, leaving behind her younger brother, and fled and struggled in this land south of the Yangtze River for half a year.

Time has passed in memory for a long time.However, if you think about it carefully, it seems that it is just the past in front of you.

The personal maid, Yiren, came in with a cold sour plum soup.She woke up a little and shook the haze in her mind. After a while, she changed her clothes and walked out of the room. On the corridor, the eaves of the Princess Mansion cast a shade of shade. There were corridors, trees, a large lotus pond, and the The water waves glowed in the sun.

The weather was too hot, and there were no people in the aisles and pavilions on the pond, only the guards on duty were occasionally seen under the eaves, and in the sound of cicadas, the voices of quarrels were vaguely heard from the courtyard next door at the other end of the corridor.

Zhou Pei frowned and walked over there. The long corridor stretched, and the voice over there became clearer and clearer. It was this clear voice that made Zhou Pei's mood more and more deposited.

The courtyard where she lives faces the big pond and is the most spacious. More than ten rooms are listed on the waterside, facing the waterside or the gardens and pavilions on the water. It is the core of the Princess Mansion, and Zhou Pei lives here. , dealing with all kinds of things every day is also here.The courtyard next to it is slightly smaller. A large locust tree in the courtyard sheds shade in the poisonous sunlight. When Zhou Pei passed by, he saw two men who seemed to be confronting each other—in fact, it was just one person looking for trouble— —The concubine Qu Zonghui had been swearing at Cheng Zhouhai for a long time. Seeing that Cheng Zhouhai had always ignored him, she rushed over and pushed him.

"...Why, you don't bother to talk to me? You think it's really amazing to be a little white face? You can be her father even if you don't look at your age..."

Facing Qu Zonghui, Cheng Zhouhai just lowered his eyebrows and said nothing. When the concubine rushed over, stretched out his hands and pushed hard, he took two steps back, causing Qu Zonghui to push into the air and rush forward. Almost fell in two steps.This made Qu Zonghui even more embarrassed: "How dare you hide..."

"enough!"

Zhou Peixing appeared at the gate of the courtyard with anger in her eyes. The eldest princess in a palace dress had her own majesty at this time. As soon as she appeared, the courtyard was quiet.She looked at the man in the yard who was nominally her husband, with unconcealed disappointment in her eyes - but it wasn't the first time.After two breaths of self-suppression, she tilted her head: "The concubine is too rude. Take him down."

Her words were addressed to Gong Yiren, her maid next to her. Gong Yiren saluted and greeted the two guards next to her in a low voice. She also apologized in a low voice when she approached Qu Zonghui. Zong Hui raised her head and waved at Zhou Pei, preventing the guards from approaching.

"I'll go!"

After saying this proudly, he glanced at Cheng Zhouhai again and turned to leave the yard.

If you only look at the back of the departure, Qu Zonghui is tall, with fluttering clothes and lofty steps. He is indeed a man who can be admired by many women. Over the years, he has indeed relied on this pair of skins to capture many women in Lin'an City. 's heart.And every time he left in front of Zhou Pei, he did maintain his demeanor like this, perhaps hoping that Zhou Pei would change his mind somewhat after seeing his pride.

However, he never knew that the woman in front of him had never had too much longing for this side of a man. Maybe she had seen too many things too early, or maybe she was responsible for the past few years. , is a variety of situations that are too complicated.Every time Qu Zonghui tried to save her relationship, it often lasted for several days or half a month, and then she left in anger at Zhou Pei's unresponsiveness, and began to throw herself into the arms of other women on the grounds of "self-defeating". .

For Zhou Pei at this time, such efforts are too much like a child's game.Qu Zonghui didn't understand that his "hard work" was really too arrogant to mock the efforts of people in this world. Everything in the Princess Mansion was related to the livelihood of hundreds or even thousands of people. , If there is room for giving up the existence of these two words, then this world is really wonderful.

Once the sea was too difficult for water.This year, Zhou Pei was 25 years old, and she had become an adult in a time she didn't even realize.

"The concubine has no status, and the gentleman has been wronged."

"It's okay, the concubine... he also loves the princess, so he has some unnecessary jealousy."

"Oh." Zhou Pei nodded and smiled gently, "Come with me, sir."

"Ah."

With the cicadas chirping in the dazzling sunlight, the two went to the study room in the large courtyard to discuss matters.This is the usual private relationship for many years, and in the eyes of outsiders, it is inevitable to be somewhat ambiguous, but Zhou Pei never argues, and Cheng Zhouhai's position as one of the best staff in the princess' mansion has never been moved.

After inheriting the mantle of Chengguo Princess Mansion, after a few years in the Southern Dynasty, today's Eldest Princess Mansion is a behemoth that is even more expansive than before in Jiangnan.After the Jurchen searched the mountains and seas, the Wu Dynasty essentially lost the entire Central Plains.In the face of the chaos, the officials reconciled their pains and cleaned up the situation. Zhou Pei and others reorganized the power of the Princess Mansion in this chaos, and started again with the mentality of reaching a dead end.

Over the past few years, with the assistance of Cheng Zhouhai and others, Zhou Pei worked hard and cautiously to learn the skills of Ning Yi in developing Zhuji, and revitalized various industries.In this bleak time, the Central Plains fell, and a large number of Han people who lost their homes came from the north. The society was chaotic and people's livelihood was withered. Many people had no clothes to cover their bodies and no food to eat. The power of Ming began to develop commercial workshops on a large scale, trying to give these people jobs. After the initial huge confusion and embarrassment, when they woke up, everyone suddenly discovered that the financial resources and influence of the Princess Mansion had expanded at all levels of society. .

The gap between the rich and the poor in society is increasing, but the revitalization of commerce has still given a large number of people the opportunity to survive. After a year or two of chaos, the entire Jiangnan region has become astonishingly unprecedentedly prosperous—this is the The status quo that no one can understand - the people in the princess' mansion and the court can only be attributed to the sincere cooperation and shamelessness of all parties, and their unremitting efforts.

For some insiders, the development of various undertakings in the Princess Mansion system even faintly surpassed that of the Zhuji system that could not be mentioned at the beginning—they finally learned a certain aspect of the rebel’s skills. In hand, there is even more than that.And after such a huge chaos, they finally saw hope again.

Sure enough, without such a catastrophic disaster, the people living in the prosperous world will not wake up. This is the three times that the Jurchen went south to wake up the people of the Wu Dynasty.As long as this continues, the Wu Dynasty will rise up sooner or later.

This is a saying that has gradually become popular in many poetry and literary conferences. On the bright side, the great shame of Emperor Jingping has not gone away, but the generous voice to wash away the shame is also gradually rising. This may be because It is a symbol that society has gradually begun to stabilize in some form - of course, the whole process may take a long time, but to have such results, every participant has some pride in their hearts.

The princess' mansion did not mention these, but in the exchange of data, in the reports that people in various places were able to avoid hunger, Zhou Pei or Cheng Zhouhai and others could also feel a certain aspect of stability in their hearts.

"...In Quanzhou, the land from those eight farms cannot be reaped. However, I have already negotiated with Mr. Mu that after this harvest, the price should not exceed the average market price. He is afraid that we will forcefully take over the farms, so he should not dare It’s a trick. Puqing’s cotton yarn workshop has 200 people this time, and it’s estimated that they can’t run out. It’s a little troublesome, but the owner of the workshop told me that he has some new ideas... No matter how I do it, I think people can have a meal first Just eat. Over there in Yangzhou, there is not enough food for disaster relief, so we have some arrangements..."

Bit by bit, in a calm tone, Cheng Zhouhai, the big housekeeper, told Zhou Pei about these things. From time to time, Zhou Pei would also ask a few questions.During this process, Cheng Zhouhai looked at the woman behind the desk and occasionally sighed in his heart.He's extremely macho - or not just macho - and his utilitarian and pragmatic side has given him unconditional trust in everyone, and in the old days only a few people could win him pay.

The woman in front of her is not an amazing person, she was an ignorant little girl when she first met her.After Qin Lao died, Ning Yi rebelled and the world fell. Following Zhou Pei can only be regarded as a temporary expedient. The more innocent she is, the easier it is to fool and manipulate. However, over the years, the woman's hard work and trembling But in Cheng Zhouhai's eyes.She spent many nights comparing and dealing with things in different places, asking and learning tirelessly; she ran and relieved disasters in other places. In the face of a large number of victims, she rushed to the front line to deal with and appease, and faced the local forces. Forcing the palace and confrontation, she is also struggling to learn various methods of coping and differentiation. In an extremely difficult environment, she even once drew a knife to kill herself, strongly suppressing conflicts, and after waiting for easing, she kept running around square.

There are many of these means, from the advice and teachings of Chengzhouhai.Now, Cheng Zhouhai may not admire the woman in front of him, but more or less, he can treat her as a side-by-side companion.That's why he watched the "eldest princess" gradually become calm and calm amid countless troubles, and at the same time, he also felt regret and sympathy for her.

As a person, especially as a woman, she was never happy. All these years, the burden on her was the responsibility of the royal family, and the responsibility to the people of the world under the premise of having an unreliable father. This should not have been A woman's responsibility, because if she is a man, she may be able to gain a sense of satisfaction from her achievements, but the child in front of her has only deep weight and shackles.

Sometimes Cheng Zhouhai even felt that if she gave up her seriousness and accepted the concubine Qu Zonghui, she might gain a little happiness.This concubine's nature is not necessarily bad, he is just young, arrogant, and weak, and he always approaches with longing, ten days and a half later, he feels neglected, and goes to find other women - in fact, Zhou Peiruo gave him some favors. Looking at his face, he may never do such a thing in his life.

After all, the eldest princess at this time, as a woman, is also extremely beautiful and temperamental. Her huge power and long-term solitary residence also give her a mysterious and unattainable brilliance. She also has a quiet self-restraint and temperament, and it is no wonder that a superficial man like Qu Zonghui would run back again and again unwillingly after being pissed off again and again.

Every time he inadvertently thinks of such a thing, every time, in the depths of his heart, he also has a more secret sigh.This sigh doesn't even want to think about it - it's unimaginable - in some respects, he may know better than anyone what's in the heart of the eldest princess, which he didn't care about many years ago. The dark secrets peeped between.In the Bianliang courtyard many years ago, Zhou Pei gave the man a deep salute... Such a thing is really terrible.

He buried these thoughts.

"...In addition, yesterday afternoon, I met Dexin. He has traveled abroad in the past two years, which is quite different..."

After the business was over, when he was talking about gossip, Cheng Zhouhai mentioned his reunion with a friend yesterday.Zhou Pei raised his eyes: "Li Pin and Li Dexin? I have often heard people talk about his talents in recent years. He has traveled the world, is he raising hope?"

"It's not the same. When he told me about it, he still had doubts in his heart." Cheng Zhouhai looked at Zhou Pei and smiled again, "I mentioned to him about going to work, or simply came to the eldest princess' mansion to help, but he refused. However, he raised some concerns about me yesterday, which I think is quite reasonable. In the past two years, the various stores under our management have developed rapidly, but this is because the refugees from the north continue to move south, and our soldiers come to block the water and cover the soil. There may be problems in the future..."

"I'm surprised when it's all right..." Zhou Pei clasped his hands, leaned against his face, looked at the stacks of rice paper documents on the table beside him, and sighed deeply.

Cheng Zhouhai smiled. In fact, the things he talked about with Li Pin yesterday involved a lot of depth, and many of them were discussions at the root of Confucianism and Taoism, and Zhou Pei had been chasing the back of a certain man in recent years, gradually Be pragmatic.If Cheng Zhouhai wanted to repeat what they were talking about, Zhou Pei would probably just feel bored and wasting time. He tried to briefly explain Li Pin's current situation, Zhou Pei sighed and ignored it.

The conversation between the two ended. When they were about to leave, Cheng Zhouhai said, "I heard that the prince is coming over today." Zhou Pei nodded: "Well, he said that he will be here in the afternoon. Do you want to see him?"

"Not really." Cheng Zhouhai shook his head, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "There is great resistance to what the prince wants to do."

"He is obsessed with things, and he is not very determined on this matter anyway."

Cheng Zhouhai smiled bitterly: "I'm afraid, the prince is still very determined..."

After saying this, Cheng Zhouhai said goodbye and left, Zhou Pei smiled slightly, but the smile was slightly bitter.After she sent Cheng Zhouhai away, she turned around and continued to handle official business. After a while, Prince Junwu also came over, passed through the princess' mansion, and went straight in.

Compared with his illustrious status as the prince, the 23-year-old Jun Wu looks too simple at the moment. He is dressed in a light blue and plain uniform, has a beard under his jaw, and his eyes are sharp but slightly absent-minded—this is because there are too many things in his mind. There are too many things and the reason for focusing too much on one aspect.After greeting each other, he said, "Qu Zonghui came to make trouble today."

"You don't need to arrange someone to be by his side." Zhou Pei sighed and shook his head.

"If he makes trouble again, I will break his leg sooner or later."

"You were friends before." Zhou Pei smiled slightly, and after a while, "I mean, people should be used in appropriate places. He is an insignificant person and is really not worth it."

Since Qin Siyuan's death and Ning Yi's rebellion, the original foundation of the Right Prime Minister's House has been broken up. Until King Kang succeeded to the throne and then reunited, it was mainly gathered under the sister and brother Zhou Pei and Jun Wu.Among them, the monks Cheng Zhouhai and Jue Ming followed Zhou Pei to deal with both business and political affairs. Wen Ren Buer, Yue Fei, Wang Shanyue and others took refuge in the prince Junwu. The two sides exchanged information from time to time and helped each other.

But in terms of temperament, the relatively casual Jun Wu and the strict and rigid sister are quite different. Although the two sides are deeply in love with each other, they will inevitably quarrel and quarrel every time they meet.Mainly because Jun Wu was obsessed with things after all, Zhou Pei scolded him for not doing his job properly, while Jun Wu thought that his sister was becoming more and more "taking care of the overall situation" and would become like those court officials.Therefore, in the past few years, the meeting between the two sides has gradually decreased.

When they met now, the two of them subconsciously left the topic of possible quarrel and chatted about some trivial family matters.After a while, Jun Wu brought up the matter about the north: "...for the matter of April, Wang Zhongqi impeached Yue Fei for rashly advancing, I will endure it, and the punishment is just that. It's getting more and more advanced, what's going on. If it didn't make trouble. I don't want to make a trip like this. The way my father is... I really..."

When he talked about this, he was full of anger. When the Jurchen searched the mountains and seas, his father Zhou Yong only cared about escaping. After the father and son exchanged, the army had some respect for his father. Vice and Shini, Wen Tun-like listening to everyone's speech, no matter what Jun Wu came to call, the other party showed "you are my son" instead of "you are reasonable", which made people a little resentful.

For his anger, Zhou Pei was silent for a moment: "You know what's going on."

"Yeah, everyone knows what's going on... Can you still show it off!?"

"The preparation is not enough, no one wants to recruit Jurchen again."

"If you don't fight a battle, will you be ready?"

"The meaning of the court... is to be more cautious, slowly and slowly..." Zhou Pei said, but also a little light.

Jun Wu hammered the coffee table next to him.

"Of course, since you are here, they will also give in..."

"In this world, if you do it like this, it will not save you after all..." Jun Wu gritted his teeth.

Zhou Pei shook his head and said softly: "After all, I haven't stood firm yet. These days, the outside looks prosperous, but in fact, the refugees keep moving south, and we have not yet held the situation. The root below is unstable, not a few words of generosity can solve it. Yes, the adults in the court don't want to go north, but since the general trend is in harmony, they can only maintain the situation first..."

"The general trend and... The people from the north all want to fight back. The general trend is the real thing. No one wants to seize such a good opportunity..."

"When the Jurchen comes again, the entire Jiangnan will collapse. Jun Wu, General Yue, General Han, can they give everyone in the court the confidence to block the Jurchen once? We can at least block it once, how to block it? Let the father go again. maritime?"

"Nothing in the world is possible." Jun Wu looked at the elder sister in front of him, but after a while, he still looked away. He knew that it was not his elder sister that he should be looking at. Zhou Pei was just stating the reasons of others. That's it, and in this, there are more and more complicated reasons that can be said and can't be said. Both of them are actually well aware of it, even if they don't speak.

In the courtyard in the afternoon, the sun was no longer as blazing as noon, and there was a cool breeze in the room. My brother stood up and started to stand by the window to look at the bright lotus pond outside, and he kept tweeting.The two chatted casually for a few more words, and Jun Wu suddenly said: "...I received news from the northwest earlier."

"I don't want to hear it." Zhou Pei replied immediately.

"It's too bad." Jun Wu said in a low voice while holding the window frame, looking out.After a while, he turned around and said, "I will enter the palace later, and I may have dinner in the palace."

Zhou Pei nodded: "There is a banquet in the Xu residence at night, and Mrs. Xu came to invite again and again, and I agreed."

Jun Wu nodded and was silent for a moment: "I'll go first."

"I send you."

The elder sister sent the younger brother to the gate of the mansion. When parting, Zhou Pei said, "Since you are here, the royal father will accept you."

Jun Wu smiled: "Unfortunately, he won't accept the fight to the north." There was some irony in that smile, "...he's afraid."

Zhou Pei did not speak. A few years ago, the search for mountains and seas, and the destruction of Jurchen from afar were imprinted in everyone's minds. During this time, some generals such as Yue Fei, Han Shizhong, Zhang Jun, Liu Guangshi and others have been training troops. While approaching the chaotic area north of Qinhuai, I have fought several battles and recovered several prefectures and counties, but every time there is a major outcome, the lord of the court and the forces will inevitably start to stop. The core reason is what is it? Woolen cloth……

...he was afraid.

This is... something that cannot be said on the table.

Zhou Yong can be unprincipled and muddy, and he can help his son or daughter to do bad things on the stage, but at the root of it, deep down in his heart, he is afraid.When the Jurchen went south for the third time, he twice made a book to seek peace with Jin Wushu, and when the Shurai speed raided Yangzhou, Zhou Yong could not wait for his son to arrive, and after all, he set sail first.In the deepest part of his heart, he is not a strong emperor after all, and he doesn't even have many opinions.

After sending her brother away, Zhou Pei walked all the way back to the study. The afternoon wind had begun to soften. She sat quietly at the desk for a while, stretched out her hand, and opened a drawer at the bottom of the desk. She kept the pieces of paper with little information recorded there. She flipped through it. These pieces of information were far and wide, and had not yet been filed. There was a piece of information that stopped in the middle. She took it out, took a half, and paused again.

That was the news that came back from the northwest not long ago, and she had read it again.Putting it here, she was unwilling to give it a special classification. At this time, she even resisted to take another look at it. It was not some strange information. In the past few years, similar information has been sent frequently and frequently.

She sat there with her head down and her eyes closed trying to make it all normal.Soon after, Zhou Pei sorted out his mood, sorted out the information, and put it back in the drawer.

It's just ordinary information, it's an ordinary day, and she doesn't think of anything very special... After thinking about it, her attention has been put on reality, so she greeted the servant girl, and said a little. After getting dressed up, I got into the carriage and went out.

The convoy of the Princess Mansion drove through the streets of the original Hangzhou, which had been called Lin'an, and passed through the dense crowds to the mansion of Xu Yang, the right minister at this time.Xu Yang's wife's maiden family is a wealthy family in the south of the Yangtze River, with a vast land and a large number of officials in the clan, which has a profound influence. After establishing a relationship with the eldest princess Zhou Pei, she invited her many times, and Zhou Pei finally agreed to participate in this female family member of Xu's residence. reunion.

In the late summer of Wu Jianshuo's sixth year, the Jiangnan land, including Hangzhou City, was showing a flourishing and prosperous vitality, and it even made one wonder if the fall of the Central Plains might be a good thing?

In the Xu Mansion, many officials and women's family members welcomed the arrival of the Eldest Princess.When the sun was setting, the banquet began in the Champs Pavilion in the backyard of the Xu Mansion. For Zhou Pei, this was an extremely simple entertainment scene. She skillfully chatted with the women around her, watching the performance gracefully and with a little distance. , Occasionally speaking, to guide some topics at the banquet.Many women present looked at the 25-year-old princess of a country in front of her, wanting to get close to her, but they were all in awe.

The person in front of her is not the kind of royal woman who is not ordinary in the world. She holds half of the royal family in her hands. Most of the time, her methods are gentle and nominally not involved in any political affairs. In the previous two or three years of various famines and chaos, there were quite a few harsh examples of the Princess Chang's action.

A group of noble ladies who are used to intrigue in the backyard of big gates, facing such a woman, have a natural weakness and longing.Although many people secretly slandered the eldest princess for being too strong at home, and even forced the concubine to give up and let loose in Lin'an City, but when the other party has been ignoring such rumors, they are even more concerned about Zhou Pei. Added some fear.

A woman who doesn't even care about home and reputation really wants to make a fuss. Is there anything she can't do?

Therefore, the slander will only stop at the slander.

The banquets were staggered, and the women talked about poetry, talents, music, and then they talked about Qixi begging after more than a month, and whether they could invite the eldest princess to join them.Zhou Pei participated in it decently. During the banquet, a frail official woman fainted due to heat stroke. Zhou Pei also went over to take a look, and resolutely let the woman help her to rest.

The hour is just around the corner, the sky has just darkened, and the banquet is in the middle of the banquet. When the singer in Xu's house is performing, Zhou Pei is sitting there, and she has begun to wander around the world in a leisurely manner. Inadvertently, she remembered the dream she had at noon. .

How long has it been since that nightmarish war?In the summer of the third year of Jianshuo, the Jurchen crossed the river in Huangtian, and now it is the sixth year of Jianshuo.Time has passed in memory for a long time.But if you think about it...it's only three years.

Three years... She looked at this scene of singing and dancing, and she almost felt like a world away.

A servant came from outside, and when the servant Gong Yiren saw it, he walked over silently, had a brief exchange with the servant, and then came back with something.Zhou Pei looked at it, and on the side, Mrs. Xu accompanied the smiling face and spoke to this side, Zhou Pei responded with a smile, and Gong Yiren quietly handed over a note.Zhou Pei glanced while talking.

Her smile faded silently, gradually becoming expressionless.

It was an indescribable emptiness that appeared on the face of the eldest princess, and everyone was listening to her words—even though it was not nourishing—but the voice stopped abruptly.They saw that Zhou Pei, who was sitting in the front center of the flower pavilion, stood up slowly. Her face was expressionless as she looked at the note on her left hand, and her right hand lightly pressed on the table. .

No one dared to speak, and that empty expression could also be icy and terrifying. The eldest princess in front of her had commanded people to kill people, and even killed people with her own hands—there was no imposing manner on her body, but she was icy cold. It was the first time that all the negative feelings, such as rejection, intimacy, etc., had been revealed unscrupulously—if the note contained some news against the Xu family, if it was said that she suddenly wanted to operate on the Xu family , that may not be surprising.

"Princess..." Gong Yiren tried to come over to help her, Zhou Pei's left hand waved gently, and she heard her say, "It's fake."

Mrs. Xu, who was on the side, also came over and was asking, and was greeted by Zhou Pei's fierce and short sentence: "Go away!" This sentence seemed to exhaust all her strength, and Mrs. Xu was startled and her face turned pale. stopped walking.

In front, the body swayed, she didn't feel it, those eyes were wide open, tears had already poured out, all over her face, she took a step back, glanced ahead, and squeezed her left hand tightly. Note: "Fake..." The voice didn't come out well, because blood came out of her mouth, and she fell to the back seat.

It's been three years...

Looking through the top of the Champs, in the sky, the night is engulfing the last ray of sunset, the clouds are orange-gray, slowly drifting by.It's been three years... The black thing has fallen, and the message she has pressed in the depths of her heart is surging, swords, swords and halberds, enemies of ten thousand people, iron horse glaciers, the raging cry and the spreading blood, the bones of the city, The sea of ​​fire filled the sky, the giant, holding the fortified sky and the ground with a strong and unyielding attitude... Like a volcanic eruption, an overwhelming amount of mountains and seas rushed towards her.

Jiangnan, an ordinary but hot day, the clouds are long.

Zhou Pei is sitting in a chair...

The greatest nightmare has come...

　Look, this chapter is eight thousand words.

(End of this chapter)