Chapter 311 This Is My Brother [Thank You for Your Support! Goodbye! ]
"Madam, the food has been set."
Mrs. Bai smiled and said, "Let's go have a meal."
Xu Zaijing stood up with a smile, glanced at Qingcao and said, "Qingcao, you don't have to follow me."
Qingcaofu bowed: "Yes, thank you, Master."
Xu Zaijing waved his hand and continued talking to Gu Tingye, then went to the dining hall.
Pingmei glanced at Qing Zhi and smiled: "Qing Zhi, go to the back and help look after the hot water."
Green gardenia should be.
Afterwards, Qing Zhi and Qing Cao walked side by side to the stove at the back and said hello to Mrs. Gu who was looking at the stove.
Qingzhi and Qingcao are both personal servants, so the mother-in-law of the Gu family will naturally recognize them.
"Girls, do you want hot water?" He said as he poured the hot water out.
"Mommy, don't be busy. It was my girl who asked me to come over and watch."
"Oh!" The mother-in-law nodded, smiled, moved two short stools over and said, "Sit down, sit down and chat."
After Qingzhi and Qingcao had finished thanking each other, they found a corner out of the way and sat down, talking to each other.
It has been ten years since the two girls from Xiaoliangshan left their hometown.
Now they have all become the first-class female envoys of the Hou Mansion. Their monthly salary has increased to more than three taels, and their food, clothing, housing and transportation are still provided by the Hou Mansion.
The two of them send money home almost every month.
"Sister Qingzhi, I really want to know what the new yard at home looks like."
"Sister Qingzhi?"
Qingzhi: "Huh? What's wrong?"
Qingcao: "What are you thinking about? I wanted to know what the newly built yard at home looks like!"
Qing Zhi forced her face to smile and said:
"Just write and ask."
Then he looked at Mrs. Gu who was carrying hot water out, and Qing Zhi whispered:
"My brother wrote and said that he has a nephew at home, and he wants my niece to come to Bianjing."
Qingcao was stunned and nodded, and said with emotion: "Sister Qingzhi, when we entered the Hou Mansion, she was also her age, right?"
Qing Zhi looked at Qing Cao and said, "You were younger than her when you left home."
"How are you and the two little envoys sent by the Marquis of Xiangyang?"
"Okay, they know more than me. They were so hungry before."
Qing Zhi listened to Qing Cao's words and wondered: "What? Looking at me like this?"
"Sister Qingzhi, will you stay in the Hou Mansion?"
Qing Zhi looked at Mrs. Gu who had returned and whispered to Qing Cao:
"The eldest girl vaguely mentioned this idea to the master before, but the master did not agree."
"Indeed"
Qingcao's eyes lit up and urged: "What is it?"
Qing Zhi continued to whisper: "There is a brother-in-law of the Zhu family's sister-in-law who is now working under Viscount Zhu, saying yes."
Qingcao covered her mouth and smiled: "See you then?"
Qing Zhi shyly pushed Qing Cao.
The two little sisters talked for a while, and then were called to have lunch.
On the way back to Quyuan Street,
I wasn't in such a hurry when I went there,
Xu Zaijing also took the carriage back because he drank some wine.
Xu Zaijing's closed eyes suddenly opened and he said, "A member of the Zhu family under my cousin?"
Qingcao nodded quickly.
"Do you know what your name is?"
"Didn't ask? You told half of the gossip."
Qingcao said:
"Sir, my servant has asked, but Sister Qingzhi won't say whether she is alive or dead."
"Next time, remember to ask the strong women and sisters-in-law of the Zhu family directly."
Qingcao said hesitantly: "Master, I don't know if this will happen yet, so let's ask."
Xu Zaijing closed his eyes, exhaled a breath of alcohol and said:
"As for the color of the green gardenia, there is only one reason why it couldn't work. That kid from the Zhu family is blind."
When Qingcao heard this, he nodded in agreement.
Arriving at Quyuan Street,
Put all kinds of things brought back by Mrs. Bai, her sister, and Ting Yirang and put them in Sun's courtyard.
After drinking some sobering soup in his mother's courtyard, Xu Zaijing returned to his own courtyard.
Time flies,
It’s the day of the Lantern Festival,
Bianjing Lantern Festival Lantern Festival,
The lamp stands and lanterns are not put up only during the ten days from the New Year to the Lantern Festival.
But it started years ago, after the winter solstice when the weather got colder.
A few days ago, when envoys from various countries left Beijing, around the seventh day of the first lunar month, the lanterns and paper statues that had been put up for a long time began to be colored and lit.
At the end of the day (after 3 p.m.)
The sky was bright at this time,
The streets were filled with noisy voices, shouts of hawkers, and cheers from people watching acrobatic performances.
Xu Zaijing and Qingyun were riding horses. On the Xu family's carriage following behind them, Qingcao and other three female envoys were lifting the curtains and looking out.
The three female envoys were looking at two tall flag poles in the distance.
The flagpole standing in front of Xuande Tower at the south gate of the imperial city is much taller than the one outside Shenbo Temple.
There is no one on the high horizontal pole, but there are several large paper statues of gods and fairies hanging on it, as well as streamers made of tulle.
The brightly colored streamers are blown by the north wind. From a distance, it looks like a real immortal standing in the sky with his clothes fluttering.
"Sir, look at that, it's so beautiful! I used to come out after dark and couldn't even see this."
Xu Zaijing nodded and said, "I still want to see it. Let's come out early next year."
In the carriage, the three little envoys nodded incessantly.
Because it was not yet time to look at the lights, and there were not many people on the road.
Xu Zaijing and Qingyun rode to the front of the restaurant, and when they were about to turn and go upstairs, Qingyun stood up on the horse, took a look, and said:
"Sir, under these two flag poles, there are resisting horses all around. It seems that no one can get close."
Xu Zaijing nodded and said, "No matter which way you fall, something big will happen."
The two of them talked and got off their horses in front of the building. The female envoys behind them quickly took the food utensils from the car and followed them.
There were not many guests in the lobby of the building.
Xu Zaijing led everyone up to the third floor.
On the way upstairs, Xu Zaijing discovered that there was a screen at the top of the stairs on each floor.
The waiter in the store knew that it was Gu Erlang of Ningyuan Houfu who invited Xu Zaijing into the private room.
The window facing Xuande Building is open.
When Xu Zaijing stood in front of the window and looked down from a high position, he could only see flag poles standing and an open space surrounded by horses.
There were several sheds in the open space surrounded by Juma. At this time, a group of people carrying musical instruments entered the sheds.
soon,
There was the sound of silk and bamboo wind music, mixed with the cries of cheers and hawking, and spread far upstairs.
After a while,
Gu Tingye brought the distinguished disciples near Xingguofang upstairs.
Behind him were the sons and daughters of each side branch.
A large crowd of masters and servants huffing and puffing.
The screen that Xu Zaijing saw just now became a dividing line. The men went to the left, and the girls from each family went to the right.
In the private room on the third floor,
Rong Xian grabbed a handful of dried fruits from the plate held by the Zheng family maid of Zhongjing Hou Mansion, and nodded while eating,
When he came to Xu Zaijing, he looked at his outfit and said:
"Brother Jing, why does your outfit look familiar?"
Hearing this, Xu Zaijing smiled, shook his clothes and said, "This is what I wore when I went to the palace to pay New Year's greetings on the first day of the new year."
Rongxian frowned and thought for a moment, then nodded.
Then he looked at the silk flower on Xu Zaijing's head and said, "Brother Jing, lend me your flower."
Xu Zaijing said: "Wait a moment, Qingcao, and bring me another silk flower."
Soon, Qingcao came over with a tray filled with several silk flowers. Xu Zaijing waved his hand and said, "Pick your own."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Zaijing was dragged by Gu Tingye to Zheng Xiao and others, and said to a man dressed as a scholar:
"This is the brother of the Changxing Bo Fu family, the eldest son Fu Boran. When I didn't go to the Sheng family before, I studied with him."
"If we have the opportunity in the future, let's discuss knowledge together."
Xu Zaijing looked at Fu Boran, whose temperament was somewhat similar to Chang Bai's, and held his hands: "Nice to meet you."
Fu Boran felt a little uncomfortable on his face, but he still held up his hands and said, "Nice to meet you."
Looking at Fu Boran's appearance, Gu Tingye looked at Xu Zaijing with some doubts in his eyes.
Xu Zaijing pretended not to see Gu Tingye's eyes, but after looking around, he stretched out his hand and said:
"Changbai and the others are here."
"Brother Fu, let's go."
Fu Boran hurriedly said: "Go, go!"
The two walked away. Xu Zaijing put his hand on Gu Tingye's shoulder and said in his ear:
"Here, the eldest sister has reached the age before, cough! The Fu family also asked Mrs. Wu to deliver a message to my family."
"ah?"
Gu Tingye looked surprised.
Xu Zaijing nodded and said:
"Erlang, why are you so surprised?"
"When Bianjing reaches the appropriate age, he will ask more companies, and most of us will do the same."
Gu Tingye shook off Xu Zaijing's hand and whispered: "What do you know, Brother Fu told me a few years ago that he has a girl he likes in his heart?"
Xu Zaijing: "So?"
Gu Tingye: "No matter how I ask, I can't find out. I just told you that I have already invited Madam Wu."
Xu Zaijing rolled his eyes and his expression changed: "No way? My eldest sister?"
Gu Tingye nodded.
Xu Zaijing continued: "What about him now?"
"Married."
Xu Zaijing breathed a sigh of relief.
Gu Tingye whispered in annoyance: "If you hadn't said it, I wouldn't have known about it!"
Xu Zaijing raised his eyebrows. To be honest, if Gu Tingyu hadn't been quick to act, as the backbone of the family, he would have been the most likely to make the final decision.
However, there is no destiny.
Xu Zaijing whispered: "You know this and I know it, and we must not let more people know about it!"
Gu Tingye nodded.
The two of them were talking and had already arrived in front of Changbai.
Xu Zaijing and Changbai hugged each other,
Gu Tingye was not far behind.
Chang Feng, who was behind Chang Bai, also opened his hands, but Xu Zaijing only rubbed his head.
"Brother-in-law didn't come today?"
Changbai said and looked at Xu Zaijing.
Xu Zaijing said: "I'm staying at home with my sister-in-law."
Changbai nodded.
"Brother Chaojie, Brother Herui, you are finally here!"
"Brother Jing, take good care of Changbai Changfeng."
With that said, Gu Tingye let go of Xu Zaijing and walked towards several children from civil servant families.
Changbai and the others already knew most of the invited sons of distinguished civil servants.
Only the Fu family brother who doesn’t come often, Changbai Changfeng is not very familiar with him.
Xu Zaijing naturally acted as the introducer.
He brought the two Sheng brothers to Fu Boran.
Changbai didn't talk much, but he was not dull. After talking for a while, Changbai's eyes were full of thinking, and then his eyes were full of understanding.
He smiled and nodded at Fu Boran.
Chang Feng, on the other hand, nodded slightly to Fu Boran and said while talking:
"Brother Fu, I wonder what the relationship is between your family and the Feng family of Cheng Guogong?"
Fu Boran said: "Yes, my brother married the daughter of the Feng family's branch."
Chang Feng smiled and said: "Then we are relatives! My brother's aunt is also from the Feng family!"
Fu Boran's eyes lit up: "Oh! Then we are really relatives. I wonder which branch of Duke Cheng is he from?"
Looking at the few people who started to chat freely, Xu Zaijing patted Changbai's shoulder. Changbai nodded and signaled Xu Zaijing to go.
Xu Zaijing came to the door and smiled and talked with the two brothers of Duke Xin's Pei family for a while.
Before they said a few words,
a boy's voice shouted at the door: "Brother? Brother? Where are you?"
The voice was not small, and everyone in the room looked over.
It was Gu Tingye who took a look and said to Xu Zaijing: "Brother Jing, it's Brother Zong."
The first person who appeared in Xu Zaijing's sight was the nanny of the main room of Duke Lian's Lu family. She bowed to everyone in the room embarrassedly, then bent down and picked up Lu Zezong.
After Xu Zaijing and Pei's brother nodded, he walked a few steps and took Lu Zezong into his arms: "Mammy, I'll watch him."
Mammy smiled and nodded: "Hey! I'll wait outside."
After Xu Zaijing nodded, he held Lu Zezong and came to Pei's brother, and said with a smile: "My brother, Lu Zezong from the family of Duke Lian."
The third brother of Pei's family, Duke Xin, looked at each other, and bowed to Lu Zezong and said: "Uncle."
Lu Zezong did not agree. After looking at Xu Zaijing, he whispered: "Brother, I didn't bring any reward money. Do you want to agree?"
Xu Zaijing held Lu Zezong with one hand, scratched his head with the other hand and said: "People have called, you can't not agree."
Lu Zezong looked at Pei's third brother and said: "Hey!"
The voice was not small, attracting several people to look over.
After Xu Zaijing put Lu Zezong down, he said, "Qingcao, come here, take Zong'er to play in the house, don't run around."
Qingcao hurried over and took Lu Zezong to the side.
After talking with Pei'er, he learned that their mother and Lu Zezong were of the same generation, and they had to call the six girls of Lu's family little aunt.
Of course, they and Xu Zaijing had their own opinions.
"By the way, Jing'er, I heard that the old lady of Anguogong went to the palace to complain about you?"
Xu Zaijing: "No, no, even the fourth brother of Zhang's family complained."
"I heard from my father that the people of the Tan family have problems with promotion."
Pei'er said.
"They don't even look at the position of the Duke of Yingguo in His Majesty's heart. I heard from my father that when His Majesty just ascended the throne, their Tan family didn't have it."
"Ahem."
Pei'er stopped talking.
Xu Zaijing said: "This place. Not only can you see the lanterns in front of Xuande Tower, but you can also eat and drink here and continue to walk around. It's really a good place."
"Yes, yes."
After saying that, he changed the subject.
The sky gradually darkened.
In the palace,
Fei Rong held the little princess,
looking at the depressed Rong Feiyan, said:
"Yan'er, what's wrong? It's a blessing that you can go to Xuande Tower to see the lanterns, but it's hard to ask for it!"
"Unhappy?"
Rong Feiyan tightened her cloak to cover it more tightly, cleared her throat and said: "No."
Jiying Lane
Sheng's family,
Sheng Hong and his wife and children went out to see the lanterns,
Sheng Changzhang was also sent to Shou'an Hall by Wei Shuyi.
In the distance,
there was the sound of booming fireworks,
but Wei Shuyi could only listen to the sound under the eaves, recalling the scene when he was young.