With the gold and silver jewelry sent by Yinyu, plus the face of Mama Pang, Mama Du and Su Peisheng, although the meal has changed from two meals to one, the portion is quite sufficient. Dinner was simply prepared in the small kitchen cleaned up in the courtyard. Although such a day is simple and simple, it is not sad.

In May, just after the Dragon Boat Festival, Suo Etu was detained as scheduled under the consternation of everyone, which shocked the government and the opposition, and even the servants and maids in the palace were privately speculating about the hidden omen of this change.

However, the rights and wrongs of the court are far from the current predicament, and the Li family saw that my life had not changed much, and the breath in my heart was not completely released, and the suppression became more and more severe, so that the use of the treasury was even more nervous. Especially after Suo Etu's accident, Su Peisheng accompanied Yinzhen to come back late all day, and what Mama Pang and Mama Du said had less effect, so the only meal sent every day began to be a little sloppy, and even the accommodating silver taels out of the house gradually rose with the tide.

Yun Hui knew my predicament and was still trying to persuade me to accept Yinyu's help, but I was stubbornly unwilling to bow to anyone. This is true for Yinzhen, this is true for Li, and even more so for Yinzhen.

The night was deep, people couldn't sleep, the stuffiness in the house and the disturbance of the mind, not long after lying down, they were already sweating and wet, tossing and turning for a long time and still difficult to sleep, so they simply got up and didn't want to sleep again, and wanted to take Yunhui to the yard for a walk.

I didn't see a response after a few calls, and when I looked at it, I couldn't help but shake my head dumbly, sighing that this girl was still a child after all, and at this time she was already sitting on the ground and half leaning on the foot of the bed and fell asleep, with a faint smile on the corner of her mouth, presumably dreaming of something good. I couldn't bear to disturb her good dreams, and I was afraid that she would catch a cold, so I took a piece of clothing and covered it for her, and then crept out of the house with my hands and feet, and sat down in front of the stone table in the courtyard, enjoying the coolness of the wind, in order to relieve the lingering anxiety in my heart.

The summer night is very quiet, only the crickets in the yard are all so, and the flowers and trees are dyed with a special silence in the hazy moonlight. Looking up at the sky, there are still a few days before the fifteenth, and the moon is like a woman in the boudoir looking at the world with a delicate smile that still holds the pipa and half covers her face. Such a moonlight suddenly reminded me of the time when I had a drink with Yinzhen.

I like to be with him like that, and maybe he likes it too, and it's because of this liking that I want to accept me. But I don't understand why I have to have it if I like it, but I don't know that this will lose its purity, and there will be more entanglements, so that the original intimacy will become alienated.

I often think about what the situation would be like now if I hadn't refused to be favored, and I shouldn't have been bullied to such a miserable and embarrassing situation. After thinking about it, I felt that it would be good to be favored, and there would be new people entering the house in the future, and this favor would not last long after all. At the time, I wasn't sure if I would be able to deal with the psychological gap between gains and losses so calmly. So I don't regret having such a choice, even if this road is full of thorns, I have to grit my teeth and get through.

In the middle of the night, the water lilies in the lotus pond float on the surface of the water, sit near the pool, the wind is cool but also give birth to some coolness, close the collar of the thin shirt, sigh lightly, don't want to think about it anymore, only self-deprecating muttered a sentence "Settle with the encounter, be safe".

At this moment, a figure suddenly flashed in at the arch of the courtyard and disappeared into the shadows. It was late at night, and the figure came so suddenly that it was impossible to tell whether it was really there or dazzling.

The scene is in my heart, and the involuntary flash in my mind makes people can't help but think about it. I'm not afraid of ghosts, I'm more afraid of people, I'm afraid that the Li family won't see my submission and will do a black hand behind my back. The fear in my heart sent a chill down my back. Stunned in place, he didn't dare to act rashly, looked at the place where the figure disappeared vigilantly, and shouted in a deep voice: "Who is where?"

When the question was spoken, it was quiet all around, and when I was young, I saw Xiao Shunzi come out of the shadows, stepped forward and hit a thousand, and responded: "It's a minion, I was surprised by Gege, and the slave should die." ”

He bowed his head and saluted, unable to see the expression on his face, and his tone was as calm as usual, without the slightest fear, as if it was extremely common to go in and out of the garden at will in the middle of the night.

Seeing that the person who came was Xiao Shunzi, he suddenly felt that the tense nerves suddenly relaxed, stroked his chest to calm his emotions, and hesitation came to his heart.

According to the rules of the royal palace, two servants are on duty inside and outside the house every night. Inside the house are usually personal maidservants, and outside the house are internal servants and eunuchs. One is to take care of it, and the other is to be a safety concern. Because I only have one servant and two maids, Mama Pang is old and can't bear to let her stay up, so most of the nights are Yunhui and Xiaoshunzi on duty together, even if the two of them doze off, I won't say anything.

I didn't see Xiao Shunzi when I left the house just now, and I thought he was looking for a place to take a nap, but now I saw him coming in from outside the courtyard who was supposed to be guarding in front of the house, and I couldn't help muttering in my heart.

His gaze wandered over his face, trying to see some clues from the subtleties, but in the face of my inquiring gaze, Xiao Shunzi's demeanor was as usual, and there was no confusion that ordinary people should have in this situation. However, such a calm can feel wrong at such times.

I forcibly suppressed the doubts in my heart, and pretended to smile kindly: "It turned out to be you, people are scary and will scare people to death, don't be so sneaky in the future, if you have something to go out, just let me know." But isn't it time for you to be on duty all night? Why don't you go out at this time and come back?"

Shicai's sense of urgency was instantly dissolved by my sudden change of attitude, Xiao Shunzi's tense shoulders moved slightly, and the whole person relaxed as if relieved, this detail was very small, but it still fell into my eyes.

I sensed what Junko was hiding, but I didn't know what he needed to hide.

Following my words, Xiao Shunzi bowed his head and pleaded guilty: "Back to the master's words, these days it is difficult to have food and clothing, Chef Zhang in the dining room invited the slave to drink two cups, the slave was greedy for a while, and when he saw Gege sleeping, he moved his mind, and he didn't worry about going back if he wanted to go, but he was drunk and fell in his room for a while, and when he woke up, he found that it had come to this hour. I saw Gege standing in the yard just now, and I was afraid that Gege would get angry when I saw it, so I wanted to sneak in and do something, but I didn't expect to surprise Gege, and the slave should die. ”

Although the time spent together is still shallow, I still know a little bit about Xiao Shunzi's personality. Don't look at his age, but he is steady and disciplined, delicate, thoughtful, and thoughtful, and rarely cheats or neglects his duties. So even though he said that the time, place, people, and events are all right, and the reasons are considered to be complete, I still have half a doubt.

I looked at him silently, and then the wind came slowly, and I smelled a trace of ethereal aroma between my noses, very faint but very special, as if I had smelled it somewhere, but I couldn't remember anything for a while.

By the direction of the wind, I was sure that the scent was coming from him, and that such a scent should not be present in a person who had just sobered up. Only those who are masters in the house are qualified to use spices, and I said at the beginning that I don't like incense, and I never gave it in the treasury again. As for Chef Zhang, I have seen it, a fat waiter with five big and three thick, who circles around the pot on weekdays, although he is not oily, but in order not to affect his sense of smell and taste, he will never smear something.

It's a pity that the fragrance is shallowly attached to him, and the moment of thinking about it has passed, and it is hard to find it if I want to explore it more carefully, as if it was just an illusion born to me. But I've always been sensitive to taste, and I know it's not an illusion. This made me even more sure that he must have something to hide, and this doubt was like a pebble thrown into the middle of a lake, rippling in his heart in a circle.

At this time, it must be useless to delve into it, so he put aside the doubts in his heart, didn't rebuke him more, let him get up, and said with a smile: "Don't say these damn words, they were originally useless for me as the master, let you suffer with it, how can I still blame you for breaking the rules." The rules in the house are big, don't talk about this matter with others today, be careful. It's too hot in the house, and I'm going to cool off here, and if you're tired, go and rest, and don't wait. ”

Xiao Shunzi thanked him, but did not leave, and said: "It was supposed to be a slave on duty at night, and Gege was already extraordinarily gracious if he didn't blame him, so how could he be lazy." It is the duty of a slave to serve Gege, even if Gege is sent. ”

It was true that he was not sleepy, and the yard was much cooler than the house, and after the little fright just now, he also felt a little panicked when he was alone, so he did not refuse his accompaniment.

Pacing to the railing in front of the lotus pond, watching the water lilies bloom quietly under the moon. Calm down - I tell myself. Lack of food and clothing will naturally turn people's hearts away, no matter what era it is, this is an inevitable result. In such a difficult period of poverty and whiteness, the only way to calm down and think about how to deal with it is the key.

"Xiao Shunzi, how long have you been in the mansion?" I asked suddenly.

"If you go back to your master, the slave entered the house at the age of seven, and now it will be twelve years old. Although the question was asked suddenly, Xiao Shunzi still dealt with it properly.

"In this way, you should also be an old person in the mansion like Mama Pang, and it stands to reason that you should be able to find a better errand, how can you be assigned to serve me, a lowly character?" Judging from his words and deeds, he had expected to be a person who had been in the mansion for some years, but he was not very old and his temperament was not ostentatious, so he always thought that he was just a newcomer who had been in the mansion for a year or two, but he never thought that he had such deep qualifications in the mansion as Mama Pang.

When Xiao Shunzi was silent for a while, he should say: "The servants and maids in the house are all arranged by Father-in-law Su. Gonggong Su asked the slave to come to this courtyard to wait, and the slave came, as for the other slaves, they didn't ask, and they wouldn't ask. ”

Xiao Shunzi's words are round, and they can be described as leaky. I smiled and half-truthfully quipped: "So that's the case, but now I feel like I'm following the wrong master?" These days, I also think that I am just a master, but I don't need so many people to wait, anyway, there is only one girl on Song Gege's side to serve, so I thought about talking to Grandpa Su, and just leaving Yun Hui by my side, so as not to be wronged here." ”

When I said this suddenly, I saw Xiao Shunzi's face change greatly, and he hurriedly knelt down in front of him, and said: "The slave never complains, but only knows that no matter what master he follows, as long as he does his best for his master, the master is good, and the slave is naturally good, and there is nothing else to ask for." These days, the minions have also seen that Gege is a good master, and the minions are willing to suffer with Gege, and Gege must not drive the minions away." After speaking, he wiped his tears and cried.

Everyone who lives under the people has his own city, and it is not surprising that he has grown up in this environment since he was a child, and how many secrets are hidden in his heart. It's just that I don't know if the secret he's carrying now has something to do with me, and this thought makes me feel very unsure, like there is an extra time bomb around me that may explode at any time, and I don't know when it will make me lose my head.

"Now you know what is going on in this courtyard, and even if you don't take precautions, I have to think so. If it weren't for myself, I'm afraid I would have been unable to make ends meet, although my temperament is indisputable, but I am also a stubborn and stubborn person, I am afraid that there will be more difficult and dangerous days in the future than now. Now most of the objects I married can be used as a part, and the rest are too valuable, even if you want to do it for a while, I'm afraid it will be difficult, you have your own difficulties in entering the house as slaves and maids, it is not easy, how can I bear to be wrong. If you have a good place to go and you really decide to leave, I won't blame you. ”

These words originally meant to be tentative, but they were also said sincerely, and the tip of his nose couldn't help but be sour, and his eyes turned red.

No matter how strong a person is in his heart, he will feel physically and mentally exhausted in the face of worrying and calculating all day long. Now all these pressures have long exceeded the load I can bear, but because of that stubbornness, I don't want people to look down on me, so I have been gritting my teeth and holding on.

I don't want Xiao Shunzi to see my vulnerability, don't go over it and pretend to be appreciating the lotus, and endure the grievances in my heart under the cover of the night.

The slave shouldn't have said much, but he was really grateful to think about the minions like this, and allowed the minions to be presumptuous. Xiao Shunzi should have noticed my abnormality, did not step forward, just stood in place, and said: "Although Fang Fujin is not good, he will still listen to the words of the master, why not put down his body and ask the master to be the master, in this way, the side Fujin is deliberately embarrassed, hindering the face of the master, and it will be much more restrained." The slave has some friendship with Father-in-law Su, and if the master is willing, the slave will go to ask Father-in-law Su to bring a message to the master. ”

"I understand what you said, but it's not impossible, it's actually unwilling. I and Liang Zi of Side Fujin can be understood in a few words, even if I go to ask the master to be the master, he can manage it for a while, and An can manage it for a lifetime. If the Li family changes other ways to squeeze me, will I have to ask the lord for protection? The lord is a prince, and he cares about his family and country, how can he always be burdened by these intrigues of women. As I said that day, it's better to hold back for the time being, so that she thinks she has the upper hand, and when she gets angry or is distracted by a new favorite in the house, she won't be embarrassed with me anymore, so that she can end up quiet, wouldn't it be better. I shook my head, letting go of the loneliness and helplessness in my eyes.

The sound of bangzi came in the distance, and in a blink of an eye, it was the fifth watch, sweating, and saying such a thing, tiredness hit, I didn't want to say more, sent Xiaoshunzi away, and went straight into the house.

Yun Hui is still sleeping, looking at her sleeping face, I envy her simplicity, once upon a time I also had such carefreeness.