After the first snowfall, there is a whole month of snow, and although the snow stops occasionally, it is also windy and unusually cold. At the foot of the imperial city, the foot of the city is covered in silver, except for the carriages and horses and small sedan chairs that come and go on the street, there are few pedestrians, and the situation is bleak. It wasn't until the snow stopped and cleared up in the past few days that it was back to its usual liveliness.

In the winter month, every household begins to brew sorghum wine, slaughter pigs and sheep and smoke bacon, preparing for the upcoming wax moon and Spring Festival. When the sky clears, the streets of the capital become particularly noisy, and there are many foreigners who come to preach and engage in trade, and the tall blonde foreigners stand out in the crowd.

The Qing Dynasty did not start with seclusion. As early as the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, there were foreigners who were officials in the court, and it is said that Kangxi's name and being able to ascend the throne as emperor were also related to the foreign minister Tang Ruowang. Among the ancient emperors, Kangxi was the only emperor who had seriously studied Western scientific knowledge and presided over large-scale scientific activities. During Kangxi's reign, there were still many well-known foreign ministers in the court. During the Kangxi period, Catholicism was also allowed to spread in China. Therefore, it is not surprising that foreigners will appear at the feet of the Son of Heaven.

The winter moon of Kangxi's forty-first year is my second birthday in this era. After this birthday, I will turn fourteen. Early in the morning on his birthday, he ate longevity noodles made by Geng's mother, wore a newly made pink short jacket and cotton pants, and went to the street alone with the money he had saved on weekdays.

On the streets of the capital after noon, crowded with people, bustling and lively, a person walked around the street for a long time, bought some favorite gadgets, and found a bright and clean teahouse on a whim to rest.

This teahouse is not big, the furnishings are elegant, the prices of the refreshments are fair, the shop is very easy-going, and there are storytellers in the teahouse who are telling the folk anecdotes.

Just as he was listening interestingly, he saw a foreigner walk in, sitting by the window of the adjacent table, holding a carved wooden box of red sandalwood more than a foot long. After ordering tea, he opened the box and took out a copper monocular.

The style of the telescope is very simple, and the carved delicate European pattern on it makes me look at it a few more times, and I don't feel happy, and the heart is actually an irise.

Irises was my birthday flower in that era. Its flower language is graceful and a symbol of light and freedom. Not only that, but irises can also purify the environment and use medicine. And my preference for it is because it pays tribute to the excitement and obsession of the past. It's a pity that different irises have different habits, which are very rare in the capital, and have never been seen even in Baylor's house. At the moment of the birth of this era, I suddenly saw the pattern of irises, although it was only a carved pattern, but it also evoked all kinds of nostalgia for the past.

"Hello, can you show me this?" I hesitated for a long time, but finally couldn't help but get up and walk towards the foreigner, pointed to the telescope in his hand, and said in Chinese.

I can speak English, but the Westerners during the Kangxi period were not only British, but also Europeans from Germany, Portugal and Spain. In addition, there are very few people who can speak English in this era, and I am afraid that using English will be regarded as an outlier. Fortunately, when I heard him talk to the tea house guy just now, I knew that he could speak Chinese, so I dared to come forward to talk in Chinese, and I also avoided communication troubles.

"You like this?" he was surprised by my conversation, but his attitude was friendly, and despite the curiosity and inquisitive look in my eyes, he handed over the telescope in his hand.

I didn't answer his question, just smiled and said "thank you", carefully took the telescope and raised my hand to stroke the iris pattern on it, the cold touch of metal came from my fingertips, and I resisted the slight acid on the tip of my nose.

"We can meet anywhere," Yinyu's voice interrupted the touched mood in real time, pulling me back from the memories of the past to reality.

I handed the telescope back to the foreigner, blessed Yinyu, and replied half-truthfully: "It's really a coincidence, or the ninth master will draw up a list to see which days I don't go out, and then I will come out and walk around according to the days on the list." ”

Yinyu raised his hand and tapped my forehead, and then quipped: "You girl, you don't want to meet me so much, and you specially choose a day to avoid it?"

In this era when men and women are not intimate, I am not familiar with him, although his sudden actions are casual, but they are too intimate, which startled me so much that I suddenly took a step back, and reprimanded in a low voice with a cold face: "Ninth Master, please respect yourself."

Yin Yu touched the tip of his nose to hide his embarrassment, turned to the foreigner who was looking at us with interest, and took the binoculars from his hand and played with it.

"Mu Jingyuan asked Brother Jiu for peace. The foreigner took the binoculars, respectfully clasped his fists in salute, and asked with a smile, "Brother Jiu knows this girl?"

"It's familiar," Yinyu replied casually. He handed me the telescope and asked, "Do you like this object?"

Hearing the word familiarity, I secretly hated that this person was really not seen, but the nodding acquaintance on three or four sides could be familiar with the Tao, no wonder he was so unscrupulous just now, and he didn't care about the reputation and face of his daughter's family at all.

I didn't want the foreigner to misunderstand, so I deliberately responded politely: "If you go back to the ninth master, I don't like it, but I vaguely remember that I saw this thing elsewhere a few years ago, but I didn't dare to ask for a closer look at it when I was young, so I just thought it was interesting and paid attention." See you today, just look fresh, I want to look more carefully, there are many abrupt and ask this adult and the ninth master to forgive me. ”

Yin Yu raised his eyebrows and smiled, apparently not believing my words at all, and said: "Such recklessness is not like what your heart does. ”

I had no intention of arguing with him about this, but I lowered my head and pursed my lips and said no more, allowing him to smile with a narrow and amusing smile on his face.

"This object is called a telescope, which can store distant scenes, and is mostly used when sailing at sea. Mu Jingyuan introduced Yinyu through my words.

"Oh, it's so wonderful, I'd like to see it. Yinyu's interest was hooked by the telescope. Under the guidance of Mu Jingyuan, the connection is interesting.

"Western things are mostly exquisite, this thing is just one of them, if Brother Jiu likes it, Weichen is willing to give it to play. Mu Jingyuan listened to his praise again and again, and there was a look of smugness between his eyebrows.

His smug look reminded me of the rampant domineering of these foreigners on the land of China a hundred years later, and I was suddenly displeased, and after a little thought, I retorted with a tactful chuckle and softly: "Speaking of exquisiteness, it is not only Western things that are available, I don't know if adults have heard of Lu Ban and his people, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, his people can use wood as materials to make mechanical things, and their delicacy is no less than today's Western things, and now there is also the "Lu Ban Sutra" in the world. Although Western things seem to be exquisite, the principles in them are the same as those of the machines they make. In this way, Western things are just a derivative of this foundation, and at best they are novelty. ”

As soon as these words came out, they attracted the attention of the two, Mu Jingyuan was a little embarrassed by these words, but seeing me smiling, there was no offense in his expression, and because of Yinyu's seemingly intimate and conniving attitude towards me, it was not easy to attack, so he had to laugh and praise the profound Chinese culture, and sighed to himself that what he said was indeed a hatchet.

Yin Yu didn't blame me for saying much, but showed a look of approval, smiled and handed the telescope back to Mu Jingyuan, and said to me: "I think you are not from a high background, and his father is just a martial artist, I think you are a person who grew up in the market since childhood, but you can always have unexpected performances, which is really incomprehensible, but it also makes you want to study more and more." ”

I didn't have the strength to think too much about the meaning of his words, so I turned to Mu Jingyuan and asked: "There is a proverb in the West that says, 'Curiosity kills a cat'?"

Mu Jingyuan didn't know why I mentioned this, and nodded puzzled.

I smiled lightly, looked back at Yinyu, who was also full of doubts, and said: "Legend has it that cats have nine lives, and they never die, and in the end, they die from their own curiosity, which shows how terrible curiosity is sometimes." Can the Ninth Master have nine lives?"

When Yinyu heard me ask, he realized that I was using a cat as an excuse to remind him that his curiosity should not be too heavy, otherwise he would harm others and himself. He laughed, didn't mind, and motioned for Mu Jingyuan to leave first, leaving me to talk to him alone.

Without a third person, Yinyu's attitude became more casual, his gaze stayed on my face without shying away, and he said slowly in a magnetic voice: "You are such an interesting girl, no wonder you are so attractive." ”

"But it's vulgar, why is it interesting, I'm afraid that the ninth master is tired of eating the delicacies of the mountains and seas, so he will feel that the porridge and side dishes are very different, but if he really faces the clear porridge and side dishes every day, I am afraid that he will feel dull and tasteless, and lose interest. I replied with a detached smile.

These few chance encounters with him, after getting along, I will always be touched by the ambiguity in his attitude, but it also made me realize that the man in front of me may just like to create ambiguity and not really relative, such a man will be a disaster for women. Instead of always avoiding taboos and retreating, it is better to pick out the counterattack and save yourself from always worrying about it.

This remark made Yinyu speechless for a while, and the atmosphere fell into embarrassment again. I didn't want to stay long, so I said goodbye and turned away. As soon as I got out of the teahouse, I was stopped by the guards who came later, and I forced a thing into my hand, and said: "This is given to you by the ninth master, saying that this is your birthday, since you happened to meet it, I saw that you like this object very much, so I gave it as a congratulatory gift, I just hope you are happy." ”

After saying this, the guard quickly dodged away without waiting for me to refuse. I was stunned for a moment holding the box with the fleur-de-lis telescope, and although I repeatedly told myself that he was not sincere, the phrase "I just want you to be happy" still touched a lot in my heart.

When I returned to Geng's house, as soon as I entered the house, I saw that the table was full of gifts in various brocade boxes, and after inquiry, I learned that these things were actually sent by Yinzhen.

I didn't expect Yinzhen to be concerned about my birthday, and sent someone to send so many gifts, this kind of abnormal thing made me have a bad premonition in my heart.

At this time, I saw someone coming from outside the house, saying that it was a congratulatory gift from the fourteenth elder brother. It was a kite and a supplif, and the letter read: Although the kite is in the sky, the line is in the human hand, the shadow is far away, and the heart can be missed.

When Geng's mother saw the kite, she read the handbook again, and said worriedly: "The fourth master also brought a sentence when he sent someone to give gifts today......

I jumped between my eyebrows and asked, "What words?"

"In the spring of next year, I will welcome you into the house" Geng's mother moved her lips and spit out eight words.

Sure enough, my premonition came true, and I suddenly felt my brain buzz and slumped into my chair weakly.

Yinzhen did say that he would inform the Ministry of Internal Affairs to let me enter the Baylor Mansion on an errand, but it was not decided at the time, and I originally thought that I was just entering the mansion as a servant, how could it suddenly become a welcome to me. Yinzhen is eleven years older than me, and at the age of thirteen, I should be just a little girl in his eyes, and there will be absolutely no love at all, so why do you have to keep me by my side in this way. I couldn't figure out his intentions, but I felt that my heart was so boring that I couldn't breathe.

Seeing that my face was pale, Geng's mother hurriedly stepped forward to pat me on the back, and choked up: "This is fate, but you must relax your heart, and it is better to enter the Baylor Mansion than to enter the palace......"

"Mother, you don't have to worry, my daughter can figure it out," I smiled bitterly, and in turn comforted Geng's mother. This is fate, and since I came here, I knew that there must be a fate that I can't escape.

"You and the fourteenth master ......" Mother Geng saw that my expression was different, and thought of the things sent by Yinyu, thinking that I had a personal relationship with Yinyu, and couldn't help but worry.

"Mother, my daughter and the fourteenth master have nothing to do, the things sent by the fourteenth master will be brought back later. As I spoke, I stood up and put Geng's mother in her seat, turned around and took pen and ink, and wrote under the letter given by Yinyu: "The kite is in the sky, there is no attachment to each other, there is no ability to cling to each other, it is better to abandon each other, it is better to look up." ”

handed over the things and letters to the person sent by Yinyu to take them away, and said a few words of relief to reassure Geng's mother, before dragging heavy steps back to his house.

At this time, the sun is setting outside the house, and the afterglow of the setting sun is projected on the desk near the window in the house, where there is the box sent by Yinyu, the box lid is opened, and the pattern of irises is vivid in the light and shadow. Of all the gifts, perhaps only this one is the most desirable, but now I can't keep it—

Ask for collection, ask for evaluation, ask for recommendation, ask for reward, ask for diffusion, it's hard to write articles, give some encouragement and support!(Book friend QQ group number: 159373612)