The sky was gloomy, the pale white light penetrated through the window, the dumb aunt sat by the window, leisurely flipping through the book "Lingzhou Hundred Years of Palm Examination", Lancao pinched the pen and wrote, turning over and over and over only writing the word "person", it has been hundreds of times, but it is still not good to write. Orchid came in to take a look, and found that this orchid grass also began to learn words, so she wanted to say a sarcastic word, and when she looked up, she saw that the dumb aunt was quietly looking at herself under the window, and suddenly her heart tightened, and she didn't know what she was afraid of, anyway, she didn't dare to say the blow.

The dumb aunt handed her a piece of written paper, which read, "From today on, you will be a teacher and teach the three of you to learn words." ”

Orchid didn't expect that an orchid would suddenly learn words, and now even Shen'er Qian'er has to learn it, and she can't help muttering: "Everyone is busy learning words, who does the work in the corner courtyard? This is not a place to train female students." ”

Shen'er Qian'er learned that they were asked to study, and they were so happy that they applauded, and the three of them sat at the table together, and the orchid wrote one on the paper, taught them pronunciation, explained the meaning, and then learned to write. Orchid is from Xiucai's family, and when I was a child, I didn't have the blessing of following Xiucai's father, but this study of literature is the most convenient, so I pretended to have a belly of knowledge early.

The four maidservants huddled together to study, and the dumb aunt quietly read a book by herself, circled her hands while reading, and made notes.

At the end of the study activity before lunch, Shen'er and Qian'er shook their wrists and shouted that writing was more tiring than doing rough work, and the dumb aunt quietly handed over a piece of paper and told them to make medicine in the afternoon.

The medicinal herbs sent by Bai Ziqi should be smashed and packaged in the same way, and the plum petals that were dried and put away should also be mashed.

Liu Yan stared at the whirring northwest wind and pushed open the door of the corner courtyard, heard the tinkling sound of pounding medicine, pushed the door, and the whole body was immediately surrounded by all kinds of medicinal smells, inhaled a breath, bitter, spicy, fragrant, and smelly all kinds of medicinal smells rushed to his nose.

Liu Yan was not interested in watching the maids work, and handed the dumb aunt a piece of paper, "Give me the medicine." I want to die. ”

Liu Yan thought that the little mute would be at least a little surprised or surprised to see this result, but Liu Yan saw that the little mute only glanced at the words on it, and slowly tore up the note, and then threw it into the hearth, her little face did not change in the slightest, as if the matter going on between them was very ordinary, as ordinary as eating, sleeping, embroidering and chatting.

The dumb aunt took out seven round pills of shiny black from a porcelain bottle, wrapped them in a handkerchief, handed them over, raised one finger, nodded his head, and then raised another finger, and nodded again. It was erected seven times.

Liu Yan took the medicine and looked at her deeply, the little mute's expression was still so plain, and he couldn't see the slightest sadness or joy.

Liu Yan tried his best to control the love in his heart, and lightly blessed the little mute, which was regarded as a thanks, and it was also the last goodbye, today is already the twenty-ninth day of the lunar month, and it will enter the New Year only one day after tomorrow, and the day of marriage is set on the sixteenth day of the first month, just after the Lantern Festival. For half a month, if there was nothing special, she thought that she would definitely never see this little mute again in her life.

At this moment, Liu Yan suddenly became quiet with a little mute, she felt that her heart that had been floating seemed to fall to the ground in an instant, since she decided to die, then what else in this world could make her panic, there was no more, except for life and death, there was no big deal.

The little mute also learned from Liu Yan a little rusty, and blessed Liu Yan.

Lancao came out and sent it to the gate of the corner courtyard, Liu Yan didn't say goodbye, and took a big stride away, a little girl, what is there to say.

Unexpectedly, Lancao took a step forward, and his voice was soft: "Starting from the fifth day of the first month, one pill on an empty stomach every morning, and the eleventh is finished." The effects of the medicine begin to kick in at night twelve, and when the time comes, you can lie down and fall asleep in peace. As soon as you die, the relatives of Zhang Hanlin's family will naturally no longer count, and someone will make a knot, and when you are buried in the coffin, according to the regulations of our Liufu, the bones will be temporarily parked in the family temple, and the bones will be dug and buried until the soil thaws in spring. ”

Liu Yan listened stunned, cold sweat suddenly came out of his back, and large pieces of sweat overlapped, soaking his back in an instant.

She suddenly felt fear, the fear of death.

What has been haunted in her heart these days is death, but she only thinks that she can get rid of that sad family affair by dying, but she has not thought that once she dies, it is really dead, there is no more such person as her in this world, she will become a cold corpse, put in a coffin, and buried in the soil.

Why did this little girl suddenly tell me this? Why did you say it in such detail? Don't I know that when people die, they will be decorated and buried in coffins?

Liu Yan looked at this little girl with some annoyance.

"Our little grandmother commanded, God knows this matter, you know and I know, and only the three of us know in this world. You can't leak the slightest rumor, including the fourth aunt. Because when you just fell into a coma, someone will definitely come to see you, check your pulse, and maybe check the cause of death, and what you want to present to the outside world is a violent illness and death, it is by no means a misanthropic self-judgment, remember to remember. ”

Someone passed by the door, and Lancao hurriedly greeted the fourth lady with a salute, and then turned around and went back.

Liu Yan tightly pinched the pill in his sleeve, die, die, don't take a breath, close your eyes, and the joys and sorrows in this world will never have anything to do with you anymore.

There were tears that wet her eyelashes, and she didn't raise her hand to wipe them, they were already dried by the cold wind.

People in the yard were busy preparing New Year's goods, and everyone's faces were beaming, as if the New Year was a very happy and happy thing.

Liu Yan was the only one who was deserted from the inside out, and she walked back to Liuyun Hall step by step on the bluestone slab.

"The fourth lady is so blessed, and then she will have a happy event after the New Year, I heard that Zhang Hanlin can hurt a woman, and the blessing is profound, and the aunts and wives of several houses have children around their knees. The fourth lady has passed, and she will ...... soon."

Several servants were talking behind him.

"What are you afraid of, men, old men know that they love women!

Their mouths are like sparrows, chirping, gossiping, naked, and unobstructed.

After saying a lot, Liu Yan walked away, and those voices fell to the blue brick floor and turned into pieces before they could reach her ears.

Steward Liu commanded the remaining strings of lanterns to be hung under the eaves of each room and each room, and the corner courtyard also had a share, and after the big red lantern was hung high at the door, the orchid grass had learned five Chinese characters, and his little face was red with joy, jumping his feet and rubbing his hands, and breaking his fingers to say that if he continued to learn like this, when the lanterns were hung in the house next year, he was afraid that he would be able to write like an orchid and talk to the little grandmother.

Orchid didn't like to hear this the most, she snorted from her nose and eyes, and she didn't dare to openly ridicule in front of her little grandmother.

Shen'er and Qian'er are also smart, and the two of them have already written their names, happily writing them over and over again.

Only the dumb aunt didn't seem to be very happy, she didn't smile at all, and she couldn't see the love in her heart, but Lan Cao noticed that she had already flipped through a copy of "Lingzhou Centennial Palm Story Exam", and as the pages of the book decreased, her brows frowned more and more, and she looked unhappy.

At first, she looked very slowly, but then gradually she flipped through it faster, and the orchid grass gradually saw that the little grandmother was actually not reading carefully, but looking for something in it. What are you looking for? She didn't say it herself, and Lancao didn't dare to ask, but waited more carefully.

Mu Feng Juli, for Aunt Jiu is too sick, the tense nerves of the people in the room finally relaxed a little today, Lan Xiang clarified the boiled decoction, poured it into a round open porcelain basin, and then mixed it with half a pot of hot water, stretched out her hand to try, the water temperature was just right, gently fell down the layers of curtains, and then helped Aunt Nine to get up and take a sitz bath.

Sitting in the soft water, Aunt Jiu groaned, Lan Xiang was overjoyed, she could hear that the master's moaning was because it was comfortable, indicating that the medicinal bath was effective and her condition was improving. Before, Aunt Jiu had to lose her temper even when she untied her little hand, and the people who were waiting were so frightened that they didn't dare to come out.

Sure enough, Aunt Jiu gently rinsed her lower body with her hands, and smiled on her haggard face, "I have only washed it twice, and I obviously feel much better, I can't imagine that little mute's medicine is really spiritual." ”

Although people saved her life, and now she enjoys other people's medical treatment, she still unceremoniously calls people little mute, as if such an inconspicuous little role is not worthy of corresponding respect.

The water temperature cooled down slightly, Lan Xiang had already slowly injected hot water, Aunt Jiu had been soaking comfortably in the constant temperature for enough time, holding Yahuan's hand to stand up, delicately burrowing into the quilt, and yawning lazily, "In this way, the root of the disease will definitely be dug up in another three or five days." At that time, I will be able to come out of confinement refreshed. ”

Lan Mei finally invited Xie Yulin here.

I haven't seen him for more than 20 days, Xie Yulin has obviously lost weight, and the most conspicuous thing is that there are suddenly some gray messy hair in his originally black hair, and the strands of white hair are so dazzling in the black silk on his head.

Liu Chen sat steadily, his eyes quietly and silently looking at the old man who had been invited with great difficulty.

Xie Yulin turned his head curiously to look around, stretched out his nose and sniffed, the familiar scent of green clay disappeared, and the Liu Chen family in front of him looked a little thinner, but the whole person's mental outlook was better, his face was ruddy, and his smile was kind.

"Look at this. ”

Chan pushed a small porcelain bowl in front of him.

Inside were a few black green pills.

Xie Yulin stretched out his slender and thin fingers, twisted one, put it under his nose and closed his eyes to smell it, then looked at it, and finally scraped off a little with his fingernails to cut it open and take a closer look.

The eldest lady called him so solemnly and again again and again, and at first glance he saw that she was not sick at all, and handed this over as soon as possible, then, the most important thing on today's trip must be to identify this pill, so that this woman can do it bably, this thing is definitely not an ordinary pill, I am afraid that there is some origin.

Xie Yulin's brows slowly furrowed, smelling, distinguishing, grinding, he couldn't recognize this thing from the color, taste, and qi, it looked like an ordinary pill, but he couldn't tell what kind of medicine it was at a glance.

He scraped it with a knife, melted it in a small bowl, and then slowly stirred it with a spoon and put it under his nose to smell it.

"There are astragalus and ginseng...... There are also jujubes, atractylodes, licorice, and schisandra...... These are the herbs that nourish blood and replenish qi, well, there are also chicken blood vine, angelica, rehman, white peony, He Shou Wu...... It is a blood tonic medicine...... In addition, you can smell wheat winter, ligustrum, and lotus grass...... But it is a thing that nourishes yin and nourishes yin...... In addition, there are a few other herbs added, but it seems to be an anti-inflammatory and swelling medicine, well, what is it, it is difficult to identify for a while......"

Xie Yulin's medical skills are among the best in Lingzhou Mansion, and he is an excellent Chinese medicine practitioner who is as familiar with the characteristics and smell of medicinal materials as the palm of his own hand, even if he closes his eyes and sleeps, he can smell which herbs are added to which medicine.

I didn't think he would be stumped.

"It's really strange...... Xie Yulin muttered to himself, his brows furrowed into a huge "Chuan", and he thought hard, "It obviously smells familiar, but this is impossible, this is obviously a pill used for women to nourish and nourish yin...... ......"

"What else will happen? I knew that this little wouldn't be so kind to help me, and she did play tricks on me! I wonder who was behind her to do this?"

Xie Yulin ignored her, indulged in his own thoughts, and slowly searched his memory on his back, "Master seems to have said back then, some medicinal materials seem to be attacking each other, if you do the opposite and try boldly, there will be unexpected curative effects, but most practitioners in the world are stuck in the experience of their predecessors and lack the courage to personally test and examine, could it be that this master has also seen through this layer of medical mystery?"

Chen Shi laughed dumbly, "Where did the master come from, it's not the child daughter-in-law of my family, a little mute! This is the medicine she prepared for me, I invite you to take a look, whether this medicine can be taken or not, I am afraid that she is a child who does not understand anything, just pretending to be a god and deceiving people, if someone takes advantage of it and takes the opportunity to drug me, then I will not even know how I died in the end." ”

Xie Yulin's face changed greatly when he heard this, he bounced up from his seat and swept away his sick face, "Is she matched? I want to see her, I want to ask her face to face, what kind of considerations did she add those flavors of medicine?"