Grandma Xu has been gone for more than half a month, and sure enough, it snowed heavily in Taizhou again.

Because there was no stove, it was very cold in the study, Ying Lanfeng wrote for a while, his hands were already cold and stiff, and his whole body trembled slightly, he put his palms together and rubbed them for a while, it was still unbearable, and he wanted to drink tea to warm his body, but it was cold in the teapot.

When he was in trouble, the maid Ruyi knocked on the door and came in, carrying an iron kettle in her hand, and saw him sitting behind the table with his shoulders bent and his face blue, so he said, "Grandma asked me to see if the adults are cold here, and asked for some tea." ”

Ying Lanfeng was fighting, but said, "It's not too cold." ”

Ruyi stepped forward and poured the herbal tea, added hot water, Ying Lanfeng hurriedly put down the pen, touched the cup in the palm of his hand, and felt a warmth welling up from the palm of his hand, and then slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

Ruyi could see it clearly, and couldn't help but say: "I see that adults still listen to grandma, wouldn't it be good to add a stove here?" As soon as I came in, it was cold, and I didn't always stand and move, and when I sat for a long time, I was afraid that my hands and feet would be frozen. ”

Ying Lanfeng took a sip of hot tea and said, "It's out of the way, just drink some hot tea." ”

Ruyi glanced at him and silently carried the pot out.

Ying Lanfeng simply stood up, stomped on the spot with the cup, the door opened again, and a small figure ran in, shouting: "Dad!" ”

Ying Lanfeng saw that Ying Huaizhen was coming, and was immediately overjoyed, hurriedly put down the cup, and saw that Ying Huaizhen had run closer, so he took advantage of the situation to pick her up.

Ying Huaizhen was still wearing a tiger hat, her little face was red, and her whole body was a little hot, Ying Lanfeng hugged her tightly in her arms and said, "Are you baking the stove in that room?" How can it be done just so suddenly! It's not a joke when the wind blows. ”

Ying Huaizhen brought the object he was holding in his hand to his mouth, and Ying Lanfeng lowered his eyes: "What is this?" When he saw the veil open, it was a steaming bun.

Ying Huaizhen said: "The cowpea buns that my mother has just steamed, Dad eat them quickly." ”

Ying Lanfeng became more and more overjoyed, and was about to take a hot bite, and someone outside laughed and said: "I originally wanted to send it to Ah Zhen, and then send it to you, but she couldn't wait, so she had to run first in person." Before the words fell, Lee Hyun-sook walked in with a smile on her face.

Ying Lanfeng touched Ying Huaizhen's head and said, "That's good!" Then he broke open the bun, and the heat gushed out, which made him very satisfied, and he took a careful bite regardless of the heat, and the cowpeas were mixed with sugar, which was sweet, glutinous and fragrant, and the cold air on his body before was dispersed, and the pores of his limbs were comfortably sighed.

Li Xianshu walked up to him, first touched Ying Lanfeng's hand, and then touched his forehead, all of which were cold.

Ying Lanfeng ate the broken buns, and brought the other half to Ying Huaizhen, and said, "Zhen'er will also take a bite." ”

Ying Huaizhen pushed back and said, "Dad is cold here, Dad eats first." ”

Ying Lanfeng listened to such intimate and warm words, and laughed again, laughing and busy eating.

Li Xianshu looked at it from the side, and said: "It's better for you to listen to me, we don't need to burn two stoves, just move the one in Ah Zhen's room here during the day, it's a big deal that you make some noise, let Ah Zhen come here to nest during the day, and then move the stove back to Ah Zhen's room at night, so that you don't have to be frozen?" ”

Ying Lanfeng ate the buns, which was very comfortable, and after taking a sip of hot water, he said, "I am strong and can stand it, so I don't have to be so troublesome to move around." ”

Li Xianshu saw Ying Huaizhen walking away, so she whispered: "Don't be reckless, your hands are cold, in order to save money, which is the best deal to freeze people out of trouble!" The charcoal we bought is enough......"

Ying Lanfeng "shh After speaking, he laughed again: "Besides, where can I freeze out and be so delicate?" It's a big deal, just wear more cotton clothes. ”

Li Xianshu looked at him for a while, in a dilemma, and said helplessly for a moment: "That's it, a few days ago, when my mother was here, I made a lot of thick cotton clothes for Ah Zhen for the winter, you also know that the old man has a lot of worries, and he quietly made one for you, which is such a thick layer, I saw that it was so clumsy, I thought you would not like to wear it, so I put it in the cupboard, and now I will find it for you, you are so good at wearing, although it is not good-looking, but it can also keep out the cold, right?" ”

Ying Lanfeng hurriedly said: "How else to say, 'There is an old man in the family, if there is a treasure', it can be seen that her old man really loves me, so she even thought of these!" ”

Li Xianshu hurriedly opened the cabinet and took it out, and sure enough, a piece of cotton clothes that grew up heavy and heavy, Ying Lanfeng was like a treasure, and hurriedly put it on, and the chill on her body slowly dissipated most of it, and she was very proud for a while.

Li Xianshu looked up and down, bent over with a smile, clapped her hands and said: "You can't blame me for not putting it on for you earlier, dressed up like this, so that a good adult should become the rich man who collects land rent in the countryside!" ”

Ying Lanfeng didn't care, patted his body, the cotton wool in his clothes was very fluffy, and he sighed and praised: "My mother-in-law's craftsmanship is also excellent, I haven't measured it, but I have done it more appropriately than I have measured." ”

Li Xianshu was pulling the collar of his shirt and so on, and when he heard the words, he smiled and glanced at him, and said, "I don't know what your beautiful surname is!" Didn't I tell my mother that your head and shoulders are long? Otherwise, it would be difficult to make such a fit! ”

Ying Lanfeng hurriedly turned around and saluted her, and said: "Only a benevolent and wise old man like his mother-in-law can have a capable and virtuous daughter like his mother, which is also a blessing for me to have such a good person in vain." ”

Lee Hyun-sook giggled and said, "Look at your frivolous appearance! In front of Ah Zhen, he is talking more and more nonsense! ”

Ying Huaizhen was beside him, looking at Ying Lan's clothes, the whole person seemed to have gained a lot of weight, he was originally a somewhat clear Siwen student, but at this moment he was actually fat and round...... It's hard to describe this appearance.

Ying Huaizhen couldn't help but feel slightly funny, Ying Lanfeng saw her pursing her lips, so he hugged her in his arms again, touched her tiger hat, and said, "Does Dad look good in this way?" ”

Ying Huaizhen said: "Dad looks good in everything." ”

Ying Lanfeng laughed, and Li Xianshu said: "I know that you two are father and daughter, both of you have sweet mouths as if you have smeared honey!" Glancing at the two of them, he remembered that the bean buns in his kitchen hadn't been cooked yet, so he hurriedly pulled out again.

The remaining two were in the study, Ying Lanfeng simply hugged Ying Huaizhen, and went to write with one hand, Ying Huaizhen didn't care at first, looked at it twice, and couldn't help but "chuckle" in her heart, it turned out that she had already seen that Ying Lanfeng was writing at the moment, and it was actually a resignation.

Ying Huaizhen was stunned for a while, and then deliberately asked, "Dad, what are you writing?" ”

Ying Lanfeng said casually: "Ah, it's nothing, it's an official document excerpt, and it was written and sent to the government office." ”

Ying Huaizhen was inconvenient to ask, his mind changed, and he suddenly said: "Dad, why did you want to be an official in the first place?" ”

When Ying Lanfeng heard this, he took a break in his hand, and the tip of the ink-stained pen hung in the air, quietly moving. After a while, he glanced at Ying Huaizhen with a smile, but did not answer.

Ying Huaizhen tilted his head and looked at it, grabbed Ying Lanfeng's shoulder with his hand and shook it lightly twice. Ying Lanfeng saw that she seemed to be deliberately making trouble, so she stopped with a smile and said, "You really want to know?" ”

Ying Huaizhen nodded, Ying Lanfeng lowered her eyes and looked at her very clear eyes, opened her mouth, but was silent, and finally put down the pen slowly after a while, and then said: "Because ...... Because my father was ...... Enough is enough. ”

His throat moved, his eyes flickered, and he continued: "So my father wants to be an official, he wants to be a very big official, don't look at other people's eyes anymore, and don't ...... anymore Nothing, nowhere to go. ”

Ying Huaizhen was shocked, so he thought about these two sentences, and at first glance it seemed to make no sense, but when he thought about it, he couldn't help but be a little frightened.

After Ying Lanfeng finished speaking, a look of memory appeared on his face, and neither of them spoke for a while, and after a moment of silence, Ying Lanfeng smiled lowly and said, "Okay, now you know?" Don't make a fuss, obediently wait for Dad to finish writing this. ”

Ying Lanfeng probed the pen in his hand, and Ying Huaizhen suddenly asked again: "Does that father still want to be a big official now?" ”

The tip of the pen shook slightly, but it was also a very fast moment, Ying Lanfeng smiled and said, "No, dad is ...... now." I just want to guard you and your mother well and live a peaceful life. ”

Ying Huaizhen's mouth was dry, his throat was tight, and he couldn't say a word.

A few days later, someone from the government came, and Lord Wang, who said that he was in charge, asked Ying Lanfeng to come to the mansion. Ying Lanfeng knew that it must be for him to resign, so he rushed to the mansion with the comers, entered to meet Wang Kexun, greeted each other for a while, and sat down with each other.

Wang Ketun raised his hand and took out an official letter, Ying Lanfeng recognized it as his resignation at a glance, and smiled.

Wang Kexun looked at him and said, "The day before yesterday, I received this official letter from Taizhou County, and I was a little surprised, this is what the county should know?" ”

Ying Lanfeng got up and arched his hand: "Exactly." ”

As soon as Wang Kexun raised his hand to signal him to sit down, he said, "I just don't understand, why do you want to resign in a dignified manner?" ”

Ying Lanfeng only said: "Back to my lord, it is the lower officials who are conscious of their limited talents, and they have been mediocre in Taizhou for the past four years, and they have not done much, but they have almost made trouble several times, so the lower officials think that it is better to retreat bravely in the rapids, so that the court can choose another merit to replace him." ”

When Wang Kexun heard this, he laughed twice and said: "Lord Ying is really too humble, I know that you are really a little condescending in this place in Taizhou, but there is a way to 'dig away the wild sand and start to gold', I think Lord Ying will soon have a bright future." ”

Ying Lanfeng raised his hand and said: "Don't dare, don't dare, in fact, no matter where you are, you are the emperor's courtiers, and you are just worried about the loyalty of the king, although the adults raise the lower officials, but the lower officials also have self-knowledge, and if you don't dare, you will be arrogant......"

Wang Kexun didn't wait for Ying Lanfeng to finish speaking, and said softly: "I didn't deliberately raise up, being a local official, there are a lot of trivial things, if those who can't stand it, they will naturally lose their ambition, and they can't, but if they can really do such a good job, then they will definitely have a lot to do in the future, and the future is immeasurable...... In my opinion, Lord Ying is the latter one, why did he suddenly fall short for Shanjiuqi? ”

Ying Lanfeng saw that he was kind and persuasive, and asked again and again, but simply remained silent.

Wang Kexun looked at him and smiled, and said, "Although you refuse to communicate with me, I also know that you must have many sufferings of your own that are not enough to be humane for outsiders." For example, a few days ago, there was a Diao man from Taizhou County, saying that he was suing Yingzhi County......"

Ying Lanfeng was quite surprised, looked up at Wang Kexun, and asked, "Is there such a thing?" I don't know who it is, why did you sue the official? ”

Wang Kexun stroked his beard and said with a smile: "It's nothing, it's just that the head of a village where you have sued you for many crimes, all of which are nonsense...... Don't worry, I have also sent someone to investigate clearly, all because you put grain there, he seized and embezzled a lot of money privately, and was sued by the villagers, you acted impartially and beat him, and he held a grudge in his heart, so he came to me to complain......"

Ying Lanfeng listened, and couldn't help but shudder, remembering that there was such a thing: at that time, he sold dates and persimmons and transported back the grain, and asked the people in charge of the towns and villages to receive the distribution...... Fortunately, the person in charge of the government here is no longer the former prefect, otherwise wouldn't he be more auspicious this time?

Ying Lanfeng hurriedly got up and thanked him, and said, "Fortunately, Lord Wang is aware of everything, otherwise the lower official would have jumped into the Yellow River and couldn't wash it out!" ”

Wang Kexun laughed twice and said, "Why bother? Everyone is a person who knows the roots, and I also know that when the former prefect was there, he had a lot of difficulties for you, and he would kill himself if he did too much injustice, so he beheaded Lin Yushi, and the adults were upright, so they were still good, didn't they? ”

Ying Lanfeng accepted his affection, so he had to smile as well.

When Wang Kexun saw him standing on his own, he walked to his side, grabbed Ying Lanfeng's arm, and said meaningfully: "You can rest assured, that person has been falsely accused by me, and now he is imprisoned in prison, and there will be no more incidents." What you should know the county needs to do now is to wait with peace of mind...... After this winter, there will be good news at the beginning of spring next year. ”

When Wang Dexun said this, he raised his hand and gently patted the back of Ying Lanfeng's hand twice.

Ying Lanfeng turned his head and looked at Wang Kexun, although the other party's grade was not high, but it was Lin Shenzhou's descendant from Beijing, with a noble status, no matter where he went, the officials needed to look up, but now he was talking to him arm in arm like this, and he was comforting in every way, and the word "resignation" was inconvenient to say at the moment, so he had to nod slowly.

Wang Kexun personally sent Ying Lanfeng out of the living room, and gave a lot of advice, which was nothing more than saying that the future would be promising, and there were words such as 'if there is any difficulty, just come and find it'.

Thanks to his kindness, if he is replaced by a second person, he must be grateful and flattered, but Ying Lanfeng doesn't want to mess around in the officialdom anymore, so the answer is only in the middle of the rules, and there is no special panic or flattery, which seems to be in Wang Kexun's eyes, so not humble or arrogant, he is even more of a "very personable" character, and he is more and more points in response to Lan Feng's favor.

Let's say that Ying Lanfeng left the mansion, rode on a horse, took the fortune, and walked back slowly.

On the way, Zhaocai saw that he was depressed and unhappy, so he took two steps forward and asked, "My lord, what did the master call you for?" ”

Ying Lanfeng sighed and said, "I don't know what they think, now I don't want to be an official anymore, but one by one they hold me like a baby, telling me to jump and run." ”

Zhaocai smiled: "Why don't you want to be an official in a good way, isn't it a good thing to be blue-eyed by these big people from Beijing?" Others can't ask for it. ”

Ying Lanfeng sighed heavily, looked up at the sky, and saw that the north wind was blowing all over the sky, and although the sunlight behind him was covered, it still revealed a bit of yellowness, his heart moved, and he muttered casually: "Mo Dao has no knowledge of himself in the future, and no one in the world knows the king......" After reading it, he woke up, then shook his head with a smile, and thought: "Now my road ahead seems to be confused, who would have thought that he would make such a poem?" ”

As soon as the winter solstice passes, it will soon be the New Year.

This year is different from the past, because Ying Zhuyun came to that trip, and there are those that can be bought outside, and there are also things that can't be bought outside, almost all of them are for food and clothing. Therefore, the things prepared for the New Year this year were particularly sufficient, and Li Xianshu began to lead the maids to work early, sweeping the house and yard with joy, pasting couplets and hanging lanterns, and preparing a very rich Chinese New Year's Eve dinner.

On the day of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, the family from top to bottom, including the maids and servants, changed into new clothes, because Grandma Xu was here to help before, and prepared new clothes for Ying Huaizhen for the New Year early, so Li Xianshu was much more brisk, and the family had a good year together.

The next morning, Zhang Zhen first dressed up and came to visit the New Year, the New Year's greeting was small, and it was a big deal to play with Ying Huaizhen, Ying Huaizhen only felt that he was actually not a child, and he didn't want to do those childish actions with him anymore, but if she was uncharacteristically quiet, Li Xianshu and Ying Lanfeng were always worried that she was depressed or sick, and kept urging her to tell her to go out to play, so Ying Huaizhen had to "socialize", but if she really played, she was unconsciously very happy, It's as if I've really become a child, happy and carefree.

After Chinese New Year's Eve, soon came the Lantern Festival, according to the custom, every year during the Lantern Festival, Zhang Mansion will set off fireworks, but half of the people in the county town want to join in this excitement, it has become a major celebration of the Lantern Festival, Zhang Zhen even said to Ying Huaizhen early, about to watch fireworks together in the evening.

That night, Li Xianshu dressed up Ying Huaizhen with flowers, and accompanied Ying Lanfeng to Zhang's mansion, Zhang Zhen stretched her neck at the door early in the morning and waited, seeing them coming, she hurriedly ran up, took Ying Huaizhen's hand and said: "Why did you come, I took you to see the fireworks that my father bought, there are so many big cars!" ”

Grandma Zhang Shao came over to greet Li Xianshu, and said with a smile: "I haven't eaten the ingots well, I always think about why you haven't come yet, look at him in such a hurry." ”

Lee Hyun-sook also said: "But isn't it? Yuan Bao just loves his sister, and their relationship is really good. ”

Grandma Zhang Shao said: "I don't see that he has never been like this to others, the day before yesterday, my aunt's girl came over and pestered him to play, and he loved to ignore him...... Prefer Huaizhen like this. ”

Lee Hyun-sook quipped: "It's also their fate, and they can't see it for a day!" Either you run to him, or he runs to you, like a couple! ”

When Grandma Zhang heard this, she suddenly said, "Isn't it?" The two of them are like this, what can they do when they are separated in the future? Otherwise...... How about giving the two of them a baby kiss? ”

Li Xianshu was stunned, turned her head to look at the young grandmother, and was about to speak, when Zhang Zhen had already pulled Ying Huaizhen and ran away two steps, Ying Huaizhen somehow tripped under her feet and almost fell, so frightened that Li Xianshu hurriedly shouted: "You two run slower!" The fireworks don't have long legs and will run! ”