The sound of firecrackers-like rain outside the window shook the sky and completely echoed from the eaves and windowsills, and the heavy rain and fog were filled, shrouding the road ahead, making countless palace people lose themselves. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

A few days after Chu Yunxi returned to the mansion, he received a handwritten letter from Shi Lanyin sent by Geng Gong, the writing was immature, but the words were sincere, repeatedly reminding her of what she had promised, and deeply begging her not to dislike her stupidity. She smiled and wrote back.

Geng Gong was waiting outside the courtyard when he met Lu Yan and Bi Yin, who had returned from shopping on the street, and both of them were surprised by the changes he had now: he no longer had the ferocious spirit of hair transplantation and crown when he was a robber in the green forest, but was heroic and strong in military uniform.

Under Shi Jiaheng's training and training, he has now become the most outstanding and loyal guard in Shi's mansion, and is Shi Jiaheng's right-hand man. He was extremely grateful and loyal to Shi Jiaheng, he not only gave him a chance to be a dignified and upright person again, but also gave him faith, leading his soul to a noble and passionate military world.

He bowed hands to the two of them very politely, and his conversation was much more elegant, although the choice of words was still a little stiff, and occasionally a few words that did not make sense, but these flaws only highlighted his hard work and simplicity.

Lu Yan talked to him very generously, and briefly asked him how he was doing, and he seemed to be very excited, his face was slightly red, and he was full of energy. Biyin was unusual, quietly lowering her hand to listen to the two of them, occasionally flustered.

Lu Yan's interest in Shi Jiaheng far exceeded that of Geng Gong, so the topic naturally turned to his master under her guidance, and his admiration and gratitude to this young master even surpassed that of his parents, and he praised him endlessly.

Chu Yunxi was inconvenient to invite him into the house to sit down, so he only greeted him through the door for a few words, and then handed him the reply letter through the crack in the door, and he solemnly stuffed the letter into his chest, pressed it to his chest, and said goodbye with a fist.

After the letter was sent to Shifu, the master-apprentice relationship between the two was officially reached.

There are as few as five times a month, and as many as seven times, all of which are selected by Shi Lanyin, Geng Gong informed, Chu Yunxi went to the house to teach in person, and coincidentally every time Shi Lanyin chose the day to learn painting, it was almost Shi Jiaheng's turn to take a break. So he had to sit down with him at lunchtime, and Mrs. Shi welcomed her warmly, and greeted her warmly, and her affection and pleasure grew stronger and stronger, and became heavier for her.

Autumn is going to winter, and it's a new season.

In the past few days, cold winds and cold clouds have gathered suddenly, and the snow has gradually increased. The forest in the Chufu Garden is full of Qiong trees, and the cranes are fresh. Shangguan Xueyu had nothing to do, so she wanted to invite the nobles in the city to come to the mansion to enjoy the snow and compose poems, she knew that Meng Ling was very dissatisfied with herself, so she wanted to take the opportunity to ease the relationship with her, and deliberately listed her as the first person to invite.

Meng Ling was very surprised when she received the invitation, she couldn't suppress her disgust at first, and wanted to refuse, probably because she felt that it was too ungraceful, and she was a little hesitant, and then thought that if this invitation was provocative, wouldn't it seem that she lost before she fought. Naturally, she couldn't grow up with others to destroy her prestige, she put away the invitation and went to the appointment on time, and the Snow Poetry Club really lived up to expectations and won the first prize. The more smug she looked, the more she was able to stand up to Shangguan Xueyu's gentleness and humility, and the other nobles were very unaccustomed to her triumphant appearance, and there were quite a few whispers between her words.

Fortunately, Shangguan Xueyu maintained a good way to avoid the banquet from breaking up unhappily, but Meng Lian refused to give in and asked the maid to leave first, without giving face to the host.

Shangguan Xueyu was not angry, but she didn't persuade her to come back, and she didn't even get up to see her off, without her interference, the banquet continued, and the rest of the nobles were happy again.

Walking to the door, Meng Lian happened to meet Chu Yunxi, who had just rushed back from Shifu, Meng Lian glanced at her with disdain, and suddenly snorted.

Yan Qingshuang looked at her with a contemptuous attitude, and her calm face was about to attack.

Chu Yunxi didn't like Meng Lian as a person, and he was too lazy to make trouble, so he pretended not to see her and pulled Yan Qingshuang into the door.

Meng Lian wanted to take advantage of the victory to pursue on his head, and suddenly said: "The eaves flow is not dripping plum blossom flow, and a clear loneliness is not idle." I have heard that Miss Four's big essay is like her person, but I don't seem to be the case. ”

Yan Qingshuang broke away from Chu Yunxi's hand and asked, "What do you mean by this?" ”

Meng Liden was furious: "Why are you a slave so unruly, I'll tell your master again, what are you interfering with?" ”

These words finally annoyed Chu Yunxi, and she said sharply: "Miss Meng, Qingshuang is not my subordinate, but a friend like my sister, and she protects me out of righteousness. I can be generous not to deal with you when you rush against me, but please don't offend my friends by saying anything. ”

"You have a loss, your virtue is a loss, everyone has to say it, I just kindly remind you, if you want to sell your reputation, don't let people see the flaws."

She went down the steps to leave, but Yan Qingshuang suddenly stopped in front of her and said, "Stop!" Anyway, you are also from a scholarly family, how can you be so honest? ”

Meng Lian sneered and turned back to Chu Yunxi and said, "You should know whether I am trustworthy or not." However, your mother died early, and it is inevitable that no one will teach you since you were a child, I just hope that you will not do something out of the ordinary. ”

Chu Yunxi was taught a lesson by her inexplicably, and she wondered slightly, she didn't know what rumors were rumored outside, but she sat upright and felt that there was nothing wrong.

Yan Qingshuang was even more indignant, insisting that she was framed and deliberately ruined Chu Yunxi's reputation.

Meng Lian gently flicked her sleeves, wanting to argue with her. She was about to make a tirade when she was interrupted by someone.

The three of them looked at the place where the voice came from, and Shangguan Xueyu waved a fan and said with a smile: "Sister Meng, this is gone, and I don't allow my sister to send it well." ”

Meng Yu glared at her and said unceremoniously: "Don't be coy, there is such idle time to give away, but there is no time to teach the younger sister." ”

Shangguan Xueyu was robbed, and still smiled lightly: "My fourth sister is the most knowledgeable and understands the rules, and she is a hundred times stronger than me as a sister, where do I need to teach, but I want her to learn more." ”

Meng Lian looked like she saw through her words, and said with a smug smile: "You don't have to be virtuous, beware of your good fourth sister robbing your heart, but I'm afraid it's too late for you to cry." ”

Shangguan Xueyu was smiling happily behind the group fan, she didn't seem to understand what Meng Zhi said, she didn't seem to understand it, and she was so angry that she had no choice but to stomp away.

After Meng Lian left, Shangguan Xueyu took Chu Yunxi's hand apologetically and said, "I wronged my sister, I just offended her and made her angry with you, you must not forgive me." ”

Chu Yunxi's heart increased again, only smiled faintly, Shangguan Xueyu hurriedly and enthusiastically invited her to participate in the poetry meeting, but she exchanged glances with Yan Qingshuang, and only said that she was unwell, so she went back to the house to rest first.

A few days later, she came back a little later, Shi Jiaheng had to insist on sending her back to the house before she was willing to return, and the two sat in the car and were still speechless.

After Shi Jiaheng returned on horseback, Chu Yunxi didn't want to disturb others, and quietly entered the hospital through the back door alone.

Under the swing frame, in the shadow of dusk, a few half-dead wisteria hang. An older maid was sitting on a swing and engrossed in weaving a bamboo basket, her feet kicking and kicking, and the dead grass under her feet was flat on the ground.

Another maid came out of the cloister, and a glass plate was casually placed on the railing, and ran to her in a huff, and sat down on the swing. She pushed the person next to her and asked hurriedly, "Hey, guess who I saw when Fourth Miss got off the carriage just now?" ”

Hearing that the words involved him, Chu Yunxi paused and stopped behind the moon cave door behind the two of them.

The woman didn't look up, the bamboo strips in her hands flew up and down, and she twisted the bamboo strips around with great skill, and casually hummed a "hmm" in a nasal voice.

The woman next to her pulled out the bamboo basket in her hand with some annoyance and put it on the ground.

The woman said helplessly: "Okay, okay, I heard you say, Wanting, what news did you find again." ”

It turned out to be the close maid beside the eldest lady, Wan Ting, Chu Yunxi's heart moved, and he listened to the words of the two of them in a sideways voice.

Wanting was a little angry, her voice raised unconsciously, and her partner was also a loud voice, which just made Chu Yunxi hear it clearly.

"Who? It's the Yan girl who carries a knife around her waist all day long, a man is not a man, a woman is not *** not yin, yang is not yang, others look at the fourth lady a few more times, and they can't wait to use a knife to cut people? ”

Wan Ting puffed up her mouth and said, "No, that cold beauty didn't go out to practice knives in the garden today." I was scared half to death from the garden just now, and the eldest lady was also annoyed with her. It's just that she is the fourth lady's person, and the saint personally gave the fourth lady's person, and personally turned over the case for the fourth lady, and the eldest lady didn't dare to care about her now. ”

"Then who are you talking about, I can't think of any rare characters."

Wan Ting snorted and said, "He is really a rare character, he is Shi Gongzi, the second son of General Shi Lie." ”

The woman twisted her arm and teased, "Yo, you still know him, tell me if your little hoof has moved some kind of crooked brain." ”

Wanting was embarrassed and red-eared, and she argued strongly: "Oh, it's not a few years ago at the Lantern Festival, Shi Gongzi took his young sister to the Lantern Festival, and happened to meet Miss Shangguan's carriage and horse, and the two chatted a few words in the car, and I happened to meet from a distance in the car." ”

"So you remember, remember." The woman grinned.

Wanting slapped her a few times vigorously, and said angrily: "I'll beat you bad hooves." The woman cried out in pain and then forgiveness. The two leaned together again and spoke loudly.

Wan Ting pulled the withered vines on the top of her head, and the dead leaves fell, she shook the broken leaves on the top of her head off the ground in annoyance, crushed them hard with her toes, and said angrily: "At that time, Gongzi Shi had a small gathering with Miss Shangguan every month to listen to music, and at that time we all thought that they were a matter of course. Now Miss Shangguan hasn't seen Shi Gongzi for a long time, and no one has mentioned the matter of the two anymore. ”

The woman suddenly realized: "Oh, it's strange that at that time, you wanted to serve Miss Shangguan, but it was a wishful thinking to marry you." ”

Wanting pushed her elbow against her and shouted, "Don't make trouble, seriously, in my opinion, this Shi Gongzi was fascinated by the capable Fourth Miss." ”

Chu Yunxi's heart was shocked, she almost fell, and she barely stood up with her hands on the wall, she suddenly thought of Meng Li's words that day, and suddenly realized, but her heart was immediately confused, and a feeling of a nightmare coming true came to her heart, her feet were weak and weak, and she couldn't stop trembling. She was obviously flustered and confused, but she still had to force herself to calmly listen to every word the two of them said.

"Then I don't understand how good Miss Shangguan is, talented and good-looking. The fourth lady treats people coldly, which point is better than her. ”

Wan Ting sneered and said: "You don't understand this, the fourth miss is the master's biological flesh and blood, and Miss Shangguan is a foreign surname no matter how good her personality is." In addition, when it comes to the talents and characteristics of the two, it is fair to say that they are not up or down. Shi Gongzi is not a loss if he marries anyone. And the fourth lady doesn't like to laugh on weekdays, she is soft and timid, and she is the most likable to men. ”

The woman was surprised and angry: "So the fourth lady is quite scheming. Our Miss Shangguan didn't know whether to fight or not, so she gave it up. ”

She thought about it for a while, and said with some fear: "It seems that Miss Shangguan talks about trouble on weekdays, but she is still honest in her bones, and the fourth miss is silent, and her heart is alive." There's a lot of ideas. Let's have a lot of eyes in the future, and be careful to serve. ”

Wan Ting tore all the dead vines on the top of her head to the ground, stood up and trampled on it fiercely, gritting her teeth and shouting: "I'm not afraid of her, I'm the person in front of the eldest lady, no matter how powerful she is, she can control the lady." ”

The woman saw her frantically venting, pulled her to sit down, and said with a smile: "What are you talking about with the dead thing?" You should also mention Miss Shangguan, the eldest lady already hates the third lady, if she can talk about the lady, this marriage is not sure, after all, the eldest lady also loves her very much. ”

The two continued to lean against each other and coo, the evening wind suddenly rose, and the torrential rain suddenly came, and it seemed to hurt to hit the person. The two of them couldn't open their eyes due to the heavy rain, and while reaching out to cover their foreheads, they ran to the corridor to hide from the rain.

The cold wind of the autumn rain knocked off the last trace of flowers on the flower stands, the nests of swallows overturned to the ground, and the homeless birds cried desolate under the shade of the dead branches of the sycamores.

Chu Yunxi leaned against the wall, her fingertips cutting through the gaps in the splicing of stone bricks, like scars cracked in her heart. She walked chaotically in the rain, the cold rain knocked on her knees, and she wanted to let go and flee quickly, but she was too weak to move an inch.

The words of the two of them echoed like echoes in the valley from all directions, and she only then understood what Meng Lian said that day, she was like a deer forced to the cliff with nowhere to escape, trembling and staggering at the root of the wall. She is a plum blossom, she can endure the cold, frost, snow and rain, but she can't stand the filth, filth, foul language, she suddenly felt that she fell into a bottomless abyss, into the filth quagmire at the bottom of the abyss. She would rather just sit on the ground and be washed away by the rain that had washed away the fears and sins that had haunted her for days.

In the end, Yan Qingshuang, who came out to move flowers, found her. In order to commemorate her, several people transplanted all the flowers and plants she had planted in the small courtyard in the south of the city. Everything in the courtyard that had once been tainted with the life of Ulva had been emptied, except for the acacia tree, which had grown so large but had suddenly been split in half on the night of thunder and lightning on the fifth day after her death, and which had fallen miserably and sadly among the rubble of the wall.

Yan Qingshuang saw her sitting in the corner with her knees crossed, thinking that she was suddenly dizzy, she hurriedly threw away the umbrella in her hand, and wanted to reach out to carry her, but she looked up at her in confusion and sluggishness.

Yan Qingshuang shouted loudly, but she turned a deaf ear as if she was deaf. She pulled her to her feet, but her legs went sore and fell back into the rain. She thought it was an attack on her body and hurriedly carried her back to the house.

It's been a long time since Lu Yan has seen her so depressed and frustrated, anxious and scared. The three of them helped her take a bath and change clothes, and it wasn't until she took the ginger soup and lay down on the bed that Yan Qingshuang sighed and sneezed heavily.

Biyin also has to help her change clothes and bathe, she has been used to being independent since she was a child, and she is not used to being served, so she went back to the house and cleaned up indiscriminately, she couldn't rest assured, and returned to Chu Yunxi's room to take care of it.

Wet drops of water from her hair dripped down her back, wetting the clothes on her back. The damp clothes were very uncomfortable on her body, she sat irritably in front of the dressing table, picked up a clean square scarf and rudely covered it on the top of her head, rubbed it casually a few times, and then removed the square scarf, and her hair immediately exploded like a mess of grass, she picked out a silver comb from the makeup box, and combed the unkempt hair heavily, and the originally soft green silk was broken several under her vigorous pulling.

Chu Yunxi turned her head to look at her funny appearance of being wrapped in her own hair, and she didn't feel ridiculous, she only sighed. The tangled clumps of hair were like the thorns and thorns she encountered every day, and she never seemed to complain, nor to cry out, but to fight them stubbornly and silently. She was originally a free and proud peacock living in the mountains and forests, but because she was trapped in the high-walled deep courtyard, she often heard the cold words of the people in the house every day, but she was as stoic as ever, like a violet bathed in the spring sun, thriving.

She looked at Yan Qingshuang's resolute back, turned over and got out of bed.

She gently took the silver comb that Yan Qingshuang was tearing in her hand, and gently picked up a strand of black hair, and the comb teeth swam between the strands, as if a soft breeze was blowing, itchy, soft, like a warm wind to make people sleepy.

At first, she seemed to be frightened and wanted to hide, but gradually she involuntarily indulged in Chu Yunxi's dexterous hands.

She gradually began to accept the intimate behavior of those close to her, and not as repulsed as she was at the beginning, she unconsciously got used to the warm feeling of integrating into family and friendship, and her heart slowly opened under the urging of the constantly sliding comb teeth.

Chu Yunxi stroked her hair and said apologetically: "I'm sorry Qingshuang, I really wronged you for letting you guard me day and night, and letting my family treat you as my guard." ”

"You don't have to think about it. It has nothing to do with you, I am willing to gamble and lose, keep my promise, and since I promised to stay here for three years, I will never break my word. Yan Qingshuang decisively interrupted her to apologize and said simply.

Her temper is really as straightforward as Lin Yueyuan, Chu Yunxi felt a little more comfortable in her heart, and sighed with a smile: "Your hair is so good, foggy sideburns, soft and shiny, unlike my hair, dry and astringent, how do you take care of it on weekdays?" ”

Yan Qingshuang replied frankly: "Take care of it? I never take care of it, even if it is dirty, I don't use any osmanthus oil or tea oil. ”

Chu Yunxi enviously picked up a strand of her hair and looked at the silver candle carefully: "I have seen someone with such good hair as yours, except for Yueyuan, who is about to be a sister-in-law." ”

Yan Qingshuang's breath stagnated, and she turned her head suddenly, Chu Yunxi was unguarded, and broke a few of her hairs, and she didn't mind just staring at her and asked, "Sister-in-law?" Isn't it dead...... Poplar...... Big brother's deceased wife? ”

Chu Yunxi brushed the short hair off her shoulders distressedly, and smiled apologetically: "Yes." ”

"Have you seen her?" Yan Qingshuang asked nervously.

Chu Yunxi lowered his head to help her fix her hair, and didn't care about the strange appearance of her expression, and replied casually: "I've only met once, and on the day they got married, I pulled her wedding dress." ”

"So what kind of person is she? Is it pretty? ”

Chu Yunxi tilted his head and recalled: "She is a person with good cultivation and high knowledge, and she is extremely gentle and graceful. Her grandfather was a tanhua during the Taizu period, and although her father did not inherit his grandfather's title, he was also a famous local squire. The two grew up together since childhood and can be regarded as neighbors. My parents were also friends, so we often saw each other. The people there are simple, lively and unrestrained, and they don't pay attention to the defense of men and women, so my sister-in-law has been playing with my eldest brother since she was a child. “

Thinking of the interesting part, she couldn't help laughing: "The most interesting thing is that the eldest brother is a young talent, and he won the champion in less than twenty." But in fact, when he was young, he was very naughty, and he was most tired of going to school, just because he could memorize the articles taught by the teacher almost once, and he was very intelligent, and he could often point out the mistakes of the master. Every time, his sister-in-law secretly went to see him, crying with a hoarse throat and swollen eyes, but the eldest brother still thought she was troublesome, which made her even more sad. “

It's a pity that the two of them had a good start but reaped a tragic ending of life and death, and her yearning turned into a lament: "The eldest brother said that at that time, he secretly followed his friends out to climb the mountains and rivers, and his sister-in-law followed him, and sometimes he fell, and she didn't make a sound and only cried silently behind him, and at the end of the day, their boys played happily, and she only brought back a body of mud and a scar on her leg." At that time, the brothers in the eldest brother's family called the sister-in-law the little daughter-in-law of the Yang family, who was crying and crying, but she didn't expect to scream and scream, she actually married the eldest brother when she grew up, but it was a pity that they were loving husband and wife, but they couldn't grow old in vain. ”

Yan Qingshuang's eyes were bright, and she said clearly: "So your eldest brother used to hate her too, was he moved by her persistent sincerity?" ”

Chu Yunxi gave her a fluffy bun, shook her head and chuckled, "I don't understand either." But it seems that they are a natural pair, and they have a good heart. ”

Yan Qingshuang's eyes shone and she said gloomily: "You mean that whether it is family background, knowledge, or appearance, they are all a match made in heaven." So you also think that if there is a mismatch between two people with family background, knowledge, and appearance, they will not be able to get married? ”

Chu Yunxi was stunned and muttered: "The words of the parents' orders and matchmakers are probably all right." ”

When her words fell, Yan Qingshuang suddenly fell silent like the autumn rain that suddenly stopped outside the window.