Chapter Eighty-Four: The Gift

At the beginning of March, Gu Xiao took the county exam in Xiali Town, and in mid-April, he was going to Yuezhou Mansion to participate in the second state exam, Gu Yunshan's delivery date was getting closer and closer, and Mrs. Zhou couldn't care about the silence of the Cheng family anymore, and began to nervous about Gu Xiao's exam and Gu Yunshan's birth, and the illness also improved.

Li Xiaonuan breathed a sigh of relief, went to Hanlian Courtyard every day, tried his best to persuade Gu Yunhuan, Gu Yunhuan gradually wiped away his tears, cheered up, and came out as usual every day to ask for peace, helping Mrs. Zhou prepare this and that, and her mood slowly improved under the busyness.

In mid-March, Gu Yunshan successfully gave birth to her eldest daughter, the mother and daughter were safe, Mrs. Zhou breathed a long sigh of relief, and gratefully recited the Buddha, this firstborn is the ghost gate, the firstborn is safe, and it will be smooth to have another child in the future

Gu Yunhuan and Li Xiaonuan happily dotted the full moon ceremony in the house and all kinds of small things they had prepared privately, Gu Xiao also put down the book, ran to Songfeng Courtyard, and Li Xiaonuan discussed ideas, what kind of things to give to the little niece to make this meeting gift, Li Xiaonuan was overjoyed and helped him come up with countless ideas.

In April, Gu Xiao went to Yuezhou for two days to take the test and came back, and easily passed the child qualification, although the Gu family did not take the county and state test in their eyes, but after all, it was also a happy event, coupled with Gu Yunshan's smooth production, the Gu family was full of joy.

Before Gu Yunshan's full moon, Jin Zhiyang came to the Gu family in person, first, according to his grandfather's instructions, asked Mrs. Li to choose a name from several names taken by her grandfather, and then asked Mrs. Li and Mrs. Zhou to give the child a milk name, and second, I wanted to take Mrs. Li and Mrs. Zhou to live for a few days.

Mrs. Li was extremely satisfied with the modesty and courtesy of the Jin family, and sent the child's birth date and several names to Lingying Temple with great caution, asked the abbot to measure the good fortune, and discussed with Mrs. Zhou for an afternoon, before choosing the name drunken ink, Mrs. Li carried the rice paper, read it a few times, and said with a smile to Mrs. Zhou:

"I see, the nickname is Yan'er."

Mrs. Zhou smiled and nodded,

"This name is good, the ink and inkstone, isn't it a complete set"

Gu Yunhuan, Gu Xiao and Li Xiaonuan praised each other, Gu Xiao picked up the pen and wrote the word inkstone on the side of the drunken ink, Mrs. Li looked at it carefully and nodded with satisfaction,

"Xiao Er's handwriting is very good."

Gu Xiao blushed and scratched his head, a little embarrassed, Mrs. Zhou looked at Gu Xiao with pride and love, and couldn't take her eyes off for a long time.

Mrs. Li and Mrs. Zhou discussed, and asked Mrs. Zhou and Jin Zhiyang to go to the Jin family to see Gu Yunshan, Gu Yunhuan, Gu Xiao and Li Xiaonuan were all eager to try, and wanted to go over to see Gu Yunshan and the child together, but were stopped by Mrs. Zhou.

"Xiao Er is about to take the autumn exam, why do you sometimes go around? Yun Huan and Xiao Nuan don't want to go, and they can't leave you at home. ”

Old Madam Li frowned slightly, looked at Gu Yunhuan and the other three with a smile, and said gently:

"Yan'er is still too young, and Yunshan is still weak, but I can't stand your noisy past, and if I want to see the two of them, I will talk about it later."

The three of them hurriedly agreed respectfully, Mrs. Zhou said a few more words with her, then quit and went back to pack her things, Mrs. Li sent Gu Yunhuan to help Mrs. Zhou pack her things, and sent Gu Xiao to accompany Jin Zhiyang to the town for a walk, leaving only Li Xiaonuan, and instructed Cuilian to take the copy of the mansion she had just received, and said with a smile:

"This is just here last night, you see."

Li Xiaonuan hurriedly took it and looked at it carefully.

After a while, Li Xiaonuan finished reading the copy, raised his head and looked at Mrs. Li, Mrs. Li smiled and sent the waiting girl out of the house, Li Xiaonuan asked in a low voice in confusion:

"Concubine Lin was promoted to Concubine Lin Shufei, and the February mileage concubine was promoted to the throne ......"

Old Madam Li nodded with admiration in her eyes and said in a low voice:

"I think so too, in the middle of February, Cheng Guifei was promoted to the imperial concubine, and at the end of the month, there was an incident in Yingshan, alas"

Old Madam Li sighed deeply, looked at Li Xiaonuan, and explained in a low voice:

"King Cheng is the eldest son and the only son-in-law of the emperor, he is twenty-nine years old this year, brave and good at fighting, and has been guarding the border in the north for many years."

Old Madam Li choked in her throat and paused for a moment before continuing:

"Although the queen was gone more than ten years ago, King Cheng is an adult prince, and he has led the army for many years, alas, when the queen was gone, Cheng Guifei had not yet entered the palace, these years, although Cheng Guifei has always been the highest-ranking concubine in the palace, in charge of the harem, but she is still one of the four concubines, and now she is promoted to the imperial concubine, in the end, it is very different, and even the identity of Zhou Gongzi is more valuable, King Cheng is rough and stingy, alas"

Old Madam Li said piecemeal, Li Xiaonuan listened carefully, pondered and asked:

"This Concubine Lin is the sister of Queen Lin's sister-in-law?"

"It's also a relative, this Concubine Lin is Queen Lin's uncle and sister-in-law, and Cheng Guifei entered the palace a year, I remember that it seems to be one year or two years older than Cheng Guifei, a few years ago when I was in the capital, I went to the palace to ask for peace during the New Year's Festival, and I also met a few times, I spoke, life is very bright, and my temperament is strong, but unfortunately I have been in the palace for more than ten years, and I have not been able to give birth to a man and a woman."

"Does the emperor favor Concubine Cheng very much?"

"Hmm"

Old Madam Li smiled and nodded,

"Concubine Cheng Guifei is humble and gentle, and she is also very good, from entering the palace to now, it has been more than ten years, and she is almost a special room."

Old Madam Li laughed, and then said:

"A few years after giving birth to Zhou Jingran, Cheng Guifei was also pregnant with a child, she was a princess, but unfortunately she died four or five months after birth, Cheng Guifei was in pain, and the emperor accompanied her to live in Yanyun Village outside the city, for more than half a year, and she was accompanied by her for a moment, which is really rare."

Li Xiaonuan was surprised to hear Mrs. Li say these royal gossip,

"Think about it, Zhou Jingran is the emperor's youngest child"

Mrs. Li shook her head and laughed softly, Li Xiaonuan thought about it carefully and laughed too,

"In the past ten years, the royal family has really not added Ding, if it is still like when he was young, the princes and princesses will have to be in groups"

Old Madam Li choked, laughed even harder, raised her hand and patted Li Xiaonuan gently, laughing and scolding:

"How can you talk like that? It's called great disrespect."

Li Xiaonuan stuck out her tongue, Mrs. Li smiled, and solemnly confessed:

"Outside, be careful when you speak, you can't say more than half a word about royal affairs."

Li Xiaonuan hurriedly nodded in agreement,

"I know, don't worry, ancestor."

Old Madam Li nodded with a smile, took the copy of the house, opened it, found an excerpt, and handed it to Li Xiaonuan, Li Xiaonuan took it and glanced at it twice, and said with a smile:

"Qian Xuezheng's excerpt is written very bitterly, this poem is very desolate, looking at it like this, Qian Xuezheng wants to go back to the capital."

Old Madam Li nodded slightly,

"Not to mention anything else, he is a child of a family, he has been pampered since he was a child, and he was released to be a school politician, and this daily offering is not comparable to his family, and he was wronged."

Li Xiaonuan thought about it, looked up at Old Madam Li, and asked in a low voice:

"Then Gu Xiao is going to try it this autumn?"

"No"

Old Madam Li shook her head categorically and said,

"Xiao Er's mother, I'll go and say, alas"

Mrs. Li sighed heavily, opened her mouth, swallowed back the words in her mouth, and only sighed heavily, Li Xiaonuan looked at Mrs. Li silently, in the eyes of mothers in the world, their children are the smartest and loveliest ones in the world, and it is no wonder that Mrs. Zhou.

Early the next morning, Jin Zhiyang waited for Mrs. Zhou to get on the Jin family's big ship and set off for Taizhou.

The day after Mrs. Zhou left, the steward of the Runan Palace, arrived at the ancient mansion, with a cart full of gifts, respectfully reported:

“…… The prince and his wife also let the little one report to the old lady, as soon as the prince returned to the capital, he waited for the fourth lord to go to the south to patrol the border, and he could not come back until the end of the year, the prince's family, our wife was also anxious, but the imperial concubine had instructed, this princess, she had to pass her eyes and take a fancy to it......"

Mrs. Li listened to the steward's careful report with a smile on her face, and instructed her mother-in-law to take fifty taels of silver to reward the steward, and the chief butler of the pavilion led him down to rest.

Mrs. Li watched the steward go out, and after a long time, she instructed her mother-in-law to take the gift brought by the steward to take a look.

Things are neatly packed in several large boxes, a box of candied dried fruits made by the Runan Palace, a box of various colored ingots and pills, precious medicinal materials, two or three boxes of various silk satin yarns of the latest patterns and colors, and a box of various children's clothes, toys, longevity locks and other things, with a piece of paper on it, indicating that it is for Gu Yunshan and the child.

There is also a smaller box with a piece of paper, which was given to Gu Xiao by Cheng Ke, and it is full of dozens of rare and ancient books.

Old Madam Li breathed a long sigh of relief and smiled, Cheng Ke's family affairs, I am afraid that Princess Runan will not be the master, there is an old lady in the palace, and there is an imperial concubine in the palace, all of whom are very thoughtful people.

These big boxes of things are very homely, but each piece has been put into it, this dried fruit candied fruit, rare books and ancient books have never been before, and it is not something that the next person can come up with, whether it is the mind of Princess Runan, or the special trip of Cheng Ke to Xiao Er, it is a good thing.

Mrs. Li smiled and ordered someone to send the small box to Gu Xiao, and called two old mothers-in-law to come in, and instructed them to take those children's clothes and toys and send them to Jin's house immediately. ”

Mrs. Li tasted a few candied fruits, shook her head slightly with a smile, and ordered all the courtyards to send some over.

On the table in the main room of Matsukaze-in, it was piled up with silk and candied fruit of various colors.