Chapter 56: Gratitude

Old Madam Li was stunned, stared at Gu Xiao for a while, then turned her head, looked at Li Xiaonuan thoughtfully, and said with a smile for a while:

"It's getting late, you two, go back and rest."

Gu Xiao and Li Xiaonuan hurriedly got up and retreated, walked out of Ruixuan Hall, and walked back, Gu Xiao watched Li Xiaonuan enter the gate of Songfeng Courtyard, only then turned around and slowly went back to Wutong Courtyard with Xinghong.

After a few days, Mrs. Zhou's health was also well, and she sat in Ruixuan Hall and gossiped with Mrs. Li, and Mrs. Li said with a smile:

"There's something I'm going to discuss with you."

Mrs. Zhou leaned forward slightly, and said meekly:

"What does Mother command?"

"It's Xiao'er's business."

Old Madam Li sighed softly, and then said:

"Xiao Er's reading has been very good this year, and she started to talk about ** last month, and if she looks like this, she will be able to start writing a fuss in the year after tomorrow."

Mrs. Zhou smiled all over her face, nodded and said:

"Mother is right, Xiao'er is older, sensible, and knows how to work hard."

Old Madam Li looked at Mrs. Zhou, sighed again, and said with a smile:

"When Xiao Er's father was here, he said when he invited this master Wang that this is an enlightened gentleman, and now that Xiao Er's book is here, he has to find a better gentleman."

Mrs. Zhou was stunned, and nodded with approval on her face,

"What my mother said is that if you want to start a pen, you have to find a better gentleman for Xiao'er, but these two Zhejiang roads are ...... It's more convenient in the capital. ”

"There are also good gentlemen on Liangzhejiang Road, as the saying goes, 'Jiangnan produces talents', it is this Yuezhou Mansion, there are a lot of talents."

Mrs. Li looked at Mrs. Zhou with a smile and said,

"In Liuxiang Town, not far from Shangli Town, there is a tribute student named Chen Qingyi, who is very knowledgeable."

Mrs. Li picked up the cup, took a sip of tea, and continued with a smile:

"This Mr. Chen, in terms of talent and learning, Xiao Er's father was also willing to bow to the wind back then, and he was the leader of our famous literary club in Yuezhou Mansion, but he was talented and unlucky."

Mrs. Li put down the cup and sighed,

"When Mr. Chen and Xiao Er's father participated in the autumn test together, poems, discussions, strategies, everything was done with flowers, but when it came to the last post, it was about to hand in the volume, a cup of tea overturned and stained the volume, Wu Xuezheng at that time was a lover of talent, pity him is really talented, or take him, but unfortunately can only be a last name, a cup of tea, the first name is splashed into the last name, Xiao Er and his father became the Xie Yuan that year."

Mrs. Zhou was amazed when she heard this,

"What about the provincial test later? How could such a thing happen again? ”

"This kind of thing didn't come out again, after the autumn test, this Chen Qingyi's head was overhanging, the cone was piercing, and he vowed to take a Huiyuan back to the shame, the next year, more than a dozen tribute students of the same department went to the capital to participate in the provincial test, and on the morning of admission, he came out of the inn, and this Chen Qingyi stepped on the air, fell down the stairs, and broke his leg, and this scene was wrong."

Mrs. Zhou's eyes widened in surprise,

"It's too much of a coincidence"

"But no, it's still behind, three years later, this Chen Qingyi went to the exam again, this time he couldn't be more careful, even the inn only lived on the first floor, but as soon as he entered the venue, he pulled up his stomach and couldn't straighten up, the examiner had to let people carry him out, and this one was wrong again."

Mrs. Zhou laughed,

"How can such a thing happen?"

"After another three years, I haven't entered the venue, the first day the family came to report the funeral, his father died, Chen Qingyi fainted at that time, crying all the way back to the funeral, guarding the funeral for three years, only said that he was talented and lifeless, and refused to take the exam again, his family was poor, so he accepted a few students, made a living by teaching, and the disciples he taught, all of them were excellent, and there were several Jinshi and the first, and now they are famous talents and teachers on our two Zhejiang roads."

Mrs. Zhou exclaimed and sighed:

"It's really the world's biggest, there are no wonders, there are really such people who have no life and no luck, and are talented and can teach good disciples."

"But no, it can be seen that this person's blessings are all destined by God, and it is impossible not to accept fate."

Old Madam Li sighed sadly, her voice became lower and lower, and she was silent for a moment before she continued with a smile:

"This Chen Qingyi, although he is a well-behaved person, can be open-minded and funny, has a wide range of friends, and is not blindly pedantic, now his Gongsheng of that subject, as well as the backward students who have made good friends with him in the Yuezhou Mansion, there are a lot of Jinshi and later officials, first, people pity him to be high-minded, second, he is very good, in the same year, his fellow villagers have a very good relationship with him, and his students and queens have also come out to be officials, this person invited to be Mr. Xiao'er, no better."

Mrs. Zhou's eyes lit up, and she smiled and agreed:

"Mother said very well that such a gentleman is the best, but I don't know if he will come."

"Mr. Chen and Xiao Er's father are close friends, since you think it's good, tomorrow I will send the pavilion housekeeper to invite him, when his father passed away, it was the pavilion housekeeper who used to help with the cooking."

Mrs. Zhou smiled and nodded in agreement, hesitated, and asked embarrassedly:

"What about Master Wang?"

"Some time ago, the Wu family in Hangzhou asked someone to give a message, and wanted us to recommend an enlightened gentleman, Wang Fuzi is just right, so I asked people to bring Wang Fuzi's resume, saying that it is Xiao Er's enlightenment teacher, the Wu family has replied yesterday, and is very satisfied with Wang Fuzi, tonight, I set up a banquet for Wang Fuzi, and told him about it, see if he is willing or not, you will prepare four more gifts, and seal a thousand taels of silver to him."

Mrs. Zhou hurriedly nodded in agreement,

"Mother is really thoughtful, so she can do everything properly."

In August, Chen Qingyi arrived at the ancient mansion, Mrs. Li asked her to pack up the Yueming Pavilion and give Chen Qingyi a place to live, and sent two little maids, four little girls went to the Yueming Pavilion to wait, Gu Xiao bowed to the teacher, and began to study with Chen Qingyi.

Li Xiaonuan is eight years old, it is not suitable to go out to study, so he stopped class, Gu Xiao was sad for several days, Li Xiaonuan begged him to take the words she wrote for Mr. to correct, Mr. Chen saw it, and even praised it, saying that although Li Xiaonuan's words are immature, they already have the meaning of being elegant and free, but they also happily agreed to give Li Xiaonuan a word every day.

Li Xiaonuan didn't have to go to school in the morning, so he had a lot of free time, every morning he went to Ruixuan Hall to ask for peace, and when he came back from breakfast, he wrote for a while, did needlework for a while, and the rest of the time was to read a book, almost a day or two to finish a book, and went to the outer study frequently. ”

The mother-in-law was instructed, and she waited diligently and wholeheartedly, without slacking off.

At the end of August, the autumn wind gradually rose, and one morning after breakfast, Mrs. Li sent everyone, leaving Li Xiaonuan alone, pulling Li Xiaonuan to sit on the couch, looking at her with a smile, and said gently:

"There is one thing, I want to discuss with you, Mama Wei's needlework, is really the true inheritance of the family, the embroidery is picturesque, no stitches, no line marks, I thought, let her go to our embroidery workshop to teach those embroidery girls, the ancestors can not take your mother's skills left to you in vain, from now on, the embroidery workshop will give you a dry share every year, according to the income of the embroidery workshop in previous years, this dry share, there are thousands of silver a year, save a few years, it will be enough for you to do the silver when you get married."

Li Xiaonuan was stunned, and it took a while to react, and he hurriedly shook his head and said:

"Ancestor, you brought me back from the Gospel Temple, helped Xiao Nuan bury my parents, took me and Mama Wei, Mama Wei and I don't know how to thank you, Mama Wei didn't let me say those words that would be repaid in the future, saying that the ancestor is a person with deep blessings, and the descendants will be rich and rich in the future, only help me, how can I repay it? I know that Mama Wei is right, I only think about it in my heart all the time, and pray for the ancestors sooner or later, now the ancestors have a place where they can use Mama Wei, it is too late for Mama Wei and I to be happy, I don't want to do it. ”

Old Madam Li laughed, stretched out her hand to stroke Li Xiaonuan's head with pity, sighed slowly and said:

"You are a child who knows how to repay the kindness, the ancestors are in the eyes, the ancestors are very happy in their hearts, you take this dry stock, you take it, listen to the words of the ancestors, you always have a place for silver, but there is no one who can reach out to ask for silver, take it, you are grateful to the ancestors, and the ancestors are also grateful to you."

Li Xiaonuan was stunned, looked up at Mrs. Li, Mrs. Li looked at her with a smile in her eyes, reached out and pinched Li Xiaonuan's cheek, and said with a smile:

"The embroidery workshop is the dowry of the ancestors, this is the matter of our ancestors and grandchildren, you can rest assured to take it."

Li Xiaonuan hesitated for a moment, looked at Mrs. Li gratefully, and nodded heavily.

Mrs. Zhou's letter to Princess Runan also had an echo, Cheng Ke had already decided to go to the southern border to join the army in the first month of next year, and he would go for three years, the meaning of the prince, anyway, the child is still young, and it is not too late to discuss this matter when he comes back, the Gu family is also in the filial piety period, and it is not the time to mention this matter, Mrs. Zhou and Mrs. Li discussed it for a while, and put this aside in advance.

In a blink of an eye, it was chrysanthemum crab fat, Gu Xiao discussed with Li Xiaonuan early, gave Mrs. Li, and made an appointment with Gu Yunshan and Gu Yun to enjoy the chrysanthemum crab like last year.

After eating at noon, coming out of Ruixuan Hall, Gu Xiao and Li Xiaonuan walked side by side to Songfeng Courtyard, Gu Xiao leaned over Li Xiaonuan's ear with a hint of mystery, and said proudly:

"Nuan Nuan, I went to the kitchen after school just now, do you know what I did?"

Li Xiaonuan turned her head, looked at him with a smile and asked:

"You're going to steal crabs?"

"Oh, it's not."

Gu Xiao said with some dejection, and without waiting for Li Xiaonuan to guess further, he couldn't wait to continue:

"I let Mama Liu get drunk with two jars of crabs, let's eat them, I told Mama Liu, you must choose the biggest crab to make drunk crabs"

Li Xiaonuan paused, looked at Gu Xiao with some confusion, and only after a moment did he burst into a smile on his face, and said slowly:

"When did you love drunken crabs too?"

"I don't eat it, I watch you eat it."

Gu Xiao shook his head and said seriously.