Chapter 51: Mind

Gu Xiao was stunned, Li Xiaonuan frowned, grabbed Gu Xiao who was about to stand up, turned his head to look at Shiqin and said with a smile:

"Shiqin is waiting outside for a while, Gu Xiao still has half a sentence ** to me, and he will go over when he finishes speaking."

Shiqin smiled and nodded, and retreated to the outside room to wait.

Li Xiaonuan stared at the inexplicable Gu Xiao, leaned into his ear, and said in a low voice:

"No matter what the second sister asks you to do, as long as it is related to the Suo Luo Pavilion and Cousin Ke, before you do it, come and tell me."

Gu Xiao looked at Li Xiaonuan with a solemn face in a daze, nodded busily, and promised in a low voice:

"Don't worry, I'm sure I'll tell you"

Li Xiaonuan nodded, let go of Gu Xiao, and motioned for him to hurry over.

Through the window, Li Xiaonuan watched Gu Xiao hurriedly leave the courtyard with Shiqin, and sighed helplessly.

Not long after, Gu Xiao looked strange and carried a delicate and unusual sour branch wood suitcase, stood at the gate of Songfeng Courtyard and looked left and right, and saw that there was no one around, so he hurriedly entered the courtyard.

Li Xiaonuan saw him come in with a small suitcase, and hurriedly waved his hand to rebuke Lan Chu.

Gu Xiao hurriedly put the small suitcase on the couch as if his hands were hot, looked at Li Xiaonuan with a distressed face, and said in a low voice:

"The second sister asked me to send this box to Cousin Ke, I was not allowed to see what was inside, and I was asked to avoid Brother Zhou"

Li Xiaonuan shrugged her shoulders, stretched out her hand and moved the suitcase, and was about to open it, Gu Xiao hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop her, and said hesitantly:

"Nuan Nuan, I promised my second sister that I wouldn't open it to see it."

Li Xiaonuan glanced at him,

"You promised the second sister, but I didn't promise the second sister that I opened it, not you"

Gu Xiao scratched his head and grinned,

"Nuan Nuan, you're right, I didn't open it"

Li Xiaonuan ignored him, only carefully looked at the suitcase, the suitcase has two layers, Li Xiaonuan carefully opened the first layer, looked inside, there was a delicate and transparent glass dish in the first layer, and there were four very small lotus seed cakes in the saucer, Li Xiaonuan carefully took out the plate, looked carefully at the bottom of the dish and the suitcase, did not see anything else, and was slightly relieved.

Li Xiaonuan carefully put the dish back into the suitcase, took the upper layer of the suitcase, put it aside, and looked at the lower layer, where there was a layer of white silk on the lower layer, and a small purse was placed on it, which was the red one among the three purses that Gu Yunhuan showed her last time.

Gu Xiao looked at the purse in the suitcase, his mouth was half open, and he was stunned.

Li Xiaonuan reached out and picked up the purse, opened it, and poured out a pair of white jade lotus seeds from the purse, Li Xiaonuan looked at the white jade lotus seeds in the palm of his hand, sighed heavily, and looked at the purse and lotus seeds in his hand in distress.

Gu Xiao thought for a while, his face turned red, he moved to Li Xiaonuan's side, and said in a low voice:

"Nuan Nuan, the second sister asked me to give such a thing to Cousin Ke, which is inappropriate"

Li Xiaonuan tilted his head, looked at him with a smile, opened his mouth, thought about it, didn't say anything, paused for a moment, Li Xiaonuan turned his head to look at Gu Xiao and asked:

"What's wrong?"

"This, this, purse, and jade lotus seeds, are all inappropriate"

Gu Xiao said with a little stuttering, Li Xiaonuan looked at him with a smile, and said seriously:

"I don't think there's anything wrong with that, if it is...... Cough. ”

Li Xiaonuan coughed lightly, turned his head, looked at Gu Xiao and said seriously:

"The second sister is simple-hearted, in her heart, she must treat her cousin Ke the same way as you, but she treats him like her own brother, so she treats him like you."

Gu Xiao frowned and opened his mouth, Li Xiaonuan didn't wait for him to speak, and then said:

"We know that the second sister is simple-minded and sincere, but how can others know the second sister so well? Anyway, Cousin Ke is a person with a foreign surname after all, if people see and know about this matter, and think about it too much, I am afraid that it will hurt the face of the second sister. ”

Gu Xiao immediately nodded heavily,

"Nuan Nuan, you're right, so what should we do now? Why don't I return this suitcase to my second sister? ”

Li Xiaonuan shook his head lightly and said in a low voice:

"If you return it to the second sister like this, won't it hurt the second sister's kindness? Let me think. ”

Li Xiaonuan wrinkled her brows, looked down at the purse, the jade lotus seeds and the plate of lotus seed cakes, thought for a while, clapped her hands lightly, and laughed,

"I've got an idea, you wait"

Li Xiaonuan threw the purse in his hand on the couch, jumped off the bed, and ran to the house.

Not long after, Li Xiaonuan rushed out with a dozen or so small purses in his hands, sat on the couch, spread the purses on the couch, carefully picked out two purses embroidered with red chrysanthemums, untied the silk silk on the purse, opened the top of the silk silk, carefully tied a jade lotus seed on it, and then carefully braided the silk silk.

Li Xiaonuan also made the second purse, turned his head to look at Gu Xiao, and said with a smile:

"Give me your purse."

Gu Xiao looked at Li Xiaonuan inexplicably, hurriedly untied the purse on his body and handed it to Li Xiaonuan, Li Xiaonuan untied the purse, poured out a few pieces of fragrant cakes inside, picked them up and smelled them, nodded with satisfaction, divided the fragrant cakes into two parts, and put them into the two purses.

Li Xiaonuan threw Gu Yunhuan's purse aside, put the two purses filled with fragrant cakes at the bottom of the suitcase, breathed a sigh of relief, turned his head to look at Gu Xiao, pointed to a pile of purses on the couch and said:

"These purses are all made by Mama Wei, where, you send them over later, just say that this is according to the customs of Shangli Town, specially made for the two of them to wear, the spices in the purses have the effect of repelling insects and removing filth, according to what we say in Shangli Town, wear this with you, you can avoid illness."

Gu Xiao looked at the purse in the suitcase with wide eyes, and was speechless for a while, Li Xiaonuan looked at him, thought about it, and then said:

"You tell your cousin Ke that these two purses, because they are for him, don't dare to let others do them, just say these few words, if he doesn't ask, don't say more, if you ask who did it, you vaguely say that the ancestor and his wife are old and have long stopped doing needlework."

Gu Xiao blinked his eyes in a daze, and only after a while did he cough lightly, leaned into Li Xiaonuan's ear, and said in a low voice:

"Nuan Nuan, is this a lie? The Master said, "The gentleman ......"

"The gentleman has something to say and something to say, you say, I let you say, which one is a lie? I have always regarded Mama Wei as a relative, but I have never seen her as a person, do you think she is a subordinate? Didn't the ancestor and his wife stop doing needlework a long time ago? ”

Gu Xiao scratched his head stupidly, and said for a long time:

"Warm ...... Nuan Nuan, you're right, that ...... Mama Wei is not a subordinate, Nuan Nuan, you are right. ”

Li Xiaonuan stared at him for a while before then ordered:

"That plate of dim sum, if he doesn't ask, you don't say who sent it, if you ask, you just say that it was sent with the purse. If he asks again, you will say that you don't know. ”

"Sent with the purse?"

"That's it, next to you, just don't say a word, go quickly"

Li Xiaonuan neatly packed up the suitcase, looked at the lotus seed cake, and sighed, which was too straightforward to raise his voice and call the end of winter,

"At the end of winter, bring the plate of red bean crisp that Ruixuantang sent over in the morning."

Li Xiaonuan took the red bean crisp, retreated from the end of winter, took out the lotus seed cake in the glass plate, took out three red bean cakes and put them on the plate, covered the suitcase, and pushed it to Gu Xiao.

"Hurry up, come to me first when you come back, you look carefully at your cousin's expression, don't miss a little bit, come back and tell me carefully"

Gu Xiao nodded, stood up and picked up the suitcase, and walked out a little reluctantly.

Li Xiaonuan watched Gu Xiao walk out of the courtyard through the window, breathed a sigh of relief, leaned back on the pillow, turned his head to look at the lotus seed cake on the couch, reached out and picked up a piece, and put it in his mouth.

Li Xiaonuan chewed it twice, frowned, and hurriedly spit it out, this lotus seed cake looks very decent, and it is raw inside

At the end of winter, he came in with a cup of tea, and saw that Li Xiaonuan was spitting out the snacks in his mouth, so he hurriedly called Lan Chu to come in, took a gargle and warm water, Li Xiaonuan spit out the snacks in his mouth, rinsed his mouth, and pointed to the lotus seed cake in the saucer, I don't know what to say, such a snack, dare to give it away?

At the end of winter, he came over to look at the lotus seed cake on the couch, and asked strangely:

"Where did this lotus seed cake come from? The young master brought it? ”

Li Xiaonuan shook his head, pointed to the snacks, opened his mouth, sighed heavily, still didn't know what to say, waved his hand for a long time, and then ordered:

"Throwing it out is all raw"

At the end of winter, her eyes widened, she took a piece of lotus seed cake with her hand, looked at it carefully, laughed, turned her head to look at Li Xiaonuan, and was about to speak, Li Xiaonuan raised her hand to stop her,

"It's not that don't ask so much, throw out the two of you, and don't mention these pieces of lotus seed cake to anyone when you go out."

At the end of the winter, he pursed his lips and nodded with a smile, poured the lotus seed cake into the gargle, and ordered Lan Chu to take it out.

Gu Xiao carried the suitcase, turned around the Cuiwei Hall, and walked towards the Suo Luo Pavilion with a little weak heart.

Mama Zhou came out of Cuiwei Hall, saw Gu Xiao carrying the suitcase from a distance, dodging and walking to the front yard, twisted her brows and was stunned, paused, hesitated, and quietly followed behind, watching Gu Xiao carry the suitcase into the Suo Luo Pavilion from a distance, bowed her head and thought for a moment, turned around and walked towards the hanging flower gate in the inner courtyard.

The mother-in-law on duty in the weeping flower gate saw Mama Zhou coming, and hurriedly came out of the house, smiling with a smile on her face, Mama Zhou stopped, raised her hand to stop the flattery of the mother-in-law, and asked in a stern voice:

"The young master just went out?"

"Back to Mama, I just went out."

The mother-in-law was timid and hurriedly replied, Mama Zhou frowned, stared at her and asked:

"Where did the young master come from? Matsufu-in Temple or Otong-in? ”

"Back to Mama, I came from the side of Songfeng Temple."

Mama Zhou said "um", ignoring the nervous mother-in-law, standing in the weeping flower door, staring at the direction of Songfeng Courtyard for a while, and then turned around and went to Chengxin Courtyard.

Gu Xiao walked out of the courtyard gate of the Suluo Pavilion, let out a long sigh of relief, showed a smile on his face, and walked towards the inner courtyard with relaxed steps.

Entering the weeping flower gate, I saw Ju Ying hurriedly twisting his hands and pacing back and forth, and saw Gu Xiao coming in, as if he had a treasure, and hurriedly greeted him.

"You can go back, Madame and the old ancestor are sending people to look for you everywhere, didn't you say that you went to Songfeng Temple? Why did you suddenly go out again? ”

Gu Xiao was stunned and strange,

"What are the ancestors and mates doing in such a hurry to find me?"

"How do I know to hurry over."

Ju Ying pulled him and hurriedly ran towards Ruixuan Hall.

Gu Xiao strode into the east chamber of Ruixuan Hall, Mrs. Li was crooked on the couch with a slightly gloomy face, slowly drinking a cup of tea, Mrs. Zhou sat on the armchair in front of the couch with a gloomy face, seeing Gu Xiao come in, Mrs. Zhou glanced at Mrs. Li, Mrs. Li nodded slightly, Mrs. Zhou motioned for Gu Xiao to sit on the couch, waved her hand and reprimanded the girl waiting in the house.

Bi Lian finally went out and gently closed the door, Mrs. Zhou stared at Gu Xiao and asked bluntly:

"You just went to the Sara Pavilion to deliver something?"

Gu Xiao was stunned, nodded hesitantly, Mrs. Zhou's brows furrowed even tighter, and her voice became nervous and stern,

"What was sent? Who told you to send it over? ”

Gu Xiao turned his head to look at Mrs. Li with a face full of embarrassment, Mrs. Li sat up straight, reached out to caress the top of Gu Xiao's head, and said in a gentle voice:

"Don't think about hiding anything for anyone, this is a big deal, don't hide it from me and your mother carefully."

Gu Xiao looked nervous, turned his head to look at Mrs. Zhou, who was full of anxiety, swallowed his saliva heavily, and said the cause and effect of Ai Ai.

Mrs. Zhou's eyes widened wider and wider, and she was stunned, Old Madam Li shook her head with a wry smile, turned her head to look at Mrs. Zhou, opened her mouth, and swallowed back the words when they came to her mouth.

Old Madam Li turned her head, stroked Gu Xiao's head and face, and gently comforted him:

"Xiao Er, don't be afraid, it's okay, your mother and I are just afraid that you have done something wrong, this matter, no one can mention it when you go back, it's okay, let the girl from Juying wait for you to go back and rest."

Gu Xiao hurriedly stood up, said goodbye, walked out of the courtyard door, stood in a daze, lowered his head and thought about it, and went straight back to Wutong Courtyard.

Seeing Gu Xiao coming out of the house, Old Madam Li let out a long sigh, turned her head to look at Mrs. Zhou and said in a low voice:

"Xiao Nuan, this girl, is really a thoughtful ...... In this way, it is impossible to find out what is wrong. ”

Mrs. Zhou wiped her tears with a handkerchief, looked at Mrs. Li and choked up and said:

"Mother, it's because I didn't discipline me strictly, so I let Yun Huan do such a shameful thing...... Xiao Nuan is thoughtful in the middle, if this thing is sent out, the face of the Gu family will be lost by her."

"You also think too much, but Xiao Nuan is right, Yun Huan is just a solid-eyed person, treat Young Master Ke like Xiao Er, don't think too much, Xiao Er is a sensible person, without Xiao Nuan, he will never send that thing away, you can relax."

Mrs. Li comforted her gently, Mrs. Zhou sobbed and nodded, Mrs. Li sighed slowly, thought about it in silence for a long time, looked at Mrs. Zhou and said in a low voice:

"Speaking of which, Yun Shan and Yun Huan are not young, and when they are filial piety next year, they should hurry up and discuss marriage."

Mrs. Zhou stopped crying, pressed the corner of her eyes with a handkerchief, looked up at Mrs. Li, and said hesitantly:

"Yun Huan...... In previous years in the capital, my sister preferred Yun Huan the most......"

Old Madam Li lowered her eyes and sighed again,

"Yunshan is a capable person, she understands everything, and she is the eldest daughter, I think, if she can marry a big family and be an eldest daughter-in-law, she can cope well, and in the future, she can help her mother's family more, Xiao Er has no brother who can help one or two, and the two sisters should be able to help him."

Mrs. Zhou nodded busily,

"Mother is very right, if Yun Shan and Yun Huan can help in the future, Xiao Er will be too weak."

"Hmm"

Old Madam Li nodded, looked at Mrs. Zhou and continued:

"If Yun Huan can marry into the Runan Palace, it is naturally the best, you might as well explore the meaning of the princess."

Mrs. Zhou hurriedly nodded in agreement, and Mrs. Li smiled,

"You are sisters-in-law, you can say anything and everything, if the princess also has this meaning, and then let her explore the meaning of the prince and the old concubine, it will be the best."

Mrs. Zhou's eyes were shining and she nodded, and Mrs. Li looked at her gently, and then said:

"Xiao Er is a sincere child, this daughter-in-law has to pay attention to find a good one"

"What my mother said is that Xiao Er, the daughter-in-law, must be careful and careful to choose a very appropriate one to be worthy of the family, and the best character, temper, and personality of the eldest must be good."

Mrs. Zhou was a little excited, and hurriedly listed them one by one, Old Madam Li looked at her silently, slowly smiled and said:

"Xiao Er, the daughter-in-law, family background is secondary, smart and capable is the most important, Xiao Er is too sincere, and the daughter-in-law must be extremely smart and transparent."

Mrs. Zhou was stunned and said with a smile:

"No matter how smart a woman's family is, how can she use it? You can't do a man's business, as long as you have a good temper and character, honor your in-laws, and serve your husband well, this is your duty. ”

Old Madam Li closed her eyes slightly, was silent and did not speak again, only picked up the cup and drank tea slowly.

After a while, Mrs. Li put down the cup, looked at Mrs. Zhou gently, and ordered:

"You can also go back and rest, Yun Huan's matter, you can find a chance to talk to the princess."

Mrs. Zhou hurriedly stood up and respectfully agreed, Mrs. Li closed her eyes and leaned back on the pillow, Mrs. Zhou gently withdrew from the main room and called Bilian to go in and wait.

Old Madam Li slowly opened her eyes, thought for a long time, turned her head to look at Bi Lian, and commanded in a low voice:

"You go and bring my milk swallow flying rosewood jewelry box."

Bi Lian was stunned, and asked with a smile:

"What the ancestor said is the box that is half a foot square and carved with flying swallows on all sides?"

Old Madam Li nodded, Bi Lian smiled and bent her knees and said:

"Ancestor has to wait a while, the box has been stored in the big box, pressed in the innermost part of the warehouse, I will ask someone to carry the box to find out, I am afraid that it will be a long time bigger."

Old Madam Li nodded with her eyes closed, waved her hand, Bilian quietly withdrew, and asked Cuilian to come over and wait, and she called five or six rough envoys to look for things in the back warehouse.

After a long while, Bilian's forehead was slightly oozing with sweat, and she came in with a rosewood box.

Mrs. Li looked through the box, the box was full of pearl and white jade jewelry, and Mrs. Li looked through the jewelry in the box gloomily, these were all worn by her when she was young.

After turning over for a long time, Mrs. Li picked out a pair of pearl earrings the size of lotus seeds from the box, a pair of magnolia flower mutton fat jade earrings, and a jade-colored mutton fat jade bracelet, and instructed Bilian to find a very small box to pack, pointing to the box and instructing:

"I sent this to Miss Cousin, and I said that I wore it when I was young, and I specially found it for her to wear."

Bilian took the box with some surprise, bent her knees and agreed, and went out with the box in her hand.

Li Xiaonuan looked at the things in the box in a daze, sat sideways on the couch at the end of winter, and also looked inexplicable, Li Xiaonuan reached out and pulled the box, took out the jewelry one by one, and looked carefully at the window.

"Why did the Ancestor suddenly send these things over?"

Strange at the end of winter, Li Xiaonuan lowered his eyes, put down the mutton fat jade bracelet in his hand, and was silent and did not answer, Gu Xiao never came over again, that Suo Luo Pavilion must be tightly guarded on the outside and inside, and the suitcase, maybe it was not sent in at all, but was directly sent to Ruixuan Hall

Ancestor, is this a reward for her? It seems that Yun Huan's mind is also the mind of Gufu

Li Xiaonuan smiled, gestured to put the magnolia earrings on her ears, hurriedly took the earrings at the end of winter, put them on her neatly, turned around and took a target lens, Li Xiaonuan looked at the mirror, turned around, and gradually became cheerful.

These pieces of jewelry must be worth a lot of silver, this is her first wealth in this world, her monthly silver of two taels a month, never used until the end of the month, let alone surplus

Li Xiaonuan shook her head, shaking her earrings happily.

After eating at noon, Li Xiaonuan sat leisurely on the couch and slowly embroidered flowers, Gu Xiao came back from Ruixuan Hall and went around into Songfeng Courtyard.

Li Xiaonuan lowered her eyes and was silent for a long time, pulled Gu Xiao, and said in a low voice:

"Gu Xiao, if you encounter such a thing again in the future, the ancestor and the lady tell me not to mention it again, you don't want anyone to talk about it, and I can't either."

Gu Xiao's face was flushed, and he said with some embarrassment:

"Nuan Nuan, I'll tell you, except for you, I've never told anyone else"

Li Xiaonuan took Gu Xiao's hand, shook it gently, and said seriously:

"I know, you and I are better than the people next to me, I know it, but you have to understand that in this world, you are willing to give up your life for you, as long as you are good, people who can give up anything, except for Mrs., are ancestors, even I can't do it"

Gu Xiao looked at Li Xiaonuan with some stunnedness, Li Xiaonuan thought about it, and then said:

"What Madame and Ancestor do, it must be for your own good, it's just ......"

Li Xiaonuan paused, and his voice lowered,

"You listen to the words of the ancestors, if the words of the lady are not the same as the words of the ancestors......"

Li Xiaonuan paused, Gu Xiao looked at Li Xiaonuan thoughtfully, nodded and said:

"The eldest sister said that when my father was alive in the past, he discussed everything with his ancestors before doing it, I know."

Li Xiaonuan breathed a sigh of relief, laughed, jumped off the accommodation, and pulled Gu Xiao to the west chamber.

"Gu Xiao, let's go to the endorsement, I will definitely memorize faster than you today"