Walking out of the long palace walls, Taohua boarded her carriage and let out a long breath, as if she wanted to spit out the suffocating breath in the palace just now.

"What's wrong with the girl?" Mint can't go in, and she was already a little anxious when she waited outside, and as soon as Taohua came out, she looked straight at her face, "But that Zhao Chongyi showed the girl's face?" ”

Taohua shook her head: "It has nothing to do with her. "I can't say it's completely unrelated, but—well, it's better not to mention it.

"That-" Mint looked up and down, and found that Taohua's clothes and hair were intact, not like she had suffered any loss, so she was a little relieved, and hurriedly put on her clothes, "The girl changed the clothes of this palace person first." ”

"I met Lu Baolin in the palace." Taohua changed into her own clothes and threw aside the dark green clothes of the palace people, as if she had unloaded a layer of burden, and it was much easier.

"How is Miss Lu?" Mint also thought about Lu Ying, "I didn't see the girl when she entered the palace a few times ago." ”

In fact, it's not that I haven't seen it, for example, on the day of Shengshou Day, of course, Lu Ying was also in Shouxian Palace, but it was too far away, and she didn't have a chance to speak at all, unlike today's emperor who personally took her over to meet, although it was impossible to stay in Tingyuju for too long, but the two of them could say a few words face-to-face, and she was relieved to see Lu Ying smiling so happily in the courtyard.

"In this way, Miss Lu is still doing well." Mint was very pleased, "However, I always live in such a remote place, what the hell is the emperor-"

Taohua smiled slightly: "No matter where you live, it's good to live comfortably." ”

"That's right." Mint immediately agreed, "In the future, the girl will be able to enter the palace from time to time when she marries the prince, and there must be more opportunities to see Miss Lu." Speaking of which, it is less than two months away from the day the girl gets married, and the more she thinks about it, the happier she becomes.

Taohua looked at this girl's smiling appearance, and didn't want to ruin her interest, so she didn't say that she didn't want to enter any palace often at all. But when it came to the marriage period, she couldn't help but show a smile, yes, a few months later, she and Shen Shu will be husband and wife.

A sound of gongs came from the street, Mint was startled, and hurriedly lifted the corner of the car curtain to look out: "What's the mess?" ”

"Today's autumn list is released." Sanqiyi patted his leg, "Our house has been so busy these days that we have forgotten about it." ”

"Brother Yu'er didn't end up this autumn?" Taohua also suddenly remembered this, "Send someone to see if Brother Yu has been hit." ”

Jiang Yuhua's participation in this year's Autumn Festival is a major event for the Jiang family, but they are too busy for a while, and Jiang Xi's family has forgotten about the Autumn Festival. And Mrs. Jiang has moved back to live, and there are no people in the long house who are reminded in front of her, so she can't remember. At this time, after being reminded by Taohua, Jiang Xicai slapped his head and hurriedly called someone to go to the long room to inquire about the news.

The person who went to the long room was Sanqi, and when he came back, his expression was quite embarrassed, and Taohua guessed when he saw this appearance: "Didn't hit?" ”

Sanqi lowered his head: "The third young master didn't hit." However, the second young master passed the hospital examination. ”

Taohua thought about it for a while and figured it out, and passing the college exam was a showman: "The second brother is a showman?" Why didn't you come to report the good news? "The college exam is held in June and July, and now it's August, and the results have already come out, even if they don't know, Changfang should send someone to report the good news.

Sanqi's head hung lower: "The second young master participated from the academy, and after the exam, he returned to the academy, and the eldest master only knew when he got home that it was too late to arrange to participate in the autumn festival." I heard that the eldest man lost his temper because of this. ”

Taohua felt ridiculous: "I just passed the exam, so I expect to raise people in the autumn immediately?" "Jiang Jun's eagerness for quick success is too much, and I don't want to think about how many years Jiang Songhua has been taking the Xiucai exam alone, and now that he has finally won the Xiucai, do you have to expect him to win three yuan immediately?

Sanqi lowered his head straight down: "The little one said a few words to Gan Song beside the old lady, I heard that the second young master has never returned home since he went to the academy, and only the old lady knows about the academy exam." The eldest master seems to think that the second young master didn't pass the exam in the past because he didn't care, otherwise the old lady would have arranged him out this time, and he would have passed the exam...... "Where is it said that Jiang Songhua didn't have to pay attention to the exam, it is clearly implying that Jiang Songhua's failure in the exam in front of him is all the instructions of the old lady Jiang."

"It's ridiculous!" Jiang Xi was displeased, "How can the eldest brother be so confused!" Isn't my uncle looking forward to Brother Song's entrance examination? I don't really want him to practice medicine! ”

Momoka couldn't help but shake her head. The contradictions and misunderstandings between Mrs. Jiang and Jiang Jun's father and son have become deeper and deeper, and they have reached the point where they cannot be understood. But whenever there is anything that is not in line with Jiang Jun's wishes, he can always think of Mrs. Jiang, just because Mrs. Jiang taught Jiang Songhua a little medical skills in the past, he always thinks that Mrs. Jiang wants to train the grandson of the eldest house into a langzhong?

Sanqi is a clever ghost, and he already knows a little more about the affairs of the long house, so this time he went and specially said a few more words to Gansong, just to inquire more about the situation. Gan Song has served Mrs. Jiang for many years, and he has hidden a lot of things in his belly, he is not a particularly shrewd person, but he is naturally stuffy, and he doesn't say anything, but he is very stable. But he also knew that Mrs. Jiang loved Jiang Xi's room very much, and since Sanqi came over, he said a few words.

"The little one listens to Gansong's meaning, the eldest master always suspects that the old lady is partial to the second master, after all, the eldest young master is the eldest grandson, I heard that the second master's family was outside, and the old lady also wrote a letter to advise, saying that the eldest young master should also study well......"

"What a mess this is!" Jiang Xi couldn't listen to it, "The second brother is a concubine, and even if Brother Nan is the eldest grandson, he is not as valuable as Brother Song, doesn't my uncle know this truth?" Besides, what's wrong with letting Brother Nan study, after all, it's also my uncle's own grandson, what's the point of writing a letter to tell him? ”

Jiang Songhua loved to read since he was a child, but Jiang Nanhua didn't like it, a worry-free grandson and an uneasy grandson, which one of the elders would tell you more is not very clear? Jiang Songhua is the eldest grandson of his son-in-law, if this is in the family of the nobles, the title and most of the family property will be his, how can Jiang Nanhua compare.

"Big brother is crazy!" Jiang Xi said angrily, "He won't quarrel with his uncle again, right?" ”

Sanqi shrunk his neck and whispered: "The little one listened to Gan Song, it was a quarrel, but the old lady ignored the old man." ”

"It's unseemly!" Jiang Xi slapped the table, "No, I have to go to the eldest brother to talk!" ”

"Dad-" Taohua pulled him helplessly, "Uncle won't listen to you." And you can't tell you about it. "First of all, although Jiang Jun and Jiang Zhu have the same father but half mother, they are born with a conflict of interest, although they can't write two Jiang characters from the outside, but where can the internal contradictions within the family be calmed down by the statement that one is prosperous and one is lost? This kind of thing can really be traced back, and its source lies in the contradiction between the clan and Aunt Zhu, to put it bluntly, it was all caused by the concubine of Mrs. Jiang, can Jiang Xi manage it?

"Then what should I do, just watch your uncle make such a fuss?"

"The eldest uncle is just arguing." Taohua waved her hand indifferently, "Dad, don't worry, the eldest uncle doesn't have the courage to fall out with his uncle and grandfather, otherwise the uncle and grandfather lived in our house a few days ago, and the eldest uncle often sent people over, didn't he just want to ask his uncle and grandfather to go back?" ”

With the word filial piety pressed on the top of his head, Jiang Jun is a person who wants to go further in his career, how can people hold the handle of his unfilial piety? That is, Mrs. Jiang let him go too much, so he dared to quarrel with his father from time to time. If he had changed to such a stern one, he wouldn't have dared to let out a fart. This time......

"At most, Brother Yu will be scolded a few times." Taohua said casually, "Who told him that he didn't pass the exam." ”

"Brother Yu is still young." Jiang Xi was deflated by Taohua's words, and said stupidly, "Your eldest uncle is too anxious." If you want me to say, that child is smart, but after all, the foundation is not solid. Besides, how old he is, it's too ...... to come up with a fifteen-year-old lifter."

Fifteen-year-old people are not nothing, there were eighteen-year-old Jinshi in the previous dynasty, but they are all real dragons among people, according to Taohua, Jiang Yuhua is not to say what kind of dragon it is, even if he is smart, it may not be true wisdom, maybe it is just a little clever.

"Anyway, it's all a matter of the eldest uncle's family, Dad, we can't take care of it."

Jiang Xi disagreed: "It's all a family......"

Taohua was a little helpless: "What the eldest uncle does to us, let's do to them, that's enough." Dad, if you feel sorry for your uncle and grandfather, you can take him over from time to time to live for a few days. "It can also deter Jiang Jun by the way.

Saying this, Jiang Xi remembered how Xiao's use of Taohua several times, and immediately dispelled that enthusiasm: "What you said is also true." That's it, wait for the Mid-Autumn Festival, take your uncle and grandfather over to live for a few days, and say that Dad Xin borrowed Ouchi's lonely book. ”

Momoka squinted her eyes and smiled: "That's it." Dad, Brother Bai is studying over there, Dad, you go over and see what he writes, is it good again. ”

Jiang Xi was easily coaxed away by his daughter, yes, he still has a son. If you have this time to take care of other people's sons, you might as well worry about yourself.

Taohua coaxed her father away before asking Sanqi: "The old lady is really not angry?" "Old lady Jiang is also old, don't be so angry with Jiang Jun and make any mistakes.

Sanqi shook his head and said: "The old lady went back to Baicaozhai to write a book, and ignored the old man at all." I heard that the eldest master took the third young master to the study and beat the handboard. ”

"What kind of ...... is this," Momoka couldn't help laughing. Jiang Yuhua is only fifteen years old anyway, and it is simply as it should be that he failed the exam, Jiang Jun has nothing to do with the child to be angry, what is the matter!

However, unfortunately, this era is like this, and the sons of each family have not been slapped by their father's board, and they have nothing to do with three slaps, and the beautiful name is that jade is not cut into a weapon, so Jiang Yuhua lost in autumn, and it is logical to take a few strokes. Anyway, as long as Mrs. Jiang is not angry, Taohua will not care.

Besides, she doesn't have the energy to take care of it. She is going to get married in October, and this Mid-Autumn Festival is the last reunion festival she spent at Jiang's house.

"Girl, the kitchen said that the porcelain sent out is not complete, and a few pieces are missing." When Jiang Bohua was reading and writing in the house, Kikyo ran back and forth to deliver the news, "And the moon cakes delivered are not enough, so the old man asked someone to send a few boxes outside, and we are short of them in our own house." ”

Momoka shook her head. After she got married, the middle feed of the family would be borne by the Cao family, so after she made her own ceremony, she slowly transferred the family affairs to the Cao family little by little. It's been almost half a year now, but the Cao family hasn't made much progress. You must know that the problem of the lack of gifts has appeared in the Dragon Boat Festival, and now that it is the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Jiang family has not increased much, but it is just to replace the zongzi with moon cakes, and it will be the same wrong, which can only say that the Cao family is either careless, or it really does not grow this string.

Either way, it's not what Taohua wants to see. The middle feed of the Jiang family has always been in her hands, and at the beginning, it was because the Cao family had just arrived, and Jiang Xi was afraid that his daughter would be wronged, so he continued to let his daughter take care of the family affairs. Later, because of the jade carving narcissus incident, it was even more impossible for the Cao family to be fed in the palm of his hand.

Momoka had to admit that she didn't handle this matter well. I always felt that I could stay at home for a long time, but now I was about to get married, only to find that no one took over this mess after leaving, so I had to rush Cao's duck to the shelves, and it was inevitable that there would be many unsatisfactory things.

"Tell Bai Guo to write down all the forks that come out again during the Mid-Autumn Festival, turn around and show them to his wife. Compared with the ones recorded in the Dragon Boat Festival, I will tell my wife about it. "Fortunately, Baiguo is a capable one, otherwise I am afraid that there will be more mistakes.

Kikyo agreed to go out, and Mint said carefully: "Sister Baiguo is already nineteen years old...... "The maid of the Jiang family will almost be released to marry when she is twenty years old, and Baiguo is also old.

Taohua said with a headache: "If you get married, let her come in and be a housekeeper in the future." "Although it is not as good as a personal maid who can remind you all the time, it can also help a lot.

Mint said in a low voice: "When the girl gets married, my wife may not be willing to listen to Sister Baiguo's ......" In the end, Baiguo is just a maid.

Taohua pinched her forehead and had to admit that it was a problem: "Has the second girl helped her wife take care of things these days?" ”

"Nope." Mint shook her head, "The second girl has been busy with that shop. The slave and maid heard that the purchase was almost done. However, the silver was also spent. ”

"Then it's no wonder that my wife is going to make a mistake." Momoka sighed. Originally, the money for the dowry was spent on decorating the shop, and the rest was naturally less, so it was no wonder that the Cao family didn't worry about the money.

Mint pursed her lips, but she still couldn't hold back: "Mrs. always thinks about wanting to compare with the girl, so how can she not make mistakes......" It's not that the Cao family wants to give Jiang Yanhua a dowry of about the same value as Taohua, but she always wants her daughter to be like Taohua, and she wants furniture, jewelry, clothing, etc.

Don't you want to think about the fact that antiques are easy to obtain? It's Taohua here, if it weren't for the things sent by Shen Shu, they wouldn't marry any antique calligraphy and paintings, and the Jiang family couldn't afford to play with that thing.

Momoka frowned and didn't answer. She naturally knew about this, and the Cao family couldn't find any suitable antiques outside, so she muttered a few words in front of Jiang Xi, as if she was hoping that Taohua could leak something out of her fingers.

Taohua is not a stingy person, but those things are given by Shen Shu, and it is impossible for her to share them with others. Fortunately, the Cao family learned the lesson of the jade carving narcissus, and did not dare to make any small moves except for saying a few vague words in front of Jiang Xi.

"Let her go." Taohua pressed her eyebrows hard again, "Fortunately, Daddy has a good temper and is not annoying." "Anyway, if she were replaced, she might be so annoyed that she would vomit blood when she heard people cling to one thing so sticky and twisting around the bush but didn't dare to say it clearly.

"That's not a problem...... Mint muttered quietly, "It's a bitter thing, sir." ”

Yes, Jiang Xi is really upside down. Taohua put her forehead on the table: "The Liu family hasn't come to ask for an appointment yet?" "It is estimated that when Jiang Yanhua gets married, the Cao family will break this matter, and they will not bother Jiang Xi anymore.

"Not yet. I came back once last time, saying that the sisters were orderly, and it was the turn of the second girl to wait for the girl to get married. It is said that now the girl's day is set, and the six ceremonies are almost over, and there should be news over there. Mint felt a little strange, "Didn't his family rush to ask for the second girl before?" Why is there no movement now? ”

Taohua also felt a little strange, did she feel that the family matter had already been decided, and she was not afraid that Jiang Yanhua would run away, so she was not active? But according to the old ceremony, even if the wedding date is set, as long as the groom has not greeted him in person, this family affair can still be changed, and it is not so firm and unchangeable. The Liu family is so stable, what is the idea?

The master and servant were pondering, when they heard a report from outside: "The matchmaker of the Liu family has come to ask for an appointment." ”

Of course, the matchmaker is still the same as the original one, and the gifts he brought are similar to those when Na Cai asked for his name, but the opening was: "One is that the Mid-Autumn Festival is coming, and the other is to come to your house to ask for ......."

Nowadays, if the two families have decided to have a family affair, the male family will give gifts to the female family at three or five o'clock, and the heavier the gift, the more it shows that the male family values the female family. But the matchmaker came to the door at this time, but he only brought a gift, obviously wanting to save a gift money.

"It's too unseemly." Mint listened to the little girl's description, sent the person out, turned around and couldn't help but say to Taohua, "Is the Liu family poor like this?" ”

The matchmaker is actually embarrassed too. Yesterday, Mrs. Liu invited her to come to the door to ask for the date, and the gift she brought out was like this, she also felt that it was simple, but there was no reason to pay for it herself, and after mentioning it slightly, Mrs. Liu pulled a long face and said that the gift was light and affectionate, and taught her what she could say?

At this time, Cao Shi couldn't get angry. These days, she has gradually grasped the middle feed in her hands, and she secretly liked it at the beginning, one is finally able to be the master of the house, and the other is to take the opportunity to supplement Jiang Yanhua a little. But within a few days, she found out that housekeeping was not an easy task. And now in the capital, it is not like in the Chen family in the past, only three meals a day, just a few families come and go, which makes her a little messy. I haven't found the opportunity to rub oil and water yet, but there have been a lot of mistakes, and I have to prepare Jiang Yanhua's dowry, I feel that I am so tired that I don't even have the strength to breathe, and when I see the "thin gift" of the Liu family, I really don't have the strength to be angry.

"What day did the Liu family choose?" Originally, it was called Hanlin Mansion, but at this time, I was irritable, and Cao's tone was not so good.

The matchmaker can understand the annoyance of the woman's family, and she didn't dare to say a word, and picked up two auspicious days: one is in the lunar month of this year, and the other is in mid-February next year. Cao Shi looked at it, thought about it in his heart, and said: "This day is a little urgent, according to me, it's still February." "In the next year, Wuxi will have to send silver over, and the wedding date will be set until February next year, and she will also have the opportunity to make up for Jiang Yanhua.

The matchmaker naturally had no opinion, and after a few more gossip, he got up to say goodbye and went back to Liu's house to resume his life.

Mrs. Liu sent the matchmaker in the hall, took the chosen wedding date and transferred to the back room. Liu Zhijing was lying crooked on the bed in a daze, and Mrs. Liu showed him the days and said, "What do you think?" ”

Liu Zhijing only glanced at it and said absentmindedly: "Mother, call the shots." ”

Mrs. Liu put the post away, looked at her son's listless appearance, and couldn't help but say, "What's wrong?" But tired these days? ”

Liu Zhijing shook his head and didn't want to speak. During the Chinese New Year, he invited himself to Lantian and Luonan counties to investigate the spring plowing and preparation, and he was so busy that he hit the back of his head with his feet, and a layer of blisters came out of his feet. I thought that the emperor would be the most important spring ploughing, and he would have to ask after the New Year. Jiang Jun is in the household department, and when the time comes, I will mention to him, the future niece and son-in-law, as long as the emperor knows his name, won't the opportunity come?

Who knows that people are not as good as heaven. Before the first month, Shandong made a fuss about the Red Lotus Sect, and then this matter was repeated over and over again, everyone's eyes were staring at Yu's home, except for the fact that the spring ploughing had been paid attention to by the emperor in Shandong, the rest of the places were finished according to the old practice, and even the two counties that had been plagued by the epidemic did not have the emperor to ask in person, but according to previous years, it was added by two percent, and it was directly handled by the household department.

As a result, Liu Zhijing's rush that month was all in vain. These days, openly and secretly, there are also quite a few colleagues in the Hanlin Academy who are quite sarcastic about him. Even the head of the Hanlin Academy hinted that he was good at learning and not to think of some opportunistic methods.

This master of the academy has a good reputation among Shilin, and he made such an evaluation of Liu Zhijing, and Liu Zhijing's life was naturally even more difficult. Now that the three-year study period of the Gurgis is about to come, and he doesn't even know where his future is, how can he not teach him to be upset?

In contrast, a woman who has misdecided her family affairs can't help him now, and it really doesn't matter when she gets married.

When Mrs. Liu saw her son like this, she couldn't help but feel distressed, and sighed: "It's all because my mother is illiterate, otherwise I wouldn't have misdecided my family affairs in the first place......"

It's useless to say this now, not to mention that it's really no wonder Mrs. Liu is in this matter, it is obvious that Liu Zhijing himself misidentified someone first. Liu Zhijing had to cheer up and said: "How is this so strange, mother--just I'll go out for a walk." Brother Jiang's son is in the autumn this time, and I will also go to see him. At present, he has no other way but to go to the Jiang family's door.