Yi Xuan walked out of the carriage with a smile, but Yi Heng's scream broke all the previous covers, the smile on her face froze instantly, and then Yi Heng hugged her, lay on Yi Heng's shoulder, and whimpered silently.

Although Qiu Chen was prepared in his heart, he saw that his face was gray and yellow, and his eyes were pale? When I went in, the big dark circles under my eyes and the obvious puffy bags under my eyes made the originally bright and beautiful woman suddenly age for ten years, which was really unbelievable. Yixuan in front of her was old and tired, her face was gray, and although she was smiling, she still couldn't hide the pathos and embarrassment in her eyes...... This is not at all like a young woman under the age of thirty, she is simply a sick middle-aged and elderly woman, even if she is wearing bright woven gold satin clothes and wearing pearls and jade on her head, she can't set off half a cent of color at all, but her face is more and more gray and ugly and terrifying!

Qiu Chen and Yi Heng received the second door, and as soon as Yi Xuan walked out of the carriage, Yi Heng couldn't help but exclaim: "Sister, why do you look like this?" ”

In the middle of the morning of the second day of February, Yiheng was picked up early, and when Qiu Chen was a little anxious, Mama Chen and Mama Lin finally picked up Yixuan's mother and son and rushed back to Jingbei Hou's Mansion.

On the first day of February, Qiu Chen sent Mama Chen and Mama Lin to Tongzhou again to pick up Yixuan's mother and son back for the holiday.

On the second day of February, they also have to go to the nearest well, lake, and river to fetch water, and come back to worship, and the women do not use needles and threads on this day, so as not to hurt the 'dragon's eye'. On this day, the steamed cakes offered during the Spring Festival are fried and eaten to show that there is a surplus every year and the five grains are abundant. In addition, there is a custom of eating spring cakes in the capital, branding a kind of thin and tough dough cake, taking smoked belly, pine nut tripe, oven meat (a kind of hanging oven roast pork), clear sauce meat, smoked elbow, sauce elbow, sauce mouth strips, smoked chicken, sauce duck, etc., when eating, you need to change the knife and cut it into thin strips, and it is accompanied by several kinds of home-style stir-fried vegetables (usually fried leek sprouts with shredded meat, fried spinach with shredded pork, mung bean sprouts cooked in vinegar, fried vermicelli with vegetarian vegetables, spread eggs, etc. to make fillings, rolled into cake rolls and eaten, called 'spring cakes'). Moreover, there is also a custom of eating spring cakes, that is, to invite the married daughter back to her parents' house to show the family's concern and love for her daughter.

The custom of this day is to light lamps and candles to illuminate the shade of the beams and corners of the house, commonly known as 'smoked insects', which means that the insects do not grow in a year, and the house is peaceful.

On the second day of February, the dragon raised its head.

She has been thinking about it for the past few days, and now she has a rough plan in mind.

Qiu Chen is not good at short-term socializing with parents, and he is not good at this kind of calculation and planning. Qin Zheng...... Although he is good at commanding the strategy and tactics of the large army to fight, Qiu Chen doesn't think he can help him with the struggle of the women in the backyard.

Chen didn't say much, but couldn't help but sigh, and there was a hidden worry in his eyes. Qiu Chen can imagine how difficult Yixuan's situation is now. She's in a difficult situation, and several children ...... I'm afraid I will also be implicated.

Yi Xuan changed her previous status as the head of the Zhai family, and she had to go to the Zhai family's wife's room to serve before dawn every day, from getting up and dressing, to serving soup medicine, tea and rice, and even the work of the little girls beating their legs and pinching their shoulders fell on her. Mrs. Zhai looked at the Chen family who sent her away, her face was full of kindness, and she praised Yixuan for her filial piety, which was the most intimate one among her children...... If it's just a hypocritical compliment, then the old lady still said these words in front of several daughters-in-law and girls, which is a praise for Yi Xuan on the surface, but secretly it is to stir up right and wrong, making Yi Xuan even more isolated and helpless, and may even attract a secret frame-up......

The joy and relaxation brought by this vigorous life, but it could not dilute the gloom that Chen brought back from Tongzhou, Qiu Chen was still gentle with Qin Zheng and the children these days, and he was just as gentle and generous to his subordinates, but whenever there was no one around her, she always couldn't help but think of the news that Chen brought back.

Qiu Chen has restrained his family in the past few days, he has not picked melons and fruits, and he has also purchased some new flowers from flower farmers in the suburbs in the greenhouse, including out-of-season peonies that are quite popular with rich and noble families, and elm leaves and begonias that give birth to buds in advance, but they are all bonsai, a small one, and a small plant that flourishes with a beauty that is very different from the normal.

Then, if you are more careful, you can see that the willow branches by the lake seem to become softer and softer day by day, the original dry branches have not yet sprouted, but the spores are gradually expanding, like a grain of rice on the branches, and the color also has the gray and black in winter to turn to blue-brown, this subtle change shows that life is quietly germinating, and spring is coming day by day.

The weather is getting warmer, and they no longer sit in a sedan chair, but lead Brother Yun, who is walking more and more steadily, for a while, and then hug for a while. Every time he passed by the lakeside, Qiu Chen would involuntarily slow down. The ice in the lake melts very slowly, and it is still a flat patch, but if you look closely, you can see that the original smooth and clear ice layer is a little white, especially the ice at the edge, which has taken on a color similar to snow. Qiu Chen knew that it was the void caused by the melt that affected the refraction of light, and such ice was already very weak and did not have much bearing capacity.

As long as he doesn't go out, Qiu Chen still goes to the back garden with Qin Zheng every day, taking Brother Yun to stay.

The first thing to change was the lake in the back garden, and in February, Qin Zheng stopped the training of the ice theater team, and ordered everyone in the house to wait for them, and they were not allowed to go on the ice again.

The weather is getting warmer day by day, and although it is still unexpectedly cold in the morning and evening, when the sun rises on a sunny day, you can already feel the warmth. Spring is near.

In February, the unhurried steps arrived.

Qiu Chen thought about whether to open a dim sum shop, and then tell the little girls the address of the dim sum shop and let them buy it themselves......

Back and forth, Qiu Chen and Xiaoxi thought out of the dim sum soon ran out of freshness, so they repeated it again, or just changed the taste, such as replacing almonds with pine nuts or hazelnuts, but the little girls also responded with enthusiastic exclamations and praises.

This little girl is familiar with each other, and she has completely lost the initial impression of being arrogant and weak, but she is as cheerful as her mother, because she is weak and protected well, and there is no less innocence and enthusiasm than Song Xi'er, since Qiu Chen came back from Zheng's house, the little girl has sent someone to send a few posts to talk to her, and more to ask Qiu Chen about the practice of dim sum - the reason is that early the next morning when Qiu Chen came back, he sent her, Wang Jingshu, and Song Xi'er a box of almond cheese each. Then, the three girls replied with gifts and posts, complimenting her on the deliciousness of her dim sum. Qiu Chen had no choice but to make a few more servings and send them over, and this time he baked three cookies......

In the following days, there was no longer the previous busyness, but there were banquet posts every now and then, Qiu Chen picked a few familiar ones to go, and the unfamiliar ones politely declined. After a lively and busy New Year, Qiu Chen's biggest gain is to get acquainted with some people, and some have already reached the familiar and friendly Cheng Dù, such as Wang Jingshu and Song Xi'er...... is also the daughter of Zheng Shangshu's family, Zheng Hehuan.

Qiu Chen temporarily put aside the regret that suddenly sprung up, cleaned up neatly, and turned around and went to the back garden.

Don't worry, don't worry, Lin Xu is still young...... The affairs of the Lin family are not suitable for him to attract too much attention in the high-level circles of the capital for the time being.

If Lin Xu has already achieved fame, even if he is a lifter, he can also manage his family affairs when he enters Beijing at this time. Now Lin Xu, who is just a talented showman, has no family background, and it is still unrealistic to want to talk about family affairs in the capital.

After washing up, Qiu Chen changed into dry clothes and came out, and suddenly sighed again.

She was completely excited by the joy of seeing her relatives, and read the letter a few more times, only then did she gradually calm down her excitement, put the letter away, and asked Qin Zheng and Brother Yun in the back garden, while walking into the clean room to wash and change clothes.

I don't have any feelings about them going north to Qiu Chen, although Liaodi and Nuergan Province are close to the frontier, they are still safe, as long as they don't go to the deep mountains and old forests for their study tours, there should be no danger.

He didn't do anything, just stuffed the cloak in his hand to the girl, and Qiu Chen sat on the chair with the letter and looked at it. In addition to the greetings to Qiu Chen and the children, the letter only said one thing, he will go out to study again although Master Guo and Guo Mingsui, the fourth son of Guo, this time their first stop is the capital, and then as the weather warms all the way north, Master Guo said that he will take his two children to Liaodi, and go to Nuergan Province to see the scenery and people of the north.

Qiu Chen looked at the handwriting on the envelope, and couldn't help but be overjoyed, it was Lin Xu's handwriting, it was a letter written by Anyang's family!

It was still very early to turn back to the Jingbei Hou Mansion, and as soon as he returned to Mu'en Courtyard, Yufeng took out a letter with a happy face.

Qiu Chen sat in the carriage and thought silently, Zheng Jiyu was also known for his gentleness and generosity in the court, it seemed that the couple's way of life was gentle, but it was long-lasting.

The day's banquet is like the Zheng family's decoration, plain and rude, no fresh programs, and no bright spots, but no one can say anything bad.

At the beginning of the year, the Zheng family's banquet ended plainly. The ladies and ladies said goodbye with a smile, and Mrs. Niu sent them out politely and thoughtfully, and watched everyone get into their respective cars and leave, and then turned back with their daughters.

Qiu Chen didn't express any opinions, but secretly remembered that when the next post is invited, it is better not to invite the storyteller first!

Compared with opera, Qiu Chen prefers miscellaneous dramas, and she prefers wonderful storytelling to babbling and singing. But apparently the ladies didn't think so, and without consulting the girls at all, they chose Xiaosing. Because Xiao Sing can not sing those 'obscene songs', most of the jokes that the storyteller said are adapted from the book, and there are too many things that are not suitable for everyone to listen to.

After three rounds of drinking, Mrs. Niu motioned to the girl to hold the sign and let the lady and the ladies order the play, and it turned out that there was also a small singing and storytelling.

Mrs. Niu only said a few words during the banquet, and then sure enough, she talked to a few ladies and ladies and feasted, and no longer restrained a few young people. Qiu Chen was mixed in with a group of little girls, listening to them chattering and drinking by themselves, which was also interesting and relaxed.

Officially start the meal, whether it is the good etiquette of the ladies and ladies or the young ladies is revealed, one by one the meal will never make any strange movements, not to say, as long as they eat, they will never speak, everyone's movements are slow and elegant, even the weak body and the lady have been sitting upright like a ritual, so that his legs have long been numb Qiu Chen, who has secretly moved a few times, is secretly embarrassed.

Qiu Chen took advantage of the fact that a few little girls didn't pay attention, raised his hand and pinched Chang Jiayi's coercion, Chang Jiayi almost burst out of her mouth with a scream, and finally couldn't hold back, turned her head and glared at Qiu Chen, but couldn't help but giggle. While laughing, she avoided Qiu Chen from a distance, and provoked Qiu Chen with her eyes, Qiu Chen glanced at her, and happened to hear Niu Shi talking with a smile on the head, and hurriedly sat down with a straight expression.

"Haha, when the time comes, it's not enough for them to know what I'm saying!" Chang Jiayi looked at a few happy little girls with some invitation and smiled.

Chang Jiayi had a triumphant smile on her face, Qiu Chen turned her eyes to look at a few little girls, and said with a smile: "In a few days, I will ask you to come over to the house, and when the time comes, you will know if you taste it, it is not as exaggerated as she said!" ”

Qiu Chen smiled bitterly and said to Chang Jiayi: "If you want me to ask you to say it directly, why do you use this?" ”

He Wan and several little girls were immediately attracted, and they all looked at Qiu Chen with burning eyes.

Chang Jiayi smiled beside him: "You are Guo Qian, those new dim sum you make, no one will make them anywhere!" ”

Qiu Chen shook his head, looked at Chang Jiayi with a smile, and said to Hehuan: "Your sister Jiayi praises me, I just know how to make a few dim sum, but it's just something for self-amusement, where can I compare with those chefs who specialize in this chef!" ”

“…… Sister Yang, Sister Jiayi said that you make the best dim sum is true? He Wan suddenly smiled and turned back to ask.

Qiu Chen smiled slightly, listening to Chang Jiayi next to him laughing with the little girls, while looking at the dishes and porcelain on the table. Dishes are the most common dishes of large family cooks, and porcelain is also the most common white porcelain, from tea sets to porcelain, there is no old kiln, just the most basic set of utensils. This is like the Zheng family's household things at a glance, neat and clean without rudeness, but it definitely has nothing to do with luxury and wealth.

Everyone sat down, and the neat girls who had packed up their own streams entered, and hot tea and a few plates of cold spells were sent at the flowing price.

Since the Tang Dynasty, the chair has gradually been introduced from Hudi, and after the Song Dynasty, it is basically sitting on a couch and sitting on a back chair, and it is rare to see this kind of wide and low couch similar to tatami mats. Qiu Chen looked at Chang Jiayi and took off the embroidered shoes on his feet, and knelt on the brocade mat. I was secretly glad in my heart, fortunately, this body was on the thin side, otherwise, it would have been even harder for a slightly fatter person to sit on his knees like this!

Qiu Chen and the others, no matter how polite they greeted, greeted each other and sat down after a few low points.

Hao smiled and waved his hand, signaling Qiu Chenqiu and the others to go at will, then turned his gaze back to Li and smiled: "Duchess Liang Guo is too modest, such a good daughter-in-law, generous, cool and cheerful, how much better!" It is a blessing for a lady to have such a daughter-in-law! ”

Hearing this, Li looked at Hao and smiled: "My family is a lazy one, don't laugh!" ”

Qiu Chen bent his knees from afar, thanked him with a smile, got up and bent his knees towards Hao's family and said, "Then I will also be cheeky to ask for a favor for Sister Qiu, and Mrs. Hao will definitely not blame her!" ”

Li Shi was very embarrassed, and nodded with a smile: "Mrs. Niu also said just now, you young people can have fun at will, you don't have to be restricted!" ”

A few older people looked at each other, and naturally sat down behind a few short tables. Chang Jiayi was left holding Qiu Chen and Qiu's family, and walked away with a few little girls. Qiu Chen stopped slightly and raised his eyes to look at the Li family.

Qiu Chen followed everyone up to the attic, removed the cloak and handed it to the girl with him, Mrs. Niu greeted everyone with a smile: "We are all familiar with each other today, and we don't have to restrict anything, let's sit at will!" ”

The windows on all sides of the attic were wide open, but because of the large smoked baskets placed in the four corners, the steaming room was warm and there was no chill. There is a low couch in the room, and the pine flower color brocade is sprinkled with ink brocade mats, which are also seven or eight points old, and look clean and comfortable.

However, Qiu Chen pondered so much in his heart, but he did not despise it. Compared with Li's character of hating all the golden and jade things in front of her, she prefers Mrs. Niu's frugality and low-key. This makes people more comfortable and is also the foundation of long-term survival.

Analyzed in this way, the Zheng family may not be really wealthy, or it may be low-key and its wealth will not be exposed.

Mrs. Niu was born in an official family, but her father was only a four-rank man in the ministry, and her mother's brother also had two outstandings, but she only went to the foreign office, and the highest official position was her younger brother, and now she is the prefect of Shanxi Datong Mansion.

In this Qingxue Pavilion, the decoration is also frugal but not lacking in comfort, and the furniture is made of nothing valuable. Qiu Chen secretly speculated, although Zheng Jiyu was in charge of the household department, he had a very good reputation in the court, and she had read Zheng Jiyu's resume, Jing Chu people, the family had a little thin property, and the ancestors were also considered scholarly, but no one could get out of the exam. However, he was obsessed with scientific research before, and when he returned to his hometown, his eldest son had already married a wife, and his younger son had passed the best age for studying, so he pinned his hopes on his grandchildren. It can be regarded as a hard work that pays off, Zheng Jiyu is the eldest grandson of this generation, smart since childhood, and his grandfather's strict and careful teaching, at the age of fourteen, he took the Xiucai exam, and at the age of nineteen, he took the exam, and turned over the years, at the age of twenty, he went to Beijing to catch the exam, and he was admitted to the first Tanhualang, and was left in the Hanlin Academy to do editing, and after the expiration of three years, he transferred to the household department, starting from the six products of the household department, it is said that he got the blue eyes of the Jingshun Emperor who was still King Jing, after the Jingshun Emperor ascended the throne, Zheng Jiyu was in his thirties and had become the right attendant of the household, two years later, Zheng Jiyu had just turned forty years old, and he had already been promoted to the head of the household department and became a big man in charge of the world's taxes.

Most of the furniture I saw in Mrs. Zheng's room before was half-old, and the furniture was just that, and the good wood in this era was not much value, but there were only a few decorative things on the wall and on the Duobao grid, which seemed to be some old things, and there was some value.