Chapter 23: The Birthday Feast

Nangong Yufeng's eyes are very beautiful, and Xi Cui felt so when he saw it for the first time. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info It's just that the eyes were too cold at that time, so Xi Cui didn't dare to look directly. But at this time, it is very different, these eyes seem to be a clear spring, people can't help but want to drink lightly, and they are reluctant to miss it.

When Xi Cui came back to his senses, the first word that came to mind was "lust and wisdom"! It is said that beauty is misleading, and it seems that this beauty can not only be used on women, but also on men, and it is even more terrifying!

Seeing Xi Cui looking at himself for a moment, Nangong Yufeng couldn't be more familiar with what that loss of mind meant. I don't know how many women have that expression when they see him, and every time he takes the trouble to avoid it, but this time there is a little bit of pride.

The conversation was not awkward or embarrassing, and finally ended before lunch. Wang Shaoyan left them for lunch, Xi Cui was supposed to serve the meal, but Wang Shaoyan called two other maids over, so that Xi Cui didn't have to wait. Of course, Xi Cui is happy and comfortable, each of those masters is a fuel-efficient lamp, and one is a trouble if she is not careful, so she doesn't want to provoke it.

Ximei, who was supposed to rest in the side courtyard, somehow learned the news of Xi Yunjian's coming, and stood in the courtyard for a long time, and then left without waiting for them to come out. No one knows about that.

When Yun Jian walked, Yun Ting held his hand and didn't let go. In the end, it was Wang Shaoyan who called Xi Cui to coax her, but it also allowed Yun Jian to say goodbye to Xi Cui in person. Before leaving, Xi Cui remembered that the hussar general election he had always talked about before seemed to be this month, so he asked, "The young master said before that he had been very busy recently, but for the hussar general?" ”

Yun Jian nodded, and said with a smile of some loss, "Speaking of which, I am somewhat sure whether there is a paper test or a martial arts test, but after winning the election, it is time to go to the southwest border with the army." My father said that the situation was getting more and more tense over there, and we didn't even think we would have time to train......"

So that's the case? In other words, Mrs. Hou will soon have no child by her side. Thinking of some inexplicable words that Mrs. had said to herself before, Xi Cui couldn't help but say, "Please also ask the young master to take care of your body, not only for yourself, but also for the sake of the master, the lady, and the young lady......" Thinking of his heart for himself, this trip to the battlefield is unpredictable, even if he can come back alive, he doesn't know what year and month, he feels that he can't be too ruthless, so he whispered, "The slave and maid will also pray for the young master here, and look forward to the young master's return with the young lady." ”

Hearing her say this, Yun Jian was overjoyed and said with a smile, "If I return safely, I will definitely give you an unexpected surprise!" He thought that Xi Cui's deed of sale was still in his hands, she was still his own person, and when the time came, he would return her identity and marry her, and his mother said that he would not stop her. Three years, Xi Cui, you can wait for me for three years with peace of mind. I'll come back after three years and give you everything you want.

Nangong Yufeng also wanted to speak, but he didn't know what to say, and Xi Cui didn't look at him, so he had to go home in a huff.

The next two days were peaceful, and finally arrived on Wang Shaoju's birthday.

The old lady was sent to Ningju early to pick her up, and she sat in the main hall of Heju and waited. Liu arranged Yaju's manpower, and hurriedly ran to Heju to take care of it. On this occasion, Yun Ting should have come forward to assist, but Yun Ting's appearance obviously couldn't help. Liu complained while busy, fortunately Linglong could help more or less, at this time she couldn't help but think about how good her daughter-in-law would be if Linglong.

The guests were greeted at the door by Xi Cui and Liu's big girl Xiaohuan, as well as several housekeepers and mothers. Xi Cui didn't know many people, and standing there just smiling and welcoming guests really didn't help much. Fortunately, Mama Wu was bold before, and a few housekeepers and mothers sold favors to her so that Xiaohuan didn't embarrass her too much.

The guests are almost here, everyone is sitting, singing on the stage, melons and fruits and side dishes, but there is no official start. Xi Cui looked at the Liu family and the old lady protecting each other, and after a glance, they all stood up and walked to the door, knowing that the real big man should not have arrived yet.

Banquets like this are usually held between the ladies and ladies of the back house, and the men generally do not participate. Therefore, the men of the Wang family almost did not appear, and Wang Shaoyan met Wang Shaoju in the morning when he asked for peace, and he personally gave her a pair of jade Ruyi, and went out as usual. Wang Shangshu asked someone to move a few pots of precious flowers and plants to Yaju yesterday as gifts, and he didn't even see anyone.

At this moment, standing at the gate to greet the nobles are naturally all women. The guests in the backyard are all human spirits, and they don't need to communicate with each other to be respectfully waiting there. Waiting for whom? Of course, I am waiting for the queen mother, who else can I have to greet the two hostesses of the Wang family at the door to greet the queen mother on the birthday of the Wang girl?

In the distance, a bright yellow carriage appeared at the end of the street, hanging a dragon flag and waving Jin Ling. The carriage was led by several guards riding tall horses, accompanied by a few palace people who looked like eunuchs and a few palace maids, followed by dozens of personal soldiers. Who else dares to put on this posture except for the royal family?

The old lady watched the carriage drive by, and her eyes cooled a little. She knew that it was her own daughter sitting inside, and she also knew that the queen mother put on such a big show today to show off in front of her mother. The situation of entering the palace that day is still vivid, she sat on the high phoenix chair, graceful and luxurious, with thousands of manners, but she, a mother, wanted to bend over to salute her, she actually accepted it calmly, not moved at all. I guess there will be another one more time today, that's it. In the end, she still hated her because she did it......

The carriage stopped, and the first to come out was the flower brocade. Hua Jin stood in front of the car and looked left and right, then turned around and lifted the curtain, a green jade hand stretched out, followed by a colorful glass bracelet on the wrist. The queen mother finally appeared, wearing a bright yellow phoenix robe, standing in the wind, the phoenix tail feathers of the court dress were inlaid with tiny pearls, shining in the sunlight, and with the extremely luxurious gold head, everyone who saw it couldn't help but hold their breath. This is an unattainable unparalleled elegance, no one can not change their face in front of such a person, this is the real mother of the world, with thousands of manners.

Kneeling down one by one, the queen's Chitose shouts came and went. The queen stood there motionless, looking condescendingly at the only person who did not kneel but only bent over, this person was her mother. A person who makes her unable to love, hate, fight, kill, or avoid!

She didn't scream, but just got out of the car with Hua Jin's hand, glanced at her mother and walked in. The people behind him got up on their own, and no one dared to complain. It seems that it is a matter of course for the queen to forget herself.

Everywhere the queen went, she knelt down and chanted a thousand years old. When I finally got to the backyard and stood in front of the guests, the sound stopped. Mother Mu supported the old lady to sit on the left side of the main seat, the queen sat on the right, and Liu sat a little lower but still on the high part of the steps. Others sit in their seats according to the previous row.

The queen looked at the actors in the stands who were about to restart the gong, and said with a smile, "Have you chosen a good show?" What did you choose? Take a look at this shrine. ”

Liu hurriedly handed over the excerpts, "No, let them beat it first to look lively." Everyone knew that Niangniang was coming, and they all wanted to let Niangniang choose first. ”

"My younger siblings are really out of sight, and my family pays attention to what they do. I'm not here today as a queen, I'm our Shaoju's aunt today," he said and beckoned to Shaoju, "Shaoju came over and asked my aunt to take a look, tsk...... It's not that I'm boasting of being an aunt, you look at our Shaoju's whereabouts, I'm afraid I can't find a second one in the world, right? ”

Wang Shaoju smiled and bowed his head silently. The queen smiled and swept to the people sitting down, "I kept my head down just now and didn't look carefully, the girls sitting below are all good, are they young...... One by one, they are like flowers...... Don't be restrained, young people should look like young people, don't spoil your interest because of this palace. ”

This lady said really good, and the smile on her face was also real. But no one is a fool, if you didn't come here as the queen's mother, why did you wear a phoenix robe and put on such a big show?

The drama is in the hands of the queen, but people just don't order the drama, no one dares to speak out, and it's not a matter for everyone to just sit like this. Everyone knows that the queen mother has definitely not forgotten to order a play, there must be something else waiting for her. So everyone didn't answer, they all waited quietly, and they didn't feel cold. The queen mother finally seemed to remember something important, and turned to look at Liu, "Brother and sister, why don't you see Shaoyan's daughter-in-law?" How can the royal family's daughter-in-law not come forward on this occasion? ”

After Wang Shaoyan married this Xi Yunting, his health really got better. This alone is enough to make the queen change her opinion of Yun Ting, plus a few days ago, Shaoyan entered the palace and begged that she came here today to support Yun Ting no matter what, she loves her nephew the most on weekdays, how can she not allow it. I heard Shaoyan say that Wang Li actually offered to help him protect Yun Ting, and said that the old lady has changed a lot this time, this woman has been scheming and unscrupulous before, she wants to see for herself her attitude towards Yun Ting, whether there are other purposes.

Liu was afraid that Yun Ting would lose face by appearing, so he specifically instructed Xi Cui not to let Yun Ting appear when he asked for peace, and even the old lady could only say that her illness last time was not good and she needed to recuperate. Xi Cui expected that this would be the case and didn't say much, and arranged for Qing'er and a few other little maids to get stuck with Yun Ting, thinking that she would go back after she was busy here, and it just so happened that the young lady was still clean.

But how could she have thought that the queen would come like this?

Seeing that the queen asked, Liu hurriedly said that Yun Ting had suffered from the wind and cold before and had not recovered, so it was inconvenient to come out to greet guests. As he spoke, he pulled Xi Cui out, and Xi Cui followed her words and returned to the queen according to her previous words.

The queen didn't say anything after listening, and said a few words to Hua Jin, Hua Jin smiled and nodded, walked up to Xi Cui, and whispered, "Our mother took the imperial doctor with her when she left the palace, and since the young lady is sick, I will call the imperial doctor to take a look." Miss Xi Cui will lead the way......"

What to do? Yun Ting is already well, I'm afraid I'm swinging in the yard at this time, do you still need to take the imperial doctor with Hua Jin? If you look at it from the past, you can know that you are not sick, okay? Xi Cui had no choice but to look at Liu.

Liu didn't seem to see Xi Cui at all, he just cared about talking to the queen's mother, and only listened to her say, "Niangniang is Shaoyan's aunt, and in Shaoyan's eyes, your aunt is closer than my mother." Although Yun Ting has suffered some wind and has used medicine for a few days, it is naturally inconvenient for some outsiders to come out to meet, but Niang Niang must see her. Speaking of which, after they got married, Shaoyan has been busy and has not been able to enter the palace to thank him, or I, the mother, have not been reminded in time. Don't blame the child. ”

These two sides are playing with three knives! Xi Cui sincerely admired. Hua Jin's voice was very low when she said to herself, the seat where Liu was standing should be inaudible, and she didn't look at Liu Shi when she cast her eyes, how could she know what the queen was going to do next? Just Hua Jin moved, did she guess it? I heard that Liu's is not simple, but I didn't think much of it, but now it seems that it is not simple!

I'm afraid the people sitting below don't understand, right? In them, they could only hear that the queen wanted to see Yun Ting, and Mrs. Wang said that Yun Ting was sick and it was inconvenient to come out to see outsiders, but the relationship between the queen and her son was better than that of her own mother, and she was not an outsider at all, even if she was sick.

It seems that such a simple thing can put on such a big picture, Xi Cui is really out of reach.

So Xi Cui obediently invited Yun Ting over.

The two discussed it all the way, and when they arrived in front of the queen, they knelt down to say goodbye first, and then let them sit where to sit, it was best not to talk, if the queen asked Yun Ting a question, how should she answer Xi Cui.

Yun Ting still remembers the people she has seen very clearly, this is the second time she has seen the queen, so she naturally knows who it is, so she knelt down very obediently and asked for peace. The queen smiled and helped her to get up. Then asked someone to put a chair for her at the place where Liu started, and Yun Ting sat next to Liu in a regular manner. Xi Cui stood behind her, and next to her stood Linglong.

At this time, the queen remembered that she hadn't ordered the play yet, and then took out the excerpt with a smile, ordered a few at random, and the stage was beaten, and the scene was a lot more lively.

Wang Shaomei and Wang Shaoju sat side by side, and several young ladies of the same age came over to talk to them, they seemed to be acquaintances, but they were not formal.

Some of the wives who had unmarried children in the family gathered together to look after the young ladies who appeared here today. Generally, those who can follow the housewife to attend this kind of scene are young ladies who have not said goodbye, and these ladies can also choose to watch with confidence. The pair of girls from the Wang family sat there, a beautiful and refined narcissus, cold and noble. A hibiscus that seems to be elegant and dusty, with a dark fragrance floating. Looking at the current power of the Wang family, how much worse can the two girls be than the princess?

After a few plays, it's time for the guests to present their gifts. The queen mother was naturally the first, I saw her nodding at Hua Jin, Hua Jin went to the back, and after a while, when Hua Jin came out again, she led two eunuchs behind her, carrying a screen-like object that was one person high. Because it was covered with red silk cloth, no one dared to guess what was inside.

After the eunuch put things down, the queen stood up, beckoned to Shaoju, and motioned for Shaoju to come to her side. Then he pointed to the thing and smiled at Shaoju, "Tear off the silk cloth and take a look." ”

Wang Shaoju walked slowly to him, stretched out his little hand and gently tugged it, the red silk slipped off instantly, and a four-sided screen came into view. This screen is made of the royal royal gold silk nanmu, emitting bursts of dark incense, four different famous paintings on the four wind surfaces, respectively, "Tang Palace Ladies", "Pounding Practice", "Hairpin Ladies Picture", "Fan Lady Picture".

Wang Shaoju looked at the queen in surprise, and forgot how to salute for a while. The queen smiled and took her hand and walked to the other side of the screen, which turned out to be four completely different pictures of beauties, although they are not the works of famous people who have been made in ancient times, but they are also rare good paintings today. The most valuable thing is that this is double-sided embroidery!

Such a large area of double-sided embroidery is the embroidery girl in the palace to prepare for a long time, right? The queen mother actually started preparing gifts for her birthday early?

The ladies and ladies in the audience saw something from Wang Shaoju's amazed expression, some people boldly turned sideways to look at the other side, and the queen simply asked someone to turn the screen over. The audience was amazed, it turned out to be double-sided embroidery!

For everyone's expression, the queen is not surprised at all, she is the queen's gift of things naturally very people's reach.

After the queen's gift is taken down, it will be time for Yun Ting.

When he first picked out the gift, Wang Shaoju had never seen that set of snuff bottles. I thought that the painting that Yun Ting gave her was a gift, but at this moment, I saw someone mention that Yun Ting was afraid that Yun Ting would be embarrassed by others, so she naturally wanted to stand up and relieve Yun Ting. Wang Shaomei pulled her back, she knew the first lady in the audience to stand up and let Yun Ting present in public, the second lady of Lord Cao, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, who had a good relationship with Linglong. At this time, it must have been instigated by Linglong, and the fool was used as a gun without knowing it. Linglong is using this stupid person to test the queen's attitude towards Yun Ting this time. Mother's handiwork is indispensable behind this, right?

The smile on the queen's face did not change when she looked at the young lady of the Cao family, but there was an imperceptible cold light in her eyes, and Xi Cui was too familiar with such eyes. She had seen it in Wang Shangshu, Wang Shaoyan had also seen it there, and now in the eyes of this queen Wang, she saw it again, and sure enough, the Wang family had the same blood flowing in their bones.

Yun Ting looked at Xi Cui, Xi Cui smiled and nodded, helped her stand up, and walked in front of Wang Shaoju, "Sister, this is the first birthday gift from your sister-in-law, I hope you like it!" Xi Cui put the box that had been prepared in front of Wang Shaoju and smiled very calmly.

Yun Ting's eyes were clear, and Xi Cui smiled calmly, but Wang Shaoju was very surprised. Haven't you sent it before? How can there be?

Before Wang Shaoju opened the box, he heard Miss Cao's disdainful voice, which was extremely harsh, "Miss Wang San's preference for calligraphy and painting is well known, why doesn't Mrs. Wang's sister-in-law know?" ”

Yun Ting thinks this person is very annoying, there is no politeness at all, Shaoju who likes it or not, has not spoken yet, what are you doing in such a hurry? So without thinking about it, he spoke, "What I send is calligraphy and painting, and only what is drawn on paper is calligraphy and painting?" ”

"My cousin said it very well! Some people are frogs at the bottom of the well and dare to look down on others, and they don't look at it, aren't the calligraphy and paintings sent by the queen mother embroidered on the cloth? Ignorance is not a sin, but it is not very good-looking to come out and lose face......" Before Yun Ting's words fell, she heard a clear voice coming from a distance.