Xiao Yiran, who had been in the Prime Minister's Mansion, didn't know that Qingwen and Musk Yue were trying to save themselves. When he first came to the Prime Minister's Mansion for a period of time, Xiao Yiran lived a fairly leisurely life, eating, sleeping, reading, and practicing. Except for Xiaomei, the maid sent by the Prime Minister to serve him, he hardly saw anyone else. And Xiaomei Xu was instructed, if Xiao Yiran hadn't asked her, she would never take the initiative to speak.

It's just that the days of purity, Xiao Yiran only ended after five or six days. First of all, Hu Weiyong came to sit with Xiao Yiran for a while, and did not mention the reconstruction of the Prime Minister's Mansion, but chatted casually. Xiao Yiran also admitted that Hu Weiyong is a well-informed person, whether it is astronomy and geography, or history and politics, he can talk about the Tao. Now that he knows Hu Weiyong's intentions, Xiao Yiran doesn't say much, most of the time Hu Weiyong is talking alone. Occasionally, Hu Weiyong will also talk to Xiao Yiran about some topics about Zhu Di, and Xiao Yiran tells the truth, after all, he has not had much contact with Zhu Di. Seeing that Hu Weiyong even knew that Yiranju was given by Zhu Di, of course Xiao Yiran had nothing to hide.

Since the last time he overheard the conversation between Hu Weiyong, Chen Ning, and Tu Jie, Xiao Yiran learned that Zhu Di had plans to marry him as a concubine, and he had already decided in his heart that he must stay away from Zhu Di in the future. If he coveted Zhu Di's wealth and power, I am afraid that in the Northern Song Dynasty, he would not have avoided Zhao Heng's entanglement.

What Xiao Yiran didn't expect was that next, Hu Weiyong's children also came to meet Xiao Yiran. Especially Hu Weiyong's younger sons, among them, the youngest of Hu Weiyong's sons-in-law, only eighteen-year-old Hu Hengrui came the most diligently.

One morning, Xiao Yiran vaguely heard the sound of silk and bamboo coming from the inner house of the Prime Minister's Mansion, and guessed that there might be some happy event in the Prime Minister's Mansion, which should be a wine and singing. However, none of this has anything to do with me. After lunch, I took a break as usual and sat down at my desk to read.

At the end of the day, I suddenly heard Xiaomei, the maid outside the door, ask softly:

"The two sisters are not waiting by the old lady's side, why did they come here?"

didn't hear the answer, and then the door was pushed open, and two handsome girls dressed as girls came to the room, looked at Xiao Yiran sitting at the desk, and did not salute, but said:

"The old lady asks the young lady to go to the inner house to play the piano."

The words were filled with the word "please", but judging from the attitudes of the two, it was completely a summons. Xiao Yiran looked at the two of them, and didn't care about the arrogance of their attitudes, and thought to himself:

"It's not been long, there's no need to stiffen with them, anyway, now it's standing under someone's roof, since that's the case, it's better to deal with it."

Xiao Yiran stood up and said to the two of them flatly:

"Lead the way."

So, the two maids were in front, and Xiao Yiran followed behind, entering the prime minister's mansion for the first time. After walking for a long time, after passing through the hall and passing through the room, there is a long verandah. Although it is already known from the blueprint of the Prime Minister's Mansion that the Prime Minister's Mansion is very large, I only know how big it is when I walk through it myself. Just from the room in the west courtyard where he lived, he came to the residence of Mrs. Hu Weiyong, and walked almost two miles.

When I came to a living room, I saw a lot of people sitting down. There are men and women, old and young.

"The little woman Xiao Yiran has seen the old lady."

Xiao Yiran sat in the middle, very rich, and the gray-haired old lady curts.

"Hehe, you are Xiao Yiran, the owner of Yiranju?"

"Old lady Hui is the daughter of the people."

"Chunlan, show Miss a seat."

"Old Madam Xie."

Xiao Yiran sat down, looked at his hands on his knees, and quietly waited for their orders.

"I have long heard that Miss Xiao is extraordinary, and when I see it today, she is really a beautiful and dusty person."

"The old lady praised it falsely."

"Mother, Miss Xiao is not only beautiful, when she was in the painting boat, it was rumored that Miss Xiao was a talented woman who was proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting."

It was a beautifully dressed woman in her thirties sitting under the old lady.

"No wonder Xiangye is always on his lips, and he really loves his family."

At this time, a woman in her early thirties, who was small in appearance, had a clean face, and picturesque eyebrows and eyes, said in a cold tone. Xiao Yiran didn't know that this person was Hu Yuting's biological mother who died in a car crash, Hu Weiyong's favorite concubine Li.

"How old are you in a few years?"

"Back to the old lady, Yiran is seventeen years old."

"Oh."

Usually when people ask about the age of a girl, they will inevitably ask if there is a mother-in-law or something like that, but the old lady just said "oh" softly. Xiao Yiran secretly guessed that Hu Weiyong wanted to accept himself as a concubine, and I am afraid that the old lady already knew about it.

"Today is the old lady's 60th birthday, so I invited the young lady to come here to play the piano and celebrate the old lady's birthday."

At this time, the two maids who were standing behind the old lady and led her in lost no time in interjecting.

"Old lady, Yiran hasn't played the piano for a long time, I'm afraid my hands are raw."

"Hehe, it's okay, there are no people here who are proficient in music and rhythm, so it will trouble Miss Xiao."

"Yiran wishes the old lady a longer life than Nanshan, and happiness is like the East China Sea."

It turned out that the wine and singing in the morning was to celebrate the old lady's birthday, so Xiao Yiran had to stand up, bend his knees again, and congratulate the old lady on her birthday.

"That's it, that's it, no need to be polite. Chunlan came up with the piano. ”

After a while, the maid named Chunlan led the two little maids to carry the piano table and placed it in the center of the living room. Xiao Yiran got up and walked over, and after cleaning his hands and burning incense under Chunlan's service, he sat behind the piano table. Only then did Xiao Yiran raise his head and glance at the people in the room.

On the right hand side of the old lady are seven men, including from seventeen or eighteen to thirty-four years old, and on the right hand are female dependents. Behind the two rows of people, there were many maids.

At this time, everyone's eyes in the room were focused on Xiao Yiran. Xiao Yiran didn't feel cramped about this, after all, in the painting boat, almost **** is like this, it's just that there are fewer people.

After calming down, Xiao Yiran seriously played the piano song "Pine Crane Prolonging the Year", which is completely a piano song that is widely circulated among the people, more festive, and suitable for the occasion.

After the song was played, it attracted the praise of everyone.

"Sure enough, she is worthy of the name of a talented woman, I really don't know how Miss Xiao learned so many things at such a young age. Just this piano technique, I'm afraid that ordinary people can't compare with it in a lifetime. ”

"Mother, I heard from my father that Miss Xiao is also proficient in the science of gardening, and this is why I invited Miss to come."

The speaker was a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy sitting at the end of the row on the left.

"Rui'er, look at Miss Xiao, who is the same age as you, don't you feel ashamed?"

The old lady's tone sounded a little stern. Xiao Yiran suddenly felt that on the side of his right hand, he handed over an angry look, and without turning his head to look, Xiao Yiran could guess that it should be one of the wives and concubines of the so-called "Rui'er".

"Mother, it's not that children are not motivated, but they really have no talent for reading."

"Hmph, who reads by talent? I think that back then, the old man didn't light the lamp and boil the oil, and he endured the severe cold of Sanjiu and the torment of the scorching heat before he came to this day step by step. ”

"Mother, isn't there a prime minister in this world?"

"Hmph."

Xiao Yiran listened to them talk about him, so he stood up and saluted the old lady again.

"Old lady, the little woman retires."

"Qiu Ju, Xia He, send Miss Xiao back well."

"Yes, ma'am."

The two maids who led Xiao Yiran over turned out from behind the old lady, bent their knees slightly to Xiao Yiran, and took the lead towards the outside of the room. Xiao Yiran saw the movements of the two, and the corners of his mouth curled slightly. This is everyone's maid, like this in person, but behind it is arrogant.

Qiu Ju, Xia He sent Xiao Yiran out of the inner house, and then turned back. Xiao Yiran had to walk back alone.

The next morning, Xiao Yiran was sitting in the room and listened to Xiaomei outside the door:

"Seventh Young Master."

Immediately, the door was pushed open, and Shi Shiran, the "Rui'er" I saw in the inner house yesterday, walked in. The slight arch of his hands was regarded as a salute to Xiao Yiran, and he said:

"Miss Xiao, Hengrui happened to pass by here, so let's take a look at Miss."

"Seventh Young Master, please take a seat."

Listening to his self-proclaimed "Hengrui", it should be his name, so he also called him "Seventh Young Master" along with Xiaomei's title. Xiao Yiran knew that Hu Weiyong had a total of eight sons, and the youngest one who fell to death some time ago should be the eighth, and the seventh young master in front of him should be the youngest of Hu Weiyong's remaining sons.

"Isn't it lonely for Miss to be alone in this room?"

Xiao Yiran didn't look at Hu Hengrui, who was sitting on the side, but looked sideways at the window and said:

"It was Xiangye who arranged for the little girl to live here."

"Father, really, he's seventy or eighty, and he's still ......"

Hu Hengrui only said half of the sentence, Xiao Yiran, who already knew Hu Weiyong's intentions, of course knew what Hu Hengrui's remaining half of the sentence meant. Since Hu Hengrui came in, his eyes have never left Xiao Yiran's body, although Xiao Yiran is disgusted in his heart, he can't say it.

"Is Miss Zushang a local?"

"Yes, it's on the bank of the Qinhuai River."

"Who else is in the family?"

"Yiran's parents died one after another when he was young, and Yiran has always grown up in the painting boat."

"Why did the young lady leave the boat?"

"It's not here."

"It seems that Miss is also a caring person, and it is difficult for the woman in the painting boat to marry into a good family."

Listening to Hu Hengrui's vulgar words, Xiao Yiran stopped answering.

"I heard that Miss has extraordinary chess skills, and it just so happens that Hengrui also knows a little bit about it, I don't know if I can ask Miss for advice."

"Seventh Young Master, don't dare to ask for advice. It's just that Yiran is not in a good mood today, so let's talk to the Seventh Young Master another day. ”

There are sentences for each sentence, Hu Hengrui waited until Xiaomei came in to set up lunch, and then left happily.

Since then, Hu Hengrui has to come almost every day, which makes Xiao Yiran feel annoyed, and there is really no way not to receive him.