Leaving southern Yunnan, Lin Qingyun chose to visit Shudi.

At this time, it is already in the winter month, the weather is getting colder and colder, there are winds and snow blocking the road from time to time, and the carriages and horses are equipped with anti-slip, and they are walking more and more slowly. The place bordering Shu and southern Yunnan is Ningyuan Mansion, seeing that it is really difficult to hurry, and although Tu Yan's body has improved greatly compared to the past, he is still a little afraid of the cold, so Lin Qingyun chose to stop in Ningyuan Mansion.

"I walked for a month to get here, and it's also a month, so let's celebrate the New Year here. When the weather is warm and the weather is warm, I can't delay the time to return to Beijing. Lin Qingyun said.

"It's up to you." Tu Yan made a handshake shopkeeper.

So after settling in the Shunning Mansion Hotel, Lin Qingjun began to be busy inside and out. A lot of small things have been added to the hotel, and it starts to look like a normal home, instead of packing up things and leaving every three or five days. In addition, they assigned people one by one to do various things, such as buying New Year's goods, cutting clothes and gesticulating with people, and the guards in the house arranged people to take shifts, as for the New Year's gifts, for convenience, they were sent together by boat more than half a month ago.

In addition, Lin Qingjun hired a local chef to make some local home-cooked food instead of cooking those dishes. The people here prefer rice noodles to noodles, and the taste is authentic, breakfast is rice noodles for several days, Tu Yan also ate twice, his taste is light, the soup is delicious, Lin Qingyun tasted all kinds of flavors.

The days are dull, and it is Chinese New Year's Eve.

This morning, Lin Qingjun checked the menu of the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner for the last time, and inadvertently looked up, but found that the person who handed over the list was Acacia, and asked casually: "What about the egret?" Didn't you just stay here. ”

Acacia's eyes flashed slightly, and she replied, "It seems that someone is looking for her outside." Is the princess going to call her? ”

"No, it's fine." Lin Qingyun seemed to be a little nervous when she saw Acacia, and she was inexplicably a little concerned, after all, Egret had been with her for several years, so what did she really need to hide? But now it's obvious that something is hidden from her, and Acacia is also aware. After thinking about it for a long time, he couldn't think of anything that the egret could do, so he simply asked Acacia directly: "Who is looking for her?" ”

I didn't know that Acacia didn't say anything for a long time.

"What's wrong? What can't be said? The more this was the case, the more Lin Qingyun cared, until she saw that Acacia's nervous face turned white, and then she couldn't bear to smile and said: "That's it, I'm just asking, as if I'm torturing you." Okay, I won't ask, who can have no secrets. ”

Acacia breathed a sigh of relief and didn't dare to answer.

I didn't know that it didn't take much effort, but the egret came back, but it was a puff to the ground and knelt down, which scared Lin Qingyun a lot.

"What are you doing here?" Lin Qingyun hurriedly asked her to get up.

The egret shook his head, looked at the acacia and the others left and right, blushing and silent. Acacia was in the know, so he led the lark thrush out. Only then did the egret ask for the guilt: "The princess forgives the sin, the slave and maid made a mistake, please deal with it with the princess." ”

This posture ......

Lin Qingyun observed the words and looks, guessed a few points, and couldn't help laughing: "Then tell me, what mistakes did you make." ”

The egret was so nervous that she ignored the joke in her tone, so that her face turned pale, and her lips trembled and she couldn't speak for a long time.

Lin Qingyun hurriedly said: "What are you afraid of." I asked directly, who is he? You are my person, and when I first entered the palace, I said that in the future, whether you stay in the palace to marry someone or marry outside, I will be the master for you. ”

The egret naturally remembers, otherwise he would not let himself do some outrageous behavior, but this kind of thing is not allowed by everyone, and the maid's life has always been decided by the master, unless the master sends a message to allow their parents to do their own thing. At this time, seeing that the princess was not to blame, and hindered the girl's thin skin, she coaxed her face to spit out a name like a mosquito: "Fang Shan." ”

"Fang Shan?" I seem to have heard the name somewhere, but I can't remember it for a while.

With the beginning, the later words are much easier. Bai Lu guessed that she was not a match for her name, so he explained: "He is the distant nephew of the chief steward of the house, and this time he came out to serve, mainly in charge of chariots, horses and other things." The princess had seen him, but she couldn't remember his name. ”

"You're talking about the young man who often runs errands with Grandpa Le?" Lin Qingyun remembered that that person was tall, good-looking, and said that he was doing things properly. I heard that Father-in-law Le mentioned this person, he is diligent and down-to-earth, and he has been in the palace for five years, and he plans to open his own shop in a year or two to do business, and he will enter the palace to find an errand through the relationship of Fang Da Steward, which is also to save capital.

There is a long history of major affairs in the palace, and they are usually taken care of by two stewards every day, of course, they are called the chief steward and the second steward in the palace, in fact, these two people are completely different from the housekeepers in the ordinary family, they are of grade, and not low, but four grades. Although Fang Shan and Fang Da Steward are far away, but seeing that he is down-to-earth and diligent, and he is also a little clever, Fang Da Steward found an errand for him, and he has been a lot more reliable in a few years, and this time the prince and princess traveled, so he was arranged.

"How are you ......" Lin Qingyun was surprised and almost asked about the process of the two getting to know each other, seeing that the egret's face was red and almost dripping blood, he could only give up. I know about it. Although you choose it yourself, I have to look him up, and if it's good, I'll make the decision for you. ”

"Princess Xie." The egret was very shy, kowtowed, and said: "Although the slave maid is interested in him, he does not dare to cross the rules, and he usually does not even dare to send things with private belongings." The slave maid is eighteen this year, and the girls who have always been close to each family are twenty-five before they are released, although the princess treats her subordinates well, but it is not good to set an example for this kind of thing, and if the slave and maid go, there will be a shortage of people around the princess, and it will be difficult to pick the right one for a while. The slave and maid were cheeky and willing to ask the princess to allow the slave and maid to stay for two more years, and when the two girls were selected to be well conditioned, the princess had a good call, and it was not too late for the slave and maid to go again. ”

The maids were released in twenty-five directions to match people, which was the practice of each family in the palace. Aside from the other factors, it is not easy to cultivate a good girl, if you go out this year, she will marry next year, where will there be henchmen to rely on by the master's side?

"It's not that they all go out until twenty-five, if there are good ones, you have to take the opportunity to seize them, and I still have lovesickness around me, and I don't have to match all four. I know about you, I have to inquire about Fang Shan first, if he is really good, I will make decisions for you. Although Lin Qingyun is not strict that the maids around him must stay old enough, and it is not necessary to have a group of people to serve, but the egret is different, and it is really inconvenient to go suddenly.

She calculated in her mind that the egret was four years older than her, the acacia was three years older than her, and the lark thrush was also fifteen years old this year. Earlier, she didn't care about this aspect, only thinking that they were not yet old, and even if they were released in advance, it was over twenty, but she didn't expect that the egret would have a crush early. It is to stay for another two years, at the age of twenty, give a grace and go out, even if you can continue to stay by your side in the future, you can't control the things in the room, not to mention that according to what Father-in-law Le said, that Fangshan wants to open a shop outside to do business, and the egret will naturally follow.

If the egret is gone, only Acacia can be on top, but Acacia is not very suitable.

Acacia is too quiet, usually sitting in the house doing needlework, rarely walking outside, and words are not as good as egrets. The side is good conditioning, but the temperament is difficult to change. The rest of the lark thrushes are all lively and active, although they are both big girls, they are still worse. Moreover, Egret has a special errand, which is the one closest to her, and she will never choose a new person to come in, only to see how the lovesickness has been in the past two years.

The night has just darkened, and the lights in the hotel are all on the ground.

Lin Qingyun discussed with Tu Yan, in previous years, every time the New Year was celebrated, there was a large group of people in the palace, and there was enough trouble, but this year, the two of them were happy outside, so they just wanted to be quiet. The banquet is placed in the big flower hall of the garden, facing a pond, there are a few residual lotuses in the pond, and the surrounding pavilions and rockeries are hung with beautiful palace lamps, which is quite poetic.

The winter in Ningyuan Mansion is not very cold, at least it does not snow, there are two smoke cages in the corner of the big flower hall, the doors and windows are not closed, and I don't feel cold when I sit inside. didn't let the maids wait, and the other two seats were placed not far from the flower hall, and the maids and wives were lively there.

What was prepared at the table was rice wine, a pot of boiling hot, pouring a glass for each other, not listening to the play, not entertaining, just the two of them talking about some homely things, talking about what they had seen and heard along the way, it was really a unique taste.

Seeing that he was about to pour wine again, Lin Qingyun stretched out his hand and held down the silver kettle: "You have already drunk three cups, you can't drink any more, you will get drunk if you drink again." ”

Tu Yan pushed her hand away and smiled: "Today is different, today is the New Year." Besides, my body has been much stronger in the past six months, and I have fewer diseases, although I don't drink very well, but I can't get drunk after drinking two more glasses of rice wine. Saying that, he poured another cup for her: "It's better for Wei Qing to let go and drink two glasses with me, it's rare that the two of us will be quiet this year." ”

"You're reasonable." Hearing this, Lin Qingyun no longer stopped it.

The golden lotus seed powder has been used up, and the rest can only wait for the body to recover slowly, and he has indeed rarely gotten sick along the way. Looking at Tu Yan now, compared with a year ago, the changes are not small, even if he looks a little sick and weak on the outside, he is actually no different from ordinary people on the inside.

Relying on the amount of wine is better than Tu Yan, she opened a few glasses, and Tu Yan was very interested, ordered someone to take the hole flute, and the pond standing in the courtyard blew a "Phoenix Seeking Phoenix".

Lin Qingyun listened to Xiao Sheng, she already felt a little drunk, and suddenly saw Tu Yan walking up to her and asking her if she was drunk, she nodded, and the words in her mouth were slightly vague: "Well, my head is a little dizzy, I have to let the egret cook the sobering soup." ”

Tu Yan held her, and the light shone into her eyes, like thousands of stars in it.

Suddenly, Lin Qingyun was startled, and the other party had already touched it. In a daze, she didn't know when she returned to her room, thinking that she would lose sleep, but in fact she fell asleep quickly, and slept soundly.

As soon as the year is over, wait until after the Lantern Festival, and then continue to set off.

In April, the two had traveled to Shanxi, but suddenly got the news of the death of Concubine Zhen Gui. Not to mention Lin Qingyun, even Tu Yan, who always pays attention to the news in Beijing, was taken aback, not to mention the decree issued by the palace: all the families of the lord are not allowed to feast and music for a year, and the common people are not allowed to marry in March. That's a lot of specs!

Tu Yan was not sure for a while, so he stayed in place for the time being, ordered someone to inquire about the news in Beijing, and only continued to set off half a month later. Tu Yan was naturally reluctant to let Concubine Zhen Gui enter the court, and now that the two of them were outside, they simply walked slowly and did not enter Beijing until the beginning of June.

When the city gate appeared in front of him, Tu Yan sighed: "I thought that you would have to do it well on your birthday this year, but I didn't know that I would encounter this incident." ”

Originally, this year was not only the birthday of Lin Qingyun and Lu, but also the day of the two of them having a round house, but because of the death of Concubine Zhen Gui, the Emperor Taishang promulgated that decree again, which is equivalent to postponing the day of the round house for a year.

This matter is not only unhappy in vain, but even more unhappy is the queen. The queen's biggest wish at first was the health of Tu Yan, but it is normal for a daughter-in-law to want to hold her grandson.

"Mother, queen mother, the prince and the princess are back." Tattoo Xin came in with a smile on his face.

"Arrived?" The queen's face was full of joy.

"The prince and the princess have already entered the palace." As he was talking, a little eunuch came to pass the word, and after hearing it, Wenxin said: "Queen Mother, the little eunuch just got the news, the emperor left the prince, and the princess is coming." ”

"The seventh child is married, and he is still as willful as before, he can't come back from the last excerpt, the palace is worried about him, how can the emperor not be worried. He must be training him. The queen complained half-truths and half-truths in her mouth, but she guessed a few points in her heart, and she was relieved for a while. In the end, her son was angry, and the emperor didn't really give up on the seventh.

When Lin Qingyun arrived at Fengyi Palace, she sat down, and the queen couldn't wait to ask about their diet and daily life outside, and asked about Tu Yan's physical condition. No matter how detailed the letter is, it is not as down-to-earth as it is in person. Lin Qingyun answered them one by one, and sent the things prepared before, indicating which one was specially chosen by Tu Yan for the queen, which made the queen laugh.

Half an hour later, Tu Yan came, and the queen took his hand and looked at him for a long time, and her eyes were red.

Tu Yan was wearing a dragon stone blue court uniform, without the previous pale and sickly color, and his handsome face had a noble temperament, which made people happy. The queen was almost desperate in the past, and she never dared to dream that her son would recover as usual one day, but now she looked at it, although she was slightly tired, she was better than when she left Beijing, and even her face had some flesh.

It took a long time for the queen to calm down, and she said to Lin Qingyun gratefully and gratefully: "You are really good, you take good care of the prince very well." ”

"The queen mother is serious, it is my duty to take care of the prince, and I should not be praised by the queen mother." Lin Qingjun replied humbly.

"I know all your benefits." The queen clapped her hand and restored the dignity of the mother's world. dismissed the idle palace people, and said to the two of them: "You all know about Concubine Zhen Gui, alas, who would have thought that Concubine Zhen Gui has always been healthy, but suddenly it will be bad." On weekdays, the Emperor Taishang attaches great importance to Concubine Zhen Gui, you also know that since the death of Concubine Zhen Gui, the Emperor Taishang was overly sad, and his earlier condition suddenly deteriorated. ”

The two of them should have heard the meaning of the queen's words.

After two more gossips, the queen left the two to have dinner in the palace and did not return to the house until the afternoon.

The palace began to clean again a few days ago when they got the news, and now that the two of them have returned, they have to re-install utensils everywhere in the house, laying bedding and pillows. The two of them rushed to the palace to ask for peace when they returned to the house just to bathe and change their clothes, and when they came back to the mansion, they were all packed, and they were tired for a long time, Lin Qingyun didn't let him send it, and they went back to the courtyard.

"Back to the princess, everything is cleaned up." Zhang Bao replied.

"Say hello to the princess." The maids and ladies in the vine courtyard all gathered around to pay respects.

Lin Qingyun accepted the gift, released the reward, and ordered them to disperse.

Now it is June, the weather is hot, wearing a court uniform is really hot, I took a bath again, changed into homely clothes, and took a nap on the couch.

Early the next morning, Lin Qingyun relieved his spirits and counted all the Tuyi things he bought in the south one by one. There are also the scenery along the way that she painted, which has saved ten books, stacked up to half a person's height, which is the thing she attaches the most importance to, because she thought that a few days to prepare a banquet for the sisters of the family, that day must be to enjoy the paintings, so she was not in a hurry to save it in the Chang Huan Pavilion, and temporarily put it in the small study on the other side of her bedroom.

Prince Chun's return to Beijing is a major event, and everyone naturally knows about it, but it is ordinary but not easy to come to the door. Several sisters received the things and a post, and they all hurriedly replied, saying that the day would come.

Lin Qingyun was arranging a flower-viewing banquet when she suddenly saw Lu Luo coming.

"Princess Qiyu, the prince is a little uncomfortable, and he has gone to ask for a doctor."

"How uncomfortable? Isn't it good to wake up early? Lin Qingyun hurriedly dropped the hand in his hand and hurriedly walked towards Zhuyunju.

"Don't worry, princess, the prince probably has a bad appetite." Midori was busy holding her up.

I entered Zhuyunju all the way, but I saw Tu Yan sitting on a bamboo chair under the porch reading a book, and his face was really not very good. Immediately walked over and took his hand away: "Isn't it uncomfortable?" What's uncomfortable? ”

"It's probably some heat stroke, so it's okay." The so-called long-term illness becomes a good doctor, although Tu Yan can't be a doctor, but since he was a child, he has been seeing a doctor for more than ten years, and he knows what the disease is as soon as many symptoms appear. In previous years, heat stroke when it was hot and wind chill when it was cold, was a common occurrence for him.

"Go to the house and lie down, the wind outside is also hot, and the wind blows too much, and the more it blows, the more unenergetic." Lin Qingyun had a heat stroke last year, and he knew that heat stroke was not comfortable, and when he saw him so bland, he couldn't help but feel sour.

"You know, I'm not very sick now." Tu Yan saw that she was worried, and there were words to comfort her.

"If a person eats grains, there is no one who does not get sick, and there is nothing to do with the side, even if the gods come to the mortal world and get stained with red dust, they will also get sick." Lin Qingyun invited him back to the room and added an ice basin in the corner of the room.

After the imperial doctor came to diagnose and treat, it was indeed heat stroke, and he was not strict, so he ordered the kitchen to send the prepared heat-relieving soup. Lin Qingyun served him to eat, rinsed his mouth again, and let him lie down.

"Today is your birthday." Tu Yan sighed, always feeling very pity.

"If you don't want to go, you can have a good time for me this time next year."

"Next June, the sky will be different." A pun on the vain.

Lin Qingyun smiled: "It's always you and I'm still here." ”

Three days later, the guests invited by Lin Qingyun all arrived: Daiyu, An Le, Jia Sanchun, Baochai, Xiangyun, Zhuang Jia, and Zhuang Shiyu, who was married. Zhuang Shiyu just gave birth in April and is a daughter, and the Yang family is not dissatisfied and still likes it very much.

The sisters were very happy to reunite, and asked her what they had seen on the road, and Lin Qingyun took out a picture album to show them. There are pictures and words in this album, but the handwriting is hers, after all, the sisters have not come out of the cabinet, and it is not good to openly appreciate the words of foreign men. Inevitably, it spread out and caused some bad rumors, so I simply didn't take those out.

"I heard that the princess has met a lot of foreigners in the south, but are there any foreign beauties?" Shi Xiangyun asked suddenly.

"Naturally." Lin Qingyun took another booklet, which was full of characters, turned out a few pages and looked at them, and the paintings were all foreign women with different styles. "They are all wives or sisters of foreign merchant ships, and this is a waitress in a coffee shop," she said...... It's like the welcome of our teahouse here. As soon as this parable was uttered, I laughed.

"I really envy the princess, she can go to so many places." The corners of Shi Xiangyun's mouth were straight, and what he thought of and said what he said may not be what others thought in their hearts.

On the side, Daiyu covered her mouth with a fan and smiled: "Yun girl, why do you have to envy your sister, someone will take you there." ”

"Who? Who took Sister Yun there? Last year, Shi Houye moved to other provinces, and Sister Yun didn't go with him. Xichun didn't realize it for a while, and the question in her mouth just came out, but she saw that the sisters were all snickering.

Zhuang Shixiang smiled: "Who did the fourth girl say? Of course, it is the future brother-in-law of Yun! ”

"Good! Come and make fun of me! Shi Xiangyun blushed, stomped his feet in shame, turned his head and ran towards Daiyu, shouting: "Sister Lin is the worst, you just laugh at me, it can be seen that you also think about Brother-in-law Lin in your heart." ”

"Sister save me." Daiyu was also ashamed, and hurriedly hid behind Lin Qingyun to beg for mercy: "Sister Yun, spare me, don't dare again." ”

In normal times, Shi Xiangyun would not be willing to spare her, but he was not embarrassed to make trouble in front of Lin Qingyun.

Watching them frolic and joking, there were only two people with bitter eyes, one was Baochai and the other was Tanchun. Needless to say, Baochai has been hung on the golden and jade relationship, and he can't advance or retreat, and now he is sixteen years old, but there has been no movement in his family. Although Tanchun is smaller, she has become more worried about her family affairs since Yingchun has decided to do so. In the past, the eldest man turned a blind eye to Yingchun, and Yingchun was a wooden and unpleasant person, but now he said such a good family thing. Tanchun is happy to welcome the spring, but he is worried about his future for life, a girl can't choose from a background, and the only thing to fight for is to get married. I thought that Mrs. Wang would give herself a future for the sake of her filial piety for many years, who knows......

Thinking of what I overheard Yu Chuan saying to someone that day, my heart couldn't help but be cold.

"The third girl is also pitiful, although she is excellent, she tries her best to please her wife, but it is not out of her wife's belly. The second girl said that she was pro, and it stands to reason that it should be the third girl, and several matchmakers came to the door to ask, and the old lady felt good, and the wife said that the third girl was still young and was not in a hurry to settle down, and the brother hadn't said kiss yet. He also said that the master was not there, and he didn't dare to make decisions without permission......"

At that time, Tanchun had a white face, and returned to Qiushuangzhai like stepping on cotton.

Counting that she is thirteen this year, it is a good age to talk about her relatives, after all, it takes two or three years from mentioning family affairs to negotiating marriage. Of course, even if it is a year or two late, it is nothing, some families are reluctant to talk about their daughters later, but she heard terrible information from what words, Mrs. Wang deliberately pressed her family affairs, but she never considered her future plans.

Lin Qingyun noticed the gloom of Tanchun, and she could probably guess what was going on, but at this time, she couldn't do anything about the internal affairs of the Jia family. Mrs. Wang is Tanchun's mother-in-law, if Mrs. Wang is unwilling, even if she, the princess, goes to the matchmaker, the other party will still find an excuse to refuse.