Before the end of the year, Jia Lian and his wife had packed their things, prepared their carriages and horses, and prepared to go to Shunning Mansion to take up their posts. Before leaving, I came to thank Lin Ruhai and say goodbye.

Lin Qingyun saw Wang Xifeng, who was still dressed with a radiant and bright temperament, and gave several things, including an ancient painting, which Daiyu fell in love with at a glance. Although Qingyun likes Wang Xifeng's cool and capable, she and Daiyu are still girls who have not left the pavilion, and many things are not easy to say, so they can only pick up some ordinary words, and they look forward to Wang Xifeng going to give birth to a son. For everyone in this era, it is too difficult to live without a son, not to mention that Wang Xifeng is a strong person, and he will definitely not tolerate a concubine.

Thinking of the family style of the Zhuang family, I couldn't help but glance at Daiyu, if Daiyu can marry the Zhuang family, it will be a blessing.

Seeing off Jia Lian and his wife, Daiyu sat there strangely: "Okay, why did you think of holding a lantern banquet in the palace?" It's a pity that my sister hasn't been filial yet, so it's boring for me to blame alone. ”

It happened to be the queen's decree this morning, and a lantern banquet was held in the fifteenth palace of the first month, and the daughters of officials above the fourth grade could enter the palace to participate. Whenever there is a move in the palace, there is a lot of speculation outside the palace, and many people guess that this move in the palace is for the princes and clans to see each other's relatives, and the first one is the pure prince who has not yet discussed his relatives.

Daiyu naturally knew it, and couldn't help but feel bored.

Qingyun smiled narrowly: "You just have to go and see the lanterns, even if I don't have filial piety, I can't go, you can be with a few girls from the Zhuang family." "After all, she didn't succeed to the Lin family, she was just a righteous daughter, and she was still a talented daughter, where could she enter the palace. Suddenly, he remembered that there were also a few girls in the Jia family, so he said: "The will says that the daughter of the official family above the fourth grade, will the girl of the Jia family go?" ”

If you look at the door, it is the first of the national government, if you talk about the official position of the father, the second room Jia Zheng is only a five-grade, and the family is full of concubines.

Daiyu was slightly stunned: "I will go." At the beginning, the eldest cousin entered the palace in the name of the concubine of the Guogong Mansion. ”

Qingyun has little interest in entering the palace to see the lanterns, no matter how exquisite and luxurious the lights in the palace are, they are not as lively as the markets outside. Moreover, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, her library still has to organize a reading activity, and there are only two or three days left, so she has to quickly write out the plan and hand it over to Ye Song, and she also has to go to the church. She and Father Anderson were also friends, and a few years ago she had made a special acquaintance with Father Guò through a relationship with Father Guò, and asked the other party's merchant ship to bring a few sets of oil paints and a few practical medicines, and of course, books were also indispensable.

Seeing that she was writing and drawing from time to time, Daiyu leaned over to take a look, and said in surprise: "Sister is really willing." Although those Western knick-knacks and Western paintings are not expensive, they are extremely rare, and my sister actually took them out to make colorful heads. This must be the first in Beijing, and the business in my sister's library must be lively. ”

"But they all came by merchant ships, and it looks like a novelty." Lin Qingyun is very satisfied with the development of the bookstore, the money on books is limited, and most of it is in the private room and pastry fees, and the people who can afford the private room are not bad for money, so her book is quite profitable.

In fact, if you want to make money, it is most profitable to ship things to Europe, but she has no ship and no capital, and she is afraid that she will cause trouble for Lin Ruhai in the future, so she stopped thinking early. As a woman, there are too many constraints, she is not Xue Baochai of the imperial business, not to mention, Xue Baochai is still envious of her being able to take advantage of the official background.

Xue Baochai was not as leisurely as her at this time, returned to Lixiangyuan from Rongxi Hall, sent Ying'er back, and finally couldn't help shedding tears. At this time, Aunt Xue came in, and when she saw her appearance, she couldn't help but be sad for some reason.

"My son's life is hard, and I blame your unsuccessful brother, if he hadn't done anything wrong in the capital, how could my son have been screened out. If I can enter the palace, by my son's countenance......"

"Mom, don't talk about it." Xue Baochai had a calm temperament in the end, quickly calmed down, wiped away his tears and said: "You don't have to mention this matter in the future, otherwise it will be even more interesting if it spreads." ”

Aunt Xue sighed twice and had to do it, and remembered her previous calculations, so she said to her: "Now that the palace is not good, you are getting older, and you should also consider the major events of your life." Previously, your aunt valued you and liked you to be dignified and calm, and your aunt was a shrewd person, only Baoyu had a son, and the old lady loved you very much, but I was afraid that in the future, this Rongguo Mansion would ......"

"Mom! You tell me what to do. Xue Baochai blushed, turned his head slightly sideways and asked as if unintentionally: "I went over there before, and I saw the girls being hot, as if they were talking about the will of the palace." Isn't it that Niangniang has something to say? ”

"I was about to tell you. Someone from the palace passed the decree, but all the daughters of officials above the fourth grade, regardless of their concubines, can enter the palace on the fifteenth day of the first month to participate in the lantern banquet. It is said that this is to pick people for the prince's clan, the old lady over there is asking people to open the box to find clothes and jewelry, and ask the grandmother to teach a few girls the rules of entering the palace, although they are all concubines, but if the appearance of the character enters the eyes of the nobles, it is not difficult to enter the prince's mansion to be a concubine, after all, the princess's mansion. Aunt Xue stroked Baochai's face and tried to say, "Such a rare opportunity, I'm afraid that if I miss this time, I'm afraid there will be no more, so it's better for me to go to your aunt and let you go with you." ”

Xue Baochai shook his head no matter how excited he was, endured the bitterness in his eyes, and said with a forced smile: "Mom, I'm talking nonsense, what kind of person am I?" Moreover, such a major event as entering the palace must be censored, and even if you follow it, you can't enter the palace gate, and it will make people laugh in vain. ”

Aunt Xue didn't know, she just felt sorry for her daughter.

Aunt Xue took out the golden lock from the cage on the side, looked at the two sentences embedded on it, "never leave it, and the age will continue forever", and then personally put it on Baochai's neck: "Good boy, you will wear this golden lock well in the future, the monk's words will not be wrong." ”

Baochai touched the golden lock, remembered Hengduan's dream of entering the palace, and nodded silently.

In the blink of an eye, the evening breeze is extremely cool, but the lights are bright everywhere in the capital, which is very lively. Lin Ruhai led Daiyu to the palace for a banquet, Mama Zhou Zijuan followed, and Lin Qingyun took another car and took someone to the Xiangwen Building. Ye Song had already received the news and asked his daughter-in-law to wait at the back door, and when she saw her coming, Ye Song's daughter-in-law hurriedly welcomed her into the house that had been cleaned up a long time ago.

"Big girl drinking tea." A woman with a beautiful and gentle face brought tea. This person was specially found by Lin Qingyun, who used to cook tea in the teahouse, but later his master offended people, and she also had nowhere to stay, if it weren't for Lin Qingyun, I was afraid that this Sun Mei would have entered those unclean places earlier. Sun Mei signed the death deed at the beginning, Lin Qingyun was afraid that the other party would make some trouble, but fortunately, after a period of observation, Sun Mei was very honest and never stepped out of the small courtyard according to the instructions.

Lin Qingyun took two sips of hot tea soup and asked, "What's going on ahead?" ”

Ye Song's daughter-in-law replied with a smile on her face: "In the end, it is the eldest girl's trick, the strings of lanterns were hung out as soon as the sky was blackened, and the lantern riddles on them were all asked by the regular customers in the store." And according to the instructions of the eldest girl, a large table was set up in the middle of the shop, and all the heads of various colors were placed one by one, but no one who passed by was not impressed. Half an hour ago, the riddle just started, the front of the store was lively, the store plus the shopkeeper was only three people, not enough at all, fortunately recruited two Mali boys, barely able to cope with it. ”

"Where's the Yama?" Lin Qingyun asked again.

"The private room has long been full, and according to what the eldest girl said, there are indeed many female dependents. According to the instructions of the eldest girl, I went to tell it myself, but if the female dependent guessed the lantern riddle hanging on the second floor, I gave her a small portrait of a Western oil painting. ”

"Well, you keep an eye on it, don't go out on a business cuò, I'll go out for a while and come back." Lin Qingyun was relieved when she saw that everything was in order, and she planned to take advantage of the rare opportunity to go out to see the lanterns.

As for painting small portraits of female dependents, she has another purpose.

Now the book building is on the right track, but there are always regrets, the basic people who come to the book building are men, although Daiyu has the heart to go shopping, but she is afraid of hitting people. Moreover, she is a boss who hides and tucks it every time she comes, which is really inconvenient. She was interested in building another place next to it, similar to a private club, for women. Wouldn't it be very comfortable for girls to drink tea or compose poems, make friends or twos, and have like-minded people?

Considering the ancient rules, this must be controversial and difficult to do, and the most important thing is to ensure safety. So she has been planning in her heart, and she has never resorted to words, and even Daiyu doesn't know.

She felt that she had to have a certain reputation before she could do it, and she couldn't rush everything.

put on a hat, followed by two maids and two guards out of the back door of the small courtyard. Walking out of the alley, you will be greeted by a noisy and bright street, all the shops are full of lanterns of all kinds, men and women are constantly flowing, children are laughing and chasing, if it were not for the fact that most of the women wear drapery and scarves, it should be no different from modern times. In ancient times, the New Year's Festival was very lively, and the discipline of women on this day was not so strict, and there were many talented and beautiful people who became married during the festival and achieved good couples, which was also passed down as a beautiful talk.

Lin Qingyun said that he was officially filial piety in February, and it stands to reason that he shouldn't have come out to join in the excitement, but he just went to the library and couldn't hold back the excitement outside, and planned to go back again.

Passing by a small stall, I saw that the stall owner's lantern was really exquisite, so I bought one and carried it in my hand. The palm-sized pink lotus lantern also has a poem written on it: The east wind blooms thousands of trees at night, and it blows down, and the stars are like rain. BMW carved cars are full of incense, the sound of the phoenix flute moves, the pot light turns, and the fish and dragon dance all night. The moth snow willow is golden, and the smile is full of dark fragrance. The crowd looked for him thousands of times, and suddenly looked back, but the man was there, and the lights were dim.

Lin Qingyun really likes this poem, and it is appropriate for the situation, while playing and walking to the river, there are dragon dances on both sides of the riverbank, and the river lanterns are lit, which is even more interesting.

As soon as I got onto the stone bridge, I was confronted by Father Anderson, followed by two young disciples, holding a printed Bible chapter in their hands. It seems that the priest is using this lively festival to preach Christianity to passers-by, but the effect should not be very good, but for the priest it is important to preach the doctrine, not the result.

"Father Anderson." Lin Qingyun took the initiative to step forward.

"Oh, Miss Lin." Anderson explained a few words to the two disciples behind him, and the two went elsewhere. The priest had a few words with Lin Qingyun, and suddenly mentioned: "Two days ago, Mr. Lawrence came to me, saying that he wanted to ask Miss Lin to translate a few books. Mr. Lawrence also prepared a gift for Miss Lin, does Miss Lin have time to pick it up now? ”

"Okay." Lin Qingjun had also heard Anderson mention the translation of books earlier, but he didn't take it to heart, Lawrence is worthy of being a businessman, and it is estimated that he has inquired about the market in this area when he returned to China, and he came to her because he thought it was profitable. Although she had a relationship with Lawrence, she did not identify herself, and even Father Anderson did not know much about her background.

Tonight, there were many lanterns hanging outside the church, and many people inside the church came to see the novelty, and Father Anderson brought her a richly decorated jewelry box. Lin Qingyun took it and opened it, but saw that it was a delicately shaped butterfly brooch, full of fine diamonds, and a thin silver chain underneath, which could be strung on top to make a necklace and wear. In addition, there is a pair of ruby rings, although the gemstone particles are not large, but the texture is very even, and the surrounding is dotted with a circle of small diamonds, which is already valuable as a gift.

The businessman can't afford to be profitable, let alone Lawrence, I'm afraid that the other party will guess her family background and think that it will be good to make friends. This is the norm for businessmen, and only by being able to get the protection of the local magnates can they do business better, and although Lawrence is shrewd, his character is not too flawed, and he has a lot of times when he entrusts him, so he takes things away, and then returns a similar gift in a few days.

"Here's the book list." Father Anderson handed over a piece of paper with a list of ten books, all of which were widely disseminated popular stories.

Lin Qingyun put away the book list, and caught a glimpse of the bookstore in the other courtyard with the lights on, so he had the heart to choose a book to read. Seeing that there were many people in the church, he did not let the priest accompany him, and led the two girls in.

The library was quiet, there seemed to be no one, and she let the girls stay outside, which also meant guarding the door. Once inside, I went straight to the last row of bookshelves, where there were several music books, the names of which were not very familiar, but Bach knew it. When I really found Bach's music collection and opened it, I found that I didn't understand music theory and didn't have an instrument to play, and I was a little lost in my heart for a while.

Although she was not in good health in modern times, she still misses that kind of free and easy life.

Putting the book back on the shelf, she was about to leave, when out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a person sitting in the corner, which startled her. But then she felt that the man was a little familiar, Prince Chun? She didn't see the other party's appearance during that encounter, but the body shape was very similar, and the number of people she could meet here was limited. I saw him sitting quietly in the corner, with his back against the wall, his pale face half-hidden in the light, his eyes tightly closed, his body motionless, not like he was asleep, but like ......

It is rumored that Prince Chun is very weak, so something will not really happen, right?

Lin Qingyun didn't see the attendants, and there were no guards guarding the door when she came in, so it was troublesome, she didn't dare to approach at all, and planned to hurry up to find the priest.

"Help me......" Before she could turn around, a plea cry as low as a mosquito floated into her ears, successfully stopping her steps. Looking back, the other party's eyes moved but still couldn't open them, but they heard her footsteps. Presumably his will to survive is very strong, she has experienced this experience, even if fate wants to drag her into the dark, she has always been unwilling to break free, it is really painful.

Lin Qingyun gritted her teeth and ran away quickly.

Tu Yan listened to the footsteps and left, the corners of his mouth flashed with a touch of self-deprecation, and he ...... in his heart In the end, there is some disappointment. Feeling that the body temperature on his body was losing little by little, even his heartbeat seemed to stop, and he gave up struggling again. The imperial doctor said that he would live for five years at most, but it was just an optimistic guess, everyone knew that he would die at any time, otherwise the queen mother would be in such a hurry to choose a concubine for him. This is a church, and it is not bad to die in a church, and after death, I will go to see what the paradise of Westerners is like.

At this time, someone approached, and he really couldn't feel it, until his mouth was filled with warm water.

Tu Yan instinctively reached out and grabbed something, as if he was holding something, he wanted to open his eyes but couldn't, and only vaguely saw the figure of a woman.

It turned out that she didn't leave, and she was so bold.

Lin Qingyun finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he drank water and fell asleep completely. Just now, his heart relented, so he took a golden lotus seed and crushed it into powder, sprinkled a little bit in the water and fed it to Tu Yan. There have been examples of the Lin family's father and daughter, and she knows that this amount is not enough to completely heal his body, but it can save his life. Seeing that he pulled the purse on his waist in his hand and wanted to get it back, he clutched it very tightly, and heard the girl urging outside, so he had to leave like this.

Father Anderson then rushed over and promised to keep Lin Qingyun secret and not to reveal what happened to her. As for how Tu Yan could be here alone, the priest didn't know.