==Chapter 45==

Early in the morning, the eastern sky was just white, and the courtyard was busy.

The small building was brightly lit, and the maidservants came in and out, preparing their washing utensils, clothes, breakfast, and so on. Everyone in the Lotus Courtyard knows that Jiu Niangzi has always been diligent and gets up very early every day, so she prepares a qiē thing before she gets up.

In the small building, in an elegantly furnished bedroom, behind the curtain of pale cyan embroidered grass and bird patterns, there was still no movement on the couch.

The lotus branch lifted the curtain and went inside, and saw a person sleeping on the couch, like a cloud of ink silk scattered on the soft pillow, the skin was like congealed fat, the eyebrows were like long willows, and under the straight nose bridge was a colored cherry lips, at this time the beautiful eyes were tightly closed, representing that the owner was in a state of deep sleep, and people couldn't bear to come forward to wake up.

Suddenly, the futon squirmed, and then again, followed by a series of squirming, and I saw a white thing suddenly come out of the bed, and it was Xiao Jiu'er.

Xiao Jiu'er glanced sideways at the lotus branch, then moved up again, moved to the neck of the jade-like girl, and stretched out her little pink tongue to lick the other party's face.

After licking it twice, I saw a jade arm wrapped in tulle stretch out, take it under it, and hold it in my arms.

"Wine, don't make trouble." Jiuniang on the couch closed her eyes and murmured softly.

"Lady, it's time to get up."

At this time, the lotus branch called out softly.

Suddenly, the person on the couch half lifted his eyes, "What time is it?" ”

"It's almost time."

Jiu Niang sighed almost inaudibly, and sat up from the couch.

At this time, although it was close to early summer, the weather was still a little cold, so Lianzhi took a thin shirt and helped Jiuniang put it on, and then turned around and went out to make arrangements.

After a while, she turned around and came back, followed by a group of maidservants, one of whom held a tray in his hand, which contained all kinds of things for washing, as well as clothes and hot water.

Jiu Niang got out of the bed, dressed under the service of Lianzhi and others, washed and cleaned her face, and then went to sit down in front of the dressing table.

During this period, Xiao Jiu'er had been squatting on the futon and looking at Jiuniang, and at this time, seeing that Jiuniang had twisted her face, she no longer looked at herself, and hurriedly jumped off the couch and jumped onto Jiuniang's knees.

Lianzhi was helping Jiu Niang comb her hair, and Jiu Niang rubbed Xiao Jiu'er's head and said, "You are a sticky little thing." In exchange, Xiao Jiu'er wagged his tail vigorously and licked Jiu Niang's jade hand.

This little wine has been raised by Jiuniang for a long time, and it also understands human nature, just like at this moment, it knows that Jiu Niang's words are not reprimands, with intimacy, and it also expresses affection in its own way.

Now, Xiao Jiu'er has completely changed from when King Chu gave it to Jiuniang. The short fluff has now become longer, and the small body has more than doubled, with triangular ears and a slightly pointed black nose, which at first glance looks a bit like a small fox, but if you look carefully, you can see that it is an extremely rare Persian dog.

Lotus branch combed the double ring to look at the fairy bun for Jiu Niang, and now Jiu Niang is thirteen years old, and then use the double bun or double ring hanging bun This kind of hairstyle, it looks a little immature. And at the moment, this bun is just right, that is, it does not look too mature, and it does not look immature like a girl.

After some trouble, Jiu Niang put the little wine on the ground and went downstairs. Xiao Jiu'er jumped up and down behind Jiuniang and also went downstairs.

After going downstairs, Jiuniang went to breakfast, and Xiao Jiu'er was also taken away by the maidservants to feed. After Jiu Niang finished breakfast, the soft sedan chair that came to send her to the women's school had stopped outside the courtyard, and Jiu Niang took the lotus branch and the lotus fang who was carrying her book bag, and took the soft sedan chair to prepare to go to the women's school.

As soon as Jiu Niang sat in the soft sedan chair, she heard a maid in the small building calling 'wine, wine', and saw a white shadow jumping into the soft sedan chair at a very fast speed and jumping onto Jiu Niang's legs. Seeing its familiar appearance, he knew that it usually did a lot of work.

Jiuniang shook her head helplessly and stroked the other party's furry little body, "Okay, let it go with me." ”

The soft sedan chair went all the way out of the Lotus Courtyard and went to the north side of the Xiao House.

This women's school was specially opened within the Xiao clan and was only for the daughters of the Xiao clan to study. Since the king of Chu left Lanling, Jiuniang has been learning all kinds of knowledge and etiquette skills in the women's school in the past two years, although she is the county lord, no one has forced her to learn these, but she has never pulled down a day of classes.

For more than two years, Jiuniang has lived a very leisurely life, and the disputes within the ancestral house have never involved her, because she has the identity of a county lord, the elders in the clan are all good to her, and the people of her generation are also respectful to her. On weekdays, she doesn't have anything else to do except go to the girls' school.

After more than two years, Jiuniang has never been more relaxed and comfortable, and even gave birth to a mentality that it is not bad to live like this. It's a pity that she knows that this qiē is an extravagant hope, and as time passes, it is getting closer and closer to returning to Chang'an.

The women's school is located in a large courtyard on the north edge of the ancestral house, and there are not only daughters of the Xiao family who come to attend classes, but also some young ladies from side branches. As long as there is Xiao bloodline and the conditions are met, you can come here to study.

The place where Jiuniang and the others took classes was also here, but they were not with her, but Xiao Heng specially invited the female gentleman who came to teach the class to teach in another place.

When she arrived at the door of the girls' school, Jiuniang got off the sedan chair.

It's class time at this time, so it's very lively in front of this girls' school, from time to time there are girls who come to class alone, and some are accompanied by maids, of course, there are also people like Jiuniang who come in a soft sedan chair.

Just from these, it can be seen that those who come to class alone, are some little ladies from the side branch of the Xiao family, and they are still the kind of people with bad family backgrounds. is accompanied by a servant girl, the same as it, but the family background is better. As for those who came in a soft sedan chair, needless to say, they were naturally the little ladies from the Xiao family's ancestral house, and there were naturally some from the concubines, most of whom came on foot with the sedan chair of the sisters.

The rules are strict and hierarchical.

Jiuniang had just stood for a few breaths when a soft sedan chair stopped beside her, and it was Xiao Siniang who got down from the sedan chair.

Like Jiu Niang, Xiao Shi Niang has also changed a lot in the past two years, Shi Niang was born delicate and pretty, and after two years of pampering, she is even more snowy and delicate like a flower.

As soon as she got out of the sedan chair, she said with a smile: "Sister Jiu, I still have to wait for me." ”

"I didn't wait, I just stood up."

So saying, the two took their maidservants and went to the women's school. Shi Niang only brought Ruhua, but Jiu Niang brought Lotus Branch and Lotus Fang, and Lotus Branch held a snow-white small wine in her hand.

This group attracted the attention of many people, but no one dared to come forward, and many girls walking in front of them avoided it. They all knew that these two people were different from themselves and the others, especially one of them was the county lord of the Holy Lord.

Most people's eyes are looking up and respectful, of course, there are also resentment and jealousy, but these eyes are vague. The other party is powerful, and no one stupidly stepped forward to provoke.

In this situation, Jiu Niang and Shi Niang have seen a lot, and they will meet each other almost every day when they come to the women's school, so they naturally turn a blind eye, and the two of them only care about their own ways.

"Jiujiu is here again today."

Shi Niang smiled and squinted when she saw Xiao Jiu'er, and reached out to touch it as she walked. Xiao Jiu'er also knew people, and he didn't dodge it, and obediently let Shi Niang touch his hair, but Shi Niang rarely smiled sweetly.

"I knew that Jiujiu would definitely come today, so I asked Ruhua to bring pork jerky."

Jiuniang smiled and was about to say something, when she saw a person in front of her, talking to Xiao Shiniang.

That person was Xiao Qian.

Xiao Qian said a little far in advance, before everyone arrived at the ancestral house of Lanling, Xiao Banniang was sent back to Chang'an. When the servant who went to send people off came back, he brought Xiao Qian. I don't know how the Anguo Mansion negotiated with the ancestral mansion here, all in all, Xiao Qian took Xiao Banniang's position.

Xiao Qian is Xiao Rong's own sister, Xiao Rong is because she was eliminated from the ranking, Jiuniang is naturally taboo. I thought that this Xiao Qian might take revenge for her sister, who would have thought that Xiao Qian had been very honest for more than two years, and it was just a nodding friendship when she met in the day, and she was like this with Jiuniang, and everyone was like this, but she and Xiao Shiniang somehow got along with two points of friendship.

Seeing this, Jiu Niang was naturally happy, she was not afraid of Xiao Qian, but she also hated that someone would be entangled like an ant with a bone, adding to the annoyance. As for what Xiao Qi Niang thinks, no one knows, Xiao Jiu Niang only knows that she is also very honest, no matter what she does secretly, she has never provoked Jiu Niang in front of her face anyway.

A few people entered the classroom in front of each other, and as soon as they sat down, the female gentleman who taught everyone their studies arrived.

The next two hours of class time are held, during which if you want to go to the toilet or drink water, you can talk to the lady, and the rest of the time you will either listen to the lecture or review what you have learned by yourself.

Halfway through noon, the class ended.

However, Jiuniang and the others did not leave, but had lunch in the girls' school, rested for a while, and there were still other classes in the afternoon. Generally speaking, in the morning, there are courses related to knowledge, and in the afternoon, there are other additional skills, such as piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, etc.

The female school serves lunch meals, but Jiuniang and the others will not eat here, and their respective maidservants have already sent the meals over. There are several rooms on the side of the classroom, some of which are specially used for resting and drinking tea, and Jiu Niang and Shi Niang occupy one room, and let their maidservants bring their own meals.

The dishes of the two of them added up to a whole table, Jiuniang and Shi Niang talked while eating, and Shi Niang was also distracted from Ruhua to take pork jerky to feed Xiao Jiu'er.

"It is said that someone from Chang'an has come, and it is estimated that they are going to take us back."

Shi Niang's tone was faintly sighed, as if she was reluctant.

Indeed, let alone Shi Niang, the same is true for Jiu Niang. It's not that I don't give up this kind of life, but I don't give up this atmosphere of not fighting with the world. As I said before, there is also a chance in the ancestral house, but after all, the two of them are outsiders, but they can't be involved in the two of them, and even because of their identity as guests, everyone has a lot of courtesies to them, but it is not so good to return to Chang'an, and there is a big enemy Chaoxia County Lord Pestle there.

"Don't overthink it, you always have to go back."

Shi Niang nodded, "That's what I said." ”

She put down the toothbrush in her hand, and took a piece of pork jerky in her hand to tease Xiao Jiu'er, who was a clever ghost, and when familiar people gave him something to eat, he would eat it. But it is dragged aside to eat, and it is a little difficult to hold and feed it, and only a few specific people can do so.

Xiao Siniang has never succeeded, so she has been defeated and defeated repeatedly.

"Come on, you see I have something delicious here."

Xiao Jiu'er looked at the other party suspiciously, always feeling that the other party must have a conspiracy, it took two steps forward, turned its head back, walked two more steps, and turned its head back. After two or three times like this, he finally walked to the other party's hand, and before Shi Niang could pick it up, it turned around and jumped away, jumped on Jiu Niang's legs, squatted there and licked his nose and breathed the other party.

"You little clever ghost!" Shi Niang screamed in frustration.

Only at this time can Xiao Siniang reveal some childishness that belongs to her age.

Xiao Jiuniang laughed, every time she saw such a play, she wanted to laugh at it.

Shi Niang put the pork jerky in the handkerchief on the table, and asked Ruhua to take the handkerchief to wipe her hands before picking up the toothbrush to eat.

After eating a few bites, her face was worried, "I don't know what happened to my aunt." ”

For more than two years, there has been no news of Han Yunniang, firstly, Han Yunniang is just a maidservant, and secondly, Chang'an is far away from the high road of Lanling Mountain, and it is extremely inconvenient to pass on the news.

"So it's time for us to go back." Jiuniang said.

It's not that just hiding doesn't mean you don't have to face it. What should be faced, must be faced.

*

Sure enough, the next day, the two old ladies gathered Jiuniang and the others together and informed them of the news that someone from Chang'an had come to take them back.

Then they went back to pack their bags and prepared to leave for Chang'an.

After a few days, when everyone was ready, they went to meet Xiao Heng and several other elders to say goodbye.

Early the next morning, the convoy like a long dragon drove away from the Xiao family's ancestral house and headed for Lanling City.

After traveling on the road for a few days, they changed boats, and everyone was surprised to find that this boat was the one they took when they came to Lanling two years ago.

This time, a few people came from Chang'an to pick them up, and it was a middle-aged steward surnamed Mao who led the way.

There are no elders on the ship this time, and in terms of identity, Jiu Niang is considered to have the highest status, so she naturally occupies the room where the King of Chu lived before. And Shi Niang lived in a small room next to Jiu Niang, and the housekeeper surnamed Mao proposed that this room was too small, and arranged another one for Shi Niang, but Shi Niang refused.

"This time back to Chang'an, we don't know how Chang'an is in shape, who is this Mao steward, and we don't know if there are any cats among these people who came to pick us up. For the sake of insurance, everyone has been vigilant recently, Shi Niang, in addition to resting at night for a while, try to stay with me as much as possible, don't walk around, so as not to cause trouble. Jiu Niang commanded.

Shi Niang nodded.

She naturally understands the truth of this, they avoided the disaster and went to Lanling, the county lord of Chaoxia was extremely angry but couldn't stop it, this time they want to go back, is there anyone who welcomes them and doesn't say, if you want to do something, it is best to start on this boat on this endless river.

Lianzhi Lianfang and Ruhua are also full of solemnity, these handmaidens are the henchmen of Jiuniang and Shiniang, and Lianfang is the little maid named Fang'er, and then Jiuniang changed her name to Lianfang.

The maids around Jiu Niang and Shi Niang are not from the Anguo Mansion except for the lotus branch and Ruhua, and after some retraction, and the fate is in the hands of Jiu Niang in the future, they are all loyal.

This is deliberately done by the two of them, due to the limitations of their identities, it is impossible for them to have no maids around them, and it is better to use the people in the ancestral house of the Xiao family than to use the people in the Anguo Mansion. So before leaving, Jiu Niang and Shi Niang deliberately opened their mouths to Xiao Li's and asked the maids who were serving around them, but they were just a few maidservants, Xiao Li naturally didn't say anything, of course, it was to take advantage of the beauty of people.

In this way, the top and bottom are in order. Jiuniang and Shi Niang rarely go out of the room, they stay in the room all day, drink tea and play chess to pass the time, occasionally go out to the deck to breathe, the two are also hugging each other,

After many days, nothing abnormal happened, and it seemed that the two of them were thinking too much.

As the days passed, the ship had entered the middle of the Tongji Canal, and it would take about ten days to reach Luoyang.

On this day, Jiuniang and Shiniang had dinner.

The meal was brought back by Lianzhi and others, and several maidservants put vegetables on the table while holding silver needles to test the poison. This is Jiu Niang's explanation, and the servants below are all acting in strict accordance with the instructions.

There was nothing out of the ordinary.

After each dish of food, the maidservants handed it to Jiuniang from the lotus branch, and Jiuniang put it on the tip of her nose to sniff it, and then put it on the table.

No one knows that since leaving the ancestral house, the two of them have been so cumbersome to eat on weekdays, but Jiu Niang has never been troublesome, and others are not good at questioning.

Shi Niang watched with a small face, in fact, she was not so nervous, but seeing Jiu Niang tirelessly doing this every day added to her inner anxiety. In her heart, she told herself that she was making a fuss like this, but her reason was that she still listened to the ninth sister, and the two feelings were mixed to make her mood quite complicated.

Suddenly, Jiu Niang's eyebrows moved.

The disc in his hand was not placed in the center of the case, but rested in a corner of the case, and everyone's hearts were suddenly sudden, and they were inexplicably a little nervous.

There was nothing unusual next, Jiu Niang's brows became tighter and tighter, but she didn't speak, and others could only hold their breath.

Jiu Niang looked around and asked, "Is there any more food?" ”

Behind the lotus branch, a maidservant replied, "There is also a dish of shredded chicken and jade mushroom soup." ”

As he spoke, he brought a large soup bowl over and put it on the desk in front of Jiu Niang.

The soup is shredded chicken and jade mushroom soup, the thick chicken soup is accompanied by green cabbage sum, and is garnished with shredded mushrooms and daylily, which smells fresh and fragrant and looks very attractive.

Jiu Niang snorted, to no avail, let Lianzhi take a spoon and a small bowl and put a small half bowl out, and took a sip gently. Just one bite, Jiu Niang made a desire to vomit, and Lian Fang hurriedly brought a spit bowl and asked Jiu Niang to spit out the soup.

Jiuniang took the handkerchief and wiped her lips, and murmured: "This drugged person is quite smart." ”

Everyone was shocked.

Jiu Niang threw the handkerchief on the table and instructed the lotus branch: "Go and invite the Mao steward, by the way, there is also the person in charge of the meal here today." ”

Lianzhi nodded and went down.

Shi Niang looked frightened, and asked urgently: "Ninth sister, is this soup really drugged?" ”

"And this." Jiu Niang brought over the previous plate of stewed duck gizzard and put it in one place with the shredded chicken and jade mushroom soup.

Shi Niang was so frightened that her face turned blue, no matter what, she was a twelve-year-old girl after all, maybe she had a lot of scheming, but she had never seen such a selfish method.

Jiu Niang comforted and said: "These will not happen to any major incidents, but it will make us have diarrhea, diarrhea for a few days, we will be bedridden, even if we invite a doctor to come to see us, but we only think that we are caused by food accumulation and the river wind." Of course, this is only the first step, when you are sick, you will naturally have to consult a doctor, and it will be much easier to use your hands and feet in medicine than in food. ”

This is also why the other party will deliberately separate the medicine, for example, the medicine must have a taste, if you want not to attract people's notice, you must know how to cover its taste. These two herbs are fine to eat separately, but when they are combined, they will cause diarrhea, so Jiu Niang will say that the person who takes the medicine is extremely smart.

The reason why Jiu Niang can smell it is due to the fact that in the days when she was poisoned by a poisonous girl in her previous life, it seems that Jiu Niang only learned the subtle methods of poisonous girls, but in fact, after experiencing that unbearable time, what Jiu Niang really gained was not poison, but her sensitivity to poison.

It may be that there are too many tests of poison, but if there is a trace of bad storage zài on the human body, it will be sniffed out by Jiu Niang's nose. During this period, the poisonous girl discovered this clue, and even took out a lot of strange poisons/drugs for Jiu Niang to try, and asked her to analyze the various ingredients in between, Jiu Niang was so miserable that she didn't mention it.

But the so-called gains and losses, these are corresponding, in the future, Jiu Niang has encountered a lot of drugging selfish means, all of which were identified by virtue of this advantage, and avoided a lot of disasters. Maybe a high-end point, such as the poisonous woman's poisoning method, Jiuniang can't take it lightly. But in ordinary people's homes, even if it is a big family, this poison is also an extremely rare thing, but it is more than enough to deal with some private affairs in the back house.

As he spoke, Lianzhi had already called the steward Mao and the cook in the ship's galley.

Steward Mao was still confused, but the county lord of Yirong, who had always been low-key and introverted, suddenly summoned him, and naturally it was impossible to be fine, especially when he saw the scene at this time, it suddenly made his heart sink.

"I've seen the county lord of Yirong, and I've seen the ten ladies." Steward Mao bowed respectfully.

This Mao steward is about forty years old, thin and short, but by looking at his face, he knows that he is not a simple character. In fact, it is true that Steward Mao is in the forefront of several chief stewards in the Anguo Mansion, and has always been valued by Dalangjun Xiao Nan, otherwise he would not have sent a steward to Chang'an this time.

The two cooks behind Steward Mao, one fat and one thin, also knelt down to say hello.

Jiuniang bowed her head, her face was calm and waveless, and she couldn't see any clues.

Shi Niang pursed her lips tightly and did not speak.

"Is this dish from you two today?"

Jiu Niang's voice broke the oppressive silence.

The two cooks were both shocked, but the master didn't say anything, and the two could only look at each other and nodded.

One of the cooks said: "These dishes are indeed from the hands of the two of them, I wonder what the county lord can order?" ”

Jiuniang smiled faintly, looked at the two of them and said, "It's nothing, today's dishes are good, very delicious, so I specially asked you to wait over, there is a reward for you." ”

This is a lie, the dishes on the table are not touched at a glance, but the dishes are not moved, but the fanfare not only found the two cooks, but also invited the Mao steward, there will be no ghosts.

It's just that the three people who were called couldn't say that to their faces.

Steward Mao is also a shrewd person, and when he saw this, he had a little bit in his heart. His eyes glanced at the two of them like knives, but they passed in a glance, and his face returned to his usual calm appearance.

The fat cook smiled a little reluctantly, "County Lord Xie praises, this is what the little ones should do, but they don't dare to accept the reward." ”

"Pick it up, why don't you dare to pick it up?" Jiuniang smiled, her eyebrows and eyes were full of joy, "I will reward you, you are naturally the best." The lotus branch gave these two dishes to the two of them, and one of them did not pull down half of them, and used them outside, you watched. ”

After speaking, she waved her hand, "Okay, you guys go down, my tenth sister and I should also eat." ”

The unrelated people all retreated.

"Sister Jiu, can you still eat this meal?" Shi Niang was surprised.

"Why not, good things are given to others, let's use some leftovers, we can't go hungry." Jiuniang smiled.

Seeing that Xiao Jiuniang had already picked up the toothbrush and used it to eat, Shi Niang had no choice but to pick up the bowl, but she didn't know the taste.

After a short time, the lotus branch came in, and the soup and dish went into the belly of the two cooks, and it was used by the steward Mao to supervise the two of them.

Jiuniang just nodded when she heard this, but did not speak, but the smile on her lips lingered for a long time.