PS: Modified~

After traveling on the road for about ten days, there happened to be a shower when approaching Beijing, and I slowed down for a while in the post station next to the official road in the suburbs, and it was almost dusk when the rain stopped.

The clouds of the rain have not yet dissipated, and the night has arrived early in the cool and humid countryside after the rain.

Yuan Rin stood in the courtyard and watched for a long time, then turned back into the house, Zhu Yan was leaning on the side of the book reading, half of his body was lying on the long table, and his uncurled hair was draped over his shoulders.

Hearing the footsteps, Zhu Yan immediately swept away his lazy attitude, sat upright, and raised his eyebrows, "The rain has stopped?" ”

"It's stopped, but it's getting late, and the Void Garden has been vacant for more than ten years, so I can't rest assured that you can go alone in the middle of the night." Yuan Rin told her the problem she had just considered.

Zhu Yan lowered his head and thought for a while, and smiled nonchalantly, "Aren't there white apples and apricot leaves with me?" Xiao Feng also came with his subordinates, what can happen to so many people? ”

"It's not proper, I'll talk about the Void Garden tomorrow." Yuan Rin said that this was not to discuss with her, but he had already made up his mind, "Ah Yan will go to my suburban garden to rest for the night, how about it?" ”

“…… You don't live at home on weekdays? Zhu Yan became curious, stood up and moved in front of him, looking up in a flash.

Yuan Rin raised his eyebrows at her and reached out to pull her, "I only have one study in the house, and the bed is also located in the study, does Ah Yan want to squeeze the study with me?" ”

"You're too daring." Zhu Yan twisted his eyebrows and turned sideways to avoid it, "Even if the Void Garden can't live for the time being, my mother also told my uncle to go there." ”

"It's just a joke, why should Ah Yan take it seriously?" Of course, Yuan Rin wouldn't really take her home. It's just a little more intimate, if you enter the city and still be so polite, it will be enough to kill Zhu Yan.

Over there, the white apples saw that the weather was clear. Looking for someone to come in when he was delivering tea, he greeted him in style, "Son, girl, it's almost time, if you don't move, I'm afraid the city gate will be closed." ”

Truly, the gates of the city will not be closed until the hour, and they are already in the suburbs. You can enter the city even on foot in an hour, and Bai Apple is probably a little alarmist in it.

"Miss Bai Apple is already impatient to step on her homeland?" Yuan Rin was very unimpressed by her urging. And this clever girl is guarding him from getting close to Zhu Yan everywhere, which is really in the way.

As soon as Zhu Yan was told by him, he suddenly remembered that Bai Ping seemed to have indeed mentioned that she was the maid by the Lin family's side. At the beginning, he fled to Jiangnan with the Xu Mansion to settle down. No wonder this girl is so polite, and she knows a lot about things in Beijing.

"Are Bai Apple's relatives still there, will you go see them tomorrow?" Zhu Yan smiled and took her hand, "Let's go together tomorrow, okay?" ”

Bai Yu was a little embarrassed, it was already arrogant to urge her, but when Yuan Rin said this, Zhu Yan then misunderstood. Shengsheng pretended to be in a hurry to go home before he came in to urge, telling her to be speechless.

Apricot came with her. Shrinking her head outside the door, she has opened her eyes all the way from Lingnan to Jiangnan, and feels that she is really a person from the mountains and wilderness, and she can't even lift her head, and now she is about to enter the capital, and she is more and more cautious, and she even has to walk half a step behind Bai Apple to feel at ease.

"What's wrong?" Zhu Yan saw that Bai Apple's little face was flushed, his eyes were misty, and he looked very aggrieved, he bit his lip in confusion, looked at Yuan Rin for help, and asked in a low voice, "What did I say wrong......

"Ah Yan didn't say anything wrong, it's just that you are a young lady, so you don't have to be so enthusiastic." Yuan Rin was too lazy to care about a white apple in the house and an apricot leaf outside the house, pulled up Zhu Yan and left, "Guan He must be here, so let's go." ”

Zhu Yan pursed her lips, don't you have to be too enthusiastic? Perhaps, it sounds good to say that it is called "enthusiastic", but to say it is ugly, it is just meddling, in a place like Shangjing, meddling in things can really cause huge trouble.

The air after the rain was mixed with the smell of earth and grass, the cumulus clouds had dispersed, a few stars hung in the night sky, and the light of the half-moon illuminated the path in the courtyard.

Guan He was really waiting outside, "Gongzi originally sent a message to return home in the afternoon, but he encountered a shower, so he didn't want to go back today?" ”

"My father has sent you, how can I go back and go against his will?" Yuan Rin glanced at him and walked away, "Let's go to Jiaziyuan for a night and then come back." ”

Zhu Yan followed behind him, raised his eyes and winked sympathetically at Guan He, since he was close to Shangjing, Yuan Rin always spoke with some irony, and he didn't know who provoked him.

"Miss Zhu doesn't have to take it to heart." Guan He is used to it, and his son-in-law will inevitably say a few disrespectful words in front of his father, and it seems that he can only be a little restrained in front of Zhu Yan.

This so-called Koshien is in a small town on the outskirts of the city, because it has just rained, the night is already dark, and there are almost no pedestrians on the smooth stone road, only when the cars and horses pass by, the dogs of a few families occasionally bark, and then there are some whispered discussions, guessing the identity of the people in the car.

Zhu Yan was bored leaning on the wall of the car, constantly rubbing a book of poetry in her hand, this light was no longer enough for her to continue reading, and it just so happened that she didn't want to read anymore.

"By the way, what is the name of that courtyard?" Zhu Yan's lazy gaze froze, with a hint of disgust.

Koshien, the name sounds twilight, and people don't have the slightest favor.

"Just go in and see." Yuan Rin didn't explain, and took her directly to knock on the door.

Standing under the eaves, you can find that the courtyard is very quiet, only a few points of yellowish light, after a full half a moment, there is an old woman holding the lamp out, one hand to cover the wind, the other hand slowly open the door.

After seeing the person in front of her clearly, the old woman was stunned for a while, her shocked eyes fell on Zhu Yan, and it took a long time to spit out a sentence, "The little girl's surname is Xiang?" ”

Yuan Rin treated her very respectfully, and explained in a low voice, "Lin Niang, this is Mr. Zhu Juzhi's young lady, the one who made a marriage contract with me." ”

Lin Niang nodded slowly, still muttering to herself, "The little girl Xiao seems to be a concubine, but the old woman is looking away." ”

Zhu Yan was slightly embarrassed, she couldn't sue others. She looks similar to Concubine Xiang, that's because her biological mother is Concubine Xiang's daughter, Princess Qianyun, right? This kind of bizarre identity, even if it is said, few people will believe it.

"The mother is the fourth daughter of the Ren family. Lin Niang is her nursing mother, and the Xiang family has a close relationship with the Ren family, and the Ren Qi Niang you have seen has an in-law with the Xiang family. Yuan Rin took Zhu Yan into the courtyard familiarly, the terrain inside was very complicated, and it was night, and the white apples and apricot leaves could not find their traces for a while.

Turning a corridor, the front suddenly opened up. Several tall bushes soaked in the night, swaying gently in the cool breeze after the rain.

"Yes...... Oleander? Zhu Yan squinted, such a tall tree shape. The long, narrow leaves, which were easy to distinguish even in the night, looked around, "Hmm. Planted so much. No wonder it's called 'Koshien'. ”

Oleander is also known as Jiazi peach, it is rumored that it bears fruit once in sixty years, hence the name, Zhu Yan thought about it carefully, she really had never seen the fruit of oleander, and the name was a bit meaningful.

There was no sound in the surroundings, and it seemed that there was no one else in this courtyard except for the old woman called Lin Niang, and Zhu Yan was very puzzled.

"These houses are the dwellings of the servants. They've all rested. Yuan Rin answered her doubts in a timely manner.

"Yes...... This thing is poisonous. Zhu Yan's heart tightened slightly, and he subconsciously grabbed the placket of his clothes. Is it planted in every courtyard? ”

Oleander can be regarded as a very poisonous kind of plant, only a dozen leaves are enough for people to go to the west of the sky, it will be dried and burned will produce toxic smoke, if you live next to the tree all the year round, it will also be chronically poisoned, make people sleepy and sleepy.

What does Yuan Rin want to do by planting so much here? And looking at the height of these oleanders, they have been planted for at least ten years?

"Don't worry, I often add antidote to their drinking water, and I will be fine except for being lazy." Yuan Rin took her out of the courtyard and turned back to the main hall with her nonchalant.

Zhu Yan was very speechless about this explanation, bothered to plant so many oleanders, and prepared antidotes for the servants in the courtyard, is he too idle to do?

"After my mother passed away, Shizun found this courtyard for me to live in, these oleanders were transplanted by him, and they are all so big in a blink of an eye." Yuan Rin folded a flower nearby, and put it on Zhu Yan's sideburns, "If you don't hurt it, no matter how poisonous things are, they won't hurt people." ”

"Won't it?" Zhu Yan shook her head and gently brushed the flowers and leaves on her sideburns, although she knew that this thing was highly poisonous, but nothing could come out of the hairpin on her sideburns, there was no need to be too careful, and she seemed to be cowardly for no reason.

"You live here on weekdays?" Zhu Yan felt that aside from the terrifying number of oleanders in this courtyard, the layout here was also very complicated, like a labyrinth, wouldn't it be a pity to take such a painstaking design if he didn't live here?

Yuan Rin pondered for a while, "I still lived here alone when I was fifteen or sixteen, and then my father posted it again and again, and he invited me back......"

Footsteps on the other side of the verandah grew loud, and both of them stopped to look ahead.

The person who came was Guan He, walking in a hurry, and it was obvious that he knew the path in this courtyard.

"Childe, Mrs. Liu is here." Guan He's gaze fell on Zhu Yan unconsciously, "She said that she made a special trip to see Miss Zhu." ”

“…… We're here for only half an hour. Zhu Yan's face was slightly gloomy, but for half an hour, he didn't see anyone go back to report the news, he already knew that they were here, it seemed that their every move didn't want to escape Yuan Mu's sight.

She only now began to understand why Yuan Rin had such an attitude, after all, no one liked the feeling of being watched, and he had endured it for more than twenty years, so it was strange that he could speak calmly.

Guan He coughed lowly, hesitated, and sighed in a low voice, "Since Miss Zhu has come this far, she still needs to be patient in the future...... The old man only has a purpose in his eyes, and he will not care about the fact that Miss is the daughter of Mr. Juzhi and refrain from it. ”

He shouldn't have said this, but if he didn't say it, if Zhu Yan encountered any trouble in the future, he felt that he would be ashamed.

Although Guan He is still working for Yuan Mu, his selfishness has long been biased to this side, and even he himself is not sure whether he will choose to defect one day.

"I see, thank you, Guan He." Zhu Yan nodded, although he said confidently, his hand couldn't help but clench.

Seeing that she pretended to be calm, Yuan Rin shook her hand and slowly unfolded, "Ah Yan, I said that I wouldn't let people hurt you, don't worry." ”

The front hall was brightly lit, because the servants in the garden had all slept, so only a few people brought by Zhu Yan sat in the hall, and they all quietly looked at the lady who had visited overnight.

Bai Ping was originally from Shangjing, and he had seen the world in Xu's mansion since he was a child, so he took on the task of receiving Mrs. Liu's family, serving tea for a while, talking for a while, and blocking many of Liu's inquiries without being humble or arrogant.

Xingye and Xiaofeng and others are already dumbfounded, Bai Apple is younger, and she likes to talk on weekdays, but compared with Xingye, a girl with a broken mouth, Bai Apple can be regarded as taciturn, I didn't expect her to be so familiar with people at this time, and she couldn't tell that she was just a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl.

Liu also saw that this little girl was not easy to deal with, so he only took the tea and drank it quietly, without saying more.

"Madam, Childe and Miss Zhu are here." Guan He's steady voice came from outside the dark corridor, and then the three of them came in slowly, and the bright candlelight reflected on the three of them in turn, as if their outlines were sketched out of the darkness little by little.

Liu waited for them to walk a foot in front of them, and then slowly raised his eyes.

The woman who came into view looked calm, wearing a pleated skirt with flowers on a white background, a crimson bandeau on her body that was not frivolous at all, and a red oleander hairpin beside the loose bun, lining her face more and more white as jade, she was really a beauty.

But the most surprising thing about her is Zhu Yan's appearance, which is too much like a person, almost carved out of a mold, if this girl changes into a azure dress and wears a water blue shawl, what will it look like?

Yuan Rin didn't understand why she was so surprised by Zhu Yan's appearance, seeing that she was even trembling with the cup in her hand, she reminded in a low voice, "Madame came to visit late at night, and Xuanqing was terrified. ”

“…… The son does not have to be restrained, the concubine is here today, and Yiqian does not know. Liu Shi faintly withdrew his somewhat distorted gaze, leaned back in the chair, and raised his eyes lazily.

Zhu Yan's eyes trembled slightly, a Yuan Mu looked already very difficult to entangle, could it be that this lady was not in the same group as him? Wouldn't that be even more troublesome......

The Liu family didn't care what the others thought, his eyes swept coldly in the hall, and then locked on Guan He, "Guan He, these girls and guys have been tired all the way, you take them down to rest, I will talk to your son and this Miss Yan for a while, and I will go back in a while." ”

Guan He hesitated for a moment, then nodded in response.

Liu waited patiently for everyone to leave, and then it was difficult to hide the chaotic look in his eyes, and his erratic gaze fell on Zhu Yan, "You are the daughter of Zigui, are you?" (To be continued......)