In the early morning of the second day, the sky was still bright, Xianglan got up early, washed her hands and face, combed her round bun, inserted a small golden phoenix and two or three hairpins, and turned out a jade-colored red and green satin satin gown from the cabinet and wore it, with a light red skirt, and wore a jade bracelet on each wrist, although it was festive but not luxurious.

Xue pushed the door in and called her for breakfast, and when he saw her dressed, he smiled and said: "Ouch, how can you wear this body, I have prepared several pieces for you in the next year, there are silk ones, and there are singeing ones, all of which are more expensive than this one on the body." ”

Xianglan smiled: "Later, I will go to kowtow to my wife and young lady to pay New Year's greetings, and dress like this." ”

Xue nodded hurriedly and said, "Yes, it's time to kowtow, and let your father hire a car later." ”

Xianglan ate a piece of cake, drank a bowl of soup, and put on Xue's brown cloak before going out.

Aunt Song and Song Tanchai are still living in the second room of the Lin family's Nanyuan, Xianglan ordered the car to stop at a remote corner gate in Nanyuan, took out a handful of money from her purse and stuffed it to the coachman, and said, "And wait here for a while, and then send me back later." Then he went and knocked.

The old woman who guarded the door opened the door and asked, "Who?" ”

Xianglan hurriedly smiled and said: "I am the maid of the Song Mansion, I came to see the wife and the girl, and I bothered my mother to hand over a word to me." Seeing the impatient appearance of the mother-in-law, she hurriedly stuffed a handful of money, and the mother-in-law saw that Xianglan was dressed decently and made a generous move, so her face looked better, and asked, "What's your name?" ”

Xianglan hurriedly said: "Just tell our wife and girl that Xianglan is here to kowtow to the masters." ”

The woman let Xianglan into the door and went by herself. He came back a short time and said, "Come with me." "Led pandan inside.

Xianglan lowered her head and walked forward quickly, passed the weeping flower gate, and changed another girl to lead the way, leading her to a courtyard called "Fucui", and said: "Miss Song family lives in this courtyard, and she has just eaten this time."

Xianglan thanked her repeatedly, and when she entered the courtyard, she went to the main house, stood at the door and lowered her hand and called, "Mrs., Xianglan is here to kowtow to you." ”

Aunt Song was sitting on the kang near the window, wearing a peacock blue Sihe Ruyi group embroidered long gown, holding a copper octagonal hand stove in her hand, and serving on one side.

Aunt Song said to herself: "Read the letter from the eldest brother to me again later, alas, during the Chinese New Year, he stayed alone in Beijing, and he was strange for the lonely ......" Hearing Xianglan's voice, she stopped talking, and her face was not very comfortable.

Juan Hua knew that Aunt Song had a heart disease, and she always talked to her that Xianglan was not a good one, she was born so beautiful, like a goblin, and when she came to the Song family, she would kill a person, and if she couldn't protect it in the future, she would hurt her eldest brother Yunyun. Now seeing Aunt Song's face sank, she hurriedly persuaded: "Mrs., this New Year's Eve to kowtow to the master, it is always her filial piety, not to look at the face of the monk to see the face of the Buddha, Mrs. looks at the uncle's face and let her come in and kowtow." ”

Aunt Song thought that Song Ke had told her to treat Xianglan well before leaving, so her face eased again, and she said awkwardly: "Let her come in." ”

Juan Hua personally welcomed Xianglan in, laid a kneeling mat on the ground, Xianglan bowed down, and said: "Mrs. Jin An Wanfu." ”

Aunt Song said lightly: "You have a heart." Saying that, he glanced at Juan Hua, who immediately took out a red envelope and handed it over.

Xianglan accepted it, sat on the small pestle at Aunt Song's feet, and said with a smile on her face: "Kowtow to my wife should be due." He asked for warmth in his mouth, and reported the big and small affairs of the family for the New Year, and ignored Aunt Song's answers, and after a little hesitation, he smiled again: "A few days ago, the uncle sent someone to send some special products in the capital, and in the letter, he specially instructed me, saying that I should keep the muslin and snacks from the capital for my wife." It is said that the wife is afraid of heat, this muslin is soft and cool, and it is best to make intimate clothes in summer. He also said that his wife loves sweets, and she never gets tired of eating white-skinned dim sum in Beijing, and now she will inevitably miss it when she goes to Jinling, so she will buy a few more packs and bring them back. Yuexi and I both sighed at the uncle's filial piety, this piece of cloth, a piece of dim sum, the first thing that comes to mind is the wife. ”

Xianglan watched carefully as she spoke, and saw Aunt Song gradually smiling on her face. Juan Huaxin said: "Xianglan is a clever mouth, and two or three sentences will open his wife's face. He also echoed on the side: "No, the uncle studied hard in Beijing, isn't it for the empress dowager to have something to rely on for half of her life." ”

Aunt Song nodded slowly and said, "Yes, yes, the eldest brother has been a filial child since he was a child." ”

Xianglan said a lot of funny things about how Song Ke missed Aunt Song, and made up a lot, her voice was already tactful and good, and her words would tickle people's places, which really made Aunt Song happy, and praised Song Ke from beginning to end when she was interested. At the end, he said: "This has put filial piety in the first place since ancient times, and the eldest brother grew up reading the books of sages, so he is naturally transparent and transparent, and he respects me in everything." That year, his father died, I was sick and lay in bed for three whole months, and my eldest brother was only how old he was at that time, so he knew how to wait in front of the sickbed without clothes, and he lost weight twice. There is no filial piety in front of the bed for a long time, but our eldest brother is really filial, and with this yin virtue alone, this rejuvenation should also be taken to take the Jinshi exam. ”

Xianglan and Juan Hua repeatedly said yes.

Xianglan saw that the fire was almost over, so she said: "Mrs. has a son like the uncle, filial piety is a blessing in the previous life, and the uncle has such a distressed mother, which is also his blessing......" said and knelt down and said: "I'm ashamed, today I came here to kowtow to my wife for the New Year, and I also came to ask my wife for something." My father and mother had only one daughter under their knees, and seeing that they were getting older, I was really relieved, so I came to ask my wife for a favor and asked her to allow me to redeem myself. ”

Aunt Song and Juan Huaden were stunned, they never expected Xianglan to say this. Song Ke's affection for Xianglan is obvious to all, Aunt Song originally thought that Xianglan should live or die in the Song family, waiting for Song Ke to lift, and couldn't help but ask: "You want to redeem yourself?" ”

Xianglan kowtowed and said: "I also ask my wife for grace to let the slave and maid go back to serve my father and mother for a few more years." ”

Aunt Song secretly rejoiced: "It's so wonderful! She ransomed herself out, and she will not be by her eldest brother's side in the future, and if the eldest brother is in high school, he will stay in the capital or be released to be an official, how can he see her face again, I will find someone to buy a beautiful man with the appearance of a prosperous family and put it in the eldest brother's room, and then choose a lady from a high door, how can the eldest brother still think about such a little fox from a humble background. Besides, this redemption was her own request, not something I forced her to go! With a smile on his face, he pulled Xianglan up from the ground with his own hands, and said lovingly: "My son, it is difficult for you to have such filial piety, how can I not agree?" You are so good to serve at home, and you are a loyal one, the Song family has always been generous, so you don't have to give the money for redemption. ”

Seeing Aunt Song so happy, Xianglan felt a little uncomfortable in her heart. There was still a smile on his face: "The silver still has to be given, the uncle saved me at the beginning, and gave me food and clothing, and it is difficult to repay this great kindness." He took out fifty taels of silver tickets and a bag of twenty taels of loose silver from his sleeve, handed it to him, and said, "It's not much silver, but it's my heart." ”

Juan Hua quietly pulled her and said in a low voice: "Didn't Mrs. say, the Song family gave you grace and didn't want the silver you ransom." ”

Xianglan insisted on handing the silver forward, and her eyes were as clear as clear autumn water.

Aunt Song was stunned again, even though she didn't like Xianglan, she secretly praised her in her heart. Stretched out his hand and pushed the silver to Xianglan and said, "I will reward you with this silver, and I will use it as a dowry in the future." ”

Xianglan no longer shirked, kowtowed again, and said in her mouth: "Thank you for your grace." ”

At this time, Aunt Song saw Xianglan more and more pleasing to the eye, and urgently ordered someone to send Song Tanchai home to get Xianglan's deed of sale, for fear that Xianglan would regret it, so she hurriedly sent the steward to do the matter of releasing her nationality. For a while, the Qin family sent someone to invite Aunt Song and Song Tanchai to listen to the play, and Xianglan stayed in the house alone to sit there. It turned out that because it was the Chinese New Year, there was no one in the yamen, only the officials on duty, and they had to ask someone to make some silver, so the matter was properly done.

Xianglan firmly grasped the book in her hand, looked at it again, and hurried home. She thought about it until midnight last night, and finally decided to come and ask Aunt Song to redeem herself. As soon as Lin Jinlou's threat came to his ears, if he found Aunt Song to ask him to go over, Aunt Song would agree as soon as possible; Second, if Song Ke is in Chunfu High School, there will be girls from high families to kiss him, if Song Ke changes his mind, his deed of sale is still held by the Song family, and he will not be able to be independent; Third, what she wanted in her heart was this freedom, and she felt very happy, and suddenly realized that Lin Jinlou's bullying yesterday was nothing. Originally, she didn't dare to ask, first, she was afraid that Aunt Song would not dare to agree because of Song Ke's instructions, and it would not be beautiful if this matter blew into Song Ke's ears in the future; Second, because of Song Ke's tender bond, he also thought in his heart that if he was Song Ke's maid, he could be by his side for a few more days.

Xianglan tied her cloak and walked out of the courtyard, although she was in the second room, she was afraid of meeting acquaintances, so she put on her hood and walked down the verandah. At this time, lunch in the front yard has been finished, and the gentlemen gather together to listen to the play, play money, throw pots, and play horse hanging, and the noise is faintly heard. Xianglan said secretly: "It's okay to come early in the morning to ask for peace, those gentlemen had to eat and drink last night, and they would never get up so early, but now it's noon, I don't know if the Lou uncle has gone out to pay New Year's greetings, if it happens, it will be bad, it is better to choose a secluded path to walk, although it is farther, but it is safer in the end." Then he went around to a secluded path. The maids and mothers-in-law, except for the one who left them on duty, the rest either got together to joke or went out to visit relatives and eat New Year's tea, so they became more and more quiet.

Xianglan walked briskly for a short while, turned around a clump of pines and cypresses, and suddenly saw a figure swaying next to the rockery in front of her, as if a man and a woman were hugging each other.

Xianglan was taken aback, quickly paused, hid behind the old pine in a flash, and peeked in, at this time the girl suddenly turned her head, and the cloak and hat were removed by the man, revealing a white jade-like face, and then the man kissed it.

Xianglan covered her mouth in shock - this girl turned out to be Lin Dongyan! RS