When Gao Zhen, the prince of Guangping, was dissatisfied with his family, Zhao Xiu was ushering in a new friend.

The daughter of Tao County Ling followed her mother, Mrs. Tao, Bian, to Zhao's house as a guest.

Bian went south with her husband to take up her post, and on the way she met Zhang and Zhao Wei's grandchildren who returned from the capital, and they had already known each other and had always gotten along well. Although she is only a seventh-grade county lady, and she is far from the Zhang family who is the county duchess in terms of grade, she was also from a scholarly family and has a similar temperament with the Zhang family, so in the past two years, she can be regarded as a frequent visit. She ignored the gossip of others saying that she was flattering nobles, and the Zhang family never put on a noble lady's shelf, as if she had forgotten her old friend.

After a detailed discussion, they found that the two families were still a little close. Zhang's eldest brother, Zhang Chaozong, was working as a pusher outside, and one of his daughters married a lifter in Baoying, Jiangsu, and the lifter's mother happened to have a sister who was Bian's aunt.

Zhao Xiu was dizzy when he heard this roundabout relationship, but in the eyes of the Zhang family and the Bian family, it seemed that they were closer, that is, if outsiders made irresponsible remarks, they could also use the reason that the two families were relatives to prevaricate in the past.

Tao Xianling and his wife Bian have been married for many years, and there is only one daughter under his knees, who is nine years old this year, which happens to be the same year as Zhao Xiu, only a few months older than her. Tao County ordered the husband and wife to come to Fengxian to take up the post, but put the daughter in Baoying's hometown, and asked the old lady Tao to take care of it, until after the Dragon Boat Festival this year, the wife of the Tao County Ling brothers was pregnant, and the Tao County Ling had no time to take care of her granddaughter, so Tao County sent someone to pick up her daughter to reunite. Therefore, Zhao Xiu has been able to see Bian from time to time in the past two years, but it is the first time he has seen Miss Tao.

Miss Tao is a very good-looking little girl. White and clean melon seed face, slender eyes, small cherry mouth. In front of people, he always bows his head shyly, with a shy smile on the corner of his mouth, and speaks softly and softly, as if the willow branches of spring are brushing the water, with a slight accent or two, but he seems to be very ashamed of this accent, and would rather speak slower. I also want to try to get the official words right.

Zhang liked her very much, and happily took her hand and looked at it again: "How peugeot, this girl is really a beautiful embryo." Blessed are you husband and wife? Miss Tao's cheeks turned red and she lowered her head in shame. Zhao Xiu just watched with a smile from the sidelines. She also thinks that this little girl is very beautiful, but this kind of facial features is obviously the appearance of a classical Chinese beauty, not like her. Because a pair of eyes grow big. was also sighed by her grandmother that her eyes were not good-looking enough, which made her deeply feel the difference between ancient and modern aesthetics.

Bian is obviously also very confident in his daughter's appearance, but he still can't help but be humble: "But all girls from rich and noble families, as long as they are not very dark and ugly, they will not be too bad when they are young." I'm just worried that she is weak, she has been sick for more than a month when she first came to Fengxian, and she only got better a few days ago. The doctor said that it was not suitable for water and soil, but when we first came here. has also been unaccustomed to water and soil, but she is not as sick as she has been for a long time. It comes down to not being strong enough. I look at the girls in the house, but they are stronger than ordinary children, and they haven't seen any symptoms in a few years, which is a blessing. ”

Zhang smiled: "When she was a child, she also had three disasters, but when she grew up and could run and jump, she learned to be naughty and run around." There are few people in the house, but there are many houses, she moves around all day long, and her body is naturally strong. She also often advises me to be more active, which is good for the body, I am old, and I ask her to walk around the yard a few times every day, and I have been sick less in recent years. ”

Zhao Xiu said: "What I said is right, why did it become crooked? ”

Zhang smiled and said nothing, and Bian said to his daughter, "Can you hear me? I always tell you to move around more, don't stay in the house and embroider, you just don't listen. ”

Miss Tao blushed and said, "My daughter knows." "There is no excuse. Seeing her like this, Bian sighed.

Zhang said to his granddaughter: "You are about the same age, bring new friends to your house to play, don't bully people!" ”

Zhao Xiu hurriedly got up and agreed: "Why did grandmother say that?" Miss Tao listened, maybe what she thought of me, where am I a bully? After speaking, he smiled and saluted Bian's family, and then pulled Miss Tao out.

Bian watched the two little girls leave and sighed again.

Zhang asked her, "But what's the difficulty?" In the past two years, I have always seen you miss your daughter, but you refuse to take her over. If you say that this side is not as prosperous as the big city, Fengxian has been much better in recent years, and the food, clothing, housing and transportation are not necessarily worse than Baoying, but you have only brought your daughter here until now, there must be a reason? ”

Bian sighed: "What else can I do, it's just that my mother-in-law is reluctant." My husband and wife have been married for many years, only this daughter, my mother-in-law is anxious for me, and I am afraid that our husband and wife are outside, there are many things, and it is inconvenient to take care of my daughter, so I will keep her by my side to take care of her. This year, it happened that my brother-in-law was pregnant, and my mother-in-law valued it very much, so we took the child over. The old man said, listening to the tone, he will serve in Fengxian for about another three years, and he will not be transferred after the expiration of this term, and if he does not pick up the child at this time, he does not know when the family will be reunited. The children are nine years old, and if they don't learn many things, it's too late. You just saw that, right? Her official words are not good, and I am not afraid to tell you the truth, she studied poetry and books, or when she was with our husband and wife, in the past few years, she has only learned to be popular, and the embroidered flowers are good, but she doesn't know anything next to her, her temper is soft, and her body is weak. How can this be done? ”

The Zhang family also vaguely knew something about the Tao family in the past two years, and the old lady Tao was not a bad mother-in-law, but she had lived in the countryside for many years and had a strange temperament. In the early years, Bian also had a second child, but when she was about six months pregnant, Mrs. Tao was sick, and at that time, the Tao County Ling brothers were studying outside, and there was only one daughter-in-law Bian. In order to serve her mother-in-law, she was so tired that she had a miscarriage, and she was still a male fetus, and she hurt her body again, and the doctor said that it would be difficult to get pregnant again. Mrs. Tao felt ashamed, she didn't dare to force her son to accept the child, and she wanted to share her son's daughter-in-law's worries, so she kept her granddaughter by her side and let the two of them live their own small life outside. But her old lady has limited knowledge, and she only teaches her granddaughter to be popular, not poetry. I can't even learn the official language well, and I restrain the children from moving around, which is raised according to the habits of the average rich and noble Miss Jiao. Ketao County Commander is a person in officialdom. If you intend to let your daughter marry into an official eunuch's family, this kind of upbringing is not enough, even if you don't care about marriage, let your daughter go out to socialize, it is easy to make people laugh. No wonder Tao County ordered to take his daughter over for more than two months, and he didn't let her go out, and the first time he was a guest was to the second room of the Zhao family. Presumably well-intentioned, right?

Zhang sighed and said to Bian: "Don't worry, the child is by your side." What are the shortcomings, teach slowly. I see that she is very well-behaved and well-organized, she must be a smart child, and she will live for a few years. It's no worse than you. ”

Bian said, "I think so too. It's just one thing, our husband and wife came to Fengxian to take up their posts, and they didn't bring much luggage, and many books were still left in their hometowns, including even fewer of them in piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, and poetry. Without these, I couldn't have taught her homework alone. I'm in my thirties, how much do I remember what I learned as a child? No way. Today, I can only come to the old lady for help. ”

"Oh?" Zhang understood, "You want to borrow books from me?" ”

Bian smiled: "It's the same to borrow books. It would be great if the little girl had the opportunity to come to your house often for advice. Nowadays, who in Fengxian County does not know that your old man is the best at raising children? A pair of grandchildren are very good, the grandchildren are fourteen years old in Xiucai, the granddaughter is also the most learned and talented girl in the county, not only writes well, but also paints well, I heard that she can even say foreigners. When she went out as a guest, everyone praised her for her thoughtful manners. On weekdays, I help the housekeeper, and I do a decent job. If the little girl can learn a point or two, I will be satisfied! ”

Zhang Shi smiled dumbly: "What else do I say, it turns out that I came to pat my ass." She laughed and said, "If you don't worry, let the child come over often, and it is less than half a mile away from the horizontal and vertical, and it is only a cup of tea to get on the car." My sister Xiu is at home on weekdays, either reading and practicing calligraphy, or helping the housekeeper, except for a few nieces and nephews in the clan, there are really no little sisters who are compatible. If you can add a playmate, you can also be less lonely. It's just that you have to think about it, she looks well-behaved outside, but she is actually very naughty and has a big idea, if you teach your girl badly, don't come to complain to me. ”

Bian knew that she was joking, how could he believe it, so he naturally laughed and said: "Don't dare, but I ask her to be lively, and our husband and wife can still feel at ease!" ”

Zhao Xiu didn't know that he had been assigned a new task, so he just cared about pulling his new friends into the room to sit down and talk. Bilian offered fragrant tea with great eyes, Miss Tao took a sip, her eyes lit up, and she took another sip of tea, and when she caught a glimpse of Zhao Xiu looking at her, her face suddenly turned red, and she put down the tea bowl shyly, lowered her head and played with her sleeves without speaking.

Zhao Xiu asked her with a smile, "What's your name?" My single name is a Xiu character, which is the Xiu character of "Ear Filled Xiuying" in "Poetry". ”

Miss Tao whispered, "My maiden name is Zhuohua. ”

Zhao Xiu's eyes lit up: "Is it the scorching brilliance of 'the peach is dying, scorching its flower'?" What a coincidence, both of our names come from the Book of Songs. ”

Tao Zhuohua's little face turned red again, and he lowered his head and bowed his head gently.

Zhao Xiu saw that she was shy, so she had to try to say more and let her relax: "As soon as I think of this sentence, I remember that in the spring of this year, our family's peach orchard bloomed with many flowers. How about we go on a boat ride to enjoy the peach blossoms next spring? ”

Tao Zhuohua seemed a little surprised, probably didn't expect Zhao Xiu to ask her to go to an appointment ten months later, and hesitated: "I'll go back and ask my mother." I felt that this was too cold, so I added: "My mother mentioned the peach orchard in the house, saying that when the peach blossoms were in full bloom this spring, Fengxian County was a sensation, everyone ran to see the peach blossoms, and the boats on the river were crowded together, and the people from the county government had to lead it, so they were evacuated." After speaking, he was shocked that this was a little inappropriate, and his face turned red again.

Zhao Xiu didn't think there was anything about it, but also felt very interesting: "Yes, it's the first time, and no one has any experience." In fact, peach blossoms can bloom for several days, and there are two or three in my peach orchard, so you don't have to crowd them all together to enjoy the flowers. Lingtang is very literate, and when I went to enjoy the flowers, I also made a poem, and I remember that two of the sentences were 'warm spring breeze all the way, and the peach blossoms were fragrant in three miles'. ”

These two sentences can actually only be regarded as mediocre, but Tao Zhuohua probably didn't hear it, and he was quite happy to learn that it was his mother: "Really? I haven't heard my mother say that. Dad also said that when my mother was young, she loved to write poetry. ”

Zhao Xiu asked Bilian to fetch peaches, and told Tao Zhuohua: "This is the first batch of peaches that came down this year, and the number is not very large, but I heard that because of the lack of rain this year, the peaches grow sweeter than in previous years." How about you taste it? ”

Tao Zhuohua was a little curious, she had heard people mention the Zhao family's peaches at home, but the local sales were very small, almost all of them were shipped to Songjiang, Jiading, and Suzhou to be sold.

Bilian sent a plate of peaches, which had already been peeled, and cut into pieces with thread, and forked with a small silver fork, which looked very attractive. Zhao Xiu asked Tao Zhuohua to do it herself, and she also took a piece herself, but she heard Bi Lian bend down and whisper in her ear: "The fourth master of the outer sixth room is here, and it seems that he is in a hurry to find the girl." ”

The fourth master of the outer sixth room is Zhao Qixuan, what urgent matter will he have? (To be continued......)