The General Zhuguo Mansion is located in the Ganyu Hutong of Dongcheng, not far from the imperial city, which is convenient for General Cao to enter the palace to guard. In fact, Jiannanhou Mansion is located in Chunshu Hutong, which is separated from the Zhuguo General's Mansion by two alleys, which can be said to be quite close. The fact that Zhang, who was still the wife of the Marquis of Jiannan, was able to become a good friend with Mrs. Cao of the General Mansion of the Zhuguo General was also related to the fact that the two of them lived close to each other and often came and went.

The carriage of the Zhao family arrived at the mouth of Ganyu Hutong, and arrived in front of the Cao family's house in less than two steps. General Cao's wife, Fang Shi, had already received the news and went out with several servants to greet him. She is a middle-aged woman under the age of forty, her face is a little square, her chin is slightly angular, her facial features cannot be said to be very beautiful, just a medium appearance, but her temperament is relatively soft, and there is a bit of bookishness between her eyebrows, which is easy to make people feel good. Although she is not young, she is still well-maintained, her complexion is smooth, her eyebrows are lightly swept, her face is covered with a thin layer of powder, her figure is slightly plump, she is wearing a gray-blue long gown, a royal blue embroidered horse-faced skirt, a black hair is pulled into a simple bun, a gilded emerald pearl-inlaid manta hairpin is inserted, and the forehead is strangled with a forehead of the same color as the horse-faced skirt, and a pearl the size of a thumb cover is nailed in the middle, dressed dignified and elegant without losing the nobility.

Zhao Xiu helped the Zhang family get out of the carriage, and the Fang family greeted him with a smile and saluted: "Old Madam Zhao hasn't seen her for a long time, she looks even better than she did two years ago, and her body is still tough, right?" In the past, when you were not in Beijing, our old lady was always worried, but now that you have returned to Beijing to live permanently, you have to come to play often. ”

Zhang greeted her with a smile: "Your complexion is also good, and you are a little richer than two years ago." I guess life is comfortable. ”

Fang Shi touched his face a little embarrassed: "You just said that I just grew fat, I'm old, where am I embarrassed to compare my body with the young people?" He pulled Zhao Xiu next to him and said, "This is your granddaughter, right?" It's all grown so big. When I last saw her, I was still a little doll, and in the blink of an eye, I was a big girl, and I was ten years old this year, right? ”

Zhao Xiu smiled at her "shyly": "I will turn ten years old in June." ”

"Time flies." Fang sighed, and praised Zhao Xiu to Zhang, "How are you conditioning your granddaughter?" Water is smart. I like it when I see it, and I can't wait to be my daughter. ”

Zhang and Zhao Xiu could only respond with laughter.

Zhao Wei came over to salute, he was no stranger to the Cao family. After returning to Beijing, he had been here several times, and Fang Shi was less polite with him, and joked with him: "I am dressed up in such a good spirit today, can there be a little girl on the road who throws fruits to you?" ”

This is an allusion to Pan An to praise him for being handsome. Zhao Wei's face turned red again. Fortunately, he had already been teased by his grandmother and sister at home before he came, and he had become accustomed to it, and he soon returned to normal.

The greetings in front of the door naturally didn't last long, and the Fang clan quickly led the guests home, and talked about homely things as they walked. Today, Cao Taihe, the general of the Zhuguo, is not at home and is still on duty in the palace. The eldest son, Cao Ran, went out to visit friends and did not return until before lunch. There are only Mrs. Cao, Fang's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and Fang's eldest daughter, Cao Luo, the eldest daughter of the Cao family.

Zhao Wei is a little regretful, he and Cao Ran are still quite compatible, as for Cao Luo, he met once two years ago, and he also spoke, now that the two of them are older, at most it is just a courtesy from afar, he doesn't care very much.

The Cao family is the gate of the golden pillar, and the house is only a three-entry courtyard, which is much smaller than the scale of the Jiannanhou Mansion. After entering the door, there is a shadow wall, and there is a moon cave door on the left side to enter the first courtyard. This courtyard is extremely wide, because it is a military general's house, the courtyard must leave enough space to run horses and practice shooting. However, the Cao family's first courtyard is very distinctive, the inverted seat room and the three rooms on the west side are tall and spacious, and the north side should have been the main house, but there is no door, no window, and I don't know where to enter the house. After bypassing this row of houses and entering the second gate, I found that the original row of houses had become the south room of the second courtyard, and the inner and outer courtyards were strictly separated, and the living space of the inner courtyard was added.

The second courtyard is divided into two parts, the row of south houses, with the east and west wings, is used for the flower hall and guest rooms, they are separated from the main courtyard where General Cao and his wife live and the third door, there is a shadow wall behind the door, isolating the view of the guests. The main courtyard is a classic courtyard pattern, and the backyard is connected by a hand-copying verandah, and the backyard has a row of six rooms, which is the residence of Mrs. Cao.

The Zhao family and the Cao family have a good relationship, and they often have contacts, and Mrs. Cao is old again, so it is not good for her to come to the front to meet guests, so the Zhang family, Zhao Xiu, Zhao Wei, and grandchildren went directly to her house.

Mrs. Cao is in her sixties, but as soon as Zhao Xiu saw her, she felt that her eyes lit up - such a tall old lady! She is at least 1.75 meters tall, and if she changes to modern times, she can be a model when she is young. The old lady has lived to this day with a silver hair, but her face is ruddy, her voice is like a bell, her eyes are clear, she is very energetic, she is on a dragon's head crutch, she gets up and sits down, walks with her feet raised, and her movements are not sluggish at all, and she must be very healthy.

Mrs. Cao and Zhang's are old friends, and they are very affectionate when they meet, as if they are sisters, and they don't pay attention to the vulgar etiquette of those guests.

Fang persuaded Zhao Wei to drink tea and ask about some trivial matters, and Zhao Xiu was assigned to Cao Luo to greet him. The little girl Cao Luo is thirteen years old this year, it is her birthday in the spring, she looks about the same height as Zhao Xiu, her face is round, her cheeks are red, and she looks very pleasing. It's just that she is a little shy, and her voice is not loud, which always makes people feel as if she is not used to talking to strangers, and every time she has to muster up the courage to provoke the conversation, her voice is still a little trembling.

Zhao Xiu noticed that when Fang Shi was talking to his brother, his eyes had to pay attention to his daughter's side from time to time, and when he saw that she couldn't think of a good topic, he was a little anxious, and when he saw her ask a sentence fluently, and Zhao Xiu also replied with a smile, he showed a relieved expression. Zhao Xiu thought to himself, the Fang family had to specially separate their brother and sister to greet them, could it be that he wanted to exercise his daughter's social skills? It's really the heart of parents all over the world. She looked at Cao Luo, who was flushed, and her heart softened, so she took the initiative to find a topic to talk to the other party.

Cao Luo felt that the conversation between her and her new friends was getting smoother and smoother, even if she occasionally said something wrong, the sister of the Zhao family listened with a smile and didn't laugh at her at all, which made her feel greatly relieved, and she couldn't help but feel that it was really easy to make friends with this girl from an acquaintance's house, unlike when she said a wrong word in someone else's house, there were a bunch of people to make fun of her.

But thinking that she was in her grandfather's house, and she was laughed at a lot, Cao Luo changed her mind again, thinking that maybe the Zhao family was also a general, so she would not look down on her, and those girls who read didn't take them to heart as girls born in Jiangmen.

Zhao Xiu found that Cao Luo was a little distracted, and her eyebrows showed a little grievance and gloom, so she recalled the conversation just now, but she just said that the color of the dress she was wearing today was fresh and chic, the safest topic between girls, why did Cao Luo show such an expression?

She took a look at Cao Luo's dress, it was also a gauze shirt and skirt, although the jewelry was simple, but it was all emerald and beaded, and then looked at the other party's complexion, skin and hands, everything was good, ten fingers were slender, and the nails were all beautifully repaired, she was completely a pampered daughter, and the family did not treat her badly, what else was there to be aggrieved?

Zhao Xiu thought about it, and said tentatively: "If my sister likes the color of my dress, I still have a few pieces of material there, and I will have someone send them when I go back." My sister also made clothes to wear, and we must have looked good when we stood together. ”

Cao Luo came to her senses, blushed and said embarrassedly: "I just think your dress looks good, I don't want to ask you for ingredients." ”

Zhao Xiu smiled and took her hand: "I know, I am willing to send you away." I've heard of my sister at home, and I couldn't be more amiable, I have long wanted to meet you, but unfortunately I don't have this fate until today. When I met, I felt that my sister was even better than rumored, and she was so kind to me. It's just a few horses, what's the point? This was originally sent from our family's weaving yard, and it was our own thing. ”

Cao Luo actually likes this color material, and when she said this, she thanked her shyly, and then said: "I have heard of my sister's name before, not from my grandmother, but ...... It's from your family......" She bit her lip and realized that she had said the wrong thing, and was so annoyed that she thought that her sister, who had just shown her kindness, would be angry with her.

Zhao Xiu still turned around and thought about it, and then realized that the clan she said should refer to Zhao Jue's family, in the past, Zhao Jue's family was mixed in the capital, and I heard that relying on the Ying Wangfu, it was quite mixed, and Zhao Xiang made friends with the daughter of the official family. Cao Luo was originally a member of the circle of eunuchs in Beijing, and it was not surprising that she would meet her, but I didn't know what bad things Zhao Xiang had arranged for her at that time.

Zhao Xiu smiled at Cao Luo and said, "Sister doesn't have to be taboo, that family is no longer our family, and they are traitors, what should they do?" The two families originally had a feud, and I wanted to know that they couldn't spit out ivory from their dogs' mouths, so I also wanted to thank my sister for reminding me. ”

Cao Luo secretly breathed a sigh of relief again, and said with a red face: "I shouldn't mention them, in the past, they told people bad things about my sister, but I came back and told my grandmother and mother, and they also told me not to believe them." It's not that no one in Beijing knows what they do at home, and it's useless to put gold on their faces, and it's not a good character to say bad things about people behind their backs. After saying that, her face suddenly turned red again, because she found that she seemed to be suspected of speaking ill of people behind her back.

Zhao Xiu laughed dryly twice, and quickly opened the topic: "What does my sister like to do at home on weekdays?" ”

And Mrs. Cao and Zhang, who were sitting on the upper seat, gradually lowered their voices. Mrs. Cao asked the latter: "Do you know what the family from your family has done recently?" Zhao Ze's kid seems to be working in a shop in the outer city recently, have you heard? ”

Zhang was a little surprised: "I really don't know this, he should have some silver in his hand, right?" ”

Mrs. Cao sneered: "It's not an old sin!" Having such a stupid woman on the stall really affected three generations of his family, this is not dead, and he has to toss again, if when his family's bloodline is tossed away, then it will be the current world report! ”

Zhang was shocked when he heard this. (To be continued......)

PS: Sorry sorry for coming home late