There was a thunderclap in the sky, and it rained again. Zhao Xiu stood in front of the house, looked up at the weather outside, and watched the girls behind him hurriedly close the windows and re-light the candles that were blown out by the wind, feeling a little annoyed.

She was wearing a moon-white double-layer gauze jacket and a navy blue pleated skirt today, holding her mustache plainly, and she didn't wear any flowers and jewelry. During the period of national filial piety, such a plain dress is also a proper etiquette.

Zhao Wei hurriedly came from the side room, he was also dressed in plain white, his face was a little green, and he looked a little haggard.

Seeing his sister, he first showed a wry smile: "This is troublesome, God is really unkind, the day is so hot, people's hair is scorched, and now it is raining heavily." Looking at this sky, I'm afraid it won't be able to stop for a while. It's good that we can cry in the hall, but those low-grade officials, many of whom are old and infirm, if they want to cry in the open for such a day, I am afraid that more people will not be able to hold on. I heard that yesterday, several old ministers had already fainted. ”

This was the third day after the death of the first emperor. Emperor Daxing's Zigong is now stopped in the Qianqing Palace, and in the past few days, the princes and officials have to enter the court to cry and mourn. Zhao Wei, as the new Jiannan Marquis, is no exception, he has to set off before dawn every day, and he will not come back until it is completely dark, he is tired and exhausted every day, and when he returns home, he can only eat a light meal in a hurry, wash up, fall asleep, and then get up again in the middle of the night, put on plain clothes and go to the court again to cry. is already a little unbearable, if the heavens are not beautiful, there will be a few more tribulations, and Zhao Xiu will be anxious to death. The little brother has suffered like this since he was a child?

Zhao Xiu has no fate. She was saved from sin, but how could she be good when she saw her brother suffering? She repeatedly instructed Zhao Wei: "It's almost enough." Don't cry too much, my brother has not yet entered the court, and he has lived in his hometown for a long time, how can there be such a deep friendship between monarchs and ministers? Those loyal ministers will be played by adults, you are only fourteen years old, don't steal the limelight. ”

Zhao Wei glanced at her with disgust: "My sister said these stupid things again, don't let people outside hear it." Even if the new emperor has the intention to protect him, you will have to be charged with disrespect. ”

Zhao Xiu shrugged his shoulders and saw Lu Mingzhang coming over with a small burden with a worried face. Hurriedly took over the burden and carefully told the little guy behind Zhao Wei: "Take care of the things, don't get drenched in the rain." Seeing that it was almost time to eat, he went to wait for the Hou Ye to eat. If you can find a way to get some hot tea. It couldn't be better. Don't be naughty in the palace, don't run around, don't quarrel with people from other families, don't talk to people casually, and be cautious in your words and deeds. If there is anyone who is not long-sighted and wants to bully you, Lord Lu is on duty in the palace, guarding the Jingyun Gate on the east side of the Qianqing Palace Gate, and you go to talk to him. He will call the shots for you. There is a place that needs to be touched, and there is a small purse in the baggage. It's a silver bead of five dollars each, and you can use it. ”

That little guy is newly promoted, although the rules are poor, and the work is not proper enough, but he is clever, and after listening to Zhao Xiu's instructions, even if she has to repeat it every day, he has long been familiar with Zhao Wei's side, and he still seriously agreed.

Lu Mingzhang was a little relieved: "Master Hou, girl, why don't you ...... Or should I go with Master Hou? I went there for the first two days, and the people in the place are more familiar than others. ”

Zhao Wei and Zhao Xiu shook their heads in unison to veto, Zhao Wei smiled and said: "Don't be stupid, I didn't think about it for a while, yesterday you met with a few people from the Hanlin Academy in the palace, I just thought that Xinjun had greeted the government before, and the divorce documents of your sister and brother have already come down, and you will also be a serious citizen in the future, and you will study and take the imperial examination as you like." It's just that there are few people in the family now, and there are no skilled people for a while, so I let you continue to work at home for the time being. But if you let me go into the palace again, all the examiners and teachers you will meet in the future will be you, so you are not afraid that people will know that you have been a descendant of the Zhao family and look down on you? ”

Lu Mingzhang disagreed: "If there is no Zhao family's kindness, where can I be where I am today?" Not to mention studying for the imperial examination in the future. I will never deny that I am a member of the Zhao family for the rest of my life, so what if others know? If you look down on me because of this, it's not someone worth befriending. ”

Zhao Xiu smiled, Lu Changxiu and Lu Dashou, the father and son, are not good, but Lu's mother is reliable, her children, as well as Bilian and Lu Mingzhang, the two sisters and brothers, are decent people, but it is not in vain for their grandchildren's trust in Lu's mother's family.

She persuaded Lu Mingzhang: "You just stay at home, there must be someone who can hold the scene." From tomorrow, my brother will still go to the palace for a night, and then we will be the only ones left in the house. You are also the son of the big housekeeper, and you have been released again, and you are more decent than others in terms of identity. With you, the people below don't dare to move lightly. ”

Zhao Wei also said: "Indeed, there must be a few more people in the family before I can put my mind at ease." ”

Lu Mingzhang thought about it, so he agreed.

Zhao Wei asked Zhao Xiu: "What are you going to do at home today?" Now it's a state funeral, and the Internal Affairs Office is busy with the palace again, and it has to be busy with the affairs of Princess Guangping, so I'm afraid that I won't have the leisure to send things to our family again. Those things in the previous child have been counted and put into the warehouse, and it is not a way for you to be bored at home all day, do you still want to go to the palace? ”

Zhao Xiu nodded: "People with a little face, all went to the court to cry and mourn, and there were few people who went to the Guangping Palace to pay respects, even if they came, they came and went in a hurry, the scene was so cold, I didn't feel like it when I saw it." I heard that last night, the prince finally went home from the palace, and when he saw the situation at home, he didn't know what to do. Gao Zhen has survived alone until now, and it is hard enough, how old is he? Just because he didn't see the last side of the princess, he felt uncomfortable all the time. It's good that I can go and accompany him and unravel him. Anyway, I don't have to go to the court to cry spirits. ”

Zhao Wei sighed: "Okay, the prince's family has a great kindness to us, and we have known the prince since childhood, and I feel bad when I see him bereaved one after another, and my father is not around." You just comfort him a few more words, tell him not to care too much, that night I heard the bell from the palace, I knew that something must have happened to the first emperor, it was the prince's own grandfather, how could he not care? It is also common sense to run out and ask people, who would have thought that the princess would be ...... at that time But the prince was not there at that time. ”

Zhao Xiu was silent, and his heart was a little blocked.

The steward of the small mansion ran over along the verandah: "Master Hou." Girl, the carriage is ready. ”

Zhao Wei glanced at the self-striking bell in the room, and it was so late. The sky was overcast and raining, but he didn't realize that it was almost dawn if the hour had changed, and he hurriedly said, "I'm leaving." My sister got up in the middle of the night, it was too hard, so let's go back to the house and rest again. It's not too late to go to the palace when it's dawn. ”

Zhao Xiu agreed, took an umbrella all the way, and sent him out of the door.

Back to the inner courtyard. She didn't sleep as Zhao Wei said. In the past few days, she got up early every day to send her brother, and in order not to delay the hour, she also went to bed early at night, and she was not sleepy. She wanted to prepare Zhao Wei's luggage for tomorrow's palace stay. At that time, Zhao Wei will live in the palace for twenty-seven days in one go. It's been almost a month. At most, you can only bring one or two small guys around, and it must be inconvenient. She'll have to prepare.

This time I was busy, and I was busy for half a day. By the time she was free, the rain had stopped. She saw that the sky outside was still passable, so she asked Bilian, and then took a little girl and got into a carriage to go to Guangping Palace.

The front of the Guangping Royal Mansion was snow-white, and it was still deserted. Occasionally, one or two people come in to offer condolences. About a hundred feet away from the gate of the palace, on the side of the road, a delicate carriage was parked. The people who drove the carriage were also dressed in plain clothes, and there was a maid standing on each side of the carriage, and one of them happened to be Lianzhu.

Zhao Xiu got out of the car and took a look from afar, and knew that this was Zhong Yazhi. Probably because of her weak heart, but also because the Guangping Royal Mansion did not welcome her, so she only dared to stay so far away. It's just that she came yesterday and the day before yesterday, and stayed for most of the day when she came, and she left in the evening, and she didn't show up, but sat in the carriage, and there was a faint cry. Others came to mourn, and when they saw this situation, they didn't know which family's daughter it was, and they thought she was really here to worship. But if you really come here, why don't you dare to play the Zhong family's banner? Except for the people in the palace of Guangping who know the inside story, who knows that this is the princess's uncompetitive niece here? If someone recognizes him and asks why the daughter of the Zhong family doesn't enter the house to worship, does Zhong Yazhi have the courage to explain to others?

Zhao Xiu only glanced at the Zhong family's carriage a few times, and then walked into the palace. Her treatment in the palace is far better than Zhong Yachi. The head of the palace personally greeted her and saluted her: "Miss Zhao is here?" You have a heart, if you don't have it, I'm afraid that the mourning hall will be even more deserted. ”

Zhao Xiu shook his head and asked the manager again: "Are the prince and the prince back?" "All the princes and officials have to enter the palace to cry, and the king of Guangping and the son of Gao Zhen, who are the grandsons of the first emperor, are naturally no exception. However, Xinjun felt ashamed of his brother, sister-in-law and nephew, so he was extra considerate and allowed their father and son to return home early every day to take care of the funeral. It's past noon now, and as was yesterday's, it's almost time for them to return.

The steward said, "The prince and the prince came back early today, and lunch is also used in the house." It's just that the prince has no intention of eating, and now he is sitting alone behind the mourning hall, accompanying the princess. Speaking of this, his eyes were also red, "The prince is in front of the hall right now, and he still didn't sleep well yesterday." ”

Zhao Xiu nodded, with a little worry in his heart, and went to the mourning hall first.

The mourning hall was still so deserted, and no one came to mourn for the time being, so Zhao Xiu went to cry first.

Although he has to cry a few times a day, Zhao Xiu doesn't need to use the gadgets next to him to cry naturally. Zhong's death was really a very sudden thing for her, unlike the news that the emperor was critically ill a few months ago, and Zhao Xiu came to see her on the day of Zhong's death. Obviously, a few hours ago, there were still talking and laughing, and seeing you again a few hours later, the person was already dying. Whenever she thinks of Zhong's kind teaching her housekeepers, as well as taking care of her when she was a child, Zhao Xiu feels very uncomfortable in her heart. In addition to being uncomfortable, she remembered that her little friend Gao Zhen had lost her beloved biological mother since then, and she was a little more uncomfortable.

Crying and crying, Zhao Xiu felt that someone had come to her, and when she turned her head, it turned out to be Gao Zhen. He was dressed in miserable white today, his face was a little whiter than the clothes on his body, and he had no expression on his face, and silently handed her a handkerchief.

Zhao Xiu looked at the handkerchief that was already soaked in his hand, and took the handkerchief. The two men continued to stand side by side, one crying, one standing there in silence. (To be continued......)

PS: (I recommend a book to everyone, Yunni's new work "The Lady in Charge", ISBN 3207576, this heroine is called Wanning~~~^o^)