Aunt Lian is still very young, but in her twenties, she is the daughter of a military family in the border city of eastern Liaodong, because she was born with a bit of color, her family has high expectations for her. Zhao Jue found an official position in Liaodong, although he was a humble position, he was quickly promoted to six levels in a few years, and everyone could see that he had a backstage. Aunt Lian's father saw that he didn't even have a concubine by his side, and only had a room, so he sent his daughter over, thinking that it was profitable.

When Aunt Lian first entered the door, she was almost a sole favorite, and she was very beautiful for a few days, and her mother's family did get a lot of benefits. Zhao Jue brought the room with him at that time, which was prepared for him by Aunt Xiaoqian, and his appearance and figure were mediocre, and he looked at him as an old mother. After getting Aunt Lian, I was satisfied. It's a pity that this favor didn't last long, and within a few years, Zhao Jue got tired of her. After returning to the capital, Aunt Xiao Qian was unhappy when she saw this competitor who was younger and more beautiful than herself, and wanted to exclude her, but Zhao Jue was indifferent. He added a new love to his room, and Aunt Lian only gave birth to a daughter, but Aunt Xiao Qian gave birth to three sons, and she lived two times, which is more decent. Zhao Jue was able to learn from Aunt Xiaoqian, and she didn't give her name. Aunt Lian has been a serious aunt for a few years, and then she has returned to the status of a cheap concubine, and she has to work like a servant every day, and her heart is really miserable.

No matter how bitter it is, it can't be bitter now. Zhao Jue participated in the rebellion, he was named by the prince, and the whole family was arrested and put in prison. Aunt Lian was not at home when the officers and soldiers came, so she went out to buy vegetables, and she didn't have any official concubine status, so she was not on the list of Zhao Jue's family, but she escaped the catastrophe. It was also an unexpected stroke of luck. But her own daughter was not yet six years old, and she was also in prison with her grandmother and brothers and sisters, and she was worried outside. But I don't know what to do. She is not familiar with the capital, and she can't even inquire about where they are being held, so what else can she do except ask the second room to help? Even looking for a second room was reminded by the servants in the house.

She has been tempered for a few years, but she has developed a little toughness, even if Zhao Wei doesn't even have a good face for her. Every time she resolutely refused her request, she still came every day. If Zhao Wei closed the door and ignored it, she kept begging the concierge to open the door. Or stand silently at the foot of the front steps and weep, and do not shout. If Zhao Wei goes out, she will definitely seize the opportunity to keep up. Zhao Wei came back from outside, and she also begged all the way. Until he closes the door.

In fact. Although Aunt Lian is Zhao Jue's concubine, she entered the door three years after Zhao Wei and Zhao Xiu's parents were killed, and she came to ask for someone for her youngest daughter, and she suffered a lot in Zhao Jue's family. Zhao Wei didn't have any hatred for her at first, just treated it as a passerby. But passers-by come to pestering every day, which is also very annoying. Zhao Wei couldn't stand it anymore, so he had to order someone to drive her away. But as long as she seizes the opportunity, she still has to stick to it. Zhao Xiu didn't meet him when he came back. He was secretly rejoicing.

After listening to his brother's introduction, Zhao Xiu thought for a while: "The laws of the imperial court, even if it is a heinous felony, if there are children under the age of fifteen in the family, they should be able to spare their lives, right?" Those over the age of 10 and under the age of 16 are sentenced to exile, and those under the age of 10 are to be redeemed for money. Among Zhao Jue's children, the eldest Zhao Ze is only fourteen or fifteen years old, so he shouldn't have any worries about his life, not to mention that this Aunt Lian's daughter is not yet six years old, at most she will be in prison for a few days, and when the case is over, she will naturally be able to come out. Doesn't she know? ”

Zhao Wei shook her head: "I don't think she knows, she still comes to the door every day, it's nothing more than two points, once she comes to the prison, she is definitely not as good as the outside, she is worried that her daughter is young and weak, and she will die young if she suffers in the prison; Second, she must have a bit of luck in her heart, if we are willing to help, then not only can our daughter be saved, but the Zhao family may also be able to save the family business, and their mother and daughter will not have to worry about their future lives. She made a lot of calculations, but I don't know who heard about our family, didn't that person tell her that we are enemies with Zhao Jue? ”

Whether Aunt Lian knows that Zhao Jue and the second ancestor are enemies, only she knows. However, Zhao Xiu and his brother have the same thoughts, and they don't plan to get involved in Zhao Jue's affairs, after all, his rebellion is real, and in order to keep it secret, he even does not hesitate to kill his parents and children, this kind of person is destined to be unwashed. What's more, his father and wife still have a mortal enmity with their family. Their brother and sister were full of food and support to save people.

Anyway, Zhao Jue's big family, only he and his mother Niu are going to be convicted, Aunt Xiaoqian probably can't escape, the others are too young to meet the sentencing standards, whether they are exiled or redeemed, they can save their lives, and they each have their own foreign families to rely on, why should Zhao Xiu's brothers and sisters meddle?

But Aunt Lian really cried pitifully, even if she didn't make a big noise, but this house was not big, Zhao Xiu and Zhao Wei happily sat in the main room talking, and they heard bursts of crying, crying so much that everyone was furious. Zhao Xiu finally understood why Zhao Wei stretched his face when he heard that Aunt Lian was coming.

She thought about it for a while and said to Zhao Wei: "It's not a way to let her continue to cry outside the door, we are annoying, and she has worked in vain, so it's better to make it clear to her." ”

Zhao Wei frowned: "How do you make this clear?" From the very beginning, I told her that this is a major case of rebellion, the emperor, the prince, and the important ministers of the court are all staring at it, Zhao Jue has shown his face in front of the prince again, and our family has not been able to clear his name, so that she can go back and wait for the news. Whether he is dead or alive depends on his family's luck. But she didn't listen, and she still pestered endlessly. ”

Zhao Xiu said: "Just tell her two things clearly, one is that her daughter is still young and most likely can save her life, and the other is that we have a grudge against Zhao Jue, it is impossible to help her with this, it would be good if she didn't fall into the ground." If she continues to make trouble, we will be really annoyed, and it will not do her daughter any good. If she really has free time, she might as well think about how she will live in the future, even if her daughter is released, most of the family property will not be saved, she might as well raise some money and take her daughter back to her parents' house afterwards. ”

Zhao Wei said: "In this case, let people go with her." ”

Bi Lian was sent this messenger, and she went outside the door to tell Aunt Lian for a quarter of an hour, and I don't know whether Aunt Lian believed it or not. Anyway, after crying for a while, I left. Zhao Xiu thinks she is probably accepting reality, right? Anyway, there was no one outside the door to play Meng Jiangnu, and the brother and sister felt much quieter when they spoke.

Zhao Xiu asked about Gao Zhen. Zhao Wei sighed and said: "It has not been easy for him these days, because King Guangping has been staying in the palace to serve the emperor, Princess Guangping is sick again, and the huge palace is supported by the prince." I went to see him yesterday and thought he was a lot haggard. ”

Zhao Xiu hurriedly asked, "Is Princess Guangping sick?" What disease? Does it matter? ”

Zhao Wei hesitated: "The princess has not been in good health in recent years, but it has always been a minor illness. I look at Shizi's expression, and I'm afraid it's a big symptom this time. The medical officer of the palace entered the palace, and the people of the hospital were detained again. The imperial doctors who stayed in Beijing after Zhishi were all summoned to the palace, and the prince had to invite an old doctor with a good reputation to come to the door to treat the princess, saying that he had taken medicine for a few days, but there was no improvement. ”

Zhao Xiu was worried when he heard this: "How can this be? I saw the princess when I was a child. Do you think she's in good health? Is it because I heard bad news? Thought something had happened to your son, so you were worried that you would get sick? So now that the prince has returned safely, she should be fine soon, right? ”

Zhao Wei said hesitantly: "I heard that this is not the case, although the princess was worried about the prince before, but she was only weak, and her condition was not serious. But it's her mother's family. was also involved in the rebellion, but it was not King Ying who took refuge. It was Zhu Lifei and the Six Princes, and the daughter of the Zhong family even begged Zhu Lifei to open her mouth and promised to make her the side concubine of the Six Princes. Now that Zhu Lifei is dead, the sixth prince has been taken out, and the son-in-law of the Zhong family is involved in the murder of the prince, I don't know if it will affect the Zhong family. The old lady of the Zhong family personally went to the palace to beg her daughter to come to her rescue, and said something unpleasant between her words, which made the princess so angry that she vomited blood. ”

Zhao Xiu was taken aback, and he was a little angry in his heart. Princess Zhong of Guangping is such a good person, how can she have such a disgusting mother's family? betrayed the family of King Guangping, and also killed his grandson Gao Zhen, but now it's bad, and he still has the face to ask them to save people, and his daughter is so angry that she vomits blood. Is this also called a loved one? This is the enemy, right?

The brother and sister went all the way north, and they were both accompanied by Gao Zhen, and their friendship became deeper, and they were sincerely worried about this little friend. Zhao Xiu thought for a while: "Since I have entered Beijing, why should I visit the princess, why don't you go Ming'er?" It just so happens that today is the Lantern Festival, and although tomorrow's sixteenth is a little late, it's not impossible to send some Boxing gifts to the door, right? ”

Speaking of this, Zhao Wei felt embarrassed: "In the past few days, many people have sent Yuan Festival gifts to our family, how do I know these rules?" I also feel that many people in it are not familiar with our family, and it is really strange to suddenly give gifts. I thought to myself, could it be that they had something to do with the rebellion, deliberately gave me gifts, and wanted to ask me to help intercede? Then I didn't dare to accept their things, so I asked people to send them back again, but they didn't accept them. I didn't know what to do, but my sister came back and just had an idea for me. ”

When Zhao Xiu was in Fengxian's hometown, she also helped her grandmother take care of the New Year's gifts, but those who acted as usual were fine, but the current situation was different, and she didn't have a good idea. After thinking about it, he asked Zhao Wei to take out all those gift lists, indicate which family gave the gift, and asked if Zhao Wei had left any words from the person who gave the gift, and when he learned that there was not, he wrote another letter and put it in a small box together with the gift list.

Zhao Wei asked, "Sister, what are you doing?" ”

Zhao Xiu said: "Doesn't the prince often send people out to see you?" The next time someone came, the elder brother would hand over the box to someone to take back, so that the prince could see the contents. If the prince says that it is okay, you will accept the gift generously, and we will regard it as a small fortune, at most in the future, according to the same value as a gift to others. If the prince says that he can't accept it, let's return the things as they are, and if the prince doesn't allow it, those people will naturally not dare to force us to accept it anymore. If one or two of them slip through the net, maybe we can help the prince find out the people! ”

Zhao Wei smiled: "Okay, it's up to my sister." ”

Zhao Xiu talked with his brother for a while, inquired about the situation in Beijing, and felt tired, so he went back to the backyard room to rest. Although the three rooms were packed up in a hurry, Zhao Wei was staring at them, he loved his sister and had money in his hands, so it was naturally impossible to settle down, so the room was quite comfortable.

Zhao Xiu happily took a hot bath, spread her long hair, and sat warmly in the room with the burning wall, packing up the cabinets with Bilian. She thought that she was going to see Gao Zhen and Princess Guangping tomorrow, and she should bring some intimate gifts, so she found a good piece of thick velvet material, made a forehead, sewed silk, and embroidered a simple Fushou pattern on it. It's a little simpler, but it's too short a time to do anything else.

In the evening, the brother and sister had a sumptuous dinner in one place, mentioning today's Lantern Festival, there should have been a lamp market in Beijing, but there was a major case of rebellion, the emperor was sick again, many people were imprisoned, exiled, and killed, where is there an atmosphere to do these things? Hence the cancellation of the light market. Zhao Wei was afraid that his sister would not be happy, so he went out to the market and came back with a lantern. Although the light market is gone, the shops selling lamps are still open.

Zhao Xiu shook his head and said, "It's a mess outside, it's going to be curfew in a while, what are you doing running out at night?" ”

Zhao Wei smiled and said, "Isn't this afraid that you will be bored?" When you were in your hometown last year, you laughed with your grandmother and mentioned that you must go to the county town for a good visit to the lantern market during the Lantern Festival this year, and buy a few beautiful lanterns to hang back. Where did you think that on the day of the Lantern Festival, our brothers and sisters are thousands of miles away from our grandmothers, and we can't have a reunion dinner, if we don't even have a lantern at home, wouldn't it be too pitiful? ”

Zhao Xiu smiled: "With relatives by your side, how can you be pitiful?" But my grandmother is more pitiful, neither of us is around, but we can't give birth to wings and fly back to our hometown to accompany her. ”

Zhao Wei thought of his grandmother, and couldn't help sighing: "Grandmother doesn't know if she has returned to Fengxian's hometown this time?" Or do you still live in Matsue Castle? If you are in Songjiang City, accompanied by your second uncle's family, you should be happy, right? If you go back to the old house, there are also younger generations in the clan who are happy and happy, and it will not be too lonely. ”

Zhao Xiu imagined the situation for a moment: "In this way, my grandmother's side may still be very lively, but in comparison, we are really pitiful." She smiled as she spoke, "Why don't we get a lantern to hang too?" You don't have to go out to buy it, we can do it ourselves. ”

Zhao Wei was curious: "Do it yourself?" Will you do it? ”

Zhao Xiu recalled the situation of learning to make folding paper lanterns in primary school labor class, and decisively praised Haikou: "It's not difficult, let's find some paper, bamboo strips, rope and paintbrushes and paints, and try it." ”

The brother and sister worked hard all night, and they didn't stop until the third watch, and the results were not very good. Zhao Xiu reluctantly made a folding lantern out, but the pleats were not very neat and beautiful, and the patterns painted on it were just the same. Zhao Wei finally gave up the folding lantern, and honestly asked people to tie a simple cubic shelf with thin bamboo strips, covered it with colored paper, and wrote and painted with a pen, which looked much more beautiful than that of his sister, but unfortunately he just lit the candle and put it in, and when he lifted it, the candle fell down, burning the entire lantern to ashes. In contrast, Zhao Xiu is at least a lamp.

The brother and sister made fun of each other, and then they both felt sleepy and went back to their rooms to sleep. When they got up the next day, they all went to the palace of Guangping Wangfu. (To be continued......)