The carriage stopped. Qingyang, who only heard riding with Zhou Boyan, happily told Qingshu in the car, "Sister, we have arrived." ”

Several small servants who had been waiting for a long time had a horse stool in their hands, and they were set up under several carriages as soon as possible. Another mother-in-law and maid came forward and opened the car door with a smile.

Qing Shu stepped out of the carriage, and as soon as he looked up, he saw the door plaque with the word "Shu Yuan" hanging high above the main entrance of the mansion in front of him. She was slightly stunned. She thought that Zhou Boyan had either found an inn for her, or rented a small mansion for her, but she never expected it to be a "garden". In the capital, the garden refers to a garden-style house where flowers, birds, insects, fish, rare birds and animals and precious trees are all missing. Yes, it is a house, a house with pleasant scenery and the fragrance of fish, birds and flowers everywhere.

Qingyang They are small, and they have never seen Yuan, even Luo Xiaorong does not know Yuan. Therefore, the three of them just walked over and stood at Qing Shu's side, looking around curiously, without any other thoughts.

Zhou Boyan urged with a smile, "Get on the sedan chair!" All are ready. ”

Accept it or not, this is indeed not the place to speak. Qingshu bowed his head, and Qingyang sat in the three soft sedan chairs waiting on the side, and entered the "Shu Garden". Probably to let them see the scenery along the way, the curtain of the soft sedan car has been lifted and has not been lowered.

At this time, Qingshu didn't know that Shu Yuan was named after her, and Zhou Boyan asked Steward Zhou to find a craftsman to repair it more than half a year ago. And the door plaque of "Shu Yuan", in fact, was inscribed by him after entering Beijing this time, and then carefully carved by craftsmen. Moreover, the door plaque was completed only three days ago, and it was only hung up the day before yesterday.

Qingshu, who took the soft sedan chair, where they passed, the maids and servants who worked in the garden stopped from time to time to salute.

In Shuyuan, there is naturally no birdsong and flower fragrance in this season, but there are evergreen pines and cypresses in all seasons, rockeries and flowing water, and beautiful buildings. This qiē made Qing Shu breathtaking.

It takes about a quarter of an hour to ride in a sedan car. "Fall off the sedan chair", the mother-in-law who followed the service shouted in a voice neither high nor low.

The soft sedan car landed, and immediately a maid stepped forward to wait for Qingshu and them to get off the sedan chair. The withdrawal of the soft sedan car is not mentioned. Qing Shu looked at the courtyard in front of him and said in his heart: It is really exquisite everywhere.

In Zhou Boyan's opinion, Qingshu and their people have been tired all the way, and it is important to rest and relieve fatigue at present. You can enjoy the scenery in the garden at any time, and it can't run away. Therefore, he said with a smile, "Here are four courtyards of spring, summer, autumn and winter, built according to the four seasons." In front of you is the Spring Garden, and to the east are the three courtyards of summer, autumn and winter. Take a look at them all, pick the one you want. "This is the location of the east of the garden, and the four courtyards of spring, summer, autumn and winter have been repaired in autumn, and everything in it has been prepared and can be moved in at any time.

Qing Shu didn't have to choose, so he gave this decision to Qingyang and Qinghao, "You two take a look, which yard you like, we will live in which yard." ”

Qingyang and Qinghao happily accepted this commission, and pulled Luo Xiaorong into the spring courtyard in front of them first. After that, they looked at the summer, autumn, and winter courtyards one by one, and finally returned to Qingshu's side, and the three little heads were together and muttered for a while.

Qing Shu didn't urge them, just stood there, looking at them with a smile as they discussed seriously. However, seeing that they seemed to be unable to make up their minds for a while, she turned her eyes away and asked Zhou Boyan, who had been with her, "How do you know that we will arrive today?" ”

The mothers-in-law and maids who were waiting in front of them all stood there with their heads down. Zhou Boyan approached Qing Shu in a few steps and wanted to take Qing Shu's hand.

Qing Shu immediately dodged and gave him a warning look.

Zhou Boyan felt regretful, but he didn't follow up, but took a step back, "I received a letter from you six days ago, which mentioned that you will leave on the second day of the ninth lunar month. I estimated the speed of the caravan, and guessed that you would arrive either today or tomorrow. ”

When Qing Shu heard this, he asked again, "What should I do if I don't arrive today?" He didn't know the exact day, but he actually went out thirty or forty miles. If she arrives tomorrow, where is he going to go?

At this time, the mothers-in-law and maids who bowed their heads and stood with their hands down pricked up their ears and waited with bated breath. To be honest, they coveted the gossip of their master for a long time, and they couldn't wait to dig out all the things about the master and the young lady in front of them, and then report them to Steward Zhou. Steward Zhou said, which one can serve this young lady well, and can find out a thing or two about the affair between the son and this young lady, and the monthly money will be doubled this month.

Zhou Boyan didn't know the bad taste of the Zhou steward under him, so he didn't shy away from the presence of the maid and mother-in-law, and replied, "I will meet you in Fengxian County." ”

This answer made Qing Shu stunned.

At this time, Qingyang, Qinghao and Luo Xiaorong had already discussed. Qingyang spoke on behalf of the other two people, "We like the Winter Courtyard, and we want to live in the Winter Courtyard." ”

Only then did Zhou Boyan withdraw his gaze from Qing Shu's face, and said with a smile, "It's okay for you to live in one courtyard by yourself." ”

Qingyang said, "No, we don't want to separate, we want to live together." He saw that each courtyard here was very large, the size of four or five small courtyards in their mansion in the town of Kangxi. Moreover, there are many rooms inside.

In this regard, Zhou Boyan did not express his opinion, but looked at Qingshu.

Qing Shu thought for a while, and thought that the capital was not as good as Kangxi Town, and there were many rules that had to be followed, so he said, "Qingyang and Qinghao live in the Winter Courtyard, and my sister lives in the Autumn Courtyard. As for Xiao Rong, when we settle down, my sister will personally send you home. Of course, there will be a room for you in the Winter Courtyard. When you come to see us, you will have a place to rest. ”

Luo Xiaorong just felt a little abandoned. Before he could show his grievances, he heard Qing Shu say this, and a smile immediately appeared on his little face, "Thank you, sister." ”

And so it was settled. Zhou Boyan waved his hand, and the maid immediately moved, busy and unhurriedly placing the things that Qingshu and they brought.

The things that Qingshu brought with them were naturally not things like luggage, but a change of clothes, money boxes, jewelry boxes and other things. Those special gifts that had been transported from afar, their own steward Ding stared at them, and moved into the empty warehouse that the steward in the garden pointed out to him.

In the autumn courtyard, a maid brought washing water and toiletries. Qingshu washed up and was sitting in front of the dresser to recomb her hair. At this time, Qingyang, Qinghao and Luo Xiaorong came over together.

Qingyang walked to Qingshu's side and said, "Sister, my brother said that the banquet was ready, and asked us to use it." ”

It's late afternoon, and it's about to be the end of the day. It's neither lunchtime nor dinnertime. However, at lunchtime, they only hastily ate some dry food on the way to cushion their stomachs, and they were all a little hungry at this time. Therefore, as soon as Zhou Boyan arrived in Shuyuan, he instructed the kitchen to prepare a table. As Gu Shishi said, Zhou Boyan had already made full preparations for the wind and dust washing banquet. In this way, the kitchen is naturally fully equipped with ingredients and lacks nothing. After he gave the order, the kitchen didn't dare to delay, so he prepared twenty plates of noodles as quickly as possible.

After Qingshu and them entered the table, they had just eaten two mouthfuls of delicious food, and they heard the voice of the woman's crisp "Sister Shu" and "Brother Xiaoyang" outside. At the same time, the voices of "I've seen Miss Bu, I've seen Miss Bu" came into the dining room.

Qing Shu put down his chopsticks with a happy face, and just left the chair and was about to turn around, a pink figure flew in. This pink figure is none other than Bu Yuyan, who has just gotten the news.

It turned out that Qingshu and the others entered the city gate, Song Quan led the caravan to part ways with them, and Bu Wu also said goodbye and left. Bu Wu is on horseback, and the speed is naturally faster than Qingshu who is in a carriage. He returned to the Buda General's Mansion in Fugui Lane, went to meet his grandfather and grandmother for the first time, and then met his sister Yu Yan, who was coquettish in front of his grandfather and grandmother.

When Bu Yuyan saw her fifth brother, she naturally understood that Qingshu had arrived. She was very happy and asked if the five people had taken them home. Bu Wu told the truth, saying that the person was picked up by Zhou Boyan. Hearing this, Bu Yuyan naturally did not follow. She dragged Bu Wu and said that she was going to snatch people back.

General Buda, who had already resigned from his post, glared. Bu Yuyan didn't say anything about robbing people back, but said that she was going to visit Qingshu. The granddaughter's anxious general and Mrs. Bu didn't know anything, so they only said to go and come back quickly, don't delay people to rest. In this way, she couldn't wait for a moment, so she dragged Bu Wu, who had just entered the door and hadn't even drunk saliva, to find her.

At this moment, Bu Yuyan, who rushed over, hugged Qing Shu's neck tightly, and shouted again and again, "Sister Shu, I miss you so much, you can come down." ”

Qing Shu didn't have time to be moved, she only felt that the other party hugged her too tightly, which made her feel a little out of breath. She hurriedly said, "Let go, step Xiaoba, let go quickly." ”

"Yu Yan, let go, you're trying too hard." Bu Wu, who came in behind, reminded helplessly.

Bu Yuyan, who was overly excited, reacted at this time. She hurriedly let go of Qing Shu's neck, then took two steps back, and stretched out her tongue at Qing Shu, "Sister Shu, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." ”

Finally able to breathe freely, Qing Shu poked Bu Yuyan's forehead with his finger with a smile, and then deliberately made a fierce appearance, "Bu Xiaoba, the skin is itchy, right?" Dare to make my sister sad. ”

Bu Yuyan immediately begged for mercy, then pounced to the other side, and hugged Qingyang enthusiastically, "Brother Xiaoyang, my sister misses you so much." ”

Without waiting for Qingyang to say anything, she immediately gave up Qingyang and turned to hug Luo Xiaorong, who was looking at her curiously, "Xiaohao, it's Xiaohao's younger brother, right?" She ignored Luo Shangrong's flushed face and began to introduce herself, "I'm Sister Yu Yan, come, call Sister Sheng to listen." ”

Qing Shu wanted to roll her eyes, but when she thought of the image problem, she endured it.

Qingyang opened his mouth slightly, looked at Qing Hao with a ghostly expression, and winked at Qing Hao.

Probably frightened by Bu Yuyan's enthusiasm, Qing Hao immediately gave up the chopsticks in his hand and ran behind Qing Shu to hide. He felt that Xiao Rong's younger brother, who was mistaken for himself, was very pitiful.

Bu Yuyan, who was looking for a greeting gift from her body, saw it, and stopped her movements with a surprised face. She first looked at Luo Xiaorong, whose little face was still red, and then looked at the light purple corners of her clothes that appeared behind Qingshu. She rolled her eyes, and then asked hesitantly, "Which one is Xiao Rong and which one is Xiao Hao?" ”

Luo Xiaorong puffed up his blushing little face and said, "I'm Xiaorong." ”

Bu Yuyan realized that she had made the wrong person, and smiled awkwardly, and that's it. She asked Bu Wu, who was invited to the table by Zhou Boyan, "Fifth brother, why didn't you remind me?" Having said that, she immediately moved behind Qing Shu, ignoring the surprised expression on Qing Hao's face, put her hands together, and rubbed Qing Hao's little face for a while, "Xiao Hao, Xiao Hao, I'm Sister Yu Yan." My sister knows that she is wrong, and she will never recognize the wrong person again. ”

Qing Hao dodged left and right with a frightened face, just to stay away from Bu Yuyan.

Qing Shu couldn't stand it, and pushed Bu Yuyan's hand away, "Stinky little eight, don't bully them." Come here, sit down, you're about to get married, and you're still bouncing around like a child, like words? ”

Bu Yuyan smiled wryly, and muttered, "How did Sister Shu become as wordy as my mother?" ”

Qing Shu heard it and glared at her with eyes, "Sit down." ”

Bu Yuyan stuck out her tongue at her, then casually found an empty seat to sit on, and looked at Luo Xiaorong with an apologetic expression.

Luo Xiaorong turned his head very characteristically and snorted to express the dissatisfaction in his heart.

In order to coax him, Bu Yuyan actually made a grimace.

In the work of adding tableware to the maid, Qing Shu said to Bu Yuyan, "If you have something to say, I'll talk about it after eating." Then he asked Qinghao to return to his seat.

Qing Hao refused, because Bu Yuyan was sitting next to his seat, and he didn't want to be rubbed by her again.

Qing Shu saw it, didn't say anything to him, just asked the maid to add a chair to her left hand.

Qing Hao was happy now, sat down, and took the chopsticks that the maid moved over and continued to eat.

Bu Yuyan glanced at Qing Hao with a sad face, but did not speak again, but quietly accompanied Qing Shu and them to have some food.

After finishing the meal, Qing Shu sat for a while, and then said that he would send Luo Xiaorong home. Bu Wu listened to it and told Qing Shu to send someone back to rest early, and then dragged the sticky Bu Yuyan away with a rare force.

Qingshu asked Qingyang and them to go back to the room and lie down for a while, and then called Steward Ding to step forward and asked, "Are you ready?" ”

Steward Ding held the gift list with both hands.

Xiao Juan took it from the side and put it on the table next to Qing Shu.

Steward Ding then said, "The servant checked it again according to this gift list, and it was accurate. The red fruits have also been opened and retested. The bad ones have been thrown away, and the good ones have been packed in ten boxes, making a hundred and twelve boxes. According to the gift list, the servant had already taken twenty boxes of red fruits, which had been placed on the carriage at this time. ”

Qingshu bowed his head and expressed satisfaction. She groaned slightly and looked at Zhou Boyan on the side, "Twenty boxes, will it be too little?" ”

Zhou Boyan put down the teacup in his hand, "Now the red fruits in Beijing are out of stock, and I can't buy them with any amount of silver." Twenty boxes is not less. Ashu, the rest of the red fruits, can you leave it to me to arrange? ”

Qing Shu was stunned for a moment, and immediately waved his hand to let the waiter go down. When there were only the two of them left in the hall, she opened her mouth and whispered, "I originally planned to send fifty boxes from your uncle's side, twenty boxes from Luofu, twenty boxes from Bufu, and twenty boxes from Gu Ruixing's father's side." If there is any surplus in these items, they will be distributed to the mansions of Vice General Xu and Master Gu. She paused, "Since you have an arrangement, then you have to leave me the sixty boxes of Luofu, Bufu and Gu General's Mansion." You can do the rest. ”

Zhou Boyan shook his head, got up, moved to the chair next to Qing Shu and sat down, "It's good that I asked, otherwise, you will leave the princess's mansion behind." ”

The Princess's Mansion naturally refers to the Jingyang Princess's Mansion. Princess Jingyang has a very high status in Zhou Boyan's heart. He actually forgot about such an important person, Qing Shu annoyed herself, "I just thought that you would definitely have to give it to your uncle, but I forgot about the princess." Get rid of the bad ones, and you will get a total of 112 boxes, which is not enough points, what should I do? ”

He couldn't see her annoyed, and said, "Don't be annoyed. As you said, sixty boxes will be left for you to distribute, and I will arrange the rest. ”

She sighed, "I knew better, I had pretended more." ”

Thinking of something else, he asked, "Can I bring the fruit wine?" ”

"Hmm." Before leaving, she inspected the wine made this year. It's done, but because it's not long enough, the taste is not mellow enough. Even so, she brought out a pound of fifty jars. Afraid of beating on the road, her people did all kinds of protective measures, so that all the fruit wine was saved.

"How are you going to do that?"

"Your uncle has twenty altars, Luofu, Bufu and Gufu, each with ten altars."

He said his thoughts, "In this way, Luofu and Bufu, twenty boxes of red fruits, and eight jars of fruit wine." Gufu, 20 boxes of red fruits, 4 jars of fruit wine. I'll take care of the rest. ”

"I listen to you. Vice General Xu and Lord Gu's courtesy, I will make plans tomorrow, don't worry. ”

He raised his eyebrows, "Master Gu?" Which Gu adult? ”

"From the Ministry of Rites, as for what the official position is, I haven't inquired. I only know his name, Gu Cheng. The ancient housekeeper called him Master Gu San. ”

He seemed to know this person, and nodded, "You prepare a gift for Vice General Xu, that's as it should be." Prepare a gift for Gu Cheng, why? ”

She told her about the fact that she had borrowed silver from Vice General Xu and Master Gu San, so she owed a debt of favors.

He immediately said, "It's not necessary to prepare a gift for Gu Cheng. ”

She wondered, "What? ”

"You know one thing, but you don't know the other. Gu Cheng seems to be above board, but he is actually narrow-minded. Back then, he was favored by your father, but behind his back he hated that your father had more connections than him, and secretly stumbled on your father. His superficial work is so good that even your father doesn't know that he has plotted against him. I stumbled upon this incident while tracking down an old incident. Don't worry, I will find out clearly, and I will never wronged him. ”

She was shocked and puzzled, "In that case, why did he lend us money?" ”

There was obviously a bit of disdain on his face, "You should be willing?" In fact, he borrowed it reluctantly. ”

"Is there something that can't be done?" She sighed in her heart, she thought that Gu Cheng was a person who valued love and righteousness, but she didn't expect that there was another inside story in the middle.

If it weren't for Qing Shu's mention of preparing gifts for Gu Cheng, he wouldn't have remembered Gu Cheng's affairs. Since Gu Cheng was the one who should be defended, he naturally wanted to tell Qing Shu about the power of it. "He dares to treat Steward Gu slowly, not to mention that Vice General Xu can't spare him, even General Gu can't spare him. General Gu is stationed on the frontier, and every time he comes back, he will inquire about your situation. Before asking Vice General Xu to borrow money, the ancient housekeeper first went to an adult in the military department. Not to mention borrowing silver, the ancient butler couldn't even enter the other party's mansion, and was blown away. At this, the expression on his face darkened.

She frowned. There is such a thing! Butler Gu never mentioned it to her.

He continued, "After that, Steward Gu found Vice General Xu. Vice General Xu didn't have much money at the time, but he agreed. When he turned around, he found General Gu and borrowed three thousand taels of silver. The three thousand taels that he had borrowed, plus the thousand five hundred taels that he himself had, made a total of four thousand five hundred taels, were all lent to you. No matter how bombarded or Vice General Xu, he never thought of publicizing the matter. However, there is no such thing as an impermeable wall. General Gu, who was in Beijing at the time, learned about the incident before and after, praised Vice General Xu, and when he went down to the court, he beat the adult who couldn't avoid seeing him with a blue nose and swollen face in front of hundreds of officials, and scolded this person for being ungrateful. ”

She was shocked, "I didn't even know that there was such a thing." It turned out that General Gu had been taking care of their sister and brother in his own way, but she didn't know anything.

"Don't say it's you, in my opinion, even Steward Gu doesn't know about this matter." His guess was correct. After Gu Yunhu's death, the Gu Ye clan did not see any guests, did not interact with anyone, and basically no news came in the ancient mansion. Besides, Gu Steward, he is not a person in the court, if no one specifically tells him what General Gu did, how can he know these things.

She understood now. A year later, when the Gu Butler approached Gu Cheng to borrow silver, because there was a certain adult in the military department as a lesson from the past, although Gu Cheng was reluctant, he was afraid of General Gu, so he would pretend to lend them three thousand taels of silver from the ancient mansion.

"Now that the money has been returned, the grievances and grievances have been settled, so don't deal with each other again." This is his advice.

She said yes. People like Gu Cheng really can't get back and forth. The general's father is kind to him, and he has to secretly make a stumbling block to the general's father, what a villain.

"Let's go, I'll accompany you to send Xiaorong home."

She had no objection, and asked Steward Ding to take two jars of fruit wine from the gifts loaded into the car, and then instructed Steward Ding, "You should send someone to send someone over immediately for twenty boxes of red fruits from the Bu General's Mansion and the Gu General's Mansion." "The red fruit is different, even if it is green when it is plucked, it has been in the carriage for sixteen or seventeen days. No matter how well it is preserved, I am afraid that the red fruits that have been covered red on the way will not last for five or six days. In this case, send it over as soon as possible, so that people can eat it before it is bad, so as to save waste. The rest of the gifts will not be too late for her to visit in person tomorrow.

Without Zhou Boyan to speak, Steward Zhou, who had just arrived from the princess's mansion, said respectfully, "Steward Ding is the right-hand man of the young lady, and he should follow the young lady to the Luo Mansion." As for the red fruit that Miss said, the slave was sent to the Bu Da General's Mansion and the Gu Da General's Mansion. ”

Zhou Boyan bowed his head, "Just do it!" ”