On the day of the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, Xiao Ding was woken up early by the sound of firecrackers outside. After he got up, he finished grooming and ate the free dumplings given by the innkeeper. He also received an invitation letter from Gao Lao Wang Ye of the Gao Royal Mansion, inviting him to attend the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner at the Gao Royal Mansion tonight.

Xiao Ding told the messenger that he would arrive on time tonight, so he sent the messenger out of the inn.

Xiao Ding guessed that the reason why Old Prince Gao sent someone to invite him to the dinner party must have been because Gao Wanjun went back and told him about his affairs in the army, which attracted the attention of Old Prince Gao.

Throughout the day, the city of Zhongzhou was filled with a festive atmosphere for the New Year. Every household, the firecrackers are firecrackers, the Spring Festival couplets are pasted, the lanterns are hung, and the colored silk is pulled...... Everyone's face was beaming. When everyone meets and greets each other, they are all New Year's greetings.

Xiao Ding went out and walked around the street and found that most of the shops were closed. But there are people in every store, busy tidying up the store, cleaning, decorating the façade, and so on. Most of the shops are decorated with silk, lanterns or bunting.

On the street, there are lion dances and dragon dances organized by the people, jumping and jumping, gongs and drums are noisy, and they go door-to-door to pay New Year's greetings.

When Xiao Ding sees this situation, he will inevitably think of his home in Luoxia Village, and he doesn't know how the family celebrates the New Year. Then I was in no mood to continue wandering the streets. He returned to his room in the inn, and when he was bored, he sat on the bed and practiced the exercises. Wait for the evening to go to dinner.

Lunch is still a free dumpling delivered by the inn. Pork and cabbage filling, big belly and thin skin, the taste is still very delicious.

This day, Xiao Ding heard a few words from the woman next door:

"Seventh Senior Sister, you see that Sixth Senior Sister is bleeding again."

"Senior Sister Seven, did you say that the medicine prescribed by Lang Zhong works?"

"Seventh Senior Sister, you can see that Sixth Senior Sister's face is getting whiter and whiter."

"Seventh Senior Sister, you went to ask Shen Shen Shen in the morning, what did he say?"

"Seventh Senior Sister, when do you think Senior Sister will come? Didn't she say she would come over today? ”

“……”

For this little junior sister's question, many of the seventh senior sisters couldn't answer it.

Xiao Ding heard from the conversation between the two senior sisters that the sixth senior sister's injuries were getting worse and worse. They did not succeed in inviting Shen Shen Doctor to treat the sixth senior sister. They found an ordinary Lang Zhong and prescribed medicine, which didn't seem to be too effective.

After lunch, there was a lot less talk next door, and the two sisters were quiet, but the two sighed more.

Until the evening, Xiao Ding inquired about the location of King Gao's Mansion, left the inn, and rode towards King Gao's Mansion.

It didn't take long for Xiao Ding to come to the door of King Gao's mansion. When I looked up, I saw that this Gao Wangfu was much more magnificent than the county government of Hu County in Luoxia County.

Two tall and mighty stone lions stand on both sides in front of the door, the tall gatehouse, the vermilion lacquer gate, and the copper nails on the gate are the size of small bowls.

There is a couplet on both sides of the gate:

God is mighty and strong, and there is no other lord in his loyalty;

Loyal to the liver and courage, thousands of miles of meritorious service written for 10,000 years.

Above the gate, a wide plaque reads "Gaoqing Palace", four big characters, dragon flying phoenix dance. Two huge lanterns hang on both sides of the gate, illuminating the front of the door.

Although it was not yet completely dark, the candles in the lanterns were already lit.

Because the Gao Wangfu is hosting guests today, there are already servants at the gate to receive guests. Xiao Ding stepped forward and handed over his invitation.

In fact, other guests have their own name cards, which is equivalent to the business card of later generations, which says who and who are in such and such a house, or who and who in such and such a house, or who and so and so on. Xiao Ding doesn't have such a name. He had no choice but to hand over the invitation letter to prove that he was invited by the old prince.

After opening the invitation and reading it, the subordinates of King Gao's Mansion hurriedly greeted him with a smile: "It turns out that General Tian has arrived, our old prince has already ordered him, if General Tian arrives, be sure to receive it!" General Tian, please come with me! ”

The servant took Xiao Ding's horse by the hand and walked in front to lead the way.

Ding followed the servant into the gate, first in the open space of the vestibule. There are rows of houses on both sides. Xiao Ding didn't know who the rooms were or why there were so many.

There are also cross-courtyards on both sides of the vestibule. The main room in the vestibule looks like a hall. But the servant did not lead Ding into the hall, but led him towards the backyard.

The servant first led the horses to the stable, and then led Xiao Ding around the layers of courtyards, and finally came to the back garden of King Gao's mansion.

The promenade in the back garden has long been hung with colorful silk and lanterns, and the lanterns have already been lit, illuminating the promenade brilliantly.

There is a small artificial lake in the courtyard of the back garden, and there is a large pavilion in the center of the artificial lake, and the promenade is seven turns and eight turns, and finally the end point is around the pavilion.

In the gazebo, there were already many people sitting, men and women, full of spring breeze.

Although it is winter at this time, Zhongzhou is located in the south of the Yangtze River, and the climate is much warmer than that in the north. The season also comes a little earlier than in the north. Therefore, there is only a thin layer of ice floating on the surface of the artificial lake.

At this moment, the plum blossoms in the garden are in full bloom, dotted with stars, dotted with night, reflected in the thin snow light, which looks extremely enchanting.

Xiao Ding looked towards the middle of the pavilion and saw an old man sitting on the main seat. Gao Wanjun was sitting next to the old man at the moment, pouring tea for the old man.

Xiao Ding doesn't have to think about it to know that this old man must be Gao Wanjun's grandfather, Gao Lao Wangye. When he was at the inn, Xiao Ding once asked the shopkeeper about the name of the old man. His name was Gao Zhengde, and he was also one of the famous generals in the Eastern Expedition. Gao Zhengde has four sons, the eldest is called Gao Liangkai, the second is called Gao Liangtenon, the third is called Gao Lianghua, and the fourth is called Gao Liangtong. Gao Wanjun's father is the boss Gao Liangkai.

As the granddaughter of the head of the long house, Gao Wanjun has been smart and clever since she was a child, so she is loved by Gao Zhengde. In addition to Gao Wanjun, Gao Zhengde also has six or seven grandchildren, but most of them are still minors, and there are two grandchildren who are adults, one is also Gao Liangkai's son, Gao Wanjun's younger brother, named Gao Hongjun, and the other grandson is the eldest son of the second Gao Liangtenon, named Gao Honglun.

It's just that at present, Gao Zhengde's two adult grandsons are still following their fourth uncle Gao Liangtong on the Youzhou front line and have not yet returned.

Among the more than ten guests in the pavilion, Xiao Ding found a familiar figure again, that is, Luo Simao. Xiao Ding didn't expect that Old Prince Gao actually invited Luo Simao to come to the dinner at the same time.

It stands to reason that King Luo's Mansion is also on an equal footing with King Gao's Mansion, and Luo Simao should stay at his home and spend the Year of Reunion with his family, how could he come to King Gao's Mansion to spend Chinese New Year's Eve?

Xiao Ding had doubts in his heart, but he didn't say it to his face. Instead, he followed the servant into the gazebo.

This is exactly what it is:

In the sound of firecrackers, he was one year old, and he was alone in a foreign land and missed his aunt;

Bo Xue is not afraid of late spring, and a little plum blossom is sent to Tu Su!