Jiang Chutao ran away from home with his personal maid on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival reunion.

She left a letter to Liu, first solemnly apologized for her reckless departure, and then wrote something in a rambling voice, "I want to serve my parents at home", "I am too young to marry before my two sisters", "I am still studying with me, I must focus on my studies", in short, a hundred sentences I don't want to marry in this letter, and finally wrote that I can't accept this marriage and want to send it back to Changyuan to meditate and recuperate. Liu read this letter, angry and funny, afraid of ruining Mrs. Sun's face, so he had to use the excuse that Chu Tao had a stubborn illness and discussed the marriage another day.

Mrs. Sun also knew that Chu Tao had a stubborn illness, so she didn't think much about it at the moment, but when she saw her son's lost soul, she was quite resentful, thinking that her son was obsessed with the Jiang family girl and was already worried about this appearance. The Liu family sent Mrs. Sun away, and hurriedly sent a few cronies around him to send Changyuan to find the first peach.

Because of the festival, the garden is very deserted. The reason why Chu Tao ran away from home is also very simple, she doesn't want her refusal to marry and shame the Sun family, since she can't refuse the marriage contract, she can only wait for the Sun family to retreat, as long as she does something wrong in Jinling City and stinks her reputation, the Sun family will naturally be dissatisfied with her daughter-in-law.

Chu Tao used to come to Qizhu Pavilion during the day, never visited at night, she carried the lantern all the way to the Qizhu Pavilion in the dark, and opened the door with a squeak, before she opened her mouth to call Xue Congjia, Xue Congjia pressed her on the door panel like lightning, a cold dagger immediately on her neck, Chu Tao was so frightened that she closed her eyes and shouted for help. Under the dim candlelight, Xue Congjia saw Chu Tao's nose and eyes wrinkled, and he took the dagger away dissatisfiedly: "What are you doing here." ”

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, the people of Jichang Garden went home to reunite with relatives and friends, and at this time, Jiang Chutao should be with his family to enjoy the moon and watch the scenery, and should not appear in Jichang Garden.

Chu Tao carefully took out Xue Congjia's dagger and put it in a safe place: "What are you doing with a knife, it's scary." I'm here to invite you to join me to climb the tower and admire the moon. ”

Xue Congjia opened the door and made a gesture of please, Chu Tao thought that he had promised him, and hurriedly went out to lead the way. Who knew that as soon as she left with her front foot, Xue Congjia closed the door with her back foot. Climb the tower to admire the moon? This kind of elegant demeanor is not in line with Jiang Chutao's behavior, who knows what bad ideas she is thinking.

Besides, this month is dark and windy, and there is no one in the whole courtyard, does this girl really regard her reputation as air?

Chu Tao hung the door outside, and her voice was a little anxious: "You open the door, I really asked you to go out and go upstairs to admire the moon." There is a restaurant in Jinling City, the osmanthus duck in it is particularly delicious, soft and glutinous and sweet, fat but not greasy, and there is a shop selling sugar taro that is particularly delicious. In addition, there is a shop on the outskirts of the city that specializes in making snowy moon cakes, with thin skin and large filling, and the pattern of Chang'e running to the moon on it is particularly exquisite. ”

Xue Congjia didn't react to his food temptation, Chu Tao continued to knock with his fist, and continued: "If you don't want to eat these, then do you want to go to Moon Tower and Play Moon Bridge?" Playing the Moon Bridge in the south of the Qinhuai River in the Confucius Temple, there are many scholars gathered at the head of the bridge tonight to play and sing poems about the moon, and the top brand of Tianxianglou's Xianglan girl's homestead is also nearby......"

No matter what Chu Tao said, Xue Congjia was unmoved. Angry, Chu Tao slammed the door twice, kicked a few more times, and when she said that her mouth was dry and she was about to give up, Xue Congjia opened the door.

Jiang Chutao is only fourteen years old, the baby fat on her face has not faded, she looks ignorant and innocent, Jichangyuan treats her as a sister up and down, Xue Congjia thinks, even if she doesn't come to pester herself to play, she will pester others to play. He said helplessly: "I can take you out to play, but you can't cause trouble." ”

Catch up with the festival, the Confucius Temple is full of light, people come and go on the banks of the Qinhuai River, the boats are like a stream, the lights lit on the big bed and small boat shoot out the warm yellow astigmatism from the thin oiled paper window, and the faint haze is faint, and the sparkling water surface is full of ripples, this water wave is like a gentle arm, to take the water and underwater Wu Nong's soft words and Jinse pipa all into his arms.

The trees on the shore are lit up, hung with rabbit lamps and star fruit lanterns made of bamboo paper and anagrams, steaming Kong Ming lanterns fly in the air, provoking a bunch of children to chase and run, the colorful flags and silver bells tied to the bamboo poles sound in the wind, from time to time there are tricks on the shore, the noisy sound of the fire-breathing dragon pushes the boats in the water farther, Jiang Chutao is sitting outside a rickety boat in the Qinhuai River, her feet are outside the boat, her side is full of orange peels and melon seed shells, she is snorting melon seeds while waiting for the Oiran to appear, From time to time, he muttered a few words to Xue Congjia.

Xue Congjia and Jiang Chutao visited the famous restaurants in Jinling one night, they bought osmanthus duck in Taifeng Building, and went to Xinyuanzhai to buy sugar taro drizzled with osmanthus sugar, and did not let go of any of the pastries on the street.

Now that the boat has been packed, Xiaohong and Chu Tao are sitting at one end of the boat, and Xue Congjia is holding the oar on the other end. After a while, Chu Tao said to Xiaohong: "You go and hold up the boat for Xue Congjia for a while, and you call him over." ”

Xiaohong muttered, "There are so many boats crowded together here, there is no need to be in charge of the ship at all." But even though she said that, people passed honestly.

Xue Congjia stepped on the peel of a melon and fruit to the other side of the boat, and Chu Tao pointed to a colorful flower boat not far away and cheered and said: "Let's squeeze closer, that flower boat is from Tianxianglou, and the Oiran of Tianxianglou will come out to show up tonight." ”

"You're a girl, why are you so curious about Oiran?" Xue Congjia also took an orange from the board of the boat and sat down nearby.

Chu Tao's eyes were shining, her fists were clenched tightly, and she said, "That's the Oiran Xianglan girl who doesn't sell her body in Tianxianglou!" A while ago, the fashionable mulberry makeup in Jinling was created by her! Normally, it would cost at least a few taels of silver to see her, but now that there is a free one, it would be a big loss. After speaking, she patted Xue Congjia on the shoulder excitedly, and Nunu said, "It's here!" Here it comes! ”

At this time, fireworks splashed everywhere, and the sound of the crowd commotion pushed the atmosphere to the extreme, and the people on the shore and on the boat were curious to stick their heads out to watch this legendary Oiran, only to see a woman coming out of the bow of the boat, about seventeen or eighteen years old, with melted cheeks, crystal eyes, cherry lips smiling, and an indescribably charming and enchanting figure.

Jiang Chutao's eyes widened, the orange in his hand was also put down, and everyone exclaimed: "It's so beautiful, Oiran deserves to be an Oiran." Xue Congjia looked at the woman on the boat and smiled at everyone, and the curved curvature of her eyes and mouth seemed to have been practiced thousands of times when she smiled, delicate and deliberate.

Xue Congjia quietly watched Chu Tao leap and beckoned to the Oiran, watching her beautiful eyes and smile like a flower, she smiled, and the colorful fireworks in the sky lost their color in an instant.

The most charming and dangerous moment of Chu Tao may be when she is beautiful and unknowing, and the kind of beauty that is casually revealed is the most dangerous and deadly.

The Oiran's boat went farther and farther, and the exclamations and ripples on the water slowly disappeared, and Hatsumomo said slowly, "I haven't seen enough of showing up for a while." ”

Xue Congjia got up slowly and said, "It's not too early, I'll send you home." ”

"Don't! Don't go home! Chu Tao subconsciously refused, she pointed to a bright moon in the night sky, and said, "We haven't gone to the moon tower to see the moon yet." ”

Moon Tower has a total of seven floors, the main hall burns incense and worships the Buddha on weekdays, the floor above one floor will only be open to the people during the festival, at this time each floor is full of people who come to admire the moon, there are newlyweds who are tired of being together, there is a family of six with the old and the young, there are also some young ladies and maids of the princes and nobles, wearing veils and behaving reservedly.

The bright moon like an ice tray shrouded in a hazy veil of mist, ethereal and misty, revealing a burst of coolness. Chu Tao shrunk her neck and said to herself, "Is this moon cold?" Why is it so cold? ”

Xue Congjia snorted: "I said that you should go home earlier, but you didn't listen." ”

"There are so many people, so I won't go back if it's so lively." Chu Tao suddenly saw a familiar figure, hey, this is not Zhang Xi'an, the sister of General Pingding, and Wang Wan of the Duke of Qiguo! These two people also came to the General's Mansion as guests, this is really a coincidence, Chu Tao quietly pulled Xue Congjia and dragged him to the two of them.

Zhang Xi'an was the first to discover Chu Tao and said softly, "Isn't this Miss Jiang?" ”

Wang Wan was young, timidly looked at Xue Congjia who was standing with Chu Tao, and asked, "Who is this?" Chu Tao pretended to be embarrassed and didn't speak. Seeing this, the two didn't ask any more questions, and said goodbye after a few casual greetings with Chu Tao.

The purpose of the first peach has been achieved, and the golden circle of Jinling is so big, and any gossip will immediately spread throughout Jinling, causing a storm in the city. If everyone in the world knew that she Jiang Chutao had a private meeting with a man, the Sun family would definitely reconsider Sun Yihao's marriage to himself.

Xue Congjia suddenly felt that she had fallen into Chu Tao's trap, she showed up like this, obviously wanting others to notice her, he asked in a low voice, "What is the purpose of you bringing me out?" ”

Chu Tao bit her lip and lied: "You have been coming to Jinling for so long, and you have been locked up on the island, and I sympathized with you so I pulled you out to go shopping." ”

"Sympathy? The last thing I need is sympathy, do you think I hate pity, wandering, alone, no relatives and no friends, and you have been soaked in a honey pot since you were a child, and some people are circling around you, you can't see others like this, so sympathize with me? Xue Congjia was slightly angry.

Chu Tao hurriedly waved his hand and explained, "I didn't, I just wanted to come out with you to see the moon." ”

Xue Congjia raised his beautiful face and said proudly: "Miss Jiang, when we lost to Dongyi and lost to your grandfather, we were all convinced, I came here for my subjects in exchange for their peace, this is my helplessness and honor, I never feel that being born as a proton is a matter worthy of sympathy, you don't have to comfort me with your overflowing compassion." ”

Xue Congjia is a quiet and forbearant person, he has never said such a thing in front of anyone, he felt a slight loss of shape after he finished speaking, and added: "I don't think the two of us are people of the same world." ”

When Chu Tao heard Xue Congjia say this, she anxiously wanted to grab his sleeve, for fear that he would throw away at this time.

Chu Tao remembered that when she was a child, she once entered the palace and fed the fish by the pond with Xue Zicheng, she wanted to catch the fish and come up, and when the servants went to the warehouse to find fishing nets, Xue Zicheng took the opportunity to tell her that the water was not deep, and she could go down to touch the fish. The young Chu Tao was scruples and asked him what to do if he slipped, and Xue Zicheng patted his chest and promised that he would hold her. So Chu Tao believed his words, and really wanted to go into the water to catch fish, but she really stumbled and fell into the water, she subconsciously grabbed Xue Zicheng's sleeve, but there was only chaotic pool water in front of her, and she couldn't catch anything even if she waved her hands desperately, and the suffocating feeling of drowning hit again.

"I don't pity you, you should pity me, I went back to the house today, and found that my mother was going to make a marriage contract for me, and my mother, my father, my grandmother, Mrs. Sun, and maybe even my two sisters all knew, and I was kept in the dark alone. I will marry him obediently if they choose someone, and I don't ask me if I want or like others. I seem to be rich and free, but in fact I can't help myself, am I not the most pitiful person? Hatsu Tao then said: "I am different from you, you carry much heavier things than me, but you can be a tiger, but I can only be a bird in captivity in a golden wire cage." I used to think it was good, but I don't want it now. ”

Before entering the island, she also thought that she would listen to the words of the matchmaker and marry a man who was right with her, because she never knew what it was like to like someone, so it didn't matter if this man was Sun Yihao or not, as long as she was good to her.

But one day, when she sat on the swing in the Qizhu Courtyard and saw the sunset shining on Xue Congjia's distinct hands, she found that she liked this feeling, which Sun Yihao could not bring.

Xue Congjia was stunned, he didn't expect Chu Tao to get married, and she used herself to go to this family business. Also, she is fourteen years old, and she will be able to get married in two years, she doesn't want to get married, so what does it have to do with herself?

Is he crazy? ran out and went to Jinling City with this crazy girl, saw the Oiran, and was misunderstood by others, is she very familiar with herself?

Xue Congjia stared at Jiang Chutao and said word by word: "Now, you go back to the house for me." ”