It was about the beginning of the unitary period, and Zhongshan returned to Sunjiazhuang.

It's strange that in the past, he would have come to the front yard to greet his wife, but today he didn't come out. He threw the whip and the horse to the porter, and beat the snowflakes on his head and shoulders all the way and the rain stepped through the corner door into the backyard.

In the big house in the backyard, Dou'er is happily leading the two maids to move the things in several large boxes on the ground outward in the same way, silk satin cups, plates, lamp holders, candles, etc., there is simply everything. Seeing him enter the house, Dou'er only beckoned a maid and said, "Chuncao is going to make a pot of tea for the master", and went into the back room with a few silks.

The kang in the inner room was also full of messy things, and even the kang table was full of small and fragmented objects, Zhongshan pushed away a large stall of old clothes piled up on the edge of the kang, and then sat on the side of the kang, and picked up a blue and shiny thin tire from the table, and looked at the saucer-like wine vessel with a low belly and smiled: "What, went to Yanzhou City to rob?" His fingers snapped on the wine dish, shook his head without pretending to understand, smacked his lips and said, "The sound is not bad, and it can be sold for three or five hundred wen if you take it out." ”

"Don't move!" Dou'er, who was kneeling on the kang head and putting brocade forging in the box, turned around and snatched the wine dish, "How many hundred?" This is the high-grade porcelain fired by the Fuliang official kiln, and it takes tens of thousands of dollars to buy such a wine cup, and you can't afford to pay for it if it is broken! One said that, he blew a few breaths into the wine cup, approached the oil lamp and looked at it carefully, and then took a silk handkerchief and carefully wiped it over the wall of the cup, and then carefully put it back into the wooden box in the black lacquered yellow silk on the kang table. She held the wooden box and looked at the kang in front of the kang for a long time, suddenly put down the box and reopened the red lacquer box that the kang head had closed, and took out the satin cloth that had just been put in. Then I took the box and put it in the silk, and then I held the wooden box and put it in a precious place......

Zhongshan saw all her actions. He couldn't make any comments on his wife's prudence, so he asked without words, "Where did it come from?" ”

Dou'er put the horses and rolls of silk and satin "sent by Aunt Seventeen." ”

Zhong Shan pulled the two finger-length silver objects on the table and asked, "These are all sent by Aunt Seventeen?" ”

Dou'er locked the box, moved over to pack up her old clothes, and said, "Not all. The porcelain of the Fuliang official kiln was given by Miss Yue'er; The silver sheep and the silver horse were given by the young lady; The others were sent by Aunt Seventeen. The eldest lady said that there were still some furniture that could not be hired because of the snow, so they were not brought today. ”

Nakayama didn't say anything, just took the silver sheep and looked at it. He belongs to the sheep and the beans belong to the horse, it seems that Yang Paner still took a lot of thought when he gave this gift.

He didn't speak, and Dou'er thought that he was not satisfied with accepting such a heavy gift without saying a word, so he looked at his face and whispered, "Did I do something wrong?" Shouldn't you receive such a heavy gift? She immediately defended herself again, "You said it, as long as it is the gift of the seventeenth uncle's family and the adult's family, no matter how heavy it is, you can receive it......" Although she said this, she was always a little uneasy in her heart, for fear that her husband would be angry, and her words seemed to have no confidence. After thinking about it, she said, "Why don't I send them back the next day?" ”

Nakayama burst out laughing. Can he still see through his wife's little thoughts? It's fake to send it back, but it's real to stay.

"Okay, you can just send it." He pinched Dou'er's nose vigorously and said with a smile, "If Aunt Seventeen beats you with a rolling pin, don't cry when you come back." ”

Dou'er rubbed her nose and glared at him fiercely. Although her face was full of anger, everyone could see that she was pretending to be angry, and even the two maids who sent things in couldn't help but purse their lips and smile when they saw her appearance.

When the two maids went out to be busy again, Dou'er said to Zhongshan, "Miss is here today...... too"

Her slurring tone surprised Nakayama a little. He put down the silver sheep in his hand and asked suspiciously, "What's wrong with her?" ”

Dou'er stopped what she was doing, let out a long breath, and said after a while, "It's not ...... much."

"What the hell is going on?"

Dou'er sighed again, lowered her head and carefully folded a water-blue southern silk robe worn by Zhongshan in the summer, and slowly put it into the stack of folded clothes in the corner of the kang. After a while, she seemed to be talking to herself, and as if she was saying to Zhongshan: "Miss, Miss, Miss she always borrows from an adult's house, isn't it, isn't it a little ......?"

Zhongshan immediately frowned and asked, "Did you hear someone gossiping behind your back?" Says who? ”

Bean'er didn't say anything.

But this is not difficult for Zhongshan. He knew that Dou'er had limited places to move around in Yanzhou, and in addition to the merchants and the Huo family, there were only a few family members of his colleagues in the army who had deep contacts. Yue'er and the eldest girl naturally won't spread bad words about Pan'er, Bao Kan has a good family, and several mothers-in-law and aunts in the family don't dare; Sun Huan's own mouth lacks a lock, but the mother-in-law she begs is a stuffy gourd; Qian Laosan and Jin Xi's homes are in Beizheng, and it is impossible for a woman to give a small talk; Shaochuan's mothers-in-law did not participate in any outside affairs except for arguing at home; Zheng Qi is still a bachelor...... After thinking about it for a while, he had an insight: it must be Fan Quan and Ji Zheng's mother-in-law. He immediately asked again, "Did the Fan family and the Ji family say something to you?" ”

"Nope!" Dou'er defended them and said, "The two of them can have today, all thanks to the appreciation and promotion of adults, and it is too late to thank adults, how can they be bad behind their backs?" She said angrily to her husband, "Where do you think of it?" Can the sister-in-law of the Fan family and the sister-in-law of the Ji family be that kind of dirty people?! ”

Nakayama embarrassedly touched the stubble on his chin. Dou'er is right, Fan Quan and Ji Zheng's mother-in-law would not say such boring words. But the question is, where did this gossip come from?

"Nobody passed ......," Dou'er muttered, "yes, it's my ......"

Nakayama looked at her with his mouth wide open. For a while, he didn't know how to teach his mother-in-law a lesson. You said that it's not good for you to do something when you're full, you have to make up these boundless nonsense? If the words reach Pan'er's ears, or reach Shang Cheng......

"I haven't told anyone about it." Dou'er muttered aggrievedly.

"It's better not to even think about it!" Nakayama admonished her sternly.

"But, but every time I look at Miss's unhappy appearance, I feel uncomfortable......"

Nakayama stopped talking. Although his wife and Yang Pan'er have long ceased to be master and servant, he knows that his wife and Pan'er have a deep relationship, and the two of them are as good as sisters who talk about everything. But Yang Paner is unhappy, naturally there are reasons for her...... He said, "You still don't know her mind? ”

Bean let out a long sigh. Of course she knows Pan'er's thoughts. Not only did she know, but Yue'er and Aunt Seventeen and the eldest girl and the second girl must also know, but everyone pretended not to know; No one has ever said anything about it.

However, Dou'er, who knows Pan'er's thoughts, also has her own thoughts. She thought that Yue'er and Shang were cousins by nature, and their blood friendship was naturally different from others; The eldest girl and the second girl also have seventeen uncles and seventeen aunts to rely on; Only her poor young lady has no support, she is alone in Yanzhou, and she can't even find someone who can be entrusted with her heart. Especially now that Yue'er has read through all her words, in this case, of course she has to help Pan'er. Otherwise, maybe Miss will end up with nothing, and she will have a bad reputation under a melon field and plum!

"Do you want me to come forward to say yes for Pan'er?"

"It's not. How can you be a big man doing this? It's up to you to see if you can find an opportunity to say a few words in front of adults. Dou'er said, "Taking advantage of the opportunity of the New Year, let's invite the adults to the house, and see if we can lead the adults' minds to this on the wine table." As long as he has this intention, of course the rest of the matter will be much easier......"

Much easier to do later? Nakayama's eyes narrowed when he ascended. Does this damn woman know what she's talking about? Doesn't she know how many people they will offend if they really do this?

But Dou'er also has her plans when she says this, and it is a very delicate plan. She said: "It is a matter of time before adults guard Yanshan, and it is also a matter of time before the marquis is feuded. According to the imperial court system, the earl is one wife and two wives, and the marquis is one wife and three wives. We don't dare to think about the wife, it's always possible to ask for the identity of the young lady, right? ”

Nakayama groaned, "That's a solution. "The two daughters of the Huo family have not married so far, most of them are fighting this idea, but they can't find a suitable person to propose marriage for a while, so they delay the matter. He went to say goodbye to Pan'er under the banner of Dou'er, and others couldn't say any gossip; What's more, this is not an open flame insisting on being a matchmaker, just looking for an opportunity to make a statement. As for how to bring up the topic, he also planned to find a reason to invite Shang Cheng to a banquet one by one, and called Bao Kan as well, without even mentioning the words of proposing, as long as he talked to Bao Kan a little bit about the benefits of asking his wife to start a family, Shang Cheng would naturally be tempted. It's just that I didn't have a chance to mention it a year ago......

"What's wrong?" Dou'er immediately asked.

Zhongshan spread his hands and said helplessly: "Who taught you not to tell me about the imperial court system earlier." The adults went to Liuzhen a few days ago; When he turns back, I should have returned to Yanshui a long time ago. "When the New Year comes, it's time to talk about war. At that time, even if he borrowed a few guts, he didn't dare to mention this matter in Shangcheng......

…… It's night. The two of them were lying in the quilt and spoke without a word. Of course, the topic is inseparable from their current situation, as well as the prospect and imagination of the future of the Xuntian Sun family. The words are mainly what Dou'er is saying, and Zhongshan is just a good listener, rightly praising two sentences, and then summarizing two sentences with the finishing touch.

As he spoke, Dou'er suddenly asked him, "Is there another war?" ”

"Who did you listen to?"

"There are people in Zhuangzi who spread it. In the morning, there was also a clerk and two errand officers in the official, and they flipped through the roster and took away the four young and strong villagers on the village. Some people say that this is an official dispatch, and they also say that there will be a big battle in the north next summer, and that food and ordnance must be transported and prepared first. Lying in her husband's arms, she stroked the man's thick calloused palms and asked, "Is there really going to be a war?" ”

Nakayama agreed softly. Sooner or later, Dou'er would know about it, and he didn't need to hide it. Besides, not far to the north of Zhuangzi is a military camp, in which there are four full foot battalions, and more than 1,000 pack horses, they must go up if there is a war, and then more than 2,000 horses will move neatly, and the movement is impossible to hide if you want to.

"You're going up too, aren't you?"

"Hmm." Nakayama squeaked. After a while, he whispered, "We may be forwards...... and he noticed his wife's body stiffen. For a moment, he even felt like he heard her pounding heartbeat. He didn't know what words to say to dispel the worries and fears in his wife's heart, so he had to hug her tightly.

In the dim light of the corner of the lamp by the door, Dou'er bit her lip so hard that she didn't let herself cry. Whether it was in the first half of last year when she heard that Zhongshan had gone to the grassland to escort grain and grass, or later it was rumored everywhere that the army had been defeated and annihilated, she did not feel so frightened and fearful as she did now. That's not to say she didn't love him as much then as she does now. It's just that she felt at the time that a sincere man like her husband was born to be cared for by God, and it was impossible for her to throw her life on the grassland without explanation. Can ...... now Of course, she cherished him as much now as she did in the past,...... No! It should be said that she cherishes him now more than in the past, and needs him more than in the past! But I don't know why, when she heard that he was going to war, and that he was going to be the pioneer of the army, she felt that something had been pulled out of her heart, and it became empty, as if the sky had fallen, and the whole person became frightened and helpless......

But she was a sensible woman, and she didn't open her mouth to express her endless fear of fate. At the same time, she is also a woman who respects ghosts and gods, she doesn't dare to think about those bad things, let alone say any bad things; She didn't even dare to speak, for fear that she would accidentally say something wrong and let the ghosts and gods who were watching the world hear it. She could only cling to her husband's thick arm, desperately remembering those brief good times when the two of them were together.

It was quiet in the house. It was so quiet that they could hear each other's breath as well as each other's heartbeats. In the next hut, the low voice of a maid came through. There was a bit of noise in the backyard, too, and the two horses were snorting excitedly, as if the groom was getting up at night to feed them. The voices soon all died down. Except for their breathing and heartbeats from each other, there was only silence around them. Boundless silence. It seemed that only the two of them were left in heaven and earth, snuggling together and leaning on each other tightly......

After an unknown amount of time, Dou'er's voice broke the silence.

"You promise me one thing......"

Nakayama hugged his wife, his chin slowly rubbing her long hair, and nodded slightly.

"You promise me first."

Nakayama squinted, sniffing the fragrance of his wife's hair, enjoying the warmth of this quiet place, and nodded again.

“…… You open your mouth and promise me, and I will speak. ”

“…… All right. I promise you. ”

As soon as the words came out, Nakayama immediately regretted it. He should have known what his wife was going to say! Damn, he forgot about such a thing! But before he could regret it, Dou'er had already spoken:

"I've wanted to talk about this for a long time. You see, I'm not in good health, we've been married for two years, and I've never been pregnant. Although you always say that the most important thing is for me to take care of my body, I know that you are reassuring my heart. Don't speak, let me finish the conversation first! One by one, our Sun family is now a small family business in Yanshan, and there is only one person who can inherit the family business you created. Chuncao and Xiaoqing at home are the daughters of good families, and like me, they are both intimate and revolving around this family. I didn't know what they were thinking, and I thought about it for a long time. Just take advantage of the fact that you are at home for the past two days, and we will do this. She suddenly raised her voice and shouted, "Chuncao, Xiaoqing, you all come here!" ”

The two maids soon came over with red faces.

"You two must have heard what I said in the outhouse. Without further ado, I'll ask you something now, are you both willing? ”

Both maids kept their heads down and said nothing.

"If you don't make a sound, you're willing." Dou'er said arbitrarily, "Okay, the happy event will be done another day, now, you two welcome your man over." It's time for you to serve him! ”