Wei Zifu woke up in a dream, sweating profusely, the melee in Chang'an City had lasted for five days, and it was rumored in Weiyang Palace that the prince had been defeated and had committed suicide.

"No, according to the son, you must not have anything to do, the queen mother is still waiting for you, as long as your father enters the city, he will definitely understand that you have been wronged..."

The night was deep and blurry, and Wei Zifu's thoughts couldn't help but drift to many years ago, when she was just a maid in the Pingyang Hou Mansion in Hedong...

140 B.C. Pingyang County, Hedong

The rape flowers in the field are yellow and bright, the opening is eye-catching, the breeze blows, and the air also carries a faint fragrance of flowers.

On the winding path, Wei Zifu walked hurriedly.

Turn another corner, and it will be the Cao Hou Mansion. Recently, there have been distinguished guests in the house, as a maidservant Wei Zifu is difficult to have free on weekdays, but it is just in time to catch up with the second sister Wei Shao'er to give birth, as a last resort, Wei Zifu had to ask Mrs. Cao for two days off to take care of her sister.

I think that back then, when my mother Wei Yuan was a maid in the Hou Mansion, she had an affair with Zheng Ji, a county official who came and went to the mansion to do business, and gave birth to several of their brothers and sisters. Although the Han Dynasty has an open atmosphere, the status of illegitimate children and the humble status of their biological father and mother have made them suffer from white eyes since childhood, and the second sister is not angry, and Huo Zhongru, a Pingyang County official, has flesh and blood in the dark Chen Cang, the affectionate man saw the incident in the east window, smeared oil on the soles of his feet, and slipped faster than anything else, leaving only the second sister who had no idea crying.

Pregnant in October, the melon is ripe, the child is croaking to the ground, but he is greeted by two decadent grass huts and the hunger, cold and embarrassment of the four walls of the family.

"Zifu, you can name the child." An oil lamp in the dim room was dim, Wei Shao'er was reclining on the edge of the bed, she was like a yellow leaf falling to the ground after giving birth, so weak that it seemed that a gust of wind could blow her away.

The lack of qi and blood in the mother's womb made the child thin and weak when he was born, looking at the little nephew who was waiting to be fed in swaddling clothes, Wei Zifu felt a strange feeling in his heart. A little life came out of nowhere, although it was a little unprepared, but the blood in the bones dissolved in the water with an innate kindness, firmly bound them together.

Wei Zifu touched the child's little face lovingly, and said softly: "Second sister, tell him to get sick, okay?" Huo goes to the disease, removes the disaster, and is safe and healthy. ”

"Okay, go to the sick, get rid of the disaster, get rid of the disease, be safe and healthy!" Wei Shao'er looked at the child, a smile appeared on his pale face, a child born in a poor family, there is only so much hope for.

-----

The Hou Mansion in the twilight cooking smoke is getting closer and closer, presumably the housekeeper Fu Bo is anxious to wait for her to return to the old lady, Wei Zifu couldn't help but speed up his pace.

There are two roads leading to the Hou Mansion of Cao, one is the official road to the gate of the Hou Mansion, and the other is a deep alley near the back gate of the Hou Mansion. Although the official road is flat but the distance is far away, even if the alley is tortuous, but the distance is shortened by half, Wei Zifu looked at the twilight of the sky, and wanted to rush back to the Hou Mansion as soon as possible, so he hurried away from the zigzag alley without thinking. The sky was getting darker and darker, and seeing that there was no one around, she didn't dare to stop for a while, so she only took three steps and hurried forward with two steps.

Further ahead is Cao Hou's Mansion, seeing the lantern hanging not far away, Wei Zifu's hanging heart finally let go. Just now he just lowered his head and hurried away, but he didn't realize that a layer of fine beads of sweat had already appeared on his forehead, Wei Zifu laughed at himself, exhaled lightly, and rolled up his sleeves to wipe it gently.

The twilight was dark, and the night was thick, and there were two more men at the back door of the mansion at some point, looking around at the surrounding terrain, Wei Zifu's heart sank, and he didn't realize that he had taken a few more looks. The two men were tall and short, the tall one had a full beard, a short face with a Chinese character, because of his fatter body, he walked a little swaying from side to side, and the two saw that Wei Zifu seemed to be looking, and hurriedly lowered his head and walked away in the twilight.

Seeing the two leaving, Wei Zifu stepped forward and knocked lightly on the door, and after a burst of footsteps, the door was opened with a creak, and an eleven or twelve-year-old little maid came out. ”

-----

The weather at the end of April, the sun is shining brightly at noon, and when it is time to turn on the lights, the wind is cold and swishing straight into people's arms. After returning home yesterday, I couldn't find time, and after finishing my work today, Wei Zifu put on a smock and went to Xiyuan to find his younger brother Wei Qing.

Pingyang Hou Mansion covers an extremely wide area, the courtyard with high walls, the houses are like that, you can see the Fushou shadow wall when you enter the main gate, the bats and cranes carved in stone are lifelike, which means that the mansion is full of Fushou Shuangquan. Behind the shadow wall is the Houfu Garden, the rockery is stacked, the green bamboo is secluded, and the main hall of the house is to the north, which is used to receive guests and discuss important matters. The east and west sides of the garden are a row of corridors, the east corner door corridor leads to the East Garden, also known as Jinhua Xuan, is the residence of the host and distinguished guests, last year when the princess Feng drove to the house to live in the "Feng Lai Yi Pavilion" in the garden.

The corridor of the West Corner Gate leads to the West Garden, also known as the Lotus Fragrance Garden, which is where the servants and clothes in the house are located. Connected to the lotus garden across a vacant land is the stable in the house, Wei Zifu's younger brother Wei Qing is in the Hou Mansion stable as an errand, although only a small riding slave, but he has been close to the horse since he was a child and practiced a good riding skill, and often uses this as a pastime on weekdays, happy and comfortable.

Passing through the corridor of the West Corner Gate, Wei Zifu walked towards the stable, and saw that Li Shan, the servant in the house, was walking from the stable, and glanced at it casually, but saw Li Shan walking quickly to the back door of the Lotus Garden, and tiptoed to remove the door bolt. Wei Zifu was very suspicious when he saw this, and it happened that there was a freshly washed mattress hanging on the clothes rack in front of him, and Wei Zifu dodged and hid behind to watch quietly.

It didn't take long for the two men in Xuanyi to flash into the Hou Mansion by twilight, Wei Zifu looked at the figure of the person who came a little familiar, and couldn't remember where he had seen it for a while, only to see Li Shan pointing left and right in the garden, and the two nodded again and again, and then muttered. Soon, there was an intermittent sound of talking in the distance, Li Shan hurriedly motioned for the two of them to leave the house, quickly bolted the door, looked left and right, and walked away as if nothing happened.

Wei Zifu took everything in his eyes, and couldn't help worrying, this Li Shan person is not bad, but he is a good gambler, and he was chased by the people in the gambling house to hide debts everywhere a few days ago, and it is not a good thing to look at today's situation.

Watching Li Shan walk away, Wei Zifu was worried about his younger brother and hurriedly went to the stable to find Wei Qing. Before he entered the stable, he heard a happy voice from the house: "Sister, why are you here?" As soon as the voice fell, a burly and clever young man ran out of the stable, although he was dressed as a servant, but he could not hide the vitality of his body.

Wei Zifu couldn't help laughing and said: "I haven't stepped into the stable yet, how does Qing'er know that my sister is here?" ”

The young man grinned and said: "My sister knows that Qing'er's ears are not bad, if she is a familiar person, Qing'er will know who is coming five zhang away, not to mention that my sister is very familiar with Qing'er." He came over with a smile and pulled Wei Zifu to sit down on the stone bench outside the stable.

Wei Zifu looked at Wei Qing and said with concern: "Has Qing'er had dinner?" ”

Wei Qing's eyes sparkled and he replied: "Thank you sister for your concern, Qing'er has already had dinner, sister, how is the second sister doing?" ”

"The second sister gave birth to a nephew for us, and he called Huo Quai." Speaking of this, Wei Zifu said with joy on his face: "Qing'er, you are an uncle!" ”

"Huo Quai! Huo Qu's disease! Wei Qing muttered his name and was overjoyed, "Great! After waiting for a while to take leave from the old lady, Qing'er and her sister went to visit the second sister and get sick. ”

"Good!" Wei Zifu smiled and nodded, thinking of her sister who was raising the child alone, she always had warm worries and worries in her heart.

"It's Qing'er, there's another thing..."Li Shan's matter made Wei Zifu faintly uneasy, so she brought what she saw in the courtyard to her younger brother one by one.

Although Wei Qing is only thirteen or fourteen years old, the hardships since childhood have already honed him strong and mature, coupled with his forbearance, he acts more and more humbly and cautiously on weekdays. Listening to Wei Zifu's story, Wei Qing's brows furrowed, and he was silent for a while before asking, "Sister, who else knows about today's events?" ”

Wei Zifu shook his head and said, "Except for my sister, there is no one else." ”

Wei Qing groaned: "Sister, I'm afraid it's not a good thing to see Li Shan's situation today, but this matter is now only known to you and me, and there is no evidence at the moment, even if she listens to the old lady, how much can she believe it?" I think it's better to wait and see what happens, if Li Shan colludes with outsiders to fight the idea of the Hou Mansion, it is estimated that most of it is also a matter of silver taels, why don't you and I stare at him a little more on weekdays, and then report to the old lady when I have a clue, my sister can see it? ”

Wei Zifu nodded approvingly: "Well, Qing'er is cautious in doing things, and it should be so." ”

The matter was agreed, the sister and brother gossiped a little, and Wei Zifu also returned to Dongyuan before it was too early.

-----

The next few days were also peaceful, and there was no movement in Li Shan. However, it is getting closer and closer to the day when Marquis Cao returns to his hometown every year, and the house is getting busier and busier.

Time flies, in the blink of an eye, it is the middle of May, tomorrow Cao Hou and Princess Pingyang will arrive at the house, the main hall of the Hou Mansion is brightly lit at dinner, and the old lady sits in the center of the main hall and speaks one by one.

"Fu Bo, has the honor guard to greet the Hou Ye and the princess tomorrow be appropriate?"

Fu Bo, the housekeeper in the mansion, replied respectfully: "Old lady Hui, everything is ready, and the official road in front of the mansion to greet the Hou Ye has also been guarded." ”

"Okay, you can rest assured. Mingjuan, have you prepared the clothes of the Hou Ye and the princess? ”

The maid Mingjuan replied carefully: "Back to the old lady, all ready, there is a slave in the Fenglai Pavilion who has smoked the princess's favorite 'embroidered hibiscus', and the princess must like it when she stays." ”

The old lady nodded with satisfaction, questioned the rest of the servants one by one, and when the arrangements were made, they dispersed.

The next day, the sky was dawning, the rooster was crowing, and the Pingyang Hou Mansion was already busy.

The Hou Mansion is located in the north of Pingyang County near the official road, the imperial court of Gaozu in the sixth year of the imperial court divided the titles of the marquis, Cao Shen was named the Marquis of Pingyang, and the 10,630 households in Pingyang were all its food estates. After the death of Cao Shen, his children and grandchildren inherited the throne, passed to Cao Shou's generation is the fourth generation, Cao Shou's wife is the current emperor's sister Princess Yangxin, because she married Pingyang Marquis Cao Shou, she was called Princess Pingyang with her husband's title.

After the death of the old man Cao, Cao Shou wanted to take the old lady to live in Chang'an, but the old lady could not give up her homeland, and said that she did not want to go to Beijing with her son, so Cao Shou had to return to his hometown every year to visit his mother.

On this day, Princess Pingyang's Fengluan car will come to Pingyang County in person.

The weather in May has half a hot summer atmosphere, and the old lady has led a group of people in the house to wait for the Fengluan car on the official road in front of the house for a while. Just waiting for the heat, there was a burst of horses' hooves in the distance, and after a while, a man dressed as a waiter rode a black horse and galloped over, and walked to the old lady to dismount and salute: "Old lady Cao, the princess Fengjia and Cao Hou will arrive at the Hou Mansion in a stick of incense." ”

Old Madam Cao didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly ordered Fu Bo to reward the visitor: "Thank you for coming, the old man has been waiting here for a long time, and everything is ready." ”

Sure enough, a stick of incense time, faintly heard a sound of sheng drum music in the distance, everyone raised their eyes, the canopy was connected to dozens of zhang, the tent danced the dragon, the curtain flew the colorful phoenix, and a gold embroidered phoenix car came slowly.

The old lady smiled and said: "Princess Pingyang and Master Hou have arrived, everyone will follow me to greet you!" ”