The Li family, the antechamber.

Cao Hao was invited to the front hall by Li Xu, and after seeing the ceremony, the guests and hosts sat down. Li Xu always smiled, but he seemed to have some words to stop.

Cao Hao knew that this was a drama meat, but he didn't know which one his cousin was going to sing, so he didn't take the initiative to speak, only picked up the teacups on the table, and slowly ate two sips of tea. Although this tea is jasmine tea, it is different from ordinary jasmine tea, with a light floral fragrance and a more mellow tea taste. He lifted the bowl and glanced at the tea inside, complaining that the embryo tea selected was Biluochun.

Li Xu was thinking about where to speak, and when he saw Cao Hao looking at the tea, he said with a smile: "This is your second cousin, he heard that your family has made a few tea estates and launched a few famous teas, and he is also interested in this tea." I couldn't find a high-quality tea tree for a while, so I took a trick and processed this Biluochun into jasmine tea, but I didn't expect it to be good. Speaking of this, his face left a little bit of color, and he clenched his fists and arched his hand in the direction of the capital: "In April, I paid tribute to the capital, and I heard that the Queen Mother is very fond of her old man!" ”

Cao Hao smiled and said: "It's good tea, the second cousin is so smart, it's really admirable!" As he spoke, he remembered something in his heart, the tea house in Biluochun was under the name of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but the person in charge behind the scenes was the people of Guo Luoluo's family, the mother of Brother Jiu; Thinking about it again, the governor Kali is a member of the clan of the Nine Elder Brothers. Brother Jiu is the core figure of the Eight Masters Party, and there is something wrong with it. For no reason, why did Guo Luoluo's family use their own tea to benefit the Li family? This jasmine tea is not a unique recipe, and it can be processed according to the cat and the tiger. He couldn't help but sigh secretly, the Li family is too deep!

Seeing that Cao Hao couldn't say much, Li Xu felt very uncomfortable in his heart, and always felt that his city was too deep, and after thinking about what happened half a month ago, he felt more and more that this nephew was incomprehensible.

Half a month ago, Li Ding rushed back from Yangzhou and told his father what happened there. Li Xu was furious, he had the heart to make friends with the Kali, but he never thought of breaking with the Cao family.

The Cao and Li families rely on each other, if they are allowed to provoke and have contradictions, it is "the relatives are painful, and the enemies are fast"!

It's just that as soon as this incident came out, he was not only angry at Gandu's stupidity, but also frowned at the strength of the Cao family. It's just a misunderstanding, it's good to solve it in private, why don't you leave any room for it? Although the dead were all Kali's hands, there was nothing to feel sorry for, but it also gave the Li family a slap in the face.

Although Li Xu was annoyed, he also knew that this kind of thing could not be brought to the table, and he had not yet thought about how to face the Cao family in the future. Unexpectedly, not long after, I heard the news that the Li family was going to return to Ning.

Today, Li Xu invited Cao Hao to the front hall, and he also had the intention of tempting to see if he came because of the Yangzhou incident. However, waiting and waiting, except for what he mentioned, he should say, but he did not see him have anything to say.

Helpless, Li Xu had no choice but to speak first: "Your mother is really, now that your father is still sick, how can he come back at this time?" Although I remember my mother's family, I must also focus on my husband's family! ”

"My father's health is getting better, and my mother also came out for a reason!" Cao Hao defended the Li family and said: "The third sister's marriage in the second half of the year, the nephew will go to Beijing on an errand in August, and the meaning of my father and mother is to let the third sister enter Beijing with my nephew!" At this time, the mother has to take care of her father and prepare a dowry for her sister, and she is a little busy, so she wants to take her grandmother over to help her! Moreover, my nephew and sister also want to do our filial piety in front of my grandmother while we are both in Jiangning. ”

Li Xu suddenly realized: "That's the reason, it must be your mother who sees her children leaving her side, thinks of her own family, and misses her mother!" But I was horrified in my heart, what does the Cao family mean by this? Picking up Gao Taijun, do you want to break with the Li family? Even if it is something that he has no intention of getting involved in Yangzhou, the explanation that should be given has already been explained, why do you want to do this?

Li Xu was a little annoyed in his heart, but he groaned instead, and said with a solemn face: "You guys came just in time, I wanted to go to Jiangning to see your father and talk to him a few days ago." It's just that there are many things in the yamen, and I haven't been able to leave. Since you're here, it's up to you to convey it to me! ”

Cao Hao saw that he was solemn, so he also solemnly responded: "Uncle, please speak, my nephew will tell you the truth!" ”

"Hmm!" Li Xu nodded, although there was no one in the hall at the moment, he still deliberately lowered his voice and said: "Just say what I said, tell my father to be careful of Kali, that old guy is really not at ease." The matter of Yangzhou, Hao'er handled it very properly, that is, he should be taught a lesson. What kind of thing is he? Last year, I impeached your father, and this year I hit the idea of our two families again, and deceived your second cousin to go, wanting to give our two families a set. It's really not a thing, it's really bullying our two families, no one can do it! In the end, his face was full of anger.

Time has passed, although Li Xu has an extremely innocent and resentful expression at the moment, Cao Hao does not believe it. If you really have this heart, even if you can't get through, you can send someone to deliver a letter.

Although he was slandered in his heart, Cao Hao's face was not obvious at all, and he looked like he was taught, and said respectfully: "Originally, I thought that the governor of the Nga Auditorium should be good, even if his reputation is bad, I am afraid that it will be slandered by the world." I didn't expect it to be so dirty in private, but it's not a thing as my uncle said! Uncle was angry, and he couldn't be angry with the notorious man. Although the Li family now has a marriage contract with the Governor's Palace, after all, the second cousin's unmarried wife is only Kali's niece, not his biological daughter, which is a layer away. It's just that because of relatives, it's not easy to be estranged, and they toss like this, but it's also a blessing for their uncle! On the Jiangning side, the governor and the governor are stubborn, and it is estimated that it will not be long before the emperor will make trouble again, if the uncle is accidentally implicated, wouldn't he be wronged? ”

These words sounded solid, and Li Xu kept nodding when he heard it: "It's still thoughtful!" After a few more gossips, he called the housekeeper and sent Cao Hao back to the guest house to freshen up and rest.

After Cao Hao left, Li Xu's face drooped, tugged at the corners of his mouth, and let out a cold snort.

Seeing Li Ding come out of the room, he frowned and asked puzzledly, "Father, why do you have to explain so much to him?" It seems that our family is afraid of the Cao family? I thought he had come to ask for sin at the behest of his father, but what was that? Is it a door-to-door question? ”

Li Xu glared at his son: "It's not the trouble you caused?" Although the boy in Gandu looks smiling, it is not a good thing, where is the son of Kali? That's a mad dog in the Doge's Palace. If you hadn't leaked pearls in front of him, would he dare to lie to you so blatantly? ”

Li Ding first bowed his head and confessed, and then Fang complained: "My son just doesn't accept it!" This Cao family is too hypocritical, their family is a tea garden and a pearl, where is it tossed year after year? Even his father hid it, not to prevent his father from intervening. Now it's good, his family's money is flowing like water, and he performs the pawn house to sell land, saying that he wants to pay off the deficit, isn't it in front of the long-lived lord? The result? The flag has also been raised, and the marriage of the juniors has also been pointed out, and all the benefits have been taken! If we are really relatives, how can we be like this? In the end, it's like taking advantage of the reason, and it's not the one who counts down the father! ”

Although Li Xu complained a little about Cao Yin, he didn't think as much as his son. Now, seeing his son's face full of resentment when he mentioned the Cao family, and thinking about Cao Haoyun's light and immobile appearance just now, he shook his head and sighed deeply.

Li Ding heard his father sigh, and thought that his father was really afraid of the Cao family, and couldn't help but say: "What does my father have to worry about, now that Cao Yin has resigned, if their family is still in the south, there will be a time to beg my family!" ”

"What did you say?" Li Xu waved his hand and couldn't help but scold: "Look at Cao Hao, follow and study hard, don't be so shallow-minded!" Cao Hao is right, Kali is too arrogant, Zhang Boxing is a notoriously stubborn donkey, and now the governor's palace and the governor's yamen are tearing each other down, three days and two days, if it goes on like this, it will be a matter of time before the emperor arrives. If you can say two good things in front of Kali, do you really want our Li family to be his lackey? Hum! He is so greedy that he is boundless, looking at the Cao family's industry, his eyes are hot, and he doesn't have the courage to start directly, but he wants to use our family as a gunman! Why should we hide it from him? We are far away in Suzhou, whether Kali calculates Zhang Boxing or calculates the Cao family, let's watch the play, there is no need to follow it! ”

Father is actually this attitude of "sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight", Li Ding thought about it carefully, but it was the most appropriate in front of him, no matter which side was defeated, as long as the Li family relied on the side of the victory, it was nothing to do, and he really admired it in his heart.

On the Suzhou side, the person Cao Hao wants to see most is Zhuang Chang, but the current relationship between the Cao and Li families, if he is too close to Zhuang Chang, I am afraid that it will be difficult for Zhuang Chang to do it on the Li family's side in the future. Thinking of this, he also rested his thoughts. Every day, he either went out to eat and drink with Li Nai and Li Ding's brothers, or accompanied his mother to visit relatives.

In the blink of an eye, four or five days have passed.

When Li first arrived, he made it clear that Gao Taijun was impatient, but he couldn't stand his daughter's pleading, and thought that his son-in-law was sick, and he could help him, so he reluctantly responded.

After all, it has been out for several days, and the Li family can't rest assured that he can't leave home after all, so he resigns to Wen Taijun. Wen Taijun knew that she had a lot of things at home, so she didn't keep her much, so she chose the people who followed her to wait for Gao Taijun, and instructed Li Xu to arrange for their mother to return.

Li Xu was generous, in addition to the gifts for the Cao family prepared in the inner house, because he heard that his niece's marriage date had been set, he gave a generous dowry.

* When he got on the boat and left the Suzhou dock far away, Cao Hao didn't feel relaxed at all.

Although bringing in Gao Taijun can be regarded as achieving the goal, in the Li family, looking at the closeness of the old man to the children and grandchildren of the Li family, this family affection is no less than that of the daughter on Jiangning's side. She has lived in the Li family for most of her life, if she lives in Jiangning for a year and a half and misses her relatives here, does she have to stop her?

Cao Hao couldn't help but rub his brows, thinking of his second aunt's big belly, and sighed why his mother was not pregnant. The old man is afraid of loneliness, and there is a child who is much more lively in front of him, and he is too big.

I have to take a step and look at it first, if a few children on the other side of the second room can please the old lady, it is better to keep her.

* Jiangning, Caojia, Xifu.

After Cao Quan got Lu Mei, he rarely went to other courtyards, except for a fixed few days a month to go to Zhaojia's room to rest, the rest of the days were on Lu Mei's side. Bao Die and Jade haven't even seen him for more than ten or twenty days.

Jade is accustomed to this, but Baodie is very unwilling, and provokes Zhaojia three times and twice.

Zhao Jia's because Lu Mei did not move the fetus when he first entered the house, and it took half a month to get better, and he only took the fetus as the first priority at the moment, and he didn't have time to clean up Lu Mei. However, after listening to Baodie's words a few times, she was also a little unhappy, so she told Cao Quan to save money on the fact that the child in her womb did not have the 5,000 taels of dowry silver.

Originally, the affairs of the inner house, Zhao Jia's family had never discussed with Cao Quan, and everything was up to her. Cao Quan has always been obedient, not to mention that she cited such a high-sounding reason, Cao Quan naturally didn't even think about agreeing immediately.

Zhao Jia's got Cao Quan's approval, so he became a virtuous person, and began to reform the financial expenditure of the government in a big way, the first of which was a few concubines in the family, their food and clothing, and even the monthly silver began to draw, Baodie and Jade's monthly case was only less than 20%, but Lu Mei's was less than half. And if Cao Quan eats on Lu Mei's side, it is naturally delicious and delicious, if he is not there one day, although there will be no leftovers, but he will also have radish and green vegetables, and he will not bring any meat.

Lu Mei used to be offered to wear gold and silver, eat fragrant and drink spicy, and when she first came to Cao's house, she was rich and noble, and she was "saved" at this time, she couldn't do it, and she was not reconciled. She was used to coaxing people to get money from people, and she was beating the side drum and blowing the wind on Cao Quan's side a few times, not only wanting to teach Cao Quan a lesson, but also wanting to hold Cao Quan's private silver in her hands. However, although Cao Quan ate her and coaxed her, she only allowed her something empty, and she didn't really move it once, often the two of them coaxed each other, and coaxed her to the bed and pulled it down.

Cao Quanna didn't dare to go against Zhaojia's family; Again, this chewing thing was discussed with him by Zhao Jia's family, and he nodded in response, wouldn't it be a slap in his mouth to go to find it again at this time? It's just that although he didn't give Lu Mei some benefits, he listened to her a few times, and felt a little sorry for her, and finally allowed her to take her out to buy some materials and noodles.

As soon as he said that Lu Daotai set up a post to invite, Cao Quan took this introduction and said to Zhao Jia's that he would take Lu Mei out to the banquet.

Zhao Jia's was angry, but she was helpless, not to mention that she was pregnant and couldn't socialize, even if she could go, this road platform was east, and she had to ask Lu Mei to go, so she had to give road and road platform a face.

When he entered Cao's house, except for going to Dongfu once, Lu Mei never even stepped out of the gate. She is a surname who loves to be lively, and it is very boring to endure these times. Now I heard that I was going out to dinner, and I was busy and cheerfully turned out the most decent clothes and jewelry, and I was about to put them on.

As soon as he changed into his small clothes and knee pants, Lu Mei paused, thought about it for a while, and asked the maid Fuyun to clean up the clothes, picked out a plain set and changed it, and combed her hair neatly, but only two hostas were pinned.

Before going out, Lu Mei went to say hello to Zhao Jia's first. Zhao Jiashi saw her dress, and the clear soup noodles lost their charming appearance, so they felt a lot more comfortable, and they didn't say anything mean, so they let her go after a few words.

After getting out of the second door and getting into the car, Cao Quan couldn't help frowning when she saw it, and her face sank. He knows best how many clothes Lu Mei has, every time he goes to Lu Mei's room, Lu Mei changes his clothes, and he is dazzled. At this time, he came out wearing such a suit, clearly preparing to embarrass him.

Lu Mei looked at his face, it was sticky like sugar, his watery eyes blinked, and he said pitifully: "It's not that Mei'er is deliberately blocking the master." This wife has said that the family is thrifty, how dare Mei'er disobey? At this time, if you wear a brocade dress, and turn around to your wife to cure Mei'er's sin, Mei'er can't stand it......"

Cao Quan frowned: "I went out with the face of the Cao family, what did she do to punish you!" "Because she is really frugal in her dress, compared with her own silk shirt, it is like being abused in the Cao family, and this is going to be brought to the table to call the road platform to see...... Tell her to go back and change her clothes, so she has to talk to Zhaojia's family, so it is better to add two decent jewelry to save trouble. After thinking about it, Cao Quan instructed the coachman to go to Bihelou to pick up jewelry.

Coming out of the building, there are two more gem-inlaid side flowers on the road's eyebrows, a hairpin flower is shaking, and a pair of hanging bead earrings on the ear, looking at the grandeur of an official grandmother.

Sitting in the car, Lu Mei leaned on Cao Quan, let Cao Quan hold and play with one hand, and rubbed the beads on his ears with the other hand, and said unsatisfied: "The string of beads just now, each of the same size, the color is moist, it is really good." ”

But she just looked at a string of pearl hanging chains, because the store asked for six hundred taels, Cao Quan had no intention of buying it for her at all. Although she was tempted, she was not willing to give up her identity in front of outsiders, so she had to choose the right pair of bead earrings.

Cao Quan said that she was extremely dissatisfied with Lu Mei, and when she heard her words, she didn't answer, but just quietly let go of her hand and closed her eyes to recuperate. Lu Mei knew that he was annoyed, so he was too busy to obey and didn't dare to say anything more.

On the seat of the roadway, there is no political matter, and all the talk is about the wind and the moon. Lu Mei has been trained since childhood to be proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, especially good piano skills, during the banquet touched two ancient songs, stunning four, and then the poems were sung, Lu Mei also came out on top, stronger than the other grandmothers at the same table. Therefore, everyone praised Cao Quan for being a talented and beautiful lady, which made Cao Quan very complacent.

On the way home, Cao Quan looked at Lu Mei more and more pleasing to the eye, hugged and kissed her, saying that she made her face for herself, and rewarded her with the string of pearls when she turned around.

Lu Mei hung on Cao Quan's body, exhaled like an orchid, and said coquettishly: "The master knows that Mei'er loves the beads, and the master loves the eyebrows, and if he doesn't appreciate the eyebrows, he is not greedy, but he is not allowed to coax the eyebrows!" ”

Cao Quan smiled and rubbed her chest: "It's been said that you have searched for things, master, I have to tell you to be poor." ”

Lu Mei softened, and said greasyly: "The master is not making up eyebrows again!" As he spoke, he tilted his head and pretended to be innocent: "I heard that our family has pearls!" Mei'er didn't know. The lord is too, and he refuses to wear beads at home. ”

Cao Quan frowned, put down his arm, and smiled: "Who did you listen to?" ”

Lu Mei's eyes fluttered, and he smiled: "Could it be that the old man can't hide his secrets?" Several grandmothers said so, and asked if the pendant on Mei'er's ears was homemade. ”

Cao Quan shook his head and said, "That's the eldest brother's industry." ”

Lu Mei pursed his lips and leaned into his arms: "Mei'er shouldn't have said this, but master, isn't this still a separation?" Why are they divided into big houses and two rooms, aren't they all among the officials? Why is it that the big man eats and uses the best food over there, but we are tight on our side? ”

Cao Quan was unhappy when he heard this, and coughed: "You don't talk about these things." ”

Lu Mei looked at Cao Quan for a long time, slowly straightened up, and said: "Today, the left and right eyebrows are too mouthful, the old man is a strange eyebrow, and the eyebrows are also to be said." The brothers of the Lu family are all trying their best to support each other, and if anyone is in trouble, other families will help. I want Mei'er to lose her parents since she was a child, but no one in the clan dislikes me, and the uncle and aunt treat me like my own. The warmth and coldness of the people can be seen. In this world, where is the reason for being an elder brother to watch his biological brother starve to death? If there is no separation, this industry is among the officials; is separated, and there is also a share of the master in this industry. Why are we guarding hard, the big man's gold and silver mountains are alive and well? If you don't give it, why don't you mention it...... Oops...... "Before she finished speaking, she received a slap and half of her face was swollen.

Cao Quan was still listening to the fire before, and when she heard that she was going to accuse her eldest brother, she couldn't bear it anymore, so she raised her hand and slapped her, and said angrily: "Slut! Big brother is also what you can say? Do you want to stir up discord among our brothers, and who directed you? ”

Lu Mei covered half of his face and was stunned, but then tears suddenly fell, and he cried bitterly: "Who is Mei'er for?" Not for you, sir? Kindness as a donkey's liver and lungs, woo woo woo ......"

Cao Quan said coldly: "I don't care what kind of heart you have, even if you enter the door of the Cao family, give me some peace!" If there is disrespectful elder brother, the family law will not tolerate it.

(To be continued)