On the morning of the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15, Cao Yin took his brothers and nephews to open the ancestral hall to perform the gift of hope, and rewarded melons and fruits and mooncakes to the old servants and housekeepers at all levels in Caofu. It was night, and there was a banquet inside and outside, and the house was full of moon.

The Mid-Autumn Festival has the ritual of worshiping the moon again, setting up a platform in the courtyard, burning incense and displaying flowers and fruits for the moon. At that time, the rule was that "men do not worship the moon, women do not sacrifice to the stove", so after nightfall, Gao Taijun took the Li family and the whole family to worship with incense, and then the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet officially began.

Cao Yin, Cao Quan and Cao Hao came over first to toast Gao Taijun, and then withdrew to the outer courtyard to eat, and only the female dependents were left in the inner courtyard.

Mrs. Gao sat on the main seat, with the Li family sitting on the right, and Cao Yin's two concubines below. Because Xifu Zhaojia has just given birth and is still in confinement, and Lu Mei is "raising a baby", the second room of the main house has not come, only Baodie and Jade are present. Although Mrs. Gao politely gave in, neither of them dared to sit forward, so they pushed Cao Yi to sit on the left side of Mrs. Gao, and the two sat down in turn.

Gao Taijun usually didn't say much, but when he mentioned the newborn daughter of the Zhaojia clan that he had just seen, the old man was overflowing with joy and talked more.

Zhao Jia's heart was not very happy because he gave birth to a daughter. However, when Gao Taijun followed Li to visit her, he was very quiet because he saw that the baby girl did not cry or make trouble, and made Gao Taijun laugh again. Zhao Jiashi listened to the old man's praise and saw that the old man liked it, so he was a little happier.

"It's good, don't make trouble, worry-free." Gao Taijun smiled sincerely, pointed at Li Shi and said: "I didn't realize it when I first took her, but later there were more nephews and nephews, and they were all naughty. ”

Mrs. Gao said and talked about how the Li family's nephews and grandchildren were naughty, although she complained, the corners of her eyes and eyebrows were with a happy smile, and at a glance, she knew that she loved those children very much. As she spoke, she couldn't help mentioning two interesting stories about Li's childhood, and finally muttered: "You are good, you have never made me feel sorry for me, this is my blessing!" ”

Li Shi had already seen tears in his eyes, smiled and drank a glass of wine with his mother, and said warmly: "For so many years, my daughter has rarely been filial piety in front of her mother, but now my mother lives more and lets her daughter do some filial piety." ”

Mrs. Gao patted her daughter's leg, also a little sad. Cao Yi met on the side, and busily diverted the topic, said some Buddhist classics, and mentioned the happy things of the old man, so that the atmosphere was stirred up again.

In the middle of the moon, everyone dispersed happily.

Because Cao Yi was going to follow Cao Hao to Beijing to get married the next day, the Li family couldn't leave here, and couldn't send her to Beijing in person, so he rested at his daughter's place on the night of the fifteenth.

The mother and daughter shared the same bed, and the Li family inevitably made another exhortation to respect the mother-in-law and aunt, respect the husband, and be diligent and thrifty. After that, Li pinned a lock of Cao Yi's hair behind her ear, stroked the corner of her forehead, and said with a smile: "I don't have to say these words, you know everything, you don't want me to worry a little, I just can't help but want to talk about it." My mother said that I was relieved and that it was a blessing to her. Today, you are also wonderful, and this is also a blessing to me. ”

Cao Yi's eyes were red, and she said in a low voice: "After so many years of careful teaching by her mother who did not abandon adoption, her daughter has been a blessing for several generations. It's just that I married far away, and I can't share my mother's worries in front of my mother in the future......"

The corners of Li's eyes were also wet, and he reached out to wipe away Cao Yi's tears: "Silly girl, my daughter's family has been like this from generation to generation." If you marry into your husband's family, you can serve your mother-in-law and father-in-law, and your mother's family doesn't have to be suspenseful. Fortunately, your sister and your brother are in the capital, so you won't be too lonely. With that, she picked up a brocade box three or four inches square from her pillow, opened it, and inside was a gold bracelet inlaid with various colored gemstones.

Cao Yi saw that this bracelet was a little familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere, so he heard Li pick up the bracelet and said with a smile: "Don't think it's fancy, this is still when I went out of the pavilion, your grandmother passed it to me, I heard that it is an eight-treasure bracelet that has been opened in Wutai Mountain, and it will be blessed by the Buddha with it." Originally, it was a couple, and when your eldest sister came out of the cabinet that year, I gave her one, and the rest was reserved for you. As he spoke, he took Cao Yi's hand and wanted to put it on his wrist with his own hands.

"Mother's ......" Cao Yi gently stopped Li's hand and said hesitantly: "This bracelet is so valuable, and it is a family heirloom of my mother, so let's leave it to my future sister-in-law!" ”

Li glared at Cao Yi with disgust: "Silly boy, aren't you my daughter?" As he spoke, he helped her put it on her wrist: "Although you were not born to me, but in my heart, you are the same as your sister and brother." Speaking of which, you are the most relieved. Your sister's surname is Ziqiang, so there is no need to mention it; Although your brother does not talk much, he is also unwilling to suffer. It's only you, but the noisy energy when you were a child is gone, and you hold everything in your heart. ”

"Mother......" Cao Yi's heart was warm, but he choked up and couldn't speak, but leaned closer to Li's side.

Li rubbed Cao Yi's hair: "The past is all over!" In the world, where is there a father who does not hope for the good of his children? It's just that he hasn't been at home for many years, and it's a last resort, don't blame him too much. The "he" here refers to Cao Yi's biological father Cao Quan. Li knew that this was Cao Yi's heart knot, and he always wanted to open his mouth to persuade her, but he was afraid of breaking her heart. Now, Cao Yi is about to marry far away, and she can't be allowed to marry with resentment towards her biological father, so she still opened her mouth.

Cao Yi raised his little face, looked at Li, and shook his head: "My daughter has nothing to complain about!" I have parents and siblings, and my blessings are too much, so where can I be greedy? Today, the daughter has only one wish, that is, her father, mother and grandmother are healthy and live a long life, and the life of her sister and brother is smooth and beautiful. ”

"Silly children, the greatest wish of parents is that their children live well. As long as we know that you are doing well, those of us who are elders will naturally be in a happy mood, even if we are sick, we will also get better! It's just that you have to remember that in this world, the one who can accompany you to grow old together is still your future father-in-law. This man, both old and young, is like a child, and he is moody. You can't restrain him too much, otherwise he will deliberately sing against you; You can't let him go too far, so that you will develop his uncle's temper, and you will have to suffer in the future. If the husband and wife have any quarrels in private, don't bring them outside the house, and don't give him a face in front of others. No matter what the surname of the man is, he has an excellent face, and he must not touch his head with this, otherwise he will not be able to get off the stage, and I am afraid that he will also hold a grudge in his heart! Li said with a smile.

This time it was a "master's technique", Cao Yi listened with a red face, wrote down one by one, but couldn't help but think about it in his heart, look at the blessings of his mother and father are so harmonious, could it be that his father is also like a child, and he asked his mother to coax him.

The mother and daughter talked a lot of confidant words until the third watch fell asleep.

* On Cao Hao's side, after the banquet, he followed his father to the study in the front yard. Cao Yin's body had healed, and his eyes gradually returned to sharpness. Cao Hao's heart is very relieved, after such a long time, the wounds on both his body and his heart have gradually healed.

In the past two months, Cao Yin began to make a slow comeback, and Cao Hao also followed his father to learn some officialdom skills.

Because the contradiction between the governor Kali and the governor Zhang Boxing intensified, the officials of the two factions below also contradicted each other. On 17 June, Liu Hangao, the commander-in-chief of the Jiangnan Wolf Mountain, who belonged to the governor's faction, was dismissed due to "old age." On 24 June, Chen Pengnian, the governor of Suzhou, who belonged to the governor's faction, was convicted of "fear of favoritism" and handed over to Jiuqing for strict investigation because he was impeached by Kali last year for the embezzlement of state funds by Yu Huai, the former governor of Jiangsu, and Yi Sigong, the political envoy of Jiangsu.

On the eighth day of the seventh month, Li Rusong, the general soldier of Jiangning, who was attached to Kali, was demoted to three levels and retained because he "could not restrain the soldiers and set up a pawn shop in the office". On July 30, the guerrilla Tang Zhikui was demoted to three levels for "encroachment on military salaries".

In the middle of the leap July, Zhang Boxing, the governor of Jiangsu, sent the "Jiangnan Domain Treasury to Compensate for the Deficit and the Missing Draft" to the Governor of Jiangnan and Jiangxi Kali Meeting. According to the rules, this was not until the governor consulted with the governor before he could reach a conclusion. Zhang Boxing did not wait to discuss with the Kali, but wrote the epilogue at the back and only handed it to the Kali co-signing. Kali would have let him get his wish, without stamping, and the original manuscript was sent back. Zhang Boxing wrote a detailed plea for the crime. Kangxi issued an edict and ordered the governor Kali and the governor Zhang Boxing to "be a minister and handle state affairs together", and not to cause "official affairs to be shielded" due to "discord". This dispute between the governors and the governor finally came to the front of the palace.

The Cao family is very peaceful. Cao Quan detained Lu Mei in the inner courtyard to "raise the fetus", and secretly monitored whether there was anyone in contact with him; Cao Yin sent someone along the line of the road platform to check his deceased family.

This road is originally from Wuhu, Anhui Province, although it is also a scholarly family, but the family assets are meager, the parents died early, the relatives withered, and grew up next to the grandparents. Born in poverty, he was raised as a teenager, and later started from the local county. When Kali was the governor of Shanxi, he happened to be the prefect of Shanxi, and the two had a relationship. The so-called daughter of the Lu family is simply nonsense, and the six women, including Lu Mei, were all collected by his favorite concubine Liu. This Liu family is in his twenties, and he was accepted by him when he was in the capital, and he is naturally a daughter of a good family who claims to be in the capital, but his true identity cannot be examined.

is about to enter Beijing, and the father and son simply summed it up, and their positions can be regarded as unified, that is, they will never let the Cao family get involved in the battle for succession. Originally, Cao Yin was still very sympathetic to the prince's side, but after listening to his son's persuasion and thinking about the current situation of the prince, he was like a puppet, and he was afraid that he would no longer be the heir of the Sacred Heart.

Regarding Cao Yin's body, Cao Hao was still not at ease, and persuaded and persuaded him, since there are not many errands here in Jiangnan at the moment, he still has to take care of himself.

* On August 16, Cao Hao took his sister back to Beijing.

Cao Yin's strict father image was accustomed to it, and he was unwilling to show his parting sentimentality in front of his children, so he and the Li family only sent their children out of the house, and it was Cao Yuan who escorted them to the dock with a group of housekeepers.

The dowry luggage was loaded early in the morning, and Cao Yi got on the big boat with the help of the maid and entered the inner cabin. Cao Hao said goodbye to Cao Yuan, and just as he was about to get on the boat, he heard someone call him, but it was Cao Quan who arrived with a small servant.

Because of Zhaojia's confinement, Cao Quan didn't care about everything at home, so Cao Quan got the convenience and rushed over to see off his daughter and nephew. He reined in his horse, turned over, and saw that Cao Yi had already entered the inner cabin, and sighed secretly. pulled Cao Hao over and said two words of "be careful on the road".

Seeing that he was willing to come to see him off, Cao Hao's heart changed a little, and he said with a smile: "Second uncle don't worry, nephew can save it." It's about to board the boat, it's windy on the riverside, please go back to the second uncle! ”

Cao Quan nodded, took out a soft seal from his sleeve, and quietly stuffed it into Cao Hao's hand.

Cao Hao was stunned: "Second uncle, what is this?" ”

Cao Quan was a little embarrassed, coughed lightly, and said in a low voice: "This ...... It's a little dowry for Yi'er. You gave it to her when you turned around. Hmm, don't say I gave it to you. ”

It was more than 1,000 taels of silver that he had secretly saved from Zhaojia's family, and now he brought all of it to his daughter as a dowry. Seeing Cao Hao pinching the silver ticket and being a little stunned, he paused and sighed: "Actually...... Alas, it's useless to talk about it nowadays. Yi'er is in Beijing, so it's up to you to take care of him more. I...... Not...... Thank you very much. ”

Cao Hao pinched the silver ticket, a little speechless, and finally put away the silver: "My nephew will take care of the third sister; The Jueluo family is a good family, and the brother-in-law and the wife of the in-laws are all benevolent, and they will never wronged the third sister. Second uncle, please rest assured. ”

Cao Quan nodded: "That's good, get on the boat quickly, don't miss the hour." As he spoke, he sent Cao Hao to the boat.

When I walked to the river, I suddenly saw Cao Yi being helped out of the cabin.

Cao Quan didn't know that her daughter knew her life experience, but the factor said that Cao Yi had always been able to see Cao Quan Zhaojia and his wife, and now he was standing opposite, Cao Quan didn't react for a while, and the few words of blessing that he had thought of in his mind in the tone of the second uncle were forgotten.

Seeing Cao Yi take a deep breath, stabilize his mind, and knelt down on the deck, he respectfully kowtowed to Cao Quan three times, then hung his head, bit his lower lip, didn't say a word, and took the maid's hand back to the inner cabin.

Cao Quan stayed on the spot, and her heart doubled several times, shocked, distressed, regretful, guilty, and mixed. These three heads are clearly the ceremony for the married daughter to say goodbye to her father, obviously the daughter knows her own life experience? But I don't know when she knew, for so many years, he owes this daughter too much, but this daughter is...... Cao Quan's eyes were red, he was stunned for a long time, opened his mouth, and finally didn't say anything.

He sighed and looked away at the boat carrying his daughter, whom he might not recognize in this life.

(To be continued)