I don't know if it's because of the upcoming New Year's Festival, the words of the thirteenth elder brother have increased. Although he was full of smiles, Cao Hao couldn't feel his joy when he looked at the white silk on his head.

"Cao Hao, it's just in time, I just wanted to find someone to drink two cups today, and I'm waiting for you!" After gossiping a few words, the thirteenth elder brother said with a smile.

It was only morning, not yet noon, Cao Hao smiled and said, "It's not early or late, when did the thirteenth master drink?" ”

"I have good wine in my belly, good wine in my belly, don't care about his God, is it morning or noon?" The thirteenth elder brother shook his head and recited limericks.

As soon as Cao Hao heard it, he didn't say anything about it, at least he pressed his rhyme feet, and hugged his fists and joked: "Thirteen masters, great talent!" ”

The thirteenth elder brother smiled himself, pointed at Cao Hao and said, "Anyway, I have asked the Fujin envoy to instruct the kitchen to prepare the snacks, but you can't run away from this meal!" ”

Cao Hao saw that he was interested and willing to talk to him, so he said: "Even if the Thirteenth Master orders so, then Cao Hao is better to obey his fate than to be respectful!" ”

While talking, the two arrived at the flower hall.

A kang table has been placed in the house, and several side dishes have been arranged, four cold dishes, mixed with small radish seedlings, mixed eggplant puree, tiger skin jelly and pine nut tripe; Four hot dishes, stir-fried diced rabbit and diced melon, stir-fried turtle dove, dry fried venison, roasted catfish, and a stewed cabbage hot pot with duck in the middle.

Cao Hao ate less in the morning, and now he smells the aroma of the room, and he can't help but be a little hungry.

The thirteenth elder brother saw that he had already warmed two pots of wine, and his face was more joyful, and he just wanted to let Cao Haokang sit down, when he heard someone say: "Thirteenth brother! ”

But the fourth elder brother arrived, and the thirteenth elder brother and Cao Hao were stunned. The thirteenth elder brother came to his senses and stepped forward with a smile and said, "The fourth brother is here!" ”

The fourth elder brother glanced at the wine and food on the table without moving his chopsticks and nodded.

Cao Hao was always a little afraid of him in his heart, so he stepped forward and shook the sleeves of his clothes, slapped a thousand children, and said: "Say hello to the fourth master, the fourth master is auspicious!" ”

The fourth elder brother glanced at Cao Hao's official uniform and said, "Just come back from the yamen?" How's the errands going? ”

"If you go back to the fourth master, you will come back from the yamen, and it will be the New Year, and the yamen is very idle." Cao Hao replied.

When the fourth elder brother heard this, he frowned: "Why is it that at the end of the year, it is idle?" Although you are now a court official, you should not take it lightly and live up to the grace of the Lord of Long Life! ”

The thirteenth elder brother saw that the fourth elder brother trained Cao Hao, and he was afraid that Cao Hao would be embarrassed, so he hurriedly said: "Fourth brother, little Cao Hao has always been cautious in handling things, you can rest assured!" ”

When the fourth elder brother heard the word "little Cao Hao", he remembered the scene when he met Cao Hao in Hangzhou more than ten years ago, and his face looked much better. He looked at Cao Hao with a bit of speculation in his gaze.

The thirteenth elder brother said with a smile: "Fourth brother, it just so happens that my younger brother wants to drink today, I just caught Cao Hao, and you are here again, it is really my brother's luck!" Let's not stand now, let's sit down and eat! As he spoke, please sit down with the fourth elder brother.

The fourth elder brother glanced at the thirteenth elder brother, took off his boots and sat on the kang. The thirteenth elder brother also asked Cao Hao to sit with the west facing east, and he accompanied him with the west facing east.

The thirteenth elder brother couldn't help but smile when he saw Cao Hao's eyes and nose and heart, and said to the fourth elder brother: "Fourth brother, look at Xiao Cao Hao's rules, I don't know, he is still in front of the palace!" ”

The fourth elder brother saw that Cao Hao was very restrained, so he said: "You don't have to be like this, be casual." ”

"Yes!" Cao Hao replied, looked up at the thirteenth elder brother, and smiled a little on his face. The thirteenth elder brother said, he treated the fourth elder brother as an emperor in his heart. Be respectful in advance, so as not to be picked out by the fourth elder brother for being rude.

The thirteenth elder brother felt that the wine was almost warm, picked up the wine jug, poured it for the fourth elder brother and Cao Hao, and poured his own full. He raised the wine cup and said to the two: "Let's have a cup first, warm up!" ”

Everyone raised their glasses and drank everything, and the thirteenth elder brother looked at the two of them wearing official uniforms and strange bodies, so he said to the two: "Fourth brother and Cao Hao have gone to their big clothes, so you don't have to hold your waist, it's weird to be tired!" ”

The fourth elder brother was holding chopsticks, and he took a bite to mix the small radish seedlings and sent them to his mouth to press the wine. After listening to the words of the thirteenth elder brother, he put down his chopsticks and said, "It's troublesome!" ”

The fourth elder brother is like this, so Cao Hao can't say anything, and the two of them are still wearing. The thirteenth elder brother poured wine for a while, persuaded the dishes for a while, and everyone ate very happily.

There are two vegetarian dishes on the table, mixed with small radish seedlings and eggplant puree, and Cao Hao eats these two dishes.

The little radish seedlings are radish seedlings that have only grown two leaves, not to mention the green ones, they are also very refreshing to eat, with the fragrance of radish.

At this time, although there was no plastic and glass was not widely used in the private sector, Gyeonggi had long had greenhouses to grow vegetables, making them thin glazed tiles.

In winter, leeks, garlic, celery, spinach, and beans are common. Because of the old customs of the capital, Lichun has the custom of eating radishes and biting spring.

Needless to say, the poor people's homes used all the big white radishes that had been stored in the cellar for a winter; The eunuchs and nobles eat finely, and most of them are radishes that are not much thicker than their fingers. Therefore, in the greenhouse on the outskirts of Beijing, since the winter moon, small radish seedlings have been planted, and small radish seedlings have become a good vegetable in the wax moon.

The fourth elder brother has been a little busy in the household department these days, and the doctor ordered him to eat lightly, and he didn't like to eat meat, so he ate two vegetarian dishes on the table.

The thirteenth elder brother ate a few bites of venison, and when he saw that the fourth elder brother and Cao Hao had nothing else to touch, he couldn't help but wonder. The fourth elder brother is sincere, and he knows that when did Cao Hao start to be a vegetarian?

The fourth elder brother looked at the small half plate of mixed radish seedlings, and thought about it in his heart, complaining that Cao Hao was concerned about Buddhism, and most of the annual rituals were Buddha incense, and it seemed that he was also a person who worshiped Buddha.

Cao Hao was a little embarrassed, these two cold dishes were just small plates the size of a palm, and after eating a few bites, he saw that the plates were mostly empty.

The thirteenth elder brother touched his forehead and asked Cao Hao, "Fu Ruo is also worshipping Buddha now?" ”

Cao Hao just wanted to shake his head, but when he saw the fourth elder brother looking at him, he changed his words and said, "My grandmother worshiped the Buddha before her death!" ”

Everyone who knows knows that Cao Hao grew up with his grandmother. Even so, it is not uncommon to be influenced by your grandmother to worship the Buddha.

Cao Hao secretly scolded himself in his heart for being too dog-legged, this is also too stubborn, in order to get the favor of the future emperor, this religious belief is there.

The fourth elder brother looked at Cao Hao more and more pleasing to the eye, and he had long seen that he was not acting with everyone else, because of the influence of Buddhism, which made him so calm.

* Not to mention how Cao Hao played dog legs and stammered with the fourth elder brother in the Thirteenth Elder Brother's Mansion, in the study of the Eighth Elder Brother's Mansion on Taijichang Street, the ninth elder brother listened to the boy's return, and was already surprised: "What, Cao Hao and the fourth brother have gone to the old thirteenth mansion?" ”

The eighth elder brother sat behind the bookcase, knelt on the ground and said, "When did Cao Hao pass, and when did the fourth elder brother go?" ”

Just listened to the man: "Back to the master's words, Cao Hao went to the thirteenth elder brother's mansion at the first moment (10:15 in the morning), and the fourth elder brother arrived on the back foot, which is only half a cup of tea!" ”

The eighth elder brother waved his hand and sent the man out.

The ninth elder brother stood up and said to the eighth elder brother: "Eighth brother, you see, I have long thought that the kid surnamed Cao is not a good thing, this is not right!" The fourth child is used to pretending, and he only poses as a Buddha in front of Huang Ama, but he doesn't know that his own black face is as fierce as the king of Hades, where is the slightest mercy! The fourth child and the kid of the Cao family, one pretends to be duty, the other pretends to be honest, hum, there is always a time to show his feet! ”

The eighth elder brother was frightened by Kangxi's thunderous methods in the past two months, and he was already a little apprehensive in his heart, but after listening to the words of the ninth elder brother, he felt more and more irritated, and frowned: "Xu didn't intend to meet him, and he couldn't keep it, and the two of them have always walked back and forth less." ”

Brother Nine snorted coldly: "Starling, this is called a smart person, isn't it a hundred times stronger than Li Xu's old foolish rampage to the Starling Mansion?" That is, they have a place to speak, and they are free from suspicion. Speaking of this, he took a breath of cold air: "Starling brother, the disappearance of Li Ding couldn't have been done by Cao Hao, right?" not only showed favor in front of his new master, but also dealt a blow to the Li family, so that the Cao family's status in Jiangnan was unshaken. ”

The eighth elder brother listened to this speculation, thought about it carefully, shook his head and said, "It shouldn't be Cao Hao." In the past few years since Cao Hao entered Beijing, although he has caused a lot of right and wrong, but judging by his actions, he pays great attention to rules and laws, so he should not act so recklessly! ”

The ninth elder brother finally noticed that he had some clues, and was rejected by the eighth elder brother, sat down a little depressed, and muttered: "If it's not Cao Hao, which one is making trouble for us behind it?" ”

* Shichahai, the Li family's outer house.

Li Xu hasn't come over these days, and Yang Ruixue is not good at taking people to the shop in order to pretend to be obedient, so she can't hold back in the house.

Today, she slept until three poles later, and picked up in front of the dresser for most of the hour, making the whole person fresh and tender.

She is addicted to wearing plain clothes and painting plain makeup. Every time she picks it up and stops the mirror to appreciate herself, she can't help but feel a little complacent. With her appearance, if she was born in a banner family, she would enter the palace to be a mother.

Li Xu is the emperor's favorite minister, but I don't know if the emperor is as fond of fiddling with people as Li Xu...... Although it was daytime, thinking of this, Yang Ruixue's body was still half crispy, and she only felt soft and numb, and she wanted to be rubbed twice.

What is the difference between himself and the bird in the cage now, others like to tease it twice; If you forget, you'll be left alone in a cage.

Thinking of this, Yang Ruixue felt so depressed that she couldn't do it. Seeing that the sky was fine outside the window, she loosely put on a big wool cloak, went out of the house, and walked out of the yard.

At this time, I heard a shout from afar on the street: "Fat braised chicken!" ”

When Yang Ruixue heard this, she couldn't help but be interested, and hurriedly helped the maid out of the second door, and when she arrived at the gate of the front yard, she called the little girl to go out to sell braised chicken.

This braised chicken is boiled in white water and salt without other ingredients, without coloring, so that the chicken retains its original color. People who are a little particular about eating smoked chicken from the box shop, and few people eat this.

However, this street to buy "braised chicken" is quite a long-lasting posture. There is only one reason, that is, those who buy "braised chicken" in a box are sold by "lottery", which has the meaning of gambling.

In addition to carrying a box containing "braised chicken", they also carried a bamboo tube with bamboo skewers inside, and then negotiated with the buyer about the regulations, how much money and how many skewers. If one of them wins the "braised chicken" stick, then you have to get a "braised chicken", and if you can't draw it, the money will be given in vain.

Although Yang Ruixue said that she had never drawn lots, she had heard this shouting before, and she had heard the maid mention it. Now she was in a panic, and she thought about drawing lots to try her luck.

When the man selling "braised chicken" was called, Yang Ruixue was already standing by the gate. In fact, the "lottery" of ordinary people calls people into the street door and draws lots in the doorway. Yang Ruixue didn't know this rule, and no one reminded her, so she stood at the door gracefully.

The man who sold "braised chicken" ate the rice of walking through the streets, although he praised the little woman for her delicate beauty, but his face did not dare to show the color of silver evil, and asked in a proper manner: "This grandmother, how many handfuls do you want to smoke?" ”

Yang Ruixue swept the bamboo stick holder in his hand and asked, "How do you count money?" ”

The man replied: "Ten sticks for a small penny, if grandma is lucky, two or three fat chickens will also be obtained!" ”

Yang Ruixue covered her mouth and chuckled, and said, "Let's not talk about bad luck, the price should be fairer!" ”

In fact, fifteen sticks are often sold for a small penny, but this man saw that the little grandmother standing against the door was only joking, and said in plain clothes as a difficult look: "Since grandma said so, then twelve!" ”

Yang Ruixue is just playing, where do you feel sorry for these little money? She instructed the maid to take the money bag, and took a small amount of money and handed it to the man.

The man took the money and sent the bamboo tube.

Yang Ruixue saw that the skewers had changed color, and they were a little dirty, but she still wanted to test her luck, so she smoked a few in a row.

There were empty sticks one after another, Yang Ruixue couldn't help but feel a little unlucky, so the maid handed another bunch of money to the man, and drew it again.

There are 100 sticks in this bamboo tube, and the seller doesn't know it, but the man himself knows the difference.

The main purpose of selling "braised chicken" is to seduce people and attract repeat customers to make money. Therefore, he turned the bamboo tube around and rushed to Yang Ruixue with more "braised chicken" sticks.

If Yang Rui won one, he would not be overjoyed, laughing and trembling, and he would be too happy. She couldn't help but be interested, stretched out her hand, and said, "Come, smoke again......"

Not far away, a man stood on horseback, already stupid......

(To be continued)