On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, the palace gave banquets to the outer domains of the court, such as Korqin, Naiman, Ordos, Songqite, Zalut, Uzhumuqin, Wengniut, Khalkha, Bahrain, Aba, Aohan, Tumut, Sunit, Alu Korqin, Karaqin kings, Beile, Beizi, Gong, Taiji, etc., as well as ministers, scholars, Shangsanqi Dutong, Deputy Dutong, Shangshu, Shilang, Bachelors, and guards.

Cao Hao is still hanging on the duty of a guard, so he is also on the banquet list.

Before the banquet began, he saw his brother-in-law, the fiancé of the second Gege of the Chunwang Mansion, the third-class Taiji Dolzira clan of the Ao Han Duo clan.

Dorzira's grandmother is the eldest daughter of Huang Taiji and Kangxi's aunt - Princess Ao Han. Speaking of which, Dorzira is Kangxi's son and nephew, one generation higher than the Ergege of Chunwangfu. However, the Manchurian and Mongolian marriages only pay attention to the relative age, and they do not care about the seniority like the Han people, so there is a will to marry in the palace.

It was the first time Cao Hao and Dorzira had met, and the two had quite a temper. At the age of eighteen or nineteen, Dorzira has the tall body of a Mongolian, but he admires the culture of the Central Plains.

Seeing that Cao Hao was elegant in appearance and polite in his speech, Dorzira spoke with a bit of intimacy.

At this time, the customs of the world value relatives, among which father-in-law, uncle, and brother-in-law are among the "noble relatives".

However, the two of them were not at the same table, so after a few words, someone urged them to sit down. After the two made an appointment to meet again in a few days, they went to their respective seats.

Cao Hao sat with Nalan Fusen, and everyone sighed when they mentioned Li Ding, who had been missing for several months. Deteblack said to Cao Hao: "Xiao Cao, have you been to Li's house recently?" A few days ago, I seemed to have heard that Li Ding had blood and bones, but this fatherless child was really pitiful. ”

Nalan Fusen was also a posthumous son, Cao Hao looked uncomfortable at him, and hurriedly diverted the conversation.

After Detehei finished speaking, he knew that he was speechless, and he slipped his chopsticks, "hehe" twice, and then Cao Hao's words, and talked about something else.

The banquet in the palace is mostly to watch the plates, and everyone has been on an errand for many years, and they participate every year, and they don't feel unusual. It's just sitting and gossiping a few words, and moving two chopsticks at random.

Because they had to be on duty at night to catch up with Dethehei and Naranfuson, after everyone had finished eating, they dispersed, and said that they would have to eat and drink together in the first month.

When Cao Hao returned to the house, it was not yet the time of Shen, and Chu Yu was arranging for someone to prepare all kinds of small dumplings, steamed and fried. It is used for sacrifices in the Ming Dynasty, and it is also eaten in the first month.

Seeing Cao Hao coming back, Chu Yu arranged for those housekeepers' daughters-in-law to go down.

Cao Hao looked at her with a dull face, a little distressed, and said: "These explanations are that you have personally asked about everything, what about your body, you are tired carefully." ”

Chu Yu helped Cao Hao throw a handkerchief and handed it over, saying, "It's okay, just tell them a few words." Sister Amethyst is busy preparing various rewards for the New Year, as well as the gifts for the first month of the New Year. ”

Although the day before yesterday, Chu Yu talked to Zhao Jia's about the separation of the two rooms, but because the stove was to be divided, the kitchen had to rearrange the manpower, so he was not in a hurry to Zhang Luo a year ago.

She thought about it on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, whether it was a family banquet or a guest in the first month, it could not be said that the big room and the second room were received separately.

Cao Hao changed his clothes and said to Chu Yu with a smile: "Although this is not the first time I have spent the New Year in Beijing, the taste is different. In the first year, I was in Beijing with the second child, and it was very deserted; The next year, we lived together. Now, thinking about that time, I was stunned and felt extremely unreal. It's like you're here for the first day, and it's like you've been here for ten or eight years. Now, we have become old husbands and wives, not to mention, even in the house, there are also a lot of people, but there are some meanings of people. Speaking of which, when I thought of Zhao Jia's, my smile faded a little.

He thought about it for a while, and said to Chu Yu: "It seems that I was wrong in the past, I was not far away or close to it for a long time, why should there be those unpleasantness in the future!" ”

"The filial piety of the forehead is commendable, and it is also possible to treat the second wife to be more generous!" Chu Yu replied.

Cao Hao said with a little regret: "It's just that I have suffered your kindness, but in the past few months, I have seen you really treat your second wife like a mother." I wasn't at ease, I was afraid that you would be bullied, so it would be a good thing to split up like this. You can't have a big belly and go over and wait for you. ”

Chu Yu knew that her husband really felt sorry for herself, and the smile on her face was even bigger.

*Inside the Xizhi Gate, Li House.

Li Xu changed out of his official uniform and sat on a chair in the hall. People are warm and cold, and now all kinds of scholars and waiters at the banquet are just false responses, is it possible that he Li Xu has lost his position in the eyes of the world?

His face was gloomy, and there was a hint of anger in his eyes, but there was nothing he could do. He sighed, it seems that it is time to go back to the south in the next year, and this stay in the capital will cause more and more criticism. There is news that someone on the side of Yushi is ready to break the bullet and impeach him.

He has been in office for decades, how could he ever be afraid of impeachment? It's just that the past and the present are different, looking at the already annoyed appearance of the Long Live Lord, I don't know when he will be tolerated. Although for the sake of the old lady of the Wen family, Long Live Lord will not be so harsh on him, but who knows if he will "settle accounts after the autumn".

The most important thing is that there is news from Suzhou, as if something is wrong. Li Xu himself was in charge of the General Administration Department, so he naturally knew that the most important thing in Jiangnan was the eyes and ears of the emperor.

Long live this move, does he already distrust him?

All kinds of signs came together, which naturally made Li Xu panic.

He has to prepare to go back to Suzhou, and Li Nai should not stay in the capital for a long time. Li Xu's wife and Li Nai's mother, Han, is sick in bed and needs her son to go back to serve the sick.

Thinking of this, Li Xu asked the little servant to call the housekeeper Qian Zhongxuan, wanting him to arrange the ship after the New Year, and after fifteen, the father and son set off for the south.

The little guy had only been out for a while, and he saw Qian Zhongxuan walking in in a hurry.

Seeing that his face was happy, Li Xu's heart moved, and asked, "What's the matter, there's movement over there in Shichahai?" ”

Qian Zhongxuan said: "Back to the old man, that's exactly the case. Yang's children were detained in the yard, and they were also stewed, so they leaned on the gate all day long, calling the merchant to draw lots for fun. Yesterday, a man came forward to talk. According to the maid who followed, the man knew the Yang family and had met her outside. ”

Li Xu narrowed his eyes and asked with an unpredictable expression, "Who?" What is that man's name? ”

Qian Zhongxuan bowed and replied: "It's Taifu Temple Shaoqing Yi Duli!" ”

Li Xu couldn't help but be stunned, listening to the words "Taifu Temple", thinking of Cao Hao, he felt a little uncomfortable.

Yiduli, Zhenghuangqi, Manchurian surname Yiergen Jueluo, the son of the late university scholar Issan'a, the brother-in-law of the thirteenth elder brother, and the brother-in-law of the fourteenth elder brother. In addition to these identities, he is also the cousin of Fu Nai's stepwife.

Li Xu couldn't help but be a little disappointed when he heard the housekeeper talk about the process of Yiduli's accosting, but he was just a lustful disciple. If it was really his conspiracy against the Li family, how could he send it to the door so aggressively.

"Shaoqing of Taifu Temple" and "brother-in-law of the fourteenth elder brother", Li Xu thought about these two identities of Yiduli, pondered for a moment, and instructed Qian Zhongxuan: "Send two stable people over to bring the Yang family over, and pay attention to entering and exiting!" ”

Qian Zhongxuan went down in response, and Li Xu sat there, not knowing what to think.

In the courtyard of the inner house, Miaoyun had a pale little face, bowing her head and vomiting. Xiangtong looked concerned on the side, and said worriedly: "Little grandma has been tossed for more than a month, how much can we do?" ”

Miaoyun's mother, Guo Sanjia, is now also waiting in this courtyard, took water to rinse her daughter's mouth, and said to Xiangtong with a smile: "This woman is pregnant, how many are there who don't toss?" Some are good for three months, and some are tossed for four months. I'm not afraid of his long kung fu, saying that the more he loves to toss his mother, the happier this child is. ”

"Is that so? That's a great good! Xiangtong instructed the little girl to take out the spittoon, and at the same time took the white pear on the plate, peeled the skin, cut a piece of pear flesh and handed it to Miaoyun.

Miaoyun took it very uneasily and said, "I'm tired of my sister!" ”

Xiangtong said with a smile: "The slave maid is serving the little grandmother on the orders of the master and the uncle, and the little grandmother doesn't need to be so polite!" ”

Although the Li family is now treated as Miaoyun is aunt, their mother and daughter dare not be presumptuous in front of Xiangtong.

Guo Sanjia was busy flattering: "What kind of person is the girl, even if she promotes us, we must know what is good or bad." ”

Xiangtong smiled and didn't say much, but said to Miaoyun: "The most important thing for the little grandmother at the moment is to take care of her body and give birth to a young master and a young lady, so that she will have hope and dependence in this life!" But if there is anything to eat, tell the slave and maid, and the slave and the maid will make them go and change it. ”

Miaoyun is only fifteen, he is not fat in the first place, he is getting thinner and thinner due to morning sickness, and he looks up with a small face the size of a palm, looking very moving.

Xiangtong faintly felt a sense of jealousy in her heart, she got up from the stool, said a few more words to Guo Sanjia, and then walked out of this room.

When he returned to his room, Xiangtong sat on the edge of the kang and couldn't help but shake his nerves.

Do you know too much? When she heard that Ye Xian was pregnant, she was secretly amused in her heart. Speaking of which, this kid really doesn't know whose seed it is, and the changing hands are really too close.

She is a clever person, she knows which ones can be sold and which ones cannot be sold, and it is a matter of the master's private place, even if she knows, she must pretend to be confused. Shen Liu, the steward of the other hospital, died of an "emergency" because he knew a lot.

"Second Master!" She was holding a handkerchief in her hand, and she didn't know why she thought of Li Ding, and she could think of the next wine.

Because of the calculation of Cao Hao's matter, Li Ding only said one thing to Xiangtong, so Li Xu's father and son regarded it as just an ordinary wine banquet.

She shook her head hurriedly, thinking to herself what she was doing. The Cao family is the closest relative of the Li family, and the uncle of the Cao family and his second grandfather are cousins, so why do you want someone to die for a meal?

She remembered the days when Li Dingchu disappeared, and Cao Hao was also busy here, and she felt more and more that she was thinking too much.

The person who thinks he thinks too much is not only Xiangtong.

In the upper room of Caofu Shaoyuan, Zhao Jiashi sat on the kang with a cigarette pouch and pot in his mouth, listening to his daughter-in-law talk about the personnel in the kitchen. Because she wants to divide the stove after the year, she always has to find out the people over there, and it is better to choose two proper stove people.

Although Zhao Jia's family has lived in the south for more than 30 years, he still likes the taste of "heavy oil and heavy salt" in the north.

In addition to the person on the stove, there are two chefs in the back kitchen.

When Zhao Jiashi heard this, he couldn't help but be interested, and asked, "But after inquiring clearly, which of these two cooks has better skills?" ”

The daughter-in-law replied: "Madam, one of these two cooks is surnamed Zhang, the other is surnamed Zhao, one is good at meat dishes, and the other is good at cooking vegetarian dishes. ”

Zhao Jiashi nodded, and said, "You have been going to the kitchen all these days, but you have seen what food has been prepared for each meal in the uncle's yard?" ”

The daughter-in-law replied: "The slave maid saw it, Xu is the grandmother's morning sickness, and she can't eat greasy, and this preparation is all plain things, and each meal has four or five dishes." The slave maid asked, there have never been many dishes on the grandmother's side, although it was also plain earlier, but there was also meat and fish, but in the past few months, even the big meat and fish dishes have stopped. ”

Zhao Jiashi was stunned, her own portion of each meal was six to eight dishes, and several small dishes were four dishes each. Originally, she was still thinking, even if there were no more Wutong Gardens than her, at least it was the same as her.

As for whether there is any hiding of private goods, it is unknown whether the two of them use some good dishes alone.

Now it seems that she thinks too much about herself. She took a puff of cigarette, thinking about the loneliness of these days, but she missed Chu Yu's visit to her house a few days ago.

Although the surname is a little Mian, this nephew and daughter-in-law can be regarded as the most virtuous, if the daughter-in-law she marries in the future can be so sensible, she will not ask for him.

Green Ju stood aside, seeing that Zhao Jia's family had also made up his mind to divide the stove, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. The second wife has always been pampered and pampered, and rarely cares about the livelihood of the people outside.

Did she think that the stove was to cook the cook, but she didn't expect that all the firewood, rice, and grain would have to be made of silver everywhere? Do you need to be reminded of it? Green Chrysanthemum hesitated.

Thinking that her grandmother Mama Zhang was rejected for her many words, Lu Ju pursed her lips and swallowed the words that came to her mouth......

(To be continued)