On the second day of the sixth month, before Cao Hao handed over the newly written excerpt, the sixteenth elder brother brought good news. Kangxi had already approved his previous request and allowed him to return to the capital temporarily. And there is also a will, let him go back and take people to explore the surroundings of the capital to see how the drought is.

Cao Hao was overjoyed, handed over all the errands at hand, and asked His Majesty to resign.

Kangxi did not summon him to see him, but he also sent Wei Zhu out with an edict, asking him to do his errand carefully and not to be fooled.

Because of a matter of praying for rain, how many officials have been broken, no matter how careless Cao Hao is, he will not be lazy on this.

Li and Chu Yu had already packed their luggage. Because the female dependents all went back, Wei Hei's wife Vanilla took Qi Niang and also packed her things and wanted to return to Beijing with her.

Just thinking that Cao Yin was left here, Li felt a little uneasy, and after Cao Yin persuaded him repeatedly, he reluctantly went on the road.

When I came, it was still spring, and when I went back, it was already midsummer, and there was a special scenery on both sides of the road.

The group was full of women and children, so Cao Hao ordered people to slow down.

In addition to Tianyou and Hengsheng riding horses every day, occasionally Cao Hao also hugged Tianhui to the back of the horse to breathe.

When I first came out of Rehe, it was fine, the green mountains and green waters, and I didn't feel the summer heat. After two or three days, I started to feel hot.

Li is old, Chu Yu is recovering from a serious illness, and the children are also delicate, so they are also afraid of heat stroke. I set off early every day and rested at the post station at noon.

In this way, on the seventh day of the sixth month, he finally arrived in the capital safely.

I didn't feel it in the capital earlier, but when I went to Rehe and then returned to the capital, I felt more and more that the heat in the capital was unbearable.

On the upper room of the Orchid Courtyard, there were already two ice basins, and the Li family was still so hot that he couldn't sleep.

I thought about going to Haidian Garden to live, but the matter of Suxin had not been properly handled, and it was not easy for the Li family to enjoy leisure.

On the Zhao Jia side, they have already complained twice, not because they are picking on this family matter, and they feel that there is something wrong with the Dong family not accepting the girl at the moment.

In the end, the mother is gone, and the stepmother is not careful. If you want to go out before the end of the year, there are still a lot of things to prepare.

The Li family, on his side, is not very optimistic about her husband's decision to set up a core for her nephew.

Women have limited youth, and finding a husband will be difficult in the future.

Zhao Jia's family has long been worried about giving her youngest son Zhang Luo's family affairs, and the Li family knows about it, so she is worried that she thinks Suxin is old and her mother-in-law and daughter-in-law will not get along well in the future. Unexpectedly, Zhao Jia's side was abnormal, and there was no dissatisfaction when it came to Suxin.

Where did she know that now Zhaojia's family has regarded Suxin as her own.

In the early years, when Zhaojia first entered the Cao family, she was criticized by her husband because she was illiterate. At the beginning, Cao Quan also wanted to enlighten his wife with his own hands, but Zhao Jiashi was still clever about others, and he didn't open his mind to learn to write, and he didn't know it, and it was finally over.

The daughter-in-law of the younger generation of the Cao family, Chu Yu, needless to say, is a noble royal granddaughter, who is fluent in Manchu and Chinese; It's Jinghui's side, and it's also a well-informed lady.

In terms of background and appearance, they are much stronger than Zhaojia's.

Jinghui's side is also a drip-tight one, so that Zhaojia's family has no place to put her mother-in-law's score.

Now that she has Su Xin, she also began to chant the sentence "marry a woman from a high door, marry a woman from a low door", thinking of the majesty of Mrs. Sun when she was alive, and she had a prayer in her heart...... Lee's side is a little embarrassed.

It stands to reason that the affairs of children and daughters are the orders of their parents and the words of matchmakers. It's just that Su Xin's stepmother, Gao, is not a person who can speak to the Dong family.

After thinking about it, she still sent a famous post to Dong's house, stating that she wanted to visit her.

The Dong family replied to the post, saying that it was June 14, which happened to be the "catch week" of a grandson of the Dong family, and invited the Li family and the Zhaojia family to be guests in the past.

The Li family talked to the Zhaojia clan here, which made the Zhaojia clan a lot happy.

Although Xiaoding has not yet been ordered, it also means that he will be in-law at the moment.

In a blink of an eye, on the twelfth day of June, the three of Li, Zhaojia, and Chu Yu took a carriage to Dong's house as guests.

Because of praying for rain, no one dared to invite the troupe in May, and Zhao Jia's family hadn't listened to the play for a long time, and he felt that it was lively and very popular.

In addition, the Dong family has many children and grandchildren, many female dependents, and a few aunts and grandmothers who have returned to the door, and they sat at several tables.

Whether it is the mother-in-law of the daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law, or the in-laws of the old aunt and grandmother, they are all official eunuchs with heads and faces.

Zhao Jia's eyes saw it, and his heart became more and more satisfied with this family business.

Although the Dong family is not as high as the Cao family, this in-law is old, and the relationship is not weaker than the Cao family. The families who have come and gone to marry are all powerful figures in the internal affairs government, and they are no worse than the Li family and the Sun family, the in-laws of the Cao family.

Dong Dianbang's wife, Nala, is already in grade, and now most of the housekeeping is taken care of by Dong's daughter-in-law, Shang.

The Li family did not come to listen to the play this time, but mainly to let go of the matter.

The Shang family had already received Dong Dianbang's instructions first, and picked a good date for the second half of this month, and said that it would be released.

Because the girl is older, she is afraid that she will miss the flowering period, so the matter of Dading is also mentioned by Shang's in the words.

On the Li family's side, he naturally had nothing to say, but he just wanted Zhaojia's to make up his mind, so he didn't say death.

* Aoi-in, upper room.

There was silence, Changsheng had been carried back to the Orchid Courtyard by **, and Tianyou and Hengsheng also went to class in the study.

In the room, Su Xin sat with her head bowed, her face showing a little confused.

Seeing her like this, Amethyst sighed in her heart, poured a cup of herbal tea with her own hands, and sent it to Su Xin.

Su Xin held the teacup in both hands, raised his head, and said softly, "Thank you, sister." ”

"It's just a cup of tea, what's the outside world?" Zijing smiled and sat on the edge of the kang and asked, "The girl is so restless, but for the sake of the wife and the second wife, going to your mansion today?" ”

When Su Xin heard this, he nodded and said, "I'm afraid I'm leaving, I'm really reluctant to ...... my wife and sister."

"In a few months, I will come back in a sedan chair, and then the girl will not be able to leave if she wants to." Amethyst took Su Xin's hand and said with a smile.

"I really envy my sister, where can I be so comfortable?" Su Xin bit his lip and said: "I learned the rules when I was young, and when I entered the palace, I also learned the rules and looked at my face." Only in the past six months, although it is not my own home, it is rare to be quiet and comfortable. Good people, why do you want to talk about people. ”

"As a woman, you always have to find someone, and it's not good to delay it like this. Besides, the girl didn't say to go to other people's houses, but lived on the back wall, and often came and went, how good. It is said that it is difficult to be a daughter-in-law, and it is necessary to divide people. The second wife looks a little more powerful, but she doesn't have a bad heart, as long as she is respectful and says a few good words to coax her; The second grandmother's surname is Roushun, you have also seen it, and it is not difficult to get along with each other. The fifth master was raised by the side of the lord and wife in his early years, and he was the most amiable to others. Girl, rest assured, don't think about it anymore. Seeing that she was so uneasy, Amethyst opened her mouth to persuade her and give her reassurance.

Su Xin heard Amethyst's kindness, took Amethyst's hand with her backhand, looked at her face, hesitated, and asked what she was confused in her heart: "Since my sister knows this truth, why did she miss the flowering period and be lonely so far?" ”

When Amethyst heard this, her body stiffened, and after a while, she smiled and said, "Who knows, earlier I was also thinking about getting married, thinking about being a good wife and mother." But who to marry? Even if you want to marry, you have to have a man willing to marry. Since no one wants it, you can only survive like this......" In the end, she has already shown a little loneliness" Sister ......" Su Xin saw her so cold, she couldn't bear it, and said: "Why don't I talk to my sister-in-law and see if I can find a suitable person for my sister......"

When Amethyst heard this, she waved her hand and said with a smile: "I understand the girl's intentions, so forget it." To be someone else's house-filler, to be a cheap girl, I don't have that blessing; Those who are halfway into the earth do not have the face to be human concubines. The girl just said that she was quiet and comfortable here, and she was reluctant to leave. The girl has only lived for half a year, and I have lived for most of my life, so naturally I am even more reluctant to leave......"

* Although it is the scorching heat and the weather is too hot to be good, Cao Hao has a holy life on his body, and it is not the time to be idle.

On the road from Rehe to the capital, the crops on both sides did not grow well due to the lack of rain. How is Gyeonggi, you have to go down to see how to find out the details.

After resting at home for a long time, Cao Hao took a few subordinate officials of the Internal Affairs Office out of Beijing, first to Changping, and then to Miyun, Yanqing, Tongzhou, Daxing, Fangshan, and Huairou before returning to Beijing.

Except for places where there are rivers, water is diverted for irrigation, and the drought has eased slightly, other places look worrying.

After the Dragon Boat Festival, although it rained a few times in the capital, because of the thin clouds and small coverage, many places did not bathe in the rain.

This year is leap March, so the beginning of autumn will be earlier than usual, and even if it rains now, it is too late to replant crops. It seems that the shortage of grain in Gyeonggi this autumn has become a foregone conclusion.

Cao Hao carefully wrote down the excerpts he had seen in these few days, and sent them to Rehe by the ministers.

The excerpt was only sent to two days, and the capital had a will to come back.

From the fifteenth day of June, the Rehe side fasted and prayed for rain, and the capital side also prayed for rain from the fifteenth, presided over by the Ministry of Rites.

When the edict arrived in the capital, it was already the sixteenth, and the Ministry of Rites was busy sending people to inform the various yamen in the capital.

There are lessons from the past, and now when the word "praying for rain" is mentioned, who else dares to slack off?

On the square of the Taihe Palace, a bunch of Shangshu waiters wearing three or four grades of supplementary clothes looked magnificent.

These people are ranked according to their grades. Cao Hao, the head of the internal affairs office of the third grade, was originally standing behind the scholars, but now there are few people in front of him.

The prince and elder brother in Beijing, the eldest elder brother and the second elder brother who were circled in are not counted, except for the eighth elder brother and the thirteenth elder brother, the remaining adult elder brothers also come to stand in Taihedian Square every day.

In the past, praying for rain was chosen by Qin Tianjian, but this time it was Kangxi's temporary idea.

There are unpredictable storms and clouds in the sky, and this rain is so easy, it will come.

When the heat was unbearable again, after praying for two days, several ministers were stunned, and the rest were all suffering. On the side of the Ministry of Rites, someone has been asked to prepare mung bean soup, but it is not useful, and I see that there are more and more people who are swaying and swaying.

Although Cao Hao is young, he can't stand this head, and after a few days of sunbathing, he also feels nauseous and dizzy, as if he is about to suffer from heat stroke.

Because it was already a hot weather, the capital was like a big steamer.

On the side of the yamen of the Criminal Department, five prisoners were killed in one day.

Of the six court officials of the Criminal Department, two of them were retinues, one of whom had died of illness and had not yet filled the vacancies, and the remaining three who were in the capital were all punished for praying for rain in May. Among them, two Shangshu were demoted to two levels to be retained, and one squire was demoted to three levels to be retained.

was already trembling, but now there is a matter of people who have fallen to death, so that these few people can't do it, and they rush to jointly sign an excerpt, asking whether to lenient detention of prisoners.

A few days later, a decree came back, not only on the side of the Yamen of the Criminal Department, but also on the side of the detainees in all parts of the capital, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Rao is like this, and within a few days, there are more than a dozen prisoners who have died everywhere.

At the entrance of the major temples in the capital, there are many mung bean soups. In the densely populated area of the city market, the Shuntianfu Yamen sent a waterwheel, so that the people could drink a bowl of cold water for free in the scorching heat...... By June 20, the sky finally opened its eyes, and clouds began to accumulate in the sky.

It was cloudy for a long time, and at noon, it began to rain.

At first, it was a drizzling rain, and then it got worse and worse, and by dusk, the water in the street was so watery that the rain could no longer cover the horses' hooves.

Cao Hao wore a poncho and returned in the rain, and he was also relieved.

It is better to have rain than no rain, and the crops are reduced, and the farmers can still live, but it is more difficult. If the harvest fails, I am afraid that I will have to sell my children and be displaced.

After entering the second gate, Cao Hao first went to Lanyuan to greet the Li family.

After the Li family came back from the Dong family, she originally planned to go to Haidian Garden to escape the summer, but when Cao Hao wanted to enter the palace to pray for rain, she couldn't bear to let her son run around in and out of the city, so she didn't make the trip.

Seeing that it was raining, the matter of praying for rain could come to an end, and the Li family was also happy.

"I've prayed for six days, and this rain has also fallen, so don't you have to go to the sun tomorrow?" Li asked as he handed his son melons and fruits.

"At least seven days, Ming'er still has to pray. Then the Ministry of Rites will fold it and see the will of the Rehe side. Cao Hao replied.

When Li Shi heard this, he couldn't help frowning, and said, "If it goes on like this, when will it be the head?" On a hot day, it's hard to endure in the house, let alone under the head. ”

"Mother, let's go to the garden tomorrow, just let my son slow down. In this capital, it is really too hot. Even if it rains, it may not be able to alleviate it. Cao Hao said.

"But are you too tired to travel back and forth to the city?" Li hesitated for a moment and asked.

Cao Hao shook his head and said, "It's only a matter of half an hour, let's go live over there." Tianyou and Hengsheng both have a heat rash, but it's still cool over there. ”

Seeing his son say this, Li nodded and said, "Well, then I'll discuss with my daughter-in-law tomorrow and see who will go over." Your second aunt is also shouting about the heat, and when the next little decision is over, it is better to go out of the city to live together. ”

Cao Hao said a few words with Li, and then got up and went back to Wutong Garden.

Chu Yu served Cao Hao to change his clothes, remembered one thing, and said, "E, shouldn't our Changping Zhuangzi also reduce more rent?" ”

"Why do you think of this, isn't it a well over there?" Cao Hao was puzzled.

"I didn't think about anything else earlier, but if the people next to me see that our family is not decreasing, it will be the people who will suffer." Chu Yu said: "A few days ago, I came back from Gyeonggi, not that the drought was serious. Even if it rains, won't this year's crop be promising? ”

Cao Hao listened, nodded again and again, and said, "It's hard for you to think of this, I was negligent......"

(To be continued)