In winter, it is dark early, the lights are in charge at six o'clock, the electric lights in the district mansion are bright, the old lady and the young master and the young lady have dinner, read books, play cards, sleep and sleep, and the noisy mansion for a day gradually returns to calm.

Xia Xiaoqing is on the night shift, her main duty is to watch the night in the house, protect her inner family, guard against flower thieves, and most of the time during the day can be freely used, which is one of the reasons why she agreed to come to the district mansion. As for another reason, she never mentioned it to anyone, and that was that she was desperate to catch the flower thief.

Xia Xiaoqing has been following this flower thief for a long time, from Beiping to Tianjin, from Tianjin to Jinan, all the way south to Jiangdong, this snitch leaves a mark every time he commits a crime, a swallow with a blank sheet of paper.

This swallow is the symbol of the Cangzhou Yan family.

And Xia Xiaoqing's mother is the daughter of the head of the Yan family in Cangzhou, she has a bitter hatred with the Yan family, and this tracing pursuit is not only to eliminate harm for the people, but also to avenge the hatred.

According to past experience, the snitch likes to choose this kind of Chinese-style deep house compound to start, if the owner is a high-powered official, and there is a young lady of the right age at home, it is simply the best choice for the snitch, so she has to protect this courtyard.

It was late at night, the district mansion was silent, Xia Xiaoqing wore a black night suit, the hidden weapon bag was full of various weapons, and there were two Emei thorns inserted in his waist, and he began to patrol at night.

She has excellent light skills, a pair of thin-soled fast boots stepping on the snow without a trace, walking quietly, the district mansion two roads and three into the take-out back garden, covering a wide area, the wives live in a small courtyard, close the door at night is an independent small world, Xia Xiaoqing has her own way to catch thieves, she does not alarm anyone, more than one person high wall, a jump over the past, agile like a cat.

She went to the master's study first, it is said that the master of the district is a diligent official, often working all night, Xia Xiaoqing knew that this snitch likes to steal the man's antique calligraphy and paintings, so he quietly came to check it.

The study is in a secluded place in the backyard, there is a guard standing guard at the door, Xia Xiaoqing is afraid of causing unnecessary misunderstandings, so she goes directly over the wall, the guard is unaware, and she can't help but worry, what can I do if this snitch is really here.

The light in the district master's study was on, and there was a whispering sound, Xia Xiaoqing stood in the bushes and looked, only to see a long-shirted guest coming out of the house, and arched his hand: "District director, please take care of the murder case." ”

"I'll say hello to the court, as appropriate." The district director was wearing a fox skin and shoulders, and his bearing was chic, "I won't send it far." ”

After seeing off the guests, the district director went back to the house and played with the copper incense burner on the table, which was obviously a gift from the guest just now.

Xia Xiaoqing stopped looking, took a sip and left the study, and went to the eldest lady.

The eldest lady has not slept yet, she is kneeling in front of the Buddha statue and chanting scriptures, Xia Xiaoqing saw it from a distance, and secretly said in her heart that the eldest lady is a good person with kind eyebrows, who knows that the eldest lady suddenly turned out a few puppets, all of which were pasted with notes and silver needles, and those who read words inserted a few more needles on them.

Needless to say, these puppets must have the names and birthdays of several other aunts or young ladies written on them, and the eldest lady is really poisonous.

Xia Xiaoqing left silently, not far from the second wife's residence, the strange thing is that Aunt Mei is not in her own house, although she is very puzzled, but this is someone else's family matter after all, Xia Xiaoqing didn't care, and went directly to the third aunt's place.

What I didn't expect was that the second aunt and the third aunt were together, and the two people who looked like sisters at night were like sisters, muttering together, and laughing from time to time, although I didn't hear what they said in private, but I could guess that it must be the eldest wife and the fourth wife.

Continue to inspect, in front of it is the bedroom of the fourth aunt, and the figure in the moon gate looms, who else can it be so late, could it be that the snitch has arrived? Xia Xiaoqing pressed the hidden weapon bag to follow the past, and found that it was the eldest young master Jin Ou who came secretly.

As soon as the eldest young master entered the door, he hugged the fourth aunt, and the two kissed passionately.

"Jin Ou, take me away, I don't want to stay here for a moment." The fourth aunt said with tears streaming down her face.

The eldest young master was silent, trembling and taking out a cigarette to smoke.

Wanru said: "Jin Ou, why don't you speak, don't you love me anymore, haven't you forgotten our vows, even if you don't think about me, you have to think about our children." ”

The eldest young master raised his head suddenly: "Wanru, don't force me, I am still the one who loves you deeply, and I have not forgotten our vows, all of which are engraved in my heart." ”

The fourth aunt was too pear blossom with rain, looked at her lover with tears in her eyes, and said with a smile: "Jin Ou, I know that you love me." ”

The eldest young master pityfully cupped the little face of the fourth aunt and said: "Wanru, believe me, after this year, I will take you there, let's go to Hankou, go to Shanghai, go far, no one can find us." ”

Wanru nodded vigorously, and the two hugged their heads and cried.

Xia Xiaoqing was dumbfounded, and quietly retreated, not wanting to step on a dead branch, click.

"Who!" The fourth aunt was too vigilant.

Jin Ou glanced at it, saw a vague figure, and said in a trembling voice: "Oh no, I was discovered by the new women's nursery." ”

The fourth aunt was too panicked: "What should I do, or let's elope now." ”

Jin Ou said: "No, I haven't got the old man's deposit account yet, don't worry, let me think of a countermeasure." ”

When Xia Xiaoqing withdrew from the fourth aunt's courtyard, he happened to be seen by the housekeeper, and his cold face showed a trace of doubt, and he watched her disappear into the distance, and then quietly entered the second aunt's room.

Aunt Mei said affectionately: "Dead ghost, why did you come, everyone is in a hurry." ”

The butler closed the curtains and whispered, "Where were you just now?" ”

Aunt Mei said: "I'm at Xiaosan's, what's wrong?" ”

"Did you notice anything wrong?"

"Nope."

"I just saw the new nursing home scurrying around, climbing over the walls and ridges." Butler Road.

Aunt Mei covered her mouth and said, "She can't be trying to steal." ”

The housekeeper said: "Stupid woman, it's good to steal things, I'm afraid she was invited by the eldest lady to monitor the house, there is such a ghost-like person, it will be difficult for the two of us to have a private meeting in the future." ”

Aunt Mei said sadly: "How is this good? ”

The housekeeper said fiercely: "There is a way. ”

……

Xia Xiaoqing has been traveling south and north for many years, and she has met all the bold sons and daughters on the rivers and lakes, who has never seen such a dirty thing, she is angry and funny, and she secretly doesn't do my business, and lets them toss.

The main thing that needs to be protected is the district lady who lives on the embroidery floor, Xia Xiaoqing came downstairs and looked up, the lights had been turned off and rested, it was quiet, and the heart said that this young lady was finally ice clear and jade.

There was nothing to do all night, in the morning, Xia Xiaoqing was about to leave, and the housekeeper came with a smile, "Xia Nuxia, Mrs. takes care of you, and I have prepared a bedroom for you, so you can rest when you are on duty at night." He handed over the key.

Xia Xiaoqing accepted the key and hugged his fists: "Thank you." ”

Looking at Xia Xiaoqing's back and leaving, the housekeeper smiled sinisterly;

At noon, Xia Xiaoqing and his son ate together in the hostel, four dishes and one soup, the rice was full, the shopkeeper said that Mrs. Chen had taken care of it, and the meal money was in the hotel money, watching his son gobble up the joy of eating, Xia Xiaoqing felt a ripple of happiness in his heart, and asked: "Xiaobei, how many words have you learned?" ”

Xiaobei blinked: "I haven't learned words yet, I'm just memorizing." ”

Xia Xiaoqing said: "Recite a paragraph to my mother." ”

Xiaobei said: "Zhao Qian, Sun Li." ”

Xia Xiaoqing smiled and waited for the following, who knew that her son picked up the bowl and picked up the rice again.

"That's it?"

"Hmm." Xiaobei's chopsticks flew quickly, and he took a few more bites of rice before his mother started.

Xia Xiaoqing beat his son hard, but for Xiaobei, who has rough skin and thick meat, it is a piece of cake.

……

In the evening, Fenglin Road, Chen Mansion, the third wife of the district director's family came to visit with her son, and brought a lot of gifts, Yao Yilei relied on her noble status, and she didn't want to deal with this kind of aunt and wife, but she didn't want to hit the smiling person, people came to visit so humbly, and they couldn't shake their faces to see it, so they set up a card game as usual and invited a few ladies to play mahjong together.

Aunt Yun was very bad luck today, and she fired guns again and again, Yao Yilei won a lot of money and was in a better mood, Aunt Yun chatted while playing cards: "Why hasn't your chief Chen come back for the New Year?" ”

Yao Yilei said: "There is a lot of trouble in Guangdong, I'm afraid there will be a war, the military department is very busy, holding meetings all day, plus the weather is not good, it is estimated that he will not be able to get home until the end of the year, it is good if he doesn't come, we are happy." ”

Aunt Yun chuckled: "Madame doesn't want to panic." ”

Yao Yilei smiled faintly and touched a five-strip: "Self-touching, all the same." ”

Everyone complained for a while, and Yan'er ran downstairs: "Mommy, I want a kitten." ”

Yao Yilei said: "If you want it, then let someone hug one for you." ”

When Aunt Yun saw Yan'er, she immediately smiled, took off a bracelet of Hetian white jade from her wrist and handed it over: "Girl, Auntie came in a hurry, and she didn't prepare any gifts, take this." ”

Yao Yilei has been rich and noble since she was a child, and she has seen a lot of rare treasures, and she knows that this bracelet is valuable at a glance, but it is not worth a fortune, so she accepted it after some excuses.

Aunt Yun hit the railroad while it was hot: "The girl is really handsome, did you order a doll, look at how our Jinbao is, the two of them are still classmates, and the two of them have no guesses about the bamboo horse and the green plum." ”

Ou Jinbao came to visit the door with his mother, wearing a small tweed suit, with a shiny middle parted head, and had been sitting next to him very obediently, Yao Yilei looked at him, with a stupid face, and he didn't like it in his heart, but people half-jokingly mentioned it, and he didn't want to refuse bluntly, so he said: "Yan'er is still young, let's talk about it." ”

Aunt Yun was very discerning, and seeing that Yao Yilei was not interested in talking about this, she changed the topic and said: "I heard that the snitch committed a crime again, stealing a lot of gold and silver jewelry from the Zhang Mansion in the east of the city, and the police chased him for most of the night, but let him run away." ”

The wives love gossip the most, and the atmosphere is warm again.

After the game ended, Jian Bing was late, Yao Yilei asked her what she was doing, and Jian Bing said that I went to see Xia Xiaoqing's mother and son.

Yao Yilei was stunned: "Wait, what's her name?" ”

"Xia Xiaoqing."

"Such a familiar name, in the eighth year of the Republic of China, I was kidnapped in Xiangshan, and I was rescued later, it seems that the person who saved me with Zikun is called Xia Xiaoqing."

Jian Bingqi said: "It can't be such a coincidence, right?" ”

Yao Yilei said: "It was dark at the time, and I was panicked, I couldn't remember what she looked like, I only remembered that she was very tall, and her name was Xia Xiaoqing...... Jianbing, doesn't that kid look like Chen Zikun? ”

Seeing Yao Yilei suddenly ask this question, Bing Xue's smart Jian Bing immediately understood, thought about it carefully, and said, "It's not like that." ”

Yao Yilei breathed a sigh of relief: "I'm scared to death, I don't think it should be." ”

Jian Bing said: "Sister, what do you mean?" ”

Yao Yilei said: "It seems that she is indeed a person, she is kind to me after all, and saved Yan'er again, our mother owes her, wait for Zikun to come back, mention it, help if you can, find a suitable man for her to marry in the army, orphans and widows are strange and pitiful." ”