Mu Hongsheng lay on the low table without any image, holding the teacup in both hands, but he didn't take a sip for half a day, as if he was in a daze. Old Madam Mu looked at Mu Hongsheng, reached out and took a honey-pickled plum from the dried fruit bowl on the side, and stuffed it directly into her granddaughter's mouth.

"Okay, don't lie on your stomach," Mrs. Mu pushed the teacup that her granddaughter was holding in her hand again: "I said that I came to drink tea and eat snacks with me, and I have been lying here for a long time, and I haven't seen you take a sip of tea." Hurry up and sit up, turn around and let your mother see your boneless posture, it's time to count you down again. ”

"Oh." Mu Hongshang got up lazily and sat up a little straighter: "My mother has been very nagging recently. ”

"You are all a big girl who has reached the end of your life, where can you still be like when you were a child, your sister-in-law is married at the age of sixteen." Old Madam Mu smiled: "In the past, I indulged you, and I was always reluctant to restrain you to learn some rules, and I always stopped your mother and didn't let her take care of you." But in a blink of an eye, you are so old, it's time to accept your temperament, and I don't worry about getting married. ”

"It's early." Mu Hongshang muttered listlessly: "I've only been in time for a month, and my grandmother wants to marry me off?" ”

"Alas!" Old Madam Mu sighed: "I am reluctant. But next year sixteen, the year after next seventeen, time passed in the blink of an eye. I can keep you until you are eighteen, but I can't keep you for the rest of my life. ”

"Grandmother is reluctant to do anything." Mu Hongsheng curled her mouth and looked unhappy: "I heard it yesterday, you told the third uncle and aunt, and asked her to write to her relatives to inquire and find a suitable person for me." ”

"Little clever ghost," Old Madam Mu smiled and scratched Mu Hongsheng's nose: "When did you come to my window to eavesdrop again?" I can't hide anything from you. ”

"So Grandmother really started looking for a husband for me?" Mu Hongshang didn't look like an ordinary girl at all, she looked shy when she mentioned her future husband, and her big shining eyes were open, as if she was talking about someone else's business.

"Yes," Mrs. Mu sighed lightly and nodded: "I want to start inquiring earlier, carefully choose, if there is a suitable one, set it first, and it is not too late to do a happy event in a few years." People can start choosing earlier, but I don't want you to marry early, and I have to wait until you are over eighteen. Alas! My baby bump has grown in the blink of an eye, and after a few years of marriage, I won't be able to see it every day. ”

"Grandmother, I'm still sad when I talk about it." As soon as Mu Hongshang saw that Mrs. Mu's eyes were red, she immediately jumped off the soft collapse and ran into her grandmother's arms: "Isn't this still early!" ”

"The days go by too fast...... "Mrs. Mu patted her granddaughter's back and sighed: "One by one, they have all grown up." ”

"So grandmother doesn't have to be sad," Mu Hongshang hugged Mrs. Mu's waist: "I have grown up, my brothers have also grown up, and there will be many sisters-in-law who will enter the door in the future and accompany you with your sister-in-law, and then there will be little nephews and little nieces in the future." Wait and see, don't look at my grandmother who is reluctant to me now, and when my sister-in-law gives birth to a little nephew tomorrow, I'm afraid you won't be rare at all! ”

"Just your mouth," Mrs. Mu laughed amusedly: "You know how to draw big cakes to coax me all day long." Zhengyi doesn't come back, Tieyi and Chiyi don't come back, where did the granddaughter-in-law and great-grandson come from. ”

"Yes...... Mu Hongsheng put her head on Mrs. Mu's lap and whispered: "It's almost the Midyear Festival, why haven't you come back...... It's just the brothers, didn't they say okay, the second uncle went back to Beijing to recuperate...... "VP."

"Those who should come back will come back naturally." Old Madam Mu replied slowly: "They are tripped up and can't come back, and it's useless for you to chatter." ”

"Grandmother," Mu Hongsheng was silent for a moment before continuing: "Second Uncle Mother can't eat or sleep these days, and she worries about her second uncle's body every day, so she can't just let her stay up like this." You ......"

"I know what you're trying to say." Old Madam Mu patted her granddaughter's back, sighed and replied, "No." The emperor will not agree to let her leave Beijing and go to the north, and it is useless for me to ask for a decree. ”

"The second uncle is already so sick, can't he make it?" Mu Hongshang tugged at the corner of Old Madam Mu's skirt, and her hands were tightly clenched.

"If Tsing Yi is still in Beijing, there may be some leeway," Mrs. Mu shook her head and replied: "But right now, your second uncle, Zhengyi, and Tsing Yi are all in the north, and they are a family, only your second uncle and sister-in-law are still in Beijing." Your sister-in-law has been married for a short time and has no children, in the eyes of others, a letter of resignation can break off with our Mu family. Besides, even if the emperor is soft-hearted and willing to let your second uncle and mother go to the north, I am also unwilling, it is better for her to stay in Beijing. ”

"Why?" Mu Hongsheng sat up straight and looked at Old Madam Mu with wide eyes.

"I hope the emperor is more at ease with our family." Old Madam Mu sighed heavily: "The emperor trusts your father so much now, and he is willing to support the northern border in most matters, also because he is relieved. And I, hopefully, he'll be more reassuring to us, you know, the situation in the north is only going to get harder and harder. To fight, it is far from enough to rely on the Wen Taowu strategy of our Mu generals and the prestige of our Mu family in the army. ”

"I know." Mu Hongsheng nodded quickly: "The army needs food and clothing, and the families of the fallen soldiers also need a generous enough pension." ”

"Not only that," replied Mrs. Mu, "the military affairs of the northern border are, in the final analysis, a state affair. The national policy and strategic direction, the emperor has to listen to the opinions of the generals in the north, but also to listen to the opinions of the courtiers, and how to decide in the end is not something that your father can control with one or two songs. I hope that the emperor will trust our family even more, and I hope that he will try his best to trust and respect your father's opinions in most of the national affairs involving the northern border. After all, the emperor is different from our Mu family, what he has to consider is not only the north, there are always trade-offs. ”

"Hmm!" Mu Hongshang leaned back on Old Madam Mu's knees, stretched out her hand and hugged the old lady's waist: "What Grandmother said is right. You've always been thoughtful. ”

"I'm a useless old lady," Mrs. Mu looked up at the window, looking melancholy: "Your father was born and died in the north, and that's all I can do for them." ”

"But I'm still worried about the second uncle." Mu Hongsheng buried her head in Old Madam Mu's knees, and her voice sounded buzzing: "He has been out of office for so long, why hasn't he come back." The second uncle's body can no longer go to the battlefield, why don't you come back sooner, so that the family can rest assured. ”

Old Madam Mu didn't speak, and her expression suddenly became gloomy and sad. As a mother, she understands Mu Chengfang's choice, and she is mentally prepared for the worst.

She knew that Mu Chengfang might not come back......