After the Xie family's carriage left the dock, it quickly turned into a bustling street.

Although it was night, there were many people walking on the street, and most of the shops on both sides of the street were open, and there were shops selling food.

The street was very clean, and there were street lamp poles set up at intervals on both sides of the road, and of course it could not be an electric lamp, but a light yellow round lantern made of unknown material, which emitted a dim light in the wind and snow, illuminating the street.

The next two roads that the Xie family passed through were of a strong commercial nature, but as the carriage turned left and then right, the surrounding environment became quiet. The road is still wide and clean, and there are still street lights, but the shape and color of the lanterns are a little different. The buildings on both sides of this road are probably residential, all in the form of decent courtyards, so regular that even the paint color of the gate and the tiles used on the eaves are uniform. If Xie Mulin didn't know what time and space he was in, he probably would still think that this was a large courtyard community built by a real estate developer, right?

The residents of this neighborhood are probably people of considerable status, and there are not many pedestrians, but most of them are guarded in front of each house, and they occasionally meet each other to chat. Looking at the clothes on their bodies, it seems that they are all slaves of large families. Occasionally, a scholarly passer-by dressed more luxuriously dressed would walk by the Xie family's carriage with his servants, talking to the people stationed in front of a certain mansion. The carriage passed in a hurry, so Xie Mulin was not sure whether they had come to the door as guests.

After passing through the two teams carrying the warm sedan chair, the Xie family's carriage turned another corner, this time entering another road similar to Fang Cai. Compared with the street in front, the houses here seem to be farther apart, and it is estimated that the area inside the houses is also larger, and there are alleys between the houses, and there are basically no close ones. There are fewer pedestrians here, but there are more people guarding in front of each house. At the entrance of most houses there was a bench with at least two servants sitting side by side, lanterns with the names of each family on them hanging under the eaves, and braziers on the floor to warm the men under the gatehouse.

The Xie family's carriage stopped in front of a house in the middle of the road. This is Xie Pu's official residence in Beiping. Like other houses in the vicinity, the courtyard house where Xie Pu lives has the same gate, eaves and walls, but judging from the width of the wall, this house is really not small. Xie Pu mentioned in his family letter that this house is spacious and sturdy, no less than the Pearl Bridge Mansion in Beijing, and it is not an exaggeration. If you don't care about Guiyuan and the Xie family's mansion in Pearl Bridge, I'm afraid that the horizontal is not as wide as this official mansion, but I don't know how many mansions are here?

Although it is a large mansion, as a unified courtyard house, the gate here is not large, and it seems that there is not enough space for carriages to enter and exit. Xie Mulin could only see a small door on the side, but the location was too far away, not like a place for the master to enter and exit. Xie Pu helped his wife get out of the car directly at the gate, and the servant who was originally guarding in front of the official residence quickly took the cloth and came over to cover it, not only to block the wind, but also to block the eyes of the neighbors who were projecting on the female dependents.

Xie Mulin got out of the car with his eldest sister Xie Yinghui and cousin Yang Yuan. Lu Qi and Peach quickly ran over from the carriage behind them to wait.

Wen went to see Mrs. Xie first, and turned around to give Xie Pu a look, the latter understood, so he personally went to help his mother Song get out of the car, and explained warmly: "The gate of this house is not spacious, and there are steps to obstruct it, so it is inconvenient for the carriage to enter and exit from here, so the coachman can only drive the car from the side gate along Qingyun Lane to the backyard carriage and horse shed." Our own family can only get out of the car in front of the door and enter. But fortunately, this area is the official residence of the colleagues of the political envoy department, and there are often officers and soldiers patrolling around, and there are few idle people from outside, but it is safe and sound. When the weather is warm and fine, the ladies of each family are interested, and there are also servants who visit the neighborhood with their servants. If the mother is interested, she may wish to go to a familiar home. Our row of houses are next to Shichahai, the scenery is very good, all year round, there are often people to do the East banquet, quite lively. ”

Song Shi smiled slightly when he heard this: "I also heard my father talk about the benefits of this area, and he once brought my mother to several of them as a guest, but unfortunately I was young at that time and never went with me." Now that you can live in, it is natural to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Shichahai. ”

Xie Pu helped Song into the door, and Wen then followed Mrs. Xie's car and walked away from the side door as quietly as possible. It was too much trouble to carry Mrs. Xie out of the carriage outside the gate and change her soft pockets, but they could do it again after entering the side gate. There are high walls inside the house to block the cold wind, and there are also doorways in Qingyun Lane that lead to various courtyards in the house, so outsiders can't let outsiders see Mrs. Xie's sleeping appearance, right?

Xie Mulin and his siblings followed his parents and elders into the door.

This is a typical courtyard house, and when you enter the door, you will be facing a wall carved with pine and bamboo patterns. I don't know where the doorway on the right leads, I can only see a red lantern hanging under the long verandah, there seem to be many rooms, and on the left is a large courtyard, a slippery room, all of which are inlaid with glass windows, the largest room is the living room, and the glass window of the other room next door is pasted with paper, so I can't see what is going on inside. But Xie Pu carried Song into the room, Xie Mulin and others followed, only to find that this is a flower hall, the hall is warm, and three big kangs are built against the wall, which are distributed in the word "匚", and everyone is divided into men and women, sitting on both sides of the big kang, leaving the big furnace in the middle by the east for Song and Xie Pu's mother and son.

At this point, everyone can finally take off their big coats and sit down and talk warmly.

Before everyone sat down, Zhao Fengnian's wife Rui Xue brought a group of girls and mothers-in-law, brought several kang tables, and put hot pots, cups and pans, chopsticks and other things. As soon as Cuijiao put away her cloak for Xie Mulin, she ran over to help her mother set up the dishes. Later, Ma Lu Yao's wife also brought many people, brought in a plate of food covered with lids, and placed them on each kang table.

Seeing this posture, everyone else present was a little confused.

Only the Song family smiled when he saw this situation: "Are you eating pot today?" It was so cold, and it was snowing, and we had just come from outside, and we were already cold. Eating the pot at this time will definitely warm up quickly, and you don't have to worry about the food being cold while eating. ”

Xie Pu smiled and nodded: "Exactly." Today, I specially ordered someone to buy some fresh mutton and come back, and a few fresh fish boiled into soup to make the soup base, and it is best to eat in the pot. It's all your own family here, and you don't have to pay attention to any customs. Come on, let's sit around the table, let's have dinner first, and it's serious to warm up. ”