In the afternoon, Ling Xiao was taking a nap on the floor, which had become her habit. She faintly heard a group of people stepping into the courtyard, and then entered the house, it turned out to be the He family, but behind him was followed by a group of people, the room was immediately crowded by these people, they were all respectfully holding boxes of different sizes and various colors of silk and satin, this face was really shocked. Ling Xiao got up, He Shi came over and took her hand, walked up to these people, pointed to these things and said, "Yuan'er, come and see, these jewelry and other items were sent by the emperor, and these are the best tributes from other countries." ”

Ling Xiao looked at these various rare treasures, gold and silver jewelry, even if he had ten heads and ten pairs of hands, he was afraid that he would not be able to wear so many!

"That's too much." Ling Xiao said.

"It's not much, the emperor can't wait to give you all the good things in the world, what is it to get all this? These are just prepared by the emperor, prepared for you by your father and mother, and will be left to you as a dowry in the future. He patted Ling Xiao's hand and said.

Ling Xiao was very curious: "Why is the emperor so good to me?"

"Because our Yu'er is well-behaved, the emperor has no daughters under his knees, and your father has a close relationship with the emperor, so he naturally treats you as a daughter." Ho explained.

Ling Xiao thought to himself, is that all? It always felt like something was wrong, and it seemed that there were too many far-fetched reasons, but she didn't ask again. She thought that one day she would figure it out, and she was not in a hurry, thinking about it was useless.

"Come, Yu'er, which color do you think is good-looking, which material is comfortable, choose one, so that the clothing workshop can make a set as soon as possible, and wear it on the same day. This rain has been delayed for several days, and it will be too late. He pointed to these silk satins and asked Ling Xiao to pick them.

Ling Xiao looked at it, and as far as she was concerned, these silk satins seemed to be the same, and the color was not much different from her, so she pointed at random: "That's it." ”

He Shi looked at the one she chose, and said softly: "Yuan'er, you can't use this color, can you try a different one?"

"Why can't it be used?" Ling Xiao thought that this color was a taboo, so he asked.

"On a happy day, it is unlucky to use white. It's okay to wear it on a regular basis. Ho explained.

Ling Xiao glanced at the color, it was really white, she was silent, white was the most taboo in ancient times on festive days, and she didn't even notice it.

"Then let's do this" Ling Xiao paid a cursory attention this time, and there shouldn't be a mistake.

"The purple one is good, so let's measure the size of the young lady." He Shi instructed the people of Siyifang.

The people of Si Yifang spent more than an hour carefully measuring Ling Xiao, and then there were all kinds of trivial things, which made Ling Xiao exhausted.

After dinner, Ling Xiao sat alone on the swing, blowing the night breeze, feeling the slightest coolness, listening to the sound of the wind blowing the leaves, the weather was not hot, but she liked the coolness of the wind blowing on her skin, which could make Ling Xiao more sober and more calm. It didn't take long for there to be a man's figure in the courtyard, Zhong Limu stood there and looked at Ling Xiao under the tree, his eyes were full of tenderness, it was a brother's pity for his sister, Ling Xiao said: "Third brother, you are back, everything is done?" ”

"It's done, you can rest at home for three days, and finally have time to accompany our little girl, I haven't seen you for more than ten days, do you miss me?" Zhong Limu said.

"Did you come to me just now?" Seeing Zhong Li's dusty appearance, Ling Xiao asked.

"Yes, sit down." Zhong Limu walked behind Ling Xiao and helped her swing. In this way, under the effect of Zhongli Mu's thrust, the swings began to fall together, the breeze blew the placket and skirt of Ling's clothes, and the placket also flew in the air with the swing of the swing, and the sound of the wind blowing in her ears was the rapidly changing scene in front of her. Ling Xiao had never had such an experience before, although she had sat on it for so long, she had not tried to swing it, and today she knew that swinging was such a beautiful thing. It turned out that she had long been numbed by the drunken life of twenty-five years, and was unwilling to try primitive things again.

As the night deepened, the swing stopped, Ling Xiao stood up, and invited Zhongli Mu into the house.

"Tea on the horse." She instructed Qi'er, and then said to Zhong Limu: "The third brother has worked so hard, but he didn't forget to come to see me, thank you for being so good to me." ”

"It's really raining in the sky, the little girl will say thank you," Zhong Limu took the teacup in Qi'er's hand, took a sip of tea, and continued: "Thank you for what I do, this is what should be done, you are my sister." ”

Zhong Limu took out a bronze bracelet with clear lines and smooth lines to Ling Xiao, and the bracelet was inlaid with several match-sized pea green and red jade, looking like there was a strong Chinese minority style. "That's what a friend of mine brought back when he came back from the Western Regions, and this is the only one, and most importantly, it's not just a bracelet, see if you see this mechanism? As long as you press it, it will become a sharp small dagger, I think this should be interesting to you, so I coerced and enticed something else to exchange it back, I originally wanted to give it to you on the day of your time, but I was afraid that I would have official business that day, so I sent you in advance. Zhongli Mu said as he showed Ling Xiao how to use it.

"Thank you, third brother, I like this bracelet very much." Ling Xiao became interested in this bracelet, and it turned out to be a soft dagger, which could not be better for self-defense.

"No thanks, I knew you would like it, it's not too early, I should go back too, you should rest early." Zhong Limu got up as he spoke.

Ling Xiao looked at the bracelet, and felt more and more that the wisdom of the ancients was not bad at all, and he was able to create such an exquisite self-defense weapon, so he liked it more and more.

Ling Xiao heard Zhong Limu say that a new restaurant had opened in the city, in addition to excellent dishes, there were also singing and dancing performances, so he wanted to take Ling Xiao to have a look. Ling Xiao was not interested in these and didn't want to go, so Zhong Limu started to convince her from the morning, and in the end, there was no way, Ling Xiao had to promise him to go with him in the evening. And throughout noon, Zhong Limu was here to accompany Ling Xiao to listen to the master's explanation. At first, it was okay, but after a while, he simply sent the master away, saying that he would teach Ling Xiao in person, which made Ling Xiao cry and laugh, but Ling Xiao had to admit that his explanation was indeed more detailed than that of the master.

"Third brother, don't you have your own things to do?" Ling Xiao held a brush in his hand and wrote carefully on the paper, and said in his mouth.

"What? Doesn't the little girl like the third brother to accompany you? I don't have time for it. It seems that the little girl has grown up, and her heart has changed, and she only has that Yanling stack in her heart, and she doesn't even want the third brother. Zhong Limu pretended to be sad and said.

"Third brother, did I really like him before? But does an eight- or nine-year-old know what liking is? It's kind of ridiculous. Ling Xiao didn't pay attention to Zhong Limu's ridicule, but changed his words. In her worldview, the love of the world can never compare to the thirst for desire, and this is true of modern people, and this is also true of ancient people. Eight or nine-year-old children are just more childish hearts. How beautiful you think about the world is, how ugly you really see in the end.

"At that time, the scene we saw was a young man who was always followed by a girl doll carved in pink and jade, and from time to time he shouted, 'Brother Zhan, wait for me.'" We can't do anything about you. Zhong Limu said. After hearing this, Ling Xiao stopped talking and continued to do her thing.

"Miss, Master Hou told you to go to his study." A maid walked in and said.

"I see, you go down!" Ling Xiao put down his pen and said. Zhong Liyi returned earlier than usual today, but she didn't know what to do with her, she listened to the maid's words and passed.

"Father, are you looking for me?" Ling Xiao walked into Zhong Liyi's study and saw him sitting alone drinking tea.

"If you don't come to see the Father, then the Father will only call you to come, come, come and sit." Ling Xiao sat down across from him.

"The tea in this pot hasn't been boiled yet, so we'll have to wait a little longer." Zhong Liyi saw Ling Xiao adding tea to him, and reminded him that it was too late, the tea had already entered the cup, but he still took it up and drank it.

"I'll take a break tomorrow, I'm going to take you out to play, are you happy?" Zhong Liyi said.

Ling Xiao thought it was funny, so he had to take her out anyway, and asked, "Where are you going?" ”

"In the palace, the emperor wants to see you." Zhong Liyi said calmly.

"Is that what you call taking me out? What's there to do in the palace?" Ling Xiao was speechless.

"That's better than being in the house every day. In the past, we were always away from home, which caused us to worry about your safety all the time, but now that our home is at home, it is like this, which really breaks our hearts. Zhong Liyi said angrily.

"Is the third brother going too?" Ling Xiao asked.

"He didn't go. Tomorrow I have arranged something else for him, Micha. Zhong Liyi said.

"Okay. Father, that's nothing else, I'll go back first. Ling Xiao said.

"Don't you want to talk to me more? The tea is boiled, you can taste it too, this is the new tribute tea this year. The water in the teapot is constantly boiling, making a unique sound when the water is boiling, and the water vapor fills the air. So Ling Xiao accompanied Zhong Liyi to drink tea for a while.

The night market in Jundu is really lively, with lanterns stretching to the end of the invisible street, and all kinds of food stalls have come out, selling candy people, rock sugar gourds, wontons, etc., as well as girls carrying flower baskets to sell flowers. There are a lot of pedestrians on the street, walking slowly, some are specially coming to visit the night market, some are going to the opera garden to listen to the opera, the teahouse to listen to the book, and some dignitaries and dignitaries who go in and out of various shops and restaurants. Ling Xiao and Zhong Limu walked in the noisy crowd, and they really felt the happy life of the people in the peaceful and prosperous world. Zhong Limu took Ling Xiao into a restaurant, although it was night, the restaurant was like day, the guys were busy upstairs and downstairs greetings, and the guests were endless. Seeing them come in, someone immediately came to greet them: "Third master, please upstairs, the private room has been prepared for you." Zhong Limu nodded after hearing this.

"Third brother, you go up first, I'll ...... I want to go to the toilet. When he was about to go upstairs, Ling Xiao said in Zhong Limu's ear with a little embarrassment.

"Okay, I'll let the maid in the store take you there, you don't know the place." Zhong Limu said.

When he came back from going to the toilet, Ling Xiao was about to go upstairs, but he heard a man's angry voice: "What about the person I asked you to call?" Ling Xiao glanced over, and saw a dignified man talking arrogantly to the person opposite, and the man looked embarrassed and said, "Master, it's not that I don't want to invite, it's just that this girl only sells her art and doesn't sell herself!" People don't come! ”

"It's just a prostitute, let me accompany a drink, it's the master who looks up to her. Useless stuff! As he spoke, he kicked the man.

Ling Xiao didn't care about this kind of thing that had nothing to do with her, but now she just saw it inadvertently, so she turned her head and prepared to go upstairs, ignoring it. As a result, the man obviously saw her, walked over and blocked her way, looked at her with a squinting look, and she suddenly had a strong sense of disgust in her heart, this person was really well-dressed and beastly, but there was a dirty heart under the excellent skin.

"Get out of the way!" Ling Xiao said coldly.

"Drink a glass of wine with me, I will not treat you badly, maybe you will serve the master and me well, I will take you as a concubine, and you will enjoy the glory and wealth in the future." The man said arrogantly, and one hand was about to caress Ling Xiao's face.

Ling Xiao originally wanted not to worry about such a person, but his heart was furious, so he slapped the man in the face, and suddenly revealed a five-finger print. The man was completely enraged, and reached out to pinch Ling Xiao's neck, but his hand was blocked by a folding fan, and Ling Xiao looked over and saw a man dressed in gorgeous clothes and with an extraordinary temperament. "Don't look at what kind of place this is, it's because I'm usually too indulgent to you." The man in fancy clothes said to the man.

At this time, Li Mu also went downstairs, "I saw that you haven't gone upstairs for so long, so I came down to see, what's wrong, who bullied you, tell the third brother." Zhong Limu said to Ling Xiao.

Ling Xiao pointed at the person who wanted to despise her, and the man in the fancy clothes also looked at them at this time, Zhong Limu bowed his hand and said, "It turned out to be the second prince, disrespectful and disrespectful." Only then did Ling Xiao know that the person was the second prince Yanling Shu, even though he was the prince, but his dog, Ling Xiao didn't want to give up.

"It's really a big flood that washed the Dragon King Temple, he did something wrong, and I ask the third prince to forgive me." Yan Lingshu said, "This is Yuan'er, I haven't seen you for many years, I can't recognize it." ”

"It doesn't matter if I forgive or not, the important thing is whether Yuan'er forgives or not." Zhong Limu said.

"What the hell is going on?" Yan Lingshu asked the man.

"It's me who has eyes and doesn't know Mount Tai, and I collided with Her Royal Highness the Princess." The man said with his head down.

"Is that all? Who just said that he wanted to take me as a concubine? Ling Xiao's tone was as cold as thin ice, and he was so frightened that he immediately knelt down.

Zhong Limu attached to Ling Xiao's ear and said, "This is Yan Lingshu's brother-in-law. Ling Xiao doesn't care about this, no one has dared to offend her since she was a child, and she can't bear this anger.

"Yu'er, for the sake of Brother Shu's face, spare him." Yan Lingshu said, Ling Xiao knew that this was obviously a shortcoming.

"What if I don't want to?" Ling Xiao glanced contemptuously at the kneeling man on the ground.

Yan Lingshu misunderstood Ling Xiao's meaning, took the sword from the guard's hand and threw it in front of the man, saying, "You can make amends to the princess yourself." The man looked at the sword on the ground in horror, and was so frightened that he could not speak.

"I don't want to give up, but I don't want his life either, put the sword away." Ling Xiao thought, in ancient times, human life was so worthless? Kill when you say kill.

"What do you want?" Yan Lingshu asked.

"Doesn't he like women that much? Then let him be with women every day, and send him to the Qinglou for three years of hard labor. After Zhong Limu heard Ling Xiao finish saying word by word, he couldn't help laughing, and the expressions on Yan Ling Shu and the man's faces were extremely complicated. Ling Xiao didn't pay attention to it anymore, and walked upstairs with Zhong Limu, and said halfway: "Third brother, order someone to bring a basin of water, my hands are dirty." ”

The corners of Zhong Limu's mouth curved slightly, and he deliberately raised his voice by one point: "Okay, it's time to wash well." "And

The expression of Yan Lingshu behind him added a bit of complexity.

"Does your hand hurt?" After arriving at the private room, Zhongli Mu asked Ling Xiao. At this time, the dishes have been prepared, and the dancing girl dances in the sound of silk and bamboo, the steps are light and graceful, and the beautiful melody changes with the dance, the two are intertwined, making people intoxicated and do not know the way back. Although the anger in Ling Xiao's heart had dissipated a lot, her interest in appreciating singing and dancing was not high.

"I didn't think it was just now, but when you said it, it really hurt a little." People often ignore some things when they are angry, and now Ling Xiao really feels that his hands hurt when he hears Zhong Limu say this.

"It's strange if it doesn't hurt, the slap mark on his face is estimated to take half a month to get better, the little girl is ruthless enough!" Zhong Limu said with a smile, "His sister is Yanlingshu's favorite side room, and his father is only a fourth-rank in the court. Now he really deserves it, but I don't know how Yu'er thought of such a humiliating method and sent him to Qinglou to do hard labor, and he is afraid that he will not be able to raise his head in the future. Not only him, but you also gave Yan Lingshu a heavy slap in the face. ”

"It came to me this idea. Third brother, did I offend Yan Lingshu?" Ling Xiao asked.

"If you are offended, you will be offended, what are you afraid of? What is there to do with the third brother for you. Zhong Limu said indifferently.