The boat continued north to Ninh.

Zhou Liang wanted to ask the boatman to continue sailing north, but he had no choice but to have an agreement with the boatman's in-laws in advance, the boatman only sent Zhou Liang to Ningfu, and Zhou Liang needed to change the boat after arriving in Ningfu, one of the boatmen's in-laws did not want to be too far from home, and the other was that the ships in the south were larger, and the river of the Grand Canal passed Ningfu, and then it became narrower to the capital, and the bottom of the river became shallower. Therefore, after arriving at Ningfu, Zhou Liang and the old boatman went separately to find a ship that could be transferred.

I thought it was just a change of ship, a very simple matter, but Zhou Liang and the old boatman searched for the ship they were transferring to and couldn't find it, so they had no choice but to rest in Ningfu.

Xing'er has been cultivating on the ship for the past few days, and he has gradually recovered to the same as before, and he has become lively. Xing'er wanted to ask Zhou Liang to help him go home, but thinking that he had no money, how could he ask someone to help? Later, I thought that after Zhou Liang left, the shipwright's in-laws would definitely return to the south, so that she would be closer to home, and it would be good to follow the boatman and his wife back to the voyage, at least there was a great hope of going home. Later, after hearing Zhou Liang say that he was going to the capital, Xing'er couldn't help but be secretly happy in her heart, thinking that Grandpa Weng's house was in the capital, if she arrived in the capital, she might as well beg this Mr. Zhou, look at these days, Mr. Zhou cares for her, she must be a good person, and he must be able to answer, after thinking about this, Xing'er silently sank, not mentioning leaving and staying, just quietly waiting to go to Beijing with Zhou Liang.

It's okay on weekdays, Xing'er helps the boatman's mother-in-law do some work, but every time she does it, she is stopped by the boatman's mother-in-law, saying that Mr. Zhou has an explanation and doesn't let Xing'er do rough work, and Xing'er has to help her mother-in-law embroider stitches and stitches, because she hasn't learned much about female red, and she can only play stitches and whole corners of needlework, and then help her mother-in-law clean up the bed, put a bowl and chopsticks, etc. The days went on like this, day by day.

A few days later, one morning, Zhou Liang hurriedly ran in from the outside with a look of great joy on his face, and shouted as soon as he entered the door, asking Xing'er to pack up his things and prepare to leave, and get the boat.

Xing'er hurriedly packed up her things and prepared to leave with Zhou Liang, but when she was leaving, the boatman's wife grabbed Xing'er and stuffed her with a small cloth bag, Xing'er was puzzled.

"Child, the clothes in here were changed from you when you were fished, and there are some beaded jewelry in them, I think your family gave them to you, and if you take these, you can also find your father and mother home in the future." Good boy, follow Mr. Zhou, he is a good person, don't get lost again!! The boatman's wife is always in tears, and these days she treats Xing'er like her own granddaughter.

"Granny Jiang, Xing'er has written it down, don't cry, when Xing'er finds her father, Xing'er will definitely repay you and Grandpa Jiang for saving your life." Xing'er folded her hands on one side, and she was blessed, even if she said goodbye.

Then Xing'er followed Zhou Liang off the boat, got on a donkey cart, and rushed to the dock where the boat was changed.

After a while, I arrived at another ferry wharf, this wharf is particularly magnificent, much larger than the wharf just now, there is a big stone archway at the door, although there are not many boats docked at this wharf, but the boats here are very exquisite, carved beams and paintings, the people on the boat are also quite decently dressed, walking on the canal these days, Xing'er has occasionally seen a few such big ships, but they are not as big as this wharf docked, exquisite, and there are many numbers.

Xing'er looked up at Mr. Zhou, who was full of joy, and took her little hand to speed up the pace to the dock, for fear of missing it.

"Mr. Zhou, didn't you say that you can't run a big ship north of Ningfu?" Xing'er finally raised her own question.

"Haha!" Mr. Zhou smiled first, "That's because he didn't know what Old Man Jiang had!" A big ship can run north of Ningfu, but it can only be an official ship! ”

"Official ship? What is an official ship? Xing'er continued to ask, and by this time they had already arrived at the boarding platform.

"The official ship is the official ship, Grandpa Jiang's is a private ship, and it can't run north of Ningfu. Got it? ”

Xing'er understood a little and nodded.

Mr. Zhou squatted down, sorted out Xing'er's clothes, combed her hair again, and said with a smile: "Xing'er, remember, after we get on the boat for a while, you must no longer call me 'Mr. Zhou', you must call me Manager Zhou." ”

Xing'er blinked with a pair of big eyes, although she didn't understand what Zhou Liang meant by saying this, she still nodded.

"Also, if others ask about your life experience, don't say that I saved you in Taihu Lake, just say that it is my distant niece, just give it to me, in the future, you will be my daughter, and I will be your godfather. Do you remember clearly? ”

Zhou Liang held Xing'er's hands on his shoulders, and suddenly tightened, Xing'er was a little pinched by him, although Zhou Liang still had a smile on his face, but his eyes flashed with oppression, oppression that could not be refuted, Xing'er shrank back, noncommittal. Zhou Liang continued, "But don't worry, I will also ask someone to help you find your family, as long as you find your family, godfather, I will never prevent you from reuniting with your family." Also, godfather will also hurt you, as long as you are obedient. ”

Xing'er trembled a little, but still kept her mouth shut and didn't say half a word.

"Do you hear me?" Zhou Liang's hands added some strength, and Xing'er nodded a little scared.

"Good star, you will be my daughter in the future, call me godfather!" Zhou Liang was still smiling.

Godfather...... The stars are staggered, and their voices are as weak as fly's wings.

"What? I didn't hear clearly. ”

"Godfather!" Xing'er shouted hard.

"Hey! My good girl! From now on, our father and daughter will depend on each other! Saying that, Zhou Liang happily picked up Xing'er with both hands and lifted it high, and then put Xing'er's forehead on his forehead, with a pampered face.

Soon, a big ship sailed into the dock, this ship, than the original docked boat, more exquisite, carved beams and paintings simply reached the extreme, and the style is extraordinary, on the railing of the bow, carved with two flying dragons, want to soar into the sky, on the side of the ship is a huge relief of the dragon and phoenix, the dragon and a phoenix hovering and intertwining with each other, as if alive, this relief has been extended to the hull cabin, Xing'er saw the carving on the ship is simply stunned, eyes dare not blink.

The rest of the decoration on the ship is decorated with flying phoenixes, the top of the cabin is covered with bright yellow curtains, the windows of the cabin are also hung with bright yellow curtains, the mast of the ship is hung with two phoenix flags, waving with the wind, and on the side deck of the ship are running back and forth to support the boatmen, they are uniformly dressed, a blue and narrow mouth robe, some of the boatmen's clothes are tucked at the waist, and the hat is also the hat of the official. At the bow of the ship stood four narrow-mouthed male palace men dressed in orange and red, and on the stern and side decks were two teams of officers and men in armor, armed with spears, and they were mighty and neat.

The boat gradually approached the dock, someone jumped down, pulled a thick cable and wrapped it around the iron pier of the dock, and after the boat stopped, a wide ladder was put down, which was several times wider than the one on Grandpa Jiang's boat, Xing'er thought to himself. Xing'er turned his head to look at Zhou Liang, Zhou Liang's head was pressed very low, and his back was bent down, just like before.

Half a pillar of incense time, from the cabin out of a group of people, first four fathers-in-law and then four brightly dressed palace maids, and then still palace maids, but these two palace maids are dressed more gorgeously than before, it is much more gorgeous, the clothes are satin, and the cuffs and the hem of the long skirt are full of embroidery, the color of the dress is more atmospheric and stable, and even the headdress is two or three more than the previous four, one of these two looks older, and he also wears an extra gold pendant on his wrist, and there is an extra piece of jade ornament at the junction of the placket on his chest, The hair on the forehead is also wiped from the left forehead to the right behind the ear.

These two palace maids hugged and supported an old lady with a kind face and slightly gray hair, this old lady, dressed in purple clothes, full of embroidery, the pattern is mostly bats, although it is a regular dress, but the cuffs of the clothes are extremely wide, the wide cuffs show that its status is precious, and the old lady has a golden phoenix headdress on the top of her head, the golden phoenix mouth is a ruby, hanging in front of the forehead, walking and shaking, vivid, although the old lady's head is simply decorated, but the golden phoenix is a symbol of the extreme, The old lady wore earrings with gold phoenix ruby in both ears, which complemented each other in the golden phoenix headdress, and the glory was indescribable. Behind the old lady were two grandmothers in plain satin robes, and a fat father-in-law holding a dusty whisk.

The old lady smiled, lined up the crowd, walked to the side of the boat, and looked down.

At this time, Zhou Liang dusted off the dust on his body, straightened his clothes and the hair on his head, and then knelt on the ground, Xing'er saw Zhou Liang like this, startled, she had only seen the officials in the yamen kneeling on her father, but they were also on one knee, and now Zhou Liang was kneeling on both knees, who is this old woman? Xing'er stood there and thought.

"The old slave knocks on the Queen Mother, may the Queen Mother be a thousand years old!"

Zhou Liang kowtowed while speaking, kowtowed three times and stood up and knelt down and kowtowed again, repeated three times, Zhou Liang did the big gift of "three bows and nine kowtows", mother Ruyu said, Daddy only bowed three times and kowtowed nine times when he went to the Golden Palace to see the emperor, Xing'er thought silently.

"Okay, don't bow down, it's all forgiven!" The old woman raised her hand and motioned for Zhou Liang to get up. "Didn't you go back to your hometown to worship your ancestors? How is it in this Ning Province? ”

"If you go back to the queen mother, the slave did receive the emperor's grace and returned to his hometown to worship his ancestors, but the family has been defeated, and only the grave of the slave's father and mother was found, and the slave filled in the new soil for the father, but the two lost younger brothers were not found."

"Oh, I see, I think you're a miserable person! In the future, you must be more dedicated to serving, one day to find a righteous son for you, you take it, and you can also give you a pension in the future, not to mention that our royal family is not benevolent. The Queen Mother raised her hand and brushed her sideburns with her armor.

"Empress Dowager Longen." Zhou Liang kowtowed again and thanked him.

"That's it!" The Queen Mother raised her hand.

"When I got up early to comb my hair, Liyue mentioned it to the mourning family, saying that you would wait for the mourning family on the Ningfu dock a few days earlier, saying that you knew that the mourning family's phoenix boat was going to hit here, and you had to buckle the mourning family's head and then enter the capital. The Queen Mother raised her hand and pointed at the older palace maid beside her.

"Being able to serve the Queen Mother is the blessing of a slave, and kowtowing to Lafayette is also a blessing for a slave." Zhou Liang bowed again.

"That's it! I think that this Ning Mansion is still some distance from the capital, and you don't have to hire another boat to hurry, so you can go to Beijing and return to the palace with the mourning family. "How could the Queen Mother not know Zhou Liang's little tricks, which are nothing more than to fulfill his dignity as a general manager.

"Yes!"

Zhou Liang looked at the star on his side, and the Queen Mother found this little girl with a little red on her delicate eyebrows.

"Zhou Liang, who is this little baby next to you?"

"Back to the Queen Mother, this is the adopted daughter of the slave's distant relatives who passed on to the slave to support her for the elderly, and this time she returned to Beijing with the slave." Zhou Liang led Xing'er to his side.

"Bold! You dog minion! Is it in the palace that you, a minion, can be inserted casually?! The Queen Mother's face was no longer as kind as it was just now, but a dignified face.

Zhou Liang immediately knelt on the ground, and also pulled Xing'er to kneel.

"Slaves don't dare! Slaves don't dare! The slave just took this child into Beijing, thinking about finding a good place for her to settle down in the capital, and when the slave is really useless, there is also a good person, holding a handful of slaves' bones and going back to his hometown, there is nothing else to think, the queen mother sees it! Zhou Liang cried slightly.

"What's your name?" The Queen Mother looked at Xing'er and spoke in a calm tone.

"Xing'er, the star of the blessed star." Xing'er is neither humble nor arrogant, her tone is calm, and she replies with a little milkiness.

Ha ha! The Queen Mother laughed instead of being angry.

"Surname Zhou?" The Queen Mother asked again.

"The surname of the folk girl is Zhu, and the Zhu of the Zhumen embroidery household."

"Zhou Liang, your adopted daughter is good, the mourning family likes it, let her accompany her when you go to Beijing these days, so that you don't have to run around anymore." The Queen Mother raised her hand to signal, then turned around and went back to the inner cabin.

Zhou Liang bowed with the stars.

Next, the four little palace maids got off the boat and took Xing'er away, Xing'er was startled, turned around and shouted godfather, Zhou Liang told her not to be afraid, just take her to search her body and wash her body. Xing'er quieted down and followed the little palace maids.