As soon as the sun set, Mai Jiu returned to the palace, and on the way to Yi'an Courtyard, he met Liu Huiyu, Mai Jiu warmly waved hello from afar, but Liu Huiyu turned around and walked directly in the direction of the garden after taking a look.

Mai Jiu's face was full of question marks, looking at Liu Huiyu who had turned to another road, she shrugged her shoulders, it has always been like this, this Liu Huiyu always ignores her.

Zhihua had been waiting at the courtyard gate, and when she saw her master appearing in her field of vision, she trotted all the way forward to greet her, and after walking in front of Mai Jiu, she said, "Master, you are back." ”

Mai Jiu snorted, Zhihua stood aside and continued, "This afternoon, the Prime Minister's Mansion sent someone to find you, the master, and said that it would be the sixtieth birthday of the Gu family in a few days, and said that the prince would go with you." ”

The two of them walked towards the gate of Yi'an Courtyard one after the other, and Mai Jiu lowered his head and kicked the stone seriously: "The birthday banquet of the head of the Gu family... Don't they know that the prince is not in the capital? ”

Zhihua shook his head: "I probably don't know." ”

The stones on the soles of his feet kicked an empty one, Mai Jiu raised his head and resumed his normal walking, and said as he walked, "Master Gu... How many days will it be the birthday banquet of the head of the Gu family? ”

Mai Jiu originally wanted to ask who the head of the Gu family was, but after thinking about it, he felt that it was not very good and would be suspicious, so he didn't ask, if he was sixty years old, it should be Gu Ziyuan's grandfather.

Shiba replied, "Two days later. ”

Mai Jiu didn't like lively banquets very much since he was a child, because there were always one or two relatives you didn't know next to you and then endlessly said, better than that, better than wearing, and from time to time I have to ask you how you are studying.

Mai Jiu turned around and walked into the Yi'an Courtyard: "Are there many people?" ”

"That's natural, there are naturally a lot of people who go to Sixty Nai's birthday, and it is estimated that there will be many court officials who will bring their wives to go."

Hearing this, Mai Jiu stopped and looked back in surprise: "Really? ”

Zhihua was startled by the sudden twist of the person in front of her, she shrunk her chin and leaned back and nodded in a daze.

Mai Jiu turned around and walked towards the house, and continued as he walked: "Send someone to the Prime Minister's Mansion tomorrow to say that the prince is going out and doesn't know where to go, and I will go alone." ”

After dinner, Mai Jiu became worried, and Zhihua also said that sixty years old should not be empty-handed.

She raised her little head, looked at Zhihua and asked, "What do you give as a birthday gift?" ”

In the room, the two of them were cleaning up the table, and Zhihua stopped his movements and tilted his head to think about it.

“en... Generally, a hundred longevity peaches will be sent, that is, ninety-nine small longevity peaches are loaded with a big longevity peach, which means that the descendants are blessed, and the longevity is boundless, and you can also send the golden Buddha statue, hand-copied Buddhist scriptures, jade Guanyin and the like to wish the elderly a long life, if there is not so much silver taels, then send some calligraphy and paintings, and send a thousand years of youth to ask for a mouth. ”

Mai Jiu walked to the treasure shelf in the house and opened a box of gold, silver and jewelry sent by Sang Huai'an when she was crowned the princess that day.

A small pile of silver was piled up on the table, and Mai Jiu propped his palms on the edge of the table, looked down at the silver, and asked, "What can these give?" ”

All the money was spent on taking care of the store, and today is the first day of the store's opening, and it would be good if there was no loss, and Mai Jiu couldn't take out the silver taels all over his body.

Zhihua looked at the broken silver on the table and said, "You can change it to a bigger evergreen one." ”

Hearing this, one of Mai Jiu's hands almost slipped off the table, and she leaned on the edge of the table and sat on the stool: "You go out of the house with me early tomorrow, go and exchange some jewelry for silver, and the princess will take a Wan Nian Qing, you say it makes people laugh." In the end, Mai Jiu was a little indignant.

She remembered that it was like giving a gift to a colleague in modern times, and the relationship was not so close, but she just asked you to go, and your position was still higher than hers, and you said that you would be as suitable as you wanted.

Mai Jiu also thought about going to the Prime Minister's Mansion in a few days to meet the rich wives, which was a good time to promote the store and accumulate popularity.

On the second day, Mai Jiu got up early and didn't even have breakfast, so she left the house, and the streets were deserted in the morning, in fact, she got up so early to go to the breakfast stall near the store.

Zhihua followed behind with a small wooden box, which was full of gold and silver jewelry, and Mai Jiu struggled all night yesterday to choose the few that he didn't want.

Mai Jiu walked to the stall and looked carefully, there were steamed cakes, noodle soup, and sesame porridge, she pointed to the flax porridge and said, "Two bowls of this, and two horns of steamed cakes." After saying that, he turned around and pulled up Zhihua and walked towards the small bench in the back.

Mai Jiu saw a middle-aged man sitting on a stool, wearing an official uniform, drinking noodle soup, and her eyes remained on the man until she sat on the stool.

She turned her head to look at the Zhihua on the opposite side and asked, "Do you also come to eat in front of the stall where the officials in the court are also here?" ”

Zhihua secretly glanced at the person in front of him and replied: "That's Lord Zhang, a well-known honest and honest official, he grew up in a poor family, he was angry and tried to be strong, and finally won the top prize, and now Lord Zhang's family of three still lives in the village courtyard on the edge of the city and has not moved out." ”

The stall owner brought two bowls of sesame porridge and put them on the table, at this time, Master Zhang also finished drinking the noodle soup and put a few coins of silver on the table, Mai Jiu watched the back of Master Zhang leaving while stirring the porridge with a spoon.

After breakfast, the two walked towards the pawnshop, and as soon as they walked in, a counter taller than a person caught Mai Jiu's eyes, and only a round head leaked from above.

Mai Jiu walked to the counter, pulled his neck and said, "I'll use some jewelry for some silver taels." ”

Hearing the voice, the man raised his head and looked down, and when he saw that the person who came was richly dressed, he quickly leaked a smile and said, "Give me your things, and I'll show you." ”

Zhihua stepped forward and handed the wooden box in his hand to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper opened the wooden box, and as soon as he opened it, his expression changed, and he tried his best to hide his inner joy, but the smile on his lips could not be taken back, and the corners of his mouth trembled a little.

Mai Jiu looked around casually, the shopkeeper looked at the jewelry and then looked at the person, and after she finished checking, she stretched out her palm and compared it to a three.

After Mai Jiu saw those three fingers, he tilted his head and wondered, "Thirty taels? She took a few steps forward and said, "How can those things of mine be worth fifty taels, who are you fooling when you say thirty taels?" ”

At the beginning, the shopkeeper looked at the two people in front of him with an innocent appearance, and he wanted to pit them well, but he didn't expect that someone who was prepared and knowledgeable about the goods came.

He withdrew his finger and said tentatively: "Thirty-five taels is more than one, and I won't accept it." ”

Hearing this, Mai Jiu stood on his tiptoes and reached out to the counter to get his things back.

The shopkeeper saw that the person was so fierce, picked up the wooden box, and protected it in his arms like a treasure.

Mai Jiu saw that he hadn't touched it for a long time, so he inserted his waist and said angrily: "The old lady is not right today, there is no silver flower, and you are not so angry, you are looking at the old lady who looks like a little white rabbit, right?" ”

The shopkeeper looked down at the man baring his teeth and grinning an old lady, and he hurriedly smiled and said, "Don't be angry, fifty taels will be fifty taels." ”

Mai Jiu put down his hand and dusted his cuffs: "It's pretty much the same." ”

After leaving the pawnshop, the two hurried back to the palace, holding so much silver in their hands, they were afraid that someone would come to rob them.

After returning to the palace, Mai Jiu sent someone to the temple to ask for a lotus Guanyin, planning to make a birthday gift, and the shop did not need Mai Jiu much, Guo Qiqi also said that he occasionally went to a visit, after all, he was the façade, and the two of them just lay at home and counted the silver.

The day of the birthday banquet came soon, and Mai Jiu didn't wait for Sang Huai'an to come back, she knew that Sang Huai'an had been gone for so long, it must be a matter of urgency.

Prime Minister's Office

The courtyard is lit up with lights, a large row of feasts, and the gongs and drums outside the door are noisy, and firecrackers are ringing in unison.

Mai Jiu lifted the curtain on the carriage and looked at the gate of the magnificent Prime Minister's Mansion, and she whispered the couplet on the door: "Blessing is like the long flow of water in the East China Sea, and the longevity is better than the immortal pine of Nanshan, and there are more blessings and longevity." ”

She lifted the curtain and jumped out of the carriage, and the house slave standing at the door saw that the carriage stopped and lit the firecrackers, and the sound of firecrackers sounded so loudly that Mai Jiu covered his ears, and after the firecrackers were finished, the house slave shouted loudly, "I respect the princess, I respect the princess." ”

Mai Jiu put down the hand that was blocking her ears, she looked incredible, she seemed to have heard the prince just now, it was not haunted.

She looked at no one on her right, and when she looked to her left, there was another person beside her.

The man spoke slowly, and his tone was indifferent: "Why are you stunned, go in." ”

She turned her head to look at the man's face, and she was so shocked that she covered her mouth, and Sang Huai'an actually appeared in front of her so quietly.

Prime Minister Gu Cheng, who had been receiving distinguished guests in the courtyard, heard the prince and the princess, he hurriedly walked out of the courtyard and stepped forward to greet him, and after seeing the two, he saluted and said, "Say hello to the princess and princess, it is really a loss of welcome, a loss of welcome." ”

Mai Jiu carefully looked at the person in front of him, this person was about forty years old, his brown hair had a little white hair, but his eyes were full of light, two pairs of curved eyebrows were like paint, and his chest was broad and majestic.

Gu Cheng said a few words of greeting with the prince, and then looked at Mai Jiu on the side, Mai Jiu twitched the corner of his mouth and shouted, "Dad... Father. ”

Prime Minister Gu stepped forward and shook Mai Jiu's hand, and said kindly, "Daddy, how long has it been since you saw our mandarin ducks?" ”

Mai Jiu looked down at his held hand and stammered, "Yes... Yes.... It's been a long time. She withdrew her hand, turned sideways, and continued to say, "A few days ago, I sent someone to the temple to ask for the Jade Guanyin, but I don't know what to do... Grandfather likes it or not. ”

The two minions behind him opened the wooden box and handed it over.

Prime Minister Gu Cheng also glanced at it meaningfully, and hurriedly said: "The old man heard that you were coming, so he was happy to sit in the house early in the morning and wait for you, and I will go in and talk to the old man later, the old man has been missing you very much." ”

The sound of firecrackers rang out again, and a carriage stopped not far behind the three of them, and Prime Minister Gu looked at the people who came down from the carriage behind, and he moved his steps and retracted it.

Sang Huai'an saw Prime Minister Gu's tangled appearance and said, "Let's go find the Gu family master in a while." ”

Prime Minister Gu turned his head and saluted, "Then the lower official will leave first, and the lower official will go to greet the other guests, so please take care of yourself." With that, he turned around and walked towards the person behind him.

Sang Huai'an turned his head and glanced at the person beside him and said, "Let's go, this king may not have seen the Gu family master for a long time." With that, he got up and walked towards the courtyard gate.

Mai Jiu rubbed the firecracker slag on the ground with her feet, and when she saw that everyone in front of her had gone away, she hurriedly set off to chase after her.