Yi Yan glanced at him, his eyes flashed slightly, and nodded: "Go, don't come over at noon, eat with your aunt." My aunt will be in Beijing tomorrow, and she will be away for a while. I'm fine alone. ”

As the prince of Houfu and the right-hand man of the eldest prince, he came to Fuling County on behalf of the eldest prince to expand his business and accumulate money, so he naturally would not have no place to live. It's just that He Daoan is his friend, and he is warmly invited, and it is difficult to refuse; In addition, he wanted to keep a low profile when he came to Fuling County, and he didn't want people to notice the purpose of his trip, so he lived in He Mansion in the name of visiting his friends.

However, living in someone else's house is ultimately inconvenient.

He Daoan rushed to his mother to discuss family affairs, Yi Yan read a book in the house for a while, and felt that his eyes were a little tired, so he stood up and prepared to take a walk in the garden.

Since the He family is an imperial businessman, there is no shortage of money. Therefore, in the east of the city, a large area was enclosed, a pond was dug to divert water, bridges were paved and roads were built, and a garden with mountains and rivers was created. The Heyue Hall where Yi Yan lived at this time was on the edge of the lake. At this time, the small lotus in the lake only shows the sharp corners, but the willows on the lakeside are still around, the peach blossoms and plum blossoms are blooming, and all kinds of exotic flowers and plants are also showing their grace under the nourishment of the spring rain, and the scenery is very pleasant.

Along the path by the lake, Yi Yan did not bring an entourage, walking slowly alone, admiring the lake and mountains. But I didn't want a few women to suddenly come over on the other side of the path, the one in front of me was fifteen or sixteen years old, tall, with a goose egg face, wearing a white dress, and her temperament was elegant and dusty; The girl next to her was fourteen or five years old, wearing a red shirt, with a round face, big and round eyes, and her smile was crooked like the moon, revealing two small tiger teeth, very lively and cute. The two people who followed behind were obviously the maids of these two girls.

Yi Yan's fairly good mood was broken all of a sudden. He frowned and turned to leave.

"Yi Gongzi." But the girl over there found him, and the girl in red screamed crisply and ran towards him.

Yi Yan had to stop, turned around, and nodded lightly to the two: "Second Miss He, Third Miss He." ”

It turned out that the girl in white with a cold temperament was He Daoan's cousin He Sixiu, who ranked second among the women of the Shen family; The round-faced woman in red is He Daoan's own sister, named He Sizhao, the third lady of the He family.

After saying hello, he turned and walked back again, obviously not wanting to have anything to do with the two.

He Sixiu bit her lip, with a resentful look in her eyes.

He Sizhao didn't seem to see Yi Yan's coldness, ran over and followed behind, and asked Yi Yan with a smile: "Where are Yi Gongzi going?" ”

"When you're tired of walking, go back to sleep." Yi Yan said, not only did not stop, but accelerated his pace. couldn't keep up, and was thrown behind by him all of a sudden.

She also knew that she was not welcomed, her small mouth pouted, and she muttered dissatisfiedly to her cousin: "Every time I see us, it's like seeing a ghost, are we so untreated by Gongzi Yi?" ”

He Sixiu sneered, and his expression became even colder: "Isn't it just that you can't look down on our family background, and you're afraid that we will be entangled?" She flicked her sleeves angrily, "Go back, don't be annoying here." ”

He Sizhao turned his head to look and saw that Yi Yan's figure had long since disappeared. She stomped her feet and said indignantly: "If it weren't for the eldest brother who always said that he was good, and my father and second uncle ordered us to befriend him, the ghost would have come to see his face." ”

He Sixiu glanced at her: "I don't believe that you don't think he is good in your heart." ”

He Sizhao's little face turned red all of a sudden, and he glared at his cousin with big round eyes: "Aren't you the same?" ”

He Sixiu's face suddenly sank, and he said angrily: "Who is the same as you?" As soon as he turned around, he walked quickly from the fork in the road, ignoring He Sizhao again.

Shen Ruozhao didn't chase after him, and when He Sixiu walked away with the maid, he pursed his lips and whispered, "Cut, what to pretend." Pretending to be a fairy all day long, it's not too tired. He turned and walked down the other path, and in a moment disappeared into the greenery.

And He Daoan, on the other hand, had already told his mother Lu about Zhong Lingyu's various behaviors, and begged: "Mother, I think this Miss Zhong will definitely be able to help me in the future, why don't you go to the door for me to propose?" ”

Although the He family is an imperial businessman, it is a businessman, a worker and a farmer, and the business is always second-rate. The children of the He family had to go through business because of the emperor's order, but in order to improve their social status, the daughters-in-law they married were all the daughters of official eunuchs. The Lu family herself is the concubine of a prefect's family in the southwest, and He Daoan's deceased fiancée is also the concubine of the head of the Qing Officials Division in the north of the household department. Hearing that Zhong Lingyu was just the daughter of a small merchant in Ba County, where would the Lu family be willing?

She immediately said: "An'er, you are the eldest grandson of the eldest house, and you have been carefully cultivated by your grandfather and father since you were a child, and you know what it means best. What is the identity of me, your aunt, your former fiancée, or your cousin's fiancée, you should know what I am, I don't need to say, right? Do you think, why did your grandfather have to marry a young lady from an official family as a daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law? ”

He Daoan frowned, nodded and said, "I know." ”

"Now that you know, you shouldn't have asked for it. No matter how good Miss Zhong is, her family background determines that she can't bring any help to our family. What's the use of what she can do on her own? If our He family wants to avoid being left behind, we have to weave a net and tightly intertwine money and power. Otherwise, the more money you make, the faster you die. I think you can understand that. ”

He Daoan sat there stunned and did not speak.

Lu Shi sighed, looked at his tall and handsome son, and said with a smile: "Actually, you can't marry her, you can take her as a concubine." With the status of our family's family background, it is not too much to accept her as a concubine. Moreover, doesn't she still have to keep filial piety for three years? You hurry up and marry a wife and have a son-in-law, and when she is filial, you can take her over. As long as there is a tea garden on Songluo Mountain in her marriage, and she herself is really as capable as you say, I will give her the status of a noble concubine, and I will protect her in the future, and I will definitely not let your daughter-in-law bully her. ”

He Daoan shook his head and said with a wry smile: "There are many people in the Zhong family who seek relatives, including young talents and children of official eunuchs. People don't let a good wife go, and they are still waiting to be a concubine for our family? And I look at Miss Zhong's temperament, she is not willing to live under people. If you want her to be a concubine, it's impossible. ”

Lu Shi said indifferently: "Then you can let go of this thought." He stood up and continued to pack his things.

He Daoan's eyes were gloomy. His lips moved, and he was about to say goodbye and leave, when suddenly as if he had thought of something, his eyes lit up suddenly: "Mother, what if she is the granddaughter of our Fuling Mansion Yatong?" ”