Old Madam Jane remembered that she had to send back the money she had lost, and it was as uncomfortable as picking her heart and liver. But if she didn't send it back, He Ningxin made it clear that she didn't care about the affairs of the Glory Hall. Thinking of the unpalatable meals she had eaten in the past half a month, Old Madam Jian had no choice but to take out the silver again and hand it to Jian Feizhen to send to He Ningxin.

Jian Feizhen knew that Old Madam Jian must have made an old mistake, so he smiled bitterly, added some silver to make up for it, and sent it to He Ningxin together.

He was a little uncle, and Jian Feiyang was not there, so He Ningxin didn't let him enter the courtyard gate, but only sent the big girl to help the wind out, pick it up at the gate of Zhiyuan Pavilion, and immediately send it to the tent room in the inner courtyard.

Jian Feizhen saw that his sister-in-law didn't deliberately make things difficult anymore, so he just went back to rest by himself.

Early the next morning, He Ningxin had just gotten up, and the eldest girl Fufeng hurriedly came in and replied: "The Pei family just handed over the post, saying that today, Old Mrs. Xia and Grandma Pei want to bring their family's other young master and Miss Pei to the mansion for a gathering. ”

He Ningxin was overjoyed, and it seemed that the matter of the deed had been settled.

That's right, too. Although this matter was thought up by her in a hurry to get close to her two children. However, the benefits to the two children are self-evident, even if it is for the Marquis of Ningyuan Mansion and the Pei family, it is also good.

However, He Ningxin is not a short-sighted woman in the house, and when she proposed this idea, she had already considered all aspects in advance. The only thing I was worried about was that the Pei family thought she was weird and refused to agree.

As for forming an alliance with the Marquis of Ningyuan Mansion or something, it was not a problem at all, and she had also thought of a way to deal with it.

From the position of the Pei family, they were already tied to the queen mother, so what they could do was to choose to keep a distance from all parties, including the Marquis of Ningyuan's mansion, so as not to let the saint be too suspicious.

As for the Zhenguo Mansion, their family now has a cousin girl in the palace, and they have been crowned nobles, and it is said that they are the most favored among the newly sealed nobles, and they are inseparable from the royal family.

Everyone in the world says that if you are a loyal minister and a pure minister, you can't stand in line, but you must be loyal to the saint.

But He Ningxin also knows that not standing in line is a way; But it is also a way to stick a rod in all the teams and have a good relationship with all parties. The two methods are actually different paths to the same end" will have the same effect.

It's like making friends, you don't make friends with everybody, or if you make friends with everybody, you get the same result, which is that you don't really have any real friends.

And in terms of practical effect, the latter is actually more beneficial than the former. After all, a person who seems to be neutral and ignores all parties, although he has voted for the favor of the saint on the surface, "but he offends too many people in the court and does things" and receives a lot of resistance, often half the effort, and the gains outweigh the losses. And a good gentleman who is good friends with all parties, but he can get left and right, and can do errands for the saint with half the effort. Who will the Holy One value more?

He Ningxin even knew that today's Holy Emperor Hongxuan was very suspicious. For such a person, if you put on an impartial posture of pure ministerhood, maybe it will backfire" Let the saint think that you are ill-intentioned, and you don't know what you are doing in private.

After all, judging from Emperor Hongxuan's own experience on the throne, he knows that there are no courtiers below who do not stand in line. The difference is just that some show it and some don't.

So it doesn't matter whose team you stand on, what matters is that even if you stand in line, the saint won't suspect you. Of course, if you make the saint think that you are actually doing undercover for the saint", it will be more worthwhile.

For example, in their Zhenguo Mansion, they are already the cousins of Lan Guiren, and they want to deed with the nephew of the queen's mother's family, as long as they take the initiative to make friends with the imperial concubine, it will be complete.

Moreover, the number of concubines in the harem is increasing day by day, and in the future, anyone who gives birth to a son" He Ningxin plans to go to their mother's family and take the initiative to make friends. When the time comes, let's see who can say that their Zhenguo Mansion is "standing in line"! At most, I can say that "Zhenguo Gong is a man in all directions, and no one can be offended". If there is anything else, I am embarrassed to say. After all, a person who shows kindness to everyone and a person who sticks a rod in all sides, offending him is tantamount to offending his own people. To pull him off the horse is to find fault with himself.

Only those who like to lift stones and shoot themselves in the foot will not have a long eye to deal with the Zhenguo Mansion.

Thinking of this, He Ningxin smiled lightly: "Thank you Old Man Pei for reminding her." Our grandfather has long been concerned about this matter, and since our cousin entered the palace, our Zhenguo Mansion has not been able to stay out of the matter. Instead of letting people guess and pull back and forth, we should just lay out the carriage and horses and make friends with all parties. As the saying goes, reach out and don't hit the smiling person. After a long time, everyone will always give us a few faces. ”

It doesn't seem like a big deal at all.

Mrs. Xia didn't seem to understand it, but Shen had a sense of awakening and empowerment. Their Pei family has been bound by a Ningyuan Marquis Mansion all these years, and they haven't thought about this aspect at all.

If you don't have to worry about the so-called "standing in line", then the only problem is that Zhenguo Gong Jian is flying.

He Ningxin also knew that if Jian Feiyang didn't care, there would be some trouble in this matter. But since she proposed it, she was naturally confident that she could convince Jian Feiyang. Besides, with Jian Feiyang's own experience, and the fact that he often whispered in his ear about these two children, he should not refuse.

If he really doesn't agree, it's a big deal to be a friendly mother by himself, and he doesn't pull Jian Feiyang in. Originally, it was on the contract, and it didn't have to be a complete friendship between father and mother.

Those who look for the monks and nuns in the temple to deed are only friendly fathers, or only friendly mothers.

Knowing that this Duchess of Zhenguo was not a person who failed on a whim, Mrs. Xia and the Shen family put their minds at ease and started a family affair with He Ningxin.

They asked about Mrs. Jian from the Zhenguo Mansion, and He Ningxin smiled and helped her excuse herself: "My mother-in-law was sick a while ago, and now she is still recuperating in the hustle and bustle hall in the back garden. ”

That's not to bother.

Mrs. Xia and Shen felt that something was wrong, so they still sent two face-worthy servants beside them, holding a few bronze makeup satin rulers brought as gifts, to kowtow to Old Madam Jian in the Hustle and Glory Hall.

Mrs. Jian gave face this time, and when she heard that the Pei family was here, she ordered someone to come over and kowtow to thank her, and made a special trip to explain her regret that she was sick and couldn't come out to meet the guests.

He Ningxin saw that Mrs. Jian was still in a "better mood" this time, so she instructed her subordinates to put wine in the peony pavilion in the back garden, and asked Mrs. Xia and Grandma Xia to take Chu Qianyi and Chu Qianqian to go over to enjoy the flowers and eat together.

The peony pavilion is an octagonal pavilion facing the lotus pond in the inner courtyard of the Zhenguo Mansion, with mahogany as the body and glass as the roof. In the midday sun, it is very bright. A long grass-colored curtain hangs down on the side of the pavilion, gently swaying in the breeze, lined with lotus flowers full of ponds, and various colors of peonies planted next to the pavilion, which is beautiful.

Chu Qianyi and Chu Qianqian rarely go out as guests. Today, I am very excited to follow my grandmother and aunt to such a big garden. The Pei family is a civil official, although he was the first assistant of the Three Dynasties, but the place where he lives still cannot be compared with such a top nobleman as the Zhenguo Mansion.

He Ningxin ordered Fufeng and Fuliu to follow the nurse and maid of the two children, and took them around the back garden. Just when they walked to a hidden courtyard in the east corner of the back garden, the group saw a dark wooden deck chair in the middle of the courtyard through the low fence courtyard wall. An old woman with gray hair lay on the chaise longue basking in the sun with dull eyes. Next to the chaise longue sat a servant woman in a navy blue robe, trimming the old woman's nails with a knife.

Seeing someone coming, the maid who trimmed her nails turned to the side to block the view of the old woman on the chaise longe.

Fufeng glanced at it and was very surprised. Although she has not been to the Zhenguo Mansion for a long time, she has been to this back garden a few times, and she also remembers this small courtyard, but she has never seen anyone in this courtyard! I always thought it was just a small yard where an abandoned gardener lived.

Fufeng hurriedly glanced at Fuliu, turned a corner quietly, and went forward with the two children.

The two children were so strange, but in a blink of an eye, they saw a bowl of dahlias blooming on the tall flower tree in the back garden, and they ran over with joy and stayed under the flower tree.

In the peony pavilion, Shen loved lotus so much that he couldn't help but walk down the pavilion, came to the pool, and rowed to the depths of the lotus in the boat prepared by the boat lady early in the morning.

Among the blue lotus leaves that cover the sky, the lotus flowers that bloom fully make Shen's eyes dizzy. She took a cursory look, there are double-petaled purple lotus, single-petaled white lotus and heavy Taiwanese pink lotus, and the most peculiar thing is a pink-green thousand tai lotus, which is rare in the world.

He Ningxin saw that Shen Shi came back on the boat, and told her about the pink and green thousand dai lotus, with a reluctant look, and said with a smile: "If the young grandmother likes it, when the pink and green thousand tai lotus bears lotus seeds, I will ask someone to send it to the eldest young grandmother." ”

Shen was overjoyed, thanked and thanked.

When Chu Qianyi and Chu Qianqian ran over with a dahlia, the wine and food on the peony pavilion here were already full of tables, and they could be eaten.

A meal that was enjoyed by both the guests and the hosts. The matter of the deed has been preliminarily decided, but it will not be finalized until the male owner of the Zhenguo Mansion, Zhenguo Gong Jian Feiyang, returns.

He Ningxin put her mind at ease, she now has more reasons to see the two children, or invite the two children to her house as guests, so she is not in a hurry.

After Mrs. Xia and Shen went home, Shen relayed what the Duchess of Zhenguo said about "standing in line" to Master Pei and Pei Shuren. Master Pei and Pei Shuren looked at each other, but they didn't expect such an infamous woman in the house to have such insight.

Pei Shuren said with emotion: "If the eldest sister is still alive, she will definitely be able to be a confidant with this Duchess of Zhenguo." ”

Master Pei bowed his head and said nothing, and when he went back to rest, he kept tossing and turning on the bed and couldn't sleep.

Mrs. Xia knew that Master Pei remembered his eldest daughter Pei Shufan, and comforted him softly.

Back then, everyone had no choice. Now they can only look forward and protect the two children left by their eldest daughter.

Master Pei finally calmed down, took Mrs. Xia's hand and said with a smile: "Originally, the saddest thing was you, Madam." But even the wife has let go, and there is nothing that the husband can't let go. After a long time, Master Pei whispered again: "I hope Xin'er can have a good birth in the next life and live a smooth life." ”

With tears in her eyes, Mrs. Xia said in a low voice, "It will definitely be." The Bodhisattva appeared to me, and I dreamed one day that I saw Xin'er living in a small building, dressing up in front of a mirror, still the same as before she got married, and living well........."

How can dreams be taken seriously? Master Pei didn't bother the scenery, nodded and comforted: "............ Definitely. ”

At the same moment, in the Fengxu Palace in the palace, the imperial concubine had just woken up from her deep sleep, sweating profusely. Is it going to be that day again, so she has been dreaming about those past events lately?

Hongdan, the palace maid, was on night duty outside, and when she heard the sound of the imperial concubine calling for water, she hurriedly got up and brought a cup of warm tea, lifted the curtain and came in, and asked with concern: "Niangniang, are you thirsty?" ”

The imperial concubine nodded, and drank the cup of tea with Hongdan's hand. I want to sleep, but my back is soaked with sweat, and it is really uncomfortable.

"You ask someone to cook some hot water, and the palace wants to bathe." The imperial concubine gave a faint order, got up and got off the lattice bed, and walked to the room of the four princes on the side.

The little baby slept very soundly. The two little hands are clenched into small fists and placed on both sides of their little heads, like a fat little green animal.

Seeing the baby's appearance, the imperial concubine's somewhat gloomy heart seemed to shine into a ray of sunshine, and she looked at the little prince and smiled slightly. This time, everything is different, and I really think too much.

Jian Feiyang, the prince of that town, is now running errands for the saint, thousands of miles away, and he is not here at all.

Just like last time, the saint brought the nobles, ministers, forbidden soldiers, as well as the eldest princess of Yiling in the palace, the queen, the newly sealed concubines, and the three princes and eldest princesses from the queen, and went to the Mulan hunting ground on the outskirts of Beijing to hunt together. The Mulan Hunting Ground is the royal hunting ground, which was handed down from the founding emperor Fan Huize.

The imperial concubine was still in confinement, so she didn't follow. The second princess with the imperial concubine is only two years old now, and she is also in the palace.

This time, those who should have gone did not go, those who should have come did not come, and the past will not repeat itself.

The imperial concubine used to have the power to associate the six palaces. Now that the queen is not in the palace, of course, it is the imperial concubine who is in charge.

Hongdan went out and ordered the little palace maid to go to the kitchen to spread the word and bring hot water for the imperial concubine.

The imperial concubine soaked comfortably in the jade bath, then got up and wiped her body with a soft muslin cloth and went back to bed.

The night outside, in the middle of the ugly hour, was silent.

On the road outside the capital, there were four or five fast horses galloping at this time, and it was Zhenguo Gong Jian Feiyang and his party, who were speeding towards the south gate of the capital.