、、、、、、、、、、 As soon as it was dawn, everyone got up quietly. Even the children who used to lie in bed and needed to be coerced and lured by adults and servants over and over again got up on time, cleaned up in an orderly manner, and sat down at the dining table to eat.

Mrs. Shum appeared at the dinner table on time, and although her face showed some old weariness, her makeup was decent, and her dress was as neat and gorgeous as ever, and there was no difference from the days before. She glanced at the family majestically, and saw that although the eyes of the Bai family, the Zhang family, and Aunt Yang were red and swollen, and their expressions were also sluggish, they were all dressed neatly and delicately, so she nodded with satisfaction and said, "That's right, our He family hasn't fallen yet, and we can't lose our spirit." He also roughly reported how much money was lost by Aunt Wu yesterday, and said in a cheerful tone: "Thanks to the early preparations, even if we don't do business in the future, we can still have food and clothing." ”

When everyone heard this, they all smiled cooperatively, and Mrs. Cen arranged again: "You can't just sit still, and you can't just rely on Danniang to be busy outside, after dinner, we will go out to find acquaintances and walk around." ”

He Hong took the lead and said, "Let me go out with my grandmother." As soon as he started, He Wei and several of them echoed one after another, expressing their willingness to go out with the adults, and Yingniang Rongniang and the others expressed their willingness to stay at home to take care of the younger children and deal with household affairs: "Although we don't know very well, we can get familiar with it first, slowly." ”

Mrs. Cen's eyes were slightly red, and then she nodded with a smile: "Okay, good, I didn't teach you as carefully as I did on weekdays." "Seeing that the children are sensible, everyone feels a lot more excited.

Halfway through the meal, Li Manniang and several relatives and friends of the He family came. Everyone hurriedly came in, measured it first, and then relieved some hearts, Li Manniang said: "Seeing you like this, we have put a lot of hearts." Originally, I heard that I was going to come over to see it yesterday, but because I wanted to inquire about the news first, I delayed it until this morning. ”

"It's a big holiday, and it's causing trouble for everyone." Mrs. Cen hurriedly invited them to sit down, and in a few words she turned to the main topic and elaborated in detail. Peony came over and saluted, and then confessed and went outside.

"Danniang!" Mrs. Cen looked at Peony worriedly, endured it for a while, and finally said, "Be careful, go home early." ”

Peony's heart warmed, nodded, and went out silently.

Li Manniang saw her going, and whispered to Mrs. Cen: "As soon as I heard about it yesterday, I rushed over with his father, and when I rushed over, you had already gone home, so you went to other places, and both of them went out again early this morning, and they will do their best to do everything they can, and when there is definite news, they will immediately make people say." Let me come and see if there's anything else we need to do. ”

Although she didn't say it explicitly, Mrs. Cen knew that Li Xun probably deliberately avoided the peony, and Li Yuan was probably inconvenient to come to the door directly, so she asked Li Manniang to be the representative, but the father was also helping behind his back, and there was really nothing to complain about, so she thanked him: "There is nothing to do at present, we have received the heart." ”

Li Manniang sighed: "Do you want to go out?" Go ahead, I'll watch for you here. ”

Mrs. Cen thanked her, and she packed up and prepared to go out without mentioning it.

But said that Peony walked out of the door, took the reins handed by the little servant, stepped on horseback, stood at the corner of the street, raised her eyes to look at the gray sky, and then thought of what she was about to do, her whole body was full of fighting spirit and strength. She must do it, she must do it well.

In the early morning, the Zhu Guogong Mansion was silent, very quiet, and there was no sound of human speech, only the two birds that Jiang Changzhong had raised when he was at home made one or two crisp calls from time to time. Mrs. Du walked out of the old lady's room, who had been unhappy since the last illness, and stood under the porch looking at the bare persimmon tree by the wall with a gloomy expression, and wanted Jiang Changzhong to be thrown by Jiang Zhong in the barracks more and more. Jiang Chong came back with a flick of his hand, leaving him there alone, and I don't know how he was doing? Under the New Year's Festival, are there any new clothes to wear, and is there any meat to eat? Don't you know how to get along with others? Will there be a big loss behind the calculation of cannibalism?

Just thinking about it, I suddenly saw Jiang Changyi and Jiang Yunqing slowly walking over from a distance, the brother and sister talked while walking, smiling lowly, both of them were wearing new clothes, dressed up brightly and beautifully, the man looked handsome and handsome, and the woman looked slim, both of them were talented.

Mrs. Du's heart suddenly felt uncomfortable, but they were living comfortably...... But when she saw that the brother and sister had seen her, they immediately put away the smile on their faces, walked over in a restrained manner, and carefully saluted her. Seeing this, Mrs. Du was even more unhappy. Is she a tiger in this way? Does she have less food for them on weekdays, or less for them to wear? A group of white-eyed wolves who can't be raised! scolded in his heart, his face was still very kind, and he said kindly: "Have you had breakfast?" Greetings to your grandmother? ”

Jiang Changyi said with a flattering smile on his face: "Yes, this morning's breakfast is delicious." Did Mother ever have breakfast? You've been busy and tired all day, you should take more rest, and your grandmother won't blame you. ”

Jiang Yunqing also said: "Yes, yes, the daughter will take care of it here, and the mother will go and rest." You've worked so hard. He said ashamedly: "It's a shame to say that my daughter didn't get up early as her mother, which is really unfilial." ”

Mrs. Du felt a little more comfortable, sighed and said, "Since your grandmother was sick last time, it hasn't been getting better, and I'm really worried. Seeing Jiang Zhong coming over with his hands behind his back, he was angry again, put his face away, smiled brighter and more kindly, greeted the two children with warmth, and asked Jiang Changzhong's karma.

Jiang Zhong listened for a while, and said, "Madam, you are tired, go and rest, leave it to us here." ”

I don't know why, since Jiang Changzhong was sent away, Mrs. Du suddenly lost her sense of security. Even though there are her eyes and ears everywhere, she still doesn't feel at ease, such a lively and jubilant scene, the whole family is doing their filial piety, how can she be missing? She saw that Jiang Chong's father was going to go in to accompany the old lady to do her filial piety, and suddenly felt that the fatigue on her body was gone, so she wanted to go in with her. Sure enough, Jiang Zhong looked at her gratefully, and secretly pinched her hand while her daughter was not paying attention.

Suddenly, Bai Xiang hurriedly walked in, winked at her, and said, "Madam, there are some chores in the tent outside, I want you to go out and have a look." ”

Mrs. Du looked at Jiang Zhong and the others tiredly and smiled: "I'll take a look." ”

Jiang Zhong said: "You are always left alone to do everything, how can you be busy?" Let Qing'er and Yi'er share the burden. You rest, let the two of them go. ”

The speaker was unintentional, the listener was intentional, Jiang Changyi, Jiang Yunqing, and Mrs. Du's faces were a little strange. Mrs. Du smiled: "It's okay, let Qing'er follow." ”

Where did Jiang Yunqing dare to go, she would rather be scolded for being lazy, unproductive, and unfilial than go, so she smiled and coquettishly said: "Mother spared her daughter, and my daughter will follow you another day, it is rare to see that my father and brother are free at home......"

Mrs. Du scolded her twice, followed Bai Xiang out, walked to the outside and said, "What do you say?" ”

Bai Xiang glanced left and right, and Fang whispered: "There is a guest here, it is He Peony." I brought a lot of gifts. ”

Mrs. Du was stunned for a moment, and then smiled coldly: "This is Yang coming out of the west, what is she doing?" ”

"I didn't say it. But it doesn't seem to be good to look at it. Bai Xiang said: "Does the lady see it?" ”

Mrs. Du raised her eyebrows: "See, why don't you see it?" Didn't I invite her to come to the door? Why are people coming but not seeing? There is no such reason. You go and lead her to the flower hall at once, and the good tea and fruit are waiting, and I will come. ”

Bai Xiang took the order and left.

Mrs. Du went back to the room, slowly changed into a luxurious dress, made it splendid, and then went out slowly, at this time Bai Xiang came to report to her, and it had been nearly half an hour.

Outside the flower hall, she stopped and listened carefully, only to hear the silence in the room, only the sound of cypress laughing was particularly abrupt, and she heard Peony answer in a low voice for a long time, which seemed a little weak. Mrs. Du smiled on her face, and said in a crisp voice: "Rare guest, rare guest!" What kind of wind is blowing today, blowing the distinguished guests into the house! ”

But seeing that the peony was wearing a pink-green brocade skirt, with a few double-strand gold hairpins on her head, and the fat powder was not applied, as soon as she saw her, her eyes were red, and she got up to salute her, and said with a strong smile: "Thank you for not giving up, go to see the little woman." I have long wanted to return the salute, but I have never had the opportunity, so this time I took advantage of the festival to visit Mrs. I'm afraid it's abrupt. ”

Mrs. Du hurriedly supported her and said with a smile: "What stupid things you said, I sincerely invited you to come to the door as a guest." It's just that if you don't come, I'm embarrassed to force you. ”

I saw that the peony wanted to speak and stopped, as if it was something difficult. While speculating, Mrs. Du deliberately affectionately persuaded Peony to eat this, take that, and pick up some irrelevant things, blocking Peony's mouth.

Peony was mentally prepared, knowing that Mrs. Du's temperament was the most pretending, so she simply got up to salute and said the matter in one breath: "I can't hide it, I have nothing to do today, and I asked Mrs. to help." ”

Mrs. Du immediately changed her face, put away her smile, held the peony, and said kindly and worriedly: "Oh, what is this for?" If you have something to say, it's good to say. Say, as long as I can make decisions for you, I will not refuse! ”

Peony said gratefully: "I know that Mrs. Gu Dao is hot, and this trip is not in vain." Then he told the He family about the troubles, not mentioning Liu Chang, only mentioning Xiao Yuexi, and said with a red face and a trembling voice: "I don't know how the Xiao family can have such an illusion and think that I have such an ambiguous affair with the Grand Duke." I am now desperate, I have to come to the house with a thick face, and ask my wife to argue for me, don't let me marry in such a hurry to a foreign country, I am grateful. ”

Mrs. Du couldn't help but get angry for a while, the Xiao family is really anxious, is this daughter unable to marry or what? Last time, she politely rejected Xiao Shangshu's wife, and then Jiang Chong came back, Xiao Shangshu asked someone to come to the door to protect the media, it was she who persuaded the old lady, saying that Xiao Xuexi's trip was to be observed, and persuaded Jiang Chong, saying that it was better to talk to Jiang Changyang, so as to save Jiang Changyang from being stubborn again, affecting his feelings more and more, and offending people, which dragged on. Since then, the Xiao family has never been to the door, and she thought that anyone who loves face will not come again. Who knows that people are in this situation, probably planning to bypass the Zhu Guogong Mansion, why do they have to climb up, presumably they are planning to go from Mrs. Wang's side? Dream!

Thinking of this, Mrs. Du was filled with righteous indignation: "How can they be so ignorant! Something like this is done! But he didn't take his position seriously.

Peony carefully looked at her expression, slightly hesitant and uneasy, and whispered tentatively: "I can't afford to provoke their family, I'm just afraid that because of my affairs, I will cause disaster to the rest of the family, and I'm afraid that his family won't believe it, and he will become more and more ruthless and hurt my brothers." I had to ask Mrs. here, but I don't know ...... Mrs."

Mrs. Du said with a smile: "This kind of behavior is really true, I can't get used to it!" But you also know that this human relationship is not so simple. It's not hard for you to ask me to help you, but you have to be honest with me, so I can know it. ”

Peony nodded: "You ask." ”

Mrs. Du raised her eyes and looked at Peony sharply: "No wind and no waves, what is going on between you and Da Lang?" If you don't tell the truth, I'm not good at it. If you want to be in charge of you, you are afraid that you will lose your sense of proportion, and it will not be beautiful. Since the Xiao family is so jealous of He Peony, if she wants to say that these two people are innocent, she can't believe it.

Peony was silent until Mrs. Du became a little impatient, and then she whispered: "I am the daughter of a merchant, and I have been divorced, so I am not worthy of him." ”

The meaning of these words is very clear, that is, she really fell in love with Jiang Changyang. Mrs. Du said quietly: "Whether it is worthy or not, what others say depends on what Da Lang means." What did he think? ”

Peony said sadly: "He...... His future is a splendid ......" and then he didn't say anything, but only forced a smile: "The Grand Duke is a good person." He saved my life, and I only wish him well. After speaking, he secretly thought sorry in his heart, and described Jiang Changyang as a person who was greedy for power.

Good! Ambitious good guys! It seems that he really fell in love with the position of this world, beauty and power are grasped with both hands, and nothing is delayed, what a good person! Mrs. Du was silent for a moment, looked at Peony sympathetically and said, "It's a pity." Seeing that the circles under Peony's eyes were red again, he said: "You go back first, wait for my news, I will do my best to eliminate the misunderstanding for you." ”

Her words were very lively, and she neither promised nor rejected anything. Peony didn't say anything more, got up and said goodbye: "Madam really saved my family, there is something but according to orders." ”

"I just hope everyone is well. If there is a need, I will have someone call you. Mrs. Du nodded, asked Bai Xiang to send the peony out, sat in place and calculated, if this thing is really true, how can she make the Xiao family's bamboo basket empty and completely die of this heart? One Xiao family went to the other and the other, she wanted to see, if she couldn't fulfill Jiang Changyang's mind that both of them were accounted for, did he want He Peony or something else? In the middle of this, it is necessary to tease the daughter of the He family, and if you are tempted, it is good to cooperate with her action. When Bai Xiang came in, she whispered to Bai Xiang: "Go, let people ask what is going on?" Who is in charge of this case? Hugh told the rest of the house to know. ”

Peony came out of the Zhu Guogong Mansion and went straight to Fengle Fang. asked Kuan'er to take the money and knock on the door, begging to see Ah Hui, and he hid under the wall of a house from afar. After about a stick of incense, I saw Ah Hui and Kuan'er turning back as they walked, and hurried over. Peony just walked out to see, Ah Hui said: "My mother has not been able to go out to meet guests recently, and I ask He Niang to be considerate here, what to do, just tell the slave that it is the same." ”

Peony whispered, and Ah Hui couldn't help nodding when she heard it. Don't pass Ah Hui, Kuan'er said, "Won't my mother go to see Mrs. Bai?" Perhaps Madame Bai has other ways to find Princess Fen, and it is not certain. ”

Peony shook her head. Mrs. Bai wants to raise a baby, Pan Rong has been helping since yesterday, and she should know that she has something to do with Liu Chang at this moment. There must be inconveniences and embarrassments in the two of them. There is no need for her to say more about the places that can help, they will naturally help, but she went to embarrass them and add to Mrs. Bai's heart. It's up to Pan Rong to choose a good-sounding comfort to Mrs. Bai.

Kuan'er saw her shaking her head, and her face was also gloomy. The master and servant passed through the West Market, so they first walked around, but saw that the lively He Jiapu in the past was tightly closed, and there was a seal on it, so it was not deserted. I can't help but feel sad. Kuan'er scolded: "It's obvious that the problem is the spices, why is it even sealed here?" ”

Peony let the horse go back and sighed slightly: "Because the master broke the law." So it doesn't make sense to exist in its entirety. "Fortunately, because of the holiday, I have to take a few days off, and a lot of valuable things are not stored in the shop.

Her words seemed to be understood, and she only frowned and said, "I don't know what happened to Mrs. when they went to go to ask for favors?" ”

Peony shook his head: "I don't know." I just hope that my father and brothers will be kind and reasonable on weekdays, and they will not be pushed by others. ”

Suddenly, someone shouted, "Isn't that the mother of the He family?" ”

Peony looked back, but saw a tall, black man walking over with a smile, it was the same Aubu who he saw at the treasure meeting. He wore a snow-white round-necked narrow-sleeved shirt, which became more and more black and white. Peony jumped off the horse and smiled at him: "It turned out to be you." ”

Ao Bu pointed to a few well-dressed Hu merchants not far away, and said sympathetically: "I have heard about the matter, and I don't believe that the government will do such a thing." In the past, there was no shortage of Daddy He's care, and the big guys made up some shares, and they were about to send them to the house, and they were happy to be fed, and the Erlang brothers could be released. Now that you're here, it's the same if I bring it back to you. If we need to testify, we can all go, Lao He's family is not such a person. ”

Seeing Peony looking over, the Hu merchants all saluted Peony with friendly and concerned expressions on their faces. Peony's eyes are hot again, this time it is different from when he was in Zhu Guogong's mansion, it is from the bottom of his heart. She returned the salute first, and choked up: "Thank you for your kindness, I thank my father, mother, and brother." I also believe that there will be a time when the case will come to light. It's just these, please put it away first, you don't need it for the time being. ”

A gray-haired old man came over, but it was the old man who presided over the treasure meeting at the beginning, handed a jade plaque to Peony, and said, "We have all discussed, and the things will be sent to your house, and they will be eye-catching." It's in my shop, and if you want to use it at that time, whoever it is, you can use it with this jade card. If you don't need it in the future, it's not too late to return it to me. ”

Peony couldn't refuse, carefully hid it closely, thanked everyone with a tearful smile, and went to Dongshi to find Zhang Wulang non-stop.

Originally, many shops were closed for business, but many people had free money at this time, and Zhang Wulang's cockfighting arena business was very hot. Zhang Wulang did not patrol outside to greet guests as usual, but only hid in the room and discussed things with people in a low voice.

Fan Li'er wore a new red silk cotton jacket skirt, took a melon with a handkerchief, sat at the door with Erlang's legs crossed, squinted his eyes and swallowed melons, and stared at the door vigilantly. When he saw someone coming in, he made a slight concession, and when he saw someone who was not suitable, he coughed vigorously and got up to greet him loudly.

Peony and Kuan'er covered their faces with their hoods, and they were about to come in, and when they saw it, they were about to get up and say hello loudly, when they suddenly saw Peony pull open their hoods and smile at her, so they smiled happily, pointed inside, signaled Zhang Wulang to be inside, and then didn't communicate with the people inside, and let Peony go in directly. Then he pulled Kuan'er and sat at the door to share melons.

Peony opened the curtain and went in and shouted, "Fifth Brother Zhang." There was silence in it. Zhang Wulang sat on the couch with his feet crossed, Gui sat on the side, and several other people who were either familiar or familiar looked at her, and not far away there was a person sitting motionless on the crescent stool with his back to her.

Gui took the lead in getting up and saluting, Zhang Wulang also greeted the peony, the man turned his head and looked at the peony quietly, but it was Li Xun. I haven't seen him all this time, but I didn't expect him to find here, probably by chance. Peony was full of emotion for a while, unconsciously grabbed the hood, and said with a smile: "Everyone is here." ”

Zhang Wulang beckoned Peony to come over and sit, and Li Xun immediately stood up and silently gave up his crescent stool to Peony. Peony hesitated for a moment, walked over and sat down, the charcoal basin burning in front of the crescent stool immediately sent a stream of heating up, and then took the hot tea soup handed by Gui and drank it up, and most of the cold on her face and body disappeared suddenly.

Zhang Wulang saw that she was seated, so he said: "We have just put together the things we have heard about, and we have done what you said, and there will be news in two days." "Not only to check the source of the fakes, but also to check the weaknesses of the two key people, to underestimate the small people, who have been mixed in the market for a long time, but know many things that others do not know.

Peony looked at Gui, Gui nodded, indicating that the internal guard also relied on Jiang Changyang's affection to invite someone.

Peony breathed a sigh of relief.

"This case is personally handled by Jing Zhaoyin." Li Xun said softly: "Your sixth brother has a broken leg. Lost a few teeth. ”