Although several ladies secretly speculated in their hearts, only Mrs. Qu nodded slightly and smiled, "The marriage is also in a hurry, according to me, Uncle Guo just hasn't met the right person yet." ”

Qu Yi sighed and smiled helplessly: "Actually, he also has difficulties, who let him lead the errand of Jin Yuwei's commanding envoy." Cheng Ri explores the secret cases for the saints, and holds the power to kill and decide, and he has to punish officials at every turn... I know, most of the civil and military people of the Manchu Dynasty are afraid of him, and they avoid him on weekdays, even if there is a woman of the right age in the family, they don't dare to rush to our house. ”

Old Madam Qu didn't think so, snorted lightly, and said: "Jin Yuwei has always enforced the law impartially, if the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty are all sitting upright, why are they afraid of Jin Yuwei?" The gentleman is frank, the villain is often related, only the villain who is a thief with a weak heart will be half a head short when he sees Jin Yuwei. ”

Fang Shi smiled and said: "The old lady's words are reasonable, but how can everyone who is an official be like our uncle, so breezy with his sleeves." ”

Qu Yi smiled and said: "If the Manchu Dynasty is as civil and military as the eldest brother, then Rui'er and his second uncle will be idle." ”

Mrs. Qu heard Qu Yi mention her grandson Ding Rui, so she asked, "Why don't you see Rui'er and Yu'er today?" ”

Qu Yi hurriedly smiled back: "Because today is my mother-in-law's birthday, Rui'er and Yu'er went out of the city with their second uncle early in the morning to visit their mother-in-law in Jingyue Nunnery, and they were not at home, otherwise they would have been called to greet their mother." ”

Sui Guogong and his wife were grieved by the death of their eldest son Ding Yan, and Sui Guogong complained of illness and resigned from his official position in the court, only meditating at home, ignoring mundane matters. The Duchess of Suiguo has lived in the Jingyue Nunnery in Pacui Mountain outside the city for many years, eating fasting and worshipping the Buddha, and using the sound of the Buddha to dispel the pain of losing a child in her heart.

When Mrs. Qu heard this, she said "ouch" and hurriedly said: "It turns out that today is the birthday of the Duchess of the Kingdom, why didn't you say it earlier?" I'm old now, and I don't remember much about my relatives' family - I should have asked my fourth daughter-in-law to prepare a birthday gift to send it. ”

"Mother doesn't need to worry, the fourth brother and sister have already sent someone to send the birthday gift to the nunnery yesterday." Qu Yi said, quietly glancing at the Fang clan on the side.

Fang's heart understood, and said with a smile: "Yes, the gift has already been sent, and I also wanted to talk back to the old lady, but I was too busy for a while, so I forgot about it." ”

Only then did Old Madam Qu put her mind at ease, pointed at Fang's and said with a smile: "It's better for you to have a good memory, otherwise you should let your relatives laugh at our family for losing the etiquette it should have." ”

Fang Shi smiled, didn't answer again, and only cast a grateful look at Qu Yi.

When Mrs. Qu married Mrs. Qu as her stepwife, Qu Yi was still young, and Mrs. Qu raised her, and the relationship between mother and daughter has always been deep. It's just that she is not biological, Qu Yi was still unrestrained in front of Mrs. Qu when she was young, but now she is a middle-aged woman who is nearly forty years old, and she has married into the Suiguo Mansion for many years.

And Fang's as Mrs. Qu's only daughter-in-law, and the person who is in front of her day and night, the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is naturally closer than the relationship between stepmother and daughter, but at the moment, it is obvious that Fang's own negligence in the birthday of the husband of Suiguo is rude, but fortunately, Qu Yi is generous by nature, not only does not care about her, but also takes the initiative to cover up for her in front of Mrs. Qu, otherwise, she, the head of the Qu family, will inevitably be laughed at by everyone today.

Fang Shi silently calculated in his heart, thinking about how to repay Qu Yi's personal favor.

Everyone laughed and gossiped again, and there were servants who went back and forth.

"Madam, the flower hall over there has been arranged, you can invite the old lady, the ladies, and the ladies to take a seat."

It was already time for lunch.

Qu Yi helped Mrs. Qu first, and smiled at everyone: "Let's go to the flower hall at the back for lunch, the newly bloomed plum blossoms are all on the table, let's enjoy the plum blossoms while eating." ”

Among the female dependents of the Qu family, except for Lu Jiayue, they are all used to coming to Suiguo Mansion, they are familiar with the way, and they still talk and laugh on the way to the flower hall.

But at this time, Lu Jiayue's heart was also a lot more settled, so she just silently followed behind Mrs. Qu.

The flower hall is at the back of the courtyard where Qu Yi lives, and it is about the exclusive use of entertaining female dependents, and the decoration is dotted with flowers.

And the courtyard outside the flower hall is already full of blooming plum blossoms.

When Lu Jiayue saw it, she couldn't help but be surprised again.

I saw that the plum blossoms were red and green, big and small. The red one was originally a red plum planted in a huge vat where two people embraced, with strange branches and blooming stamens, as red as blood. The green one is the green calyx planted in the pot, the stamens are delicate, dotted, very delicate and lovely.

Mrs. Qu looked at the dozens of plum blossoms of the same size, she was very happy, and said to Qu Yi with a smile: "Every year, the plum blossoms here bloom early, and that's it, it's rare that the color of the plum blossoms is also positive, and it is really pleasing to the eye." ”

Everyone was amazed.

At one time, the table was divided into two tables, as usual, Lu Jiayue and several young ladies of the Qu family sat with Mrs. Qu, and Meng and other ladies and Xu's Hu sat at a table.

The Fang family invited Qu Yi to sit together, Qu Yi was reluctant to sit at the table, and was only going to serve by Mrs. Qu's side, but when he saw Lu Jiayue beside Mrs. Qu and took care of him properly, he just gave up.

With the newly blooming plum blossom scene, everyone's lunch is also very delicious.

Qu Ying saw that Lu Jiayue was just taking care of Mrs. Qu most of the time, so she quietly sandwiched a lot of dishes for Lu Jiayue, Lu Jiayue tasted the craftsmanship of the chef of the Suiguo Mansion, and finally knew why even Qu Ying, who had never paid attention to food, would never forget the food in the Suiguo Mansion.

She thought that the craftsmanship of the Qu family's small kitchen was already good, but compared with the Suiguo Mansion, it was much inferior.

After lunch, Fang helped Mrs. Qu to go to the courtyard to enjoy the plum blossoms, and everyone also joined in the fun, only Meng and Qu Yi stayed in the flower hall to drink tea and chat.

Lu Jiayue also had a good time, admired the plum blossoms, and felt a little thirsty, so she went back to the flower hall and poured herself a cup of hot tea, drinking it slowly, and the words of Meng Shi and Qu Yi around her also came to her ears intermittently.

"I look at you like you've lost a bit... Seeing that it is almost the death day of my sister-in-law, I know you are sad, but for the sake of Rui'er and Yu'er's two children, you should also eat more and take good care of yourself. ”

"Thank you sister-in-law for being tied, my body has always been fine, but I can't let go of my husband's death... A good person, who said that he died at the border and never came back, and he still has nowhere to find his bones, teach me how not to be sad..."

"Hey, my sister-in-law was originally an ambitious person, a good man went out for the country, bleeding and sweating, and shrouded in horse leather, although he had a reputation for being loyal to the country, but in the end he was still a pillow person..."

Such words are really sad for those who hear them, and tears for those who hear them. Lu Jiayue's heart couldn't help but feel sad.

raised his eyes and quietly looked at Qu Yi, and sure enough, Qu Yi had red circles under his eyes, and he was covering the corners of his eyes with a brocade handkerchief, as if he was afraid of being discovered by others.

It is no wonder that although Qu Yi has a calm and calm temperament, there is always a trace of sadness between his eyebrows. The person who wants to come to the widow survives countless long nights alone, and only he can understand the bitterness and suffering.

He's a poor man.

Lu Jiayue sighed in a low voice.