After sitting down in the study, Shuning called Yanxiang to serve tea, and Chaxiang was to accompany Cui Mama in Huaiyuan as before, and the mother-in-law entered the house, so she stayed not far from the door, and when Yanxiang retreated, she glanced at her, stood still outside the door, and waited for the dispatch.

Shuning asked, "How is Brother Tongying doing?" I heard that you are very busy, and you have lost a lot of weight, but you need to take care of your body. Tongying smiled: "It's okay, I'm just tired, don't you know yet?" The emperor has now promised me that he will transfer me to the military department in the spring of next year. But now I have to continue to do errands in the Ministry of Rites, and I have to go to the Ministry of War from time to time to help, so I am very busy. ”

"Huh? Then you've got what you wanted. It's just that why did Brother Tong Ying be transferred to the military department? ”

"It's easy to make meritorious contributions in the military department, I can't just eat the old book, right?" Tong Ying smiled slightly, "If I have more weight in front of the emperor, it is easy to ask for anything." ”

Hey? Shuning suddenly felt that there was something different in Tongying's gaze, but she was uncertain for a while.

"And although the work of the Ministry of Rites is decent, it is trivial." Tong Ying quickly complained bitterly, "Why do you say these princes and ministers are so strange? In the autumn, they take wives and concubines in a pile, and in winter, they do funerals in a pile. I've been wearing plain clothes at least half of the time this month. ”

Shuning looked at it carefully, and sure enough, his clothes were different from the white clothes he saw on weekdays, there were no decorative patterns or anything like that, and even his purse only wore a blue one: "But is there any nobleman?" ”

Tong Ying was a little surprised: "You don't know? The concubine in the palace is gone, and she is the one from Niu Hulu's family. But he soon came to his senses: "Yes." You've been learning the rules at home lately, and you don't know anything outside, right? He glanced at the woman at the door and whispered, "Isn't it hard?" I heard from your brother that thou hast suffered a great sin. ”

Shu Ning smiled slightly: "It's okay, it was a little uncomfortable at first, but now that I'm used to it, I'm just a little tired." ”

Tongying touched her head and squeaked a few times. He pulled out a small box from his sleeve. Hand it to Shuning, "There's a vial here." It is filled with a special potion, drop two or three drops into a basin of hot water, soak your feet at night, and the next day it will be much more relaxed. And this ......" He took out a blue silk bag from his other sleeve: "This is also our family's secret recipe, the pill in it, you take one pill every night, boil it with hot water and take it." May reduce fatigue. ”

Shuning was a little surprised: "This ...... Thank you so much, is this medicine precious? ”

"Uh......" Ki-young smiled, "It's nothing, ask me when you run out." Actually, I should have sent it here a long time ago, I was busy with my own business before, and I neglected your side. ”

Shuning was grateful, in fact, she was used to it now, except that she was tired. There's nothing uncomfortable about it. However, Tong Yingdi has a heart, and she will still accept the ground. She thanked Tong Ying again, but Tong Ying just waved her hand and said no.

Shuning thought of friendship with each other. I didn't think I had to be too polite, so I accepted it generously, and then asked Tongying to visit the new yard and give some advice by the way.

Although she came over for half an hour every day, it was Duanning's excuse, and most of the work of decorating the new house was still in charge of Changfu and his wife, but she had this name, and it was not good to make a little effort, so she would give some advice. Except for the main house, which was not under her control, and the houses where several servants lived were handed over to Changfu, she intervened in other places, especially the study. She is responsible for all the layout and furnishings here, so she will be particularly elegant, and even the tea sets and the four treasures of the study are also different.

In addition to the study, she is most proud of a few plum blossoms planted in the yard. It was specially invited to a very experienced master to transplant them from the Fangshan Courtyard and the garden of the Earl's Court, most of them were red plums, and there were also a few pink white and yellow ones. She personally chose the planting site to make the plum blossoms look like they were all over the yard. In addition, it just snowed yesterday, and a few red plum trees bloomed exceptionally brightly, reflecting the white snow.

She had already calculated that several courtyards in the house, including her own Huai Courtyard, the bamboo courtyard of the big house, the chrysanthemum courtyard of the four rooms, and the peach courtyard where Qingning lives and the apricot courtyard where Shunning lives, are all named after the plants planted in the courtyard. Now that my brother's new yard has been planted with plum blossoms, it should be called Plum Courtyard.

Tongying also seemed to appreciate the plum blossoms in the courtyard, and said with a smile: "Look at the red plum blossoms so well, this courtyard is simply called the plum courtyard." Shuning was stunned and smiled, it seems that Tongying also has the same idea.

"Oops!" Tongying suddenly screamed, startling Shuning, only to hear him say, "What should I do?" My hands are itchy. Sister Shu, you don't know, I have been practicing painting plum blossoms since the beginning of winter, and I have to paint a few pictures every day, which is the homework assigned by the teacher. As a result, when I see plum blossoms now, I can't help but want to paint them. Do you have any painting tools here? I want to draw two strokes. ”

"Naturally, there is." Shuning said, "Although my brother doesn't like to paint, my sister-in-law who is about to pass through the door has learned, so I have added a full set of painting paints to this study." She found a large stack of Jiajiang paper, laid one on the desk, and put a few painting tools one by one, and saw that Tongying was staring at the plum blossoms in front of the house, so she simply went to the water tank behind the house to scoop up water, and personally helped Tongying grind the ink.

After a while, Tongying had a belly case, walked to the front of the case to take the pen, because he saw that the brush was new, so he took the old pen that Duanning used on weekdays, dipped it in ink, looked at the pen, and brushed a few strokes on the paper. At first, I couldn't see what it was, but then I gradually showed the appearance of the mountain rocks, and I could recognize that they were a few strange stones piled up under the plum blossoms, but they were more imposing than the real thing. Then he drew the thick and winding branches from the bottom to the top, gradually tapering, and finally closed the top with the tip of the pen, and then drew another branch from the bottom.

Shuning watched him draw a clump of plum branches, and then changed the thin brush to draw the side branches, which seemed to be a freehand ink painting. She glanced at the red plum bush outside the house, and suddenly felt that Tongying might need red paint, so she found cinnabar and a few white porcelain plates, weighed the amount, and dialed out half a dish of red.

After Kiriyoung finished drawing the plum branch, the pen in her hand shook slightly in the air, and it seemed that it was just an unconscious movement. When Shuning saw it, she wondered if he needed clean water, so she moved the celadon lotus leaf water to his right hand. Soon. Tong Ying really dipped the pen into the water, and saw that there was a white dish next to it, so he adjusted the light ink color on the plate, drew a few branches far away, and then looked at it for a while, and then dipped the cinnabar with another pen and lit up the plum blossoms.

He dotted a few strokes into a red plum, some of which were in full bloom. There are buds. There are also flower bones. The branches are covered with red and bright. When he finished ordering a few flower buds, the paint had been used up, and he mixed the remaining cinnabar and water to light red, painted a few plum blossoms in the back, and then used a fine pen to dip the ink into the stamens.

He repaired here, made up there, and looked at it for a while. nodded with satisfaction, and when he was about to find a washing pen, he saw Shuning holding a pen and washing it in, and it was the clean water that had just been replaced. He was stunned, looked at the things on the case, and smiled: "It's strange that I drew it very easily today, it turned out that Sister Shu was helping." It seems that you and I work together quite well, you even know what I want to use and what colors I want to paint. ”

Shuning smiled: "Anyway, I also learned to paint the ground." It's not as good as yours. But he also knows some fur. The plum blossoms in the yard are so red and beautiful today, Renxian sodu if you only use ink. It can't help but live up to its good color. If you want to paint spiritually, you naturally have to bring out the most vivid cinnabar

Tong Ying smiled, looked at his work again, and asked, "What do you think of my painting?" Shuning took a closer look and said, "Naturally, it's good, but it's a little different from the common plum blossom pictures on weekdays." Nowadays, people love to paint plums with a cold and arrogant feeling, but the plum blossoms in Brother Tongying's pen are blooming thrivingly, and they are more lush than real flowers. ”

Tong Ying said with a smile: "If the plum blossom grows in the mountains and opens proudly in the cold wind, it is natural to draw a thin plum tree, the cold feeling of being lonely and outside the world." But this red plum in your family, born in a wealthy family, is guarded and taken care of every day, if you still put on an arrogant and cold appearance, it is too hypocritical. Since he was born into wealth, he simply tried his best to bloom more prosperously, not only repaying the kindness of those who took care of it, but also getting more attention, right? ”

Shuning said: "Listening to what you say, I think this plum blossom also has a mind, more like a person." Tongying smiled: "You are not a plum blossom, how do you know that it doesn't have that mind?" ”

He picked up the pen and wanted to inscribe on the drawing paper, but he stopped the pen, looked at Shuning, hesitated, and said to her: "I want to write a poem for this painting, but I don't know if it is suitable or not, can Sister Shu help me see it?" With that, he took another piece of paper, wrote a poem on it, and handed it to Shuning to read.

Shuning watched it, but it was a song of seven uniques: "And even the skills are double, and it is better to take pictures of the cold pond." I am only worried that the corners of the painting are blown away, and the film is the most hurtful. She had read this poem, it was Feng Zizhen's "Mandarin Duck Plum" in the Yuan Dynasty, but looking at the content of this poem, she felt very strange. This poem is incompatible with painting, even if Tongying is not good at poetry, she has read books for so many years, and she is learning to paint, so she should have a certain ability to appreciate poetry, so it stands to reason that she should not make this kind of mistake?

Did he do it on purpose? But what's the point?

She suddenly had a thought, but she couldn't believe it. Raising her eyes to look at Tongying, she saw that he was smiling at her, his eyes were gentle, and her heart moved, and she was a little unsure.

The mother-in-law by the door coughed, Shuning frowned and withdrew her gaze. Tong Ying ignored the woman's gaze, and still smiled: "But it's not good? Sister Shu has something to say, so don't be embarrassed. ”

Well, she'll give it a try. So she spoke: "Brother Tong Ying's use of this poem is a little inappropriate. The plum blossoms you painted are not two branches but one cluster, and there is no pond next to them, and the plum blossoms are gathered on the branches, not blown away in the wind. What's more, the poem reads a little sad, and it doesn't match the prosperity in the painting. ”

Tongying didn't care, she still smiled: "I see, I was wrong, I just thought the name of this poem was good, so I used it." ”

The name of the poem? "Mandarin Duck Plum"? Shuning suddenly felt that her heart was beating a little fast.

Tongying took another piece of paper, wrote a few sentences, and said, "What do you think of this song?" Shuning read it, but it was Cai Xiang's poem: "The sun is warm and fragrant and blooming, and it has reached thousands of times when it opens." The spring breeze is not sentimental, and the flowers go and come again. ”

Her heart beat faster, and she looked at Tongying, who was still looking at her gently, and there seemed to be something in his gaze. She bit her lip, glanced at her mother-in-law, coughed lightly, and said, "This poem...... Although it is more suitable than the one just now, but now it is the cold winter wax moon, and the wind is blowing, where does the spring breeze come from? ”

"Although the wind is blowing cold, after winter, it will be a spring breeze. As long as you wait patiently, Meihua believes that the spring breeze will always come. ”

This one...... Is that what she thinks? As if the specific object has been changed? She raised her eyes to look at Tongying, and saw that he was just smiling and bowing her head silently. She thought about it, and lowered her head and said, "But as soon as spring comes, there are countless flowers blooming, so will the spring breeze still take care of this plum blossom?" I'm afraid that this plum blossom will also wither by then. ”

Tong Ying said softly: "No matter how many flowers there are in spring, how can they compare to the only plum blossom that blooms in winter?" It is the only one that adorns the world throughout winter. Even if it doesn't bloom for a while, it still exists and waits for the next winter to open again. The spring breeze is the most amorous, and naturally it will not forget its merits. ”

Shuning's heart was beating fast and she bowed her head and was silent. Tong Ying didn't say much more, and directly raised the pen to write a poem on the painting, but it was another poem: "The ink marks on the paper are new, and the plum blossoms are the most lovely." I wish to borrow the wind to blow far away, and every door and alley will become spring. With a stroke, he signed the "Master of the Garden", and then took out his private seal in his purse and stamped it, and said to Shuning: "Sister Shu, this painting will be given to you." ”

Shu Ning glanced at it and asked, "I don't seem to have read this poem, the owner of the garden...... Is this your new name? ”

Tongying suddenly blushed, coughed a few times, and returned to her normal face before she said, "It's nothing, it's just a whim, doesn't it sound good." The poem was written by someone else, and I don't remember where I saw it, and now I borrow it. ”

Although Shuning felt strange, she didn't think much about it, just thanked her solemnly, put away the painting a little embarrassedly, and suddenly caught a glimpse of the hem of Tongying's clothes that was a little damaged, so she asked what was going on.

Tong Ying said nonchalantly: "It's probably hanging on the horse pedal when you get off the horse, it's nothing, just go back and make up for it." He paused, touched his head again, and said a little embarrassedly: "I forgot, there is no one at home to help me make up for it, so I have to change it to a new one, but it is too wasteful, this is a new clothes that were only made last month." ”

Shuning asked, "Don't you even have someone at home to take care of your clothes?" Tongying smiled bitterly: "I, Amma, dragged my family back to Mukden a while ago, and now only me and my brother's family live in the Jingzhong Palace, and my brother is busy coaxing the children with his sister-in-law as soon as he comes home every day, where can I pay attention to me?" The only people waiting around me are Tianyang and a few rough girls, and those girls are not good at needlework. There was a pitiful look in his eyes, which made people look unbearable.

Shuning wanted to say that she would help him make up for it, but she glanced at the mother-in-law at the door, but she still didn't say anything, but just changed the topic and said, "What's wrong with my brother today?" So much later than usual. ”

A hint of disappointment flashed across Tongying's face, but she quickly picked up: "He probably has an errand to do, right?" Recently, they have been very busy, and they have to deal with the accumulated official documents before the New Year's holiday. ”

Shuning was about to say something, but heard her mother-in-law say, "Girl, it's not too early, it's time to go back and continue to learn the rules." Shuning looked at the sky, sure enough, it was already half an hour, looking at Tongying, a little embarrassed.

Tongying smiled and said: "I think it's better to say goodbye first, anyway, today is to see the layout of the new courtyard, so that I can get a few good paintings and calligraphy for your brother." When you go back, you tell him, let him rest assured, I know in my heart, and Guan Bao satisfies him. ”

Shu Ning knew that he was familiar with the major masters of calligraphy and painting in Beijing, and this task was very easy for him, so he also smiled and offered to send him out of the second door. Tongying responded with a smile.

The two were walking outside, and when they approached the second gate, they heard a commotion in front of them, and a male voice said, "I want to see you two girls, do you want to stop you?" The people around looked at each other, and one of the older ones stepped forward and said a thousand words, "Fifth elder brother, please go to the hall to serve tea, and the younger one will go and spread the word immediately." Then the crowd got out of the way.

Tong Ying frowned, pulled Shuning over, took a few steps back, and avoided behind the bushes.