Kangxi thirty-three years, late spring March.

Shuning finished painting the last few peach blossoms, put down the brush, looked at his paintings, and then looked up at the Pillow Xia Pavilion and the woods opposite, and nodded with satisfaction. Although the brushwork is still immature, but the house is a house, the pavilion is a pavilion, the flower is a flower, the water is water, there is no painting of the railing, there is no paste, as a fourteen-year-old girl's painting, it is worthy of everyone's name.

But this also needs to be compared. Shuning glanced at the scroll next to her, opened it and glanced at it a few times, and sighed. It was a painting left by Tongying when she came to stay a few days ago, and it painted the same scene. Although he claims to be mediocre in other types of painting subjects except for figure painting, after all, he has a foundation, and the line strokes and color skills alone are not the same as her work, not to mention the aura that comes from the exhibition, she can't compare with the horse.

Why can a person with that kind of speechless temperament actually draw such a good picture? Shuning silently rolled up the scroll and threw it aside, just admiring her work over and over again, and felt beautiful in her heart.

Speaking of which, in September last year, with the help of their whole family, Tongying successfully entered the palace to face the saint, and there was no news for a long time after that. It wasn't until a month later, when he visited the Fangshan Villa again to retrieve the items hidden in the Taoran cave, that they learned what had happened that day.

The emperor scolded him and accused him of being bold, but he greatly praised him for his behavior of bringing back important military aircraft information from thousands of miles away, in short, it was worth the merits. But this is just a statement on the surface, and it is difficult to talk about it in private. The emperor rewarded him with a lot of good things. He also specially sent people from the Tai Hospital to recuperate for him, and allowed him to continue to live a leisurely career of learning painting, but this time he changed his master. I heard that he is not only a court painter, but also a Qin Tianjian with positive facial features. His name is Jiao Bingzhen.

I didn't say much about the title, but later Tongying painted a few paintings that were said to be good, which attracted the joy of the dragon's heart, and his title was raised to the position of the Duke of Feng'en Fuguo, but it has not been mentioned again.

As for Prince Jian's wishful thinking of succeeding Fu Jindi. Although a few harem ladies were moved by her, the emperor spoke, the girl of the Ma Jia clan (Ling Xue) is mediocre in learning, and she is not a good match with Tongying, so it is better to marry another match. So the Jifujin had no choice but to admit it, and instead put his mind on the children of the powerful in other places.

I don't know what Tongying has done in the past six months, but his relationship with his father and brother has improved. Moreover, Prince Jane and his eldest son's recent style of doing things has gradually converged and become more and more calm. Last month, Yarjana was praised by the emperor for his honest work and was reinstated. Right now. He faces his younger brother, though not as close as he was when he was a child. But it's not as distant as it was in the previous two years.

Tongying's situation at home is much better. Helplessly, there is a stepmother and a bunch of younger brothers in the house, and the elder brother's wife and concubine are not at peace for a day. There is also a "cousin" who refuses to give up, so he runs out almost every day, and sometimes plays the sign of "Caifeng" and comes to live in Fangshan Courtyard for a day or two. However, when he came again, he did not quietly live in the Pillow Xia Pavilion in the garden anymore, but directly lived in the courtyard of Duanning. Tong felt that it was inappropriate at first, but Tong Ying persuaded him many times before he reluctantly agreed.

This back and forth, Shuning is also familiar with Tongying, although she is often angry with him, but she thinks she is an "adult", and it is not good to be angry with a "little boy", so she endures it. But after getting along for a long time, she also knew that the other party was just expressing her love for others in a unique way, so gradually, she also treated him as another brother.

However, Tongying didn't come to Fangshan for many days, he still had to learn painting from his teacher, and his father and brother looked for him from time to time, so most of the time, he would try to stay in the capital. In order to accommodate this friend, Duan Ning spent less time in Fangshan, and often stayed in the Earl's Court. Tong also knew that his son could not always stay by his side when he grew up, and he did not stop him, but just sent the people around him back to the Earl's Court to wait.

In fact, Tong is willing to let go, there is another consideration. Their family wants to keep filial piety, saying that it is three years, but in fact it is only twenty-seven months, and it will be full in October this year. By then, Duanning was nearly nineteen years old, and it was almost time to go out. Although according to Duanning's meaning, he hoped to enter the official land from the imperial examination like his father Zhang Bao, but according to their family background, this was not necessary. The Tong family doesn't know when the imperial court will have Enke, but now the department is not on the wheel, and waiting for the next subject is too long, so it is better to simply fight for grace. And while Duanning and Tongying are in contact, they often intersect with the children of various powerful families, maybe when, they will get the chance?

The result really made Tong's wish come true. When Duan Ning and Tongying went to Zongxue to visit the professors in the past, they met the emperor of the "Weifu Private Visit", and they were tested a few words of knowledge, and they answered very well, and they were rewarded. Although there were not many people present, the rumor spread out, and everyone said that the fourth young master of the Earl's Mansion was outstanding in character and learning, and he would definitely have a future in the future.

Of course, this situation will inevitably lead to another situation, that is, there are more people who come to the door to propose. The daughters of these families are almost all unsuccessful show girls, and they can't match the real nobles, so they set their sights on the children of the noble families who are optimistic about the future.

The Tong family doesn't look down on these people. It's not that she has such a preference for Zhenzhen who is still in Guangzhou, but that the daughters of these people are all unsatisfactory. Losing the draft means that you are either mediocre in appearance, or have some physical defects or diseases, or have a bad character, and are vulgar. Looking at the wives married by Duanning's three cousins, the Li family is good, but the appearance is indeed not outstanding; The Hitara clan is also average-looking, and his temperament is still cowardly; Cheng Ning in the second room has recently made a marriage, and I heard that the other girl is a beauty, and her family background is passable, but she is notoriously rude and willful.

Having such an excellent son as Duan Ning is the proudest thing in Tong's life, how could she allow such an outstanding son to marry a mediocre wife and come home? Therefore, Zhenzhen has become the best choice.

Moreover, a letter came from Guangzhou last month, saying that General Wu Dan's three-year term of office expired this summer and that he would return to Beijing to report on his work. When the time comes, the whole family will come back with them. Tong had already made up his mind. I want to take this opportunity to make the marriage between Duannin and Zhenzhen decided.

In a letter written last autumn, Mrs. Wen vaguely mentioned that Jiang Youliang, the governor of Guangdong at the time, had a son of the same age as Chongli. Seems to have a crush on Jin-jin. This news made Tong very nervous, but at the end of last year. Jiang Youliang was dismissed for committing a crime, and the whole family left Guangzhou, so the Tong family breathed a sigh of relief, and secretly decided in his heart that he wanted to make a marriage agreement as soon as possible. lest you have long nights and many dreams.

Let's talk about the rest of the family.

Zhang Bao is now over forty years old, and his small life is quite comfortable, so he has gained weight, but with his goatee, it adds a bit of majesty, and he is more and more able to calm the field.

Tong is nearly forty years old, but with proper maintenance, he still looks like he is thirty-two or thirteen years old, and his chin is a little rounder. Nirvana Dynasty Theba is a little different from her husband, but she gives the impression of being more and more amiable.

As for Xiao Liu, he laughs and moans all day long. I don't know if it's because I've been with Zhang Bao and Tong for a long time, and my figure has also gained weight. I had to go to other yards and even other people's houses often. Increase the amount of exercise.

Xianning has now begun to formally study the Analects, but he has a different temperament. I can't always settle down to read a book, which makes Mr. Yang have a headache. Zhang Bao saw that he was more interested in learning martial arts, so he asked Master Cheng Kun to teach him more riding and archery. Duan Ning also gave him all the military books he had read, and even took him to meet Ji Yuanzhou, the master of Tongying's side, every once in a while, and asked the other party to give him a few words of advice to his younger brother - of course, it was just the basics.

Xiaobao is much calmer, and he is also very attentive in his homework. Mr. Yang now focuses most of his energy on him, and the effect of teaching is quite obvious. Xiaobao has now read half of the Analects and is learning to solve problems. On the other hand, he has also made great progress in riding and shooting, and his small body is getting stronger and stronger, which is completely different from the bean sprouts when he first arrived at their house.

As for our Shuning, of course, there have been a lot of changes. She has always insisted on drinking goat's milk, and walked in the garden every day, riding a horse, shooting an arrow, and going out from time to time. According to calculations, she should be almost 1.6 meters tall by now, which has caught up with her height in crossing the foreground. She can't help but steal fun sometimes, she is already 1.6 meters old at the age of 14, so it is possible for her to grow to 1.7 meters in this life?

The growth of age and height also means that another stage that women must go through has begun. After more than ten years, she faced the pain of the month again, and although she felt troublesome, she was calm. Su Xin was surprised that her girl didn't panic at all, and calmly told her what had happened and asked her to prepare the necessities. She mentioned it to Holly privately afterwards, and she couldn't help but admire.

Shuning didn't take her admiration seriously, what was there to be afraid of? It's not that I haven't experienced it. But at first, she felt that the cloth bags and plant ash were awkward, and she often missed modern hygiene products. But after using it a lot, she slowly got used to it. At the very least, these things are much more environmentally friendly than modern supplies.

If you want to say that she is most satisfied, she probably counts the good hair and skin quality now. Her hair is as follows Tong's, black, rich and shiny, and soft and easy to manage. As for the skin, what is the skin is like cream, what is white and red, she finally knows now, and the most rare thing is that there is no acne. Although she knew that the skin of a young girl of this age was mostly delicate and tender, she still couldn't help but stink.

With her current appearance, even if she can't compare to a big beauty like Wanning, she is still a delicate little flower! If it's in modern terms, even if it's not up to the level of the colonel's flower, the class flower can always be counted, right?

Tong also found that her daughter was getting better and better looking as she grew older, and she was trained more and more in "women's appearance", from makeup, combing her hair to dressing, wearing accessories, and recently she even began to teach her clothing color matching and what jewelry to wear in different seasons. Although Shuning sometimes doesn't pay much attention to some of the makeup "skills" taught by her mother, and also finds it troublesome to comb some hairstyles, she likes the jewelry that her mother stuffs her from time to time. That's real ancient jewelry! Not to mention their actual value, the exquisite craftsmanship alone makes people love it. Even if she doesn't need a lot of it now, she still feels happy just by looking at it, doesn't she?

Of course, in addition to the external changes, Shuning has also improved a lot in terms of talent cultivation. Now, she has learned all four things of piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, although except for calligraphy, which is not bad, the other three are mediocre, but she can barely get her hands on it.

Shuning painted for a while, and when she saw that it was getting dark, she packed up her things. Tang Yuan'er in the upper room came to invite her, saying that the Tong family asked her to come over, so she handed over the rest of the work to Holly and followed Tang Yuan'er back to the house.

As soon as Tong saw his daughter, he happily beckoned her over and said, "I just received a letter from the Zhou family, your Aunt Zhou and Sister Zhou will leave for Beijing tomorrow and want to spend the night with us." I thought that in seven or eight days it would be the old man's sacrifice day, so it would be better to simply go with them, and there would be a good one on the way. ”

Shuning was very happy, the last time she saw Zhou Yinlan was more than a month ago, but she had some questions: "Although the weather is much warmer now, there will be some cold winds from time to time, and Aunt Zhou's body hasn't healed yet, right?" Can you stand such a long journey? Also, the imperial examination has just ended, Uncle Zhou should still be very busy in the yamen, right? Why don't you come back to Beijing in a few days? ”

Tong said: "Your Uncle Zhou will stay in Baoding for the time being, and will take a leave of absence in a few days." Your Aunt Zhou, mother and daughter went to Beijing first for your sister's marriage. The son of the Fan family, I heard that the second class of Jinke High School has been ordered to be revised by the Hanlin Academy. The Fan family plans to let him get married before he officially takes office, and he will ask for a double happiness. Although your sister Zhou is reluctant to her parents, your aunt Zhou feels that her body is still passable, and she wants to do her daughter's big things first, so as not to have any twists and turns. ”

It turned out that Mrs. Zhou's family, since her husband went to Baoding to take office, has been bedridden, at first I thought it was a small cold, or not adaptable, it was not the same thing, but then the condition was repeated, into the winter, it was aggravated, and people even fell into a coma. The Zhou family panicked, thinking that the doctor was not working, so they spent a lot of money to invite a famous doctor from Beijing, only to diagnose Mrs. Zhou's heart disease, which was originally just latent, but because of the hard work, she fell ill again, and as soon as the weather was cold, she was led out.

This disease is difficult to treat, and the previous doctor's skills are not good, so the opportunity was delayed, and the doctor could only use medicine to barely delay the condition, but it hinted that the Zhou family might not survive the winter. The father and daughter of the Zhou family were grief-stricken. When Zhang Bao and Tong heard about it, they also rushed to Baoding with their children to visit a few times, and Tong even brought a century-old ginseng from his own collection.

It may be that Zhou Wenshan is a good person on weekdays, so good people have good rewards. There was a local lifter, his family had a large population, but he had no livelihood, his family was poor, and he could not afford to go to Beijing to take the exam, so Zhou Wenshan volunteered to help him with some silver, so that he could take the whole family to survive the winter, and there was some spare money for travel and accommodation expenses. The man knew that Mrs. Zhou was seriously ill, so he specially invited an acquaintance Taoist priest to treat her.

The Taoist priest turned out to be a famous doctor, and he was also a family that practiced medicine for generations before he became a monk. His family has an ancestral recipe, but it specializes in curing heart diseases. He said that Mrs. Zhou's symptoms were discovered early, and they could barely be controlled, and if they were careful to recuperate in the future, they should be able to last for seven or eight years, but it would not be possible to completely cure them. The Zhou family was overjoyed to know that Mrs. Zhou's life was temporarily saved, where was there more extravagant hope?

Mrs. Zhou has now greatly improved, but she is not very tired. Therefore, Shuning concluded that she had to walk slowly along the way, and she was afraid that it would take two days to reach the other courtyard.

Sure enough, the next day in the evening, the Zhou family's carriage stopped at the door of the courtyard.