Ning woke up early in the morning feeling refreshed. She got out of bed and put on her cotton robe, sat down in front of the dresser, opened the rosewood mirror box, and took out a few bottles of skin care products from Caifang.

I patted my cheek with rose water first, and then opened the small porcelain lid of alabaster. Speaking of which, this alabaster is said to be made of animal fat and several herbs such as pearl dust and frost, and it is the most moisturizing in autumn and winter. This small porcelain box is only about eight milliliters, and it will cost one or two silver, and the shelf life is only two months.

She dug a little alabaster into the palm of her hand and spread it evenly on her face. Finally went home "in her own home", and she didn't have to see "outsiders", and she didn't necessarily add a burden to her face, so she didn't plan to apply grease and powder. After wiping her face, she combed her hair in the mirror, wrapped a red headband around the braids, glanced at the mirror box a few times, picked a small pink flower, and put on a pair of light earrings.

Frangipani came in and said, "Is the girl hungry?" Nanxiang has already set out breakfast, and today Mrs. said that she would accompany the young grandmother in the young master's house, so she asked each courtyard to have breakfast by itself. ”

Shuning nodded, and followed her to the south chamber, where a lot of food was already on the kang table. Although the weather is not cold enough to burn the kang, the kang has already been covered with cotton mattresses.

Breakfast was very hearty, with goat's milk, eggs, and sugar steamed crispsThe soaring red date tea is enough for four or five people to eat. Shu Ning looked at Na Shuxin, saw that she was already smirking, endured it, and said with a slight curved corner of her mouth: "There are so many things, why don't you eat together." Su Xin cheered and hurriedly ran out to call someone.

The three maids set up a small table and a low stool on the ground, and Frangipani saluted first: "Thank you for the reward." With a smile, he took his favorite crisp and took the jujube paste yam cake. Buckle also blushed and took the pastry and eggs.

Shuning slowly ate her stomach, drank a big bowl of hot milk, and her whole body was warm. She said to Frangipani: "Today is the first day of my return, I'm afraid that the kitchen side is going to show my ability, tell them that there is no need for such trouble for breakfast in the future, just goat's milk with dumplings, or rice porridge with snacks." ”

Frangipani answered, and asked Shuning what she was going to do today. Shuning thought about it, and Mr. Cai had already left. There was no need to go to class, it was rare to have leisure, and after two days of relaxation, she said that she was going to visit the garden. Frangipani listened, and secretly exchanged glances with Holly, Shu Ning smiled secretly, and said: "The weather is good today, it's hard for you to be restrained in the capital for so long, go out and play after you finish eating." Just don't get into any trouble, and call someone to come to the door. Su Xin hurriedly said: "No, no." Absolutely not. Then he talked to Holly about which sister he wanted to see first. A blush flashed across her face and she lowered her head.

Shuning coughed and went to the courtyard of Duanning next door. Although the yard was larger than the one she lived in, it was still a little small. Duanning has become a family, and it is impossible for two underground people to live, and now only Zhenzhen is still there, if Duanning also comes back to live, someone around the Yahuan mother-in-law will definitely have to move to the backyard. Originally, the clan also planned to knock down the north wall to expand, but Jinzhen is pregnant and needs to recuperate. The plan had to be postponed.

didn't take a few steps, and heard a few girls arguing, Shuning frowned, it seemed that the two of them bumped into a girl from another courtyard when they went out. but pulled people and refused to let go. Seeing this, she raised her voice and said, "Early in the morning, what is the noisy and shouting? Don't stop yet! "I thought it was probably those two girls who were pregnant with Zhenzhen and wanted to establish themselves in a new place. will take the opportunity to hold on to people.

When the two of them saw Shuning, they hurriedly let go, but they were still a little unconvinced. Shu Ning only said lightly to the girl in the courtyard: "Go and do your job." The girl bowed and walked away quickly. Qixi and Bafu wanted to argue, but Shuning stared at them and said: "Our family doesn't have those messy rules, you just need to remember your duty and don't lose your master's face." Then he didn't pay much attention to it, and went straight into the courtyard.

Seven joys and eight blessings glanced at each other and flattened their mouths. They had been here for some time, and they knew that this girl was not free to fool around, so they had to give up.

When Shuning entered the door, she happened to see Shi Yao Zhenzhen drink another bowl of goat milk, and said: "Eating more is good for your body, and it's good for children, you have to eat two people's portions now, but you can't just eat a little like before." Zhenzhen couldn't refuse, so she had to reluctantly pour it down, and she couldn't eat anymore.

Shuning asked for peace, and then looked at the scene of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law forcing one to eat and the other avoiding eating. Zhenzhen glanced at her secretly, and then she persuaded her mother: "E-niang, don't force your sister-in-law, now in your own land, you can ask someone to do it when you are hungry, I see that the kitchen is waiting to show off your skills, not to mention snacks and the like." If you eat too much for a while, your sister-in-law may vomit it when she turns around, so won't she eat it in vain? Thinking about it, he stopped pressing. Jinjin secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He said to his daughter, "Have you drunk goat's milk this morning?" When the weather is cold, it is really best to eat this. I have already asked someone to buy two more sheep, but they are not enough, and they are a little old. Shuning nodded and said, "That's a good thing, buy a few more, in the future, not only my sister-in-law and I will drink it, but also my mother, aunt and younger brothers." Boys can grow taller and be better if they drink more of this. ”

After thinking about it, he agreed, and went back to tell Zhenzhen about the precautions for pregnancy. Shuning saw that Zhenzhen was a little absent-minded, and thought it was because her mother was rambling over and over again, but later found out that it was not, because Zhenzhen always looked out, as if she was waiting for something, and then couldn't help touching her lower abdomen. As soon as she rolled her eyes, she guessed something: "Sister-in-law, do you want to wait for your brother's reply?" Want to know what he will think when he receives the good news? ”

Jinjin blushed, glanced at her, lowered her head and didn't speak. Shi couldn't help laughing and said: "It's a little couple in the end, don't worry, it's still early, even if Brother Duan'er sends someone to set off early in the morning, at least it will take a long time to arrive, if you start looking forward to it now, you won't be able to do anything this morning." ”

Zhenzhen smiled embarrassedly, and Jiu'er, who was waiting on the side, came up and said a lot of funny things, causing everyone to laugh non-stop. After Shuning stopped, she saw that her mother still had a lot to tell her sister-in-law, so she quit. Walk in the direction of the garden.

Speaking of which, the last time she went to this garden was in early September last year. Although I went back to Fangshan before this year's draft, I was busy with things and the weather was not good, so I didn't have time to visit the park at all. After more than a year, she felt very nostalgic for re-stepping on this garden land.

It is late autumn now, and the flowers and trees in the garden are a little decayed. Of the half-acre chrysanthemums planted by Tao Ran Pavilion, only half are still blooming. The lotus leaves on the water are all stump, but the trees in the forest and on the hillside are still a little green, and if the weather is colder, the plum blossoms will probably start to bud.

She walked along the promenade through the Guanlan Pavilion and Lingbo Terrace, and then went up the mountain. The path is quiet, and the grass next to it has turned yellow

The little snake flashed on the side of the road, frightened Shuning panicked, hurriedly tiptoed over, and then quickly ran to the house where the forest keeper lived. only to breathe a sigh of relief.

She greeted the old soldier who was guarding there and chatted a few more words. Fang Cai leisurely descended from another path to the water's edge, stepped on the squeaky bamboo bridge, and came to the side of the Pillow Xia Pavilion.

—

This is the place where she and Tongying meet most often.

The pavilion was deserted, covered with a thin layer of dust. It may be because most of the owners are not there, and the relationship between people has not been lived here for a long time, and the people below are not as diligent as before. Looking at the thickness of the dust, no one has cleaned it for at least three or four days, the corners of the walls have begun to form cobwebs, and the indoor air is a little turbid.

Shuning didn't know what came up with the idea, so she turned around and went to the small room behind the pavilion to get brooms, rags, buckets and other things. Sweep up the water pavilion. She first opened the windows to ventilate, then swept both floors of the house, cleared the cobwebs, and then fetched a bucket of water from the small lake. Wipe down the tables, chairs, bookshelves, etc., tidy up the bed on the second floor, and then cut a few chrysanthemums in the small flower garden in front of the attic. He took a blue glazed bottle and plugged it in, went to the sluice gate from the back of the pavilion, took clean water, poured it into the bottle, and then placed it in front of the window.

The autumn breeze blew into the house through the window, and the original smell of dust disappeared, and only a faint chrysanthemum fragrance was exuded in the air. Shuning washed her hands, sat in front of the desk, and looked at the clean room, with a slight joy in her heart.

The study on the case is a little messy, she sorted it out casually, only to find that the pine inkstone engraved with orchid bamboo is not her own thing, it should be Tongying forgot here, take a closer look, the two half-old brushes on the pen stand are not the products of the Beijing Songzhu Zhai and Fangshan Nanshan Pavilion that her family has patronized.

She took the inkstone and touched it carefully, brushed the hairs on the pen, moved in her heart, took clean water, selected a piece of ink from the box, and slowly grinded it on the inkstone. After grinding a small half-pit of ink, he took one of the pens, dipped it in ink, and unfolded a piece of paper, wanting to write something.

What do you want to think? She recalled the inscription poem on the red plum picture that had not yet been taken out of the luggage she had brought back, and wrote it on paper. After writing twice, she found that she subconsciously imitated Tong Yingdi's handwriting, the words were tilted to the left, the vertical hook was not obvious, and the words were still tightly squeezed between the words.

She suddenly felt a little hot on her face, so she hurriedly dipped the ink again, and wrote a few more times in her usual handwriting before her face cooled down. But when she finished writing, she suddenly thought: What am I doing? His face became hot again.

At this moment, she heard someone calling herself, so she hurriedly put down her pen and walked to the window to look, it turned out that Su Xin was calling herself in Linyuan Pavilion, and asked what was the matter, but Su Xin said, "Mrs. invited the girl to come to the main courtyard for lunch." ”

Was it already noon? She looked up at the sun in the clouds, and sure enough, it was overhead, and she hurriedly turned around to pack her things, and when she saw the inkstone, she hesitated for a moment, then took the paper bag, and brought the two old pens back to her study together.

After changing her clothes, Shuning came to the main courtyard, Shi and Zhenzhen were talking and laughing, and when she looked back and saw her, she asked, "Where have you been?" Why haven't you seen anyone for so long? ”

Shuning hurriedly said: "I just went to the garden for a walk, and when I was tired of walking, I rested in the water pavilion for a while." The tired mother and sister-in-law have been waiting for a long time. Shi waved his hand, raised the letter paper in his hand, and said with a smile: "Look at your brother's reply, they are all a little incoherent. also asked his boss for leave overnight, if it weren't for the fact that the military department was busy and people refused to approve it, he would have rushed here a long time ago, and now he had to wait for the rest of the day. Then he pointed to Liuru on the side: "Even this girl has been sent over, if it weren't for the second sister-in-law to stop her, he would have to send Ma San'er's family back." Since he was a child, he has never been so flustered. ”

Shuning took the letter and read it, and couldn't help laughing. Zhenzhen pushed her and said, "Your brother is just overjoyed for a while, so he will make this fool, why are you laughing at this?" Shu Ning glanced at her and curled the corners of her mouth: "I laughed at my brother, are you uncomfortable?" Isn't it distressing? "Zhen Zhen Zhen was ashamed, and beat her a few times.

At this time, Xianning quickly ran past the front of the house, shouting "I'm going to be an uncle", "I'm going to be an uncle", Xiaobao chased after him and shouted, "Don't run, come back to eat", and the two ran around the yard and made a mess. Xiao Liu gasped and entered the house, sighing: "Sister, Brother Xian'er should be handed back to you." He stroked his forehead, walked to the door and shouted, "Brother Xian! No more trouble! If you make any more trouble, you won't be allowed to eat! ”

Xianning stopped, and Xiaobao didn't brake for a while, and almost collided. Seeing that the two boys looked at themselves with a straight face, they hurriedly stood up and bowed their heads to admit their mistakes. As soon as Xianning saw that his face slowed down, he leaned over and coquettishly said: "Don't be angry, don't be angry, I'm so happy." I'm going to be an uncle! ”

He said to him with a smile: "You are like a monkey all day long, do you have an uncle like you?" No jokes. Xianning pursed his lips and whispered, "I'm obedient." Shi casually "hmm", and pointed to Yuge: "Go down with your girl to wash your hands and change your clothes, look at the mud on this body!" Did you go to the pond again? Hyuneong smirked and went down. Xiaobao secretly glanced at his mother a few times, and then went to look at his own mother. Xiao Liu sighed: "Why don't you go back to the house quickly, you should be clean yourself." Xiaobao hurriedly saluted everyone and hurried away.

Shi returned to the table and sat down, before he smiled: "I have been making trouble for a long time yesterday, and after eating this morning, I started to make trouble again, so I don't have to give people a headache." Shuning asked, "Didn't Xiaobao study with Mr. Yang?" How can you let him mess around with Brother Xian? Xiao Liu said embarrassedly: "Because of this happy event, the whole courtyard was happy, so I begged Mr. Yang to take a day off to make the children feel lazy." ”

Shuning thought for a while and said, "Just let the younger brothers play for a day, it's nothing, but now Xianning is not young, and when my brother was his age, he was already serious about worshipping Mr." Now we have to be strict with Xianning. Shi nodded: "That's right, Ming'er will let him learn from Mr. Yang, so as to save him from arguing at home." ”

Su Yun came over and said that the meal was ready, so he beckoned everyone to come and sit down, and asked the children to come quickly. After eating, everyone went back to their own yards, and Zhenzhen also went back to the courtyard for a lunch break, and then called her daughter and said, "I have something to discuss with you." I was going to stay here for a few days, and then I was going to Baoding. But now that your sister-in-law is less than two months pregnant, I don't worry, and I plan to stay until the fetus is four months old. But your sister-in-law's current situation is not easy to work hard, I have to take care of her again, and Aunt Liu has to take care of your two younger brothers, and they are not idle. I'm afraid you will have to worry more about the housework and industry in this courtyard, so you will have to work hard for a little longer. ”

Shuning hurriedly said: "What did E-Niang say?" This is my job, not to mention that I have always been used to it. She paused, and then said, "Taking this opportunity, I also have something to discuss with Eniang, that is, about the family's property." ”