Tong hurriedly greeted him and asked for details, Duan Ning took a breath, took the tea handed by the second sister-in-law, drank a few sips, and then said: "That's the yellow coat Qincha in Beijing, who came to pass the decree that the emperor and the empress dowager in Layue will come to Fengtian to worship their ancestors." I heard that it was the intention of the Empress Dowager, and the time was a little tight, and as soon as Lord Yin received the order, he sent someone to summon the officials of the whole city to discuss the matter. Lord Qincha lived in the yamen, so there were so many guards to protect him. ”

Tong Shi asked urgently: "Is the news reliable?" Duan Ning nodded: "Reliable, among the few friends I know from Mr. Wei Lun, a few of them are the little princes and grandsons in the palaces, and the news was told to me by one of them, I heard that they had already gotten the news a few days ago, and it was only today that they had a quasi-letter." E-Niang doesn't need to panic, Ama Dang was summoned by Lord Yin to discuss the matter of taking over, it's okay. ”

Tong Shi breathed a sigh of relief and beckoned everyone to go back to work: "I'm afraid that I will come to the house soon, so I will go and prepare dinner." Chun Xing went to boil ginger soup, boiled water, and prepared to come back to wash his feet. Huzi went to tell Ah Song and told him not to worry, he will have dinner at our house tonight. The old Wu Tou drove to the yamen to wait to pick up the people and change Ma San'er back. Xiaomei changed the young master's clothes, and looked at the water, and I didn't know if it was sweat or snow. Everyone scattered, and Duan Ning also smiled and went back to the room with Xiaomei.

Because it was too late, Tong asked everyone in the family to eat first, and then kept the food hot in the kitchen and waited for Zhang Bao to come home to eat. Later, because it was too late, she decided to wait for her husband in the main room alone, and asked Shuning and Duanning to go back to sleep first, but the two children were unwilling, so they waited with her, which made her very pleased.

Zhang Bao didn't come back until one watch, and when he entered the door, he shouted that he was hungry, and Mr. Su followed behind and saluted Tong's family, without saying anything, and he looked a little haggard. Tong hurriedly asked someone to bring hot rice up, and the two of them hurriedly ate, drank a bowl of hot tea, and then sat down and talked. Duan Ning saw that there was nothing wrong, so he pulled his sister to confess first.

Zhang Bao sat down and spoke, and said: "It is said that the empress dowager temporarily started, and the emperor also has this meaning, these two years of fighting with Lao Maozi, all won, and opened up the territory, the emperor decided to come to Fengtian to worship, to tell the ancestors and ancestors, it was originally next year, but the empress dowager somehow, proposed that it is better to simply come here for the New Year, so he hurriedly called someone to pass the decree. Speaking of which, the Holy Driver has not been to Fengtian for several years, and the last time the Empress Dowager came was two years before Jingqi returned to Tun. Now the number one official in the government has not taken over. ”

Mr. Su said: "Indeed, it's okay to have no experience, after all, there are not many people who have gone through this kind of battle, but the time is too tight, and now it has entered the lunar month, and the holy car will come in more than ten days, and there is nothing to prepare in the city." Although there are people in the old palace to clean and take care of it, after all, it has been empty for a long time, and if there is a place to be repaired, I don't know if it can be in time. Moreover, the holy decree said that this time it was a temporary idea, so it was not allowed to spend too much, and everything should be simple. It's just that for us people in Fengtianfu, how can it really be simple? ”

Zhang Bao nodded: "Yes, you can only make a simple appearance, but in fact, you still have to have what you should have." He turned his head and said to Tong: "For the next month, I am afraid that I will have to return late every day, and please don't worry about my wife, although I take care of the family and send some snacks and clothes to the yamen during the day, I am afraid that I will not even have time to eat when I am busy." ”

Tong Shi hurriedly said: "Don't worry, husband, everything in the family has me." Zhang Bao nodded.

Mr. Su continued: "Today, the adults have been discussing for a long time, and I am not allowed to enter, I don't know the specific situation, but I heard that the arrangements for picking up the car are not decided? ”

Zhang Bao said: "Yes, it is not easy to spend less and make a big show. Everyone discussed it for a long time, but they didn't come up with a charter. It's just that the holy car is coming, and there must be no people in the city who freeze to death and starve to death, but fortunately, last year had experience, and this year we prepared early, and now those poor people are doing well, and the people in the city can still be called living and working in peace and contentment. ”

Tong interjected: "When someone came to Beijing to deliver the decree today, because there was no news from the yamen, there was some chaos outside, rumors were spreading, and I heard that there were still people who took the opportunity to make trouble. ”

Zhang Baodao: "I've heard that Lord Yin will make a decision on this matter, but I'm afraid that a few people will be locked up, so as not to cause an accident after the holy car arrives." ”

Mr. Su said: "There is no arrangement for the driver yet, but time is running out, so it is better to make some preparations first." ”

Zhang Bao nodded: "Someone has already proposed it, and tomorrow morning, I will arrange for someone to clean the streets and clear the snow on the road." The streets through which the holy car entered the city should be renovated on both sides, and the people living in it should be checked one by one, so as to beware of anyone disturbing the holy car. The renovation of the palace was in charge of the general manager there, and the lord of the king, who came to deliver the decree, also temporarily lived in the palace office to oversee it. Qin Tongzhi had already arranged for a flower craftsman to plant flowers and plants in the palace. It's just that in such a season, I'm afraid it won't open well. ”

Mr. Su comforted him: "This is what human beings can't do, adults don't have to worry, and the emperor won't blame the Fengtian Mansion officials for this matter." ”

Zhang Bao also knew this truth, and the two continued to discuss for a while, but they couldn't hold it anymore, so they went back to the house to rest.

Tong prepared hot water for Zhang Bao to wash his face and bathe, and when he was still sober, he asked him: "What about the New Year's gift sent back to Beijing this year?" I've already purchased some, but I'm afraid I won't have any heart to pay attention to these, but if it's not good enough, I'm afraid that my family will blame me. ”

Zhang Baoqiang opened his eyes and said, "They have made a fortune this year, and they won't care about our New Year's gift." Didn't someone send some 100-year-old ginseng last time? Take a few plants, connect the things you prepared before, and arrange for someone to send them back tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, and ask them to carry a letter, saying that we are going to take over this year. He was tired all day, and he couldn't open his eyes, so he climbed up to chuang and fell asleep.

Tong had no choice but to whisper to someone to clean up the basin and towel, and also slept.

From the next day, Zhang Bao went out early and returned late every day, busy in the yamen, and sometimes even stayed there overnight. The Tong family is in charge of family affairs, and everything is taken care of, which makes Zhang Bao feel at ease. As for the New Year's gift, the Tong family didn't dare to really arrange some things to be sent as Zhang Bao said, in addition to four branches of two or three hundred years of ginseng, they also loaded two carts of wind sheep and chicken wind rabbits according to the old practice of previous years, and added a car of fine silk fabrics, some exquisite gold jewelry, and twenty or thirty pearls from the bead field, all of which were loaded into the car. This year, she sent Ma San'er and Xiaomei and his wife as representatives, hired a few reliable and familiar coachmen, and sent them back to Beijing early. Changfu and her second sister-in-law stayed in Fengtian this year to help her with housework.

Her husband worked hard in the yamen, and Tong also sent him some food and clothing from time to time, and sometimes she would send some snacks to her husband's colleagues in the yamen to enjoy and carry out some small public relations work. Although it was just a trivial matter, it still won Zhang Bao the favor of many others. Compared with Qin Tongzhi, a "good old man" whose wife can't be a man, Zhang Bao's image as a "good old man" is more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and his boss also thinks that he can be a man and is a malleable material.

On the eighth day of the first month of the first month of Duanning, the last big exam before the suspension of classes in the New Year will be held, and he will study and study at home every day. Shu Ning was inconvenient to disturb him, and sometimes he felt bored, and one day, he suddenly saw some melted and deformed ice lanterns piled up in the corner of the yard, and remembered that he had not played with them since he had done them. After making the ice lantern that day, I originally planned to light a candle to play that night, but for the matter of the decree in Beijing, the whole family was nervous for most of the day, where did I have the leisure to remember it?

Shuning hurriedly summoned Huzi and Ah Song to help, moved a few ice lanterns out, set them up in the yard, re-carved them, and found a few candles, ready to light them as soon as it gets dark, and enjoy the scenery of the "Ice and Snow World" (although there are only a few four or five lanterns).

When the ice lantern was lit at night, several children gathered in the courtyard to watch, and even Duan Ning, who had been studying hard in the room, came to join in the fun. The light of the candle flame in the ice looms, and through the ice blocks of several colors, it is reflected in the courtyard like a dream. Everyone was amazed, and several of the subordinates left their work and crowded on the edge of the courtyard to watch. Tong Shi was very happy, and hurriedly said to Shuning: "Don't put out the wax fire, just let them light like this, you Ama has worked hard all day, and you must be very happy to see it when you come back, and call him happy." Shuning responded, and the second sister-in-law also found a new pack of candles and prepared to refill them with some light.

The colorful light reflected in the night sky, and also alarmed several neighbors, some children were naughty, and even reached out to touch, some were beaten off by adults, and in a blink of an eye, the adults touched themselves; Some secretly pulled the subordinates of the Shuning family to inquire, thinking that they would get one or two for themselves, and some gossiped around the Tong family while looking at the lights. Tong was very happy at first, and felt that she was very decent, but when there were many people, she got annoyed, and after a few pleasantries, she sent everyone away, and those people kept staring at the ice lantern while walking.

When Zhang Bao came back, he saw the colorful ice lantern as soon as he entered the door, and he was very surprised, and called someone to ask, only to know that it was something made by a few children, so he smiled and admired it carefully. Mr. Su, who was following him, bowed his head and remained silent after hearing this. It wasn't until after dinner that he sat in the study and drank a few sips of tea before he spoke to Zhang Bao: "Speaking of adults, don't laugh, this is the first time a student has seen an ice lantern." I used to read Fu Qingzhu's poem, called "Lengyunzhai Ice Lantern Poem", and I also thought about what this ice lamp looks like, can it really ignite fire in the ice, and the ice will not melt? Today is an insight. ”

"Oh?" Zhang Bao said, "It turns out that someone has written poems on the theme of ice lanterns before? But I don't know what kind of character this Fu Qingzhu is? ”

"In fact, in addition to Fu Qingzhu, Gu Chifang of Qizhou also wrote about ice lanterns in poems, but there are really not many people who know about this thing. The Fu Qingzhu mentioned by the students is actually Fu Shan, the word Qingzhu, known as Mr. Qiaohuang, and we are from Shanxi. He is very knowledgeable, excellent in poetry and painting, and the most rare thing is to play well. He once opened a museum to teach apprentices, and his students also practiced a few tricks when they were young, but they forgot about it. Haven't you heard of Shanxi's 'Fu Boxing'? ”

"So it's him? It is said that he likes to punch when he is drunk, so some people call his boxing method "drunken boxing", isn't it? I heard that I passed away a few years ago? ”

"Yes, when his family was mourning, the students also went to burn incense, and his father loved his paintings very much during his lifetime, and collected a few of them, but now they are ......" Mr. Su saw that Zhang Bao was very interested, and he was surprised that he had gone off topic: "Cough, in fact, what the student wants to say is not this, the student wants to say, this ice lantern seems to be not difficult to make, and it costs very little, and it is very good-looking, I don't know what the adults think about it?" ”