During the mourning period of the Duchess of Lu, the Liu family also had to set up an altar along the road, and the little Fu family took the girl in the family to deal with the matter, she herself was a concubine, and Mrs. Fu did not teach her this, but she was diligent and studious, and she was originally smart. She first went to ask Mrs. Liu for advice, and then inquired about how the in-laws of the Lu Guogong Mansion behaved, so she learned by doing, but there were no mistakes.

Mrs. Xu thought that Xiao Fu had not dealt with this kind of thing, and was still waiting for her to beg her, or if she found that Xiao Fu had made a mistake, she would make up for it, so that her mother-in-law would know that Xiao Fu could not manage the house. I didn't expect Xiao Fu to make a mistake, of course Mrs. Xu choked.

Even Aunt Ding said to Liju: "Now that she is proud, she is also in charge of the house." However, it should be, she may not really want to teach you, but the Fu family was forced away by her, and there is no Fu family on the family tree, even if she is dead, she is also a lonely ghost. People want faces, trees want bark, so she can't show her virtuous reputation as a wife. ”

Lirou nodded: "Yes, her recruitment is bloodless." Poor second wife but never survived, aunt, I heard the fifth sister say that the eldest sister's marriage is not as good as it seems on the surface. ”

Although Aunt Ding is quite intelligent, she is just an aunt now, she can't go out, and she can't see the people of the Song family, so she doesn't know this.

"What do you mean by that?"

Lizhen said that although the Song family is also a bureaucrat for generations, only Song Shilang, the father of the Song Prince, is now an official. The concubines in the family are not in harmony and go outside, and the eldest son of Song has no fame, saying that he is preparing for Enyin, but the future mother-in-law of the eldest sister heard that she only spoils the younger son, and whether this quota can go to the eldest prince of Song is another matter. Also, Mrs. Song actually liked a certain Miss Guogongfu, or the Fu family came to the door and said a few words before the marriage was decided. "Lirou has a good relationship with Lijia on weekdays, but she is also worried.

Aunt Ding said: "When her mother leaves like this, who will plan for her." Just like you, I'm humble and can't help you with anything. ”

Lirou shook her head: "Daddy's official luck is just right now, so what does my daughter have to worry about." Not to mention my aunt's ......"

Aunt Ding said with a smile: "Your uncle is not only the son of Guogong, but also Hanlin, and he may have to enter the cabinet in the future." And although your third cousin is naughty, I see that he has been a lot calmer in the past two years, your aunt prefers the younger son, this time the Lu Guogong Mansion will divide the family, and you will have to divide a large amount of family property, you and he are the same age, and they will definitely be calm and quiet in the future. Your aunt is also a mother-in-law, which is even better. ”

Lirou stopped talking, the day she married her third cousin was probably just the end of the day, and there was nothing wrong with it.

But seeing that Aunt Ding seemed to be thinner, she said; "Auntie, why have you lost some weight?"

Qingfeng, who came in with tea, said: "The girl doesn't know yet, our uncle is sick, and he wrote to ask our aunt for an old ginseng." My aunt went to ask my wife for it, and my wife said that there was only one old ginseng in the house, which was reserved for Mrs. Tai's life, so wouldn't our aunt be in a hurry? ”

Lirou frowned: "No, I remember that when the second sister passed Wen Timing, her Wen Dingli had already given ginseng, why don't I ask?" ”

Aunt Ding nodded silently, "That's it." ”

For the sake of her uncle's affairs, Lirou quickly found Liwan again, and Liwan apologized: "I'm sorry, there are some ginseng in this place, but you know that Aunt Zhou gave birth in the big house, saying that there was a lot of ginseng in the family, and the aunt and wife said that they took it." ”

Remembering that when Aunt Zhou gave birth, all the supplements were indeed sent to her, and Lirou didn't want to stay longer, she had to go to her grandmother or Lizhen to ask.

Because she was in a hurry, Lirou dropped her sachet, and she had to turn back to find it.

But I didn't expect to hear the treasure bead beside Liwan say: "Second girl, don't we still have two ginseng there?" Although it is not an old mountain ginseng, it is also very valuable, don't you always say that saving a life is better than creating a seventh-level floating slaughter? ”

"In the past, ginseng was only 1,500 yuan a tael, don't say that it was sold to her, even if it was given to her, I am also willing. At present, ginseng costs 16 taels even a pound of reed whiskers, and for the lowest fifth-class ginseng, it costs at least 500 taels per catty. What's more, these two of my ginseng are the best ginseng, and my wife told me that this is used to save my life in the future. Look at that Aunt Zhou, she almost gave birth to a child and died, and she was insured by someone, how can I give it to her? Besides, my aunt once said that Aunt Ding is fake Qinggao, the most useless, and helping her is also a white gang? "Liwan is very sharp analysis.

Lirou never thought that people were so practical and snobbish. Even Liwan is actually good with her, everyone says that Liwan is good on weekdays, even Xiao Fu praised her for her practice, where did she know that she was so thoughtful, she took a deep look and took people away.

When Xiao Fu saw Aunt Ding coming, her heart softened, and she wanted to take out the ginseng she had hidden. can think of her daughter Lishu, she still hesitated, her dowry is not much, Liu Chengxu is a Qing official, and there is no other income except Bing Jing and Tan Jing. In the past, when she gave birth to Shulin, she didn't take out this mountain ginseng, which was prepared for her daughter, who was ten years younger than Zheng Hao, and would marry in the future, so she would have to give birth earlier.

Therefore, Xiao Fu said: "It's better to talk to the master and go to the Zeng family to buy one." ”

Aunt Ding doesn't have much silver in her hand, she only has two taels of silver a month, but fortunately, she has accumulated two hundred taels of silver over the years, and she took one hundred taels from Lirou, she can't go out, so she asks Xiao Fu.

"This has a pound of 50 taels, I remember that many years ago, the first-class ginseng was even as high as 82 taels per catty, and now I am afraid that it will rise by 1200 taels. Seven taels of a plant is a real one, and I can't see that two hundred taels of nights is enough, so I'll go to Zeng's house. Xiao Fu said.

Of course, Aunt Ding is very grateful, and she is looking forward to getting it back soon to save her life.

It's just that the second master of the Zeng family and the shopkeeper both went to the north, but the second wife Zeng was still very helpful, and when she saw that the little Fu family was so helpful to the brothers of the concubine, she looked down on her in her heart.

After ten years, the Zeng family sent a high-quality ginseng plant, and Xiao Fu said to Aunt Ding: "The Zeng family is looking at our in-laws' sake, which is considered to be less money, and what is given is the best quality, otherwise we will go to the pharmacy to buy it, and the real ginseng and fake ginseng will not be able to be distinguished." ”

In any case, Xiao Fu tried his best this time, and Aunt Ding was very grateful: "Thank you, madam." ”

"What are you doing about this, let's send it back to your hometown as soon as possible for your brother to take." Xiao Fu handed her the box.

Aunt Ding hurried away.

For a while, Aunt Ding and Lirou had a lot of changes in their views of Xiao Fu, the second wife and concubine were harmonious, Lijia also said Xiao Fu's hard work in front of people, Liu Chengxu became more and more fond of his wife, and Mrs. Liu praised Xiao Fu a few times.

Mrs. Xu originally wanted to take back the housekeeping rights, but she never thought that Xiao Fu was buying people's hearts everywhere, and many of her people were driven out by Xiao Fu, and some were even excluded, and she couldn't sit still.

On this day, Lizhen came to see Lirou, and Lirou was making insoles in the room, which were made for her father, so she was very meticulous.

"You've done a lot, do you have my share?" Lizhen grinned.

Lirou took a sip of her: "I didn't give it to you anymore, but you are also more leisurely, now our wife often takes us out, and we have to offer all kinds of needles and threads, and I am not enough for myself." ”

Lizhen said in her heart that where did Lirou dare to talk to her like this before, it was nothing more than that now that the second uncle's official position has been promoted, even Lirou's wings are stiff. But it was rare that she didn't have a seizure, and just said, "I have something to tell you." ”

"What?" Seeing that she was mysterious, Lirou sent her subordinates out.

I only heard Lizhen say: "I know that Xiao Fu has been treating you well recently, but you don't know, she is pretending to be a good person?" I asked my mother that when she was in Shandong with her second uncle, the old lady specially gave her an old ginseng, which was life-saving. She is useless with this old ginseng, she keeps it for herself, but she doesn't give it to you, and she also uses your mother's private money to buy it from the Zeng family to show her reputation. ”

Lirou was puzzled: "Since our wife is useless, how do you know?" ”

"You think, this wild ginseng should be placed in a ventilated and dry place, and it should be moth-eaten and moisture-proof. Generally, the storage of this ginseng is nothing more than sealing the jar with fine spices, or putting it in the same place with the tea leaves. In your wife's house, there is not just a tea can, the one made of blue and white porcelain, and there is wild ginseng in it. Lizhen actually didn't pay attention to it on weekdays, of course, it was Mrs. Xu who told her.

Lirou remembered what Liwan and Xiao Fu had done, and just sighed: "Fifth sister, will you give me your only ginseng?" ”

Lizhen was speechless.

Lirou thinks that many times, she is not the priority choice of others because of insufficient weight. Her biological mother is just an aunt, if the old lady is sick now, I am afraid that Xiao Fu will take it out, and Liwan will also be a favor.

It's a pity that when the Liu family delivered the ginseng, the uncle of the Ding family had already gone, and her sister-in-law asked someone to bring a message saying that if it was ten days earlier, it would still be saved, but it wouldn't be done in ten days.

Aunt Ding cried, according to the rules, the Liu family rewarded her brother with twenty taels for the funeral, and the little Fu family gave the silver to Aunt Ding in the public office.

In this way, it is already the winter solstice, Lishu is just changing into new clothes, and the house has been lit with hostel incense. This winter solstice burns the fragrance of jade, the high smoke rises, the cold night can contain warmth, and the warm air fills the room. This is made by Lishu herself, taking four coins of white sandalwood, eight coins of clove skin, four coins of Shao brain, one coin of benzoin, a little brain incense, a little musk, and four coins of paulownia carbon. It is ground into powder, refined honey and blended, and hidden for half a month, so that it becomes fragrant.

From today onwards, she will be able to hang the "plum blossom chilling map", she added a stroke to the picture, and then went out with the hand stove.

Mrs. Liu was already full of people here, counting nine cold winters, she didn't feel cold at all, and the inner room was extremely warm. Lijia's marriage is in full swing, she can't embroider so much embroidery alone, and the sisters are helping to do it, and they don't stop here.

"It just so happens that I have made some jade incense, and it is all wrapped, if you like this fragrance, come to me to get it." Lishu sat down and said to them with a smile.

Liwan stretched out her hand and asked: "You are used to being ingenious, I can't do it, it's best to give me some to go back to Xunxun." ”

Shui Zhi hurriedly took a pack and sent it to Liwan's maid, and heard Liu Chengxu mention that the plum blossoms in the garden were blooming well, and he wanted to invite relatives and friends to come over to enjoy the plum blossoms.

"It just so happened that Zhuang Shangxin sent glutinous rice last time, and I made osmanthus winter wine at that time, and I can just take it out and drink it." Xiao Fu smiled.

Liu Chengxu was very happy again.

In fact, Lishu wants this kind of flower-viewing banquet, but it doesn't cost a few dollars, nothing more than a few plates of pastries, a few plates of melons and fruits, many of which are from her own Zhuangzi, and then accompanied by some rice wine brewed by her mother, a pot of mutton soup, which is really affordable and elegant.

Lishu contributed her own jade incense again: "When this incense is burned, the smoke is ethereal, like a fairyland, and the cold room can contain warmth." ”

"Just right." Liu Chengxu said to Mrs. Liu again: "Whenever colleagues come to our house, they say that Qiu Jun is the most hospitable, and his son is also the most popular in Dali Temple. ”

Mrs. Liu praised Xiao Fu's properness, and Xiao Fu hurriedly said that she didn't dare to be.

Turning around, Xiao Fu said to Lishu: "Your father likes to drink, and likes to call friends, if other families get so many high-class seats, it will definitely cost a lot, but every time your father calls someone to come, this silver money is definitely not more than one or two, this is an elegant word." ”

Lishu said: "My mother always arranges the pavilion first, and the fashionable flowers are all from her own pavilion, just how to place them." As for the dim sum melons and fruits, they are all sent from Zhuangzi, and you always use the tea making method that your daughter learned from Zhu Mama in the tea room. The most expensive is the table, but it depends on whether they stay for dinner? ”

"That's right, if you say dim sum, make a good mold, it's actually very simple, but it's beautiful. For example, put some white lotus root and lotus seeds on the rice, then it is called Yujing rice, and sometimes during the Double Ninth Festival, you can also cook golden chrysanthemums and rice together, which is called golden rice. With a little care, you can be elegant, beautiful and delicious, which is more cost-effective than getting some abalone and sea cucumber. "This is what Xiao Fu wants to teach his daughter by hand.

Lishu wrote it down again, and listened to Xiao Fu's teaching what is called embroidered eight fruits, what is called Lexian dried fruits, and what kinds of carved candied fruits are there. Many of them may not be bought by money, so she has always been eager to learn and quickly write down them with a pen and try them when she can cook.

No one expected that Liu Chengxu's so-called plum blossom banquet was not invited by his peers, but by several future sons-in-law. The most nervous is, of course, Song Mingji, the eldest son of the Song Dynasty, who is now a hundred households of the six grades of the Jingwei Command Division, but Daqi has always emphasized literature and light martial arts, and with literature and imperial martial arts, he is really nothing in this hundred households.

Of course, others see that he is the son of Kuraba Shirou, and he is still very polite.

But Song Mingji knew that if he wanted to take root and rise, he couldn't really mess around, otherwise his father would be fine when he was there, but if he wasn't there, his situation would not be good.

Now that his future father-in-law is invited before marriage, Song Mingji has not liked to read since he was a child, and he is not the material here, but he knows that his future father-in-law is a two-list jinshi. Don't look at the old lady of the Liu family and the old man Liu, they are also martial artists, but one is a martial artist and the other is a martial champion, and their talents are not low.

But Song Mingji's mind is quite flexible, he went to his younger brother Song Mingcheng for support, compared to him, his younger brother can be regarded as quite literate, and the relationship between the brothers has always been very good.

"I think since it's a plum blossom banquet, I can't make a few poems about 'plum', if you help me think about it in advance, I won't make a fool of myself." Song Mingji said with a smile.

Song Mingcheng teased his brother: "What's the matter? I'm afraid of losing to your brothers-in-law. ”

Song Mingji was very frank: "I'm not afraid of losing to them, I'm afraid of losing face to our Song family." If you don't help me, my dad has a few Qingke, so I'll just go find them. ”

"Eh, why don't I help you, my sister-in-law will enter the door in a month, if you eat and lose face in front of your sister-in-law, I can't bear it." Song Mingcheng smiled.

The two brothers laughed a few more words, Song Mingcheng remembered the girl of the Liu family he saw, he heard that she had already made a marriage, and it was Zheng Hao who was decided, and Rao was the son of his own cangba waiter, so he slowly smiled lightly.

Song Mingji said with a smile: "Second brother, I heard from my mother that you are also ready to marry next year, and I have already seen the daughter of the left waiter of the Ministry of Rites for you, and then our brothers will be considered to be married." ”

Song Mingcheng smiled.

Like Song Mingji, Zeng Yunxi is also looking for a cousin to have ideas, he is very broad-handed, leaning on the recliner, Zeng Yunfang is also helpless: "You have also been reading for many years, and you can write poems to deal with one or two." ”

"You are so naïve, I am doing this for the face of my Zeng family." Zeng Yunxi said that there are words for vibrating.

Zeng Yunfang was already a child at the age of twelve, relying not only on talent, but also on hard work, Zeng Yunxi couldn't bear this hardship, but he was also determined to show off his talents, and only with fame could he see officials without kneeling.

"Then the third brother, you should rely on yourself even more, you are also the one who is going to end, we went to those poetry meetings before, you are still quite comfortable, why are you so nervous today?" Zeng Yunfang was puzzled.

Zeng Yunxi said: "I inquired in advance, if there was no Zheng Hao, I would have no problem suppressing Song Mingji, I heard that he is not good at reading." But Zheng Hao is a lifter—"

"Third brother, you won't lose anything if you lose to him, everyone is lifting."

"Yes." Zeng Yunxi also thought about it.

He somehow saw that there was no one around, and then he looked up and asked, "She, is she okay?" ”

Although Zeng Yunfang didn't hear him mention the name of that person, but he knew who "she" he was talking about, Zeng Yunfang glanced at the third brother. This brother knew how to slip under the nose of his husband since he was a child, knew all the fun things, and in the eyes of him when he was still a child, he felt that he was incomparably great.

Even if the relationship between his mother and his second aunt is not very good, he also likes this cousin very much, he is born to understand the world, and no one up and down dislikes him.

But such a person who is comfortable at all times and places will be trapped by love, and after Sister Zhong quietly sent him away, he was sick for a few days, as if there were many people. Zeng Yunfang also thought that he had forgotten, but he didn't expect his cousin to mention it again.

"She is very good, last month my uncle wrote to my cousin that he told my cousin about a family business, and he is the son of the local county magistrate, and my uncle has a livelihood in the county government, and the wedding date is scheduled for next year." Zeng Yunfang said.

Zeng Yunxi smiled: "That's good, that's good." ”

He walked out, and for some reason Zeng Yunfang always felt that his cousin's back was a little depressed.

Compared with the nervousness of Song and Zeng, Zheng Hao's mood may not be relaxed, mainly because he may be tested by his father-in-law, but because of another thing his mother said.

"Your father-in-law and mother-in-law both value you very much, and your father-in-law's appointment is about to come down. is about to enter the official capital of the Imperial Palace, and assist the Ministry of Industry to govern the Yellow River, I am afraid that I will go to Jining. Mrs. Zheng looked at Zheng Hao and said.

Zheng Hao knows the family history of his father-in-law Liu Chengxu, and he has a lot of experience in governing the river, and he is also on the emperor this year, although the emperor is not very in the court, but he still knows who is a talent, and it is normal to have this result now.

But what does my mother mean by this......

He looked up at Mrs. Zheng, who had an interesting look in her eyes: "So, your parents-in-law intend to let your fiancé meet, and then you won't be able to see each other for a few years." ”

Zheng Hao is not easy about this matter, he is already a person, so he has participated in the poetry club a lot, and he can even say that he is at ease.

And facing an eleven-year-old girl, it is far more difficult than the poetry club, such as what to give and what to say, which is a very troublesome problem.

He was known as a young and enlightened man, well-read, but most of those were reading, or etiquette as a child of a family, but no one taught him how to socialize with little girls.

He came from the Nanzu of the Zheng family in Xingyang, and when he was eleven years old, his grandfather, who was once the prime minister, died, and his father was worried at home, so he told him that he must inherit his grandfather's legacy, and in the future, he hoped that the Nanzu Zheng family could produce another prime minister.

For the first time, he went to Lu's house to consult his sister, Mrs. Lu.

Mrs. Lu married at fifteen and Xu, and it has been a few years since she got married, she didn't expect her eldest brother to come at this time, without him, because the eldest brother Zheng Hao has always been very polite, and he seems to have no hobbies except reading, and he can be called the pride of heaven.

The relationship between the brother and sister is really not very good, and now that her brother comes to the door, she is suspicious.

I heard Zheng Hao say again: "You have been to Liu's house several times, what do you think the little girls like?" ”

Mrs. Lu suddenly realized that her brother was asking this, and she finally felt that she was still able to put on a stand in front of her brother: "Ahem, you want to ask Miss Liu San." This is no ordinary little girl......

Zheng Hao listened to his sister's lips and carefully memorized everything about Lishu in his mind.

It was very lively outside, the three aunts of the Liu family came to the door today, especially the Liu family is a famous daughter country, and three famous sons came at once, and the next person was even more excited.

Unexpectedly, Liu Chengxu didn't take any poetry at all, just chatting with them.

He himself has been a pro-people official for many years, has done imperial history, investigated cases, and is always a young man, talking to his three sons-in-law, and talking about the world, saying whatever comes to mind.

In particular, he himself cracked an unjust, false and wrongful case 20 years ago, which attracted much attention, Liu Chengxu smiled and said: "Speaking of which, the biggest reason why I was able to solve the case successfully, guess what? ”

Zeng Yunxi was the most tactful, and immediately said: "This is naturally thanks to your father-in-law, who is upright, not afraid of power, outspoken, and tireless in order to crack this case." ”

Okay, Song Mingji was originally going to say this, but he didn't expect to be robbed by Zeng Yunxi, so Song Mingji said: "I think my father-in-law is as careful as a hair, and he is like a god in judging cases." ”

"No, neither." Liu Chengxu waved his hand.

Even Zheng Hao was curious, and said with a smile on his face: "Why the hell?" Please don't hide your father-in-law. ”

Liu Chengxu said with a smile: "That's because your wife is like a god, that person is already difficult to find, she just made people draw a picture of twenty years of old decay according to the description, vivid, I sent it to the state departments, in order to find this person, in one fell swoop." Otherwise, I just guess who it is, and the murderer can't be found. Sometimes men don't look down on their daughters, if you discover this woman, and the husband and wife work together, they can go a long way. ”

After speaking, he also asked his subordinates to take out the painting painted by Xiao Fu at that time, and all of them were shocked.

Zheng Hao said: "It seems that a real person is in front of you, if you don't see it with your own eyes, it's unbelievable." ”

Only then did everyone understand Liu Chengxu's intentions, you all have to marry the daughter of the Liu family, so you can't take it lightly.

Liu Chengxu said: "If you regard them as helpers, they are the best helpers, if you regard your wives as cattle and horses, then they will always be kept in captivity, after all, they will be in captivity for the rest of their lives." ”

The three sons-in-law hurriedly said that they would definitely be good to the girl of the Liu family.

The sisters who were hiding behind all covered their mouths and snickered when they heard this, and Lishu said in her heart that there is no difference between this man and a woman, even Zheng Hao also knows that it is not good to please her father-in-law, and she will have to meet Zheng Hao later, so she has to slip away quickly.

……

Zheng Hao was beaten by his father-in-law, and he still had to think about how to chat with the little girl later, how his sister said, jewelry distraction, distraction, Huasheng and right, he remembered.

First from jewelry, clothes, and then talk about poetry, it is said that these are all the topics that the three girls of the Liu family are most interested in.

After knocking on the door, he was brought from the path by the servant to the main hall, and when he was about to step into the door, a melodious guqin sound came.

The high is long and sad, and the low is deep and sad, which is clearly the "Eighteen Beats of Hu Ji".

The girl was dressed in red, and when she raised her eyes, she was kind and beautiful, and he was also looking at her when she raised her eyes, looking at each other and smiling. ：，n，