No wonder my daughter likes this little girl Qi so much.
"This is my mother-in-law. My mother-in-law and I are here to visit you." Xiao Qingxue smiled with her eyes curled up.
Qi Jiujiu looked at the pretty and plump woman with two attendants behind him, and became obviously reserved. She was so blessed that she was so nervous that she could not speak. She felt that her palms were sweaty and her mind was blank. Oops, what should I say.
"My little girl, drink wine and say goodbye...bye..."
Before Qi Jiujiu finished speaking, there were hurried footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw her father put on his most decent clothes and hurried over with his mother-in-law and brother.
"Little citizen Qi Maofang, his wife Wang and his eldest son Qi Yiming paid homage to the general's wife." Qi Maofang lifted her robe and was about to kneel down with the whole family.
Lei Hu stepped forward and pulled the person up. The Qi family did not dare to move now.
Qi Jiujiu glanced at the general's wife secretly. She didn't expect that Qingxue would bring her mother-in-law as a guest.
Xiao Luolan said to them warmly: "No need to be polite. It's my fault that I didn't hand over the invitation for this visit. My daughter has a good relationship with the girl from the Qing family, so I came with her and disturbed the Qing family."
Seeing the general's wife talking softly, the Qi family's nervousness eased a lot unconsciously. Qi Maofang took the lead and said: "What the general's wife said is wrong. We are all people under the rule of Youzhou. Our current well-being depends entirely on the general and his family." Only by resisting foreign enemies can we have such peace. The general's wife is willing to come to my house, but we are too happy to be happy, so how can we feel disturbed."
"Please come in quickly."
Everyone in the Qi family led the distinguished guests into the reception hall.
Xiao Qingxue grabbed Qi Jiujiu and gave her her gift: "Hey, it's the painting of Taigong Zhu that you like."
"I can't have it, it's too expensive." Qi Jiujiu quickly refused and looked at his brother.
"The turquoise bracelet you gave me is made of the turquoise you bought from Hu Shang at a huge price. It's also very valuable." Xiao Qingxue handed the painting to her and said with a smile, "My mother-in-law also brought it with me. Some pastries, let’s eat them together later.”
When Qi Jiujiu heard that it was delicious, he nodded quickly: "Okay, I still have honey-pickled plums in my room. I'll ask the kitchen to bring two more steamed pears."
Qi Yiming on the side twitched the corner of his mouth and looked at the little girl with hatred.
In the nave.
Seeing her daughter talking, Xiao Luolan pulled Miss Qi to bow to them and leave, then went to play.
"My little girl is naughty and makes the general's wife laugh." Mrs. Wang said a little embarrassedly after letting her servants serve tea.
"My Qingxue is the same way." Xiao Luolan smiled.
The atmosphere in the central hall was quite harmonious, mainly because the general's wife's easy-going and gentle attitude made the Qi family members who had been tense gradually relax.
Lei Hu and Chun Hua were guarding outside the door.
Lei Bao and Xia He followed the young master.
The three people of the Qi family sat in the middle hall to accompany the distinguished guests. Seeing that the general's wife was interested in private schools, Qi Maofang told some interesting stories about the school in the village, and then warmly invited the general's wife to have a meal at Qi's house.
Xiao Luolan thought for a while but refused. Langge asked about the time of the city gate. Once the time is up, the city gate will be closed. If there is no important matter, the city gate will not be opened.
It would not be good if she took the lead in breaking the rules, but Xiao Luolan also invited the Qi family to visit Zhou Zhai when they are free in the future.
Qi Yiming had been sitting in the middle hall listening to the general's wife. He listened very seriously. When there was a break, he stood up and bowed to the general's wife.
Lei Hu kept his hand on the knife and kept his attention in the hall. Seeing such inexplicable behavior, he quietly walked behind the mistress. Everyone outside the Qi family was from the Lei family. He was very confident in dealing with these scholars. .
"Madam General, please forgive me for being bold. I have a case that I want to report to Madam General. Please listen to it."
Qi Maofang and Wang both stood up nervously. They were both honest people. It was the elder's idea to let the younger daughter try to get in touch with Madam Xiao, but they didn't expect that the younger daughter suddenly fell in favor with Madam Xiao. They became good friends inexplicably, and they still feel unreal to this day.
"There are yamen in Langge that can handle cases. The responsible judges, Judge Xu and Officer Dou, are both straight-faced and tough people. As long as there is a case, they will handle it seriously." Xiao Luolan didn't understand what Qi Yiming said about the case. So she asked him to report the case first. She really didn't know anything about the interrogation and torture of the case.
Qi Yiming shook his head: "General's wife, I can't trust them."
He raised his head and looked at the general's wife: "May I ask the general's wife, if the Zhou family committed a serious crime, would the Yamen deal with it impartially?"
Xiao Luolan was stunned.
"Add one more condition." Qi Yiming suddenly knelt down, straightened his back, and kowtowed heavily: "What if he is a senior official of the direct line of the Zhou family?"
"I am here to file a lawsuit against the Chief Justice of the Langge Prefecture. Mr. Zhou is abducting beggars and young children privately, and is indiscriminately treating people's lives. I ask the general's wife to investigate."
It took Xiao Luolan a while before he remembered Zhou Sweden.
The third brother of the deceased father of the Zhou clan leader.
He was appointed as the direct legal officer of Langge Prefecture and was the direct superior of Judge Xu and Dou Tui.
Xiao Luolan was silent for a while.
Qi Yiming's forehead, which had been kneeling on the ground, was already covered with cold sweat. If he failed in this move, there was a high probability that he would become a benevolent person. Just as he gritted his teeth and persisted, he heard a sentence.
"Do you have any evidence?"
Qi Yiming suddenly raised his head, his eyes bright, and he was determined
"have."
He was not afraid that the general's wife would ask for evidence, but he was afraid that she would not want it.
Chapter 113
The sun is setting over the mountains in the west, the sky is getting dark, and smoke is already rising from many houses in Shili Village.
It gets dark early in winter and the weather is cold. Qi Jiujiu knew it was time for Mrs. Xiao to leave. Thinking of this, she took out a long box from her boudoir and handed it to her.
The painting of Zhu Taigong given to her by Miss Xiao was too valuable. Qi Jiujiu felt really bad if she didn't give her something in return. In addition, she had originally intended to get close to her, which made Qi Jiujiu dream of becoming a chivalrous woman since she was a child. Jianghu's Qi Jiujiu felt guilty and guilty.
She is the future heroine, how could she do such an unfair thing!
He was thinking this in his heart, but Qi Jiujiu didn't have the courage to tell Mrs. Xiao at all.
Xiao Qingxue took it and asked doubtfully: "What is it?"
"It's just a hairpin." Qi Jiujiu smiled, and there were two small dimples on her cheeks. She scratched her cheeks, her face turned a little red: "You keep it."
Xiao Qingxue put it away: "You can come to my house to play during the Chinese New Year."
"I have to ask my father and mother first." Qi Jiujiu winked mischievously: "But I guess they will agree."
Xiao Qingxue stood opposite Qi Jiujiu, and the two of them laughed in unison.
Qi Jiujiu sent the person to the door of the courtyard. Not far away stood the beautiful maid named Xia He and Lei's retinue.
When he was about to step out of the courtyard, Qi Jiujiu looked at Mrs. Xiao's figure.
The eldest brother said that Miss Xiao was the daughter of the mistress of Youzhou, and she was very favored by Lord Jiedushi. All the Guanglufang areas with the best location in the inner city belonged to Little Lady Xiao. Lord Jiedushi was very fond of this stepdaughter. All Langge people can see it.
Tribunals, racecourses, manors, fields, treasures, she shines like a pearl in Langge. She is a truly noble lady with golden branches and jade leaves. Such a person would actually notice her and make friends with her.
Qi Jiujiu pinched the corner of his clothes and suddenly called out: "Qingxue."
Xiao Qingxue turned around, and the beautiful girl was covered with a layer of golden light in the dusk: "What's the matter, Jiujiu."
Qi Jiujiu remembered the day he met her. He followed his elder brother's instructions and secretly observed what kind of person this Madam Xiao was. He had been observing her for many days. It was the winter solstice and there were many people on the street. She was hiding in the street. In the crowd, it was discovered that Miss Xiao had been squeezed out of a pink, slightly old sachet.
She picked it up quietly.
Not long after that, Mrs. Xiao came back to look for her, looking anxious, so Qi Jiujiu returned the sachet to her. After a while, the two got to know each other.
"Why do you want to be friends with me?" Qi Jiujiu's voice became softer.
Xiao Qingxue looked at her: "Maybe we were good friends in our previous life."
Qi Jiujiu didn't understand.
However, Xiao Qingxue felt that Qi Jiujiu in front of her looked like her good friend in modern times, and the more she got along with him, the more she felt like this.
Maybe there will really be reincarnation in this vast world.
Before leaving, Xiao Qingxue waved to Qi Jiujiu with a bright smile.
On the way back.
Xiao Qingxue discovered that there was one more person in the team.
"Aniang, who is he?" Xiao Qingxue sat next to Aniang and looked through the window at the young man sitting on Lei Hu's horse. He looked about eleven or twelve years old.
Xiao Luolan closed the window and told what happened in Qi's home hall.
"Qi Yiming said he has evidence, and the evidence is the little beggar he took in three years ago, the young man Lei Hu took with him."
"This man was taken in by the Qi family three years ago. At that time, the little beggar kept saying that he was going to Langge to find his sister. The Qi family were kind-hearted, so they asked him where his sister was and wanted to send him back. When he asked, he learned that his sister was there. Over there at Yanshoufang House."
Xiao Qingxue remembered: "Is it Yanshoufang next to Xingpingfang where Tuoba's family lives?"
Xiao Luolan nodded. There were quite a few Zhou family members. Although she did not live with them, she also knew that most of the high-ranking people in the Zhou family lived in that area, especially the direct lineage, the second brother of Clan Master Zhou. Zhou Xuan, the third brother Zhou Bin, the fifth brother Zhou Luo, were surrounded by the great-uncle family of the Zhou family, the third uncle, the seventh uncle of the Zhou clan leader, and some old figures of the Zhou family.
This does not include the collateral descendants of the Zhou family.
The Zhou family from the collateral family lived in Jiafengfang. Although they were in the inner city, they were still far away from the main house in Wuxie Mountain.
When Xiao Luolan thought of the large family members of the Zhou family, she felt that they were like tangled old tree roots. The power of clans living together in ancient times had always made Xiao Luolan feel a little scared.
"Qi Yiming felt something was wrong. How could there be a beggar relative in the Zhou family? After careful questioning, he found out that he was a wandering beggar. He followed my sister and the two of them begging all the way to Langge and then joined the local beggar gang in Langge."
"According to Beggar, his sister suddenly received a notice one day. The gang leader told her that he would take her to a good place to live a good life. Beggar didn't believe it and followed the gang leader secretly. He saw his sister and the gang leader. Seven or eight little beggars who were about her age were sent to the back door of the Zhou Mansion in Sweden. "
"The beggar ran away in fear and never saw him again."
After Xiao Luolan finished speaking, he found that his daughter was depressed and her delicate eyebrows wrinkled.
Xiao Qingxue really felt bad, partly because of the beggar's issue and partly because of the Qi family. She probably confirmed that Qi Jiujiu had deliberately approached her, or that the Qi family wanted to get close to A Niang through her.
Xiao Luolan touched her daughter's head and said warmly: "What's wrong?"
"I also made an appointment to have a drink during the Chinese New Year." Xiao Qingxue whispered.
"Do you like playing with her?" Xiao Luolan held her daughter's hand and asked softly. She knew her daughter Mo Ruomu. As soon as she heard this, she knew what her daughter was thinking.
Xiao Qingxue remembered that Qi Jiujiu had the same personality, voice, and appearance as a modern good friend, and touched the hairpin she gave her. It was a beautiful pink hibiscus jade hairpin, and she could not say she didn't like it.
"If you like, just play with her alone." Xiao Luolan said.
Xiao Qingxue guessed a little angrily: "The Qi family knows this and is hiding this little beggar. If they hadn't met us, they would have hidden it for the rest of their lives."
"Maybe they are good people who do not expect anything in return. Maybe there is a force behind them that supports them in doing this."
Xiao Qingxue fell on her mother's lap and murmured: "It's so annoying." She didn't like intrigue at all.
Xiao Luolan touched her daughter's head comfortingly.
