Cui Shizi smiled and said: "It's getting late, Prince, you should go to bed early, so we won't disturb you."
Prince Bao wanted to send it off with a smile, but unfortunately he found that he couldn't smile no matter what: "I am too old to send it off to you."
Zhou Xu took a sip of tea, stood up and said to Prince Bao, "I'll say goodbye here. I won't bother the Prince to see me off."
After Prince Bao and others left, he suddenly slumped down in the luxurious chair, his old body contained in the bright red fire fox fur, his eyes staring blankly at the magnificent red lacquered algae painting above the hall.
After a long time, the palace steward came in quietly and asked with fear.
"Your Majesty, the things given by Master Jieduzhi are still in the main courtyard. Isn't it too bad to leave them here for the Chinese New Year? Do you want to..."
"Just keep it in the warehouse at the back." Prince Bao waved his hand tiredly: "Pass on my order to tell the family to stay calm recently and not to go out."
Seeing that the prince seemed to be resting, the housekeeper slowly withdrew.
Prince Bao stared at the background where the butler left, with a faint look in his eyes...
On the main road outside the mansion.
Xiao Qingxue's heart skipped a beat when her father finished speaking, and she still had lingering fears.
"Keep a close eye on Prince Bao's Mansion. If there is any abnormal movement, kill him without mercy." Zhou Xu ordered Qin Feng.
"Here!" Qin Feng responded.
Zhou Xuan and Qin Feng rode away to prepare for the siege of Prince Bao's Mansion. Cui Shizi looked at the darkening sky, coughed, and then smiled to his lord: "I made an appointment with Qingshan for a drink in the evening, so I won't accompany you." My lord."
Zhao Qingshan shook his fan and said: "I finally got an early errand today, and I plan to stay with Shi Zi until we get drunk."
The two of them faced their mistress and mistress before leaving together.
"Amei, let's go." Zhou Shenzhi rode on horseback and held the reins of the other horse: "It's too slow to ride in the carriage. Let's ride home first." He turned around and said, "Amu, do you want to ride with us? Food."
Xiao Qingxue blinked and saw her father and mother standing together. She guessed that her brother was going to leave some space for them to get along, so she simply got on her horse.
Tuoba Amu had his own horse. When he heard the invitation, he replied after a while: "Brother, I'm waiting for me to go back at home. It's not convenient today."
Xiao Qingxue turned to look at him. It was dark and Amu always kept her head down. She really couldn't see the expression on his face clearly.
Zhou Shenzhi said: "In this case, we can meet again when we have time."
"Amu, goodbye." Xiao Qingxue waved to Tuoba Amu.
Zhou Shenzhi looked at his parents: "Father, mother, I will take my sister to ride a horse and go ahead."
Zhou Xu nodded and said, "Well, keep an eye on your sister."
Zhou Shenzhi smiled and said, "I will. Goodbye, mother." He imitated A Mei's wording habits.
Xiao Luolan smiled. For some reason, she suddenly felt that Shen Zhi was like an older brother who took his daughter to and from school.
"Goodbye Shen."
When Zhou Xu heard the soft smile in his wife's words, he also smiled and said: "Okay, let's go quickly." He was so old, but he was still slimy.
Zhou Shenzhi smiled and took his sister away.
Xiao Luolan got on the carriage, because Sect Leader Zhou was also riding in a carriage this time. Chunhua, Xia He and the others were riding outside. There was a charcoal pot burning in the carriage, which was warm.
Not long after Xiao Luolan sat down, Zhou Xu took off the lady's curtain. He sat next to her. Seeing that she didn't speak, he squeezed her hand and said, "Why don't you speak?"
Xiao Luolan turned to look at Sect Leader Zhou. In fact, she was always in a depressed mood and couldn't be happy. She sighed and said, "It's nothing, I just think the late emperor was quite bad."
Zhou Xu looked at his wife's face and held her in his arms.
"Doesn't he care about the sacrifice of so many lives?" Xiao Luolan murmured, her heart still immersed in what Prince Bao said.
Zhou Xu played with his wife's hand, like a handful of snow melting into his rough palm. Because of his plumpness, the wife's wrist bones had a layer of softness. When she touched it, her skin felt like there was suction. Zhou Xu couldn't put it down and kneaded it. After hearing what the lady said, he thought for a while and said.
"When I first saw the star-catching platform in the palace, I suspected that I was dazzled. There was such a tall tower in the world. At that time, I wanted to go up and have a look."
"When I boarded the star-catching platform, I looked down and found that the maids and eunuchs in the palace had become very small, like ants."
"And the emperor has been the highest in the world since he was born."
"Madam, do you think he will see those humble ants in his eyes?"
Xiao Luolan stared at Sect Leader Zhou blankly, not feeling any relief.
Zhou Xu kissed his wife's snowy neck and was intoxicated by her fragrance: "Even I sometimes regard human life as nothing. After too many wars, people are no longer human in my eyes."
"The higher you are, the more you forget yourself."
Zhou Xu was breathing unsteadily. He put his arms around Madam's thin waist. Seeing that Madam's collar was a bit messy by him, he couldn't help but kiss the snow-white flesh on the back of Madam's neck. He noticed that Madam trembled slightly, and the white skin on the back of her neck Immediately left a faint trace.
Zhou Xu narrowed his eyes happily.
Xiao Luolan curled up her fingers and ducked sensitively: "Don't make trouble."
"Just listen to Madam." Zhou Xu succeeded in stealing the fragrance, smiled and closed Madam's clothes, and hugged her again.
The wheels of the carriage kept turning. In the quiet carriage, Xiao Luolan's mood was ups and downs. She turned to look at Sect Master Zhou, as if asking him: "Will you become like that in the future?"
Zhou Xu pretended not to speak.
Xiao Luolan was actually just a little confused. As soon as she felt disappointed, she felt her lips being kissed heavily.
Zhou Xu laughed and said, "Of course not."
Xiao Luolan didn't believe it when he heard him swear so confidently: "I don't believe it."
"Good madam." Zhou Xu smiled and said, "My heart is with you."
With Madam's temperament, she even wants to help Hu Ji and Liuqi, whom she doesn't even know, so what else can he do to make people angry?
Chapter 146
The wax festival.
It has not snowed for several days. Not only did it not snow, but the sun came out. Even the cold wind was much lighter than usual. The not-so-warm winter sun shone on people's bodies with a lazy energy. , also blew the cheerful breath of the wax festival.
Xiao Luolan always gets up early, but Sect Master Zhou gets up earlier than her every day. He usually comes to her after taking a shower after practicing martial arts. This is just enough time for him to bump into Shen Zhi, and occasionally Shen Zhi meets her. Most of the time, it was Xiao Luolan and Sect Master Zhou who stayed here to eat. Her daughter would be late when everyone else went out on errands. Xiao Luolan would usually eat with her on an empty stomach. Some.
In fact, according to Xiao Luolan, her daughter woke up not too late. It was a normal student time. She woke up at eight in the morning, washed up, and probably went to her place for dinner around eight-thirty.
Unfortunately, people here got up too early. Xiao Luolan yawned. She also got up quite early today.
Zhou Xu wore a brand new black robe with dark patterns and a smile on his face. He strode to the inner room and waved to the maids in the room not to wait here.
"I will draw Madam's eyebrows." Zhou Xu said in a generous tone.
Xiao Luolan turned her head to look at him: "Mr. Zhou, I've already painted it." Just use Luo Dai to lightly trace it twice to modify the eyebrow shape.
Zhou Xu sat next to Madam, and when he saw that the painting was really finished, he felt a little pity. He put the bear cloak in his hand on the beauty beside him, and said with a smile: "The black bear I hunted last time has been made into a big cloak. Madam, do you like it?" "
There are two pieces in total, one large and one small.
They are all black, and the fine fur is shiny and smooth. It seems to shine when the sun shines on it. It looks extremely soft at first glance. The fur collar of the piece she is wearing has a circle of dark purple sable fur, and the fur is decorated with Star-studded pearls make it even more noble and gorgeous.
Zongzhu Zhou's piece is completely black, and it has a simple and beautiful look compared to hers.
"Is my one too fancy?" Xiao Luolan said euphemistically. In fact, it was really fancy and impressive. If she was asked to choose, it would be simpler like the one worn by Sect Leader Zhou.
Zhou Xu brought the lady's piece over and looked at it carefully: "No, I think the embroiderer can embroider some more gold threads, make some patterns, and put some smaller gems on the neckline. It will look better."
"No, that's fine." Xiao Luolan said quickly, "That's it." She didn't want to dress like a Christmas tree.
Xiao Luolan suddenly laughed when he thought of this.
Zhou Xu sat back on the couch and coughed lightly when he saw his wife laughing. He just wanted to dress his wife up beautifully. Those gold and gemstones are so beautiful, especially the gold, which is so golden. It would be a waste if he didn't put it on his wife. But Madam really doesn’t care about external things. The beads, hairpins and jewelry are just the ones she usually uses. If he didn’t often dig out a few items from the warehouse, Madam would probably be able to use them all in a year.
This made Zhou Xu's heart feel numb. He just felt that his wife still needed to take care of him. If he was gone, what would she do?
Zhou Xu was worried and happy.
Xiao Luolan found that Zhou Zongzhu's expression was strange. She put on the pearl earrings and the jade bracelet without knowing why. She caught a glimpse of the golden thread of life in the dowry. She paused with her fingers and put it on too. The cool soft gold stuck to her skin and was quickly warmed by the body temperature. She lowered her sleeves to cover the golden thread of life.
"Today is also Buddha's birthday. Madam, let me give you a flower mother-of-pearl." Zhou Xu said enthusiastically. He picked a lotus-shaped flower mother-of-pearl from the gift box. The flower mother-of-pearl is an extremely thin and transparent flower that has been polished. Made of shells, carved into the shape of lotus flowers, and colored with gold leaf powder and flower juice.
This was the first time Xiao Luolan posted this thing, and her forehead felt cold.
You can see that the woman in the bronze mirror has a light red lotus on her forehead, and the stamens are golden, making the woman more mature and charming.
The more Zhou Xu looked at it, the more beautiful it became.
"Okay, let's go." Xiao Luolan stood up, and Zhou Xu put the coat on his wife. He lowered his head and kissed the side of her face. When he was about to hold hands, he found something on her wrist. Zhou Xu Xu looked at it, and the golden threads on the cuffs were looming.
Xiao Luolan's face turned red when Sect Leader Zhou saw her. She felt inexplicably ashamed and wanted to withdraw her hand.
Zhou Xu smiled and held the lady's hand tightly. He couldn't hold it back and was about to kiss the lady on the lips.
Xiao Luolan stopped her quickly with quick eyes and gave Zhou Sect Master a shy look: "The mouth is so fat." How could he see his daughter and Shen Zhi later? After that, he quickly walked out of the inner room.
Zhou Xu followed his wife.
Waiting in the outer hall where the family was eating, Xiao Luolan found that her daughter had also gotten up early today and came over with Shenzhi. She raised a smile and called the two children to come over quickly. She had asked someone to take care of her while she was dressing up. Breakfast is put on the table. When you eat it like this, the temperature is just right and not too hot.
Xiao Qingxue was wearing a lotus-colored dress today, with a lotus green fur cloak on it, and a black fur scarf around her neck. She ran over in lambskin boots, followed by an azure robe. , Shen Zhi is wearing a chinchilla fur coat.
"Mom, dad, good morning." Xiao Qingxue wished the two of them a thousand blessings, and the lotus pattern on her forehead shone with gold foil.
She was even happier when she saw that the flower on her forehead was the same as hers.
"My son pays homage to his father and mother." Zhou Shenzhi made a simple courtesy.
Zhou Xu held his wife's hand and said with a smile: "Hurry up and eat. After dinner, we will go out to play as a family."
After Xiao Luolan took his seat, he said to the two children: "The table is full of your favorite food, eat more."
Laba porridge is eaten early on the Laba Festival. The porridge is rich in ingredients, including rice, millet, red beans, red dates, peanuts, chestnuts, almonds, raisins, etc. Add a little yellow/ice/sugar and cook until slightly thick. When Xiao Luolan got up to practice martial arts, Xiao Luolan got up and went to the kitchen of Mingxintang. She waited until the cooking was almost done before coming out.
Laba garlic is made from purple-skinned garlic and rice vinegar. It tastes sour and spicy and appetizing. It can be placed on egg pancakes and rolled with thin slices of mutton, plus a cup of goat milk per person and oranges to remove the flavor after the meal.
Zhou Xu felt the lady's attentiveness and drank three bowls in a row. The others were also full. Xiao Luolan felt happy when he saw that they had all finished eating.
After finishing the meal, the family went out for shopping, eating on the way. There was only one Zhouzhai in Wuxie Mountain, and they would not go to the main street in the inner city until they passed the Zhouzhai.
Xiao Qingxue simply took off her curtain hat when she got to the street and looked at the lively scene on the street. The smell of Laba porridge was floating in the air. There were many more monks on the street. I don't know what the gongs and drums were doing in the distance. , Xiao Luolan also glanced at it from a distance.
Zhou Shenzhi is already very familiar with the annual Laba Festival activities. He smiled and explained to his mother and sister: "Every time on the Buddha's birthday, the abbot and monks in the temple will hold a blessing activity. If my sister is curious, she can go have a look."
The family set off together with the crowd. Xiao Luolan discovered that there were actually Qilin guards patrolling the roadside, and a road was specially opened for Buddhist monks. On both sides of the road were people watching the excitement, and the small restaurants on both sides were also full of people. There were more people, and there were also a lot of Buddhist Lotus Sutras, hand-strung beads, incense, and carved Buddha statues and wooden fish on the small vendors. Xiao Luolan looked at them all the way and thought they were quite novel.
