"The princess is Xiao Gong's granddaughter. Just as those Confucian scholars are naturally close to the princess, the princess is also naturally close to them. It would be bad if they really succeeded in driving a wedge between the Lian family and the princess."
"Or is it that Dalang has no confidence in himself and will enrich himself?"
Lian Dalang turned around and said, "Sir, there is no need to provoke me. If one day you can really go one step further and become a salt and iron transport envoy, with this status, even if you do nothing, you will make a lot of money. If so, why take risks?"
Mo Wanxia smiled and said: "Da Lang has always known how powerful it is. It's me who talks too much, but there are so many people secretly watching that position. According to my investigation in the past two days, not only Xiao Gong's disciples, but also Cao Heilong People are watching eagerly from the sidelines, so it’s better to plan everything in advance.”
"But how should I fight for it?" Lian Dalang had no clue, and he really couldn't think of any way.
Mo Wanxia said sternly: "Please let me recommend myself to the princess privately and let her make her decision."
"What if the princess doesn't like me and rejects it?" Lian Dalang asked.
Mo Wanxia loosened her hand on the fan and said: "It doesn't matter even if you reject it temporarily. Everyone has the desire to make progress. The princess will not reprimand the young man. No one will know when he comes out. She just lets the princess I know that Dalang has the ability to be this official. Dalang used to serve as a salt and iron official in Fengzhou, but he was dismissed by Fengzhou Mu because of Erlang, and then he became a small county magistrate."
"This is all in the past." Lian Dalang was a little moved by what he said, but he hesitated at the end: "If this happens, others will probably punish me again when they see me as Lian."
Mo Wanxia smiled and said, "I'm lucky enough to be the princess's servant. Why should I be afraid of rumors from outsiders?"
Lian Dalang thought for a while and nodded.
Chapter 234
The layout of the banquet hall is extremely clever. Now is the season of blooming flowers in midsummer. The hall is decorated with a large number of flowers. As soon as you see it, you can see the flowers in bloom. Along the way, the fragrance of flowers fills your sleeves. Because of the ice basin, the hall is full of flowers. It was very cool. Behind the bead curtain, the musician played the pipa, and the music was sweet.
As she arrived, everyone at the table stood up and saluted. Xiao Luolan recognized the people, greeted them with a smile, and then sat at the head of the desk on the left, opposite the seat of the protagonist of today's banquet, the Lian family's eldest son.
But he's not here yet.
Most of the people in the room were Mr. Xiao's disciples. Xiao Luolan took this opportunity to get to know each other. From time to time, someone would say hello to her. She sat upright and nodded with a faint smile on her face. She also chatted with them for a few words. After staying here for a long time, Xiao Luolan gradually mastered a familiar set of procedures for receiving guests even though she was not good at words. She listened to the middle-aged scribe with the courtesy name Bolong across from her and learned that he was going to serve as the Yi Zhengling in three days. Naturally, Congratulations.
Li You said: "I discussed it with a few friends and planned to invite the teacher and the princess to listen to the piano at Xu Gong's thatched cottage in the west of the city the day before the departure. I wonder if the princess is free."
Will you be with Mr. Xiao the day after tomorrow? Xiao Luolan said: "I have long heard that Mr. Xu has a unique skill at the crane harp. Since there is such a good opportunity to see it, I should definitely go."
Li You smiled and said: "Xu Gong is a close friend of mine. He also admires the teacher and the princess very much. I will definitely sweep up the couch to welcome him. The place where he lives also has a beautiful place that ordinary people don't know. There is a Buddhist and Taoist cliff in the back mountain. The scenery is superb, don’t miss it.”
"Why is it called Buddha and Taoist Cliff? Are there eminent Taoist monks discussing Taoism on it?" Xiao Luolan asked curiously. The name of this cliff is really strange.
"No, no, let Li get away with it. We will know as soon as the princess leaves." Li You said.
Xiao Qingxue sat obediently next to her mother-in-law, listening to their chat. She seemed to be serious, but in fact she was staring at the ice-cold wine on the desk. The glass wine bottle was placed in the ice basin, and a layer of water droplets appeared on the surface of the wine bottle. , through the transparent and beautiful glass, the wine showed a hazy dark red color like mist, coupled with the overflowing aroma of the wine, it made Xiao Qingxue want to have a taste.
Unknowingly, Dalang Lian came in from the outside, followed by Mo Wanxia. Lian Dalang smiled and saw the princess and Li Bolong chatting happily. His smile faltered slightly. He secretly gritted his teeth and stepped forward and said loudly. : "Princess, I'm sorry, I'm late!"
Xiao Luolan looked at Lian Dalang and said with a smile: "It's not too late, Lian Langjun came just in time."
Li You stroked his beard and stopped talking. Xun Yan, who was not far away from him, lowered his head and drank. Since Wu Junshou was fine, Magistrate Shen who brought him here had already returned to Qinghe County. He was a native of Qinghe and a county official. The son of Cheng is also familiar with disciples such as Duke Xiao, and has a few good friends, so he sits here calmly and talks to others from time to time.
His father asked him to wait for time. Xun Yan was not an impatient and reckless person by nature, so he was extremely patient. Wei Gong's envoy will arrive soon, but I don't know who he will be?
Mo Wanxia sat down next to the eldest husband, smiled and bowed to the princess. After observing her for a while, she waved and gave some instructions to the maid.
The host arrived and the party began.
This banquet is a housewarming celebration for the Lian family.
"Congratulations, Mr. Lian, on your new home." Xiao Luolan took the lead in saying, and the others also congratulated in turn, said some auspicious words, and the rest was to eat and drink.
Lian Dalang toasted to the princess with a smile on his face. Xiao Luolan returned the favor and drank a glass. Xiao Qingxue saw the opportunity and asked the maid to pour herself a full glass and took a sip happily. The wine was sour and sweet. Take one sip and the heat will disappear.
At this time, the maid presented several kinds of fruit wine. Small bottles of different colors were placed in the ice basin. They were really beautiful. Xiao Qingxue blinked. She was the only one on the table who had this fruit wine. Xiao Qingxue took a look around and found that Mo Wanxia next to Lian Dalang was smiling particularly beautifully at her.
Was this given to her alone?
Xiao Qingxue asked the maid to pour herself a glass of green plum fruit wine. When the maid poured the wine, she took out a new wine glass. The wine glass was glowing with sapphire color, and there was a pickled green plum at the bottom of the cup. When the green plum fruit wine was poured, the spring scenery swayed. .
Xiao Qingxue took a sip and thought it looked good and tasted good.
At this time, new wine and new dishes were served at the banquet.
Lian Dalang introduced: "Fengzhou's pear white is famous in the south of the Yangtze River. Everyone can drink it."
"Is the wine made from pear blossoms?" Xiao Luolan smelled the vague aroma of pear blossoms in the air and took a sip. The wine was soft and elegant in color. She smiled and said, "I wonder how it was brewed, so sweet."
Lian Dalang smiled and said: "The blooming pear blossoms are soaked and washed in spring water, and then dried in the shade. Then choose a jar of snow wine from the past year, soak the pear blossoms in the wine, seal the jar, bury the jar under the pear tree, and wait quietly. By March, pear blossom sake will be ready.
After Li You finished drinking, he stroked his beard and praised: "A little white pear blossom is better than thousands of miles of green waves."
"If you put all the spring spirit into a cup of wine, wouldn't you be drunk?" Xun Yan continued.
"Haha, everyone praises, praises." Lian Dalang also responded with a smile. He was very happy when the princess praised the pear blossom white.
Xiao Qingxue felt that people in ancient times were very particular about eating. They could recite a poem casually while drinking. When she arrived at Qinghe Academy, her ordinary nature would be exposed.
At a banquet, both the host and the guest are happy.
When they were about to leave, Xiao Luolan and the Lian family's eldest son stopped by and went back together. Xia He raised the curtain, and Xiao Qingxue lay at the car window, looking at Mo Wanxia who was riding on the horse with a smile: "Mr. Mo, There is a gathering of six arts at Xun Yan's place tomorrow, I will go there, will you come?"
Mo Wanxia pondered for a moment, then asked with a smile: "Why did you invite me, little lady?"
Mo Wanxia wore a hairpin on the side of her hat. When she leaned closer, her features were handsome. Nowadays, scholars love elegance. With the rise of hairpins, Mo Wanxia also followed the trend. Many disciples of the Xiao family in the hall were good at hairpins, and they didn’t want flowers anyway. Money, beauty and elegance.
Xiao Qingxue smiled slyly: "If you invite me to drink, I'll invite you to play with us."
"Besides, Mr. Mo is so good-looking. If I don't invite Mr. Mo, I always feel that the party is missing a piece of scenery."
Lian Dalang on the side was frightened by the shocking words of Miss Xiao and coughed. Mo Wanxia didn't react much and still smiled without saying a word. Instead, he blushed. He was deeply afraid that Mo Wanxia would be reprimanded by the princess. Miss Xiao was not sensible. , if there is any fault, it is naturally the fault of Mo Wanxia.
Just as he was about to shirk away, the curtains of the car were lifted up, revealing the princess's face. There was no anger on her face, but a friendly smile: "Mr. Mo is indeed outstanding. With Mr. Mo here, I believe that my little girl is capable of fighting in the six arts." I won’t lose the car race.”
Many of the men at the banquet were students from Qinghe Academy, and my daughter had been playing with them these past two days. Mr. Xun prepared a competition for the six arts of a gentleman. He got two Warring States chariots from somewhere, although they were replicas. , but her daughter likes it very much. She wants to be the chariot charioteer, and even the small sword she carries is ready.
"I would like to ask Mr. Mo to be my daughter on the ride. Is Mr. Mo willing?" Xiao Luolan asked.
"I wonder who is the leader in the car?" Mo Wanxia said with cupped hands.
"The first one is Shiliu Lang." Xiao Luolan said.
"Since the princess and the young lady have invited each other, then Mo is more respectful than to obey." Mo Wanxia said as she stood on the horse.
"We have chariots and weapons. Who can compete with Madam Xiao?" Mo Wanxia looked at Madam Xiao.
"It's Xun Yan." Xiao Qingxue said. What he found was very interesting, and there was no idea that girls should not play with chariots. At that time, several students said that the girl Ba Ya wanted to hold a tea party. Xiao Qingxue didn't like those poems and scented teas, so she refused. She liked the chariot race chosen by Xun Yan.
"Where will the competition be played?" Mo Wanxia then asked.
"On Guangling Avenue on the Dayanji side of the Guangling River." Xiao Qingxue said: "We will meet at Dayanji tomorrow afternoon to win two out of three games."
"Okay." Mo Wanxia said.
When Xiao Luolan saw that her daughter had negotiated well, she wiped the sweat from her daughter's forehead with a handkerchief: "Why are you still nervous?"
"Aren't you worried that Mr. Mo won't agree? Mr. Mo is smart at first glance. We will win tomorrow!" Xiao Qingxue raised her head and asked her to wipe her sweat. She smelled the delicious aroma of her body and took a deep breath. In one breath: "Mom, you smell so good."
"You know how to talk a lot." Xiao Luolan said with a smile.
"No way?" Xiao Qingxue felt that she was wronged. She was obviously telling the truth. My mother-in-law always smelled good.
"Don't play too much. Don't disturb the people. Do you understand?" Xiao Luolan warned: "I will go to Xu Gong's place the day after tomorrow. Do you want to go?"
"Let's talk about it then." Xiao Qingxue blinked and whispered to Aniang: "Now that the Lian family is here, I feel like there are more banquets. In the past, people from my grandfather's side didn't seem to invite banquets specially. Although the Lian family It's an aristocratic family, but it has a bad reputation for being the leader. Although my grandfather's side is Qingliu, its overall strength is inferior to that of the Lian family. Auntie, which one do you prefer?"
Xiao Luolan wiped her daughter's sweat and fanned her with a fan. Her eyes were soft and filled with infinite tenderness, and she just looked at her daughter with a smile.
Seeing that her mother was silent, Xiao Qingxue wanted to say a few more words, but the sun was just right, and her body smelled really good, so she drank two more sips of fruit wine. Now that the wine was getting stronger, she just felt lazy in her arms. Here, happiness bubbles up.
After a while, she fell asleep on her mother's lap. The girl was carefree, so she slept very soundly. Her cheeks were rosy. Xiao Luolan liked it and lowered her head to kiss her daughter's forehead. Now her daughter has In her own yard, she has a playful temperament and is often missing. It is rare to have a quiet rest like this.
Xiao Luolan was not too tired and fanned her daughter time and time again.
She also had a drink today and is quite lazy now.
Mo Wanxia, who was a few steps behind, looked at the princess behind the veil with thoughtful eyes. He liked to think too much. Did the princess have any deep meaning in asking him to join her? If so, what is the deep meaning?
The beautiful woman leaning against the window has her thick black hair tied into a bun, decorated with golden hairpins, her temples decorated with flowers, her eyelashes falling like stars, and her cheeks haloing like peach blossoms in full bloom.
It seemed like she was drunk, but Mo Wanxia always felt that the princess was always sober.
Be sober in your work and be a sober person.
Chapter 235
Inside the Xiangzhi Hall of Jiangdu Palace.
Xiao Luolan tucked her daughter in with a thin quilt covering her belly. Seeing her daughter sleeping in a big letter shape on the bed, she closed the window and the light in the room suddenly became darker. She looked at the ice basin in the corner again and saw that There were still ice cubes, so I went out with Xia He and Dong Xue.
It was still afternoon, the cicadas were chirping noisily, and the sunshine was fierce. Xiao Luolan wanted to take a rest with her daughter, so she went to the study room of Xiangzhi Palace. When she got to the study room, Xiao Luolan couldn't help but laugh.
The study room is not big, and there are all four treasures of the study room. There are study toys on the red sandalwood treasure shelf, and there is a faint green smoke from the Boshan stove. But what made Xiao Luolan laugh out loud is that there is a big sofa in front of the study window. It is made of cloth on the outside, but it is unknown on the inside. It seems to be filled with something, and it seems to be quite soft, because the sofa is sunken, and you can tell that my daughter often sits on it.
Xiao Luolan could imagine her daughter nestling on the sofa like a cat. Just thinking about it made her smile.
Dongxue didn't know why her mistress was laughing, but it didn't stop her from smiling too.
Xiao Luolan walked to the desk and sat down, and found an ink painting on the desk. Her daughter studied painting with Cui Langjun, and she must have learned something. On the drawing paper was an unfinished cat, a bit like a snowball, which had been sketched. The outline of the eyes, body, nose and mouth were gone, only the ears were left, and the flower shape on the cat's body had not yet been smudged with ink. Xiao Luolan raised his sleeves, recalled the shape of the snowball, and carefully completed it.
There is a pot of jasmine in the corner of the desk, and the breeze blows, and the fragrance is refreshing.
Xia He brought the cut melons and fruits and looked at the princess's drunken face in the sun. He took a round pillow from the study room and placed it behind the princess so that after painting, the mistress could lean back on the chair. rest.
The young lady often makes some novel things. She asked the embroiderer in the palace to make pillows and sofas. There are several pillows, all of them are smaller than the hidden bag. One of them is round in shape and light yellow in color. He secretly felt that this pillow looked like an egg yolk, which was very cute.
After Xiao Luolan finished painting, he put the melon and fruit plate at hand and said with a smile: "Come over and eat together."
The two maids came over with a smile and shared the fruits.
Suddenly he heard Julius Lang shouting from outside, mixed with the thumping footsteps of the young man. Xiao Luolan asked Dongxue to call Julius Lang here to prevent him from going in and waking up his daughter.
Not long after, Zhou Shiliu was brought in. After not seeing each other for many days, Zhou Shiliu was a little tanned, but still handsome. He was wearing light armor. He took off his helmet when he came in. The red tassel on the helmet was bright red. With Zhou Shiliu's increasingly prominent eyebrows, he looked like a high-spirited young general.
"Young General Sixteenth is in a hurry, what's the matter?" Xiao Luolan joked, giving him a piece of pear by the way.
When Zhou Shiliu heard this, he couldn't help but smile. He bared his teeth in a silly manner. He picked up the pear petals and ate them in two or two bites, which relieved the thirst in his throat.
"Slow down, no one will fight with you. Do you want to eat the bayberry?" Xiao Luolan asked Shiliu to sit down and handed him a plate of bayberry. The bayberry is produced in Xianju, and now is the time to eat it.
On the 16th, he took some pills and ate them. After quenching his thirst, he said to his aunt: "Aunt, where is Qingxue's cousin? There will be a chariot race tomorrow. I had someone make a flag out of silk and satin, and I also found another seventy-two The infantrymen are all good players in the army, so she should not look for another one. The competition will be fun only after the first one is full."
