A string of crisp luan bells sounded in Wuyi Lane, and the Zhuluo mica cart coming from the palace ran over the bluestone and drove back along the original road.
Xie Mansion Chief Shi stood under the gate, watching the attendant of Changxin Palace leave, the smile on his face suddenly disappeared.
He returned to the mansion, picked up the mother-of-pearl eight-treasure box left by his father-in-law, walked quickly through the outer courtyard and the crane platform, came to the main courtyard, took off his shoes on the wooden corridor outside the door, and respectfully Call "Master Lang".
"The Queen Mother has sent people to reward the Fifth Lady again. It's a gift for the Shangsi Festival."
Incense was burning in the clean room, and the person sitting behind the sandalwood foot table raised his eyes.
Chang Shi opened the lacquer box knowingly, and saw that it was filled with hairpins, gold necklaces, jade pendants and other objects for women. The pearls shone brightly, reflecting the eyes.
Cen Shan looked at the young man looking up and said thoughtfully: "I think the Queen Mother is planning to let the Fifth Lady marry her nephew..."
"I'll accept the gift. If we get married or not, just pretend it's not."
A clear voice sounded.
Snow-white incense threads coiled out from the Boshan stove. Xie Lanan flicked the ink fan casually, and the mist dispersed, even the long-sleeved robe was stained with careless laziness.
The hand holding the fan has distinct joints and is almost the same color as jade.
Cen Shan's heart settled when he heard Master Lang's uncompromising tone.
Sitting in front of the ancient bookshelf piled with books, this man is young and young, and has been soaked in the bones by the fragrance of the books full of books. Now that he is older, he has become more and more mature and elegant.
At the age of nineteen, he has not yet been crowned, but he is already the head of the Xie family in Chen County who is highly regarded by everyone.
For a family like them, not to mention a box of jewelry in the palace, even if several carts of gold and silver are brought in, they may not even look at it with a sideways glance.
After all, since the southern crossing, the pattern of co-governance of the country by the aristocratic family and the royal family has not been broken. The Xie family of Chen County has been a clear leader for many years. In the tit-for-tat situation between the relatives and the aristocratic family for many years, they have always maintained neutrality.
Empress Dowager Yu wanted to use the marriage relationship to win over the Xie family as a strong support, and it was no longer a day or two.
Xie, who has a profound background, has the confidence to turn a blind eye.
Besides, Chang Shi thought, the master Lang was always famous in the capital for protecting his sisters at home.
Cen Shan felt relieved. He put away the box and reminded with a smile: "Master Lang, tomorrow is the spring banquet. I think all the celebrities in the city are waiting for Master Lang's masterpiece this year."
Hearing this, Xie Lanan suddenly smiled on his emotionless face.
"Don't worry, Uncle Shan, I won't forget it."
She will never forget it.
In her last life, she had misjudged this spring banquet and accepted an ambitious wolf cub, and ended up dying without a burial place.
Thinking of the words Chu Qingyuan, Xie Lan'an returned to his nineteen-year-old self and frowned tiredly.
In her previous life, the reason why she chose this son at a banquet where celebrities gathered was not because she was afraid that she would be romantically involved, as her mother worried day after day.
Her heart, which should belong to a woman, had long been bruised and cleansed by her mother's ruler.
My mother had concealed her identity for twenty years and raised her to be a man. With the eyes of a sect leader, she discovered a jade that stood out like a pine tree among those romantic dandies.
She appreciates Chu Qingyuan's outstanding talent in writing, and also likes his demeanor that is neither humble nor overbearing.
Among the noble disciples who apply powder and vermilion everywhere, incense and brocade, and take Wu Shi Powder, there are not many people who are so clean.
He bowed to her, his smile was as pure as a child's, and said: "Qingyuan is willing to follow her husband all her life, and is driven by her husband."
The disciple has the intention to study, and Xie Lanan wants to promote him. Firstly, he loves talents, and more importantly, because she has a huge secret and walks on thin ice. She is afraid of leaking the truth in the Xie Mansion and needs to cultivate her confidants.
Due to Chu Qingyuan's background, she could not gain a foothold in Jinling just by being able to write beautiful articles, so she taught her everything she had about metaphysics, lightness, music, and chess skills that were highly valued by celebrities in the capital.
She cultivated him for six full years.
Day after day, year after year, Chu Qingyuan was finally carved out like a piece of raw jade, fading away from the shabby youth of his youth, and with the help of Xie's Dongfeng, he became the stunningly talented "Prince Qingyuan", famous in the capital.
Faced with overt and covert solicitations from other aristocratic families, Chu Qingyuan always smiled and followed Xie Lan'an calmly, taking care of the affairs she entrusted to him with all her heart.
He once said: "I will always regard my husband as my main one."
It was such a person who was afraid of speaking loudly to her, who secretly turned against the young emperor, ignored Xie's family motto not to get involved in party disputes, and planned the poisoning case in the middle palace for the young emperor that shocked both the government and the public.
He taught the young emperor, who was out of power, to pretend to be poisoned, and then pinned the charge of murdering the emperor on the empress dowager Yu who had been in power behind the curtain for many years.
As soon as Empress Dowager Yu fell, the relatives' party headed by the Yu and He families, which had been running rampant in Jinling for many years, was wiped out by Chu Qingyuan, who was under the emperor's command, together with several major families.
Chu Qingyuan, who became a hero in one fell swoop, had far more ambitions than that.
He again set his sights on the Xie family of Chen County. In order to further control the Xie family's resources for his own use, he did not hesitate to reveal her identity as a woman, Xie Lan'an, to the Xie family elders.
By the time Xie Lan'an noticed all this, the elders of the clan, his third uncle and his son had already brought their men and men to block the door aggressively.
That day there was a cold dew and an extremely cold autumn rain.
——"Xie Lan'an, you are a woman, but you pretended to be the eldest grandson and ruined my Xie family tradition. You and your mother brought trouble to the family, reversed the yin and yang, and you are not a woman or a wife! You are no longer worthy of being a member of the Xie family!"
Amidst the angry criticism, Chu Qingyuan held an oil-paper umbrella, independent from the crowd, with the elegant demeanor and gentle features she had taught him.
He said: "Girl, don't blame me. Qingyuan just wants to help you relieve the burden on your shoulders. From now on, you can get married and have children like an ordinary woman. You can stay with me and live a normal life."
Fuck normal people.
Those guilty and affectionate eyes are so dirty that it would be disgusting to dig them out and feed them to a dog.
Surrounded from all sides, twenty-five-year-old Xie Lanan raised his face that was washed pale by the rain and stared at Chu Qingyuan.
It was her fault that she was blind, because the wolf cub she had taught her had her wings broken and her face torn apart, and she even tried to build a cage on her body.
Many years after his death, she only resented that the knife that penetrated the evil body was not deep enough.
"Master Lang?"
Cen Shan didn't know what the dark-faced man was thinking about, so he couldn't help but let out a soft cry.
Xie Lanan came to his senses and folded the white jade fan in his hand. "This smell is so sweet and disgusting."
She stood up, her big sleeves fluttering, and the sea of clouds patterns on her brocade robe began to ripple. The laziness before was gone, and there was a chilling feeling.
"I'm going to see my mother."
Cen Shan responded, and after the master came out of the house, he hurriedly called a book boy and ordered him to remove the incense on the master's case.
·
The Ruan family lived in the Xiangyuan Water Pavilion in the west courtyard. The house was built on a water diversion pond. Although there were thousands of green bamboo poles, it was still damp and quiet.
This place is not suitable for long-term living, but Ruan loves it and refuses to move.
The maids in the mistress's courtyard were sweeping away flowers. When they saw Xie Lan'an coming, they hurriedly lowered their brooms and lowered their heads, as if they were in compliance with the rules.
Ruan Biluo had just finished reciting a volume of Buddhist scriptures and felt strange to see Xie Lanan coming at this hour that was neither early nor late.
The woman was dressed in a plain silk train, and her hair was tied into a bun with no hairpin. She only glanced at Xie Lan'an, put the jade beads back around her thin wrist, and asked lightly: "What's the matter?"
She didn't call her maid to serve tea, so naturally no one came to serve her husband on her behalf. She didn't mean to sit at the table, and Xie Lanan couldn't sit down either.
Ming Hua, the female envoy next to Ruan, was secretly worried when she saw that mother and son were neither close nor distant.
Minghua was the dowry brought from her natal family with the Ruan family in the past, and she was also the only person in this mansion who knew the secrets of the mistress and the young husband.
My wife and my lord had a very close relationship at first, but God was jealous of talents, and my lord, who was the most talented in Jinling, unfortunately died of illness during her pregnancy. If she hadn't had another child in her belly, I'm afraid she would have been sick too.
Even so, the originally happy and carefree girl seemed to have had her heart and liver removed, and since then she has become as gray as a dead tree, without a smile on her face.
Also because of her obsession with her deceased husband, after the wife gave birth to a daughter, she bribed Po Wen and lied about giving birth to Mr. Xie Dalangjun's posthumous "son".
The only purpose is for this child to inherit her late husband's talents and take over the position of head of the family that should belong to her late husband when she grows up.
The wife raised her little master with great care, but she was also very strict with him, demanding that she be equal to her late father in everything. So much so that Minghua felt that the young master had been taught well over the years, but... he was too deep-minded and could not relax his spirit, unlike a young man in his prime.
But "he" shouldn't be a young man in the first place...
Minghua did not dare to reveal her thoughts in front of Madam, so she said softly, "Madam, my husband is here to see you because of his filial piety."
Ruan frowned, "Is there any major undecided matter at home?"
Xie Lanan shook her head. She had a pair of sharp eyebrows and looked calmly at the Qingmai woman in front of her.
This was the first time she saw her mother's face again after hearing the tragic news that her mother committed suicide by drowning in her previous life.
Although there was obvious impatience on the mother's face, she was still alive.
Even if she was betrayed by Chu in her previous life, reviled by the clan elders, or seized power by her third uncle... As long as they couldn't find a reason to take her life, and as long as she, Xie Lanan, was still alive, she would not be considered a complete failure.
But in the courtyard where the rain was pouring, she heard a scream coming from the west courtyard.
The mistress threw herself into the pond, and when the servants went into the water and fished her out, her grandmother was already a cold corpse.
She didn't know how much her mother was disappointed in her. She refused to even see her again and wanted to use this decisive method to avenge her "incompetence".
She wanted to run to the waterside pavilion, but her fifth uncle took the lead and blocked her way.
What do you think of that old man who is highly respected in the eyes of outsiders? ——"Shu Zi never wants to walk freely in the Xie family again. The Ruan family is no longer worthy of being the Xie family's wife. It is best for her to realize her shame and commit suicide. Her body is not worthy of tarnishing the lintel of my Xie family. I will notify the Ruan family of Wu County as soon as possible to come and get her!" "
The wall fell down and everyone pushed it.
So I didn’t even see him for the last time.
In the cool waterside pavilion, Xie Lanan twitched the corner of his mouth and raised his hand to touch Ruan's face, "Mom, my daughter is here to see you."
"Shut up! What do you call yourself?!"
Ming Hua was startled, and Ruan Biluo glanced away with a sharp look.
Minghua quickly went to guard the door and dismissed the sweepers on the curved bridge. At the same time, she looked back at Xiao Langjun worriedly.
Usually the young man is the most filial, but why does the young man seem to be different today?
Xie Lanan looked at the mother who gave birth to her and raised her, and said lightly: "'You must remember every day that you are a man, your father's son, and the orchid and jade tree of the Xie family, and forget the rest." Remember the diary. Today, I have a question."
"you……"
Ruan looked at those cold and clear eyes, feeling a panic in her heart for no reason, and her voice became sharper: "Shut up! What on earth did you do today!"
Xie Lanan took a step forward, his tall figure taller than Ruan.
She lowered her head slightly and met Ruan's eyes. She did not lower her voice deliberately, but she could no longer return to the clear and graceful voice. Because she had been pretending to be a male voice for many years, her voice had a deepness like quicksand:
"Mom, no matter how much I pretend to be a man, I'm not a man, I'm not your son. I can't be a husband, and I can't be a father who will inherit the clan in the future."
She couldn't understand such a simple truth in her previous life.
She was stupid enough to do whatever her mother said. She was stupid enough to pretend to be a handsome young master outside, but secretly felt inferior to her own womanhood. For this reason, she did not hesitate to cultivate a Chu Qingyuan, just because she agreed with what her mother had instilled in her. logic--
Only by becoming a man can you receive all glory and praise;
You can only live to pass on Xie’s family legacy in this life;
You must not be sorry for your late father, you must not be sorry for the young widowed me, you must not act arbitrarily, you must not make friends honestly, and you must not enter the court and become an official and put yourself in danger.
After all, it is the four words "women are not worthy".
She actually believed it.
"I'm fake."
When Xie Lanan uttered this sentence, his eyes like bright stars and moon turned cold: "Then where did I really go?"
"You are confused, what are you talking about!"
The color of Ruan's lips quickly faded, and the beads collided in her wrist, making a pale cold jade sound.
She pointed at Xie Lan'an in disbelief: "Sir, have you forgotten that your father died young and that you have devoted so much effort to your mother over the years! What nonsense are you talking about? My ruler... Minghua, ruler!"
Xie Lanan raised his eyelashes lightly, turning a deaf ear to his mother's madness, "I have one more question."
The only sound in the house was the sound of Ruan's breathing.
"Mom, I know you've always hated me for not being a man, but you've never dared to ask me if there was ever a moment, even a moment, when you felt that Xie Lan'an being a daughter... wasn't that bad?"
"I understand!" Mrs. Ruan suddenly calmed down from her rapid breathing, as if she had figured out her joints, and sneered, "It's true that a female college student doesn't want to stay, so you're attracted to Hong Luan Chun? You said, you're the one who controls her all day long. The eleventh son of the Wang family who has always been with you, is he still the young master of the Xi family? Don’t be fooled! Do you think the world praises you for being a first-class piano player, a first-class calligrapher, a first-class Rong Zhi romantic, a wonderful person of the time, and a Jinling person? Yaguan, so confused and confused?
"All of this is just something you got by clinging to your father's shoulders. You got the glory of the Xie family! Without your identity as the eldest grandson of the Xie family, who are you?!"
In anger, Ruan raised his palm and slapped it down.
Minghua had no time to stop her, and her heart suddenly clenched. But he saw Xie Lan'an ducking sideways, lifting his robe and kneeling down.
"Mr. Lang!" Minghua whispered.
"Then I know the answer."
Xie Lanan murmured in a low voice, straightened his back and looked up at Ruan.
Her quiet eyes were like the abyss of a silent snowfall, cold and silent, but her tone was still gentle: "My mother has lived hard for half a life for others, for her husband's family name, and to recall the attachment in her heart. In fact, you can walk out. Go out and take a look at this small square courtyard, the sky is huge."
After saying that, she stood up, turned around and left.
After kneeling down, Xie Lanan no longer owed anyone.
Ruan's face turned pale and she was stunned on the spot. Minghua burst into tears and chased a few steps away, "Lang Jun... what happened to you?"
"Me?" The iron horse sang in the wind under the eaves, and his voice flew up to the sky. Xie Lan'an, who always showed himself to be steady, suddenly stretched his waist and showed a faint smile, "I have just woken up from a big dream."
She was alive, her enemy was still alive, and there was nothing better in the world.
"Yunshuang, Xuanbai." She looked at the fish swimming happily in the spring pond, and raised her voice to call her personal guards.
"Fill the pool in the west courtyard within three days and take away all the sharp objects in my mother's house. My mother is unwell, and the Xiangyuan Waterside Pavilion will be closed to thank guests from today."
When Minghua heard this, she realized that Lang Jun wanted to put his wife under house arrest, and she trembled in confusion: "Lang Jun, how can there be an overnight feud between mother and son..."
"Aunt Ming, don't panic," Xie Lan'an smiled reassuringly, "My mother is confused about what I want to do and is reluctant to go on a hunger strike. Help me take care of her."
Minghua felt that the smile was dazzling, and she became even more distracted, staring at Lang Jun's back.
Xie Lan'an had just walked out of the west courtyard. Cen Shan heard the noise from the main courtyard and rushed over. At a glance, he saw the master folding his fingers and flicking his sleeves while walking, his eyes sharp, and he gave him instructions:
"Send a message to Jinling City."
Who would she be in these clothes?
To be honest with my mother, I am also looking forward to it.
