In the days after moving, Shanshan couldn't be happier.
She can sleep in every day again, and there is no longer a maid to urge her to get up and tell her about the rules and etiquette. It's just that going to school is hard, but she still has to get up in the morning. In her new home, her mother will always coax her to get up with her gentle words. If Shanshan closes her eyes and acts silly, her mother will personally carry her to the dining table and give her a delicious meal. Breakfast seduce her.
Every time breakfast is placed in front of her, she wakes up on her own without her mother calling.
She went to school with Shitou during the day, and went home to do homework at night. She was not free during school holidays, and many people wanted to invite her to their homes to play. Shanshan wanted to agree to anyone, but was reluctant to refuse anyone, so she was in a dilemma.
But her favorite child is still her good friend Wen Jiahe. Wen Jiahe is two years older than her. He is gentle and takes good care of her. Last time, a boy grabbed her by the scruff. Shitou was not around, so it was Wen Jiahe who stood up for her. Shanshan always loved to play with her.
Early that morning, she woke up on her own without even needing to be called by her mother.
Shanshan kicked off the quilt and sat up lazily. The room was empty, so she shouted, and soon a maid came in to dress her and wash her face.
She made an appointment with Wen Jiahe today and was going to play at her home.
She stood in front of the wardrobe, picked out a bright yellow shirt, asked the maid sister to comb her hair, put on a beautiful headdress, and then looked at the peepshow, the little girl inside also pursed her lips. His mouth smiled at her.
Seeing Shanshan is so joyful.
The door creaked open, and Wen Yiqing walked in holding a brocade box.
"Good, good, good."
"Mom!" Shanshan immediately jumped down from the stool, "Where is my puppy?"
Wen Yiqing smiled and put down the brocade box: "Here it is."
Two days ago, her mother brought her a puppy that could run on its own. Shanshan fell in love with it at first sight and would sleep with it in her arms at night. When she went to school the next day, she secretly hid it in her book bag and brought it to school to play with.
Every child in the capital has seen the world, and everyone has everything in Zhenbaozhai, but this is the first time they have seen a toy puppy that can run by itself. They are all very curious, and they surrounded her desk after class. Wen Jiahe also liked it. After returning home, Shanshan asked his mother for another one.
She opened the brocade box and found that the puppy inside was exactly the same as her own.
Shanshan said happily: "Mom, I went to play with Jiahe."
Wen Yiqing quickly stopped him: "Do you still remember what I said to you?"
"Remember." Shanshan repeated: "When you get to Jiahe's house, you don't run around anywhere, you have to listen to her words, and you have to bow to her parents when you meet her."
She had learned these rules at Uncle Zhongyong's Mansion.
Wen Yiqing was relieved.
Knowing that she was going out today, the family's carriage had already been waiting at the door.
Shanshan climbed onto the carriage with the toy puppy. When he turned around and saw Shitou slowly grinding at the gate, he quickly urged: "Brother Shitou, hurry up!"
Shitou followed with a bitter look on his face.
He was still hesitating before getting on the carriage: "I still won't go."
"Why?" Shanshan was puzzled: "I have told Jiahe that I will take you with me."
Because that is the eldest princess.
Shitou is older than her and already knows what a powerful person the eldest princess is. The eldest princess is the emperor's biological sister. They have a deep brother-sister relationship. She is married to a general of the dynasty. The Wen family is a well-known aristocratic family in the capital. Even the Prince Zhongyong's mansion, which is known for its meritorious service, is beyond the reach, not to mention that they are just ordinary people. Only Shanshan, whose mind was full of toys and snacks, didn't care. As soon as he got the invitation, he couldn't wait to accept it.
Because of this, Wen Yiqing didn't sleep well the night before, for fear that his little girl would make some mistakes in a place like that.
Without realizing it, Shanshan dragged the stone onto the carriage, waved goodbye to her mother who was standing at the door to see her off, and set off happily.
General's Mansion.
Wen Jiahe was also waiting early in the morning. She asked people to prepare delicious snacks, fun toys, and even changed into new clothes.
The eldest princess was still a little curious: "This is the first time you have invited your classmates to play at home since you went to school. Which family is your child from?"
"Her name is Wen Shan."
The eldest princess thought for a while: "There is no family named Wen in Beijing."
"She used to live in Zhongyongbo Mansion, but recently moved to a new home. Her mother owns a shop."
"A businessman? Why are you studying in a school?"
Wen Jiahe thought for a while: "The emperor approved it."
The eldest princess had no clue, but seeing her daughter being so active, she felt a little curious.
Not long after, the carriage arrived at the General's Mansion.
The eldest princess waited with her daughter, and saw a fair and tender little girl being brought in by a servant. She was wearing a bright yellow shirt, and she looked innocent and cute. Her eyes were black and white, like the tenderest buds on a spring branch. When she came in, she shouted "Jiahe" happily before seeing her. The little girl's round eyes looked at her curiously, and she was not afraid of strangers at all. She called out abruptly: "Auntie."
The eldest princess smiled.
Shanshan handed over the brocade box that he had carried all the way: "Jiahe, here you go."
Wen Jiahe took it curiously and opened it to see a familiar toy puppy inside.
She had watched Shanshan play yesterday. All the children in the school were very curious about it, and she liked it very much. He quickly said, "Why did you give it to me?"
"I asked my mother to give me another one."
Wen Jiahe felt relieved and added: "You said you bought it from Zhenbaozhai. After class yesterday, I also went to Zhenbaozhai and asked the shop assistants. They said they didn't have this in the store."
Shanshan blinked, "Oh, maybe in a few days."
The eldest princess couldn't help but look sideways.
I don’t know which family’s kid is so generous with his gifts. He gives away things from Zhenbaozhai on demand. Even adults are not so polite.
"Shanshan, I will take you to my yard."
Shanshan nodded, obediently held her hand and walked out. When she went out, she caught a glimpse of the eldest princess still looking at her, so she turned her head and smiled at her, revealing her sweet little pear dimples, and waved to her. .
The eldest princess was stunned.
After the person left, she came back to her senses, turned around and asked the grandmother beside her: "Do you think that child just now looks similar to Jiahe?"
Grandma said: "I didn't notice it."
"Really..." The eldest princess was thoughtful.
However, the way the child turned his head and smiled just now, his eyebrows and eyebrows were so similar to Jiahe's.
Jiahe looks like himself. The child came from Zhongyongbo's mansion. I have never heard of any in-law relationship between Zhongyongbo's mansion and the royal family.
The eldest princess couldn't think of a clue for a long time, so she asked again: "It really doesn't look like it?"
"This slave really didn't notice."
"Maybe I saw it wrong."
…
Unlike Shanshan, who had to sleep close to his mother at night, Wen Jiahe already had a separate courtyard. Shanshan followed her in curiously. The room was very neat, with only school homework and a few paintings scattered on the table.
Wen Jiahe was a little embarrassed and quickly asked the maid to clean up.
Shanshan saw a person in those paintings: "Jiahe, who is this?"
"It's my royal grandmother."
"It's my royal grandmother's birthday soon," she said, "I've been studying painting recently, and I want to paint a portrait of my royal grandmother as a birthday gift, but I haven't finished it yet and I'm still practicing."
Shanshan nodded.
Wen Jiahe hurriedly led her to the inner room and asked someone to serve snacks. Shanshan took one piece and stuffed another one into the stone. She took a bite and said distressedly: "Every time I eat your snacks, I always feel as if I have eaten them somewhere before. Brother Shitou, what do you think?"
Shitou sat silently eating snacks and shook his head when he heard this.
Shanshan sighed: "Oh, forget it, you can't even tell which roast duck restaurant on East Street or West Street is better."
Wen Jiahe burst into laughter.
She took out the chessboard she had prepared in advance, and Shanshan immediately put her doubts aside and started playing with her enthusiastically.
While waiting for lunch, the servants of the General's Mansion served exquisite dishes. Shanshan tasted them and exclaimed: "I seem to have eaten them somewhere..."
"My cook came from the palace." Wen Jiahe said, "My mother was used to the taste of the palace. The emperor was afraid that she wouldn't be used to it, so he specially rewarded her."
But where has Shanshan ever eaten anything cooked by the imperial chef?
She tasted it over and over but couldn't think of anything, so she just praised the delicious meal.
Wen Jiahe said with a smile: "You have never been to the palace, and the royal food in the palace is delicious. It will be my royal grandmother's birthday soon, and there will be a birthday banquet in the palace. By then, all kinds of delicious food will be available. "
Shanshan's eyes lit up: "Really?!"
Wen Jiahe described it to her. During every palace banquet, the imperial chefs showed off their magic skills and could eat endless delicacies. Not only that, all the imperial officials and their families from all over the capital gathered in the palace, which was very lively.
I was so fascinated by Shan Shan that I just wished I could be there in person.
It's a pity that Wen Jiahe said, "You probably can't go."
"Why?"
"You have not received the title, and no one in your family is an official in the court, so you will not be invited."
"Can all the students in the school go?"
"Mostly yes."
Shanshan thought for a while and asked, "Will everyone in the capital go?"
"Of course not. As I said just now, not everyone is eligible to be invited."
Shan Shan secretly wrote it down.
After lunch, Wen Jiahe took out his storybook and read it to her. What he was reading was none other than Sun Wukong, Shanshan’s favorite book. There were also illustrations of Sun Dasheng fighting monsters in the storybook, which made Shanshan feel mesmerized.
Only then did she remember: "I haven't visited Sun Dasheng for a long time."
She had played "Havoc in Heaven" several times in the theater, but after attending school, she had never been there once.
Wen Jiahe said: "My mother also loves to go to the theater. She has a theater troupe. The next time you come to my house, I will ask them to sing Havoc in Heaven for you."
Shanshan happily responded.
In the evening, General Wen returned home and Shanshan also saw him. General Wen was tall and strong, with a muscular body. He could easily lift Wen Jiahe high above his head, making his daughter laugh, and Shanshan was extremely envious.
She spent a day playing in the General's Mansion, and seeing the sky getting dark, she reluctantly said goodbye to her good friends and returned home.
At night, Shanshan lay in her mother's arms.
She talked to her mother about what she saw and heard today, including the delicious snacks in the eldest princess's house, the skills of the royal chef, and the palace banquet that Wen Jiahe described to her. Talking about the delicacies from the mountains and seas that she had never tasted before, Shanshan drooled and said longingly: "Mom, I want to go too."
Wen Yiqing paused.
She could agree to anything else, but she would never dare to accept this casually.
"We can't go," she said.
"I know. Jiahe told me that our family doesn't have a title, and we don't have a father who is a high official." Shanshan thought of another thing: "Mom, if I can enter the palace, can I find my father?" ?”
"Why did you mention him?"
"You told me." Shanshan said with bright eyes: "You said he is in the capital. I asked Jiahe. Only those who have become high officials can enter the palace. Maybe my father has already become a high official. Woolen cloth?"
Wen Yiqing lowered his eyes.
She touched the little girl's soft cheek and said softly: "Didn't I tell you that we wouldn't go looking for him."
"but……"
Wen Yiqing said cruelly: "Maybe he has left the capital long ago."
Shan Shan sighed in disappointment.
She closed her eyes amid her mother's gentle coaxing, and before falling asleep, she secretly complained to Bodhisattva in her heart.
I don’t know if begging for schoolwork is effective, but begging for daddy is not effective at all. She walked around the capital every day, but never met her father once.
The little girl muttered and slowly fell into sleep.
Wen Yiqing was not sleepy at all. She knew in her heart that Shanshan's guess was not wrong. When she met that man back then, he had an extraordinary conversation and certainly had a high background. If that man had entered the court as an official, he would have already had a place in the court.
The Bodhisattva has a spirit. If he really becomes an official, he'd better be transferred to another place and don't let her meet him.
…
After only a few days, the students in the school began to discuss the upcoming birthday of the Queen Mother.
Most of the students had participated in the competition in previous years, but Qi Qing was the happiest this time.
As soon as she arrived at the school, she couldn't help but share her good news with others. After seeing Shanshan, even though he didn't like her, he proudly said to her: "I will be able to enter the palace soon."
Shanshan walked in with her book bag on her back, but was stopped by her before she reached the desk, and she asked cooperatively: "Really?"
"of course it's true."
Shanshan quickly asked: "How did you do it?"
Qi Qing looked pleased.
She couldn't go originally. Her father was an idle playboy and had no official position in the court. Although the family had a title, not every child could attend. In previous years, if there was a palace banquet, they could only watch it. The cousin went to the palace with his uncle, or heard from his cousins in the Xuanping Hou Mansion, but she didn't have a share.
But this time it was different.
Her father came home yesterday and happily told them that he had made friends with Uncle Zheng Guo.
Zheng Guojiu's sister was a noble concubine in the palace. It was only a matter of Zheng Guojiu's word that the family wanted to enter the palace to attend the palace banquet.
But her mother had warned her not to tell anyone else.
Qi Qing snorted and said arrogantly: "If I don't tell you, you won't be able to go anyway."
Good things are lost.
When Wen Jiahe heard this, he turned around and asked, "Qi Qing, when did your father find a job?"
Qi Qing was angry: "I can go anyway."
Wen Jiahe ignored her and turned to Shanshan: "Shanshan, if you want to go to the palace to play, I will take you there next time. I will introduce you to the imperial grandmother."
Shanshan responded sadly, saying in her heart: She didn't want to enter the palace to play. She wants to find her father.
…
Qi Wenyue took the initiative to step into that shop today.
She seemed to browse in front of the counter casually. Wen Yiqing's shop sells some rouge and gouache. The color is good and the quality is good. The girl likes it very much. There is an endless stream of customers, and the ladies with maids buy them by the dozen. , and he is very generous when he takes out his money. She looked at it for a while and counted the gold and silver. She had to admit that it looked like an inconspicuous rouge and gouache shop was making so much money.
The clerk in the shop asked her a third time before she walked to the counter.
Wen Yiqing was standing behind the counter, flipping through the account books. When he saw it was her, he lowered his head indifferently.
"Qing Niang, I heard that you moved out of your home?" Qi Wenyue said hypocritically: "Do you know how angry your mother is because of you? Why do you need to be angry with your parents? If you stay at home, you don't have to show your face. , so hard.”
Wen Yiqing's expression did not change.
She closed the account book and asked calmly: "Mrs. Xuanpinghou came here specially, but what is the important matter?"
Qi Wenyue was about to refuse, but his mind changed and he agreed.
"It's true." She pushed the broken hair behind her ears, revealing the clear gemstone earrings, and said with a smile: "It's the Queen Mother's birthday soon, and the Xuanping Marquis Mansion is invited every year, and this year is no exception. Since you are selling rouge and gouache here, I came to see what trendy colors there are, and secondly, I also want to take care of your business. It’s really hard for you to take care of your kind sister without the protection of your parents."
She added: "Qing Niang, it's a pity that you grew up outside Beijing and never had the opportunity to visit the palace. I go to the Duke's Mansion and the Marquis' Mansion every year, and I have seen it several times. Ordinary merchants will never see such a scene in their lifetime. "
Wen Yiqing didn't even raise her eyelids, she just took out a few boxes of rouge from the high cabinet behind her and displayed them in front of her.
Qi Wenyue secretly regretted not seeing the envy he wanted to see on her face. She gathered her coat and raised her chin slightly: "It's not that I want to tell you this. I'm used to talking to people, so you probably don't understand. On the Queen Mother's birthday, she also has to exchange greetings with the ladies of other houses. Although it is lively, it is also very tiring.”
Wen Yiqing took out a few more items.
Qi Wenyue sighed softly: "Forget it, for your sake, just wrap up the lunch box."
"Fifty taels."
"Five...fifty taels?!" Qi Wenyue couldn't help but raise her voice.
Wen Yiqing finally looked at her and said strangely: "Mrs. Xuanping Hou is going to the palace to attend the palace banquet, so I picked the best one. If you think it is expensive, of course there are cheaper ones."
"..."
You have already let go of your words, how can you regret it? Even if you regret it, you must not do it in front of Wen Yiqing. Qi Wenyue stiffened her face and took out the banknotes from her arms.
The maid behind her took Rouge, and she wanted to say something, but Wen Yiqing closed the account book, called the waiter to receive her, and went into the back room.
He choked back all her words.
That’s all.
Even if she can earn money, is it possible that she can still enter the palace and attend palace banquets?
Qi Wenyue felt proud.
Her father was Uncle Zhongyong, and her husband was Marquis Xuanping. Even if Wen Yiqing stood there and sold rouge and gouache all her life, there was no way she could earn the honor of entering the palace. How can a business woman see the emperor's holy face?
…
That night.
In the palace, in the royal study.
The emperor was reviewing the memorial, and the prince was sitting at the table, meditating hard on the extra homework assigned by the emperor today.
The palace servants sent a name card, which was handed over by the young eunuch to the imperial eunuch.
"Your Majesty." Liang Yong presented a famous invitation, "This is from the imperial concubine. It is the list of the Queen Mother's birthday banquet. Please take a look."
The emperor nodded and took it.
The Queen Mother is in poor health. In recent years, Concubine Zheng has taken care of all affairs in the harem, and she has always done a good job. This time, the Queen Mother's birthday banquet was all attended by court officials and wives, and the list was neatly listed.
He read it ten lines at a time, and when he reached the row of Uncle Zhongyong's house, his eyes paused.
"Uncle Zhongyong's Mansion..."
Liang Yong: "Your Majesty, is there anything wrong with Uncle Zhongyong's residence?"
The emperor shook his head. He was not thinking about the people of the Qi family, but the little girl who lived in Uncle Zhongyong's mansion. She looks cute, innocent and kind. I met her a few times by chance, but for some reason, I remembered her several times later.
Last time he picked up someone on the road, the little girl asked him if she could play with him in the future. He also responded by mistake.
But the child neither knew his identity nor his name. He could not enter the palace on weekdays, let alone meet him by chance, and there was no news after that.
Thinking of this, the emperor suddenly said: "Add Wen Shan's name."
Liang Yong was surprised: "Wen, Wen Shan?!"
The prince sitting next to him also raised his head and looked over: "Father, are you Shanshan?"
There is also He Lanzhou's name on the list, and his favorite has not yet captured his sweetheart. The emperor tapped the ink words on the white paper with his finger and said, "Yes, Wen Shan."
Besides, he still owed the little girl a gift for going to school. Since he promised to play with someone, there was no reason for him to slip up.
I wonder if the little girl will be frightened after receiving the invitation and seeing him in the palace.
Anticipating the future scene, it was as if he saw the surprise on that young face. The emperor's stern brows showed a gentle smile, and he said: "That's it."
