The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival again, and the Liu family has already hung up the red lanterns. In the past, Li Shu and others would just have a casual meal at home on Lantern Festival. This time Liu Chengxu came back and promised to take them to Xuandemen. Watching the lantern festival, everyone cheered and jumped.
Both Fu and Lijia refused to go, but Mrs. Liu said: "What are you doing at home if you don't go? We are all going together today. Your father has booked a good place early in the morning."
I heard that every New Year's Eve when the lanterns are put out, a huge mountain of lanterns is built early with bamboo, wood and colorful silk outside the Xuande Gate of the Imperial City. The lantern shed is 16 feet high and 365 feet wide, with two strips in the middle. Aozhu is magnificent and spectacular. When night falls, all the lights are on, as if it were daytime.
On the tenth day of the second drum of the New Year's Eve, the emperor will visit Xuandemen to enjoy the lanterns with the people. A stage has been set up downstairs at Xuandemen, and there are various performances on it.
Lishu and her sisters were very excited. When Mrs. Liu saw this, she couldn't help but said to Mrs. Xu, Mrs. Fu, and Mrs. Fu: "There have been a lot of strange things happening at home recently. Let's go out to relax and wait for the weather to get warmer." , then go to the Thanksgiving Temple to burn incense to get rid of this filthy atmosphere."
After hearing this, Mrs. Xu was of course non-committal. There was nothing wrong with their eldest room. They were all from the second room, so she was worried about it. Only Mrs. Fu and Mrs. Fu asked for forgiveness again. Mrs. Liu waved her hand to signal them not to do so. Say more.
Everyone filed out. Mrs. Fu took Li Shu and her two sons in a carriage, Mrs. Liu took Li Rou and Li Zhen, Mrs. Fu and Mrs. Xu took Li Jia and Li Wan, and the other two boys followed. Beside Liu Chengzong and Liu Chengxu.
Along the way, Li Shu opened the carriage curtain and marveled at the excitement outside. Little Fu didn't stop her, and said with a smile: "Today there is sumo wrestling, shadow play, and puppet show. You little guys, too. Don’t accidentally fall asleep, then you won’t be able to watch.”
Lishu promised: "Mother, I will never fall asleep. Yes, I heard that the Zeng family is coming too. I wonder if Sister Lu is here. Mother, let me tell you about Sister Lu. Do you want to Take it to heart.”
"Damn girl, you're going to do things with me. You don't want to think about her living in the Zeng family. If we rush to propose marriage, wouldn't it mean that the Zeng family doesn't take good care of it. However, since you told me, I will also help. "Look, you don't know. Since ancient times, if the marriage goes well, everyone will be happy; if it doesn't go well, then the two families will become enemies." Little Fu said.
Li Shu said: "It's my daughter who is reckless, but I think the eldest wife of the Zeng family and Sister Lu have no blood relationship, so they may not care about it, let alone the old lady of the Zeng family. The only one who can still talk is Zeng. Grandma, she doesn’t care much about Yingxiu, so why should she mind such things? What’s more, this marriage will require a dowry. I think if we keep putting it off like this, the Zeng family will have a hasty marriage proposal in the future. Sister must be unhappy, so you should do good deeds and accumulate virtue, right??"
Little Mrs. Fu had nothing to do with Li Shu: "Okay, okay, when I find someone suitable, I will just ask the Zeng family on a suitable occasion."
Li Shu acted coquettishly again: "Mother is so kind."
Little Fu pointed at Shurui Shulin and said, "Look at your brothers here looking at you, and you are still acting like a spoiled brat. Don't be ashamed."
Lishu saw Shurui and Shulin using their hands to show shame, so she immediately went to scratch them too, and the three of them made a fuss.
"Ahem." Mrs. Fu was afraid that the children would make her clothes loose, so she immediately coughed a few times.
Li Shu sat upright again and used a handkerchief to coax Shulin to play. The laughter and laughter along the way reached the ears of Mrs. Xu in front of her, making her feel more and more harsh.
On the day of the Chinese New Year, when the ancestral hall was opened, my husband discussed the matter of adoption with his brother-in-law. The brother-in-law was an honest man. He said that Shu Yi preferred to study and was more motivated. The scenery of books was not as good as that of Shu Yi. If possible, he would be willing to adopt Shu Yi. .
If Mrs. Xu really wants to have another child, she is not willing to adopt other people's children. Those people were not born to her. Why should she get the position of her family's master? Why should she openly occupy this family? She is not willing to do more. An unrelated person calls her mother.
But it doesn't matter whether she agrees or not. If she doesn't agree, I'm afraid the Xu family will scold her. "The Analects of Confucius·Yao said": "The rise and destruction of a country will continue the unparalleled world."
Because she went too early, the journey was smooth. When Lishu got off the carriage, she could still feel the cold wind whistling, but it did not dampen her enjoyment at all. When you go out to play, you have to be in high spirits.
Thanks to the blessings of several elders of the Liu family, although the position was not at the front, there was a nice grandstand where the Liu family was gathered together. In fact, the Liu family has a strong literary style. Even Mrs. Liu and Uncle Liu, one is a martial arts scholar and the other is a martial arts champion, and their literary talents are very good.
Therefore, as soon as he sat down, Mr. Liu recited: "The leaves of the east wind bloom on thousands of trees. The more they blow, the stars are like rain. BMWs and carriages fill the road with fragrance. The phoenix flutes sound, the jade pots turn with light, and fish and dragons dance all night."
This is Xin Qiji's "The Blue Jade Case on New Year's Eve", which is naturally very suitable for the occasion.
After he finished reading, he said to his grandsons and granddaughters: "You can use the New Year's Eve as the theme and write a poem to suit the occasion. Of course, it is also possible to write a poem written by previous generations."
This request was entirely for Li Zhen and Li Wan, and Li Shu quickly wrote a very famous song, "The Fifteenth Night of the First Moon" by Su Weiwei of the Tang Dynasty, where the trees and flowers bloomed together and the iron locks of the star bridge opened. The dark dust follows the horse, and the bright moon follows the person. All the players are playing plum blossoms, and all the singing is falling plum blossoms. Jinwu can't help but stay at night, and the jade leaks don't urge each other.
"Grandpa, I've written it." Li Shu quickly handed over the poem.
Lijia also finished writing quickly. She wrote "New Year's Eve in Kyoto", which is also very good. In addition, Liwan begged Lijia and Lishu for help. The two said a few words before she started writing. Li Rou thought to herself, fortunately, my aunt told me yesterday that the Liu family likes these poems the most and has a lot of literary skills, so she asked her to memorize one for the occasion.
But what she memorized was "The Fifteenth Night of the First Month" by Li Shu. There was no way, this song was too famous, so Li Rou also sat down and meditated hard. Later, she still wrote "The Fifteenth Night of the First Lunar Month".
But when her handwriting and Lishu's handwriting were put together, the gap was too big, so she hid her face and left.
Of course, no matter what, the second wife could still write a poem, but Li Zhen scratched her head and looked around, which made Liu Chengzong pause for a moment. He never thought that his daughter could not even write a poem written by her predecessors. Hearing that Li Shu Others are already able to compose their own poems.
Fortunately, Mr. Liu didn't judge, he just looked at it and knew what he was doing.
At this time, Mr. Zeng and others came with their families to pay homage to Mr. Liu. They met together. Mr. Zeng has now been promoted from the young minister of Taichang Temple to the governor of Shuntian Prefecture.
Hearing that the Liu family was writing poetry, he said: "Uncle, our Zeng family and the Liu family are both scholarly families. Now that all the children are here, why not give the order and try the knowledge of the younger generations."
The Liu family has nothing to lose. Mr. Zeng said: "Since several good nephews and good nieces have already studied the Four Books and Five Classics, it is better to practice Shi Ling."
"It depends on the marriage order first." Liu Chengxu smiled.
Mr. Zeng nodded, and Li Shu thought that this order had actually been relaxed. The last word of the previous sentence and the first word of the last sentence of the next sentence were the same.
The first one to stand up was Young Master Zeng. He said: "Madam, if you don't say anything, you must be right."
Lishu looked at Shujing, who was hesitant and obviously couldn't say anything. She didn't want to say it now, let alone when. Moreover, she couldn't let the Zeng family take it lightly, so she did her duty and said: "A gentleman should stick to his roots. The origin is established and the Tao is born.”
Liu Chengxu pinched his beard and smiled, very proud, and heard the Fourth Master Zeng over there say: "If you are good, you will know its evil, and if you are evil, you will know its beauty."
At this time, Liu Shuyi quickly stood up and said: "What good people hate, evil people like."
…
Li Jia and Zeng Yingxiu also stood up to answer the conversation. The Fourth Young Master Zeng was quick in thinking and immediately answered the next sentence after Li Jia finished speaking. Lijia fell into thinking, and Lishu immediately said: "There is no way to learn, and there is no way to learn it."
In the end, it turned out to be a duel between Master Zeng and Li Shu. The two did not give in at all, or even pause.
"Sincerity leads to form, and form leads to success."
Seeing that half an hour had passed, Lishu decided to call it a day, so she only said the last sentence: "You envoy your ministers, and your ministers envoy you."
The Fourth Young Master Zeng added the next sentence. Lijia felt that Lishu was too showy. Over there, the Zeng family saw the third girl of the Liu family, with dark hair and a face as flawless as jade. When she spoke, she looked like a delicate flower, her face set against the morning glow. , with broken jade in her lips, she has a graceful appearance, charming charm, quick reactions, very energetic and radiant.
Just when everyone thought Li Shu would take the next sentence, Li Shu smiled and said: "Little sister, I give up. I really admire Fourth Brother Zeng, and his thoughts are flowing."
The Zeng family members all breathed a sigh of relief. Lishu knew that she just had a good nature in daily life. If she really wanted to quote scriptures and write articles, she would not be as good as the Fourth Young Master Zeng.
"Oh, this little girl is already very good. If you were a man, you would be very unusual." Mr. Zeng praised.
Lishu stood up again and said calmly and generously: "Uncle Zeng is ridiculous. I am far worse than the third brother Zeng and the fourth brother Zeng. I am lucky to have a better memory. If I really make a fuss, I will be really laughable and generous. "
She spoke crisply and sweetly, neatly and without any sloppiness, and there was no trace of pride in her expression.
Master Zeng couldn't help but nod secretly.
Little Fu didn't think it was a big deal that Lishu was in the limelight today. She had been very miserable when she was at her parents' home, and her daughter wasn't trying to steal the limelight from others. She was just expressing herself normally, which couldn't be better.
Liu Chengxu was even more emotional, but Li Shu didn't take it seriously.
The Zeng family went to their stand, and Liu Chengzong personally sent them there, waiting for the Zeng family to finish. Old Mrs. Liu looked at Li Shu and said: "I heard that you work hard, but now it seems that you are really working hard. You are only nine years old and you have already read the Four Books and Five Classics. It is not easy. Second brother, when the time comes, you will take care of the three Come to my study, girl, to choose some paintings."
Liu Chengxu responded quickly, and Li Shu quickly stood up and thanked him.
All the sisters looked at her with envy. You must know that Mr. Liu is a very famous collector. The paintings he mentioned may be very famous ancient paintings. Each painting is worth thousands of gold.
But Li Shu earned it herself, and it was hard for anyone to say anything.
As night fell, Mrs. Fu was peeling oranges for her daughter. Lishu took them and handed half an orange to Shurui. As for Shulin, who was too young, she couldn't let him eat anything too cold.
"Mom, these oranges are so sweet." Lishu hadn't eaten such juicy and sweet oranges for a long time.
The oranges from the old year were tasteless in the mouth, and some were simply shriveled inside. Little Fu smiled. Someone was selling all kinds of snacks here, and Li Shu's eyes lit up when she saw them. In the eyes of the Liu family, such things were not considered elegant. They all brought their own preserved fruit snacks and even honey wine, but Ke Lishu wanted to eat hot delicacies, so she begged little Fu.
"You, you, you are such a devil." So Xiao Fu called someone again, and Li Shu asked the person to place the order, and then said with a smile: "Then if I want candied haws, I'll buy eight bunches first. And you guys I smelled the spicy vegetable pancakes I just mentioned, so I picked six of them for me."
Lishu was afraid of spoiling everyone's stomachs by eating this kind of folk food. She originally planned to eat it herself, but at most she would share it with the maids. Especially the spicy vegetable pancakes, which are stuffed with mustard roots and are the most popular civilian snacks nowadays. I can't get on the stage of wealthy people.
"Everyone, it's not that I won't share it with you. These are all sold outside. My mother said she was afraid it would be dirty. I'm not afraid, because I have an iron stomach, so I won't share it with you." Li Shu smiled.
Li Zhen also looked down on these foods, and even whispered to Li Jia: "Sister, look at her eating so much food, she is petty and has never seen good things."
Lijia frowned: "Fifth sister, these words are not what you said."
Seeing Lirou in a daze, Li Zhen came closer and said, "What are you thinking about? Are you worried that you lost to Li Shu? Oh, just look at these sour and fake jealousy things. You don't know yet, Li Shu." Shu loves showing off so much, Mrs. Zeng San’s face turned dark, she was like a crow."
In fact, this is not what Lirou is worried about. She is more conscious than Lizhen, and Lishu is indeed very talented, just like her biological mother, she is very talented. But Liu Fufeng has evil intentions and is weak. Why is she working so hard to create fame? Is it because she can marry into a good family in the future? She wants to be the best person to marry among the Liu sisters.
Therefore, Li Zhen's jealousy is of no use at all. Talking bad about Li Shu everywhere will only harm herself over time.
Her cousin hanged herself, her uncle's family hurriedly returned home, and her aunt fell out of favor, so Lirou had to be even more cautious. When she really stood up, she had to shrink down first and not offend anyone, waiting to be killed in one blow in the future.
Therefore, Lirou pretended not to hear.
Of course, Li Shu had long been used to sitting so close to each other and Li Zhen jumping up and down like this. This person had been forced by herself to become a clown who didn't even dare to throw pots. Jumping up and down was just showing off her ugly appearance.
But it was the first time that Mrs. Fu saw that she had heard it, and her face darkened: "Does she often say that to you?"
"Yes, one year when my grandfather passed his birthday, our sisters came out to show off their talents. She even cut off my guqin. A little maid told me later. My eldest uncle and eldest aunt pampered her so much that I It's hard to say anything else. Besides, I don't have any evidence. Even if I say it, it won't make any difference." Li Shu was very open-minded. Of course, she had to tell Little Fu about Li Zhen's evil deeds, otherwise , little Fu thought Li Zhen was really naive.
Little Fu said, "If anything happens in the future, just let me make the decision for you."
Li Shu nodded: "I understand."
As night fell, the lanterns on the mountain were illuminated with gold and jade, and the splendid embroidery shone brightly. Little Fu didn't eat the hot spicy vegetable pancakes at first. She didn't like spicy food very much, but seeing that her daughter ate so well, she took one. When I ate half of the cake, I felt it was spicy, but after it became spicy, I felt it was really delicious, better than sweet and greasy pastries.
While Liu Chengxu and Mrs. Liu were talking, he saw the young Fu mother and daughter eating spicy vegetable pancakes, and came over to get some, but was stopped by Li Shu.
"You girl, why are you so stingy?"
"Dad, this is a favorite food of poor families. What if you get a stomachache after eating it?" Lishu was also afraid that Mrs. Liu would blame him.
Liu Chengxu smiled and said: "You girl, your father and I are still afraid of this. I didn't eat anything in Jiujiang and Henan at that time."
This guy, even if you don't let him eat anything, he still insists on eating. Li Shu had no choice but to give him two. Liu Chengxu actually broke out in a sweat while eating spicy vegetable pancakes in such a cold weather. He felt much more comfortable. .
Lishu finished eating the cake and then ate the candied haws. Shurui looked at her eagerly, and Lishu said: "Okay, okay, you eat one first, it's a bit sour."
At this time, someone had already begun to sing "Shengping Le" on the stage. The women who were singing were all beautiful, with rosy faces and cherry lips, and their singing voices were like orioles leaving the valley. Even Lishu was stunned. When she came to her senses, she realized that her Liwan took a bunch of candied haws and ate them.
There are also jugglers and shadow-players, and of course, the most anticipated thing is sumo wrestling.
After watching the sumo wrestling, there were many performances, such as sand painting, boxing, kicking, and knife and gun dancing. Everyone watched the excitement. Children liked to watch the excitement the most, but under such excitement, Li Shu didn’t seem to be interested in seeing Li Rou. No matter how big the fluctuations are, it seems that none of these can attract her. Just like the late girl crown, there is no fluctuation in the ancient well.
Shulin fell asleep at this time, and Li Shu took one of her cloaks and covered her little brother, for fear that he would be blown by the wind.
Mrs. Fu served tea to Mrs. Liu again. Mrs. Liu was a little unable to hold on. After eating this cup of tea, she became more awake and planned to watch it till the end.
After she served the tea, she had someone bring a blanket over. She served her very attentively, fearing that Mrs. Yu would not be enough, she kept trying her best. Liu Chengxu admired her very much. His wife had always been very considerate. When he was sick, she took care of him day and night.
Li Shu always felt that her mother was planning something, but she never told her about it.
There was a lot of people outside, and the fireworks were very beautiful. Liwan murmured: "It's so brilliant. I love fireworks the most. They are so colorful. If I want to watch them all night, it will be great."
Li Shu looked at her. Although the fireworks were gorgeous, they were fleeting. I thought Liwan was a very practical person, but I didn't expect that she still longed for such ethereal things in her heart.
I'm afraid that today, many things are really lost in the mirror to her.
Because Li Shu had guessed that today was probably the best time for Liu Su to take action, little Fu was helping Liu Su to delay time without leaving any trace. Based on Li Shu's understanding of her mother, she couldn't bear even Li Zhen bullying her. What's more, Aunt Su sent her clothes with acne scars, not only to make herself sick but also to harm the fetus in her mother's belly.
It's just that Liusu is still a girl. Without Mr. Fu giving her this opportunity, it would be difficult for her to go further.
But it was said that the Liu family was still here, and the Zeng family had gone back first. They specially sent someone to say goodbye, and they also politely gave a lantern to each of the girls and young men here.
Especially Lishu’s is the most beautiful, but Lishu doesn’t know why.
Little Fu smiled and said: "You can accept it if I give it to you. Maybe it's because you can match up so much with that famous young talent from the Zeng family today, and you let him go in the end. So, I Just sent it."
"Mom, please stop joking." Li Shu didn't think that Mrs. Zeng San liked her, especially since her father was supposed to come back as an official of fourth rank or above, but he was not afraid of offending people and punishing the gentry when he was in office, so he returned to the capital. He is the official of the sixth rank. Mrs. Zeng San is a famous snobbery. The Zeng family now has a higher official position than the Liu family, so she definitely wants to marry someone with a higher position.
Little Mrs. Fu rubbed her daughter's head and suddenly came up with a plan. All the Fu family members were sanctimonious. If Lijia was really going to marry Minglun, it would be just in time for Mrs. Fu to know how these Fu family members really treated her. , tearing off the hypocrisy of those so-called Fu family members.
Finally, the Lantern Festival Lantern Festival was over, and Li Shu still had two bunches of candied haws, and when she saw Li Zhen reaching out to take them, Li Shu hid them and said, "You were belittling my candied haws before, but you actually ate a bunch and still wanted them. You're so embarrassed."
Li Zhen stomped her feet after hearing this, Li Shu made a face, she didn't care about that much!
Along the way, Li Zhen complained to Mrs. Xu about Li Shu, "Mom, look at that dead girl, you know she is against me."
Mrs. Xu knew very well that Li Shu was a very clever girl. Before Li Zhen was rude to her, she would just walk away silently, and at most she would retort, but most people would not have an open conflict with Li Zhen in front of her, but now she does Unexpectedly, he started making trouble in front of him.
Speaking of which, Li Shu's mother is back, and she feels like she has a backer.
Therefore, Mrs. Xu said to her sincerely: "Don't criticize her easily. You see how much Li Shu is liked by your grandfather. Your second uncle also likes her talents and personality. It's your grandmother who sees her with Li Rou on weekdays." She has a lot of time, but she is still Lishu the most important. Every time a distinguished guest comes, Lishu is called out to meet people. Don’t always be at odds with her~"
"But she always wants to target me. Not only did she deliberately win the pot in front of outsiders, but she also said that I couldn't afford to lose. She also encouraged Mr. Gong to hit my hand. She always wants to suppress me, huh." Li Zhen was not satisfied either. Convinced.
Mrs. Xu was about to say something, but she heard a noise outside. Her maid Pan'er went down to inquire about it. Pan'er got off the carriage and then came over and said hurriedly: "Madam, what's wrong, that Aunt Su in the second room?" He fell into the latrine and suffocated to death."
"What?" Mrs. Xu felt sick just thinking about it.
Pan'er continued: "Talk about today's Lantern Festival. Aunt Su used to love to eat non-stop, especially today. Later, she ran to the back garden to use the toilet alone and accidentally fell into the pit. When she was discovered, she had already I’m out of breath.”:,,
