At the end of Yin, the night is hidden.
Shangyuan night is about to pass, and there are carriages and horses in front of Xingqing Palace, and tourists are leaving one after another.
Lu Fengniang and her family stood near a large lantern, and finally saw many people coming from the direction of Huacalyx Tower.
"Xue Bai, here!" Du Wulang waved and shouted, "You're finally here. I've been waiting for you for a long time."
Xue Bai was walking side by side with Xue Ling, giving instructions.
"Who asked you to recognize me, so you went to him to ask for money. I don't care how much you want. I will leave fifty guan for Liu Niang to support the family."
"So much?" Xue Ling asked in surprise: "Can you give it to me?"
"able."
Xue Bai knew that the person who arranged this matter must be someone from the East Palace. Du Xiang was just helping to pull the strings. It was not difficult to get some money now. What's more important is that it brings Xue Ling into conflict with the other party, making it easier to instigate rebellion in the future.
As he spoke, he saw everyone from the Du family. He slowed down and said, "You and I will go to the Prime Minister's Mansion in the afternoon."
Xue Ling asked: "Why go to Youxiang Mansion?"
"His appointment."
"good!"
Xue Ling was overjoyed and wanted to praise Xue Bai, "What a good son." But when she glanced at him, she was intimidated by his aura and praised, "He's good!"
"You guys go back." Xue Bai walked towards the Du family.
Liu Xiangjun hurriedly asked: "Liu Lang, aren't you going home?"
"Not urgent."
"It's okay." Xue Ling shouted: "I'll wait for you at home at noon, and go to the Prime Minister's Mansion to propose marriage and an appointment!"
This sentence was not only heard by the members of the Du family who came over, but also the surrounding tourists looked sideways.
Xue Ling put his hands behind his back, raised his head, and showed off his aristocratic style, looking down at everyone in an angry manner.
Everyone in the Du family suddenly lost interest in interacting with Xue Ling, exchanged a few simple greetings, picked up Xue Bai and left.
"Why does your grandpa look like this?"
"go."
Du Wulang asked Xue Bai, but before he got an answer, Du Jin drove him away.
She pulled Xue Bai and asked in a low voice: "Since you recognize the Xue family, you still dare to go to the Prime Minister's Mansion to hire someone?"
"There was an unplanned incident, and with Li Linfu's mind, it was even more impossible. But rumors of the marriage had spread, and he came to propose marriage, so that the Right Prime Minister's Office could refuse and protect the woman's reputation. This is a statement."
Du Jin said anxiously: "If he wants to harm you."
"No." Xue Bai said in a low voice: "Right now, the case of Yang Shenjin's rebellion is happening. I am the key witness, and I am protected by Concubine Yang and General Gao. At this time, as long as they touch me, they will be suspected in this major case. Gotta get it on them..."
"Hey, you juniors."
Lu Fengniang held a round fan in her hand, pushed Du Wulang aside, squeezed past Du Jin, pulled Du Jin away from Xue Bai, and said: "You have been mumbling all day long. When my mother has said that it is serious business, you can stop playing around."
"aunt."
"My husband went back because he was sleepy. We have been waiting for you." Lu Fengniang complained a little, "Didn't you say that the banquet will be served until Chouzheng comes out? It's already late, and the children didn't even bother to invite you to watch the lanterns together... …”
Xue Bai looked around and saw that the Lu family's lanterns were indeed very delicately made. Although they were just regular octagonal lanterns, the paintings on them were very beautiful, and the colors perfectly matched the firelight in the sarong.
Unfortunately, at the end of Yin Dynasty, there was no more candle oil in the lanterns, and the firelight had weakened.
Hearing Lu Fengniang's chattering, Xue Bai responded politely: "I thought I would wait until the banquet, but I didn't expect that the saint would allow me to stay until the banquet. It's because I didn't have the chance to appreciate such exquisite lanterns."
"Oh, you didn't understand what I meant."
Lu Fengniang sighed slightly and saw Xue Bai looking at the lanterns carefully, thinking to herself that the child really didn't understand the underlying message. But my cousin was angry after waiting for too long, and there was nothing much to say about the matter. Unfortunately, the matchmaking failed.
"Is that really your grandpa? Now that Fengwei Building is a famous building, you have to guard against people cheating on you."
"No matter what, it was decided by the sage Yukou."
"Recognizing a relative, so fast?"
Lu Fengniang was confused and didn't know what to say. She always had complaints against the saint in her heart.
When I returned to Shengpingfang, I heard the officials and family members talking about it along the way. After entering Du's house, Lu Fengniang rushed into the main room and saw Du Youlin sleeping soundly. She went up to push him awake and talked about two important things in succession.
"Alang, I heard that Yang Shenjin conspired to rebel! He also wants to recognize Xue Bai as his son, and the Xue family is so anxious that they want to snatch their son from the emperor..."
Du Youlin stood up and sighed after hearing this in a daze.
"It seems that I asked my uncle to take action, and it worked, and I saved the child."
Lu Fengniang's eyes were filled with excitement after hearing this, and she admired her husband even more.
Because her mind and eyes were full of Du Youlin, she didn't suddenly remember something until she fell asleep.
"It's not good, that evil maid is not here, the husband in the back house has to take care of the housework earlier..."
~~
Birds chirped outside the window.
There were no lights in the house, but the light was shining through.
The Du sisters were sitting on the bench beside the couch, still talking to Xue Bai.
Xue Bai first told them about the testimony before the emperor and checked the testimony with them.
"The case will be finalized by then, and everyone in the world will know that the eldest sister rejected Yang Shenjin several times, and those rumors will be gone..."
Du Wei raised her eyes and looked at Xue Bai, her eyes becoming more and more different.
After talking about many changes, Du Jin frowned slightly and said thoughtfully: "It seems that the deed in Xin Twelve's hand was not forged. Since Princess Xianyi can say that you have a deep grudge with the Li family, after thinking about it, , it can only be because she recognized you as Xue Pingzhao. With her temperament, she will tell Li Linfu immediately, and the saint will know sooner or later."
"I met this saint tonight. I think he is not difficult to get along with. He is very magnanimous... The first thing is to make him happy."
Du Jin was quite ambitious. After thinking for a long time, he whispered: "If you can gain the trust of the saint, you may not be able to get the title of Duke of Hedong County back in the future."
She seemed to be sure that he was Xue Pingzhao.
Xue Bai didn't care at all, and said: "Step by step, you can have any identity. The important thing is to have the strength to match it. If I don't have an official body, no ears and eyes, I can't maintain the relationship in the palace. Now I have become Xue Pingzhao will die. Fortunately, Li Linfu should not dare to mention this matter easily."
"Um."
Du Jin nodded, knowing that no one would dare to bring up the case of three common people with the saint easily, and there was still time to plan.
She turned to think about the future and murmured: "Xue Ling's character is not good, his family background is not high, he doesn't even have a family..."
"Although the family background is good, I dare to say that after all, being a Jinshi will have a better official career." Du Mei said: "Especially when an unlearned and unskilled person like Li Linfu has been the prime minister for more than ten years, the reputation of the scientific examination has grown."
"Anyway, I want to find an official position as soon as possible." Xue Bai felt sleepy and simply lay down.
Du Jin said: "Speaking of which, Yang Yuyao didn't arrange a good family position for you. Do you still want to thank her?"
"It's worth thanking her. She's tired after staying up all night last night. There's another royal banquet tonight, and she's going to spend money at the Flower Calyx Tower. I've made an appointment to go and express my thanks after the Lantern Festival."
"..."
Seeing that they finally calmed down, Xue Bai yawned.
"Let's talk about it later. After all, we can be more stable for the time being. The credit for being able to spend this night safely belongs to you. Because you hid the evidence and were willing to expose it for me, the East Palace turned against me. Thank you very much."
"We've all come this far together, so what's the point of thanking you?"
Du Jin stood up, turned around and glanced at Xue Bai again. She felt that both her father and brother in the Taoist family were mediocre people, but she was born as a daughter. These days, he was supporting the Du family, but it was a pity that he would soon become the son of another family. , someone else’s son-in-law, someone else’s...
At the same time, Du Wei also secretly glanced at Xue Bai, her eyes as gentle as water. The rumors that were lingering around her were solved by him smoothly. He did not make her feel the age gap between them at all. On the contrary, he seemed older than her. Much more mature...
A while ago, because of Jiao Nu's interference, they had hidden many things they wanted to say, but now they couldn't say them out, so they had to reluctantly leave the house.
Xue Bai turned over and fell into a deep sleep.
~~
It was a great sleep.
Perhaps it was because he saw so many peerless beauties that night that Xue Bai vaguely remembered having an erotic dream.
Although you have a mature mind, you still have a young body, and some normal phenomena will inevitably occur.
He turned over and with a "squeak" sound, Qing Lan opened the door and came in.
"If you want to go to Xue's house, it will be too late if you don't afford it."
Xue Bai was still sitting there in a daze. She had put a pile of clothes on the bedside.
"Thanks, I'll do it myself."
Qinglan nodded and turned away.
Xue Bai picked up the clothes and saw that they were both an outer robe and a spring shirt. He changed silently, folded the old spring shirt that had dried up into a large piece, and hid it under the quilt.
"Um... I have something to tell you."
Qinglan looked back at him and ran away again. It could be seen that she was happy because Jiaonu was not here.
The Du family siblings had already gone to Fengwei Building early in the morning. After Xue Bai washed up, he went to find Lu Fengniang.
"This is for you." Lu Fengniang handed over a deed with a smile on her face.
I took it and read it, and it read, "On June 8, the twenty-fifth year of Kaiyuan, I received a certificate from the Shaofu Supervisor that Huangfu Song's daughter, Huang Fucai, was six years old and was betrayed to Lu Fengniang, the wife of the Du family." This is Qinglan's body contract.
Xue Bai had previously recruited twenty slaves from Jiwen Villa, and released them after a period of time when they no longer attracted attention. These people are now working in Fengwei Building, and they are more like hired workers. Although it looks like he gave the Du family twenty slaves, it was actually the Du family who did a favor.
This time Lu Fengniang really wanted to give Qinglan to Xue Bai.
"In the blink of an eye, this maid has been with me for almost ten years, and she has her own worries. She wants to serve you more, so you have to treat her better in the future. I must tell you that my husband is one of the few in the world. A decent person will never bully a maid at home. After the Lantern Festival, when you go to register, we went to the Dongshi Office to go through the paperwork."
"There's no need to go through paperwork. I want to let her go."
"How can I let her go? She's sitting here against her will. Unless she has great merit, she won't be able to escape from lowliness and become good. You should take good care of her."
Xue Bai nodded, suddenly knowing where Qinglan's idea of "being anonymous" came from.
Lu Fengniang asked again: "Can you go and enjoy the lanterns tonight?"
"I'm not going, I'm going to rest at home."
"It's better to go. There is no curfew on the three days of the Lantern Festival. The lanterns of the Lu family you saw last night were dimmed. You can go and see them again tonight."
Lu Fengniang originally thought that her cousin had stopped seeing Xue Bai last night, but she didn't expect that she would send someone to invite her again today and even praise Xue Bai. In short, this matchmaking is still possible.
Xue Bai looked a little embarrassed and said, "After all, I have to go to the Prime Minister's Mansion to be hired."
"The reputation of the Youxiang Mansion is not good, and the daughter is old, what good can it do?" Lu Fengniang whispered, "Let's do this. After you finish your work, you still come to the lantern. How about it?"
Xue Bai stopped refusing and responded: "That's fine. By the way, now that I have found my family background, maybe I will move out in the next few days."
Lu Fengniang was stunned.
She urged Du Youlin to take care of the back house, but after hearing this, she felt a little reluctant to give up.
…
Qinglan looked towards the flower hall and saw Xue Bai putting away her body deed very solemnly. She felt both joy and reluctance in her heart, as well as a kind of involuntary sadness about her fate.
According to the law of the Tang Dynasty, "servants and slaves are better than beasts of burden", and the good and the lowly could not intermarry. Now that Xue Bai has found her parents and will soon become a registered household, it is no longer possible for her to remain anonymous.
As a lowly maidservant, she was not even qualified to be his concubine, and even if she gave birth to a child, she would be a lowly servant.
But thinking about being able to follow him all the time in the future, she quickly became happy. When she saw him coming out, she ran over and performed a blessing ceremony with a shy smile.
"Mr. Lang."
Xue Bai nodded and asked, "Have you already eaten?"
…
In order to prevent the cooking skills from spreading, the Du family's new cook doesn't know how to cook at all. Today's lunch is Xue Bai's preferred roast leg of lamb, and the spices are much richer than before.
"It smells so good. Look, it's a clever idea to take Hu Shisanniang away from the house, right?"
Qing Lan heard it funny, she smiled and rolled her eyes, and said with a cute look: "I will cut the sheep for Mr. Lang."
"Let's sit down and eat together." Xue Bai had already started to cut a few pieces of mutton and wrapped them in biscuits. "You are now a member of my Xue family, and you must obey the rules of the Xue family."
"Yes, Langjun." Qinglan sat happily, still smiling.
She wasn't actually that afraid of him.
"How much do you earn every month?"
"Huh? How can I ask for monthly money, my slave? All my money was given by my wife as a reward."
"You have to pay according to the rules of the Xue family. I'll ask later how much you will give." Xue Bai took out many more things from his arms, "You will take care of these sundries for me from now on."
"good."
Qing Lan took it and saw that his body bond was inside. Just as he was about to return it, Xue Bai said, "Keep it in case I lose it."
She then stole a glance at him.
If a slave like her who can't escape from lowliness and become a good person can get a deed for safekeeping, it will be the owner's promise not to sell her for the rest of his life.
"Mr. Lang."
"Um?"
"Shall I...shall I move the bedding to the wing of your house?"
"No, I can't live here for more than a few days. It's troublesome to move around. If you can't bear to leave, you might as well live in Du's house first."
Qing Lan was indeed reluctant to let go, but she looked at Xue Bai and whispered, "I am willing to let go."
The two finished eating the leg of lamb together, and she planned to go out with him, thinking that if Jiaonu could follow, she could too.
Xue Bai felt that it was too troublesome to take care of a little girl, so he asked her to stay at home and not work for Du Zhai.
After leaving Du's house and driving his horse to Pingkangfang, what he was thinking about over and over again was the fact that he could not be punished for his crime...
(End of chapter)
