The spring days were getting longer, and the soft sunshine filtered in through the begonia-patterned windows. Shi Yanwei stood busy for most of an hour, and his legs and feet inevitably ached, so he sat down on the bench and started chatting with Xi'er Shan'er.
Except for Xi'er Shan'er and Shi Yanwei, who are similar in age, everyone else here is elderly. They can't talk to each other on weekdays. In addition, they are not as energetic as the young people. After finishing their work, they all go to the backyard to rest. went.
The three of them were alone in the dining room at that time, so it was a good time to chat.
Shan'er is in her twenties this year, four years older than Xi'er, and was sent to the dining room from the second door, so naturally she knows more than Xi'er.
At first, the three of them were still chatting about other people's affairs outside, but then the conversation somehow turned to Song Heng.
"The head of the family was engaged before getting married..." Shan'er said in a low voice, but Shi Yanwei interrupted her unfinished words.
It's not that Shi Yanwei doesn't like to hear gossip, it's just that he is inexplicably afraid of Song Heng, and he really can't arouse the slightest curiosity about him; not to mention that in a high-ranking family, there are strict hierarchies and many rules, so discussing the master's private affairs in private is unacceptable Big taboo.
"Stop talking, it sounds so scary. There is a saying that 'walls must have ears, and there should be no one outside the window.' If you say something offensive and make people listen, do you still want your skin?"
Upon hearing this, Shan'er's mind wandered. When he came back to his senses, a thin layer of sweat broke out on his palms. He hurriedly covered his mouth, and then glanced out the window suspiciously, and suddenly saw a well-proportioned The figure walked past, making her tremble slightly and send chills down her spine.
Shi Yanwei also saw someone coming. Seeing that the figure looked familiar, he turned his head and glanced at Shan'er. Then he straightened his brows and stood up with a calm face to greet the door. The person who came was none other than Gui Yun from Cuizhu Residence.
Guiyun wore a sapphire blue floral-patterned high-waisted skirt, and the golden steps in her hair shone in the sunlight, swaying slightly as she curtsied and curtsied, making her look radiant.
"Ms. Yang, the master, aunt, San Lang and others are all having tea in Mrs. Tai's room. I want you to come over."
Gui Yun mentioned so many people in his words. Shi Yanwei was wondering who was calling her over now, but she didn't feel like asking more questions, so she had no choice but to nod in agreement. After briefly explaining Shan'er a few words, she followed Gui Yun there. Walk outside the dining room.
The two of them walked into the garden along the path, passing through flowers and willows all the way to the Cuizhu Residence.
After entering the house, Shi Yanwei saw Mrs. Xue first, then leaned over and crossed his arms as a salute to Song Heng and others.
Except for Mrs. Xue and Song Heng, Song Qingyin and others all stood up and returned the greeting to her.
Song Qingyin looked the person up and down with a pair of clear eyes, and then glanced at Song Heng calmly from the corner of her eye. Her mood that was still curious at first suddenly brightened, and she suddenly felt something, and seemed to understand him. The purpose of inviting this Madam Yang to come over.
Then with a smile, he stepped forward and took Shi Yan Wei's hand, which was as white and tender as a jade bamboo shoot, and praised: "This is Madam Yang, she is really well-born. It reminded me of a poem by Li Taibai: If we hadn't met at the top of the jade mountain, we would have met We meet under the moon at Yaotai."
Yibi said, and Yibi pulled Shi Yanwei to sit next to him, and asked: "I wonder what Madam Yang's name is, is there any small print?"
This was the first time for Shi Yanwei to meet someone as well-versed and familiar as her here. She was a little at a loss as to what to do. He sat next to her anxiously and replied calmly: "The word "Chu Yin" has no small characters. .”
"But which phonetic word is it?"
Shi Yan paused for a moment, "It's the phonetic word for music."
The smile on Song Qingyin's face deepened, and she looked at her carefully, "Both of you and I have a phonetic character in our names, and now we meet here, isn't it fate? Thanks to your cleverness, you can think of incorporating mocha into pastries. Among them, it tastes sweet and not greasy, and it is really very popular."
Shi Yanwei didn't know how to respond to this, so he nodded and smiled to show politeness.
Shu Yu brought a tall tea bowl to her to have tea with. Shi Yanwei stretched out his hand to take it, thanked her in a low voice, lowered his head silently, and slowly went to drink the tea in the bowl.
Seeing her being so reserved, Mrs. Cake, Madam Yang, if there is no inconvenience, can you write down a recipe? When they go home in the future, they can ask the chef at home to make it according to the recipe and eat it with them."
It was because of this that it was no wonder that Song Qingyin was so cordial and warm to her.
"There is no inconvenience. Since aunt likes to eat it, I will just go back and write out the recipe and ask someone to deliver it."
Song Qingyin pressed her hand and refused to let her leave, so she smiled and said, "Why don't you go back and write here? Wouldn't it be easier to write here? Ruisheng, go get pen, ink, paper and inkstone."
Ruisheng behind the screen sighed and went to get pen, ink, paper and inkstone. After grinding the ink, Shi Yanwei picked up the pen and started writing.
Shi Yanwei has been here for less than half a year. If he hadn't taken the calligraphy elective course when he was in college and practiced it for a long time, it would have been difficult to write well just by cramming in this period of time.
The brush strokes that were not very sharp fell on the rice paper, and the calligraphy and calligraphy produced were not very good, but they were just enough to catch the eye.
Song Qingyin was surprised that what Shi Yanwei wrote was not the small seal script suitable for girls. She turned to look at Song Heng who was sitting silently on the armchair and saw that he didn't seem to care about the fact that Yang Chuyin's handwriting was not very good. Instead, there was a faint hint of joy in his eyes, and he understood something more and more in his heart.
By the time Shi Yanwei finished writing the prescription, two quarters of an hour had passed. Song Qingyin took the prescription with a smile and kept saying thanks.
"It doesn't matter. Why do you need to thank me so much?" Shi Yanwei lowered his eyes as he spoke, and used his left hand to gently rub his right wrist, which was sore from holding a pen for a long time.
When Mrs. Xue saw this, she was about to order someone to get the reward money. Before she could say anything, she suddenly heard Song Heng, who was sitting on the chair of the imperial master, said calmly: "Ms. Yang is so dedicated, how can I not thank you? Shanglu, go to the warehouse. Here I will fetch the mother-of-pearl box with the conch in its mouth that was put into storage at the end of the year."
Shanglu said respectfully, got up from the low stool on the side and went out to retreat to the Han Residence to get the pair of cards.
Shi Yanwei didn't know what he wanted to reward him, but he saw that Shanglu had already rushed out the door, so he kept his thoughts to himself for the time being.
Everyone in the room was eating tea with snacks, gossiping and joking, burning incense and cooking tea, playing backgammon and solving nine-link puzzles. Needless to say.
Shang Lu found a mother-of-pearl box from the warehouse and brought it over. The sun was already setting outside the window, and the fiery glow poured down. The ground was covered with a shallow layer of broken gold, which was very eye-catching.
"Is this the square box the owner of the house is talking about?" Shang Lu held the box in his hands and showed it to Song Heng with both hands.
Song Heng hummed softly and asked her in a deep voice to put the things on the mahogany table in front of Shi Yanwei.
Phytophaga did as he was told and returned to his original position.
Shi Yanwei's mother-of-pearl box was quite exquisitely made, and the body of the box was made of fine rosewood. He felt a little confused in his heart, and declined politely: "It's not a big deal, but it's just a little effort, and it's not worth being rewarded by the head of the family. "
Song Heng's deep eyes fell on Shi Yanwei's black hair, and he felt that although she was dressed plainly, she had a fresh and natural beauty.
Of course, for a girl of her age, it is always good to dress up more on weekdays.
Song Heng picked up the tea bowl and took a sip of the tea soup to get rid of the dryness on his body, and then said in a low voice: "It's not that rare thing. Madam Yang, there is no need to be polite, just take it back later."
Unlike Mrs. Xue's gift of jewelry last time, Song Heng did not ask anyone to open the box on the spot, nor did he pay attention to Shi Yanwei's words of rejection. Although his face was extremely calm, there was an aura about him that he could not refuse.
Qiu Chan sent Ta Yun over at some point. Song Qinghe held it in his arms and said with a smile: "Ms. Yang, there is no need to be polite to the second brother. This little thing is not worth anything to him. Just accept it with peace of mind." .”
Mrs. Xue's round face was full of smiles, and she also echoed: "What Er Niang said is extremely true. Since it is Er Lang's intention, Chu Yin, just accept it. It's okay."
Since both of them had already spoken to each other, Shi Yanwei couldn't bear to lose face in front of others, so he had to stand up and bow to thank Song Heng.
Song Heng nodded slightly to Shi Yan, then turned to Song Qinghe, and said in a calm tone: "I got two ancient golden crowns of Luanfenghua tree in Jinzhou, and I will have someone find them tomorrow for you and my aunt to wear. "
Everyone looked at the boxy shape of the mother-of-pearl box, which could only hold some gold and silver jewelry. Moreover, Erlang had always been generous with his gifts, so there was really nothing to be curious about. However, the golden crown of the Luanfeng flower tree in his mouth made everyone feel itchy. The flower The crown of the tree was popular among the noble ladies of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, but they didn’t know what it looked like.
At two o'clock in the morning, the maidservants filed in with food boxes and placed dishes on the pear wood table. Mrs. Xue left Shi Yanwei to have a dinner in Cuizhu Residence.
As soon as the meal was over, Shi Yanwei exchanged a few words with Song Qinghe, bowed and left, picked up the exquisite mother-of-pearl box on the small table and went out.
Song Heng stood up to say goodbye to Mrs. The stone steps lead out of Cuizhu Residence.
Shi Yanwei went all the way back to the small courtyard where he lived, put the mother-of-pearl box on the table and opened it. What caught his eye was a golden walking rocker with a luan and phoenix holding beads, a pair of gold leaf earrings, and a handful of silver mother-of-pearl. Comb, two gold lotus petals and a necklace of gold beads and crystals.
Look carefully at the pearls held in Luan Feng's mouth. Although they are not as big as the two that Song Heng gave to Song Qinghe at Song Qinghe's birthday party, they are still very rare and cannot be afforded by ordinary officials.
Now that Song Heng has not yet unified the north, the Song Dynasty is already buzzing with bells and whistles. If he really unifies the north in the future, will he be on par with the royal family?
Shi Yanwei didn't dare to think any further, so he closed the mother-of-pearl box and hid it deep in the closet, burned light lychee incense in the lotus copper stove, and copied Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy before going to the writing desk.
The next day, Shi Yanwei got up early, got dressed, washed up, and went to the dining room fully dressed.
When it was time for breakfast, Shi Yanwei, Liu Yu and others were eating around the long table. Suddenly they heard heavy footsteps coming from outside. It was a boy coming over with half a box of cherries.
Liu Lao put down her bowl and chopsticks and was about to ask a question, but she heard the young boy speak before her: "The master of the house has ordered some of the cherries in this box to be made into cherry birches and sent to various courtyards, and the rest will be sent to each courtyard." I’ll give it to you to eat.”
