When they arrived at Shou'an Hall, everyone greeted the old lady and sat down each other.
The old lady asked: "My servant just sent me a bunch of things, saying that your family brought them to Minglan. Why did you bring so many things?"
After hearing this, Mrs. Wei explained: "Yes, we are going back to Yangzhou in two days to stay for a while. We didn't bring anything with us last time, so I thought of sending something to Minglan before I left."
After hearing this, Minglan first said: "I live a good life with my grandmother, and I don't need these things." Then she asked: "Aunt, why do you suddenly want to go back to Yangzhou this time, and how long do you want to stay."
After hearing this, Mrs. Wei said: "This is not your cousin who won the lottery. He should have gone back to see his teacher in person to congratulate him in person, but a few days ago he went to Mr. Ouyang, and Mr. Ouyang asked him not to leave Bianjing for the time being and wait. The Ministry of Civil Affairs is selecting officials, so your uncle and I will go back to help your cousin congratulate you. In addition, our family is very small. If we live in Bianjing in the future, we will have to bring the ancestral tablets to Bianjing when we go back, so that we can worship them at the right time. .”
"I won't stay long when I go back to Yangzhou this time. It can be as short as two months or as long as half a year. I will definitely return to Beijing."
Minglan understood after hearing this, but when she heard about the ancestral hall, she remembered that her mother's tablet was placed in Sanqing Temple and she couldn't enter the Sheng family ancestral hall, and she suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.
The old lady didn't notice it either, but she heard something else and asked, "According to this, Brother Hao must have been in Bianjing for his appointment this time."
After hearing this, Mrs. Wei looked at Li Hao and asked Li Hao to answer. Li Hao said: "It's not a confirmation. It's just that when I visited Ouyang's home that day, Ouyang told me that my age is not suitable. After being released to the prefectures and counties, I may first stay in Bianjing City to do some leisurely errands, but the details have not yet been determined. I am just asked to stay in Bianjing and wait for news."
After hearing this, the old lady thought for a while and said, "What Bachelor Ouyang said makes sense. There have been examples at your age in the past. For example, Grand Prime Minister Yan was a Jinshi who was one year younger than you. He was later awarded the title of secretary and stayed in Bianjing. "
"That's okay. If you have nothing to do in Bianjing, come to the house to meet and chat with Changbai and Minglan. Speaking of which, the three girls in the family, Rulan and Molan, all have biological brothers, but Minglan does not. Now With you as my cousin in Bianjing, it’s good to be able to come to you for advice when I need something.”
After hearing this, Li Hao said: "Yes, if my cousin wants me to do something, just give me the instructions directly."
Minglan didn't answer after hearing this. Instead, the old lady said to Minglan: "You heard it. If you have anything to do in the future, please discuss it with your cousin more often."
At this time, Mrs. Wei also said: "Yes, Minglan. If you really want your cousin to do something, just tell him directly, no need to be polite. If he shirks you, you come to me and I will vent your anger. "
After hearing this, Minglan said, "Thank you, aunt."
Mrs. Wei smiled after hearing this, and then chatted with the old lady again. After waiting for a while, the old lady said to Li Hao: "You are bored sitting here. Why don't you let Minglan take you around the courtyard, or go and sit at Changbai's place. I will chat with your mother for a while, When it’s time to leave, I’ll send someone to find you.”
Li Hao just didn't want to sit here anymore, so he said, "Okay, then I'll go out for a walk..."
Then Minglan took Li Hao for a walk in the courtyard under the old lady's instructions.
After the two people left, the old lady asked casually: "In recent days, I heard that someone came to your house to discuss marriage."
After hearing this, Mrs. Wei said: "That's true, but to be honest with the old lady, you also know the original situation of my family. I don't know the good or bad of the official family members in Bianjing City. In addition, Hao'er is still young. , so this matter is not urgent for the time being. However, you are knowledgeable and knowledgeable. If Haoer really wants to discuss marriage in the future, I might ask you to help check it out. "
After hearing this, the old lady smiled and said: "What's the big deal? Since he is Minglan's cousin, of course I have to take care of him if necessary. Besides, Minglan is getting old now and has no one to choose for the time being. Why don't we wait a little longer and come and see each other together?"
After hearing this, Mrs. Wei smiled and said, "Yes, we'll wait and see."
Minglan and Li Hao were not aware of this profound conversation in Shou'an Hall for the time being. Li Hao was walking around the backyard garden under the leadership of Ming Lan. After all, there were not many places to go. Lin Xige in the backyard was definitely not allowed. Li Hao had nothing to say to Lin Xiaoniang's family.
However, precisely because he didn't go, he didn't see a good show. When Lin Sushuang learned that the Wei family was going back to Yangzhou, she was depressed and panicked. Because the man from Mrs. Zhou's family had just been sent to Yangzhou, Lin Sushuang was afraid that she would run into the Wei family in Yangzhou, which would be really troublesome. So he quickly pulled Mrs. Zhou over and asked: "Is there any way you can contact your man and ask him not to do anything when the Wei family is in Yangzhou? After all, the Wei family is the local snake in Yangzhou now. Don't be fine. In the end, it won’t look good if it falls into someone else’s hands.”
Mrs. Zhou said: "It shouldn't be the case, and I also asked my man not to use the Sheng family's name. The Wei family doesn't know him, so even if they meet him, nothing will happen."
Lin Sushuang said: "That's right. Anyway, you should send him another message and let him be careful."
Lady Zhou agreed, "Then I'll go to the delivery shop tomorrow and ask someone to deliver a letter to Yangzhou." After saying that, she saw that nothing happened and left.
Minglan and Li Hao, who were walking in the garden, were chatting awkwardly. Li Hao didn't know why, but he always felt that Minglan was a little alienated from him today, but thinking that the two of them were not familiar with each other, he didn't say much. think. Originally, Li Hao wanted to persuade Minglan about Qi Heng today, but looking at the situation, he was afraid that it would not be appropriate to talk about Qi Heng deeply. I didn't want to stay like this anymore, so I had to say: "Cousin, why don't we go sit down at Brother Changbai's place."
Minglan just didn't want the two of them to wander around the garden in embarrassment. After listening to Li Hao's words, Minglan hurriedly said: "Okay, I'll take you to the second brother's yard." After saying that, she took Xiaotao to lead the way.
When they arrived at Sheng Changbai's courtyard, Ming Lan took Li Hao in and saw Sheng Changbai sitting in the courtyard with a book in his hands and reading. He was so focused that he didn't notice two people entering the courtyard. It was only after Minglan said hello that Changbai noticed.
Then Li Hao smiled and said: "Brother Changbai is really addicted to books, and he is as good as senior brother Zigu."
After hearing this, Sheng Changbai said: "The meaning of reading a book a hundred times will be self-evident. It is always good to read when you have nothing to do. As for comparing with Brother Zigu, I am still far behind." "By the way, Brother Zigu is still here today In your house?"
Li Hao replied: "They returned to their hometown two days ago. They will not return to Bianjing until more than a month later, when the officials are about to appoint officials."
After hearing this, Sheng Changbai nodded, then asked the two of them to sit down and asked the maid to serve tea, but it was a bit strange to hear the name of the maid with wolf hair, sheep hair, and rat whiskers.
Next, the two talked about studying together at Li's house before the examination, and then Sheng Changbai talked about the pity for Gu Tingye. So Li Hao happened to ask about Gu Tingye's situation. He heard that he had a falling out with the Gu family. Now that he was living in Xiaotianshui Lane, Li Hao knew that Gu Tingye's plot had not changed. It seemed that he would not be able to escape Zhu Manniang's fate. . However, Li Hao still remembered that he had to help Gu Tingye keep Brother Chang's son no matter what. Children are always innocent.
Then the two chatted about other things, and then Danjue came over and said that the old lady was done talking, and Wei and the others were ready to leave. So Li Hao resigned and went to find Wei, and then left the Sheng Mansion together.
By March 29th, the Wei family's things were ready, and they took a boat back to Yangzhou today. Ming Lan also came out to the dock to see off Wei and Li Jian, and then got on the boat and talked to Wei before getting off the boat. After watching the boat slowly leave the dock, Minglan said goodbye to Li Hao and returned home. It made Li Hao feel like he had offended Minglan somehow.
In the days that followed, Li Hao really had nothing to do in Bianjing. After Wei and Li Jian left, only Li Hao was at home, and few people came to visit the house.
Then when Yan Fu had free time, he made an appointment with the two of them to try the craftsmanship in various restaurants in Bianjing City, and occasionally visited Ouyang's house to see if there was any progress in the appointment. Later, she made an appointment with Sheng Changbai to take Rulan and Minglan to Fanlou for a drink, and to make up for the congratulations mentioned when the test results were released. This made Minglan happy for the first time in Fanlou, and she also followed Minglan's Xiaotao was also happy. However, Minglan is still very alienated from Li Hao, which has always made Li Hao strange.
Li Hao originally thought that he would live a leisurely life and wait until he was appointed an official by the Ministry of Personnel. Until that day when Li Hao returned home from outside, he saw Xiao Tao waiting anxiously at the house. He said that he had something to see him and asked Li Hao to quickly go to Sheng Mansion.
