Exit the east gate and walk along the official road. After a few miles, you will turn off a branch road, diagonally heading south. Although you are off the official road, perhaps it is because of the large number of tourists going to Chuncao Lake, including many dignitaries. The paths are also very neatly maintained.
Mulberry elms are planted along the roadside, and traces of pruning can be seen from time to time among the branches.
It is midsummer at this time, when the branches are full of green shade. Lifting up the corner of the car curtain and looking out, you can see that the surrounding area is surrounded by deep and shallow blue. From time to time, the call of orioles can be heard from overhead, and there are also turtle doves cooing under the trees, giving people a sense of tranquility. A sense of peace.
Wei Changying looked at it curiously, then turned to her husband and said, "It's quite quiet on this road."
"At this time, there are only people going to see the lotus." Shen Zangfeng held up the luminous cup and slowly sipped the wine in his mouth, saying, "The most people in Spring Grass Lake are in spring, and at that time the carriages on this road often line up all the way to the city gate. "The car is equipped with an ice collector, a holder for exotic animals, a copper ring buckle lid, ice inside, and a bottle of wine that I kept when I went out. By now, half of the ice has melted into water, and the entrance is just right.
After Shen Zangfeng drank it, he felt it was good. He motioned for Qin Ge to fill up the cup and handed it to Wei Changying's lips.
"So many people?" Wei Changying was quite surprised. He took a sip of wine from his hand, praised it, and said, "Yes, Chuncao Lake. Chunchao Lake is naturally the most beautiful in spring, so it is called Chuncao Lake."
Seeing that she didn't seem to like it very much, Shen Zangfeng picked it up and drank it himself, and said with a smile: "Nowadays, it's nice to go to the lake full of lotus flowers."
"But what you said, if it doesn't look good, I'll beat you carefully." Wei Chang Ying smiled angrily and pushed him.
Shen Zangfeng handed the luminous cup to Qin Ge and put it away, saying meaningfully: "If it looks good, how can you thank me?"
"It should be good-looking. On such a hot day, if you coaxed me out of the house, of course there must be a better place. Otherwise, what would I do with this bumpy pain?" Wei Changying's eyes were filled with waves, and he covered his cheeks with a ball fan. , smiled and said, "Anyway, if you look good, I won't punish you at most. If you make me dissatisfied, I will punish you, and I will punish you severely." He said and hit him on the shoulder with a round fan.
Shen Zangfeng laughed and said with a look of fear, "You are such a vicious young lady, even my husband dare not speak out."
"That's right, I'm just fierce!" Guard Chief Ying smiled with a fierce look on his face, and nodded, "You have to be careful, don't annoy me. Now that you're out, in front of this place." If you don’t live in a village or shop, let’s see what you do!”
Shen Zangfeng sighed: "This really fell into the hands of thieves!" He grabbed her hand and said helplessly, "Now Xiaosheng has accidentally fallen into the hands of the queen. The king will take pity on Xiaosheng." , be gentler!”
He kept singing and saying that the actor's voice was drawn out, but he hadn't practiced it before, so he couldn't imitate it, and his voice was weird. Not only Wei Changying, but also the maid serving in the car burst out laughing. Chang Ying laughed so much that she leaned on his shoulder and trembled for a while, wiping her tears and said: "The Queen... Well, am I that fierce?"
Shen Zangfeng smiled and said: "Xiaosheng is such a handsome and handsome person. Normally the queen would be reluctant to fight him, but you, Queen Wei, don't feel sorry for Xiaosheng at all. In Xiaosheng's opinion, queen, you are better than ordinary people." The queen is much more fierce! She really doesn’t know how to show mercy to her, but it’s a pity that the bright pearl secretly betrays her!”
The captain of the guard pinched him angrily: "Why have you been snatched away by so many female queens? Otherwise, how can you be different from an ordinary female queen to a female queen like me? Hurry up and recruit me from the truth! Otherwise, hum. Huh!" He held up his fan as if to fight.
"Ah, these are all guesses made by young students." Shen Zangfeng did not get fooled. He laughed and led her over, holding her hand and saying, "Do you see any lotus flowers on the road ahead?"
Looking in the direction he pointed, it turned out to be lotus flowers.
Beside the road with lush vegetation, the deep green lotus leaves seemed to be growing in the ditch. They were not visible due to the vegetation. However, the swaying pink and white lotus flowers are particularly eye-catching when set against the green.
Wei Changying lay on the car window and looked at it for a moment, and asked curiously: "Why can't you see the lake ahead?"
"This ditch is three miles long." Shen Zangfeng touched her hair with a smile and said, "Should we go to the other courtyard to put down our things first, and then go to the lake, or go directly to the boat?"
Chief Wei Ying asked: "Is the other courtyard far away?"
"When we get to the lake, we still have to walk four or five miles." Shen Zangfeng made some calculations and said, "If we go directly to take a boat, we will have someone prepare the boat by the lake. If we go to another courtyard, we will have someone prepare the boat first. Row the boat to the gate of the other courtyard and wait."
"It's better to just take a boat." Wei Changying said hurriedly when he heard that it would take four or five miles to go to the other courtyard after reaching the lake. In this summer, although there was ice in the carriage, it was also stuffy, and no matter how smooth the path was, there would always be bumps in the carriage. It's not as fun as taking a boat - because Mrs. Song and Mrs. Song were too attached to her and Wei Changfeng. Since she was a child, she could only stand in the backyard of Ruiyu Hall and watch others board the boat to play, while she herself I can only break willow branches and hit lotus leaves on the shore to vent my anger...
I have never been on a boat, so I am curious.
Shen Zangfeng smiled and said, "It's all up to you."
Three miles away, although the carriage did not move very fast, it arrived soon. The originally lush trees lining the road suddenly disappeared, and at the end of the road, a vast expanse of smoke appeared in the midsummer.
Wei Changying saw it from the raised car curtain and said with emotion: "Is there such a big lake outside the imperial capital?"
"In the "Ode to Spring Grass Lake" written by predecessors, there is a sentence: 'The smoke is vast, like the vast sea', which describes its vastness; there is also a sentence: 'When the spring grass is growing, the wild deer are yoyo, the spring water is green, and the sight is refreshing' ." Shen Zangfeng said with a smile, "How could it be a place where people from all walks of life, regardless of their status, would rush to govern?"
At this time, the lake breeze blew against his face in a mighty manner, blowing the car curtains backwards. Wei Changying felt his sleeves flying up, and his whole body seemed to be lifted up by the wind. Crisp sound - In the hot summer, the cool breeze relieves the heat. It is really refreshing and refreshing. She perked up, pressed down the flying skirt, and praised: "It is indeed a good place."
The carriage stopped by the lake. Wei Changying couldn't wait to get out of the car and looked towards the lake. He saw that the water was as green as blue and as rich as emerald. The breeze passed by the lake, and from time to time waves of the lake were raised and lapping at the dam at his feet.
The snow-white waves splashed on the embankment, splashing jade, and then dispersed and came back again - in this repetition, standing by the lake, in addition to the cool breeze of the lake, there is also the coolness of the lake waves. Plants are planted on the embankment every ten steps. A weeping willow, at this moment when the willow smoke is like weaving, the birds inside are chirping, sweet and sweet.
Wei Changying looked at it for a moment, then suddenly thought about it, turned around and asked Shen Zangfeng, who was arranging his servants to send luggage to another courtyard: "Where is the lotus?"
Didn’t you say that... Chuncao Lake is just beautiful with lotus flowers now? Why couldn't she see the lotus after looking at it for a long time? But see the outline of clusters of reeds in the middle of the lake in the distance
After Shen Zangfeng warned Shen Die in a few words, he walked towards her and said, "The water here is too deep and the lotus cannot grow well. We have to go over there." He pointed to the reeds, and Captain Ying Qi said, "Isn't that a reed? "
"There is a Tingzhou Island there with reeds, and there are lotus flowers nearby. It's just that the water here is deep so we can't see it." Shen Zangfeng took her hand and said with a smile, "Come on, let's get on the boat, go over there and take a look. You’ll know.”
Wei Changying was pulled by him, and he saw a small boat with a black awning waiting for him at the bottom of the embankment. This boat was obviously specially built for viewing, especially in summer. It is different from ordinary boats - the bow and stern are the same, but the awning here is like a painted boat. It is not a round arched canopy, but a There are pillars at the four corners, covered with bamboo canopies to protect them from the sun and rain, and curtains woven with fine grass hang down on all sides to protect them from the scorching sun.
Now the two sides where the sun cannot shine have been rolled up, revealing the furnishings inside. It is very simple, just two tables facing each other at intervals.
The person holding a pole at the end of the boat is a woman in her late thirties, wearing a blue cloth bun and a short skirt. I think it is for ease of movement. The hem of the skirt only reaches her ankles, and her attire shows that she is smart and capable.
This woman's skin was slightly dark, but her facial features were delicate. Seeing Wei Changying looking at her, she quickly let go of the boat pole, bowed gracefully and said, "My little wife, Cao Yingmei, has met the young master and the young lady."
Shen Zangfeng said: "This is the daughter-in-law of the steward of another courtyard. She was born and raised by Chuncao Lake. She has good water skills and boating skills."
Wei Changying said with a smile: "I'm not surprised that a woman is driving the boat for us. I thought we would be able to ride on a boat on such a big lake! Who would have thought it would be a small boat?"
"There are also painted boats." Shen Zangfeng said, "It just depends on whether it is more convenient to see the lotus or in a small boat - the water is shallow in many places of the lotus. In previous years, painted boats were stranded because they were greedy for looking at the flowers, and the painted boats could not enter places where the flowers and leaves were too dense. . We will take the boat first and then go out on the boat in the evening."
Thinking about it, Wei Changying saw a section of wild rice growing under the embankment. Although the boat was not afraid of running aground, the boat's head cut through the wild rice all the way to the shore. However, there was no pier, so he said: "Go up here?"
"Don't worry, Yinger. If you feel embarrassed, my husband will just carry you up." Shen Zangfeng teased.
Guard Chief Ying raised the fan in his hand, half-smiling but not smiling: "What's so difficult about this? Just be careful!"
The two of them got on the boat one after another. After all, Wei Changying didn't know how to swim. When he was on the shore, he envied the freedom and ease of boating on the lake. When he was surrounded by water and his feet were shaking, he got a little panicked and couldn't help but hold on tightly. Shen Zangfeng's sleeves were comforted by him for a long time before he regained his composure.
The two of them helped each other and entered the tent. After sitting down, they found a basket on the side, filled with lotus leaves. They had not turned yellow under the sun, but were stained with a few drops of dew. They had obviously just been picked. not long. There were wine jugs, wine cups, seasonal fruits, etc. in the middle. I thought I was afraid that the boat would fall over when it was placed on it when it was rowed, so I packed it in a basket. I was afraid that it would be broken in the basket, so I used lotus leaves to stuff it. Live in the gap.
Judging from this preparation, Cao Yingmei is also a careful person.
Shen Zangfeng took them out one by one, poured a cup of agarwood drink for his wife, and said with a smile: "You can peel the lotus seeds for me later."
"You really know how to make an abacus." Wei Changying laughed and scolded, "This agarwood drink is so easy to pour. The lotus seeds are so difficult to peel. How unfair is it for you to trade this with me?"
Just as Shen Zangfeng was about to reply, Cao Yingmei from the stern of the boat asked loudly through the straw curtain that separated the stern of the boat: "Master, young lady, are you going to Furong Island?"
Shen Zangfeng said, "That's right." He then asked her, "Will the Jiejia Restaurant in Furongzhou open now?"
Cao Yingmei smiled and said, "There are not many people these days, so Brother Jie also closed the door to hide away. I heard that the young master was going to bring the young lady over, so I opened the door specially today." Then she added, "It's early this morning, Brother Jie. The sister-in-law of the Xiejia family went out to the north to set up the net, saying that when the young lady comes back for the first time, she must take out the entire copy. "
Shen Zangfeng smiled and said to Wei Changying: "You are in for a treat. Jie Zhang's cooking of lake delicacies is a specialty inside and outside the imperial capital. Normally, there are only three items in his restaurant: fish heads, fish soup and steamed cakes. It takes a full set. There’s nothing he can’t do as long as he comes out of the lake.”
Wei Changying came from a wealthy family. Although he was not arrogant towards the common people, he did not think highly of him. When Shen Zangfeng specifically asked about the Jie Family Winery on Furong Island, he thought it was just a winery there. He was worried that he would have nowhere to go after it was closed. . She didn't want to think about it, but she admired her husband's craftsmanship very much. Thinking that her husband had a similar background to her, he valued this craftsmanship so much that it couldn't be much different.
He smiled and said, "Isn't that true? Look how much you benefit from me."
Shen Zangfeng was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter and said, "Yes, yes, I'm all taking advantage of you."
Cao Yingmei changed the oars at the stern of the boat, and listened to them laughing and talking through the curtain. She couldn't help but smile, thinking that the young couple was really lively. There were only two of them, and the lake was full of laughter.
And she was still so interested in midsummer, so cheerful that she came all the way from the imperial capital just to stay for one night without fear of trouble. Thinking of this time of year... She suddenly burst into laughter and thought to herself: "We will be approaching Furongzhou in a while. , I don’t know what this young lady would do when she encounters those people who don’t know anything about them.” (To be continued)