In mid-March, the soft wind gradually wakes up everything, and the Spring Grass Lake is as beautiful as a picture scroll.
The villas by the lake are all covered in the light spring scenery.
Flowers and trees such as peaches, plums, apricots and cherry blossoms are in full bloom. Vibrant vitality is happening noisily but silently, and the sweet smell fills the world. The sad atmosphere since the first lunar month, when every family mourns and every household hears mourning, also fades away unconsciously in this season.
Looking down from the top of the Tongcui Tower, looking out through the smoke-like curtains of willow branches, you can see the emerald-colored lake surface, which is so warm and charming.
Shi Maner carried a delicate food box and walked briskly upstairs. The boy guarding the entrance of the building smiled at her, but remained silent. He quickly opened the curtain with his hands and feet to make it easier for her to enter.
Since the entire window facing the lake is open, the room upstairs is very well-lit at the moment. In the bright and spacious room, there is a large book desk in the middle of the window.
The second young master, Shen Shuguang, was dressed in plain clothes. He was sitting behind a desk with a book spread out in front of him. He was reading it carefully. He picked up a piece of purple hair in his hand and from time to time, he would put some things on the rice paper beside him that he had doubts and did not understand. Copy it down.
The purple hair in his hand looked a little old, and it was even broken near the top. And in the right corner of the desk, the four best treasures of the study were piled up to a foot high... Most of them were brought by Chen Fuli when he came here before, but several of them were gifts he received on his birthday two days ago.
However, Shen Shuguang seems to have no intention of changing his pen for the time being.
Shi Maner remembered that the pen in his hand seemed to have been dug out of the ruins of Tai Tu's Mansion. Perhaps it was for this reason that the young master, who was born to enjoy the world's top luxuries, valued a broken purple hair so much. .
This was not the first time she had given something to this young master. She knew that Shen Shuguang hated being disturbed while studying. So he almost tiptoed to the square table not far behind him, and gently opened the food box. Instead of taking out the things, he first took out a brocade handkerchief from his arms and folded it into a fold. To what date.
Then he took out a tin slave and put it on, and then brought out four plates of exquisite plain pastries. Because there was a layer of folded brocade cushions for cushioning, these things made no sound when they were put down.
What is served warm in Xinuli is Fufang drink, and all the plain dishes can be eaten hot or cold. Xiu didn't see much, but it was made by Huang who took time out of his busy schedule to cook it himself. In this whole courtyard, except for Shen Shuguang, only a few injured or sick people can receive this kind of treatment, and even Wei Changying himself does not have any share.
After doing this, she packed up the food box and was about to push it down quietly when she suddenly heard Shen Shuguang say: "Sister Man'er, will mother have some free time now?"
Shi Man'er stopped and said, "Madam just took a rest and it happened to be empty. Second Young Master, do you want to go over?"
Shen Shuguang put down the purple hair, took the maple leaf bookmark at hand, placed it where he saw it, closed the book, and said, "Exactly."
"Then, Second Young Master, let's have some snacks first. After you've had your snacks, my maid will accompany you there?" Shi Man'er suggested, "It's a good time to eat on the way."
Shen Shuguang nodded. Seeing the opportunity, the boy outside the curtain ran down to get a basin of water and handed it in to help him wash his hands.
Just drink some Fufang drink from each of the four plates of vegetarian snacks - Shi Man'er noticed that the ones he ate were all smaller or damaged.
The food originally provided to the Shen family's direct son-in-law would definitely not be such a mess. But now it is much different than before. She is no longer in the Tutor's Mansion, and she is short of manpower and supplies. Huang is not a dedicated cook and is as busy as a spinning top all day long. It is already very difficult for her to find time to cook. Therefore, it is inevitable that some dim sums are not delicate enough or even steamed.
At this moment, Shen Shuguang ate all of them, but ordered the intact ones to be wrapped up and carefully put into his sleeves, and then he said: "Let's go."
When they arrived in front of Wei Changying, they saw that Shen Shujing and others were also there. Among Yishui'er's filial piety clothes, Ji Yiren's moon-white spring clothes were the most eye-catching. The little girl from Ji's family now has long eyebrows and looks more and more elegant. She is indescribably pretty when she looks at her. She is not as restrained as before in front of Wei Changying and is much more generous.
But I don’t know why. Ji Yiren has a good relationship with Shen Shuyan, and they get along well with the rest of the Shen family, including the servants, but Shen Shuguang always feels that there is something wrong with the way this sworn sister looks at him. …
Not only the way I looked at him, but also the way I looked at Shen Shuxie was not right...
It wasn't that something was wrong, but Shen Shuguang noticed that Ji Yiren seemed to be very reluctant to see his two brothers.
For example, now, after Shen Shuguang entered the door, he greeted his mother and sisters one by one, including his sworn sister Ji Yiren. After being excused, his cousins Shen Shujing and Shen Shuyan looked at him kindly. Say a few words such as "My second brother got up and went to Tiaocui Tower to read today? Don't be too hard", "I haven't seen you for a few days, my second brother seems to have grown a little taller" and so on.
Ordinarily, even if the sworn sister is not as close as the cousin, why don't you say a few words to the cousins at this time, why don't you just echo them? But Ji Yiren looked down at her sleeves intently, her face not showing disgust, but the word helplessness was clearly written on her face.
… I don’t seem to have offended this sworn sister, right
While Shen Shuguang respectfully answered the greetings of his sisters, he thought blankly: "Why is this sister Ji always unwilling to look at me more?"
However, he and Ji Yiren met each other when they were greeting each other. They didn't have a deep friendship, so although they were confused, Wei Changying asked him with concern: "Why is Guang'er here now?"
Shen Shuguang put aside Ji Yiren's displeasure with him and said, "My son heard yesterday that the Zhang family's uncle had returned to the imperial capital, so he wanted to visit him."
"Is that so?" Guard Chief Ying frowned slightly. The news of Zhang Luoning's survival came only in the past few days. This famous talent in the imperial capital was one of the very few survivors in the East Gate breakout. However, he was also hit by an arrow. Although it was not a vital part, he was still injured for several days in a small town three hundred miles away... The town was very remote and had no information from the outside world. None of the people who followed Zhang Luoning knew about the imperial capital. It had been recovered long ago, and when the injury healed enough to be able to ride a horse, I sneaked out to inquire.
So I just returned to the Imperial Capital the day before yesterday.
Apart from him, Zhang's family was also in a miserable state, but he hadn't gotten married yet, so he just cleaned up and repaired the old house that had been burned to rubble, and lived in the city - the Xiliang Army's spies had not been able to find him earlier. He was thought to have disappeared during the breakout. The two remaining members of the Zhang family even erected his tomb during the funeral. Now that he suddenly came back, the family was both happy and sad.
Not to mention the Zhang family... let's just say that Wei Changying got the letter sent from her husband from the city, because Zhang Luoning was not only her husband's close friend, but also Shen Shuguang had a master-disciple agreement, so of course she didn't dare to neglect it. In addition to the Shen family, a separate gift was prepared in the name of Shen Shuguang, and a smart servant sent it to express condolences.
The reason why Shen Shuguang was not allowed to go was because the city was in ruins and it was inconvenient for carriages to move around. Moreover, the Zhang family suffered particularly heavy losses this time. The name of the Zhang family in Gyeonggi is not for nothing. Although the Zhang family also has children serving as officials or living abroad, eight or nine out of ten of their children are in the imperial capital or Gyeonggi, so almost all of them suffered. This disaster - the Zhang family in Gyeonggi Province has declined to the point where our sect is now the only one left alive, Zhang Luoning!
There are only a handful of side branches and distant meridians!
I think that the Zhang family in Gyeonggi Province was a famous family in the past, with prosperous descendants and luxuriant branches, but it has withered to such an extent due to this military disaster. Compared with the Zhang family, the Shen family and the Su family would laugh.
One can imagine how sad and busy Zhang Luoning is now!
When a servant comes to offer condolences, he does not need to come out to receive him in person, or even just give an explanation at the door. After all, the personal relationship between Shen Zangfeng and Zhang Luoning is known to both servants. But when Shen Shuguang went over, even if Zhang Luoning didn't come forward, a steward would be sent to receive him - which would just cause trouble for the Zhang family.
So at this moment, Wei Changying listened to Shen Shuguang's request and said tactfully: "Your Uncle Zhang has just come back now. He is very busy. Why don't we talk in a few days."
Shen Shuguang's eyes showed disappointment: "How long will Uncle Zhang be busy?"
"This is not certain." Wei Changying said thoughtfully, "Anyway, your father will send someone over to remind you when the time comes."
She heard that Shen Shuguang proposed to visit Zhang Luoning not to comfort the would-be master, but because he wanted to start teaching as soon as possible.
This cannot be said that Shen Shuguang only cares about his own studies and ignores Zhang Luoning's mood at the moment. After all, he has not spent much time with Zhang Luoning before, and his love for Zhang Luoning is far from the level of a master-disciple relationship. In addition to being young and not thinking carefully, when I heard that Zhang Luoning had returned to the imperial capital, my first thought was of course that I should ask this master to teach me as soon as possible so that I could live up to the expectations of my grandparents.
Wei Changying was already very pleased that he could think of using the excuse of "visiting" to urge Zhang Luoning to fulfill his responsibility as a teacher, instead of directly asking "When will Mr. Zhang take in the child?"
However, he was relieved that Wei Changying still had to tell him as usual: "Pay attention to your body, don't work too hard and tire yourself out."
"My child obeys your orders." Shen Shuguang said seriously.
Wei Changying didn't expect him to really listen to much, so he sighed secretly and said: "You're here just in time. Your second uncle has been coughing a lot these days. Doctor Ji didn't prescribe any prescription, but he suggested using some of the medicine that's born this season." Planting wild vegetables to make porridge, your sisters plan to take the maid out to dig it themselves, will you go with them? "
Digging wild vegetables is not something that ladies or gentlemen should do, but fulfilling filial piety is different.
Of course, Wei Changying agreed and even took the initiative to hint Shen Shujing to raise the matter, mostly to resolve the gap between Shen Lianshi and Shen Shuyan.
What's more, it's a March day with high light clouds, and it happens to be by the Spring Grass Lake. It's not a bad idea to find a reason to let the juniors go out for an outing to relax. If you are a child's house, you should go out and walk more, so that your body and bones can be strong! If Shen Shuxie hadn't been young and in poor health, Wei Zhang Ying would have sent his second son as well.
Although Shen Shuguang didn't know about his mother's considerations, he was very concerned about his second uncle Shen Qianshi. After asking if Shen Qianshi's condition was not serious, he thought about it and still said: "My son, go and see your second uncle." Uncle? Come and accompany the three sisters."
"Your second uncle just drank the medicine and has already fallen asleep. It's better not to disturb him." Wei Changying noticed that Shen Shuyan's eyes dimmed when she heard her cousin say that she was going to see her father and said hurriedly, "You want to If you want to go, just go out with your sisters, they have everything ready, just follow." (To be continued)