During the Qingming Festival, four-year-old Wei Shanjun was taken by his parents and kowtowed to a tombstone in a daze, muttering the words of his wet nurse in a low voice: "Grandpa, my granddaughter is here to see you. You are having a good time down there. good?"
After kowtowing, the wet nurse hugged her up. The young couple in plain clothes next to them chatted with the tombstone again. The young father took his daughter from the wet nurse's arms, held her in his arms, and walked towards the carriage outside the cemetery.
The family left, and a haggard middle-aged woman emerged from behind the ancient cypress in the distance, but she was still dressed as if she had not left the palace.
She walked to the tombstone, looked at the newly renovated tomb, stretched out her trembling fingers, and touched the three words "Wei Xinyong" on the inscription. She shivered at first, then shuddered, and finally knelt down and sobbed on the ground.
"Master, Qin Niang is sorry for you..." Lai Qin Niang cried for a long time before taking out a box from her arms. There was a handwritten seal on the box, but it had been torn off. It was obvious that the box had been opened, "Qin Niang, wait a minute. After fifteen years, I really couldn’t wait any longer, so I watched it first... Qin Niang guessed that you didn’t want Qin Niang to follow you, and deliberately designed it to let Qin Niang open the box after thirty years - she wanted to use these thirty years. Years have worn off Qin Niang’s will to die! But Qin Niang really can’t wait thirty years anymore…”
"I didn't expect you to really—"
She fell down at the foot of the monument, crying and laughing at the same time. Her hair was loose and her hair was loose, and her expression was both sad and confused.
With his fingers loosened, the box weakly fell from his hand and fell away - inside, there were fifteen years of secrets hidden inside. Fifteen years ago, Wei Xinyong solemnly handed it over to her "mother" on the night when she was tortured to death by illness. "Hand", there was only a piece of yellowed paper - the handwriting on it was like flowing clouds, and it was clearly Wei Xinyong's own handwriting:
At dusk, the owl and owl are howling, my journey is poor and my heart is suffering!
The body is still alive, but the soul is already gone, and it will not be a good thing for you when you die!
If there is no hope in this life, I will repay you. I promise you that I will carry grass in my mouth for nine lifetimes!
How vast is the sky and how dim is the earth? Where can tigers and leopards escape
If you risk your life and gamble, if you can close your eyes and shed tears, you can mourn...
The more she wrote, the more scrawled her handwriting became. Every time she saw this, Lai Qinniang couldn't help but think of the painful situation of serving Wei Xinyong when he was ill... But she knew that the illness was not the real reason why Wei Xinyong failed to complete this fatal poem. .
But he eventually changed his mind.
This half of the poem is separated by a small blank space and contains a few more scrawled lines. The general content is that Wei Xinyong couldn't bear the young Lai Qinniang, who was both civilized and military, to bear his burden again, so halfway through writing, he decided to lie For once, Lai Qinniang left her plan to others to complete.
"Girl Qin, don't lose your youth, don't lose the rest of your life, live well!"
This is the last sentence of this so-called "backhand" - from the sentence "Don't lose your youth", it can be seen that Wei Xinyong actually also expected that Lai Qinniang would probably open her door before thirty years. That’s why there are two advices on “youth” and “the rest of life”.
However…
Lai Qinniang said sadly: "If the young master is not here, what's the point of Qinniang's youth and the rest of her life?"
She resolutely pulled out the short blade from her boot and fell down!
… When the news of Lai Qinniang’s death reached the imperial capital, Duke Yiguo was packing his luggage and preparing to return to Xiliang.
The bloated Duanmu Xin turned the bracelet on his wrist and said to Wei Changying, who was holding his eldest grandson Shen Shenhong and his eldest granddaughter Shen Xin on the left and right: "You are willing to leave such a pair of twins who are as beautiful as flowers." ?”
Wei Changying said with a smile: "It's not like we won't see them in the future. I'll miss them in a few years, so why don't we just send them to Xiliang? Now that the world is peaceful, even if the journey is long, it won't take too much time. "
"The Duke Dayi's Mansion is in charge of Jin Zi - I remember she has it again, right?" Duan Muxin stretched out his finger and touched Shen Shen Xin's cheek. The nine-year-old girl was pink and tender, having been taught by her mother Gu Jinzi. He was very quiet and didn't get angry when Duan Muxin touched him. He just pursed his lips and smiled helplessly.
"Bing'er can help, and there is Feiyu." When it comes to Su Feiyu, adults are a little bit dumbfounded. I remember that year when Su Yuwu and his wife returned to the imperial capital with their children, they passed by Ruiyu Hall on the way, and the Su family brothers and the Shen family brothers had their heads. During one meeting, Su Chiyu almost got into a pinch because of the naughty Shen Shuxie teasing her.
After that, the cousins Shen Shuguang and Su Feiyu, who were also protecting their shortcomings, didn't pay much attention to each other - but it happened that Shen Shuxie actually married Su Feiyu!
When Shen Shuxie first proposed to his parents that he wanted to marry cousin Su, Wei Changying was very worried, fearing that his second son would be too naughty and leave a bad impression on Su Feiyu when he was a child, so he might not succeed.
As a result, Song Zaishui asked her daughter privately, and Su Feiyu waved her hands and stood up and left. When she caught up with her and asked, she refused to answer - a girl would be willing to do this.
This marriage made the two adults confused, but after seeing that Shen Shuxie and Su Feiyu were getting married, they were happy and happy. Although they still couldn't understand why the two children fell in love with each other, they didn't bother to think too much - they had passed As long as it's good, it will be done.
"Hong'er, Xin'er, be good. Let's go out to play for a while. My aunt has something to say to your grandmother alone." Duanmuxin thought for a moment, raised his hand and touched the heads of Shen Shen Hong and Shen Shen Xin.
The two children immediately looked at Wei Changying, and when they saw her nodding, they stood up together, bowed and left.
That elegant and leisurely manner made Duan Muxin sigh: "After all, he is a child with a Jin character, but he is taught well."
"In front of my grandmother, shouldn't I be praised for my teaching skills?!" The eldest grandson and eldest granddaughter are both nine years old. Counting the year when I married into the Shen family, Shen Shujing, the eldest granddaughter of the Shen family, was only ten years old. That's all, but Wei Changying looks younger than her mother-in-law, Mrs. Su. Time seems to have left no trace on her body, and she still looks like a young woman with bright hair and green hair.
When she pursed her lips and smiled, she was extremely charming, and she said lightly, "Are you putting eye drops on Jin Zi?"
"It's just that Jinzi taught him well!" Duanmuxin sneered, "I don't want to think about who had a headache every three days when Xie'er was so old? Look at Jinzi's children, which one is not well-behaved and sensible! Besides, these two Is this child your child?"
Guard Chief Ying said seriously: "Couldn't it be that they have admired my grandmother's style for a long time and imitated it?"
"The older you get, the more shameless you become." Duan Muxin exclaimed, and then said, "I'm not kidding you—let me tell you, the dowry you and your third brother gave me was too heavy, right? Don't mention other things, but you actually Don’t you think Guang’er and the others have any objection to marrying off Jade Mine? As for Jade Mine’s Wei family, they will all belong to the Wei family after I marry!”
Wei Changying shook his head and said: "You don't know the reason - after the severe epidemic in the early years, the Shen family pension fund almost emptied the warehouse! At that time, my grandparents were still..." At this point, his eyes turned red - how old are Wei Huan and Mrs. Song? What I didn't have a year ago, I saw more than one great-great-grandson before leaving. When the two old people were dying, they said over and over again the four words "die without regrets."
But the younger generation, especially those who have been cared for by them for many years, are still grieving uncontrollably.
"They were worried that my husband's status would be unstable because of this, and they were afraid that things would be bad for me and the children. So they discussed it with my father, mother, Changfeng and others, and secretly embezzled the family property to provide emergency relief to the Shen family. My grandmother has been hiding this matter and refused to call me. I know, after I made my promise to Xiuer, when I was sorting out my dowry, I found that my husband listed the Mengshan jade mine. I felt strange and asked him, and he told me. "
Duan Muxin suddenly asked: "Are you going to give it back?"
"That's right." Wei Changying sighed and said, "It's bitterly cold in Xiliang, and the Shen family was severely damaged back then. You know if the late emperor was here... At that time, my grandparents didn't expect that the late emperor would die so soon... It is reasonable to speculate that she was afraid that the Shen family would not be able to recover, so my grandmother instructed her confidants to move the family's postpartum and try to balance the debt now... "
To tell the truth, we need to expose what Wei Huan and his wife did back then!
"This can really only be used in the name of dowry - anyway, after my daughter passed the door, she became a member of the Wei family. From now on, her dowry will only be taken by the descendants of the Wei family. It belongs to the Wei family anyway." Duan Muxin thought for a while and said, " But the Shen family?"
"Isn't it because we are afraid that the clan will become anxious because of this, so we have to go back?" Wei Changying slightly raised the corner of his mouth and said, "And there are some trivial matters to deal with over there - to tell you the truth: the second brother had been with Sister Ji a few years ago. They fell in love with each other, but Sister Ji's background... Sister Ji is not someone who is willing to be a concubine. Even if she is willing, Divine Doctor Ji will not be willing. Divine Doctor Ji is willing. We have been in love with the Ji family and your master and apprentice for many years. , I can't do this either, but it's not easy for the second brother to rashly remove his status as a scholar - we made an appointment earlier, and we will come up with a solution together this time.
"Also Qiu Di has been restless lately - my husband feels that the Shen family has had too much rest in the past two years and it's time to relax, especially since the imperial court has accumulated some wealth in the past ten years..."
"Using the court's baggage, the court's name, and the court's army to train the Shen family's troops?" Duan Muxin couldn't laugh or cry, knowing that this was the Shen family's plan to repeat their old tricks and start to develop the border troops into their own private army - such a big thing It is true that Shen Zangfeng has to host it in person, and Shen Zangfeng's departure also gives his nephew a chance to truly act on his own.
In addition, Duan Muxin also knew that Shen Zangfeng did not leave in vain. Before the third brother resigned and returned home, he actually had a conspiracy with the new rich and the nobles before he was willing to give up his position as Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. He must have taken a lot of money. The benefits of both sides.
In short, it is a foregone conclusion that Shen Zangfeng and his wife will return to Xiliang.
Duanmu Xin knew that her efforts to stay were in vain, and she felt very melancholy: "It was easy for me to excuse myself that I wasn't used to the climate in Changlong, so I could ask for permission to have the baby in the imperial capital until the full moon before returning to the fiefdom... I thought I could reunite with you for a few more days. Who would have thought that you would be going back to Xiliang in just a few months?"
"Don't you still have Sister Su and Cousin Song accompanying you?" Wei Changying pointed at her forehead and smiled playfully like they did when they were still teenagers. "Besides, won't Liu Rong accompany you anymore? It's obvious. Just because Liu Rong is busy with political affairs in the fiefdom, you deliberately drag him to stay in the imperial capital for a few days, and you still want to rely on me? "
"Doesn't it sound like I value you?" Duan Muxin spat. He heard a cough coming from the yard, and stood up angrily, "Third brother is here. I don't want you to hate me. I'm leaving."
"Go, go, go! You left late, Liu Rong will show me your face when you turn around!" Wei Changying drove people away without being hospitable at all.
Not long after Duan Muxin left, Shen Zangfeng entered the house with his hands behind his back and said with a smile, "Did my sister-in-law persuade you to stay just now?"
More than ten years have passed, and Shen Zangfeng's temperament has become more and more refined. His once sharp edge has now been tempered to a degree of concealment - but there are more people in the government and the public who are afraid of him.
But his eyebrows were as straight as before, and when he looked at Wei Changying's gaze, his pulse became deeper and warmer than the spring sun.
The corner of Wei Changying's mouth curled up slightly: "She said it casually. If you want to be here in the imperial capital, if others don't tell you, can Mrs. Shouyang County accompany her? And Liu Rong, she can't be lonely!"
Mrs. Shouyang County is Duanmu Weimiao's royal title.
"It's bitterly cold in Xiliang." Shen Zangfeng walked up to her and reached out to pluck the hairpin on her temples. After saying this, his wife burst into laughter and said, "It sounds like I haven't been there before - I think it's the same as the Central Plains." almost."
Shen Zangfeng was surprised: "How come it's almost the same? Only when you can see some green days a year over there..."
"It's the same wherever you are!" Guard Chief Ying Yanran smiled, gently held his hand, his eyes were filled with infinite affection, and he said seriously, "So why bother mentioning the bitter cold in Xiliang or not? Feeling sorry for me Follow you around? I don't care where I go with you - I only care about whether you are there!"
(Complete the book.) (To be continued)