It was not until dusk that Wei Changying, who looked not very good-looking, returned to the Shuangting Courtyard.
Seeing her coming back, He and Huang, who had been waiting eagerly for a long time, rushed to greet her. They complained and consoled her for a while. Finally, when Wei Changying came into the room and sat down and drank a cup of tea, he naturally asked about her. Where did he go
He said: "If the eldest lady is in a bad mood and wants to take a walk in the backyard, will my maid still dare to stop the eldest lady? It's just that the day when the eldest lady leaves the court is very close, and there is no one around to take care of her. If she gets knocked out, We’ve hit each other, what should we do?”
Wei Changying was listless and said with an indifferent expression: "Didn't I come back well? Besides, I'm not a weak woman with no strength. How can anyone bump into me in this backyard?"
After all, Mrs. Huang can speak, and said softly: "The eldest lady is very skilled in martial arts, and the maids are not worried about the blue sky. What can happen with the eldest lady's skills? That is, now the old lady and the madam are watching the eldest lady. As for the young lady, aren't the old lady and madam worried because the eldest lady is going out alone now? This afternoon, three or four groups of people were sent over to ask if the maids were not serving well and had neglected the eldest lady. Otherwise, why would the eldest lady go out without anyone? "
"..." Wei Changying frowned. She could hear that what Huang kept saying about Mrs. Song and Mrs. Song blaming them and the servants was actually reminding herself that the day of departure was imminent. Of course Mrs. Song and Mrs. Song cherish their favor in the family very much, and no matter how busy they are, they will spare no effort to pay attention to it.
Such behavior as sneaking out to relax alone this afternoon and avoiding the little maid who came out to look for him. If this behavior reaches the ears of Mrs. Song and Mrs. Song, they will not scold themselves, but they will inevitably feel worried.
Of course, Wei Changying didn't want to worry her grandmother and mother before leaving the palace, so she could only sigh and said: "I understand, I will just lie down on the ancient locust tree behind me today." Yes, I’m not doing anything else. I’ll greet you wherever I go in the next two days.”
"So the eldest lady really went to Huaiyuan?" The courtyard surrounded by century-old locust trees was named after Sophora japonica. Huang and He breathed a sigh of relief, but also had some doubts, "The former maidservant When she met Shuangli, she said she saw the eldest lady walking that way. Zhu Lan and Zhu Shi also went to look for her and returned with a lot of locust flowers, but they never met the eldest lady? "
Wei Changying glanced at Zhu Lan and Zhu Shi, who had already returned and were uneasy since they heard that they were in the locust tree, and hummed: "I felt very comfortable in the tree, so I ignored their noise." !”
She deliberately emphasized the word "noisy". Zhu Lan and Zhu Shi heard the meaning and turned pale. Although they actually didn't say anything bad, they were talking about their young lady's future husband's family. There is some embarrassment and selfishness about going to the imperial capital as a dowry. These things were tacitly understood but not appropriate to be spoken out. Unexpectedly, Wei Changying actually heard this this time, and the two of them were naturally very frightened.
Mr. Huang and Mr. He were both good at training the little maids, and they knew it when they saw this scene. Zhu Lan and Zhu Shi did not see Wei Changying in the Huaiyuan. They only knew that the young lady was not there. They looked around. Qingjing took the opportunity to gossip—but Wei Changying heard it!
The two aunts wrote this down, thinking about turning around to hit Zhu Lan and Zhu Shi, but they just pretended not to know and scolded them lightly: "The eldest lady is too adventurous. How tall is the locust tree? Even if the eldest lady I am proud of my martial arts skills, but a rich man cannot sit down in the hall, and he should not climb up!"
He was particularly distressed: "The tree is so tall, you can see some shadows almost two doors away! If someone looks up and sees it, how can the eldest lady lose her face? Such an insulting thing, where is the daughter of the Wei family?" Suitable for this? Miss, it’s too ridiculous!”
He's mother. Wei Changying is older. Even though his ability is not as good as Huang's, his status is very transcendent. Wei Changying didn't take her lessons seriously and just pouted and said: "I'm not... Well, I'm fine." ?”
If someone hadn't caused trouble, I might have eaten steamed sophora flowers right now!
Of course Mr. He was very dissatisfied with her attitude: "The eldest lady is such a precious person! How can she take such a risk? If the eldest lady wants to eat snacks made from locust flowers, she can just ask someone to pick them. If you want to rest in a tree, make a tree house, connect a rope ladder, and hang a rope around your waist. This will be safer!"
Wei Changying rubbed his forehead, thought for a moment, and suddenly said: "Didn't Zhu Lan and Zhu Shi bring Sophora japonica back with them? What did they do?"
"It's steamed." As expected, Mr. He immediately forgot about continuing to criticize and teach Guard Chief Ying to climb trees, and said lovingly, "Miss, do you want to try it?"
Mrs. Huang secretly shook her head. Mrs. He didn't really forget about the business as soon as Wei Changying asked about food. She just paid special attention to Wei Changying's food, clothing, housing and transportation. When these four things were mentioned, the others were temporarily forgotten. To the side. It’s no wonder that Mrs. Song asked her to stay in the imperial capital back then, thinking that the eldest lady was preparing to leave the cabinet. Among the people at that time, she chose He to be the eldest lady’s wet nurse. He was not good at planning, but she was also quick in doing things. The most important thing was that She has a very good relationship with Mr. Huang. She has been extremely convinced of Mr. Huang since she was a child. When the two of them worked as maids together, Mr. He would listen to Mr. Huang in everything. Whatever Mr. Huang asked her to do, she would not even ask the reason...
This habit is so ingrained that the two people have not seen each other for more than ten years, but they soon became intimate. In just a few days, they were back to their old days of being little maids, and He didn't even want to think about it anymore.
In this way, beside Wei Changying, one aunt is in charge of planning, and another aunt takes care of food, clothing, housing and transportation. The two aunts have a good relationship, and they will not fight against each other. On the contrary, they are peaceful and friendly... After all, Mrs. Song is only such a legitimate granddaughter. For the sake of Wei Changying, he not only thought deeply, but also put all his energy into it.
Mrs. He was now only thinking about getting food for Wei Changying. Mrs. Huang would not forget about business. Before the steamed locust flowers were served, she told Wei Changying: "Jiang Shiwei has sent a message to someone, saying I just want to ask the eldest lady for something.”
Wei Changying took a sip of tea and asked doubtfully: "What does Uncle Jiang want from me?"
The position of the eldest lady's tutor is of course something that most of the guards would envy and hate, but Jiang Zheng, who had been in the world for generations, joined the Wei family just to live a peaceful life. The Wei family has always been generous to their servants, especially talented servants. Jiang Zheng also has no relatives and has always been very satisfied with his life in the Wei family. Therefore, he has taught Wei Changying for more than ten years, but he has never mentioned it. Any request.
Now that he suddenly asked for Wei Changying, Wei Changying couldn't help but feel a little worried. He sat up straight and said, "Don't you want Uncle Jiang to go to the imperial capital?"
Jiang Zheng is highly skilled in martial arts, and the most rare thing is that he has a lot of experience in martial arts. He was definitely the first to make the three siblings of the Wei family escape from a killing situation. With such a talent, Mrs. Song would definitely not let him escape the palm of her own flesh and blood. Because Jiang Zheng had been teaching Wei Changying, Mrs. Song decided to let him leave the court with Wei Changying.
This teacher is not a servant. He did not sign a contract of betrayal, but a long-term contract to serve the Wei family. But if he really does not want to go to the imperial capital, after all, in the actual relationship between master and apprentice, Wei Changying does not want to really break it. In his mind, he was just a little disappointed.
Huang said with a smile: "Don't worry, young lady. Why wouldn't Jiang Guards be unwilling to accompany the young lady to the imperial capital? That's what happened. Jiang Guards wanted to take his disciples with him. He said that he had wanted to do it for a long time. Disciple goes to the imperial capital to practice."
Wei Changying breathed a sigh of relief and said, "What do I mean? For such a trivial matter, just add the name of Jiang Bo's disciple."
"There is a problem." Huang said with a smile, "The disciple that Jiang Shiwei accepted is not a guard or servant of our Wei family, but a commoner. And according to Jiang Shiwei's intention, he did not let this disciple have any relationship with our family. The purpose of signing the long and short contract is to take advantage of the opportunity for the eldest daughter to marry to the imperial capital, so that the disciple can accompany him on the road. "
It is really not appropriate for an outsider to appear in a good wedding reception team. However, Wei Changying was stunned for a moment, and immediately said: "It's nothing, after all, he is Jiang Bo's disciple... Ah, last time Aunt He scolded Jiang Bo, she also mentioned Jiang Bo's disciple. Jiang Bo didn't even tell me Have you ever thought about it, what kind of person is this disciple of his?”
Because of his status, and most importantly because of being a girl, Wei Changying studied martial arts with Jiang Zheng without any hindrance, but he did not become a disciple. According to the rules at this time, the most exquisite and powerful martial arts among the Jiang family's traditional martial arts will not be taught to her. But as Wei Changying, this is enough for now.
Therefore, Jiang Zheng's real unique skill naturally needs another successor.
Wei Changying knew that he could not call Jiang Zheng his master, but he believed that he had studied hard since he was a child and would not be able to be a real disciple. Now that they heard that Jiang Zheng had accepted the disciple seriously, they couldn't help but feel a little bit of a desire to win. They wanted to find out about the opponent's strength and compare it with their own.
Huang knew her little thoughts clearly and laughed: "I heard that his name was Zhu Lei, but I have never seen it with my own eyes. The person who heard the news from the second door said that he was a tall and majestic man. He looked like a tall man. He is crowned, but actually he is not very old, he is two years younger than our fifth master." He also said, "I heard that Guard Jiang is very fond of this disciple, and it seems that he has excellent martial arts skills. The guards have spent most of their savings over the years buying various herbs and meat for him to strengthen his body and strengthen his body. He treats him as his own child and takes great care of him."
Wei Changying muttered: "You are only fourteen years old..." Fourteen years old, four years younger than himself. He is tall and majestic at this age, which shows that he is very dominant in terms of physique. Moreover, he is very popular with Jiang Zheng. Wei Changying has always been praised by Jiang Zheng for his outstanding talent and good foundation. This disciple who was born as a commoner can make Jiang Zheng enthusiastically defeat him. He may be more talented than Wei Changying himself. Even better...
When we meet, it’s better not to compete. The other person is younger than you. It would be disgraceful to win and even more embarrassing to lose.
She gave up the idea of continuing to inquire about Zhu Lei's details, and only said: "For Jiang Bo's sake, let him go with us. If there is no horse, give him a mount... Jiang Bo should have the right role among the bodyguards." Can the connections take care of him? If it's inconvenient, just ask Mr. Jiang to say hello."
The road from Fengzhou to the Imperial Capital may not be peaceful. Although Zhu Lei is a warrior, it is still not safe to go alone. The team accompanying the Shen family to pick up the bride can be relieved. Shen Zangfeng only brought 300 family private cavalry nominally this time. In fact, including stewards, servants, etc., there were nearly a thousand people. They are all young and strong men, nominal servants, and each of them has a sword hanging on his waist... It is said that the Shen family and the Liu family are guarding the border and having to fight with Di and Rong almost every year. From top to bottom, everything is in full swing.
In other words, when those so-called stewards and servants meet bandits, they can go up and fight with their swords and slap their horses, except that they don't have armor.
What's more, the combat effectiveness of the private soldiers of various tribes is not at the same level as that of the Wei soldiers and horses. The private soldiers are raised by the noble families themselves and protect the family's inheritance. Therefore, whether they are soldiers, mounts, weapons, or armor, they are all top-notch, and the soldiers' wages are just as good. Not to mention, there must be enough given.
However, in the past few years in the Wei Dynasty, the officialdom has been corrupted, the army is also in a state of chaos, and there are so many cases of empty pay that the censors are too lazy to impeach. The number of deserters is increasing day by day - people from the Shen family, plus Wei Changying's own dowry, and someone from the Wei family will have to follow them to the imperial capital to attend the wedding... Without mobilizing a considerable number of Wei troops, this team is not easy to bully.
As for mobilizing the Wei soldiers and horses to mobilize this team... The Shen family is not empty in the Ministry of War.
Bringing Zhu Lei along was just a piece of cake - this matter was quickly forgotten by Wei Changying. What she sighed was that after dusk it was evening, and after dusk it was night... After dawn there was another day, and she was at her parents' home. One day is missing again.
When you lose something, you know how to cherish it best.
At this moment, Wei Changying felt that there was no more reasonable sentence in the world than this.
Her greedy gaze was attached to every plant and tree in the Frost Garden, even an accidental piece of gravel under the flower. All this was because, after leaving the imperial capital, it was unknown whether she would have the chance to return to her hometown again in this life.
This frost-bearing garden, which records her childhood to girlhood, makes her feel confused as soon as she says goodbye.
The complicated emotions and the pain of separation - crossing the youthful and beautiful girlhood to marry into a wife, from being innocent and carefree to being a good wife and loving mother who takes care of her husband and raises her children - growth always comes at a price.
The young Wei Changying vaguely realized this in his ignorance. (To be continued)