About half an hour later, Li Song washed up, changed into a clean sky blue solid silk and gold men's linen, and walked out of the room dignifiedly.
He came to the front hall, greeted King Ruyang and Princess Gaoyang, "Father, mother, let's go."
Ruyang King Li Zhiliang snorted heavily, obviously very dissatisfied with his behavior in the past two days: "You still know to come back? I think you died outside!"
Li Song stood up straight, his handsome eyebrows raised, and he looked like the rebellious and rebellious demon king again, "If I really die, will Dad be happy?"
Li Zhiliang raised his eyebrows: "You..."
Seeing that the father and son were about to quarrel again, Princess Gao Yang gave Li Zhiliang a dissatisfied look, thinking that he could not speak well, so she yelled at every turn: "Son, what are you doing saying these unlucky things? You can't be calm. Do you want to talk?" Immediately, he turned his head to look at Li Song, his words changed, and he said affectionately: "It's good since I'm back, and I won't stay outside overnight in the future, so don't let my mother worry."
Li Song nodded slightly, he still listened to Princess Gao Yang's words occasionally, it wasn't really hopeless.
Seeing that the family was all together, Zhao Xuan smiled and said, "Okay, let's go. I'm afraid it's already too late after such a long delay."
Immediately, Li Xiang helped her out of the hall, followed by Li Zhiliang.
Li Song walked behind silently, slowly putting away the expression on his face.
Dingguo government office.
This time to attend the full moon banquet of Duke Dingguo's eldest grandson, the fourth wife, Mrs. Qin, brought Wei Changmi along. It was the first time for Wei Changmi to participate in such an occasion, and he was very happy along the way, dancing and cheering in the carriage. As soon as he arrived at the backyard of Duke Dingguo's mansion, he became calm and honest, lying in Qin's arms, his eyes rolled around, and he did not appear to be in high spirits just now.
Mrs. Qin scratched his nose and laughed at him: "Didn't you just say you wanted to see your little brother? Why didn't you talk now?"
Wei Changmi put his arms around Qin's neck, and his white and tender face crumpled into a ball, "There are so many people, mother, I'm afraid."
This is true, there are indeed quite a few people who came to Dingguo's mansion as guests today. Their female relatives came in through the side door. The front yard was full of guests and friends, and the laughter continued, and the sound was transmitted to the back yard without interruption. Duke Dingguo and Duke Yingying are equally well-known and prestigious in the court. In addition, Duke Dingguo is modest and not as stubborn as Duke Yingling, so he has made many friends. Today is his grandson's full moon feast, and everyone has come to offer a full moon gift.
Qin said with a smile: "What are you afraid of? With Mother and Sister Ah Luo here, no one will bully you."
Speaking of Sister Ah Luo, Wei Changmi's eyes lit up, and he looked around, but couldn't find Wei Luo, so he couldn't help but pursed his lips and said, "Sister Ah Luo is not here."
Qin Shi also searched again, but found that Wei Luo was nowhere to be seen. Only after she asked Wei Zheng did she find out that the carriage from the Marquis of Pingyuan followed closely behind, and Wei Luo went to the back to talk to Liang Yurong. She shook her head helplessly, "This girl."
Wei Luo and Liang Yurong walked behind the crowd, not having any important private conversations, but casually talking about what they had just seen and heard.
Liang Yurong held Ah Luo's wrist, pressed it close to her ear and said, "Guess who I saw just now?"
Ah Luo walked slowly, tilted her head and thought for a while, "Li Xiang?"
Liang Yurong immediately showed an unbelievable expression and looked at her with wide eyes, as if saying "how do you know".
Ah Luo curled her lips and chuckled, disapprovingly said: "Who else can make you tell me specifically, but her?"
This is true, Liang Yurong was no longer surprised, and walked side by side on the cobblestone path with her. Fortunately, the front yard was noisy, and the people in front could not hear their conversation. Liang Yurong also knew about Wei Changhong being shot and injured by Li Song, so she didn't like the two brothers and sisters very much. She was straight-hearted, and she was honest about what she liked and what she didn't like. So right now, they are standing on the same front as Wei Luo.
Walking to the flower hall in the backyard, many women were already seated in the room. Mrs. Dingguo and his wife were sitting in the beech Eight Immortals chair in the middle, entertaining everyone with their eldest daughter-in-law, Mrs. Sun. In Sun's arms was a swaddling baby of floral brocade, in which was the young son Gao Zhan who was only full moon today. The little guy is still very small, with a white face and big eyes, but he looks very pretty. He has a shy personality and refuses to be hugged by outsiders. He is only willing to lie in the arms of his mother Sun and cry when anyone touches him.
Wei Changmi is the youngest in the family, he has never seen a little guy younger than himself, so he is very curious about Gao Zhan. He left Qin's embrace, came to Sun, picked up a piece of chestnut osmanthus cake on the table of the Eight Immortals and asked Sun: "Why does he always cry? Is he hungry? Does he eat this?"
Sun shook her head with a smile.
Wei Changmi put down the chestnut osmanthus cake and took another piece of emerald jade bean cake: "What about this one?"
Sun still shook her head and said with a smile, "You can't eat it either."
Two or three times like this, Wei Changmi asked about all the cakes on the table of the Eight Immortals, but Gao Zhan couldn't do anything. He pouted and asked, "Why doesn't he eat anything, then what does he eat? No wonder he was so hungry and cried. "
As soon as the words fell, everyone in the flower hall laughed. A few women held silk handkerchiefs and nodded their eyes, laughing until tears came out, thinking that Wei Changmi's actions just now were really cute.
Wei Changmi didn't know what everyone was laughing at yet, but he knew that everyone was laughing at him. Standing in front of Mrs. Sun, he finally felt a little embarrassed, turned around and ran back to Mrs. Qin, trying to hide himself, only showing a pair of big black eyes.
Qin Shi also laughed, rubbed his head and said: "Silly boy, my brother eats differently from you, so he won't starve to death."
He gave a half-comprehending oh, and turned his head to ask: "Then what does my brother eat?"
It happened that Gao Zhan's wet nurse wanted to feed him milk, so Qin asked him to follow him to have a look. Not long after, Wei Changmi came out with a sullen little face, and said with a complicated expression: "It turns out that my brother doesn't need to eat, and he will be full after one bite."
Qin couldn't help laughing, knowing that he didn't understand, so she didn't continue to explain.
Fortunately, he didn't continue to dwell on this issue. After seeing Wei Luo, he went to pester Wei Luo with all his heart.
The flower hall was overcrowded, Mrs. Ding Guo asked her youngest daughter Gao Yiyu to take all the ladies to the octagonal pavilion in the backyard to sit. Gao Yiyu is eighteen this year, just married at the beginning of the year, and returned to her mother's house today to visit her little nephew. Before she got married, she had a close relationship with Gao Danyang, and now the two of them are leading the way and leading everyone to the backyard.
Wei Changmi refused to be honest and insisted on coming with him. Qin had no choice but to ask Wei Luo to take care of him for a while.
When the group came to the gazebo, Gao Yiyu enthusiastically arranged for the girls to sit down. There were stone benches, embroidered piers, and surrounding fences in the pavilion for sitting. Wei Luo had a small tail and it was inconvenient to go anywhere, so he had to be handed over to Jin Lu and Bai Lan to take care of him first.
"Sister Ah Luo, sit here." Gao Danyang greeted her with a smile.
She looked around and saw that there was no room around, so she pulled Liang Yurong to sit behind the stone table together, and said with a sweet smile, "Then I'll bother Sister Gao."
Gao Danyang took good care of her, and those who didn't know thought they had a good relationship, but in fact they only met and talked once in private. Gao Danyang's affection for her is really inexplicable. It was precisely because of this kind of inexplicability that Wei Luo had to be careful when getting along with her.
Gao Danyang ordered the servant girl to serve tea, and introduced them to Gao Yiyu: "This is Wei Luo, the fourth lady from the British government's residence, and this is Liang Yurong, the eldest lady from the Pingyuanhou's residence."
Gao Yiyu nodded with a smile as a greeting.
Gao Danyang brought the white-glazed plum-patterned tea bowl to Wei Luo, and said in a slow tone: "Last time at Jinghe Villa, I had a great conversation with Sister Ah Luo, but it's a pity that I didn't have enough time to enjoy myself. Since I'm here today Duke Dingguo's mansion must have a good story."
Wei Luo thanked her for taking the tea bowl, and said politely, "Sister Gao is right, maybe I haven't met someone as close as Sister for a long time."
As the two came and went, their expressions were extremely sincere.
Liang Yurong was not suitable for this kind of scene. She took a sip of tea silently, neither helping Wei Luo nor holding Wei Luo back.
After a few words, Wei Luo handled it just right, neither appearing overly enthusiastic nor giving off a cold feeling, and there was no fault in every move. Gao Danyang smiled calmly, and suddenly asked: "I wonder if Sister Ah Luo likes to listen to opera?"
Wei Luo took a sip of tea, said calmly, "I listen to it once in a while, and I like to listen to Rongchunfang's "The Phoenix Returns the Nest" the most."
Gao Danyang said loudly, "It just so happens that I also like to listen to this opera. Last time I was listening to an opera at Rongchunfang, and on the way out, I seemed to see Sister Ah Luo, who was about to call you, but unfortunately you disappeared in the blink of an eye. .”
Wei Luo blinked and asked casually, "I wonder when Sister Gao said that?"
"About three days before the hunting competition." She thought for a while, and then suddenly realized: "Brother Jing Wang and Liuli were also on the way at that time. I heard from Cousin Jing that Sister Ah Luo went with them?"
Wei Luo let out a "huh", noncommittal.
Gao Danyang covered his lips with a smile, and said it's no wonder, "I had the impression that Cousin Prince Jing didn't like to listen to operas. I was surprised to see him in the theater that time."
Gao Yiyu on the side was drinking tea, and he was surprised when he heard this, "You said you saw Cousin Prince Jing go to the theater?"
"Yes." Gao Danyang also found it unbelievable, turned to Gao Yiyu and said, "I still remember when I was fifteen years old, on my birthday, I wanted to invite Cousin Jing to go to the theater together, but he refused to agree to anything. In the end I got angry and threatened to never talk to him again, but he gave me a pair of jade bracelets as an apology, so I forgave him."
As he spoke, he lifted up the moon white embroidered gold sleeve edge, and showed her the pair of jasper translucent bracelets, "This is the pair of bracelets, which I have kept until now. Look, don't they look good?"
Gao Yiyu teased her: "How many times have you let me watch it, can you not watch it?"
She pursed her lips and smiled, her eyelashes drooped, and she looked quite like a little girl.
In fact, this bracelet was not given by Zhao Jie, but after she cried to Empress Chen that year, Empress Chen gave it to her in the name of Zhao Jie. Maybe Zhao Jie didn't know the existence of this bracelet at all, or maybe he knew, he didn't care at all. But she attaches great importance to it, and has been wearing it on her hand for several years, and she is not willing to take it off.
Wei Luo held her chin and glanced at the bracelet. Nothing special, not as nice as the emerald squirrel charm on her waist.
After a while, the maid served several plates of melon and fruit snacks for the girls present to taste.
Gao Danyang raised his eyes, stood up suddenly, and looked across from the Bajiao Pavilion.
Wei Luo didn't know why, so she followed her gaze and turned her head to look, only to see two people walking by the opposite side of the lake. One is very unfamiliar, and the other is wearing a sky blue silk brocade robe, it is Zhao Jie.
Zhao Jie and Gao He, the son of Duke Ding, were walking on the way to the front yard. The two of them had some friendship in private, so they talked harmoniously.
As he was walking, he suddenly heard a voice behind him: "Brother Jing!"
He frowned subconsciously, and didn't want to stop, but Gao He stopped and said: "Cousin Danyang is here."
Gao Danyang came up to the two of them with a skirt in his hand, his face was slightly pink because he was walking in a hurry. After she stood firm, she asked with a smile, "Why are you here? Is the front yard okay?"
Gao He took out a sweat towel and handed it in front of her, shook his head and said, "Look at you, how old a girl is, and you're still so impatient." Then he replied, "His Royal Highness Prince Jing's clothes were spilled by a servant. No wine, I took him to the backyard to change into clean clothes, and was about to go back to the front yard."
Gao Danyang showed some comprehension, and immediately smiled and said, "This is your cousin's clothes, right? I saw that the sleeves are a bit short."
Gao He showed embarrassment, it was indeed his clothes. His stature is not considered low, he is the tallest in the family, unexpectedly the clothes are still a little small on Zhao Jie's body. This dress was newly made this year, and the size was too big when it was made. He hadn't worn it once, so he brought it for Zhao Jie to change into. Everything else is just right, except that the cuff is a bit short, revealing a small part of the wrist, which is not too conspicuous, as long as you don't look at it deliberately, you won't find it weird.
Gao Danyang looked at it, and suddenly noticed something was wrong, pointing to Zhao Jie's wrist and asked: "Cousin Jing, why do you have a tooth mark here? I have never seen it before, who bit it..."
She said that she was about to take a closer look, but Zhao Jie withdrew his hand expressionlessly, and said in a cold tone, "It's nothing, it's been a long time."
As he spoke, he looked in the direction of the Octagonal Pavilion. There are quite a few young girls in different colors, looking from a distance, they are full of flowers. He saw the little girl sitting on the stone bench at a glance, with her back facing him, wearing a crepe skirt with cherry-colored Suzhou embroidered flowers and birds, with a petite, exquisite and slender body, which was the most eye-catching. Her maid whispered in her ear, she didn't know what she said, she suddenly stood up, walked out of the pavilion, and walked towards the bamboo forest behind the pavilion.
Just now it was Bai Lan who took Wei Changmi with him, but after a while, the two of them disappeared together!
This is in Dingguo's mansion, not in my own home, if something happens, I may be in trouble. Wei Luo heard Jin Lu say that the two of them had entered the bamboo forest, and thought they were lost in it, so she asked Jin Lu to go to the flower hall to inform Qin Shi, while she went into the bamboo forest to look for it.
The bamboo forest is not big, but it is very deep inside. The bamboo leaves are emerald green, densely packed to block the light above the head, it is really not easy to find someone. Wei Luo pushed aside the bamboo leaves in front of her, walked in, and shouted as she walked, "Wei Changmi, Bai Lan, are you there?"
The bamboo forest is silent, only the sound of bamboo leaves being blown by the wind and whirling to each other. Going further in is the depths of the bamboo forest. She didn't get a response, so she frowned, presumably these two people should not be here, so she pulled up her skirt and prepared to go back. However, as soon as she turned around, a person suddenly appeared in front of her, blocking her way!
She was startled, subconsciously backed away, and leaned her back against a bamboo. Lifting his eyes, he met the familiar eyebrows and eyes of the other party, and couldn't help but sink his eyes: "Li Song?"
Li Song turned a blind eye to her disgust, raised his eyebrows, and walked up to her: "It's me."
Wei Luo raised her head, her voice was cold: "Why are you here? Is the disappearance of Wei Changmi and Bai Lan related to you?"
As if he didn't hear her question, he stood very close to her, he could touch her forehead as soon as he lowered his head, eye to eye, he said, "Wei Luo, why don't you ask if my injury is healed?"
This posture was too intimate, Wei Luo reached out and tried to push him away. However, he fixed her shoulders and kept her from moving. There is a huge difference in strength between men and women, not to mention that he has been practicing martial arts since he was a child. In terms of strength, Wei Luo is naturally no match for him. She was restless in her heart, but there was a smile on her lips: "Why am I asking you this? Don't you know that I wish you would die sooner?"
Li Song stared at her fixedly, as if he wanted to see through her.
But it's useless, no matter how he looks at it, her eyes are still full of hatred and hatred when she looks at him.
His heart seemed to be blocked by something, stuffy and aggrieved. He has thought a lot these two days, why does he always think of her? Is it because she always has a bad mood for him? Is it because every time he bullies her, she always bullies him back? Or is it because she smiles better than others? He couldn't figure it out, and couldn't figure it out.
He stared at her and made a conceited smile: "Didn't you ask me if I like you? If I die, no one will like you anymore?"
Wei Luo didn't expect him to admit it, she was startled at first, and then the corner of her lips curled up, wanting to laugh at him.
But the next moment, she couldn't laugh anymore.
Because he held her shoulders, leaned over, and bit down on her lips without hesitation—