While the Ningwei Hou Mansion was in a state of turmoil, the Sheng Mansion a few streets away had just arrived quietly.
"That's our own residence. We can just clean it up slowly. There's no need to rush." After dinner, everyone took a shower and changed clothes. Sheng Sleeping Crane had packed it up, and he didn't have time to wring out his black hair completely, so he took it. He put on a small red jade crown, hurriedly tied his hair into a bun, put it on his fox fur, and went out to find Sheng Weiqiao in person.
Just when we were in the corridor on the left, we saw a dozen boxes placed in front of us, and two little maids were guarding them, shivering in the northwest wind. Not far away, the half-open door was blocked by a hanging curtain, but the newly affixed window lattice clearly reflected the figures of several people walking around inside.
So Sheng Suihe walked over and said in a loud voice, "First put out the things you need tomorrow. The other people have rested, so get up and do it again! Don't go to bed too late - dear girl, I'll come to Yidong study, Tell me about my son’s entry into the palace!"
... Previously, Sheng Xiang secretly scolded Ningweihou's mansion for being a small place, and felt that he had wronged his young master. In fact, the Sheng residence was smaller than Ningweihou's mansion, and much smaller.
It's no wonder that in a place like Chang'an where land is at a premium, land prices are not comparable to those in Nanfeng County.
That house was not bought by Sheng Lanci when he came to Chang'an to take the exam - and the Sheng family made its fortune by running the ancestral business after Sheng Lanci became an official - that is to say, when Sheng Lanci bought the house, the Sheng family was very Not an ordinary wealthy household, to be precise, an ordinary wealthy household in Nanfeng County.
So he couldn't afford a luxury house in Chang'an at that time.
In fact, the current house with three entrances and a small garden on the side is because Old Mrs. Sheng favored his eldest son and was generous - that house drained almost all the cash in the Sheng family's books.
Mr. Sheng kept his word at home, and Mrs. Ming and her son couldn't help but have nothing to gossip about.
Sheng Lanci had always understood the ways of the world, so the reason why he spent that money was because he really didn't expect that not long after he entered the Hanlin Academy, he asked to go home to take care of his father, and would not come back for the next twenty years.
At that time, I thought that if there was no accident, I would definitely pass the exam. If I stayed in Chang'an to serve as an official, the problem of accommodation would definitely have to be solved. Moreover, he was old enough to get married at that time, and the house he bought was too small to accommodate his family. He also considered living with his wife, so he chose the three-in house with a small garden on the side, so the price was 10% more expensive. In such leisure time, the couple had a place to relax without going out.
At that time, the Sheng family was not very wealthy, and Sheng Lanci's requirements were certainly not very high. He thought that after they got married, he and his wife would live in the main house, and their children could live in the back room in the third room when they were very young. Room - Although the back room also faces south, the courtyard in front of it is far less open than the courtyard across from the main room. It looks very cramped, and it is close to the back wall, which makes people uneasy about safety. - Sheng Lanci Do you think he can be a Beijing official for the rest of his life? When his children are older, he will probably be released.
By the time he returns to Chang'an again, he will probably have been promoted a few levels. By then he will have an identity and probably have saved a sum of money, so he can sell the place and add some money to buy a bigger house.
Even if he had carefully selected the house he bought at that time, it would have been a bit embarrassing for Sheng Suihe and his party to live in it now: as the eldest brother who is the master of the house, Sheng Suihe naturally lives in the main house.
That's not because he is greedy for enjoyment and refuses to give up the main house to the girls, but because Shidong's rules are like this. If he can't get the main house, then it can be left empty.
It would be difficult for Sheng Weiqiao and the others to live there when their brother was around.
Otherwise, if word spreads, it will deny them their own rules and gain a bad reputation.
If this obviously does more harm than good and is not worth doing, Sheng Sleeping Crane can naturally live on his own.
As for girls, according to the rules, they are required to live in the back room.
But Sheng Suihe just went over to look at the house in person and felt that compared to Zhu Ying's small building, those few rooms were really shabby.
What's more, he was born as a pirate, and his legs were clogged with blood, so he was habitually prepared for danger in times of peace.
Seeing the house against the outer wall, I thought that if someone climbed over the wall in the middle of the night and lived in the main house that I entered in front of him, even if I noticed the movement in time, the window opening to the back room was so small that his frame would not be able to survive. The law passed through that small window.
If you want to stop the thief, you have to go through the front courtyard and go around to the moon cave door next to it. Even if you don't find someone to unlock the door, it will take some time to just climb over the wall. If you delay, the thief may have to leave!
Simply let the girls live in the east and west wings of the main house first - fortunately, he doesn't have much reputation in Chang'an now. Even if he visited some families at Sheng Lanci's instructions, he now has a place in their family. In those days, Uncle Shishi had no choice but to lower his status and come there to look for him in person. The brothers and sisters of Uncle Shishi's family also came to visit him on special occasions because they were just acquaintances but not familiar with him.
With such a quarrel in the family, one's own family is not around, and there is nothing to avoid suspicion.
Of course, in the spring of next year, if he is named on the gold medal list, he will have a lot of social activities. If someone is visiting at the door, the girls will not be able to stay in the wing, but will have to go to the back to avoid suspicion.
So Sheng Suihe called Sheng Weiqiao out and asked to go to the study alone to ask about the ins and outs of Mingyue. He was thinking about whether he should try to change to a bigger house while he was very free now.
After all, Gongsun Yingjiang was only very good, but Sheng Weiqiao and Sheng Weiwu were really pampered and raised. The house at that time was not much bigger than the courtyard they lived in alone in Shengfu. It was tolerable for a short time, but it would definitely be too much for Qiu after a long time.
I have already entered the study room. The study room is actually the wing room next to the main room. There is a persimmon tree in front of the door that is higher than the roof. Of course, it was so bare at that season that I couldn’t see the type of tree. It was prosperous. I asked the old man guarding the house there and told them.
If the tree was covered with snow, it looked almost like snow in the dark night. Sheng Suihe reminded her, and Sheng Weiqiao almost bumped into the trunk of the tree.
She followed Sheng Suihe into the study in a somewhat embarrassed manner.
Probably because no owner has lived there for many years, the floor of the study is not paved, but there is a layer of exquisitely carved blue bricks with intertwining floral patterns. Fortunately, the entire house is built higher than the ground of the courtyard. The foundation stone is more than two feet long, and the bottom of the green brick can be connected to the ground.
It was warm in the room at that time, and both brother and sister had taken off their fox furs.
Sheng Suihe put his fox fur on the screen beside the door and said, "Hui!" "
Lu Jin, who came with Sheng Weiqiao, went to make tea.
The tea set is clearly visible at a glance, and the huanghuali Baibao embedded in it is not far away.
Everything in that house was made of huanghuali. There was a long bookcase carved with huanghuali and bamboo knots placed by the window. Because everything except the table top was carved into the shape of bamboo knots, at first glance, it seemed that it was not made of bamboo. Yes, it looks very concise and bright.
I think Sheng Suihe should like that kind of style, because he usually wears a black shirt and rarely even uses embroidery.
Behind the desk is a set of square-back chairs with huanghuali carvings and bamboo patterns. Sheng Xiang very considerately asked someone to cover the chairs with fine rugs.
The two lacquered red huanghuali bookshelves with gold-painted landscapes are placed side by side against the wall. There are more than a dozen books on them, but they are brought by Sheng Shuihe during his trip. When Sheng Lanci returned home from his official career, he brought them with him. All the books were taken away - Mingyue moved in a hurry and had too many things to do. Although Sheng Suihe brought a lot of books, he could only put the ones he was reading first.
At that time, the two brothers and sisters were walking on a brocade bed decorated with landscapes and patterns inlaid with gold and mica. In front of them was a small table with huanghuali and enamel inlaid with lotus patterns. Since there was no hot water in the room, Lu Jin took the tea set and went outside to make tea.
When she returned to the study, she placed a secret-colored tea bowl with a five-petal sunflower mouth and a gold and silver wreath in front of the two siblings. Sheng Suihe waved his legs and said, "Okay, I'll retreat to Dong! Don't disturb Dong when he's fine!"
Is this normal? Lu Jin would like to think that it would be uncomfortable to be alone in the room in the middle of the night with such a big brother and sister
But when Mingyue Sheng Weiqiao entered the palace to meet the Queen Mother, although she was not qualified to follow the Nuan Pavilion all the way, she was waiting outside the Nuan Pavilion. Naturally, she saw Nan's livid face when she went out. In addition, Xu Caikui was in the Marquis' Mansion just now. The eviction order and the hurried move of the group knew that something big was going on. As the saying goes, "obey the authority when the matter is urgent", you will naturally not be verbose, and if you are lucky, you will leave.
As soon as she went out, Sheng Weiqiao burst into tears. He burst into tears and said, "Brother, is he asking me to fail the exam in the spring exam?"
The girl Mingyue has cried several times. When she was expelled by Xu Caikui, she cried all the way from the gate to the backyard to offer sacrifices to the red pavilion. Later, when she left Ningwei Hou Mansion, she found that Sheng Weiwu had been staying in the carriage with the charcoal basin turned off for a long time. It was so cold that I cried all the way to the house because I was worried about my sister.
The originally clear apricot eyes were red and swollen, looking very pitiful.
Sheng Suihe looked heartbroken, and the Xu family became more and more resentful, so he comforted her softly: "If you fail the exam, you will fail the exam. The worst thing is that you will not take the exam. Anyway, we are not the children of the powerful family when we return to Nanfeng County, and we will not be able to pass the Jinshi. No food to eat! Really no food to eat, I don’t know what he is capable of? He can easily go back to his old business of robbing! Anyway, it won’t hurt me. Besides, although he didn’t listen to what I said about the whole story, he just listened to the Queen Mother. You made an appointment with me in July, and you obviously gave me a chance. Things are not desperate after all, but hurry up and stop crying! You may hurt your eyes!"
"I'm not going to take the exam, how can it be so simple?!" Sheng Weiqiao saw that he didn't mind, but his heart became more and more sad, and said secretly, "Not to mention his aunt, who was really thinking about eradicating me for their mother and daughter. Just say that his mother is pregnant again now, and it would be great if she gives birth to a younger sister! If not, how embarrassing will my situation in the Sheng family be in the future?!"
The most life-seeking thing is, "I went to the Sheng family to be his elder brother. The reason why Tortoiseshell Island was willing to let him go was because he wanted me to have a good background and take part in the imperial examination. After passing the exam, I would recruit them to prevent them from being raped by unfamiliar officials." I was deceived and then sent to the execution ground or as cannon fodder in northern Xinjiang. If I failed, how could I be qualified to do such a big thing as a mere civil servant? Even if I succeeded, it would not be my turn to make the decision after those people on Tortoiseshell Island came to shore. ! When they are dissatisfied and expose it, will I have a good outcome?"
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I had done a lot of harm to Sheng Sleeping He that time. I burst into tears, but I couldn't stop them no matter what.
Sheng Suihe coaxed her with gentle words for a long time. Seeing that she couldn't stop crying, he felt exhausted mentally and physically: "Zong Shu!" He told me that I might not really hurt him, but even if I did, he wouldn't be anxious. Why should I be anxious? ! Should I explain clearly what happened first? Otherwise, how could he analyze the pros and cons and know what we should do to receive Donglai? ! "
Seeing that Sheng Weiqiao still couldn't stop crying after hearing those words, he stood up and gnashed his teeth and said, "Forget it, I'll cry slowly. He took two people and went to kill Xu Caikui at night. Lift her head to vent my anger!"