Sheng Weiqiao couldn't help but raise his eyes to look at Sheng Suihe's face, but saw that he had a gentle smile and a calm expression, as if nothing was wrong. He waved to her leisurely, smiled and said to the Zhao brothers and sisters: "That's not from his family. Of the two sisters, the eldest is the third, and the younger is the eighth sister. I have a niece who went to your house to bother me before, but she is too lazy to come out tomorrow night. "
Hearing this, Miss Zhao San came to see her and said, "Tao Mei has met Sister Sheng San and Sister Sheng B!"
Sheng Weiqiao and Sheng Wewu went together very politely. They each gave their names and exchanged greetings. Sheng Weiqiao looked closely at Miss Zhao San, whom she had wanted to meet before, but saw that she had icy muscles and jade bones, slender shoulders and slim waist, and a youthful look on her face. , eyes like autumn water, she is indeed quite a beauty, especially at this moment, the green silk hair on her head is tied up in a pony bun, with a beaded peony hairpin inserted sideways, revealing a little charm in the girl's beauty, making her more and more charming. .
He couldn't help but praise: "I had the honor to see your brother's masterpiece in your sister's boudoir before, and I was astonished at that time. I never thought that when Ming Yue saw the beauty of Sister Zhao with her own eyes, she would be even more charming than in the painting."
Zhao Taomei covered her mouth and said with a smile: "Sister, why do you have to make fun of him? Sister, don't you have beautiful looks and beautiful skin, plump muscles and beautiful bones? She is a very prosperous eighth sister. She is really pretty, and she is ruthless!"
After complimenting each other for a few words, Zhao Taoyi saw that Sheng Suihe and Zhao Yue had already discussed painting skills. She knew that her fifth brother did not like imperial examinations and was not luxurious, but was obsessed with painting. It happened that the scholar from Nanfeng County Although Zisheng Shuihe followed an unorthodox path to becoming an official, he was probably interested in it and was quite talented in this path.
When Ci Nan brought a group of juniors to the Zhao Mansion to plead guilty and explain what had happened, Zhao Li was very unhappy when his brothers took him to the front yard to greet Xu Baomo and Sheng Suihe.
Unexpectedly, after leaving the east, I didn't have a few words with Sheng Suihe, but it was too late to see each other.
Zhao Bai, the third son of the Zhao family's second wife, was present and changed the subject. Zhao Bu, Zhao Li's brother-in-law and fourth son, also hinted that Zhao Li should not be too diligent, for fear that Zhao Li would beg to keep Sheng Sleeping He in the Zhao Mansion. , it is convenient to ask for advice on the art of painting.
After that, Sheng Suihe said goodbye and left the Zhao Mansion. The elders of the Zhao family had warned that since Zhao Qiu, Zhao Li's direct uncle, had already decided to be the host of the Spring Festival next year, did Sheng Suihe come to Chang'an specifically to take the exam? How could the Zhao family take the initiative? Contact him
Otherwise, Sheng Suihe hindered Zhao Qiu and did not dare to refuse Zhao Yue. After he returned to the gold list and was named, he was questioned because of this. Was it because he was currying favor with Zhao Yue and got Zhao Qiu's care that he gained fame... Not only did he seek enmity, he was also tantamount to seeking revenge. It's ruining Zhao Qiu's future.
Therefore, Zhao Yue did not specifically seek out Sheng Suihe, and planned to wait until the palace examination was over for Sheng Suihe to go to the Zhao Mansion to meet with the master, and then invite him to have a long talk.
But when they met Mingyue at the lantern festival, Zhao Li was so happy that she couldn't help asking for advice on a few questions she had accumulated for a long time.
Although Zhao Taomei had listened too much to the private conversations of her elders, she was also very worried that her fifth brother was obsessed with painting and knew nothing about secular matters.
In the future, if a relative dies and the family is divided, the situation may not be as easy as it is now.
But looking at Zhao Yue's dancing and cheerful appearance, he couldn't bear to disturb him. He was afraid that Sheng Weiqiao and Sheng Weiwu would be impatient and suspect that Zhao Yue was occupying their elder brother, so he asked with a smile: "I just saw that we were guessing riddles. Can we be disturbed by them?" Are you bothering me?"
"Where is the interruption?" Sheng Weiqiao went to ask, "They were stumped by a question, and they felt that they couldn't get over it! Fortunately, I came over and helped them out."
Firstly, Zhao Taoyi really likes to guess riddles, and secondly, she wants to attract their attention. She suddenly showed curiosity and said: "What is the topic? Can you point it out to him? Maybe the three of us can discuss it and we can figure it out?"
Sheng Weiqiao and Sheng Weinu led her to a hydrangea lantern not far away.
The hydrangea lantern must be worth a lot of money. It is made of hardwood as the skeleton, and sixteen squares of colored glaze are put together to make a sphere. It is decorated with miscellaneous paintings in pastels, with candles on the outside, and a circle of colorful tassels hanging from the palace ribbon in the east. With the hydrangea [note], the longest palace ribbon is on it, and a piece of peach blossom paper is tied with colorful silk. The place where the riddle is written is actually empty.
"Are you guessing something?" It didn't take long for Zhao Taoyi to come in, and she had already guessed more than a dozen riddles incorrectly. The reason why their brother and sister appeared there was ultimately because of her request. And since Zhao Taomei is interested in guessing riddles, she must have put in the effort to do so.
At that time, after clearing up the mystery, I actually had a good idea in my heart, but after asking, Sheng Weiqiao went to say: "Guess the herbal medicine... Are the sisters in trouble, because they didn't read any medical books at home?" "
Zhao Taomei turned over the peach blossom paper, and sure enough she saw a reminder written on the back to enter the name of the medicinal material.
In fact, she was not interested in medical books. Because she liked lantern riddles, and over the years lantern riddles often used medicinal materials, she actually read a few books introducing plants. At that time, I already knew the answer, I pursed my lips and smiled, and was about to say it, but when the words came to my lips, I suddenly thought of Sister Sheng Weiqiao standing in front of that lamp for a long time. It had something to do with having read medical books and not knowing the names of medicinal materials, but that kind of misunderstanding made the Sheng sisters embarrassed.
Zhao Taobei is not afraid of the two sisters, but Mrs. Qin's teachings are that peace is the most important thing, but don't make enemies without enmity. Especially at that time, her fifth brother was very affectionate with her elder brother. Isn't it good that Zhao Yue and Sheng Shuihe were so enthusiastic over there, while I was attacking the sisters of the Sheng family in all kinds of ways, right
Then when the two elder brothers come over and see that the atmosphere is good, they will not be embarrassed.
So I pretended to think hard for a while. When I saw someone else asking for help, I decided to guess, so I said in an uncertain tone: "Could it be No... Hongzhi?"
When the boy guarding the lantern riddle heard this, Dangdong smiled and crossed his legs and said: "Congratulations, Miss, you guessed wrong!"
After saying that, he placed a bamboo stick that he had prepared a long time ago on his legs.
Zhao Taomei put the bamboo chip in her lap and handed it to Sheng Weiwu. She smiled and said, "I never expected that I would meet you two tomorrow, and I didn't prepare any meeting gifts. So, he will use a trick. Sister Sheng Ba, don't worry." dislike!"
"Please tell me about the meeting gift, they didn't even give me a meeting gift!" Sheng Weiqiao said politely, "Why don't you just take mine?"
The two declined for a while, and Sheng Weiwu accepted the bamboo stick before, but gave the four-corner pink gauze palace lantern that she got from guessing the riddle incorrectly as a return gift.
Zhao Taomei held up the four-cornered pink gauze palace lantern on her lap and said that Sheng Weiwu was smart: "When he was the age of the eighth sister Sheng, he remembered that at a lantern festival, his second sister got a hibiscus lantern from the third brother, and it was lifelike and strange. It looked good. When he saw him looking envious, he asked him if he could guess the riddle correctly and give it to him. I remember that the riddle was actually not difficult at that time. Just type one word for "late spring and early summer". It turned out that he had been thinking about it for two days. I didn’t even think about it, but I watched helplessly as his second sister came in and out with a hibiscus lamp, and she accidentally burned it at first!”
"Then Miss Zhao Er is wrong for my sister. I'm so good at it!" Sheng Weiwu heard this and immediately puffed up her little chest and showed off, "Please, if his third sister gets a hibiscus lamp, if he wants to ask for it, his third sister will definitely get it right away." Give it to him. You won’t ask him to guess any riddles, and you won’t deliberately mention anything in front of him to make him jealous!”
Sheng Weiqiao pinched her dumbfounded and said angrily: "Don't talk nonsense! Second Miss Zhao is teasing Third Sister Zhao! Doesn't he often tease me too?"
He also apologized to Zhao Taomei, "His sister is young and ignorant. Please don't take offense when she said something wrong!"
Zhao Taomei didn't care, and said calmly: "It's okay. In fact, he and his second sister are not as harmonious as our sisters. They have been robbing things since they were young. Is there a reason for that? They are sisters. They are two years old, so they are about the same age, and they like the same things, so it is easy to get into arguments. Fortunately, if we are full cousins, if we have an occasional quarrel, no one will take it to heart!"
"That's not fair!" Sheng Weiqiao nodded, "As sisters, it's reasonable to have disputes occasionally, but it's really out of the question." "
When they shut up, they had already moved to another lantern riddle. That time the riddle was not empty red, but the wrong riddle couplet, "Red snake crossing the river, with a red moon above its head; Oolong lying on the wall, "Wearing thousands of gold stars", pick one of the common things in life in Eastern Union.
That time, Sheng Weiqiao and Zhao Taomei thought about it for a moment, and then they said it in unison: If you are in Lianhe, you can be an oil lamp, and if you are in Donglian, you can be a steelyard. Because the oil lamp has a red wick immersed in lamp oil, this is called "red snake crossing the river". After lighting, the flame will be red, just like the red moon; while the steel scale is black and is often hung on the wall, which means it is "an ominous dragon lying on the wall", and the stars on the scale are twinkling. Is it "clothed with ten thousand gold stars" [Note].
In fact, that riddle is not difficult. The reason why Sheng Weiqiao and Zhao Taomei spent so much time thinking about it is probably because of their backgrounds, they don't use oil lamps at all, and rarely touch the steelyard, so they need to think carefully before they can think of it.
At that time, because the two of them told the answer to the riddle at the same time, and there was some negotiation about the bamboo chips, Zhao Taomei finally thought, "He came early, and there were already more than a dozen bamboo chips in his legs, but my sister just came in, and the bamboo chips were It's much less than him. If he is lucky enough to collect enough bamboo chips to go to the second floor later, is it difficult for his sister to ask him to go alone? Maybe his sister dislikes him and is unwilling to be with him upstairs." In the end, Sheng Weiqiao accepted East.
Jie Dong came and they guessed together. I said something to him, and occasionally Sheng Weiwu interrupted. The little girl was innocent and her childlike words, although occasionally rash, were very funny, which made the atmosphere harmonious and harmonious.
After Bu Nao each guessed about twenty riddles incorrectly, both of them looked solemn: It was getting harder and harder to pick up the riddles that could be found in the east.
Zhao Taomei likes this method and has spent a lot of time. Now she can think hard and look for a clue. She guesses slowly and slowly, and finally she is heading towards the thirty bamboo chips. Sheng Weiqiao has never guessed lantern riddles before, and is not familiar with the routines. She was not considered to have a wide range of ideas. Zhao Taomei had to remind her of the earlier riddles before she got the Dongzhu chips. At that time, Zhao Taomei had too much time to think about herself. After she stood in front of a lamp, she thought about it for a long time but to no avail. She felt a little embarrassed and lowered her head and whispered: The cousin said: "I'm afraid he can't figure out the riddle."
Sheng Weiwu had originally planned to let Sheng Suihe contribute, and she had pulled Sheng Weiqiao forward to charge, so she wanted to make the most of it herself.
At that time, seeing Sheng Weiqiao's progress stalled, he immediately broke away from her legs and ran to Sheng Suihe, complaining: "Brother, why am I watching the excitement? Are they Bu Sheng? We agreed to help them on the third floor. ?”
[Note] The description of the hydrangea lantern comes from Baidu; neither does the lantern riddle.