While Meng Twelve and Meng Shisan were whispering, at the edge of the flower forest not far from them, Meng Guihan was whispering to his brother Meng Guiyu: "Sixth brother, the Lord of Kangzhao County has been away from the banquet for a long time and has not returned. Most likely, someone stopped me somewhere to express my heartfelt feelings. I just asked a maid and she said that I saw Lord Kangzhao asking for directions outside the double courtyard. Calculating the time, she will be able to get to this place in a while. Such a good opportunity. You can’t miss it!”
"What about yourself?" Meng Guiyu frowned. Although he was indeed very curious about Sheng Weiqiao and really wanted to have more contact with this girl, in the final analysis, he still valued his younger brothers and sisters the most, so he was very interested in Meng Guihan. Sheng Weiqiao felt a headache as she was concentrating on bringing herself together, "Today's flower viewing banquet, there are so many girls from all over Chang'an. You seize the opportunity to take a good look, and write down which girl you like. I can give you to you later." You go and propose marriage! If you miss it, Her Royal Highness Princess Wuyang may not hold a similar banquet again this year."
Afraid that he would miss his life and delay his life-long events, he sighed, "Don't worry about me here! I will stop Kangzhao County Lord and have a good walk with her!"
With such repeated assurances, Meng Guihan turned around and left.
Not long after he left, Sheng Weiqiao walked over as expected. He saw Meng Guiyu under the independent flower tree, wearing an azure brocade robe that was reflected in the sea of pink and white flowers. He looked particularly chic and upright. He subconsciously took another look. , but immediately recognized him and blessed him with a smile: "Hello, uncle!"
Sheng Weiqiao thought it was just a coincidence. After all, everyone knew the intention of this kind of banquet today. They were not at the table most of the time. It was normal for Meng Guiyu to come out to wait for others, so he just said hello and left. , so as not to disturb Meng Guiyu.
Who knew that Meng Guiyu nodded to her and said with a smile: "You may as well be the County Lord, I'm waiting for the County Lord."
"Wait for me?" Sheng Weiqiao was a little surprised, stopped and looked at him, and asked, "Unknown uncle, what do you have to say?"
Meng Guiyu pointed to a flower path leading to a secluded place not far away, and said kindly: "Can we talk while walking?"
"This...?" Sheng Weiqiao looked at him and then at the road, and pondered: Although she had not met Meng Guiyu many times, Meng Guiyu had always left a very good impression on her; most importantly, What's strange is that Meng Guiyu gave him inside information when the two met for the first time. At this moment, Sheng Weiqiao couldn't help but think, maybe he had some confidential information that he wanted to reveal to him
So after thinking about it for a while, he nodded and said, "Uncle, please!"
After exchanging excuses and humility, the two finally walked into the path side by side.
After walking a few steps, Meng Guiyu saw Sheng Weiqiao looking at him frequently, asking questions clearly in his words. He coughed dryly and said, "What does the county master think of today's banquet?"
"The eldest princess's mansion is the eldest princess's mansion after all. These flowers and trees are really beautiful." Sheng Weiqiao secretly thought, is there some secret behind this banquet or some secret that is not known to everyone
While making various guesses, she said, "I have read the two lines of poems that Her Royal Highness the Princess told Princess Jingshu just now, but I have never thought of using that method to keep the flowers blooming in the mansion undefeated. "
"This is because the county master has been growing up in the south before." Meng Guiyu laughed when he heard this and said, "The climate in the south is warm and flowers bloom all year round. There is no need to worry about not having flowers in the garden. Naturally, there is no need to work so hard. ! But that’s not the case in Chang’an.”
Sheng Weiqiao was right when he thought about it, and said with a smile: "My uncle has seen it thoroughly. I also thought that after knowing this method, I returned to Nanfeng County after a while and told my parents to follow the example of the gourd. I’ve been eyeing flowers for a few days!”
"The county master is going back to Nanfeng County in a while?" Meng Guiyu was racking his brains thinking about how to get closer to her instead of continuing to be such a polite "uncle" like this. "County Lord" is going, he was startled when he heard this, and asked tentatively, "Is the County Lord going back just for the production of the royal family? But I don't know when he will return to Chang'an after this trip?"
There has been no news about Sheng Weiqiao's biological mother, Feng, for more than ten years since she gave birth to her daughter. Now that she is pregnant with great difficulty, Sheng Weiqiao takes it seriously and goes back in person to welcome the birth of her younger brother or younger sister.
But Meng Guiyu probably came here to prepare for marriage
While he was thinking about it, he saw Sheng Weiqiao shaking his head and saying, "Of course I'm going back. I just came to Chang'an for a visit, and I didn't plan to stay long."
At this point, I remembered that Meng Guiyu was also a member of the Meng family after all, and had always followed the eldest family, so he might not be unable to speak in front of Duke Zheng, so he added a few words, "I originally thought that my brother was my biological brother, and I planned to wait until he was named on the gold list. He came back. But because his grandparents came to Chang'an in person to congratulate him, they had already stayed a few more days! I don't want to... It would be really embarrassing for our family to stay in Chang'an now. To be honest, if it weren't for my grandparents' New Year It’s been a long time, we just traveled a long way to Chang’an, it’s not appropriate to start back immediately, I’m afraid we’re all on the way back now!”
"Did the county owner just walk away like that?" Meng Guiyu raised his eyebrows slightly when he heard this, thinking to himself: Could it be that Sheng Suihe has a one-sided love for Sheng Weiqiao and Sheng Weiqiao himself doesn't know about it
So he deliberately probed, "After all, the young prince whom Gaomi Palace has newly recognized has been your brother and sister for several years. Now that he has just returned, he may not be able to get used to the palace, right? Is your family relieved?"
Sheng Weiqiao was worried that the Meng family would seize on the fact that the Sheng family had adopted Sheng Sleeping Crane and pursue them fiercely. Hearing this, he immediately became alert and immediately clarified: "It has only been three years since he entered our Sheng family's genealogy! In these three years, because of his hard work Because of our studies, we actually don’t meet very often! There is definitely a brother-sister relationship. After all, I always thought he was my biological brother. But it’s a bit unreasonable to stay in Chang’an for him. Right? After all, King Gaomi and the princess are here, and his biological parents have to worry about his affairs, so why should our Sheng family be gesticulating from the sidelines? "
"It seems that the Lord of Kangzhao County doesn't know Sheng Suihe's thoughts?" Meng Guiyu looked at Sheng Weiqiao playfully for a moment, then smiled secretly, "I have always thought that Sheng Suihe was cruel and cruel, and acted unscrupulously... but I didn't want to. Is there anything he can do about it?"
Originally, his special interest in Sheng Weiqiao was aroused by Sheng Suihe. Now that he realized Sheng Weiqiao's status in Sheng Suihe's heart, he was probably paying more attention to this girl because of his earlier considerations. few.
"Kangzhao County Lord, your parents are here, and your grandparents are with you now. You and I have not met many times. There are some things I have to say that we only have to talk to each other." Meng Guiyu thought for a while and said warmly. , "But I still have to venture to say: It would be a bit aggrieved for someone with such talent and appearance as the county master to be confined to a corner like Nanfeng County!"
There was appreciation and expectation hidden in these words. Sheng Weiqiao noticed it and couldn't help being slightly startled.
Her mentality at this time was actually very hesitant. After all, since the second half of last year, when she returned to Sheng Mansion from Tortoiseshell Island, she had learned from Sheng Lanci and his wife that Sheng Suihe and she were not related by blood.
From then until now, I have been fighting and scheming with Sheng Suihe, and I have even been close to each other beyond the relationship between brother and sister more than once. To say that I can get rid of Sheng Suihe like this now, there is no psychological burden. It is really impossible to talk about marriage with other men.
But Sheng Weiqiao is a girl who understands the overall situation and considers the overall situation. She cannot ignore the future of the entire Sheng family for her own affairs.
The King of Gaomi and the Meng family have been evenly matched for so many years, and they themselves may not be sure that they will have the last laugh. Who among the outsiders can guarantee that they will bet correctly
Although Sheng Suihe once confidently guaranteed that Huan Guanlan would win with the trump card left to him, but this man had deceived Sheng Weiqiao too many times and refused to explain what his trump card was. How could Sheng Weiqiao dare to believe him
After all, this choice not only affects her life and death, but also affects the entire Sheng family!
The Sheng family is not in a situation where they have to take sides. In this situation, it is best and safest for both sides to not interfere... Therefore, her rationality tells her that for the sake of the future of the Sheng family, and for the sake of the elderly Mrs. Sheng, he will not be so old. She still has to worry about the future of her children and grandchildren all day long. She should really choose Li Shengxu, or someone like Li Shengxu whose family has not participated in the imperial struggle!
Reason and emotion, the overall situation and personal relationships, this is an extremely difficult choice. At Sheng Weiqiao's age, he doesn't have much experience. Naturally, he has been hesitant to this day. In fact, he has never figured out his real decision
So although she had specially dressed up to attend the flower viewing feast at the request of Mrs. Sheng, she really didn't have many expectations or thoughts about Li Shengxu... After all, she also knew that no matter what Li Shengxu showed to her, Like it or hate it, in fact, regarding the marriage between two people, which may or may not happen, both parties have the same considerations: the political stance of the other family is in line with their own interests!
To put it bluntly, this is still a political marriage, but unlike Meng Bijun's marriage to Emperor Xuan Jing as his successor, Meng married a daughter for the sake of continued wealth, while Li Sheng sought a marriage to protect his family's peace.
This is also the reason why the so-called princess of Deping County, who is twenty-one years old and has a bad reputation and no reliable backing, is still confident to compete for the position of the Marquis of Yichun: As the biological daughter of King Gaomi, she is under the influence of King Gaomi. His disdain is well-known.
If Princess Wuyang had to choose between her and Meng Lifei to be her daughter-in-law... 80% of the time she would choose her. At any rate, choosing her would also allow Princess Wuyang to stay away from all parties and remain friendly with all parties at the same time. From the perspective of relationship, if you choose Meng Lifei, it will be equivalent to siding with the Meng family.
Princess Wuyang, who knew that court fighting was risky and had to be cautious when taking sides, would never take such a risk easily!
Therefore, when Meng Guiyu made his euphemistic confession, Sheng Weiqiao first thought: "Uncle Chongxin, what do you want from me?"
"... Uncle, I'm just ridiculous. I'm just an ordinary prostitute." It is difficult for a girl of her age and experience to accept the concept that "it is a good thing to have the value of being used". At this moment, she originally felt sorry for Meng Gui. Yu's good impression was immediately discounted, and he said calmly, "There are so many people like me in the world, and I haven't seen those people coming to Chang'an in droves? So I went back to Nanfeng County to get married. This is how you live your life, there is nothing wrong with it.”
"More than ten years ago, when my father and mother went there, I remember it was a day of heavy rain." Meng Guiyu has lived in an environment where he looks at people's faces for many years, and is very sensitive to changes in people's likes and dislikes, especially Sheng Weiqiao's concealment skills were not very good. He suddenly felt that the girl's attitude towards him seemed to have cooled down instantly. He frowned slightly, then relaxed and said calmly, "It's just past noon, and the few visitors have already left. , I took my seventh brother and eleventh sister to kneel behind the filial piety curtain to keep vigil, and asked my servants to take the youngest eleventh sister to the side room to rest."
"Originally, it was because Sister Eleven was young and couldn't help but kneel for a long time."
"Who would have thought that before the three days of resting, the tenth sister accidentally went to see the eleventh sister, only to find that she was completely burned!"
"It turned out that the servants who were serving her saw that our parents were gone. I, the eldest brother, was not very young at the time. The uncles, aunts, and aunts above me, because of their grievances with my late father in the early years, they all stood by and had no intention of supporting us. , was very lazy, took her to the side room and just threw her away."
"Sister Eleven was awakened by thunder in the middle of the night. No one was in the room with her. She went out to look for her. She was soaked by the rain and cried loudly from the cold. The servants were afraid that I would know the punishment, so they changed her clothes and provided her with hot water. I didn’t even soak her or wipe her hair, let alone ginger soup or anything like that, I just stuffed her into the quilt and forced her to sleep!”
"When the tenth sister discovered it, the eleventh sister's pillow cover was even damp."
"She got the root of her illness there. Later, in order to completely cure her illness, I sold most of the property left by my father and mother... At that time, both the tenth and eleventh sisters were opposed to this, and what they said was also the same as the mayor of Kangzhao County. You were almost there just now... After the decline of the family, no matter whether it is the servants, clan members, outsiders, or even the heads of the brothers, life has been unsatisfactory. There is no need to spend all the money for the sake of the eleventh sister."
"After all, according to current opinion, the majority of those things should go to me and my seventh brother, not to the two girls who are destined to leave the court."
Meng Guiyu looked at Sheng Weiqiao, his tone was very calm, the compassion and softness contained in it was very sincere, "My answer is the same as when I persuaded the county master just now: If my sister is so talented and beautiful, if she has been tortured by illness, , I have to live this life making do with it... It’s really too unfair!”
"Perhaps some people, even many who are girls, feel that the girl's family has to get married, and that they can make do with many things, compromise, or even accept their fate."
"But I feel that a person's life is only as long as the grass and trees are in autumn... It is already in a hurry and short, so why should we make do with it?"
“Flowers in the mountains and fields bloom in the morning and fall in the evening, but they don’t forget the bright day.”
"Could it be that the county lord has spent decades in his life and made decisions so easily?"
Sheng Weiqiao stared blankly into his eyes. The man's temperament was so gentle that he was not aggressive. His eyes were heavy, full of love and cherishment for beautiful things, without any trace of filth or calculation.
"...Thank you!" The girl suddenly had the urge to burst into tears. She thought of the sleeping crane, the life of a person, the autumn of vegetation, the flowers of the mountains and fields blooming in the morning and falling in the evening, and not forgetting the bright day... So she Did you just decide to give up on him
Seeing all the past interactions before him, Sheng Weiqiao even had the impulse to immediately turn around and leave Princess Wuyang's Mansion and go to Gaomi Prince's Mansion to meet Sheng Suihe.
but…
But I can’t take this step no matter what!
No matter how moving her words of encouragement were, how could she possibly watch the entire Sheng family bear heavy shackles for her marriage, and be involved in the whirlpool of an unknown future? !
... I don’t know how long it took, but Sheng Weiqiao came out of his trance and saw a handkerchief in front of him. It had a few bamboo branches embroidered on the aqua blue background. It seemed that the stitching was done by Meng Guihuan, and it was folded neatly. Qi's hand was handed to her hand. Meng Guiyu should have maintained this posture for a long time, but there was no trace of impatience or urging in his face and eyes. In his calmness, there was understanding and tolerance after many vicissitudes of life.
The girl subconsciously touched her face and realized that although she had endured it again and again, her face was still filled with tears.
She smiled miserably, took the handkerchief and wiped it, thinking silently in her heart: "Grandpa, I have indeed come to Princess Wuyang's Mansion, and I can see more clearly who I want. But, what's the point?"
Although Mrs. Sheng said that if she finally chose Sheng Suihe after meeting many outstanding young talents, then for Mrs. Ai's sake, the old man was willing to take a gamble for her... How could she accept this with peace of mind? Huge sacrifice and indulgence? !
After all, the cutting is still going on and the reasoning is still messy.