It had been a few years since he last visited this place. After all, it was the place where he was born and raised. It would be a lie to say that he didn't miss it at all. But when he really stood at the gate of his own yard, Xie Wangzhi didn't dare to go in for a while. His legs were so stiff that he didn't even know which leg to step forward first.
"Why, don't you like this yard?" Xie Yunzhi saw that she was a little shy and said deliberately, "Nothing in it has been moved. In the winter, several orchid pots froze to death, but I didn't dare let anyone throw them away, for fear that you would come back and beat me."
"I'm not that bad!" Xie Wangzhi glared at Xie Yunzhi and pretended to hit him.
"Look, look, you are so mean. I took a leave of absence to come and take you home, but you hit me." Xie Yunzhi complained, but she was smiling. When Xie Wangzhi reached out her hand, she grabbed her hand and held her fingertips tightly, "Come on, I will take you home."
The feeling on his fingertips was no different from before he entered the palace, dry and warm. Xie Wangzhi's eyelashes trembled slightly, and he said "hmm" softly, with a slight smile, and followed Xie Yunzhi through the moon gate into his own courtyard.
As soon as the two entered the house, Xie Yunzhi had sent someone to explain that the maids in the courtyard were all there before Xie Wangzhi entered the palace. When they saw her coming back, they were stunned for a moment and knelt down together: "This servant greets the lady."
In the palace, you have to bow to others, but when you go home, you have to receive greetings. This feeling is quite subtle. Xie Wangzhi smiled and nodded: "I'm back."
"Yes, you're back." Xie Yunzhi touched her head and turned to the maid in the yard and said, "Help my lady take a bath and change her clothes."
The leader, Luzhu, was the smartest. She immediately stepped forward to respond, called Hongyun and Biliu, and took Xie Wangzhi into the house.
The three maids were all sixteen or seventeen years old. They had been in Xie Wangzhi's courtyard the longest and were very good at taking care of people. They led her to the bathing place, and Luzhu took the lead in taking off her clothes and removing her flower hairpins. When Xie Wangzhi entered the bathtub, Hongyun picked up her long black hair and combed it while rubbing it with hibiscus leaves and soap beans. Biliu watched the water temperature for her and put medicinal herbs in the water to warm her body.
After washing his body and hair, the same thing happened. The three maids did their own thing. They combed Xie Wangzhi's hair again and put on new clothes. Finally, Biliu brought a mirror and said, "Madam, take a look. Is there anything wrong?"
The mirror was not too big, and Bi Liu held it up, barely able to reflect half of her body. The girl in the mirror had changed her bun from a palace maid's, with her long hair half loose and half tied up. The hairpins on her hair were made of sandalwood and white jade, and small pearls hung on her earlobes. These things were luxurious and elegant, as was her skirt, which was made of the finest silk and embroidered with fine dark patterns. It was obvious at a glance that it was expensive, but not too gorgeous.
The girl in the mirror was naturally beautiful, with a face that had not yet fully grown, and a childish look between her eyebrows and eyes, but one could vaguely see her future great beauty. Xie Wangzhi stared at the mirror for a while, then suddenly raised his hand to touch his hairpin, and then touched his face.
Luzhu thought that the hairpin was inserted in the wrong position, or that her face felt dry, so she asked hurriedly, "Madam, are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"
"No." Xie Wangzhi shook her head. She just felt that the person in the mirror was a little strange. It was clearly the face she saw every morning when she woke up, but after being dressed like this, she didn't look like herself anymore.
The dress was beautiful and fit her well, and the hair accessories and earrings were also beautiful. She stood in her room, facing the mirror, but an inexplicable confusion surged from the bottom of her heart. She seemed unhappy, but also as if there was no one she could talk to.
Xie Wangzhi sighed silently, hiding his thoughts, and smiled at Luzhu, "Go out. I want to talk to my brother for a while."
Lu Zhu had no doubts. Besides, even if she could see what Xie Wangzhi was thinking, she would not ask him anything. She nodded and led Xie Wangzhi out.
As soon as he went out, Qingyu, who was waiting outside, stepped forward and bowed: "Madam, someone has sent a letter to visit, and the master has gone to meet the guest. Madam is waiting for you in the main room."
The one who could be called "Madam" in Xie's house was naturally Xie Wangzhi's stepmother, a noble lady from the Wang family of Langya. Wang was upright and self-respecting, and treated Xie Wangzhi very well, and there was nothing wrong with her, but there was always a layer of distance between them, and the two were not too close, not to mention that they had not seen each other for several years, and Wang had her own children.
Xie Wangzhi thought about it, didn't say much, just nodded, and went straight to the main house.
The outer room of the main house was where guests were received. Xie Wangzhi went in and indeed saw Wang. After not seeing her for so many years, Wang was still the same as she remembered, dignified and graceful, with every move being within the planned framework.
"You're back." Wang didn't know how to face this woman who was both her stepdaughter and niece. After a brief pause, she said the words she had prepared earlier, blandly, "Think about it first. Is there anything you need? I can ask someone to buy some."
"Thank you ma'am, I don't need anything."
"You don't have to answer so quickly. I haven't been back for a long time. It's possible that I can't remember it for a while. If you remember what you want, send someone to tell me and I can add it right away." Wang would rather thank Wangzhi for making a lot of requests, but this sentence is hard for her to do. She moved her sleeves with her fingertips, "By the way, you haven't shown up in the past few years. There will be a banquet in a few days. I will take you to relax and reminisce with your old friends?"
Looking at the aristocratic families in Chang'an City, Xie Wangzhi really didn't have many close friends. One of them was far away in Fengzhou. She didn't want to attend the banquet: "I'm tired from traveling. I want to rest. I won't go. Thank you, Madam, for thinking of me."
Rejected again, Wang didn't know how to express her kindness, so she made a last attempt: "That's true, I took it for granted. You should have a good rest. Think about it again, what do you want during this period of rest?"
Xie Wangzhi instinctively wanted to refuse, but when the words came to his lips, he rolled over: "Can you find a teacher for me? There are some things I want to learn."
"Yes, of course." Wang was delighted and relieved. "Just tell me, I'll send someone to find the best teacher."
"That's not necessary. Just invite any gentleman who is convenient for you." Xie Wangzhi paused and looked at Wang. "Konghou. I want to learn the konghou."
**
In front of Xie’s house.
It was still spring, but the sun was quite strong today. After standing at the door for a while, he felt extremely hot, but Xue Shaoshan felt a chill in his heart. His back was covered with layers of cold and hot sweat, and he could wring water out of the corners of his clothes.
There is nothing else to blame, just blame this disappointing daughter beside him. He didn't interfere much, and it was usually the wife who raised her. He didn't know what went wrong, but Xue Geshu couldn't get along with her illegitimate sisters at home, and this year she was persuaded to enter the palace, and she did something to bully the palace people.
If she was really a palace maid, she would be labeled a bully at best, but she was so unlucky that she had to bully the legitimate daughter of the Xie family in Chang'an. Unfortunately, the official in charge of the Ministry of Personnel also came from this family. Xue Shaoshan felt intimidated when he thought of the always smiling young man, fearing that he would trip her up from behind.
He really had no other choice, so he hurriedly took leave, took Xue Geshu with him, and stood at the door of Xie's house in the scorching sun, handing in a letter, hoping to meet Xie Yun.
After waiting for another quarter of an hour, the sun rose higher and higher. The gate of Xie's house was filled with children of officials. Xue Geshu couldn't bear it any longer. He covered his face with his hands and cried, "... Ah Ye! How long do we have to wait?"
"Why are you crying? It's all because of you!" Xue Shaoshan wanted to hit her, but it was not easy to do it in front of someone else's house. He felt dry, rubbed his hands, and asked the guard at the door, "Hey, can you make an exception? I'm a colleague of yours, can you let me in first?"
The guard didn't care who he was and shook his head: "No."
Xue Shaoshan couldn't force his way in, so he retreated awkwardly.
As soon as he walked down the steps, a man came out of the door. It was the steward who had handed him the invitation earlier. The steward did not put on airs, but went straight to Xue Shaoshan and bowed: "Buque, please forgive me. It's a pity that our master is not feeling well and cannot see guests. Please go back."
If he really couldn't see the guests, he should have said it long ago. Waiting until now to reply is just an excuse to torture people. However, the higher the rank, the more powerful the person. What else can Xue Shaoshan do? He can only smile and say: "This is really unfortunate. I don't know what the symptoms of the Jieshizhong are. I still have a few old ginsengs at home..."
"That's not it." Xie Yunzhi had expected Xue Shaoshan to do this, and had told him in advance, so the steward could just repeat it, "Our husband said it's just a minor illness, no need to worry, it won't affect official business, just rest assured."
The latter part of the sentence obviously had a hidden meaning. Xie Yunzhi seemed to be a strange person, but he kept his word. This sentence meant that he didn't care. Xue Shaoshan breathed a sigh of relief, exchanged a few more polite words with the steward, and then turned around and took his daughter back to the mansion in the carriage.
As soon as he got on the carriage, Xue Geshu became restless again and tore the handkerchief: "Father, why is this family like this? They are deliberately leaving us alone and making things difficult for us. They are so petty..."
"That's enough!" Xue Shaoshan was furious. "Now you tell me that you are petty, but you are petty yourself? I don't know how your mother taught you to be so stubborn with Ge Li at home, and you are still stubborn in the palace. How dare you mess with people in Daming Palace?"
"I..." Xue Geshu would never admit that he did anything wrong, "It was clearly her who let the cat scratch me first!"
"What's wrong with catching you? Do you know who that is? She is the legitimate daughter of the Xie family in Chang'an. Let alone letting a cat scratch you, even if she steps on your face, you have to praise her for stepping on it!" Xue Shaoshan was annoyed. "The Jieshizhong is her brother. If he doesn't support her sister, then is he supporting us? Do you think you are her sister-in-law?"
Xue Geshu had met Xie Yunzhi several times, and after hearing Xue Shaoshan's angry words, he suddenly had an idea: "Maybe it's really possible..."
"Dream on!" Xue Shaoshan knew the difference very well and stopped his daughter's idea. "Don't dream on it. I think you should stop staying in the palace, lest you cause trouble for me. Go home quickly, pack up, and marry your cousin as soon as possible when you get to Qiuli."
Xue Geshu knew that her cousin had accomplished nothing except his family background. He was not good-looking either. He was a pile of flesh at a young age. She refused and said in anger, "I won't marry you! If you want to marry me, why don't you let Ge Li or Ge Dan go? I won't marry someone like that! You are incompetent and dare not offend Xie, so you sell your daughter. What did I do wrong? It's your fault. It's your incompetence that they stepped on you..."
Before she could finish her words, there was a crisp sound and a sharp pain on her face. Xue Geshu clearly felt half of her face swollen.
She was beaten, and was slapped hard by Aye.
Xue Geshu wanted to cry and make a scene, but before she could open her mouth, she met Xue Shaoshan's gaze. Xue Shaoshan looked at her coldly, not as if he was looking at his daughter, but as if he was looking at an object that was causing trouble.
Xue Geshu knew at once that there was no room for maneuver in this matter. It was useless to argue any further. He would only get a few more slaps in the face. Just like the concubines that the mother in the mansion had sold off before, no matter how much she was favored by her father, she would still have to leave the mansion crying if she was looked at like this.
… It’s over. It’s all over.
If she married such a man, her second half of life would be ruined and she would have to be laughed at by Xue Gedan, Xue Geli and others; but she didn't dare to hang herself.
Xue Geshu suddenly collapsed, blinked his eyes, and suddenly raised his hands to cover his face, sobbing and crying.
The author has something to say: Goodbye, tool man, you are going to sail away tonight, don’t worry about the protagonist CP, they have their mother to protect them~
Wang Zhi went home and wanted to become the best cook among the noble ladies and the most expensive cook (what a weird title)