The news that Qi Ming had won the honorary title was soon spread among the neighbors.
The Qi family lived in the east of the city. It was close to the canal, and there were many shops and merchants. Although it was not as good as the wealthy officials in the west, it was considered good feng shui.
In these streets and alleys, although the Qi family is a later one, they are not short of gold and silver, and they control more than half of the wine supply in the capital. Although they do not know the relationship between Qi Yun and Ye Pingrong and the eldest princess Hua Ning, they only rely on When they can come, they will finalize the house in Dongcheng, and they will know that there is someone in the court who supports them.
Such a family, even if they just entered the capital, would not dare to underestimate them.
Except for Ye Jiao's previous tea tasting, there was no chance to contact the Qi family at other times.
Nowadays, because of Qi Ming's pretense of being a tribute, there are many guests. Except for congratulations, they come to explore the bottom of Qi's family and have a relationship with Qi Yun. After all, they are all businessmen, and they will have some contact in the future.
The Qi family prepared firecrackers and lanterns, but they were not extravagant. The banquet was only limited to the front hall, and no one was allowed to enter the back hall. The guests who came could understand that Qi Saburo had to prepare for the palace exam. To disturb him, when he came, he consciously did not bring his female relatives with him.
In this way, Ye Jiao can relax a bit.
In comparison, the Wen family is much quieter.
They jumped the highest before, and now they fell the hardest.
Although there are often thousands of students competing for 300 places in the exam, it sounds like a lot of people take the exam, but this is the capital city all over the country, and the real capital children occupy less than one-tenth of them. A good seedling is really not easy.
Different from the poverty of the poor and the poor, the sons of the rich and the rich have no worries about food and clothing, and are born with a golden spoon. They can get wealth that no one else can ask for with little effort.
Since you can live without food and clothing, and you can live without doing anything, why should you work hard
In addition, the court now treats businessmen well, and there is no discrimination in ordinary life, which makes the children of businessmen less motivated.
Therefore, among the merchants' families in the east of the capital this year, only Wen Liulang and Qi Saburo took the test.
Before the announcement, there was no sound from the Qi family, and Qi Ming ran out and followed the steward Qin around, and he didn't seem confident. Wen Liulang often went to the poetry anthology conference, as if he had a chance to win.
As a result, the list was released, Qi Sanlang was ranked at the bottom, but Wen Liulang was named Sunshan.
The voices of ridiculing the Wen family have never stopped, and the two live close together, how busy the Qi family is, and how deserted the Wen family is.
But during this time, the one who came to Qi's house to find Ye Jiao the most was the Wen family's mistress, Shi Shi.
Ye Jiao would definitely be unhappy with someone else, but now that she knew that Shi was Shi Tianrui's sister, and Shi helped Ye Jiao out of the siege before, the little ginseng became a lot closer to her, and they usually interacted with her. Also some more.
Shi often brings some snacks and fruits made at home, and also tells Ye Jiao a lot of things in the capital: "Our merchants can't compare to those officials and eunuchs, even if someone is a backer, it is not easy to always fight with others, and we must be cautious everywhere. Be careful with everything, especially in the past few days, the apricot blossoms have been blooming well, and there are often flower fairs. When your family's Saburo Palace exam is over, I will take you around."
Ye Jiao nodded with a smile, holding her chin and looking at Shi Shi.
Shi Shi was peeling the loquat fruit when he felt Ye Jiao's gaze and smiled back at her.
In terms of appearance and character, Shi's family is outstanding. Compared with the lifeless when they first met, Shi's now loves to talk and laugh, and looks a lot more alive.
Little ginseng didn't go through too many people's hardships, she just thought that it is a day when she is happy, and it is also a day when she is unhappy. She knows that Shi Shi treats her well. Now she can see Shi Shi happy and happy, she is also happy. .
Shi Shi handed half of the peeled loquat to Ye Jiao: "Try it."
Ye Jiao took it and took a bite, then opened her eyes slightly, surprised: "It's so sweet..."
Shi Shi also peeled one for himself. Hearing this, he smiled and said, "I produced this in an orchard on the outskirts of Beijing. This is the time to eat loquats, and I won't be able to eat them after a while."
Ye Jiao was a little curious: "Orchard? Only loquats?"
Shi Shi's voice was calm and gentle: "There are all kinds of things. This garden is in my dowry. My brother was not in high school at that time. I spent all my money on this garden. I have managed it carefully over the years and expanded it a lot." After a slight pause, Shi shi said softly, "Even if I can't live in the Wen family in the future, as long as I can keep this garden, then I can live by myself."
Ye Jiao heard the words, raised a smile and said to Shi's family: "Yingxiu, don't worry, didn't Hua Ning say that Shi Zhixian would come back sooner or later? Your life will definitely be better by then."
Shi Shi nodded and replied softly: "Well, it must be better."
While talking, Xiao Su picked up the curtain and came in. He hesitated for a while and said, "Second Young Mistress, someone has come again, saying that Concubine Sun is not feeling well, so she wants to invite her husband and wants to come in after making a fuss."
Ye Jiao blinked her eyes, a little puzzled: "If you ask the boss, please, and Yingxiu can't see a doctor. What are you doing here?"
Shi Shi understands these twists and turns better than Little Ginseng, and while wiping his fingertips with a handkerchief, he said, "She's trying to make me angry, so stop her so that she can complain to me from the ground up and say what's wrong with me. Grab my stewardship."
Mrs. Mo, who was beside her, didn't speak, she just bowed her head slightly, obviously not surprised.
In the past, when she served the Liu family, it was not all smooth sailing. Even if Father Qi had no outside heart, he couldn't stop watching the woman who wanted to join up with the increasingly wealthy family of Qi.
Mrs. Mo had seen Liu's hand, and she had also heard about the mess in the house next door. Now Aunt Sun's behavior is nothing new.
On the other hand, Ye Jiao and Xiao Su had surprised expressions on their faces.
Then, Ye Jiao looked at Shi Shi: "Then what do you do?"
Seeing this, Shi Shi smiled and shook Ye Jiao's hand, and said warmly, "Don't be afraid, Jiao Niang, I can handle my family's affairs."
And in Shi Shi's heart, Ye Jiao is lucky, and these dirty things should not be heard by her.
With a smile on his face, Shi Shi peeled another loquat for her.
Ye Jiao took it, but she didn't eat it right away, but looked at Shi Shi and said, "Are you going to invite her to be her husband?"
Shi Shi smiled and didn't answer, but wiped his hands and got up to leave.
Ye Jiao knew there was something going on in her house, so she didn't leave it. She only had someone bring her a bowl of apricot cheese that was just made in the small kitchen.
After leaving the Qi Mansion, the smile on Shi Shi's face faded.
Seeing that she was angry, the old woman who followed her hurriedly said, "Madam, you can't have the same knowledge as that little bitch. She just jumped around just because she was pregnant with a child, and she couldn't make a difference."
Shi Shi didn't speak, and only said softly before getting on the sedan chair: "She has three sons, and now she is pregnant again. A few days ago, the father-in-law vaguely revealed that he wanted to give her the stewardship."
In a word, the old woman's face turned pale.
In fact, she is very aware of the situation of her master, continuing the string, her family has no support, and whether she has children or not, she is an empty shell in the house, even the servants turn to the Sun family.
Now that Sun's son has grown up, even if he is not admitted to Gongsheng, the eldest son still has a second son.
Once one gets up, the master is a concubine who kills his wife again, and this day is probably really hard to live on.
Shi Shi was very calm, and while supporting the old woman's hand into the sedan chair, he said, "Since I don't want to live a good life, I don't need to show any shame."
The old woman hesitated and asked, "Are you going to invite her husband?"
Shi's voice came from the sedan chair: "Please, please, the best one, please ask for a few more. Since she is ill, she will take good care of her. Tell Lang Zhong, whether she is sick or not, she must take care of Sun's miscarriage. Our Wen family There is no shortage of money, just give a lot of money, all the good medicines are used, and she must not let her do anything wrong."
The old lady didn't understand Shi Shi's meaning, but she didn't ask any further questions, but followed her instructions.
Shi Shi touched the food box, smelled the sweet smell of apricot cheese inside, and closed his eyes slightly.
This matter was soon told by Tie Zi to Qi Yun.
Qi Erlang, who was looking at the ledger, paused, looked up at Tie Zi, and asked, "Do you know who Shi has hired?"
Tie Zi replied: "All the famous people were invited, and they said that the battle was not small, and two of them were left in the mansion, and they said that they would have to wait for Sun to give birth to a child before they could leave."
Qi Yun didn't speak, but tapped the table with his fingertips, not knowing what he was thinking.
Tie Zi was a little puzzled: "Second Young Master, what is the lady of the Wen family doing?"
Qi Yun replied without thinking, "she can do whatever she wants, but the Wen family is really not a good thing."
Tie Zi seldom heard Qi Yun commenting on a family like this, even if it was the Lu family Shao family before, Qi Yun never said that.
But Tiezi couldn't think of anything wrong with the Wen family except for the porcelain thing.
Then I heard Qi Yun say: "The scramble between the Sun family and Shi family is their own business, but the Sun family actually made a noise at my door, and even quarreled with Jiao Niang, showing Luo Jiao Niang's face, if I endured it, I'm afraid that in the future, all kinds of cats and dogs will come to my house to make a fuss to see the girl."
Iron:…
No wonder the second young master is angry... It turned out to be provoking the second young grandmother
But the second young grandmother herself didn't expect to be angry.
Qi Yun didn't care about this, he closed the ledger, took out the letter paper from the drawer, and wrote as he wrote, "Wait later and ask steward Qin to come to see me, and let him bring that old porcelain-burning old man with him."
"Yes, Second Young Master."
"Remember to hide and don't disturb others."
"Yes."
Not long after, Qi Yun wrote the letter, read it again, added a few words, put it in the envelope, and handed it to Tie Zidao: "Send it back to Shizhi County as soon as possible, remember, have someone hand it in by hand. In the hands of Shi Zhixian, come to see me with a reply letter when the time comes."
Tie Zi immediately took it and put it in his arms and responded. Before turning around to go out, he turned back and said, "Second Young Master, do you want to send a letter to Madam? The third Young Master has not yet told the Master and Madam what happened. ."
Qi Yun originally wanted to nod his head, but he quickly changed his mind: "My mother has always been very worried, and the third brother's affairs are always on her mind, and now I have passed the exam, but I have only tried it. I haven't started, if I tell her I'm afraid I'll worry about the palace exam again. Wait, wait until the results come out after the palace exam and go back to announce the good news."
Tie Zi responded and walked away with the letter.
A few days later, it was time for the tribute students to enter the palace to try.
The palace exam is different from the previous exams. The examiner is not an official, but the emperor of the dynasty. Therefore, the candidates who enter the palace exam are also called the disciples of the emperor, and the exam site is also arranged in the palace, and all the rules are more strict than before. Be careful.
After entering, it is not directly recorded, but there is a whole set of regulations and etiquette, which cannot be neglected.
Only one exam, only one essay, the future is tied to this one, and no one dares to be sloppy.
Early in the morning, Qi Yun went to call Qi Ming, stared at him as he was getting dressed, and said, "I'll see you off later."
Qi Ming was wiping his face with a towel, and when he heard the words, he couldn't help but say, "Second brother, I don't know if my righteous brother will come. If he comes, I will go with my righteous brother."
"Don't worry, he won't come, he must have something to do today." Qi Yun said firmly, stood up without waiting for Qi Ming to ask, and said, "Clean up as soon as possible, I will wait for you in the carriage outside. "
With an "oh", Qi Ming obediently put down the cloth towel, ready to tie his hair again, appearing more energetic.
Chu Chengyun had said to him before that the palace exam was to face the emperor directly. At that time, it was not only the literary talent, but also the manners and manners, and even the appearance and demeanor, which might influence the emperor's judgment.
In the words of the righteous brother: "Today's sages are wise and wise, and have a discerning eye. If you are a virtuous brother, you can really go to the palace exam. Since you want to get a good ranking, you should naturally pay more attention to it and be more mentally capable. "
Thinking of this, Qi Ming sighed.
Since he was admitted to Gong Shi, he has not seen his righteous brother again, and I don't know if his brother is doing well now...
"Dong dong."
At this moment, Qi Ming heard a knock on his door, but when Qi Ming went to open the door, he saw no one.
While confused, I felt my clothes being pulled.
He bowed his head and met a pair of bright eyes.
Xu Bao was holding an oiled paper bag in his hand, and his little hands were tightly squeezed. Seeing Qi Ming bowing his head, Xiao Pang's face immediately showed a smile. He grabbed his clothes, put his feet on his feet, and raised his little meat hands hard: "This, milk cake cake, for the third uncle."
Qi Ming's heart warmed, and he bent down to pick up Xu Bao, but Xu Bao ducked.
The little guy stuffed the oiled paper bag with Qi Ming, and his voice was soft: "Third uncle, eat quickly, and go to the prime minister after eating."
Qi Ming wanted to tell him that he was still a long way from the prime minister, but to Shang Xubao's expectant gaze, Qi Ming couldn't say anything, just nodded and replied, "Okay, I will definitely study hard. , live up to Xu Bao's expectations of me."
Xu Bao blinked: "Uncle? Xu Bao has no uncle."
With an unstoppable smile on Qi Ming's face, he squatted down and hugged Xu Bao and kissed him, then squeezed his cheek, then got up and trotted away.
Xu Bao, on the other hand, took two steps with his short legs and stopped. Seeing Qi Ming leave, he stretched out his hand to Mrs. Mo who was waiting beside him: "I'm going to find my mother."
Madam Mo hurried forward and picked up Xu Bao, but instead of returning to Ye Jiao's yard, she went to the garden.
As soon as she entered the Moon Cave, Mrs. Mo took a deep breath.
The original garden was full of flowers, although Ye Jiao had said before that she would find a place to grow medicinal flowers, but because Qi Ming was preparing for the exam and it rained one after another, the construction was not started.
Now, Qi Ming can get fame by taking another palace exam, and the weather has been sunny for several days, so Ye Jiao has made people start work.
It's just that she didn't flatten the garden, but used the rockery as the boundary. The east side was reserved, and only the west side was moved.
When Mrs. Mo went in with Xubao in her arms, half of the flowerbed had been pulled out, and the people were busy and seemed to be in full swing, and it was inevitable that people would come and go.
Xu Bao immediately turned his head and hugged Mrs. Mo's neck tightly. Mrs. Mo also stretched out her hand to protect him and walked quickly to the corridor.
In a pavilion on the corner, Ye Jiao was sitting in it, with a small bed next to it, and inside it was a dragon and a phoenix playing with a ball.
Seeing Ye Jiao, Xu Bao reached out to her: "Mother and hug."
Ye Jiao took him with a smile, let him sit in her arms, and looked at Mrs. Mo and asked, "Has Saburo gone out?"
"Back to the second young grandmother, the third young master has already left, and the second young master said he would send him off."
But before Ye Jiao spoke, Xu Bao raised her head in her arms and said excitedly, "Xu Bao gave the third uncle a cake to eat!"
Ye Jiao smiled and kissed him, saying, "Xu Bao is really good."
The little guy also showed a smile, and swayed happily in Ye Jiao's arms.
The little ginseng looked at the busy people in the flowerbed, tilted his head and said to Xiaosu: "Xiaosu, some of those medicinal flowers depend on the sun, some in the shade, and some in the water, you go over and stare at them. some."
Xiao Su has been with Ye Jiao for so long, and she has been helping to take care of the medicinal herb garden in her hometown. These are all very familiar.
Hearing this, he responded and walked over quickly.
The little girl has always been well-behaved and obedient in front of Ye Jiao, but she is particularly imposing in front of other servants. She looks thin, but she speaks neatly and can be very intimidating.
These people quickly became organized, while Xiao Su stood aside, staring at them one by one, with a very strict expression.
Ye Jiao rarely sees Xiao Su's side, but now that she sees it, she can't help but smile: "Xiao Su is really different from before, she used to be greedy and playful, but now she looks a bit like Mama Liu by her mother's side. "
Mrs. Mo also laughed along with her, and she felt that this Xiaosu really had a good life.
Because Mrs. Mo is an old man next to Liu's family, she has seen all the girls in the house. This Xiaosu originally wanted to feed the chickens and run errands, but she was honest and loyal. He was thrown to Mrs. Liu to teach by Qi Yun.
The timid and greedy little girl in the past is now a neat big girl. Seeing that Tie Zi, who is beside the second young master, likes her very much, if this marriage happens, Xiao Su will have a better life.
Xu Bao was staring at his younger brother and sister in the crib. Hearing this, he raised his head to look at Ye Jiao and asked, "Where is Mama Liu?"
Ye Jiao touched his hair: "Did you miss her?"
Xu Bao nodded honestly. He used to go to Liu's place to sleep, and Mrs. Liu coaxed him at night, so it's normal to think about it.
But Xu Bao quickly said again: "I miss Brother Stone more."
Ye Jiao smiled and said, "In a few months, Xu Bao will have another brother or sister, is Gao happy?"
Xu Bao immediately moved back and stared at Ye Jiao's belly with wide eyes: "Mother has a younger brother and sister in your belly?"
Ye Jiao hurriedly hugged him and flicked his forehead: "It's your aunt who has a younger brother and sister, your brother Shitou's brother and sister."
Xu Bao blinked and clapped his hands with a smile: "Xu Bao is amazing!"
Ye Jiao didn't know why he suddenly said such a sentence and asked, "What does it have to do with you?"
"Xu Bao has a younger brother, a younger sister, two, Xu Bao is amazing!"
As soon as these words came out, Ye Jiao felt right, but not quite right.
However, Xu Bao unilaterally announced his victory, and then happily stretched out his hand towards the cot: "I want to study for my younger brother and sister."
Ye Jiao got up and put him into Ning Bao and Ruyi's cot.
It is said to be a small bed, but it is actually more like a couch with a fence around it.
The fence is not high, surrounded by square pillows and cotton pads to avoid bumps, and the cot is covered with thick cushions, so even if you accidentally fall, you will not feel pain.
These are all because now Ning Bao and Ruyi can sit and crawl. Although they still can't stand, they are much more flexible than the little tits who could only lie down at the time. Naturally, they must be protected from injury.
But these measures are only useful to Ruyi, but Ning Bao is useless at all.
From the time he was brought into the pavilion, Ning Bao had been lying down, or lying on his stomach, without moving.
On the contrary, Ruyi happily crawled around, inspected her new residence, and even lay on her pillow and looked out. Occasionally, when a butterfly flew over, she would raise her hand to catch it, and she would be able to make herself laugh.
At this moment Xu Bao sat in, Ruyi immediately crawled over and hugged Xu Bao's leg.
Ning Bao raised his head lazily, glanced at Xu Bao, and then fell down again.
Xu Bao touched Ruyi with one hand, and patted Ning Bao's butt with the other hand, and said solemnly: "Lazy brother, get up and listen to brother reading."
Ruyi giggled, sat up, and clapped her hands enthusiastically.
However, Ning Bao ignored him. He could lie on his stomach as he wanted to. In the end, he couldn't stand Xu Bao always poking his ass, so Ning Bao reluctantly got up and sat down.
But when Xu Bao started to recite the "Three Character Classic" seriously, the reaction of the two dolls was reversed.
Ruyi was obviously not happy to hear it, so she looked left and right, and after a while, she was lying on the pillow to watch the butterflies.
On the other hand, Ning Bao listened very intently.
Ye Jiao watched from the side, not knowing for a while whether her youngest son could understand or not, but thinking about Xu Bao being able to listen to books obediently when he was so old, he felt that there was nothing unusual.
Little Ginseng made Mrs. Mo take good care of them, while she got up and walked to Xiao Su's side, staring at the flowerbed with her.
Just then, a dark figure came over.
Xu Bao was particularly alert, and immediately turned his head, saw the little thing strolling outside the corridor at a glance, and pointed, "Xiao Hei!"
Mrs. Mo followed, and immediately saw the black-haired cock strutting around.
Because he just made a kite before, Xiao Hei's tail is still bald, but this does not hinder Xiao Hei's pride as a big cock.
He looked back and forth with his neck held high, looking particularly majestic.
But Xu Bao held revenge. He always remembered that Xiao Hei ate his milk cake, and muttered angrily: "Xiao Hei is bad."
Madam Mo hurriedly reassured: "Master Xu, don't worry, if you don't like it, I'll let someone catch it and lock it up."
But before Madam Mo called, Xu Bao said, "No need."
Madam Mo was stunned.
Then I heard Xu Bao's milky voice: "Since it can fly out once, it can fly out twice." Xu Bao narrowed his eyes, "I want to tell daddy to cover his nest, never fly again."
Mrs. Mo:…
As expected of the son of the second young master.
Xu Bao stopped looking at Xiao Hei, and just continued to endorse his younger siblings.
But I don't know if Xiao Hei was holding it for too long, and his mouth couldn't be idle anymore, and suddenly he cried out "oh oh oh".
Xu Bao puffed up and was about to speak, but saw that Ning Bao moved one step ahead of him.
Ning Bao, who has always been lazy, suddenly grabbed the small cloth ball, turned his head, and threw it at Xiao Hei!
Ning Bao was young and had little strength, so the cloth ball didn't fly very far, but this obviously frightened Xiao Hei, and the cry stopped abruptly.
Then Ning Bao turned around to face Xu Bao again, his eyes were clean and clear.
Seeing it, Mrs. Mo, who was on the side, immediately smiled and coaxed, "Young Master Ning is so nice, I know that Young Master Xu doesn't like Xiao Hei, so I'm helping you."
But Xu Bao didn't speak, staring straight at Ning Bao.
After a while, he muttered: "That cloth ball is my favorite... Brother, why don't you throw your wool ball?"
Ning Bao blinked his eyes, his face was pure and innocent, making it clear that he could not understand Xu Bao's words.
Seeing that Xu Bao no longer endorsed, Ning Bao slumped and lay down again, but he hugged his ball of wool tightly in his arms and refused to give it to anyone.
Mrs. Mo asked people to quickly pick up the cloth ball, wash it and dry it before giving it to the little master to play with.
At this moment, a young servant walked over quickly and said a few words to Mrs. Mo.
Mrs. Mo nodded, but didn't move, she still looked at the three children, and when Ye Jiao brought Xiao Su back to the pavilion, she said, "Second Young Master, Second Young Master is back."
Ye Jiao was slightly taken aback: "So fast? Where's Saburo?"
Without waiting for Mrs. Mo's answer, Qi Yun, who had already entered the pavilion, said, "He's in. It will take a long time for the left and right palace exams to end. I'll come back and take a look first, and ask a boss to take him there."
Ye Jiao was puzzled: "What do you want your husband to do?"
Qi Yun's tone was meaningful: "In case of emergency."