Sima Xiang felt that he didn't seem to like the life in the capital very much. Compared with Tingzhou, which was like spring all year round, the summer in the capital seemed too hot. The fashion of clothing here is even more different from that of Tingzhou, making her a little uncomfortable who has never been to the capital.
But as the daughter of the Sima family, she couldn't say such words of stage fright, and she couldn't even let people see that she was at a loss. This time, her grandfather brought her family into the palace to help her father and her two uncles for the future. She must not shame her family at such a time.
It is precisely because of this that when her cousin Sima Yun was going to take her to the party, she did not refuse, but made careful preparations for the party.
The meeting place this time was in a cool Biezhuang near the outskirts of the capital. Sima Xiang shook the sandalwood fan in her hand, suppressing the dryness in her heart due to the heat, until the carriage entered the boundary of Biezhuang. Feel a chill.
After getting off the carriage, she followed behind Sima Yun and walked in. Before she reached the place, she heard laughter coming from inside, which seemed very lively.
"You can count," a girl in a fragrant orange skirt saw them, and smiled and took Sima Ling's arm, but she turned her face and said, "Come and sit together."
After some introduction, she realized that the girl holding her cousin was Li Jingyu, the third young lady of the second room of the Li family, but as far as she knew, the cousin's close friend did not have this girl Li.
As the organizer of this party, the young ladies of the Li family were enthusiastic and not attentive, even Sima Xiang, who didn't like parties, couldn't pick it out.
She picked up the teacup and took a sip, and the faint scent of lotus leaves spread to the tip of her nose, making the last trace of heat on her body disappear without a trace.
When she calmed down, she was in the mood to look at the boys and girls who were chatting or playing small games in twos and threes.
My cousin also whispered in her ear which family these girls belonged to. Fortunately, she had already started to memorize genealogy, so she had a good understanding of the family relationship behind these sons and girls.
"Which girl does that girl belong to?" Sima Xiang looked at a girl around 11 or 12 years old. This girl was wearing an apricot-yellow veil skirt. Although she was not the prettiest among the girls present, she was the one who cared about her the most. of one person. Because when she saw this woman for the first time, she felt that her heart was fuzzy and soft, and even the big and bright eyes of the other party felt particularly clear.
"What did you say about her?" Sima Ling's tone paused. Although her expression did not change, her eyes showed contempt and envy.
Sima Xiang nodded lightly, just at this moment, the girl looked over to her and showed them a sweet smile, holding it innocently.
"That's a girl from the Gu family's lineage in the capital," Sima Ling said softly, the contempt and envy in her eyes vanished without a trace.
Sima Xiang nodded knowingly, and there were several slightly older girls sitting beside him, so it could be seen that they should have a likable personality.
The Sima sisters were discussing in a low voice with everyone present, and the others were naturally curious about this "newcomer" who had just arrived in the capital.
"She is very beautiful and has an unfamiliar temperament. She deserves to be a girl from the Sima family." Hu Xi, the third girl of the Hu family, is the sister of Gu Rujiu's second sister-in-law, and has always been very close to Gu Rujiu.
"Yeah." Gu Rujiu nodded in agreement. This Sima Xiang girl has willow-leaf eyebrows and a cherry mouth. Although she is not even fifteen years old, she has a graceful and graceful appearance. She is a bit better than Sima Ling, who is sitting next to her. .
Shen Qingran and Yang Xixue, who were sitting with the two of them, just laughed when they heard the words. Seeing that Gu Rujiu was also nodding, they said helplessly, "They are playing pot throwing over there, let's go and see."
"It's throwing the pot again, it's really boring," Hu Xi sighed.
"It's so hot, I can't bear to play other things." Yang Xixue saw that she was unwilling, and stepped forward to hold her hand and said, "It's just like being with us."
"Okay," Hu Xi helplessly let himself be dragged forward by Yang Xixue, Gu Rujiu and Shen Qingran smiled at each other and followed.
In fact, in addition to throwing pots, playing chess, writing poems, enjoying paintings, or watching other people compete are common summer entertainment activities.
Especially when the strong men from different families compete with each other, the sons and daughters of noble families make bets with gold and silver to see which strong man is more powerful. The winning strong man can often return with a lot of gold, silver and jade beads. At this time, the Hercules will do their best, just for the money and jewelry that may not be earned in their lifetime.
As an aristocratic lady of the exploiting class, Gu Rujiu does not express any opinion on this kind of activity.
She didn't raise such gladiators at home, so she wouldn't send anyone to participate in this kind of competition. At most, after the competition, she would join in the fun and throw a handful of gold and silver out to reward these gladiators.
After the fight, the excitement of the young masters and the young ladies gradually faded away. When everyone was about to leave, the young ladies of the Wu family and the Sun family had a small conflict and stabbed each other a few words.
As the masters of the Li family, they had no choice but to come out and smooth things out. Although the conflict did not escalate in the end, this gathering also left a flaw more or less. For the Li family who have always pursued perfection, this is really not a big deal. A happy thing.
This can be seen from the faces of the Li family brothers and sisters who sent her out.
"Miss Gu," Li Huaigu held out a wooden box before Gu Rujiu boarded the carriage, "This is the peach that Biezhuang just picked. If you don't dislike it, please take it back and taste it."
"Many thanks, Young Master Li," Gu Rujiu took the wooden box and handed it to Baolu, "I noticed the peaches on the tree just now when I was visiting the other villages, but I was embarrassed to say it, but I didn't expect it would finally pay off. wish."
"Miss Gu just likes it." Li Huaigu smiled warmly and watched Gu Rujiu get on the carriage and let down the curtain before turning around and walking towards the village.
Li Churou, who was following behind him, whispered, "Brother, mother is ready to marry you."
Li Huaigu walked slowly and said in a flat tone, "I know."
Seeing that Li Huaigu didn't respond much, Li Churou felt a little regretful, and after walking a few steps behind him, she said, "The Gu family can only be regarded as a second-class aristocratic family, and my mother doesn't look down on this girl."
"You think too much," Li Huaigu turned to look at his sister, "Miss Gu is only eleven years old this year."
Besides, even if the Gu family can only be regarded as second-class, the girls in their family are better than those in the Wu family and the Sun family. Just because his mother's surname was Wu, he couldn't say it.
After Gu Rujiu returned to the yard, she opened the wooden box given to her by the young master of the Li family. There were eight peaches with reddish white inside neatly arranged, almost all of them were the same size and exuded a sweet smell.
After thinking about it, she asked the maid to send six to her parents and brother, and kept two for herself.
After eating half of the tender and juicy peaches, Gu Rujiu added a few points of favorability to the Li family, because the peaches from his family were better than the ones sent from their own villages.
When the whole family ate dinner together in the evening, Mrs. Yang mentioned a few peaches that Gu Rujiu asked her maid to bring over. After learning that they were given to Gu Rujiu by the Li brothers and sisters, she stopped talking about it, and just asked her to prepare a copy of her own in a few days. Fresh fruits and vegetables from Biezhuang were delivered to the Li family.
There is not much friendship between the Li family and the Gu family, but there is no place that they can't get through. They don't need the Li family to hand over them, and the Li family don't need them to bow to greet them, so it's best to be close to each other.
At the second watch that night, it rained heavily. When Gu Rujiu went to the palace to meet the Queen Mother the next morning, the water vapor on the ground had not dried yet, but the sun in the sky had already begun to shine brightly.
In the past six months, Gu Rujiu has entered the palace several times, and the Queen Mother has always been close to her. The biggest difference was that when she first entered the palace, the carriage could only be parked at a distance from Kangquan Palace, but now it can be parked not far from the gate of Kangquan Palace.
Her relationship with the queen mother is not like the daughter of the queen mother and the courtier, but more like an elder and a nephew. The queen mother never inquired about the Gu family on her, and she would not deliberately please the queen mother to seek benefits for her own family.
Every time they meet, what they talk about the most... is the food everywhere and some old year gossip in the capital.
The poor queen mother was full of gossip and had nowhere to say. After so many years, she finally found Gu Rujiu, a tight-lipped person who likes to listen to gossip.
And Gu Rujiu, because of the gossip that the queen mother told her, refreshed her three views again and again, and felt that she could no longer look directly at the word "aristocratic family".
So today, the two are chatting together again, and this time the queen mother is talking about the fierce information of the first-class family of Li.
It's a pity that the queen mother was interrupted by the eunuch from Qiankun Palace before she said much.
Because the emperor was studying with a certain gentleman in the next dynasty, he suddenly vomited and dizzy, and now he has a fever.
The smile on the queen mother's face disappeared without a trace after the eunuch's report. Gu Rujiu lowered her head and stared at her fingertips, thinking, it has been nearly an hour since the emperor went to court, why did he only send someone to report to the queen mother now
Is it really just sick, or... the young emperor has already begun to guard against the queen mother