Before leaving Beijing, Yong Ruo conducted a simulation test on Lulu's "danger warning" function. The excuse is: to try whether the legendary "dangerous premonition" really exists.
The test result is: this function is actually not very reliable, sometimes it will "report false alarms", and sometimes it will miss real alarms.
If there is a disease-causing or lethal dose of poison or virus bacteria in the food or tea, or if someone approaches her with an obvious murder weapon, Lulu can generally identify and give an early warning.
But if the danger is more complicated and subtle, the error rate of Lulu will be very high.
For example: Hua Rou once pretended to assassinate her with a hairpin, but that time Lu Lu didn't call the police and was criticized by Yong Ruo.
As a result, two days later, when the girls were combing Yong Ruo's hair and taking off the bun, as soon as their hands touched the hairpin, Lulu would call the police, and directly deducted a lot of points from her involuntarily. Yong Ruo had no choice but to tell Lulu: the one with the hairpin in his hand is not considered an assassin, so there is no need to call the police.
Therefore, in terms of preventing danger, Yong Ruo dare not rely too much on Lu Lu now.
So, in the current situation, how to deal with it in order to obtain the greatest result? How to confirm or overthrow her suspicion of Alan
"How is it? Do you want to live here tonight?" Feng Liao looked at her with a smile.
Yong Ruo smiled at him: "Okay! We will live here."
The girls and eunuchs started to clean the house, and the main room was naturally the focus of cleaning.
After the house was cleaned, Hua Rou brought in the mattresses and quilts that Feng Liao and Yong Ruo usually used, spread them on the large carved bed on the east side of the main house, and then burned incense in the room.
The east and west rooms were also cleaned.
Although the windows of the wing rooms have been removed, they are generally in good condition. These two wing rooms can be used by Dr. Xu and others, which is much better than setting up a tent outside.
After a while, several guards brought several buckets of water in.
It is said that after Alan buried her mother, he led the guards to the cave to extract the mountain spring water.
Doctor Xu carefully checked the buckets of water, and there was no problem.
Yong Ruo also pretended to be wandering, walked to the buckets of water, and let Lulu scan it—the water quality is clear, and there is no problem. It seems that the water has not been tampered with.
Most of the things in the village were taken away or destroyed.
But if you search all over the village, you can still find a few complete pieces of furniture.
Huarou took the little eunuch, and using the patchwork kitchen utensils, they cooked a few simple but delicious side dishes.
Feng Liao and Yong Ruo ate the most sumptuous dinner they have had for a while.
After dinner, Huarou served tea again.
Feng Liao and Yong Ruo sat in the yard drinking tea to enjoy the cool, watching the moon and stars.
"The moon is so round tonight!"
Looking at the bright moon in the clear night sky, Yong Ruo leaned on Feng Liao's shoulder and said, "The stars are also very bright."
Feng Liao followed her to look at the moon, and said softly, "Today happens to be the Hungry Ghost Festival!"
Sighing slightly, he added: "Your birthday is less than a month away. I wonder if we can go back to Beijing before your birthday."
"It doesn't matter if you can't go back in time! Just celebrating your birthday outside is a very rare experience."
"If you live outside, you will inevitably have to be frugal in everything. This is your first birthday after we got married. If everything is frugal, I always feel unwilling."
While the two were chatting, the little eunuch guarding the gate came in and reported: Alan asked to see him.
"What's the matter with her?" Feng Liao asked casually.
The corner of Yong Ruo's mouth hooked very lightly: Miss Alan is finally about to start acting
"Miss Alan said: Thanks to the care of the prince and his wife all the way, she was able to transport her mother back to the ancestral grave for burial. She came here to thank her and ask for help."
"Is there something you want to ask?" Feng Liao frowned slightly, then turned to ask Yong Ruo, "What do you think she will ask for? Want to go back to the capital with us, to the palace, and be a girl?"
Yong Ruo smiled slightly: "Maybe, maybe not. If you want to know, why don't you call her in and listen? I'm bored right now!"
Feng Liao said indifferently: "Listen to it."
Su Mingjian walked up to Feng Liao and stood still, watching Alan walk in with the little eunuch.
Alan has already washed up and changed into clean clothes. He looks much refreshed, and he is no longer the embarrassed look he was before.
Yong Ruo glanced at Alan and noticed that there was an extra bamboo flute around her waist.
Bamboo flute... Yong Ruo chuckled inwardly. The sound of the bamboo flute is very penetrating, which is very suitable for conveying messages.
Alan knelt down and kowtowed a few steps away from Fengliao and Yongruo, expressing his thanks to them.
Feng Liao waved her hand lightly: "There is no need to say more about these words of gratitude. What do you want to ask for? Just say it!"
Alan kowtowed again and begged: "Minnv heard that the lord is going to take guards to chase the bandits, and I want to ask the lord for permission to let the minnv go with her."
"Why are you going?"
"Because among those who were kidnapped by the bandits, there were uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters who watched the girl grow up, and neighbors who were childhood sweethearts with the girl." Alan said with tears in his eyes, "If the girl goes with her, maybe she can Persuade a few people to act as internal support to help the prince wipe out the bandits."
Her reason is very convincing.
Feng Liao thought about it silently, but shook her head, and said in a very flat tone: "The extermination of the bandits is a matter of the court, and there is no need for you, a commoner girl, to get involved in it and take such a risk. Tomorrow, you will still talk to Dr. Xu Go to Xiushan County, go find your uncle! I want to get to know each other, and I will give you some dowry!"
He waved to Xiao Guizi, and asked Xiao Guizi to give Alan a few gold leaves to add makeup.
Xiao Guizi counted six gold leaves and handed them to Alan. About one and a half gold pieces, equivalent to seventeen or eight taels of silver, were stuffed into Alan's hands.
In a common people's home, this would be a very decent dowry.
And what Feng Liao gave was gold leaf, which is very convenient to carry and store. If Alan's uncle treats her badly, she can rely on these golden leaves to find another way out.
Alan stared blankly at the few gold leaves in his hand, his hands trembling slightly.
Then, as if she had been scalded, she yelled in a sharp voice: "I don't want it!"
Before Fengliao could react, she jumped up from the ground in a panic, walked to Xiao Guizi's side, hurriedly stuffed those golden leaves back into Xiao Guizi's hand, and then returned to the original place to kneel down.
"Your Majesty, the mother of a minnv once said: You will not be rewarded without merit. Minnv has not done any merit, so she dare not ask for rewards from the prince. I only ask the lord to let the minnv follow the bandits! If the minnv can make a little For the merits, if the lord is rewarded again, the daughters of the people can also take it with peace of mind."
Xiao Guizi looked at the gold leaf in her hand and opened her mouth wide in surprise.
Most of the people around were also a little surprised, as well as vaguely appreciative. Only Yong Ruo was very calm from beginning to end.
Feng Liao frowned slightly, and began to draw circles with her fingers again, lost in thought.
"My lord, I beg you!" Alan pulled off the bamboo flute from his waist very anxiously and held it in his hand, "This bamboo flute belongs to Brother Wu who grew up with the girl. It was left by his father. A relic given to him. Normally, Brother Xiao Wu would not allow outsiders to touch this bamboo flute. But this afternoon, Minnv picked it up in his yard. Minnv is really worried about Brother Wu's safety... "
Yong Ruo looked at the bamboo flute and said very gently: "Are you sure this bamboo flute belongs to your brother Wu?"
Alan hurriedly said: "Minister is sure!"
Her expression was a little sad: "Minnv and Brother Xiaowu both lost their father since childhood. They both understand the pain in their hearts, so they are closer than others. Brother Xiaowu once taught Minnv to play the flute, using It is this bamboo flute, so this bamboo flute, women will never admit it wrong."
She kowtowed heavily, and pressed her forehead to the ground: "I beg the prince to let the girl follow!"
Feng Liao shook her head and said coldly: "You don't need to say any more. This is absolutely impossible. Step back!"
Alan didn't dare to say any more, and kowtowed sadly.
When she was about to stand up, she knelt down again, and said to Yong Ruo: "Madam, can Minnv sleep with Sister Huarou tonight?"
Yong Ruo thought to himself: Seeing that Feng Liao is merciless, did you come to beg yourself? It's very easy to follow the wind.
"Why are you sleeping with Huarou? According to the rules, strangers are not allowed to live in the courtyard we live in." She said very kindly.
Alan said sadly: "The beautiful woman's mother has been buried in the ground, and the civilian girl is alone. I am really scared. I beg my wife to take pity on the civilian girl!"
He kowtowed again.
Yong Ruo smiled and said: "There are still many guards outside! This is your hometown again, what is there to be afraid of? You should live in the place arranged by the guards!"
Alan said with some embarrassment: "Ma'am, those guards outside are all men! If a folk girl spends the night with them, I'm afraid it will be a disgrace to her reputation. How can she have the face to marry in the future? When the time comes when there is no other way out, the folk girl will have no choice but to get married." It's dead."
"Don't worry! Those guards won't do anything to you!"
"Of course women know. It's just that people's words are scary, so we have to pay attention to our actions."
"We will all go back to Beijing, and no one will go to your uncle's house or your husband's house to tell stories. As long as you don't tell the truth yourself, who are you afraid of?"
Alan said with some embarrassment: "Madam doesn't know something. Minnies have a bad habit of talking in sleep, and I'm afraid that I will slip up in the future."
Yong Ruo continued to say with a good temper: "This is a trouble... But, you came here like this a few days ago, why didn't you see that you tabooed this a few days ago?"
"A few days ago, we slept in the wilderness, and everyone was in the same place. It's not like folk girls and men mixed together."
Yong Ruo was silent, and sighed a long time: "In this case, you should go to the kitchen to sleep overnight! Be prepared in advance, no matter what the reason is, don't go out at night, lest there will be any misunderstanding and be dealt with by the guards as an assassin .”
Alan was full of surprise, and said loudly: "Thank you, Ma'am!"
Su Mingjian said anxiously: "Madam, absolutely not!"
Yong Ruo said to him apologetically: "I know this will cause trouble for Mr. Su, but Alan is really pitiful, and what he said is very reasonable. Mr. Su told his subordinates to guard the kitchen door carefully."
It was inconvenient for Su Mingjian to refute her directly, so he looked at Feng Liao and shook his head: "My lord, this is impossible!"
Yong Ruo smiled at Feng Liao and blinked: "My lord, Alan doesn't look like a bad person. It's just letting her stay in the kitchen overnight, nothing can happen."
Feng Liao looked at Yong Ruo thoughtfully, and said to Su Mingjian: "Mingjian, you can do as Madam tells you! Find someone to watch the kitchen door."
Su Mingjian had no choice but to agree.
The kitchen is in the southwest corner of the yard.
Because the view is blocked by the south wall of the west wing, the movement in the yard can be heard from the kitchen, but the north side of the yard and the main room cannot be seen.