Xie Zhanting knew that Xie Nanjia was coming today. His wife and son went outside to greet her, but he was alone in the study, feeling depressed.
The iron-blooded general who never retreated in the face of thousands of troops on the battlefield did not have the courage to face a little girl at this moment.
When Xie Nanjia pushed the door open, he was playing with an old jujube wood slingshot in a lonely manner. It was a third birthday gift that he had made for Xie Nanjia himself. After Xie Nanjia left, he always carried the slingshot with him, even when he went to the battlefield in northern Xinjiang, he never left it.
Hearing the noise at the door, he turned his wrist, hid the slingshot in his sleeve pocket, picked up the book on the table and pretended to be absorbed in reading.
As soon as Xie Nanjia saw her father's tall and weathered figure and his casually scattered gray hair, she couldn't stop her tears from flowing out.
"Father!" She called out affectionately, strode to the desk, knelt down and saluted: "Xiu'er congratulates father on his victorious return, father, you have worked hard!"
Xie Zhanting's heart skipped a beat. He slowly put down the book, stood up and asked in a trembling voice, "Why do you call me that?"
Xie Nanjia said tearfully, "Auntie adopted Xiu'er as her adopted daughter a few days ago. Isn't uncle my father? Father, Xiu'er knows that you are very sad about Sister Nanjia's matter. Xiu'er will definitely respect you like Sister Nanjia did."
Xie Zhanting stood there in a daze, with mixed feelings in his heart.
Xie Nanfeng stepped forward and said, "Father, Xiu'er specially brought you Wuweizhai's braised pork. You haven't eaten it for several months. Do you want to try it?"
On the way, he and Xie Nanjia had already agreed that they would call each other by their names from now on, and not call each other brother or sister, as it would be awkward.
"Braised pork?" Xie Zhanting became excited, "Xiu'er knows that I like to eat braised pork?"
"Of course I know." Xie Nanjia said, holding up the braised pork bun in her hand, "The Marquis told me."
"Zhao Jiuzhou, does he still remember this?" Xie Zhanting smiled, but his smile was a little sour.
"I remember. The Marquis remembers everything about my father and often tells me the story of how you fought side by side back then." Xie Nanjia said.
"It seems that he is old." Xie Zhanting said, "Only old people like to reminisce about the past."
"Yes, the Marquis is a little old. He was recently fined by the Emperor and suspended from his duties to reflect on his mistakes at home. He has been depressed all day long." Xie Nanjia said.
In fact, Marquis Dingyuan was not depressed at all. She just wanted to arouse her father's sympathy for his old brother.
She was going to marry Zhao Jingyu, so naturally she had to try her best to repair the relationship between the two mansions, so that her father and mother could visit her and her son at any time in the Marquis' Mansion.
Xie Zhanting also heard from his wife that Marquis Dingyuan was punished by the emperor because of Qin's death and is now unemployed at home.
Having said that, it was thanks to Xiu'er's finding out the truth that Nan Jia's grievances were redressed. Now that she has acknowledged the lady as her mother, she can be considered the daughter of his general's mansion.
He could just treat Xiu'er and Nanjia as one person!
"Get up!" He sighed and said to Xie Nanjia in a friendly manner, "Bring the braised pork over here, I want to taste it and see if it tastes the same as before."
"Thank you, father!" Xie Nanjia smiled with tears in her eyes. Her father finally recognized her.
Xie Nanfeng had already ordered his servants to prepare plates and chopsticks. Xie Nanjia placed the meat on the plate and peeled off the oil paper layer by layer. The rich aroma immediately filled the study.
"Father, please try it." She held the plate in front of Xie Zhanting and handed him the chopsticks herself.
Xie Zhanting took the chopsticks, picked up a small piece of meat and put it in his mouth. It was soft, tender and fresh, with a strong aroma of sauce. He felt happy both physically and mentally as he took a bite of it.
"Not bad, not bad, it still tastes the same." He nodded repeatedly, and the wrinkles between his brows smoothed out. "In the past, whenever I said I wanted to eat braised pork, Nan Jia would ride on her Taxi to buy it for me. After a long time, whenever she rode past that street, people would say, 'The general is greedy again.'"
Xie Nanjia's eyes became moist again.
"Father, I can ride a horse too. If you're hungry again, I'll ride a horse to buy it for you."
“Okay, okay, okay…” Xie Zhanting said okay several times, lowered his head, choked with sobs and unable to speak.
Xie Nanfeng didn't want to see his father sad, so he stepped forward and said, "I'm hungry too, father, please give me a bite!"
Xie Zhanting waved his sleeves to drive him away: "If you want to eat it, go buy it yourself. This is what Xiu'er bought for me."
"Look at how stingy he is!" Sheng Qingluan, who was peeking outside the door, said to Sheng Qingyun with a smile.
Sheng Qingyun also smiled: "It can be seen that it is the right decision for me to adopt Xiu'er to you. No matter whether others understand or not, as long as you and your brother-in-law are happy, I think it is worth it."
"Thank you, Qingyun." Sheng Qingluan held her sister's hand tightly, "You care so much about me, I am really grateful."
"We are a family, why are we saying these polite words?" Sheng Qingyun said, "This child was named Xiu'er by mistake, maybe it was God's arrangement, let's just treat them as two sisters and love and care for them together."
"Yeah." Sheng Qingluan nodded, took her hand and said, "Let's go to the backyard to talk, let them play here!"
The two sisters left quietly together without disturbing anyone in the house.
…
After returning from the general's mansion, Xie Nanjia was in high spirits for several days. He was in a very good mood, friendly to everyone he met, and there was always a smile on his face.
In comparison, Zhao Jingyu was not so happy.
He searched everywhere for antique chess manuals, and went to please the old duke every few days. He played chess with the old duke for most of the day, hoping to take the opportunity to see Xie Nanjia, but his legs were so thin from running that he didn't even see the shadow of Xie Nanjia.
One time, he couldn't help it and asked the old Duke, since the weather was so good these days, why didn't you go to the garden to play chess
The old Duke was frank and said bluntly, "Young Madam said that you came with bad intentions and asked me not to bring you to the garden. She also said that from now on, whenever you come to play with me, Xiu'er is not allowed to come to my yard."
“…” Zhao Jingyu almost vomited blood and really wanted to overturn the chess table on the spot.
It turns out that this old man knows everything. He takes advantage of me and wastes my time every day just to play with me!
Whoever wants to play this chess game can do so. I won’t play it!
Give me back my good stuff!
The old Duke actually quite liked him after the contact during this period. Seeing that he looked unhappy, he was afraid that he would walk away and never come to play with him again, so he tried to coax him: "You are a good boy. As long as you don't have any ideas about my granddaughter, you can do whatever you want. The door of my house will always be open to you."
Zhao Jingyu: “…”
If it weren't for your granddaughter, what does it have to do with me whether your door is opened or not
"You know, Xiu'er has suffered a lot outside over the years, so we don't want her to suffer any more grievances. We must be extremely cautious about her marriage." The old Duke added.
"What does it mean to not suffer any injustice at all?" Zhao Jingyu said depressedly, "Marrying a legitimate son means you won't suffer any injustice? Like her cousin?"
"…" The old Duke choked and retorted, "Nan Jia is an exception."
"There are exceptions to everything." Zhao Jingyu said, "Can you guarantee that Xiu'er will live happily if she marries a legitimate son?"
The old Duke shook his head: "No one can guarantee that the legitimate son will be happy, but can marrying a bastard guarantee that? Since neither can be guaranteed, it is natural to choose one with a higher status. Is that wrong?"
Zhao Jingyu: “…”
The old duke is worthy of being the old duke. He hit the nail on the head with just one sentence, leaving him with no room for rebuttal.
"Well then!" He put down the chess piece in his hand, and suddenly took out an ancient sword covered with rust from his arms, and flashed it in front of the old Duke's eyes. "I had planned to ask you to help me look at this sword after playing this game of chess, but now it seems that it is no longer necessary. Take care of yourself, old man. I am leaving now."
"Hey, wait a minute..." The old Duke had studied ancient swords all his life. He recognized at a glance that it was a Western Zhou sword and hurriedly tried to keep Zhao Jingyu.
Zhao Jingyu pretended not to hear, bowed deeply, and strode away.
"Boy, don't go yet, don't go yet." The old Duke was anxious. He stood up and tremblingly chased after him. When he reached the door, he grabbed his sleeve and said, "Let me take a look, just one look."
"No." Zhao Jingyu rejected him ruthlessly and pulled the sleeve out of his hand. "I plan to give this sword as a betrothal gift to my future wife. I can't show it to outsiders."
As he said this, he raised his leg and was about to leave.
The old Duke grabbed his sleeve again and said, "I promise you that I won't interfere in Xiu'er's marriage. If she wants to marry, I won't stop her. If she doesn't want to marry or her parents don't agree, then I can't do anything about it."
"Okay, deal!" Zhao Jingyu stopped and smiled like a little fox.
It’s not a big deal. We’ve already dealt with one thing. Next, we just need to deal with the young Duke and his wife, and then everything will be fine.
Later, Biluo told Xie Nanjia the news, saying that the second young master had successfully taken down the old Duke.
Xie Nanjia was surprised. Isn’t this speed too fast
It can be seen that it makes sense that those who have no desires are strong. People with desires cannot be strong at all.
The next day, Sheng Qingyun received a piece of heavenly silk brocade sent by Zhao Jingyu.
You know, there are so many ladies in the palace, and only ten horses are supplied every year. Zhao Jingyu gave a whole horse at a time, which is quite tempting.
Sheng Qingyun stared at the bright brocade, and took great effort to move his eyes away. "I don't want it. Don't think I don't know what he is up to. I only have this one daughter. I wouldn't want a piece of cloth, even a mountain of gold."
"But aren't you planning to make a Tencel brocade coat to wear when visiting relatives during the New Year?" Young Duke Su Xian said nonchalantly.
Sheng Qingyun hesitated for a moment and said weakly, "Then I don't want his either."
"You are a stubborn person. They didn't say they would exchange brocade for your daughter. Can't you just go back and prepare some good gifts and send them back?" Su Xian said.
Sheng Qingyun struggled for a long time and finally decided to accept her husband's advice. She kept the brocade and planned to go to the warehouse to pick out a treasure to give to Zhao Jingyu during the New Year. It would be a gift-giving exchange and no one would take advantage of the other.
Seeing that she accepted it, Su Xian secretly breathed a sigh of relief, returned to the study, took out a pair of ancient inkstones with carved dragon and phoenix patterns from the drawer, put them to his nose and took a deep sniff of the elegant and simple scent of ink, muttered to himself, "Boy, I have already said a good word for you, so it is not in vain."
The next moment, the study door was pushed open with a bang, and Sheng Qingyun walked in angrily: "You are such a heartless man, I was wondering why you kept encouraging me to accept other people's gifts. I wonder if you have secretly taken kickbacks and sold your own daughter for two ingots of ink. Is there any father like you?"
Su Xian was caught red-handed, his face flushed with shame, and he said awkwardly: "Madam, listen to me..."
"I don't want to listen. Give me the ink and I'll have someone return the brocade to him!" Sheng Qingyun said.
Su Xian was startled and quickly put the ink back into the drawer and locked it: "You can return it if you want. I won't. This ink is the best of the Shen family."
"You... you old thing!" Sheng Qingyun was so angry that his face turned red, and he went up to snatch his keys.
Su Xian was anxious and put the key directly into his mouth, mumbling: "If you try to grab it again, I will swallow it."
“…” Sheng Qingyun had no choice but to leave angrily.
Xie Nanjia heard about it and came over to persuade him.
"Mother, the brocade may seem rare to you, but it is nothing to the Second Young Master. If you like it, just accept it. Don't feel burdened."
"You are here to lobby for him, are you in collusion with him?" Sheng Qingyun said unhappily, "I oppose you marrying him for your future, don't take it lightly."
"It's not that I don't take it seriously, it's that you take it too seriously, mother." Xie Nanjia said, "Second Young Master didn't say a single word about it, but you are so nervous that you are afraid of everything. If others knew about it, they would laugh at us."
"What a joke! Can't my own daughter be so nervous?" Sheng Qingyun said, "Zhao Jingyu didn't say anything, but he had little contact with our family in all these years. Why did he cling to our family like a dog-skin plaster as soon as you came back? His intention is obvious to everyone."
Xie Nanjia had no choice but to say in a roundabout way, "But mother, that silk brocade is really beautiful. I also want to use it to make a skirt to wear during the New Year. Just think about it, we can each have one and wear it together during the New Year. How beautiful it will be!"
"..." Sheng Qingyun imagined the scene of her and her daughter wearing Tiansi brocade and being admired by everyone. It was indeed beautiful. No woman could resist such temptation. She thought about it again and again, and finally compromised, "Okay, I will choose a gift of equal value to give back to him."
Xie Nanjia smiled and said, "What mother said is right. We can't take advantage of others for nothing. Let your daughter go with you to pick out gifts!"
Sheng Qingyun didn't think much about it, so he took her hand and went to the warehouse together.
There were a dazzling array of wonderful things in the warehouse. After choosing and selecting, Xie Nanjia selected a pair of warm and translucent mutton-fat jade pendants with auspicious cloud patterns.
This pair of jade pendants was a dowry given by Sheng Qingyun's family when she got married. Young Duke Su Xian liked them very much, but Sheng Qingyun was reluctant to give them to him and wanted to give them to his son when he got married. Unfortunately, Su Jincheng was never sure about the relationship, so the jade pendants were kept in the warehouse and never seen.
Sheng Qingyun didn't expect Xie Nanjia to choose this, and felt reluctant for a moment.
Xie Nanjia said, "The Second Young Master is extremely extravagant. He doesn't even look at ordinary things. Since mother doesn't want to take advantage of him, she has to give him something decent. Otherwise, it's better not to give him anything."
Sheng Qingyun thought so too, so he gritted his teeth and reluctantly gave the pair of jade pendants to Zhao Jingyu.
Zhao Jingyu took the jade pendant, took out the string that Xie Nanjia had made with his hair last time, and asked Zhao Lanzhi to string it on for him. At the end of the year, he changed into bright red new clothes and hung the two jade pendants on his waist, one on the left and one on the right, which was very eye-catching.
Since he was conspicuous, he was inevitably asked about it by guests. He told the truth and said that he had given Madam Sheng a piece of heavenly silk brocade, and Madam Sheng gave him the pair of jade pendants as a return gift. The cords on the jade pendants were made by Miss Xiu'er using his hair and blue silk thread when he was in the Marquis's Mansion.
The speaker had intention, and the listener took it even more seriously. Before the first day of the new year was over, the news spread like wildfire to every household.
When Princess Jinping first came back, some cunning families wanted to marry into the Duke's Mansion, but before they could ask a matchmaker, the Empress got there first.
Later, the Duke's Mansion adopted a daughter, and many families rekindled their hopes. However, it was the end of the year at that time, and every family was looking for a wedding, and it was hard to find a free matchmaker. So everyone thought of waiting until the end of the year to visit relatives and friends to make inquiries. However, who would have thought that just one day after the New Year, their hopes were shattered again.
One side sent Tiansi brocade, and the other side received a mutton-fat jade pendant. Even the string of the jade pendant was made by Miss Xiu'er herself. Isn't it obvious that they want to get married
While everyone was disappointed, they recalled that at the welcoming banquet hosted by Princess Jinping, Miss Xiu'er untied the cloak for the second young master Zhao in public, and the two of them standing together looked like a perfect match.
So everyone wondered, had the two of them already fallen in love with each other since then
The rumor spread, and some people even said that when the second young master Zhao went to the West Mountain Paddock, Miss Xiu'er accompanied him and served him, and the two of them even slept in the same tent at night.
This further confirmed everyone's speculation, and those families who wanted to get married were secretly glad that they did not ask a matchmaker, otherwise it would be really embarrassing.
When the rumor reached the Duke's Mansion, Sheng Qingyun almost got angry and slapped her thigh in annoyance. She regretted that she should not have coveted Zhao Jingyu's piece of heavenly silk brocade, and she should not have been so impulsive as to listen to Xie Nanjia and give him the mutton-fat jade pendant in return. Now, everyone misunderstood that their family was going to marry Zhao Jingyu, and she really couldn't explain it even if she had a hundred mouths.
Xie Nanjia was afraid that she would get angry and get sick, so she comforted her softly, "Mother, today is the first day of the new year. Getting angry will affect your fortune. You should be more positive and stop looking so sad."
It would have been fine if she didn't say anything. As soon as she did, Sheng Qingyun immediately thought of something and tapped her forehead unhappily, "Tell me the truth, did you come up with this idea for that kid?"
"It's not me." Xie Nanjia blinked innocently, trying hard not to laugh.
(End of this chapter)