The dragon boat race in Yunyang City is an annual event in Yanzhou. Every year during the Duanyang Festival, aristocratic families in Yanzhou will gather here.
When the Ren family's carriage came out of Baihe Town, there were already many carriages traveling on the official road. However, people like the Ren family who dispatched more than 20 carriages were still very few.
When we arrived at Yunyang City, it was already in the morning. Although the sky was bright, it was not unbearably hot.
Because the weather is getting hotter, Ren's carriage uses a breathable gauze curtain. Since entering the city gate, Ren Yaoqi's eyes have been on the outside. Although she could only see faint pedestrians, carriages and horses, and heard all kinds of noisy sounds in the market, she could also feel the prosperity of Yunyang City, the largest city in Yanbei.
When the Liao people invaded the south, the Liao King tried to overcome all the opinions and thought of moving the capital of the Liao Kingdom to Yunyang City. Unfortunately, he was driven out of the 16 states of Yanyun by the fourth king of Yanbei, Xiao Qishan, before he could achieve it. The capital city of Yunyang became the dying wish of the Liao King.
Ren Yaoqi was very unfamiliar with Yunyang City. In the last life, I only came here with my mother a few times when I was young, but when I grew up, I rarely had the opportunity to travel. Like her mother Li, she was ignored in the Ren family. The last time she wanted to escape to her ancestral home outside Yunyang City to seek shelter, she was stopped halfway before entering the city.
The Ren family's carriage slowly passed through the most spacious main road in Yunyang City and entered the inner city.
"Where is the carriage going?" Ren Yaoqi asked Ren Yaohua.
Ren Yaohua glanced at Ren Yaoqi strangely, and then thought that this was the first time that Ren Yaoqi came back to watch the dragon boat race.
"The dragon boat needs to be launched first, and the official competition will not start until the afternoon. We are going to the Ren family's other courtyard in Yunyang City, and we have to live in the other courtyard for the past few days."
Ren Yaoqi knew that the Ren family had a house in Yunyang City, and she had been there before.
The carriage in front stopped, Ren Yaohua lifted the curtain and looked at it: "It's my aunt who is going back to Lin's house, and we're not going the same way."
Sure enough, after a few carriages left the team, the Ren family's carriage moved again, and after less than a quarter of an hour, it finally stopped in front of a red-painted barbarian door. This is the main entrance of the other courtyard, and the door is not open, but Ren Yaoqi remembers that this house is actually a spacious four-door house.
Personal accommodation had been arranged before the trip, so Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua got off the carriage and were led by their mother-in-law to the third west wing. The two sisters lived together in the first room on the north side of the west wing. The room is very spacious and fully furnished. Some of the utensils in the room are still used by Ren Yaoqi on weekdays. It can be seen that they have been arranged before they come in.
Ren Yaohua is not unfamiliar with this room, presumably this is the one he lived in Yunyang City before. Mrs. Ren lives in the third north room, so the third west wing is a better place.
After they settled down, the fifth master came to ask the old lady Ren for instructions, and then took the fifth wife Lin and a pair of children to the old husband's house. People from the fifth room who come to Yunyang City rarely live in other courtyards, and most of the time they live in the Lin family. Although old lady Ren was dissatisfied with her younger son, she didn't want to make any unpleasantness at this moment and lose the Ren family's face in front of others, she waved her hand and let them go.
As a result, there was not a single serious daughter-in-law who served by Mrs. Lin's side, and there was only a concubine like Aunt Fang.
Aunt Fang changed her clothes and planned to wait by the old lady's side, not wanting that Ren Yaohua had already dragged Ren Yaoqi to the old lady Ren first. Seeing that Aunt Fang was here, she just didn't give her a chance to intervene.
Old Mrs. Ren was surrounded by several granddaughters, her eldest grandson-in-law, and a house of maids and maids, so she really didn't need Aunt Fang for anything.
In the end, the old lady Ren looked at Aunt Fang and then at Yaohua Ren, and sent Aunt Fang back.
In fact, the old lady Ren is very shrewd. She doesn't mind giving Aunt Fang a little more dignity when the door is closed in the Ren family's house, and it doesn't matter if she even surpasses Li's main room. But when she was outside, the aristocratic families gathered together, and she was really embarrassed to call a concubine as a proper daughter-in-law. She can don't have this face, but the Ren family can't afford to lose this person.
So it's not that old lady Ren doesn't understand the difference between direct and concubines, she just divides the occasion.
The old lady Ren made a message, and set up dinner early in the courtyard at noon, and then went out. As long as they are housewives, they can move the car when the time comes, and they will have their own men and stewards to manage the schedule.
Ren Yaoqi listened to the sisters surrounding the old lady Ren happily talking about the interesting stories of the Duanyang Festival last year, and she still sat quietly and listened.
The atmosphere was peaceful and happy, but a woman hurried in and reported, "Old lady, the carriage from the Yanbei Palace is here."
Leaning on the kang, the old lady Ren closed her eyes and sat up straight. "Who's here?"
The old woman glanced at Ren Yaoqi who was sitting beside her, and replied, "A carriage and a maid came, saying that the county master sent to pick up the fifth young lady."
The room became quiet in an instant, and the eyes of the whole room fell on Ren Yaoqi.
The old lady Ren also looked at Ren Yaoqi. After thinking about it, she said to Ren Yaoqi with a loving smile on her face: "Since the county master came to pick you up, you can go."
Ren Yaoqi didn't expect Xiao Jinglin to come to her so soon, and was a little surprised. After listening to Mrs. Ren's words, she whispered "yes", then got up and backed out.
The carriage of the Yanbei Prince's Mansion was parked at the door, black and blue, and it looked very ordinary, but Ren Yaoqi walked in and found the sign of the Yanbei Prince's Mansion under the eaves of the carriage, an eagle with wings outstretched.
Ren Yaoqi subconsciously glanced at the seat where the driver of the carriage was sitting, and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that the driver was not Dong Sheng but a middle-aged woman in her forties. The maid next to the carriage greeted him and helped Ren Yaoqi onto the carriage.
When Ren Yaoqi came out, he only brought Apple with him, saying that the county owner didn't like too many people following him. No one else can interfere with her. Because the county owner didn't come, Ren Yaoqi asked Apple to get on the carriage.
Xiao Jinglin's maid, named Hongying, is a little girl who doesn't like to talk. She asks and answers every question. Ren Yaoqi is not a talkative person either, so he stopped asking after a few questions. She believed that this maid was by Xiao Jinglin's side, and the master and servant were too similar in temperament.
The carriage traveled for nearly a quarter of an hour, and finally stopped at a pier in Yunyang City.
Liyang River passes through Yunyang, so there are a few piers in Yunyang City. However, the wharf in Yunyang City is not for civilian use or commercial use. The estuary into the city is guarded by the army, so in most cases there is no boat on the Liyang River in the city, but there are women in twos and threes squatting on the stone steps of the wharf. Doing laundry, laughing and scolding the market is very strong.
Today's dragon boat race is not carried out in this section of the river in the city, but needs to go out of the city gate.
Hongying jumped out of the carriage first, then turned around to help Ren Yaoqi.
Ren Yaoqi got off the carriage and saw a small painting boat parked by the river. Ren Yaoqi had seen this kind of painting when he was in Kyoto, and the young masters of rich families liked to sit in it and drink and listen to music. Yanbei is rare.
Ren Yaoqi was standing on the shore looking at the painting boat, but the sliding door of the warehouse in front of the painting boat suddenly opened, and then Xiao Jinglin came out.
Seeing Ren Yaoqi, Xiao Jinglin's face was still light, but she asked, "Are you afraid of water?"
Ren Yaoqi shook his head and walked down the stone steps on the shore. On the stone steps near the water surface, there are a few rotten vegetable leaves, and even some filthy things like fish scales. When you go down, you can smell the fishy smell of water, neither good nor bad.
Xiao Jinglin reached out and grabbed Ren Yaoqi, pulling her onto the boat. Although the boat is not big, the boat is very stable, Ren Yaoqi didn't even shake it when he stepped on it.
There was only one maid in the painting boat, who was almost dressed like Hongying, and there was no one else.
Ren Yaoqi looked at it with some curiosity. The inside is quite spacious, at least it can accommodate ** people. There are a few low tables, soft cushions, and some daily utensils. Other than that, nothing special.
Although Xiao Jinglin's face was cold, she kept holding Ren Yaoqi and leading her to sit down on the cushion before letting go, for fear that she would not be able to walk steadily on the boat.
"This painting boat was bought by my second brother in Kyoto, and I bought three boats in total. It was the first time it was launched yesterday. I heard that you were here. I thought you might not have sat on this thing before, so I let someone pick you up. Come here." Xiao Jinglin looked at Ren Yaoqi and said quietly.
Ren Yaoqi was looking around, and when he heard this, he smiled at Xiao Jinglin: "Thank you, Princess, I have never sat here before."
Xiao Jinglin looked at Ren Yaoqi a few times, and smiled: "Fortunately, you didn't faint when you came up. Yesterday, my mother and concubine vomited as soon as she came up, and she was so frightened that they didn't want to get on the boat, so the second brother took this The boat was given to me." There was a hint of naughty in his words.
There are few rivers in the north, so people in Yanbei are not as good at water as those in the south, and most people are not used to boats. Although Ren Yaoqi has never been on a painting boat, he has been on a boat.
The painting boat sailed slowly through the river in the inner city, and many people on the riverbank stopped to watch it. Not to mention that this painting boat is rarely seen in Yanbei, but few dare to sail in the inner city. Ren Yaoqi dipped in Xiao Jinglin's light today and was pointed all the way.
Xiao Jinglin didn't change her face, and didn't care about the movement outside the boat. Ren Yaoqi can also sit still, not to mention that it is difficult for people outside where she is sitting to see her true face clearly, and there is not much pressure.
When the boat was approaching a large stone bridge across the river, there was a "bang" and something hit the boat.
The two of them didn't care about it at first, and they didn't want to hear "Bang" and "Bang" in succession.
Ren Yaoqi couldn't help but look at Xiao Jinglin. Someone smashed the boat