These days Zhou Shaojin often went in and out of Jiashu Hall, and he had changed from his previous shyness. Although he did not greet the people in Jiashu Hall enthusiastically, he would nod and say hello, and soon won the love of everyone in Jiashu Hall.
As soon as she walked into Jiashu Hall, maids and servants greeted her from afar.
Zhou Shaojin answered them one by one with a smile.
When they reached the upper room, Si'er came out and lifted the curtain for her, saying, "Second Miss, you are here! Just now, Old Lady An was wondering why you hadn't come yet! You are a little later than usual today!" Then she whispered to her, "There is someone in Old Lady An's room. It's Aunt Shi from Hanbi Mountain House."
Zhou Shaojin turned the name over in his mind for a few times before he remembered that this person was the most capable and caring maidservant around Old Madam Guo.
She was slightly stunned and whispered, "What is she doing here?"
In her previous life, she had dealt with this Nanny Shi several times, but it was always Nanny Shi who came to the fourth room to find Old Lady Guan to do things on the orders of Old Lady Guo. In her impression, Nanny Shi was a very easy-going person, but she couldn't remember what she looked like.
Si'er smiled quietly and said, "It's all about the Buddha's Bathing Festival on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month. Old An asked Nanny Wang to send a hundred taels of silver, and then Old Madam Guo asked Nanny Shi to send a few pieces of fine gauze to Old An."
Fine gauze is a good material for making summer clothes.
Zhou Shaojin thanked Si'er with a smile and followed her into the hall.
Old Mrs. Guan was sitting on a short couch talking to an old woman wearing a plain Hang silk jacket in Qiuxiang's color.
Hearing the noise, the old woman turned around.
Her hair was jet black without a single strand of silver, neatly combed into a bun, with a pair of gold-inlaid green jade double happiness hairpins inserted into it. She had a round face, a plump body, fair skin, and smile lines at the corners of her eyes and eyebrows. She looked very kind and friendly. People who didn't know her would definitely think she was the head of a wealthy family, and would never have thought that she was just a servant of Mrs. Guo.
Without waiting for Old Lady Guan to speak, she stood up and knelt down steadily to bow to Zhou Shaojin.
Zhou Shaojin knew that this person was Nanny Shi, so he quickly turned aside and only accepted half of her greeting.
Old Mrs. Guan showed a bit of satisfaction in her smile as she introduced Zhou Shaojin: "This is Nanny Shi from Hanbi Mountain House. You will have to trouble Nanny Shi when you go there to copy the scriptures. I hope Nanny Shi can take good care of her - my granddaughter is introverted and doesn't like to talk much." The last sentence was said to Nanny Shi.
Madam Shi said hurriedly, "Mrs. An, you are too kind. The Second Miss is of noble status and came from your house. How can I have any say? I am just a servant of Mrs. Guo and I am familiar with Hanbi Mountain House. If the Second Miss has anything to say, just tell me. I don't deserve the word 'care' from Mr. An."
Zhou Shaojin was not good at socializing, and she had been living in Daxing's farm for seven or eight years without visitors. Sometimes she didn't know what to say. Fortunately, she knew her own faults, so when she didn't know what to say, she smiled at the other person kindly, and she didn't make any mistakes.
She still smiled at Nanny Shi this time, but her smile was sweeter than usual.
There was a flash of surprise in Nanny Shi's eyes.
Old Madam Guan knew that Zhou Shaojin could not speak, and she did not expect her to say anything. She said directly to Madam Shi: "You are the elder by Madam Guo's side, so don't say these words. I leave my granddaughter to you, you must take good care of her."
Nanny Shi responded “yes” repeatedly.
Zhou Shaojin asked the Spring Festival Gala to present the scriptures he had copied.
Old Madam Guan was a little surprised and said with a smile, "Just now, Madam Shi was talking to me, wondering when you can finish copying the second volume of the Lotus Sutra so that we can set a date to go to Hanbi Mountain House. I think there is no need to report to Old Madam Guo, so let Shaojin go there early tomorrow morning. The Buddha Bathing Festival is coming soon."
"That's great." Nanny Shi smiled and praised Zhou Shaojin a few words. She exchanged pleasantries with Old Madam Guan for a while and then stood up to say goodbye.
Old Lady Guan did not keep Zhou Shaojin, and asked her to go back and prepare and go to Hanbi Mountain House early tomorrow morning.
Zhou Shaojin responded respectfully, but after leaving Jiashu Hall, he couldn't help feeling a little nervous, wondering what clothes to wear that would not make people feel shabby but also not appear too ostentatious.
As a result, she met Cuihuan on the way back to Wanxiangju.
She was ordered by Cheng Ji to ask Zhou Shaojin why he didn't go to Jing'an Zhai for class.
Ever since Cheng Sheng went to the capital and Zhou Chujin followed Madam Mian to learn how to be a housekeeper, there have been only two female students in Jing'an Zhai, Cheng Ji and Zhou Shaojin. Now that Zhou Shaojin has taken leave, Cheng Ji is alone and is constantly watched by the female teacher. She cannot make any mistakes. How can she sit still
Zhou Shaojin could imagine the scene during class, but since she had decided to keep a distance from Cheng Ji, it was impossible for him to take care of her emotions as he did before.
"My grandmother asked me to help Old Madam Guo copy scriptures," she said to Cui Huan calmly, "I may not go to Jing'an Zhai for a few days. Please tell your daughter not to wait for me."
Cuihuan couldn't hide her surprise.
For some reason, Zhou Shaojin felt secretly happy.
But she didn't think about it too much, turned around, left the corridor and returned to Wanxiangju.
Zhou Chujin knew that she was going to Hanbi Villa early tomorrow morning, and became as nervous as Zhou Shaojin: "What clothes are you going to wear tomorrow? What jewelry are you going to wear? Also, remember to bring some silver ingots for rewards. After all, this is your first time going to Hanbi Villa... I don't know what the conventions for rewards are there? They are the most rule-abiding over there, and a generous reward may not necessarily win the respect of those maids..." She was actually a little at a loss.
Zhou Chujin had never seen a sister like this before.
She couldn't help but smile.
It seems that my sister is not naturally calm and natural, and she is not able to remain calm even when faced with great pressure.
She became more intimate and less respectful towards her sister.
"How about this one?" Zhou Shaojin picked out a pink silk jacket with a dark pattern of ice plum from the opened box, "How about the dark green Baxiang skirt as a accessory?"
Zhou Chujin was very impressed and said, "Tie your hair into two buns and wear a pearl headband tomorrow." It will make you look more lively.
Zhou Shaojin nodded with a smile and went to bed as soon as it got dark, but he couldn't fall asleep. The pair of dark green shoes with cloud patterns under the rose tree flashed in his mind, and then the uneven ceiling of the Taihu stone cave covered with green moss flashed. He reminded himself that these were all things in his previous life and nothing happened now, so he shouldn't scare himself and dwell on the past. He thought about how he stabbed Cheng Lu in his previous life, which was considered revenge. Then he wondered why Cheng Lu did this to him, and whether he knew what the consequences of doing so would be... He couldn't fall asleep.
This can't go on!
She thought about it, then sat up and told the night watchman, "Light a stick of benzoin that my sister made? I can't sleep."
Shi Xiang has to accompany Zhou Shaojin to Hanbi Mountain House tomorrow. She was so nervous that she couldn't sleep. She lay on the bed and kept thinking whether there was anything she had missed. Hearing this, she let out a long sigh, put on her clothes and went to light the benzoin.
The sweet fragrance filled the inner room, and the two slowly fell asleep. If Zhou Chujin hadn't called them the next day, Zhou Shaojin would have been late for their trip to Hanbi Mountain House.
Fortunately, when they arrived at Jiashu Hall, Nanny Shi had not arrived yet. Old Lady Guan gave her instructions for a long time. When Nanny Shi came over, she looked at the tender face of Zhou Shaojin and suddenly changed her mind. She decided to send Zhou Shaojin over personally.
Nanny Shi was very surprised, but she didn't show it on her face. She accompanied Old Madam Guan to the Hanbi Mountain House with a smile on her face.
After two lifetimes, this was Zhou Shaojin's first time going to Hanbi Mountain Villa, and she couldn't help but look around at the scenery.
After exiting the black painted corner door of Jiashu Hall, there is a long corridor. The corridor is paved with blue and yellow pebbles in patterns of octagonal, hexagonal ice cracks, herringbone patterns, etc., with green trees on both sides, occasionally a few rugged rocks or bluestone benches, and low-lying camellia, winter jasmine, bauhinia, hosta, etc., with yellow, red, white or purple flowers blooming in all colors, very beautiful. After turning a corner, you will see a large expanse of lake water in front of you, the nine-curve stone bridge, the pavilion in the middle of the lake, the waterside pavilion, the dock, and the weeping willows on both sides are all clearly visible. In the distance are green mountains and peaks, and in the near distance you can see the pointed lotus leaves exposed on the lake surface. In summer, this place is obviously a lake of green leaves and lotus fragrance.
Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but take a deep breath.
The air was filled with the scent of unknown flowers.
What a great place.
She had never seen such a scenery before. This should be the private garden of Changfang or Hanbi Mountain House.
It seems that the depth of Jiuru Lane is much deeper than she knew, otherwise there would be no such a garden.
Zhou Shaojin looked at it for a few more seconds and then looked up. The dark grey eaves and snow-white horse-head wall were visible among the thick green in front.
Nanny Shi smiled and turned to her and said, "We are only a few steps away from Hanbi Mountain House."
Zhou Shaojin smiled, but secretly thought that it only took a bowl of tea to get from Jiashutang to Hanbi Shanfang.
They turned another corner, and now there were all kinds of bamboos planted on both sides of the corridor. In addition to the common green bamboo, bamboo, square bamboo, and imperial bamboo, there were also rare purple bamboos, tall and sturdy adult dragon bamboos, and slender and soft golden bamboos. It was obvious that they were quite old, and they were all planted together. The wind from the lake blew over, dancing gracefully, like a green wave rushing over. Before entering the Hanbi Mountain House, I felt a sense of coolness and chill.
Zhou Shaojin tightened his clothes and saw a black lacquered Ruyi door in front of him. On the lintel was a bluestone Ruyi head pattern, with the four large characters "Hanbi Shanfang" carved in Han Li. The handwriting was simple, luxuriant, ancient, vast and thick, with faint traces of wind, frost, rain and snow visible. It was not a new plaque.
This made her feel inexplicably relieved.
As they walked into Hanbi Mountain House, they were greeted by a pine bonsai tree that was taller than a person. Its branches and leaves spread out, about four feet long, blocking their view. The edge of the huge purple clay pot was like a stone step, and could accommodate two or three people.
Zhou Shaojin had never seen such a huge potted plant before. She walked around the bonsai out of curiosity. The corridor was made of bluestone. Although it was shiny due to long-term trampling, it did not have any patterns or designs. The surroundings were also green, green, bean green, emerald green, oily green... various shades of green.
There is not a single flower, not a single other color.
She was stunned.
Is this how “Hanbi” got its name
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I didn’t expect that the PK votes would be reset to zero. It fell off the list this month. I ask for support from my sisters so that "Jinlingchun" can be on the homepage list.
Thank you everyone!
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)