Of course Cheng Chi didn't think about Zhou Shaojin.
Since his mother had asked someone to invite Zhou Shaojin over, it would be inappropriate for him to keep Zhou Shaojin.
He said to Zhou Shaojin, "Can you dress yourself? Do you want me to ask Nanping to help you?"
Zhou Shaojin's face turned red.
She had just cried and made a scene, so her clothes were probably in disarray. If she went out like this, the maids would point fingers at her and make irresponsible remarks.
"I can do it myself!" Zhou Shaojin said hurriedly.
Cheng Chi breathed a sigh of relief.
The fewer people know about Zhou Shaojin's affairs, the better.
He patted her head like coaxing a child, and said softly, "An innocent man is guilty of possessing a treasure. It's best not to tell anyone what you said to me today. If anyone asks, just say that you lost the game of chess, and I said something to you that made you feel uncomfortable. There are all kinds of people in this world, and you have such an adventure. If you are targeted by someone with ulterior motives, being used by others is a small matter. The only thing is that some people are narrow-minded and want to use you for their own benefit, and lock you up so that we can't find you. That would be troublesome."
The fact of her rebirth weighed on Zhou Shaojin's chest like a huge rock. She was afraid of being discovered and treated as a monster by others, but she never expected that her experience would be comparable to the Heshi Jade in the eyes of Uncle Chi.
Zhou Shaojin suddenly felt that his situation was not so bad.
She nodded repeatedly: "I won't tell anyone."
Seeing that she didn't know the depth of the situation, Cheng Chi was still a little worried and continued to scare her, "If you get caught because of this, I won't care about you anymore. Do you understand?"
Zhou Shaojin's face felt hot.
Uncle Chi really treats her as a child.
However, the feeling of being treated like a child like this... is also quite good.
She quickly assured, "I will not tell anyone except Uncle Chi."
Cheng Chi was slightly relieved, pointed to the inner room, and said, "Go and dress properly, we'll go to the old lady now."
Zhou Shaojin walked into the inner room with some curiosity.
The inner room was a small rest room. Against the wall was a small lacquered bed with a white fine cloth curtain. Next to the window was a large desk, which, in addition to the four treasures of the study, also had a pot of Clivia planted in a Xianyang bowl. The shelves of the treasure cabinet were either filled with books or scrolls of various sizes.
I don’t know whether the scroll contains a painting or the map that Uncle Chi talked about on the boat.
Zhou Shaojin really wanted to open it and take a look.
She turned her head and glanced outside, and happened to see a corner of Cheng Chi's plain blue-gray Hangzhou silk robe.
Zhou Shaojin sighed in disappointment.
I turned around and saw the mirror frame on the bedside.
The frame of the mirror was made of rosewood, with a fan-sized peep show in the middle, which allowed every detail of the person to be clearly seen.
Zhou Shaojin pouted.
Uncle Chi is so extravagant.
There was actually a peep show on the frame.
She stood in front of the peep show and looked her face this way and that.
Her skin was as smooth as jade, without any boils or scars, but her eyes were red and a little swollen.
Zhou Shaojin smiled shyly, rearranged her makeup in front of the mirror, and left the inner room.
Cheng Chi didn't know when he had changed into a bamboo-colored Taoist robe made of fine cloth. The robe had wide sleeves and a Taoist-like air.
Zhou Shaojin whispered, "Uncle Chi, did you really burn the first incense stick at Longhu Mountain that year? Doesn't that mean you didn't celebrate the New Year at home?"
"Yeah!" Cheng Chi smiled indifferently, "Didn't you say that you hardly saw me before? I've been running around outside all year round." As he spoke, he pushed open the door of the study.
Zhou Shaojin hurriedly followed.
Nanny Shang and Biyu were waiting outside.
Biyu was fine, she was just following the old lady's orders to invite Zhou Shaojin over, but Nanny Shang heard some noise vaguely. When she saw Zhou Shaojin coming out in good health and with a smile on his face, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Cheng Chi followed Biyu up to the upper room and asked her, "What is the old lady doing?"
Biyu smiled and said, "The old lady is counting her old jewelry! She said there are some things that she can't even remember. Take advantage of the good weather these few days to take them out and have a look."
Zhou Shaojin wiped his sweat.
Others were drying books and clothes, but the old lady was drying jewelry...
Cheng Chi obviously thought the same as Zhou Shaojin, and said, "I remember the temple is going to dry the scriptures, which month is it? Why don't you accompany the old lady for a walk."
Biyu smiled and said, "The sixth day of the sixth lunar month is the day to dry books. It's still a little early."
Seeing that she spoke in a steady and neither humble nor arrogant manner, Cheng Chi looked at her for a second longer.
Biyu bowed her head respectfully.
A look of satisfaction flashed across Cheng Chi's face, and he entered the upper room where Mrs. Guo lived.
Mr. Guo is really showing off his jewelry.
The bed by the window, the windowsill, the coffee table, and the armchair were all filled with all kinds of jewelry boxes. Some were just piled on the ground. The room was full of jewels and gold.
Seeing Zhou Shaojin and Cheng Chi coming in, Madam Guo waved at them and said with a smile: "You came at the right time. Please help me see which jewelry looks good and which doesn't."
Zhou Shaojin asked curiously, "Do you want to make new jewelry?"
Madam Guo smiled and said, "First pick out the ugly and outdated ones and put them aside. I haven't decided whether to give them to others or make them again!"
Zhou Shaojin saw a long hairpin with a red-gold fairy peach in it placed in the open box next to him and said, "You don't want this anymore?"
"No." Mrs. Guo said, "It's an old style that has been around for decades. Except for the better quality of the gold, the workmanship is outdated."
Zhou Shaojin saw that the hairpin was finely carved, and the veins of the fairy peach leaves were clearly visible, looking very lifelike. He felt a little sorry for it, so he picked it up and took a look.
Gold, jade and filigree are popular in recent years. That hairpin is solid and heavy to wear, so it is indeed out of date.
Mrs. Guo smiled and said, "Do you like it very much?"
Zhou Shaojin said hurriedly: "I don't really like this kind of thick jewelry."
She had personally experienced Mrs. Guo's generosity, and she was afraid that she might give the hairpin to her on a whim.
Madam Guo nodded and said, "You young girls really don't like this kind of jewelry." She thought for a moment and told Agate, "Go find my "Moon Full in the West Tower" and give it to my second cousin."
Zhou Shaojin was shocked and wanted to refuse, but he was afraid that Mrs. Guo was just showing it to him and that he was being too sentimental, so he could only smile and say, "Is it your treasured collection?"
"It's not really a treasure." Madam Guo said, "Although it is an old item from the early years, it came from the palace. I haven't seen another one in all these years."
As he was speaking, Agate walked in holding a box of red lacquered and gold-painted roses.
Mrs. Guo opened the box and said to Zhou Shaojin, "Look!"
Zhou Shaojin was greatly surprised.
The Moon Full West Tower was made of pure gold, weighing at least twelve or thirteen taels. In the middle of the tower was a palace that looked like a jade palace, with a half-moon behind it. On the left was a sweet-scented osmanthus tree, with a little rabbit squatting under the tree. Needless to say, the little rabbit was very vivid, as if it were real. The leaves of the sweet-scented osmanthus tree were as thin as foil, hanging on the branches one by one. When you moved your hand, the leaves rustled, shining brightly, and were extremely beautiful.
"So beautiful!" she praised.
Madam Guo pushed the box into her hands and said, "Since you think it's beautiful, take it and play with it!"
"How can this be possible!" Zhou Shaojin said, "I will take away what you like as soon as I come..."
"What good is that?" Old Madam Guo said with a smile, "Only girls like you guys like these things." Then she said, "Don't be polite to me. I have something even better, which I took out when I was about to close my eyes. You girls kept thinking about it, and when you heard that I was dying, you rushed back to share my things."
Zhou Shaojin couldn't help laughing and accepted the distraction of the full moon in the west building.
Cheng Chi said, "Mom, can you give me a place to sit?"
Pearl and the others hurried in to pack up.
Madam Guo waved her hand and said, "Should I move it somewhere else? If I let you guys clean it up, I won't remember where I put it later."
Zhou Shaojin helped Mrs. Guo to the banquet room next door.
Madam Guo asked Zhou Shaojin, "Why are you here?"
Zhou Shaojin followed Cheng Chi's instructions and said, "I came here to play chess with Uncle Chi."
Mrs. Guo let out a long "Oh".
Zhou Shaojin felt very guilty and his eyelids drooped slightly.
Cheng Chi didn't know what to say.
How come this little girl is so smart that she can even tell whether he is angry or happy, but when she is stupid, she just answers whatever others ask her
She came to play chess with him, and according to etiquette, she should go to pay respects to her mother first. She went to her own Tingli Pavilion without paying respects to her mother. Isn't this clearly telling her mother that she was called by him? Isn't it obvious that she is trying to cover up her own intentions
Even if the mother didn't doubt it, she would have doubted it.
He held his forehead.
Madam Guo seemed to have not heard anything at all, and smiled and talked about other things: "How are the preparations at home? Have the people from the Liao family arrived? The last time I said I would hold a welcoming ceremony for your stepmother, it didn't happen. Go back and tell your stepmother that when she is done with her work, I will invite her to come home to listen to the storytelling."
Zhou Shaojin smiled and thanked Li on her behalf.
Biyu walked in with a smile and said, "Madam, the first and ninth wives of the Gu family are here."
The ninth wife of the Gu family refers to Gu Qinghe’s wife.
Her mother and Mrs. Guo are cousins.
Madam Guo said to Zhou Shaojin and Cheng Chi, "Go play chess! You don't have to come and say goodbye to me later. I think the first and ninth wives of the Gu family are here for something important."
Cheng Chi and Zhou Shaojin retreated.
Madam Guo told Biyu, "Please invite the first and ninth wives of the Gu family to sit in the flower hall."
The flower hall of Hanbi Mountain Villa and Tingli Pavilion where Cheng Chi lives are located in the south and north respectively. Even if they went in the wrong direction, the women of the Gu family would not be able to run into Zhou Shaojin and Cheng Chi.
Cheng Chi handed a banknote to Zhou Shaojin and said, "This is a gift from me to your sister. You will have an excuse when you go back."
Zhou Shaojin opened it and saw two hundred taels.
The average gift given by people ranges from twenty to thirty taels to a few taels.
Isn’t this a bit too much
However, he just casually handed it to her, which must have been a last-minute thought.
Zhou Shaojin hummed in his heart, thinking of the peep show on the frame in Cheng Chi's house, and put the banknote into his purse with a smile, saying, "Then I will thank Uncle Chi on behalf of my sister!"
Then he knelt down to Cheng Chi and took Chunwan back to Pingqiao Street.
※
Sisters and brothers, today’s update.
There is also no additional update for Qingtian Moyun and Xiao Xixi's spirit beast eggs because tomorrow is the weekend. I promised everyone before that I would update more on the weekend, so the additional update for Qingtian Moyun and Xiao Xixi's spirit beast eggs will be postponed to after the weekend's additional update.
Tomorrow's update is tentatively scheduled for around 5pm. If there are special circumstances, I will ask for leave in advance!
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)