From that day on, Madam Guo suddenly lost interest in Cheng Xu's wedding. She just put the chosen clothes and jewelry there and never looked at them again. Instead, she saw Cheng Chi officially went to the Censorate and got up early to attend court. Zhou Shaojin followed suit and got up early every day. When it was noon, when she was chanting sutras with her, she began to yawn uncontrollably. Madam Guo smiled and exempted her from the morning class, and instead practiced calligraphy for an hour in the afternoon.
Zhou Shaojin felt a little ashamed.
Her biggest wish after her rebirth was to be able to publish calligraphy like Liao Shaotang's aunt Liao Zhangying. Now that she is married to Cheng Chi, she only knows how to eat and drink every day. Occasionally, she feels a little uneasy in her heart, and she makes excuses for herself that she has too many things to do and is too busy. She has not practiced calligraphy seriously for a long time.
Zhou Shaojin did not dare to be negligent. He put in the same effort as when he copied scriptures for Old Madam Guo and learned calligraphy from her.
Mrs. Guo was very satisfied and began to teach her how to paint in addition to writing.
Zhou Shaojin studied more diligently.
She had heard from others that many embroidery masters were also experts in painting.
When February comes, the wind no longer feels cold on the body, and the elegance of Tingxiangyuan is revealed.
When you open the window, you can see the lake; when you look into the distance, you can see layers of green mountains; when you look up, you can see the slanting branches of peach trees; when you look down, you can see clusters of flowers and plants that have just sprouted.
Not to mention Zhou Shaojin, even Old Madam Guo thought that the courtyard was very well decorated. She asked Cheng Chi with a smile who had done this and said, "In spring, the plants and flowers in the garden on the east side need to be tidied up."
Cheng Chi smiled and said, "I asked someone to fix this side, so leave that side to Shao Jin."
"Me?!" Zhou Shaojin was surprised.
Cheng Chi smiled and said, "You grow flowers very well, don't you? I'm sure this won't be difficult for you. Besides, flowers and trees wither and flourish every year. If you feel regretful today, you can make up for it next year. Try a few more times and you will get it right naturally."
Zhou Shaojin was eager to try.
In the morning, she took a few maids and old women to the back garden to plant trees and remove weeds. In the afternoon, she accompanied Mrs. Guo in writing and painting. Her days passed quickly but she felt very excited. She was like a willow tree that had grown branches, full of energy and vitality.
Yuan was so busy that she was at a loss. When the day of Cheng Xu's wedding came, she realized that she had not seen Zhou Shaojin since the day he came to pick up Madam Guo's house. She couldn't help but frown, but she also breathed a sigh of relief.
Her nurse couldn't bear to see this and reminded her, "No matter what, Zhou is the fourth wife of the Cheng family. If she doesn't come, people might gossip about her."
Yuan disagreed and said, "When others asked me, I had already sent a message saying that the old lady kept her to serve." After saying that, she felt a little embarrassed and added, "She was born not long before her mother died. I always feel that it is not auspicious. It is better for her to stay with the old lady at Chaoyang Gate."
Her nurse hesitated to speak.
Yuan talked about Cheng Xu's wedding and ancestor worship: "... I have discussed with the master that after they get married, we will move the portraits of the ancestors to Daxing for worship."
Exhumation is a very complicated matter. The remains of Cheng Xun and others were left in the ancestral tomb in Jinling, and Cheng Shao also left a message that when he died, he would be buried next to his parents and eldest brother Cheng Xun. As for Cheng Jing and others, in order to prevent their children from traveling, most of them chose to be buried in the capital. In this way, the ancestral tomb in Jinling had to be preserved. The three brothers of Cheng Jing chose a sacrificial field in Daxing and circled a Feng Shui treasure land as the Cheng family's cemetery. The ancestral portraits originally placed on the Chaoyang Gate side were also moved to Xinglin Hutong because of the separation of the three brothers.
Her wet nurse knew that Yuan was watching Cheng Chi and Zhou Shaojin worshiping their ancestors at home, and she felt sad that her son and daughter-in-law had to go to Daxing early in the morning, so she came up with this idea.
She had already upset Yuan, so it was hard for her to say anything at this moment. She could only say tactfully, "The elder master treats you very well. If you have anything to ask for, you must give in to the elder master. This way, you and your wife can live in harmony."
Yuan did not deny this.
She smiled and said, "I know. The new daughter-in-law is coming home soon, and as a mother-in-law, I have to set a good example, right?"
Back then, Madam Guo and Cheng Xun were famous for their love.
Her wet nurse found that what she said made sense, so she smiled and praised her several times before going out to do her own thing.
When Yuan saw that there was no one around her, her face turned cold.
Zhou Shaojin was really not presentable. If she asked her not to come, she really didn't come. She didn't care about her as the eldest sister-in-law. On the other hand, although Qiu had separated from her family, she was still as good as usual in terms of favor. She had just moved and had a lot of things to do, but she was able to put aside her own affairs and come to help her. When Jiashan's daughter-in-law came into the family, she would have to respect her as the second aunt.
It can also be regarded as a way to honor the second branch and suppress the arrogance of Cheng Chi and Zhou Shaojin. These days, wherever she goes, she hears people talking about the impeachment of Lord Qu. Cheng Chi is now famous in the literati circle. When he was an imperial censor, he defeated a Lord. Will he be able to leave his name in history
Yuan had her own plans.
Zhou Shaojin went to Yuqian Hutong.
The people from the fourth house arrived in the capital.
Everyone first gathered in Yuqian Hutong for a day, and then went to Chaoyangmen, where they drank, listened to operas, played pitch pots, and rowed boats. They had another happy day. Then it was the day when Cheng Xu urged them to get married, so everyone went to Xinglin Hutong together.
In the words of Gu Shiqigu: "Even Chinese New Year is not this lively!"
Zhou Shaojin was only concerned about her belly: "You are not even three months pregnant yet, do you want to stay in Beijing for a few more days?"
After Gu Shiqigu went to Baoding, she found out that she was pregnant. Because she had just become pregnant, she was left in Chaoyangmen to accompany Zhou Shaojin for fear of scaring the baby.
"No need." Gu Shiqi smiled and took a bite of an apple. She said, "The doctor who works for your wife checked my pulse and said I'm fine. We'll set off back to Nanjing as soon as the three months are up." She added, "The apples here are really delicious. I want to take the basket with me when I leave."
Zhou Shaojin didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and said, "I'll bring you ten baskets back, okay?"
Gu Shiqigu laughed and said, "If you dare to give it, I dare to take it."
Zhou Shaojin could only smile and shake his head.
Gu Shiqi comforted her: "Look, the three of us who went to Hongluo Temple to burn incense have all received good news. You will also have good news, don't worry. Doesn't the fortune also say that it will be difficult first and easy later?"
"I hope so!" Zhou Shaojin felt helpless when talking about this matter.
Cheng Chi is good in everything except that he has too strong self-control.
It would be useless even if she took the initiative in their marital affairs.
But how could she tell this to others
I hope Shiro can just be busy these days.
Gu Shiqigu felt sad that after they left, she didn't know when they would meet again.
Cheng Shaojin smiled and said, "Then if you raise a son who is a Jinshi, wouldn't he be able to go to the capital with him for both the Autumn and Spring Examinations?"
"Are you afraid that I don't have this ambition? But even if that's the case, it's my daughter-in-law who will go to Beijing with her. How can it be my turn?" Gu Shiqigu talked to her and laughed, and they laughed until the evening.
Cheng Chi and the others had gone to Xinglin Hutong, and it was unknown whether they would come back or not. After helping Madam Guo to rest, Zhou Shaojin and Gu Shiqigu were lying on the bed, talking in private: "Azhu is now pregnant with her second child... She wants to marry into our family in the future... Her sister-in-law gave birth to the eldest grandson of the Zhu family... She wanted to take this opportunity to go back to Jinling to visit, but in the end she couldn't go... Her son-in-law treats her very well and obeys her in everything, but the Fan family has too many rules and is too restrictive..."
"It can be seen that there is no perfect thing in the world..."
The two of them expressed their feelings as they talked.
Gu Shiqigu let Zhou Shaojin sleep here.
Who knew that just as Zhou Shaojin lay down, Cheng Chi came back.
Gu Shiqi covered her mouth and laughed, and urged Zhou Shaojin to go back to the house: "My mother-in-law hasn't come back at such an old age, but he, the dearest uncle, came back first."
Zhou Shaojin's face turned red as a piece of cloth, and he said, "I'm afraid he came back because of something."
Gu Shiqigu smiled as sweet as a silver bell.
Zhou Shaojin couldn't stay there for even a quarter of an hour and hurried back to the main room.
As I stepped into the inner room, a figure flashed past the mirror table.
Zhou Shaojin stopped and saw the woman in the mirror with her eyebrows and eyes curved like crescent moons smiling.
She lowered her head in embarrassment and walked around the screen.
Cheng Chi had already changed his clothes and was being helped by Yuanyuan and Manman to tie his belt.
Seeing Zhou Shaojin, his eyebrows softened a little, and he smiled softly, "You're back!"
Zhou Shaojin nodded randomly and said, "Mom has gone to bed."
"I know!" Cheng Chi waved his hand, and the maids serving in the room filed out.
He walked forward and hugged Zhou Shaojin, whispering: "What did you do today? Did you miss me? I was thinking about you all day today..."
The lowered voice seemed to have a bit more mellowness, like the sound of a deep piano, lingering in her ears along with his warm breath.
Zhou Shaojin's heart melted, and after a long while he said with difficulty: "It's so late, why are you back? They invited you to entertain the guests over there, didn't they arrange accommodation for you?"
There is a curfew in the capital at night.
Cheng Chi bit her ear and said, "I don't want to sleep alone in a cold bed... I found a chance and came back..."
Zhou Shaojin hugged Cheng Chi tightly, his eyes as tender as autumn water.
※
When she opened her eyes the next day, Cheng Chi was gone.
Zhou Shaojin thought about what happened last night and rolled around on the bed with a red face before getting up.
She felt like she had a little bird in her heart and was in a good mood the whole day. She went to the garden to check on the flowers and plants she had planted a few days ago, and found a bunch of wild shepherd's purse on the southern hillside.
Chunwan exclaimed: "Why is there such a thing here?"
Zhou Shaojin was still in high spirits and said with a smile: "Dig it up and make shepherd's purse dumplings to eat."
"Okay! Okay!" Everyone thought it was a good idea and helped to dig wild vegetables.
Zhou Shaojin asked them to build a fence here: "Don't turn over the land here. You can come here to pick shepherd's purse every spring."
The maids and old women all responded.
At noon, everyone had shepherd's purse dumplings.
Madam Guo ate more than a dozen dumplings in one go, but Zhou Shaojin was afraid that she would have indigestion and did not dare to let her continue eating. Madam Guo then stopped and said, "These are the most delicious dumplings I have eaten since I came to the capital."
Even Gu Shiqigu, who was used to eating white rice, ate seven or eight dumplings.
Mrs. Guo decided to take a walk in the garden in the afternoon to see what else there was. (To be continued)