Nangong Yue could also tell from getting along with each other these days that Xiao Luan's temperament was evasive, and he would not think of letting Pianpian attend Zhennan King's birthday banquet for no reason. Therefore, the answer is self-evident, Xiao Luan's love finally made this Pian Pian's heart grow stronger, and he began to have some thoughts that should not be expected...
Nangong Yue narrowed her eyes slightly, remembering that King Zhennan came to her a few days ago and asked her to pay attention to girls of the right age so that she could help Xiao Luan choose a marriage. Judging from Xiao Luan's current situation, it's really hard to choose the right girl. Since Xiao Luan is a fool, he has to pick someone who knows the importance, otherwise his yard will be messed up in the future!
Nangong Yue couldn't help but sighed, got up and went to the small study.
Nangong Yue sat down behind the red sandalwood desk, and picked up a stack of rosters that had been put aside. Que'er cleverly began to rub the ink aside.
Nangong Yue looked at the roster in her hand, which included girls of the right age in various mansions in southern Xinjiang. Que'er and Ying'er helped sort it out, including ranking, age, temperament, family tradition and so on. Since ancient times, getting married has paid attention to the right family, but in southern Xinjiang, no matter how noble it is, it is not as noble as the Zhennan Prince's Mansion. The girls on this list are mostly girls from the second- and third-rank generals' mansions. It took the two maids two full days to make a rough list.
Nangong Yue looked at it roughly, focusing more on those mansions with a stable family style.
Huh
Nangong Yue's hand holding the pen paused slightly, looked at one of the names, and asked, "The eldest girl of General Dingyuan's Mansion?"
The surname of General Dingyuan's mansion is Zhou, and the eldest girl of their mansion lives in seclusion. Nangong Yue has been in southern Xinjiang for so long, but she has never heard of this eldest lady Zhou.
Que'er explained: "General Dingyuan has two houses on his shoulders, Miss Zhou is the only daughter of the big house."
Shoulder two rooms
Nangong Yue raised her eyebrows slightly, it was actually not in accordance with the rules to pick two rooms on her shoulders, it is rare for people of any status to do this anymore, she did not expect that General Dingyuan's Mansion in Luoyue City would pick two rooms on her shoulders.
Nangong Yue asked, "Is General Dingyuan the chief or the second?"
"It's the second room." Que'er had gone to find out a long time ago, "General Dingyuan's eldest brother died in battle sixteen years ago. At that time, Mrs. Zhou was still alive, so General Dingyuan was asked to shoulder the two rooms and marry each other. Wang and Lu, Wang is the eldest daughter-in-law, and Lu is the second daughter-in-law. As far as the servants know, Lu and General Dingyuan are childhood sweethearts, and the two have a very close relationship. Now there are two girls in the second house and two The two sons are all from the Lu family, and the Wang family in the long house only has Miss Zhou and one daughter."
Nangong Yue nodded slightly, and didn't say much. After all, it was a matter in other people's houses, and she couldn't control it.
She looked at the roster carefully, and from time to time, she would come to explain a few words, and she would also make a few notes on it.
Not long after, the names of several girls have been circled, and they plan to take a closer look at King Zhennan's birthday banquet.
And even if the man is satisfied, he has to look at what the woman means. Marriage is due to the closeness of the two surnames. Although Xiao Luan's family background and status are noble, generally speaking, in order to show respect for the woman, sons of aristocratic families are not allowed to take concubines before marriage, but there is a decent concubine in Xiao Luan's house. . Many men don't think it's a problem to take concubines, but women think differently... Xiao Luan's marriage still needs to be planned slowly.
At this time, the sound of picking up the curtain sounded, and Baihui came in from the outside, kneeling and said: "Concubine Shizi, the old master just sent someone to say that the old man has obtained some high-quality Longjing, please go over and have tea together."
Nangong Yue stood up, flicked her skirt, and said to Que'er: "I remember I made some rose rice cakes in the kitchen today, which are moderately sweet and fragrant. Go and get some, and I'll give them to my grandfather to taste."
Que'er took the order and went away, Baihui helped Nangong Yue straighten her temples a little, then pressed her skirt, and said in a low voice: "Concubine Shizi, my master is also listening to Yuge."
Nangong Yue's eyes flashed, and she understood that it should be Guan Yubai who had something important to ask her, so she invited him in the name of Mrs. Fang.
Nangong Yue took Baihui to Tingyu Pavilion soon.
The little maid of Tingyu Pavilion led them to the octagonal pavilion in the backyard, and the breeze brought a faint fragrance of tea, which was very fragrant.
In the octagonal pavilion, Mrs. Fang and Guan Yubai, who were sitting in wheelchairs, sat facing each other across a stone table. In addition to the teapot and teacup, there was also a torreya chessboard on which some black and white chess pieces had been placed.
Guan Yu was wearing a moon-white straight gown, his black hair was tied up, and he picked up a chess piece with his slender fingers and dropped it, with a kind of calm and leisurely demeanor.
The old and the young are very leisurely, chatting and playing chess.
Sitting on a big tree beside him, Sitting bored on a thick branch, she keenly noticed that someone was coming, and immediately looked at Nangong Yue and the others, then immediately looked away and looked up at the sky.
"Ah Yue!" Seeing Nangong Yue coming, Old Master Fang greeted with a smile, "Come here quickly. Marquis An Yi gave me some excellent Longjing tea, which is Mingqian tea. Come here and taste it too."
There is a saying: "Before the rain is the top grade, and before the dawn is the treasure." Before the Ming Dynasty, Longjing tea had always been a rare commodity, and it was also said that it was as expensive as gold.
"Then I will be honored by my grandfather today." Nangong Yue said with a smile. She greeted Old Master Fang and Guan Yubai, and then sat down beside Old Master Fang.
Old Mrs. Fang knew that Guan Yubai had something important to discuss, and had already dismissed all the maids and women in Tingyu Pavilion, so Baihui took over to make tea for Nangong Yue.
The emerald green tea leaves slowly stretch, swim and change in the hot water, and finally sink slowly. The fine white porcelain teacup just sets off the bright green and bright tea soup, and the tea fragrance is overflowing.
Good weather with a good cup of tea is really a great event in the world.
The three of them chatted about tea while drinking tea, and they didn't talk about business until the tea cup was more than half empty.
"Little Four..."
Guan Yubai yelled, and Xiaosi immediately appeared in the octagonal pavilion like a ghost, took out two cloth bags from his arms, one green and one gray, and unfolded them separately.
Among them, a few dried plants were placed on the cyan veil, and some dried mud was placed on the other gray veil.
Nangong Yue's eyes naturally fell on the blue handkerchief, she looked at it intently, and said: "Salt horn grass, silver snake root grass, poisonous celery, black brain grass..." Nangong Yue repeatedly said several kinds The name of the plant, squinting her eyes thoughtfully, "These are the plants by the swamp, right?" She looked at the gray veil, could it be that...
Guan Yubai nodded, pointed to the mud on the gray veil and said, "Concubine Shizi, you guessed right, the mud was taken from a swamp." As he spoke, his slender fingers moved to those few muddy veils again. A dry plant, "and these plants were picked from near that swamp."
In her previous life, Nangong Yue accompanied her grandfather Lin Jingchen to travel all over the country, but she didn't have much contact with the swamp. She only knew the danger and terror of the swamp from books. After pondering for a moment, she said again: "Silver snakeroot, poison celery and black-headed grass are all poisonous... Could it be that the miasma in this swamp is extremely poisonous?" Nangong Yue speculated, while looking at Guan Yu with a questioning look Bai and Xiaosi.
Part of the reason why she guessed this way was because she had seen from the "Southern Border. Geography" that the swamps in southern Xinjiang were densely covered with miasma, so she sent a large amount of anti-miasma medicine to the army. However, poisonous miasma and ordinary miasma are two different things.
Judging from the plants brought by Guan Yubai, the miasma in this swamp may be very ferocious.
Guan Yu's white lips curled into a light smile, and he nodded slowly: "The miasma in this swamp is indeed extremely poisonous, but all things are interdependent, so I think maybe we can use the plants around the swamp to dissolve the miasma. Crown Princess, do you think you can give it a try?"
Nangong Yue looked down at the dry plants on the blue veil again. The so-called miasma is the poisonous gas produced by the dead animals and plants rotting in the swamp. Its origin is the animals and plants near the swamp. What Guan Yubai said is not without hope.
Nangong Yue frowned slightly, and said, "Young Master, I can go back and give it a try. It's just that if there are fresh swamp mud and plants, I may be more sure."
Guan Yubai nodded slightly, and said: "It's a pity, it's a little far away from Luoyue City... I'll ask someone to try another method and try to send some fresher ones back."
Although Nangong Yue knew that Guan Yubai would not do meaningless things, she couldn't help asking, "Is this antidote urgent?"
Guan Yubai nodded slightly, and said, "It's related to the upcoming battle, it's best to do it as soon as possible." He paused, and said, "If possible, the concubine might as well go to Huiling City in person."
Going to Huiling City... wouldn't it be possible to see Ah Yi
Nangong Yue's heart skipped a beat, but she immediately dismissed the idea.
She glanced at Mrs. Fang indiscriminately. There was still Mrs. Fang in the palace who needed her care. A Yi entrusted her grandfather to her before leaving. How could she travel far away at will...
Old Master Fang didn't notice the change in Nangong Yue's expression. He was very moved by Guan Yubai's proposal. His grandson Xiao Yi was away on an expedition, and several months passed in the blink of an eye. Even though the overall situation was settled now, it might take another year or half a year to completely expel Nanliang. Indefinite? !
He once heard a sentence from a foreign businessman from Nanyang: If the mountain does not come, I will go to the mountain.
Since the grandson can't come back, wouldn't it have the same effect if the grandson-in-law went to the grandson's place? !
The more Mrs. Fang thought about it, the more he felt that this idea was really good. He narrowed his eyes with a smile, and secretly thought about how to persuade his grandson and daughter-in-law.
At this time, Thrush walked around the house and hurried over.
After she came over and bowed to a few people, she lowered her voice and said in Nangong Yue's ear: "Concubine Shizi, Miss Qiaobiao is here as a guest today, and just now I went to the small garden in front with the third girl..."
The small garden... Nangong Yue frowned. The duckweed in Yuanxin Lake had grown too dense recently. To avoid accidents, she ordered the small garden to be temporarily closed to remove the duckweed. Speaking of which, this small garden is only separated from the front yard by a wall, and the female relatives in the mansion rarely go for a walk there, so she has no worries about sealing it up.
Huamei continued: "The woman guarding the gate in the small garden wanted to persuade the third girl and the cousin girl to go to the back garden, but the two girls insisted on putting paper kites in the small garden. The two women couldn't stop them, so they had to Come and tell the princess."
Nangong Yue pondered for a moment, the palace is huge, even if the small garden in front is closed, there are other gardens to go to, especially the back garden is more spacious and the scenery is more beautiful, a paper kite is always enough. What do they have to do in the small garden
After thinking about it, she still ordered: "There are too many duckweeds on Yuanxin Lake, and they have covered the lake surface. It won't be beautiful if the third girl and the cousin girl fall into the lake. Baihui, Huamei, go and have a look." look."
"Yes, Crown Princess."
The two maids took orders in unison, and went to the entrance of the yard, letting the woman who came to report lead the way.
The mother-in-law secretly breathed a sigh of relief, the imperial concubine has always been very clear about rewards and punishments, what she is most afraid of is that the imperial concubine blamed her for not guarding the door well and taking away her job. Now it seems that she should have escaped this disaster.
Baihui and her group hurried to the small garden...
At the same time, two colorful paper kites, one eagle and one butterfly, have been released into a blue sky and white clouds by two servant girls, fluttering with the wind and flying up and down under the control of two thin wires.
One of the maidservants in blue saw that the butterfly and paper kite were flying steadily, and hurriedly handed the spool in her hand to Xiao Ni, the third girl. Xiao Ni held the spool in one hand to unwind the thread, and plucked the paper kite thread from time to time with the other hand, a crisp laughter overflowed from her cherry lips.
"Cousin Lan, look quickly! My paper kite is flying so high!" Xiao Ni raised her head and stared at the butterfly paper kite in the air.
"Cousin Ni's paper kite flies much higher than mine. It turns out that cousin is a master at flying paper kites." Qiao Ruolan warmly echoed, and also took the spool handed by the maid.
Xiao Ni smiled shyly: "It's just that the wind direction and strength today are just right for flying paper kites."
Qiao Ruolan smiled and said: "Cousin Ni, don't be modest, I think your paper kite is well drawn and exquisitely made, but Cousin Ji made it for you?" The young master Xiao Ji is also Xiao Ni's elder brother with the same father and mother.
Xiao Ni said with a smile: "The paper kite I had before was broken, and third brother made another one for me."
"Cousin Ji, you must do your best in everything you do." Qiao Ruolan covered her mouth and smiled lightly, "Cousin Ni, I heard that cousin Ji's recent homework was praised by Mr. More than enough."
Although the Zhennan Prince's Mansion is the family of a general, the second and third bedrooms do not inherit the family business, and the children can only rely on themselves if they want to get ahead. The second wife has been a widow for many years, Qiu naturally didn't want his son to practice martial arts, risking his life for his future, so he let his son concentrate on studying literature. The third son Xiao Ji is also quite talented, so although he is young, he is quite talented.
"Third brother said that he plans to try next year..." Xiao Ni showed a hint of pride on her face. Sooner or later, their second wife will live in separate houses, and the only way to support them is by relying on their elder brother.
Qiao Ruolan seemed to suggest unintentionally: "Cousin Ni, I heard from my mother that a nobleman came to the capital with excellent talents and learning. You can also ask cousin Ji to ask for advice. Don't miss this opportunity."
"Cousin Lan, you are talking about An Yihou." Xiao Ni smiled clearly, "The day before yesterday, my uncle asked An Yihou to give my third brother some homework. After the third brother came back, he praised me for a long time. Praise that An Yihou as a god-man..."
Qiao Ruolan's eyes lit up, a blush appeared on her face, she echoed with a smile: "I also heard that An Yihou is a genius of heaven, it seems that the rumors are true."
"Yes." Xiao Ni nodded excitedly, "Fortunately, Marquis An Yi lived in Qingyunwu during this period, and the third brother can go to ask the teacher from time to time. I think his homework will definitely improve by leaps and bounds."
Qiao Ruolan didn't speak any more, looked up at the eagle paper kite in the sky, and skillfully put down the spool.
The eagle kite immediately flew higher and higher, and unconsciously approached Xiao Ni's butterfly kite.
Xiao Ni let out a low cry, and hurriedly said: "Cousin Lan, be careful, our kites are about to get entangled..."
Qiao Ruolan was also flustered for a while, she hurriedly pulled the spool to hide, but for some reason, the two paper kites were getting closer and closer.
After flustered for a while, Qiao Ruolan exclaimed, and saw that the string of the kite broke, and the eagle kite got out of control and flew into the blue sky like an eagle spreading its wings...
During the dodging just now, the two of them had already reached the edge of the garden, and the outer courtyard was separated by a wall. Naturally, the paper kite flew to the outer courtyard along with the wind, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"My paper kite!" Qiao Ruolan whispered annoyedly, and said with a frown, "This paper kite was given to me by my father, so I must not lose it."
Xiao Ni handed the spool to the blue-clothed maid, looked at Qiao Ruolan at a loss and said, "Cousin Lan, don't worry. I'll find a few women to find it for you..."
"Cousin Ni, why bother!" Qiao Ruolan interrupted Xiao Ni anxiously, "It's just outside the garden, I can just pick it up by myself." She turned her head and said to the girl in Tsing Yi beside her, "Follow me, cardamom." Go get the paper kite back."
A master and a servant left in a hurry, Xiao Ni frowned slightly, feeling that something was wrong, although the palace was heavily guarded, there should not be any outsider in the outer courtyard bumping into Qiao Ruolan, but there were also many guards and servants walking around, Qiao Ruolan did not leave the cabinet alone The young girl is always a little reckless walking around in the outer courtyard.
Xiao Ni hastily shouted: "Cousin Lan, hold back, or..."
Qiao Ruolan didn't seem to hear Xiao Ni's voice, but her steps moved a little faster.
Xiao Ni was at a loss and was about to chase after her when Baihui and Huamei came over led by her mother-in-law.
Seeing that Qiao Ruolan was not there, Huamei's heart skipped a beat, but she still bowed her knees to salute Xiao Ni respectfully, and then asked: "Third Miss, I heard that Miss Qiao Biao also came here to release paper kites. I wonder if she is here now?" Where did you go?"
Xiao Ni's maid hurriedly told the story, Baihui and Huamei looked at each other, it was just a paper kite, even if the string broke and flew away, couldn't the lady and maid of the palace help to find it, and wanted her as a guest Go on a rampage in the palace to find it
No matter what, Baihui and Huamei hurriedly chased after her.
There is a small gate from the small garden to the front yard, which is usually guarded by a woman, but because the entire small garden has been sealed for the past two days, the gatekeeper's woman is a little slack, when Baihui and Huamei arrive at the small gate , Qiao Ruolan's master and servant had already left the inner courtyard, and the woman pointed the direction anxiously, saying that she was going to the northeast of the palace...
An idea vaguely popped up in Baihui's mind, but before she could grasp it, it disappeared in a flash.
She didn't think much, and continued to chase with Thrush.
After passing through several verandahs, bypassing several cave gates, and walking along a bluestone path, Baihui suddenly slowed down, and finally thought of it.
This direction seems to be going to-
Let's go to Qingyunwu!
Turning around another verandah, Baihui saw Qiao Ruolan's somewhat familiar back from a distance. Qiao Ruolan was wearing a purple-red gown, and she was walking towards the stone arch bridge on the lake in front of Qingyunwu.
"Sister Baihui," Huamei pointed at Qiao Ruolan, and hurriedly said, "It's Miss Qiao Biao!"
Baihui raised her eyebrows slightly, thinking to herself: Qiao Ruolan could be the young master...
Huamei raised her eyebrows thoughtfully, and had the same guess, and said, "Sister Baihui, could it be that Miss Qiaobiao wants to... think..."
At this time, a warm summer wind blew over, rustling the bamboo leaves on the other side of the lake.
Baihui stroked her hair against the wind, and said with a half-smile, "The wind is blowing from the southeast today, but this paper kite fell to the northeast..."
Huamei blinked and sighed, "Perhaps he flew here with wings."
Anyway, Qiao Ruolan's destination has been determined, so Baihui and Huamei are not in a hurry anymore. Both of them knew very well that An Yihou was not in Qingyunwu at the moment, and if Qiao Ruolan had any shameful intentions, she might return in vain.
At this moment, the two of them saw a cyan figure approaching from the other side of the stone arch bridge.
The visitor Huamei was a little strange, but Baihui recognized that it was Fengxing.
The corners of Baihui's lips curled up slightly. With Fengxing's temperament, Miss Qiaobiao should not think about it today...