The Feast

Chapter 26: Dragon Boat Festival

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"Grandma's hairpin is really beautiful. I haven't seen this hairpin before. Is it the master who gave it to you?"

Aunt Jiang looked up and down at Xu Ranyun who was dressed up and was taking pictures in front of the mirror, with a just right smile on her face.

Sure enough, this flattery touched Xu Ranyun's heart, and she smiled and said, "Isn't it? I just brought it back to me a while ago, saying that today is the Dragon Boat Festival, so I should wear this hairpin. It's beautiful. It’s beautiful, but the price may not be cheap, look at the layers of golden flowers on it, gold is nothing more than gold, but this kind of workmanship, I don’t know how much painstaking effort it took, where can I buy it at an ordinary price?”

"Isn't it? The golden flower is nothing more than skillful craftsmanship. The most precious thing is the pearl in the heart of the flower. It's so big and round that it can't be bought without a hundred taels of silver." Aunt Jiang saw Xu Ranyun happy, and naturally She worked harder to make fun of it, and suddenly heard the girl outside the door say that the two young masters had packed up, so she asked for instructions: "Grandma, let's go over now? The old lady always likes to be lively, so it's not good if you go late."

Xu Ranyun nodded, and went out with Aunt Jiang. Seeing that Duan Maoming and Duan Maochuan had also tidied up neatly, she praised a few words, then looked around the yard, and saw that the door, monkeys, peaches, branches, mugwort, etc. had all been placed properly. That's it, and then I took a few girls and women to the old lady in the north courtyard.

Coincidentally, I happened to meet Xue Zhilan on the road with his two sons, Duan Maofeng and Duan Maosen, and beside him was the beautiful Aunt Jing. The two stunning beauties stood together, one as gorgeous as peaches and plums and the other as elegant as Youlan, Really pleasing to the eye.

Xu Ranyun was also extremely beautiful, but standing in front of these two women, she was a little ashamed of herself, because of her jealousy and hatred, she said with a smile on her face, "Why don't you see Sister Yu?"

Xue Zhilan smiled very shyly and softly, and said softly: "She hasn't been feeling well these two days, and I was afraid of the wind, so I simply asked the nanny to take care of her and not let her go out. Speaking of which, where is Sister Qin? Why don't you see her?" ? Is it uncomfortable too?"

"That's not right, I probably caught a cold while stepping on the quilt yesterday, and I have a stomachache this morning."

While talking, the two walked side by side, secretly looking at each other's clothes and jewelry, and at a glance, they knew everything in their hearts. Duan Tingxuan is obviously very fair, each person has one exquisite jewelry, each has its own merits, the phoenix hairpin on Xue Zhilan's head is not inferior to the golden flower hairpin on Xu Ranyun's head, even the jade hairpin on Aunt Jing's head, although it looks Not as noble as these two ordinary wives, but they also have other ideas, which suit her clean and ethereal temperament.

What a passionate seed.

This is the unanimous evaluation of Duan Tingxuan in the hearts of the women, of course, it is not a compliment. However, the husband has this disposition, no matter how much they fight for favor in the open and in the dark, they can't monopolize the king's heart, they can only grit their teeth and curse inwardly, and they have to pretend to be harmonious on the surface, and they have to spend more time on words , to achieve the purpose of belittling others and exalting oneself.

When I came to Mrs. Fang's room, I saw Mrs. Yang had already arrived. The middle-aged beautiful woman sitting next to her was Duan Houye's wife Liu Min, who was also the old Houye's cousin. Everyone in the family was called Mrs. Min.

Different from his own bastard son, the old Hou Ye's heart belongs to his cousin, but his feelings for his wife are very weak. This is the fundamental reason why Mrs. Yang is always afraid that Duan Tingxuan's position as the eldest son will be taken away. With such a rival in love , The pressure is huge, it is normal to have delusions of persecution.

Liu Min has only one son, named Duan Tingye, who has a casual job as a first-class general, and usually takes care of family affairs, which is very popular with the old Hou Ye, which inevitably makes him have some thoughts about the position of the son, but At present, it seems that Duan Tingxuan's position in the court and the royal family is very strong, so Second Master Duan can only bury his little thoughts deeply in his heart.

At this moment, he and his wife, Shi Shi, sat next to Mrs. Fang, talking and laughing to make the old lady happy. And Liu Min's lower head is a cowardly woman, this is Aunt Lin, who was in the room that the old lady gave to Duan Houye. She had a son and a daughter, but they all followed the mother's weakness and cowardice. Temperament, at this moment, he stood behind his mother with his head bowed, without saying a word.

As soon as Xu Ranyun, Xue Zhilan and others arrived, the atmosphere immediately became lively. The ladies chatted and laughed for a while, seeing that it was almost noon, the old lady Fang frowned and said: "Why hasn't Xuan'er gone to court? Today's Dragon Boat Festival, even the yamen will take a rest for a day, so he is more busy?"

There was a glimmer of gloom in Duan Tingye's eyes, but it was fleeting. Here, Shi smiled and said, "No wonder the eldest brother is the most filial to the ancestors, because the ancestors miss him no matter what. Don't worry, today is the holiday, and the elder brother has If it's important, I won't leave my ancestors behind, so I'm sure they'll come."

Both Mrs. Yang and Xu Ranyun and Xue Zhilan couldn't help glaring at this woman who harbored evil intentions. Mrs. Yang then looked at the two daughters-in-law and said, "Did Xuan'er tell you what's going on today?"

Xue Zhilan and Xu Ranyun shook their heads together, then looked at Aunt Jing and Aunt Jiang, but seeing that they were also in a daze, Xu Ranyun frowned and said in a low voice, "What's going on? Could it be that Master was in the room last night?" Is it resting in your house?"

Tongfang girl is not qualified to be alone in the same courtyard, she just depends on the four of them, so if Duan Tingxuan slept in Tongfang girl's room, it is impossible for the four of them not to know, but at this time they exchanged information with their eyes, Xu Ranyun But found that he guessed wrong again.

"What do you mean? Didn't Grandpa rest in our yard last night? Then where would he go?" Xu Ranyun would have screamed if he hadn't been concerned about the occasion. Although Duan Tingxuan has a romantic temperament, but because his home is a nest of beauties, he never sleeps outside with flowers and willows. It seems that there has never been a situation where he did not come home at night after getting married. It is no wonder that several people turn pale.

The faces of Xu Ranyun and Xue Zhilan were very ugly immediately, and this scene naturally couldn't be hidden from Liu Min and Duan Tingye's eyes, so Shi Shi smiled and said: "Why? Didn't the eldest brother come back last night? He didn’t send someone back to report something that has never happened before? Let the sisters-in-law worry, it shouldn’t be.”

"Okay, don't say a few words, you can talk too much about the things in your elder brother's house?" Liu Min reprimanded lightly, but her eyes were full of complacency, and she turned her head and said sincerely to Mrs. Yang: "But Having said that, the atmosphere in the capital is not good nowadays, and Brother Xuan has always been a man of ideas. After so many years of keeping himself clean, there is no need to worry about his character. I am afraid that some unsatisfactory people will insist on dragging him. He also likes to make friends. In this case, if you make two or three bad friends, it will not be worth the loss, and my sister should watch him more on weekdays, no matter how calm she is, she is still a child and young after all."

"Thank you Erniang for your concern. I am an official of the imperial court. Everything I say and do is related to the dignity of the court. I dare not make friends casually. Erniang is probably because of this, so I control my second brother so strictly. In fact, my second brother takes care of me. With such a big business in the Hou Mansion, how can we not make friends? Erniang really shouldn't detain him too much, no matter how young he is, he is still twenty years old, not a child."

There was a clear and clear voice at the door, which made people feel comfortable from the heart. Accompanied by the voice, Duan Tingxuan stepped into the door, followed by Siping Shuangxi and Honglian Xiangyun, each carrying a big food box.

"Where have you been?" As soon as Mrs. Fang saw her most beloved grandson, she didn't care about Liu Min's ugly face, Duan Tingye and Shi Shi were still sitting beside her, and beckoned Duan Tingxuan over. He smiled and said: "Dragon Boat Festival, the weather is hot, and the ancestors have always been unable to resist the heat. In previous years, at this time, your body would feel weak, so today, my grandson specially made some delicious and nourishing dishes for you." The soup and vegetables for the body will make you full and full."

"Huh? You have such thoughts this year?" Mrs. Fang was really happy, then shook her head and sighed: "Grandmother is happy if you have this heart. The weather is extremely hot this year, and I don't want to eat anything."

Duan Tingxuan hurriedly laughed and said: "Farewell, old ancestor, it was my grandson's wish after all, you didn't know, you just made this thing, it took my boss's energy, you have to take a second look, right? If the time comes If you don’t like to eat, I will punish you, grandson.”

Seeing that her husband was so confident, Xu Ranyun hurriedly laughed and said, "Since it's my master's kindness, you can taste it, old lady. No matter if it's delicious or not, you just say it's not delicious. I'm not up to you." Punishment? A few days ago, you were still talking about his white jade dragon and phoenix pendant, so let him give you that as an apology."

The old lady Fang was even more happy, and smiled and spat: "Bah! If you say that, what have I become? Even thinking of a clever way to take away the grandson's things, isn't it disrespectful?"

Xu Ranyun smiled and said: "Don't say that, old lady, this is the filial piety of the master." After looking at the sky, he asked Mrs. Yang: "Madam, it is already noon, and the kitchen is already ready. Why don't we just have dinner?"

Mrs. Yang nodded and smiled and said: "It's up to you, let's order someone to pass the meal." After finishing speaking, she ordered the girl next to her to invite Duan Houye to come over. But I heard the old lady Fang said: "Forget it, your master is a person who likes to be clean. Today is the Dragon Boat Festival. He probably went to the Taoist temple to find an old Taoist priest to play chess. I don't know if he will come back now? You don't need to look for him." , When he comes back in the evening, just come to my place and order a Mao."

Mrs. Yang quickly answered yes. So Xu Ranyun, Shi Shi and others were busy ordering people to arrange the tables and chairs. In a short while, more than a dozen maids filed in, and the dishes carefully prepared by the cooks were put on the table. The old lady Fang suddenly remembered something, and said to him Duan Tingxuan said: "That's right, my mother's Dragon Boat Festival gift has been rewarded this morning, and your share has been sent to your room, probably Yun'er kept it, you can go and see mine, what do you like?" Just take it, it's grandma thanking you for your filial piety today."