On the New Year's Eve, the emperor and Empress Dowager Zhuang left together, leaving only the Empress Xiao and the Crown Prince to preside over the overall situation, and invited Princess Xinyang and other royal relatives to celebrate the victory of the border war and welcome the New Year.
This is really the first time.
The emperor entered the yard without any psychological pressure, where he is where his mother is!
Eunuch Wei looked at His Majesty without words.
Since he believed that he had taken the drug, his Majesty has gone on the road of freeing himself and never returned. Do you want to remind His Majesty that what he took was just a hair growth pill
"Queen Mother! I'm here!"
The emperor immediately turned into the little tail of Empress Dowager Zhuang.
Eunuch Wei covered his eyes, damn it! I missed it!
Gu Jiao originally wanted to go to the palace to report safety to her aunt, but since her aunt is here, she doesn't have to spend a lot of time.
Gu Jiao and her aunt entered the main room.
I didn't observe it very carefully before, but now I'm walking around the house with my aunt, only to realize that in the three months since I left, the family has actually changed a lot.
The vegetable garden in the front yard has been expanded, with spring onions and radishes. The small fish pond opposite the vegetable garden has been filled and replaced with a large fish tank.
This was proposed by Xiao Jingkong. He said that he had a younger brother at home, and his younger brother should have a place to play by himself. Even if his younger brother was still so young, he still contributed his own small fish pond without hesitation.
Furthermore, the passage from the backyard to the next door is no longer a passageway. The wall was completely pushed down. Now the backyards of the two houses are connected together and become a large courtyard.
"Grandpa bought that house." Seeing Gu Jiao looking at the opened yard with a confused expression, Xiao Heng explained softly beside her.
"It's not cheap," Gu Jiao murmured.
Xiao Heng nodded: "Well, it cost one thousand taels."
It wasn't that expensive before, but since a new champion, Bishui Hutong has gained the title of champion hutong, and land prices and house prices have soared.
Only one thousand taels is a friendship price.
Gu Jiao asked curiously, "Where did Grandpa get so much money?"
If she remembered correctly, the salary of the Imperial Academy for offering wine doesn't seem to be that high.
Xiao Heng twitched the corners of his lips: "Just... I sold an official position."
Gu Jiao: Grandpa still does this kind of thing!
The operation of the old sacrificial wine to sell the official position is like this. First, he releases the news that he wants to buy a house, and then someone with bad intentions comes to the door and bribes the old sacrificial wine with a lot of money.
The old sacrificial wine took the gold directly to the emperor's imperial study, and told His Majesty with righteous indignation: "I, Huo Xian, have always been honest and loyal to His Majesty, and I have no two hearts! To actually want to bribe me, it is just wishful thinking! The civil and military officials of the court have all been bought, and the Wei ministers will not be bought!"
The last words of Lao Jijiu successfully aroused the emperor's deep thinking. The emperor encountered a lot of things since he took charge of the government, and suddenly he understood some of the decisions of the Empress Dowager Zhuang.
The emperor and Empress Dowager Zhuang are completely different in the employment of people. The emperor's eyes cannot rub the sand. He must use people with upright styles, such as the old Houye, such as the old sacrifice wine, only Xuanping Hou is more romantic, but It has never violated the law, nor violated the rules of ethics.
Empress Dowager Zhuang is more lenient. She pays attention to the strength of employing people and the shortcomings of accommodating people. The most typical example is Tang Yueshan.
Tang Yueshan is very happy with his achievements, his uncle and sister-in-law are indecent, and he will never be reused as an emperor.
But after this frontier battle, the emperor suddenly felt that Tang Yueshan was more superior than inferior.
The emperor began to think about Empress Dowager Zhuang's way of regency, and found that Empress Dowager Zhuang had many things worth pondering.
When the water is clear, there are no fish.
It's like the Yinguan system handed down by the ancestors. It is absolutely impossible to ban it. It has shaken the interests of too many powerful and scholar-official officials.
Although there will still be Yin Guan, but to the greatest extent possible to reduce the Yin Guan's mediocre aptitude and the number of years in office, this is a perfect balance.
The emperor felt that the matter of buying officials would always exist.
The old sacrifice wine refused, and it was difficult to ensure that the other party would not find the next one. Instead of finding the name of an unknown official, it is better to let the old sacrifice wine agree.
In this way, at least he knows which officials were bought, and everything is under control. When Chao Gang is completely stable, he will wipe out this group of people!
So Lao Jijiu accepted bribes with the permission of the emperor and bought the big house next to the champion!
Empress Dowager Zhuang and the emperor sat down in the hall, and they both had a lot to say to Gu Jiao.
The old sacrifice wine calmly went to the stove to make brown sugar glutinous rice cakes.
Xiao Heng planned to fight the teacher, but was ruthlessly rejected by the old sacrificial wine.
Don't you have a point in your own cooking skills
"A-Heng, come and help paste the couplet." Yao Shi said with a smile.
"Okay." Xiao Heng walked out, carrying a bucket of paste, and led a few young men from the family to the door to paste the couplets.
Empress Dowager Zhuang didn't mention things on the battlefield. Those things can be mentioned after the New Year. She was talking about things in the village.
The eunuchs and guards she sent to Qingquan Village saw Xue Ningxiang. On Tuesday, Zhuang and Dean Li asked to marry Xue Ningxiang at the same time, causing a great sensation in Shili Baxiang.
Xue Ningxiang is a little widow, and the villagers often despise her, but they want to meddle with her with unrighteous intentions. When Gu Jiao's family and Zhou's mother were both present, those children and villains could still restrain themselves.
After Gu Jiao's family left, Zhou's mother passed away, and Gu Yan's two secret guards also returned to Beijing, Xue Ningxiang's situation became difficult.
Once she slept until midnight, when the hooligan from the next village climbed over the wall and entered her house, and pressed her on the bed to bully her. The dog woke up, and the villagers were startled by the loud cries, so they didn't call him. succeed.
There was no way to hide the news in the countryside, and what had just happened at night spread throughout the countryside the next day.
The hooligan was named Li Dazhu, and his mother-in-law came to the door the next day and had a big quarrel with Xue Ningxiang, calling Xue Ningxiang a fox spirit, a little bitch, a little prostitute... stripped naked in the sorghum field to seduce her man, and told her man to find her in the middle of the night .
Xue Ningxiang has changed from a victim to a vixen who hooks up with people. It makes no sense.
There are not many things like this, Xue Ningxiang never mentioned it in the letter, if the Queen Mother Zhuang's people went to the countryside, they would not know that Xue Ningxiang suffered so much grievance.
Rory is protecting Xue Ningxiang, but the more he protects, the more gossip.
In the end, he has also become not a person inside or outside.
Dean Li wanted to bring Xue Ningxiang to the town after learning about this, but at this time, Zhuang came back on Tuesday.
It is impossible to know how the matter became known to everyone. In short, the whole village knew that Xue Ningxiang had been spotted by her uncle and the dean of Tianxiang Academy. To be precise, they thought that Xue Ningxiang had hooked up with them.
Xue Ningxiang was scolded badly.
Her family members who were hundreds of miles away also got the letter and came over to grab Xue Ningxiang and scolded her.
Sometimes human nature is like this. After seeing Xue Ningxiang struggling in the quagmire, she doesn't want to see her crawling out of it.
In the eyes of many people, a widow who has killed her husband should be spurned by others. Why should she live a life of superiority
Of course, there are ways to solve all this. People dare to scold a stone that blocks the way, but almost no one scolds the mountains before and after the village.
Empress Dowager Zhuang directly turned Xue Ningxiang into the highest mountain in the village.
"My queen mother wants to invite Madam Xue to the capital."
As soon as the eunuch said these words, the people from the eight townships in ten li immediately knelt down.
The biggest official they know is the county magistrate. What is the queen mother? It is Bodhisattva, it is Buddha, it is heaven! It is a finger, no, a powerful existence that can kill the entire village in one breath without a finger!
The eyes of everyone looking at Xue Ningxiang have changed from jealousy to panic.
They can't be jealous.
Of course, Empress Dowager Zhuang didn't really want to call Xue Ningxiang to the capital forcibly, it was just to support her.
The person sent by Empress Dowager Zhuang told Xue Ningxiang that the Empress Dowager supported her so that she had nothing to be afraid of, just wanted to marry ten or eight husbands, and no one dared to gossip about her.
Xue Ningxiang was so frightened by these rebellious words, what ten and eight husbands, she didn't have this idea!
However, after such a conversation, it really made Xue Ningxiang a lot more courageous.
Both Zhou Zhuang and Dean Li are very good men. In ten or twenty years, maybe Xue Ningxiang will choose the high-spirited teenager Zhou Zhuang. But she was only two years older than Gu Jiao at this age, and with all the ups and downs she faced, she would be more inclined towards a father-like man like Dean Li.
He is mature and stable, he is considerate and meticulous, he treats others tolerantly, and he has money.
Furthermore, Tuesday Zhuang was Xue Ningxiang's uncle, and Xue Ningxiang couldn't get over that hurdle in her heart.
Finally, and most importantly, she is a mother, and sometimes it is not the man but the child that binds a woman.
Gouwa likes Dean Li, and recognizes a father in a confused way. What else can she do as a mother
Mrs. Li's love for Xue Ningxiang and Gouwa is a plus.
To put it bluntly, Xue Ningxiang was tired and wanted to find a man she could rely on to live the rest of her life in peace.
Empress Dowager Zhuang expressed her understanding for Xue Ningxiang's choice.
Not everyone in this world can be as strong as Gu Jiao, Gu Jiao is unique.
She never goes to anyone for security, she is strong enough and full of power.
This naturally comes at a price. No one is born strong, but there are too many things that she needs to carry on her tender shoulders.
Her tenderness was all held back.
Xue Ningxiang doesn't need to be the second Jiaojiao, she can live her own life easily and comfortably.
In addition, Xue Ningxiang wrote a letter to Gu Jiao, which Empress Dowager Zhuang kept in her poker purse, and she gave the letter to Gu Jiao.
This time, Xue Ningxiang didn't report the good news or the bad news. After all, the people of the Queen Mother Zhuang knew everything, and it would be meaningless for her to hide it.
In the letter, she asked about the situation of the Queen Mother, why the Queen Mother knew her, whether it was Xiao Liulang, the new champion in the capital, who got along too well in the capital, or Gu Jiao and the Hou Mansion who recognized each other, and then gave the people from the Queen Mother's side to him. startled
Xue Ningxiang pondered that she didn't have such a big face.
"... The old lady who got leprosy is the queen mother, right? I don't have that luck, so I just cooked for the queen mother? She even helped me see the baby? It must not be... My family's ancestral grave is not there. It's smoking blue..."
Gu Jiao thought for a while, then picked up a pen and replied, "Would you like to go back to your family's ancestral grave
"Jiaojiao! Jiaojiao!"
It was Xiao Jingkong who ran over with a letter.
He was originally posting couplets, but when he suddenly saw Gu Jiao reading the letter, he remembered that he also had a letter on his side.
Children are like that.
"Jiaojiao, brother Ming'er's second letter sent to me!"
"Want to show it to me?" Gu Jiao asked.
Letters are very private things, and Gu Jiao will not open his letters at will because Xiaojingkong is a child.
But if he wanted to share it with herself, Gu Jiao would gladly accept it.
"Yeah! I want to show it to Jiaojiao!" Xiao Jingkong nodded.
Gu Jiao opened the letter. The letter was filled with greetings from children. In the last letter, Xiao Jingkong mentioned some interesting things about the family and Guozijian, which successfully stimulated Ming'er's enthusiasm for learning.
Ming'er told Xiao Jingkong that he also went to the Imperial College for a class.
It's just that he took a martial arts class.
The Guozijian of Liang State was slightly different from Zhao State. It was divided into civil and military examinations, probably because the imperial examinations of Liang State included not only civil examinations, but also military examinations.
The first time I read this letter, Xiao Jingkong didn't feel too much, but now I read it again with Gu Jiao, and suddenly felt that I was very envious of brother Ming'er.
He also wanted to practice martial arts.
He wants to protect Jiaojiao.
The second letter came with the thank-you gift that Ming'er mentioned in the first letter about the score of "Zhaoying". The letter was sent by a flying eagle, and it came quickly. just slow.
The thank-you gifts were prepared by Prince Yu and his wife. They were all Liang Guo's specialties and more than a dozen children's toys.
In addition, Princess Yu knew that Xiaojingkong was talented and intelligent, and she was learning languages of various countries. She specially selected ten books that were only available in Shangguo, all of which were suitable for Xiaojingkong's level.
Xiao Heng made a plan for Xiao Jingkong. He read a little bit every day, and he improved a lot in the three subjects of Mandarin.
In order to prove his progress, Xiao Jingkong jumped out of the chair, ran back to the house, and brought over his three poetry collections from Shangguo: "Jiaojiao, I'll recite it to you!"
Then he put his small hands behind his back and shook his head.
... as if Gu Jiao understood.
This is the first time for Gu Jiao to go out. In the past, Xiao Heng went out. Every time she came back, Xiao Heng could feel the changes in her family, but this time, it was Gu Jiao's turn to feel these changes.
Gu Xiaobao has grown up, Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun have grown, Xiao Jingkong has grown his hair, and he will recite a lot of poems from the country...
It feels a little strange.
Dinner wasn't ready so quickly, but the hot water was boiled first, and Yao shi asked a few children to take a bath.
"Hurry up and take a shower and wash your clothes. I don't wash clothes on the first day of the new year." Yao Shi said.
"I'm going to wash first!" Xiao Jingkong transformed into a good baby who loved bathing for a second, completely forgetting how much he resisted bathing when Gu Jiao was away for three months!
"Jiaojiao go wash too." Yao shi said to Gu Jiao gently.
"Okay." Gu Jiao responded.
The boiled water is only enough for two people to wash, and the rest have to wait for the next wave.
"Brother-in-law, thank you, please help me take a bath." Xiao Jingkong came to the door and said very politely to Xiao Heng who was pasting the couplet.
The corner of Xiao Heng's mouth twitched: "Oh, you didn't seem to have said that last time. If you dare to catch you to take a bath, what will happen to you?"
runaway.
"Cough." Xiaojingkong cleared his throat, spread his hands, and said helplessly, "Who hasn't been young and frivolous yet?"
Xiao Heng: "..."
Xiao Heng took Xiao Qingkong to the Westinghouse to take a bath.
The charcoal fire in the Westinghouse was burning vigorously, but it was not cold.
Gu Jiao also went to take a bath.
Only then did she realize that a new wooden barrel had been added to the house. It was so big and deep that when she sat down, she could soak her whole body in the water.
call.
so comfy.
Her little toes tugged under the water.
After a while, she suddenly remembered something.
She came back unscathed. Shouldn't the things that her husband promised her should also be fulfilled
…
When Xiao Heng came out of the Westinghouse, he saw that Gu Jiao had already taken a shower and washed her hair, and was sitting in the main room dressed warmly.
Xiao Heng was slightly stunned: "So fast?"
Xiaojingkong was still playing with water in the wooden bucket. The water was a little cold. He went to the stove and brought some hot water to Xiaojingkong.
Gu Jiao stared at him with wide eyes.
Empress Dowager Zhuang went to the kitchen to eat brown sugar glutinous rice cakes, and the emperor followed, leaving Gu Jiao alone in the main room.
The sky was actually a little dark, but Gu Jiao's eyes were so bright that it was impossible to ignore.
"Why... looking at me like that?" Xiao Heng asked.
"I'm not hurt." Gu Jiao said.
"Well, I know." Xiao Heng nodded.
After he finished speaking, he realized something, his expression froze, his eyelashes trembled, and his cheeks began to heat.
Gu Jiao looked at him with her hands on her cheeks, she was looking forward to it.
Can I ask for a monthly pass
(End of this chapter)