A hundred miles west of Chang'an, there is a Huaihe River, and its tributaries span the entire Shaojing.
From Chang'an to the river, it takes about an hour by carriage.
Wen Yantong brought a few servants with her when she went out, as well as the personal maid and Moli who had served the little cannon fodder for several years. The two girls were very quiet, and they had almost no sense of presence in the carriage.
She was wrapped in a cotton blanket and sat in the carriage. After no one talked with her, she had to sleep, and if she couldn't sleep, she closed her eyes and took a nap.
It's just that not long after she left home, someone knocked on the door of Wen's house.
The attendant held the jade plaque and handed it to the servant guarding the gate, "My master is looking for Miss Wenjia."
When the servant saw it, he was so frightened that he crawled and crawled to inform Wen Qun. After a while, Wen Qun brought Mrs. Wen out together. Seeing a guard at the door, he rushed to meet him.
It was really inconvenient for Wen Que to sit in a wheelchair, unable to cross the threshold, so he could only respectfully say inside the door, "I don't know why Miss Hou's mansion is looking for a daughter?"
The guard said, "Master wants to see your daughter."
Wen Que looked distressed, "It's really a coincidence, my daughter went to participate in the Huaihe River Painting Banquet, and she has already left Chang'an City by now."
The guard paused, not embarrassed, but said, "When did you leave?"
"About half an hour ago." Wen Qun replied.
He has been a commoner all his life, and his life has been going smoothly. Although he has always lived in Chang'an City, he has never had contact with anyone in the Hou's Mansion. Now that the Miss Hou's Mansion came to him in person, he was naturally terrified.
After the guard asked a few words, he wanted to ask Wen Qin to resign, turned around and left. Wen Que let out a long sigh of relief and asked someone to push him back after a sigh.
The guard returned to the carriage, saluted and said, "Master, Miss Wen Jia left for the painting banquet half an hour ago, and has already left Chang'an City."
Chi Jingxi frowned after hearing this, "What is she doing there?"
The guard didn't know, so he kept silent and didn't answer.
Chi Jingxi remained calm, but the frequent tapping of his fingers revealed the irritability in his heart. After a moment of silence, he said, "Go to the painting feast."
The guards responded and got on the horse immediately, so the carriage drove to the painting banquet again.
Wen Yantong had two main purposes for going to the painting banquet this time. One was that he hadn't seen Chi Jingxi for several days, and he really wanted to see him. The second reason is that Chang'an City is the place where the Wen family took root after all, but to Wen Yantong, it is a truly unfamiliar capital, she can't do without being bored at home all the time, she needs to get to know more people.
The banquet organized by the Hou's Mansion was very famous, and almost all the aristocratic families in Chang'an City brought their children to it. Some of these aristocratic families had ancestors who were officials and had been rewarded by the emperor, while others had been passed down from generation to generation with a rich family background.
Of course, the Hou Mansion did not restrict civilians from entering, so Wen Yantong could also openly report to the house and enter.
The main purpose of the painting banquet is to put the paintings of famous people on the boat, and then the boat will circle the upper reaches of the Huaihe River, and every other time, a boat will dock, and the cycle will repeat.
Many pavilions and pavilions were built along the river for some people waiting for the boat to rest in the house.
It is said that at night, the scenery on the Huaihe River is beautiful. All the boats on the river will be lit with lanterns. From a distance, it looks like a flowing river of stars, and the lights of the stars correspond to the river surface.
When Wen Yantong rushed there, it happened to be time for lunch. There were several streets beside the Huaihe River, and restaurants were the most numerous.
She picked a restaurant at random, planning to go there first to fill her stomach, and then go to the river to have a look.
The restaurants by the Huaihe River were bustling like never before, Wen Yantong went to several restaurants, but couldn't find a place, and sighed for a while.
It should have been expected earlier that the banquet hosted by the Hou Mansion will definitely attract many people, and the shops here are almost fully occupied by people. What's more, restaurants like this are given seats based on their status. Some say that they are full of customers, but in fact there are still private rooms upstairs, which are reserved for the rich and powerful.
Wen Yantong added a lot of money but couldn't buy a private room, so he was dizzy with anger.
Just when she was getting irritable, someone suddenly called her nickname.
"Tongtong!"
The voice came through the noisy lobby, Wen Yantong turned his head suspiciously, and saw a man dressed in bamboo green rushing over with a smile.
Wen Yantong was completely unfamiliar to him, and had no idea who this person was at all, so he immediately turned around and asked the maid beside him, "Xiaoyun, who is this person?"
Xiaoyun has been with the little cannon fodder for many years, and has always served her personally, but Wen Yantong brought back another maid this time, which made Xiaoyun feel unbalanced, thinking that he had fallen out of favor, and wanted to be in front of Wen Yantong for many days. express.
So he said, "Miss, this is the second son of my wife's first sister. I met him the year before last."
Wen Yantong pretended to suddenly realize, "Second cousin?"
Xiaoyun nodded.
Wen Yantong immediately greeted him with a smile, "Second Cousin, why did I meet you here?"
The second cousin doesn't know which corner of the original book he is. Wen Yantong has never seen this character in the book, and now his eyes are smeared, only blind.
The second cousin looked like a good old man, and said, "Come to the painting banquet, isn't that why you came here too?"
Wen Yantong smiled and said, "Yes."
The second cousin said, "You came to the building to eat, right?"
Wen Yantong said, "That's right, it's just that this place seems to be full, and the store told me that there is no room."
The second cousin waved his hand, "Come, come, sit with my cousin, it happens that my food hasn't been served yet."
Wen Yantong was overjoyed, "Really? Then I won't be polite to my cousin."
She felt that this second cousin was sent by heaven to occupy a seat for her. In order to fill my stomach, I couldn't control so much, so I just went to the seat inside with my second cousin.
There were only a few desserts and hors d'oeuvres on the table. The second cousin asked the servants to add more bowls and chopsticks for her, and said, "Tongtong, you can order whatever you want. Today my cousin treats you to dinner."
Wen Yantong didn't care about the meal money, so he accepted it with a smile.
After the second cousin ordered Wen Yantong's talent very generously, he chatted with her idlely, "Tongtong, I heard that you have been chaoge some time ago, when did you come back?"
Wen Yantong said casually, "I just came back a few days ago, and I have been learning embroidery from Chaoge."
The second cousin poured himself a small glass of wine, and added quilt tea to Wen Yantong, "Tell me about you, is there still a place to learn embroidery in Chang'an? Why does a girl go so far to Chaoge?" , it is neither safe nor convenient.”
Wen Yantong felt holding his cup and said, "I just heard that there is a very famous showroom in Chaoge, so I wanted to go and have a look."
"Chang'an is no worse than Chaoge." The second cousin took a sip of the wine and said cheerfully, "When the third aunt came back in the next year, I heard her say that you are of the right age, and she plans to find a good man for you. What about you?"
Wen Yantong was surprised, "Why haven't I heard of this?"
"The third aunt has already looked for you again." The second cousin said, "In our Chang'an city, there are many talented people and handsome people. If you like someone, just tell the third aunt. With the rich wealth of the family, Whose threshold cannot enter?"
This is a bit exaggerated, but Wen Yantong did not refute, but said with a smile, "Second cousin, don't just drink, lest you get drunk."
The second cousin waved his hand, "Cousin, I don't drink that lightly."
Wen Yantong didn't speak, and took a piece of pastry from the plate in front of him to cushion his stomach.
The second cousin was silent for a while, and then began to restless, sighing, "I think I'm in my twenties this year, and it's time to get married. My parents have found a lot of people for me every year..."
Wen Yantong suddenly understood that the second cousin's meal was not for nothing, and the people who basically had no contact with each other on weekdays became so acquainted as soon as they met, obviously there was another purpose.
She pretended to be surprised, "cousin, why don't you choose one of those girls?"
The second cousin sighed again, "I can't choose."
"Why?"
"Because my cousin pretends to have someone in his heart." The second cousin nodded, "There is only one person I want to marry."
Wen Yantong didn't ask who it was either, "Then tell your aunt and uncle to ask them to propose marriage."
The second cousin shook his head, "No, she definitely doesn't want to marry me."
Wen Yantong was silent, and intuitively felt that the "she" mentioned by the second cousin had something to do with the little cannon fodder.
Sure enough, the second cousin said, "She is the fourth girl of the Lin family, the one who has a particularly good relationship with you."
Wen Yantong loosened his shoulders, silently stuffed the last bite of pastry into his mouth, pretending to be shocked, "So it's Miss Lin Si!"
Who knows who this Miss Lin Si is
The second cousin said, "Tongtong, you are my cousin, can you help me with this matter?"
Wen Yantong was surprised, "How can I help you? Parents still need to contribute to the marriage!"
The second cousin said, "As long as you mention me in front of her and say a few nice words to make her have an impression of me, that's fine. You don't need to do anything else."
Lovers don't know you yet
The road to marriage is too long.
Wen Yantong was silent, but she was short-mouthed and soft-handed, and the food hadn't been served yet, so of course she would not refuse directly, so she said, "Then if I meet Miss Lin Si, I will definitely tell you Just a few words, don’t worry, cousin.”
The second cousin listened to Zhile, "It's better for Tongtong, it's not in vain that I knelt down for two days for you when I was young."
... There is no need to dig out such old accounts, okay
The second cousin was very happy when talking about the past, and Wen Yantong echoed it. One of the two only talked, the other only ate, and the meal was settled.
When he got up to leave, the second cousin asked the servants to go to pay the bill. He showed Wen Yantong all kinds of hospitality, sometimes reminding her to be careful of the people walking in the building, and sometimes reminding her to pay attention to the steps.
Wen Yantong thought to himself that this man has a lot of farts, and he would really get upset when he is flattered frequently.
Just when he was perfunctory, Wen Yantong suddenly heard a commotion from outside the restaurant, and the people standing at the back door were all cleared away by the guards from outside, and the road in front of him suddenly became spacious.
Afterwards, people lowered the curtain, and Chi Jingxi stepped across the threshold and appeared in Wen Yantong's sight.
Wen Yantong's eyes lit up instantly, he hadn't seen each other for a long time, and now the unexpected meeting is more joyful than the agreed meeting. The irritability and impatience in her emotions seemed to disappear all at once.
As soon as Chi Jingxi turned his eyes, he saw Wen Yantong who was standing aside. His dark pupils suddenly dilated when he moved forward and his eyes were fixed, as if he was frozen.
Wen Yantong subconsciously smiled at him.
With such a smile, Chi Jingxi's black eyes moved slightly, and his throat slipped undetectably.
He has seen Wen Yantong in a dress, and that gold-sprinkled ink gauze skirt often appears in his dreams.
But he has never seen Wen Yantong who is covered with powder and daisy, jade hairpins, and fragrant, like a girl walking out of a painting, standing in a noisy restaurant.
Let him quietly move.
The author has something to say: [Chi Jingxi's Little Diary]
Ruixing March 29:
Is there a need for something like cousin to exist in this world
Alright, you are taking the postgraduate entrance examination, the final examination of the fourth and sixth grades, the preliminary examination, anyway, babies of various examinations, please come on!
Love you guys