On the way back, Jiang Yanyi ran into Chu Yangui who was pushing a wheelchair. It was rare that Chu Zhong was not with him.
After not seeing each other for more than half a year, Jiang Yanyi only felt that Chu Yangui had grown a lot taller. Even though he was still thin, he had the upright figure of an adult man, which was very different from the skinny child last year.
Jiang Yanyi said, "I was just planning to change my clothes before going to see you. Why are you here? Where's Uncle Zhong?"
Chu Yangui pushed the wheelchair a few steps closer, looked at Jiang Yanyi and smiled slowly: "I missed my sister, so I came here. Now that I'm at home, I don't need Uncle Zhong to follow me wherever I go."
Jiang Yanyi touched his head as he did before, except that he was sitting in a wheelchair. If he was standing, Jiang Yanyi would not be able to touch the top of his head easily.
She said, "I heard that you were injured when Prince Xinyang attacked the city. Are you feeling better now?"
Chu Yangui nodded, and all his viciousness towards outsiders was put away. In front of Jiang Yanyi, he seemed to be the teenager he used to be, smiling with two fangs showing: "It's healed a long time ago, the wound has scabbed over, I can eat the drunken crabs that my sister brought back."
Jiang Yanyi shook his head and laughed: "You must have suffered a lot in the past six months. Now you care so much about food?"
Chu Yangui said, "I happened to hear Yang Xiu and Bing Shao talking to Uncle Zhong about the drunken crabs you made."
Jiang Yanyi didn't know that these two men under his command would show off to their former brothers the delicious food they often ate every time they returned to the Chu family.
The other guards of Chu Changping had only eaten a whole lamb feast prepared by Jiang Yanyi, and they had a deep memory of it. Chu Zhong used to be able to taste those delicacies often, but after traveling with Chu Yangui, he had to live a hard life where he had the conditions to have hot meals and hot dishes but not the conditions to eat cold steamed buns. After hearing Yang Xiu and Bing Shao talk about what they ate every day, Chu Zhong didn't want to bother with these two anymore.
Jiang Yanyi said with a smile: "Sister will make delicious food for you every day from now on."
Chu Yangui curled his lips, nodded, and took out a palm-sized box from his sleeve pocket: "I didn't get to give you the gift on Sister's birthday."
"Have you prepared any gifts?" Jiang Yanyi took the brocade box and opened it. Inside was an oval ink-colored bead. The bead was bulging in the middle and smaller at both ends. There were golden Sanskrit seals "卍" and some tiny circles distributed on it, which were very symmetrical. At first glance, these totems seemed a bit weird, but upon closer inspection, one would find that they were extremely mysterious.
Chu Yangui said: "By chance, I met a lama, who gave me this item, saying it was a Dzi bead, a thing of merit, and wearing it can ward off disasters and evil spirits."
Jiang Yanyi had some knowledge about gold, silver, jade and other stones, but he had never heard of Dzi beads. He also didn't know that this item was priceless and much more valuable than jade.
When she heard that it could ward off disasters, she handed the beads to Chu Yangui and said, "Since it is used to ward off disasters and evil spirits, then you wear it. I don't ask for anything, I just hope that you will be safe and sound."
Chu Yangui refused to accept it: "How can you take back a birthday gift you gave to someone? I have a string of sandalwood Buddhist beads given by the abbot of Huguo Temple. Sister, take this Dzi bead."
Jiang Yanyi saw that he was indeed wearing Buddhist beads on his hand, so he accepted them.
When she returned to the Chu family, Chu Shubao and her two sisters would inevitably come to chat with her. They had heard about what she had done in Hengzhou in Xizhou, and when they saw her again, the word "admiration" was almost written on their faces.
For several days in a row, the three sisters stuck together with Jiang Yanyi.
The material and pattern of the wedding dress have been selected. Xue asked Jiang Yanyi to go to Jinyufang when he has time to look at the pearl hairpins and jewelry.
Jiang Yanyi thought that the Grand Empress Dowager was also in the capital, and out of courtesy, she had to visit her no matter what. She could also take a look at Jinyufang to see if there was anything suitable as a gift.
When she went out with Chu Shubao and her two sisters, Chu Chengmao, who was usually busy and rarely seen, was unexpectedly free today and said he would personally send them there.
Before getting on the carriage, Chu Shubao kept muttering, "Is the sun rising from the west?"
When they arrived at the Gold and Jade Shop, Jiang Yanyi and the three sisters Chu Shubao went into the shop to pick out gold and jade items that caught their eyes. It was obviously the first time for Chu Chengmao to accompany a woman shopping, and he followed them the whole time with his arms folded. While Jiang Yanyi and the others were selecting items and listening to the boss introduce the composition of each type of jade, Chu Chengmao was leaning against the door frame and was yawning out of boredom.
Chu Huibao was young and had no interest in these ornaments. She sat aside with a bag of pine nut candy in her hand, eating while waiting for her sisters. When she saw Chu Chengmao yawning, she said very considerately, "Second brother, if you have something to do, just go and do it. You don't have to wait for us. The elder sisters will probably be back for a while."
Chu Chengmao glanced at the street outside the window and said absentmindedly, "It's okay, I'm not busy today."
Chu Shubao was looking at the pearl hairpin nearby. Upon hearing this, she looked suspiciously at Chu Chengmao, leaned over and whispered to Jiang Yanyi, "Something's strange. When did Chu Er become so good-tempered?"
Jiang Yanyi also looked at Chu Chengmao with some confusion. Chu Chengmao was staring out the window.
A carriage with the Yang family seal stopped in front of the Jinyufang, and the servant downstairs hurriedly greeted it: "Please come in, County Lady. What would you like to buy?"
"Let me take a look first." Yang Zheng's bright facial features exuded a heroic air, and her steps were so brisk that the servant almost had to jog to keep up with her.
When Chu Chengmao saw the Yang family's carriage, his expression changed. He clenched his fist and put it to his lips, coughed softly, and said to Jiang Yanyi and the others, "I'll go downstairs to check on the inkstone."
After he hurried downstairs, Chu Shubao quickly took Jiang Yanyi and a few others to the stairs to spy secretly.
Chu Chengmao bumped into Yang Zheng when he was going downstairs. He bowed and said, "The county lady is also here to buy jewelry at the Jinyufang?"
Yang Zheng returned the greeting politely: "My mother's birthday is coming soon, come here to choose a birthday gift for her."
Chu Chengmao said, "It just so happens that my sister and a few others are here shopping for jewelry. We were able to quell the rebellion in the capital earlier thanks to the great help of the county lady. Today, everything the county lady buys in the Gold and Jade Shop will be charged to my account, as a way of thanking her for her help."
Yang Zheng frowned and said, "Thank you for your kindness, General Chu, but it is the Yang family's unshirkable duty to quell the rebellion in the capital, so there is no need to thank you."
Ever since Yang Zheng was rejected repeatedly by Chu Chengmao in Xizhou and said that she would not bother Chu Chengmao again, even after working with Chu Chengmao in Yuzhou, Yang Zheng always maintained such a businesslike and distant attitude.
Chu Shubao squatted at the stairs and saw this scene. She clicked her tongue twice and said, "So this is why Chu Er accompanied us to Jin Yu Fang today. That guy deserved what happened!"
Jiang Yanyi remembered that when she was in Xizhou, it was Princess Xing'an who ran into Chu Chengmao everywhere. They hadn't seen each other for half a year. Was this a change of fortune
Seeing Yang Zheng coming upstairs, the sisters quickly ran away.
Chu Chengmao stood downstairs, looking rather annoyed. He called the shopkeeper of the Jinyufang and took out a small box and handed it to him: "Give the county lady 10% of the price of everything she bought from you, and I will make up the difference. When you give this bracelet to her, just say it was a gift from the store."
The shopkeeper took it and looked at it, and found that there was a blood jade bracelet of extremely fine quality in the box. If he said such a bracelet was a gift, I was afraid no one would believe it.
The Chu family is now in the limelight, and the shopkeeper is naturally eager to please Chu Chengmao. He is afraid that the county lady of Xing'an will find out and mess up the business, so he said: "The price of 10% is really too low, which will inevitably arouse suspicion. I will sell it to the county lady at half price."
Chu Chengmao was smart in military operations and political affairs, but he was like a fool when it came to relationships. Hearing what the shopkeeper said, he felt awkward and nodded with forced composure: "Just act accordingly."
Upstairs, Jiang Yanyi and his friends met Yang Zheng and exchanged pleasantries.
When Yang Zheng was in Xizhou, she patronized Ruyi Tower's business frequently in order to get close to Chu Chengmao, and she became familiar with Jiang Yanyi and others. Although she has taken the initiative to draw a line between herself and Chu Chengmao now, she is not unfamiliar when she sees them.
After saying hello, Yang Zheng went to another area to choose birthday gifts. Chu Shubao looked at her from behind and sighed: "The county lady is so nice. What was Chu Er doing in the first place?"
Jiang Yanyi is also an experienced person, so he can see things more clearly: "When it comes to love, it's not that when you like someone, that person will also like you. Everything depends on fate."
Chu Huibao finished eating the pine nut candy and changed it for a bag of jujube paste cake and continued to eat: "Then I hope that the fate between the county lady and the second brother will be deeper. I like the county lady very much."
Chu Jiabao poked her forehead and said, "You little greedy cat, you like me because I always buy you all kinds of delicious food, right?"
Chu Huibao rubbed her forehead and said no, and the sisters all laughed.
Jiang Yanyi continued to choose the gifts. The Grand Empress Dowager had been used to wealth and luxury in her life, and Jiang Yanyi couldn't think of what to buy for her. After choosing for a long time, only a white jade Guanyin caught Jiang Yanyi's eye. Thinking that the Grand Empress Dowager was a Buddhist, she asked for this Guanyin.
When they went to pay the bill, they happened to run into Yang Zheng. They saw that the pair of glass jade bracelets that Yang Zheng took were sold at a price half lower than the market price. The shopkeeper also gave her a blood jade bracelet. What could the sisters not understand
When it was their turn to pay, Chu Shubao glanced at Chu Chengmao beside her and deliberately said to the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper Jin, we sisters have bought so many things from you, would you like to give us a blood jade bracelet as well?"
The shopkeeper smiled awkwardly: "Miss Chu... this... this..."
He looked at Chu Chengmao for help, and Chu Chengmao crossed his arms and pretended to look at the scenery outside.
Chu Shubao was just teasing Chu Chengmao. She would never really ask the shopkeeper to give her a bracelet. After paying the bill, when they were riding in the carriage back to the mansion, she deliberately sighed and said, "Why did he only give the county lady a bracelet and not us a bracelet?"
Chu Chengmao was nagging her all the way, and his patience ran out. He finally couldn't stand it anymore: "Chu Shubao, are you done yet?"
Chu Shubao blinked her innocent eyes and said, "I just said that I envy the owner of the Gold and Jade Shop for giving the county lady a blood jade bracelet. Why are you so angry, second brother?"
Chu Chengmao was even more frustrated by her blocking him, and he stopped the carriage directly: "I have something else to do, you go back first."
After he got off the carriage, Chu Shubao laughed heartily, and Jiang Yanyi and Chu Jiabao couldn't help laughing as well.
As the carriage started moving again, bursts of shouting and cursing suddenly came from outside the window.
"Where did you come from, you stinky beggar? Who is your son? Get out of here!"
Jiang Yanyi lifted the curtain of the car and looked out, only to see a ragged beggar hugging the legs of a half-grown boy, crying and shouting something.
The young man looked well-dressed, but he was obviously not a good-tempered person. He looked at the beggar with disgust, kicked and stomped him, and ordered the servants: "What are you standing there for? Beat him up!"
A group of servants beat and kicked the beggar, who curled up his skinny body into a ball and screamed miserably.
Jiang Yanyi thought that the young man was bullying others by taking advantage of his power, so he asked the driver to stop the car and shouted, "Stop!"
When the young man saw that it was the Chu family's carriage, he did not dare to provoke it and ran away with the servants.
Jiang Yanyi originally wanted to ask the driver to help the beggar up and give him some change, but when the beggar raised his head tremblingly, Jiang Yanyi was visibly stunned.
Since she came here, she has never seen her original body's parents, but she inherited her original body's memories and naturally knew what they looked like.
The beggar's face was dirty and thin, and he looked very different from the elegant Minister Jiang in his original memory. However, Jiang Yanyi recognized him at a glance. That was Minister Jiang.
Chu Shubao also saw Minister Jiang. She knew that Jiang Yanyi must be upset, so she said slowly, "It is said that he went crazy on the day when Prince Xinyang's army entered the city. He had offended the emperor and was imprisoned. The Jiang family was sealed off, and the servants had long since dispersed. Now he is crazy and no one is taking care of him. He has been begging on the street. Yan Gui did not let the Chu family intervene and control him, saying that the Chu family had nothing to do with this person and let him fend for himself."
When Jiang Yanyi stared at Jiang Shangshu, Jiang Shangshu obviously also saw her in the carriage. Tears welled up in his eyes. He got up and stumbled towards this side, shouting: "Child! Child!"
There was a hint of compassion in Jiang Yanyi's eyes. It was quite sad that Minister Jiang ended up like this, but she did not sympathize with him.
Minister Jiang was also largely responsible for the original body's death, so she had no right to forgive this so-called father on behalf of the original body.
When Minister Jiang approached, she indifferently lowered the carriage curtain and told the driver, "Let's go."
The driver whipped the carriage and it sped away. Minister Jiang chased after it, but he couldn't catch up with it. He cried out in tears, "Child!"
Jiang Yanyi sat in the carriage with an indifferent expression, and never lifted the curtain to look back.
Minister Jiang watched the carriage running farther and farther away, and finally he fell down, with his forehead hitting the bluestone floor and bleeding, and the blood flowed to the corners of his eyes.
He lay on the ground and sobbed, his tears and blood mixed together, as if they were blood and tears. If you listen carefully, you can find that he called out the word "Ayi" tremblingly in his sobs.
The author has something to say: Getting married in the next chapter
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2021-03-19 04:09:26~2021-03-21 02:05:54~
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