The eastern sky was slightly white, the sun was still far from rising, and the windless morning was shrouded in a faint mist. The scattered lanterns on the long street were dimly emitting lights, which were hazy and blurred in the mist.
Listening to the boring creaking of the wheels, feeling the early winter chill on the back of her hand, Fu Jinzhan sat silently in the carriage back to the palace. Guo Shao sat beside her, and the affectionate whispers from last night were still ringing in her ears, but now they were silent. Fu Jinzhan lifted a corner of the curtain and observed the scene outside for a while. Occasionally, one or two shops could be seen taking down the door panels in front of the store, preparing to open for business. A new day was beginning.
What are you going to do later? Fu Jinzhan asked softly.
Guo Shao said: I will wait to pick up my second sister and then I should still have time to report to the Dianqian Division. Donghuamen is not too far from home.
Fu Jinzhan responded faintly. For some reason, she felt strange and a little sour in her heart.
At this time, Fu Jinzhan felt a warmth on the back of her hand. Guo Shao said kindly: "Maybe it's because we are separated. Think about it in a broader sense. Didn't I just say that the palace and Guo's house are very close? We are all in Tokyo City and it is easy to see each other again."
Yeah. Fu Jinzhan tried to put on a smile, her curved eyes were as gentle as the moonlight, and she whispered again, "It's so cold, your hands are so warm."
When the troops arrived at Xihua Gate, the eunuch Cao Tai brought Fu Ermei into the palace. Guo Shao took his men to Donghua Gate to wait.
Inside the Wansui Palace, Fu Ermei rubbed her sleepy eyes and saw Fu Jinzhan yawning with her hand covering her mouth. She couldn't help but ask: "Did my elder sister not sleep last night?"
Fu Jinzhan: I went to bed late. Because it was very late at night when I finished my work, I rested in the warm room of Jinxiang Palace for the night.
Fu Ermei carefully observed her sister's expression. That face, which looked very similar to hers, was obviously tired, but very calm and indifferent, and there was no sign of anything wrong.
Fu Ermei asked softly again, "What big thing happened?"
Fu Jinzhan said: Regarding the Kingdom of Shu, a spy brought back a secret report that the Lord of Shu is stepping up defenses, and I don't know where he got the news that we would attack Shu.
Oh, the second sister nodded thoughtfully, then smiled and said, "I don't understand those things anyway, it's useless for my elder sister to tell me. I'm going to get up and wash up." Fu Ermei got up from the bed briskly, and her elder sister helped her put on her clothes in a surprisingly affectionate manner.
There was nothing unusual on the eldest sister's face, but the second sister felt that something was a little strange. Including her father, brother and sister, no one was too lazy to explain anything to her. Most of them just said "If you don't understand, it's useless to ask" and that was it. Why did the eldest sister explain it to her in detail this morning
Fu Ermei is self-aware and knows that she is no match for her elder sister in terms of thinking. She also understands her elder sister, whose heart is as calm as the sea. If she doesn't want others to see her thoughts, no one will be able to get any clue from her. But Fu Ermei is not a careless person and she is also very thoughtful.
Fu Jinzhan seemed to be forcing herself to suppress her tiredness, and patiently accompanied her second sister to finish breakfast and clean up. At this time, Cao Tai came in to report that Guo Shao had been waiting outside Jinxiang Hall to pick up his wife early in the morning.
The second sister said goodbye to Fu Jinzhan, who generously gave her some jewelry and silk fabrics.
She was very happy to see Guo Shao, followed him home, and then persuaded him to go to work. Back in the quiet garden by the lake, Fu Ermei didn't have to do anything, just find something interesting to amuse herself.
She first took out the things her elder sister had given her and looked at them one by one with great interest. Fu Ermei was already very interested in these exquisite and beautiful little things, not to mention that they were tributes from the palace, and the exquisite craftsmanship was different from what you can buy on the market. But Fu Ermei soon discovered that although these things were expensive, it was obvious that her elder sister had not spent any time selecting them. There were actually three earrings. Fu Ermei's mind was filled with such a scene, and her elder sister absent-mindedly grabbed a handful of them from her jewelry box.
The second sister dropped the jewelry in her hand, stood up, clasped her hands together and walked a few steps in the bright bedroom. When she raised her head, Yuqing was standing silently at the door. She had long been accustomed to Yuqing's presence. She was a very good companion. When she was in a bad mood and didn't want to talk, Yuqing never bothered her. When she was in a good mood and wanted to find someone to share her happiness, Yuqing would listen to her seriously and never thought she was too talkative.
Yuqing. The second sister called softly.
The absent-minded Yuqing immediately turned around: Second Madam.
Fu Ermei said: Go and see where Dong Sanniang is and call her over.
She remembered that Dong Sanniang's brother Dong Er was a guard beside her husband. Although Fu Ermei had not been back from her parents' home for long and had stayed in the palace for another month, she had also heard about Dong Sanniang's story; because her second brother was rescued from the death row by Guo Shao, people in the garden occasionally talked about it.
Soon, Dong Sanniang timidly walked to the bedroom door, knelt down and said: Madam called me
Seeing her timid appearance and her young age, Fu Ermei smiled gently and said kindly: Don't be afraid, I've always been nice to you.
Dong Sanniang whispered: Okay.
Fu Ermei nodded and waved for her to come over. Dong Sanniang lowered her head and slowly moved in front of Ermei. Fu Ermei picked up a pair of gold earrings from the dressing table and gently put them on Dong Sanniang's ears.
Dong Sanniang blushed, reached out and touched it, not knowing whether to take it or not, and said: This kind of thing
It's okay. If you get married in the future, you can bring more things to your husband's house. The gold ones will be useful. Fu Ermei smiled. Dong Sanniang said carefully: Thank you, madam.
Fu Ermei said softly: I have something I want you to do for me. Go to the front yard this afternoon and wait for your brother and A Lang to come back. Ask your brother where A Lang went last night and who he was with. Are you willing to help me
Dong Sanniang was silent for a while, then nodded hesitantly.
Fu Ermei's face immediately showed a warm smile, and she whispered softly: If you have any grievances in the future, tell me and I will help you.
In the afternoon, Guo Shao went to the newly reorganized Imperial Guards barracks, and then went straight home from the barracks without staying anywhere. When he got off the carriage, he immediately saw Dong Sanniang standing alone by the corridor, looking over here.
Dong Er got off the horse behind, handed the reins to a companion and said: Help me, my sister is waiting for me.
Guo Shao did not ask Dong Er, but turned around and said: Today is the shift change, the brothers on duty can lead the horses to the stables and go home. Everyone clasped their fists and said: The master is leaving.
Unexpectedly, he had just taken a few steps when he saw Dong Er running back and saying, "My lord, my sister is waiting for you."
Guo Shao smiled awkwardly: Then I'll take that road and ask my third sister what's going on.
He turned and walked towards the corridor. The third sister followed him, turned her head and quickly glanced behind her, and whispered: Alang, the lady asked me to ask the second brother today, where did Alang go last night and who he was with
Guo Shao stopped immediately, turned around and asked: What did Dong Er say
The third sister lowered her head and said: I didn’t ask how I should answer Madam.
Guo Shao's expression became very ugly. He said nothing and walked slowly inside for a long time. He was not under much pressure when he was with Fu Jinzhan, because he had been in love with Fu Jinzhan for a long time. In addition, after his second sister got married, he didn't see that she cared about him and other women. She was used to men having three wives and four concubines just like Fu Jinzhan. Guo Shao didn't think that he did anything wrong for not changing his heart to Fu Jinzhan, but he was wrong for deceiving Fu Ermei, and he felt very sorry.
He still treats the second sister with his heart. To be sincere to a person, you must first be sincere, in order to gain trust and the same sincerity; without sincerity, no matter how high the means are, it will always make people feel wrong after a while, and Guo Shao has no means to deal with women.
I really don't want to deceive Fu Ermei.
He led the petite Dong Sanmei one after the other and silently entered a moon-shaped door, then crossed the middle courtyard. The rainbow-like sky bridge in front was very conspicuous. That was the gatehouse entrance to the back garden.
The third sister asked again: Ah Lang, the lady will definitely ask me in a while, how should I answer her
How should she tell the truth? Could it be that she was with the second sister last night? The second sister Fu was in the palace last night. She is not a fool. She can guess with her toes who the second sister who was outside last night was.
Guo Shao realized a very simple yet unavoidable contradiction: if he wanted to hide it from Fu Ermei, he would have to deceive her; if he didn't want to deceive her, he couldn't hide it from her.
Just like that, suddenly telling her that your sister and I did that, Guo Shao felt that this was not a good thing to do. Maybe he should tell her eventually, but the timing was not right now. He needed to think carefully and find a good opportunity.
He immediately turned around and said: Tell them that I went to Li Chuyun's house.
"Yeah." The third sister responded softly.
Guo Shaodao: Fortunately, you told me first that you are not very timid, so you are not afraid of offending the lady.
The third sister looked at the ground and said nothing.
Guo Shao did not continue to ask her. He had just entered the gatehouse, but did not see Fu Ermei. He went straight to the living room, but saw no one there. He only saw a dark and strong woman sweeping the stone path outside. He called her in and taught her to help take off the armor.
Not long after, Fu Ermei finally walked to the door of the hall and said with a smile: My husband, she happily stepped forward and threw herself into Guo Shao's arms, hugging him tightly, completely ignoring the sturdy woman next to her.
Seeing this, the woman said embarrassedly: I'll go out first, the yard hasn't been swept yet.
Guo Shaodao: Where did you go just now
I won’t tell you. Fu Ermei’s face flushed, she stood on tiptoe and whispered in his ear, I will reward you tonight.
Guo Shao's face twitched slightly. Seeing his second sister's joy, he felt mixed emotions. He felt guilty, held her hand and said softly: Second sister, I will treat you well with all my heart for the rest of my life.