The Guo Mansion garden was now very deserted. There were only three or four fewer people than not long ago, but after Yulian and Yang Yue'e left, the back garden seemed to be missing a soul, as if it was empty.
In the living room where Guo Shao used to live, two women, one older and one younger, were sitting lazily at a table. There was an open back door at the back, through which one could see the calm lake.
Big sister, you can meet the person you want to meet today. A childish and delicate voice said. The person who spoke was Zhou Jiamin, and she had a serious face. A nine-year-old girl with such a look on her face looked very playful. But she was indeed very serious.
Zhou Xian sighed softly, looked listlessly at some cards placed strangely on the table, and said without interest: You are having fun playing Leaf Cards by yourself.
I'm not playing, I'm predicting things for my elder sister, Zhou Jiamin insisted.
Zhou Xian reached out and messed up the cards on the table, and said unhappily: "This is a deck of cards for gambling, and you can still tell fortunes. Just sit quietly for a while."
Zhou Jiamin said nothing, silently closed the pile of cards on the table, and looked at them by himself, with a look of anger on his face.
I didn't mean to be angry, I just felt a little annoyed. Zhou Xian leaned over and looked at Jiamin's face. Why are you interested in the leaf cards
Jiamin was depressed and silent for a while, but she didn't hold a grudge. After a while, she said: Because there is a knight on this card. She turned over a piece and put it on the table. Look, the Knight of Coins.
This is a flower card. Zhou Jiamin responded casually. She was quite familiar with leaf cards. It was one of the toys of the noble ladies in the Tang Dynasty court. The Southern Tang Palace also collected a lot of old things and used them for gambling.
But what is the relationship between Hana Knight and her interest in Leaf Cards is really hard for the child to understand, and everything she thinks in her little brain is just nonsense.
Zhou Xian asked again: Then how do you tell fortunes with leaf cards
It's not fortune-telling, it's just predicting things. Jiamin corrected, "It's written in the book, I learned it by following the book."
She glanced at Zhou Xian, then stretched out her two delicate white hands to look through the deck for a while, found a card with a character on it, and said seriously: At the beginning, people are fools, and I am one of them, stupid.
Zhou Xian touched her little nose, forced a smile, and praised: "Second sister is really smart. She is not stupid at all and learns things very quickly."
Jiamin said: I don't know what my elder sister is worried about, but you are very worried, because my elder sister is not a fool anymore, and she understands a lot of things; but you don't understand everything, so you are worried. Then she found another card. My elder sister was in the cycle of fortune and misfortune. When she becomes the main card, the world, and understands everything, she will return to her original nature, and her mind will be as broad as the world. At that time, my elder sister will no longer worry.
Zhou Xian laughed and said: You sound quite realistic when you talk about it, these are all things I saw in books.
Jiamin nodded: Yes, that’s what it says.
Guo Shao didn't sleep well last night and got up late. When he arrived at the imperial study, a group of officials from the outer hall were already on duty. Zuo You and Huang Binglian from the inner hall had also arrived. Everyone stood up and walked out from behind the table to kowtow. Guo Shao immediately stretched out his right hand and pressed it, making a gesture and saying: "Never mind, no need to be polite."
Everyone thanked him and bowed, saying: Congratulations to Your Majesty on the birth of your prince.
Guo Shao smiled and responded, then walked into the study and sat down behind the imperial desk covered with a yellow tablecloth. He thought: The officials in the outer court knew it quite quickly. After a little thought, he thought that they must have known it from the eunuchs. Eunuchs are people who can connect the inside and the outside. After all, it is a happy event, so they will tell it.
The memorial was being processed by Zuo You and others, and Guo Shao felt a lot more relaxed now.
He sat quietly for a while, then skillfully took out a white paper booklet from the documents beside him and wrote the date on the cover. Then he flipped to the middle and picked up the brush to write a list of words for the mid-term schedule, writing down the titles to be given to his wives and concubines in more than a month. Because he knew that women need to stay in confinement after giving birth, and in more than a month, Fu Ermei and Li Yuaner would recover, so he could easily hold the ceremony of conferring titles.
At this moment, Guo Shao couldn't help but think of his adopted sister Gao, who also had her own child ruined, but Gao could only hide in a yard and endure it quietly. He felt a little guilty when he thought of this.
He put down his pen and paced back and forth in front of the imperial desk for a long time. Turning around, he saw the eunuch Yang Shiliang standing at the door with a whisk in his hand, so he said: Go and prepare an ordinary carriage, I want to go to Donghuamen.
Yang Shiliang bowed in response and immediately went out to arrange people.
Soon, Guo Shao arrived at Donghua Gate by car and summoned Lu Chengyong in the guard room. He ordered Lu Chengyong to send a team of people to follow him out of the palace. Yang Shiliang knew that Guo Shao was going out at this time, but he could not stop the emperor, so he hurriedly told the eunuchs guarding Donghua Gate, and then followed Guo Shao out of the city.
Guo Shao took a carriage out of the imperial city and went straight home.
After entering Guo's house, he asked Yang Shiliang, Lu Chengyong and others to wait in the outer courtyard, and he wanted to go into the inner house to do something. When he reached the gatehouse of the back garden, he found Bai Xiangu, the accountant, and said: Go find Jingniang and tell her that I am waiting to see her in the house.
When Guo Shao left Beijing to conquer Southern Tang at the end of last year, Gao was already pregnant, so he asked Jing Niang to take care of Gao, and Lu Xiaoniang, who was skilled in medicine, was also there. However, Lu Xiaoniang did not know Gao's identity.
Guo Shao entered the gatehouse, intending to wait at his former residence so that he could meet Zhou Xian and others. Last time he ordered someone to come back to pick up his wives and concubines, Lu Chengyong did not bring Zhou Xian into the palace.
He saw that the door to the living room was open, so he walked over to the door and saw Zhou Xian and her sister playing cards at the table.
Zhou Xian noticed someone and turned around to see her. She was immediately surprised. Guo Shao said: Ehuang, are you used to staying here
Zhou Xian finally came to her senses and pulled Jiamin away from the stool. She knelt on the ground and pulled the little girl, and they knelt on the ground together, bowing and saying: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."
Guo Shao stepped forward and held her arm: "Get up, there is no audience, why do we need so much formalities?"
When Zhou Xian met his sister, Guo Shao grabbed his arm and his face suddenly turned red: Thank you, Your Majesty.
Just then Jiamin muttered: Look how accurate my measurement is
Guo Shao was just in the mood, and seeing that the girl was pretty and cute, with bright and innocent eyes, he asked her what she was measuring. So Zhou Jiamin told him about the leaf cards.
The girl spoke clearly, with a Southern Tang accent that was very tactful and pleasant. Even though Guo Shao didn't take her words seriously, he still liked to listen to her. But when she talked about the process of people returning to their original simplicity from being ignorant fools, Guo Shao exclaimed, and suddenly became very interested.
He was very excited to let Zhou Jiamin perform on the spot. Seeing her expression and movements, Guo Shao couldn't help laughing. Guo Shao had been feeling heavy-hearted after the invasion of the Liao army, but at this moment, he felt relaxed without realizing it.
The three of them played for a long time, and Jingniang came to the door. Zhou Jiamin turned around and looked at the tall woman with a cold face. Her smile froze on her face and she glared at Jingniang.
Jingniang stood expressionless for a moment, then bowed. Guo Shao stepped forward to help her up, then turned around and said, "Ehuang, Jingniang and I have something to do first. We'll send someone to take you to the palace in a moment."
The two left the house and walked towards the gatehouse. Jingniang followed silently behind, and Guo Shao tilted his head and said: I know you and Zhou Xian don't get along.
Jingniang said: I dare not.
Guo Shao said again: We haven't seen each other for several months, and I asked you to take care of a pregnant woman. Thank you for your hard work.
Your Majesty, you are so annoying. Jingniang finally softened her tone. You are now the emperor, and you have taken back the queen of the enemy country. There is nothing wrong with that. But Gao, her son is already a general in the army, so I won't say anything. Isn't she your Majesty's sworn sister
Guo Shao was speechless. When they passed the gatehouse, he stopped and said, "There is a small door over here. Go out through the small door and hire a carriage without a coachman. Come and pick me up to go to the yard later."
Jingniang responded with a fist bump, turned around and left without saying anything.
Guo Shao looked at her twisting waist and the bumpy contours when she turned around, and he was a little flustered. Guo Shao didn't necessarily like plump women, but some of Jingniang's feminine features were particularly prominent, such as her chest and buttocks, which easily reminded Guo Shao of that thing.
He immediately thought that other women were brought into the palace and could be close to each other, but Jingniang had to stay outside to take care of Gao, and he didn't know when they would be together. After meeting today, it would be normal not to see each other for a month or two.
Jingniang. Guo Shao stepped forward and grabbed her wrist.
Jingniang turned around and looked down at her hand that was being pulled, with a slightly embarrassed look on her face. She glanced around and asked: Your Majesty, what else is there
Seeing a side room next to him, Guo Shao pulled her over there and said: Let’s go inside and talk.
She was hesitant and couldn't refuse Guo Shao, after all, he was the emperor. But in Guo Shao's view, after he became emperor, most people's attitudes changed obviously, only Jingniang's superficial etiquette was a little different, her mentality didn't change much, as if whether Guo Shao was the emperor or not had nothing to do with her.
After entering the room, Guo Shao closed the door casually, but saw that there was no bed in the room, and there were few household items, only an old chair placed in the room very abruptly. There were still many rooms in this mansion, and Guo Shao couldn't figure out what this room was used for in his own home.
He didn't care about much anymore, he pulled Jingniang to the chair, sat on it first, then pulled her to sit on his lap with her back facing him, and started to make moves. Jingniang's neck turned red, and she whispered: Your Majesty, what are you doing? It's sunny and bright outside the windows and doors and you can see it.
Guo Shaodao: Isn't it closed
Jingniang struggled weakly and said in a trembling voice: It's so empty that she can see our ugly deeds at a glance.