Exclusive golden branch

Chapter 377 Winter Solstice (6K+)

No one would take it seriously by talking and laughing in private with drunkenness. After some nonsense with his colleagues, Jiang Zhao went back with the reward.

These days, he has repeatedly received awards from the top in the Yamen, and there is a faint intention to promote him.Jiang Zhao was in a good mood.It was Xu time when we got home.

The house is quiet and quiet, but because of the upside-down ceremonial lanterns hanging upside down in the house, it doesn't look lonely, on the contrary, it has a somewhat subtle beauty.

From a distance, it looks a bit like a folk painting scroll written by Danqing Miaoshou.

As soon as the cold wind blew, Jiang Zhao's alcohol dissipated a bit, he calmed down, handed over the reward in hand to the steward, and entered the door.After only taking two steps, Jiang Zhao suddenly stopped, turned his head and asked the steward behind him: "Mother, second brother and third brother went out of the city to follow Mrs. Anguo to pay respects to the Buddha?"

Uncle has always been a kind person, and he is also busy with political affairs on weekdays. He is not as idle and flustered as the old lady and the others, and he rarely asks about these trivial matters.At this time, Jiang Zhao's sudden question made the steward behind him break out in a cold sweat: This is the second time the uncle has asked, and from the tone of the uncle... it seems that he is suspicious after all.

Too!No wonder the uncle was suspicious, he would be suspicious too.The few people who have always been in the sky have been quiet for too long this time.The steward felt a little unbearable in his heart, but he also had some doubts: Why did the old lady and her party go to Baoling and there was no news?Not only did the old lady have no news, but why didn't Miss Fourth write a letter to complain?

He didn't say it, but according to the old lady's temperament and behavior in the past, this time she must have bullied Fourth Miss severely.But no matter how much Miss Fourth calmed down in the past, she would still sue if she was bullied severely.Why don't bullies and bullied people write letters right now?

After hesitating in his heart, he looked at Jiang Zhao who was standing in the cold wind waiting for his answer. He is also a father... After all, the steward couldn't take it anymore: Forget it, if you offend the old lady, offend the old lady!The elders in this family really went too far, and it would be embarrassing to go all the way to Baoling to bully a little girl who had never offended them.

Thinking about it this way, the steward gritted his teeth and was about to speak, but a voice rang out before him.

"Brother is back?"

This is a woman's voice.There are only a few girls in the entire Jiang family, and the Jiang family has only three brothers and no daughters. At this time, the family members went to Baoling like dumplings in a pot, and they still stay in Chang'an City today, and they can shout. Of course, the only one who said "big brother" was the only seedling left in Jiang's family - Mrs. Jiang San.

The sound startled the two who were talking, and the manager and Jiang Zhao turned their heads to look at the source of the sound at the same time.

But I saw a woman standing under the melon shed not far away, holding an orange octagonal palace lantern. She didn't wear the same woman's head as in the daytime, but her hair was half-draped, and her hair was tied in a bun seemingly casually. Eyebrows, eyes and lips are all missing, standing there with exquisite makeup.

This melon shed was built by Mrs. Jiang's "whim" when summer came into being, but this "whim" lost interest after the construction was completed, and no one took care of it, so it has been abandoned.

However, the construction of this melon shed is not considered a waste. When lanterns are hung during festivals and festivals, a whole piece can be hung here. At that time, the whole melon shed will be shrouded in orange-orange light and shadow. It looks... um, it’s quite a bit The hazy artistic conception is that this artistic conception is now used a lot by places like Yihong Courtyard, and it seems a bit unserious.

Now Mrs. Jiang San is combing a single bun that can't be distinguished from a woman or an unmarried girl. Standing under this not very "serious" melon shed, it seems that she has also been tainted with a somewhat "serious" taste.

Seeing this, Jiang Zhao, the "really honest" man with no "unserious" thoughts, moved his toes back instinctively. After standing still, Jiang Zhao coughed and spoke first: " Third brother and sister, what's the matter?"

Mrs. Jiang San lowered her eyelids, and said, "It's nothing. It's just that the old lady sent a letter to ask Qiao Niang to tell her eldest brother. They have gained a little bit of insight in worshiping Buddha recently, and the masters also think that they have a bit of wisdom. Now the winter solstice It so happened that the masters were going out to chant sutras and Buddhas for the common people, so they also went with them, so that elder brother can rest assured!"

Jiang Zhao: "..." Did he hear correctly?The old lady, the second brother, the third brother, and the second younger brother have roots of wisdom?Did you go out to chant scriptures and Buddha?He didn't even dare to think of such a thing in his dreams!

Seriously looked at the person in front of him, and when he was sure that it was undoubtedly his three younger siblings, Jiang Zhaoshen said "OK" dubiously.

If he knew that chanting scriptures and chanting Buddha had such miraculous effects, he should have sent his mother, second brother, and third brother to chanting scriptures and chanting Buddha. Move up.

But it's not too late now.Jiang Zhao thought for a while, nodded "Yes", looked at Mrs. Jiang San who looked not very "serious" under the melon shed, and persuaded: "Third brother and sister, you go back!"

It's not clear what the plums in the melon field are.

Mrs. Jiang San was carrying an octagonal palace lantern, but she didn't leave immediately when she heard the words. Instead, she paused and said, "Huang'er has some things I don't understand about homework. I wonder if I could ask my elder brother to come over and give some pointers?"

Jiang Huang's homework?Jiang Zhao hesitated for a moment, moved his lips, and seemed to want to say something, but after a long while, he said: "Tomorrow morning! Today's grand court meeting in the palace had a lot of wine and food, and I was very dizzy."

Originally, it was nothing to teach the nephew some homework, but it was a big night, and the three younger siblings always gave people a feeling of "improper" standing here, so Jiang Zhao refused.

Of course, this is not the only reason for rejection.The bigger reason is that none of the two nephews of his Jiang family are educated.Needless to say, Jiang Hui, anyone with eyes can see that he is a dandy who eats, drinks, and has fun; as for Jiang Huang, he can hide it better than Jiang Hui, and he will go to the library every day, and he is also a serious master on weekdays.

But it's just watching seriously. Most of the time when I read a book, I don't turn a page, and I can't read it at all.As for the incident of secretly dozing off with a book upside down, he has seen it several times, and it is not the material for reading.

From the looks of his Jiang family's generation, Ayan from his family is the only one who has this material, and these two nephews are not good at all.

But... these, the third brother and his wife naturally refused to admit it, and hoped that Jiang Huang would be enlightened someday.If that's the case, it's hard for him as an uncle to say much.

Jiang Zhao was seriously thinking about Jiang Huang's matter, and for a moment he didn't pay attention to Mrs. Jiang San in front of him, let alone Mrs. Jiang San's face froze under the "unscrupulous" light in front of him. He rubbed the center of his brows, shouted "dizzy", turned around and strode away.

After Jiang Zhao left, Mrs. Jiang San came out from under the melon shed with a cold face, and stopped the steward who hadn't had time to go away.

Without the "unserious" light under the melon shed, Mrs. Jiang San looked a lot more "serious".

"If I didn't speak just now, you are going to tell elder brother, aren't you?" Mrs. Jiang San questioned as soon as she opened her mouth.

The steward was taken aback by these words, his face turned pale, and was about to speak, when Mrs. Jiang San sneered and said: "Since you are a servant, you should be a servant, and don't interfere with the master's affairs!"

Earlier, the shrewd dead ghost in her family sent a letter asking for money, saying that she had an urgent matter to help the "old lady". Although she didn't know what it was, she thought that this dead ghost was very shrewd, and he was always the only one who cheated others. Getting money from him was just a dream come true, so I gave it to him.

Just give it back, after all, such a large sum of money almost wiped out most of the family wealth accumulated over the years, Mrs. Jiang San felt a little heartbroken.As the end of the year approached, she still had to spend some money walking around with the new wives she had made.The old lady is not here, how did she get money from Jiang Zhao by herself?Mrs. Jiang San felt a little troubled, and couldn't help complaining about Master Jiang San in her heart.

This dead ghost didn't say anything about what to do with the money. If she didn't know his shrewdness, she would have thought that this dead ghost was being punished.But having said that, if it wasn't for his shrewdness, why would she marry the youngest of the Jiang family?Picture him not good-looking?Or is it because of his poor character?

Of the three in the Jiang family, Jiang Zhao is the only one who looks good, but it's a pity that he only thinks about the fat girl and that mother in his heart.Mrs. Jiang San scratched the back of her head and combed her hair for a long time, glanced at the steward coldly, turned and left.

Jiang Zhao, who was persuaded by Mrs. Jiang San's "unscrupulous" in the middle of the night, did not go outside the city to look for Mrs. Jiang and others who may become monks at any time after giving birth to Huigen. Instead, she taught them honestly at home. Started Jiang Huang's homework.

After only one day of teaching, Jiang Zhao couldn't bear it anymore, and took the initiative to report to the yamen on the second day of the Winter Solstice Festival.Especially compared with Ayan, who he once taught, this Huang'er's talent for reading can't be said to be less, it is equivalent to no more!

Teaching him homework for one day is much more tiring than being on duty in the Yamen for ten days.This kind of matter should be left to his third brother and his wife, but it has nothing to do with him.

In fact, if you think about it carefully, it’s not bad to be on duty in the yamen during the winter solstice holiday. You can ask the back chef of the yamen to make some food he likes. "Nephew" and the dishonest third sibling are much better off!
This is a later story, let's not mention it for the time being.

……

Compared with the "painful" Jiang Zhao taught Jiang Huang's homework on the Winter Solstice, Jiang Shaoyan and others had a good day on the Winter Solstice.

Lin Yan, who returned to Yancheng, had not had time to tell Ji Chongyan about the Wu land, so he met Ji Chongyan who had tidied up.

"Tomorrow is the winter solstice, I have to go back to Baoling City, Yancheng is here to trouble you!"

Lin Yan, who had been puzzled all the way, finally remembered what he had "forgotten": the winter solstice was coming, and Chongyan wanted to go back to spend the holiday with Miss Jiang Si.

It turned out that the "good intentions" of the previous two days let him rest in such a way. Lin Yan's chest froze, and when he met Ji Chongyan's tidy up, he was finally defeated, waved his hand, and said, "Let's go. Let's go! Remember to come back on the last day of the winter solstice holiday!"

Yancheng yamen cannot be empty, even if there is a big fake... so what?
Ji Chongyan responded with a smile when he heard the words, pointed to the direction of Lin Yan's desk and said, "There is a can of wine on the desk that was sent from Chang'an. It is said that it was sent by the proprietress of a street tavern."

Lin Yan's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he hurriedly walked in while scolding "I'm not leaving" with a smile.

Seeing this, Ji Chongyan couldn't help but shook his head lightly: Isn't he the same as Lin Yan?Thinking of celebrating the festival with Miss Jiang Si tomorrow makes me feel good.

……

Ji Chongyan was ushered in early in the morning of the Winter Solstice, but Jiang Shaoyan didn't find it strange at all.

Since I came to Baoling and met Ji Chongyan, he would come every big festival, so even if I didn't receive the news in advance, the meal prepared yesterday for today's big festival was specially prepared for him.

Not only that, even the two meals of breakfast and lunch are also suitable for his appetite.

Instead of making the traditional wontons of the Jiangnan Dao generation, they rolled the square skins into a round shape and made the "Yanyue wontons", which are called dumplings by later generations.

During the Winter Solstice Festival in Chang'an City, many people will make "Yanyue wontons" for breakfast and lunch. There are also several kinds of fillings for the wontons. Fish, pork, mushrooms, vegetables and pickled cabbage are free to eat. Assemble the bag.

It's just that most of the fillings of the "Yanyue wonton" in Ji Chongyan's bowl don't belong to any of these.

"Ding" another copper coin was thrown on the table, and there were a total of ten such added wontons in the "Yanyue Wonton".Now that everyone is smart again, they know that when scooping up wontons, they pick up the bottom of the pot, so Mrs. Liu, who serves wontons, simply scoops up wontons and puts them in bowls. This is really "fair".

Seeing that Prince Ji dug eight copper coins out of a bowl of Yanyue wontons, Xiangli couldn't help but twitch her lips, and even Master Jingci who came to eat the winter solstice feast couldn't help but sigh with emotion when she saw this: "Amitabha, Ji Shizi is really a man of great luck!"

The remaining two pieces were in Jiang Shaoyan's bowl. There were ten such wontons in total, and he was asked to divide them between them.

Xiangli, who didn't eat this "wealthy" wonton, was very happy: no matter what the young lady ate or Ji Shizi ate, it belonged to her family.She just learned an old saying recently, which is called "a chicken and a dog ascend to heaven when one person attains the Tao". The young lady and Ji Shizi and the others will naturally have good luck for everyone!

They ate wontons for breakfast and lunch, and in the evening they had to prepare a table of big dishes. Mrs. Liu, Xiao Wu, and Xiangli were already familiar with such things, so they volunteered to take over half of the hard work, and Jiang Shaoyan was at the window seat Take care of the fresh soup and meat porridge stewed on several small stoves.

The fire was smoldering, and listening to the sound of chopping vegetables in the kitchen, Jiang Shaoyan looked up at Ji Chongyan who watched her take care of the small stove through the window.

This situation is all too familiar.Across the same window, Jiang Shaoyan suddenly seemed to be the same a few months ago, but at that time she was the "main force" of cooking, Ji Chongyan looked through the window, probably never touched the world's fireworks, curious to see her cooking Of course, she also had some other intentions at that time, and that table of meals made Lin Yan "speak the truth after drinking".

At this time, this meal has no other purpose, and she is not the "main force" in cooking, but Ji Chongyan is still watching her through the window.

Jiang Shaoyan slowly shook the cattail fan in her hand, tilted her head, and asked him with a smile: "Master Ji likes to watch cooking?"

There were a lot of snacks and dried fruits on the stone tables and benches in the yard, but he didn't touch them, he just leaned against the window and looked at her.

Ji Chongyan gave a soft "hmm", chatting with her nonchalantly: "I've never paid attention to this before."

Born with a golden spoon in her mouth, she naturally doesn't need to pay attention to these things. Jiang Shaoyan shook the cattail fan in her hand and nodded, but the hand that shook the cattail fan slowed down, hesitated for a moment, and looked up at Ji Chongyan, whose eyebrows and eyes were no longer sharp and turned soft in the smoke and fire, Finally, he couldn't help but asked: "My son, everything is in the palm of your hand when you are born, why do you think of danger when you are safe?"

Although he was born in troubled times, both Zhao Jiahe and An Guogong's mansion are enough to support Ji Chongyan.In addition, he is the only nephew of the emperor, so he is very sacred. In all fairness, Jiang Shaoyan thinks that even if Ji Chongyan grows into Ji Chonghuan's temperament of "not eating the sufferings of the world", it is not surprising.But the fact is just the opposite. He was born rich and honored, but he is prepared for danger when he is in peace, and understands the sufferings of the world.Jiang Shaoyan was a little puzzled, and what was even more puzzled was his early deployment of Jiangnan Road.

Although it seems that his layout played a vital role at this time, why did he do these things at that time?

Ji Chongyan didn't retreat from the girl's curiosity, but just paused, and said: "I have doubts in my heart, and I always feel that there is an undercurrent surging under the appearance of wealth."

Jiang Shaoyan was even more surprised when she heard this.

Ji Chongyan smiled, and said, "Miss Jiang Si, if it were you, how would you choose?"

"I was born with a noble family, with good food and clothing, but I have to let it go. I can't refuse to do things I don't like, even if it touches my own limit. Miss Jiang Si, would you be willing to be a rich idiot?"

Ji Chongyan's voice resounded faintly in her ears, and Jiang Shaoyan, who was holding the handle of the cattail fan, froze. She raised her eyes and looked at the person in front of her through the window, but her eyes were blank, as if she was looking at her, but also seemed to be looking at her. But he saw someone else.

Miss Jiang was born with a noble family, well-fed and well-fed, how enviable is that in the eyes of outsiders?Gold, silver, jewellery, as long as she likes them, she can be presented in front of her just by opening her mouth; apart from foreign objects, she also has an enviable appearance. She wrote poems and lyrics to express her sincere feelings. As long as she likes it, any talented person in Chang'an City is willing to bow down under her pomegranate skirt.

This kind of life is enviable. The sisters Dali and Xiaoli looked at her with deep jealousy.

It's just that Miss Jiang couldn't even choose who to marry. The tyrant ordered her to be forced into a bridal sedan chair, and finally died at the gate of Yongding.

Such a wealthy idiot doesn't know tomorrow, she...wouldn't want to do it.

The young man standing by the window looked lonely and determined: "Everything I have now comes from my grandfather and from Your Majesty. I have to figure out the cause of wealth."

An Guogong and his grandparents have a deep love for him. He is the eldest grandson. Among the two generations of men in the family, there is no one who is more accomplished than him. It is not surprising that An Guogong is willing to hand over the huge Duke's mansion to him.What about Your Majesty?What else is there besides the deep affection for my nephew and uncle?
It wasn't until this moment that Jiang Shaoyan suddenly realized that Ji Chongyan's situation in front of her was very similar to her previous life, but at that time she was always thinking of going back, wandering in the world, unwilling to take root for a long time, letting it go, which caused such a situation. However, today's Ji Chongyan is different. He has taken root here since the beginning, so he naturally started to prepare early.

This is indeed far better than her previous life.

"I understand." The girl lowered her eyes, paused, raised her eyes again, and looked at the person in front of her with gentle eyes, "I think... Prince Ji will definitely get what he wants!"

The girl looked at her very softly, Ji Chongyan smiled, and moved his lips, wanting to say "If I have you as my companion...", but he was still a little afraid of scaring her.

Forget it, right now is really not the time to talk about these things. The matter of Jiangnan Dao is not over yet, what is the matter of the Holy Taoism and Yang Yan's matter is not clear, standing by his side is very likely to become that target.

Ji Chongyan, Jiang Shaoyan and others had a great time eating at the evening meal on the day of the winter solstice, but not everyone can enjoy it like this.

The porcelain pots and bowls that were eaten in the Yang family's mansion were thrown into a mess.

The two masters in the house, Dali and Mrs. Yang, turned their faces and left, leaving Xiu'er and others to clean up the mess all over the floor.

The reason for throwing face is a dish - braised lamb.

Mrs. Yang doesn't eat mutton, and when she smells the smell of mutton, she will feel sick and want to vomit, but Dali is completely different. She suffered a lot, and she didn't feel better until she went to Chang'an and Jiang's house.

This dish of braised mutton was the first meal she ate when she arrived at the Jiang family mansion. At that time, this dish was eaten by the nobles, so Dali preferred this dish.

There are not many vendors selling cattle and sheep here in Jiangnan Road. Recently, a few barbarians have come to Jiangnan Road to sell cattle and sheep. The cattle and sheep that have been slaughtered are considered "good" in the eyes of the buyers. After that, she immediately came back to report to Dali.

When Dali, who was in love with the scene, heard this, she immediately made a decision and asked someone to buy it back.

So on the Winter Solstice Festival, a dish of braised mutton was placed in the center. Mrs. Yang turned her face when she saw it. Without Yang Yan and others, coupled with the old grievance of a headache and hidden illness, Mrs. Yang thought it would be too difficult. He turned his face when he didn't want to, dropped the plate and left.

Things are not going well for Dali these days, the old bustard of Huayuelou is like a cockroach that can't be killed, she managed to get in with great difficulty, and met Amnesty in a blink of an eye.Immediately, she was going to dig a hole elsewhere, but before the hole could be dug, the Liang family father and son were arrested, and a scandal broke out.

Everything went wrong and Dali dropped countless plates. Recently, this "touching the scene" is the only thing that makes her feel a little happy. She didn't know that Mrs. Yang lifted the table when the dishes were served.

Dali, who had been smoldering with anger for a few days, finally couldn't hold back and also lost her temper. Yang Yan was not here at this time, so she lost all scruples and turned her head back to the yard.

In the past few months, everything has not been going well, but Mrs. Yang has been peaceful for 20 years, and at this time she suddenly started to be restless.

After returning to the yard and dropping a shelf of porcelain vases, Dali finally calmed down.

After sitting in the room for a while, Dali suddenly sneered and said, "Come here!"

Husband is far away in Chang'an now, Jiangnan Road is in a mess again, where does she have the time to "take care" of the old lady?I had to let her stay in the Yang family's ancestral house and not go out.

It's just that the identity of the old lady is there, and before doing anything, she has to send a letter to Chang'an to ask her husband's opinion.Dali thought.

　"Today's wontons are shaped like a crescent moon, and the world eats them all.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)