my grandmother

Chapter 281 The plain land and blue clouds
Pingjiang City.

In April, the monks celebrated summer and held the Shurangama Dharma Assembly. The Shurangama Dharma Assembly in Pingjiang City was the grandest in Hanshan Temple.

During the Shurangama Dharma Assembly, monks changed halls every three days to recite the Shurangama Sutra and mantras. Men and women from Pingjiang City flocked to the temple to offer incense and pray for peace in the coming summer.

During the three days when the monks chanted in the Main Hall, according to unwritten rules, on the first day, the officials of Pingjiang City, led by Fu Yin, had to go to the temple to listen to a sutra. If they were sincere, Pingjiang City would definitely be able to do this this summer. safe and sound.

When we move to the Guanyin Hall, it's time for the women of Pingjiang City to pray for the safety of their family.

On the first day when the monks of Hanshan Temple went to Guanyin Hall to chant sutras, the prominent women in Pingjiang City, led by the 78-year-old wife of the Lu family, gathered at Hanshan Temple to listen to sutras and pray for blessings.

There were two large cars parked next to a teahouse in front of the mountain gate of Hanshan Temple.

Sister-in-law Yin stretched her head out of the car and listened carefully to the goings on in the temple.

The hum of chanting stopped, and a clear sound of bells and chimes sounded.

"Okay, okay! It's time!" Sister-in-law Yin shouted to Li Jinzhu and Li Yuzhu, who were sitting behind her and listening with their ears, and jumped out of the car neatly.

Li Jinzhu and Li Yuzhu got out of the car. The three of them straightened their clothes and looked at each other again.

Sister-in-law Yin took a deep breath, looked at Li Jinzhu and Li Yuzhu who looked nervous, and signaled to them, "Take a breath, hold it, don't be afraid."

"Otherwise, I..." Before Li Yuzhu could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by Sister-in-law Yin: "They are all nobles from Pingjiang City. Even those sitting at the bottom, there is no way for us to talk to each other. , now, let’s take advantage of this opportunity to take advantage of A-nan’s golden face. But if you two sisters can borrow A-nan’s golden face, I will be too far away! Alas, I would rather think about myself When I go in, aren't I afraid that people will beat me out?"

"Don't be afraid! The worst is, if you are kicked out, what else can you do?" Li Jinzhu patted Li Yuzhu hard.

Li Yuzhu took a deep breath, gritted his teeth and said, "Okay! Let's go!"

Sister-in-law Yin waved to the four hired women, took out four large bundles from the car and handed them to them.

Li Jinzhu took a breath and walked towards the mountain gate. Sister-in-law Yin pushed Li Yuzhu, and Li Yuzhu hurriedly followed Li Jinzhu.

In Hanshan Temple, a long section of sutras and mantras ended, and the female family members stood up, walked around and talked. It was a lively time.

The housekeeper smiled along the way, walking quickly but not in a hurry. She walked to the old lady of the Lu family and leaned over to report: "Old lady, the two girls from the Li family on Academy Street are here, as well as their shopkeeper Yin."

"Huh?" The old lady was surprised and surprised.

The stewardess met the old lady's surprised look and nodded hurriedly to show that it was indeed those two people.

"I brought a lot of things. Are you here to worship the Three Treasures?" the housekeeper guessed.

The old lady pushed away the housekeeper and looked at her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Huang, who was paying attention to her and the housekeeper. "The two Miss Lis from Shuyuan Street are here. You don't have to go. Let Brother Huan's daughter-in-law go. You can keep an eye on her." .”

"I'm going to explain something." Mrs. Huang stood up.

"You also come over and watch." The old lady told the housekeeper.

Sister-in-law Yin mustered up all her courage and walked in the front. Li Jinzhu gritted her teeth and held her breath and followed closely beside Sister-in-law Yin. Li Yuzhu stared at the eldest sister without missing a step. The three of them used all their courage and boldly walked through the mountain gate. After a few steps, They saw a young daughter-in-law walking towards them quickly, followed by a group of women and girls.

Sister-in-law Yin paused and looked at Li Jinzhu subconsciously.

Li Jinzhu held his breath nervously. Is he here to drive them out?
After about ten steps away, the young daughter-in-law quickly bowed her knees and said with a smile, "Is this Aunt Li?"

Li Jinzhu didn't react, and neither did Sister-in-law Yin.

"This is the second wife, you must be the shopkeeper Yin." The young daughter-in-law bowed her knees very quickly, then walked a few steps faster, arrived in front of the three of them, and blessed her again.

"Yes, this is our second wife, my surname is Yin." Sister-in-law Yin was the first to react and quickly bowed in return.

"This is my second sister, my surname is Li, I...you?" Li Jinzhu and Sister-in-law Yin kneeled down almost at the same time.

"My surname is Lu, my mother-in-law's surname is Lu, and my maiden name is Wang. It was our old lady who heard that Aunt Li was coming and asked me to come over to greet her." The Lu Wang family was as nervous as the Li sisters and Yin Three sisters-in-law.

"Our old lady is very happy to hear that you are here. Please come here, three of you." The stewardess hurriedly answered.

"It's very presumptuous..." Sister-in-law Yin hurriedly said politely.

"That's very presumptuous!" Li Jinzhu hurriedly followed suit.

"I took the liberty." Mrs. Lu hurriedly bowed and was polite.

"Our old lady is over there. If you don't mind, you three, please come over here." The housekeeper was also a little confused when Mrs. Lu and Wang took her.

"I'm bothering you, old lady. I'm bothering you all." Sister-in-law Yin kept bending her knees out of politeness and not being surprised by the crowd.

Li Jinzhu followed Sister-in-law Yin, and Li Yuzhu followed Li Jinzhu. The three of them stood up and knelt down non-stop.

Seeing the three people curtsying in front of her, the housekeeper was startled. Fortunately, the mother-in-law was well-informed and knew that the three people were too busy and confused, so she should just pretend they didn't see them at the moment.

The housekeeper got in front of Mrs. Lu, who was also a little confused and busy. She leaned over and said with a smile, "You three, please come over here."

The housekeeper led the way, Sister-in-law Yin pushed Li Jinzhu, Li Yuzhu followed Sister-in-law Yin, and Mrs. Lu followed behind Li Yuzhu. The five of them all walked very quickly, passing through the people who stared at each other in surprise, and headed towards the old lady of the Lu family. Enter a quiet room.

........................

The next day, Li Xiaonan received a pile of letters urgently delivered to Beijing from Pingjiang City.

Li Xiaonan first picked out the letter from her eldest sister.

The letter was handwritten by the eldest sister, and the handwriting is not as good as that of a primary school student who has just entered school. It is all in common words, and there are many typos.

The eldest sister only said one thing in this long letter: She, Yuzhu, and Sister-in-law Yin felt that at the Shurangama Dharma gathering in Hanshan Temple, most of the female relatives of wealthy families in Pingjiang City were present, and they wanted to go to the Shurangama Dharma gathering. Every female family member will be given a fine silk cotton summer quilt to open up the market for fine cloth quilts.

But they didn't expect that from the moment they entered the mountain gate, they became honored guests. The old lady of the Lu family personally introduced her and Yuzhu to the female relatives of each family. The summer quilts were all sent out, but on the same day, they received the summer quilts from each family. Return gift.

She and Yuzhu stayed up all night. After much deliberation, they realized that they had made a mistake in this matter, but now that it was over, they could only write a letter to tell A'nan quickly.

Li Xiaonan sighed. She could imagine the panic and anxiety of the eldest sister and the second sister.If she really wants to marry into Prince Rui's palace, those families in Pingjiang City, including the Lu family, which has been famous for centuries in poetry and calligraphy, have to think of ways to make friends with her eldest sister and second sister. Now, her eldest sister and second sister have given them to her. Door……

Li Xiaonan put down the letter, picked through it, and picked up the one from Mrs. Hong.

Old Mrs. Hong’s letter contained another letter, written by Mr. Hong’s daughter-in-law, a scholar. From her sight, she told how Sister Li Jinzhu and Sister-in-law Yin went to Hanshan Temple for the Dharma Assembly. Between the lines, there was a deep affection for Sister Li Jinzhu, a countryman. Contempt and dissatisfaction that are not on the table.

Mr. Hong's letter was not long. He first said that his niece-in-law was an ignorant woman and asked Grandma not to argue with her. Then he said that the reason why he handed this letter to Li Xiaonan was to let Li Xiaonan know about it. On the other hand, after all, all the female relatives in Pingjiang City are basically ignorant women like his niece-in-law.

Li Xiaonan put down the letter from Mrs. Hong, and then opened the letter signed to the Lu family in Kunshan.

The letter was signed by the old lady of the Lu family, but Li Xiaonan squinted at the letter with extremely beautiful handwriting and beautiful diction. This letter was definitely not written by the old lady. The person who wrote this letter was talented. Zongheng, full of enthusiasm, must be a young and talented person from their Lu family.

The old lady of the Lu family began the letter by praising Li Jinzhu's business for the country and the people, then reviewed her own business, and finally expressed her full support.

Li Xiaonan folded the letter and put it back, then read several other letters.

After reading all the letters, Li Xiaonan picked out the one from the Lu family and called Awu to ask her to send the letter to Mr. Zhou and ask Mr. Zhou to write a reply for her.

"Which Mr. Zhou? Which one is next to the prince? Then you might as well give it to the prince directly!" Awu put the letter away.

Li Xiaonan ignored her and waved her hand to hurry up.

"Is everything okay?" Wan Qing bent down and took a closer look at Li Xiaonan's expression.

"It's okay." Li Xiaonan patted the pile of letters.

Wan Qing looked from Li Xiaonan to the pile of letters, picked up a pony and sat down next to Li Xiaonan.

"Looking at you like this, I knew something was wrong. You didn't say it because you knew it would be useless to tell me. Oh, you see, this is your problem. If something happens, there is no one who can discuss it, and there is no one who can talk to me. No one spoke.

"Mrs. Shi and others will not be like this. We...it's not us, it's from their palace. I used to often hear Shiliu say that their eldest aunt came to their princess to complain again, and their second aunt's grandmother came to the princess for advice again. The three of them Why is my aunt like this? Alas!" Wan Qing sighed and looked at Li Xiaonan with a worried look. "Have you ever heard of the Pingjiang Lu family?" Li Xiaonan glanced sideways at Wan Qing.

"Of course! The poetry and calligraphy family has a long heritage. In terms of heritage, even the Wei family cannot compare with them." Wan Qing glanced at Li Xiaonan, which was dissatisfied with Li Xiaonan's abrupt change of topic.

"The eldest sister wrote a letter saying that the Lu family was very polite to her and the second sister." Li Xiaonan patted the pile of letters.

"Yo!" Wan Qing curled her lips and said "Yo", then immediately laughed, leaned forward with a gossipy face: "They are a century-old, hundreds of years old clan, the longer they are inherited, the more they meet the wind messenger. Helmsman, you have a very sharp eyelid! Shi Gun said this, Shi Gun said he listened to us...wrong again, listened to their prince, by the way, the original words were: The best at judging the situation."

"That's true. If you don't know how to steer by the wind, the boat will capsize long ago." Li Xiaonan brought the letter to Wan Qing, "On this matter, you see, I can tell you."

Wan Qing looked at Li Xiaonan for a moment, then sat upright, "It's my fault, you have no way out, I shouldn't have said such things. Don't worry, whether I understand it or not, I can at least listen. No matter what you say to me, I...I mean, whether I can understand it or not, I...it doesn't mean, I mean, no matter what, I will follow you, even if I die, I will die with you."

Li Xiaonan was thrown back by Wan Qing's last word "death".

........................

In the evening, Shi Gun came over and sent a message: Li Xiaonan is invited to visit Zhangjiayuanzi.

When Li Xiaonan and Wan Qing entered Zhangjiayuan's house, Gu Yan had already arrived.

Gu Yan watched Li Xiaonan enter the room, stretched out his folding fan and touched the plain silk half-armor Li Xiaonan was wearing, and said with a smile: "It still looks good in this."

Li Xiaonan said nothing and walked around Gu Yan into the house.

Gu Yan turned around and followed Li Xiaonan. He watched Li Xiaonan sit down at the table and stretched out his head to look at the box placed in the middle of the table. Gu Yan took a step forward, stretched out his folding fan in front of Li Xiaonan, and told the boy: "Take this away." !”

Li Xiaonan retracted her head angrily, "I just want to take a look! Wan Qing said that Zhangjiayuanzi is the most expensive restaurant in Jiangle City, I just want to see what's inside!"

"They are all inedible." Gu Yan replied rudely, opened the box on the high table next to him, took out a bright yellow peony, and handed it to Li Xiaonan.

"What did you say you shouldn't spend, is this it?" Gu Yan asked.

Li Xiaonan took the flower and thought about the weight, "Is this gold? Is it pure?"

"What is pure or not? Gold? Pure gold!" Gu Yan replied angrily.

"That's not what I meant. The flowers I'm talking about are not flowers like this. They are flowers, the kind of flowers cut from living flowers and plants growing in the soil, not this." Li Xiaonan looked at the red gold peonies that were heavy on her hands.

Of course this is much better than flowers.

"It's unlucky to have things like flowers that are easy to scatter and perish." Gu Yan sat across from Li Xiaonan and told Shi Gun: "Let's serve."

Li Xiaonan concentrated on eating, while Gu Yan watched and ate.

After dinner, tea was served again. Gu Yan picked up the tea and couldn't tell whether it was admiration or a speechless sigh, "You are alone in Jianle City, alone and helpless, with an uncertain future. I didn't expect you to be able to eat and drink with such peace of mind. "

"First, I am not alone. I have Uncle Datang, Master Hong, Wan Qing, Yu Ting and A Wu. Second, with you, how can I call it uncertain?" Li Xiaonan was serious.

Gu Yan was stunned for a moment, then laughed out loud, "I was wrong."

What she said was absolutely true. He was responsible for the future, so she had nothing to worry about.

"Let's talk about some business first." Gu Yan smiled and said, "You did a great job in sending me the letter from the Lu family, as it should be. Zhou Chennian had an affair with Lu Wenheng, the third son of the old lady of the Lu family. After we met a few times, I asked Zhou Chennian to write a letter to Lu Wenheng, firstly to reply to the letter from the old lady of the Lu family for you, and secondly, just to see what the Lu family's attitude is regarding the Customs and Excise Department."

Li Xiaonan listened carefully and nodded.

The letter from the old lady of the Lu family was obviously not written to her, or it could be said that the old lady of the Lu family used that letter to test the possibility of her marrying into Prince Rui's palace.She saw this clearly.

Gu Yan looked at Li Xiaonan and continued: "The second thing is, write a letter to your eldest sister and ask her to consult shopkeeper He more about business matters. She is no longer her former identity. She will go to Hanshan Temple in person. This is very inappropriate for a large piece of muslin."

Li Xiaonan hummed.

Seeing that Li Xiaonan's expression remained unchanged, Gu Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and then said with a smile: "The third thing is the Dragon Boat Festival in the south of the Yangtze River. Before the Dragon Boat Festival, it is customary to have several drinks with fellow villagers in the guild hall. Mr. Dongxi wants to take advantage of this to hold a few events Wen Hui, I plan to ask you to give a lecture on style, and please handle your matter with Zhou Chennian, and I agreed on your behalf."

In the last sentence, Gu Yan looked at Li Xiaonan and his voice rose slightly at the end.

Li Xiaonan nodded hurriedly.

"I asked Zhou Chennian and Mr. Dong Xi to say: I want to use this to make you famous, and use your high status to help you marry into the prince's palace. In this way, I will arrange for some scholars to come over, so Mr. Dong Xi will not be suspicious. "Gu Yan continued.

"Just talk about Gezhi? How to talk about it? So that they can understand it, or so that they can't understand it?" Li Xiaonan asked.

Gu Yan couldn't help but laugh, "You have to let them understand a little bit, just leave some who don't understand, otherwise it will be like playing the piano to a cow."

"Okay!" Li Xiaonan agreed and sighed again, "It's easy to make them not understand, but it's quite difficult to make them understand."

Gu Yan glanced sideways at her for a moment, and then continued: "Dong Xi's literary meeting is to conquer you and promote his own name. Zhou Chennian said that Dong Xi is already suspicious of him, and I'm afraid there won't be any specific arrangements for the literary meeting. Let him know."

Li Xiaonan looked at Gu Yan, waiting for him to continue.

"Zhou Chennian is a little worried, I think~" Gu Yan drawled slightly and said with a smile: "You can just act according to the situation when the time comes. I don't think Dong Xi can conquer you."

"What if?" Li Xiaonan was not so confident.

What if Dongxi is as eloquent as Su Qin and Zhang Yi?
"I have arrangements, and I'm not asking you to attend the meeting alone." Gu Yan said.

"That's good." Li Xiaonan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is there anything going on over there, Mrs. Shi?" Gu Yan suddenly changed the subject.

"Huh?" Li Xiaonan looked at Gu Yan.

"You stayed at Mrs. Shi's place for a whole day. Mrs. Shi and her mother-in-law left the city early the next morning. In the afternoon, Mrs. Pan Er, Mrs. Shi's second aunt, went to the palace to talk to her." Gu Yan tilted his head at Li Xiaonan.

"What do you want to say?" Li Xiaonan didn't understand.

"What do you have to say to her? What did you do all day long? What did you say?" Gu Yan simply asked directly.

"I didn't talk about you. She and I get along very well. Can't I go talk to her? Is it bad for her or me?" Li Xiaonan asked.

"It's not that it's good or not, it's that it's inappropriate. She was engaged to me before, and you don't know about it." Gu Yan was a little angry.

He didn't ask them what they meant when they said he didn't, and when she opened her mouth, she said she didn't!
"She has no idea about you now. If there's nothing wrong with her, I'll go see her tomorrow." Li Xiaonan leaned back on the chair and looked at Gu Yan.

Mrs. Shi's mother-in-law came over early in the morning, was she going to scold her?Second Mrs. Pan went to the palace to apologize?Where did Mrs. Shi go wrong?She had to go take a look and ask.

"Aren't you afraid that she will trick you? Are you more thoughtful than her?" Gu Yan stretched out his hand in front of Li Xiaonan and slapped the table.

After a moment of silence, Li Xiaonan replied: "I can handle it."

"Alas!" Gu Yan sighed in annoyance, "You can go if you want. It's okay. Don't worry, I'm here."

"She was talking to me about the affairs of each family, who had issues with whom at what time, who had helped whom, and whose family had a life-and-death feud with whom. I'm not stupid, don't worry." Li Xiaonan looked at her. Gu Yan said.

"You can't believe everything she says." Gu Yan smiled.

Li Xiaonan nodded.

"It's getting late." Gu Yan glanced at the already falling dusk and stood up reluctantly, "When you and I meet, no matter how many people know about it, it shouldn't be too late. It's not good for you. I Let Shigun take you back."

"Okay." Li Xiaonan agreed and went to get the red gold peony. Gu Yan was one step ahead of her, picked up the peony and motioned to the boy to put it in the box.

Wan Qing took the box and hugged it, followed Li Xiaonan with a low eyebrow, left Zhangjiayuan and got into the car.

(End of this chapter)