Xu Xuzhi

Chapter 103
After several days of hunting was over, Feng Jiu heaved a sigh of relief, and planned to return to Brighton with Ning Zheng in the morning: During the day, she followed Ning Zheng, who was eager to tie her to his belt, to look around, ride horses, and go out in the wild. Grilled pheasants and hares, and in the evening, participated in various dinners hosted by Ning Zheng’s old friends: in addition to Kai Ziwei, the president of Jardine Matheson, Sir Thornhill, the former military attache in China, De Ning, the former consul general in Dalian, and Kelly, the commander of the fleet stationed in Asia, and so on, she is already bored.

They simply packed up and set off to exercise at the gymnasium in Sir Thornhill's estate not far away.

Although the weather is cold, the indoor sports field here is in full swing.Many men and women from all over the UK are playing badminton, tennis and volleyball, and some people are playing polo outside despite the cold.

When Feng Jiu and Ning Zheng separated and went to the women's locker room to change into their tennis clothes and entered the stadium, they looked up and saw the purple-eyed beauty standing beside Ning Zheng, with a pair of amethyst-like bright eyes glued to her, wanting to speak. His body was as sweet as peach juice.

Feng Jiu secretly sighed: In addition to the dinner a few days ago, Feng Jiu does not know how many times he has met this Dorothy in a row.Although she trusts her husband very much, there is always such a woman watching over her, and any wife can't feel good about it.Fortunately, we are leaving tomorrow.

Dorothy, who was wearing a white sports dress, also saw Feng Jiu, and came over to greet Feng Jiu lightly and delicately, "Don't hit the smiling person with your hand", Feng Jiu smiled back.

Dorothy suggested, I heard that Mrs. Ning played tennis well, how about a game?At this time, Elena and George also arrived, and just came over and heard it, and George immediately suggested that it would be better to have a women's doubles.

Dorothy paused for a moment, and said it was okay, so she went to the side and pulled a girl of eighteen or nineteen years old.

Dorothy has tried her best in the past few days, but it is a pity that this young man from mysterious China is as incomprehensible as a log, whether it is a seemingly accidental encounter, or the entanglement in the eyes, or even when passing the red wine glass. The ambiguous little finger, he would never accept the tricks, for nothing, she has an oriental face that is very attractive to her - so far, she still lacks such a man in her unfavorable love experience.

Just now, she did not give up and invited to go to the opera together tonight, but Ning Zheng flatly declined as usual.Knowing that they were leaving tomorrow morning, she felt even more blocked. Looking at the tall but beautiful wife he had just entered, she thought she had nothing but a face, and suddenly had an evil thought.

It is said that Chinese aristocratic women have bound feet since they were young and do not do sports. She saw that Mrs. Ning had no feet bound, but she was quite good at riding—this was what she had to admit—but she was reluctant to even hit a prey. If you can't exercise, then take it out on her.

Women who are accustomed to being pampered are often very unreasonable, and they will find trouble with women when they are not satisfied: women make things difficult for each other because of men, it is really ugly and embarrassing.

Elena on the side is as delicate as a hair, and Dorothy's entanglement for several days has already made her feel ill-intentioned. Of course, Feng Jiu also saw it. She patted Elena's arm gratefully, expressing that she is fine Ning Zheng and George on the side still couldn't see anything - men are always slow to the undercurrents between women - they discussed it, and after saying hello to their wife, they went to the nearby badminton court to play .

The movement begins: Bong Goo and Elena are here, of course, against Dorothy and Sylvia Spencer—the girl who was pulled over just now is a beautiful girl from the Spencer family.

Sylvia and Dorothy are still on good terms. After all, they are about the same age, and they are all relatives. Like other nobles who came here, she admires Feng Jiu and Ning Zheng, a couple from China. They are beautiful couples, so they had a very pure idea of ​​wanting to exercise together. Unexpectedly, after a few rounds, even she felt something was wrong: Is this Dorothy crazy? It's like her feud.

In the UK, sports have always been valued, and even members of the royal family are proud of their love for sports, and even several princesses are equestrian masters who are well-known in Europe.

However, Feng Jiu was not given for nothing. After a few rounds, Dorothy figured out Feng Jiu's details, and immediately put aside her contempt, changed her aggressive style of play, and instead made tricky tricks and struck steadily. I really wanted to leave some souvenirs for Feng Jiu.

Feng Jiu has always been a person who adheres to the philosophy of "If someone offends me, I will offend others", and she is not polite. Her physical fitness has always been good. Under the increasingly intense confrontation, her strength has not weakened but has become more abundant.Elena and Sylvia were gradually ignored. A woolen white tennis ball obediently flew back and forth between Dorothy and Bong Jiu at that time. They stood aside stupidly, forced to Watch as the two ladies battle it out.

Fengjiu evaded Dorothy's powerful smash several times, turned around when he saw the opportunity, and struck with all his strength. A white flower spun out from the hem of his long skirt, revealing his beautiful thigh, and he was about to fall. In the eyes of César who was standing on the sidelines watching the match at some point.

The tennis ball whizzed across the net; Dorothy wanted to dodge quickly when she saw that the situation was not good, but the ball was too fast to dodge. With a "bang", Dorothy also groaned, Hit her right arm hard.

Feng Jiu was stunned, and immediately trotted over, with an apologetic face, "Oh, sorry, sorry, what should I do? It's all my fault, this hand is not accurate."

Ning Zheng and George were playing back and forth, when they suddenly heard exclamations from the other side of the court, and a voice shouted that someone was injured; they turned their heads and saw that it was their wife's court, and they looked at each other , They threw the rackets in their hands and ran over quickly, first of all, they had to pay close attention to whether something happened to their wives.

Seeing Dorothy slumped on the ground, Sylvia was comforting her, Feng Jiu was squatting aside and repeatedly apologized, Yi Lianna smiled half-smile, Ning Zheng immediately understood that it was his wife who got into trouble, but as long as she wasn’t hurt , what else does it matter?He hurried up and pulled Feng Jiu to look up and down, still worried, he turned her around again, Feng Jiu lightly pinched his waist amusingly.

Dorothy, who was crying from pain, was helpless, what could happen to this tough Mrs. Ning?It's you who has something to do.

Only then did Ning Zheng apologize for his wife, and at this time Thornhill's family doctor also arrived, and Dorothy cried out in pain when he touched it tentatively.The doctor said seriously that he was afraid of a broken bone, so he suggested going to the hospital to take an X-ray immediately.

So Feng Jiu and Ning Zheng accompanied Dorothy all the way to the hospital not far away for an examination. Fortunately, it was only a slight bone fracture, but the surgeon dutifully put a plaster on her and said that it would not affect her tomorrow. return journey.

The couple sent her back to the Campbell family estate.When he returned to Lam Pusheng's house, César happened to be there too. He shook his head with a smile and said to Ning Zheng: "I really didn't see it. Your wife is a good tennis player and has better self-cultivation; if it was me, I couldn't stand being so obvious." Miss Campbell is too shameless, and for some reason, the ball was aimed at your wife with all her strength, and Mrs. Ning fought back out of self-defense."

Ning Zheng smiled, and thanked César for his righteous words. In fact, who in the field didn't see it clearly?After all, Dorothy's reputation was quite bad, so Mrs. Gui wanted to laugh out loud on the spot.

On the second day, the couple left Norfolk first, and before leaving, they went to find Dorothy to apologize again in person, and sent several gifts to make amends.This Dorothy is also an interesting one. After being cleaned up by Feng Jiu, she developed a good impression of this Chinese beauty. She felt that the bravery hidden under her chaste and elegant appearance was very suitable for her taste. The feeling of sympathy and sympathy.

She jokingly asked Feng Jiu to leave her address in China, and said that she would go to South Africa to visit her friends in a few days, and she didn't know when she would see her again. If she went to China in the future, she would have to bother her for a meal.

Feng Jiu is a generous person, and the matter is over, and he doesn't feel disobedient. Besides, he is a patient after all, so he simply picks up his pen and writes.It's just that she was still very naughty, and she didn't write it on the elegant letterhead with the Campbell family crest brought over by the maid. Instead, she wrote her name and her address in Shanghai in Chinese on the snow-white plaster covering Dorothy's arm. The address, said that as long as people get here, they will know where she was at that time.

Dorothy laughed, this Mrs. Ning is really a wonderful person.She looked at the beautiful and comfortable handwriting on the plaster, and the more she looked at it, the more she loved it, so that she told the doctor to be careful when removing the plaster, so as not to damage the beautiful Chinese characters like this painting.

Tonight was their last night in Norfolk, and they went to the play anyway.After coming back and washing up, the couple sat on the sofa in the guest bedroom of Sir Rampuson Manor, drinking hot tea brought by the servant.Feng Jiu grabbed the kettle and added water to dilute the original strong tea, so as not to fall asleep for a while.

From time to time outside the house, the howling of wild wolves and red foxes in the woods, and the unwilling nightingale showing off its gorgeous singing, mixed with the sound of whimpering wind, desolate and lonely, quiet and beautiful.

Feng Jiu was sitting horizontally on the sofa, flipping through a French novel absent-mindedly. His two slender legs rested casually on his lap, and then quickly stood up and stepped on his thigh. Ning Zheng couldn't stay idle after watching her Changing her posture, she laughed silently, and pinched her face: "I'm so busy with Jiuer, it's like this for a while, and that for a while."

Feng Jiu was actually thinking about the events of the past few days, feeling a bit dumbfounded, and felt that he had to make use of the topic, so he simply threw the book away, grabbed the open collar of Ning Zheng's nightgown, and slid forward viciously. , and patted his face with the other hand, "Let me tell you, if I mess with a butterfly like Dorothy in the future, I will..."

"What do you do?" Ning Zheng didn't resist, let her get angry, put his head on one side, and pressed his face to her soft palm with nostalgia, closed his eyes, then opened them again, a pair of sparkling eyes quietly He stared at her firmly.

Fengjiu's heart suddenly jumped irregularly, and then jumped again: Yes, what can I do, take a good beating and take care of it, after all, there is still a "little" for Yaya to have a younger brother and sister, but there is something in his mouth. It has always been "you don't lose if you lose", "I will... turn you into a 'man in the iron mask'."

They had just watched the stage play adapted from Alexandre Dumas's novel "The Man in the Iron Mask" tonight. Not to mention, Feng Jiu felt that "Louis XIV" who was forced to wear a mask was quite touching.

Ning Zheng pressed his right hand on the back of her head, Wei Yi pressed down hard, and the two of them fell on the couch overlapping each other. Ning Zheng murmured: "You don't want to... I can't do anything like that... Kiss you well..." The last sound disappeared between their lips gnawing on each other.

The wet and cold wind of England at night blows outside the window, and the fire in the early-rising fireplace is steady and gentle, with one or two sparks jumping out from time to time, making a "crackling" sound, reflecting the walls covered with beige wallpaper The ups and downs of the figure, the endless tenderness.

Ning Zheng has made up his mind to stay in Europe for a while, and may go to the United States with his family in midsummer next year to continue his investigation. Unexpectedly, a piece of news disrupted all plans: the Southern Fujian Incident broke out.

In late November, Jiang Jingran and Cai Xianchu, generals of the No. 19 Route Army of the Cantonese Army, joined forces with Li Renchao, one of the founders of the Kuomintang, and Chen Zhenru, one of the founders of the Kuomintang, to announce the establishment of a revolutionary government in Fujian, clearly proposing "anti-Jiang Anti-Japanese” claim.Mr. Jiang panicked. What he was most worried about was that the Nineteenth Route Army launched an initiative against the Ning Army, which hated Japanese imperialism the most and was most dissatisfied with the Nanjing government's compromise policy toward Japan. .

The "January [-]th" incident in Shanghai more than a year ago has made many Cantonese soldiers understand the nature of the Nanjing government's shrinking head and tail, not sincerely fighting the war.

At this moment, Mr. Jiang thought of Ning Zheng again. After all, Ning Zheng's panacea trait of "when the critical moment comes, just apply it wherever it works" is really irreplaceable.As a result, the words that he had not forgotten to send his elder brother Song Wencheng to persuade him to stay overseas a few months ago still lingered in his ears, and this began to send urgent telegrams one after another, urgently summoning him to return to China immediately.

After receiving the fifth telegram, Ning Zheng thought for a while, and went to find Feng Jiu.The couple closed the door and talked all afternoon in the study; early the next morning, Ning Zheng accepted an interview with a Reuters reporter who came to their apartment in Brighton, expressing that he "never belonged to any party , reunification, and national salvation, I have always only had these few things.”

Ning Zheng and Feng Jiu then took the children to the woods in the outskirts to hunt hares and grouse for a while. They had a small hunting and had a good time; early on the third day, they kissed Feng Jiu goodbye. , hugged Longsheng, and finally hugged Yaya, who looked attached to his father, and refused to let go for a long time. Then he set off to return to China, and left them enough guards and Li Yingchao and his wife to take care of their daily life.

It goes without saying that Feng Jiu and the children are reluctant to leave Ning Zheng, but it is the special agents of the Japanese Special High School who are more reluctant than them to return Ning Zheng: they stay comfortably in Europe. I had nothing else to do, and I lived a carefree life, unlike in China, where I was rewarded with various inexplicable and unpredictable ways of death by the Revolutionary Party and military spies.

Ning Zheng responded to Mr. Jiang's call to return to the country early, but it was not as Mr. Jiang thought that he would drag the Ning army to compete with the Fujian army after returning, but did not want the Ning army to be involved in a new round of domestic political disputes again.

Whether they will continue to lead the Ning army after returning home, or whether they will serve in the national government has not yet been decided, so after much deliberation, the couple decided to stay in England with Feng Jiu and Ya Ya for a while, and wait for the dust to settle. go back again.

Ning Zheng returned to Rome in early December to bid farewell to Mussolini.This increasingly arrogant Italian dictator was very concerned about Ning Zheng, a little Chinese friend, and specially arranged for the "Quintpalte" cruise ship to depart from Venice, pass through Egypt's Saidno Port, Hong Kong, and arrive in Shanghai.

When I went abroad last time, there were not many people who saw me off; but now at the end of the eight-month trip to Europe, there are as many as 5000 people who came to greet me one after another along the way: from From Hong Kong to the center of the Huangpu River, generals of the Ning army, old acquaintances and new friends, Mr. Du, the leader of the largest gang in Shanghai, representatives of Song Wencheng, and representatives of Mr. Jiang...of course there are many friends and subordinates who are sincere and loyal, such as Ji Songling and Xu Yong. Good friends are like Duanna, but there are many people who know that once he comes back, as the leader of the Ning army, he will be entrusted with important tasks by Mr. Jiang, which is why he is so enthusiastic;

There is nothing worse than this.

Leaving aside the ups and downs of Ning Zheng's return to China, Feng Jiu had already found out that she was pregnant again when Ning Zheng had been away for less than half a month and was still at sea.

Because menstruation has always been accurate, she was able to find out about pregnancy so quickly; but unlike pregnant Yaya—it didn’t feel right almost on the first day—this time the little embryo in the stomach was quiet, not in a hurry or annoyed , looks like a calm-tempered little guy, right?
She was not in a hurry to find a way to tell Ning Zheng, because she could guess his happy and troubled mood.After hunting, they went to Sweden together and visited the King of Sweden. The family liked this country very much.But now that she is pregnant, the original plan to take the children to visit other Nordic countries can only be shelved.

Since he was going to stay in England for a while, Feng Jiu had no choice but to buy some extra clothes. After all, he had to attend some inevitable banquets for Ning Zheng from time to time, so it was not a problem if there were too few jewelry.

Accompanied by Qiu Sheng, she went to the Cartier jewelry store at No. 13 Heping Street in the West District of Paris.

Inside the store, there are a group of middle-aged, plainly dressed ladies admiring jewelry. Occasionally, someone timidly asks the teller to take out the jewelry and try it on.After all, this is the main store of Cartier. The beautiful and professional tellers are well-trained, and all of them are smiling. Knowing that this group of customers will almost certainly not be able to afford it, they are still very enthusiastic to try them on one by one, and appreciate the inlaid gemstones. He explained the characteristics, and did not forget to praise the world-famous advanced craftsmanship of his shop; the ladies praised them, but they all reluctantly put down these luxurious ornaments.

They quickly noticed the two oriental beauties who came in.

The more beautiful one came in, glanced roughly at each cubicle, and then sat at a round table in their cubicle, waiting for the attentive clerk to bring her a few sets of jewelry that looked good.This beauty is a fast shopper, and within 10 minutes, she has already found two sets, but she only picked up the two necklaces and compared them in the mirror, then turned her head to ask the opinion of the female partner next to her, and the two discussed softly, He didn't try it on over and over again like others, and he just planned to buy it lightly, so he couldn't help but look envious.

Fengjiu actually noticed this group of people after he walked in, so while choosing jewelry, he listened carefully to the chats among these middle-aged women, and learned that they were a group of playmates who hadn't seen for a long time, so he asked I took this time to meet up in Paris.Seeing their intimate behavior and their expressions of no suspicion, I couldn't help but think of Melanie in Beiping, Xiuwei in the United States, Lili in Shanghai, and Lori running around all over the world, and my heart warmed up.

Fengjiu is no stranger to Cartier jewelry, because Wang Huilan, who has a lot of research on fashion, especially likes Cartier, and even borrowed it several times when she was in Paris.She often takes the large top-level gemstones she bought and asks Cartier to customize: the most famous one is the emerald green pepper flowing out of the Qing court, which she took out aggressively to "fight stones" with a wealthy Jewish businessman, and the result was a big win Its water head and color are so good that Louis Cartier, the third-generation head of Cartier, who is used to seeing top jewelry, was so impressed that he made a diamond pendant clasp by himself, and even asked others to be the same when he was working. Do not enter to prevent accidents.

The two sets of jewelry that Feng Jiu is optimistic about are made of Burmese jadeite and South African diamonds as the main materials: the first set includes a bead chain with pigeon blood ruby ​​tassels, a pigeon egg face ring, earrings and two bracelets. A very popular style; although the color of jadeite is not bad, it belongs to the warmer "golden silk green", but compared to the top-quality "blue water green" produced by Tie Baoheng, a jadeite master who stays in China and claims to be "not to buy if you don't buy it" But it's far from it, it can only be said to be quite satisfactory, which is why she wears a bracelet instead of a bracelet.

However, in a country that has no jade culture at all, it is really impossible to be picky. Besides, Fengjiu does not have the obsessions that many noble ladies have in these aspects, so I think it is enough to see it too well.

The other set is to use the platinum craft that Cartier is proud to develop by itself as the base, inlaid with South African diamonds of high purity but small carats, and made a three-layer laurel leaf set chain. There are a few drop-shaped pendants to set off the design, which is luxurious and simple. I chose this set because it is easier to match clothes.

These two sets of jewelry are expensive, but they are not as staggering as Ms. Wang Huilan's top jewelry.

Feng Jiu has never liked to wear a full set of jewelry, because it is too grand and does not match her own elegant and elegant style, and it is easy to have a sense of showing off.If the whole set of jewelry is disassembled and worn, it can be made into several styles—after the national disaster, she has become more cautious in her words and deeds, for fear that Ning Zheng's political opponents will catch him and drag him down.

Qiu Sheng is Tang Zhikai's wife now, and the husband and wife have a harmonious relationship. Tang Zhikai is a business genius and has a lot of money on the books. She arranges, so Qiu Sheng just picked out a few rare ones.

Fengjiu understood what she was thinking—this is a woman with a husband who loves her—so she didn't intend to have to pay the bill for her.

Qiu Sheng's taste has always been good, and he insisted on it again and again, and bought a platinum sapphire bracelet watch for Feng Jiu: press the small handle, and you can pop open the sapphire watch to see the time, so you don't have to go to the banquet to be boring, but still You can't be rude to wear a watch to check the time.Qiu Sheng whispered that for so many years, it was the girl who bought her expensive gifts—after the national disaster, although Fengjiu suffered a lot of losses, she still gave Qiu Sheng a large dowry, and repeatedly told her not to humble herself in front of her husband. A woman with confidence—she should also give the girl a gift.Fengjiu held Qiusheng's hand, and said inappropriately in his heart the relief and emotion of "my family has a girl who has just grown up", everything was silent.

At this moment, the door was pushed open again, and a tall and straight man walked in accompanied by a middle-aged lady. The woman had a conspicuous jaguar sapphire brooch pinned to her chest. When she saw Feng Jiu, she was shocked. The man looked surprised, immediately let go of the woman's arm, walked over quickly, and said hello politely.

At this moment, the manager of the general store also appeared, and greeted the unattractive middle-aged lady graciously.

Feng Jiu's prosopagnosia occurred again, and he didn't even know who it was.The man noticed Feng Jiu's slight confusion, and introduced himself in due course, saying that he was Ribbentrop, the German ambassador to Britain.

Although Feng Jiu doesn't remember people very much, she has a strong ability to associate. Once she knows the identity of this man, she will also remember who the woman next to him is - one of the crown prince's mistresses, Mrs. Wallis Simpson.

Judging from the manager's enthusiasm for Mrs. Simpson, she should be an important customer of Cartier.

Feng Jiu had already learned the details of the German ambassador from César, and later asked Yi Lianna and Ning Zheng, and thought to himself: These two people actually wandered to Paris, the center of the world, so blatantly. up?How can someone with good moral character be able to mix with Mrs. Simpson in this way, Feng Jiu said hello to the two indifferently.

Ribbentrop didn't want this: when he met Mrs. Ning in Norfolk that day, he was shocked by the Chinese Mrs. Ning, but it was a pity that the timing was not right, so he couldn't help but brood about it; He happened to meet a beautiful woman again, and her handsome, cold and intimidating husband was not there. Could there be a better chance than this?
As for the relationship between him and Simpson, it's all about taking what they need, there is no binding force, and there is no need to care about it at all.

He wanted to please the beautiful lady, but also wanted to show his masculinity, so he immediately generously stated that no matter what Mrs. Ning bought, he would pay for it.

In the past, he tried this trick repeatedly, after all, is there any woman in the world who doesn't love jewelry?He hadn't seen it anyway.

Fengjiu not only knew that these two people could be called working together, but also knew that diplomats from various countries were basically spies, so she winked at Qiusheng calmly.Qiu Sheng immediately got up knowingly and went to pay the bill alone.

Fengjiu took a quick glance and saw that he had already walked to his side at this time, and a group of six middle-aged wives and girlfriends sat around the round table next to the diamond jewelry counter, and noticed that all kinds of beautiful diamond jewelry were soon filled in front of them , so he showed a particularly charming smile, turned around and asked Ribbentrop, "Is it really okay to do anything?"

Ribbentrop had no experience in dating Chinese beauties, and Fengjiu's sweet and unique oriental mysterious smile made his soul flutter, and he shook his head proudly, "Of course. Looking at his appearance, Mrs. Simpson snorted disdainfully. Of course, Fengjiu's part was also included in this snort.

Feng Jiu immediately went to the wives happily, and announced to the dazed wives who saw her coming suddenly: "Ladies, you are so lucky today! Did you see that gentleman? He just said, no matter who you choose Whatever, he will pay the bill! So you can choose with confidence, and everyone applauds this gentleman's generosity!"

As he said that, he clapped regardless. The overwhelmed wives quickly regained their composure and followed Feng Jiu to applaud vigorously. This unexpected joy made them flush with excitement.

Ribbentrop turned pale, and Mrs. Simpson was very surprised at first, and then couldn't help laughing—this is the only thing I've ever seen in my life, and it's so funny.In the laughter this time, there was admiration for Feng Jiu.

Seeing that it was almost done, Feng Jiu immediately nodded goodbye to the teller who received her, Mrs. Simpson and Ribbentrop, and smiled at the ladies, followed by Qiu Sheng who had already walked to the door of the store, carrying a wrapped jewelry box. They left together, leaving behind Mrs. Simpson, who was still laughing, and Ribbentrop, who was surrounded by a group of middle-aged women and kept expressing gratitude.

Two guards outside the door followed immediately.Qiu Sheng said narrowly, "Girl, you're walking too fast, that foreign devil's face is so pretty, I haven't seen enough of it yet."

Feng Jiu walked forward without turning his head in a serious manner, and said without twitching a trace of face: "You can accept it when you see it? If you talk about it and stay here, I will not be able to hold back your girl, just Let that old pervert have a headache."

(End of this chapter)