Yutai Bi

Chapter 144 Invitation
The shopkeeper panicked all of a sudden, and hurriedly knocked down the door panel.

"What happened in the store? Why did you hear a woman crying?"

"Ah, it must be a black shop that abducts single women to buy clothes!"

A hot-blooded young man stepped forward and stopped the shopkeeper: "Why are there women crying in your store? Seeing that you are acting in a panic, you must have done something black-hearted, right?"

The shopkeeper called out to Zhuang Tianqu: "The conscience of heaven and earth! The little old man has opened the shop here for a year or two, how can he do anything bad! The owner of the shop is doing housework, everyone, please go away!"

Suddenly there was a scream from inside, and a woman with disheveled hair rushed out, shouting: "Help! Help!"

Everyone was taken aback.

Cen Sanniang could see it clearly from upstairs, but it wasn't Qiniang.Not to mention her hair in a messy bun, the gauze she wore slipped off, revealing half of her snow-white shoulders, and her belt was pulled loose, she was in a mess.Cen Sanniang stood up abruptly.

At this time, several women rushed out of the backyard, shouting: "Stop her!"

Before Cen Qiniang reached the door, she was pinned down by the wives twisting their hands and covering their mouths.

There was a clever woman, seeing the crowds outside the store, she reached out and took a ready-made cloak from the store, and covered her head and body with Qiniang.Several people lifted Qiniang and left.You can faintly see Qiniang writhing non-stop.

"Everyone, it has nothing to do with anyone else to catch a fugitive slave in my family. Please let me go!" Panting heavily, she smoothed her hair and said calmly.

A group of strong and powerful women and well-dressed servants, the people who watched the excitement knew at a glance that they were working from a rich family.There was a passionate young man who refused to give way, and said loudly: "At the feet of the emperor, how do you know if the little lady you captured is from a good family? Which family do you belong to?"

The woman was not afraid, she took a step forward and said seriously: "We are the family members of Cen Shilang's residence in Yongle Square. If this strong man wants to fight against injustice, he has to see what it is!"

She said, throwing a wink.The mother-in-law and the boys carried Qiniang into the carriage.He left in a flash.

Hearing that the woman dared to report the location of the mansion, everyone knew that it must be close, and dispersed one after another.

The shopkeeper held on to the half of the door panel, was in a daze, lost in the mood to do business, and slowly put up a sign saying "Closed business today", intending to close the door.

Seeing this, Cen Sanniang could only sigh deeply, paid the bill, and walked downstairs.

"Mrs. Du!" The shopkeeper recognized Cen Sanniang, his eyes lit up, and he stepped aside.

At this time, he saw the three maidservants following Cen Sanniang, recognized Feng Chun and Nuan Dong, and couldn't help being startled.

"The shopkeeper, it was my seventh cousin before. I didn't want to let her bump into me, so I had to send a little girl to listen to the news. Don't be surprised." Cen Sanniang explained.

The shopkeeper smiled wryly, "It would be great if Mrs. Du was here, alas!"

He raised the curtain leading to the backyard, with a sad face: "My boss is in the backyard, please persuade him."

What happened?Cen Sanniang's heart skipped a beat, and she said to the third maidservant, "You stay here. Shopkeeper, greet them."

She hurried into the backyard, only to see that the door of the side room was wide open, Fang Ming was sitting at the table with an ugly face, and he didn't even realize that the kerchief with his hair bun fell on the ground.

"Brother Fang Qi!" Cen Sanniang called out to him from the door.

Fang Ming raised his head bluntly, trying to smile at her, but couldn't.Looking down at her turban, she reached out and picked it up: "Sanniang, are you here?"

Cen Sanniang entered the room and sat opposite him.

"Qiniang really..." Fang Ming pursed his lips tightly when he said this.

Fang Ming's face became rounder.His skin was fair, and when he pursed his lips at this moment, two lumps of flesh protruded from his cheeks, he was angry but a little more cute.

"What's wrong with her? Brother Fang Qi, you can tell me if you have any difficulties, so that I can help you." Cen Sanniang thought about various situations, thinking that Qiniang would not come in so aggressively and throw Fang Ming at him. Are you there?
Fang Ming thought for a while and said, "San Niang, let me change my clothes."

He went out into the side room, changed into a jade-blue silk shirt after a while, and re-tied his head scarf.When I came back, my mood had calmed down a lot.

"Sanniang, let me just say it straight. I really don't know when Qiniang came to Chang'an, and I didn't make an appointment to elope with her." Fang Ming was obviously very angry when he said this, and he punched the table hard. superior.

Cen Sanniang tried to complete the matter: "Qiniang found you and talked for a while, and people from my second uncle's family rushed in, right? I misunderstood that you wanted to seduce Qiniang to elope?"

Fang Ming said angrily: "How can you not misunderstand? Your Qiniang grabbed me when she heard the sound..."

He turned his head away, and when he calmed down, he said again: "The woman persuaded Qiniang to go back with her, but Qiniang would not let go of me. The woman said, knowing the friendship between Fang Cen's family, please let me go. I have to go to the servant's mansion. They took Qiniang back first. They came to pull her, but Qiniang broke free and ran out."

He glanced at Cen Sanniang and said: "You came by such a coincidence, could it be that you saw Qiniang coming in before you came in and hid?"

Cen Sanniang smiled wryly: "What else can I do? The last time she came to the Duke's Mansion, she pestered me to ask for your address. How can I let her know that we are doing business together?"

"You've seen everything behind." Fang Ming said angrily.

"Qiniang said that her cousin arranged a marriage for her, and she was dissatisfied. She came to Chang'an secretly." Cen Sanniang was afraid that Fang Ming would not know.

"I know, she started crying when she came in and saw me, saying she didn't want to." Fang Ming sighed a long time and stood up, "San Niang, I'm going to the Minister's Mansion right away. If you don't make it clear, I'm really in trouble."

Cen Sanniang got up and smiled and said, "Aren't you unmarried? Qiniang has a deep affection for you, and the two families know each other well, so you can follow suit."

Fang Ming looked at her obliquely, and snorted: "My family has many brothers, and my father is not in a hurry. What the hell are you doing! Let's go!"

The two broke up at the door, and Cen Sanniang told Fang Ming to deliver a letter to Ah Fu if she needed her help.

Fang Ming agreed.

Cen Sanniang got into the carriage and went back home, thinking she would make a special trip, but in the end she and Fang Ming couldn't agree on a single thing.I don't know when it will be the next time I leave the house.

After returning to the mansion, I first went to the Zhengqi Hall to speak to the old lady.I went to look at Mrs. Zhang again.When we got back to the yard, there was no sign yet.She was about to take a break when Hei Qi came again.

Cen Sanniang forced herself to go out.

This time, Hei Qi didn't drive away the girl beside her, but told her briefly: "The young lady and the second girl are going to see peonies in Suiyuan tomorrow, and Hei Qi will drive."

Enjoying peonies in the garden?Where is Suiyuan?Cen Sanniang had never heard of it.

Hei Qi turned around and left without even a half-word of explanation.

Cen Sanniang was so angry that she clenched her fists again.

"Young Madam, let's take your servants to open your eyes tomorrow!" Ah Qiu and Xia Chu were all happy.

Cen Sanniang looked at them both in surprise, thinking, is it a famous scenic spot that everyone in Chang'an City knows?She was embarrassed to say that she didn't know, and said slowly, "Is it so beautiful? Both of you are drooling!"

"Oh, young lady, this is the most prestigious Peony Fair in Chang'an City!" Ah Qiu said quickly.

The stable Xia Chu was also very excited: "All the valuable peonies in Chang'an City will be taken away. The leader and the queen will also be selected. Whichever family's peony is named the first, and after being sealed, the value will be bullish on the spot Several times, the main family will be invited to the table. Think about how beautiful it is! I remember that two years ago, the lady came back and said that there was a pot of Wei Zi who was ordered to be the leader. It was only worth 1000 taels of silver, but it was sold for 4000 taels. silver!"

Aqiu continued: "Yes, every year at this time, one hundred taels of silver can't buy an invitation from the owner of Suiyuan. Then the invitation of the owner of Suiyuan is only sent to his close friends and people who own famous peonies. Otherwise, Even if you are a prince, you cannot enter the garden without an invitation."

"Master Suiyuan?" Cen Sanniang thought, could it be that ugly guy from the Zou family?
He really knows how to do business, and with a trick of limited invitations and the seemingly lofty attitude of only recognizing flowers but not people, the Peony Society has become popular.

She wondered, where did Hei Qi get the invitation?Wasn't the pot of Jade Tower Diancui dug from the Princess Mansion sent to the flower farmer's house by Mr. Du for consignment?

Just as he was thinking about it, Manager Du came.After entering the door, she told Cen Sanniang pleasantly, "Young Madam is overjoyed!"

"The pot of Jade Tower Diancui caught the attention of the master of Suiyuan, and he gave our family an invitation card?" Cen Sanniang asked, blinking.

Du Xifu opened his mouth wide open: "How do you know?"

Cen Sanniang smiled mysteriously: "I know anyway."

Du Xifu didn't have time to think about the source of Cen Sanniang's news, so he uttered his suppressed surprise in one breath: "...It was originally stored at the flower farmer's house, and the asking price was 200 taels. This morning, the owner of the garden I heard the news and went to see it, and asked the florist if he would like to bring flowers to the Suiyuan Peony Fair. The florist told him that it was a consignment, and he had to ask the owner about it, so he came to ask me in a hurry. We couldn’t compete for the leader After the flowering, our pot of Jade House has green branches and big leaves. The flowers bloom more than ten times, and the blossoms are as big as the mouth of a bowl. It is also extremely rare. It will definitely be higher than the consignment price if it is auctioned at the Peony Fair. I agree immediately gone."

He took the invitation from his sleeve.

Cen Sanniang took it over and looked at it.The invitation card was made of plain white silk glued to hard paper, with an ink peony painted on it, freehand and romantic.Open it and see that it is written in a very simple way: I invite your master to go to the Suiyuan Peony Fair.There are year, month and sunset models and a seal with the owner of the garden.

(End of this chapter)