Lady Zhao

Chapter 40

Two days later, Mrs. Xipinghou arrived at Duke Dingguo's mansion, and Zhao Wenwan waited early at the entrance of the inner house. As soon as the eldest aunt saw Zhao Wenwan, she praised her first, "I heard that it was Wenwan who found your second uncle's child. He also punished the evil slave who had fled for many years in Mingxu Garden, so that Wen Xibai would not be wronged by others."

"Wen Wan was lucky, and besides, she was indeed Sister Wenxi. From the first time I saw her, I felt an indescribable intimacy when I rescued her. Wenxi has a birthmark on her chest, and Second Aunt's personal jade pendant, How can I just stand by and watch while others are just trying to wrong her." Zhao Wenwan's rare demure smile, although her words were sonorous, she couldn't laugh or cry in her heart, whoever makes her a heroine, with all kinds of halos around her, the plot will continue as soon as she appears, even if she doesn't make a move She was able to get through it safely, she just took the first chance.

Mrs. Xipinghou smiled softly, raised her arm and touched Zhao Wenwan's face. Originally, she wanted to rub her hair like she did when she was a child, but in a blink of an eye, she grew so tall. Now the second brother's child has also returned home , for some reason, her nose felt a little sore, and the corners of her eyes were filled with tears, she took a handkerchief to wipe it off.

"Auntie..."

"Your sister Wenxi suffered a lot outside, and you have grown up a lot. Now that you are both doing well, I think of your mother and your second uncle. It would be great if they were still there."

"Eldest aunt, don't be sad, there will always be a day when people will die, and the living must be good in order to be able to treat the person who loves him."

"What Wen Wan said is, look, I'm not as good at thinking as my eldest niece." Mrs. Xipinghou put away her veil, suppressed her gloomy mood just now, and changed the subject: "There is something I forgot Yes, before I came, Jingyuan was called by his father to the military camp stationed in the suburbs. I am afraid that I will not be able to come back after going there for a month. I received a letter from the old lady yesterday, and Jingyuan insisted on asking me to I sent this bow to her cousin."

As he spoke, a maid held an open lacquered wooden box and displayed it in front of Zhao Wenwan behind him. Inside lay a silvery-white carved bow, with several broken agates of colorful colors inlaid on the head of the bow, like dots of flowers. All together, very delicate.

"This is a bow made by Jingyuan himself. The craftsman inlaid it with agate. It is suitable for you girls to practice your body."

Zhao Wenwan nodded casually, and said: "Sister Xi is not in good health recently, so such an exquisite bow may only be used as a display."

Mrs. Xipinghou's eyes flickered, "Silly girl, this is for you, otherwise Auntie insisted on showing it to you first."

Zhao Wenwan was a little frightened. The heirloom bracelet last time was such a delicate bow this time, so he had to laugh twice, "Sister Xi..."

"Of course there are, there are all of them. I will accompany me to the old lady's to say hello first, and then we will go to Xi girl's and give her the gift Jingyuan prepared."

Zhao Wenwan heaved a sigh of relief. In her mind, He Jingyuan, as the male lead in the script, fell in love with Zhao Wenxi crazily. It was not an exaggeration to give a bow. She never thought that it was a gift for herself. It would be enough for him to make amends for the previous... !

As everyone knows, after Madam Xipinghou saw the bow gift that Jingyuan had prepared for Zhao Wenwan, she felt that it was a bit inappropriate not to have Zhao Wenxi, so she prepared a few others for herself.

Zhao Wenxi's relative recognition banquet is scheduled for the twentieth of this month, which is an auspicious day, and everything is suitable.All the well-known families in Beijing have received the invitations, especially those with boys of the right age, they all have a certain understanding of the intention of Dingguo Mansion to hold a banquet, and they dare not neglect the banquet in the next few days.

The arrival of Mrs. Xipinghou reassured the clueless Zhao Wenwan. Besides asking for advice on etiquette matters, Zhao Wenwan spent a lot of her own ingenuity on it, which attracted Mrs. Xipinghou's praise.

Zhao Wenwan spared no effort, in addition to showing her "goodness" to Zhao Wenxi to the outside world, it was also for herself, she listened to what the old lady said that day, and the success of this banquet was a good thing for her.

The people in the mansion who had been waiting to see her fuss had been watching her momentum for a few days and rested their minds. Apart from lamenting the hell, they could only say that Zhao Wenwan really regarded Zhao Wenxi as her own sister, which was true to her. Excellent, even the former Zhao Wenxuan couldn't compare to it.

During this period, Zhao Wenxi moved back to Jinglianyuan, and Mother Yang personally picked out a few maidservants with good hands and feet, and followed them together, thinking that Zhao Wenwan was missing King Die, and because there were too many things recently, the old lady was taken away. Qilan, the third-class maid in the courtyard, was transferred, and she still showed some closeness, but Zhao Wenxi got more benefits from her, so she couldn't take this as an issue.

Jinglianyuan, Xiaoqiao’s Linghua Tianqi octagonal table. On the table is a steamed egg custard stuffed with minced meat, a plate of salted sweet-scented osmanthus duck with purple red crispy radish, and braised beef tenderloin with red onion. Crispy Mushroom Grilled Choy Sum.Zhao Wenxi sat at the small table without moving his chopsticks, obviously he had no appetite.

Luyun just accompanied Zhao Wenxi back from Zhao Wenwan's place, and now everyone in the house said that the eldest lady loved the second lady very much, but she didn't see it, those people had never seen the cold attitude of the eldest lady towards the second lady in private , although close, but as if separated by a layer of something, with a little alienation.

Zhao Wenxi wanted to help, but Zhao Wenwan refused to come back with a few words. Luyun thought she was sad about this, so she explained, "Second Miss, the Eldest Miss has such a temper, don't make trouble with yourself because of this." Take your breath away."

"I just feel idle... I want to help." Zhao Wenxi bit her lip, saying aggrievedly.

Luyun has been with Zhao Wenxi for a long time, and now she is her personal servant girl, so she naturally loves her master a little more, so she couldn't help comforting her, "According to the servant girl, the young lady is jealous because the old lady dotes on the young lady. , don’t worry about such things. Two days will be the young lady’s glorious life, and now you can eat more to make up for it, maybe you will fall into the eyes of a noble lady on the same day, and make a good marriage!"

"What nonsense?" Zhao Wenxi blushed. She also heard the saying that the servants secretly recognized their relatives and turned them into blind dates. She secretly had a little expectation. Of course, she was most looking forward to that person.

After all, he raised his chopsticks and ate his meal in a disguised manner.Seeing this, Luyun knew that his master had a thin skin, so he stopped joking and began to prepare the things needed for the day.

When Mrs. Xu came in with her things in her hands, she happened to see Luyun gesturing to Zhao Wenxi for the jewelry she took out one by one from the mirror. The squirrel jacket with rose gold inlaid with rose red thick silk newly sent by Baoyi Pavilion reflected the girl's ruddy and bright face, but at the moment she was frowning, obviously not a good match.

"The clothes are too suitable for the girl's figure. According to the third aunt, the clothes in Baoyi Pavilion can still be supported by the girl, and they can almost be used as a living sign." Xu praised without concealment, and of course she could see a little He came on purpose, but all the servants in the room saw that the young lady was really pretty, and they all agreed after hearing the words.

"Third Aunt, don't make fun of me." Zhao Wenxi looked shy and loosened the hand holding the hem of the skirt, looking a little embarrassed.

Xu walked to her side with a smile, put the box in her hand on the shelf next to the bronze mirror, took out a ruby-studded magpie plum hairpin that was similar in color to her clothes, and stuck it in her hair. On the top of the bun, "I just said that I came by coincidence, and I was wondering if there would be anything missing here for the girl. I, as an aunt, can also help out. This box contains new jewelry from Lanyan Pavilion, which matches the girl. Good body!"

Looking at the figure reflected in the bronze mirror, Zhao Wenxi was indeed quite eye-catching, and his love was shown on his face, and he thanked Mrs. Xu, "Auntie is so kind to Wenxi."

Even the title is closer.

"Silly boy, your relationship with me is the best when your mother is around. When you were young, you still liked me to hold you. If it weren't for the middle...cough, it would be fine if you came back. Let's not talk about the past. To be honest, Auntie herself I don’t have any children, but I love you as if I were my own child. Your parents are gone, and this Jinglian Garden has been vacant for a long time and has no popularity. If you want, you can often go to my place and walk around, and you don’t need to see each other.” Xu hinted.

Zhao Wenxi narrowed his eyes, as if he touched the wound in his heart, and replied, "Auntie, I will."

Mrs. Xu took Zhao Wenxi's hand and sat down, feeling more and more that the other party's temperament is like dough, easy to knead, and she was very satisfied.The old lady couldn't find a way out, so she could only start with Zhao Wenxi. The other party was so easy to control, which was a good thing for her, and she couldn't help but have beautiful dreams.

Zhao Wenxi naturally saw the light in her eyes, but she acted obediently and had her own plans. Xu's idea, as long as the old lady disagrees, it can't be done, and regardless of whether the old lady agrees or not, she has a way to make it happen. Mrs. Xu can't count on her.Compared with when I first arrived in the mansion, my roots are still shallow, with Mrs. Xu around, I can save a lot of trouble.

The two have their own plans, and they get along more harmoniously on the surface.Thinking of spreading the word in the mansion, Mrs. Xu couldn't help reminding Zhao Wenxi, who was like a 'white lotus flower', "It's not that my aunt provoked the relationship between you and your sister, it's just that something has been in my heart for a long time. She was blinded by her appearance, and she couldn't vomit quickly."

"What's the matter, aunt?" Zhao Wenxi unconsciously corrected her expression when she saw her suddenly serious attitude, it was related to Zhao Wenwan...

"The country is easy to change and the nature is hard to change. Zhao Wenwan has never been a good person. Everyone in the house knows this, but because of the recent changes and the management of the old lady, no one dares to say more. But Auntie is still very upset." After a little hesitation, Mrs. Xu said to Zhao Wenxi and Pantuo, "At the beginning, the little milk cat that the Queen Mother rewarded, the old lady liked to tease her for a few more days, and she found out in a few days It was drowned in the lake, no one else knew about it, but I saw it with my own eyes, and the cat was hugged by Zhao Wenwan before, how cruel you say it is."

"Now that you are favored by the old lady, if she can help you hold the recognition banquet without any resentment, it is for her own reputation. You have to be careful of her."

Zhao Wenxi clutched the handkerchief tightly, seemed to be frightened by the deep meaning in her words, turned pale, and shook his head as if unwilling to believe, "Sister, she..."

"Auntie dares to talk nonsense and lie to you about such a thing!" Xu looked at her with a face full of hatred for iron and steel. To be honest, according to Zhao Wenwan's jealous mind, her generosity in Zhao Wenxi's matter was true. It was beyond her expectation, but she couldn't allow these two people to mix together, especially Zhao Wenxi was her favorite 'chess piece', so she came early and took a strong medicine.

Now, let's see how the two sisters... face and heart disagree.

The sky was dim, and Xiangzhu Garden lit candles early to illuminate the hall.On the long red sandalwood table, Zhao Wenwan sat on top of it, and made a final review of the guest list and tomorrow's matters by the oil lamp.The guests who will come to the door tomorrow are either rich or expensive, and there are also his father’s colleagues. Zhao Wenwan is afraid that something will go wrong, so he thinks back and forth about the identity of the guests and how to deal with the reception. The manager scrutinized one by one to see if there were any omissions, and he didn't settle down until the last day.

Xueyan came in with a cup of lily, wolfberry and tremella soup from the outside, and put it on the desk. Seeing the thin clothes on her body, she frowned, and took a small cloud-digging gold magenta velvet cape from the cabinet to cover her shoulders.

"Miss has been busy for several days. The old lady saw that you have lost weight, so she specially sent Mama Yang to train the slaves and Baochan, saying that she didn't take good care of you, and even sent a lot of nourishing food." Xueyan glanced Zhao Wenwan, who buried her head in the paper, moved the soup closer to her and said, "Nothing is important to you, this is what the old lady said, tomorrow is the day, you have to rest early tonight .”

The things on the table were blocked by Xue Yan with her hands, Zhao Wenwan straightened her body and glanced at the maid who became more courageous under her connivance, and grinned, to be honest, it feels really good to be cared for wholeheartedly.Zhao Wenwan stretched, picked up the white fungus soup, squinted her eyes and drank it with a smile.

These days, she didn't hear anything outside the window, and devoted herself to preparing the banquet. She said that she was not tired to lie to Zhao Wenxuan and others, and she could finally get through tomorrow.Tremella soup is sweet but not greasy, which is Zhao Wenwan's favorite taste, and it will be drained in a bowl soon.

Baochan walked in with her clothes in her arms. Seeing this scene, she curled her lips and complained deliberately, "Sure enough, Sister Xueyan is the most powerful. The slaves have been persuading me for a long time. The young lady didn't realize that there were many people in the room. No, tomorrow What to wear, I still don’t have a clue yet!”

Zhao Wenwan saw the strands of gold and white butterflies in her hands wearing a red satin narrow jacket with flowers, and couldn't help but twitched the corners of her mouth, wondering where the child's aesthetics was stimulated, it was too ostentatious! "Tomorrow's focus is not on me, just pick a comfortable and stylish one."

Xueyan smiled, and after a while, she found something Zhao Wenwan liked from the cabinet, and started to tidy it up.Baochan pursed her lips, and reluctantly picked up jewelry from the mirror in front of the dressing table to match.Zhao Wenwan felt relieved to see that the two of them cared more than her rightful owner, and was happy to be a hands-off shopkeeper.

"Miss, this looks good!" Baochan suddenly dug out a suet white jade bracelet, and excitedly held it up to her eyes.

"..." Zhao Wenwan recognized at a glance that it was the 'heirloom' given by He Jingyuan when he left last time. As Baochan shook the jade bracelet, Zhao Wenwan's heart couldn't help trembling. Jumping out again and wandering in my mind, which idiot can give away an heirloom at will?
What did He Jingyuan think...

"Miss, Miss San is here." Qilan entered the door to announce at this time, and Zhao Wenxuan's figure appeared at the door, accompanied by Sister Wan who was fragile behind her.

Baochan quickly put away the jade bracelet, probably because she was frightened by Zhao Wenwan's way of distributing money before, and was afraid that she would give away the good things again. At the end, she added, "This is a sign. The young master sent it."

Zhao Wenwan first made the corners of her eyes twitch with her sharp movements, but when she heard what she said, she felt a little showing off, and gave her an annoyed look.Little did they know that it was because Baochan had secretly been squeezed by the maids serving Zhao Wenxi and Zhao Wenxuan outside these days, and Zhao Wenwan was too busy these days to talk to her, which made those people think that Zhao Wenwan had lost her arrogance and could do nothing.

Baochan hid and didn't even glance at Zhao Wenxuan, and put it away, causing the latter's face to turn black.The more I hide it, the more I feel that it is a treasure.Zhao Wenxuan smiled softly on her face, but she was jealous in her heart. Cousin He never wanted to see Zhao Wenwan in the past, and even helped her here before. I was puzzled, and even more unhappy.

In fact, Zhao Wenxuan still had a sense of superiority caused by He Jingyuan in her heart. Even if she didn't like such a handsome man, it would be very honorable to be by her side, but why did she get mixed up with Zhao Wenwan!Obviously it belonged to her alone before!
Because of the wishful thinking in her heart, Zhao Wenxuan felt more and more disgusted with Zhao Wenwan, thinking about the purpose of coming, she still had to put on a smile and said, "Sister Wan has been busy these days for tomorrow, and she looks haggard, I can't help you." What are you doing, the only thing you are good at is making fragrances, and I specially made some spices to help my sister sleep, and it can also be used for conditioning."

After all, Zhao Wenxuan asked Chen Xiang to bring out a delicate box, and when it was opened, it was a rouge-colored incense, with a faint fragrance lingering around, which smelled very good.

"It's rumored that this bone-free incense can be removed from the bone to replace the skin. It is named for its excellent moisturizing effect. It is hard to find a fragrance in Beijing. It took me a lot of effort to make it. I feel good after using it myself. That’s why I dare to use it for my sister.”

Zhao Wenwan took the incense box from her hand with a smile, and the incense burner that Chen Xiang took along with him had to be put aside and waited.

"It's rare that my sister thinks of me so much, such a good fragrance... I should send some to Wenxi." Zhao Wenwan's eyelids drooped slightly, and a flash of ridicule flashed across her face.

"Second sister, I just sent it to my sister's place. If my sister can bring it to present the treasure, it will naturally be able to pay for her. Don't worry about it." Seeing that she was about to put it away, Zhao Wenxuan hurriedly added.

Zhao Wenwan responded with a 'huh', put down the incense box for the time being, and didn't order it right away. Zhao Wenxuan didn't dare to urge her for fear of revealing too much, and felt awkward keeping it, so she offered to leave on the grounds that she would not disturb her rest.

Xueyan sent people out, then turned back to the house, and saw Zhao Wenwan frowning, staring at the incense box thoughtfully. "Miss, is there something wrong with this incense?"

Zhao Wenwan's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden voice, and when she came back to her senses, she saw Xueyan staring at the box with serious eyes, and couldn't help but bend the corners of her mouth. "There's nothing wrong with incense, it's just that there's something wrong with the person who sent the incense."

Xueyan told her to be confused by the enigmatic statement, but Zhao Wenwan didn't give a follow-up explanation, yawned, washed up early and went to bed to rest.

The faint moonlight shone into the room through the thin bamboo curtains, and all the tables, chairs, and frames were covered with a layer of soft silver light.Zhao Wenwan was lying on the bed with his eyes open, but he didn't feel sleepy at all, instead he was radiating a strange light.

In the script, the banquet was hosted by Mrs. Ye. Zhao Wenwan wanted to make things worse, so she put laxatives in the food, but Zhao Wenxi, who was the protagonist of the day, appeared at the banquet in good condition, but a rash developed in the middle of eating, and almost scratched her skin. Seeing the seriousness of the situation, the kitchen maid immediately recruited Zhao Wenwan, and Zhao Wenwan, who had refused to admit it, was provoked to tell about the laxative, causing the banquet to break up unhappy. It made people look at the joke for no reason.

Grandmother and father were furious and disappointed, Mrs. Ye punished her, and Zhao Wenwan was fined and sent to Xishan Buddhist Temple for a month of confinement, but she still couldn't figure out how the quality of the laxative had changed.

What Zhao Wenwan didn't understand in the script, but she knew... Now that she didn't plan to die, but someone was doing it in front of her, it would be a pity not to reciprocate, Zhao Wenwan thought before going to sleep.

At noon the next day, the autumn air was crisp, with golden roofs and red walls, green trees and yellow flowers, the Dingguo Mansion was newly decorated, and it was shining brightly and festively.

The carriages stopped at the main entrance of the Duke's Mansion one after another, and those who received the posts prepared their gifts and came to the mansion. At this time, there was still an hour before the banquet, and the female relatives were led by the maids to the Nuan Pavilion. Madam has long been waiting to greet everyone.

Not long after, Mrs. Zhao entered inside with the help of Mrs. Ye. Mrs. Ye was very low-key today, and only served her mother-in-law in silence.

Gradually, there are more female guests. The wives and grandmas wearing new styles of fancy dress and brocade clothes gather together to drink tea and talk, and the young girls gather together in another part of the warm pavilion to chat and whisper. , From time to time, there will be shy laughter unique to girls.

There are all kinds of exquisite snacks and tureen bowls on the coffee table. Zhao Wenwan is sitting among them, wearing a water lotus-colored camellia gold and silver embroidered single shirt, a pleated skirt with scattered flowers and water mist, and a thin brocade makeup flower pattern of lotus color. Armor, a simple flying fairy bun, a red jade coral embellished Huasheng is inserted obliquely in the black hair, light-colored tassels fall randomly, making her appearance more beautiful and moving.

Zhao Wenxuan was wearing a peach-colored long jacket embroidered with water patterns and silver silk borders, her sleeves were full of pink peony flowers, and a few golden hairpins with strings of pearls were inserted in her hair. Yes, life and death were overwhelmed.

"This is the pearl tea that my fourth uncle brought over from Fujian and Yue. Sisters try it, and the taste seems to be more mellow than those in the capital." Zhao Wenxuan made friends with a few of them, and after a few greetings, they quickly became friends, and there was Acting like a host to treat guests, he spoke before Zhao Wenwan.

Zhao Wenwan raised the corners of his eyes lightly, and said with a playful smile, "This kind of pearl tea is not uncommon, and fourth uncle has more than that. I got some cloud tea that is rare in the market, Bao Chan, here it is." Ladies and gentlemen, don’t lose the face of our Duke’s Mansion just because some people don’t understand it, only the good ones can be sold.”

A trace of embarrassment immediately appeared on Zhao Wenxuan's face, showing a hint of displeasure. She never expected Zhao Wenwan to lose face in public like this.The girls sitting around are more or less divided into families. Seeing the situation in front of them, there is nothing they don't understand. They just hold teacups and sip carefully, talking softly occasionally, not intending to meddle in the relationship between the two of them. between.

Du Ruotong, the daughter of the Nine-Pin Imperial Academy Shizhao and Zhao Wenxuan, had the best friendship, and now she hurriedly smiled and said, "Sister Wan is considerate and thoughtful, but sister Xuan's pearl tea is indeed different in flavor, and...it's pretty good too. .”

He was just talking, but he didn't dare to look up.

At first, Zhao Wenwan only thought it looked familiar, but when he took a second glance, he remembered it, and secretly snorted, this was delivered to his door by himself, glanced at the two of them meaningfully, and slowly sipped his mouth The big tea, no more noise.

In the other room, the old lady, Mrs. Ye, and other ladies who were sitting saw the girls chattering, and they also smiled and talked about themselves.Mrs. Xu inquired about the list of people who came early in the morning, and was very fond of Fang Zimo, the eldest son of General Fang's family, and the sixth prince, named Yuxiu and became the third young master of the capital.

As early as when Mrs. Xu decided to recognize Zhao Wenxi under her name, she had already thought of her wholeheartedly. In her eyes, Fang Zimo was an excellent candidate, so she chatted with Mrs. Fang whenever she had an opportunity.Although Ye's daughter is under the age, she also has the idea of ​​making plans in advance, and Yuan Jin, according to the current situation, it would be better for Master Zhao to make a strong marriage.

At this point, the scene became more and more heated.

Mrs. Fang talked to Mrs. Xu for a while, then returned to Mrs. Zhao, with a trace of dislike for Mrs. Xu's overly attentiveness in her eyes, and she came to Mrs. Xu to find some peace and quiet.

"Mrs. Fang, if I remember correctly, Zimo should be eighteen this year. No wonder you can't handle it today." Mrs. Zhao sipped her tea and joked with a smile.

Mrs. Fang showed a wry smile, "Yeah, but she's not enlightened again. We, the elders, are heartbroken, and we won't get well."

"Which one do you like, madam?" Mrs. Zhao asked casually after thinking about it.

Mrs. Fang glanced at the girls sitting on the other side, all of them were prettier than Hua'er, but when it comes to the one she likes the most, she belongs to the middle one, but...Zhao Wenwan's previous reputation was not very good.

Mrs. Zhao noticed a thing or two from her gaze and expression, and she was not in a hurry to say anything. When the late Zhao Wenxi appeared, she dragged Mrs. Fang into the banquet together.

(End of this chapter)