Zhangjia Jinzhi

Chapter 73
The Jin family lived in Huaping Hutong in the south of the city, and it was only half an hour's journey from the Prime Minister's Mansion.

The carriage slowly stopped in front of the gate of the Jin Mansion, Li Taiwei asked Dafu and Huayan to help her out of the carriage.Dafu stepped forward and knocked on the door, and handed over the card again.

The young servant of the Jin family hurriedly ran into the mansion to report, and after a while, Mrs. Jin came out personally with Miss Jin Si.

"Why don't you see the four girls in the house?"

Mrs. Jin is careful, seeing Li Taiwei coming alone, she looked around on the carriage.

Li Taiwei went up to greet Mrs. Jin, greeted Jin Ling again, and said with a smile:
"My second aunt has been feeling a little uncomfortable these days, and the fourth sister is not at ease, so she guards the second aunt in the house. Tell me to sue the fourth girl and say that I will invite the fourth girl to my house some other day. Have tea."

Mrs. Jin hurriedly said:
"What is the princess talking about? The fourth lady is filial, and the second lady is really blessed!"

Li Taiwei's eyes darkened when he heard Mrs. Jin's praise of Mrs. Bai, but she responded with a smile.

"Don't stand here, princess, please come in quickly! The girls in the mansion have been waiting for you for a long time."

Jin Ling said with a smile.

Jin Ling has a delicate face, today she is wearing an indigo blue long skirt with silver thread trim, with a pomegranate pattern embroidered with silver thread around her waist, making her look as elegant and beautiful as a lotus emerging from water.

Li Taiwei praised Jin Ling a few words, which made Mrs. Jin laugh, and took her hand into the house.

Jin Yushi is a literati who is very particular about elegance. Both sides of the courtyard in the mansion are filled with golden osmanthus taller than a person. It is August, and there is a little golden color among the greenery.

Going around a corridor and passing through the vertical flower door, the vision in front of you suddenly widens.

There are several Taihu stones stacked next to a huge clear pool, and dense Polygonatum odoratum is planted on both sides. Along the stone steps, an exquisite hexagonal pavilion stands on the top, which is surrounded by mountains and water, which is really pleasant.

In the garden, several young girls were leaning against the wooden railing on the bridge, feeding the koi carp, laughing and talking.Seeing Mrs. Jin and her daughter bringing Li Taiwei into the room, they hurriedly straightened their dresses and came up to meet them.

"See Princess Chonghua."

The girls stepped forward to salute, Li Taiwei nodded, and blessed her as a return.

Jin Ling stepped forward and introduced one by one:
"This is my fifth younger sister Jin Xuan, this is my eldest cousin Zheng Lan, and my third cousin Zheng Yu, and this is Wei Wan, the legitimate daughter of Mr. Lang Zhongling Wei's mansion. The people who are here today are all from my own family. The princess is welcome. Don't be cautious."

Li Taiwei nodded, his eyes flicked across everyone's faces.

Jin Xuansheng did not look much like Mrs. Jin's mother and daughter, and her clothes were not as gorgeous as Jin Ling's. The eyes she looked at her were obviously a bit reserved, and Li Taiwei guessed that she was the concubine at home.

Li Taiwei had some impressions of Zheng Lan and Zheng Yu, the sisters. They were the daughters of Zheng Guoan, the minister of the Ministry of Industry.Zheng Guoan is a loyal minister, he is down-to-earth and hard-working, but he is a bit stubborn.

In her previous life, because of the construction of the princess mansion, she almost broke her face. The construction period of the princess mansion was delayed, and Li Taiwei had to stay in the palace temporarily.Later, Zheng Guoan offended Lu Xiao for some reason, told Lu Xiao to tidy up obediently, and hurriedly built the princess mansion all the way.

Li Taiwei withdrew his mind, and his eyes fell on Wei Wan, who was the most beautiful among them, and the corners of his eyes couldn't stop raising.

To say that this Wei Wan is amazing!

Tsk tsk Li Taiwei gave her a thumbs up from the bottom of his heart.

This girl is a good-looking girl, she was the one who gave Lu Xiao that old widower a green life in her previous life!
This is equivalent to handing her a knife with his own hands, stabbing Lu Xiao's spine fiercely!
Li Taiwei glanced at Wei Wan with great satisfaction, perhaps the light in her eyes was too bright, which made Wei Wan startled for a moment, feeling at a loss for what to do.

"Since I'm my sister, let's talk together, I'll go and see how dinner is in the kitchen."

Mrs. Jin smiled gently and said:
"I heard that Princess Chonghua loves sweets very much. There happens to be a cook in my house who is good at making sweet soup. The princess may use more later."

Li Taiwei thanked Mrs. Jin, and together with Jin Ling, they crossed the Jiuqu wooden bridge and climbed the stone steps to the gazebo.

Several exquisite pastries were laid out in the gazebo, autumn pears cut into plum blossoms, and grapes with bright grains.

Li Taiwei was sitting in the gazebo, leaning against the beauty, he could see the sea of ​​flowers in Jade Lake when he raised his eyes, and he could have a panoramic view of the mansion, all the worries he had previously felt were swept away.

"The Princess likes scented tea or Biluochun?"

Jin Ling asked with a smile.

Li Taiwei turned his face and said politely:
"I'm about the same age as Miss Jin Si, so Miss Si can just call me Miss Wei."

After saying that, he glanced at the white porcelain vase in the hand of the maid, which was filled with grains of golden osmanthus. It was really gratifying, and said:
"Is this Jingui from Fuzhong?"

Jin Ling still didn't dare to go beyond the rules, she nodded and said:

"The golden osmanthus in my house was moved from my hometown in Lingnan by my father. I'm afraid it's rare in the capital!"

"The sweet-scented osmanthus in our south of the Five Ridges is more fragrant than the other ones, especially the golden osmanthus is the best... Even if it is made into scented tea, it also adds a sweetness. Why don't you try it?"

"The fourth girl's ancestors were in Lingnan County?"

Mrs. Li raised her eyebrows slightly, and suddenly remembered that Lu Xiao had told her that day that Li Wenxiu was also from Lingnan.

Jin Ling nodded with a smile, brewed a cup of sweet-scented osmanthus tea for Li Taiwei, handed it to her, and said:
"Exactly... Speaking of which, we have a custom in Lingnan. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the osmanthus flowers are picked and dried, and made into a sachet to wear on the body. It is the best way to drive away evil spirits and avoid filth!"

Li Taiwei was holding the tea bowl, a refreshing fragrance wafted leisurely from the rising water vapor.

Li Taiwei couldn't help but praised, saying:
"My family often makes sweet-scented osmanthus sachets, so it coincides with each other."

Jin Ling shook her head and said:

"Our Lingnan sweet-scented osmanthus sachets are very particular!"

"The used sachet should not be discarded casually. It should be placed on the table to worship the Bodhisattva. After waiting for a full seven days, the sachet should be hung on the high branch in the mansion. It must not be stained with mud, and all wishes will come true."

Li Taiwei joked:

"How dare you say that? What if it gets muddy?"

Jin Ling widened her eyes and said seriously:

"That's bad luck! People in Lingnan are very particular about these things, even beggars on the roadside dare not be so careless!"

Mrs. Li smiled slightly, but nodded in agreement.

There were footsteps outside, and after a while, the curtain of the gazebo was opened, and the other girls sat down one after another after feeding the fish.

"The princess should try Sister Ling's sweet-scented osmanthus tea. This kind of good tea is rare in Beijing."

Wei Wan leaned over to Li Taiwei's side, looked at the sweet-scented osmanthus tea beside her hand, and laughed.

This girl has soft features and a very friendly smile, with a bit of the gentleness of a Jiangnan woman.

Before the words fell, Zheng Lan laughed:

"Sister Wan likes to make fun of people the most. What kind of good tea has the Princess Chonghua never drank?"

Zheng Yu also said:

"I see that Miss Xu Wan is getting greedy. Would you like to ask Miss Ling for a cup of tea?"

Everyone laughed and joked with each other a few more times.

The sisters of the Zheng family and Wei Wan are very close in words, even Jin Ling is also comparable to her sisters.

Wei Wan's father is Jin Yushi's subordinate, today's family banquet was specially organized by the Jin Mansion for Li Taiwei, and all the people who came were relatives of the family, only Wei Wan, an outsider, was involved...

Li Taiwei thought in his heart, this Wei Wan is not simple!

Just as he was lost in thought, he heard the sisters of the Zheng family say:

"Have you heard about Miss Chang Liu and the First Prince recently?"

"ah--!"

Jin Ling was making tea for Wei Wan, and the tea soup was splashed on the table and on her wrist, and a small piece was immediately burned red.

(End of this chapter)