Taohuaxi

Chapter 86
Qin Mingxu hosted a Mid-Autumn Festival family dinner.

Tete invited Cai Qingyao over and sat at the head of the table.

Zhu Xifeng and Hua Lian also came.

He held my hand in greeting.

At the dinner table, he carefully prepared dishes for Cai Qingyao and soup for me. He smiled and asked Zhu Xifeng and Hua Lian to eat the leg of lamb.

"This mutton leg was transported from the grassland by a fast horse from Hu Shang in the city. Along the way, more than ten buckets of ice were used. You can't find such fresh mutton in Yangzhou City. Xifeng, Hualian, try it quickly taste."

He is warm and thoughtful.

In front of others, he was no different from before.

But only I know how stiff his palm was when he held my hand.

He refused to look directly at the sores of that day.

The more indifferent it is, the more deeply engraved it is.

On the stage, the actors sang "Xiu Ru Ji" babblingly.

"Youth has been cheapened by the golden screen, and the hundred-year-old light has left the string. Once youth is gone, I feel twilight, and peach blossoms are like the old days. After the injustice is over, no longer linger, don't listen to the strings of the merchant women in Xunyang..."

Cai Qingyao listened to this drama, panicked and a little sad.

She followed the actor and recited from the libretto: "There is a leak in the sky in the middle of thousands of miles of Guizhou, and the house feels like a boat all day long. When the Double Ninth Festival comes, the sky also disappears, making me drunk, and I am in front of the Shujiang River outside the gate of hell."

After a while, she asked me: "Sang Yu, when will Gao'er come back?"

I said: "If I get back to my mother, it will probably be in the next few days."

She nodded.

Halfway through the meal, Xiaoyin brought a hot towel.

While everyone was wiping their faces, Cai Qingyao said to me: "Sang Yu, what happened to you and Xu'er?"

I smiled and said, "He and I are very good. Yesterday, an old Taoist from Sanqingguan came to the house to ask for help. The old Taoist said that the fetus in my belly will be a big shot in the future. Mingxu said, it doesn't matter whether the big or small person is big, as long as the child is safe. .I think so too.”

Cai Qingyao said: "Why do I feel that something is wrong with Xu'er."

After all, mother and son have been facing each other day and night for more than [-] years.

She knows him.

I lowered my head and said, "Mom, it's nothing. We had a few words. Our tongues even touched our teeth. How can a couple live their lives without bumping into each other?"

She said sadly: "Sang Yu, it is a rare fate for you to be together and become husband and wife. There are many lovers in this world who have a luxury hope of even being in the same place. If you want to quarrel, there is nowhere to do it. You He is an understanding child and should know Xu'er's feelings for you. If there are any obstacles, you have to overcome them. Cherish each other and grow old together."

I leaned over and said, "Mom is absolutely right."

Her eyes were red.

"Gao'er also doesn't want your life to be troubled again."

I hurriedly handed the veil to her: "Mother, please don't hurt her. The child knows what to do."

end of play.

The banquet broke up.

Qin Mingxu sent Cai Qingyao back to Qingyue Pavilion.

Zhu Xifeng and Hua Lian returned to Zhu Mansion.

I returned to the room and spread out "Peach Blossom Creek".

This painting, which I have been working on for many days, is finally almost finished.

In the painting, a young man in green clothes stands next to the woman in Ge Yi.The young man in green shirt has a tall and elegant figure, handsome features, elegant eyes, and a suave and unrestrained manner.The evening clouds gradually recede in the sky, and the sky becomes pale glass.The peach blossoms on each tree are blooming like a fairyland.The petals fell on the stream and floated far away.There is a flying bird on the fishing boat.

I will paint the color.

Footsteps were heard outside.

Qin Mingxu is back.

He walked to the west wing knowingly.

He has been sleeping alone in the west wing for more than ten days.

These days, he has been paying as much attention as he should and taking care of me as much as he should, but he refuses to sleep on the same bed with me.

The wind under the eaves comes and goes.The sweet-scented osmanthus in Qin Mansion is in full bloom, and the house is filled with fragrance.He and I, separated by two doors, are the most estranged couple.

The last stroke fell.

painted.

I thought for a while, carried the painting, and walked to the west wing.

The door was unlocked and ajar.

It seems that it has been silently waiting for me to push it away.

The person on the bed heard the movement, and the quilt moved slightly, but made no sound.

I lit the lamp.

There was light in the room.

"Mingxu, I have something for you to see," I said.

He still didn't make a sound.

I picked up the painting, walked to the bed, pushed him, and said with a smile: "The moon is big and round today. If you go to bed so early, aren't you living up to the good moonlight? I have finished painting "Peach Blossom Creek", I plan to give it to you."

He opened his eyes and wanted to say something, but then he kept his mouth shut, being very careful not to show any joy.

I held my hand in my hands and behaved like a man, and said: "You have to work hard for a small painting job, why won't Boss Qin reward you with some money?"

I pretended to send the painting to the candlestick: "Since Boss Qin doesn't like it, just burn it."

He stood up and sighed: "I would rather you set this house on fire than burn this painting."

I laughed: "No. If you don't click on the paintings, you won't click on the house either. Why should I click on my own paintings, my own house, and my own husband-in-law?"

He looked at the people and scenery in the painting with tears in his eyes.He held the painting and looked at it again and again.

It took a full quarter of an hour before I let it go.

He took out a piece of paper from under the pillow and handed it to me.

I said: "What is this?"

"Didn't you just ask why Boss Qin didn't reward me with some money? Well, this is it."

This is no ordinary paper.It's an official document.An official document about choosing Zhujiahua as tribute wine.

With this, Zhujia's business will be smoother, and Zhujia Huajiao's reputation will be greater.

He must have been working on this for a long time.

He said: "I turned in [-] more pieces of silk from the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau this year. This is the reward promised to me by Master Weaver Peng."

Candlelight licks the night.

From the beginning until now, he has been helping me.Even when he had a problem with me, he was still thinking of me.

He regards the Zhu family's affairs as his own.

"Ming Xu."

I called him.

He looked at me with hurt, love and helplessness in his eyes.

"Sang Yu, I have thought a lot in the past ten days. This marriage is what I want. The child is the result of my drunken infatuation. The cause of all this is me. How can I blame you? But I don’t know why, but I just can’t get past my own level. I don’t dare to face many cruel facts. The more urgent and critical the situation, the clearer the facts become.”

He smiled self-deprecatingly.

"I am not an upright person. The only good thing about me is that I love you. I hope you love me too, even if not as much."

"Mingxu——"

He reached out his hand and brushed the hair from my forehead to my ear.

"Sang Yu, go and have a rest."

I whispered: "Are you still unwilling to go back to your room?"

He blew out the lamp, lay down again, hugged "Peach Blossom Stream" and closed his eyes.

a long time.

I walked out of the west wing.

The moon is as round as a mirror.

The moon is like a wash.

The courtyard is as white as a cage.

A figure flashed in front of me: "Sister, happy Mid-Autumn Festival."

he came.

Earlier than I expected.

I stretched out my finger and tapped his forehead: "Don't take the main entrance."

He smiled thinly: "I don't want to mobilize a large group of people to support you. I just want to find my sister."

"You, the big noise last time frightened my sister. She was afraid that something would happen to you."

He touched my belly and said, "Let me see the peas."

After a moment, he raised his head, and the full moon fell in his eyes.

"Sister, you just need to remember that no one can really hurt me except you and mother."

Feng Gao came to Yangzhou this time with an imperial edict.

Long live ordered him to go to Shenju Mountain to recruit people, and ordered Zheng Tai to assist.

The meaning of "long live" is nothing more than the fact that the Zheng family has caused public outrage this time. On the surface, it wants Zheng Tai to make amends for his mistakes.Secretly, he felt that Feng Gao would definitely be able to handle this matter and let Zheng Tai follow him, so that he could get the credit for nothing.

At that time, when it comes to talking in court, it will not be considered as favoring the relatives.

As a close confidant of Long Live, Feng Gao naturally could not refuse such a request.

I said: "Douya, my sister feels that the one-eyed dragon doesn't look like he will be recruited."

"No matter what, he has attracted Banzai's attention. Recruiting people is better than suppressing bandits. I'll take a trip and then talk about it."

"That's fine. Please pay attention to your safety."

"Sister, don't worry."

Early the next morning, Feng Gao went.

Zheng Tai took his time, put on the most luxurious clothes, got on a sedan chair carried by eight people, and walked and stopped along the street, eager to let everyone in the city know that he was going to do something big.

Feng Gao had already found the mountain stronghold, and he had just arrived at the foot of the mountain.

Autumn tiger, basking in the sun.Zheng Tai originally wanted to rest under the shade of a tree, but he had already done so.But Zou Cheng persuaded him to go to the mountain stronghold anyway.Otherwise, even if Long Live wants to talk about merit and reward, he will not be able to find a reason.

Zheng Tai went up the mountain, but within a moment of burning incense, something happened.

A little girl of six or seven years old, with a round face and watery eyes, shining with intelligence.She was sitting on a high branch of a tree. When she saw Zheng Tai and his entourage, she gave several signals to the sky.

A huge net fell down, caught the sedan chair Zheng Tai was sitting on, and pulled it sharply.

The sedan chair was quickly pulled into the dense forest.

Zheng Tai's followers hurried in the direction of the sedan chair, and all of them fell into a deep trap.

The little girl climbed down from the branch like a monkey, clapped her little hands and said, "Tell uncle that I caught a big fish."

Big fish is a slang term among bandits.

It means, a big meat ticket is tied up.

(End of this chapter)