Do you know: I am Xu Jiazi

Chapter 372 Twin Lotuses and Begging for Skill [Thank you! Thank you again! I owe you words]

Bianjing
early morning
Outside the Suzaku Gate,

On the east-west street,
Smoke was rising from the chimneys on the roofs of the houses on both sides of the street.

The smoke from the cooking stove was blown away by the morning breeze, blowing the smell of fireworks straight into the air.

There are shops and vendors on the roadside who are steaming or boiling.

When you pull out the steamer or open the lid of the pot, there will always be a large cloud of white steam, along with the aroma of soup and rice, floating into the noses of passers-by.

On the roadside, under the eaves of a shop that has not yet opened for business, the door board that has been used for many years has been rubbed shiny by the waiter. Two children, one big and one small, are leaning on the door board used to close the shop.

One was a boy, about eleven or twelve years old, about the same age as Chu Zhan, with some water stains and mud spots on his rolled-up trouser legs.

One was a little girl, about six or seven years old. Her clothes were a little worn, but compared to the boy next to her, they were still clean.

Smelling the aroma of roadside food, they both swallowed and hugged the things in their arms closer.

"Click, click"

The horseshoe-studded hooves made a chaotic sound as they stepped on the stone road.

Hearing the voice, the little girl quickly stuck her head out and looked outside.

When she saw that it was a group of patrolling soldiers on horseback, the little girl lowered her head with some disappointment in her eyes.

The little girl took another look at the steamed rice mixed with red dates on the stall not far away and licked her lips.

roadside,

Two well-dressed maids walked out of the shop carrying exquisite food boxes.

"This Zhen family's date cake smells so good, no wonder the fourth girl likes it so much."

As one of the maids was speaking, she saw a little girl licking her lips on the side of the road.

I don't know what she was thinking of. The maid pulled her companion over, looked at the things in the two people's arms, and asked, "How are you selling these?"

Looking at the two people's outfits, the little girl opened her big black and white eyes and shook her head quickly: "No sale to you!"

While the little girl was talking, the maid who was pulled over narrowed her eyes and whispered to her companion: "Sister Yunzai, look! It's a double-headed lotus."

The maid Yunzai took a look and said, "Just sew it out with thread."

After seeing clearly what was in the girl's arms, she stopped talking.

"Make an offer. If we buy your stuff, you can go eat the steamed rice."

The boy with wet trouser legs said, "I told you, I won't sell it to you!"

"you"

The maid called Sister Yunzai took out her purse and asked, "Luzhong, how many copper coins do you have?"

"And that's all."

Looking at the ten copper coins in his hand, Yun Zai said, "Then sell me two, that's ok, right?"

The boy and the girl looked at each other and nodded.

After handing an unopened lotus flower to Yun Zai, the young man said, "Thank you very much."

Yunzai and Luzhong smiled and turned to walk towards the carriage not far away.

After half a quarter of an hour,

Another round of horse hoofbeats came.

The little girl stuck her head out again. After seeing who was coming, her eyes lit up and she said, "Brother, brother, someone is coming!"

Hearing this, the boy hurriedly handed the lotus in his arms to the little girl.

Then, the little girl ran out with a bunch of lotus flowers in her arms: "Sir! Sir! Look at the lotus flowers I just picked! There's even a double-headed lotus here!"

"Hiss"

As soon as she finished shouting, the little girl took two steps back and sat on the ground when she saw the huge black creature snorting at her and slightly raising one of its front hoofs.

Xu Zaijing patted the little black colt's neck and comforted his mount.

Looking at the little girl running out from the roadside, Qingyun shouted, "What are you doing? It's you again, little girl! You rush out like this???"

"That's my little Li."

Seeing Xu Zaijing waving his hand, Qingyun stopped shouting.

It’s no wonder that Qingyun is so angry, it’s just that the little black colt is a male horse and is very brave.

Any timid horse might be frightened by the girl's rushing action.

"me."

In the carriage, Hua Xiang, hearing these words, lifted the curtain and looked outside.

The boy who came quickly behind was slightly stunned when he saw Hua Xiang's expression.

Of course, one reason for her being stunned was that Hua wanted to be fair and beautiful, but another reason was that the girl in the carriage was not the sister from yesterday!
Xu Zaijing dismounted from his horse.

Qingyun did the same thing. He walked quickly to the little girl, pulled her up with some anger, and then quickly put the lotus flower on the ground back into the little girl's arms.

He patted the dust off her body and said, "If you dare to rush out like this again next time, you will suffer the consequences!"

Looking at the little girl with tears in her eyes, Qingyun let out a sigh of hatred and didn't continue.

Xu Zaijing looked at the bunch of lotus flowers in the little girl's arms and asked, "Aren't the double-headed lotus flowers sewn together today?"

The little girl shook her head and said, "Master, this is what my brother picked himself in the pond."

"He said that the sister yesterday could actually tell that our lotus flowers were fake, but still gave us more money."

"I just happened to pick this lotus this morning."

Qingyun on the side shook his head and said, "You two are just looking at my sister Qingcao's kindness! If you give money to the fake ones, won't you give more money to the real ones?"

Hearing this,

Both children, one big and one small, lowered their heads.

Xu Zaijing took the double-headed lotus from the little girl and looked at it carefully. He then gave it to Zai Zhang who was standing beside him and said with a smile, "Hua Xiang, give me the money!"

Zai Zhang on horseback was also observing the lotus carefully like Xu Zai Jing, wanting to see whether it was real or fake.

"Yes, son!"

"Let's take care of the rest."

Hearing Xu Zaijing's words, the two children raised their heads in surprise.

After Hua Xiang gave the copper coins, she looked at the two children who were afraid to look at her and whispered, "Don't wait tomorrow. The young master may not leave this road."

After saying that, Hua Xiang stepped onto the carriage.

After crossing this side street,

Go to the north-south street of Jiying Lane,

It was still early and there were not many people on the road.

Xu Zaijing looked at the colorful tents set up in the middle of the road selling things.

At this time, some people were moving goods into the colorful tent. Most of them were things that everyone would buy on the Chinese Valentine's Day, such as "Mohe Le (human-shaped dolls)", "Gu Ban (miniature models of the countryside)" and "Shui Shang Fu (water toys)".

The size and luxury of the colorful tents selling things in the middle of the road are proportional to the value of the things in the tents.

Zai Zhang, riding on a horse, would approach these colorful tents from time to time, and when he saw something he liked, he would buy it and put it in the carriage behind.

"Brother, stop looking. You'll be late if you keep dawdling!" Hearing Xu Zaijing's voice, Zai Zhang hurriedly rode his horse to catch up.

When we got to the intersection of Jiying Lane,
From time to time, vendors selling fruits bowed and greeted them. Xu Zaijing and his group nodded slightly and then entered the Sheng family's gate.

After getting off the horse and walking towards the school,
Xu Zaijing could vaguely see the red silk on the top of the Qiqiao Tower built in the backyard of the Sheng family, which was used for praying on the Qixi Festival.

Among the houses on Quyuan Street, the Qiqiao Tower is taller than that of the Sheng family.

After nodding to Changbai, who had arrived early in the class, the day's study began.

After school in the afternoon,

Xu Zaijing and his brother walked outside with the maids and servants.

When we were almost at the place where we were to board the carriage, we saw Mother Cui standing there with a maid who was in her twenties.

The maid, who was about twenty years old, was holding an exquisite long-necked porcelain vase in her arms, with a lotus flower in it.

Seeing Xu Zaijing and others coming over, Mother Cui smiled and bowed, saying, "Zhang'er, Jing'er, this morning, we also picked a lotus like this from the pond in our yard."

"After Miss Hua Xiang sent this flower to Shou'an Hall, the old lady thought that this double-headed lotus had a good meaning, so she asked me to find this porcelain vase for you two to take back."

Xu Zaijing hesitated and said, "Mother Cui, my great aunt wouldn't lie to me, would she?"

Mother Cui and Cui Chan looked at each other and smiled, saying, "The old lady guessed that Jing'er would ask this question. She said, if you don't believe it, go to Shou'an Hall and take a look."

"Okay! I'll go take a look!"

Seeing Xu Zaijing walking towards the backyard and hearing the voice of "I'll be back soon!"
Mother Cui and Cui Chan didn't know what to say for a moment.

Zai Zhang, who was standing by, thought about Hua Lan and his son at home and said, "Let's go first."

Shouantang,
The old lady sat on the Luohan bed and turned her head to look at Sheng Changzhao who was copying calligraphy on the low table.

Seeing Minglan putting down her bookcase and leaving the bedroom, the old lady waved and said, "Minglan, come and see the calligraphy your brother copied."

Minglan pursed her lips at the door, glanced at the young lady who was making tea with her mother behind the chair and said, "Oh!"

Sitting down beside the Arhat bed, just as I was about to look at the calligraphy,
From the courtyard outside Shou'an Hall came the voice of a maid: "Greetings, young master!"

"My cousin is here!"

Hearing this, the old lady and Mrs. Fang looked at each other in confusion.

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Zaijing poked his head out from behind the curtain at the entrance of Shou'an Hall, then lifted the curtain and walked in.

Seeing the old lady, Minglan and Changzhang who just happened to see him, Xu Zaijing took a quick look and said, "Grandma, where is the other double-headed lotus that Mama Cui mentioned?"

As he spoke, Xu Zaijing walked towards Shou'an Hall.

The old lady held the handkerchief in her hand, helplessly pointed at Xu Zaijing with her hand, and said unhappily: "For a lotus flower, how could I, an old woman, lie to you?"

Seeing Xu Zaijing's expression of "you are still lying to me", the old lady said: "Look, it's right there!"

While they were talking, Minglan bowed belatedly. Xu Zaijing also came near the Luohan bed and looked in the direction the old lady pointed.

A lotus flower is quietly inserted in a long-necked porcelain vase, the style of which is exactly the same as the one in the cicada's arms.

Xu Zaijing: "Uh, great-aunt, you really do have it!"

The old lady nodded and said, "Your aunt brought it here this morning when she brought Ming'er to pay her respects."

When Xu Zaijing heard this, he smiled and nodded to Wei Shuyi who was standing with Fang's mother.

The last time I saw this Miss Wei was when Minglan went to visit her grandmother's house.

Today, Xu Zaijing had a sudden impulse and came to Shou'an Hall in a mischievous manner, but he didn't expect that Wei Xiaoniang was also there.

Now the young lady was not holding a round fan in her hand, and her clothes seemed to be more simple than when Xu Zaijing first saw her in Yangzhou.

Standing together with the mother who shared the same room with her, Wei Shuyi, who had few jewelry on her hair, made people think that she was the housekeeper of the Sheng family, just like Mother Cui.

Seeing Xu Zaijing looking at him, Wei Shuyi bowed to Xu Zaijing with a smile on his face.

I saw a smile on Wei Shuyi’s face and light in his eyes.

Xu Zaijing withdrew his gaze, smiled and nodded in return.

Then he smiled at Sheng Changqi who was looking at him curiously beside the old lady, and said with a cupped hand: "Grandma, since you really have it here, I, your nephew, will take my leave first."

"On the way, I happened to catch the porcelain vase that Cui's mother carried out."

Looking at Xu Zaijing who was retreating, the old lady smiled and waved her hand, saying, "Go!"

When Xu Zaijing disappeared at the door, the old lady shook her head and said, "How naughty!"

Hearing this, Minglan nodded in approval.

Mother Fang smiled at Wei Shuyi and said, "Old lady, Jing'er is just like this in front of you now."

"I usually go out to buy things, but I hear a lot of people in the capital say that Jing-ge has grown up and is eager to learn! He is much better than those young men who are living a dissolute life in Yuqing Temple outside the city!"

"I see that Jing'er is a sensible child. He knows that he needs to study hard for the entrance exam this year! He has calmed down for the past six months since the Spring Festival!"

"Unlike in previous years, when they either beat up the noble children of the Great Zhou or beat up the diplomatic envoys of Bai Gao."

Listening to what Fang Mama said and thinking about what Xu Zaijing had done in the past two months, the old lady shook her head and said, "I guess so."

After all, not many people knew about Xu Zaijing’s previous trip to Baigao to rescue people.

The Yongyi Marquis Mansion was at its most glorious time when the old lady was a girl.

She was the only daughter and had once entered the palace to serve the late emperor and the empress. After leaving the palace, she became much more luxurious than the current Fifth Lady of the Zhang family, Duke of England.

This kind of experience also allowed the old lady to meet many unruly royal nobles and disciples from Bian Jing.

No matter which person in my memory I pick out, none of them has done anything as excessive as my nephew in some aspects.

After all, the old lady's nephew had almost indirectly destroyed two marquisates before, and had also gone to Baigao Country to rescue people. There were many things that happened.

However, the Yongyi Marquis Mansion is now thriving!
The second night,

On the night of Qixi Festival,

Yong Yi Hou Mansion,

In front of the tall Qiqiao Tower,
Xu Zaijing and his brother respectfully burned incense, recited poems and prayed in front of the Kuixing statue as they did before.

I am looking forward to getting a good result in the college entrance examination next month.

After the two of them finished praying, Madam Sun and the other female members of the Xu family came forward to beg for cleverness.

After the host finished praying,

The Xu family's maids continued to beg for skills.
The grass, flowers and clouds, relying on their youth, using the moonlight at night, threaded the needle with silk thread at the table.

Behind them, a maid from the Xu family placed a small wooden box containing a spider near the incense table.

If the spider in the wooden box can weave a round or square web the next day, it will be considered a lucky break.

In the same city of Bianjing,

Huyan family residence.

Xu Jia'anmei knelt on the mat with some emotion. In front of her was the Qiqiao Tower built by the Huyan family, and beside her were Madam Pan and her two sisters-in-law who were also kneeling on the mat.

An Mei's Chinese Valentine's Day over the years,
It was her first time to beg for skills outside the Xu family.

And for the next few years, I would mostly be in the Huyan family.

Thinking of this, An Mei closed her eyes, clasped her hands together and prayed that the baby in her belly was a boy. If it was a girl, she would be a clever and skillful one.

(End of this chapter)