Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 244 Meeting on the Lantern Festival

Giving gifts to the Sheng family was a reminder to Li An. When he left the Sheng family and separated from Liu Xuewen and his wife, Li An did not go back directly, but went to buy gifts for Liu Xuewen.

After dinner the next morning, Li An went to Liu's house with gifts.

"What did you say you spent the money on?"

When Li An came to Li's house, Liu Xuewen was already on duty.

When Mrs. Zhang saw that Li An had sent so many things, she complained to him.

But I was still very pleased.

She and Liu Xuewen have only one son and one daughter. The daughter is married and the son is also an official in other places.

They usually spend less time together and more time apart. In her eyes, Li An is the same as her son.

That's why she was so concerned about Li An's affairs and kept helping him.

"Don't mention him. He sent a letter last month, saying he was too busy to come to Bianjing."

Unless the biological mother is a favored concubine like Lin Xiaoniang, the child can receive some attention based on the mother.

"By the way, won't Senior Brother Liu come back to celebrate the New Year this year?" Li An changed the subject.

"Master Wife, these are my filial piety to the teacher and you. They are not worth much. By the way, where is sister Wan'er?" Li An asked.

There are almost no people around during the holidays. The last time I saw my son was when Liu Xiangdong went to Bianjing on business two years ago and he took a look at them.

Mrs. Zhang mentioned Liu Waner's age and her father urging her to go back. It didn't take much to think about it, so she knew that he was going to help her negotiate a marriage.

"Senior Brother Liu is in charge, so there is nothing he can do about it. In a few years, the teacher will be almost retired, and then the family will be reunited." Li An consoled him.

His attitude towards his daughter Liu Waner was dispensable.

As the saying goes, it is difficult for an upright official to deal with household affairs. Li An had only met Liu Waner's father, Liu Xiangdong, once.

She didn't care whether the things Li An sent were valuable or not, what she cared about was the thought.

"Haha, she is still young and has nothing wrong with her. The weather is cold now, so it's normal for her to be sleepy." Li An said with a smile.

"Don't flatter him. He has been a county magistrate for so many years. It's better not to be an official." Mrs. Zhang curled her lips and said.

She has a son and a daughter. The daughter is married to her hometown in Guanzhong, and the son is a county magistrate in the north.

In fact, this is quite normal. In ancient times, there were three wives and four concubines, and many children.

Mrs. Zhang became angry when she mentioned her son.

How could Li An interrupt in such a matter?

He usually refers to Liu Waner as brother and sister, but he calls Liu Xiangdong as Senior Brother Liu, which is really confusing.

Li An didn't know how to answer this for a while.

"The girl hasn't gotten up yet. I've already asked someone to call her. Since I stopped going to the Sheng family to study, I won't be able to get up until nearly noon if I don't sleep." Mrs. Zhang said angrily.

"It's such a small thing. It's already the fourteenth day of the New Year, and she will have haircuts in another year. Her father has urged her several times to go back, but she is unwilling to go back," Ms. Zhang said.

Except for those who have few children, most people don't care much about their concubines and concubines except their legitimate sons and daughters.

Li An was a little embarrassed. He knew that Zhang was very dissatisfied with Liu Xiangdong and brought up this topic. Wasn't this causing trouble for Zhang?

After chatting with Mr. Zhang for a while, Li An wanted to leave.

But Mrs. Zhang stopped him and insisted on letting him eat.

Li An couldn't resist, so he could only agree.

Mrs. Zhang asked Li An to go to Liu Xue's library to read some books, and then went to make some food.

"Brother Ziqian!"

Not long after Li An arrived in the study, Liu Waner's voice sounded outside.

"The door is not closed, come in yourself."

Liu Wan'er opened the door and walked in, smiling: "Didn't I just make sure you were there? My grandfather told me not to come to his study alone."

"It's not your fault. The teacher asked you to practice calligraphy in the study room, but you fell asleep on the desk without talking. You even spilled the ink and stained the teacher's favorite book of poems by immortals."

Speaking of this, Li An felt it was a pity that Liu Xuewen had a collection of poems written by Li Bai himself in his later years.

Not to mention the artistry, the value alone is not cheap either.

Although Li Bai was prolific, he also had many authentic works circulated.

However, because of their popularity, many of them are hidden away and are difficult to see.

And that collection of poems was compiled by Li Bai in his later years by copying and compiling the most satisfying parts of the poems he had written throughout his life.

It can be said to be rare in the world. Liu Xuewen made an oversight and forgot to put it away after admiring it and put it on his desk. It was stained by the ink spilled by Liu Waner.

Although there are only the last two pages, it is also very regrettable.

Liu Xuewen had a good temper, and because his children were not around, he doted on his granddaughter, but he did not allow her to come to the study alone.

If it had been anyone else, Liu Waner might have suffered a lot.

"I didn't mean it on purpose. Besides, there's still debate over whether that collection of poems was written by Li Bai himself." Liu Waner stuck out her tongue and said.

Li An shook his head. The reason for the controversy was that Liu Xuewen never showed it to others.

In the past, some people heard the news and came to borrow the book, but Liu Xuewen rejected them all.

Later, too many people came to visit, so Liu Xuewen took the trouble to make a copy himself.

Liu Xuewen has good attainments in calligraphy, but he is only good. He is not a great calligrapher, not even as good as Sheng Hong.

But he has a talent for copying other people's calligraphy, and he can be 70-80% similar.

Liu Xuewen showed his copy to those people. After reading it, others felt that it was not authentic.

Some people also think that Li Bai was old at that time and it was normal for his writing power to decline.

Liu Xuewen Yue's purity naturally could not be explained, and over time no one came to visit.

But the book Liu Waner knocked over and stained with ink was an authentic work.

However, he did not explain to Liu Waner, but said, "Did you come to me for something?"

Liu Waner smiled and said, "I'm here to tell you that Minglan and I made an appointment to watch the lanterns during the Lantern Festival. Do you want to come with us?"

"Brother Changbai will definitely go to see the lanterns during the Lantern Festival, and he will naturally invite me when the time comes." Li An shook his head.

As soon as he saw Liu Waner's look, he knew that she wanted to benefit from him.

Seeing that Li An didn't accept the offer, Liu Waner smiled and said, "This time is different. Sister Zhang San booked a room in Fan Tower and invited Minglan and I to accompany her to watch the lanterns. Standing on Fan Tower, you can see Aoshan Mountain of."

Aoshan is the name for the largest lantern during the Lantern Festival.

This lantern was made by the imperial court, and the officials would bring their concubines and civil and military officials from the DPRK and China to watch it on the palace city that night.

However, it is very difficult for ordinary people to see Aoshan.

Every year, in order to view Aoshan Mountain, people will surround the place where Aoshan Mountain is early in the morning on the Lantern Festival, just to wait until Aoshan Mountain is lit up at night to enjoy the lanterns.

The rich and powerful can book a box in a nearby restaurant to watch the show upstairs.

Naturally, it is impossible for a family like the Sheng family to compete for positions early in the morning like those common people.

However, there are some qualifications for booking a private room in a restaurant.

Therefore, even though Li An has been in Bianjing for several years, he has only heard people talk about the so-called Aoshan and has never seen it at all.

To be honest, Li An also wanted to take a look. He hesitated and said, "Would it be inconvenient?"

Zhang Guifen asked Liu Waner and Minglan to watch the lanterns with her. They were both girls.

It was somewhat inconvenient for him to go alone.

"Don't worry about it, I have a solution." Liu Waner said.

"Tell me, what are the conditions?" Li An asked.

"I like a bracelet that costs fifty taels, but I don't have enough money," Liu Waner said.

Hearing this, Li An took out his banknotes, found a fifty-tael one and handed it over.

"Thank you, brother Ziqian."

Just as Liu Waner stretched out her hand to take it, Li An dodged over and said, "Let me make it clear first. Don't let me be the only man by then, otherwise you have to pay me back."

Li An was worried that Liu Waner would pester Zhang Guifen and she would be embarrassed to refuse.

It would be so embarrassing to go by myself then.

"Do not worry."

Liu Waner took the banknote away and said proudly: "Sister Zhang San said that there were two descendants of the British government that day. It would be inconvenient for Minglan and I to go alone, so let me call you up."

Li An: "..."

After working on it for a long time, I was tricked.

But he didn't care. Although Liu Waner occasionally asked him for some favors, she was more restrained.

(End of this chapter)