swear not to be concubine

Chapter 18

Xu Miaoning took her maid Qing Ya all the way into Dongkua Courtyard, and then walked up to Jian Yan very familiarly, looked up at her, and sweetly said hello, cousin.

Jian Yan also had a smile on her face, she lowered her head to look at her, and said hello to her cousin in a soft voice.

Xu Miaoning's eyebrows were bright, her smile was like a flower, and she was dressed in a red begonia embroidered dress with magnolia flowers, which made her extraordinarily delicate and cute.

Her gaze first turned around on Jian Yan, and then a sweet smile appeared on her face, she reached out and hugged Jian Yan's arm, and said with a smile: "Cousin, you are so cute." So lovely."

Jian Yan only felt it was funny in her heart, but the smile on her face didn't diminish, she reached out and patted the back of her hand, smiled and continued to make excuses with her: "My cousin is also very cute."

Then she looked around and saw that she was still tightly holding the purse of the cat Fluttering Butterfly, and the red tassels on it were dangling with her movements.

The smile on Jian Yan's face deepened for a while.

This cousin of hers seems to like this purse very much.So she ran over to make friends with him, she must have something to say, or something to ask her.

Sure enough, the next moment Xu Miaoning raised the purse in her hand and asked Jian Yan: "Cousin, did you embroider this purse?"

"Yes," Jian Yan understood a little, so she nodded with a smile, "I embroidered it. Why, my cousin likes this purse very much?"

Xu Miaoning nodded hurriedly: "Yes, I like it very much, very much. I don't know if my cousin has other purses with more interesting patterns?"

"Bai Wei," Jian Yan held back the smile on her face, and turned her head to tell Bai Wei who was standing beside her, "I remember that I embroidered a lot of purses when I was at home, and I put them in the black lacquer and gold flute drawstring." In the box with the phoenix pattern, you go and find the purse embroidered with the beckoning cat and give it to the cousin."

Bai Wei agreed, turned around and searched in the cage for a while, and found the small black lacquered box painted with gold as promised, opened it and rummaged through it for a while, then handed over the purse with both hands.

Xu Miaoning quickly reached out and took it.

This purse is not the traditional oval, square, gourd-shaped, etc., but it is made in the shape of a beckoning cat. It is round and looks very cute and cute.

Xu Miaoning obviously liked it very much, the smile on her face was much brighter and more sincere than when she just called her cousin.

"Cousin, what kind of cat is this? Where is it? I'll ask my mother to buy one for me to raise."

Jian Yan was silent for a moment, thinking in her heart, raising is impossible.However, if you have the opportunity to meet the people who make porcelain, it is possible for them to make one for you to play with.

She had no choice but to explain: "I embroidered this lucky cat for fun when I was bored. There is no such cat in reality."

He said to her again: "Look, the lucky cat's right hand is raised, which means fortune, and the left hand is raised, which means luck. When both hands are raised, it means wealth and blessing come together." meaning. The golden bell hanging on its chest also has the meaning of attracting good fortune.”

When Xu Miaoning heard this, she was even more happy.

"Cousin," she looked up happily, "the purses you embroidered are much prettier than those embroidered by Cousin Xuan. Cousin Xuan embroiders flowers, butterflies and the like, but she never embroiders lucky cats." .”

On the other hand, he said: "And the goodies embroidered by Cousin Xuan are always only given to Fourth Sister, not to me. Hmph, I will show this lucky cat to Fourth Sister tomorrow, and tell her that I don't care about it." Those things embroidered by my fourth cousin."

Jian Yan only thought it was funny when she heard it, it turned out that the girls were comparing each other.

Xu Miaoning liked these two purses very much, so she simply hung them on her waist regardless.Afterwards, Yue Mo felt that it was embarrassing to accept Jian Yan's two purses all at once, so he grabbed her hand and asked, "Cousin, are you busy now? If not, I'll take you for a walk in the garden."

It's just that although she spoke in a questioning tone, she already stretched out her hand to hold her and walked out.

Jian Yan had no choice, and she thought it would be good to go out for a stroll. First, she could visit the back garden of the Xu family and get acquainted with the environment in advance. Second, if she had the opportunity, she could tell Xu Miaoning's words and know the personnel relationship of the Xu family.

It is very complicated to know the relationship between the personnel of the big family. If you don't pay attention, you will get dizzy.

So she was led by Xu Miaoning to go out, and turned her head to tell Bai Wei: "You stay, and put back the things we brought. In April, you go out with my cousin girl .”

After stepping out of the screen door, Xu Miaoning stretched out her hand and pointed straight ahead, and said, "Cousin, that's the Xikuanyuan where I live, you can come and play with me over there when you're free."

Across the lush flowers and trees in the courtyard, one can vaguely see two screen doors that are exactly the same as hers.

Jian Yan smiled and agreed.Xu Miaoning was very happy, and dragged her along the Chaoshou veranda, and after a while, she walked out of the gate of Hexiangyuan.After a few steps to the right, you will see the big pond.

There are willow trees and peach blossoms planted on the bank. I think when the weather is warmer, the scenery will be very good when the peach blossoms and willows are green.

Xu Miaoning pointed to the big pond again and said: "In summer, the lake will be full of lotus leaves and flowers, which is very beautiful. Cousin, shall we enjoy the lotus together?"

Jian Yan naturally agreed, which made Xu Miaoning very happy.

Seeing Xu Miaoning's happy appearance, Jian Yan thought to herself that this child seems to have no brothers and sisters, and now seeing a playmate can be so happy.

So she asked about the situation of Xu Miaoning's brothers and sisters on the sidelines, and after this questioning, she learned that she had three older brothers, two older sisters, one younger brother and one younger sister.

Naturally, only Xu Zhongan is the younger brother of the compatriots, and the others are all cousins.As for the fourth younger sister she mentioned, her name is Xu Miaojin, she was born in the big house, she is also 10 years old now, and she is only two months younger than her.Although the two of them can have fun on weekdays, it's a pity that her fourth sister has been in poor health since she was born, and she rarely goes out for a walk on weekdays.As for the two elder sisters, they were born in the second house, one was born by the wife, named Xu Miaohua, and the other was born by the aunt, named Xu Miaolan.But the eldest sister is very proud and looks down on her fatherless child, so she doesn't usually play with her very much.The second sister is very timid and shy, she may not be able to answer three questions, and she can't play together.There is also a cousin Xuan, named Wu Jingxuan, who is the niece of the grandmother’s natal family, but this cousin Xuan only gets close to the eldest sister and the fourth sister on a daily basis, and doesn’t play with her very much. .As for the brothers and sisters, they have to go to school every day, and they don't have time to play with her.

The more Xu Miaoning talked, the more she felt aggrieved, as if she had been alone for so many years, but in the end she was still happy, hugging Jian Yan's arm and said with a smile: "Cousin, I liked you very much the first time I saw you You, let's play together later."

Jian Yan was even amused by her, so she stretched out her hand and patted her head lightly, smiling: "Okay. From now on, just come to me when you are bored."

The two of them walked along the shore while talking, Jian Yan could see the surroundings without any trace.So she also discovered that the Xu family's back garden is actually not very big, but the visual effect of this big pond is very shocking at first glance, and the rest is just like the plum grove on the left. There are some scales, and so on.As for the other side of the pond, there doesn't seem to be any large-scale forests or gardens, but some flowers and trees and a few small courtyards.

At this time, Xu Miaoning pointed to the two small courtyards on the opposite bank and said to Jian Yan: "The one living in Tangli Garden is Cousin Xuan, and the one living in Jingyi Pavilion is my second sister."

He stretched out his hand and pointed to the front of his side, and then pointed to the back: "There is the Yilan Pavilion, where my eldest sister lives, not far from our Lotus Fragrance Courtyard. As for my fourth sister, she lives in Meilin Pavilion. In the Ningcui Pavilion next to it."

Then Jian Yan took a look, it was very good, they are only a few steps away from Ning Cui Xuan, and they can see the courtyard gate of Ning Cui Xuan from here, this girl still wants to get those two purses To feel frightened in front of her fourth sister.

Sure enough, at the next moment, Xu Miaoning could be heard laughing and saying: "Cousin, we are tired from walking for so long, why don't we go to Simei's place to have a rest?"

Jian Yan has nothing to do.Anyway, since she has arrived at the Xu family, she will meet all the members of this family sooner or later, so it's better to break through each one now and get to know them one by one.There is Xu Miaoning on the left and right, this girl is a ghost, and she is making jokes in the middle, maybe I will get acquainted with Xu Miaojin soon.It also saves that if I meet Xu Miaojin alone, I don't know how to strike up a conversation.

So Jian Yan followed Xu Miaoning to the direction of Ning Cui Xuan.

But before he came to the front, suddenly there was a muffled creaking sound, and the two closed courtyard doors were opened from the inside, and a man and a woman came out first.

Jian Yan raised her eyes, and saw that the man was not more than 24 or [-] years old, wearing a light gray dress with a straight body with indigo trim around the collar and cuffs, with a thin figure and handsome features.The woman was about sixteen or seventeen years old, she wore a white coat with teeth, a skirt with a moon-white skirt, and a cape with a pattern of bright red twining lotus, she was extremely delicate and delicate.

They really are a couple, Jian Yan secretly praised in her heart.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Xu Miaoning, who was very lively along the way, but at this moment, all the smiles on his face were suppressed, and he stood there with his hands down in a well-behaved manner, and called his elder brother in a soft voice.

So Jian Yan knew that the man in front of her was Xu Zhongxuan, the eldest son of the Xu family.

When she was at home, she knew that Xu Zhongxuan was the number one person in the Xu family's younger generation, and now he was sitting in the position of the left servant of the third-rank etiquette department, but she didn't expect him to be so young.

Surprised in her heart, she looked at Xu Zhongxuan again.Unexpectedly, he was also looking towards her and Xu Miaoning, and the eyes of the two were actually facing each other.

(End of this chapter)