swear not to be concubine

Chapter 35

There is a small arch bridge over the stream.The stone railings on both sides are embossed with cloud patterns and flowers, which are very delicately carved.

Jian Yan saw a man standing in the middle of the bridge, holding the railing of the bridge with one hand, and holding a closed bone fan with ivory handle in the other, looking down at them from a height.

He was wearing a dark green cross-collared gown with ruyi clouds and dark patterns. He obviously had a very good appearance, but he had a frivolous smile on the corners of his eyes and brows, and he really looked a bit unworthy of beating.

Jian Yan didn't care who this person was, she just pulled Xu Miaoning and left.

Walking around the tree and wearing flowers all the way, I happened to meet Xu Miaojin and Xu Zhongxuan head-on.

As soon as Xu Miaojin saw Xu Miaoning, she immediately stopped her hurried steps, stood where she was, and pursed her lips tightly.It's just that her eyes flickered slightly, and she looked at Xu Miaoning, hesitating to speak, probably wanting to come over to apologize, but she couldn't hold back her face.

In the end, it was Xu Miaoning who stretched out her hand carelessly to greet her, and called out: "Brother, Fourth Sister."

Xu Miaojin responded.After thinking about it, she walked over, reached out to hold her hand, and said in a low voice: "Sister San, I've already mentioned Cousin Xuan just now. You and I have the best time in the house, you, don't you Break up with me."

Xu Miaoning laughed heartily: "How come? We always talk like this when we are together. Although you didn't choke me less, I didn't choke you less either. I just love you Talking like this, how could it be possible to have a relationship with you just because of an outsider?"

Xu Miaojin hummed in a low voice, then held her hand even tighter, without any intention of letting go.

Jian Yan is naturally happy to see the two of them as close as before, but she is not very happy to see the person standing beside Xu Miaojin.

She turned her head away, looking at the sky, the clouds, and the peach blossoms near and far away, but she just didn't look at him, and only regarded him as a mass of air.

When Xu Zhongxuan was in the court, firstly, he held a high position at a young age, and secondly, he served Liang Wang as a lecturer for two years, and now Liang Wang is one of the most popular candidates for the crown prince, so the courtiers said that he will definitely be prosperous in the future .People with lower official positions than him certainly dare not offend him, and when they see him, they salute respectfully, even if they are gray-haired people.As for those with higher official positions than him, the first assistant Zhou Yuanzheng and the second assistant Wu Kaiji both valued him very much, not to mention the others.Therefore, no matter where he went in the court, no one would dare to ignore him.

As for when he was in Xu's house, Mrs. Wu always spoke politely to him. Although Mrs. Qin was his nominal aunt, she didn't dare to do anything to him. Who else would dare to ignore him?It's just that when she came to Jian Yan, from the first time the two met, she greeted him politely and distantly every time, and then she either turned her head away or lowered her head, ignoring him at all. .Not to mention that she would throw away all the peach blossoms he took.

Xu Zhongxuan couldn't help thinking, what does Jian Yan mean?Is she trying to get his attention deliberately, or is it because she really doesn't want to get in touch with him?If she was deliberately trying to get his attention, then her goal has already been achieved.If she didn't want to have contact with him, then why?He doesn't remember that he ever offended her.

"Miss Jane." Seeing that Jian Yan was still looking at the peach tree in front of him, he couldn't help calling her, thinking in his heart, since he always called her on his own initiative, then she His eyes should always look at him, right?

Unexpectedly, when Jian Yan heard his voice, although she didn't look at the peach tree anymore, she didn't look at him either. She just lowered her head slightly and looked at the green grass on the ground in front of her, still in a polite and distant tone. Asked him: "May I ask what your order is?"

Xu Zhongxuan suddenly felt a little stuffy and panicked for no reason, and immediately didn't want to say a word.It's just that Xu Miaoning and Xu Miaojin on the side heard him call Jian Yan, and turned their heads to look at him in unison, so he could only round up this sentence.

"Thank you for comforting Ning'er just now." His voice was calm, and he couldn't hear the suffocation in his heart at all.

"Young Master, you are being polite. I am Ning'er's cousin, and this is what I should do."

Jian Yan's answer was still polite and alienated, even the two-point smile on her face was polite and polite, so he couldn't find any mistakes.

It's just that he felt that the indescribable feeling of oppression in his heart seemed to increase a little bit more than just now.

He began to suspect that the girl who was sitting lazily in the plum grove that day, humming and teasing cats with bright eyebrows was really the Jian Yan in front of him?Could it be his hallucination?

Jian Yan didn't know the twists and turns in Xu Zhongxuan's heart at this meeting, she was just thinking, what excuse should she use to leave successfully?Every time she is with Xu Zhongxuan, she has to put on an elegant and dignified appearance, which is really tiring.Not to mention that every time he talked to her, she had to put up all her energy to deal with it.But there was no way, subconsciously, she always felt that Xu Zhongxuan was too shrewd, and his eyes were too vicious, so she didn't dare to be careless at all.

It's just that she couldn't find a suitable excuse for a while, so she became a little anxious, thinking in her heart, where is Wu Jingxuan?where is she?Come and get your cousin away.

In the end, Wu Jingxuan was not expected to come, but other people were expected to come.

"Brother Lanxi?"

Xu Zhongxuan's name is Lanxi.The relationship between the person who calls him like this and him is definitely not bad.Jian Yan turned her head to look, and saw that the man was about 25 or 20 years old, wearing a dark-scented plum blossom straight skirt, with high eyebrows, deep eye sockets, and a very upright appearance.Beside him was a man and two women, one of whom was about [-] years old, with a woman's hair bun, a dark red satin flower cape, and a deep purple horse-face skirt, holding a two or three-year-old girl in her hand. little boy.The other one, a man and a woman, were both fifteen or sixteen years old. The girl wore moon-white sprinkled bamboo leaves, a cloak with dark blue trim on the lapel and cuffs, and a tooth-colored pleated skirt. She was very beautiful.The boy was wearing a straight gown with the same color and pattern as the girl, and his eyebrows were somewhat similar to that girl, very delicate.

Xu Zhongxuan looked over at the prestige, then bowed his hands and saluted: "Brother Junqing."

The visitor's surname was Du, his name was Dai, and his courtesy name was Junqing. The two of them were classmates, and they were Jinshi scholars on the same list as him during the provincial examination.It's just that when he took the exam later, he was No. 1 Huiyuan in high school, but this Du Dai lost his name.But three years later, after another examination, Du Dai was finally on the list. He was the top three in the palace examination, and he was born as a Jinshi.The person beside him dressed as a woman is his wife, and the one holding his hand is his son Du Cheng.As for the boy and girl, they are his wife's twin siblings, whom Xu Zhongxuan has met.

"Oh, it really is Brother Lanxi, I thought I was dazzled." Du Dai turned to his wife Su Huiniang and smiled.

Su Huiniang greeted Xu Zhongxuan, and then Su Jinniang and Su Wenchang who followed her also came to salute Xu Zhongxuan, and Xu Zhongxuan returned the salute one by one.

Xu Miaoning and Xu Miaojin also came forward to salute the four of them.Everyone knew each other before, so there was no need to introduce them.But Jian Yan and the others had never seen her before. Su Huiniang looked her up and down, then looked at Xu Zhongxuan, and asked with a smile, "I wonder who this girl is?"

When Du Dai hadn't called Xu Zhongxuan just now, she was by the side, but she saw Xu Zhongxuan's gaze was on this girl all the time.Now seeing Jian Yan, although she is not very old, but her complexion is snowier and her appearance is beautiful, she can't help being curious.

Hearing the words, Xu Zhongxuan tilted his head slightly, and his eyes fell on Jian Yan. Seeing her standing there, although she met these strangers all at once, she was smiling and generous, without any trace of stage fright. Meaning, so he looked away, nodded to Cui Huiniang, and said, "This is Miss Jian."

Xu Miaoning wanted to let the whole world know that she had such a good cousin as Jian Yan, so she interrupted with a smile: "She is my cousin."

And Jian Yan already took two steps forward, bowed to Cui Huiniang and others, blessed her body, smiled, and greeted them one by one: "Jian Yan has met Mrs. Du, Mrs. Du, Miss Cui, Mr. Cui."

In short, no one is to blame.

The four of them also hurriedly returned the gift.Cui Huiniang glanced at Jian Yan again, and then said with a smile: "What a dignified and elegant girl. She is much better than my unlucky second sister."

On the one hand, he stole another look at Xu Zhongxuan.

But seeing Xu Zhongxuan's complexion was slightly gloomy, he didn't say anything.

Cui Huiniang laughed again and said: "The old lady and the eldest lady are here too? Jin Niang, Wen Chang, follow me to visit the old lady and the eldest lady first, and then come and meet Xu Shilang."

Facing Xu Zhongxuan, he said: "Your poems are good. When Wenchang and Jinniang were at home, they often talked about coming to ask you about poems."

Then I heard Xu Zhongxuan say: "When it comes to poetry and prose, brother Junqing is much better than me. It's good and convenient for my wife's siblings to ask brother Junqing for advice."

Originally, Cui Huiniang wanted to get closer to Xu Zhongxuan in her words, but now he said such a sentence so lightly, not only rejected Cui Jinniang and Cui Wenchang who wanted to come to ask him about poetry, but also Alienated the relationship with them without a trace.

Cui Huiniang's heart sank slightly, but she still smiled and said: "Xu Shilang is humble."

Then she turned her head and said to Du Dai: "The concubine's family and the Xu family were family friends, now that the old lady and the eldest wife are in the garden, the concubine should bring my younger brother and younger sister to visit."

Du Dai nodded and agreed: "Remember to say hello to the old lady and the eldest lady for me."

Cui Huiniang nodded to Xu Zhongxuan, Jian Yan and others, and said with a smile, "Then I'll take my leave first." Then he led Du Cheng, led Cui Jinniang and Cui Wenchang, turned and looked in the direction of Yuzhao Tower.

Seeing their backs disappearing among the flowers, Du Dai turned around and smiled at Xu Zhongxuan, "It's rare to meet today, let's go, let's find a place to have a drink or two."

Xu Zhongxuan was about to resign, but before he could say anything, he heard a voice laughing: "Brother Junqing, how can you forget me while drinking?"

The voice was so recognizable, deep and gorgeous, with a bit of careless laziness and a smile, Jian Yan frowned upon hearing it.

At this time, the man had already turned around from behind a peach tree.

He was wearing a dark green ruyi cloud-patterned gown with a cross collar, and he was holding a closed bone fan with an ivory handle in his hand.The upturned corners of the eyes clearly feel like they are smiling when looking at people, but the eyes are ambiguous, turning countless corners, and it is impossible to see what is inside.

"Feng Qin." He heard Du Dai laughing, "Why are you here today?"

On the one hand, he introduced to Xu Zhongxuan: "This is Shen Chuo and Shen Fengqin, the head of the Shen family in the capital. This Taoyuan is now his Shen family's property."

Then he introduced to Shen Chuo: "This is Xu Zhongxuan and Xu Lanxi, my classmate friend, who is currently serving as the left servant of the Ministry of Rites."

Shen Chuo raised his eyebrows, and bowed his hands to Xu Zhongxuan as a salute: "It turns out that your Excellency is the famous Xu Shilang who has been famous all over the world. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, he is the only one who has achieved the highest rank of three yuan. I have admired him for a long time."

Xu Zhongxuan also bowed his hands as a gift, and said: "Mr. Shen took over the Shen family business before he reached the weak crown, planned a strategy, swallowed up the Jiangnan Zhao family in one fell swoop, and monopolized the Jiangnan tea market from then on, admirable."

Du Dai laughed loudly: "Lanxi and Fengqin are both powerful people. It's me who wasted my life and did nothing."

Jian Yan listened to these polite and hypocritical words between the three of them, she just felt sore in her heart, but there was a smile on her face, standing aside and listening elegantly and dignifiedly, this feeling It's really simple.

"Don't dare to ask who these girls are?"

At this time, Shen Chuo's voice with a smile was heard asking Xu Zhongxuan and Du Dai, but his eyes had already looked over before the voice.

Facing his scrutinizing eyes, Jian Yan just pretended not to know, and still kept her head down and smiling.

"This is my sister-in-law." Xu Zhongxuan's answer was concise and neat, with his long eyebrows slightly frowned.

Shen Chuo really didn't know how to avoid taboos, so he looked directly at Jian Yan and the others.

He was not happy, so he turned his head to Jian Yan and said solemnly: "You take Ning'er and Jin'er back first."

His suggestion caught Jian Yan's heart.So she leaned back and bowed to the three of them, then turned around and left with Xu Miaoning and Xu Miaojin.

Before she could walk a few steps, she vaguely heard Du Dai's voice, but she said something like sea ban, Jian Yan couldn't help but slowed down, trying to hear what he was saying clearly.But at this time, I saw Qingmei, the maid beside Xu Miaohua, hurried over. Seeing them stop, bowed, and then said: "I have seen the third girl, the fourth girl, and the cousin girl. The eldest girl sent me away." The servants are here to invite you to Zhuxia Pavilion."

(End of this chapter)