swear not to be concubine

Chapter 38

On Shengxuan, which is about three feet wide, the setting sun is sinking and the river is light.Across the river, the emerald green is bright, and the sails and masts in the river can be counted.There is another person standing on a very high platform by the river, with a lone pine beside him, looking at the setting sun with his hands up and down.Although his back is thin, he is tall and straight, just like the proud and independent green pine beside him.In the upper right corner of the screen, there are four cursive lines, which say that the ancients are not seen before, and those who come after are not seen.

As far as the painting is concerned, the brush is swayed, the ink is flying, and it is done in one go.And the desolation and loneliness in it, the sense of arrogance can be clearly felt even through a piece of paper.As for the four-line cursive script, the strokes are coherent, sharp and sharp, piercing the back of the paper, very thick and majestic.

Xu Zhongxuan's eyes darkened slightly, he reached out to take the painting from Xu Miaohua's hand, rolled it up carefully, then turned around and walked down the stairs without saying a word.

Wu Jingxuan hurriedly called him from behind: "Cousin."

But Xu Zhongxuan turned a deaf ear, and his figure gradually disappeared at the turning of the stairs.

Wu Jingxuan naturally hated it.

She knew that she came from a low family background, her mother and father died one after another when she was young, and she was brought up by her grandparents.Although her family's ancestors had also been educated in the Hanlin Academy, their talents were limited when they came to his grandfather's place. It was not until he was in his 50s that he won a top three Jinshi and released a county magistrate from a remote village.At that time, my grandfather brought her to bid farewell to Mrs. Wu when he was about to leave Beijing. Mrs. Wu loved her very much, so he left her by his side to raise her.At that time, Xu Zhongxuan had already been awarded a Jinshi, and was being promoted by the Imperial Academy to become a Bachelor of Attendance. It was the first time she saw a person who was awarded a Jinshi at such a young age, and he was born with a handsome face and a heart. Since then, it has been on him, and he is the only one in his eyes.

She always hoped that Xu Zhongxuan could treat her like she did to him. The two had a childhood sweetheart relationship, and Wu Shi was mediating in the middle. If they could be with him for a hundred years, that would be the best.But since Xu Zhongxuan is so outstanding, there will be quite a few girls who like him.The Cui family's Yuniang was not blessed, and died early, but the Cui family had the idea of ​​marrying sisters to death again.Another Li Nianlan from the Duke's Mansion lingered, and then Jian Yan came.

Since the first time she met Jian Yan, Wu Jingxuan didn't know why, but she was jealous of her.And in the subsequent times when Xu Zhongxuan and Jian Yan got along, although the two of them obviously didn't say a few words, Wu Jingxuan felt inexplicably that there was a feeling that outsiders could not get in between them, so she was very dissatisfied. Hi Jianyan.Just now she wanted to provoke Jian Yan and Li Nianlan in the middle, and wanted Li Nianlan to use her identity to humiliate Jian Yan, and then spread the word. Yu Jianyan's reputation is not very good after all, after all, she offended the rich and powerful family. My daughter, who would dare to play with her again in the future?And Yu Li Nianlan's reputation may not be very good, after all, she has a reputation of being a bully.At that time, the snipe and the clam will fight, and she will be the fisherman.I don't think Xu Zhongxuan would come in the end, took Jian Yan's calligraphy and painting and left, but he didn't even agree to her calling him, wouldn't it be a shame to her?

She couldn't help hating Jian Yan even more.Turning her head in anger, she happened to see the flash of complacency in Xu Miaohua's eyes.

What Xu Miaohua thought in her heart was, I sincerely love you and play with you, but you have always just used me as a pawn and don't care about me at all.At the beginning, I deliberately invited my elder brother to meet Li Nianlan to make you feel uncomfortable.And Jian Yan, even if she is an unworthy merchant's daughter, she still knows how to invite me when she goes out to play, so if you want to destroy her painting to prevent elder brother from seeing it, I will let him see it arrive.

Now that Xu Miaohua's goal has been achieved, she doesn't want to stay here any longer, she said something to Li Nianlan and the other three for a long time, fearing that her mother would miss her and would go back, she turned around and took her maid and left the Zhuxia Pavilion .Seeing this, Xu Miaolan, who had not spoken all the time, blessed Li Nianlan and the other three, and then took her maid to chase Xu Miaohua, leaving Wu Jingxuan there alone.

Li Nianlan was standing behind the painting table with a pen in her hand when she was supposed to be meeting.

On the three-foot-wide rice paper on the table in front of her was the painting of Aoxue Hongmei, but it was only half-finished and not yet finished.

She saw Xu Zhongxuan coming and going, and since she came in, her gaze was only on Jian Yan's painting, and she didn't even glance at her. She couldn't help but feel extremely aggrieved and angry in her heart. Concubine Xiang's bamboo tube was about to be broken by her force.

What kind of picture did Jian Yan draw?Although both Wu Jingxuan and Guo Danqin said it was not as good as her plum blossom painting, she could hear the compliment even though she was deaf.Furthermore, what kind of celebrity calligraphy and painting has Xu Zhongxuan never seen?But when he saw Jian Yan's painting, his face was moved, which is enough to prove that Jian Yan's painting is extraordinary.

She looked at Wu Jingxuan and Guo Danqin with a sullen face, and finally turned to Zhou Yingying.

Although Zhou Yingying said that she was only Zhou Yuanzheng's niece, but I heard that Zhou Yuanzheng loved her very much, and even his own daughter had to stand behind. So even though Zhou Yingying's father had died long ago, in the capital No one in her circle of famous ladies would dare to underestimate her.

At that time, Zhou Yingying was sitting in the rosewood chair with four heads, drinking tea calmly, as if everything around her was just passing through and had nothing to do with her.

But in fact, she did not say a few words today.From the beginning to the end, I just sat here from the perspective of a bystander, watching them fight back and forth with cold eyes.

Li Nianlan thought for a while, and although she was extremely unwilling to ask, among the few people in the room, only Zhou Yingying could tell the truth, so she had to save face and asked: "Miss Zhou , how is her painting done?"

Hearing this, Zhou Yingying raised her head and glanced at her without any emotion.

In her heart, she actually didn't look down on Li Nianlan very much, she was just a concubine born in a concubine's room.That is to say, relying on the fact that her own sister is King Ning's side concubine, and there is no concubine daughter in the Duke's mansion, she is regarded as precious as a concubine daughter.Can write a few words, can draw a few strokes, do you think you are really a talented daughter?All the ladies in the capital can't match her?

Zhou Yingying wanted to extinguish her flame, so she simply told the truth.

"In my opinion, Miss Jane's paintings and cursive handwriting are definitely not the handwriting of a boudoir girl. I'm afraid we can't match her open-mindedness and arrogance."

Li Nianlan was naturally unconvinced after hearing this.

She threw the Zihao pen in her hand to the ground heavily, and a large puddle of black ink immediately splashed on the shiny green brick.

Immediately, a servant girl came over and squatted down to tidy up.Li Nianlan watched the maid tidy up, tightly clenched her hands in her sleeves, and said disdainfully: "What open-mindedness and arrogance? She is just a merchant's daughter, she smells of copper all over her body, and she knows what is open-mindedness and arrogance?"

Guo Danqin was also helping, and said in a strange way: "Miss Zhou, everyone said that you are the best at appreciating calligraphy and painting, and you will never miss it again, but why did you miss it today?"

She had always looked down on Zhou Yingying.How can an orphan girl whose father has been dead for many years get the favor of others no matter where she goes?But it's just because she is the niece and daughter of Mr. Shoufu Zhou.But what about the niece?Not her own daughter.In addition, Zhou Yingying was as her name suggests, with a gentle and beautiful personality. Everyone said that she was smart and quiet, and she was greatly compared to Guo Danqin, so Guo Danqin was also very angry about this.

Regarding the words Li Nianlan and Guo Danqin said, Zhou Yingying didn't take them seriously.

She put the teacup in her hand on the small rosewood table, with a slight smile on her face: "I have an appointment with Princess Wen'an this afternoon, so I can't gossip with my two younger sisters here anymore. Let me take my leave first. "

After finishing speaking, she got up and nodded to Li Nianlan, Guo Danqin, and Wu Jingxuan who had been standing there with her head bowed, not knowing what she was thinking, and then took her maid and went downstairs calmly.

As soon as she left, Guo Danqin said to Li Nianlan: "Sister Li, look at this Zhou Yingying, she didn't use Princess Wen'an as an excuse to leave like this, it's really arrogant, it's actually You don't even put your sister in your eyes."

Li Nianlan thought in her heart, she naturally has the capital.Although her uncle Zhou Yuanzheng did not have a title, but he was the chief assistant, and he overshadowed the sky in the court, who wouldn't let him?Even her father was a prince after all, but he didn't dare to confront Zhou Yuanzheng head-on.

It's just that there is no need to tell Guo Danqin about these things.Although she had a fair appearance, her mind was full of straws, and she couldn't use her brain to think about things, and she wouldn't understand if I told her, maybe she would still yell around.

So Li Nianlan ignored her, thought for a while, and asked Wu Jingxuan instead.

"That Jian Yan just now, what is her background? Tell me in detail."

With a completely commanding tone, Wu Jingxuan naturally felt uncomfortable when she heard it.But after thinking about it, she could have borrowed Li Nianlan's hand to punish Jian Yan, and she was happy to sit in the middle and reap the benefits.

So she said: "This Jian Yan was originally from Longxing Mansion, and her family was in business. Her father died last year, and at the beginning of the year her mother brought her and her elder brother to Tongzhou to join me for five years. Aunt Biao, that is, the mother of my third cousin—my cousin and this Jian Yan’s mother were two sisters. This Jian Yan has been in the Xu family for less than two months, but she has met my eldest cousin several times. Next time. And I watched coldly from the side, she is also interested in my eldest cousin, but she is just pretending to be noble."

When Li Nianlan heard this, she was naturally furious.

Xu Zhongxuan was the one she admired, how could he let others covet him?This Jian Yan, how can she covet Xu Zhongxuan?And her appearance...

Thinking of her appearance, Li Nianlan's heart was moved, and she couldn't help but asked again: "Is this Jian Yan born to her mother? Didn't she pick it up?"

"Why would Ms. Li ask such a question?" Wu Jingxuan wondered, "She is naturally born to Mrs. Jane. You have seen her just now. Which of the dresses and jewelry on her body is ordinary? Not to mention, just Just the little emerald-pointed phoenix hairpin on her head, it is the craftsmanship of Guixianglou in the capital. If it is not her own, Mrs. Jane is willing to spend such a large amount of money on her?"

Li Nianlan's eyes turned to the small rosewood table on one side.

The pair of red gold and ruby ​​bracelets that she took off earlier were still on it.This pair of bracelets is worth two or three hundred taels of silver at least, but just now when she took it off and said that it would be a lottery, Jian Yan's eyes just took a light glance and then took it back. This pair of red gold bracelets is in his eyes, so her jewelry must not be bad.

It's just that she changed her mind and thought again, even if her jewelry is not bad, so what?It's just a daughter of a merchant who can't stand on the stage, what can be compared with her?She is the daughter of the Duke's mansion, and her older sister is King Ning's side concubine. Could it be that she is not as good as her?No matter what she said, she still remembered what happened just now, and she had to ask Jian Yan to get it back no matter what she said.

Once she made up her mind, she raised her head and asked Wu Jingxuan: "Where are you holding the peach blossom feast today? You lead the way ahead, and I will also join in the fun."

(End of this chapter)