Value peace

Chapter 112

While they were talking, some women had already removed the high threshold in front of the hanging flower door so that their carriage could drive directly in.

When their carriage stopped behind the hanging flower gate, another woman took a green curtained oil cart pulled by mules and asked them to sit in it.

Gu Xiyan and his group got out of the four-wheeled carriage and stepped on the oil truck on the footstools brought by the women. They heard the leisurely "gurgling" sound and slowly drove towards the depths of Duke Yan's mansion.

In winter, the Duke of Yan's Mansion is like a place of historical interest that lacks customers due to the cold weather.

The scenery is beautiful, the architecture is exquisite, but it is deserted and deserted, lacking the breath of life.

They entered through the side door on the west side. Once they entered, there was a long east-west alley. At the end of the alley, there was a high white wall covered with blue glass tiles. The alley looked like a dead-end alley, but there was a There are two red lacquered doors with two doors.

"These two doors are closed at five o'clock in the evening." Liu Meier saw Gu Xiyan looking out curiously as she pressed her face against the green gauze window, "Did you see that whitewashed wall? Behind the wall is Songzhenyuan."

In the silence, the mule cart drove past two gates, then turned a corner in front of the high whitewashed wall, and drove into a long alley running north-south. Because of the daytime, these doors are open, so that people can see the end at a glance.At the end of this alley, there are two black lacquered doors with a high red lacquered threshold, which is particularly eye-catching.

Gu Xiyan turned her head and asked Liu Meier quietly: "Why is that door black?"

Liu Meier didn't even look at it, and said with a smile: "That door leads to Shang Zhengju."

Gu Xiyan discovered a very interesting thing.

Songzhenyuan opened a small corner gate at the end of this north-south alley, and Gongshunyuan on the opposite side also opened a small corner gate at the same position. Not far from these two corner gates, there is a two A red painted door.

In other words, if all the doors in these two alleys are closed, a relatively closed space is formed here.As long as there is a key, the people of Songzhen Court can go directly to the West Court...

Gu Xiyan pointed to the west courtyard and asked Liu Meier in a low voice: "What garden is behind this...?"

Confusion appeared in Liu Mei'er's eyes: "I don't know if it's Qiao Yuan or Gui Yuan. Both of these courtyards are a bit off the west courtyard, and they seem to be in this position."

Gu Xiyan nodded calmly.

The mule cart passed the red-painted gate by the side of the alley, and after walking about [-] meters further, Gu Xiyan saw two hanging flower gates facing each other but with the same closed gates.There are five steps on the east side, and the vertical flower gate on the west is slightly backward than the vertical flower gate on the east, and there are three steps.

Gu Xiyan pointed to the hanging flower door in the east, and said softly: "It should be Dexin Courtyard at this time, right?"

Liu Meier nodded, and replied softly: "Yes. To the west is the gate of Gongshun Yuan."

The mule cart walked forward for about [-] meters, and crossed two red-painted doors on the alley. From time to time, there were oil-green branches and leaves covered with snow protruding from the high snow-white wall.

"This is the garden you mentioned!"

Liu Meier nodded.

From the looks of it, the area of ​​Dexin Courtyard is not small!
This time the mule cart walked forward for about five to 60 meters before passing through two red-painted doors on the long alley.

According to this distance, the area of ​​the garden is not small.

The carriage stopped in front of a five-step hanging flower gate on the east side, and the woman sitting by the shaft jumped down and took out the footstool beside the shaft, then lifted the thick woolen curtain of the oil cart, and Liu Meier straightened her skirts, The leader got out of the car, and everyone got out of the car one by one with her.

After getting off the car, Liu Meier carefully straightened her clothes, then turned her head to Gu Xiyan and said, "This is the Xianji Courtyard..."

After Gu Xiyan got off the car, she looked around.

The west courtyard opposite is a high white wall.

There are only two entrances and exits in the entire West Courtyard, one is the Hanging Flower Gate opposite the Dexin Courtyard, and the other is the Xiaojiao Gate opposite the Songzhen Courtyard.

Liu Meier saw that Gu Xiyan was wearing the old clothes that she lent her temporarily, hanging loosely on her body, she was indescribably shabby.She couldn't help but sighed, and sympathetically helped Gu Xiyan straighten her clothes, and said in a low voice: "We'll see Mrs. Xu later, you, be careful..." She seemed very nervous.

Gu Xiyan knew that she cared about herself, and was afraid that she would break the rules in front of Mrs. Xu and leave a bad impression on her, which would make it difficult for her to gain a foothold in this mansion in the future.Busy nodded and assured her: "Don't worry, I'll follow you, just watch more and talk less."

Liu Meier nodded, and then entered the Xianji courtyard under the guidance of a woman.

After entering the Xianji Courtyard, they were seated in a small room next to the Chuihua Gate, and a nanny greeted Liu Meier in a low voice: "Miss Liu, are you back from Hongtai?"

Liu Mei'er's face was slightly startled, she forced a smile and nodded towards that nanny, and called out: "Golden nanny."

Nanny Jin smiled and looked at Gu Xiyan who was sitting on the side.

The little girl looks pretty good, but this dress... feels a little tattered.

She pointed at Gu Xiyan and said with a smile: "This is..."

Seeing that she didn't ask any more questions about her, Liu Mei'er breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly said: "This is my cousin, Miss Gu." Turning around, she introduced the nanny to Gu Xiyan: "This is Jin Lujin from Songzhen Academy. The uncle's family works as an errand in the madam's courtyard."

Didn't it mean that the wives of the inner court and the servants of the outer court had a close relationship in the past, which was Qi Maosheng's taboo?Why now there are two couples in charge of the inner court and the outer court respectively?Is it the Kim couple's long-sleeved and good dancing, or is Qi Maosheng's arrangement with ulterior motives?
Gu Xiyan bowed her body, smiled and nodded towards Nanny Jin, imitating Liu Meier and shouted "Mommy Jin".

Nanny Jin smiled and nodded towards Gu Xiyan, a hint of arrogance quickly flashed across her face, with a condescending tone: "Miss Gu, I don't know which branch of the Wei family you are from?"

Almost everyone in Yandi knew the situation of the Wei family, except for Gu Xiyan, of course.

Just as she was about to answer, a young maid came in to entertain them with teacups and dried fruits.

Liu Mei'er thanked the two girls politely, but blocked Gu Xiyan's words.

When the maidservants went down, what was Nanny Jin going to ask, suddenly a dignified middle-aged woman rushed in with a panicked expression: "Grandma Jin, prepare the car quickly, the third girl is starting to breathe again! "

Three girls?Is it Qi Hongluan?

Gu Xiyan was thoughtful.

When Nanny Jin heard this, her complexion changed drastically, and while she was running out with her skirt in hand, she said, "Miss Liu is still here, please take care of her."

The middle-aged woman pulled a fifteen- or six-year-old girl standing by the door: "Go, Miss Liu will wait by her side." Then she ran away quickly with Jin Nao.

The girl was staggered, straightened her clothes and gave a blessed salute to Liu Mei'er, then stood there stupidly.

Guessing that Liu Meier was not familiar with the girl, she smiled and nodded towards the girl.

When it came to Gu Xiyan, she grabbed a handful of dried fruit and stuffed it to the girl with a smile: "Sister, I don't know how to call it?"

The little girl blushed and refused to accept Gu Xiyan's things: "I, my name is Zhaoxia."

Gu Xiyan also knew that Zhaoxia was on duty, so she couldn't pick up these things.She was only polite to Zhaoxia to get closer to the distance between the two, and seeing that Zhaoxia refused firmly, she put the dried fruit back in the tray and said with a smile: "What's the matter? But Miss San What's wrong?"

Zhaoxia's face changed drastically, and she looked terrified: "I don't know anything, I don't know anything..."

Gu Xiyan hurriedly smiled and said, "I'm just asking casually."

Only then did Zhaoxia stop talking, but she still looked at Gu Xiyan with a trace of guard.

Seeing this, Gu Xiyan said with a smile: "We came from Hongtai, we were exhausted all the way... just want to see Mrs. Wei sooner."

After hearing this, Zhaoxia seemed relieved, lowered her head, and murmured: "I, I am not qualified to pass on the information to the girl."

Gu Xiyan was startled, she didn't expect that the Qi Mansion is so strict.

Liu Mei'er didn't have as much thought as Gu Xiyan, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, someone will pass it on as soon as we enter the courtyard. We should hear back soon."

Gu Xiyan smiled and sat down.

Sure enough, after a while, a fat middle-aged woman walked in with two girls who looked like personal maids.She greeted Liu Mei'er with a smile all over her face: "Miss Liu, I'm really sorry, madam is busy now and has no time to entertain the girl. I know that the girl is here to see Madam Wei, and we are not outsiders , the girl also comes and goes often, so I specially asked me to take the girl to the west courtyard."

Liu Meier stood up as soon as she saw the woman, and Gu Xiyan, who had been listening to all directions since entering the room, immediately stood up too.When the woman saluted Liu Meier, Liu Meier hurriedly returned the salute, and of course Gu Xiyan followed suit.After the woman finished speaking, Liu Meier seemed to be greatly relieved, and said: "In this case, we will not disturb Madam. Please also ask Madam Wang to say hello to Madam for me, and when Madam is free tomorrow , I’ll come again to pay my respects to Madam!”

The woman Liu Meier called Wang Momo glanced shrewdly at Gu Xiyan, and said with a smile: "The girl has worked hard all the way, and when she met Mrs. Wei, she had to say something close to herself. Madam, wait for her old man." It's not too late for everyone to get together after work is over."

Liu Meier hurriedly said: "Then I will listen to Madam Hou Wang's orders."

"Ouch!" Wang Momo smiled and said, "Look at what the girl said, how dare you use the word 'send', I will definitely remember to report to the girl when the time comes." After speaking, she glanced at Gu Xiyan with the corner of her eye.

Seeing this, Liu Meier hurriedly introduced: "Nurse Wang, this is one of my cousins, who sometimes comes to see Mrs. Wei..."

"It was brought by the girl, of course there is nothing wrong with it." Wang Momo smiled, turned around and called a girl behind her, "Shui Xiang, you can accompany Miss Liu to Mrs. Wei to pay her respects!"

One girl immediately bent her knees and blessed her, and said yes.

Wang Momo smiled and said, "Then I won't be with Miss Liu anymore!"

Liu Meier hurriedly bowed her knees and saluted: "Nurse Wang is good to go, forgive me for the inconvenience of sending her away."

Nanny Wang smiled, turned around and left.

The girl named Shuixiang was about fifteen or sixteen years old, with delicate features and very clever appearance.As soon as Wang Momo left, she stepped forward and bowed to Liu Meier: "Miss Liu, please follow me."

While returning the salute, Liu Meier politely said "Thanks for the trouble".

Gu Xiyan was slightly worried.

Mrs. Wei's own niece is so polite to everyone in Mrs. Xu's house.

(End of this chapter)