Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 135 Provocation
Li's house, the front hall.

Cao Yong was invited to the front hall by Li Xu, and after seeing the ceremony, the host and guest took their seats.Li Xu was always smiling, but he seemed hesitant to speak.

Cao Yong knew that this was a play, but he didn't know which song his cousin was going to sing, so he didn't take the initiative to speak, he just picked up a few teacups and took two sips of tea slowly.Although this tea is jasmine tea, it is different from ordinary jasmine tea. It has a light floral fragrance, but the tea taste is more mellow.He lifted the gaiwan, took a look at the brown color inside, and couldn't complain, it turned out that the selected germ tea was Biluochun.

Li Xu was thinking about where to start, when he saw Cao Yong watching tea, he smiled and said: "This is made by your second cousin, he heard that your family has set up several tea houses and launched several famous teas, yes This tea is also very interesting. I couldn't find a high-quality tea tree for a while, so I took a coincidence and processed this Biluochun into jasmine tea, which was not bad." Speaking of this, his face remained a little smug, Clasped fists and cupped hands toward the capital: "I will pay tribute to the capital in April. I heard that the queen mother loves her very much!"

Cao Yong smiled and said: "It's good tea, second cousin is so smart, it's really admirable!" As he said that, he thought of something in his heart, that Biluochun's tea house is under the name of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but it is Guo who is behind the scenes The members of Luoluo's family are the mother clan of elder brother Jiu; think again that Governor Ga Li is a member of elder brother Jiu Fujin's clan.Brother Jiu is the core figure of the Baye Party, and there is something tricky about it.For no reason, why did the Guo Luoluo family use their own tea to benefit the Li family?This jasmine tea is not a unique recipe, it can also be processed according to cats and tigers.He couldn't help but sigh secretly, the Li family is too deep!
Seeing that Cao Yong couldn't say a word, Li Xu felt very uncomfortable. He always felt that his city was too deep. Thinking about what happened half a month ago, he felt that this nephew was even more confusing.

Half a month ago, Li Ding rushed back from Yangzhou and told his father what happened there.Li Xu was furious, he intended to befriend Ga Li, but he never thought of breaking with the Cao family.

The two families of Cao and Li rely on each other. If they are allowed to provoke and have conflicts, it will be "the relatives will suffer, and the enemies will be happy"!
However, when this incident happened, he was not only angry at Qiandu's stupidity, but also frowned at Cao's strength.It's just a misunderstanding, it's good to solve it privately, why not leave any room for it?Although it was said that the dead were all from Gali's hands, there was nothing to feel bad about, but it also gave the Li family a slap in the face.

Although Li Xu was annoyed, he also knew that this kind of matter could not be brought up on the table, and he hadn't figured out how to face the Cao family in the future.Unexpectedly, not long after, I heard the news that Mrs. Li was going to return to Ning.

Today, Li Xu invited Cao Yong to the front hall with the intention of probing, to see if he came because of the Yangzhou incident.However, after waiting and waiting, he didn't see anything to say except that he responded to what he mentioned.

There was no other way, so Li Xu had no choice but to speak first: "Your mother is also true. Now your father is still ill. How did you come back at this time? Although you miss your mother's family, you must also put your husband's family first!"

"Father's health is getting better, and mother came out for a reason!" Cao Yong defended Li Shi: "The third sister's wedding is in the second half of the year, and the nephew will go to Beijing as an errand in August. The younger sister came to Beijing with her nephew! The time was running out, and the mother had to take care of her father and prepare a dowry for her younger sister. She was a bit busy, so she wanted to pick up her grandmother to help out! Moreover, the nephew and younger sister also wanted to take advantage of my When both were in Jiangning, they showed their filial piety in front of their grandmother."

Li Xu suddenly realized: "This is the reason. It must be that your mother sees her children leaving her side, thinks of her own family, and misses her old mother!" But he was terrified in his heart. What does the Cao family mean?Taking Gao Taijun away is to break with the Li family?Even if my family didn't intend to get involved in Yangzhou's matter, the explanation that should be given has already been explained, why is it still like this?
Li Xu felt a little annoyed, so he pondered for a while, and said solemnly: "It's just in time for you to come. I wanted to go to Jiangning to see your father and talk to him a few days ago. It's just because there are many things in the yamen. , I have not been able to leave. Since you are here, let me convey it to you!"

Cao Yong saw that he was solemn, so he also solemnly responded: "Please tell me, uncle, and my nephew will tell you the truth!"

"En!" Li Xu nodded, although there is no one in the hall at the moment, he still deliberately lowered his voice and said: "Just say what I said, tell my father to be careful, that old guy really has no good intentions. The matter of Yangzhou , Yong'er handled it very well, and he should be taught a lesson. What is he? Last year he impeached your father, and this year he tried to trick our two families, tricked your second cousin, and wanted to give Our two families are playing tricks. It’s really not a thing, it’s really deceiving our two families that there will be no one else!" At the end, his face was already full of anger.

Times have changed, although Li Xu's expression is extremely innocent and full of resentment, but Cao Yong doesn't believe it all.If you really have this heart, even if you can't get through, you can send someone to deliver a letter.

Although he was full of slander in his heart, Cao Yong didn't show it at all on his face. He looked taught and said respectfully: "At first I thought the governor of the Naga Auditorium should be good. Slander. I didn't expect it to be so filthy in private, but what my uncle said is not a thing! Uncle calm down, there is no need to get angry with that notorious person. Although the Li family has a marriage contract with the Governor's Mansion, after all, the second cousin His fiancée is only Ga Li’s niece, not his biological daughter, after all, she is far away. It’s just because of relatives, it’s not easy to be estranged. It’s my uncle’s blessing that they made such a fuss! On Jiangning’s side, the governor and the governor are If you can't stand each other, it won't be long before you will make trouble before the imperial court again, if uncle is accidentally involved, wouldn't it be wronged?"

These words sounded like they were sincere, Li Xu kept nodding his head: "Yong'er is more thoughtful!" After saying a few more gossips, he called the housekeeper and sent Cao Yong back to the guest house to have a rest.

After Cao Yong left, Li Xu's face drooped, he pulled the corner of his mouth, and let out a cold snort.

Seeing Li Ding come out from the room, he frowned and asked puzzledly: "Father, why do you have to explain so much to him? It seems that our family is afraid of the Cao family? I thought he was ordered by his father to plead guilty." , What is this? Is it a door-to-door questioning?"

Li Xu glared at his son: "Isn't it you who caused the disaster? That kid in Gandu looks smiling, but he is not a good guy. Where is Gali's son? That is a mad dog from the Governor's Mansion. If you How dare he cheat you so blatantly without letting Pearl's words slip through his face?"

Li Ding first bowed his head and pleaded guilty, and then Fang complained: "The son just refuses to accept that's all! This Cao family is too hypocritical. Their family is a tea garden and a pearl. How can they have been tossing around year after year? Even my father kept it a secret. Didn't he guard against his father's meddling? Now, his family's money is flowing like water, and they are performing the act of selling the mortgaged house and land, saying that they want to pay back the deficit, or are they flattering in front of the Long Live God? The result? The flag is also raised, The marriage of the younger generation is also pointed out, and all the benefits are taken away! If we are really regarded as relatives, how can this be so? In the end, it seems to be justified, and it is not right to criticize the father again!"

Although Li Xu complained to Cao Yin, he didn't think so much like his son.Now, seeing his son mentioning Cao's family with resentment on his face, and thinking about Cao Yong's calm and immobile appearance just now, he shook his head and sighed deeply.

Hearing his father's sigh, Li Ding thought that his father was really afraid of the Cao family, so he couldn't help saying: "Father, what is there to worry about? Now that Cao Yin has resigned, if their family is still in the south, they will eventually ask for my family!"

"What did you say?" Li Xu waved his hand and couldn't help scolding: "Look at Cao Yong, follow along and study hard, don't be so short-sighted! Cao Yong is right, Ga Li is too arrogant, and Zhang Boxing is too arrogant. Notoriously stubborn, now the Governor's Mansion and the Governor's Yamen are dismantling each other for three or two days. If it goes on like this, it will be a matter of time before the emperor. You can say a few words in front of Kari Good words, do you really want our Li family to be his lackey? Hmph! He is so greedy, seeing the Cao family's property, but he has no courage to directly start it, but wants to use our family as a weapon! He's hiding it? We're far away in Suzhou, and it doesn't matter if Gali plots against Zhang Boxing or Cao's family, we just go to the theater, so there's no need to get involved!"

His father actually had the attitude of "sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight", Li Ding thought about it carefully, but it was the most appropriate in front of him, no matter which side lost, as long as the Li family relied on the winning side, it didn't matter. I really admire it in my heart.

In Suzhou, the person Cao Yong most wants to see is Zhuang Chang, but the current relationship between Cao and Li's family, if he is too close to Zhuang Chang, I'm afraid it will be difficult for Zhuang Chang to be with the Li family in the future.Thinking of this, he stopped thinking.Every day, he either went out to drink with Li Nai and Li Ding brothers, or accompanied his mother to visit relatives.

In a blink of an eye, four or five days have passed.

Mrs. Li made it clear when she first arrived. Mr. Gao was impatient at first, but he couldn't hold back his daughter's begging, and thought that his son-in-law was ill and he could help, so he reluctantly agreed.

After counting the days, it has been several days since Mrs. Li was worried about her family and bid farewell to Mrs. Wen.Taijun Wen knew that her family had a lot of things to do, so he didn't want to keep her any longer, so he chose someone who would go to serve Taijun Gao, and asked Li Xu to arrange for their mothers to return.

Li Xu was generous, besides the gifts for Cao's family and others in the inner house, he also generously gave a dowry because he heard that his niece's wedding date had been fixed.

*
When boarding the boat and leaving the Suzhou pier far away, Cao Yong did not feel relaxed at all.

Although taking in Mrs. Gao was considered to have achieved the goal, but in the past few days in the Li family, seeing how close the old man is to the descendants of the Li family, this family affection is no less than that of Jiang Ning's own daughter.She has lived in Li's family for most of her life. If she lives in Jiangning for a year or so and misses her relatives here, is it necessary to stop her?

Cao Yong couldn't help rubbing his brows, thinking of his second aunt's big belly, and sighing why his mother wasn't pregnant.The old man is afraid of being lonely, and it is much more lively to have a child in front of him, and he is getting older.

I have to take a step forward and take a step forward. If the children in the second bedroom can please the old lady, it's good to keep her here.

*
Jiangning, Cao's family, Xifu.

After beating Cao Quan, he got Lu Mei, so he seldom went to other courtyards. Except for a few days every month, he went to Zhaojia's room to rest, and the rest of the days were at Lu Mei's side.Baodie and Feicui didn't even see him in person for more than ten or twenty days.

Fei Cui is used to this, but Bao Die is very unwilling, and provokes Zhao Jia again and again.

Mrs. Zhao Jia's fetal gas was not active when Lu Mei first entered the mansion, and it took half a month for her to recover. At present, her only priority is to raise her fetus, and she has no time to take care of Lu Mei.However, after listening to Baodie's words a few times, she felt a little unhappy, so she told Cao Quan to save money by taking advantage of the fact that the baby in her womb didn't have the 5000 taels of marriage money.

Originally, Zhao Jia never discussed with Cao Quan about the inner house, everything was decided by her.Cao Quan has always been obedient, not to mention that she gave such a high-sounding reason, Cao Quan naturally agreed without thinking about it.

With the approval of Cao Quan, the Zhaojia family became a virtuous person, and began to reform the financial expenditure of the mansion. The first to bear the brunt was the few concubines in the family. Jade's monthly rate is only [-]% less, while Lu Mei's is less than half.Moreover, if Cao Quan eats at Lu Mei's side, it will be delicious and delicious. If he is not there someday, although there will be no leftovers, there will be radishes and vegetables, without any meat or fish.

In the past, Lu Mei was enshrined in gold and silver, and she lived a rich life when she first came to Cao's house. Now she can't do it, and she's not willing to do it.She was used to coaxing people to get money from others, so she played the side drum and blew on Cao Quan's side a few times, not only wanting to persuade Cao Quan to teach Zhao Jia a lesson, but also want to hold Cao Quan's private money .However, although Cao Quan was coaxed by her, he only promised her something in empty words, and never said anything real. They often coaxed each other, coaxing her to the bed and falling down.

Cao Quan didn't dare to go against Zhao Jia's at first; besides, Zhao Jia discussed the matter of chewing with him, and he nodded. Q?It's just that although he didn't give Lu Mei some benefits, after hearing her say it a few times, he felt a little bit sorry for her, and finally promised her to take her out someday to buy some materials and appearance.

Just one day, Lu Daotai set up a post to invite Lu Mei to the banquet. Cao Quan took advantage of this introduction and told Zhaojia that he would take Lu Mei out to the banquet.

Zhao Jia got angry for a while, but there was nothing she could do, not to mention that she was pregnant and couldn't socialize, even if she could go, if Lu Daotai was the host, he had to ask Lu Mei to go too, at least to give Lu Daotai a face .

Entering Cao's house, besides going to the East Mansion once, Lu Mei never even stepped out of the gate.She is originally a lively person, and it is very boring to endure these days.Now that I heard that I was going out to eat, I hurriedly dug out the most decent clothes and jewelry, and I was about to put them on.

As soon as she changed her small clothes and knee trousers, Lu Mei paused, thought for a while, and asked the servant girl Fuyun to pack up the clothes, and picked out a plain one to change into. Her hair was neatly combed, but she was just I picked up two hosta hairpins.

Before going out, Lu Mei went to greet Zhao Jia.Seeing her attire, Zhao Jia felt a lot more comfortable without her charming appearance, and she didn't speak harshly, so she gave her a few instructions and let her go.

After going out the second door and getting into the car, Cao Quan couldn't help frowning when he saw it, and his face sank.He knows how many clothes Lu Mei has. Every time he goes to Lu Mei's room, Lu Mei changes clothes, which dazzles him.But now he came out in such a suit, it was obvious that he was going to embarrass him.

Lu Mei looked at his face, it was sticky like sugar, her watery eyes blinked, and she said pitifully: "It's not that Meier intends to embarrass the master. This wife has said that the whole family is frugal, what about Meier?" Dare you disobey? If you wear brocade clothes right now, Meier won’t be able to bear it if your wife punishes Meier later..."

Cao Quan frowned unceasingly: "It's the Cao family's face that she went out with, what can she do to punish you!" Because seeing how frugal she was wearing, compared with his silk shirt, it was like being tortured by Cao's family. It's like being abused, I have to bring it to the banquet and ask Lu Daotai to watch it...

Asking her to go back and change her clothes would be a waste of time with Zhao Jia, so it would be easier to add two decent jewelry.After thinking about it, Cao Quan ordered the coachman to go to Bihelou to pick out jewelry.

Coming out of the Dabihe building, there are two more gem-inlaid side flowers on Lu's eyebrows, a hairpin flower, and a pair of bead earrings on the ears. It looks like an official grandma.

Sitting in the car, Lu Mei leaned on Cao Quan, letting Cao Quan hold and play with one hand, while rubbing the beads on the ear with the other hand, still not satisfied, said: "The beads just now are all the same size. The color is moist, which is really good.”

But she saw a string of pearls hanging just now, and because the store asked for 600 taels, Cao Quan had no intention of buying it for her at all.Although she was tempted, she couldn't give up her identity in front of outsiders, so she had to choose a pair of pearl earrings.

Cao Quan was already extremely dissatisfied with Lu Mei today, after listening to her words, he didn't answer, but let go of her hand calmly, closed his eyes and rested his mind.Lu Mei knew that he was annoyed, so she hurriedly obeyed and didn't dare to say anything.

At the table on the Ludaotai, there was no political affairs, and all the talk was about romance.Lu Mei was trained to be proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting since he was a child, and his piano skills are especially good. During the banquet, he sang two ancient songs, which amazed everyone. .Therefore, everyone praised Cao Quan for having a wife with both talent and appearance, which made Cao Quan very proud.

On the way home, Cao Quan saw that Lu Mei became more and more pleasing to the eye, hugged her and kissed once, saying that she made his own face, and when he turned around, he would reward her with the string of pearls.

Lu Mei hung on Cao Quan's body, exhaled like blue, and said coquettishly: "Master knows that Mei'er loves that bead, and if you give me a reward, it's because I love Mei'er. If you don't reward Meier, you don't want to be greedy, but you are not allowed to coax Meier!"

Cao Quan smiled: "Jiejing watched you search all day long, my master, I will tell you to search poorly."

Lu Mei frowned, and said in a tired voice: "Isn't the master making up eyebrows again?" While speaking, he tilted his head and pretended to be naive and said: "I heard that our family produced pearls at the dinner just now! Meier didn't know. The same is true for the master, he would not let his eyebrows wear it even if he had beads at home."

Cao Quan frowned, lowered his arms, and smiled: "Who did you listen to?"

Lu's eyebrows and eyes fluttered, and he smiled charmingly: "Could it be that the master can't hide his secrets? Several grandmas said so, and asked Meier if the pendant on Mei'er's ear was made by her own family."

Cao Quan shook his head and said, "That's Big Brother's property."

Lu Mei curled her lips, and leaned into his arms: "Mei'er shouldn't have said this, but master, haven't the families been separated yet? Why are they divided into the first house and the second house? Aren't they all from the government?" ? Why is it that the old man’s food is all high-quality, but our food is tight?”

Cao Quan was upset when he heard this, and coughed: "Stop talking about these things."

Lu Mei looked at Cao Quan for a while, then slowly straightened up, and said seriously: "Today, the left and right eyebrows are talking too much, the master is a strange eyebrow, and Meier also wants to talk. The brothers of the Lu family are all trying their best to support each other. If it’s difficult, other families will help. I think Mei’er lost her parents since she was a child, but no one in the clan dislikes me, and the clan’s uncles and aunts treat me like their own. If it weren’t for them, Meier would have been a lonely soul long ago One strand. The warmth and coldness of human relationships can be glimpsed. In this world, where is the reason for an older brother to watch his own younger brother starve to death? If the family is not separated, the property belongs to the officials; Why are we just sticking to it, and the gold and silver mountains are alive and well on the side of the old man? If the old man doesn’t give it, why don’t you mention it... Oops..." Before she finished speaking, she was slapped and swollen half face.

Cao Quan had listened with suppressed anger before, but when she heard that she was going to accuse the elder brother, he couldn't bear it anymore, so he raised his hand and slapped his face, and said angrily: "Bitch! You can say that elder brother? You want to provoke our brothers to discord , who instructed you?"

Lu Mei covered half of her face and was stunned, then tears came down suddenly, and she wept bitterly: "Who is Meier for? Isn't it because of you, Master? Kindly treat yourself like a donkey's liver and lungs, woo woo woo..."

Cao Quan said coldly: "I don't care what you think, once you enter the Cao family's door, please give me peace of mind! If there is any disrespect to elder brother, the family law will not tolerate it.
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(End of this chapter)