Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 172
The entire Duke's Mansion was lifeless, and along the way, only three or two servants and servants were seen.Although Cao Yong also knew that not all clans were as powerful as Ping Wangfu, but he was still surprised by such a desolate scene.

E Fei received Cao Yong in the inner hall, wearing only a piece of homely clothes, leaning on the half-worn indigo satin backrest.His complexion was very bad, his paleness was livid, and he looked very tired.

Cao Yong stepped forward to pay respects, E Fei stretched out his hand and called out, pointing to the chair on the ground to let him sit: "It's not suitable to see guests because you are so sick, but I just heard that you are busy with the errands of epidemic prevention with the fourth elder brother recently, and I feel a little worried , I invite you to come in!"

Although Cao Yong had been E Fei's subordinate, the two were just acquaintances, and E Fei's words, which obviously showed the love of his elders, were extremely natural and without falsehood.

Cao Yong thinks that the impression he left on people in the past is that he is rigorous in handling things and pays attention to propriety, but now he is like an old man who just makes people feel lonely. It’s fine here in the humble position, but you should take care of yourself when you’re here, my lord.”

Seeing the concern on Cao Yong's face, E Fei couldn't help but lose his mind. Finally, he smiled and said, "It's not a serious problem for me. It's just a troublesome old man. I have to report it to the Ministry of Internal Affairs! It's just that I'm getting old and recuperating. It will be fine in two days!"

Seeing how worn E Fei's sleeves were, Cao Yong was taken aback for a moment, then thought that he didn't want to eat, so he asked a few more questions.

E Fei either nodded or shook his head, not caring about his physical condition at all.Seeing that he was so casual, Cao Yong wanted to persuade him a few more words, but when he thought about the relationship between the two, it was a bit presumptuous and not appropriate, so he immediately swallowed the words that came to his lips.

He also said a few words about the situation in the capital, Cao Yong saw that his face was becoming more and more gentle, with a parental look, and finally couldn't help asking the doubts that had been buried in his heart for two years: "The humble job still remembers When I first met my lord, my lord's expression was a little strange, could it be that my lord knows the humble elders?"

E Fei was taken aback when he heard this, and it took him a while to react. He coughed involuntarily, his face flushed from coughing, and he looked really uncomfortable.

Cao Yong hurriedly got up and patted his back for him.

E Fei froze, and then gradually stopped coughing, but tears came out because of the stronger coughing.He tried his best to make himself look calmer, but his slightly trembling hands still revealed the tension in his heart: "Why...you thought of asking these things? Your father often came to Beijing in the early years, so you know him well!"

Even if Cao Yong had doubts in his heart, he couldn't directly ask him if he knew his mother, so he just tactfully said: "The humble uncle is from the Li family in Suzhou, I wonder if adults can know him?"

The expression on E Fei's face changed a few times, and he was silent for a long time, finally he just closed his eyes slightly and let out a long sigh.The whole person sat there, revealing endless sentimentality from inside to outside.

Seeing his situation like this, Cao Yong couldn't ask any more questions. No matter what happened back then, just looking at E Fei's expression, he knew it must be a painful memory.

Even if you are curious, you shouldn't ask these questions at this time. Cao Yong took a deep breath, stood up, and pretended to be casual: "I was worried when I heard that my lord was sick, but now it seems that it is not a serious illness. Really Fortunately! Since there is still an errand, I won't stay in a lowly position, my lord has a good rest, and I will visit you again some other day!"

Cao Yong waited for a long time, but did not hear E Fei's answer, so he couldn't help calling again: "My lord..."

As if waking up from a dream, E Fei hummed, and then slowly said: "It was 28 years ago. At that time, I was only a teenager, about the same age as you are now, and I was working by the side of Long Live God. I was rushing Shang Shengjia's second southern tour..."

It's a story that couldn't be more clichéd. E Fei, a bodyguard who worked beside Kangxi, met a beautiful and gentle lady when he went south with Shengjia and stayed in Suzhou.This young lady has neither the arrogance of a Manchu aunt nor the timidity of a Han girl, and she behaves generously and politely.

E Fei's father died during the pacification of the San Francisco Rebellion, and his biological mother died early.Therefore, Kangxi treated this nephew very differently, and he was quite interested in nurturing him.

Perhaps because of the lack of parental care since childhood, E Fei was extra cautious in matters of marriage. He once asked for grace to choose his beloved woman as his wife.This young lady from Suzhou just happened to catch E Fei's eyes.

E Fei inquired carefully. Like himself, this young lady lost her father when she was young, and now lives with her mother at her cousin's house.Because the lady is a lady of every family, she respects her status and rarely appears in front of people, and E Fei only met once by accident.Although he has the heart of "admiring Ai", he can't do the act of giving and receiving privately, so he made up his mind to get close to her cousin.

The young lady's cousin is older and treats the little girl like a daughter. Now that she has reached the age of marriage, he also wants to find a suitable marriage for her.After knowing the heart of the little prince, he looked very satisfied.After all, this little prince is a serious yellow belt, and he was brought by his side to teach him, so it can be seen that his future is bright.

Because of the scruples that his family background is a bit humble, the cousin still has doubts, fearing that the cousin will be wronged if the Duke has a noble concubine.

The little prince swears and swears that he will treat this young lady well in this life, otherwise he will die a bad life.The sincerity of the little prince moved the young lady's cousin, who agreed to the marriage.The Duke gave his father's relic, a dagger, to the young lady's cousin.

Xiao Guogong was still thinking about how to ask the Lord Long Live, so he accepted the errand the next day and was sent to Shandong.

When Sheng Jia returned to Beijing, Duke Xiaoguo had a chance to mention it, and Empress Xiaoyi passed away again.During the national mourning period, where can I mention the marriage?He had to wait patiently.After finally waiting for the national funeral, Galdan invaded Ujumqin and launched a rebellion. Kangxi personally conquered and stationed in Boluohetun, and then returned to Luan due to illness.In this way, amidst waves of incidents, time passed slowly, and it has been more than a year since the engagement with the young lady's cousin.

During this period, the little prince also sent someone to Suzhou to deliver a letter, but the cousin's reply was just to listen to his orders.When the little Duke finally couldn't bear it and begged Kangxi for a marriage, he got another shocking news.After the national funeral, the young lady married Jiang Ning Zhizao as his successor, and this marriage was exactly what the Holy Majesty had indicated.

Xiao Guogong's grief and indignation were inexplicable, and he couldn't figure out why Kangxi, who had always loved him so much, was so messed up.No one told him why, no one gave him an explanation.Kangxi asked someone to give him the dagger he left in Li's house, and pointed him to a decent marriage.

Having said that, E Fei stopped.When Cao Yong listened, he was also sobbing. He could imagine how enthusiastically the young man in high spirits looked forward to this marriage with such enthusiasm, and how heartbroken he was when he learned of the accident.

These dusty past events must have weighed on E Fei's heart for more than 20 years, and they were extremely heavy. After saying this, his demeanor was calmer than before.Seeing Cao Yong's face was also quite touched, he couldn't help but shook his head, and said with a wry smile: "After all, people are old, so they have to be more long-winded and weird, and they said these things to you!"

Because it involved his mother, Cao Yong didn't know how to express his relief for a while. After a while, Fang said: "Since I was born, I grew up beside my grandmother. At that time, I was not close to my mother. After growing up, Fang I know to be grateful for the parenting grace of my parents.

"My mother can't see any hobbies on weekdays. She is not outstanding in needlework, and her talents in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting are only mediocre. It's just because of her good temper that she often has a smile on her face and rarely worries. Although my grandmother is a little He was a little strict, but he was also very kind to his mother. Even in front of me, he often taught me to be filial to my mother in the future.

"I remember, when I was ten years old, for some reason, someone thought of proposing a marriage for me. I still remember clearly that my grandmother specially called me aside and explained to me earnestly, saying that although my mother was kind-hearted, she was too generous. When she was married, she was still married, and she had never quarreled with others.

"I'm only a little older, and my grandmother has already warned me again and again that no matter what kind of wife I marry in the future, it doesn't matter if I look good or not, and I'm not picky about whether the family is decent or not, as long as the girl has good character and knows how to respect her parents-in-law. Grandma said, my mother has never been angry since she was a child. If she gets old and depends on her daughter-in-law's face, then she, a mother-in-law, won't be at ease.

"My father... my father is busy with errands, and it is good to stay in the mansion for half a year every year. The mother takes care of the family. My mother never complained, nor did she blush with my father. My sister and I , are a bit young and mature, in front of their mother, they are not as coquettish and attached as ordinary children, this can be regarded as the mother's regret!
Although my family is not famous and powerful, but these years have been considered well-fed, if not for my poor health when I was young, and several illnesses, my mother has lived in peace for more than 20 years..."

As Cao Yong recalled, he also missed his parents and his grandmother welling up in his heart, and his emotions became a little agitated, and he couldn't say anything later.After closing, the room fell into silence.

After a long time, E Feifang let out a sigh of relief, and said to Cao Yong, "You are a good boy, but I envy your father very much! You can imagine how relieved your parents are to have such a sensible son like you! "

"There is a saying, I wonder if the younger generation can say it?" Cao Yong saw the desolation and loneliness in his smile, couldn't bear it for a while, and said.

After E Fei nodded, Cao Yongfang said: "The past is over, no matter how deep the knot is, it will take 20 years to unravel! My lord, you have lived for a hundred years, and this is only a half of your past!"

E Fei didn't respond for a while, and after a quarter of an hour, Fang nodded.

The atmosphere is really depressing, Cao Yong knows what he can do, that's all, and then he has to figure it out by himself.

*
After leaving Efei Mansion, Cao Yong looked at the blue sky and couldn't help but feel a little lucky.What would it be like if he met a tempted woman before getting married and couldn't get it like this?What would it be like if the woman he married was not Chuyu, but someone with a temperament and nature that was completely unsympathetic?

Slightly sighed, and then he put away those emotions, right now, it's really not the time to be emotional.Cao Yong asked the soldiers of the infantry yamen who came with him: "Have you seen and sprinkled lime everywhere on the road outside the mansion?" After getting an affirmative answer, he waved his hand: "Go, go to the next one!"

Xiao Man led the horse, and he was about to get on the horse when he heard someone call: "Master!"

It was Wei Bai who arrived in a hurry. When he saw Cao Yong, he said quickly: "My lord, it seems that someone is going out of the city from Xizhimen!"

"What?" Cao Yong was shocked when he heard the words: "What's going on, who is it?"

Wei Bai shook his head and said: "I don't know about this, because there are officers and soldiers on guard, like some great big shots. I wanted to find out, but I couldn't go up at all. Looking at the clothes of those people, It's like guarding a barracks!"

Cao Yong called Wu Mao and Wu Sheng, and ordered: "One of you go to Prince Yong's mansion, and the other to the Bujun Yamen, and tell the prince and the admiral..." At this point, he suddenly thought of something, and then It stopped.

Wu Sheng saw that he stopped talking, and he didn't have a clue, so he hurriedly asked: "Master, what do you want us to tell?"

Cao Yong shook his head: "You don't have to go!" He remembered clearly that the captain in front of Fucheng Gate said clearly that day, no one could leave the city without the joint signatures of the three elder brothers, the fourth elder brothers and the nine admirals. of.The current situation must be compromised by these few people, but I don't know who it is to make them forget the danger of the capital.

Cao Yong called the two leaders of the infantry officers and soldiers, explained something, and then took Xiaoman Wei Bai and the others to Xizhimen.

Inside Xizhimen, the third elder brother and the fourth elder brother stood side by side under the gate, looking at the mighty team in front of them, they were also speechless.Two days ago, the imperial decree was issued, saying that the sixteenth elder brother was sent back to welcome the concubine and younger elder brother to Rehe to escape the summer heat.Unexpectedly, two young maids were killed in the palace yesterday.If something happens to the harem concubine or the little elder brother, neither of them can afford it.

In the end, under the decision of several clan elders, the third elder brother and the fourth elder brother had no choice but to compromise, agreeing to let the ninth elder brother escort the harem concubines and the younger elder brother to go to Rehe first.
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Note: The severe drought and disease in the capital during the 50th year of Kangxi is true, perhaps not as severe as in the book, or the real situation is worse than it is now. .

History is buried in time, and no one can tell clearly. .

(End of this chapter)