Xu Xuzhi

Chapter 1: Ruixue Carnival of Fengtian Mandarin League
In the 18th year of the Republic of China, the winter in Fengtian was still abnormally cold.

Just had a blizzard.

The main road in the center of Fengtian is quite spacious, four Ford cars can run side by side, pedestrians wearing long robes and mandarin jackets and short jackets and crotch-free cotton trousers are all clapping their hands and walking through the snow with difficulty; The part of the mansion has only been cleaned.

A little to the east is the Fengtian Forbidden City. There is a Phoenix Tower in it, which is built on a green brick platform about two stories high. It has a traditional three-drop Xieshan-style corridor. Glazed tiles, because they are only accompanying the capital, can only be the next best thing. They are paved with golden glazed tiles inlaid with green and trimmed edges, overlooking the entire Fengtian City with air.

This building was the tallest building in Fengtian during the Republic of China. You can climb up to watch the sunrise. It is called "Fenglou Xiaori" and belongs to one of the "Eight Views of Fengtian". The most famous are Tianma, lion, mocking wind and kissing beast; this is the land of Longxing in the Qing Dynasty for 300 years, and Emperor Qianlong, who went north, wrote down the four words "Purple Qi Comes East" proudly.

Not far from the Phoenix Tower, also at the intersection of the east-west, north-south central axis of Fengtian, there is a majestic mixed Chinese and Western building complex, located in Yuechuang Hutong, which is framed by blue bricks and plain walls, and it is also known to all Chinese. One of the most awe-inspiring places in Northeast China is known as "Ning Shuai Mansion".

A young man driving a carriage parked the car outside the General's Mansion with a "hehehe", jumped off his legs, patted the big green horse that was steaming early in the morning, and hurriedly patted the little horse in the backyard. Door.

Then came out a man dressed as a housekeeper, and said cheerfully: "Thanks for your hard work, brother, is the porridge stall going well?"

"That's natural. Master Hong, what you always ordered is still wrong? It can be done, please tell Third Young Mistress, and this."

He turned around and took out a dark blue thick bamboo cloth furoshiki from under a thick quilt with black flowers on a red background on the car board. It was tied with a cross knot. It was bulging, and it felt like oil paper. Noisy, steaming.

"Please pass it on to the Third Young Mistress."

"Okay! You should also take a rest and eat some hot noodle soup to drive away the cold."

The two smiled and bid farewell, Hong Laogen, the driver, drove the carriage to the west corner gate, and Hong Fu, the housekeeper of the handsome mansion, turned around and walked into the handsome mansion with his bundle tightly hugged.Ordinarily, such a small matter does not need him to come forward, but the third young lady is the biggest master in the house, so small things have to be treated as big things.

The entire courtyard of the Marshal's Mansion is deep, full of pine trees, cypresses, arrow poplars, phoenix trees, and saponins. In winter, there are no leaves. The bare, green tiles and brick walls look solemn and solemn. .

Bypassing the huge shadow wall, and then entering a small moon gate, we ran into a huge rockery head-on, with a hole opened in the middle, and the inscription "Heavenly principles and human hearts" was written; there are three steps inside the cave gate, go up the steps and come down again. , the front is suddenly clear: a three-story blue brick building with Western Roman columns stands majestically, known as the "Daqinglou", magnificent and beautiful, connected with the Xiaoqinglou and Xiaohonglou, all of which were invited by the most famous architect in the Republic of China, Yang Yanbao Designed by a Dutch construction company, it has always been the office and residence of the head of the Shuai Mansion.

Hong Fu rang the doorbell at the porch on the first floor.

As soon as the side door opened, a girl with a big braid ran out, about fourteen or fifteen years old, with a rosy face and a strong and healthy body.

"Good morning, Uncle Hong!"

The current owner of the handsome mansion is Ning Zheng, who is also the commander-in-chief of security in the three eastern provinces.Ning Zheng's wife is named Tang Fengjiu, and this girl is exactly Fengjiu's personal maid, Qiusheng.

Housekeeper Hong smiled and asked Qiu Sheng to tell the third young lady that the porridge donation in the temple has been done. If you want to go and have a look, you can wait until the afternoon is warmer before going. Zhang" the hot steamed stuffed bun brought over.

Feng Jiu's nanny, Wu Ma, was busy working in a well-equipped small kitchen on the first floor, and her wrinkled face was blurred by the dense steam.

Although Wu Ma has reached middle age, her movements are unambiguous.She quickly opened the lid of the pot, pinched a white towel on the edge of the drawer, and took out a whole drawer of sticky bean bags lying on the perilla leaves, and opened the small air window, which was only ten centimeters square, to let the steam out.

The pretty girl from just now hopped into the small kitchen with her big braids tossing.

"Mother Wu! Is the sticky bean bag ready? The girl is coming down."

"Okay, okay! Our girl is so anxious, she's still like that when she's married." Feng Jiu has been in the Tang family for six years. Even if she is married, the people brought by her natal family still call her habitually. For the girl, it seems that she has not yet left the cabinet, which means that Ning Zheng, the chief security officer of Dongshan Province, is not in front of her eyes, otherwise they would not dare to call her that.

With a smile on her face, Mama Wu quickly picked out a steaming yellow sticky bean bun and put it into a small sweet white porcelain dish.

"Then you always dislike our girl's ability to eat?" Qiu Sheng deliberately hated it.

"Little girl sow discord." Wu Ma gave her a glare and then smiled. The girl loves to eat all kinds of pastries and meals she made. She brought Feng Jiu up since she was a child, so she was naturally a loving mother.

"Let the girl come down and have a good meal. Don't mess with breakfast."

"What is the nurse arranging for me again?" A crisp voice was speaking, a pair of brisk long legs moved quickly, and then there was a sound of "boom, boom, boom" on the stairs, and a beautiful figure flashed into the kitchen.

"Go down the stairs slowly!" Wu Ma didn't turn her head, she blamed, but she happily put the small dish on the table of the Eight Immortals, "Hurry up, it's just out of the pot, you just picked it up what."

The third young lady of the Shuai Mansion, Fengtian, sits on the ground, and the sixth lady of the Tang Mansion, Tang Fengjiu, smiles and sits at the table. Although she is still wearing a wine-red velvet nightgown, her upright sitting posture also shows her good family education.The earth dragon is burning in the house, which is as warm as spring.

Qiu Sheng laughed and put another plate of pickled melon, a pile of cabbage hearts mixed with vinegar, a bowl of soy milk, and took out two chubby donkey meat buns. Feng Jiu's eyes lit up, and Qiu Sheng said, "It's Uncle Hong." I brought it here, and said that the girl should not worry, today Hong Laogen wrapped the three big buns in 'Baozi Zhang', and 'Baozi Zhang' is very grateful to the girl."

When Tang Fengjiu heard it, she was satisfied—this "baozi Zhang" was the owner of a snack shop she often passed by when she was still in Tongze Girls' High School. The old man in his 50s was very diligent and clean, and the donkey meat buns he made were also the same. One wonder, Feng Jiu often deliberately skipped eating in the morning, and went to his house to buy two to eat.

She doesn't go to school anymore, but the friendship she formed is still there. She was afraid that the business of "Baozi Zhang" would not be good when it snowed, so she told Hong Laogen as early as winter to pay attention when going out and buy more of them. Home steamed stuffed bun to help some.

"Is the girl going to the American consulate to attend the banquet tonight?" Qiu Sheng asked softly.

Feng Jiulue pondered for a while, "I have to go, if the third young master doesn't come back, I have to go even more."

"Yes, it seems impossible not to show up. But who will accompany you?"

"Let's see what the third young master arranges." Feng Jiu replied lazily.

Since the old handsome was assassinated and killed last year, her husband has become the de facto ruler of the north, and the so-called Christmas ball at the end of the year, isn't she the wife who saves this kind of time to rush forward.

So what if you don't like it--the usual life of luxury and wealth, the power and power, are not without price, although this is not something you can choose.

"Then which dress will you wear?"

It seems that Fengjiu's good mood is not much left. She has never been interested in Vanity Fair, and she is naturally calm in her bones.

Feng Jiu got a headache when she thought of having to deal with a lot of people at night, she said in a flat voice, "I'll go up and pick it myself, Qiu Sheng, you don't have to follow."

Qiu Sheng responded with a low voice, and Mama Wu poked her finger on the forehead, Qiu Sheng also felt remorseful.

"It's okay, I have to go sooner or later." Feng Jiu raised his head, seeing the expressions of the people around him, he laughed again.

Outside the commander's mansion, a cavalry team of about 20 rode over the thick snow, briskly and swiftly passing over.

Everyone in the horse team wore black woolen thick serge cloaks tightly tied at the neckline, with a long gun on their backs, with one hand holding the horse's reins and the other on their waists. They seemed to have other weapons. When the bitter north wind blew, Lifting the cloak, revealing the stone blue military uniform inside, the military appearance is neat and heroic, it is the famous military uniform of the regular army of the Ning family.

The horses in this cavalcade were all fat and strong, and the snow piled up to half a foot thick was trampled by the horses' hooves, and the snow foam splashed high. Like jade, it is strange that the ancients liked to paint "horse riding snow", which is really heroic.

The leader had no spear on his back, and his figure was tall and straight. When he arrived at the gate of the mansion, he flew off the horse with a flick of the stirrup, turned around and patted the head of the sweaty beloved horse. "Yo Yo" happy cry, he couldn't help laughing.

Without looking back, he threw the shiny horsewhip with the leather handle behind him casually, and a horsebend had already caught it cleverly. The black suede long fox fur cloak on his body swung in a semicircle as he turned around neatly, and he casually tapped the brim of his hat with his right hand. Paying tribute to the guards standing guard who were giving him a military salute at the gate, stepping on the squeaking fresh snow with long black riding boots, he strode towards the gate of the mansion.

The butler Hong Fu led his staff to greet him early.

Two of them came up familiarly to lead these Ning Zheng's personal guards to rest: they sat on the train for two days, and then flew all the way back, they were tired.

"Third Young Master, you're back!" He walked up to meet him quickly, his wrinkled face was full of smiles.

Hong Fu looked at the child he had grown up with, and liked him from the bottom of his heart. In the mansion, he still used to call him the third young master, not the commander, or the young commander.

"Is Uncle Hong's waist healed?"

"Hey, please miss me, see you soon."

"Old lady, are they all okay?"

"It's all good. I play a few rounds of mahjong every day and play leaf cards, and then listen to Jingyun Dagu and Fengtian Luozi. I'm happy."

"..." The third young master Ning Zheng heard this, turned his head slightly, and glanced at him.

The old man took a good look, his heart cleared, and he continued to report as he walked: "The third young lady is also good. Except for going shopping occasionally, she just spends her time in the small red building. She said she is practicing calligraphy and painting every day to learn English. By the way, this It will be snowing heavily, and last night the young mistress ordered the porridge to be given out at noon today, and it is still in the stupa, and people have already been sent over to prepare it."

As Hong Fu said, he secretly glanced at Ning Zheng's face, but seeing the thin ingots of the third young master who was so handsome and well-known throughout the country, the corners of his mouth rose a bit more, and he immediately felt relieved.

"Uncle Hong, don't be so busy. You don't need to report to Xiaohonglou, I'll go directly." Ning Zheng said suddenly.

"Hey." Hong Fu secretly laughed, the third young master will be in his twenties in the next year, but when he gets to his wife, he still looks like a child.

The servants under him had been holding their breath and didn't dare to make any noise, but seeing Butler Hong laughing, they all laughed too.

Hong Fu uttered a "tsk", and they immediately stopped laughing, clasped their hands and remained motionless.

Only then was he satisfied, watching Ning Zheng move forward all the way, across the moon gate, and soon outside the gate of the big brothel, he stood outside the rockery cave gate and stood there, only to hear the people coming down from the building and The guards greeted Ning Zheng repeatedly, and then looked at Ning Zheng and waved to him without looking back. The black cloak flashed again, and disappeared after entering the door.

Feng Jiu was looking through the closet in the cloakroom. Several large yellow pear wood cabinets were lined up, occupying the entire three walls. There are all kinds of Chinese and Western-style four-season clothing in various colors and styles, as well as Ning Zheng's various colors of hanging watches, pocket watches, leather collars, tie knots, and whip leather boots.

Feng Jiu's clothes took up two cabinets, and Ning Zheng's one. Because they were married for only two years, and Feng Jiu rarely went out except for the banquets he had to go to, so many expensive clothes were not even worn.

But as the family member of the supreme commander of the Ning army, even when the old commander was still alive, there were still many occasions to socialize. She will accompany her, but there must be more than ten or twenty important banquets a year.

After all, today was going to a Westerner's dance, and the Chinese clothes still didn't quite fit her. She ran her fingers across a row of evening dresses studded with lace and rhinestones, stroked them back and forth a few times, and lowered her hands disinterestedly.

She walked to the outer living room, hopped a few times on a large row of vinyl record jackets with her slender fingers, picked out a record of dance music, and put the jumping needle of the gramophone on the record, and the melodious and brisk waltz followed The big trumpet flowers on the phonograph poured into the living room which was very bright after the snow.

Humming a tune, she went back to the cloakroom and opened the bottom drawer, which contained a set of school uniforms from Tongze Girls' High School.

This is an ordinary set of women's school uniform with a blue slanted top and a black pleated skirt, made of Lindane's fabric.

This kind of fabric is strong and dirt-resistant, and the price is cheap, which well reflects the school's educational philosophy that all students are equal regardless of their family background. For the convenience of activities, the waist design is not so obvious. The tailor made the waist smaller, making sure to highlight their slender waists, and they couldn't help laughing, that seemed to be the school days that had passed away for many years.

She took out the school uniform and changed into it.

Then I looked at the full-length mirror mounted on the inside of the cabinet door: Although the clothes were two years ago, they still looked very good, except that the chest was a little tight.

She also changed into a pair of simple lace-up low-heeled glossy black leather shoes. She stood up and walked out of the cloakroom to the rhythm of Viennese waltz. The "Cuckoo Waltz" danced lightly.

She plays the role of a lady for a while, with her left hand lightly clasped and her right hand raised high, as if she is being cared for by a careful male companion; He nodded, as if to express his appreciation for his female partner's performance.

She kept changing the role of male companion and female companion. She was relaxed, eyes closed, the corners of her mouth fluttering, and her face was full of smiles. She moved forward and backward on the smooth floor of the living room, as if she had returned to the carefree and carefree world. Concerned student days.

After the song was over, she panted slightly, opened her eyes, caught off guard, and looked into a pair of deep eyes.

It’s been almost a month since he’s seen anyone. Ning Zheng, who said he won’t be home until the day after tomorrow, is leaning against the door frame of the living room, his tall and straight body leaning slightly, with his arms folded across his chest, and dressed in a military uniform, which makes him look heroic. Before he could take off his white gloves, he didn't know how long he had been looking at her like this.

Feng Jiu was a little annoyed in a daze - this person, like this every time, no matter how long he was away from home, he would not allow his servants to report in advance when he came back, and he only liked to make surprise attacks.

She wanted to say hello, but she was annoyed that he watched her playing tricks silently, opened her mouth slightly, and then closed it stubbornly.

Ning Zheng frowned lightly with his pretty brows outlined in thick ink, and then bent the corners of his mouth with a slight smile.

He stood up straight, walked towards her while taking off his white gloves, and said plainly: "Why, the husband hasn't come home for a month, and the wife didn't say anything?"

"You're back... You've been working hard for a while, is everything going well?" She glanced at him and greeted him softly.

After all, she is a woman from a wealthy family in Fengtian, and her family education dictates that, no matter how dissatisfied she is with her husband, she still cannot lack the proper etiquette.

Just at this time, another dance song sounded, which was the slow waltz "Sound of Spring".

He walked up to her and looked down at his wife who was a head shorter than him.

He is considered tall among tall men, so his wife is absolutely outstanding among women.

"It's going well... Look, whoever gave birth to you is still 'you'? But, since you know that your husband has worked hard, why don't you dance with me?"

Different from his shallow tone, Feng Jiu felt that his head was going to burn a hole out of his hot eyes.

She cheered up, raised her head and smiled at him, and stretched out her hand.

The couple are both gifted in sports and have good physical coordination. When they danced to this slow dance music, they can both advance and retreat together accurately on the beat, with a tacit understanding.

Ballroom dancing has been promoted in full swing in the new-style Western schools, but this kind of ballroom dancing has a characteristic, that is, the female partner must be submissive, and it is safe to let the male lead, or it will be bad.

A joking voice suddenly sounded in Feng Jiu'er's mind: "Jiu'er, you are so stubborn, you want to gain the upper hand in everything, even a dance. Are we dancing? Isn't this Mongolian wrestling?" Is it okay!" She closed her eyes, let out a breath, and suddenly felt the hand on her waist tightened suddenly.

"Hiss—" She gasped, raised her head and stared at the perpetrator in dissatisfaction.

"What are you thinking, huh?" The tone was so light that it was almost inaudible, and it seemed to be covered with a thin layer of frost.

She kept her mouth shut and said nothing.

Ning Zheng looked down into her eyes.

Feng Jiu has a pair of beautiful eyes that can stand out from the world: big, shaped like two almonds, but not the traditional Chinese single eyelids, but very deep double eyelids, the lines are so fine that it is impossible to add. It is said that such eyes indicate that there are already foreigners in the ancestors. The blood has been mixed in, but if it is really pursued like this, there are not many purebred Chinese with single eyelids in the traditional sense in the whole of China.

The black pupils are so black that they turn blue, and the whites of the eyes are like a newborn baby, with a bright blue like the clear sky after the rain. When she looks at you quietly, she is so focused as if you are her whole world The entire piece of starlight poured down, making people willing to indulge in her eyes and not wake up again.

Qiu Sheng had just peeked in at the door, and saw his young lady being held in his arms by his uncle, the two of them were moving in and out, dancing briskly, one was a girl student dressed in a refreshing attire, the other was a tall and handsome Ying It is tall and hidden, and the height difference also makes people look comfortable. One is beautiful and the other is handsome. The blue black dress and the almost black military uniform of the Ning family also complement each other. It makes people's hearts thump and thump. Big star's latest love movie-like illusion.

She smiled happily, closed the door of the living room carefully, and ran down the stairs to announce the good news to Mama Wu who was worried.

When Ning Zheng heard Qiu Sheng close the door again, he couldn't help but feel satisfied with the progress of this girl who had no discernment two years ago.

Ning Zheng brought Feng Jiu's slender body into his arms again, Feng Jiu couldn't help becoming a little stiff, and the originally steady breathing by his ear gradually became rapid.

Feng Jiutai knew what this meant.

She hurriedly chattered with him: "How did you come back?"

"horse riding."

"Is it cold? What about your car?"

"It stopped at the train station and didn't drive back. Do you want to use it?"

"It's not like the family doesn't have other cars." The couple spoke softly, obviously in ordinary words, but the month-long estrangement seemed to dissipate slowly.

Feng Jiu knew that usually he would personally drive his black Buick Century car, but today it was because the snowy road was difficult to drive, so he changed to riding a horse. Such an ancient means of transport.

He likes to do everything by himself, including flying the plane.And when he had to run back and forth between Tianjin and Beiping last year, he would rather drive a Harley than take the train.

It happened to be the end of the song.

She twisted her body, got rid of Ning Zheng's restraint, and walked inside pretending to be calm: "Let me put the bath water for you, you must want to take a bath."

"It didn't smell? I washed it on the train before I went home." Ning Zheng stayed where he was and spoke slowly.

Fengjiuhou felt the fresh scent of Shanghai sandalwood soap on his body.

"Then are you hungry? Go down and have some breakfast!" At this time, Feng Jiu had already forgotten that he had already eaten.

"I also ate on the train, and it was pretty good." Seeing her flustered appearance, Ning Zheng lazily leaned against the beige Chinese-style wallpaper covered with phoenix flowers, staring at her leisurely. She is busy.

"...Maybe I haven't seen you for a long time, grandma, it's time to say hello."

"Just now grandma asked Uncle Hong to tell me that we don't have to go today, and we can just go to the American Consulate to attend the dance at night. Besides, she is still not up so early." This is also a lie. drafted.

Hey—— Feng Jiu stopped at the door angrily, and pressed his head against the door feebly.

The sound of unhurried footsteps came from behind, and immediately a warm body was already clung to him, and Bai Shengsheng's earlobe was caught between the two thin lips by the visitor without any delay. Avoiding being chewed, the hot and humid breath instantly aroused goose bumps on her sensitive and slender neck, and the clear water lotus noodles were also covered with red clouds.

"Hey, you..." Feng Jiu dodged slightly, shaking his head to save his ears.

There was a playful laugh in my ears.

"Now, there is only one thing that matters - feed your husband who has been hungry for a month..."

"Hush——" Ning Zheng was very prescient, and pointed a finger on her red lips that were slightly parted to retort.

"I don't want to argue with you about those nonsense nonsense." The body was suspended in the air for an instant, and she was held tightly in his arms by Ning Zheng, who kicked open the door with his feet, and carried her to the bedroom.

(End of this chapter)