in spring

Chapter 135
Both Li Jing and Jing couldn't help showing surprised expressions.This younger brother has never set foot in the elder brother's yard except for coming twice with the Marquis, so why did he suddenly come here today?
The people were waiting outside, Li Jing didn't think much about it, and hurriedly greeted him out with his wife: "Why is the third brother here? Come in and sit down quickly. Xiangyu, pour tea! Bring a box of the new snacks you got yesterday." He smiled again and said to Li You: "Your sister-in-law's roommate made some snacks. They are new ideas, and the taste is not bad. Do you like it?" Mrs. Jing also enthusiastically took the clean new cushions with her hands. Come, put it on the chair: "One is stuffed with sunflower seeds, and the other is stuffed with roses. I remember you like these two the most. If you like them, you can take some back."

Li Youhuan happily agreed, seeing Xiangyu bring tea and snacks over, he took a sip of the tea first: "It's so hot! This tea is quite fragrant, and it's different from what we drink at home. Where did elder brother get it?" For snacks, I saw a few cakes, made into the shape of a six-petal water chestnut, fried golden and crisp on the outside, but the filling inside was sweet, so I ate it with relish.

Li Jing watched him calmly eat the food he had prepared, smiled slightly, spread his hands and said, "It's not a treasure, I tasted it in the south and thought it was good, so I bought a few more catties and brought it back. In fact, it’s just ordinary tea, if my third brother likes it, he can take a bag home.” He winked at his wife, and Jing turned around knowingly and went to the inner room.

Li You moved his hand and wanted to stop it, but he put it down before he raised it halfway, and said with a smile: "Then thank you brother! My brother rarely comes here to say hello to brother, and brother is so kind to me, it's amazing Ashamed."

"What stupid things are you talking about?" Li Jing also said with a smile, "We are brothers, what are you talking about with those silly etiquettes?"

Li You grinned: "Then I will come here often in the future? When I come back next time, I will buy some good things for my elder brother as a gift in return. Although it is not polite, it is too embarrassing to eat for nothing!"

"You don't need to be so polite. You are the little master of our Hou Mansion. In your own home, you can go wherever you like and get what you want. Brother and sister-in-law can only be happy in their hearts."

The two were quiet for a while, each bowed their heads to drink tea, and occasionally glanced at each other quietly, their thoughts spinning quickly.

Soon, Mrs. Jing came out, holding a delicate little bamboo basket with several white paper bags in it.She smiled and said: "Here are two kinds of tea leaves and some snacks that your brother brought back from the south. The cloth bag contains a few gadgets sent by others. Your brother and I are not good at these things. You If you like it, keep it, if you don’t like it, reward someone.”

"Thank you sister-in-law, thank you brother." Li You took the basket, and caught a glimpse of a few silver nine-linked rings slightly protruding from the opening of the cloth bag in the basket.With an open heart, he put the basket aside, smiled and chatted with his elder brother, it was just the gossip news about the rich and powerful families in Beijing in the past half year.Occasionally, Mrs. Jing would interject a few words to supplement the gossip circulated in the circle of wives. Among them, when the two sides had conflicting views, Li You would still stiffen his neck and argue a few words, just like other half-grown children who are refuted by others. Same, let's blush and get angry.Li Jing just kept smiling, Jing Shi didn't argue with him, he argued for a while, but he also felt bored, so he pouted and grabbed some snacks and stuffed them into his mouth.

Li Jing gave his wife a wink, and Jing stood up with a smile and said: "Okay, third brother, I was wrong, don't be angry. I'll go and see if your little nephew is awake, and you can talk to your brother for a while." Talk." Then he turned and went inside.

Li Jing observed the young brother while drinking tea.Although the other party acted childishly and seemed to be very close to his husband and wife, he didn't think that they were really close.He knew that he was acting, and he also knew that the other party was probably also acting, and this drama would continue.But why did the other party come here today?

The two of them were gossiping, Li Jing kept calm and didn't point it out. In the end, Li You got impatient and pretended to ask unintentionally: "Brother has been in the south for more than half a year, and I must have seen a lot of new things. Right? I heard that the scenery in the south of the Yangtze River is beautiful, and I still wonder when I can go to see it. According to Ping An, my aunt’s house has a big boat, and there are buildings on the boat. The whole boat is bigger than our garden! Isn’t it? Really?"

Li Jing paused, his thoughts turned, and he said with a smile: "I've heard about this too, but when I was in the south, I was always helping Huo's house with chores, and I haven't had time to meet you at the port. It's a pity. If there is a chance in the future, I must go and have a look."

"Brother, haven't you seen it?" Li You's face was full of disappointment, "I still think I must have seen it! I often hear people say how rich Nanyang is, and everyone who has been there has made a fortune. I always want to see it. Seeing the world, but my parents never allow me to go out..."

"You are going to do great things in the future. What is there that you can't see in the world? Now that you are still young, your parents are worried, so they refuse to let you go out. Just tell me what you want, and I will find it for you. How about it? Li Jing's eyes flashed brightly, "When you grow up, you can take care of yourself. Our family also has a large ship. It doesn't matter how many times you like to watch it. Whatever you want, it can be transported back for you."

"Really? Good! Let's make a deal!" Li You was so happy that he almost jumped up on the spot. He took his brother's hand and talked about Nanyang's specialties, and he also talked about his sister, brother-in-law and friend's house like a few treasures. The overseas rare treasures I have seen, I beat my palms at the end: "I almost forgot! My aunt and cousin have been here for a few days, and I haven't decided what gift to give as a meeting gift! My mother has repeatedly told me to get closer to my cousin. She knows that I am so impolite, she will definitely scold me. Brother, what should I do?"

A look of surprise flashed across Li Jing's face, but he quickly returned to normal: "This is your fault. How can you not prepare the gift after meeting for a few days?" Cai said: "Forget it, it's too late now, instead of preparing some meeting ceremony and making Huo's cousin angry, it's better to think of other ways. Huo's cousin is dignified and quiet, and she is filial. The most important thing in daily life is only her parents. Two words. Isn’t Qingming coming soon? You might as well go to the big temple to do rituals for uncle, or find some good medicines and prescriptions for aunt to recuperate her body, my cousin will be very grateful.”

Li You glanced at his elder brother, who let him look at him calmly. After a while, he also smiled: "This is really a good idea, I will prepare it right away!" I am happy, thank you big brother and sister-in-law for the good tea and snacks, I will come to see my brother and sister-in-law and my nephew again tomorrow when I am free." After taking two steps, he seemed to think of something again: "Ah, yes! I heard my mother say yesterday that I want to Send a few people to my aunt and cousin, because there are not enough manpower in the office, I also sent two people from the courtyard, sister-in-law, do you want to help?" After saying that, he went without waiting for his brother to respond.

Mrs. Jing turned around from the inside, a little confused: "What does the third brother mean?" Li Jing pondered for a moment, and said: "Don't panic, he is reminding us. We already know what Madam is thinking, she If you want to be a successor, you should choose the honest and hard-working women, just pick two and send them away, and don’t use the smart one." He paused, and smiled with a deep meaning: "I underestimated us Cousin Huo, you will suffer..."

After careful consideration, his wife, An Shi, selected four rough envoys and four daughter-in-laws who went out with her to the Wanxiang Hall. She originally planned to send a few more maids to wait on them, but the housekeeper of the Huo family sent them off early. They brought over two big maids, both of whom Li Shi and Huo Yi were used to, and there were also two women, two servants from the outer court, and a coachman, covering almost all the manpower needed by the mother and daughter of the Huo family. .Anshi had no choice but to pick a few second- and third-class maids to fight, and it was inevitable to put eyeliner in them.

As for the mother and daughter of the Huo family, they were not idle either. Before Mrs. Li said anything, Miss Huo used "to relieve mother's boredom" as an excuse to ask Aunt Qingjiao to come forward and invite the old servant used by mother to talk.In this way, Mama Lu received a call from Wanxiang Pavilion.

She put on the newly made clothes early in the morning, dressed neatly, and inserted the red gold hairpin newly bought by her husband. After thinking about it, she put on some makeup.After getting out of the room, I asked Aunt Lu who had been waiting impatiently in the main room: "What do you think of my outfit? I don't look too old, do I?"

Aunt Lu turned her head to look at her, then sighed and said, "Auntie and Miss Biao are both in mourning, what are you doing wearing gold, silver and rouge? Do you still want to show off when old sisters meet?"

Only then did Mama Lu come to her senses, seeing Aunt Lu in blue cloth, her face twitched, "I know." She went back to her room to wash off her makeup, and changed into a silver hairpin. After hesitating for a long time, she changed into her old clothes.

Aunt Lu was waiting in the room, and when she saw Chunying sitting quietly doing needlework, she smiled and moved over to look at her, and asked her: "I heard that you left the mansion suddenly, and thought something happened, so you are at home." .”

Chunying had already memorized the lines, so she replied: "It was because I accidentally broke my leg, so I had to go out of the house to get treatment, and now I'm fine."

"It's all so neat?"

"It's so neat, you didn't see, I just walked without a limp at all."

"That's good." Aunt Lu smiled, her eyebrows crooked, "Maybe something good is waiting for you!"

"Huh?" Chunying raised her head, "What's the matter?"

"You'll find out soon." Aunt Lu stopped talking and got up when she saw Mother Lu lift the curtain to come out, "Come on, it's not like life to keep my aunt waiting for so long!" After saying that, she dragged her away in a hurry.

Chunying followed all the way out, thinking that there was something weird in Aunt Lu's words, and she didn't know what it meant, but she caught a glimpse of an acquaintance not far away poking her head, so she said hello: "Brother Dianran, what are you doing there?" ?”

Dianran came out from behind the pillar with a smile: "Sister Lu, I heard that you are back, so I came here to see if it is true. Now that you are back, why don't you send a message to the inside?"

"I'm at home, so you don't have to call me Big Sister Lu." Chunying said, "I want to pass the word to the mansion, but who can I go to? Even if I pass the word, it's useless, right?"

"That's hard to say." Dianran smiled, and looked at the backs of Lu's mother and Aunt Lu, "I recognize that is Lu's grandma. It turns out that your family is familiar with her. Where are you going?"

"Go and greet my aunt. When my mother was young, she was a girl in the aunt's yard." Chunying didn't want to reveal more, so she gave him some money, "Take it to buy cakes, and help me by the way The third young master told me that someone knew that I was fine, so I moved back."

"Thank you, sister." Dianran accepted the money with a smile, and left.

After a while, Mother Lu returned home, and excitedly said to Chunying: "My aunt wants to see you, please go to the mansion tomorrow to say hello, maybe I will let you serve at the Wanxiang Pavilion!"

Chunying was taken aback, not sure if this was a good idea, she had just greeted the third young master...

Unexpectedly, the next day, Mrs. Guan brought her another "good news": the third young master sent her to attend the aunt in the Wanxiang Hall.

Now she doesn't have to hesitate any longer.

(End of this chapter)