Ma Erniang's Splendid Pastoral

Chapter 142
The queen is someone who has been here, and feels that something is wrong, "My son, do you have a crush on another family's son?"

"Mother... the queen mother..." Princess Yunbao did not expect that the queen mother said what was on her mind: "No... nothing."

The daughter looked flustered, and the queen saw it, whose son was it?She took this matter to heart, and patted her daughter gently, "Yun'er, no matter what, let's eat something first."

"Queen, I can't eat."

The queen coaxed: "Drink some porridge to nourish your stomach. The queen mother will ask the imperial doctor to prescribe some medicine to strengthen the spleen and stomach. After taking a dose of medicine, everything will be fine for you."

"Queen—" Rainbow put her arms around the queen's waist, "You are so kind."

"Silly child, if the queen mother doesn't treat you well, who else can she treat?" The queen gently touched her daughter's face, "Son, you are a princess, if you like someone, the queen mother will help you marry him no matter what."

"Really? Queen Mother?..." Rainbow Dash raised her face, her eyes were full of joy.

"That's natural." The queen said kindly.

Princess Yunbao almost said the name in her heart, she took a deep look at her mother, and buried her head in her arms, "My daughter feels much better after hearing what her mother said."

"Then you tell the queen mother that you like that son-in-law?"

Rainbow Dash raised her head buried in the queen's arms, but gave up again, and got into her arms without saying anything.

The queen patted her head with her hand while concentrating on it. Could it be that this child fell in love with a son of a wrong family?If so, it will be difficult.

On the second day, Ma Hui'er left her small courtyard early, and the old woman in front of Mrs. Ma San was surprised: "Madam, why did you come to Madam's place so early today to say hello?"

On weekdays, Ma Huier would wake up early in the morning, practice calligraphy first, and then read the book from the master. After reading the book from the master, she would also do embroidery for a while, and would not come to the third lady's yard until the beginning of the morning (7 o'clock in the morning) to say hello.

Ma Hui'er's face was a little swollen, and she couldn't help smiling: "I don't want to read or embroider today, so I came earlier."

The old nanny would not believe her words because she is old and smart, but she is a young master, so she has to save face and lead the way quickly: "Miss, please—"

Mrs. Ma San was not in a good mood when she woke up in the morning. It was a dry winter. She drank a large glass of water in one go. As soon as she put down the glass, her daughter arrived. I'm still in a hurry, seeing that she is seventeen or eighteen years old, and she is about to pass the flower letter period, and people are not willing to accept it.

"Hurry up and let the eldest lady come in."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Son, why is it so early today?"

"Mother..." Ma Hui'er felt that she couldn't say it.

The girl Luqi had no choice but to say: "Ma'am, my lady wants to go to the countryside."

"Countryside?" Mrs. Ma San was very surprised. This daughter of hers seldom visited the house. She behaved well and didn't want anyone to worry about her. Why did she go out early this morning? "

"The eldest lady said that she hasn't talked to Mrs. Min for a long time, and she wants to talk to her, and ask for some tricks by the way." Lu Qi finished her nonsense in a puffed up manner.

Mrs. Ma San just wanted to disagree, but suddenly realized her daughter's intentions, she immediately smiled, "Okay, I want to go out for a walk, it's not good to be bored at home all the time, and get in touch with Min'er from your sixth uncle's family." , increase the sisterhood."

"Mother..." Seeing her mother talking so warmly, Ma Huier made herself seem like a snob, and her complexion was not very good-looking.

Mrs. Ma San didn't understand her daughter's careful thinking: "Oh, my son, when our family was a dignitary in Beijing, have you forgotten the way those officials and wives came to fawn on you?"

"Mother... Mother..." Looking at other people's pleasing faces is completely different from the feeling of pleasing others. One is servile and the other is condescending. Everyone knows that he likes to be that kind.

Seeing her daughter's voice, Mrs. Ma San continued to teach: "My child, you are in Yunshui's house, is there someone here to curry favor with you?"

"My family has no official position, why should I please?" Ma Hui'er of course understood.

"My daughter, if the new emperor's verbal promise is useful, you will be the empress of the harem. You will be in contact with many women in the future, or be flattered by others, or to flatter others. These two kinds, you like to be that kind of person Ma San Madam stared at her daughter, several years of living in the country made her act according to her personal preferences, but for the rich and powerful, there is no personal preference, everything revolves around power.

"I……"

Seeing her daughter's appearance of being less and less seen in the world, Mrs. Ma San's heart was twisted. Even if she had the opportunity to enter the palace, she would not be trampled on in the palace, right?
"Mother, don't look at me, help me change into decent clothes and go to see Cousin Min."

"Then you have to understand that when it's time to please you, you have to learn to let go of your figure, do you understand?"

"Ok!"

"You must listen to your heart, my son."

"Mother, I understand. The present greetings are to be a blessing to future generations."

"Good boy, that's right."

Mrs. Ma San was happy to prepare clothes for her daughter to go out. In the countryside, it took a lot of thinking not to dress too much, but also not to be looked down upon.

Ma Min'er was preparing the carriage to go to Pingding, but she didn't expect that her noble cousin Hui, who never went out, would look for her, "Uncle Niu, then do other things first."

"Okay." Niu Dabao drove the carriage back to the yard.

Ma Min'er invited this dignified and majestic cousin Hui into the main hall where she received guests. When Shan Xiaodan went to pour tea, she took the opportunity to look at this cousin who hardly ever went out.

As expected, she is a daughter from the first line, not to mention how she is dressed, she is a few blocks away from Ma Miner just by sitting upright, and she can really compete with the Yunbao County...princess who came last time, she is graceful and upright, As for her face, she has a face that is standard for this era—the moon is like a silver plate, her eyes are bright and energetic, and to be frank, her face is really born for a regular wife, with a delicate face and three-dimensional facial features. It has an air of elegance and elegance.

Although they have met each other many times, this is the first time for Ma Huier to look at her cousin so closely. Everyone in the Ma family knows that the sixth uncle's aunt is a stunning beauty. The peaches of three springs are as clear as the chrysanthemums of nine autumns.The beauty is fresh and indifferent but bright.

There is also a kind of... a kind of... Ma Huier thought about it for a while, and took a word to describe a man—temperament, to describe her cousin. She has a kind of literary spirit, which is more atmospheric, gentle and dignified. At the end, when he thought that she would be the wife of the general in the future, he suddenly found a killing intent on her body.

"Miss, please have some tea."

The warm tea washed away Ma Huier's thoughts just now, she calmed down secretly, took a sip of tea, and warmed her body.

"I like light tea, is it okay for my cousin to eat?"

"Well, it's pretty good, with a sweet aftertaste." Ma Hui'er smiled slightly.

Ma Min'er smiled back and continued to drink tea with her head down. Winter is coming and the weather is cold, so drink more hot tea to warm up.

Ma Huier found that her cousin was not looking for a topic, so she frowned slightly. On the one hand, she was a little annoyed at her lack of hospitality, and on the other hand, she was inexplicable, thinking that her grandmother and mother had always planned to take her away. Married into the General's Mansion, it turned out...a simple hospitality can't be done well, does that mean that it's the same when she married into the Little General's Mansion?Isn't that...

Why does this cousin just drink tea and not talk? Ma Miner has nothing to say, so she raised her eyes to look outside the door and said with a smile: "Cousin, is it cold outside?"

"The carriage is coming, it's okay."

"Oh." Ma Min'er smiled and said, "Cousin, why are you free to come over today?"

"I want to ask you for some patterns to make clothes."

Just for this?Ma Min'er doesn't think so, it is enough to send a girl to this kind of incident, and it is by no means an ordinary thing to attract the young lady of the Ma family. Until now, no one in Ma Min'er's family knew that the new emperor had accepted the invitation of the Ma family when he was King Jin. The matter of marrying a concubine.

"Miss Shan, go to Aunt Wan and get some fancy dresses."

"Yes, Er Niang." Shan Xiaodan went straight up the stairs from the side door.

"Cousin, is there anything else besides being pretty?"

Ma Hui'er smiled at her cousin, her face was like a flower, but she said in her heart, even if she asked questions, she couldn't be so straightforward, she had to be more reserved.

If Ma Min'er knew what her cousin was thinking, she would be very disdainful. The pace of life is so busy, who has time to wander around here, seeing her smiling and not talking, she can only sit down.

After a while, Mo Wanyi and Xiao Yue'er came over together, "Huiniang is here, she is really a rare visitor."

Ma Hui'er got up and saluted her, "Sorry to bother you, Sixth Aunt."

"Hui Niang is polite, please sit down."

When Mo Wanyi came, Ma Min'er breathed a sigh of relief, and Xiao Yue'er listened to their questions and answers, occasionally laughing together.

Seeing that the time was almost up, Mo Wanyi said, "Huiniang, sit down first, I'll go to the kitchen to make arrangements, and I'll have a light meal here at noon today."

"Then trouble Aunt Six."

"Don't bother, don't bother, come and walk around more in the future." Mo Wanyi smiled and said, she could feel that her husband longed for family affection and was willing to walk around with them, but... well, let's go and arrange lunch.

In the main hall, there were only three young ladies left, but unfortunately they didn't know each other well, so they had nothing to talk about.

Seeing this, Ma Hui'er had no choice but to speak up, "Sister Min'er, the winter solstice is coming soon, and the people from the General's Mansion are going to come over again with gifts!"

"Well, almost." Ma Min'er replied.

"Then... the little general is back?"

Ma Min'er was a little puzzled, when did Cousin Hui care about this, and came over to ask, "I don't know." She shook her head.

"The little general didn't write you a letter?"

Ma Min'er's face turned cold, "Cousin, General Xia has a special status, he will send a letter back, and he has to go through as many checkpoints as he can, so he can send it as soon as he can."

"Oh, that's right, I prevaricated by asking." She doesn't seem to be lying, if she doesn't have a letter, how can she know the news in Beijing?Ma Huier was extremely disappointed!However, it can be seen from one side that she, Cousin Min, is nothing more than that in the little general's mind.

In Prince Ning's mansion in the capital, King Ning and his wife are forcing their son to have a blind date together, "Zi Li, you just go and have a look, close your eyes, mother and concubine are looking for an official matchmaker, if you don't close your eyes, we will come back."

Liu Zaili sat on the grand teacher's chair, looking lazy, as if he didn't hear.

The son didn't say a word, so Concubine Ning had no choice but to find a man, "My lord, you should try to persuade him, he is not too young, he can start a family and start a business."

King Ning has always been staring at his youngest son. The old and new emperors have seized the throne. If it wasn’t for his son, as the clan, although their Prince Ning’s mansion would not destroy their family, their defeat is certain. I didn’t expect him to support King Jin, and not only that, but also let him succeed , What a formidable young man!
"Zi Li, what your mother and concubine told you is the eldest granddaughter of the Shangshu of the Ministry of War, who is worthy of you in all aspects, go and have a look."

Liu Zaili raised his eyes, "Father, the palace and the palace haven't been safe yet, so I won't think about it for now."

"Zi Li, the new king has been enthroned for almost half a year. It's almost time. You should go and have a look. It will take some time to prepare for the marriage. You are already 25, so you can't delay any longer." For a person of her age, it wasn't the eldest grandson who ran all over the place, it was only this naughty little son who broke her heart.

Liu Zaili stood up and retreated, "Father, mother and concubine, I have an appointment, so I'm going out first."

"Zi Li—"

"Mother Concubine, let's talk about it when I'm free." Liu Zaili left the wing room after finishing speaking.

Concubine Ning was anxious and troubled, "What's the matter with this child, it's gloomy all day long, and he doesn't even have a smiling face."

"Men, how can you be like your woman, who has a lot of things all day long, if one of them can't be handled properly, wealth is like floating clouds." King Ning sighed.

"My lord, why are you talking so scary? No matter what, we are also a royal clan, so we can be sent there."

King Ning sneered, "There is no problem with our generation, but if we don't have real power, let alone the third generation, just the next generation, and life will be difficult."

"No...it's not that exaggerated!"

"Isn't there any around? Those guys rely on their clan titles to join forces with businessmen to make money. Isn't that ugly?"

Concubine Ning was speechless.

As soon as Liu Zaili left the main courtyard, the hidden guards came up, "Young King, Xia Zhen's people are following ours."

As if he didn't hear it, he continued walking.

"Your Majesty, we intercepted his letter on the way, and he probably knows."

He stopped and looked up at the sky, "Got it?"

"Yes, the king of the county."

"Huh." He hooked his lips into a smile, "This movement is too slow, I didn't know until now."

The dark guard didn't dare to answer.

"He's afraid he's going to settle accounts with me."

"Jun... king?" The dark guard was startled.

"Know what to do."

"Yes, the king of the county, I understand."

Liu Zaili continued to walk forward, lowering his head while walking, looking at the ground, unconsciously twitching his right fingers, and his close follower looked at him like this, knowing that he was thinking about things quickly.

Sure enough, after a while, he raised his head, "Come here—"

"Jun Wang, the little one is here."

"Close your ears closer."

"Yes, the king of the county." Chang Sui leaned closer, and Liu Zaili whispered a few words, "Hurry up and do it."

"Yes, the king of the county, I will do it right away."

On a winter night, the carriage was driving on the street, lonely and desolate, except for the quietness, it was deserted. Walking on the long and slow street, sitting alone with one's chin resting, eyes staring into the distance through the curtains and windows, Xia Zhen's mind was full of the figure of Ma Min'er , what is she doing now?
Do you eat steaming food in the kitchen, or sit quietly in the room and read a book by the warm stove?Did she think about herself...

The breath of longing came, and the lonely waves rose into the sky, surging like ocean waves. Xia Zhen was overwhelmed by the overwhelming longing and loneliness!
In the far north, the night came again in a daze. Ma Miner held a hot teacup in both hands and sat under the dim oil lamp. The winter night was less lively and lively, but more peaceful and serene.

People who have been busy all day can sit in front of the warm stove, make a cup of hot tea, drink a glass of wine, cook steaming meals, and enjoy their own kind of warmth and comfort.

In his mind, what is Xia Zhen doing?Is he so busy that he doesn't even have time to eat, or is he still like a rebellious boy who loses his temper at every turn, making his subordinates afraid to show their anger?Or sit in a big restaurant in the capital, enjoying delicious food, wonderful silk and bamboo, and even beautiful...

Ma Miner shook off her thoughts and looked out of the window. The cold wind was blowing outside the window, and a few dead trees were swaying in the cold wind. The dim light shone through the window, elongating the shadows of the swaying branches, which looked extraordinarily peaceful. auspicious.

The winter night is not only cold and lonely, but also contains the beauty of life. I took a breath, took a sip of tea, and felt my heart. A wave of residual warmth slowly rose from the quiet depths of my heart, making winter nights become Soften up.

In the guest room on the top floor of Yazhuxuan, the sound of silk and bamboo lingers, lingers from the screen to the roof, and then slowly descends from the roof, falling in the ears of the guests in the room, fluttering and lingering gracefully.

Liu Zaili was half leaning on the back, his eyes were slightly closed, and there was a hint of loneliness between his expressionless brows, which made people look noble and decadent.

The woman playing the piano was attracted by his elegance, and didn't even notice that her fingers had played a wrong note. Liu Zaili suddenly opened her eyes and shot them coldly.

The woman playing the piano was so frightened that she lost her soul, "Damn the concubine, damn..." Two women walked up to the side of the screen, and dragged away the woman who played the wrong note in an instant, and then came a beautiful and charming woman , I saw her lowering her eyebrows and lowering her eyes, playing the piano attentively, not daring to move her eyes.

Liu Zaili took a deep breath slowly, stood up, and walked to the window. The long follower quickly opened the window for him, and a gust of cold air rushed towards his face, making people tremble uncontrollably.

Looking up, the moonlight is so cold, in the faint silver light, the clear black night sky is like a dark lake and sea, with gently rippling waves, reflecting bits and pieces of memories of the past.

That little restaurant, that little lady suddenly appeared in his eyes, and she said in surprise, "Why is it you?" Afterwards, he thought carefully about all the gatherings in the capital, and he was sure that he had never seen her.

But he also had to admit that he also had a sense of familiarity with her, as if he had been in love with her for a long time. Could it be that they were already familiar with each other even though they had never met each other?

Countless lonely nights, he would unknowingly think of the beauty of their first meeting, the boy in boyish attire, with a clean breath, and the slightly drooping corners of his cute mouth, making people want to get closer, but under her disdainful eyes In the movie, it was really interesting to see a soul-stirring and cold murderous aura.

In a blink of an eye, her little lady's attire appeared again in his brain. She was ethereal and clear, her aura was compelling, and she was as soft as water. People couldn't help but admire her. It turned out that liking someone was like this.

On this cold winter night, the bleak artistic conception intensifies Liu Zaili's infatuation with Ma Min'er. In the silence of the night, in this distant tranquility, it seems that he can see the love when he closes his eyes. Clear love.

The cold wind kept blowing in from the windows, and everyone in the room was shivering from the cold, but no one dared to interrupt the nobleman's leisurely thoughts.Where did the listener's thoughts fly?

In the palace, the maid hurriedly entered the queen's palace, and when she arrived in front of the queen, she quickly knelt down, "I want to report to the empress, the eldest princess sent someone to inform that Princess Yunbao left in the evening."

"Where did you go?"

"I went to the Yazhuxuan of the eldest princess."

"Is that her private restaurant?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Why is Yun'er going?" The queen frowned.

The palace lady replied: "Yazhuxuan is a place for the masters of the capital to relax."

"Well, I heard that King Yancheng will go there every now and then."

"Yes, ma'am."

The queen's face was threatening: "Say hello to King Yancheng, let her protect Dianyun'er."

"Yes, the Queen Mother."

The queen muttered to herself, "Which son will Yun'er take a fancy to?" She said silently, hoping that it is someone the emperor needs, so that my son can be willing.

The eldest princess mansion, the younger sister who just came to relax, went out without saying hello to herself, she could only pretend not to see, and secretly protected her, "My restaurant, have you gone to those young masters today?"

"Back to the eldest princess, almost all the princes who support the Holy Majesty have gone."

For some reason, the eldest princess felt a headache, "These people are too..." Thinking of the time when her father fled to the north, she was almost forced to death. At that time, why did these people go, really...

"Princess..."

The eldest princess was exhausted: "Go down, say hello to King Yancheng, and ask her to protect Yun Bao."

"Yes, princess."

Today’s Yazhuxuan is the same as usual, still in the quiet garden, the whole building is decorated with red lanterns, shining through the red oil paper to the whole courtyard, it looks rich, luxurious, and the floors are scattered at different heights. , From time to time, there is the sound of silk and bamboo, mixed with shallow and thick whispers, and the sound of swallows bursts.

In the most luxurious private room in the top room, the windows have already been closed. Liu Zaili is half lying on the Xiangfei couch, looking like a lazy and world-weary nobleman. The charm, as if this is a paradise on earth.

The dark guard lowered his head slightly, "Jun Wang, he is here!"

"Invite some of my good friends over here."

The personal entourage immediately replied: "Yes, the king of the county, the little one will do it now."

After a while, more than a dozen noble sons filed in and bowed their hands in salute, "Liu Zili, it's really not easy to see you!"

"Yeah, you're a busy man!"

"Brother Zili, why are you free to buy us a drink today?"

……

A group of people finished the salute lively, teasing and laughing at each other, and the deserted private room burst into popularity instantly.

Liu Zaili was still half lying on the concubine Xiang's couch, and didn't even return the gift, he just said: "Everyone, find your own seat." This sentence is already the most polite of a popular official.

And these wealthy children, no matter they have real talents or poor children, all acquiesced to the behavior of the prince of Yancheng County. Who would let them bet that King Jin would ascend the throne and become a popular official?Now they can only curry favor with a share of the pie.

The sound of silk and bamboo was still the same, the dishes and wine were brought up like flowing water, and the lively private room became even more noisy, "Liu Zili, get up, let's fight wine."

"Yes, Liu Dezi, hurry up and fight for wine, otherwise what's the point..."

In the commotion, Liu Zaili was pulled up by a group of young masters, stood up, shook his hands together, his sleeves reached his wrists in an instant, and swept away the laziness and haze just now, looking romantic and full of charm!

"Who wants to drink just now?"

"I, Gao Xiandong..."

Liu Zaili raised his eyes. It turned out that he was the second son of the Shangshu of the Ministry of War. When the mother and concubine came to see the younger brother of the little lady, he lowered his eyes with a smile, picked up a glass of wine, and nodded, "Okay, come, let me have a look." Your ability."

Seeing Prince Liu giving face, all the young masters booed, "Yes, yes, come, come..."

When the wine glass was raised, these young people seemed to have been beaten with chicken blood, and almost raised the roof, but the excitement stopped abruptly when the door of the room was kicked open.

The sliding door, without the support, immediately fell inside, and a group of young men jumped and fled to the corner.

Boom... Afterwards, the entire private room, no, the entire top floor was silently audible, and all the princes looked towards the door. They wanted to see who dared to kick the door of the celebrity in front of the emperor. After a glance, he became more silent. It turned out to be another popular official, not only that, but also a real powerful figure with a heavy army in his hands.

Liu Zaili and Xia Zhen faced each other across the air, their gazes clashed with each other, and they were completely bleak.During the long confrontation, no one spoke first.

Next to the door that was kicked, Mr. Zhuang, Xia Zhen's aide, saw that the head of the restaurant wanted to sneak in to be a good person, but he silently blocked him, and told him with his eyes, don't worry.

The boss of the eldest princess, have you ever been threatened like this, your eyes are so startled that your eyes are about to pop out, and you almost have to say it, how dare you...

Zhuang Hao raised his forehead slightly, and didn't bother to put it down.

Even Yancheng County King was polite to him, the chief executive had never been so angry, his hands trembling with anger, he really wanted to turn around, and almost bumped into Princess Yunbao, the eldest princess's sister, that was bigger than Dachang The eldest princess is even more precious, he just wanted to go up to say hello, but Yunbao Junbao looked at the person by the door with full eyes, not only that, there seemed to be tears in his eyes, he was so frightened that he hurriedly went downstairs.

Downstairs, Zhang Nianmei led nearly ten thousand people to seal off Yazhuxuan, "You...what do you want to do?" The boss shouted in fright, "This is the restaurant of the eldest princess, how dare you make trouble?"

Zhang Nianmei smiled charmingly, isn't the restaurant of the eldest princess still closed?Glancing at the chief executive, "Go and tell your master, my general has surrounded the restaurant."

"You...you..." The voice of Dazhang Shi chattering his teeth resounded in the silent night.

"If your master asks, what is the so-called matter, tell her, and she will become a beauty in anger."

"Ah..." The boss's mind turned into a mess, what happened, woman?that?Could it be Princess Rainbow Dash who was upstairs just now?Damn hey, he went to report the crap.

(End of this chapter)