in the sound of swallows

Chapter 78

It is true that Baiyun Taoist Temple is far away from the Prime Minister's Mansion, that is to say, it will take at least a whole day to go back and forth, but when Qing Huan invited the Taoist priest back, he went there at dawn and returned after a while.

No one noticed this detail, and Shen Guiyan didn't point it out, but he really packed his things and went to Baiyun Taoist Temple the next day.

Qing Huan was a little nervous, so she came to the main house early in the morning and said, "Young lady, let's go prepare the carriage for the young lady."

Shen Guiyan shook her head and said, "No need, just let Baoshan go. Mr. Xianggong will return to the mansion in the afternoon, so you and Biyue can take good care of you."

Qing Huan pretended not to hear, and ran out straight away. Just as Bao Shan was about to chase her out and call her, Shen Guiyan grabbed her by the sleeve.

After a while, Qing Huan came back, and said with a panicked expression: "Young Madam, the horse in the mansion said today that it had a bad stomach and couldn't run."

"How could it be?" Baoshan frowned: "I was fine when I asked yesterday, how could it be possible that I ate badly after this night?"

Shen Guiyan looked at the teapot on the table calmly, without speaking.Qing Huan glanced at her several times, lowered her head and said: "The master of the stable said so, and the slaves don't know."

Baoshan looked at Qing Huan with an uneasy expression on his face.Shen Guiyan said softly: "In this case, then you should go back and rest to prepare to serve your husband, and I will go another day."

"Okay." Qing Huan nodded, breathed a sigh of relief, turned and left the main house.

"Miss." Baoshan said: "That girl obviously looks weird, why don't you interrogate her?"

Shen Guiyan looked at the door and said, "Is that also the woman facing the north?"

Bao Shan was taken aback, and pursed his lips.Naturally, the Tongfang girl is half an aunt and also the young master's woman.

"Regardless of whether the haunting is true or not, what the Taoist said is also true." Shen Guiyan said: "If Chaobei keeps doting on me alone, no one else will be dissatisfied. Once there is dissatisfaction, there will be troubles in this yard , it’s better to be covered with rain and dew, and nothing will happen.”

"How is this possible?" Bao Fan's eyes widened: "Miss, you have finally made some progress in your relationship with the young master. The young master has also grown from doing nothing in the beginning to now achieving something. Is it possible that you still want to share it with others?"

Shen Guiyan chuckled lightly: "I don't like sharing with others either."

"But, there is no way."

It's not a small family. Three wives and four concubines are too common for a big family. Besides, Gu Chaobei...

She couldn't understand it, and she couldn't be sure.

Bao Shan stomped his feet angrily, looked at his young lady's expression, and said distressedly: "You are born with a good life, and you can see it well when you marry him, so is it possible that you still have to be pissed off one after another?"

"Don't be so excited." Shen Guiyan said: "A person's life depends on his own state of mind. If I don't feel angry, they won't be able to get angry with me. Why don't we live on as usual?"

"Are you really not angry?" Baoshan raised his eyebrows.

Shen Guiyan lowered her eyes, and gave a faint "hmm".

"Since you're not angry, then the servants can talk about it. People are saying that the young master has not returned to the house for the past two days, and that he has found a new friend in Zuihuayin." Bao Fan said angrily: "I wanted to hide it from you. You, if you are not angry, that servant has nothing to worry about, so I just told you everything."

"Last time I chased the cloud and said that the young master and the general were talking outside at night while holding candles, but where is it actually? It was clear that the two of them went to Zuihuayin together and stayed in the room of the dancing girl Baihu. She is called Oiran lady, and she can also write poems!"

Shen Guiyan listened, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

Baoshan looked at her expression carefully, and saw that she was angry and refused to speak out, so she gave a muffled laugh, took the water basin and said: "Hey, it's much lighter to say that, so let's fetch water and clean up." room."

The door opened and closed, Shen Guiyan sat at the table and slowly opened her eyes.

She is not angry, it is an advantage to be with Gu Chaobei, she did not have the idea of ​​being able to live together forever, sooner or later there will be other people by his side.If she is lucky enough to accompany him to grow old, that would be a surprise.If you can't, you won't be too disappointed.

Gu Chaobei came back from the school field, sweating profusely, counting the days, it was time to go to Yan'er's place today.Just about to go to the main house, Mrs. Jiang greeted her and said, "Master, the bucket and water for bathing are ready."

Slightly raising his eyebrows, Gu Chaobei smiled and said, "Didn't I just go to your room?"

Jiang Shi was taken aback, glanced at him and said: "Young Madam ordered my concubine to prepare it."

Gu Chaobei frowned, and the smile on his face slowly sank. He was about to speak, but saw the door of the main house opened.

"Just ask someone to carry the bucket into the main house." Shen Guiyan stood at the door of the main house, looked at Jiang Shi and said, "I haven't left the house today, so I'll take care of it myself."

Jiang Shi was slightly surprised, but Gu Chaobei's face turned cloudy, and he leaned forward with a smile, and rubbed against Shen Guiyan's shoulder with sweat all over his head: "I thought the lady didn't want me anymore, so I must be sent out." Push it."

Shen Guiyan smiled slightly, and wiped his sweat with a handkerchief: "What should be given to others, the concubine will give. But what should be kept for myself, the concubine will not let others easily, after all, it is the main wife, and should serve the husband-in-law It is."

Gu Chaobei touched her face, and said in a serious manner: "My lady is right."

The house servants really went in and carried the bathtub into the main house, Qing Huan came out with a frown, and looked at Jiang Shi, both of them were unwilling.

It seems that this young lady is not so easy to deal with, and she still knows how to guard her part if she wants her to be soft.It stands to reason that Grandpa has been sleeping in rooms next to each other these days, shouldn't she be angry and jealous, and prevent Grandpa from entering the main house?Who knew it was so generous.

Baoshan looked at Gu Chaobei's face in a good mood, and muttered to find out the change of clothes and hang them on the screen.

It's really strange, but it turns out that the situation is much better if I can bear it.

It's time for the imperial examination to be announced, and I don't know what the final process is, Gu Chaodong didn't win the first prize, but he took off the position of Tanhua, and got to have an audience with the imperial court.

Once the sixth prince died, there were a lot of changes in the officials in the court, so no one cared about the fact that he was dismissed after being the servant of the Ministry of Punishment.After all, Prime Minister Gu's contacts are extensive, and he was given the position of servant of the household department, which is very lucrative.

The queen has not listened to the government behind the curtain recently, and seems to have settled down a lot in the harem, so the emperor took the opportunity to implement a new policy, get rid of the shortcomings of the old policy, and crack down on corrupt officials in the capital.

Gu Chaobei seized this opportunity again.

Since ancient times, officials have protected each other, and it has always been the most difficult to investigate corruption.After the emperor personally ordered the execution of a few corrupt officials, it was no longer effective. No one should identify the high-ranking officials in Beijing, and the people walked on the road with their eyes.

When Shen Guiyan went to the school, she happened to see the little girl with braids crying in the corner.

"What's wrong with you?" Shen Guiyan went over and hugged her.

The little girl cried and burst into tears: "Mother said that I will not be able to go to school next year. This year's tuition fees are all paid by my teacher, and it is not good to continue to owe money next year. Thinking that I will not be able to play eagles and chickens with Shitou and the others, I will It's so sad woohoo..."

Patting her on the back lightly, Shen Guiyan comforted in a low voice: "It doesn't matter the tuition fee, it doesn't matter if you don't pay it, you can continue to come."

"But..." the little girl said pitifully: "The rented field at home has finally yielded a harvest, and it was taken away by the tax official. Next year I will help my mother sell wild fruits, so I don't have time to come."

tax?

If she remembered correctly, the imperial court collected less than [-]% of the taxes, how could they all be taken away?

"Have you finished class yet?" Shen Guiyan asked softly.

The little girl nodded and shook her head: "I didn't have class today, they are all inside, I... I am embarrassed to go in."

"Then..." Shen Guiyan smiled: "Can you take me to your house to have a look?"

The little girl looked at her with wide eyes: "My house is very small, and there is no place to greet guests. What are you going to do, madam?"

Baoshan poked his head out from behind and said with a smile: "Madam is willing to help your family, why don't you hurry up and lead the way?"

The little girl was taken aback for a moment, and quickly regained her spirits: "Really?"

"En." Shen Guiyan nodded.

With a cheer, the little girl pulled Shen Guiyan out and went out: "My mother said that only high officials can take care of the affairs of high officials, small officials can't talk about high officials, and the common people can't even talk about small officials. Madam looks better than those People dress well, you can tell them."

Say?
This word was used so cleverly, Shen Guiyan couldn't help but nodded slightly, the students taught by the master are really more spiritual than each other.

The girl with shofar braids is called Sixi, and she was also a scholarly family before the disaster hit her family, so even though she is poor now, she sent her daughter to school.

Holding Sixi in the carriage, they went all the way to the countryside beside the city. Sixi pointed to the two-acre tunnel in the distance and said, "That's where it is."

Shen Guiyan asked people to stop the horse.

The luck of the country is not going well this year, and there are natural disasters everywhere. I don’t feel anything in the capital city, but I can see it when I go out of the city and into the fields.

It was a good autumn harvest, and the farmers brought most of the grain to the tax officials, and then paid the rent for the rest, and then there was not much left, not enough to eat.The rice in the fields is weak, and many women are picking waste.

"Mom!" Sixi shouted, and ran towards a woman in blue clothes who was picking up waste in the field.

Shen Guiyan followed behind.

The woman took her daughter and put it down, and said in a low voice, "Don't run around, help me to pick it up."

"Okay." Sixi squatted down on the ground, twirling the rice one by one. After twirling for a while, she realized that she stood up and pulled her mother's clothes and said, "There is a guest."

The woman in blue was taken aback for a moment, then quickly raised her head, and saw Shen Guiyan, who was dressed in Luo Qi, bowing to her.

"This is?"

"Little girl, Shen Shi." Shen Guiyan said softly: "Follow the little girl back to have a look, I heard that she won't be able to go to school."

The woman wiped her hands on her waist, put the rice into the cloth bag, and said with a forced smile, "Please take a walk."

Seeing that the woman spoke clearly and politely, Shen Guiyan asked her directly: "Madam, can you tell the little girl how much is harvested in this field? How much is handed over to the government?"

(End of this chapter)