Mountains and rivers pray for peace

Chapter 23

"drive!"

The carriage galloped along the Chang'an official road, causing the dust on the street to dance.Due to the fast travel of the carriage, he returned to Duke Ning's mansion in a short while.

Huo Qifu got off the carriage and went straight to Huo Ruhai's study without stopping for a moment.If his calculations were correct, he should be able to bump into Huo Ruhai who had just returned from the morning court at this moment.

Huo Qi was right, Huo Ruhai happened to have just taken off his court clothes and changed into regular clothes and was flipping through the books in the study.In recent years, although Huo Ruhai has gradually distanced himself from the government, he has not yet taken up an official position after all, and there are still some mundane things that he cannot get rid of.

Just when Huo Ruhai was in a state of desperation about the court affairs on the booklet, he saw Huo Qiwu pushing the door in.Because of the hurried steps, the cloak behind him was raised high, and the bamboo curtain at the door of the study trembled in shock.

Huo Ruhai put down the folding book in his hand, a little surprised, and then said with a teasing smile: "The sun is out in the west today, why do you think of coming to see daddy to say hello?"

"My daughter came here today to ask Daddy for something." Huo prayed softly after blessing his body, taking a breath.

"Oh? What's the matter?" Huo Ruhai straightened his body, "But it's okay to say, daddy will promise you if he can do it."

Huo Qi is an idea, but he will not rely on others for things that can be solved by himself. He rarely raises any wishes with Huo Ruhai on weekdays, but if he asks him suddenly, there must be some major matter that she cannot solve.

Huo Qi quickly said: "Dad, I want to go to Dongyanling. Can you make arrangements for my daughter?"

"East Yanling? Are you going to hunt in autumn?" Huo Ruhai was puzzled.

Although Huo Qi is good at equestrian skills, she doesn't like to go out on weekdays. A few years ago, someone sent a post to invite her to go hunting in autumn, and she didn't see any thoughts on her.If something goes wrong, there must be a demon. Huo Qi suddenly proposed to go to Dongyanling in a hurry at this moment, which made Huo Ruhai feel a little unusual.

Huo Qi quickly replied: "Exactly."

"Why do you suddenly want to go hunting in autumn? I didn't see you showing any interest in it in the past years." Huo Ruhai asked suspiciously.

All of a sudden, Huo Ruhai remembered that Wang Shi had told him yesterday that Huo Qi didn't look very well when he was in Zhenyuan Hou's mansion, and he probably still had a knot in his heart.Yuan's family will also go to the autumn hunt this time. Could it be that Huo Qi is going there for Yuan Shao?

If so, he would never agree.

Huo Ruhai hesitated and said: "Qiqi, tell daddy honestly, did you go hunting in autumn because of that boy Yuan Shao? He's already married..."

"Dad, my daughter, let me tell you for the last time, Yuan Shao is just an ordinary stranger to me. But he has been bored in the house recently and has never gone out. I want to go to Dongyanling to see the natural scenery. I heard that Dongyanling I can see many rare and exotic beasts, and my daughter is a little curious. I hope my father will agree."

Huo Qi was a little speechless, she was looking forward to Yuan Shao's death every day before it was too late.

Seeing that Huo Qi did not seem to be lying, Huo Ruhai avoided Yuan Shao, stroked his beard and said, "It is of course a good thing to read thousands of books, travel thousands of miles, and see the natural scenery. It's just that most of the people who went to hunt this time were General of the court, it is inconvenient to accompany you as a father, I am not at ease if you are alone."

"Father, if I can take good care of myself, I will definitely not cause trouble to Duke Ningguo." Huo Qi assured, patted his chest.

"My father is not afraid that you will bring trouble to Ning Guogong's palace, but he is worried that he will not be able to save your life." Huo Ruhai was half joking and half serious. "This matter is not difficult. My father will arrange it for you. The daughter of your mother and the old master. I have some friendship with Ning, so let her take care of you when the time comes."

"Thank you, dad." Huo Qi breathed a sigh of relief, a dark light flashing in his eyes.

Huo Ruhai's words reminded her.

Although looking for Cui Xin was the main purpose of her trip to Dongyanling this autumn, if Yuan Shao was also going to go, there was no guarantee that he had some dirty thoughts in his heart, so she had to be very energetic. response.

……

Ningguo Duke's mansion is naturally a loving father and filial son, but they don't know that there is a scene of a woman and aunt Boxi in Zhenyuanhou's mansion.

Zhenyuanhou Mansion, Qing'an Pavilion.

Mrs. Zhenyuan Hou's wife, Mrs. Jiang, was sitting in the main seat, dressed meticulously, with a pair of hanging eyes mixed with a bit of shrewdness exclusive to women, she looked like a difficult character to deal with.

Standing next to her was Jiang's confidant. It was Grandma Qing who went to meet her bride that day. She was tall and round, with quite an air of dignity.

Just below the main seat is Zhao Shi, the wife of Yuan Xianhe, Yuan Xianhe's younger brother Shangshu Zuocheng.Mrs. Zhao was born with a Guanyin face, with peaceful brows and eyes, and her facial features are not really beautiful, they can even be said to be mediocre, but her temperament is dignified and generous, and she will not be underestimated.At the moment, he is coaxing his youngest son Yuan Song, humming a little tune from time to time.

Today is the first day that Huo Qinglan marries into the Zhenyuan Marquis Mansion. According to the rules, the newlyweds need to come to the main hall of the Marquis Mansion to serve tea to their elders.

She got up early in the morning to dress up, not daring to make a mistake, but she didn't want Yuan Shao to leave the house early, without even getting a face-to-face meeting.Riding a tiger is hard to get off, and now she is the only one who comes to pay her respects.

I don't know if it was because of the woman's hair bun, Huo Qinglan's eyebrows matured overnight.She was pinching a honey-colored golden trousers all over her upper body, her waist seemed slender and full of grip, exuding a three-pointed fascination.

At this moment, Huo Qinglan was kneeling on the ground, serving tea to the two in turn.She raised her hands above her head, and carefully handed the teacup to Mrs. Zhao.

Mrs. Zhao took it with a smile, took a sip, nodded and said: "Not bad." She winked again and asked the maid next to her to give her some money. She seemed to really like this niece-in-law.

Huo Qinglan breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and handed the second cup of tea to Jiang Shi: "Mother, please drink tea."

But Jiang was not as easy to get along with as Zhao. She lowered her head to admire the newly made koudan, but was slow to take the tea from Huo Qinglan's hand. On the surface, she pretended to be deaf, but in fact she had some intentions of making things difficult for Huo Qinglan.

After a while, Jiang seemed to see Huo Qinglan trembling on his knees, and then he slowly spoke: "Miss Huo Er married into the Zhenyuan Marquis Mansion in a hurry. She had an idea. I can't afford to be like Miss Huo Er." Say 'Mother'."

The Jiang family has been calling the wind and rain in the inner house for decades, Yuan Xianzhi is domineering and domineering, life is not easy for her husband, but no one has ever been able to count on her in the inner house.

Unexpectedly, someone took the wrong approach and plotted against her son, forcing her to marry him in, making her laugh at the entire circle of ladies in the capital.If she doesn't train this daughter-in-law well now, I'm afraid Huo Qinglan will cause huge disasters in the future.

Huo Qinglan gritted his teeth, lowered his eyebrows and said, "Your Majesty granted me a marriage. This marriage was indeed rushed. It's my daughter-in-law's fault."

When Jiang heard this, his heart moved.

No matter how much she didn't like this daughter-in-law, in the final analysis, it was Emperor Xiaowen who brought her in, so it was okay to cause her some embarrassment. If Huo Qinglan was so angry that he committed suicide, it would be hard for the Zhenyuan Marquis Mansion to explain.

Thinking of this, Jiang gave a secret look to Nanny Qing next to her, and finally asked Nanny Qing to take the tea from Huo Qinglan's hand.

Huo Qinglan's hands were already trembling slightly, and there was a soreness in the depths of his arms, and his knees were already numb from kneeling, and he was about to get up and sit down.

Seeing this, Mr. Jiang, who was sitting on the throne, saw a flash of anger in his eyes: "Did I tell you to get up? How did you learn the rules at home?"

Hearing this, Huo Qinglan's face turned pale, she bit her lower lip involuntarily, twisted the handkerchief tightly, and did not dare to move.

Although she pretended to be respectful on the surface, Huo Qinglan hated everyone in the room in her heart.She hated Jiang's public embarrassment for her, and also hated the fact that the maids and wives in this room turned a blind eye, which was a kind of silent ridicule.

The whole room was watching her jokes!
Before leaving the cabinet, she always felt that she hadn't had a good few days in Duke Ning's mansion.Huo Rushan is cowardly and doesn't care much about his children.The Qi family is domineering and wants to make a fuss about her marriage to pave the way for the bright future of her brothers.But it's useless for her elder brother not to be an official for five years, so she can't see a glimmer of hope.

She originally wanted to get rid of the muddy home by getting married, but she didn't expect that in the days after marriage, humiliation and pain would follow one after another, and her life would be worse than in Ningguo Duke's Mansion.

"I heard that Ah Shao stayed in the study last night?" Jiang picked up the tea in his hand and sniffed it, and there was a bit of sarcasm in his tone knowingly asking.

Huo Qinglan was so angry that her face was shaking, she could only lower her head and said nonuo: "Yes, my son was drunk last night..."

Before he could finish his words, with a "pop" sound, Jiang smashed the tea bowl in Huo Qinglan's direction. The fine porcelain bowl fell into pieces, making Huo Qinglan tremble all over.Small fragments hit Huo Qinglan's tender lotus-like arm, causing her pain.

The sound of the teacup shattering was so loud that Yuan Song in Zhao's arms was startled to cry, but Zhao couldn't help but look at Huo Qinglan, who was kneeling on the ground, with sympathy in his eyes, regardless of the baby's crying.

Mrs. Zhao knew that her brother and sister-in-law didn't want to see this nephew and daughter-in-law, but she didn't expect that her nephew was so cold-hearted.Yuan Shao treats people gently on weekdays, even the servants in the mansion have never seen his cold face.Now she stayed in the study room on her wedding night, and humiliated Huo Qinglan in front of everyone in the family. As an aunt, she was a little puzzled.

"Yesterday it turned out..." Mrs. Zhao hesitated to speak.

Before Zhao could finish speaking, Jiang made another harsh statement: "Qinglan, you also know that your marriage into the Zhenyuan Marquis Mansion was purely an accident. But since you have married in, you should win over your husband. Heart. Now I don’t want to spread the branches and leaves of the Yuan family as soon as possible, and let my husband stay in the study. Is this the rule taught by your Huo family? "

"Qing Lan understands."

She already hated Jiang.

"Sister-in-law, Qinglan just married here, and it takes a while to get used to it, so don't watch too closely."

Mrs. Zhao hurriedly came out to smooth things over, looking a bit like a good old lady.

When Mrs. Jiang saw Mrs. Zhao come out to speak, she gave her some respect and softened her tone: "Okay, everyone in the Hou Mansion will go to Dongyanling to watch the autumn hunting. As a wife, you should also go and tidy up for your husband. Clean up. Get down."

She waved her hand, with obvious disgust on her face.

"Yes, my daughter-in-law understands." Huo Qinglan felt relieved, and before leaving, she cast a grateful look at Mrs. Zhao.

I don't know if she was afraid that the Jiang family would call her back again, Huo Qinglan supported Xi'er's hand and made three steps in parallel, and hurried back to Shao Mingxuan.

Xi'er's eyes turned red with anxiety when she saw Huo Qinglan suffered such humiliation in Qing'an Pavilion.But she didn't dare to say anything. Now that she was back on her own territory, she couldn't help but vent her frustration.

"Madam is too difficult to serve. She called Madam Qing to take Missy's tea, didn't she just make it clear that she doesn't recognize Missy as her daughter-in-law?"

"Master Shizi didn't accompany me today. He made it clear that he wanted to embarrass me. Naturally, mother doesn't want to see me. If Master Shizi treats me better one day, mother will naturally not make things difficult for me." Huo Qinglan said impatiently, as if to say If it comes out, it will become a fact in the future.

"Miss is right. In the final analysis, it depends on my uncle's face. However, the servants can see that the second lady is easy to talk to. It's better for the young lady to curry favor with the second lady. Life will always be easier."

"Let's keep an eye on it. If you can have a good relationship, you can have a good relationship. If the inner house is uneasy, the prince will also be in trouble." Huo Qinglan always planned for Yuan Shao.

"Miss, what can we do to win my uncle's heart?"

Although Xi'er is a maid, she also knows that her young lady's only support in this Zhenyuanhou's mansion is Yuan Shao's favor.When the master is well, the lives of their servants will be easier.

Huo Qinglan rubbed her aching knees and couldn't help but think of the words Yuan Shao said in her ear last night. These words were like a spell, enchanting her soul:

This son wants Huo Qi to die.

If she wants to secure her position as Crown Princess, she must first be a useful person.As long as she kills Huo Qi, Yuan Shao will give her a good look no matter what.But now that she is in Zhenyuan Hou Mansion, it is difficult to meet Huo Qi.Normally, Huo Qi lives in seclusion. Even if he goes out, he will be followed by a bunch of people. The goal of calling people to do something on the street is too big.

Looks like it's time to wait.

　Feudal society harms people (sigh)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)