boudoir

Chapter 24
When Yu returned to the room after finishing her work, Hongxiu took advantage of her buoyant expression and said, "My Madam has been kinder to the Nine Girls today. Mama Cheng has served the Third Young Master for so many years, but she only came here for a few days now." Slapped across the face, not only Cheng's mother couldn't figure it out, but even us onlookers felt it was unfair."

Mrs. Yu didn't care too much: "The future is long, and there are plenty of opportunities to treat her."

Hongxiu said again: "I'm afraid Madam hesitated and didn't make a move. They have already wooed all the elders and old masters. Now Madam spared her the morning and night, it's true that she is out of sight, she is happy! It's nothing. Wouldn't it be in her favor to control her personally? Madam is kind, so it's just in case."

Yu seems to have listened.After a while, he glanced at her and said, "When will the master come back?"

The next day, when the imperial court had a holiday, He Weili had not left the mansion, so he sent someone to invite Liuli to the front yard.

Today Liuli was wearing a silver-red satin jacket and trousers, and a dark gray rabbit fur cloak over it. They were all old clothes, and new ones were still being sewn. She added two long ears, walking from a distance, just like a little rabbit.

He Weilai took a look at her: "You look a bit like your mother."

Liuli pondered for a while, pursed her lips and said: "My mother has Danfeng eyes." But she has apricot eyes, and she is following him.

He Wei groaned slightly, coughed, walked to the desk and sat down.He took out a book and flipped through it. After a while, he said, "When did your grandfather pass away?"

Liuli said: "March of the 11th year of Qingping."

"Did he write any books when he was alive?"

Liuli didn't know if he was asking casually or if he had some intention, but she still thought about it and said, "I don't know, I haven't seen it. He only copied a few passages from the Book of Songs for me to copy when he was teaching me to read and write."

He Yu hummed, then remained silent for a while, and said, "Copy one of them and show me."

In line with the principle of keeping a low profile as much as possible, Liuli silently wrote an article "Shuo Ren" in italics on the ready-made paper and ink.

He Weili picked it up and took a look, "It's quite satisfactory. Your grandfather is good at running script, why don't you learn it?"

Liuli was slightly startled, her grandfather's calligraphic style was indeed her best, but how could He Yuli know which handwriting her grandfather was good at?
"Master, have you seen Grandpa?"

He Wei paused, shook his head and said: "No, I remember your mother mentioned it." Ever since he had tea with her, he has spoken with her as strictly as an adult.

Liuli glanced at him and sat down peacefully.

She was just sitting still, and He Cunli's seemingly unintentional words almost made her jump up in fright: "I heard that your grandfather is very knowledgeable and thoughtful, and taught you to study poetry and books since childhood. "Sub-collections of Yanxi Palace"?"

Liuli tried her best to stay calm: "What kind of book is "The Collection of Yanxi Palace"? I haven't heard of it."

Before leaving, Yongxin said that "Sub-collections of Yanxi Palace" could tell her why Yongxin helped her come back here, because it didn't seem so urgent for her to find the answer, so she also threw it away for the time being, unexpectedly He suddenly heard it from He Cunli's mouth.

He Cunli didn't seem to mind either, so he hummed and said: "It's not something important." He closed the book, took a sip of tea, and said, "Did you find the painting I asked you to look for last time?"

Liuli was ordering a cup of tea with a silver bracelet, when she heard this, she wondered where she had ever looked for it?I remember that I put those books in the small courtyard outside the mansion. I moved in two days ago, and I don’t know if they are still there?Immediately said: "Perhaps it is lost. Go back and look for it. If it is still there, send it to the master immediately."

He Yuli was slightly displeased, seeing that she was still fiddling with the tea with the silver bracelet, he frowned and said: "No rules! I heard Madam said that you beat the third young master's nanny last night, presumably you are used to debauchery outside! After work I will find a teacher to guide Mammy over this part, you should study carefully!"

Liuli didn't expect this move, and she didn't come back to her senses after her hands were in the air for half a day.

Back in the room, thinking that Yin Chuan'er was too eye-catching in the poison test, so she took out an ordinary silver hairpin and asked Rui'er, "Is there a way to break it into three or four pieces?"

Rui'er thought for a while, "Nurse Sun's son is working in the blacksmith shop in the back alley, you can ask her to try."

Liuli drew a circle on the table with the hairpin, "But I don't want people to ask around..."

Rui'er said: "That's easy to do. The servants will say that they are short of money, so they can use it as pocket money."

Liuli thought it was feasible and gave her the hairpin.

Thinking of that painting again, she called Cuiying: "Have you tidied up the paintings and calligraphy brought in from outside?"

Cuiying thought for a while, and said, "The rattan boxes that were just moved in a few days ago? They are still piled up in the side room. There are no bookshelves to put them on, so I didn't get them done."

Liuli went into the ear room and opened the lids of the three boxes. As expected, the books, calligraphy and paintings inside were still placed in their original positions, but upon closer inspection, the box of calligraphy and paintings had been tampered with.

She recalled where the painting was placed at the beginning, and then took out a copy of "Biography of Martyr Girl" from the rattan box where the book was placed, and turned to one of the pages.On the page is a painting of blue ink and lotus, signed "Mr. Lan Qing in the autumn of the first year of Qingping", with grandfather's own handwriting, but the author, Mr. Lan Qing, does not know who it is.

The box was obviously moved by someone sent by He Cunli.He said he had seen this painting in Xu Niang's hands, but he ran to search among the piles of calligraphy and paintings, so he was lying.Besides, this book was given to her directly by her grandfather, so my mother probably didn't even know about it.

If you look carefully, there are three lotus leaves painted on it, one big and two small, and two other lotus flowers stand tall, one slightly taller has lost two petals, and the shorter one is very strong.

Liuli couldn't see anything special about this painting, but when she was learning to paint lotus, her grandfather pointed out this book to her once, saying that he had only collected this ink lotus in his life, and didn't say how important it was.But now she felt that He Cunli must have another purpose for wanting this painting. Where did he hear that she had such a painting in hand and wanted it so much?
Tian'er pushed the door open and said, "Girl, the light is too dark, come out and take a look."

Liuli closed the book: "Understood."

When it was getting dark, he picked out a few books and walked out of the room. Seeing that it was still early, he turned to the bedroom.A man was bored with the book for a long time, and suddenly he turned back to the ear room, took out a few pages of rice paper from the box, and went back to the room to compare the picture and draw carefully.

Grandpa passed away when Liuli was eight years old, and he taught the only granddaughter with all his heart while he was alive. If it wasn't because of such a life experience, her mother repeatedly told her to endure and back down. He Yuhua's hands.

In fact, Liuli was also amazed at Grandpa's talent. Sometimes he would write a fu with the theme of weeping willows by the river while walking with his grandfather and grandson, and sometimes he would write with his fingers dipped in water while eating snacks. Published a well-known "Butterfly Love Flower".When I was young in Wuzhou, I didn’t realize that there were very few people I met at that time. Except for the three generations, there were only two brothers, Chu Qin and Xu Zhou, and an old servant. There was no weighty comparison.Later, my grandfather and my old servant passed away one after another, and one of the two uncles went to Shuzhong and the other to Jinling. My mother fell ill, so I took her to Beijing to find my father.

In fact, after finding He Yuli, he disappeared for five or six days before reappearing. This time, he seemed to have recovered from the shock. He not only rented the house, but also gave money and things from time to time.During these days, when Liuli went to the streets with her mother, she often saw so-called literati writing poems in teahouses and restaurants, but she never felt that there was a grandfather who could surpass her.

It is true that it is possible that she loves her family and loves her family, and she did not inherit her grandfather's talent to prove it, but in terms of calligraphy, she has worked hard, and the four characters of piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, regardless of the first two, are really hard to show.The last two items are the authentic biography of the old man. When I copied my grandfather's name, even my grandfather himself mistakenly thought that he wrote it himself.But one time, the shopkeeper of the calligraphy and painting shop "Bao Mo Yuan" in Beijing saw her calligraphy and painting, and was amazed on the spot that it had the style of the four contemporary masters.

She doesn't know who the four great masters are, and it's not an honor for a woman to know how to write. In the days to come, she still abides by her boudoir etiquette and writes regular lowercase letters, or simply pretends that she can't write, except in front of Yongxin. that time.That was her coming back to life, lost in the moment.

After finishing the painting, she blew lightly against the light, and signed and left the words "Mr. Lanqing in the autumn of the first year of Qingping" at the same position, but there was no seal, which was a shortcoming for a while.

Rui'er pushed the door open and came in, "The maidservant has already told Grandma Sun that she will be there in two days."

Liu Li simply said again: "Why don't you help me with another matter."

Ruier nodded cheerfully: "Young lady, I will do it!"

Liuli took the white paper and wrote the word "Lanqing", and handed it to her, "Go and engrave a seal, and bring back a box of ink pads. The sooner the better."

Rui'er thought for a while, "Everyone here has to report to Madam when they leave the house. It's getting dark right now, so we can't find a way to go out. I'm afraid we can only do it in the morning or tomorrow morning."

Liuli thought for a while, "Who is in charge of the gate of the back garden now?"

"It's Lai Wu, the husband of Sister-in-Law Feng who lives next door."

Liu Li said: "Didn't Lai Wu drive a carriage?"

Rui'er glanced at the direction where Feng Chun'er lived next door, and said: "I was driving a car, but Feng Chun'er wants to break up with him for some reason, so Lai Wu asked to be transferred to the garden to look at the back door, because I wanted to be closer to Feng Chun'er."

Liuli hissed, propped his chin, and looked up and down at her.

Rui'er was so stared at that she lowered her head.

Liuli said: "Then do it tomorrow morning."

(End of this chapter)