Queen's New Clothes

Chapter 69

An endless stream of Sanskrit sounds lingered over the general's mansion for seven days and seven days.

According to Doctor Wen, the old man committed suicide by swallowing gold.

It was already too late when Su Xi and the others rushed over, and the old man was gone. He was lying on the bed with his eyes closed, and even though the old lady was crying so hard, he didn't respond.

When Lu Jianghuai came to visit him the day before, he seemed to be in a good mood, no one would have guessed that he would be overwhelmed.

Su Xi was completely naked and knelt in the mourning hall. She had shed all tears in the past few days, and her eyes were red and swollen from crying.Ting Yan was worried that her eyes would be broken from crying, and advised her to go back to the room to rest several times, but she refused to listen, and hardly ate anything, and she lost a lot of weight very quickly.

The eldest master Su Zhen and the second master Su Zhi got the news and hurried back from the border.When he arrived at the mourning hall, Su Zhen was exhausted and exhausted. When he saw the old man's coffin, he straightened up and knelt down. He walked to the coffin and called out "Dad" in a hoarse and painful voice.

When Su Zhen and Su Zhi were at the border, they did not receive news that the old man was seriously ill.It was the old lady who stopped Yin Shi from speaking.

The old lady was worried that the two of them would be distracted at the border and lose control on the battlefield, so she asked Yin to keep it a secret for now.

That's why when Su Zhen came back and saw that the old man had only one coffin left, he couldn't accept it like this.On the way back, he had already heard about the old man's illness, so he drew the sword on his waist on the spot, and strode towards the second room in military uniform.

If someone hadn't stopped them, the second master Su Yang and Mrs. Guo would have already died.

The old lady Su was so angry with the second room that she refused to let the second master and the second wife show up even on the day of condolences, saying that the old man would only get angrier if he saw them, and she didn't want to let the old man have no peace after his death.

Although the weather has entered autumn, it is still unbearably hot.The coffin can't stay for too long, after seven days it will be sent back to his hometown Wu County.

The old man is from Wu County, Wu County. When he was alive, he once said that the homeland is hard to leave, and the fallen leaves return to their roots. When they die in the future, they must be buried in their hometown.The old lady remembered his words and wanted to grant his last wish.

Su Xi was the little granddaughter whom the old man loved the most during his lifetime. On the day of departure, she will follow Fu Ling back to Wu County.

Wu County is too far away from the capital, they took the waterway.

The old lady sent them all the way to the pier, but because she was too old to travel between places, she had to stay in the capital.After Su Xi got on the boat with Yin Shi, she glanced back at the pier, and suddenly she seemed to catch a glimpse of a familiar figure. She froze for a while, and when she looked carefully, she saw that there was no one under the green shade opposite the pier. That hasty look seemed to be her illusion.

After entering her room, Su Xi sat on the couch by the window, looked out of the window and suddenly lost her mind.

In the past few days, after being busy with her grandfather's funeral affairs, and because of her grief, she didn't think about Wei Yan for a long time.Thinking about it now, I shouldn't have been angry and refused to see him. I should have asked him face to face, whether he did that thing or not?

Because she always avoided, so he forced himself to accept him in this way?After all, according to Wei Yan's tough temperament, it's not that he can't do this kind of thing.

Moreover, Su Xi clearly remembered that she changed her view of Wei Feng after the incident of startling the horse.

Su Xi was preoccupied with something, and was seasick, so she hardly even went out every day, lying listlessly on the couch in the room.After waiting for half a month, I finally arrived at the wharf in Wu County.After the old lady was buried in Wu County, Wu County, both Su Xi and Yin's family were not acclimatized, and soon fell ill. In order to take care of them, Su Zhen and Su Zhi had to extend their return to Beijing.

The disease dragged on until the end of October.

Later, Su Xi and Yin's illnesses recovered, and the elder Su Yang received a letter saying that the king of Yu and the king of Jin had been fighting fiercely recently, and the capital was not very peaceful.Su Yang thought about it all night. The Su family held the military power, so it was impossible to avoid this fight. He decided to bring Su Zhi back to the capital, and for the sake of the safety of Su Xi and Yin, he temporarily left his wife and daughter behind. Wu Jun claimed to be guarding the spirit of the old man.

The Su family has a courtyard with four entrances in Wu County, and there are still many servants in the mansion, who tidy up the courtyard, so that Su Xi and Yin can live in it as soon as they enter.

The scenery in Wu County is beautiful, and the seasons are like spring. Su Xi and Yin have lived here for more than two years.

In the past two years, Su Xi has spent most of her time in the house and rarely participated in outside banquets. After all, she is a filial piety now, and she is in the name of guarding the spirit of the old man, so it is not suitable for her to show up often outside.Anyway, she didn't like to attend these parties very much, and her life was no different from when she was in the General's Mansion, on the contrary, she was more comfortable.

The second elder brother Su Zhi sent a letter from the family saying that the ancestor kicked Erfang's family out of the general's mansion and completely separated from Erfang.

Emperor Zhaoyuan learned that the old man was pissed off by the second master Su Yang, and deprived Su Yang of his official position in the household department under the name of "unfaithful and unfilial". He was fined half of his family wealth in the name of no king's law and no shame, and another [-] boards were given, and he was dispatched to an unknown small place to serve as the county magistrate.

Su Xi can't feel any sympathy for the second room now. She feels that the second uncle's end today is entirely his own fault.

In the winter of the third year, it will be the days of Su Xi and Yan soon.Yin wrote a letter specifically asking Su Zhen if he could return to the capital right now.Su Zhen wrote back that he could go back, and sent over a dozen attendants and a big blessing boat to bring their mother and daughter from Wu County to the capital safely.

Knowing that they were coming back, the old lady led the third wife, Mrs. Yu, and several granddaughters-in-law to sit in the main hall and waited.

It has been two and a half years since the old lady passed away, and the newly entered granddaughter-in-law is well-behaved and sensible, comforting her mood, and the old lady has already recovered from her grief.At this time, with a smile on his face and a ruddy complexion, he was just waiting for Yin Shi and Su Xi to go home.

At noon, Su Zhen and Su Zhi brought them back.

Su Xi followed her second elder brother Su Zhi into the house, and when she saw the old lady, all the chastity and tranquility on the road disappeared instantly, she bent her almond eyes and quickly threw herself into the old lady's arms, smiling sweetly. He called out "Old Ancestor" and said, "I miss you so much in Wujun."

The old lady hurriedly hugged her, with a smile on her face, but she said strangely: "You little heartless, since you miss grandma, why are you willing to not go back to Beijing to see grandma for so long?"

At this time, Su Xi said: "Daddy won't let me go back."

Instead, he pushed himself clean and blamed all the faults on the old man.

The old lady shook her head with a smile, there was nothing she could do about it, knowing that she was keeping the vigil for the old man, she must have suffered in the past two years, and she was not willing to blame her. "Since I'm back, it's good. Let grandma take a good look at it. In the blink of an eye, she will grow into a big girl."

Su Xi obediently sat beside the old lady, and when she turned her gaze, she met Yu Baotong's gaze below.She said in surprise, "Sister Yu."

Although I knew about the marriage between Yu Baotong and Su Yu in my previous life, and I also received a letter from Yu Baotong when I was in Wujun, but because I had never seen it with my own eyes, I never had a sense of reality. I saw Yu Baotong sitting here today and remembered that she was married to Su Yu. It's been a year.

The third wife, Yu Shi, joked, "Sister Xi, it's time to change your mouth."

Su Xi smiled and called out in a polite manner: "Sixth Sister-in-law."

Yu Baotong was no longer a newly married woman, and when she heard this sentence, she only gave her a glance, but she didn't blush with embarrassment.

Su Xi rolled her dark almond eyes, and called everyone present one by one.Just listening to her sweet and soft voice sounding and falling, just a few simple titles, when they came out of her mouth, there was a kind of indescribable mellowness.

The sixth master Su Zuo praised sincerely: "Ninth younger sister is born more and more iconic."

This is a bit tactful. What Su Zuo really wanted to say was "it's becoming more and more difficult to look away", even as Su Xi's elder brother, he was also stunned for a long time when Su Xi entered the door just now.

I saw Su Xi sitting on the embroidered pier under the rattan-faced Arhat bed, cuddling up to the old lady intimately, maybe she was tired from the journey, and there was a trace of laziness in her smile at the moment, but it didn't make people feel unruly, but added She's a bit coquettish, which makes it hard to blame. I just think that if she can act like a baby to you, your heart will melt.Because she was still in the period of filial piety, Su Xi only wore plain and elegant clothes, and there was no extra jewelry on her head. She only wore a hairpin inlaid with silver and coral, which looked elegant and refined, but her face was so beautiful, Her complexion is greasy, charming and beautiful, even such a plain dress can't hide the beauty of her every frown and smile.

When a family reunite, it is necessary to talk a lot.

In the past two years, Mrs. Yin was not around, and the old lady was getting old. It was Mrs. Yu, the third wife, who helped to manage the house.Now that Yin's family is back, Yu's family returned the gift from the mansion to Yin's family.

Su Xi didn't have a chance to go back to her small yard until dusk fell.

Su Xi took only four maids with her to Wu County, and the other maids stayed in the capital.During the two years she was away, the room was kept clean and the windows were clean, and the bed was also kept neat and tidy, as if she had never left.

While arranging the things brought back from Wu County, Ting Yan said with emotion: "Wu County is still warm, but as soon as the servants come back to the capital, they are shivering from the cold."

There has just been a heavy snowfall in the capital city, and the snow has not yet melted, and the eaves and the courtyard are covered with whiteness.

Su Xi also felt that it was strangely cold, so she hurriedly asked someone to turn up the stove.

After sitting on the boat for more than half a month, and Su Xi was seasick again, after washing up at night, she only drank a bowl of mushroom chicken porridge and took a rest early.

On the eve of the New Year's Eve, Su Xi celebrated his 15th birthday.

After reaching the end, the Yin family began to be busy advising Su Xi about her marriage.There are many large and small family banquets in the past few days of the Chinese New Year. Yin Shi wanted to take Su Xi with her, but Su Xi refused all of them on the grounds that she "doesn't want to go out".

Yin said strangely: "I remember that when you were young, you loved visiting the house the most. How come you don't like to go out after you grow up? Youyou, don't you have something on your mind to hide from your mother?"

Su Xi's face remained unchanged, and she said with a smile: "Mother, what do you think I can worry about? It's just that the weather is too cold recently, so I don't want to go out."

Yin Shi didn't believe her nonsense, but she couldn't ask anything else from her mouth, so she had to let her go temporarily.

Soon it will be the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Yu Baotong came over to look for Su Xi, and said, "Young, let's go out and watch the lanterns together on the Lantern Festival tomorrow."

Su Xi paused for a moment with the hand holding the pen, then raised her head and smiled, "Sister-in-law Six is ​​going out with Brother Six? I'd better not bother you two, I'll stay at home with my mother."

Yu Baotong spat at her, walked to the back of the Qiaotou case, saw that she was painting the scenery of Wu County, and said deliberately: "Did you go to Wu County and forget me and Miss Wan? A while ago, Sister Wan invited you to the Tang Mansion, but you didn't go, so you're not afraid that Sister Wan will be angry with you?"

Su Xi said: "At that time, I was still sick from seasickness, so I wrote to sister Wan to tell her."

Yu Baotong looked at her and said with a smile, "Has your seasickness recovered by now?"

Su Xi pursed her lower lip and remained silent.

Yu Baotong took away the pen in her hand, and said with a burst of blood: "Youyou, I've noticed since you came back, you must be hiding from someone, right? You don't go here, you don't go there, you were not That's it. Let me think about it, could it be that you don't want to see Fu Yi?"

Su Xi's eyes flickered when she heard the first half of the sentence, but she returned to normal when she heard the second half, "Sister-in-law Six, don't talk nonsense, I'm not hiding from anyone."

"Then do you go to see the lanterns on the Lantern Festival?" Yu Baotong never forgot to ask.

Seeing Yu Baotong's insistence that if she insisted on not going, Su Xi would only arouse her suspicion even more, so she nodded and said, "I'll just go."

Shangyuan Festival.

The weather was slightly colder, so Su Xi put on an ivory-white cloak with fox fur trimmed. After getting into the carriage, she found that besides Yu Baotong, there was another woman in the carriage who was sitting upright and wearing a brocade gown with royal blue woven gold treasure chest pattern. Su Baiyu.

Yu Baotong said: "Brother Bai is coming too, so I'll take him along."

Su Baiyu is now eight years old, and the baby fat has faded from his face, making him look more and more handsome.His temper didn't change at all, he seemed to be a little more ruthless than before. When he saw Su Xi coming in, he only took one look, and then turned his head away coldly.

He has always treated Su Xi in this way these days.Maybe it was because she had been away for so long, no matter what she said to him, he ignored her.

Su Xi asked him yesterday if he wanted to go out together, but he refused in silence.

So Su Xi thought that he would not come, but after hearing what Yu Baotong said just now, he was the one who offered to follow?

Su Xi sat beside Su Baiyu and asked, "Brother Bai, didn't you want to go? Why did you change your mind?"

Su Baiyu stared at the floor in front of him, and said calmly: "I didn't say no yesterday."

Su Xi: "..."

The carriage soon arrived at the shore of Xiangshui Lake, and the streets were still the same as in previous years, with people coming and going, and there were lanterns hanging everywhere, illuminating the entire Shangjing city as bright as day and extremely lively.

Su Xi led Su Baiyu out of the carriage.Yu Baotong said: "Second uncle and your sixth brother are both in the boat, let's go and sit in the boat first."

Su Xi nodded and said yes.There were so many people on the road, she planned to hold Su Baiyu's hand, but when she thought that he was angry with her, she stopped her hand in mid-air, and said to Ting Yan and Ting He, "Look carefully at Brother Bo."

Tingyan and Tinghe should be.

After walking a few steps, Su Xi felt a small cool hand holding her from behind.She turned her head in surprise, and saw Su Baiyu pursing her pink lips, with a serious face, and said, "I'm afraid my aunt will get lost."

Su Xi nodded and chuckled, "Brother Bai must hold me well."

Su Baiyu nodded.

Passing through the bustling crowd and stopping in front of the Su family's painting boat by the lake, Su Xi was leading Su Baiyu onto the boat when she suddenly heard a clear and pleasant voice from behind: "Brother Bai Yu, Aunt Xi—"

Su Xi turned around and saw the little princess Wei Deyin being hugged in someone's arms, combing her bud hair, with a smile on her face, waving at them from a distance.

Su Xi stopped in her tracks, and when they approached and were about to say hello, the smile on her face froze suddenly when her gaze fell on a person behind her.

Wei Deyin climbed off Wei Jichang, happily walked up to Su Xi, and asked, "Brother Bai Yu, Aunt Xi, are you also here to see the lantern?"

In the past two years, Su Baiyu also entered the palace several times, and his relationship with Wei Deyin became closer.He nodded.

Wei Deyin said: "What a coincidence, brother Wei and I are also here to see the lantern, shall we watch it together?"

Su Xi collected herself, looked at the cute and enthusiastic little princess in front of her, and was hesitating how to refuse.Yu Baotong on the other end bowed his knees and saluted, and helped her out with a smile: "Thank you, Princess, for the invitation, but we are going back to the painting boat, and now I'm afraid we can't watch the lanterns with you."

Wei Deyin was not discouraged, and said easily, "It's okay, I can wait for you. Aunt Xi, when are you going to see the lanterns?"

Su Xi was silent for a moment, lacking confidence: "We won't watch lanterns today..."

Wei Deyin wanted to ask again, but Wei Jichang raised his hand to stop her, and nodded towards Su Xi and Yu Baotong with a gentle smile.

Wei Deyin had no choice but to give up, and settled for the next best thing, "Then can I invite Brother Bai Yu to our painting boat? Our painting boat is nearby, and I want to play with Brother Bai Yu." She blinked and looked at Su Baiyu, "Brother Bai Yu, are you okay?"

Su Baiyu looked up at Su Xi, meaning to ask for Su Xi's opinion.

Su Xi met the eyes of these two little guys, each brighter than the other, so she couldn't bear to say no again, and nodded in agreement.

Wei Deyin held Su Baiyu's hand happily, and said, "Aunt Xi isn't going?"

Su Xi smiled and shook her head, "No, I have other things."

Su Xi arranged for Tinghe to follow Su Baiyu.After Wei Deyin and Su Baiyu left, Wei Jichang walked past her. She bent her knees and stared at her feet with long eyelashes.It wasn't until Wei Yan's green lotus-colored robe passed in front of her that she let go of her breath, turned around and quickened her pace to keep up with Yu Baotong's pace, and walked into the cabin.

Not long after Yu Baotong and Su Xi sat in the cabin, Su Yu came in from the outside.

Su Yu wants to take Yu Baotong to the street to watch lanterns, and invites Su Xi to go with him.Su Xi is not the kind of person who has no eyesight. The two of them went to watch the lanterns, so why would she join in the fun?So he said: "Sixth Brother and Sixth Sister-in-Law, I'll wait for Brother Bai here, so that I won't see anyone when Brother Bai comes back."

Yu Baotong persuaded him several times, but Su Xi insisted on staying.

Seeing that she really didn't want to go out, Yu Baotong stopped forcing her.

After Yu Baotong and Su Yu left, Su Xi sat alone in the cabin, which became a little boring after a long time.She stood on the bow of the boat and looked at the lanterns on the lakeshore for a while, and suddenly remembered the Four Seasons lantern she had set her eyes on on the Lantern Festival three years ago... Unfortunately, it was burned down in the end.

The night was cool, and she felt the chill after only standing for a while, tightened the cloak around her body, and got into the cabin.

Su Xi waited alone for half an hour, resting her chin and looking at the oil lamp on the small red lacquer table, she almost fell asleep after waiting.

Just as she was dozing off in a daze, the curtain at the door of the cabin was lifted from the outside by a hand.She thought it was Su Baiyu or the sixth brother and sixth sister-in-law who had come back, so she quickly raised her hand and rubbed her eyes, and said in a sleepy voice, "I'm almost falling asleep..."

Before the words fell, after opening his eyes to see the person who came in, he stopped suddenly.

Wei Yan stood at the door in a green lotus-colored robe with a persimmon stalk pattern. He was tall and tall, like a green tree.His eyes lowered slightly, and he fell on Su Xi calmly. His eyebrows and eyes were no different from those three years ago, but they were a little more calm and stable. The black pupils that were originally calm and calm had become even more unpredictable now.

(End of this chapter)