Ordinary clear day

Chapter 43 Returning to Beijing
In the end, the day to return to Beijing was delayed for a few days.Because Tong's body was unwell, when the doctor came to make a diagnosis, it was found that she was pregnant, and she had been pregnant for nearly three months.Zhang Bao was overjoyed. In order to be on the safe side, he did not set off until he was three months old and the fetus was stable.Tong blushed and accepted her husband's thoughtful arrangement.

They finally left Fengtian in late spring and April, and embarked on the journey back to Beijing.Shu Ning sat in the car with Tong Shi, and waited for her to get up and down. In her spare time, she listened to her mother telling about the Earl's Mansion in the capital.

Her grandfather, named Harqi, was a first-class Uncle Weiyuan, inherited from the great-grandfather who followed the emperor to fight in the east and west.Grandmother Yiergenjueluo's family is a red belt, but it has declined.Grandfather always seldom manages housework, but grandmother is the master of the whole family, and she can't bear the most that a junior disobeys her.

Uncle Jinbao and Aunt Nalashi have often corresponded with their parents for more than a year, so they are quite familiar with each other.My uncle was originally in the Daying Camp in the west of the city, but now he has been transferred to the imperial army. His official position is the third-rank general, and he is currently the highest official among his brothers.He and his eldest aunt have two sons and one daughter, namely the eldest son Qingning, the second son Shunning and the second daughter Wanning, and the eldest daughter Fangning and the youngest son Anning who were concubines.Qing Ning has already married a wife, the daughter-in-law is a young lady of the Li family.The second daughter, Wanning, was famous in the capital for her beauty and intelligence, and was loved by her grandmother.

The second uncle, Xingbao, is at home now, but his subordinates control several large restaurants and shops, making money every day, which is equivalent to controlling the important financial resources of the whole government.The second aunt Suo Chuoluo, her natal family is a prominent family living in Jilin, she and her second uncle gave birth to two sons and a daughter. According to the family ranking, they are the third son Cheng Ning, the fourth daughter Yuan Ning and the fifth son Wei Ning who is only six years old.Among them, Yuanning is only a few months younger than Shuning.

Fourth Uncle Rong Bao was born as a palace guard. After several years of experience in the Tianjin Camp, he became a guerrilla general. He just returned to the capital a few years ago and became the head of the guard again. His grade is higher than before.He married his wife, Shen, whose natal family has been a scholar for generations. For some reason, he married his daughter to a military officer.The two are very affectionate, and they have a three-year-old son named Chun Ning, who is the seventh child (Da Fang's An Ning is the sixth child).

These are all the immediate family members of their family.

Shu Ning almost didn't get dizzy by the bunch of "Ning". Thanks to Mrs. Tong who talked back and forth tirelessly, she remembered all the names and rankings, and then took a deep breath: So my family Do you have so many relatives?And they all live in one home.

Then Mrs. Tong told her that besides these family members, there was also an aunt, who was two years older than her father. Her boudoir name was Fuli. De, has a son named Asen who is the same age as Duanning, and a daughter named Xuxu, who is also ten years old this year.Uncle Na Ride was an official in the south of the Yangtze River, and the whole family followed him, so they were not in Beijing.

Tong Shi just introduced the situation of the big family in the Earl's Mansion in such a long-winded manner, and lay down to sleep for a while when he was tired.Shu Ning sat on the side very filially, always paying attention to tucking her quilt.Ermo sat at the front and came in from time to time to see Tong's situation.

There is no way, Mrs. Tong has not given birth for so many years, and when she gave birth to her daughter, she was seriously injured, and her health has not been very good for many years.Zhang Bao was very careful about this baby. In order to find a good stable and sturdy carriage, he went all over the major carriage dealers himself. In the end, the carpenter Shuning and Ermo knew well came up with enough materials to beat it. a car.Shu Ning couldn't get something like a spring to absorb the shock, so she put more bedding on the floor.She called the maids to open the storage room to find the old quilts that hadn't been used a few years ago, and piled them all up in the carriage. Although the warmth retention effect was not as good as the new quilts, it was a good material for making cotton pads.

Although everyone is worried that Mrs. Tong will feel uncomfortable when she is on the road during pregnancy, it seems that the new brother or sister is very well-behaved, and there is no sign of rebellion in the mother's body at all.Tong eats, drinks, and sleeps well every day, and the sickness is not serious, which makes the whole family feel relieved.

Eighty percent of the roads along this road are newly built avenues in recent years. It is very stable and the weather is getting warmer every day.In the evening of a certain day, a group of people soon arrived at the inn where they stayed overnight, and they planned to rest here for the whole night. They would set off early tomorrow morning and return to the Earl's Mansion before dark.

The room in the post station is fairly clean, and the meals can be imported. Now only Zhang Bao’s family is staying here, and the post office is very attentive to the service. Even the servants who follow him are not sloppy with the food and wine, and even ask the servants to prepare fresh fodder. Feed them horses.

When Zhang Bao and the others were eating, the sound of horses and horses came from outside the post station, and the post office had already greeted them.Ma San'er looked around for a while, and then came back to report: "The police are arresting several prisoners and their family members. They want to spend the night here. There are 30 to [-] people. They seem to be repeat offenders." Zhang Bao frowned. , leave him alone, just ask Mrs. Tong if she is full, and then urge her daughter to eat more meat.

After the dinner table was removed, Zhang Bao ordered his daughter to help his wife go back to the room to rest, and then he called Ma San'er, ordered him to go.

Ma San'er took a jug of wine and two small dishes of dried peanuts and tofu, found an idle postman, drank and chatted with him, and talked all over the world, and then dragged back to the group of newcomers just now.The officer drank most of the jug of wine, and was excited again, so he said it without paying attention.

"I know that group of people. They are criminals from Anhui. Brother, you haven't heard of it? The governor there has heard that he colluded with a mountain king, murdered and robbed a lot of gold and silver treasures, even the tributes sent to the court in the south. He will never let it go. Whoever opposes him, he will ask the gang of robbers to kill the whole family. Hey, this is brave enough, brother, don’t you think?"

"Yeah, why is he so bold? So, the governor is among those people?"

"Where can it be? I beheaded a long time ago. These few are all his accomplices. They are accomplices. It is fate. The whole family will be sent to Ningguta to be slaves to the armored man. Why do you think the emperor is like that?" How about magnanimity? They killed so many people and spared their lives, but those people didn’t appreciate it, they were crying all day long, just now the two escort brothers complained to us..."

The guard nagged and talked for a long time before he drank the last drop of wine and ate the last peanut and left.Ma San'er let out a long breath, and went back to answer Zhang Bao.

After Zhang Bao listened, he discussed with Mr. Su for a long time, and finally Mr. Su came to a conclusion: "The case of the former governor of Anhui is very involved. I am afraid that half of the officials in Anhui will be pulled out, and there will be a lot of vacancies." After returning to Beijing, my lord, you might as well walk around, if you can get a magistrate or Taoist vacancy, that would be good." Zhang Bao agreed.

=================== I am the dividing line of the next room next door ======================
Shuning accompanied Mrs. Tong back to the room, and asked someone to bring a basin of hot water, and washed her mother's feet in person, and said while washing, "My mother is tired after driving for a day, wash her feet with hot water, and it will be fixed in the evening." I'll sleep well." Tong's heart softened, and she smiled lightly, "Even though I've been driving for a day, Er Niang doesn't have to walk by herself, so why wash her feet?"

Shu Ning was stunned for a moment, and after thinking about it, she smiled: "Even if you don't have to leave, it will make you feel better after washing." Ermo and Chun Xing both laughed.

Just after washing, Zhang Bao came in and asked his wife, "How is your body? Is there any discomfort?" Shuning hurriedly picked up the water basin, called the others and went out together, leaving a two-person world for her parents. .

Tong Shi lazily leaned against the head of the bed and said, "I'm fine, this child is very good, and he rarely tosses me."

"Oh?" Zhang Bao sat by the bed, "It seems that she is probably a girl, so she is so obedient."

Tong was a little worried: "I still want to give you more sons, but Duanning is too little."

But Zhang Bao didn't care: "How could there be fewer? Having another daughter like Shuning, who is smart and well-behaved, wouldn't it be much better than having a bunch of devil kings in other families?"

Tong Shi was laughed at by him, and talked and laughed with him for a while before falling asleep.She was sleeping drowsily, but when she heard a commotion outside, she was startled, and hurriedly got up, and saw her husband got up, and was asking the waiter outside what was going on.

Zhang Bao turned around and saw that she had woken up, and said, "Don't be too busy, just sleep a little longer, and I'll go see what's going on." Then he opened the door and went out. When he arrived at the front yard, he saw his son and daughter were already there There, he was staring blankly at the people running around in front of him, and asked them, "Why did you get up? Where are the people serving you? What's going on?"

Shu Ning opened her mouth, not knowing what to say, Duan Ning calmed down, and told her father the answer: "It was the Jingzhong Kuaima who reported along the road that the Empress Dowager is dead."

Zhang Bao was stunned for a moment.

Mr. Su came from the front in a plain robe and said to him: "My lord, the news just came overnight. The empress dowager went there in Shenshi. The emperor has declared a national funeral. Anyone with a title is forbidden to marry within a hundred days and within a year." Host a banquet and have fun. Yi Cheng has already asked someone to pick off the tassels and remove the red lantern." Then he turned his head to look at Shu Ning, "I'm afraid that Miss will have to change her clothes."

Only then did Shuning come to her senses, looked at the water-red flag outfit she was wearing, glanced at her father and elder brother, then saluted and went back to her room to change.

Xiao Zhuang died so early, why did she remember that in the Qing Chuan novels she read, the heroine once showed her skills in front of Xiao Zhuang and won her favor?If you die now, those elder brothers are still just children, right?

But she quickly put all these things behind her and hurried back to her room to find plain clothes.Chun Xing also helped to find her, but she was worried while searching: "Most of the girl's clothes are bright colors, either red or yellow or pink, plain clothes, only a few light-colored summer clothes, but today there are only a few light-colored summer clothes. It's chilling."

Shuning stopped what she was doing, thought for a while, and said to her: "Isn't there a blue cloth flag in that big mahogany box? Take it out and put it on for me first." Chun Xing opened her eyes wide: "But then It’s made of cloth, girls usually wear it just to resist dirt.”

Shu Ning insisted on wearing it, and Chun Xing complied.After changing clothes, Shuning remembered that her father was discussing matters with Mr. Su, and her mother might be alone, so she went to take care of her in her room, but she saw that Mrs. Tong had already dressed and got up.

Mrs. Tong wore a blue robe, looked at her daughter's clothes, sighed and said, "Forget it, it's a national mourning, and it's fine to wear cloth. I think the people in the house won't gossip."

After tossing and tossing all night, both Tong Shi and Shu Ning didn't sleep again until the fourth watch.The next day we had to get up early to go on the road. Everyone had dark circles under their eyes, silently carrying luggage and loading cars.Shu Ning saw that the station had been completely replaced with white paper lanterns, and the hats worn by the guards had lost the bunch of red tassels. Looking back at her father, she also took off the red tassels on the hats.

The party was speechless and hurried on their way. The scenery outside the window gradually became bustling, and there were more pedestrians. As the evening approached, they finally arrived in the capital.Before Shu Ning had time to look up at the gate of the ancient capital of the two dynasties, there were already people from the Earl's Mansion waiting there, exchanged a few pleasantries, then changed to the driver, and went to the Earl's Mansion in the twilight.

(End of this chapter)