The front yard was lively, but the back yard was a little colder. Xu Xiuyi walked through a bamboo forest and bumped into a man. She looked up and saw Xu Lanqing in a red wedding dress. Xu Lanqing didn't look very happy today. Her expression was that of a groom.
An official should not be calm. Behind Xu Lanqing, a pair of black sheepskin boots were revealed. Xu Xiuyi looked up along the pair of sheepskin boots. She really did not expect to meet Young Master An Cheng in the Xu Mansion.
We haven't seen each other for a long time, but when we meet again, he is still so handsome. Even Xu Lanqing, dressed in groom's clothes, looks a little less handsome standing next to him.
"Mr. An."
Xu Xiuyi shouted, feeling alienated.
Xu Lanqing was quite surprised: "Do you two recognize each other?"
Xu Xiu recalled: "Well, I've seen you a few times. Why isn't my brother here in front? The bride is coming soon."
Xu Lanqing sighed inaudibly, but quickly evoked a smile: "Since you two know each other, sister, take Brother An to my Erding Bookstore, and I will pick up the bride."
It seems that Xu Lanqing, a true kin, is just a matchmaker, and his parents' orders are something he is not very willing to do.
But he has always been filial.
Xu Xiuyi nodded and urged Xu Lanqing to go to the front yard quickly, otherwise it would be wasted. She turned around and said politely to An Chengshao: "Master An, please come this way."
Xu Lanqing has many bookstores, with simple names, one, two, three, three...
Xu Xiuyi and An Chengshao walked quietly, without saying anything to each other. When they arrived at the door of Erding Bookstore, she opened the door and asked An Chengshao to come in. The fragrance of ink filled the room. Xu Lanqing was very good at calligraphy, ink and painting. The walls of the house were
, filled with various landscape paintings.
Xu Xiuyi found the tea leaves according to her memory, but found that she needed to light a fire to boil water. Flames were forbidden in this study room. There was no stove. She said to An Chengshao: "Master An, sit down for a while, and I will tell the maid to bring tea."
"Xu Xiuyi."
He called her by her name.
Xu Xiuyi stopped and was startled for a moment, then turned around with a polite smile on her face like a masked person: "Is there something wrong, Mr. An?"
He seemed a little annoyed: "You don't want to say anything?"
Xu Xiuyi was curious: "What?"
He became more and more annoyed: "That house is full of gold and jade, do you really have nothing to say?"
Xu Xiuyi has always been smart, but now she couldn't guess whether the flower he called a house full of gold and jade was the one the woman was wearing on her head that day, or the one he gave to her.
If it was her flower, it had been lost. If it was the flower that the woman was wearing, she had no right to interfere.
After thinking about it, she thought that Lu Hong should have told him about the loss of Jinyu Mantang. She asked Lu Hong to apologize for her that day, so she said: "I should apologize to you in person, then
I know the item is very expensive, but someone in my possession stole it. The government checked it but couldn't find it. I'm sorry."
He was slightly startled, and for a while his voice was filled with inexplicable joy: "So, your wealth has been stolen by others?"
Xu Xiuyi didn't understand the reason for his joyful tone. He was really strange.
She nodded honestly: "Yes, Tuanzi's previous wet nurse stole a lot of things from me. Tuanzi is my adopted daughter."
She explained, afraid that he wouldn't understand.
His face became even more joyful, and he took a step forward: "Didn't you ask someone to pawn it when you were short of money?"
"Of course not, you knew this thing was a scam, that day..."
After saying that Xu Xiuyi was a very smart woman, it became clear at this moment that An Chengshao thought that she was so short of money that she was treated as a gift from him, so he just asked her to save Jin Yu Mantang in an incriminating manner.
Xu Xiuyi understood that he was angry, but what was there to be happy about at the moment? The whole hall of gold and jade had been stolen, so he looked very happy.
He probably also knew which day Xu Xiuyi was referring to, and said to her: "The woman you saw when you came to my house that day was the daughter of one of my uncles. I have always regarded her as my sister."
younger sister!
Xu Xiuyi couldn't describe what she was feeling in her heart. She just felt that there was the sound of flowers blooming. She couldn't hear it, but she could see the beauty of the flowers blooming.
I feel inexplicably good.
The smile on his face also warmed up: "I thought it was yours..."
"My sweetheart?"
He spoke first, looking at Xu Xiuyi with a pair of black eyes, and suddenly took a step closer, blowing his breath with a faint scent of tea on Xu Xiuyi's forehead: "Xu Xiuyi, there is something I must explain to you.
I don’t care what other people think about my relationship with the Fifth Prince, as long as you don’t misunderstand it.”
Why did he tell her this? He didn't care whether she misunderstood or not.
She blushed.
"oh!"
I responded. I really don’t know how to answer. I can’t ask you what you want to do and explain it to me so clearly.
Seeing her mediocre reaction, he became anxious and said, "The Fifth Prince and I are just close friends of life and death. We don't have any pleasure at all. He is only infatuated with your brother."
Xu Xiuyi's heart skipped a beat. She didn't know how to react for a moment, so she just responded dully: "Oh!"
A pair of big palms hugged her shoulders. She was slightly startled and raised her head to look at An Chengshao. His eyes were burning, his face was crimson, but his eyes were looking at her extremely firmly.
"Xu Xiuyi."
"Yes!" She responded awkwardly, breathing heavily.
He suddenly leaned forward and pressed his thin lips against Xu Xiuyi's red lips. There was a faint fragrance of tea in his mouth. This was the finest tea. Xu Xiuyi was no stranger to this tea smell. It was her grandfather's collection and was only used to entertain distinguished guests.
.
But the rest of the smell other than the scent of tea was very unfamiliar to her. She didn't resist or respond, she just stood there dumbly, unable to tell whether it was a sign or a dream.
In her dream, she had lived like this with An Chengshao, but then the Fifth Prince suddenly appeared and scared her out of her dream.
An Chengshao's hand gently placed on the back of her head, and with a little force, the two lips pressed closer.
He kissed awkwardly, and she didn't respond. The kiss didn't last long, and when it stopped, both of them were blushing.
"I……"
The silence was broken by Master An Cheng.
"No offense intended, just..."
"Auntie, are you in there?"
An Chengshao's words were interrupted by a maid from the Xu Mansion. Xu Xiuyi hurriedly wiped her mouth, fearing that others might notice the clues, and then turned back and left the house with a blushing heart.
A maid stood at the door, holding tea in her hand: "Auntie, Master Qing asked us to bring tea and cakes."
Xu Xiuyi took it and urged the maid in a hurried tone: "It's so busy up front, hurry up and help. Just let me greet you here."
"Eh!"
The maid simply didn't notice anything, so she responded obediently and turned around to leave.
Xu Xiuyi was holding tea and cakes, neither entering nor leaving. She only felt her face burning hot. The kiss from An Chengshao just now was like a dream, and it seemed to be unreal in her mind.
"Let me do it!"
She didn't know when Young Master An Cheng came to her. She asked Young Master An Cheng to take the tray in his hand. She followed Young Master An Cheng into the room with a blushing face. Then, trying to calm down, she gave Young Master An Cheng
I made some cakes and made some tea.
The scene just now was probably just a dream, even though there was still a trace of the fragrance of tea on his mouth, and although An Chengshao's face was as red as the happy words posted everywhere in his house.
"Have tea!"
The atmosphere was ambiguous and awkward, and An Chengshao was also extremely unnatural.
In comparison, Xu Xiuyi was more generous. She smiled at him and found a topic to resolve the embarrassment: "Don't you know that Jinyu Mantang was stolen? I asked Lu Hong to bring me an apology for you."
An Chengshao held the tea cup but did not drink the tea. He was surprised when he heard this: "That girl Lu Hong didn't tell me, I just thought you were pawned because you were short of money."
"Even if I'm short of money, I won't take it as a gift from you."
After saying that, I felt a little more ambiguity in the air, and An Chengshao looked at her with a pair of black eyes, watery and gentle.
He didn't know exactly what Xu Xiuyi was thinking, but he generally understood.
He kissed her impulsively. She was very close to her. Her face was as beautiful as a fairy with powdered makeup, and her red lips were smeared with lipstick and were crystal clear. He couldn't help it.
When he kissed her, he thought he would have to be slapped. After all, he was blaspheming her and being frivolous. He didn't expect her to show such a shy look. He understood in his heart that Xu Xiuyi also cared about him.
Thinking of that day in front of Qin Yan, Xu Xiuyi looked at the golden and jade-filled room, and his tone suddenly became so alienated. At that time, he thought that Xu Xiuyi might be angry. Today, he was even more sure that Xu Xiuyi must have been very unhappy that day.
With.
He didn't expect that she would treasure that golden jade flower so much.
He put down the teacup, took out the delicate little flower from the bag, and sent it to Xu Xiuyi: "The second master of the Nan family is an old acquaintance of mine. This object was pawned in his pawn shop. He recognized it as my personal one."
The thing was sent back to me. That day, Qin Yan just took it to play with, I didn't give it to her."
He explained, and she felt sweet in her heart.
"oh!"
"Xiu'er!"
He suddenly called her so affectionately, and even her family members only called her Xiu Yi. She couldn't adapt to it, so she just heard him say: "Do you have me in your heart?"
His calls were affectionate and his questions were direct.
How should Xu Xiuyi answer? Should she remain silent as a widow, or should she give him a positive answer as a normal woman?
If Xu Xiuyi was not sure about her feelings for An Chengshao before, today it is very clear in her heart that she has this person in her heart.
Otherwise, you won’t feel sorry for thinking that he is the Fifth Prince’s male favorite, nor will you feel unhappy because of a woman who behaves like him and kiss you. Today, you won’t let him kiss her.
After all, she is not a conservative woman from this old society, but a modern person with an open mind. Therefore, after a slight hesitation, she nodded.
An Chengshao stood up and looked as if he was overjoyed. He hugged Xu Xiuyi tightly into his arms and said, "Xiu'er."
His tone was very excited, as if Xu Xiuyi's nod had set off a thousand waves in his heart.
Xu Xiuyi reached out and tentatively wrapped her arms around his waist. His embrace was very warm.
This chest made her greedy. She smiled slightly, closed her eyes, and leaned on it.
*
Today was a happy day for Xu Lanqing, but he was not happy at all. Although he tried his best to put a smile on his face, his smile was full of fatigue.
The one he was going to marry today was the youngest daughter of the Imperial Academy. He was twenty-eight years old. He had never seen her, but his father had seen her. He said she was dignified, beautiful, and graceful. Although her appearance was not as good as his sister's, she was still comparable to her.
A woman who is as beautiful as his sister is actually pretty good in terms of appearance. After all, there are very few women in the world who are as beautiful as his sister. Even the empresses in the palace are inferior to his sister.
point.
Maybe he didn't ask his sister to enter the palace draft, otherwise with his sister's appearance, he would definitely be favored, but with his sister's temperament, it would be really difficult for him to survive the intrigues.
Nowadays, this woman, in addition to being three points better than her sister in appearance, is also good at playing the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and is especially good at playing the piano.
In short, his wife was not perfect as described by his father and the matchmaker, but she was not perfect at all.
He works with his father at home and is his father's right-hand man. His father also likes this family.
What's more, this time, the fifth prince didn't interfere again.
Logically speaking, everything went well. Xu Lanqing had been single for all these years and finally managed to escape the clutches of the Fifth Prince and successfully marry a wife. It was time to burn incense and worship Buddha, but he couldn't show any interest in it.
The boy Meichen had already told him several times to smile happily. The guests were all watching, and he could only cheer up again and again.
The sedan arrived with the sound of blowing and beating drums. He followed the matchmaker's instructions and did some etiquette without any interest, and then carried the bride into the wedding hall.
After bowing three times and kneeling three times, the celebrant sang a promise: the ceremony was completed and he was sent to the bridal chamber. He was like a puppet manipulated by others, owed to the bride and entered the bridal chamber.
It was really boring. Even if the marriage in his imagination was not a perfect match, it shouldn't be such a hasty affair.
It only took two months from the matchmaking to the wedding. He knew that his family couldn't wait to get him married because he was really a bit old, and the people around him of the same age had been fathers for several years.
He also knows that there are three types of unfilial piety, the biggest being not having an heir. It is rare that this time the fifth prince will no longer obstruct him. He should not seize the opportunity to hold a beautiful girl in his arms, give birth to a big fat boy as soon as possible, and live a normal life.
Ordinary life.
But unfortunately, even after entering the bridal chamber, he still couldn't get the slightest interest out of it.
He didn't even want to look at the woman with the red hijab. She was a tall woman, with a slim waist and neither big nor small breasts. She was dressed in a cheerful red, covered from head to tail, and her figure was quite lovely. He thought about what he would do in the evening.
As a husband, I have no expectations or passion.
Everything seemed to be proceeding step by step, like a maze with a way out, and he was just walking along that path.
After sending the bride to the bridal chamber, he went out to accompany the wine. During the dinner, he saw Xu Xiuyi and An Chengshao whispering something. He was more interested in going up to talk to them, but the guests surrounded him.
He was vying to drink with him. In the haze, he saw that person and felt a slight pain in his heart.
He also came to drink. This time, he no longer hindered his marriage, he made it happen.
Xu Lanqing heard that he had a new favorite, and he loved her so much that he was inseparable.
When he looked at him, he also turned to look at him, his eyes so indifferent, making him smile, and toasting to him from a distance.
He was distracted, and the heartache became obvious, but he didn't know why. He raised his head and drank it all. He began to refuse everyone who came, and drank very fiercely. After a few tables, Xu Lanqing was already unconscious from drinking. The old man of the Xu family hurriedly
He came out to joke and asked everyone to let go of his precious grandson, saying that he could not sleep through this spring night.
Everyone wanted to show off to the Protector to save their face, and they also knew how difficult it was for Xu Lanqing to get married, so they stopped teasing him. Everyone started toasting each other in a lively manner. Xu Lanqing drank until he was seventy percent drunk, and the old man asked Mei Chen to take him to the yard.
Sober up and avoid delaying the bridal chamber in the evening.
The moon on May 15th was very round and bright, hanging coldly in the sky. Meichen helped Xu Lanqing into the yard. Seeing that he was so drunk that he wanted to vomit several times, he quickly put him in the pavilion and went to give him
Rinse your mouth with water.
Xu Lanqing felt really uncomfortable in her stomach, and her head felt dizzy, with many past fragments flashing through her mind.
In fact, the Xu family did not know that when the fifth prince blocked the door of the Duke's mansion and the Xu family panicked and sent him to relatives in the countryside to avoid the fifth prince, the fifth prince also went to the countryside.
He kissed him in the endless wheat field. The fifth prince, who was half a head shorter than him, ordered him not to hide as a prince, and then stood on tiptoes and kissed his lips. The wind blew and the wheat waves burst. He was blushing at that time.
He looked at him and felt extremely humiliated, but he said to him sadly.
"Lan Qing, I don't know what kind of madness I have, but I just like you, to the core of my heart."
This sentence gradually became clear in his ears. Xu Lanqing felt a lot of discomfort in his heart and had nowhere to vent it. Maybe he was upset about why he was so spineless that day and just let him fool around, and his first kiss was taken away from him. Or maybe he was angry.
, I still remember those two soft lips with the fragrance of roses.
"Lan Qing."
It was his voice, neither yin nor yang. Xu Lanqing had a headache and covered her ears.
"Don't call me."
There was a long silence in the air. After a long time, the soft call sounded again: "Lan Qing."
This is not an auditory hallucination. Although Xu Lanqing is drunk enough, a martial arts practitioner is not so drunk that he cannot tell the difference between east, west, north and south.
Raising his head, he saw him standing in front of him dressed in brocade clothes. His face was slightly pink after drinking, and his narrow red eyes made his already feminine face even more beautiful.
Xu Lanqing staggered to his feet. Instead of greeting him respectfully like he usually did when meeting in the hall, he looked at that face with some pain: "Why didn't you stop me this time?"
Wu Mo smiled slightly, with a bitter smile: "After all, I shouldn't delay you. People say you are like that outside. I know it is a great damage to your reputation. You will take the scientific examination next year, and from now on."
…Woo…”
This was a kiss that vented anger. Xu Lanqing didn't know why she went crazy, but what kept repeating in her mind was his soft lips with the scent of roses in the endless golden wheat fields.
Wu Mo was dumbfounded, his eyes were red, and he shed tears. He reached out and hugged Xu Lanqing gently, separated his lips, and whispered in his ear: "Lan Qing, actually I am a woman."
Xu Lanqing was startled.
Wu Mo had already left his arms: "Master Cheng said, if I really like you, I have to make it clear to you, but even if I make it clear, I will still be the Fifth Prince for the rest of my life, and you will still be Xu Lanqing, Lan Qing, this time,
I really decided to let you go."
Tears fell down her cheeks, and her voice no longer had the tone of neither yin nor yang, but a soft and sweet female voice, like an oriole bird.
Xu Lanqing woke up from her wine.
"you……"
"Promise me not to tell anyone about this, otherwise my uncle's family will be punished. I have only told you and Master Cheng about this matter to outsiders. I believe in your character, Lan Qing, and I wish you the best."
She wiped away her tears and raised a sweet smile at the corner of her mouth. What a beautiful face she had. Even without any powder, it was enough to eclipse the most beautiful flowers in the world.
Xu Lanqing actually knew that the Fifth Prince was beautiful a long time ago.
It was only now that he realized that her face, which was as beautiful as a woman's, was really a beauty.
Wu Mo has turned around. From the day she was born, she was destined not to have love. Without her, her mother and uncle's family would have died. It was her birth that saved the entire family and prospered the entire family.
Although Emperor Xiaowen has passed away, the exposure of her identity will still lead to the crime of deceiving the emperor and the disaster of annihilation of the family.
So what if she had saved the emperor before, even if she almost lost her life trying to save the emperor, so what if she now had an extremely ugly scar on her left arm.
She was destined to be alone all her life.
Xu Lanqing watched her leave, and her back disappeared into the night. He suddenly chased her like crazy, but he collided with the oncoming Mei Chen, knocking Mei Chen upside down, and the warm water in Mei Chen's hand also disappeared.
It was all sprinkled on his face, making him wet all over his face, and he was very embarrassed.
But he ignored her and went in the direction where she disappeared. Meichen thought he was drunk and was afraid of making a joke in front of the guests, so she got busy and hugged him tightly from behind: "Master, what are you going to do? Master,
Master, how much have you drunk? How come you are so drunk?"
"open."
he said sharply.
Meichen was not willing to let go. She was more and more sure that he was drunk and crazy, because Xu Lanqing was usually very gentle to his servants. Meichen had been following him for many years, and she had never heard a harsh word from him.
But he was attacked today, so he thought that Xu Lanqing was so drunk that he couldn't even understand, and he didn't dare to let go.
Xu Lanqing was very upset and watched Wu Mo leave from the gate with the boy without looking back.
After coming out of Xu's house, Wu Mo refused to let the servant follow him. He said he wanted to walk alone, so he turned around and turned into an alley, with tears streaming down his face.
If the outside world hadn't said so about Xu Lanqing, she would have just teased Xu Lanqing like this for the rest of her life. She didn't want others to have what she couldn't get.
But in the end she felt distressed.
Others said that Xu Lanqing was unfilial, saying that he did not add children to the Xu family to carry on the incense.
Others also said that Xu Lanqing was really a cut-off man, otherwise even if Xu Lanqing could not marry a young lady, he could still have a child with a maid.
What's even worse is that Xu Lanqing's refusal to get married all these years was actually because he was ill and unable to do things between men and women, so the marriage was postponed again and again, creating the illusion that the Fifth Prince was obstructing it.
She couldn't give him what she never allowed other women to give her. This time, she finally decided to back down.
Because she really loved him to her core.
——Digression——
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