Cold comes and summer comes, and it’s already the twelfth lunar month in a blink of an eye.
On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, just after the New Year, Luo Yu returned to the capital. After bathing and changing clothes, he turned around and went to Meng's house.
He had been away for several months. Although he exchanged letters with Meng Ying and Hongyan, he also learned some about Meng Ying's current situation from a few words between Hongying and the boy, but it was not as good as seeing her in person.
Although the two of them didn't make it clear, a woman like Meng Ying could let people bring him snacks and cold clothes. Obviously, she was different in her mind.
Feeling even more shy about being close to home, Luo Yu arrived at the Meng Mansion and pondered for a long time before letting Xiao Shan knock on the door.
Meng Ying was in the embroidery workshop at this time, and now the business is booming again. After all, the embroidery craftsmanship of Dengzhi Embroidery Workshop is unmatched by other embroidery shops. It is getting dark every day before she returns home.
When Meng Ying arrived at the door of her house, she found Luo Yu waiting at the door. Although he was wearing a cloak, he was shivering from the cold.
Meng Ying hurriedly invited him into the hospital, and asked someone to bring a brazier and pour hot tea.
After a while of burning incense, Luo Yu's face turned bloody.
Luo Yu had a lot to say to Meng Ying, but they were not engaged now. He thought for a long time before saying: "Miss Meng, I gained a lot from this study tour. The snacks you brought are very delicious. Thank you very much."
Girl."
"The dim sum is made by the cook at home. If the master likes it, I will ask the cook to make more."
Luo Yu suddenly beamed with joy, stood up, bowed, and said, "Then I'll have you, Miss."
Mengying nodded, agreeing.
Luo Yu quickly walked to the door, turned around and said, "I will definitely come back with a merit degree."
Meng Ying went on to say: "Young Master has lofty ambitions, and his dreams will surely come true. I am waiting for the good news about Young Master."
Luo Yu felt happy and replied: "I will definitely not let the girl down."
After that, I bowed and said goodbye.
The words "I'll be waiting for the good news about the young master" made Luo Yu feel like he was in the clouds. He vowed to come back with a good reputation and marry Mengying in a glorious manner.
*
On New Year's Eve, the sound of firecrackers in Beijing comes one after another.
Lin Xiaoye, Hongying and Qinghe set off fireworks in front of the door. The three of them laughed and laughed, and even Meng Ying in the distance was infected by them.
Meng Ying wore a thick cloak and looked at the fireworks blooming in the sky, feeling emotional - maybe in this life she can break the shackles of her previous life, marry and have children smoothly, and live in peace.
On the first day of the first lunar month, all the mansions were busy paying New Year greetings and visiting relatives. Meng Ying specially chose the second day of the Lunar New Year to go to Anding Marquis. As in previous years, she handed the New Year's greetings to the concierge, and then waited for Mrs. Wu to send someone to pick her up. After waiting for half an hour, only a little maid came out. Mengying recognized this person. She was the little maid who swept the house of the madam.
Meng Ying felt a chill in her heart, and thought to herself: Now that the Hou Mansion thinks that she has a bad reputation, even people like Mrs. Tai are avoiding her. Anyway, there is a difference between clouds and mud, so why should she look down on herself?<
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Without talking to the little maid, Meng Ying asked the driver to turn the car around and returned to Meng's house.
In the Marquis Anding's Mansion, Mrs. Wu listened to the little maid's reports and waved her hand to signal her to go down.
Mrs. Wu sighed and said to Nanny Ruan, "Agui, do you think I am too heartless to do this?"
Aunt Ruan put the gift from Mengying on the small table and said, "You have no choice but to do it. This matter has caused a big fuss, and there are still people who go to the palace to gossip. We have such a big family in the Marquis Mansion, so it's hard for you." The annual gift is a forehead wiping and a hand-copied Diamond Sutra.
Madam Tai, said: "This girl's skills are getting better and better. Looking at the embroidery on her forehead, even you back then may not have been able to embroider it so delicately."
"That's how the old slave can compare with Miss Meng."
"It would be great if her mother were alive and could see her daughter be so successful." After saying this, Mrs. Wu actually shed a few tears.
"Oh, my wife, I don't want to shed tears in this new year." Grandma Ruan said, taking a handkerchief to wipe away the tears of the wife.
"My maid has heard that there is a man named Luo Yu from Juzi in Qingzhou. He is handsome and well-educated. Now he is very attentive to Miss Meng. If Mr. Luo strives for success and gets a good name, then Miss Meng will have someone to rely on for the rest of her life.
”
"Seriously, you didn't trick me?" Mrs. Tai said immediately from sadness to joy.
"That's still false. I think Miss Meng, good things are coming soon."
"Quick, help me to the Buddhist hall. I'll tell Ah Ying what to say."
Aunt Ruan did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly asked someone to bring her a cloak. She also took a hand warmer and put it in the hands of the wife. Then the two of them went to the Buddhist hall.
*
Meng Zhai.
When Meng Ying returned home, her anger dissipated.
She gave the servants in the mansion three days of leave to visit relatives and friends. Lin Xiao and Hong Ying were both foreigners, and Hong Ying was not going anywhere. Lin Xiaoze
I asked Meng Ying for a jar of wine and went to the escort agency to find a fellow from Qingzhou.
After the third watch, the yard was about to be locked, and Lin Xiaocai came back. With his head drooped, Hongying didn't answer when she called him.
Hongying yelled angrily: "Bah, if my aunt talks to you again, I will take your last name!" After saying that, she closed the door with a "pop" sound.
On the second day, as soon as Meng Ying finished her breakfast, Lin Xiao came to see her.
Lin Xiao came in. Without saying a word, he knelt down on the ground and said with a cry: "Girl, I want to go back to Qingzhou, and I ask the girl to make it happen."
Meng Ying was startled when she saw his eyes were red and said, "What's wrong with you?"
It turned out that while drinking yesterday, Lin Xiao found out that his Chenghuang Temple had been occupied by someone, and his little brothers were also missing.
After hearing this, Meng Ying clasped her fingers on the table and said without saying a word for a long time: "Go to Hongying and ask her to get you five hundred taels of silver. Don't force yourself when you go back. I will also let the Qiu family take care of you."
”
"Don't worry, girl, I am sensible. As long as Xiaodouzi and the others are well, I will buy a house there and I will never mess around."
Meng Ying nodded and sent someone to send a letter to Qiu Yan, asking her to inform Qingzhou and ask her shopkeeper to take more care of Lin Xiao.
The third and fourth days of the lunar month were not good days and it was not suitable to travel, so Meng Ying asked Lin Xiao to set off on the fifth day of the lunar month. Lin Xiao stayed up for two days, and at dawn on the fifth day of the lunar month, she took the horse and left.
Hongying twisted the handkerchief into a rope and said angrily: "This Xiao Lin didn't even say hello when he left. He is really cold-hearted."
Meng Ying saw that something was wrong and said deliberately: "Yes, so I don't want him to come back and just stay in Qingzhou. What do you think?"
"Ah? If you don't let him come back, then... wouldn't that mean there are less people to work with? I think it's better to let him come back. At worst, if he comes back, you punish him." Hongying said stutteringly.
Hongying's face turned red with embarrassment, and she stamped her feet angrily: "I won't tell you anymore." After that, she covered her face and ran away.
Meng Ying looked at Hongying's back, laughed non-stop, shook her head, and said to herself: There is no way for women to stay in college!
After the first lunar month, it will soon be the day of spring.
On the eighth day of February, the day before Spring Festival, Luo Yu came again.
Hongying changed her usual meanness and served hot tea politely. Although Luo Yu didn't know why, even a maid, a smiling face made people feel better than a cold face.
Meng Ying said: "It's cold in the tribute courtyard, so I asked the embroiderer to make a pair of kneepads. I hope you won't dislike them."
After Meng Ying finished speaking, Hongying brought over a pair of kneepads on the tray, with a fur lining and a few green bamboo embroidered on the outside.
Luo Yu touched his knee pads with both hands and was extremely moved. He whispered to Mengying: "When I pass the exam, I will send a matchmaker to propose marriage."
Mengying nodded almost invisible and said: "Master Luo will end tomorrow. Let's go back to study today."
"Yes, yes, that's what Miss Meng said. I'll take my leave now." Luo Yu held the knee pads in his hands and left happily.
That night, several children at the gate of the Gongyuan shouted loudly, "Flags are planted, flags are planted, flags are planted in the Gongyuan." They spread the word to ten, and even Hongying heard it in the house.
Meng Ying was reading a book. Hongying was afraid that the children would disturb Meng Ying, so she put her hands on her hips and said, "I'll tell those children to stay away from the noise, so as not to disturb the girl."
Meng Ying waved her hand and said: "No need, they will make trouble for a while and then disperse. Why do you need to provoke that idleness?"
Hongying said disdainfully: "Isn't it just to put up a flag and watch these children make a fuss?"
Meng Ying put down her book, cut the lanterns with scissors, raised her head and said: "That is not an ordinary flag, it is very particular. The Gongyuan will fly three flags tonight. The first one is the red flag, which invites the gods of heaven and earth to witness the imperial court.
Seeking talents for the country; the second flag is the blue flag, which is prepared for the ancestors of each family, so that they can see their descendants soar to the sky or decline in fame."
"What about the third side?" Hongying asked.
"The third flag is the black flag. That flag is the most powerful. Before the soldiers put up the flag, they would say, 'According to the emperor's decree, all enemies and creditors will repay injustice and revenge.' So storytellers always say, in the Year of Gongyuan
It has been haunted for many years, and some people have been frightened to death, or even lost their lives. It is not something out of thin air."
"This... is this true?" Hongying's eyes widened, and she suddenly felt that Gongyuan was panicking.
It was rare to see Hongying show her timidity, and Meng Ying couldn't help but giggle.
Hongying was made to laugh and cry. She didn't know whether this was true or Meng Ying's fabrication. She angrily flicked her sleeves and teased: "Young lady always takes pleasure in slaves, but you don't know that Mr. Naluo will end tomorrow. I knew you should go there."
Ask him for an amulet in the temple."
Meng Ying tapped Hongying's head with her finger and said, "If you, a sharp-tongued girl like you, marry Lin Xiao in the future, his life will not be easy."
As soon as she said this, Hongying's face turned red and she turned red to her ears. She stuttered and said: "Who wants to marry him? The girl is unreasonable. I...I won't tell you anymore." After saying that, she pretended to be annoyed and ran out of the door, leaving only Meng Ying's crisp laughter.
On the second day, the gate of the Gongyuan was opened wide, and people from all over the country entered the Gongyuan in order. Luo Yu walked behind, looking back from time to time, but until he entered the gate of the Gongyuan, he did not see the beautiful lady seeing him off. All he saw was the banging of the gate of the Gongyuan.
With a sound, the lock was locked.
Meng Ying was copying the Heart Sutra at this time. It would be false to say that she was unfazed when Luo Yu entered the scene, but in public, the two have not yet engaged again, so it is better to avoid lawsuits.
Three days later, the gate of Gongyuan was reopened. Those who failed in the exam were sighing, but those who had succeeded in the exam were full of joy.
Luo Yu felt that he had done well in the exam and wanted to go to the Meng Mansion to talk to Meng Ying.
It was Xiaoshan who reminded him that he should go back and change his clothes, and he suddenly realized. That's right, he had been trapped in Gongyuan for three days, and he was very sloppy now, but he couldn't let Meng Ying see him like this.
But even Meng Ying didn't expect that Luo Yu had not been to Meng's house for several days in a row.