Qiao Xianyong glanced sideways at Granny Zhang and said to Qier, "If everything is packed, let's go to the door of the house and wait for the madam and the young lady." After saying that, he waved his sleeves and strode forward, and Qier also
He hurriedly followed, leaving only Granny Zhang, who was standing there and ignored, staring at the two of them fiercely.
Sure enough, the motorcade and horses that came to Anjiang City had been neatly dispatched at the gate of the house. The two eight-person soft sedans had also been wiped and polished, and it seemed that even the mats and curtains above had been re-washed.
Qiao Xianyong had just stood for a moment when he saw Mr. Qiao and Huanxiang walking out with a group of maids and women.
Even though Qiao Xianyong had thousands of unspeakable feelings in his heart at this time, when he saw Mrs. Qiao, his eyes still turned red and he called out affectionately, "Mother!"
However, Mrs. Qiao's attitude seemed to be different. She didn't know if she was still angry at the morning. She just nodded slightly with a sullen face and got into the sedan with the help of the girls. Huanxiang lowered her head and followed closely.
He glanced at Qiao Xianyong in front of the sedan chair, but his eyes were extremely complicated.
At this time, a follower led a tall white horse towards Qiao Xianyong and asked respectfully, "Sir, are you riding a horse or in a sedan?"
Qiao Xianyong thought for a while and said, "I'll take the sedan first." After saying that, he took Qier and boarded another soft sedan. This eight-person soft sedan was extremely spacious, with not only a soft couch, but also a square
There were a few embroidery stools. Qiao Xianyong sat down on the soft couch, half lying down and half sitting down, and told Qier, "Qier, just do your work aside. I didn't sleep well last night and my head was heavy.
, but now I want to sleep for a while."
Qier nodded obediently, took out a blanket from a wooden box behind her, gently covered Qiao Xianyong's legs, then sat on the embroidery stool, took out an unknown pattern and started embroidering it.
Qiao Xianyong had no idea how many mixed emotions were pouring into his heart. In addition, he had been running around all night last night. At this time, he felt extremely sleepy. He sat in the rickety soft sedan and fell asleep quickly.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw Qier leaning crookedly on the sedan rail, her head hanging down and asleep.
Qiao Xianyong then quietly sat up, lifted up the curtains by the sedan window and looked out. He saw that the sky had begun to darken, and the afterglow of the setting sun seemed to fill the end of the road. After traveling for most of the day, the group had already
After leaving Anjiang City, Qiao Xianyong didn't know how long he had walked when he was sleeping. At this time, he had already arrived at the gate of a small town.
Qiao Xianyong stretched his neck and looked. There was a plaque hanging on the city gate that had obviously been exposed to wind and rain for many years. The words written on the plaque seemed to be "Ningsi Mansion". Where was this? Qiao Xianyong searched hard.
Looking back at my memory, I seem to have never heard of such a city.
"Sir, would you like some tea?" Qier woke up at some point, poured a cup of tea and handed it to Qiao Xianyong. Seeing Qiao Xianyong looking out with a confused expression, she couldn't help but ask, "Sir, where are we?
?”
Qiao Xianyong took the still lukewarm tea from Qier's hand and drank it all in one gulp. He frowned and said, "I've never heard of this place. I saw it said on the city gate that this is Ningsi Mansion. Let's
We are almost at the city gate. Apparently, we are staying in this small town tonight."
When Qier heard Qiao Xianyong's words, her hands shook. She was holding the teapot to pour another cup of tea for Qiao Xianyong, but she spilled a lot of it on the ground. When she raised her head again, her eyes were already red.
Qiao Xianyong saw that Qier looked strange, so he sat back on the soft couch, looked at her curiously, and asked in a low voice, "Qier, is there something wrong? It seems like you have heard about this Ningsi Mansion?"
Qier sat upright on the embroidery stool and said in an inaudible voice, "Sir, to be honest, this is Qier's hometown. Qier grew up here until she was thirteen or fourteen years old, and then she followed her mother.
I left my hometown and lived thousands of miles away. I was really poor and destitute. My mother caught wind and cold during the long journey and couldn't afford it, and finally died of illness. At that time, Butler Yan saw me in the market and felt sorry for me, so he bought me back to his hometown as a wife.
Girl, Butler Yan asked me where I was from, but I just said I was a local, and he didn’t dig into it."
"So that's it, this place is actually your hometown." Qiao Xianyong murmured.
Qier said with tears in her eyes, "I have been away for two or three years, and I never thought I could come back to see you again."
At this time, the soft sedan had passed through the city gate and entered the city of Ningsi Prefecture. Qiao Xianyong opened the sedan curtain again and saw that the streets in this small town were not very wide, and the houses were lined up neatly. However, for some reason, there were no pedestrians on the streets.
As I walked around, there was a dead silence in the whole city. It was said to be a dead city, but it was obviously not. Candlelight could still be seen in every house, and it was obvious that there were people living there.
"This is really strange." Mr. Qiao couldn't help but said, "Although this Ningsi Mansion is obviously a small town, it seems that there are many houses on the main street, why is there not even a shadow of a person? Could it be that the people here are
Isn’t it your living habit to go to bed early?”
Qier silently went to the sedan curtain raised by Qiao Xianyong to take a look. She also saw the deserted streets. She thought about it thoughtfully and then said, "Sir, Qier looks at the current scene here.
It was the same when I left, so I guess that person must still be here as the county guard." Qier said this sentence almost through gritted teeth, and then fell silent again.
Qiao Xianyong asked strangely, "Qier, you said this for no reason. What do you mean?"
Qi'er, however, looked confused, gritted her teeth, and seemed to have made great determination, and said, "Sir, two or three years ago, Ning Si Mansion had a new county governor, and coincidentally, his surname was also Ning.
When he first came, the people in the city rushed to tell each other, saying that Ning Si Mansion would be prosperous and the people's lives would be more prosperous if Master Ning came.
Before Ning Junshou came, Ningsi Mansion was actually a small town where people lived and worked in peace and contentment. Because it was not too far from the capital, there were many business contacts. In addition, Ningsi Mansion had a unique feature that could not be matched by anything in the Central Plains. This was it.
The embroidery workers here are first-class in craftsmanship, and they are all unique skills that have been passed down for thousands of years in ancient times. At that time, almost every household had a loom, and the number of people from all over the Central Plains who came to our Ningsi Mansion to learn skills was really overwhelming.
Enter the city gate tower.
Therefore, the young master can also imagine how many people come to Ningsi Mansion to buy fabrics every year. I have also heard that there are several fabrics in this city that are directly supplied to the imperial city.
I don’t know how much better the embroidery work could be.
At that time, this city was not what I see today. Not to mention during the day, even before the curfew at night, it was crowded and extremely lively." When Qier said this, she sighed faintly.