Mid-Autumn Festival, a day for family reunion, is also Mu Yan’s birthday, and the Duke’s Palace of Guizhou is extremely busy on this day.
Although Mrs. Geng had ignored foreign affairs for many years and only chanted sutras in the Buddhist hall, she also came out to have a family banquet with everyone on this day. Mrs. Yan and her son Mu Xin's family stayed in the ancestral residence in the old capital. Now there is also the Duke of the country in the house.
Mrs. Cheng, Mrs. Zhang, the prince’s wife.
However, the Cheng family has only cared about entertaining their grandchildren in recent years, and has entrusted all matters in the house to the prince and his wife.
Huo Xi took Mu Wang and Mu Jie's wife to cook the food together. She also took the three girls Mu Ying, Mu Wan and Mu Xiu together to talk about how they took care of the government affairs and the affairs of the female workers and celebrities.
.
Before the Zhongqiu family banquet, everyone celebrated Mu Yan's birthday, and the juniors all gave birthday gifts.
The face of the birthday boy, Mu Yan, was a little softer today. He usually looked paralyzed. Even his own son was afraid of him, let alone Mu Kun, Mu Ju and other nephews and nieces.
Today, I saw the smile on my second uncle's face, and they all came forward with gifts, "I wish your second uncle a good day every year, and a good day every year!"
"I wish my second uncle all the best and happiness!"
"Okay, second uncle, thank you. You are considerate." Seeing his nephews and nieces being sensible and obedient, Mu Yan had a smile on his face.
The younger son was even more worried about him today, and Mu Yan had a big smile on his face.
The full moon hung high in the sky, and the family had a lively Mid-Autumn family dinner. The children played for a while and couldn't bear to feel sleepy, so they were led back to the house by their parents.
After Huo Xi and Mu Yan sent Mu Jue and Mu Ai's children back to their respective courtyards, the couple turned around and returned to their rooms.
As soon as she entered the courtyard, Mu Yan grabbed her waist and took her to the roof.
Huo Xi groaned and was in shock. He hugged him and stood still, giving him a fierce look and not daring to look down.
Mu Yan raised the corner of his mouth quietly, "Weren't you very brave before?"
"When was it before, and when is it now!" How many children have you had, how many can you compare with when you were young?
Mu Yan was pinched hard by her, and he endured the pain without daring to argue. He helped her sit down on the roof. The couple leaned together and looked at the various courtyards of the house and the bright full moon in the night sky.
I just feel the moonlight is sultry and the autumn colors are cool and pleasant.
Thinking about every Mid-Autumn Festival we have spent together over the years, I feel that time flies by. I can’t help but feel a little emotional.
In the blink of an eye, the little fisher was about to kiss her.
It seems that at the end of the 18th year of Yongkang and the beginning of the 19th year of Yongkang, those days of panic and confusion are still before us.
At that time, Emperor Yongkang ordered to move the capital, and the Mu family had to follow the prince to the north. The couple just returned to Beijing from Dian, and they were busy disposing of various properties, arranging manpower, and taking care of everything. They were so busy
Worried.
When I first arrived in Beijing in autumn and winter, the whole family was a little uncomfortable, and Xiao Yuer even fell ill.
Many officials and their families have lived in the south of the Yangtze River for a long time, and they went to the north in autumn and winter. Most of them were not used to it. The medical center was overcrowded.
The influx of a large number of people created a huge demand for various supplies in the capital, causing prices to skyrocket. Due to the lack of food, the capital also had a severe shortage of poultry and meat, and had to rely on canals to transport meat from the south of the Yangtze River.
Fortunately, Huo Xi had foreseen it and had already planned in the north. He used his own fleet to transport a large amount of supplies from the south of the Yangtze River to Beijing. Huo Erhuai also drove the boat to the river to catch fish every day, so the family had no shortage of river fresh food.
Eat with meat.
At that time, Huo Xi used Kuncheng North and South Cargo Stores to order a large amount of beef and mutton from outside the customs, and rushed to Beijing. Guangfeng Shui took advantage of this opportunity to open many branches along the canal, and he made a lot of money for several years.
When the capital was first moved, the country's financial resources were exhausted due to the construction of Beijing City.
It took fourteen years to build the capital, which resulted in "extensive work, extensive deployment, redundant officials, and a waste of state reserves." The court urgently needed to restore the economy to calm the people.
In those years, the imperial court promoted various measures to benefit farmers and businesses. Guangfeng Shui also relied on this business trend to open North and South goods stores all along the canal, and Sihai Bank also opened shops in the North and South.
In recent years, the business of Guangfeng Water has grown greatly. The North and South merchants are in the Ming Dynasty, and the Four Seas Banks are in the dark. After three emperors, countless pairs of eyes are watching at all times. Fortunately, Guangfeng Water has the inscription of Emperor Yongkang. Although it was
People are watching, and the business is relatively stable.
The business is stable and the money is earned. It can be said that Huo Xi has achieved his ambition when he was young, to become a giant businessman in the south of the Yangtze River.
In recent years, the family has plenty of money, but they don't dare to be extravagant and wasteful. Mu Yan, a hostage of a feudal official who stayed in Beijing, always reminds himself and his family to keep a low profile, be cautious in what he says and do outside, and his children are also sensible and obedient...
Just as Huo Xi was thinking, she saw Mu Yan reaching out to her with a hand, "What?" She turned to look at him in confusion.
"Where is my gift?" Mu Yan was a little dissatisfied.
Huo Xi couldn't help but laugh, "You still want a gift? How old are you?"
Mu Yan raised his eyebrows, "I still give you gifts every year. Are there any omissions during festivals? Besides, I have given them to my son and daughter, how could you omit them!"
Under Mu Yan's gaze, Huo Xi silently took out a jade bamboo hairpin from her arms and handed it to him. How could she miss his birthday gift?
"I designed it and sent it to our jade shop for the craftsmen to carve it out. Does it look good?"
Mu Yan looked at the ink jade bamboo hairpin handed to him with gentle eyes. He nodded slightly, "It looks good." He tilted his head.
After Huo Xi put the hairpin on him, he asked Huo Xi under the moonlight, "Does it look good?"
Huo Xi nodded, "It looks good, and it especially suits you."
Mu Yan looked at her quietly, leaned over and gave her a long kiss...
After so many years of marriage, he still couldn't get enough of her, couldn't get enough of her. It wasn't enough in this life, it wouldn't be enough in the next life, and it wouldn't be enough in the next life.
Huo Xi gasped in his arms, touched his white and smooth chin, and smiled.
Everyone in the capital said that the commander of the Jinyi Guards made Mu Shizi fearful. Even though he was later transferred to the Zuo Army as the commander-in-chief of the Zuo Army, everyone still avoided him whenever they could. But the women and girls all over the capital envied Huo Xi and wanted someone like Mu Yan.
Husband.
There is only one wife in the backyard, and he is devoted to her and loyal to her.
He was as handsome, calm and indifferent as ever. Huo Xi touched his smooth chin and smiled.
Just because she said she didn't like him growing a beard, Mu Yan has never grown a beard in these years. He is almost forty, fair-faced and beardless, and he looks younger and younger. Except for the brother-in-law who followed him, all the people in the capital looked for him.
Less than the third person.
Over the years, being dragged by Huo Xi to apply this skin care cream and that skin care ointment, he has become younger and younger, and colleagues of the same age are embarrassed to stand with him.
Even though he has a cold face that makes people dare not look directly at him, there are not many people passing by on the street who secretly look at him.
"No one says you are different now?" It is very common for men to have beards nowadays. They have hairless faces and are not good at work. They look mature and stable. But Mu Yan doesn't because his wife doesn't like it.
He seemed like a different kind, and people often teased him and said he was henpecked.
Mu Yan lowered his head, grabbed her hand and pecked it, "I don't care what others say." He only cared about what his heart said.
Huo Xi felt sweet in her heart, leaning in his arms and talking to him about everything at home...
"My father-in-law told me about Qi'er's marriage two days ago. He said that there is a woman in the Wang family who is similar in age to Qi'er and is sensible and generous. He wanted to tell Qi'er what he meant, but I didn't agree."
Huo Xi sat up straight in his arms, "From the Wang family?" She frowned, "Is it possible that grandma said something to father again?"
When he entered Beijing, the Wang family also followed him. For decades, the two families have been tied together and supported each other. Most of the Zhang family followed the British father to Beijing, and the entire Wang family followed suit.
Fortunately, the Wang family has never had any troubles. In recent years, with the help of the British Duke, some of the Wang family's children have held important positions in various places in the court.
Huo Xi didn't dislike the Wang family's daughter for being unworthy of her own son. After all, she chose her daughter-in-law based on her character and ability, and whether her son liked her. She didn't pay much attention to status.
But that was my grandmother Wang’s natal family.
Huo Xi thought about the past, and felt a little uncomfortable in her heart. Now that she and Huo Nian have come to the capital, they may never return to Jiangnan, but their mother is left alone in the ancestral graves in Jiangnan. During the Four Seasons and Eighth Festival, their siblings want to
It is difficult to worship.
Mu Yan knew her heartache and comforted her: "Don't worry. As a husband, I have nothing to do. I just told my father-in-law that Qi'er is our eldest son, and the wife we marry will be the clan's wife in the future. We will choose carefully. And he is still young."
, we want to wait two more years to see.”
Huo Xi breathed a sigh of relief, "Father didn't say anything, did he?"
Mu Yan shook his head, "My father-in-law has loved Qi'er since he was a child. Over the years, he has taught him horsemanship, archery, and military strategy. He loves Qi'er as much as we do. Maybe it was because of my grandmother's persuasion, but he just said it smoothly when he saw me.
Yi Zui. Before leaving, he told me to be cautious about Qi'er's marriage and let us see more families."
Huo Xi felt relieved.
"Grandma has been thinking about the Wang family all these years, and she has asked you to take care of her several times. Fortunately, my father knows how I feel and has blocked a lot of things for you and me over the years."
Huo Xi also thought about the concubines and cousins of the Zhang family, who married well and lived the most smoothly. Thinking about her aunt who became the empress dowager in the palace, less than a year after becoming the concubine,
Baguio, who became a concubine in the deep palace...
Huo Xi has taken great care of her siblings in her parents' family over the years.
As long as I can take care of it, I never refuse. But when it comes to the marriage of my children, I don't want to compromise.
It was because her adoptive parents didn't let her have any worries at home. She couldn't help but sigh.
Back then, because Huo An wanted to follow him and Huo Nian, Huo's father and mother had to abandon Jiangnan and follow him north.
In the first two years, Huo Erhuai and Yang were not used to the climate and food in the north, and they talked about how good it was in the south of the Yangtze River. But for the sake of their son and to see Huo Xi and Huo Nian often, the couple persisted.
Fortunately, everything was worth it. Huo An had been very successful in these years. After passing the Juren exam, he did not take the exam again. He followed Huo Nian into the army. Now he is only in his early twenties and has a sixth-level military rank.
They got married the year before last under their own arrangement. His wife gave birth to a son at the end of last year, which made Huo Erhuai and Yang extremely happy.
The Huo family had spent their entire lives digging in the fields, but had never held an official position. As soon as Huo An was awarded the official position, Huo Erhuai happily ran back to Jiangnan to pay homage to his ancestors.
Huo Xi smiled and said to Mu Yan: "After Ying'er's marriage is completed, you can accompany me back to Huo's house for a visit. I haven't seen my parents for several days. I heard that my aunt was ill a few days ago.
, I don’t have time to go back and visit.”
Yang Fu did not follow her to Beijing at that time, but stayed in Jiangnan to help her with her business affairs.
It wasn't until Qin Changzhi passed away a few years ago that Yang Fu and his wife finished observing their filial piety and then brought their children and Qin Huaimin's family to Beijing.
The Qin family was convicted that year, and the third generation could not take the imperial examination, but the generation of Qin Huaimin's son could. So they entered the capital together.
In addition, three generations of my maternal grandparents’ family were not allowed to take the scientific examination, but their cousins’ sons were also able to take the scientific examination. After the death of her maternal grandparents two years ago, Huo Xi went back to attend the funeral and told her uncles to let them go to Beijing.
, but the uncles only said that they were used to living in Jiangnan and refused to go to Beijing.
He only said that if his descendants come to Beijing to seek a future in the future, please ask Huo Xi to take care of them.
Huo Xi responded one by one.
In recent years, my second uncle and my cousin Li Ji have gone to sea almost every year with the overseas fleet, and they have never tired of it. Most of the affairs of the overseas fleet have been entrusted to my second uncle, which has made Huo Xi worry-free these years.
The couple sat on the roof, looked up at the bright moon, and talked about the changes in personnel over the years.
The night is as cold as water, but with the person I love most beside me, I feel even warmer.
"Let me tell you a story," Huo Xi suddenly turned around and said.
Mu Yan tugged on his wife's cloak and hummed softly. No matter what she said, he was willing to listen.
Huo Xi leaned against him and spoke eloquently... "I once had a dream. I dreamed that I died of dystocia on the day of my first child's delivery, and the child was not left behind..."
Mu Yan frowned and tightened his hold on her, but did not interrupt.
"Later, after I left, you renewed your relationship within a few years. But the person who renewed your relationship didn't leave you a son and a half, and left early. Later, you never married again, only when you were old.
I took in a concubine named Mei. Later, Mrs. Mei finally gave birth to a son for you, but it was a pity that the child was only ten months old and you were gone... You were only fifty-four years old."
Huo Xi's tone was distant, and her eyes seemed to have traveled through the night to another time and space, without any focus.
Mu Yan pursed his lips tightly, half-hugging Huo Xi, his hands on his shoulders became tighter and tighter, and then loosened again. It was just a dream.
"What happened next?" After a while, he said calmly.
"Later... Later, when your son was too young, the title was handed over to Mu Lin. Unfortunately, Mu Lin passed away before he lived past thirty, and the title fell into the hands of Mu Lin's younger brother..."
"Later on, your family never returned to Yunnan. Your son never gave birth to a son and a half daughters, so he adopted the third-fang's grandnephew as his adopted son, and the title has been inherited by the third-fang..."
After Huo Xi finished speaking, she turned to look at him. Mu Yan also looked at her quietly. Neither husband nor wife spoke.
For a long while, Mu Yan rested his head on Huo Xi's forehead.
"Fortunately, I have you. Fortunately, you are always by my side." Otherwise, what hope do I have in my life?
"If you were no longer here and your children were no longer here, I would not be left alone to live alone. I would follow you to your world."
Huo Xi broke away from him and looked at him quietly, "Go to my world?"
Mu Yan nodded, "Yes, let's go to a world with you. Wherever you are, I will be there. Life after life, we will never be separated."
"never separate?"
"Never be separated!" Mu Yan's eyes were firm, determined and serious.
"Okay." Then we will never be separated. Huo Xi looked at him and smiled.