Since Mrs. Li entered the main hall, she has not said a word about the marriage. After all, she does not dare to call her son the adopted son of the imperial concubine, let alone treat the princess as her adopted daughter, so she is always respectful. Without losing any courtesy.
Yu Ludai looked at Mr. Li carefully and said, "However, he doesn't look much like you."
Mrs. Li nodded in agreement, with a respectful and decent smile on her face, and said lovingly: "A dog's son is like his father."
Yu Ludai tilted his head, as if he wanted to see some clues from Li's facial features, but he couldn't remember anything. He just said, "It seems like I have seen you somewhere."
Wen Xi didn't want to hide anything, but she didn't say anything clearly. She only said: "When you were still a baby, Mrs. Cao Li once gave you a jade Buddha." Naturally, it was given to you when you recognized your daughter, Yulu. Of course Dai didn't remember it. And Cao Yong's jade pendant was also given to Wen Xi when she recognized her adopted son.
Yu Ludai hurriedly pulled out a red string from his neck. As expected, he was wearing a jade Maitreya Buddha with excellent water quality. It was made of mutton-fat jade and had been worn close to his body for many years. It seemed to be tainted with some spirituality, "This is it. ?"
Li was stunned for a moment and said in a low voice: "I didn't expect... the princess always carries it with her."
Yu Ludai touched the Jade Buddha with her slender jade fingers. She liked this gadget very much. The big-bellied Maitreya Buddha was smiling and lifelike. Even the wrinkles on his forehead were extremely fine, and the folds of the Buddha's robes were also very clear. Yu Ludai thought about it for a while, but still couldn't remember anything, but he looked like an adult and said: "In that case, I won't argue with that boy!"
Wen Xi pretended to be angry and said, "It's your fault!"
Yu Ludai pouted, mumbling something unknown.
Wen Xifu showed a smile and said kindly to Mrs. Li: "At the beginning, I accepted Cao Yong as my adopted son, so Madam, you don't have to be too cautious."
Li's forehead bulged and she said hurriedly: "The imperial concubine was just telling a joke at the beginning, how dare I take it seriously?"
Wen Xi just smiled and didn't take it seriously. Even if she agreed to accept Cao Yong as her adopted son, Cao Yin and his wife would not dare to accept this adopted son. They ordered Zhu'er to send Li back in person.
Yu Ludai came up curiously and took Wen Xi's arm: "Did E Niang really accept that boy as her adopted son?!"
Wen Xi twisted Yulu Daiqiong's nose in anger and said: "What 'that boy'?! It's not like he doesn't have a name! What's more, he's one year older! Don't open your mouth and keep saying 'that boy', it's too disrespectful." !”
"I know, I know!" Yu Ludai said "I know", but in a perfunctory manner. "Why did E Niang accept him as her adopted son?!"
Wen Xi just laughed. At first, Cao Yin was planning to get married, but Wen Xi pushed back that her daughter was already engaged, so she settled for the next best thing and accepted each other's adopted son and daughter. However, Wen Xi did not intend to give Yu Yu anything. Lu Dai talked about the original incident in detail. He only said: "We just met by chance. Cao Yong was very handsome at that time, so he accepted his adopted son."
Yu Ludai pouted, "As agreed, it's enough that E Niang recognizes her adopted son, but I don't recognize that godbrother!"
Wen Xi poked her eyebrows with a smile, "No one is forcing you to admit it! Just don't bully others!"
Yu Ludai pursed his lips in anger, "I hate it! How can anyone bully him!"
Wen Xi warned again: "Don't tell your Majesty Ama about this matter..." Before she could finish her words, she heard Kangxi shout from outside: "I already know it!" There was no joy or anger in his tone. Wen Xi had no choice but to go forward with Yu Lu Dai, and said slightly angrily: "Why didn't the emperor ask someone to tell someone? Come in as soon as you say so!"
Kangxi couldn't help but shake his head. "You do the same, how could you..."
When Wen Xi saw that Kangxi had no intention of getting angry, she excused herself: "It all happened so many years ago! If I hadn't met Cao Yong today, I would have almost forgotten about it!"
"Cao Yong..." Kangxi thought deeply for a moment, "That's fine! I will tell Cao Yin and his son not to talk nonsense to outsiders, and you don't want to say it either."
Wen Xi responded hurriedly. Kangxi meant that he didn't want to dig deeper. After all, Cao Yin was his capable general. Although Wen Xi recognized his adopted son as inappropriate, after all, Kangxi would not have this happen to him. He just pretended not to know and revealed it. That's it.
Wen Xi smelled the faint fragrance of makeup and powder on Kangxi's body, and felt sour in her stomach: "I heard that Cao Yin was very attentive. He just presented ten dancers to the emperor yesterday, how come the emperor still has time to come? Is my concubine here?"
Seeing Wen Xi's sour and jealous look, Kangxi couldn't help but feel a little helpless and said: "She's just a dancer! Don't think nonsense! Cao Yin, not Li Shizhen!"
Wen Xi snorted, "Perhaps he saw that his sister has not been favored in recent years, so he came up with such a method!" Cao Guiren has already fallen out of favor, and the Cao family may not see her continue to fall out of favor.
Kangxi shook his head, "That's the Hu Xuanwu Dancer. You love watching Hu Xuanwu the most, so I accepted it. I originally came to ask you to watch it together, but you became jealous for no reason! That's all. At worst, I will just give the reward to others!"
As for whom those dancing beauties were rewarded, Wen Xi was not sure. The next day, Kangxi issued an order that local officials were not allowed to present beauties.
Jiangning Zhizao Mansion, since Kangxi's first southern tour, has been set up as a temporary palace. Even when Kangxi was away, no one was allowed to stay. It had to be maintained and repaired every year, which was really a big expense. Since the 23rd year of Kangxi, the Cao family has built a new mansion next to the Zhizao Mansion. As a residence, the back garden of the palace is connected with the back garden of the Cao family's new mansion, so it can be seen from a distance that the female family members of the Cao family are here. Flower viewing.
Along the way, Wen Xi has met several beautiful young ladies from the Cao family branch. She has to make Wen Xi doubt the intentions of the Cao family. Aren't you satisfied with having a Cao noble? Thinking of this, there is a hint of sadness on her face. Shen Shen.
"Long Blessing, Imperial Concubine!" When I was distracted, Cao Guiren's voice came to my ears.
Wen Xi said goodbye. Although the noble Cao didn't look old, she was no longer a young girl in her twenties and eighties. And because she had been out of favor for many years, her expression was a little gloomy, which meant that it was rare to see Zhizao Mansion. Wen Xi After taking a quick look at her, she found that her outfit today seemed a bit brighter than usual, and there was an extremely good-looking woman of fourteen or fifteen years old following behind her.
Mrs. Cao turned sideways and said, "This is my concubine's cousin Zhiying."
Wen Xi glanced at the timid Cao Zhiying, who was elegantly and decently dressed in Manchu attire. Wen Xi could not help but wonder, if the daughter of the Cao family was in the Han army and lived in the south of the Yangtze River for a long time, most of the people around the Cao family would She doesn't come from a prominent family and is not qualified to participate in the draft. How come she still wears Manchu attire without looking unnatural? She obviously trained early in the morning, and is different from the Miss Cao who just met the little-footed Han attire.
"I vaguely remember -" Wen Xi stared at Cao Guiren, "There is a word 'E' in your maiden name?"
Cao Guiren said yes and said: "My concubine's humble name is Cao Xiu'e."
The cousin's name is Cao Xiu'e, and the cousin's name is Cao Zhiying. They smiled warmly and said: "Do you want to imitate Nv Ying of Emperor E and have the same husband?!"
Cao Guiren smiled encouragingly and said humbly, "I'm just taking Zhiying out for a walk."
Such an excuse sounded very forced to Wen Xi, so she sarcastically said: "The emperor Qian'er also said that the scenery in the garden behind the palace is very nice, and asked me to come and take a walk when I was free and bored. Unexpectedly,
The scenery is really good, and you can see a beautiful lady from the Cao family in just three or five steps! What? Does Cao Guiren have many cousins?!"
There was a slight sadness in Cao Guiren's eyes, and he sighed lowly and said: "It's just that my concubine's mother is old and likes to be lively, so she invited the girl from my uncle's brother's house far away just to talk about family relationships.
"
Wen Xi hummed slightly, and the emerald phoenix steps on her bun and the pearl tassels hanging down slightly swayed in the spring light, but she said rudely: "Just to talk about the family relationship, we should go to the weaving house in the west, not always
Go into the royal garden of the palace! Grandma Sun is old, I can understand that she is old and confused, but why doesn’t Mr. Cao advise her? It is a serious crime to break into the palace!"
The gentle tone already meant to accuse, Cao Guiren couldn't help being shocked, and hurriedly knelt down, kowtowed and admitted his mistake: "Mom is an old fool, please forgive me!"
Cao Zhiying, who was kneeling behind Cao Guiren, felt a little aggrieved and said timidly: "Your Majesty, the Imperial Concubine, the back garden of the Zhizao Mansion and the royal garden of the palace are connected. There is no boundary in the first place. How can you be considered as intruding into the palace?
?Neither Zhiying nor her cousin dare to bear such a big crime!"
The corners of Wen Xi's mouth raised slightly, "He is sharp-tongued!" Wen Xi stepped on three-inch-high flower pot-soled shoes with rosewood soles, and the beads on them were as round as thumbs.
, Cao Zhiying was kneeling there and looking at the pearl shoes, a flash of envy flashed in his eyes.
Seeing Zhiying being so presumptuous, Cao Guiren hurriedly kowtowed and said, "My sister is ignorant, please forgive me, Imperial Concubine!"
The curve of the corner of Wen Xi's mouth evoked a coldness like spring light, and she said: "She is right, we should indeed draw a boundary between the back garden of Zhizao Mansion and the imperial garden of the palace!" Wen Xi turned her face sideways and raised her finger.
Pointing to the carp pond ten feet away, he said: "From today onwards, the carp pond will be used as the boundary. If you cross it, you will break into the palace!" If it is so defined, several Miss Cao who Wen Xi met along the way have all crossed the boundary.
, naturally the same is true for Cao Zhiying!
"If the family members of foreign ministers request to see me, they must give me a sign before they can enter the palace! This kind of rule has been in place for a long time, and Mr. Cao knows it even if he wants to come!" Wen Ru's tone was rigid, without any warmth.
"Yes, I must abide by the rules and never break them again!" Cao Guiren said hurriedly.
Cao Zhiying was a little reluctant and raised her head and said: "But the emperor promised that the noble sister and the old lady would meet each other often!"
Wen Xi glanced at the restless Cao Zhiying, "The emperor has given permission to Grandma Sun, so she can naturally come in and out of the palace! It's just that the emperor didn't allow you, and I don't agree with the emperor. If you dare to break into the palace again, I will
So he just called the guards and beat him to death with sticks!" Wen Xi said the last four words so coldly, with a hint of murderous intent, that Cao Zhiying turned pale in fright.
Wen Xi laughed disdainfully. She has ambitions but no courage! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation.)