In the past few days, the Wang family sent people to the Liu family to inquire about the situation. They heard that Liu Shi had divorced Feng and sent her to a temple outside the city. Feng had no family members in Yongcheng, so even if she wanted to
The gang was also high and the emperor was far away. Liu Qiniang was confined in the courtyard by Liu Shi and was not allowed to go out. Liu Shi did not say how long the confinement would last. Wang also sent someone to bring the news to Liu Yuniang, and then the palace
Qingrong and the others didn't know much about what happened in the fight. They only heard that the queen beat the noble concubine and accused her of punishing the virtuous concubine regardless of the reason.
When the Wangs and their daughters lamented the Fengs and their daughters, they couldn't help but sigh. This man only thought about wealth and a bright future. If he were ruthless and cruel, it would be really chilling. Although Qingrong didn't say anything, her heart was still a little throbbing.
, she did not hope that one day she would end up in such a desperate situation... Qingrong remembered what her husband once said: when the water is full, it overflows, and when the moon waxes, it loses. I think that in the future, except for family members, I will not have too many expectations and illusions about others.
, you should have some reservations, lest you end up hurting yourself.
Siniang was thoughtful and worried that this matter would frighten Qingrong, so she wanted to divert her attention and asked her to talk about other things. Siniang said with a smile: "Sister, in a few days it will be the Lantern Festival.
, it’s your first time to celebrate the Lantern Festival in Yongcheng, let’s go out together to see the excitement?”
Qingrong thought of the appointment she had made with Xue Shao a few days ago. She stopped and thought it would be better not to go. Seeing her hesitation, Siniang quickly said: "Sister, you don't know, the Shangyuan Festival in this capital is very special."
It’s lively and the markets are full of people. From the 14th to the 16th, lanterns will be hung for three consecutive days. During these three days, the markets are brightly lit and bustling with people. Sister, don’t you want to go and have a look?
?”
Si Niang pulled Qingrong and said coquettishly: "Even if you don't want to go and have a look, then just go and have a look with me, good sister."
Qingrong couldn't resist Si Niang's insistence, so she had to agree. Thinking about it, there were so many people in the market, and he might not be able to find her, not to mention that she really wanted to take a look at the excitement.
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month came quickly. Qingrong originally thought that Xue Shao might find her, but after seeing Siniang's posture that day, she felt that Xue Shao might not be able to find her. It turned out that this was the Lantern Festival.
There is also the trick of wearing a mask and pretending to be a Yao Niang. Once this person is dressed up, it is impossible to tell from the outside.
Siniang found a simple mask for Qingrong, and chose a six-piece long dress with a goose yellow background and a beaded pattern on it. She wore a light apricot-colored silk scarf and a tassel hairpin on her head.
Rong's ordinary dress is different and looks extra lively and playful.
Lu Wenzhong and Wang were older, so they didn't like to join in the fun, so they just asked their maid to accompany the Qingrong sisters. When the sun set, the lanterns in the West Market were lit up one by one, and when Qingrong and the others arrived,
, the road is already full of people, the lanterns are full, and it is very lively, reflecting the splendor of the city. The avenue is simply overcrowded, with groups of young men and young ladies surrounded by slaves.
, and there were barbarians wearing short boots. There were also people in the crowd who performed sword dancing, spitting fire, playing with poles and other tricks, which attracted a group of old people and children to stop and watch.
Where have people gone?
Originally, Qingrong and Siniang were walking side by side, and they could still notice each other in the crowd. But when the two stopped in a busy place, someone suddenly took Qingrong's hand and protected it with one hand.
He grabbed her and took her out from the crowd.
Qingrong was panicking, fearing that she had met a bad guy like she did in Cha'an County. She was about to call someone. The person whispered in her ear: "It's me."
Xue Shao Qingrong recognized his voice and pulled her hand away. She didn't expect that he would find her. She refused to admit it, "You have recognized the wrong person, I don't recognize him..."
"Whether you recognize it or not, I'll know after seeing it." He said, reaching out to take off Qingrong's mask. Qingrong dodged sideways, so she had no choice but to admit, taking off the mask herself, "I'm all dressed up like this.
Now, can you still find me?"
Xue Shao looked at her with confidence and determination in his eyes. He whispered: "I can recognize you no matter what you wear."
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Qingrong scolded lightly, looking at the person opposite and saying nothing. He had only seen him a few times. How could he be so familiar?
Xue Shao said seriously: "It's true." Of course she didn't know that he had seen her many times in his dreams...
Xue Shao looked at the maid who was following behind and reminded Qing Rong: "You promised that if I find you, you will celebrate the festival with me."
Qingrong followed his gaze and looked over, feeling secretly happy in her heart. She nodded and said, "They are all with me, so naturally they will follow me."
When Azhen and Songyue saw Xue Shao here, they didn't come directly, but just followed a few steps behind. Azhen muttered in a low voice: "Why is Xue Langjun here too?"
Songyue glanced at her, then turned her head and whispered: "It's not obvious yet. I'm here to see Sanniang. We should keep some distance. I see that Xue Langjun always looks at us with cold eyes."
Azhen nodded hurriedly, she felt the same way. But Si Niang didn't know this. She just thought Qing Rong had gone away and was busy looking for her. Si Niang saw Qing Rong and hurried over without seeing her clearly.
The person standing next to me said, "Sister, why are you here?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Xue Shao looking at her with a cold face, and Siniang's smile was fixed on her face. She still remembered Xue Shao, but she didn't expect him to be here too. It's just that he didn't look too good towards her now.
, Huh, what's the air? Compared with a gentle gentleman like Cui Jun, she is far from it. She doesn't care about it!
Si Niang ignored him and pulled Qing Rong to leave, "Sister, let's go somewhere else."
"Wait a minute, she said she wanted to join me." Xue Shao stopped her.
Siniang's eyes widened, Qingrong shook her head at her in embarrassment, and said to Xue Shao: "Siniang is a girl away from home, I'm worried, I can't let her be here alone."
As she said that, the look on Si Niang's face became proud. Sure enough, Sister A still cared about her the most. Xue Shao frowned slightly and shouted behind him: "Xue Chang." At the end, he looked at Qing Rong again and asked: "
With Xue Chang accompanying her, she can ask Xue Chang to take her back whenever she wants. Can you rest assured?"
Before Qingrong and Siniang could speak, he continued: "What's really going on? A grown man like him is better than a weak woman like you."
Qingrong had nothing to say this time, but Siniang secretly shook her head in her heart. This future brother-in-law was too bad at talking. Seeing that the conversation had reached this point, Qingrong did not refuse any more, and said to Xue Shao
He agreed under the extremely oppressive gaze.
Qingrong and Xue Shao were one or two steps apart, and they were walking side by side on the street. Qingrong asked, "When did you get here?"
"I happened to be here when you came."
Qingrong was confused, how did he know? Xue Shao explained seriously: "After you left the house, I followed the Lu family's carriage, so I naturally knew."
"You..." Qingrong didn't expect that she would ask him to take advantage of this loophole. She bit her lip and said, "You cheated, this can't be counted."
Xue Shao shook his head and said seriously: "Soldiers never tire of deceit, I just came prepared. Besides, didn't you also dress up like this to prevent me from finding you?"
Qingrong was speechless for a moment, but when she saw his frank and serious look, she was both angry and helpless, "There are not many people on the street who can dress like this, so why can't I?"
He hurriedly retorted: "Of course not, you can pretend to be anything you want. It will be like this even when we get married in the future."
Qingrong was a little embarrassed to talk about these things in public. She said slowly "Yeah" and was a little distracted for a moment. A little boy next to her jumped out from the crowd and was about to bump into Qingrong. Xue Shao had quick eyes and hands and knocked her out.
He took it over and said, "Be careful."
He put his hand on Qingrong's shoulder and brought her into his arms. It was so strong and so reassuring. Qingrong's heart skipped a beat in surprise at this sudden little accident.
She was dependent on him, and even through the material of her clothes, she could feel his strong heartbeat and burning body temperature...
"You'd better come closer to me." He lowered his head and said to Qingrong. His breath lingered from the tip of her ears, and also lingered around Qingrong.
The tips of Qingrong's ears felt hot, and she nodded a little helplessly, "Yes. Let go first."
Xue Shaoyiyan let go of his hand and didn't say anything, but looked a little disappointed. Qingrong wanted to ease the atmosphere between the two and asked: "Since you have already planned it, where are we going?"
?”
"I do not know either."
Qingrong stopped and raised his eyebrows slightly. It turned out that they were walking aimlessly now? Qingrong smiled helplessly: "I thought you had everything planned. Didn't you just say that you were 'prepared for anything'?
"
Xue Shao said bluntly: "I just think it would be great if you could be with me."
"Glib talk!" Qingrong couldn't help but say, "Do we have to keep going like this?"
Naturally, Xue Shao had no objection, or she could do whatever she wanted, as long as she was with him. As they walked forward, they encountered several lively places, and stopped to watch them before leaving. Occasionally, there was no ride.
They said a few words. Although they looked distant, there was an inexplicable harmony.
The two of them stopped at a place where they were performing the fire-breathing trick. There were especially many men, women, old and children gathered around. They were all crowded together. If you were small, you wouldn't be able to see the people inside. Qingrong also wanted to take a look.
She was also very curious about how this trick was done. She tried her best to stand on tiptoes, but she could only see a little bit.
Seeing that she wanted to see it, Xue Shao turned to her and asked, "You want to see it, can I help you?"
Qingrong was puzzled, so she leaned over and asked, "How can you help me?"
Unexpectedly, he came closer, clasped Qingrong's waist with both hands, and leaned over to lift her up to his left shoulder. It was so steady and powerful that Qingrong was shocked by this move, and she was afraid of falling.
, had no choice but to hold Xue Shao's head with one good hand.
She looked at Xue Shao with a somewhat embarrassed expression, "You..." Why did he lift her up like this in public!
Xue Shao's expression remained unchanged and he asked her, "Can you see clearly?"
He was already tall, and when he lifted up Qingrong, he could see everything at a glance. Qingrong looked forward, dumbfounded. She could see clearly. Not only could she see clearly, but others could also see her clearly.
Qingrong lowered her eyes to look at him, bit her lip and said, "Okay, I saw it, please put me down quickly. I...I'm scared."
Xue Shaoyiyan put her on the ground. This set of movements was very smooth, as if it was as simple as picking up an object for him.
When a girl next to her saw her, she also clamored for her brother to lift her up on his shoulders. "Brother, I can't see it, but I want it too! Just now this husband lifted his sister up to see it, and I want it too!"
Xue Shao heard this and interrupted: "Look carefully, she is my bride." He then looked at the girl coldly and said, "We are not brothers and sisters."
He was tall and had a cold face. If he didn't smile, he would look fierce. His cold face was even more frightening. What's more, he was such a girl. She didn't dare to look at Xue Shao and huddled next to her brother.
Qingrong couldn't help laughing when she saw this. She joked: "How old is she? What does she know? Are you arguing with her?"
Xue Shao said seriously: "If you are wrong, you should correct it."
Qingrong shook her head in a funny way, "Okay, okay, let's go somewhere else." Xue Shao listened to her words and nodded. When he left, he didn't forget to cast a cold look at the girl just now, which made her very scared.
, and did not dare to yell at his brother to lift him up.
The streets are still crowded and lively.
As the two of them walked, Xue Shao's eyes glanced at Qingrong from time to time. Qingrong could also feel that he was a little uncomfortable and asked: "Why do you keep staring at me?"
"You are beautiful, and I often can't help but want to see you. Today you have gone back, and we probably won't be able to see each other until the day we get married, so I want to see more of you."
It was such a straightforward statement. How come he didn't have any scruples about what he said and could say it casually? She didn't raise her head to look at him, a little afraid that seeing his fiery gaze again would make her panic.
...Even now her heart is no longer as calm as before.
He looked at her seriously and said, "Why is your face so pale?" As he spoke, before Qingrong could speak, he took Qingrong's hand and held her hand in his palm, locking it.
Mei Mei asked with concern: "Are your hands still so cold?"
Qingrong hurriedly pulled her hand back, looked away, and said, "Maybe it's because I stayed outside for a long time."
"If you were cold, why didn't you tell me? I wouldn't have taken you outside and let you blow in the wind for so long." Although his face was cold, his tone was self-blame.
Qingrong shook her head, "I'm like this in winter. My hands and feet are cold, but my body doesn't feel cold."
Xue Shao lowered his eyes. Although he was disappointed, he said simply: "I'll take you home. It's cold outside, and your health is important."
Qingrong looked at him, gathered the cloak around her body, and nodded, "Okay, I just don't need you to send me off, I can go back by myself." Song Yue has probably remembered the way in the few months since she came here.
It was enough for the two of them to follow.
But Xue Shao insisted on sending me away, "Just this time, I'll only send you this way, won't you let me?"
She didn't want to refuse to go back and forth with Xue Shao in this market, so she agreed to him. But to outsiders, it was like two armies fighting. Finally, one side compromised.
The two of them were silent all the way.
Seeing that the gate of Lu Mansion was in front of her, Qingrong was ready to leave, "Okay, that's it. Thank you very much for today, I'll leave first."
Xue Shao nodded, looking at her leaving figure, he couldn't help but call: "Qingrong..."
Qingrong settled her steps. This was the first time he called her name. She looked at the person in front of her and asked, "What's wrong?"
Her eyes were filled with water, as clear and calm as clear water, as if she could see into people's hearts at a glance. Xue Shao concentrated his attention and whispered: "On the first day of March, wait until I come to marry you."
His expression was serious and solemn, seeming to promise and inform, like a heavy drum, beating in people's hearts...