On the day Chunwei came on stage, Shengfu sent a steward from Laifu to wait outside the venue. After craning their necks and waiting for a long time, Chang Feng and Wen Yanjing stumbled out, one with a blue complexion, as if he had overextended himself; the other with a pale complexion.

It turned yellow, as if he had been hungry for several days. ~Compared with Chang Feng's emphasis on gains and losses, Wen Yanjing was much more at ease. Anyway, no matter whether he could pass the exam or not, his wife and his in-laws could not escape.

Different mentalities lead to different results. Half a month later, the results were announced. Brother Wen won the Jinshi, and got the top 32 in the imperial examination. After passing the examination, he would either enter the Hanlin Academy or be awarded an official position; and brother Changfeng... ahem,

Just take the exam again.

Ru Lan's wedding day was approaching, but something was wrong with her. She was laughing and joking for a while, and losing her temper for no reason at other times. Mrs. Wang came to look for her daughter to say a few words of kindness to her, but Ru Lan said something back. Xijuan looked at this.

If that didn't work, I had to go find Minglan to put out the fire.

"Sixth Miss, look..." Xijuan asked.

"Needless to say, I'll just go and take a look." Minglan knew what she meant, because she was good at pretending to be stupid and coaxing little girls. I don't know when she started, she almost became Rulan's fire extinguisher, the little magpie.

I often come to her for help.

As soon as they entered Taoran Hall, the dowry had been taken away, so the boudoir that was originally decorated with gold and silver seemed a bit empty. Ru Lan sat blankly in front of the window, with a brocade and splendid dress propped up on a dark red lacquered wood hanger.

The bright red wedding dress made the whole room shine a lot.

"Hey! My sister is a noble person now, why do you have the time to come to my place now?" Rulan cheered up immediately when she saw Minglan, with a bitter tone.

Minglan sat silently next to Rulan and said with a smile: "Sister, what's wrong with you? Tell me."

Rulan glanced sideways at Minglan and sneered: "I am a loser, how can I be so lucky?!" After saying this, she turned her head away angrily, turned her back to Minglan, and leaned heavily on the table with both arms.

.

Minglan thought for a moment and asked tentatively: "What did your wife say to you?"

Rulan didn't look back, she just snorted loudly through her nose. Minglan understood immediately, and then felt helpless and secretly cursed - it was all Gu Tingye who was out of tune!

A few days ago, the Wen family chose an auspicious day to send the betrothal gift. After looking through the almanac, Gu Tingye found that that day was the best day in this period, so he sent someone to ask if it was possible to give out the betrothal gift on that day. Wang did not expect it at the time.

, Sheng Hong agreed immediately.

On that day, the Wen family just followed the etiquette and prepared enough scented tea, reunion fruits, sheep and geese, wine jars, wooden geese, and a few pieces of good cloth, and that was it. Gu Tingye was like a man who had just returned from South America after digging for gold.

The nouveau riche brought a lot of betrothal gifts to a courtyard. First, there were 128 pairs of pure gold fat pigs (Minglan was a pig), totaling a thousand taels; and the fabrics included 88 pieces of Jiangnan silk yarn.

Eighty-eight pieces of feather yarn from Jiangbei, one hundred and eight pieces of cloud brocade Sichuan satin embroidered in various colors, eighteen pairs of red gold bracelets with dragons and phoenixes in three or four layers, eighteen pairs of red gold hairpins with dragons and phoenixes inlaid with beads, as well as abalone, oyster, yuan

Shells, mushrooms, dried shrimps, squid, sea cucumbers, shark's fins and fish maws plus nostrils and other top-quality seafood. After Haishi and the old lady looked at them, they seriously suspected that these were tributes to the emperor. As for other kinds of fish, wine, four seasons, tea, candies, etc.

There are countless objects; the last one is a pair of fat geese that are croaking wildly.

In fact, Gu Tingye just acted according to the etiquette of those powerful and noble families. It was not too over the top, but it deeply pierced Wang's eyes. The anxiety that had been suppressed in her heart for a long time finally broke out. She had known it earlier.

This difference in wealth will gradually be revealed in the future, and this bloody contrast is undoubtedly the opening gong.

From that day on, she was not very happy to see Minglan, but after all, Minglan was the one to be married, and it was too late to stay in Shou'an Hall every day, so Wang had to go to Rulan to lecture her, and her words were full of unpleasant and bitter words.

, Minglan knew what it was like without even thinking about it. It was nothing more than "if nothing happens to you, these benefits will all be yours" and so on. ~

What made Wang the most resentful was that these betrothal gifts were sent directly to the Shou'an Hall without her even having a hand. According to the old lady's thoughts, most of these betrothal gifts would go to the Gu Mansion with Minglan as her dowry.

Even if Ru Lan is deeply in love with brother-in-law Wen, she is an ordinary woman after all, with a good face and vanity. Who is not greedy for such wealth and wealth? Now everyone in the Sheng Mansion, from the steward to the maids, are very fond of Ming Lan.

It's flattery.

Minglan is also an ordinary person, and she is also very tempted when she sees gold, silver and jewelry. When she saw the pile of betrothal gifts, her heart fluttered for a while. Just the gold beads and jewelry, Danju and Xiaotao were enough.

After half an hour of ordering, the nine-layered and eighty-one set of ebony, pear and carved lacquer dossier boxes that the old lady had sent finally came into use and were stuffed to the brim.

For the first time in her life, she felt that it would be good to get married like this. If alimony could be guaranteed, she would not be in a hurry if the marriage failed.

"If Fifth Sister is unhappy with anything, you can talk to your sister." Minglan tried her best to soften her tone.

Unexpectedly, Rulan suddenly turned around, raised her eyebrows contemptuously, and snorted: "How dare I?! My wife has said that I might need my sister to help me in the future!"

Minglan counted the days, and they were going to get married in a few days. It was estimated that this was the last time she would coax Rulan like this, so she would jump off the building to pay a large sum of money, work hard, and send her out happily.

Then he smiled and said: "Fifth sister, I want to ask you something. If possible, would you like to switch with me? I will marry the Wen family and you will marry the Gu family."

Rulan's face was filled with surprise and uncertainty, and she asked back, "Are you willing?"

"Of course I do!" Minglan agreed and said with a smile, "I originally thought that the fifth brother-in-law was quite good. He would climb mountains in the middle of the night to meet beauties, and he could recite poems and make melancholy words. Now he was awarded the Jinshi.

Why don’t you want to?!”

"How dare you——!" Ru Lan slammed the table hard, stood up, and roared like thunder, which made Minglan's eardrums buzz.

Minglan rubbed her ears and leaned back on the chair, bending over with a smile: "What is sister so upset about?"

Rulan let out a heavy breath and stared at Minglan for a long time before sitting down angrily.

Minglan slowly leaned over, put her arm on Rulan's shoulder, and whispered in Rulan's ear: "That year we went to Zhongqin's house to visit relatives, and met my eldest sister's mother-in-law. After we came back, my sister said to me

After all these words, has your sister forgotten?"

Rulan was startled, and a red pomegranate gold tassel dangled uncontrollably in her ear. She said slowly: "I remember...I said that all the mothers-in-law in the world are hateful. If you want me to be too old,

When my sister feels so wronged, I might as well be an old lady."

Minglan sighed slightly in her heart and said softly: "You know it in your heart, so why be angry; sister... are you afraid?"

Ru Lan lowered her head, her eyes gleaming, and unknowingly grabbed Minglan's hand, held it tightly, and choked up: "I'm afraid, I'm afraid that Brother Jing will betray me in the future, I'm afraid of the bitter

My wife will bully me, because she is afraid that I will not be able to hold my head high among the sisters in the future! I also know that things are not easy in the Gu family, but I just..., I...I don't want to get married..."

Rulan Yingying started to cry. Wang's scolding and "fear before marriage" made her unable to bear the harsh words.

Minglan sighed and said: "People say that there are three things in the world that are not trustworthy. One is that the old people say they don't want to live anymore, the other is that the young people say they don't want to grow up, and the third is..."

"What is it?" Ru Lan gradually put away her tears and asked. [Ye*][*]

"On the third day, the eldest girl said she didn't want to get married!"

Rulan became angry and picked up two fists to beat Minglan. Minglan screamed for mercy and took a long time to apologize. After such a fuss, Rulan was not sad anymore. The two sisters leaned against each other panting.

My son was paralyzed on the kang, chatting endlessly.

"It's not easy being a daughter-in-law, but it's much more comfortable being a mother-in-law!"

"Grandpa is the one who fights for his grandchildren, and the mother-in-law is the daughter-in-law. My sister will have her day."

"How wonderful it would be if I didn't have a mother-in-law!"

"How can a son come from without a mother? The fifth sister is more ruthless than asking for a monk after reciting sutras."

"I want...we have to live a good life!"

"That's natural. The living have to live, but the dead can't."

"You have to be careful! My sister-in-law in the Gu family will look down upon you when she sees that you are a concubine!"

"It doesn't matter, just don't look at their faces."...

Minglan actually doesn't like Rulan very much. She also has an outgoing personality. Compared to Pinlan, who is bold, cheerful, informal, cheerful and kind, Rulan is a bit more willful, domineering and overbearing. But - Minglan looked sideways.

, Rulan was no longer angry now, and excitedly pulled Minglan to talk about how her new home would be arranged in the future - this girl, who was full of emotions and anger, was the only vivid and real person in this obscure courtyard.

exist.

February 27th is auspicious and suitable for marriage.

Brother-in-law Wen was very proud of himself. He had a great reputation outside and a powerful family in-law. He had quite a few friends and classmates who helped him welcome his bride. He was dressed in red and colorful, playing and playing, and it was a lively scene.

This time Chang Feng finally found his opponent, and he had a verbal exchange with brother-in-law Wen at the gate of Sheng Mansion for half an hour. His poems spanned the Tang and Song dynasties, and his speech was rich and colorful, which attracted a lot of people to cheer loudly. The scene was very lively. Wang

Finally, he showed some happiness.

Old Mrs. Sheng liked to have a pure nature, so she finally gave Wang's noodles this time. After three rounds of wine, she went back to Shou'an Hall to rest. Minglan was also very happy, and she ate a few cups in a daze, and her cheeks were only burned red.

, my head felt dizzy and I couldn't lie down in the room, so I left the hospital and walked a few steps to relieve the smell of alcohol.

The night is as cool as water, but there are still loud chatter and laughter coming from the outer courtyard. There are also waves of wine, and people are drinking wine. It seems that the banquet is not over yet, and the inner courtyard is quiet, and the bright orchids are along the stone.

As I was walking slowly along the path, I suddenly became naughty and wanted to see if the ice on the pond had melted. I had to catch a few more fish before getting married.

After walking a few steps quickly, Kankan arrived at the pond. Under the off-white moonlight, I saw a slender figure bent over, holding on to the rocks beside the pond with his head lowered, as if he was vomiting. The man seemed to hear someone behind him.

The sound of footsteps slowly turned around, and the half-moon was shining on the night lake, reflecting the man's beauty and elegance, like jade.

Minglan's steps faltered, her heart tightened, and she immediately wanted to turn around and leave.

"...Sixth sister?" The faint fragrance of wine permeating Qi Heng's body made the water vapor surge in the early spring, making her feel elegant.

Minglan tried her best to stop, with a smile on her face: "Long time no see, I haven't congratulated you on your wedding yet, congratulations."

Qi Heng's eyes were extremely beautiful, and he could not help but express his deep affection in them. They were as clear and deep as water. He looked at Minglan quietly and said slowly: "Say

Congratulations, my sister’s wedding is coming soon, I’m here to congratulate her.” After saying that, he bowed and bowed his hands.

Minglan immediately returned the gift with her crotch folded, and was blessed with blessings.

The two of them were silent for a while, and the only sound of water moving by the pond was heard.

Minglan wanted to run away, but Qi Heng kept staring at her, as if he couldn't get enough. Minglan's nerves were not strong enough, so she could only find words to say: "Why...are you here?" This is the inner courtyard of the Sheng Mansion, and the outside man

How did you get in?

Qi Heng's beautiful eyes slightly curved, and he smiled slightly and said: "After a few drinks, Brother Cheng asked me to rest in his study." He knew the path to Sheng's mansion, and Changbai's study was at the junction of the inner and outer courtyards, so he could go all the way.
To be continued...