Butcher Zheng took the whetstone from under her feet, straightened up, turned and left without looking at her again.
The middle-aged woman looked pale and said in a trembling voice: "Who are you? Why do you know about Wan Gu Sect? You are Daliang..."
Butcher Zheng waved his hand and said: "It's all in the past..."
He went out, closed the door of the woodshed, and when he came to the courtyard, he could no longer hear the sound inside.
Tangning looked at him and asked, "What is the woman calling?"
Butcher Zheng said: "Maybe the rope is tied too tight. Let someone loosen it for her so that she can retain some dignity of a master."
When Lao Zheng opened his mouth to plead for mercy, it was like an iron tree blooming. It was a rare sight. Tang Ning reached out to call Chen Zhou and said, "Go and help her loosen her hair and change the binding method."
When he walked to the yard where Zhao Man was, she and Tang Shui stood in the yard and ran over and said, "My cousin just taught me a trick, do you want to take a look..."
Ever since Wan Yanyan gave her whip to Zhao Man, she has completely gone astray. Tang Ning doesn't want her to go back to the right path. She just hopes that she can keep her feet on the ground and practice whipping skills well, and never go down the same path again.
Take a different path.
It's already October in Kyoto.
People are forgetful. There are new things happening in Kyoto every day. As the end of the year approaches, few people remember what happened at the beginning of the year.
When Princess Pingyang got married, it was a sensation in Beijing. However, more than half a year later, if someone hadn't deliberately mentioned it, the people would have forgotten the grand event when the princess left Beijing in early March.
The officials of the Ministry of Rites will naturally not forget it, because today is the day when the princess returns to Beijing.
The last Emperor of Chu passed away suddenly, deposed the crown prince before his death, and the marriage between the two countries was annulled. The mission set out from Kyoto of Chu more than two months ago and arrived today.
The Ancestral Department, the Food Department, the Host and Guest Department, and the three doctors personally went out of the city to greet him. Standing at the gate of the city, the faces of the three of them were equally gloomy.
The doctor from the temple sighed and said, "He is back after all."
The doctor in the dining department looked worried and sighed: "What should we do..."
"How about..." The host and guest thought for a while and said, "Let's take a month's leave first?"
The chef from the dining department hesitated and said, "If the three of us take leave at the same time, I'm afraid it will arouse criticism. Isn't that bad?"
"Is it more important not to cause criticism or to have a future and a small life?" The doctor of the Ministry of Etiquette shook his head and said: "Have you forgotten how he became the wedding messenger half a year ago? What happened to the previous doctor of the Ministry of Etiquette?
Have you forgotten it too?”
A temporary head of the Ministry of Etiquette naturally cannot be a wedding messenger, but he just stepped on their bodies and sat in that position. Before leaving, he had been appointed as the doctor of the Ministry of Etiquette by His Majesty. When he came back this time, the three of them
Wouldn’t it make the same mistake again?
The doctor of the ancestral temple waved his hand and said: "I don't care whether there is any criticism or not. I will take leave when I get back soon. When he leaves the Ministry of Rites, I will come back!"
The chef in the dining room thought for a while, then gritted his teeth and said, "Me too!"
The host and guest hesitated for a moment, and then said the same: "I'll find Mr. Liu when I get back."
The three of them talked quietly again, and suddenly there was a burst of noise from the crowd behind them.
They looked up and saw a black line at the end of their sight.
Among the crowd at the city gate, someone shouted loudly: "The princess has returned to the capital!"
…
Tang Ning stood at the gate of the city and did some mental calculations. More than half a year ago, the mission took more than three months from the capital to the capital of Chu State. When it came back, it only took two and a half months.
This is because on the way back, they did not stop when they encountered the city and traveled almost continuously for days. If they had not been delayed for a few days due to the rebellion in Chu State, it would have been faster.
All in all, they actually spent most of their time on the road on their mission.
After returning to the capital, officials from the Ministry of Rites have already greeted you at the city gate, and then you will go directly to the palace to report to the emperor.
It was past noon when they arrived in Beijing, and the morning court had already ended. The place where Emperor Chen received them was the Imperial Study Room.
Tang Ning and Lu Teng He Rui walked in and bowed at the same time: "Your Majesty, I am here to attend!"
Chen Huang looked at them, nodded and said: "No courtesy."
Tang Ning did not straighten up, but cupped her fists and said, "I have betrayed your majesty's great trust and the trust of the court. Please forgive me!"
Lu Teng and He Rui also bowed at the same time and said: "Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
Emperor Chen waved his hand and said: "Even I didn't expect that such a big change would happen to Chu State in the past six months. I don't blame you for this, so I'll forgive you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Tang Ning cupped her hands, stood up straight, took something out of her sleeve, handed it over, and said, "Your Majesty, this is the credential sent by the current Emperor of Chu. Please take a look at it."
Immediately a eunuch came forward, took the certificate of credence from his hand, and presented it to him.
Although the credential is a very serious thing and needs to be presented in person after he returns to Beijing, the content of the credential was actually sent back before they arrived in Beijing.
Emperor Chen glanced at it, put it down, and said with a complex expression: "Today's Chu State is no longer the minister of Chen State I used to be..."
The atmosphere in the hall was a bit dull until a figure ran in from outside the hall.
"Father, father..." Zhao Man ran to Emperor Chen and said aggrievedly: "I thought I would never see my father again!"
The moment he saw her, the expression on Chen Huang's face showed a moment of regret, and then a hint of happiness and relief. Finally, it turned into a smile and said: "Man'er has worked hard on this journey..."
Zhao Man grabbed his sleeve and said: "Man'er doesn't want to go so far away. Man'er wants to stay in Kyoto to accompany his father all his life..."
"Okay." Emperor Chen nodded with a smile and said, "I will have your Changning Palace tidied up again..."
Zhao Man shook her head and said: "Father, Man'er has grown up. It is against etiquette to live in the palace anymore. I'd better live in the princess mansion outside the palace. I will still come to the palace to accompany my father often...
…”
"That's fine." Chen Huang looked down and said, "I'm going to talk to Man'er. You guys should step back first."
Tang Ning's heart had already flown home. She was just waiting for his words. After hearing these words, she immediately cupped her hands and said, "I'm leaving."
When he was about to leave, he saw Zhao Man turning his back to Chen Huang, blinked at him, and said in a mouthful: "Wait for me..."
The carriage was already waiting at the entrance of the palace. As it drove all the way to the entrance of the Tang Mansion, Tang Ning got off the carriage and saw a group of figures waiting at the door.
He walked forward, looked at the two women standing at the front, opened his arms, and whispered: "I'm back."
Two little girls, Xiaoxiao and Fang Xinyue, stood behind them, with smiles on their faces. Butcher Zheng stood aside holding his daughter, covering her eyes with his hand, and said, "Nanny, don't look."
…
Lying on the bed in the morning, with his arms around Xiao Yi and Xiao Rushi, Tang Ning once again deeply realized that no matter how high an official he was, he would never do such a big thing with his arms around two ladies like this.
happiness.
Zhong Yi struggled up from the bed and said with a blushing face: "Mr. sir, it's almost noon. We have to get up quickly, otherwise others will laugh at us."
Su Ru also wanted to get up, but Tang Ning's arms hugged them tighter and said, "This is the Tang Mansion, who dares to laugh?"
Zhong Yi lowered his head and whispered: "My parents said last night that they would come over in the morning..."
Judging from the light coming out of the window, it was already noon, which meant that the father-in-law and mother-in-law had been waiting all morning. No matter how thick-skinned Tangning was, she still felt embarrassed.
It was already three o'clock in the morning, and the two of them were too embarrassed to go out and ask the maid to come in after getting dressed. After washing themselves, they sat in front of the dressing table and dressed themselves.
"I'll do it." Tangning walked over, took the eyebrow pencil from Zhong Yi's hand, and gently helped her draw her eyebrows.
More than half a year ago, when I first helped her draw her eyebrows, she was still coy, but later she became more generous. This can be regarded as a kind of friendship between them.
After helping her paint, he started helping Xiao Ru paint again.
Zhong Yi sat in front of the bronze mirror, looked in the mirror carefully, looked at Tang Ning, and said doubtfully: "My husband has been away for a few months, and his eyebrow painting skills seem to have improved a lot..."
