Chapter 65 Bitterly teased

The guest came late, which made the hostess very unhappy.However, Liu Rushi didn't know that Dong Xiaowan, who was still waiting to go out in Taoyehe's room, was even more anxious and restless at the moment. It was really an unfortunate coincidence that this morning, just as she and her husband were getting dressed and ready to go on the road, Chen Zhenhui and Hou Fangyu happened to come to visit unexpectedly!At that time, Dong Xiaowan saw that it was still early, and Chen and Hou were not ordinary guests, so he retreated into the inner room sensibly, and waited at ease. "Today we have an appointment first, Mao Lang naturally knows what to do, and won't let the guests delay for too long." She comforted herself as she walked towards the dressing table.Facing the mirror, she examined the make-up on her face carefully again, and retouched the unsatisfactory parts. Then she picked up a copy of "The Collection of Fragrance Dresses" and read it patiently for a while. head.In the end, Ziyi came in and reported that the young master had gone out with the guests, and he didn't know where he was going.Dong Xiaowan felt that something was wrong.

To be honest, going to meet Qian Qianyi and Liu Rushi today is a long-awaited event for Dong Xiaowan.Because she will never forget that these two are her great benefactors.Back then when she was in Bantang, Suzhou, she was kidnapped by fierce creditors, and Liu Luding, who was entrusted by Mao Xiang to go to fetch her, was also at a loss what to do.If it wasn't for Qian and Liu who came forward to mediate for her, the marriage between her and Mao Xiang would have ended up in vain.What moved Dong Xiaowan even more was that afterward, Qian and Liu specially held a banquet on the boat in Huqiu, and invited a group of local celebrities to give her the wine in a grand farewell party.Therefore, for the two benefactors, Dong Xiaowan's inner gratitude is really indescribable.This time when she came to Nanjing and heard that Qian and Liu were also there, she was really surprised and happy, and immediately urged her husband to take her to see her. "Yes, in this lifetime, maybe I will not be able to repay. But I can always do it by saying hello to my benefactor a few more times, and kowtowing a few more times!" In addition to being excited, she said with tears in her eyes more than once.Now, this day finally came, but when it came time to go out, there was an unexpected delay. Why didn't this make Dong Xiaowan worried and anxious?

However, she was in a hurry, but she waited in the river room for more than an hour before Maoxiang came back.Dong Xiaowan wanted to ask what was the reason for the delay, but when she saw her husband's face was serious and preoccupied, she didn't dare to open her mouth. She just hurriedly greeted Maocheng and Ziyi, took gifts, and followed her husband out.In the middle of noon, he hurried to Qian Qianyi's mansion inside Hongwu Gate. Now, Gu Ling and Sun Yongzuo, who came out to greet the host on behalf of the master, have given way and led them to the flower hall.Seeing Qian Qianyi wearing a public uniform and waiting in front of the dripping eaves, Mao Xiang immediately stepped forward, saluted, and said: "My nephew was late due to other things, so I'm sorry." The old man is waiting, very disturbed, please forgive me!"

"Oh, why did my nephew say that? Today's meeting is for getting to know each other and reminiscing about the old days. There is no need to be formal. My nephew has answered the business on his own, and it's not too late to come!" Qian Qianyi put on a magnanimous look and smiled Said, "What's more, there is an old man here, so that the students can listen to the high-level talk quickly, and they don't even notice the shadow of the sun!" "I hope the old man will forgive me!" Mao Xiang apologized again, and then greeted Yang Wencong again, and then called Dong Xiaowan to come up and meet the master.

Dong Xiaowan has already prepared.She moved immediately, walked up to Qian Qianyi, knelt down on both knees, and kowtowed respectfully. Qian Qianyi was humble with a "hehe", and repeatedly told him not to be too polite.After Dong Xiaowan finished his four obeisances, asked for peace, and stood up again, he turned to Maoxiang, smiled and said: "Jun Neihe Dong hasn't seen Wanniang for a long time, and misses her very much. Just now, I have sent someone out to inquire about it a few times. Why don't you let Wanniang go in and see you first, so that she won't be in suspense."

"Oh, it should be so. Even the little nephew wants to see her!" Mao Xiang immediately agreed. Dong Xiaowan was naturally eager for this sentence.So, while Qian Qianyi was passing the message to the inner house, she hurriedly greeted Yang Wencong, Gu Ling, and Sun Yongzuo.When a mother came out from behind the screen, she immediately put on her purple clothes and followed each other to the inner house. "Ah, I'm going to meet Rushi's sister, and I'm going to see her soon! How wonderful and rare this is!" She thought excitedly and distractedly, "I haven't seen you for almost two years, I don't know how my sister is? Undoubtedly , Mr. Qian is finally in charge now, and she is proud to be a grand uncle! This is a good man who will be rewarded, and the gods protect him! Hey, happy, I am so happy for her! But today I came late, let the master I've been waiting for a long time. This is not good, really not good! Fortunately, Master Qian didn't blame me, or else..."

Dong Xiaowan hurried forward while thinking.She walked so fast and thought so intently that she didn't even notice that the mother surnamed Li led her through several doors and turned several corners, and she didn't distract herself from looking at the surrounding scenery and houses.It wasn't until her eyes suddenly lit up that she was already in a spacious garden that she came back to her senses. This is exactly the back garden that Liu Rushi spent a lot of time tidying up and arranging.It's late autumn, and although the flowers and trees in the garden are not as colorful and luxuriant as in spring and summer, they still look lush and lush because of the warm weather and the fact that there are many tall pines and cypresses supporting the scene.What's more, the owner specially added pots of chrysanthemums beside the scattered rocks, fences, and watersides. Those yellow and white flowers with mixed postures are blooming in full bloom in the sunny sunshine. , which added a different kind of vitality to the whole garden.However, even for these, Dong Xiaowan has no intention of watching them right now.She followed Mama Li who was leading the way, and walked along the winding brick-embedded path for a while, until she came to a small soil slope shaded by green trees, and suddenly heard a faint and crisp laughter coming from above. "Ah, Rushi sister! So, Rushi sister is on the top!" Dong Xiaowan suddenly became excited, and without waiting for Li Ma to lead her up the stone steps, she kept heading towards the direction where the laughter came from just now— Go to an octagonal pavilion.

This is a quite spacious pavilion, with dark brown columns, scarlet railings, a round stone table in the center, and several stone plinths for resting.Today, the table is full of cups, plates, bowls, and cups, as well as many leftover fruits, snacks, melon seeds, etc., and a Qiansha sweat towel is left on the ground.However, what was strange was that the seats were empty, not only were there no Liu Rushi and her female guests, even the serving maids were gone.There are only a few sparrows, jumping between the dishes, pecking at the unattended food hastily and vigilantly, once they find Dong Xiaowan approaching, they make a short chirp, flap their wings, and fly up to the green branches head went. "Hey, I clearly heard them talking just now, why did they disappear in a blink of an eye?" Dong Xiaowan thought in confusion, turned around involuntarily, and looked around.

At this time, Mama Li had already followed, and she was also stunned when she saw this scene: "Could it be that my wife and guests are tired of sitting, and they all went to the garden to relax and play?" She guessed. "But, why didn't we bump into each other along the way?" Ziyi asked a question beside him. "Oh, the girl doesn't know. There is a road behind this pavilion. My wife must have gone down there." Dong Xiaowan quickly said: "Then, I will trouble my mother to lead the way, and we will go find them." When Li Ma moved her steps, she and Ziyi followed as usual, bypassing the pavilion, descending the other stone steps down the slope, and began to search around along the path in the garden.

It was only at this time that Dong Xiaowan realized that although the garden was not very large, its layout was quite unique.Especially on the east side, there are corridors within corridors, rockeries upon rockeries, and trees and fences. When people walk into it, they often disappear after ten or eight steps, so it is not easy to search for it. easy.She followed Li Ma around for a while, but she still didn't find Liu Rushi's whereabouts. Later, she ran into a little maid and told them that Mrs. Liu led the guests to Xiyuxuan to see the red crane.They rushed over in a hurry. Came to Xiyuxuan, but did not see him again.According to the maid who kept the cranes, Mrs. Liu had been away for a while, and she heard vaguely that she was going to watch fish or something.When Li Ma heard this, she didn't dare to delay, she led Dong Xiaowan back quickly, turned to the left halfway, passed a stone bridge, turned to the left again, and turned from a corridor, only to see a On the small flat ground, there is a green pool inlaid, surrounded by stone lotus column railings.In the pool, a group of goldfish are swimming leisurely.Their vermilion scales are vivid and pleasing to the eye in the midday sun.However, to Dong Xiaowan's disappointment, even here, there is still no sign of Liu Rushi and others.At this moment, beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, and her legs were sore and limp.In addition, since this morning, I haven't eaten for several hours, and my stomach is also a little rumbling.Seeing a stone bench next to the pool, she walked over and sat down.Just after wiping off her sweat, she suddenly thought: I am already late today, if I don't find the owner quickly, wouldn't it be even more impolite? "Hey, don't forget, if my sister is your great benefactor, how can you feel negligent when you are tired!" As soon as this kind of self-blame flashed, she immediately mustered up her strength, stood up again, greeted Li Ma and Ziyi, Going to continue looking elsewhere.

"Hey, okay, okay, I found it!" Mama Li suddenly called out.Because of being happy, a strange light shone in her squinted old eyes, and all the wrinkles on her face trembled accordingly. Dong Xiaowan turned her head quickly, and her urgency suddenly became relaxed.Because she saw Bian Saisai, Hui Xiang, Ma Wanrong, and a middle-aged woman she didn't know coming out of a small pavilion opposite the pool. "Of course, if my sister is with them, then I will see her!" Dong Xiaowan couldn't help opening her eyes wide in surprise, trying her best to search for them among the crowd, and at the same time excitedly went up to her, and greeted her: "Sisters, it turns out that you are here, but you teach the girls..." "Hush—" Several women on the opposite side waved their hands and stopped her together, the expressions on their faces were both solemn and mysterious. Dong Xiaowan was startled slightly, but swallowed involuntarily. "What?" She approached and asked in a low voice, puzzled. "If my sister just drank a few more glasses of wine, she's sleepy. She's falling asleep in the pavilion right now!" Hui Xiang said, with a slightly calm expression. "Then, girl, go in and have a look at her." Hui Xiang glanced at her sideways: "You are the first-class guest today, let's see, who dares to stop you? Just please. However, I will not accompany you." "Where are the sisters going?" "Where are you going? You can go anywhere! Besides, we came early in the morning and have been with Rushi sister for half a day. Now that the distinguished guests are coming, we should give up our seats!" Hearing the thorn in Huixiang's words, Dong Xiaowan couldn't help but blush a little, but still determined to see Liu Rushi as soon as possible.She folded her sleeves around her waist, saluted everyone one by one, and figured out that the middle-aged woman, who was not good-looking but had a clear look in her eyes, turned out to be a well-known woman. After the poet Huang Jieling, she turned around and hurried towards Xiaoxuan. "Hey, Xiaowan!" After walking seven or eight steps, she suddenly heard Bian Saisai calling from behind, Dong Xiaowan didn't know what was going on, so she stopped and turned her face away. "Xiaowan," Bian Saisai approached, put his mouth close to his friend's ear, and said in a low voice, "You came too late today, so my sister is very upset. She was in the pavilion just now, and she knew you were here. But he took us away on purpose so that you could find her easily. When you see her later, you have to pay attention, eh! Got it?" After such a warning, Bian Saisai left her and followed Hui Xiang's group, hurried away. Dong Xiaowan was in a daze as if waking up from a dream. "Ah, so that's how it is... Yes, I'm really wrong today, no wonder my sister is angry. What should I do? How should I explain it to her? Let's say that there was a temporary visitor at home, and Mao Lang went out with him, but Isn't it obvious that there is an appointment first? No, no, no matter what, I can't assign the wrong to Maolang! But if I don't do this, how can I make it clear? If I just think it's because of my delay, wouldn't I Make my sister even more angry? Wouldn’t things be worse?” The more Dong Xiaowan thought about it, the more panicked and anxious she felt, she hurriedly took steps and continued walking towards Xiaoxuan. The small pavilion named "Sixia Pavilion" is very quiet, there is no sound at all.It seemed that Liu Rushi really fell asleep.Dong Xiaowan listened through the curtain, but she didn't dare to rush in, so she had to retreat.At this moment, Li Ma, who was leading the way, had been deliberately taken away by Hui Xiang and the others, and there was not even a single person who could inquire.Dong Xiaowan had no choice but to gesture to Ziyi, and then sat down in front of the stone steps.She secretly hoped that when Liu Rushi's maid came out to inquire, she would ask them to try to report.So, even though she was extremely anxious, and the feeling of hunger in her stomach became more and more obvious, she still insisted on waiting patiently.However, waiting and waiting, I found that something was wrong.At first, for a long time, there was silence in the curtain, and there was no sound at all.Later, there was finally the sound of small footsteps—it was clear that someone passed by the door more than once, but for some reason, they never came out to ask.Dong Xiaowan was thirsty and hungry, and already felt unbearable, plus she was afraid of further delay, and Liu Rushi's dissatisfaction might be even worse. "Well, could it be that the people inside saw us sitting on the steps and thought they were maids and servants at home, so they didn't care?" Thinking of this, Dong Xiaowan quickly stood up, and when someone passed by the curtain again, she gently call: "Sister, sister!" The figure in the curtain stopped, but he didn't agree immediately, as if he was thinking about something; after a while, he gently opened the curtain and walked out.It turned out to be Liu Rushi's close maid, Hongqing. Dong Xiaowan knew Hongqing when she was still in Suzhou, and now she is like a savior.She quickly nodded in greeting, then asked with an apologetic smile, "Sister, your wife—" Hongqing immediately shook her hand, stopped her, and whispered: "Hey, my wife is asleep in the back room!" "But……" "My wife told me that she is going to take a lunch break. No matter who comes, don't disturb her." Dong Xiaowan was stunned for a moment: "Then—I don't know when your wife will wake up?" "Oh, my wife doesn't sleep long either." Hongqing replied lightly, "If it's on weekdays, it's time to get up by now. It's just that she drank two glasses of wine today, so she might wake up a little later. Well, in half a day In an hour, it's all over!"