Chapter 141 Chapter Fifteen

The Zhuge Mansion is called a mansion, but in fact it is a huge manor with a radius of more than ten miles. Everyone knows that the Zhuge family is rich, but those who have not seen it with their own eyes will never be able to imagine what kind of wealth it is. Zhu Jinpu's floor is just a rumor spread outside, and a wealthy family that has lasted for three hundred years will never use such an upstart method to show their wealth. Walking in the Zhuge Mansion, you can see all the ordinary scenery everywhere. There is no wine warm pool, egret meat forest, and gold brick pavement and white jade wall. However, visitors should not be careless, because they may step on a piece The stone is the millennium spar in the Tianchi crater. Even though it is snowy outside, the stone is still warm and melting. When the snow falls, there is no need to clean it, and it will naturally turn into clear water.

And such a rare treasure in Zhuge Mansion is just a stone in the garden. Xiaohong is only thirteen years old this year. Because of her young age, she only does some watering and cleaning in the greenhouse.Today, there are many people coming and going in the house, and there are not enough servants, so they called her to the upper room. Huan'er, as the big maid of Qingshan Courtyard, led a group of small maids to rush around. At noon, the guests They finally arrived one by one. Looking at Zhuge's Mansion from afar, one can see curling eaves, red walls and green tiles, Guanghua colored glaze like dazzling gold foil in the sun, and the attics are well-arranged.

Today, it is a gathering of young ladies from aristocratic families in the city, with Zhuge's patriarch Fang San as the host, Miss General Le Xing's Mansion, Miss General Meng Tian's Mansion, the daughter of Lord Wei, Secretary of the Ministry of Officials, Miss Biao of Lingnan Mu Mansion, The young lady of the Wei Clan and the eldest lady of the Dongyue merchants will all come, and hearing that the granddaughter of King Laijing will also come, it really is a hundred flowers blooming. Early in the morning, Zhuge’s mansion was decorated with lanterns and festoons. It was necessary to look grand and elegant, but not too extravagant and vulgar. The eldest lady brought a few young ladies to host together. At the Tingxiang Pavilion where guests are entertained, within a short while, the ladies from all the prefectures have arrived one by one, they are really competing for beauty.

These daughters of rich gold gather together for nothing more than a few playthings, reciting poems and painting, embroidering and admiring flowers. It is rare that the Zhuge family has the heart. Even in such a winter, they still cultivate many potted plants that are not in season. , adding a bit of fun.Xiaohong usually takes care of these flowers and plants, and now she is acting as an explanation. I saw a 28-year-old lady pointing to a pot of thin white and yellow chrysanthemums, and asked with interest: "What kind of flower is this?" Xiao Hong lowered her head and said in a low voice: "Miss Hui, this flower is called Chu Yao."

"Chu Yao?" Le Wanyi, the lady of General Le Xing's residence, put down the teacup, raised her head and asked, "Why did you come up with such a strange name?" Xiaohong is not very old, she is already lively, and she introduced to the girls in a pretty way: "This pot of Yuedi thin chrysanthemum was planted by our young master himself, watered with water without roots, cultivated with red pine soil on Baihua Mountain, When the flowers bloom, there are three colors. If the solar terms are right, they can bloom five colors. The young master said that there are many hills and ravines in the land, and it is also called rings. Cai: The more rings there are, the more rings there are chrysanthemums, and the Chu Yao does not know where it goes. So this flower is called Chu Yao.”

"Your young master is really caring. It's just a potted flower, but you actually gave him such an elegant name." Le Wanyi smiled lightly, gentle and graceful, worthy of her name of Shu Wan who is well-known in the capital. Miss Wei Qianqian knocked a melon seed, her red lips were bright red, she turned around and said, "There are so many young masters in your family, which one are you talking about?" Xiaohong replied: "Of course it's the fourth young master. Except for the fourth young master, the other young masters in the mansion don't like to grow flowers."

When the ladies heard this, their complexions were different, Le Wanyi's eyes flashed lightly, her fingers brushed her waist, and she remained silent.Wei Qianqian snorted disdainfully, lowered her head and continued eating melon seeds. Miss Meng's family is only fifteen years old this year. She was born in the Wu family, and she was young and active. When she heard this, she came up and pointed to a pot of white orchids with a smile and asked: "What about this pot? What's it called?" Seeing Miss Wei's complexion, Xiaohong was slightly frightened, and whispered, "This pot is called Yuqiong."

Miss Meng's family pouted cutely, and asked, "Do you want to be poor for thousands of miles?" Xiaohong shook her head: "Where is the jade flute, the sky is like water, and the Qionghua is as white as ice overnight. The white orchid is produced in Tianshui, and the leaves are green in summer and white in the evening. The peanuts are born in the summer, and they are all white for five or six months a year, isn't it?" Is it like jade?" "What a clever girl." Mrs. Wei's daughter said with a smile: "You are young, but you are quite talented."

Xiao Hong said politely: "I don't know what it means, I just spent too much time in the greenhouse, so I will remember what the young master said." Miss Meng's face was red, and she was looking for strange potted plants all over the ground, and suddenly saw one, and asked quickly: "Then what about this one?" This is a first-class large bonsai. Below it is an asparagus bamboo, which is green and green. A small vine is planted in the same pot as it. The thin vine climbs up and along the rhizome of the asparagus bamboo, but the The higher you climb, the more you gradually leave the trunk of the asparagus bamboo, and climb up to a higher plant of yellow chan. In the fragrance of the yellow chan, a star of small red flowers blooms, which is fragrant and very delicate.

Xiao Hong was slightly taken aback, she didn't expect the servants to bring this potted flower, bit her lip slightly, and said softly: "In Miss Meng's words, this potted flower is called Xiao Lang." "Xiao Lang?" Miss Meng blinked her big eyes and asked in confusion, "It's just a potted flower, why is it called someone's name?" Miss Le Jia sighed slightly, and said softly: "As soon as you enter the palace gate, it's as deep as the sea, and from then on Xiao Lang is a passerby." As soon as this remark came out, everyone was stunned and stared at it, but they saw that although the asparagus bamboo was handsome, it couldn't help but look a bit bleak. Although the small flowers on the vine were pretty, they bloomed among the branches and leaves of Huang Chan.

The third lady of Zhuge's family frowned when she saw it, and said quickly: "This flower is a bonsai more than ten years ago, it's not newly planted, and I don't know what stupid thing brought it here to make everyone laugh." Jing Yanyi didn't speak all the time. Hearing the words, she smiled slightly and said, "More than ten years ago, wasn't it the time when the cousin of your mansion got married? At the beginning, the Fourth Young Master stopped the wedding sedan chair in the street, but after failing, he joined the army at the age of weak crown Wu, he was famous all over the capital for a while." Miss Meng turned her head and asked, "Sister Yanyi, why don't I know what to stop the sedan chair?" Jing Yanyi is nineteen years old this year, and she is the younger sister of Prince Jing Han's biological sister. She came to Beijing this time for the purpose of marrying her.She pinched Miss Meng's cheek and said with a smile: "You were still young at that time." Even if you haven't seen it with your own eyes, most of the ladies have heard about the romantic affair. In order to prevent Su Houhou from marrying into Helian's family, the fourth young master of the Zhuge Mansion brought people and horses to stop the wedding sedan chair, and even killed Helian, who was powerful at the time. Ming was beaten up in the street, if it wasn't for being reprimanded by Su Huhou, it would have almost caused a catastrophe.But even so, he was still punished, and was expelled from Martial Arts Hall for half a year, and joined the army. If he hadn't suffered a serious illness from dampness in the northeast swamp, he would not have returned home. Jing Yanyi's soft voice floated gently in the room, the past was like smoky water, quiet like clouds, and floating like Bai Lian. Miss Meng said rather obsessively: "It's a pity, I didn't see that scene back then, that Su Huhou must be a peerless beauty." "What beauty?" Wei Qianqian said disdainfully: "The Helian's tree fell and the monkeys scattered. She is now a pariah. If you want to see her, it's not difficult, just don't be disappointed." Miss Meng seemed to dislike Wei Qianqian very much, she gave her a look and said, "You must be jealous of him." "I'm jealous of her?" Wei Qianqian raised her eyebrows, and said coldly: "A poor family and untouchables got lucky enough to climb a high branch, but they were promiscuous and flamboyant, but the bamboo basket was empty. Talking about such a person, I just lost my status. Let's talk about her The tall branches I climbed may not be able to catch my eyes." "Can't catch your eyes?" Miss Meng muttered in a low voice: "If you can't catch your eyes, why are you here today?" As soon as the voice fell, there was a sudden sound of footsteps outside the door. With a sway of the curtain, a tall and slender figure walked in. The man was tall and tall, wearing a loose moon-white gown with splashed ink and flowing water and cloud patterns, with sculpted eyebrows and starry eyes. Handsome and tall, standing at the door, he was stunned for a moment when he saw the room full of flowers. "Fourth brother, you are here!" Third Miss was the third among the young ladies, but she was several years younger than Zhuge Yue, when she saw him, she hurriedly came forward with a smile and said, "Father said you are leaving soon, have you packed your luggage yet? " Zhuge Yue's cold eyes flicked over Zhuge Qing's body, and said indifferently, "Are you looking for me?" Zhuge Qing was a little nervous, Zhuge Yue was never close to his brothers and sisters at home, and she was no exception, but at this moment she had to pretend to be close, stepped forward, embraced his arms, and said with a smile: "I'll introduce you to some rare beauties who are rare in a year. They are all Qing'er's friends." "Sister Qing, I'm not a beauty." Miss Meng stepped forward with a smile, bowed her head and saluted, and said with a smile: "Sister Qing calls you fourth brother, and Xiaoxiao also calls you fourth brother, okay?" The girl's face was flushed, she was cute and cute, but Zhuge Yue didn't buy it, her face remained unchanged, she took a step back, and said calmly, "Hello, Miss Meng." Miss Meng was taken aback for a moment, slightly aggrieved, pouted at a loss. Zhuge Qing was about to speak, but Zhuge Yue said: "You ladies are polite. Zhuge Yue didn't know that you were here, so he didn't want to disturb you. He was really frightened. Please sit down and take your leave." After finishing speaking, he turned around and backed out, leaving behind a room full of young ladies staring at each other, unable to recover for a long time. In the evening, Xiaohong properly arranged the flower pots in the flower room, she was so tired that she was sweating profusely, she stood up and turned her head, but saw Zhuge Yue standing behind her, the little girl was startled, and said hastily: " Greetings to the young master." But seeing Zhuge Yue didn't even look at her, he went straight to the pot of "Xiao Lang", stretched out his hand and pulled up the vine by the roots, and threw it into Huang Chan's flower pot, leaving only a asparagus There alone, the wind blew and swayed. The next day, I heard that the seventh prince, Zhao Che, had left the capital to go to Yanming Pass. The Zhuge family cooperated with the Ministry of Food and War to coordinate food, grass and weapons. Zhuge Yue traveled to the two departments every day, returning late at night, and often had to be busy until dawn when he returned. It took me a while to sleep, and I was obviously haggard after a few days. Within two days, Mrs. Wei's house first delivered a soup of lotus seeds and beards. It is said that Miss Wei cooked it herself with great care.Zhuge Yue had just gotten up when he was sent to the Qingshan Courtyard, and Huan'er reluctantly sent the things that the young lady cooked with her own hands into the bedroom. After hearing the maid of the Wei Mansion muttering on the phone, Zhuge Yue didn't even respond. , Changed his clothes, cleaned his face, ate a mouthful of food, and went out without even looking at the Zhenxu soup. Unexpectedly, this was just the beginning, and then, several young ladies who were present that day sent items to the mansion one after another, handkerchiefs, purses, fan pendants, all personal items, even the Miss Wei family who had always been disdainful also brought something.However, Miss Meng's family, who was once snubbed by Zhuge Yue in person, was even more persistent. She gave food and embroidery for several days, and finally gave away a rare sword. It is said that she stole it from her grandfather, General Mengtian. He came here, and almost got a beating for this. In short, gradually, even a little girl like Xiao Hong who was late to the scene realized that the banquet that day was actually to choose a relative for the fourth young master, no wonder the young master's face was so ugly. Huan'er and the other maidservants who had stayed in the yard for a long time smiled coldly all day long, looking at the things sent by those daughters of gold, from time to time they would come up with a sour sentence wishful thinking, but Xiaohong said in her heart: Those young ladies In fact, they are all good, especially the young lady of the Le family, Master Jing Weng, and the young lady of the Meng family, who are also very cute, but I don't know what kind of people the young master likes. The proclamation from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture has finally been approved, and one day later, the young master will go north.Qingshan Courtyard was busy for half a day, and Huan'er took the maids to simplify and streamline the things that the young master would bring on the trip, and finally sorted out two large carts, but Yue Qi took a look at it, and finally waved his hand: "The young master said, everything From Jane, you don’t need to bring any more.” Huan'er was so angry that she had tears in her eyes, and she said tearfully, "It's so cold in the north, why don't you bring anything with you, if Xing'er is here..." She stopped talking when she said this, Xiaohong felt a little strange, but seeing Yue Qi's face was not very good-looking, she didn't ask.After the maids dispersed, she grabbed a big maid who entered the door a little earlier, and asked, "Sister Xi'er, who is Xing'er?" Qingxi shook her head and said, "I don't know, I just heard sister Huan'er say a few times that she seems to be a maid from the past, and I don't know why she left." "Oh." Xiao Hong nodded, there are too many maids in Zhuge Mansion, this Xing'er must be a very favored maid. That night, Zhuge Yue came back very late, but he was still called to the upper room by the master. It was already three o'clock when he came back, and the servants were all waiting under the porter's room. Seeing him back, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Huan'er hastily ran forward to order a cloak for Zhuge Yue, and immediately smelled a pungent alcohol smell, and couldn't help being slightly taken aback, Zhuge Yue seldom drank, once he drank, it meant he was in a bad mood.Huan'er said cautiously: "Master, go back to your room and rest." Zhuge Yue didn't say a word, and went straight into the greenhouse. The servants didn't know whether they should follow in, and stood outside waiting stupidly.After waiting for a long time and seeing that he had no intention of coming out, Huan'er finally said: "Everyone go back, not everyone can enter the greenhouse, Xiaohong, the young master will be taken care of by you tonight." Xiaohong suddenly felt that she shouldered a heavy responsibility, and nodded solemnly. Zhuge Yue was really drunk, and fell down on the cool bamboo couch in the greenhouse, Xiao Hong was afraid that he would be cold, so she hurried forward and covered him with a blanket, but she smelled very heavy of alcohol, obviously the young master had drunk. The little maid half-kneeled on the ground, she was a little crazy for a while.She had never looked at the young master so closely, and even when she saw him, she kept her head down, and occasionally raised her head to take a sneak peek at his back. The young master looks so good-looking!The little servant girl blinked her big eyes, and sighed vigorously in her heart, no wonder those ladies from aristocratic families rushed to catch up after being neglected by the young master.The young master is different from other young masters of the aristocratic family, he does not have the extravagance of the clan, he is not like those rosy young men who recite poems all day long, nor is he like a vulgar and ignorant warrior, this man has the economy and conversation of a literati , and the sharpness and coldness of a general.He is high above and difficult to approach, but he is not as rich and noble as the eldest son and the second son.Although Xiaohong is young, she can distinguish temperament. For some people, you need to know his status to be in awe of him, while for some people, he is born to be looked up to. The little servant girl looked at her, feeling drowsy, and fell asleep lying there. In the morning, she suddenly heard a sound in her ear, she had not slept deeply, so she got up immediately.But Zhuge Yue was sitting there, eyes still open, yawning, looking sleepy. Xiaohong was a little stunned, her face was flushed, she didn't expect the young master to have such a human side, which was quite different from what she usually saw. But Zhuge Yue yawned and said in a daze, "Xing'er, go get a cup of tea." "yes." Xiaohong quickly agreed, and ran to pour a cup of tea. Zhuge Yue seemed to wake up a lot after drinking it. He stood up and moved his body, opened the door and went out. Huan'er and other maids were already waiting outside. . Xiaohong stood at the door stupidly, suddenly a little stunned, what did the young master call her just now?She didn't hear clearly, presumably even the young master himself didn't pay attention. The sun is shining outside, it is a sunny day. Zhu Yu, the chief housekeeper of the Changfu, was standing in the yard with a smile on his face, his face was full of wrinkles. Zhu Cheng was Zhu Yu's grandson, and he was standing beside him with his back hunched over at the moment. In addition, he always looked old-fashioned, and he looked like an old man. Like a little old man. "Fourth young master, the master asked me to ask you, have you thought about it?" After Zhuge Yue washed his face, he sat in the square hall and had breakfast, without looking up, he sipped the soup and said, "Where's the stuff?" Zhu Yuyue hurriedly stepped forward holding a gold plate, in which were the portraits of several young ladies and birthday samples. Zhuge Yue didn't even look at it, he just picked one and threw it into Zhu Cheng's arms.Zhu Cheng quickly caught it, opened it, and said with a smile, "It's General Le Xing's youngest daughter, Le Wanyi. This servant is here to congratulate the young master first." Zhuge Yue picked up the handkerchief and wiped his mouth, then Huo Di stood up and said to Yue Qi, "Go to the Ministry of War." That afternoon, Zhuge Yue, the fourth young master of the Zhuge Clan, rushed to Yanming Pass accompanied by the army. Behind him was the 300,000 deniers of grain and grass for Zhao Che's army at Yanming Pass.At this point, Daxia's preparations for the battle against Yanbei are more than half complete.