Chapter 8 Chapter 8 Cousin

On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, the servants of the palace hung the calamus with mugwort leaves on the lintel early on.Looking at this familiar scene, I couldn't help but think of my previous life. I remembered that my parents also hung mugwort leaves and calamus on the door, pasted Zhong Kui's portrait, and made zongzi for me.Unexpectedly, in this dynasty that has been separated from my parents for hundreds of thousands of years, there is also the custom of hanging mugwort leaves and calamus to drive away evil spirits. However, I will never be able to eat the zongzi made by my parents. If I could choose again at that time, I would definitely not apply for the Academy of Fine Arts, and many things would not happen later. Unfortunately, there are not so many "ifs" in the world. , now I can only think about them silently in another time and space, and this is the only way...

I changed into an autumn-colored long-sleeved gown with narrow sleeves and long sleeves that Laixi had prepared early. I looked like an ordinary literati with high black hair, and Laixi also changed into men's clothes, pretending to be my bookboy. When we were about to go out, Li Qing saw Laixi and me in men's clothes. Although he was surprised, he didn't ask any further questions. I looked at him with satisfaction, and took Laixi out through the back door. Of the two people in the palace who are qualified to object to my behavior, one doesn't want to see me, and the other I can't see, so I'm naturally happy to be at ease.

The back door of Wangfu is a small path along the river, few people pass by, and when you walk to the end of the path, turn left and cross the bridge, you will gradually enter the lively street.The bustling crowds on the street grind their shoulders one after another, the cars are like running water, the horses are like a dragon, and the hawkers are shouting one after another. There are many shops on both sides of the street, and there are all kinds of goods that I have never seen before. The scenes that can be seen on TV are vividly placed in front of me, which makes me dizzy. Laixi next to me yelled to go to the west of the city early to take a seat to watch the dragon boat race. I was also full of expectations for this traditional custom in ancient times. We walked and watched with Laixi all the way to the west of the city.But when we arrived in the west of the city, there was already a sea of ​​people here, not to mention watching dragon boats, I didn't even have a chance to see what the river looked like.

"I don't know if there is still room in Moonwatch Tower." Laixi said suddenly. "Where is Moon Tower?" I asked her curiously. "I heard from others that Wangyue Tower is the tallest restaurant in the west of the city, and you can see the entire moat from the top floor." After hearing this, I was refreshed, and hurriedly urged Laixi to take me to Wangyue Tower.When we arrived at Wangyue Tower, the guy at the door told us that there was no room inside. Just as Laixi and I were standing at the door of the restaurant and were about to leave, a very luxurious carriage came head-on, with a big word "Xiang" rusted on the curtain of the door.

A middle-aged man dressed as a shopkeeper ran out of the restaurant, stood hunched over beside the carriage, and shouted, "Welcome, Young Master Sun." It was only after I saw this scene that I realized that this restaurant was actually opened by the Xiang family. The only famous Xiang family in the capital for business was my grandfather Xiang Qingtian's family.Could it be that the people in the carriage are some relatives of mine? A man in his mid-twenties came down from the carriage. He wore a sky-blue narrow-sleeved robe, a gold jade belt around his waist, and an emerald green jade pendant. He looked tall and handsome, with a dignified appearance.

I asked Laixi: "Did you bring out the jade pendant my grandfather gave me?" "Bring it, sister, didn't you tell me when you kept it for me, it can save money when you go out with it." Laixi replied hastily. When the shopkeeper of Wangyue Tower saw the jade pendant in my hand, his eyes were straightened. After a few seconds, he immediately came back to his senses. He quickly stood up from the counter and said to me enthusiastically: "Hi, sir, may I ask you?" What order?" "I want a table on the top floor." I directly explained my purpose. "Well, I'm really sorry, my lord. There are too many people coming to watch the dragon boat race today, and the seats are already full. Even my Young Master Sun reserved the last box for him after saying hello in advance." The shopkeeper said in a very embarrassing way. , His eyebrows were almost wrinkled into a pile.

"It doesn't matter, you show this jade pendant to your young master and say that I want to sit at the same table with him." I said confidently to the shopkeeper. About two minutes later, the shopkeeper came down from upstairs holding the jade pendant with a smile all over his face, and said to me, "Young Master Sun welcomes you." The shopkeeper led me to the door of a box, and I walked in with a smile on my face. The man I saw earlier was sitting by the window, the sunlight outside the window slanted on his face, clearly illuminating his sparse brows and bright eyes, as well as the doubt in his eyes .

"My name is Zhou Yunxin, do you remember me?" I said slowly after I sat down opposite him by the window. "You are," he stood up abruptly after hearing this, "You are my little aunt's daughter Yunxin? Princess Rong who married into the Prince's Mansion a few months ago?" "yes." "Grassman Xiang Yanqi sees Princess Rong." I was taken aback by his sudden actions. I didn't expect that even the family members would salute to me with the title of princess, but the man named Xiang Yanqi in front of me was also very serious. "Get up, we are all one family, don't do such a grand ceremony again." I hurriedly called him to get up, not used to so many etiquettes of the ancients.

"Thank you, Princess." He smiled, returned to his seat and sat down, and the servant next to him hurriedly served me tea. "Call me Yunxin, the princess sounds too awkward." I laughed. After hearing what I said, he was no longer polite, and said to me with a little respect: "Good Yunxin, I should be your first cousin, but because of your poor health when you were young and the death of your little aunt Early, we didn't have a chance to meet before, and later you became a princess, and you seem to be farther away from me, I never expected to see you today."

"I will visit you and grandpa when I have time in the future." "That would be great. I can meet your sister-in-law and nephew when I come home some other day." I nodded with a smile. "Try the most famous Jingshan Yunwu tea in our Wangyue Tower. This is the best variety of spring tea this year." I picked up the teacup on the table and smelled a faint scent of tea, but the tea in the cup was still cake tea, its color, shape and aroma were far worse than the fried green loose tea I drank in my previous life up. "Why don't you make loose tea?" I asked casually.

"Loose tea?" Xiang Yanqi looked at me suspiciously. Then I remembered the loose tea I drank before, the method of making it was invented in the Song Dynasty, and of course people in this time and space don’t know about it now. I immediately told Xiang Yanqi the advantages of loose tea and how to make it. Many people in my hometown pick tea and make tea, including my grandfather. I picked tea by myself when I was young, and learned how to make tea. So I explained to Xiang Yanqi very carefully, including how to make the frying pan. Xiang Yanqi sat across from me, his eyes became brighter the more he listened, and he was overwhelmed when he finally heard it, with an ecstatic expression on his face. "Yunxin, how do you know about this method? If it can be done, it will be an immortal creation, and our Xiang family will be the number one in the tea business in the country." Xiang Yanqi's eyes burst out with a strong light, and his eyes were full of admiration and gratitude when he stared at me. I was a little embarrassed to avoid his eager gaze, so I had no choice but to say that I read it from an ancient book. "To tell you the truth, the Xiang family's business has been hit hard in recent years. The method of loose tea you provide will be a turning point for our Xiang family." I thought that Xiang Qingtian took good care of Zhou Yunxin anyway, and I should be concerned about the situation of Xiang's family, so I asked what was going on. It turned out that four years ago, the Wei family in the city began to step into the business world on a large scale. With the support of the current Queen Mother Wei, they suppressed the business of the Xiang family everywhere. Zhou's family, who had no relationship with her, had little contact with Zhou Yunxin's mother after her death.In the past two years, the Wei family has become even more unscrupulous in doing things, and even spread rumors to maliciously slander the Xiang family in order to achieve their goals, making the Xiang family's business worse than before. After I heard it, I was very angry and said to Xiang Yanqi: "This method will definitely be successful, and the taste, shape and color are absolutely different from the existing tea leaves. You must keep the loose tea secret strictly. During the production process, a grand tea tasting party will be held when it is finally completed, so as to succeed in one fell swoop, and don't give the Wei family an opportunity." "When the time comes, you will be successful, Yunxin, you are the biggest contributor. How can you be my brother to thank you?" "If you really appreciate me, then agree to my two requests. First, declare to the public that loose tea was invented by you yourself. Second, help me find a shop facing the street." I said to Xiang Yanqi with a smile. Originally, the biggest purpose of my leaving the residence today was to find a suitable shop to open a shop, but now there is a perfect opportunity in front of me, it would be a pity if I didn't take advantage of it. "No problem, I can finish it within ten days, please tell me about the specific requirements." Xiang Yanqi readily agreed. I asked Laixi to get a pen and paper from the shopkeeper downstairs, wrote down the size of the shop I wanted, the location and the decoration of the shop, and then said to him: "At noon ten days later, I will I'll wait for you in this box, I won't come over in the middle, you can do as you see, it's probably not bad." "Don't worry, this is the first time my cousin has helped you with something, and you will definitely be satisfied." Xiang Yanqi became more and more comfortable talking to me, and the restraint at the beginning was also swept away. "Of course, you have to keep this matter a secret for me. I don't want people in the palace to know. After the shop opens, you have to declare that it is the business of the Xiang family, and help me find a trustworthy person to be the shopkeeper of this new shop. .” While nodding, Xiang Yanqi looked at me with great interest, a sparkle flashed in his eyes. "What's wrong?" I asked raising an eyebrow. "Yunxin, you are very different from what I imagined. I thought that you would become introverted, depressed and even weak because you were bedridden all year round and your little aunt died young. Who knew that when I saw you today, I realized that you are hearty and generous. , intelligent and confident, and not weak at all, but independent and assertive, not inferior to men." Xiang Yanqi said with a smile. At this time, there was a knock on the door, and the shopkeeper just heard asking outside: "Master Sun, is the food ready?" I looked out the window, the sun had already climbed to the top of my head, and Xiang Yanqi and I had been chatting for more than an hour. "Come on." Xiang Yanqi turned to me after instructing the shopkeeper, "The dragon boat race is about to start, and we can watch while eating. Looking out from this window, we can watch all the races on the river." clear." I turned my head and looked out the window, and I had a panoramic view of the moat. Several colorful dragon boats were moored on the river, and there were six shirtless men in short coats sitting on each dragon boat. After a while, there were three loud drums below, and the game officially started. The crowd on both sides of the bank began to shout non-stop, and the majestic sound wave was higher than the wave. Even the women joined the ranks of fierce shouting, and the scene was magnificent. When the first dragon boat crossed the finish line first, loud cheers came from the crowd, and many women even danced for joy. When all the dragon boats arrived one after another, many girls walked towards the first dragon boat that reached the finish line with water bags and silk handkerchiefs. From my height, it was clear that they were almost all heading for the same man, because The man was too far away from me and there were too many women around me, I couldn't see his face clearly, I just saw that he was tall, and although he was wearing the same short jacket as others, he stood out from the crowd (also Birds) group, very eye-catching. "He is the most talked about person in the streets and alleys in the past year. He is the son of the Imperial Tutor, and last year's top scholar, Yu Wujian." Xiang Yanqi seemed to have seen this outstanding scene, and said slowly to me. "I haven't heard of it." I answered him casually. "You haven't even heard of him!" Xiang Yanqi's eyes shone with inconceivable light, "This Yu Wujian is famous among the literati in the capital for his brilliant talents. Last year's palace examination won the emperor's admiration for a theory he wrote, and he was banned on the spot. Walking for the imperial study, I have the opportunity to contact the emperor every day. It can be said that the emperor has been a big hit in the past year. Many high-ranking officials and nobles have tried to please him, but it is rumored that he has a noble personality. Thank you behind closed doors." He paused and continued: "But these are not what he is most famous for. He is most famous for his appearance. It is rumored that countless women admire him because of his handsome and unrestrained appearance, even the current princess He also favors him a lot, you can see how popular he is by seeing so many women around him at the moment." "Why did he, the number one scholar, come to race the dragon boat?" Laixi was obviously interested in Xiang Yanqi's words, and the girl Huaichun was indeed true. "Speaking of which, I have to talk about another advantage of Yu Wujian." Xiang Yanqi said appreciatively, "He is very kind and generous, and the house has adopted many orphans. Today's dragon boat race, the Wei family promised to give The reward for the first place is 500 taels of silver, and Yu Wujian said before taking the servants of Yufu to participate in the competition that he would win the 500 taels of silver and donate it to the beggars on the street. Now he really won the competition , I don’t know how many women’s hearts are going to be captured on the shore.” Hearing this, my heart moved, and I suddenly thought of a way to clear up the negative rumors for the Xiang family, and it could also attack the Wei family openly.I explained this method to Xiang Yanqi, he nodded while listening, and said happily: "I will discuss this matter with Grandpa when I get back, and I will explain the situation to you in ten days." "Alright then, let's stop here today, and we'll talk about it next time we meet." I saw that the game was over, and I was about to leave Wangyue Tower after talking about things. Xiang Yanqi enthusiastically sent me downstairs, I refused his offer to take me in a carriage, and planned to walk back slowly with Laixi.I rushed over to watch the dragon boat race in the morning. There are still many places in the east market that I haven’t finished shopping. Now I just go back from the east, and I can do more shopping along the road.