A Lady’s Tranquility - Chapter 19

Chapter 019 Disappointment

This question has been circling in Jiang Xuening’s mind all night without an answer.

　　Hearing that, when the news about the candidate for companion reading reached Jiang Xuehui, she was silent for a long time.
But neither noisy nor noisy.
Her sister, it seemed that it took her a while to slowly accept this fact.

　　So Jiang Xuening couldn’t help but think: everyone else liked her in the last life. At this time, she should have had some contact with Shen D, but maybe she didn’t know which prince he was. If it were her, going through this transition from hope to disappointment, she would never accept reality so calmly.

　　In the early morning of the next day, more news about Princess Leyang’s selection of companions came out one after another.

　　For example, the list of companions for the primary election.
Xiao Shu, the eldest young lady of the Chengguo government’s mansion, who Shen Zhiyi had played since she was a child, was naturally among them, followed by other ministers and eleven well-educated young ladies from Xungui’s family.
There is Jiang Xuening with “good luck”.
At the same time, she also noticed that the last time in Qingyuan Uncle’s Mansion, Shen Zhiyi named Miss Fan’s leader in the poem and You Yue, the second lady of Qingyuan Uncle’s Mansion, who was named the leader in the painting.

　　Such as specific things to learn.
The men of the caliber had to learn rituals, music, archery, imperial, calligraphy, and arithmetic, but the daughters of ordinary families knew at most a few characters, and they learned all the dispensable things such as women’s red, poetry and painting.
But Shen Zhiyi was a princess, and she had requirements, so naturally, it was different.
Among the six arts of a gentleman, there are three things to learn: ritual, music, and writing. Next, you have to learn some elegant things about perfumery and painting. Besides, the sage favors Shen Zhiyi, knowing that she always wants to sneak into the Wenhua Palace. After listening to the lectures at the feast, I found a few well-educated gentlemen in the Hanlin Academy for her to teach her some books that only men could read.

　　One of the most staggering, perhaps one of the gentlemen invited by the sage for her is actually “Mr. Xie” – the prince and the master of
the dynasty, Xie Wei!
It is said that he will teach two courses: one is the qin, which is included in the “music”; the other is to choose one of the classics and histories, but the specific one has not yet been determined.

　　God knows that when Jiang Xuening heard the news from Lian’er’s small mouth, he wished he could grab the ground with his head!
Another example is the arrangement of entering the palace.
The day after tomorrow, I will prepare to enter the palace, and I will stay for about three to five days. I will follow the female officials in the palace, learn the etiquette of the palace, and understand the taboos in the palace, so as not to make any mistakes and cause disasters.
At this time, if you really can’t learn or your qualifications are too poor, you will be euphemistically persuaded to quit.
Then they went home for a few days before they actually entered the palace to read with them.
Basically, they live in the palace, and they can go home for one day every nine days until they finish the studies arranged by the gentlemen. It is estimated that it will take more than half a year.

　　——This is definitely a good opportunity.

　　As long as Jiang Xuening thinks of entering the palace as a companion, his head is as big as a fight. Of course, when the sage’s will comes down, he does not dare to blatantly say it, so there must be a suitable reason.
If you can’t learn etiquette or your aptitude is too poor and you are “dissuaded”, isn’t it just okay?
She’s made up her mind to “slack off”!

　　*

　　afternoon.

　　Tang’er and Lian’er were in the room to pack up the things she needed to prepare for her first trip to the palace, and they said that when she entered the palace, she would meet so many young ladies from aristocratic families, and she had to bring some greetings and the like, and it was best to go out later. buy some.

Jiang Xuening sat by the window and read a book, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.
“Those who knew said they were going to study with them, but those who didn’t know they thought they were going to visit relatives.”

　　Lian’er pouted: “Girl enters the palace, of course, you must be well prepared for everything. This time, the slaves can’t follow up. Who knows what the maids in the palace are like? It won’t be used this time, and it can be used next time. Our girl is the only one who didn’t put her name on but is on the companion list, she can lose anything, she can’t lose in pomp!”

　　Jiang Xuening’s eyelids twitched when she heard this.
Sure enough, you should find a tooth lady to sell this girl first, right?
Why can’t you lift which pot is not opened?

　　She buried her head and picked up a piece of candied fruit from the plate to eat, flipping through the book, no matter how much they tossed.

　　Anyway, she didn’t plan to stay in the palace for too long.
It just can’t be said.
If it is known that she is deliberately playing tricks and playing tricks and does not want to enter the palace, I am afraid that it will cause some unnecessary trouble.
The fewer people who know, the better, preferably none.

　　It was only after turning over a couple of pages and suddenly heard a “pop” sound, as if something small hit the window sash.
Jiang Xuening raised his head and looked, there was only a shadow of the sun outside.
Just as he was about to lower his head to continue reading, there was another “pop” sound.
This time it hit the window lattice, bounced, and rolled onto her book.

　　She picked it up and saw that it was a golden pine nut with a small slit.
It opened with a squeeze of the fingers.
It turned out to be fried pine nuts.
Cooked.

　　Jiang Xuening didn’t see anyone, but he already knew who was coming, so he couldn’t help laughing: “The walls of this courtyard in the mansion are built as if they weren’t built. If my father knew that you didn’t make a sound and didn’t walk in through the main entrance, I’m afraid I’m going to complain again.”

　　”But didn’t he let him see it this time?”
Yan Lin’s voice came from a height, and he only appeared from the thick shade of the tree under the wall. He jumped up and jumped down. Today, he was wearing a hidden suit. She wore a robe with a small purse hanging from her waist and a handful of pine nuts in her hand and walked to her window with a smile.
“Unless you go to complain.”

　　I haven’t seen him for a few days, and he seems to have gotten a little tanned. There is also a shallow scratch on his originally handsome face. It’s not too deep or not. The original noble son has added a bit of toughness to his temper, making him even fierier.
Jiang Xuening asked him, “How did you do it?”
Yan Lin was still a little concerned about this appearance, and when he heard this, he raised his hand and touched his cheek, coughed, and said, “When I went to the Tongzhou camp, I drank a little wine, and I didn’t have a problem. I resisted competing with my father’s subordinates, but my fists and feet have no eyes, and I hurt a little. But it’s not a big problem, the doctor in the army said that it will be fine for two days.”

　　Fengtai Camp and Tongzhou Camp have always had garrisoned troops in order to protect the capital.
However, since the King of Pingnan conspiracy to attack the capital 20 years ago, and Fengtai and Tongzhou were too late to react and enter the capital in time to quell the chaos, the late emperor set up a forbidden army in the capital and selected the best of the two battalions to be incorporated into the capital. Among them, guarding the capital.
In the present dynasty, after Shen Lang ascended the throne, he further strengthened the Imperial Army.
Just because he was a witness to the rebellion of the King of Pingnan that year, he had a deep shadow on the danger of the rebellion of the vassal king and the slowness of the army’s aid, so the status of Fengtai Camp and Tongzhou Camp in the army declined.

　　Marquis of Yongyi is one of the several nobles in charge of military power in the DPRK, mainly in charge of the Tongzhou camp, which is far away from the capital.
As for Fengtai Camp, which is closer to the capital, it is under the control of Chengguo Gongfu.

But now the most important twenty-six guards are under the control of the emperor himself and the Ministry of War.

　　It can be seen from this that although the Yan clan and the Xiao clan are the two most prestigious and prestigious families in the capital, the Xiao clan of Chengguo’s government is the foreign clan of the current sage, Shen Lang, and is obviously more trustworthy than the Yan clan…
I don’t know who is behind the matter of Yongyi Hou’s mansion.

　　Jiang Xuening looked at Yan Lin and said, “How is Zhou Yinzhi?”

　　Yan Lin glanced at the busy maid in her room, and only put the handful of pine nuts in her hand on her table by the window, and with her hand on the edge of the window, she turned up and sat down, one leg hanging outside, but the other The window sill was bent, and he took a piece of her candied fruit to eat.
Then he said, “This person is a bit interesting.”
He thought about it for a while and showed an expression of admiration: “I met him before I left the capital. I’m neither humble nor arrogant, but I can hold my breath, probably because I was Jin Yiwei, and I met him before I left the capital. He knows a lot about medium and small matters, so he should be someone who can handle things. But I think this person is useful, not just because of that. Recently, there is something related to him, I wonder if you have heard of it?”

　　Jiang Xuening was curious: “There has been an assassin in Beijing recently. It’s not peaceful. I didn’t go out, and I didn’t pay attention to the outside. What’s the matter?”

　　Yan Lin said: “This man has a good horse, he loves it very much, and he feeds it himself every day. There is no open land in the capital, and if there is time, he will take it to the outskirts of Beijing to run horses. When the office was handling official business, a young boy suddenly came to the house and said that his horse was ill, and it was about to die. The man immediately took a leave of absence from the superior, and after returning home to see the horse, he even took out his saber and handed the horse to him. Killed.”
Jiang Xuening was suddenly stunned.
Yan Lin laughed: “the next day he went to the Zhenfu Division, and the chief asked him if your horse was okay. He said, if the horse died, I killed it. The chief was very surprised and asked him why. He actually said, he has raised this horse for more than two years, and it is like his own relatives, but the horse is sick, and he can’t bear to see it suffer, so he simply gives it a good time, saves some torture, and also repays the horse and him More than two years of friendship.”

　　That horse…
How could Jiang Xuening not know?
When she went to find Zhou Yinzhi that day, the horse was fine, so why was it “suffering” when she was so sick that she was dying?

　　The only thing she could think of at this moment was that she had casually made up the excuse for letting the boy go to the guardhouse to find him back: Lord Zhou’s beloved horse was dying of illness…
A chill spread from under his feet all over his body.
Jiang Xuening’s fingers pressing the page did not hold down and trembled slightly.

　　Yan Lin said: “It’s hard to say whether these remarks are true or false, but the killing of the horse is true. This person’s resolute and neat actions can be seen. Recently, the Holy Master intends to hand over the matter of prison to Jinyiwei, but the Ministry of Punishment, The Dali Temple, and the Duchayuan, the three judicial divisions who were originally in charge of prison matters, have great opinions. This time, the Criminal Division impeached Zhou Qianhu in the matter, which just gave the three judicial divisions a chance to use the topic, and the sage could not bear it. The people who live in the public are long, and Zhou Qianhu’s official products have been withdrawn a few days ago. I have checked it in the court, and this defect is just right for Zhou Yinzhi. “

　　Zhou Yinzhi did not see a rabbit but not an eagle.
Yan Lin’s work is neat and tidy.

　　Although Jiang Xuening was reborn, he still knew nothing about the government when he experienced this in his last life. He only knew the final result, but how it happened, what was going on in the middle, and how many forces were wrestling, it was completely unclear.
If you remind me rashly, I don’t know who it will fall into.
I’m afraid I didn’t help Yongyi Hou’s mansion and also hurt myself, but if Zhou Yinzhi came to warn, one could hide, and secondly, Zhou Yinzhi was the “secret son” sent by Jinyiwei to investigate the relationship between Yongyi Hou’s mansion and King Pingnan against the party. ”, knowing more about this matter than her, and being able to come up with real news, can attract enough attention from Yongyi Houfu.

　　Even if the disaster cannot be avoided, if one can take precautions and prepare in advance, it can be avoided like the previous life –
although some people died in raiding their homes, many more people died in exile.
Some are due to old age and frailty, some are due to encounters with bandits, and some are due to poverty and illness…
This includes Yan Lin’s father.

　　Jiang Xuening felt a bit heavy again in her heart, only that she was used thoroughly by Zhou Yinzhi in her previous life. Although she still used this person in her life, she must be strictly guarded.
Today, I can kill my beloved horse for the sake of a perfect lie;
tomorrow I can also raise the butcher’s knife to her for my career and future.

　　She couldn’t help but remind Yan Lin, “I think this man likes his horse, but if he wants to kill him, he will kill him. Although he is decisive, it is also a ruthless method.”
Yan Lin’s eyes widened, knowing that she cared about herself, Only said: “I know.”

　　Jiang Xuening couldn’t say anything else, so he lowered his eyebrows and picked up the handful of pine nuts he just put down to peel.
The pine nuts are small and unpleasant to peel, which is a bit of a hassle.
She frowned as she peeled it off.

　　Yan Lin smiled, and then untied the bulging purse hanging on his waist and threw it to her: “I know you are impatient to peel it, open it and take a look.”

　　She took the purse and felt heavy.
When I opened it up, I saw that all the pine nuts that had been peeled were packed together.
Although things are not expensive, it takes a lot of work to peel them off.

　　Just looking at this bulging purse, you can imagine how the young man sitting on her window sill carefully peeled the pine nuts from the shell with his pair of hands that used to only hold swords. come out.
Then save up.
Then throw it to her as if nothing had happened.

　　Seeing that she didn’t speak, Yan Lin thought she didn’t like it: “Don’t you like it?”
Jiang Xuening shook his head: “No, I like it very much.”
Yan Lin wondered: “Then why don’t you eat it?”
Jiang Xuening didn’t know how to explain, although the food Small, her heart is too heavy, and she is afraid that she can’t pay it back.

　　There is a cool autumn wind blowing in front of the window, September is coming to an end, and the aroma of Dangui is gradually fading.

　　Yan Lin didn’t see her speak for a long time, and she didn’t know why, but she remembered the strange words she said to him that night, and when she looked up, she saw that her maid had packed up a few more books and asked her, “Miss, go to the palace tomorrow. Do you want to bring a few books to read?”
Jiang Xuening didn’t look back: “No.”
Yan Lin remembered the matter of entering the palace, took another candied fruit from her and smiled: “I want to enter the palace as a princess. I have a companion, and I can still have Mr. Xie to teach. How are you, are you happy?”
Jiang Xuening was so happy that it was strange.
She opened her mouth to say that she didn’t want to go at all.
But before the words came out, when he looked up, he saw Yan Lin’s face full of smiles, and when he thought about it again, he felt a little smug in his words, and suddenly had a bad premonition in his heart.

　　Jiang Xuening’s eyelids twitched: “You only knew about the companion reading within two days after you came back?”

　　Yan Lin made an “ah” and winked at her, her dark eyes were bright with brilliance, and the expression between her eyes became more and more obvious: “I knew the matter of the princess choosing a partner to read, and I mentioned it to her a long time ago. She passed you, and asked her to add you no matter what. You always say that you want to go to places you haven’t seen before, aren’t you curious about what happened in the palace in the past? With this great opportunity, of course, I can’t forget it Ning Ning you. How about it, I’ve done it beautifully, haven’t I?”

　　Jiang Xuening: “…”
After a long time of trouble, you are going to mess with me! !!

　　She resisted the urge to push the boy off the window sill, her mouth twitched, she seemed to be smiling, but in fact she clenched her back molars secretly, only saying: “Beautiful! It’s really beautiful, too’ Surprise!”

　　Yan Lin didn’t know why he felt a little cold on the back of his neck, but Ningning was happy, so he was happy, so he said, “I don’t know what books Mr. Xie wants to teach you to read, but learning the piano has been decided, and I will definitely do it. Yes. A few days ago, I ordered someone to search for some good qin, some of which is still hundreds of years old. Mr. Xie loves the qin, if you go to the palace to learn the qin and bring a good one, it is because the gentleman is very strict. Looking at Qin’s face, I will also tolerate you a little. Today is just right, let’s go, I will take you to Xiangqin!”

　　When Jiang Xuening heard the three words “Mr. Xie”, her whole body became hairy, and when she heard “Qin”, her head became even bigger.
But Yan Lin couldn’t stand his domineering.

After a while, she was forcibly taken into the carriage by him and went out of the house to choose a piano.

　　*

　　At this time, fourteen days have passed since the Nine-Nine Chongyang.

　　You Fangyin stepped into this firm an unknown number of times, and after asking the market price of raw silk today, she frowned, and no matter how many eyes the counter staff looked at her, she still sincerely and honestly thanked her.
For more than ten days, she learned to read the ledger and practiced bookkeeping, and her eyes were bloodshot.
When I walked out of the business, I felt top-heavy.

　　The street market outside was bustling with people, and there was an endless stream of cars and horses.

　　She originally thought that the house was watching her more and more strictly recently, and she always sneaked out. If her two sisters, especially the second sister, found out, I was afraid that it would be another torture, and she should go back earlier today.
And I only slept for two hours last night, so I couldn’t stand it anymore.
But when I was walking, I saw a lot of delicately embroidered brocade handkerchiefs and sachets on the stalls on the side of the road. One of the sachets was embroidered with orchids with green calyx. The needlework was also very special. , the footsteps stopped.

　　You Fangyin thought of the white peony that was soiled by herself.
So she reached out and picked up the sachet to take a closer look.
She didn’t want someone to pass by and bumped her inadvertently, and she was in a trance and couldn’t even stand still. He actually swept most of the cloths and sachets that had been lined up neatly on the ground.

　　The hawker was also a small business, and immediately called out: “What’s the matter with you girl? Are you here to smash people’s business?”
You Fangyin suddenly felt guilty: “I’m sorry, I just want to see the sachet, not Intentionally…”
All the eyes around her fell on her, making her extremely embarrassed, she hurriedly lowered her head, helped the hawker pick up the things that fell on the ground, and apologized repeatedly.

　　There was a lot of movement on the street, and everyone couldn’t help but point at her.

　　Only then did Jiang Xuening follow Yan Lin upstairs to the elegantly furnished secluded pavilion. He turned his head and looked at the sound. When he saw the embarrassed and chaotic man in the crowd, his heart suffocated.
Not used to it anyway.
Not used to such a clumsy You Fangyin.

　　At this time, I still have the mind to look at the sachet…

　　She suddenly laughed to herself.
What are you looking forward to?
I didn’t know for a long time that a girl in the back house had never learned to be a housekeeper. I was afraid that she couldn’t even read the ledger, and couldn’t write a few words. Even if she had money in her hand, she would just buy some rouge gouache. Do you really expect her to use the money to buy raw silk and do business?

　　There was only one You Fangyin who was as outstanding and extraordinary as in the previous life.

　　Yan Lin followed her gaze and recognized that it was the concubine of the You family that she had rescued that day, and frowned for a while: “What’s wrong?”

　　Jiang Xuening retracted his eyes, lowered his eyes, and said, “You can save your life, but you can’t save your life. Sometimes you know that something is impossible, but when you see it’s impossible with your own eyes, you will still be a little disappointed…”
Yan Lin Looked back at her.
She smiled slowly: “Really, just a little bit.”