After Shen Qianyu and Song Wan passed away, Wan Xiao and Jirong sat in the small courtyard drinking silently all day long. Because the late emperor had left an edict to keep the general affairs simple during the mourning period, no more cries were heard in the palace after the twenty-first day.
Wan Xiao lay on her back on the chair, still wearing white plain clothes, a little wrinkled but still clean.
It seemed that since Shen Qianyu left, he and Jirong no longer knew how to live.
The emperor has Liu Yao taking care of him, and Cui Yun has taken over the Dongchang. He and Ji Rong are both old bones and are now of no use.
"The sun is shining so hard today that my bones are dry."
Ji Rong sat under the eaves of the corridor and murmured softly.
Wan Xiao sneered when he heard this: "Why is he so tanned? He is obviously too old to be useful."
He held the wine bottle in his hand and started shaking it leisurely.
"We...it's time to find a place to retire."
After standing up with difficulty, Ji Rong walked to Wan Xiao and said softly: "This courtyard is no longer suitable for you and me. Based on my understanding of the Holy Emperor, I am afraid that he will seal it up, so we won't waste His time here. "
When Wan Xiao heard this, her fingertips twitched unconsciously.
The two of them really shouldn't stay here anymore, but where could they go if they weren't here?
Although there is a separate courtyard in the palace, the two of them have retired from their high positions. If they were sensible, they should not stay in the palace anymore, but should make way for Liu Yao and Cui Yun.
And leaving the palace...
He and Ji Rong both had mansions outside the palace, but the two of them couldn't bear to go to such a large and empty mansion.
Wan Xiao looked back at the house where Shen Qianyu and Song Wan once lived, and sighed.
Now the doors and windows of the house were closed, but he seemed to be able to hear Shen Qianyu's voice. It seemed that the next moment, Shen Qianyu was going to come out of the room crookedly and say a few words to him again.
Thinking of this, Wan Xiao snorted and laughed.
"Tell me, where will the two of us live?"
"I don't know, I just wanted to ask you."
Slowly squatting down, Ji Rong sat on the white jade stone steps, looking up at the clear sky and slightly curling his lips.
With their status, they have nowhere to go.
Chamberlains are different from ordinary men. The older they get, the worse their health becomes. He thought that he and Wan Xiao could be companions, so that they would not die alone.
"You and I have neither relatives nor friends, nor sisters or brothers. We can only rely on each other for survival."
Ji Rong rubbed the grass seeds he picked up from the ground with one hand and murmured unconsciously.
In the early years, Hengwu married outside the palace, and now he has children and grandchildren. Since the mourning period for the Supreme Emperor and the Supreme Empress passed, Heng Wu asked someone to take Heng Zhi back to her home.
Some time ago, Heng Zhi had brought a message to the two of them, saying that they were doing well outside and that they didn't have to worry.
"Is there somewhere you want to go?"
Ji Rong shook his head, not knowing where he was headed.
Ever since he could remember when he was seven or eight years old, he had been working as a chamberlain in the palace. I don't know what my last name is, where I live, or who is in my family.
Naturally, there is no place where I want to go now.
Wan Xiao knew about his situation and didn't say much. He just asked Ji Rong if he wanted to go back to Baoding Mansion with him.
He was born in Baoding Mansion, and now that decades have passed, he wants to go back and see if the old site of Zhang and Li's Mansion is still there.
The two were talking when Cui Yong walked in from outside the hospital.
Cui Yun had a plain face and an ordinary appearance, but his temperament won Wan Xiao's heart.
This person does not complain about others when times are tough, nor does he show off his wealth and prosperity. He can remain calm and composed no matter what situation he finds himself in.
"Father, my son comes to see you."
He was holding wine and meat in his hand, and after walking into the yard, he naturally placed it on the table.
Ji Rong looked at it and laughed: "It's time for the three of us to have some drinks. I went to get the bowls and plates."
Giving the place to the father and son, Ji Rong turned around and entered the house.
"You haven't changed your shirt these past few days?"
While talking, Cui Yong took a thin blanket from the bamboo basket placed under the eaves and covered Wan Xiao's legs.
"What should I change? Please keep it clean."
"Why did you come today?"
"What's going on? Come and see your adoptive father."
Cui Yun's family was poor and had many brothers. When he was a few years old, his father sent him to the palace to purify himself. He never had a full meal at home. Although he could have a full meal in the palace, for someone with a low status like him, he would inevitably be bullied even if he lived peacefully.
After Wan Xiao brought him to her side for the first time, Cui Yun had only lived a happy life for a few years.
Although Wan Xiao treated him harshly, Cui Yong also regarded him as his biological father.
Although he has not been raised yet, giving him life is like a gift of reincarnation, and there is no disadvantage in calling him father.
Seeing Wan Xiao closing her eyes and not even looking at him, Cui Yun smiled lightly and said, "I bought a house outside the palace and want to take you and Master Ji Rong to live there together."
"With a child by your side, you two won't be bored."
Wan Xiao slowly raised her head after hearing the words and thought for a moment before saying anything.
"I won't cause you any trouble, but if I raise you for a day or two and you feel like we are a burden, what should I do?"
"If I think you two are a burden, I can just buy another house and move out."
Cui Yong smiled and felt that Wan Xiao had lost his temper again for no reason.
People always have some quirks as they get older, and his adoptive father's temperament has become more cunning since he got older. But even so, Cui Yun was not annoyed and still spoke in a gentle tone.
"The house is located on Qianjin Street. The place is quiet and far away from the bustling city. There is only the Xi family house on the same street. The house opposite this house is the house of the town governor Li Chengzu."
As soon as she finished speaking, Wan Xiao opened her eyes and looked at Cui Yong.
"In the early years, because of the large population in the family, the Li family moved to this place. It happened that a family on Qianjin Street had left the capital, so the child bought the house."
"There are nothing replaceable in the house, and the house has been repaired and cleaned. The child has mentioned to the Holy Father that he will take his adoptive father out of the palace to be raised. If you agree, the child can take you to live with Master Ji Rong today."
Wan Xiao frowned: "Why do you think of buying a house here?"
Cui Yong said: "My foster father has been secretly helping the Li family in these years. I think it's because you are an old friend. Now that you are out of the palace and raised in honor, I feel more relieved to be by their side."
He didn't find out the relationship between his adoptive father and the Li family. It is said that he holds the East Factory, so he shouldn't be able to find any clues about such a trivial matter. Now that I have found nothing, it is probably because my adoptive father ordered me to erase the connection between myself and the Li Mansion.
The foster father must have had some unusual friendships with people from the Li family, but he had no intention of intervening.
"Although we can't come up to meet old friends we haven't seen for decades, it's still good to have a look around."
"That's right. You should listen to Cui Yun."
Ji Rong came over with wine and meat, put the things away and said, "Go and have a look, they should have forgotten who you are."
"You are already old. If you die, you will have nothing. Don't be afraid to take a look."
"The Li family has many descendants, so we can enjoy a bit of excitement living next to them."
"I'm going to pack things for my adoptive father."
Regardless of whether Wan Xiao agreed or not, Ji Rong and Cui Yong finalized the matter.
The two packed up their things neatly and moved to the house on Qianjin Street in the next few days.
This Qianjin Street has emerged from the bustling area of Shangjing, so it is very suitable for a peaceful retirement. Moreover, the gates of Cui and Li are facing each other. Although it is a third-entry courtyard, it is not empty. If both gates are open, you can still see the other side's courtyard.
When Wan Xiao and Ji Rong moved in, there was a young eunuch who was running errands living in the courtyard.
"Two old ancestors, the younger one is named Ankang. I wish you both peace and health."
Ji Rong smiled and said: "Just call me master, why call me ancestor?"
He asked Ankang to put his bundle into the room, and then stood next to Wan Xiao and looked at Li Mansion with him.
"There is a prosperous place in Baoding Prefecture, called Wangchun Street. There are only two households on the whole street, one with the surname of Li and the other with the surname of Zhang."
"Do you know why that street calls for spring?"
Ji Rong smiled and shook his head, and Wan Xiao said: "When spring flowers bloom on Chunri Mountain, you can see spring at a glance from Wangchun Street, so the locals call that place Wangchun Street."
"Both the Zhang and Li families are well-known local Confucian businessmen, and they are also the leaders of the business gang. Over the years, they have donated money and materials to help countless people in need. At that time, when the Baoding Prefecture mentioned the Zhang and Li families, everyone had to be kind. Character."
Wan Xiao pointed to a banyan tree planted outside the street and said with a smile: "This tree looks familiar to me. I think it was one I had at home when I was young."
Ji Rong looked at the withered banyan tree and sighed in his heart.
"This place... is pretty good."
Turning around, Wan Xiao slowly walked into the courtyard, randomly found a room and went in to take a nap.
The next day when he came out of the house, he saw a rocking chair with huanghuali and begonia flowers placed in the courtyard. The chair was placed in the middle of the courtyard, facing the banyan tree in front of Li's house. Wan Xiao smiled faintly when he saw it and sat on it. .
There was nothing much to do in serving them, and the cleaning was handled by his mother-in-law. Ankang was only responsible for accompanying and entertaining the two of them on weekdays.
If Wan Xiao is in a good mood one day, he can just sit next to Wan Xiao and keep her company quietly.
I don’t know what day it is today, but the Li family next door has been noisy since morning. A group of children are chattering and chasing each other. It sounds very lively.
Ankang was afraid of disturbing Wan Xiao and was about to close the courtyard gate, but he stopped him.
"You go back to the house, I'll be alone here and meditate."
After Ankang left, Wan Xiao lay on the rocking chair and stared at the group of little children running around in front of Li's house.
Among them was a girl wearing a red and blue flowered coat embroidered with "Fu" patterns. She looked to be no more than thirty years old. But no matter which child saw it, he would rush past her, making the little girl cry.
Her voice was loud, and Wan Xiao felt that the little girl hadn't stopped crying all morning.
"Stay with me, stay with me..."
The little girl was so angry that she went to catch her companion. When she couldn't catch her for a long time, she was so angry that she picked up the big stone at the door and smashed it on the ground.
Wan Xiao saw this scene and suddenly stood up.
The boulder was not small, and it left a shallow crater on the ground. A group of children were startled by her and scattered away with a whoop.
Wan Xiao laughed out loud when she saw this look.
The little girl heard his laughter and ran towards him with small steps.
"You laugh at me……"
"No."
The little girl curled her lips and was about to cry again, which made Wan Xiao squat down and said: "I never laughed at you. It's better for me to be stronger, so I can protect myself in the future."
Tears as big as beans hung on her face. The little girl sobbing twice, wiped her face and laughed again.
It turned out that she saw the rocking chair behind Wan Xiao.
"I……"
"I go……"
The little girl stretched out a short white finger and pointed at the chair to pull down Wan Xiao's trouser legs. Wan Xiao carried her onto the rocking chair and smiled lightly.
This little girl also had a lot of strength in vain, and her brain was not as bright as Taoqian's.
"Ankang, get the girl a plate of candy."
A plate of candy was placed in front of the little girl, Wan Xiao handed it to her, and the little girl started eating.
Children tend to get sleepy easily, and their front legs still contain sugar, so they fall asleep on the chair with heavy eyelids. Wan Xiao watched quietly for a long time, then asked Ankang to go to Li's house to look for him.
Not long after, a man hurriedly walked out of Li's house. When he saw Wan Xiao, he bent down and apologized.
"My little granddaughter is very naughty. I didn't expect to come to your place. Will she cause you trouble now?"
"No."
Li Rui stepped forward and picked up the girl, and said "Nao Nuo" to Wan Xiao.
When he was about to leave, Wan Xiao suddenly said: "This girl is very cute. I see how strong she is, which is really strange."
"What a surprise."
Li Rui said with a smile: "This little kid followed her great-grandmother and has developed supernatural powers since she was a child."
Speaking of this magical power, Li Rui smiled with pride, but with a simple sentence and slightly smiling eyes, Wan Xiao knew that Tao Qian was a filial child.
He raised his lips and smiled: "Has she got a name yet?"
"Take it and call Yun Xiang."
Wan Xiao nodded slowly after hearing this.
Seeing that he was friendly, Li Rui chatted a few more words. When he left, Xiao Yunxiang blinked her sleepy eyes and looked at Wan Xiao, wanting to cry, which made Wan Xiao suddenly think of many old things.
His father and Taoqian's father were old childhood friends. Zhang's father passed away early, leaving the orphans and widowed children often worried about their livelihood. The Li family was wealthier than the Zhang family since they were young, so his father often supported Aunt Zhang, mother and son when they were young, and this continued for many years.
Later, the old lady of the Zhang family passed away. After observing his filial piety, Uncle Zhang said he wanted to go out and make a living. His father couldn't bear that Uncle Zhang had nothing to offer, so he found the ruffian who loaned us money and paid Uncle Zhang thirty taels of silver.
Wan Xiao still remembers that his father would often talk about this when he was drinking with Uncle Zhang.
"You don't know. That day when I came back from Jiangnan, I saw your father beaten with bruises and bruises on his face. It turned out that he had borrowed usury money and couldn't repay it. He was chased by others and had to hide in Tibet. He couldn't live in peace for several years."
Speaking of excitement, Uncle Zhang would pat his father's shoulder and shed a few tears.
Later, when Uncle Zhang made a fortune abroad, he returned to Baoding and not only repaid the Li family's sky-high usury money, but also divided the property he had worked hard for for many years into two.
In this way, the two of them can stand out in Baodingfu in just a dozen years.
And his marriage to Tao Qian was decided when the two families were at their peak.
After meeting Xiao Yunxiang today, Wan Xiao felt like she had seen her childhood Taoqian again.
He was five or six years older than Tao Qian, and Uncle Zhang had a hard time raising children. By the time Tao Qian was born, he already had a Western brother and sister.
No one was suitable, so the marriage fell on him.
When Tao Qian was born, she looked pretty and her hands were very strong at a very young age. Normally when he would play with her, she would be unable to get away from her soft little hands.
When she was as old as Xiao Yunxiang, she could already carry the copper basin and walk around.
She was very strong and ignorant of seriousness, and would often scratch her peers. In order to watch her, he would put the little peach root on his back and carry her with him wherever he went.
But this peaceful life did not last long. Something happened to the Li family that year, and it happened suddenly.
Years passed, and he could not remember clearly what happened at that time. But Wan Xiao vaguely knew that the two families had some kind of business in Shangjing at that time. The business was supposed to have the names of the two families, but Uncle Zhang said that it would be used as a dowry for Taoqian and was sent to the Li family in advance. Only his father was involved in the business. One person’s handprint.
Wan Xiao still remembers that it was late at night when the incident occurred, and he was lying on the bed unable to fall asleep no matter what, when the moon was bright and the stars were dim. Just because during the day, Tao Qian grabbed the pearl chain she was wearing and broke it, splattering all over the kitchen floor.
It was not a valuable item, but that night he wanted to find it and went to the kitchen alone.
He was squatting in the west corner of the kitchen, searching for something, when he heard a low whimper coming from outside.
Wan Xiaoji couldn't remember what happened at that time. He only knew that when he came to his senses, the entire Li family had been massacred.
He watched with his own eyes as those people threw the bodies of his parents, brothers and sisters into the car and transported them out overnight.
He and several younger cousins were strangled by the neck and passed out.
But overnight, the family was destroyed and everyone died.
Later, he was taken to the palace to purify himself and became a eunuch. However, several of his cousins who entered the palace with him were unable to withstand the sword blow due to their young age or one reason or another, and they all died one after another in the palace. Body room.
With a twitch of his eyelids, Wan Xiao smiled mockingly.
The palace is really a place for eating people.
He was not ten years old when he came, but he almost died several times. Later, he knew that if he wanted to survive in the palace, he could only treat himself as a beast instead of a human being.
In order to survive, he became a disciple of a steward eunuch in the palace. From that day on, he gave up his identity as a son of the Li family and became a low-level eunuch in the palace, changing his name to Wan Xiao.
After many years of wandering, he found out the reason for the genocide and found out who caused his family to become destitute, making it difficult to tell the difference between human beings and ghosts.
It's ridiculous to say that his Li family was wiped out just because the Zhang and Li families built a restaurant in Shangjing, which was Cuiwei Building that was later taken over by Duan Yiting and then passed on to Shen Qianyu.
Duan Yiting wanted to buy it at a low price, but his father did not agree, so overnight no one in the Li family survived.
Rubbing her fingertips, Wan Xiao narrowed her eyes and couldn't help but look gloomy.
When he saw Tao Qian in the palace that year, he was very surprised.
Just because he had imagined what would happen to Uncle Zhang's family.
At that time, he thought that Uncle Zhang would probably look for them for a few days, and after three, five, seven, eight, or even ten years, they would forget about the Li family and the marriage they had made with the Li family.
Tao Qian will also find a good husband and live an ordinary life.
After all, the Zhang and Li families had many connections in Baoding Mansion at that time. He thought that the good fortune accumulated over the years would definitely protect the Zhang family. Even if the Li family no longer existed, those who had been favored by the two families would still protect the Zhang family. Bo Yicheng.
But when Tao Qian entered the palace, he knew that those who had been favored not only failed to lend a helping hand, but also made trouble.
Hearing Tao Qian's story about the fate of Uncle Zhang's family made him even more heartbroken.
That magical little girl who was supposed to live a prosperous life and be doted on by her parents ended up being reduced to a slave.
This really made him intolerable and unwilling.
He owed Uncle Zhang's family, and it was a debt he should repay to protect Taoqian's life from worries.
Wan Xiao sat on the huanghuali rocking chair and smiled lightly as she looked at the door of Li's house opposite.
Tao Qian lived a good life, and she never suffered any grievances with him protecting her.
Now she has many children and grandchildren. Although she has other worries, the little girl who grew up on his back has never suffered in the world.
This is enough for him.
