Leaning on the rail and smiling at Liu Niang

Liu Niang paused, and timidly turned her head to look at the green-painted gates of Zhao Mansion's three rooms and five frames, as well as the stone lions stretching their teeth and claws on both sides. Staring at her lazily.Blowing the bitter north wind, she couldn't help feeling a chill from the soles of her feet, shivering and shivering.

"Little lady, you'd better hurry up!" The prostitute who was walking in front turned around and urged impatiently.

Liu Niang hurriedly lowered her head, gave a soft beep, tightly held her little luggage in her hands, and followed closely with some fear.

The prostitute glared at her complainingly, and was still babbling at her: "Little lady, Zhao Langjun is one of the best young and promising young men in Chang'an City, but your horoscope is more suitable, you are so big." Blessing!" She paused, then lowered her voice and said, "Not to mention that lady in the mansion, the most famous and virtuous person, if you live up to it..."

"Hey." Liu Niang lowered her head straight down, she was pulling the luggage in her hand awkwardly, her ears were buzzing, the words of the prostitute's words came in from one ear and out from the other, making her even more confused.

Is this also a good fortune? Liu Niang couldn't help thinking that many people wanted to praise her good fortune by not being a regular wife but just being a concubine.Thinking of the daughter who always blew his beard and stared and scolded himself before his father died, saying that he had a vicious face and was not like him, she couldn't help but smiled wryly and touched her face.

The toothmaid kept talking and her steps were not slow. She led Liu Niang from the main street of Zhao's residence to the corner door on the west side, knocked on the door, and said a few words to the porter. After a while, a solid figure walked out of the door. , an ordinary-looking old lady.

The prostitute was covered in greasy flesh, and she was still sweating profusely after walking for a while in the cold winter months. She wiped the sweat tremblingly with a handkerchief, and said to the old mother with a smile on her face: "But let the old sister wait!"

Then he pulled out Liu Niang who was shrinking like a quail, and raised her chin for the old mother to take a closer look.

The old mother looked at Liu Niang's face with a straight face, and saw her fair and tender face was reddened by the wind, her eyes were watery, her nose was small and cute, her lips were slightly pouty, but she was a rare beauty , dragged her for a few more steps, then nodded and hummed, took out a small bag of silver from his sleeve and threw it to the middle-aged lady.

The matchmaker didn't shy away either, she took out a silver coin and weighed it carefully, calculated it in her heart, and then said with a smile: "It's indeed 30 taels." She groped around in her sleeve again, took out a document and handed it to her. The old mother said, "This is the little lady's deed of prostitution."——At the same time, Liu Niang finally couldn't help but looked up at the thin piece of paper. ——The old nanny squinted her eyes, nodded her head again, and cupped her hands towards the prostitute.

The prostitute resigned amusedly, and the porter closed the corner door.The old mother took Liu Niang and walked towards the mansion.As she walked, she said flatly to Liu Niang: "There are rules in the mansion, first I will take you to meet the lady, and then I have to teach you how we do things here."

Liu Niang beeped again, this time the voice was soft and trembling, and the old nanny who attracted her looked at her more, then slowed down her voice and said to her comfortingly: "Don't be afraid when you arrive, our wife is not a difficult person. Yes, as long as you do your duty." Seeing her childish appearance, she asked her again, "Are you going to be fifteen this year?"

"It's been more than fifteen months." Liu Niang replied.

The old mother looked at her with pity, and curled her lips almost invisible: "It looks too small."

Afterwards, the two of them had no more words, and the old mother led her through the long narrow passage, turning left and right, during which time she met many maidservants in black padded jackets, all of whom saluted the old mother, and Liu Niang walked along the road. Overwhelmed, holding his breath, he felt that he had never been to such a rich place in his life, so he stepped into a courtyard with great difficulty, knocked on the door, and a few maidservants hurriedly came to open the door, stepped through the hanging flower door, and passed another hallway , followed by three halls, where a maidservant in a black cotton cloak was waiting with a smile on her face.

Seeing her, the old mama finally showed a bit of gentleness, and said with a smile: "Why did you, a rascal, come out in person, where are the little ones?"

The servant girl looked around twenty, with an oval face, almond eyes, and a natural smile, which made people feel amiable. She stepped forward to meet the old mother, took her hand, and looked back at the quail. Seemingly, Liu Niang glanced at her, and replied: "The third lady sent someone to bring the winter solstice gift, and the lady asked those little ones to open the warehouse to get the gift back."

She took Liu Niang's hand again, took a closer look, sighed softly, looked at the old mother, shook her head and said, "What a beauty, what a pity." Then she told Liu Niang, " The little lady waits here first, and I will go in with the old mother to talk to the lady."

Only then did Liu Niang know that the old nanny's surname was really Lao, she nodded obediently when she heard this, and watched them both go back to the upper room.This hall is large and empty, there are only four armchairs, small tables on both sides and a few plain colored vases, the door is half closed, so the wind can't blow in, Liu Niang is also afraid of sitting, so she just stood there, I'm just a little confused about what they said just now.

Liu Niang was sold into the Zhao Mansion by her own grandmother as a concubine.Her family was originally an ordinary small family. The family relied on the scholar's father to write letters, and the grandmother and grandmother did needlework to make ends meet.Dad went there a few days ago, and spent a lot of money on the funeral, and the younger brother was selected as a scholar at a young age, and after that, the expenses of studying and taking exams were indispensable, and the family was poor for a while.

It just so happened at this time that Zhao Dashi's Office wanted to buy a good concubine for the Zhao family's Du Miao Miao, and named a beautiful little lady who was born on the [-]th day of the first lunar month at the time of You. , also came to the door.

Liu Niang's father had always believed that a woman's lack of talent is virtue, and she had never been able to take a look at his beautiful daughter. She grew up so old, but she could only know a few words. She was often blamed at home, and she dared not speak out .The grandmother looked at the up-and-coming grandson, and after much thought, she gritted her teeth and wrote the deed of sale, selling Liu Niang to the Zhao family for 60 taels of silver.

Her mother was cowardly all her life, reluctant to part with her daughter, and didn't dare to disobey her mother-in-law, so she had to find out the details of the Zhao family for her carefully, and then quietly told Liu Niang the night before she left.

It turns out that the Zhao family has only one decent gentleman in total, named Zhao Shiqing, who was named in the yearly gold list of the weak crown, the top two in the examination, and passed down the body. He is an amazingly talented and romantic person, and his wife is Wang Pingjun, the eldest daughter of the Dingguo General's Mansion, and she is also a very famous daughter. It's a pity that just over a year after he was appointed as a good scholar, Master Zhao fell ill. After half a year, Zhao Shiqing also drove west of Hexi, so Zhao Shiqing told Ding You to go home and observe his filial piety.

Now that the three-year filial piety period is about to expire, I don't know who I have listened to, and I want a good concubine who matches my horoscope to transfer my luck, and this is how Liu Niang's luck came.With tears in her eyes, her mother touched her little face over and over again, telling her in a low voice behind her grandmother's back, asking her to be obedient and obedient, not to contradict the old woman, and it's okay to have a son and a half by her side in the future She was lucky, wiped away her tears, and secretly gave her a good jade, which was the only valuable dowry of A Niang.

Liu Niang was thinking about what A Niang said in a mess, she reached into her sleeve and squeezed the jade that A Niang gave, and then thought of the look of the old mother, the maid shook her head lightly, the third lady in their mouth seemed to feel this The Zhao Mansion is not as blazing with fire and blooming with brocade as outsiders may see.

In less than a cup of tea, such an amiable maidservant came out to call her, Liu Niang straightened her clothes quickly and walked towards her.The maid stood by the door, and stretched out her hand to help Liu Niang draw up the thick silk brocade and cotton curtains, and the warm air in the room with a faint fragrance came towards her head-on. Liu Niang felt a little dizzy after being smoked by the heating, but Seeing that the room in front of him is also plain and clean, the floor is covered with plain silk rugs, there are only two armchairs, an Eight Immortals table, and an upturned desk behind it, all of which are made of rosewood, there is nothing special about them, but there is On the raised table, there is a good sword upright.

Liu Niang was a little surprised, thinking that the lady came from a family of generals, she didn't think too much, she lowered her head and didn't dare to look at anything.The maid led her into the room, and said with a smile, "Lady, the little lady has brought you in."

There was an arhat bed in the middle, and beside it stood the old lady and several maidservants, all of them were handsome in appearance and behaved well, they all looked at Liu Niang when they came in.

The maid pushed Liu Niang again, Liu Niang was proud, she just buried her head in front of her chest, bowed cautiously to Arhat's bed and said, "I've seen you."

The person sitting on the Arhat bed let out a chuckle, his voice sounded like gold and jade, and said, "Why don't you raise your head and let me see you?"

The maidservants all laughed kindly, and the maid who brought Liu Niang in laughed again and said, "Why is my lady so afraid of our wife? Our lady doesn't eat people!"

Liu Niang was so ashamed that her face was flushed, she looked up at the lady coyly amidst the chuckles of the crowd, when she saw this, she felt a bang in her head, and she couldn't bear to look away.

The lady was leaning on the Arhat bed, holding a cup of tea in her hand, and the north wind was howling outside. She was wearing a bright red silk brocade jacket, an indigo satin skirt, and a concubine-colored shawl. I wore a lily bun, and only inserted a hosta.

Seeing Liu Niang looking at her in a daze, she chuckled lightly, her eyes, which were as clear as autumn water, slightly curved up, and her eyebrows raised into her temples with interest.

Liu Niang has never seen such a beautiful woman!She is scolded by her father every day, saying that she has a coquettish appearance, and she has long since cast aside such pity for her appearance. Today, when she sees such a charming and charming woman with sword eyebrows and stars, she can't wait to worship her. It's crazy to watch.

Seeing this scene, the maidservants looked at each other and laughed even more, the old mama was calm after all, and when she saw Liu Niang lost her composure, she coughed.

Liu Niang was clever, she realized that she looked ugly, she couldn't help but blush to the base of her neck, sometimes she couldn't bear to look at her, but sometimes she felt that she was very rude, she just stared at her and murmured speechlessly.

Firewalls were burned in the room, it was very warm, and Liu Niang was wearing a padded jacket, she would feel ashamed and annoyed, she was sweating profusely in a short while, and she was even more at a loss what to do.Seeing how cute she was, the lady felt pity in her heart, and couldn't bear to embarrass her, so she lowered her expression and asked, "What's your last name, little lady?"

Liu Niang breathed a sigh of relief, and replied: "My name is Li Liu Niang." Seeing her amiable face, she couldn't help but say again: "Because there was a willow tree in front of my house when I was born, so my father named me Liu Niang. "

The lady laughed when she heard the words, and said: "Then I will call you Liu Niang from now on." She raised her chin at the leading maid again, "Your maid will come here tomorrow, let Xingren'er take you to Xiaoxiangyuan today."

Liu Niang agreed, and looked at her reluctantly, then followed Xing Ren'er and retreated.

As soon as Liu Niang left, the lady's expression changed, and she asked the old mother: "Is this little lady at the age of fifteen?"

The old mother said: "It's full."

The lady snorted coldly, and a gleam of coolness flashed in her eyes: "Zhao Shiqing is really capable. Everyone in Chang'an knows about the disturbance before he was filial piety."

The maidservants below also showed disdain, as if they didn't pay attention to Mr. Lang.

The lady recalled Liu Niang's ignorant little face, she was a little inexplicably agitated, she thought about it, and said to the maidservants: "Li Zi, you go to the front yard and tell Zhao Shiqing to come back to me. "

Li Zi replied respectfully: "My servant knows."