The return of the son-in-law

Because of the emperor's dispensation, Guo Zhan'an can stay in the capital during this time, and will not return to Xuzhou until the seventh day of the first lunar month.

Before he left Beijing, he worked in the Imperial Academy and was a Tanhualang. There are many old friends and former colleagues in the capital.Knowing that he was in the capital these days, these people sent someone to Guo's mansion to post a post, inviting him to the tea party three days later.

It just so happened that Guo Zhanan was not in the mansion that day, and Jia Yi accompanied him to inspect Zhuangzi on the outskirts of the capital. Jia Huan accepted the post and handed it to Huo Yu.

Huo Yu stayed in Guo Zhan'an's yard for the past few days, and Liu Feifei sent someone to invite him to drink tea on the way, but he also pretended to be filial, and chose a pair of pearl earrings from his box and gave it to him.Because all the jewelry in this box was originally intended to be sent to Jiang's family, although the pearl earrings were not the best among the jewelry in this box, but it was cheaper for Liu Feifei, Huo Yu sighed a lot these days.

Huo Yu was studying in his study today, and when he saw the post Jia Huan sent, he couldn't help feeling a little moved.

Jia Huan saw it, and said with a smile: "Second Young Master has filial piety, so he can't participate in these tea parties, receptions, and flower parties, but it's okay to go out to relax."

Huo Yu said embarrassingly: "It's too troublesome. Anyway, I will leave after the seventh day of the lunar new year, and I don't rush to spend more than ten days. Also, don't call me 'Second Young Master' in this mansion, so as not to Let others hear it and cause trouble for brother."

Jia Huan smiled, and said, "Yes. But don't worry, Second Young Master, I dare not promise other places in the mansion. I, Jia Huan, have some confidence in this yard, and promise not to let outsiders hear it."

Huo Yu shook his head, and said, "What if I slipped my tongue in front of outsiders? I know you have been yelling for a long time, and you may not be able to correct it for a while, but you must correct it these days."

Jia Huan responded with a smile, and asked again: "It's snowing today, the young master told me before going out this morning, it doesn't matter if he doesn't come back tonight, what does young master Huo want to eat?"

"I don't want to eat something so bland today, let's put something a little bit spicy."

When Huo Yu was growing up, it was no small test not to touch meat for a year. His appetite was much bigger than when he was in the cottage, so he could only eat more to fill his stomach.

Jia Huan smiled and said: "Remember, but after this meal, Master Huo must remember to drink some fire-reducing tea, so that when the young master comes back tomorrow, he will feel distressed when he sees the pimples on the young master's mouth."

Huo Yu nodded, then remembered something, and asked, "Which family sent the post? Did you mention who will be in the tea party in three days' time?"

Guo Zhanan's identity is sensitive, and he offended the Liu family. Many eyes in the capital are staring at him, trying to figure out his fault.Although it was a tea party, if someone managed it, Guo Zhan'an could still eat a pot of it.

Jia Huan replied: "The person who sent the post was Master Pei Jipei, a lecturer at the Imperial Academy. Most of the people who participated in the tea party attended the imperial examination in the same year as the young master, and a few were from aristocratic families in the capital. Although they have no official positions , but everyone in the family is qualified to speak."

These are all old acquaintances of Guo Zhanan, and there is no one with a particularly sensitive identity among them. Huo Yu went through everyone carefully, nodded and said: "I see, I will tell my brother tomorrow."

Jia Huan had other things to do, seeing that Huo Yu had no other orders, he went down.

Not long after Huo Yu survived, Fuquan came in, with a bit of anger still on his face.

The people in this yard always have nothing to disturb Huo Yu, even if something happens, they will think it over a few times, and then disturb Huo Yu when he is free.It was really rare for Huo Yu to come in and disturb him while he was studying.

Because it is rare, Huo Yu knew that Fuquan had encountered a difficult situation, so he put the processed maple leaves in the book and asked, "What's wrong?"

Fuquan then explained the matter: "Just now someone from Zhuangzi came, saying that the young master sent him to bring over the potatoes and bolou vegetables harvested a few days ago. Originally, he came in through the corner gate, but it was a coincidence that he was sent by someone from the mansion. The second young master saw it, and said that he wanted to eat potatoes. Of course, the delivery man didn't dare to agree, so he had to say that the young master asked him to deliver it, so he couldn't give it to him. Unexpectedly, the second young master ran to find the man in the mansion. Wife, just now my wife sent someone to beg for potatoes, saying that the young master is not at home, anyway, there is no one in this yard worthy of eating, so I just sent them to her."

Vegetables and fruits are scarce in winter. Although radishes and Chinese cabbage are still available in winter, they are rare after all. Ordinary people mostly eat pickles.Some rich families have hot spring villages in their homes, or prepare a greenhouse in the village, or a vegetable cellar, but they can eat some potatoes and bolou vegetables.

Before Guo Xiantong, the Guo family had always been a small household, and the only few Zhuangzi could only send some radishes and Chinese cabbage over in winter.The former wife Di Wanyan had two hot spring villages and greenhouses under her name, but since Guo Zhanan took these Zhuangzi back from Liu Pianpian, the other owners of Guo's mansion never ate them again.

Originally, Liu Pianpian could ask for it from her natal family, but Guo Xiantong is a person who wants to save face. If others know that his wife asks his natal family for vegetables in winter, wouldn't he lose face too much?

Besides, when a man is alive, he can't mobilize people just for a few mouthfuls of potatoes in winter, right?

As for why Liu Pianpian didn't want to do anything, first, she knew Guo Xiantong's temper, so there was no need to anger Guo Xiantong because of this matter; second, although she came from the Liu family, her branch was not very outstanding in the Liu family. There are a few good shops, but Zhuangzi only has five or six, and two of them became her dowry later—if the Guo family really wanted to ask Liu Pianpian's natal family for fruits and vegetables, Liu Pianpian's parents would probably have to find a way to get them from the public house. It is really troublesome.

So these years, except for the Liu family who specially sent them over for them to try, the Guo family can basically only eat radishes, Chinese cabbage and pickled vegetables in winter.

Guo Feng'an is a glutton, he almost didn't drool when he saw the potatoes and bolou dishes in the car today, and after he got back, he pestered Liu Pianpian to say that he wanted to eat beef stew with potatoes.

Liu Pianpian has always doted on this youngest son, although Guo Feng'an's ordered dish contains potatoes that are not available at home, let alone beef - all dynasties have expressly stipulated that cattle are not allowed to be slaughtered.But in this world, there are many people who are obedient and obedient, such as those who say that the cow hurt its hoof and are no longer helpful for farming, or slaughtered a calf, saying that the calf died of illness.

All in all, as long as a large herd of cattle is not killed at the same time, and occasionally kills one to eat, most of the time the court will turn a blind eye.

It just so happened that the beef bought a few days ago hadn't been eaten yet, and Guo Zhan'an was not in the house. As the wife of the house, she sent someone to ask for some fruits and vegetables, so Liu Pianpian sent someone to Guo Zhan'an's yard to ask for potatoes and bolou vegetables .

The stewards in the kitchen didn't dare to make decisions on their own—everyone knew that Guo Zhan'an and Liu Pianpian were at odds. Since Guo Zhan'an took back Di Wanyan's Zhuangzi, when did Guo Zhan'an give Liu Pianpian a little of the Zhuangzi's output?

Jia Huan happened to go out to do errands again, and the kitchen steward had no choice but to find Fuquan, another servant of Guo Zhanan who had been with him all the time, and tell him about it.

With Huo Yu as the master, Fuquan couldn't make decisions, so he had to come to Huo Yu.

After hearing this, Huo Yu thought for a while, and said, "Just say that these are what my brother will use in the future, so I can't give them."

He could see clearly that the reason why Guo Zhan'an would rather have an argument with Liu Pianpian than to give her the output of Zhuangzi was not only because he had a disagreement with Liu Pianpian, but more importantly, he was worried that Liu Pianpian would continue to ask him for it unscrupulously from now on. thing.Once Huo Yu sets this precedent, I'm afraid Liu Pianpian will ask for it one after another in the future, and the things she begs will not be limited to food.

Fuquan smiled bitterly and said: "Master Huo, I'm afraid you don't know this lady of the Guo family. She is very talkative. If you tell her that this is what the young master will eat in the future, she will definitely reply that this much is enough for the young master. She's fine with some."

Huo Yu frowned, and asked, "How did that brother refuse before?"

"That one didn't dare to offend our young master at all," Fuquan explained, "The young master just took back our wife's Zhuangzi and dowry, Liu Pianpian thought that the young master was too young to be bullied, so she came to ask our wife to keep it. Jewelry, the young master refused to say anything. Later, even the master was alarmed, saying that it was just a few pieces of jewelry, so I borrowed it. The young master did not stop doing anything, so he simply took the few pieces that the lady is fancying now. The jewels were all dropped! This incident got out later, and I heard that there was a lot of embarrassment. Everyone said that the Guo family was poor, and the step-wife of the Guo family was shameless, and she actually wanted to marry the first wife. I heard that , my wife didn't dare to go out to socialize for several months. Later, in the winter, they came to ask the young master for potatoes and bolou vegetables grown in Zhuangzi. It was thrown outside in a corner of the busy city, and was picked up early the next morning. Later, the young master simply asked the people in the village to sell all the potatoes and bolou vegetables, and said nothing to them. .”

Huo Yu actually laughed out loud when he heard the last word, "I never thought my brother would do such a thing before."

Fuquan said with a smile: "At that time, there was no way. The young master was young, and we were young, and only Jia Huan's father led a few servants to protect the young master. Master Huo, do you know why the young master even eats with us at ordinary times? Were the others separated? It was because someone drugged the young master's food once, and he almost died!"

Huo Yu was startled: "There is such a thing? Why has my brother never told me about it?"

Fuquan said: "The young master has always loved you, how could he let you know such a thing?"

It was the first time for Huo Yu to be said so in public, even though he already knew that people like Jia Huanfuquan knew about his relationship with Zhayao, he still blushed.

Naturally, Fuquan couldn't make fun of Huo Yu. Seeing that Huo Yu blushed, he accepted it as soon as he saw it, and said, "Master Huo, should we think of another way to refuse?"

Huo Yu thought for a while, and said simply: "Then don't bother, they can't follow the robbers to rob."

Fuquan was taken aback, and asked hesitantly, "Is this possible?"

Huo Yu couldn't help thinking of the time in Tiger Village, and said, "Don't worry, since they still know how to save face, they won't do such a thing."

Now that Huo Yu said so, Fu Quan didn't bother about anything anymore, and just followed Huo Yu's instructions - completely ignoring the people sent by Liu Pianpian.

Just as Huo Yu expected, although Liu Pianpian was in a hurry, she couldn't really send someone to snatch her.She couldn't even complain to Guo Xiantong, she could only sulk in the room alone.

But some people think otherwise.

Guo Feng'an heard that he couldn't eat beef stew with potatoes, but only beef soup, so he was so angry that he asked his servant to be a horse for him.

But he rode the boy around his house four or five times, and his anger still persisted.

"Isn't it just some potatoes! Since they won't give it to me, I'll get it myself!"

The boy was terrified when he heard this, and hurriedly persuaded him, "Second young master, please don't, it will be bad if the master finds out."

Speaking of Guo Xiantong, Guo Feng'an was indeed afraid, but after thinking about it, he strengthened his determination to get the potatoes: "What are you afraid of, the big deal is that you don't let daddy know, it's fine, just me and mother will eat!"

The little guy talked badly, but Guo Feng'an just didn't listen, and even beat him if he found a broom, and warned him not to tell the story.

At night, Huo Yu was used to sleeping with Guo Zhanan, but today he was alone, so he couldn't sleep.He put on his robe, opened the window to look at the moon, and suddenly heard a "plop" from outside, followed by a strange voice: "Second Young Master, Second Young Master, are you alright!"

Huo Yu listened carefully again, and found that there was the sound of water mixed in. He secretly called out "Oops", and rushed out the door.

Because Huo Yu didn't like people waiting outside when he was sleeping, Fuquan usually slept on the couch in the next room.He was sleeping in a daze that day, when he suddenly heard noises coming from outside, he rubbed his eyes, put on his shoes, and then put on his coat to go out. When he saw that the door of Huo Yu's room next to him was open, he was so frightened that he lost all sleepiness. , quickly ran in the direction of the sound.

There is a pond in the west corner of Guo Zhanan's courtyard. Many people are gathered around the pond at the moment. Fuquan yelled "Get out of the way" and squeezed into the crowd. He saw Huo Yu wrapped in a robe, his lips Turned blue and trembled all over.

Fuquan thumped in his heart, and shouted: "What are you doing in a daze! Hurry up and help Master Huo back to the house! Hurry up and invite the doctor over here! Where's the woman in the kitchen? Go make ginger soup!"

Everyone was in a hurry, three or four people worked together to carry Huo Yu into the house.

Others were not easy to do anything, so Fuquan could only be ruthless and went into battle himself, pressing Huo Yu's abdomen hard.

After a long time, Huo Yu spat out a mouthful of water with a wow.Seeing the effect, Fuquan pressed for a while, and Huo Yu spit several times before opening his eyes.

Fuquan almost cried: "Second Young Master, Second Young Master, are you okay? Second Young Master, please say something."

Huo Yu coughed a few times and asked, "Where's the person?"

"People? Who?"

Huo Yu said intermittently: "Someone fell into the water."

Fuquan couldn't care so much now, and said, "Second young master, don't worry, I'll go to the pond to have a look now, you have a good rest, the doctor will come soon."

Because he was worried that directly rubbing his body with hot water would burn him, Fuquan couldn't care about other things at the moment, so he called a few servant girls to wash their hands with warm water, and rubbed Huo Yu's face and limbs with both hands.On the other hand, he hurried to the edge of the pond to check on the person who fell into the water that Huo Yu was talking about.

It was terrible to see that it was Guo Feng'an, the upright second young master of the Guo family who fell into the water!

At this moment, Guo Feng'an's servant had already panicked and lost his mind. Guo Feng'an was unconscious by the pond, and he just kept crying beside him.

Other people in the courtyard had focused on Huo Yu earlier—everyone knew that Guo Zhan’an would not let them off lightly as long as Huo Yu scratched his skin, let alone falling into the water—and it was dark, so there was no The only person who noticed that there was another person who fell into the water was Guo Feng'an.

Fuquan hurriedly called a few servants, and everyone worked together to carry him to another room.

The conditions of this room were not as good as Huo Yu's. Although there was charcoal burning, there was a puff of smoke that made Guo Feng'an on the bed choke.

Fuquan glanced at the boy next to the bed, and said, "Come on, you're still crying." Then, he turned his head and told the other boys: "You guys, stay here, the doctor will be here in a while, but Qian Don't let ordinary people in and out, you know?"

These people all understood that Fuquan wanted to prevent Guo Feng'an's servant from suing Liu Pianpian.

They did not dare to be careless and divided them into two batches.One group stood by the bed, while the other stood guard at the door.

As for Jia Huan, after calling a few women to take care of Guo Feng'an, he turned back to Huo Yu's room to check the situation there.