Rong Xuan

Emperor Chao IV was a good emperor who was diligent and frugal, but he was also a ruthless emperor with thunderous means.

After he ascended the throne and changed the Yuan Dynasty, he grasped both the military and government powers, vigorously reformed, rectified the court, and purged the army. Within seven years, the Dachao Kingdom Haiyan Heqing had already taken on a new look.

In the winter month of the seventh year of Guanxi, the snowflakes had already drifted a few times, but the prosperous Jiangdong was still prosperous and busy.

In a house in the east of Zhongzhou City, the servants who came and went were busy performing their duties, and the main courtyard was quiet, no one came to disturb.

It's already late noon, the sun hangs lazily on the southwestern horizon, the winter in Jiangdong Water Village is not as dry and cold as in the north, the earth dragon in the house is burning warmly, and the young lady who woke up from a nap finally slowed down. Tun Tun sat up from the brand new quilt.

She didn't seem to wake up, she hugged the quilt and covered her face after sitting up, and woke up in the warm quilt.

After a long while, the young man who was sitting on the warm couch in front of the window with a book in his hands finally couldn't help it, and smiled warmly while leaning on the soft pillow.

The young man looked at his wife, and Shi Shiran spoke with a hoarse, slightly nasal voice: "Madam, did you wake up?"

"..." The young lady lay back on the bed again, and stretched her waist comfortably. She stretched out her arm halfway through the curtain, twitched her finger at the young man casually, and spoke lazily: "Ah Xuan, you come here."

The young man called Ah Xuan put down the scroll in his hand, walked over and hung up the bed curtain, and sat sideways on the side of the bed, "What's wrong?"

The young lady half sat up with the thick cotton quilt in her arms, clinging to the young man's arms like a kitten.

She raised her hand, gently stroking the small scar on the young man's forehead with her warm and soft fingertips, and naturally coquettishly said, "I'm full of sleep, but I don't want to get up, what should I do?"

"Well, let me think about it..." The young man was concentrating on thinking carefully, as if he was really thinking of a complete solution - his biggest goal was to let the person in his arms be lawless.

In that room, a series of footsteps came from far and near under the corridor outside, and sure enough, someone knocked on the door outside, "Master, there is a visitor ahead."

"Understood, I'll go right away," Sima Xuan said back to the servant, then lowered his head and asked the man in his arms with a smile: "Probably Qing Jia has arrived, do you want to get up this time?"

Cao Hui sighed: "Okay, I'm going to get up."

……

On the twenty-ninth night of the twelfth lunar month in the 16th year of Jingchu, Sima Xuan feigned death to escape. In March of the first year of Guanxi, Sima Xiu, the Grand Marshal of the Northern Frontier Army, handed over his military power and dismissed him from office. Emperor Zhao Qingyuan finally released the "hostage" Cao Hui and left. .

In the blink of an eye, seven years have passed, Sima Xuan changed his mother's surname to Jiang, pretended to be an ordinary wealthy family who moved from Chang'an, and concealed his identity with Cao Hui in a certain place in Jiangdong. comfortable.

Zhao Qingjia, the owner of Yongjia County, has always been in correspondence with Sima Xuan, but it was not until the emperor completed the military reform of the four frontier troops that she dared to let Sima Kun, the son of Qingxu, bring a pair of nephews and nieces with her in the name of entertainment. Get up and go to Jiangdong.

This time, along with Princess Yongjia Zhao Qingjia and Sima Kun, apart from the [-] or [-]-year-old twins, there is also a Qingxu Shizi Concubine Deng.

Ginger House, vestibule:

Sima Kun and his wife, who were waiting in the front hall, saw Sima Xuan and Cao Hui coming in, they immediately got up and greeted them: "Kun'er and his wife Deng's herring ask brother and sister-in-law about their well-being, is brother and sister-in-law safe?"

"Don't come here without any problems," Sima Xuan raised his hand to support Sima Kun's saluting arm, "Sit down, don't be polite."

Sima Kun grinned, and sat down in the chair at the same time as Sima Xuan. Sima Xuan sat in the chair with his back straight, and looked Sima Kun up and down carefully.

In the end, a clear smile gradually appeared on her gentle expression: "After seven years of separation, my family Yuanzhi has also grown up."

Sima Kun nodded, warming his hands with a cup of hot tea in his hand, and smiled a little shyly, "Thanks to the blessings of my second brother and my second sister-in-law, my brother has been doing pretty well these few years."

Cao Hui was careful, and while Sima Xuan was talking to Sima Kun, she took the initiative to talk to Deng Qingyu, the daughter of Deng Shichang, the current chief minister of the cabinet.

Deng Qingyu is worthy of being born in a scholarly family, and his speech and behavior are almost comparable to Cao Hui back then.

Sima Xuan paid close attention to the conversation between Cao Hui and Deng Qingyu, and heard Sima Kun say: "Just now on the way here, Qing'er saw the freshness of other people's floating market, so she asked Sister Qingjia to go with her. Went to the market, Huan Er brought people to accompany him, Sister Qing Jia let me, let us come here first, second elder brother wants to send someone to look for them?"

"No." Hearing the names of her children, Sima Xuan's eyes gathered deep thoughts, but she still shook her head: "Qing'er has loved to play since she was a child, and Huan'er must have been restrained in Chang'an. Then let them go, the tide will start to return after a while, and they will come back when they can't bear it."

"Second brother still knows the two little guys. By the way, second brother doesn't know. Brother Huan and sister Qing have grown up very fast in the past two years! Their appearance has changed a little!" Sima Kun put his arm on the armrest of the chair On the top, the upper body is slightly tilted in the direction of Sima Xuan, without the slightest appearance of Prince Qing Xu who was upright and serious in the past:

"Huan'er is four or five points similar to your second brother, and my father said that Qing'er's temperament is exactly the same as that of your second brother when he was a child."

——The same mischievousness, the same fearlessness.

"Really?" Sima Xuan raised his eyebrows, and the smile in the corners of his eyes grew stronger, "The two of them have troubled you for the past few years."

"What did the second elder brother say?" Sima Kun tilted his head slightly: "The two of them are my own nephews, so I naturally want to treat them as my own."

Cao Hui here smiled warmly: "Yuanzhi is a family man after all, and he is much calmer than when he was young. It seems that the fourth sibling is the one who can manage Yuanzhi, the little overlord."

Cao Hui's temptation had immediate results. Sima Kun obviously paused when he heard the words, and the smile on his face was even a bit far-fetched: "My brother was ignorant when he was young, so he made the second sister-in-law a joke."

Although he didn't know what was going on between the "fourth younger brother" couple, Sima Xuan still chatted along Cao Hui's words.

Time passed quickly, and just when Sima Kun was getting impatient, Zhao Qingjia came back with fourteen or fifteen-year-old twins.

Sima Kun rushed out of the room one step ahead of Sima Xuan.

"Fourth Uncle and Fourth Uncle!" Sima Qing saw Sima Kun walking out of the house, and ran over laughing at Cen Cen. She held up the gadgets in her hand and said happily: "There are many new gadgets in the market, Qing I bought this for my fourth uncle!"

Sima Xuan and Cao Hui came out later, and Deng Qingyu followed at the end.

"..." Sima Huan, who was standing at the bottom of the steps, raised his face slightly, seeing his father and mother who had been thinking about him day and night, and the prince of Jingling who had been strong for seven years, his eyes were red in an instant, and he plopped down on his knees at the bottom of the steps , suppressed crying and saluted parents: "Father and mother are here, let's say goodbye for a few years, and I will ask my parents for their longevity and well-being..."

When the last word "Kang" was uttered, tears welled up in the young man's eyes. On the steps, Sima Qing also knelt down with her elder brother at some point, bowing down to her parents.

Liu Sheng and Yu Yan followed Sima Huan, and they couldn't help being excited when they saw their old master.

Emotional as Cao Hui, after all, it is the child who has been raised in front of her for a long time. She has gone to help the twins respectively, and her eyes are red.

Sima Xuan stood still with the armrests. She lowered her eyes, exchanged glances with Zhao Qingjia who was at the end, and called everyone into the warm front hall.

I haven't seen each other in seven years. From the six or seven-year-old Huang Kou to the fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy, there seems to be some kind of insurmountable obstacle between the twins, Sima Xuan and Cao Hui. I can't get in.

After entering the door, the well-taught servants came in one after another, poured hot tea for the guests who had just entered the door in an orderly manner, set up foot warmers and hand stoves, and then retreated quietly.

Sima Qing looked at the entire front hall, trying to make herself appear inconspicuous: "Father and mother live far away, and Qing'er is almost torn apart by the carriage, if I go out to play tomorrow, I'm afraid Daddy will carry me on his own!"

"Okay, Daddy will carry you in." Sima Xuan always had a smile on her lips. She turned to look at Sima Huan, who was closer to Cao Hui, and asked softly, "Your fourth uncle said that you are young?" Just entered the Hongwen Museum, how do you feel?"

Sima Huan returned with a hand stove in his hand: "The Hongwen Hall is a hall of the Imperial College, and there are many masters in it. My son thinks it is a great blessing to be able to go in and study."

Not surprisingly, Sima Xuan has always held great guilt for this pair of twins - she has personally experienced life without a mother, and knows how hard it is. She once tried to bring the twins with her. , but the chips in her hand are not enough to "redeem" the child...

On a dark morning in winter, the reunited people after a long absence were drinking tea in the warm spring-like front hall, when Sima Huan suddenly heard a faint conversation coming from outside.

"Miss is back!" Like a servant.

"Well," it was a child's voice, sweet and cheerful: "Where are my father and mother?"

Servant: "Master and Madam are in the front hall right now—hey Miss, Master and Madam are accompanying guests..."

North and south of Chao State call their daughters differently. The north calls them "girls", while the south calls them "misses". Thinking of this, Sima Huan's eyes gradually dimmed. After all, young people have not learned to hide their emotions. He predicted what would happen in an instant, so he lowered his head slightly, and there were only two words still lingering back and forth in his ears-"Guests."

Sure enough, a corner of the heavy noren curtain in the front hall was lifted from the outside, and a five or six-year-old girl ran in bouncingly.

"Mother, Daddy, Xieyi is back!" The little girl was not frightened by the strangers in the room, she ran over and threw herself into Cao Hui's arms: "Mother, mother, the master praised Xieyi today!"

"Cough," Sima Xuan cleared his throat, pretending to be serious: "Freehand, don't be rude."

Jiang Xinyi, who is not afraid of anything, pouted at her pretendingly serious father. She snuggled into her mother's arms and looked at everyone in the room wantonly.

"Second, second brother?" Sima Kun was obviously a little surprised. Even though he had become calm and introverted over the years, he still couldn't hold back the surprise in his heart because of the pink and cute little girl in front of him.

"Xieyi," Cao Hui pushed the soft little guy in his arms to make her stand upright, and introduced to her seriously: "That's Aunt Qingjia, that's the fourth uncle and four aunts, and brother and sister. Aren't you going to say hello to them?"

Xiaoxieyi is really not afraid of strangers. After hearing her mother's introduction, she walked over and greeted everyone decently. Zhao Qingjia and Sima Kun immediately touched small items such as ornaments from their bodies and gave them to everyone The small freehand brushwork of the first meeting.

When it was the turn of the twins, the young man in the jade crown and brocade robe seemed a little flustered when faced with the sudden appearance of his younger sister. He fumbled all over his body, and finally tore off the black jade pendant from his waist.

The young man took the jade pendant in his hand, and rubbed it slowly a few times, as if reluctant to part with it, he looked up at his parents, and finally slowly stretched out his well-articulated hand towards the sweet smiling little girl in front of him— —

The next moment, before everyone realized what was going on, Sima Qing had already snatched the jade pendant from her elder brother's hand, and rushed out of the room crying, and even knocked Xiaoxieyi off her ass.

"Qing'er!" Sima Kun called out, and immediately chased him out, followed by several adults in the house.

In a blink of an eye, only Xiaoxie who had slumped to the ground and her elder brother sitting in the chair in front of her were left in the warm and cozy front hall.

Xiao Xieyi seemed to be frightened by the battle just now, she looked up at Sima Huan in a daze, surrounded by the meeting gifts that Aunt Qing Jia and others had just given her.

After staring at Xiaoxie for a long time, the boy finally got up, squatted down and picked up the fat little girl from the ground.

Sima Huan helped Xiaoxieyi tidy up her clothes, and helped her pick up all the things on the ground and put them in her hands. After a moment of silence, the boy rubbed his face, his eyes were red.

"...Brother." Xiaoxieyi held the things in her hands and asked timidly, "What's wrong with my sister?"

The red-eyed Sima Huan licked his lips at the younger sister, with a bitter and relieved smile: "Sister, she's fine, she just found out that the parents of the older brothers and sisters have long since abandoned us."

Unexpectedly, as soon as these words came out, Xiao Xieyi suddenly threw away a few pieces of gold and jade in her hand, and burst into tears: "My elder brother and sister have no home, so Xieyi has to give my parents to my elder brothers and sisters. There will be no father and mother kissing, woo woo woo..."

The servant guarding the door rushed in as soon as he heard his lady's cry, and saw the young man in the jade crown and brocade robe squatting in front of his lady, without further ado, the servant stepped forward holding Xiaoxieyi and went out. up the lobby.

The servant looked at Sima Huan as if he was wary of a bandit who murdered and robbed him.

In the ears, Xiaoxieyi's crying gradually faded away, Sima Huan sat down on the ground slumped, he suddenly laughed foolishly, smiling, the young man finally covered his face and cried in pain.

——Why did you come here this time? !

Is it really just to prove that parents don't want me and my sister anymore?Is it really just to prove that he and his sister are both burdens?

Outside:

Sima Qing, who was unfamiliar with the place of birth, tightly held the jade pendant in her hand, ran left and right in Jiang's house for a long time, and finally hid in the rockery forest in the backyard.

There was no one around, and the rockery and rocks were all cold and cold. Finally, she couldn't help it, she hugged her knees in the corner and cried loudly.

The people who were chasing him did not dare to go forward easily, Sima Xuan frowned, and she even suppressed the cold crease between his brows.

"I'll go over there," Cao Hui stopped Sima Xuan, "You ask someone to cook some hot soup to drive away the cold, so that Qing'er won't get sick again after catching the cold."

The servant who came over promptly handed over a collar of fur clothes, Cao Hui took it, turned and walked into the rockery forest over there.

"Qing'er," Cao Huixun came over, standing in the wind to block the cold wind behind him, "is it because you think your parents don't want you?"

Sima Qing hugged her knees, buried her face in her arms, and cried out of breath, "My brother has told me about the situation of my parents back then. The jade pendant was given to him by his father after his brother was born, and he never left him, my daughter didn't want to belch... didn't want my brother to send it away..."

……

I don't know how much time passed, and it was getting dark. The servants brought up the lanterns and lit all the surrounding stone cups one by one. Then Sima Qing, who was wearing a fur coat, came out of the stone forest following Cao Hui, sobbing.

Walking up to Sima Xuan, Sima Qing, whose eyes were swollen from crying, apologized to everyone, then bowed her head to apologize to her father Sima Xuan.

This time, Sima Xuan didn't spoil his daughter any more, but slapped his daughter on the forehead: "Stinky girl, the bigger you get, the more stingy you are. It's just a greeting ceremony. Is that the case?"

Sima Qing lowered her head, she knew it was her father stepping down the steps for her.

"Daughter is wrong," Sima Qing said in a low voice, "Don't be angry, Daddy."

"You have to be punished! You have to be severely punished!" Sima Xuan flicked his sleeves, angrily turned around and walked forward, "Yuanzhi, tell me, how do you teach this girl on weekdays? Tell me, this time How should I punish you?"

"..." The innocent Sima Kun hastily followed in the footsteps of his second brother, and ran over like a dog's leg, "Second brother, don't be angry, brother is wrong, just accept the punishment..."

Cao Hui, who was walking behind, held his daughter Sima Qing's little arm, looked at Deng Qingyu, and laughed silently.

The cold-faced eldest son of Prince Qingxu's mansion would have followed his elder brother to admit his mistakes for no reason, like a young man who had done something wrong.