Plum Blossoms

The outer door of Baihualou is still open.

Mrs. Li didn't enter through the main entrance, but took the reins from her, and led the horse to the back entrance.Wang Zhaojun tidied up his clothes a little, and walked into Baihualou.

After entering the inner door, it immediately became much warmer.There was still no one on the first floor, it was quiet.Wang Zhaojun took a deep breath, carried the hem of his skirt, and went upstairs on the wooden ladder.Her footsteps were so light that there was almost no sound.

There is a man sitting in front of the window on the second floor.

He was wearing a blue coat, sitting sideways on the bench, staring straight at the low table in front of him, as if he was lost in his own thoughts.

He is in a trance.

Flowers all over the building... nothing much has changed.

Wang Zhaojun stood at the stairs, watching him quietly.

His hair was tied with a small and exquisite sapphire crown, showing the outline of the entire face.Eyes like lacquer, face like crown jade, just like when she first met him, gentle and refined.There are several charcoal basins in the corner of the room, and the red charcoal fire can be seen through the hollowed-out cover. Besides, there seems to be other things burning inside, so there is a very faint fragrance in the air.The charcoal basin was burning vigorously, and the room was not cold, so Huamanlou was not wearing thick clothes. Inside was a moon-white robe and an outer shirt.

There was a small gap in the window farther away from him, probably for ventilation.At this time, the bustling noise from the street outside came into the house through that gap, but it didn't attract Hua Manlou's attention.

What are you thinking, so engrossed?

After standing and watching for a while, Wang Zhaojun slowly calmed down from his agitated and nervous mood.She raised her foot again and walked towards Huamanlou.

This time she didn't deliberately take it easy.

Hua Manlou immediately looked up to her position.

Wang Zhaojun pursed his lips, and involuntarily grabbed the flute at his waist, using the coldness of the flute to calm his uneasy mood again.Before Hua Manlou could express anything, she spoke first, her voice soft and indifferent: "It's me."

Hua Manlou was stunned for a moment, then got up immediately.His sleeve brushed off the table, and a piece of paper with a few words on it fell to the ground.He didn't notice, he just "looked" at her, surprised and delighted, hesitant to speak.After a long time, all the emotions on his face have subsided, leaving only a more gentle smile: "You are back."

His smile is very sincere, without the slightest gap, he is really just happy for her safe return.

He is really a gentleman with a bright heart and a frank heart.

So Wang Zhaojun laughed and said, "Yes, I'm back."

She once again lived in Baihualou.

The original room was still the same, clean and tidy.All the clothes she wore were put in the cabinet, hairpins, earrings and other things were all put into the makeup box.They left Baihualou at that time, originally thinking that they would come back again later, but she left alone after seeing Dazhi Datong, so Fenghuang Yufei's suit of clothes was still left in Baihualou.

Now she no longer needs the ten points of attack power attached to Fenghuang Yufei, but she still feels a little emotional when she sees these golden crown arm ornaments.

She can no longer respond to the call, and she doesn't know if it will cause waves in the Canyon of Kings.

The flowers in Baihualou were all withered, not only the balcony, but also the yard was bare.It took two days for Wang Zhaojun to notice the changes in the yard.She stroked the trunk and said pleasantly, "Where did the plum tree come from?" There was no such tree here before.

Hua Manlou listened to the movement behind her, and said after a long while: "It was moved from somewhere else, I thought that if you come back to see me, you will like it." Cultivate it and go through a lot of moving, I'm afraid we won't see it bloom this year."

Hearing that there seemed to be regret in his tone, Wang Zhaojun said in relief: "Then it will be in the next year, and we can always see it."

She turned to look at the plum tree again, only to hear Hua Manlou answering from behind: "Okay."

After a few more days, Huamanlou was going back to Hangzhou Huajia.He originally wanted Wang Zhaojun to go with him, but it was a family reunion festival after all, so it didn't make sense for her to be an outsider.

Wang Zhaojun only said that he was alone, and refused to go.She insisted, Huamanlou didn't want to force it, so she didn't say anything, but told Aunt Li to prepare meat, poultry, fruits and vegetables, and cleaned and decorated Baihualou.Mrs. Li is from Hua's family, so she will go back with Huamanlou during the Chinese New Year.Fortunately, Wang Zhaojun learned a lot of crafts with Mrs. Li in his spare time, so cooking by himself is not a problem.

Because Mrs. Li was there, Hua Manlou and the others left in a carriage.When Wang Zhaojun sent them away, Hua Manlou asked worriedly, "Are you really not going with us?"

Wang Zhaojun hummed, helped Mrs. Li into the car, and said to him, "Say hello to your family for me."

"My sister-in-law will definitely talk about it." Hua Manlou shook his head helplessly.

When he said this, Wang Zhaojun couldn't help thinking of the situation, and also smiled a little: "Then I will trouble you to suffer hard."

Mrs. Li was also worried, and muttered: "The water on the stove is always warm, so it can be used at any time; the charcoal basin is warm, but it needs to be ventilated frequently, or something will happen; Miss, remember to lock the doors and windows at night, although the law and order in the city has always been good. But I'm afraid that Xiao Xiaosheng will have bad thoughts..."

The more she said, the more worried the look on Hua Manlou's face became.

Wang Zhaojun patted Aunt Li's hand: "I know it all, don't worry, I'm not a weak woman with no strength to restrain a chicken."

Hua Manlou said: "You don't understand, there are many ways to make people hard to guard against in the Jianghu."

Wang Zhaojun laughed again: "Everyone knows that Baihualou is your place. Could it be that you had an enemy with someone, so this enemy rushed to seek revenge during the Chinese New Year?"

Hua Manlou was speechless for a moment: "That's not true."

Who can a person like him have a grudge against?

"It's time to go. The carriage is moving slowly. It's best to start early and get there before the city gate closes." Wang Zhaojun said, "Don't worry about me."

Recently, the city of Suzhou is very lively.

Because there are only a few days left, you can see people buying new year's goods everywhere.In the market, folks from nearby villages drove to Suzhou City in groups of threes and twos. They sold their own products during the day, bought cloth and fresh food when they left, and returned with a full load.

Wang Zhaojun didn't always stay in Baihualou.

Louli has piano, chess, pen and ink, but without a bosom friend, no matter what you do, it will be boring.She must go out every day, go to the teahouse on the street, or go to the bookstore to buy two books.Even the cries of hawking and bargaining in the market one after another are lovely to listen to.

Children like to play with firecrackers most.Putting the "General in Red" on the ground, the daring boy lit the fuse with the fire stick in his hand, and then ran away excitedly and hastily in the hope of his companions covering their ears.Women often reprimand them not to play anymore, blowing themselves up or burning their clothes is no small matter, but they make grimaces and smile and run away, continuing to play in another place, not listening at all.

Wang Zhaojun also picked up a girl at the gate of Baihualou.The little girl was so young that she couldn't even speak coherently. She only knew that she wanted a mother, and she was about to cry when she saw her.It was also the first time for her to deal with such a small child, she didn't know how to coax her at all, and was in a hurry.After carrying it into Baihualou, she gave her a dried peach from the box on the table, and then she calmed down, holding the dried peach and happily chewing on it.There are five layers in this storage box, which are filled with pastries, sugar cakes, and candied dried fruits of various colors, all prepared by Mrs. Li.Wang Zhaojun doesn't like to eat these very much, so he is very lucky to be able to use them to coax this little girl.

Fortunately, it didn't take long before a young couple came along the street shouting "Nannan", they were the parents of the girl.They went to the city to buy things today, very busy.There are too many things to buy, so I discussed buying them separately.The husband thought that his wife was taking care of his daughter, and the wife thought that her daughter was with her husband, but when they met at the appointed place, they found that her daughter was gone.

The wife was sobbing while hugging her ignorant daughter who had gnawed the scum all over her face, but the husband calmed down, thanked Wang Zhaojun repeatedly, and took out a bag of dried sweet potatoes for her to accept.

This dried sweet potato is actually very sweet, tastier than many sugar cakes.

If Mrs. Li knew that she didn't like those delicate snacks, but ate sweet potatoes worth a few pennies instead, she would be heartbroken.

The temple fair in Suzhou City is grand, with vendors selling all kinds of gadgets and novel and interesting performances.Wang Zhaojun also bought potted asparagus and put them on the table on the second floor of Baihua Building.

One day, Wang Zhaojun passed by a family, and was immediately attracted by the red plums all over the branches.This tree is on the other side of the courtyard wall, so tall that some of its branches stick out of the wall.The red plums are gorgeous, and the dark fragrance is surging, which makes people feel refreshed.In contrast, the plum tree in the backyard of Baihualou did not show any signs of blooming, and it was even more exciting to look forward to the prosperity of the coming year.

On the evening of New Year's Eve, Wang Zhaojun led his horse out of the city.

In the few days before Chinese New Year, Suzhou City has been very lively.But on this day, apart from the sound of firecrackers, it is difficult to hear more noise on the street.

Because this is a day for family reunion, whether it is a family or a small family, people will almost choose to stay in their own homes, sit around with their relatives, and enjoy the family happiness.

During the day, Wang Zhaojun didn't go out, so he found a travel journal and read it slowly.The author, who does not know what dynasty and identity is, claims to be an unenlightened ronin, and records his experiences piecemeal, including the famous mountains and rivers he passed by, the resentment of being bullied by unscrupulous shops, the description of delicious mushrooms in the mountains, and a certain When the oiran in the city came out, everyone was amazed with emotion.She bought this book at a stall selling second-hand books. At that time, she only thought that the language in the preface was humorous, but combined with the content of the text, she felt a sense of self-deprecating loss for no reason.

One of the chapters is also on New Year's Eve.I don't realize that the ronin is out alone, with no relatives or reasons.Everyone else was happy to reunite, but he started to climb the mountain with a pot of wine on his back.After climbing to the highest point, looking down at the lights of the city in the distance, drinking strong wine, "Although the surroundings are gloomy and quiet, I feel even more excited." However, such feats did not end satisfactorily. , "The lips and teeth trembled and the whole body trembled", so I hurried down the mountain while I was still conscious, and stayed in the temple at the foot of the mountain for a few days.

Wang Zhaojun is not afraid of the cold, so she was very interested and wanted to try the pride of climbing high and getting drunk on New Year's Eve.