Cao Yan thought nonsense, the old lady had already opened his eyes, and asked someone to call all the maids who were not on duty, and four first-class maids stood in the first row, in addition to pearls and corals, the jade and glass mentioned just now were also among them.

The two of them seemed to have received the letter, and their faces were flushed with shame, and their chins were on their clothes. Both of them are the big girls next to the old lady, one is in charge of the clothes of the four seasons, and the other is in charge of the head and face jewelry.

The old lady said a few words of gossip "respect the old lady and don't be naughty", and then pointed to Agate and Amethyst to take over the errand in their hands. The others are okay, only Cha Jing is young, but her heart is high, and when she saw that the two of them were promoted to big girls, her eyes were a little unhappy.

Jade and glaze kowtowed to the old lady a few times, and went down to hand over with agate and amethyst. In this way, the second-class maids around the old lady were empty, and the rest of the maids were waiting for the old lady to speak. The first-class maid in the house has two taels of silver in the moon, one or two in the second-class, five hundred in the third-class text, and three hundred in the unequal one, and the gap is not a star and a half. After all, in the entire mansion, there are only four first-class maids. Even if you are promoted to the second class, there are rules for clothes for the four seasons and head and face jewelry.

The old lady's eyes turned around a few times among the rows of big and small maids, and finally his eyes fell on the tortoiseshell in the front row, and pointed at her: "You are a careful child, I can rest assured that the girl will be handed over to you, and you will wait for the child in the future!" ”

The tortoiseshell stepped forward to answer, turned his head and kowtowed to Cao Yan, which was regarded as recognizing his master, and then got up and stood beside Cao Yan.

The old lady was very satisfied when she saw that the tortoiseshell was well-mannered, nodded with a smile, and looked at the tea crystal again: "You are the most clever in the courtyard, go and be a companion with the tortoiseshell, so that she will be like a gourd with a mouthful, and she will not move for a long time!" ”

Cha Jing respectfully agreed, and also kowtowed to Cao Yan, and then avoided the tortoiseshell.

The positions of the four second-class maids were vacated at once, and the little maids in the room stretched their necks, waiting for the old lady to pick someone. The old lady only pointed to a melon seed face in the third row, and the others were not satisfied, so he instructed the housekeeper, and said that he would pick some good choices, and then waved everyone out, leaving only tortoiseshell and citrine in the room to wait.

Cao Yan was so sick of the head oil that filled the house that he had a headache, and when he saw everyone going out, he was relieved, and the old lady took his hand and said, "Yan'er, I have always heard that you can't sleep well these nights, is it that grandmother is noisy with you?" ”

Cao Yan hurriedly shook his head, it was not that the old lady was arguing with him, but there were other reasons, one was that he was not used to going to bed early, and the other was worried about this inexplicable crossing.

The old lady sighed: "Good boy, it's my grandmother who is old, and she wakes up every day when she is ugly, but she doesn't want to disturb your rest!" Speaking of which, he instructed the tortoiseshell and citrine to find the coral and set up the east house for Cao Yan to live in. All the drapery should be new, and the missing things should be listed and handed over to the buyer.

Cao Yan was reluctant in his heart, and half pushed and half agreed on the spot. In the warm pavilion here, there is only a hundred treasure pavilion separated from the old lady's bedroom, which is really too lacking. Looking at the old lady's love for him, directly wanting a separate yard is tantamount to an idiot's dream. Even if the old lady lets him out, the Li family will take his son to her yard to raise him. The house on the east side, although it is connected to this side, but the distance between the east and west bedrooms is a few houses, if he doesn't toss out too much movement, he can do whatever he wants here, for example, flirting with the little maid or something, but, just think about it, this little body bone, even if it sticks to someone's body, it will not have any reaction.

Front, Kaiyang-in.

This is the residence of Li and Cao Yin, in front of which is the second gate, and outside the second gate are two empty courtyards, which are for the adult men in the house, because Cao Yin is still young, there has been empty. In the back few small courtyards lived Cao Yin's two-room concubines.

Li waited for Cao Yin to come back, the concubine waited, and the husband and wife had dinner.

After the meal, there were only two husband and wife left in the house, and Li told the matter of glass and jade. Cao Yin glanced at his wife and was a little moved: "Why bother, I'm sorry for you!" ”

There are not many words, but they are intimate, Li's eyes are red, and he almost fell into tears, so he endured it and said with a smile: "The old lady trained her, her appearance is excellent, Liuli, I think she is fine!" ”

Cao Yin was reluctant to continue this embarrassing topic, and frowned slightly: "What happened to the evil obstacle, I have been sick for four days in school, it's too unusual!" ”

When Li heard the mention of his son, he hurriedly defended: "I've been lying down for several days, and I'm better today." The little face is pointy, and he has lost a lot of weight, and he only ate a small half bowl of rice for dinner. Now that he has entered the ambush, let him raise it for two more days! ”

Cao Yin sighed, he only had this son at thirty-six, if it is a lie to say that he is not distressed, he just pays attention to "strict father and mother" according to etiquette, and pays attention to "holding grandchildren but not children", and he, a father, can only teach his son with a straight face. I accompanied my wife to gossip for a while, and when I saw that it was getting dark outside, the husband and wife went to the old lady in the backyard together.

At this time, pay attention to the "morning and dusk province", which means serving and going to bed at night, and saving in the morning to greet each other, which is the common etiquette of serving parents.

It was not yet dark outside, and Xuanruitang had already lit the lights.

The old lady leaned crookedly on the kang, there was a lamp on the small table on the kang, Cao Yan was lying on the table to read the "Analects", and Coral was reading the "Diamond Sutra" to the old lady on the side. Although Cao Yan had only been studying for half a month, before that, he had already been taught by Lao Taijun several books such as "Three Character Classic", "Hundred Family Names", and "Thousand Character Text".

Today, although Cao Yan still has a memory, he still struggles to read the Analects, and is not used to reading vertically, traditional characters, or punctuation. Even so, what can be done, can you still be illiterate? When you are a new child in the first grade, and you are not a real child, you are half-guessed, take your time, and there will always be a time to recognize it.

Seeing Cao Yin and his wife coming in, Cao Yin got down from the kang and saluted after they greeted the old lady. The old lady asked her son and daughter-in-law to sit down, and then, Cao Yin asked the old lady if she had a good dinner, and the old lady nodded and said yes. The old lady asked about the courtyard for the new aunt in front of her and sent someone to prepare, and Li replied carefully.

Cao Yin saw his son standing with a copy of the Analects, and although he was happy in his heart, he still had a straight face, and asked, "Which one have you read?" ”

"For politics!" Cao Yan glanced at the book in his hand and replied.

Cao Yin nodded, thought for a moment, and then asked: "'Zigong asked the gentleman, and Zi said: first say it, and then follow it. What's the explanation? ”

When the old lady and the Li family heard Cao Yin ask Cao Yin about his homework, they both stopped and looked at the two of them. Seeing Cao Yin bowing his head and saying nothing, the old lady was afraid that he would not be happy, so he said angrily at Cao Yin: "He is so young, how can he understand these things." Now that "Three Character Classic", "Hundred Family Names", and "Thousand Character Text" are all familiar, they are much better than children of the same age! ”

Cao Yin hurriedly claimed yes, but he was inevitably a little disappointed when he looked at his son.

When Cao Yan saw it, he couldn't help it for some reason, and said: "'Zigong asked the gentleman, and Zi said: "First say it, and then follow it." This means that Zigong asked what a gentleman is, and Confucius replied that a true gentleman should do things first, not talk about them, and then others will follow you. ”

Cao Yin's face was calm, but there was a bit of relief in his eyes. The old lady and Li Shi next to them saw Cao Yan standing there, like little adults, answering smartly, and their faces were full of joy.

Cao Yan lowered his head, smiled at the corner of his mouth, and secretly rejoiced that he had read part of the "Analects" in his previous life, which happened to be the "Persuasion of Learning" and the second volume of "For Politics".

Cao Yin saw Cao Yin's expression, only thought he was proud, and snorted coldly: "But I don't know anything about it!" ”

How could Cao Yan worry about him, but the old lady didn't follow it, and glared at his son: "Yan'er understands it very well, although it sounds straightforward, but it's that truth!" ”

Cao Yin is not good at disobedience, so he glanced at Cao Yin, hesitated again and again, and still mentioned going to school.

When the old lady heard this, she didn't think about it, so she shook her head: "No, no, now that I'm in ambush, it's so hot outside, even adults can't stand it even if they travel once, let alone such a small child." A few days ago, I had a heat stroke, and I lay down for three days, but now I am better, but I don't dare to toss again. I said a long time ago that I asked you to invite my husband to the house, but I didn't listen, it was all nonsense! ”

Cao Yin sneered: "In school, they are all children of the clan or relatives, and I think that if I don't have the support of my siblings, it is good to make a few classmates and friends to work together." ”

"That's the truth, but not right now, wait until these hot days are over!" The old lady is as immobile as a mountain, and it seems that she has made up her mind not to let her grandson leave the house.

Cao Yin's last bit of expectation was shattered, but Cao Yin pondered that if he didn't do it according to the old lady's wishes, he would be enclosed in this courtyard, watching all kinds of maids walking around all day, and he would suffocate to death. Therefore, he hurriedly said: "Ancestor, my grandson's health is already well, let's go to school tomorrow!" ”

The old lady was a little surprised, waved his hand, called Cao Yan to the side of the kang, took his hand and said, "Good boy, don't be reluctant, you can say it after a while!" ”

Cao Yan shook his head: "Don't force it, my grandson wants to go to school!" ”

Cao Yin and Li saw that their son was so sensible, and they were surprised with a little joy. The old lady had already laughed, nodded, and said, "This is really a husband and wife, and now you look like you are going to school, just like your father back then!" He pointed at Cao Yin, and then said: "I remember that winter, your father chose to be a companion in the palace, and he got up on the second watch, earlier than the officials in the court. The winter in Beijing is not like ours, it is cold! When it came to the third or ninth day, he was going to freeze off his ears. It snowed heavily that time, and I felt sorry for your father and wanted to give him a few days off, but he didn't follow him, for fear of delaying his homework. ”

The old lady said happily, but Cao Yin and Li had different expressions. Cao Yin laughed awkwardly because he mentioned his childhood troubles in front of his wife and children; Li only knew that her husband had been a palace guard when he was a teenager, and the first time he heard about the companion reading, he thought that before he left the cabinet, his brother mentioned to himself that his husband was known to be famous, and it seemed that he was smart since he was a child, and the tenderness in his eyes was stronger.

The old lady is not confused, of course he knows that only reading is the right way, just because he loves his grandson, he is particularly spoiled, and now he sees that he is willing to go, of course, there is no disagreement. Immediately, he explained Cao Yin and his wife in detail, what carriage Ming'er used to send Cao Yin to school, who sent someone to follow, and so on.

After explaining this, it was all dark outside, and the old lady was a little tired on her face. Li first called the tortoiseshell and asked her to serve Cao Yan for placement, and then she and her husband helped the old lady into the inner bedroom. Cao Yin made the bed, and Li helped the old lady take off her coat. When the old lady lay on the bed, the husband and wife left.

In the Cui Pavilion, Cao Yan was lying on the bed, and the tortoiseshell was on duty at night. And he spread out the prostrations on the ground. In the evil feudal society, Cao Yan sighed in his heart, and lowered his voice and said: "Tortoiseshell, there is no need to keep people in the room, you go out to rest!" ”

The tortoiseshell smiled and said, "Then how can it be done, the old lady wants to scold, is it possible that the uncle is thirsty in the middle of the night and has to pour his own water?" ”

Cao Yan closed his eyes weakly, and the old lady had fallen asleep, and there was a soft snoring sound. Cao Yan couldn't sleep, and at this time, it was estimated that it was eight or nine o'clock in the evening.

Hearing that Cao Yan was lying unsteadily, the tortoiseshell asked softly, "Uncle, is it hot?" ”

"Hmm!" Cao Yan agreed indiscriminately.

Hearing this, the tortoiseshell took a fan, brought it to the bedside, and slowly stirred it up.

Cao Yan's heart moved, and he asked: "Are you the 'flower' with the surname 'Huacao'?" Thinking in his heart, looking at this gentle and considerate appearance, he is a typical flower attacker.

Tortoiseshell shook her head: "The slave's surname is Feng, and she is the son of a family, and Lao Tzu and her mother are both on errand in Zhuangzi outside the city." ”

The master and servant whispered a few gossips, and Cao Yan yawned when she saw the tortoiseshell turning her head sideways, and knew that she was sleepy, so she closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. The tortoiseshell sat on the edge of the bed for a while, carefully placed the mosquito net, and then went down to rest.

Cao Yan opened his eyes and began to miss his relatives in that life. I was in a car accident when I was helping Chen Lu of the firm to get materials, because the impact was too big at that time, I lost consciousness all of a sudden, and when I woke up again, it was in the Kangxi period. Both parents are in their sixties, and how sad it should be for a white-haired person to send a black-haired person. My brother and sister-in-law are also, because they are more than 20 years older, they have always cared for themselves as children. Thinking of this, Cao Yan's eyes were wet again. He was unwilling in his heart, and he died like this before he married a wife and had children, or started a family in that life; Is it still doomed to the fate of young and early death in this world? No, you must live a long time, and you must have a full house of children and grandchildren. Having made up his mind, Cao Yan clenched his fists and told himself.