On the ninth day of October, the world's tributes participated in the palace examination in front of the Taihe Palace; On the eleventh, Kangxi drove back to the palace from Changchun Garden; On the twelve, Kangxi Yutaihe Hall passed on the Emperor, and gave the palace to try the tribute Wang Jingming and other 143 Jinshi and the first born poorly.

On October 13, under the holy decree, Zhang Tingshu, the secretary of the Criminal Department, was appointed as the examiner of the martial arts examination; Wang Yiqing, the young Zhan of Zhan Shifu, was the deputy examiner, and the martial arts was kicked off today.

Cao Hao got the news in the yamen, and after finishing his errand, he didn't go back to the house, but sent someone to the house to spread the word and go to Yongqing Mansion by himself.

The exam date is approaching, but Yongqing's complexion is okay, and he looks very confident, and even Cao Hao is a little excited.

Although it is Kangxi Jiazi Wanshoujia's Enke, it is also the martial arts of various provinces who take the exam, and the fierceness of the competition is not much smaller than in previous years.

Yongqing is the eldest grandson of the Earl's Palace, and he also entered the school from a small school, so this strategy is no problem. The rest of the foot shooting and mounted shooting are not a problem for him. As long as you play normally at that time, you won't be able to run away with fame.

Although Yongqing has been strong since he was a child, he has been doted on by his grandfather, so it is the first time that he has earned fame with his true skills. Talking to Cao Hao, he was excited and a little expectant.

Cao Hao's hands were itchy, and he followed Yongqing to shoot a few arrows in the courtyard, and he wanted the right head, but he couldn't hit the target for three points. Yongqing couldn't laugh at him, he just smiled and responded. If it is really shooting live animals, with Cao Hao's little showmanship, it may not be possible.

Because when it was time to eat, Cao Hao was not an outsider, so Yongqing left him here to eat. Qi Jiashi instructed the kitchen to pick up a few delicious side dishes, and placed the two brothers to eat wine in the front yard.

Cao Hao and Yongqing had eaten less than two chopsticks, and they saw seven catties trotting over, saying that someone from Cao Mansion was looking for Cao Hao.

Cao Hao put down his chopsticks and frowned: "Which one is here, and it doesn't make people live in peace if they have a meal?" ”

It was Wu Mao, the steward of the Cao Mansion, who came in and said, "Uncle, the housekeeper of the Li family has come to the door, and he is looking for the uncle with something important!" Now, in the house in the middle of the wait. ”

Cao Hao calculated in his heart, since the eighth day, this has passed five days, and it seems that it is almost there.

Because he wanted to go home, he had to get up and said with a little apology: "Brother Shanyu, there is something at home, and now the younger brother can only say goodbye first!" ”

Yongqing smiled heartily, got up, and said, "Our brothers, where are those exquisite?" Since there is something in the house, you can go back quickly! ”

Cao Hao did not delay, said goodbye to Yongqing, and returned home with his long follower.

Yongqing stood outside the gate, watching Cao Hao drift away, thinking in his heart, the Li family should be Xiao Cao's uncle's family. Cao Hao is the eldest son of the Cao family, and a bunch of cousins and cousins need to be taken care of, not to mention, even the cousins and cousins in the relatives also have to be accepted, which is really tired.

* The person who came to Cao's house to ask to see Cao Hao was Qian Zhongxuan, the chief housekeeper of the Li Mansion, accompanied by Cao Fang, waiting in the side hall.

Seeing Cao Hao coming back, Qian Zhongxuan immediately got up from his seat, didn't care about giving Cao Hao a salute, and said with a crying voice: "Young Master Cousin...... Master Cousin...... My second master is gone......"

Cao Hao was confused when he heard this, frowned, and asked, "It's gone, what's missing?" ”

Qian Zhongxuan calmed down and replied to Cao Hao: "On the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, my second master was on duty in the afternoon, and he was fine before leaving the house, and he didn't say where he was going. In the evening, he did not return home. The old slave thought that the second master was resting in the house by the sea, and he didn't take it to heart. When he arrived, the guard sent someone to ask, and the second master was absent for three days, and the lord said that he wanted to ask him about his sin! The old slave saved the second master from going on an errand. When I got to the house by Haizi, I asked, saying that the second master had indeed rested in the past on the eighth day of the first month, but in the middle of the night, I got a letter from the little maid, saying that there was an urgent matter in the house, and I asked the second master to go back! …… The old slave took the boys, and searched for two days in and out of the city, but they still didn't look for ......"

Cao Hao patted his forehead and asked Qian Zhongxuan, "Is this ...... Could it be that my uncle has an urgent letter? What about the kid who followed, and it's gone? ”

Qian Zhongxuan nodded and said: "Back to the young master, the old slave asked Shen Liu from the house over there, and the second master went out with two boys, and these two boys are not seen now." ”

Cao Hao didn't know what to say, and listed several relatives in Beijing, but Qian Zhongxuan had already run once.

How could this good living person, who is also on an errand in the guard office, be gone?

When Cao Hao followed Qian Zhongxuan to Li's house to inquire about the details, Fu Nai, Jiang Zhuo, and Sun Jue had already arrived.

Fu Nai's face was a little ugly, the wedding date of Li Ding and Miss Fucha was set for October 28, and now there are not a few days left, but there has been such a change.

At the feet of the Son of Heaven, the first good place, can a big living person still go to heaven and earth? Thinking that the Li family had retreated from Dong E's family in front of him, Fu Nai's heart became more and more angry.

Although it is a family affair, the matchmakers who finally came to propose marriage were Cao Yin and his wife, but in fact, they were his Fu Nai's involvement. Now, the wedding date is approaching, and the groom is gone, so what should the niece do? Where will their Fucha family's face go?

Jiang Zhuo and Sun Jue are both literati, so what ideas can they have. The two of them had similar thoughts, and they both wondered if Li Ding had gotten the news from the south and went back to Suzhou. I heard that Li Xu's wife and Li Ding's mother-in-law Han has not been in good health in the past two years.

But according to what the housekeeper said, he came out of the Shichahai house in the middle of the night, and the city gate was closed.

disappeared with Li Ding, and there was also a long-term personal servant. Guo Mao, the father of the little house, is the head of the house, although he is not worried about the master, but he is really concerned about his son, and he doesn't care about what to say, and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, the little grandmother who lives over there is not a serious person, and it won't be a hook to outsiders and calculate our second master, right?" ”

This was the first time everyone heard this, and they all looked at Guo Mao curiously.

The chief butler Qian Zhongxuan glared at Guo Mao and shouted, "What are you talking about?" If you curse your master like this, don't go down quickly! ”

Fu Nai stretched out his hand and said to Qian Zhongxuan: "Don't stop him, let him finish!" As he spoke, he asked Guo Mao: "What kind of little grandmother are you talking about, but she lives on the other side of Shichahai?" ”

Guo Mao nodded and said, "Isn't that her?" The slave heard the slave's son mention that this grandmother is not a serious woman...... hesitated for a moment, and said, "Yes, a few days ago...... Accompanied by foreign guests......"

This is a love affair, everyone, you look at me, I look at you, and I have no idea for a while.

Of these four people, Cao Hao is a cousin of the Li family, Jiang Zhuo is a blood relative, and Sun Jue and Fu Nai are in-laws. So far, you can't let it go, but if you continue to investigate, it will involve the privacy of the Li family.

Because Fu Nai was the longest among the people, everyone looked at him.

Fu Nai, because he is worried about his niece's family affairs, wants to find the end, where can he put it? So everyone rode their horses and went to the outer house of the Li family in Shichahai.

After half an hour, everyone arrived at Shichahai. Qian Zhongxuan listened to what Guo Mao said, and was also a little suspicious of the Yang family, so he called someone to send a message to the inner house and asked the Yang family to come out.

No one else has been to this outer house, but Cao Hao has been. Such an elegant place is a place where Li Ding uses to socialize with the powerful, and it is not uncommon to raise two beauties.

After a while, he saw a young woman moving over, but Cao Hao was very surprised.

It wasn't Yang Ruixue who came, she had a little smile on her face. She didn't believe in the nonsense that "the second master is gone", and she got up from her in the middle of the night, not because she was worried about the newcomer in the Li Mansion.

In the past half a year, Yang Ruixue has also inquired about the affairs of Li Zhai, and knows that now that grandma has not entered the door, there is a maidservant housekeeper favored by Li Ding in the second door.

However, at the moment of seeing Cao Hao, Yang Ruixue's smile froze, lowered her head and blessed everyone, and said softly: "The concubine has seen all the uncles!" ”

Sun Jue saw that Cao Hao's face was wrong, and asked, "Fu Ruo, do you know her?" ”

In one sentence, everyone looked at Cao Hao.

Cao Hao nodded and said to Yang Ruixue, "Madam Bai, why are you here?" Could it be ...... Mrs. said that the cousin in Beijing refers to the cousin below? ”

Although Wei Hei had investigated before, he knew that Li Ding was raising a woman in this house, but Cao Hao really didn't expect that this was an old man.

Yang Ruixue's face was flushed, and she couldn't tell whether she was embarrassed or annoyed, so she nodded for a while.

His niece has not yet passed the door, this Li Ding has already raised an outer room, when they have no man in the Fucha family? Fu Nai's face was so black that he was afraid of people, and asked Cao Hao in a deep voice: "Fu Ruo, who is this woman?" How do you know? ”

Cao Hao didn't know how to answer, and wanted to say that it was a friend of his sister and sister in the past, but seeing Yang Ruixue's actions at this time, it would only damage their reputation. After thinking for a while, he replied: "She is from Jiangning, and my nephew saw her before he went to Beijing on an errand!" ”

Although Cao Hao took out his sisters and sisters, he was annoyed by Yang Ruixue.

She raised her head, looked at Cao Hao, and said with a little anger: "Cao Ye is so affectionate, he is so clean!" Why not mention my poor sister? My brothers and sisters have worked hard for your Cao family for many years, and the ancestral pearl recipe was also sold by Cao Ye for money, so I can't even mention it? ”

Cao Hao listened to her nonsense, his heart was really tired, and he frowned and said, "Madam Bai, please be cautious!" Your father didn't recognize any children during his lifetime, but he didn't know where the names "brother and sister" came from? Although your mother's family has left a small property, it is not rare for everyone. Whether Zheng Hu is your father's wife and son-in-law, you should know it well. Miss Zheng is now married, and you are talking like this, which really hinders her innocence. ”

After saying this, Yang Ruixue's face turned red. After her father's death, her husband Bai Rui was afraid of Zheng Hu, for fear that he would take advantage of the Cao family's power to rob the family property, so he found an opportunity to take the initiative to associate with Li Ding.

Unexpectedly, this is only a year of hard work, two husband and wife, dead and dead, and alive are not like individuals.

Is this "self-inflicted iniquity, not living"? The father worked hard to save a few family businesses, and the husband turned his face with his father-in-law and uncle in order to monopolize the family business, but now they are all cheaper than Li Ding.

What if there is money, where can it be kept without power?

There are many allusions in the words of the two, and everyone is surprised when they hear it.

Yang Ruixue remembered the old things, was a little disheartened, impatient to entertain everyone, leaned over, and retreated.

Everyone looked at Cao Hao, Cao Hao smiled bitterly, and briefly said the encounter of the Zheng brothers and sisters in a few words. This abandonment of his wife and children has really caught up with a script, Jiang Zhuo and Sun Jue, two self-proclaimed moral gentlemen, had to sigh a few more times "people's hearts are not ancient".

Although I saw Yang Ruixue, there was no progress in finding Li Ding.

The places where Li Ding can go in Beijing have been searched. Everyone also asked the concierge of the house here, although there were outsiders in the inner courtyard, but it was brought back by Li Ding. Although he has been here a few times, every time Li Ding sent a letter first.

Although the Yang family has been out of the house, every time there is a mother-in-law and maid to follow, there is nothing abnormal.

After discussing it, everyone still felt that Li Ding's surname was greater when he left Beijing. After all, the Li Mansion here in the capital is all subordinates, and there are no other masters, if Li Ding is really in a hurry to go south, there are also people who go out of the city directly.

Now, all everyone can do is to help him ask for leave at the guard's office, which is to send a letter to the south to verify the news.

Others have been busy for a long time, and they don't feel anything, only Fu Nai feels a little unlucky. The wedding date of the two families is set urgently, just for fear of catching up with the state funeral of the old lady in the palace. Now, this national mourning has not arrived, but is it about to catch up with the Li family's filial piety?

This national mourning is okay, at most it is only seventy-seven and forty-nine; If Li Ding's mother-in-law dies of illness, Li Ding will have to keep filial piety for three years. What should I do about getting married at the end of the month?

And they went out of the courtyard and dispersed. Cao Hao rode on a horse and returned to Cao's Mansion with his entourage.

His expression was faint, and he couldn't tell whether he was sad or happy. What is the condition of Li Xu's wife, Cao Hao doesn't know, but he knows that Li Ding has ......

(To be continued)