West of the city, Cao Fu.

Cao Yan got up early and moved his muscles and bones in the yard. After rinsing his face with water and salt, Cao Yan returned to the room. The maid Zhu'er held a wooden comb in her hand, waiting to comb Cao Yan's hair. Cao Yan touched his light brain, a little helpless, and a little funny. I am now completely [***], if there is no maid to wait, it is really not good, at least this more than one meter long braid is not something that I can clean up.

Zhu'er was one of the two little maids brought by Amethyst from Jiangning, and was personally selected by the Li family before Cao Yan entered Beijing. Another little maid was named Cui'er, and Cao Yan didn't bother to think of a new name for them, so she called them according to the original name. The Li family originally had the intention of choosing a room for their son, so the two maids they selected were both fifteen or sixteen years old, with beautiful appearances and quiet and supple surnames. The two also have faint hopes for their master in their hearts, but although Cao Hao is easy-going, he rarely laughs with the maid, and they don't dare to be presumptuous.

Cao Yan had a lot of things to worry about, including the rise and fall of the family and his own life and death issues, and he didn't even notice that he was about to become a gentleman. The son of a family, the first taste of personnel at the age of twelve or thirteen is ordinary, and a boy like him who is fifteen or six is still precious. However, because the first two years were just in time for the filial piety, Cao Yan was in the temple; After returning to Fuzhong, he was preparing for coming to Beijing, but no one would have thought about this problem

Even though the two little maids are delicate and cute, Cao Yan shows no signs of moving. How is it that he is also a good young man who has received education in modern society, in his eyes, girls under the age of eighteen are just children. If you think about a child, is it still a human being?

However, when Amethyst appeared, Cao Hao was a little embarrassed. Although he was drunk last night, he vaguely remembered pulling Amethyst and talking nonsense before going to bed, and then thinking about the pants he changed in the morning, Cao Hao felt that his old face had no place to put it.

Amethyst is the same as in the past, but it is no different, and she took a few little maids to arrange breakfast for Cao Hao.

Just one day on duty, just in time for the six-day rest, Cao Hao can just visit the relatives and friends of the Cao family in these days. As the eldest son of the Cao family, socializing will be an important part of his life. As early as when he was in Jiangning, he accompanied his father to some social activities; Now in the capital, but it is necessary to read the power to come forward. However, there are still a lot of particularities in visiting other people's homes, and you have to wait until the other party replies to the post before you officially come to the door.

After breakfast, the brothers Wei Hei and Wei Bai talked back and forth. Wei Hei returned to Liufang Hutong in the early morning, and after meeting Wei Bai, the two brothers pretended to leave, but actually stayed in a hidden place to secretly observe.

Lu Dai ordered the maid to take care of Lu Yunniang with a broken arm in the room, and waited until dawn to call a carriage, and the four of them went to the Pingjun Mansion together. After a while, Pingjun Wangfu came out for a few rides, and the destination was Liufang Hutong.

After these people returned to the county palace, a carriage came out of the county palace, surrounded by several palace stewards, and went to the Yamen of Shuntian Mansion located on Gulou East Street. Subsequently, the Shuntian Mansion sent a lot of officials to arrest and go to the courtyard of Liufang Hutong. The two brothers, Wei Hei and Wei Bai, were afraid of attracting the attention of those who cared about it, so they didn't follow.

Cao Hao was not worried that this matter would implicate the Wei brothers, if the Ping Wangfu wanted to use the official mansion to find out about the matter, he would definitely not want to make a mistake and confess two masked knights who had no trace. It is estimated that the best way is to find two guards with better martial arts, take on the roles of the two brothers Wei Hei, Wei and Bai, and position the killing of those people as legitimate defense.

In the past few days in the capital, Cao Hao has been hesitating whether to go to the fourth elder brother's mansion in person. The prince can't make friends with foreign ministers, and in order to avoid suspicion, it's best if he, the son of foreign ministers, doesn't have a relationship with the princes. However, the fourth elder brother and the thirteenth elder brother can save his life.

When I arrived in the capital, it should be reasonable to visit the two benefactors. It's just that Cao Hao didn't know that he wanted to visit him out of pure gratitude; still wants to use the name of gratitude to quietly hug the thick legs of the future emperor. Don't be too deliberate, don't be too close, and resolve the future disaster of the Cao family within a range that everyone can accept. The thirteenth elder brother seems to be in a very bad situation since he abolished the prince last year, and was ordered by Kangxi to be imprisoned in Yangfeng Sandwich Road.

didn't wait for Cao Hao to make a decision on whether to go to the Fourth Elder Brother's Mansion or not, the housekeeper Cao Zhong came to report, saying that Xiao Gege from the Pingwang Mansion came to the door with a young lady as a guest.

Cao Hao shook his head, these children are really noisy, even if they don't take into account the difference between men and women, don't they know that being such an uninvited guest is rude?

*

Cao Mansion, front yard, main hall.

Bao Ya sat on a chair and spoke to the girl in red and flag dress who was sitting next to her: "Sister Yongjia, do you say that Cao Hao can win those Mongolian Tatars?" ”

"Gege!" Yongjia frowned slightly: "Quickly change your mouth, how can the word 'Tartar' be exported casually, in case it reaches the ears of the Queen Mother Lafayette one day, there will be good fruit for you to eat!" ”

Bao Ya knew that she was speechless, and spit out her lilac tongue: "Good sister, Bao Ya knows that she is wrong!" ”

Yongjia saw Baoya's cute and pretty appearance, and felt a little more pity in her heart, but she still said with a straight face: "Gege is getting bigger, and in the future, this kind of behavior of entering the house will also be changed, fortunately it is a relative's family, otherwise it will make people laugh and affect Gege's reputation." ”

Bao Ya smiled and nodded, but her eyes were red: "I haven't had a mother since I was a child, although my brother has married a good sister-in-law in the past two years, but my sister-in-law is too busy to teach me." It's Sister Yongjia who always worries about me. ”

Yongjia looked at the maid waiting at the door, and glared at Baoya with a smile: "Are you here as a guest, or are you here to gossip in someone's place, your eyes are red, and you are not ashamed?" ”

Bao Ya smiled and twitched her nose, posing very elegantly. Yongjia looked at her, but the image of a teenager came out of her mind.

Because her father was the general soldier of Jiangning, Baoya lived in Jiangning with her parents for three years. Although Cao Hao has never seen her, she has seen Cao Hao. A few years ago, in a carriage not far from the Jiangning Cotton Embankment Ferry, Yongjia had met Cao Hao, a young man on a horse with a bit of arrogance. Facing the little girl's pleading, Cao Hao's expression was faint: "If you have this heart, why have you only done it in vain for four years?" ”

Yongjia was in the carriage, and through the gap in the curtain, he saw Cao Hao, who was still a young man. Cao Hao's coldness, Cao Hao's arrogance, and Cao Hao's unintentional loneliness and sentimentality all inadvertently attracted her attention. Since then, she has quietly followed his messages. The son-in-law of the Cao family of the Jiangning family, long live the name given by the Lord himself, has been intelligent since childhood, and knows the scriptures before the age of ten; At the age of ten, he congratulated his grandmother on her birthday and planned Lin Xia Zhai; At the age of eleven, he saw the car and was praised by the Lord of Long Life; At the age of twelve, he entered Qingliang Temple to keep filial piety for his deceased grandmother; At the age of fifteen, he went to Beijing and entered the guard camp as an errand and served as a third-class guard.

Yongjia only felt that his heart was beating hard, what would he look like after four years? Can you still be so cold, you can still be so arrogant, and you can still be so lonely and sentimental? The answer is right in front of you.

Regardless of whether Huan is welcome or not, Cao Hao is still dressed neatly and comes to the front hall to meet guests.

When Bao Ya saw him coming, she immediately got up from her chair and stepped forward with a smile: "Cao Hao, I'm here to play with you!" ”

Cao Hao sighed in his heart, did he take his younger brothers and sisters to play in Jiangning, and after arriving in the capital, he would still be a nanny for the children? That's not going to work, it's too boring. He quietly took a step back and distanced himself from Baoya: "Why is Gege here?" The prince and Fujin can be safe, everything is good in the house? ”

Bao Ya replied: "My brother and sister-in-law are safe, but the house outside Mr. Lu's mansion seems to have been robbed, and I heard that it was reported to Shuntian Mansion." Speaking of this, he said with a smile: "Why am I here, didn't I just say it, I just came to play with you!" ”

Cao Hao shook his head: "Meng Gege is very loving, Cao Hao should not have shirked, but respecting the order of his father, today he is going to say goodbye to a few elders, and he hopes that Gege will forgive his sins!" ”

Baoya didn't expect Cao Hao to refuse so refreshingly, her eyes were red, and tears flowed down.

When Cao Hao saw it, although he felt a little troublesome, he still couldn't get bored with the poor little girl, handed over a handkerchief, and comforted: "Change Gege to be my guide and take me around the capital, okay?" ”

Bao Ya stopped her tears, nodded with a smile, and then frowned again: "Change is change, today is today, I just called someone to give Tana a post before I came out of the palace, and asked her to shoot arrows outside Anding Gate at the beginning of the afternoon (eleven o'clock in the morning)." Speaking of this, he looked at Cao Hao with a little resentment in his eyes: "You lied to me that your archery skills were not good, and in the blink of an eye, you won Detehei again, and you took me as a fool." I don't blame you for this, but you have to accompany me to compete with the Mongols in archery today, so as to save them from being arrogant and looking down on our Eight Banners warriors. ”

Cao Hao originally saw the little girl crying, and he couldn't bear it; Seeing that she was arrogant next, she was very impatient, ignored her, and found a seat to sit down. Knowing that he and Dete Heibi are archery, it seems that it must have been said by that Nalan Chengping.

Thinking of the carriage and the gentlemen he encountered when he entered the city that day, Cao Hao felt tired, could he follow this little girl's wishes, learn from the people around her, and accompany her to swagger around. That kind of talk is too boring, everything is difficult to find everything, or I am angry with this little girl, and I am clean and clean. So, Cao Hao said to the maid outside: "Tea!" ”

The tea of the two guests, Baoya and Yongjia, came in the morning, so the little maid only brought a cup to Cao Hao.

Cao Hao picked up the teacup and glanced at Baoya. Serving tea to the guests, this time you should go obediently, right? I didn't want to, but Bao Ya followed, staring at him with big eyes: "Cao Hao, you are thirsty, and you have to talk to me!" ”

Cao Hao was speechless, so he heard a "flutter", and someone laughed. Cao Hao saw that it was the girl in red who accompanied Baoya, who was covering her mouth with a handkerchief and chuckling.

For some reason, Cao Hao saw that the girl in red was a little familiar, as if she had seen it. He wondered in his heart how he seemed to know her except for his sister, who rarely had contact with girls outside.