Chapter 81

In the middle of the night, after Yan Mingting finished his bath, he didn’t see Zhao Yelan in the room, so he casually put on a coat and went out to look for someone.

The servants said they saw Lord Zhao go to the ancestral hall.

He walked outside the ancestral hall and saw that the lights inside were bright, and Zhao Yelan’s shadow was reflected in the window. He pondered for a moment, turned his footsteps, did not make a sound, but leaned against the window, and stayed with him in silence for a while.

The people inside remained silent, only the incense candles were burning silently. Yan Mingting thought about it, then left quietly, and by the way told the people not to approach the ancestral hall.

Lying in the room for a while, the door opened with a creak, and Zhao Yelan walked to the bedside.

“Come back, come quickly, the quilt has been warmed for you, but it’s warm.” Yan Mingting moved to his seat.

“Do you know where I’ve been?” Zhao Yelan took off his clothes and lay down on the bed. He grabbed his cold hand and rubbed it in his palm.

“Well, don’t worry, I didn’t eavesdrop on your private conversation with your parents.”

“It’s okay to hear that.” Zhao Yelan smiled, “I just want to tell them that I’m doing fine now.”

“That’s good, I feel relieved for your parents.” Yan Mingting said with a smile.

After a long while, Zhao Yelan suddenly asked: “Should I take a rest for a day tomorrow?”

“Yes.” Yan Mingting yawned and said, but the other party sat on him rustlingly, lowered his head and licked his ear and said, “I won’t go out tomorrow.”

Yan Mingting suddenly became mentally disturbed: “If you say that, I won’t be sleepy anymore.”

Zhao Yelan smiled softly, and whispered in his ear: “It doesn’t matter if you are a little bit cruel.”

The next day, Zhao Yelan really didn’t go out, and didn’t get up until the afternoon. He hugged Mrs. Tang and collapsed on the recliner, with a tiger skin inside and a blanket on his knees. Xiao Gao teaches Kung Fu.

Ten days later, it will be New Year’s Eve. The emperor will hold a family banquet with the feudal lords, and no foreign ministers are required to attend, so everyone can spend a peaceful year at home.

The General’s Mansion is very lively this year. Butler Tan has not been so busy in and out for many years. He went to pay his respects early in the morning and invited people to be guests.

Near noon, the guests arrived one after another.

Li Yucheng and his son, Ruan Xian’s family, several lieutenants including He Cuizhang, Zuo Ran, Yin Pinglu, and Kan Chuan’s family of three.

Everyone else knew that they had a good relationship with Zhao Yelan, but when they saw Kan Chuan, they were inevitably a little surprised.

Yan Mingting smiled and said, “Thank you Lord Kan for giving me this face.”

“The general was joking. I, Kan, have been lucky in my life to get the invitation from the general.”

The two exchanged pleasantries, and everyone thought they were friends of Yan Mingting, so they let go of their doubts.

In the past few days, Yan Mingting would communicate with Kan Chuan in the upper and lower courts. When other officials met, they just thought that the two had similar interests. After all, Yan Mingting got along with anyone.

“Where is Mr. Zhao?” Yin Pinglu asked.

“He’s writing Spring Festival couplets in his study, and he’ll be here soon.”

Said that Cao Cao Cao Cao arrived, Zhao Yelan came to the front hall, dressed in vermilion clothes suitable for the occasion, with a flowing cloud jade hairpin on his head, blue hair like a waterfall, fair skin, it is a dazzling scenery in this winter, everyone can’t help but appreciate it more After a few glances, they greeted each other.

“It’s cold outside, let’s eat first.” Zhao Yelan said.

The table was full of delicacies, men, women and children gathered together, because Li Yucheng, a chatterbox, and He Cuizhang, an invisible guy, were making jokes, the dinner table soon kept laughing, and the unfamiliar people gradually became acquainted .

After the meal, Zuo Ran and Yin Pinglu were attracted by Li Niang holding the baby. Together with Ruan Xian’s wife, the four women gathered around to tease the children. Li Niang told them about the hardships of being pregnant in October, but her eyes were full of tenderness. Ruan Xian’s wife is not pregnant yet, but she is a little afraid of having a baby.

Zuo Ran and Yin Pinglu squatted aside, looked at the child with a smile, said she had worked hard, and praised the child for being so cute.

Maybe it was because he was not used to seeing so many strangers, so the child burst into tears and couldn’t be coaxed well.

Yin Pinglu asked: “Are you going to drink milk?”

“I just fed it, so I shouldn’t be hungry.” Li Niang said, and suddenly she got up and walked inside with the child in her arms, “Come with me to find Mr. Zhao.”

Zhao Yelan was watching calligraphy and painting with Kan Chuan, Li Jinyu, and Ruan Xian in the study, which was the birthday gift Kan Chuan gave last time.

After several people praised the calligraphy and painting with witty words, they talked about the affairs of the court in unison. When they were talking about the relationship with Nanjiang, they heard the voices of a few girls outside, calling Mr. Zhao, Mr. Zhao in a hurry.

Then Kan Chuan saw his wife and two little girls running in, and handed the child to Zhao Yelan.

“Master Zhao, the child keeps crying, can you see if you can make her stop?”

Zhao Yelan had no experience in holding children, so he froze for a moment, his hands and feet were stiff, and he put his arms around the crying children, and asked them blankly, “Is that so?”

Seeing this, Kan Chuan stepped forward with a smile and said that it’s better to be my own father. As soon as he stretched out his hand, he saw the child stopped crying in Zhao Yelan’s arms.

Kan Chuan: “?”

Others: Whoa.

Ruan Xian clapped his palms and laughed: “Brother Kan, I don’t think your real father can catch up with Brother Zhao, so why don’t you just let your child recognize him as a foster father.”

Kan Chuan took advantage of the situation and said, “This proposal is not bad. I wonder how you would like it?”

Zhao Yelan looked down at the child and smiled, “Okay.”

So in full view of the public, Zhao Yelan accepted a goddaughter openly and aboveboard, and gave her a lucky money according to the custom.

“How can there be no General Yan on this occasion? What about others?” Ruan Xian asked.

Zuo Ran said, “A few of them are fighting outside.”

A group of people walked outside, and when they came to the backyard, they saw Li Yucheng pestering Yan Mingting to teach him kung fu, wanting to fly over the walls like Xiao Gao, and to hold heavy weapons like He Cuizhang, but Yan Mingting just pushed him casually, and he was right there. An **** pier fell on the ground.

Everyone looked at Li Jinyu one after another, worried that the old guy who protected the calf would blame Yan Mingting, but Li Jinyu stroked his beard and laughed: “Yan Mingting, you can beat this kid casually!”

“Father, are you still my real father!” Li Yucheng howled, and went to pester Yan Mingting again.

“Go and run five laps to warm up first.” Yan Mingting said.

“I’m going to run now.”

“I’m talking about five circles around the capital.”

“…You are bullying! Zhao Yelan said that he would run around the General’s Mansion five times at most!”

“He is my wife, so of course he can bargain. Which onion are you?”

Everyone laughed, Zhao Yelan helplessly covered the child’s ears with his hands, and if he couldn’t listen, he should not listen.

In the evening, everyone said goodbye one after another and went home. Only the people in the general’s mansion were left. After Zhao Yelan asked the servants to pack up the food, they went down to rest and had a good New Year’s Eve.

The servants happily took the reward silver and went to the street to buy things, and there were only two masters left in the mansion. After the two had eaten, there was nothing else to do, and there were so many people on the street, Zhao Yelan didn’t want to go out and crowd people, so he picked up an orange picked in the woods behind, ate a few mouthfuls, and asked: “Now What are you going to do to pass the time?”

“Do you have any ideas?” Yan Mingting sat beside him, and also peeled the orange.

“Shouldn’t it be time for the New Year’s money?” Zhao Yelan recalled that when he was young, his parents would give him the New Year’s money, and then he used it to buy pens and paper.

“Okay, how much do you want?”

“I want ten thousand taels of gold, can you give it?”

“No problem, just wait.” After a while, Yan Mingting ostentatiously gave him an IOU.

“…”

“Look at the other side again.” Yan Mingting reminded.

Zhao Yelan turned it over and saw that there was a picture of a villain holding a big gold ingot, and he immediately amused him: “Are you childish?”

Yan Mingting did not admit it, and said that he was smart, then took out a bank note from his pocket, and handed it to him: “Here, New Year’s money.”

Zhao Yelan took it over and found that the bank note had some scuff marks, and asked suspiciously, “Where did it come from?”

“My mother gave me the New Year’s money when I was young. On the last New Year’s Eve before leaving Beijing, she asked me to take it to the border to buy food. Don’t treat yourself badly.” Yan Mingting laughed, “When I went to the border, I just wanted to buy it well. Things are also difficult, so I kept them.”

“Then keep it to yourself.”

“Isn’t it the same as saving it at your place?”

Zhao Yelan thought about it for a while, and it made some sense, so he accepted it, and then picked it out from his arms, Yan Mingting stared straight at him, and finally watched him dig it out for a long time, and said: “What are you looking at, I It’s just digging, and there’s nothing there.”

Yan Mingting immediately said disappointedly, rubbing his toes against his feet: “You really don’t give me anything?”

Zhao Yelan looked him up and down, and finally took out a jade bracelet from his arms with a smile: “This, do you want it?”

“You’ve turned bad, and you’ve learned to play tricks on people.” Yan Mingting smiled and leaned over to look, “What is this?”

“My mother left it to her daughter-in-law.” Zhao Yelan looked at him intently, “Or?”

“Yes, since it’s a gift prepared by my mother-in-law, I will naturally accept it~” Yan Mingting replied coyly, and laughed out loud before taking it and wearing it for a long time, his hands were all red, so he didn’t bring it in. , “It’s over, when the mother-in-law was preparing the gift, didn’t she consider that her daughter-in-law would be a big hand?”

Zhao Yelan was about to burst into tears.

This bracelet was secretly given to him by his mother in prison, and she whispered in his ear: “Mengting, I originally wanted to give this bracelet to your wife when you grow up and get married. If… I mean if, I didn’t When you leave here, you must go out, you must survive, and you must find someone you like to marry, you know?”

He knew that it was his mother who was leaving him a memory and entrusting him, fearing that he would commit suicide after his family was ruined. So he lingered on and lived alone, but fortunately, he actually found someone he liked and got married.

The bracelet still couldn’t be put on, and was taken away by Yan Mingting for storage. Seeing him put it into a box and lock it with eighteen locks, Zhao Yelan couldn’t help but said, “You should compete with Gu Niaoyao for hiding.” thing.”

“What’s the meaning?”

She uses a dozen boxes to hide a thing, and you use a dozen locks. I really don’t know who is better.

A large number of fireworks were set off in the palace, almost lighting up the entire night sky, and the common people came to watch and bid farewell to the old and welcome the new together.

The sky was boiling outside, but inside the house was another scene, the two people on the ground sometimes murmured in whispers, sometimes panting, it was clearly still winter, but it seemed like boundless spring.

Colorful fireworks flashed outside the window, Zhao Yelan grabbed the bed curtain, and when the waves were up and down, he subconsciously glanced outside, and then the waves stopped.

He looked at Yan Mingting blankly, the tails of his eyes were red, and there was still a sea tide in his eyes, just about to speak, he saw Yan Mingting lowered his head and fell down.

Zhao Yelan’s eyes trembled violently, and he heard the fireworks exploding outside, as if blooming in his mind and heart, he opened his mouth, his indulgent voice was covered by the sound of fireworks, only Yan Mingting could hear it clearly.

After New Year’s Eve, the vassal kings and envoys from all over the country should leave. Yan Mingting is responsible for sending these people out of the city gate, but the king of Nanjiang has not left for a long time, saying that he likes the delicious food in the capital and wants to stay for a day or two, so he again After waiting for two days, he left with the princess of Nanjiang.

When Princess Nanjiang saw Yan Mingting, she snorted coldly and rolled her eyes, which were full of mockery.

Yan Mingting turned a blind eye to him, and after seeing him off, he returned to the General’s Mansion and waited for Zuo Ran.

“What is the King of Southern Border waiting for these two days?”

“The princess of Nanjiang disappeared in the inn for a few days.” Zuo Ran replied in a low voice. She was placed in the inn by Yan Mingting as a female guard to take care of the female relatives, but she could only stay in the inn to avoid arousing suspicion, ” It was only found by the Nanjiang King’s people last night, and there was a quarrel. I eavesdropped for a while, and seemed to talk about men, going to bed, etc., and guessed that the princess went out to meet men privately.”

Yan Mingting frowned, then went to He Cuizhang again, and asked him to find out which men had been hanging out in the past few days and didn’t come home. However, after a few days of searching, He Cuizhang shook his head and sighed: “Because of the visits of envoys, the curfew during the Chinese New Year is very strict this year. Except for those who hang out in brothels, other men are honestly staying at home to watch the new year.”

That’s strange, a dignified princess can’t go to a brothel to find a man, can she?

Thinking of the disdain in Princess Nanjiang’s eyes when she left, it can be seen that the status of the man she is looking for is definitely not simple.

He told Zhao Yelan about this, and asked him if it could be Zhao Xuan?

“It can’t be him.” Zhao Yelan said, “I heard that he has been staying in Concubine Xian’s palace for the past few days, and if he wants to recruit the princess of Nanjiang into the palace, he doesn’t need to be sneaky at all. Wouldn’t it be better to be upright?”

“But I really can’t think of anyone with a higher status than me…” Yan Mingting said, and suddenly looked at Zhao Yelan meaningfully.

“Are you short of smoking?” Zhao Yelan twisted his ear angrily, “Who is sleeping next to you every night these days?”

“You, you, who else but you?” Yan Mingting repeatedly begged for mercy, “I’m just used to it. After all, your status in my heart is indeed very high.”