Wishful Things

"Father, what are you thinking..." Ji Wanyou blushed even more, and said in a low voice, "This is just my daughter's own thoughts and plans, and it's just my wishful thinking right now... Young Master Zhan doesn't know...my thoughts."

Ji Xiu smiled wryly and shook his head.

"Do you really not know or pretend you don't know? You're going to write it all over your face, even the blind can see it..."

"Father...don't make fun of me."

"This is a girl who doesn't want to stay."

"Why don't you stay? If you can follow what your daughter said, your daughter can stay with you for the rest of her life, and you can save a lot of worry with Mr. Zhan helping you. There are also people at home to support you... Wouldn't it be the best of both worlds?"

Ji Wanyou stretched out her hand, tugged at her father's sleeve, and begged, "My daughter has never begged you for anything, it's just this one thing..."

Ji Xiu sighed.

"Never asked? That's because Dad has always indulged you in everything. You don't need to ask, Dad has already agreed to everything."

"Yes, my daughter knows that you love me the most..."

"Alright..." Ji Xiu said slowly, "Father will think carefully about this matter...it's too early to say anything about it now."

Originally, he didn't intend to consider Zhan Yunzhu.

But if his daughter has really made up her mind and cannot change it easily, then he can only wait and see seriously for a while.

Hearing her father let go, Ji Wanyou was filled with joy.

"Thank you father!"

"I just agreed without saying anything." Ji Xiu snorted softly, "As a father, I have to screen carefully to see if this person is worthy of my daughter."

Ji Wanyou pursed her lips and smiled.

She knew her father all too well.

To be precise, it is the depth of his father's love for him, and he couldn't understand it any better.

From childhood to adulthood, as long as she told her father what she wanted, she never couldn't get it.

What's more, since Mr. Zhan's talent is here, my father has some concerns about using it, and he will inevitably worry that it will be used by others in the future-if he can really join their Ji family, many of his worries will be eliminated.

I just don't know... Will he be willing?

Thinking of those brows and eyes as gentle as the breeze and the moon, Ji Wanyou felt a little uncertain.

Would he feel that this was pity or even humiliating him?

Thinking about it this way, it is absolutely impossible to act too hastily.

Fortunately, they still have a lot of time to spend together, which should be enough for him to slowly see her true intentions.

...

In the morning of the next day, it rained lightly in central Beijing.

In the drizzle, a carriage stopped outside the gate of Duke Zhen's Mansion, and a middle-aged man in a round-neck robe in a dark color got out of the carriage, followed by two servants carrying brocade boxes in their hands.

The middle-aged man stepped forward and reported his family name and the purpose of his visit, and when the servant guarding the gate said "wait", he saw the servant turn around and go to the mansion.

"..." The two boys looked at each other.

Even if they have to wait, shouldn't they be invited to wait in the hall? What kind of hospitality is it to hang them out the door? It's still raining, are you afraid of wiping the ground or what?

It is said that the government of Zhen Guo does not pay attention to etiquette, this time it can be regarded as seeing it.

"Uncle Yun, someone from the Xia family has come, and they say that the chief housekeeper of Xia's mansion, under the order of Xia's chief assistant, made a special trip to pay for his visit!"

Hearing what the gatekeeper said, Uncle Yun said "Oh", waved his hands and said, "Let them go—cough, let them go back."

The gatekeeper suppressed his astonishment, and asked uncertainly: "Should I just let people... go back?"

Uncle Yun asked back: "Could it be possible to beat him up before throwing him out?"

Although it is obviously more appropriate to do so, who made their generals have a much better temper now? Doing this is no longer in line with the current reasonable and kind temperament of their Zhenguo government.

No, the general ordered early in the morning that if someone from the Xia family comes, they just need to get out.

As the saying goes, if there is no comparison, there will be no prominence. After hearing this, the gatekeeper can't help but feel that it is a very amicable solution to send people back directly.

Therefore, the disciples kindly conveyed the meaning of harmony to the members of the Xia family.

After hearing this, several people left with wonderful expressions on their faces.

Within two days, Xia Shoufu failed to appear in the morning court due to illness.

Some people secretly said that 80% of them were angered by Lord Zhen Guo.

After hearing this, Lord Zhen only sneered—is he angry?

It was the first time I heard someone talk about retribution in such a fresh and refined way.

But it doesn't matter how they gossip, anyway, he is in good health, and he is not the one who fell ill-in any case, it is not shameful to be angry, but it is shameful to be angry.

This point is the experience he and that old guy Wu Jun have gained from exchanging anger for many years.

Duke Zhen didn't bother to pay attention to these innocuous words, and went to the military camp for training after breakfast.

...

"Miss, the second master asked you to come over for tea."

In Xiyuan, when Xu Mingyi was arranging the booklets in the study, Akui walked in and reported.

The second uncle took the initiative to ask her for tea?

——Sure enough, the weather is getting hotter, can't you stay in bed?

Xu Mingyi put the few booklets on the relations between the DPRK and China that he had sorted out by himself into a locked box, and put them in the dark compartment of the bookshelf, then took Aoi to Xu Yun's courtyard.

This time, I saw that it was quite lively.

The tea table was propped in the garden, with some cattail mats spread out, Xu Yun was wearing a navy blue gown, Cai Jin was sitting on the left, and a young boy was sitting on the right, it was Xu Mingshi.

"Zhaozhao, come and sit down, and try second uncle's new tea."

Seeing his niece coming, Xu Yun greeted with a smile.

Xu Mingyi sat down on the only vacant seat.

The big bird walking behind her let out a cry of dissatisfaction.

Xu Yun looked over, stared and said: "What?"

A literati loves beauty, he doesn't care if he is beautiful or not, but he is very picky about what he sees, so he really doesn't have any appreciation for this bald and fat bird.

Especially when I heard that he didn't go to the dining room, his seat was always occupied by this vulture, but one day when he went suddenly, the big bird refused to return to the original owner, so he could only sit on the far side.

"Jiu'er, get a mat for Tianmu too." Xu Mingshi saw the key at a glance, and ordered to the boy.

Xu Yun sighed.

Nephews and nieces playful, this is it.

Is it plausible for a bird to sit wherever it goes?

And the tea table also has to join in the fun, so is it possible that it has to learn how to taste tea?

Or is the bird just enjoying the status symbol?

The cattail mat was delivered quickly, Tianmu squatted on it with satisfaction, and dozed off after a while, which just confirmed Xu Yun's suspicion that "this bird wants status".

While drinking tea and chatting, Cai Jin looked at the deep spring in the garden, and said: "Now is the time to go out to enjoy the scenery. After a month or two, the sun will be strong. If you want to go out again, you will not have such a sunny day, and the scenery will be different."

Xu Mingyi nodded in agreement.

"The scenery outside the city is indeed very good now, it is time to go out for a walk more."

The day before yesterday, she secretly took Wu Chao to ride a horse.

"Yes, speaking of it, it will be spring hunting in five days." Cai Jin smiled, looked at Xu Yun, and asked, "Mr. Xu, do you plan to join in the fun?"

Since the founding of Daqing, it has established the rules of holding spring hunting every year.

At that time, the emperor will take the royal family and the clan's children to the Quanhe Palace together. All officials of the third rank and above, regardless of civil or military, will also need to accompany them.

Officials can bring their family members with them. Over the years, those who wanted to let their children show their faces before the Holy Spirit generally would not miss this good opportunity—according to previous years, if they performed well in hunting, they would still have a chance to be rewarded by the Holy Spirit.

Under such circumstances, there are only a small number of people who just go to join in the fun.

"Chunshou, I remember, I'm going to Quanhe Palace..."

Holding the tea bowl, Xu Yun looked inexplicably far away: "I haven't been to that place for more than ten years. Speaking of the scenery, it's really good..."

Hearing that he seemed to want to go, Cai Jin, who was lowering his eyes to refill his tea, paused for a while.

"Second uncle is going?" Xu Mingshi asked casually.

As the only son of the Xu family, since he was seven years old, he would go with his grandfather and father every year.

But I haven't seen my second uncle go there.

When Xu Yun was about to answer, Cai Jin rushed ahead and said: "By the way, a letter came from the palace yesterday, to the effect that I persuade Mr. Xu to go with him."

She originally thought that this must not be persuaded. After all, every time Xu Yun was asked to go out, this gentleman would put on a posture of "it's okay to let me go out, but it's fine to go out with my dead body".

But just now I saw that this person became interested for the first time...

And she... just now had a moment of hesitation, hesitating whether to tell about the letter.

Fortunately, I still said it.

Finally, it preserved the integrity of her Cai family.

"...The emperor wants me to go?" Xu Yun frowned, then shook his head immediately and said: "Then I definitely can't go, you don't have to think about it, you know, there must be nothing good waiting for me."

Cai Jin nodded seriously: "Yes, there must be nothing good."

The Wanfu Building was almost finished, and the emperor asked her to persuade Xu Yun to take her to the spring hunt. Presumably, it was just an opportunity to mention their marriage in front of the clan and officials. Fortunately, in public, Xu Yun and Zhen Guogong were forced to ride a tiger, so there was no room for rejection...

So, it's really not a good thing.

——at least for Mr. Xu.

Cai Jin lowered his head and took a sip of the tea, and then sniffed the fragrance of the tea carefully.

Tea is good tea.

It tastes a bit bitter at the beginning, but those who really drink it will know that the aftertaste is mellow and sweet, which is not ordinary.

But tea, like wine, should not be drunk.

"Then Second Uncle should stay at home." Xu Mingshi turned to look at Xu Mingyi and asked, "Are you going?"

The female family members can also go with them. There are ladies and ladies from various prefectures who want to make friends with each other.

"Go, I've been with-"

When Xu Mingyi said this, his voice paused, and then he continued: "I have already discussed with Jiaojiao."

As a result, he saw several doubtful eyes sweeping towards him.

She didn't care about these gazes at all, and just ate tea leisurely.

She did make an agreement with Jiaojiao.

But Jiaojiao is not the only one who agrees with her.

This spring hunting, she was going.

This is different from the flower appreciation parties and poetry parties organized by the wives and girls. She never goes to join in those excitements, but she will never miss such important events as Spring Hunting involving senior officials and dignitaries of the imperial family.

Even if it's just to go and have a look, it's good to gain some insight along with it.

As Wu Chao said, listening alone is not enough.

"Everyone can't just drink tea." Cai Jin put down the tea bowl and said with a smile, "It's almost noon, why don't I cook a few simple side dishes myself."

Xu Yun's eyelids twitched.

Or because of the torment he has suffered, he just felt that the word "cooking by himself" had passed through his ears once, and when it entered his mind, it seemed to be "poisoning himself".

He wanted to persuade him, but the figure sat up very quickly and left with brisk steps.

The kitchen in Cai Jin's mouth refers to the small kitchen in Xu Yun's yard.

As for Cai Jin's culinary skills, aside from other things, at least he has improved his speed now, and within a short time, a few dishes of side dishes and a big bowl of soup were brought over.

The servant set the table and chopsticks.

Xu Mingyi and the others were holding chopsticks, but they didn't know what to do for a moment.

There was unprecedented humility at the dinner table.

"What's in this soup...?" Xu Yun couldn't help asking.

After all, he had never seen soup of this color since he was a child.

How to say this color...

As if it shouldn't appear in this world—as if you can immediately cross the bridge of Naihe just by taking a sip.

Therefore, rather than saying that it is soup, it is more like a mysterious existence that can connect the yang world and the underworld.

"Here, there are sliced ​​meat, amaranth, and radish..." Cai Jin said while filling a bowl.

Xu Yun nodded.

It sounds like they are all ordinary ingredients.

But Miss Cai seems to have the ability to turn the ordinary into the miraculous.

And the disturbing point right now is—

Who will she pass this bowl of soup to?

In silence, the bowl of soup was brought to Xu Mingyi by a pair of plain hands.

Xu Yun secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

For the first time, he was not so envious of his niece's incomparable superiority in this family.

"Although it is lacking in color and fragrance, the taste should be acceptable. Miss Xu, try it?" Cai Jin said with a smile.

Unable to accept the hospitality, Xu Mingyi took it and took a sip.

Then he nodded and said: "Miss Cai's cooking skills have really improved a lot."

She was a well-known person who never lied unless necessary.

At the moment, this situation is naturally unnecessary.

Xu Yun and Xu Mingshi tried it half-believingly, and they both found it unexpectedly delicious.

Although the few side dishes are not delicious, they all taste quite satisfactory.

However, the Celestial Eye on the side has always maintained a vigilant look, showing that he will never be fooled.

Soon came the day of spring hunting.

On the eve of departure, in Xiyuan, Xu Mingyi was sitting on the couch in the house reading a book, Tianmu was sleeping soundly beside her, with a lotus-colored handkerchief covering her body. The handkerchief, which was originally of normal size, looked very small inexplicably when it was put on the big bird.

Good evening everyone, today is still two more in one.

(It’s snowing in many places today, and the county next to me is also snowing, but it’s raining here...)