Bend Over [ 折腰 ] - Chapter 27

[Chapter 27 Night Talk]

At night, the Wei House is brightly lit.

It has been a lively day, Mrs. Xu is old, and at this time, it is inevitable that she will be tired. After showing her face on the occasion, she will go back to the north room to rest first. The female guests have also dispersed one after another, and the rest are all men. ‘s entertainment.

Wei Shao was greeted and sent off. He has been busy since the morning until now. It was almost the end of the hour. He didn’t have time to eat dinner. He sent off a few distant guests and walked back in a hurry. He shouted “Wei Hou stay”, turned around, recognized a Shi Shi who seemed to be coming with the envoy of King Zhongshan, and stopped.

The Xia Shi came to Wei Shao and saluted him respectfully. Wei Shao responded falsely, and the Xia Shi flattered a few words. Seeing Wei Shao, he seemed a little absent-minded, and smiled: “Wei Hou thinks he doesn’t recognize you. You used to use it many years ago. In the Su family in Zhongshan. When Mrs. Yulou was still in her boudoir, she was fortunate enough to have seen Wei Hou several times. I wonder if Wei Hou still has any impressions?”

Wei Shao was slightly startled, stared at Shi Xia Shi, paused, and asked “What’s the matter?”

Shi Xia Shi looked around and saw that there was no one there. He took a step closer, took out a sachet sealed with fine satin from his arms, put his hands on it, and said in a low voice, “Wei Hou doesn’t know anything about this, This time, accompanied the messenger to Yuyang, not only to celebrate the old lady’s birthday, but also to be entrusted by others to pass on the book on her behalf. Mrs. Yulou was very pleased to learn about the wedding of Weihou, and she originally planned to come to Yuyang in person this time. Not only to pay respects to the old lady, but also to congratulate Wei Hou on the wedding, but unfortunately in Luoyang, he was entangled in worldly affairs and could not excuse himself. Knowing that a certain person came to Yuyang, he asked a certain generation to pass on this book, thinking of congratulations.”

Wei Shao looked at the delicate one in Shi Xia Shi’s hand . Embroidered purple satin sachet, neither talking nor moving.

When Shi Xia saw that he didn’t answer, he raised his eyes and glanced quietly.

There are two lanterns hanging in front of the door, and the night wind is blowing the lanterns, shaking a red light. Wei Shao’s face was also covered with a vague red light.

He seemed to be in a trance, his eyes were dark, blending into the dim night around him, and he couldn’t see clearly.

Shi Xia Shi placed the incense bag gently on the side of the steps, bowed to Wei Shao, took a few steps back, and hurriedly turned around to leave, when he heard Wei Shao’s voice suddenly rang: “Speak for me, Shao thanked Mrs. Yulou for her kindness, No need for the rest.”

His voice was a little heavy. After speaking, he stepped over the sachet on the steps and strode away.

…

Wei Shao saw off the last visitor, bumped into Wei Yan who had just returned from seeing off the visitor, and handed over the rest to the housekeeper. The two exchanged a few words, and then parted ways.

Wei Yan walked out of the gate of Wei Mansion, took the whip from Zhang Lan, who had been with him for many years, got on his horse, and returned to his residence. It was already midnight.

Busy in the daytime, he didn’t eat anything to fill his stomach, Wei Yan went into the bath room, changed into loose clothes and came out, poured his own drink under the window, and went down with a half-jug of wine.

In the birthday hall during the day, she was unparalleled in beauty. He didn’t expect that she was not only beautiful but also intelligent, which made him a little surprised. When sending Mrs. Xu back to the North Room in the evening, she also waited by Mrs. Xu’s side. At that time, the lights in the corridor were unknown, and she was also standing far away among a group of women, but he still saw her at a glance. It was always difficult to move away, but Qiao was like a goddess and could not be desecrated. From beginning to end, she never looked at him.

Wei Yan’s stomach gradually became hot, and a nameless fire seemed to be ignited in his body. Although the wine was in front of him, his mouth was dry and hot, and he turned his face to see the beloved concubine who was serving on the side looking at him with passionate eyes, smiled and pushed. He opened the wine bottle, pulled her over and sat on his thigh, closed his eyes and lowered his head, took a deep breath of the faint orchid fragrance emanating from the back of Chong Ji’s collar, and the first time he was in the red shop appeared in his mind again. When she met her, the jade neck was exposed when she turned her back to herself. Her skin was fresh and tender, and she could even see the velvety hair on her ears that looked like a newborn baby. Her whole body was suddenly irritated and unbearable. Pulling open the front of Chong Ji, he squeezed the plumpness inside.

Chong Ji didn’t know why he was so fierce when he first came up tonight, it hurts when he was pinched, and he didn’t dare to resist, so he could only pretend to moan to please him.

Wei Yan’s expression was tense, and she laid down her favorite concubine, whose clothes had been torn down, by the table, lifted the hem of her clothes, suddenly stopped, and slowly raised her head.

There was a dark figure in front of the window, tall and tall, Wei Yan recognized the outline of the person at a glance.

His eyes immediately became gloomy, and the desire and thought just disappeared instantly, and if there was killing intent, it came out.

Chong Ji closed her eyes and waited for him to be pampered, but suddenly she saw him stop, she was a little puzzled, she opened her eyes, and saw that he seemed to be staring out the window, she looked back curiously, and suddenly saw a black figure standing, startled, and screamed one sound.

“Go out.”

Wei Yan slowly stood up straight and said lightly.

Chong Ji knew that he was talking to herself, hurriedly pulled back her shirt to cover the front, lowered her head and trotted out of the house in a hurry.

The shadowy figure outside the window came in through the window, wearing Han clothes, taking off his hat to reveal a middle-aged man with a beard, bowed down to Wei Yan, and said, “The captain of the thousand cavalry Hu Yanlie came to ask the young master, but Are you okay?”

Wei Yan said coldly: “What are you doing here? This is Yuyang, if there is no one in the city, I won’t kill you?” The

man said: “King Rizhu misses his young master, and the servant was ordered to return before his death. Please, young master, avoid the sentry by luck, if the young master wants to kill the servant, the servant will be willing to die.”

Wei Yan said, “This is your own death.” Before he finished speaking, there was a clanging sound, and a white light flashed. In the blink of an eye, Wei Yan drew his sword, and the tip of the sword pierced straight into the man’s left chest.

The sword entered the flesh and blood inch by inch, and soon, the black-red blood poured out from the placket of the man’s chest, slowly oozing out, and dripping onto the ground.

The man’s face gradually turned pale, and he knelt on one knee on the ground, his eyes were looking straight at Wei Yan, and his shoulders never shook.

“I’m an inch in, do you think you can still live?” Wei Yan’s eyes were serious.

“People die sooner or later. Hu Yanlie has no regrets to die under the sword of the young master.” The man said in a deep voice.

The Huyan surname is one of the prominent Xiongnu families, known for being brave and fierce, and most of the family members occupy high positions in the royal court.

Wei Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, and after a while, he slowly pulled out his sword, took out a handkerchief, wiped the blood on the tip of the sword, without raising his head, he just said coldly, “Get out of here before I change my mind. Don’t let me see you again in the future.” The

man tore off a piece of his shirt, scribbled around the wound that was still bleeding out, and finally pressed it with his palm, slowly stood up from the ground, looked at Wei Yan and said: ” Thank you young master for not killing him. The servant came here today without any intention of risking his death. The lord knows that today is the birthday of the mother of the previous princess, and he specially ordered the servant to come to celebrate the birthday of the lord. Twenty ingots, twenty each of red silk and green silk, and twenty healthy horses, all of which are ready, just outside the Daijun city.”

Wei Yan sneered.

“What he means is that he wants to let the Wei family know that I know my life background, and I will not be suspicious from now on?”

“My lord does not mean that.” Hu Yanlie bowed to him, “If the young master refuses to convey it, the lord will only I can do it. The servant brought a handwritten letter written by the prince, please read it.”

Hu Yanlie took out a roll of sheepskin from the front of his coat, put it on the corner of the table, and took a few steps back.

“The servant doesn’t dare to disturb the peace of the young master any more, so he will retire first.”

Hu Yanlie bowed to Wei Yan again.

“In the body cavity of the young master, the blood of our bow-drawing family flows. The prince thinks about the young master day and night. Now that Shan Yu is old, the Zuo Xian Wang is always afraid of preparing the prince. The prince urgently needs the young master to go back and help him. Xiongcai, who is also an eagle who strikes the sky, is really willing to submit to others like this all his life and not show his ambition?”

Hu Yanlie said suddenly, got up and turned out of the window as he did, and his figure quickly disappeared into the dim darkness in the depths of the courtyard. among.

Wei Yan pointed the tip of the sword in his hand, stared at the roll of parchment lying on the corner of the table, and stood dazed for a while.

…

Wei Shao walked towards Westinghouse.

It has been busy from early to this moment, and it is a bit more troublesome to welcome and send it than to march outside.

It was very late, and the Wei Mansion, which had been noisy and lively all day, finally regained its tranquility in the night.

Wei Shao walked to the fork, and his eyes fell on the Westinghouse on the left hand side. From a distance, he saw a lantern flickering faintly at the end. When he stepped up a little, he suddenly saw the Eastwood Jiang Li still standing on the side of the road.

Seeing him coming, Jiang Ni hurriedly stepped forward, bowed and said, “Is the matter of Junhou finished? Madam ordered me to wait for Junhou here, and ask Junhou to come and talk.”

Wei Shao frowned, thinking about it. Finally, he turned around and walked to the east room, entered the inner room, glanced at the door, and saw his mother, Zhu Shi, kneeling on the couch, accompanied by several servants and women, and Zheng Shu was not there.

“Zhonglin is here?”

Zhu Shi was still dressed as a guest during the day. Seeing Wei Shao coming, he showed joy, and hurriedly got up from the couch and went down to pick him up in person.

Wei Shao got into the room, knelt down and said, “Mother still doesn’t rest late at night, what do you call me?”

Zhu Shi looked at her son with a hint of melancholy in her eyes: “Mother misses her son, so she called him here, but it’s just that If I want to see each other, just say a few words like I did when I was a child, but my son is getting older, but he has become estranged from his mother. Zhonglin, if there is nothing, can I not call you?”

Wei Shao was slightly startled, and finally turned to look at Zhu Shi. . Seeing that her appearance has not changed much from before, but looking closely, her hair and feet have been mixed with a few white threads, and the fish pattern on the tail of her eyes has also crawled out. Before she knew it, she was still older than ten years ago.

He thought that when he was young, his mother always favored him more than his eldest brother, and his heart softened slowly.

His expression finally softened, and he said, “It’s the son who is not filial. What the mother taught me. In the future, the son will visit his mother from time to time.”

Zhu Shi smiled, picked up a set of folded middle clothes from his hand, and said: ” This is the clothes I sewed for you by myself. It is compared to the old clothes you left with me in the past. Try it after you go back, and if it doesn’t fit, tell me, and I will change it for you.”

Wei Shao hurriedly took it with both hands, put it aside, and knelt down to thank Zhu. Zhu shi supported his son and sighed: “Why do you have to pay me so much respect? You are my son. Did you wear the clothes I made when you were young? Do you want to bow down to me?

Wei Shao smiled and said nothing.

“Today is a lot of work, I haven’t stopped for a moment when I see you, and I must have no time to eat well. I must be hungry, right? I just prepared it for you, and I cooked it myself. Your favorite sweets when you were young. The glutinous soup is still hot right now.”

Zhu Shi turned his head and asked the maid to serve it. The maid quickly brought it up. Zhu Shi opened the lid of the bowl with his own hands and smiled, “I may have not cooked for a long time. I don’t know if the food is still to your liking. You can eat it.”

Wei Shao took it and lowered his head to finish the meal quickly.

“Is it delicious?”

Wei Shao put down the bowl, looked at his mother expectantly, and said, “It’s delicious.”

Zhu Shi breathed a sigh of relief: “It’s delicious. I’ll ask someone to serve you another bowl.”

Wei Shao stopped her and said with a smile, “I’m full. Thank you mother for caring. I was really hungry.”

Zhu Shi smiled and said, “If you like to eat, I’ll make more for you in the future. I know it’s me. It’s not good. In the past few years, I have been urging you for Chu Yu’s affairs, and this has taught you and me to become increasingly estranged.”

Wei Shao said, “My son is very ashamed when his mother said that.”

Zhu Shi was fascinated for a moment, looked at Wei Shao, and said slowly: “I know, I came from a humble background. Although I have tried my best to flatter your grandmother in my life, she still doesn’t look down on me. After your father left, I The situation is even more difficult. I don’t complain. I just blame myself for being stupid and not doing my duty well. Now she is the master and you marry the Yanzhou Qiao girl. You know the blood feud between the Qiao family and my Wei family. I started to hate her. When you brought her home to see her that day, I gave her a look. But after you left, Chu Yu persuaded me, saying that since the old lady has done this, she must have a deep meaning. Since you are married, From now on, it will be a family. I advise me to treat each other well, so that you will not be caught in the middle. I think it is also reasonable. It is a done deal, and my objection is useless. I originally wanted to treat her kindly, I didn’t want her…”

Zhu Shi paused.

“She came early that morning and asked me to bow down and bow down to me. Although her behavior was not disrespectful, I only saw that she should be angry because I treated her slowly yesterday. After she got up, she was going to leave. I got up early in the morning, and I haven’t eaten yet, and Jiang Li has a lot of things to do, so I asked her to cook a bowl of soup for me. Originally, I didn’t miss her, because I was afraid that she thought I was still embarrassing her and was about to stop her. , I didn’t want her to change color on the spot, using your grandmother to press me, saying that she would go back and copy the scriptures for her. She is filial to your grandmother, and I dared to keep her, so I let her go.”

Zhu Shi looked at his son, face Lu smiled wryly, “Zhonglin, your mother is such a useless person, not only does her mother-in-law dislike her, but even the new daughter-in-law has no respect for me. Why do I have to ask you to accept Chuyu? You have been away from home all these years. , I have no one to accompany me, and only Chu Yu can relieve my worries…”

Her eyes slowly turned red, she took out the veil and wiped the corners of her eyes.

“The princes have one wife and eight concubines. I didn’t put so many people in your house, but I just wanted you to take in one Chu Yu. Chu Yu is not a beast, and when he entered your house, he can not only accompany me, but also open up for my Wei family. The branches are scattered. Could it be that you refuse to do even such a thing for me?”

Wei Shao was silent.

Zhu Shi expected his eyes to fall on his face and waited with bated breath.

Wei Shao hesitated, finally raised his eyes, looked at Zhu Shi and said, “I understand what mother means. Please allow my son to think about it.”

Zhu Shi was worried that he would refuse, but he agreed to consider it, and he was overjoyed. Not daring to rush, he nodded hurriedly and said, “It’s fine if you’re willing to think about it. Take your time to think about it, I won’t force you.”

Wei Shao smiled slightly and said, “It’s late at night, my son should take his mother to rest.”

Zhu Shi nodded . . He was picked up by Wei Shao and sent to the door of the room.

Wei Shao retired with the clothes that Zhu’s made for him.

“Auntie, has cousin agreed?” As soon as

Wei Shao left, Zheng Chuyu came out from behind the screen in the room and asked.

With a smile on his face, Zhu Shi stroked Zheng Chuyu’s arm and said, “I didn’t force him, I moved it with affection, and it really worked. Zhonglin agreed to go back and think about it. Chu Yu, your method is really good and smart.”

Zheng Chuyu was startled: “Aunt, did you say what I told you to do?”

“I didn’t drop a word.”

Zheng Chuyu frowned slightly: “Aunt, you said so, and my cousin said to consider it. I’m afraid. What if he just perfunctory and refuses after two days?”

Zhu Shi was stunned, and then said: “Don’t worry. If he refuses again, my aunt still has a way to ask for it from Dawu. Raw rice makes mature rice. When the time comes, Zhonglin won’t accept you, either.”

Wei

Shao pushed the door and stepped over the threshold, Chunniang followed, asking him if he was hungry, and after saying a few words, he heard footsteps, turned his face, and the curtains As soon as he moved, Xiao Qiao pulled it out. Although the clothes on her body were still neat, her eyes were watery and a little hazy, looking like she had just woken up from a drowsiness.

“Husband is back?” Xiao Qiao stood in front of him with a smile on his face.

Wei Shao didn’t lift his eyelids. He turned around and handed the clothes to Chunniang and asked her to wash them with starch, “I just ate supper at the East Room. I’m not hungry. Prepare water for a bath.”

The maid hurriedly prepared. Soon enough. Wei Shao went into the bathroom, Chunniang saw Xiao Qiao staring at the clothes in her hands, pursed her lips, and said in a low voice, “It was made by Mrs.

” at a glance.

“I don’t know what Madam said…”

Chunniang looked worried.

Joey didn’t say anything. After changing clothes, he rubbed his eyes and waited.

After a while, Wei Shao came out, the servants packed up and went out, the door was closed, just like the previous night, Xiao Qiao waited for him to go to bed, blew the light by himself, climbed up carefully and lay down.

Although she didn’t do any physical work during the day, the female guest of the Wei family welcomed her to the front door, and now it’s not her turn, she has been by Mrs. Xu’s side, but just like this, she is tired enough, just waited and waited. , couldn’t bear it, and fell asleep. Now I can finally sleep.

Xiao Qiao closed her eyes, and when her consciousness gradually became hazy again, she suddenly heard Wei Shao’s voice ringing in her ears: “I heard that you wouldn’t even make a bowl of soup for my mother? Those who copy the scriptures Explanation, is it just an excuse?”

Xiao Qiao shuddered, woke up and opened her eyes.

In the darkness, Wei Shao rolled over and got out of bed, and went over to light the lamp again.

The house lights up. Seeing him get into bed, Xiao Qiao lay down on the head of the bed and turned to look at herself.

Although he was about to fall asleep just now, he heard it, and there was a little questioning in the tone of his words.

But at this moment, his eyes looked quite calm, and he could not distinguish between joy and anger.

It’s so late, why doesn’t he sleep, he’s still in good spirits!

Xiao Qiao sat up slowly and looked into his eyes.

“Yes. Copying scriptures is indeed an excuse. But not making soup is not my intention.” She whispered.

Wei Shao stared at her, “What do you mean?”

“The bride is serving the mother-in-law, and the mother-in-law opens her mouth. Even if she is lazy, it’s just a bowl of soup

. .

Xiao Qiao lowered her eyes and said, “Mother-in-law hates me so much. You saw what you saw when we first met. If you weren’t by my side and protected me at the end, I wouldn’t know what to do. That day. You left early in the morning. I had to go there alone. Seeing my mother-in-law’s stern expression, I felt even more anxious. Jiang Li suddenly asked me to cook and make soup. It was all my fault. When I was at home, Because of laziness, I have never been in the kitchen at all, and I don’t know how to start

. He opened his eyes and said, “I was also confused at the time. In fact, if I really wanted to say it, my mother-in-law might not do anything to me. But I was afraid that my mother-in-law would hate me even more because of this, so I just came up with that one. Excuses…”

After she finished speaking, she stopped and looked at Wei Shao pitifully.

When she was talking, Wei Shao’s brows wrinkled, and when she finished speaking, the wrinkling was even worse, and the mosquitoes were about to die. After looking at her for a long time, he finally raised his hand, closed his eyes and pinched his eyebrows.

“Okay, got it! Don’t do this again, do you hear?” His voice was still cold.

“Got it! I will practice cooking more from tomorrow, and I will definitely serve my mother-in-law well in the future.” Xiao Qiao nodded vigorously.

Wei Shao still frowned at her, and after a while, she heard the sound of him exhaling a long breath.

“Go to sleep.”

He spat out two words.

Xiao Qiao felt relieved and got out of bed in a hurry. Zhuo Xie arrived in front of the lampstand and was about to blow the lamp when suddenly he heard Wei Shao’s voice behind him: “My mother wants me to accept Chu Yu, you know that? I agreed just now.”

Xiao Qiao was startled . , turned his head slowly, and saw that he was half lying and half leaning there, and his eyes were turned to him.

[End of This Chapter]