Rui Hegui

When Youbai showed up at the Xiao residence with pepper wine, the Xiao family was also gathering in the main room for the New Year's Eve dinner, and the old lady hugged the little guy who couldn't even speak.

Xiao Rong was the first one to see Youbai, and waved to him, saying: "It's snowing and it's cold, come in quickly."

Youbai ran in with a grin, and the old lady beckoned him to sit beside her, and said, "There are your favorite stuffed tofu and wine glutinous rice balls, as well as mutton dumplings."

Bi'er smiled and said, "The old lady said you might come over, and you did it yourself."

"Thank you, old lady!" Youbai sat down next to the old lady, handed the pepper wine to the servant, and then praised the old lady for her craftsmanship while eating. Fatty, asked, "Does he have a name?"

Half a month ago, Bi'er sent a letter to Ningzhou, and she should have replied in the past few days.

Bi'er was teasing her little master, when she heard the sound, she raised her head and said with a smile: "Master Xing said, just take his surname, and the name is Huailing."

Youbai nodded, with rice grains still hanging from the corner of his mouth, and then he remembered what Zhao Liangyue told him before, took out two copies of money from his sleeve pocket and put it on Xiao Huailing's small chest, saying: "This is my son and Chu Shangshu gave it."

Xiao Huailing opened his eyes wide, giggled when he looked at Yasong Qian, and then said a few times, making everyone around him laugh.

"What about mine?"

Two snow-white but calloused hands spread out in front of Youbai, and his tone revealed dissatisfaction inside and out.

Youbai raised his eyebrows, looked up at the furious Dongchan, and said, "No, how old is Xiaohuailing, how old are you, do you still want red envelopes?"

Dong Chan said: "I don't believe it, Chu Shangshu is so rich, Mr. Zhao is so gentle, they will definitely give it to me!"

Youbai looked at Dongchan with half-closed eyes, and thought, this little brat guessed quite accurately, after all, he is from Xuefangyuan, like a human being.

"All right, all right, here you are." Youbai took out the pressing money from his sleeve pocket, and reluctantly gave it to Dongchan.

But after Dongchan took the pressed money, she stretched out her hand to Youbai again.

Youbai took a bite of the stuffed tofu and said, "This time it's really gone."

"Brother Youbai, good brother." Dongchan smiled flatteringly, "You are a brother, why don't you give me money?"

Youbai frowned, and said: "I haven't seen you calling me brother, but now you're calling me brother. It's useless to call me brother, it's useless, no!"

Dong Chan snorted, sat down next to the old lady, hugged her arm and acted like a baby.

The old lady laughed twice, and asked the steward to bring the money that had been prepared long ago.

First, it was sent to Youbai and Dongchan, and then the two teenagers, one big and one small, got up and kowtowed to the old lady to pay New Year's greetings.

Then the old lady gave one to Xiao Huailing, and another to Bi'er.

Bi'er was obviously a little surprised, she was stunned for a while, and said: "Madam, I..."

The old lady smiled: "It's not as good as Ji, I'm still a child."

Only then did Bi'er get up to take it, and kowtow to the old lady for the New Year.

In the end, the old lady handed Xiao Rong a copy, which surprised everyone.

Xiao Rong smiled: "Mother, my son has passed the age of the crown, he is different from them."

"No matter how old you are, you are still a child." The old lady seemed to have thought of something, and repeated again, "You are still a child."

"So, the son thanked the mother."

Xiao Rong put down the wine glass, first took the pressed money respectfully, and then raised her robe to kneel down, the old lady raised her hand to help her down, Xiao Rong insisted on kneeling down, and kowtowed to the old lady to pay New Year's greetings: "Son, I wish my mother a long life, every year Every year has its present.”

The old lady smiled and wanted to get up to help Xiao Rong up, but she was too weak to stand up, so she had to raise her hand to help.

Youbai actually noticed from the moment he entered the door that the old lady's physical condition was already very poor, and the rosy complexion on her face was all due to the rouge.

But Youbai didn't say anything, and didn't show anything, because Zhao Liangyue had said to him when Senior Wang and Master Wei left:

"Youbai, death is a thing like leaves falling in autumn. You can be afraid, you can be reluctant to let go, but the only thing you can't do is stop it. If you can't stop it, say goodbye calmly."

"Old lady." Youbai endured the feeling of soreness in his heart, smiled and asked, "Can I call you grandmother? I haven't seen a grandmother since I was born, and I want to have a grandmother too."

The old lady was stunned for a moment, then smiled suddenly, and said, "Of course it's okay."

"grandmother."

"Eh."

"Thank you grandma for your money, I wish grandma a blessing like the East China Sea, and a long life like Nanshan!"

"Okay, I wish you well too."

On the other side of the east wall, Uncle Song and Jing Mo stayed outside the house tacitly after finishing their meal, while Chu Bandit found a feather from somewhere—it was not used to tease Ah Bai, but to tease him when he was drunk. Zhao Liangyue.

Zhao Liangyue's drinking capacity has always been a mystery. One is that Mr. Zhao is usually clean and self-conscious, he always drinks less or even does not drink, and the other is that whenever any official in the court has a wedding or funeral, the two brothers must go together, Chu Bandit will take Zhao Liangyue's place Block alcohol.

So today, Bandit Chu saw that Zhao Liangyue wanted to be extravagant during the New Year, so he made a favor and gave half of the jar of Tusu wine to Zhao Liangyue.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he drank less than a quarter, Zhao Liangyue began to froze. He was usually a clever and quick-witted person, but now he was unresponsive. He held it up and took a sip, but Chu bandit reached out to grab his wine, but he refused.

"River scales?"

Bandit Chu swept the tip of Zhao Liangyue's nose with his feather, and Zhao Liangyue felt itchy, so he raised his hand to scratch it.

"Senior brother?"

Bandit Chu swept the tip of Zhao Liangyue's nose with his feather again, Zhao Liangyue frowned slightly, raised his hand to scratch, then straightened his body, trying to push away the person in front of him who took the opportunity to do something wrong.

But Zhao Liangyue hadn't piled up the people out yet, his feet softened first, and he fell out directly.

The person in front of him caught him firmly, but Zhao Liangyue instinctively wanted to break free.

Immediately, the familiar faint scent of ink came over his face, Zhao Liangyue was stunned for a moment, and then stopped moving.

Chu Biao looked down at the person in his arms. He didn't know if he was drunk or if he had just scratched it with a feather. At this time, Zhao Liangyue's nose was pink, as if he had dyed it with peach blossom color, and he looked obedient and quiet. .

In the distant palace bells were ringing again and again, a total of [-] strikes, implying turning evil into good fortune and a prosperous coming year.

Bandit Chu helped Zhao Liangyue into the room, put him on the couch and covered him with a quilt, leaned over and whispered, "Xilin, Happy New Year."

The next day, all the people who watched the New Year's Eve still got up early.

Although Zhao Liangyue was given two bowls of hangover soup by Bandit Chu, he was still dizzy when he woke up, so he got angry for getting up on a rare occasion, and threw a pillow at Youbai who woke him up.

Then Youbai went out aggrieved and called Chu Bandit in.

Bandit Chu leaned over and said, "Xi Lin, can't you afford it?"

Zhao Liangyue didn't want to talk about it, frowned, pulled the quilt over his head.

Chu Bandit laughed and said, "Why are you acting like a child these days? So self-willed and petty tempered."

Half asleep and half awake, Zhao Liangyue suddenly remembered when he heard this. When he was very young, although his family was not considered rich, his father and mother were still there. They lived far away from the master's house. He was also A young master held in the palm of his hand.

He can vent his temper at any time, he can tell his father that he wants cloth tigers sold by street vendors, and he can tell his mother that he wants to eat fish in winter, and everything is quiet and comfortable.

Until his father offended the master's family and was dragged into a case and killed as a scapegoat, and his mother was forced to take him to the master's house. The first thing he learned was to endure and accept.

"Xilin, you can't afford to be lazy on the first day of the new year." Chu bandit said and began to wrap Zhao Liangyue with a cup, and said solemnly, "Why don't you go on sleeping, Xilin, and I'll wrap you in a quilt. Then carry it out to meet people."

Zhao Liangyue imagined the scene in Chu Gui's words for a while, and immediately woke up completely, struggling to sit up, took the new robe that Yubai put aside, and put it on, for fear that Chu Gui would really wrap himself in a quilt and go out.

Bandit Chu watched Zhao Liangyue frantically put on his robe, rolled his peachy eyes, and handed over the cloak beside him, saying: "The snow has stopped outside, and the sun has come out. Although it is still cold, the scenery in the courtyard is really beautiful. .”

"Okay." Zhao Liangyue took the cloak and put it on, and was not in a hurry to go out, but looked straight at Bandit Chu.

Naturally, Chu Shangshu would not feel embarrassed because Mr. Zhao was staring at him. Instead, he lowered his head and got closer, raised his mouth, and said, "Why does Xilin suddenly look at me like this, as if he is fascinated."

Zhao Liangyue didn't roll his eyes at Chu Bandit this time, but said something that Chu Bandit almost choked on the air he sucked in:

"Brother, you are so kind to me, sometimes... you are like my father."

Then, Chu Shangshu did not speak for a whole morning, just stood in front of the plum tree in the yard, and kept picking up the plum blossoms. Finally, the whole plum tree was not bald. I couldn't help feeling distressed in the distance, but I didn't dare to go forward to persuade.

It wasn't until the afternoon that people from the Armament Department came over with a box that Bandit Chu moved his feet from the unlucky plum tree.

What the Weapons Department sent was exactly the epee entrusted by Bandit Chu to forge.

The sword and sheath of the epee are separately installed in the box. The body of the sword weighs eighty catties and is very heavy. The body of the sword is dark black with a faint cold light.

Everyone around was amazed by it, and Youbai was even more excited, ready to move, Chu bandit gave money to the person who sent the sword from the Armament Division, and asked Youbai to try it on the spot.

The military officials took the reward but didn't leave. They had heard that there was a young man with exceptional martial arts beside Mr. Zhao from the household department. They had the opportunity today, so they naturally couldn't miss it.

I saw Youbai easily picked up the epee, and looked at it carefully from the beginning to the end, the joy in his eyes was overflowing.

Youbai came to the open area of ​​the courtyard, concentrated his strength, stabbed and slashed, and quickly adapted to his moves and weapons. The epee was born in his hands and achieved a random effect. .

Zhao Liangyue looked at Youbai with relief, and said to Chu Bandit: "Senior Brother, thank you, I have never given Youbai such a decent gift."

Chu Bandit said sadly: "Just Xilin don't say I'm like your father anymore."

Zhao Liang laughed more: "It turns out that senior brother doesn't like being called old."

Chu Bandit glanced sideways at Zhao Liangyue, and sighed softly: "You should take it as the reason."

"That's it?" Zhao Liangyue looked at Chu Bandit suspiciously, but Chu Bandit didn't have anything to say.

After a while, Zhao Liangyue thought of other things, hesitantly said: "Brother, didn't you go back last night?"

Bandit Chu didn't know the meaning of Zhao Liangyue's words, so he turned a corner and asked, "What's wrong?"

Zhao Liangyue paused, and said: "I just feel that senior brother has been staying with me for the past few days at the end of the year, and he didn't go back to Chu Mansion to see."

Bandit Chu understood, rolled his peachy eyes, and said, "Don't worry, I've already been with you."

"Accompaniment?" Zhao Liangyue thought about it for a while, and said, "Could it be because I was drunk and passed out last night?"

"Yeah." Chu Bandit leaned over and laughed in a low voice, "Yesterday I spent a night with him, and I didn't sleep until the end of the ugly hour."

Zhao Liangyue nodded, thinking that it would be fine to watch the New Year's Eve until past midnight, why did he let his woman accompany him until he was ugly?

But Zhao Liangyue suddenly understood one thing - the lonely man and the widow were in the same room late at night, and they were lovers and concubines, how could they simply be sitting together chatting and drinking tea...

Zhao Liang blushed all of a sudden.

Bandit Chu naturally understood what Zhao Liangyue was thinking, so he added fuel to the fire: "He should not be awake now, I will go back later in the afternoon."

Zhao Liangyue was stunned when he heard the words, then he glared at Chu Bandit, and reminded: "Senior brother doesn't treat me as an outsider, but it's better...not to talk about this kind of thing in the boudoir."

Bandit Chu looked at Zhao Liangyue's shy and serious look, and burst out laughing.

In fact, last night, he really didn't rest until the end of his ugly life, but it wasn't because Zhao Liangyue didn't sleep well at first, kicking the quilt all the time, and he waited until Zhao Liangyue slept soundly before leaving.

"Brother, is there any news from the southwest?"

Zhao Liangyue decided to change this embarrassing topic, so he asked about the business.

Bandit Chu twirled his fingers and said, "Yan Chang found some clues in the black market, and he is still investigating. We will leave when the matter of the Southwest Protectorate and the Jingchang Canal are confirmed."

Zhao Liangyue nodded, frowned and said, "I always feel that Southwest is not only about the old case, but also about Daxu's safety now."

Chu Bandit: "Xi Lin doesn't have to worry too much. Nan Xing has left Beijing early in the morning and is heading southwest. There will be new news in a few days."

Zhao Liangyue was puzzled: "Nan Xingnian is in Beijing? I haven't seen him before."

Chu Bandit explained: "He came back secretly. His mother lives in the capital and is taken care of by people from Xingshuo. To avoid trouble, he doesn't contact her."

Zhao Liangyue said with emotion: "My parents are still here, so it's a pity that I can't serve them all year round."

Bandit Chu looked at Jing Mo, who was chatting and laughing with the military officials, and said, "The two of them followed me when I first entered the Ministry of Punishment. Nan Xing was personally selected by Mrs. Wang."