The main courtyard of the Tan family.

Broken branches were quickly cleared.

The wind has become much lighter, and the yellow light of the lantern falls on the snow in the courtyard, making the quiet room in the courtyard warm.

Tan Ting entered the room, and Xiang Yi stepped forward and took off his outer clothes.

She was not tall, and when she lowered her head, she only reached Tan Ting's chest.

She wore an apricot-colored long coat and honey-colored armor, which were both new and not old.

Tan Ting couldn't help but think of Xiang Yu's washed-white cyan robe.

It was his negligence.

Although he has no close relationship with her as a couple, and he doesn't like the Xiang family's style, he should still do what he should do.

Moreover, the situation of the Xiang family has not been very good these years. Since Xiang Yu has taken the road of studying for the imperial examination, the cost is not low. He can give Xiang Yu a sum of money every year for studying.

I guess she was happy to accept it.

Xiang Yi took off his outer robe for him and changed into a silver brocade robe that he wore at home.

he asked her.

"Is Xiang Yu studying for the imperial examination? Where do you live now?"

He asked and saw her stunned for a moment.

"Did Xiang Yu collide with the uncle today?"

Her tone was a bit anxious. Tan Ting did not expect that her first reaction would be like this.

He said no.

"There was no collision."

He said this, and when Xiang Yi breathed a sigh of relief, he replied.

"Xiang Yu is currently studying at Qingzhou Academy." He only replied this sentence and explained to him, "Xiang Yu has a hot temper. If there is anything he cannot do, please don't take it personally."

Tan Ting couldn't help but think of it . Xiang Yu's attitude, but he himself did even worse at that time.

Thinking of this, he looked at Xiang Yi, feeling even more uncomfortable. He was waiting for Xiang Yi to mention Xiang Yu's studies and the difficulty of the Xiang family's livelihood. He could help the Xiang family more.

But Xiang Yi quickly changed his clothes, then put the clothes on the hangers one by one, then turned and went to the side room.

He had no intention of speaking at all.

Didn't she mention the money to him?

Tan Ting couldn't help but take another look at her.

At this time, there were footsteps in the courtyard, "Master, madam, please go to Qiuzhaoyuan for dinner."

She immediately agreed and started to change clothes and go out.

Tan Ting was a little surprised, but thought she might say it on the way.

But the road to Qiuzhaoyuan was so long, and he was walking in front, while she fell nearly ten feet behind him, and she didn't speak from the beginning to the end.

...

Qiuzhao Garden is a lively scene again.

The red plum blossoms in the backyard were in bloom. Tan Rong specially folded a few unique looking ones and brought them over. The family enjoyed the plum blossoms and had a meal, which was quite enjoyable.

It's just that Zhao always has a headache in winter, so Xiang Yi spends most of the meal waiting for her.

After dinner, Mrs. Zhao talked about Tan Jian's wedding again.

Tan Jian's wedding was only ten days away, and Zhao didn't want to take care of it. She left the external affairs to Tan Ting and left all the inner affairs to Xiang Yi.

After talking about the conversation like this, it's already getting late.

The old lady asked Tan Jian and Tan Rong to go back first, leaving Tan Ting and Xiang Yi behind.

She held the tea cup and smiled, "Brother Jian is about to get married. It's time for you to have a child."

Tan Ting was already quite old when he got married.

He only has Xiang Yi as his wife, and there is no such thing as concubines. This is the rule of the Tan family clan.

Tan Ting had been in Beijing for the past three years, and now that he was back home, it was natural for him to think about his children.

After she finished speaking, she glanced at the two of them.

Xiang Yi lowered his head quietly.

Tan Ting's eyes fell slightly on her, then he looked back.

He responded, "Let mother worry about it."

When Zhao saw that they understood, she smiled and let them go back.

The road back to the main courtyard from Qiuzhao Garden was long, but it was just like the way it came. The two of them each picked up their own lanterns and walked one behind the other.

Tan Ting couldn't help but think of the wedding.

At that time, spring was coming, and everything was complicated and extremely busy. Except for the wedding night, in the month before going to Beijing, he only touched her on the fifth, fifteenth and twenty-fifth day of the lunar month.

Xiang Yi, who was lagging behind, was also thinking about what Zhao just mentioned.

She knew that Tan Ting didn't like her and just acted according to the rules.

But she happened to think so too.

This way, everyone will be more relaxed.

Thinking of this, she looked up to the sky and saw a full moon hanging high in the half of the sky where the dark clouds had dispersed.

Unfortunately, today is the fifteenth day.

...

It was freezing cold, and the room with the candles extinguished seemed to feel a little colder as the light and heat decreased.

Xiang Yi kept the tent and still slept beside the bed.

The room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

The person sleeping inside seemed to have fallen asleep, lying on his back silently, breathing slowly.

Xiang Yi was relieved to see that although he agreed to Zhao's words, he did not follow her instructions because he was not interested in her.

She brushed her hair and lay down.

There was still a gap between the two of them, and the air-conditioning penetrated in from the edge of the brocade quilt. Xiang Yi was tired from working all day long, so he didn't pay attention to the air-conditioning. He hugged himself with his arms and was about to fall asleep.

Just the next breath, the air-conditioning between the brocade quilt suddenly stopped.

Xiang Yi stiffened.

The man's hot palm crossed the gap in the middle and landed on her slightly cool waist.

...

The wind picked up in the cold night.

The branches of the locust tree in the courtyard kept trembling under the strong wind.

The man's breathing became heavier, and the hand holding her waist became stronger.

The locust tree outside the window couldn't stand the cold night wind, and its branches swayed and almost broke, allowing the wind to sweep away.

He was more powerful than three years ago. His big palm was pressed against her slender waist, and sweat was dripping down. Xiang Yi's whole body felt like it was scattered, almost losing all strength.

After a long while, the strong wind stopped with a low groan.

He got up and went to the bathroom.

Xiang Yi's waist was sore, but he still got up, put on his clothes, and replaced the mattresses in the tent with new ones.

Tan Ting came back from the bathroom soon, and his eyes fell slightly on the person in front of the bed.

She was wearing a thin middle coat, and the sweat from her forehead stuck her black hair to the side of her face, and she seemed to have a somewhat hard-earned feeling in the moonlight.

Tan Ting felt relieved.

She went to the bathroom after him and slept next to the bed as usual when she came back.

Under the brocade quilt, the intimate hot flashes from just now seemed to still remain.

Tan Ting's eyes turned to the woman on the pillow.

He thought that the Xiang family's affairs should be mentioned again. After all, given the Xiang family's situation, she would want it...

Tan Ting was thinking about how to speak, but saw that she had just closed her eyes and seemed to have no intention of saying anything. She was so tired that she could not speak. Fell asleep.

Tan Ting was slightly surprised.

Early the next morning, the clan had something to do and invited Tan Ting over early.

Xiang Yi went to pay his respects to Mr. Zhao as usual, and then gathered his energy to take care of things.

Qiao Yun noticed that her eyes were blue, she looked tired, and she had to get up early to do things, so she muttered angrily all morning.

Xiang Yi was afraid that her mouth would cause trouble, so he kicked her out and asked her to see if the auspicious seal shop had good quality stones, and to ask if the last seal had been sold.

Qiao Yun was kicked out, but she actually brought a letter when she came back.

"The seal Madam engraved this time is very good. The shopkeeper said it can be sold at a good price, so I didn't worry when someone inquired."

This time the engraving is a rare ancient character "和". Now that the New Year is approaching, the word "和" is a coincidence. , it can indeed be sold at a high price.

Xiang Yi is not in a hurry for money, but he doesn't know why another letter came from home.

Xiang Yi felt something bad when he opened it and saw the first line of words.

"Eldest sister, the correspondence between the family and the eldest brother has been interrupted."

The eldest brother mentioned in the letter is not Xiang Yi's biological brother, but Gu Yansheng, the adopted son of Xiang Zhiyuan and the adopted brother of Xiang Yi's siblings.

Gu Yansheng has a very sensitive identity -

he is the nephew of the former Bingbi eunuch Gu Xianying, who is worth more than ten thousand people in the harem.

During the years when Gu Xianying was in power in the palace, he also had considerable authority in the court. Many ministers had good friendships with him and were like-minded, so he was called Gu Dang by outsiders.

However, what goes up must come down. Gu Xianying first made the king unhappy because of his lack of etiquette, and then was impeached by the ministers for losing the emperor's heart. After being sent to the palace to think about his past, a fire suddenly broke out in the palace.

The famous eunuch Gu Xianying was buried in the fire.

He had many enemies during his lifetime, and after his death they all targeted his only nephew Gu Yansheng.

Xiang Zhiyuan had a close relationship with him in the past and couldn't bear to see Gu Yansheng being bullied, so he simply recognized him as his adopted son and took him with him.

Unfortunately, Xiang Zhiyuan was also demoted and exiled two years later, and died on the way to exile.

Gu Yansheng was worried that he would implicate the Xiang siblings again, so one night, he left a letter and did not even take away the only valuable Mo Yupei on his body. He left it with Xiang Yi and left alone.

When Xiang Yi and his younger brothers and sisters woke up, he was already gone...

until two years ago, someone suddenly came to the Xiang family and told them an address.

It was a small pen and ink shop opened in Fengfu.

Xiang Yu personally took the ink jade Pei to the small pen and ink shop, and finally contacted his sworn brother who had been away for many years.

However, Gu Yansheng did not disclose where he was, and the Xiang family siblings did not dare to ask more questions. In the past two years, the two parties had communicated quietly through the pen and ink shop in Kaifeng Mansion.

But this time, Xiang Ning said in the letter that they asked someone to deliver the letter, but the shop was closed.

The communication of letters was suddenly cut off.

Xiang Yi secretly felt something was wrong.

Her sworn brother was both wise and brave, and he was not someone who could live under others for a long time. He never explained his current situation, which showed that his situation was unusual.

I suddenly lost contact with them. Did something happen?

Xiang Yi didn't dare to draw any conclusions about his adopted brother, so he could only ask his younger siblings to pay careful attention.

However, Tan Jian's wedding was coming soon, and the bride's natal family was far away in the capital, so the dowry carriage and horse set off early, and soon they arrived at Tan's house in Qingkan.