Chapter 96 Cousin
Xu Shuyao and his party stayed in the Cui family's ancestral home that night.
They set out in early March and traveled nearly a thousand miles, all the way to the end of March, arriving at a place completely different from the capital.
It rained in Qinghe at night, the rain was so fine and dense that the roof was covered with mist.
The courtyards were connected from end to end, with dim lights dotted around, extending to a place beyond Xu Shuyao's sight.
The Cui family's ancestral home is quiet yet noisy, with sounds coming from every courtyard. When you listen carefully, you don't know where the sound really comes from.
The sound of the rain is like a hazy dream.
Qiao Wei and Hui Xiang were guarding the bed. Seeing Xu Shuyao's eyes open for a long time, they couldn't help but ask, "Does the girl recognize her bed?"
Know your bed?
Maybe a little!
However, after all their journey, Xu Shuyao slept soundly in the inn, but tonight she felt a little emotional.
She said to the two of them, "Go and have some rest! You don't have to keep watch for me anymore."
Before, at the post station, in order to prevent any emergency situations at night, she would let two maids sleep in the same room with her.
There were two small couches next to the bed, probably because I didn't get enough rest during the journey.
After the two of them went down, Xu Shuyao kept her eyes open and thought for a while before gradually falling into a hazy dream.
So even in my dream, I could still hear the sound of the falling rain.
She thought it would be inconvenient to go out the next day, but when she woke up again, it was already bright.
The morning light filtered through the window, filling the room with warmth and brightness.
"Oh! It's sunny now!" Xu Shuyao stretched and said in surprise.
"Yes, it's better to go out and play when the weather is fine." The speaker was a maid from the Cui Mansion.
play?
Seeing Xu Shuyao looking at her, the maid said again: "It was the Fifth Miss who said yesterday that she wanted to take the girl out to have a look today!"
The little maid's voice was clear and melodious, as if she was also looking forward to it.
Xu Shuyao just remembered what her cousin Cui said to her when she entered the yard last night.
While she was still thinking, the maid had already brought the copper basin for washing. After she had washed and dressed, she had breakfast in the room.
Someone outside said that the fifth young lady from the mansion had arrived.
"Cousin Xu!" Cui Zhaoran called out as soon as he arrived.
Her voice was clear and pleasant, like a string of tinkling wind chimes.
Xu Shuyao hurriedly asked her to sit down.
Cui Zhaoran shook his head, looked her up and down again, and suddenly said, "Cousin, can you ride a horse? I'll take you riding!"
horse riding?
Thinking of this, Xu Shuyao's face turned pale.
The experience of riding a horse with Xiao Mo that day made her not want to have it again, so she waved her hand quickly.
Seeing her like this, Cui Zhaoran smiled and said, "Don't be scared. If we don't want to ride a horse, then we won't ride a horse. Let's go outside to enjoy the flowers or go fishing."
There is no problem with this.
Before leaving, Xu Shuyao and Cui Zhaoran went to Old Madam Xiao's place. When they walked outside the door, they heard bursts of laughter coming from inside.
The person next to her winked at her and said, "See, I was right, wasn't I? You don't even need to come. They have so much to talk about right now."
The two of them went in and said hello. Madam Xiao smiled at Xu Shuyao and said, "You don't have to take care of me all the time. Just have fun with Miss Zhao."
All right!
Mrs. Cui added, "Let Brother Che accompany you."
"Grandma..." Someone came out from the inner room.
When Xu Shuyao looked up, she saw the face of a young man. His complexion was rather dark, and he was not as fair and thin as other young men from wealthy families. On the contrary, he was very strong and had a youthful spirit.
Seeing Xu Shuyao, his expression settled down, and he turned to Madam Cui and asked, "Grandma, do you want me to take my two sisters out?"
Madam Cui pointed at Xu Shuyao and corrected her, "This is cousin Xu, one year older than you."
Che'er is the sixteen-year-old son of the second branch of the Cui family.
The two of them had to greet each other. Xu Shuyao smiled and called him, "Cousin Cui!"
But Cui Yanche just smiled and nodded, and did not address her as cousin.
After leaving Mrs. Cui's yard, cousin Zhaoran started chatting and laughing with her cousin, and Xu Shuyao did not interrupt.
With a young cousin and a naive and lively cousin by my side, I didn't feel bored even when sitting in the carriage.
The two of them could bicker with each other through the car curtain, and Xu Shuyao just happened to listen in on the fun.
It would be a bit awkward to ask her to judge the matter.
The carriage left Cui's archway and headed towards the mountain path.
Although it was in the countryside, probably because it was close to the Cui family's land, the road was well built. It was not as spacious as the official road, but it was very flat, and the carriage rarely shook when driving on it.
Finally they entered a farm. After hearing Cui Zhaoran's purpose, the manager hurriedly prepared fishing tools and gave them a net bag.
Then they arrived at the fishing spot and saw a pond with some weeping willows and peach trees planted by the pond. There was also a small hill not far away, and there seemed to be a road leading directly to the top of the hill.
Xu Shuyao likes eating fish but doesn't like fishing.
Looking at Cui Zhaoran and Cui Yanche busy with their fishing rods, he pointed to the hills in the distance and asked, "Can I go over there?"
Cui Zhaoran choked, "Then I won't fish anymore."
She is not a fisherman.
Then he threw the fishing rod to the maid beside him, walked over and took her hand, "Come on! Let's go see if there are any edible mushrooms."
Xu Shuyao was delighted. She had bought a lot of mushrooms picked by farmers along the way, but she had never actually picked any.
So the two of them took the maid and walked up the mountain.
Xu Shuyao couldn't tell which mushrooms could be picked, but the maid beside them could.
The two of them just looked at it from the side of the road and didn't go deeper, so of course they couldn't pick many mushrooms.
Instead, they picked a bunch of flowers and put a camellia picked along the way on their heads.
Talking and laughing like this seems to have a special kind of fun.
Just at the bend of the pine forest, a young man in brocade clothes suddenly appeared.
Seeing them, the man frowned and stood by the road.
"Third brother!" Cui Zhaoran beside him called out.
Xu Shuyao: “…”
He hurriedly whispered, "Third cousin!"
She now calls all the men who are her relatives "cousin", and she has become quite shameless.
The young man in brocade clothes was stunned, his eyes seemed to sweep over the crooked camellia, and he nodded.
Cui Zhaoran did not introduce him because the relationship was a bit distant. Since he already called him cousin, it was fine to call him that.
I thought this third cousin would just go down the mountain, but when I turned around, I heard him say, "You guys... come back with me!"
Xu Shuyao looked at her cousin who came with her and saw that she, who had been chattering away, had become extremely obedient.
So I followed them downstairs. This third cousin was accompanied by a servant and was carrying a bamboo basket in his hand.
Xu Shuyao took a quick look and saw a basket of mushrooms.
She looked at the two she had picked. They were small and the edges were a little broken, so she simply threw them into the other person's basket.
The third cousin glanced at her but didn't say anything.
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