Chapter 285: Hairy Crab Trip for Two
Hua Ping jumped up excitedly, shouting "Ah...ah..." and suddenly stopped.
Ye Huaizhen saw him suddenly stop and thought something had happened, so he looked at him in confusion.
"I'll call you Zhen Niang from now on."
Ah...Zhen...
It turns out that it is the same pronunciation as Mrs. Su's name.
Ye Huaizhen covered his mouth and laughed.
"You...what are you laughing at?"
Ye Huaizhen glanced at Su Erniang's room, turned around, walked to the corridor with a smile, and looked up at the sky.
Hua Ping came over and stood beside her, whispering, "Lord Su and his wife love each other and live a happy life. We have the same name as his wife, so we can be blessed with love and live happily together until old age."
Ye Huaizhen turned his head.
They looked into each other's eyes.
After years of waiting, this day finally came.
Zhao Lan and Su Ruojin had a sweet lunch together. After a while, Zhao Lan reluctantly left. "This time, you should return to Weizhou County a few days later."
Su Ruojin smiled brightly, "Brother Jin has a show?"
Seeing her naughty and cute appearance, Zhao Lan couldn't help but reach out and knock her on the forehead, "You'll know when the time comes."
Still mysterious, Su Ruojin chuckled and sent him out of the room.
As soon as I looked up, I saw the backs of two people huddled together in the corridor.
Blue sky and white clouds.
The wind blew and tethered the two people's clothes.
Life is so difficult and the future is unpredictable, so why let yourself be alone all the time? If someone is willing to hold your hand, why not go through the ups and downs of life together?
Su Ruojin hugged Zhao Lan's arm excitedly as if she had seen a new world. "Look, Brother Jin, they are holding hands."
She was so happy that she kept scratching herself like a kitten, causing the two people who were snuggling together to turn around at the same time. When they saw the delighted Su Er Niangzi, they immediately separated as if they had been electrocuted.
"Little Prince..."
"Second Madam..."
I am obviously older than them, but I am as shy as a boy or girl.
Su Ruojin laughed loudly, generously raised the five fingers that were clasped with Zhao Lan, and waved them at them, "Uncle Hua, when can I have your wedding banquet?"
Hua Ping smiled and said, "I discussed it with Zhenniang. By the end of the year."
I originally wanted to do it in October, but the Su family has too many things to do this year, so let's wait until the New Year holiday when everyone is in Beijing. This way no one's work will be delayed. It's also the festive time of the New Year, so it's really great to have double happiness.
"That's great." Su Ruojin was sincerely happy for the two of them. They finally got married. "Give my Aunt Ye a big red envelope for her dowry."
Zhao Lan also said, "I will also give Hua Sicha a big red envelope so that your wedding can be a grand occasion."
Hua Ping and Ye Huaizhen came over together to express their gratitude.
"Thank you very much."
Zhao Lan added, "In addition, I will give you a small courtyard so that you can settle down and start a business."
"Wow." Su Ruojin was happy for Hua Ping, "Uncle Hua, if you have another baby, your life will be complete."
Hua Ping didn't expect that Zhao Lan not only gave her a red envelope, but also gave her a house. She was so excited that she thanked him repeatedly.
There seems to be a magnetic field between people. Good things will influence and spread to each other, and unknowingly, everyone becomes happy.
After the engagement party, Su Yanli and his wife also learned that Hua Ping and Ye Huaizhen would get married at the end of the year. They sent their blessings in advance and said to their daughter, "Ajin, winter is coming soon. If the vegetable fields are ready, you can help Manager Hua prepare for the wedding in Beijing."
Su Ruojin smiled and said, "Okay."
Hua Ping was embarrassed, "No...no...you are too polite, sir. I can do it myself."
Su Yanli smiled and said, "You have always been the one helping our family and Ah Jin. Marriage is a major event in life, so let Ah Jin help."
"Then I will refuse it disrespectfully."
After the engagement, Su Yanli and his wife took their three children back to Weizhou County, and Su Ruojin stayed behind.
The next day, Zhao Lan delivered the deed to the small courtyard where Hua Ping was going to get married. "It won't be long before the Chinese New Year. Buy the furniture and other household items when you have time."
Hua Ping thanked Zhao Lan again, very happily, and immediately took Ye Huaizhen to see the courtyard.
Hua Ping no longer had any relatives, but Ye Huaizhen's mother was still alive, and she also had a younger brother. After confirming the wedding date, she wrote a letter asking her younger brother to bring her mother to the capital to attend the wedding.
Su Ruojin asked, "Brother Jin, what is the matter that you want me to stay?"
Zhao Lan just asked her to get on the carriage and said, "You'll know when we get there."
Su Ruojin followed him into the carriage.
After traveling for most of the day, they arrived outside the city at noon. She lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked out, "Hey, isn't that Dongshan Academy ahead?"
Zhao Lan nodded, "Yes."
"Why did you bring me here?"
"you guess?"
Su Ruojin couldn't guess and shook her head.
Zhao Lan smiled and said, "We'll be there soon."
When they reached the foot of the hill, the carriage could no longer climb the slope, so Zhao Lan took the young lady's hand and climbed up the slope.
When they were halfway up the hill, Su Ruojin was attracted by the scent of flowers and asked in surprise, "Appreciating chrysanthemums?"
"That's right."
Su Ruojin was extremely happy. She felt tired from climbing the hill just now, but when she saw the chrysanthemums all over the mountain, she lifted up her skirt and ran away, as if she had a pair of wings to really fly.
“Oh my god…oh my god…it’s so beautiful!”
Climbing up the hillside and standing in front of the whole slope of chrysanthemums, Su Ruojin was almost fainted by the fragrance.
Zhao Lan waved his hand, and two little girls came out from nowhere.
"master……"
"Is the crab feast ready?"
"My Lord, it's ready. We are just waiting for you and Madam Jin."
Su Ruojin's eyes widened, "Brother Jin..."
There is actually a crab feast?
As the saying goes: When the autumn wind blows, crabs' feet itch; when the chrysanthemums bloom, crabs come to you.
If it were Jiangnan now, with the autumn wind blowing, how could we not eat some crabs in the autumn? But this is Bianjing.
Zhao Lan put his arm around the young lady's waist. "Didn't you say that the crabs at the engagement party weren't enough to fill your stomach? How about holding a crab while appreciating the flowers?"
“It’s so cool.”
Su Ruojin picked a handful of small mountain chrysanthemums and said, "There should be a vase."
Of course.
The little maids quickly took out several small plum bottles for the future hostess to choose from. Su Ruojin picked a short plum bottle with a big belly and inserted a handful of small chrysanthemums into it. It fit perfectly, and looked natural and wild.
The little girl who was warming the yellow wine was sitting beside the small clay stove. When she saw her master coming, she stood up and saluted.
Su Ruojin asked her to sit on a small stool to warm the wine.
When we arrived at the pavilion, we saw a round stone table filled with crabs, some steamed, some fried, and some stewed, which smelled fresh and fragrant.
Su Ruojin turned around and hugged Zhao Lan, "Brother Jin, this is too good to be true."
"Is that good?" Zhao Lan also hugged the young lady. Now, she was his fiancée, and he could hug her legitimately and openly. She was soft and delicate, just the way he liked her!
"Yes."
Zhao Lan reached out and touched her nose, "Eat it while it's hot."
"good."
Su Ruojin stood on tiptoe and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
Zhao Lan: …
Caught off guard.
While he was stunned, the young lady flew to the seat like a little swallow, "Brother Jin, come and eat too!" The little pride of succeeding in doing a "bad thing" made people feel itchy.
Zhao Lan: …
It was September, and the weather was cool and pleasant on the top of the hill, but he suddenly became hot and irritable.
He took a deep breath, smiled, and sat down gently opposite the young lady.
The crabs on the table were shipped urgently from Jiangnan. They are river crabs, which are later called hairy crabs.
Nine females and ten males, now is the time to eat the female crabs.
Whether it is crab meat or crab roe, even without salt and other five flavors, it has color, fragrance, taste, shape and texture.
Zhao Lan picked up the chopsticks and picked up a plump female crab for the young lady. He wanted to peel it for her, but Su Ruojin refused, "Brother Jin, eating crabs is more delicious if you do it yourself."
So he gave up.
The two sat opposite each other, sharing the delicious food in the gentle autumn breeze.
The crab body meat is white and crystal clear, better than white fish; the crab roe is full of pure fragrance and extremely wonderful; the crab thigh meat is short and thin, and tastes like scallops; the crab calf meat is long and tender, and as beautiful as whitebait.
It is simply the most delicious food in the world.
It’s so delicious.
However, crabs are cold in nature, so they must be paired with something warm in nature. The rice wine had already been warmed up. Su Ruojin took two or three sips of it, which warmed her stomach and made her feel so comfortable.
Squinting your eyes, you can see the hillside of chrysanthemums outside the pavilion and enjoy the afternoon sunshine.
Su Ruojin has been busy since the beginning of the year, but only at this moment did she feel that she could completely relax and enjoy life.
The two of them didn't say anything, just quietly listened to the wind, smelled the flowers, and tasted the delicious food.
Suddenly, a sound broke the silence on the top of the hill.
"What a coincidence, I met Prince Pingyang here."
Su Ruojin looked at the newcomer in surprise. He was wearing a royal blue brocade robe, a golden crown and a jade belt, and looked extremely wealthy. Of course, this was not the main reason that attracted her, but the young lady standing next to him. Zhao Lan had seen her during the coming-of-age ceremony. She seemed to be the Queen's niece - Xie Qingyu.
She gave Su Ruojin a contradictory feeling. When she didn't speak, she seemed superior and arrogant; after she spoke, she was gentle and virtuous, and seemed easy to get along with.
How coincidental?
Su Ruojin was about to stand up when Zhao Lan held her down.
Eh! She cooperated with Zhao Lan without making any move.
There must be a reason why he didn't let her salute.
Su Ruojin still doesn't know that the last time she almost died in a coma was caused by the kind-looking but vicious woman in front of her. She always thought that she accidentally ate the poison in the mushroom pot.
Zhao Lan curled the corners of his lips slightly, "Doesn't the Prince of Yingnan know that I bought this hill?" This is a private territory.
The Prince of Yingnan bowed and said, "I have lived in Chunan for a long time, so I really don't know. If I have offended you, I apologize."
Zhao Lan then stood up and said, "Prince Yingnan, you are too polite."
There were clearly dishes on the table, but they just didn't invite the other person to sit down and eat.
Prince of Yingnan? He seems to be the grandson of the King of Chu. They have always lived in their fiefdoms and rarely return to the capital. Could it be that they came back to attend Zhao Lan's engagement party?
Zhao Lan was trying to distance himself, but the Prince of Yingnan seemed not to sense it. He looked at the table and said with a smile, "What a sumptuous crab feast. I wonder..."
"I'm sorry, I only prepared enough for my fiancée and I ate half of it. It would be rude to invite the Prince of Yingnan to eat."
Is it polite not to invite people to dinner?
The Prince of Yingnan's face darkened, but he smiled and said, "Then I won't bother you any more."
Zhao Lan returned the greeting by cupping his hands.
Yingnan's smile froze and he turned and left.
Xie Qingyu glanced at the two of them, smiled coldly, and turned away.
The two came uninvited and were rudely driven away by Zhao Lan.
"Brother Jin..."
Zhao Lan stroked Su Ruojin's hand and said, "Don't worry about them. We'll just eat."
But the atmosphere was no longer as relaxed and cheerful as it was at the beginning.
Su Ruojin couldn't help but ask, "Brother Jin, why are the two of them walking together?"
Zhao Lan picked up the rice wine and took a sip.
Shuang Rui replied, "Half a month ago, the Prince of Yingnan returned to the capital, and the emperor arranged a marriage for him, betrothing the fifth daughter of the Xie family to him."
"Is that Miss Xie from before?"
"Exactly."
Su Ruojin felt that the two of them were acting strangely just now. One of them was smiling at Zhao Lan, and the other was full of hatred towards her, as if she had stolen something from her. If Zhao Lan hadn't been her childhood sweetheart, it would have been like her former white moonlight.
She was a little puzzled. "Brother Jin, according to what you said just now, this hillside was bought by you, so the guards at the foot of the mountain should have told them, and they still went to the top of the mountain. This..." It was obvious that they just wanted to come and have dinner together.
"Leave them alone."
"Oh." Su Ruojin looked at Shuangrui.
Shuang Rui glanced at his master and found that he had no intention of stopping him, so he slowly said, "The Prince of Yingnan returned to the capital to ask for a title."
"Your Majesty gave it?"
Shuang Rui nodded, "And he is the imperial guard."
His position is second only to Zhao Lan's deputy commander of the palace. This is why Zhao Lan does not invite him to sit down for dinner even though they are both at the rank of prince. His position is higher than that of the Prince of Yingnan.
Su Ruojin whispered, "This Prince of Yingnan seems to be trying to compete with Brother Jin!"
Shuangrui smiled awkwardly. This was not something he could tell his future young lady.
After the turmoil of the Dayin Dynasty, the new emperor took the throne and recuperated and slowly recovered. When there was no war, no matter what kind of emperor he was, he would be wary of generals with great military achievements or people who held military power.
Zhao Lan and the Ning family worked together to drive away the Liaoxia Kingdom. This kind of cooperation is needed in wartime, but not in peacetime. The people sitting on the throne even felt uneasy because of the friendship between the two families.
Although Zhao Lan took advantage of Xie Qingyu's opportunity to poison Su Ruojin last time and staged a drama with the Ningguo Mansion, the emperor still couldn't really let go of his worry and summoned Prince Chu Nan to the capital.
This is the emperor's balancing act.
Dare to touch Jin'er, and now there is the marriage alliance with the Prince of Yingnan. Zhao Lan narrowed his eyes, calmly relaxed, and picked up a fried crab leg, "Ajin, don't let irrelevant people ruin your mood."
"good."
Anyway, Zhao Lan will take care of everything, so Su Ruojin can just relax and eat.
At the foot of the hill, the Prince of Yingnan County smiled wryly, "Has Zhao Lan always been so arrogant in the capital?" Or is he just pretending to be cool in front of a woman?
Xie Qingyu answered irrelevantly, "You're not angry?"
The Prince of Yingnan curled his lips and said, "I'm a newcomer, why should I be angry?"
Although he was smiling, he made people feel cold.
Xie Qingyu was not afraid of this hypocritical and gloomy man. In fact, all her pores opened up. She liked such people. Only such people would join her in making Zhao and Su suffer.
Xie Qingyu pretended to be a weak little white flower, "Brother Lin is really generous, so now we..."
"There's no crab feast on this hill, but there's barbecue on that hill."
Xie Qingyu obviously didn't like it, but she acted very surprised, "Brother Lin is really well prepared."
Half a minute later, Su Ruojin, who was drinking chrysanthemum tea and deep-frying crab legs, smelled the smell of barbecue. Following the direction of the wind, on another small hill upwind, Prince Yingnan was barbecuing with Xie Qingyu, and the barbecue smoke blew straight towards the hill where Su Ruojin and his friends were.
Well……
For a moment, the atmosphere of enjoying the flowers and eating crabs was gone.
The Prince of Yingnan even walked to the edge of the hill and raised his glass towards the top of the hill, "Zijin, do you want to come over and have a drink?"
"Thanks, no need."
"Ha ha……"
It seemed like the angrier Zhao Lan was, the happier he was.
Su Ruojin: ...
What a childish trick.
She felt the murderous gaze again, and Su Ruojin looked in the direction of the gaze.
Xie Qingyu looked like a gentle little white flower, but she was sure that it was her gaze. She didn't kill her whole family, so why did he look like he wanted to eat her?
Su Ruojin rolled her eyes secretly, turned her head and pretended not to see this disgusting thing.
"Brother Jin, let's go back."
Zhao Lan smiled and said, "Let's eat to our heart's content before going back."
Su Ruojin: ...
Don't let this get in the way?
Well, not only can we not lose the fight, we can't lose the battle either.
Su Ruojin giggled, moved to Zhao Lan's side, poured a glass of wine and was about to hand it to him: "Brother Jin, let's drink."
Zhao Lan deliberately refused to take it. He lowered his head and drank the wine in the glass from the young lady's hand. The two of them were very affectionate.
On the other side of the hill, I was caught off guard and stuck to by two people.
Prince of Yingnan: ...
Xie Qingyu: ...
A man and a woman were just engaged. One wanted to return to the capital to gain power, and the other wanted to marry a member of the Zhao family who was also a prince. They each had their own goals, so how could they have any feelings for each other?
Su Ruojin didn't look at the hillside behind, but asked Shuangrui, "Shuang Manager, were those two affected by our dog food?"
Dog food?
Shuang Rui held back his laughter. "The Prince of Yingnan looked like he didn't understand romance, and the Fifth Miss of the Xie family looked dark."
Su Ruojin was pleased with herself, "No wonder Brother Jin asked me to go back a few days later, just to show off my love for you. No problem, Brother Jin, don't worry, I can show off my love for you anytime and anywhere."
Zhao Lan: …
One sentence after another was dog food, making them... He shook his head, determined not to think further.
The lunch lasted until the end of noon, and ended with noodles with crab roe.
"Brother Jin, we'll come again next year."
"good."
After enjoying the delicious food, the two went down the mountain.
When they were going down the mountain, they looked over to the next door. The barbecue was on, but one of the two people was standing and looking at the scenery, while the other was sitting and seemed to be looking at them.
Su Ruojin quickly withdrew her gaze, leaned into Zhao Lan's arms, and let him support her down the mountain.
On the other hilltop, Xie Qingyu looked at the two people holding hands with a look that seemed to be filled with poison.
Since we were out for fun, we were not in a hurry to return to Beijing, so we stayed at Dongsheng Restaurant at the foot of Dongshan Academy.
"I'll stop by Su Kee Morning Tea."
"Rest today and go tomorrow."
"good."
Playing is fun, but also tiring.
After returning to the restaurant, Su Ruojin went to rest.
I didn't come out to eat until dinner time. Unexpectedly, when I reached the stairs, I saw a man and a woman sitting in the lobby below. They were the Prince of Yingnan and Xie Qingyu whom I met at noon.
What's going on with these two people?
When Zhao Lan saw Su Ruojin, he stood up and walked up the stairs. He held her hand and then they walked downstairs together.
Su Ruojin asked in a low voice, "Brother Jin, no one knows that we are here to enjoy the chrysanthemums and eat crabs, right?"
"Um."
"So they are coincidences?"
"Viewing chrysanthemums and eating crabs is not a confidential itinerary."
Su Ruojin understood that these two guys had heard that Zhao Lan was coming over to appreciate the chrysanthemums and eat crabs, so they followed him.
"Brother Jin, what do they mean by following me like this?"
Zhao Lan sneered, "Don't worry about them."
(End of this chapter)
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