Chapter 1 The fairy did not see the family of Jiang Shaoqing.
The evening glow falls on the eaves, casting a hazy glow over the willows and flowers in the courtyard.
The huge mansion is dotted with pavilions, towers, bridges and flowing water. It is simple, natural and beautiful.
Suddenly, a colorful cloth tiger flew out of the house, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps.
Look at the little boy, who looks about five years old, wearing brocade clothes and a golden lock, running out of the house lively, with a bright and cunning smile on his face.
His legs moved very fast. He picked up the cloth tiger as he passed by and rushed forward.
"Young master, slow down!" The young girl's shrill exclamation almost pierced the entire courtyard.
But the little boy not only did not restrain himself, but became even more naughty. He turned around and smashed the cloth tiger in his hand at the two maids who were chasing him, then ran wildly through the corridor.
"Ouch! Don't fall!"
The wet nurse, who was a step behind in going out, was holding a delicate baby girl in her arms. She couldn't catch up with him, so she could only take small steps anxiously.
The little girl was holding a rattle in her hand and grinning.
"Young Master!"
Fearing that the young master might get bumped or hurt, the servants who were watering the flowers in the yard heard the sound and hurried forward to help.
But it was the age when the little boy was mischievous, and the more people chased him, the more excited he became.
until……
"Jiang Chengyou!"
Without noticing, I ran to the door of my parents' bedroom.
When the little boy heard the familiar voice calling his name sternly, he froze in place as if his soul had been taken away, lowering his head and not daring to move.
"Sir, Madam." The two maids who finally caught up hurriedly saluted, panting.
Inside the house, a tall, handsome man with broad shoulders and a narrow waist was seen, dressed in a dark blue embroidered brocade robe. His waist buckle was made of white jade, and he was adorned with a jade tassel and a sachet.
In front of him, a beautiful woman in a moon-white short-sleeved dress was straightening his clothes.
"Dad, Mom."
Jiang Chengyou pursed his lips, and was timid when calling dad, but it was completely different when calling mom. He was obviously more confident, and had a bit of coquettishness in his ending tone.
Song Baoyuan recognized her son's cry for help, but her husband frowned slightly, obviously dissatisfied, so she did not speak rashly.
"If you are so naughty, don't go out today." Jiang Keyu said in a deep voice, with a pair of auspicious phoenix eyes, which made her look intimidating without even being angry.
"I..." Jiang Chengyou rubbed the ground with his toes in dissatisfaction, not daring to refute.
I could only hold back my watery eyes and cry out in a sobbing voice: "Mom! I want to go to Guandu River to release lanterns. You promised me and my sister!"
Song Baoyuan laughed dumbly, then slowly turned around to get the cloak and put it in her husband's hand. "Okay, go out quickly. You can't keep the teacher waiting for you."
"I'm afraid you can't subdue him. Besides, today is the Flower Festival, and there are so many people outside that it's easy for him to get lost." Jiang Keyu thought for a moment, "I'd better wait until I have a couple of days to be free, then I'll take you out for an outing."
Jiang Chengyou became even more upset after hearing this, and cried out aggrievedly, "Mom."
Song Baoyuan smiled gently and calmly, "I don't want to be a mother who doesn't keep her word. Besides, Chengcheng has promised me that he will behave well when he goes out. He will definitely not go back on his word, right, Chengcheng?"
"Um!"
Jiang Chengyou opened his eyes wide and nodded like pounding garlic.
Jiang Keyu was helpless and remained silent for a while. Then he sighed silently and said, "Then remember to bring a few more servants and go home early."
"good."
"Mom!" A sticky cry came from outside, and the wet nurse came late with the baby girl in her arms.
Song Baoyuan looked up and said lovingly, "The Sui Sui has arrived too."
Jiang Keyu strode forward, took her daughter from the wet nurse, held her in her arms and patted her back.
Song Baoyuan also walked out, took her son's hand, and gently touched his head as if to comfort him.
"Daddy, will you accompany us to light lanterns?" Jiang Suisui put her arms around her father's neck and asked expectantly with her face close to his.
Jiang Keyu's tone softened a bit, but it wasn't very obvious. "Daddy has something to do today. You and brother have to listen to mom when you go out. Got it?"
"Hmph." Jiang Suisui immediately turned around and threw herself into her mother's arms. "Daddy is always busy! I don't like him anymore!"
Jiang Keyu was stunned.
"Good boy Sui Sui." Seeing this, Song Baoyuan hurriedly coaxed him, "Don't say that. Daddy didn't mean it."
Jiang Suisui still pouted.
"If you're unhappy, then... I'll punish you by having Daddy come back early tonight to tell you a story and get you to sleep, okay?"
Jiang Suisui's eyes rolled around, as if he was wavering.
Jiang Keyu laughed and walked down the stairs, echoing, "Okay, Daddy will definitely go home early today to coax Sui Sui to sleep."
Jiang Suisui held her neck high and shook the rattle, looking rather reluctant. "Okay then, I still like Daddy."
"Sui Sui is so good." Song Baoyuan raised her hand to brush away the loose hair on her daughter's forehead, not forgetting to praise her.
The family stood at the door chatting and joking until the servant who had prepared the carriage ran in and shouted at the archway, "My dear, if you don't leave now, you will miss the time."
"Go." Song Baoyuan glanced sideways and said softly.
"Then be careful when you are outside. If anything happens, send someone to find me." Jiang Keyu gave these instructions while handing her daughter back to the wet nurse.
Song Baoyuan nodded and urged softly, "Hurry up and say goodbye to Daddy."
"Goodbye, Daddy!" Jiang Suisui waved his hands high.
"Goodbye, Daddy." Jiang Chengyou saluted in a formal manner.
Jiang Keyu nodded to his wife, then turned and left.
The posture is like a pine tree and the steps are steady.
Song Baoyuan stood there, watching him leave the house quietly. Only after his figure completely disappeared did she look up at the sky.
After a while, she lowered her eyes and said with a smile, "Okay, go change your clothes, we have to go out."
"good!"
Jiang Chengyou ran away happily again, and the wet nurse followed closely behind him holding Jiang Suisui.
*
In less than half an hour, night fell quietly.
Today is the Flower Festival, and there are many people on the streets, so the carriages move slowly.
Especially on both sides of the Guandu River, there is an endless stream of merchants and tourists coming and going.
There are many pleasure boats on the river, which are used for both viewing and scenery.
"Our Jiang Shaoqing is finally here!"
Leaning against the boat railing, a man in red clothes was playing with a closed folding fan. His peach blossom eyes looked quite frivolous, his posture was lazy, and he had a natural charm.
His name was Gao Luoshu, and he stared at Jiang Keyu, who had just boarded the boat, with a sarcastic look in his eyes.
Another man in a snow-blue robe walked out of the cabin, put his arm around his shoulder, and said jokingly, "Our Jiang Shaoqing has a family, unlike a lonely man like you."
Jiang Keyu walked straight past the two friends without looking around, entered the cabin, bowed, and said, "Greetings, teacher."
"Please sit down. There's no need to be so formal today."
The boat was filled with Mr. Sheng's most admired students from Lishang Academy, and behind a screen, there was a table of their families, including the students' wives and daughters, as well as Mr. Sheng's granddaughter.
"Jiang Keyu, you came the latest, so you have to drink three cups as punishment!" Gao Luoshu followed into the cabin, picked up the wine jug and glass, and filled them up for him.
Hearing the noise, the women behind the screen looked up, but they did not see Jiang Shaoqing's family coming over.
"I heard..." the women lowered their voices, "Jiang Shaoqing is young and promising, but his wife is a humble merchant girl, so she is never brought to any occasion. Now it seems to be true."
"Not only that, but the merchant girl's father used this as leverage to arrange this marriage."
"One cup." Jiang Keyu's voice came over, interrupting their conversation.
Gao Luoshu sneered, "It's just one cup, who are you trying to fool?"
He raised an eyebrow, "Could it be that your wife at home has told you in advance that you dare not drink too much?"
Without waiting for Jiang Keyu to answer, he angrily said, "I told you you could bring your family, but why didn't you bring your wife? You've been married for six years, and I still don't know what my second sister-in-law looks like!"
Jiang Keyu pushed away his hand that was hooked on the wine jug. "Can you blame me for this? My wife was there for the banquet at my house. It's just that someone was visiting Yunzhou during my housewarming party, visiting Fuzhou during my son's full-month party, and visiting Linjiang during my daughter's full-month party. I..."
"Alright! Alright!" Gao Luoshu interrupted him hurriedly, feeling guilty but arrogant. "Although I'm not here, I still have the gift."
"Who cares?"
As the two men were bickering with each other, Chang Yunbai squeezed in between them, putting his arm around each of their shoulders.
He said happily, "Now that everyone is here, we can start drinking games. Teacher, please give us a question!"
Old Sheng stroked his gray beard and glanced at the students, with a look of satisfaction in his eyes.
"Today is the Flower Festival, so we should praise the Flower Goddess."
…
Although they all graduated from Li Shang Academy and had the same famous teacher, the differences between them were still visible to the naked eye.
As the pleasure boat slowly sailed along the Guandu River, a lively drinking game unfolded. But after half an hour, some people, after three rounds of drinking, vomited while leaning against the railing at the bow. Others, unfazed by a few drinks, stood at the bow, calmly observing the scenery.
The former is Gao Luoshu and the latter is Jiang Keyu.
"Ugh!" Gao Luoshu vomited until he was exhausted. If he had known this would happen, he would not have drunk too much before the drinking game, otherwise he would not have ended up in such a miserable state.
After squatting on the ground for about half a minute, he slowly stood up, placed his hands on the railing, and raised his head, hoping to let the cool breeze wake him up.
"Are you still okay?"
Jiang Keyu glanced sideways, her tone calm, but Gao Luoshu could hear a hint of sarcasm in it.
"Of course I can do it! Ten more pots are no problem!" Gao Luoshu turned his back to him, forced himself to stand up straight, raised his hand and spoke in a loud voice.
Jiang Keyu saw that he was staggering and could not even stand steadily, but he still wanted to make bold statements and refused to lose face.
It was so funny that he laughed out loud.
How dared to laugh at him? Gao Luoshu turned around angrily, but was stunned.
"Second brother."
The woman behind him called out softly, and Jiang Keyu turned to look, so he didn't notice anything unusual about Gao Luoshu.
Gao Luoshu stared at the shore with a dull gaze, his ears flushed red as he murmured softly, "Fairy."
On the mossy steps on the shore, a woman in a moon-white dress stood holding a lantern, her eyebrows and eyes were picturesque.
Behind her was the bustling crowd, in front of her was the rippling river and the drifting lanterns. All of this served as a backdrop for her. She stood there, her long black hair and skirt fluttering in the wind, like a solitary orchid in a valley.
She suddenly raised her eyes and looked towards the pleasure boat, as if she was still, but her gaze was burning.
Gao Luoshu opened his eyes wide, his breathing stagnated, and he felt inexplicably nervous.
"Fairy, look at me."
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