Volume 6: Dream Record Chapter 435 Zhao Paner Knows Gao Hui
Yuan Xudong and Zhao Pan'er looked at each other, both of them were moved. Under the bright candlelight, the shadows of the two people gradually got closer and closer. Just when they were about to kiss, a black shadow floated over. Zhao Pan'er jumped back with a start. She whispered:
"Hat Monster!"
"Hat demon?"
Yuan Xudong was startled. He followed Zhao Paner's line of sight and saw a moth flying towards the candle flame. Its shadow looked particularly large under the candle flame, which frightened Zhao Paner. Yuan Xudong said with a smile:
"You scared me. It's a moth. Where did the hat monster come from?"
Zhao Pan'er was also a little embarrassed. After listening to Ge Zhaodi's startling narration and the rumors about ghosts and gods, she couldn't help but have some conjectures in her mind. Now she was just catching wind and figment of her imagination. She was actually scared by the shadow of a moth. Seeing that Yuan Xudong was making fun of her, she couldn't help but blush and change the subject and asked:
"Did you see the Hat Monster just now? Is it a real monster, or is there something fishy going on?"
Seeing Zhao Pan'er's cautious look, Yuan Xudong said with a smile:
"There are no monsters in the world, but the evil in people's hearts. The hat monster is clearly a human in disguise, and he can use gunpowder. He is very good at flying and can climb walls. The common people don't know the truth and think he can really fly. Once spread, ten people will know, and ten people will know a hundred people. With the help of people hiding behind the scenes, rumors of the hat monster killing people and causing chaos have spread. It's not surprising!"
"Such cruelty, could it be related to politics?"
Zhao Pan'er guessed that due to her special experiences in her childhood, she had a special feeling for the officialdom of the Song Dynasty. In her eyes, those officials were either very good people or very bad people, and most of them were bad people. There were all kinds of cruel and ruthless officials, who were three times worse than ordinary criminals and robbers.
"Well, do you remember what I told you?"
Yuan Xudong nodded and said:
"The ministers in the court are now divided into several factions. The emperor is weak and sickly, and the only prince is now only twelve years old and cannot be regent for the time being. The queen often reviews memorials on behalf of the emperor, which has caused dissatisfaction among many old ministers in the court. A few days ago, Taibai appeared in the daytime, and there was a prophecy about the female ruler Chang. Now you should understand, right?"
Zhao Pan'er suddenly realized:
"I understand. Ancient books say that the frequent appearance of monsters means that the monarch has lost his virtue and is being warned by heaven. The emperor is also a devout Taoist. This series of prophecies and the hat monster are actually aimed at the queen. They are afraid that she will repeat the fate of Empress Wu Zetian!"
Yuan Xudong nodded and said affirmatively:
"Yes, the Queen is now in great power, and this hat monster is targeting the Queen's party. From this, it can be inferred that it was probably done by those hypocritical and upright people!"
Zhao Paner asked in a low voice:
"Could it be related to the Night Banquet?"
Yuan Xudong looked at Zhao Paner and said:
"Let me tell you a little story. A long, long time ago, I don't know which dynasty or generation it was, there was a young lady in a small town. She was born beautiful, good at singing and dancing, but because her family was too poor, she had to make a living by playing drums and music, and performed everywhere. Maybe it was fate, one day, a king came to this small town to hunt, he fell in love with this young lady at first sight, and took her into his palace, and made up a very decent family background for her. Twenty years later, the queen of this king passed away, and because the young lady was deeply loved by the king, she was made queen.
The young lady should have been very happy to be the queen, but things were not perfect back then, so many ministers went to investigate her background. Finally, they found a famous painting that showed the governor of the small town holding a spring banquet. At the banquet, the governor invited many of his favorite female musicians to perform, and one of them was the young lady back then! "
This story sounded familiar, and Zhao Pan'er naturally thought of the current queen Liu E. She looked at Yuan Xudong and asked in confusion:
"There are so many people who look alike in the world. How can you be sure that it is the young lady from before based on just this painting?"
"This famous artist had a habit of playing a riddle when he was painting. He wrote the name of every guest at the Spring Banquet on the folds of their clothes and embedded them in the painting!"
"No wonder, when I remounted this painting, I noticed the lines were weird!"
At this point, Zhao Paner looked at Yuan Xudong and asked:
"By the way, what did you do with Ouyang Xu? And that night banquet painting, are you going to come back?"
"You're asking me this now?"
Yuan Xudong said with a smile:
"The Night Banquet is with me. As for Ouyang Xu, I sold him to a woman who is very far away from the Song Dynasty. Ouyang Xu will never come back in this lifetime! "
"Sold him? That's good. I thought you killed him, so I didn't dare to ask you!"
After rolling her eyes at Yuan Xudong, Zhao Paner held her chin with both hands, looked at the bright moon outside the window and murmured:
"Fan Lang, do you think there are really monsters and gods in this world?"
"Maybe. It depends on how you think about it. For example, does being able to fly to the moon count as being a god?"
"Of course, except for gods, can mortals fly to the moon?"
"It's not possible now, but it will be possible in the future. Mortals can also fly into the sky and the sea, just like gods!"
"Are you talking nonsense again?"
Looking at Zhao Pan'er who didn't believe it, Yuan Xudong smiled. He held Zhao Pan'er's hand and said with a smile:
"Forget it, let's go do something happy now, okay?"
"What is it?"
Looking at Zhao Pan'er with her eyes slightly wide open and an innocent face, Yuan Xudong took her into his arms and walked towards her bed. This was thanks to the pills he had refined, otherwise, Yuan Xudong would really be unable to do what he wanted.
It was a night of romance.
The next morning, Yuan Xudong and Zhao Pan'er woke up early. He kissed Zhao Pan'er on her cherry lips, and Zhao Pan'er also kissed him back passionately and actively, and they lingered for a long time.
After more than an hour of lingering love, Zhao Pan'er finally left the room with a happy face and went to the teahouse with Sun Sanniang and the others to open for business.
At this time, Yuan Xudong was still lying on the bed resting. He began to feel that something was wrong with his condition. The land of gentleness was indeed the tomb of heroes. Even a body of steel could not resist the gentleness of Zhao Paner and others. It seemed that he had to collect some precious medicinal materials to refine the elixir and reach the state of controlling three thousand people in one night and ascending to heaven in broad daylight as soon as possible.
When Zhao Pan'er and others arrived at the Banzhaimian Teahouse, there was already a long queue outside the teahouse. Du Changfeng was among them. This time, he tied the crystal bracelet to his wrist with a rope. His purpose was to see clearly how beautiful the teahouse owners were.
When Yuan Tuntian and others saw Du Changfeng holding the crystal teapot, they teased him that he came not to drink tea but to see beauties. Du Changfeng felt quite embarrassed. After entering the teahouse, Du Changfeng could not wait to find a private seat and knocked on the silver bell on the table with the folding fan in his hand.
Following a clear and pleasant bell, Sun Sanniang came over. She was about to ask the guest what he wanted to order, but when she saw that it was Ouyang Xu's friend Du Changfeng, she immediately said unhappily:
"It's you!"
At this time, Du Changfeng had not yet put on the crystal hat. He could only vaguely look at Sun Sanniang and smiled:
“Give me a pot of Jian tea!”
Seeing Du Changfeng, Sun Sanniang couldn't help but think of the past. It was this bastard in front of her who could make people angry to death with his words.
Seeing Sun Sanniang standing there in a daze, Du Changfeng thought that she didn't hear clearly, so he smiled and said:
“Jiancha!”
Hearing Du Changfeng's voice, Sun Sanniang came back to her senses. The Du Changfeng in front of her overlapped with the bastard before. When she heard him talking about Jiancha, Sun Sanniang blurted out:
"Who are you calling cheap?"
At this time, Du Changfeng also felt that something was wrong. The tone of Sun Sanniang's voice gave him a very bad feeling.
He took the crystal headpiece from his chest and put it on, and immediately saw Sun Sanniang's face clearly.
"It's you, why is it you?"
Du Changfeng stood up in shock and said:
"Are you Sanniang?"
"Huh, I'm Sanniang, so what?"
"You, why are you here?"
"You're talking nonsense. I'm not here. What are you doing here? Do you own this store?"
Hearing Sun Sanniang say this, Du Changfeng pointed at her in disbelief and said:
“You own this shop?”
"You come out here!"
Seeing Du Changfeng, Sun Sanniang felt angry, so she dragged him out and said unhappily:
"I'm telling you, you're not welcome here, and we don't want to see your stinky face!"
"Who do you think wants to come?"
Sun Sanniang couldn't stand Du Changfeng's pedantry, and Du Changfeng also couldn't stand Sun Sanniang's aggressiveness. He retorted:
"Who would want to come to a shop run by such heartless women like you? Ouyang Xu is such a good man, he was clearly a top scholar, but you guys humiliated him for no reason, stripped him naked and thrown at the gate of Yihong Courtyard, and now his whereabouts are unknown. It's all your fault!"
"This is called evil will be punished, he deserves it!"
Sun Sanniang said with a happy face.
"you……"
Seeing that Sun Sanniang not only did not repent, but also gloated over the misfortune in front of Ouyang Xu's close friend, Du Changfeng could not help but say angrily:
"Just wait, I'm going to go in and tell them that you threw me into the water. I'll see who dares to come to your shabby shop again!"
Seeing that Du Changfeng dared to threaten her own business, Sun Sanniang snorted coldly and threatened him in the same way:
"You're the only one who dares to say it. Do you think I don't dare to say it? If the gentlemen inside knew about the bad things you and Ouyang Xu did to us, what do you think they would think of you? You were unfaithful, divorced your wife and remarried, changed your wife when you became rich, you were in collusion with others, and... what else?"
"And they are also in the same boat, making friends with bad people and sharing the same bad tastes!"
At this time, Ge Zhaodi came out of the teahouse and added, Sun Sanniang turned around, looked at her and smiled:
"Well said!"
Looking at Sun Sanniang and Ge Zhaodi who were singing the same tune, Du Changfeng was so angry that he was shaking all over, but he couldn't do anything to them. He could only point at them with a trembling hand and curse:
"Shrew, shrew!"
"Why are you still staying here?"
Sun Sanniang stared at Du Changfeng and threatened:
"If you don't leave now, do you believe I will throw you into the river again?"
"What are you going to do?"
Seeing that Sun Sanniang still wanted to throw him into the river, Du Changfeng was so scared that he quickly hugged the pillar of the half-covered teahouse and refused to let go. If Sun Sanniang was just trying to scare him verbally, Ge Zhaodi was slowly approaching Du Changfeng with a sharp knife, and finally cut a piece of cloth from Du Changfeng's sleeve, scaring Du Changfeng so much that he ran away screaming.
Seeing Ge Zhaodi cutting Du Changfeng's clothes with a knife, Sun Sanniang frowned slightly and asked:
"Ge Zhaodi, what are you doing?"
"Sister Sanniang, didn't Sister Pan'er say that?"
Ge Zhaodi smiled and said:
"There's been a lot of trouble recently with the hat monster, so my family will bring a few guard dogs here. I'll take this piece of clothing and let the dogs smell it, so they'll remember the smell. If they dare to cause trouble again, they'll be in trouble!"
"You're a girl, why are you so awesome?"
After rolling her eyes at Ge Zhaodi, who was more capable than herself, Sun Sanniang turned back to the shop and continued making her fruits.
…
At noon, there were fewer customers in the store. Ge Zhaodi took a break from her busy schedule and ran to the teahouse to buy a candy man. After returning to the teahouse, she showed off to Sun Sanniang who was kneading dough to make tea cakes:
"Sister Sanniang, this is the candy figurine I bought. It's so sweet. Do you want to eat it?"
Seeing the sugar man, Sun Sanniang's eyes reddened. She continued to knead the dough while forcing a smile:
"I won't eat it. You can eat what the child eats yourself!"
"All right!"
Seeing that Sun Sanniang didn't want to eat the candy, Ge Zhaodi licked the candy man and skipped away from the kitchen. Seeing her so happy, Sun Sanniang couldn't help but think of her son Fu Zifang. He also liked to eat candy men. Every time he ate candy men, he would be as happy as Ge Zhaodi and skipped around.
As she thought about it, Sun Sanniang started to cry, and her tears rolled down her face into the flour. Zhao Paner saw it, walked over, patted her gently, and asked softly:
"Are you thinking about Zifang again?"
"Um!"
In front of Zhao Pan'er, Sun Sanniang did not need to hide anything. She cried and said:
"Zifang couldn't walk since he saw the sugar man. We have been in Tokyo for such a long time, and we don't know if this little rascal is doing well with his father. He is growing so fast, and we don't know if his aunt, who is closer to him than his own mother, has made new clothes for him!"
Seeing Sun Sanniang crying so sadly, Zhao Pan'er couldn't help but comfort her:
"He is still young and naive. When he grows up, he will know that he is wrong. Otherwise, I will send someone to take him over and let him study hard. Your ladyship's phoenix crown and bridal robe will definitely be indispensable!"
"I'll give you some good words!"
Sun Sanniang forced a smile and said:
"But every time I think of the way he denied his mother in public, I feel so upset!"
Zhao Pan'er didn't know what to say, knowing that Sun Sanniang was heartbroken by her son Fu Zifang, but couldn't give up the relationship between mother and son. Moreover, she couldn't speak to Yuan Xudong either. She couldn't ask him to acknowledge this filial son, right?
…
As the sun was setting in the west, Zhao Pan'er and the others returned home. They sat under the pavilion in the garden, drinking tea and chatting, occasionally emitting clear laughter like silver bells. At this time, Ge Zhaodi came over and said:
"Sister Pan'er, there's a lady outside looking for you. She said she's here to give her daughter a thank-you gift!"
Zhao Pan'er knew that it must be the young lady who borrowed her skirt that day, so she asked Ge Zhaodi to invite them in. As it turned out, it was just as she said.
The servants of the Gao residence placed the thank-you gifts that Gao Hui wanted to give to Zhao Pan'er on the table under the pavilion. The leading maid handed over the skirt that Zhao Pan'er had lent to Gao Hui a few days ago with both hands and said:
"My daughter wanted to come here in person to thank you, but it's not convenient recently, so I had to send a servant here. Here are the clothes I borrowed from you last time. They have been washed and ironed. In addition, there are some small gifts!"
"Oh, this, this is so embarrassing."
Zhao Paner took the gift list and looked at it. There were so many valuable gifts, but she only borrowed an ordinary piece of clothing, so she refused.
"This is too expensive. I just did a small favor. How can I afford such an expensive gift?"
"Just keep it!"
The Gao family's maid said with a little pride:
"Others may think this gift is valuable, but to our Gao family, it is really nothing!"
"Gao family?"
Zhao Pan'er was slightly stunned and said:
"Could it be the residence of Observer Gao?"
Hearing this, the maid was surprised and said:
"How did you guess that, young lady?"
Zhao Paner smiled slightly and said:
"In the entire city of Tokyo, there is no other family with the surname Gao that is as magnificent as this one!"
"Thank you, Madam Zhao!"
Seeing Zhao Pan'er complimenting the Gao family so much, the maid was also very happy and said:
"The gift has been delivered. I'm leaving now!"
"Okay, walk slowly!"
Ge Zhaodi escorted the servants of Gao's house out of the yard. After they left, Sun Sanniang looked at Zhao Pan'er in surprise and said:
"So, the young lady who borrowed the skirt last time was Gao Hui?"
Song Yinzhang didn't know that Gao Hui had come to borrow a skirt, so he couldn't help asking:
"Has Gao Hui ever been home?"
"Well, the Gao family only has this one daughter, she must be Gao Hui!"
Zhao Pan'er murmured, she was still thinking about the scene when she met Gao Hui that day. No matter how she looked at it, Gao Hui seemed like a virtuous young lady. She called her "sister" in a very affectionate way. She was very different from the official's daughter she had originally imagined. No wonder Yuan Xudong liked such a gentle and virtuous young lady so much.
Zhao Pan'er liked her future sister very much. Ouyang Xu was Ouyang Xu and Gao Hui was Gao Hui. She would not vent her anger on Gao Hui because of others. Her first impression of Gao Hui was quite good. She divided the gifts from Gao Hui and left one of them to Zhang Haohao from the garden next door. They chatted for a while and then left.
Zhao Pan'er went to find Yuan Xudong. At this moment, he must be in the alchemy room studying his pills. Sun Sanniang went to the kitchen to study her cooking skills. Song Yinzhang went to Zhang Haohao's place next door to study music with her. Ge Zhaodi mingled with the maids in the mansion. She was good at walking the dog, feeding the cat, fighting crickets, etc. She was very happy.
