The carriage bypassed Le'an County and drove onto a smooth official road, and accelerated towards the capital. In the evening, the group stopped in a small town, had a hot meal and rested for a while, then continued on their way until midnight.

Arrive at the south gate of the capital.

Qin Shan and others who were originally drowsy felt that the carriage had stopped. They sat up straight and opened the windows and looked outside. Seeing that the city gate was closed and no one was there, they thought they would spend the night in the carriage and wait for the city gate tomorrow.

Open and then enter the city.

"As expected of a capital city, there is a curfew at night!" Qin Shan looked at the tall and majestic city gate and couldn't help but sigh: "I don't know what it's like inside. We have to take a walk tomorrow."

There is no curfew in Le'an County on weekdays. It is closed only during festivals or when important criminals are being hunted. Before coming, he didn't know there was a curfew in the capital, and for a while the capital became more solemn and mysterious in his heart.

"I don't know how many people are coming to Beijing to take the exam these days. Let's find a place to stay first and then think about visiting the capital!" Lin Qiuniang mercilessly poured cold water on her husband. She was really worried that she would not be able to find a place to stay after arriving too late.

place.

There are eight counties in Beijing, and each county has 20 new talents every three years. These 20 talents may seem small, but in previous years, the vast majority of talents failed to pass the exam, and old talents usually do not miss the opportunity to pass the exam every three years.

of autumn.

Calculated in this way, there are at least 2,000 scholars in the eight counties. Even if some of them will not participate in the Autumn Festival, the number of scholars who flock to the capital during this period will not be less than 1,500. Those who want to find a place to stay near Gongyuan

It is not an easy thing to do in this place.

Hearing what his wife said, the excitement on Qin Shan's face condensed, and he kissed Xiang Tian who was sleeping in his arms. She was my daughter: "What are you afraid of? With Xiaoxiao here, we will definitely find a place to stay!"

Qin He also comforted him: "Sister-in-law, there is no need to worry. Master told me before coming here that there is a friend who lives near Gongyuan. If you can't find an inn to stay, it doesn't hurt to come and bother you."

After the brothers said this, Lin Qiuniang felt relieved, feeling that her daughter would not let them sleep on the street, nor would she give them the opportunity to disturb Master Qiu's friends.

At this time, Shitou got off his horse, took out something from his arms and knocked on the city gate. In the silent night, the sound seemed particularly loud.

The three people of the Qin family didn't know why, and they didn't believe that the gate of the capital could be knocked open. The next moment, a dull creaking sound was heard, and the heavy city gate actually opened a crack.

When the city guard saw what was in Shitou's hand, he immediately called a dozen people to open the city gate as wide as possible and bowed respectfully to Shitou.

Qin Shan and others were stunned and couldn't recover for a long time. It wasn't until the stone turned over and the carriage drove towards the door that they blinked and looked at each other.

"Hey, dear, who is this boy named Jing?" Qin Shan's heart was pounding and he asked a question that Lin Qiuniang and Qin He also wanted to know.

At first, they thought that Jing Heng was a child of an aristocratic family and that his father's official position was not low. This was evident from the fact that he was able to put down last year's grain depot riot with just a few words.

Now that they have seen with their own eyes that the stone can knock open the city gate and make the city guards respectful, they know that Jing Heng's background is more noble than they suspected.

They always feel unreal when they think of such a noble person becoming friends with their daughter (niece), not only showing no pretense in front of her, but also personally teaching her how to write and even making her happy.

"No matter what Mr. Jing's identity is, as long as he has no bad intentions towards Xiaoxiao, it will be fine." Lin Qiuniang took her daughter from her husband's arms, looked at her innocent sleeping face, and sincerely hoped that Jingheng would always take care of her.

she.

If one day the secret of his daughter cannot be kept, maybe Jing Heng can find a way to protect his daughter from harm.

Qin Shan also thought of this and fell silent for a moment, involuntarily thinking whether he should be nicer to Jingheng, so that he might be better to his daughter.

After his daughter's secret was revealed, who could really protect her? Apart from Jing Heng, a boy he always disliked, he couldn't think of anyone else.

Qin Xiaoxiao, who was sleeping soundly, knew nothing about the psychological changes of her parents.

After entering the city, the carriage made several turns, passed through long streets one after another, and finally stopped in front of a quiet house.

Qin Shan and others thought they had arrived at the inn, so they quickly wrapped Qin Xiaoxiao tightly in a thin blanket and took her out of the carriage. When they saw the house in front of them, they were stunned, thinking that the stone had brought them to Jingheng's house.

"This house is the private property of my young master. In order to accommodate you all, it was specially cleaned up two days ago." Shitou explained to the three people of the Qin family with a smile, and knocked on the door without waiting for them to reply.

After a while, there was a sound of hurried footsteps, and the door opened from the inside. After seeing the shape of the stone clearly, the woman who opened the door immediately stepped away, bowed and invited the group to come in.

"Shi, brother Shitou, this, this is not good, we can find a place to stay." Lin Qiuniang did not expect that Jing Heng was so thoughtful and even prepared a place for them to stay. This made her grateful for Jing Heng's kindness, and

Unable to accept it with peace of mind.

Qin Shan and Qin He also meant the same. Now that Jing Heng could pick them up in a big carriage, they were already very grateful. If they lived in this house again, they would owe a huge debt. They were worried that the more they owed, the more they would be unable to repay.

"Brother Qin, Sister-in-law Qin, the inn is a mixed bag. Miss Xiaoxiao is still young, so it is not suitable to live there." Shitou could see their thoughts at a glance and knew what they cared about most, so he directly said something that they could not refuse: "

The inns near Gongyuan are already full, and the place you can find is too far away from Gongyuan. If anything goes wrong, I'm afraid it will delay Brother Qinhe's scientific expedition."

Speaking of this, any further refusal would be pretentious and ungrateful, so the three Qin family members had no choice but to agree and let Shitou thank Jingheng on their behalf.

This house is in an excellent location. The Gongyuan is right behind it, and it takes less than half an hour to walk there. Although it doesn't look big, it is a small courtyard with two entrances, but it is more than enough to accommodate the four members of the Qin family.

In addition, there were four women in charge of cleaning, washing and cooking in the house, all of which were done by Jing Heng on Shi Tou. In front of the Qin family, Shi Tou beat the four women hard and asked them to serve the Qin family as their masters.

, if they are cheating and cheating, they will be sold directly to the mines outside the city.

It was getting late at night and Shitou did not stay long. After taking the Qin family to see their respective rooms and making sure they were not inappropriate, he left the house and went back to report to Jingheng.

After riding in the carriage for five or six hours, Qin Shan and others were exhausted. They chatted briefly, took a rough hot bath with the help of several women, and went back to their rooms to rest.

Originally, a separate room was prepared for Qin Xiaoxiao, but in this strange place, Qin Shan and Lin Qiuniang were not worried about her sleeping alone, so they took her to sleep with them as if they were at home.

Early the next morning, Qin Xiaoxiao woke up earlier than Qin Shan and Lin Qiuniang. Looking at the unfamiliar room, sleeping on a soft bed, covered with a fragrant quilt, she thought this was an inn, so she stretched her neck and looked around.

Finally, I laughed out loud with joy.

"Having such success so early in the morning, did you dream of delicious food?" Lin Qiuniang was awakened by her daughter's laughter. She opened her hazy eyes and glanced at her before closing them again and gently rubbing her little buttocks.

Take a photo.

As soon as she heard the word "delicious", Qin Xiaoxiao couldn't help but swallow her saliva, grabbed Lin Qiuniang's hand and put it on her flat belly: "Mom, I'm so hungry~"

I don’t know if it was because she sat in the carriage for a long time. Last night, the little girl had a poor appetite. She almost couldn’t eat half of her usual meals. It’s normal to feel hungry so early in the morning.

Lin Qiuniang, who still wanted to squint for a while, sighed, sat up from the bed and took off the clothes hanging on the bedside shelf.

Qin Xiaoxiao hurriedly got up and picked up the small clothes on the bed. She found that the clothes were not the ones she wore yesterday, nor were they worn before. She fiddled with them for a while before slowly putting them on.

This set of clothes is peach pink and made of fine brocade. It was given by Jing Heng on the day of the little girl’s birthday. These little clothes will get old if left unworn for a year. Lin Qiuniang specially brought a few new sets when she came to the capital this time.

of.

As soon as the mother and daughter put on their clothes, Qin Shan woke up. After Qin Shan also finished packing, he opened the door to go out to wash up, when he saw two women waiting outside with toiletries, saying that they would help them wash up.

Qin Shan and Lin Qiuniang had never been served before and were not used to being served. They took the toiletries and let them leave. After washing up and making sure there was nothing wrong, the family of three went to the stove to prepare breakfast.

As a result, before they could do anything, the woman in charge of cooking said that she had prepared it early and would wait for them to get up in the pot before eating. When the other woman confirmed that Qin He had also gotten up, they prepared four or five exquisite and delicious dishes.

The breakfast was served on the table.

Such attentive service made Qin Shan and Lin Qiuniang very uncomfortable. They were worried that their rude eating behavior would make the ladies laugh, so they had to eat slowly and slowly. Fortunately, the breakfast tasted very good, and they could easily open their mouths.

I had an appetite, but I ate a lot.

Qin He adapted well. After all, Master Qiu's family also had servants to take care of him. He was Master Qiu's favorite disciple and half a master in the school. There were servants taking care of his food and daily life every day.

As for Qin Xiaoxiao, she didn't feel uncomfortable at all. She filled her belly quickly and told the three adults that the people in the inn (the four women) were nice and the breakfast was delicious.

At this time, Qin Shan and others realized that the little girl had been treating this place as an inn. He told her in a dumbfounded voice that this was not an inn, but Mr. Jing's residence, and it was lent to them temporarily.

After listening to this, Qin Xiaoxiao said from the bottom of his heart: "Brother Li is so kind. He gave us such a beautiful house to live in and gave us such delicious breakfast. When I see Brother Li, I must thank him."

!”

Jing Heng, who had breakfast with his mother and rushed to the house, heard these words as soon as he stepped through the door. He hummed in a low voice, as if he was disdainful of Qin Xiaoxiao's thanks, and understood his scissors

Shitou Bu knew that his young master was shy.

The four women who were waiting at the door noticed Jing Heng first. They didn't know Jing Heng's identity, but when they saw Shitou honoring Jing Heng as their master, they knew he was their real master and hurriedly knelt down to salute.

Their actions alarmed the four members of the Qin family. When they saw Jing Heng, they stood up involuntarily.

"Brother Li——" Qin Xiaoxiao was so excited that she threw herself into Jingheng's arms happily: "Brother Li, I miss you so much!"

The slightly raised corners of Jingheng's mouth betrayed his good mood, and he allowed the little girl to hug him and rub her against his chest.

When the little girl expressed her full joy, she grabbed Jingheng's hand and asked this and that: "Brother Li, isn't this your home? Then where do you live? Do you have many homes?"

Jing Heng seemed to be annoyed by her questions. He pinched her nose and said impatiently: "Why are you asking so many questions? You won't go home with me."

Qin Xiaoxiao stuck out his tongue and said playfully: "Brother Li, come home with me, and we can play together every day!"

Jing Heng scratched her little head and cursed "slippery", then said to the somewhat reserved Qin Shan and others: "Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, the street is very lively. After I see the direction of Gongyuan, I will take my uncle and aunt to walk around the street.

Turn around and show your friendship to the landlord."

Qin He knew that Jing Heng was so polite to them for the sake of his little niece, so he bowed his hands to him: "Thank you, Mr. Jing."

Qin Shan and Lin Qiuniang originally wanted to go out for a walk, and had no objection to Jing Heng's proposal. The only thing they had to do was to keep an eye on Qin Xiaoxiao, prevent her from being abducted by bad guys, and prevent her from getting carried away and "talking nonsense".

After leaving the house, the group walked towards the Gongyuan. Jingheng held Qin Xiaoxiao's hand and walked in front. Qin Xiaoxiao came to the capital for the first time. Everything he saw along the way was novel, so he asked Jingheng many strange questions.

Weird question.

Jingheng seemed to be very impatient on his face, and whenever Qin Xiaoxiao asked, he would answer carefully. From time to time, because of different opinions on a certain issue, the two of them would argue in the street. In the end of the debate, it was Jingheng who compromised first.

It’s not that I can’t argue, but I’m afraid that if I argue, the little girl will be unhappy.

It will be autumn in a few days. The gate of Gongyuan is locked and a team of elite soldiers is guarding it to prevent anyone from approaching. Most of the people coming and going here are scholars who come to recognize the place or their family members and servants.

A combination like Qin Xiaoxiao, Jingheng Heng and his entourage looked very strange in the eyes of others. They thought they were young ladies from some family. They were curious about such an important place as Gongyuan, so they brought their servants over to take a look.

The three Qin Shan people in simple clothes were classified as domestic servants like rock, paper, scissors. They didn't pay attention. After seeing the Gongyuan, they continued to follow Qin Xiaoxiao and Jing Heng at a short distance.

"Brother Li, it's so lively in front, let's go over and take a look!" Qin Xiaoxiao couldn't even see it when she came to a street that was busier than Le'an County. When there was a burst of lively exclamations in front of her, she subconsciously

He grabbed Jingheng's hand and led him eagerly forward.

Unexpectedly, after running a few steps, a kid in brocade clothes, about four or five years old, suddenly rushed out from the diagonal ground and bumped into Qin Xiaoxiao with great force. If Jing Heng's quick eyes and hands hadn't stopped him, Qin Xiaoxiao would have fallen to the ground.

.
Chapter completed!