Chapter 1
Chapter 1
The river crosses the wide mist in the evening, and the tide passes through Jinling in autumn.
Resounding Saihong passes through Chuze, and shallow and deep mangroves see Yangzhou.
The night bridge is lit up with stars, and the water Guofan mast is close to the bullfight.
The customs of the city are changing today, so there is no need to ask Milou.
This poem fully demonstrates the prosperous style of Yangzhou at that time. The century-old stone street paved with bluestone can be said to be full of traffic, and the most lively place in the whole city tonight is Anfu. The big red lanterns with gold-dyed Double Happiness illuminated the interior and exterior of the mansion as brightly as day, and the red silk cloth was swung across every corner of the courtyards, and a layer of bright red rose petals was sprinkled on the ground. Officials and rich merchants appeared in their fancy clothes, and the scene was grand and grand.
Today is the big day for An Jinyan, the eldest son of the An family, to enroll in the imperial examination, but the guests who were invited came for the second son of the An family, An Ningyu.It is well known that Anjia in Yangzhou has the largest silk workshop 'An Ruixiang', and there are shops with its name all over the country. Everyone knows the fame of the rich family. The person who heads the huge family business is not An Jinyan, the young master , but his younger brother, An Ningyu, who is three years younger than him.
Clothes in the closets of more than half of the wealthy families in the city must be made of "An Ruixiang" fabrics. When mentioning "An Ruixiang", the first thing that comes to mind is An Ningyu who has risen to the head of the family at the age of 16. She is the youngest in the history of the An family. Big shopkeeper.
Different from other small workshops, she who is in charge of "An Ruixiang" has to get up early every day to inspect the shops of all sizes in Yangzhou City. She checked it so that she could know the profit and loss of each store outside as soon as possible. If necessary, she had to go out of the city to inspect other places in person. It is not easy to take the lead at a young age.
In the tedious work that others see as tedious, An Ningyu is about five years old, and when the other children sleep until they are exposed to the sun and wake up to play in the world, she begins to learn to read accounts and figure out how to do business.Behind the seemingly beautiful scenery of others, she paid a price that others could not see. At least she lost a beautiful and happy childhood.
However, it is not the eldest master An Jinyan who is in charge, but the second young master An Ningyu. There is no suspense in Yangzhou City, and everything starts with their father.
At that time, An Tai, as the grandson of An's eldest son, took over 'An Ruixiang'. After that, he married Roland and soon gave birth to his eldest son, An Jinyan. He couldn't speak, and was finally diagnosed by a doctor as dementia, commonly known as mental retardation.
Antai never took a concubine after marrying Roland. Originally, the lights in Antai's house were not bright, and their first child was mentally retarded. Unwilling to compromise, the couple's days were gloomy and gloomy. It wasn't until Roland became pregnant with a second child that everyone was relieved a little. At least the old lady didn't push too hard.
It's a pity that God has no mercy. When Roland was about to give birth, there was bad news that Antai was going to inspect the shop in other places, and was robbed and killed by bandits on the way back to the city. The old man passed out on the spot when he heard the news, and he just woke up. Knowing that Roland gave birth to An Ningyu, the An Mansion was completely shrouded in a white haze of An Tai's death that month.
An Ningyu in the swaddling baby seemed to know that his father had passed away, and he didn't want to add to the sadness, so he didn't cry or make trouble. He quietly nestled in Roland's arms and looked at his mother. Even though his face was pale and haggard, he couldn't hide her beautiful face. Willing to marry again, how many women in this world can compare to her mother.
In the blink of an eye, 16 years have passed, and Anning Yu has lived up to expectations and has managed the business of 'An Ruixiang' with great success, becoming the number one store in the city. Except for Roland, no one knows that the second young master An Ningyu who supports An's family is actually his daughter. body.
All the dignitaries in the city who came to An's house to have a banquet, including high-ranking officials in the court, An Ningyu stood at the gate after lunch and greeted all the guests.She loves white clothes on weekdays, so she specially ordered a bright yellow embroidered golden auspicious cloud gown with a slanted collar for today, and she wears an orange-red inlaid white jade belt on the waist and a matching red shin coat on the front.The golden hairpin with curly cloud patterns is inserted in the bundle of hair, and the fair and handsome face reveals a bit of delicacy. The red lips and white teeth are handsome and pretty, which is really eye-catching.
"Second Young Master, congratulations." The guests walked in and congratulated An Ning, as if she was the protagonist of this big wedding.
"Tongxi, please come in." An Ningyu has been busy with the preparations since this morning, without a drop of water, busy greeting the guests with hypocrisy.
Brown, who had been with her all this time, couldn't stand it any longer. He walked up to her and said in a low voice, "Ning Yu, why don't you go to the inner hall to eat something, you haven't eaten all day."
By the way, Brown and An Ningyu are also childhood sweethearts. His parents followed An Tai back then, and both died in that robbery. Roland felt sorry for the only man left in the Bu family, and felt guilty for the death of his parents. So he was taken to An's family to be raised.At that time, Brown was only five years old, and Roland was very sensible, so he arranged for him to work beside An Ningyu. He was the only friend of the second young master who was busy with everything.
"Go and see how my brother's preparations are going." For today's wedding banquet, Anning Yu arranged for a matchmaker to teach An Jinyan the required etiquette as early as half a month ago, so as not to make a fool of himself if something goes wrong during the wedding. Even though many complicated ceremonies were cancelled, it was still very difficult for An Jinyan, who was over nineteen years old and as intelligent as an eight-year-old child, which really worried her.
"Yes." Brown has followed An Ningyu for the longest time, and he also understands her temper very well. It is futile for others to tell her what she doesn't want to do. It is not good to make her angry, so he did not persuade her to retreat and went into the mansion. .
The one who came to meet him was the emperor's cousin Liang Wang. He was a military general with elegant appearance. If it weren't for the goatee on the corner of his mouth, he would not have guessed that he was over forty.
"Ning'er, we're all in the same family. Why are you so alienated? You can just call me Uncle." Liang Wang's straightforward personality is not like ordinary literati and refined manners, and he is even more forthright and generous. He helped him up and said with a smile.
"Uncle." It turns out that the unassuming prince in front of him is the husband of Luo Yu, the younger sister of An Ning Yu's mother Luo Lan.No wonder there were so many officials among the people who came to congratulate her, and An's family also had some relationship with the royal family.
"Oh, that's right."
"Why didn't you see Auntie coming with you?" An Ning spoke cautiously.
"She was feeling unwell, so she didn't come over to congratulate her in person."
"He will accompany my mother to visit every day."
"It's not a serious illness, but she will be very happy if you can come." King Liang looked at An Ningyu, whom he hadn't seen for more than ten years. The last time he met her, she was only three years old. Big, with red lips and white teeth, he is quite handsome, but his body is a bit thinner, "Ning'er is going to be sixteen, right?"
"Go back to Uncle, it's just passed."
"You are good in everything, but you are too delicate and lack masculinity. Don't be busy with your family's business all day long. Take time to practice martial arts to strengthen your body."
"My uncle said so."
"Father." A girl came out from behind King Liang. She wore a lake-green chest-length skirt and a sky-blue sand-woven shawl on her shoulders. Her snow-white and plump breasts complemented each other perfectly. The figure, the breeze blows up the fine ribbons, and a few broken hairs on the forehead also blow up with the wind, the bright eyes and white teeth are naturally beautiful, without makeup, and the color is like the morning glow and snow.
"Wu'er, this is your cousin An Ningyu." In An Ningyu's memory, his aunt Luo Yu had only one son with King Liang, and this lovely cousin in front of him should be the daughter of him and his concubine.
"Cousin is polite." Ji Wu was obediently holding Liang Wang's hand, half of her body was hidden behind Liang Wang, looking at An Ningyu affectionately, like a lotus flower that could not withstand the cool breeze.
"Cousin is polite." An Ningyu also politely returned the salute.
After seeing off Prince Liang and his daughter, Brown, who had just been sent to find An Jinyan, had a slightly flustered look on his face. He walked up to An Ning Yu in small steps, and whispered in his ear, "Ning Yu, it's not good. The young master fainted in the room, and the bride disappeared without trace."
What could be more serious than the groom fainting and the bride disappearing on the wedding day.The people in Anfu can be said to be in the same state as the Mount Tai collapsed before, no matter how you say Anjia also has a status in the city, and they can't lose their dignity in anything.The servants in the mansion have been trained. Even if they find a dead person, they can come over and report calmly. An Ningyu will never tolerate people screaming and running in the mansion.
"You immediately send someone to the doctor to treat the young master, and tell him that if there is any mistake, I will let their whole family be buried with him. And you personally brought a group of people to chase that woman, and you must find them back for me." An Ningyu clenched his fists at this moment, his eyes were bloodshot and red, and his black pupils were like a deep bottomless pit ghostly and terrifying, "The matter of the bride's escape must not be leaked, whoever dares to reveal a word I will let him not survive tomorrow. "
"The people are almost all here. What if I can't find someone for the wedding banquet? Do I need to report the truth to the old lady?" You must know that Roland's love for An Jinyan can be said to be outrageous. If she knows The consequences could be disastrous.
"I'll take care of it myself, you go and come back quickly." As soon as Roland was mentioned, An Ningyu's eyes were dimmed again, and his fists that had not been loosened were shaking.
"Yes, Second Young Master." After finishing speaking, Brown left in a hurry. At this moment, the festive music sounded like mourning to An Ningyu's ears.
In the end, the worrying thing happened, An Ningyu turned around and walked towards the inner court.She must not let this wedding banquet become a joke in Yangzhou City. It took so much time and energy to make people forget An Jinyan's flaws. If others knew that the bride ran away on the wedding night, years of hard work would be in vain.
When she decided to prepare for An Jinyan's wedding, she was already worried that if she was not careful, rumors would spread everywhere, but she was still unable to guard against it.
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