When they entered the west courtyard, they saw that the door of the wing room was burned in spots. After asking, they learned that Honglian was temporarily living in a separate courtyard in the west courtyard.

After bypassing a pavilion and a small lake, we reached the depths of the west courtyard and then arrived at the other courtyard. Honglian was sweeping the snow in the courtyard with a broom.

Compared with before, Honglian was much thinner. Even though he was wearing a thick coat, he still had such a small vertical shadow, and it seemed a little difficult to hold a big broom.

Jiang Zuiyao walked over and asked, "Why don't you see anyone cleaning for you?"

Honglian turned around suddenly when she heard the sound, she was sweating from exhaustion, and breathed out white air under her heavy breathing. When she saw it was Jiang Zuiyao, she smiled hurriedly, but her smile was a little bitter: "Why are you here? Please come in and sit down."

Jiang Zuiyao looked at the remaining snow in the garden and asked, "It's been snowing for several days, why are we cleaning it?"

Honglian stood the broom by the door with her frozen red fingers and said with a smile: "I just moved it here this morning."

Jiang Zuiyao then said to Li Yan: "Go and ask a few people to come over and clean the yard."

Li Yan responded and went out.

Honglian stopped her and said, "No need, I can do it myself."

Jiang Zuiyao smiled kindly: "I know what you are worried about. Don't worry, I am the eldest young lady in the family. Now my father and mother don't dare to look at me, and those servants don't dare to say anything."

Honglian returned a bitter smile, her cheeks trembling slightly under the smile, her smile was a little unnatural, she opened the wind-proof door curtain and said: "It's cold outside, come in quickly."

Jiang Zuiyao entered the house and looked around. It was really an exquisite courtyard. The furniture and objects were all made of fine sandalwood, and the furnishings and decorations were even more luxurious. After entering the room and lifting the bead curtain, she discovered that there were actually plump beads.

of pearls.

Honglian also noticed Jiang Zuiyao looking around and said, "This place used to be Zimo's study. My original house was burned down, so he let me live here."

Jiang Zuiyao smiled and walked over to sit down and said, "This is a blessing in disguise."

Honglian smiled back and said: "What Zimo means is that this place is remote and you can't see anyone on weekdays. I just enjoy myself here, that is..."

Seeing her hesitant to speak, Jiang Zuiyao asked: "What is it?"

The smile on Honglian's face disappeared, and she said with worry: "I just don't know if Madam will let me move out if she knows about it. After all, I am just a servant, how can I live in such a good house."

Jiang Zuiyao frowned: "Honglian, don't say that, you are not a servant, you are the lover of the third young master."

Honglian said bitterly: "What about my lover? That's all, let's not talk about these troublesome things. Why are you here today? Is there anything wrong?"

Jiang Zuiyao's arrival was indeed a bit sudden. She smiled and said, "It's nothing. I haven't been living in the mansion these days. I came back today because of the New Year. I took the time to come over and see you and brought you some things for the winter.

"

Linghui and Xijun quickly put the things they brought on the table. Honglian stood up and opened them one by one. She was very surprised and said: "I have no shortage of winter items. The young lady still..."

Jiang Zuiyao knew what Honglian was going to say, so she stood up and walked to her side to change the subject and said, "I saw that we are about the same figure. I haven't even got up these clothes yet and can't put them on even if I keep them, so I sent them to you. And that one

The hand warmer was given to me by the Queen Mother a while ago, please keep it for use."

"I don't even dare to ask for the precious things that the Queen Mother has given me."

"It doesn't matter. I still have three or four hand warmers that I can use for different uses. Just keep them. But don't tell anyone that they were awarded by the Queen Mother. It's against the rules to spread the word. We can just know this privately."

After speaking, Jiang Zuiyao looked at Honglian's bun, which was clean except for a wooden hairpin. She quickly opened a brocade box and said, "I've also brought you these two sets of jewelry, both of which are fine jadeite."

, it will definitely look good if worn on the head.”

Looking at a table of things Jiang Zuiyao sent, winter clothes, hand warmers, jewelry, blankets, brocade cushions...

Honglian was a little dazzled, but more worried. She raised her eyes and asked, "Is it really okay for you to come here today?"

Jiang Zuiyao smiled kindly and said: "I really just came here to see you. You can't do without these things. It's almost the Chinese New Year, so it can't be too shabby. Don't be stressed. Think of it as a gift from me to you and the Third Young Master after all their hardships."

Congratulations, when you come to become my concubine, don’t worry about me asking for gifts."

At the end of the conversation, Jiang Zuiyao said it in a pretense of joking, which made Honglian couldn't help but laugh.

But when she smiled, her eyes became wet, and she quickly turned her head to wipe away her tears.

Jiang Zuiyao was startled: "Why are you crying?"

Honglian wiped her tears and said with a smile: "It's nothing, it's nothing. Let's sit down and talk."

Jiang Zuiyao knew that Honglian was moved. Since entering the Shao Mansion, Honglian had suffered a lot of grievances. Apart from Shao Zimo, she was the first person who treated her well.

The two sat down before Honglian remembered: "By the way, I'll make you tea."

Jiang Zuiyao quickly grabbed Honglian and said, "Don't bother me. I'll leave as soon as I can. Today is the New Year, and I will have to work with my mother later."

Honglian had no choice but to sit down, but thinking that it was always a bit rude, she said, "Then stay for lunch. I'll cook a few special dishes. It'll be quick and I won't delay you for long."

Jiang Zuiyao thought that she couldn't make Honglian uneasy, so she nodded and said, "That's fine, I haven't had lunch yet."

As expected, Honglian got up happily and went to the small kitchen.

Jiang Zuiyao was bored in the house, so she got up and went to the small kitchen. She saw that Honglian had just cut the vegetables and was busy stir-frying. Jiang Zuiyao walked over and said with a smile: "I didn't expect that there is a small kitchen in this courtyard.

.”

While Hong Lian was busy cooking, she replied: "It didn't exist originally, Zimo specially bought it for me."

This made Jiang Zuiyao a little relieved. Fortunately, Shao Zimo was worthy of Honglian. Without his protection, Honglian would probably have a hard life.

After the meal was ready, Jiang Zuiyao and Hong Lian sat at the dining table. Hong Lian smiled and said, "You came in a hurry, and I didn't make any preparations. I made whatever was in the kitchen. Don't mind it."

Jiang Zuiyao replied: "These dishes are quite good, only home-cooked meals are delicious."

Picking up a piece of lotus root and eating it, Jiang Zuiyao immediately praised it: "It's delicious. I didn't expect you to be really good at cooking."

Honglian quickly put the vegetables into Jiang Zuiyao's dinner and said, "If you like it, eat more."

The two of them laughed and chatted while eating. After filling their stomachs, Jiang Zuiyao asked Linghui and Xijun to take the food away, and the two of them sat down to chat.

Jiang Zuiyao had long seen Honglian's red fingers, and originally thought they were just sweeping away the frozen snow, but it had been so long and it hadn't gotten better yet, so she asked, "What's wrong with your hands?"
Chapter completed!