The Maid's Strategy in the Red Chamber

义女

Yancao didn't answer her, and dragged her into the room, where Liu Shi was looking at her with a smile.

Xueyan saluted and asked with a smile: "Yancao, the girl said that the wife has graced the servants. These days, the rewards given to the servants by the master, wife and girl are really generous. The servants don't dare to be greedy anymore."

Mrs. Liu said with a smile: "You girl is different. Others only think that the rewards are too little, but not as much as you. Don't worry, you will like the grace this time." With a wink, Nanny Zhou took out a piece of paper from her bosom and handed it to Xueyan.Speaking of this week's mother, it is also very unexpected.She was the one who helped Xueyan deal with those women in the delivery room that day, and later helped Liu's delivery.At first everyone thought it was just a coincidence, but later they found out that this mother Zhou also came from the palace, and she used to work in the same palace as Liu Shi.It's just that her fate is not good. After leaving the palace, she married a family who only coveted her dowry, and even killed her.Those who can come out of the palace safely are naturally not good people. Zhou's mother made a mess of her husband's family, and then she just made up with herself.

It's just that when she was in the palace, her grades were not high, and she had a bad reputation after having a quarrel with her husband's family, and her life was almost unsustainable.Later, when the Liu family found out, they invited the Lin family.At that time, Liu's belly was just three months old, so she didn't reveal Zhou's mother's true identity, but lived in Liu's yard as Shihua's wife.After Liu Shi gave birth safely, Liu Shi resumed her identity and asked her to be the mother in charge of her yard.

From this point of view, the Liu family is also a man with a heart.

Throwing away these distracting thoughts, Xueyan began to shift her attention from Zhou's mother to the paper in front of her.She is literate, thought it was a bank note

After reading the contents of the paper, I opened my eyes wide in surprise: "This is, this is..."

Liu said with a smile: "This is your contract of selling yourself. I have sent someone to go to the Yamen to revoke your slave status. You will be a commoner in the future."

"Slave, thank you madam for your kindness." Xueyan knelt down.

Mrs. Liu waved her hand and asked Zhou's mother to help her up: "Good boy, you will not be our family's servant in the future. You are so loyal to protect the lord, brave and resourceful, originally I wanted to take you as a righteous daughter, and seek help for you. You have a good future. Who knows that there are people with sharp eyes in our family. On the day of the three-year bath, the third wife came over and recognized your wisdom and bravery as well as your exemplary character. She wanted a matchmaker and six-hire to marry you as the main wife I thought Brother Ming was a promising person. The third wife has always been gentle, and their family has a bit of family business. Even if I adopt you as a foster daughter, I may not be able to find a better one. It seems that I have to take advantage of the third wife Mother and son." After all, it is not good for a daughter of the Lin family to marry the Lin family even if she is a foster daughter.

A few words cleared up the matter between her and Lin Ming, and they still wouldn't let others single out Li Li.Feeling grateful, Xueyan leaned down and bowed again: "Xueyan is very grateful to his wife for her kindness, and everything depends on the wife."

When she got up, Yancao and the others gathered around: "Congratulations to sister, congratulations to sister, this is a double happiness for sister, you can't just send us away with a few plates of dim sum."

Xueyan is not an ancient person in her heart, so she didn't take this little joke seriously, but she remembered that Mrs. Liu was still in confinement, and said with a smile: "It's easy to talk, let's go outside and talk, the wife still needs to recuperate. "

When the maids heard the words, they hurriedly covered their mouths and dragged Xueyan out.

Seeing their backs going out, Zhou's mother whispered: "This snow goose is lucky, the third wife really thinks highly of her!"

"She can also take on these things. You have seen the situation that day. Even Sister Yu, a young lady, was a little at a loss. It happened that she calmed down the scene with a few words and commanded well. , Get those black-hearted people out immediately. Later, they whispered to me vigorously in my ear. At that time, I was confused and thought that this girl was really noisy. It would be strange if I didn't hit her when I woke up. Really woke up Finally, I can only feel grateful." At that time, Liu's consciousness was only vague, but she didn't really know anything about personnel.

Zhou's mother echoed: "This girl is really smart."

Mrs. Liu said on behalf of Xueyan: "No, the third wife lost her husband in the early years, and raised her son to be a young man herself. Naturally, her vision is more transparent than that of ordinary women. She just fell in love with Xueyan's housekeeping talents. I have identified her. Xueyan's talent is probably not comparable to that of Yu'er. At first, I was worried that if she followed Yu'er out of the cabinet in the future, she would not be willing to stay under others for a long time because of her temperament. She will cause Yu'er some troubles when the time comes. Now, it can be regarded as a solution to one of my worries."

"It's just a maid, so it's not easy to just send it away. How can the wife say it's so difficult." Zhou's mother didn't quite agree.

Mrs. Liu shook her head: "She is not an ordinary maid. Just because she is left by my wife, I won't touch her. This time, if it wasn't for this marriage, do you think Yu'er would be willing to give her to me?" ?”

"You mean the third wife has already fallen in love with her?" Mother Zhou said with her mouth wide open.

Mrs. Liu smiled slightly, and it was not only the third wife who fell in love with her, but the rest of the words were swallowed in her stomach and did not come out.

It was quite a waste of time for Xueyan to be pestered by Yancao and the others, and they needed a table and a box. It took more than a dozen taels of silver to get rid of these little goblins.

Mrs. Liu was considerate, not only revoked her household registration, but also cleared out a small yard at the back of her yard for her to live in.Three small main rooms, with two side rooms, and two little maids were assigned to her, and the family members called them girls.

After all this is done, it's time to welcome the spring out of the cabinet.One day earlier, Daiyu was going to add makeup to her cousin.

Xueyan originally thought that she had nothing to do with her, but Daiyu insisted on pulling her along.Even Mrs. Liu urged her with a smile: "You have stayed in that mansion for many years, the old ladies and ladies love you, now that you have good news, you should kowtow."

Seems to make sense?Thinking of this, Xueyan was taken to Jia's house by Daiyu.

After dividing the yard, Liu asked someone to give her some brand new clothes and boxes of jewelry.This time, she took off the bijia that the maids used to wear, and put on a honey-colored squirrel gown and a water-red horse-face skirt. On her head, she wore a shining lace hairpin with beads and a crescent-shaped flat hairpin. Beside Daiyu, her demeanor was not inferior at all, and she was not overshadowed by Daiyu's elegant demeanor at all.

Seeing her appearance, everyone in Jia's house was quite puzzled.If she hadn't been dressed as a maiden, others would have thought she was someone's concubine!

Daiyu told her story with a smile, and then said with a smile: "My mother originally wanted to adopt her as a foster daughter, but my third aunt fell in love with her, so I had to see her as a girl from a relative's family."

Everyone was amazed, Jiamu smiled and pulled her to her side to praise her.

On the other hand, Mrs. Xing lowered her head and pondered for a moment, then raised her head and said with a smile: "It is said that everyone carries the sedan chair. Since this girl has such good fortune, she is obviously a lucky one. It just so happens that I am about to send a daughter away, and I feel lonely at the knees. , why not let Xueyan recognize me as a foster mother."

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the room fell silent, even Xueyan didn't expect Xing to come out like this.

Xing smiled and said: "What are you all looking at me for? Think about it, Lin Ming's literary talent has always been outstanding, he has already been a scholar at a young age, and in the future he can be a Jinshi. Our family is nothing more than If you pay a few taels of silver, you can get a daughter and a son-in-law with no future for nothing. Such a good thing can't be found even with a lantern. Let's not talk about it, Brother Ming is also a bit rich, In the future, Xueyan will marry from our family, and his family’s dowry will all belong to our family. No matter what, we can’t lose money, what does the old lady agree with?”

Mother Jia thought about it for a while, and she also felt that this was feasible.Liu Shi gave birth to a son-in-law, she was both happy and worried, for fear that the relationship between the two families would become estranged in the future.But if Lin Ruhai's nephew is brought over to his family, there will be room for everything to change.

Thinking of this, she nodded: "I just said, you slicker will never do business at a loss again. If that's the case, let's make it so."

So, under the booing of everyone, Xueyan kowtowed to Mrs. Xing, Jiamu and others again, and recognized a foster mother.The mother-in-law was also very helpful, and immediately took off a round and warm suet jade bracelet on her hand and put it on for her, and hurriedly ordered the servants to clean up the yard next to Yingchun and leave it for Xueyan to live in.Then he patted her hand and said, "In the future, you can live wherever you want, but when you get married, you must live in our house."

Daiyu jokingly said, "The first two of my aunt's three sentences are about getting married. It can be seen that the dowry for the second sister is too much these days.

, Thinking of marrying another daughter and collecting more dowry to make up for it. "

"You little girl, everyone praises you for being aloof from the world, and the little calculation in my heart is clear, but it's a pity that your aunt and I don't have a son, or I have to fight you for the rich dowry No matter how sharp Daiyu's words are, she is not the opponent of the Xing family, and she will be defeated immediately.

After talking and joking for a while, the foreign guests also came one after another.Taking advantage of this opportunity, Xing grabbed Xueyan to her side and introduced them to the female relatives one by one.

When everyone heard that the lady of the Jia family had adopted a foster daughter again, they all wondered, this Jia family really likes adoptive daughters.It is a common practice for the stepmother of the Lin family to be married to the original spouse's family.This time, she directly recognized a servant girl as a foster daughter, which was out of order.

No matter how much everyone complained in their hearts, they all pretended to be proud.They took Xueyan's hand and praised them one after another, and then waved their hands, and Xueyan received countless greeting gifts.

The Wang family on the side looked at all this with cold eyes, then glanced at the gorgeously dressed Xing Xiuyan, and laughed in her heart: I don't know what kind of weirdness I have with so many girls by my side!

Some members of the Jia family have heard of Xueyan's name before, and know that she is outstanding in needlework.Hearing that Mrs. Xing recognized her as a righteous daughter, they all made up her mind at the same time.Today is not only the day to add makeup but also to show off the wedding. I saw the dazzling array of dowry in Yingchun.Everyone thought that half of the dowry would be generous enough for this adopted daughter, and with her outstanding needlework, it was even more cost-effective than marrying Yingchun.So they all inquired about Xueyan's marriage overtly and secretly.

In the end, he was dismissed by Xing's saying "the family has already been settled".

There are still a few who want to make trouble, Xing is a little impatient, and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, today is a good day to welcome the girl, we can't just talk about others and neglect her. I don’t like it, what should I do if I refuse to go back in the future? Let’s hurry up and put on makeup for her.” Half-jokingly led everyone to get down to business.

Xing and Wang Xifeng originally packed 66 carry dowry for Yingchun, but after adding makeup, they added two more carry, which became 68 carry.After registering in the register, he sent him away with a whimper.

When I was a maid, that small table screen was decent enough as a congratulatory instrument.Now that she has changed her body, Xueyan naturally has to add makeup along with her.She added a pair of hard gold and ruby ​​earrings, which are really good things at a fair price.It's not at the same level as the "meeting ceremony" that those female relatives make themselves look good.Of course, she was just a adopted daughter of Jia's family, and everyone just followed suit, after all, they still regarded her as a maid in their hearts.

Just like just now, a few people talked to themselves and decided on a foster mother for themselves, but no one asked if they would like it...

However, she didn't have the courage and capital to turn her back.Fortunately, Xing's doing this should be done with good intentions.

Xueyan lived here with Daiyu for two days, until the day when Yingchun came out of the pavilion.When Daiyu was about to leave, Xing strongly invited Xueyan to stay.But Xueyan smiled and said: "The mother-in-law is kind, and I shouldn't have resigned. It's just that I haven't reported this matter to my wife today. Besides, my wife is not confinement. Even if I stay here, I feel uneasy. I still wait for my wife." Let's stay here after confinement."

Mrs. Xing nodded: "That's fine, when she is out of confinement and the end of the new year, you can come here to celebrate the new year, so as not to feel uncomfortable at home."

exist.You are now the prospective daughter-in-law of the Lin family, and you will not even be called a servant by then. "

"My wife is used to teasing me." Xueyan pretended to be shy and lowered her head and said.

After going back and telling Mrs. Liu about this, Mrs. Liu also had a happy expression on her face: "This is a surprise. My uncle and wife liked you before, but this time I became your foster mother. I can only treat you better. I'm worried, where will the third wife's three matchmakers and six hires go in the future, now there is a place. It's late today, and tomorrow morning I will let people tell the good news to the third wife's family, and they are very happy to keep them. "

An Shi was very happy when she received the news, and said to her son: "You are a wonderful wife, you can even make the eldest wife of the Jia family recognize her as a righteous daughter, and you won't be afraid to let people talk about this marriage in the future. gone."

"Mother knows that I don't care about these things." Lin Ming said indifferently. He has been in contact with the Xing family before, and knows that she is a straightforward and generous woman. She can turn Jia Lian, a prodigal son who is not very good at training, back. Not bad.Xueyan has such a foster mother as a backer, and he is also happy for her.

In a blink of an eye, Liu's confinement was over.Although her son was the legitimate son that the Lin family had been looking forward to for many years, Liu Shi felt that he was young, so he didn't make a big deal for the full moon and hundred years old, and only invited a few close relatives to set up a few banquets.

As soon as Liu's confinement came out, it was just in time for the end of the year.As expected, Xueyan was taken by the Xing family to live in Jia's mansion.

Although everyone in Jia's family had something to say, most of the servants in Rongxi Hall still dare not talk too much.Knowing that Qinghe has an old relationship with her, Xiaohong specially appointed her to serve her.

When Xueyan came, it was just in time for everyone in Jia's house to distribute the order.Her share is the same as that of Tanchun and the others, no matter the monthly payment or the clothes and hairpins, it is the same.The chess player in the Tanchun room inevitably complained that "a maid who is born is also worthy of being equal to our girls...", after being found out by Mrs. Xing, the monthly regulations were changed for three months, and they were given ten blows.Throughout the first month, Siqi didn't show up, and even Tanchun was silent for a while.

Xing's regard for Xueyan is not only reflected in the monthly routine, but also often takes her with her when she goes out to socialize.

It was the time of visiting in the first month, and on this day, when Mrs. Xing went to visit Princess Rongjing's mansion, she also brought her with her.On the way, Xueyan was still a little uneasy: "I've never seen such a big scene before, what if I go to the princess mansion and make a mistake and embarrass my wife?"

Xing smacked her on the forehead with hatred: "For those who celebrate the New Year, don't be discouraged. I'm not afraid, what are you afraid of? I just look at you pitifully. You just came out of a cage, and you're about to enter again immediately. Go to another cage. If you don’t come out to see the world more while it’s still a girl’s house, you will cry without any regrets in the future.”

Xueyan rubbed her forehead that had been slapped, her mouth was speechless, but she felt a little excited for no reason.She took two deep breaths before slowly suppressing her restless little heart.

The eldest princess's mansion is more magnificent than Jia's mansion, but fortunately Xueyan is also a person who has entered the palace before, so she has a little resistance to these scenes.Along the way, he followed Xing's side calmly and steadily, without showing any shock or timidity.

Speaking of which, the Jia family and the eldest princess and other top wealthy families were originally not compatible.That is to say, in the past few years, the Jia family has kept a low profile. Not only has it become a concubine, but it has also seen that its children are making progress.In addition, Jia Lian and Rong Jing's youngest son worked in the same place, so the two families had a relationship.

Rong Jing treated Xing's family fairly politely, and let her eldest daughter-in-law welcome her to the gate of the Second Courtyard.

After entering the main courtyard, the host and guest met each other.Rong Jing looked at Xueyan in surprise, and said with a smile: "I heard that Mrs. Jia just recognized a adoptive daughter a few days ago. I was still wondering what kind of girl could be favored by Mrs. Madam. I didn't expect that today I am so lucky to be able to meet you."

Xing said with a smile: "This child has never seen anything in the world, and today I specially brought her out to open her eyes. If there is anything wrong, I hope the princess will forgive you."

Xueyan had already bowed once just now, and this time she formally paid her respects. As the eldest princess, she naturally needed to kowtow.

A maid came over with a futon, Xueyan complained in her heart, but she walked over and bowed respectfully: "Xueyan has met Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess, I wish Her Royal Highness good health and eternal youth."

Rong Jing smiled and said: "If you really want to stay young forever, then wouldn't this Gong become an old goblin. This kid has a pretty clever mouth. He raised his head and let me have a look."

Hearing this, Xue Yan slowly raised her head to look at Rong Jing.

The moment she raised her head, Rong Jing was shocked.