The Maid's Strategy in the Red Chamber

make up your mind

Seeing Mrs. Xing, Daiyu greeted her cordially: "It's been so far away, why is aunt here?"

Mrs. Xing took her hand and said: "I heard that you were wronged in our old house, the old lady will come, she is so old, how dare we labor her, your second sister-in-law has to be housekeeper and babysitter too It's a mess, and I, a big idler, have to make this trip."

After finishing speaking, he glanced at the surrounding environment, frowned and said: "The courtyard of this inn is too narrow, and so is Lian Er. Since the people in the old house have been dealt with, you should be allowed to move there. There are so many of them. It’s outrageous that people are crowded here. Moreover, the inn is complicated and unsafe.”

Daiyu laughed and said, "Second Brother Lian once told me about this. I didn't want to move. I planned to leave soon. This place is also close to the wharf. Why bother going back and forth?"

"I didn't expect such a happy event at first, but now it's not suitable to live here. I can't send the betrothal gift to the inn at that time, it would be shameful. Hurry up and let the maids clean up, we will go back to the old man in a while Stay at home. Don't worry, there will never be anyone who is blind to bully you this time." After speaking, Mrs. Xing sent all the maids down to pack up their things.Then, she patted Daiyu's little hand and said, "I didn't plan that your father would marry again. The old lady was worried about you when she heard the news, and she wanted to write a letter to your father to stop this matter. You and I will marry you again." Uncle was stopped. You don't blame us, do you?"

Daiyu quickly shook her head: "Although the Jia family is my natal family, it is up to the Lin family whether to remarry or not. Even my grandmother and uncle don't have much to say. Otherwise, wouldn't this be a feud?"

Mrs. Xing sighed: "I knew you were a sensible child. I discussed it with your uncle. It would be fine if this matter can be stopped, but if it can't be stopped, it will not be you who will be in trouble in the end. If you let Mama Liu know Our family got in the way, can she not blame you? Even if she is the mother in name, she will have ways to deal with you in the future. So I tried to persuade the old lady, and even did one more thing. " After a pause, he looked at Daiyu again and said, "Liu's brothers and nephews are all useless, and they even want to take advantage of her. You know that she and her natal family have always been at odds."

Daiyu nodded: "I know that, when she was in the capital last time, her natal family made trouble in the mansion, and they were asking the mother for money, and I heard that it was your aunt who sent them away. Mrs. Xing nodded: "That's right, she is also a poor person, but this matter is also a good thing for you. The so-called good things are done to the end, I thought that since this marriage cannot be changed, why don't we give her some dignity?" .So I also advised the old lady to simply recognize her as a goddaughter, give her some dowry, and let her marry from our old house, what do you think?"

"This is a good thing. She will be my stepmother in the future. If the marriage is too shabby, it will lose the face of our Lin family." Daiyu has nothing to object to, but she feels warm in her heart. She said to Xing : "I know that my aunt must have helped to deal with these things, otherwise the old lady may not have thought of it for a while, Yu'er, thank you aunt." Yingying bowed down as she said.

She was helped up by Mrs. Xing: "My good boy, it would be great if you could understand my painstaking efforts. Mrs. Liu, we will give you all the dignity that should be given and should not be given. If she knows the truth, everyone will be happy. You have an aunt to stand in for you. Don't worry, as long as your uncle and aunt are alive, they will never let anyone bully you."

Daiyu's eyes were slightly red: "Thank you, Auntie."

After the two girls finished talking about themselves, the maids had almost finished their salutes.I was originally prepared to leave at any time, and this will only take a while.

Just gather it up.Then everyone got into the carriage and went to the old house of Jia's mansion.

Two days after they returned to the old house and settled down, Lin Ruhai's dowry was delivered.From Huguang to here all the way down, it is very convenient to walk by water.At this time, the benefits of having a mother's family are reflected, and these matters are naturally negotiated by the Xing family.

In addition to the gold and silver hair and clothing fabrics, Lin Ruhai also gave 1 taels of employment silver.Everyone praised her very much, but Xueyan felt a little disappointed. She knew that the Lin family had a profound heritage. The Zhuangzi shop that Daiyu had practiced in the past few years was worth 3 to 1 silver. two.In the end, it was only [-] taels for marrying a daughter-in-law, Mr. Lin is not very kind, Xue Yan thought secretly.However, thinking about it from another angle, this marriage is obviously the product of two different forces weighing each other, and the Lin family is kind enough not to turn their anger on Mammy Liu.

Whether it will be good or bad in the future depends on Mama Liu's fortune.

Because the Jia family recognized Liu as a righteous daughter, they also had to pay a dowry. Xing brought 5000 taels of silver to handle the matter, and he was so busy that he didn't touch the ground.I thought that these things had nothing to do with me, but who knew that Xing felt that the few maids he brought were not enough, so he called Xue Yan over to help.

The Xing family has been working in the Chongyun Pavilion at the second gate these days, when Xueyan came here, she saw the maids and women coming and going very lively.As soon as she entered the room, Mrs. Xing grabbed her arm and said, "You are here. All these women are blind and can't even write a list, but it makes me feel so wronged. You Come and make a list for me."

After sitting down, Xueyan rubbed ink and asked, "Why don't you see Xiaohong?"

Mrs. Xing replied: "A few carts came here just now, I asked them to count them."

Finally, the busy work was almost done, and the mother-in-law who was going on had left. As soon as Mrs. Xing sat down to drink tea, she saw Daiyu coming, bringing a piece of bad news: "Daddy is here again!" Send a letter, telling me to go to Huguang first. It’s not easy for me as a daughter to go with the wedding procession.”

Mrs. Xing sighed: "That's true. The mansion over there also needs to be decorated. If you don't go, no one will take care of the back house. Well, let your cousin take you back first, but Xueyan, you have to stay with me, I am in short supply."

Daiyu covered her mouth and smiled: "It's easy to say, one snow geese is not enough, I'll keep Zhu Mei here."

"That's a good relationship. The maids around you are all good players. It's good to keep any of them." Mrs. Xing accepted it with a smile.

Before setting off, Lin Ming managed to find a space to meet Xueyan, looked at her thin face and said, "Look at you, don't just work hard, you should also pay more attention to your body. Those Don’t do the work you can let others do.”

Xueyan covered her mouth helplessly and said with a smile: "Why did you become nagging like those women, don't worry, I'm fine!"

While talking, the two had to pay attention not to be seen from time to time, but they separated after a few hasty words.

But what Lin Ming didn't know was that just two days after he left, someone had the idea of ​​Xue Yan.