Dowry maid's daily life [Red Mansion]

Du Yun'an carefully closed the mahogany box, let out a long breath, and felt full of doubts like a mess of clues.

Sitting on the edge of the kang for a long time, Du Yun'an felt that there was something strange here, so he had to invite his brother to discuss it.

"Brother, are you asleep?"

Du Zhong hurriedly sat up from the kang, pulled his shoes and opened the door: "What's wrong? A mouse has entered the house? Don't be afraid, there is a brother!"

When he opened the door, he saw that his sister was still wearing it during the day, her eyes were red from the heat, obviously she hadn't slept yet.

"Brother, dress warmly, there are some things..." Du Yun'an had already lit the candlesticks in the main room.

Du Zhong responded, put on his outer jacket hastily, and took out an old watch the size of a walnut from the drawer of the kang cabinet to have a look. Sure enough, it was almost four o'clock.

Jian Mei frowned, looking a little fierce.Du Zhong couldn't see his younger sister doing such a hurtful and thoughtful thing, but before he could tell, he saw Yun An carrying a few wooden boxes and putting them on the table of the Eight Immortals, and hurried forward to help.

With Eucommia present, I simply moved the two camphorwood boxes to the main room and spread them out for storage.

"Brother, look," Yun An pointed to the bright materials in the box: "Shu brocade, Lu silk, and high-quality snow silk. Inside the mahogany box is a whole set of gold noodles, embedded with beads..." This is a maid who can Some private houses?

Under the candlelight, half of Du Zhong's face was hidden in the shadows, with his lips tightly pressed, he said after a while: "Maybe it was accumulated over the years, or... a reward from the old master Wang." These words were really difficult for my sister, Du Zhong Unconsciously, he recalled the scene when the neighbors threw stones at him and scolded the bastard when he was young.

Eucommia did not live well as a child.At that time, the Du family was still living in the capital, and the neighbors were mostly ordinary people. They looked down on Yun's charming woman who had no sedan chair or worship hall, and there were rumors that Yun's was flirtatious.

Little Eucommia, who was often bullied by the children next door and wiped his tears, remembers the most vivid scene when he ran home crying again, turning his face to see his father standing silently behind the wall and locust tree.The little child was so wronged that he couldn't speak. He didn't understand why his father didn't come out when he saw others pushing him, and he didn't understand how that person could just turn around and leave after looking at each other.

But soon, he even lost this silent tall figure. His mother took him to move, and later sent him the best gift - he had a very, very good sister.After growing up, Eucommia has very few images of having a father in his memory, but he has never forgotten the figure of the back who bowed his head and left.

"elder brother?"

"It's okay, An'an." Du Zhong has long been relieved, he never felt that his mother was wrong, it's just that his younger sister is young, and it's too difficult for an older brother to explain to her about housekeeping.

Du Zhong changed his rhetoric: "An'an, Mrs. Li was born in Suhu. Her ancestors started as a big salt merchant. It is not surprising that they are rich and powerful."

What does Du Yunan not understand?Facing my brother, I didn't realize that there was nothing to avoid about the birth mother's background, so I said immediately: "Mrs. Li is absolutely impossible. Only this red Shu brocade, which mistress would give it to a concubine? That Wang Ziteng, if the mother With this kind of heart, I will definitely not treat my mother as an object... Besides, these are nothing in comparison, my brother only looks at the ones in this camphor wood flat box, it is really terrible!" Shu brocade and Maybe it was bought by the family, but the things in this box are definitely not.

Over there, Du Zhong paused with his hand holding the tea bowl: "Who is gossiping in your ears? No wonder you used to have two playmates together, but you haven't seen anyone coming to visit you recently." Du Zhong's face darkened, he was most afraid of He made his younger sister feel wronged, what kind of father he wanted most in his childhood dream, he tried his best to grow up to be what he wanted, and only hoped to be able to shelter from the wind and rain, so that An An could always be as safe and happy as his name.

Now that she has to serve others because of her status, she is very aggrieved. Could it be that An An was insulted when she was at home—those ostracism and slander have always hurt people without blood.

Brother is always like this, Du Yunan's nose is slightly sour.

At that moment, he pulled his sleeve and didn't want to interrupt: "No one bullied me. Xiaohong and Lamei are two years older than me. They were married years ago. I even gave something as a gift. Brother forgot?" "Look here! Ten Come to Zhang Fangzi, there are recipes, prescriptions for Hexiang, and prescriptions for two herbs!"

Ordinary ladies from rich families do not have such private houses.

It's not about how much money and jewelry the Yun family has. Compared with the countless gold and silver, these prescriptions are the treasures that make money.As the old saying goes, "The crafts of a poor family and the recipes of a rich family" have always been that only wealthy families have the foundation to accompany their daughters with secret recipes.

"Could it be that my mother copied it secretly?" Du Yun'an asked in a low voice. She had a bad guess: Could it be that Wang Ziteng found out that his mother secretly copied the formula in the mistress's dowry, so that those absurd funerals happened?

If so, does Mrs. Li know?

Du Yun'an shook his head again, looking at the situation in the past, Madam Li probably didn't know about it, but Wang Ziteng's confidant's manager must know that Yun's family should be inspected according to the rules when he left the mansion. People let go.

In this way, working as an errand in the mansion will be full of twists and turns in her life: she has lived in Li Jiazhuang for so many years, and she also knows a little bit about the regulations of the high-ranking families in Beijing, such as adding man-made books and assigning errands. The manager of the matter reports to the manager's room, and the chief manager will make a decision and make a deposit.The prince vacates the position and has high authority. It is said that the investigation of the personnel is quite strict. In order to avoid disputes between the masters and masters due to the leak of the past, the housekeeper may not want her.

Du Zhong flipped through the stack of prescriptions, his face was serious, he didn't know what he was thinking.

'Wouldn't it be Wang Ziteng's compensation for his mother? 'Du Yun'an slandered indiscriminately.

"Mother didn't copy it, I can recognize Mother's handwriting. Besides, the paper used for these recipes..." Du Zhong twisted it, "It seems to be mica paper."

He explained: "Vellum paper is tissue paper. It was more commonly used in the previous dynasty, but it is gradually rare in this dynasty. The mica skin paper is smooth and tough, and is extremely resistant to moisture." The teacher is sometimes comparable to the expert in appreciating treasures in the antique business - Eucommia has learned a lot of skills under the influence of his ears and eyes.

"It's not really an antique, but it's been a few years old, with a hint of rosewood fragrance. It may have been stored in a sandalwood box for a long time."

Du Yun'an blurted out: "Could it be that Master Wang really gave it to him?" After much deliberation, it seems that this is the only possibility.After all, a fool wouldn't let a housekeeper take the original items stolen from the mistress out of the house, wouldn't he be asking for endless troubles.

Du Zhong shook his head, and picked out two carefully: one is "Wujin Wan", and the other is "Guiling Liquor Recipe"—"I don't know what the goods are like, so I chose these two as the foundation of a century-old shop. The formula is going out?"

The two felt that they had fallen into a mess. After thinking about it, the young brothers and sisters suddenly realized that there were many suspicious points in their mother that they had never noticed before.

For example, she is a dowry girl, but she is a few years younger than the mistress.

For example, Yun's family can be said to be both talented and beautiful, and Du Zhong now dug up some old things, and the brother and sister stared at the wonderful small calligraphy on hairpin flowers in a daze.

In Du Yun'an's memory, Yun could also play the pipa.She has a favorite object, an ivory pipa with red rosewood as the backing material, and occasionally talks and sings half a song, and later this pipa was put into the coffin according to her last wish.

"Brother, have you heard about my grandfather's family? Why don't we have any relatives from the Yun family?"

Du Zhong tried hard to recall: "Mother once mentioned my grandmother, saying that she can compose music and be good at singing lyrics." She also said that her grandmother's name is Yunlu, and Mother herself looks very much like her grandmother, but it is a pity that her younger sister is not like a girl from the Yun family. .

Du Yun'an thought: The more it sounds, the more it sounds like a diva. Compared with the zither, the pipa has always been the specialty of the Jiaofang. "OK" is one of the best.

Given the family background of the Li family, it is absolutely impossible to get an actor and singer to be a dowry girl for one of the girls in the family, and most of the dowry girls choose a family with a well-know background to give birth to a son: so Yun's family background should be relatively innocent, so that grandmother is probably a A Goulan woman who was born in a teaching workshop.But the girl from Jiaofang, who is full of talent and beauty, would probably be a concubine of a rich man's family even if she was a good student. Can the servants of the Li family afford the ransom money?But if it wasn't for the servants of the Li family, how could the Yun family be the son of the Li family.

Probably something happened that year.Yun An pondered.

Du Zhong thought over his mother's phrase "a girl from the Yun family"—the mother followed her grandmother's surname, so who was her grandfather?Is it related to this box?

When the rooster crowed in Li Jiazhuang, Du Zhong rubbed the center of his eyebrows and advised his younger sister, "Put these away and keep them locked up like before. It's useless for us to guess too much. We might as well try according to the agreement. If we really can't get in." , and find another way." It will never be as Zhuangtou wants, and An An will be thrown into the fire pit, at worst, he will take An An and flee to Liaodong.

Liaodong is the last resort that Du Zhong has decided long ago. He has gone to Liaodong for two experiences with his master Yadao, and it is still the hometown of two Mo Ni brothers.

Du Yun'an nodded, and the two of them worked together to put away the camphor wood box, and moved it to the east room as before, placing it at the bottom of various cabinets.

The rare pair of little brothers and sisters are not greedy and short-sighted people. Not only did they not regard this huge property as a windfall, but they added a layer of doubts, treating it like a hot potato.

It was five o'clock in the morning, after Du Zhong took Yun An back to the room to rest, he simply went out of the room to do boxing lessons.

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After the Waking of Insects, the day before the Wang family selects and purchases people every year, Aunt Fat's sister, brother-in-law and their children come to the village to visit her.

Early in the morning, the chicken stew was tossed about. When her sister came home, she smelled it with her nose and wondered: "It smells so fragrant, it's so rare that I don't get tired of it."

"I went to help the method taught by the sister of Du's family." Fat aunt was quite proud: "The soup is pure white, so it tastes better!"

"Oh!" Her older sister called Mrs. Song and whispered gossip to her: "But that Aunt Yun's last child? Her brother is so heroic!"

"What is Aunt Yun, where did this bad wind come from! When did you seal off Auntie, why are you chewing this old yellow calendar again?" The fat aunt spat.

"Hey, you don't know yet?" Mrs. Song said mysteriously, "Ever since ten days ago, Brother Du's family won several nursing homes in the martial arts field. In private, this guy is like the hero of the master... Maybe he is the seed of the master!"

"Damn!" the fat aunt said angrily, "It's not like there was no gossip in the early years. If Brother Zhong is really the master's son, why would he be willing to live outside? Who doesn't know that the master doesn't have a heirloom now!"

"Hey! Hurry up, how dare you say anything!"

"In my opinion, there are two parts of the truth in this statement, otherwise he would suddenly show off and sign up his sister to work in the mansion?" Mrs. Song was a little unconvinced: "Is it because he wants to stick to the mansion. "

"What? Sister An is going into the mansion?" Aunt Fat was also stunned.

After thinking about it, the fat aunt understood a little bit, and nodded immediately: "I heard that brother Zhong's redemption for the younger sister failed earlier, because I was afraid that Zhuangtou would marry Miss An indiscriminately."

"I don't think the original redemption was sincere. How can there be a mansion outside? How many people outside the rich households have come to vote with their families." Sister Song curled her lips: "Everyone wants to enter the mansion because of crowding, you haven't seen that The list is long. If it weren't for this difficult matter, why would your brother-in-law hide out..."

Speaking of this topic, Aunt Fat smiled happily: "Brother-in-law is really promoted? Did he enter a comprador house?"

"That's still fake!" Mrs. Song shook her head, "He's in charge of a comprador job in the inner courtyard, so he can talk to the housekeeper."

While talking, he sighed bitterly: "It's just that your brother-in-law has just been promoted, and he hasn't stood firm yet, so he doesn't dare to get involved in the matter of entering the mansion, otherwise there will be more benefits! As for Bai Tong, who is in charge of the population, he is soft on gifts and wine money. ..."

Fat aunts and sisters are full of gossips, Du Yun'an is separated from the Du family on the other side of Zhuangzi, and Du Yun'an packs the last burden: The house of the two brothers and sisters of the Du family is as empty as a snow cave, except for large pieces of furniture, other personal belongings It has been quietly transported to the house that Eucommia built in the capital two years ago.

The author has something to say: see you cuties tomorrow, and you will get [-] small red envelopes for comments in this chapter.

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[Wujin Wan]: It is said to be the secret recipe of the imperial palace during the Guangxu period.Is a friend of women.

[Guiling wine]: Qing Palace Guiling wine, "Guiling wine is a kind of medicinal wine that the emperors of Ming and Qing Dynasties were obsessed with. Long-term drinking is beneficial to physical and mental health, and it is also a tonic wine." (Baidu)

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感谢在2021-01-0400:00:00~2021-01-0611:57:30期间为我投出霸王票或灌溉营养液的小天使哦~

Thanks to the little angels who threw mines: Huibai, Lazy Yangyang 1;

感谢灌溉营养液的小天使：蓝晨枫飞107瓶；花朵、童话和火锅、榴莲彗星30瓶；金榜题名墨尚新20瓶；one18瓶；我不生气16瓶；cissy10瓶；沧海、月明星稀1瓶；

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!