Dowry maid's daily life [Red Mansion]

But two days later, Yun An really delivered the letter to Daiyu himself, and Daiyu thanked her, and opened the letter to read before ordering someone to serve tea.

Xue Lu personally brought hot tea to Yun An, and said with a smile, "Young lady, drink tea."

The words are only called "girls", and no surnames are mentioned, which can be seen densely.But everyone in this room, from Daiyu's girl to Yun'an's Mei Yue and He Yue, are not surprised. From the perspective of outsiders, it seems that the two of them are real cousins.In particular, Daiyu has always been careful and courteous. It has never happened to anyone else that she does not invite guests to sit down and serve tea like this, and let the people in her room know her heart—it is customary that only those who are close to her do not have to die. Study etiquette.

Although it was because of Lin's family saving Du Zhong's life, Du Zhong worshiped Mr. Chen as his teacher, and supported Dai Yu all the way north, but in the end it was because of the mutual agreement between the two girls that they could get along like this.Because of the good relationship between the two girls, the people in the two rooms gradually became sympathetic.Coupled with a gentle and kind spring greeting, there is no other place in the Jia family that is more congenial than this Pingming Building, just like a peach blossom garden for virgin girls.

"I made some sewing for my father. I packed it up in the past two days and asked Brother Du to entrust the escort to deliver it with the letter." Daiyu finished reading the letter, her eyes were red, but she laughed.

Yun An nodded, and said with a smile: "Mr. Chen's letter said that Uncle Lin and everyone in the family are safe and healthy, but he was worried that you would miss home, so he made a contract with the bodyguard company for the monthly correspondence...you can rest assured stop?"

Lin Ruhai's letter also wrote about this matter, and Du Yun'an said the same, which made Daiyu even more happy. She stuck the letter to her chest and asked Xuehe to wrap up the shoes she made for Lin Ruhai. The two Xueying brought the jar of Laba garlic that she personally soaked in Laba on that day... The girls, big and small, were all around, and even Meiyue and Heyue rushed to help.

The room was full of harmony, and the girls were all smiling. Yunan and Daiyu took down the ninety-nine cold-dispelling pictures hanging on the wall. Daiyu painted it herself, and the plum blossom in the above picture has been painted red for a little bit.

"Your heart is the most intelligent, how do you think?" Yun An said with a smile: "Uncle Lin is not sure how happy he is to keep this painting."

Daiyu pursed her lips and smiled: "I painted these, and my father filled in the gaps in the middle of the road, and then dyed a petal every day, so it's like we father and daughter are 'cherishing the spring breeze' together."

Without saying a word, someone outside asked: "What are you doing here, it's so lively?"

Xue Lu and Mei Yue laughed and said, "Miss Bao, Miss Yun, Miss San, and Master Bao are here together."

Daiyu and Yun'an hurriedly said: "Please."

When the four people came in, they saw the hustle and bustle in the room, with things scattered on the table and tables, Xiangyun laughed and said, "How soon will the New Year's goods be displayed?"

Daiyu invited everyone to sit in the Nuan Pavilion on the west side, and ordered the snow egret and snow crane to serve tea, and then said: "I will write a letter home, and send something along with it."

Baochai then said: "Our family often has a boat going back and forth between the north and the south. If sister Lin wants to send something, just ask someone to tell me that my boat is very convenient."

Daiyu only said that she had already entrusted someone, and thanked Baochai again.Du Yun'an just smiled and said nothing, doesn't the Lin family have a boat? It's nothing to send a boat to and from Duzhong and Yangzhou every month. It's just because Lin Ruhai, who is scheming and calculating, avoids suspicion. Luo is charged with contacting courtiers for conspiracy.It was the last time I asked my brother Duzhong to "press the dart" to send my sister Lin to Beijing, so I taught the old fox to think of the method of walking in a dart shop. Entrusting a dart shop, such as a Jianghu business that is open for business, to deliver letters, puts on a frank posture. What's more, with Eucommia and other younger nephews who are very familiar with escorts, sending letters and things is even faster and more assured.

Jia Baoyu had already stood up and walked around the hall, appreciating the things one by one, then came back and asked with a smile, "What's in the glass jar?"

"It's Laba garlic." Xuelu invited him to tea and replied with a smile.

Xiangyun covered her mouth and smiled: "Sister Lin, why is she still taking this with her? It's so simple."

Yun An also laughed: "A few of us were playing around a while ago. We peeled the garlic cloves and soaked them in rice vinegar... This jar was made by Sister Lin herself, and I sent it to Uncle Lin. Good or bad, Uncle Lin benefited from his daughter's filial piety."

"It's so interesting, why didn't you call us!" Tanchun clapped his hands and smiled, and asked again: "Why didn't you see Second Sister, we went to her side first, and she wasn't in the house."

Both Daiyu and Yun'an laughed: "Sister Feng asked her for help, so the second sister left us two to help sister-in-law."

"You guys are so funny!" Xiangyun also found it funny, and said, "Everything we make by ourselves is just a scrap of paper, and it's not too simple." Then he pushed Baoyu: "When will we Thinking of a new thing and being stubborn, wouldn't it be better than playing go and chatting all day long?"

Baochai glanced at the glass urn on the flower table in the outer hall, and thought that this is not a simple thing, but this clear glass urn is something no one has seen before.

She thought to herself, and Baoyu became excited and said: "When the spring is warm and the flowers bloom, we will pick fresh flowers, and I will wash the rouge cream for you——The yard in front of Zhiyuanzhai is huge, let's lay it out Once you’re ready, you’ll have a good time, and you’ll be happy, and I’ll make you a season’s worth of rouge! Besides, in spring, flowers are flying all over the sky, and my sisters and sisters are making red and fragrant flowers...God, what a picture of ‘Spring Girl Yan Yan’ picture'!"

He said, already drunk in the beautiful scenery, leaning on the back of the cedar brocade, sighing to himself.

Xiangyun was overjoyed, and only hoped that all flowers would bloom tomorrow to deal with this stubbornness. He also said: "How long will it take? Now there are many flowers everywhere, not only red plums and white plums, but also peony flowers." , we don’t want to choose a day to be stubborn first.”

Baoyu's eyes lit up again.

Baochai hurriedly stopped her and said, "Nowadays, people are busy with their annual affairs. It's not the time to do this. Besides, it's not fun to be sick from the cold."

Tanchun said with a smile, "That's exactly what I said. After a few days, it will take a lot of trouble to remove the dust and paper. Any good interest will be defeated." Then he pointed to Baoyu and said, "Second brother is about to start spring. Going to the family school to study is precisely the way to improve your studies in the future, if you still do this kind of thing, let the master know, why don't you scold us and say that we have lured you out of your job."

Xiangyun and Baoyu were greatly disappointed, especially Jia Baoyu, whose expression on his face could already be read as 'painful'.

He lamented and sighed: "Sister Bao and the third younger sister are so boring, what are you talking about at this time. I just want to 'drunk now when I have wine', don't mention any homework and progress, and don't mess up Sister Lin's room. "

Daiyu just covered her mouth and smiled, refusing to speak.

Xiangyun said angrily: "We're playing tricks in the house, but under the big festival, does the master still blame me?"

Baochai shook her hand and joked: "You are so stubborn that you don't even think about how many flowers you need to wash rouge out of flowers. Are the old plums in the snow enough for you, or do you want to make rouge?" Have you plucked all the rare pots of peonies in the old lady's house?" He comforted her: "In a few days, the branches will be full of peach blossoms, the branches of magnolias will stand, and you can choose from all kinds of flowers. At that time, even if you don’t have what you want here, I’ll just ask someone to get it for you.”

Xiangyun was coaxed to be happy again, and everyone laughed at her childish temper, sometimes annoyed and then good again.But I don't know that except for Jia Baoyu, everyone else more or less sighed in their hearts: This Shi Xiangyun just kicked a unicorn to death with one kick - a lady who doesn't know the nature of the lady, how precious the peonies are in winter, they are all kinds of people from the kang in the cellar For the 'Tang flowers' that were served, there were only a few pots in the upper courtyard and the main room in the whole house, and the mandarin ducks and colorful clouds were carefully offered, hoping that it would add wealth and splendor during Zhengdan.

"What is that scroll?" Xiangyun asked after seeing Xuehe and Xiangling put a scroll into the brocade box.

"It's the ninety-nine cold-dispelling picture drawn by our girl, and I want to send it to the master."

Everyone ordered them to open it and see that the plum blossom petals on the picture have been dyed to this day, and they all praised Daiyu for her ingenuity.

Baochai sighed: "The picture of garlic dispelling cold in Laba is very vulgar and elegant. Sister Lin's thoughts can not move people."

The young men and women in the Nuan Pavilion were all grateful for Daiyu, Xiangyun's eyes were red at this time, but tears rolled down his face.Daiyu knew that her parents had died since she was a baby, and she lived with her uncle and aunt since she was a child, but she couldn't help feeling sad and her eyes felt hot, and she was afraid that everyone would see it, so she hurriedly lowered her head and wiped it herself.

Xiangyun saw Daiyu's tears because of her, and was moved in his heart at the moment, so he moved to her side, sobbing and wanted to wipe her tears.Of the two girls, one still had tears on her face, her chest was twitching and she swallowed even harder, so she squinted her mouth and wiped the face of the one who had stopped crying; the one who had just stopped crying, When she touched her with a handkerchief, the teardrops fell down in strings like a broken thread, making the one who wiped her tears even more flustered.

Everyone was sad at first, but they couldn't hold it together when they saw this scene. There was a thud, and the noise was so loud that we couldn't cry, and we couldn't laugh.

"Don't cry anymore." Yun An was the biggest one here, and immediately said: "After a while, pass the news, this nest of red-eyed rabbits will go over, there is no need to scare others."

The two Xiangyun who were talking about also burst into tears.

That night, Yun An laid out paper on the table, and used a very fine brush to describe today's scene: Her parents in her previous life insisted that their children not lose at the starting line, and they were forced to learn something like a group of friends. Talent, although the painting is not good, but the sketch can still be seen.

"Young lady painted Miss Lin and Miss Shi? This...is so similar!" Mei Yue, Heyue and the others gathered around the table in amazement as if they were looking at a western scene.

Du Yun'an shook her head, she can only draw gourds according to gourds, she can't have any artistic conception and charm at all, that is to say, this kind of painting is rare nowadays.

It is Du Yun'an's long-cherished idea to paint the interesting things in the world, but it is only now that he can do it leisurely. Get along once, and when you get old and reminisce, if you don't draw all kinds of interesting things, you will always feel that this adventure was wasted in vain.

Yunan listened to the girls chattering and looked at the "Little Sisters Wiping Tears Picture", after thinking about it, he drew a small portrait of Zhang Daiyu and put it aside, Xiangling looked at the painting while brushing, and saw the above painting It was Miss Lin who wiped her tears and was amused for a moment, and she couldn't help being deeply admired: "Young lady's paintings are exactly the same as Miss Lin's! Miss Lin is free, if you are willing to teach me to draw two strokes, it will be my luck!" The girl thought in her heart. I have a thought, if I learn how to draw a girl, draw a picture for myself, and spread it out in the future, maybe my parents and relatives will recognize it when they see it.

Yunan knew that Xiangling was a girl who was eager to learn, and immediately said happily: "I can only draw this kind of drawing. If you want to learn, I will teach you. But if you want to draw the kind of painting with heavy snow and red plums, and the scenery of spring I won’t do paintings that emphasize artistic conception, and I’ll take you to worship the fourth girl as a teacher. Although she is young, she has accomplished a lot in learning painting.” Nowadays, this kind of painting that draws things in a simple manner cannot be listed in the big picture. of the Hall of Elegance.

"I only imitate girls like this!" Xiangling's nose soured, and without hiding anything from Yunan, she told her what was in her heart.

Yun An was taken aback, and said with a smile: "Silly girl, don't do that! Wouldn't it become a picture of the government arresting criminals?" Although the current world style is still enlightened, women are still severely restrained ——Du Yun'an came from later generations, she had thought of this method of drawing pictures to find people, but it didn't work at all.You must know that the portraits of women who are sold and viewed in the public are either imperial convicts or oirans. If Xiangling's portraits are scattered, or her own very similar painting method, then even if her parents are found, she herself will be spit on The rumors made her unable to survive, and she might even be sent to the temple by her clan to be her sister-in-law.

"I have entrusted you, Miss Lin, to inquire about it for you," Yun An comforted her, "You know, your Miss Lin's ancestral home is Gusu, and Master Lin is an official in Yangzhou, all of which are our guesses about your possible hometown. The Lin family has a deep foundation there, and the help of his family members is much more reliable than your endless idea of ​​spreading portraits!"

Only then did Xiang Ling realize that her thinking was simple, and when she heard this again, she was overwhelmed with gratitude, and was sent to wash her face by Yun An.

At that moment, Mei Yue and He Yue came up together: "Girl, it's getting late, let's have a rest."

A night without words.

When he got up the next day, Du Yun'an gave the small portrait to Daiyu: "Does it look like it?"

Snow egrets and snow cranes covered their mouths, and Daiyu also held them and looked at them carefully.

After a while, Xuelu said happily: "If you put this painting in the letter, the master will like it!"

Daiyu hurriedly folded it carefully and put it in the envelope herself.

In the afternoon, Yingchun came back from Sister Feng's Dangui Garden, and invited the sisters to have tea on the third floor to enjoy the scenery and talk.

Yingchun and Yun'an had already consumed a cup of hot pumpkin tea, but Daiyu hadn't come yet, so Yingchun asked, "What's up with sister Lin?"

Before Yun An could answer, Daiyu had already entered. Behind her, the snow egrets and snow cranes each carried a big burden. Daiyu was a little embarrassed: "Packing up and tidying up, I didn't expect more and more. Please, Du brother."

Yun An laughed instead: "Not much. I went home a few days ago to help my brother pack up the salute for Tongzhou Daying. I pressed it again and again, and told me to pack a kang full of it. My brother laughed at me and said no. Tell him to move the house together... He said so, and finally made people pack up."

As he said that, he ordered the two wives bought by the Du family to come up, and the daughter-in-law of the Lin family, who was in charge of the Lin family, and ordered them to be sent to the Du Yun'an brothers and sisters' home.

"Although it couldn't be delivered to Uncle Lin years ago, but if it is delivered today, it can catch up with the boat leaving tomorrow morning. If it goes smoothly, maybe Uncle Lin can still eat Powu flat food with Laba garlic."

Yingchun laughed and said: "We dipped less garlic, today Sister-in-Law Feng heard about it somehow, and asked us to share a bowl of Yuan Ri dipped in boiled buns."

"I also sent a message for the old lady, and I also said that I want a bowl of green garlic made by the girls. The second master Jiang Caibao said in front of the old lady that the garlic made by Miss Lin was beautiful and delicious, which made the old man greedy. "Mandarin Duck came in from the outside and said with a smile.

The three girls all said angrily: "He has never eaten it, and our jar has not been opened, and he can't even smell the smell of vinegar outside, so he knows whether it is good or not! If the taste is not good, what's the matter?" Don't disappoint the old lady, let everyone watch the joke!"

"Good girls, after your hands, it's delicious even if it's not delicious!" Yuanyang smiled and pulled the three of them: "The third girl, the fourth girl, Yun girl, and Bao girl are all joking in the old lady's room. Come quickly, too!"

So they all went to the upper courtyard together.

----

The story is divided into two parts, and it is said that Du Zhong took the burden from Lin Daiyu at home, and hurriedly brought his two things for Master Chen and Master Lin with his junior brother, and came to Xinglong Escort together.

After the few people in Wo Lidou were punished and expelled by Master Zhang, some brothers who are hardworking and willing to work have come forward.Although Du Zhong and Song Chen left here, all the senior brothers still remembered their feelings, hurriedly packed their things into boxes and sealed them, and promised that the first batch to board the ship would definitely be placed in the safest and best cabins .

After chatting with the brothers and sisters for a while, and agreeing on a day to treat them to New Year's wine, Du Zhong, Song Chen and the two of them bid farewell.Du Zhongyin said: "Let's stop by the wine shop and ask the shopkeeper. Tomorrow, we will give them the last batch of medicinal wine and we will be done. We are also getting ready for the New Year."

Song Chen readily agreed, and asked Liu San to drive the carriage to his house, and the two young gentlemen went to the wine shop.They are all tall, with straight backs, quick and powerful actions, handsome faces, and decent attire. How come such a pair of young people are not eye-catching.As soon as the two brothers and sisters walked, the uncle and aunt just watched, and even the little daughter-in-law and the big girl on the street frequently "inadvertently" glanced over and glanced at them. Fortunately, Song Chen had that scar-like birthmark on his right face. , Those who didn't call for good deeds stopped to ask where the two of them lived and whether they were married.

A few girls from the embroidery shop on the west side came out together, and saw two people passing by, one of them was quite bold, and stared at Song Chen twice, her little sisters pushed her, and a group of girls ate whispering.

One said: "Yunniang, why don't we follow along and see where we are going?"

The girl named Yun Niang was a little moved, and after a few twitches, she was surrounded by a group of girls and fell behind.

This market is composed of a few streets interlaced from north to south, from east to west, but there are always noisy voices behind it. Du Zhong, Song Chen, and Song Chen are neither deaf nor stupid, so the two senior brothers turned into the next shop to avoid it for a while, and the group of small The ladies are still there.The two of them frowned secretly, Du Zhong stepped a little faster, but Song Chen stopped and glanced back coldly.

"Woo!" A girl cried out in shock, holding her mouth tightly.Looking at that Yunniang again, she saw Song Chen's entire face. Compared with his eyes, the birthmark on the right cheek is not scary—Yunniang just felt like she was looking at a ghost. Yes, I was trembling for a while and couldn't speak, my feet were nailed to the ground, and my legs were still weak until I returned to my home.Her home is a small food shop selling food on this street. It does business in the front and lives in the backyard. Her mother saw that she was not smiling and talking like usual, so she asked her daughter.Yunniang asked if she had seen a young man with a scar on the right side of his face, "I'm so afraid of people, like a ghost...".Unexpectedly, before she finished speaking, her mother slapped her thigh and said directly: "That is the God of Wealth! The most popular Changchun wine these days belongs to their family. I heard that there is no marriage yet. Hey, if our family If you can climb up to this kind of relative, you will be lucky if the ancestral grave smokes!" The girl Yun was so frightened that she cried: "If you teach me to marry such a person, I would rather put a rope around my neck No, it’s not worth living and suffering! Who knows if he can eat human flesh or not!..."

"Shut up your expression." Du Zhong guessed what had happened when he heard Yi Shui'er's gasp. Song Chen's eyes were forced back.

Du Zhong didn't really get bloody until the time he sought revenge from Zhen Zhen, but Song Chen was younger than him, but it seemed normal at that time.It was later that Du Zhong learned that although he came from a prominent family in Liaodong, there were many wild animals and bandits in Liaodong, and the local folk customs were rough. It was bloody.The hostility that only people who have been stained with their lives and blood can't bear for ordinary men, let alone a group of little girls.Du Zhong felt that he was lucky not to scare others into tears in the street.

Song Chen didn't notice anything, he was used to it, and he was best at frightening away those annoying scrutiny and comments with such gloomy and ruthless eyes.Seeing the senior brother's signal, the group of idlers on the street would not dare to follow them anymore, Song Chen became that expressionless Song Chen again.

Du Zhong grabbed his junior brother and walked away quickly, lest those people come back to their senses later and cry and end badly.The two brothers and sisters were busy getting away, and they didn't notice that they passed the intersection of this market and the main road in the middle of the city. When the young ladies were scared, they happened to block the main road, and called a few people on that road. Passers-by on horseback took in all the situation just now.

"Master?" asked a strong man dressed in long suits.

Wang Ziteng played with the horsewhip, glanced at the shop where the two boys entered from a distance, squinted his eyes and asked, "Jiuxianju?"

The long attendant also took a look, and then said: "Jiuxianju's wine is the first one, and their medicinal wine is good. The comprador in the mansion orders some high-quality wine from Jiuxianju every month. Maybe you saw it. Passed his family's letter?"

Wang Ziteng nodded, he just saw that the two boys were young but a little bit strange.

"Jiuxianju just recently served a kind of Zhou Gong Centenary Wine and a Changchun wine. I heard it is very good, especially the Changchun wine is said to be an imitation of the palace recipe..." The long follower said, looking at Wang Ziteng.

Wang Ziteng sneered: "Oh? Didn't the mansion set it up?"

The long follower didn't know how to reply, so he hummed and choked out a sentence: "I heard that this Changchun wine is very popular with wives and grandmas..." Isn't it because the wife is sick, the master is often away from home, and the New Year's Eve I don't want to try to coax her under the section - this elder has a good wife at home, and he is very proficient in this matter with his ears.

Wang Ziteng pointed at him with a horsewhip, and laughed loudly: "Then the master will buy a jar himself!"

As he spoke, he trotted over, and several of his entourage hurriedly followed, causing pedestrians on the North Street full of shops to evade hurriedly, causing dust to rise immediately.

Just arrived at the gate of Jiuxianju, when I bumped into a shopkeeper dressed as a storekeeper, he smiled and sent the two young men out just now, talking politely as he walked.Wang Ziteng raised his eyebrows, which is interesting, maybe he is still a big customer.

Du Zhong was chatting with the shopkeeper, when he caught sight of Wang Ziteng and others from the corner of his eye, the first thing he saw was a mark on the horse's leg, and he thought: This mark?Is it a horse in the army?

Looking up, he was looking at a majestic and majestic middle-aged man on the horse.Du Zhong thought about it in his heart, and he looked like a military master, so he slightly bowed his hands to signal, and then bid farewell to the shopkeeper of Jiuxianju.

Although Wang Ziteng was not wearing the official python robe, he was dressed in luxury, not to mention the magnificent horse under him - when ordinary warriors see him, they don't take a long look at him, but should they pay more attention to the horse?The two boys were surprised, one glanced at the arched hand, and the other didn't even lift his head.

After walking a few steps, Du Zhong looked back, but what he saw was the horse's hoof, and he saw a mark on the horseshoe exposed when a horse raised its leg-"Army Horse." Du Zhong said softly to his junior.

Song Chen nodded, and the two senior brothers left without looking back.

"Master, those two boys said 'military horses'." At this time, the inconspicuous little man at the back reported.

Wang Ziteng nodded slightly: "It's okay." He was not interested in the two pawns he met by chance.

It's just that after returning home with a jar of Changchun wine, Wang Ziteng couldn't help but let out a long sigh when he saw the backstreets were bustling and bustling, and he could hear the sounds of children playing along the way, but the house was deserted.At this time, the housekeeper Wang Fu came up to report the recent affairs in the mansion: "... Madam rested and calmed down, and the young lady was also sick. The imperial doctor prescribed a prescription, saying that the young lady is weak, so it is best not to go out of the house this winter, and be careful not to catch the cold."

Wang Ziteng sighed again, feeling even more lonely.Somehow, thinking of the two boys I met just now, I can't help but envy the parents of the two brothers. Not to mention the two younger children seem to be well-bred, just say that there are two half-grown naughty boys in the family, how lively it must be?