Dowry maid's daily life [Red Mansion]

On the fifth drum of the New Year's Eve, Jia Mu led the imperial conferees of the two prefectures to go to the palace to congratulate them with heavy makeup according to their grades.In the afternoon of the same day, the ancestral hall was opened in Ningfu. Jia Jing, a Taoist priest outside the city, personally presided over the sacrifice.

Yun'an and Daiyu were not from the Jia family, so they stayed in Pingminglou.The two were personally burning the brazier in the courtyard when they heard a knock on the courtyard door.

"Who is it?" Mei Yue put down the pine branch and asked.

"it's me."

"Miss Yun is here." Mei Yue and Xue Lu hurried to open the door.

Yun'an and Daiyu added another handful of pine branches to the brazier, and stood up to meet her.

As soon as Xiang Yunfang entered the door, he laughed when he saw this scene: "Are you burning a pine pot?"

The two asked her to sit down in the living room, and Xiangyun looked back out of the window, eager to try: "When I was young, I also loved to burn pine pots with my brothers in the main courtyard. I was the best at picking pine branches. The pine branches I added were burned. The fire jumped so high that at night, when the family crossed the brazier, my aunt let me be the first."

The more prosperous the fire in this courtyard, the better. There is a saying of "prosperity", and the family crossing the brazier means "burning away the old disasters and ushering in new prosperity." Yun'an and Daiyu both laughed: "In a while You also burn it for us, and we will cross the pine pot together at night."

Xiangyun acted coquettishly: "It's a good thing there are still you, Sister Bao is so hateful, she said she was very close, but today she abandoned me and went home."

Thinking of Lin Ruhai in Yangzhou, Daiyu forced a smile and said, "Auntie and Big Brother Xue are here, so naturally Sister Bao wants to watch the New Year together with her family."

At this time, Xiangling brought a small plum blossom-style carved lacquer tea tray to serve Xiangyun tea. Xiangyun looked her over and asked with a smile, "Didn't the old lady give you this girl?"

Yun An smiled and said, "It was brought by my family."

Xiang Yun looked up and down again, surprised in her heart, seeing that the girl was born not to let Yuan Xi and others, and her demeanor was also very good, she thought it was the old lady who gave it to Du Yunan, but who knew it was not, listen to her The meaning here is not from Aunt Wang's family, but from her family.Can such a girl be raised in such a small family?

Daiyu has always been transparent, at this moment she wondered: "Why are only Liuxiu girls allowed here? The sisters in my room are worse than yours here?"

Yun An drank tea and smiled lightly. Xiang Yun knew that the two of them saw through the pettiness he had suddenly developed, and blushed immediately, and quickly apologized: "Sisters, please forgive me, how many people have I met, but these people The ones in front of the old lady alone are the most outstanding ones, such as my Cuiwei, which was originally given to me by the old lady, which is better than the ones in my family. I just met a good man and thought it was given to Sister An by the old lady. "

Yunan saw that although she was a little reckless, she was honest and forthright, so she smiled and pulled Xiangling over to make a rescue: "Xiangling is also the daughter of a gentry family, but she just suffered a temporary hardship and stayed at my house temporarily, no wonder you misunderstood. "

Shi Xiangyun clapped his hands and said with a smile, "That's great." Then he asked Cuilu to appreciate Xiangling's New Year's money.

Cui Ling is innocent and cute, after listening to Yun An's words, she dared not send Xiang Ling with dozens of dollars, took out a pair of silver locks from her sleeves and put them in a small pouch, and really gave away a watch gift that she had seen To Xiangling.

Xiangyun saw it from the corner of his eye, but it was not easy to reason about it, so he pretended he hadn't seen it, because he asked Yun'an: "Why didn't my aunt take you back to worship the ancestors today?"

Yun An was taken aback, only then did she realize that she was talking about Mrs. Li. Mrs. Li recognized her as a daughter because it was an expedient measure, and she was still hoping that the Li family would recognize their brother and sister. How could she really ask her to go to the ancestral hall of the Wang family? Recognize the ancestors of the royal family.Yun An smiled: "I am a foster daughter, and my name has not been written in the genealogy."

Xiangyun said something, it's not good to say comforting words, and it's not good not to say, secretly hated that he had lost his mind when he opened his mouth just now, so he could only say dryly: "I won't go back this year, we just happen to be companions." Her aunt did Someone was sent to pick her up. She was having fun with Baoyu at the time, so she excused herself from the cold and couldn't see the wind. Today, the old lady and Baoyu went to Dongfu to worship their ancestors. Next—the order of offering sacrifices to ancestors is the best chance for a boudoir girl like her to show her status in front of her clan, especially since she is the only one left in her father's line, so it is time to remind her when worshiping ancestors Clan members, there are still people in the long house.

Daiyu's face was not very good-looking, she felt that Shijia's sister was too careless, she had stabbed a sentence just now, when she was about to speak, Yun'an gently pulled her hand.Yunan has heard so many stories about Miss Shi, and has been in contact with her so many times. She knows that she is bold, lively, and outspoken, but she is also smart and clever. Most likely, this girl lives with her uncle and aunt. When she is not happy, she sometimes hides her wit under the surface of her rectum-everytime she expresses her cautiousness in a subtle way, and it is not annoying to others, so it is not easy for others to care about her.

To put it bluntly, it was forced by the living environment since he was a child. He is bold, straightforward, heroic and naughty in his nature, and it may not be because of Shi Xiangyun's wish of "it would be better if he was born a man" hidden in his heart.Du Yun'an loved this Bibao girl more than anything in her previous life, and now she can see that Shi Xiangyun did not intend to do so, she just couldn't stop talking and laughing for a long time, and when she has something on her mind, she will bald and make a little noise, but her brain offends others if.

Yun'an still has this idea, but it's the only idea, as long as the "light as water" friendship between gentlemen like now is good, and he is absolutely unwilling to put his heart into it like Daiyu Yingchun.Du Yun'an's remnant "compassion" towards the Red Chamber and Hundred Flowers in her previous life has been exhausted on Dai Ying and the two. She thinks that she doesn't have the ability and energy to save everyone—even Xiang Ling, it's just because of her head. It's not too difficult to find out the whereabouts of her mother Feng Shi for her.But Du Yun'an could only help her so far, her mother and daughter went their separate ways after they recognized each other.

Du Yun'an sometimes felt that he was too cold-hearted, and he clearly saw many signs of future tragedies that had happened, but he remained silent.In the account in her heart, the distinction between distant and distant relatives is too clear, only the few in her heart have exhausted her energy, so those people outside of her heart can't be cared about.

Her hand was warm, and Daiyu unconsciously leaned over, and Du Yunan easily took her into his arms.

Xiang Yun saw that the two of them acted in an intimate and natural way, as if it should be so, and suddenly felt sour and envious in her heart, feeling that the idea that "Sister Bao is not worse than her own sister" that she just had in the past few days was a bit immediate. Can't stop.

"My good sister, please take care of me." Xiang Yun was so heartbroken that he also came over and pulled Du Yun'an's other shoulder to act coquettishly.

Daiyu pouted, and Aijiao pushed Xiangyun jealously, refusing to ask the eldest sister to hug her too.

If it weren't for Yun'an's great strength, he would have been knocked down by the two monkeys on his back right now.The three of them had a quarrel, and the embarrassment just now was forgotten.

At this time, Xiangyun heard the commotion and excitement outside, and laughed, "It must be the old ladies who are back!"

Sure enough, after a while, a daughter-in-law came in and sent a message: "The old lady invites the girls to come over." This meant inviting them to the Rongxi Hall of the main courtyard.

The three got up to tidy up their clothes and hair. Today they were not in the mood to take the small path at the back gate of Jiaomen, so they had to go around a big circle. When they arrived at Neiyi Gate, they met some old wives from the clan who were of the same generation as Jia's mother. Ladies Manfort!"

Several old ladies called "good boy" repeatedly. Xiangyun was often at Jiamu's lap since she was a child. They had seen her before and asked, "Sister Yun, who are your two sisters?"

Xiangyun hurriedly introduced Du Yunan and Lin Daiyu.

There are never any secrets in the Rongguo Mansion. Several old ladies have long heard that Jia Mu has newly taken in her granddaughter and girls from relatives to support them. The family background also knows.

Du Yun'an saw that several old ladies were very kind to Daiyu and praised her without words. There was only one of them, but he came up to hold her hand, looked him up and down, and asked how old his parents and elder brother Yunyun were.

Du Yun'an felt a little puzzled, so he just pretended to be shy and shy, lowered his eyebrows and smiled and said nothing.Daiyu next to her also described it in the same way, she was not a familiar character, the two sisters held hands and smiled subtly to cope with the enthusiasm of the past few.

"Who is that?" After finally getting away, Daiyu asked the old woman who was holding her elder sister back.

Du Yun'an knew that Daiyu's heart had nine openings, so he held back the warmth in his heart.

Xiangyun laughed and said, "If you ask anyone else, I don't know anyone else, but this old lady is the only one I know. She is the old lady in the next room. The head of the school in their family is old man Confucianism, who is the second elder brother Yue Hou. Where we are going, this old lady is in the same family as old man Confucianism."

"It turned out to be Jia Dairu's wife, so that is Jia Rui's grandma?" After thinking about it, Yun Anfang saw that Sister Feng came out to pick them up in person.

On New Year's Eve, Du Yun'an experienced the difficulty of being a big family.

First, the masters and masters, male and female, saluted Jiamu, then the male and female sat in the top chairs, and then all the servants of Rongning and Ningfu were divided into one according to their dignity and power, and began to come in and kowtow to say auspicious words. This item has been carried out for an hour.Then, Jia Mu, Jia Jing, Jia Amnesty, Jia Zheng and his wives began to scatter the new year's money. The young lady and the young master thanked the elders, and the servants of the whole family also thanked the master; ...

After distributing the money, a big banquet was held, and there were some processes of offering wine and offering auspicious soup and Ruyi fruits.After the men and women return to their seats, what they eat is not a meal but a ceremony.Everyone just dipped their chopsticks and drank the wine a few times.Immediately, when the auspicious time came, the gods in the main courtyard of the upper courtyard and other Buddhist halls had to offer incense and place offerings...

At this time, the masters and young masters went out to have a banquet, and the female relatives also surrounded Jia Mu back to the Rongqing hall.Jiamu was very old and couldn't help having fun all night, because Baoyu and the girls went to bed when they only watched the year and reached their children.

Yun An didn't go back to his yard until late at night, and the lights were brightly lit all the way, but he wasn't afraid at all.

Fortunately, it was not yet the first day of the year, and the three of them stepped over the brazier hand in hand, asked people to bring out the money box, and handed out the new year's money to the people in this courtyard—it was an extraordinary solemnity, all of which were done with lotus Compiled "Qianlong".

At the moment, everyone was smiling, thanking the ladies first, and then saying auspicious words to each other, it was more festive than the upper room in the main courtyard.Especially those who serve Yun'an and Daiyu, it was not perfect to celebrate the New Year with the girl in another house, but now they are filled with the little vacancy in their hearts by their master's cherishment.

At this time, Jia Dairu and his old wife also ordered their only grandson Jia Rui to go back to their room to rest, refusing to make him stay up all night and waste energy on things other than studying.

Dairu's old wife was a little dissatisfied, because she complained about Dairu: "This year's price is too difficult for Rui'er, and he should be allowed to rest for two days."

Dai Ru put on a straight face, saying that the old wife "loves the grandson", and said angrily: "He is already 20 years old, and he didn't even pass the entrance examination for a child student. How can he rest his face!"

Then he raised his voice to Jia Rui's room and said harshly: "Tomorrow, when the two houses come back from the palace to worship, we will worship our ancestors together - after the salute, he will go back to my room to study! I have to spend these two days. Make up for the missed homework!"

Jia Rui heard it in the east wing, complained a few words angrily, then thought of something, put the latch on the door lightly, and took out a book of eroticism from under the bed to "review the book hard".

Here, Jia Rui's grandmother heard that the old man was so harsh on her grandson, she threw her hands in and got angry.

Jia Dairu couldn't bear his old wife's depression during the New Year, and there were no outsiders around, so he followed in step by step, and sighed softly: "Our family fortune is getting more and more meager, and I asked him to make progress for his own good. If not, How else?"

Dairu's old wife thought of her son and daughter-in-law, and felt sad. Then she thought about being the same sister-in-law. Jia's mother lived a lively and honorable life, but her place was extremely cold and simple——

"That's right! I wanted to discuss something with you!" Mrs. Jia Dairu suddenly remembered.

Dai Ru lowered his head and wiped his eyes quietly, so he couldn't help pulling himself together and asking something.

He just heard his old wife say: "Rui'er is already in his 20s, and it's time for him to plan his life's major events."

With just this one sentence, Dairu raised his eyebrows and raised his eyes again, and his voice became louder: "He is still white, how can he talk about these trivial things about women at this time, he is already impetuous, if you marry him a woman Come in, there is no guarantee that he still has half the desire to study hard! Absolutely not!"

"You're in a hurry again!" The old woman said angrily, "Why are you howling, please listen to me and you can talk again!"

In the east chamber, Jia Rui was doing some finger-tiring activities, he was used to doing such things, so he was a bit unhappy.He also remembered that the beautiful women he saw during the ancestor worship were all people on other men's beds, but he had to get angry with a booklet that was fluffed up, which was even more inadequate.

The clansmen who are about the same age as him, most of them are married, even if there are a few who are not yet married, there are already two people in the house to wait on them, but he is the only one who is alone in the cold, and even the scent of a woman is not enough. Never touched it!Jia Rui hates the injustice of the heavens. They are all young masters of the "Yu" generation. Even Baoyu, who has no full hair, has an "attacker" from an old lady in the house ready to pass through the house!

Before it was too late, Jia Rui had messed around for a while, and felt empty and unsatisfied.Suddenly at this moment, he heard Jia Dairu's words in the main room.

Jia Rui stood up in a "babble", rubbed his hands into the corner of the bed curtain a few times, and jumped to the door like a hozen, pricking up his ears to listen.

Jia Dai’s Confucianism is not rich, and the courtyard is also small. The two doors of the main room and the side room are only about ten steps away from each other. The door of the main room is not closed on New Year’s Eve. Inevitably older, so Jia Rui heard it clearly.

He only heard his grandmother say: "I'm going to the West Mansion today, who do you think I met?"

Dai Confucianism curled his lips and didn't talk to him.

His old lady didn't take it seriously, and said with a smile: "When I came out, I happened to bump into three guest ladies in the mansion. Hey, all of them are like flowers! I thought that if our Rui'er could marry one of them, it would be Ancestors bless you!"

Jia Dairu was upright and rigid, no one else dared to tell him the gossip in the Rong Mansion, so Dairu only knew that his niece Jia Min died and her daughter was taken in.He also remembered that Jia Zheng sent someone to tell him that his nephew named Xue Pan would go to school with Baoyu in the next year, and he had heard his old wife talk about the old sister-in-law of the Rong Mansion taking over her grandniece to support him—so he thought They are Daiyu, Baochai and Xiangyun.

If it were these three people, Jia Dairu couldn't say anything, but: "Fantasy! If you really tell Rui'er that you are one of them, it doesn't matter if I allow him to marry a wife! But don't think about it! The Lin family, the Shi family, the Xue family Home, who can take a fancy to him!"

Dai Confucianism became more angry when he said that he was a scholar, and he admired the Lin family the most. At Jia Rui's age, Lin Ruhai had already won the exam. wife.

"As long as he has a little ambition, even if he has a reputation as a scholar, I will give up my old face and look for a scholar-in-law's wife for him, so that I can pay him a respectable father-in-law!" Dai Confucian hand Trembling, he pointed to the East Wing. The candles were lit in the Wing, clearly reflecting the shadow of Jia Rui who was lying on the door and eavesdropping: "Look at him, I can't wait to break his legs so that he can only sit down." read!"

Jia Dairu's old wife covered her mouth and smiled when she saw her grandson's shadow. Radairu said: "He is old, and all the children in your school who are younger than him are married. How can he not want to. This is a good thing! Old man, look at how empty our yard is, if there are more little great-grandchildren, think about it, oh, wouldn't it be beautiful to dream about!"

But Dai Ru couldn't refute this, so he heard his old lady laugh and say: "Let me tell you, I'm not interested in the Lin family, the Shi family, or the Xue family, but the adopted daughter of Prince Teng of the Wang family, and now she is also in Xifu. I live here. I’ve heard about it a long time ago, and I saw her today, she looks really good! She’s good enough for our family, Rui’er.”

Dai Ru frowned, and snorted coldly: "A righteous daughter? How can this match, it won't work."

"Why don't you deserve it? That girl's family is also well-off. I've inquired about it a long time ago. She has only one elder brother, who is a Wuding, but the family has the skill of combining medicine and wine—what we drink in the West Mansion this time" Zhou Gong Centenary Wine "It was given by her family. You have heard the name of this wine. It costs three or five taels for a jar. With this long-lasting treasure pot, how can the family be worse? Besides, it is said that his brother loves this wine the most. Sister, there are seven or eight times in a month when I just send things in, and the dowry must be generous. Besides, this girl is also proud of herself. She is the goddaughter of the Wang family. It is said that the Wang family loves this girl very much. 'Girl', 'Girl' flattery!"

"The dowry is rich, and my elder brother is a helper, and I can climb into the Wang family. This is the first advantage. Second, I read it carefully today. Although she looks good, she has a shy and docile personality. She is not afraid of marrying in." She made troubles to keep Rui'er from making progress! The third one is the one I like the most. This girl is not one of those skinny Xi Shi who will fall down when the wind blows, but has the character of a daughter-in-law. She looks like a girl. Good birth!" Jia Dairu's old wife counted with her fingers.

Jia Dairu's brows did not loosen, but he also listened to the words, and glanced at the figure in Jia Rui's room again, and said coldly: "Let me think about it." If it is really as the old wife said, it really seems like a gift from God. The daughter-in-law candidates prepared by Jia Dairu knew that his family was dilapidated and could only be supported by the seniority of the old man in his clan. Ruier was far away from the blood of those two mansions. Ordinary people are no different.

The families of Lin, Shi, Wang, and Xue couldn't even get close to them by flattery, and even their clan members were afraid that their families were poor and would not marry.However, Jia Rui has no parents or brothers at all, and even the population is so thin that people look down on it, so it is becoming more and more common for the daughter of a rich family to be mentioned.Although the identity of this adopted daughter is not on the stage, she is honest and honest, and it is indeed the best marriage that can be made now.

Jia Dairu thought for a while, then gritted his teeth, if Jia Rui worked harder, he would only be admitted as a scholar, and he would not ask him to give in and marry a daughter of a martial artist!

In the east chamber, Jia Rui could no longer care about what Jia Dairu and his wife thought. He only thought of the phrase "a bit like Lian's daughter-in-law", and Wang Xifeng's glamorous appearance was in his eyes and heart, and his stomach suddenly bulged. .

"Ah!" Du Yunan sneezed sideways.

Two younger sisters, Yingchun and Daiyu, gave her a hand stove and pulled the rabbit fur edge of her cloak.

"Girls, let's go in and watch the New Year's Eve." Mei Yue and the others flocked over, and stopped telling them to watch the girls laughing and playing games in the courtyard.

"There are freshly cooked pasta." Mei Yue smiled at her girl.

Sure enough, Yun An immediately felt hungry. He didn't have enough for the New Year's Eve banquet, so he dragged his sisters in: "Old ladies and wives have to go to the palace to congratulate at five o'clock. We will be so stubborn after eating. Tomorrow You don't need to get up early."

The next day is Yuan Day, and there are many etiquette procedures to follow.

Afterwards, it was time for each family to celebrate the New Year with banquets. From the first day to the fifth day of the new year, there were banquets for the family, distant branches, relatives, and family friends in turn.

On the sixth day of the lunar new year, the day when the female relatives leave relatives, it is also the day when the daughter-in-law returns to Ning. On this day, only Sister Feng and Yunan returned to Prince Teng's mansion, but Mrs. Wang went out to visit Princess Beijing.

Mrs. Wang is much more interested in visiting relatives of the aristocratic family than in previous years. For a few days in a row, she has New Year's wine and visits everywhere. Because her seniority is really not low among these aristocratic families, she is very impatient to socialize after seeing her for a long time. True Buddha.For example, Concubine Nan'an and so on.

On the twelfth, Jia Zhen set up a banquet to invite Jia Mu and others. Jia Zhen's wife Youshi specially invited Mrs. Dai Confucianism from a nearby branch to accompany Jia Mu. Seeing this good opportunity, Jia Dai Ru's wife made great efforts at the banquet. After observing Du Yun'an for a while, seeing that the second girl Yingchun in the Xifu and the eldest girl from the Lin family are very close to her, she is unavoidably satisfied.

Hearing Sister Feng say "how about my younger sister", and seeing three or four big girls serving her around her, the honorable and dignified young lady, she became more and more thirsty. Look for an opportunity to ask Mrs. Wang.

After hearing what the Confucian old lady said, Mrs. Wang realized that her grandson had taken a fancy to the girl from the Du family. After a little thought, she felt that it was really a good thing, so she smiled and said: "My niece I have just reached the age of Ji, and there is no one yet. If you have good things, you may as well tell them. My sister-in-law will definitely thank you then."