The widowed mother of the red mansion

In the blink of an eye, it was the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, which was the eldest sister's birthday. Li Wan had already prepared a new set of satin clothes and a few purses, and set up two tables of sweets and snacks in Qinggeyuan, called Lan'er Xichun Waiting for someone to play with her for a day.

Sister Feng sent someone to bring things over early, brand new clothes and shoes, as well as some snacks made by Sister Feng herself, which are the eldest sister's favorite food, and they were delivered in food boxes.

My sister is young and doesn't know anything, and she is happy playing with Jia Lan and others every day. Today, when she saw the things her mother sent, she burst into tears, until Xichun gave her a melon to hug her.

Li Wan held his sister in his arms and said with a smile: "Everyone says our sister is precious, but I think she has a good temper and is easy to coax."

Xichun laughed and said, "This is not like Lian's second sister-in-law."

Li Wan said: "What are you busy with these days? You can't even ask someone to invite you. If it weren't for the favor of the eldest sister today, I don't know that I will see you in the year of the monkey."

Xichun hurriedly said: "Sister-in-law, do you still remember that one of the monk women in our family temple was originally from a wealthy family, but later he donated it as a wish because of his poor health, and now he is practicing in Changcui Nunnery with hair. "

Li Wan recalled it for a while, and said for a while, "What kind of jade is it probably called? Didn't she go with those little nuns?"

Xichun nodded: "It's her, the one named Miaoyu. Speaking of which, she is also a wonderful person. After our family was defeated, she was not responsible for the crime, but she refused to leave, saying that she would stay here and wait for us to come back. The wife praised her very much before, but after hearing this reason, she valued her even more."

Li Wan said with a smile: "In this way, she is a prophet. Are you and her very close?"

Xichun said: "It's just a few words. She looks clean, and it's rare to have a good friend. In the past, Miss Bao and the second sister-in-law could still ask for a cup of tea with her, but now I only occasionally go to see her in the house. Looking for her, when she is in a good mood, she plays a few games of chess with me, and when she is not in a good mood, she has a faint look on her face."

Li Wan couldn't help laughing and said: "It's said that you are stubborn, and finally someone more ruthless is oppressing you. After your third sister goes out, you'd better have less contact with her, girl, don't make any mistakes thought."

Xichun said, "Sister-in-law is right."

Just as he was talking, Suyun suddenly lifted the curtain and entered with a smile: "Grandma, an old man outside is here to pay his respects."

Li Wan asked, "Who is it?"

"Grandma Liu who has been here a few times before."

Li Wan hurriedly asked someone to guide him inside.Xichun carried her eldest sister and Jialan into the house, and after a while several wives and wives led Grandma Liu into the house. Li Wan saw that Grandma Liu was wearing a brand new cotton dress and a thin silver hairpin on her hair. , with a flushed face, he couldn't help but smile and let her go on the kang: "Grandma, sit down, are you okay?"

Grandma Liu hurriedly returned the gift, brushed off her clothes before sitting down: "Thanks to grandma, I can eat and sleep. I was in a hurry last time, so I didn't take a closer look. I don't know that grandma put so much food in the box. It's a lot of money, and my intestines are full of regrets after I go back. It's hard to go to the mansion to say hello to the mansion, but something like that happened in the mansion, which scared me and made my heart tremble. We are small and weak, help I have no choice but to go to the temple to burn incense and worship Buddha every day. I beg God to open my eyes and not be so harsh on people like you. Later I found out that you all went to Jinling. I sent half a truckload of dried vegetables, I don’t know if that person escaped or not.”

Li Wan said with a smile: "Thank you for your concern. I have received the noodles and dishes, and everyone likes them very much. I thought about sending someone to thank you, but it's a pity that the journey is far away, and you are a sincere person. Let's get along seriously. How can you afford it? I have been thinking about waiting for the time to go to Beijing and then find someone to invite you to sit down, but you are willing to come to the door today. Don’t leave after dinner, I want someone to clean up the house for you to sleep Next, I will take you to see your wife later. I guess you have heard from Mrs. Zhou that the old lady and girl Feng are still at the old house, and they haven’t come together. What do you want to say? It’s the same as what I said. of."

Grandma Liu said: "Amitabha, thanks to your kindness, you have given me so many things. Now we have dozens of acres of land in the countryside, and we also run a small business. Although we are not rich, compared with other families in Zhuangzi It’s much better. When I heard that you came back to Beijing and returned the house and everything, I was so happy that I almost shed tears.” After finishing speaking, Grandma Liu smiled shyly and picked up a basket from under her feet. : "Here are lucky eggs and brown sugar cakes, which are the birthday gifts for my godson and daughter-in-law who have given birth to three sons in a row in recent years. Since I found him a wife, he has treated me very well, almost as good as My mother is the same, no, I found out that I'm coming today, so I said I'd like to bring this basket of things, and said that the things are frivolous, and the focus is on my heart. These things are for young grandmas, girls can't eat them .”

Li Wan suddenly realized.She knew this rule, some big families were not thriving, so they looked around for birthday eggs like the ones from the countryside.Rural women work a lot and eat whole grains. They are healthier than women in mansions, so it is easy for them to have several children in succession. It is especially rare for all boys. Everyone wants to touch her. The blessing of being favored by the empress.

"She is also the mother of three children now." Li Wan said with emotion, "I don't know if I will recognize her when I see her again."

Grandma Liu smiled and said: "Your face is a little redder, your body is a little fatter, and the rest is still the same. It is said that maids from rich families are different, and their gestures are more magnanimous than ordinary official wives. My godson loves it so much." It's like nothing, I won't let her suffer even a little bit of grievance."

Grandma Liu brought a lot of things because her family was getting better and better, and Biyue led the people to count everything there.Li Wan smiled and said: "From now on, you will come here often when you have nothing to do, and you don't need to bring things every time. Since the old lady stayed there, our wife is idle all day long, so I hope that someone who has been there for many years will talk to her , the other boys and girls still remember the interesting stories you told."

Grandma Liu smiled and said: "Well, I'm an old bone and can't do anything else, I can talk." Suddenly, a little maid came to Li Wan and said, "After the fourth lady left, the eldest sister cried again for some reason. Get up and go straight to Mom."

"Go and hug her and show grandma."

The maid came out holding the eldest sister, and she threw herself into Li Wan's arms, sobbing.Grandma Liu said: "It turned out to be Big Niuniu. I miss her mother at this age, but I forgot after a while. Niuniu, do you still remember grandma?"

The eldest sister opened her mouth wide and looked at Grandma Liu, and forgot to cry for a while.Li Wan picked a hawthorn fruit for the elder sister. When the elder sister saw the bright red one, she bent her head down to play with it, and sobbed from time to time.

"Her mother is not in good health, so let me take care of her for a while." Li Wan said: "Fortunately, the nurse came with her, otherwise she would cry even more."

Grandma Liu said: "Children cry all the time, and it may not all be because of missing their mother. It is very likely that they have hit something, and their fate is light and they cannot be restrained. Did Niuniu have a name?"

"Not yet, grandma has a lot of knowledge, let me tell you a few things, let me ask her mother before making a decision."

Grandma Liu made the calculations with her fingers: "Sister's life is too coincidental, and she is easy to get angry. Why don't you use poison to fight poison and call her sister Qiao."

Li Wan hastily thanked Grandma Liu: "It's indeed a good name, I'll write to her mother to say it tomorrow."

After the two chatted for a while, Mrs. Wang ordered to invite dinner, and Fang went there together.She has nothing to do on weekdays. This time when Grandma Liu came, Mrs. Wang was very kind to her: "If you don't dislike it, just stay in this garden for a few more days. There are many rooms that are empty anyway. You can just choose the one you like. During the day, ask these girls to accompany you to play around, come and talk to me when you are tired, don't be restrained. I am not in good health, and don't take offense if the hospitality is not good. "

Grandma Liu said again and again: "Oh, what do you say, I am ashamed to live in such a garden, and it is a blessing to be able to go shopping last time."

When everyone came to meet each other, Grandma Liu recognized and greeted each of them, and sighed: "The original little girls have become big girls, some of the big girls are married, and some are now grandmothers. I really don't blame us." People in the country say that the child is the same as Mai Miaoer, and they usually think that he grows slowly, but when it rains, he immediately twitches his head."

Mrs. Wang said with a smile: "These words are fresh and interesting. Isn't it very strange to watch these children grow up one by one, and then the children have children."

After the banquet was over, Mrs. Wang left Grandma Liu to talk about Buddhism and human relations in the back room, and the others went back to their rooms.Li Wan pulled Daiyu aside and whispered, "I'll go to your room later, I have something good for you."

"What good stuff?"

"You'll know when you see it."

After returning to the hospital, Daiyu saw Biyue bringing a basket with a smile, and when she lifted the cloth on it, it was full of red eggs and red cakes. She was surprised and said, "What is this for? I don't eat these rough things, it's the people's fault." .”

"If you don't taste it, how do you know it's not good?" Li Wan ordered the little maid to bring slightly bitter Willow Shuang tea, and forced Daiyu to taste some of it.

After Daiyu reluctantly ate the idea, she frowned and said, "It's too sweet, and it sticks to my teeth." But Zijuan knew what it meant, and smiled and took the bird's nest porridge to rinse Daiyu's mouth: "This is a good thing, girl. If you don't know the goods, don't make grandma laugh at you."

Daiyu took two mouthfuls of bird's nest porridge before she could cover up the taste of sugar in her mouth, she wondered, "What the hell are you doing?"

Li Wan and Zijuan looked at each other and smiled without saying a word.

Since Jia Li guarded the frontier, every month she would return several long letters from home, chatting with Li Wan about her heart.Li Wanduan was sitting in the room upright, cut the edge of the letter with a book knife, took out a thick circle of letter paper inside, and read it carefully, laughing lowly from time to time.

Jia Li's family letters are really interesting. They don't mention the hard work in the frontier at all. They mostly talk about rare and rare things about customs and customs. Occasionally, they deliberately joked that she is very popular, and there are passionate women throwing flowers and fruits everywhere she goes.But one thing is very troublesome. When the army was stationed in the land of Lizhou, there was only one kind of fruit in the local area. It was small and sweet but the skin was very hard, and it was very painful when it was hit. Those women often threw this fruit in large quantities. What a miserable experience.Sometimes when some strong women throw them together, the power is not weaker than that of cannons, and they almost knocked him off his horse several times.

Li Wan laughed so hard that he couldn't speak for a long time, so he could only keep repeating: Really, really!

Although he was concerned about it, Li Wan didn't want to stop him. He just tried his best to find some things with spells such as body armor or peace charms and let his family members deliver them in person. Mentioned in every detail.

Jia Lan grew up day by day and couldn't live with Li Wan anymore, so Madam Wang sent him a message to let him move to Daoxiang Village in the Grand View Garden. Seeing that it was his mother's old residence, he readily agreed.

Mrs. Wang said to Li Wan: "Lan'er opened the yard by herself. The old people around her were not enough, so you can pick some good ones for him. Yindie is also getting old. She is not a child of our family. After all, she is released. It's still a match, you can figure it out yourself."

Li Wan hurriedly said yes.After Yindie heard about this, she said: "This servant would rather stay in the mansion."

Li Wan thought for a while, and said with a smile: "That's the case, you should follow Lan'er in Daoxiang Village first. I will transfer you to help me when I find a suitable person. There are many things at home now, and you are a familiar person." Yes, I am also very reluctant to let you go."

Yindie kowtowed and said: "Slave servant is rude, thank you grandma for your pity."

"Tell me, what kind of look do you like? Tell me as soon as there is no one else, so that I can make the decision for you."

Yindie smiled shyly: "As long as you have a good temper and behave decently, you don't care about anything else."

Li Wan nodded: "This is the right way. Later, you will take the two nuns to Lan'er's study, pack up everything that needs to be cleaned up, and send them to Daoxiang Village. The two new servants will also be called Show me."

Yindie promised to go out.In addition to the original two big maids and two young maids around Jia Lan, Li Wan picked a few servant girls who knew their roots and were prudent to follow him.Although it is not as good as Baoyu's ostentation in the past, the people around Jia Lan have done their best this time.

As the exam was approaching, Jia Lan worked very hard in Daoxiang Village, studying hard every day, except to come to Mrs. Wang and her mother to say hello, and she didn't come out to play easily.Li Wan felt sorry for him, so he asked someone to bring nourishing soup to him every now and then, ordering him to go to bed early, so that he could relax for a while, so that he wouldn't stay up late at night.

The Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, and Li Wan was busy with the ceremony to be sent to the old residence in Jinling, when suddenly there was an astonishing news--Meiniang intended to murder the elder and Jia Lian, but was caught by Sister Feng on the spot. Complaining and cursing Jia's mansion, he committed suicide and left.

It turned out that Meiniang could not be Du, but her surname was Shi, the only daughter of the stone nerd.Since Jia She had ruined the stone nerd because of those dozens of fans, Meiniang vowed to ask Jia's mansion, at least Jia She's family, to pay for his life, so that the hatred in her heart would be relieved.

Sister Feng was acquainted with the nuns, Taoist nuns and others, and she was very clear about human teeth trading, etc., and she inadvertently learned of Mei Niang's true identity, and she had already taken precautions.She was afraid that Jia Lian would think that she was deliberately framing her, and deliberately revealed the truth first, and acted together with him to test it out. Mei Niang didn't know that there was a fraud, and she messed up her stitches for a while, so she could show her true intentions.

When Jia Zheng heard about this, he sighed heavily and didn't say anything.

Sister Feng sent someone to bury Mei Niang generously. Jia Lian couldn't bear it, so she didn't stop her, and even cried several times on the grave.What a shrewd person Sister Feng is, she saw through some tricky things, but she didn't dare to tell others, so she had to write a letter to tell Li Wan, asking her to pay more attention.

Li Wan wanted to remind Sister Feng, seeing that she had predicted it earlier than himself, he couldn't help but secretly sighed at her thoughtfulness.That stone nerd has no power, how could Mei Niang have fooled Jia Lian, and entered Jia's mansion so coincidentally as a down-and-out official lady?It is absolutely impossible for this series of operations to be unassisted.

Li Wan burned Sister Feng's letter on the fire, and her jade-like face flushed slightly in the light of the fire.

There was no response from Mother Jia, as if she had reached the age of being insensitive to everything, instead, she knelt down and confessed to Jia She, who was so guilty that she cried bitterly, and vowed that she would change her mind and be a good person in the future, and would never worry about her family again. To add to the confusion, Mother Jia still didn't make any statement.

There was an uproar in the old house, but the Rongguo Mansion was still peaceful and peaceful. Occasionally, when someone remembered the tragic farce in Jinling, they all kept silent.

For some reason, Li Wan thought of a sentence: It's not that we don't report, the time has not yet come.

So will I be punished one day in the future?She shook her head lightly, it doesn't matter the cycle of retribution, she doesn't regret it.

Because Li Wan was busy, Daiyu became the first teacher of the eldest sister, teaching her to read and write.After Li Wan told Sister Feng about Grandma Liu's wishes, Sister Feng readily agreed, and everyone called her Eldest Sister Qiao from then on.

Qiaojie was born intelligent, and seeing that Daiyu was an outstandingly talented woman, and took her to play with her on weekdays, she couldn't help feeling admiration, and only got close to her.Baoyu watched the two of them sitting in the room writing and reading, and the corners of his mouth curled up before he knew it: "That's great."

"What's the matter?" Daiyu was puzzled.

"Niuniu, you ask your aunt to give you a younger sister earlier, and it will be more lively in the future." Baoyu said with a smile, picking up sister Qiao.

Sister Qiao said in a childlike voice, "I understand, Auntie, you have to work hard."

Daiyu blushed instantly, and after spitting, she snatched Niuniu into her arms: "Let's go outside to write and listen to his nonsense here."

Baoyu laughed loudly: "Don't go, don't go, it's windy outside, you can't help it, I'd better go out." After saying that, she put on her coat and went out. Daiyu wanted to ignore him, but couldn't help asking: "And Where are you going to mess around?"

Baoyu said with a smile: "Visit some friends of my mentor, and tell me about next year's spring. Don't worry about me, and I will come back earlier in the evening. If you can't bear it, you can eat first, play with Niuniu for a while, and then rest. , so as not to accumulate food."

Daiyu said: "Go, go, I want you to be so long-winded."

Baoyu left with a smile.Feeling unwilling, Daiyu stood up and looked at his back from the window. Suddenly Baoyu turned her head, and Daiyu was startled.

Sister Qiao looked at her uncle and aunt's childish attitude, although she didn't understand the emotion, she was still infected by the happiness in the eyes of the two of them, she kept giggling, a large string of ghostly symbols appeared crookedly on the original white writing paper, pink and pink The little hands were all blackened a lot.Daiyu was absent-minded, and it was too late when she realized it, so she couldn't help but let out a low cry, and hurriedly ordered someone to come in with water to scrub her, and couldn't help but feel even more embarrassed...