The widowed mother of the red mansion

Since Concubine Jia regained her favor, Ganquan Palace has been in the limelight for a while.Compared with the rookies who entered the palace this year, her mature and quiet charm seems to be more pleasing to the Holy One. Her immobile status has made many frustrated concubines grit their teeth secretly, full of resentment.

Among the rookies who entered the palace this time, most of them are honest and peaceful people, and few of them show off their flamboyance.When it comes to grace, only Lan Guiren and Jing Changzai can mention it a little bit.It's all right that Lan Guiren has a very good background, but Jing Changzai is just the daughter of a leader. Although her appearance can be regarded as handsome and beautiful, she can break through the siege and defeat other young masters who have better background and appearance than her, and become one of the few. uniqueness.

"What is this incense? I smell it is more elegant and elegant than the 'Qingheng Shenyu' she matched with." Concubine Jia picked up a little incense with her armor and put it into the small incense burner, then fanned the incense lightly Sniffed, sincerely praised.

Li Wan replied with a smile: "This one is called 'Zhaoyang Feihe', and it is the proud work of the master craftsman of the Songyuan incense making family. His family has long been in decline, and it is my sister Xicai who has paid a lot of money to support him, and this incense is rewarded." .”

"But Matsubara Ryu's family?"

"Go back to your mother, that's right."

"No wonder. Back then I thought it was a pity that this vein was cut off, but now there is another reason." Concubine Jia asked Baoqin to put away the incense box with a smile, and said with a smile: "I will send this spice into the palace in the future." Xixi ' and the like will be avoided."

Li Wan hurriedly agreed.As usual, Concubine Jia gave some instructions and rewarded some things before letting Li Wan out of the palace.Li Wan just returned to the yard when he saw Bi Yue running in a panic and said, "Grandma, something is wrong."

"Speak slowly, what's the matter?"

"The letter from Jinling immediately said that the old lady is dying! The wife just sent someone to say that when grandma comes back, she will go to her immediately!"

Li Wan was taken aback, and before he even had time to change his clothes, he hurriedly led people to Mrs. Wang's courtyard.When Mrs. Wang saw her coming, she relaxed and winked again. Li Wan hurriedly ordered all the servants to leave, and only their mother-in-law and daughter-in-law entered the inner room to talk.

"What's going on here? Didn't you say that the old lady is in a good mood and eats more than usual?"

Mrs. Wang sighed and said, "Isn't it? I didn't believe it when I first heard it, but the letter said it was serious, and the person who came was Lian'er's capable servant, so I couldn't help but believe it. You can see for yourself." !"

Li Wan took the letter in a hurry, and after reading it, his heart sank.After all, Jia's mother is very old. She usually eats fine grains and lacks exercise, so she is prone to stroke.Stroke is not a good thing. Even if there is no danger of life at the time, the sequelae cannot be escaped. A crooked mouth, squinted eyes and inability to speak are considered minor. Even if you are lying in bed and can't do anything, you are no different from a disabled person.

"Your master and I are getting old, and after much deliberation in our house, you are the only one who can go to Jinling." Mrs. Wang sighed, "I thought her old man was just waiting to enjoy the blessings of her children and grandchildren. How could she have such a fierce illness again?" .”

Li Wan said to Mrs. Wang: "Madam, don't panic. The old lady is very lucky. She must be out of danger. I will pack my luggage and go back to Jinling to serve the old lady. Both the lady and the master must take care of themselves and do their best." The health of the elders is the blessing of the younger generation.:

Mrs. Wang got a little comfort, and she was very grateful in her heart. She held Li Wan's hand tightly and said, "You are a good boy, I understand in my heart. If you go this time, I will take good care of Lan'er and Lingxi."

Fearing that Daiyu, Baoyu and others would be distracted if they learned about this and would hinder the physical examination, Mrs. Wang and Li Wan ordered the people around them not to spread the matter, and if there was any leak, they would be beaten to death and thrown out.The news was sealed anyway, but Li Wan didn't know how to explain to Jia Lan, Daiyu and the others why he had to leave home and didn't know when he would be back.

"I shouldn't have said it, but I was afraid that you would be worried, so I had to tell you." Li Wan had no choice but to lie and said, "Madam Feng is not in good health, and working hard for days has made her symptoms worse. This time, I will go and take care of her. , by the way, take sister Qiao to see her mother, and show filial piety in front of the old lady, which is also the wish of my wife and me."

Daiyu said with a smile: "You two are capable people, neither of you can do without it. Now you are in charge of the mansion here. If you leave, aren't you afraid that the mansion will become a mess?"

Jia Lan said: "Mother, just go, I will take care of Gu Lingxi."

Li Wan rubbed Jia Lan's head: "Good boy, you should rest easy."

Daiyu said: "Your two elder brothers are well-behaved and obedient. You don't need to worry about it. It's just that when you leave, many things will inevitably be delayed. I am inconvenient, but I will take care of it for you if I can Never mind, you're welcome."

Li Wan smiled and nodded: "Exactly."

When Sister Qiao heard that she was going back to see Sister Feng, she was as happy as anything else, and asked her personal maid, An'er, to pack her luggage and the purse she had just learned to embroider: "This is for Mom."

"Sister is so good." Li Wan hugged Qiao Jie with a smile and said, "When I see your mother, don't cry."

Sister Qiao nodded vigorously and said: "Well, I don't cry, my mother will cry when I cry, it will be bad for her health."

Li Wan kissed Sister Qiao, then personally checked the things that An'er and the others packed up, and after confirming that there was nothing missing, he confessed a few words and went back to his room.Li Wan and Sister Qiao rode in an eight-wheeled carriage covered with red-colored treasures. In addition to their own personal servants, Li Wan brought eight rough envoys, eight servants, and a group of old housekeepers and twenty Accompanied by a nursing home, they hurried to Jinling overnight.

After arriving in Jinling, only Sister Feng and Yuanyang, who were much thinner, came out to greet them.Before the two could speak, Sister Feng choked up when she caught sight of Sister Qiao, holding her hand for a long time and refusing to let go.

"Why are you alone today?" Li Wan asked in a low voice when he entered the inner courtyard and saw that the mansion was still quiet and there was no maid from Mrs. Xing's side to invite her.

Sister Feng finally let go of Sister Qiao and asked Ping'er to lead her to rest in the room. Seeing Li Wan's question, she sneered and said, "I didn't have the nerve to tell you before, but now I can't hide it. The old man didn't do anything after you entered Beijing." How long has it been since I smoked bubble cigarettes, and I can’t come out of the room all day long, and I can’t even take care of my little wife. A person who is as stingy as the eldest wife has also acquired this habit for some reason. It's never been so easy, smoking on the kang every day, it's much closer than usual."

Li Wan was stunned.She didn't know what bubble tobacco was, she just thought it was something like snuff tobacco: "Isn't this stuff only liked by elderly men, why is the eldest lady..."

"It seems that you don't know yet." Sister Feng shook her head: "It comes from the capital. I heard that many old men and wives from rich families are addicted to it. They can't stand it for a day. This bubble cigarettes are very expensive. It is not uncommon for some people from ordinary families to lose their fortunes because of this little thing. It is not uncommon for a handful of dark soil-like things to cost ten taels of silver, and ten taels of silver is only enough for one person to spend a day. No wonder!"

Li Wan was shocked: "According to this, the eldest wife should be the first to jump. Why did she also smoke?"

Sister Feng said: "At first I thought the same as you, but after being coaxed by the old man to take a few sips, the eldest lady changed her words: 'We are not the ones who can't afford to smoke, so we can save one item wherever we want. , It’s enough for us to smoke for half a year. You pick up money all day long, it’s not filial, what’s the use of you!” Grandma, listen to this, what do you want me to say? Although there are few masters in this house More than half of it, and the daily expenses are based on your old rules, and you can save more than 1 taels of silver every year. With the current momentum, even if our master gets better one day, he may still have to post it. "

Li Wan faintly sensed the horror of this thing, and couldn't help shivering: "It's good that the second master didn't touch it."

Sister Feng snorted and said, "Although he didn't touch him, he didn't get much better. The old lady was sick, and the old man and the old lady didn't take care of him. He became more and more contented, and went crazy outside like a prisoner. Singing opera The flower sellers, all the dirty and smelly ones are dragged into the mansion, I told him; just stay outside as you like, and if you bring those pickled things into the mansion, I won’t give you a penny That's how he restrained himself a little."

Li Wan didn't know how to answer, so he just bowed his head.But Sister Feng didn't care much, and talked about Jia Mu's symptoms again: "Many famous doctors were invited, but they didn't work. One doctor gave one prescription, and we didn't dare to mix it up to eat people, so we had to use ginseng soup and The pills you left before are kept. Did you bring that medicine?"

After being reminded by her like this, Li Wan remembered the last box of Huichun pills he brought, and asked Suyun to take it out to Sister Feng: "One pill a day, serve the old lady Matsushita, don't stop."

Sister Feng nodded: "I'm just waiting for your medicine to save my life. You don't want to visit her today. It's rare that you can sleep soundly and don't feel dizzy. Just wait until tomorrow!"

The two talked privately for a while, until it was getting dark, and then they set up a meal and had a rest together.Ping'er led Li Wan to the tidied room, and she whispered to Li Wan, "When Grandma comes, most of my heart will be relieved."

Li Wan made fun of her: "Why, is your grandma useless?"

Ping'er laughed and said: "For someone who is strong, after all these years of torture, it is already rare to be able to look like her. I just hope that the future will be safe and secure, and nothing will happen again."

After Ping'er left, Li Wan took off his makeup in front of the mirror, staring at the candles in the lampstand in a daze.Although the mansion on the Jinling side is still the same, there is an aura that makes her feel very uncomfortable. It seems that this is all a joke made by the fox ghost. Once she wakes up the next day, she will find herself lying in the middle of a cemetery , everything is an illusion.

Looking at the empty palms, Li Wan found a very embarrassing thing: she had promised to give all the crops in Zhuangzi to the expert in the Nebula Realm for a year, what should she use in exchange for the elixir that could turn the tide this year? What about panaceas?

Suddenly, Li Wan's eyebrows jumped: I almost forgot about that thing!

According to the number of shortages, the expert only refers to the living spirits in her village, but does not include the two boxes of dragon spirits she stored in the vacancy building...

Li Wan asked Ah Ba to sell her two boxes of Dragon Essence as soon as possible, and Ah Ba was surprised: "Don't you stay at the Wanbao Sheng to exchange it? It's not worth selling this thing, and it's even more profitable to sell it eagerly."

Li Wan said with a smile: "Something happened, and I am in a hurry to spend money, so I don't want to wait."

Ah Ba said: "If you are inconvenient, I can embezzle you a sum of money first."

Li Wan hurriedly said: "Thank you for your kindness, but you are also hitting the bottleneck recently, and there are a lot of things that need to be spent. As long as I can think of a way, I will never bother you."

Ah Ba nodded, gave Li Wan ten boxes of Huichun Pills and said, "Since this is the case, I can still give this little thing. If you refuse again, you will look down on me."

Li Wan thanked him thousands of times, and handed the dragon essence to Ah Ba. Ah Ba said: "Don't worry, I will find someone I know and tell him not to lower your price."

Holding the heavy ten boxes of Rejuvenation Pills out of the vacancy building, Li Wan breathed a sigh of relief.

After finally finding a way to greet Jia Amnesty and Mrs. Xing, Li Wan was so shocked by their disorganized appearance that he couldn't recover for a long time.Sister Feng is used to these things, so she asked the little maid to carry the food over and said: "It's pretty quiet today, sometimes things at hand are too late, and the bubble cigarettes can't be refilled for them for a while, and the dishes were thrown and pushed in the room." The one on the table is like being haunted."

Li Wan asked, "Why don't you put more in that room?"

Sister Feng said: "This thing can't be used too much at one time, it's a trivial matter to go crazy, and some people can't get over it all at once."

Li Wan's heart skipped a beat, and his face changed: "Isn't this a poison? How can it be used! Hurry up and ask the elder and the eldest wife to see the doctor."

Sister Feng silently shook her head: "It's useless to ask for it, so I have to keep smoking. It doesn't mean that you die all at once. Isn't life a slow death?"

Li Wan was still about to say something, but Sister Feng said: "The old lady seems to be awake. You can go and have a look with me."

Li Wan had no choice but to swallow his words and went to see Jia Mu with Sister Feng.Mother Jia's illness came on so suddenly and so badly that even though she had survived the crisis with the Huichun Pill, she was still speechless at the moment, just watching Li Wan and Sister Feng weeping, she couldn't speak.

Seeing this scene, Li Wan was heartbroken, so he resisted and said to Jia Mu: "Don't be anxious, old lady. This disease will recover if you take good care of it. Don't be in a hurry to say something to me. I don't care." Wait until your old man recovers from his illness, what do you think?"

Mother Jia calmed down a little, and looked at the two of them in a daze.Sister Feng served Jiamu with medicine and put her to sleep. The two told the little maid who was guarding her a few words, and walked out of the room lightly.

After talking with Li Wan, Sister Feng went to see Sister Qiao. Li Wan was free to relax in the garden alone.After walking for a while, I saw the lush flowers and trees in the garden, the gurgling water, the pavilions were as new, and even the sun above my head was gentle and warm, so I felt a little better.

This time Li Wan's return was not a big one, but it still alarmed some relatives in the Jia family. People came to visit Ann for a few days, many of them came to beg for mercy, and Li Wan sent them away one by one.After the entertainment was finally over, she and Sister Feng had tea on the kang and took care of the housework. Suddenly, a servant from the Wei family came to invite him with a post.

Sister Feng said: "Grandma Wei's family has also come here a few times, but the old lady doesn't recognize her anymore, it's a pity to see her. You can go for a walk, just to relax, you are too tired at these times."

Li Wan agreed.The next day, she took the maid to the Wei Mansion by car, and saw Xiangyun greeted her at the door with red eyes: "The house is small, so don't take offense if you lack etiquette. Grandma is cruel. When she comes, she won't come." See me!"

Li Wan was also a little sentimental: "You also know the situation in the mansion here, how can you not see you on purpose."

Xiangyun and a woman approached Li Wan into the room, and after a while a young girl who had only kept her head brought tea came up and then withdrew.Xiangyun asked the servants who came with Li Wan to drink tea and eat snacks outside, and left Li Wan to talk.

"Maybe you know about the matter of the elder and the eldest wife in the mansion?"

Li Wan asked in surprise, "Do you know something?"

Xiangyun said in a low voice: "Earlier I told Sister Feng overtly and secretly, but she just pushed the words away. After thinking about it, I realized that she is still happy and at ease with the appearance of the eldest wife. How can she want to be born?" If you ask me to catch you today, you will have to meddle in your own business, and I will not let the old lady love me for so many years."

Li Wan straightened his face and said, "Good girl, just tell me."

"My father got help from you, and now he is a small official in Jinling. Although it is not as good as before, at least we can get some news about the officialdom. This bubble is only sold in Beijing, and it is not a person. You can buy them all. There are only a few households in Jinling, and they often run out of stock and make a fuss. The old man in your house was originally a idle job, and later he was imprisoned. How can there be such a big one? Face? Could it be that someone tricked me?"

Li Wan thought about it carefully: "I'm afraid... I can't stop? As you said, what is there to keep an eye on for the elder?"

Xiangyun shook his head: "I asked my father to inquire secretly, but he couldn't figure out the origin of the person who delivered cigarettes to your house. To be honest, this kind of trick is definitely not something that a serious businessman can do. I'm afraid that those barbarians have crooked ways and made the family suffer for nothing."

The two talked for a long time, and Li Wan became more and more worried. Even the banquet and opera that Xiangyun carefully prepared later felt indifferent.After resigning from Xiangyun, Li Wan wrote a letter to Laifu, telling her to find out who was selling bubble cigarettes.

Originally, Jia's mother took Huichun Pills intermittently, so the effect was natural and reluctant.Now with Li Wan's stable supply, Jia's mother gradually turned around, she stopped spitting, and her spirit became stronger. Although she was still unable to speak, it made Li Wan and Sister Feng very happy.

In order to cheer Jiamu up and get rid of her illness, Sister Feng asked someone to cut new clothes for Jiamu with red dragon and phoenix Chengxiang Ruyi satin, and replaced all the bedding and stalls with silk and satin in festive colors, and changed many auspicious decorations in the room. Please, A group of Taoist priests came to the mansion to do healing exercises.

As usual, Jia Amnesty and Mrs. Xing concentrated on smoking bubble cigarettes and didn't take this matter to heart. Only Jia Lian was very dissatisfied and murmured: "He's not dead yet, let's do the ritual first! Money is like water, so don't worry about it." Go up the right path." Because of Li Wan's presence, he couldn't show it, so he had to preside over the affairs with a smiling face, which was decent.It's a pity that the dog couldn't change his eating shit, so he hooked up with a pretty little Taoist priest before he was serious for a long time.The little Taoist priest was also a familiar one, he was used to it by his master, seeing that he was interested, he lost his eyes and turned around and left.Jia Lian chased after her in a hurry, and the two met at the corner of the corridor. Unable to stick their hands and feet, they pushed open the door of the corner room impatiently and rolled onto the bed...