The maid of the red house

With Manager Lai as godfather, the benefits are obvious.Although Xueyan had known for a long time that the servants of the Rongguo Mansion were able to adapt to the wind, she was still shocked after experiencing it herself. She felt that what she was living now was not a girl's life, but a daughter's life.

First of all, whoever she sent something to, immediately there were little girls and women rushing to run errands, and when they came out and went in, they greeted her when they saw her; secondly, she had to wash her face, hair, feet, and bathe without opening her mouth, and hot water, soap, eggs, etc. It's all ready, even the little girl who carries the water to take a bath; Then her regular dishes are more than two grades higher than before, and the number is the same, but what she eats is red rice porridge, green rice, and pickled civet cats; When she made clothes for the servants in the winter mansion, her clothes were silk and satin for official use, and her jewelry was real gold beads. These treatments were not available to Xueyan in the past, only the mandarin duck Xiren Ping'er had them.

Xueyan looked at the two sets of winter clothes, two hairpins, and two bracelets that the mansion had just brought over, and smiled wryly, "What do you mean?"

"Just take care of yourself, don't feel sorry. In our mansion, apart from the old lady and Baoyu, the most respectable people are not the masters, but the big stewards like Mr. Lai, who is in charge of their livelihood. Over the back porch All the young men call out Grandpa Lai, can you not flatter you?" Zijuan said while putting away the clothes and jewelry handed in by the little girls below.

It is a rule in the house that the little girl's clothes and money are collected by the big maid, and Zijuan does her part. It takes a lot of time to take care of them every day. Fortunately, Xueyan Tinglan and the others keep their own things, so she doesn't need to worry about it. .

Xueyan said with a sad face: "I, a girl, always feel uncomfortable after being treated like this."

Daiyu finished looking at the clothes and jewelry made for herself in the mansion, frowned and walked over to see what the maids got, and said: "If you are not comfortable, go out and play around for a while, there is no good in staying in the mansion after all. Locked in the boudoir, in fact Daiyu yearns for the scenery outside, but she has never been out since she entered the Rongguo Mansion. In the past, Xueyan would tell her when she came back, "I remember you mentioned, you recognize a Poor little father-in-law, it’s almost winter, so go and have a look and send me a winter coat.”

Xueyan did not shy away from telling her about the hardships of people's livelihood outside, look, although your parents are dead, you are still well-clothed and well-fed, and your life is much better than the traffickers, pawns, and eunuchs outside. The price they pay for survival is beyond your imagination. Unexpectedly, this move was quite effective, which aroused Daiyu's sympathy, and gradually reduced the number of times of self-injury.

Speaking of Yu Liansheng, it has been almost half a year since we last met, Xue Yan said: "I don't know how Brother Yu is doing now."

"Then you go and have a look. You are a little father-in-law anyway, and you can't get a bad reputation." Daiyu directly decided for her, and called Zijuan to say: "Grab two scorpions and bring them to the snow geese, and take care of them in the palace. Man, this one is inconspicuous and lightweight."

The winter clothes were made by Zijuan Tinglan and others with the help of Xueyan. The cotton cloth is covered with green satin, wadding new cotton, and the thick-soled green cotton shoes.They don't know what kind of work they do in the room. When it's done, Xueyan wraps it in a furoshiki and asks Sister Feng for leave.

Sister Feng took time out of her busy schedule to ask why, and she heard that it was Xueyan's old friend, and she was also an alternate young eunuch who was about to enter the palace as an errand. It's different, sent two young girls and two women to follow, and sent two older people to follow the car, Xueyan took a car, and the girls and women took a car.

Such ostentation is worthy of the Rongguo Mansion.

Xueyan smiled wryly.

When they arrived at the shed where Yu Liansheng lived, Xueyan was about to get out of the car. The woman who came out with her hurriedly said, "It's very cold outside. The girl is waiting in the car. I'll go and have a look." Although she sent someone to go out with her, the little girl and the mother-in-law are in Daiyu's room. They have always been close to Xueyan and avoided gossip.

Xueyan nodded and said, "Mother Laojin asked if Julien was here."

Mrs. Jin got out of the car and went over to ask, and came back and said: "The girl is not in the shed. I heard from the people who live next to each other in the shed that Brother Yu moved out a month ago."

After Xue Yan heard this, although she expected it, she was a little disappointed.

"Let's go back." Since Julienson is not here, he presumably has a new place to go. After all, he has enough money and won't suffer hardships. Xueyan greeted Mrs. Jin to get into the car, and was about to lower the curtain to tell the driver to turn around, when she caught a glimpse of him. When Yu Liansheng came here on snow, he couldn't help being surprised and shouted, "Brother Yu!"

Yu Liansheng's heart skipped a beat, and he looked up to see Xueyan sitting on the carriage, with his upper body leaning forward slightly, his face full of concern.

Before finishing it, Yu Liansheng strode forward and said with a smile, "My sister is here."

Xueyan hurriedly helped the mother-in-law out of the car, pulled the snow cap on her head, and said, "I was thinking about where my elder brother has moved, and I am afraid that I will never see you again. I don't think my elder brother will come back."

"I'm afraid that my sister will come back to find me. After I move to the shelter, I will come here every day." Yu Liansheng attached great importance to Xue Yan, a girl who is not her own sister better than her own sister, and explained earnestly, "It's too cold in winter. I was afraid of freezing here, so I spent a penny to get a small room in the shelter, which is a bit rough, but fortunately it can keep out the wind and snow.”

A burst of warmth came over her heart, Xueyan's eyes were slightly sour, and she couldn't help but look at Yu Liansheng, only to see that he was taller, wearing a coarse cotton jacket without patches, and his complexion was pale and rosy, not the sallow and emaciated face he used to be. the sadness.

"Brother should be like this, I was thinking in my heart, if my brother lives here, I don't know how to spend the winter." Xueyan took out the bag and handed it to him, because the little girl and the mother-in-law are closely following her, it is difficult to explain Daiyu Fortunately, the gold and silver zippers were all wrapped in the cotton-padded jacket, and he said: "This is a set of winter clothes that our girl ordered our sisters to make together. Don't think it's rough, brother, you can wear it. The mansion is busy at the end of the year." Very well, the next time I go out, at least it’s the first month, I don’t know if I can see my eldest brother.”

Yu Liansheng raised his eyebrows, Xueyan can't do good deeds without leaving a name, so when they met last time, she told Yu Liansheng that she was working in the Rongguo Mansion and lived in the mansion with her cousin girl.

Yu Liansheng was an extremely flexible man, he used the money from Xueyan to buy his belongings, and in the past six months, he often sold clay figurines and dough figurines in the streets and alleys. I also inquired about the Rongguo Mansion, and knew that there was an empress in their mansion, and they were building a family-friendly villa.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to say goodbye to my sister. As soon as the first month comes out, the superiors will come to select candidates. It will take a long time." Yu Liansheng also felt a little regretful, and felt reluctant, "Once we enter the palace, we will see each other again." , let alone what year and month it will be."

"Brother, please take care, there are strict rules in the palace." Xue Yan could hear a trace of confusion and hesitation in his tone, yes, once entering the palace gate is as deep as the sea, who knows whether he will be promoted step by step, or sent off in a blink of an eye? killed?But I don't understand the rules of survival in the palace, so I can only comfort with a forced smile: "Brother, don't be reluctant when it's time to take care of it. It's important to stand firm first."

Yu Liansheng nodded and smiled, and his stomach full of words was transformed into one sentence: "Don't worry!"

After saying something more, under the urging of the girl and woman, Xue Yanfang took his leave and left. Yu Liansheng stood on the snowy ground and looked at the wheel marks on the ground. After a long time, he suddenly turned around and left.

Time is like running water, and it is the end of the year, and Xueyan can't tolerate wild thoughts.

Daiyu reminded Xueyan, "Don't forget to give gifts and kowtow to Nanny Lai and Mrs. Lai Chief Manager."

"The girl reminded me a month ago. I didn't see her eyeballs were red. She made the clothes for Mammy Lai and the others by herself. It was really exquisite." Zijuan used carved lacquer The freshly boiled red rice porridge came in on a tray.

In recent years, the food in the mansion has become more and more greasy, Daiyu has a bland taste, she is not used to it, and she is annoyed that no one remembers that she is still in Xiaozhong, so eight out of ten times she does not eat, and only drinks in her room Congee and soup, served with light side dishes from the kitchen, the strange thing is that the kitchen never shirks and always brings them right away.

Daiyu was slightly puzzled by their quickness at first, but Zijuan said: "They can't wait to flatter us, but Xueyan and I never order food, so if we do it occasionally, we will make them happy." Like, I think there is a chance to please. If there are people in our room who order food every day, seeing how quick they are, I'm afraid they will have to say that they are not enough to serve the master, and they have to serve the second-level master. There are only old ladies and Baoyu Fang in the house. Only the big maids in the village go to order food, so they are treated like this." They are not so lucky.

Xueyan also laughed and said: "Don't be instructed by the little girl in our room. Only the girl is more delicate, but the girl has a small appetite. The fat chickens and ducks saved are all theirs. They are not willing to flatter them?"

After understanding the ins and outs, Daiyu didn't care anymore.

So today Xueyan listened to what Daiyu and Zijuan said, and said with a smile: "Girl, don't worry about me. I asked Xiaojiuer to let the kitchen stir-fry a mung bean sprouts with oil and salt. We made the porridge ourselves, which was very clean." , girl, let’s eat a little.”

As soon as the words fell, Xiao Jiu'er came over with a food box, and Ting Lan took over and placed it on the kang table.

Today's side dishes are stir-fried mung bean sprouts, vinegared cabbage, a plate of egg spinach pancakes, and a plate of four small steamed buns. The spinach is also called the red-billed green parrot, not the red bean sprouts from Huanzhugeli Ziwei. Green-mouthed parrot, but the ancients had this nickname long ago. Daiyu felt refreshed when she saw it, and she actually ate a bowl of porridge and a small steamed bun with the side dishes.

He was so happy that Zicuckoo chanted Buddha and said: "Girls like to eat, and I will ask them to cook these side dishes tomorrow."

Xueyan smiled and said: "Young girl usually eats less medicine, so she can eat an extra bowl of rice. According to me, whole grains are the best for health, better than anything else. The girl's appetite is only so small. What's wrong with taking medicine?" Can you still eat? Besides, the medicine is three-point poisonous, the girl moves around more, thinks more about diet and takes less medicine, and the energy and blood will naturally be sufficient."

Daiyu was a little moved when she heard this, and nodded for a long time and said: "Just do as you said, I don't like to take medicine. Although I have been taking medicine since I was a child when I could eat, I usually wear thicker clothes, but except for every Spring Equinox and Autumn Equinox have old illnesses, ask the doctor to take medicine, and only take nourishing ginseng Yangrong pills, but in the mouth of the servants, I turned into a medicine jar."

After going through joys and sorrows, and having known about the outside world, Daiyu knew from Xueyan that worrying and being sick is not a good reputation, and she also wanted to change.She always felt that what Xueyan said made sense, and no one had ever taught her these points that should be paid attention to.

Zijuan gritted her teeth and said: "It's the villain who is talkative and spreads everything out! Speaking of this, I don't accept it. Why don't others say that they are sick, but when the girl coughs, everyone knows it. Said that the girl is not in good health and will fall when the wind blows? In what year will the young and delicate elder brother and sister not be sick twice? In what year will the second girl not take medicine several times? Ms. Shi has lived here for many years and hasn’t invited a doctor? And that girl Bao’s illness is no less serious than the girl’s, she just looks strong, and I don’t know where to go for the second pill after eating it. Vice go!"

Xueyan heard it funny, then felt sad, and sighed: "Since you understand, we should restrain the others in the room, so that we can take care of the girl, keep a good body, and then subtly influence the girl to be a filial piety queen, so that everyone outside will know Our girl has already recuperated very well, so the reputation of the diseased seedling medicine jar will not be on our girl's head."

It is necessary to take good care of Daiyu's body. Seeing her ruddy complexion, even though she is as thin as before, others will know that she is healthy, so that people will propose marriage. If she has always had a reputation of being sick, how can she The family also refused to marry.