The maid of the red house

Others don't know, Du Xueyan knows that Daiyu has long wanted to get together with her sisters, but as a daughter-in-law, she must have her mother-in-law's permission before she can post outside, so today she got her wish, shaking her hand The fan, watching Daiyu write the post, reminded: "Miss, don't forget the girls in Rongguo Mansion, please invite them to have fun too."

Although the men of Ningrong State Mansion are not good, the girls are all good.

Let them come out to learn more, maybe there will be unexpected joy, thinking of the fate of Zhuchai, Xueyan sighed in her heart, Daiyu has escaped from the tragic end, so she doesn't know what their fate will be.

Daiyu paused when she heard this, sighed softly, and said: "Except for Wang's family, I seldom see the sisters when I enjoy flowers with the daughters of other families for fun, and I forgot about it for a while. That's okay, please come out." Walk around, seeing people is better than not seeing them."

After finishing speaking, as expected, I wrote six other posts, and sent them to Yingchun, Tanchun, Baochai, Xiangyun, Baoqin, and Xiuyan. Because Xichun was still keeping her filial piety, I didn't invite her to come over. I was just sending posts. At that time, I prepared a few more melon and fruit snacks for my sisters, and Wei Xichun doubled the thickness, and I also gave two pots of pomegranate flowers.

As soon as I sent Lao Song's mother to take someone there, I saw Hongxing, the eldest girl in Mrs. Zhou's room, come over with a tray, greeted Daiyu, and said, "Greetings to grandma, my wife ordered me to bring the monthly money to grandma." .”

When Xueyan heard this, Fang remembered that it had been a month since Daiyu married into the Zhou family.

Daiyu put down her pen and got up, and said with a smile, "Why did my sister send it? Just send a little girl to get it."

Hong Xing said: "How can a little girl do such an important job?"

As he spoke, he handed the tray to Xueyan, and said: "Here is the monthly money of the uncle and grandma, 20 taels each, the two teaching mothers and the Wang mothers are each two taels, the six sisters Xueyan and Zijuan are each It's a penny, so is Liangchen, Meijing and two first-class servants. Our family doesn't have one or two maids or servants. Qingmei and I are also a penny. It's five hundred dollars, you count."

Xueyan put down her fan and held it in her hand. She knew the number at a glance, and said with a smile: "You have explained every word clearly, and I am afraid that you will be short of the number?" Even so, it is still counting. Got it, no more, no less.

But Daiyu wondered: "How much is the wife's monthly salary? Why is my uncle and I also 20 taels?" If she remembers correctly, in the Rongguo Mansion, only Mrs. Jia's mother, Mrs. Xing Wang, and Li Wan were paid 20 taels each. The rest are all in twos, threes, fours, twos, threes, fours, the Zhou family is more frugal than the Rongguo Mansion, how can she and Zhou Hong's monthly money be equal to that of Jia Mu and others?

Hong Xing was stunned, and hurriedly said: "Master and wife's monthly money is 24 taels, the second master, third master and eldest girl are each two taels, because the uncle and grandma have already married, and the uncle's salary has been handed over to the public, so I mentioned 20 taels per month."

Daiyu laughed and said, "So that's how it was. Sister Lao sent it in person."

During the days when she came to Zhou's house, Daiyu secretly paid attention, lest she might do something wrong. She knew that Zhou's family was upright and very strict. For rewards, they still keep their own place and perform their duties, unlike the Rongguo mansion who steal and play tricks, only think about good errands, and shirk bad errands, and rely on the seniors to exploit them, Daiyu is already The Zhou family didn't live in Rongguo Mansion, so naturally they didn't say "reward", they just asked the little girl to pour some exquisite new tea to eat with her.

After Hongxing leaves, Daiyu asks Xueyan to hand out the monthly money.

After cooking, Xueyan went back to the room and said with a smile: "This is good, the girl is more relaxed in her hands."

Daiyu said angrily, "Why calm down? You and I don't lack these, and don't even think about it. How much is his annual salary? How can it be enough for a month? It's just a wife's subsidy. What's more, I have an order, and I have Salary, but these don’t have to be handed over to the public.”

Xueyan thought so too, Zhou Hong's annual salary was 130 taels, and the monthly salary of the couple for two or three months was 120 taels, so she secretly rejoiced for Daiyu, Daiyu lived a happy life, and she could feel at ease when she left.

She found that all the expenses for entertainment between Daiyu and other families were paid by her father-in-law. Now that she was married, she gave gifts in the name of the Zhou family. They are also very envious of the Zhou family for being an upright family. Mrs. Zhou can only be happy, so naturally she will not be petty to let Daiyu take out her own money, and Mrs. Zhou has never cared about everything in Daiyu's house, and only occasionally asks the young couple if they are okay. , and never interfered with anything else, Daiyu was very at ease and hardly touched herself.

For Mrs. Zhou, Xueyan has always admired her very much. Although Mrs. Zhou would not treat Daiyu like Zhou Yan, she is more than ten times better than other mothers-in-law. She has never been picky about Daiyu. Let her make a point, and then the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law share the same table, which is completely different from the Rongguo Mansion's rule that mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have different tables.

What Xueyan was most worried about was that Daiyu would not eat on time, which would be bad for her health. Seeing this, she finally felt relieved.

Right now, she only hoped that Zhou Hong would take Daiyu south as soon as possible, and return the things to them by herself. Everything was over, nothing had happened, and she would leave by herself. Hope to be a good citizen.She believed that even if she left, with the backers of Daiyu and Yu Liansheng, she would not be as miserable as ordinary people.

Daiyu knew her thoughts very well, she had said it several times, it was enough to let her leave now, anyway, the deed was already given to her, so why bother to be a slave in a humble manner, but Xueyan felt that nothing was given to her, so it was not easy to leave, so Daiyu Yu also hopes that Zhou Hong will be free as soon as possible, and when she goes south with her to worship her parents, she will take over the things, so that Xueyan can leave with peace of mind.

But when Daiyu's post was sent to Rongguo Mansion, all the sisters were overjoyed.

These days, people in the mansion have been on their backs because of Baoyu alone. Fortunately, Xueyan has served in front of her for more than [-] days, and Baoyu is healed. Zizi, I got Daiyu's post today, thinking of going out to make friends, I am naturally happy in my heart, so I go to ask Jiamu for instructions.

Mother Jia just saw the Dragon Boat Festival gift from the Zhou family, and she was a little sad after all. She has raised Daiyu for nearly ten years. From the ceremony, it can be seen that she is already someone else's daughter-in-law. She heard that Daiyu sent another post to invite her sisters They ate wine and admired the flowers, and said with a smile: "I also loved the excitement when I was young, but now I don't want to move around when I'm old. Since Yu'er invites you, you go there. There is only one thing I ask you, be generous and don't be shy. It made outsiders laugh at our family."

Everyone agreed, and hurriedly replied to the post solemnly.

The flower appreciation meeting was scheduled for the second day of May, before the Dragon Boat Festival, and early this morning, the sisters Yingchun Tanchunchai Yunqinyan had all dressed up, and the two of them went to Zhou's house in a car and handed over the post.

The concierge accepted the post and notified the inside. When she was young, Daiyu took Zhou Yan to the second gate and accepted it in person.

At that time, the usual sisters had already reached eight or nine out of ten, and they were chatting and laughing in the pavilion in the garden. Daiyu led Yingchun sisters and others to visit Mrs. Zhou first. After Mrs. Zhou said a few words, she asked Daiyu to take them to the garden. Playing in the courtyard, when they saw the young ladies and ladies in the pavilion, everyone laughed and said, "Which family's daughter is this? I have never seen it before."

Daiyu smiled and said: "They are all sisters from my grandmother's family. I invite you to come here today, and ask them to come and recognize people."

When everyone heard that it was a girl from Rongguo Mansion, they couldn't help but look at each other.They had already heard about Daiyu's marriage, and they all secretly despised what the Rongguo Mansion did, and felt sorry for Daiyu's life, but they never thought that Daiyu would invite them here. Thinking of Daiyu's personality, it was hard for her Yes, they all looked over with a smile.

Zhao Yanran pointed at her and said with a smile: "I just said, it's so easy for you to do something for a while, how can you not be more lively? There are really many people here today, so quickly call you sisters and sisters over here and let me have a look, don't go out tomorrow, see you I don't even recognize her face." Zhao Yanran is the daughter of the Eldest Princess, and she is married to the son of Prince Zhongshun, who is higher than the concubine of the county, and has the most prestigious status among all the people, so it is justifiable to say this.

Zhang Hui said with a smile: "Hearing your tone, you have given us the money of the concubine, everyone will try their best to pour you two glasses in a while."

Except for Sang Wan and Sang Yuan and other juniors of the sisters who Su Ri and Dai Yu made friends with, the others who are older than her have all left the court. Zhang Hui and Mo Xin are the same age, and Mo Xin is married. The old lady of Zhang Hui's family passed away last year, and her husband is the eldest grandson, who has to observe filial piety for three years, so she is still dressed as a girl, and no one refute her when she speaks.

Yan Ran blushed, and spat: "Don't treat me as a girl, just come and laugh at me, I don't believe it, there will be no time for me to laugh at you tomorrow. Besides, can I still say that I will see you girls?" they?"

Although Chaitan and the others didn't know Yanran's identity, when they heard the word Shizifei, they already understood, so they were so busy that they didn't dare to come over to see her.

Daiyu led the Yingchun sisters to meet with everyone and took their seats.

Xueyan brought tea, then stepped back, leaving Zijuan to serve her, and went to talk to the maids by herself.

Qiuju is now Yanran's dowry girl, when she saw Xueyan, she led her to Huayin to talk to herself, and said with a smile: "I never thought that you are Aunt Nanhua's sister, so I just said how I see you are very kind." , I haven’t seen each other since then, but today it’s easy to see each other, and let’s get together.”

Xueyan smiled slightly. When Nanhua died, funeral ceremony was given everywhere, including Princess Yongchang. No wonder Qiuju knew about it.

Qiu Juyin asked: "You girls are married, what are your plans?"

Xue Yan was startled, then said, "What are you planning?"

Qiu Ju poked her forehead lightly, and said: "You are such a smart person, you still don't understand what I mean? Your family has different rules than other families. If you stay here, you can only marry a servant, at most a manager. What kind of future do you have? You have Aunt Nanhua's face in the palace, so if you ask me to let you out and choose yourself, wouldn't it be better than being in the palace?"

Xueyan smiled and said: "Sister, don't worry, I already have a plan."

After hearing this, Qiu Ju nodded her head and remained silent.

After a while, Qiu Ju asked: "Why are the girls from Rongguo Mansion going out today? It's really rare."

Xueyan smiled and said: "We girls thought those girls were very lonely at home, so we invited them over to have fun, knowing a few people so that we can move around in the future, it's better than being bored at home and not knowing everything."

Qiu Ju nodded, and said softly: "I can't even look at the affairs of that mansion. Thanks to all of you who have endured like lamp oil for so many years, you are still thinking about the girls in their family. I think it's to let the young ladies of all families If you know them, you can have a lifetime. Who doesn’t know now, if your master hadn’t left some things and money for your girls privately, how could you get out of the cabinet with dignity.”

Although this matter was expected, Xue Yan still couldn't help asking: "Is that what people say?"

Lin Ruhai's behavior was really sophisticated and ruthless. I don't know if he had other arrangements, but unfortunately, he also misread it. I don't know which family took the 5000 taels of gold and didn't send it.

Qiu Ju said quietly: "I heard it when our concubine and the concubine were talking, and everyone outside said that! You also know that the people who put on makeup at the time were only relatives and friends of the Rongguo Mansion and some old friends of your girl's family. You can talk a lot, but after all, there are those who are not strict with their mouths. They spread the word one after another, and everyone knows the scene that day, saying that one hundred thousand of your girl's more than 20 taels of silver was kept by the Sang family. Forty thousand is the bride price from the Zhou family, fifty thousand is from Mrs. Ji, and tens of thousands is your wife's dowry money, except for Shi Taijun, the Rongguo Mansion didn't give you any money."

As she said that, Qiu Ju gave Xue Yan a push and asked, "I'm asking you, is it really true?"

Xueyan smiled and said, "You know everything, what else do you ask?"

Qiu Ju was speechless secretly, and said: "It's lucky that you can hold back this breath, and don't even think about it. I've heard Wang Hao and Shi Zifei say how much wealth your master has left behind, and you don't even have a piece of it."

Xueyan smiled lightly, and said: "After all, the Rongguo Mansion has raised our girl for so many years."

Qiu Ju nodded unconsciously when she heard the words: "That's right, even if the mansion doesn't give you a dowry of half a penny, you girls can't complain about your grievances, you can only swallow bitterness in your stomach. Our princes and concubines all say that we admire your master." It's a means, I haven't forgotten to vent my anger on you girls after a few years."

Xueyan said softly: "Our master once said that if a girl's dowry is as much as 30 taels, he would ask Mrs. Ji to quietly give 5000 taels to our girl. I think our master expects the Rongguo Mansion to act like this, but everything is not as expected. That's all."

Qiu Ju counted with her fingers, shook her head and said, "30 is only 300-[-]%, but they are not willing to give it to you girls. It's not a loss if you lose face. You got [-]-[-] million for no reason. Don’t be afraid of what people say.”

Xueyan sighed deeply, there was no reason to spit out the silver that had been swallowed.

Qiu Ju asked again: "I heard that since your girl came out of the cabinet, you haven't had very close contacts with the Rongguo Mansion? Maybe it's because of your master's actions that you hate your girl?"

Xueyan hurriedly laughed and said, "It's not necessarily true. Their family's second master Bao has been ill for 30 days, so how can they have any thoughts about dating?"

Qiu Ju curled her lips and said, "Don't say good things for their family. How can I not know about their family? You also know that our palace and their family have always had rifts. That phoenix-like Baoyu was beaten hard, and apart from the second master of their family who came to plead guilty, he had no contact with him since then."

Mentioning this matter, Xueyan hurriedly asked: "If you don't tell me, I forgot, that actor was found later?"

Qiu Ju said: "At that time, I hadn't followed our concubine to the palace, I just heard about it later. Since the second master Bao made it clear that he had a house in Red Sandalwood Castle, he found it as soon as he went there. We Although the prince was very annoyed, he liked him for being smart and beautiful, so he didn't do anything about it, but he heard that it was the second master Bao who told him where he was going, so he stayed there for a long time. I didn't say that, the second master of their family is not rigid at all , just revealed Qiguan's whereabouts, luckily Qiguan still made friends with him."

For this, Xueyan was not easy to criticize, she just smiled and said nothing, but she thought in her heart that Prince Zhongshun is not a heinous person, and also, the Rongguo Mansion itself is rotten from the root, who said there is a quarrel with their family Is he not a good person?

After thinking about it, Xue Yan said: "These things are also helpless."

Qiu Ju nodded and said: "It's true, but Qiguan is ambitious and wants to get out of this business. I heard that the prince has already allowed him to let him go out next year. By then, he will almost not be able to sing small songs anymore." It's too late."

Xueyan Nahan said: "Your lord actually agreed?" It can be seen that Jiang Yuhan is indeed an ambitious and capable person. He escaped from the Zhongshun Palace and was found. It's really rare to be so smart.

Qiu Ju said with a smile: "Our lord doesn't care about anything. He just likes to listen to operas for fun, or go shopping. He doesn't treat his servants very well. All the people in our palace think about the lord's kindness. That Qi official beat the child and followed the lord." Seeing that he insisted on quitting his citizenship, the lord was unable to persuade him several times, so he promised his future and did not embarrass him."

When Xueyan heard this, she hurriedly admired a few words, and sure enough, there were some things that Rongguo Mansion couldn't hear.

Qiu Ju wanted to say something more, when suddenly she called for someone, and hurriedly went over with Xue Yan.

After enjoying the flowers, everyone returned to the pavilion one after another. Daiyu took Zhou Yan and hurriedly led everyone to the retreat to change clothes. When she came out again, she ordered people to have a banquet and selected some delicate dishes to Mrs. Zhou's room. Zhong filial piety, and ordered people to set up felts under the shade of flowers, and asked the girls and women who followed to eat.

Xueyan did not rest, but was busy entertaining everyone.

Everyone had a great time and returned in the evening.

Tanchun and Yingchun rode in the same car, exclaimed: "Today I have gained some knowledge, look at their words and deeds, how generous they are, except for sister Lin, we people always feel ashamed. "

Yingchun has always been a dull person, and said indifferently: "Except for us who are of low status, which one of them is not the eldest daughter-in-law of an official of the third rank or above? Don't forget the eldest concubine of the Zhongshun Palace. That is, sister Lin remembers us , Cai Tete invited us to go, if usual, where would I recognize these people."

Tanchun was startled, then nodded and sighed: "Second sister said that we didn't have the identity to recognize them. It's a pity that except for sister Lin who still remembers us, we didn't have time to go out."

Tanchun is shrewd and capable, has his own ideas in his heart, but the world is not as expected, so he has nothing to do.

They went back to Rongguo Mansion and Jiamu.

Coincidentally, Baoyu was also talking and laughing with the maids in Jiamu's room. Hearing the sound, he couldn't help but sighed: "Sister Lin came to invite you, why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you invite me? Our sisters are playing together for fun." When did you miss me? I haven’t seen Sister Lin for a long time, and I don’t know what’s going on with Sister Lin.” As she spoke, the circles of her eyes turned red.

Yingchun and the others were silent, Daiyu invited women from various families, how could she invite outsiders, what did she say?

Jia Mu also said: "You are talking nonsense again, carefully, your master knows and beats your flesh."

As soon as Jia Zheng was mentioned, Baoyu was startled. Remembering that he hadn't finished his homework, he hurriedly got up to say goodbye, and ran back in a hurry.

Seeing that Baoyu had gone back, Jia Mufang looked at the sisters and asked a few words. After knowing the identity of the visitor, she sighed: "Only Yu'er has such a face. She is doing well, so I am relieved. You have seen Yu'er." Son, did you ask her if she is doing well?"

Tanchun hurriedly said: "In front of so many people, how dare I ask, but I asked my servant to ask Zijuan, and they all said it was very good. Mrs. Zhou is a very gentle and kind person, and she treats Miss Lin as well as a mother and daughter." of."

Jia Mu sighed: "How can a mother-in-law treat her daughter-in-law as well as a mother and daughter in the world? Just hearing what you said makes me feel more at ease."

But at that time, Daiyu went to Mrs. Zhou's room to answer after finishing all the affairs. Mrs. Zhou smiled and said, "That's very good. I don't worry if I ask Yan'er to follow you. Although I can take her out and about, it's not as good as that." How comfortable are you young children? In two days, you will go out with me and recognize our family friends."

Daiyu was very comfortable with these things, so she nodded her head in agreement.

When Xueyan heard about this, she was very happy. Although Daiyu used to go out to socialize with Sang's mother, how could she be justified like now?

When Zhou Hong entered the palace on a errand, Daiyu ate in Mrs. Zhou's room. She, Mrs. Zhou, and Zhou Yan's mother and daughter were the only two. Zhou Yan and Zhou Lian ate with Zhou Yuan.

At the end of the meal, after some gossip, Daiyu and Zhou Yan left together.

Back in the room, Xueyan heard Daiyu say: "You guys have been tired all day, go to bed earlier, you don't have to go to bed tonight."

Xueyan understood what he said, and counted the days, Zhou Hong should be back today, the two of them have never liked people in the house watching and others listening outside, and when they asked for hot water afterwards, Zhou Hong came out and asked his mother-in-law to bring it in. Only Zhou Hongjin was not on duty in the palace. When Daiyu was alone, there was someone to accompany her inside, and someone outside to go to bed at night.

Xueyan wanted to get out of the country, Daiyu didn't like to call her to do things, she just asked her to tune and teach the little maids below, lest when she and Zijuan and others were old, there would be no one around her.

When Zhou Hong came back, Liangchen Meijing Zijuan Tinglan and others took care of changing clothes and freshening up, and then retreated. Xueyan also walked out of the main room, thinking it was a little funny. Rich people like to have people watching from inside and outside. It is said that Jia Lian and Sister Feng are together. When they were together, Ping'er was also beside her, and whenever she liked, she also brought Ping'er together, all of which she knew from other people's mouths.But she didn't want to, luckily Zhou Hong and Daiyu didn't like them, otherwise, she, the dowry confidant, would have to wait outside the door all the time.

Xueyan ordered hot water to be prepared in the kitchen, and went to rest alone.

She has been here for so long, she is not as cautious as when she first came here, and she dare not order people around at will.

Getting up early the next day, Zhou Hong didn't have to be on business today, and wanted to accompany Daiyu to burn incense and pray for his family. Mrs. Zhou remembered that Daiyu was in Rongguo Mansion and was inconvenient everywhere. She had never been able to offer incense and kowtow to her parents. Voice, answered their request.

Daiyu came back and said to Zhou Hong: "I used to say that it doesn't matter where you are, as long as you put your heart into it. Now we are only looking for a clean place, but we don't have to have a lot of incense. We went to such a place, because there are officials. Family members, monks, priests, and pilgrims have to be driven out of the temple, it seems that we are bullying others."

Zhou Hong nodded and said, "Everything is up to you."

After finishing speaking, Zhou Hong really found a small temple outside the city that had been incensed but was very clean and tidy. He took Daiyu there, and it was sparsely populated. Yan helped Daiyu get off the sedan chair, and when he looked up, he smiled unconsciously, and said, "No wonder there are no cigarettes in this temple."

It turned out that there was a couplet engraved on the gate of the temple, which said: "You ask for fame and fortune, and he predicts good and bad luck. I have no heart. How can I come up with any idea? Wood, how much energy wasted."

This couplet Xueyan has also seen elsewhere, but I didn't expect a monk to record it here.

Zhou Hong said with a smile: "The monks here are self-reliant and don't talk about the incense money, so gradually no one comes to worship."

When Daiyu heard this, she couldn't help being respectful, and said: "This way you can see the strength of character, but you can see the sincerity even more. Monks, nuns and Taoists everywhere talk about the immeasurable longevity of Amitabha Buddha. In fact, how can there be any blessings to add to the body? But it's all for more. It’s just incense money.”

The abbot of the temple smiled and said: "Amitabha, since grandma has such a view, there is no need to give us incense money for offering incense today. We have our own farming, food and clothing, and only money to spend."

Daiyu thought for a while, then said with a smile: "Since that's the case, the abbot told me how many masters there are in the temple. Tomorrow I will send someone to give everyone a set of monk clothes and shoes. Isn't it cleaner than silver? I have done my best. , the masters did not chant scriptures for my parents in vain."

The abbot smiled and said, "That's very good."

At noon, I ate fast in the temple, and because of the hot weather, I rested in the meditation room.

After the rest, Zhou Hong accompanied Daiyu to play around in the temple, Daiyu was rarely so pure, very happy.

Xueyan saw that the two of them were loving each other, and their words and deeds were very compatible, so she didn't disturb them when they were alone.

Suddenly someone came to report that the Zhao family heard that Zhou Hong accompanied his wife to offer incense, and specially sent some incense candles, tea and silver gifts. Xueyan was startled when she heard the words, not knowing which one it was, and hurried back to Daiyu and Zhou Hong .

Daiyu was also surprised. She and Mrs. Zhou had already remembered all the old friends of her family, and there was no such Zhao family.

Zhou Hong smiled and said: "I know who it is, just ask Xue Yan to accept it."

Daiyu hurriedly asked who it was, and Zhou Hong said: "It turned out to be a very talented adviser by my side, but unfortunately, he couldn't be an official. After I left Shanhaiguan, he followed me back to Beijing. He only said that if I went out, he would come with me. "

After hearing this, Daiyu hurriedly asked Xueyan to invite the woman who gave the gift to come.

The Zhao family only sent a woman over, and after saying hello to Zhou Hong and his wife, they didn't say much. Xueyan prepared a reward. The old woman is very polite and well-mannered, and your counselor is talented and advised you, logically, he should have made contributions to gain a future, so why can't he become an official?"

Zhou Hong sighed, and said: "Zhao Yun, oh, it's me, a counselor, who won the Juren. It can be said that he is young and promising, and he is also skilled in martial arts. Unfortunately, not long after he was won, his family was suddenly attacked by burglars, and he was in a panic. He was slashed by a thief, leaving a very deep scar, no matter how difficult it is to get rid of, so he can no longer take the imperial examination, nor can he become an official."

Daiyu asked: "Since Mr. Zhao is skilled in martial arts, why did someone cut his face so easily? Has the family lost any property? Or have other injuries?"

Zhou Hong shook his head, looked at her with a smile, and said: "That day was the grandpa's birthday. Zhao Yun was so dizzy after being force-fed, and there were so many thieves, that they slashed at his face without hurting his vitals. He was in a hurry. I escaped seven or eight knives, but in the end two fists were no match for four hands, and I was finally hit by one knives."

Daiyu then said: "This is amazing, how could it be such a coincidence? Just now I saw that woman's words are clean and neat, so it's not like their family doesn't have servants. If they have, how can they let their master block the thieves? Besides, those things People, how can you only slash the face of your counselor? But because of their family, this happened?"

Zhou Hong's eyes showed approval, nodded and said: "Their family is just an ordinary farming and studying family. Although the family wealth is not much, it is also a lot, and the style of the family is good, but they are not alone in the house. There are many people who are right and wrong. Zhao Yun is the head of the house. The eldest grandson, who was smart since childhood, won the Juren at a young age. Seeing that he will go to the Jinshi examination the next year, it will inevitably cause people to hate him. Later, when he catches the thief, it turns out that Erfang bought a few hooligans with money. Not daring to kill anyone, but only ruining Zhao Yun's face."

Daiyu sighed: "The second room's actions are really cruel and merciless, ruining your face, isn't it just ruining your life's future? What happened later? How did Mr. Zhao come to your side again to advise you?"

Zhou Hongdao: "Family ugliness must not be publicized, and the old man of the Zhao family is not allowed to make it public. After this incident, the third house of the Zhao family was separated, but because the old man only wanted his children and grandchildren to be admitted to Jinshi, their family besides Zhao Yun, also had a third house and a son who was very smart, second only to Zhao Yun. Yu Zhao Yun was selected as a scholar at the age of 17. Therefore, when the family was separated, the old man and the old lady lived in the main house with the third room, but the long room was separated. Zhao Yun was disheartened, and I happened to meet him. At that time, I I already have a job vacancy, and seeing that he is both civil and military, and full of strategy, I asked him to be my staff. He has made a lot of contributions in several battles. I wanted to ask for credit for him, but he refused, so I had to That's all."

Daiyu wondered, "Why don't you want to?"

Zhou Hongdao: "Zhao Yun said that he looks like this. He will only make jokes if he becomes an official. No one talks about his merits. Anyway, he has not lost property these years, and the family has surplus money. It is better to live quietly and wait for me. I don’t need him anymore. In his later years, he built a private school in his hometown to teach students. I am working in the palace now, and he also lives in the capital. His home is not far from here. I also learned about this temple from him. After going back and forth several times, I will bring you here when I see that the monks here have profound Buddhist teachings."

Daiyu was startled, and said, "Did Mr. Zhao's parents agree?"

Zhou Hong shook his head and said, "Zhao Yun's parents died early, otherwise he wouldn't have suffered so much."

Daiyu sighed unknowingly, then laughed again: "You said that their family has a good family style, I hear that is interesting."

Zhou Hong nodded her forehead without saying a word, and pulled her to go elsewhere.

Xueyan listened behind, shook her head and sighed, it is not so easy to be an official butcher now, talented and capable, but it still depends on how good-looking she is, only with a flat head and straight face can she become an official, a little ugly and crippled don't even think about entering the gate of the Gongyuan .

She said, there are many dirty things in scholars, how can it be better than being alone and clean?

In the evening, a group of people waited to say goodbye and left. It was different from the Imperial Guard's seven-day round, that is, eating and lodging in the palace for seven days. , board and lodging are all in the palace, once every five days.

As soon as Zhou Hong left, Daiyu felt lonely. She sewed with Zijuan and others dully, saying that she was bored.

A few days later, Mrs. Zhou went to Admiral Yang's residence for a banquet to congratulate her, and she took Daiyu with her.

Daiyu is already a third-rank imperial order. She is young, well-born, and behaves politely. Everyone who has seen it or not, just praise it, and said to Mrs. Zhou: "You are blessed, you have both sons and daughters. , everyone is a talent, even a daughter-in-law."

Mrs. Zhou knew that when they were all envious of her family being in trouble, Daiyu would never leave them, but she was very humble in her mouth. She took Daiyu to see everyone, and heard that the person in front of her was Zhao Shi, the eldest son and daughter-in-law of Xueshi Du. Daiyu didn't realize it. After a second look, after she married Zhou Hong, Zhou Hong told her all kinds of things when she was whispering in the middle of the night, so he knew that Mrs. Zhou had gone to the Zhao family to propose marriage to this girl.

I saw that Mrs. Zhao was in her twenties, her clothes were not extravagant, but her appearance was extraordinarily beautiful, her speech and behavior were very crisp and generous, but there was a faint gloomy look between her brows. When meeting with Daiyu, she also looked at her. Yu took a few glances, a trace of envy flashed in her eyes, and then disappeared, only seen when Daiyu met her, no one else noticed.

Daiyu was puzzled at first, but after thinking about it for a while, she smiled lightly and realized that Mrs. Zhao was afraid that her life in the Du family would not be very satisfactory, so she envied herself for marrying into the Zhou family. .

For Zhao Shi, Daiyu naturally felt a little jealous, but she also knew that it was not Zhao Shi's fault, so she didn't take it to heart.

Mrs. Zhao saw that Daiyu possessed a peerless appearance, rare and handsome, and she was inferior to many women she had seen in the past, she couldn't help sighing in her heart, she was very envious, if it wasn't for her father, she would be the one who is now a third-rank imperial order and loving husband and wife.At the beginning, her mother had already agreed to Mrs. Zhou, but later his father refused, which caused the two families to break up.

Although Mrs. Zhou didn't like Zhao Yushi's behavior, she also liked Mrs. Zhao in the past, and Mrs. Zhao was her close friend in the boudoir, so she asked: "I know your mother went to visit her relatives, why didn't I see you today?" Grandma is coming?"

Mrs. Zhao hurriedly said: "Our wife has suffered from heatstroke, and she is not feeling well. She is lying at home, so she just asked me to come and apologize to Mrs. Yang."

Mrs. Yang laughed and said: "Where is it worth apologizing? Could it be that your mother-in-law is sick, and I still blame her for not dragging her sick body to come here? It's alright, why did she get sick? I haven't seen her for a month. The day is not good? It is not good, but we should let us know, so that we can send someone over to express our condolences."

Zhao even said he didn't dare.

After all the people dispersed, Mrs. Zhao returned home and spoke to Mrs. Du. Mrs. Du leaned on the pillow and suddenly said, "You said you saw the daughter-in-law of the Zhou family, the one surnamed Lin, at Admiral Yang's mansion today?"

Mrs. Zhao was startled, not understanding what she meant when she asked this question, and quickly replied: "Yes, Mrs. Zhou is now walking around with Lin Shuren."

Mrs. Du was silent after hearing this, and asked for a long time: "How do you see her, how does she behave?"

Mrs. Zhao was suddenly full of doubts. Although Lin Daiyu often interacted with each other on a regular basis, Mrs. Du was not affectionate to Lin Daiyu. These?She hurriedly replied: "In terms of appearance and demeanor, there is really no one in the world who can match her. I also like her when I see her."

Madam Du frowned, waved her hands and said, "It's no wonder. Go back to your room and rest."

Zhao Shifang withdrew.

As soon as Mrs. Zhao went out, Mrs. Du let out a long sigh. When she heard the girl said that the master was resting at Seventh Auntie's place, a stern look flashed across Mrs. Du's face, and she said, "Go and invite the master, just say I have something important to say." , it is related to our family's future, so don't not come, if you are late, don't blame me."

The servant girl hesitated for a long time, so she had no choice but to invite Du Lian over.

Although Du Lian was over fifty, she still had a jade-like face, three strands of long beard, and an upright spirit. She came in and said, "Is there anything I can't talk about tomorrow? Why bother me at this time?"

Mrs. Du sat up, dismissed the girls in the room, and said with a sneer: "I don't want to disturb the master's happiness, but I have one thing to tell the master. Today, the eldest daughter-in-law went to Admiral Yang's house for a banquet and met Lord Lin's daughter. The eldest daughter-in-law of the family."

When Du Lian heard this, her face immediately changed color.

Mrs. Du said: "I don't know if they know or not."

Du Lian said in a deep voice: "It's impossible to know, it's impossible for them to know, as long as you and I keep silent, no one will know."

Madam Du nodded and sighed.

Seeing this, Du Lian looked very disgusted, and said coldly, "Why are you sighing? If you hadn't embezzled the money privately, how could I have ended up in such a situation? I am ashamed of my old friend's entrustment?"

Mrs. Du sneered when she heard this, and said: "Master, is it my fault now? I don't even think about who made it to this point! If it wasn't for the master's concubine today, tomorrow