The maid of the red house

The night before the departure, all the soft bags were packed. Zijuan Xueyan and others each had several boxes. Daiyu had a lot of luggage. There were more than a dozen large camphorwood boxes filled with books and other things. Daiyu loved these things. If it is a treasure, it is even more valuable than gold and silver. When Jia Lian heard that it was the books and ink left by Lin Ruhai, he let it go. The remaining belongings around Daiyu were only lightweight antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and the number was relatively small. Compared with the huge property of the Lin family, Jia Lian was kept by her.

Xueyan learned from Nanny Wang's youngest son, Wang Sankou, that Jia Min's dowry had never been sold, and that the dowries of several generations of mistresses also kept a lot of things, and they loaded two big boats, probably because of the letter from Jia Mu's letter. According to instructions, these are all things that Daiyu should inherit, unlike the Lin family's property, which is not available to Daiyu according to the law.

Wang San also said that many of the Lin family's real estate and land in the south of the Yangtze River were sold to the Zhen family, and the market value was about 10 taels of silver, but Jia Lian only got back a bill of 5 taels of silver from the Zhen family.

Hearing this, Xueyan suddenly thought of Yuanchun's visiting relatives in the original book, Jia's family bought opera actors and things, and the 5 taels that the Zhen family owed them was the 5 taels from the Lin family's land?

5 taels of silver bought something worth 10 taels. The Zhen family and the Jia family are really close.

Daiyu should learn to grow up and discern people's hearts. She should not be so naive as to believe that everyone is a good person. She was easily won over by Xue's mother and daughter, laughing at herself that every piece of paper was spent in Jia's house.Therefore, unlike others, Xueyan did not hide everything from Daiyu, she told Daiyu every bit of information she inquired about, and spoke fairly, without commenting at all, letting Daiyu analyze it herself.

Daiyu was silent after listening, and said softly for a long time: "Go and pack up the pens and papers you gave to the sisters, and remember to write down each one, so that when someone picks someone first and then takes it, saying that we don't respect you." people."

Xue Yan said, so she listened and kept it in her heart, but if she wanted to do anything, it was impossible at this time, and she had to be more cautious in her words and deeds when she went to Rongguo Mansion, so she was unwilling to say what she thought. Come out, just understand it in your heart.

"Don't worry, girl, I have already marked the signs. The old lady and uncles, uncles, wives, grandma Lian and others have their own second master Lian to take care of them outside. Miss Bao has the same pen, ink, paper and inkstone, Brother Lan has two more books, Brother Huan and Brother Cong have one point less, and the eldest sister is some stuffed cakes." Hearing what she said, Xue Yan immediately frowned. Knowing that she remembered Zhou Rui's family sending palace flowers.

Also, who doesn't treat the customer first when sending things?Even according to her seniority, Daiyu shouldn't be the last to be picked by others.Daiyu satirized Zhou Rui's family because she knew that Zhou Rui's family's actions showed Mrs. Wang's attitude. If she was a little weaker, no one would take her seriously again, let alone Lin Ruhai was still alive at that time.After Lin Ruhai's death, this poor little girl faced Sister Feng's Shi Xiangyun's actor's story and everyone laughed, she was obviously full of grievances, but she didn't have any courage to refute it, and she was humiliated by it.

Daiyu rested her cheeks in her hands, and sighed: "I learned a lot from the account book list of mother's gifts. Originally, gifts should be given according to their identities, just because the three sisters of my grandmother's family are always the same. The income is uneven, the third younger sister and Huan brother Cong are the least, so I feel a little bit offended and hated by others. Forget it, no one cares about it anyway, if it is a gift from someone outside, we can’t give it like this, lest they make fun of us and we don’t know Courtesy."

Daiyu didn't prepare gifts from her elder sister Jia Lan and Jia Huan and Jia Cong. She has always been like this, she will give it to anyone who catches her eye, and she won't get along with it if she doesn't like it. Sister Feng treated her well, Li Wan had a hard time, Jia Huan and Jia Cong were men from the Rongguo Mansion after all, even if it was a small gift, it was better than nothing, so they added gifts to the three of them again.

Xueyan understood it, and said with a smile: "It's natural. When the girl is free, she can learn a lot by looking at the account books and lists of her dealings with our family! What to give for things, what to give for funerals, what to give when people are sick, what to give for childbirth, what to give for birthdays, what to give for a child's full moon and first birthday, what to give for a gift, thick or thin, even though no one taught girls these things, but With the girl's cleverness, she will get started soon."

A trace of sadness and tenacity flashed across Daiyu's face, and she nodded.She is not stupid, and understands Xueyan's painstaking efforts.

In just a few months, she experienced the bereavement of her father, the struggle for property, and experienced the unpredictability of people's hearts. Not only that, but also felt the gradual neglect of the third-class servants from the Rongguo Mansion. How could she not know about this change? for the sake?Her father has worked hard to plan for her, and she must live a good life and live up to her father's expectations.

Seeing her expression, Xueyan secretly felt relieved, as long as she is willing to learn, there is nothing she cannot learn.

Daiyu picked up the books on the case, turned her head slightly, and inadvertently caught a glimpse of the large suitcase among Xueyan's luggage in the corner. Asked: "Yesterday I saw that you only had three boxes, why are there two more boxes today?"

Xueyan opened the extra box to show them, and said: "These are our Gusu soil instrument, I took the money and entrusted Wang San to buy it for me, some of them were given away, and some were kept for myself. In this box It contains embroidery and pattern booklets, tapestry, jade carvings and fragrant beads, Kunshi, fans of various colors, etc. Whenever the girl misses home, she will look at things from our hometown. The box is filled with various candies and candied fruit for eating. I also asked someone to buy a lot of spring tea, so I didn't put it in the box because I was afraid it would be over-flavored."

Zijuan chuckled, and said: "It's strange that you will go to all the money you have saved with me. So you bought these things."

Daiyu looked sad, and said: "It's hard for Xueyan to think carefully, but I didn't expect to leave here and never see every plant and tree in my hometown. Zijuan, how much Xueyan spent, you can give it to her, no matter it is Give it away or keep it, she was originally for me. I still have my grandmother to rely on, but she has no parents and family since she was a child, so she should keep some money for herself."

Zijuan agreed, and went to the silver box to take out a pack of gold and silver. She was in charge of Xueyan's things before, and knew the amount Xueyan took away, so the gold and silver she took out was not much more.

In the past, Xueyan followed Daiyu. She was used to having a brisk temperament, and she didn't like to hide her stinginess. Aunt Zhao would not borrow a dress for the little girl. Now he didn't say no, he took it away with a smile, and bent his hands under the weight of the heavy gold and silver, saying: "I'm so lucky, I told Wang San to buy it, I earned a lot for nothing."

She saved money for another five or six years, and when she left Daiyu, she could become a middle-level landlord with her own property.

It's not that Xueyan never thought of leaving Daiyu alone and begging for favor to leave, but when Lin Ruhai was seriously ill, no one would say that she was an ungrateful and treacherous person, and her life would be ruined.She also thought about ignoring Daiyu, why is she just a girl who cares so much?But every time she thought of Daiyu's death, she couldn't bear it.

Daiyu is ten years old this year. Leaving Rongguo Mansion may not lead to a better life than living in Rongguo Mansion. She just followed Daiyu and stayed with her in Rongguo Mansion for a few years. She is not the master who is bullied by everyone anyway. , who dares to bully Daiyu, just let the horse come over!

Everyone thinks she is the former Xueyan, but they don't know what kind of person she was in the past. Although she is not a rich second-generation official and second-generation family daughter, she is also a serious and dignified strong woman who climbed up from the bottom to occupy a place in the upper class.

On the way back, because they were concerned about Daiyu's body, the journey was not fast, Xueyan and others accompanied Daiyu to relieve boredom, or read books and practiced calligraphy, or painted dragons and embroidered phoenixes. Unexpectedly, they suddenly got the news that Yuanchun was the concubine, and Jia Lian was overjoyed. Kuang, immediately ordered to travel day and night, but coincidentally, on the road, they met Jia Yucun, who had received the prince Teng Baoben to go to Beijing to wait for the shortage. He and Daiyu had a division, so they went on the same road.

Arriving in the capital on this day, abandoning the ship and landing, the Rongguo Mansion sent countless people to welcome and carry the luggage.

Zijuan changed clothes for Daiyu, wearing a plain satin cloak, fresh and elegant, and her hair was very clean, tied with a white rope in a bun, meandering down, and inserted a small white bead hairpin, nothing else. flower decoration.Xueyan, Tinglan and the others are the same as Zijuan, all of which are sapphire silver hairpins, moon white jackets and lake blue long skirts. These are clothes made of materials given by Daiyu when they are free on the boat.

After tidying up, Xueyan suddenly raised the curtain and raised her voice to Wang San who got off the boat first: "San'er, go and ask Lian Erye, which door will our girl enter the mansion from? Don't let our girl be a slave like last time." The west corner gate where servants come and go, our girls are young, there is no master or wife to make decisions, and there are few servants, no one stands at the second gate to greet each other, it is inevitable that we are bullied and dare not vent our anger. Those relatives who didn’t know would think that our girl is some kind of servant!”

Xueyan's words were clear and crisp, fast and urgent, like pearls falling into an emerald plate, ding ding dong dong, very sweet, and at the same time, most of the people on board could hear clearly.

Daiyu listened in the cabin, two lines of tears flowed down her cheeks, why didn't she know this truth?There is nowhere to complain when I feel wronged.

Seeing her crying, Zicuckoo hurriedly stepped forward to persuade her in every possible way.

Xueyan continued without pausing: "Times have changed, don't care about the past, this time I brought a lot of things into the house, with a lot of luggage, and a small corner gate. If we ask our girls to go through the corner gate, who will be able to afford it if the house is damaged? Why not?" Immediately board the boat and go back to my hometown. The gate of the ancestral house in my hometown is bright and majestic, and my daughter will not be wronged like this! I remember that the second uncle and wife personally took the daughter-in-law out of the hall to welcome my sister, Mrs. Xue, into the door. It's so majestic and magnificent. Although our girl's down-and-out family lady can't compare with the grandeur of the Xue family of the four major families in Jinling, she can't compare with the wife of the Xue family and Mr. Wang Ziteng, who are powerful and powerful, but who is the girl? The granddaughter of the old lady, the nieces of the two uncles and masters, and the second master Lian is the rightful elder in the house, the eldest cousin of our girl's direct cousin, can't we give our deceased master a bit of a scholar's decency?"

If you could hear clearly before, who doesn't understand the meaning of Xue Yan's words now?The housekeeper's wife's sister, Huangshang's family, can walk through the corridors and enter the hall, but as the daughter of a scholarly official and a serious relative in the mansion, she can't compare to them!Scholars, peasants, businessmen, and imperial merchants are certainly higher than merchants by a large margin, but they are not as good as the daughters of aristocratic families who were born in serious imperial examinations.

Although the Lin family was defeated, their status and reputation still lingered.

Speaking of this, Xueyan wiped her tears with a handkerchief, and sobbed: "Your maidservant knows that the house must be taboo about filial piety on girls, for fear that it will damage the Feng Shui layout of the house and bring bad luck to the house. Our girls are sensible. That's why I didn't say a word. But as a slave, how can I see the girl being treated as a slave, and lose the face of the master and wife? What's more, our girl has already become a filial piety."

Filial piety people are not allowed to go out to visit guests, because they are still wearing filial piety clothes. If they go to the door, they can only enter and exit through the corner door and the back door to avoid collisions. Xueyan does not understand this rule, but don’t forget that Daiyu almost always came out when she came to Beijing twice. Rexiao, Rexiao lasts for a hundred days, and it's not the Lin family who come to the door, but the Jia family who go to pick them up.

Survival of the fittest, about the survival rules of this era, Xueyan is willing to abide by, and will not cross the bottom line, but she will not suffer the slightest grievance, and she does not care about the bad publicity.Xueyan was not her when she came to Beijing last time, so she couldn't tell her, but now she won't keep silent, grievances should always be known, right?If they don't speak out, who knows their grievances?

It has nothing to do with whether Daiyu enters the Rongguo Mansion because of grievances or not. Xueyan is not trying to gain a sigh of relief, but wants Daiyu to establish her position in the Rongguo Mansion starting from the door she enters.Entering the corner door again is no different from a servant, who would value her?Walking through the gate of Yi dignifiedly with large and small bags of luggage, she will have the confidence to live in Rongguo Mansion, and show everyone that she is not dependent on others with nothing.

There are people coming and going on the pier in the capital, and the Rongguo Mansion is not without rivals. Under such circumstances, if Lin Daiyu is still allowed to go through the corner door, he will be ridiculed and impeached. Lin Ruhai is dead, but his status in the hearts of scholars is still there. It doesn't matter if Daiyu is wronged as an orphan, but it's a slap in the face of a scholar.