Cold and warm depend on each other

The woman's voice was mocking and sharp, Xi'er trembled all over, the joy of seeing Xue Wanxiang again just now faded away, and her hands trembled unconsciously.

Xue Wanxiang frowned slightly, and saw a woman wrapped in silk and satin coming in from the small courtyard gate, her eyes were like snakes, looking at their master and servant with contempt.

When Xi'er's eyes passed by, Xi'er's face was pale, and she knelt down and kowtowed in a panic: "Big... Eldest young mistress."

Young mistress?

Xue Wanxiang knew who was coming.She glanced at her calmly.Xi'er was still trembling.

The Chai Mansion is a merchant's mansion, so it is not considered harsh to the servants, there are occasional beatings and scolding, and they would kneel down every now and then, which was not the case in the past.Judging by Xi'er's reaction, I'm afraid she has suffered a lot from her hands.

Mrs. Chai didn't care about the restlessness in the back house?Does Master Chai know?

"I ask you who this wild girl is!"

Xi'er's lips trembled in fright: "This...this is Xue...Miss Xue."

Of course Jin Sijie knew who this was!Who lived in this room originally, and why it was abandoned for more than half a year, she knew clearly in her heart.

"Miss Xue? Which Miss Xue?" Jin Sijie sized her up and down critically, but she didn't see a trace of distress from this Miss Xue, but her face, which was a disaster for the country and the people, was a little more beautiful than her own, really hateful!She pretended to be thinking, and continued to laugh with a sudden realization: "Oh, it's that Miss Xue who was taken away by bandits? Hey, you're back. It's a blessing in misfortune! Miss Xue suffered in the bandit's den, right? .”

Xue Wanxiang held Xi'er's arm, trying to lift her up, but Xi'er was flustered and afraid, so she helped her half up.

Jin Sijie saw that she was soft and weak, but she didn't take herself seriously at all, she was furious, stepped forward and kicked Xi'er on the shoulder.Unprepared, Xi'er was kicked by her and fell to the ground.

"Mrs. Chai!" Xue Wanxiang stopped Xi'er and looked at her coldly: "Please respect yourself!"

Young madam is a title that only the first wife of a direct son has. She married into the Chai Mansion for half a year, and everyone in the house called her Young Mistress, but Xue Wanxiang dared to stab her with this matter!

Jin Sixie went crazy!

"I discipline my Chai family's servants myself. I will beat and kill them. What does it matter to you, an outsider?" She took two steps forward, angrily took off the gold hairpin from her head, and poked Xi'er in the face.

Xi'er didn't dare to hide, she was crying and was poked by Jin Sijie's hairpin on her forehead, blood beads immediately appeared on her forehead.Xue Wanxiang had never seen such a violent battle before. Seeing Xi'er's face covered with blood and tears, she raised her hand to protect her in desperation. There was a sudden pain in her hand, and a smear of blood gushed out from the back of her fair hand.

Xue Wanxiang looked at the bloody hole that didn't know how deep it was, and for a moment, what she thought in her heart was: Oh no, Su Zhe will be so distressed to death!

In the past, when her fingertips were only pricked by wooden thorns, Su Zhe had to hold her hand and care for her for a long time. With such a big bloody hole, I don't know how much she would love her.

Just now Jin Sijie yelled loudly outside and attracted several maids, two of them are used to serve her, and they used to be domineering with her. They came up, one grabbed Xue Wanxiang's hand, and the other pressed Xi'er's shoulder.

There was an outrageous commotion in the small courtyard, when suddenly an elderly woman's voice rang out: "What are you doing!!!"

Xue Wanxiang recognized this voice, she raised her head in distress, and she saw Mrs. Chai standing in front of the gate of the courtyard leading a few big girls.

Jin Sixie's back stiffened, she quickly threw the bloody gold hairpin in her hand, turned around and rushed forward, crying, "Mother, mother, this wild girl who came from nowhere, is shouting and drinking in our Chai residence, and even humiliated me." She cried and complained, sobbing and hid behind Mrs. Chai.

Xue Wanxiang broke away from the girl's grip, brushed back her loose hair, and bowed her body, "Wanxiang has seen Madam, Madam is well."

Mrs. Chai learned of Xue Wanxiang's return to the mansion only after hearing the steward's report.She looked at this child for two or three years, his behavior was gentle, respectful and thrifty, she liked it very much.She didn't have too much obsession with the Chai family's expectation of honoring their ancestors. If Xue Wanxiang was not several years older than her own son, she would have hoped to betroth her to her own son.

When you marry a wife, you should marry a virtuous person.

It's just that even if she married a concubine, it didn't go well.Xue Wanxiang was taken away. Although she survived the catastrophe, her reputation has been ruined.

She sighed secretly, there was some pity in her eyes, but she didn't show it on her face, she just said lightly: "Get up. Come back at this time, you won't have time to eat in the future, right?"

Jin Sijie was very anxious when she heard her non-salty question, she blushed and shouted: "Mother! She..."

Mrs. Chai interrupted her with a frowning eyebrow, and her voice was a bit reprimanded: "Aren't you making enough trouble?"

Jin Sijie is the daughter of an official family. Although her father is not a high-ranking official, she has an uncle who is in the court in Beijing. The two families are married.

Take what you need.

So even though she is only the wife of the eldest son, the manor still respectfully calls her the Young Mistress, and Master Chai and Mrs. Chai will give her three points of face, knowing that she is rampant in the Chai Mansion, as long as no one is killed, they don't pay much attention to her.

Although this reprimand was not serious, it was in the tone of Mrs. Zhangfu.

Jin Sijie looked at the pair of masters and servants who were kneeling or standing in front of her, and she resentfully closed her voice.

"Come here. Prepare meals for Miss Xue." Mrs. Chai ordered casually.The housekeeper who followed hurriedly nodded in response.

"Ma'am." Xue Wanxiang saluted again, and just about to speak, Mrs. Chai stopped her words: "Master went to the south of the city to visit the shop in the east, and he will be back soon. If there is anything, we can talk about it when the master comes back."

Xue Wanxiang knew that Master Chai had to decide what she was asking for, so she gathered herself together, lowered her eyes and replied: "If that's the case, I won't bother you. Wanxiang thanked Madam."

She said "booze", one word, and she picked herself out.She is no longer from Chaifu.

Xi'er was still kneeling, the ground was covered with blood.Seeing the bleeding wound on Xue Wanxiang's hand, Mrs. Chai frowned: "Xi'er will stay here to take care of Miss Xue for a few days. A visitor is a visitor." She turned around and said, "Don't be negligent. "

There is also a saying "he who comes is a guest", Mrs. Chai acquiesced to the meaning revealed in her words.

All the maids and women all bowed their hands and said yes.Jin Sixie gave Xue Wanxiang a hard look, stomped her feet, and followed Mrs. Chai out.

The butler watched his wife's attitude, arranged meals for the guests, and ordered a girl to deliver medicine for trauma.That night Xue Wanxiang stayed in the small courtyard of Chaifu, while Xi'er slept on the small couch outside as before.The master and the servant are separated by a gauze cupboard, talking about things that are safe and sound.

Xi'er got two scars on her face, Xue Wanxiang helped her apply medicine, she cried and wanted to tell Xue Wanxiang about the young master and the young mistress.Xue Wanxiang patted the back of her hand and comforted her: "These things are not important, you are tired today, rest at ease, we can talk about it tomorrow."

The sky was dark, and two or three stars were shining in the vast night sky. Xue Wanxiang closed the window and lay down on the couch.In the rich house of Chai Mansion, the sleeping rooms in the guest house are also paved with earth dragons. Because of the wife's words, for the time being, no one dares to treat Ms. Xue badly.Xue Wanxiang hugged the brocade quilt, thinking of Su Zhe who was so close.

When Master Chai comes back tomorrow, she will ask him to call the shots and call off her marriage with Young Master Chai, and she will return to her side in a free body.

Su Zhe, you have to wait for me.

Thinking of this, she fell asleep.In the dream, I saw Gaotang Mingjing, she was wearing a wedding dress, bowing slowly to the man, the man held her hand and went back to the room, and smiled softly in her ear, graceful and coquettish.The big red handkerchief was uncovered by Xicheng, she raised her head shyly, her eyes rolled around, and she looked into the bright smile of her sweetheart's bright eyes.

Ah Zhe...

She was both happy and ashamed, and murmured.

Linhuai City is vast and deep, and the Chai family has a lot of property. Master Chai visited the shop for several days.

In the past few days, Xi'er has explained the affairs of the mansion for more than half a year.In the summer, she accompanied Xue Wanxiang to the temple to offer incense, but she disappeared in a blink of an eye, she was shocked and anxious, and almost searched a mountain temple with the coachman in the mansion but found no one.Chaifu wanted to report this to the officials when he learned about it, but the young master Chai Yufei said that if such things were reported to the officials, Miss Xue's reputation would be ruined.Master Chai had no choice but to lead Chai Yufei to search inside and outside with his servants and servants, but he came back dispirited after finding nothing for several days.

So far, Chai Yufei often goes out to get drunk, and everyone in the house says that his beloved daughter-in-law who has never been married has disappeared, and sighs that the young master is a soft-tempered person.Master Chai knew that he was sad, so he lost his restraint.

But after some time, Chai Yufei accidentally met Miss Jin's family, said it was love at first sight, and returned to the mansion to beg his father to come to propose marriage.His father thought it over, agreed, and indeed invited a matchmaker to propose marriage.The Jin Mansion immediately agreed to the marriage, and three months later, on an auspicious day, they got married in the Chai Mansion.

"Miss, you have encountered a catastrophe, and your life and death are uncertain, but the young master can't even wait a year, and hastily married someone. Wuwuwu, this is where you are." The more Xi'er thought about it, the sadder she was. Protecting her unhealed hand from being stabbed, she burst into tears.

Xue Wanxiang rubbed her brows, but what she was thinking in her heart was that Chai Yufei got married, so it would be easier for her to divorce her engagement.

She sat beside the desk in the guest house, resting her chin on one hand, with a faint smile on her lips.

Xi'er was terrified when she saw it, and tremblingly clasped Xue Wanxiang's arm: "Little...Miss..." Miss, is she being mad with anger?

Xue Wanxiang suppressed her smile and looked at her for a while.This girl is two years younger than her. When she first came to Chai's residence a few years ago, Mrs. Chai pointed Xi'er and a woman to take care of her. Xi'er is not very smart, but she is honest.There are no less than 200 people in this mansion, and not many people treat her sincerely.Xi'er is one of them, the most sincere one.

"Xi'er. This Chai Mansion, I'm leaving." Xue Wanxiang paused, and then continued: "Do you want to go with me?" Most of the bullying Xi'er suffered here was because she had taken care of her. Jin Sijie is not a kind person, she wants to take Xi'er out of the mansion, and after leaving the mansion, she will return the contract of sale to Xi'er, and Xi'er decides what kind of life she will live in the future.

Xi'er opened her mouth in surprise, and continued to cry again: "Yes...was she forced to leave by the eldest young mistress? Miss, woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo..."

"No. It's me..." Xue Wanxiang covered her eyes, and said in a slow voice, "I have to wait for Master Chai to come back, don't worry. Think again."

Xi'er wiped her tears, and suddenly said: "Young Master Muqi was selected in the country trial, and his ranking is excellent. The master and wife are very happy, and they even mentioned Mrs. Xue. Regarding the matter of the young lady and the young master, please ask the master and madam. There is a turnaround!"

Xue Wanxiang glanced at her from a distance, but said nothing.

As the weather turned colder and colder, icicles gradually formed under the eaves of the corridor, crystal clear and shimmering.Xue Wanxiang only felt impatient, she didn't tell Su Zhe where she was coming to Twelve Houses, the huge Twelve Houses had hundreds of households, she was afraid, not only afraid that she would be trapped here, but even more afraid that Su Zhe would not wait for her.

Master Chai did not come back, Mrs. Chai and the others never came to the small courtyard again.Xue Wanxiang had no choice but to sink her breath and wait patiently.It wasn't until the fifth day when she came to Chai Mansion that she was invited to the front hall by a girl.

Girls are standing inside and outside the front hall.There was no sound at all.Xue Wanxiang was dressed in decent and plain clothes, and stepped into the house.

There is a spring ink chair on the nanmu armchair, and hot tea is placed in the middle.Both Chai Jiusheng and Mrs. Chai sat at the head, and next to him stood the eldest son Chai Yufei with his hands down.

Xue Wanxiang didn't look around, walked straight to the center of the room, and bowed gracefully: "Wanxiang has met Master Chai, Mrs. Chai."

Chai Jiusheng held the teacup and glanced at the curling tea smoke.When he returned to the mansion last night, Madam Xue had already told him about Maid Xue.This child has grown up under their noses for a few years. He knows the root and the bottom, and neither grows nor branches. Both he and his wife like it.He was kidnapped more than half a year ago, and he also offered a bounty to find her, but in the end she was not blessed.I can come back today...

Chai Jiusheng sighed, and said calmly: "Get up."

Xue Wanxiang lowered her eyes, not only did not get up, but slowly knelt down on both knees. "Master Chai, Mrs. Chai, Xue Wanxiang has the courage to ask the two elders to break off the engagement for Wanxiang."

Her voice is clear and clear, and she speaks at a leisurely pace.Several people present showed different expressions.

First, Chai Yufei beamed with joy, then Chai Jiusheng slowly frowned, and Mrs. Chai sighed with pity.

"Father! Did you hear me! This is not the son who wants to break the engagement!" Chai Yufei was so happy that his eyebrows twitched, he lifted his robe and knelt down: "I beg Dad to be the master and break the engagement for my son."

Chai Jiusheng looked at the two people who were far apart on the ground, thought for a moment, ignored his son, only looked at Xue Wanxiang and said: "Girl, your marriage with Yu Fei was decided by me and your father. Now your father is gone. , my Chai family should take care of you. That day at the mountain temple... It was also my Chai family that failed to protect you. The responsibility of my Chai family is assumed by the Chai family. It’s just that Yu Fei has married the daughter of the Jin family.” He said After a slight pause, Fang continued: "You can marry Yufei and be a concubine. Although it is a concubine, the old man will make the whole family not to look at you..."

"Daddy!" Chai Yufei walked up to Master Chai two steps on his knees, and cried loudly: "But she is already dirty!!!"

"Bastard!" Chai Jiusheng slammed the teacup on the coffee table, staring at Chai Yufei with round eyes.

Chai Yufei knew that he couldn't back down from this matter, he hugged Chai Jiusheng's leg and looked anxious: "Daddy, my son can't marry her! What will outsiders say and think of me after marrying her! One who was dirty by bandits of……"

Snapped!

What he didn't finish was stopped by Chai Jiusheng's slap.Chai Yufei covered his face, saw Chai Jiusheng standing in front of him, and shouted in a cold voice: "Think about how her father left! Her father's illness was caused by saving your brother!"

"Master Chai." Xue Wanxiang knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "Young Master Muqi fell into the water. My father, as the East Chair, is obliged to go into the water to save people. The Xue family dare not take credit for this. Wan Xiang... Wan Xiang is no longer Yu Fei The young master's good match, I implore the master and wife to make the decision, dissolve the engagement, and Wan Xiang leave the house voluntarily, I will be grateful for the rest of my life."

"I beg Daddy to make the decision!" Chai Yufei hurriedly kowtowed too.

Chai Jiusheng flicked the corner of his robe, and said decisively: "Ask someone to decorate the room where Maid Xue lived. Even though it's a concubine for the bride to enter, she should make it more festive. Madam choose a date and arrange the wedding for them. "

As he spoke, he lifted his feet to go out, Chai Yufei trembled all over, and looked sideways at Xue Wanxiang, his eyes were full of haze and sternness.

There are many servants in the Chai Mansion, and the news spreads, saying everything, most of them are ridiculed in private, they are all dirty, and they still want to pick up tall branches and fly.Xi'er was so angry that smoke came out of her forehead, and she wished she could throw them all into the pond to feed the fish.

As soon as Chai Jiusheng sent the words, the servants who decorated the front came soon, beating and beating, sticking gold and silver.Mrs. Chai rewarded a lot of things, and Jin Sijie came to make trouble twice, but was stopped outside the courtyard.In the final analysis, the master and wife are the masters of this mansion.

The wedding date was set close, and because it was a concubine, they didn't pay so much attention.The servants put up lanterns and festoons in the small courtyard, and the bright red happy words were pasted on the door, dazzling like blood.Xue Wanxiang gripped her fingers so hard that her nails sank into her palm.

Calm down and think about what to do.Master Chai doesn't make sense, what about the others?

Mrs. Chai?Jin Sijie?Chai Yufei?

Chai Yufei!

Xue Wanxiang's thoughts changed suddenly, she got up suddenly and pulled Xi'er and said, "Go to the courtyard of the eldest young master, invite him here, and just say that I have something important to discuss."

Xi'er froze for a moment, then jumped up and said joyfully: "Yes, yes! Please come here! He comes to our room to talk with you, and those ugly words about you climbing high branches outside will be self-defeating!"

Xue Wanxiang held her forehead, that's not what she meant.But it doesn't matter, Chai Yufei wholeheartedly wants to divorce, as long as he can come, she is sure to persuade him.The two parties insisted on not marrying or marrying, would Mr. Chai want to force the bull's head to drink water?Taking a step back, as a last resort, she could still ask him to write a letter to release his wife. Although it was not as good as retiring the engagement, she could regain her freedom anyway.Ah Zhe... Ah Zhe will definitely not despise her.

Xi'er really went out happily, and went to the courtyard of the young master.

The icicles under the eaves were so heavy that some pieces fell off and hit the bluestone bricks, smashing them to pieces.Xue Wanxiang sat at the square table, held a cup of hot tea in both hands, forced herself to calm down, and waited for the reply with difficulty.

The eldest master Chai Yufei got married, and there is an independent courtyard in the inner mansion. Although it is not as good as the courtyard reserved for the first son Chai Muqi, it is also well-equipped and spacious.

Xi'er had something on her mind, so she walked in a hurry, she didn't notice when she entered the courtyard, why the courtyard with so many slaves was so quiet today.

The main bedroom faces south, and Xi'er came here because she was called by the eldest grandma to reprimand and punish her.She was a little apprehensive, hesitated for a while, and then dawdled to the side of the room.

"Wow!"

The sound of porcelain shattering came from the room, Xi'er panicked and stopped under the window.

"Chai Yufei, do you have a conscience?! I am a daughter of an official family, and I married you a son of a concubine. Now you still want to have three wives and four concubines? Your conscience has been eaten by dogs?" Jin Sixie's sharp voice broke through the window.

Then Chai Yufei smiled and said: "Who wants to marry that dirty thing! I don't know how many people have played with it! If my young master wants to like her, didn't I marry her at the beginning?"

Jin Sijie still refused, and sneered: "I didn't get married at the beginning, but now I regret it. No wonder you said that she was taken away, and you personally brought someone to chase her. There is no more love! Your father always looked up to her, and she was taken away by bandits. I will marry you back, hum!"

Chai Yufei became angry when he heard it: "It's not your bad idea, you don't do things cleanly, and you can still run back for her after spending so much money!"

Jin Sixie raised her voice: "What do you mean? I'm not clean? I said I'd kill her, but you said that it's hard to deal with human life, and insisted on letting Hu Boss and Jiang Laosan take her out of the city! Once you leave the city, you should be Boss Jiang is willing to kill her?"

"You!" Chai Yufei was about to refute, when suddenly there was a rattling outside the window, he and Jin Sijie glanced at each other, their expressions changed drastically, and they shouted at the same time in a daze: "Who!"

While talking, he lifted the curtain to go out, and the figure of a girl in Tsing Yi disappeared in a flash.Chai Yufei was in a hurry, ignoring the cold outdoors, and chased him out wearing only a brocade robe.

Xi'er was terrified, and stumbled towards the small courtyard, as if she couldn't turn her little head around enough.There were quite a few girls and servants in the back house, seeing her pale face, they all looked sideways at her.Before he could see clearly, the eldest young master followed behind silently and chased after him.

"Miss! Miss!" Xi'er ran to the courtyard gate, she was so frightened that she shed tears, Xue Wanxiang came out of the room, and saw her tripped by the threshold and almost fell to the ground.

"What's wrong with you?" Xue Wanxiang helped her stand still.

Xi'er was crying, and before he could speak, Chai Yufei roared angrily from behind: "Thief girl, if you dare to steal something, I'll see this young master beat you to death!"