By Jia Xiuzhen

Just as they were talking and joking, it was said that the third girl had come outside. Li Wan said with a smile, "I thought I'd be free today, but I didn't expect it to be very lively." Tan Chunlai asked Li Wan to go to Lixiangyuan to see Baochai together tomorrow. She said: "Sister Bao came back, and the wife told her to rest at home first. Before going out this morning, she said that we have time to visit Sister Bao. I think it's time for Sister Bao to rest. Let's not go again I'm afraid she will come to us first, and since we haven't seen each other for so long, it's strange to miss her, so I just want to ask Minger to go there together." Naturally, Li Wan had no objection, and the matter was settled like this.

The next day, Sister Li Wanfeng took Yingchun Tanchun Xichun and Daiyu to Lixiangyuan together. Aunt Xue got the letter a day earlier, so naturally everything was arranged properly.Baochai was dressed in homely clothes, and only a purple jade hairpin on her head looked like something from the palace. Sister Feng glanced at it and realized that the girls next to her didn't have that insight, so they just pulled Baochai to say goodbye. miss.As usual, Li Wan sat with a smile on the sidelines watching them, and then said to Aunt Xue: "Now my wife can feel at ease." Sneaking a glance at Li Wan in his busy schedule, he thought what a fool!Aunt Xue kept everyone for dinner, and after leaving Lixiangyuan, they all made appointments to go to Jiamu's courtyard.

Aunt Xue found some proper people to take care of her, and she took Baochai to the back room to rest.Seeing Aunt Xue's tired face, Baochai couldn't help but feel distressed and said: "Mom, it's true, it's just that the sisters came to see me, so there's no need for such a big battle. Look, I'm tired!" The aunt saw her little girl's behavior, and she couldn't feel the pain in her eyes and heart after not staying with her for so many days, so she patted her with a smile and said, "You little heartless, I gave it all to you." Face?!"

Baochai smiled, and ordered Tongxi Tonggui to serve tea, and then asked to find a nimble little girl to knock Aunt Xue's legs.Aunt Xue was happy to be served by her. She watched from the sidelines and felt that no one else could compare with her own girl.Baochai can't stop talking in his hands, but he has a different feeling in his heart.In the past few days, I have been thinking a lot about how to gain a proper foothold in this mansion. After walking around the palace, it is inevitable to say a few words. minded.Unexpectedly, a group of people came, talking all about how they miss after a farewell, how crisp and sweet this summer's melons and fruits are, how lively the ancestors will be watching the stars, how mischievous Baoyu was and got a good reprimand from the master, all these things, No one asked about the palace election.

Aunt Xue is old and mature, so she couldn't see her daughter's thoughts, so she smiled and said warmly: "Since I came to live in this house, I have really opened my eyes. Let's say today, among a group of little girls, none of them It's really nice to be talkative and questionable." Baochai glanced at Aunt Xue after hearing this, and then traced the inlay on Aunt Xue's sleeve with her fingertips.Aunt Xue went on to say: "Although it is a rich place, it is also a place of right and wrong. Naturally, it is not appropriate for girls to ask too many questions. If you really want to ask this and that, it seems like you are thinking of something. It's just that, after all, someone will ask this question, so you have a good idea." Then Baochai said, "What do you mean, I'm afraid my aunt will ask about it in the future?" Aunt Xue smiled and said nothing.

Sure enough, Mrs. Wang came back from the temple the next day. Aunt Xue came with Baochai. After they sat down, Mrs. Wang took Baochai's hand and said, "You child, you worried me and your mother very much." , This is great, I'm back at last. You don't know, the day you left, your mother cried behind her back until the pillow was wet. If I hadn't gone, I'm afraid she wouldn't eat a few meals. Wouldn't it be a sign of illness? Now it can be regarded as practical. How is it? You have been wronged and suffered in the palace?"

Looking at Aunt Xue again, she said, "I think this girl seems to talk less, and she is not as lively as before." Baochai hurriedly laughed and said, "Auntie, it's not that I've been less talkative, so I have to interrupt the conversation." What?" Both Aunt Xue and Mrs. Wang laughed, and Aunt Xue scolded her again: "Go to the palace, not to mention being more prudent, but even more out of tune, talking to the elders like this." Mrs. Wang hurriedly pulled Baochai said: "Don't talk about her. I think Bao girl is doing well. I was worried all the time, but now it seems that she is doing well."

Turning back to Baochai again, "You don't know, there are rumors outside one after another, some say which princess valued someone, and some say that the princess is going to leave without leaving a name. He also said that the noble concubine and the concubine also wanted to pick a few, and we were worried outside."

Baochai knew she couldn't make it through today, so she smiled and said, "We are inside, and unless called by nobles in the palace, we usually live in a small courtyard. Even if we go out of the room, we are only allowed to stay in the courtyard." Turn around, it's very quiet." Seeing that Mrs. Wang didn't answer, I had no choice but to continue: "Those who went with me, I only know that everyone in the room of us has come out, but half of the room next door stayed, and the others don't know at all. Love. There, ordinary people who come to spread rumors cherish their words like gold, and I have never seen gossip and jokes."

Mrs. Wang was trying to hide her guilty conscience at first, but when she heard Baochai's steady voice talking about some details, she remembered another big concern, and asked later, "Did you see your big sister Yuan in there? Baochai hurriedly shook his head and said: "No, except for a few times to be elected, I can count the number of times I went out of that courtyard on one hand. They were all going to Danyang Palace to meet the eldest princesses and princesses. The eunuch didn't talk to us too much."

Mrs. Wang was slightly disappointed, which was expected, she nodded and said: "I'm just asking in vain, and I can't even think about it. There are so many rules in the palace, and you can't inquire about people at will. Your eldest sister...she may I can't just give you my opinion." Baochai glanced at Mrs. Wang, but didn't say anything more.Mrs. Wang was quiet for a while, then she remembered and said, "By the way, have you gone to see the old lady?"

Aunt Xue laughed and said, "I still need my sister to order me, I'm such a bastard! Of course, I went to greet the old lady earlier before I came to see my sister." Mrs. Wang smiled and said: "Look at my brain, When I think about it, I come out." The mother and daughter of the Xue family sat with each other for half a day, talked for a while, and then resigned and went back to Lixiangyuan.

This Xue Baochai should be selected as a servant, although she is also a high-ranking female official, and she serves the princess, she has a status, but in the end she always serves others.Therefore, with the wealth of the Xue family, it is also the meaning of the question that they have returned unharmed.Except for Jia Mu and Mrs. Wang who have other thoughts in their hearts, everyone else should be like this, even Aunt Xue, this trip is just to show Baochai's face in front of the nobles, she always believes in the monk's words some more.

In this way, Baochai thought about how to expose the fact that she was not selected without degrading her status, but it was a waste of thought, and no one suspected her of it.At the same time he breathed a sigh of relief, but it also aggravated another worry - the performance of the people from Jia's family, it can be seen that even if he was not selected, it was not due to his own inadequacy, it was because his family did not want their daughter to enter the palace as a servant.

But in fact, the Xue family was jointly recommended by the elders of the family. How can this look like the family is unhappy?Besides, she has a lot of thoughts on her own, she is always afraid that there is something wrong with her actions in the palace, and she will lose the election if she offends others without knowing it.However, since she broke into the palace gate, she has been very careful, and she has been cautious and appropriate in every way, and she really can't think of any mistakes.

And at the beginning, the princesses obviously liked him a lot, especially the eldest princess Shu Ning, who always had her own every time she called someone to go, but then suddenly there was no news, as if the scenery that time was just a dream.Fortunately, she has a stable temperament, despite the gap between the front and the back, she did not show any resentment, and lived her life cautiously according to the rules, which made those who watched secretly sigh.Before leaving the palace, he finally gave away the pair of snuff bottles that Xue Pantao had bought.

Eunuch Chai is the old man who served Princess Shu Ning. Although the snuff bottle is good, it is hard to impress him. Sentence: "The eldest princess said it, and Princess Shuyi made a reasonable comment on the opera that day."

After a lot of thinking, I remembered that day when I was called to accompany the princesses to watch a play in the small theater in the palace, and it was "The Palace of Eternal Life". Princess Shuyi sighed: "It's a pity for Concubine Yang. Blame her for having such a brother!" My heart was clear, and I finally knew the reason why I was not selected, and then I remembered that my brother had worked hard to find the two snuff bottles that I was inquiring about.

When Baochai came home for the first time, Aunt Xue felt sorry for her hard work, so she let her have a good rest and didn't allow anyone to quarrel with her, and even Yinger asked a few more questions, and she was reprimanded.In the past few days, I finally saw that my daughter's face was a little bloody, so I was relieved, and the mother and daughter had to have a good conversation.Baochai weighed his words carefully and told Aunt Xue what he had inquired about.

Aunt Xue immediately changed her face with anger, stood up and scolded: "This evil person who harms others and yourself! I said that the clan tried so hard to get you away. How could you lose the election so quietly? Here it is!" After saying that, tears flowed down, and he cried: "Why do I have such a hard life, I gave birth to such a troublesome thing, I knew it would be better if I didn't give birth to him, our mother and son can live a peaceful life .”

Thinking of Baochai's carefulness in the past two days, I couldn't help but feel even more sad. I hugged Baochai and cried for my poor son.Baochai comforted her in every possible way, and Aunt Xue finally calmed down a little, so she asked people to take Xue Pan one after another, saying that she would kill him.Baochai hurriedly stopped her, and said with tears, "What happened to my brother didn't happen yesterday or today. At that time, I was beaten and scolded. What are you doing now?"

Aunt Xue hugged her and said: "My poor son, I was delayed so far by my close relatives. I'm sorry for you, mother." She said and cried.Baochai hurriedly persuaded her: "Mom, don't worry too much! Could it be that I told Mom this to complain about my brother?! If Mom thinks of me like this, I should cry."

Aunt Xue said with tears: "You have been thinking for the past two days. You were raised in my stomach. How can I not know your thoughts? You have always been a good person. Now that place has gone, only we don't want to." How can there be such a thing as being named for a lifetime! We live in this mansion again, and we are afraid of being suspected and ridiculed. It seems that there are so many flaws that even a slave can't do it! Such grievances, I How can I not understand! I just thought that it would be good if I didn’t go there, our mother and daughter Ansheng lived by guarding, no matter who made him get in the way. Who would have thought that it was because of Pan’er’s evil obstacle! But they are close relatives , in the eyes of outsiders, you can’t understand even if you want to leave it, and you’ve been implicated alive, my son!”

When Baochai said a few words, his heart became more and more sad, but his mother had already cried like this, and he couldn't add to his anger, so he forced a smile and said, "Mom, don't talk anymore. When I didn't go there, I also had Plan to fight for your breath. Only when you are inside, you will realize that it is not a life for human beings! No matter what the reason is, it is a blessing to be able to come out now. If you really follow what your mother said, you will be left behind without any accidents. I'll spend a long time there, I really don't know if I'll make it to see my mother again."

Aunt Xue was shocked when she heard this, and said: "What?! Could it be that there was some accident inside, and someone planned to bully you?!" After talking about Baochai, she looked at Baochai with her whole body and eyes. It needs to be calculated."

After talking about helping Aunt Xue to sit down, she leaned on the side, lowered her voice and said softly: "Mom, I didn't want to talk to you in detail, but it's all over, and it makes you feel bad. There, the rules are really big, Don't say that it's so sloppy not to eat or sleep, but even the way to sleep and lie down. If you sleep in the wrong position, you will be punished. We are not bad. If we are the maids of Xiaoxuan, if we sleep in the wrong position, we will be punished directly. The whip woke up. Needless to say, the food was nothing compared to the food at home. When it was the turn to eat, the food was either completely cold or hot again.

When you want to go to the front to serve, half a day before the fight, the steward will not let you drink water, for fear that you will be punished for losing your manners.When the princesses watch plays and listen to books, they all stand by the side, and they have to chat and joke with them from time to time. That stand lasts for an hour or two. It's our servant, who doesn't take advantage of the master's happy time to wander around and rest?When I got there, my life was not as good as that of our servants.You can't say too much, and you might offend someone with just one sentence.It's really worrying day and night, and I can't live in peace.How can you live like that? !Therefore, wouldn’t it be absurd if Mom wanted to blame my brother for my failure to accompany me?Where is the best place to go! "

Aunt Xue had heard it long ago. Ordinary people only know about the wealth and splendor in it. It is such an honor to choose a servant to be with the princess and dignitaries every day. How would they know the trivial details of daily work and rest?Hearing what Baochai said, and thinking about such a day, I couldn't help shivering, because I said: "According to what you said, your elder sister really doesn't know how much suffering she has suffered! Fortunately, you were with your aunt just now. I didn't say much before, if I told the truth in detail, I'm afraid she would faint from crying."

Baochai thought in his heart that there was no use in crying and fainting now, and he had already endured many years of suffering.Seeing that Aunt Xue had changed her mind, she said again: "The reason I told Mom was not to avenge my grievances, but to remind Mom. How could my brother's business be settled so easily now? Turn it up? This is at this moment, but with this "future" that I didn't even want, if it falls into the hands of someone who has a heart in an emergency, wouldn't it be bad for my brother? When I think about it, this is actually A knife hanging over the head!"

Aunt Xue thought of this after Baochai said so, and said: "At that time, I entrusted your aunt and uncle to settle the matter. It was because of the help from the mansion that Jiayu Village found Yingtian Mansion's vacancy. Naturally, I wanted to sell this favor. Think it’s over, now that you’re saying it, it’s true. It’s just that this matter is related to the government, and I don’t understand it very well, so write a letter to your uncle later to ask.”

Baochai nodded and said, "That's what I was thinking. Auntie has helped us once, and if I talk about it again, I feel suspicious of others. It's better to talk to my uncle. I'm afraid it will be better." Ask about this matter, Jia's mansion is a place where the wind can't be kept out, maybe something will come out, and then there will be no face to walk around in the mansion.There is no need to say this, the mother and son are both relieved.

On that day, Xue Pan came back early to accompany his mother and sister, and handed over the fresh water chestnut and crispy lotus root crab that Tete had found to the chef and asked Haosheng to pack a few dishes.Thinking about it, I haven't caused any trouble these days, but I don't know why my mother thinks that my nose is not the nose or the eyes.Fortunately, Aunt Xue disliked him and took care of him on weekdays, so he didn't take it seriously, and just persuaded Aunt Xue and Baochai to use more food and wine.

In the evening, Baochai was lying on the embroidered couch, wrapped in a thin quilt covered with begonias and flowers, and a handful of green silk was scattered under the ivy pillow. She couldn't help tossing and turning several times before she lay flat on her back.Take a deep breath, this is called "corpse corpse" in the palace, if you sleep like this, you will be punished.Before entering the palace, she also went through several months of discipline and training, and her waist and back ached from walking in salute, and finally she could sleep peacefully at night.As soon as the darkness fell, no matter how big the difficulty was, it became a little lighter.

Unexpectedly, when I got to that place, I had to worry about it even when I slept, so I couldn't sleep peacefully.When talking to Aunt Xue just now, some words were difficult to utter. According to her thinking, living in such a place may not be able to live a long life.I can't eat, I can't sleep, and within a few days, I feel dry and dry, and I feel depressed, and I can't disperse when I'm depressed, and I have to smile outside to appear calm and gentle, isn't it more? A layer of depression?

Thinking back at this moment, I completely let go of the thought of being a master at that time.If life is gone, how can you talk about glory and wealth? !There is no reliable natal family, no brother who can stand up, and in that place where you have to pay for money to inquire about a word, it can only be a wishful thinking in the early days.

After all, it’s better to be at home. Now that I help Aunt Xue run the shop and look at many books, I don’t find it annoying. I can make up my own mind about everything. If it’s the master, then it’s a matter of rush.Thanks to the blessings of life in the palace these few months, Baochai has since seen more clearly the servants in the family mansion, and she has become more prudent in her actions, and it is less likely to annoy her with ordinary things. That's another story.