The oil bottle of the Red Chamber

Looking ahead is late spring.

That day, Third Sister You was calculating the accounts of Chen Yuan in the room, when she suddenly heard laughter in the yard outside, when Third Sister You looked through the window, she saw that it was Yin Ping'er who followed You's dowry to Ningfu When I came back, I was talking and laughing with the little maids in the yard.

The third sister You put down her pen and said with a smile: "What are you talking about so happy, let me listen too."

Yin Ping'er turned her head back, hurriedly stepped forward to salute, and said with a smile: "Everyone in the East Mansion is grateful to our grandma for a few pots of white peonies. Our grandma loves something. Because I was thinking about the second and third girls who are the most beautiful on weekdays. I love these flowers, so I gave two pots to the third girl. I just thought that I couldn't come home to pay respects to the old lady for a long time, so I simply brought the servants to visit the old lady. Now I am on the way I'm talking with the old lady in the room. Tell the servants to come and invite the second and third girls to go and talk together."

After hearing these words, Third Sister You first thanked You Shi, and then teased: "Eldest Sister gave this flower to Second Sister, which is considered to have met a bosom friend. But if it was given to me, wouldn't I have thought about it all day long?" I was thinking about how to eat it, and I was thinking about how to grind it into a fragrant powder. If such a beautiful flower falls into my hands, wouldn’t it be a shame that I would destroy it with my hands?”

Everyone who said a word couldn't help laughing.The second sister You came out of the room, and couldn't help but said: "I thought someone was making the little girls laugh. But I didn't see it, it was the third sister who was telling a joke again." Third sister You laughed He smiled and said: "Why are you joking? I am seriously suffering from a headache. Second sister, you came just in time, please help me to think of an idea, how to use this pot of white peony flowers? Is it ground to make a powder, or is it stewed with a pheasant to make peony chicken?"

Second Sister You shook her head helplessly, and said, "I don't care about your idea of ​​cooking cranes and burning zithers. I'll tell Big Sister right away. Tell her to move the flowers back quickly, so that they don't fall on you In my hand, I will fulfill your ruthless hand and destroy flowers."

The two sisters talked and laughed, and went all the way to the upper room.Greetings to the old lady first, and met with the four girls of You family. When they sat down, they heard the old lady You ask: "What do you two sisters say are so happy?"

The second sister You smiled when she heard the words, and immediately said what the third sister You said about how to harm the pot of peonies.Seeing this, Third Sister You immediately joked a lot of nonsense to prove that she was right, that the peony should be eaten when it grows.Anyway, when flowers bloom and wither, there is no difference between falling into the soil and falling into the stomach.

Hearing everyone was angry and funny, even Youshi couldn't help laughing and said: "The third sister really has nothing to say. In our family, only Brother Lian and his daughter-in-law can talk to her."

Because Mrs. You talked about the people in the Rong Mansion, Mrs. You had to inquire about the family affairs of the Rong Mansion.You Shi laughed and said: "Speaking of which, there is really a family matter to talk about. But the aunt who married to the Jiangnan Lin family in the mansion over there is gone. The old lady loves the aunt and wife, and she wants to send her granddaughter Received education by my side. At the beginning of the month, I sent someone to Jiangnan to pick her up. The girl Lin from the previous day entered Beijing and entered the mansion. I went to have a look yesterday when I had nothing to do. Ouch, that appearance is really decent. No. Even the girls in our house are not as good as her."

Others were fine after hearing this, but Third Sister You's heart skipped a beat, and she was about to blurt out something when she suddenly woke up.He couldn't help but stop talking, and changed the topic with a smile: "Speaking of that Miss Lin. I just remembered one thing. I heard that her father has been serving as the inspector of Yanyan for two years. It was originally the rules of the emperor. , The inspectors of the salt inspectors are changed every year. However, nowadays, I feel that the change of the salt class every year will inevitably make people's hearts fluctuate and make them unable to be content with being on duty. This will cause the salt class to be overstaffed and easy to breed corruption. It’s not easy to pursue responsibility. So I discussed with the emperor, and there is a meaning of reforming the salt class. Change it from one year to three years.”

Third Sister You was talking about the developments in the court, and the confrontation of various forces behind these developments, the female family members here naturally don't understand.But everyone understood one thing, and only heard Mrs. You laughing: "Oh, if that's the case. This Mr. Lin is amazing. Originally, the Yanzheng was a fat man, even if it was a year. Once changed, how many people will still be jealous. If you can stay in office for several years, will you still be full of food?"

Third Sister You laughed when she heard the words, "That's not necessarily true. When an official came in every year, he just took a small sum of money and left. The succeeding official can't make up for the shortfall, so naturally he has to take responsibility for it." Pushing it to the top, the imperial court has made it a rule for them not to blame the public because of the law. Now it has changed every three years and every five years. Although it seems to make more money on the surface, he has won it alone. The good thing is that outsiders are eager to look at him and secretly make a stumbling block, so whether he can sit still as a fat job depends entirely on his ability."

Third Sister You spoke easily and clearly, but everyone couldn't understand what she said.Youshi thought for a while, and couldn't help asking: "What does the third sister mean by this? The term of the inspector censor is too long, so it's not a good thing?"

Third Sister You smiled, but did not agree.The conversation changed, and he said with a smile: "Whether it's good or not, it has nothing to do with us. Eldest sister, let's talk about that Miss Lin. What's the advantage? You invite her to Ningfu some other day, and I will take a look at it too." See?"

Youshi said with a smile: "That Miss Lin doesn't care about her appearance or bearing, she has nothing to say about her talents. She has read the four books at a young age, and she speaks in a well-organized manner, which is better than Baoyu's."

As soon as we talked about Baoyu, we had to take the incident of Baoyu falling on the day Miss Lin came to the mansion as a joke.

This time, not only Chen's mother and daughter didn't take it seriously, but Su Xi, the old lady You from Rong Mansion couldn't help curling her lips and said: "It's not me, an old woman who is talking behind her back. The men in your two mansions are too different. Especially that Baoyu, who looks white, clean and smart on the outside, always likes to do some inconspicuous things. He hangs around all day long, trying to be a man, making his whole body smell of makeup. Now he is still in front of the guests The face is crazy, how do you ask others to come down to Taiwan? This is not the upbringing of our children."

After hearing these words, You Shi couldn't help laughing and said: "The old lady only thinks that this matter is inappropriate, but she doesn't know that there are other strange things. You said that the old lady sent someone to the south of the Yangtze River to pick up Lin Miss, but no one in the mansion over there has cleaned up Miss Lin's house for such a long time. When someone asked the old lady, the old lady just said that she wanted Miss Lin to live with her, Baoyu lived outside, and Miss Lin Live in a green gauze closet. Because Miss Lin is weak and cold by nature, I have to wait until the weather warms up into summer before cleaning up Miss Lin's house."

When You Shi said these words, everyone was dumbfounded.Chen Shi has always been a hot tempered person, so he raised his eyebrows and said: "This is too outrageous. People in the world say that men and women sit at different seats at the age of seven. Although these two children are still young, no matter what, they are both cousins ​​of the opposite sex. Now they live in the same house. If it is passed on, what will it be?"

The old lady You pondered for a long time, but she smiled and said: "I'm afraid this old lady is thinking of two families and one family. It's better to be a childhood sweetheart. If that's the case, I don't need to pay attention to those who are educated. Defend."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Chen frowned and said: "Even if it is true, it shouldn't be like this. There is no dignity of an aristocratic family."

The third sister You sneered when she heard this, because she said: "The Jia family doesn't have any rules at all."

Speaking of this, he remembered one thing more and more, and smiled at Youshi: "Since the old lady took Miss Lin to her side to raise her, it doesn't matter whether it is spring or summer, she must clean up her house. Now there are two people in the mansion. The girl, and the girl Xichun in your house are all raised by the old lady. It was okay when I was young, but now the girls are older, and Baoyu is also older. It is inconvenient to be crowded together. You should also think of a way , Take the girl from your house back to live. As the saying goes, a sister-in-law is like a mother, and the old lady is of high seniority and status, so it is good to have her to educate the girls. But if the old lady is old, weak and mentally weak, you It's not good to be lazy when you are a sister-in-law. Don't let people talk behind your back and arrange that you, a sister-in-law, don't care about your sister."

You Shi hadn't thought of this before.Now hearing what Third Sister You said, I couldn't help laughing and said: "No wonder everyone in the world praises my sister for being smart. From what I said today, I can tell that you are more considerate in your actions and words than I am. Thanks to you for reminding me, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to remember.”

The old lady You also agreed: "Sister San's words are very reasonable. Your fourth girl is also a descendant of the Ning Mansion after all, and is your master's own sister. Now she is treated the same as the concubine girl from the mansion over there. Outsiders see it, it's really not very good. Even in your mansion, it's just for nothing, right?"

Youshi smiled, because he said: "When I go to my house later, I will ask the servants to clean up the house. It's just that it's not good to suddenly raise the issue of picking up people at this moment. I don't want to be offensive, but offend that person. Old ladies and wives in the Bianfu, let me mention it when the old lady cleans Miss Lin's house."

Everyone nodded when they heard the words, and Mrs. Chen also smiled and said: "This is an old-fashioned statement. But you have nothing to do, you can take the fourth girl to Ningfu for a few days, or send her some girls who like it. Please ask two more to teach you how to teach the fourth girl. When you go out to socialize, you should take her more. The two sisters-in-law get along well, and it will be to your advantage."

Yushi nodded.Yin smiled and said, "I can save it."

When I went to You's house for a while, I really ordered my servants to tidy up two wing rooms in a small and exquisite courtyard next to Huifang Garden in the backyard, one for study and one for boudoir.He also took his daughter-in-law Qin Keqing to personally arrange the curtains and furnishings in the room, and opened the warehouse to pick out several antiques and put them in the house.

When Jia Zhen's family came to see it, they couldn't understand it, so they couldn't help asking: "What are you tossing about?"