[Red Mansions] The big maid struggles daily

It is the day, the end of winter and the beginning of spring. The sky is fine and clear. The yellow winter jasmine flowers are full of vitality, and the golden and emerald green calyx bring a touch of warmth to the cold spring.

Zhan Mansion opened its doors wide to welcome relatives and friends who came to congratulate Bairi.

"Since I have a grandson, it's hard to see Mr. Zhan in the theater." The fancier who has a good friendship with Zhan University teased.

Zhan Da stroked his beard, it was very beautiful, and said with a smile: "The teahouse and theater are just for passing the time. Now that I have a grandson, I feel very refreshed when I look at my grandson every day. , where do you need to go to the theater?"

Several old friends spit on him, really shameless, as if someone has no grandchildren.Among the four or five good friends, whose family doesn't have a lot of sons and grandchildren, and those who are descendants of concubines can stand in a yard.All day long, the fronts of the family kept bumping into each other endlessly, and the chaos caused headaches.If it weren't for the fact that they disliked the family and were so annoying, and there were lawsuits waiting that they would never play, these masters and grandpas wouldn't have reported on the teahouse and opera garden early on, as if Tian'er was like a servant in the yamen.

Only Zhan Da, a single seedling, is clean, but it is unavoidable that people worry that his family is too small, especially when his eldest son is on the battlefield again, many people secretly mutter that Xu is a freshman of Zhan The door is closed.Unexpectedly, his son not only came back in good condition, but was also promoted two ranks because of his military exploits—a fourth-rank military officer under the age of 30 is rare now except when the country was founded.It is not enough for the son to come back. The daughter-in-law gave birth to a precious grandson in the first year of marriage.

When the nanny carefully carried the hundred-day baby to the front hall for relatives and friends to have a look at, the elders present were even more sour: pink carved jade, a fat and round dumpling.Zhan Da stretched out his hand to take it and shook it, his pink grunting mouth grinned, with a stream of saliva, obviously he was very familiar with Zhan Da.

A visitor looked at his eyes and sighed: "It's really a divination. Boss Zhan's luck really should come later. Look at this, his son is promising, and he has a new grandson. He is younger than me by how many years, ho He is already an old man of the fourth grade! Look again, the way he is used to holding the child. His grandson is only a hundred days old, and his daughter-in-law dares to let a rough man hold the child. Let me be the first When I was a grandson, not only was our eldest and his wife very strict, even the old woman would not allow me to touch my grandson... Later, there were more and more grandchildren, and they were worthless, so they thought of currying favor with me, the head of the family. Hmph! Rare hugged it!"

Zhan Da skillfully hugged his eldest grandson and shook him twice, teasing him, Uncle Cheng beside him stretched out his hand to pick him up.

When Uncle Cheng also hugged the baby in his arms, relatives and friends came together to tease the little baby. Maybe he could see the faces clearly when the little guy was not yet born. Look at this and that, it's amazing .It's just that Zhanda didn't want to anymore, so he hurriedly asked the wet nurse to carry him back to the back hall.

"It's wrapped up, take it back to your wife quickly. The banquet will start in a while, the smell of wine and vegetables, don't smoke my eldest grandson."

The nurses and nuns hurriedly agreed, covered the little quilt, put a fur cloak on the swaddling baby, and then went back to the back hall tightly surrounded.

The people sitting in the hall are all close friends, they know Zhan Da's bad temper, if they make fun of him once, they don't care.

The female relatives in the main hall at the back also sat around and talked, and now they all called Zhu Xiu "Mrs. Zhan".Zhan Dong's grandfather had gone long ago. It is reasonable that the Zhan family has a third generation, and Zhan Da's brothers should belong to the grandfather. It was only because Zhan Da was the eldest son and he had no grandchildren, so he was too lazy to change it. down.After Zhu Xiu gave birth to Lin'er, the imperial court rewarded Zhan Dong for his meritorious deeds, and Zhan Dong was promoted to two ranks in a row, so Zhan Da naturally ordered his family to change their minds.Now that the big house has been changed, the rest of the houses have also been promoted for a generation.

"I heard from your uncle that my uncle returned to Yingmao half a month ago. Is this injury healed? Don't be careless, persuade more, and don't let the root cause of your illness come down." I have said a few words about my daughter.

Zhu Xiu smiled and said: "Don't worry. The Li family of the Lin family was diagnosed and treated. His wounds were all healed before he went back to the camp. The injury had been repeated before, and it was somewhat exhausted, so he had to slowly recover. This is all There is no rush. Mother knows that I am a bit talented in this, and it will be the same as before in two or three years at most." As he spoke, he smiled and said: "Mother only loves your uncle, but compares my own daughter to you. It's over."

Nanny Zhu was relieved, seeing her acting like a child, she tapped the girl's forehead angrily, and scolded with a smile: "I'm here for whom! I'm already a mother, and I'm still acting like a baby, calling him Brother Ji!" I saw the joke!"

Zhu Xiu was just trying to make fun of it. Seeing that others were far away, she hurriedly grabbed her mother and said, "My relatives and friends sent two troupes of operas, one for men outside, and one for women inside. The stage has been prepared and is warming up in the garden. In the front, I will lead the guests over in a while. It’s just that I’m feeling sick again, so I have to go back to the house to feed Brother Ji, and Mama will greet me for a while, and I’ll come as soon as I go.”

Nanny Zhu glanced quickly, the thick winter dress just covered Zhu Xiu's embarrassment, and said hurriedly: "Then you go quickly, I am here, don't worry, carefully choke brother Ji."

This hall is full of older wives and wives. Seeing that only Madam Zhu turned around, she asked with a smile, "Why is it just the old lady, Mrs. Zhan? Your brother is really cute, what do we love? Right now, if brother is still awake, hug him and let us kiss each other."

Mother Zhu couldn't bear it, she said with a smile: "Isn't it because I'm sleepy and making trouble, afraid of disturbing us, I asked to take it back to the yard. There are still some Xiu'er sisters in the flower hall over there, she went to have a look. Let's have tea first, then go to the theater later, I heard it is a very famous troupe..."

The main hall for welcoming female guests is in the main courtyard. Behind the main hall is a hall, and there are a row of wing rooms on both sides of the hall.Through the hallway is the courtyard where the Zhuxiu couple live in daily life. The main room has a pattern of three rooms and two ears, just like the current officials and eunuchs.Entering the door is the flower hall, where Qingjin, Daiyu, Sanchun sisters, the little cousin of the Zhan family, and an uninvited Shi Xiangyun are all placed here for entertainment.

Zhu Xiu had greeted her once before, but she was pushed to the front by her sisters. When she came back, they all asked: "We are talking here, it's very comfortable, I don't need you to accompany me, you can just go about your business. If you really want me Accompanied politely, isn't it a heretic."

Zhu Xiu said with a smile: "Not for you, I'll take a look behind Brother Ji, and change clothes by the way. After a while, let's go to the theater together."

Daiyu laughed and said, "Brother Ji came back just now. We saw that he was sleepy and didn't dare to make trouble with him, so we asked the nanny to carry him back to sleep."

Saying that, they all got up and followed her to see the fluffy and plump little dumpling.Except for Shi Xiangyun, these are all close aunts and aunts, so there is no need to meet them.Seeing Shi Xiangyun this time, she was much more silent. She was not as loud and laughing as she used to be, and she knew how to advance and retreat. She hurriedly said: "Sister Zhu's tea is very fragrant. I didn't check it for a while. I ate too much." One, just going to change clothes."

Zhu Xiu hurriedly asked the two little girls in the hall to accompany Xiangyun.

Qingjin, Yingchun, and Tanchun are all wearing women's buns, and even Daiyu seems to have made a marriage arrangement, so she only has to pay her respects.Only Xichun and the little cousin are two years younger, but they have also reached the age of seeing each other.Zhu Xiu felt uncomfortable, as soon as he picked up Brother Ji, Brother Ji seemed to smell the smell, his fat little face rubbed Zhu Xiu's clothes, his small mouth was open, and there were streams of saliva.

The sisters looked amused, Zhu Xiu could only laugh and said, "I'm hungry."

Chunliu Qiugui hurriedly put down the tent, and it took a while for the sisters to understand.Everyone was very surprised, Daiyu's face was flushed, Xichun and the little cousin just thought it was funny.

Yingchun was startled and said, "You feed yourself?" What does the wet nurse do?

Zhu Xiu only said that nowadays in big families there is a nanny on the left and a nanny on the right to take care of and feed their children.

"When I'm not here, Brother Ji will naturally have to be taken care of by nurses and nuns." Zhu Xiu laughed.

He also said to the sisters: "I won't talk about other major principles, but one thing, you will understand: Whoever raises a child is close to him. It's not that I can't do it. I can't feed my own child. Besides, mother and child are connected, who can compare A mother loves her child more. When feeding him, see how much he eats, touch his forehead and little hands, and you can know whether the child is doing well at the moment. If there is any discomfort, you will be aware of it immediately , it’s much faster than waiting for someone to report. No matter how good the wet nurse is, she’s not the real mother, so it’s reasonable for you to spend one time?”

Yingchun and Tanchun looked at each other, especially Tanchun, she really felt that the nanny was closer than her own aunt.The two sisters rubbed their bellies and listened to the words in their hearts.

However, Qingjin agreed with her face. Housewives from ordinary families are not self-feeding: "Xiuxiu's words are very reasonable, even my aunt said so."

The aunt in her mouth naturally refers to Nanny Zhu, and Tan Chun wondered, "How do you say it?"

Qing Jin smiled and said: "My aunt said that the nobles in the palace, because of the rules, the princes don't say anything, and even the princesses who stay by her side live in a separate hall. The nobles even visit once a day It's hard to do, when the princesses grow up, there is often more than respect between mother and daughter but not closeness. On the contrary, they are very affectionate with the wet nurse and nurturing mother."

Qingjin came up to the scene, and said that she had gone elsewhere: "It doesn't matter whether it is a wet nurse or a foster mother, and she often serves as the princess's companion. This dynasty is fine, but in the previous dynasty, some nuns were very hateful. The bullshit rules control the princess, and don't let the princess meet with the son-in-law. If the husband and wife want to meet, they have to please and bribe these nurses. Because they were taught and raised by these people since they were young, even though they have a noble status, their temperament has been cultivated. Forbearance, resignation..."

After Zhu Xiu finished feeding Brother Ji, Brother Ji had enough to eat and drink, and was so sleepy that his eyes were closed, and his chubby little hands were still clutching his mother's skirt.Zhu Xiu gently shook it a few times before carefully taking off his little hand.

The attendant Zhu Xiu quickly changed her clothes, and Qiu Gui stayed consciously, sitting on the footrest to take care of Brother Ji personally.Chunliu has gone out lightly, ordering the wet nurse and two nuns in the ear room to come in. "Hao Sheng looked at my brother, and gave me some water when I woke up."

Zhu Xiu combed her temple hair, hurriedly got up and came out, said with a smile: "Let's go to the front to listen to the play."

Zhu Xiu took the sisters to the main hall to join the wives and wives, and went to the garden together.The conservatory in the garden is quite large, with two floors, and there is a small stage in the middle. A troupe of young actors have already dressed up, and they followed the master to greet the wives and wives.

For a while, a seven or eight-year-old little boy held a playlist and a tooth wat, saluted in groups, and said, "I beg all ladies, grandmas, girls, ladies to enjoy the play."

A lady saw that he was young and looked very fair and well-behaved, and said with a smile: "Which team is this, children are so well-informed."

The other wife seemed to know something inside, so she smiled and said: "This is a troupe of small actors raised in the family's mansion. If the mansion is not in use, other families come to invite them, and they often go to other houses to perform on stage. They say they are famous troupes. .”

Because ordering plays needs to start from the honorable position, Zhu Xiu hurriedly asked an aunt in the family to order first, and went up to Madam Zhu, and Madam Zhu also ordered.

The play excerpts have been reported on the stage, and the play has already started with gongs and drums.

At this moment, Zhu Xiu quietly said to Yingchun: "My sister-in-law Xu sent someone to say that she can't come today. Listen, it seems that sister-in-law Xu has another happy news, do you know?"

Yingchun laughed and said, "It's strange that I didn't see Mrs. Xu today. Mrs. Xu is really blessed. In a few days, we will visit her together."

Zhu Xiuyin smiled and said: "Okay, let's make an appointment again. I heard that Brother Deng was promoted to a higher level because of his meritorious service in training, and the imperial court wanted to transfer and rotate the guards from various places. Battalions like them always have half a month's rest." Mu..." As she spoke, she looked at Yingchun's belly.In fact, Deng Ji often came to the mansion during the ten-day break in the past two months. Zhu Xiu had a good ear and heard him say to Zhan Dong: "You and Brother Hai have children, and I am the only one left behind. How can you guys be brothers! Just wait, I will definitely give birth to one soon, so that I will be too old, and I will be bullied by you two like me!" He boasted all kinds of words and vowed to hurry up Ask my wife to give birth to one.

Looking at Zhu Xiu's eyes, Yingchun suddenly understood, her face was on fire, and she said with an annoyed smile, "You are a decent person, how did you fail?"

Zhu Xiu thought, it's not because your family Deng Ji has a lot of resentment, and he is very energetic.What's more, what he said is also reasonable. Since they got married, the young couple have been together less and far away more. Because of the war in southern Xinjiang, the Fengtai camp was extremely tough. Deng Ji was often unable to stay at home for a month. How could he have children.Fortunately, Mrs. Deng is very sensible. She was very late in giving birth herself, and she is very generous to Yingchun. Yingchun has a stable temperament, and she doesn't think about things or rush like other women.

This time Mrs. Deng also came, and she specially let her daughter-in-law go to meet her sisters, and she didn't want her daughter-in-law to wait by her side. When the people around saw it, who wouldn't say that the family is harmonious.

On the stage is the two folds of "Purple Hairpin Yuan Xi", which is a newly arranged book, and it has become very famous in the capital recently, even people like Zhu Xiu who don't like drama have heard of it.Listening to it, the libretto is meaningful, the sequence is elegant, the scenery expresses emotion, and its humorous and laughing words are much more vivid than other plays.

Especially the person who sang Xiaodan, his voice was like jade beads falling on a plate, lingering and lingering.That figure is softer than a willow branch, and the peony is enchanting.Zhu Xiu had heard quite a few operas, and she had never seen such a touching female role, so she felt that it was not difficult to understand those fanciers who were obsessed with drama throughout the ages.

Zhu Xiu, a layman who doesn't know how to appreciate it, is like this, and he even talks about those wives who love to listen to operas, and asks for a while, "Whose team is this. Although it is a small team, it is better than the big one. Make such a It’s a new look, but those big classes outside have been praised and criticized.”

"Especially this Xiaodan, oh, what a good voice! Send someone to find a woman in charge later, let's ask, and please sing it at our house when they are free, our old lady is lovely Listen to new plays."

Zhu Xiu is the master's house, seeing the guests are in such good spirits, she had to take advantage of the time when the singing was finished, order the nuns to find the head of the theater troupe, and ask a woman who can talk to come up to the matter.

There are all female relatives here, so the adults in the troupe are not allowed to wander anywhere except on the stage and the covered back defense.The servants and Nurse Dali who were sent by the second door had already guarded the places, and when they heard the wives and grandmas pass on the words of the opera troupe, they rushed to tell the manager.

The head of this small theater troupe is not as humble and flattering as the other troupe masters because of his noble family status.Although they were invited from Beppu, they were not as comprehensive as the wild team outside, so they didn't bring out women who could talk about things.At this moment, the only ones who can talk back are the children of some theater troupes.

The nanny who came to ask for it said: "These children are clever, and they will do anything if you send them a playlist. Only the ladies asked someone to call back and ask about your team. Can these children understand?"

It's very difficult to be in charge of the class: "These children are newly selected, and they have only practiced their leg skills for two days. They can't even tell us what plays our troupe is good at."

The nanny was also troubled, so she said: "Please think again. I just saw that there are several women among you, don't you have articulate ones?"

The class leader said: "The corners of our team are all men. Those women are all handymen doing rough work, what do you know?"

As soon as he said it, he thought of someone coming, and hurriedly called a waiter who was waiting to go on stage and asked, "Did the woman in Qiguan's room come with you this time?"

That waidan wears a gold hairpin with pearls on her hairpin. She is dressed in all kinds of charms, but when she speaks out, it is a young male voice: "Qi officials are delicate, and they must be served by someone when they go out. Whenever they don't bring a little girl with them."

The words were sour, but the class leader ignored them.This official Qi just sang Xiaodan just now, and he is the most valued by the master in this troupe. Even the friends he associates with are princes and grandchildren, very arrogant, no wonder others are jealous.

The class leader took his wife to a small room built out of Dandan, and knocked on the door twice. Then a pretty woman with a certain appearance opened the door. Seeing the class leader in the middle, he didn't even get up, and only asked: "Is the boss in charge?"

The class leader hurriedly laughed and said: "You just sang wonderfully. The wives and wives in this house are all asking about our team. Unfortunately, there is no one outside who can answer, but I have to use you, the flower girl in the house, to deal with it." one time."

Qiguan glanced at the woman indifferently, and said: "Go with the class leader, and just come back after you have finished speaking."

Leaving Qiguan in front of him, the class leader straightened his waist, and put away his respectful expression, showing no courtesy to the flower girl.

The nanny who came along had to ask clearly, not to bring everyone to the master, and hurriedly said, "Who is this?"

The class leader said: "Oh, this is from Guan'er Qi's room. She was the first-class maid of a rich family. She has seen a lot of worldly things, and she came to our team for a while. If she answers, she can."

He said again: "She only follows Qi Guan'er, and she cleans up fairly cleanly, which is more neat than those rough women. If you teach those women to go, the answer is the next thing, and you must confuse the wives and grandmas." But it was a sin."

The nanny had no choice but to agree, and said, "As long as there are no mistakes."

The head of the class glanced at the woman, and said coldly: "Wife and grandma are very interested. You just answered truthfully. I don't need you for a while. You should go back to serve Qiguan quickly, but you are not allowed to bump into others without rules." !"

The woman surnamed Hua hurriedly bent her knees to respond.

The mother of Zhan's family looked at it coldly, she really understood the rules, and she behaved very well, so she couldn't help but wonder in her heart, this woman was originally a girl from a rich family, why did she become a roommate for an actor?Was it her original master who broke things, or did she offend the master and sell her?

Just thinking about it randomly, he still quickly took people outside.

The babbling on the stage became lively again, but this time there was no dazzling Xiao Dan on stage, the wives and grandmas inevitably lost some interest, and three or five of them talked together, or drank tea and cracked a few melon seeds.

Suddenly, the mother-in-law of the Zhan family brought up a young woman with a woman's hair in a bun, hurriedly called to him, and asked, "Is this a woman from their team?"

The mother-in-law of Zhan's family couldn't just say that she was from Danjiao's house, and the ladies in the main house didn't want to talk to such a person, so they could only vaguely say: "The head of the class sent this woman to answer the words of wives and grandmas. "

A lady with frosted temples looked her up and down, shook her head, and said, "I can't tell what it's singing about, and besides, compared to Xiao Dan just now, her waist is too stiff and thick."

The other said with a smile: "Maybe you are a gangster. It's just that the rules are good. You come and tell me that you are a famous class, but there is no name that can be called out. They are Jiqing Class and Ruyi Class. , Yinjiaban all have a name, tell me what your name is?"

At a table not far away, Zhu Xiu and all the sisters were stunned, Shi Xiangyun murmured: "Sister Xiren?"