Prequel to the Red Chamber: I Am the Second Wife

There are many things to do at the end of the year, and Zili has even more things to do this year.A few days after Jia Jing's birthday, Li Jin diagnosed her happy pulse, and the imperial doctor told her that she was not suitable for labor when she was just pregnant and told her to rest in peace.Now at the end of the year, buying new year's goods, buying new year's wine, cleaning the house and other things all fell on Zili.Sister Feng is a very strong person, and she feels sorry for her aunt who has to worry about being tired in her old age, so she wants to come over to help with the cooking.Zili called Sister Feng to him and told him his heart-to-heart. Only then did Sister Feng wake up a bit, so she stopped talking about it. Instead, she often came to Mrs. Xing to greet and flatter her.

It was just after Laba that day, and the house was busy with cleaning and dusting. Seeing that the new house had been cleaned up, Zili felt a little relieved.This afternoon, I watched the maids move all the furnishings that had been cleaned in the morning from the sunshine in the yard.On a whim, she asked the maids to move out all the boxes and rummaged through the things she didn't use in the past year.

Opening the big camphorwood boxes one by one, Zili suddenly found that he had so many things.Zhou Rui's family looked at Zili and sighed while holding up the skirt that she thought she had when she was a girl, and said with a smile: "If the wife's things are compared with those of the small households outside, just a few pieces will be enough for them to eat for a year. But with the old lady's Compared with those wives from rich families, they are just average. The clothes and jewelry of the grandma of a decent rich family are not enough for a lifetime if you fold them casually. But looking at this dress reminds me of the past. At that time, let alone us The girls in the family are Miss Lin and Miss Bao, who may not be able to catch up with half of my wife's character."

"No matter how sweet your mouth is, I won't reward you! It's too fake. I know what I looked like when I was young." Zili looked at a box of clothes and said to Qiufen: "Take them out, I will choose." You can share some of it." The girls stared enviously at Zili's clothes when she was a girl, and narrowed their brows and eyes with joy when they heard Zili's words.

Zili picked out unwanted clothes one by one, while the little girls were staring at those exquisite skirts and clothes, discussing in low voices which ones are beautiful and which ones are exquisite.Autumn Equinox glared at the little girls: "Little hooves who have never seen the world know howling!" The little girls were so frightened that they dared not speak out.Zili Xin assigned who to wear which: "This one is for Autumn Equinox, and this cloak, you look better in red with fair skin." As he spoke, Zili picked up the big red satin cloak and gave it to Autumn Equinox.Autumn Equinox was busy thanking: "My wife has nowhere to buy things even with silver. No matter what it is, it is a grace."

Soon a box of clothes had already been divided into half, including Aunt Zhou and Aunt Wang. When Zili put the things she wanted to keep in the box, sisters Yingchun and Daiyu Baochai came. .It turned out that they were going to see Li Jin and stopped by to say hello.Seeing Zili's colorful things piled up on the floor, Xichun smiled and said, "Our house is tidy, why is my wife's place still messy?"

Zili threw down the things in his hands and told them to sit down: "I have nothing to do and see that the sun is good today, so I take out the old things and tidy them up. They are all my old clothes. If they are left for nothing, if they are broken, it is better to give them to them." Girls, go wear it."

The same is true in my family. My mother never liked to hide and tuck things away. She took out all the old clothes and gave them to Xiangling, and even I picked up a few.Baochai stood up and took the teacup from the girl and put it in front of Zili, pointing to the honey-colored gold and silver brocade jacket on her body, she said, "I found this from my mother, so it's good to wear it. My aunt knows me." , I have always disliked new clothes. In fact, no one like us throws away clothes after they are worn out. They just make brand new clothes and put them aside after wearing them for a few days. Clothes are made according to the four seasons of the year. Some new ones are still under the box before they are worn. Those are good things. It’s just too wasteful. Why don’t I pick them up and wear them, and the mother and daughter are closer. Even my mother said that I It looks better in this than when she was younger."

Hearing what Baochai said, Tanchun and Yingchun couldn't help showing envious expressions, neither of them came from the royal family, and Yingchun lost her mother at a young age, let alone Tanchun's mother.Although Aunt Wang raised and took care of her, Tanchun was still a little bit disappointed. She was even ashamed to mention her own mother in front of others, and only recognized Aunt Wang as her biological mother.It's a pity that no matter how good Aunt Wang is, she is also her biological mother.Instead, Xichun didn't take Baochai's words seriously, and she and Daiyu looked at the clothes and whispered to each other.Xichun pointed to a piece of clothing and asked Daiyu what it was, but Daiyu couldn't figure it out either, so she shook her head to show that she didn't know.

Seeing this, Zili asked, "What are you two muttering about?"

Xichun pointed to a dress and said, "I told Sister Lin that this dress looks so beautiful, shining like the surface of water under the moonlight. I have never seen a dress like this again."

Baochai took a closer look and smiled: "This is the Yuehua skirt. The material is not ordinary rhombic gauze, but a special kind of silk thread spun out by ice silkworms. Under the moonlight, it exudes a soft brilliance. It looks like the moonlight is falling on the water. Now there are fewer and fewer moonlight brocades, and only two horses are tributed every year."

"These were worn when I was a girl. Although they don't look bad, they look out of fashion. Wouldn't it be a slap in the face for you to wear them? I wanted to give you sisters the few furs I picked up a few days ago. It’s okay to make big clothes?” Zili asked the maids to bring out the New Year’s clothes made for Daiyu Baochai in Sanchun.All of a sudden the girl came in with some bundles, and when she unwrapped them, there were some big woolen winter clothes, all resplendent and resplendent.Sanchun’s cloaks are the same gorilla-felt black fox-lined cloak, with fur all made of white mink, Daiyu’s is a goose-yellow white fox cloak with brown flying squirrel fur, and Baochai’s is a lotus blue The inside of the crane cloak is red fox fur, and there is no decoration on the outside, which is simple and elegant. "It's the Chinese New Year, and it's time to wear new clothes. You've grown a lot this year, and the old cloaks won't fit you anymore." Zili watched Sanchun try on the new clothes under the service of the girl. Clothes, Zili only felt that the colorful flowers in front of him were refreshing.

Sanchun, Daiyu and Baochai both thanked Zili, and everyone sat down and chatted for a while, and went their separate ways.Waiting for Daiyu to go back, Zicuckoo saw the new clothes and said with a smile: "My wife also has a heart, thinking about it and making this for the girl. Today, people from Yangzhou came to give the girl a lot of things." Said pointing to the inside of the room A lot of boxes and boxes.Lin Ruhai and Jia Min naturally cared for their daughter and often wrote to Daiyu to deliver things.

Daiyu was naturally happy when she saw the things her parents sent, and asked the girl to open them and look at them. She picked out a lot of things and divided them among the sisters, Baoyu and others.

For a while, Sanchun Baochai had all been divided, and Daiyu suddenly remembered something and said to Zijuan: "I have to give Xiangyun a share. Recently, she doesn't come here often. It's good for me to mention it to the old lady the other day." Somebody pick her up." Xueyan was a little unhappy when she heard Daiyu's words, their girl was nice to Miss Shi, but Miss Shi was not very friendly to Daiyu.Xueyan said: "That Miss Yun has never come here, and she will never get over it if she doesn't stab the girl. The girl treats her so well."

Daiyu scolded Xueyan with a stern face and said: "What nonsense are you talking about? Yun'er has an open temper when she is young. How can I get serious with her? Doesn't it seem that I am stingy. My parents are not around and I feel lonely and helpless. You think she has no parents, even if she is loved by uncles, aunts and old ladies, not everyone can understand the pain of not having biological parents." Daiyu added more things to Xiangyun.

Let's not talk about Xueyan being taught by Daiyu.Zijuan watched Daiyu take out a lot of pens, inks and inkstones, and played with the fine rice paper, and asked: "Who is this for? Gifts for the old lady and the old lady. Mr. Lin and his aunts have all prepared it. So I asked someone to send it over." Daiyu took a good piece of Huangshan pine ink and put it on the pile of things: "This is for my wife's nephew, cousin Shixiang, and he also gave us things, how can there be nothing for nothing?" The reason for taking other people's things?"

Zijuan heard that it was for Shixiang, so she didn't say a word, she called the little girl to explain the things clearly and asked someone to send them, and soon the sisters all accepted Daiyu's gifts and rewarded the visitor generously Say thank you for thinking.After a while, seeing the big girl magpie next to Shixiang come in, she held a big food box and said with a smile: "Our second master said thank you for the girl's things, and today the boat that our master asked people to deliver things also came. These are some Give the girl a taste of the snacks from the south." He put down the food box and opened it to see, in addition to fresh Jiangnan fruits such as citrus, bergamot, olives and oranges, there are actually delicate fruit preserves from Yangzhou, Gusu and other places.Daiyu saw that many of them were the ones she liked to eat when she was a child, and she couldn't help but think of her parents and younger brother at home, and her eyes turned red.

Seeing Daiyu being so busy, Magpie said: "My second master said that the girl will be sad and homesick after seeing this, so I specially took this to relieve the girl's boredom." Behind her, the girl took out a scroll, opened it and found It is the scenery of Suzhou, drawn according to the genre of Qingming Shanghetu, and it describes the scene of every family going out for an outing in spring. The city style and natural scenery are perfectly integrated.Daiyu looked at the magpie with a knowing smile and said, "Thank you, thank you! Zijuan, take some rouge pollen and give the magpie a penny for the girl who brings things."

The magpie and the little girl thanked the reward, took their leave and left.Zijuan wants to put away the painting, but Daiyu asks Zijuan to hang it in her room.

In the evening, Daiyu washed and changed her pajamas and was still standing under the lamp looking at the painting. Zijuan came in and said, "Girl, haven't you seen enough of this painting all afternoon? It's hung in the room anyway, and every day after Just take it easy. Can it run away? It's getting late tomorrow, and the girl will go over to say hello to his wife."

Daiyu's eyes fell on the small seal at the bottom of the painting's signature, she stared at the small seal silently, and then said quietly: "Put this painting away tomorrow. Although he is very kind and afraid I am homesick and sad, and I use this to ease my homesickness, but the more I look at it, the more I miss the days when I was at home." Said Daiyu's eye circles became red again.

Zijuan hurriedly persuaded: "Girl, don't be sad, since I don't want to see it, I will put it away immediately." She said that she wanted to take down the painting.But Daiyu stopped her and said, "Forget it, let's talk about it tomorrow." She went to rest without mentioning it.Waiting for Zijuan to go out, there was silence outside, but Daiyu's heart was churning.This painting was drawn by Shixiang himself. Daiyu is sensitive. It is a lie that Daiyu is not tempted by Shixiang's thoughtfulness towards her. Fearful again, he tossed and turned all night, and didn't fall asleep until the fourth watch.

Zili came back from Jiamu's place to greet her. As soon as she sat down, she heard the girl say that Daiyu had come, "I slept well last night, and the letter you wrote to my family is fine. Your family will go back tomorrow, so please call me." They brought home letters back." Zili had already prepared gifts for the Lin family, and even wrote a letter to ask Jia Min to help take care of Wang Ziteng's family in Hangzhou. Marriage is not a private matter between a man and a woman, but two Regarding family matters, Lin Ruhai came from a noble family, and Zili was worried that Lin Ruhai would look down on the Wang family, so he tried different ways to create opportunities for the two families to get to know each other better.Maybe Lin Ruhai could feel that although the Wang family had a rough foundation, they were good people and would agree to this marriage.But Daiyu forgot to write a letter to her family. She blushed and twisted the handkerchief and said coquettishly to Zili: "I, I was too tired yesterday—"

Before Daiyu finished talking about Zili, Daiyu understood what Daiyu meant: "Don't worry, I asked Autumn Equinox to serve you to write letters inside. There was nothing important at first, I think you must have been busy distributing to the sisters yesterday. Just forget about it." As he spoke, Zili asked the girl to invite Daiyu to sit inside and write a letter to her family to report her safety.The mother-in-law who had already had many affairs came, and Zili ignored Daiyu and only focused on housework.

By the time Daiyu finished writing the letter, Zili had already dealt with the affairs of the family. Seeing Daiyu come out, Zili asked her to sit beside him and said, "Your face is not good, but you were tired yesterday. Is it? Why don't you go back and rest."

No matter what my aunt said, I would like to learn from my aunt.Daiyu picked up the account book on the table and told Zili the same thing. Of course Zili knew what Shixiang gave Daiyu yesterday, but today Daiyu looked worried, and she might have realized Shixiang's treatment of her. affection.It's just that free love in this era is a big scandal, and poor Daiyu doesn't know how to be tortured by morality.She can't make it clear now, she just hopes that Daiyu can quickly come out of her indifferent sense of morality and shame.

After reconciling the accounts soon, Zili pointed out the doorway inside and explained to Daiyu. As expected of Daiyu, she was very transparent.After talking about the housekeeper, Zili changed the subject and asked what book Daiyu was reading recently.Because at the end of the year, the teacher who taught the girls to read will go back to his hometown and wait for the spring of next year to come back, so Sanchun Daiyu hasn't gone to school for a few days.Daiyu replied: "I didn't read anything on purpose, but I just read what I found. I'm reading Chuci recently."

Zili nodded: "Chu Ci is good, but I don't have that poetic feeling. I have always been poor in poetry rhythm. I remember that when I went to school with my husband at my mother's house, every time I encountered rhythm homework, I had a headache. Very. Now that I’m getting older, I don’t read that anymore, I only like lively things. I recently read a Tang Dynasty legend, and the stories in it are very interesting.”

Zili and Daiyu talked about their reading experience, and unconsciously talked about "The Story of the West Chamber". Zili said with emotion: "This Cui Yingying is also a fool, and that Zhang Sheng was coaxed away with just a few words. It can be seen that Cui Xiangye is not here." Without the backbone of the family, the family system will be messed up, what's more, Cui Yingying herself is confused, that Zhang Sheng is just fascinated by her beauty, how can he have sincerity."

Daiyu was sick in her heart, and her face involuntarily burned when she heard Zili's words. When Daiyu was embarrassed and couldn't bear it, Zili changed the subject: "Actually, it's not entirely her fault that Cui Yingying paid attention to Zhang Sheng. Mrs. Cui is also a fool. Yes. She only wanted to take advantage of her natal nephew but did not examine her nephew's character. Even without Zhang Sheng, Cui Yingying would have been uncomfortable to marry. At that time, she must have thought that the husband-in-law chosen by her mother was not a good man, so it was better to choose her own One. But she is a little girl who doesn't know how to judge people."

"Marriage matters are all up to the parents, how can a girl have the right to speak out?" Daiyu subconsciously expressed disgust at Cui Yingying's behavior.

"Silly boy, you don't know what it's like to be a parent. It's true that the parents are the ones who make the decisions about marriage, but they still live as a young couple. Parents always think about their children, but no one is wrong. The more you care, the easier it is to get into it." The horns are sharp, and sometimes you have to make the final decision yourself. I think parents always want to see their children doing well, and the cow drinking water and pressing the head will only hurt both sides. People grow up in this life, and they will judge their talents It's the most important thing." Zili secretly observed that Daiyu's face gradually returned to normal, and then said calmly: "To see if a person treats you sincerely, you only need to see if he really thinks about you. For example, you are very good to the snow geese and Zijuan around you. If they are going to be released when they reach the age, they have already spotted two families. As long as they choose one, they will marry and marry immediately after they go out. One is the family The man who is quite rich is also good-looking, but he has no ability, and he talks nicely. He will feel sorry for his wife in the future, but he will hide behind when he encounters something. One is that his family is a little poorer, and he is not good looking The previous symbol, but it is also responsible, regardless of whether the wife is wronged at home or not. Which one do you choose for Zijuan?"

Daiyu had never heard these words before, she was already fascinated, and her heart was so overwhelmed that she couldn't say a word.She absolutely did not expect that her aunt, who usually stands up to everyone, would say such straightforward words. Although these words were straightforward, each sentence hit Daiyu's inner hesitation. "Outsiders will naturally choose the first one. The man is talented, the woman is good-looking, and the family background is good. After the young couple gets married, the honey is mixed with honey. But the life of the couple is not so simple. It is over when they are put on the stage until they are in the bridal chamber. In fact, There are also children, daily necessities, decades of lawsuits between mother-in-law, sister-in-law and sister-in-law. You have to take a long-term view when you look at people and things. You little girls are young and only look at the moment in front of you." Zizi Li patted Daiyu's hand: "According to me, you might as well take out the history books and take a closer look. State affairs and family affairs are the same. You can never be a child, everyone has to grow up."

Daiyu was silent for a long while listening to Zili's words, then raised her head and said to Zili, "I remember what my aunt said. I only regret that I didn't hear what my aunt said earlier, and now I have a complete understanding in my heart." Daiyu said Yu stood up and gave Zili a deep blessing, and said with a choked voice, "Even my own mother may not be able to consider me in this way. How can I have an elder like my aunt to teach me to care for me."

Zili hugged Daiyu and comforted her for a long time, and finally asked Daiyu to go back after she had lunch.

The New Year is naturally full of flowers, everyone has been busy for a month and finally the New Year is over.Thinking back to the past, when Xiunu entered the palace for election, Baochai was taken into the palace by a palace carriage.The Jia family didn't pay much attention to Baochai's draft, only Aunt Xue was worried about her daughter's life in the palace all day long, and her anxious hair turned gray.

Tianzili and the others were joking in front of Jiamu, when suddenly the little girl came in beaming and said, "Great joy, great joy, Miss Bao is very happy. Miss Bao has been elected, and the father-in-law who announced the good news has arrived at the door." Aunt Xue heard This remark was both joyful and sad, everyone in the Jia family congratulated Aunt Xue together.