"Minglan, little girl, pick me up an orange and peel it." Little girl Rulan sat on the swing.
Minglan sat on the stone pier and looked at the sky. There was no movement. Rulan screamed a few more times. Seeing that Minglan still didn't respond, she picked up a pebble and threw it over. Minglan felt pain in her shoulder and turned her head in pain.
, saw little girl Ru Lan grinning and grinning: "You little fool, why don't you peel oranges for me!"
Minglan looked at the sky speechlessly, walked slowly to the side table, scooped up an orange and was about to peel it, but was blocked by a hand stretched out diagonally. That hand was delicate and beautiful, with ten pointed pieces.
The nails are still stained with light red impatiens juice.
"Ru Lan, you bullied Sixth Sister again! Get off here!" Miss Hualan walked over angrily and pulled Ru Lan off the swing, "What did the last father say? Among the sisters,
The sixth sister is the youngest. As sisters, we should be more considerate and take care of her. It’s better for you to bully her all day long! Be careful I tell my father!”
"Who bullied her? I just asked her to peel an orange!" Little girl Rulan stood out with her belly stretched out and her waist crossed.
"The servants are all dead, so you ask the master to peel oranges?! Or is it that the maid next to you is so precious that you can't do anything about it?!" Hua Lan stared at her with her big beautiful eyes, and the three or four maids who were standing aside to watch the joke were all shocked.
They all lowered their heads and huddled aside in fear. "When I saw the sixth girl starting to peel oranges, all of you would have died, wouldn't you have stopped her?! Such a powerful girl, now she actually saw the master's joke, hurry up
I'll go back to my wife and let you go home and watch jokes all day long!" Miss Hualan scolded her sharply.
Ru Lan immediately refused, stepped forward, pulled her sister's sleeves, and shouted: "Sister, you are not allowed to bully my people, I will tell my mother to go! You are embarrassing your own sister for the little fool born by your aunt!"
"Go and sue! I've wanted to sue for a long time. She was born by my aunt. The sixth sister is our younger sister. Besides, her father brought her to her mother and she is our biological sister! What nonsense can you say about her aunt?
Watch out, father, and slap you!" Hua Lan poked Ru Lan's forehead hard with her index finger.
Rulan was furious but could not refute; Minglan lowered her head, pretended to be stupid and said nothing.
Although Hualan and Rulan are sisters, they look different. Hualan looks like Sheng Hong, bright and beautiful, with vigorous eyebrows. Rulan looks like Wang, with a round face, straight eyebrows, and a bright color.
She is a bit ordinary, but when she grows up in the future, she may be able to develop into a more dignified person. The Creator obviously did not treat these two sisters with the same father and mother fairly. Regardless of appearance, talent or parents' love, the younger sister is not as good as her elder sister. Minglan only hopes that Rulan
It would be better if the imbalance in your mind does not become more serious.
In fact, it is not that difficult to make a living next to the Wang family. Sister Hualan and brother Changbai already have their own yard. Little brother Changdong is still in the drooling stage. Minglan only needs to deal with little girl Rulan. Rulan
In fact, she is not a bad person, she just likes to show off her temper and wants to be praised every day, but she can't afford to offend the sister and brother above her, and she can't offend the brothers and sisters at Aunt Lin's place. She can't even stand.
She was bored by her unsteady little brother Changdong, so only the unlucky Minglan was left for her to play around with.
Whenever this happens, Miss Hualan will descend from the sky like the Monkey King to administer justice. She may not like Minglan, but she can't stand Rulan's arrogance. As the favored eldest daughter, her authority in the Sheng Mansion Second only to the three elders, he scolds his sister and punishes his servants. He is very skillful in doing it and speaking in a clear and logical way.
Minglan was very grateful to this beautiful and majestic eldest sister. She was truly a proud daughter of heaven, with both good looks and family background. She sincerely hoped that this eldest sister would always be so happy and proud in the future.
Now every morning, Minglan is carried by her mother and goes with Mrs. Wang and the others to pay their respects to Mrs. Sheng. Before that, all the concubines have already paid their respects to Mrs. Wang. Aunt Lin's intervals of greetings are very regular, about three days. Tian asked An to take two days off for a very good reason - she was not feeling well. If Sheng Hong stayed in her room the night before, she would hold her waist and say she was tired. If Sheng Hong didn't go the night before, she would hold her chest and say Feeling tired, Aunt Lin had to mentally prepare herself for a long time every time she came to greet Mrs. Wang, lest she get angry and rush forward to scratch Aunt Lin's charming face, which would be an extreme challenge to Mrs. Wang's self-cultivation.
On the other hand, Xiao Minglan is only five or six years old. She does not have a favored biological mother. She is young and dull. Wang has no need to bully her, and of course he will not take special care of her. Anyway, she eats and sleeps with Ru Lan, but is careful. People can still see the difference.
Rulan's favorite dishes were served at every meal, and Minglan ate along, without the right to choose the dishes; Rulan's clothes were all new, and Minglan wore the leftovers, although they were still 90% new; what was fresh? Of course, Rulan would eat the fruit cakes first, and give the rest to Minglan. As for jewelry such as gold, silver, and jade locks, chains, etc., Minglan had never seen them before, but Wang would still give them to her every time she went out. Get something to wear around your neck and head to enhance your appearance.
The career path that Minglan has set for herself is to pretend to be stupid when she is pretending to be stupid, and to complain when she complains. The experience of Miss Yingchun tells us that we cannot just swallow our anger and enjoy peace. A concubine with nothing to rely on, If you don't stand up for yourself, who else will care about you? It's the so-called God helps those who help themselves.
The mother next to Minglan was a lazy and careless woman. She would always give something to her if she asked for something. She would pout her mouth and be unhappy if she asked for more errands. The little girls followed suit, but they were all lazy and ineffective. Whisper in a voice that Minglan can hear, something like, "Left once, right once, never ending, it's really frustrating", "You are showing off your master's money, you really think you are some kind of rich lady," It's just the birth of an aunt,' 'Let's calm down as soon as possible, who can be patient and wait for her,' and so on.
Minglan didn't say a word, pretending not to listen, and continued to do things as usual. Because Sheng Hong was not completely reassured about Wang, he would go to see Minglan from time to time. At this time, Minglan would say honestly and politely: "I'm thirsty at night, mom." Didn’t give me water to drink;...did you give me crabapple dew last time? I didn’t see it at all...the snack my wife gave me? Mom said her grandson liked it, so she scooped it away...Mom said, wait When she is free, she can mend this hole in my clothes for me."
Sheng Hong's face immediately dropped, and Mrs. Wang was also embarrassed. She was busy organizing Hua Lan's haircut gift recently, so she had no time to take care of Minglan. When she got angry, she punished all the maids and women who had lost her face. After a while, the maids and wives refused to accept it at first and still gave Minglan small shoes to wear. Minglan didn't take it seriously and continued to complain. However, after two times, the maids became honest and Minglan's life became easier.
In fact, complaining is a technical job. It is the same in the modern workplace and in ancient wealthy families. If you complain well, you can improve your life, but if you complain poorly, it will be counterproductive. There is a trick in this. First of all, the target of the complaint must be accurate. Minglan knew from the beginning that Wang She didn't take her seriously, as long as she kept her alive, Sheng Hong still remembered the benefits of Aunt Wei, and felt guilty that she died at a young age, so the target of Minglan's complaint was Sheng Hong; secondly, the target of the complaint was to It is clear that Minglan only told the maid and mother-in-law, but did not mention the Wang family at all. Instead, she often said that the Wang family gave this and that because the servants were lazy and slippery. It was okay for the Wang family to listen; in the end, it was also the last The most important thing is to pretend to be stupid. Minglan has been acting stupidly since she woke up. She speaks awkwardly and reacts slowly. She looks completely stupid and has no scheming, but she is safe.
Summer is gradually approaching, the sun is getting hot, and the heat is scorching people's skin. On this day, Minglan was taking a nap in the inner room, and the two little girls on duty were chatting in the outer hall.
"The eldest lady's hairpin ceremony was really grand. It is said that my wife invited all the respectable ladies from Dengzhou. There were two rows of sedans at the door. In order to avoid being overheated by foreign visitors, my wife even bought dozens of cars at once. It was packed with ice cubes, and bowls of ice were delivered at a reasonable price, and the master also came back to watch the ceremony." A little maid in her early ten years.
"My wife specially ordered a set of headdress jewelry from Cuibaozhai. Mom said it was the No. 1 jewelry store in Beijing. I don't know how much money it cost. There is also the underskirt on the eldest girl. Mom said the embroidery on it is Liugang embroidery. Every trace on it seems to move when you walk around. It was sent by my wife’s mother-in-law at that time. The eldest girl’s life is so good. Sister Xiaomei, you said that our girl will be in the future..." said a seven or eight-year-old girl with a round face.
"Hey, how can we girls compare? The eldest lady is a direct descendant..."
Minglan was lying in the back room listening to the conversation of the maids. These two little girls were given to her by the Wang family. The older one was called Qiu Yu and the younger one was called Xiao Tao. The former turned out to be the third-class maid in Wang's room, and the latter The reporter was just promoted from the Jia Sheng Yuan, and he said that he and the sixth girl were of the same age and could get along easily - thinking of this, Ming Lan helplessly puffed up her face.
Because he had to reorganize the inner house of the Sheng Mansion, Sheng Hong wanted to replace all the servants. Except for a few wives and Aunt Lin's right-hand men, almost all the other second- and third-class cleaning maids were replaced, and then they were removed from the family courtyard. Choose some new ones to replenish them. The smart-looking ones were given to the first few young masters and ladies first. When it was Minglan's turn, only this silly little Tao was left.
But... that's fine, Minglan turned her little body over on Rong Tan.
Sheng Hualan and Minglan didn't see her, but she could imagine the scene. She wasn't particularly envious, but when she was sleeping, she would think that a person like Sheng Hualan's background was the right person for a time-traveling girl.
After completing the hair extension ceremony, Wang immediately devoted herself to the work of finding her eldest son-in-law with infinite enthusiasm. From time to time, she would exchange opinions with Sheng Hong and Mrs. Sheng. Whenever this happened, Hua Lan would hide her face in shyness and reply. House. Minglan couldn't help but sigh, society has indeed progressed. She remembered that when Yao's mother held up the photo to Yao Yiyi to recommend her blind date, Yao Yiyi participated in the whole process and had the final veto and decision-making power. But here, even Sheng Hualan is like this She was so favored that she could not interfere in her marriage. For the first time, Minglan saw what it means to be a matchmaker when ordered by her parents.
After a period of discussion, Sheng Hong and his wife were left with two final candidates, the fifth grandson of Lingguo Gongfu and the second son of Zhongqin Bofu. Before the couple could come to a conclusion, the then Kaifeng Prefecture Yin Master Qiu Jing came to propose marriage for his son.
"Originally, Hua'er had just grown hair and was not in a hurry to choose a son-in-law. But when Mr. Qiu proposes marriage, we have to hurry up. Either accept the marriage to Mr. Qiu's family, and if not, we have to have an explanation." Mrs. Wang. Sitting at a bat-flowing ebony table, there are several large red and gold posts stacked in front of him, and the tassels of the dragon and phoenix gold hairpin on his head are shaking constantly.
"Brother Qiu is the same age as me, and our two families knew each other well. It was natural for us to get married, but..." Sheng Hong walked around the room holding a folding fan made of boxwood bones.
"But what? Master, tell me quickly." Wang said anxiously.
Sheng Hong sat across from Mr. Wang, picked up the white porcelain embossed tea cup on the table and took a sip, saying: "I have seen Mr. Qiu. His appearance and conduct are worthy of Hua'er. I don't like him in the first place." Hua'er married into the prince's mansion. Although the place was rich and noble, after all, the gates were locked. Hua'er was arrogant and arrogant. She might not be happy if she really married into that place. We were well matched with the Qiu family, so we were not afraid of Hua'er being wronged. However, This time I went to the capital and saw something was wrong."
When Mrs. Wang heard about Hua Lan's difficulties in marrying into the prince's family, she nodded repeatedly. After hearing the end, she picked up the ball fan in her hand and gave Sheng Hong a gentle fan. Sheng Hong calmed down, came over and whispered: "Today's Queen Without a son, it is impossible to be a direct heir, and the next longest and most expensive ones are nothing more than the three princes and the fourth princes born of Concubine De Shu. The emperor has not established a prince for a long time, but it is because the third prince is weak. Moreover, he is over forty years old and still has no children, but the fourth prince who has an heir was born half a day too late. Now the Holy Master is still in good health. If a mountain collapse occurs in the future, the ministers around the prince may be in trouble."
Wang didn't know anything about court affairs and said blankly: "What does this have to do with the eldest girl's marriage? Sir Qiu Jing is a foreign official."
"But Qiu Jing's eldest brother is the lecturer of the third prince!" Sheng Hong was surprised. He actually wanted to have a heart-to-heart relationship with his wife, but his wife's thoughts were always out of sync with his. Aunt Lin was very in sync with him, but she was a concubine.
Wang thought for a while and couldn't help being shocked: "Master, this is indeed inappropriate. No matter whether the Holy Father appoints the third prince or not, as long as the third prince cannot give birth to a son, the throne will have to be given to others in the future! I heard that those four The prince is not a vegetarian."
Seeing that his wife had finally come to the right place, Sheng Hong nodded and sighed: "I have always advised Brother Qiu Jing that it is fine for foreign officials like me to secretly make friends with some officials in the capital, but we must not get involved in the important matter of establishing the crown prince. There are so many princes and princes in the capital, and there are a few elites from the capital who got involved! When the late emperor ascended the throne, it was considered a smooth process, but he also took away several unappreciated titles, and removed an unknown number of people. Second-rank officials, let alone us. I tried to persuade him several times, but Brother Qiu couldn't listen. Instead, he and his eldest brother got closer to the Third Prince. I also know that the Third Prince is kind-hearted, virtuous and filial. However, But……"
"But he has no son!" Mrs. Wang promptly added to Sheng Hong, "Without a son, it is useless no matter how virtuous the third prince is. Mr. Qiu is too confused. Isn't the fight for the reserve just a joke? I looked at the four The prince will surely ascend to the throne."
"That's not necessarily the case." Sheng Hong suddenly responded, "Brother Qiu and the officials around the Third Prince were not completely confused. They knew that the Third Prince would have established a throne long ago if it were not for the issue of heirs, so they came up with an idea. .”
Wang asked: "What's the idea?"
Sheng Hong lowered his voice even more: "This is not a secret. They incited a few ministers to preach outside and wanted to imitate the story of Yingzong of Song Dynasty."
Mrs. Wang twisted her handkerchief and said angrily: "Master, please don't argue with me. I can't read a single Chinese character. How can I know the story of Song Yingzong?"
Sheng Hong clicked his tongue implicitly and explained helplessly: "That is to say, if the third prince has no son after he ascends the throne, let him adopt a son from his brother. The emperor's sons are not limited to these two princes. Don’t the following young princes all have sons? Anyway, they are all the grandsons of the Holy One.”
Mrs. Wang smiled and clapped her hands and said: "This is a good idea. Not to mention the humble family of the young princes, the Holy Father is not too interested in them. There is no chance for the throne. It is most appropriate to adopt their sons; but... can this be done? ?Can the Fourth Prince agree?"
"Who says it's not the case? Nowadays, those who advocate the adoption have become a thorn in the side of the fourth prince. If the fourth prince ascends the throne in the future, then the Qiu family..." Sheng Hong did not continue, but Wang Shi also understood everything.
"This is just a bet. If you win the bet, the Qiu family's chickens and dogs will ascend to heaven. If you lose the bet, the Qiu family will be completely defeated. But why bother to bet? The Qiu family is now rich and powerful." Sheng Hong sighed.
"——Master, we can't agree to the Qiu family's marriage. The Qiu family is willing to gamble, but we can't gamble with Hua'er. If it doesn't go well, our whole family may be implicated." Wang's thoughts suddenly became clear. , she scooped out another sweat towel with a crimson background embroidered with sunflowers from her waist and pressed it carefully to her forehead. Suddenly she raised her head and asked again: "I have always been kind and kind in officialdom, and I often make friends with others. Now I don't Someone you can get married to?"
Sheng Hong said: "It's not impossible. When I was still in Quanzhou, I carefully considered my group of friends who were in the same year and studied together, but none of them were suitable."
"Not even suitable?" Wang asked suspiciously.
"What did you say about choosing a son-in-law that day?" Sheng Hong glanced at her and imitated Wang's tone and said slowly: "It must be a good family background, a strong family background, a simple population, and the parents-in-law and sisters-in-law can take care of them. The most important thing is The most important thing is that young people must be capable, either by studying and gaining fame, or by being good at doing things, by having an industry, or by having a martial arts title. Most of my friends I usually make are scholars. Those who are of the same age and in the same field as me, not many have high official positions, and have good official reputations. Those with high official positions and poor family backgrounds, but those with thick family backgrounds have already been decided by their elders. Brother Liu from Dali Temple is suitable, but his legitimate son is still young, so he can tell Ru Lan about it in the future. Alas—— "
Wang looked a little embarrassed and said with a sly smile: "Master, don't worry, there are other families here. I think the Lingguo Duke's Mansion is very good. Although they are demoted to nobility, they have not been ennobled since the time of Taizu. They are only the third generation, and the Duke Zhongqin's mansion was originally a noble. However, their family's current situation is not good, and they have long been rejected by the Holy Emperor, so it is better not to give up. The palace of Ling Guogong is good, illustrious, and the family has a prosperous and prosperous family. And vigorous."
br / "...This is not possible." Sheng Hong slowly opened the folding fan and shook it slowly: "When I was a child, I lived in the capital with the old man and the old lady, and studied at the Lingguo Gongfu Family School with my eldest brother Wei. I despised that family very much. It looked bright on the outside, but filthy on the inside. The school was also very dirty. Brother Wei and I only studied for half a year before leaving. This time when I went to the capital for business, I heard that the Duke's house was even more unbearable. The family had a large population, and the masters and servants were well-off and honorable. The few young men were only the same size as Changbai, but there were more than twenty daughters-in-law and maids waiting in the house. They were so extravagant and lustful. , both big and small were extravagant and extravagant, with more going out and less coming in, their inner pockets were already empty. I just told Uncle Geng Shi a little bit that Hua'er and Ji were about to come, and they came to talk to me, and their words revealed that I have the intention of getting married."
Mrs. Wang was startled: "You mean, they are interested in the eldest girl's dowry?"
"It's hard to say, not to mention that it's not just once or twice that their family has embezzled their daughter-in-law's dowry." Sheng Hong disdainfully.
Wang hesitated and said: "But it is the Duke's Mansion after all. If such a grand and beautiful family had not been in trouble now, it would not have been our turn."
Sheng Hong sneered and said: "If it was just a shortfall of money, I wouldn't be like this. It's just that the descendants of that family are really unworthy. In such a big family, not even half of them study martial arts and make plans. The old Duke and his wife are fine themselves. But there are several sons under his knees... Huh! The eldest brother is arrogant and licentious, and father and son have always been at odds with each other. The second brother, oh, it is this second son who came to propose marriage. The maids and daughters-in-law here are about to have sex with him. When I was in the capital, I heard that he even asked the personal maids in his daughter-in-law’s room to sleep with him. It is really an insult to the gentlemen and the worst of the scum!"
Mrs. Wang was stunned when she heard this: "I wonder why they, a grand duke, came to propose marriage to a sixth-rank magistrate like us. I'm afraid even the decent families in the capital would not marry their daughters to her, right?"
"Madam is right this time." Sheng Hong put away his fan and shook his head.
"That can't be Uncle Zhongqin's house. His Yuan family is now in a state of neglect." Mrs. Wang said angrily.
"That's not true." Sheng Hong finally got interested and said eagerly, "This time I went to visit Uncle Zhongqin's house and met several of the old uncle's sons. The eldest son was hired by the Imperial Academy to offer sacrifices to Jiumei's family. At that time, I found him to be a good daughter. She was calm, courteous, and majestic. She got a job in the Military and Horse Command Department of the Five Cities at a young age. I went to Commander Dou to inquire about his character and talents. You also know that Dou Laoxi has always been arrogant, but he also praised Yuan Wenshao thoroughly, and sighed and said that because of his family background, ordinary officials and noble families would not dare to marry them. They looked down upon the poorer families, and the good young man had not yet married until he was almost 20 years old. It was probably when I showed my interest in Dou Laoxi that the next day, the Yuan family asked someone to talk about the matter. .”
Mrs. Wang still had a stern look on her face: "You also said that ordinary officials and aristocratic families would not dare to marry them. Now they have no power and no money, so why should we rush there!"
"Nonsense! If they weren't in trouble now, it wouldn't be our Huaer's turn." Sheng Hong also used Wang's words to retort, "His family was also unlucky. When the late emperor was in power, he was accidentally involved in the rebellion of King Yi. , along with several other aristocratic families, were deprived of their titles and lived in poverty for several years. Later, after the Holy Emperor came to the throne, he granted amnesty to the whole world. After reviewing the old cases, he found that several princes and princes, including the Zhongqin House, were really unjust. He was considered to be implicated, so he resurrected four or five families, including his family, but he was still reprimanded for being careless and misbehaving. He was deprived of ten years of silver and rice salary and was left in the cold."
"Since the master is right, why do you still need to marry his family?" Wang said flatly.
"What do you know? Most of the children of princes with titles like this are incompetent. Because of their ancestors' shadow, they don't care about studying, practicing martial arts, or making progress. After two or three generations, they won't be the same. But because the Yuan family has suffered hardships, their descendants are more capable and sensible than ordinary people. Only those who have experienced hardships know how difficult it is to establish a career. I think Yuan Wenshao is very good."
Wang still hesitated and turned away without speaking. Sheng Hong walked over and held Wang's shoulders, whispering: "Hua'er is our first-born daughter. How could I have wronged her? I remember that at that time I was just A little alternate governor was assigned to that bitter cold place. When Hua'er was born, we couldn't even find a decent wet nurse. I was studying and preparing for exams while working as an errand, and you had to be the housekeeper and serve me and me. Old lady, Hua'er was so good at that time that it made people feel bad. She never cried or caused trouble. Now that she's a little older, she can help you manage things. To put it bluntly, among the many children, the one I love the most is Hua Yatou."
Wang's eyes turned red when she thought of those difficult days, and Sheng Hong's voice trembled slightly: "At that time, I thought, no one can wrong Hua'er. I don't mean to use Hua'er to climb the dragon and the phoenix, I only hope that she can Marry a responsible man, your husband and wife will be harmonious, the piano and the harp will play in harmony, you will have children in the future, and your life will be smooth."
With such kind words and a fatherly heart, Mr. Wang couldn't help but shed tears anymore. She hurriedly lowered her head to wipe away her tears. Sheng Hong said again: "No matter how bad the Yuan family is, they are protected by their title. If their career fails, at least they will have an uncle." The government can rely on it, and if Yuan Wenshao succeeds, there will be glory and wealth waiting for Hua'er in the future."
Mrs. Wang was already moved, and while wiping her tears with the corner of her handkerchief, she said angrily: "Bah, even a loser can be treated like a flower by you. I know things better than I do. Please let me inquire again." What is Yuan Wenshao's character like? He is already twenty years old. I don't know how many people he has in his room.
Personally, if there is such a naughty and domineering person, I will not obey him, my Huaer is not someone who will suffer the consequences after marrying him."
Chapter completed!