The seventh young master, Zhang Mao, is more than a year younger than Huo Nian and is the son of Zhang Fu's first wife.
Because a maid gave birth to a son, and his biological mother died early, he was considered a transparent one in the family.
The Duke's wife, Mrs. Wu, has no one to support her. Although she takes care of everything in the eldest house, one more man in the eldest house will be more of a threat to her son. How can she treat Zhang Mao?
Zhang Mao, who is over eight years old, does not even go to school.
Mrs. Wu said that he was in poor health and was worried that he would not be able to bear it. Not only did he not let him go to school outside, he did not even invite a gentleman to come into the house to give him lectures.
Zhang Fu, on the other hand, was devoted to the army and didn't care much about the affairs in the backyard. Madam Tai wanted to be concerned, but she had already given up on the Wu family. Should she even take over the affairs of the main house?
Besides, she has many grandsons and granddaughters, so the pain is too much.
The little transparency becomes more and more transparent.
Today his wet nurse went home on leave, and his boy was sick. At the end of the day, no one went to the kitchen to get him food.
Wanting to be self-reliant, Qiqi Ai Ai moved to the kitchen step by step. Unexpectedly, the kitchen ignored him from top to bottom, saying that it was not yet dinner time in the afternoon and only asked him to wait in the courtyard and someone would bring him food.
There was no food to eat. It was past dinner time, which made Zhang Mao extremely aggrieved.
I was really hungry, so I went back to the house and sat there, even more hungry, so I thought of walking around the house to pass the time, and maybe I would feel less hungry while walking. I didn't want to walk and walked, so I walked to Lanxiang Courtyard.
I also heard a discussion in the courtyard about whether the peach blossom mandarin fish should be steamed or braised, and how to eat shrimps and crabs.
It made him slobber for a while, but he couldn't bear it anymore, so he lay down at the entrance of the courtyard and watched.
Seeing Huo Xi discovering him, he was so frightened that his little head shrank back.
The wet nurse said that this sister who had just returned home was not an economical person, so don't mess with her. Zhang Mao rubbed his feet on the ground, swallowed, turned around and wanted to leave.
"What are you doing standing here?"
Zhang Mao was frightened and looked up in panic. He saw his newly returned sister looking towards him.
"I, I don't do anything..." His small body pressed against the wall and he looked at Huo Xi nervously.
The woman who was guarding the gate carried the things to the kitchen and returned to the entrance of the courtyard, "Seventh Young Master, why are you here?"
"I, I, I want to go to the kitchen to get food..."
"Why did you get the food here? Where are your wet nurse and the servant?"
"Nanny has gone home, Mu Mu is sick." She replied in a low voice, lowered her head, not daring to look at the crowd.
His stomach rumbled, and he panicked and covered it with his hands, a look of embarrassment appearing on his face.
She wanted to turn around and run, but Huo Xi stopped her, "Come in."
Zhang Mao looked up at her and saw that she had turned around, so he followed her blankly.
I sat down in the room without daring to raise my head.
Amber Xiahe and others brought him some cakes to eat and poured him some tea.
"Thank you, sis."
He carefully picked up the teacup and took several sips. He then put down the teacup and glanced at Huo Xi, then reached for the pastry to eat.
He ate in small bites, but his movements were not slow. Seeing that Huo Xi had no objection and ate several more pieces, his movements slowed down.
Seeing this, Mother Ma sighed and looked at Huo Xi.
"Is the wood seriously ill?" Huo Xi asked him.
Zhang Mao put down the half-eaten cake and nodded with a low expression: "I can't get out of bed with wood."
"Have you had the doctor come to see you?"
"I told the wet nurse that I needed to call the doctor, but the wet nurse said that she would be fine if she just took a nap."
"Where's your wet nurse?"
"Nanny has something to do at home and has gone home."
The nannies for the young masters and ladies in the Duke's Mansion are all hired from outside, most of them are hired workers, and they sign living contracts.
Generally, the young master and young lady will be dismissed after they stop drinking milk at the age of two. However, if the nannies take care of them well, they will continue to let them take care of the young master until they are six years old before being dismissed.
Zhang Mao is eight years old and still has a nanny.
First, because his biological mother was gone, and secondly, because he was sick and weak, and he was used to being taken care of by this wet nurse, the house kept this wet nurse. Zhang Mao was the only one in the house who still had a wet nurse by his side.
"So you haven't eaten anything today?"
Zhang Mao buried his head even lower.
Huo Xi glanced at Mother Ma, who nodded and told Hu Hu: "Take Ji Xiang with you to see the wood. If he is seriously ill, call a doctor for him."
"Yes." Amber responded.
Zhang Mao looked up at Huo Xi gratefully and said, "Thank you, eldest sister."
Huo Xi asked him some more questions and found out that he only had a nanny and Mu Mu to take care of him. There were other nuns in the courtyard, but the nanny was not there, and they didn't know where they had gone.
Now there is no one to call upon.
The bastards of the Duke's palace are actually not as good as the ordinary people outside. Huo Xi felt a little emotional.
"It's Wu's fault as well. I'm afraid I didn't want to see him and left him to fend for himself." Mother Ma whispered in Huo Xi's ear.
Huo Xi looked up at Zhang Mao again.
She didn't have a good impression of this concubine, but she didn't have any bad feelings either. When she left the house, he hadn't been born yet, and she had no impression of his biological mother, He.
This concubine living in the Duke's Mansion seemed to have a not so good life compared to her and Nian'er.
"Don't eat too much. It's time for dinner later."
"yes."
Zhang Mao looked at the half-eaten pastry and wanted to put it back on the plate, but felt it was inappropriate. After thinking about it, he stuffed the whole cake into his mouth, took another sip of tea, and slipped off the chair.
"Thank you, eldest sister. Then Mao'er is back."
Huo Xi watched his whole movement and sighed: "Stay and eat. Your fifth brother will be back soon. We have fresh river delicacies to eat today."
Zhang Mao swallowed, and somehow he said "Hello" and stayed.
When Huo Nian came back, he was a little surprised to find that there was an extra person in his sister's courtyard.
After hearing the reason, he said very generously: "Then seventh brother, please stay and have dinner with us. It will be more lively with one more person. My father sent river delicacies today, and they are fresh! I haven't eaten peach blossom mandarin fish in a year."
It’s fish.”
Perhaps feeling the kindness of Huo Xi's siblings, Zhang Mao became more relaxed.
“What is peach blossom mandarin fish?”
"Have you never eaten peach blossom mandarin fish?"
Not only has Zhang Mao never tasted it, he has never heard of it.
Huo Nian explained to him: "When the peach blossoms are in full bloom in the spring, this kind of fish jumps up from the water and eats the flowers growing on the peach trees by the river and the fresh peach blossoms that fall in the stream.
It smells like peach blossoms. It’s delicious! You can only eat it every year when the peach blossoms are in full bloom! My dad even went to the Peach Blossom Stream to catch them!”
Last year he went hunting with his father, but he couldn't go this year. It was a bit sad.
Zhang Mao swallowed hard after hearing this and asked Huo Nian many questions, and Huo Nian answered him patiently. The two brothers became close.
When Amber came back, he said that the wood was so hot that the person was almost burnt. Fortunately, the doctor was called in in time. He also told Huo Xi about the situation in Zhang Mao's courtyard, saying that the room was empty and there was not even a valuable ornament.
How does this look like the young master's room in the Duke's mansion? It's worse than some servants' rooms. Amber sighed repeatedly.
Huo Xi frowned and told her: "You ask someone to wait at the gate. If you see the Duke returning to the house, tell him that I will invite him to eat peach blossom mandarin fish."