/Name^ Shu Pinlan took the lead and stepped in, Minglan followed closely behind. As soon as he entered the inner room, he saw a bustling house full of female relatives. Madams, grandmothers, young daughters-in-law, and eldest girls were sitting or standing. The room was full of colorful pearls, sitting on the side.
When Mrs. Shangsan saw Minglan come in, she clapped her legs and said with a smile: "Oh, it really means that Cao Cao, Cao Cao is here, the real master is here!"
Minglan didn't seem to hear anything, and just followed Pinlan up to greet the elders one by one. Then she respectfully went to the superior and sat next to the old lady Sheng. The old woman sitting next to cousin Shulan was her mother-in-law.
The ocher-red brocade gown has five or six jeweled hairpins stuck in various places on the head and a lot of velvet roses. The neck and wrists are all hung with dangdangs. The whole body is covered with gold and silver, which is so bright that it dazzles the eyes.
Grandmother Minglan had been looking at her up and down since she came in. After looking at her for a long time, a smile broke out on her old face, and then she said: "The day before yesterday, I heard the third wife of my in-laws talking about this child, and I thought it was good. When I saw her today, it was indeed our lady who did it.
Pai, tsk tsk, what a good-looking girl!" After saying that, he smiled at the two old ladies above him and said, "My nephew is about the same age as this child. Taking advantage of today's happy day, let's also kiss each other. My parents think so.
how?"
After finishing speaking, he looked straight at the other person, waiting for someone to reply. Most of the female relatives in the room stopped talking and looked up here.
Minglan sneered in her heart. Normally, people would not propose marriage so openly for fear of being rejected. This Sun Xiucai's mother was so shameless. She actually proposed marriage directly in front of a prominent female family member in half the county. What should she do?
reject.
Well, actually Minglan didn't like the way her grandma looked at her, as if she were picking eggs in the market.
Old Mrs. Sheng stirred the tea leaves back and forth with the lid of the tea bowl without saying a word. The old lady frowned, and just as she was about to say a few words to slow down, Sheng Jun had already rushed to speak: "Hey, my wife is really good at joking. You are so good at joking.
My nephew is almost 20 years old, how old is my little niece? Is this considered to be of similar age? Oh, no, no, no." Grandmother looked a little unhappy: "What are you afraid of when you are older? Just put some people in the house first.
Now, I can wait for my daughter-in-law to come over and serve her attentively."
The faces of the female family members in the room varied, some were funny, some were surprised, some were shaking their heads, and most of them were disdainful. They lowered their heads and started whispering to the people next to them. Minglan also admired this talented mother, and the wife hadn't talked about it yet.
The people in the room have already put it on the table. This grandma is either deliberately looking for trouble, or she really doesn't care. Ignorant people are fearless.
But he couldn't explicitly say that no one was allowed in the house, otherwise he would be labeled as 'jealous'. Sheng Jun rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "My wife chooses my niece's daughter-in-law, and I will also choose my niece's son-in-law. Our Sheng family
It's a bit thin-faced. My cousin is a high-ranking official, let alone my cousin, but he is appointed by the Hanlin Master! I said my wife, what excuse does your nephew have for asking for a wife? Yes, he does.
What about fame, or having a farm and a shop? You can tell me about marrying a man to a man, dressing and eating."
Sheng Yun speaks quickly and crisply, and is well-known in the county for her cheerful temperament. This half-truth and half-lie made everyone in the room laugh. Everyone knows that the grandma and nephew's parents died in their early years, and they are just clinging to their aunt.
At home, I usually do nothing but open my mouth to make my grandma like me.
But Sun's mother, since her son had passed the scholar examination, felt that she was from a scholarly family and was looked down upon by ordinary people, so she insisted on hiring a good one for her nephew. Even the prominent people in the county were annoyed by her, but for the sake of the Sheng family, she did not
It's rude. Sun's mother was a little discouraged after eating a few soft nails. A few days ago, she heard the third wife talking about Minglan, and she got interested again. She felt that although Minglan was from an official family, she was just a concubine. It would be okay for her to propose marriage.
She was praised, but the two old ladies didn't say anything and just left her alone. Sheng Yun was also cruel and heart-wrenching with every sentence. Grandma's face dropped and she said, "Although my nephew has no fame or wealth, he still has no reputation.
It’s Mr. Zhengtou!”
Pinlan's face turned red, her eyes almost bursting with flames. She unconsciously clutched Minglan's hand under her sleeve, almost making it bleed. Minglan lowered her head and freed up her other hand to pat her gently——
Mr. Li was also a commoner.
When Sheng Wei got married, Mr. Sheng almost ruined the family property. Fortunately, Mr. Li was kind and still remembered the love he and Mrs. Sheng had for getting rich together, so he decided to marry his granddaughter to her. However, his son and daughter-in-law were not happy.
In the middle of the process, he intervened and replaced a concubine. Unexpectedly, thirty years later, in Hedong and Hexi, the Li family is now the best to marry. Her husband can make money and is single-minded. The concubine who was replaced back then is not so good at marrying.
I don’t know what kind of regret I have become.
Over the years, the Sheng family has gradually become more prosperous, and no one mentioned Li's origin anymore. Grandma Sun's words were too much. There was silence in the room. Everyone turned their eyes to look at the Sheng family and the uncle and wife Zhu who were having tea next to them.
, I saw the eldest lady Li, who had never spoken, staring at her grandma, her eyes were cold, and she said quietly: "The elders and younger ones are in order. There are several sisters above Minglan. In terms of age, the third uncle, Sister Jiahui,
My son is more worthy of my nephew."
The third wife was still gloating just now. She suddenly turned the gun and was stabbed. She waved her hands hurriedly: "No, no, how can this be possible?! My family doesn't want to be lazy and poor..." Suddenly stopped, San
The wife saw her grandma scowling angrily at her. If it hadn't been for the public's attention, she would probably have used her old raking attitude to hit people;
However, all the female relatives in the room knew what the third wife meant. They all hid their mouths and laughed, shooting sarcastic looks at Sun Mu and the third wife, making them blush.
Pinlan felt so happy that she finally let go of Minglan's hand. Minglan also felt relieved, so she pulled Pinlan quietly back a few steps, moved away from the crowd, and stood behind the flower grid to take a breather.
At this time, a beautiful young woman sitting next to the third wife covered her mouth and chuckled: "Mom, don't rush to push me away. Brother-in-law Sun has a great reputation, and maybe the wife of the in-laws still looks down on my sister!"
Sun's mother's face softened a little, and she snorted coldly: "Yes, the third wife is too worried~~~~!" She deliberately prolonged the lingering sound, and the third wife was trembling with anger. Huilan, standing behind her, was extremely embarrassed and lowered her head.
He bit his lip, grabbed a piece of handkerchief and twisted it, and glared at the beautiful young woman. The young woman didn't care and didn't even look at her. Everyone in the room snickered.
There were too many people just now, and Minglan didn't remember them all. Pinlan quickly explained: "The one sitting next to the third aunt wearing water red is Sister Yuelan, and the one sitting next to her with a good temper is Sister Xiulan."
Minglan said, "My aunt, my aunt, my aunt and my aunt's daughter, it's true... the saying that my enemy is my friend is probably not applicable to Yue Lan."
Huilan saw the female relatives around her laughing and pointing, as if they were pointing at herself. She blushed and stamped her feet. Finally, she couldn't bear it any longer. She turned around and ran out. Xiulan saw that her sister was acting rude, so she followed him out.
Yuelan impatiently sat with the third wife, stood up and walked to Pinlan Minglan. She touched Minglan's clothes and hair very familiarly, and said with a smile: "What a sign, sister, I like it when I see it."
Minglan was also a female concubine in Dengzhou, but she had never seen him move around like this. He only turned his body sideways. Pinlan looked at her coldly and didn't say a word. Yuelan saw that the two sisters ignored her.
She didn't feel bad at all, just talking to herself. Pinlan annoyed her, so she pouted and turned around to scoop up the tea fruit and eat it.
While Yuelan was talking, she looked straight at Minglan's double servant girls who were wrapped with pearls and gold wires in the shape of flowers. The gold silk flowers were exquisite and beautiful, and the pearls were round and crystal clear, showing that they were precious things. I was very envious, so I touched it and said, "Sister, I have never seen such a big bead before! My second uncle is an official, and my sister must be accustomed to wealth. Why don't you lend this to me to wear for two days, so that I can enjoy the glory of my husband's family?" Scenery!”
Minglan opened her eyes in surprise, was she... asking for something from her?
She suddenly missed Mo Lan. No matter how clever she was, at least she was playing in a higher level. Mo Lan still couldn't do it like asking a cousin she just met for nothing. Before Minglan could say anything, Yue Lan had already He started, quickly pulled the Huashenglai from Minglan's head, scooped it into his hand and looked at it carefully. He felt very satisfied when he touched it. He turned around and smiled at Minglan: "Thank you sister, I will pay you back later." Then he inserted it into his own head. Minglan was dumbfounded.
At this time, Pinlan came back from scooping tea fruits. When she heard the last sentence, she felt angry in her heart. She got close to Yuelan from behind, suddenly used her strength, grabbed the Huasheng with her hands, stuffed it back into Minglan's hand, and said with a sneer. : "Sister Yue, are you borrowing or robbing? Minglan hasn't agreed yet and you take action! They say that my brother-in-law is rich, but Sister Yue is jealous of my sister's things?! How can you be such a sister?"
When Yue Lan saw the thing in her hand, it was snatched back. She immediately raised her eyebrows and cursed: "I'm talking to sister Ming, why are you interrupting? Bah, you are a mean person, be careful not to get married!" She turned to Ming Lan again. He smiled and said: "My sister doesn't know that rich people like us in the countryside can't buy good things even if we have money. We just borrowed them for two days. My sister won't be so stingy!"
Pinlan was about to retort when Minglan stopped her. Minglan comforted Pinlan with her eyes, turned to Yuelan and smiled, and then said seriously: "I'm sorry, I'm stingy, I won't borrow. "
After saying that, she immediately pulled Pinlan and walked forward. Yuelan stood there dumbfounded. Pinlan helped Minglan put Huasheng Dai back up, and walked to the old lady and talked with a smile. Yuelan didn't. He dared to catch up and ask for it again, but he just stamped his feet on the spot. Yuelan was a habitual greedy person, so she thought about pulling out the Huasheng and quickly sat back in the hall, but then she saw that Minglan was silent. , I thought she was an honest, thin-skinned little girl who dared not speak out. She would quickly return home and the matter would be silent. I didn’t think about it...
Yuelan returned to the third wife angrily, only to realize that the stage outside was about to start, and most of the female family members in the house were following the eldest wife Li. Yuelan quickly followed the third wife, and Sheng Yun and the two old ladies were They wanted to go, but they were pestered by their grandma, and their uncle and wife Zhu were also listening. Pinlan and Minglan found a couple to sit there and talk among themselves.
Grandma was talking about her son there, and her praise was almost endless: "...the county magistrate insisted on inviting my brother Zhi to a drink, saying that he would ask him to write a calligraphy for a plaque. Oh my, Zhi. I had no choice but to accept the offer. Let me tell you, the county magistrate is really lucky to have the title Zhier..."
Pinlan couldn't bear it anymore, so she leaned into Minglan's ear and said: "Obviously my brother-in-law was drunk and insisted on sending a message to the county magistrate. Moreover, my father had something to tell the magistrate during that drinking session, but my brother-in-law came over and drank. , I kept talking nonsense for a long time, causing my father to have to apologize to the county magistrate!"
Minglan is embarrassed, this grandma can apply for the job.
Grandmother was intoxicated with herself for a long time, and finally thought of Mrs. Sheng: "I heard that my grandson is also a scholar. I wonder at what age he became a scholar?" This is Grandmother's favorite topic, and she never tires of talking about it, that is, the other party won the first prize in the exam.
, if the middle scholar is older than her own son, she will brag about it for a long time.
Mrs. Sheng chuckled lightly: "Fifteen years old." Grandmother was very proud: "Oh, that's not as early as our Zhi'er passed the exam, but it is still young and talented." Mrs. Sheng said lightly and modestly: "Talk
It's not a high-level talent, but that year in Dengzhou, there were several young talents aged eleven or twelve."
/
Grandmother smiled and laughed a few times: "That's okay. Maybe it was particularly easy to take the exam that year. Even if they are all scholars, not all of them are talented."
This sentence angered the uncle and wife next to her, Mrs. Zhu. She couldn't help but sarcastically said: "Speaking of which, your brother has been admitted to the scholar examination since he was twelve years old. How come he hasn't passed the exam several times? How come he hasn't won yet?"
Sun's mother suppressed her anger: "People have been taking the exam for decades. How many years does it matter?"
Zhu covered her mouth and chuckled: "You said yes, it has happened for decades."
Grandmother was furious. Seeing that the female relatives of the Sheng family did not come to help her, her anger had no place to vent her anger. She scolded her daughter-in-law Shulan beside her: "I won't refill your mother-in-law's tea. You have such a lack of vision. How can I do this?"
What's the use of you." Shulan was scolded in public and blushed, lowering her head to tell the little maid. Pinlan felt pain in her heart when she saw her sister was so wronged, and couldn't speak out, so she only clenched her fists while Minglan whispered in her ear.
: "Don't act rashly, calm down, calm down, your grandmother has a sense of proportion."
Old Mrs. Sheng calmly continued to watch the tea leaves floating. The old lady gradually became a little angry, but she didn't show it at all on her face. She just listened quietly.
Sun's mother looked dissatisfied as she walked away to Shulan. She flattened her lips and turned around and said: "My in-laws' old lady, I'm not boasting. She's as good-looking as my Zhi'er. It's hard to find her even with a lantern. My in-laws' daughter can get in."
My family is really blessed to have been cultivated in eight lifetimes! It has been several years since I entered the house, and nothing has come out. If I were to change to someone else's house, I would have written a letter of divorce earlier."
Sheng Yun was the most defensive and kept his mouth shut. Finally, he couldn't hold it back: "Some people only give birth to babies ten years after entering the family. In the past four or five years, my niece has been begging for several babies from her niece's son-in-law!"
Mrs. Zhu helped: "Yes, the heirs are blessed by their ancestors and God. They already have a house full of little wives. What else do you want?"
Grandma sneered and said: "If she is really virtuous, she should let people in, and not stay outside and make people laugh."
The eldest lady said in a deep voice: "How can a woman with an unclean background get in? My son-in-law is also a scholar. You can say such things without fear of insulting your ancestors!"
Grandmother refused to accept it and shouted: "Your daughter has no ability herself, but she still wants to stop a man from taking a concubine. Do you want our family to have no heirs?"
Pinlan couldn't bear it anymore and couldn't listen anymore, so she turned around and left. Minglan hurriedly chased after her. Pinlan was in good physical condition and was in a bad mood. She held her breath and ran eight hundred meters in one go. Minglan almost ran away.
It was only after he had broken his heart that he caught up with him under a willow tree. He held Pinlan's arm tightly and refused to let go. He just kept breathing.
Pinlan kicked the tree one by one and cursed angrily: "Damn it! How could such a good person like my sister get into such a thing! Why? Why?"
Minglan stroked her chest and gasped hard. She could only wait until Pinlan lost all strength from kicking her, then slowly pulled her to the foot of a well-sheltered rockery, picked up a clean stone, and sat down with them. Minglan didn't know about this kind of thing.
No matter how much I try to persuade her, if she were still working as a clerk in modern times, she would definitely shout "get a divorce" very boldly, but here, alas... The two sisters sat quietly for a long time, and suddenly there was a rush of footsteps and voices behind the rockery.
.
"...Sister, don't leave, listen to what my sister has to say!"
"I'm going to the theater. Sister, you don't need to say anything. I don't want to hear it."
——It's Xiulan and Huilan! Pinlan and Minglan quickly looked at each other.
As an experienced eavesdropper, Minglan's first reaction was to cover Pinlan's mouth. Unexpectedly, Pinlan moved faster than her and put a hand on her mouth. Then she sat still and listened intently.
Seeing such skillful and smooth movements, Minglan couldn't help but wonder: Could it be that they are the same person?
Xiulan spoke over there - "Marriage is as important to our daughter's family as reincarnation. Sister, please don't be confused! I have heard that the young master of that family is a womanizer even though he is rich, and he becomes a woman in his teens.
There are many pets inside.”
"Then what can I do? My aunt treats me like a thief and I can't even meet my cousin Taisheng. Now that my age is here, I can only find another way out." Huilan said bitterly.
"Taisheng? Hey, don't even think about it. There are some things you don't know. Back then, my aunt wanted to marry my uncle, but our grandfather forced our uncle to marry our aunt to another family. He almost beat our uncle to death. I heard that
Later, the second old lady came forward to protect her; even if my aunt didn't have any resentment in her heart, she would not look at our house well." Xiulan said in a sad tone.
Pinlan and Minglan looked at each other, how could such a thing happen? Pinlan's eyes were full of excitement, and Minglan was full of gossip - it turned out that Uncle Niu and Aunt Niu were in a free love relationship.
After a few blunt sounds, which seemed to be stamping her feet, Huilan's voice came through the rockery again: "...Sister, look at the splendid scene of their house today, and then look at the two girls Pinlan and Minglan wearing what they wear on their heads. Take off whatever you want.
Once you get it, it will be worth everything I have! I don’t want to live a hard life, and if I want to marry, I have to marry rich!”
"Don't be stupid, you don't have to be rich to get married. Although your brother-in-law's family is poor, he treats me sincerely, and my mother-in-law is also a person who knows both coldness and heat. Now I am watching over him and a pair of children, and I am more content than eating delicacies from the mountains and seas every day.
!Don’t think that Yue Lan is married to a rich man. Her man is an extremely scoundrel. He looks for flowers every day and asks willows without saying anything. If it’s okay, he will beat her up. There are children and aunts in the house and no one takes her seriously. In this kind of day
Are you willing to live? You'd better beg your aunt, she will make the decision for you." Xiulan said sincerely.
Huilan seemed to sneer a few times: "That's because my sister has good horoscopes. She is lucky. You two are promised to marry at the same time. How about marrying sister Shulan? She is also a scholar from a poor family, but she is not as good-hearted as her brother-in-law! After receiving the dowry from his wife, he still has
I spend my whole day shouting and showing off my authority, but it’s no use meeting Shulan! Huh, come on, it’s better to have money and be safer..."
After saying this, there was a sound of heavy footsteps, as if they were leaving Xiulan behind. Xiulan hurriedly caught up with her, and the sound gradually faded away.
Pinlan slowly let go of Minglan's mouth, with a half-smile on her face, and Youyou said: "Sister Ming, I suddenly lost my anger. Speaking of which, no matter what, my sister has not been hit by a single finger."