There is no marine climate control, and it is extremely cold in Beijing in November. Fang’s mother started burning ground dragons after lunch. At night, Minglan and her grandmother slept together in the greenhouse. It was warm enough, but it was very dry, and Minglan was not. As a habit, I drank several sips of tea one night, but my mouth was still dry. When I woke up the next day, I felt dizzy listening to Fang's mother.
The capital was the most benign place, with the local little emperor nearby, and the imperial censor's hearing and vision well-developed salivary system. Sheng Hong was very alert and gave the best row of houses in the mansion to Mrs. Sheng to live in. It was also called Jian'antang, and then he and Wang The family lives in the main house, Aunt Lin's Linqi Pavilion is still to the west, next to Changfeng's small courtyard, Changbai is in a separate courtyard, preparing to build a new house.
The Shengfu in the capital was not as spacious as Dengzhou, so the three orchids could not live together, so they built a large, spacious courtyard and separated the three rows of wing rooms slightly with fences and screen walls. It is a good semi-independent courtyard for the maids and ladies. When Wei Ruixuan implied the name Hua Lan, Mo Lan and Ru Lan no longer liked the name, so they quickly gave their courtyard another name this time. Molan is called Shanyueju, Rulan is called Taoran Pavilion, and Minglan remains the same.
Minglan was confused, but Cuiwei and Danju both remembered it. One of them took care of the luggage from Ji'antang to Mu Cangzhai, and the other directed the maids and the rough lady to move, wash, and rinse. It took a whole morning to get it done. Mrs. Sheng was worried, so she took Minglan to have a look around. Mrs. Wang accompanied her, feeling a little uneasy. She was relieved when she saw the old lady nodding.
The capital version of Mu Cangzhai has only three big rooms, the main room in the middle, and the left and right rooms. Minglan likes to have a private space, so she specially partitions off the bedrooms, and then uses the Baibao Pavilion and the curtain to divide the right room into a study room. Xiao Tao personally opened the boxes one by one, wiped the books and furnishings inside one by one, and arranged them according to Minglan's wishes.
Before Minglan had finished cleaning up the house, Ru Lan came to visit. She had just come to the capital. According to Ru Lan's temperament, how could she make friends so quickly? She was tired of bickering with Mo Lan all day long. She had accumulated a lot of money. She had to talk to Minglan about what she wanted to say. After Danju made a bowl of hot Maojian, Rulan couldn't wait to drag Minglan into the back room.
"Sixth sister, do you feel that fourth sister is very unhappy this time?" Rulan couldn't wait to point out the central idea before even saying a few words.
Minglan calmed down, thought for a moment, and said hesitantly: "It's okay, I think the fourth sister is just a little preoccupied. At noon, she came to my room and looked around, and she didn't say a few words. Let's go." This is very strange, Mo Lan is a face-saving person, no matter what he thinks in his heart, his face is always kind and cheerful, and he will say a few words when nothing happens.
Ru Lan had an expression that said, "It's just as I expected." She mysteriously lowered her voice and said, "While you were away, the fourth sister encountered a big problem with Princess Pingning."
Theoretically speaking, except for the crown prince and the younger prince, all the other princes are going to join the feudal vassal. The favored ones will go to richer places, and the neglected ones will go to remote border areas. But now the situation is strange, the crown prince is undecided, and the three and four princes are here. They all stayed with the emperor's tacit consent, and the sixth prince's status was neither high nor low. He was granted the title of a county prince and the vassal territory was in Daliang.
Last year when the Emperor was celebrating his sixtieth birthday, the Sixth Prince came to congratulate him and brought a group of three cubs with him. The Third Prince was almost furious because he couldn't give birth to a son, especially the little one who was only four or five years old and was very white. She is fat, naive and cute. The third prince likes her more and more. The sixth prince has a deep brotherly love. The sixth princess is considerate and always brings her baby to the house to show her to the third brother.
"Oh, I understand. When I was in Jinling, I heard that the third prince wanted to adopt a nephew. Could it be the sixth prince's family?!" Minglan suddenly realized, and then became confused again, "Huh? But what does this have to do with the fourth sister? ?This is a royal matter, how can we get in the way?"
Rulan shook her head proudly: "The Sixth Prince's family also has a county mistress who is in her prime years. Shengshengji's birthday is coming soon, and the Sixth Prince came to Beijing with her son and daughter."
Minglan thought for a while and asked tentatively: "Is it possible that they have a close relationship with Princess Pingning?"
Rulan patted Minglan on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Sixth sister is so smart... That day, Princess Pingning hosted a banquet, and my mother took us there. Fourth sister was very attentive to the princess, trying to please and flatter her. She was a good girl, and her flattery was too explicit. Unexpectedly, the princess ignored her and kept talking to the sixth princess and her daughter. When she came back, the wife told the master, and she gave him a good scolding and grounding. It’s been half a month, haha..."
"This, this is so embarrassing." Ming Lan could imagine the scene and felt embarrassed. No wonder Sheng Hong seemed to be quite harsh on Mo Lan when he came back this time.
Now that the old emperor is aging day by day, it is justifiable that the third prince is short of a son. The sixth prince has become very popular immediately. Princess Pingning wants to heat up the heat and has taken a fancy to the princess of Jiacheng County as her daughter-in-law. Thinking about it carefully, There is really no comparison between the family backgrounds of Mo Lan and the county master.
Rulan was very happy. She originally wanted to find someone to have fun with, but she didn't expect that Minglan didn't support her and looked sad. She couldn't help but frown and said: "What's wrong with you? Don't say that your fourth sister is sad!"
Minglan smiled bitterly and said: "Fifth sister, I'm sad that it's us. Although it's the fourth sister who is embarrassed right now, we sisters can't escape. Speaking from outside, the daughters of the Sheng family are always poorly educated."
Rulan's heart was shocked and she thought twice in her mind. She was right. No wonder the officials and ladies didn't pay much attention to her during the tea party and poetry gathering during these days. There were also faint sarcasms in their words. She thought she was going to Mo Lan alone. , I didn’t expect... I dare say she was implicated! Ru Lan was immediately furious: "This, this little——!"
She wanted to scold but she couldn't. Rulan was suppressed and blushed. Minglan hurriedly tried to persuade her: "Keep your voice down. Don't say yes. We live close to each other now. Be careful not to be heard!"
Ru Lan slammed the table hard and said: "It doesn't matter, she just went to Lin Qige, hum! If she keeps going back and forth there, I'm afraid the same thing will happen again!"
Minglan looked at it distressedly, and the tureen fell to the ground and broke into pieces. It was a complete set.
…
In Linqi Pavilion, a gilt incense burner with cloud-bat patterns was burning on the Kang table. Aunt Lin looked at her unhappy daughter in front of her, closed her chinchilla leather muff, frowned and said: "But I was scolded by the master, what do you do to show off?" Come on with this face?!"
Mo Lan was fiddling with a sachet with brocade pattern and Fulu, and glanced at Aunt Lin: "It's the first time I've been punished like this. It's so embarrassing! If the old lady and the others hadn't come back this time, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to come out. "
Aunt Lin sighed and said: "You are worthless! I have no ability. I can only cry with sadness but don't know how to calculate. Forget it, I have a life. If you don't have this ability, I will just find you a normal family later!"
Mo Lan's face turned red and she said unwillingly: "The county chief is only average in terms of character and appearance. I feel sorry for brother Yuan Ruo."
Aunt Lin was depressed for a long time, and then said: "People have better lives than you, this is better than anything else! Don't worry about Qi Heng, I asked your third brother to go out and ask around. Princess Pingning is also a snobbery.
Seeing that the Sixth Prince's family has gained power, I'm rushing to curry favor! Forget it, let's not talk about it... Hey, I asked you to go see that girl Minglan, did you see it?"
Mo Lan raised her head vaguely: "The furnishings are quite plain and exquisite. There are only a few valuable items. There are many boxes and cages carried in and out. I can't tell what they are. Mother, old lady.
I love Minglan, it’s useless no matter how much we fight, why bother?"
Aunt Lin slapped her palm on the kang table, glared and cursed: "I said you have no future, but you really have no future! You show up when you shouldn't, and ignore it when it's your turn to argue! Minglan apologizes this time
In the Yang family, I don’t know how to please and be clever. Your uncle’s whole family likes her, and so do you. When I asked you to coax Pinlan, you thought she was vulgar and uncivilized! Now it’s great, see Minglan come back with a big bag.
, are you not angry? You have the same background as her. Speaking of which, her mother is just a village girl, your mother is from an official family, and you have the support of your own brother. You should be ten times stronger than her, but now you are worse!
"
Mo Lan turned her head sharply and snorted angrily: "The old lady has a bad temper. She doesn't like me. What can I do?"
After Aunt Lin lost her anger, she calmed down and said slowly to the lingering cigarette: "Looking at the old lady, I'm afraid even Minglan's marriage has been settled. Mrs. Rulan has already planned to wait for Uncle Wang to take up a foreign post."
I'm afraid we'll start talking about it when we get back to Beijing. My son, you're the only one who's still half-assed."
When Mo Lan heard this, she couldn't help but become worried and looked at her mother worriedly. Aunt Lin turned around and smiled at her and said: "If you just find an ordinary scholar or official's son, I don't care whether you or your brother know a lot about him.
But it’s very difficult to have good character, talent, and a rich and wealthy family!… I wonder what kind of family the old lady is looking for for Minglan?”
…
Minglan looked at the old woman in front of her who was crying bitterly, with a confused look on her face. She went to see her mother in a daze. The old woman was dressed as a servant, wearing a dark red fine-grained silk jacket and a black velvet jacket. She pulled her
Minglan cried in her hands: "...Miss, Aunt Wei left early, and the old woman was of no use. She suddenly fell ill at that time and couldn't take care of the girl!..."
Minglan really couldn't keep up with the situation and could only stay in a daze.
Mother Fang coughed and said, "Mother Cui is getting older, and her son and daughter-in-law want to take the old man back to live in their old age. It's not good for the girl not to have a mother by her side, so my wife found Mother You from the village. She is the girl's mother |
Son, I think it’s easier to take care of me.”
Minglan nodded. In fact, she had no impression of Mama You at all. She only remembered listening to the maids in the corner when she was pretending to be stupid. She vaguely remembered that they said that Aunt Wei was cowardly and honest. Only one named Die'er was loyal to her, and the rest were...
Greedy deceives the master, and when something goes wrong, they all find a way out and disappear without a trace. Then this Mother You...?
After everyone had retreated from the screen, Fang's mother said honestly: "Originally, the old lady planned to choose a trustworthy one, but she has already sent them, so it's not easy to slap her in the face."
Minglan thought for a while and suddenly asked: "Since she is already in Zhuangzi, what route did she take to enter the inner house?"
The young lady nurse is a good job, not to mention the monthly salary, she can sit on an equal footing with the housekeeper, and she can boss the little maids. At first, she was probably afraid of involving Aunt Wei's death, so she rubbed oil on her soles, but now she does it again
.
Seeing that Minglan could ask this question, Fang's mother felt relieved and whispered: "The girl is determined. I heard that she had been thinking about coming up a few years ago, but at that time, the girl already had Mother Cui by her side.
This time I heard that I sent the money and my wife to someone in front of me."
Minglan asked again: "There are no descendants?"
Fang's mother shook her head: "If there is, the old lady will never allow it. Because she was originally a girl's wife, it is natural for her to be the one now. I have inquired carefully, and it is
It’s the recommender’s mother-in-law who received some benefits; I’m afraid that because she’s the nanny’s mother, if someone is lazy and causes trouble, the girl won’t be embarrassed to suppress her.”
Minglan raised the corner of her mouth slightly and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Mom, I'm already so old, it's hard to ask the old lady to protect me all my life." She smiled again and said helplessly, "If I really can't resist it anymore.
, come and bring in reinforcements."
After her mother left, Minglan sat alone on Concubine Xiang's couch in the main room, lowered her head and pondered for a moment, and suddenly said: "Please forgive me, mother."
Xiao Tao left in response. As soon as You's mother came in, she burst into tears again. She kept talking about how helpless she was when she left and how much she missed Minglan in Zhuangzi. Minglan listened with a smile and motioned to Xiao Tao to bring some tuna.
Mother You is not very old, just a middle-aged woman with a diamond-shaped face and a wide mouth. She looks shrewd and sharp. Minglan was only five years old when she left, but now Minglan is almost thirteen. She can't help but mention it.
Minglan listened quietly to the interesting stories about Minglan when she was a child and her hard work in feeding her. When she came to an end, she said leisurely: "I'm afraid I don't remember much."
Mother You was shocked. She only had big cards in her hand. She quickly wiped away her tears and said hurriedly: "Although the girl was young at that time, she was extremely smart. She could learn everything at once and forget everything."
Minglan took Dan Ju and handed over the tea bowl, gently moved the lid of the bowl, and whispered: "After Aunt Wei passed away, I fell seriously ill and was in a coma for many days. When I woke up, many things were confused. Unfortunately,
Mom wasn't here at that time, otherwise I could have gone faster."
You's mother had a slightly embarrassed look on her face, and said with a dry smile: "It's because the old woman failed to live up to her expectations that she fell ill at that time." She wanted to say a few words about Aunt Wei, but the housekeeper had already reminded her, so she didn't.
Dare to say it.
Minglan sighed softly, with a hint of sadness: "Those days were really difficult. I took medicine every day, lingered on the sick bed, but there was no caring person to take care of me. I only had this stupid little Tao by my side. Several times the doctor said I was afraid.
Fortunately, my wife took good care of me and took pity on me, so I was able to save my life."
Mother You's face turned green and red, she squeezed the handkerchief tightly, and said a few words, even she felt pale and weak.
Minglan closed the lidded bowl and said with a sweet smile: "It's great now. The old ladies in my house have all trained and trained the big girls. They are the most sensible and capable. Now with my mother, my little girl
The hospital is in good hands."
Mother You was startled, and couldn't help but raise her head, looking at Minglan Jun's long and soft eyeliner, her soft and subtle curve of jaw resembled that of the young aunt who died young many years ago, but her expression was completely different. No matter what she said or listened to, her pair of slightly raised eyebrows
The long eyelashes were not moving at all, just like the wings of a butterfly that were still and still, and the smile on her beautiful face was as quiet as water.
The simple and elegant girl in front of her exuded a kind of calmness, a kind of leisurely attitude of a person in a high position. Youyou's mother was a little absent-minded, feeling that she couldn't reconcile with the image of the timid and timid girl following her in her memory, and a sense of unknown awe slowly crept up.
her spine.
Minglan looked at You's mother intently: If she was smart enough, she would not cause trouble for herself, receive a salary, get a full set of benefits, be less greedy and delusional, and do her duty well, so that everyone can get together and relax.