In the early morning of late February, the weather was still cold and gloomy.
While the fog was still lingering, there was a lot of shouting and shouting in the Zhou family's martial arts arena.
All the men of the Zhou family are practicing martial arts and archery. This is the tradition of the Zhou family and all military commanders' families. They exercise their muscles and bones every day, rain or shine.
Mr. Zhou, who has learned his destiny in recent years, only wears a short shirt and dances smoothly with a spear in his hand. Opposite him, Liu Lang, is naked and has a silver spear in his hand to dodge stabs without any fear.
The brothers of different ages nearby were also fighting each other. In the early spring weather, the shirtless men were all sweating.
With a shout, the spear in Zhou Lang's hand flew out, and he stepped back a few steps with a look of dissatisfaction on his face.
"Liu Lang, you are still young after all." Mr. Zhou laughed loudly and put the spear in his hand on the ground. "But it's not bad. When I was your age, I would be picked up by your grandfather every time."
As the father and son finished, the other brothers also decided the winner and the loser. After a few more rounds of bow and arrow shooting, the morning exercise ended.
The maids and servants waiting outside the school grounds each came up to help their masters wipe and dress them.
Du Liulang threw the stone chain a few more times before he came over.
After the men did their morning exercises, it was breakfast time for the Zhou family. After that, Mr. Zhou and his second son, who had official positions, went to the Yamen to order their hair, and the other children dispersed.
"Liu Lang, please accompany us to Puxiu Temple today." Several sisters called Liu Lang and said.
"I won't go." Zhou Lang replied simply, "It's the most annoying place to go to."
"That's not true." A younger sister snorted, "If that fool asks you to go, you will definitely go."
"Actually, the sixth brother is not accompanying her, but watching her because he is afraid that she will run away." Another sister said with a smile.
"Can she run away? She stays at home and refuses to leave..."
The sisters were laughing and joking, but suddenly someone interrupted.
"Hush, hush, stop talking, Madam Chen is here," one said.
Everyone stopped and looked at the servant woman leading a woman to come.
The sisters stopped and Liu Lang, who was walking in front, turned around to avoid them.
Mrs. Chen's wife followed the servant girl over. The sister on this side didn't say hello, and she didn't come to greet her on the other side. Both sides saw it, but neither seemed to notice it.
The young lady from Wenchen's family had little contact with the military general's family, and the Zhou sisters didn't want to get to know each other politely.
"I don't know what Mrs. Chen can say to her," one of the sisters muttered.
"Perhaps, I won't speak at all." The other one laughed.
When Chen Shiba Niang entered the courtyard, the maid announced and left. Without waiting for anyone to greet her, she went up the steps and stood directly in front of the door of the side room next to her. The two maids hurriedly stretched out their hands to open the door.
The side room is a simply furnished study, with two charcoal-burning stoves to dispel the cold air of early spring.
There are two desks placed on the left and right sides of the room, with pens, ink, paper and inkstones placed next to them, but nothing else.
Chen Shiba Niang took off her blouse and sandals, stepped in, knelt down in front of the desks on her left, took a piece of paper and spread it on the desks, pressed it down with a paperweight, then turned sideways to slowly grind the ink.
.
After she finished grinding the ink, footsteps were heard outside the door. The door was opened again, and first a foot wearing only socks stepped in, and then the whole person walked in.
They didn't speak or greet each other, they just nodded to each other as a greeting. Cheng Jiaoniang sat down on the other side. When she finished studying the ink and picked up the pen, Chen Shiba Niang had already written a word.
Cheng Jiaoniang picked up the pen, and Chen Shiba Niang put down the pen in her hand, turned around and watched her every move carefully, holding the pen and writing.
After five words, Cheng Jiaoniang handed the piece of paper to Chen Shiba Niang, who took it and put it on several desks to make a copy.
Cheng Jiaoniang would practice calligraphy by herself, and after a moment she would turn around and look at Chen Shiba Niang.
"The arms are too high."
Occasionally she would say a word or two, giving instructions on Chen Shiba Niang's posture or how to use her pen.
An hour later, the maid will bring in a bowl of water and a bowl of tea outside the door, which means that today's calligraphy practice is over.
Chen Shiba Niang finished drinking a cup of tea and looked at Cheng Jiao Niang beside her.
"Madam, don't you like tea?" she couldn't help but ask.
Since we met each other, every time we met, this woman would always drink water, never tea.
"No." Cheng Jiaoniang said, putting down the water glass, "The tea here doesn't suit my taste."
Chen Shiba Niang was slightly confused and looked down at her tea bowl.
The Zhou family is rich, so they buy tea cakes made by monks from Puxiu Temple, which is very valuable in Beijing today. The water used by wealthy people in Beijing is spring water from Luomei Mountain outside the city, with salt and nutmeg added.
The girl who makes the tea is mediocre in her skills, but the taste is very good.
Not to your taste?
Is it because of the differences between North and South?
"My family also has tea from Fuzhou, Hangzhou and other places in the south. I'll have someone bring it to my wife," she said.
"Thank you, Mrs. Chen." The maid smiled, "My wife doesn't drink tea at home. She doesn't like the tea now."
Don’t like today’s tea? Do you like the tea from the past? Or the tea from the future?
Chen Shiba Niang was a little confused when she heard this. She picked up the bowl and finished the rest of the tea. She put down the tea bowl and thanked her. She stood up and left. At this time, it was time for Cheng Jiao Niang to take a nap.
When she heard the maid replying that Cheng Jiaoniang's maid wanted to go out again, Mrs. Zhou snorted coldly.
"Running out all day long is really a disgrace to my daughter's family." She said, reaching out to touch the bright sun. Whenever she heard this name, she felt her throat hurt, and the cough that was so easy to suppress would break out.
, "If she really likes to live outside, she might as well send her to a house outside, so that everyone will not carry the dead body to our house, which will be unlucky."
When she said this, she suddenly sat up when she thought of something.
"Didn't the Chen family give her a house as a gift?" she said.
Mr. Zhou frowned and put down his tea bowl.
"We didn't let people live wherever they wanted to live. How can we drive them out now?" he said. "You can go out if you like. What's the big deal."
"How can that be done? People don't care who she is, they will only say that our Zhou family's daughter has failed to teach her well and is harming our daughters." Mrs. Zhou raised her eyebrows and said, "Our daughter still has to get married.
"
"Then it won't look good if you drive him out." Mr. Zhou said.
"Why doesn't it look good? It's not like we don't care. The men, women and girls have to dial 17 or 18 to follow it. It's not far away, so just go there." Mrs. Zhou said, "The house is in a good location and has a good view. Where can we go?"
It’s all convenient, rare, comfortable and not noisy…”
"Wait a minute." Mr. Zhou interrupted her and asked, "Should she move or should we move?"
Mrs. Zhou glared at him.
"We will raise her for the rest of her life, doesn't what she owns belong to us?" she said angrily.
"I understand, I'll think about it again," Mr. Zhou said.
"Where did they go this time?" Mrs. Zhou stopped pressing and turned to ask the maid, "Rokuro didn't follow them, did they?"
"Only that girl is out," the servant girl replied.
"A country girl is running around, and she doesn't know what she might come out of. She might be abducted," Mrs. Zhou said with a snort.
It would be best to be abducted, this is what she said in her heart, this girl is really annoying.
The maid parked the car outside the Puxiu Temple, entered the temple gate, walked through the bustling crowd and went straight out the back door. She stood in front of a house with a familiar face, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.
The door opened a crack, and an old man stuck his head out, squinting his eyes and speaking the clichés he was obviously used to.
"Please ask me to accept the official's name card on my behalf. My master is closing the door to thank guests. Please come back in a few days." He muttered. Before he finished speaking, his tongue got knotted and he suddenly stared.
Big eyes, "Suxin!"
"Uncle Lao Cai." The maid shouted angrily.
The old concierge opened the door with a bang and looked at her in disbelief with an excited expression.
A maid is just a thing. It is very common to exchange and give them at will. But after getting along for a long time, they all have feelings. No one dares to criticize the master's decision, but the servants will inevitably say sometimes, I don't know that Su Xin was given away.
How are you doing when you go to that family? It’s so far away, I’m afraid I’ll never see him again in this life.
Unexpectedly, it appeared in front of me.
"Su Xin, you, could you have escaped privately?" The old concierge thought of something and his expression darkened. As he spoke, he looked behind Su Xin.
There were no carriages and horses accompanying him, and he came alone. This...
"Uncle Lao Cai, what are you thinking about? I have been in the capital a long time ago. Today, I was entrusted by the master's family to see if the master is back." The maid said with a smile.
The news spread quickly, and after walking a few steps through the door, a woman's voice was heard.
"Suxin!"
A girl rushed from inside, her expression was excited, and her eyes were filled with tears when she opened her mouth.
"The lady is here!" she shouted, "The lady is here?" (To be continued)
