The sunlight passes through the window and casts mottled shadows on the landscape screen.
The small living room of the Ning family was not neglected because it was small. It was still decorated with exquisite and precious gold and jade utensils. It was luxurious but also had the elegance and refinement of a house of poetry and calligraphy.
It's a nice day today, and the charcoal fire in the hollow stove in the house is burning brightly. The noses of the two girls wearing winter clothes are dotted with a light layer of sweat, but this warm spring does not make people feel as comfortable as before.
Instead, I felt an inexplicable feeling of depression and anxiety.
Someone lifted the curtain and walked in, bringing in the winter wind in the yard. I don't know if it was the cool breeze or the person who came, which cheered up the two girls and hurried forward.
The girl who came in was also a girl, carrying a small copper kettle. The girl in the room took it and took the cloisonné enamel tea cups on the tables nearby.
Although this series of actions made no sound, it broke the stagnant atmosphere in the room.
"Miss Jun, please have tea." The girl whispered softly, came over with tea, and at the same time glanced at the person sitting on the chair.
This is a girl of fourteen or fifteen years old, with picturesque features, no makeup, no hairpins, no gold beads. She is wearing a starched blue muslin dress.
But she didn't look shabby when she was sitting in this luxurious living room. Instead, she made people feel like a pure orchid among thousands of flowers, as elegant and elegant as a plain orchid.
But when the girl's eyes fell on the table, it was like being stung by a bee. She lowered her eyes and her expression became complicated.
On the mahogany table inlaid with emeralds, there is a piece of white silk, which is particularly conspicuous among the red and emerald green.
At this time, an older woman by the window in the corridor was also looking at the white silk ribbon.
The Liuning clan in the north of Yangcheng not only produced more than a dozen Hanlin officials in the family, but also controlled nearly half of the coal mines in Zezhou. Therefore, the windows in the living room were not made with common window paper, but with glass from Southeast Asia.
There are only two companies in Yangcheng and even Zezhou that can use this kind of glass.
The glass was a little blurry, but the woman could still see the white silk ribbon and the girl's appearance.
This was not the first time she had seen this girl. In fact, the girl had been here just two days ago, but she did not show off the white silk ribbon at that time.
The girl reached out to take the tea and took a sip, her brows seemed to frown and then dropped.
It seems to be just the woman's guess.
His facial features looked blurry through the colorful glass, and it was impossible to see those subtle expressions clearly.
The woman only saw the girl put down her tea cup. The reason why she felt this was because the tea served in the room at this time was only Yuqian Longjing.
Although this girl was wearing shabby clothes, she came from Fang's Bank, another store with glass windows in Zezhou.
Her surname is Jun, and her mother's surname is Fang. She is the eldest daughter of the Fang family. Although she married into a relatively poor family, people in Zezhou still talk about her wedding more than ten years later.
How can a young lady like this drink a coarse tea like Yuqian Longjing? At least the last time she came to visit, the tea the girls brought was Mingqian Longjing.
The woman looked at the room. The girl who had put down the tea cup was sitting upright and graceful, without the slightest hint of impatience. The little girl standing next to her pulled her sleeve with her hand.
"Give me a cup of tea, girl."
The woman heard a soft sound coming from inside the house.
The girl immediately brought another cup of tea and handed it to the little girl. The little girl happily took it and drank it in one breath.
"One more drink." The little girl also said.
He was not as timid as he was the last time he came to visit, but instead looked a little confident and a little proud.
Maybe he thought he could scare them.
A trace of ridicule flashed in the woman's eyes.
"Mother Song."
There was a little girl at the entrance of the courtyard, waving to her silently.
The woman then turned and walked away from the window, walked through a narrow passage and entered another courtyard. Under the corridor of the main room of the courtyard stood a group of girls, talking and laughing in low voices.
Rumor has it laughter.
Seeing the woman coming, the joking girls greeted her one after another.
"Mother Song."
They said inside, two girls opened the curtain, and the woman stepped in. The warm fragrance hit her face. There were many people sitting and standing in the room, but all their eyes and movements were focused on the middle-aged woman in the middle.
The woman was in her forties, with beautiful appearance, long eyebrows and thin eyebrows. With a slight smile on her face, she was listening to the conversation of the two women sitting in front of her.
The two women in front of her were younger than her and dressed in luxurious clothes.
There are three teenage girls sitting in front of the large table in the east room. They are all wearing red jackets and yellow skirts. They have beautiful faces. They are different from the bustle and laughter outside. They are writing quietly.
Mother Song did not immediately come forward to speak. Instead, she took the tea from the girl next to her and handed it over. She stood next to the woman and listened to them with a smile.
"Sister-in-law, the Dongyue stage is arranged in front of the Tutu Temple."
"Let the third brother and sister worry about hiring the troupe, I won't care about it."
"There are a lot of refugees this month, and the war and disaster in the north are getting more and more serious. I'm also going to make preparations for giving porridge."
"Second brother and second sister-in-law also sent people back to talk about this matter."
When the sisters-in-law talked, the middle-aged women smiled and nodded.
"Okay, this is a good arrangement. Thank you for taking the trouble." She said in a general tone.
The eldest lady of the Ning family is kind and charitable, filial to her parents-in-law and respectful to her sisters-in-law, and is praised by everyone inside and outside.
After saying this, the eldest lady turned to look at Mother Song.
"Have you seen anyone?" she asked.
This endless sentence caused the voices in the room to stop.
Song’s mother answered yes.
"Sister-in-law, why is that young lady from the Jun family here again? Didn't she leave?" Mrs. Ning San, the woman next to her, asked hurriedly.
Mrs. Ning smiled and put down the tea cup.
"I didn't leave, I found an inn on the street, staged a suicide trick, and now I'm here again," she said.
Suicide?
Mrs. Ning San and Mrs. Fourth looked at each other.
"This is too much. Don't the Fang family care?"
"Maybe the Fang family did it on purpose."
They frowned and said angrily.
Mrs. Ning shook her head.
"It's not intentional, or there's something embarrassing about it," she said.
The two siblings laughed.
"Sister-in-law always judges others with kindness." they sighed.
Tojima, a girl who had been listening to what was being said here, suddenly turned her head.
"Mom, it's not unusual for Jun Zhenzhen to do this kind of thing. She is also domineering in the Fang family. The eldest wife of the Fang family just said something to her, and she threatened to commit suicide and went to the government to sue her aunt for abuse." She said.
Said loudly.
This statement made everyone in the room look surprised.
"Yanyan." Mrs. Ning said with a frown. Talking about other people's rights and wrongs behind their backs is not a good behavior that a lady should have.
This is Mrs. Ning's eldest daughter, Ning Yunyan, the seventeenth in the Ning family's generation.
"Auntie, auntie, it's true. She maintains her status as an official lady. She especially looks down on her grandmother's family and despises them for being merchants."
"I also know. I have seen her laughing at her cousin with others at a banquet, and her cousin left the banquet in tears."
The other two girls also hurriedly followed suit.
The three girls started chirping, but Mrs. Ning's gentle voice could not be suppressed, and the room became chaotic.
This Miss Jun has only been in Yangcheng for half a year and she already has a great reputation that everyone knows. This reputation is not a good one.
"It's just that the Fang family is a vulgar businessman." Mrs. Ningsan frowned and said, "Miss Jun's father is also a scholar and an official. How did he raise such a daughter?"
It’s just a matter of raising such a daughter. Other people’s daughters have nothing to do with their Ning family, but this daughter of the Jun family clamored for a marriage contract with their Ning family as soon as she arrived.
"Is this engagement true?" Mrs. Ning Si couldn't help but ask, "She really has an engagement with our Zhao'er? Or was it made by the old lady? The old lady never mentioned such a big thing during his lifetime."
Mrs. Ning sighed, looking helpless.
"I asked my mother, and she said that the old lady and the old lady of the Jun family were destined to meet each other." She said, "Fifteen years ago, the old lady resigned from office and traveled around. He fell ill while passing through Runan, and was passed by the old doctor Jun who was returning from a medical visit.
The doctor diagnosed and prescribed medicine to relieve the symptoms. The old man was very grateful. Hearing that Dr. Jun's son had just gotten married, he said that he wanted to get married to him. Zhao'er was only three years old at that time."
I'm so grateful, just say it casually.
The two ladies in the room immediately understood the meaning of these eight words.
"Since the old lady of the Jun family is a doctor, isn't it natural to treat people?" Mrs. Ning San said, "The old lady is so grateful that he can't express his gratitude, so doesn't the old doctor Jun know his duty as a doctor?"
It seems that he is also a man who is dedicated to pursuing success, otherwise he would have really agreed to this marriage without considering his identity.
"Maybe the old lady was under coercion at that time." Mrs. Ning Si shook her head and said.
Otherwise, why would the old man never talk about such a big deal as betrothal to the eldest grandson?
"Father never mentioned it, so I don't know what's going on." Madam Ning said, emphasizing on this sentence, "The old madam insisted that there was no such thing, and there was nothing I could do about it. Someone from the Fang family came before.
When asking, I explained tactfully, but it seemed that the young lady from the Jun family didn't listen at all. The old lady was in poor health, and I didn't dare to let her get into trouble. It was very pitiful for the young lady from the Jun family to lose her family at a young age.
, I don’t dare to be forceful with her..."
"Mother." Ning Yunyan, who had stopped writing and stood over to listen, immediately shouted, "She is pitiful, but Brother Ten is not pitiful. Should Brother Ten be unlucky? Her parents were not killed by us, why should we?
Are you going to use Brother Ten’s lifelong events to compensate her?”
"Yes, yes, Brother Ten, even the emperor praised Tianzong's talent, how could he be dragged down by a vulgar and ignorant person like Jun Zhenzhen." The other two girls immediately agreed.
The house was in chaos again.
Mrs. Ning seemed to have a headache from the noise, and she reached out and pinched her forehead with a helpless expression.
"But we can't just watch this young lady from the Jun family commit suicide in front of our eyes," she said.
"She threw Bai Ling on the table now, making it a clear threat." Song's mother interrupted, "Last time she hanged herself in an inn, and now she might hang herself in front of our house."
"She dares!" Mrs. Ningsan raised her eyebrows and said. (To be continued)