First Concubine

Chapter 2 Storm in Water Mansion (2)

Shui Linglong gave Mother Wang a friendly smile and said, "Mother Wang, go first. I'll pay my respects to mother before going to visit grandma."

Mother Wang nodded lightly: "I'm sorry, please leave."

 After Queen Mother left, Shui Linglong also entered the mansion.

In order to please Qin Fangyi and the Prime Minister's Office, Shuihangge spent a lot of money to ask a famous Feng Shui master in the capital to design the scenery. As the saying goes, "Mountains can nourish one's nature, and water can gather wealth." It is built according to mountains, and it is best to live near water. The most ideal living environment, this has been vividly reflected in Shuifu.

Even the prince was full of praise for the scenery of Shuifu.

The arrival of Shui Linglong naturally aroused the surprised look of the servants. They had always known that the master had a concubine outside and gave birth to the eldest lady. They thought she was some unfashionable wild girl, but apart from her appearance, she looked thinner. Others are no different from the masters in the mansion.

Shui Linglong seemed to be oblivious to everyone's probing gazes, and walked her steps without squinting.

As soon as he entered Changlexuan, he heard a lot of chirping birds. Shui Linglong looked up and saw more than a dozen cages hanging on the shelves beside them, including cuckoos, parrots, thrushes, starlings, larks...

The prince liked to raise birds, and Shui Lingxi fell in love with him. In her previous life, she foolishly thought everything was just a coincidence.

　　　“The one raised by the mistress! The one raised by the mistress! The one raised by the mistress!”

 Exactly the same trick. In the previous life, she was so aggrieved that she turned around and left without saying hello to Qin Fangyi at all. After rushing out of the yard, she immediately ran into Shui Hangge. She burst into tears without thinking, but what was the result? A maid took the blame, but Shui Lingxi was not punished at all. Instead, she lost Shui Hangge's favor because she disrespected her aunt.

　In this life—

Shui Linglong stopped and shot a fierce look at the budgerigar. The parrot screamed and jumped up and down in the cage as if it had seen a ghost.

Mother Sun frowned, what’s wrong with this parrot?

"This little thing is really cute." Shui Linglong smiled and walked up to the parrot, picked up a branch and started teasing it, no, poking it hard!

The parrot howled in pain. Mother Sun gave a cold look, snatched the branch from Shui Linglong's hand and said, "Miss, these birds are all precious species. If they have any shortcomings, Miss, you have sold yourself." I can’t afford it!”

Snapped!

Shui Linglong slapped Sun's mother mercilessly: "Sold? I am a dignified lady from the Shang Shufu, but you asked me to sell myself? Who taught you this? Mother? You don't know life and death, mother. I’ve totally embarrassed you!”

Mother Sun’s face was burning with pain. Her biological mother was not even an aunt, so she still dared to prance in front of her? She is the maid who has served the eldest lady since she was a child. Which concubine in the house can't give her a little face and beat her?

 Old lady, I want you to look good today!

"Come here! The eldest lady has lost her mind and gone crazy. Hurry up and catch the eldest lady! Lest she bump into the nobles in the room!"

 The noble person in the house? So, it's not just the female relatives of Shangshu Mansion inside. No wonder Shui Hangge was so angry at her in her previous life for not going in to greet Qin Fangyi, and dared to shame her and throw her outside.

Qin Fangyi wanted to bully her, but she wanted to see who was bullying whom today!

Several rough servants rushed towards Shui Linglong with their claws and teeth. Shui Linglong easily jumped into the flower garden. The maids chased after her, and those precious peonies were trampled to pieces under their intentional or unintentional ravage. !

Mother Sun was horrified and yelled: "Be careful! That's Madam's favorite flower!" Of course she didn't really want to catch Shui Linglong, she was just scaring her away, but if she destroyed Madam's flowers, she would Sinful!

Because they wanted to show off, Qin Fangyi placed all the most exquisite and luxurious things in the yard. Shui Linglong counted them with her fingers and found that these flowers were worth nearly a thousand taels of silver at least. Shui Linglong raised her foot and trampled all the peonies, peonies, clivias, and poinsettias in the garden to pieces!

 I’ll step on you, Qin Fangyi!

 Step on you Shuilingxi!



She still didn't feel relieved, several maids chased her, and she ran all the way, her delicate hands quickly brushing against every bird cage.

Soon, the yard turned into a mess!

Shui Linglong dodged and dodged, always paying attention to the direction of the door with her peripheral vision. When the brown clothes floated into her eyes, she knew that the time was right.

 She picked up a flower pot and smashed it at Mother Sun's feet!

There was a loud noise, like thunder exploding in the yard!

The bird was frightened, flapped its wings, and rushed out of the cage with a huff.

Mother Sun was so scared that she lost her mind! Oh my god, that is the second lady’s favorite bird! How can we survive if we fly?

Shui Linglong's figure pretended to pause, and a maid grabbed her sleeve. She pulled hard, and the outer sleeve ripped, revealing the middle coat that had been washed yellow.

"What's going on?" As soon as Shui Hangge came in, he saw the yard full of broken flowers and broken leaves, birds flying around, Sun's mother jumping up and down, several maids chasing Shui Linglong and running around, one of them even tore Shui Linglong's clothes. , there was a huge fire in his mind for no reason. Is this the inner house or the vegetable garden?

As if she had seen a savior, Shui Linglong took three steps at a time and threw herself into Shui Hangge's arms: "Oh...Father...my daughter is so scared..."

Shui Hange was shocked by the sudden intimacy. He has never been close to his eldest daughter since she was sensible. Regardless of whether he wants to see his children or not, in his consciousness, they must rely on him. Therefore, his eldest daughter's alienation from him has always been a thorn in his heart! This is why after Dong Jiaxue passed away, he didn't even bother to look at his eldest daughter. At this time, the eldest daughter lay softly in his arms, crying with great attachment, which really made him feel like a loving father!

Shui Linglong cried and cried, and Shui Hange's heart was disturbed by her crying.

Shui Hangge shouted sharply: "Stop it!"

As soon as everyone heard the sound of Shui Hangge, they immediately stopped all their movements as if they were under a curse, and leaned forward to face him: "My slaves, please give my regards to the master."

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…Father…Mother Sun scolded me for being crazy…and asked people to arrest me…and said I was not allowed to hit the noble people inside…uuuu…” Shui Linglong complained.

Sun's mother denied it flatly: "Miss, I must have heard wrong. How dare I say that to you? It's all a misunderstanding." She was so irritated by Shui Linglong's slap that she said such words. She is the eldest lady's companion. In the past, she was used to being domineering in the house, and even the concubine ladies didn't take her seriously. Furthermore, with the support of the eldest lady, the master would at most scold her a few times, but he would not do anything to her at all!

Shui Linglong certainly understands what Mama Sun is thinking, but just because Mama Sun is Qin Fangyi’s confidant, she will definitely die today!

Shui Hangge looked at the eldest daughter's broken sleeves, which were washed white and had two patches on them, and the fire in her heart started to rise!

Just at this moment, a piece of bird droppings fell from the sky, bang! It dripped on his forehead.

 Poof—Shui Linglong quickly suppressed her smile.

People didn't look up, so they didn't see it. Shui Hangge immediately wiped it off with a handkerchief, but the fire in his heart burned like oil!

He kicked Mama Sun in the heart. Mama Sun was kicked to the ground. While hurting, he heard him say in a cold voice: "Misunderstanding? I saw them pulling and pulling on the eldest lady with my own eyes. Could it be that my eyes Are you blind? They dare to attack the eldest lady without your instructions? You are a deceitful person, and you are probably doing bad things behind your master's back!"

Shui Hangge started from scratch, working his way up from a poor scholar to now becoming the Minister of Rites. Although his official position is high, in the eyes of those famous families, he is just a nouveau riche. Over the years, he has been working hard to integrate into the upper class. In social circles, people are most afraid of others scolding Shuifu for not knowing etiquette and rules. He has climbed up to the Prime Minister's Palace, and is about to climb up to the Prince's Palace. There are many people who are jealous of him. If there is news that his wife is mistreating her children, will those civil servants give him a way to survive?

Shui Linglong had accurately calculated his concerns and asked the maid to tear her coat. In fact, it was also her fault that Qin Fangyi only gave the outer coat for the sake of appearance, but not the inner and middle coats.

But Shui Hangge wouldn't really do anything to Qin Fangyi. Looking between the lines, he easily placed the responsibility on Mother Sun.

Mother Sun kowtowed and begged for mercy: "Master, please have mercy! Master, please have mercy! I will never dare to do this again!"

Shui Hange glanced at her and shouted, "Here comes someone!"

 “My subordinates are here!” Two guards from Shangshu Mansion walked in.

Shui Hange ordered in a cold voice: "Beat this unruly slave who deceives his superiors and disrespects his master to death with a stick!"

“Master, please spare my life! Master, please let me see my wife! Master…”

The guard took out a handkerchief and blocked Sun's mother's mouth, and dragged her out. Not long after, the sound of chopping boards was heard next door.

Shui Linglong was quite satisfied with Shui Hange's handling of the matter. Three feet of ice did not last in a day. She did not expect that Shui Hange and Qin Fangyi would completely break up as soon as they returned home. But killing Mama Sun was a big deal. Great start!

She didn't believe Shui Hange because he cherished her. Sun's mother was Qin Fangyi's confidant. If she made a mistake, she should be handed over to Qin Fangyi. Shui Hange's behavior was nothing more than an excuse to beat Qin Fangyi and make her feel a little embarrassed. Don't take things too far. The people below would only think that Shui Hangge was standing up for her, thus establishing her prestige invisibly, which was a good thing for a concubine who was airborne.

Shui Linglong sniffed and whispered: "Father, I will go back to the house to change my clothes first, and I will come back later to say hello to my mother."

Shui Hangge looked at the yellowed sleeves of her middle coat and frowned: "Forget it, you were frightened today. It's a good time to rest. I'll pay your respects to your mother tomorrow."

You are afraid that I will be too shabby in front of the nobles and lose the face of Shangshufu! Shui Linglong sneered in her heart, but her face was respectful: "Yes, thank you father for your consideration."

Shui Linglong walked to Lingxiang Courtyard according to the memory of her previous life. As soon as she entered the gate, she bumped into Mother Zhong. Mother Zhong said doubtfully: "Huh? Miss, are you back? My servants have just packed up and are ready to pick you up!" Have you paid your respects to the eldest lady?"

Shui Linglong said casually: "Oh, not yet. I accidentally let a dog bite my sleeve. My father asked me to go back tomorrow."

dog? Changlexuan has a dog? Mother Zhong became more and more confused. Shui Linglong patted her shoulder and said, "But the dog has been beaten to death by my father, so it's still a relief!"

Mama Zhong nodded dully, followed Shui Linglong through the hanging flower door, and entered the bedroom in the inner courtyard.

Currently, there are two first-class maids serving her in the inner courtyard: Hua Hong and Liu Lu, two second-class maids: Zhi Fan and Ye Mao, and the remaining four are third-class maids: A Si, A Ji, A Ru, Ah Chun.

The red flowers, green willows, lush branches and lush leaves all bowed to Shui Linglong in the inner room: "I have seen the eldest lady." Just now, in order to seek justice for the eldest lady, the master even killed Sun's mother, and several people felt that I can't help but feel a little afraid of this young lady whose biological mother is not even an aunt.

As the name suggests, people with red flowers and green willows are quite delicate and beautiful, while those with many branches and leaves are plain in appearance and slightly stout in body. There is indeed a difference between first-class and second-class people.

Shui Linglong straightened her bangs on her temples and said: "From now on, Mother Zhong will be responsible for managing money and personnel arrangements, Huahong and Liulu will be responsible for clothes and jewelry, and will also train the maids in the yard. Zhifan and Yemao will be responsible for the internal affairs. If you’re on night duty, it’s your turn.”

Shui Linglong was somewhat secretly surprised when she was able to sort out the division of labor among several people at once. How could she look like a wild girl from the mountains?

It happened to be lunch time, so Zhifan went to the dining room to get the food and came back. When Shui Linglong saw the so-called three dishes and one soup, a cold light flashed in her eyes, green vegetable and tofu soup, cold bean sprouts, and stir-fried potatoes. , pickled cucumbers.

 There is no meat!

There is no meat in the food at Shangshufu!

A sneer curled up at the corner of Shui Linglong's lips. Qin Fangyi was afraid that she had a grudge against Sun's mother. In that case, don't blame her for doing too much.

 She stood up, took out the slingshot she had recently made from cat tendon from the cabinet, and walked out of Reixiang Garden.

In Changle Xuan, Shui Lingxi lay in Qin Fangyi's arms, crying with tears streaming down her face: "Mother, are you really unable to find it back? That was a gift from His Highness the Crown Prince! What's the point of losing it?"

Out of so many parrots, this one is the most familiar with those four words. It’s so good to use them to scold Shui Linglong! A cheap girl who was born as a concubine is actually her sister. It makes her angry just thinking about it!

Qin Fangyi looked at her daughter, who was so beautiful even when she was crying, and said slowly: "All the birds have been found, except for this one. It must have flown out of the Shangshu Mansion."

"But it was a gift from His Highness the Crown Prince. I lost it. Will the Crown Prince think that I am not sincere enough towards him?"

"Silly boy, I asked you to please the prince in every possible way in the past, just because I was afraid that Shui Linglong would not hand over the jade pendant. I needed to do something about it. If you and the prince are in love, then the chance of success will naturally be much greater. But now, the jade pendant is with us. In your hands, this is a marriage granted by the emperor, and the prince cannot go back on it. "

When Shui Lingxi heard this, her crying gradually stopped. She lowered her head and smiled shyly. Her fair cheeks were covered with a layer of bright red, like the sunlight casting a crimson silhouette on the clean snow. How could the word "beautiful" be so good? ?

"Of course, I don't mean to tell you not to take the prince seriously from now on. After all, marrying into the prince's house is only the first step. Giving birth to an heir and ascending to the supreme throne is your ultimate goal. For this, you must I want to hold the prince's heart firmly in my hands! As for the parrot, I will ask your uncle to buy one exactly the same."

 At the end of the story, Qin Fangyi died of heartache. That kind of budgerigar was not common in Zhou Dynasty, and it was impossible to buy it without a thousand taels of silver! Counting those wasted flowers, she lost nearly three thousand taels of silver today! Plus a mother who has been with her for almost thirty years!

It’s so evil!

Even she didn't believe that Shui Linglong did it on purpose. How could a wild girl from the countryside be so capable? But if it wasn't intentional, why would she have made such a fuss in her yard on the first day she came back?

Qin Fangyi pressed her temples, and a flash of light flashed in her eyes: "I'm afraid I've been exposed to something unclean recently, and I have some bad luck. I have to go to the temple to burn incense."

"Madam, the master said there is no need to leave the door open for him tonight. He will rest in Aunt Zhou's yard." After Shui Lingxi left, Shiqing opened the curtain and came in, reporting in a low voice.

The master clearly said he would come over tonight!

Qin Fangyi frowned: "I know, lock it up."

"yes."

“Wait a minute!” Qin Fangyi played with the gold hairpin in her hand, her eyes darkened, “Starting from tomorrow, let her eat meat!”

The master is actually so angry with her for that little bitch, so she can't embarrass her too much for the time being.

 In the small kitchen of Lingxiangyuan, Mother Zhong and Shui Linglong were busy for a while.

Mama Zhong said with a smile: "I haven't made squab soup for a long time, and I don't know if I can do it well."

Shui Linglong smiled narrowly: "Mother Zhong, your craftsmanship is of course good. I love eating the most."

After saying this with a smile, Shui Linglong cut the bird clean, removed the hair and internal organs, and handed it to Mother Zhong.

 Mother Zhong put it into boiling water and boiled it for half a quarter of an hour, then picked it up and drained it.

 Soak the pickled cabbage and **** in water, wash them and cut them into pieces.

The tofu has also been soaked in clean water.

After doing this, the water in the jar was boiling. Mother Zhong put the pickled cabbage, **** and birds into it. When the water boiled again, she switched to medium heat and continued to simmer until the bird meat was cooked. Finally, she added the tofu and added Add a little salt to taste and the soup is done.

It is said that the effects of squab tofu soup are: strengthening the spleen and appetizing, clearing away heat and promoting fluid production. Shui Linglong thought, since they are also birds, this parrot should have similar effects.

After "saving" the parrot that had scolded her, Shui Linglong got up and went to the Fushou Yuan where the old lady lived. The old lady sent Mama Wang to pick her up. No matter what, she owed the old lady a thank you.

The old lady suffered from tuberculosis, which is an infectious disease. Therefore, Jade, Amber, and Mama Wang, who were serving the old lady nearby, all covered their mouths and noses with cloth towels.

Shui Linglong stood at the door of the master bedroom, waiting for the old lady's summons.

"Miss, your beloved slave has been brought to you. The old lady is taking medicine. It may take some time. The weather is freezing. Please go back and come back to pay your respects to the old lady another day." Jade, a maid with delicate features. , and truthfully conveyed the old lady’s intention.

 (End of this chapter)