First Concubine

Chapter 72 The first kiss was stolen (3)

There was a thunder in the sky, and then it began to rain heavily. Shui Linglong was trying on a newly made pink bellyband embroidered with white lotus in front of the bronze mirror. The style was good, but the color was too light. She took it off and changed into a more formal one. The red plain style is really good-looking! A confident and narcissistic smile appeared on her face, then she put on her coat and called Zhifan Chuanshan.

Breakfast consisted of a plate of braised donkey meat, a bowl of secret milk wine, and a plate of three-shredded cold noodles with some gluten. The more Shui Linglong ate, the more she felt that she was half Mobei. No wonder her mother never let her learn "Female Women". He also did not tell her the three obediences and the four virtues. Mobei and Kashgar Qing were still matriarchal clans hundreds of years ago, and women had a very high status. Even if men now take charge, there are still polyandrous families in some remote areas.

If the time could be turned back a few hundred years, she would have married Zhuge Yu and had several male concubines, which would make him angry to death! Ha ha…

Zhi Fan and Ye Mao looked at each other in confusion. Why was the eldest lady smiling so hard?

Not long after, Mother Zhong received this month's share of money from the warehouse, and brought back news - Shui Minyu went to Xishan College early in the morning. I heard that before she woke up, she was directly taken out of bed by a secret guard. Pick it up and throw it into the carriage.

Shui Linglong said nothing and drank the last sip of milk wine.

After eating full, Shui Linglong asked Zhifan and Ye Mao to take away the remaining food, while she left Mother Zhong to ask: "Mother Zhong, you are the wet nurse my mother invited back. Did my mother tell you? What happened when she was a child?"

Mrs. Zhong is very honest and not very thoughtful. She didn’t understand the meaning of Shui Linglong’s words for a moment, so she only answered according to her own understanding: “No, Madam doesn’t like to mention the past. She was probably kicked out of the house by her parents because she was heartbroken. ”

have to! The only clue is broken...

Hushui Linglong held her forehead, went to the clean room to wash up, and then headed to Fushouyuan.

Looking at Shui Linglong's elegant back like the wind, Mother Zhong's eyes dimmed little by little. Her daughter died as soon as she was born. For so many years, she has always regarded the eldest daughter as her biological daughter, but since she was a child After the young lady got seriously ill, she seemed to have changed. She was far away from her. Could it be that the eldest lady... disliked her for being old?

As soon as Zhifan entered the house after breakfast, he saw Mother Zhong crying in front of the door. Her heart trembled slightly and asked: "Mother Zhong, why are you crying?"

 Mother Zhong wiped her tears quickly, stood up and walked to the back room: "The pepper water got into my eyes, I'm going to wash them."

Zhi Fan pursed his lips, she was just a wet nurse and not a serious master, so there was no need to take her too seriously.

It rained heavily today. The old lady suffered from rheumatism and was in so much pain that she couldn't get out of bed. The Shangshu Mansion was located on a low ground and the area to the west for the family to have children was flooded. Mother Wang went to investigate the details and came to the conclusion: If we don't When the weather is fine, there is no way to live in that place. There are fifty people living in the house, so it is quite troublesome to settle them down.

 The old lady has a headache!

 “Old madam, the eldest lady is here.”

The old lady's eyes trembled, and her tone was normal: "Let her in."

Shui Linglong entered the room and saw the old lady's withered face. She calmed down, walked to the old lady's bed with a smile and sat on the couch: "Grandma."

 The old lady looked at Shui Linglong and asked in a deep voice, "Why didn't Bingbing come back with you?"

Shui Linglong smiled lightly and said calmly: "Oh, I took Bingbing to thank Mrs. Yao yesterday. Thank you for asking the Queen for an imperial edict. Unexpectedly, the third princess and Bingbing hit it off and insisted on keeping Bingbing in the house. I stayed here for a while, but Bingbing didn’t want to disobey the third princess’s will, so she stayed.”

The old lady thought that Mrs. Yao was willing to come forward to help because Shui Linglong had saved the prince. As for the marriage, Shui Linglong was not ready to tell the old lady for the time being.

"That's it..." The old lady's eyes flashed, "The third princess thinks Bingbing is Bingbing's blessing, and it's okay to stay in the Yao Mansion. But I've only seen her once since Bingbing was born, and I really miss her so much. When the rain stops, go to Yao Mansion and bring Bingbing back."

Shui Linglong smiled sweetly and said, "I know, grandma." Looking at the old lady's helpless look, she asked, "What's wrong with grandma?"

 The old lady rubbed her legs: "My old problem is rheumatism. This year, for some reason, there was a lot of rain."

Shui Linglong blinked her bright eyes and said, "Grandma, you can try drinking some rice wine every day to relieve rheumatism pain."

 The old lady looked at Shui Linglong suspiciously, "Isn't it bad for women to drink alcohol?"

Shui Linglong said with a pleasant smile: "Don't drink too much. Take a small cup each after lunch and dinner. Think of it as medicine."

Shui Linglong can even cure tuberculosis. I think this method must have some basis. The old lady nodded, and Mother Wang smiled and said: "I will take note of it!"

The old lady glanced at her, took out a key from the bedside table, and said: "I have difficulty moving these days. You should worry more about the affairs in the house. Prepare Bingbing's dowry carefully. Don't give it any more than you originally planned. Mr. Lingxi, this is the key to the warehouse."

Shui Linglong took it with both hands: "I will make a list for you to review later. If you think it is feasible, I will order someone to pack it."

 There was a smile in the old lady's eyes: "You are still thoughtful."

Shui Linglong had long been accustomed to the old lady’s probing from time to time. Her expression remained unchanged and she said, “I heard people talking about Xiyuan being flooded along the way. I wonder how grandma plans to deal with it?”

The old lady sighed slowly and lost her smile: "I am worried about this matter. There are many children in my family. If I want to move... there is no suitable place for them. There is a small courtyard in the mansion, but that They are all places where the masters live..."

Shui Linglong took over the conversation: "There are not enough small villas. Even if grandma agrees to let them live temporarily, they can't accommodate them. Besides, if people are used to living in good places, and then move back to the original poor house, there will be some gap in their hearts, which is easy to breed. resentment."

The old lady nodded thoughtfully: "Who says it's not the case? In your opinion, what should it be?"

Shui Linglong said calmly: "We have more than a dozen villages in the suburbs of the city and Tong County, some of which are rented to local farmers, and some of which are managed by our own people. The ones rented to farmers are acceptable, and we can receive a sum of money every year. We can allocate some of the young and strong family members to participate in spring plowing in the village, and the rest can, um, clean up two spacious yards. Let them squeeze in, but the good furnishings must be removed early. "

The old lady asked: "Will there not be enough manpower in the house?"

Shui Linglong smiled: "Grandma, we have enough people in our house, and there are quite a few people who occupy their positions and do nothing for nothing. In fact, I am still thinking that if those people who go to farm in the village are willing, we can do it at a slightly lower price. The fields are rented to them at market prices, and they become their own owners, so they work harder. For the Shangshufu, they earn less from rent, but they don’t have to bear the risk of losing money due to natural disasters. "

The old lady was a little tempted: "It sounds like a good idea. Go ahead and do it."

"Yes." Shui Linglong stood up, and the old lady stopped her again, "Is your father busy recently?" He hadn't come to say hello for several days...

A glimmer of indistinguishable meaning flashed across Shui Linglong's eyes, and she said in the usual tone: "The court is busy discussing the matter of the South Water and the West Water, so my father probably doesn't have time to come to the inner house!"

The old lady pinched her eyebrows with her **** and said tentatively: "By the way, Prince Zhenbei won the championship in the medical competition this time. Do we have to send some congratulatory gifts? It seems that I haven't heard that Prince Zhuge came to see you these days. Are you... having a conflict? "

Didn’t you make a big mistake and offend Zhenbei Prince’s Mansion? The gratitude that was once fostered by the old lady's heartfelt post-marriage admonitions has now been worn away by the old lady's selfish actions again and again. Shui Linglong smiled calmly: "The Prince of Zhenbei asked for a marriage decree from Lord Long Live. The marriage between Prince Zhuge and me is probably..."

 No chance? The old lady's heart tugged hard: "When you offered Bingbing to marry the prince, didn't you say you don't have to offend Zhenbei Palace?"

Shui Linglong held back her smile: "Yes, if they break off the engagement first, of course we won't offend them."

　　No, she thought that she could continue the marriage without being offended... The old lady suddenly felt dizzy and leaned weakly on the soft pillow.

Shui Linglong saw that it was enough to make the old lady angry: "Grandma, don't worry too much. Fortunately, Crown Prince Zhuge's sister is still willing to say a few words to me. If I look for more opportunities to visit her, maybe Crown Prince Zhuge and I There is still hope for the marriage, but I have nothing to do with the Yao family, so I’m embarrassed to keep running there!”

The old lady's eyes moved from side to side, and she smiled kindly: "Then let Bingbing live peacefully in Yao Mansion for as long as you like. You are my cousin, so it is natural for you to treat Bingbing."

Shui Linglong pursed her lips and said, "Yes, grandma."

 The old lady closed her eyes tiredly: "Okay, you go and do your work, and I'll take a nap."

Shui Linglong left the Fushou Yuan and immediately started working on the affairs of Xiyuan. She asked Mama Du to gather all the children from the family and gave them two options: first, they would be slaves in the house for life and their salary would remain the same; second, when they arrived, In the village, exposed to the sun and rain, he worked hard to gain the opportunity to escape from slavery and enjoy the privilege of leasing land at low prices.

Those who are greedy for comfort naturally choose to stay in the mansion, about half of them, and most of them are servants with higher status. The other half took their families and went to various villages. Most of them were people who did menial work on weekdays.

 Liu Lu’s family chose to stay in the house.

After Shui Linglong completed the corresponding registration, Manager Liu arranged for a carriage to take the people to the village, while Shui Linglong went to the warehouse and began to count Bingbing's dowry.

Mama Du led people to clean up two secluded courtyards and let the servants live in them. At first, everyone laughed at those who went to Zhuangzi to endure hardships as fools. Later, when they realized that there were fewer people and more lives, they gradually stopped laughing.

"Since the Zhao Qing family left, there are only three elders left in this washing room: me, Mrs. Ma and Mrs. Chun. The rest are all maids who have just bought into the house. They don't know anything! They can't do anything at all!" Mrs. Wu said. Picking his teeth, he complained.

Madam Hu said sarcastically: "Isn't that right? Two cooks left in the dining room. When the kitchen is too busy, I have to go and help myself. It's really tiring for my old back!"

Mrs. Luo thumped her shoulders: "Why don't you just start now? My hands are so weak when chopping firewood!" In the past, I had free time to be lazy every three days. Now the eldest lady has set tasks for each department, and how many must be completed every day, otherwise She was not allowed to go back to her room to rest. In fact, Mrs. Luo didn't think it was a lot of work, but she was used to being lazy so she didn't like to move anymore.

Mrs. Wu spat and said intentionally or unintentionally: "We were not so tired in the past when Madam was in charge."

Liu Lu Niang heartily echoed: "Isn't that right? Oh my... you are such a death-seeking hoof! I'll beat you to death..."

Just as Liu Lv Niang was about to turn around to see who had stepped on her, she realized that the person who had stepped on her was her daughter. She glanced at her daughter and said, "You don't have eyes for walking!"

Liu Lu pulled her mother into the house, closed the door and window and whispered: "Mom! You must not make noises with Mrs. Wu and the others! The old lady is not feeling well, and she has left the matter to the eldest lady to take full responsibility. If there is really going to be trouble, Get up and hit the eldest lady in the face, we can’t offend anyone!”

Liu Lu Niang poked her forehead disapprovingly: "You, you! You have been harmed by the eldest lady like this and you still speak for her? What on earth did you do wrong? Do you think she had to give you to the eldest young master? At first glance, the young master is a short-lived man. How good the prince is! I took a peek at the second door that day, and my God, the prince is so handsome. Your mother was very moved when I saw him!"

Liu Lu is most annoyed when her mother brings up the topic of marrying Zhuge Yu: "Okay, mother, stop talking! The prince is born with a precious life, and a small fish like me can't afford it!"

"Why can't you reach such a high level?" Liu Lvniang slapped her daughter's hand, "Your appearance makes you stand out in the entire Shangshu Mansion. The prince has never seen you, so he will naturally like you when he does. It's a pity that the eldest lady She was so narrow-minded and jealous of your beauty that she gave you away. I didn’t know what she was thinking. Wasn’t she just afraid that you would steal the prince’s heart? Hmph! "

Liu Lu did not dare to tell her mother the truth. If her mother knew that she was to blame for everything, she would definitely beat her to death! Liu Lu lowered her eyelids in embarrassment: "Mom, those things are in the past, let's not mention it again. Anyway, I will be very respectful to you and dad, and I will work hard to save money for my brother."

"Bah! How much money can a maid save? One month's money is not enough for your brother to treat his friends to a meal! Your brother is good at his homework, and my mother has no intention of letting him become a servant in the house. She has to support his education even if he sells iron. If he becomes a scholar, I will be a scholar!" Finally, Liu Lvniang said with great joy!

 Good homework...a scholar...then who was the boy she saw at the door of the brothel a few days ago?

 (End of this chapter)