Wei Shu

Finally home.

In front of the gate of Cheng Mansion, at the foot of the high bluestone steps, Mrs. Jiang slowly raised her head and looked at the black lacquer plaque hanging on the lintel in front.

The westerly wind was blowing, bringing a few scents of chrysanthemums from the depths of the alley, a corner of her sleeve was rolled up by the wind, caressing her fingers, the soft woven fabric slipped through her fingers like water, thin and cool.

She couldn't help feeling a little dazed.

Six years have passed, and the journey has been difficult. At this moment, the home she has always remembered is close in front of her eyes, but the word "Chengfu" on the plaque seems so strange, the mottled golden light and the oily paint color in the autumn sun flickering, blindingly dazzling.

She lowered her eyes slowly.

The soft moistness floating in the depths of the pupils quickly dried up in the cool wind.When she raised her head again, Fengli's face was already peaceful, with no emotion visible.

"We're home." Jiang said softly, and patted her daughter's hand beside her.

"Mother...Mother...Mother..." Cheng Yuejiao let out a vague murmur, and leaned closer to Mrs. Jiang, and immediately looked up at the Zhumenxiuhu in front of her, with a slightly dazed expression on her face.

Her childhood memories have long been blurred, and she has little impression of the Cheng family in Kyoto, and in her heart, her home is not the luxurious mansion in front of her, but the small courtyard in Zhending County.

She is familiar with every plant, tree, brick, and stone in the yard, and knows which corner has an ant nest, which tree has a bird's nest, and which small garden in the garden will bloom beautiful flowers.

But here, it's so big and empty, it makes people panic for no reason.

She couldn't help but cuddled up to Jiang's side again, her lacquer-like eyes were wide open, and there was a trace of vigilance hidden in those still ignorant eyes that she hadn't even noticed.

In Jinxiu Hall, Mrs. Feng's fingers that turn the rosary are clenched tightly, and the beads are huddled together in her wrinkled palm, just like her frown.

"Second's wife is back? Seriously?" She fixed her eyes on Mrs. Cai, who was passing the message, with an extremely focused expression, as if she wanted to find the answer she wanted from the other's face.

Mrs. Cai has served her by her side for half her life, so she knew what she was thinking, so she didn't dare to raise her head at this time, but tried her best to suppress the shock in her heart, and whispered:

"It's back, Lao An. The old slave just went to the front to see it personally, and the threshold is being demolished outside right now."

"Remove the threshold?" Old Madam Feng's voice rose sharply, and a bright light flashed across her eyes: "Why, the two of them came back in a cart?"

Mrs. Cai was also shocked by what she saw before, she was still surprised when she spoke, she smacked her lips and said:
"It's true what Old An said. The second lady and the third girl came back in a carriage. Frightening, those two tall horses are so majestic. They can't be bought without two or thirty taels of silver. And those servants are all too. He is white, fat and powerful, and his clothes are brighter than that of the old slave.

Then there is the second lady and the third girl, the old slave is dazzled by the silk and satin all over her body, the pearl hairpin on the hair, the emerald head with golden flowers, and the agate strings are really... very luxurious . "

She clicked her tongue repeatedly and gestured to the ground as she spoke, the envy on her face was almost beyond words.

Mrs. Jiang has been away for many years, and Mrs. Cai almost forgot how the second lady used to be. Seeing you now, she seemed to have returned to the days when Mrs. Jiang was in charge of the family, and she didn't know how it felt for a while.

Mrs. Feng listened quietly, her brows were getting tighter and tighter, and her complexion was a little unsightly.

She never liked this second daughter-in-law.

Even though the Jiang family paid for this big house, and the Jiang family would have to subsidize the use of the house, she still felt that her Cheng family was a scholarly family, and no matter how rich the merchants were, they were not worthy of it. She is from the Cheng family.

The origin is really too low.

In the early years, Mrs. Feng met Cheng Wei with a young lady from a big gentry family.Only that family thought Cheng's family was extremely poor, and they didn't show good looks several times, so old lady Feng calmed down.

It was indeed difficult at that time, the Cheng family's ancestral property was almost sold out, but the Jiang family had a coincidence, and the old lady put aside her family opinion and agreed to the marriage.

Thinking about it now, she was too hasty at the beginning, and every time she thought about it, she regretted it.

If she had known that her two sons were so good at studying and had such a bright future, she would never let a merchant girl in, especially after entering the capital, she realized that having a daughter-in-law like Jiang was really not a good thing .

One, Jiang's shrewdness is too shrewd, and the strict management of the family caused Xifu to complain frequently, and the family talked about two different things; second, when going out to socialize, Jiang's background would always become the subject of other people's talk, which was exhausting. Old lady Feng felt ashamed.

After careful calculation, the years when the old lady lived the most comfortably in Beijing were the years when the eldest daughter-in-law, Mrs. Wang, was in charge of the family.

At that time, Mrs. Feng secretly hoped that it would be best for Mrs. Jiang never to come back after leaving.It was also because of this that when she heard that Jiang's mother and daughter were missing, the old lady felt a little satisfied.

The mother and daughter have been lost for almost two months. Although people are always looking for them, and news from the Jiang family often comes in, the old lady is not stupid. The mother and daughter must have encountered an accident, and they might have died outside.

It is not safe to live outside Beijing now, and the banditry on the two roads in Hebei Province has not been calmed down for a long time, maybe they will meet in these two places, those bandits are desperate, what can't they do?

But Mrs. Feng never expected that Jiang, who had been missing for many days, not only returned in good condition, but also not in the miserable appearance of a first-class exile, but with chariots and horses, and servants like clouds. It's so big, I'm afraid it's not much worse than those noble families.

What exactly is going on?

Could it be that the second daughter-in-law didn't get lost, but came back after traveling around the mountains and rivers?But why didn't she send a letter home?Doesn't she know that both her natal family and her husband's family are looking for her?Is she playing crazy?

Thinking of this, Old Madam Feng's complexion became even more gloomy, and anger was already welling up in her eyes.

At this moment, she was not the only one who was frightened and angry. As soon as the news of the second wife's return from the East Mansion came out, the entire Cheng Mansion was in an uproar, and the little Feng's family in the West Mansion couldn't sit still.

She worshiped the statue of Sanqing every day, praying to her grandfather to bless the Jiang mother and daughter who died outside.

"Did you see it clearly? Is it true that people came back alive?" When Leshan lived in Xici, Huashi stared at a pair of small eyes, and looked at his husband Cheng Bang in disbelief.

Cheng Bang was lazily lying on the couch, he didn't know whether he was tired or just woke up, two swollen eyes squeezed out tears, covered his mouth with his hands and yawned, saying:

"You don't know about Lao Fu's eyes, they are so sharp, you can't be mistaken. Her mother and daughter are indeed back intact."