Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 91 Aunt Zhao holds a banquet

Li Weijian has had some leisure time recently. He only went out a few times in ten days.

The water company has become official, and the stock exchange is in full swing. In addition to the daily visits to the teacher Yan Xiyao, I also went to find King Zhongyong. Another time I went to Xiangshan, took a closer look at the other courtyard, and made a decision on the spot. , the deed was passed the next day.

Yuyuan occupies a vast area, and there are few people to take care of it. Li Weijian met the Ding family and saw that the Ding family was doing their duty, so he sent the family to Yuyuan.

Later, Jia Yun was ordered to go to the mule and horse market to hire a few rough servants, maids, and servants, and the general was able to maintain daily cleaning duties.

But it was said that early that morning, the little girl Tanchun was wearing a Taoist robe, and the body of a two-foot short sword in her hand was walking with the sword. She walked like a swimming dragon, and the sword came out like a chopping sword.After using half a set of Sanqing Sword, Tanchun panted slightly, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

The servant hurriedly handed over the handkerchief, and Tanchun was secretly proud. Brother Jian had praised her earlier in the morning, saying that she was agile and a good candidate for practicing swordsmanship.

She wiped it randomly and put the dagger on her back to observe the field.But the sound of shivering could be heard constantly. Li Weijian and Xiu Ying were fighting around, and after a few moves, Li Weijian's wooden sword suddenly opened and stabbed Xiu Ying straight in front of the door.

Xiu Ying was distracted for some reason and hurriedly dodged with a "Hey!"Fortunately, Li Weijian had been practicing for a long time, and he always had some skills in making moves. Seeing that Xiu Ying was unable to avoid her, he quickly raised his knife and stabbed Xiu Ying's scalp into the empty space.

Tan Chun didn't know why, he clasped his hands and jumped and said, "Okay, fourth brother Jian has won!"

Li Weijian put away the knife and smiled, then came over and gave Tan Chun a few words of advice before urging Tan Chun to return.Watching Tanchun come out of the small courtyard, Li Weijian secretly thought to himself that the three girls are really tough. Counting that it has been more than [-] days now, and the days have not passed, even if it rains, he will send a letter to inform him. Son, he said he would practice on his own in Bao Xia.

Turning around, Li Weijian threw away the wooden knife, reached out and rubbed Xiu Ying's little head: "What are you thinking about? It's a good thing I avoided it, otherwise my appearance would have been ruined."

Xiu Ying had done something wrong, she lowered her head and murmured nothing.But she was thinking that her menstrual period was over and it was finally her turn to be on night watch again.And because he and Qingwen changed shifts, it was her shift for six consecutive days.

Li Weijian smiled secretly in his heart. He knew what Xiu Ying was thinking, but he didn't point it out at the moment. He went into the main room to clean up without mentioning it.

After midnight, Li Weijian had just had breakfast. Seeing the clouds outside, it looked like it was going to rain again, so he thought that he would stay at home and relax for the day.

Someone called the door outside, and Hongyu went to greet her. She turned around and shouted, "Fourth Master, Miss Bao is here."

Baochai is here?Li Weijian pondered in his mind, thinking that since Baochai got the idea from him, he has not visited her for quite some time.And we bumped into each other on a weekday. Although Baochai talked and smiled brightly and called out "Fourth Brother Jian" to make love, there was a cold resistance inside.

After all, this is Baochai's first visit in twenty days.He was thinking about welcoming the general out, and then he saw Baochai walking in with several maids smiling.

"Why are you here, Sister Xue?" Li Weijian smiled and held his hands in greeting.

Baochai hurriedly bowed down and said with a smile: "Coincidentally, the Nanhuo store at home cashed it out. After taking inventory, there was a lot left in the warehouse, so I thought of giving some to my brothers and sisters."

As he spoke, Baochai nodded to Ying'er beside him, and Ying'er stepped forward with the basket and lifted the silk covering it.

Li Weijian glanced at it and said with slight surprise: "Hey, bear paw, this is a good thing."

Baochai took the basket and said, "I don't know how many times I've bothered Fourth Brother Jian with the waxed bear paws. I don't know why I'll have to worry about it tomorrow, so I'll heat up the stove so that Brother Jian won't have to worry about it tomorrow." Mine is not.”

"Haha, sister Xue is joking."

Baochai handed the basket over, and Hongyu quickly stepped forward to take it.Li Weijian asked: "Sister Xue, come in and sit for a while?"

Baochai smiled and shook his head: "No, I still have a lot of things to send today. Fourth brother Jian is busy. I'm going back."

"Then I'll send Sister Xue off."

"Fourth Brother Jian, stay."

Li Weijian sent Baochai to the door, turned around and returned to the main room in deep thought.The pair of waxed bear paws were a good thing, but Li Weijian was thinking about other things.

Baochai had just mentioned that the Nanhuo store in Zhongnan had cashed in, and was taking inventory. He was afraid that after the Xue family had lost its foundation as an imperial merchant, they would do what a strong man would do, and simply close some poorly managed shops and cash them out, in order to stop their losses. , leaving only those shops that can still make money.

This time, the Xue family's business has shrunk, and I'm afraid they will no longer be able to compare with the other three families.Then I thought about it, even if they had the foundation of imperial business, the Xue family was just making up the numbers. How could the Jia, Wang, and Shi families ever look down on the Xue family?
Hongyu was an ironer. Seeing that Li Weijian was thoughtful, she quietly went to do some shopping and came back and said: "Fourth Master, Lixiangyuan sent things around early in the morning. I gave the old lady a pair of vintage vintage coins." I gave ginseng, blood swallows to my wife and eldest wife, and the girls all have bird's nests, and I think they are going to Aunt Zhao's courtyard now."

Qingwen on the side heard this, stopped holding the feather duster in her hand and said, "Poor Miss Bao, with such a family background."

Hongyu snorted and laughed.

Qingwen frowned slightly and said, "Why are you laughing?"

Hongyu said: "No matter what, she is also a girl, isn't she much better than us as maids?"

Qingwen thought so and said nothing else.

However, Li Weijian took a closer look at Hongyu and saw a smile on the girl's face, with a hint of amusement in her eyes.He secretly thought to himself that Hongyu was indeed better at reading people than Qingwen. Now he was afraid that Baochai was spreading money around to win people's hearts, right?
Perhaps now he has seen through Qingwen's bluff, but is actually easier to fool than anyone else?
Hongyu suddenly turned her head and caught a glimpse of Li Weijian looking at her playfully. She was slightly surprised, and then said angrily: "Fourth Master~"

Qingwen glanced over with surprise and saw Li Weijian shaking his head and smiling, then picked up the tea cup and drank slowly.The feather duster in Qingwen's hand suddenly made a tinkling sound, and she thought in her heart that Hongyu's little hoof was seducing Fourth Master again.

................................................

Aunt Zhao’s courtyard.

The box was opened, revealing two round-shaped yellow swallows inside (Note [-]). Aunt Zhao was overjoyed and said from ear to ear, "Hey, what are you talking about?"

Ying'er felt disgusted in her heart and said with a smile on her face: "Auntie, please accept it. This is the inventory that our girl found when sorting out the warehouse. We may not have it in the future. Auntie is busy, so I will go back first."

"Hey, little magpie, hurry up and send it off for me."

The maid Xiao Que hurriedly sent the Ying'er and her entourage out of Aunt Zhao's courtyard.Baochai has now arrived in Mrs. Wang's room, following Aunt Xue and Mrs. Wang talking.

Speaking of it, Aunt Zhao was just a concubine, not a serious elder, because the only people who came to deliver things were Ying'er and other maids.In the room, Aunt Zhao looked repeatedly at the two round yellow swallows. Suddenly her face was startled. She reached out to greet the maid Xiao Jixiang'er, and said in a low voice: "Go and have a look. Aunt Zhou and the others are all here." What did you collect?"

Little Ji Xiang'er agreed, and passed by Little Que when he went out, leaving Aunt Zhao alone in the room, deep in thought.

When she was young, she was a standout among the maids. After several years of hard work, she finally found an opportunity for Mrs. Wang to have a baby, and then she was taken into the house by Jia Zheng.

By the time Mrs. Wang regained her composure, Aunt Zhao had already swollen her belly.At this point, Mrs. Wang had no choice but to hold her nose and admit it, and pretending to be generous, she even identified Aunt Zhou as well.

I wanted to pull one and beat the other, but it happened that Aunt Zhou was a gourd with a sawed-off mouth. She was usually cautious and did not get involved in anything, so Mrs. Wang had no choice but to teach Aunt Zhao a lesson.

However, Aunt Zhao is a person who cares about food but not fights, so she will cause trouble every now and then.

But in Aunt Zhao's mind, she had another idea - if the wife sets the rules, she will follow them, and it's just a matter of flesh and blood. She has gained the master's favor, and then she will have to fight for what should be fought in the house.

With the master doting on you and your wife, you can't be too harsh on your wife, right?Even though it was a loss of face, there was always some gain in making trouble from time to time.As far as Aunt Zhao is concerned, how can face be of any real benefit?

This time the Xue family sent bird's nests to compare with what others had received, so as to know whether the Xue family sent her away with junk goods.

After a long while, little Jixiang'er returned quickly and whispered as he came closer: "Auntie, I asked about it. Several girls are Huang Yan, as are the two grandmothers and Grandma Rong from Dongfu. The wife and the eldest wife are Huang Yan." Blood Swallow, the old lady gave me a pair of ginseng."

Aunt Zhao thought about it for a while, then suddenly frowned and asked, "Are some of the girls also giving you round cups?"

"This--" Little Ji Xiang'er didn't dare to lie and said, "--I went to the third girl's place and took a look. It seemed to be a Yanzhan."

Aunt Zhao's eyebrows suddenly stood up: "Okay, the Xue family really doesn't like me, so they brought some worthless junk to fool me!"

Mrs. Wang had just established the rules a few days ago, and Aunt Zhao did not dare to say anything. She only cursed in a low voice for a while in her room, and then sent Xiao Que to take the bird's nest out of the kitchen and stew it.

Thinking that the third girl had a pair of swallow lamps there, Aunt Zhao took her thoughts and led little Ji Xiang'er out of the courtyard, looking for the three little summers next to Li Wan's courtyard.

When I arrived at Dehuo Xia Li, I saw San Chun chatting and working as a female celebrity.Li Wan has now become the daughter-in-law of the princess. The old lady had said earlier that she wanted to find a suitable female husband, but she couldn't find one now, so Sanchun started to herd some sheep.

When he caught a glimpse of Aunt Zhao, Tanchun's face changed, he stood up and said, "Why is Aunt Zhao here?"

Aunt Zhao saw that there was only three springs in Bao Xia, so she no longer had any scruples about what she said, and said with a smile: "After all, it crawled out of my intestines, so you don't allow me to come and see you?"

"Auntie, please sit down." Tan Chun had a sullen face, sighed secretly, clicked on the waiter's book and said, "Go and get the bird's nest."

Aunt Zhao just pretended not to hear, and when the servant brought the bird's nest with a sullen face, she put it aside first, and then said with a smile: "Is it difficult for you to still think about me, your biological mother, and to take it away again?" I’m trying to please my wife.”

"Auntie—"

Aunt Zhao said, "Tanchun, I'm not here for this bird's nest."

Tan Chun frowned, sat down with her and asked, "Auntie, do you have anything else to do?"

Aunt Zhao said: "Isn't it because of your incompetent brother? Huan'er became enlightened in the twelfth lunar month. Now he doesn't know many Chinese characters, but he only knows how to play mischief in that private school. If we keep hanging out like this, in the future How to establish a family?"

This is reasonable. Tan Chun nodded and said, "Auntie has to take care of brother Huan's studies. Please note——"

"I know, I know." Aunt Zhao interrupted impatiently: "I have been thinking about it over and over in the past few days. I am afraid that your brother will not be able to find a career, so it is better to make plans again."

"What are your plans, aunt?"

Aunt Zhao raised her eyebrows, the drama is coming!Then he saw him approaching and said, "I heard that you go to Brother Jian's yard to play mischief every morning these days?"

Tan Chun shook his head: "Where are you being naughty? I am learning swordsmanship from Fourth Brother Jian."

"Aren't they all the same? What kind of swordsmanship does the girl learn?" After a pause, she added: "Speaking of which, how old is Brother Jian? He was just a young scholar when he came here, and he has only been here for two months. Such a big battle has come up in this situation! I was thinking, maybe this practical study is another way?
You Huan'er is impatient with those who say that in poetry, why not follow Brother Jian and learn the practical knowledge? "

After Tanchun heard this, he thought about it seriously for a while, nodded and said, "Auntie's words make sense, but now that Fourth Brother Jian is busy with things outside, and he still has to study, I'm afraid he won't have time to teach Brother Huan, right?"

Seeing the drama, Aunt Zhao quickly said: "You don't need to worry about it. I thought I would have time to have a banquet today to entertain Brother Jian. I didn't ask for anything else. I just wanted to mention a few things and make a list of what I wanted to read. The books are also good. But I have only met Brother Jian a few times, and we are really not familiar with each other... If not, can you invite Brother Jian for me?"

Tanchun's words of rejection came to his lips, but after thinking about it over and over again, he cared about family ties and didn't say it out loud.After hesitating for a long time, Aunt Zhao said impatiently: "It's okay, at least give me a word."

Tan Chun took a deep breath, nodded and said, "Then I'll invite fourth brother Jian back... Auntie, what I'm saying is that it's just for brother Huan's studies, and we can't cause any more trouble."

"As you said, when did you make trouble out of nothing?" Aunt Zhao stood up with a smile: "It's settled, then I'll go back and make arrangements first. Brother Jian is an honored guest now, so I can't be brief."

While she was talking, Aunt Zhao turned around and left with her maid Xiao Jixiang'er, leaving Tanchun frowning and worried.

But no matter how uneasy he felt, he always agreed to the matter, and Tanchun had no choice but to take the maid to find Li Weijian.

At half past midnight, Tanchun gathered his thoughts and went to the small courtyard in the northeast.

The waiter called the door, and Li Weijian welcomed Tanchun in in surprise. After sitting down, he asked, "Why are third sisters here at this time? Is there something wrong?"

Tan Chun mumbled and said, "Fourth Brother Jian, my aunt saw that Brother Huan could not read the Four Books and Five Classics, so she wanted him to transfer to Practical Studies. Because there was a banquet in the afternoon, she wanted to invite Fourth Brother Jian to come over and ask for advice."

Li Weijian secretly wondered, does Aunt Zhao still have such thoughts?

　Note [-]: In terms of color, bird's nests are divided into white and yellow, and in terms of shape, they can be divided into bird's nests, round ones, and triangular ones.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)