The lucky girl in the village has a good way of making money.

Chapter 540: Luo Family (Two Chapters in One)

As soon as Luo Qianqian entered the ancestral hall, Mrs. Luo San in the main courtyard knew about it. She immediately became angry and rushed to Rong'an Hall in a hurry.

But she was stopped at the door by Xuehu, the head maid of Rong'an Hall. "Madam, please go back first. The old lady is a little tired and doesn't want to see anyone."

"I must see the old lady!" Mrs. Luo San stretched out her hand and tried to push Xue Hu away.

Xue Hu naturally refused to give in, "Third Madam, please don't embarrass me. The old lady is really tired and is resting now."

Mrs. Luo San was so furious that she raised her hand to slap Xue Hu.

At this time, a majestic voice sounded, "Stop!"

When Mrs. Luo San took a look, she saw Old Madam Luo coming out supported by her maid. Her expression changed immediately and she cried and begged for mercy from the old lady.

"Old Madam, I don't know what Qianqian did wrong to make you angry. Please don't let this anger hurt your body. Your daughter-in-law will take Qianqian back and teach her a lesson. What do you think?"

Madam Luo frowned slightly, "As the mistress in charge of household affairs, how can you yell like that? Qianqian has really been spoiled by you. The marriage is about to be arranged. If you don't take good care of her temper, she will definitely cause a big disaster!"

Mrs. Luo San curled her lips, feeling very aggrieved, but still couldn't help but plead for her daughter, "Old Madam, it's very cold in early spring. Qianqian is a little girl, how can she stand kneeling in the ancestral hall? Please forgive her, or let her copy Buddhist scriptures or reflect on her mistakes behind closed doors!"

"You can go back. It's two hours as agreed!" Mrs. Luo said this and turned around and went into the house.

Mrs. Luo San gritted her teeth, stomped her feet, and had no choice but to leave Rong'an Hall.

After leaving Rong'an Hall, Mrs. Luo San immediately asked someone to call her daughter's maid to ask what happened today.

The maid then told her every detail of what happened when she went out today.

Mrs. Luo San frowned when she heard this. "The old lady's relatives from her mother's side? I've been married for so many years, and I've never heard of any close blood relatives from the old lady's mother's side."

Madam Wang at the side continued, "Probably not. I heard Madam Zhao, who is beside the Madam, mention this before. The Madam is the only daughter in the family. Her parents died the same year our Grandfather died. Over the years, I have never seen the Madam interact with anyone from her natal family."

Mrs. Luo San frowned, "How come our master has just been transferred back to the capital and some relatives have come to visit us? I don't know where these poor relatives came from, are they doing business? Do they want our Luo family to take care of them?"

"After all, how can business in the capital be so easy to do?"

Madam Luo San was disdainful. "Old Madam, you are old and you are already nostalgic. You want to get involved with all kinds of people. Don't bring trouble to our master's reputation."

"No, I have to tell the master about this. Madam Wang, ask your husband to go to Changxing Street and ask around."

Madam Wang went there as she was told, but in the evening, she brought back news, "Madam, I heard that the shop hasn't opened yet. I only heard that there are many female workers coming in and out, and they are also buying cloth and cotton from the cloth shop next door. I guess it should be a ready-made clothing shop.

But I didn’t find out where the girl lived or who she was, so I asked my wife to keep an eye on her.”

Mrs. Luo San heard this and said, "Isn't it opening on the 16th? The old lady has also asked people to show their support, right? Ask your husband to keep a close eye on it, don't let the old lady be deceived by others, otherwise it will damage the reputation of our Luo family."

Seeing that Zhou Ge'er's marriage was about to be decided, she would not allow any defect in the Luo family's reputation to affect Zhou Ge'er's marriage at this critical juncture.

When Master Luo San, Luo Fu, came home from the yamen, Mrs. Luo San told her husband about this matter, "I tell you, at your age, isn't it good for you to enjoy your leisure time? You have to go out every two or three days. The last time you went out, you scared the horse and almost had an accident. If anything happens, these three years of mourning will have a great impact on Master's official career."

I was finally transferred back to the capital from the countryside. If I have to observe three years of mourning right away, what good future will I have after three years?

Luo Fu frowned immediately and glanced at her. "My mother raised me with great difficulty. She should enjoy her old age. How can she not go out? As a daughter-in-law, you don't take good care of your mother-in-law, but always say this and that behind her back. Don't forget that the good marriage of Zhou Ge'er that you dreamed of was also arranged by your mother.

If my mother had not been so close to the old lady of Duke Yiguo's mansion, how could this marriage be so easy for me, a lowly fifth-rank official?"

He already had a lot of worries in the yamen every day, and he didn't expect that he would have to worry about things when he came back. The women who stayed in the inner house all day were ignorant. What did they know?
If the old lady had not been friends with the old lady of Duke Yiguo, how could my younger sister have married the son of the Earl of Weiyuan?
Because of this, the days when he, a doctor with no foundation or backing, was not so difficult when he first arrived at the Ministry of Personnel and was unfamiliar with everywhere.

Mrs. Luo's eyes turned red and her ears became hot because of what her husband said. She couldn't help but feel aggrieved, "How am I unfilial to the old lady? I'm just afraid that the old lady will be deceived by the relatives who came from nowhere-"

Luo Fu frowned, "I'll have someone look into this matter. How is Qianqian?"

Speaking of her daughter, Mrs. Luo San wiped her tears again. "She knelt for two hours, and her knees were purple. She has always been delicate and weak, how could she have endured such hardship? But the old lady was still not satisfied, and asked her to copy Buddhist scriptures. She hid in the room and cried until her eyes were swollen."

She wanted her husband to go to the old lady and plead for her daughter.

But unexpectedly, Luo Fu said, "Mother is right, Qianqian is too spoiled, she should be properly disciplined. We are not in Zizhou anymore, and she is no longer the daughter of a prefecture governor, where all the noble ladies are praising her. This is the capital! If she doesn't control her temper, she will get into trouble one day."

"Since you, as a mother, are reluctant to discipline me, I will trouble the old lady to do it properly!"

After saying that, Luo Fu flicked his sleeves and went out.

The little maid followed him out and came back soon to report that the master had gone to Aunt Lin's place.

Suddenly, Mrs. Luo San was so angry that her face turned red, and she cursed, "Fox charmer!"

----

Uncle Gui acted quickly. After all, he had been traveling around the capital for many years and often visited the Marquis of Jing'an's mansion to give gifts during festivals. He knew many of the people in charge.

Therefore, Liu Yue went back and told him about it that day, and the next day Uncle Gui found out about the specific situation of Old Madam Luo and the Luo family.

"I heard that this old lady Luo was from the Guangling Lu family. She was gentle, virtuous, and good at embroidery. Therefore, there was an endless stream of people who came to her house to propose marriage. But later, this old lady Luo married the late old man of the Luo family as his second wife. At that time, the old man Luo already had three sons, the youngest of whom was only two years old. The previous lady died of illness after giving birth to this youngest son.

That is to say, Old Master Luo was almost a generation older than her. Many people sighed at that time, but it was not difficult to understand. Although the Lu family was well-known, they were just an ordinary family. At that time, Old Master Luo was the prefect of Jiangping, a promising young man. When Old Lady Luo married him, she would be the wife of an official. Being ten years older was not a big deal. " "It's a pity that Old Lady Luo married Old Master Luo for only a few years and gave birth to a daughter. Old Master Luo died of a sudden illness while in office!
Afterwards, Mrs. Luo brought her children and carried the coffin back to the Luo family's ancestral hometown, erected a chastity arch for herself, observed mourning for her deceased husband, and raised her children.

She had three step-sons. The eldest son was only a few years younger than Madam Luo, but he was ill for many years and died within two years. The second son and the youngest son were close to her and were raised by her alone. Especially the youngest son, Doctor Luo, he was very good at studying and passed the imperial examinations at an early age. He was then demoted to be a county magistrate and always kept Madam Luo company.

As for the second son, he failed to pass the imperial examination and only passed the qualification of a student, so he stayed in his ancestral home to manage the family property.

Doctor Luo was transferred to Beijing last year, and the Luo family just settled in Beijing at the end of last year. However, Mrs. Luo's biological daughter married into the Weiyuan Marquis's mansion a long time ago, and married the prince. I heard that this was because Mrs. Luo had a close relationship with the old lady of Duke Yiguo, and the old lady of Duke Yiguo personally acted as a matchmaker. "

Liang also heard her daughter's story of yesterday's events. After hearing this, she kept saying, "This old lady Luo really has a hard life."

As a woman, she could understand it very well.

It is not easy to be a second wife, and there are three stepsons as soon as you enter the house. It is even more difficult to be a stepmother. Unfortunately, Mrs. Luo was unlucky. She only gave birth to a daughter, and her husband died of illness within two years. She became a widow at a young age and raised her children alone.

Fortunately, Mrs. Luo’s two step-sons are filial, and her daughter is also very capable and is now the wife of the eldest son of the Bo family.

Not easy.

She looked at Shi Liu and said, "Since she is your future mother-in-law's cousin, she is also a relative. However, there are many disputes in the capital, and your mother-in-law has not met her yet. It is not appropriate for you to go to the Luo family."

Pomegranate nodded, "Don't worry, auntie, I know."

-

The Luo family from the next alley left the capital within two days and vacated their house.

The servants bought by Zuo Chengzhi moved in first and cleaned the house thoroughly inside and out. It was not a house that had not been lived in for a long time, so there was nothing to clean thoroughly.

However, although they continued to use the Luo family's furniture, Shi Liu still asked them to tidy up the yard where they planned to live, clean the beds, wardrobes and other furniture, and replace them with new bedding, etc.

So, two days later, Shi Liu and his group of people bid farewell to Liu Dongjia's family and moved next door.

Liu Yue was still reluctant to leave and insisted on living with Shi Liu. Shi Liu was very welcoming, but Liu Yue was detained by Liang.

In two months, it will be the birthday of the old lady of the Marquis of Jing'an's Mansion. By then, the three of them will all go. During these two months, Liang will take advantage of this opportunity to teach her daughter the rules, as she herself still has a lot to learn.

After all, this is the capital city, which is different from the banquets I attended in Bingzhou before.

On the birthday of the old lady of Marquis Jing'an, all those who came to celebrate were the royal relatives and noble families in the capital, so the scene must have been grand.

After all, this is the prince's biological great-grandmother.

Liu Yue felt aggrieved and could only keep asking Shi Liu to come and see her more often, preferably every day. Otherwise, she would be suffocated to death by staying in this mansion to learn the rules.

Pomegranate also agreed with a smile.

That day, Uncle Gui came to look for him. He asked a middleman who was watching over houses and shops in the inner city to bring a letter saying that there was a house for sale in Yongyefang and asked them to go and take a look, because if they were too late, it would have been bought by someone else a long time ago.

Houses in the inner city are very rare. When Shi Liu heard this, he did not delay and immediately asked Zuo Cheng to drive the carriage and go to the inner city with Uncle Gui.

Yongyefang is not close to the imperial city. It is inhabited by the homes of nobles and officials, and ordinary people cannot live there.

Instead, it is not far from Zhengyang Gate, adjacent to the outer city. The houses here are occupied by minor officials and small families, and there are not so many particulars.

The middleman took them all the way to Mianhua Hutong in Yongyefang and arrived at the house.

"The owner of this house got promoted, and his whole family moved in. This house was too small to live in, so he bought a bigger house somewhere else and moved in. There was no point in keeping this small house, after all, he had a whole family to support, so he just sold it. He found me yesterday, and I hurried over to send a letter to you, your butler."

The middleman introduced the house, unlocked the door, and let them go in to take a good look at it to see if they liked it.

The house is indeed not big, with only two courtyards and a cross courtyard. Compared with the three-courtyard house in Yutaifang, it is really not good enough. Not to mention pavilions, towers, lakes or lotus ponds, there are none of those, only a small garden.

There are six rooms in the back yard, three small halls, and two cross courtyards on the left and right. The east cross courtyard can be used as a guest courtyard, and the west cross courtyard is the kitchen with stables.

Entering through the second entrance with hanging flowers, there are three small halls, followed by three main rooms, and four east and west wing rooms. The east wing is a small courtyard with the same layout, but without the small hall, there are three main rooms. The west wing is a small garden with a corner courtyard where the maids and old women live.

Although it is not big, it is indeed not enough to accommodate several generations living together or a slightly larger population. But as there are few of them, the small house is fine for them to live in. Even if they bring Mrs. Lu over in the future, it will still be enough to accommodate them.

It is difficult to find a house like this, and Shi Liu certainly does not want to miss it. Even though the house has been lived in for a long time and many places need repairing, she does not care. It is the same to buy it and then renovate it.

He immediately asked the middleman about the price.

The houses in the inner city are located in different areas from those in the outer city, so they are naturally more expensive. Therefore, even though this house is old and needs a lot of repairs, all the furniture and furnishings have been moved out, and even the flowers and plants have been almost dug up, the owner still asked for two thousand taels of silver, not a penny less.

After hearing the price, Shi Liu calculated the cost of renovating the house and buying furniture. This house was not much less than her house in Yutaifang. She couldn't help but sigh that the housing prices in the capital were really worth it.

Uncle Gui whispered to her, "Miss Shi Liu, this price is the market price, it's not exorbitant. You know, if you move to Yong'anfang or Yongpingfang, a house of the same size as this one, you can pay hundreds or even thousands of taels more."

Shi Liu listened and nodded. That's right. There are differences between the third ring road and the third ring road. How can being closer to the second ring road and being closer to the fourth ring road be the same?

He immediately took the silver note given by Fan Jin and bought the house in Fan Jin's name.