swear not to be concubine

Chapter 17

Mrs. Ji and Mrs. Jian sat on both sides of the Arhat bed separated by a small rosewood table, talking about the farewell of these years, and when they talked about excitement, both of them were teary-eyed.

It was only then that Jian Yan knew that Ji's wife was the fifth master of the Xu family.The fifth master of the Xu family also died a long time ago, leaving only a pair of sons and daughters, but they are a pair of twins, who are now ten years old.

While the two were talking, the curtain over there was lifted, and the light in the room brightened up, and Mammy Tao's voice rang out happily: "Madam, Sister Ning and Brother An are here."

Jian Yan also looked towards the door, only to see a girl and a boy came in one after the other, followed by a few maids and servants, like stars and moons.

Thinking about it, this girl and boy are a pair of children of the Ji family, Xu Miaoning and Xu Zhongan.

Xu Miaoning was born sweet and cute. After she came in, she kept looking at Mrs. Jian, Jian Qing and Jian Yan with her big round eyes, without any sign of timidity.Xu Zhong'an looked much more mature, since he came in, he just kept his eyes fixed, very polite.

At this moment, Mrs. Ji stretched out her hand to beckon Xu Miaoning and Xu Zhongan to come to her, and pointed to Mrs. Jian to ask them to call their aunt.

Xu Miaoning bowed low and called her aunt crisply.Xu Zhong'an clasped his hands in salute, and his aunt called out slowly.

At this moment, Mrs. Jian hurriedly asked Shen's mother to bring the meeting gift.

The meeting ceremony had already been pre-packed in two camphorwood boxes.In addition to the red coral bracelets, fine silk fan, red silk inkstone, pine smoke ink and Sichuan fan that both the Xu family girl and the young master have, Xu Miaoning also has a white jade bell hairpin and a pair of gold bracelets.The rubies and sapphires inlaid on the bracelet are the size of a middle finger, and they are very eye-catching.Xu Zhong'an has an extra white jade rabbit that can be held in his hand and played with, and can also be used as a paperweight.What is rare is that this little rabbit is carved out of a whole piece of jade, and the quality of the jade is transparent, so it is very valuable at first glance.

At this time, Mrs. Jian took the box from Mother Shen, handed it to Xu Miaoning and Xu Zhongan, and said lovingly at the same time: "Good boy, my aunt is far away, and my aunt couldn't come to see you when you were born. , This is a wish from my aunt, take it quickly."

"Thank you, aunt." Xu Miaoning's answer was clear and crisp.

"Thank you, auntie." Xu Zhongan's answer was much calmer.

At this time, Ji said again: "Go see your cousin and cousin soon."

Jian Qing and Jian Yan also gave meeting gifts respectively, but the meeting gifts of both of them were relatively straightforward. They were a purse containing the two champions and the first and Ji Qingyouyu's little Jin Kaizi.

Living in someone else's home, it is inevitable to take care of the people on a daily basis. In order to prevent the Xu family from saying that they are petty and look down on them, Mrs. Jian specially gave Jian Qing and Jian Yan a purse of small gold coins before leaving this morning. And a purse of broken silver, and told them to pay for the silver, and they must not be underestimated.

Jian Yan was so happy that she reached out and took it.

Although she took the big bag of things and asked Zhou Lin to pawn nearly 900 taels of silver back, plus the miscellaneous and broken silver that she had on her body, it barely totaled about 1000 taels.But then he gave Master Jingyuan 100 taels, and what he had left was limited.And she also knows, who in the big family is not a pair of snobbish eyes?When I arrived at Xu's house, I was afraid that I would have to pay for my actions. With only 900 taels of silver, wouldn't it be a waste of money?She had been worrying there earlier, wishing she could leave the house to find some business opportunities to do some business to make money, but now Mrs. Jane handed over a bag of gold locks and a bag of broken silver, how could she have Why not?
But although Mrs. Jane gave the little golden locket, she embroidered the purse herself.

Because she wanted to come to Tongzhou with her family, Mrs. Jian sent away a group of masters who taught Jian Yan a few years ago.There is no need to learn this or that, and there is no Mrs. Jian or someone to put in front of her. Jian Yan is free all of a sudden, and her life is much more carefree than before.It's just that there is no entertainment, even a few books are "Women's Precepts" and "Biography of Women" to brainwash women. She is too lazy to read, so she spends all day When I'm bored, I just play the piano, practice calligraphy, and embroider some small things.This purse was embroidered by her at that time.

Since no one supervised them, and she didn't intend to sell these purses for money, she casually embroidered some interesting patterns such as cats fluttering butterflies, pandas eating bamboo, and even lucky cats and rogue rabbits. Purse.The purse in Xu Zhongan's hand is a pattern of a panda eating bamboo, and the purse in Xu Miaoning's hand is a pattern of a cat fluttering a butterfly.

Xu Miaoning obviously liked this purse very much, she held the purse in her hand, looked at the cat and butterfly on the purse over and over, and at the same time teased Jian Yan with her eyes from time to time.

Jian Yan pretended not to see it, she lowered her head and concentrated on drinking tea and eating cakes.

No matter how she eats pastries, Mrs. Jane will not care about it.Firstly, she was at someone else's house, so she was too embarrassed to speak directly, and secondly, she was busy talking to Mrs. Ji.

At this time, Mrs. Jian had already asked Mother Shen to take out the gift for Ji, and asked Pearl and Jade to bring in a large camphorwood box. When she opened it, she found that there were packed small boxes inside. They were all tied with red strings, and red paper was pasted on them, indicating who they were for.

"This is for the old lady, this is for the wives of the third room, and this is for all the brothers and sisters in the mansion," Mrs. Jian looked at Pearl and Jade and took these gifts out of the box, full of excitement. A table was piled up, and they said one by one, "It's just a little thought from me, please ask the servant girl to send these over."

Mrs. Ji hurriedly said: "Sister, you are very polite. I am very happy that you can come. Why do you need to prepare so many gifts?"

On the one hand, he continued: "Earlier I knew that my sister and Qing Ge Er Yan were coming, so I ordered people to clean up the house. If my sister doesn't dislike it, she will live in the east wing of my yard. Sister You can talk sooner or later. How about Sister Yan living in Dongkuayuan?"

Pointing to Xu Miaoning with a smile, she said: "Sister Ning of mine is the most eccentric, never willing to live with me, but would rather live in the courtyard next to her, saying that no one cares about her, she is free and at ease I thought that if Sister Yan was allowed to live with us, facing us sooner or later, I was afraid that she would feel uncomfortable, so I simply cleaned up the Dongkua courtyard and let her live. As for Brother Qing, he followed Brother An in the front Living in the courtyard, it is convenient to go to school sooner or later, what do you think, sister?"

Most of the people living in the garden are female family members, and it is not good for male family members to live in it, let alone just relatives?Mrs. Jian naturally understood this truth, and immediately said: "This arrangement can't be better."

"It's been a bumpy journey, my sister and Brother Qing must be tired too. Sister, I'll take you to the East Wing to rest for a while, and the old lady will hold a banquet to welcome you in the evening."

At the same time, she ordered Nanny Tao to take Jian Yan to Dongkua courtyard, and the maid Cui Xiao beside her took Jian Qing to the front yard.

So Jian Yan stood up from her chair, bid farewell to Mrs. Ji, then turned around and followed Mother Tao to Dongkuayuan.

It turns out that the Dongkua Courtyard is on the east side of the Lotus Fragrance Courtyard. It is connected to the Chaoshou verandah, but there is a screen door with two doors in the middle.On weekdays, if the two screen doors are opened, the Dongkua Courtyard is connected to the main courtyard of the Hexiang Courtyard, and if they are closed, it is the same as an independent small courtyard.And when you want to go out, you can go out through the screen door and the hallway door winding to the front of the hall, which is very convenient.

Jian Yan was full of joy.At the beginning, she was worried that she would live with Mrs. Jian after she arrived at Xu's house, and she would not see her when she looked up, but she didn't expect that there would be a small independent courtyard.Although the small yard is not big, there are only three small rooms with one light, two dark rooms, it is also a surprise.

Tao Nanny led Jian Yan into the open room, and saw a large window with ice cracks on the opposite wall, covered with snow-white paper.Facing the window is a long case with a flat head, on which there is a small display screen with flowers of the four seasons, and two pastel vases with hundreds of bats and flowing clouds.There are two tall incense tables next to the table, each with a pot of fresh flowers and bonsai.In front of the table is a black lacquered Eight Immortals table, and beside the table are two rose chairs, all of which are covered with ink chairs.

Nanny Tao pointed again, and said, "Cousin girl, this is your bedroom."

Jian Yan looked over and saw that it was a room separated by eight green gauze cabinets.Through the hanging curtain, one can vaguely see a canopy bed inside, and a dressing table and other things that should be in the boudoir are placed under the moon hole window on the side.

She didn't go in and take a look immediately, but turned around and nodded to Nanny Tao, thanked her sincerely, and then asked her to tell her aunt, thanking her for taking the trouble to clean up such a quiet place for her The small courtyard, she will come to thank you in person later.

Bai Wei at the side reached out to take out her purse and stuff it for Nanny Tao, but Jian Yan saw it out of the corner of her eye, and hurriedly tugged at her sleeve, and just ordered Si Yue to send Nanny Tao out happily.

When Tao Nanny's figure came out of the screen door, Bai Wei was puzzled and asked, "Girl, why didn't you let me give Tao Nanny the purse?"

The purse is naturally filled with broken silver.Earlier, Jian Yan had told Bai Wei that when she arrived at Xu's house, even if she was a servant girl, she should not be underestimated. When it was time to use money, she had to use money, so that it would be easier for everyone to get along with each other.

Just now, Bai Wei saw that Nanny Tao was the capable person beside Ji, and Jian Yan thanked her sincerely. Yan stretched out her hand to stop it, she was really puzzled.

Jian Yan asked her: "How much money do you have in your purse?"

"About one or two." Bai Wei replied.

Jian Yan nodded.

Of course, the money in the purse is not the same, but it is generally only a few dollars, and this one or two silver must be the most in the purse.

"But you can see that the jacket and skirt on this mother Tao are all made of hang silk? And she also wears two gold-wrapped hairpins on her head, and a pair of gold lilacs on her ears. Our two taels of silver She may not like it. And this second, we are juniors after all, so we gave this purse to her. If it's just a poor woman, it's fine if there are not many monthly cases, but this mother Tao followed her aunt. I have been a wet nurse for decades, and my aunt has relied on her so much, how can money treat her badly? Besides, I have been watching this mother Tao coldly from the side. When she talks to her mother, she is neither humble nor overbearing. Maybe we gave this purse out, and she thought why we looked down on her and slapped her in the face, so it's okay not to give this purse."

Gift giving is also a great science.Not only do you have to figure out the other party's psychology, but you also have to figure out the other party's status and temperament, otherwise, if you send the wrong thing, it will have a counterproductive effect.

When Bai Wei heard the words, she nodded half-understanding, and then asked: "Then according to the girl's intention, you don't want to give anything to Nanny Tao?"

Nanny Tao is the most capable person around the Ji family, so naturally she needs to please one or two.

"Of course things have to be given, but they definitely can't be money." Jian Yan pondered for a while, thinking about what is better to give, and then said after a while, "Just now I saw the wipe on her forehead. The forehead is old, and the edges are a little warped. I remember that I still have a ten-foot-long black brocade with bamboo leaf patterns? Forget it, I will use this brocade to make a forehead for her tomorrow. It should be enough to inlay some small pearls finely, and then pick a suitable time to give it to her."

Before he could say a word, he suddenly heard Si Yue's voice outside: "Girl, Cousin is here."

(End of this chapter)