Concubine like a house

Chapter 41
Because of the old dream at night, Mrs. Tai suffered from a headache the next day, so Xia Yanran and the concubines were spared the morning and evening sleep, and only heard about Yunci.

"Chuxiu is locked in the torture hall, what do you plan to do with it?" Regarding this son, she never concealed her thoughts, and she didn't want to spend energy to make twists and turns with him.

Yun Ci is sitting in a wheelchair today, and his complexion is not very good. There are signs of a recurrence of leg disease: "What does mother want to do?"

"The people in your garden, how come you ask me?"

"People in my garden, you have asked a lot."

Yun Ci's words made Mrs. Tai's smile restrained, and she lowered her voice: "Then I won't hide it from you. After all, she was pregnant with your child, and she is considered a person who has made credit. This time you severely punished her. Let the second room tell you, I know you are reluctant to part with it."

Mrs. Tai changed a string of nanzhu, held it in the palm of her hand and fiddled with it slowly: "Her appearance and temperament cannot be tolerated by the Yunfu. If you don't want her to die, then let her go."

"Leave?" Yun Ci repeated softly, asking, "How to leave?"

"Let Shen Yu take her away, or give her a sum of money, and let her fend for herself." Mrs. Tai thought she had taken a big step back.

Unexpectedly, Yunci laughed when he heard the words: "Zifeng still has some affairs to deal with in Fangzhou, and will live with us for the time being. As for Chuxiu...she can't leave now."

"Can't go? Then let her provoke you brothers to quarrel again and again?" Mrs. Tai's voice became stern again, "Even though the second child was absurd in the past, he wouldn't make trouble in the house... We can't afford to lose this person."

"If you let her go, can you guarantee that the second brother will let her go?" Yun Ci asked back.

Mrs. Tai didn't answer.

Seeing this, Yunci lowered his eyes and said, "I will let Chuxiu leave sooner or later, but not right now."

Mrs. Tai's eyes were sharp: "Why, are you afraid that if I let her go in the open, I will harm her in secret?"

Yun Ci denied: "Mother is worrying too much."

How could Mrs. Tai believe it, she just sneered and said: "Okay! You have even suspected me now." She put the nanmu Buddha beads on the case, "Ci'er, you are against me for her, not to help her, but to help her." It's to harm her." That tone was a bit of a tactful threat.

At this point, Yunci didn't intend to have a long talk, so he resolutely ended the topic: "Chuxiu will definitely leave, and I will definitely let her go. But the timing is not right now."

These words were heard by Mrs. Tai, which made her dubious: "It's best if you think so. You are the Marquis of Lixin, you should abandon petty love and love."

"My son is taught." Yunci turned his head to greet Zhuying, thought for a while, and before leaving, he said to Mrs. Tai: "It was you who offered to let her go today. If I really let her go one day, please remember Today's promise, don't embarrass her again."

The corner of Mrs. Tai's eyes twitched: "Even if I want to embarrass her, with you staring at me, I will be powerless."

Hearing this, Yun Ci seemed to be stunned, and a bit of indistinct sadness appeared on his face.He was silent for a moment, then calmed down and said again: "I promised Pin Yan that I will take her to the lotus pond today. If mother is fine, I will take my leave first."

Mrs. Tai felt that Yunci was a little strange today, but she couldn't explain why it was so strange.Seeing that he didn't intend to stay, and he didn't force it, he raised his hand and retreated: "You go."

Yun Ci didn't say any more, and signaled Zhu Ying to push him away from Rongjintang.

An hour later, Yunci sent an order to the punishment hall to demote Chuxiu to the laundromat to work as a laundry lady.

In the blink of an eye, another two months have passed.This New Year, Chuxiu spent in rubbing a lot of clothes.The catkins that she used to play with the strings are now full of sores, red and swollen.After being relegated to the washing room for so long, Yunci never came here once, nor gave her a chance to explain.She was still waiting and looking forward to it at first, but now she has been waiting for three or two months, but she is numb.

Huanxi had just ironed and flattened a piece of clothing, which Xia Yanran was in a hurry to ask for.Chuxiu was ordered to send it away, and walked to Zhiyan Xuan with a blank face.Li Xinhou's mansion needs to be decent, and the fact that she has been a prostitute has not been spread, but the fact that she was suddenly demoted from a maid who was valued by Lord Hou to a low-level laundry lady was already arousing people's imagination.Therefore, when Zhiyanxuan's servants saw Chuxiu, they all had an inquiring look.

Chuxiu didn't hear anything about it, and went to Xia Yanran's room without squinting.Zhuoyan was guarding the door, seeing Chuxiu approaching, he suddenly covered his face and smiled.Chuxiu was used to being ridiculed by her, and said in a low voice: "This is Madam's clothes, please trouble Sister Zhuoyan to bring them in."

Zhuoyan glanced at Chuxiu lightly: "Madam asked me to watch outside and not allowed to go anywhere. Madam also said that the clothes should be ironed and sent in immediately. Lord Hou is waiting for Madam to change the clothes and paint for her."

Do you paint?Chuxiu looks down at the beautiful smoked skirt on the tray. The embroidery is exquisite and the colors are shining. It is indeed the best choice for painting.She remembered that Yunci had never been in the inner room with pen and ink, and she didn't want to know the fun of the boudoir.

Thinking of this, Chuxiu had no choice but to put aside distracting thoughts, knocked on the door and said, "Ma'am, the clothes are here."

"Come in." Xia Yanran greeted softly.

Chuxiu lowered her head and stepped in, seeing the corner of the white-clothed figure, she hurriedly bowed to salute, then turned to Xia Yanran and said, "Ma'am."

"Put down your clothes." Xia Yanran only said this, without further words.

Chuxiu was ordered to say yes, and just put the clothes on the desk, only to hear Yunci say indifferently: "You go and serve your wife to change clothes."

Going out of Xiuxiu to salute and accept the order, he lifted the clothes on the desk, turned them behind the screen to change for Xia Yanran, walked out again and said in a low voice: "Your servant will leave."

Yun Ci kept silent, as if he was right, he walked out of Xiuxiu, but he didn't know that he just walked to the door, but he heard him say behind him: "Wait a minute. The ink is dry, you come to grind the ink."

Research ink?Chuxiu had no choice but to turn around and come back, carrying a small kettle to pour water into the inkstone, and concentrate on doing his errands.A faint fragrance of ambergris came from beside her, mixed with a hint of medicinal fragrance, which was the same as the one she remembered.This caused Chuxiu to suddenly have an illusion, as if she and him were still in Chasing the Rainbow Garden in Jingzhou, the same person, doing the same thing, never had the subsequent love and hate, right and wrong.

It's a pity that this beautiful illusion has not lasted long, and it has been interrupted by the cruel reality - on the rice paper is a face that is exactly the same as that of Chuxiu, carefully depicted by Yunci's delicate brushstrokes.He gradually outlined the splendor of the splendid smokey skirt, and the pen and ink meandered to create a gorgeous beauty.In an instant, Chuxiu was in a trance, thinking that he was painting himself.

However, the stroke that finally fell on the corner of the beauty's eyes, while drawing a mole of tears, was also like the sharpest needle piercing Chuxiu's heart.Yunci painted his beloved wife.

"Chuxiu, your complexion is not very good." At this moment, Xia Yanran suddenly spoke, her tone was gentle and full of concern.

The large and small wounds on his fingers suddenly ached, and Chuxiu could hardly hold the ink ingot in his hand.She raised her eyes to meet the exquisite face that was [-]% similar to herself, and said in a hoarse voice: "Thank you Madam for caring, slaves are fine."

Xia Yanran took a look at Yun Ci, and asked tentatively, "Master Hou, let me go out of Xiu?"

Yun Ci buried his head in painting from beginning to end, without raising his head: "The errands of pen and ink are done, but this rice paper has not been cut yet."

Xia Yanran smiled slightly with her vermilion lips: "It's not difficult, I just take over." She said as she walked to the desk, "I have never served Master Hou's pen, ink, paper and inkstone before, so I will try my hand today."

At this point, Yun Ci finally stopped writing, and looked up at Xia Yanran dotingly: "Then you should be more careful, this dagger is very sharp."

dagger?Why use a dagger to cut paper?But before Chuxiu figured it out, a cold silver light flashed in front of her eyes, and there was also a bright red luster faintly shining.It was the mandarin duck dagger presented by Shen Yu.

The mandarin ducks and daggers are in pairs, and each holds one to show affection.It turned out that Yunci gave one of these to Xia Yanran.

Chuxiu felt that there was no need to stay any longer, and wanted to resign and leave.She took a deep breath, as if she wanted to express all the sadness in her chest: "I am telling you..."

The word "Tui" has not been uttered yet, but with a crisp sound of "Bang Dang", the dagger inlaid with rubies has fallen from Xia Yanran's hand, and after a bounce, it landed right at Chuxiu's feet.

"Pin Yan!" Seeing Xia Yanran suddenly fainted on the ground, Yun Ci hurriedly reached out to help her up, regardless of her leg ailment.At the same time, Chuxiu also stepped over the dagger at his feet and reached out, but only managed to grab a part of Xia Yanran's sleeve in time.

"I'm fine." Xia Yanran was picked up from the ground by Yunci, and forced a smile, "I'm just a little dizzy all of a sudden."

Yun Ci pursed her lips, her expression revealed a trace of worry, and her slender fingers touched Xia Yanran's pulse.Seeing this, Chuxiu got up quickly and said, "I'll call someone."

As soon as the words fell, Yun Ci's voice sounded again: "Pin Yan, you are pregnant." The tone was neither sad nor happy, it was just stating a fact.

In an instant, Chuxiu paused and looked at Yun Ci subconsciously.At this moment, Yun Ci's gaze also happened to look over, with a sense of exploration, as if expecting some response.

A burst of uncontrollable bitterness welled up in Xiuxiu's heart, and she heard Xia Yanran whisper in surprise: "Really? How long has it been? I don't even...don't know!"

Yunci's eyes were still fixed on Chuxiu, not wanting to miss the slightest expression change on her face.However, the words in his mouth were directed at Xia Yanran: "Maybe... it's been two or three months."

"Master Hou..." Xia Yanran almost cried with joy, buried her head in Yun Ci's arms and sobbed, "I...I'm so happy."

Only then did Yunci turn his eyes away from his face, turned his eyes to look at his wife in his arms, and replied in a low voice: "I... am also very happy."

Are you happy?Chuxiu felt staggering on his feet, and couldn't help reaching out to hold the corner of the table to stabilize his mind.

Once upon a time, the man in white in front of her also said something about "joy" to her-"I am confident that I can make you more happy than ordinary people, just like you could make me happy even if you couldn't speak before."

But now, he gave this joy to others.Chu Xiu wants to laugh, but also knows that he should laugh.She was happy for him, he finally had a legitimate heir, born with noble blood.

"Congratulations to Lord Hou, congratulations to madam." At this moment, Chuxiu could only think of this sentence.With her scarred and swollen hands, she caressed her lower abdomen unconsciously. A life that had been conceived there was finally lost mercilessly today.

In the haze, Chuxiu saw Yun Ci's eyes cast on him again, which was as deep as a secluded pool, making her unable to see clearly or understand.There was a faint mist in her eyes, and a smile appeared on her lips, and she repeated: "Congratulations...Master Hou."

Yun Ci seemed a little disappointed, so he just whispered "Yes": "Call Zhu Ying to come in, you can go down."

Going out of Xiuxiu also seems to go out of the door.

After that, for three days in a row, Yunfu fell into joy from top to bottom.For the servants of the inner court, each person has an additional three-month rule; for the servants of the outer court, each person has an additional one-month rule.The days of the first month were spent in joy, and the whole family was looking forward to the arrival of the eldest son, Lord Hou.

Everyone knows that if Mrs. Hou Ye gets a boy in one fell swoop, she will be the rightful Royal Highness.For this long-awaited child, Mrs. Tai specially invited Xia Yanran's natal family to come over, so that she could relieve her pain of missing her relatives.

During this period, Shen Yu came to the washing room twice, just to give some ointment to treat hand wounds, and he promised her with great distress that he would take her away if he endured for a while.

There were suddenly many bolts of cloth in the washing room, all of which were soft and soft to the touch, and it was said that Yunjin Village specially sent them to make clothes for Xiao Shizi.However, due to the rainy winter this winter, the road was somewhat damp, so it was taken to dry in the courtyard of the laundry room.

The day I received these fabrics happened to be on duty at Chuxiu.After she finished counting the cloths on the list, she heard a greeting: "Miss Chuxiu."

Chuxiu Xunsheng raised his head, and after thinking for a while, he recognized who it was.

The person who came was the nephew of the housekeeper Yunzhong, Yunfeng, the chief manager of the Rice Bank in Huainan District, who had failed to marry him from Chuxiu.It's just that now, he is no longer in charge of the rice business, but has been transferred to Yunjinzhuang, the largest silk and satin factory under Yun's name, to become a serious head of the family.This position seems to have been promoted, but since ancient times, food is the most important thing for people, and the rice business is the foundation of people's livelihood, and the silk business is incomparable.

Therefore, the power in Yunfeng's hands was not as great as before.He seems to be a big boss, but the real decision-making power is still in the hands of the Yun clan. After all, the silk business is with officials and nobles. He can't speak at all, at best he is just a mouthpiece without real power.

In just one year, why Yunfeng's position will be adjusted, he and his uncle Yunzhong are well aware of it.So this time, Yun Feng personally escorted the cloth here, and wanted to take this opportunity to ask his uncle to pave the way, to mention Yun Ci, and to transfer himself back to the rice business.

Obviously, seeing Chuxiu in the washing room at this moment, Yunfeng was very surprised: "Girl... why are you here?"

How come here?Chuxiu smiled and said, "It's a long story. If Guanshi Yun wants to know the inside story, you might as well ask Steward Yun." Who she used to be and what she did for a living can never be hidden from the housekeeper Yun Zhong.

"You can talk now?" A look of surprise crossed Yun Feng's face.

"Yes, I was able to talk by chance." Chuxiu smiled with lowered eyebrows, and said, "The washing room is damp, you should go out."

Yun Feng wanted to go forward to get closer to Chuxiu, but he remembered something at the right time, stopped abruptly, pondered for a moment, and said, "I'll take a look at these cloths and leave." He hesitated to speak, and wanted to ask Why did Chuxiu fall to this point, but when the words came to his lips, he decided to ask his uncle Yunzhong in private.

Yun Feng randomly checked the quantity of cloth, then hurried to Yun Zhong's courtyard, he was eager to know what happened to this fairy-like woman in a year.

"What did you say? You still want to marry Chuxiu?" The housekeeper Yun Zhong looked at his own nephew with an expression of disbelief.

Yun Feng's expression was very firm: "Last year, I was rejected when I proposed to marry her. I also thought that Lord Hou loved her very much. But I haven't seen her for a year, and she looks so haggard! Then why do you want her to stay in Yunfu?"

"Think carefully, you only got married last year!" Yun Zhong warned coldly.

"Why did I get married in a hurry last year? It was just to let Master Hou feel at ease...but she looks like this...I..." Seeing Chuxiu again, Yun Feng was still amazing, and his heart was still moving. The moment of the unexpected reunion was strongly hooked out again.

"You bastard!" Yun Zhong said coldly to his nephew, "We used to know her identity and that's all, but now you know that she came from a family and was pregnant, what are you still clinging to!"

"What are you obsessed with..." Yun Feng squinted his eyes as if recalling, and sighed for a while, "I don't know either."

Yun Zhongqi didn't say anything: "You are betting on your future!"

Yun Feng just persisted in silence.

Angry at all, it is his own nephew, Yun Zhong only said: "If you want to take her as a concubine, you can tell Hou Ye yourself! I can't let go of this old face anymore!"

Yun Feng was overjoyed, and bowed to his uncle, "Thank you uncle for making things happen. It's not that my nephew wants to take her as a concubine, but wants... to marry her as his wife!"

Not surprisingly, Yun Feng proposed again, but was flatly rejected by Yun Ci.However, he was not discouraged, and came to Qingxin Zhai every day to ask for a visit.After persisting like this for four or five days, Yun Ci finally found out that Yun Feng was extremely firm this time, and he did not hesitate to risk his fortune.Therefore, Yun resigned from a trip to the washing room, a hundred days after Chuxiu was demoted.

In the deep twilight, the sound of "rustling" can still be heard. The only few female workers are sitting by the well, washing clothes non-stop while the sky still has the last ray of light.Chuxiu is undoubtedly the most outstanding one among them. Yun Ci saw her half squatting half sitting on a small stool, rubbing her clothes without raising her head.

A heart-piercing pain suddenly hit, even though he had made enough mental preparations, Ke Yunci still couldn't bear to face this situation.After calming down at the door for a long time, he motioned for Zhuying to push him in.

"You guys go down first, leave Xiuxiu and stay." Zhu Ying ordered at the right time.Several female workers came out in a file according to the words, but Chuxiu straightened her sore waist, bowed down to salute Yun Ci, and then saluted Zhu Ying.

Even Zhu Ying couldn't bear to watch the scene in front of her, so she couldn't help turning her head and exiting the door, guarding the door.

In the huge courtyard, finally only Yunci and Chuxiu were left, as well as all kinds of clothes on the shelves.The smell of starch wafts in the air, which is obviously fresh, but mixed with powerlessness and sadness.

(End of this chapter)